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Red Witch || Villain || Dress || Mask || Gloves || Hex: #571616
To escape the world, I've got to enjoy that simple dance
And it seemed that everything was on my side
Blood on my side
She seemed sincere like it was love and true romance
And now she's out to get me
Luciana just smiled as Atticus said they would talk about the kiss later, not really caring. She had done their job of being a distraction for Artemis and Gemini to sneak off, and she got a little extra with the kiss. As the crowd began to disperse and Att walked away, the two of them now had to focus on smaller targets, to make sure they didnât go patrolling around and give the heroes some time. Lucy found her target quickly as he was starting his patrols around the room and possibly heading towards one of the hallways soon possibly. She flipped her hair out of her face as she slightly increased her step to go talk to him.
Before Red Witch could get to her target, she accidently bumped into a large man, almost spilling his drink. âOh Iâm so sorr-.â She stopped dead in her sentence when she looked up and saw who she bumped into, someone that she immediately recognized. Colton Underwood. He was the most recent Bachelor from the show she would watch on a weekly basis and keep up on all social media platforms. Lucy was brought out of her initial shock when he spoke to her. âOh, no no, itâs my fault. Wait, werenât you the one that just danced out there? That was truly amazing.â He said with a smile.
Lucy just giggled a bit to herself, trying to stay cool. âI, uh. Yeah It was, thank you. Youâre Colton right? From the Bachelor?â She asked. Colton quickly confirmed what she already knew. An actual bachelor, in person. Oh my god⊠She thought to herself before he spoke again. âYou were amazing out there, may I have the name of the beautiful woman I just saw dancing.â Lucy started to blush as she complimented her. âIâm Luciana-â She quickly stopped herself, but it was too late, she had already said her name and couldnât backtrack to the names they were supposed to be given.
âThatâs a beautiful name. May I get you a drink?â Colton spoke up, holding out his hand to Luciana. She had to take a few deep breaths from freaking out, and nodded and took her hand. Luciana lowered her head, in an act to seem as well as not to freak out. As the two of them walked, she saw Piper across the room and pointed to the man leading her, mouthing out a single word. "Bachelor." And just smiled before disappearing behind the crowd.
Lucy was about to ask if he had a date tonight, but quickly remembered that the other week him and Cassie had a falling out after she caught him cheating on her with one of her friends, who was also married, so it made sense why he wasnât asking about her fiancĂ© that she just danced with. âSo Mr. Underwood, wh-â She began to talk before he interrupted her. âPlease, just call me Colton.â Lucy just nodded. âOkay Colton. What are you doing at an event like this?â She was genuinely curious, as well as wanting to make some small talk.
Colton let out a bit of a chuckle. âABC network producers want me here to show some face and get some connections for next season, Iâm getting a pretty good pay day out of it so I say it's worth it.â He said as he handed her a glass of champagne. âPlus I got to meet a pretty little lady named Luciana.â Lucy giggled. âPlease, call me Lucy.â She said with a smile, giggle, and a wink. The two continued to talk, laugh, and drink. Colton exchanging some untold stories from the show and Luciana playing the pretty girl and loving every second of the bachelor's attention.
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The presence of another woman appearing beside Cerys was enough for her to sigh with relief. Cerys couldnât say that she knew the woman. But there was an oddly familiar energy about her, something that she couldnât quite put her finger on. But the woman walked away before she could figure it out. Perhaps just a charitable stranger.
She slipped immediately into her role as Gemini approached. She smiled at him and took the second glass from him, taking a small sip from it. âThank you, darling. You look positively dashing yourself,â she said.
The first distraction came in the form of two people beginning a rather striking dance. Cerys would have liked to stay and watch, but she knew it was their chance to disappear. She turned and slipped down the nearest hallway. Her heels tapped on the floor, causing a little more noise than she was happy with, but theyâd have to work with it. âThey seemed to think that theyâd have the hard drive somewhere near the ballroom, not in one of the bedrooms,â she said. There werenât many rooms in the hotel that they could possibly be in, but they also didnât have that much time. âWhere should we start?â
Adrain had just started taking a sip when people started to circle around a couple, quickly seeing a blonde woman and dark hair gentlemen both wearing emerald green. âProbably them, we should get going.â He said to his partner before they slipped down the hall, Adrian letting out a laugh at her heels making a small clicking noise as they tapped. As they got away from the group the two started to discuss their plan. âHmm, honestly no idea, say we just start going through and see what we can find. Maybe itâll say property of the bad guys on it or something.â He said with a chuckle as the two started going through rooms.
