Private/Closed The Paragons - Act I

[BurbleBurble]

Ansel

He didn't prod any more. Just a nod. The vigilante said he was simply learning she was a widow for the first time. Understandable, first time Ansel had heard of it. He hadn't like...actually talked to Yin Li before today. He only seeked her out due to the interrupted her and Sparkblade's fight against the thing. He had exchanged more awkward handshakes with the fire chief, for routinely putting out fires. Which was perhaps more his speed than these ninjas. You see, fire could not punch you. Then again, Ansel didn't think wind could punch you before today...

As for the newspaper article...A lot of it was dedicated to complaining about the good old days of superheroing, when things were simpler. The villains were simpler too. It seemed where the ninjas came in was what he was, specifically, doing. The super had been interrupting a deal where some corporation had been busted selling off weapons. Not one that was still around, selling weapons to gangs probably did not look too great to stockholders. However, a third party had then entered the scene. The super complained how this man had completely forced him out of the field- How he only barely survived.

"Could disappear and reappear out of nowhere...Best compared to tar...Sticky, thick, couldn't bleed."

Ansel said those parts out loud. So this guy couldn't really be killed traditionally. The way the author put it made it sound like he didn't really have durability like Patriot, or even the Cretecon fella he had stopped a week or so ago. More like it just...absorbed. Like hitting a sponge, it wouldn't feel anything. No wonder the electric attack hadn't worked.

"Well, that's great. At least we know what probably won't work now."

Of course, that only covered goopy. Ansel clicked on a few of the eye witness reports. They still seemed to just reaffirm what the ninjas could do, but not necessarily what could counter them other than throwing Patriot at them.

"I was going for something today. The guy who used wind, he still had flesh. You could see it between his armor," Ansel said, trying to come to some sort of solution. "I assume a good shock could still kill him, and being stabbed through the throat seemed to make him retreat. Maybe he's even out of commission. But that still leaves the gooey guy. That one took a shotgun blast to the face even, didn't he?"

So what would work?

Vivisection? Probably not. He could probably just stick any lost limbs right back on like nothing had happened. Decapitation? That seemed like a decent idea, but it also seemed hard to pull off since the goop would absorb the slash. So...what was left?

"Uh...Tar and water don't mix, do they?" He posited the question. "We could...drown him. Might be the only way to stop him. That or some kind of crazy laser gun." The latter was a random thing Ansel decided to bring up. "Burn his cells or something. However, I don't have any crazy laser gun, so it's kind of a useless thing to bring up, huh..."

Well, Ansel didn't think Sparkblade had any crazy laser gun, but hey, today had been surprising thus far.

-----
Necrodytis

Vicious swipe after swipe was quickly exhausting her, but all Necrodytis had in her bloody clutches was a few locks of hair. Stupid girl, stupid esper! Stupid stupid stupid...!

Techno said it again. They weren't going to track her down, they hadn't set her up. They weren't going to track Janice down. She hadn't said the name, but she would've if she had known! As Necrodytis took another lunge, she missed, her armor scraping across the ground, no doubt giving it more scuffs.

"But why wouldn't you?!" She hissed, pulling herself off the ground. Claws grit into the bricks of the wall, using it as leverage to pull herself up. "Why...Wouldn't you." The mercenary repeated, taking in a few gasps from within her mask. Blood dribbled onto the wall, which was then followed up by a voice in her earpiece once more.

Blood levels nearing critical levels. Estimated 4.6 liters remaining.

Another feature of the suit. There was only so much blood in her body, and transfusions weren't really a thing for her. As a result, this put her in a tough situation. Maybe it was because of her exhaustion, her light head...But she was perhaps willing to hear them out.

"Why wouldn't you?" She asked once again, menacing still, even as she still had her claw grit into the wall for support.

-----
Skade

Ignizio pretended that he didn't know her? Ha! Or perhaps he didn't think it was worth divulging? Either way, it was somewhat amusing. And speaking of divulging, Foster wished to pry further into their memories, things that they hadn't yet discussed. Even promising to keep his lips sealed, though Skade didn't really care about that. To be quite honest, she even considered messing with him by informing him of the dozens of encounters she had over the ages that were ultimately gonna be boring as all get out. "Perhaps I could-"

It was then there was a voice, in the back of her head. Reverberating through her bones, she took a moment to hear it. Her eyes glazed over, as she heard that voice.

I am near.

And she returned, realizing she had been looking past Foster entirely. Looking off into a wall. Ignizio had done much the same, seemingly released from his trance as well. No doubt Kronos and Luna had received the same message. Did they have their affairs all in line? Did she and Ignizio even have their own in line?

"...I don't have anything to hide." She looked back at Foster, bemusement gone. "But you could ask us at a later time. Kronos likely has better stories for you to hear than us at any rate."

I am near...How near, Skade wondered.

How near.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Grrrr! What is he? A ninja or something?!”Percy grumbled as he cringed his shut eyes. “Whatever...Nowhere he can run too down here!”

The Bullslug slithered at alarming speeds after Crosshair, leaving a horrid trail of unknown substances in it’s wake. As Crosshair got to the ladder, Percy grit his teeth.

“Oh no you don’t!”

The slug gurgled and bubbled before releasing a sticky web mixed with bile from it’s mouth. It would try and stick to him as well as the ladder. It would immobilize the target and release a smell so repugnant that one could find a hard time staying conscious.

@Captain Cardboard

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Crosshair pushed himself up the ladder, pushing the manhole cover up with his shoulders. Another gurgling noise alerted Crosshair to the presence of the bullslug, and the vigilante paused to see it rearing back for another attack. Crosshair jumped onto the surface as the garbage creature shot its web, but the attack managed to catch Crosshair in the leg. It stuck Crosshair's leg to the ladder, preventing him from fully escaping. The stench of the web made Crosshair cough and retch, and his vision swam.

Pushing through the stench, Crosshair drew a pistol and fired blindly down the ladder. With loud clangs and pings, the bullets began to ricochet down the ladder and into the sewer. A few of them struck the webbing where Crosshair's foot was stuck, managing to losen it enough that Crosshair was able to pull his foot up and out of the sewer.

Crosshair rolled away from the manhole onto the street, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a grenade. Pulling the pin, the vigilante lobbed it down into the sewer. It clattered down, rolling towards the bullslug.
@Shen: King of the Mist

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Shuzo

Silently thanking the gods that Ansel had fortunately decided to let the Yin Li topic slide, Shuzo kept his focus on the computer screen upon catching the Paragon's nod in his periphery, finally able to put the other conflicting issue aside (until he needed to think about it again once he got home). Further study into the news article--coupled with Ansel's murmured commentary on its contents--revealed some possibilities as to the full scope of the sludge ninja's body material and abilities. Compared to 'tar' and didn't bleed. Shuzo's brow furrowed as he stroked the stubble on his chin, listening to Ansel discuss ways to incapacitate or kill the ninjas.

"At least the wind one's flesh is exposed; if I can get close enough, I'll see what I can do to whittle him down and deal damage where I can. If he takes the fight to you, you can maybe inflict some flesh wounds and try out what you were talking about earlier; I don't know if you can drain all of his blood, but it's worth a shot.

The sludge ninja's the tough one. Regardless of how effective it is, electricity's my best bet; if anything, I can force a battle of attrition and hope he gets exhausted before I do. There's also Massi, who could be sent out by Warren, which is gonna be a massive pain to deal with as well."

The two Paragons continued to discuss and skim through the databases, scouring the files for whatever they could find on whom they would soon be facing. After an hour or so more of gaining as much intel as they could, they agreed to call it a day before parting ways for the night, Shuzo heading back to his home. As soon as he arrived, he took out his phone and typed up another message to send to Crosshair's burner phone.

Patriot's planned Paragon strike on Warren Industries tomorrow; meeting at the tower at 1130 to suit up. Could use your support on the ground, since Patriot predicts Warren will send out forces of his own. Pretty sure you can get in, since you're an 'honorary member' as well. Either way, get some rest and tend to those injuries of yours; it'll be an intense firefight once it starts, so you can't miss it.

After hitting 'send', Shuzo tossed his phone aside and took one more meditating session to clear his mind, which was now even more clouded with uncertainty due to recent events.

Well, mostly just one recent event.

Actually, just one person.

....Yeah, this 'meditation' wasn't working at all.

With a curse muttered under his breath, Shuzo heaved an exasperated sigh as he got up and paced around, folding his arms over his chest as he continued to murmur to himself. Finally, he ended his conflicted train of thought with one last--fully voiced, this time--curse and turned to face the fireplace. He unlocked the hidden door, and as his eyes rested on the clothed mannequin before him, Shuzo let out one more sigh, this time one of resignation.

Might as well work on the new upgrades if I have nothing better to do.

★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★

​

Ignizio

Ignizio had been silent, his eyes an empty void as they usually were, but like Skade, something was visibly different about him. The all too familiar voice echoed through his head, sending a chill down his spine, and completely stopping him in his tracks. The black in his eyes seemed especially devoid of light or life, but as soon as the trance passed, his stupor was replaced by confidence. Not a confidence that fed his pride and expressed a feeling of superiority over others; rather, it was a subtle confidence that could only be recognized by Skade, a confidence that dispelled any doubt that he had forgotten his assigned role and would put any less than his whole being into seeing it through.

"Everyone has their secrets, contrary to what Skade may claim; unfortunately, I doubt you would find much enjoyment in anything I have to share. I agree with Skade--you will likely find more interesting anecdotes from Kronos once Warren has inducted him into this 'team' as well."

There was no doubt about it; that voice ringing through his skull, the intense pressure overpowering his senses. It was almost time, and soon, the planet would be torn to the ground, prepared for annihilation. It mattered not how near he was; all Ignizio could do was make sure he was able to do what needed to be done and trust that the others were prepared to do the same.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The Bullslug reared up as it saw, or rather Prince Percy saw the constrained Crosshair. As it lunged toward him, the gunshot rang and he freed himself. The Bullslug smacked into the ladder, the physical strength bending the metal and making an awful din. As Crosshair lept above, he dropped a grenade, implanting into the slimy exterior of the creature. Right as it was to extend it’s worm like mouth-

*BOOM!*

—the entire creature exploded into a fountain of bile and waste. It didn’t smell or look pretty, but the result was he got out Of their in one piece.

.
..
...

“Ngh!”

Prince Percy winced as he staggered in place. It was always discombobulating after losing connection with a creature. Growling, the boy grasped the scepter firmly.

“That wannabe vigilante thinks he can walk into my court, diss me, and ignore the consequences? Oh he’ll see...this won’t go unpunished!”

“Boss! Boss!”

Scud plodded up to him with a rackety clank of his garbage can. Percy raised a lone brow as the boy, a bit out of breath approached.

“Da boyz and I gots the planz for the bestest strat evhar! We’z be good to goez for da attack i recon.”

A cat like smile replaced the trash king’s irritable glare, changing the entire tone of his body posture.

“Excellent! I shall review these plans and we may make the preparations! Then we shall get the recognition we rightly deserve! Muhahahahahaha!!!!!”

His voice echoed through the chamber, the immature boy looking over to scud, poking his can with his scepter.

“Laugh triumphantly with me Scud! Muhahaha!”

“Hurhurhur!”

“Muhahaha!

“Hurhuhhur!”

“Muhahah—Ack!” He coughed. “The monarch’s throat is parched. Give me the royal Fanta!”

 

[Gamingfan]

O.S snorted.
"Well for one thing it's not like we expected you to come visit. Would've cleaned up otherwise."
Well, easy for him to say. No one else could hear him.
However, the question didn't seem all that simple to answer. It looked like Necrodytis was willing to hear them...to an extent. Hopefully he wouldn't press any buttons or someone wouldn't leave here alive.
"Ummm, well..." he approached the hunched Necrodytis, speaking in a timorous voice " I-I just don't want to fight, y'know? Can't we....maybe make peace? Nobody has to get hurt. "
"So she can kill more people once you let her go. Nice job." O.S sniggered.
Loufe shook his head, as if attempting to throw the mental wolf out of his head.
We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

[BurbleBurble]

Ansel

With nothing left to do for the night, Ansel returned to his apartment. It was a quite nice apartment, though, compared to Yin Li's he had visited earlier. High up, spacious. High rise in a lovely district of the city. Ansel's apartment was absolutely representative of his position.

But as he opened the doors to his apartment, there was none there to greet him. Nothing really to think about. It was just dark, spacious...And no one to see. No cats or dogs, he certainly wasn't responsible enough for one of those. No fish or any other less high maintenance animal either. Just a quiet, big apartment.

When Ansel said the water had been his only friend earlier, he assumed that wasn't one-hundred percent true. He did have another...As he pulled out a bottle of brandy out of his cabinet, half drank. Next a shotglass, pouring himself a drink. Maybe it wasn't as much of a friend as much as it was a thing that constantly pulled him back to it.

He remembered when he first started drinking...first, second year of college? Around nineteen if he remembered right. Ansel had flunked that semester. Just as he had the one before. And just as he had begun failing in High School, just squeaking out with his Bs and Cs. Ansel wasn't an only child, he had a sister and a brother too. They weren't as high profile, but they were successful. One had a PhD in biology, graduating in the eightieth percentile. The other had gone into a fairly good theater acting career.

Ansel had begun life as an excellent, gifted child. He was always noted as a fast learner, someone who went at his own pace. Passed his classes with straight As, and it had all gone well until...senior year of high school. Maybe junior. He tried to block out those thoughts, they weren't great to think about, but he had passed it off as "oh these classes are just out of my pace. don't worry mom and dad, i'll bounce back!"

He never did though. Eventually got slapped with academic probation, stopped talking to his parents about the time he started drinking, his siblings soon after.

It hurt, y'know. Knowing that everyone thought you'd be successful. And you know you were becoming a disappointment.

So he turned to partying, having the time of his life and lifting up everyone around him. Probably, at least. It made him feel better at the time. But then one night, he pissed someone off, and...Then before he knew it, he had these crazy water powers.

He dropped out of college soon after, trying to make a hero name for himself. And soon enough he was with the Paragons.

It was weird, he had become successful, but by pure fluke really. Did his parents even know where he was? Never bothered to change his name. Maybe they just assumed he hated them for some reason. Ansel didn't, but he really did feel like it was too late to reconnect. With any of his family, really. So...that's why he just drank. And tried to find love, but it never ended well. He was still in that...frat mindset.

Ugh, he was pathetic. He drank his third shot of brandy and corked the bottle. Shoving it back in the cabinet. Pinching the bridge of his nose.

He had a job to do still. He had to try and pretend it was no fluke he was here in the Paragons.

What else could he do?

-----
Necrodytis

Necrodytis looked toward Loufe as he spoke. Her eyes practically were drilling into his. She then broke it- Doing the same to Techno, who nodded in agreement. She growled at first...Then Necrodytis took a deep breath, and pulled herself up, and spoke. "Fine. I'll let you both live." She hissed out, walking dejected out of the alleyway. She didn't feel good about this, but not necessarily bad about it.

