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Private/Closed The Paragons - Act I

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
Patriot
Li and Deluge agreed. That was expected. Crosshair asked to think about it. Again, expected. This wasn't Patriot's first time offering a spot to a lowly vigilante. But what happened next genuinely surprised him. Sparkblade actually got into the hero's face, taking a stand, making his point clear, demanding his freedom. Had they been alone, Patriot would have strung the man up by his intestines just to teach him a lesson. But they weren't. There were witnesses. Yet at the same time, he also didn't want to do that. He was... impressed. Impressed at Sparkblade. How had this kid ducked under his radar for this long?

By the time Sparkblade finished his little rant, Patriot stared down at him for several long moments. It was no secret that those around them were watching with bated breath. After all, who dared to talk to Patriot like that? Well, aside from Yin Li, obviously. Patriot simply found her adorable when she was yelling at him, though usually annoying too.
Finally, the Paragon Leader spoke, taking a deliberate step toward the vigilante, intentionally stomping down with enough force to crack the concrete beneath his foot and shake the ground underneath all of them. "Now you... You I like." He grinned widely. "Full of fire. Drive. Clearly ambitious. Fearless. You know what you want. Hah!" Patriot folded his arms. "Your conditions are perfectly acceptable, but let's clear the air. Your preconceived notions about me are terribly misplaced. For one, do you see a camera around here that I can flaunt in front of and blind with my pearly whites at every 3 second interval? No? I didn't think so. Two. I just got here. The villain fled and I don't know where to. What do you expect me to do? Rip the ground up where you stand in search of him? Three. I'll be honest, I have no idea what actually transpired here. This talk of alien serial killers..." He chuckled. "I'm not omniscient. If I knew what was happening here, don't you think I'd have already taken care of it? Sure, I like my time in front of a camera, but my best work is the stuff you never hear about. Four. Nobody works 'under my thumb'. Get that through your head now. You have free reign in the Paragons, so long as you don't go rogue or harm civilians. I may be the leader, and you will answer to me, but I'm not some stingy supervisor. I'm not anything you thought me up to be. Need time to consider that?"

Without waiting for a response, Patriot moved on, turning to Crosshair. "And you. I understand completely. Becoming a Paragon is no simple thing, and I don't offer it to just anyone. But it's a lot to take in, so take all the time you need. Just know the offer still stands. Now." He turned his attention to Yin Li. "Miss Li, these men are now under my protection. Sparkblade is an official Paragon, and Crosshair is an honorary member. I know you've been tailing these two for a long time, but put your chase to rest. Go home and do whatever it is widows like you do on Friday nights." He smiled at her glaring face. She glanced at the others briefly, before turning on her heel and storming away, not speaking another word. Finally, Patriot turned to Deluge. "Ansel, something's come up and I need you to brief our new Paragon here, then call our league to a meeting. I have some urgent news I need to share. And don't dawdle around."

With that, Patriot rose into the air, grinning widely down at them all, before saluting and taking off into the sky.

Lady
Tattoo? Number? Lady was confused for several moments, staring quizzically at Celice, before realizing what she must have meant. The woman lifted up her shirt to look down at the number labeled on her stomach. "One..." She muttered, another hazy memory flashing in the back of her mind, giving her... next to nothing. Just the face of an old, bearded man, then what looked like a baby, and two words; 'Subject One'.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise that wasn't caused by Celice, who seemed to get excited at the noise, which caused Lady to get excited as well, though for what, she didn't know. Maybe it was King? Celice picked up the pace, leading them deeper into the foul smelling tunnels filled with yucky-looking water.
"King smelly?" Lady asked, realizing if he was down here, he must surely stink too.

Damian Foster
He was hit with questions and comments from either side. It was easy to discern who was talking, but deciding what to answer first was crazy. Damian had so much material to these questions, he could go for days talking about just one subject. He'd written 400-page essays about it before. And not even for anything, he'd just made them just to have it in writing.
Yet, he made his decision anyway.

"The monster in the dark." He grinned at the heralds as he mentioned it. "I have my own speculations. Theories. Nobody knows what it is, but I think it could potentially be a whole plethora of things. Perhaps the biblical Leviathan. Maybe a sleeping giant, or a monster older than Gods themselves. Could be a void of death, or a portal to an alternate dimension. Or it could be actually really boring and just a natural phenomenon that we mistake as something far greater than it is." He then cast his gaze to Skade, looking almost apologetic. "As for Patriot, he uh... well, I wouldn't get too confident. I've heard of feats he's performed. Never seen it myself, but it's said he's the real-world version of Superman from those old comics."
Seeing her blank expression, he shrugged. "Bottom line is, he's pretty much invincible. But considering your combined power and status, you have potential, but I don't think I'd bet on shattering him. Enough about that guy, though. We're on a tour."

Damian led them through the complicated facility, a seemingly endless series of turns, twists, stairs, elevators, platforms, more turns and even more turns. Memorizing their path was practically impossible, but all the walls were lined with directions that made things a bit easier. They saw some pretty unimpressive rooms. Reactors, generators, military bunks, science staff bunks, a cafeteria, a hangar area, but there was something peculiar about their next stop.

They entered a room that seemed just as unimpressive as the last at first glance, until you looked through the series of windows that lined the extensive wall in front of them. Behind each window was a boxed room, and in every single boxed room sat a child of varying age. Some were sleeping, others walking in circles, or sitting cross-legged and staring blankly forward. However, there were some children doing interesting things. One child, a small girl no older then eight, was playing with a snowball that she'd generated. While most of the rooms were a padded khaki color, hers was tinted with a cyan from the ice that clung to her walls. Icicles hung down above her, and her floor was covered in snow. At first glance, she could have been assumed to be a much younger version of Skade. They even had the same look to their faces. In another room, there was a boy with scaled skin, orange in color, and he was clinging to the ceiling, apparently asleep. Another room showed a small girl, no older than five, her body suddenly convulsing rapidly until another version of herself seemed to split, leaving two version of the same girl in the room, and they began to laugh at each other.

"This room is called the Incubus. Here, Warren keeps his other types of subjects. When he's not making clones, he's injecting newborn children with the superhuman gene and raising them to hone their abilities. Some kids are even born with their powers." Damian informed them. "This is the future army of the world, pretty much."
 
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The Dark Fairy

Previously Eliiiscool
Lilian put a hand on CL-9’s shoulder “CL-9, don’t worry about it, from what I’ve heard, this is the thing Mr Warren would want you doing.” As they walked up to the building, she looked up “Looks like a fight from some kind of super, glad whatever it was got taken care of.” She said, wondering what even would warrant this attack.

Dr Chrome looked up before waving a hand at the scientist “Your best judgment.” He then fully stood up to face Warren “You are still as arrogant as ever I see.” He paused before speaking again, adjusting his goggles “I have had reports from my sources that you are trying to take on the paragons, while I largely did not care before, the next phase of my plan could cause unwanted attention, and while I think we could manage fine, it is better to deal with the enemy when they do not expect it.” Dr Chrome pulled a vial from one of his trench coat pockets. “I have come a long way since we last meet, and I believe together, with both of our newest projects, we can combat them.”
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
“...”

The steps of Celice and Lady echoed through the sewer system as they followed the sounds of what appeared to be a battle in the distance. That’s when another clatter of sounds were heard...rattling... Suddenly, a Pipe from above burst! Instead of water however, a single metal garbage can fell from it.

*PTANK!*

The trash can wobbled in place before eventually coming to a stop. There was stirring inside, like there was something alive in there. Without provocation, something burst out of it! Or rather someone.

There was a kid in there, couldn’t be older than twelve. They had ragged brown hair and and a big halfway peeled aluminum can for a hat, the peeled top acting as a cap. The dirty boy grinned, showing a missing tooth amongst his jagged teeth.

“Ey, looks like you lot are ‘eaded towards da’ boss, ain’t cha?” The trash kid spoke. “‘Fraid he’s a tad busy with kingly bus’nus and whatnot. So best y’all scram before ‘dings get all ugly. Hurhur...”

The kid with the bad pronunciation laid his left arm on the ridge of the can, his right hand using the Can’s top cover as a shield. It soon became apparent that he wasn’t alone. There were a few shifty eyes in the darkness. Homeless with daggers, broken bottles, and the uncommon baseball bat. Seemed like the Prince’s Parlor was closed for visitors today.
 

