Among the Sea of Faces (IC)

[TheAbsurdist]

"Got it!" It was a simple enough statement, but it was laden with a whole host of meaning. The simplest being that he had the information, and now was the time to take him down. And Elias response was simple. His eyes darkened, and would be noticeable if he wasn't wearing the mask. And then he eroded the metal's man's will as light started to pour from his eyes, and a similar effect happened to the man, as Elias' mind assaulted him. Assailing the his sense of self and identity, that light guttered out, and now they mirrored each other in pitch black. Unlike the doubt he had given him before, there was nothing thing, Heraldo felt nothing to what was happening, nothing at all. And then the man let out a keening wail, like something out of the corners of a nightmare, never quite glimpsed.

And the cold shiver the avatar of Puerto Rico felt in the absence of... something was just as telling. As his mental fortitude was shredded like tissue paper.

[Ari]

The Herald gulped as the sense of unreality and a void passed through him. He had no idea what Elias had done, but bet it wasn't something he would have ever wanted to do. As he tightened his grip on the man, however, something struck him 'Is what I do any different? He attacks people's minds, I strike at their bodies, both of us try to hurt people. I don't think any of those guys I punched in the face would ever think something like "Oh man, that hurt, but at least you didn't penetrate into my very heart and soul!". This guy wouldn't care much, I bet.' he decided, suddenly whipping backwards in a smooth arc, bending his back in a graceful arch as he slammed the metal man's head straight into the pavement with punishing force.

Rising without skipping a beat he said "Sorry about this, but you endangered people's lives for no reason. We're lucky you didn't manage to do whatever crazy thing you were trying to."

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

He screamed, before he was take over, Subito using his strength and leverage to bring him over him and drive the metal man into the ground. The back of Nanoman's head diveting the asphalt. Having no leverage he struggled and tried to break the grasp, but he simply could not, he just had nothing to worm away from the Herald's efforts, except a growing headache.

[TheAbsurdist]

One that Elias was more than happy to add to. His psyche ripping through the shredded defenses of the man. It hurt him too. Of course. But for all his empathy Elias knew who this man worked for now, and his desire make this gentle was lessening moment by moment. His hands squeezing tightly at his sides, fingernails digging into the raw skin of his hands. Using the pain as a focus, he flooded that sensation through his power.

[Ari]

The terseness from Errant was getting almost worrying. Subito understood how close to the vest Elias kept things, but this was unnerving. Focusing as best he could, Heraldo quickly adjusted his grip, sliding his arm around his foe's chest and getting an arm free just long enough to pull back and send his glowing fist straight at the man's head. As the arm-borne attack hurtled at his target, the resplendent paragon was suddenly struck by a horrible, horrible thought '...Blue Dame? I am here Could this be a distraction? ...No, but it is possible. Always it is possible.' The thought, even for a moment, that he and Errant were dealing with someone meant to at least possibly detour heroes from the real threat was enough to break the young Puerto Rican out in a cold sweat, and throw his aim off almost entirely!

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

He was near folded in half from the throw, driving him to the ground, fortunately Heraldo was off balance, and whatever it was the other boy was doing was not weakening his body. Fortunately. One arm from Heraldo broke free then, and he seized his chance, managing to wildly shift his weight and throw himself out of Heraldo's grasp and get his feet, looking at the other boy, and snarling, as he prepared he set himself for his next target.

[TheAbsurdist]

Errant made eye contact with him, and he made no sign that anything had changed. But he had already wreaked havoc on the man's mental defenses, and he was done. Just done. Other people were right, there was rage in the boy. A create deal. He never really had the opportunity to contend with his emotions and thoughts, constantly in an emergency maintenance mode. Constantly struggling with keeping his sense of self in line, and his emotions in check.

"I hate people like you."

There were times however. The fact that the flesh on his arm was raw from the nanites. The fact that he knew this man was a willing accomplice for this with this for just a pay check.

"And unlike you, I understand what that word, that concept means."

His anger fueled what happened next, as Elias reached into the Nano-Man's mind, and flipped a switch. Turning on every bit of mental trauma in there. Casting light to everything. Driving everything out into the open, and overloaded the man's psyche, his nervous system.

Fortunately he wore a mask, or just how focus, how determined, how utterly stark and empty his expression was that was.

The metal carapaced man screamed, hands snapping to his head to try and... do something. It was a gesture of panic at the pain that burned through every part of him. Then he just went out, sinking to his knees, and his arms dropping insensate at his sides, the teenage telepath having blasted him into unconsciousness.

