SKEA Centre

CHAPTER ONE: Oh so Lovely waiting for a new Fate~

Roselle Huney; the receptionist of the SideKick Employment Agency was typing like an electric guitarist performing a crazy metal solo.
Requests for SideKicks were flowing in predictably fast. "Didn't I tell you this would be a successful business?" she said to her sisters between typing and coffee sips.
Reanne Huney; the socialist entwined her fingers closing her pair of golden eyes. She summoned all SideKicks to the Centre for interviews to commence.
"Hello everyone" she greeted, opening her eyes then parting her arms to welcome them. "We have called you.. as the heroes and the villains of this city turn to you as potential partners"
Lined up horizontally before the information desk, Reanne passed the SideKicks one by one to shake hands then allocate rooms for them to await interviews.

"Nicole Keiser, please wait in room 14 down the hall to your left"
"Gloria Jomile, please wait in room 3, straight ahead"
"Victoria Thompson, please wait in room 12, also down the hall to your left"
"Ruby Wolf, please wait in room 26. You will have to take the elevator over there and press the level 1 button then turn right"
"Adelaide Thompson and Cinder Motomi, your fate has already been decided and I will discuss this with you further shortly"

Reanne let out a sigh then flashed the SideKicks a reassuring grin. "Ladies.. you are about to embark on a daring adventure. Some of you will be the good guys.. the rest of you will be bad. But all of you.. will impact on the state of this city" She stated, glancing at them all somewhat proud.
"Use your skills, your power and of course your feminine charm.." she giggled placing a hand on her hip to continue her speech.
"To be the best SideKicks you can possibly be! Make us all proud but most of all.. make your Villain or Hero proud to have met you!"

Roselle waved her hand in the air signalling for Reanne to come over. Reanne cleared her throat. "It is time for you all to go to your room and wait to be interviewed.. Cinder and Adelaide please take a seat and we will organise your means of transport as soon as possible"
Reanne strode behind the desk to peek over her sister's shoulder. "What is the matter?"
Roselle who was focused on the screen and tapped her forehead with a finger lightly in thought.
"We can organise Cinder to head for Alucard's Island by flight but I am unsure how to transport Adelaide.. her partner is in a completely different timezone or something.. I think we will have to call him in to pick her up.."
Reanne slapped her head. "Gah call him in then I suppose" she demanded.

Roselle looked up the name 'Chronus Reaper' on her database then immediately dialled the customer's number on the phone and balanced it on her shoulder as she continued reading the database. "Hello Sir, I am afraid that you will have to come in the Centre to retrieve your SideKick as your location is beyond our reach. I apologise for the inconvenience.. is that okay with you sir?"

As for Redette; the guide stepped out of the Centre gracefully to wait for the appearance of customers... the Villains and Heroes of Cosmopolitan City.

The armoured 4X4 (Panther) gave a resounding roar as it speed up towards the street and squealed as the brakes shifted the tires toward the SKEA Centre. Jack slowly parked the Panther in the lot easily taking two spaces. I better not get another damned ticket. The driver door flew open and Jack jumped out dressed in his father's old military uniform that he used to wear, with his sunglasses, and helmet.This was his bonafide hero oufit. He grabbed the mounted machine gun hanging from the top of the 4x4 "Don't want anyone to be stealing this." He said to himself. The 7.62mm machine gun weighed about 20 pounds, 25 with the ammo still inside. He quickly jogged towards the woman standing outside and slowly stopped as he reached her.

"Hi! I'm Redette and you must be Militus, Villain or Hero?" Jack looked at Redette and responded back, "Hero" making his way inside. "Oh make sure to leave your Machine gun and other weapons with my sister inside!" I stepped inside and walked up to the receptionist inside, "Redette's sister? I have an appontment with a sidekick here." The other woman was running her fingers through the keyboard looking like it was going to catch fire, taking only a second to look at me then back to her keyboard. "Ah Militus, please leave all your weapons in this bin, I'm Roselle." pointing to the blue bin behind her desk. Jack carefully placed the 7.62mm in the bin and most of the grenades that were hanging across his belt. "All of them" another women beside Roselle said. " I have no idea what you're talking about." Jack let out with a smile. "My name is Reanne and please don't make me search you." she said with a straight face. Jack simply shrugged and Reanne growned at the tedious task ahead of her. Patting him down head to toe, she found 6 pistols, 1 smoke grenade, 5 knives, and a mechanical spider, tossing all items in the bin. Then as Reanne went for another pad down to search Jack, he said "Hey! flattery will get you everywhere." Reane recoiled back, saying to Roselle, "It's done..."

"Alright Militus, you're interview is with Gloria Jomile, straight ahead in room 3." Jack looked at Roselle "Thank you." then looked at Reanne, "Thank you too." He said winking at her then walking down the corrider into Room 3, where there was a table and two chairs, one of them meant for me, and the other where the red head sat in, looking at me. "Hello, I'm Militus and you must be Gloria... tell me about yourself."

Aeon Just had the receptionist of the SKEA centre on the phone from his hidden away mansion. He lightly smiled when they said that his mansion was out of reach, that was the entire point of having it exist inside the vortex of time, well that and the fact that he could observe the timeflow from there. When he was called he was in his most private of all of the rooms in his house, no not the bathroom, he was in what he called the chrono miror room. This rooms wall are covered in shards of time and allow anyone inside the room to see present events throughout the city, or to recall a past event for closer analysis. He had seen and heard the poeple of SKEA centre talk and had walked out of the room before picking up the phone. "Of course it isn't a problem, the location and it's accessibility makes it a rather difficult place to reach with conventional means."