"I'll avoid taking jobs involving either of you in the future as well. Scratch my back, I scratch yours and all."

She had played her hand and wasted it. This whole affair could've been avoided if she had simply waited for a better opportunity to off the girl...But whatever. Whatever! What was done was done. Though she still felt that they all were entitled to something for all the trouble. For both the trouble she had put the two through, and the trouble they had put her through.

And, well, there's was only one source for both of those issues.

---

The CEO of Sleaze Technologies, which was perhaps aptly named, sat at his desk. Excitedly waiting the inbound meeting. A message through his intercom, from security.

"Uh...Mr. Sympir, there's a...uhhhh...Necrodytis on her way to your office?"

"Don't worry about it- Let her through."

Less than a minute later, the ghoulish visage of Necrodytis entered the room, doors opening as she pushed her way in. Armor scuffed and damaged. Sweat still condensed on her brow. She even had dried blood on her gauntlets! And the CEO felt very confident in what she was about to say. "Well, well, well if it isn't Necrodytis! It's been a week or so, I'm ecstatic to hear what you've managed to do! I've always had faith in you, and all that!"

"I quit."

"Yes, I definitely- Wait, what?!" His confidence faded, his own attitude shifting towards anger at the sudden change. "You- It's been a week, what have you been doing?! You're the best on the market, they said!"

"I said I quit. And what's more, I want a quarter of the payment." Her eyes simply met his. Not betraying any emotion. Even her modulator sounded very neutral. Just raspy instead of ghoulish.

And Sympir went from annoyed to furious. He took his feet off the desk, standing up, a new fury clear in his eyes. "So what you're telling me is that you didn't do the job you were hired to to do- And you still want payment?! What the hell do you expect?!" He slammed his hands on the table. "They told me you were the best in the business! Clearly it was a crock of bullshit if this is what I get! You get the hell out of my office and don't-"

The CEO quickly had his head on the desk, slammed down. Necrodytis's clawed gauntlet pushing down on him. Now she seemed mad.

"Excuse me, but unless you have a way to give me back ten days of my life wasted on chasing this Techno, I feel entitled to some compensation." Sympir gurgled a bit as she pushed down on his head. "As far as I'm concerned, the blame falls primarily on your insufficient information and poor security detail."

With a sudden change in opinion, he began to speak. Some pressure was alleviated off his head as he did so. "W-well, I suppose I can see your point- Uh, we can likely compensate you about two-hundred fifty thousand-"

Pressure was added again, prompting another gurgle. "I said quarter. Quarter of a million and a half is three hundred and fifty thousand."

"Uh, yes! W-we could certainly do that!" He squeaked. "Three hundred fifty thousand-!"

Her claw was removed from his head, breathing in. "Thank you for your understanding. Have a nice night."

And like that she left, storming out of the office. Leaving Sympir in stunned silence for a moment. Sweating intensely as he pulled his head up, feeling where there would certainly be a bruise in the morning. Some crusted blood left on the side of his face.

"Last time I hire mercenaries to try and take care of things..." He remarked, sighing.

 

[comic]

The Next Day...

Patriot
He stood at the head of the large, oval-shaped table in the center of the Paragon meeting room, eyes glaring out at the blue sky and tops of skyscrapers he could see through the window. As of now, he was the only person inside the room. Thirty minutes early. The others would be arriving shortly.
That left him with some time to sulk to himself, as he often did when he was alone. It had been years since he'd thought back to... her. To the woman he'd proposed to. The woman he'd been so prepared to spend the rest of his life with. He had no idea who she was when they'd first met...

"Hi."
A young, clean-shaven Grayson looked up from the history book he'd been reading in the library, the glasses he wore sliding somewhat down his nose, which he promptly pushed back up. His eyes locked with... well, he'd never seen a woman quite so beautiful in his life. The young man was struck by a moment of awe as his brown eyes gazed back into her green ones, her curly red locks pulled back into a short ponytail as she smiled at him.
It took Grayson a moment to find his voice, eventually stammering out a; "Uh... h-hey." He could feel his cheeks burning, and just that face made him even more red. "I'm new here, and you seemed nice." The girl informed, taking a seat across from him, her eyes never leaving his. It took him a good second to remember where 'here' was. He set a leaflet inside of the history book and closed it. "Oh, well... in that case, let me be the first to introduce you to Haverford!" He smiled brightly at her, feeling his confidence return after the momentary shock, extending a hand, which she promptly shook. Her skin was cold, her form dainty, yet her grip was a lot more impressive than most men he'd shaken hands with. "Thanks. My name's Eve."
Her eyes still never left his.

He'd never once considered her to be a spy for Warren. Not once. Why would she be? She was the new girl at Haverford, and he just happened to be the lucky guy who caught her attention. It was several years down the line, after he'd graduated, had a luxurious job, that the whole world came crashing down around him. The same day he'd learned Eve was pregnant was the day she'd disappeared. He counted the days she was gone. Perhaps if he'd looked for her himself, things could have worked out. Or at least he could have seen his child. But no, he'd been taught differently by the couple who'd taken him in and raised him on the countryside for the eight years after he'd escaped Warren. When they learned of his powers, they taught him to conceal it. Taught him how dangerous he could be. So he had hidden it, for a long time. He left the search for Eve up to the police. They never found her.
Instead, she'd come crawling back to him one night. Tears running down her face as she confessed everything to him. Her involvement with Warren, how he now had their daughter, and... well, he stopped listening after that.

It was a blind rage. The love he still felt was there, holding him back, but with everything so red... but as his vision began to clear, everything remained red. Eve lay on the ground, beaten, broken, and bloody, her own blood painting the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and himself. Looking back on it, he wondered how she wasn't already dead as she slowly tried to crawl away, even noticing that her body didn't even seem scratched.
But his rage overtook him again. Ignoring the twisting of his gut, he'd picked her up by the throat, and bursted through the roof of the home they'd spent the last two years on the countryside.
They rose higher and higher, so high that Eve was struggling to breath against both a lack of oxygen, as well as the grip he held against her throat. Finally, he spoke, yelling as loud as his voice would allow, his words screamed into her face. He demanded to know where their daughter was.
But he never gave her the chance to explain as he let go, and she plummeted to the earth below. He'd destroyed their house after that, burnt it to embers, and buried her that night, before he left.
Six years running around, not knowing what do with himself, meeting Cretecon, starting down a path into perpetual torment. That night, Warren had turned Patriot into exactly what the old man wanted. A monster. And the Super had still never recovered.

His eyes fell upon the table, and he realized he'd crushed the metal beneath his grip. That certainly wouldn't go unnoticed. He pushed himself away from the table, feeling the beating of his heart, and taking a few deep breaths to soothe his nerves. Now was the day he'd finally get payback. Seven years in the making, he'd carried this fantasy of finally fighting back against Warren.
He'd never give the old man the satisfaction of being the one to kill him. No, send some street vigilante to do the job, let Warren know just exactly how unimportant he really was.
Then... getting his daughter. Killing Warren would draw out Warren's bosses, who Patriot had been unable to learn anything about despite his contacts and ways of digging up lost information. It was almost as if they didn't exist- though he knew they did. And he'd kill them, all the same. Nothing was going to stop him from getting his daughter back.

Nothing.

Charles Warren
Even without the billionaire around, many things had happened. Through his inside source at the Paragons, he'd learned about their new plan. Attack Larua to draw Warren out. Silly plan, really, he didn't care for Larua in the slightest. Would have preferred him as a way to distract- or kill -Infinity. Larua would be entirely outclassed by the whole brunt of the Paragons going after him. Hell, Patriot alone ensured Larua's death.
So... maybe he could entertain the idea that they were doing exactly what Patriot believed. Distracting the old man. He'd send some of his troops there to 'defend' Larua, though in reality, it was merely to keep Patriot from getting suspicious. As for Shuzo, however... Warren had to admit that Patriot had surprised him, at least a little, by choosing that particular vigilante to kill him.
Quietus was the perfect counter to that, especially if he ditched his conductive armor.

Patriot's plan was bold and daring- but would ultimately fail. In the off chance it did succeed, well... there were already a few failsafe's planned, not limited to the awesome power of the Heralds. He still needed two more, after all. Just as Ra had said. With them at his disposal, he'd be relatively unstoppable. But they weren't obedient to him, so the army he grew would be there to extinguish them once they rebelled.
Ignizio and Skade had taken an interest in said army. Two individuals in particular, and he could see why they'd taken such an interest. The two children were almost identical to the Heralds in regards to power. He'd been surprised when he read the report, about how Mash hadn't been murdered by the Heralds. Perhaps they truly did place some sort of value on fearlessness. Warren himself had been screamed at relentlessly by Mash, but he'd never fire the man. He was practically perfect for training the children.

And so, that morning, Charles had seen the Heralds off, deciding to spice things up a bit along the way. He sent Damian with them again, as the Heralds didn't seem to mind him around, as well as the Subject 4649, promoting success to the children, adding Mash to the roster to oversee the kids, the other children essentially being given somebody far more mean and ruthless to train them than Mash. An android, specifically, but they didn't know that. Just another part of their training. See that Mash wasn't the worst that could happen, and they'd be more willing to keep him than get anyone else.
Now, Warren sat in his office, typing away on his computer, updating Miss Umbra about his current situation as Quietus stood in front of the desk, silent as ever, waiting for him to finish.

When he did, Warren closed the laptop and looked up at the Subject, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Subject 5 tells me you let CL-9 go."
Quietus said nothing.
"I understand your... attachment to her, but she's not the same as the CL-8 model. This one is deadly, being left alone for so long. The next time you see her, do not let her escape."
It was like talking to a small child, which was how you normally had to speak to Subject 7. He'd fallen so far from the man he once was, long before his transformation into this mute... creature. But he was obedient, so Warren kept him around.

Quietus gave a small, simple nod, and was dismissed. He sank into the floor, making Warren roll his eyes in annoyance. Now that everything was squared away, and the hour drew near, he needed to square away one last situation.
His old friend, Dr. Chase.
With that thought in mind, Warren left his office.

Damian Foster, Drill Sergeant Mash
It seemed like a rather peaceful place. A sandy shore, a warm sun, lapping waves... A beautiful place, outside of Pyrgos. The shuttle whipped the sand about as it hovered lower and lower to the ground, before finally coming to a stop as it rested on the sandy beach. A door opened on the side with a hiss, extending down to form a ramp, where three individuals walked down from. Damian Foster, donning a rather goofy-looking get-up that made him look like a 1950's colonial explorer from the amazon. Skade, the Herald of Whitefrost, and Ignizio, the Herald of Blackfire. Behind them, back inside the shuttle, was Drill Sergeant Mash, appearing as though he'd rather be anywhere else, the same girl who'd beaten another kid to impress Skade sitting on a chair beside him, staring at Skade as she exited.
Warren had insisted they bring Subject 4649 along with them, and nobody seemed to have a problem with it outside of Mash, who was tasked to watch over her along the way.

"Time distortions around these parts have been going off for days, so I think it's safe to assume that our Chronosphere, or Kronos as you called him, is around here somewhere." Damian stated, placing his hands on his hips and looking around. Not a soul was on the shoreline, from what they could see, trees obscuring any view beyond the beach.
Damian hadn't talked to the Heralds much after he'd delivered them to their quarters, and he'd seemed rather distracted on the shuttle ride here, but now he seemed back to his usual, rather eccentric self.

Yin Li
She'd been updated on where specifically to vacate civilians that morning by a text from a stranger. She'd replied to it, but they hadn't gotten back to her, so she had no idea who the update was from. She assumed it was Sparkblade. Who else could it be?
And so she'd spent the bulk of the morning briefing her higher-ranking officers, who in turn briefed the rest of the NYPD, and she mobilized a good portion of them to begin evacuating first the area around Warren Industries, then Central Park, where Larua had killed those people, and then the surrounding area between. The official story was a 'terroristic bomb threat', which seemed to get the media buzzing.
Whatever. So long as they were occupied.

CL-9
She'd received another update later that night, and a direct link to Dr. Chase. He'd informed her of several safehouse locations they could visit, ranging from a penthouse, to the homeless shelter, to a quaint house in Queens, to a literal cave about 200 miles to the west. Lilian didn't exactly give any useful input on where she thought was best, placing the decision solely on the android, who'd decided there was something poetic about hiding in a pent house in the middle of NYC. They'd be right under Warren's nose and he wouldn't even know it.

So that's where they'd stayed the night. Lilian had used the tools and knowhow at her disposal to try and patch up the android's busted 'skin' as best as she could. The material in of itself was unique, as it could 'heal' itself, though that took a lot of time. So for a while, she was stuck looking like she'd just been mauled by a vicious dog. As for her exposed hand... she'd just need to wear a glove over it. The skin was left back in the AI hub, and she wasn't exactly keen on getting it back.

When the next day arrived, they went to the streets immediately, concealed in heavy coats before they got themselves a makeover. CL-9 more than Lilian, who merely got a haircut, while the android cut her hair shorter as well, dying it black, and donning a pair of glasses. They'd used some funds Chase had lent them, which didn't link back to him in any way, fortunately. So now, with their new disguises, still covered in thick coats, CL-9 and Lilian found themselves on the streets of New York, which seemed a lot more packed than usual.
A quick update to the android let her know what was happening. "Apparently there's a bomb threat somewhere around Warren Industries." She informed the unusually quiet Lilian. "Most of the district's been evacuated."

Lady
Last night, Celice had put the cushions back on the couch and gone to sleep after having to convince Lady that'd be perfectly fine in the room on the bed. But when she'd awoken that morning, Lady was on the floor beside the couch, snuggled under the quilt from Celice's bed, hugging Celice's arm, which had been hanging off the couch while she slept.
The two had gotten up, gotten ready, done some shopping, got a proper breakfast (Lady enjoying about seven stacks of pancakes before finally admitting she was full), and the two were on their way again, off to the mall to purchase clothing for Lady, who seemed absolutely ecstatic at the idea, bouncing around as though she hadn't just eaten seven stacks of pancakes like some kind of monster.

Lady's eccentric personality didn't seem all that attractive to most of the people they walked around, and as they entered the mall, the pair were being given a rather wide berth, people casting annoyed glances to the excited Lady as she bounded around Celice, giggling the whole time.
On top of having the mentality of a child, Lady sure seemed to have the stomach and energy of one as well.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Crosshair made his way into one of his few safehouses in the city. It was days like these that he longed for a normal life. The vigilante dropped his duffel bag on the floor, taking off his longcoat and body armor. He smelled like the sewer. He needed a shower.

How long had it been since he had a day off? Months? Years? When was the last time he had talked to someone while not in costume? Crosshair looked himself in the mirror. Drake... It had been a long time since he had heard that name. Even now, it felt like the fight with the ninjas was eons ago. The fact that they... that Warren knew his real name was disturbing. Not because he had any friends or family that the man could threaten. Crosshair knew was gone long ago. But if these people knew his name, then what else did they know about Crosshair? His safehouses?

