Snippet #2688557

The meeting had been planned and organised the the chat forum, with a long line of insistent 'hush hush' vibes that promised the secret location and the even more secret purpose of the meeting would remain completely and entirely confidential.

So naturally, everyone was gossiping about it.

Maria sat at the bartop, sipping on an on-the-rocks whisky with a thoughtful expression on her face. "So, are you going?" "No." "But you're Gifted!" Maria grimaced. "Jesus, I hate that word. A good runner is 'gifted'. You know, they use the word 'talented' now. To describe smart kids. God forbid anyone think they mean the other 'gifted'."

The bartender opposite her -a woman named Gwen with tattooed arms and a penchant for atmokinesis- shook her head as she sighed. "I think you've had too much to drink. You've gone all deep and angsty, again." Maria shrugged, pushing the glass away from her.

"What's their game plan, do you think?" "What do you mean?" "Are they just gonna go hunt it down, and beat the shit out of it?" "I'm sure they'll describe it with a bit more nuance, but yeah, I guess."

Maria laughed grimly, "Well, good fucking luck." "So you're definitely not going?" "Why would I?"

Gwen shrugged, downing the rest of Maria's drink. "Well, I don't know about you, but seeing as there's a murderous psychopath running around, I reckon being surrounded by a bunch of superpowered freakshows sounds like a pretty good idea."

---

Maria wasn't sure whether it was Gwen's pensive remark or her own gut feeling that had ultimately convinced her to make her way to the warehouse, but whatever the case, that's where she had found herself. Walking beneath grey-black clouds along a rain-dampened sidewalk, with her ebony locks flickering about her face in a chilled breeze that paled her lips and bit her cheeks. Her frosty-fingered hands found shelter in the pockets of her inky blue jacket, and her feet in thick combat boots, but nonetheless, it was really fucking cold.

As a result, stepping into the warehouse, her first thought was not 'wow, there is a heck of a lot of Gifted here', nor was it 'my, I wonder how exactly this delightful group of youths plan to take down a soul-sucking serial killer?' but rather a somewhat relief-stricken anecdote regarding the considerably warmer temperature of the establishment.

Building insulation-related thoughts aside, Maria wasn't sure what to think as she examined her surroundings. Left and right, Gifted were showing off their powers, expressions ranging from enthusiastic to embarrassed. Walking through the throng, a dread-locked twenty something to her left exuberantly cut off his own finger. Tasty.

Finally, she made her way to the most collected group at the center of the room, where the most attention was being held. "I'm Percy. I can control mirrors and reflections. Unfortunately, I don't have much to show you without a reflective surface around. And this is..." "Felix. Electricity."

Well. If I do die doing this bullshit, at least I'll be surrounded by hot people.

Her nose almost collided with a heavyset chest as a rather beefy individual stepped into her path. "You. What can you do?"

Maria took in his unabashed obnoxiousness with an intentionally oily smirk and, in a tone that clearly wasn't talking about superpowers, replied, "Oh, baby. What can't I do?"

Nope. Apparently he didn't find her sarcasm-induced sleazeball persona even mildly attractive. Funny, that. The meathead only deepened his scowl, and a scoff escaped Maria's lips in amused response. Dropping the slime, she addressed the group as a whole. "Maria. Illusion manipulation."