Seconds after the call out of nowhere a tear in time appears just outside of the SKEA centre. The tear had a strange and almost omnious energy around it, as if death lurked from just behind it. If you were a known villain that wouldn't be too far off from the truth, because right behind the tear stood Aeon with his sword drawn and ready. Casualy he walked out of the tear, closing it as he came out of it on the other side. Compared to the vortex of time earth was a louder and brighter place, and it always took Aeon a few seconds to adjust to the altered sound and light levels after a long stay in either place.His eyes having adjusted to the bright light of the day he now felt it was safe to sheate the blade. The hourhands of the watch turned from the twelve and the six, turning back to the current time. He looked another man who had just arrived, already analysing who he was knowing that the average joe didn't need a sidekick, nor was able to apply as one. He walked to the girl who stood outside of the centre, by his knowlege she was one of the employees of the centre. "Good morning." He said as he walked towards her.

Jack looked at Gloria, "Animal features?" He said out loud. "That can be...interesting actually, if you end up being my partner I ought to take you to the zoo." He said smiling. "Well if you want to know, this was my dad's old army uniform that he used to wear in the desert." tugging at the dust camo uniform from the chest. "I was in the special forces for 8 years and my power is Electronic Persuasion, all things that use electiricty will follow my will on touch." Jack looked at Gloria again " I don't even know if you have what it take to be my sidekick though, the energy, the strengh, or the endurance. Don't ansewer that, you'll have to show me."

He took off his kevlar body armor and layed it on the table with a resounding thud of it's weight. "Put this on." Gloria picked up the heavy kevlar and managed to get over her head with some difficulty. "Now stand up." Gloria took 5 seconds more then usual to stand on her feet, but she kept her balance and strong with both feet. "Good, good." Jack said turning around pulling the pistol he had gotten through by hiding near his privates.

"Good thing I read the catalogue, and ordered a soundproof room." Jack turned around with pistol in hand. "Don't worry it'll just be a little bruise." Gloria looked towards the door but Jack raised his gun first. "Remember I'm the Hero." The trigger was pulled as it hit the kevlar jacket, leaving Gloria to deal with the impact of the bullet.

"So tell me about more about yourself."

Aeon saw a few others make a hastely entrance and he took those few seconds to know as much as possible about them as he could, in any way their real name would be favorable information. The girl spoke and with a slight grin he responded: "Yes, indeed I am Chronus Reaper." When it came to indentifying heroes and villains he would be one of the easiest to recognise with his massive pocketwatch sword. The girl told him that Adelaide was waiting inside and again he calmly responded: "The I'd better make my way to her, it would be a shame to have her wait." He was obviously aiming at the nature of his powers.

After the short conversation Aeon walked inside keeping in mind that he might have to clean up the creatures outside after leaving the centre. Quickly scanning the room for anyone who'd fit the application he noticed a nervous girl that stood alone. It seemed that she was waiting for someone, making the search realy easy. He walked to the girl. With a slight smile he spoke as he walked towards her: "Hello there, you must be Adelaide Thompson, am I correct? I am Chronus Reaper, but you can call me Aeon."

"Yes.. that is me" she said softly nodding. She held her hand out to him shakily for a handshake which she believed to be customary at such introductions. "It is.. nice to meet you Aeon.." she added. This is it.. I'm an actual sidekick now.. That thought was overwhelming, her life was turning.
She was no longer going to be an ordinary girl. Not that she ever was with her power but the rest of the world didn't know about that.
Her eyes shimmered touched by the ceiling lights holding a hope for something new , promising and worthwhile...
She glanced behind her at the Huney triplets with a sweet smile, thanking them in her mind for this opportunity to be someone.
Someone? She was reminded of the future of the city. "I don't mean to be so rude as to ask a series of questions from you.. but out of curiosity.."
She rubbed her right arm and bit her lip unsure if it was wise to ask so soon instead of observing and picking up on it. "Are we fighting for the greater good..or evil?" She looked up at him like a little girl asking if Santa is real. His answer was that important.

Aeon smiled at the girl and shook her hand before answering the question. "Of course you are allowed to ask me anything. For what it's worth We are fighting for the greater good. But understand that there can't be light without shadow, no love without hate, no joy without grief, no life without death, and no good without evil. Everything is sustained in a rather fragile balance. I will teach you more about this on a more apropriate time. Anyways, is there anything you need to get before we set off to my house?" He spoke with a calm and soft voice, hoping he wouldn't startle the girl too much after the sudden introduction, as she seemed nervous.

The fidgety red head continued to sit in her seat. Waiting patiently for her hero or villain to come in and start examining her, asking her questions about why they should choose her. Unable to stand being in one place any longer, Belle stood and moved over to the windows to get some air and hoped that the view of the city would help take her mind off the interview for a short time. She opened the window and a light breeze gently played with her hair. She leaned onto the windowsill with her elbows and began people watching, maybe judging others first will help her before the interview. She watched as different heroes, or villains, approached the center. They all arrived in different ways, every one of them in a different form and style. She recognized a few here and there from headlines and broadcasts, but never rooted for one or the other.

Belle turned her head quickly to see that someone had entered. He resembled a knight from the fairy tales she read and fantasy movies she had watched while growing up. When he first spoke, she remained standing by the window, head tilted and eyes blinking, trying to make sense of what on earth he just said. “Sorry, I mean, come take a seat and introduce yourself, please.” "Oh! of course!" as the words left her tongue the curtains of the window flew around and she was already standing next to her seat, looking up at the shining man in armor with a gentle smile "It's very nice to meet you, Sir Pent...I am Ruby Wolf. Thank you for taking interest in an interview."

Xavier blinked and lost sight of her. His reflexes soon caught up though, his eyes following the red blur. She was faster than he guessed and she arrived at the chair before his eyes did. The nano-bots were settling, otherwise he might have kept pace with her rapid movement.

"It's very nice to meet you, Sir Pent...I am Ruby Wolf. Thank you for taking interest in an interview.” She said. Xavier judged that she was well mannered. An excellent start. He nodded and returned the smile but had forgotten to take his helmet off.
“T’would be wrong of me to make assumptions of thee, I would prefer it if thou wilt bestow thyself.” The nano-bots were calming further now, but his speech was still dodgy. He became impatient with himself, quickly correcting his sentence. “I would like to hear about you and your abilities, and please, don’t spare any details.” He kept his voice friendly, in case she thought that his impatience was directed at her.