Void_Nugget

Previously Shadow_Pup
Forsythe dodged but allowed the creature to cut his side slightly causing to fall from the back of the creature. He hit the ground and stood up slowly, before he turned to Percy, "you got me, do I lose then" he asked hoping he could leave he tensed slightly however fully prepared if the creature attacked him once more. He really didnt feel like trying as he stood watching Percy hand clutched to his side.
@Shen: King of the Mist
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
Prince Percy seemed greatly disappointed that Forsythe gave up so easily. He crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks.

“Awww, that’s no fun! Talk about a killjoy...and I spent all this time thinkin’ of a good monster to fight you. Bleh! That’s criminal! So for your crimes against the Kingdom of Trash and wasting it’s lord’s time, your sentence is 20 billion kajillion years in time out!”

He snapped his fingers, a cage descending from above. The cage was attached my a chain, the cage itself was small, seemingly made out of a rusted steel that seemed like it was taken right out of a dog pound. He motioned with the staff for him to get in, the trash hound behind him growling.

@Shadow_Pup
 

Void_Nugget

Previously Shadow_Pup
Forsythe chuckled to himself quietly, he decided to humor the man and climbed into the cage. He then turned to face "so Percy, you get up top often, cause you dont seem to be aware of anything that going on up there. Just how long have you been in the sewers you cant have been born here" Forsythe asked optingnto get some info from the guy while he was humoring him.
@Shen: King of the Mist
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
The young teen closed the cage behind Forsythe, the cage raising up to eye level with the prince. He crossed his legs with a irritated expression as he massaged his temples.

“So you take my ice cream, break into my kingdom, and give a disappointing fight, and have the nerve to interrogate me for questions? Who’s do you think you are?? It’s like you surface dwellers weren’t taught manners, sheeesh. If anything, I should be interrogating YOU my prisoner!”

Prince Percy adjusted his lopsided crown as he whirled his staff in a circle, bringing the cage closer to him.

“What are YOU exactly? Are you one of those Paragon or Renegades? They make such a clutter up there.”
 

Void_Nugget

Previously Shadow_Pup
Forsythe sighed so much for that idea "who am I well I'm an immortal man who is currently associated with the Paragons, and seeing as I cant get any info from you I'm thinking I'll just leave" he said before simply bending the rusty bars apart and stepping pit of the cage, "I assume I can leave the way I came in, correct" he asked the man with a grin on his face.
@Shen: King of the Mist
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
Prince Percy was surprised how he managed to gather the strength to break out of his cage. Is this how he beat the drone earlier? He thought he was the wimpy one of the three?

“Wha- How did you- UGH! Nevermind! you have SOME nerve!” He stomped. “Whatever! Don’t you remember the royal hound? Your not going nowhere!”

The hound blocked the exit, it’s long alligator like snout growling as it coiled up it’s rebar tail. The tail the sprung out, splitting into three different segments to skewer him.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
(Haha haha, I’m late again, what a surprise... well better late then never I guess lol)

Hitori turned slowly, deliberately, at the sound of unfamiliar footsteps. She unsheathed her claws immediately when she saw who it was—when she said she merely wished to negotiate, Hitori did not believe her in the slightest. At least, not until she gave he reasoning and started giving the terms of the deal. She seemed genuine enough, but she had tried to kill Hitori before. The girl didn’t sheath her claws, but she allowed herself to rise from her fighting stance.

Hitori’s eyebrows raised at the mention of the money. That’s enough to buy at least a few pieces of machinery I could use... still, though. Let her go now so what, she can go on killing people like the government’s dog? Then again that’s kind of what she’s doing for me... letting me go so I can keep stealing from other companies like a dirty thief. Dammit, if Loufe wasn’t here I’d tell her to take her offer and shove it up her— but that would put his life in danger as well as mine, which I can’t do. Plus, she had absolutely no intention of stopping her stealing sprees; that particular company (I forgot the name of it lol) had been a rather reliable gold mine of high-quality tech.

Hitori cursed under her breath. She chose her words carefully. “Asking me to stop stealing parts to make tech is like asking an eagle to stop flying to hunt. Or asking a mercenary... to stop killing for cash.” Her mouth seemed to be moving independently of her brain now. She willed herself to stop, to leave it at that, but instead she challenged, “Would you give up your passion if some nut job who tried to kill you offered you some bills and a death threat?”

(OOC: XD I think my fingers were moving independently of my brain when I typed that)
 
Crosshair leaned against a wall as he watched Sparkblade confront Patriot. For a moment, the vigilante thought the Paragon was going to strike the ninja, or blast him, or something... But no. Instead, Patriot had responded to Sparkblade, spoken to Crosshair, and flown off. Crosshair looked back to Sparkblade, wiping some of the blood out of his eye. For now, it worked to Crosshair's advantage that Patriot thought he only 'needed some time to think'. Crosshair didn't have much intention on accepting that offer, and it surprised him that Sparkblade did.

The vigilante watched as Chief Li stormed off before looking back to Sparkblade.
"Sorry that I was late. I got caught up in some stuff." Crosshair said. "You okay?"
 

The Dark Fairy

Previously Eliiiscool
Kerco looked on amusedly, clearly this was not meant for his ears, but that would do him little harm. Especially as he had made sure to stay near the alleys corner so he could make a quick exit. He studied the mask of the newcomer, he recognized her, though he knew she would not remember their encounter. Kerco thought for a moment, eventually deciding it best to simply stand and listening, hoping he was forgotten so he could overhear.
 
Ansel

Ansel watched as Yin Li walked away. Wow, she was a widow? Who knew! Aside from Patriot, of course.

Who had left him with the two new Paragons. Err, one Paragon and one honorary Paragon. Left with the instructions of briefing the newbie...newbies? He'd include them both in this, no reason to leave one out right?

"So...Briefing!" Ansel said, feeling a little better. Now he didn't look much better, but no one here did. "I'm Ansel, you probably know me as Deluge. You're a Paragon now! I dunno off the top of my head if there's any real ceremony or something...But uh, Mister...Sparkblade! You come on down to the tower, we'll give you clearance and official stuff, same to you- Crossy..." He snapped his fingers as he tried remembering the name. "Crosshair! I also dunno what the difference is for honorary Paragons? Pretty sure you'll be our only honorary Paragon. Unless I get fired!" He tried chuckling at his own joke, before realizing it wasn't funny, because he was about to be fired if he didn't do this right.

"Anyways. We can get checked out at the tower, best medical service in the city. All free for us Paragons. Part of the benefits. And uh, Patriot has that meeting thing he wanted me to organize. Not sure why me...Guess I'm just the closest with the authority! I do like to think of myself as the No. 3 Paragon. Though keep up that impressive attitude and powers, Sparkblade, and I'll be No. 4! Haha..." Ansel tried laughing again, but he clearly hit too close to himself. "But really, careful acting like that around Patriot. He's kind of a hardass. Now uh, pardon me for a moment. Got to make a call."

He pulled out the radio he had taken to the original fight, turning away from Sparkblade and Crosshair. It was a little battered and dented, but it still seemed to work. Ansel messed with it for a moment, before speaking up. "Testing, testing...This is Deluge, calling all Paragons to an immediate meeting at the behest of Patriot...All Paragons report to the tower as soon as possible, urgent request from Patriot." This seemed much more professional in tone than his 'briefing'.

He turned back to the duo of once-vigilantes. "So! Ready for your first meeting? We don't usually do this, but it has to be something important. I mean, urgent must mean something good? Maybe even invite the chief? Though she did walk away..."

-----
Celice

"Well if he lives down here, I can't imagine he smells that great." She told Lady as she continued into the winding sewers, following the shifting tunnels, treading nasty water. Though one of the pipes lead into more of a general hub for sewer maintenance- and that was when something fell from above. "Shit!" Celice stopped in her tracks, afraid that she had just led this poor woman into a part of the sewer that was actively falling apart. But it quickly became clear that was not exactly the case.

It was a trash can...with a kid in it. His teeth were uneven and missing in spots. And he spoke with an odd cadence- Something about 'kingly business' and 'scram'. Though she quickly deciphered what he meant by what lay beyond him. A shifty crowd of people wielding various weapons. Maybe one or two Celice could deal with, but this was a whole lot of people. And her "surprise" wasn't enough to get through this many.

