Xaltwind
Pirouette
Crimson Flame
Danyel
Mage
Noctis
Izurich
Damycles
jimapple
ZapdosManaging Chaos
A collab between @Old Amsterdam, @Solokolos, @BCTheEntity, @PlatinumSkink, and @LemonZest1337
Alright. Here we go, then.
Sheila had ensured there was a path into the HQ that currently didn’t contain any Rockers grunts for this moment. It was the time to introduce people, and hope things went well. Herself, she was in full Creep costume, black coat and a black tattered cape which she’d discard if she’d actually be in battle but it looked cool whenever she wasn’t. Blindfold and mask on, hair coloured brown by use of her power, hood currently down. It was easier like that. First, she had escorted Jacob into her office. Now, she came through for the second time, having retrieved Chad. It was time for them both to meet again, now. She didn’t know how much they actually knew of one another… but here it was.
Sheila opened the door and walked aside, turning to look at each of them as she let the encounter happen without any interference on her part. She’d told them both the one they’d meet would be another ally of hers, but left everything else exceedingly vague, just in case they wanted to keep their identities hidden… but chances were they’d know.
Jacob stood there, looking on casually at the other. An ally. The only one to accept the offer, if he had to guess. What a shame. She deserved more than just…. Well, him and another.
He'd come simple. He didn't want anything impressive for a costume, it just wasn't his thing. Instead he was in a black hoodie, hood up and a pretty standard black Domino mask on underneath framed by his untidy hair. Old black cargo pants, torn in a few places, over well worn shoes. He could pass on the streets as any random person. He nodded at the other, raising his voice a little. ”The name's Pester.”
Comparing himself to the other guy here, Chad couldn’t help but wonder if he’d asked too much of Sheila. He’d suggested for himself something akin to a firefighter’s outfit, complete with mask and head cover, not expecting her to actually go out of her way to grab one for him. Since then, he’d customised the mask with a tinted layer, letting him see out whilst blocking his face from observation and muffling his voice. He felt like he’d appreciate that notion, honestly. Given his ability, if he accidentally killed someone, he’d want to make sure his real identity wasn’t compromised.
One benefit of his power: he didn’t really feel heat the same way. Sure, it was hot under his outfit, but it wasn’t affecting him the way one might anticipate, which was certainly a plus. Helped him keep his cool around... this guy. He had a feeling he recognised the hair, but he didn’t bring anything up for now, just in case he was wrong.
Instead, he introduced himself dispassionately. ‘I go by Salem. Pleasure to meet you.’
Jacob licked his lips and swallowed before continuing, having looked the guy over. ”It should be…. Interesting…. Working together.”
Sheila looked at them both at the same time, using her power. Hm, well. Seemed like they’d do fine, but they were slightly strapped for time. ‘Alright, good. I’d take more time with this introduction, but Visage is on her way. Visage is on the Rockers and an ally of us, but she’s not like me. She’s a proper villain,’ Sheila said with her voice-changer on, making it more creepy and hoarse yet still decidedly female. ‘I don’t entirely trust her, but we’ll be working together. I trust you two to be my allies… if something were to happen. In any case. She has the ability to take my form. She can change people’s perception of her, just like I can. She’s going to help lead the Rockers while taking my form, to make “Creep” a mightier and more everpresent entity. … But that’s also why, at any point I enter your field of vision…’
She blinked at them. A small white light, blinking in the center of her dark form at the two of them, a separate light for each. Each light was directed only at their eyes and at nothing else, giving a small blinking-star like appearance at a harmless level of light.
‘… I’ll give you this sign that it is me. Nobody around but those I want to see it can see it. Visage won’t know it, and I trust neither of you will tell her. This way you’ll be able to tell, no matter what.’ Sheila nodded, thinking that’d do. ‘Alright. Stand by me, or make ready any way you want. Visage will be here any minute.’ Saying so, Sheila turned to the door Visage would likely appear from, given it was the only way into the office. Just standing straight in the middle of the room, in a way nobody would unless they were obviously waiting for someone.
Jacob nodded once, moving to lean against a wall silently.
Oh, right, Visage. She’d been... mentioned before, with a hint of caution in Sheila’s voice when she did so. At the time, Chad had been a bit put off by how it turned out she could look like Creep at any time she wanted, with no obvious hints that she was indeed a different person. Now, with some time to process the notion, and especially with this new revelation of how to tell who was the real Creep and who was merely an imposter, Chad felt much more at ease about that matter.
‘Understood,’ he agreed, taking his position next to Sheila in preparation for what came next. He’d been practicing his “cool guy” persona for a few days, so that he could mask his persona as well as his physical features from those he definitely didn’t want to know about it. He was a bit of a twat normally, he’d admit that much to himself any day, but the average Rocker didn’t need to know about that. Visage, from what he’d heard about her, didn’t need to know either.
”No mentioning stabbing people, be respectful to Creep, do I need to reiterate anything else?” Visage closed the cab door behind Mire, fixing her mask to her face a bit better. Now she was actually wearing her full costume, as opposed to just manipulating the node like before. Listening for a response, she started leading the way towards the Rocker HQ. Without thinking about it too much, she dismissed the node she had set on the cab driver.
Mire counted her fingers while mumbling to herself as she went over the many points Visage had discussed with her while on the drive. ”Uhhhh-no I don’t think so. Yeah no I think we’re good.” Mire was shaking with excitement as they walked towards what she was assuming to the be Rockers HQ building. She took a deep breath and made sure her knife was sheathed securely. ”Ok yeah one hundred percent ready.”
The lack of Rocker grunts in the HQ kind of surprised Visage, though she tried not to show it. Letting the heavy door close behind them, she stayed ahead of Mire, and headed for Creep’s new office. It wasn’t new new, it was new to Creep, Visage assumed. She opened the door, and went in first, motioning Mire to follow her as she took stock of the new people. She hadn’t met either of them before, it seemed, as no nodes were present except Creep’s.
”Wow we were on similar wavelengths, eh?” Visage joked, flourishing her hand at Mire, before waving it again to reference the two others. ”New allies I presume?”
So quick to find the words. Creep had been intending to speak immediately, yet Visage had construed entire sentences before Creep got out her pre-prepared one. ‘Hm.’ Creep crossed her arms and let out a mildly amused little sound. ‘I did say I’d be looking into inviting some friends, did I not?’ So the pet project was a new ally? Interesting, and slightly worrying. Still, it was promising. Creep turned her face to Mire despite not needing to in order to see her. ‘I am Creep, leader of the Rockers. And these… Gentlemen, if you would,’ she said, intending that the other two can introduce themselves.
‘Salem.’ Yeah, just his Cape name would work. Maybe cross his arms, too? Hell yeah, that definitely looked badass.
”Pester." Jacob's voice was resoundingly unemotional, borderline bored, as he remained where he was.
Maybe a little less impactful than Creep would have liked, but alright, then. ‘Now, who’s this?’
Mire looked at all the new people, you had the boss Creep and her goons Salem and Pester. So this is what she’d gotten herself into. After a brief glance back at Visage Mire looked back at the others and shot out her arms towards the two boys, inviting them to a handshake. ”Pleasure to meet you all. I’m Mire! I look forward to working with you!”
Bracing herself, Visage didn’t expect Mire to do-wow. That was actually perfect. Visage smiled slightly, now watching Salem and Pester’s reaction. Honestly if Mire was just very polite the entire time, it would make it difficult for anyone else here to act out, unless they wanted to lose respect.
Oh-ho. An energetic one, Creep thought. That might actually be a boon to the group. She stayed quiet for now, looking on.
Jacob nodded slightly, looking at the hand offered before pulling himself off the wall and accepting with an easy smile. ”Any ally of Creep is an ally of mine." The words were casual as he looked into Mire's eyes.
”Same!” Mire said with a slightly giddy tone before turning her head towards Salem. Wiggling her fingers as she waited for him to go for the extended hand.
Chad had expected a much less... perky ally in Mire, admittedly. Then again, he hadn’t been expecting any other allies than Visage. Sheila hadn’t mentioned this, but from the sound of things, she hadn’t known about it either. That said, since she was offering her hand, Chad extended his hand to take it.
Just as Chad had almost reached her had Mire quickly retracted in and ran it over her head and rubbed the back of her neck. ”Ooooo too slow.” Mire chuckled a little. ”I’m sorry I jest.” Mire then re-extended her hand back out and gave Chad a firm handshake.
