Luciana Morrison's Story

It was a cold, crisp, and clear night. The type of night that people could enjoy. Couples were walking the street, using the cold air as an excuse to steal each other’s body heat and warm clothes. Kids played tag, their air forming small clouds in the air as they laughed. Noise spilled on to the streets from balconies above as friends sat and drank a wine or a beer and put the world to right, staring at the stars. It was an entirely unremarkable evening for most, it seemed.

But not for all. Cerys could feel it in the air. Maybe it was just her own anxiety, her own apprehension about the evening. But it felt like something was going to happen- something big, something that would disrupt the peace everyone else seemed to be feeling. But they needed to do something. They couldn’t just sit idly by. They couldn’t just fade into the shadows and disappear like that.

She made her way across town to the location she’d received. She’d been suspicious at first, but when she’d heard that a number of other heroes had gotten a similar message, with the same location, it began to seem more legit. She was still apprehensive, but at least she knew she wasn’t going alone.

The location was a large, apparently abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. It did at least appear to be structurally sound, but was unlikely to have any ideal vantage points for her to shoot from. She could still shoot from ground level, but she always had an advantage with a little bit of height.

She wasn’t enough of a fool to just waltz in, though. So instead, she waited just out of sight, waiting for somebody she at least vaguely recognised to arrive, and pulling on her mask.

Atticus didn’t particularly want to go to this meeting or whatever it was. He’d planned on spending the evening watching some movies or maybe getting some work done on his showreel. Or hell, going out for a few drinks. But Lucy was dragging him along, and he apparently wasn’t getting much of a say so in the matter.

Even if he didn’t particularly want to be there, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going prepared. He’d retrieved his gun from the hidden panel in his wardrobe. It’s weight felt strange, alien, but he wasn’t optimistic that things would end peacefully, and he didn’t want to be dependent on his knife. And if he was leaving the house, he would be damned if he wasn’t leaving well dressed. So he wore his usual suit, the holster for his gun concealed beneath the jacket, his mask tucked into one pocket and a knife in the other.

He’d been getting the messages too, of course. Somebody knew that he could have chosen to save his uncle, but instead chose his chance of freedom. Somebody who lorded that over him and threatened him to stick to the shadows, the shadows he only occasionally stepped out from. He would have been perfectly happy to just lay low, to disappear and shed Icarus. But not everyone could do that. The few people he could call “friends” in the villain community couldn’t do that, and they shouldn’t have had to. So that was why he hadn’t put up too much of a fight when Lucy told him he had to come.

“Abandoned warehouse. Seriously, could they get any more cliche?” He remarked quietly as they approached, pulling on his mask. “They should have just put up a sign, ‘this is definitely a trap’!” He added, frowning beneath the mask and instinctively putting his hands into his pockets to wrap around the knife.

The day had gone by all too slowly, just as many others have before. From waking up reluctantly to the blare of her phone as she received spam calls from both Aaron and Dhani, explaining that they'd have a little meet up to go to later that night. It was already far past afternoon at this point as she finally groveled and rolled out of bed, assembling an outfit of a leather jacket over a plain t-shirt, jeans, combat boots and a knit dark grey beanie as the weather had begun growing colder and colder the past few weeks in Barden. One thing she had learned since first arriving in Barden five years ago was to always dress warm, otherwise, you'd regret it. She still had plenty of time to do some of her every day things before she had to meet up at the location, which she knew would be all too close for her later that night. She gathered her things, and after making sure she had everything she swiftly left her apartment.

Everything went by quickly in the next following hours, after grabbing some food at the local cafe and dropping by the small old music store that Aaron worked at and owned. It was a rather small place, with the main room being where the vinyl records were kept in small cubical stands all around the room, with posters spread across the walls, with records framed along as well. The lighting was a bit softer and not as harsh, giving the place a relaxing feel among the chaos that stood outside those doors. Soft music was always on repeat over the speakers to help keep the place from growing eerily silent, and the bookstore was across from the main room, with a dozen or so shelves lining the wall. With a few chairs and tables for those that chose to read if they so desired. Kieran waltzed through the store, taking a small check if anything new was brought it, with nothing standing out to her she walked behind the counter and sat down on the stool, waiting for Aaron to come out from the back soon as she knew he was busy.

After fifteen slow minutes passed, the small and soft chime on the main door opening alerted her to someone entering the store. Looking up from her phone she initially didn't see anyone and went back to surfing multiple different social media platforms. That was until the sound of someone walking up to the desk caught her attention, looking up. It was a blonde-haired woman, mid-twenties. She looked familiar to say the very least, Kieran knew her all too well, at least by face as something didn't sit entirely right about her. Something just felt, off. Kieran gave her a small smile as a greeting as she asked if Aaron was around, "Yo, Aaron! Get your bitch ass out here! You got a customer!" she called, craning her neck to the side as she looked to the backroom. Kieran turned her head back to the girl once more, giving her a small wink before she spoke again, "Thanks, I like your's as well. Your style I mean." she said awkwardly, feeling her face flush red with several counts of embarrassment, What the fuck was that, Kie?, she thought to herself before shaking her head.

After a moment she spoke up again when the girl asked what her name was, as she had seen her around the store a few times and figured Kieran was another regular customer. Which, she was, of sorts. "I guess you could say I'm a regular, of sorts. And I'm Kieran by the way. One of Aaron's good friends." she said with a small smile, awkwardly extending her hand for a handshake that the two exchanged. The small, short burst of energy she got off of the woman's hand was odd, and slightly concerning that caused her heart to skip a beat for a moment. Simply passing it off as anxiety she was relieved when Aaron emerged from the backroom. She gave him an exaggerated wave, "Sup, fucko. Way to keep your customers waiting." she teased. She gave Aaron an overdramatic sigh as he corrected her on watching what she says in front of customers, "Righty-o, bossman." she said giving him a wink, much to his dismay and clear annoyance. She watched as Aaron discussed the woman's order, who's name she already knew as Luciana. But Aaron referred to her as Lucy, keeping that in mind as she remembered Aaron talking about her a few times. Kieran gave Lucy a small wave as she finished her purchase and left soon after. Turning her attention to Aaron they discussed a few things after they knew they were alone again. Making sure they were on the same page of going to the warehouse that night. And left soon after to do her own things for the day.

She made a direct bee-line for where she would set up for the next few hours. Tucked away out of sight, and to herself, she set up her things along one of the highest buildings in Barden. While she had eyes all over the city and had complete access to them from the safety and comfort of her own home, it was something else when she went out and observed things for herself. There were always things she could capture in the moment herself than a simple camera system, all thanks to the line that Aaron's father had created. While she had made her own modifications and security measures to them, just making sure no one could highjack them or manipulate footage. Everything was always in real-time and she was constantly being alerted of updates via her phone which she had integrated into the system. While most called Malfyre a crazed, paranoid radical who couldn't go a day without watching the city like a hawk, some had felt safer since the cameras were set up, while others despised it and felt like their privacy had been violated. While that possibly could have been the truth, no one could deny that it wasn't the worst thing to happen in Barden. Far,far worse things had taken place, and Kieran had full access to it all, disturbingly enough.

From being an anonymous face among Barden, with very few people who knew who or what Malfyre was, Kieran was just as mysterious and unknown. She preferred to keep to herself and only work with others if she really had to. Even most of the other heroes had no idea who the person behind the mask of Malfyre was, only a few did such as Paladin and BludWynd, which hadn't been intended. Just like Malfyre, Kieran was a loner, and as loners do they blend in with their surroundings and don't stand out from a crowd of faces. Something that helped in her line of work, however unethical and morally greyed it may have been. Kieran simply sat on rooftop after rooftop, observing everything below the skyline and city streets. Being able to have a bird's eye view on everything was her preferred method of action, and after snapping several pictures from several advantage points which ended up taking more time than she had initially wanted, it was ready for her to pack everything up and get ready for the big meet up, whatever it was she wasn't sure. Initially, she wasn't going to go to it, but after receiving an anonymous email from someone unknown, with personal information on who she was, she had no choice but to go. Whoever had enough information on her to know not only her email which wouldn't be that hard to find, but to know everything that they did was concerning to say the very least.