Though didn't see herself too terribly charismatic, she also wasn't about to let this opportunity slip. After all, these people had to be defending something kingly, there had to be something!

"Hey, we didn't come all this way on a tour or something!" She shook a fist towards the crowd. This probably wasn't earning her any favors about now. "No, I'm here to give your king a gift! I have scraps from the surface, taken from the Paragons themselves!" That wasn't necessarily false. Just a lot of it wasn't Paragon scrap. She just had to get past this crowd... "So you are going to deny your king a gift? I should turn around if this is how you treat gift bearers! Lady, back me up here."

...And now she remembered that Lady called this king 'King Smelly'. This wasn't about to go well.

-----
Necrodytis

Necrodytis sighed. Closed her eyes. And immediately smashed her gauntlet into a wall, cracking the concrete beneath. "WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Seething, her eyes shot open again, glaring at Techno. "What do want from me?! A bigger cut? And what are you even going about?!" Smog filtered from her mask, as she continued her passionate rant. "And do you think I kill for cash, or passion?! I kill because that is my purpose! Why else would I be infested with this rotting blight? Some kind of cruel joke? Killing is no simple hobby for me! IT IS ME!!"

Techno really struck a nerve there. Really brought out Necrodytis's inner crazy, though maybe it wasn't buried all too deep. Even she seemed to realize that.

"Look. If even one of you take the deal, I'll split the cash. It's still burying my identity one way or another. But I need to bury it. I won't let my purpose obstruct my passion." She was close to lunging at one of the teens, but some sort of restraint kept her from doing so. Necrodytis straightened her posture, attempting to retain some sort of professional air.

"So I will say again. Do we have a deal?"

-----
Skade

Foster's answers were adequate. Skade still believed that this savior of Humanity was being overstated, she only nodded. Push come to shove, Ignizio and her would just work together to tear apart this shield. It would be entertaining though when the time would come.

Though the tour returned to boredom following that, as they were led through countless halls. She paid it little mind, wondering why any human would need such frivolous spaces. It all seemed so superfluous. One day they would die and rot, unlike her, Ignizio, and her other Herald comrades. Was it 'leaving a mark', as some may of put it? Leaving it for the 'next generation'?

Though speaking of, they were shown yet another curiosity. Human youths, seemingly having mastery over their superpowers. Skade watched one with interesting- Like looking in a mirror, one surrounded by frost, and a conflicting fiery expression. Skade let out something the sounded a bit like a snort. She even reached out to touch the glass chamber, leaving a slight imprint of her own frost. Foster referred to it as 'the army of the future'.

That disappointed Skade. Not because she was afraid of losing to these children in the future. Moreso the fact they would never get the chance, as the planet was due to be razed in only a few months time. She'd quite like a fight with one of these interesting youths once they were in their prime, though she had no doubts in her victory over them. C'est la vie, as a human might've put it.

"What a quaint project. Seems quite promising as well. Though this raises the question, did this Warren expect our cooperation? I'd assume we are something of an anomaly in a concerted plan to dispose of this Patriot. If he's worked on all these...countermeasures, already."
 

Void_Nugget

Previously Shadow_Pup
Forsythe sighed "damn I forgot about that thing" he said as he stopped 2 of the prongs but missed the third as it tore his leg off, he glanced down at the bleeding stump and turned to look at Percy "dude really" he said as he broke the two prongs leaving only one left, he stood balanced in his remaining leg, he was fairly confident that he was able to handle this but if he lost anymore limbs he'd be screwed.
@Shen: King of the Mist
 

Gamingfan

Previously Gamingfan2
Damn, Hitori didn't really give a definite answer, which seemed to piss of Necrodytis.Her outburst startled Loufe again, but he managed to stifle the yelp and remain tense, before softening sadly as Necrodytis continued to talk.
Her rant sounded so...awful. She didn't sound like she wanted to kill anyone, but she did anyway? For her "purpose"? It..didnt make sense. Not to Loufe at least.
O.S gave a loud sigh in Loufe's head.
Oh great, another poor sob story whose business poor Loufe wants to stick his nose in. Boo-hoo, poor Crazy Lady. You need a hobby.
The wolf's sarcasm only bolstered Loufe's resolve.
"I dont understand." He spoke softly, timidly "But it doesnt sound like you're happy with this 'purpose' of yours. Maybe you dont have to be a-" he couldn't help but wince at the upcoming word "-murderer, y'know? It doesn't have to be your...purpose."
He paused, shook his head softly, before taking a deep breath, speaking louder this time.
" I promise not to give your identity away. Ever. You don't have to give me the money. I don't need it. Give it to Techno if you need to."
He paused, waiting to see what would happen next. He briefly wondered if only he could hear the loud, false, and mental snoring O.S was sounding off.
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
“Wait...a gift? Ya mean like a big ol’ present?”

The trash boy was conflicted. The prince did love presents...but he told them to keep any visitors out until he dealt with his current one. The other followers of the trash king looked over to him for an answer. Feeling the pressure, he came to a decision.

“Hrm...hmm! Fine ‘den. We’ll calls it a ‘diblomatic chip’. Good that you upworlders are showin’ us some respect we alls deserving.”

The other figures hid their weapons, oooking cautiously at the pair of ‘upworlders’ that had made it here. The kid turned around, lifting his Garbage can to hop forwards instead of walking, leading them towards Prince Percy with and escort.

“Jus’ you guys picked the wron’ time to talk to da boss. He be handling an uh...unexpected guest and whatnot.”


......


With the unexpected guest, Prince Percy laughed out loud as his leg was torn straight off his body. He held his sides, getting control of his laughing fit.

“Hahahaha! Ohhh that’s so satisfying! After all you did it’s good to see you suffer a little. Albeit I don’t think red matches my purple theme I got going on.”

The hound growled, the tail shortening by a bar, but allowing access to all three rebar prongs again. The hound however opened up it’s mouth, glass shards like tastebuds lining the upper cave of it’s mouth. The glass shot out like ninja stars, peppering his part of the field.

@Shadow_Pup
 
Shuzo

Patriot raised solid rebuttals to his accusations, but Shuzo remained suspicious of the former's underlying flaws that he was convinced existed. However, it was too late to continue the 'discussion' now, as Patriot promptly took his leave and Deluge radioed in to call a Paragon meeting. The water user had warned Shuzo not to carry such a tone around the number 1 hero, attempting to make a few jokes during his brief that, unfortunately, didn't land, and the vigilante took the time while waiting for Ansel to finish calling the rest of the Paragons, turning to Crosshair and answering his question.

"Could be better; Massi got away again, so the day's been going pretty quickly downhill. You were pretty banged up already by the time you got here, so I could ask you the same."

Once Deluge turned back to speak to the two vigilantes again, Shuzo shrugged in response as he cracked his knuckles. It had just happened: he was now a Paragon, though the induction was much less formal and public than he had originally thought; at least there had been some consolation in that.

Ignizio

As he stepped into the 'Incubus', as Damian called it, Ignizio finally felt out of his time. His eyes skimmed across the arrays of the containment units holding children with supernatural abilities. This, the tubes housing artificial clones, and Damian's speculations of what lay underneath.. it was all alien, which was ironic coming from him. Skade, as always, found a near-sadistic fascination in the powered children, though the Blackfire Herald suppressed a derisive scoff. This was all undoubtedly curious, but Ignizio had a similar question to Skade's; what would Warren think, now that he had found himself two individuals with powers that trumped anything he could show?

A small wisp of black flame danced nonchalantly around his hand, twirling and winding through his fingers as Ignizio waited for Damian to answer Skade's question. There was also the discussion about Patriot; it was resoundingly clear that he was a threat. Not only to Warren, but to the Heralds' superior, if he was as strong and dangerous as humanity claimed him to be. Of course, there was no doubt that their ultimate plan would come to fruition, the planet torn down and consumed once the time came; Ignizio had never been pushed into a corner, not even when fighting against his fellow Heralds during casual sparring matches on their home planet, but there was still reason for concern if such a moment came.


@comic @BurbleBurble @Captain Cardboard
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
CL-9
The two made their way into the building, which Lilian had since grown used to its unique beauty by now, having seen it so often. They descended down the elevator into the lower labs, where CL-9 and Lilian made their way through the halls and corridors where researchers and the likes milled about, paying them no mind as they went, absorbed in tablets they held, or otherwise in deep conversation with others about their experiments. Thus far, Lilian hadn't requested to understand more about Warren's private projects, or what else could be down here aside from the chambers she and the android frequented.

