The Masquerade Troupe (REBOOT)

"Grading on a curve, well aren't we just lucky lucky?" Angela sent her verbal joust in retort to Masuku's remark on the group's performance in responding to the rather 'lovely' morning flash bang alarm clock from which her ears were still ringing slightly. For the meantime the brunette simply ate her breakfast, her attention pulled briefly as Ryan moved away and began a series of practiced movements before shortly after the arcing electricity from his batons slowly died down. "Well, that's a relief, I doubt we'd be welcome many places if we kept ending up shorting out the electrical." She quipped before eating the last of her eggs and moving on to the rest of her breakfast. It wasn't until Angela had finished her plate that the actual gravity of the current situation started to weigh down on her shoulders. There was only four of them at the moment, someone was missing already? The girl...what was her name?...Sophia...Angela just now was realizing that the relatively innocent girl that had been with them last night was gone, and from the tone of voice being used the girl's departure wasn't a particularly pleasant one. "...Shit..." The only word that came to mind as Angela gave a heavy sigh, her mind wandering back to the previous night when she'd pondered who exactly would die, how were they going to die, and when they would die. Angela did feel a pang of sorrow, a bare sliver from the thick layer of mental armor she'd built up over the years of war to the repeated sight of death, killing, and violence. Even with her somewhat placid response though, Angela still had a disdain for the death of those who truly did not deserve it, and Sophia sure as hell didn't deserve to die in a shitty bar not even in her own damn home universe away from no doubt friends and family that still loved her. Somewhat to Angela's surprise she felt herself pondering what she could have done to stop this; something that she'd not felt in years for another stranger, but the innocence the young Sophia had compared to the rest of them was something that shouldn't have been ended, not like this. 


Taking a breath the mercenary simply closed her eyes and swallowed, pushing the pang of sorrow and guilt that welled up into the back of her mind with the countless other bits of emotional memories she just buried deep and locked away. Emotions cloud judgement and there's nothing you can do now. Sophia's dead, the deed's done, get over it and move on. The thought came and went, that faint falter in her mask of humor and aggression only existing for a fraction of a second before once again being replaced. "Can't say I'm surprised...girl like that wouldn't have stood a good chance of survival in a world like this." Angela's tone wasn't mocking or annoyed, but simply a 'matter of fact' monotone as she laced her fingers together in front of her mouth, gently resting her head against her hands as she stared ahead, listening to Masuku even as her mind wandered back to previous memories of her experiences as a merc. It wasn't the first time an innocent girl had been taken by the dark criminal world, and in the comparatively mundane universe she was from there were things capable of being done to a person which still sent shivers up Angela's spine; she didn't want to think what horrid things could be done to someone like Sophia with the new supernatural abilities held by so many.


"If she is alive pal, and I'm sure you've seen things that match and more than likely trump what I've seen, we'd best pray that we get to her quickly because I can't imagine the fucked up shit this world's criminal world can do with the addition of those powers." Angela's mouth was dry, like a fat wad of cotton was shoved into it that made her word feel heavy with each utterance; her usual humor was gone, replaced with a dry detachment of extreme emotions...simply business it seemed now. Not even thinking, the mercenary idly reached a hand into her back right pocket to retrieve one of the few remaining cigarettes she had before slipping it into her mouth, a quick flick of a zippo lighter from the same pocket igniting the rolled tobacco. Cherry red tip glowing for a good few seconds as she drew upon the cigarette in a heavy inhale, Angela slowly let loose a low breath as she held the cigarette in the left of her mouth. "So what friends of yours have you pissed off by bringing us here Bird, hm?" She'd ask, not knowing any other names for the man in front of her even though he was clearly not in the same state as before judging from the more straight forward mannerisms and lack of psychedelic colors on his person. "I'm not going to go off on a spiel about how her blood is on your hands and all that crap, but I do think I speak for the rest of us when I say it'd be preferable if we knew what or whom we are going up against. If not immediately now, fine, but preferrably before another one of us ends up with a similar fate to Sophia's" The merc paused as she watched the villain pull a nearby drawer open, extracting a thick stack of large bills out and lobbing it onto the counter before them. Looking up at Masuku, Angela cocked an eyebrow as the details of their little 'game' were listed off, taking the split portion of bills sent her way in her left hand and tucking it into one of the buttoned pockets of her fatigues.


At his inquiry to any questions Angela looked to the other two before back to Masuku and shook her head. "Can't say that I have any big, but are we going downstairs first or shopping first? I'd hate to be in public and not be in my sunday best." Back came that wry tone of humor that had been constant in Angela's personality since their little group met, the woman shifting in her seat as she puffed on her cigarette, waiting for Aron or Ryan to say anything.
 
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Ryan gestured down at his clothes, serviceable and clean, but obviously well worn.


"I rather think we will be needing to update our wardrobes to something more, in keeping with our hunting grounds," he said, keeping his face carefully neutral. What Bird was demanding of them was well nigh impossible, and he was quite certain that the villain knew it. "Since this IS Las Vegas, and much like ours, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you can find almost anything at almost any hour."


Taking a minute to quickly finish the lukewarm plate of food, Ryan took the now empty plate and followed Bird's example, quickly washing it and placing it in the rack beside the villains. Heading back to the table, he contemplated the stack of bills Bird was counting out for each of them. This was, not optimal. Ryan hated being in debt to anyone for any reason. It gave them power over you. Bird and his alter egos didn't need any more power than they already had, and the thought of being indebted to him? them? even more made the hair on the back of Ryan's neck rise. Part of him wanted to refuse, but the pragmatic side was far more logical and quickly squashed anything foolish before it could make its way to his mouth. Instead he just riffled the bills, counting them quickly for himself before looking over at Bird.


"So, what's the interest rate and terms on this little loan?" he asked neutrally, emphasizing the word loan very slightly. "I'd hate to be getting in deeper than I can make my way out of. And just out of curiosity... You said you'd take us to some shops, which I appreciate, but then you said you were expecting us to go downstairs and, mingle. Since I only saw the one access card, and I rather doubt that they grow on trees, how are we going to get back in here once we've accomplished everything we can downstairs?"
 
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Masuku Miken
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There was mixed reactions to the news, of which the man was expecting. Telling anyone that a girl went missing, most likely kidnapped, would offer up some emotions. Now, say that to three people from another world, who don't really know what to expect of this one? Surprisingly...it was actually rather tame. Then again, the villain had to consider, is that these guys didn't have time to form a bond with the late Sophia. Especially when you take into account, that Masuku did hint at her still being alive and kicking. Why worry too much? Now, if they knew the what really went down...there might've been some commotion. Was it a good idea to lie, happened to be the biggest question roaming around the man's head. At face value, yes it was. Anyone in his shoes would agree, certainly. However, in the long run, this could come back to bite... While waiting for the others' to give their pieces, Masuku leaned against the counter patiently, fingers thumping on the wooden shelves. Thoughts based on last night kept protruding, stealing away his attention for the briefest of seconds. One major thing this version of the villain lacked, was decent brain-power management. Every little thing had to be analyzed, regardless of how long it would take. Which is both a blessing, and a curse. Even still, he got the gist of what everyone had said. Choosing to ignore the comments that didn't need to be addressed, the only one he faced directly was with Angela. 


"Who have I angered?" Such a simple question, yet only a very complex answer could begin to explain it. The man was being driven into a figurative corner, ever so slowly, with this situation. To the discontent of the other people involved, there was still many exits to explore yet. How does someone lie to another, while staring them straight on? Simply put, they don't. At least not successfully. There will always be a hint, no matter how nonexistent, to show the deceit. Even as the master mind of villainy, Masuku knew full well he had a few gives. So, how does one bypass that? Simple, you don't lie. However, just be very careful with your wording. Staring the tough girl down, without any strain, he answered, "I haven't angered any human beings." He wasn't lying. With that out of the way, the man lead them to go shopping, not addressing any further comments on the topic of last night.





A few hours later, the man checked his cellphone. It read that it was ten after nine o'clock, but Masuku didn't mind, as the clock was set ten minutes ahead. It was actually nine sharp, as the little flock approached in their new clothes. The villain didn't purchase anything for himself, rather not leave a trail of any sort. Though, he did slip a few items off the rack. Not without also replacing them with the appropriate amount of cash, of course. After all, he was a classy villain. Simple cases of shop lifting was to be left to low lives and thugs. Much so, like the company they were all about to be introduced to below. Knowing it was time to have a change as well, the villain retreated to his room as the others finished preparations. Locking the door behind him, Masuku sat down in his little office chair, and relaxed. His eyes shut, mind numbed...and just...woke up. 


The eyes that awakened, were so much different then those of a minute ago. A vibrant feeling of life swirled around, and enticed the man to new emotions and joys. Reality naturally circled around his clothes, making the entire room shine in a variety of purples and pinks. Forcing them to die down a bit, the color changed hues till they were a mottled forest style. Almost like camouflage, only a tad more on the lighter tones. Similar to, but slightly different than those he adorned last night when they all first arrived. Satisfied with the transformation, the villain strutted back out into the living room. Everyone was ready to go, so Bird faced them all one last time. "Listen well, my little ones. Keep in mind what I said this morning, about everything. Especially my warnings. It may seem like a simple task, but I've personally witnessed a few of those below kill, and for really petty reasons too. Just have fun, and be yourselves!" The smile he offered, was actually rather genuine. Not completely faked, like usual. There was no noticeable between them, but still. He knew it, and that was all that mattered.  


Proceeding down the stairs, Bird stopped at the bottom to let the three go ahead of him. Letting them scope the place out, pick their targets. Once comfortable that they didn't choose anywhere that would result in immediate death, he walked over to the bar. Taking a seat, the man raised three fingers and twirled them around in the air. Trusting full well the tender understood, Bird counted to fifteen...and bent his arm down to grab the little glass awaiting him. Lifting it to view, the villain had to admire the color. A dark red, with small hints of black and brown, making a sad shade of something almost orange in the poor lighting. However, he never took a sip. Someone in the corner of his eye, stole the attention away from the alcohol. A strangely familiar face, one that the man had intended to never see again. Even still, he was oddly drawn to the figure. Sliding the drink to another patron, Bird strutted over to the person. 


The table they were sitting in, had two available seats. The cards strewn about suggested frustrated players stormed off, leaving only three other sad saps to inevitably loose all their money to the figure. Sitting down at one of the empty stools, Bird fished out a stack of cash. It was raising the buy-in a good five hundred, and one of the three didn't seem to like it. Offering up some rude remarks about the villain's mother, the scum bag lumbered off to the bar. Not even bothering to size up the other two guys, the man only focused on one person. The figure, who was sitting directly opposite of him. Possible the only one here, who could beat the master mind in a game of pure odds and chance...a little blonde girl. Of course, while anticlimactic, it did hold credence. "Do you match, or raise?" Bird asked, never letting his eyes wander. 


[Tagged - @OverconfidentMagi@Rantos@Tarmagon@Nooguy]
 
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Ryan surveyed the bar in the dim light. Bird, and he was fairly sure the Bird personality was in charge now, had started at the bar, but something about a game in progress had attracted the villain's attention, and he was now sitting across from a petite blonde. Not his business. Picking out what looked like a low ante game with an empty seat, Ryan moved over and stood behind the chair until the current hand ended, then sat down.


"Buy in?" he asked quietly.


The three men already seated at the table looked him over, then the dealer spoke.


"Two hundred," the young, tough looking man said. "We ain't the high rollers here. Ante's five a hand, max raise is twenty-five per round. Game's Five Card Stud."


Ryan considered the personality he was portraying, then nodded, dropping fifteen twenty-dollar bills on the table. The dealer raised an eyebrow, but collected the bills before pushing a pile of chips to Ryan. The extra cash had been calculated to fit the profile of a serious, but relatively inexperienced gambler as had Ryan's whole current look. Dark pants, a light grey shirt, and a loose fitting leather jacket finished with comfortable walking shoes were a sharp contrast to the island hopping outfit he had arrived in. His hair was no longer a wild tangle, now slicked back over his head and caught up in a neat ponytail. All in all he looked like he belonged out selling something to the tourists, except for the seriousness of his gaze and the complete lack of fear he was displaying at his, questionable surroundings.


"Ain't seen you here before," a veritable mountain of a man said from the dealer's left.


"Ain't been here before," Ryan replied, looking the tough in the eye. "Just got into town. Been spending some time on the islands."


"What were you doing in the islands?" the skinny guy on the dealer's right asked.


Ryan fixed the guy with a level stare before answering slowly.


"Studying, and keeping out of everyone's way. Sometimes that prevents, misunderstandings."


"Ante up," the dealer said, tossing a chip into the center of the table. "I'm Carl, the mountain there's Leon, and the beanpole's Tim."


"Ryan," Ryan said, tossing a chip in as the other two men did the same. "Let's play."
 
"Not human...clever bastard dancing around the subject...but that only makes me more concerned about the bastards who took Sophia out.' Angela's thoughts continued to swirl around Sophia's fate and the answer she'd gotten to exactly WHOM their little group just pissed off, but eventually the mercenary managed to shake such thoughts away as she and the group were taken to get some new threads.To be honest Angela never really did go shopping legitimately, having always pilfered most of her clothing from whatever clothing shops were in her current area of operations at the time, but admittedly the shops that she and the group were brought to were fairly decent compared to what the mercenary was used to. While not getting anything that was too far from her normal decorum, Angela did snag herself a few pairs of jeans and some simple t-shirts along with a damn nice looking dark brown leather jacket and some new boots.