...that stung, a lot. Memories arose of times when he’d been subjected to bullying, so much bullying. And he’d just been about to greet her cordially, too. He was almost tempted to just retract his hand entirely, but for the sake of politeness, kept his hand extended until the shake was over before folding his arms again. Bitch thought she was a jokester, huh? He imagined the idiot wouldn’t be laughing so much if she had her arms torn off. Or maybe her fingers broken one by one, or... hell, he could just start melting her body inch by slow, painful, torturous inch...
Auuuuugh. He hated bullies. Managing to suppress a violent twitch of recoil from his own broken psyche down to a slight shudder, he responded ‘I hope we can get along well,’ nodding politely in Mire and Visage’s direction. He’d certainly make sure Mire didn’t start fucking with him regularly. Somehow, maybe.
Jacob's grip on Mire's hand tightened slightly as a flash of irritation passed over his face. ”I think that was uncalled for." With that he let go with one final squeeze and returned to Sheila's side.
‘Now, now,’ Creep raised her voice a bit directly after Pester’s comment, in a way to signify that the boss was talking. ‘Play nice. Mire, I’d appreciate if you avoided making my members feel slighted. Pester, in the same vein, avoid scaring new members when you inform them they’ve done wrong. We need them to like being Rockers.’ Creep took it onto herself to make a good first impression for the girl. While her face was covered, she made herself smile under the mask as she stepped forward to calmly extend her own hand.
‘Welcome to the Rockers. I look forward to seeing how you’ll do.’
Mire tilted her head at Jacob as he let go of her hand, she didn’t think she was going to like these two. Soft as fucking marshmallows they were. That’s when the boss raised her voice, she also voiced out against her harmless prank though it seemed like she was trying to keep everyone happy over actually being annoyed by it. It was cute how Creep thought Pester could actually be scary, with how thin that kid’s skin was Mire didn’t think he’d be capable of anything that she would consider even remotely frightening.
Mire accepted Creep’s handshake, giving her a surprisingly sturdy handshake for someone of her size. ”I look forward to working with you too. I hope I’ll be able to pull my weight.”
Gentlemen. This is a boy at best, child at worst. Visage didn't even consider shaking their hands, but she still had to tease them somehow. She walked over to Pester, leaning forward, eyes intent on the side of his face, directly below the right side of his domino mask. Having already looked him over, this was literally just for show. If he glanced down at her cleavage he would get quite the show, but he'd also lose in Visage's eyes. ”I like you, Pester. Name makes me think of pestilence. Hopefully it's not in reference to what children do.” She stood straight again, walking over to stand in front of Creep but keeping her distance still. ”Are we gonna show off a little of what they can do? Or is now not the time for that?”
Jacob looked on, unfazed, with a slightly raised eyebrow. He glanced at Creep before speaking. ”It's a reference to what I'll become. What I am." He looked again at Creep for confirmation about displaying abilities, a hint of concern on his face.
Visage was definitely flashing Pester, right? That wasn’t just a trick of his mind, was it? Maybe he was just imagining it. Yeah, that made sense. But honestly, he felt like what Creep had said about playing nice wouldn’t matter, since he was able to play as nice as anybody could want, even if he was wanting to put his fingers through their- no, Chad, no, stop it. The point was, she had accused Pester of pestering, and he’d responded with a statement about who he intended to become. And as for himself, somewhat on the sidelines... well, he hoped he hadn’t fulfilled a prophecy in his own right by naming himself after an infamous incident of mass hysteria.
Creep watched Visage very closely for what she was doing that close to Pester, albeit she was still turned towards Mire. Nothing particular happened and Pester held his own, good. Creep finished her handshaking with Mire and nodded, until Visage then asked asked if they’d show off what they could do. … Hm. Both her new recruits had certain negative drawbacks upon using their powers. One internal, the other highly external. Still…
‘Yes. We need to understand one another’s abilities going forward, for when we fight side by side it is to our advantage to know exactly what to expect of our companions. With that in mind…’ … Creep took a bit of a breath as she prepared to show off her own power first.
She made a show of suddenly being blown into dust in front of the rest, little parts of her scattering into nothing. Though, she was still standing there. ‘I twist perception for those looking in my direction. While my range is short, I can redirect any image I perceive around me in any direction I please, or break it apart as it suits me.’ For those present, she made a little show of an image of themselves as she could see them appearing in her place, looking back at them. ‘… That said, I am no artist. I can only use images I have available, I can’t create new ones from scratch. But I can break them.’ She cracked the images in a lot of pieces, scattering them in the winds, Creep standing there behind, looking towards them.
‘So. Currently, all of you seem to see me looking at you. Which way am I actually looking?’ … She had the vision of herself collapse into shadows, leaving herself facing the wall. ‘… The answer is all of them, because I manipulate my own perception so I can see in all directions at once. I don’t need to face anywhere, anymore.’ She breathed out a bit. ‘So, my range is short and have limitations. However, when someone’s within my range…’ So, Mire had been close to her for that handshake, so Creep was going to use her for her own demonstration.
To Mire, Creep remained standing in front of her. To the rest, Sheila briefly left a transparent version of herself standing where she had been as the real her walked in a half-circle around Mire on soft, silent feet. The transparent version of herself vanished quickly, but Mire still saw Creep in front of her, yet none of the rest did. Finally, behind Mire, she spoke. ‘When people are within my range, I control exactly what they see. They’re effectively mine.’ With that, the Creep in front of Mire, to only her, blew into dust as Creep backed away towards the wall behind her. ‘I can choose who I want to see me and who to not. As such, I’ll show myself as transparent if I want you to see me but want to signal that our opponents cannot. At worst, I’m a Stranger with a knife. And that’s what I can do. A Creep creeping up behind you without you ever knowing, and taking control of your reality.’
… Maybe she went overboard there. Maybe. She had thought about that demonstration a lot. … Of course, that wasn’t all she could do, but that was entirely intentional.
‘The rest of you can demonstrate if you wish. I leave that to you,’ Creep said, leaning to the wall now.
Frowning for a moment, Chad looked down at the ground before him. He’d learned by now to filter out the additional sense when he didn’t need to use it, but when he focused on it just a little, the floor and walls around him gladly offered themselves up as subjects to his ability. At a whim, he could probably kill everybody else in the room before they could blink... but, that would be counter-productive. And it’d mean Sheila died, too.
‘You’ll figure it out,’ he uttered to the other three. Coldly, or coolly? Crap, had he been too chilly with his response? He was trying to sound cool, not douchey. If he came off as a douche, they might decide he was worth killing after all... oh, hell, he hoped they wouldn’t do it to him.
Jacob smirked, walking away from everyone a little, showing the first real signs of emotions since the meeting had started.
With a little snap of his fingers, for show of course, a lean reptilian looking creature appeared near him. It immediately took off, running around the group, between people, and going so far as to even pull off a little flip before climbing a wall. And then….
It was gone just as soon as it had appeared. Jacob's face went from joy to…. Nothing. In an almost mechanical voice he spoke up, ”Yeah, so, I use my emotions to make a thing that kinda listens and does whatever you'd expect that emotion to do. Leaves me emotionless for a few hours or so.”
Mire stood in place after she shook Creeps hand, just looking around at people as they said their stuff. And it seemed they had planned to show off their powers so they could better work together and all that spicy stuff, that was cool. Oooh, the big boss was going first, Mire was interested in this one. Mire tilted her head at Creep as the girl appeared to just, fade away but like she was still there talking. Oh boy it was another mind fucker illusion person dam there were like 3 of them standing in the room! Man fighting them would be like fucking a disco.
Then it seemed Creep was focused on messing around with Mire, she could see the image of the boss clearly in front of her but her voice was coming from behind. That was some sneaky shit right there, Mire wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Then it was fireman Sam’s turn, though he just blurted out some ominous crap and didn’t do anything. I mean Mire wasn’t expecting much from the dude anywho. Then came another interesting power, summoning animal companion based on emotion… Hmm what if they could bleed, oh wait could she stab them and then nobody except a projection would die? Shiiiiiit she might like this kid after all. Mire looked around and then pointed to herself? ”Oh is it my turn now? Oh a-ah ok, I think taking a few steps back would be a good move.”