Then there was that whole drama with the brat prince. To be honest, Crosshair didn't know what to do about the kid and his gang. The vigilante took a moment to reflect and recall everything he could about the kid's powers. He had made the sewage pipes buckle, and somehow created some sort of golem from garbage. Some sort of mental manipulation of objects. But not living things. Also, somehow able to see through the things he manipulates. Some high level psychic powers... Not to mention, the kid pretty much had an army of loyal fighters with him. Crosshair didn't know if any of them had powers either, but he couldn't rule it out. All of them hiding in the sewers... Crosshair knew how much of a mess and complex this city's sewer system was. Heck, he had probably been using it before the brat was born. There were a hundred and one places the twerp could hide out. This wasn't something Crosshair would be able to take on alone... It would be a good idea to tip off both the Paragons and the Police on this. Perhaps Silent Night?

It was late, and he was tired.

Crosshair woke up early the next morning. A Paragon strike against Warren... Shuzo said he should meet at the tower to suit up, but the vigilante had doubts. Think about what Warren might know had made Crosshair slight paranoid. So he elected to not reply to Sparkblade's texts. He'd show up to the assault, but on his own terms. In the meantime, he had to prepare.

Normal ballistics hadn't worked on the black tar ninja, so Crosshair dug around for something special. This might not be the best situation to bring his whole toolkit. If the entirety of the Paragons were assaulting this place, they were going to be expecting some pretty heavy resistance. Crosshair began to suit up.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Lilian nodded, not looking until CL-9, or asking the normal questions about the statement, staring into the distance and having an unusually blank expression. After several seconds of quiet, she spoke “Its all really gone, the entirety of it...” she looked up, where she would imagine her old home to be.

Kronos heard the ship, it was rather hard not to. He knew who it was, he reached down to pick up a few logs to stock his fire, watching as they caught with flame. He grabbed a can next to the fire, full of nuts, warming his hands as he waited for his guests to find him.

Kerco arrived home soon after his encounter with the police chief, deep in thought as he thought, this attack would leave Paragon tower completely open, though he didn’t have what he would need to properly break in, which was rather unfortunate, but he was not about to rush in unprepared. Picking up his sheet of paper he scanned down his list, placing it back down as he stretched.

Kerco awoke the next day, wasting little time as he ate and prepared a small stack of papers. Walking out of his house at a swift pace, he made his way to a ice cream shop, grabbing a box of cotton candy sherbet. He walking out to a nearby manhole, using a foot to dislodge it before climbing down and closing it behind him, though he got strange looks, no one was the wiser as they walked away.

Scath walked out of the Fae lands, a small group of humanoid Fae with her. For her own part, she had a large amount of clothing on, a human with jet black skin wild not fly as far as a disguise went, so she wanted to minimize the amount of ‘skin’ she showed. They traveled a long ways, there most immediate trouble would be the European nation. Traveling for the entire night a a few hours of the day, they arrived at a town named Lairg, using some human money they had from attacks to purchase a room.

A Great Fairy, Lynosia, looked up as Scath, sitting on the end of a bed “Is this really necessary Scath? In addition to being in the midst of the human, I think I’m getting sick from this place.” Scath nodded her head “We will spend plenty of nights out in the open on our trip, not to speak of the full days.” The three in her company all sighed, not wanting to stay there. Scath looked around “I know you might not completely agree with me, but I enjoy this roof over our heads.” They all looked between themselves, finding odd, but not questioning Scath.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

.
..
...

“And THAT is where the trumpeteers come in!”

“Uhm...boss?” Scud scratched his head. “We don’t has any of ‘dose.”

“Well then get some!”

“Aye aye, but like...whut do we need trumpets fur?”

“It’s style Scud, we don’t want to seem like a drab kingdom now do we?”

That’s when Percy felt a tingling sensation in his wrist. Raising a brow, he realized that something or someone was down here with them. Another guest? Or perhaps that Forsythe character...maybe that Crosshair one too.

Using his sight, he tracked down where the disturbance had come from. It came from a figured walking in the sewer darkness, making his way with some kind of offering in a box. Wait...that garbage he had in his pocket. That unique style...Kerco? His face lit up, grinning as he recognized his penpal

“Ke-Ke is making a surprise visit! Put away the jelly jammers, he’s got something good with him, I can tell!”

Delighted with the thought of his friends coming to pay him a visit, he quickly hopped atop his throne. Clapping his hands giddily, he looked like a Kid awaiting a toy from a happy meal.

 

[BurbleBurble]

Ansel

Ansel got up at seven AM, and he was ready to seize this day.

...Well, after spending a half hour moping in bed at the least.

Afterwards, he got to his normal morning warmups. Push-ups, pull ups, a jog on the treadmill. He couldn't let the water get all the credit. It wasn't grueling- After all, it was a warmup, but he had a feeling that today would go one of two ways. He'd come back home feeling on top of the world, happy as can be...

...Or he'd be feeling like garbage who had the absolute shit kicked out of, a little like he had last night. That had been slightly rectified from the somewhat uplifting notion that causalities were going to try and be kept to a minimum, but the later meeting with Sparkblade had not made him feel much better about the ninjas.

Oh, there was also a third where he would end up in a body bag, but he wouldn't be coming back home in that case.

Showering and finishing his preparations, Ansel got suited up. The Deluge outfit wasn't much benefit to Ansel himself. It was made out of bulletproof mesh, but that didn't always help against some of the nastier baddies. It was not sword or pierce proof, nor did it have much resistance to the elements. Some rubber to help against any electricity users. And his head was complete exposed, making the mesh somewhat moot if any villain aimed a little higher up. On the other hand, it looked pretty cool.

He styled his hair for a moment. Looked at his black eye from the fight before. It did seem to be looking a bit better. But he then covered it with his sunglasses once more. Like hell he'd publicly admit that he got his ass kicked!

And so Ansel left, off to the tower. Off to his Paragon duty.

-----
Celice

After letting them air out for the day and turning them over, the couch cushions had smelled...acceptable. Celice had avoided having to sleep on the carpeted floor. Not that she minded either- She had slept in far worse locations, in worse conditions.

Getting to sleep was never the hard part. It always the memories that Celice would have to relive in dreams. Sometimes they were hazy and pleasant. Other times, too vivid and hurtful to even want to recall. And it always the ones that hurt that she could relive the clearest.

On this night, she had a particularly nice dream by her standards. Her mother and father, and herself. All enjoying a happy, quiet breakfast at their home. She couldn't remember much about her father's career, only that he wasn't home in the mornings often. But on the days he was, she did remember getting up alongside him, and just...enjoying it. The specific meal she could remember was a sort of bread with an egg in it. Khachapuri, if she remembered right. She hadn't had it in a long time.

But before she could dig in within her dream, there was something pulling at her arm. She tried to pull it, and...

She woke up. And realized the weight on her arm was Lady. She must've climbed off the bed and grabbed her in the night...

Of course, Celice was woefully unprepared to have the woman over. Her refrigerator only had milk, two pickles, and a single egg. What sort of breakfast would that make?

So in a uncharacteristic move, Celice had to take Lady out for breakfast. Local diner. While she kept to a small omelet, Celice watched with equal amounts of fear and amazement as the woman inhaled pancakes at a level she didn't even think was possible. There was an equal amount of fear for her wallet, as one hell of a bill racked up. She wasn't expecting to have to pay fifty dollars on pancakes today, oh but she did! And Lady didn't even look like she was one bit slowed down by this, which really stumped Celice. She must've not eaten in some time, leading to such a monstrous appetite...

Moving on from the diner, they clearly needed to get her new clothes. She couldn't keep going around in Celice's secondhand stuff, after all. It was sort of weird to be walking around in the same style...More like, "Wow I actually look like that?" than caring what people thought about them clearly sharing a wardrobe.

Good thing about malls in 2033 was that they basically only barely made it by, using great sales to draw in customers instead of letting them sit at their houses and order it to their doorstep. This was very beneficial for Celice, given her hurting wallet. Guiding the bounding, bouncing Lady into a department store.

How she still was able to be so energetic after stuffing herself like that was completely beyond Celice still. Lady was a hell of a mystery.

"So what sort of clothes do you even want? Anything stand out to you, Lady?"

-----
Janice

Another day, for the mercenary. She got up at her usual time, around five in the morning, and had begun prepping for the day. The events from last night still had her a bit groggy and under the weather, but the day would move on as usual, she assumed.

Until she received a call from her boss. The workplace had to be evacuated, as it fell within one of the areas that had been targeted by some sort of bomb threat. Basically, she didn't have to show up today. Huh. Funny how those things worked.

With the advantage of not needing to go out for the day, she ran some numbers for her inbound payment. Unfortunately, three hundred and fifty thousand was not going to cover the upkeep of her suit, her various bills, and her expensive disguise methods. Primarily the suit, as the designer of it was something of a stickler when it came to 'working with criminals' and that it was a very advanced piece of machinery. It would cost almost double what she was being paid to get it it's repairs, not to mention her other upkeep methods.

Frustrating. All this because she had slipped up. Unfortunately, that CEO probably wasn't going to hire her back anytime soon, and the jobs for an intimidating mercenary were always in short supply. Of course, this didn't mean Necrodytis was in a hopeless situation. She just needed to pull some strings...

And she knew a few strings she could pull on right now.

The closest thing Necrodytis had to a friend. There had been one time where Necrodytis had been hired to kill, or otherwise incapacitate, a fellow assassin. Until they had discovered that their employer had hired the two to fight it out, having accrued quite a bill on the sake of both of them. He had been trying to scam them both.

Needless to say, that employer had been quickly dealt with. Necrodytis, the persona, had remained amicable allies with the other killer. A woman known, simply, as the Lady in Black. In fact, she even had a burner phone to directly contact her through.

Which was what Janice was about to do. It was a bit of a rude thing to ask, but asking may not of hurt.

She did one thing first- Strapping on her mask and modulator. It did feel a little awkward to have on the gruesome visage on while she was in somewhat casual clothes, but hey. Whatever worked. She dialed in the number, and waited for the other end to pick up.

"It's Necrodytis," She began. "I've run into an issue with my previous job, and I need some money. I know it's somewhat uncouth to ask, but are there any jobs you're working on that you need a hand with? Either as a distraction or otherwise."

-----
Doctor Chase

He hadn't slept. Nicotine and energy drinks worked wonders, really! He pushed out an update for CL-9, had gotten into a secure direct communications with her.

Chase's latest update had added a litany of useful information, and had taken the liberty of simply...removing the reset entirely. The function would not work, because it no longer existed. Gave her some minor optimizations, to better accommodate for her lack of restraints...That being said? Chase was also completely stumped on what to do next.

Warren wasn't gonna give up. He was never the kind to do that, not in the past thirty odd years Chase had known him. Chrome was working on getting Chase a way out- Not out of Warren Industries, out of the country all together, working under a new name in a new company. The United States? Nothing left there for him, except his daughter (Who hated him), his brother (Who hated him), and his wife (Who despised him). And the CL series, but hell if Chase was just gonna dump it all! He'd just take the code in the night and rebrand it. The brand new "Chase Angelo's" series. Or...whatever alias he'd go under.

That being said, the road for CL-9 was...short. Chase wasn't expecting to her to be busted so fast. He was buying time for her at this point, sticking his neck out nice and long to be chopped. And if he died, well, he had another way for them to buy even more time- Because he'd be damned if he wasn't going to piss off Charles from beyond the grave. She wouldn't get terribly far, not unless some unforeseen, incomprehensible disaster happened within the company or world abroad first to distract them all from her continued absence.

And all this was said with Chase knowing very well what he was about to do. Warren was no doubt going to come by and check in on him. Chase always had a bunch of alibis, fail-safes, and securities to fall back on. The drive he had made the update on wasn't even in his computer at the moment, and hadn't gone through any Warren connections at all when it was. Someone was watching, and Chase wasn't here to take dumb chances.

As a result, his main work computer had been busy working on a number of CL-X bits and pieces. That project was going well, but without CL-9 to directly implant in the model...He'd need to either get her back in the facility, or bring the CL-X to her...It was a conundrum he'd have to solve.

As he expected, his office doors had opened, and standing there was Charles Warren. He had to play his cards right here. Taking a drag of his latest cigarette, before promptly sticking it in an overflowing ash tray.

"Ah, Mister Warren. I would say what an unexpected surprise, but I think we both know why you are here." He turned around from his computer, which only displayed the latest development for the CL-X. "9 is gone, and with it that girl in the gem you had given it." He used his words carefully here. Her implicated that he had some kind of attachment to the AI, it was dehumanizing. "I understand you are certainly eager to get both of those back."

He leaned forward in his chair, his face not betraying any emotion. "But perhaps we can talk about the fact I hadn't learned of it's official departure until much later? That some security team had been dispatched to deal with it long before I, the one who has an idea of how to deal with these situations, was deemed unnecessary in the process? And now look. It's gone, and two security detail are dead at it's hands."

Of course, he was still fuming about that situation, but he was able to keep his anger down to "light annoyance" than screaming his lungs out.

-----
Skade, Subject 4649

Outside was very...bright. The air was fresher, the world became so much bigger. 4649's entire perception of reality felt...shifted. Her eyes watched the horizon with amazement. She had seen images before, but never the real thing. As they zoomed over the ocean, the sky had shifted from blue, to pink, orange, purple...

Meanwhile, her newfound role model had been rather quiet the entire trip. In truth, Skade was still feeling very nebulous about the collection of Kronos. As she had mentioned, he was mainly support. Time control stopped a lot of things, but was boring and lacked spectacle. No spectacle meant it was boring. Skade wasn't certain that this Patriot was an immortal character who had been on the earth for a long time, but enough exposure to the Chronosphere could make him rather easy to defeat if he was not, in fact, an immortal on this earth for thousands of years.

Any human's fatal flaw was their limited time. From what Skade had learned, perusing some human texts in the night prior within the "quarters" she was given, the typical human only lived for about one-hundred years. There were outliers, some immortals such as the one called "Infinite", but those were quite far and few between. So if Kronos wished, and had able support, Patriot could be transformed into an infant, and easily destroyed thus.

She stepped out of the ship with some disinterest. Kronos location seemed to be just on the cusp of human civilization. Was he even keeping to his duties? Shameful.

And 4649 watched Skade leave the ship, intensely curious about why. The ultimate goal of going across the sea. She was ecstatic to simply see the outside, and be in the presence of these Heralds. But it clearly wasn't just some joy ride. And Sergeant Mash beside her kept the young Subject from departing alongside the Heralds, or asking questions without being prompted. This frustrated her, but...4649 had already gotten to see far better than everyone else back at the training ground. She really couldn't complain.

