lydyn

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

Sorry for posting again so soon and sparking a small tidal wave - I didn't want to see it hit the dreaded 24 hour mark!

@Blazion

Excuses. =P

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

#TeamWalker

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

Black Rose, you dont actually have any powers do you? No offense but I dont consider 'fast learning' a super ability, I was a fast learner at chemistry in high school but I didn't name myself after a rare flower because of it. Why not stick to gadgets full time and be like Batman or something?

“Fucking hell,” She barked. “Can it. Pun intended. If you’re going to talk shit about your teammates, leave. Her “gadgets” are possibly going to be the way we catch this bastard if it comes to that, so be quiet.”

For starters, Melrose had given a tiny smile, feeling a certain sense of warmth from Ditch somewhat defending her. She enjoyed the feeling, though it was tempered by the apparent bitchiness of Graffiti. She looked at the woman with air pressure powers and raised an eyebrow slowly. Rose wasn't entirely sure why this strange woman had decided to get on her high horse and question someone else's worth, since technically even the most lack luster powers could be used dangerously if applied correctly. Pursing her lips slightly, she responded, "yeah.. I know chemistry... hacking, engineering, 75 languages, stealth techniques, dozens of martial arts, mathematics, physics... and every thing about your power... including things you probably aren't aware of. Yeah. Super learning isn't a power." She had given Graffiti a deadpan expression by the end.

The whole thing was interrupted though as Ditch made mention of it being time - which Rose had to admit silently, that Ditch was pretty cool. Maybe she should also make a mask like that. The thought made her pause for a second as she smiled at the idea. Rose reacted quickly though and followed after Ditch for a little bit, that was until Wall Walker disappeared into a wall. Information flooded into her mind and she huffed slightly. "Fuck... I can only use my wall electrodes if he's going to enter a wall.. not leave it.." she half-muttered to herself. The information in truth wouldn't matter too much to the others, except one fact, which she yelled at, "he goes through thicker walls slower!" With that said, she made a sprint after the man. Sure, she might not be able to follow him directly, but she knew enough free running techniques to likely keep up with the guy until she could shock the hell out of him.

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

In the background, the three that had already arrived could hear the soft roaring of a bike - though if one had such an ear for things, it was notably quieter than it should have been. After a few moments, Rose had walked from around the corner, apparently parked in the back of building, with her cowl set over her head again. It was a bit easier to make her face out in daylight, but it was still enough that if one didn't know to look for her, they wouldn't have thought anything of it except it just being the vigilante Black Rose. At first, she didn't say anything, pausing at the corner and adjusting her gloves and bending over to adjust something on her boots before looking up and then over to the orphanage.

"I'm surprised he'd be here... maybe someone important is here? Maybe he was once an orphan?" she suggested softly. She had thought it was the oddest thing to have one of the more infamous bank robbers visiting an orphanage of all places - even more so that Ditch had lead them here in the first place. So it obviously had some importance to the criminal. "... on the other hand, I brought a couple toys. I can't say for sure... but I'm hoping that electricity might give his incorporeal form some issues."

Rose looked over to the others, remembering that Kendall had told her to explain this to the others. As much as she wanted to talk to her more and spend some time to get to know her, now was hardly the time to do so. Still, light thoughts cross the surface of her mind as she smiled slightly at the sight of Ditch - despite her serious set-on gaze. "I have devices that attach to surface, lighting it up - so, if I attached it to a wall, the whole wall would be electrified. It only has a limited battery though.. as I only had two days to work on it.. but, uh..." Rose's gaze falls on the orphanage again. "I'd rather not use it around children - I don't want anyone getting hurt. Which I brought some backup." She motioned to her gloves and boots. "Also have small batteries to excite his molecules. Just.. so you guys know what I had brought along to help.." At that point, she promptly started to quiet. She hadn't meant to be a chatter box, but she felt the need to explain her gadgets, but having Ditch here wasn't really helping her either. Some time to develop interest in someone...

