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[DeLarge]

The Throwaways

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - Lord Acton, 1887

"So, tell me what we've got," said the tall, dark-haired man, stroking his goatee as he strolled along the rows of cells, their metal doors shut fast, his polished shoes clicking on the hard, concrete floor as he walked.

"We've captured the majority of the surviving members of the twelve, sir," said the shorter, balding man, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose as he struggled to keep pace with his superior, fumbling through papers attached to a clipboard, "Subject #001 remains elusive, but other than the ones officially classified deceased, we got all of them."

"Talk me through them," said the dark-haired man, straightening his black skinny tie.

"Subject #004, real name Carter Grey, the man who cannot be killed. Subject #006 almost got away from us, his real name's Cody Aneel, and he turned into some little woodland critter and ran away, but we got him. Subject #007 was tricky to capture, his real name is Tyler Reins and he appears to be the luckiest man alive. Subject #008, also known as Riona Sharp, put up a fight, but we got her. Subject #010 wasn't too difficult, we used the tactics we used for one of the big boys and got him with relative ease. The intel we received on Subject #011 was vital in his capture, real name Braddock Raines, goes by "Addley", tricky little bastard has the ability to teleport. Autumn Finley, that's Subject #012 also put up a fight, burst the eardrums of one of the men assigned to capture her."

"And what of our main man?"

"Subject #003, real name Jacob Slate, has the ability to control magnetic fields. He could be dangerous, we don't yet know the limit of his powers."

"Power inhibitors?" asked the dark-haired man.

"Applied and tested, they can't do a thing unless you want them to. Here's the controller," the smaller man handed his superior a small key fob, which he took and tucked into his pocket.

"Excellent. Bring young Mr Slate into the debriefing room. I'd like a little chat with him."

---

Ten minutes later, Jacob stirred, opening his eyes to the harsh, fluorescent light. He tried to move to brush the hair out of his eyes, but found that his wrists were tied behind the back of the chair he was seated in. He looked around, saw only concrete walls and a one-way mirror set into one wall. He stared at his own reflection: he looked terrible. He was pale, there were rings under his eyes, his dark hair was lank and plastered to his face. Whoever had put him in this position had removed his shirt, leaving only the light grey wife-beater underneath, and there were two strange metal nodules attached to either temple.

The door squealed as it swung open, and a man in a tailored black suit walked in and sat on the chair opposite Jacob, crossing his legs as he did. He stared at Jacob, who stared back, unable or unwilling to speak first.

"You caused us quite a bit of trouble back there, Mr Slate," he said with a smirk, "Fortunately you're not going to be giving us more now you're here."

Jacob snarled and reached out with his ability, attempting to sense the magnetic fields in the room in order to manipulate them. But he couldn't feel anything.

"Ooh, scary," said the suited man, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "That'll be those power inhibitors we stuck on you," he gestured to the nodules on Jacob's head, "You're not allowed to use your abilities until I decide you can."

"How do you know about my ability?" murmured Jacob.

"Are you kidding? I know everything about you, Jacob," he replied, "I know you grew up in an orphanage, I know you were never adopted, I know your bank account details and where you live. And yes, I know about your abilities."

"Who the **** are you?"

"My name is Zachary Welsh," he replied, "I'm an executive here at GI, and I'm now your boss."

"GI?"

"Don't you watch the news? GI is Geist Industries. Get to know them, because they own your stupid ass now."

"You own me? How did you work that one out?"

"That's not for you to know. Not just yet, at least. All you need to know right now is that there is nothing you can do to hurt us, and it's really not in your best interests to try. This can be a very fruitful relationship if you allow it to be, and if you're not prepared to do that then you're of little use to us."

"And what happens to people who are of little use to you?"

"They have a tendency to...stop."

The suited man got to his feet and gestured to someone behind the one-way mirror, and a moment later the heavy metal door swung open.

"You can be great, or you can be an insect. Up to you, really."

He walked out, and the door swung shut behind him.

---

OOC: Ok, here we go. Yes, we've all been captured already - your first post should be a retrospective on how you were caught by the agents (I've tried to keep the explanations of how you were all captured as vague as possible to give you some freedom). See the 'Two weeks ago' section of the Auditions thread for a guideline.

Most importantly, enjoy!

Edited by DeLarge, 31 July 2011 - 02:31 PM.

[Drizzt Do'urden]

"Tens full of 8's, read um' and weap Reins," The crowd that had gathered around the two came to a complete hush as they all looked at the stone look on Tyler's face. The pot in the "friendly" game has risen tremendously and everybody in the speakeasy style casino had taken an interest in the rather large stakes.

Tyler couldn't help fight back the smile, Terrance had been trying to beat him for more than a couple years now. He even opened up the illegal casino for the purpose of riging the game, and up until this point it had worked. He slowly laid down his hand, and the grin he had was the biggest insult even before he said.

"Aces full of 10's my friend," The weapon was in Terrance's hand so fast Tyler barley had time to register it. Apparently the 'friendly' game was the man's way of making sure if Tyler won it would be his last. He scanned the room, every person but one was holding a weapon on him, it wasn't the first time he'd been in a situation like this, he rubbed his scar as he thought about that fact.

"Now before you guys go getting all ancy, remember I'm the richest man in the room after that hand so..." He was cut off by the back door being kicked open and a group of official looking men in suits came pouring in.

Never being one to miss an opportunity Tyler rushed towards Terrance, the rest of the crowd caught up in a confused panic thinking their fun was going to be replaced by the joy of riding in the back of a police cruiser.

Apparently wanting a Bonnie and Clyde type ending to his life Terrance opened fire at Tyler, the three rounds he got off skimming his head as he slammed into the man. As he toppled over Tyler shot a glance at the man, "Luck beats proper planning again ***hole," Raising a shoulder Tyler lept through the glass window knowing the two story fall wouldn't hurt.

Rolling to his feet among the shards of glass Tyler began running away.

"Tyler Reins, stop where you are." Turning, Tyler saw a man standing at the broken windown with a strange type of weapon leveled at him.

Very unpolice like, in Tyler's mind, the man discharged the weapon. Unlike a bullet though, Tyler saw the hypodermic needle coming at him, but luckily for him it still missed him like a bullet.

The needle struck the ground next to him and exploded in a green puff that quickly rose into the air. Tyler instinctively covered his face and began running again, trying to escape the gas.

He noticed a low hanging fire escape ladder on the building next to the casino and began climbing, the years of running from cops and sore losers gave him an agility rival to many street runners. He ascended the ladder before the men in suits were out the window. Pulling out his .45 he fired round after round into the bolts as he ran up the fire escape stairs.

The escape jolted and creaked under his weight and his pursuers as he cleared the tenth floor, the only level left was the roof. Acting on pure instinct he lept to a nearby drainpipe that even he was surprised didn't give way, changing to the last six shot cylinder he had loaded Tyler fired and broke away the last of the bolts sending the escape, and several of his pursuers, crashing to the ground in an iron and steel mangled mess. The yelps and cries were replaced by the sound of something different, the pipe groaned and moaned under Tyler's weight.

"Oh **** he's coming down," The yell from below him verified his fear that the pipe was buckeling, and before he could reach the roof it completly gave way. Tyler felt a small yelp of his own escape his lips as the pipe lunged him backwards and down, that is until it hung itself up on the roof of the neighboring smaller building.

Quickly scampering to the roof of that building Tyler pulled himself to his feet and prepared to run, until he saw the group of men standing in front of him. At least 8 of them on the roof he was on, and behind him he heard several clicks as hammers were pulled back and locked on several other weapons. He doubted these ones held gas darts like the other.

"Geeze, you guys really take illegal gambling seriously eh? I can't imagine what you'll want to do when you eventually catch me and add the little tilly with the fire escape to it." Turning quickly Tyler rushed for the ledge and lept out, the nearest building was over 20 feet away, but that wasn't his target. The awning of the building he was on would coushin any fall...if he was lucky.

"Who the hell is this guy? How the hell." He heard a man yell as he landed and gently slid off and began running again. He only paused for a second when he heard the awning rip and the scream of the man yelling about his leg and cursing about being smaller than Tyler.

Rounding the corner into an alley Tyler came face to face wih the man who shot at him with that sinister gas needle.

"Haven't we been through this once already? Can't you just let me go?" Tyler was panting pretty hard, he'd done some stupid stuff and gotten off thanks to his extraordinary luck. This time it was wearing on him as the men were ready for him at every turn.

"The funny thing about luck Mr. Reins, is that when it goes right for one person, it almost always goes awry for another." As he spoke a man snagged Tyler from behind in a reverse bear hug and swung him around two quickly to react, as he did he heard the needle gun discharge. Kicking off of the man he at once realized he was two late, the syringe busted as it hit the man directly in his back.

The gas had already taken up much of the alleyway and had taken its affect on its true target, Tyler. He had felt as though a gentle breeze was blowing through him as everything else was drowned out...unfortunetly he still felt everybit of the ground as he thudded.

................................................................................

Tyler woke up rubbing his head. He expected to awake in jail, instead, however, he was in a much more sinister looking room. He had something attached to his head, he knew only for sure that for once in his life, he did NOT feel lucky.

OOC: Editing my post to add a restriction on Tyler's power, I kind've felt I made him seem to "lucky"

[K.G]