Mire walked as far as she could away from the others, as she wanted to show off the mist a bit without actually making them get fricked the heck up by it. Mire rolled her shoulders and shifted to her breaker form with a quick puff of smoke. Instantly Mire’s Mist started to expand and fill the room, though Mire was taking care that the cloud would not reach the others. ”My power is made up of two main parts, there is the mist that you all see in front of you. If you were to come into contact with it you would start to see things, hear things, feel things, that are not truly there. Well most of them.” Mire’s voice was much different from her normal one, it sounded like an echo except it was clearly coming from one direction instead of all around. The mist stayed in place as Mire made her way closer to the group though she was still currently concealed by her mist, but instead of normal footsteps everyone would hear heavy thudding, like something big was coming.
That is when Mire’s form would peek out of the mist, still partly concealed by it. What stood there was clearly not human, it was a towering beast that’s hunched back was almost scraping against the ceiling. In place of a human head was what looked like a mix between a bear and a shark head, in place of arms the creature had two sets of bladed appendages like massive bladed hooks. The main bulk of the body and rear end of the beast was still hidden in the mist. ”The secondary part of my power lets me edit my form in a multitude of ways, I’m a shape shifter.” With that said Mire descended back into the mist which quickly started to collapse in on itself, eventually disappearing to show Mire standing there. ”Ta da!” Mire did a dramatic bow before walking back towards the group.
First there was Creep’s performance, which informed Visage of her power in ways she hadn’t before known. She took some mental notes, trying to remind herself to write this down at some point in the future. Know thy enemy, and all that jazz. Next was Salem who- Alright, did nothing. Was he going for edge? Regardless, Visage found herself slightly perturbed, though she did her best to remain straight faced.
Next next next, next was Pester. The moment she saw the thing appear she frowned. It moved around the room a bit, and Visage had to hold back an involuntary screech. God she hated creepy things like this. That gave her a mental note to not bring Pester on missions with her unless he was going to be using his power very far away from Visage.
At long last our dear Mire, she showed her true color, which was black smoke. Another self satisfied smile crossed her face, sticking there until Mire reverted. Wonderful. She mouthed, mostly to herself. So far she’d seen a woman who could control her image in a more abstract way, a boy with performance anxiety, a reptile summoner, and the incomparable Mire. Visage was definitely winning.
Oh, and herself. She idly wondered if they had actually been told about her power. It didn’t much matter if they had been, as no one knew the whole story behind her power, still. An interesting thought. Taking to the center of the room, she set nodes on them one by one, only keeping her eyes on theirs long enough to create it. ”Poof” In front of them stood Creep, and they would fully grasp that instantly. There once was Visage, and now there was another Creep. ”Oh I found this out recently.” NotCreep said, and then she was gone. No other form stood in her place. Soft soled and invisible, she carefully crept past Salem. Once behind him, she would wrap her arms around his stomach, pressing herself against his back Her power turned off for all present and she remained motionless. ”Similar to Creep’s but without the shattering. I can just control what I look like.”
Everyone else seemed so proud to show off. Sure, there were benefits to showing what he could do to those who’d benefit from it, but why bother when you could just tell them? Not to mention just showing it, not intentionally making a scene. Even Creep, he realised belatedly, she’d gone and showed off her ability to apparently turn into dust, as well as sneaking around the back of Mire. All perceptual, all based on twisting what they could see freely. It was self-indulgence. And to add to that, Pester showed off his own ability, a Master power that generated a creature from his emotions. Apparently, he only really felt emotion as a result of that? Or at least he couldn’t feel emotion after the fact. Interesting.
Then came Mire. Dear God, Mire. Not only could she... generate some black mist? Transform into it? He couldn’t tell, but it was supposedly hallucinogenic either way. Chad was suddenly very very happy he was wearing the smoke mask, whether or not it helped. In fact, he wasn’t sure her mist wasn’t getting in anyway; the thing, the monster that stepped out of the mist kind of made him wonder if he’d not suddenly snapped. Then again, it was speaking to them all, and the others, so he took a step back from it just in case. Juuust in case.
And shortly after, the mist collapsed, and Mire was back to normal. Yeah, no, that was fine. He never ever wanted to fight her, whether he would win such a fight or not. Though somehow, he wondered whether he could, even with his own ability. However, that just left Visage, who took to the center of the room, then took her time to look in everyone’s direction... why? Apparently, so she could transform into Creep. Right, Sheila had mentioned this already; a fake Creep, but as he glanced back and forth between her and the real Creep, he kept track of that one indicator, that thing which proved who was who, fake, real, fake, real, fa- wait. Where did Visage go?
The sensation of a body pressing up behind him, of arms wrapping around his stomach, had him freezing up abruptly. Was that. Yes, no, that was Visage. Why was she behind him. Why was she pressing herself against him. Okay, no, see, most guys would like that to happen, right? Why wouldn’t he like it too? Well, maybe, the consideration of what Sheila had told him kept him a bit wary anyway. She was a “proper villain”. That meant bad things, or at least he imagined it did. He didn’t know, maybe Sheila was exaggerating a touch.
‘Yeah, okay, cool,’ he uttered, his voice still muffled through his mask. Thankfully. ‘That is definitely a useful ability.’ And like that, he was the odd one out. Hell, maybe he should say what his power was? They’d figure it out soon enough, anyway... but still…
Creep turned her head, as she made in habit of doing as to not look inhuman as she focused around her. Salem… said they’d figure it out. … Hah, yeah, she had been wondering. Okay, while she had something to say, they moved on. Pester showed his power. Honestly, she found the reptile a little cute. Given his smile, she assumed this was joy? Or smugness, that worked too. While there was an inherent worry that it’d for some reason charge her, Creep stayed still until it was gone. Then, it was Mire.
Creep acknowledged and moved over without a word for her demonstration. First there was the smoke. A Breaker, it appeared. The effects of the mist were certainly worrying. Then… that form appeared. Seemed they had no shortage of monsters. It was an impressive power, indeed. It gave them some much needed physical presence, given two Strangers and a Master so far. Yeah, not a power she wanted to fight, certainly.
Then… Visage. It disturbed Creep somewhat that she could now replicate invisibility. She dearly hoped Salem could handle being hugged, because at least that was a friendly move. However, that explanation… Like her own, Visage was hiding something. Creep knew it. Later, in a more private spot, she’d tell both Jacob and Chad that Visage is hiding some part of her power. She has some form of Thinker sub-power, possibly more that she isn’t telling, which helps her keep others in order. Be on your guard. Still, from here, it did seem like Visage had the power-advantage, if something were to happen. … Let’s throw a wrench in that, shall we?
‘Thank you. Pester, nice, we’ll need to test out your power in live environments soon so we can know what to expect of it in action. Should be fun. Mire, that’s a cool power. It’ll stand out well when we move out. Visage, where did you find her? I’d like to look into the same alley to see if we can find any more.’ Creep gave the mildest of a chuckle, willing herself to be amused. Then… she turned her head to the one who hadn’t shown off his power.
‘Salem. I understand your choice. Indeed, showing off your power here would be rather unwise. Still, if an emergency would happen, say, in five minutes, then our allies need to know what to expect of you. We may need to skip the demonstration and use old-fashioned words to describe what you can do,’ she said, looking to her friend.
...and there, see, Sheila was basically confirming what he’d just been thinking. Fine, he needed to say roughly what he could do, but he didn’t need to explain it in full, right? He was pretty sure the others hadn’t explained their own abilities fully to everyone else, after all.
‘Well. Long story short, I can melt rock,’ he explained, shrugging out of Visage’s grip as best he could, ‘and turn it into lava. It’s got quite a good range, and whilst I can’t turn people’s bones into lava, I can turn the ground under their feet into lava. It’s pretty dangerous. I’m, uh, coming up with ways to make it a bit less completely lethal.’ Understating himself, there - but hopefully, that could work to his advantage if any of these guys turned on him. He hoped he actual personality didn’t come through too strongly.
‘… And it’s basically instant,’ Creep added the info she felt Salem left out that was needed. ‘It’s a bit hard to adapt, and basically destroys the city wherever it’s used, but with it he can have every cape in Denver shaking in their boots.’ … So, Creep didn’t feel he sold his power enough, and as such did it for him. It wasn’t exactly a power he could hide the factors about anyway. Initial impact was more important, she figured.
