Veiled Malice

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Daisuke responded to the girl's prompting. He wasn't here by choice anyway, and the only reason he hadn't left was the cage that the skeleton had just... well, melted. "Come on!" he shouted to the mermaid girl. He didn't know any of the people he was now running with, but strangely, he felt more at home among them than he had in a long time.

Read it. I was really surprised by the fact that in the story, there were no "heroes", just varying shades of gray hats. It was very powerful that way.

Read it. I was really surprised by the fact that in the story, there were no "heroes", just varying shades of gray hats. It was very powerful that way.

Unappreciated? Naw, not really, but thanks anyway. ;)

Unappreciated? Naw, not really, but thanks anyway. ;)

I've thrown a PM at Herid, and we're going to be talking about the breakout portion soon. But as for the heist, you're on your own.

I've thrown a PM at Herid, and we're going to be talking about the breakout portion soon. But as for the heist, you're on your own.

"That's what I thought as well," Raven said. "It's more like someone is trying a clumsy attempt as pinning this on Grant. But whoever it is has a lot of money to waste. Personnel and equipment like what I've found don't come cheap." She was silent for a moment as she scanned the interior of the building. "Alright, we've given them enough time. Follow me." Walking away from the window, Raven made her way along the outside of the building, over some discarded corrugated tin panels and past rusting barrels to a small hole in the exterior just large enough to crawl through. "In here." Raven swiftly moved through the rent in the metal and took up a position behind some boxes, waiting for Velocity to move in behind her.

"That's what I thought as well," Raven said. "It's more like someone is trying a clumsy attempt as pinning this on Grant. But whoever it is has a lot of money to waste. Personnel and equipment like what I've found don't come cheap." She was silent for a moment as she scanned the interior of the building. "Alright, we've given them enough time. Follow me." Walking away from the window, Raven made her way along the outside of the building, over some discarded corrugated tin panels and past rusting barrels to a small hole in the exterior just large enough to crawl through. "In here." Raven swiftly moved through the rent in the metal and took up a position behind some boxes, waiting for Velocity to move in behind her.

Ha! Now I get to start a thread! No more will Barnum or EF upstage me! It is my time! My way! My threads! ... ... ... Oh yeah, and happy birthday, Thayan. :)

Ha! Now I get to start a thread! No more will Barnum or EF upstage me! It is my time! My way! My threads! ... ... ... Oh yeah, and happy birthday, Thayan. :)

The reporters took down everything The Emissary said, favoring him with the kind of rapt attention one of his charisma was due. The obvious question was not long in coming, however. "Emissary, who is your friend?" Before anyone else could answer, a feminine voice near the back of the pack rang out. "That's Captain Wonder, Bill. Don't you recognize a legend when you see one?" His identity uncovered, the crowd beset the beleaguered Captain with questions of their own. Most seemed to overlap one another, and threatened to overwhelm the already-anxious superhero. The woman who had spoken up before muscled her way to the front of the pack. She had wavy brown hair, worn down to her shoulders. Her outfit, Captain Wonder noticed, was fairly conservative for the times. A maroon jacket with a small metallic tulip covered her top, while a barely above the knee skirt handled the bottom. The most striking part of her, though, was her eyes. She had almost inhumanly crystal blue eyes, the type that drew attention to her whether one wanted to or not. "Can we get out of here?" she asked Captain Wonder, her no-nonsense manner coming through immediately.

The reporters took down everything The Emissary said, favoring him with the kind of rapt attention one of his charisma was due. The obvious question was not long in coming, however. "Emissary, who is your friend?" Before anyone else could answer, a feminine voice near the back of the pack rang out. "That's Captain Wonder, Bill. Don't you recognize a legend when you see one?" His identity uncovered, the crowd beset the beleaguered Captain with questions of their own. Most seemed to overlap one another, and threatened to overwhelm the already-anxious superhero. The woman who had spoken up before muscled her way to the front of the pack. She had wavy brown hair, worn down to her shoulders. Her outfit, Captain Wonder noticed, was fairly conservative for the times. A maroon jacket with a small metallic tulip covered her top, while a barely above the knee skirt handled the bottom. The most striking part of her, though, was her eyes. She had almost inhumanly crystal blue eyes, the type that drew attention to her whether one wanted to or not. "Can we get out of here?" she asked Captain Wonder, her no-nonsense manner coming through immediately.