As the group returned after their little shopping spree, Angela changed into her new attire, sporting a plain white t-shirt worn beneath her new dark brown leather jacket kept unzipped, a pair of worn looking jeans, and her new plain black boots. If there was one thing that Angela knew about trying to blend into a piss hole of a bar it wasn't to wear the flashiest clothing possible. Beneath her jacket rested her pistols, always by her side no matter what, and well hidden from any who would get a glance at her. A brief wait and in returned a more familiar face: Bird. She didn't know why, but that almost blissful cheeriness was a bit unsettling. 'Little ones...seriously? Christ.' Angela rolled her eyes at the remark but exhibited nothing further, not doubting his knowledge of the dangers that awaited downstairs. "Well then let's boogie, shall we?" She remarked, letting Bird lead the three of them down the stairs before stepping aside, leaving Angela, Ryan, and Aaron to step forth into the deep end, and see if they swam or drowned. Looking around at the games of poker and other forms of card-based luck Angela gave a soft sigh, she never did like cards that much, too boring, and combined with that same sensation of tension rising in her body. Perfect, just what I need when trying to blend in: being the jittery new face at a bar, that oughta make me plenty inconspicuous. Hell who knows, might be passed off as a druggy getting a craving. God damn, don't think putting my hand in at a game of cards is any good right now with this damn tension making me feel so on end...could really use a dr- Angela's thoughts halted as she pondered a rather interesting way to lean things in her favor while hopefully getting the edge off as she headed over to the bar, sitting a few stools down from Bird as he ordered a drink. Giving a casual wave of her hand from the bar counter Angela looked to the bartender. "Gimme a strong drink barkeep, whole bottle o' Vodka, Rum, Whiskey, Bourbon whatever's on hand and cheap." She spoke in the cliche 'soldier's' tone that she'd adopted when working as a mercenary, the blase nonchalant, slightly irritated grumble of someone who needed to take the edge off. Waiting for her drink Angela threw a glance around the room looking for someone who'd fit an easy play to con out of a few big bucks, and soon enough she spotted what had to be a near perfect target, well targets in this case, and they were sitting a few feet away. "Also, five shot glasses." Angela added.


While she wasn't that decent at playing cards Angela did have one forte of hers that she excelled at, and that was being able to hold her liquor with the best of 'em. Hell it was a miracle that she still had a functioning liver, but Angela wasn't complaining. The way she saw things is that she's new here, and no doubt being a woman many would likely assume she's a lightweight, and to most the act of not accepting the challenge of a new face to the bar would likely be something their pride wouldn't allow, so all she had to do was get enough attention on her to get bets racked up on each of her opponents before drinking them under the table. Taking the bottle of clear, 'everclear? Damn, gonna be a fun night.' handed to her by the barkeep along with the five shot glasses, returning with her owed amount, and getting up to head to the group of four that were sitting along a rectangular table talking rather loudly amongst a few glasses of booze , a few chairs left open. Taking the chair along the rightmost end of the table Angela took a seat and looked around at the four, now obviously irritated, men before her. "Evening boys, who wants to find out which person at this table's got the bigger pair of balls?" She asked, setting the bottle of everclear on the table top along with the five shot glasses and a stack of hundreds before leaning forward onto the table with a mild grin. "That is if you think you can handle something stronger than that tap water you're drinking." Anglea remarked to the glasses of what had to be vodka, eliciting an understandable response from the four. If there was one way to easily manipulate a man it was to challenge their manhood, and the denser the brain the better. One of the men, a slightly older fellow, likely middle aged, with a receding hairline and stubbly face sneered and gave a low growl. "You've gotta be the stupidest bitch I've seen yet coming in here and saying that." The man spoke, his compatriots giving similar remarks. Another of the four, a taller muscle bound bald gentleman took a breath as he cracked his neck. "Welp, I'm gonna fry this broad, any obj-" He was halted just as his hands began to smoke by the third of their group, a younger man in his thirties with a pompadour of such gravity-defying size Angela swore it was part of his kinetic abilitie, rose his hand obviously being the 'leader' judging by how the other three quieted down. "Jack don't even waste your effort on this I'm uncultured, she's probably just some dame who walked in and doesn't know the pecking order." He remarked, looking to Angela with the most scummy smile possible. "Alright sweet cheeks we'll play along, but if we end up winning, and that's all four of us against you, we get to have your money and you aaaaaaall to ourselves." The other three gave low chuckles at their 'bosse's' salacious remark, Angela remaining unfazed as she twisted the cap off her bottle of everclear and poured a healthy amount into the small glasses. "That's fine pal, but don't get too sore when I end up fucking you all raw and leave you with empty pockets." She quipped before knocking back the first drink, and boy there was nothing like the outright gasoline-like burn of straight everclear! "Ah! HEY! Who wants to place a few bets on how quickly this little hussie is gonna fall on her back?" The leader of the group called out, a few patrons pausing in their actions and looking over before a small gathering collected, bills already being placed in a convenient cowboy hat, and there was Angela's payday. 


The first round of drinks were easy, nobody really flinching as was expected, but time was plentiful and the slightly growing onlookers of Angela's little challenge saw to it that alcohol was provided in ample supply. It wasn't long till the bottle of everclear was gone, replaced by vodka, bourbon, whiskey, tequila, rum, and some other liquors that Angela wasn't even familiar with. Shot glass after shot glass passed Angela's lips, and she simply remained in her relaxed posture leaning back in her chair, tipping back drink after drink and firmly placing them upside down on the quickly cluttered table. Insult a man's masculinity and you'll likely piss 'em off, show absolutely no effort in a challenge with them and they'll outright scramble over themselves to best you, and sure enough the evidence began to show of her victims' growing weariness. Amusingly enough the man who'd threatened to fry her was the first to collapse, falling to the side off his chair which Angela quickly took advantage of. "Well hot damn it's always the big guys who go soft when the fun's just getting started! Weren't you gonna, what was it, 'fry this broad' Jackie boy? Fucking christ y'all are a bunch of pansies!" Angela shouted out as she spat on the now drooling man's body before he soon was dragged off by a few of the onlookers, the crowd that had gathered shouting, whooping, and hollering for the remaining three men to win. Fast forward ten or so shots and down went the balding guy, simply falling back in his chair out cold with a chorus of groans and insults to his mother, sister, and whatnot. "Whew, wow slick I'm hoping the company you keep isn't a sign of your own skills." Angela spat her insults out in a practiced precision, goading her foes to further fumbles and mistakes. It wasn't a sprint, drinking games were all about endurance, and Angela has had plenty of practice for this type of event. By now a decent portion of the bar had gathered around the alcoholic bout, mostly people who just didn't have a game going or anything interesting aside from a little bet here or there. A mere five shots later and down went the third, a greasy looking guy in his late twenties or so who fell backward onto the floor. "And what was that about ME falling flat on my back?" Yet another verbal joust as only one remained, and the ante had only grown. Over the course of her ferocious drinking escapades Angela gave faux falters ranging from a faint sway in her hand to slightly fumbling with a drink, feeding a glimmer of hope to the onlookers that she was faltering and flooding more cash into the ever growing pot, but the leader of the quartet Angela had approached seemed to be far from a lightweight. Nearly thirty shots later, shot glasses practically covering the entirety of the table now and even having begun stacking up upon one another, and both challengers sat with one shot of amber liquid held before them. Angela, admittedly now feeling a bit of the alcohol she'd flooded into her system, simply locked eyes with the pompadour haired leader. It was the home stretch now, and all Angela needed to do was be the last to blink, the two sitting there motionless for a few seconds, a minute, five minutes until slowly Angela brought her glass to her lips, drinking down the contents at a deliberately slow pace before finishing and smoothly placing the glass before her with a soft smile. The group leader's slightly shaking hand soon brought the shot glass up toward his mouth, a fine sheen of sweat beading his slimy face, and just faintly managing to press the rim of his shot glass to his lips before his eyes rolled back, hand going slack, and body slumping forward to send the veritable 'castle' of shot glasses that had built up along the table's surface scattering over the floor quickly followed by angry shouts of profanity and groans upon the sight of the victor. Giving a soft laugh Angela have a soft stretch. "Well well well guess I'm the one with the bigger pair between the five of us aren't I?" The mercenary remarked, grinning as she took the now bursting cowbly hat of cash and comically flipped it atop her head before giving a bow, holding the hat in place to ensure no loss of money. "Since everyone was such a good sport I'll spot a whole round for y'all, on me!" Angela shouted out to an amusing cheer, mostly to those who hadn't just lost money and were happy to get free booze. Passing by the bar Angela lifted the cowboy hat from her head and placed a sizable wad of cash easily enough to pay for a full round and leaving Angela a couple thousand positive, and she couldn't complain more. 'Well, got the money bit down, and everyone's probably got a bit of a more positive light to me from the free booze, so now it's time to probe for info.' The brunette thought to herself as she decided to place the cowboy hat on her head once again after taking the pleasantly large, roughly six grand boon and tucking it into the inner breast pocket of her coat. With a victory like this Angela's somewhat drunken mood was on the more happy side of things. Sauntering about the bar Angela received a few raised glass salutes, likely from those who had just won side bets on her, and sour scowls alike as she took a seat at another rectangular table and began to shoot the shit with a few people who obviously had won some money betting on her judging from the much more cordial welcome. Who says a good stiff drink can't solve problems? Even with her recent victory Angela kept her questions scant, asking if anyone had seen any other new faces other than her, mixing in a few jokes here and there along with the scant celebratory round of shots. Heck, Angela even managed to make a few extra hundred bucks from a few arm wrestling matches, surprisingly enough finding the effort almost negligible, and after about the seventh or so challenger that unpleasant sensation of tension seemed to be a bit relieved. Needless to say Angela spent the rest of the evening chatting, asking a few questions about Sophia, picking up the occasional challenge for an arm wrestle, and making a few extra bucks along the way all the while shouting, boasting, insulting, and cheering with others in an outright raucous and boisterous manner the way only a proper soldier could do right.


'Gotta say, for the first kick off of this new life....can't say it's the worst start.'
 
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Aaron Massimo





"Is this seat taken?" Aaron leaned on the one unoccupied chair at one of the tables that had quite a few rough-looking people playing. The game? He hadn't bothered to check before approaching. It wasn't important until he really started losing Bird's money. Six set of eyes looked over the new arrival, five players and the dealer. One of the players was a woman, but of course he'd already noticed that before approaching the table. If he was going to be forced to pry complete strangers open for information, might as well have a little fun with it. They saw a young man wearing a ridiculous-looking black and white checkerboard shirt with a grey tie that perfectly matched his pants. The look he was going for was 'slightly eclectic young successful business man with too much money and too little common sense'. A few of the men at the table raised an eyebrow at the kid asking to join their game. Nailed it. "Depends, can you afford the seat?" one of the men, he had a head that Aaron guessed he polished regularly, grunted. Hmm, it didn't sound like a particularly hostile grunt. More just kind of uncaring. Well that would do for now.


Aaron thought about the question. "Uh, I think so, but that really depends on how much the buy is." He pulled out a hundred and glanced at the man who'd spoken with a probing eye. Nope, not enough. He twirled the bill around his finger and made it two hundred. "Fine, just play it," one of the others said gruffly. Aaron cocked his head to the side and made the bills again multiple between his fingers. He was holding up four hundred now. The other men at the table already seemed sick of the new kid before he even sat down and was dealt in. They warmed up to him quickly though. Aaron ended up winning big on his first hand. Complete luck, truthfully. He hadn't even been paying much attention to the cards, he just happened to get good cards.  He smiled wide and laughed as he counted his winnings. Oh, it turned out the game was just normal poker. Not even the strip variety, he thought passing a wink down the table at the woman whose name he intended on learning before he was done here. He'd give it a few more hands. The others didn't appreciate his energetic reaction to taking their money. They sent him unfriendly glares across the table. Well, it was possibly for the best that it wasn't strip poker. Some of these neanderthals were rather ugly enough fully clothed.


He started playing seriously on the second hand. Between that hand and the next three he lost a good quarter of Bird's money, not including the buy in. Now it was the other men's chance to gloat as they ran away with the new kid's money. And for his part, Aaron gave them good reactions to gradually raise the volume of the table. "Hey kid, you sure you've brought enough allowance to afford the cab ride home?" It was the shiny-headed guy. He seemed to be the most talkative guy at the table. Aaron hadn't gotten the woman's name yet. Why was he having better luck loosening the mens' lips? Life was too cruel sometimes. He laughed off the man's comment. "Hahaha, don't worry about me going broke. Mum's got deep pockets. Besides, I'm still warming up!" A few of the men chuckled, it was something that occurred more often the more money he threw into their pockets. Leaning back, open legs, loose hold, more cursing. They'd started to relax again as they got used to his presence at their table. Good, now he had to pull back. "Excuse me a moment, gonna put in a special order," he went all-in on the hand, one he might have been able to win too, and picked himself up from the seat to walk over to the bar.


Aaron happened to spot Bird from across the room. No, his eyes sought out the man. Unexpectedly it looked like he was playing cards at a table as well. Aaron's eyes stopped paying attention to Bird for a moment to scan the rest of the table. As expected, the ones around Bird were just insignificant bit players. Just another boring looking man, another, a little girl, and the dealer. Boring. Wait... who was letting kids in here? Looking again, he figured there was no way she should be old enough to be in here. Old enough to gamble - sure this play didn't seem entirely legal, but still it should have some standards - or old enough to drink form the bar, she didn't look nearly old enough to do either. Bird was paying an awful amount of attention to the girl as well. Aaron filed the thought away for later that he'd have to ask Bird who she was. But for now he had a job to do.