Cerys nodded as Adrian suggested they just started searching the rooms. âOr maybe itâll be labeled TOP SECRET PLANS, DO NOT TOUCH,â she joked as they let themselves into the first room. It appeared to be some sort of storage room, with more bottles of champagne and napkins and so on. There was nothing of interest, and they moved on to the next one. At first, it didnât look particularly promising, until Cerys found a box, stashed in the corner. âKeep an eye on the door,â she whispered as she pulled it out and began digging through it.
Adrian let out a chuckle as Artemis joked back, and nodded as she requested keeping an eye out for any movement as well as seeing if he could hear any footsteps going. So boring⊠Why couldnât we just stay in the ballroom and enjoy ourselves. He heard Jena say to him, he just rolled her eyes. As I said before. We arenât here to have fun Jena. Now please can you be quiet so I can keep an eye out. He replied to her, though he turned his head back as his partner said she found something, and quickly, but quietly, heading over to see what she had found.
Cerys retrieved the box from the corner and began silently sorting through it, sitting cross-legged on the floor as she did so.. At first, it didnât look that promising. But then she found what was supposedly an instruction manual for something that felt suspiciously heavy. âGemini, come here,â she whispered. âLook at this,â she said, flicking through it until she found where pages had been cut out to conceal a hard drive. âThey obviously were expecting-â
Someone was at the door and was opening it. Cerys only had a moment to think, and her reaction was almost a reflex. She pulled Gemini down on top of her, pressing her lips against his and pulling his hands so they were on her, slipping the hard drive into his pocket as she did so.
âYou shouldnât be in here,â a manâs voice said, and Cerys pulled away from Adrian, letting out a nervous giggle. âSorry, we were just⊠weâll be leaving,â she said, her voice higher and sickly sweet. She stood up and took Adrianâs hand, giggling a little as she pulled him out of the room. Once they were far enough away to be out of earshot, she took a moment to gather herself.
âSorry about that, had to figure something out where he wouldnât look too closely. Hard driveâs in your pocket, donât lose it,â she said. âMake sure to lie low, if he realises the drive is gone, heâll connect the dots. And if he does ask, somebody left the room before we went in, and they looked super suspicious,â she added, before turning and heading back towards the ballroom. As she did so, she lifted her hand to her face in an act of tucking her hair behind her ear, the mic concealed in her bracelet. âWe have the hard drive, Iâm on my way back to the ballroom now.â
As Adrian got over to Cerys, he saw the open manual with pages cut out perfectly holding in a hard drive. He listened to her talk until the door began to open. He was supposed to be keeping watch and now their cover was about to be blown. Though what happened next happened in a flash and something he wasnât expecting. Next thing he knew he was straddling on top of Cerys and their lips together. His hands were quickly moved to his side as he felt something slide into his pocket.
Adrian's mind went blank as he was kissing Cerys and didnât come to until she helped him up and let out a giggle as the two left the room, quickly getting away from whoever had opened the door, him being little red and warm from what just happened. Cerys spoke fast to him before she left and waltzed back to the main room. What the fuck was that!? Jena practically screamed at him.
Gemini leaned against the wall. It was nothing Jena, she, uh, just saved us. It was to keep us from getting caught Adrian sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. He knew Jena wasnât happy with what just happened, and wasnât exactly sure what else to tell her. First the cute names and the being all touchy, and then you two start making out. Did you forget I was here? Jena continued. âEnough!â Adrian said out loud accidentally. We donât have time for this Jena. Just because they had the hard drive doesnât mean they were home free yet. Jena? He asked, and then sighed as he figured she would be giving him the silent treatment. Adrian slowly stood up and composed himself before heading back to the ballroom.
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D H A N I BATRA

you wear a mask for so long,
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzyou forget who you were beneath it.