"Niiice," Ren drawls after the demonstration of Lynn's powers. And here he had to get his made up custom and everything. "Weird or bizarre, huh?" Ren hunched over his steak and slipped a few pieces into his mouth while he thought. "The first time I manifested my armor. Though it was horrible at the time. I thought I was going to die. Arms and legs just aren't supposed to... come off like that." The rain had let up some, and the headlights of the passing cars danced in the window while tracing shadowy patterns on Ren's face. "I was experimenting, you know, with my powers. I wanted to know exactly what I had gotten myself into. At first, it was really just me absorbing more crap. A junkyard's good for that kind of thing. The only things I could hold onto were machines, though. Something about them made them either to assimilate with my body. The more complex, the better. And after a while, I got... well, I guess "full" is the best way to describe it. It wasn't like an uncomfortable sensation, but a weird pressure under my skin... like something was trying to get out." He visibly shuddered. "I pushed it farther than I should have. Already full and I tried for more. A car, if you can believe it." Ren looked down at his steak, which only had a few small pieces taken out of it, and grimaced. "Kinda tough, but I suppose I'm not one to talk. I eat metal, after all." "Anyway, the car. It didn't go the way I thought it was going to, like I'd take whatever I needed and leave the rest behind. But instead of that, the entire thing liquefied and started condensing around me. That silvery stuff was everywhere again, and... and then my arms..." He rubbed his shoulder and made a face. "It's not easy to get used to. It doesn't feel like they go anywhere, and there's no pain, but still... I mean, if your arms popped off, even if it didn't hurt, wouldn't you freak out?" "So there I am, covered in armor I apparently created with my mind, seeing out through some sort of visual faz sense, trying not to piss myself in terror." Ren chuckled with genuine mirth. "It's actually pretty funny now, looking back. Not so much at the time, but you know how that is, waking up in an alley like that. Anyway, that's when I learned about the rest of my powers - flight, strength, big guns, all the kinda stuff otaku like me get excited over." Strange how talking about it with Lynn made it seem better somehow. If he'd gotten his powers some other way, would he have so much trepidation over using them? "Now I turn it over to you again. How'd you stumble into crime fighting? The way you made it sound, you started off as a mean n' nasty villain type."

"Niiice," Ren drawls after the demonstration of Lynn's powers. And here he had to get his made up custom and everything. "Weird or bizarre, huh?" Ren hunched over his steak and slipped a few pieces into his mouth while he thought. "The first time I manifested my armor. Though it was horrible at the time. I thought I was going to die. Arms and legs just aren't supposed to... come off like that." The rain had let up some, and the headlights of the passing cars danced in the window while tracing shadowy patterns on Ren's face. "I was experimenting, you know, with my powers. I wanted to know exactly what I had gotten myself into. At first, it was really just me absorbing more crap. A junkyard's good for that kind of thing. The only things I could hold onto were machines, though. Something about them made them either to assimilate with my body. The more complex, the better. And after a while, I got... well, I guess "full" is the best way to describe it. It wasn't like an uncomfortable sensation, but a weird pressure under my skin... like something was trying to get out." He visibly shuddered. "I pushed it farther than I should have. Already full and I tried for more. A car, if you can believe it." Ren looked down at his steak, which only had a few small pieces taken out of it, and grimaced. "Kinda tough, but I suppose I'm not one to talk. I eat metal, after all." "Anyway, the car. It didn't go the way I thought it was going to, like I'd take whatever I needed and leave the rest behind. But instead of that, the entire thing liquefied and started condensing around me. That silvery stuff was everywhere again, and... and then my arms..." He rubbed his shoulder and made a face. "It's not easy to get used to. It doesn't feel like they go anywhere, and there's no pain, but still... I mean, if your arms popped off, even if it didn't hurt, wouldn't you freak out?" "So there I am, covered in armor I apparently created with my mind, seeing out through some sort of visual faz sense, trying not to piss myself in terror." Ren chuckled with genuine mirth. "It's actually pretty funny now, looking back. Not so much at the time, but you know how that is, waking up in an alley like that. Anyway, that's when I learned about the rest of my powers - flight, strength, big guns, all the kinda stuff otaku like me get excited over." Strange how talking about it with Lynn made it seem better somehow. If he'd gotten his powers some other way, would he have so much trepidation over using them? "Now I turn it over to you again. How'd you stumble into crime fighting? The way you made it sound, you started off as a mean n' nasty villain type."