He couldn't but help flashing a mischievous grin at the man as he told him what kind of drink he wanted. Speaking to the man behind the counter's professionalism, or lack of good-humor, he didn't so much as raise an eyebrow. Aaron swung back into his seat at the table holding a bubbly bright red drink with a cut straw sticking out of the glass. "Gratci mis amigos for saving my spot," he greeted the table's now-familiar faces, running the risk of pissing off speakers of both languages. The men just gave him a look as he sipped his girls' drink with his character's usual exuberance. He shot a too-obvious wink and grin down the table towards the woman, finally drawing a tired chuckle out of her. Aaron grinned wider. Nailed it. The others who watched the exchange... which was everyone, either rolled their eyes, sighed deeply, or called him various names that Aaron was unsure could be used accurately to describe a man, bless baldy's eloquent talkativeness. Aaron waved across the room to have the man who'd made his bastardization of good alcohol make a second and bring it over. The man, oh so professional, nodded, so Aaron shot him a stupid smile and a thumbs-up from across the room. The bald man was laughing, there was more sighing from the gruff-looking introverted thugs, the woman had covered her face with her hand. 


Over the next few hours, the group at Aaron's table started to enjoy his interloping presence to not mind when he started winning back some of his money. Every time he won he kept trying to buy everyone another round, shouting "Another round keep!" too loud across the room until he was sure the man behind the bar had put in earplugs to ignore him. Baldy got more talkative, Aaron lost and won a few more hands, the quieter ones finally started to actually talk, Aaron lost a few less hands, the woman put up with his attempts to flirt with her, even the dealer got a chuckle out of her rejections of the kid, Aaron won a few more hands, he convinced baldy to try his girly drink, causing the woman he'd gotten to finally drink the one he'd ordered for her to laugh, Aaron broke even, a few of them men left, a friendly nod to the dumb kid who'd kept their day interesting, new people who'd noticed the fun they'd been having at the table wandered over. By the end of the day Aaron knew the names of more than a dozen new friends, and the faces each one went to so he could hustle them again, had gotten a kiss out of the woman who'd started out so cold towards him - her name was Alexis he learned - and was pretty sure baldy had developed a crush on him. Baldy's name turned out to be Barney, and thankfully the man had enough drinks in him to laugh along when Aaron found that out.


He of course kept in mind to ask questions that might tell him if anyone had been around when Sophia had gone missing, but he also asked about entirely unrelated things just to draw extra knowledge from the people around him and get them comfortable with talking to him. Aside from a lot of names that he pretended meant something to him when it seemed appropriate, this world really did seem incredibly similar to his own. Was this really another dimension? Everything about it so far just felt like a copy. Everything except Bird. His eyes reflected replayed memories of the man's shifting colors. Hmm, he supposed he'd drank enough alcohol for his mind to start unfocusing. Aaron excused himself from the table, before he started to loosen his hold too much and make a careless mistake, much to the disappointment of the other occupants. Of the ones that had been there originally only Baldy, Barney, was still around. He waved Aaron off. Guy probably though he was still breaking even, Aaron thought. He'd walked away with three thousand dollars exactly, enough to pay Bird back and no more. He'd learned his lesson for getting greedy last time he'd been in this city, or a version of it at least, it was still confusing. No one's willing to play with the guy who wins too much, not a second time at least.
 

Bird
​


 
​


In silent response to the villain's question, the blonde tossed in an equal amount of cash. The two thugs still at the table, eyed the by-in curiously. Cautiously. With a slight tremble, one of them produced the money. His buddy, still filled with tension, reluctantly followed suit. The dealer, after a little nod from Bird, began dishing out the cards. Texas hold 'em, nothing fancy. The villain was almost disappointed with it being such a low production game, but hardly showed the discontent. After the cards were laid out, the blonde went first. Not surprisingly, she raised by two hundred solid. Both thugs threw in cash, leaving the choice up to Bird. He knew his cards well, and had a good idea of what everyone else was holding. Nothing concrete, but an idea. With a wink, the man raised it by an extra hundred. For the briefest of moments, the blonde faltered. The tiniest corner of her face creased, only to relax a second later. Such a small thing, would've easily gone unnoticed to most people, even pros. The game went along very similarly. By the end of it, the pot had been raised a grand total of eleven times, for a solid five-thousand pay out. At this point, both of the thugs had given up, and sat at the bar shooting daggers at the two remaining. Bird, and the blonde. The dealer looked at the villain skeptically, prompting the man to make a decision. Even still, he never cracked.  


"So, if you're here...it can only mean one thing." The villain offered up, smiling ever so slightly. At first, the blonde seemed to take it with silence. Only after his smile persisted, did she start squirming a little under the pressure. To the man's surprise, she didn't utter a sound. Figuring it wasn't enough, Bird sprouted a plan. Something he remembered very clearly. "It must be, that you didn't get enough of me last time, huh?" The smile, became a cocky grin. His voice offered the undertones of something much more, perfecting the nature of his words. It rewarded him with a nervous look, and forced the blonde to look away. Inwardly, the villain cursed himself. Still not enough. However, the bait was set. Time to pull?...no, not yet. "You know, this game kinda reminds me of something." The widest of smiles escaped, coinciding a cocked eye brow. Even more squirming. "Because it isn't the only thing being raised." With that final comment, the blonde stood up from the table. A blush, something that neared pure koolaid, was clear upon her cheeks. Completely flustered, the woman tried yelling some sort of insult, but it faltered so badly that she eventually just stopped. Throwing her face into her hands, the blonde forced herself to sit back down. Bird knew the hook was set, more then. Time to reel. "Maybe...we could revisit those memories?" 


The girl's hands shot down onto the table, as her fiercely determined eyes locked with Bird's. Something about the complete change in posture actually caused the villain some concern, but he didn't break. Something about the situation was altering, and he needed it back under his control. Going back to a previous analogy, he slid out another stack of paper. Gingerly lifting it, the man set it delicately down on the pill. Fixing his posture, the man stared intently back, relaxing into the seat. Several awkward moments dragged on, causing even the dealer to squirm a tad. The two thugs were now really focused on their drinks, and no one dared sneak a peek. At this point, even Bird was beginning to crack. The smallest beads of sweat forcing themselves to form. The girl was now trembling, digging finger nails harshly into the wooden table. "You know, like the time when we-" The man was cut off. Blonde jumped out of her chair, around the table virtually stomping, and grabbed the villain by the hand. 


He was going to make another comment, but was forcibly stopped by the power of the girl. She dragged him out of his chair, through the bar, all the way over to the door leading upstairs. Pointing at it, the girl didn't offer any explanation. Partially against his will, the man obliged by sliding the key card through. Another little beep, and the door unlocked. Pushing it open, the woman kept on going. Turning around and shutting the door, the blonde pushed Bird against the wall. For the first time, in a seriously long time, the man was scared. Genuinely terrified, for what this girl might do. It was such a foreign feeling, that he almost mistook it for some odd form of pain. Thoughts tried forming, plans of action attempted to take over, but nothing managed to escape the realms of his mind. Finally, the only thing that brought his focus into reality, was her lips. Those soft, pink lips, that had been gone for ages. The moment drug out, the two simply enjoying the feeling between themselves. Until, finally, the blonde backed off. Sucking in breath while being so flushed, the man had to focus on just that simple task. The girl seemed to be in the same situation, the pure red blush never having faded. Even Bird's reality changed to various colors, a wide variety of ever changing patterns and hues. He tried making it stop, but there was no real heart into it. 


After several, rather huffy moments, the two finally got into a state in which they could converse. It was the girl, who spoke first. "T-that was...amazing..." The blush, if even possible, seemed to deepen. Bird nodded, still at a loss for words. Figuring it was up to her, she continued, "...m-maybe we could...continue this something. But I-I...don't got a lot of time. You know how things...how things are." Once more, the man only offered up a nod. 


Mari G Evelyn. 'The Lucky Witch'. The two shared an interesting history, dating back a few years. You see, the crew Bird has now? They aren't the first. Technically...they are the first group. But not the first people to ever come here via the villain's invitation. As a sort of test run, he did send one all those years ago. Mari, was the one it produced. She found the letter after some unique personal events, and ended up with the man for quite sometime. Kind of continuing the concept of a, 'test run', he tried seeing if she was trainable. If she could acquire a kinesis, and become a villain on par with the man. All in all? She passed with flying colors. But she passed, perhaps a little too well. As in, Mari's kinetics were extraordinary, that of a prodigy. Only one type of person, could ever hope to get such power. A Roamer. Much like Bird. As science has proven, two roamers could never bond. A little part of their brain's will literally force one of them, to kill the other. In fear of this, because of how close the two had become, the villain simply...left. Ran away, leaving the little witch to her own devices. Looking back on the current situation, Bird wondered why he ever feared. There was no such tug to kill the girl, as he had with other roamers. In fact, there was something quite different going on. Shaking his head, the man's focus finally was really kicking into attention. While the realization that he didn't want to murder her was spectacular, and the moment just before was wonderful, there were much more pressing things going on.   


"I don't think things are quite what we thought they were. But, as much as I wish to test things out further...I'm the one who is running out of time. Listen, " now it was time, for the question the man feared. The real reason he dreaded seeing Mari once more, "did you find out the answer to my question?" Before the two parted all that time ago, Bird left a single written note. On it, a question that only she could ever figure out. Mari's kinetics are amazing, for so many reasons. This, being one of them. Taking a few cautious glances around the area, the girl finally took to writing a note of her own. The silence dragged on, only the sound of scribbling pen-on-paper breaking the barrier. A few whoops and hollers echoed out from the bar beyond, but nothing caught the villain's attention. After what felt like ages, the witch stood up, and shoved the note into the man's chest. Looking slightly panicked, Mari rushed out the door. Following her out, he spun her around by the shoulder. Staring into her eyes, really, the man found himself lost for words. 


Eyes spoke a world more, then words ever could. About the person, their history, what they felt at that moment...a tiny reflection of their soul. Everyone, even the villain, could see that in every person. Except on. Mari. Her eyes spoke a thousand mysteries, questions that only pooled into the man's head. There was so little he could understand from them, and yet so much at the same time. That terrified, and excited him simultaneously.  "We both know you have to leave...but maybe one day, we can actually find a way to keep you around." A bright smile shone on the blonde's face, reflecting off of Bird's own. Nodding, she took her leave. The villain watched her every step, all the way to the door. When the girl was finally out of sight, he let himself settle into the current situation. Some guy behind him whistled, catching Bird's attention. Turning around to face him, the guy just winked at the villain, pointing towards the door. Throwing out a comment about the intense scene beyond the door, it finally hit Bird. The door, had a very large window. That entire scene between Mari and him, was visible to anyone bothered enough to spare a glance. 


Desperately hoping no one important noticed, the man looked around to find his flock. They were all scattered around, seeming to be taking in their own circumstances well. He silently cursed himself once more, realizing that he missed the chance to see how they did. No sense in playing catch up now, too much time wasted. Knowing they would hear him, Bird let out a loud whistle. Three short bursts, irregular enough, certainly, to catch their attentions. That is, assuming they weren't already watching him. Passing that thought into the corner of his head, the man proceed to enter the suit upstairs. Waiting for the three to arrive, the villain made himself comfortable sitting on the couch. A serious feeling of dread hung over the man, as he felt the paper within his palms. Within, was the answer to the most dangerous question on earth. Something that would cause everything the man knew, to change. Part of his brain wanted to read it as soon as possible, the other part wanted to burn it now, to never know one way or the other. But...Bird knew he had to do it. Opening up the paper, ever so slightly, he could only make out the word...


"Yes."


There it was. The smallest answer in the world, the simplest, yet...the most dangerous. Mari had written more, all of which the villain desperately needed to read, but he could hear the others approaching. Knowing there would be no time, he slide the paper into his pocket for safe keeping. There would be time later. 


[Tagged - @OverconfidentMagi @Nooguy @Tarmagon]
 
The majority of Angela's time conversing and probing for information didn't truly turn up much information save for some rough general things such as yes there had been a girl spotted downstairs, but anything of greater detail met a quite solid wall of wariness and possibly even fear as if such an answer might earn whomever provided it an agonizing death. A few times as the mercenary went about her time moving from table to table trading stories, drinks, bouts of strength, and questions Angela threw a few glances over to the card table that she'd seen Bird sit down at, spotting a blonde which apparently garnered much attention. Amidst the loud and raucous cacophony of her drunken escapades the brunette lost sight of the multi-hued villain, but moments later she caught that blonde leaving the upper floor, a blush so bright one's imagination hardly needed any assistance guessing what had transpired. Who was that girl, a friend of Bird's, a wayward lover....both? Such question soon melted to the back of Angela's mind as she delved back into her comfort zone of inebriated tomfoolery. Comically enough the merc had been challenged to a bit of a sparring match with a small spitfire of a redheaded girl, but those whistles drew Angela's attention to more pressing matters and forced her to decline such a match much to the groans and lamentations of those wishing to place some money on the woman. Angela was a bit annoyed she hadn't gotten any major information save for the most basic bits pertaining to Sophia's location before her disappearance.