Dhani had to stay up much later than heâd wanted cleaning up the mess in his apartment, and he didnât have an easy time convincing his landlord that repairing the window was something that he should be doing.Honestly, if he wanted it fixed, heâd probably have to do it himself, and he couldnât afford that. So heâd live with it. At least for a while. Eventually Kieran, or his sisters, or his parents would find out heâd had a broken window for three months and yell at him for not saying anything, and theyâd either pay for a repair or get their lawyer husband/son-in-law to gently remind his landlord of his legal obligation to provide a safe place for his tenants to live. Not that anything like that had happened before.
Regardless, he took it in stride. He decided not to let Red Witchâs threats (whatever they may be based in; be it bigotry or a plain old hatred for heroes) get to him. He wasnât about to let her keep him from contacting Atticus. It started simply enough (sorry for forgetting to text you last night, I was pretty exhausted), and sort of escalated from there. Dhani didnât do this sort of thing, not often. The texting and flirting was nice, but a little unfamiliar.
Then there was the ball. Dhani had never been to a ball before, a few Indian weddings, yes, but nothing like this. A lot of preparation was going into just getting them into the ball, let alone looking the part; and then there was the matter of running a particularly big distraction. With Kieran. Dhani was a little worried about that one; they needed it to go well, and while he and Kieran worked extraordinarily well together about half the time, there was the other half where nothing went to plan, it all fell apart, and they were more embarrassed than anything. He guessed the others were banking on things going well. Or, at least, they were counting on Dhani being able to keep Kieran in line. That was a lot to ask of Dhani, and probably too much to ask of Christian Sullivan. Dhani told Kieran right away that nobody was going to buy that name, but she just told him to call anyone who might question it racist. He wasnât going to do that.
Dhani and Kieran had started to craft a backstory, and they were originally going to coordinate their outfits, be cute and matchy, but Dhani just couldnât do it. It was never going to be a believable performance- from either of them- so he decided to skip trying to look like a couple in favor of looking fantastic. Honestly, he should probably have seen the whole thing crumbling then. Still, he had to admit he liked the opportunity to get dressed up. He hadnât had many occasions to look his best since his sisters had gotten married, and that was more years ago than he cared to admit. Kieran arrived while he was still getting his hair in order, with some comment about how he was going to make them late. He just told her that she looked very pretty, and before long they were out the door.
Dhani wasnât sure what he expected, but a limousine wasnât it. He smiled at the driver as they slid into the back, and tried not to make any faces at Kieran. For the first portion of their friendship, Dhani had been extremely concerned about where Kieran got her money, how she could afford to buy such nice things for other people, who the hell was paying his rent for him, but over time heâd learned to stop asking questions. He wasnât any less worried, but there were never any satisfactory answers, and there just wasnât a reason to ask a question with no real answer. Still, something on his face must have given him away, because Kieran started talking about having to play the part of being rich, and not asking too many questions. She was right, he knew that. He just had expected something a little less⊠Flashy, maybe. She told him about the limo, told him to stop being uptight, and he sighed. âIâm not uptight, I just-â She offered him a drink, and he declined with a dismissive gesture. âI just try to take this stuff seriously, you know?â He knew that wouldnât get through to her, and he also knew he was going to have to watch her. He didnât need her drunk in there. What he needed was someone on his side in case things went south; he didnât have any weapons (he didnât normally use or carry any, anyway), and he wasnât sure how this venue was going to be if a fight broke out. He could take a good deal of abuse before a fight really got to him, but he prefered not to test the limits of his powers if he didnât have to.
After making sure all of his communication equipment was in place, and triple-checking that is was all working properly, Dhani finally felt semi-prepared for this. Will I ever feel prepared for doing anything besides punching someone in the face? He didnât have a good answer to his own question.
Being inside the hotel didnât make him feel much better. It didnât take long before Kieran said she was going to scout on ahead, âWait, no, we should-â But she was gone before he could spout out the merits of a team staying together. He lost her pretty quickly in the crowd. She had to be over six feet tall in those shoes, how did he lose her? He was trying to keep an eye out for her, grabbed a glass of champagne so he didnât look out of place. His powers made it take a little extra effort to get drunk, so he might even drink it.