When she finally arrived back to her apartment, putting all of her paraphernalia away and changing into her uniform and tying her hair into a simple, fishtail braid, she tucked her knives away in her kevlar reinforced, leather jacket, which she left open for now. Grabbing her mask which she too tucked away in one of her multitude of pockets, she huffed as she realized she was running late, as always. One way to make an impression for sure, what's a better way to make a first impression than being fashionably late? Slipping her simple black cannon camera in her left, inner breast pocket of her jacket she grabbed her keys and left her apartment. The brisk, cold night air was welcomed ask it enveloped her as she stepped out of the apartment complex. Something about the night air, especially as the colder months came in, was always a guilty pleasure to her and gave her an excuse to wear more layers than she should. Quickly grabbing her helmet from its hiding spot she hopped onto her motorbike which was gifted from Aaron as she had no real way of transportation. Walking and public transportation wasn't really her style. As well as it being on the top of the market in quality, durability, speed and its sleek, jet black monochrome design, it was hard to turn down. Besides, with its next to silent motor, it helped to make going on missions a breeze. Making her way through Barden at this time of night, as well as using back roads and alleyways. She knew every twist and turn of Barden, what streets led to dead ends, what ones made the faster route, and what ones to avoid altogether. It only took thirty minutes, but she was about fifteen minutes late for when she was supposed to arrive at the warehouse, seeing a few of the others there already. Whether some were hiding or were in somewhat of plain view, she killed the motor of the motorcycle and removed her helmet, quickly placing her mask on before she made her presence known to the others. It was a bit over the top compared to the more basic and simple masks that the others had, but unlike the others, she had more of a reason to hide more of her identity and distinguishable features. After a moment of making sure the voice modulator was active and working properly, her voice coming out with more of a robotic tone, but not entirely inhuman in nature she made her way towards the warehouse which she could see in the distance. Tucking her hair behind as she pulled over her jacket's hood, covering more of her discernable features. The fewer key factors she gave people to help identify who Malfyre was, the better.

Kieran looked around for any recognizable forms or faces, or more so recognizable features and uniforms, she spotted Dhani. Creeping up behind him ever so carefully, with a large grin on her face, which was hidden entirely by the mouthpiece of her mask, she gave him a little hip bump as she walked up beside him. "Hola, Amigo." her voice crackling to life from behind the audio modified mask. Placing her elbow on his shoulder at an odd angle due to the small height difference between the two she leaned against him slightly as she continued talking, "Aside from me being fashionably late, what else did I miss? Anything good, or is this just a dud of a party and I got ready for nothing?" she said with a small chuckle as she waited alongside her friend and ally for whatever the cause for them being there to begin. She didn't know what to think of any of this, everything seemed so off and uncomfortable. Almost cold in a sense, as if something sinister was about to begin. Slowly digging her hand in her pocket she clutched one oh her blades, just in case she'd need to use it before having to resort to her powers, if anything happened that was.

Aaron's day had been nothing but busy. He awoke early to the sound of his phone going off countless times, mixed with alarms and notifications. He'd be going to a warehouse later that night as someone had gotten into contact with him and many others. Someone knew who he was, which wasn't that big of a deal as he was one of the heroes that was rather open with his identity, at least among the heroes. After making sure he alerted the others, more so making sure that Kieran was awake later that day and was aware what was going on. He'd have to hold her to go out that night, otherwise, she'd get wrapped up in her own work and forget. Which was something she tended to do far too often. After making sure everything was squared away and dressed in a simple t-shirt, grey hoodie and jeans he made his way out of his apartment. The walk to the store wasn't a terribly long one, even if it was dreadfully cold. The hours passed as he opened the store and prepared for the day before he'd have to close up shop and head to the warehouse.

Time passed, and it was a little after three-thirty that he heard some familiar voices coming from the main part of the store. He chuckled as he knew who it was, and after finishing checking on some things he made his way from the back part of the store and to the front where Kieran and Luciana were chatting. "Hey girls. Kieran, Lucy." he said with his bright and cheerful smile that spread across his entire face. Turning his head to look at Kieran for a moment, his smile all but faded, "Hey, watch your mouth infront of the customers, Kie." he said, his smile soon returning back to his face as the two chuckled. He nodded as Lucy had asked about her order for her MouseRat Vinyl. He gave her a nod and smile, rifling through one of the cabinets behind the counter. "Here it is! It actually just came in this morning and I was hoping you'd stop by today. Great choice as always." he flashed her a small grin and wink. The two finished up the purchase and he watched as she left. Aaron turned to Kieran, his hand folded neatly, "Now, would you stop embarrassing me in front of the customers?" the two gave a small chuckle as he leaned against the glass countertop. A sly grin formed on his face as he spoke,"Ya know...If you stopped by more often and came out of your damn apartment, I think you and Lucy would get along. You seem to have a lot in common." he said, giving her a wink. She simply dismissed his comment, saying how she didn't need a relationship or even really any friends. As well as them having more important things to discuss. After their short discussion about their plans of going to the warehouse, they said their goodbyes and his shift went as uneventful as one could imagine.

He went back to his apartment, changing out from his common clothing and into his suit, which was still considered common clothing. But was reinforced with bulletproof padding, shock absorption and kevlar. He slicked back his hair with enough jell, and after digging around his messy apartment for his mask he easily put it on and gave his look over once more in the mirror. As long as he didn't have to use his powers, his appearance would stay intact, and he wouldn't look like...such a monster. It was the largest downfall of his powers, it came with a price, and sadly it was the way he looked. He shook his head and headed out of the complex. Staying to the shadows and out of sight. He made it to the warehouse much earlier than expected, and he simply waited for others to arrive. Finally, he saw some familiar figures walk into view and enter the warehouse. One was staying out of main sight as well, obvious for who it was a small appeared on his face, even if it wasn't seen due to his mask. Looking around he placed his hand against the ground, closing his eyes and concentrating. When he finally opened his eyes once more, he was across the lot and standing next to an all too familiar face, even if she was wearing a mask. The hair, the uniform, as well as the fact she was the only one who wielded a bow. He gave her a smile, knowing full well it wouldn't be seen, he gave a small chuckle. "Hey there, Arty. Fancy seeing you here." his voice came out with a bit of a gruffer and deeper voice than normal. He needed to keep his voice from being too recognizable and went with simply deepening his voice. "So, what do you think of this? Too sketchy and we're being set up or, do you think this is a legit meeting that will end peacefully?" he questioned his fellow hero. He had his own ideas about what was going on, but the vibe he was feeling about this whole situation didn't sit right with him, and he wasn't sure exactly why.

Piper had to go to the meeting. Anyone who could figure her out was a threat, and she couldn’t let threats go unchecked. She wasn’t the most skilled in combat, and kept her identity pretty tightly sealed. Revealing oneself was dangerous, and it was a danger she wasn’t willing to face, so she was more than willing to take this seriously from the moment she’d received the message. She wasn’t sure who would be there, and that made her nervous. Sure, she could use mind control to throw any attackers off the moment they came at her, but that was only so useful in a group setting.

The day of the meeting, she tried to go about her routine as close to normally as possible, but it was looming over her the entire day, shaping her every move. She felt paranoid, more than ever. Nothing good could come of this. She thought about sending a message to Luciana, she wasn’t going to be there, after all. It was definitely a trap. But she didn’t. Normally, she backed out of things with too much of a risk of physical harm: she was a one-on-one type, and didn’t like the thought of not knowing the odds, or not being fully prepared. She planned every job she did down to the tiniest detail, and this meeting was giving her major anxiety.

Still, she got dressed (simply: black pants, black top) and made her way to the address. The fact that it was an abandoned warehouse wasn’t amusing, it just solidified the fact that something about this wasn’t right. Piper hated wearing masks, they typically got in the way of her powers, as even the simplest masks tended to draw the gaze away from her eyes. Still, she pulled her mask up and over her mouth and nose long before she approached the warehouse, not wanting to take any risks. She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to go ahead and enter the building. After all, if this were a trap, they already had her.

The overall climate and opinions towards heroes had made life difficult for Dhani. Some of his fellow heroes had dropped the gig and moved on to other things, and he couldn’t say he blamed them, but he just couldn’t do the same. He didn’t have anything else to fall back on, and he didn’t think he could turn his back on being a hero if he tried.

So when he’d started receiving messages, and they knew a little too much about him, well, he was concerned. And when he’d heard about the meeting, he knew he had to go. He didn’t have much of a choice, really. Some might be able to ignore it and carry on with their lives, but Dhani couldn’t. He needed to investigate. It wasn’t safe to be a hero or a villain in this town, and he worried that, over time, just having powers would be enough to get someone put under scrutiny, or worse.