Only now he remembered he was still wearing his helmet. He was not as bothered with secret identities as much as other Heroes and Villains, he was confident enough in his sword skills that anyone who should make an attempt on his life would get the same battle in or out of costume. He took it off and tucked it under his left arm, and with his right he gestured for Ruby to sit.
“Please, make yourself comfortable before you begin.”

Aeon smiled as Adelaide said she hadn't packed her stuff. His request had been rather quick and obviously you'd have little time to prepare. Fortunatly the office ladies had prepared her stuff. She said that she was ready to go and Aeon glanced to his small silver pocketwatch( not the sword). "Well then let's go." Aeon looked at the office ladies as the hourhands turned to twelve and six, and the blades jump out of the clock as the hourhands lock their hourpoints. "Exuse me for bringing a weapon into your lovely centre, but a man knowing the value of time shall never be late." He said with the same voice as before. He made a light bow and then slashed the air in front of him, making an omnious looking tear in time appear. Aeon grabbed two of the pieces of luggage. "If you would follow me, please. Don't worry it's perfectly safe." He said with a slight smile to Adelaide. He stepped through the tear in time, hoping Adelaide would follow.

On the other side of the tear saw that the tear had opened up much closer to the mansion than expected. Opening a portal to inside the mansion grounds was impossible, there were protections against that, to prevent him from arriving mid-wall. He almost stepped against the large artfully decorated steel gate that hung in the two stories high masonary stone wall. Beyond the gate you could see a glimpse of the mansion grounds and even very small parts of th mansion were visable through it. As Aeon gently touched the gate it swung open as if it just had been hit by truck. He turned around to see if Adelaide had followed him.

Virus sighed as she said "I am not exactly sure what your referring to." and turned his Chainsword back into his five fingered claw. He tilted his head slightly before saying "I like you kid, I doubt there is going to be another sidekick much like you. Which is why I have already made up my mind of picking you as my sidekick. I can see a very bright future ahead of you, now do you have anything you need to get or is that all your possesions?" he stood up, looking at Swarm King who floated to the door and telephatically opened it for Virus. The Swarm King then floated out of the room and went outside, coordinating the minions to come to the Swarm King and act as a door bodyguard for the eventual departure of Virus from the building.

Tyler grinned as he saw Nice leave to go get her things before turning and leaving. He had started walkin down the hallway until a noise caught his attention and he placed his head against the wall. He soon began eavesdropping on a slightly muffled conversation between Sir Pent and Ruby Wolf which he payed attention to for a minute or so.

As the Swarm King floated out of the building it emitted a low pitched noise to low for humans to hear, calling the Brute's and flying beasts to the Swarm King. They soon formed a defensive position near the front door (but not blocking it) preparing for Virus's exit from the building. However, before Virus came out a stranger with a mask approached SKEA and the protected entrance. The Swarm King floated towards Adam and stared at hm, using it's psychic powers to try and read and understands Adam's mind while the minions simultaneously took up battle positions incase Adams turned hostile. The Swarm King cooed it's head before it sent a telepathic messenge to the other parasites "He is harmless, allow bypass. Wait for further orders." causing the parasites to relax and not be as defensive.

Around this time Virus had stopped eavesdropping and made his way out, nodding at Adam as he exited the building and inspected his soldiers. The Swarm King nodded it's head at the door, causing Tyler to look back and see that Nicole had arrived. "Ahh perfect! Now come along we have little time to waste, Brutes! Take the girls boxes and follow me." he said to Nicole before firmly and rather impatiently ordering his minions to do the labor as they systematticaly grabbed each box and latched it onto there back by growing strands that wrapped around the boxes and made a net.

Walking forward he stopped at a tow truck, the three floating sacs now detaching from the building and floating towards the tow truck using the noxious gas as a propellant, looking back at Nicole he said "Do you know how to ride a car?" after getting his answer he immediately says "Great, Swarm King you know what must be done.". Virus placed his hands on the tow truck while the sacs implanted there tendrils into the tow truck and finally the Swarm King floated up and landed it's back against the tow trucks metal fishing rod (Where the cable is lined against) and implanted itself on it. In a matter of moments the tow truck was infected with the parasitic organism (Same color palette.). Spikes, minor tendrils, and what appears to be teeth (sprouting from the side) grow on the tow truck. The drivers door opens up automatically and Virus gestures for Nicole to get in on the front seat while Virus instead goes on the roof of the truck and whips out his guitar. "You ready to get going?" he says down to her as he tunes his guitar and the three brutes carrying the boxes board on the back of the truck.

"Congratulations, you're now my sidekick, get used to the Kevlar." She shook his hand and groaned afterwards. Do I have to? It's so heavyy she whined to herself. "Come on, let's get out of here." Gloria nodded. "Right..right." Walking out of the interview room was a breath of fresh air. She didn't have to worry about not getting an offer like the others she had passed by. She was already accepted. She stayed at the hero's side somewhat impatient. She wanted to just grab her things and go already..that made her wonder where such a hero lived.
When they finally made it to the information desk, she laughed at her partner's groans. Apparently the office women had confiscated all his weaponry. She even gave her cousin Reanne a high five on it. She was aware that her cousins were concerned for her and thus wanted to make extra sure that the guy wasn't going to do anything harmful. He had managed to slip through their checkup with a gun but she wasn't going to mention that. They would stop her from being a sidekick at all.
Gloria stopped laughing, feeling something on top of her shoulder. "Here's a welcoming gift." he said. She looked down at it. "Hey it is kind of cute" she said. 'Cute' was a word she didn't say often but since it was animal-like. She felt free to say it. The spider scanned her and she felt uncomfortably exposed. "Ally!" it said
"See? It likes you." the hero commented. "It can't see through clothing right?" she asked half jokingly.

As they walked out of the Centre, he gestured towards an armoured 4x4. "That's our ride outta here." Could use some tweaks.. Her gaze shifted noticing someone mysteriously appearing next to the vehicle. "That must be Paradox, don't worry he's on our side." her partner said smiling once again. "Okay that's good" she said.