With a sigh Angela flipped her trophy cowboy hat on and meandered up to the second floor room while puffing on her currently lit cigarette, grabbing a bottle of rum from the a wayward table on her way before ascending the stairs to her patron's 'base of operations'. The first to enter the room, Angela took a soft breath as she came into the living room and looked to the colorful villain, giving a frown at the sight she saw. The normally flamboyant and coy visage seemed to be muted and constrained with emotions Angela honestly hadn't expected to see from the young man. While she doubted she would ever fully know the menagerie of mental chaos that was Bird and his various personalities, Angela knew the look of someone who had just been visited by what was supposed to be a ghost, and from his expression, a close one. Walking over to an adjacent chair Angela took a seat with a heavy sigh, taking her cigarette from her lips and looking to the villain. "So, Bird, guessing you just had a few ghosts of your past visit ya?" She asked, blowing a small stream of smoke to the side of them, her voice neutral along with her expression, not knowing what kind of landmine infested emotional territory she was venturing into. "That blonde bird an old friend of yours? Judging from the blush I saw on her face I'm guessing someone pretty damn close too." The merc's tone remained calm and soft, a surprising switch compared to her usual high octane attitude toward things. "Not trying to put salt in any wounds there may be, but I can tell when some past shit smacks someone in the gut that they didn't expect." She quipped, taking a drink from the bottle of rum in her free hand before offering it to the villain. "Take the edge off?" The brunette wasn't about to go probing into what transpired, knowing full well the kind of backlash someone can give when they experience the sort of thing Bird likely just went through, but she could offer some form of reprieve in a form she herself found to be rather effective. Surprisingly with the massive amount of alcohol she'd imbibed Angela sported maybe a bit of a blasé relaxed nature to her expression and body language, but nothing more that'd indicated her heavy drinking.


@TheGossipLink


@OverconfidentMagi


@Tarmagon
 
Aaron Massimo





He kept it up until the door to Bird's pad clicked shut behind him. Aaron let out a deep breath that seemed to have been gathered from every cell in his body, long and drawn out. And with the escaping air went his bright air of sociability. For someone who'd only been talking and playing cards all day he looked exhausted. Aaron walked over to the same couch he'd crashed on the night before and fell heavily right back onto it. His tired faded green eyes flickered over to Bird then the bottle of rum before falling shut, but it was clear that he was still present and had no plans of falling asleep. One arm was tucked under his head to act s a pillow, but Aaron's other hand was absently playing with something: a long blonde hair. 'Oh yes Bird don't worry, I noticed your little friend,' it was meant t say. There was another half of the hair hidden in his pocket if Bird wanted to confiscate the piece he saw. There were people in the other world who could be paid to do DNA checks, this world probably had the same types. Who knew if it might come in handy at some point. Just a spare card to play with for now. He stopped with the blonde hair coiled around one finger.


"Nothing," he said without opening his eyes. "There was no information at all about what might have transpired last night. As far as I can tell, there wasn't a single person in the casino when Sophia was taken." He opened his eyes and stared at Bird with a cold gaze. "When I asked the barkeep he refused to answer my questions. If he knows something it would take a certain amount of pressure to make him talk." Aaron let his eyes shut again. "I wasn't about to do anything rash in front of a room full of people though. Just recon and report. Oh yes!" He sat up and pulled out the money. "Three thousand exactly, return of payment without interest," he said evenly before returning to lay back down on the couch.
 
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Ryan eyed Tim balefully as he tossed another chip into the pot. Leon and Carl had folded on the second and third rounds of raises by Ryan and Tim, leaving the two to battle it out. Ryan had been breaking even, winning a few hands, losing a few hands. Carl was the big loser of the table, but he seemed to be used to that state of things, and took it with good humor. Leon was down as well, and wasn't taking it as well as Carl was. He was shooting dirty looks at Ryan, but he was gracing Tim with an equal amount of venom. Ryan just kept his eyes focused on Tim, even as his ears continued to soak up all the sounds of the bar. Angela's little drinking game had gained the attention of a large portion of the bar, and judging by the groans and raucous laughter, she had wiped the floor with her competition. He had seen Aaron taking a seat at a table, but he hadn't bothered keeping an eye on the man's progress. He had kept the conversation light, quizzing the trio on things to do while he was in town, asking which of the bar's regular patrons were okay to play with, and which ones to avoid at all costs. He had gotten a bit of an idea of the ebb and flow of the bar, and found out that the bartender was fairly taciturn, but could be counted on to talk a bit if you got him going on about cigars.


"Okay," Tim said, glancing at the pot. "Let's quit dicking around. We're both happy with our cards, so let's end all of this raise and re-raise. How much have you got there?"


"About two hundred not in the pot," Ryan replied, quickly eyeing Tim's stack of chips.


"Two hundred," Tim said, shoving a stack of chips into the pot. "Let's get this over with."


Ryan didn't even think, he just shoved all of his remaining chips into the center of the table.


"Done. Let's see the last card."


Leon flipped a card up in front of Tim. Three of spades. Ryan's card came spinning through the air to land in front of him. Queen of hearts.


"Full house," Tim crowed, flipping over his hole card. "Tens over threes." 


Ryan nodded, then flipped over his hole card. Queen of spades.


"Full house, queens over threes."


Tim froze, his hands half way to the pot, staring at Ryan's cards. Leon grunted, but Carl burst out laughing at the expression on Tim's face. 


"Damn!" Carl crowed. "It's about time someone broke that winning streak you've been on."


Leon grunted again, and started to shuffle the cards, but three discordant whistles caught Ryan's attention. Looking up, he saw Bird by the entrance to his little hideaway.


"Sorry guys," he said, pushing the pile of chips to Tim. "Boss is calling. Cash me out."


Tim looked like he was going to protest, but Carl elbowed him and pointed to where Bird was waiting by the door.


"You with HIM?" Tim asked, his eyes going wide.


Ryan just nodded, and waited patiently as Tim counted out cash from the stack beside him. That last hand had put him up, but he wasn't sure by how much. He'd find out later. Swinging by the bar, Ryan sent a round of drinks over to the table he had just left, then headed back to Bird's, apartment, hideout? He wasn't really sure what it was, but it was home for now. He was the last to arrive, but it didn't really bother him. Angela was quizzing Bird about the blonde he had been playing with. Seemed like she was some sort of old flame. Interesting. Aaron made a production of paying Bird back, which bothered Ryan slightly. The man seemed to enjoy showing off. Oh well. Not his problem, unless it turned out that Aaron really couldn't pull his weight.


"What's up Bird?"  he asked. "I didn't think we had a curfew."
 

Bird
​


 
​


Questions still flooded the man's mind, never ceasing for a moment. There was so much to consider, and taking it all in was proving...difficult. If only Mari hadn't showed up, if only he never got an answer, if only Sophia didn't die. But all those things did happen, and certainly for a good reason. Right? It wasn't coincidence Mari showed up now, of all times. Maybe Sophia's death somehow gave her enough clarity to get the answer? At this point, truly the villain was assuming. That's when his situation really came into focus. Never once, in nearly two years, has he legitimately assumed something. Like a mental slap, the constant barrage of what-ifs, turned into scolding, which quickly molded into actual thoughts. Taking in the real facts and evidence, of what he knew at that moment. Slowly, his entire posture began morphing into it's usual appearance. At a certain point, Angela had walked in smelling heavily of various alcoholic beverages, causing the man to scrunch up his nose. Yet another sign, of not being fully put together. When she offered the drink in her hand, Bird grabbed it, taking a casual sniff. Rum, no doubt about it. Politely shaking his head, the man handed it back to Angela. "Not that I don't appreciate it, I certainly do. Just not my thing." Then, shooting a wink while standing up, he said, "Besides, ghosts aren't my problem. Angels are." Leaving it at that, the villain stretched long and hard. As he did so, the usual purples and pinks of reality made home on his attire, making Bird look complete, normal.   


Aaron slouched over to the couch after a long sigh, looking more tired then one might expect. Even still, there was a certain air of intelligence that the villain didn't miss. That was one thing, that would most likely never leave the boy. A long piece of blonde hair was getting twirled about the boy's hands, to which Bird didn't react to at all. On the outside. Ensuring not to allow anything visible give away his feelings, the villain allowed himself to revel in the obvious challenge. Something about Aaron was always...different, from the others. Not simply because he was so similar to the younger version of Bird, but also because of the very thing he just confirmed. The boy, in nearly all tense and purposes, was a rival. An enemy, but not in every fashion. Not one that would directly oppose the ring leader, but would do so in subtle ways. Like the situation at hand. The very thought that he even touched Mari was a little triggering, tempting the villain to act. Even still, nothing about Bird's composer suggested any of the inward thoughts. After all, the hair was useless any. Okay boy, we can dance. But how long will you last? The man proceeded to ignore the comment made about not finding anything of Sophia, and instead focused on the last part of the boy's charade. The money. Now that, did cause the villain to react a little. Nothing more then a look of scorn, but still. 


The last man, Ryan, finally entered. Sadly, a room filled with some odd tension. "You didn't, no, but now you do. Please take a seat." Bird told the rough guy, waiting patiently for him to do so. Once he sat down, the villain then took to leaning up against the available chair. Obviously in thought, the silence drowned as the man contemplated on how to say this next part. It was never planned to happen in the first place, and having nearly no time to think on it, was concerning. Even still, it had to be done now...or never. "Look, everyone. I struggled with how I might say this. Of course, I never planned on doing so, but certain circumstances have forced the move into play." Slowly, his flamboyant colors faded, revealing the normal man underneath. "I lied to you all. Not surprising, to some of you. I knew you had your suspicions...and I get it's all very ironic, considering I said previously, that I wanted a relationship built on trust." Figuring he was rambling a bit, Bird took a breath to focus himself. "Not that I'm making exuses for myself, I have none. Just try to understand the predicament I was put under." 


Tapping on the chair, Bird tried grinding through it. "Sophia isn't simply abducted, she's dead. Last night, I heard a noise. I checked the upstairs, didn't see anything, so I figured one of you might've gone below. So I went down there, and found Sophia sitting at the counter. She was alone, the bar empty, and the keep in the back washing dishes for the night. The coast was clear, except for one thing." Sliding his hand into the inner coat pocket, the villain gripped the handle of a familiar blade. The same knife that killed the girl. He showed it off to the others, and then put it back in its' place. "She was already dead, no assailant in sight, and I didn't quite know what to do. I've dealt with death before, sure. But not like this, never this situation. So I disposed of her body, and lied to you all." Shrugging, Bird offered little comfort in his voice. Hardly any remorse, if any, could be heard. "It seemed to be the best thing to do. Telling you all might've caused panic, or worse. Especially because, of this." Likewise, in the opposite pocket, the man plucked out the note that had been wrapped around the handle. He had cut off the signed part, so it had no trace to the Dark Angels. There wasn't any indication left, to suggest there being anymore to the note. "I have many enemies, but few could pull this off. Even fewer, who would bother trying. So, I got a good idea of who they are. I'm certain that giving in to their demands, will result in them fulfilling their end of the deal. Which is what I've already gone ahead and done." 


Not having anything more to say, given the tensity at hand, the man got up to walk to his room. The rest of the note from Mari was still unread, and had info that needed to be processed. Everything here was already addressed. That's when a thought snapped across the villain's mind. Stopping just before the hallway, he turned around quickly and ended his walk right in front of Aaron. The colors of the man were now slowly returning, but in the form of harsh reds and blacks. "One more thing, boy." Bird grabbed the money from the boy, and dropped in onto the coffee table. By now, the colors had settled in. The man's voice wasn't angry, or scolding. But certainly equally as harsh as the red, and stern as the black. "That money? Allow me to demonstrate how useful it is." Without breaking eye contact with Aaron, he leaned over and fished a lighter from Angela, who made some comments about the inappropriate touching. Odd, considering the villain could have easily stolen the lighter without additional feeling. Not that he was feeling up the girl, by no means. But figuring out her measurements was a necessity. Ignoring any words are stares that situation awarded him, the man fiddled with the lighter for a moment. Satisfied, he clicked it on, and the flame kept burning even when letting go of the trigger. Aiming it directly above the pile of cash, Bird let it go. Letting the flaming money settle in, the man finally spoke. "That is how useful it is. Rule number four; always turn a profit. If someone gives you a loan, double or triple it. Pay them back what you owe, and pocket the rest." By now, the mood was easing, to the point where even Bird cracked a smile. "What you did, was the action of a class-A hero. A real Johnny Bravo move. But not one, of a villain. I suggest changing your mindset a little." 


With all that finally said and down, the villain excused himself to his room. That boy is a little too much like me, when I was younger. Making the same mistakes... Shrugging, the man didn't allow his inner dialogue to further spoil the mood. For the rest of the rather long day, the only time he bothered set foot outside of his room was to grab a glass of water. There was so much to research, to catch up on, and plan for. These next two weeks would be grueling for him as well, so he had to make preparations. Plus, there was the entire deal with the note from Mari, which took quite sometime to work through. Everything except the original, 'yes', was in a specially designed code language. Only he, and Mari knew how to crack it, as they did make it years ago. But all of the knowledge, was memory. They purposely didn't write anything about it down on paper, just in case a situation like this arose. And while the villain had a great memory, it still proved difficult to break because Mari didn't have a good memory. Most of it turned out gibberish. Still, eventually the man had it down. The words inside...were something big. 