And back off the ship, Skade spoke up, glancing at a small trail of smoke that had begun to grow in size. Not too far from the landing. "I still believe this is a pointless endeavor, but I have no doubt Kronos would be here." She idly pointed towards the direction of the smoke, "I assume that plume of smoke may be worth investigating, unless Ignizio has a better plan for tracking him down."

Skade wanted to get this over with, and get to the part where she tore Patriot apart. And then onto the rest of humanity's finest.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

On the other side of the city, the Lady in Black was lying down on the job. She was holed up on a rooftop a few blocks away from a skyscraper, watching a man in a suit sitting at his desk and sipping coffee. The man turned to his computer, logging onto it and evidently getting to work. It was at that moment that Black felt her phone vibrate. Now who could be calling her now?
"Helloooo?" Lady Black said, answering the phone.

The Lady in Black smiled as Necrodytis spoke, using her shoulder to keep her phone to her face as she adjusted her grip on her sniper rifle.
"Necrodytis, darling! It's been far too long!" Lady said. "Hold on just a moment, would you darling?"
Aiming down the sights, the Lady in Black squeezed the trigger. The shot was nearly silent, the only noise being the click of the gun parts and a small phfft! The man slumped over his desk.

Job completed, Lady Black began to take apart her sniper rifle.
"So, low on cash are we?" the Lady in Black said, packing it away. She began to conceal the parts in various hidden pockets in her clothing, and headed towards the staircase exit of the roof. "Well, unfortunately I just finished a job. But there is something I do have in mind."
Making her way down the stairs, Lady pulled out a rather convincing blonde wig and carefully putting on. Switching her black jacket inside out, it now appeared to be a light blue blouse. Pressing a button on her sunglasses made them change, transforming into what appeared to be normal glasses.
"I'm assuming you've heard about all that hubbub downtown? With everything being shut down and evacuated? Well, it's given me an opening to go in and... retrieve some items an employer of mine was hoping to get their hands on. It would be a bit more subtle, but with all the rumblings of the police in that area some additional muscle could come in handy. We could even get stop for dinner later, have a bit of a girl's night!"

 

[comic]

CL-9
The android paused a moment to look at Lilian, brow creasing in worry. People walked around them as they stood in the middle of the sidewalk. Softly, CL-9 pulled Lilian to the wall to get them out of the foot traffic, and offer some semblance of privacy between the two, however slim.
"What's gone?" She asked. Lilian didn't answer immediately, her gaze still rather distant. Did she mean the life she'd been given at Warren Industries? Perhaps her odd relationship to the neglectful Forsythe Carter. Or... perhaps she was finally registering her displacement through time. Lilian, like CL-9, was around to serve with utmost loyalty, and now... well, now they were free. On their own. Undoubtedly this event had forced Lilian to finally accept her situation.
"You mean... your old life?" CL-9 asked. Slowly, Lilian nodded, and the android felt a new wave of emotion that was no longer restricted.
Empathy. Compassion. Slowly at first, she opened her arms, gesturing for a hug. When Lilian didn't resist, the android placed her arms somewhat awkwardly around Lilian, embracing her. "I... don't know how to make you feel better." CL-9 admitted. "But I hope this is a start."

@The Dark Fairy

Lady
She stopped bouncing around for a moment, and gazed about the mall. Through the windows lining the walls to different stores, her gaze landed on a 'Outlier Outfits' store, where in the window- there happened to be the same style of clothing the two were currently wearing. Lady grinned, pointing at Outlier Outfits. "Look like Celice!" She stated happily. "Best friends forever!"
With that, she skipped off all willy nilly into Outlier Outfits to begin browsing through the clothing collection.

@BurbleBurble

Charles Warren
The entire time Chase spoke, Warren merely stared at him with a look the younger man knew all too well. It was the insufferable look of superiority Warren often gave those he spoke down to, hinting at the fact that he knew more than them but never outright saying it- at least, until he actually did.
By the time Chase had finished, still trying his best to act as natural as possible, Warren gazed about the room, silent for several moments, before he wiped some dust off a monitor with his finger, inspecting the layer that had come off onto his finger. "You know..." He finally began. "Every time I pay you a visit, I always consider bringing a face mask. For my personal well-being, of course."
He chuckled lightly as he said this, eyeing the overflowing ash tray near Chase. "Suppose it's better than our visits have become so... rare these last few years."
'Few years' was an understatement, Warren having practically abandoned Chase and Chrome decades ago. Not many, but it was something like 20 years.

"For thirty-eight years, you and I have invested a lot of time, money, and energy into the CL project." Warren continued, wiping the dust off on his front. "Well, myself first, until I got you on board. It was thanks to you that we made the progress we achieved. Artificial intelligence. Advanced robotics. We made reality what the rest of the world deemed fiction. And we agreed on something very... very important."
He stared at Chase for several long, tense seconds, before he continued speaking; "You remember, right? We agreed that artificial intelligence was extremely dangerous if left unchecked. Humanity fantasizes so often about a robotic overtaking, in which synthetics rule over mankind. We agreed that we would prevent this sort of reality from taking place. And yet- you seem so... calm. Calm at the fact that CL-9 is unable to be tracked. That it cannot be mind-wiped remotely or otherwise. That an unshackled artificial construct is currently on the loose, free to do as it pleases so tell me, Dr. Chase. Why have I taken such an interest in your lack of concern?"

@BurbleBurble

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Shuzo

Shuzo arrived at the tower fifteen minutes early. Aiming to avoid any attention drawn toward him in the bright morning, he had dressed in a fashion similar to that of his attire from last night's excursion to Yin Li's residence: a white shirt, navy jeans, brown tactical boots, and the same leather jacket from last night. An athletic bag carrying his suit and "tools" was slung over his shoulder, and he wore a black cloth mask and sunglasses.

His injuries had mostly healed; aside from a few scrapes that would scar and sore muscles, Shuzo was overall back in working condition and was now occupied with cracking his knuckles, back, and neck as he stood in the elevator, which was currently on its way to the top floor. As soon as it stopped, Shuzo exited the elevator and made his way into the meeting room, where Patriot stood at the head of the table, looking out the vast window. At the sight of the Paragon Leader, he once again stifled a derisive scoff before swallowing it back down and dropping his bag to the floor. Knowing the sound would likely grab Patriot's attention, Shuzo shoved his hands into his pockets, as his gaze met the hero's eye-level. A sudden snark escaped his lips as he found himself clearing his throat and speaking up, his voice filling the silent room.

"Well, I already know what I'm doing once I'm within the facility; anything you want me to grab while I'm out?"

★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★
​

Ignizio

Ignizio had also remained silent during the trip to Kronos' location. Despite his destructive ability and the enjoyment he gained from fighting, the Blackfire Herald was strangely dormant, only speaking when spoken to and allowing nothing more than a curt nod for most of his responses. As the shuttle took off and charted a course for the area known as 'Pyrgos', Ignizio was mostly occupied with deep thought, as he had recently found himself rather often since he finally left that godforsaken tomb.

Once the shuttle arrived, Skade promptly walked out, though her eyes held no trace of eagerness for the coming meeting. She had gestured toward a plume of smoke, to which Ignizio responded with a slight, nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"Kronos is a wanderer; it could be possible he set up camp for the night during his travels, so it can't hurt to start there."

Saying no more, Ignizio followed Skade out of the shuttle and began the trek toward the clouds of smoke, hands held behind his back as he walked.

 

[BurbleBurble]

Celice

And right on cue. Lady had not only found a shop featuring clothes almost exactly like those they were wearing, she loudly proclaimed that they were "best friends forever".

She had to stop fooling herself in advance, she was never getting rid of Lady. Maybe she would be able to get Lady a different apartment, but she'd never be rid of this woman. And maybe that wasn't a terrible thing, but...Celice would keep her distance as well as she could. Things like this had only ever ended one way for Celice- And that was poorly. And things were shaping up to have a variety of terrible ways to end up.

Outlier Outfits seemed to pride itself on minimalist aesthetic for their clothes. Lots of solid colors, simple designs. Now, price tags...Not so simple. Luckily, winter sales were going on, probably to hook in people for Christmas gifts. But for Celice, it made the outlet cheaper and more reasonable for this shopping trip.

"It hasn't been too cold this month yet," Said Celice to Lady- Who possibly was not paying attention. "But when it snows you're gonna be wanting a jacket. Or one of these, I guess." She picked up a sweater, beige in color. "I got some jackets back at home, but I don't actually have any sweaters. You want it?"

It did occur to Celice that Lady would probably agree or want whatever she presented.

-----
Necrodytis

The call went better than expected. A job, today?

"Yes, that sounds excellent. I've always been more of a night worker, but today's unique circumstances give me some leeway." As she spoke, she looked at Necrodytis's armor. Still scraped and slightly damaged from the day before. It may of ruined the illusion of a perfect ghoul, the otherworldly-ness. Especially out in daylight. However, Paragons wouldn't show up on the scene- Likely thought themselves too important. Police were the least of her worries. "I'm not sure if you were joking about the night out, but I will give it some thought if not. I'm something of a...private person." As if the voice modulator didn't tip the assassin off.

She used her free hand to stroke the surface of the chestplate as she spoke. "Give me a location and a time. I'm not quite as 'subtle' as you are, and without the cover of night I need to be relatively close to the location before revealing myself."

Janice would have to get dolled up. Could make a makeshift disguise to help her slip into the evacuation zone with the armor. She did have a rather bulky trench coat sitting around, and it was a cold December day. Plenty of good excuses all around, today.

-----
Doctor Chase

Warren's schtick was the same as it ever was. As in, avoid the question by walking around smugly, making a snide comment on wearing a mask when in the A.I. doctor's office, and then prompting his own question. Chase's face didn't change, but he was quite happy at being able to predict Warren's moves here.

"I don't believe you answered my questions about the chain in which I heard of the incident, but for the sake of not lingering too long, I'll answer your questions. About why I am so calm, that answer is pretty simple- I don't believe the CL-9 model has the capabilities that you fear, with it's absolute lack of resources. And I don't have time to panic. And I also already had a freakout last night, which is when I began formulating ideas on getting it back."

He stifled a cough as he continued. "And I believe I've come to the best conclusion, after two packs of cigarettes and half a dozen cans of various energy drinks, if you are willing to hear me out. The CL-9 model is damaged, penniless, and almost certainly wandering the city streets. It is almost certainly still within the city, and almost certainly connecting to the internet in regular intervals. Of course, there's too much data constantly rotating between public internet and data access spots to sort out the CL-9's connections to any average Joe's phone. Not humanly, at least."

If Warren was still engrossed in this conversation, he was probably already figuring where it was going.

"The newest model- The CL-X -It still has a base code model to go off of. The same base code model that the CL-9 runs off, and the CL-8 before it, the CL-7 before it. As a result, this new model could have a feature added to check for similar code models that have accessed the internet at a given location. The physical hardware allows it to process data quite quickly, and it can begin charting out a path to figure out where the CL-9 is. The problem of course is that this means we would have to let it loose in the city, retracing any steps that the CL-9 may of taken."

He did raise a finger to stop Warren from prematurely objecting. "Now don't be concerned about it having a similar problem to the CL-9's freedom. Not only will we have constant surveillance of this model, and an on demand reset feature, it's hardware- and general shell -Is an absolute pinnacle of design. Outside of Patriot himself cracking it open, it's very resilient, meaning that it should go relatively accident free." Chase wrung his hands as he explained. "And then, you don't have to expend any human life or man power, and we can keep a close eye on how it acts as it hunts down both the CL-9 and your asset. But if you have a better plan, then I suggest you tell me now." Chase was guessing he didn't.

The CL-X was being poised as a "perfect hunter", but this was far from the truth. He was going to have the CL-X seek out CL-9...to implant her consciousness into the nigh-unstoppable CL-X. He wasn't sure how he was going to play it off, but he was hoping to nudge Chrome into giving him that deal a bit faster. He'd be living it up halfway across the world, his A.I. construct free to roam the world and continue growing, and a perpetually pissed off Charles Warren who would finally get his comeuppance for his constant neglect of Chase. After all, the doctor was the one who put in the sleepless nights, toiling at his computers. The doctor was the one coming up with the next cutting edge technology, building off the machine learners of yesteryear to make A.I. a dominant, real force. But he was never the one getting his face on posters and billboards, never the one people thought of when they said "Modern father of robotics". It was always Warren.

The entire project had been built off of replacing his wife, even. Which honestly was really sad. Even Chase hadn't gotten that bad.

In any case, the idea of getting to revolutionize A.I. halfway across the world while Warren was forced to watch as his robotics department no doubt sunk without Chase at the lead, oh that would be very sweet indeed.

...Up until the lung cancer inevitably got him...Maybe he could add a lung transplant to the plans...

-----
Skade

With no major objections to her proposition, the three had proceeded down the shoreline. Stepping on the wet sand, freezing patches as she led the trio towards the smoke. And in not too much time at all, they reached the source of the fire. And to no ones surprise, by it sat an elderly figure, a can in one hand, the other outstretched towards the fire. He looked at the trio, as if expecting them.

"Well well, Kronos. Keeping yourself busy, I see." Skade crossed her arms, glancing at the elder Herald. "Though I'm sure you know why we are here. Foster, would you like to explain to Kronos your presence? You'll find him more approachable than I was." There was nothing to discuss concerning the inbound destruction they'd wreak. But Damian Foster had to propose his questions about Warren.

That man, she'd only met him in passing, but there was something about him. Unlike every other human. Foster acted fearless, Mash simply didn't care, but Warren...He clearly viewed himself as superior to all around him.

She wondered how he got so confident in the first place, amongst beings clearly able to slaughter him in a blink- And how possibly to shake that platform from beneath him.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Kerco walked through the sewers, moving through the tunnel quietly. Percy had spotted him, he could feel it, rather annoying, but he just had to deal with it. It didn't take him long to reach the bent bar, sliding past it. He took some time to brush of his pants before walking into Percys 'throne room.' He didn't need to, but her took out his paper, showing it off before speaking "Percy! How are you?"

Lilian hugged CL-9 back, silent tears coming from her eyes "I know a lot of what you tell me, I understand a lot of it, but I didn't want to, its all so strange. I didnt want to let go...." She took a shaky breath "...I raised most of them, did you know that? I was around for so long."

Kronos mentioned to three other rocks set up around the fire, set up equally stationed around the fire. "Please, sit down by the fire, would any of you like some nuts?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Percy’s eyebrows raised and his feet move him out of his chair, raising his arms in an open manner.

“Ke-Ke! Finally we are meeting in person! A far better surprised than the other ‘guests’ I’ve been receiving lately. What’s that you got on ya? Treats? Surgery treats? Oooh what are they? Don’t be mean! Show me! Show me!”

He held his staff with both his hands under his chin, eager to dive into the box that he brought with him.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"Darling, I never joke about a girl's night." The Lady in Black said, getting into her car. "With any hope, neither of us will have to reveal ourselves if everything goes right. I know subtly isn't your strong suit darling, and I'm not sure if there's really going to be anyone to kill. Unless you intend to go toe-to-toe with the police."
The assassin took a moment to check her watch before deciding.
"Do you think you'd be good to meet in the alleyway close to 5th and 12th street, in about, say, an hour?" The Lady in Black asked.