However, there was something peculiar today, as the moment they neared the automatic door into Lilian's out-of-the-amulet abode, CL-9's eyes suddenly flashed a brilliant white as she stopped in her tracks, coming to a complete stand-still as her body went rigid. For several long moments, her body remained like this, until the light faded, and her body relaxed. Blinking a couple of times, her expression betrayed confusion. She noticed her companion was staring at her with a look of worry and shock. If she'd said anything, the android was uncertain, but decided to inform her of the event that had just transpired.
"I received a software update. Nothing important, I'm still processing it."
'Nothing important'. Quite the bold lie... but why lie? She'd been nothing but honest with the preserved human servant up until now. Perhaps it was more of those... human qualities that kept emerging. Was it a need to assure Lilian, to not allow her to worry? Or was the lie merely for herself in an attempt at some form of unachievable comfort? Whatever the matter was, it truly wasn't on the forefront of CL-9's processing modules. No, this update... while it included much of modern events, some more details about particular subjects, mostly useless information, but it was the dealings within Warren Industries that captured her interest. The updates on test subjects, a new security malware, even the now in-progress CL-X model. Even that last bit didn't interest her as much as the massive folder that had entered her databases, labeled simply as 'Heralds'. Aside from hearing this word mentioned once or twice by Warren, she wasn't exactly informed on all that Warren new. Despite being a computer, she often found herself lacking intelligence in comparison to Warren. She often thought he wasn't human, considering it was technically impossible for him to be... him.

She accessed the file, encountering several more, all labelled with interesting names. 'Redstar', 'Blackfire', 'Whitefrost', 'Chronosphere', 'Silverbolt', 'Foolsgold', 'The Broken Man', 'Lightspeed', and 'The Illusion' among them, as well as several hundred more files, all with their own unique names. The 'Heralds' file had caught her attention so quickly due to the nigh-ominous memories she retained of the times Warren had brought it up. She practically labeled the word as a trigger to instigate investigation.
Why had she received these files? If Warren had kept this from her for so long, why give it to her now? The intention behind his motivations were never clear, and she didn't expect to solve it now. He was, even in comparison to an artificial intelligence like her, twelve steps ahead of just about everyone. Needless to say, she was feeling rather suspicious of this information drop, but decided not to let it stop her from investigating these Heralds further, and all that Warren had gathered on them. There was clearly a lot, considering the file itself contained nearly two hundred gigabytes worth of data.

@The Dark Fairy

Charles Warren
"We've always been able to combat them, old friend." Warren replied, waving a hand dismissively, his demeanor beginning to shift as his friendlier approach faded. "The problem has always been Patriot. No weakness, no limits- but I finally have it." He smiled. To anybody seeing this smile without context, it would appear as though he was a kind grandfather smiling down in pride at a grandchild. But the cold eyes behind the smile told a different story. "I'm sure you remember the Mojave Expedition I conducted in '87. The one that resulted in the entire team's demise. Your theories hold up, I should say. I have recruited the beast from the lair, and am now retrieving his kin. Their combined might will eliminate the Patriot threat- but of course, they'd be the next targets. Obviously I already have a failsafe in plan, but we can discuss those details some other time. Fact of the matter is, Chrome, I hold the fate of the world in my palm at the moment, and I'm not about to let it go. So if your next phase is what I assume it to be, then I suggest we launch it asap. I have little time to spare for you, as Judgement Day approaches, so keep this brief."

@The Dark Fairy

Lady
"Trashcan baby?" Lady asked Celice the moment the child emerged from the titanium can. Through some stroke of luck, her voice was drowned out as the child began to speak, his voice loud, obnoxious, and... impossible to understand. She couldn't decipher a single word he said, and that frustrated her. When she was called on for support, Lady found herself snapping out of her staring contest with a pair of eyes in the dark, reflecting the slim amount of light that shone down upon them from a sewer grate. "King. We see King." She said, not sure of what else she could say. However, it seemed the trashcan baby was happy with what Celice had said, and began leading them deeper into the foul-smelling abyss, hopping about in his trashcan like some goddamn cartoon character.
It managed to make Lady giggle with child-like humor, even if she couldn't understand a single word the kid said, even if Celice somehow could.

@BurbleBurble @Shen: King of the Mist

Damian Foster
The young researcher pondered Skade's question for a moment, before he answered with uncertainty. "I... can't really say. Mr. Warren informs us of a lot of his plans, but most of the time, it turns out what we know is just the surface. Sure, I knew about you two before, considering the books written about you, but as for your existence? Until yesterday I actually thought it was all myth. Mr. Warren has a way of surprising you like that. It's like, when you finally start to get a grasp on things he knows and does, it just turns out you've only gained a fraction of knowledge compared to what he has. If he always planned on recruiting you, I don't know. I do know he wants to get more of you, but as for plans after Patriot? I couldn't tell you. These children, however, were never meant to fight Patriot, or his Paragons. They're meant to replace them, same with our test subjects you saw earlier. Trying to figure out Mr. Warren is tough, but it's safe to say that he plans decades in advance. I wouldn't be surprised if he already figured out the secret to immortality for us mortals just so that he doesn't ever have to stop scheming."

He took a breath, glancing back at the print Skade had left upon the child's glass, who hadn't noticed it, busy making a tiny snowman dance on the palm of her hand, waggling her fingers with the motions as though she were controlling a puppet. "You could meet her, if you like." He offered. "A large portion of this facility is dedicated to these kids, these rooms are just here for downtime, they'll begin combat training soon."

@BurbleBurble @OmnipotentOnion
 

Void_Nugget

Previously Shadow_Pup
Forsythe dodged some of the projectiles but a few lodged into his body, "hey Percy if I bleed out if you could not throw me in some bin that would be great, I'd rather not wake up in some bin in some dingy corner of this sewer" he said panting heavily from the bleeding and then returned his focus to the beast. He then launched himself at the creature running using his hands and leg like an animal and threw a punch at the creature's head.
@Shen: King of the Mist
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
Prince Percy chose to ignore Forsythe’s incoherent ramblings as he ran up to punch the trash hound. A noticeable hold was made in the upper jaw, thus attempt making Percy laugh.

“Ha! You still think normal weaknesses are gonna cut it? It’s garbage, dingus! There’s no bones, brain, or blood to beat out of it!”

The hound, with the hole not sealing back fast at all, growled as it would slam it’s jaws down on Forsythe. Aiming to completely devour and crush him right in time for the boy in the trash bin to come plodding through the passageway to his chamber.

@comic @BurbleBurble @Shadow_Pup
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
What is WITH this guy? Taking all these blows like he doesn’t feel pain. Bah. Would have to dispose of his remains properly after this.

That’s when his enemy began to charge him, or rather hobble toward him since he only had one functioning leg remaining.

“Finish this...with only one hand and one leg left? Whatevs!”

Swirling around his staff, he had the hound pounce, landing between him and the slow moving Forsythe. The hound, now knowing his targets limited durability would open it’s chest cavity up wide, aiming to slam down chest first onto him and swallow the Paragon aligned man into the internals.

“Uhs...boss? We got some tributaries for ya.” The gnarly boy said, coming around the corner with the guests.
 
Crosshair nodded.
"My apologies. I got... tangled up in something." Crosshair glanced down the road in the direction the armored van had gone. "Those weren't government, or some gang. Professionals and gear like that cost money. Not to mention those two powered ninjas..."
The vigilante looked back to Deluge before just shaking his head.
"I said I needed some time to consider. I think I'll pass on the meeting." Crosshair said. He began to limp back towards the wreckage of the car before looking back to Sparkblade. "I'm going to try to do some digging. Let me know if you manage to turn up anything with the Paragons."

With that, Crosshair began to limp away.
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
October 7th, 1998
A large room sat behind the one-way panel of glass. It was blank. Barren. White padded walls in every direction. In the room sat a small child, two years of age, wearing clothing as white as the room. A shirt, pants... he had short platinum blonde hair and bright green eyes. He was staring blankly at the ceiling, nothing to entertain him, having already grown bored of playing with his feet or jumping around the white room.
On the other side of the glass stood Charles, though much younger. His hair was a deep chestnut, just as wavy as ever, though he lacked the beard. His form was rigid as he stood there, silently monitoring the child, arms folded across his chest. There were several long moments before the door opened behind him, light streaming in from the brightly lit hallway beyond. Two individuals walked into the room, a man and a woman. The woman was wearing a long, cyan scarf draped around her neck then over her shoulder. A sun hat sat on her head, her face shielded beneath the shade it provided. She wore thin, pink-ish clothing, a dress that extended down to her knees, a pair of high heels worn on her feet.