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

2 PM…

Everyone was working around the clock. Tim had warned everyone it was going to be a long couple of weeks - they’d start at roughly 7 am and finish by 7 pm, but they’d be doing most of the noisy stuff in their workshop. Some of the guys questioned why, but some of them had been on similar projects - some of them even remember working on Rose’s home, though they generally didn’t make the connection. Suddenly, in the middle of the afternoon, a young woman was seen hanging around the middle of the site, looking around - pink hair, pink shirt, a purple skirt, cute boots, and a dark navy shoulder purse. It caused most of them to mumble and whisper while working, after all, she was one of the notable rich kids of the city - Melrose Faye.

Towards the back of the room Girard was working with another man to install some of the dry wall having noticed the guy was having trouble but also trying to keep focused so none of the rest of them could read him for anything strange. He would’ve verbally agreed with Tim earlier but it became more apparent just how much would need to be done just to get the place to code let alone cleaned up enough to be comfortable. He heard some grumbling from some of the other workers, nothing too uncommon on site with there being more than enough to complain about lately in the city, though it sounded more directed this time. A quick turn of the head was all it took for him to notice Melrose moving around the site which had him feeling a bit uncomfortable. Sure he didn’t mind the other vigilante seeing his face but knowing his job was a little much so soon. The big man decided to keep his head down, best as he could given the situation, for now to see if he could slip under the radar but he would keep an eye on the woman to see what she did.

For several minutes, Melrose just kept wandering around, as if looking for something or someone in particular. Her eyes were mostly towards the ceiling, pursing her lips in thought. Tim even walked up to her at one point, asking if everything was all right, to which she nodded and gave him an unusually shy smile - though it wasn’t directed at him, exactly. By chance though, she happens to spot Tank - or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that someone so big is not very good at sneaking about. At first, her entire expression blanked before simply smiling in soft recognition. Bonding over on light feet, she gives him a wave. “Hey! Girard!” She apparently not only knew his name, but didn’t seem phased at all about his line of work.

Girard kept at least an eye in the back of his head while watching the other vigilante who looked like she was thinking about something though as to what he could only guess. Not to mention looking between all of the other men at the sight ignoring them politely like she had a target in mind. When the big guy recognized the target of Melrose’s attention he had a small moment of panic, or as close to it as the man could get, hoping that she might not make a particularly big deal of it at least. Of course he may have had a bad guess as to what she would do because not only did the woman head directly at him, he got called out by name without a look of surprise and much care that he was working under her guy.

Really didn’t need that to add to the awkwardness. He thought less than amused about the situation.
“Uh hi. You need something Miss Faye?” Girard said turning to meet her but covering for himself all the same.

She had forgotten for a split second that maybe calling him by name might not be the best in his situation, but she also realized the most he’d get is teased for knowing one of the rich women. So she just perked up and replied. “So, have you seen… um…” Suddenly, Rose had realized what she was really asking and how silly it might come across, making her duck a little in shyness as she continue. “Um.. the.. IT girl, that.. yeah, she was.. around a little while ago?” Melrose admitted, she wasn’t quite sure why she was looking for Ditch at all. Previously, she had been bored, having put together the prototype electrical surge units as best as she could for now and thought she would see if Ditch was around. Of course going to the future HQ, full of construction workers - what was she thinking?

Oh he was going to get it from the guys for this, not horribly, but they sure as hell we're going to pick at him for a day or two over it. A guy like him knowing a rich girl like her would always have raised some eyebrows though given her expression it might have just occurred. It seemed like the little thing was off starting to ask him something but pausing weirdly before asking about some IT chick who apparently was working around the theater. For a moment it hadn’t sunken in but once the gears were turning the only thing buzzing was a question or two for why she was here to see Ditch, if she was even still here having maybe caught a passing glimpse of the other woman earlier. Not to mention of all the people she could have ended up asking about it and he got picked out. Something was up but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it because even he figured finding Ditch near the main working body wouldn’t happen unless it was important.

“Not sure but she might’ve gone towards the room where all the electronics are going.” Girard said taking a moment to point here over towards a side section where he guessed the computers or generators she had mentioned the night before were going.