Then he saw a couple dancing. Well, really, the dance almost demanded your full attention. That was Atticus, and presumably, Red Witch. This must be their distraction. Shit. He needed to find Kieran, but⊠Damn, this dance was really impressive. They had clearly put a lot of work into it. It made for a good distraction, clearly. He was just about to move on when it seemed the dance was done, and Red Witch was looking right at him. He didnât hear the question, but he certainly heard the answer. âOh, he's my fiancĂ©.â
And then she kissed Atticus.
A few thoughts tumbled through Dhaniâs head. First, the rational thought that this was just a part of the distraction; but that didnât last very long. His mind went to Red Witch breaking into his apartment, seeming so protective over Att in the warehouse. He felt⊠Stupid. He needed to find Kieran, he couldnât focus on this now. Of course she was angry, He had work to do, he couldnât let whatever was going on in his head get in the way, that makes sense. He downed his glass of champagne.
He needed to find Kieran.
xxxthere is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin
xxxin the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
xxxonly then am I human,
xxxonly then am I clean.
xxx
He was right in thinking that she would stop to talk to him. It would be an easier way to initiate a conversation rather than having to come up with an excuse to talk to her. She smiled as she saw him walking past, stopping him with a gentle touch on her arm. Her perfume was not unpleasant but it was overwhelming.
"Aren't you the young man that danced so wonderfully a few minutes ago?" She asked.
"Yes ma'am. William Goldberg-Jameson, a pleasure to meet you," he said, taking her hand and gently kissing it. Her smile was one of a woman who was used to being treated with such respect. Flattery would get him nowhere with this woman, she was far too used to receiving it. He'd need to be someone she was interested in.
"You really put on a show for us, it was refreshing to experience such a thing. So tell me, what brings such an... interesting man as yourself to this wonderful event?" She asked. She evidently could read him as well as he could read her, which would be an issue. Lying would be much harder.
"Well, my fiancée simply insisted on coming. She loves any opportunity to dance and show me off, and see if she couldn't find some worthy causes to interest her," he said. "And of course, I was only too delighted to attend." It was a veiled version of the truth, and one she seemed to swallow easily.
"How lovely for you. What business are you in?" She asked.
"Oh, she dabbles in whatever interests her and always seems to turn a profit," he said with a small laugh. "And I... well, my family has more... specialised interests. One of our ventures is... private security," he said, hoping she would take the bait. And she did.
"Indeed. You know, William, I've been interested in hiring some more... security agents for one of my own enterprises. I'd love to discuss this more at a later date. I don't talk business at these events- after all, that's not why either of us are here, is it?" She asked with a laugh. Bingo.
"Absolutely. Allow me to give you my number and you can call me at any point. I'm sure we can come to some... agreement. I think you'll find our staff are very suitable for your interests. They're highly... specialised. Excuse me, do you have a pen?" He asked a passing server, who produced one from her apron and handed it to him. "Thank you." He took a napkin and scribbled down a number belonging to a burner phone he'd acquired a few years ago and handed it to her. Tracking it would lead to nothing about him. She took the napkin and smiled.
"I look forward to talking business," she said. The conversation was clearly over, and Atticus just prayed it had been long enough to distract her. He turned around and instinctively scanned the room... where he spotted Lucy batting her eyelashes at some guy that was definitely not her mark.


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Time went by rather slowly as Kieran made her way around the main lobby of the hotel, keeping her eyes constantly scanning over the room as she did so. Trying her best to not seem out of place or a figure of suspicion. She laid low and kept to one of the walls as she sipped the glass of champagne she had taken earlier. Kieran was lost in her thoughts until a figure crept up beside her, giving her a small smile. âWell hello. Whatâs a beautiful lady like you doing over here by yourself?â the man asked with a smirk, before taking a sip of his own drink. Kieran gave him a small smirk in return at his question, trying to not act like she had been zoning out until then. âOh, Iâm just uh, taking a small breather from the crowds for a moment. Sienna Hopkins, nice to meet you.â she extended her hand out, the man gave another coy smile as they exchanged pleasantries. âAiden Charles Leon, pleasure to meet you, Ms. Hopkins.â the man introduced himself.