Raven considered that carefully, then carefully released Velocity. "I see. You followed them here, I take it?" This was said mostly rhetorically, as she had gone back to peering in through the window. By now, all of the MiBs had disappeared under the metal slab, down the stairs to some underground level. "I picked them up a few days ago," Raven said. "At first, it appeared Grant Conglomerates had a hand in this new Zoom derivative. But now I'm not so sure. Some of them are Grant employees, but none of the pieces seem to fit. The profits aren't going back to Grant. And I'm not sure if there even have been any profits. All the people I've busted so far have been giving the stuff away." She looked back towards Velocity. "Even the drug's effects have been different. Some give the users greater speed, but a strange crash were they seem to be in slow motion."

Raven considered that carefully, then carefully released Velocity. "I see. You followed them here, I take it?" This was said mostly rhetorically, as she had gone back to peering in through the window. By now, all of the MiBs had disappeared under the metal slab, down the stairs to some underground level. "I picked them up a few days ago," Raven said. "At first, it appeared Grant Conglomerates had a hand in this new Zoom derivative. But now I'm not so sure. Some of them are Grant employees, but none of the pieces seem to fit. The profits aren't going back to Grant. And I'm not sure if there even have been any profits. All the people I've busted so far have been giving the stuff away." She looked back towards Velocity. "Even the drug's effects have been different. Some give the users greater speed, but a strange crash were they seem to be in slow motion."