It was four days into the two week training program. After that night awhile ago, no one really mentioned Sophia's death. Not directly, at any rate. A few passes and quips from Aaron, stares from Ryan, and...not much about it, from Angela. That intrigued Bird's interest a little. The tough girl was unique, from the others. Easily the closest to the villain, in terms of similar experiences. Never father, in personality and things of the mind, but in experiences...they understood one another. Or at least, they had a good basis for what the other knew. Still, they were rather different. More then once, they butted heads. Especially when it came to kinetics, and fighting. Oddly enough, there was little protest in the more mental side of the training, but oh boy...those other two. The poor girl couldn't grasp the concept of a kinesis for the life of her, and truly, Bird had no idea what her's was. Little hints here and there, that would only prove to contradict themselves. Then you got the fighting. Angela, is a seasoned veteran. She has extensive combat experience, and has developed her own form of combat. Only, that form is extremely easy to counter if you have the know how. So, the man had been trying to get her to develop a new style, more fighting to this world's way of combat. That's where we find ourselves now. Never once, have the two fought. But ever since the training began, Bird had been critiquing everything about Angela's fighting. By now, it had become too much. She wanted to prove that the prissy little Bird didn't have what it took. The villain, graciously accepted the challenge. "You know the rules, right?"  The man reaffirmed.


"Don't patronize me little Bird." Angel replied with a grin. The villain could sense her overconfidence, which he offered in kind. While no smile protruded from his face, a sly look in his eyes spoke all the more loudly. It was simple, really. A duel with nothing more then their bare hands, to subdue the other first. Any means of managing it were allowed, just that it was done without weapons or kinetics. Without another word, Bird slipped into the field. He walked alongside the edge, baiting his opponent to make the first move. Angela, being rather smart, didn't dare away from the center, keeping a watchful eye on the slippery Bird. "What's wrong hotshot, cat get your feathers?" Within a second, the man was on her. From the very edge, to right up close, he invaded the very space needed to attack. Angela went to elbow the man to get room, only to meet air as Bird dropped low to the ground. Attempting to kick the man, failed again, as he fell backwards and landed behind the girl. This type of charade went on for several moments, with Bird narrowly escaping every thrown, punch, or kick sent his way. Only once or twice, did Angela managed to force him away from such a close range, only to met with the same approach once more. The smile went from his eyes, to his mouth as the play went on. He could practically feel the anger building up within his opponent, and knew the time to strike was nearing. You see, he didn't want to brawl it out and end it quickly. The villain wanted to draw it out, let the annoyance and rage settle in, and finish it with a single hit. If anything would get through to the tough girl about fighting styles, this would. "Will you just...stop moving!" 


Right as Angela yelled that, Bird found his mark. In that moment, she just barely over extended her arm, exposing her neck. Standing up, and pulling back to get the best hit possible, the man nailed the spot dead on. Only, it was returned as the equivalent of punching a brick wall. All the force of his attack was absorbed, leaving a none injured, very pissed off girl. "Hey wait a second, Angela this is-" the tough girl whipped around, raising a fist high in the sky, her face matching the deepest depths of rage. "-oh shit." Bird finished. Dropping backward, he focused on a tiny blade point within his clothing, ripping through reality underneath himself. Falling into it, the girl's attack was met against the open rip in space. Of course, she couldn't directly affect it any. So it too, was the equivalent of punching...something much stronger then a wall. But while no force interfered with it, or the man inside, the sound certainly did. It rang out like a missile strike, all condensed into a single hit. The man's ears were instantly deafened, and it took several minutes for the hearing to come back, and the ringing to stop. Finding the strength, barely, he crawled out of the tear. All around, in a reverse cone shape, Angela's assault had bored into the floor. Wood, cement, and metal alike were ripped to shreds, thrown about the room, or just decimated into particles. Angela was leaning against a wall, heaving hard, eyes wild still. 


"I ah...think we figured out your kinesis." Bird offered lamely, still trying to comprehend the extent of the damage caused. 



Finally. It took two long weeks, but it came to an end. All three ducklings had made it through, some with flying colors. More or less. The villain was actually quite pleased with their progress, though a sour note did almost spoil it all. In truth, they were nowhere prepared for what Bird had in mind at the start. Their progress was great, but slow. He had to call off the original mission intended, knowing they weren't ready for it. But, the situation was saved by a rare phone call. Someone had a job for the man, one his children could take on instead. He had already gathered them all together, and was just about to start telling them about it. Bird had discussed their progress in detail first, listing what the did right, and wrong. It was met with enthusiasm, downcast looks, snide comments, and laughs and smiles. Quite the round about of emotions, certainly. But with all that out of the way, it was finally time to discuss the real elephant in the room.


"So we all agree you three made excellent progress, and have lived up to most of my expectations. But what's the point of training that hard, without a reason?" Bird cracked a grin. "I told you all that at the end of these two weeks, you'd be thrown into your first mission. Only, that one is a little above your current pay grade. Thankfully, I found a replacement." Sliding out a stack of paper, the villain tossed it onto the coffee table. "That's your detailed briefing, but let me cover the general idea. In Vegas, about halfway across town, lies a bank. It's owned by mobsters, mostly low level thugs, few Legends. They house anything, from shady to straight wrong, as long as you can pay. Well, my client stopped paying for their protection. Under contract, the mobsters were supposed to give it to them. But, unsurprisingly, they didn't." The man didn't refrain from flashing a look of disgust at the thought. "That's where you three come in. Your very first heist!" Excitement rose in Bird's voice, making him almost sound like a proud parent. In an odd, almost creepy way, it did feel like it. "It won't be hard, trust me. Just stick to what I taught you, don't do anything stupid, and you'll be fine. However, I'm stepping back. It's all up to you three, literally. For this exercise, Angela, you're the leader. But you all gotta team up to come up with a plan. A week is all you have, to plan the heist, requisition supplies from me, and execute." Grabbing the only blank piece of paper from the top of the stack, and a pen, Bird wrote as he spoke. "These are your, 'do not break', rules. Regardless if the heist is successful or not, I will fail you if any of these are broken. 1; let no one see you as an enemy. They can physically look at you, just as long as they don't realize you're a bad guy to them. 2; steal the item without anyone knowing. You should do it so cleanly, they never even realize the item is gone. 3; do not kill anyone. This rule, above all the others, cannot be broken. Doing so, will give you guys a punishment from me." Winking, he left it at that. "Okay, go. Get planning, reading, and working. Good luck!"  


[Tagged - @OverconfidentMagi@Tarmagon@Nooguy]
 
Angela had thought she'd known frustration going through boot camp back before she became a mercenary, but working to try and discover what her kinesis was made previous challenges appear timid in comparison. The fact that she and Bird constantly got into small fights here and there, nothing major save for the occasional thrown object, certainly didn't help to make things smoother. It seemed that while the other two already had discovered their abilities Angela only lagged behind, and that thought drove her into the ground with frustration. If there was one thing she wasn't going to stand it was being useless to others whom she was meant to work with. The brunette had seen what merely ONE weak soul in a group could do,and all it takes is one weak link in a chain to case the entire group to collapse and fail. Each passing day from the beginning Angela's frustrations grew, her sly remarks becoming more aggressive and hostile, and her reactions to harmless quips similarly grew in intensity. At the end of each day Angela laid in her bed awake, staring at the ceiling of her bedroom as her thoughts ran rampant within her mind. 'What if I am the one to not receive a kinesis? Sure I'm good with a gun, hands and war in general, but this world's 'legends' as they called themselves aren'y going to be waylaid by simple gunfire, ambushes, or hand to hand combat. If I don't find this kinesis of mine soon I'll hold the others back.'. Such thoughts only intensified in their severity with each subsequent night, and even memories of her past flitted back to haunt her. A regular nightmare which visited Angela while she slept was when she was out on deployment, the mission to deal with a simple enemy presence within a small town. Everything was the same beat and rhyme save for a new rookie who had been assigned to her squad as heavy support, Angela and a few others throwing jokes that he'd choke at the first sign of pressure. Things went smoothly during the mission until she and her squad encountered a force that was far more entrenched than they'd expected, something that had been missed in intelligence, and sure as the sky is blue the rookie choked when things didn't go according to plan. Angela lost half her squad that day and took two bullets to the left leg because the rookie frozen instead of laying down suppressing fire. Ironically enough the rookie survived the encounter, but quickly took up the bottle to cope with the horrors he'd witnessed.


The ever increasing frustration reached a peak when Bird had approached her and offered to spar. Needless to say the woman accepted seeing the opportunity to blow off some steam and gauge just how good a fighter Bird was behind that shimmering getup of his, and she honestly didn't go into things expecting much from the villain assuming he simply hid behind his abilities, but she sure as hell wasn't going to underestimate him either. Sure he wasn't one to take the blows and dish them right back, Angela didn't think he'd be that way, but the damned bastard was slipperier than a wrench dipped in axle grease. She'd encountered people who were quick on their feet, but Bird was even more so much to Angela's swiftly increasing frustration. Before long the mercenary was legitimately trying to strike the villain, leaving the simple moves she'd started with and truly putting her fighting prowess to the test, but each swing only met thin air. Snide comments faded to grunts and growls of irritation as each kick, elbow, knee, and punch just missed their mark. That same sensation of tension had returned, it felt as if her body was being rigged with pure electricity, and that strike to her neck seemed to break the proverbial dam. She didn't feel a thing from the impact in terms of damage, but Angela's anger blinded her to any consequence of injury as she turned to the villain with eyes of rage. What happened next felt as if a grenade had just gone off in front of the woman, that feeling of insane tension venting from her body in one instant. Staggered back from the violent event, Angela had out support herself against a nearby wall with the arm she'd not used to punch, the other feeling outright numb with the sensation of pins and needles applied tenfold. Only shaken from her haze of anger by Bird's next remark, Angela remained quiet as she simply caught her breath and saw to her arm which she hoped hadn't been damaged. As luck would have it the brunette's right arm was largely, the odd sensation of numbness possibly an aftereffect of what was her kinesis. She had no idea what to call it, but Bird was quick with a deduction that her kinesis was focused around kinetic energy. The revelation from the villain made the odd sense of tension the past few days make sense, but that was hardly a reprieve to her as the barrier of her actually finding her kinesis fell only to be replaced with exactly how to effectively utilize it. It seemed any form of kinetic force directed at her met with similar effect to Bird's strike previously, each blow bringing with it the feeling of being filled with, for lack of a better term, electricity which caused that feeling of tension in her muscles and body. Through the remainder of her training Angela grew accustomed to the feeling of tension in her body, but the task of actually monitoring and controlling exactly how much of said kinetic energy she threw into an object or action remained a pertinent issue as she was only capable of going either zero or one hundred percent when utilized. The brunette almost broke her left leg when testing the extend of her kinesis, Bird managing to redirect the strike she'd sent into another tear, but the feeling of numbness that followed lasted a full two days before sensation returned.


By the end of the group's little training regime Angela had gotten a good scope for how to utilize her kinesis, even managing to find out she could imbue her held kinetic energy into other objects including bullets, a revelation which she was particularly fond of. In all honesty Angela was amazed of what she was already capable of doing with her kinesis, and Bird's remarks of the group's kinesis' only growing in power the more they grew into them filled the mercenary with an odd excitement. Such potential filled the brunette with a drive to find exactly how high this mountain of power rose, and she was determined to do so. One thing that stuck to the back of Angela's mind was the actual reason for which she and the other two were training. Bird wasn't doing this just to help them get on their feet, he'd still brought them here for a reason, and sure enough said reason came to reality when the four of them convened for a small meeting. Admittedly the woman was a bit disappointed to discover the true mission they'd been working toward wasn't feasible, but another job brought up still seemed to pose a bit of interesting fun.


Angela had taken up what was now her usual spot on the apartment's living room couch with one leg draped over the cushions and the other either set atop the nearby coffee table or simply stood on the floor. As the collection of papers were thrown onto the coffee table, the brunette wasted no time in pouring over them as she sat on the edge of the couch and spread the various bits of intel apart while flipping through a few stacked pages on what the group was to go up against. "Rob a bank eh? Heh, guess there's a beautiful irony in criminals stealing from criminals who stole." Angela quipped in an amused tone even though her eyes went over the information of their job with acute attention. The woman may have a loud, raucous , and hot headed approach to things, but when results needed to be seriously achieved she knew when to actively apply herself. "Eesh Bird don't bust a nut." The brunette couldn't help but throw a small verbal joust at the villain from his apparent excitement of the small group's first official mission together. When she was marked as the leader of the assignment Angela surprisingly didn't give any smart ass remark, just a simple nod of the head, but as the mission's rules were brought into view the brunette's displeasure quickly became apparent. "Hmmm, was kinda hoping to take some frustration out on some punk ass mobsters, but here you are making things all boring. Hell Bird how's a girl supposed to have any real fun around here with 'daddy' throwing up all these rules? You gonna give us a spanking if we break 'em?" Her tone was of that same sarcastic, dry humor she generally used as she threw a look up at Bird, a sly grin washing over her face before she turned back to the intel at hand, flipping through shift times, bank layout, and various other things.
 