The actual day of the meeting was normal enough: he called Kieran until she answered. Reminded her that she had something important to attend that night, and not to be late. If she was late, he would be very upset with her (as if she cared), because she needed to be there. He was fairly sure that she just didn’t care, but he thought it was important, and if things went wrong, if it was a trap, she would be helpful. He knew that he could count on her if things went south, even if he couldn’t count on her ability to show up on time. He had to work that day, too. Waiting tables really had nothing on hero work, but it paid the bills. Mostly. You couldn’t make a living saving the world anymore, and it was fine. It was. Dhani didn’t mind it, he loved being a hero, he loved helping people. It was his entire life.

He already had his mask in place as he approached the building, and he took a brief moment to survey it from the outside. He wasn’t sure if it was a trap, it just screamed that it was, but it also seemed too obvious,but he decided that waiting around wasn’t going to help anyone, so he went ahead and made his way inside. Honestly, if a trap was going to be sprung, he’d rather it be on him. He could take a bit of a beating, though he would prefer not to. He also hadn’t fully thought it through before he’d done it, as per usual. Still, he settled himself near a wall where he could see what was happening.

Then came a bit of waiting, which was something Dhani had become excellent at over the years. He stood, arms crossed, obviously somewhat apprehensive about the whole thing. None of it sat well with him, and he wouldn’t feel better until it was done.

Then Kieran snuck up on him; his shoulders tensed up as she spoke, and had he not had his arms crossed over his chest, he might have punched her. He shot her a stern look, “I told you not to be late.” He didn’t change his voice too much as a hero, he mostly just spoke a little lower. Even then, he occasionally forgot to do that much. He shook his head when she asked if she missed anything, “Nothing’s happened yet. We were waiting on you.” Of course, he had no way of knowing what they were waiting on, but that didn’t stop him from blaming it on Kieran.

The chuckle acted as a warning to draw her out of her own thoughts before Aaron approached her. Even after all this time, she still found his mask vaguely unsettling, but just smirked back at him, rolling his eyes at the nickname. "I... don't think it's a set up. Every time a hero or villain's been found dead over the past year, it's been just one at a time. One body, one murder. To ramp up from that to multiple heroes all at once doesn't seem likely. I could be wrong. But... something definitely seems... odd," She said. "Keep our guards up and hope for the best, I guess," She said with a shrug. She watched as Dhani arrived on the scene, but he didn't spot her hiding place. Not that he took too long to look. Unlike everyone else, who seemed to hang back with apprehension, he walked right in.

Cerys had had the sensation that they were being watched for a while before Gemini arrived, but a slight whirring sound passing overhead draw her attention upwards, behind Aaron. As Adrian joined them on the fire escape, she slowly drew her bow, holding up a finger as if to warn the others to be quiet for a moment. Watching the moment of the drone, she drew an arrow, then quick as she could, fired the arrow at the drone. She hit it with enough force to destroy the camera, and another custom arrow with a small charge built into it destroyed it's propellers. She reached out and caught it as it fell.

"Well. Doesn't look like this is going to be a friendly meeting after all," she remarked. "It's only a matter of time before they retaliate after that, so how about we go in and see what's facing us?" She said, shouldering her bow again and climbing down, throwing the door to the warehouse open. One of the first faces- or rather, masks, that greeted her was that of Red Witch. Spying certainly wasn't the Witch's style, but it meant she wasn't working alone. She strode right past Dhani and Kieran and dropped the drone in front of the villains, crossing her arms. "Typical villains. Afraid to come out and play in the light? Too afraid to fight fair?" She called. If they wanted a fight, they were going to get a fight.

Atticus just rolled his eyes at Lucy's theatrics and decided to stick to the shadows, but watched her the whole time. He loved Lucy, but she could sometimes be prone to being... dramatic. And sometimes, she needed to someone to stop her before she did something dangerous. He spotted a familiar face in the form of Lilian, and glanced in Lucy's direction before heading over to Lilian. "Something's going to happen tonight," he said by way of a greeting. "Don't ask me what but... I don't think it's good," he muttered to her. That was the worst thing, the feeling of vague foreboding. It wasn't as clear cut as his visions, but it was definite enough that he knew it wasn't just anxiety or apprehension. "Be careful, okay?" He warned her, raising an eyebrow.

There were a handful of figures he didn't recognise. But he was used to seeing them without their masks on, so it was entirely possible he had crossed paths with some of them at some point before. Two in particular caught his attention, one waltzing in a few minutes after everyone else had and going straight to the other. The taller of the two seemed more on edge, more to attention than the latecomer. Wait, were they... Were they heroes? After examining them for a moment or two, his suspicion was confirmed, and he grimaced.

"I need to go," he warned Lilian and made his way back across the room to Lucy. Lucy's hatred for heroes was significant, and he could only imagine how she was going to react once she realised. But before he could get there, the door burst open and in walked another group. One of them held a damaged drone and had a bow and quiver of arrows across her back. Artemis. They were heroes. Was this a set up? Why would the heroes corner them like this? It didn't match up with most of the things they did. And then Artemis tossed the drone to the ground and made some comment about being watched, taunting them. Atticus hadn't known of any active attempts to monitor the heroes. Lucy certainly hadn't mentioned anything. The realisation then, that they could be being watched by an outsider, hit him. He reached out a hand to stop Lucy from saying or doing anything drastic- but it was too late. As heroes and villains did, things didn't take long to turn into a full blown brawl. He'd never liked fighting like this. It was too close, too messy, too... personal. This wasn't how he'd been taught to fight, and the nagging suspicion that this was being set up by somebody else was still getting to him.

He had fully intended on just trying to get out of the middle of the fighting. But people had seen him with the villains, and apparently thought that meant he needed to die as well. He found himself drawing his knife as self defense, slashing to try and get people away from him. Then out of nowhere, something - no, someone- hit him from above. As they fell, the knife went flying from Atticus' hand and the person knocked his mask off and out of reach. Almost instinctively, he threw a punch towards their mask. Something crunched, but he wasn't sure if it was his fist or their nose. Their reaction gave him a chance to scramble to his feet and retrieve his knife. His mask, however, was gone, kicked away by the fighting.

Kieran couldn't help but chuckle slightly as Dhani reprimanded her for being late, her voice crackling to life under the mask. "Well I'm sorry, Mr. 'Be on time for everything'. Haven't you ever heard of being fashionably late?" she questioned all too enthusiastically, throwing her hands up in the air as she did so. She wasn't one for stealth in general, but she was keeping her voice down enough as the two stood in the doorway of the warehouse. Turning her face back to look at him she spoke again, "And see! You weren't missing much without me, whoever called us here probably whoosed out and now we're here for nothing. Knew I should have tracked where it came from, but nooo, someone told me I was being paranoid!!" she exclaimed and put emphasis on the last word, as she knew Dhani would understand exactly what she meant. He had told her to not put too much stress or worry into this and just relax. Rubbing her index fingers along her temples over her jacket's hood, she sighed. "Just, watch this whole thing be a dud, and I get to say I told you s-" she was cut off as the sound of others entering the warehouse had caught her off guard. Peering over the side of Dhani she could see a few familiar figures slowly emerging from the darkness. "Oh fuck me." she muttered, the eyes of her mask flickering from their normal state of simple X's, to a somewhat displeased look before flickering back to the normal state of emotion the mask displayed. She recognized those forms all too easily, as a bit of dread but not utter surprise hit her. Icarus, Red Witch, and Aboleth. Three villains she had a few encounters with, and all were unpleasant, for different reasons.

Icarus due to his reputation and use of knives, close combat if he felt like fighting. Need to keep an eye on him. Red Witch, not much needed to be said there. They had plenty of scuffles in the past, knowing each other's abilities and fighting patterns. She was a deadly foe, and an even deadly ability user. She'd have to keep on edge with that one. And lastly, Aboleth, Kieran didn't know much about her, other than that she was capable of using mind control, and wasn't a fan of what Malfyre was doing in the city. While she wasn't an outright threat, seeing her left Kieran feeling a bit odd as they'd have to watch for potential brainwashing and manipulation. Kieran unsheathed her knives from her pockets as she got into a defensive stand beside Paladin, getting ready for three that stood opposed to them. "Well, I can eat my words. This was a setup all along. So...don't even say it." she said in reference to Dhani, giving him an unnoticeable side-eye due to her mask covering her entire face. Bringing her eyes back to the three villains, her eyes squinted hard, this would be a tough fight, but she had a hunch that there had to be more heroes here. Somewhere. But she just wasn't sure. She was about to speak when another door was flung open, and three more figures stepped into the warehouse. "Oh come on! Who the fuck is this now?!" she exclaimed, finally looking over to see who stepped in. At first it took her a moment to realize the three new figures were in fact, friendly. For them anyway. Watching as Artemis tossed what looked to be a drone into the middle of the warehouse, saying how the villains had to remain in the darkness and not able to fight fair. "Oh hi, Arty, Wyndy, and Gemi." she said with an awkward and overly exaggerated wave of her hand.

