Setting
"At any rate, I'll tag along with you lot. I probably won't be able to help with gathering evidence, but I recon I can at least cover your backs... And I might have a way to get us out of dodge if there are too many agents to handle. No promises though I haven't properly tested it."
Bzz. Bzz.
Henry glanced down at his phone. A message from his cousin. The days following the chaos at the beach, he'd gotten a phone from their benefactor and proceed to let his family know he was alright. The messages he'd gotten since we're likely enough to give his phone a full memory, but this time it was a simple message.
We heading there early. Gotta beat traffic.
Hmm...not a bad point. Once the Memorial really got underway, the streets...and the skies would be filled with bodies trying to pack themselves in from Atlas City and beyond.
Thanks, cuz. Imma get there early too. Henry texted back.
Aight, cool. ....Also what happened not the SUV again???
Henry put his phone in his pocket for now and stood up. Looking to Akiko and Devon, he said, "I think I'm gonna go ahead and head over there now, before a ton of people get there for the Memorial. Y'all can head with me now or later, I think we'll be good either way."
Henry briefly stepped back inside towards the dining room to address the shapeshifter eating breakfast with the others. "Yo, Jemma! I'm about to head there now, meet you there whenever's good for you!"
With that, he made his way towards the hotel's massive parking lot. The drivers stationed there were ready to take any of them to wherever they wanted to go within reason. There were multiple drivers on standby just in case they were needed, Henry simply chose one and was on his way a long with any of his cohorts who wanted to head there early with him.
***
1 Hour Later, Atlas City Beach. An hour before the Memorial.color
Henry sighed, even going there early traffic wasn't entirely unavoidable. Most people were gathered in the Memorial sight proper so far, however. Those who chose to pay their respects on the beach were few and far between. Which was perfect as far as this impromptu investigation was concerned.
Yue skipped down the stairs towards Alex nimbly, mostly happy to just have all the sludge from the stim tank washed out of her hair and off her body. She flexed her hands and rolled her neck, shifting her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably, like she just couldn't gel with the new suit. Like the Luna Lightning suit, it felt far too light: the Silver Fang suit was quite heavy and fit her almost like a weighted blanket. It felt solid and comfortable... the Acolyte suit wasn't as bad, but she still felt quite naked without that weight.
"Good morning," she greeted, after an audible click as the suit's external VOX was activated. Her tone was steady, almost stern as she tried to settle into her Silver Fang persona. Though... her heart was fluttering and she fought that butterflies sensation back down into the pit of her stomach. It was the first time she'd seen him without his costume and... well...
"U-UM! Sai asked i-if you would wear this," she nearly stammered, scrunching her toes inside her boots and feeling flushed all of a sudden. The VOX clicked off and she cleared her throat several times inside her helmet to help get back into character. "He's gathering ability data from anyone who volunteers," she explained shakily, holding out what looked like a FitBit for him.
Her gaze shifted from Henry to the newly arrived Cannonade, peering at the Helmeted super with an expression of apprehension. She didn't know what to do about that one. They usually didn't have anything good to say to... Really anyone since they arrived here. They were too prickly for Jemma to want to interact with them anyhow. Didn't wanna find out if she really understood 'anger' in the human sense as well.
Oh well! Nothing to be done for it.
Jemma rose from her seat after an abrupt moment, taking note of and subsequently ignoring the sighs of relief from the watching kitchen staff. If the past two days were of any indication- and they were- Jemma was probably eating enough to give the kitchen staff, and the chefs on duty, heart attacks from sheer stress. She was sure one of the more surly chefs even tried to poison her! How unfortunate that she just kept eating... And eating... Oh well!
The Polymorph grinned wickedly as she moved back towards Sairyn's little slice of technological heaven. She peered in, taking note of the equipment and the sudden appearance of a new divider that cut the view of the room in half beyond a certain point. A shrug, and a gentle 'hm.'