Bald is beautiful, baby. :D

Bald is beautiful, baby. :D

He'd seen them before; the scars. On the arms, legs, and backs of the kids he'd been looking after in Keihanshin. Each one came with it's own story. "I did bad on a test," said Keichi, showing off a discolored portion of skin where a contusion hadn't healed right. "I didn't listen fast enough," said Hohiro, lifting up his shirt so they could see were a hot iron had been applied to his back. "I said no," Kimiko said. No one asked to see where she had been hurt. It was the same here, a kind of detached horror as Lynn showed her deepest shame. No one who was abused treated their scars the way a soldier coming back from war would; showing them off to get sympathy or a little bit better chance to score with the opposite sex. They felt like it had been their fault they had gotten them, almost without exception. It didn't make it easier to bare for Ren that he'd enticed her into displaying them for him to see. "I'm sorry," he said in a hollow voice. He couldn't even meet her eyes. "Only more melodrama to hear from me," Ren said, his voice a little shaky after all that. The water helps some, but not much. Idly, he wondered how long it would take for their food to get there. "Idyllic. I guess that's how you'd describe my life up 'till a year ago. Born same year as you, actually. November 17th in Osaka, Japan. Smart kid, only child in a well-off family. So I got spoiled rotten, see?" He grinned lopsidedly, a half hearted attempt to lift his own spirits. "Great family life, great friends, great schools. Wanna kick my ass yet, or should I keep going?" He shook his head and looked outside. It had started to rain, a slight patter of water falling against the window, blurring the view to the outside. The people looked like they would in a funhouse mirror; all deformed and misshapen. "I got into like the third best high school in all of Japan. At that point, as long as you don't seriously screw up, you're done. All you have to do is get through your slog there, and get into college. Your future is almost assured after that. I had it all, too: extracurriculars, clubs, president of the student union, treasurer of blah blah blah. I got my admission into Tokyo University the day before..." He trailed off. The waitress came back around and topped off their waters and handed out the drinks. Ren eyed his shake, but didn't pick it up. "You ever have an epiphany? A life altering experience all condensed into a few moments? I did. I was in my science club meeting, nothing special going on, and then..." He made a gun with his hand, pointed it at the shake, then dropped his thumb. "Bang." "I realized I was set. Someone would hire me straight out of college, put me in a high rise and give me tens of millions of yen per year to sit on my ass and kiss butt for the rest of my life. All I would have to do is keep my head down and do whatever the people above me wanted me to do. Eventually, I would be one of those people. I could look forward to bossing around the peons under me and get the kind of treatment I deserved." Scooping up his shake finally, he took a big slug off of it and nodded approvingly. "'S good." Ren set the glass down and cupped it with both hands. "And that's when it happened. Maybe it was my fault, I dunno how these things work, but I started absorbing everything in the lab. Just drawing it into myself with those silver nanomachines you saw." "I was screaming, I remember that much," he said in a strangely detached tone. "It's all kind of a blur now, just silver wires and things disintigrating around me. I don't even remember walking out of there. The next thing I knew, I was stumbling up the steps of my house." The rain started coming down harder, the pattering against the glass and street becoming more insistant. "I took everything I had and left. It wasn't... I guess I wasn't thinking beyond getting away. Maybe it wasn't even because of the machine thing. Maybe I just wanted to leave. But afterwards... well, it was too late. I was on he run for destroying part of the building." Finally the food arrived, and Ren cut off his speech while the waitress laid out Lynn's club sandwich and his steak. He managed a genuine smile and thanked her, then looked back at Lynn. "There's... there's more than that, but I'm kinda hungry." A lie. "You mind if we brighten up the mood some?" "I want to know about your powers," he said with a grin while cutting up his steak. "I mean, does it feel weird, shifting about like that?"