Warren immediately straightened himself further (if that was somehow possible) and turned to greet the woman. "Miss Umbra." His face noticeably paled as she moved to stand next to him, staring as he had been at the boy behind the glass. The man moved behind Warren, standing a full head over the billionaire (millionaire at the time), with the generic appearance of any body guard. Bald head, shades, clean suit, holstered sidearm, the usual.
"The tests were a success." Charles informed her, wringing his hands together for a moment. "I told you they would be. The prime super soldier. Two years and he hasn't deteriorated. Hasn't gone brain dead. He's healthy, and shows true potential."
Miss Umbra remained silent, staring a few moments longer at the child, before diverting her attention to Warren. "Enough reciting data, asinus." She spoke, her voice calm, quiet, and soft, yet commanding, cold, and intimidating all at once. "Tell me. Your thoughts."

"I..." He paused, glancing out of the window, narrowing his eyes at the site of the child. "He's not my son. I see now that I'll never get him back. This child... I see him as nothing more than a tool. One that I give to you."
"I do not want it." She replied simply. "Keep your toy. You've proven you can follow my auctoritatis." With that, she turned away, and walked almost gracefully out of the room. The body guard followed, closing the door behind her, leaving Charles to ponder this over, before turning to look at the young child.
His debt was repaid, and now he had creative freedom. Odd how quickly his status had turned to such, but relieving.

July 18, 1999

"He needs nurture."
"He needs to learn his place."
Charles Warren stood in front of a young woman adorned in a lab coat, black clothing beneath, a clip board in her hand, long red hair pulled back into a tight bun, her brown eyes fiercely glaring back into Warren's. "He's a child." She argued.
"A tool. Means to an end. Nothing more. He doesn't need to be babied."
"You hired me as his caretaker, sir." The woman replied aggressively. "I've spent time with him. He's a human being. Thoughts, desires, needs, he has them all. He needs somebody in his life to stabilize the negativity. The isolation. The mind of a child is easy to mold-"
"Precisely my point, Narcisa. He needs to be raised into a thinkless killing machine."
"Then build another robot!" She yelled back, her face an inch from his. "I refuse to allow you to continue abusing this boy, no matter his potential. You're a heartless old fool if you think he'll ever listen to you after what you just did."

Warren was silent for a few moments, staring coldly back at her, before he hummed softly. "Very well. You're fired. I will allow you to say your goodbyes to the boy if you wish, then you are to leave and never return."
Narcisa stared back at him, equally as silent as he'd been, before hurt shone in her eyes, and she took a step back, realization hitting her. Wordlessly, she turned away, hurrying away.

...

"-just stay here."
"Where are we going?"
"Someplace better. Don't worry, Grayson. I'll protect you. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Narcy!"
"Shhh... I will be back shortly, do not worry."


Warren stood, watching the screen showing Narcisa speaking to the boy, who'd grown quite a bit in such a short amount of time. A glass of wine sat in hand, which he swirled before taking a sip, and shut off the live feed, walking out of the security office calmly.

...

Grayson, the now three-year-old Patriot, looked up from the toy he was playing with. A Superman action figure given to him by Narcisa, though it was clearly old and used, the 'S' logo on the front long since faded, scratched away. The door into his white room had just slid open, and he hurriedly got to his feet. He was excited. He'd never seen anywhere outside of these white walls, and he had so many wonders as to what the world held.
But Narcisa wasn't there to greet him. Instead, it was Warren walking in, his hands in his pockets, the door sliding shut behind him. Grayson diverted his gaze from Warren, immediately hiding his action figure behind his back.

"Narcisa has abandoned you." Warren spoke. "She told me she didn't love you. Laughed as she left you."
Grayson had nothing to say, but almost immediately, the tears began flowing down his cheeks as Grayson slowly approached. "She hated you, Subject Zero. All people are like her. Never love anyone. Now give me that."
Grayson glanced up to see Warren's waiting hand, and timidly pulled the superman toy out from behind him, obediently placing it in Warren's hand, who ripped the head off of the toy, before turning and leaving the room without another word. Once he was gone, the child curled into a ball on the empty floor, turning his back to the window he couldn't see through, shoulders shaking with each sob as he tried to keep himself from crying, knowing he'd be punished if he was caught doing so.
 
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Ansel

Ansel finished his message, hopefully reaching out to as many Paragons on the system as he could've. New kid and Alan couldn't be far, right? They'd probably run into them on the way to the tower. Though Crosshair seemed to have other plans. "Well I suppose yeah, you don't have to go, but you're not even gonna visit our medical ward? I mean, it's complimentary!" Ansel said, trying to convince Crosshair otherwise. "But sure, go ahead! Stop by anytime, ask for me! Or Patriot..."

There went the honorary dude.

"I guess that leaves me and you, Sparkblade! We might be able to run into another Paragon on the way. He's pretty new too, but he's carrying his weight. I wasn't actually called in to deal with, uh, that mess there. Completely different mess. Some guy who could copy powers, I think? He looked sort of familiar too...But the new guy ran off after him, lost track of that guy when I heard the chief firing off some shots. And the explosion and...stuff."

He lead the way to the tower, passing by the scene of Larua's attack. Still an absolute mess. Road would probably be shut down for a month as they fixed the pipe, filled in the street, gave the shop owners insurance...Did seem the victims were taken to the hospital. Shame about those two, they were probably fine and dandy people just minding their day. Mercenaries and terrorists were one thing, but at least they seemed to have some sort of goal. Money, power...This guy just came in and murdered for no real reason. It was a pretty raw form of evil, in Ansel's eyes.

"Hey, new guy! Uh- Telekine! Kid. Telekine Kid!" Ansel called out, hoping to get the guy around. "He's the new guy. Newish- Not as new as you of course. His induction was a lil' more flashy than what you got."

@OmnipotentOnion @Captain Cardboard @Martin Pine
-----
Celice

Lady's backup was not required, it seemed. The garbage can kid was happy to let them pass, now being informed of the gift being given to the King. Now this wasn't necessarily all true, but really, looking into the past couldn't of been too hard, right? It was probably like a sixth sense, a natural thing! So she was totally giving him totally free stuff. He'd see, no doubt.

The trash kid lead them to a central chamber of sorts, and provided free entertainment for Lady. And speaking of free entertainment, the room-

There was a smell in the air. Distinctly different from the smell of the sewer. Distinctly familiar. A distinctly metallic scent.

Blood. It was definitely blood.

A laughing youth- Assumedly the king -seemed to be directing around a massive behemoth of garbage. It slammed down upon a man, who Celice did not get a great look at before the behemoth blocked him from sight. A splotch of red indicated something violent went down here. And made Celice gulp, as it meant this guy meant business. Whether or not he was twelve. The trashy kid was calling out to him, something Celice joined him in doing.

"Hey, king! Trash king! Sorry if I'm interrupting something here, but I got some good stuff to give you!"

She spoke this without tripping up. She was pushing her charisma here...

@Shen: King of the Mist @Shadow_Pup @comic
-----
Necrodytis

Necrodytis's expression softened for a moment as she heard the esper speak. They'd tell no one? For free? Though her expression hardened once again as it clicked in her head. They wouldn't stop...There was no winning. Though her street identity meant more to her than the million or so dollars on the line from the scumbag CEO, but so be it. It was too valuable...

And then she noticed something. Someone. There was someone listening in to the conversation.

"This...you set me up. You both set me up!!" She made this accusation pretty quickly. Paranoia had gotten to her. "I can't believe I'd ever even...Rraghhh!" She clenched her gauntlets, snarling in anger. "Integrate bloodflow, now!" This wasn't said to her now enemies, but rather a verbal command to the suit. Immediately, needles sunk into her forearms, running blood to her gauntlets.

"I'll rot you all to bones!!" Necrodytis hissed, dashing towards Kerco in the shade. He had no place being there- He would first to be disposed of.