The legs moved, turning on a heel and powering the Polymorph towards the stairs that led the way to the bedrooms. Her form shifted and roiled with ink as she walked.
The limbs on her back moved while they grew, and as Jemma paused for a moment, a hole opened between her 'shoulder blades'. From within, a startlingly human forearm rose out, holding a brand new 'handheld'. The thumb on the hand moved, swiping through screens and tapping on apps until Jemma got what she wanted. Music.
She waited for a moment, pausing only long enough to meander her way to a hall that she figured was abandoned. Or at least empty of anyone who would walk in on her. As it was, the only person who would probably see her was that one smaller redhead, and she was holed up in her room at all time on the floor below.
From her back, two long, spider-like limbs rose, and Jemma focused as she sprinted down the hall. Her limbs stretched up and out, brushing against each and every light source in the hall as she covered them in a thick, viscous, opaque layer of slime and ink.
The hallway dimmed.
Her skin turned pitch black to match the hall, and as she pressed a pair of headphones into her ears, connected them to the handheld, and sighed out an excited breath... She wondered why she simply didn't just go with Henry and the others.
Too late now. Who cared. Her song was going to start soon.
Jemma flooded her skin with vague swirls and undefined shapes, all with the pulse of bio-luminescent blue light. The song began, and she danced.
She moved slowly at first, following the rhythm and the pace as the lights in her skin faded and dimmed, but exploded back into movement along with the song.
And she danced and danced, moving between stately ball-room dances, to ballerina-esque movements, to gymnastic flips and spins as the tempo sped up and the music became that much more charged.
Once again, Jemma fucking lived. Out of sight. Out. Of. Mind.
Hopefully.
"I guess that's uh, that's my excuse- I mean my uh cue to go as well. Can't go talking to spirits in this," Akiko said with a laugh as she indicated her bright pajamas. "It's very nice to meet you Evangeline. That was a smooth line, by the way. Might borrow it. Devon, I'll see you on the beach. "
Akiko began to walk away but she stopped, turning to them. She opened her mouth and looked like she was about to say something but looked conflicted. She turned but called out, "Don't be late!" before leaving.
~*~
Spookmeister meowed as Akiko slid the helmet on. She smiled and bent down to pet him before going to check if he was set before leaving. He watched her carefully, her hands slightly shaking as she reached down to check the water. The lanterns on her belt ringing softly.
~*~
"Henry," Shinigami said as her feet landed upon the sand, her suit it in its gray, base form. She had flown there, invisible, since she felt the car would take too long for the time she took to prepare. It had hardly made a difference however. Her eyes weren't glowing yet either. Akiko was hesitant to use her power until they were ready and also showed herself as soon as she landed, not wanting to use it a second longer than necessary. She exhaled and could feel her breath get colder. "I..."
Again, Akiko found herself struggling to warn Henry as she had with Devon earlier. This shouldn't be strenuous... It's fine. Is it?
"I hope you have a plan in mind on what to ask these ghosts if they cooperate. I'd rather not be late to a funeral," Shinigami finished in her cheery voice as she looked around the beach. "I don't think it falls under the 'fashionably late' excuse."
"Well, the thing we fought out here last time apparently traversed dimensions. Ghosts and spirits, with their astral bodies are able to pass through planes of existence like it's nothin' compared to most mortals like us," Henry began to explain. "I figured we could ask them if they remembered seeing anything when it vanished. If they can pinpoint it's exit, we may be able to find ourselves some kinda trail. ...When these kinda things pop in and out of exitance, they tend to leave a parting gift."
Henry looked past the lines of various debris still resting on the sandy shore, yet to be hauled off, so he could observe the scant figures in the distance, too busy with their work to pay them any heed. This wouldn't be too easy. There were personnel surveying the site of the creature's rampage. NAHLA, SINS probably. It wouldn't do to pick up their attention, so they should probably move quick. Good thing Akiko could turn invisible.