Turning her head back to the villains in front of them, it seemed to happen all too fast. In simply a blink of an eye, they all engaged in combat. Kieran was caught off guard for a moment as she stumbled back, "So, we're actually doing this, huh? Alright then. Let's get shwifty." she said with a grin. As expected, the Red Witch and Artemis took into immediate combat with the other, understandably so Kieran left Artemis to fight on her own until she'd need some help. Turning her head to the other villain, she fired off a quick concussive blast with her hand which would blow Aboleth back a few feet. But not doing much damage. disorientating her opponents is what she strived for most than absolute brute force. That was for the heavy hitters like Paladin. Turning her attention further into the warehouse, she saw Icarus making a run for it where Artemis and Red Witch were currently firing off shots of arrows and blood projectiles. As she made her rush after Icarus, just barely missing a few stray arrows and blood projectiles, she jumped along one of the walls after giving herself a small burst of telekinetic energy. Pulling herself up into the catwalk above, she continued to chase after Icarus, making sure to never let him out of her eyesight, she watched as he simply used his knives as a means of slashing away any sort of close proximity of a fight. Seeing a small opening under the guardrail of the catwalk, Kieran quickly shot herself under it, and dropped down. As she came down from above, she felt her foot slam into something hard, as well as her armored hand came crashing down onto something, hearing a metal sound clatter along the concrete floor below.

Looking up, Kieran was greeted by a freshly unmasked Icarus. A small smile creased her lips as she finally got a glimpse of the man behind the mask, "Oh hi, you're kinda cut-" she was cut off midsentence as she felt a sharp and sudden blunt force smash into her face. A sickening crunch sounded as Icarus landed a good and heavy punch into her face, just barely managed to avoid the major spikes along her mask. Grabbing her nose she quickly turned away as she could feel it was clearly broken as blood began trickling down her lip. "You broke my fucking nose, you douche bag!" she exclaimed, still clenching her nose from over the mask. She didn't know if Icarus had ended up hurting himself from the initial impact with the spikes on her mask or not, but she knew that there was just a little bit too much blood on her mask to be just her own. Kieran looked back up as the familiar, metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, he had gotten more than just her nose as well. "Get your ass back here, you can't just run off after punching someone, dickbag!" she exclaimed as she gave chase to Icarus who nervously searched for his mask and knife. Slowly Kieran made her way up behind Atticus, grabbing him by the back of the shirt and tossed him to the side as he tried to reach for his knife, "Not so fast, pretty boy. But, I will give you a chance." she said as she kicked his own knife back to him, the metal sound scraping against the concrete floor.

Kieran looked at him as she took her own twin knives out from the pockets of her jacket. Twirling them around her for a moment, "Your move, play boy." she said with a grin. After a moment Icarus had finally gone in for a few quick jabs and slashes of his own, Kieran simply sidestepped and dodged the initial few. Bringing her elbow into his stomach as they grew closer in proximity, "You know, we could have gone about this differently. But you villains always have to ruin the party, huh?" she questioned with a rather annoyed tone, her voice crackling from the mask. But now it sounded as if the audio output had been damaged, flickering between her normal and modified voice. She'd have to make some adjustments to the mask later when she could fix the damaged circuits. Looking back up at Atticus as she felt a sharp and sudden pain slash against her left arm, and then her right thigh. He had managed to get a few good slashes in while she had been distracted. The two continued to exchange blows and dodges as the others around them continued to fight on. Dodging a stray arrow and projectile from the other two from above, "Hey! Be careful up there! Someone could have lost an eye!" she called out, knowing full well no one would pay attention to her ramblings. Kieran gave her attention back to Icarus, and as she went for a quick few jabs aimed towards his abdomen, the overhead sprinkler system was triggered, casting water in all directions. She went to continue on with her flurry of blows, but a wall of water separated the two of them, "What the hell?" she exclaimed, looking around as the others had too been walled off by more walls of water that had been formed from the water system. After a moment she understood all too well. Gemini was here, so of course, the one who could control water would use this as an advantage. "What the hell, Gemini? They were the ones who started this shit. So you better have a good explanation for this, or so fucking help me." she called out, her voice modifier was slowly beginning to die, flickering between the modification and her normal voice at a faster rate than before. She'd need to think of something soon. But all she could do was sit in silence, behind the fountain of water as they were all surrounded by it, being kept from fighting or being able to move much.

As was always Cerys' first instinct, she tried to find somewhere elevated to take aim, somewhere that would give her a better vantage point. But before she could do so, a voice called out, taunting her about letting the adults fight. She'd heard a similar taunt before, and notched an arrow, waiting for her to show her face again. She saw Red Witch glancing towards one of the other villains and released. She didn't hit her target, but the arrow still scratched the villain's mask, and Cerys smiled. But when Red Witch started fighting back, Cerys realised she was overpowered in these close quarters. She stashed her bow back behind her back and instead went in with her fists. Drawing blood was only going to give Red Witch more of an advantage anyway. She didn't think for a minute she'd be able to take the villain down by herself, not unless she got a really lucky punch in, but she just needed to buy time.

Backup came in the form of Aaron, who actually managed to draw blood. The villain was temporarily distracted, and turned her back to Cerys. Cerys took the opportunity to run, scouting for a better vantage point. She spotted a walkway and scaled her way up to it, sticking to the shadows to give herself some cover. But one thing that Red Witch had said stuck with her. Something about them planting the ambush. She seemed as angry about it as Cerys was. But she didn't have time to dwell on it, because Red Witch had spotted her and had joined her on the walkway.

Cerys laughed as Luciana made a bow from blood. "You really think it's that easy?" She taunted. "I bet you don't even know one end of that thing from another. Come on, the least you could do is be origi- what the fuck?" Cerys swore as the sprinklers suddenly came on, the water shifting almost immediately to form a barrier between her and Red Witch. "Gemini, what the hell?" She called, leaning down over the balcony to spot him. But he'd come to the same conclusion she'd been working towards. Neither of them had set this up as an ambush. Somebody else had called them here.

"The blackmail..." she breathed. "How many other people here have received these... messages, the ones that tell us to stay quiet, that know who we are and know the secrets we're trying to keep?" She called.

Atticus' first instinct was to get the hell out of there, before he got dragged into something he really didn't want to be involved in, especially not without the protection of anonymity. He'd already broken a hero's nose, and he really didn't want to get any deeper into it. They, however, did not feel the same. As he ducked to retrieve his knife, they grabbed the back of his shirt and tossed him away from the weapon. He rolled and leaped back to his feet. This wasn't a fight he was going to be able to run away from. They did, at least, give him the courtesy of giving back his knife, but just drew two knives of their own and spun them, clearly waiting for him to make the first move. He was so far out of his comfort zone. He just needed a break- a chance to run.

When he finally reached out towards the hero, they easily dodged, bringing an elbow into his stomach when they got close enough, and taunting him. But their mask was damaged, and the audio was crackling, distorted. The hero noticed that as well, and was momentarily distracted by it. Atticus took his chance then, landing a few blows on to her arm and thigh, before darting away from a projectile from above. The hero recovered quickly and went for his stomach, Atticus darting away from it. But before he could make an assault of his own, the sprinklers came on, forming walls of water to separate them almost instantly. And, of course, blocking off his route to the nearest door that didn't involve running past even more heroes that would probably also try to kill him.

And then one of the heroes spoke. Something about the heroes not organising this, and that the villains hadn't earlier. He exhaled heavily, still a little winded from Malfyre's elbow landing in his stomach, and looked around as somebody- Artemis, he was presuming by the bow in her hand- asked if anyone else had gotten the messages. The ones threatening to expose them and their secrets. And slowly, one by one, people started to confirm that was the case. He ran a hand through his hair. This was... this was worse than they'd imagined. Atticus hadn't asked to get involved in any of this. He wasn't prepared to deal with any of this. Here he was, in a room full of superhumans, with nothing more than a knife and a gun and an ability that made him more of a liability than anything else. He scanned the room- and his eyes landed on one face, the only other unmasked face in the room.

Well. As if things couldn't have gotten any worse, they suddenly had just gotten a little more awkward and uncomfortable. Because, still dressed like a hero but just missing his mask, was Dhani. Of all the people in the entire goddamn city...