“Really!?” She exclaims a bit more loudly than she should have, turning her head towards the computer room. Rose looks back to Girard, blushing as she realized again what she was doing. “I-I mean, uh… heh… are you sure?” she asks again, shuffling slightly in place, the blush still lingering light across her cheeks. “I mean… I don’t even know why I’m asking, she, uh, probably went home - right?....” Melrose was looking noticeably embarrassed at this moment, almost like she wanted to hide away, gaining a few odd looks.

The big guy flinched slightly at the sudden burst of excitement from Melrose who had him surprised by reaction alone. Then the blush hit and a singular solution clicked loudly in his mind, the little woman had a crush on Ditch, and it was apparently a pretty major one with all the body language to match it. The stuttered response followed by the look of embarrassment drew a little pity from him knowing the feeling himself years ago but he didn’t let it show more for her sake than his. Honestly he felt a little bad he couldn’t give her an absolute answer about if Ditch was here or not, but it was probably best to get her moving along so she could compose herself.

“Don’t know for certain but you could look and if she’s not you could probably get ahold of her. Seems like a pretty quick responder.” Girard said picking his words carefully though he couldn’t help his gaze softening slightly in concern for her. “Oh and if you need anything else don’t worry about asking, I can make time.”

He hoped the girl would be alright and maybe even be able to center herself enough before anything went wrong. The big man had been guilty of emotions getting ahead of him, it wasn’t something he wanted to see turn bad.

“Uhh…” Finally Melrose gave a shy smile and recomposed herself. “Right.. I’m just being silly! Um - keep up the good work… and stuff.. yeah. And leave the stage be - don’t break it.” She then decided to smirk playfully at the man and spun around, slowly making her way out of the future clubhouse. It was a somewhat awkward situation, but she had never thought to meet any of her future teammates here in the middle of the day, despite knowing their day jobs. She kind of hoped that she wouldn’t get teased later for this.

Girard breathed an internal sigh of relief for now but he had a feeling he might have to keep an eye on Melrose, possibly even Ditch, just in case the crush started to bleed over into work time. It could be life threatening if anyone on the team slipped should it come down to the fight with Umbra and losing vigilantes was the last thing this town needed especially if he could prevent it. Then again it wasn’t so bad for the time between major jobs and he had work to get back to fixing up the HQ for rose and the rest of the team.

“Will do mam.” The big guy said with a polite and mildly amused smile.

Girard went back to work shortly after because this sorry excuse for a home base wasn’t going to get done with him doing nothing.

_{*1,584 words.*}

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

As the others started to leave, she just sort of looked around and tapped her fingers against her thighs for a few moments. For the most part, she still felt she had been mostly ignored or waved off, giving off a soft sigh. They should've known she was completely for this, so felt it was okay to be quiet as she left the room. The only thing she did was pause at the door and glance back at Ditch... then prompetly left to her underground home.

The next day

Rose found herself in her old apartment, among friends, laughter, and happiness as she went around asking if they wanted anything like drinks or snacks. She felt herself laughing and giggling at jokes unheard and as she made her way to the kitchen, an image of a woman with red hair came up to her and kissed her - it was a quick so it wasn’t awkward for others, but Rose could feel all the love and gentleness of someone who thought the world of her, making her grin shyly as she scooted around her to grab some sodas for the guests.

Suddenly though, she turned around to see her friends leaving, opening the apartment door and disappearing into the hallways. She kept trying to ask everyone what was going on, but every time she asked them, another friend or three would leave… before long the only one who was left was her lover, who hovered around the open door, staring at her. The words, ‘I’m sorry,’ was mouthed and soon her lover was also gone, leaving Rose completely and totally alone in her apartment - just standing there, holding her drinks and crying. She felt so alone. So alone.

5 AM…

Melrose shot up from her bed, waking up from her nightmare and breathing heavily. She reached up to her cheeks and felt tears steadily racing down her face. It was a nightmare she had been having for a while now and she always woke up, feeling heartbroken and abandoned. She once heard that nightmares were healthy, that having them meant you recognized your problems and were dealing with them. In truth… she was tired of dealing with them… she was tired of being alone every night…

Wiping her tears away, she looked down at her cat, who had been staring at her the entire time. Quietly, it mewed at her, making her smirk and scratch under her chin. She turned over and tried to get back to sleep. She was still rather tired from the late night.