POP
Henry heard a faint noise in front of him, turning his head, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary though some of the junk lining the shore was missing. Curious how it wasn't picked up in the first place, but it's not like the tide swept it up or anything. Maybe it was simply a sign to work faster. "So, do you spot any spirits right now? You're right, we should get this overwith quick," he folded his arms, following Akiko's lead wherever it took them. "Also, I wanted to ask...how'd you end up with ghost powers anyway?"
Vic's hair whipped her cheeks. She held onto the straps keeping the cargo down as she looked out of the door open to her. She watched as they crossed over the shore, the destroyed landscape of Atlas City looking so insignificant from up on high. She fumbled with the business card in her hand. She thought the decision over, and came to a conclusion with a definitive crack of her neck.
"United we stand, divided we... fall," she muttered, and dropped 38, 000 feet.
A breeze swept across Atlas beach, ripping at expensive SINS suits and pushing back the sands to reveal the decay beneath. It came to an unnatural halt a hundred feet from the pier, before the imprint of a decaying shotgun. An agent crouched over the scene of the crime, when his breath shortened. He spluttered in confusion, pawing at his throat, unable to speak as his face turned blue. A good half a minute later, Vic walked up and kicked the unconscious man over. She took his place over the body that had his attention, a corpse of both shriveled, mummified flesh and corroded metal. Armless.
Vic's knees sunk into the sand. She stuck her lover's arms in the ground like some fucked up grave marker and watched the waves rolling in.
"Wil... ma..." The name came out of her mouth with the melody of a creaky see-saw. "Will... you... Wilma, will... ya?" She cleared her throat and let her head bob between her knees. "Shit..."
Then she drove her hand through Wilma's head.
It wasn't hard, the metal practically disintegrated when she jabbed her fingers in there, and the biomass had been eaten away. Sweat pooled on Vic's forehead as she felt around inside of her hardware - when she pulled back, something clutched in her hand. She exclaimed in surprise, not expecting to retrieve what she'd scavenged from her manager's corpse: a hexagonal chip, coated in black metal and attached to a fraying wire. Vic's other hand snatched at it as if to steal it from herself and clutched it against her chest. The agents were shouting and coming over. She gave Wilma's soulless vessel one last look, and disappeared, blasting sand into the faces of the approaching SINS agents.
Vic reappeared in her empty apartment. Everything was the same as she'd left it. White sheets over unused furniture. Hermit crabs peacefully nibbling away at dried mealworms. Jemma-bag poking out from beneath the armchair. The only tell that there had been a giant monster attack were the cracks in her windows.
Her first stop was the hermit crab enclosure. "Oh, lads..." she sighed in relief, scooping them up into her hands. If she had really been kidnapped...
"Anastasia," she called out next, "Entrance music. No. Cry little bitch - no." She paused, gnawing on her tongue. "Anastasia, shuffle It's Sunday."
Vic laid on her back in the middle of the floor and lit up a joint, Wilma's chip resting next to her head and Freddy and Pinhead crawling over her chest. She blew out a great, foul-smelling cloud and stared up at the ceiling, waiting to cry.
Well, she waited. It was about fucking time for the mental breakdown to happen. In the quiet, in this calm. With nobody else to witness her but the air. Alone, where people supposedly showed their true selves. She couldn't cry.
... Had she already wasted the only tears that she -
"FUCK!" Vic suddenly shouted, slamming her fist down. A blast of air flung the glass coffee table up and smashed it against the wall. Vic stared over at what she had done. She picked the hermit crabs off her shirt to approach the thousands of glass shards. The music seemed to get louder.
Something snapped. It was the cord holding that stupid piece of modern art over her living room. Metal and glass rained down over the white untouched sheets in an almighty CRASH. Vic's mouth parted for a furious battle cry as she charged in, declaring war on her apartment. On the stupid sheets covering the furniture she never bought or chose. On the stupid empty refrigerator. On the calendar with all her radio spots and event dates written by her. On the bed she used to push her onto. On the kitchen cabinets she did the same with. And the breakfast bar. And the shower. And every damn thing.