The sounds of pots and pans echoed in the kitchen, smells of different foods flowed from the double doors leading into the main room where the customers ate their food. Ri squinted her eyes against the bright blue fire that climbed higher in the frying pan she held, the brandy in the pan instantly filling the kitchen with the sweet smell of the liquid.
"Ri, that braised lamb almost done?"
"Yeah! Making the reduction sauce right now Head Chef!"
"Good, hurry it up!"
Riona sighed as she chewed on the butt of an unlit cigarette between her teeth, she hated being under that pompous ass; he was fat, sweaty, pushy and never worked in the kitchen. Shaking her head she again let her imagination get the better of her as she worked putting her in the position of head chef, she shook her head again and plated the small lambs leg, pouring the reduced brandy sauce over top of it she plated the garlic mashed potatoes and onion straws along with it. Looking at the plate she put a full chive atop the potatoes to brighten the plate. Pleased with the presentation she tapped the bell and frowned as no one came to get the meal. Tapping the bell again she sighed and pulled off her apron.
"Jack, damn waiter is being a ***** again, I'll be back."
"You know HC is gonna be pissed if you do that."
"Whatever, it's either this or it gets cold and the customer gets pissed and never comes back. He'll deal."
Grabbing the plate she put a small towel across her arm, grabbed a chilled bottle of aged red wine and pushed through the double doors, she scoffed within her mind as she noticed the table number was 8, her lucky number. She stopped as she caught site of the man sitting at the table. A suit as she called them, dressed from head to toe in formal clothing; a black suit, white button down, black slacks and black, shiny, dress shoes. She set the plate on the table in front of him and cleared his throat gaining his attention as he put the newspaper he was reading to the side. He had a formed face, squared and masculine, pale blond hair and ice blue eyes he looked somewhat evil. Shaking her head she held the bottle out to him.
"Would you like to try our finest wine with your meal tonight sir?"
"Yes please, might I inquire as to what it is?"
"Of course sir, it is a 1679 red Merlot. It is a aromatic mixture of cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, and lavender. It compliments the lambs somewhat gamely taste perfect, off sets the garlic in the potatoes well and cleanses the palate as well."
The man nodded with a slight smile which seemed to brighten his features and make him look less menacing.
"You sound as if you know your foods."
She nodded with a slight pink tint to her cheeks.
"Yes sir. It is a passion of mine."
"I see, is that why your a cook posing as a waitress?"
Her blush deepened.
"My waiter decided to ignore me when I had an order."
The man nodded taking a small bite of his lamb, his eyes closing as his chewing slowed, a content sigh escaping him as he took a small sip of the wine over top of his bite.
"You certainly know your foods well. You were completely right about this wine with the lamb. Please, might I have your name?"
"Riona Sharp sir."
He stopped eating than, his eyes going slightly wide, the hard expression returning to his face as he looked up at her now, the glint in the man's eyes making her take a slightly shuffle backwards.
"Your sharp?"
"Yes sir. Is there a problem?"
He shook his head, the smile returning and easing her nervousness.
"Please, forgive me for keeping you from your work, I'll let you return. Thank your for the meal."
She nodded and returned to the kitchen bumping instantly into the head chef.
"Again Sharp? You want to lose your job?"
"No! Gods please don't fire me. My waiter didn't show up when I tapped the bell and I didn't want to lose a customer due to cold food."
The chef nodded and pointed to her station.
"Get back to work."
She nodded and walked back to her stove watching as flames danced under pots making water and soups boil, or climbed high into the air once introduced to liquor turning a bright red or blue, she felt at home in a kitchen like this. Fire surrounding her in some shape or form it made her comfortable and less awkward. She sighed as her own flame stove refused to light, looking around she held her hand out and frowned as a small flame jumped from her hand to the pilot light quickly lighting the stove once again. Getting back to work her mind wandering back to the man she had served. When she had told him her name he seemed bothered. She shook it off as a passing chef tapped her shoulder 4 times in succession quickly. She sighed and nodded instantly leaving her station to the tapper and walking out of the back door, as soon as the cool night air touched her skin she snapped her fingers, a small flame jumping from bug candle next to her and flickering on her thumb as she lite the cigarette between her lips. Inhaling the nicotine she exhaled with a content sigh as the tingling feeling started in her hands, her head swimming pleasantly as the nicotine filled her lungs calming her nerves almost as soon as she inhaled it. Putting the stick back between her lips she folded her hands behind her hand and leaned against the side of the building, her eyes shifting to the night sky as she watched the stars flicker above her. Inhaling again she let it out, stopping as she noticed a slight steam rising from her skin, the cold night air not effecting her, her control over fire being slight, it still effected her enough that her internal body temperature was a few degrees higher than normal. Rolling her eyes she pulled the sleeves of her jacket down over her arms and continued to smoke peacefully til a chill swept up her spine, pushing off the wall she looked to her right. She felt her legs tense automatically as the man she served came into view.
"I can not believe that your my target. I never imagined finding you in a place like this."
She crossed her arms frowning deeply as the wind picked up and blew the toge off of her head making it roll across the pavement going unnoticed by either of them. Her eyes shifted to the candle flickering next to her and than back to him, she knew there was something off about his man and she knew that she could handle her self but she dared not use the flame right now it was to public and she didn't want to cause a commotion; her mind stopping mid-thought as he began to take measured steps forward. She grounded her left foot, bringing her arms up infront of her her mimicking a boxers stance, but her right leg rose slowly, her knee now level with her chest as she watched him approach.
"Riona Sharp, I would prefer to do this without confrontation."
"Do what exactly?"
"Take you in."
She scoffed and shifted her weight to get a better angle, already planing on putting her booted foot against the side of his head as soon as he was within her range, which was quite wide due to her long legs.
"In where?"
"My employers would like to talk to you."
"Forget it mutton man. I'm not going anywhere."
Shaking his head she watched as he flicked his wrist bringing out an extended metal rod, a small electric current flowing through it. Tazer stick, she frowned knowing that a good hit with that would hurt.
"I did not want to do this."
She took a deep breath calming her nerves as he continued to stride forward, as soon as he was in her range she lashed out with her right foot, the kick missing him by centimeters as he ducked it, the wind from the swing ruffling his hair briefly, she brought her leg down, her left fist lashing out with quick speed and missing him yet again as he charged forward getting closer to her. Back flipping away from him she dropped down low and swept her right leg under his knocking him off of his feet, shifting and bringing her left leg up and back down in a sever axe kick into the man's sternum making him cough. It was than that she felt a pair of arms wrap under her own and lift her off the ground. The gruff voice in her ear only making her anger flare that much more.
"Don't give us a hard time girl."
She wrapped her left leg around the man's and brought her right foot back and into his knee cap, hearing the sickening crunch of bone and tendons she landed gracefully on her feet as he dropped her, spurring her legs into motion she began to race down the alley trying to make in it into the open street and into a crowd, her path blocked by another two men. Stopping she grit her teeth and took a fighting stance, her legs tense, her arms up and her hands balled into tight fists. Launching forward she lased out with her right fist, the man on the left catching it easily in his beefy hand, only to grunt as her knee slammed into his solar plexus. She hissed as the man on the right grabbed her left arm and twisted it behind her back, soon catching her right arm and doing similar as well, she tried to lash out with her legs, catching one of the other men in the face and knocking him out cold smirking as he fell to the pavement, limp and unconscious. Her smirk turning into a feral expression as she growled at the men who held her. The one she had served coming into her veiw, his hand gripping his shirt at his chest as he took deep breaths, his face pale and sweating due to the pain.
"Knock her ass out. We have to get back. This was supposed to be an in and out job. They told us she wouldn't be much of a problem cause she doesn't like to show off publicly. They never said anything about her knowing how to ******* fight."
The other men nodded as one stepped up next to her, feeling a sharp pain in her neck she felt a cold sensation spread under her skin as he injected something into her blood stream, her vision going blurry as she slumped forward in the man's arm.
"Lets go."
Scooping her up the men gathered their fallen comrade and vanished into the shadows of the alley, their objective complete.

Her head pounded as her eyed cracked open, she shook her head groaning as it turned her stomach and made the contents of it shift dangerously. Taking a deep breath she opened her eyes slowly hissing as bright light invaded her senses.
"Where the hell am I?"
She tried to shift her feet cursing as she noticed that whoever caught her got wise and restrained her feet to the floor. She shook her head again slowly, this time feeling a slight tugging on her skin and realizing that there was something attached to her head. Frowning she closed her eyes again, still trying to keep her self from expelling what was in her stomach all over herself and the floor of the cell she was now in. Her over active imagination already conjuring up many ideas of what was going to happen to her now.

[Shwa]

The afternoon sun rays danced int eh air of Derek's room, the boy sat at his work desk wrapping up his final papers to hand in before spring break, always getting his assignments handed in before the rest of his classmates like usual. Small etching sounds echoes in the quiets room as the boys pencil wrote on his note paper, the boys left palm holding down the thin piece of paper as his fingers traced and outlined where the space lines were so he wouldn't write all over in a jumbled mess. On his bed behind himself, next to the entrance to his room, laid his trustful seeing eye dog, the Siberian husky called " Silver", a loyal and faithful dog he's owned ever since he was in middle school. The large dog slumbered without a care as the sunlight heated the mutts fur, calming and relaxing as the hours passed away from earlier. Finally, with a loud clank of his pencil dropping, Derek was finished his research paper and leaned back on his chair, stretching his neck from side to side, welcoming the release of oxygen from his joints as they popped like a machine gun's fire. Derek peered towards the window of his room, feeling the warmth of the setting sun always relaxed the boy, even though he could only see darkness through his eyes, he still felt at peace knowing there was a source out in the world that gave new life and light to everything that the shadows touched. there was a dimming sound that echoed in the kitchen of the apartment, the noise grew louder as the seconds passed. Derek finally stood from his seat as Silver turned in his spot, lifting his head to see his master finally leaving his work station.

"Come on Silver, time to get you some food" the simple word brought the dogs tail to life as it wagged from side to side onto the sheets of the bed, without command, the dog stretched and hopped down onto the hardwood floor and joined his master at his side. Brushing against his leg before leading the way, the echoing of the dogs nails hitting the hardwood floor was the perfect guide for Derek to follow. Already knowing the layout of his own apartment like the back of his hand, he still marveled at his dogs assistance everywhere he went. Entering the kitchen, Derek brushed his hand against the sleek tile counter top until he found his egg timer buzzing, grabbing hold of the device, Derek turned it back to "0" and silenced the noise once and for all. "That's better". But the silence was short lived as another sound came from behind the boy, Derek raised an eyebrow at his ringtone on his mobile. Turning around swiftly, Derek made his way towards the other side of his kitchen and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Mr. Derek Dewitt?" The voice ask calmly.

"This is he, who may I ask is calling?"

"This is Sharron Abronoth from the main office, there's some people here to see you from the University of Houston. They said they would like to speak to you about your application" Derek's heart pumped fast, his college application finally made it through and he would be accepted to a new university and state all together.

"Yes, uh...please, send them up" Derek smiled, disconnecting the call he quickly served Silver a dish of kibbles before there was a knocking on the door. "That was quick..." Derek pondered to himself, but he glided towards his doorway and opened nonchalantly as two men in grey and black suits stood outside of the doorway, both wearing dark tinted shades as the peered down at the student. Silver continued to munch on his food until he looked up, instantly fearing a threatening presence at his master, the dog growled and stood fierce as the men entered the apartment.

"Mr. DeWitt? Derek DeWitt?" One of the men spoke as he looked around, the other keeping an eye on the dog that growled at them.

"Yes that's me, you two are from the University of Houston I presume?" Derek closed the door and locked it before turning, though he could not see himself, he was beaming with excitement as the two gentlemen made themselves comfortable in his quaint living space.

"Something like that, we're here to take you for a personal tour of the university, we know of your blindness and so they sent us to be your escorts" One of the men had stated, he had a deep voice, almost lazy but stern. Derek raised an eyebrow once again, he hasn't informed anyone or even put down on his applications about his disability with sight, something was amiss, and Silver was right on point as the closest one to Derek suddenly grabbed the boy in a headlock and held him firmly.

"Hey! What the hell is going on?? SILVER!!" On cue, the husky charged and bit the man holding Derek on the knee, causing him to curse and kick as the dog latched on.

"******* MUTT!!" The man said, the other withdrew a gun from his shirt pocket and pointed towards Silver, Derek smelled the well clean metallic arm piece, instinctively, the boy extended his own hand towards the darkness of his mind, aiming to where the smell was coming from. In a flash, a white beam of energy quickly projected itself from Derek's hand and blasted at the armed man, sending him stumbling back as he fell onto Derek's dining table, crushing it in half. The larger man finally kicked Silver off from his leg, the dog whimpered as a shot fired in the air, a small syringe stuck from the dogs side as fluid injected quickly into its system.