One by one, people began to answer her question about blackmail. It seemed that every single person in the room had all been receiving the texts. She raised her eyebrow as she glanced over at Dhani, who had somehow lost his mask. He, however, seemed to be focused on something across the room. Before Cerys could figure out what it was, however, she was surprised to hear Red Witch speaking up, in her typical eloquent way. Cerys didn't miss the glare at her when Red Witch spoke about the humans either, and Cerys returned the glare. She knew now wasn't the right time, but she'd be aiming an arrow straight for Red Witch and the next suitable opportunity.

Omnitech spoke up next, commenting on the villain's choice of language and making Cerys smirk. She didn't exactly agree with dropping the water separating them all, because she didn't trust the villains not to start immediately attacking them again. But Red Witch had at least gotten down from the catwalk, so Cerys decided to stay where she was, the advantage point giving her an immediate advantage. She kept an arrow notched, the bow firmly in her hands. Her spot also gave her the advantage of being able to watch everyone else to see their reactions. She studied them all carefully, trying to see if anyone was out of place or acting a little bit uncomfortable. But they all seemed to be equally on edge, equally unsure of their scenarios. One or two of them even looked almost afraid. She caught Aaron's eye and shook her head slightly. No obvious targets on my end. They'd worked together enough times that she was pretty sure he'd know what she meant.

Dhani was staring right back at him, a mix of emotions on his face. Almost reflexively, Atticus smirked at him, a defence mechanism more than anything. But Luciana jumping down from the catwalk and walking back over to him distracted him, especially as she shoved the mask back onto his face. He pulled away from her with a scowl as she said they'd need to have a talk later about his "boy toy." She seemed to be under the impression that he had somehow known that Dhani was a hero. As if his opening line in the bar had been "Hi, I'm Atticus, you're not a hero by any chance are you?" And hell, even if it had been, did she really think he still would have brought them back to his apartment? He glanced at Dhani again and tried to ignore that tiny part of his brain that went "well, probably"

Luciana spoke up then, Atticus folding his arms as she did so. But Lucy had a point. Everyone had admitted to having a secret that this mysterious person seemed to know about, and nobody seemed to know why they were here or who had called them here. And he also felt that the water was unnecessary at this point. Lilian also seemed to agree with the sentiment.

"We need to work together," Atticus said suddenly, surprising even himself. "They're targeting all of us. I don't think any of us could defeat them by ourselves. But if we work together, we stand a much better chance. If," he said, briefly glancing at Lucy before turning back to the hero beside him as to not make it obvious, "you're all willing to get over your egos. I'm also equally happy to just disappear if you guys want to keep squabbling among yourselves."

Gemini was relieved when his gut feeling was correct and the villains didn’t set up this ambush, that both sides were sent messages. They listened as people confirmed receiving messages about possible blackmail, revealing identities, meeting at this location and much more. Hun, there’s an unmasked villain, and you sort of made Dhani take off his Jena spoke to Adrian, him quickly looking to the side as saw Dhani catching his breath. I mean… I had to break him out of the mind control somehow. Then Adrian caught the villain's face before the Red Witch covered it and whispered something to him.

The Red Witch spoke about having a common enemy, but questioning what they were supposed to do about it. Gemini didn’t really think about what was next because he didn’t expect any of this to happen. The ‘asking’ in a not so polite way to drop the water. He shrugged off her request as he had to make sure everyone was calmed down, but after a few more people also commented on his safe-guards he put in place he decided it was best to do so. “Fine.” Adrian said as he moved his arms and rotated the hands to make the water dissipate.

Gemini turned and picked up Dhani’s mask, quickly pulling the water off of it with his powers and making it dry before handing it to him, giving a light nod and mouthing the words sorry. Icarus, the villain who had his mask knocked off, spoke up, saying they needed to work together. A villain, suggesting working together? Never thought I would see the day either Ade. Gemini spoke to themselves. But then some shadow-like shackles formed around the villain’s ankles, quickly glancing at BludWynd. But before he could say anything Red Witch spoke up, saying something about holding people hostage and held her arm out towards Malfyre and twirling her fingers.

She’s bleeding… Red Witch can- Yeah I know… Adrian interrupted Jena, also hearing her huff as she didn’t like being interrupted. “BludWynd, get rid of the restraints. We are being peaceful here.” Gemini said with a serious tone. He was relieved as his fellow hero obliged and the villain laid her arm down. Then Aboleth spoke up, asking how the villains are supposed to trust the heroes. She has a point babe, we need to show them to trust us. We need to show them they can… Okay? They already know Dhani’s face, isn’t that enough? Possibly, but I know something that would hopefully earn their trust. A secret, about me, you. Us. Gemini's thoughts went back and forth, then finally came to an agreement.

“I don’t know if you can trust us, just as we can’t trust you. But we can show some acts of faith instead of violence. For example…” Gemini spoke as they stepped forward with their arms out, their body glow’d a white color, but not bright enough to blind anyone. It only lasted a few seconds before it faded and Adrian no longer stood before the heroes and villains, but Jena did, masked and all in her attire. “I, we are revealing to be the same person, as a way to show we are willing to work together and hopefully offer some trust.” Jena spoke, small flames dancing around her fingers to show who she was.

Jena let a moment pass before speaking again. “Gemini is one person, just two souls. One of us control water, and one of us control fire. You’ve faced both of us on our own, and probably wondered why never together. Well, now you know.” Some of the villains with one or even maybe both of them, but none of them knew they were the same person. Until now.

Dhani caught sight of that smirk, and quickly looked away from Atticus. He had more important things to be worrying about. Besides, they had no real relationship to speak of; it had been a fling, a one time thing. Never anything more, and now it would certainly never be anything more. Several people spoke up about the water being unnecessary at this point. Dhani wasn’t sure he agreed; he didn’t exactly trust everyone in the room not to start something all over again. Sure, most of them wouldn’t, but Dhani could think of a few heads that could use some cooling. Then Atticus-Icarus-started speaking about working together, but Dhani didn’t look his way. Instead, Dhani was glancing around the room, trying to look as casual as he could.

Dhani turned to look at Gemini as the water went down, and offered a genuine smile of thanks when Adrian dried off his mask. He nodded, his way of assuring the fellow hero that there were no hard feelings on his part. He had to admit that he was feeling pretty awkward, standing there in his suit but no mask. He didn’t know whether to be Dhani or Paladin, and he was sure it showed. He missed whatever had happened, but before long he heard Red Witch talk about hostages and he whipped his head around, eyes darting over the scene, trying to piece together just what was happening. Luckily Gemini had a better handle on what was going on, and was able to get that situation under control. There were talks of trust, and how any of the villains could be expected to give it. Dhani wanted to ask the same thing. How were they supposed to trust the very group of people who had attacked and mind controlled them just moments ago. But he didn’t say a thing. Instead, he watched as Gemini revealed themselves to be two people, and turned to look around the room again.

A part of him wanted to go check on Kieran, but he knew she would be fine, so he stayed put. “I, uh,” Dhani wasn’t feeling the same confidence that being in costume usually gave him. You’re just Dhani without the mask. He tried to push the thoughts out of his head, cleared his throat, and continued, “I understand the hesitation, and I understand if anyone here isn’t willing to work together, but,” He glanced around, trying to find a familiar face to anchor himself, but as he didn’t find masks particularly comforting, he ultimately found himself glancing off at a support beam in lieu of a friendly face, “Heroes and villains alike are going missing. Turning up dead, or not at all. I’ve been a hero since I was sixteen years old, I don’t know how to do anything else.” He shook his head, turning to look at Blood Witch, “I’m not asking you to be my friend,” He gestured towards Atticus, “But you’re right,” He knew he would catch shit for not agreeing with Kieran, but he pushed on, “We don’t stand much of a chance unless we work together.” He shrugged, as if an indication that he was done speaking, and crossed his arms in front of him.

Cerys was surprised when one of the villains spoke up, suggesting that they all work together. It was a surprise, coming from a villain, but he had a point. Malfyre and Aaron, spoke up agreeing with her. She smirked a little as Aaron yelled at Gemini to shut off the water. But she grimaced a little as shadows locked around Icarus' feet, knowing that wasn't going to end well. And... it didn't. Red Witch noticed Icarus, and reacted about as well as expected. She drew blood from Malfyre's bleeding wound, holding it in the air. Cerys had an arrow notched and pointed at the villain almost before she even realised it. Something made her hesitate, and she was glad she did. Gemini ordered Aaron to drop the restraints, and he obliged. A brief distraction came in the form of Gemini, who shifted and revealed they were one and the same person. Or, well, two people in one body. Cerys honestly had never really suspected that, but the longer she thought about it, the more she realised that it made sense.