All culminating in Cold Front's cold, robotic members smashing their instruments over the wasteland. Vic collapsed in a huff, throwing the drumsticks over her shoulder, and looked over at the mess her hermit crabs navigated.
"Good... set... guys..." she panted, and flopped onto her back, crunching on glass. She wiped a hand down her face and let out an exhausted laugh. The high slowly died.
What was it that George said, right before she left. That came to mind. Didn't know why, but after you trash your apartment you're left with a nasty sense of clarity that tries to figure out your next move before you're ready to get up. Whatever you want... I will make sure you have it. She chuckled darkly at the thought.
"Yeah, and what do you want, asshole," she grunted, propping herself up on her bloody elbows to look over at her powered down bandmates.
They had labels. Slapped on them with worn-out masking tape. Zach, Rudy, and Dipshit.
"He can't change history."
Devon headed for one of the open windows near his room silently cursing that he hadn't opened own window for ease of access, but then again he hadn't expected to be returning to it so soon. Luckily the room he had chosen as his point of entry was unoccupied and he could just pass through and under the door into the hallways without causing any potential misunderstandings. After passing under another door he stood in the interior of his room and turned back into his corporeal self grabbing his gear from one of the chairs and getting dressed in his costume. If there were SINS agents abound it wouldn't matter if he was suited or not for detection purposes, but it would matter a lot if it came to blows with them. He then opened the window and let the take him once more as he leaped out of the window frame and into the air beyond, after about half a second of free falling the smoke had fully dissolved him and the additional rush of adrenaline would prepare him for the longest 'flight' he had attempted so far.
A rather swift flight later he found himself floating around the beaches, feeling satisfied that he finally managed to stabilize the use of his power and get rid of the nauseating disorientation and mind splitting information overload that his senses where given in this form. After a bit of searching he noticed both Henry and Akiko on the ground seemingly having just met up. He flew near to them and opted to make his appearance a couple feet behind Akiko giving Henry a full sight of him walking out of a forming cloud of smoke. "Did someone order a sniper team?"
Sasha's ears twitched as he heard Akiko and Henry from above. Moving away from the tracks the beast had made in the ocean floor, Sasha swam upwards quickly. Breaking the surface, Sasha climbed onto the beach, his form shifting back to normal as he did so. Recovering his hat and coat that he had placed on the beach, Sasha wrapped the latter around his wetsuit and placed the former on his head after running a hand through his damp hair.
"I'm surprised to see you all," Sasha said to the three members of the newly-formed team. "Come to investigate as well, I see?"
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"Also, I wanted to ask...how'd you end up with ghost powers anyway?"
The script wasn't ready and Akiko wasn't entirely sure if it was the appropriate time to be asking such things. She didn't say anything for a few moments and as she opened her mouth to answer, a voice cut in from behind.
"Did someone order a sniper team?"
"shIT," Akiko hissed as she nearly jumped out of her suit. She turned around to see Devon and slapped her helmet as she realized how easily she had been scared.
"Can't be sneaking up on people like that, that's my job," Akiko said with a laugh as she remembered how she had scared Henry. Then she let out another short yelp when she heard Sasha as well.
" You guys are worse than the ghosts," Akiko said with another laugh and shake of her head. She exhaled to calm her nerves and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were glowing a neon blue and she could see restless spirits walking around the group. She could feel the cold energy seeping from them and saw the vague outlines although it was hard to make out any features yet. Shinigami did note they seemed to avoid the others, gliding around them instead.
"Although admittedly the ones present here seem a bit distracted. Their death was fresh after all," Shinigami informed them.
"Yo, when did-?!" Henry asked, startled as he moved back, his shout, only foreshadowed by Akiko's hiss. "Didn't know you could do that, honestly. What sorta power is th-" Henry began, only to be interrupted once again by Akiko's yelp.