Mire didn’t know that Visage had the ability to turn invisible! That’s some proper sneaky shit! Mire was happy to see some more of what Visage could do, though she was less than happy when Visage appeared behind Salem and hugged him! What did that crybaby do to deserve that! She couldn’t let something like this get to her, or at least not let it show so Mire just stood there quietly and watched Salem as he decided to grace them with details about his power. Mire tilted her head at Salem looking him up and down, so this little dipper baby was actually very dangerous. Though while Mire knew for a fact that there were some capes out there who would eat this kid for lunch she didn’t want to point it out, risk hurting the kiddo’s feelings again.
Relinquishing her grip, she very slowly circled around the outside of the room, keeping notable distance between herself and Creep. A smile dawned at the compliment from Creep, though it was soon replaced by a frown when Salem stated his power. That was strong. Christ, that was very strong. Quickly, Visage hid the frown. She rounded the same end of the room as Mire, and reached out her fingers to draw their tips against the shorter girl’s lower back. She kept her eyes moving, trying to read everyone present. The social alertness Visage exemplified helped her notice Mire’s jealousy earlier, when she was touching Salem.
”Having Salem around is gonna be- It’s gonna imply escalation. For the same reason we don’t carry guns, having a nuclear bomb as part of the squad is gonna make the authorities very wary of us. How do you wanna go about implementing him in a way that won’t have the PRT calling in favors from other cities the second they see him use his power?”
While she said this, Visage notably didn’t look at Salem or Pester, instead keeping her eyes solely on Creep.
Creep’s vision being what it was, she did not miss that frown on Visage. It amused her a tad. Though, then she turned around and voiced a reasonable worry. Creep nodded before starting to answer.
‘He’ll play nice. As any other cape in the world with a lethal power, he has the advantage of not having had a choice. He didn’t pick his power, unlike how it’s a choice to carry a gun. As long as they know he sticks to the rules, we’ll have a powerful, frightening asset without necessarily facing the consequences. That goes for all of us, really. We stick to the rules to ensure we don’t become a priority target. We paint the Rockers as cool villains to make more grunts want to join us, and paint us as people who just want to have fun being bad to the Protectorate so they don’t think we’re worth the risk to take out as long as there are bigger fish to fry.
… As for how to use his powers, heh. Lots of weapons our enemies might be carrying will be susceptible. Vehicles, too. Walls could be melted to give us an entrance into places, assuming we have time to wait for the magma to cool. Notably Salem himself isn’t hurt by his own power. Sprinkling some magma over the battlefield is a good way of controlling it, as well, if we ensure some idiot can’t kill themselves somehow. Honestly, we could mount some cool rescue missions or robberies with this. If you can think of other uses of it, then we welcome it.’ So Creep said. She didn’t consider it as big a problem as Visage seemed to address it as.
Yeah, thank you, Sheila. He had said as much as he wanted to say, he didn’t need people to keep going for him, and he could come up with plenty of ways to hurt them if they- nonono don’t do that. Just. Think about how to respond to it, Chad.
Understandably, he was put off about the situation, but it looked and sounded like Visage was far more put off by his power than how it was explained beyond what he’d wanted. Which meant she was scared of him. Hah. Yes. She’d better be scared, scared was fine by him. If she weren’t, she’d start going for him, and then he’d have to push a knife under her skin and start peeling it away from her body... ah, no, he shouldn’t do that. Obviously, she hadn’t done anything yet, so it’s not like he had to have those thoughts about her...
...but just in case she did. She was an actual villain, after all. And it’d be good to keep scaring her, in that case.
‘As Creep has stated,’ Salem explained dispassionately, ‘My power seems to be very distinctly single-use in the first instance, but it has many applications beyond mere lethality. Even if I am forced to maim or injure others, hurling a pocket of dirt at somebody and turning it into a superheated cloud could be a very useful deterrent. Or landmines... no, there’s a better name for them than that,’ he realised, thinking for a moment. ‘I want to say punji traps, or some other similar Vietcong trap - your foot falls into an empty space, and either gets impaled on spikes or smashed to ruin. It’s the same concept, but with lava instead.’
Creep suppressed a shudder, feeling somewhat unsettled. Those were some horrific mental images. She kept quiet, though, head still turned towards Visage.
Mire was looking between Creep and Salem when she felt Visage’s fingers touch her back, she stayed professional holding back a shiver. As usual Visage had something useful and important to say regarding Lava lad’s power and how it could cause problems, though admittedly Mire didn’t share this concern. Creep’s answer was a pretty good one, though playing by the rules was lame as hell, not like Mire was going to do it anyway. But the bit about having fun or at least pretending to have fun while opposing the protectorate did seem like it could actually be interesting.
Then Salem started speaking of how he could apply his power in creative ways. Bringing up Vietcong traps but with lava, wait a second. Creep called it magma but Salem was calling it lava, which one was it!? Mire was frowning under her mask, she really wanted to ask which is was but she was pretty sure it was just these plebeians being idiots that didn’t know what they were talking about. ”So if we do find ourselves in a conflict, what happens if our opponents aren’t the rule following kind? Do we eliminate them?” Mire’s head would tilt ever so slightly and she’d look up at Creep.
It appears everyone was on different pages. Creep did not have her ducks quite in a row, much less these ducklings. First Creep claimed he’d use his power in a way that helped to reduce the chance he’d be a target. That was all well and good, but then Salem pointed out ways he could use his power that would certainly make himself a target. All the while Visage enjoyed Mire’s reaction, changing her expression to the slightest of sly smiles. At Mire’s question she grinned, moving closer to the young girl so that her hand was resting on the small of her back, she thought on how to answer.
”It honestly depends. If they’re breaking the rules and there are witnesses, we could certainly move to more extreme measures. Avoid that as best you can, but when it’s us or them, I don’t think Creep will fault you for choosing us. I certainly won’t. If there are no witnesses then it’ll be completely case by case. I trust you all to choose the option appropriate for the situation.” Visage said, pausing a beat before turning to Creep again. ”Do you object to my take on the matter?”
‘No objections,’ Creep said, before continuing. The matter of criminals that’d use lethal means… those were the kinds she wanted off the streets. ‘My official position on the matter is the following. If you encounter such foes, I prefer you escape alive over risking your life for a minor victory. If you do have to fight, I’d like you to keep in mind that if you somehow manage to take them out without resorting to their means, it would improve our reputation. However, don’t risk your life for stupid things like that. The moment they use such means against us, they abandoned their right to mercy. Butcher them.’ That was about that. Now for… another little thing.
‘Salem. That trap you mentioned…’ Creep suppressed another shudder. ‘Leaving our enemies with stumps for feet is also somewhat iffy to the rules. We’ll work on it.’ Okay. That’ll do. Time to address the rest.
‘Alright. I have intentions to introduce you all to the rest of the Rockers as soon as possible, as my lieutenants and fellow capes. Having you three join our number will give the Rockers a serious boost of reputation, and make our claim in Denver all that much more authentic. However, I ask you to not seem above the rest of the Rockers. Join their number, be nice, be a companion to them. If you could be upbeat and cool to our grunts, so that they do not view us capes as a lording entity above their common gang, that’d be a boon to us.’ She was aware some might have an easier time with that than others. Still.
‘We’ll organize what crimes we’ll commit to gain status at a later time. For now, we need to establish our presence, both in the Rockers and in Denver as a whole. As part of the truce collaborating to uproot the Community, we have an excellent opportunity to do just that. Just… don’t get caught. Patriarch turns those he touches to his allies, after all. We have a cooperation organized with the Broker, I’ll be reporting to him so we can collaborate with the other gangs of Denver to destroy the Community, while we attempt to grow as well as we can. That’s step one. Step two…’ Creep gave a little scoff. ‘The current goal is a monopoly on the delinquents of Denver and to be as big and rich as we can while rooting out the rest of the villains. Beyond that? Well. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll have a discussion on the different capes of Denver and discuss how we’ll try to counter each of them.’
‘Does anyone have any immediate thoughts they’d like to voice?’ Creep asked, looking at each of them with her power.
Appeared that nobody had anything more that they wished to add, so then it was time to get going. Creep nodded to them.
‘Alright. Time to introduce you all to the men, then.’ Despite herself, she looked over the number of capes in the room, and felt a touch of pride at the team they had gathered, that she was leading. It also felt like she was feeling just a tad excited? Frightened for what might happen, yet all the same, excited. How curious. She let that touch of amusement take her over enough to give a brief little chuckle, which thanks to her voice-changer sounded pretty dark.