A wave of bullets were aimed towards them from the roof she guessed. She had ducked behind the Centre's mailbox then looked up for her partner. 13 shots hit him square in the chest causing him to drop on the ground to one knee. "Hey you alright!?" she called out. "Gloria! Get to the Panther, NOW!" throwing her the keys from his pocket. She caught the keys and ran for it. This was no laughing matter. She climbed into the vehicle's seat and started the engine. It was a good thing she knew how to drive.
She quickly pulled up the Panther at the kerb opening the door. "I hate snipers" he said looking down at his chest at the mess they made. "Oh I hate snipers too" she said pretty sure that everyone did if they were the ones getting shot at. "Don't worry about me, dragonskin body armour is a god send thank goodness for genetic engineering." he reassured letting out a weak smile. Somehow that didn't make her feel better.
"Man the gunner position, I'm driving over to that mercenary headquarters and you let hell break loose." he took over the wheel and started driving recklessly. She wanted to question how long he had been driving but decided against it, instead preparing for the worse to come.

Tenalia picked her way through the relatively empty streets of Cosmopolitan city rather quickly. She was more running then picking though, Tenalia knew the city like the back of her hand, every side street and alleyway was a potential shortcut that could be exploited. It was a side effect of calling these streets home, as dangerous as they were. Tenalia had been sitting in a small coffee shop checking her email on her labtop for the first time in days. It was a task that had completely slipped her mind but she almost had a heart attack at the sight of the only email in her box. The mail was a simple response from the SKEA Center, she was enthralled that they had accepted her but was shocked to learn that the meetings were today and they were starting in 5 minutes.

Those 5 minutes were long overdue Tenalia thought bitterly as her white hair streamed past her. She had picked up a lot of speed and was probably pushing the envelope on energy use but she had to be at SKEA, she could not have her interview taken away from her. As Tenalia rounded another corner she could begin to make out the SKEA Center some three blocks away and couldn't help but be filled with a sort of wild anticipation at what SKEA had done for her. It wasn't long before she found herself panting for breath in the main lobby of SKEA. "I'm sorry I'm late Maim" she said in between breaths.

The receptionist did nothing but smile and reassure Tenalia that she had not missed the interview, though she did slip in a comment about other plans.
"Hello sir, thank you for coming" Tenalia heard the receptionist say shortly after she had sat down in one of the chairs. "This is the sidekick we have arranged for your first interview"

Tenalia looked up to see a taller man with mid length black hair, glasses and an tan coat. She wasn't sure what to make of him and it was impossible to read his eyes. However, she was glad, he didn't seem like a villain, maybe he was a hero. Regardless the man towered over her but, so did everyone, it was nothing new. Tenalia stuck her hand out to the man. "Hello, I'm Tenalia Ceolmen. I look forward to our interview."

Roselle received a call. "I see.. thankyou see you soon" She put the phone down and resumed typing. "Another sidekick signed up..Natalia Westmoreland" She searched through the database. "Pair her up with Nightmare for first interview? So far all our first interviews have been successful" Roselle commented on the pattern.
Reanne wore a big grin, raising one hand in the air to cheer. "Yes! We are so made for this business!" she blushed noticing Nightmare was already in the building. "How unprofessional.." she said, dusting off her clothes and approaching the villain. "Sir we have a new sidekick arranged to meet with you" She summoned Natalia into the room. "And here she is!" she said gesturing to the girl. "If you need anything we will be right over there" she said with a smile before leaving them to say their own introductions.

Adam smiled and said a half-hearted "Thank you." to Reanne, though he was thinking, Well, good thing I wasn't on time... Then he looked towards the girl he was to interview, scrutinizing her a little, sizing her up. Sure, she was pretty, but he didn't care much about that. He was trying to figure out if she could fight. Then he gave a charming smiled and said, "Hello, I'm Nightmare. You understand I can't really introduce myself further because, well, this may not work out and-" He cut himself off, he was rambling. Why did he do that so often? He chuckled slightly and said, "Sorry about that. What was your name? Or, at least, a name you'd like me to call you."

He waited a moment for her to introduce herself and say whatever else she wanted before saying, "Now, I have a few questions to ask you. They may seem a little strange, or like a load nonsense, but it's very important that I know these things, okay?" After a second of thought he added, "And don't worry about anything, I wont hurt you if you don't prove to be what I'm looking for. They'd have everything short of hell after me if I did and. So, are you ready?"

The Modded Ludovico Technique sucked. Although it could cure many, if not all, psychological diseases, it still hadn't been that.... refined. For it to work, you still had to expose the subject to something (called a "mantra) continuously until he/she lost it and becomes moldable. If the thing was suddenly exposed to the subject again, the subject would temporarily regain the disease.

The Cannibal Lawyer had just been exposed to his "mantra" a few minutes ago. He suddenly lost it, but luckily regained his own a few minutes later. He regained his own in the SKEA centre, having been dragged there by the Huney triplets.....

"Wh-whe-" He suddenly realized where he was. "Why am I-"

MLT had a few safeguards. One of them is the fact that the subject could never know about it, or even know about the disease they got. If the subject asked something that would inevitably lead to the things that violate the safeguards, the subject would suddenly pass out a few moments after starting to speak.

Thud! Hannibal passed out.

Watching her, Adam couldn't help but notice the confidence in West's behavior. He liked that, a spineless sidekick would never for for him, ever. Yes, he knew it may be harder to bend her to his will, but he would need her to be confident enough to be able to act on her own if she needed to, as he wouldn't always be awake to tell her what to do.

He smiled at her and nodded, "Yes, of course you can ask me a few questions. Just nothing extremely personal that could give away my identity. I wouldn't answer them, anyway." Then he shrugged and said, "Alright, let's get started." Then he crossed his arms and a more serious expression came across his face, "My first question isn't strange, really. But, what are your powers? See, that's really number one on my list because I want to make sure that you fit and such, I also don't want our powers to clash and..." He trailed off and shook his head, "And I keep doing that. Also, do your powers make a lot of noise?" He asked, the look on the parts of his face one could see displayed a slightly concerned, yet extremely interested expression.