Henry turned around to see what she was looking at and noticed Sasha emerging from the water, shifting from some sort of amphibious creature back into a human form. "Whoa, you got here early too, Sasha? Find anything interesting during your swim?"
Sasha glanced at Shinigami. "Was your plan to commune with some of the spirits here then? An interesting idea, especially considering that one of the perished was a man Richard claims had some knowledge of this creature. And the others still out there."
He poured a fresh cup of coffee into the now empty mugs he'd drained along the way and bit into a cherry danish. Cannonade was the only other person in the room and he smiled at them as they ate a pizza they'd had delivered. "Seems quiet this morning, how're you holding up?" He asked the gravity powered hero.
Devon scratched his head or more his helmet a bit at the explanation Sasha gave them about the state of the underwater area. "I'll have to take your word for that then, but that certainly doesn't make the nature of the attacker more clear. A semi-solid mass of sentient acidic material that is rendered far less harmful by water... Maybe salt water specifically, perhaps the cocktail of salts dissolved in the water reacts with the acidic material and instead of dissolving in the water it settles out of solution. Hmmm, maybe a combination of the organic matter in the water polymerizing in the presence of the acid and together with the salts forming a complex that creates a barrier against the acid."
He looked at the others for a moment suddenly realizing he was probably speaking Latin to them, then turning back to Sasha. "Sasha could I ask you to gather a sample? If I'm in the slightest bit right there should be a residue of sorts near wherever it moved under water. I have no idea what it would look like though, so it could be anything that doesn't look like sand or algae... Ah, crap. Did anyone bring glass vials or anything similar? Such a sample would need to be preserved in an environment of salt water." He said looking around on the beach looking for anything that might be usable, even a discarded soda can if needed be.
Sasha looked to Akiko. "Any luck, whisperer?"
There was a moment where he eyed the FitBit before shrugging and taking it, fixing the band in place to his left wrist. "Makes sense. Some of us have never had the luxury of getting the full scope of our abilities tested. That and i can guess this is to see what specifications some of us would need for suits and gear in the future. This will be fun." Alex stepping back from Yue to make some distance between the two of them before he starting to bounce on the balls of his feat. Truth be told, he was itching for this kind of opportunity.
"So, how do you wanna do this? Take it slow to test the water first? I can at least assure you that you would REALLY need to try if you wanted to injure me." He slammed his right fist into his open left hand, the sound of the impact somewhere close to a shotgun going off. "That armor at the beach was mostly just to hide my identity." He grinned as a feeling of anticipation settled in. The chance to spar with an actually trained hero was leaving him more giddy then nervous. The man was doing little to hide his excitement over the situation, it was a welcome distraction and was going to help him vent out everything more then he could have just running . . . . or destroying a few heavy bags in the gym.
"How about... you come at me with whatever level of force you think is necessary to take me down," she answered in a curious tone, though the smile in her voice came through the vox. She was interested in how he would respond, especially since she hadn't had a super-strength sparring partner since Titan trained her how to incapacitate Brutes.
Henry's suggestion came to mind and Shingami looked around to find a spirit out of place. A lot of them were fresh though and still seemed confused as to what had happened. A few had started to notice her staring in their direction although it was clear they weren't sure if her gaze was really on them or not. The newly dead weren't sure how to interact with the living and a lot of them were too wrapped up in their predicament to listen either. One began to approach but Shinigami turned around, stopping herself from walking away. If they realized she could see them, they would swarm her.
As she looked away, the ghost hero could see a man standing a little far off. The Witchfinder lantern trilled softly and there was a small, fiery pit in Akiko's stomach. Something was off and it wasn't just the brown tweed three piece suit. Slicked black hair, thin mustache, an aura of being far too early in a much late time.
"Found one," Shinigami announced as she walked off to where the tweed suited man stood. Suits were not her favorite thing right now but if this man led to answers, she could put that dislike aside.