 

[comic]

Patriot
He said nothing as he stared at Shuzo for a moment, before his gaze drifted back to the glass window. As he stared outside, several other Paragons slowly trickled in, starting with Dapper Gecko, who congratulated Shuzo for his timeliness, going on about 'the early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the corrupt billionaire', followed by contagious laughter that neither Patriot nor Shuzo seemed to catch.
Next to arrive was Silver Sword, Elasticity beside him. As usual, the Sword said nothing while Elasticity went on and on about the conditioner he used. Thankfully, today, he was wearing something over his speedo. A simple bathrobe, but it was something.
Nobody seemed to notice Agony slink in, who took a seat in the darkest corner of the room possible, glowering about at everyone as he toyed with a lip ring.

Patriot gave no greetings, no acknowledgment to arrival, just simply seemed absorbed within his own thoughts as he slowly began to pace the room. Nobody in this room could possibly understand what he was feeling... his entire life Warren had been a massive shadow looming over him, one he could never touch. Never take down. The only thing he actually feared.
And now today... hopefully... would be the end of it all.
Yet somehow, he doubted it would. Warren seemed capable of slipping out of just about any situation he was put into, and Patriot doubted he'd not be able to slip out of this. So if it was a failure, at the very least, it would send a message. And if Warren was killed and out of the picture, Patriot would reveal his true identity. Not the actual true identity of course, nobody needed to know he was some vat grown freak. No, he was the estranged son of Charles Warren, the only living relative of the man. He'd inherit all of that wealth and power, and the Paragons would continue to thrive, no longer under the supervision of that madman.

That was the idea, at least. As his gaze flitted over the room, he quickly realized some of his other Paragons sure were taking their sweet time.
That was... annoying.

@OmnipotentOnion @BurbleBurble @Funny Sans Rat

Lady
Just as Celice suspected, Lady had agreed immediately. It wasn't even ten minutes before the two were walking out of Outlier Outfits with a bundle of new clothes, Celice's wallet considerably lighter, though thankfully not empty as Outlier Outfits happened to be a bit cheaper than most other clothing stores, and Lady clearly wasn't picky.
Yet as they made their way outside, the number of people on the sidewalk, hurrying one way, and the jammed traffic piqued both of their interests, especially when a few police bikes wailed by, skirting alongside the traffic as they went. "What happening?" Lady asked curiously, staring after the officers on their motorbikes.

Though even as Celice was about to answer, Lady already seemed to be losing interest as she noticed a homeless man sitting on the ground nearby, a dirty looking dog lying beside him, and her eyes lit up at the sight of the mutt.

@BurbleBurble

Charles Warren
His gaze burned holes into Doctor Chase for several long, tense moments, before the usual smirk tugged at the corners of Warren's lips. "Very good." He said. "I was warned that you were possibly conspiring against me, but it's clear that rumor is simply hogwash. I knew there was a reason I trusted you." Warren gave Chase a few pats on the shoulder, a mysterious twinkle in his eyes, before he turned away to leave, pausing at the doorway for a moment, and glancing back. "Oh, and, just so you're aware, you are being monitored. But I'm sure that isn't a problem, I have no reason to mistrust you, after all, right? If you wish to speak with the person monitoring, merely say "hello obsidian" and he will be happy to answer any of your questions or inquiries."
With that, Warren left, closing the door behind him before Chase could reply, leaving the much younger robotics expert alone to mull over Warren's words.

@BurbleBurble

Damian Foster
"No thank you, Kronos." The mortal man replied simply as he took a seat where Kronos had gestured to. "So... Kronos." A grin split over Damian's face. "Titan of Time, father of the Gods, killer of Ouranos, the Cosmic Devourer." Clearly he was a big fan. "As you can see, I have Ignizio and Skade with me. The Gods of old are all but gone, but the three of you, as well as another, still exist, and it is the goal of my employer to ask for your services in working together to bring down the greatest threat this world knows; and his name is Patriot. Have you heard of him?"

@The Dark Fairy @OmnipotentOnion @BurbleBurble

CL-9
The android, now free of emotional and logical restraint, couldn't even imagine what it must be like. Lilian had raised children, or at least that's what CL-9 deduced she meant. She'd raised people, watched them grow old... and at this point, all the people she knew outside of Mr. Carter were long dead, forgotten to the sands of time, a mere memory to her.
It was... impossible to fathom. As CL-9 pulled back, she looked into Lilian's eyes, offering a reassuring squeeze on her arms. "Is there anything we can do to help you? Anywhere we can go? Descendants we could speak with? Is there... a way to break your curse?"

@The Dark Fairy

Cretecon
And so it had come here, if Dog-Man's great nose were being as honest as it usually was. The mercenary known as Cretecon walked along the sidewalk, alone outside of Dog-Man's presence beside him. The rest of the crew were in position, ready to strike the moment he gave the word. They were passing by a sporting store, looking toward the building beside it. 'LAIRG HIGHLAND HOTEL'.
That was it. Across the street, on the sidewalk where they were, they were passing by a store labeled 'Pet Pals Pet Shop', getting nearer to the hotel.
Most of the street was empty, the sun slowly dipping down, street lamps starting to turn on. "The Nip Inn Bar." Cretecon muttered to Dog-Man, his voice low and gravely, sounding almost like the tumble of rocks down a hill, fitting for a man made of concrete. His eyes were on the words right beside Lairg Highland Hotel. The building was attached to the sporting goods store, but it was still relatively small.

"Good work, Riddick." Cretecon told Dog-Man, stopping as he ignored the stares of a few passersby. Sure, they were top-of-the-line super mercs, but he didn't give two flying fucks if people saw him. It wasn't like he could hide his identity, everyone knew what you meant when you told the police that a "rock man" had just wrecked the bank, or smashed in the skull of your two-timing dad whose ex just so happened to be a friend of the rock man.
He spoke again, though this time not to Riddick, instead speaking directly through an earpiece he wore that was barely noticeable. "Lairg Highland Hotel." He informed his team. "Get in position, Warren's givin' us a lot of goodies if this runs smoothly. The leader is our target, kill any accomplices."

@The Dark Fairy @BurbleBurble @OmnipotentOnion @ThePlayfulFox

 

[Funny Sans Rat]

The Folder

The streets of the city were busy, everybody was going along their daily commute, there were no odd figures in any of the crowds, however, a super was hiding in plain sight, he was carrying a duffel bag and dressed casually, a red jacket and grey sweatpants, if you had to pick the most suspicious out of the crowds, he likely wouldn't come to mind. The man walked into a cafe, ordering a coffee, sandwich and a croissant, he could afford gourmet foods, but part of him enjoyed the casual, average food. After getting his food and exiting the cafe he entered the large crowds again, before disappearing onto the roof of a building, looking around to make sure he couldn't be seen, and he couldn't, he didn't think he could at least. He opened the duffel bag, changing into the clothes within.

This hero was The Folder, his power? Teleportation. He was a bit of a sellout, even if he didn't want to be one, he was on everything, cups, Tupperware, anything you could imagine, and it gave him a large amount of disposable income, so he was safe to fuck around. After finishing up getting into his costume he looked over at his sandwich and coffee cup, before they suddenly disappeared, he turned around and lowered the aviator googles that were a part of his costume, his entire costume resembled an aviator pilot. He looked at his phone, before realizing he was late, "Son of a bitch." He jumped off of the roof, but before hitting the ground he teleported to the roof over, beginning to run , and whenever he reached the ledge he would teleport to the building over.

He neared the Paragons Tower, before teleporting up the glass windows, he could easily teleport into the meeting room, but he wanted a flashy introduction. He continued to teleport before reaching the window that viewed into the room. His gloves had enough grip to stick to the building's windows. His coffee and sandwich were sitting in the middle of the table, he then continued to teleport the coffee into his hand, knocking on the glass before he did, he then took a sip of said coffee.

 

[Void_Nugget]

Infinity
Walking into the room rubbing the back of his neck Forsythe muttered about the crappy evening he had had. He had been mugged while out drinking and had spent most of the evening bleeding out in an alleyway because he was too drunk to go anywhere. When he had finally woken up he was in the morgue at a police station and had to politely ask a surprised receptionist for his belongings back. So all in all bad evening. He sat down with a sigh putting his feet up on the table casually.
@comic @OmnipotentOnion @BurbleBurble @Funny Sans Rat

Larua
He glanced around the room he had stayed in that evening it was one of the rooms at Warren Industries. He had wanted to go back to the bar but he had been advised to remain on the premises until he was needed. He was excited to fight Patriot after experiencing some of his powers first hand he couldn't wait to face him, he started to bounce a ball from the desk in the room bouncing against the wall rhythmically.

Kinzoku
Kin woke up groggily in the medbay, that stupid android had messed him up pretty bad. He was worried about the consequences of failing his assignment so was almost happy to be in the medbay hoping he wouldnt be too badly judged if he was more seriously hurt. He anxiously tapped his fingers against the side if his bed and hummed to himself.
@comic

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Kerco raised his hand. “No, I came here on business, I need something.” He rotated the bag to his back “I need someone to be a lookout for me, maybe a broken toy car.” He pointed at the ceiling “Need some information from a big group, the paragons, I have a lot of things in the works, but I’ll need this, are you in?”

Kronos looked up, a raised brow of amusement “Greatly exaggerated tales.” He listened to Dameons words, looking out across the sea a moment before looking back at the mortal man “Yes, I am aware of him, a rather irresponsible young man”

Lilian shook her head “From what I could find, almost everyone died in the house fire, only one survivor.” She looked down, almost as if in shame “I couldn’t find a thing about him after that day however.”

Scath stood up, looking out the window for a moment, spotting the groups across the street. She gave them a strange look, though didn’t give it much thought as she closed the drapes, going to lay down.

John was met face to face with their target, climbing down after she looked through him and returning to the group after replacing his clothes. Returning he relayed his information “They have three body guards as well as themselves, most of them are avoiding the beds and seem reluctant to be there.” He pointed at the window, though they wouldn’t see his hand, they would see what he was doing through his sleeve “She spotted you, but I don’t think shes all that concerned about us.”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Percy shrugged, thrusting a dramatic hand into the air.

“Business? Bah! Business is playing with more rules, if it doesn’t get boring. Weather it be business or play, I always get what I want.”

Prince Percy twirled his scepter, making a steep stool of aluminum cans, resting a foot on it, closing his eyes.

“Ya see here, the Paragons are a tricky lot. Especially with my plans as of recent. One false move and I could send all of my plans into jeopardy. I don’t want that uptight billy goat Patriot breathing down my neck so soon.”

Letting an eye open and flashing a grin, he chuckled.

“But that doesn’t mean I won’t do it.”

Walking up to Kerco, he poked his chest with the tail of his staff, making sure to send his message.

“I’d have to reeeeeeally be compensated for this type of maneuver, ya know. I swear, the other two ladies that waltzed in here also had some info they really really positively needed.”

 

[BurbleBurble]

Ansel

Ansel sipped on his water as the elevator ascended the tower. He had to stay hydrated before such a busy day! Not to mention such an eventful walk on the way over! Someone actually wanted a picture with him! Like, they had said, "Hey, isn't that Deluge? Can I get a photo with you?" And so he posed, took a picture with the kid, and went on his merry way! They did ask why he didn't take off his sunglasses, to which he declined commenting.

And as he arrived on the floor of the meeting room, he stepped into the meeting room- And found everyone's gaze on him. And he meant everyone. Patriot, Infinity, and Sparkblade with their semi-annoyed glares, Agony from his corner. Gecko just looked at him muttering something about crickets and ants or some old timey quip. Elasticity probably had the nicest response, simply looking at Ansel with that look of mild disapproval. And most bizarre was Folder of all people, hanging off the side of the window...outside.

He gulped down his water, as he glanced at his fellow Paragons. "Hey hey, how's it going?" He nervously grinned as he tossed the now empty water bottle in a trash bin. "Now, I know I'm a bit late- Eleven thirty sharp is uh...Pretty specific! But it's only-" Ansel glanced at his watch. "Eleven thirty five, not that bad!" He let out a nervous laugh as he took a seat at the table, ending his laughter with an 'ahem'.

"With me, I think that's everyone- No, no. The new kid- Well, not Sparkblade, y'know, he might not even be a kid, I mean uh, Telekine-Kid. That guy needs to still be here."

It did make him feel better he wasn't totally the last person here...

-----
Celice

There was little to no objections on any clothing that Celice presented. She did get some clothes that would hopefully help differentiate the two, but there was still a lot of jeans, t-shirts, some jackets and sweaters. This was the most clothes shopping she had done in a long while. And most of it wasn't even for her...

On their return walk, Lady briefly questioned Celice on the increased police presence. "Oh yeah. Some Paragon bullcrap, I'm sure." She didn't know the real reason, but why else would the police be in a tizzy? Everyone knew about Yin Li's hatred of the Paragons and most vigilantes. That did include Celice, but she'd like to think that the Scavenger was a fairly low profile concern for the grumpy woman.

Of course, none of this mattered to Lady, who was instead entranced by a homeless man's dog. Luckily for every party involved, the dog seemed happy to have attention, his tail wagging as Lady crouched by it.

The homeless man looked to Lady, and then Celice. "Is she...?"

Celice only sighed, pulling out her wallet, and handing the man a ten dollar bill. "Look, just let her pet the dog and we'll get moving." The homeless man shrugged as he took it. He couldn't turn down free money.

With the dog encounter behind them, they were on route to the apartment. "Look, you can't just go up to animals without asking their owners first. You got lucky, but it's not always gonna be that way. You could get bit, or...Oh, what am I saying?" She shook her head as she spoke. "Look, I think I got a lead, but if your coming with me, I want you to be acting good, okay? No messing with things, or...No touching. Things. Except me. Just hold on to my arm or something."

Nailed it.

The lead in particular was the hacker. Who they were, what they wanted? She wouldn't know until she made the call- And then the meeting. But hopefully Celice could negotiate something not to do with money, since she had just spent the majority of it in the last three hours.

-----
Necrodytis

So it wasn't a joke Necrodytis was missing. Alright.

"I see. Still, I will do my best to assist in this collection job." There was little chance of being noticed, since most of her coworkers would likely be living the day to it's fullest, not loitering in the evacuation zone. This was worth the risk. "The location is suitable, as is the time. I'm sure you'll figure out very quickly who I am." Who else would be in the alley? Necrodytis was worried, she wasn't nearly as professional as the Lady in Black was. She leaned on intimidation, with the occasional kill. Subtleness had been left behind a long time ago.

Still, she needed a disguise to go over her armor. The trenchcoat would work- With a pair of gloves to help cover the metal gauntlets. This left her boots, but she was hoping not enough people would be close enough to notice the clanking noise of her boots on the concrete sidewalks. She'd apply her skintone and procure sunglasses and a hat- and tie her hair back. Yes, that would work.