He wanted to know because loud powers would be completely opposite of what he needed. If either he or any other person in his dreamworld was woken up in the middle of a dream, things could, and would, go horribly wrong. He knew that from experience, and he didn't want to repeat it, ever.

Adam nodded and muttered, "Very interesting..." Before saying, "Yes that was very good." He noted she seemed...Less confident while answering his question, but he wrote it off on nerves and perhaps awkwardness.

Then he placed his hands on his hips and said, "My next question is: how often do you remember your dreams?" Then after a second of thought he added, "And would you be willing to stop me if I ever started to ramble or digress durning a battle? Because I do that quite often, though sometimes it's worse than others. I remember one time in high school I just went off on tangents for maybe ten minutes in the middle of a health class, man...That class was boring I-" He sighed and shook his head, "Eh, like I said, I do that a lot. Normally when I'm sleep deprived." He chuckled nervously, "But anyway, feel free to answer my questions now."

Adam smiled at West, she remembered her nightmares, good. He had asked that more out of curiosity than anything, and it may end up helping him somewhere down the road. After all, it could get difficult to make his dream world bad enough, especially when he wanted to keep the person alive, for whatever reason.

He could help but chuckled a bit at her answer to his second question, he nodded and said a simple, "Good...." Before crossing his arms again. He raised his eyebrow at her question, though it was doubtful that anyone could see that. But the simple, "Hm." that accompanied it was unmistakable.

He shook his head, "Well...Not exactly. Though that is an intelligent guess. I actually can pull people into my dreams...Well, it's more like my dream world, really." He paused for a moment, trying to think of how to describe it. Then he said, "Ah!" And leaned in slightly, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear, even though he really didn't care, and began to explain, "You know how sometimes when you dream, your mind creates a whole new world for your dream? Well, my powers revolve around that dream world. I can pull other people into it, but I've found that any more than two gets messy, too many subconscious in there, trust me. Anyway, I can pull other people in there with me, and while we're asleep, I can control the dream world, to a degree. Well, I can control most of it and anything that happens there is reflected in real life."

He tilted his head, trying to think of a good example, "Like, if I where to get hurt in my dream world, when I woke up, my injury would pass on to the real me." He pointed to his left eye, "That's how that happened. Anyway, it also works with death and learning new abilities. Though sometimes it comes out a little...Tamer, than in the dream."

He shrugged and asked, "Anything else you want to know?" He thought he liked this girl, in a "she'll make a good sidekick" way of course. She was defiantly interesting. He just hoped she wouldn't be put off by his less-than-nice side, that could be a deal breaker, though he tended to only show that to people he wasn't going to potentially team up with.

Adam smiled and nodded his head, "One more. I need to be sure that you can do what I tell you, no matter what. That you will be able to stay by my side, even though some of what I do lacks the morality you may have wanted from a partner. You need to be able t understand that I do everything for a reason, that chaos is not without meaning, and not everyone is a good person: hero or otherwise."

He sighed and rubbed his neck, "I'm not a good person, but I need you to be able to work with me. If you don't think you can handle that, tell me now. Otherwise it's a deal, you'll be my sidekick." He didn't want to tell her that they would never just kill someone, even to get the attention of the city. He wasn't that kind of villain, but he wanted West to tell him the truth, how well she could handle being a villain's sidekick. He didn't want her to back down just before she finished a job, that would never do.

So he looked her in the eye, nothing but the utmost seriousness written across his face, that you could see, anyway. He crossed his arms as well. If West where much shorter than him, that may have even looked intimidating, but as it was Adam was less than five inches taller than her, which didn't make for much of an intimidating stature, but he certainly looked liked he wanted the truth.

Adam gave a half-smile as his posture relaxed noticeably before taking West's hand and giving one firm shake before saying, "Good to hear. I was a little worried you where going to say no." Then he shrugged and asked a simple, "Anything you need to get before we go?" He didn't know if she had anything there at all, but it didn't hurt to ask. Well, it might, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't.

He briefly wondered how his and West's partnership was going to work out, but didn't dwell on it for long. He wasn't sure of much, but he was sure that he would at least have someone to talk to now, so things would never be all bad, no matter how this worked out.

Adam smiled and said, "Oh, I see. How'd I miss that?" He said with a slight chuckle in his tone. Sure, he could have just said he thought she may have had more, but he didn't. He blamed the whole, 'one eye' thing.

He nodded at West and said, "Sure uh, we can go to my...Lair now." He shrugged, "This was really the only thing I have planned for today." Then he turned, gesturing for her to follow, and walked out the door, towards his car. He briefly inspected it before smiling and saying, "I was expecting a huge dent in this thing, but not a scratch." Then he unlocked the doors and popped open the trunk, saying, "Hand me your bag, I'll set it in here for the drive." He reached out his hand and waited a moment for her to do so before getting the bag in and closing the trunk saying, "Alright, you can go ahead and get in, just don't mess with my mirrors." He was referring to the special mirrors he had installed so he could dive legally. He wanted to be sure in case he ever got pulled over when he wasn't in costume.

Then he went around and climbed in the driver's seat of the car. He waited a moment and asked, "Probably not the ride you expected, is it?" With a slight chuckle. Then he set out to driving towards his lair.

Hannibal collapsed on the concrete floor. And since nobody caught him while he was falling, he hit his head pretty- no, wait, very- bad. The Huneys quickly went to him and carried him to the SKEA medical facilities. There, he was treated for a concussion and minor bruising.

He woke up at around twenty minutes later. His head was hurt a lot, and so did his arms and abdomen. "Ouch.... Pain...." Immediately did he get from his pack a small flask filled with a liquid. he poured the liquid onto a cup and drank it. He was cured instantly.