"Silver?!.... Whe-" Another shot stopped Derek's words, the stinging pain emanating from his right shoulder halted the teen as he staggered, hitting the island counter top in his kitchen. Derek felt weaker and weaker as the seconds passed, he could make out the voices of his assailants, but it was in a jumble.

"Target sedated, we'll extract once the coast is clear...." The words died slowly as Derek fell to his side in his kitchen, the darkness that usually was his ally became a scary foe.

"It's a good thing the sun was setting, otherwise this piece of **** punk would have had the upper hand" One of the two men stated.

"Tell me about it, no wonder it was best to wait until dusk. Let's bag him and bring him back" The larger man replied, once Derek was completely unconscious, the hauled the boy out of his apartment complex, leaving the dog to slumber alone in his home. Hours later, Derek stirred on the cold floor of his room, or a room in general. It almost felt like concrete, it was rough by texture and obviously uncomfortable as the boy groaned. The room was like a jail cell, but the light fixture above had been replaced with black light instead of regular light bulbs. Derek felt around for a couple minutes until he cam upon a corner in his cell, he felt drained and lifeless as the black light kept him from receiving natural light energy. The teen simply stuck to the corner of his cell and hugged his legs to his chest, wondering his fate by the men who took him from his own home and only true friend.

[P.J. McKrafty]

The fridge was empty. Carter wasn’t much of a chef so stocking his fridge never really crossed his mind. All he had was four bottles of cheap beer and milk that had most likely spoiled. Deciding against food poisoning Carter pulled a bottle free from the cardboard cradle and popped the cap off the bottle onto the counter. Taking a swig he came to the dismal realization that the beer had gone the way of the milk and went flat. With a grimace Cater swallowed the stagnate brew and set the bottle down.

Carter lived alone, moving to Los Angeles he hadn’t networked well at his job, leaving him with a rather pitiful social life. He mainly hobnobbed with his fellow stunt doubles and the special effects technicians and these guys were usually had to work a second job as waiters and car-washers, let alone are the kind of individuals privy to the goings-on in the Hollywood nightlife.

With a sigh Carter set off to his room to get dressed, seeing as his only alternative for food would have to be to pick some up. Rummaging through the pile of clothes that was his wardrobe, he pulled out a plain black t-shirt and a pair of jeans that he could only speculate as to their cleanliness. Both were mercilessly wrinkled from days, if not weeks, of sitting in the floor. He was able to track down his worn leather boots, one of them under his bed and the other had somehow made its way into the living room. He was lacing them up when his doorbell buzzed at him.

Carter cocked his head at the door, and finished lacing up his boots. The bell buzzed again when he was getting up to answer the door. He looked through the peephole to see a rather plain faced man in a navy blue suit stood stoically on the other side of the door. Carter opened the door hesitantly and greeted the man.

“Hi, there anything I can help you with?” Carter asked politely but devoid of a smile. The man stood unnaturally rigid and made him feel nervous. The man had plain brown hair and eyes, and unremarkable features. He had the kind of face that was easy to lose in a crowd.

“Yes Mr. Grey, I am Agent Stevens,” The man replied in a monotone as he produced a laminate badge. “May I come inside and speak to you?”

Carter gave this some thought before deciding not to incriminate himself. “Of course, please come in.” Carter said opening the door for the man and leading him into the apartment’s kitchen. “Is there anything I can get you? A glass of water maybe-” Carter slapped at a small twinge at the back of his neck, a bug maybe. He turned to the man and saw a gun leveled at him. Two more muffled shots came from the gun and Carter looked down to see two darts stuck in his shirt.

Carter instinctively ripped the darts from his shirt and picked up the beer bottle from the counter and threw it the man. It caught him in the face, shattering with a dull thud. The man stumbled and fell against the wall holding his face. The door shuddered under a heavy thump and then blew inward as a massive mountain of a man kicked it in. He wore a tacky burgundy suit that barely held in his giant form. He was completely bald and his face was covered in pockmarks. He was followed by a much smaller man wearing a grey suit and sunglasses. They quickly surveyed the scene and drew their guns, pointing them at Carter.

“**** Hughes, he got Stevens.” The little man squeaked nervously in what he must of thought was a whisper.

“Cram it Dane!” The large man snapped back. “Get your hands up asshole!” He yelled at Carter.

Carter slowly raised his hands staring at both of the armed men. “I was just defending myself. He opened fire on me when my back was turned.” Carter reasoned in a quiet and even tone.

“SHUT THE **** UP!” Hughes bellowed. “Dane, check on Stevens, see if you can get him up.” The little man holstered his gun and complied nervously.

“Listen, I can explain,” Carter took a step forward, Hughes face flared red and he drew back the hammer of his pistol.

“One more step and I swear to God I will ice you ass!” He yelled at Carter.

“It was just self defense.” Carter replied calmly as he took another step forward. Hughes gun roared and Carter’s head snapped back hard. The world flashed white with pain and he fell to the ground hard. His ears were ringing and his head felt like someone had just hit him with a red hot sledgehammer. He heard distant voices of the agents but couldn’t make out what they were saying, just that they were arguing.

Carter rolled onto his side. “Do you know-” he wheezed pushing himself up onto his arms. “How much getting shot in the head hurts?” Carter shakily got to his feet his vision clearing to see the petrified face of Hughes starring at him. Dane helped a now bloody Stevens to his feet. Carter rubbed where the bullet hit. “I am going to have a ******* migraine for a week!”

Stevens spit blood on the floor. “Don’t just stare at him, take him down!” he yelled at Hughes.

Hughes snapped back into reality and charged forward slamming into Carter and pinning him up off his feet and into a wall, cracking the drywall and showering them both with dust. Carter replied with a knee to the guts and brought his elbow down hard on the back of Hughes head repeatedly until the hulking man stumbled backwards off of Carter. Carter took his opportunity the moment his feet hit the floor. He charged forward catching Hughes in his backward momentum. The glass screamed and exploded as they both went through his sliding glass door to his balcony. Still charging with what momentum Carter had left he slammed Hughes into and over the railing of his balcony. But Hughes had a hold of Carter as well, pulling him over the balcony with him.

With the air rushing past him, Carter couldn’t help but wonder why he had pushed for an apartment on the top floor of the twelve story complex instead of settling for the fourth floor they offered him. He closed his eyes and prepared for the impact of the quickly approaching concrete.

When Carter opened his eyes, he was surrounded by broken glass and twisted metal. He landed on a car which broke his fall, in the faintest sense. Carter tried to pull himself out of the wreckage but his limbs cramped and weren’t cooperating. Carter hissed as he forced himself up and out of the ruins and to his feet. He stood with his hands on his knees breathing through his teeth trying to get his head to stop spinning. A woman came into view gawking at Carter but recoiled when he looked up at her. He straightened up his back, going through a series of cracks as his vertebra re-aligned.

Carter started limping down the sidewalk, and away from his building. He passed a broken and limp Hughes and cringed at the gruesome sight. Carter had just about made it to the end of the block before the agents were able to catch up with him. He didn’t see them, he didn’t hear them. He just heard the din of their guns. Two bullets slammed into his back sending him sprawling to the ground, and before he know it the weight of both men pinned him to the ground as they struggled with Carter to cuff him.

“**** off!” Carter growled as they hauled him to his feet. They both took an arm and brandished their badges to gawking pedestrians as they took him to the car. They loaded him into the back of a plain white van and Carter cursed to himself. He knew he wasn’t going to like what was going to happen next.

[Lilt]

The jet engines whined loudly. Esfir yawned, having woken up from her nap. It was a long flight to Yekaterinburg so she decided to take a look at her book once more. She wondered what it would have been like to make this flight in a plane of her own, if she owned one. It would have been much longer, but it certainly wouldn't be this boring. Esfir yawned again.

"It was nice of them though to buy me the ticket to see Russia for myself." Esfir thought to herself.

Her adopted parents, along with some help from other relatives, saved up enough money to send Esfir on a trip to Russia. Even though she had moved away, they still cared about the well being and interests of their adopted daughter. They wanted her to experience first hand the country of her birth. After changing some of her spending money into rubles, she took departed on her long flight to Yekaterinburg.

She was very excited to see a new country, even if her Russian wasn't even close to fluency. Still, this plane flight was boring. Esfir gave up on the book and fell back asleep, dreaming that the 747 she was flying in decided to take a detour to the moon.

A shaking awoke Esfir from her deep sleep. The plane had put down its landing gear and was on the runway. Giving back the book to the woman who was seated next to her, Esfir thanked her and left the plane. She had traveled light. She wasn't going to be here for long and had decided to buy most of what she needed in Russia. It would be more of an adventure that way. Her adventure started earlier than she had expected. A man was carefully staring at her as she walked by, but when she looked back at him he was talking to a woman in the seat next to him and laughing about something. Esfir shrugged her shoulders.

"It must have been my imagination."

Esfir left the airport and into a taxi that would drop her into the market so she could buy some things before she found a hotel. The whole time she was in the airport she had had the feeling that she was being watched. It must have been the long flight or something. Who would know she was going to Russia and why would they follow her?

Esfir paid the cab fare and looked around the crowded market. She looked around at all of the people and the buildings. Two particular men caught her attention out of the crowd. They stopped to look around when she stared at them. Esfir decided to test her theory and started walking. The men started walking and acting like they were talking and hadn't noticed her. She started walking faster and they matched her speed. Esfir broke into a sprint and the men ran after her. She was definitely being followed. Something whizzed by her head as she turned a corner. They were firing at her. She saw a large cathedral that she might have stopped to admire its beauty. But there was no time for that now. If she could just get inside, then she would be safe. She could float to the ceiling and hide out in the architecture. They seemed to know about her powers though and her plan.

"Stop her! Don't let her get inside!"

This made Esfir nervous and she sprinted faster. How could they have known about her powers? She was almost there. The cathedral was so close now. A large Russian man walked out in front of the cathedral. She assumed by the way he was dressed he was a priest. She decided to call out for help as she ran past him inside. However, Esfir never got the chance. The priest pulled out a strange looking gun and pointed it to her.

"Маленькая девушка, Вы далеки от дома" The priest said as he pulled the trigger.

Esfir floated unconsciously, hitting her head against the lintel of the cathedral. The two men following her helped the priest get her down and they pushed her floating body into an unmarked white van. Jumping in behind her, the van took off. Esfir's vacation was over but her adventure had just started.

Edited by Lilt, 13 July 2011 - 02:42 AM.

[OMNOMNOMALY]

The grass was slick with moisture as Autumn made her way across the overgrown abandoned lot on her way home from the library. Although it was late at night, Autumn had begun to feel comfortable in this new neighbourhood, in this new life she had made for herself away from her adoptive parents. Autumn had attended a local college before deciding she needed to go out of state. For the first time in her life, Autumn realized, she didn't feel afraid. No one had bothered her or bullied her here - in fact, most people had plainly ignored her existence, just the way she liked it. She often made the joke to herself that she should've had been given the ability of invisibility instead, given her penchant for being under the radar. She smiled to herself as she thought about this, temporarily lost in her own world.

Autumn's usually heightened sense of awareness was blissfully lowered, so she didn't hear the doors of a car softly open and shut behind her on her right. She did, however, hear the footsteps behind her and the silenced though not silent shot fired, though far too late to react. A dart buried itself in her shoulder before a pair of muscular arms wrapped themselves around her, restraining her own limbs and picking her up off the ground.