10 AM…

Having finally woken up and gotten out of bed, Rose was at her closet, choosing a purple skirt and a pink shirt to wear. She had to go out early today since she had a project to do! Namely the new superhero clubhouse they had decided was their base. It was kind of fun, to think it was only a few blocks away! Grabbing a light jacket and tying her cutesy boots, she hopped up the stairs and hopped onto her bike, pressing another fancy button. Quickly, the entire color scheme of the bike changed from a sleek black to a purple and blue swirling pattern, giving her a chance to use the same bike without it being recognized on the streets. After all, what sort of vigilante rode around in a purple and blue bike? None of them did!

Melrose clicked the remote on the bike as the elevator took her back up, the cover opening up from above until she was level with the abandoned warehouse floor, the elevator platform merging perfectly so it was nearly impossible to tell there was one at all. Slowly rolling out of the building, the sealed doors opening at her beckon, she dialed a number and held the phone to her ear. “Hey, Tim… got another project for you - can you break away?” She paused to listen. “Oh, lucky me then, hehe… yeah, meet me at 4315 Racket Avenue… uh, yeah, I know it’s still in the same neighborhood, haha. Just meet me, please? - Thanks.”

45 minutes later...

Rosey was parked outside the clubhouse when Tim finally pulled up with his work truck, turning the engine off and hopping out with a friendly smile. “Miss Faye! I thought we were done around here… now you have another crazy project?”

Rose chuckle and shrugged innocently. “What can I say? I told a few friends and they thought it’d be fun - I know, us rich kids,” she teased. “But come on!” She urged him inside, opening the door and instantly pointing to the hole in the wall Tank had made. “So… uh…. yeah.. we need this place fixed up.” She looked over her shoulder, smiling amusingly at Tim’s expression.

“Uhh.. haha, you pick the strangest places Miss Faye.. but yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem. Do you want to keep the stage too?” he asked, starting to stroll around and take notes of what needed to be done. He has worked with Miss Faye long enough to know what she was asking.

Melrose muddled around for a little bit, inspecting the place herself for a few moments. She could instantly tell what needed to be touched up, fixed, restructured, but knew Tim was worth his money so she normally kept her mouth shut. “The stage? Yeah, totally keep THAT. Also, restore the platform above it - so it’s stable and can hold at least three people.” She hummed a little and spun towards Tim. “Also, when the restoration is done, we need it reinforced - your cousin, Tyler, can you get him to install that security system here too?”

Tim paused and grinned at her. “What, is this going to be your own private fortress?”

“Yeah - something like that. Can’t have the criminals knocking down the doors now, can we?” She gave him a playful, friendly wink.

Back at Rose’s Base…

Letting out a sigh of satisfaction, happy that the project had gotten underway, she plopped into her chair. Tim was a fast worker and it wouldn’t be that long before she was getting calls about completion - probably a week or two. For now though, she started to boot up her hacking program and sat thoughtfully for a few moments. She didn’t mean anything out of malice, but Ditch had hacked everyone’s phone and found out who they were - she was simply curious. So for the next couple of hours, she casually went about finding out everyone’s info, just enjoying knowing who would potentially be on the team. That was until she ran into Ditch’s info, but she wasn’t surprised - of course a super class A hacker would’ve deleted and removed all information on her. She sat there for a little while, debating if she could take the time to recover all the bits of data or not…

“Snooping, are you?” Ditch’s voice rang out through Melrose’s home. The infamous vigilante leaned against the doorway to the room, arms crossed, looking both curious and almost bored at the same time. Ditch expected someone to search for info sooner or later, but this was definitely sooner than later. Of course, anyone digging deep around her name would find nothing, and Ditch would be alerted immediately.