‘This should be fun.’
Sheila had ensured there was a path into the HQ that currently didn’t contain any Rockers grunts for this moment. It was the time to introduce people, and hope things went well. Herself, she was in full Creep costume, black coat and a black tattered cape which she’d discard if she’d actually be in battle but it looked cool whenever she wasn’t. Blindfold and mask on, hair coloured brown by use of her power, hood currently down. It was easier like that. First, she had escorted Jacob into her office. Now, she came through for the second time, having retrieved Chad. It was time for them both to meet again, now. She didn’t know how much they actually knew of one another… but here it was.
Sheila opened the door and walked aside, turning to look at each of them as she let the encounter happen without any interference on her part. She’d told them both the one they’d meet would be another ally of hers, but left everything else exceedingly vague, just in case they wanted to keep their identities hidden… but chances were they’d know.
Jacob stood there, looking on casually at the other. An ally. The only one to accept the offer, if he had to guess. What a shame. She deserved more than just…. Well, him and another.
He'd come simple. He didn't want anything impressive for a costume, it just wasn't his thing. Instead he was in a black hoodie, hood up and a pretty standard black Domino mask on underneath framed by his untidy hair. Old black cargo pants, torn in a few places, over well worn shoes. He could pass on the streets as any random person. He nodded at the other, raising his voice a little. ”The name's Pester.”
Comparing himself to the other guy here, Chad couldn’t help but wonder if he’d asked too much of Sheila. He’d suggested for himself something akin to a firefighter’s outfit, complete with mask and head cover, not expecting her to actually go out of her way to grab one for him. Since then, he’d customised the mask with a tinted layer, letting him see out whilst blocking his face from observation and muffling his voice. He felt like he’d appreciate that notion, honestly. Given his ability, if he accidentally killed someone, he’d want to make sure his real identity wasn’t compromised.
One benefit of his power: he didn’t really feel heat the same way. Sure, it was hot under his outfit, but it wasn’t affecting him the way one might anticipate, which was certainly a plus. Helped him keep his cool around... this guy. He had a feeling he recognised the hair, but he didn’t bring anything up for now, just in case he was wrong.
Instead, he introduced himself dispassionately. ‘I go by Salem. Pleasure to meet you.’
Jacob licked his lips and swallowed before continuing, having looked the guy over. ”It should be…. Interesting…. Working together.”
Sheila looked at them both at the same time, using her power. Hm, well. Seemed like they’d do fine, but they were slightly strapped for time. ‘Alright, good. I’d take more time with this introduction, but Visage is on her way. Visage is on the Rockers and an ally of us, but she’s not like me. She’s a proper villain,’ Sheila said with her voice-changer on, making it more creepy and hoarse yet still decidedly female. ‘I don’t entirely trust her, but we’ll be working together. I trust you two to be my allies… if something were to happen. In any case. She has the ability to take my form. She can change people’s perception of her, just like I can. She’s going to help lead the Rockers while taking my form, to make “Creep” a mightier and more everpresent entity. … But that’s also why, at any point I enter your field of vision…’
She blinked at them. A small white light, blinking in the center of her dark form at the two of them, a separate light for each. Each light was directed only at their eyes and at nothing else, giving a small blinking-star like appearance at a harmless level of light.
‘… I’ll give you this sign that it is me. Nobody around but those I want to see it can see it. Visage won’t know it, and I trust neither of you will tell her. This way you’ll be able to tell, no matter what.’ Sheila nodded, thinking that’d do. ‘Alright. Stand by me, or make ready any way you want. Visage will be here any minute.’ Saying so, Sheila turned to the door Visage would likely appear from, given it was the only way into the office. Just standing straight in the middle of the room, in a way nobody would unless they were obviously waiting for someone.
Jacob nodded once, moving to lean against a wall silently.
Oh, right, Visage. She’d been... mentioned before, with a hint of caution in Sheila’s voice when she did so. At the time, Chad had been a bit put off by how it turned out she could look like Creep at any time she wanted, with no obvious hints that she was indeed a different person. Now, with some time to process the notion, and especially with this new revelation of how to tell who was the real Creep and who was merely an imposter, Chad felt much more at ease about that matter.
‘Understood,’ he agreed, taking his position next to Sheila in preparation for what came next. He’d been practicing his “cool guy” persona for a few days, so that he could mask his persona as well as his physical features from those he definitely didn’t want to know about it. He was a bit of a twat normally, he’d admit that much to himself any day, but the average Rocker didn’t need to know about that. Visage, from what he’d heard about her, didn’t need to know either.
”No mentioning stabbing people, be respectful to Creep, do I need to reiterate anything else?” Visage closed the cab door behind Mire, fixing her mask to her face a bit better. Now she was actually wearing her full costume, as opposed to just manipulating the node like before. Listening for a response, she started leading the way towards the Rocker HQ. Without thinking about it too much, she dismissed the node she had set on the cab driver.
Mire counted her fingers while mumbling to herself as she went over the many points Visage had discussed with her while on the drive. ”Uhhhh-no I don’t think so. Yeah no I think we’re good.” Mire was shaking with excitement as they walked towards what she was assuming to the be Rockers HQ building. She took a deep breath and made sure her knife was sheathed securely. ”Ok yeah one hundred percent ready.”
The lack of Rocker grunts in the HQ kind of surprised Visage, though she tried not to show it. Letting the heavy door close behind them, she stayed ahead of Mire, and headed for Creep’s new office. It wasn’t new new, it was new to Creep, Visage assumed. She opened the door, and went in first, motioning Mire to follow her as she took stock of the new people. She hadn’t met either of them before, it seemed, as no nodes were present except Creep’s.
”Wow we were on similar wavelengths, eh?” Visage joked, flourishing her hand at Mire, before waving it again to reference the two others. ”New allies I presume?”
So quick to find the words. Creep had been intending to speak immediately, yet Visage had construed entire sentences before Creep got out her pre-prepared one. ‘Hm.’ Creep crossed her arms and let out a mildly amused little sound. ‘I did say I’d be looking into inviting some friends, did I not?’ So the pet project was a new ally? Interesting, and slightly worrying. Still, it was promising. Creep turned her face to Mire despite not needing to in order to see her. ‘I am Creep, leader of the Rockers. And these… Gentlemen, if you would,’ she said, intending that the other two can introduce themselves.
‘Salem.’ Yeah, just his Cape name would work. Maybe cross his arms, too? Hell yeah, that definitely looked badass.
”Pester." Jacob's voice was resoundingly unemotional, borderline bored, as he remained where he was.
Maybe a little less impactful than Creep would have liked, but alright, then. ‘Now, who’s this?’
Mire looked at all the new people, you had the boss Creep and her goons Salem and Pester. So this is what she’d gotten herself into. After a brief glance back at Visage Mire looked back at the others and shot out her arms towards the two boys, inviting them to a handshake. ”Pleasure to meet you all. I’m Mire! I look forward to working with you!”
Bracing herself, Visage didn’t expect Mire to do-wow. That was actually perfect. Visage smiled slightly, now watching Salem and Pester’s reaction. Honestly if Mire was just very polite the entire time, it would make it difficult for anyone else here to act out, unless they wanted to lose respect.
Oh-ho. An energetic one, Creep thought. That might actually be a boon to the group. She stayed quiet for now, looking on.
Jacob nodded slightly, looking at the hand offered before pulling himself off the wall and accepting with an easy smile. ”Any ally of Creep is an ally of mine." The words were casual as he looked into Mire's eyes.
”Same!” Mire said with a slightly giddy tone before turning her head towards Salem. Wiggling her fingers as she waited for him to go for the extended hand.
Chad had expected a much less... perky ally in Mire, admittedly. Then again, he hadn’t been expecting any other allies than Visage. Sheila hadn’t mentioned this, but from the sound of things, she hadn’t known about it either. That said, since she was offering her hand, Chad extended his hand to take it.
Just as Chad had almost reached her had Mire quickly retracted in and ran it over her head and rubbed the back of her neck. ”Ooooo too slow.” Mire chuckled a little. ”I’m sorry I jest.” Mire then re-extended her hand back out and gave Chad a firm handshake.