Bickering quickly broke out. Malfyre was understandably upset, but suddenly didn't seem so keen on working together. Red Witch also seemed to be against them working together. Cerys rolled her eyes, and sat down, swinging her legs over the edge of the catwalk to minimise the drop. She dropped down and shouldered her bow.

"Okay listen. Paladin's right. If we want to stand a chance of beating this, of being able to keep being heroes and villains, we need to stop fighting for one goddamn second. We don't need to be friends. We just need to be able to be in the same room without killing each other. But this isn't just about them knowing our secrets. If you think they're going to stop there, then you're a fool. This is going to come down to life or death. We don't have to hold hands and sing songs and braid each other's hair. We just need to occasionally work together without killing each other, or putting people in cuffs, or making them nearly bleed out. Do you think you assholes can manage that to save your own damn life?" She asked.

With the dropping of the water, Atticus had been tempted to make a run for it, to just leave this behind. But then he felt something locking around his ankles and presenting his feet from moving. "The hell?" He swore, looking up and straight at BluWynd. He was about to stay something, but Lucy bet him to it, drawing blood out of Malfyre and using it to hold them in place. This was why he hadn't wanted to come. With the heroes (and even the villains), things got too dramatic too fast, and it also became overwhelming. He wasn't meant for this. If things turned nasty again, he wasn't so sure he'd escape unscathed again.

A distraction thankfully came in the form of Gemini revealing themselves to be two people in one body, and then a number of heroes making dramatic speeches. He just folded his arms and waited for them to finish speaking. They did have a point. They didn't have a hope of trying to beat this themselves, and this wasn't just going to go away. He knew Lucy wouldn't agree, especially not when the point was coming from Artemis of all people. But he couldn't see another way out of this. He found himself glimpsing at Dhani again, almost unconsciously. Maybe working with the heroes wouldn't even be that bad. But tempers were raised, and he wasn't sure they'd be able to settle this peacefully.

"Can I suggest something? Can we... maybe leave the big important discussion for when we're all a little calmer? Because I'm pretty sure everyone's just too pissed at each other and we're just going to keep arguing and attacking each other until nobody's left standing. And this feels like something we shouldn't rush into or mess up."

Piper listened as people started throwing out questions, demanding for the water to be shut off, and suggesting they all work together. She slowly came out from behind her hiding place to get a better look around: the group seemed to be done fighting, anyway, and if anyone dared try anything she would be in their head before they had the time to think twice.

She quickly noticed two things: Paladin’s missing mask (he was more handsome than expected), and Icarus suddenly being detained by one of the heroes. Suddenly, a bit of chaos broke out. Red Witch had Malfyre as a hostage, some of the heroes were scrambling for a plan, and Piper sighed. Things could never be simple. “Clearly, you don’t trust us. What makes you think that we can trust you?” With one word from Gemini, Icarus was set free (Piper made a mental note of who was calling the shots), and Red Witch quickly set her captive free, as well.

Piper watched Gemini’s display with her usual indifference, and then listened to a few truly inspirational little speeches from the heroes. Their views ranged from “I can't put aside my prejudices for even a moment to consider that working with someone with different life experiences might be a good idea!” to “boo hoo, woe is me, I’m a sad excuse of an adult and being a superhero is the only thing that gives my life meaning,” rounded out with, “We’re right and you should listen to us or you’re going to die.” Piper wasn’t particularly impressed, but she knew that working together was her best chance of coming out of this situation alive.

When Icarus suggested they break up their little meeting and try to conviene again another time, Piper nodded in agreement, “Icarus has a point. We’ve already been fighting, had a hostage situation, and accused one another of setting a trap. The next point of escalation is that someone is going to die, and at that point all of your speeches and displays of trust and goodwill will be pointless.” She shrugged, “Frankly, some of you could use a nap and a juice box.” She shot a pointed look towards BludWynd and Malfyre, hoping they got the point: their antics were childish.

Piper found herself looking back at Paladin. Most people with powers weren’t that easy to overcome. There had been hardly any resistance, which could mean a few things. She did catch him off guard, which had helped, but she had to wonder if he had been that preoccupied, or if he was stupid. If they were to work together, she would have the chance to figure it out.

Jena looked to the side as she heard Malfyre and BludWynd discussing, mostly relieved she was okay, which she could tell because she was still her spunky self, if she wasn’t being sarcastic and a little bit of a mess then she wasn’t being Malfyre. She was also relieved as some of the other heroes started speaking up and giving their thoughts on what all was going on, glad she wouldn’t need to try to reel everyone in like Adrian had done, he was much better at the leader type role.

Good talks from everyone, glad I don’t have to follow that up. Adrian spoke to Jena. Though their optimism slowly changed as the villains then spoke. Icarus mostly just suggested they give time before making a decision, which made sense, everyone in the room had just got done trying to beat the living hell out of each other. But when Aboleth and Red Witch spoke things didn’t seem so gleem, but Jena wasn’t exactly surprised.

Aboleth mostly backed up what Icarus said, along with adding the point about things escalating, which was a good point. Though the last comment she made Jena knew would get under the skin of her heroes. Then Red Witch added onto her comment throwing another insult at Artemis. She really doesn’t like Artemis does she? Yeah, you should have seen them at the town hall fight, the two of them kind of hold a grudge…

Gemini wasn’t sure what they were expecting out of Red Witch, but they definitely didn’t get the agreement they were hoping for, with them talking about not wanting to work together, rolling her eyes as the villain threw up air quotes. “Fine, whatever. But we ne-” Jena had started to talk but was quickly interrupted as by the villain, speaking about her presence not being needed. Jena let out a sigh as Red Witch shoved her way through the heroes and walked out of the warehouse. She ran her hand over her mask before speaking again. “Well, great. Anyways. Looks like the remaining of us can at least agree on one thing, even if we don’t trust each other, we do think we need to work together.”

Jena left the air open to let anyone else get some words out, Adrian suggested some other things in their head, but Jena mostly just ignored him.

As much as they tried to object, the villains eventually seemed to agree that they needed to work together. Albeit rather begrudgingly, and with more than a few insults slung at various members of the group. But she was just glad that they'd stopped fighting and bickering. She didn't grace Red Witch's comment with a reaction, but her jaw clenched just a little. Red Witch stormed out in a suitably dramatic style, and Cerys just rolled her eyes. If she didn't come back, Cerys wouldn't be sorry. Gemini suggested they begin to wrap things up, and Cerys nodded.

"We need to meet somewhere on neutral ground. I don't want to be accused of favouring one way or another, but I'm sure as hell not walking in somewhere the villains can ambush us. And perhaps somewhere a little less..." She gestured around vaguely. "Grungey?" She said vaguely. "Somewhere a little bit nicer than this anyway. Can we at least agree on that much?" She asked, desperate to just try and get things over and done with.

They eventually agreed on a time and a place, somewhere it could work for both of them and that would put them on a level footing. The meeting time was arranged to be a similar time to allow for them all to do their day jobs as normal then come to the meeting. Cerys sighed, running a hand down her face as she made her way over to Aaron. "Jesus Christ, that was a lot. Can we go grab some drinks or something? I desperately need to relax," she said, running a hand through her hair.

Atticus smiled a little with satisfaction as Aboleth backed him up, agreeing that they needed to move on. People were tired and apparently just tired of the fighting, although Att got the impression that Lucy would have gone for another round, especially with Artemis if she'd been given the chance, before making a suitably dramatic exit. Atticus didn't miss her almost shoving Dhani out of her way, and he rolled his eyes. He was tempted to follow suit, but one of them probably needed to know what was going on, and besides, he wasn't leaving Aboleth alone with a bunch of heroes. He didn't know her all that well, but it was a matter of principle more than anything.

Eventually, the meeting wrapped up, and he sighed with relief. Now that Lucy was gone, he was feeling painfully exposed. He was ready to leave and just walk away from it all. And then he caught Dhani's eye again and... goddammit, Atticus. He knew that he should walk away, knew the thing that made him want to stay was the whole reason he should have left. And he almost managed it, managing to turn and walk out of the building and leave him behind.

But instead he found himself waiting outside, pulling his mask off and sticking to the shadows. And when Dhani came out, Att quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him to one side. "Hey. Sorry, I just..." he trailed off, suddenly regretting his decision. What was he going to say? Sorry I'm a villain? Sorry I didn't mention it?. "That was weird. And I guess... I'm sorry, I don't know what I wanted to say. Just. Didn't want to walk away from this without... I don't know, acknowledging it?"