It hadn't taken much effort to get inside Rose’s home, and though she had no ill intent, she simply felt it best to speak to the woman face to face. “Nice place.” The blonde haired woman left her spot in the doorway to step further into the room, of course, without invitation. “And not too far from HQ at all.” Ditch’s outfit had hardly changed since their last meeting, she obviously wasn't trusting anyone with anything more then her face just yet. Black jeans, except these had stylish tears, converse instead of boots, and a black hoodie. Her mask was nowhere to be seen, but she had the same backpack as before slung over her shoulder. Unlike last meeting, she now sported black, heavy rimmed glasses. She moved her hands to her pockets as she waited Rose’s response to her intrusion.

Rose blinked for a moment and looked over her shoulder. At first there was no reaction, until finally a smile appeared on her lips. She didn’t feel threatened by Ditch, so instead, she felt impressed - of course she could bypass her silent alarm and activate the elevator. Though she was an interesting sort to just walk into a girl’s private room, but she really didn’t mind all that much - honestly, this was the first time any women had been in her room before - she kind of enjoyed the idea. “Yeah, well…” she started slowly, spinning to face Ditch. “Figured you got to know everything about us - well, almost everything,” she teased softly, “that it wasn’t such a bad thing to learn a thing or two about my teammates as well. We’ll be working together, after all… I wouldn’t worry too much though - I don’t normally go about flaunting what I know that much. I try not to anyways… I don’t like people thinking I’m arrogant..”

Ditch only uttered a small “hmn” after Rose finished speaking. “I don't mind you looking into your teammates,” Ditch started. “It's the clever thing to do, actually. If I were in your position I'd be doing the same. I only start to worry when my own personal business is being dug out of the grave.” Ditch smiled at Melrose, a kind smile, one that held no threats. “Though Umbra has taken someone from me, there are still people I need to protect. And though I've put many hours of research into making sure you won’t go behind my back, I can’t be sure just yet.” Ditch paused. “No offense.”

“Also,” Ditch said. “I heard you were getting a security system installed. I’ve already got that covered.” She gave Rose a smirk, but said nothing further of the subject, leaving her to wonder what Ditch had truly done to the place already.

“If you have questions,” She reverted back to the original topic without any trouble at all. “You can ask me. Of course, I won’t be spilling my guts, but if there are things you need to know if you’re going to be working with me, than by all means, ask away.”

Melrose pursed her lips for a moment and looked back at her computer before looking back and shaking her head ever so slightly. “Nothing in particular…” Rose’s tone had instantly changed, being tinged with sadness more than anything as she relaxed into her chair. “That makes sense though… that you still have loved ones to protect… I suppose not all of us have that sort of fortune.” She sighed and shifted. “Anyways - you’re not the only one to protect people you know, but of course you already know that, with Aurora… anyways, just saying.” She casually mentions towards her right. “If you want, you can go into the work area and the room on the end is the kitchen. Feel free to take anything you’d like… or I can cook something if you prefer… I really don’t have much on my agenda at the moment besides calling Tim back.” At that, she finally smirked slightly, showing at least a little humor in the situation.

Ditch raised an eyebrow as Rose’s voice softened with sadness. What had she done to provoke that? Admittedly, she’d never been the best with emotions. Ditch focused on her words. Oh. It quickly made sense, obviously Melrose had lost those she cared for. It was a common thing, in this business. A terrible thing at that.

“I’m not as fortunate as you’re making it out to be,” Ditch said, her smile never seeming to fade. “I’ve got a strange predicament on my hands. You’ll find it very hard to protect those you love when they can no longer love you back.” She cast her gaze to the floor for a moment before looking back at the young woman. “But I don’t mind it.. it’s good to have something that keeps me from going mad. I admire people who go on with their lives even when they have nothing left to live for. Perhaps except revenge.”

A grin spread across Ditch’s face at Melrose’s little joke. “I appreciate that you’re taking renovating the place into your hands.” She said with a nod. “And I’m glad you decided to keep the stage.”