"Autumn Finley, we're going to need you to come with us." Autumn's eyes widened and in fear, her voice became little more than a croak as she began to feel drowsy. "Now we can do this the easy way," a new voice chimed in as the sound of a gun being cocked came from somewhere behind her "Or we can do it the hard way. Quite frankly, we've had a bit of a rough day, so we would really appreciate some cooperation with this." Autumn remained mute, her struggles going essentially unnoticed by the gorilla-like man who continued to hold her. "Let's get her into the car, then." The man turned to begin walking towards the car and she was finally able to see the face of one of her assailants. "I'm Agent James-" Autumn's eyelids were feeling heavy but she wasn't out yet.

"AAHHHHHHHHH!" She had found her voice, and Newly identified Agent James recoiled from her, covering his ears with his hands, his eyes welled shut with pain. The Arms loosened their grip around Autumn and suddenly she was on the ground, the mountain of a man crumpled over to her right.

"****!" James shouted as he removed one hand to examine it, only to see blood on it. Autumn rubbed her eyes vigorously and got up as quickly as the drugs pumping through her veins would allow, stumbling away. "Get the **** back here, Finley!" Agent James screamed at her, raising his gun to fire another dart. His own eyes bulged with fear as he realized he couldn't hear himself. "Am I deaf?!" He screamed again before taking aim. Before he had a chance to fire, Autumn had collapsed.

"Agent Rodriguez?" Agent James leaned over the body of his colleague, standing up when he was satisfied that Rodriguez was still breathing. James felt a familiar vibration in his jacket pocket and pulled out his cellphone. 'Chief' read the caller ID screen. "Perfect timing." he thought to himself.

"Yes hello, Chief. We've got Finley." Agent James yelled into the phone as he looked at the small heap of a woman and found it hard to believe that she was the reason for his splitting headache and the ringing in his ears.

"Excellent. Bring her back immediately." Came the reply. "Agent James, why are you yelling?"

"What?" he yelled back into the phone.

Edited by OMNOMNOMALY, 13 July 2011 - 08:49 AM.

[Orcus]

"Oh **** me..." Addley mumbled to himself as he rolled out of the restaurant with his friends. In the back of the parking lot was a stiff -- shades, black suit and all -- attempting to look inconspicuous. Normally Addley wouldn't have paid the figure any mind, but this wasn't the first time he had seen him. He had seen him a week ago outside of his house, a couple of months ago driving by his school, even a couple of years ago reading a newspaper in the park. This figure had been keeping tabs on him, and Addley had more than a sneaking suspicion that it was because of his ability. A friend of his, Mark, tapped him on the shoulder.

"You alright? Did you stub your toe like a little *****?" Typical Mark, Addley thought with a smirk. He punched his friend in the arm and laughed.

"Says the guy who was crying a couple weeks ago because he got a splinter," he responded with a condescending head shake. His other two friends, Jon and Steve, attempted to cover their mouths as they laughed at Mark. Mark growled at the two of them and shoved them both away.

"Anyways, I'm fine," Addley continued, "Just thought I saw a girl from one of my classes. She's gorgeous, and much better company than any of you. But it was a false alarm... So I've got no reason to be here. Night guys!" He yelled cheerfully as he turned away from his friends and walked towards his car. His friends yelled their farewells, along with some obscenities, at him, but he didn't pay any attention. He jumped in his car as quickly as possible and took a deep breath.

"What do I do---" Addley clamped his mouth shut mid-sentence. What if the car's bugged, he thought nervously, before quickly attempting to cover his mistake. "...Now? Maybe I should go for a drive for a while." Eh, I could have done worse, he thought with a shrug. He pulled out and drove off as quickly as he could away from the shopping center he was in. Glancing over his shoulder he could see, although a distance away, the suit's car tailing him. Addley gripped the steering wheel as his mind raced. I could just leave the car now... The death toll would be tragic, but it would definitely slow him down... But I also don't want to go to hell, so that's a no go. At least, not around all of these people. He made an abrupt lane change, causing the driver he cut off to honk angrily.

Well trying to action hero my way out of this situation won't work, he thought with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. He checked his mirror again. Still one car. Good. He tapped on the wheel furtively. Of course there's only one car. His friends are probably waiting in places they'd expect me to teleport too... Suddenly, an idea struck him. That's fine! Then I'll know where to find them! With a plan quickly pieced together, Addley exited off the highway and sped towards his destination. His eyes shifted quickly between the speedometer--75, 80, 85, 90-- and the agent, who had abandoned subtlety to catch up with him. As Addley raced down the one way road and caught site of a familiar body of water coming up swiftly and swore to himself. It was time.

****, here goes nothing. Addley slammed his foot down on the break as hard as he could, feeling the air rush out of him as his seat belt constricted against his chest. He looked up into his rearview mirror with enough time to catch a glance at his pursuer futilely attempting to slam on his brake as well. Before the cars could collide Addley shut his eyes tightly and held his breath. When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the kitchen of his parent's house. His elbow caught the counter as his body deflated, and he exhaled quickly. Let's never do that again. Okay? Okay. From the main room a stranger's voice reached his ears.

"Yes Mr. and Mrs. Raines it is a very exclusive program, and we would love to have your son come down and join us..." Addley grinned. Maybe I will go and join you. He ran into his room, grabbed his baseball bat, warped back out into the living room and, in front of his surprised parents and their astonished guest, he struck the man exactly against the left side of his face, smashing his ear in. The suit limply fell out of the chair and lay on the ground motionless. Addley sighed and addressed his parents.

"Ey mom and dad. I know what this looks like, but I swear I have a good reason." His parents looked at each other and then down at the body, before finally his dad spoke.

"So I shouldn't have offered Mr. Black here a drink?" He said nonchalantly. Addley grinned and tossed his dad the bat.

"Be right back. Watch him for me, please." Addley warped down into their basement and grabbed some rope and then warped back into the living room. He put the man back in the chair he had fallen from and swiftly began tying him up. Thankfully, Addley could still feel the man breathing, although in a shallow manner. Hopefully he won't have brain damage, Addley thought as he felt the body begin to move, that way he can answer my questions. As 'Mr. Black' began regaining consciousness, Addley looked at his parents, then glanced at the second floor, then repeated the act a couple of times before they begrudgingly went upstairs. A groan from the body drew Addley's attention, so he grabbed the leg of a chair that he had broen about a week ago and gripped it in his hand.

"What... the... ****..." The man groaned as he spit out a thick lump of blood. He surveyed his surroundings before finally resting his gaze on Addley.

"Who...who the **** are you?" He stammered. Addley simply stared at the man and tapped the wooden leg against his own leg. 'Mr. Black' stared back and forth between Addley and the stick until finally his memory was jogged. Addley smiled at the look of comprehension dawned on the would be kidnapper's face.

"Well that took you long enough," he said as he sat down on the table in front of Mr. Black. "So now that you're awake, would you care to tell me why you're here, Mr. Black?" 'Mr. Black' snarled and spat at the ground again.

"Can't believe one of these freaks ******* nailed me... I'm gonna be getting **** for this for weeks." Addley clenched his jaw and pressed his weapon underneath Mr. Black's jaw, raising his face to eye level.

"You wanna run that by me again?" He growled angrily. Mr. Black snapped his head away from the stick and leaned back in his chair.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what I said was, **** off, freak. I know you were tough **** when you were a kid, but I seen you recently. You've gone soft. You're too ******* nice--" Addley's weapon crashed into his face again, this time dislodging some teeth. Addley hated being belittled, and he hated being ignored. Aside from that blow, he could do little but grind his teeth together as he attempted to calm down. Mr. Black laughed and shook his head mockingly.

"I forgot the file said you were a bit sensitive," Addley clenched his fist, "but it still doesn't matter. Hit me as many times as you'd like. I'm just the bait." A loud scream erupted from the upstairs, followed by a series of thuds and bangs. ****... Addley thought to himself, quickly sobering from his rage. He faced Mr. Black again and leveled his stick against his face.

"Let them go now, or you lose your head," he stated sternly. Mr. Black erupted into laughter again, before coughing violently and vomiting up more blood.

"You think my company gives a **** about me," he mustered through a mouthful of red, "or your parents? Do you really think negotiating will count for anything?" Addley sighed and removed his stick from the man's face.

"Plan B, then," Addley muttered with a smirk. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Assuming those thuds from earlier were my parents being forced onto the ground, then the shuffling around couldn't have been from more than two people. They'll have their backs turned to the door, because they'll expect me to teleport in, so... Addley took a deep breath, then warped into the hallway, quickly kicking the door of the room where the commotion had come from open. He quickly teleported again and, as soon as he felt the process finish, he swung the wooden leg as forcefully as he could. Luckily the agents had fallen for his trick and were facing the hallway, so his attack connected with the agent to his right and knocked him into the other one, who dropped his gun from the force. Addley raised up his weapon to strike again when he felt a painful ***** on his neck.

"What in God's name?" Addley dropped the wooden leg abruptly and crumpled to his knees. He reached meekly for his neck and felt something protruding from it. ****... a sedative... and my blood's... pumping... He attemted to lift his arms, but they swayed like dead weight at his sides. ****. The room began spinning as his vision blurred, and finally he collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

Edited by Vongola, 13 July 2011 - 02:54 PM.

[DeLarge]

OOC: Don't worry if you haven't posted yet, I'm just trying to keep this thing moving. This post is going to be a bit of an infodump, I'll attempt to make it as readable as possible

---

Jacob sat in his cell, his back pressed against the cold concrete wall, his arms resting on his knees. His breath emerged from his mouth in billowing clouds of vapour as he breathed in and out, and he could hear the muffled sounds of the other prisoners, not through the walls, which were thick and soundproofed, but through the metal doors. He had attempted to remove the power inhibitors they had placed on him, but to no avail; he had no idea how they were attached, but they were stuck fast.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, a shaft of harsh light flooding into the cell, and two soldiers marched in. Jacob got to his feet, sensing that they were about to move him by force, and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. They nodded, and one of them stepped behind him, prodding the barrel of his rifle into the small of Jacob's back, forcing him to move forward. The second soldier remained in front as they led him from his cell, down the rows of doors and into a large room. The walls were dark blue and seemed to be pulsing with light, there were computer monitors covering two walls, showing news feeds from around the world, and a large, oval-shaped table, the same blue as the walls, sat in the centre of the room, with a dozen or so high-backed leather swivel chairs placed around it. Zachary Welsh, the man Jacob had encountered earlier, stood at the head of the table, facing the bank of monitors.

"What is this?" asked Jacob, looking around as the soldiers gestured for him to sit down, which he did. He didn't see any way of escaping this situation, so he might as well play along for now.

"Debriefing," said Welsh, spinning around, his hands in his pockets, "The rest will be here in a few minutes."

He was right - over the next ten minutes, more soldiers and prisoners filed into the meeting room, sitting down either in resignation or by force, until the twelve seats around the table were filled with unwilling participants.