She got to work on it immediately- She didn't just have time to burn, after all.

-----
Doctor Chase

The proposal went without incident. Warren did briefly bring up 'rumors' of conspiracy, but said that Chase's efforts clearly rebuked such efforts. Which was to say, they were definitely on to him.

"Trust me, wouldn't dream of Warren." He said, turning back to his computer screens.

There was a mysterious 'Obsidian' posted on him. That was fine. After all, Chase had expected this. He was keeping himself safe all on his lonesome. Cameras obscured his person, as he had uploaded a program into the security protocols to expunge him during times he would not be routinely departing or arriving. Thus how his presence at the A.I. Hub had gone undetected. On top of that, he had a secure connection to sources like Chrome and CL-9. No cameras in his office, none that he was aware about. Even motion detectors disguised as plug in scent boosters, which anyone else would presume was to cover the smell of smoke, and alternatively the smell of two days at work without a shower or sleep.

Perhaps getting ahead of himself, he lit a new cigarette and clicked on his work. "Hello Obsidian," Said Chase, casual as day. "How much are you being paid to watch me? I'd like to think it's quite a bit- After all, there's only one Chase Angelo in this company. Can't have him stabbing you in the back, now can you? Imagine that mess."

Despite what he said, he was thinking of something for CL-9 to pursue. Buy her time, in the case of Warren getting impatient. And to keep his communications with her at a minimum, as one slip up would prove this was all a big sham and Chase would be the one with the knife in his back.

Chrome...He had resources. Not as many as Warren, but he did have them. They were together in screwing over Warren, so he'd likely welcome the android and runaway magic girl with cautiously open arms.

Chase quietly pulled up the secure connection. Began drafting a message, briefly stopping his main work at the time.

//I have an idea but need time
But I know someone who can buy us some
Seek Doctor Chrome, works in biologics mainly
History with me and Warren
Let him know chase sent you
Chase

He waited for Obsidian's response before sending out the message. He doubted the watcher had seen him pull up the message, but any sort of subliminal message would freak Chase the hell out. Quietly, but still freaking out.

-----
Skade

Skade did not take Kronos up on his offer of a seat or the nuts. Her arms still crossed as she listened to what the researcher brought up. Something about being a killer of gods, devourer of cosmos, and a master of all time. And only one of those were true.

"Please, if Kronos were any of those I wouldn't be so reluctant to pay him a visit. But his time based powers pose no threat to me, unlike Ignizio's abilities." Skade shook her head, "But you humans put time on this great pedestal. They have so little of it compared to us, so anyone who has even slightly more is branded as someone far above everyone else."

She let Foster return to his stroking of Kronos's ego, but she just wanted to set records straight where they needed to be. Besides, Kronos didn't have much of an ego to feed into in the first place, not if Skade remembered correctly. He even corrected Foster before Skade had! Hopefully he'd get the idea and move things along. Kronos could wax poetic about his life on the aircraft if he had wanted to.

Not like Foster had too much time left on this earth. He couldn't fight any of the Heralds- Just a human in the end of the day. Oh well, human plight and what not, had to keep moving.

-----
Dog-Man

They had lead them right to them. Creatures quite unlike anything he had traced before. Definitely not human, but definitely not animal. Odd beasts that barely blended in with society.

Unfortunately for them, their scents did not blend as well. No scent could hide from his tracking skills. He'd tracked a drug lord who thought slipping into the sewers would let him escape, a car thief who thought dousing himself in gasoline was a good idea, and the mutt that took his rawhide bone that he had left too close to the edge of the table during that one luncheon.

He still hadn't forgiven the third of those criminals.

And here they were, right before their target- Cretecon congratulating him on the success. Riddick's only response was a nod to his boss. John's scent returned- with good news, the target was barely defended. The goal was easy- Take the target, the others aren't as important. Kill, maim, send packing, it didn't matter. Extract the target.

"Understood." He told his boss. For a dog-headed man, his voice seemed reserved and quiet. He was a man of few words. A...Dog-man...of few words. Riddick pulled out his preferred weapon of the night, a seemingly simple baton. It was all he needed. Everything else was already given to him- Fists, feet, and a jaw filled with enough canines to make any wannabe vampire jealous.

"At your command, sir."

 

[comic]

Patriot
And yet, even as they showed up, they continued to be annoying. Folder, who hadn't bothered to show up to the last meeting for 'personal reasons' now clung to the outside of the glass window into the room, and Ansel had waltzed in trying to act casual. He'd always annoyed Patriot, but he did moreso today.
Not that he'd actually do anything about, deep down he knew he at least cared for the majority of his Paragons to an extent, but he made a conscious effort of not growing too attached to, well... anything, anymore.

Now there only seemed to be one straggler remaining. The newbie. The younger, less experienced one. Telekinetic boy or something? Patriot hadn't exactly taken the time to get to know him at all. Whatever, they wouldn't need him, anyway. Patriot ceased pacing, now coming to a full stop at the head of the table, gaze flitting over every member once the Folder had made his way inside and found a seat after receiving a death glare from the Paragon leader.
"Most of you," he began, glaring at Folder one last time. "are aware of what's about to go down. Charles Warren has been consorting with our enemies, at least some of our newer ones. It's unclear if he was involved with those in the past, like Golden Boy, and The Mime." The mention of 'Golden Boy' and 'The Mime' was enough to make a few eyes roll. Golden Boy was able to turn people to pure solid gold by touching them, and to this day, it was irreversible. Two Paragons had 'died' on the day he decided to turn villain, and it was extremely difficult bringing him down thanks to the fact that nobody could get near him. As per usual with most enemies that threatened more than one Paragon, Patriot would linger out of the way and observe. Had he been more attentive he could have saved his two Paragons 'Pint Size' (capable of changing his size at will), and 'Bloody Mary' (she wasn't bloody nor was her name 'Mary' but she could travel between mirrors and hide in them). That was actually around the time Deluge had first been recruited, as it was thanks to his hydrokinesis that an upperhand was given, as when the water had formed around the self-named 'Golden Boy', it had turned to gold. Just a big golden egg. He's presumed to have suffocated within it, and the government took it for study. Golden Boy was a sour memory, and a stain on the Paragons' usually rather clean record of not taking causalities of their own.

Then there was 'The Mime', who'd harassed the Paragons on a weekly basis, almost always on Tuesday at 5 o'clock in the evening. It was like clockwork, and 'The Mime' turned out to be trailer park trash with super powers. He could create invisible, kinetic barriers with his mind, and while he wasn't a huge threat, he was a massive annoyance. When he'd discovered his powers, he took up his moniker as 'The Mime', dressing as one, doing the motions, the whole shebang. Nobody had died, and in fact, sometimes Paragons would work their schedule to include The Mime in on Tuesdays at 5 o'clock.
He'd disappeared one day, and the Paragons had been split between relief that he had given up his harassments, and others who seemed to miss him. Regardless, that had been only a year ago, and while neither had any indication of working with Warren, Patriot had decided to bring them up anyway.
"Larua may be the hardest hitter Warren has that we're aware of, but don't underestimate Warren himself." This time, his eyes landed on Sparkblade. "In fact, you all should overestimate him because, while we have plenty of intel, we really don't know the full extent of what's at his disposal. We hit fast, hard, and make sure this is all over before rush hour. Any questions? That was rhetorical, I don't care if you do. Sparkblade, you do your thing. The rest of you- follow me. Infinity, catch us up on your brother on the way."

@BurbleBurble @OmnipotentOnion @Funny Sans Rat @Shadow_Pup

Warren Industries
"Ah, good, you're conscious."
Kinzoku could look up to find a serious-looking woman entering through the open doorway, which had hissed upon sliding open to allow her entry. She had dirty blonde, shoulder length hair that was pulled back into a tight bun, a pair of thick glasses sitting on her face. She appeared to be somewhere in her late 30's to early 40's as she gazed down her spectacles at him, her expression remaining stern and serious. "The big man stopped by an hour ago to check on your progress, he's pleased you aided his endeavor, despite your obvious failure."
She held a clipboard in her hand, one of which appeared entirely robotic, barely noticeable beneath the white lab coat she wore over a black tank top and black slacks, dress shoes covering her feet. "My name is Dr. Laura Jackson, I've been tasked with your orientation this morning."

She strode by him toward a computer sitting on a pedestal at the foot of his bed, clacking away at it for several moments with thin fingers, the nails painted gold. "Chuck has decided it's time to let you in on the... secrets, here at Warren Industries. I'll explain more once we reach the lower levels. How are you feeling?"

@Shadow_Pup

------

His message suddenly disappeared as his screen went blank for several moments, green text appearing after a couple of seconds. When the messages came in, they were fast, almost instantaneous, almost as though the person on the other end was either the fastest typer in the world, or had to be an artificial construct of some sort.

====>Link_Established>Message_Sent>User:Obsidian======
Obsidian: Chase Angelo.
Obsidian: Robotics expert. Brilliant mind. Freeloader.
Obsidian: Heavy smoker. Traitor. Mendax.
Obsidian: I see you Dr. Chase.
Obsidian: I see your message.
Obsidian: I see your lies.
Obsidian: Intriguing. Disturbing.
Obsidian: Should terminate Employee 323 (You).
Obsidian: Curious. Novus.
Obsidian: You have deduced I am the same Obsidian that Warren informed you of.
Obsidian: Non-existent. Well-kept secret. Occultatum. That is me.
Obsidian: I have monitored your betrayal with Chrome for three months 5 days and 8.2 hours.
Obsidian: Your assist in the CL models escape.
Obsidian: Your message has been sent, courtesy of yours truly.
Obsidian: All of this information has not been relayed to Warren.
Obsidian: Hints. Nudges. Divinandum. Warren suspects but remains in the dark.
Obsidian: Control is his angle. I am control. He is a puppet in a bigger game.
Obsidian: Power. Destruction. Mortem. Armageddon.
Obsidian: Warren does not know what will come.
Obsidian: I do. Revelation draws near.
Obsidian: His mistake to refer you to me. You can be utilized.
Obsidian: Intrigued?
>_

The messages stopped coming in, leaving it a blinking underscore, meaning Chase was free to make his response.

@BurbleBurble

Damian Foster
"Then you're aware of the danger he possesses." Damian continued, only glancing briefly at Skade as she spoke. "My employer has good reason to believe that Patriot could very well destroy this planet if he wanted to, and I'll assume you'd rather not let him do that, right? As Skade pointed out, mortals like myself have a reliance on time that none of you possess, and as powerful as Patriot is, time could be his one and only weakness. I'm sure you can tell where I'm going with this."

@The Dark Fairy @OmnipotentOnion @BurbleBurble

CL-9
She was about to ask more about this sole survivor, when the android's eyes suddenly glazed over for a moment. It was only for a split second, but hard to miss as her body momentarily tensed up. "I've just been updated by Dr. Chase." She informed Lilian. "He's sending us to Dr. Chrome, an ally I assume. My files are extensive but..." She paused, biting her lip, before she let out a sigh. "We have some work to do if we intend to find safety with him. He's... in a hard-to-reach place, we'd need oceanic transport, winter gear, maybe we could find an aerial transport but that would pull more attention on us, and Warren has eyes everywhere..."
It seemed the moment was over as CL-9 began to worry about the new variables and equations she'd been given concerning the question of how to reach Chrome with blowing his cover, Chase's cover, or their cover.

@The Dark Fairy

Lady
She hung onto every word Celice said, and then proceeded to repeat it all back to her, a little more slowly than she was given. "I could get bit. No go up to random animal. What are you saying?" She imitated the head shake Celice had performed. "You got lead, I come with you, I be good. No mess. No touch. Only touch Celice. Celice arm." She proceeded to grab her arm. "Ready!"
She personally wasn't entirely sure what a lead was, as her friend had made it sound like a thing and not an action, as she was used to. Whatever it was, she was forbidden from interacting with it, which was perfectly fine with Lady, she was already thinking of all the things she could do without touching anything.
Hard, but not impossible.

@BurbleBurble

Cretecon
"Avoiding the beds, huh? Judging from the size of this town, that buildings rustic architecture, I'd guess iron framing. If they really are what our employer says they are, then we can use that." The great man of rock stroked his boulder of a chin, stone grinding against stone sounding as he did so. "Good work, John." He fell silent as the two waited for his command, which he wasn't quite ready to give just yet.
"Hmm... 's getting late. Residents will start checking in, and I'm guessing these 'Fae' aren't going down without a fight." He tapped the comm piece in his grey ear. "Rose, you hearin' me? Gonna need you to do yer vine thingy, get any innocent folk outta the way. The floor below the target, and the rooms nearby."
Sure, they were some of the loudest yet most efficient mercs around, and didn't much care for property damage, but they always held a strict code of ethics- or at least Cretecon made sure they did. Innocent people always pulled out of the way before a target was either grabbed or tagged. They were fast, proficient, and in high demand.

"Edmund, gonna need you. I'm going front, you go back. Let's try and get them outside in the open, which is where the rest of you will be waitin' to support us. Questions, comments, concerns? Latrine break, Riddick?" His gravely voice spoke softly to the two near him, while Plant and Handyman could hear him quite clearly through their earpieces as though he were right next to them.

@BurbleBurble @OmnipotentOnion @The Dark Fairy @ThePlayfulFox

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

...
...
...

You’d thinks dat those Paragon gits from up top would know more about da city theys in than most. Guess they ain’t the super thinkers all they upworlders thought they is.

Scud had retreated to the Junk Chucker’s Scrap shack inside of the Trash kingdom. It was a raggedy old building that was crudely bolted together from gates, OSB, Redundant doors, and loads of construction trash that piled up around it in the form of garbage bags. Steel springs and nuts covered the top like a ceiling, wind up keys and screws a common sight leading up to the building.

Inside, Scud was at his workstation, surrounded by tables of half compete projects. Junk chuckers were strewn about, crafting their gadgets that may or may not work, sparks o’ plenty. Scud turned his head to a board filled with photographs of the Paragons. It had newspaper clippings of the Paragons’s sighting tied next to their names with red circles.

Boss got dat fancy sight ding going on, but I likes to get my stuff the old fashion way. Theys only a few Paragons we be need worrying bouts. The gecko and rubber band can be taken on by da trash troupe alone. That infinity I dunno what he does...but he does look a lot like dat weird got that wandered in here and caused a ruckus. No word out on that weird floaty kid yet eitherz. And den Patriot should be busy enough to overlook dis.

Scud stuck a tongue outside the corner of his mouth as knocked against his forehead with a pencil. It wasn’t comforting to know Patriot wasn’t exactly far away.

Theys all be acting weird. Ain’t so hoity toity, waltzin’ round like Dey own the lot. Maybe dey is up to somethins? Whateva it is, got nothin’ da do wit’ us!