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Ryan listened to Bird outline their ‘Rules of Engagement’ at the end of his little pep talk, careful to keep the neutral expression that had become his default around the villain plastered on his face. It was becoming easier and easier the more he was around Bird, or Masuku or whomever was in the driver’s seat at the time. He supposed that eventually, and probably sooner than later, he was going to attract the attention of the killer that lived somewhere behind those eyes, but for now he had to deal with, this.​




​

It had been two weeks since Bird had casually announced that his very first ‘assignment’ for them had been nothing more than a wild goose chase. Oh, he had made some self-serving speech about being in a ‘predicament’ and ‘not wanting to cause panic’, but all that Ryan had taken away from that encounter was that Bird was nothing more than the same kind of hypocrite that his father had been. Sophia’s death at the hands of his enemies was nothing more than a minor inconvenience, and Bird’s attitude had crystallized their place in his grand scheme of things. At the time, Ryan hadn’t been able to completely conceal the frozen rage the casual lies and dismissal had caused, though over the next few days he had gone from chilly stares to his current, neutrality. He had noted the strange byplay that was taking place between Bird and Aaron with interest. There was something very, very odd going on between those two. Whatever it was, it did nothing to improve his opinion of Aaron, and the way Bird was responding was, disturbing.



​

The training had started in earnest the next day, and despite his growing distaste for the villain, Ryan maintained his external neutrality and concentrated on learning everything that Bird was trying to teach him about control. A lot of it came across as general theory, kind of like what you would get from a basic textbook, rather than a specialized manual, but there were enough hints and ideas that he was able to bring a couple of effects under his conscious control. Ryan was certain that they were just scratching the surface, but what he was learning would be useful. After a couple of rather pointed exposures to a law enforcement grade Taser, Ryan had managed to mimic the effect. A bit of work by a tight lipped metal worker, and his batons had acquired a webbing of copper on each of their segments, allowing him to channel his stun effect through his weapons of choice without the display of crackling energy that had so surprised him the day of Bird’s little ‘wake-up call’. He had found he could also stun electronics and electrical systems, though the first time it had happened he had accidentally blacked out a large part of the Strip when the substation transformer objected to the amount of power he had inadvertently sent its way.



​

One bright spot of the last two weeks were the regular sparring matches against Angela. Ryan had approached the tough brunette with a request for lessons in her style of hand to hand. His training had included un-armed techniques, but hers had proven, enlightening. Un-armed, Angela bested him a good seven of eight sessions, always seeming to have some new trick whenever he seemed to be getting the upper hand. In return, he had acquired some training sticks and started showing her the basics of Eskrima. Here the tables were reversed, with Ryan managing to win six of seven sessions, at least until Angela had discovered her powers during a bout with Bird. That day had been, exciting. Once she had some control though, Angela had insisted that Ryan shift to his regular combat batons, while she retained the practice sticks. These bouts were much more even, because a light tap from Angela could quite literally blow Ryan across the gym if it got past his guard, and a touch from his batons could leave Angela trying to shake out a numb limb, or twitching on the floor, depending on where he managed to tag her. Ryan had discovered a new power during one of those bouts, though it remained elusive, appearing irregularly at best. Angela had managed to work inside his guard, and was about to deliver an open handed strike to his chest when there had been a bright flash and a ‘snap’ of electricity that left her shaking out an arm gone suddenly numb. The best they could figure was that he had somehow generated a concentrated static charge, but the how of it still remained just out of reach.



​

At least he no longer owed Bird any money. Ryan had become, not a regular, but an accepted member of the low stakes game Tim, Leon, and Carl seemed to have perpetually going on. Bird’s training and his own research and study trying to revive his knowledge of electronics took up most of his time, but whenever Ryan could get downstairs he did, slowly evolving a view of the outside world through their comments. He had won and lost, though he had managed to win some of the larger pots while cutting his losses early whenever he could. As a result, just yesterday he had quietly placed a neat stack of bills into Bird’s hand with a nod. The stack had contained four thousand dollars, mostly in smaller denominations, though the occasional fifty or hundred had been in there, products mostly of Carl. He still had a bit of a nest egg tucked away, and he was fairly sure Bird knew about it, but there had been no comment made.



​

None of that mattered now though as his listened to Angela voice her opinions of Bird’s rules.



​
 

“This isn’t going to be along the same lines as our first mission is it?” he asked, his voice carefully neutral. “I’d rather not be walking into another no win situation.”



​

He looked Bird right in the eye, letting the temperature of his voice drop slightly.



​
 

“The safety of myself and my companions trumps all other considerations. If this is going to present a problem, best we go ahead and have that discussion now.”
 
Aaron Massimo





Aaron heard what Bird was saying, but something about the way he said the words made it difficult to understand. Sophia was dead?


Deep within the confines of Aaron's mind, among the many gears spinning away, one that was out of place slipped out of place. The surrounding gears began to spin out of control as the Trojan part cracked and splintered apart. Sounds of complex machinery threatening to break apart completely filled the imaginary space. Everything came to a sudden halt as a long blade was plunged between the gears to stop them. The one responsible was another doppelganger that looked exactly like Aaron, though this one had cold silver eyes as opposed to Aaron's emerald or the ruby red of the doppelganger that had placed the broken gear. It calmly walked over to where the spare gears were stored and found a replacement for the broken piece and pushed it into place before pulling out the blade used to jam the gears and pulling the level to restart the machinery. "What are you trying to accomplish, Anger?" he asked as he left the control room easily as he had entered. 


He found the emotion in the courtyard playing cards with Kindness, as had been their pastime since Aaron had needed to access his memories of common gambling game rules. As expected, Anger showed no sign of having done any wrong or even of having sensed anything amiss. "Apathy." Another emotion approached him as he watched Anger.


"Yes Fear?" he answered the blue-eyed doppelganger. 


"I felt a tremor a moment ago. Do you know what it was?"


"Nothing important," Apathy dismissed Fear's concern and gave one last glance towards Anger before walking away.


Fear's eyes followed Apathy as he left. Where was he going in such a hurry? To check on Love? Fear's eyes grew wider. What if the tremor had been Pain? The emotion shuddered at the thought and gave a sidelong glare to where Anger was still playing his game against Kindness. Anger would win that game of course, he only ever played against Kindness because he let him win every time. Apathy might not have said that Anger had done something, but just from the fact that he'd been watching the emotion from a distance made that much clear. 


Aaron released the dangerous mix of things that had been trying to gather in his chest out in a deep sigh, careful not to let them form into words he'd rather not speak aloud. Sophia was dead. So what? He'd barely known her for a day. He'd barely be able to mourn her if he wanted to. Keeping his face an unrevealing mask was simple given that the shock of Sophia's death was still strong. Compared to that, Bird torching three grand was barely anything at all. After the villain had retreated to his room and left the three of them alone Aaron let out a short bark of laughter, completely inappropriate edged with a too appropriate harshness. He was starting to see just what kind of person lay beneath Bird's many masks.


The next two weeks of 'training' were, put simply, hell. He was supposed to be learning how to use whatever superpower coming to this world was apparently supposed to give him, but day after day as much as he tried to make something, anything, happen came up with nothing. How was he supposed to make whatever power he had work if he had no clues as to what that power was? He ended up using the time he was supposed to be training to simply exercise. Aaron had never been out of shape, but that was more due to a healthy metabolism and not eating much than putting any effort into maintaining himself. Now he was actively trying to create muscle. Whatever Legends he encountered wouldn't care if he was strong or weak physically, but it might matter against more mundane opponents. So long as he made sure not to turn into a muscle-head like Ryan.


Around Angela and Ryan he made sure not to show any of his frustration at not developing his kinesis. From the looks of it Angela was in the same boat as him struggling to figure out her power. Some part of Aaron, pride perhaps, kept him from revealing that he also was struggling finding what his power was. Ryan got lucky having his practically bursting out of him from day one. Aaron's frustrations built up as the days passed, and then as the second week rolled in Aaron finally slipped up.


Anger stood in the control room once again, the many gears turning away as usual. The emotion hummed a merry tune to himself as he pulled a new gear off of a shelf and brought it over to the machinery. "Anger! What are you doing here?" The ruby-eyed emotion allowed himself a brief smirk that he'd quickly wiped away before turning to face Fear.


"Why should I tell you?" Anger provoked the other emotion. "You have no authority over me."


Fear raised his arm and pointed an old-looking silver handgun at Anger, pulling back the hammer without looking away from the bothersome emotion standing across from him. "I won't let you do whatever you want," he said.


"Oh? And what will you do to stop me?" Anger brushed off Fear's threats and went back to placing the new gear into the machinery of Aaron's mind.


Fear pulled the trigger. The gear Anger had been lifting fell heavily to the floor.


All it took was a few pointed words from Bird when Aaron really wasn't in the mood to hear them and all of his frustration flooded out of him as pure hot anger. He turned on the villain, but of course Bird was so far out of his league that in a second it looked like the villain was actually going to tear him apart, compelled by the same overwhelming anger that had come over Aaron.


Anger laughed, and it echoed through the vast control room. Crimson blood was spilling out of him, but more importantly it had covered the gears behind him. Made slick from Anger's blood, they spun dangerously fast. He could feel himself pushing past the confines of Aaron's mind, exerting himself onto the outside world. It was like nothing the emotion had ever experienced. 


Fear dropped his gun. He'd played right into Anger's hands. He'd messed up. The emotion wasn't paying attention to his surroundings when Anger's crimson scythe impaled it through the chest.


"Come on Fear, pay attention a little, please. I'll cover for you this time, but your little meltdown almost got Aaron killed." Anger swung the blade around to spray the gears with Fear's blood.


For the first time ever, Aaron was afraid of the Bird he was seeing. The overwhelming fear chilled the air in his lungs and froze the blood in his veins. The wave of emotion hit Bird at the same time, causing him to suddenly stop his attack. They did not finish their training that day, but the next day they began working with Aaron's newfound kinesis, though Bird warned him to never use his power to provoke him again. 


Apathy watched the confrontation between Anger and Fear from an alcove up above, but he did not interfere as their actions broke down the walls keeping the emotions born within Aaron trapped inside. When the two emotions finally left the control room, Apathy stepped down to clean up the mess they'd made. He hummed the tune Anger had been humming to himself as he wiped away the blood and put the gear Anger had pretended to be moving back on the shelf it had been taken from. He might be the prime emotion, the strongest at work within Aaron and the closest to him in nature, but his emotion was useless for awakening Aaron's power. He'd needed to use the more explosive emotions to force Aaron's power out.


Aaron looked over the details of the heist the three of them were supposed to pull off. Steal something from criminals, who may have Legends among them, without using violence or being suspected, and in a way that the theft was undetectable. He thought over the situation for a few seconds. "I do not believe out abilities, expertise-wise or kinesis-wise, are suited for pulling off this sort of job," he finally said, choosing his words carefully. A stealth theft was something Bird himself was perfectly suited for, so he may consider it a minor task, but to them it would be much more difficult. "The nonviolence clause severely limits the effectiveness of Angela and Ryan's kinesis, and stealing from criminals means any of us who show our faces around the target at any point around when the object is stolen will immediately become a suspect. Not to mention the possibility of being detected by another Legend and the entire situation devolving into a very destructive brawl..." He trailed off.


"Where in the building is the target being stored?" he asked with an uncharacteristic excitement. "Someone find a map of any pipelines running near the building." 
 

Bird
​


 
​


The villain sat there, smiling as Angela spoke, a crooked grin pushing past the glee. He had gained a certain, odd amount of joy when it came to the tough girl's comments. It all started after their little sparring match, and developed from then on. Instead of simply getting annoyed or worse, it almost piqued a reaction of mirth. Though, they could occasionally strike the wrong nerve, something both of them knew all too well by now. Which usually only occurred when they got a little too rowdy, such as now. Bird's grin faltered to a mere raised cheekbone as she kept talking, and crested to no more then a small crinkle by the time Angela had finished talking. The sparkle was still glinting in his eyes, if only for the sake of the last thing the fighter said. "I'll do more then just turn you over my knee." The man recoiled at his own comment, realizing how much of a different tone it set then intended. Shaking his head slightly, the villain merely left it as is. No sense digging a deeper hole, right? "Just...don't hurt anyone, okay? Because I will have to do something about it." Indeed, it was the second best kept rule of his. Just behind, 'don't let anyone notice you as an enemy'. Killing leaves a million and one clues to your whereabouts, tactics, tendencies, and more. It leaves you completely open to regular detectives if they're good enough, and Legends who only need a single clue to bounce off of. That's why the public knows who I am, no matter how little that might actually be. 


To compliment the thought, in chimed Ryan. His first remark was a little too close to hurt, and it forced Bird to escape a little smile. The rough guy was trying so hard to not reveal his own emotions, it was actually rather amusing, even if the anger was directed at the villain. It was so obvious, even a small child could guess it. Thankfully or not, the anger turned into an icy expression and voice, thought it had no affect on Bird. How should the man go about this? He thought carefully, tapping on the chair while he thought. A typical action of Masuku. Hmm...I suppose Ryan did have some impact on me. Blowing it off, he found his words. There wasn't any amusement left, but neither was there any sort of regret. Even still, it was far from neutral. "Listen, I was the first to admit my wrong, and I tried to correct it as best I could. The Sophia incident was my fault, through and through." He stopped tapping, and tried to mentally maintain the colorful glow, as to not give off the wrong impression at such a critical moment. "But, I will not let you get away with such comments again. I know we hardly know one another, and I seriously bugged it up, however...I took her death harder then you realize, and I refuse to allow it to happen once more." Looking around at all three of them now, he finished with, "Your lives are my number one priority. I'll risk my life if need be. So, Ryan, you have no reason to worry, and I'll prove that to you." Actions speak louder then words, Bird knew that. All he could offer right now, was empty promises. Only when he could get the chance to fill them, might the rough guy take it with credence. Besides, I need you all alive. My plans require at least three people, after all.