Piper smirked at Red Witch’s comment about the heroes, though her mask hid it well enough that no one could see. She had to fight the urge to roll her eyes as Lucy went on about not wanting to work with the heroes, and how much she detested them all. Piper wasn’t the biggest fan of the heroes, herself, but she apparently held her own self-preservation in higher regard. Whoever was hunting down the heroes and villains in this town was good at it, and already knew more about her than she was comfortable with.

She paid Red Witch no mind as she left the building, not even acknowledging when she asked for Piper and Icarus to keep her filled in with the details of whatever they had left to discuss. She knew that The Red Witch could take care of herself, and was sure she would get all the information she needed soon enough. Piper shot a look to Icarus; she wouldn’t call him a friend, but he was also her only real ally here now. She stayed where she was, there was no need to show weakness by moving in closer, but she knew he was better in a fight than she was. Though she would ditch him in a heartbeat if it came to it, for now they needed to be a united front… Or, at least, as united as they could be.

Their little meeting wrapped up soon enough, and Piper was out of there as soon as they decided they were done. She spared a passing glance to Icarus, if only to make sure he couldn’t accuse her of abandoning him, and started on her way home. After double and triple checking that she wasn’t being followed, she removed her mask. It was easier to get around the town that way, and the only thing she wanted was to go home.

Dhani rolled his eyes at Kieran, and while he was glad Aaron was able to get her to shut up, Dhani also knew that Aaron had caused this whole thing to escalate for the second time. He was sure Aaron would be fine, but he wasn’t entirely sure he trusted Kieran to work with the villains without doing something stupid and impulsive and ruining it for everyone. He wasn’t about to voice that concern, but it was very real. It wasn’t very long before one of the villains was calling them childish, and Red Witch was continuing mocking them all. He tuned it out, mostly, not really interested in being insulted. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of a response. He didn’t know what he’d ever done to her, but her hatred of him seemed so personal, at this point.

After their little meeting, Dhani put his mask back on. It would be easier to get back through the city in full superhero garb than only in most of it. He glanced over to the others, and after making sure they were going to be fine, he headed for the door, but not before giving Gemini a gentle pat on the shoulder, “Great job.” Gemini had really helped gain some trust from the villains, even if it was minimal, and their efforts really helped everyone become more civil.

Soon after Dhani left the warehouse, he was pulled off to the side, and quickly felt a bit of panic set in. What now? He thought, but quickly enough he realized it was just Atticus. He felt like they were standing too close to one another, even though he was sure they were a total normal distance from one another. Atticus was apologising for… Something. Dhani wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure Atticus knew what he was apologising for, either. He shook his head, “It’s,” It wasn’t fine, though. Not really. “I mean… Don’t apologize, it wasn’t,” He sighed, this was awkward and terrible, and how the hell did Atticus have good hair even after the fight? “Thank you. And I’m sorry that one of my friends held you hostage.” He didn’t know what else to say, he didn’t want to make things weird, or worse. A part of him wanted to ask Atticus to pretend like nothing had ever happened between them, and yet another part of him didn’t think that was fair to either of them. It wasn’t as if they had some long history together, anyway. “You’re not hurt or anything, are you?” He started to take off a glove, “Because if you are, I mean, I have healing powers,” He quickly looked Atticus over, and grabbed for his hand without waiting for a reply. He let a warm energy flow from his own hand and into Atticus’, and healed up his hand at least a little. “There,” He- almost reluctantly- let go of Atticus’ hand. God, why had this gotten under his skin so badly. It was just the shock of knowing someone he’d slept with was a villain. That’s what he told himself, anyway.

Cerys had almost forgotten about Malfyre until she loudly reminded her and Aaron of her presence. They were still clearly feeling the after-effects of Red Witch’s attack, but Cerys took the fact they were complaining so much about it as a good sign. They tried to take a step or two under their own power and nearly hit the floor, and Cerys felt bad for almost laughing. Aaron wanted to bring her along, but Malfyre also seemed to not want to intrude. Cerys shrugged and pulled Malfyre’s other arm around her shoulder to help relieve some of the weight on Aaron. “Nah, we don’t mind. Beside, a chance to get to know about and drink with the infamous Malfyre? Who would want to pass up that opportunity?” She joked as they made their way out of the warehouse and towards the nearest bar.

The next meeting went considerably better than the first. Fewer injuries, less bickering, and they actually managed to hatch something close to a plan. And the meeting after that was almost amicable, with next to no arguments and them actually forming a concrete plan. They needed to do some recon on a number of sites throughout the city, and it seemed to make sense to divide and conquer. Only eight of them showed up to any subsequent missions, so they divided themselves into pairs. Well, not as much divided as made logical decisions. A hero and a villain as far as possible so they could make sure that neither side was up to anything suspicious. Those who were less suited to fighting had to be put with somebody that could protect them, which Cerys had taken as “unless you have obvious superpowers, you need to be babysat.”

Cerys hadn’t been terribly happy about that decision, but she got the impression she’d been put with Aaron just to stop her complaining. And she was okay with that. It was better than being stuck with any of the villains. She could actually work with Aaron.

They were assigned the task of tailing a potential target to see if there was anything suspicious about them, or if they could potentially give them any more clues about what they were doing. It was about 5 in the evening, giving them plenty of time to follow him for the rest of the evening. It did, however, mean that it was significantly harder to find a good hiding spot.

Cerys was hiding just outside one of the office buildings, hiding in the shadows of a fire escape to give her a slightly elevated angle of view if she needed it. She knew Aaron was somewhere nearby, watching from ground level. “Our guy’s on the move,” she said quietly, before dropping down from the fire escape and shouldering her bow.

Atticus didn’t know whether to feel better or worse when Dhani seemed to feel just as awkward and uncomfortable about the whole thing. But goddammit, he was still gracious, apologising for one of his friends attacking him. They were on opposite sites, that was what they were supposed to do, why the hell was he even apologising? They were supposed to hate each other based on who they were and yet… Atticus couldn’t do that. Was it because Dhani didn’t seem to just see him as another villain? Everyone else had seen him walk in with Lucy and had made up their minds about him, but Dhani was still here, still being civil.

And then Dhani started asking about whether or not he was hurt. Atticus began to say no, he wasn’t hurt, not really. But Dhani took his hand and Atticus had to resist the temptation to pull away. But it wasn’t for the reason he should have pulled away, it wasn’t just because here was a hero, making sure he was okay, even though he knew. It was because he was afraid he’d see something that, for some ungodly reason, he didn’t want to see. And it was stupid, if he hadn’t seen it before, why would he see it now?

But a rush of warmth ran up Atticus’ hand, stitching the skin back together on his knuckles and mending the damage he’d done by punching Malfyre. And then Dhani let go of his hand, and Atticus almost felt sorry about that. “Thank you,” he said. There was a moment when he thought about doing something crazy, but instead, he just smiled awkwardly. “We… I should go. Before someone comes out and… yells at me for fraternising with a hero. Or at you for fixing up a villain,” he said. “Thanks again for… well everything.” He had no idea why turning around and walking away was so damn hard. Dhani was supposed to be just another guy he’d slept with who’d turned out to be a hero.

And then, of course, someone had decided to pair the two of them up for the mission. He had no idea who decided on that, other than apparently he needed to be paired up with a hero who could “protect him” given that he apparently couldn’t protect himself. As if he didn’t have more experience with knives and guns than any of them. But he’d bitten his tongue to stop anyone questioning why he was so upset over Dhani specifically. They had been told to try and get into the basement of a particular building, because they’d gotten intel that there could be information on them in there. If they found anything, they were to destroy it. Because they needed to look low key, Atticus was dressed a little more “normally” according to Lucy, and he felt deeply out of his comfort zone. The weight of the gun concealed at his hip wasn’t doing much to ease that. He was waiting for Dhani at their prearranged meeting spot and was wondering what exactly would happen if he just left and didn’t come back. But something made him stay.

With every new meeting, Piper was reminded why working with the heroes would likely be a catastrophe. Too many people in both groups were argumentative, childish, and seemed to value their sense of pride above self-preservation. It was stupid, the way they couldn’t see the bigger picture. Still, she supposed that the heroes who seemed to be calling the shots (or were at least respected enough to sway opinions) were willing to work with them, and it didn’t take much convincing to get Icarus and herself on board, which meant that Red Witch was following, if only because the two of them could convince her of the merits of working with the heroes to address a more-present threat. Still, it went steadily better. Didn’t give her much faith in everyone’s ability to work together, though.