The two talked for what seemed like hours, exchanging simple talk and going into interests and what they both do for work, Kieran managed to bullshit her way through most of the conversation just fine, even with the egregious amount of alcohol he kept ordering for her, rarely taking any sips of his own. Which she thought was rather odd, but didnât pay it much mind. The two continued to talk for a few more minutes until Kieran began to feel a little unwell, she gave Aiden a small smile as she excused herself, and began making her way through the crowd towards the bathroom. But stopped as she accidentally walked into someone, finally realizing just how much alcohol she had in such a short amount of time. âOh shit, I am so so-â she started to apologize, until she realized who it was. âOh hey, Dhani-Boy. Whatâre you doing over here?â Kieran said with a small smile and chuckle as she wrapped an arm around Dhani.
Dhaniâs mind was buzzing in a million different directions, but he knew that he needed to find Kieran. For two reasons; leaving Kieran alone at a party with alcohol was very dangerous, and it was very likely past time he found her, and they had a distraction to run, and they needed to get to it. So typical, he complained to himself, she would leave me here alone. If something went wrong, I would be on my own. Hell, she is on her own if something goes wrong. Dhani wasnât much for plans, but when there was a plan, not sticking to it felt like some sort of horrible offense. Kieran really should have known better than to go off on her own like this. And you should have known better than to get so emotionally involved with some guy you donât even know.
Dhani was pretty certain heâd checked the whole room, and was sure heâd have to double back and check again when he spotted her. Had to be. That tall? The red hair? Kieran. Heading towards the bathroom. He didnât really want to interrupt her business, but his desire to not lose track of her overcame that, and he hurried over, though he hadnât planned on her running right into him. A few things stood out to him: she was drunk, she just used his real name, she was drunk, and she seemed to have completely forgotten why they were there. Or, her behavior would have him believe that, anyway. He sighed, but he didnât move her arm from around him, she might need help with her balance, âWhat are you doing?â He was trying to keep his voice low, didnât want to draw any attention to them, âHow much have you been drinking? You know weâre not here for fun.â
Kieran chuckled as Dhani helped keep her up, if she didnât know any better she would have toppled over. Looking at him as he asked what she was doing, and how much she had been drinking, as well as noting they werenât there for fun. She raised a hand up and quickly put it down as if she was going to say something, but quickly lost track. âWell first off, Hi, second...I was just talking to whatâs his face over there. Really nice guy, lots of alcohol.â Kieran said with a sigh before having to catch her breath, âThirdly, I didnât have that much, but I did have a few. Besides, I was helping to distract someone. Whatâs the harm in that?â Kieran questioned Dhani as she looked at him, not being able to fully contain herself as she chuckled slightly.
Dhani sighed. She was long gone, and the thought of carrying out their mission at all seemed pointless. âDid you forget why weâre here?â He whispered, harshly. He felt a bit like he was Kieranâs mother, having to swoop in to scold her because she was playing too rough. âI mean, what were you thinking? Were you even thinking? We have a job to do, and Iâm not sure youâre in any state to do it.â Dhani was, frankly, embarrassed. He was going to have to admit that heâd lost track of his partner and gotten distracted long enough that sheâd managed to get drunk. This was a disaster. All of Kieranâs recent behavior was weighing heavy on his mind, and he probably shouldnât have, but he was taking this personally. âThe things you do affect other people, you know.â
Kierna scoffed as he asked if she even remembered why they were there in the first place, "Of course I do, I-" she was cut off as Dhani continued to speak, a bit too rudely for her liking if she was being honest. She was going to let the first comment slide, but it was when he asked if she was even thinking, and he wasn't sure if she could still proceed with it, due to how drunk she appeared to be. Which, she had to admit, she was beginning to feel the effects, but in no way was she going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. "Oh come off it, Dhani. I've done far more while far more drunk, you know this. I'm not entirely useless. Do I have to remind you as to how you were even allowed to get here anyway?" Kieran questioned, not exactly being the best of whispering. Especially now with the alcohol kicking in more.
Kieran looked back at him when he questioned if she was aware that her actions have consequences and affect others. "Well no shit, sherlock." Kieran quipped back. "What's your problem anyway? Better I stay out of trouble anyway, right? Isn't that what you always used to say? If I wasn't involved, you'd be actually able to get shit done without me slowing you down. So what do you really want from me, huh Dhani?"