Finishing it off, was the last of the flock. The silver boy. Bird started calling the boy that at some point. It just...fit. Especially after that little incident when he manged to learn his kinesis by chance. I hate people who tamper with my head. Still, no scorn could be noticed. The villain wasn't angry with the boy anymore, but that instance stuck around for sometime. It was undeniable that the man wasn't all together, and messing around with the precarious set of stones was more then a little dangerous for everyone. However, pathokinesis was a very valuable ability for such operations. So the risk, is worth the payout. A frown portrayed Bird's disappointment of Aaron, expecting the boy to get it before anyone else. But slowly, it turned around as the novice partially realized what the villain intended. "You're as close as can be, Aaron. While most of the rules I gave will always be applied, simply because they are what I try to uphold, there is another reason." Sitting up straighter, the villain allowed his colors to become a little more vibrant. "I need to test you guys a lot harder then I have been. This will push your abilities past your own restraints, or...begin to." Shuffling through the stack of papers, Bird pulled out a page, and tossed it in front of the boy. An entire outline of the underground near the target. Giving a wink, he stood up and stretched, heading towards the hallway. "Well, I'm off. Best of luck! Remember, one week." With that, the man was gone.


[Tagged - @OverconfidentMagi@Tarmagon@Nooguy]
 
Bird's little remark earned a slight grin from the mercenary, an amused chuckle leaving her, but she remained silent knowing that any more goading and the two would likely be having a little spat and more often than not furniture would end up flying. So, remaining largely silent as Bird spoke, Angela redirected her attention to the various information on the bank before her. 'While I'm no bank robber I'm sure as hell not confident that we can just waltz into the bank and crack open the safe by saying pretty please.' Angela's thoughts mulled about as she started looking around at the various municipal lines and services. A brief wave was all that Angela gave to Bird's departure, her attention still pouring over intel before her. "Alright boys let's buckle down and get things rolling. Now I don't know about you two, but a heavy bank door isn't something that I'm too hot on trying to crack head on. From what I've been able to gather from all this is that there's a sewage tunnel large enough for us to fit which runs beneath the bank, and it's conveniently located beneath the bank vault if this municipal map matches up with the bank's layout." The brunette gestured to the two documents which she'd centered on the table before them. "Now these pipes aren't too terribly deep in the earth. I'm confident we could get up beneath the bank vault and use something like thermite to burn through any reinforced concrete or flooring leading to the vault. Any nearby manhole will give us access to the bank, and it looks like an alley a few buildings away from the bank is the closes way down. Of course any electronic security measures will have to be dealt with, and I'm sure you can see to that quite well Ryan." She gave the dark haired man a brief wink before returning to her train of thought. "This section of the city is more on the old side so something such as brief black out shouldn't raise too much worry." Angela gave a sigh as she leaned back on the couch she sat upon, running a hand through her hair. "We just need to deal with any guards who may be on the premise as no doubt Ryan's going to need to have access to the building's electrical box in order to shut down any alarms, and I doubt they'll smile at someone frying said box." A brief pause halted Angela's train of thought as she racked her brain, a snap of the fingers signaling a break in her mental block as she looked to Aaron. "Aaron, think you can work that mental mojo on anyone on the premise while Ryan works his magic?" Angela asked as she began to mark out possible routes upon the layout of the bank and the underground sewage tunnel. "We just need to get the appropriate equipment to breach the vault and transport our cargo along with addressing the matters of bank personnel on the premises. All in all we'd just have to kill the place's power, you two regroup with me in the sewage tunnel, and we bust our way up into the vault. Any other suggestions or ideas to add guys?" The mercenary glanced to Aaron and Ryan briefly, wanting their input as their asses would be on the line just as much as hers. For the time being Angela idly spun the pen in her left hand as she herself thought of other details of the heist.


@OverconfidentMagi


@Tarmagon


@TheGossipLink
 
Aaron Massimo





"Ironically, you would be the one to have the most luck against said bank door," Aaron commented flatly, only half paying attention to what Angela was saying as he looked over the documents. From below would be the best way of getting to their target. "Burning our way in would leave too much evidence, and the chance of an accident would be high. Ryan using his ability to fry their systems is a good idea, but I can't just make their security ignore him. That is beyond the scope of my power." He thought for a moment then shook his head and looked at the papers again. "Ideally we should knock out the power to a larger area than just our target. Here," he put his finger to a place some ways away from the place they would be stealing from. "If Ryan could overload this transformer, it would probably turn off the power for the surrounding few blocks at least." Probably. Aaron wasn't an expert on how the power grid worked, but overloading where all the power ran through had to break something. "And even if Ryan isn't able to knock out the power to the whole area, he can use it as a chance to charge up and use that to knock out power to just the building as you suggested. We will need Ryan there when breaking into the vault as well, to find and get rid of any other electrical detection systems that might be there."


Aaron disliked this assignment. The only one of them that would be of any use would be Ryan. Not for the first time, he felt himself wishing his ability had been something flashy and universally useful like Ryan's electrokinesis. The envy he felt towards the other man was sickening. Aaron's pale green eyes hid these thoughts. 


"I can use my power to make the people inside the building less careful and less observant, but that's all my power's any good for. If anyone notices something's wrong I won't be able to convince them otherwise. And Angela, you should avoid using your power during this if possible. We need to have Ryan use his out of necessity, but the less impact our abilities have on things the less likely this can be traced back to us even if our powers later become known." Aaron didn't say it exactly, but it was probably enough for the idea to get out into the air and into the others' heads. 'When we've made names for ourselves, as supervillains.'


@TheGossipLink


@Nooguy


@Tarmagon
 
Ryan listened to Angela lay out her ideas as he studied the information in the papers. Before he could speak up, Aaron chimed in, voicing ideas and opinions that were a surprising mirror of Ryan's own.


"That's actually pretty much in line with what I was thinking Aaron," he said, his tone far warmer than any he had used with Aaron in the past. "And you're correct. Let's see. No medical facilities in that area. Good. If I surge an overload out from that sub-station," Ryan pointed to the transformer that Aaron had picked out, "I should be able to overload this entire area's individual supply transformers. It'll take hours, if not days, for the power company to replace them all. There'll be nothing to indicate our actual target."


Ryan considered the next question for a moment, then shrugged internally. Maybe Aaron wasn't what his first impression made him out to be.


"Do you think your powers could let you do a recon on the supposedly public areas of the bank?" he asked, looking directly at Aaron. "Updated information could be invaluable, and maybe you could, project a sense of belonging maybe? Give people a feeling that you have business there while you look around?"


Ryan shifted his gaze back to Angela, his attention on the pen she was idly twirling.


"I wonder if rather than one of the big booms you're so fond of, a series of smaller ones might prove more useful." he mused aloud. "Anyway. If I manage to knock out the areas power and they don't... Nope, nothing mentioned about a reserve generator. So, that building will get hot, and most of the 'public' employees will be sent home. The one's left behind will be the muscle. They'll already be cranky from the heat...Aaron, do you think maybe you could amp that up? Make them so angry and touchy that the slightest provocation would make them start fighting each other?"


Glancing at the floor plans, Ryan just couldn't come up with anything else at the moment, though one thought did occur to him.


"Angela," he said, "I don't know anything about mechanical safes. I don't think any of us do. Could you ask Bird if there's any way we can get access to a vault of the same kind this place is using? Getting actual eyes on might give us some ideas that don't involve your more, explosive personality quirks."


@TheGossipLink


@Nooguy


@OverconfidentMagi
 
Aaron Massimo





He stared evenly at Ryan for an uncomfortable handful of seconds, then he leaned back with his arms behind his head. "I already thought of that," he said with a sigh. "I'd love to sit back and watch as I slowly raise the anger levels and paranoia of everyone inside the building to the boiling point to see if they end up tearing each other apart." That much was true. After seeing the kind of effect his power had had on Bird, someone who seemed to keep a tight leash on their emotions, Aaron had been hoping for some way to test just how far he could push others. What could he drive others to do with his power? "But Bird said we absolutely couldn't kill anyone, and who knows how some of the criminals in there might react if I cranked up their irritation to eleven. Technically I wouldn't be responsible for causing anything that happens, but I doubt Bird would see it quite that way."


"As for recon... that's not quite how the power works," he trailed off, not bothering to try and explain exactly how his emotional manipulations actually worked. It'd be more soothing away suspicion and bringing up a sense of kinship in those nearby. That or just project apathy and avoid interacting with anyone. That would be effective, but incredibly boring. He didn't like using his power to just project one thing and forget about it. It was much more fun, and more natural, to keep changing the emotions he was pulling and pushing on in those around him. "But it shouldn't be a problem," he finished. "And actually, that would be a good excuse for me to be inside the building when the theft is actually taking place. It'd be useful to have one of us up above in the bank to keep tabs on what they do, and it'd be easier for me to effect them if I can see their reactions."


@TheGossipLink


@Nooguy


@Tarmagon
 
Even though she seemed deep in thought, Angela caught the words of the two men around her acutely as her mind worked over the ever evolving details and suggestions thrown in by her partners. "Well Ryan I'm hoping we can circumvent having to open the vault itself. Right here-" The brunette paused as she tapped a section of the bank blueprint which depicted the vault's location. "-is where a sewage tunnel, here-", she paused again as she moved to a municipal blueprint of the same local area which indicated a sizable pipe running just under the vault. "-passes beneath. I'm hoping we can use controlled demolitions to just tunnel our way through the floor of the vault and get our prize. If this vault is more along the older spectrum of models we won't really have to worry too much about the floor being reinforced. These goons are prepared for a frontal assault, but not a subterranean approach." She stated, continuing to twirl the pen in her left hand as she thought. "As for you Aaron we'd best be careful with having you among the hired muscle. All it takes is someone seeing an unfamiliar face to trigger a silent alarm. However you can help to try and keep things smooth in case anyone grows suspicious or feels like hitting the panic button." Angela stated, sighing softly as she looked over the schematics before them, quite pleased Bird was able to get them so much info from the start. "We also have to remember that cops will respond like any other bank problem, and it's not a stretch to think a good number of them are getting paid off so they likely won't be warm to us stealing from their 'buddies'. Hopefully we won't have to deal with cops, but still we'd best treat any cops near the premise with the same attitude as the goons inside." Angela adds having run into corrupt cops in the past and not really being fond of their annoying persistence when having their extra income threatened.


"Well unless either of you two have any other suggestions with how we make our way into the vault I'm gonna do a rundown of things; a rough summary before finer details are made. We're utilizing a sewage tunnel which runs beneath the bank vault just enough to permit entry. I'm on tunneling duty, and while I'm making my way to the point beneath the bank vault Ryan's going to wait for my signal before overloading this local transformer thus cutting power to the entire city block." Angela tapped on the indicated location of the transformer in question. "Now with a the city's size the response for repair is going to be lengthy so we have decent time with us when factoring traffic and current responses already needed in other locations. As for actually getting into the bank itself from beneath I can utilize shaped charges to blast through the majority of concrete, dirt, ceramic, and any other material in my way. However if push comes to shove and explosives won't do it I'm bringing thermite just in case as right now the focus is completing our objective so perfection isn't necessary. While Ryan and I are completing our own objectives, Aaron will be inside the bank itself monitoring the situation and manipulating it as he sees fit; preferably keeping things calm and waylaying suspicion when things begin heating up." Angela rattled off the general gist of what she felt was a decent idea of the heist so far. "Wait...the explosives might be detectable when I get closer to the vault's floor; not so much the noise as the concussive force. We'd need something like local construction or something to mask that unless you feel like you could mask any suspicion or worry about such an even combined with the power going off Aaron. If not Aaron that's fine, I can use thermite to simply burn into the vault when the security measures are down." Angela finished her spiel and leaned back on the couch, folding her arms behind her head. "Well boys I'm open to any refinements. Either of you want to work over a contingency plan if we happen to come across resistance? We've got to remember that we're not the only ones with powers here, and the last thing we need is some hero passing by and catching wind of our operation. Seeing as Bird doesn't want us to kill anyone I'm open to suggestions. Ryan you can incapacitate easily with your electrical abilities and I have hand to hand if needed." The brunette looks to Aaron. "Aaron, if push comes to shove how confident are you in dealing with physical confrontation?" She asked, her tone serious as she wanted to ensure any potential weaknesses or chinks in their plan were ironed out before things start in motion.
 
Aaron Massimo





"I would love to say I could confidently take on a doze armed criminals with noting but my wits and good looks, but alas... I would rather not. Maybe if I was armed, but I don't believe it would be wise to be carrying a gun if I'm to be inside the bank with the criminals we are attempting to rob. Call it intuition if you will." He had been thinking about asking Bird about getting a weapon, but he had yet to bring it up. A part of him didn't want to use a weapon at all. It distinguished himself from the other two, who seemed so comfortable handling weapons, not even just guns but all manner of strange things he couldn't even name, and whose powers were weapons in their own right. If he was supposed to be the brains of the operation, as he thought of himself, it should only be fitting to walk around unarmed.


"As for my face," he smirked, "I've got an idea for that. I think tomorrow morning I'll pay a visit to this bank. Viola, no longer a stranger when I come back on the day of the heist to deposit... something." He whispered the word and waved his hands around dramatically. "No clue what, but I'm sure Bird's got some piece of junk lying around that would appear valuable to an unsophisticated monkey's eye. And if you're good you can steal it back while you're in the vault anyway. Hell, we're supposed to be villains, steal every god damn thing in there if you think you can get away with it!"