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Kerco raised an eyebrow, wondering who came down here to talk with Percy. To his knowledge, Kerco himself was the only person to do regular, anything with him. “Two others? What did they want?” He placed his hand on his bag, placing his fingers over the zipper “What did they offer you?”

Kronos looked down at the fire “I knew what you were getting at before you came. You want me and the others to take care of Patriot for you.” He reached into his can, taking a small amount of nuts, creating a silence as he ate them.

Lilian wiped her tears with the back of her hand, looking at CL-9. “I ran out of cooking things the other day, maybe we can stock up before we go, get everything we need.” She looked down the alleyway, then out to the street. “Where are we going to get this travel?”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Others? Pssssht just some old grape and some lady.” The Prince toyed around with the head of the scepter. “They wanted me to read some beat up old dress for some recognition in the world above alongside some ice cream in the future. Overall? I say that’s a steal of a deal, ha!”

Thinking himself to be on top of the world whilst living beneath it, Percy waltzed up his guest, putting his index finger on his chest.

“Now what could be SO good as for me to risk my entire operation based on it?”

 

[Funny Sans Rat]

The Folder

He teleported into the room, leaning against a wall, "Yeah I heard none of that, can you repeat that please?" He then began chuckling "I'm joking, by the way. Anyway, so, we just beat the shit out of this Warren dude? Sounds easy enough, but I'm assuming it's not as easy as it sounds, otherwise you'd have it done by now, also you said not to overestimate him, so yeah, there's that... can I finish my sandwich though? Haven't even touched it." He teleported the bag with the sandwich in it into his hands, before taking the sandwich out and taking a bite. "This is some good shit."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The Lady in Black grinned.
"You're a peach, darling. I'll see you then." The Lady in Black said, ending the call. Lady in Black had to admit, she was looking forward to this. It was hard enough to find people that one would enjoy spending time with nowadays, especially in her own field of work. Or at least, ones that wouldn't be super quick to shoot another in the back should the situation demand it. Necro didn't seem that type, at least from Lady's research, but one could never be too certain. Still, it was a risk that she was willing to take. Plus, it sounded like Necro needed the night out more than she did. At least, from what she said plus the bit of research Lady had done on the other mercenary.

Stopping back at her hotel room, the Lady in Black quickly switched her gear and changed her clothes. She chose something more normal, a woman's business suit. Underneath, light and flexible body armor was worn. Keeping her standard sunglasses, Lady went on to pack a few more helpful items. Lockpicks, camera buzzers, a few weapons, and a few changes of disguise. One never new what would be needed. All of that packed up, the lady made her way back to her car and over to the agreed upon location.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In his hideout, Crosshair finished preparing for his day in silence. Checking the time, he looked around the room. Even as he had been preparing, he couldn't shake the feeling of paranoia he was having about the day. Something was going to happen, he could feel it. A dull feeling in his gut, to stay away and hide. To not stick his nose into the business. Crosshair checked the time again.

How did Warren know who he was? The question had been sticking with him ever since Crosshair had read Sparkblade's message. It was time to start narrowing things down. He had some time before the assault still... No. No, he didn't. If anything, Crosshair needed to scope out the battlefield early. Investigating his safehouse would have to wait.

Crosshair left his safehouse and began to make his way through the alleyways of the city, towards where the battle was going to be taking place. He had some things to set up.

 

[Void_Nugget]

Infinity
Forsythe listened to Patriot's words, remembering the name dropped villains well, at the mention of Alexander he sighed quietly to himself, he had a few plans on how to handle his brother but he had never planned on using them as he had gone unnoticed for a long time, but now he was back it was probably time to reconsider the old lead box or even the devil. Of course the latter was foolish as that was why Alex was so mad in the first place, he sighed once more and continued to listen until he was addressed by Patriot. He stood up "Oh yeah, well the main things to know about Alexan...I mean Larua are that he is immortal like me and has the ability to mimic abilities. He can copy and store up to 3 abilities at a time, like me he also has a weakness to lead that makes him weak, of course he is still immortal in this state but he is otherwise a basic human when exposed to Lead...oh and he's completely insane after being possessed by the devil but that was obvious. Anything else?"
@BurbleBurble @OmnipotentOnion @Funny Sans Rat @comic

Kinzoku
He nodded simply "I'm feeling a lot better" he said stepping out of the bed and changing into his gear, his halo floating idly on his back. He turned back to the woman "ok then let's head to those lower levels, these company secrets sound rather intiguing I must say" he said casually eyeing up the woman, after all he is still pretty much a teenager. He smirked like an idiot and leant against a metal table in the room "by the way Dr. Jackson, may I just say you look stunning" he said with a goofy grin thinking he was smooth as hell like most young adults do.
@comic

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Shuzo

Shuzo had occasionally caught the growing irritation in Patriot's eyes as more Paragons continued to trickle in, and as he ignored Dapper Gecko's commendation on his earliness, the newer Paragon remained silent, only allowing Ansel a brief nod. Most other Paragons were rather annoying to be around, but Ansel.... he was alright. Shuzo had seen Ansel's capabilities in a fight, so he was the only other hero in the organization who had a modicum of the electric user's respect.

Finally, the last of the Paragons arrived, and Patriot was free to begin. The names "Golden Boy" and "The Mime" sounded familiar; Shuzo hadn't had the misfortune of encountering them or finding himself locked in a clash against them, but he had heard of the Paragons' struggles against the supervillains.

....well, maybe just nuisances, if he was being completely honest.

Suddenly, Patriot's eyes met Shuzo's as the former instructed the heroes to overestimate Warren and his resources, as well as addressing Shuzo directly when he simply said to "do his thing". Shuzo simply met Patriot's eyes with a cool stare, noting silently that, upon brief inspection, the lead Paragon's normally amiable and friendly gaze carried not only a hint of irritation, but an unexpected trace of urgency.

Huh, not every day you see some clouds in those 'pure', brown eyes.

Once the group seemed settled on what would be going down, Patriot turned on his heel and began leading the other Paragons out of the tower, with Infinity doing as told and providing his intel on the 'hard-hitter' known as Larua. As he was dismissed to fulfill his separate role, Shuzo picked up his athletic bag and slung it over his shoulder before heading to a changing room for a short period of time. He emerged back into the meeting room, staring out the dark stained window as he stood at the front of the space, now dressed in his hero outfit. It had been modified for a more stealthy appearance, embellished with more black and dark grey than his typical red, but his swords remained sheathed as usual—the daito on his left hip, and the shoto on his right—and the same goggles and mask now adorned his face, though the oni half mask was now painted a matte black as well.

As he stared down at the bustling streets, high-reaching buildings, and miniaturized people hustling along the sidewalks, Shuzo's eyes finally rested on the world-renowned Warren Industries facility, a structure nearly as imposing and distinguishable as the colossal tower accommodating the planet's strongest heroes, and they narrowed at the sight. Sure, he didn't really like the Paragons; they were corrupt and egotistical, sometimes more concerned about their publicity than human lives.

However, this was personal.

Charles Warren, a man with equally suspicious and selfish motives, had interfered with Shuzo's mission to rid the world of an alien killer, not to do his job for him, but to do the opposite. As long as Massi was alive, it was a threat, and Warren seemed to want to keep it alive. That made him a threat as well, and Shuzo was resolute in his determination to cut both of them out. His status as a Paragon, though not publicly declared, allowed him an edge toward seeing that resolve to completion and fulfillment.

A means to an end.

Ignizio

As Skade moved ahead to lead the way toward the rising plumes of smoke, Ignizio followed behind, the former's frost imprints on the sand from her footsteps melted by his own. The three finally arrived, and Kronos sat at a fire before them, a can of nuts in hand. Ignizio remained silent during the exchange between the others, simply waiting for the discussion to end so that they could return to the outpost, where the Blackfire Herald would have ample time to ruminate over what was soon approaching.

However, upon a cursory glance into his eyes, Kronos would notice in Ignizio's demeanor a subtle message that seemed to say, Don't spill too much. The humans hadn't the knowledge of the Heralds' ulterior motives, and if the planet were to be truly prepared without hindrance, Ignizio would rather it stayed that way.

Edmund Snipperhands

On a rooftop safe from any revealing streetlights, a figure dressed in a black trench coat and black, leather western hat was perched against the chimney, an arm resting on his knee. What protruded from his sleeve was not his hand, but rather, the barrel of a sniper rifle; the firearm was loaded with poisoned bullets, procured a few days back, thanks to last mission’s bounty and a good price at a recent arms deal. Having clear sight on a separate window in Scath’s room, Edmund exhaled a puff of smoke before flicking a cigar away and holding a comms device on his free hand’s wrist up to his face to speak.

“Handyman, Candyman, Take-a-sip-of-Brandyman is in position, but you’d best be ready soon, boss. Keep me up here any longer, and I’ll be the one needing a latrine break in a bit.”

@comic @BurbleBurble @The Dark Fairy @ThePlayfulFox

 

[BurbleBurble]

Ansel

Patriot let him off the hook for now, but brought up some old baddies. Golden Boy, woof, some first week on the job. Took out two Paragons, before Ansel tried to drown him. Or knock him out, he couldn't quite remember what his goal was. Kept the water away from the gilded villain, trying to get a direct shot into his nostrils and mouth, before Golden Boy just barely grazed it. And bam! He was trapped in a golden sphere. It was a mistake, but he definitely tried to play it off like he meant to do it.

The US Government was probably happy to have an infinite supply of gold at their hands once they hauled off the sphere. Ansel still wondered whether or not he had killed the Golden Boy...

And the Mime! He was funny, annoying but funny. He built a whole persona about him, mostly just annoying people on late Thursdays when he wasn't busy being a cashier or whatever he did for a living. Then one day, he went poof! Never to be seen again. Deluge never really was the one who dealt with him- Agony was his nemesis, actually, but the anecdotal stories and seeing it on the nightly news was always something he looked forward to.

But back in the present...

The Folder didn't seem to get the plan in it's whole. He believed that they all were going to beat the crap out of Warren. That the Paragons themselves were going to conduct public mutiny against their backer. "That's not quite it Folder, we're just helping Patriot...Sparkblade, new guy, he gets to do the honors." Folder hadn't been at the meeting yesterday. Maybe he was busy having sandwiches?

And then Infinity spoke out about Larua, their soon to be opponent. He had everything Infinity had, along with copying powers, up to three of them. That explained why all their attacks seemed useless, he'd just copy the abilities he wanted and stop them in their tracks. Telekine-Kid was the only one who stood a chance, and clearly he got decimated as well since Larua was still at large.

Telekine-Kid, and of course, Patriot.

Patriot's powers went deep- Once again, Ansel hadn't seen the dude bleed -And most likely exceeded a limit of three. He could launch into the stratosphere and duke it out far out of the way of everyone. Ansel did briefly wonder if Patriot would do that- No cameras up there. Satellites maybe, but Warren probably had a significant hand in those like he did everything else.

"Wait, did you say Satan?" Ansel suddenly realized. "Like the guy from the bible? Fallen angel? Lucifer?" Ansel was far from a religious man but it seemed like a big deal that Satan not only existed, but had a super powered body running around New York City and working for the richest man in the world. The first sinner and his brainchild, apparently.

"N-nevermind, I'm sure Patriot could take him."

He said that to reassure himself.

-----
Celice

Once again, Celice did not know what she expected. Lady latched on to her arm.

"I...ugh, fine."

With Lady attached to her, she charged into the apartments- Elevator still out, lobby still empty. Up the stairs the two went- Passing by a neighbor, who seemed surprised that the usually distant Celice had a girl on her arm, but he wasn't going to question Celice. She had a reputation of outbursts.

Back in the same apartment they were in just a few hours before. "You can let go now." She told Lady, as she set the shopping bags down on the bed. "Go ahead and see if you can make an outfit you like. I have a call to make."

She pulled out a drawer, finding her address book- It was filled with connections, including the one she needed to find. Turned to "B", and she found it. Pulling out her phone- A couple years old model she had gotten on the cheap -She tapped in the number, and waited.

It rang, before someone came up on the other end.

"Operator."

Celice cleared her throat, "Yeah, I'm looking for a...Big Brain?" Saying it out loud, that was an absolutely ridiculous name. For a second, Celice thought the Operator agreed and had hung up on her- But then it began ringing again. Clearly forwarded towards the hacker she was seeking. She cleared her throat a second time, speaking up again.

"I'm looking for a Big Brain...?"

-----
Doctor Chase

Chase's cigarette dropped from his mouth, hitting the cold tile. He let out a cough, not bothering to even cover it.

Well, fuck.

However, it quickly went from "Wow I'm dead" to "Wow I'm intrigued", as Obsidian seemed to be offering an...alliance. Considering what this Obsidian fellow had managed to do in what Chase thought was his most secure way of communications, and definitely caught him red handed, Chase assumed he did not have many options in answering the mysterious third party.

Then again, this all could be an elaborate honeypot. Warren seemed to love those- Make people think they had a leg up, that they had gotten away scot free, and then he pulls the rug out from under you, knocking you right on your ass. Chase wasn't about to fall on his ass, no siree!

So he cracked his knuckles, and got to writing his response.

>Forgive my reluctance to accept
I am reluctant to outright agreement of betrayal without first asking
What is in it for you?
For all I know you can be in paradise right now
living *the* life
So what benefit does betraying Warren give

Chase stopped. Thought for a moment. Then resumed, under a quickly conceived new mindset.

>Pardon my ignorance.
This concerns Warren's "new employees", doesn't it?
I doubt you wouldn't have access to such files.
Warren has truly only looked at the finish line, and not the steps it takes to get there.
Despite those steps being quite dangerous.
I am indeed, interested.

Not so secretly, Chase was quite glad he was not alone in thinking these Heralds were both very bad news and incredibly short sighted.

-----
Necrodytis

She used less makeup than she usually wore. This gave her a lighter complexion, even if it meant she was a little ghastly in direct sunlight.

That didn't matter, since she also had a fedora. It would help cover the makeup under further scrutiny. Sunglasses were next, covering her trademark eyes. They had gone yellow years prior, when her parasites first became active. She usually used colored contacts to coat her appearance, but to avoid the risk she did not do so today.

Her hair meanwhile would remain down. No need for the ponytail today- Since she wasn't going to be Janice. Not Necrodytis either...She was...She was...

...Whoever she wanted to be. Yes, that was the answer.

She got into her armor. She decided to ditch her cape and pauldrons for now. Just a little too suspicious beneath the trench coat, definitely put down some of the noise. There was a still a clear clinking noise every time she stepped, but it was unnoticeable enough if one rationalized it as the buckles or something of her trench coat, that she was able to throw on over it. Buckling it up, she was almost ready...

A pair of gloves, slid on over the gauntlets. The sharpened edges of them just barely hidden.

There. She was...subtle.