"Excuse me, tweed suited man," she called out as she approached. Devon, Henry, and Sasha would hear her call out but they noticed that it sounded like her words were beneath static, making it difficult to understand what she was saying to the ghost. Henry had heard this static before, on the phone. Except when he heard it then, it was much more clear. "Can you hear me?"
While it would be nice to try to analyze the flesh, what I'm interested in would be reverse engineering the concoction that made the acid inert and I believe that sample would be a good start. We can always look into the nature of their existence after we've found a stick to beat them with.
"That's what's up! The Beast or something else like it comes back again and we hit back prepared next time, " Henry grinned, punching his fist into his open palm. "Predicting when another incident will occur is something else we gotta prepare for. 'Cause I've been thinkin'... Henry frowned, pacing a bit around the dunes. "From what we know, this thing lives in plane of existence outside of time. So, for all we know it's next appearance could be forty years ago to the next five minutes. This ghost we're looking for, the man in tweed? Way Richard spoke about him, he ain't from the present...and if he got here the same way as the beast he didn't travel from the past either. He broke through."
"Even as a ghost, he's gotta be an anomaly. If we were to travel to his past, there's a chance we'd see him live the completely normal life he was supposed to, only dying to old age. And if we traveled back in time to when the Beast attacked, we might just see a perfectly normal day at the beach, since it already happened....if that makes sense. The more frequently shit like this happens, the more all the fundamental rules that govern our reality are gonna start to crack. And even now... " Henry glanced around, a trepidatious look upon on his face. "There's something real wrong with this beach."
Found one," Shinigami announced as she walked off to where the tweed suited man stood. Suits were not her favorite thing right now but if this man led to answers, she could put that dislike aside.
"Excuse me, tweed suited man," she called out as she approached. Devon, Henry, and Sasha would hear her call out but they noticed that it sounded like her words were beneath static. Henry had heard this before, on the phone. Except when he heard it then, it was much more clear. "Can you hear me?
It seemed like they'd found their star witness thanks to Akiko and her ghost senses. Henry listened intently for any useful information the ghost could tell them, leaving his worries regarding the beach behind for a moment. Noting the overwhelming static, he turned to Akiko and asked, "Is there uh...can you get better reception or do we have to put down a monthly payment to get rid of the white noise?"
He chuckled as he looked the others up and down, taking in the forms of each of the heroes. "But you are a strange bunch. Well, many of your people here are. Where I come from, it was my profession to hunt down oddities, but none of them like you, thankfully. Anyways, I assume you're here to learn something? Those men in white and blue seemed to be too, though none of them were able to see me. Took my gun too... Not that it's of any use to me now. Still, thought that boy in black could..."
There was a shrug of the shoulders from the ghost, who took a brief moment to survey and take in the beach, now much more cleaned up, but still showing the scars of the battle. "Please though, feel free to ask your questions now." He finished on a soft, almost upbeat tone, keeping a stiff upper lip in the face of all that had occurred.
Richard bolted up from bed, feeling his chest rebound as the sensation of falling and splattering into a field of basaltic rock, sulfur, and fire. It wasn't something he was unfamiliar with seeing in a dream, but this time felt... Different. He didn't feel as if he were about to spend eternity in Hell. Quite the opposite. It felt as though his soul, his very essence of himself, was being cast down to a rocky grave that would erase it (and therefore himself) from existence. Richard felt an empty, hollow, horrified sense throughout his stomach and chest. It was making him feel sick.
He went and made himself some coffee, a luxury provided by staying in a resort room, before sitting down at a desk and turning on a single desk lamp. Once the coffee was ready, he poured himself a cup, and opened up a book. A Bible in fact. King James version. Not his, just one that he'd found in there when he arrived. Funny too, it wasn't one of the Gideon types. Did George actually know that much about him?