Initially, Piper didn’t know what to think about being paired up with Gemini. Clearly, the heroes didn’t trust her (not that she blamed them), and they wanted everyone without strong offensive powers to be paired with someone who was more of a fighter (again, a good idea), but she honestly would have rather been paired with someone less… showy. Piper liked to keep her work deep undercover, and she was a little worried that the fire and water would make it hard to stick to the shadows. After all, Gemini wasn’t known to be particularly stealthy. Really, most of the tougher heroes weren’t, and Piper supposed she understood it. Heroics weren’t about getting in and out quickly, they were about saving the day and inspiring hope or whatever. It was probably a rush, and the praise was probably even more of a rush. In another life, with different circumstances, she may have enjoyed that kind of life, too. Too bad the city was turning on them, too. How fickle the affections of the public were.

Piper was at the meeting place early; she liked to have any advantage possible, even against an ally, so she stood just out of sight, mask pulled up over her mouth and nose. She understood why she was chosen for this particular mission: they needed to infiltrate a building, find their target, get some information out of him. This was likely going to go much smoother with her there, assuming everything went as planned. She was a little worried that a vital command may not stick, but that was what Gemini was there for. Backup. She wasn’t nearly as experienced as… Well, anyone else in this new alliance. Some of them had been hitting the streets and doling out their own version of justice longer than Piper had even been able to control her powers, and it was- rightfully- intimidating. You have more than enough ability to hold your own here, she reminded herself, they need you today as much as you need them. The thought was only vaguely comforting. Piper wasn’t accustomed to putting herself in potential danger, so she was more than a little nervous. She tried not to let it show, and she hoped the fact that only her eyes were visible in the mask. She hoped her nerves weren’t too obvious; she tried to play at being unwavering and consistently tough (as a woman, you have to either have nerves of steel or be insane to make it as a villain), but times like this reminded her how much experience she truly lacked. Three years working mostly behind-the-scenes hadn’t prepared her for this sort of thing, but she supposed there wasn’t a better time to learn than the present.

She tried not to get lost in her thoughts; she didn’t want to be caught by surprise. Still, she found herself drifting back to the loose plan that had been formulated. You just have to remember the plan, she reminded herself, you’ll be fine. You’re not in this alone.

Kieran was tired and felt physically exhausted. All she wanted to do was go home, change into something comfortable and more than likely drink herself into a coma off of the case of beers that she kept in her apartment. All she wanted to do was relax and unwind, and forget about the bullshit of the day until she had to start working on finishing the encryption on the files. Something she wans't exactly looking forward to do, seeing how it would roughly take at least a few hours. After a few short minutes she made her way back to the old and rather shabby apartments, and ducked down the hallway and easily into her apartment number, 3-A. Her apartment was on the third floor, and the first apartment on the floor. It wasn't exactly large by any means, but it wasn't entirely small either. A total of four rooms, which were bedroom, living room, kitchen, and extra room, excluding the bathroom which was considered just an extra room according to the landlord.

She unlocked the door and quickly bolt locked it behind her, ripping off her mask and tossing it to the side and onto the couch as she exhaled sharply. "Mo, Lily? Where are ya lazy fucks?" she called out. Not long after, the sound of soft skittering across the hardwood floors were heard as two small furballs ran to her, immediately clawing at her legs. She smiled and crouched down as she quickly pet both of the ferrets and made her way to her room, the rodents quickly following suit behind her. She tossed her uniform into the corner after getting changed into something much more comfortable. Exiting her room she sent Dhani one more message and tossed her phone onto the couch before she made her way into her kitchen, looking for anything to eat before she got ready for the night. Kieran grabbed one of the bottles in the fridge and popped it open with her powers, shooting the bottle cap into the trash as she made her way back to the living room. Kieran yawned softly as she sat down on the couch, Lily quickly clambered onto the couch and made herself comfortable on Kieran's lap, as Mo, the much younger ferret was having trouble getting up onto the couch. She chuckled and scooped up the small furball in her hand and placed him next to her, seeing how he easily nuzzled up next to her. Normally, anyone would else would find the life she had rather lonely and boring, living alone with her two ferrets. But Kieran was rather content with the life she had, even if at times it did get a little, lonesome.

Kieran mindlessly found herself looking through what on the tv, but nothing of real interest showed up. It was only when she was about to finally find something of interest that she heard a faint sound come from down the hallway. Which was where Dhani's apartment was. She shook her head after a moment of looking at the direction of where the main door was, he probably just walked into the door again or something. Shrugging it off she went to pay attention back to Netflix, when she heard something crash onto the floor. Coming from the same place as before. Normally it wouldn't have been much of a bother, but something wasn't sitting right with her about this. Kieran moved Lily off of her lap as she stood up, and began to make her way to the front door of her apartment, slipping in one of her knives into her sweatpants pockets, just in case. What the fuck is this idiot up to?, Kieran thought to herself as she scooped up both of the ferrets, placing Lucy along her neck where she rested happily, and easily stuffing Mo in her pant's pocket, his head just sticking out as he liked to watch as they went on walks in the past.

Kieran slowly exited her apartment, being as quiet as she could. If there was something going wrong in his apartment, she would want to maintain the element of surprise at least. As Kieran closed in on Dhani's apartment, voices could be heard coming from inside. She couldn't tell what was being said, or who was talking, but all she knew was that it was Dhani, and someone else. After a minute, she quickly pushed the door open, and what awaited her was something she wasn't expecting. Red Witch was holding Dhani at fucking knifepoint, of course she was. Kieran shot him a look, one he knew all too well. One which practically said, they'd be talking about this later. "Okay, look. Whatever this idiot did, I can probably guarantee you he deserves it, but c'mon...Be calm, and be reasonable about this. Alright?" Kieran said with a shaky voice, trying her best to act as if she didn't entirely know who this individual was. But apparently she wasn't doing such a good job with it, as the next thing Red Witch said, was confirming that Kieran did, in fact, know who she was. Kieran was going to speak up, but before she could, Red Witch continued, saying how if either one of them made the wrong move, they'd both be killed on the spot. While it was a rather good threat, Kieran knew that Red Witch wouldn't want to purposefully kill someone, nevermind hurt them. If she did in fact not care, why did she save Kieran earlier while they were trying to get the information files? Some things weren't exactly adding up. Shaking her head, Kieran remained silent as she thought about what to do, or say.

Kieran slowly nodded as Red Witch said that if Paladin simply just acted like they didn't see anything, that they'd be let go and without any bloodshed. Playing the part of an unarmed and innocent bystander was something Kieran knew how to do all too well. "I think she has a rather valid point...I don't really wanna die right now, would be a rather disappointing way to end the night, ya know? Especially cuz of your bitch ass." she said with a small smirk, glancing at Dhani. But what she didn't expect, was what happened next. The sound of glass shattering, and the room going dark. "Oh fucking great, did she just-" she exclaimed, not caring if anyone saw, she quickly used her abilities to help stop the glass from making any contact with her or Dhani, as Red Witch escaped through the window and was clearly gone.

With ease, Kieran stopped using her powers which kept the glass suspended in the air, it clattered to the floor the moment she stopped using her powers. Kieran shot him a glare, placing both Lily and Mo on the ground, away from the glass as she told them to return to their apartment, as the door was still open. Slowly, Kieran looked back at Dhani, with a glare he knew all too well. "Are you fucking kidding me, Dhani? What the fuck did you do in those few hours to piss her off, huh? We were just on a mission and-" reality finally hit Kieran. Back on her mission with Red Witch, she handed her the phone, which still had the messages she had been spying on. Fuck, she thought to herself. Quickly regaining composure, if Dhani didn't know, that was fine. All that mattered was that she had a little talk with him. "Dhani, I am going to say this once, and once only. Okay?" She said with a small smirk as she slowly enclosed the space between them, using a flick of her wrist, Dhani was on his feet and held in place. "Do not, and I repeat, do not piss off the woman that could bleed you like a damn animal, okay? Especially if I have to come save your ass? It may be hot sometimes what she can do, but that is beside the point. Next time you decide to piss off a woman, make sure it isn't anywhere even close to my proximity." She said with a smirk, and released Dhani with another flick of her wrist that sent him up to the ceiling and back down on the floor with a thud as she left his apartment and back to her's. "I got what we were looking for, and more. Just let me get to my work and I'll let you know what I find soon enough. Until then, don't bother me again." with that, Kieran shut the door behind her, leaving Dhani alone.