...that stung, a lot. Memories arose of times when he’d been subjected to bullying, so much bullying. And he’d just been about to greet her cordially, too. He was almost tempted to just retract his hand entirely, but for the sake of politeness, kept his hand extended until the shake was over before folding his arms again. Bitch thought she was a jokester, huh? He imagined the idiot wouldn’t be laughing so much if she had her arms torn off. Or maybe her fingers broken one by one, or... hell, he could just start melting her body inch by slow, painful, torturous inch...
Auuuuugh. He hated bullies. Managing to suppress a violent twitch of recoil from his own broken psyche down to a slight shudder, he responded ‘I hope we can get along well,’ nodding politely in Mire and Visage’s direction. He’d certainly make sure Mire didn’t start fucking with him regularly. Somehow, maybe.
Jacob's grip on Mire's hand tightened slightly as a flash of irritation passed over his face. ”I think that was uncalled for." With that he let go with one final squeeze and returned to Sheila's side.
‘Now, now,’ Creep raised her voice a bit directly after Pester’s comment, in a way to signify that the boss was talking. ‘Play nice. Mire, I’d appreciate if you avoided making my members feel slighted. Pester, in the same vein, avoid scaring new members when you inform them they’ve done wrong. We need them to like being Rockers.’ Creep took it onto herself to make a good first impression for the girl. While her face was covered, she made herself smile under the mask as she stepped forward to calmly extend her own hand.
‘Welcome to the Rockers. I look forward to seeing how you’ll do.’
Mire tilted her head at Jacob as he let go of her hand, she didn’t think she was going to like these two. Soft as fucking marshmallows they were. That’s when the boss raised her voice, she also voiced out against her harmless prank though it seemed like she was trying to keep everyone happy over actually being annoyed by it. It was cute how Creep thought Pester could actually be scary, with how thin that kid’s skin was Mire didn’t think he’d be capable of anything that she would consider even remotely frightening.
Mire accepted Creep’s handshake, giving her a surprisingly sturdy handshake for someone of her size. ”I look forward to working with you too. I hope I’ll be able to pull my weight.”
Gentlemen. This is a boy at best, child at worst. Visage didn't even consider shaking their hands, but she still had to tease them somehow. She walked over to Pester, leaning forward, eyes intent on the side of his face, directly below the right side of his domino mask. Having already looked him over, this was literally just for show. If he glanced down at her cleavage he would get quite the show, but he'd also lose in Visage's eyes. ”I like you, Pester. Name makes me think of pestilence. Hopefully it's not in reference to what children do.” She stood straight again, walking over to stand in front of Creep but keeping her distance still. ”Are we gonna show off a little of what they can do? Or is now not the time for that?”
Jacob looked on, unfazed, with a slightly raised eyebrow. He glanced at Creep before speaking. ”It's a reference to what I'll become. What I am." He looked again at Creep for confirmation about displaying abilities, a hint of concern on his face.
Visage was definitely flashing Pester, right? That wasn’t just a trick of his mind, was it? Maybe he was just imagining it. Yeah, that made sense. But honestly, he felt like what Creep had said about playing nice wouldn’t matter, since he was able to play as nice as anybody could want, even if he was wanting to put his fingers through their- no, Chad, no, stop it. The point was, she had accused Pester of pestering, and he’d responded with a statement about who he intended to become. And as for himself, somewhat on the sidelines... well, he hoped he hadn’t fulfilled a prophecy in his own right by naming himself after an infamous incident of mass hysteria.
Creep watched Visage very closely for what she was doing that close to Pester, albeit she was still turned towards Mire. Nothing particular happened and Pester held his own, good. Creep finished her handshaking with Mire and nodded, until Visage then asked asked if they’d show off what they could do. … Hm. Both her new recruits had certain negative drawbacks upon using their powers. One internal, the other highly external. Still…
‘Yes. We need to understand one another’s abilities going forward, for when we fight side by side it is to our advantage to know exactly what to expect of our companions. With that in mind…’ … Creep took a bit of a breath as she prepared to show off her own power first.
She made a show of suddenly being blown into dust in front of the rest, little parts of her scattering into nothing. Though, she was still standing there. ‘I twist perception for those looking in my direction. While my range is short, I can redirect any image I perceive around me in any direction I please, or break it apart as it suits me.’ For those present, she made a little show of an image of themselves as she could see them appearing in her place, looking back at them. ‘… That said, I am no artist. I can only use images I have available, I can’t create new ones from scratch. But I can break them.’ She cracked the images in a lot of pieces, scattering them in the winds, Creep standing there behind, looking towards them.
‘So. Currently, all of you seem to see me looking at you. Which way am I actually looking?’ … She had the vision of herself collapse into shadows, leaving herself facing the wall. ‘… The answer is all of them, because I manipulate my own perception so I can see in all directions at once. I don’t need to face anywhere, anymore.’ She breathed out a bit. ‘So, my range is short and have limitations. However, when someone’s within my range…’ So, Mire had been close to her for that handshake, so Creep was going to use her for her own demonstration.
To Mire, Creep remained standing in front of her. To the rest, Sheila briefly left a transparent version of herself standing where she had been as the real her walked in a half-circle around Mire on soft, silent feet. The transparent version of herself vanished quickly, but Mire still saw Creep in front of her, yet none of the rest did. Finally, behind Mire, she spoke. ‘When people are within my range, I control exactly what they see. They’re effectively mine.’ With that, the Creep in front of Mire, to only her, blew into dust as Creep backed away towards the wall behind her. ‘I can choose who I want to see me and who to not. As such, I’ll show myself as transparent if I want you to see me but want to signal that our opponents cannot. At worst, I’m a Stranger with a knife. And that’s what I can do. A Creep creeping up behind you without you ever knowing, and taking control of your reality.’
… Maybe she went overboard there. Maybe. She had thought about that demonstration a lot. … Of course, that wasn’t all she could do, but that was entirely intentional.
‘The rest of you can demonstrate if you wish. I leave that to you,’ Creep said, leaning to the wall now.
Frowning for a moment, Chad looked down at the ground before him. He’d learned by now to filter out the additional sense when he didn’t need to use it, but when he focused on it just a little, the floor and walls around him gladly offered themselves up as subjects to his ability. At a whim, he could probably kill everybody else in the room before they could blink... but, that would be counter-productive. And it’d mean Sheila died, too.
‘You’ll figure it out,’ he uttered to the other three. Coldly, or coolly? Crap, had he been too chilly with his response? He was trying to sound cool, not douchey. If he came off as a douche, they might decide he was worth killing after all... oh, hell, he hoped they wouldn’t do it to him.
Jacob smirked, walking away from everyone a little, showing the first real signs of emotions since the meeting had started.
With a little snap of his fingers, for show of course, a lean reptilian looking creature appeared near him. It immediately took off, running around the group, between people, and going so far as to even pull off a little flip before climbing a wall. And then….
It was gone just as soon as it had appeared. Jacob's face went from joy to…. Nothing. In an almost mechanical voice he spoke up, ”Yeah, so, I use my emotions to make a thing that kinda listens and does whatever you'd expect that emotion to do. Leaves me emotionless for a few hours or so.”
Mire stood in place after she shook Creeps hand, just looking around at people as they said their stuff. And it seemed they had planned to show off their powers so they could better work together and all that spicy stuff, that was cool. Oooh, the big boss was going first, Mire was interested in this one. Mire tilted her head at Creep as the girl appeared to just, fade away but like she was still there talking. Oh boy it was another mind fucker illusion person dam there were like 3 of them standing in the room! Man fighting them would be like fucking a disco.
Then it seemed Creep was focused on messing around with Mire, she could see the image of the boss clearly in front of her but her voice was coming from behind. That was some sneaky shit right there, Mire wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Then it was fireman Sam’s turn, though he just blurted out some ominous crap and didn’t do anything. I mean Mire wasn’t expecting much from the dude anywho. Then came another interesting power, summoning animal companion based on emotion… Hmm what if they could bleed, oh wait could she stab them and then nobody except a projection would die? Shiiiiiit she might like this kid after all. Mire looked around and then pointed to herself? ”Oh is it my turn now? Oh a-ah ok, I think taking a few steps back would be a good move.”