[Ari]

The patriotic paragon was almost about to bring himself crashing into the man of steel when Elias unleashed his surge of psychic violence, dropping their foe wailing onto the roof. He froze in mid-leap, staring in quiet horror as the enemy was brought down, unable to think of what to say after such a brief and vicious display of Errant's beliefs. He shrugged and managed "Good work Errant, he was a tough one." Suddenly seeing his schoolmate's injury he started with horror, and immediately placed the Banner on his shoulder, babbling "I'm so sorry! I should have fixed that up before, I just didn't think..." a gentle smoke curling around the young psychic and healing his wounds as the Herald babbled.

Once that was done he leaned on the flagstaff, looking at the prostrate Nano Man. "So...what was his deal?" he asked anxiously, suddenly adding "are there more? Of him that we need to deal with, I mean?"

[TheAbsurdist]

"Stories... everyone has a story. His... is tied up with others, little strands flung about like no one cares over it..." He was staring at the inert form of the man. "Addiction. Has to be fed, over and over again. Self-improvement, a little is not enough. Have to be better. Smarter. More innovative." And then he shook his head and tried to push his thoughts back to cohesion.

Flexing his now healed hands, though they were still covered in blood. "He was hired to test something. By someone he doesn't know. But then a half-million in your off shore account, and things can happen. I know who hired him. The name. I have a face. But he is smart, careful. He tests weapons and tech for people, for their viability. Free advertising if the act works, right?"

[Ari]

"Sounds like a prideful guy" Heraldo commented. Realizing how that sounded he added, the youth's masked eyes looking up at Errant "I mean, wanting to be better, for the sake of being better." With a glitter of gold his sheathed the Banner "And yeah, I get what you mean. News comes out that some crazy weapon leveled a block, people are gonna want it."

Clearing his throat he crouched down next to Nano Man, gently turning him over so he lay on his back. Studying the metal man's face he asked carefully "Errant, I'm guessing this is something we...this tester guy, he's not something we could handle, right?" Subito was deeply nervous at the prospect of getting his feet even wetter in something as knotted as super-weapons dealers 'Give me a giant monster any day... Except for all those times you wish you could stop human evils, of course? ...Right.'

"You know who he is, is he someone just us could beat? 'Cause if so, we need to stop him before he does more awful stuff like this." He hoisted Nano Man over his shoulder, floating into the air and offering his free arm "Let's go, get this guy into custody."

[TheAbsurdist]

"It is a feeling I know well. We see people fly and somehow that's normal. It's not. It's special, exceptional. Imagine if you aren't exceptional, or don't see yourself that way, then you'll do what you can to get there, right? To be smarter, better, anything you could be. Feeding the hollow in you because that's all there is, and fear and doubt nibble and gnaw and have already consumed you from the inside out. No one wants to be someone else adrift among the sea of faces..."

He blinked a bit, and shook his head, before focusing back on Heraldo. "You get a look on your face when you are talking to the voice." He frowned a little and rested his hands on his hips. "Horatio is a threat. I met him once for less than five minutes. He gave me a peppermint hard candy."

His gaze was far away, and then he looked at Subito then, a bit of strange earnest in his expression, a palpable fervor in his eyes right then as he looked at him. And then it drifted away. "Let's go take him back." His decision was already made, he wouldn't take Subito. The fear that he was a fanatic was a valid one. They didn't have the goad of their past at their back, they didn't have a future confrontation. He did. They could separate themselves. He couldn't.

[Ari]

"I...I never thought of it like that. That's a real good point El." Carrying the two down with care, he he glanced with slight irritation at Errant as he flew "And the looks thing...I don't really care about that. Looking like I'm obsessed with being the most stoic person in the room isn't my style. Anyway!" he turned back to the air below them with a slight blush.

He landed next to the closest squad car and politely explained what had happened to the officer who seemed in charge, handed over the metal man, and helped clear some more space on the road.

[TheAbsurdist]

He would shrug if he hadn't been held by Heraldo as he rose into the air and moved towards the nearest police cruiser. "Few people do. Besides we're not exceptional enough are we, ya? We move to improve ourselves, for different reasons. Though the root is largely the same." He kept an 'eye' on the man, waiting for him to come around.

"You becoming stoic would require significant emotional trauma, I would advice against it. There is nothing wrong with being unsubtle, ya?"

And then they were depositing the Nanoman, and Elias managed to physically slip away, before turning when Heraldo's attention was elsewhere, and then he walked away casually as if nothing was the matter. And then the partner of the cop noticed the blood on Elias hands after only about ten feet away from Heraldo.

