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Starbright was having the time of his life at Club 27. He had just finished his olive and admired the fashion of the golden toothpick. But he had no use for the pick, what star ever gets food stuck in their teeth? Starbright found the matter laughable, so he threw it back into the conveniently placed disposal bins.

Mingling was very easy, they all knew the true power of being a hero and that is star power. Those who weren't already members of Wings of Law in this club were certainly gunning to join it. Starbright could tell the difference between the two parties, one carried a likable and familiar air of smugness and the other desperation. He himself even got a few requests to team up from largely A tier heroes. As if their powers had anything to offer him. They were leeches in Starbright's mind, looking solely to ride off of his fame and he had no interest in helping them.

"Starbright is that you?" Starbright turned around toward the familiar voice. It was Glacia, a hero who was an 'old flame' from a year ago. They had both faked a relationship for the publications that lasted about a month. The break up was very 'emotional and heartbreaking' as well. "Glacia, its so good to see you it has been too long. Looks like the last year treated you nicely." Starbright pointed toward her freshly pinned Wings of Law badge. "I know, right? I just joined tonight and I'll guess you are here for that too right?" "Not exactly, I'm just here for the party. Plus if you and I joined on the same night, there might be a back together story popping up." He rolled his eyes and laughed. The two took a booth away from the main floor and continued talking. Star wanted to know all there is to know about Wings.




Earlier: Starbright entering the club.

"Starbright! Starbright! Can we get your input on tonight?" He turned around quickly posing with a soft angel-like light shining down on him, self made of course. He was never one to give press the cold shoulder and he wasn't about to start.

"What can I say, its the 4th of July. Time to celebrate the freedom we enjoy in this country, and a time to celebrate the heroes and law enforcement that keep those very freedoms. That's why I'm celebrating, to share drinks with other heroes that help keep the peace, much like myself." Starbright rested a hand on his chest feigning humbleness. "I would also like to take this time to congratulate the heroes responsible for the recent raid in Watervale. They have kept the streets safe very recently, so I will dedicate this night to them." It was certainly the right thing to say despite being quite dishonest. He then turned his gaze toward the camera man and interviewer themselves. "Now I am going to enjoy my night, I hope you get plenty of time to spend tonight with your families." In direct conflict, Starbright hoped they would wait on him for when he left.


@Amethyst@Danvers




A few days had passed since the events of the Gugliano mansion. To Midas' shock and surprise Vinnie was killed the very night he had recorded his speech. This brought up a few questions. Considering the raid was conducted by HERO, did HERO attack because of these 'new allies'? Or did these 'new allies' turn out to be a Judas in their midst. The whole thing left a sour taste in his mouth, something was very wrong about it.

Today, Midas sat in the South Brookside Boxing Gym on a fold out chair. Before him stood a table with a tape playing device and an ashtray. He did not smoke but he knew at least one of the arriving guests did (Koshiki Devils). On the other side sat another 3 foldout chairs. Midas invited 3 gangs to send a representative here this morning to hear the news about the Gugliano's 'new allies'. He had worked with them all at some point in the past and knew he could trust them for the most part.

The Koshiki Devils were the gang Midas has had the most involvement with. He had helped them out of quite a few sticky situations. Because of this Midas considers them completely reliable.

The Dogpack is an up and coming gang. To be honest, Midas hasn't done work with them in the past. They first came onto his radar when a member of theirs starting busting up other contenders in the Proving Ground. You tend to build up good relations when you give any gang a stable source of money. Plus he knew he could count on the Dogpack wanting to make their stake on Brookside. Midas offered that very thing.

The Calaveras were a group that Midas can't trust on faith alone. Luckily he invited them with an offer. Without Ringmaster in the lead, the Calaveras have been struggling in recent years. The offer was simple, Midas would free Ringmaster for the Calaveras allegiance. This was an offer Midas could count on.

The morning sun shone down from the high windows of the boxing gym. The call had gone out to all three so there was nothing left to do except wait for the representatives to arrive. Near the edges of the room stood a few of the fighters Midas had recruited, though he doubted he would need the protection.

@sassy1085



So many people were arriving so fast, Rowan would have struggled to keep up. So instead she just got lost in thought, rolling an apple between the fingers of her right hand. Her contents of her thoughts frankly didn't matter, it didn't include anyone at the event not even the event itself. Just some outlandish scenario Rowan would play out in her head. Until her time of silent bliss was invaded by one face, Kate Shuang. Okay maybe not that extreme, in fact, it was a pleasant surprise. Rowan had never got an answer before on whether they would join the coven fully or not, and that answer was in front of her. She was glad to have another witch come into potion studies, and one that brought a challenge and new recipes were what Rowan needed.

Rowan initially tipped her chin up and to the left as if to impersonate a snooty rich kid. But that was quickly broken with a smile, yes she had royally shot herself in the foot last time they met. But Rowan wasn't above recognizing that and making a bit of fun at the situation.