He removed his IV and changed from the gown he was changed into to his usual clothing: A coat and tie with a trenchcoat overcoat, the shirt under the tie covered in special magical markings, and a large, pointy hat usuall found in movies about witches. He then took his pack and left his room, but of course cleaned it first, and then went out into the main hall of the medical facility. Upon asking a nurse some directions, he walked towards a big door behind him. Then he entered the main hall of the whole center.

And was he wowed. He saw the great big marble columns, holding up the huge stone ceiling, which had paintings as great as the ones in the Sistine chapel. ANd on the columns he saw large posters about recruitment into SKEA. He moved his eyes down to the bases of the hall and saw large, lifelike statues of the heroes of the feminist movement. Upon seeing the statues he smiled a little. But his smile grew when he saw the hundreds of women walking down the hall. The hundreds of SEXY women. But then he quickly reminded himself, "No, Hannibal! Romance and lust weakens your power... Don't" He moved his eyes to another great spectacle, a large gold plated statue of the founder of SKEA, a big beautiful girl whose name was, as he discovered upon approaching the statue, Boudicca DeTroy. She was, apparently, still alive, so he decided to meet her before a sidekick was available to him, as he was bothe bored and curious. He asked for some more directions, and then went on his way.

Top story tonight: Local news reporter kidnapped by evil super!!!

Top story tonight: News reporter saved by other super!

Top story tonight: Reporter found changed! New super in state!

Top story tonight: Brand new super forms agency for fellow supers!
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"So, is this new agency of yours... was it formed for the feminist movement? I mean recruitment is limited here only to girls!"
"I will not answer that question."
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Big Boud hired by the super who rescued her! New superteam formed: The Trojans!

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Tragic death! Superhero named Hector of Troy, killed by infamous supervillain Achilles! His wife and partner, Hellen of Troy, swears revenge!
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Achilles found eaten by The Lamb Silencer!
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"Alright then. You're officially hired. Say, you don't know any others who I could hire now, do you?"
"Actually, I do know some. Two to be exact. My two sisters."
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Hellen of Troy, after death of Achilles, officially retires from any superhero work.
Only superheroine in the world retires!

Feminist age falls as more women become more content with simpler life.

"Miss, I am glad to inform you that SKEA's employess are gradually rising! Time for us to expand! More people would start requesting that!"
"Yeah, sure. Good idea."
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New Age of superheroes begins! After the first major time battle between superheroes and supervillains, the whole roster disappears, including sidekicks! Roster slowly being filled up!

SKEA falls, then gets back up as new batch of supers come in! But sidekick employing is still a pretty small business of the agency, after the great time battle.
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"Here it is. Big Boud's office." Hannibal knocks at the door.

Nobody answers. He knocks again. Nothing again.

Hannibal casts a sensing spell. He then senses what is going on on the other side. Nothing.

So he decides to leave the room be, even though his curiousity is unsatisfied. He returns to the reception to find out if anyone has become available.

But as he walks, he bumps into someone. She is a tall, red-haired woman, with a nice, square-jawed face, and eyes that could easily pierce into the soul even if joy was in them. She also had a very imposing yet sexy figure, and her face also showed signs of age. Her clothing was of partly Greek, Roman, and British styles, and was colored blood red.

Big Boud.

Hannibal did not realize that that was Big Boud. he just simply apologized for his actions, then moved on. He wlked and walked and walked 'till he reached the reception. Then he sat down. Bored, and way more bored than before, he decided to leave the centre. Then he realized that he had just crossed paths with Big Boud.

"Damn it! That girl was DeTroy! Better run back to meet with her properly! My My curiousity shall be soon satisfied!"

He ran quickly back to the SKEA centre, where he slipped as he ran through the reception's door into a secondary hall. Then, upon standing up and cursing the floor, he ran immediately into the main hall, where he noticed that the crowds were crowding onto one spot. They were crowding in a big, open circle, with a large hole within. He asked one of the people what had happened.

"It's Big Boud. She slipped, and is now having a heart attack!"
"F*****g floors! Big Boud!"

He quickly pushed his way through the crowd, saying he could save her from death, him being a magician. SOme people laughed, yet some recognized him. All, however, let him through, as although some doubted him, they still hoped he could do something. He, upon reaching the circle's center, then looked into his bag of potions, and found a powerful cure potion. He then told the doctors who he was, and what he was gonna do, and after a quick show of his power, they quickly let him through. He then poured on her skin the potion, and then she glowed.

The glow, however, quickly disappeared. The potion was not strong enough to save her. As powerful as it was, it wasn't that powerful. So he tried resurrection.

He quickly drew a magical circle around her, then chanted the spell for resurrection, but the spell didn't work. He felt a pain grip his hand. His hand started shaking. Then he ran out of the circle. The pain disappeared. It only meant one thing: The spell wouldn't ALLOW him to resurrect DeTroy. He was overcome with grief for a girl he didn't even know. Simply because he couldn't save her. He dropped down, crying. And then the circle started crying.

Boudicca DeTroy, founder of SKEA, was dead. Darkness filled the great hall. Darkness filled SKEA. Darkness filled Cosmopolitan City. Darkness filled the world.

Hannibal then cast a spell to affect the whole of Cosmopolitan City. Everyone in the city would suddenly start crying. Crying for Boudicca DeTroy.

(Sorry for the briefness of reality 1, As it's been awhile since you posted most my train of thought has died, sorry)

Reality 1

Tenalia listened intently, nodding when she thought it was applicable. What Paradox said was true, and encouraging to her. She was warmed slightly that the person who would become her employer and friend was a good man. He was still confusing but she could see that he was a good man. Tenalia stood up. "Thank you for your words, I will join you as your sidekick" she said quietly.

Reality 2
Tenalia was confused by Emilio's or Paradox's powers. It was easy to get the jist of it but they seemed to break the natural laws of this world. Then again, so did she, so a reality manipulator was not such an unbelievable thing as one would imagine for Tenalia. "Emilio, If I can call you this in the confines of this room." she started."I believe your words and trust them to be true. The way I figure it, if the laws of this world can be broken for me, why can they not be broken for you."