"Or not," he added after leaning back, the moment of excitement passed. "Never know who might be bugging their trinkets, and until we do it might be better not to bite off more than we can swallow. The plan seems solid enough though. We should run a few simulations and check out construction schedules as you mentioned, that is a good idea, make some escape routes in case things go to hell." Aaron could feel the hard weight of some part of him already dreading actually going through with this plan, but it was insignificant next to the mountain of excitement rising above it. Half of his reason for wanting to go to the bank sooner was simply impatience, he wasn't clueless enough to ignore that. Still he managed to spin it into an idea that seemed more strategic that just his fancy.


"Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing that thermite in action though. It's hard not to find that kind of stuff a little fascinating."


@TheGossipLink


@Nooguy


@Tarmagon
 
Aaron Massimo





The next morning, just as he'd said, Aaron was standing outside the bank in question. In his hand a case containing the "valuable" item Bird had supplied, more or less. "Well, let's get on with this," he said to himself and strolled right up to the door and into the building. Let the recon begin.


His first reaction was that the place looked much more official than he'd been picturing. If he hadn't been told otherwise he might have assumed this a perfectly average bank. The only tell was the people, not quite pulling off the banker look. Playing spot the difference it was clear that this was definitely not your typical bank. He smiled at a young man whose eye he happened to meet. "Excuse me, you work here?"


The man's eyes looked him up and down. "Yes I do, what business will you be doing today?"


"Well you see, this is actually my first time here," he said to the man with an open, honest tone. "I'd like to deposit a certain item." He lifted the case he was holding to indicate the item in question was inside. "Just for a few weeks. Oh, and I'd rather not have to answer too many difficult questions about said item."


The man's stare remained flat and unreadable. "So you wish to store an... item with us. What exactly is this item then?"


Aaron sighed. It looked like there was no avoiding it. Damn Bird. He lifted the case onto the counter and popped it open. Inside was a... actually, the case barely had anything in it at all. Aaron pulled from the case a photograph. It depicted a silvery statue of a naked baby. "I did say I'd rather not have to be put in the difficult situation of having to explain this." The man opposite was clearly confused, so he kept talking. "A Kewpie doll, at least that's what I've been told it is. Personally I think it's an ugly piece of junk, but what I think doesn't mean much to those who employ me. You probably know the feeling." He fished, and sure enough the man bit. He was in.


"Yes yes, I know the feeling. So you simply came to ask if we could store this... doll? ... and you intend to come back with the item later to deposit it?"


Aaron smiled. "Good, you were paying attention. That's the plan, yes. Once the item comes in I need somewhere to store it, and I'd been told this was the place for that."


The man stared at the photo again and raised an eyebrow. "This would be something we are able to store. When do you plan on depositing it?"


"In the next few days for sure." He spent the next fifteen minutes in the bank discussing the specifics and costs, all the while Aaron was committing the faces of each person in the room to memory. When he left the bank, instead of immediately returning to Bird's nest he stopped at a diner and wasted time eating and talking to strangers. He made sure to wander and linger at every turn on his path back to the hideout. He didn't think he was being watched, but it was always better to play safe.


@TheGossipLink


@Nooguy


@Tarmagon
 
Ryan flowed through one of his favorite forms, leashed power crackling around his batons as they wove through the air. Aaron would be out on his recon of the bank, Angela was probably out acquiring the gear she wanted for the job, and Bird... well, who ever really knew what Bird was doing. As thoughts of upcoming job passed through his mind, Ryan felt his center shift, throwing off the smooth rhythm of the form, and he broke form with a sigh. Walking over to an exposed beam, he tapped both of his batons against it, discharging the power with a flash and snap before collapsing them and dropping them into their sheathes. Toweling sweat from his forehead, Ryan moved out of the room they used for practice and made his way to his room. A quick shower and change of clothes later saw him sitting cross-legged on the floor in his room, examining the cause of his discontent.


"We are going to fail," he thought. "By the definition of the task as Bird set it forth, the plan we have will automatically be a failure. The instant anyone opens the vault, it will be obvious that it was broken into, and the item will be among the items missing. No matter how many things we take, it will be known that the item is missing, ergo, we fail. I do not like to fail."


Ryan wasn't sure how long he sat there, turning various ideas over in his head, but a sound from the kitchen area caught his attention an indeterminate amount of time later. Rising, he moved quickly to the kitchen, to find Bird just closing the refrigerator. One of the ideas that had been turning over in his mind came to the fore, and with a what-the-hell mental shrug, Ryan caught Bird's eye.


"Bird," he said. "I have a question about the parameters of this job. I know that one of your rules was that no one should know we have taken the item. Does destroying the contents of the vault to the point that no one can tell what, if anything is missing, fulfill that requirement?"


@TheGossipLink
 
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Bird
​


 
​


It had been sometime since the briefing, and it appeared to the villain that his flock was taking it's sweet time working around their job. While understandable, considering this was their first attempt at anything like this, the lollygagging was getting to the point of exhaustion. With having to watch over all three of them, Bird had nearly no time to do his usual business. His personal jobs and missions, were in a possibly permanent hiatus, and research on different potential targets, alongside training or preparing for things to come, was severely limited. None of them knew it, but the man was constantly looking over them. Whether through cameras, tracking devices, or literally trailing them when they went to certain places, he kept his keen eyes peeled. After Sophia died, he realized how little he had previously planned to keep them safe. It was a pure insult to his name, to allow her to die, and he refused to allow any further disgrace to come upon himself. If they died, Bird would ensure there was nothing he could've done to save them, to the potential point of dying himself. Even still, it's amazing how much work the villain did manage to get done. The whole, 'first time bank heist', was really nothing more then a cop out job because they couldn't do anything else yet. But after this, he knew they needed something more. Though, that 'thing', isn't easy to find. The last option to resort to, was for them to go mug someone or do other worthless crimes. They needed to be high profile, and the man would make sure of it.


When they all clock out into their beds, usually no later then midnight, is when Bird sets up his roost. Pouring into endless webpages, surfing places few knew existed, hacking into various government, and private systems to learn the best information possible. The Witch's note was promising, and officially opened the villain's eyes to the truth behind the curtain. Even still, learning anything past that has been...fruitless. That one tiny apple, that always seemed just beyond his grasp. Paintings are simple to steal. People though, is another story entirely. Shrugging, the result would be the same. Nothing. No traces, no leads, no anything. I know Angels are just fairy tales...but hey, this world is full of real life mysteries, isn't it? Passing a quick check at another screen, showed a layout of the city. Three pings kept bouncing around, only two of them moving around much. Aaron was off near the bank, likely scouting about. Bird wondered to himself what the boy would think, when he opened the case. The encounter to gain the item, was amusing enough to the villain, let alone seeing it in action. If only I could be there. Another dot, signaled the location of Angela. Still safe and sound, as far as the man could notice. Without direct line of sight from a camera, it was hard to tell. But the movements of the dot resembling her, didn't seem forced. The last ping, was Ryan, still inside the hideout. Bird bet himself twenty bucks that the other guy was practicing his martial arts.


Sighing, the man left his room. No point in aimlessly searching for something that isn't even there, right? He walked over to the fridge, viewing the contents inside. It was about time to eat, but the discouragement from before brought him no appetite. I wonder if I could benefit from a change of mind? Look at the world a little differently...yeah, that sounds good. Still looking in the fridge, Bird let his mind wander, his grip loosen. Closing his eyes, the man let the feeling of the cold air wash over his head, relaxing, calming...till his eyes shot open. Unlike before, he straightened his posture into a proper form. Dusting off the non-dirty clothes, the man looked pointedly at their state of disrepair. Putting it off, Masuku nabbed a loaf of bread, an unopened packet of deli-cut salami, and a jar of mayo. Just as the fridge door closed shut behind him, the villain took note of another presence in the room with him. Gazing over to the unexpected company, Masuku tried giving a friendly smile as their eyes met. So that's where Ryan was. Unlocking the stare, the man quickly went into preparing his midday meal. Admittedly, the tough guy's request took the villain by surprise. It was far beyond what the guy had promoted himself to be, something more akin to what Angela would ask. Not to say it was a bad idea, though. Interesting, for certain. Masuku noticed that a crevice of his mind, likely the odd form of another presence that dwells within himself, take great joy from the concept.


Lightly setting down two pieces of bread, the man hardly bothered to solely focus on Ryan. Even still, his mind was equally divided to each task at hand. "There is an issue with your logic, simply because it conflicts with my own. I told you, that the item couldn't be noticed stolen, yes. However, that was because the mission was to go so well with the element of stealth, that no one would ever notice you even broke into the vault." Gently laying a few pieces of salami down, the villain specifically noted that each one had less then fifteen white dots. "Of course, I knew you three couldn't have done that. You barely understand slight of hand, let alone how to crack into a secured vault. Therefore," he took a knife and glided it over one side of the other piece of bread, laying mayo neatly over it, "you were meant to fail in that sense. To promote you into thinking of something that worked for you, of course." Finishing making the sandwich, the villain cut it in half, then sat back up and faced Ryan directly. "I had to learn everything I know, on my own. No help from a mentor, no guides or instruction manuals, only pure experience. Failures, victories, and stuff everywhere in between. That's why I'm the best super villain in the world, why I can steal anything, kill anyone, even tear down a government if need be." Lifting the plate off the counter, he dropped it, and everything on it, directly into the trash. Grabbing a new package of salami from inside the fridge, he started all over again. "I've been training you all myself, because I know how to rocket your progress along. You don't have to fail, in order to learn like I did. But, this is both a blessing, and curse. So, I had this job for you to do. You can't do it like me, so it forces you to do it like you would."


Laying the new salami over the new bread, Masuku noticed that there was more then fifteen dots on each piece. "So to answer your question? Yes, it does fulfill my requirement. If nothing is left that can be identified, there is no reason for them to notice the intended target is gone. Mission success, congrats. Just make sure they don't realize this too quickly though, and catch you mid-escape. The bigger you make the job, the bigger your margin for failure is." Finishing up the new sandwich, the villain looked at it fondly. Putting everything away, including both packages of salami, he offered up one last comment to the other man. "A word of advice, don't eat any salami in that fridge. If you grab the wrong package, you'll be dead within the hour." Taking the plate with him, Masuku returned to his room, with a fresh mindset to face his research.   


[Tagged - @Tarmagon]
 
"Oh for fu-are you being serious right now jackass? Enough with the cloak and dagger crap, here's the money, now give me my damn shit!" Angela's voice echoed along the city alleyway she'd chosen to do a weapon pickup, having gotten a supposedly reliable black market contact of Bird's. Of course to her luck she got stuck with some idiot courier who stuck out like a sore thumb with how paranoid they were acting. After the fifth time of being asked whether or not she was a cop or if she'd been followed, Angela's patience had been worn thin. Unceremoniously ripping the brown duffel bag from the courier's hand, the brunette threw the small case of money onto the ground before turning and heading away. "Swear to the big guy in the sky, I have to deal with you again little man I'll rip your balls up into your throat as your new tonsils." She remarked in an irritated tone, slinging the rather weighty duffel back over her left shoulder as she made her way back toward the hideout, tugging her aviator's jacket collar a bit to fit comfortably once again as she walked. The mercenary didn't make any effort to mask or hide her movements, knowing that a person with luggage skulking through alleys and back streets would stick out to anyone looking for suspicious individuals. Angela had gotten almost all that she needed for the heist a few days ago, the thermite being what she'd just bought, but with a little something extra just for herself which she'd used her own money to buy. On her way back Angela enjoyed the sights, casually grabbing a bite to eat as she eventually made her way back to the hideout. 


Giving a friendly wave to the barkeep, and exchanging light hearted insults, Angela headed up toward the stairs leading to the apartment slash evil super villain clubhouse. As she arrived, the brunette glanced between static Ryan and Bird, well...Bird 2.0...or some other personality. "What's that about salami? I had a bit as a late night snack last night. Do I have twenty four hours to live now?" She asked with a chuckle, musing on whatever subject Bird had just been speaking of as she walked over and set the duffel bag down upon  "How's it chargin' static shock?" Angela quipped to Ryan as she sat down at the living room couch, rubbing her hands eagerly as she began to unzip the duffel bag only to extract a somewhat smaller rectangular, black case of sorts. Moving the duffel bag to the floor, visible rectangular blocks packed densely within, Angela set the black case down upon the coffee table before her, unlatching and opening it. Eyes lighting up like a child at christmas, and mouth curling into a twisted grin of delight, Angela reached in and extracted an old school looking single shot grenade launcher. "Ahhhh yeah, happy birthday to me." The merc remarked, looking over the weapon with great deligh. "Well Birdie boy your contact sent one hell of an annoying courier, but damn they know how to get quality gear." She said, resting the weapon over her shoulder as she then retrieved a pair of stainless steel knuckle dusters from the same black case. "Yeah I'm pretty happy right now. Oh we've got the thermite as well so all's good to go on my end." Angela stated as she leaned back on the couch, cigarette already lit and in her mouth as she took a puff. "Is it bad I'm kinda hoping for something to attack us right now so I can try this bad boy out?" She asked, leaned back, head resting backward as she looked up at her newly acquired grenade launcher which was held up in her right hand with glee only a jaded soldier could hold.
 
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