After that Rowan decided to actually bite into the apple. Of course it wasn't any normal fruit, the fact that she hadn't been to the food table yet would be a hint for that. No it was a transformed potion, but nothing crazy in terms of effect. It was closer to just a pick me up, similar to a cup of coffee, to keep her on the top of her game for today.


Doppel gave a startled jump and switched into his clone, letting the heel thrown had his head pass through it. He turned to see Brookside and Jamie, both were a shock to him for different reasons. Anyone paying attention to him would see the gears turning in his brain as he processed it all. Doppel then switched back to his normal body, "uh yeah, I got a call from HERO about the mansion attack. Reinforcements should be here in about a half hour or sorry." Realizing that he took a while to reply, "sorry I didn't expect to see you here Brookside. I also didn't expect an S tier hero to be here, the situation must be serious."

"I just..," Azhar tried, "I need some air, I think.."

"I think that's best, the way out should be clear. You've done more than enough for your friends, I'll make sure to let them know you are safe." Was safe really the word to use there? Undoubtedly. Just by looking at Zee, Doppel could tell he wasn't alright. He was safe from anything more putting pressure on him, at least Doppel could hope.

Doppel was conflicted between feeling sorry for the guy or revealed to have him go as Zee walked down the tunnel. It was clear the guy did not have control of himself earlier and it was hitting him hard. At the same time the magnitude of what he let loose was nothing short of terrifying.

Sure Doppel was still conflicted on which side to choose. But if he could resolve it with the least deaths as possible that would be a win in his eyes.

But then there was Brookside. Doppel didn't know if anyone in the Gugliano's knew who she was yet. Doppel knew for sure that no one in HERO knew about his past and present against the Calavera's either. It was simple enough in his mind, if he could hand Brookside over to the Gugliano's, the Calavera's would come to get her back. The Calavera's would get crushed, problem solved.

It seems so easy and all he has to do is give a surprise attack. But, Brookside is innocent and has nothing to do with this except a blood relation. But its not like the Calavera's haven't done worse and its for the safety of many. But if he handed over an innocent hero to the Gugliano's he would be not better. His mind started going back and forth as he kept his facade. Doppel was once again lost at what to do.

@Shard

Doppel saw a final amount of blood splash from inside the garage where Louis led. Immediately he held Louis back and dipped his head in to check. Doppel's confidence drained as he saw that thing inside. He had heard rumors about the monster HERO was holding and they let it out for this mission. It was clear to him that the task was no longer eliminating the heroes, instead it was evacuating anyone possible. Whipping his head back to Louis, "head back into the mansion and protect Vinnie, if they see us together we are both dead. I'll try and get rid of some heroes, they brought out the big guns tonight." The look of genuine fear in Doppel's face was more than convincing enough for Louis to head back the long way into the mansion.

Popping his head back to check on the situation in the garage, all that was left was a crying boy no older than him (and a field of corpses). The other rumor about that what he had called a creature was just a normal person at the end of the day. Doppel almost felt bad, if it weren't for the corpses scattered all around the garage. Either way he had to confront his fears eventually. "Oh my god, are you ok? It's fine now, you are safe, the HERO reinforcements will be here any second." Doppel jogged into the warehouse toward Zee, but made sure to keep an arms distance just in case. "I'll stay here with you if you need the support, but you should stay put. I think this has been enough fighting for you." Pretending to be HERO reinforcements was a good idea, Doppel had a good reason for why he was here now.


It wasn't a nice journey to the Gugliano mansion. The streets were cold and dark, only interrupted by the blinding lights of cars that drive past. But it gave Doppel some time to think, even if his heart and mind were racing at a million miles an hour.

Why was this happening? No clue he hadn't got so much as an inkling from HERO nor the Guglianos that anything like this was going down. What heroes are even involved? Again no clue maybe some S tier ones where the knowledge is above Doppel's pay grade. The thought had crossed his mind that there are no heroes and the whole thing was just to test his loyalty. God he hoped that was the case, he didn't want to 'take care' of anyone in his life let alone heroes. But he knew Louis, this was no test. When he came to that conclusion, Doppel didn't want to think about it so much. He tightened his jacket and picked up the pace a bit, praying he wouldn't have to use his baseball bat tonight.

Going through the gate he met Louis at the door. "Alright, lets get this over and done with." Louis glared at him for a second, then loosened his posture. "I was starting to think you were gonna show up. Guess the boys were wrong calling you a HERO insider and such, you just made me about a clean hundred." "Yeah, yeah, whatever Louis I was eating dinner when you texted. Give me some forewarning next time will ya?" "Sorry about that we sorta got the trouble out of nowhere. Follow me." Louis led Doppel into the mansion. But when the mobster started leading Doppel below ground he got anxious, this is how people wind up dead. "I'll leave my clone outside to watch the mansion perimeter." Louis seemed to have little problem with it.