"I thank you for your words of trust" Paradox told her as he stood up from his chair. "but trust is fundamental for us to use our powers with efficiency, so I must ask you to perform a test to prove this trust."

Tenalia nodded in acceptance of a test, it was only natural he test her in some way after all. Turning so his back was to her, Emilio spoke again "My test is quite simple: Kill me or, alternatively, kill yourself. Take your time, but make the right choice".

Tenalia was stunned, what he asked of her was almost unheard of and a part of her still didn't completely believe that he could make separate realities, or un-realities. "You understand that It is impossible for me to kill myself in this room, Electricity does not affect me and there is nothing in here that I can use as a weapon. I believe you, but is this necessary?" Emilio said nothing, which confirmed her thoughts. She was scared in a way, sure she had killed before, but only out of self defense. To kill in cold blood....

She approached Emilio slowly but went around him and stood in front of him. "I believe you" she said as she pressed a single finger right where Paradox's heart would be located. A minor electrical shock was transferred to Emilio's heart which would simply stop beating. The shock would be painless and death instant. The last sight Emilio would see in this unreality if that is what it was would be a small tear falling from the small girl's cheek.

Reality 4
Tenalia continued to stare at Paradox, he was way to energetic but he clearly had noticed the slight power flickering of the lights in the room. He had no idea that all of his 'targets' had already been hit from pretty much as soon as she entered the room. Each and every object in some form or fashion carried a small electrical charge, of course training dummies would do nothing, but the metal objects carried a slight shock to them. Still just to make him happy she did as he told her.

The cloth and filled training dummies took on a slight glow before bursting into flames and disintegration into blackened remains, as well as any other cloth like 'target'. Tenalia had a sly smile plastered across her lips "Paradox, your Targets have been hit since I walked into this room, I assure you, the metal objects carry a charge as well. Even the air around you is currently electrically charged."

As if to prove the point she caused a small static shock to happen, it would not be painful but might make him jump some.

Reality 1

Tenalia stood up. "Thank you for your words, I will join you as your sidekick" she said quietly. Paradox smiled "Great, now we only need an arch-nemesis. I hope that Charles Augustus has already found a good one to us." Paradox said kindly as he stood up and waited for Tenalia to open the eletrically charged door.

Reality 2

Showing any emotion now would only make things more difficult, so Paradox kept his neutral expression. " I believe you, but is this necessary?" Tenalia asked. Paradox said nothing... it was necessary. Tenalia than approached Emílio slowly but went around him and stood in front of him. " I believe you" she said pressing a finger at his hearth. When he felt her warm touch against his chest, his impartiality was broken, and he looked away for a second, with sadness.

Then, he looked back to her and felt the minor eletrical shock that was transfered to his hearth. The shock was painless, what really destroyed Paradox's hearth was not the eletricity, it was the small tear that he saw falling from the small girl's cheek...

Reality 4

Suddenly, every cloth like 'target' bursted into flames. This impressed Paradox, she destroyed everything without even aiming them. Tenalia had a sly smile plastered across her lips "Paradox, your Targets have been hit since I walked into this room, I assure you, the metal objects carry a charge as well. Even the air around you is..." Paradox was listening with curiosity, but suddenly his expression changed, and an unexpected sadness took place in his hearth. Somewhere outside this reality, a tear fell from a small's girl's cheek...

Paradox was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didnt listed to the rest of the girl's words. He only woke up when he felt a small static shock. "Tenalia" he said with a puzzled look and than, with his eyes back to the girl, he said with a smile "You are incredible." After saying that, Paradox left the room. He is quite a strange man, isnt him? After leaving the training room, Paradox went to the reception room. "Hello Roselle" he waved to the recepcionist and than vanished

(This reality is now closed due to a Reality Swap Power usage)

Reality 2, Part II

Paradox's death body vanished from the room 4(where Tenalia probably already left by now) and a new Paradox materialized just in front of Roselle, at the reception room "Hello Roselle, did you saw Tenalia around?"

Paradox is quite renowned for his 'immortality'. His unique ability to reincarnate can be only compared to the one of a boy known as Kenny.

This is what Hannibal would've said to everyone:

"OH YEAH! LOOK AT MY AWESOME BALLS! OH, YEAH BABAY! LOVE THEM BIG THINGS! OH YEAH! THE BEST THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEND TO YOU!!!!"

But as I said, he didn't say them. Instead he asked if there were any available sidekicks.

In the midst of Serena, er Newton (she was not yet used to this whole sidekick thing) twiddling her thumbs, in walked a ridiculously short man with a creepy reflective mask and suit that gave her the impression of flippin Al Capone modernized. Newton herself was 5' 10" with her boots on, and so would tower over the man. His poise was business-like, his voice, not half bad, if muffled by the mask at all. It was not necessarily threatening or sinister by any means. And this was relevant because if anything, the over-all look of the man before screamed villain. This admittedly made things easier for her, because she'd have to clean up her act quite a bit if a hero came walking through that door. And chances are they'd turn her down too, she wasn't much for hero material, she looked more like a thug. A hot thug mind you, but a thug none the less.

Oh good she had gotten his name half right, and of course he was a villain. Newton two, world zero. 'Oh cute, he has a sense of humor.' she thought sarcastically as he made the same joke that literally everyone had been making to her around SKEA since she chose her name. "Well, it's fig actually." She smiled lightly (it came easily, no faking necessary) and leaned back. "And I have the ability to mess around with kinetic energy. Since you are a villain you can imagine that this power is quite...distructive at times. And if used properly can stop a train from moving. I actually did that once back in my cirque days." She crossed one leg over the other and looked off to the side, as if choosing her words carefully before looking back at her own reflection in the mirror mask. She decided against saying whatever she was going to say.