March 15th, 2045, 9:20am: Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
Richard entered the kitchen, where Cannonade and Klaus now sat, having missed some of the others earlier. He was looking to be on the tired side, which seemed to inform his next meal choice; another cup of coffee. The dark haired young man had on a simple t-shirt and sweatpants, sleepwear as he hadn't really had a chance to get ready for the day, but he planned to change that soon. Richard had every intention to be meeting with George later, and to be attending the Memorial Service. Seemed only right to do so.
"Quiet? Wasn't there somebody screaming out some song like 10 minutes ago?" He chuckled as he began pouring some black liquid into a cup. "And that is a very good question indeed; how are you both doing? Seems a... Lot has gone down."
March 15th, 2045, 9:20am: Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
George sat quietly in his office, door locked, and curtains pulled closed to ensure the sunlight was being kept at bay. He had to prepare to attend the Memorial Service in a little while, but this was important to deal with first. Before him was a conference table, at which were sat several small computer screens where chairs (and occupants) normally would be. They faced his direction, and on each screen were the silhouettes of figures, some men, and some women. Voices were obscured by audio programs to ensure they were more difficult to identify, which was made even more difficult by the various languages that were being spoken.
Punjabi for a little bit, then Cantonese, a bit of interjection in Mandarin and Japanese. Several of the speakers (not native English speakers) did decide to use the 'Lingua Franca', but George could understand them well enough, but also had a text program to refer to as well.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I understand your concerns. This event is unprecedented, nothing we have faced could have prepared us for the Atlas City Incident. However, it is essential right now to have a response force ready to deal with what lurks in the darkness."
Another voice spoke up in Punjabi. "We understand the need for this George, but how can you be sure these people are reliable? I mean they're... Not integrated into the organization. We can't possibly know enough to trust them. And as for their abilities, they struggled to cause damage to that monster, and we're all fairly certain these... Entities are even more powerful than it. How are they supposed to be our response force?"
George sighed, clasping his fingers together and nodding. "They're not in a position to be a threat to us currently. As we see more of them in action, it'll give us a chance to understand how much they can be trusted, but for now they don't know anything. They cannot pose a threat at this time. And as for their powers, that's something I'm hoping to work on. I believe it's possible to improve their abilities, to take them to even greater heights with their powers. Of course, in all fairness this is hypothetical right now, but we have a chance to explore this, to make some meaningful discoveries that could save the world."
The others murmured from their screens to each other, trying to reach some more consensus on whether or not this method moving forward could be relied upon. Finally one of them spoke up, an English Speaker with a British accent. "George, we're willing to allow this, but for the safety of everyone else, we feel it is necessary to maintain the 'veil' with your supers, to keep them outside of the organization until they can prove themselves. We're willing to provide some resources, but given the circumstances it will be limited, and we will be providing them to your people directly. Again, to maintain that veil."
George gave a bow of his head to the group, smiling softly in affirmation. "Noted. You shall all be kept up to date with status reports. It is my hope that, should greater progress be achieved, we shall unify all our efforts. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Earth needs our protection, indeed its future may very well be in our hands. I pray for all our efforts to be successful, and may God be with us all."
The others responded by offering their own wishes for luck, or prayers to God, their own gods, or goddesses. Eventually the screens went blank, returning the room to darkness. George pulled back each of the curtains and allowed sunlight to fill the room again. He tried to feel a sense of confidence in his own efforts, but in all honesty he felt a deep sense of dread, knowing how much now rested on their shoulders.
Shinigami tilted her head. She could feel how his energy seemed off, wrong, compared to what she felt all around her. Continuing, Shinigami said, "Superheroes haven't been oddities for quite some time although I am curious what oddities you came across. Perhaps... perhaps you came across a beast?"
The ghost hero stretched her hand out to indicate the beach around them.
"I know that deaths can be traumatic but.. but we would like to know what you saw on that last day," Shinigami inquired. "On this beach, I was told you would know something about what happened that day. Perhaps what the beast was. If it's a lot, I understand but we're trying to prevent this happening again. Perhaps even find out who caused this so we can handle it. Anything you can give us would be helpful."