He wished Kieran would just stop saying his name. It made him nervous, and he had no desire to get into any real trouble. Kieran questioned if he remembered why theyâd been able to get into the party in the first place, and he rolled his eyes. Of course he remembered, but that didnât mean she was suddenly faultless. She carried on talking, asking what his problem was. âWhat I want from you,â He said, slowly, almost as if talking to a child, âIs for you to take something seriously for once in your life.â He leaned in close to her, âThe only thing I was ever concerned about was you getting hurt. You know that.â He shook his head, âYou let your damn overinflated ego get in the way of everything. You can pull anything off, right? So you go out and get distracted by your phone, you take unnecessary risks, you get drunk and donât even think about what kind of spot that puts the rest of us in.â
Heâd been trying to stay calm, but he was having a bad day, and Kieranâs recent behavior was getting on his nerves, âYou think that your abilities make you more valuable than everyone else. More capable. I get it, itâs easy to feel special, but you just manage to piss off everyone around you.â He took a step back from Kieran, crossing his arms as he did so, âSo itâs time to stop. Iâll take you home.â
Kieran listened as he began to speak, deciding to be nice enough to at least hear him out for a moment. But the moment he started to tell her she needed to start taking things more seriously, is when she realized where things were going. He didnât think she was taking this seriously, did he? Kieran simply blinked, trying to keep herself calm as he continued on, dear god did he like to lecture her. Treat her like a child, and here he was, doing just that.
Kieran felt her eyebrow begin to twitch when Dhani said she had an overinflated ego, and that she could pull everything off. That she must not have had to have a care in the world about anything but herself. That she always seemed so careless and seemed to not give a shit about anything. That Dhani claimed to only care about making sure she was never hurt or injured, and that he was tired of her always taking unnecessary risks that would affect everyone else. She scoffed softly at him as he took a step back, and said that he was taking her home. Kieran shook her head, looking down, and eventually back up as she bit her lip. Slowly feeling herself become sober, the angrier she got over time.
âYou wanna know something? If anything, Iâve always felt insecure, and felt like I had to push myself to make you proud, Dhani. That I had to do more than I was capable, just to make you happy.â Kieran said with a chuckle, raising her hands over dramatically. Looking back up at Dhani she gave him a look heâd know all too well, even with the mask covering most of her face. âIf youâre really tired of me and the way I do things, then how about I just leave? You wonât have to be bothered by someone like me anymore. All you have to do, is tell me to fuck off, and I wonât bother you anymore. Since thatâs what you clearly want.â Kieran could feel the slow burn behind her eyes as she looked away from him finally, taking a step back, âIâll just go. Iâll let you finish things up here since you know how to do things, wonât have someone messing things up for you.â Kieran said as she began to turn and walk away from Dhani.
Dhani almost had to fight the urge to roll his eyes; this was so much more dramatic than necessary. Kieran didnât need to fight to make him proud of her; she was one of his best friends, he was always happy for her. He wasnât tired of her, he just wanted her to stop treating this like some kind of game. All of this mattered, and the way she was handling it just didnât sit well with him. As she turned to walk away, he reached out to grab her arm, âStop it. Youâre being ridiculous.â He knew that wasnât going to help, but he didnât want her going off on her own. Not in this state. Not with these people. âYou know I love you, donât make this into something it isnât.â He sighed, âIâm just tired of being treated like garbage.â He was, of course, talking about the way she spied on him, blamed him for his apartment being broken into, throwing him up into the ceiling. In comparison, Kieran breaking into his apartment and eating all his food felt like a minor annoyance.
Kieran didnât stop when Dhani first began to talk. But when he called it ridiculous is when she stopped and turned around, looking him dead in the eyes. Kieran quickly ripped her hand away before Dhani could get a proper hold of her, she wasnât going back with him. Not after this. She knew where this was going, and knew what he was thinking: she was drunk and being her usual emotionally unstable self, and in the morning sheâd be fine. And this whole thing would blow over. But it wasnât like the other hundred times like this happened. She simply shook her head when he said that he loved her and that she didnât need to make this into something it wasnât. She felt it for the longest time, like something was slowly starting to tear them apart, and it slowly began to make sense.