@=Nightshade= @Gamingfan @The Dark Fairy
-----
Skade

The researcher gave a curious offer. To meet one of the children being trained.

Skade's immediate thoughts went to- Why bother with this pointless mortal thing? You would snap it like a twig if you were told to. Keep this thing moving along- Go fight that shield to the death. But there was another, somewhat repressed thought in her head. That mortal looks like you. Has similar power to your own. Why not entertain the thought? Why not try to enjoy yourself before the end?

"...Curious. I'll take you up on this offer then, Foster. See how this army of the future begins."

Ignizio would probably call out her unusually soft behavior, but she had her mind prodded by this strange, icy mirror. He'd likely be curious as well if there was a child with scorching heat abilities within the walls. It was something she herself had to see, experience. Just once at the least.

@comic @OmnipotentOnion
 

Void_Nugget

Previously Shadow_Pup
Forsythe without hesitating smashed through the creatures chest shattering the bones in his hand and arm as he did so. He then stood panting heavily noticing his surroundings, "come on Percy surely you've had enough, can we just call it a draw" he called out optimistically he needed to not be mid fight when he bled out and his time was becoming more and more limited. He slumped down onto the ground his vision becoming blurry. As he heard the muffled words of a women talking about a gift or something.
@Shen: King of the Mist @BurbleBurble
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
“Hmmmmm...lemme think. An enemy that stole my ice cream and barged into my home to attack me is begging on his knees. Should I show mercy?” He snickered, mockingly stroking his chin before banging his staff against the foot of his throne. “Nah!”

While Forsythe had indeed punched through, he now had only one leg, no functioning arms, and was bleeding everywhere. He was done. The garbage would surround him from the hound, making sure there was no way to escape, compacting him and crushing his body.

As he did this, he heard the calls of his underling, Scud. Looking over to him and the two guests that he had brought to his royal chamber, he put his hands together gleefully, as if he hadn’t just murdered someone in front of them.

“Oh! Sorry about that! Kingly business can get a little messy sometimes when the trash fights back.” He said with a pip in his step, his trash throne floating toward them. “Oh? And what’s this about a gift? Why, isn’t this a surprise! Maybe you land dwellers do have some hope after all, being this nice to me. Soooo where is it? Is it big? Small? I don’t see a present.”

@BurbleBurble @comic @Shadow_Pup
 

The Dark Fairy

Previously Eliiiscool
Lilian looked her over despite her assurances, deciding she was alright after a few seconds. Lilian though back to the strange moment “Software update, what is that?” She gasped “Is it magic? Is that going to happen to me?!” She lightly grasped CL-9’s arm, wondering when and where such a thing could now happen.

Dr Chrome looked back at the table for a moment “I have created many weapons from my research, while you have created these living ‘subjects’ I have something to put in our own hands.” Dr Chrome pulled a small red orb emblazon with the image of a ball and chain. The orb was contained in a larger plastic ball. “One weapon among many, it will tether any super to it, the more they use their powers, the longer it holds them.” He offered it to him “I don’t think it could work on these heralds your so intent on, but for others, it can stop them dead in their tracks. I just need more supers to create more.”

Kerco world slowed down, he had seen her work, and he wanted to avoid that. He considered what he could say, ultimately deciding he only had one option. “I’m sorry! I can’t really fight.” He took a step back “I’ll meet you in a week!” He hesitated a moment before stepping around the corner, wiping Necrodytis mind, and making the werewolf forget his looks. However leaving Hitoris memory alone, Ashe had no other way to get her to know it was him without having told her his normal system.
 
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DevVoid

Previously Deathstalker62
Well, seems like that part of going into a more silent area of town didn't work out so well for Ryg, as his sensitive hearing picked up on one hell of a racket and what sounded much like a fight. Gunshots, explosions, and... wooshing sounds? With Silence settling quickly again. Must be people using their powers. Well, of course it must be; there's always something like that going on around here between two or more super-powered folks. Ryg looked to his left and right, making sure noone was watching him, before running into an alley. There, Ryg formed himself little hooks on his hands and feet to scale the wall of the building to his left until he reached the roof. The alien removed his hooks as he pulled himself up, sitting down on the roof. There, Ryg had closed his eyes and focused: Using his species' preferred method of contact, he send out a mental signal to grasp the nearest mind near the location he heard all that noise from to make contact with. Ryg didn't know who it was he made contact with, but he did know it was near the location of that fight, so he had hoped it was with one of the participants.

" Hello? Someone there? If I didn't happen to reach some unconscious mind, please don't freak out; You're not going insane. I'm an individual with telepathic powers, and I have heard some serious loud and concerning noises from your area. Is everyone at your location alright? " @Captain Cardboard
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
Lady
The trash baby led them into a much larger part of the sewers, and she could have sworn she saw a large reptile dip beneath the surface of the water nearby as they entered. There was a massive heap of garbage where a person stood. He seemed young, but she couldn't really recall what the names between 'grown-up' and 'baby' were at the moment. So he was... either a big baby or a small grown-up. Considering the company he kept, she was settling on the former.
"Big trash baby." She said to Celice, once again going unheard, fortunately, as the big trash baby was dealing with something. She didn't see anything outside of a spray of blood and the smell of copper, but almost immediately-

A look of fury. Unbridled rage stained the blurry face of a man before her, blood smothering his appearance. Her blood. She could feel the icy sting of cool air around her, could feel the lack of oxygen as he held her in the sky. "WHERE IS SHE!?" The man, whom she recognized as the man in the image from the alley. The man she hated. She couldn't answer him, her throat in his grip, and then all she could feel was gravity taking her as she plummeted to the earth.

Her mind returned to the present, her heart racing as she tried to focus her eyes, the scent of blood staining her nostrils. Celice and the big trash baby seemed to be talking, but her knees grew unbearably weak, and she fell to the ground, barely catching herself on the damp concrete beneath her, her breathing heavy as her eyes refused to focus.
She'd remembered her death.
And she felt like she'd just died again.

@BurbleBurble @Shen: King of the Mist

Damian Foster
"Cool. Just follow me this way." Damian replied, leading the pair out of the room, down the hall for what seemed like forever, before walking through another door into yet another hall, this one lined with glass like the last room, except this time behind the glass was a massive room, greatly expansive. Pure white, of strange-looking pale panels making up all sides.
"This is the training room. Every single panel is of a reinforced carbon fiber polymer meshed with a clear nanite material. Light, flexible, and impossibly durable. Production of these babies is so expensive that even Warren can't make the whole facility like this. Only this room. Behind each panel is a series of cameras and projectors that can change environments. We're still working on finding a way to create realistic objects this way, so as of now we can only create basic environments. The kids like it, too." The researcher ranted, his mouth never seeming to stop running. "This glass isn't nearly as durable as the walls, but it's still of an incredible tough material, capable of withstanding explosive attacks, and with a high melting point 4,000 Fahrenheit. We can safely monitor the children's activities from here. Not that that would be a problem for either of you, but people like me often require this silly little thing we like to call 'protection' to save our fragile mortal bodies."
That must have been a joke he hoped would land with one of the heralds.

@BurbleBurble @OmnipotentOnion

CL-9
The android chuckled at Lilian's sudden false realization, leading CL-9 to put her on the correct train of thought. "No, no, of course not. My body is considered hardware, and my mind is considered software. It only applies to those of robotic nature, like myself. When I receive a software update, that means I am getting new information, making me more knowledgeable." She did what she could to make it as simple as possible, knowing how much Lilian struggled at grasping modern content such as this.

@The Dark Fairy

Charles Warren
"If not the heralds, it would be useless against Patriot." Warren pointed out, stepping forward and examining the orb with waning interest. "So. This is what you've been working on? Hm... I will admit, I'm rather underwhelmed. Perhaps a demonstration is in order, no? Convince me of its usefulness and I just might help you increase production." He offered, stroking his beard for a moment.

@The Dark Fairy

Patriot
Some days were just... so very dull. Sometimes entire months were eventless. Nothing ever happened. Obviously there were small, petty crimes, but most of the criminal underworld, especially in NYC, feared the Paragons. Not to mention the countless vigilantes running around asserting their own justice against those Patriot didn't care to handle, seeing most of that stuff below him.
He could recall his childhood. After he'd left those blasted facilities in San Francisco. Lives on his own for so long, scrounging for scraps, concealing his abilities... he'd always seen his connection to the comic character 'Superman'. He read every issue. He'd been obsessed. The things he'd faced were the very things Patriot yearned to challenge. But even though he was this world's Superman, he had no villains he couldn't stomp swiftly. There was Warren, of course, but he wasn't the Lex Luthor type.