He'd seen them before; the scars. On the arms, legs, and backs of the kids he'd been looking after in Keihanshin. Each one came with it's own story. "I did bad on a test," said Keichi, showing off a discolored portion of skin where a contusion hadn't healed right. "I didn't listen fast enough," said Hohiro, lifting up his shirt so they could see were a hot iron had been applied to his back. "I said no," Kimiko said. No one asked to see where she had been hurt. It was the same here, a kind of detached horror as Lynn showed her deepest shame. No one who was abused treated their scars the way a soldier coming back from war would; showing them off to get sympathy or a little bit better chance to score with the opposite sex. They felt like it had been their fault they had gotten them, almost without exception. It didn't make it easier to bare for Ren that he'd enticed her into displaying them for him to see. "I'm sorry," he said in a hollow voice. He couldn't even meet her eyes. "Only more melodrama to hear from me," Ren said, his voice a little shaky after all that. The water helps some, but not much. Idly, he wondered how long it would take for their food to get there. "Idyllic. I guess that's how you'd describe my life up 'till a year ago. Born same year as you, actually. November 17th in Osaka, Japan. Smart kid, only child in a well-off family. So I got spoiled rotten, see?" He grinned lopsidedly, a half hearted attempt to lift his own spirits. "Great family life, great friends, great schools. Wanna kick my ass yet, or should I keep going?" He shook his head and looked outside. It had started to rain, a slight patter of water falling against the window, blurring the view to the outside. The people looked like they would in a funhouse mirror; all deformed and misshapen. "I got into like the third best high school in all of Japan. At that point, as long as you don't seriously screw up, you're done. All you have to do is get through your slog there, and get into college. Your future is almost assured after that. I had it all, too: extracurriculars, clubs, president of the student union, treasurer of blah blah blah. I got my admission into Tokyo University the day before..." He trailed off. The waitress came back around and topped off their waters and handed out the drinks. Ren eyed his shake, but didn't pick it up. "You ever have an epiphany? A life altering experience all condensed into a few moments? I did. I was in my science club meeting, nothing special going on, and then..." He made a gun with his hand, pointed it at the shake, then dropped his thumb. "Bang." "I realized I was set. Someone would hire me straight out of college, put me in a high rise and give me tens of millions of yen per year to sit on my ass and kiss butt for the rest of my life. All I would have to do is keep my head down and do whatever the people above me wanted me to do. Eventually, I would be one of those people. I could look forward to bossing around the peons under me and get the kind of treatment I deserved." Scooping up his shake finally, he took a big slug off of it and nodded approvingly. "'S good." Ren set the glass down and cupped it with both hands. "And that's when it happened. Maybe it was my fault, I dunno how these things work, but I started absorbing everything in the lab. Just drawing it into myself with those silver nanomachines you saw." "I was screaming, I remember that much," he said in a strangely detached tone. "It's all kind of a blur now, just silver wires and things disintigrating around me. I don't even remember walking out of there. The next thing I knew, I was stumbling up the steps of my house." The rain started coming down harder, the pattering against the glass and street becoming more insistant. "I took everything I had and left. It wasn't... I guess I wasn't thinking beyond getting away. Maybe it wasn't even because of the machine thing. Maybe I just wanted to leave. But afterwards... well, it was too late. I was on he run for destroying part of the building." Finally the food arrived, and Ren cut off his speech while the waitress laid out Lynn's club sandwich and his steak. He managed a genuine smile and thanked her, then looked back at Lynn. "There's... there's more than that, but I'm kinda hungry." A lie. "You mind if we brighten up the mood some?" "I want to know about your powers," he said with a grin while cutting up his steak. "I mean, does it feel weird, shifting about like that?"

The news media showed up shortly after the police, as they were wont to do. The only surprise there was that they hadn't arrived before the cops. They swarmed over the areas not yet taped off by police tape, photographing everything. Certainly a meta fight inside Riverside park was huge news. Something this destructive happening near the Centurion statue would be a big draw. It only took the networks bare moments to identify the gaudily dressed members of the area as superheros, and seconds more to inundate the two with cameras and microphones. "Mr. Emissary! Mr. Emissary! What happened here?" "What were SHADOW agents doing in Riverside park?" "Is this a prelude of something bigger?" "Was anyone hurt?" "Do you know the stance of The Freedom League on this incident? What are their plans to follow this attack up? Most of the questions were directed towards The Emissary, the most visible member of the superhuman community on hand, but a few reporters seemed to be doing double takes as they looked at Captain Wonder. Some of them began whispering among each other that he looked somehow familiar...

The news media showed up shortly after the police, as they were wont to do. The only surprise there was that they hadn't arrived before the cops. They swarmed over the areas not yet taped off by police tape, photographing everything. Certainly a meta fight inside Riverside park was huge news. Something this destructive happening near the Centurion statue would be a big draw. It only took the networks bare moments to identify the gaudily dressed members of the area as superheros, and seconds more to inundate the two with cameras and microphones. "Mr. Emissary! Mr. Emissary! What happened here?" "What were SHADOW agents doing in Riverside park?" "Is this a prelude of something bigger?" "Was anyone hurt?" "Do you know the stance of The Freedom League on this incident? What are their plans to follow this attack up? Most of the questions were directed towards The Emissary, the most visible member of the superhuman community on hand, but a few reporters seemed to be doing double takes as they looked at Captain Wonder. Some of them began whispering among each other that he looked somehow familiar...

They just couldn't go with a bald female Martian, could they? Great stuff, Bar.

They just couldn't go with a bald female Martian, could they? Great stuff, Bar.