"Welcome, friends," said Welsh loudly, a smirk on his face, "I'm assuming you're all wondering why you're here, and rightly so. For those of you who don't know, I am Zachary Welsh, and you are all currently guests of Geist Industries, and yes, both myself and the rest of the company are well aware of your...special circumstances, hence the reason you've all been fitted with power inhibitors that stop you from accessing them, for now."

A number of the members of the group absent-mindedly ran their fingers over the nodules on their foreheads, and Welsh nodded, smiling.

"They're just a friendly reminder of the fact that you are now property of Geist Industries. Your friends and families have each had a visit from one of our agents, who has informed them that you are threats to our national security, and have been taken into top-security holding facilities. No visits, no phone calls, nothing. As far as they're concerned, you barely exist."

"You son of a *****," snarled one of the prisoners, a young man with a ponytail, jumping to his feet, upon which movement the two guards standing behind his chair forced him back down.

"You may well disagree with our methods, Mr Raines, but there's nothing you can do about it right now," replied Welsh, "But down to business."

He flicked a remote control at the screens behind him, a group of five changing to show the faces of the Big Five - all recognisable to the public, all infamous across the country.

"The Big Five. As you are probably aware, this country is currently in the thrall of these five psychopaths, our former defenders. Police forces, SWAT teams, even the military are unable to do anything to stop them. That's where you come in."

"What do you mean?" asked another prisoner, this one dark-haired, with a scruffy beard covering his chin.

"What I mean, Mr Grey, is that you are going to be our new team of heroes. You are going to defend the public from the Big Five, and become the nation's new protectors."

"That doesn't seem like the kind of thing you need to abduct us for. You could have just asked," said a young, thin girl sat towards the head of the table, looking more nervous than the rest of them.

"That's the official line, Ms Finley," replied Welsh, "As far as the public are concerned, you are here to save them from the tyranny of the Big Five. Unofficially, you've got a slightly different goal. You are tasked with tracking down and eliminating the Big Five. Permanently."

"We're a wet work team?" asked Jacob, "You want us to kill the Big Five, but behind closed doors."

"Check out the big brain on Mr Slate!" smirked Welsh, "Yes, you will be killing each and every member of the Big Five, stone dead. That's why we've recruited so many of you, it's going to take all of you to take them down."

"What makes you think we're going to help you? We're human beings, we can't be forced into murder," asked a man with short dark hair and a scar down one side of his face.

"I think you'll find I can get you to do anything I want you to, Mr Reins," replied Welsh, fishing a small remote control out of his shirt pocket, "With this."

The group craned in to look at the device, but a closer look didn't reveal anything else about it.

"It's a detonator. While you were unconscious, we fitted each of you with a small, but powerful, subdermal explosive, right at the bases of your skulls. You step out of line, I detonate them, and you die. Messily, and publicly. Even you, Mr Grey," he gestured to the bearded man from earlier, "As resilient as you are, I don't think even you could come back from having your head blown off, so you're no exception."

"You can't do this to us!" shouted the lively, angry young man from earlier, "We're ordinary people, not assassins! We won't kill anyone!"

"I don't think we have much of a choice," said Jacob, "Geist are holding all the cards. We can't use our abilities to escape, we can't do anything wrong otherwise they'll kill us. I think we're stuck."

"Finally, someone gets it," said Welsh, his lips curling up into a smile.

"I suppose..." said the scarred man, Reins, "What happens once we've finished...the mission?"

"Well, there's a few administrative issues, but you'll be free to either go back to your lives, with considerable financial compensation, or stay on with the team and continue to be defenders of the nation. Either way, once the Five are down, no more lethal takedowns. Five people dead, and your lives will be vastly improved afterwards," said Welsh, looking around the group, whose attitudes seemed to have altered slightly with the revelation of this latest piece of information.

"You have two choices, basically," he said, "Either work with us, or spend the rest of your lives in those cells, and believe me, that's no life. You will be tested, you will be tortured, and you will lose your minds. I'll leave it up to you, talk amongst yourselves." He signed off with a wink and strolled out of the room.

---

OOC: Ok, next round of posting should be your feelings on the information you've just been given, or if you haven't posted yet, post how you were captured as before. You can discuss the situation with the other characters, get to know each other and flesh out your characters a bit. You won't be able to leave the meeting room, as there's a second meeting coming up (the fun never ends!). But once that's over and done with, we'll be into the meat of the RP. And don't you worry, there's still a few mysteries to be solved!

[Drizzt Do'urden]

"That may well be the most arrogant ***hole I've ever met," Tyler found himself groaning aloud to no one in particular. He was doing his best to let the magnitude of the situation set in. He'd always thought the way things panned out for him was the result of being blessed a little more than most by lady luck, when in fact he's really just more different in a way he couldn't imagine.

Tyler scanned the group trying to read their faces, trying to determine who could be trusted and who couldn't. The only thing for certain was that this was by far the most dire situation he'd ever found himself in.

"I wish he would've stayed for a minute longer, I wanted to go over designs for my super hero tights. I want something that says 'Hello ladies, why yes I'm dressed like a fairy, but don't worry I'm 100% man'," He turned to a blonde who had remained quiet, but had a kindness in her eyes. "What do you think? Maybe an all pink jumpsuit with an abbrieviation for 'Has no idea what the hell super powers he's supposed to have man?"

The crack brought a couple nervous chuckles, but mostly groans from the others around him. Shaking his head Tyler starred down at the table in front of him and sighed a bit. Though he didn't like it, he resigned to the fact that killing the big 5 was his only shot at salvation. The one the man called "Mr. Slate" seemed to have this stuff figured out, and seemed like another one of the group he could trust.

"If these guys don't crack a smile this whole time...god this is going to be a long journey." Tyler thought to himself with a groan as he slouched back in his chair to observe the others a bit more.

[Lilt]

The blue-eyed man went quiet, after a talk about a superhero costume. Esfir tried to force a laugh at his attempt to lighten the mood, but she had waited too long and her laugh cut the silent atmosphere in the room like a rusty knife. Embarrassed, she became quiet and withdrew into her own thoughts.

She knew that her powers were real and she couldn't help hearing about the Big Five, since there was always something on the news about the ex-defenders, but none of this seemed real to her right now. She was a new superhero? She was supposed to help kill those gone bad? Explosives in the base of her skull? She couldn't wrap her mind around it and the last one she didn't even want to think about.

Standing up from her chair that she was sitting on, in between a blonde girl and a smaller darker-haired girl, Esfir got to her feet and started jumping. She noticed some stares from the girls but ignored them for now. Nothing was happening, so finally she backed up and took a running jump. She wasn't prepared for a landing, so she slammed into the cold floor of the room with a thud.

"Are you okay?" A girl's voice asked.

Esfir got up slowly and nodded. She came back over to her chair and sat down.

"What were you doing?" The same voice asked. It was the darker-haired girl.

"I was just trying to see if my powers really didn't work. I didn't mean to find out the hard way though. I'm Esfir Veselov."

The smaller girl smiled nervously, pushing some hair out of her face.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Autumn Finley."

Esfir looked over to the other girl, the blonde. She seemed to have something on her mind but Esfir decided to introduce herself anyways.

"Esfir Veselov." She said to the blonde, trying to force a smile.

The blonde woman looked over at Esfir.

"Oh. I'm Riona Sharp."

After the introductions were over, Esfir went back to her thoughts as well. She had been abducted, but she could have been in a worse spot she supposed. Still, having an explosive planted in your skull wasn't her idea of a good day. Also, that ticket to Russia was wasted thanks to Geist Industries. If Welsh wasn't lying about the financial compensation, she would have to take them up on that offer and get her ticket back.

At least she had two other girls in the room with her. Normally, Esfir didn't mind mixed company, but being locked in a room like this with a bunch of strangers wouldn't be something she would have liked to do alone. She wasn't trying to flatter herself though, since she wasn't that attractive. But the thought still set her on edge.

Esfir turned back to Autumn.

"So, Autumn. How did you get here? I was in Russia and had just landed. I barely got a chance to see the sights."

Autumn turned quiet at this question and seemed to be a little upset now, so Esfir quickly tried to change the subject. For once in her life, she actually spoke up as well.

Esfir stood up from her chair once more. "So, are we going to work for Geist Industries? Do we have a choice?"

The silence in the room was too overwhelming for her and Esfir sat back down, wishing she hadn't spoken up after all. She leaned forward in her chair and whispered the next words so that only Autumn and Riona could hear them.

"I...I don't know what to do. I'm scared. I'm scared."

Edited by Lilt, 14 July 2011 - 12:17 PM.

[OMNOMNOMALY]

Autumn felt bad about making the girl feel awkward about being friendly. She realized that even if none of the others were as introverted as she was, they were all just as nervous about this new situation. And they were like her - different. She tentatively patted Esfir gently on the back before adding quietly,

"I'm scared, too." She paused for a moment before deciding to try to keep the conversation going. "What is your power, Esfir? When it works, of course." Autumn smiled at her encouragingly.

"Well usually I can... float. I mean it is a little more complicated than that, I can essentially create an area with no gravity.. The gist of it being that then I can float." Esfir bit her lip, half grimacing half smiling at Autumn, hoping it didn't sound as weird out loud as it did in her head. "And you? What can you two do?" She gestured at Autumn and Riona. Riona smirked.

"I can play with fire." Esfir grinned back at her.

"I see." The two looked expectantly at Autumn now, who looked a bit sheepish.

"Oddly enough..." she began, "I'm.. well, I can be really loud." Autumn laughed a little at this and Riona and Esfir also chuckled at that. "Not quite what you would expect, but... it has proved helpful once or twice." Autumn smiled and looked down at her lap. She could tell that Esfir felt a little more relaxed now. The chat would have seemed almost normal under any other circumstances.

"They got me last night when I was walking home from the library... Served me right, taking that shortcut through an abandoned lot. I'll know better next time, maybe? Is that even advice I can take away from this little escapade?"

"Who knows?" Replied Riona. "Either way, I think even in other situations, we'll always be watching our backs now...If they were trying to get us prepared for the Big Five, it wasn't the worst idea..."

The men in the room were still silent but the mood in the room changed just the slightest bit - they were perked up, listening.