Rose snorted softly and gave Ditch a particular look. “Well… I guess we have that bit in common… in a sense anyways. Though I do think you’ve misunderstood that part - I never really ‘lost’ anyone.. even when my father passed, I didn’t know the man. The thing is…” She paused, taking in a breath, as if it wasn’t the most pleasant thing to say. “I never really HAD anyone. Losing people.. would’ve been preferable.. at least then I would have had happy memories to fall back on. Instead, it’s just been… me.” Melrose shrugged half-heartedly. “But what can you do? … but, yeah, I thought about removing the stage,” she admitted, “but it seemed like maybe if I kept it - it’d keep the original spirit alive. I suppose I enjoyed that thought..” She smiled softly, swinging her legs just a tad in her chair.

“Losing people is not preferable.” Ditch said sharply, demeanor suddenly changing. She was visibly more tense as she shook her head. “Don’t.. wish to lose people. Ever. No matter if it’s only because you wished to have them in the first place. I suppose you think it would’ve better to feel something; but you can’t possibly realize how much more it hurts.” She was becoming bitter as she spoke, though after the rant was over, Ditch paused, inhaling and stopping herself from getting any angrier. “You still have time to 'know' people anyhow. The world isn’t ending quite yet.”

“It’s sad to see how horribly the place deteriorated,” Ditch admitted. “It used to be so colorful. But we’ll make it feel like home. It’s a great part of why I chose the place.” Ditch tilted her head. “That, and the place is basically empty. I hope your contractors don’t make too much of a ruckus, though. We don’t need any unwanted attention.”

She paused in her tracks as soon as Ditch snapped. She listened intently, pursing her lips and nodding. Letting her finish, she felt it was best to address the noise concern first. “Well, Tim is used to working for me… he knows by now to be… discreet. They normally do off site cutting and such and make as little noise as possible.” Rose stopped for a moment then and let out a short breath. “I didn’t mean to hit a nerve, by the way… and I’m not really good at words sometimes, so I apologize… it’s not that I wished to lose someone - what I TRULY want is for someone to actually stay in my life and love me for being me. THAT’S what I want… and I suppose I say I haven’t had anyone is because everyone abandons me. I guess that’s the same as people leaving you… I mean… even if I got a ‘friend,’ they would only leave me a year later. For whatever reason.” She looked sullen over the whole matter. “I’m not saying what I’ve been through has been worse - this isn’t a competition, after all, but it’s not very often people really understand being completely alone. It’s gotten to the point where you can say there’s time all day long, that I’m young, I still have time… but after twenty-three years of being left every single time - it’s sort of hard to believe.” She reached up to twirl her hair in her finger for a bit. “Doesn’t mean I’ll push it away if it comes though… just… hard… ugh, sorry.” Rose shook her head and dropped her hands in her lap. “I don’t normally rant to strangers about this sort of thing - I really am sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Ditch mumbled. “You’re fine. We’ve all got feelings upon feelings stacked up inside us.. the best thing you can do is let them all fall out. It makes you feel lighter.” Ditch shook her head, crossing her arms again. “I do hope this team I’m putting together can be more than just a crime-fighting gang. We’re all used to working alone.. perhaps it’s time to change that.”

“People come and go.. it’s the way life works. Nothing stays forever, and loyal friends are one in a million. That doesn’t mean it’s your fault, though. Remind yourself of that from time to time.”

“Yeah..” she replied softly and gave a sad smile to that. “Yeah, I know it isn’t.. I suppose I’m just sorry that venting to you, opened up your own wounds.” Rose brushed her hair back and reached across her desk, pulling another rolling chair around it. “Go ahead and sit if you want - no need to stand there and look cool all day,” she teased softly again, smirking. “At least, not in my home anyways… I mean, really, you’re the first person to have visited it after being completed.” She relaxed back into her own chair. “I’m all for making this more than just a gang.. a ragtag group of individualistic heroes.. but regardless of what happens, I’ve always been willing to work with others. I’ll stay on for as long you need or want me.”