Mire walked as far as she could away from the others, as she wanted to show off the mist a bit without actually making them get fricked the heck up by it. Mire rolled her shoulders and shifted to her breaker form with a quick puff of smoke. Instantly Mire’s Mist started to expand and fill the room, though Mire was taking care that the cloud would not reach the others. ”My power is made up of two main parts, there is the mist that you all see in front of you. If you were to come into contact with it you would start to see things, hear things, feel things, that are not truly there. Well most of them.” Mire’s voice was much different from her normal one, it sounded like an echo except it was clearly coming from one direction instead of all around. The mist stayed in place as Mire made her way closer to the group though she was still currently concealed by her mist, but instead of normal footsteps everyone would hear heavy thudding, like something big was coming.
That is when Mire’s form would peek out of the mist, still partly concealed by it. What stood there was clearly not human, it was a towering beast that’s hunched back was almost scraping against the ceiling. In place of a human head was what looked like a mix between a bear and a shark head, in place of arms the creature had two sets of bladed appendages like massive bladed hooks. The main bulk of the body and rear end of the beast was still hidden in the mist. ”The secondary part of my power lets me edit my form in a multitude of ways, I’m a shape shifter.” With that said Mire descended back into the mist which quickly started to collapse in on itself, eventually disappearing to show Mire standing there. ”Ta da!” Mire did a dramatic bow before walking back towards the group.
First there was Creep’s performance, which informed Visage of her power in ways she hadn’t before known. She took some mental notes, trying to remind herself to write this down at some point in the future. Know thy enemy, and all that jazz. Next was Salem who- Alright, did nothing. Was he going for edge? Regardless, Visage found herself slightly perturbed, though she did her best to remain straight faced.
Next next next, next was Pester. The moment she saw the thing appear she frowned. It moved around the room a bit, and Visage had to hold back an involuntary screech. God she hated creepy things like this. That gave her a mental note to not bring Pester on missions with her unless he was going to be using his power very far away from Visage.
At long last our dear Mire, she showed her true color, which was black smoke. Another self satisfied smile crossed her face, sticking there until Mire reverted. Wonderful. She mouthed, mostly to herself. So far she’d seen a woman who could control her image in a more abstract way, a boy with performance anxiety, a reptile summoner, and the incomparable Mire. Visage was definitely winning.
Oh, and herself. She idly wondered if they had actually been told about her power. It didn’t much matter if they had been, as no one knew the whole story behind her power, still. An interesting thought. Taking to the center of the room, she set nodes on them one by one, only keeping her eyes on theirs long enough to create it. ”Poof” In front of them stood Creep, and they would fully grasp that instantly. There once was Visage, and now there was another Creep. ”Oh I found this out recently.” NotCreep said, and then she was gone. No other form stood in her place. Soft soled and invisible, she carefully crept past Salem. Once behind him, she would wrap her arms around his stomach, pressing herself against his back Her power turned off for all present and she remained motionless. ”Similar to Creep’s but without the shattering. I can just control what I look like.”
Everyone else seemed so proud to show off. Sure, there were benefits to showing what he could do to those who’d benefit from it, but why bother when you could just tell them? Not to mention just showing it, not intentionally making a scene. Even Creep, he realised belatedly, she’d gone and showed off her ability to apparently turn into dust, as well as sneaking around the back of Mire. All perceptual, all based on twisting what they could see freely. It was self-indulgence. And to add to that, Pester showed off his own ability, a Master power that generated a creature from his emotions. Apparently, he only really felt emotion as a result of that? Or at least he couldn’t feel emotion after the fact. Interesting.
Then came Mire. Dear God, Mire. Not only could she... generate some black mist? Transform into it? He couldn’t tell, but it was supposedly hallucinogenic either way. Chad was suddenly very very happy he was wearing the smoke mask, whether or not it helped. In fact, he wasn’t sure her mist wasn’t getting in anyway; the thing, the monster that stepped out of the mist kind of made him wonder if he’d not suddenly snapped. Then again, it was speaking to them all, and the others, so he took a step back from it just in case. Juuust in case.
And shortly after, the mist collapsed, and Mire was back to normal. Yeah, no, that was fine. He never ever wanted to fight her, whether he would win such a fight or not. Though somehow, he wondered whether he could, even with his own ability. However, that just left Visage, who took to the center of the room, then took her time to look in everyone’s direction... why? Apparently, so she could transform into Creep. Right, Sheila had mentioned this already; a fake Creep, but as he glanced back and forth between her and the real Creep, he kept track of that one indicator, that thing which proved who was who, fake, real, fake, real, fa- wait. Where did Visage go?
The sensation of a body pressing up behind him, of arms wrapping around his stomach, had him freezing up abruptly. Was that. Yes, no, that was Visage. Why was she behind him. Why was she pressing herself against him. Okay, no, see, most guys would like that to happen, right? Why wouldn’t he like it too? Well, maybe, the consideration of what Sheila had told him kept him a bit wary anyway. She was a “proper villain”. That meant bad things, or at least he imagined it did. He didn’t know, maybe Sheila was exaggerating a touch.
‘Yeah, okay, cool,’ he uttered, his voice still muffled through his mask. Thankfully. ‘That is definitely a useful ability.’ And like that, he was the odd one out. Hell, maybe he should say what his power was? They’d figure it out soon enough, anyway... but still…
Creep turned her head, as she made in habit of doing as to not look inhuman as she focused around her. Salem… said they’d figure it out. … Hah, yeah, she had been wondering. Okay, while she had something to say, they moved on. Pester showed his power. Honestly, she found the reptile a little cute. Given his smile, she assumed this was joy? Or smugness, that worked too. While there was an inherent worry that it’d for some reason charge her, Creep stayed still until it was gone. Then, it was Mire.
Creep acknowledged and moved over without a word for her demonstration. First there was the smoke. A Breaker, it appeared. The effects of the mist were certainly worrying. Then… that form appeared. Seemed they had no shortage of monsters. It was an impressive power, indeed. It gave them some much needed physical presence, given two Strangers and a Master so far. Yeah, not a power she wanted to fight, certainly.
Then… Visage. It disturbed Creep somewhat that she could now replicate invisibility. She dearly hoped Salem could handle being hugged, because at least that was a friendly move. However, that explanation… Like her own, Visage was hiding something. Creep knew it. Later, in a more private spot, she’d tell both Jacob and Chad that Visage is hiding some part of her power. She has some form of Thinker sub-power, possibly more that she isn’t telling, which helps her keep others in order. Be on your guard. Still, from here, it did seem like Visage had the power-advantage, if something were to happen. … Let’s throw a wrench in that, shall we?
‘Thank you. Pester, nice, we’ll need to test out your power in live environments soon so we can know what to expect of it in action. Should be fun. Mire, that’s a cool power. It’ll stand out well when we move out. Visage, where did you find her? I’d like to look into the same alley to see if we can find any more.’ Creep gave the mildest of a chuckle, willing herself to be amused. Then… she turned her head to the one who hadn’t shown off his power.
‘Salem. I understand your choice. Indeed, showing off your power here would be rather unwise. Still, if an emergency would happen, say, in five minutes, then our allies need to know what to expect of you. We may need to skip the demonstration and use old-fashioned words to describe what you can do,’ she said, looking to her friend.
...and there, see, Sheila was basically confirming what he’d just been thinking. Fine, he needed to say roughly what he could do, but he didn’t need to explain it in full, right? He was pretty sure the others hadn’t explained their own abilities fully to everyone else, after all.
‘Well. Long story short, I can melt rock,’ he explained, shrugging out of Visage’s grip as best he could, ‘and turn it into lava. It’s got quite a good range, and whilst I can’t turn people’s bones into lava, I can turn the ground under their feet into lava. It’s pretty dangerous. I’m, uh, coming up with ways to make it a bit less completely lethal.’ Understating himself, there - but hopefully, that could work to his advantage if any of these guys turned on him. He hoped he actual personality didn’t come through too strongly.
‘… And it’s basically instant,’ Creep added the info she felt Salem left out that was needed. ‘It’s a bit hard to adapt, and basically destroys the city wherever it’s used, but with it he can have every cape in Denver shaking in their boots.’ … So, Creep didn’t feel he sold his power enough, and as such did it for him. It wasn’t exactly a power he could hide the factors about anyway. Initial impact was more important, she figured.