[K.G]

Riona took a deep breath, folded her hands behind her head and leaned back in her chair, the piece of furniture now tilted on it's back legs; balancing it carefully she let her booted feet thud onto the table. Sighing she closed her eyes and let her thoughts wander.
"There's really no point in being scared. I'm nervous don't get me wrong, but there's no point in being scared. They need us so it's not they are just gonna throw us aside like dogs. And I don't know about any of you, but I am NOT planning on being a damn scientist experiment for greasy little dweebs to poke at. I had a decent life before all this and I wouldn't mind going back to it. I'll play along. For now."
She let her chair fall back onto all four legs and scratched at the back of her neck, where the man had said he had put the small explosive. She let her eyes graze over the group, there were so many different people, a couple of them caught her eye, one in particular simply sat still, a distressed look on his face, the other was a young man who looked to be the same age as her, he had darker skin than the most of them, the other was the man who had spoken up earlier, Tyler. Her eyes glanced between the three of them, the first opening his eyes and showing her his blindness. Closing her eyes she felt her self grinding her teeth together and dug into her pocket she cursed and slammed her fist on the table somewhat gently making the two girls on either side of her jump, the others in the room looking her way as well with confused looks.
"Heh, sorry."
Standing she moved away from the others and towards the back of the room, her mind going back to when they had drug her into this room, she smirked to her self, knowing that one of the men would be sporting a good bruise on the side of his head for the next couple of days. The fools had been dumb enough to unchain her feet and her first reaction had been to slam her boot into the mans face. In turn she had gotten a rifle shoved into her back and the threat of being tased, but she still struggled. She didn't like this place, and certainly did not enjoy being taken from her work in the middle of the night, and during the middle of rush shift. She shook her head, at the same time, though she was happy they had, now she didn't need to worry about that smell old man barking orders at her and making her cook most of the orders. Blowing out a puff of breath she came back to the present and let her eyes wander around the others in the room, letting out another sigh she cleared her throat.
"Well, if we'll be working together, I say we should at least know one another. I'm Riona Sharp, call me Ri. I'm not sure what the hell these bastards want with all of us, but with them saying they know everything about us...I think it's safe to say they know our dirty secrets. I'm a pyro-kentic...pryo-kenecter...pryo...you know what, I can control fire. I'm not all that great at it, need an open flame to get it started."
She looked around at the uneasy facing, Tyler coming to her 'rescue' and telling the others about his luck. The others chimed in one by one, slowly and uneasily til she threw her hands in the air, tapping the toes of her boots on the floor she groaned as she could almost begin to feel her teeth begin to hurt with the lack of nicotine in her system, sighing she threw her hands into the air.
"You know, if this is how this entire relationship is going to be throughout this whole cluster-"
She pinched the bridge of her nose, smirking as Tyler and another young man chuckled lightly, she looked up to see it was the darker skinned man who was smiling slightly.
"Point is looking at it right now, we're stuck, we might as well get to know each other at least others names."
She pulled one of her braids over her should and began to fiddle with the end of it absentmindedly, going back to her chair she flopped down, tilting it back onto its back legs and putting her feet back onto the table she gestured around at the others.
"Well, I've started this little coupe, the least someone can do is keep it going."
She met the eyes of the young man with dark skin again, his eyes meeting her's, she flashed him a bright smile as she reclined back in her seat, closing her eyes and trying her hardest to keep her mind off the fact that the men rid her of one of the only things that managed to keep her sane and from being temperamental, her cigarettes. She draped one arm over her eyes and took deep breaths trying to keep her nerves calm as the silence seeming to press in around her making her on edge, her feet now beginning to tap and move on their own to their own beat, her fidgeting starting to get worse as her attention span seemed to get shorter and shorter til after what only seemed like a few seconds she was twirling the braid in her hands between her fingers and humming softly to herself.

Edited by Knuckles' Girl, 14 July 2011 - 06:03 PM.

[Ellerby]

//TWO WEEKS AGO//

A gentle breeze passed through the oaks of the forest Cody sat in. He sat high in a tree, his back against the trunk, reading a novel he'd just loaned out from the library. It's true it wasn't the most comfortable reading spot, but Cody simply enjoyed the ambiance of the forest and its inhabitants. Here there was nothing to distract him from his reading and on the off occasion that his eyes left the pages of the book to ponder something, they'd be greeted with the beauty of the blossoming oaks.

His reading was interrupted by a flock of birds suddenly fleeing a nearby tree. Under normal circumstances one would think nothing of this, but Cody knew better. He knew the only thing big enough in the forest to scare those birds off were humans, and he was miles and miles away from the city. Cody closed his book and placed it in the satchel he'd hung on a higher branch. He threw the satchel over his shoulder and crept forward on the branch he sat on, keeping sure the leaves of the tree covered him entirely.

Not a moment later Cody caught a glimpse of a man walking into the clearing beneath him. He wore a black business suit and dark black shades with slicked back blonde hair. Two more men followed from behind him, both dressed similarly. The one in the back held some sort of gun, though it didn't look lethal. Cody shuffled backward against the trunk of the tree, hugging his satchel tightly against his chest.

Could they be here for me? What did I do?! Cody thought. He looked around nervously for a way to escape unnoticed but it was to no avail, he was far too high in the tree. He could hear the men talking to each other below.

"Are you sure this is the place?" the blonde one asked.

The man with the gun replied reassuringly, "I'm sure. We have it on record this is his favorite spot to come to."

Cody felt his heart drop when he heard those words. They were definitely here for him. But how did they know...? Cody tried to shift backwards more, pushing at the branch with his legs but he was already up against the trunk as much as possible. ****. ****. ****! He panicked. Cody jumped to his feet and began to climb higher but after only a few branches up, he made a fatal misstep breaking a small twig off the tree. He caught himself in time not to fall, but he could not say the same for the falling stick.

It took four seconds for the twig to fall from where Cody was onto the head of the blonde agent. He swiped the twig from his air and immediately glared upwards at Cody, who stared back down at him like a deer in headlights.

The man pointed at Cody yelling, "There he is! Get him! The man behind the blonde who did not hold the gun began attempting to climb the tree while the armed on aimed at Cody from the ground.

"Come down or I'll shoot!" he yelled. Cody hugged the trunk of the tree and yelled back down to them.

"Why? What have I done?" the man climbing the tree was now halfway to Cody who was completely fixated on the man with the gun.

"We just want to talk, don't make this difficult." the blonde spoke up. He seemed honest enough and if it weren't for the man pointing the gun at his head Cody might have believed him.

"Tell him to put the gun do-- WAH!" Cody yelped as the man who had been climbing the whole time grabbed the boys left ankle, attempting to pull him down. Cody stomped at the mans hand with his right foot, trying to pull his ankle away from his grasp. As he stomped down a seventh time he felt the branch supporting him crack and he stopped. The man let go of his ankle and stopped as well. The two of them shared a worried expression as the branch began the groan and collapse. Cody reached to grab from a higher branch but was not quick enough. The limb he'd been standing on, the one the man held onto with his right as he clenched Cody's ankle with his left, completely gave way sending the two toppling down the tree.

As Cody fell his body began to shrink and mold incredibly fast into that of a red squirrel. Before hitting the ground, he reached out his claws and dug them into the trunk of the tree letting them scrape into the bark, slowing him down to a hault. The man who'd climbed after him rocketed past the rodent landing on the ground with a loud thump followed by all the leaves and twigs that had broken on his way down. Cody lept from the trunk of the tree to the ground and began to make a dash for the brush of the forest.

"Where'd he go?! Where'd the boy go?!" the blonde one shouted, looking around frantically. He spotted Cody halfway to the bush screamed at his partner to shoot him as he pulled out his own gun.

"The squirrel! Get the squirrel!" Cody looked back seeing the two men drawing their guns on him and let out a faint squeak, dashing forward with all his might. The blonde shot first, the dart just narrowly missing Cody's tail, zipping past and stabbing the ground beside him as he ran. The other agent took more careful aim and just as Cody thought he was free, inches away from the underbrush, the dart jutted into his thigh causing him to slow to a crawl. He fell on his slide, falling into a deep sleep as his body changed from a squirrel to that of a naked young man.

//PRESENT DAY//

"My name is Cody Aneel." Cody finally spoke up. He'd been keeping quiet the entire time, taking in his surroundings and the slew of new information. "And I don't know about you guys, but as much as I don't care for the Geist guys they are right about one thing." he said.

The man who'd introduced himself as Tyler replied, "What's that?"

"The Big Five. They need to be stopped." he said. Everyone shared the same solemn expression in reply. The one that felt the weight of the world on their shoulders. It was the dark-skinned man, Slate, who stood next to Cody.

"He's right. The Big Five used to be heroes and now they've stooped to nothing but lowly criminals." Slate said. Riona nodded.

"I used to have some respect for those assholes. Before they went rogue." she spat.

Edited by Lrb, 14 July 2011 - 08:41 PM.

[Darth Vectis]

Two Weeks Ago



The sun had been beating down, the heat pressing down on the people who were moving sluggishly through the festival. Many held on to water bottles, some having purchased bottles with fan attachments so they could spray themselves down and even more hid under the tent covers to feel shades cooling embrace. A man in his black tuxedo, his top hat sitting formally on his peppered gray hair, his black mustache having lost its color and showed off the same gray color. He, however, moved with the grace and fluidity of days from his youth as he gripped his cane, time having changed the cane he used, the silver wolf head of the cane glimmering in the sun light as he held a broad smile on his face.

"Welcome one and all! Escape the heat and come and witness the wonders you have never seen before. Experience moments you will never find anywhere else! Come one come all to the Wonder Emporium!" The tent had grown over the years, new acts had been added to the show, the crowds had demanded more and more. Most of the time now, people were drawn to one of their main acts, the one many called Hood: The Shadow Man. It had been a decade since his outburst, since the beasts had been let loose on the people but no one ever really forgot about it. Aimanan had learned to roll with the crowd’s dark interest, taking advantage of it to bring them some sort of twisted joy. He peaked through the curtain as he watched the chairs fill with bodies one by one, he noticed some children amongst the people, but he knew there wouldn’t be many more. When the room was sufficiently filled the opening closed and the lights dimmed, the man from outside was no on stage, relief obvious on his joyful expression from the scorching heat.

“Welcome to all of you who felt brave enough to experience our wondrous family…..” His words trailed off to Aimanan as he moved away from all the people, preparing himself mentally and making sure every trick he had in store would be sufficient enough to entertain the crowd. He could hear the people cheer and oh and awe at the first act, the snake boy that had joined their family a few years back. His scaly exterior had been enough to pull them all in, kept their attention enough for him to show off his forked tongue, his prowess and understanding of the slithery creatures of the world. Aimanan sat down then, his nerves calm as he knew he had done this sort of thing over a hundreds, if not thousands of times over the past 10 years. It never got any easier, but it never got harder either, it always just remained the same last moment twist of his stomach before stepping out into the dull gloom so everyone could witness his prowess.

However, his day would be cut short, two men pushed through the side curtain then navigating their way through the back room until they came upon him sitting quietly in the chair. Holding now his Misbaha and gently flicked the beads, mumbling a prayer he recalled from his childhood in the orphanage. He heard on stop behind him, and saw the other move in front of him, coming out of his slight trance to see the black suited man, an ear wig showed from its place.

“Can I help you? You guys shouldn’t be back here; the show is going on and….” He saw the motion then, no words spoken as the man pulled a weapon from his belt, and he was only about half way when Aimanan reacted. Grabbing the chair he swung it around violently, smashing it into the man with the weapon, letting the momentum carry him around as he ran then, his legs carrying him away with his Misbaha back around his neck. Fighting was not his way, he knew how to throw a punch but formal training was not included in his arsenal, he would need to use his tricks to get out of this one. Running as fast as possible, he jumped and dodged obstacles as he kept running, reaching the edge of the tent he lunged forward, crashing through the material and rolling away. Looking around then, seeing that the sun wasn’t high in the sky, but still up, casting enough shadows for him to use.
He took off again, the cape of his costume billowing out behind him, undoing the clasp mid run he let it go, and hearing the shouts behind him from the two men. He cut one way, then another, trying to confuse them but they were too close on his trail, he cut down another aisle between two booths. Using the shadow he laid a trap, one man in the lead rushing the aisle without any consideration, the shadows sprouted a creature then, a massive hound with gleaming teeth that lunged at the man. He jumped back in surprise, crashing into his partner causing both of them to fall on their asses as the hound passed right through them, Aimanan turned to run laughing then.