"Excuse me... sir? Can, what happened with your hands?"

[Ari]

"I guess. Would make it easier if more of the stoics at school thought that way, and didn't roll their eyes whenever someone does something emotional" the young paragon groused, unaware then of the reasons for that.

---

"....and that's how we managed to defeat this guy!" Heraldo finished his exposition with a cheerful grin, gesturing to the metal villain. With a much more serious look the teen said "So, as you can well imagine he's pretty dangerous! If you require an escort, I would be happy to accompany you until you arrive where you need to go." despite the very real threat the man posed even after being assaulted mentally by Errant, El Heraldo was relaxed and mostly calm, leaning against one of the squad cars as he kept a careful eye on their unconscious charge. "I mean no offense to your competency, of course!" he added quickly and with an apologetic look "But eve-" he glanced suddenly over at the officer confronting Elias, and with a hasty "Excuse me a minute" walked over to head off the situation.

Tapping the policeman on his shoulder, the Herald told him reassuringly "It's all right, officer! He was just hurt during the fight against that metal man, and I had the chance to heal him up afterwards."

[TheAbsurdist]

"Union rules." Elias said it in such a dry and offhand fashion that one wouldn't think he was making a joke.

---

Errant was content to let Heraldo do the talking. The other boy liked doing it after all. Errant muttered something under his breath then, and sighed a little about ready to respond, until Heraldo stepped in. Having already lost his chance to slip away from his associate. "Do you have alcohol wipes?" Errant had a strange mistrust of authority. Given that he could still remember New Freedom it was no surprise that was the case. But he was keeping himself civil, especially being caught in his attempt to slip away, red handed.

[Ari]

"Certainly!" Heraldo turned to the officer "Excuse me, officer, can I borrow some of your alcohol wipes? I think I saw some in that" he gestured to the cruiser in question "car over there. It would be much appreciated!" he added with a brilliant smile.

Turning to Elias he said "Will you be alright from hereon out, citizen?"

'Any place you wanna see next?'

[TheAbsurdist]

He stopped, and looked at them both. It was clear he wasn't entirely comfortable around the police officers, but then his life had involved a lot of... extralegal activities. "I will be fine. I need to see someone about a lead on this." Speaking obliquely, so the cops didn't know what he was referring to, though it was clear to Heraldo that he was going to follow up on the lead. "Thank you for the wipes." And then he started to rub it over his hands slowly, clearing off the blood, and feeling the bite of the alcohol on the fresh, raw skin. Pausing then, he looked at the cops and then Heraldo. Nodding to them both, and he started to move away from them.

[Ari]

Heraldo noticed the look, and the subtle shift in mood that came over Elias whenever cops were near. 'Should ask him about that, might be able to meet some folks who can help'

Turning quickly to the policeman who all but towered over the stocky boy, the young paragon told him brightly "Thanks very much for your help! If you need any backup while you take that guy in, don't hesitate to give me a shout. Don't mind him," he added, gesturing after the lean psychic "he's not much of a talker, from what I've gathered." taking a quick look around and seeing that already traffic was starting to pick back up, he thanked the rest of the squad and soared off into the sky, arcing over the block and alighting on the rooftop of a store in his schoolmate's path. Landing out of sight, he crouched down.

Shutting his eyes he called out 'O Blue Dame! Receive your power once again It is accepted. Well done, my Herald' and in a moment the vivid costume of El Heraldo dissipated. Stretching his freshly weakened limbs, Subito waited only a moment before leaping into action, going quietly down the ladder leading to the roof and appearing out of an alley in front of Elias. He resisted the urge to grin, shout and give the determined guy a high-five, but the grinning wasn't not going to happen.

Falling in step with the boy, Subito said casually "Nice work bro. You wanna go anywhere else around here? Still lots to see."

[TheAbsurdist]

He shrugged a little, and slipped away, not able to do the whole disappear into shadows. So he made his way back to the alleyway, once he got the chance, and then ducked behind the dumpster. Subito arrived back as Elias was changing back out of his uniform, slipping it into the duffle bag, and then shouldering it. He did so without anything resembling modesty, though fortunately Subito showed up a couple steps after that stage then.

"I need a job." He said it simply after he was asked.