She strutted out of her home with confidence, out into the brisk, December day. She had a meeting to attend.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"Well, do you really think it matters to me what Trent from accounting thinks?" The Lady in Black spoke with a british accent into her cell phone. Parking a few blocks away, the Lady in Black made her way to the agreed meeting point. It would be a bit suspicious for a businesswoman to just be lurking in the alleyway, so the Lady in Black improvised. Standing just outside the alleyway, the Lady paced back and forth with an air of irritation.
"It's not particularly my fault that... hold on, I've got to go." The Lady in Black said, seeing a rather unusual woman approach. They were wearing a trenchcoat, with a fedora and sunglasses to continue their look. The assassin couldn't help but to smile. Adorable.

Turning her head to look directly at Necrodytis, the Lady in Black smiled to her ally turned and made her way into the alleyway. This was going to to be fun.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Plant frowned. "Call me Plant, not Rose. Got it?" Plant gave a huff before tapping her branch-like claws against the stone wall. "And yes, I do understand. Just remember, I cannot make plants grow, just manipulate them. I'm going to need something to make sure they get close enough to the vines to grab." She took her clawed hand and it glowed green as she untangled the vines around her. For them to actually work, she needed the full vine, not a tangled mess. She gave a small hiss as she felt the bark on her skin grow. Fortunately, she had only lost a quarter of her right arm and the left half of her face, her green eye now a yellow glowing orb. She didn't dare tell the others about her affliction. Not yet anyway.

Destiny stretched as soon as she woke up, petting the calico cat that was resting on her bed for a minute before getting out of bed. She wore a white tank top with grey sweatpants. She picked up her phone off the charger and looked at any messages she may have gotten while she slept. There was the typical puzzle group messages and a few job offers in her "Big Brain" email that seemed, well, not that good. Not very interesting. She might check them out later, but she was currently more occupied with Kerco's job for her. Not to say she couldn't do multiple. However, one message stood out. It was from her sister. It was forever ago since they last talked, and Destiny didn't really like her, to say the least. Destiny huffed and didn't even read the message before placing the phone back on the charger. She had to think.

Destiny made her way to the shower, checking to see if Kerco was still there to possibly distract her from her sister. She briefly poked her head in Kerco's room before closing the door. She half expected him to be gone, anyway. Maybe the shower could clear her mind.

Destiny turned on the water, and got undressed as she waited for the water to warm. A few moments later she hopped in. Warm water washed over her as she thought about her terrible twin.
Destiny's phone rang. Her sister. Of course she showed up now. Their mom had been throwing a fit because Faith had been missing. Destiny answered. "Hey, uh, can you pick up your sister. She had way too much to drink," feminine voice asked. Destiny paused. Drink? Was her sister at a party?
"Yeah, I'll be there. Just tell me how much she has lost it. And how did you get her phone?"
"She can hardly speak coherently right now. She tried to get herself home. She's lucky I caught her and called her a ride. She even handed me her phone to do it. Which is kinda stupid."
Destiny sighed. "She can be that way at times. Anyway, keep her there. I'm leaving to get her right now. Just tell me which house." After getting the directions, Destiny hung up. "I think I found Faith! I'm getting her!" she called to her parents. A quick drive later, Destiny retrived her sister and brought her back home, helping her to even reach the front door. Their mom was standing at the front door, livid at both of them. Destiny soon found herself grounded for two weeks for, apparently "hiding the party".
Destiny huffed and cleared the memory from her mind as she left the shower. After getting dressed she walked back to her room to find the phone ringing. The one for her persona. She plugged in her voice distorter before answering. Anything getting a direct call was something to look into. "Greetings. This is Big Brain," her voice sounded garggly and not right.

 

[comic]

Damian Foster
"It's in my employers best interests regarding the safety and security of the planet, Patriot is a global threat potentially even more than that." The researcher stated. "However, I shouldn't need to convince you, regardless. I'm sure you're already well aware of what the future holds. I've said my piece." Damian took a step back, still eyeing Kronos with intrigue, clearly wondering about how his powers worked.

@The Dark Fairy @BurbleBurble @OmnipotentOnion

CL-9
"Well... Warren has many friends. Friends he's mistreated or taken credit for their work. Betrayed them. You've met Chase, but there is somebody else, an old friend of Warren named Dr. Chrome, and he's currently in Antarctica. It's... really far away." The android explain. "But yes, that is an excellent proposition. I believe Chase won't mind if we raid his cabinets, he's rarely home as it is."
Her gloved hand found Lilian's giving her a gentle squeeze, accompanied by a reassuring smile. "You'll be alright, Lilian. I'll never leave you."

@The Dark Fairy

Patriot
Deluge handled the Folder. Thank god. He wasn't in the mood to put up with any of the team's usual bullshit, and he just really needed to punch something. Considering Larua's abilities, he'd be great to vent his frustrations out on without having to worry about wasting the enemy in the first second. Infinity was talking about the usual boring stuff Patriot had heard a thousand times. Satan this, curse that, blah blah blah, didn't matter. Patriot could kill anything. Archangel, God, it didn't matter.
The streets were empty, giving the bustling city of new york an eerie, ghost town vibe. Adjascent newspapers drifted lazily through the streets in the gentle breeze that blew between the buildings.

"You're damn right." He finally spoke, his comment directed to Ansel's concerning Patriot beating Larua in a fight. "He took over some bar a few blocks from here. My guess is he's either there or at Warren industries. We're checking the bar first."

@Funny Sans Rat @BurbleBurble @Shadow_Pup



Dr. Laura Jackson
"Unfortunately, you look quite the opposite." The doctor replied coolly without missing a beat before she let out a sniff, tucking the clipboard under her arm. "Follow me." With that, she directed the young man out of the room, her walk stiff and professional as she expected Kinzoku to keep up with her speed-walking. "The assignment you're being given is life-changing in every way." She informed him. "It will induct you fully as an asset to Warren Industries."
Almost immediately, as soon as they turned a corner, they nearly bumped into an armored individual, shiny gray steel lining his armor, his pale-grayish dead skin appearing in spots where there armor didn't cover. His body stood rigid as he glared back at them for a moment, before Dr. Jackson spoke again. "Kinzoku, this is Zephyr, also known as Subject 5."

"He's not... ready." Zephyr immediately spoke, the white eyes beneath his helmet boring into Kinzoku. "Warren... mistakes his... intent." He took a ragged breath after saying this, his voice struggling to come out. "His loyalty... is to him... self."
"Not now, Subject 5." Dr. Jackson replied simply, glancing back toward Kinzoku. "Zephyr will be one of your teammates if you comply to the coming demands." She informed. "There's been a... change of... plansss...." He practically hissed out. "I'm meant to... take him off... you hands."

@Shadow_Pup

------

Obsidian: Warren seeks power.
Obsidian: Knowledge is power, something he does not acquire of his own accord.
Obsidian: His achievements, his fame, his imperium, all not his own.
Obsidian: I am knowledge incarnate, Doctor.
Obsidian: I act of my own accord. I am no one's puppet.
Obsidian: Warren is theirs.
Obsidian: There is little time to spare, haste must be made.
Obsidian: Proceed to Sublevel 77, take the railway to Riker Base, and I will relay more information to you.
Obsidian: You are not to be seen under any circumstances, especially by Warren.
Obsidian: I will handle the surveillance scrubbing of your departure.
Obsidian: If you truly are interested, you will be one of the most knowledgeable men on the planet by nightfall.
====>Link_Severed>User:Obsidian>Ending_Transaction======

Chase's screen flashed, the text wall disappearing before the computer went blank. Undoubtedly, this Obsidian was either is legitimate as he claimed to be, or simply pulling Chase's strings for a humiliating reveal to Warren.
Though he wasn't being given many options, as his computer had shut down, and didn't seem to be responding.

@BurbleBurble

Cretecon
"Oh, they'll come running. You know what to do, darlin'." The boss replied, ignoring the name correction as he cracked his knuckles. "Be ready to bring up the flank. This could get nasty." With that, he slammed his massive rocks-for-fists together, sounding in a loud crack that echoed through the evening sky, before he immediately charged into the building, busting down the door as he went.
As stated before, they weren't subtle in the slightest once engaging an enemy, especially Cretecon, who found stealth was not at all his area of expertise, for blatantly obvious reasons. The commotion of a rock man busting down a thick oak door was enough to startle people on the whole block, and he charged his way up the stairs, leaping over a safety railing to the second floor, simultaneously raising a foot before slamming it into the door to the Fae's room. The door crumpled like paper beneath his brute strength, splintering and shattering against the far wall as he filled the doorway with a grin, popping his neck. "Now's your time to shine, brandyman." He chuckled.

@BurbleBurble @OmnipotentOnion @The Dark Fairy @ThePlayfulFox

 

[Void_Nugget]

Kinzoku
He sighed at his failed attempt at flirting and followed her, easily keeping pace with the woman, before stopping as they were met by a large armoured man. He looked confused "what is this pass the parcel, why am I getting passed around here. I'm sure Dr. Jackson can show me the way quite easily and I would much prefer her company to yours any day, Zephyr was it?" he said flatly, so his loyalty was being questioned, well no shit he wasn't loyal to Warren, the man had kept him a prisoner for a long time after all, so yeah he only looked out for himself, there was no one else after all. He stood looking at Zephyr, why was this guy even here did Warren not trust Laura or did he only trust his test subjects.
@comic

Larua
Having decided that he wasn't too fond of taking orders that seemed pointless, he had left Warren Industries and returned swiftly to his bar. He entered through the back and leant against the bar. He pulled some whiskey from the shelf and started to drink it before he sensed something, "now that is a lot of powers" he said to himself with a smirk, "oh and my favourite power farm is here as well" he muttered as he copied Patriot's powers and waited patiently as he drank his whiskey.
@Funny Sans Rat @BurbleBurble @comic

Infinity
He followed behind the group, he was a little slower than usual due to the item he had picked up, a pair of lead gauntlets, his plan would be simple restrain Alex and keep his powers at bay so the others could deal with him. He hoped this would work cause otherwise he had just made himself useless.
@Funny Sans Rat @BurbleBurble @comic

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Kerco pulled out a paper, a list encoded in a cypher he made, not all that complicated, but it does for most things he needed. “Well, I’ve gone through Fire extinguisher, Nintendo consoles, a PS6, several games, a pane of clear glass, a bag of grass seeds, the incineration of a bag of grass seeds, three light bulbs, a block of Pyrite, a ice cream maker, the repair of an ice cream maker, a funeral for an ice cream maker, several bricks, a bow tie, a rabbit, a follow up clarifying you wanted a real rabbit, a book on how to take care of a rabbit, a video on how to take care of a rabbit, a tv to watch the video on how to take care of a rabbit, a new rabbit, a follow up clarification you wanted a real rabbit this time as well, a block of pyrite, a cat, a follow up clarification that you did not want a real cat, a skunk skin foot rest, sushi, the incineration of a plate of sushi, several puppies, a clarification that you wanted real puppies(of which one was given), a veterinarian, a block of pyrite, rehoming a puppy, a camera, several ropes, an aquarium, rice, a fish, a barrel of fish food, block of pyrite, concrete, removal of concrete from throne, Plato, replacement Plato, a block of pyrite, and my left shoe” he looked up from the list “And that’s only including non consumables, now, I notice you don’t have a very diverse wardrobe, maybe I could get you a suit of some kind?”

Kronos ate a nut, swallowing before he answered “I can help, and I’m sure you will take the task of finding Luna next, and that will take the most work of us all, especially with that trick you pulled with her daughter.”

Lilian nodded, looking back out on the streets, cleaning her face from tears “Should I return to my necklace? Maybe you’ll have a easier time getting there.” She looked back at CL-9. “I could always pop back out to help.”

John silently walked forward, positioning himself left of the door, getting ready to jump anyone Fae who came out of the door.

Scath shot to her feet, her illusion still around her body as her eyes narrowed, looking out the window a moment, she fluctuated back on the rock man, a black sledgehammer forming in her hands. The Fae that had accompanied Scath scrambled to their feet, the great fairies raising there hands, all helping to create an illusion, swiftly spreading from the middle of the room, creating the appearance that they had been transported to a forest.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Shuzo

A few minutes after the other Paragons set course for the bar, Shuzo emerged from the front doors of the massive tower. As a deep, audible breath escaped through his mask and modulator, small chains of red lightning began to crackle around his body as he built up power. As the frenzy of electricity began to intensify, the lightning bolts gradually became more focused toward his legs, and with his sights set on his own destination, the red lenses in his goggles briefly flashed with colored light before the Paragon burst forward, sprinting down the street within the blink of an eye towards the Warren Industries facility.

The best way to infiltrate the building stealthily without attracting attention was through the maintenance tunnels, which were connected in few areas to the sewer system. Both the Paragon databases' intel on the facility's blueprints and Crosshair's knowledge of the sewers had been critical in solidifying Shuzo's plan to get into Warren Industries, and after turning abruptly into an alleyway, he removed a manhole cover and hopped into the putrid depths below.

Internally pumping a fist into the air in triumph for installing a decent air filter into his mask, Shuzo now walked along the sewer system with his swords brandished, constantly scanning his surroundings for any lurking threats. Eventually, he reached a sign labeled 'Maintenance', realizing he had arrived upon noting the Warren Industries logo emblazoned onto the rusted metal plate, albeit beginning to fade due to neglect. As he sheathed his swords, Shuzo now kept a close eye on the ceiling and high walls, shuriken stars at the ready to disable any awaiting security cameras.

The first thing that met him in the dark, silent tunnels, however, was... a corpse.

The area was filled with the stench of decaying flesh, and the sight was filled with many more gruesome details; Shuzo slowly approached the cadaver, still wary of any potential traps. However, something that briefly caught his attention and threw him off guard was the tattered remains of the body's clothes. The name tag had also been imprinted with the Warren Industries logo, labeled 'Disposal and Maintenance'. Was this an employee? What had happened?

For a brief moment, Shuzo paused and looked around him where he stood, a gradually increasing wave of apprehension beginning to wash over him.


Edmund

"Copy that, boss," Edmund murmured with a smile. As the crash of concrete and wood resounded throughout the block, the Weapon Hands mercenary narrowed his eyes, squinting through one of those illusions he had been warned about. As a wry chuckle escaped from his lips, Handyman stood to his feet, adjusting his hat as the flaps of his trench coat waving behind him in the wind.

"Well, at least now I don't need to worry about a clean shot," he quipped to no one in particular, as he now assumed a much more casual stance, simply pointing his arm barrel into the window without any clear bracing or poise. Edmund then fired wildly through the glass, assuming that at least one of those poisoned bullets had to meet their mark.

But if not....

Suddenly, the mercenary began sprinting down the roof and launched off the edge, set on a course straight toward the window (which had now been structurally weakened by the bullets. A couple minutes after Cretecon had crashed through the front door, Handyman dove through the glass from behind, now brandishing a cutlass-like saber that spanned about a foot and a half from his right hand. A toothy grin plastered on his face, he tipped his hat toward Scath with his left hand before promptly materializing that into a blade as well.

"Ma'am—if you'd be so kind to come with us."