Rose looked back at her computer for a few moments and then back to Ditch, considering and thinking to herself before suddenly the thoughtful expression formed into donning a serious, but lighthearted expression. “So… there was something I wanted to correct you on - and probably should do with the others when I have the chance. Accelerated mind? That was amazingly close to what my actual powers are… but it’s not entirely accurate.” She only paused, not for dramatic effect, but out of curiousity of Ditch’s reaction. Rose was curious how often Ditch was actually wrong about something. “I’ve done some thinking and researching and the best actual titles for what my powers do is, adaptable prediction & intuitive aptitude. I figure most people might get confused by that though… essentially, I can interpret body language regarding movement which allows me to predict things like attacks even from the movement of the eyes. The other, more interesting, power of mine allows me to fully understand any subject - including powers… chances are, I probably know Levi’s powers better than he does now.” Rosey gave the hacker a smile. “So.. if you don’t want me to find yours out, I’d suggest not using them around me… but I promise even if I do, I won’t say anything. It’s obviously a secret and it’s not mine to share.. just be aware, is all.” She had given Ditch a gentle, friendly tone, trying her best to not sound arrogant or offensive in any way, giving off a genuine feeling about what she had said.

Ditch gave a small laugh as she sat down, crossing her legs and resting her gaze back on Rose again. “I’m glad I have your support. And you have a very nice home.”

Ditch raised an eyebrow as Rose began to correct her on her own abilities. “Interesting.” Ditch mumbled, adjusting her glasses and leaning back in the chair. “A useful power. Certainly not flashy.. but helpful for sure. If you haven’t picked who you want to go after yet, I might suggest Walker. He’s slippery; he’ll run for sure. We’ll need people who can think quick if we want to catch him at all.”

Ditch spun in the chair with a small grin on her face as she chose her next words. “Who says I’ve got powers anywho?”

Melrose was already feeling better, the smile on her face reflecting that as she leaned over her desk a little to prop her elbow on it. “Yeah.. I had considered that,” she replies causally. “I suppose one of these days you’ll stop being so secretive,” she added with a slight smirk. “As for the group - yeah, that might be a better choice. With my powers, I’d be good with either, but at least I don’t risk being squashed like a bug with the walker.” She pondered it for a few more moments. “Though my powers overall are more useful in preparation after I already know their weaknesses - but I have an idea to electrify the walls with something. I imagine, in theory, he spaces out his molecules or stops the attraction of atoms to allow space to form through objects. Electricity would excite his atoms regardless of form… if we’re lucky, it’ll stop him completely from exiting whichever building we catch him in - assuming we do, that is.”

Looking right at Ditch though, she offered a more gentle smile. “To be honest though, you really are smarter than I am. Before my power awakened, I didn’t know how to do a fraction of the things you can… I mean, I’m intelligent.. so I can take advantage of the knowledge given me.. but I’ve no doubt it’d be more useful in your hands if something like that was possible.”

“Perhaps,” Ditch said, drumming her fingers on her thigh, in response to Rose considering the option of her stopping to be so secretive. “Yes, Scarlet is much more volatile than Walker. That’s why it’s best if the heavy hitters of the group go after her. Walker is quick, smart.. I think even if you don't have time to plan, you’ll be a big help. And that’s an interesting plan already. When we regroup next, please be sure to share it.” Ditch gave Rose a smile.

“Oh.. I’ve just.. been training myself for a long time. And as a kid I had a lot of time on my hands to teach myself whatever I wanted.” Ditch shrugged. “You’re perfectly smart. And I guess I just look smarter than I am. It comes with the job. I have to look smart.”

“I think I should be heading out now.. but I enjoyed this talk. If you ever need to find me, wander around HQ for a while, or you know, try to find info on me again.” Ditch gave a nod. “And if you need to vent, by all means, try to hack my stuff.” She laughed.

“Look smarter than you are?” She scoffed amusingly. “Suuure, if you say so,” she teased, still leaning forward on her elbow. “But yeah.. I’ll share the idea.. should probably explain my powers too.. but didn’t seem important last night..” She sighs softly. “I actually enjoyed the chat too… but now that you’ve given me permission, I might try and send you texts every time I want to talk now,” she grinned playfully. “... have a good day, Ditch - someday I’ll be able to use your real name.” Rose smirked.

“It’s perfectly important, and you could’ve said it then too. Your abilities are important, otherwise you wouldn’t have been there today.” Ditch insisted. “Heh.. I don’t guarantee a response, you’ve been warned. Though I basically hack all day, I do prefer to speak in person.”