Rowan and her parents drove up to the summer picnic in her dads ranger wagon. Despite not being able to cast magic her dad was still able to attend these things because he is 'the first line of defense from normal humans discovering the witching world'. He still said it the same way in the same tone from when she was a kid. She also had the pleasure of riding in the back with Moxie, the family's German Shepard that was also her moms familiar. But Rowan didn't pay much attention to anyone in the car, instead her gaze was fixed on the trees going by on the forest road. She had a lot on her mind. Would she be able to live up to her Grandmother's legacy? Is she even good enough to become a witch? Despite her normal confidence about this, these doubts ate away at her in the last moments before it all began.

On arrival, she hugged her parents goodbye and watched them walk Moxie into the gathering. Rowan had something she had to do before she walked in and her parents were more than accepting of that. Before, when her powers weren't so developed she wouldn't of dreamed of being able to sense her grandmother's magical footprint in these woods. But now, brushing her hands across the many trees as she walked in the forest, as expected, they all had her grandmothers mark in some way. Rowan couldn't even remember what Elizabeth looked like and yet she was certain it was her. Could it be the entire forest was marked by her in some way? The very thought of it was daunting, how could she live up to something like that?

Rowan was deep in the forest at this point, looking back she could no longer see the car park. But she knew the way to the clearing more than well enough. But first, she stood in front of a sturdy looking tree and begun taking out ingredients, crushed rosemary and juniper berries. The tree was young and still growing, the perfect place to leave her first mark on this forest. Mixing the two ingredients in a small pestle and mortar she brought with her, she spread the result onto the bark. But one more ingredient was needed, switching the blade portion of her thumb ring up, Rowan cut her palm and pressed it onto the mixture. The blood soaked into tree, and Rowan began to cast. The process took around five minutes in total, but after releasing her hand a ghostly glow was left emitting from the tree. Ghostlight was a nifty little spell that allows a plant imbued with it to glow in the immediate presence of a witch. Rowan held pride in her accomplishment, it had taken even less time to perform than before. Even if she couldn't even come close to compare to her grandmother, this was a start.

Rowan's peaceful time in the forest was suddenly disturbed by erratic shaking in the branches above. She looked up to another young with riding on a blue board at breakneck pace above. There was only one witch that crazy, it was Kota! Rowan was glad to see another initiate coming in, and from the looks of it Kota had been practicing a lot since the last time they met. However, it wasn't long before the adrenaline junkie of a witch had all but past from Rowan's sight. 'I better catch up and head to the barbecue' Rowan thought, she gazed at her cut palm which was slowly patching up. A nice side effect from the special rosemary she used in Ghostlight.




The clearing was bright and sunny compared to the nice, cooling canopy of the forest. Rowan would need to take her coat of asap. As she walked toward the initiate table, she looked over to where her parents were and gave a wave to let them know she was back and all went well. They smiled back, but Rowan also noticed she was getting some looks from the other adult witches. The pressure of what she had to live up to was once again put on her shoulders. Rowan just kept on moving toward the initiates table. She also noticed the kids playing magic games, ones she was never be able to play because of her lack of quick casting. Rowan almost chuckled at how silly it all was, feeling so left out. Now she was regarded as high as any other initiate, maybe even a bit more because of her grandmother.

"I thought I saw you fly on in Kota. You got a lot better at it too." Rowan took a seat at the table, close but not directly next to any of the witches. Not out of any form a disliking to them, but because Rowan appreciates her space and is not inclined toward social situations. She turned her head toward Calypso and Uaithne."And its good to see you two again, I haven't seen you all in so long."



About an hour before present time:

Doppel finished eating dinner this late at night and begun heading to bed to crash. The thing was that his phone was still buzzing, very unusual considering it was his burner phone. With confusion he slowly approached it picking up to read the message, his heart sank.

A text from Louis:

Got a hero problem at the mansion.

Come over and help us take care of them or else you'll be next.

It's time to test your loyalty to the Guglianos.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Doppel had no idea which one to pick. He only knew that there was a wrong decision and that was to stay put. He rushed to sling on his jacket and took the quickest route he could to the Gugliano mansion.


@Amethyst

Starbright chuckled to himself as the proposition to announce the song clearly got Murmur flustered."Don't be silly, the album was announced just yesterday. I was meaning announcing the song. Just do your charity stream thingy and then I can pop in at the end and help you announce it." Starbright started shuffling around in his pocket for something. "I realize you still have a way to go in terms of confidence and that will be key when you get on stage in a month." He pulled a business card out of his pocket and handed it to Murmur. It was as cheesy as you would expect, a picture of Starbright's face occupied half of it.

"Either way just ring me up to let me know when and where this charity stream is and I'll pop in at the end. I like to surprise my audience, of course. We will start work on the song after it. That should give you plenty of time to think about it." 'And say yes' Starbright finished his sentence in thought then strutted out of the room with the same panache he entered. Leaving Murmur to her thoughts.







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