“Can’t catch the shadows!” His words ended there as he turned a corner, three more men in suits, each pointing a weapon at him now, his eyes wide as he looked at each man about to pull the trigger. He did the only thing he could think of then, his hands raising then, pulling at the shadows then as they clumped together, and creating a massive form that towered over the three. The massive serpent like head moving swiftly then, the mouth gaping open as it roared at the men, its talon hands shrouded in shadow. Aimanan feeling the strain, only able to manifest half the creature as he saw the men stumbling out of its reach, a smirk on his face until he felt something sting into his back. His legs giving out then as the shadows dissipated, tearing it apart as its creator collapsed face first into the hay covered fair grounds.



Current Day

Aimanan sat in a room now, looking around at the other people near him as he held his Misbaha in his hand again, counting the beads mentally as he mumbled his prayer lightly. He had caught the eyes of the woman named Riona Sharp; he had heard the ranting of the man called Tyler. He tried to listen carefully, catch all the names; he had heard Esfirs powers, then Ri, and Autumns. He raised from his seat then, a broad smile on his face, forgetting about his ridicules gold hoop earrings.

“I am Aimanan Abdul-Quddus Fathi.” He could see the looks on everyones faces, see how their minds were trying to process his entire name then.

“Hey uh, Aimansds shibal diddle bleh ga, got anything shorter than that?” He heard Tyler say then, something in Aimanan made him see him as that heckler form years back, and it made him twitch ever so slightly.

“Meh? It was a nice try at my name, just call me Hood for short.”

“Alright, where the hell do you get Hood out of that entire name?” He flashed his smile again, bowing then with one arm out and the other crossed over his chest.

“It is my stage name, I’m quite the performer.”

“So you’re a stripper?” He heard Ri say then, giving her a wink then as he flicked his wrist, but finding nothing came out.

“Son of a *****! They even took my god damn playing cards! Long story short, I’m a magician. Ta da!” Flaring his hands out then, his Misbaha still in his hand, clicking lightly as everyone just stared at him then, his eyes shifting between each person before letting his arms fall to his sides and let out a sigh.

“Always get the tough crowd.” Taking a seat then, putting his Misbaha around his neck again before crossing his arms and giving a fake pout.

[Shwa]

Derek placed his hand on his forehead, feeling the tips of his bangs touch his back hand and dangle in the air, it was a a nice token of relief for the other prisoners like him to reveal their true identities and powers to lighten the mood and situation they were in. It was also comforting knowing that he wasn't the only person who had special abilities like they did, though different, together they would be a strong force to fight against the Big Five. But, the current situation of their negotiations and terms of agreement didn't sit well with the boy. Finally taking a raggid breath, Derek leaned his body against the back of his chair to ponder about their current situation, he began to become frustrated with the up beat attitude, feeling like the others didn't realize this could all be a trap in the very end.

"This is rediculous..." Derek finally broke the silence after the shadow manipulating teen "Hood" spoke, keeping his eyes closed, Derek stood from his chair and dismissed himself from the center table in the middle of their interrogation room. The other pondered about his sudden burst of aggression. Hood simply cocked his head to the side as Derek carefully scooted over to the wall of the room as he used his bare feet to stub his toe against the barrier. Placing his hands on the wall, he turned back towards the table crossing his arms in the process and keeping his eyes closed.

"Care to share Mr. Quiet?" Cody broke the silence, Derek didn't answer as Hood and Tyler raised their eyebrows.

"I have a name, it's Derek.....Derek DeWitt. Before waking up in this piss smelling prison, I was applying to colleges and living fine on my own, just going about my life like I usually do before those goons came and abducted me from my apartment. They even shot my best friend Silver...." Pausing for a moment, Derek remembered the hurt whimper of his seeing eye dog before he was shot with the same tranquilizer, the one limitations he had with his blindness and lack of training with his powers to not stop his attacker. Ri placed her feet on the ground before speaking.

"They killed your friend to get to you?" She slightly gasped.

"I dunno, and it was my dog, had him since he was a puppy when I was going through middle school. A old friend but faithful and protective." Derek answered as he rubbed the sides of his arms for a moment.

"If anything, they needed you to come one way or another. I'm sure your pet was shot with the same thing they used to get us as well. Seems like it only lasts a couple of hours, so I'm sure he'll be fine. But with this deal they're giving us, I'm sure you'll be able to see him again and kick some baddie butt" Slate smiled, it only disturbed Derek's thinking more.

"Ok, so they're asking for us to be their new lap dogs to get rid of their previous saviors. Anyone else thinks this sounds a little fishy,? Especially the part where we each have an explosive lodged in our skulls? I just don't trust the idea to be compensated for something when they have the ace up their sleeve..." Derek finished as he rubbed the side of his head, folding his knee upwards on the wall. It was Esfir who spoke next.

"Well, what choice do we really have now?" Everyone remained silent, rethinking the offer they were made, it wasn't settling, but at least if they could band together with one another to get their objective accomplished, they would hope to be released from their captors. "By the way..." She broke the silence once again. "What can you do Derek? Like power wise and what not?"

"Oh...sorry, ummmm....I can project energy blasts from by body, I usually like to fire them from my hands. I dunno, I get a lot of energy when I'm around sunlight and high watt light sources. Whatever cell they stuck me in left me weak and sluggish, so I'm sure that was black lighting in there, another reason I don't do well when going to clubs with friends" Derek finally gave a small chuckle at the thought, the only happy thought that passed his mind that he welcomed. Jacob smirked at the mention of his powers, sounded interesting to use natural light as a souce or energy, even for projectile attacks.

"Trust us Derek, we're all in the same mentality about our situation, we're not idiots. But like Esfir mentioned, we're kinda low on rebellious ideas unless you know how to disarm these power inhibitors." Everyone looked at their own bands on their body, a big road block if they were to fight against their captors. "We might as well listen to the rest of their plans for us, for the time being. We are to work as a team anyhow" Derek opened his eyes, his grey and white mixed eyes looking at his new team members, but it was Ri who spoke next.

"That's kinda rare, are you Eurpoean? I mean you look American to me" She smiled, Derek shrugged.

"Dunno, I'm an orphan so not sure where my bloodline runs" That little piece of information was enough for Jacob to narrow his eyes and frown a bit.

"It's because you're blind...isn't it" He said almost sternly, now he knew that Geist was serious in his plans if he would recruit such a mixed bunch of kids from different backgrounds, powers...and limitation.

[DeLarge]

"Raines, right?" Jacob asked the angry young man as he slid into the chair next to him, and Raines nodded, "Jacob, most people just call me Slate though." He extended his hand to Raines, who took it and shook it gingerly.

"Braddock Raines," he replied, although he stopped and shook his head, "I don't know why I said Braddock, nobody calls me that. Most people just call me Addley."

"Nice to meet you, Addley," Slate replied, "Well, nice might not be the right word. This is a shitty situation, but you seem to be realising that we've just got to roll with it."

"Yeah," Addley replied, seemingly resigned to the situation, "The thing that I don't get is, how do they know about us? Like, what we can do? I've never told another soul about my ability, I don't understand it." Slate shrugged.

"Big corporation like this, they've probably got surveillance teams up the wazoo," he replied, looking around the room, "They probably saw you at a moment when you thought no-one else was looking, same for the rest of us."

"Why do you seem like you know so much about them?" asked Addley, swivelling his chair a little to face Slate, "You were the first to accept what was happening to us, do you know something we don't?"

"I know exactly as much as you, Addley," replied Slate, looking Addley straight in the eyes, "I'm just a realist. I'm not like you, I've never had anything even approaching a normal life. Ever since I was old enough, I've been running from people like this. I understand how they operate, and these guys know exactly what they're doing, they've got every angle covered. The best thing, for now at least, is to go along with them. The best that happens, we get rid of the Big Five and make the world a little better. The worst...well, you have an idea."

"That makes sense," replied Addley, nodding, "So...what can you do? I mean, your ability, what is it?"

"I can move things...with my mind," replied Slate, "Not anything though, only metal stuff. I can...kind of sense magnetic fields, I guess, and manipulate them. Although not right now," he tapped the power inhibitor on his forehead, "What about you?"

"I can teleport. Often I can think of a place and, with a little concentration, I can get there. Not long distances, mind, but it comes in handy occasionally."

"Like, when running away from people like this?"

"Yeah. Lot of good it did me in the end."

"Relax, it looks like these people have been dealing with the Big Five, they're a lot more talented than all of us put together. These people are professionals, none of us could have done anything to stop ourselves from being here eventually."

Their conversation was cut short by the door to the meeting room swinging open, and Welsh striding back in, this time followed by a severe, but impossibly attractive woman, her blonde hair tied back in a tight ponytail, and a pair of thick-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. She wore a grey suit with a skirt, tailored like Welsh's, and held a pile of manilla file folders in one hand. A young man in shirt and tie followed her, pushing a wheeled clothes rack in behind her, twelve black suit carriers hanging on it, then turned on his heel and headed back out of the room, his nerves etched across his face.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen," said Welsh, "I hope you've had some time to acclimatise to your new situation, and I trust that seeing as you're all still here and in one piece, none of you tried to leave. I'm going to assume that this also means you have made your decision to work with us. In that respect, I'd like to introduce the lovely Ms Cassandra Veidt, our finest PR guru." He gestured to the woman to his right, as if expecting a round of applause, which unsurprisingly never came.

"Good evening," she said, her voice as severe as her appearance, "As Mr Welsh said, I am Cassandra Veidt, and I am here to introduce you to the country's newest superhero team. That's you, in case you hadn't worked it out."

She grabbed the remote control for the monitors behind her, aimed it at the screens and hit a button. A bright, garish logo coloured red, white and blue swooshed into view on the screen, consisting of the words 'Nation's Pride' and a golden eagle resting on the 'N' of 'Nation's'. Some of the group struggled to stifle giggles, the others looked vaguely nauseous.

"You may scoff, but focus group studies have shown that the public want something patriotic, something that evokes the idea that you will protect this country from all that endangers it."

"But 'Nation's Pride'?" Slate asked, "It makes us sound like ******* Nazis!"

"Your input is irrelevant, Mr Slate," Veidt replied, "The name tested very well indeed with the public, and that is what matters in this case. We need to garner a lot of respect and faith in this team very quickly, and a strong name is the best way to achieve this."

She strode over to the clothes rack and grabbed one of the suit carriers, unzipping it and letting the carrier drop to the floor, revealing the contents. It was a combat suit, consisting of trousers and a high-necked jacket, both made of something at least resembling leather, completely black except for large crimson panels on the front of the jacket. This elicited confusion and more barely-stifled sniggers.

"These are your uniforms," Veidt continued, "We tested red, white and blue uniforms, but somewhat ironically, the focus groups thought that the name, logo and uniforms combined came across as pandering. Red and black tested much better."