âYouâre tired of being treated like garbage?â Kieran scoffed. âYou think the way that Iâve been treating you is like garbage?â Kieran asked, shaking her head once more. âI can show you what thatâs like...But for now, Iâm leaving, and donât bother trying to follow me home.â Kieran demanded, holding Dhani in place with her powers for a moment as she gave him one more look over, breaking the hold right before she started looking around the room as she gave the small number of onlookers a small awkward chuckle, âMy apologiesâŠâ she said softly, before finally starting to make her way through the crowd to leave. This really was a mistake coming here-no, trying to team up with them all, was one large mistake. She should have known that trying to make things work like this with other people was a big mistake, and tonight was proof enough. Working with others only ever proved to be a hassle, and Kieran was going to make sure she didnât have it happen again.
Of course this was how it would fall apart. Dhani never asked Kieran to do anything but be careful, stay safe, check in every once and a while so he knows she hasnât died. The one time he asks something of her, and she canât handle it. He knew heâd said things he probably shouldnât have- this wasnât exactly the time or place to bring up Kieranâs recent behavior- but he meant it all. âSure,â He called out after her, âJust run away when I need you!â Ultimately, he let her go. There was no point in arguing or trying to change her mind at this point, sheâd decided what mattered, and apparently that was her pride. He was vaguely aware of the small group of people watching, and now that Kieran had left he was very aware of their presence. He smiled awkwardly before turning away, himself. Sheâd said his name so many times, she may as well have put a sign on his back that said âIâm a superhero, come kick my ass,â Though he was sure the others would call him dramatic, he wasnât entirely sure it was misplaced.
The million ways this could make things go wrong were suddenly flooding through Dhaniâs head; this could turn out very badly, very quickly. As he walked away, he tried to keep an eye out for anywhere less congested with people. He pulled out his phone and looked down, tilting his head slightly so his microphone could pick up his voice, âCanât complete the distraction as planned. Sorry.â
L U C I A N A 0 M O R R I S O N 000000000000000000|0| A T T I C U S 0 H A W K I N S


Luciana was batting her eyes through the masquerade mask and giggling when she noticed Atticus walk up, but before she could say anything he quickly demanded to talk to her. Colton quickly spoke up. âIs there an issue here?â But Lucy noticed the glare from Atticus and sighed as he said a rude remark. âHey!â Lucy tried to speak up but Att was already pulling her away, she gave Colton a last little smile and wave before he was out of sight and the two villains were down the hallway. He quickly spoke to her, with a little bit of hostility in his voice. âIâm not playing at anything. Do you know who that was? Colton Underwood.â Lucy said as she crossed her arms and stared at Att.
Att just rolled his eyes as Lucy said who it was. He knew the name, of course he did. Heâd spent enough time talking shit about the show just out of her reach to not know who it was. âI donât give a shit, Lucy. If heâs here, that means he could very well want people like us dead. And what I do give a shit about is that you were too busy fluttering your eyelashes at him instead of doing what you were supposed to do. I just ran into the guy you were supposed to distract, and he had very obviously not been distracted. Care to explain yourself? he asked.
As she listened, Luciana did remember she was supposed to distract a certain individual and she did start to feel bad for getting side tracked herself, but she didnât need Att to come at her so aggressively, which she didnât appreciate. âOkay Att. First off, heâs here because the producers from last season wanted him here, to get some funding for the show.â She said, taking a step closer to Att. âIâm sorry for getting side tracked and trying to take some time to relax, but atleast Iâm not out here fucking heroes in my spare time.â Lucy said with venom behind her words, poking her finger into his chest. âNow if youâre done being a little bitch about thingsâŠâ She said turning back, but Atticus stopped her, grabbing her wrist.
Att just raised his eyebrows as Lucy managed to drag Dhani into it, rolling his eyes a little. She tried storming away, but he grabbed her wrist. âWeâre not done here, Lucy. You talk so much shit about me and Dhani but we havenât once compromised the mission. First you kissed me, which was something we hadnât discussed, and which was totally unnecessary. And before you say it was just trying to sell our story, we both know thatâs bullshit. A kiss on the cheek would have worked just as well. I know you did that to try and spite Dhani. And you need to grow the hell up and get over that,â he snapped.