Ditch moved towards the stairs, but pausing before she started to climb them. She bit her lip, looking to be mulling something over, before looking back at Rose once more. “Kendall. Name’s Kendall.” She gave a casual two-fingered salute, and with that, she left the room.

Having followed Ditch to the stairway, like a polite host should, she tilted her head at first - curious why she had paused. Then suddenly she knew her name and even after Kendall had left, she stood there, really going over what it must’ve meant for her to share her name so quickly. Rose had been teasing her mostly since she could tell how much that secrecy meant to Ditch, but she never expected to actually get something so personal already.

She quietly walked back to her room with a small grin, biting at her lower lip. It wasn’t very often she felt a ‘connection’ with someone… it was actually a bit scary, but it made her smile anyways. She had really enjoyed Ditch’s company - Kendall’s company.

_{*4,067 words.*}

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

I'm good with that line up. =)

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

He sighed inwardly and turned towards Melrose. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly, his eyes flashing towards Graffiti and the sparky guy. "You seem kind of put off suddenly. We can make this work, this team thing. It's just... Getting a bunch of people together used to working alone will have some rough patches, you know?"

Rose looked up at the man for a few moments, just staring before letting out a sigh and nodding slightly. "I know... I'm just.. not good with tension.." Though things had started to calm down and it was obvious Melrose was feeling a bit better. "But I guess it's dying down, now that Kid Spark is done throwing his fit," she said a bit with a bite - apparently she hadn't approved. Though she gave the man a smile, "thank you."

Hopping down from the stage as Ditch started to spill out a bunch of information out again. Though admittedly, it was nice to know the powers she was playing with, it still didn't provide even the hint of depth that she would learn over the course of working with them. Already, she had comprehended Levi's & Reaper's powers to an exactness and to some extend also Aurora's summoning abilities. Though mention of her powers made her blink as she gave Ditch a subtle look - she never expected Ditch to know her power, exactly, but she had gotten surprisingly close with her guess! Well, she was a smart gal and probably took her time to observe them.

The rest of the information was just minor details as far as she was concerned, moving to watch the screen and it's video. It boiled down to, two criminals needing to be saved from Umbra's henchmen so they either weren't recruited or didn't have their powers sucks from them. Umbra was definitely someone she needed to be extra cautious around - especially in the first meeting. She needed to survive the encounter so she could tell the others what and how he did it and what weaknesses he had... everyone had a weakness.

By the end she seemed to have returned more to her normal, causally confident self, as she looked at the others. "I'm fine going with either group," she admitted. Though, perhaps later, she would need to tell them all what her power REALLY was.

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

All Rose could do at this point is sort of watch, her eyes staring intently at everything that was going on, and even in the face of her mind being flooded with new information as people flaunted their powers she could still think clearly. At this point, the tensions and fear and insecurity were running so high that even Ditch seemed to wave her off, nearly completely. It was something she had acknowledged a few years ago but still didn't know how to handle all the time, that she was an empath and all these high running emotions were really starting to affect her. So much so that she even took Ditch's small remark as being 'not important.'

That triggered a very typical reaction from the rich girl. Suddenly her senses were filled with depression, familiar feelings of being abandoned and ignored, and it wasn't just that she didn't have much to say - she didn't feel like saying much at all. Assuming anyone had been even paying attention, Rose's expression fell from the calm, confidence that had entered the room to a quiet mouse hiding in the corner. She fell completely silent, looking both uncomfortable and unsure of what to do, just sitting there awkwardly. All this tension had put her in a sour mood and in truth, she had always been willing to be the last to leave anyways - she only lived a minute away - so she just sat there...

Never Normal - a Superhero Vigilante RP

@Blazion I think we all struck bad impressions and at first we will be on each other's throat, with time however we will learn to like each other and in the end we will all chill and drink juice as if we were in a cheesy 90's sport movie.

@Double Capybara

But... but... Rose is cool with everyone! I mean, look at her! She just joked with two of them and is chilling on the stage (mostly). Everyone follow her example. =P