[Ari]

Looking askance at Elias with a raised eyebrow, Subito replied carefully "...Okay then, I know some places that need help. Nothin' with good hours though. I mean, for a schedule like you've got El. Francesco's down on O'Donnel St., they always need new hires, and of course there's always Go-Mart" he smiled wryly "I work at one of their places m'self. They must go through like a zillion people a year city-wide. I'd be pretty amazed if nobody at school's worked at a Go-Mart at least once. You know...uh...that girl..." the young Puerto Rican frowned and regarded the sky for a few moments, deep in the struggles of trying to remember something, his face clearing as he snapped his fingers and turned excitedly back to the reserved New Freedonian "Milla! You know that girl who has that Super-Ethics class with you? Black, long hair, wears Hawaiian shirts, always looks a little grumpy? Yeah, she told me once that she's got, like, voodoo powers or somethin', and anyway, she works at one of the places I do, that Go-Mart down in Bayview near the Mall. I think Paula from chem does too, but she changes what she looks like so often, I got no idea what to look for."

The powerfully-built teenager smiled in triumph before his expression shifted to nervous embarrassment "Uh...sorry El, got sidetracked. So those places are pretty safe bets, if you're okay with takin' kinda crappy hours. There's also a couple Harvest markets you could apply to, the in Southside has had some problems with gang violence near the store though." he hunched up his shoulders and trudged on for a few more feet, suddenly darting his head up to look eagerly back over at the other boy "Hey! You know, that could be a good place to learn how to use your powers more subtly, right? Those guys in the gangs, they ain't like metal man, they'll listen to reason and stuff."

[TheAbsurdist]

"Milla? Hm. She doesn't like me... I don't think she likes anyone. She is closed." He shrugged a little his eyes narrowing as he was clearly sorting through his memories. "The way Paula walks, I can pick her out out of a crowd. Hm." And then Subito hit on the idea, and he nodded, and turned to him a bit fully, stopping his own walking. "Yes. That is a good plan, I like that." Noddiing in assent at that. Of course Elias didn't smile, but he didn't seem gloomy, though seeing him smiling would be... odd. To say the least.

[Ari]

"Yeah, that sums Milla up pretty well!" Subito laughed, swinging an arm around Elias's shoulders as they walked, nestling comfortably against the other boy "Once I came into class and she just glared at me for a few seconds, an' I was like ''Wait, what'd I do?' "Course she never told me. So wait, Paula walks one way all the time? I never look at her legs, so I wouldn't know." he teased cheerfully.

 

"Anyway, if you get called in for an interview, you'll need to learn how to smile. And look happy." He said gravely. Raising his hand he went on "Yeah yeah, I know, 'I don't hide who I am'. Now, the interviewer is gonna to ask about previous experience, and how that relates to your application..."

[TheAbsurdist]

"She doesn't glare at me.  At least not that much."  He shrugged a little bit as that arm was thrown around him.  Elias didn't flinch or stiffen, as he didn't have a thing about being touched.  Though his distant behavior didn't change in the slightest.  "Body language can be telling.  And I can... feel how everyone moves around me.  Like a web that trembles when a spider's prey is on it."  Not that he was upset on the assertion of what Subito was getting at, it just wasn't something he did, honestly.

 

"I am just going to find a place that wont ask that many questions, it wont be hard.  I didn't think stockboy would need prior experience..."  He furrowed his brows and frowned at Subito, demonstrating one of his two known expressions.

[Ari]

"Well, I suppose 'need' is kind of a bad choice there" the muscular boy admitted "But they'll wanna know everythin' they can about you so whoever your supervisor is knows what they're in for, an' to make sure you're not a horrible killer or somethin." He smiled at Elias and gave his shoulder a light squeeze "I bet you'll be fine El. Lots of guys with way less ability to do work get jobs and keep 'em."

 

Turning back to the sidewalk ahead, Subito was initially surprised at how they had blindly avoided some of the knots of Freedonians still wandering the streets, hurrying or sauntering. Suddenly the words 'like a web that trembles' took on new meaning. "Harvest markets are pretty light on the questions, if I recall correctly, though you'll wanna learn how to smile at least politely."  he added with a sideways glance at Elias' stony frown "if you don't, folks will start thinkin' they said or did something wrong, an' that makes 'em nervous. Shouldn't be too hard! I believe in your power to look happy!" the young paragon said with a cheery grin.

[TheAbsurdist]

Elias relaxed his expression and it became neutral as he nodded.  "I have killed any people, why did you take it there?"  His brows lifted as he looked at the larger boy.  Wondering why that was the direction that Subito went in, without using his abilities to push and find out.  Though, thus far the stocky other boy was more than a little transparent to Elias' scrutiny.

 

Elias only casually steered the larger teen, surprisingly deft in the process of avoiding people and things, and even stopping at curbs.