Those years had been long ago. So very long ago. It felt as though that was a different life. And technically... it was. How far he'd come, only to hit the top with no more room to rise. Is this really what being the 'best' meant?
The Paragon leader paced in front of a white canvas, a round table before him. This was the meeting room at the top of Paragon Tower, and a large panel of glass showed the world outside. The sun had set by now, only a thin ray of orange light remained, soon to fade and be replaced by the cold emptiness of the night sky. The skyline of the city was clearly visible, and at one point, it had left him breathless.
How hard was it to be impressed these days. Yet today was not so dull. Today had been a sequence of action and intrigue. New things to entertain him. First there was Warren's new recruit. Clearly a Super of some sort. He'd heard the stories, new a lot of Warren's desires, and it was obvious who the man was. The Blackfire. That immediate recognition is what had intrigued Patriot so much. There was no way it was anyone else. Those eyes... that tomb... Warren's attitude. The answer was clear as day. Then there was Larua, who did exactly as Patriot had predicted. He'd been recruited by Warren, and Patriot had even used his superspeed to capture photo evidence of this, going entirely undetected. His Paragons were less likely to see the Blackfire situation as a reason to pose Warren as a threat, considering the Blackfire was simply a legend in most of their eyes. But some had fought Larua that day. They knew he was a threat, and this evidence would undoubtedly put them on alert against the billionaire.

His headache had faded by now, leaving him feeling as powerful as ever as he awaited the Paragons to arrive.
 
Crosshair limped away from Deluge and Sparkblade, making his way back through the alleyway to the wreckage of the car he had arrived in. He managed to pry the door open, and looked in to find the duffel bag he had brought to still be intact. The vigilante pulled the large duffel bag from the wreckage, and that was when it happened. A voice spoke in his head.

Instinctively, Crosshair pushed himself against the wreckage of the car and drew his pistol as he scanned the surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Crosshair tried to think if there was any heroes, vigilantes, or villains that utilized telepathy that would be in the city, but none were coming to mind. He paused a moment longer before attempting to 'think back', to whoever was telepathically talking to him.

There's no one injured, if that's what you're asking. Crosshair thought back to Ryg. Continuing to scan the street, the alleyways, the rooftops, Crosshair quickly limped back into the alleyway and pressed himself against the wall. That shapeshifting monster killer was what tore through. It was almost killed when some suits showed up and stole it.

Crosshair leaned against the wall of the alleyway, taking another moment to regain some energy. He was starting to feel woozy, but knew he had to fight through it. The last thing he needed was to pass out on the street. Maybe it would have been a better idea to accept Deluge's offer, even if it were just to use the medical supplies...
 
Celice

The King had dawdled over to her, seeming bored with the presumably dead man. He was now interested in what she had to give to him. Without losing her confidence, she swung around the backpack she had lugged around all day. Metal clinked and scraped within, as she placed it on the ground. Lifting it's cover, revealed several things within- Metallic bits and bobs, and the tattered hospital gown.

"Not only I have brought you the finest materials- Taken right from the Paragons themselves, who have used such materials for their amazing power -I also brought this fantastic piece of cloth."

Celice pulled out the gown, letting it flow down in front of the King and herself. "At first glance this may look like a standard piece of clothing, but in reality it is far more! It has such a rich and varied history- And I hear you, king of trash, have the ability to see such a thing's history!" She was subtly hinting at his apparent seer skills. Well, subtle may of been a little too generous.

"And it's all for you, as a show of...uh...gratitude. For providing so many souls, uh, protection." She had realized halfway through that statement she had no reason to give the King a gift if she was, apparently, doing it for nothing in return. "And I'd really, really, would love to hear the story behind this gown. So, if it'd be in your generous heart to do so..."

Lady had been quiet. Too quiet. Her giggling had ended almost immediately upon entering the room.

Celice looked to her side, to see Lady on the ground. It was not normal behavior, at least not in the last few hours Celice had known her for.

"Oh shit, are you alright?" The supposedly valuable gown was dropped as Celice knelt down to her. "The smell get to you? Yeah, it's pretty nasty, blood I mean. You get used to it, but it's kind of surprising the first couple times."

@Shen: King of the Mist @comic
-----

The scent of cigarette smoke filled the air. A man at a computer with multiple monitors slowly puffed out smoke, as he observed a web of interconnected code. A simulated version of a human mind, almost.

It was, in fact, data received from CL-9. The last ‘imprint’ of her ‘mind’. Fascinating, truly fascinating. Once again, Warren’s insecurities proved to be holding back true potential. At one point, he would have agreed that weekly resets were in the best interest of efficiency. But no, the resets were holding the CL-9 back! Back from it’s true potential!

Warren was truly a fool. He spent so much time and money in the biological field. Making supers out of not so supers. But he had the tools, and power, to make supers from scratch! Why bother with fleshy beings that could die so easily, instead of robots that could be tinkered to the heart's desire! Death meant nothing to a machine with it’s intelligence backed up on a server. It was a simple matter of implementing it into a new body! It could learn from it’s own mistakes, and continually improve on them!

And this matrix proved that they could be so much more! Comparable to actual human emotion, and thought! It was incredible, but if Warren saw one lick of it, he’d be going wild. Admonishing him for not having taken control of the situation, not having administered a reset.

Not to mention Warren’s new ‘assistants’. Did he really think that he wasn’t being observed, what he was getting in his grubby hands? Bringers of death, controllers of power far beyond what a human could attain. Once Patriot was out of the picture, there would be none to stop their destruction of the human race. None except Warren’s experiments, who would likely be trampled under sheer power. The old man’s hubris was staggeringly high.

Not that Doctor Chase made any of that clear to his employer. He preferred a more...subtle approach. After all, the only man with enough resources to even think about making an AI or android comparable to CL-9 was indeed Warren. He needed to play relatively nice as well. Or he’d be receiving one hell of a ‘severance package’.

Now perhaps getting into servers that were not exactly meant to be read by the ilk of an AI scientist was straining that, but if everything went well, Warren would never know. Those heralds represented an existential threat. And in the mind of Chase, he only saw one solution- in CL-9.

The CL-X was sufficiently along in the design process. It was not going to host a new AI based off the current model, however. It was going to be a direct transplant.

Today’s update was only the beginning. The beginning of a new era of AI, of humanity.

...He shoved the butt of his cigarette into an overflowing ashtray, stifling a cough. Hopefully the end wasn’t as close as it seemed.

Doctor Chase
 

The Dark Fairy

Previously Eliiiscool
Dr chrome shook his head “You misinterpret my description, I say this thing because the heralds are an unknown variation, human supers produce their powers within their cells, but we don’t know where these aliens receive their strength, and this is only one weapon of many.” He paused a moment “However, a demonstration would be in order I suppose.” He took a step back, tucking the orb back into his pocket “Come, we discuss more as we walk.”

Lilian slowly nodded, understanding that it would not happen to her, but once again was brought to the problem of not understanding the differences between them, though it had been explained without success, the big words getting in her way, so she just nodded. “So, what did this ‘update’ tell you?”
 
Angel flew away, cooing to herself. She was no longer needed, and she felt great! She helped people. Sure, the people she was helping did break her moral values, but the other guy killed multiple people for no reason. In her opinion, helping the lesser evil was always the best solution. She landed nearby, not wanting some supers laws or something to get her into trouble. Then she felt pain rack all over her body. Someone was hurt nearby. Forgetting her efforts to stay out of trouble, she tried to find the injured person. She saw him, leaning against a wall with a gun. She was unsure if she was seen or anything. After all, last thing she wanted was to be shot by a scared man. She sighed as she started trying to heal him, sending a soothing aura his way.

Destiny sat hunched over her computer, looking over old news papers. Things before her time. Warren was, well, he was one of the few reasons why she kept going. After all, Warren was the richest man out there. But where did his funds come from. Not only that, but so many people "commit suicide" after working with Warren for so long. She doubted it was a coincidence at all.
 