"Do they have to be leather?" asked Tyler, raising his hand as though he were in school, "I'm fairly sure the S&M look is out this season!"

"Very amusing," she replied, her face showing the irony in this comment, "But this is not leather. It is a highly sophisticated fabric which is not only designed to conceal your natural bio-rhythms, meaning no-one, not even the Big Five, will be able to identify you as anything other than normal humans, but each suit is also tailored specifically to you, enabling you to boost both your ability and your control over it. They are also bulletproof, shock-resistant, flame-resistant and lightweight enough for you to remain agile and free in combat." She tossed the example uniform to Slate, who caught it and began playing with the fabric.

"Finally, these," she said, grabbing the files and sliding them to each person around the table, who grabbed the one with their name on and began leafing through them, "Codenames have proved very successful in building trust with the public, thus you have each been designated a callsign, and I have also enclosed suggestions of public behaviour, as well as detailed information on your own abilities and your proposed combat positions. Read them, memorise them, and utilise every piece of information."

Slate flipped through his file, finding countless black-and-white surveillance photos from through the years, pages of handwritten notes on the use of his abilities and newer typed ones on potential future developments, as well as a new codename, and his suggested position on the team.

"Jacob Slate, aka 'Magnus', Team Leader," he murmured, raising an eyebrow. All this seemed totally surreal to him - two days ago he had been working a low-paying job in a hospital, and now he was a superhero.

"Right," said Welsh, clapping his hands together and startling some of the group, "Down to real business. We've run simulations and ascertained that the best way to train you is by throwing you in at the deep end; our intel suggests that a gang known as 'The Blanks' is planning a major heist in two days' time. We're talking the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. You're going to stop them, with or without employing lethal force. They are planning to rob the bank at the end of the day, when there are as few civilian witnesses as possible, so there's minimised risk of civilian casualties. You'll be filled in on details as we get them."

"What do we do until then?" asked Autumn, looking up from her file.

"Get to know your new situation," replied Welsh, "This HQ has everything you need - bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, a gym, a training area. Get to know yourselves and each other, too, you never know when you could find something that will help you take down one of the Big Five. Just don't try anything funny. Now go." He waved his arms as if to dismiss them, and they began to get to their feet and shuffle out of the room, grabbing their files and suit carriers on their way out. Slate remained seated, until only he and Welsh remained in the room.

"Problem, Mr Slate?" Welsh asked.

"I'm just wondering why you've made me team leader," Slate replied.

"We've established a preliminary psychological profile for each of you. Yours suggests that you will thrive in your role as team leader," said Welsh with a cocky grin, "Basically, Jacob, you don't give a **** what people think of you or the decisions you make, and that's all leadership boils down to in the end. The ability to make the unpopular decision."

Slate got to his feet and stepped close to Welsh. One of the soldiers reacted, but Welsh waved him off, apparently unconcerned.

"This is all very impressive," Slate murmured, "But don't think, even for a second, that you know what I'm capable of." With this last word, he turned, grabbed his file and his uniform from the table and stormed out of the room.

"I know exactly what you're capable of, Jacob," muttered Welsh, "In fact, I've put a lot of work into it."

---

OOC: As Welsh said, you need to get used to your situation, so explore the HQ and your files. Just bear in mind that, while the HQ is well-equipped, you are essentially under house arrest; there is a lot of security presence around the HQ, so you're not able to go outside or even roam around all that freely - basically just keep to the places Welsh mentioned and we'll be on our first mission in no time!

[Drizzt Do'urden]

The thought of laughing outloud at Tyler Reins being considered a 'super hero' was surpressed when he glanced at the dosier on him. Most of it was just blah blah information that he wasn't surprised they had, the picture was what caught him. It was from a world series of poker satellite tournament he'd particiapted in a few years back.

"Trip aces on the river for the win, I always thought my wins were a result of karma coming back for a ***** childhood." He muttered aloud to nobody in particular as everybody else began shuffling their own dosiers,

A particular place caught his attention, "Subject is able to project a type of field around himself, its unknown what his potential is. His power lies in his subconscious so if he does not realize you are there he will be easy to take down. This is based on what we've managed to compile so far on him."

"These sons of ******* are good" he thought to himself as he rose from his chair.

"I'm not sure about you guys but I'm just gitty as can be about trying on these fancy new digs. But first, I'm going to go find my room."

Tyler turned and began walking out of the room, he was frustrated at the situation and was having trouble hiding his frustrations. Before exiting he turned towards the room and thrust his hands in the air.

"I am Vegas, able to manipulate card shufflers and women's hearts with my incredibly tight outfit. Bow down in my presence 'Big Five'." Tyler stood in a ridiculous super hero pose. After a few seconds he dropped his arm laughed and turned to leave.

"I'm going to go change and go check this place out." Tyler left the room shaking his head.

Edited by Drizzt, 15 July 2011 - 08:51 AM.

[Ellerby]

Cody grabbed his uniform off the hanger and walked out of the room. He looked around the building he was in as other members of his new "Superhero" team split off in different directions. Unlike the room they'd been held in up to this point, the building was very brightly lit and did not feel unwelcoming. He did notice all of the windows were at the top of the building right underneath the ceiling, as if it were still a prison. The room he was standing in was reminiscent of an office-building, minus the people. It seemed at some point there were workers here to fill in the dozens of cubicles, but they were nowhere in sight.

Right... Cody raised an eyebrow at the deserted office room and pivoted to his left, heading down the hall towards the bedrooms. He reached his room with little trouble as it was clearly marked for him and walked in, locking the door behind him.

He fitted the leather-like suit on and stretched it out a bit, getting a feel for the material.

"I wonder if this thing will morph with me..." Cody had always loved his ability, to turn into animals, but every time he changed he would lose his clothes. Cody smiled in excitement, anxious to try it out when they let them access their powers again.

"If that actually works... Then I will let them call me Critter."

As Cody changed out of the uniform and back into his regular clothes, his stomach growled. That's right, I haven't eaten yet... He walked out of his room and headed down the hall following the signs towards the kitchen. He opened the two swinging doors and gasped. He'd never seen a more beautiful kitchen in his life. And it was empty! Cody raced in and threw on an apron that was hanging beside the doors. He immediately began chopping boiling some water, cutting some vegetables on the side.

"I hope the others like Beef Stew! I'm starving."

Edited by Lrb, 15 July 2011 - 01:49 PM.

[P.J. McKrafty]

Carter couldn’t help but strut a little in the new getup they gave him. Passing the (in his opinion) overly talkative girl who introduced her as Ri in the hallway who gave pause to take in his costume. He winked and clicked at her but didn’t stop to talk as he followed the signs to the gym they had on base.

With his suit they hadn’t stressed on protection as they might have with the others, sacrificing it for full movement. His outfit consisted of a sleeveless black vest with a high collar, and two parallel crimson bars covering the back that come over the shoulders to meet in the middle of his chest in a V shape. He had formfitting pants with red racing stripes going up the outside of the leg, and high boots that stopped mid calf and had flat red metal buckles going up the side. The pièce de résistance were the weaponized pads the gloves. The plain gloves covered his forearms and were fingerless, so he still had his dexterity. They also outfitted him pads for his knees and elbows which were red with black X’s on them. The gloves had metal knuckle dusters built into them for an extra ‘punch’. The elbow and knee pads also had a heavy metal inlay in case Carter chose to use them in a scuffle instead.

Walking into the gym from the corridor was an experience itself. The instant shift from a cramped hallway into the utterly massive complex that made up the gym was amazing. The entrance room was what looked like a hybrid between a dojo and a boxing gym, filled with all sorts of materials you could wish for to help train someone to fight. To left was a wall of plexiglass, showcasing the next room which seemed to be general workout equipment and weights and treadmills. To the right however was a solid wall with heady metal double doors marked with stenciled lettering ‘Advanced Training Area’. Carter couldn’t deny his curiosity, as he shoved his way into the room.

Carter spun on his heels and let out a long whistle as he took in the whole room. It is what seemed like a customizable obstacle course. Every obstacle meant to be shifted and changed for varied trainings. Carter tossed his dossier on the bottom bench of a set of cheap bleachers and walked up and down the course. It seems like it was set up to train personnel with their agility at the moment.

Making his way back to the start Carter stepped on the black starting mat and stretched out his arms and legs, getting a feel for the movement of his clothing. A clock mounted on the wall on the far side of the court flicked on and sat at ‘00:00’ waiting for Carter to start.

Carter sprang from his feet forward. The first obstacle was a faux-rock wall. Carter sprang up it and was over the top before his time reached ten seconds. He crossed a balance beam and made it across a climbing net by 30 seconds in. Carter came to a stop before a pair of uneven bars. Carter rubbed his hands together and jumped up grabbing the lowest one. Swinging and building momentum Carter paused holding himself completely straight above the bar before spinning and swinging with his back to the opposing bar and flipping backwards to catch it.

“Wow.” Echoed a small voice in the gym.

Carter looked over to see the spectator and lost focus. He caught the back of his head on the opposing bar, sending him flailing to the matted floor with a heady thud. He lay there for a moment not wanting to get up to see who watched his gaffe. A set of rushed footsteps came across the floor and a small bespectacled girl with long dark hair came into view.

“Are you alright?” She asked nervously.

“Aside from my pride,” Carter quipped sitting up with a grunt. “And my head, I think I’ll live.” Carter reached around and groped at the growing bump on the back of his head. He hissed and withdrew his hand with a little bit of blood on it. He completely zoned out and stared at the blood on his fingers. The crimson blood mocked him, reminding him that with the nodes attached to him, he was no longer an unstoppable force.

He didn’t even realize the girl was talking until she touched his shoulder. “Should I go get some help?” She asked.

“No. No, I’m fine, just not used to my own blood.” Carter replied shaking his head.

The girl gave him an odd look and cocked her head to the side. “Why haven’t you seen your own blood?” She asked. “Not that that’s a bad or anything.”

Carter chuckled. “No, it is defiantly a good thing. I am the… Undying guy, as odd as that sounds. I am usually pretty durable.” Carter replied waving his hand around his head. “I haven’t seen a drop of my own blood since before I hit puberty.”

“Oh, I’m the girl that screams really loud.” She replied simplistically.

“I knew a few girls like that back in high school.” Carter replied with a wry smile. The girl looked at him oddly for a second and then went flush when she realized what he meant. Carter laughed and felt a pang of regret for making a joke at the girl’s expense. “Sorry, I am used to hanging around a crasser scene.” He hoisted himself up and off of the thick mat and to his feet.

“My name is Carter,” He said putting a hand forward for her to shake. “Or, I guess it is Brawler now.” He finished rolling his eyes.

The girl took his hand with a small smile. “Autumn, or Echo.”

Carter gripped the hand in a short shake. “Well ‘Echo’, I would invite you to join me on the training course but it seems you are ill dressed for the session.” He said gesturing to her civilian clothes. “So I will bid you adieu, I am going to see if I can stick the landing this time.”

And with a wave and a bow Carter returned to the course.

Edited by P.J. McKrafty, 16 July 2011 - 11:55 PM.