"My skills definitly include combat, I can also do anything akin to what a street rat may be good at, only a hundred times better then they can do it. Picking locks, stealing, infiltration, spying about, getting the scoop on a situation or on someone. I've got plenty of things to work with in that area. I also learned quickly, and have only failed at a lesson once." She pointed to the long and thin scar on her left eye. "It doesn't affect my sight in any way however, just makes my face look pretty." She grinned roughly. "As for my personality..." She grimaced, "Eh, All that someone like you needs to know is whether or not I'll do my work and focus on it right? Well I have a gift and curse, I'm hyper focused when I'm awake. I haven't the ability to ignore anything, annoying conversations across the room, someone blasting their earphones too loud, I can hear it all with annoying accuracy. I also catch on to the hint pretty quickly, so no problems with my work ethic. Just my ethic in general." She scratched her head in thought.

"I am completely new to this sidekick gig I'll admit, I used to be a magician for a cirque after running away at age nine. Got blacklisted and became a gilly, a non-circus person. Then I became a hobo, not joking. And finally found this agency." It was strange, and she was a bit cautious about giving away her information like that, she didn't know why, she'd had many conversations with strangers and told them more than she had just said. Maybe it was because this was an interview? Newton was starting to tense a bit. "I do know how to read and write, pretty good with figures when it pertains to finance, but I've never had any schooling. Not even first grade." She finished and tapped the table. Had she said enough? Goodness that mask was creepy.

Oh good! Jolly good! This man was new at being a villain, and as a bonus, he didn’t consider himself one, he was a thoughtful individual. Oh good, boy was this interview going her way, she couldn’t think of anything to make it better. Oh wait, no, it DID just get better.

Newton’s jaw dropped, had it the ability to unhinge, it would be on the floor. An expense account…..her mind blank as only one sound resonated in her thoughts, kaching! This man had her at hello. She had to stop herself from shouting, ‘take me I’m yours you oddly short man!’. And her mind ran through all she could do with actual money, money she hadn’t gotten by cheating at poker, money that she could totally buy clean clothes and be awesome in! Oh she remembered the old days, wearing smashing costumes for the crowd of cheering audiences. That was fun, and though she had learned to forget it she reveled at the thought of dressing properly once more.

‘Oh SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT DON’T ASK ME THAT PLEEEEEAAAAASE.’ Newton had of course nodded vigorously, her expression still surprised and pleased, however, he had asked her something that she had been avoiding, something she dreaded answering and had decided against mentioning earlier. He asked her about her views on life. Her hopes rapidly sank into deep depression as she sighed and drummed her finger on the desk. Quite put out.

“I was hoping you weren’t going to ask that. Because I won’t lie, I simply refuse to kill.” She shrugged, “I value life highly, and freedom I value even more than life, which could be inferred from me being a hobo…” She leaned back, crossing her arms, “But, get this straight, the views of others are not my own. While this may seem obvious, it means more. You can kill if you want to, that’s on you, but while I won’t kill, I have no problems screwing someone over, especially if it’s for my benefit!” She winked, hoping that last bit made up for her negative answer, as any villain of course would not like to hear ‘I value human life, and freedom even more.’

“Sheep of society huh? Good thing I’ve never really been part of society then! I can start this moment if you’ll have me?” She concluded. “I do have one question though, if you can augment your shape and size, do you even need me? You could crush just about anyone right?”

Billy Boy Frowned slightly behind his mask, "well it is perfectly all right that your personal views do not involve the taking of human life or freedom, I was merely asking to see what range of activities you would be best suited for and which I should avoid placing you in charge of, such as hostage holder if it becomes necessary to kill one of them. But I am overall quite pleased with your application and would be quite happy if you joined me now. I believe once we file the necessary paperwork we can leave, and would it be all right with you if I took you immediately to get your new wardrobe? Also I live in a suite at my place of business I can set you up with a room there or you can provide your own accommodations if you prefer. Oh, and in answer to your question, while I can grow to a large size and cause a great deal of destruction I have found myself in need of an extra set of eyes and ears and hands, and thus I have found you." Billy Boy stood up and walked over to the door then turned around, "If you have any further questions I will be filing the paperwork to officially accept you as my assistant, then we can go and have you fitted for your apparel and then we can begin our work, I was thinking a simple bank robbery just to get out feet wet and try out working together as a team ok?" Billy Boy left and filed the paperwork to make his adoption of Newton as his assistant official, then as he was waiting for her to come out he pulled out his smart phone and lazily began building an expense account for her, nothing too crazy just a few million dollars, essentially just pocket change.
*well the human life thing is quite unfortunate, she will be unable to join us at the lab.*
--Unless we get her to sign a contract--
*no, we aren't allowed to use our powers on our assistant that way.*
--we wouldn't, we just give her a contract that makes her stronger and faster, if it happens to leech away her infatuation with human life oh well that wasn't what we meant.--
*No, if we were caught the resulting consequences would be quite uncomfortable, the cost/benefit is still far too heavily on the cost side to be worth it.*

Billy Boy closed his phone and started ignoring his demon, it wasn't tied to this body and it didn't have its soul on the line so it couldn't be trusted to know what was for the best in a situation where death was a possibility. Thinking of death, Billy Boy opened his phone again and checked a message he had sent a while ago, when he saw that The Steel Zealot had received and read his message he smirked again behind his mask, everything was falling into place.

He felt her anger. He felt the fire within her. But he also felt pain... Something was hurting her... And him, apparently.

"I know! Let's get something to eat!" he said, as he was just about to close the door. They were right in the hall outside the interview room.

"Of course not dear, though if I did, they'd be bigger than yours." Fiona languidly smiled and gestured easily to the pants of the person she was sitting across from, an interview with a Hero she was undergoing, a rather annoying one who had just asked if she had balls, because she was being rather tough on him.

She laughed lightly as he stormed out of the room, her third interview this week. Apparently the world was in need of sidekicks, but as much as the people who walked through the door thought they were interviewing her, she interviewed them. And if she disapproved, she sent the on their way, either ragin mad, or in tears. They were all rather un-impressive, weak and thinking themselves slever when they certainly were not. Fiona, or rather Confuscious, would not settle for meager.

The sister who handled the complaints would be mad no doubt, but she could care less. She'd have another interview soon enough anyway, ah, here came one of the sisters to tell her now....