Shuzo

Upon meeting a fellow, newly-inducted Paragon, Shuzo nodded in curt greeting toward "Telekine-kid", who joined him and Deluge on the walk toward the Paragon Tower. It was impossible to miss; the imposing structure cast a shadow for several meters above the citizens below, and after heaving a sigh of resignation, the vigilante followed the two Paragons into the tower and stepped inside. I guess this is happening now.

Finally, after a brief tour with Deluge skimming through a few things here and there around the interior, the three heroes entering the elevator and made their way up to the meeting room. Upon walking out into the room, Shuzo barely suppressed an irritated "Geh," before taking a few more steps and looking around. For a meeting room, it was a surprisingly large space; the walls were decorated with various plant life, framed awards and trophies (mostly given to Patriot), and in the center sat a large, round table, around which multiple chairs were set. Refraining from taking a seat just yet, Shuzo stood idly with his hands in his pockets, waiting for any straggling Paragons to arrive.

Ignizio

Despite the several fierce blows that she and Ignizio had exchanged only hours ago in the harsh winter, Skade still seemed to be rather hungry for a fight. However, he couldn't disagree, as he was also rather fascinated by what Warren's program had to offer. Earlier during the tour, the Herald had come across a child with bright, blue fire for hair and similar colored eyes that glowed with the same intensity as the flames on his head. Unlike Ignizio, the girl seemed just as unhinged as Skade, eyes dancing with maniacal glee as she bared her sharp fangs.

Refusing to dignify the girl's attempt at intimidation with more than a quiet scoff, Ignizio folded his arms over his chest and followed Skade and Damian into the training room. As the researcher described the room's capabilities, the Blackfire user remained silent as he looked around, cracking his neck nonchalantly as he listened. It was certainly an interesting space, though he seemed doubtful that it was capable of sustaining any true unleashing of either his Blackfire or Skade's Whitefrost. In the meantime, he supposed all he could do was wait and see.

@comic @BurbleBurble
 

DevVoid

Previously Deathstalker62
" Shapeshifting monster.. that sounds pretty bad. And you're sure no one got hurt? Not even yourself? " Ryg signalled over, deciding to take into the air to fly over to the site where his mind linked with the stranger's. Ryg grew himself four large insect wings on his back, which began flapping quickly, similarly to a Dragonfly, and he ascended into the sky with quick, yet straight and direct movements. " Hold on, you say no one was injured? That doesn't exactly add up, considering all the explosions, gunshots and other stuff I heard. I'll be coming over to your location to check on the area. If you see someone in the air with insect wings, please wave up at them. ..Because that'll be me. ..probably. "

And with that, Ryg broke up the connection, as if he were hanging up an actual phone call. Ryg's wings buzzed at a quiet constant as he transformed his appearance;

His clothes adapting to a black, robe-like appearance with a purple outline, the hood of the 'robe' over his head. His eyes, turned from emerald-green back to a glowing white, were now masked by a dark-blue mask that resembled the typical superhero face mask, minus the nose bit, that being just a flat area. Right under the mask was a dark-purple scarf, tucked into the robe and a major part hidden behind the collar of the robe, the other half covering Ryg's mouth area. 'Tied' to his body with a blue rope, Ryg finished his transformation by changing his hands and part of his arms into dark-purple, long gauntlets and boots, resembling painted steel, and a matching dark-blue long-sleeved shirt and pants tucked into the boots and gauntlets, completing his 'Silent Night' Costume. ..despite it not being a costume at all, but who could even tell the difference anyway?

'Silent Night' flew through the sky, moving towards the location where he picked up that stranger's mind. Well, at least, the last location it was in. Only time could tell if Ryg was actually gonna meet this stranger or if they were gonna be long gone by the time he arrives. @Captain Cardboard
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
Prince Percy began to rub his hands together at the thought of what she may bring out, needless to say he was a bit perplexed when Celice has unveiled a nurse’s gown. Cocking his head, he followed her explanation. So it’s value was a...rich story? He was confused. He was about to ask a question when the cloth was dropped on the floor, taking the pint sized prince off guard.”

“Wha—? Here I got it!”

Before the blood from Forsythe could trickle over it it, he made the item levitate in air. He bended the material, bringing it over to him. It was definitely trash, that was for sure. Odd thing to be trash but he didn’t seem to care. What he did care about how the attention focused off him and on lady. That didn’t set right with him, so seeing the mess he made in the room, cleared his throat.

“Riiiight, the mess.”

With a swirl of his wand, the blood and gory bits were swept away by the trash, being forced into a crack in the wall. This would lead to the sewer systems, dropping the contents of the body into the sewer water.

“Annnnyway, now that that’s done and over with, why exactly do you want to know what this dirty gown in all about anyway? Ain’t exactly jewels or ice cream if you know what I’m sayin’.”

Remarking on how unusual the gift was to receive, the prince twirled around the gown on one finger. Not that he was complaining about free stuff, but he was wondering how he would appreciate these if he didn’t know their purpose other than seeing.


@comic @BurbleBurble
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
Lady
A few more moments of this strange dizziness passed, in which she could make out Celice leaning down to her, face betraying concern. The strange woman glanced back up at her, her vision beginning to clear, her head ceasing its painful throbbing- and she was back, though her heart still thundered against her chest.
"Blood." She told Celice. "Bad man. Man I hate. Made me bleed." She informed. "Die."
Slowly, she climbed to her feet, feeling Celice's arms under her own, helping her up. It was... comforting. This woman who'd been a simple stranger earlier that day was now offering Lady some sense of security.

@BurbleBurble @Shen: King of the Mist

Charles Warren
Warren wordlessly agreed as Chrome led the way out of the room, the billionaire falling into step beside him, before his pocket started to noticeably buzz the moment Chrome opened his mouth to begin speaking. "One moment." Warren lifted a finger to his old friend, before bringing that finger to his ear. "I expect it was a success?" He asked.
He was silent as the person on the other end spoke, going unheard by Chrome, before Warren gave a nod. "Very good. I'll prepare them for the Chronosphere when I return. No, not The Illusion. She's next. And the alien?"
Another pause.
"No, not the telepathic one. I mean the other one."
Yet another pause.
"Did Patriot see them?"
Whaddya know? Another pause.
"He should never have engaged the Paragon in the first place. It will take time to smooth over relations, but so long as the Paragons remain unaware of my involvement, we just might be safe. Any updates on our hacker? Destiny was it?"
Congratulations, last pause.
"Very good. Loosen some of our firewalls, let her see a little more. Yes, I said more. No, I won't let her expose us. Yes, I'm aware of what she's done. This has gone on long enough, I'm disconnecting." With that, Warren tapped his ear, and returned his attention to Chrome. "Where were we? Oh, yes, the demonstration."

@The Dark Fairy

CL-9
She thought over Lilian's question for a moment. The 'young' woman was barely able to grasp the basics of technology, could she really even understand the revelation the android had been given? Perhaps to show would be better than to tell...
"It's... rather complicated, but I've just been revealed a conspiracy. Whether Warren intended to or not is beyond me, but... according to my files, Warren has a... uh... a God in his basement." She blinked a couple of times. "An... Egyptian God."

@The Dark Fairy
 

Gamingfan

Previously Gamingfan2
Loufe looked at Necrodytis nervously, unable to read what was happening. That is, until she yelled and went back to angry mode, accusing him of setting her up. Loufe jumped at the accusation.
" We-wait-whaaa?" was all he could sputter before Necrodytis whooshed past them. He turned, his eyes widening as he saw Kerco standing there. He must've stayed and overheard.
As shady as he was, Loufe didn't want to just watch him be killed. Necrodytis already covered enough ground soo..
" No, wait! O.S!" He called as he leaped behind the mercenary. His body shifted again, his limbs elongating and muscles strengthening as he shifted into a hulking wolf.
O.S landed on all fours and leapt again, his powerful limbs allowing him to close the distance beside the mercenary. He landed on the wall and pounced next to Necrodytis, planning on slamming into her from the side.
It was then Loufe wondered who he was worried about.
 
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The Dark Fairy

Previously Eliiiscool
Dr Chrome waited for Warren to finish on the phone to turn his gaze to him “The chromosphere, one of those heralds I presume?” He looked forward again “And yes, we just need to travel to the living quarters to pick someone up.”

Lilian blinked, for once she understood all the words that were used, though it still didn’t make much sense “Master Warren, has.... a god in the basement?” She looked at her feet “But that’s where my room is, I’ve been all over and haven’t seen that.”
 
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