Mire didn’t know that Visage had the ability to turn invisible! That’s some proper sneaky shit! Mire was happy to see some more of what Visage could do, though she was less than happy when Visage appeared behind Salem and hugged him! What did that crybaby do to deserve that! She couldn’t let something like this get to her, or at least not let it show so Mire just stood there quietly and watched Salem as he decided to grace them with details about his power. Mire tilted her head at Salem looking him up and down, so this little dipper baby was actually very dangerous. Though while Mire knew for a fact that there were some capes out there who would eat this kid for lunch she didn’t want to point it out, risk hurting the kiddo’s feelings again.
Relinquishing her grip, she very slowly circled around the outside of the room, keeping notable distance between herself and Creep. A smile dawned at the compliment from Creep, though it was soon replaced by a frown when Salem stated his power. That was strong. Christ, that was very strong. Quickly, Visage hid the frown. She rounded the same end of the room as Mire, and reached out her fingers to draw their tips against the shorter girl’s lower back. She kept her eyes moving, trying to read everyone present. The social alertness Visage exemplified helped her notice Mire’s jealousy earlier, when she was touching Salem.
”Having Salem around is gonna be- It’s gonna imply escalation. For the same reason we don’t carry guns, having a nuclear bomb as part of the squad is gonna make the authorities very wary of us. How do you wanna go about implementing him in a way that won’t have the PRT calling in favors from other cities the second they see him use his power?”
While she said this, Visage notably didn’t look at Salem or Pester, instead keeping her eyes solely on Creep.
Creep’s vision being what it was, she did not miss that frown on Visage. It amused her a tad. Though, then she turned around and voiced a reasonable worry. Creep nodded before starting to answer.
‘He’ll play nice. As any other cape in the world with a lethal power, he has the advantage of not having had a choice. He didn’t pick his power, unlike how it’s a choice to carry a gun. As long as they know he sticks to the rules, we’ll have a powerful, frightening asset without necessarily facing the consequences. That goes for all of us, really. We stick to the rules to ensure we don’t become a priority target. We paint the Rockers as cool villains to make more grunts want to join us, and paint us as people who just want to have fun being bad to the Protectorate so they don’t think we’re worth the risk to take out as long as there are bigger fish to fry.
… As for how to use his powers, heh. Lots of weapons our enemies might be carrying will be susceptible. Vehicles, too. Walls could be melted to give us an entrance into places, assuming we have time to wait for the magma to cool. Notably Salem himself isn’t hurt by his own power. Sprinkling some magma over the battlefield is a good way of controlling it, as well, if we ensure some idiot can’t kill themselves somehow. Honestly, we could mount some cool rescue missions or robberies with this. If you can think of other uses of it, then we welcome it.’ So Creep said. She didn’t consider it as big a problem as Visage seemed to address it as.
Yeah, thank you, Sheila. He had said as much as he wanted to say, he didn’t need people to keep going for him, and he could come up with plenty of ways to hurt them if they- nonono don’t do that. Just. Think about how to respond to it, Chad.
Understandably, he was put off about the situation, but it looked and sounded like Visage was far more put off by his power than how it was explained beyond what he’d wanted. Which meant she was scared of him. Hah. Yes. She’d better be scared, scared was fine by him. If she weren’t, she’d start going for him, and then he’d have to push a knife under her skin and start peeling it away from her body... ah, no, he shouldn’t do that. Obviously, she hadn’t done anything yet, so it’s not like he had to have those thoughts about her...
...but just in case she did. She was an actual villain, after all. And it’d be good to keep scaring her, in that case.
‘As Creep has stated,’ Salem explained dispassionately, ‘My power seems to be very distinctly single-use in the first instance, but it has many applications beyond mere lethality. Even if I am forced to maim or injure others, hurling a pocket of dirt at somebody and turning it into a superheated cloud could be a very useful deterrent. Or landmines... no, there’s a better name for them than that,’ he realised, thinking for a moment. ‘I want to say punji traps, or some other similar Vietcong trap - your foot falls into an empty space, and either gets impaled on spikes or smashed to ruin. It’s the same concept, but with lava instead.’
Creep suppressed a shudder, feeling somewhat unsettled. Those were some horrific mental images. She kept quiet, though, head still turned towards Visage.
Mire was looking between Creep and Salem when she felt Visage’s fingers touch her back, she stayed professional holding back a shiver. As usual Visage had something useful and important to say regarding Lava lad’s power and how it could cause problems, though admittedly Mire didn’t share this concern. Creep’s answer was a pretty good one, though playing by the rules was lame as hell, not like Mire was going to do it anyway. But the bit about having fun or at least pretending to have fun while opposing the protectorate did seem like it could actually be interesting.
Then Salem started speaking of how he could apply his power in creative ways. Bringing up Vietcong traps but with lava, wait a second. Creep called it magma but Salem was calling it lava, which one was it!? Mire was frowning under her mask, she really wanted to ask which is was but she was pretty sure it was just these plebeians being idiots that didn’t know what they were talking about. ”So if we do find ourselves in a conflict, what happens if our opponents aren’t the rule following kind? Do we eliminate them?” Mire’s head would tilt ever so slightly and she’d look up at Creep.
It appears everyone was on different pages. Creep did not have her ducks quite in a row, much less these ducklings. First Creep claimed he’d use his power in a way that helped to reduce the chance he’d be a target. That was all well and good, but then Salem pointed out ways he could use his power that would certainly make himself a target. All the while Visage enjoyed Mire’s reaction, changing her expression to the slightest of sly smiles. At Mire’s question she grinned, moving closer to the young girl so that her hand was resting on the small of her back, she thought on how to answer.
”It honestly depends. If they’re breaking the rules and there are witnesses, we could certainly move to more extreme measures. Avoid that as best you can, but when it’s us or them, I don’t think Creep will fault you for choosing us. I certainly won’t. If there are no witnesses then it’ll be completely case by case. I trust you all to choose the option appropriate for the situation.” Visage said, pausing a beat before turning to Creep again. ”Do you object to my take on the matter?”
‘No objections,’ Creep said, before continuing. The matter of criminals that’d use lethal means… those were the kinds she wanted off the streets. ‘My official position on the matter is the following. If you encounter such foes, I prefer you escape alive over risking your life for a minor victory. If you do have to fight, I’d like you to keep in mind that if you somehow manage to take them out without resorting to their means, it would improve our reputation. However, don’t risk your life for stupid things like that. The moment they use such means against us, they abandoned their right to mercy. Butcher them.’ That was about that. Now for… another little thing.
‘Salem. That trap you mentioned…’ Creep suppressed another shudder. ‘Leaving our enemies with stumps for feet is also somewhat iffy to the rules. We’ll work on it.’ Okay. That’ll do. Time to address the rest.
‘Alright. I have intentions to introduce you all to the rest of the Rockers as soon as possible, as my lieutenants and fellow capes. Having you three join our number will give the Rockers a serious boost of reputation, and make our claim in Denver all that much more authentic. However, I ask you to not seem above the rest of the Rockers. Join their number, be nice, be a companion to them. If you could be upbeat and cool to our grunts, so that they do not view us capes as a lording entity above their common gang, that’d be a boon to us.’ She was aware some might have an easier time with that than others. Still.
‘We’ll organize what crimes we’ll commit to gain status at a later time. For now, we need to establish our presence, both in the Rockers and in Denver as a whole. As part of the truce collaborating to uproot the Community, we have an excellent opportunity to do just that. Just… don’t get caught. Patriarch turns those he touches to his allies, after all. We have a cooperation organized with the Broker, I’ll be reporting to him so we can collaborate with the other gangs of Denver to destroy the Community, while we attempt to grow as well as we can. That’s step one. Step two…’ Creep gave a little scoff. ‘The current goal is a monopoly on the delinquents of Denver and to be as big and rich as we can while rooting out the rest of the villains. Beyond that? Well. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll have a discussion on the different capes of Denver and discuss how we’ll try to counter each of them.’
‘Does anyone have any immediate thoughts they’d like to voice?’ Creep asked, looking at each of them with her power.
Appeared that nobody had anything more that they wished to add, so then it was time to get going. Creep nodded to them.
‘Alright. Time to introduce you all to the men, then.’ Despite herself, she looked over the number of capes in the room, and felt a touch of pride at the team they had gathered, that she was leading. It also felt like she was feeling just a tad excited? Frightened for what might happen, yet all the same, excited. How curious. She let that touch of amusement take her over enough to give a brief little chuckle, which thanks to her voice-changer sounded pretty dark.
‘This should be fun.’