Luciana jerked her hand free of Atticus. âNever once compromised a mission? I recall you freezing up when you saw his face at the warehouse. And yeah I kissed you to spite him. Iâm looking out for you Att. And what does it matter to you about him?â She asked. âHeâs been ignoring you, time to just forget about him. Get your head back on what matters and out of dumb wild fantasies.â Lucy rolled her eyes. Since she threatened Dhani they should have been talking less.
Att just rolled his eyes as Lucy brought up how he had frozen on seeing Dhani in the warehouse. âThatâs not the same and you know it. Iâve stayed professional this whole damn time.â He had a response on his lips as Lucy asked him why it mattered, when she said something about Dhani ignoring him. He frowned. âNo⊠no, he hasnât. Why would you think heâs been ignoring me? Itâs not like Iâve said or done anything to give that impression,â He asked. If anything, heâd been afraid that Lucy had somehow known that theyâd been in contact, that sheâd picked up on it from his demeanour. âAnd donât you dare try and bullshit me, we both know Iâll see right through it and Iâll find out one way or the other.â
Luciana turned away a bit from Atticus when he asked about why she would think that Dhani would be ignoring him. She was about to come up with a lie or change the subject, but Att insisted she would know. âFine. I paid him a little visit after my mission with Malfyre, also had a bit of a girl over with two rats.â Lucy said as she turned back to him. âBut itâs good to know heâs such as big of a fucking dumbass as you are Atticus.â She shoved him back a bit. âMaybe I should go back and pay your boy toy another visit. Rough him up this time so he gets the message.â She said with a smirk across her face.
Att honestly hadnât been sure what heâd been expecting from Lucy, but somehow he was at once angry, yet not surprised. The comment about him being a dumbass passed him by as she threatened to go back and rough him up. âI swear to god, Lucy, if you as much as touch a hair on his head youâll be finding somewhere else to live,â he swore. âEnough of your petty, over dramatic, stupid bullshit about the heroes. Stop dragging me into it. I never asked to be a villain. Everyone just saw me work with them once or twice and decided thatâs what I was. I got dragged into this mess. So Iâll sleep with whoever the hell I want, Iâll text whoever the hell I want, and nothing gives you the right to tell me what I should do. So mind your own goddamn business and stop dragging me into your petty little grudges, because I donât want to be involved.â
What you gonna do? Luciana thought as Atticus said an empty threat to her, though what he said next just made her laugh a little bit before regaining her composure. âYou think we have a choice to be villains Att? I didnât choose to be a villain. You know this, you know I went to the heroes when I was younger and they made the choice for me to be a villain. I had to become a villain or die a weakling.â Luciana said, anger starting to build up in her. If it was any other person besides Atticus arguing with her, she wouldâve acted by now, plus she couldnât really walk around the gala with blood on her and not be suspicious.
Att just scowled in frustration as Lucy recounted how she didnât have a choice on becoming a villain. âThis isnât about you, Lucy. I know you didnât have a choice. But you didnât leave me with much of one either. And this is my life. And instead of being happy for me, or acknowledge that itâs my goddamn choice who I sleep with, youâve been a selfish bitch about it and have tried to ruin my life just because you have a grudge against him because of what some people did years and years ago.â Somewhere, out in the main ballroom, he could hear what sounded like people yelling, presumably Dhani and Malfyreâs distraction. At least something was going to plan.
While Atticus talked, Luciana was getting more and more frustrated, she was about to interrupt and say that talking about this now wasnât worth it and they needed to head back to the ballroom, but a word out of his mouth ticked her off. Bitch. Everything Att said after calling her a bitch she didnât hear, she just stared into his eyes, as she was now at her peak. Lucy saw his mouth stop moving and blinked a couple times, and then slapped him across the face, not caring about hitting her hand on his mask. âBitch? Iâll showing you a fucking bitch. Fuck you Atticus. Seriously. Fuck. You. Iâve looked out for you, protected you, while other villains wanted to either toss you aside or torture you. But Iâm the bitch? Fine. Iâll leave you alone, invite your little hero lover to the apartment anytime you want.â She shouted towards him and quickly walked away.
Lucy didnât stop as she came into the main room, but just continued out the door, bumping into a few patrons on the way out. She was furious but also trying to hold back tears as she got outside. Luciana quickly found the limo driver parked off to the side and climbed in, but only to change into spare clothes she brought in case. The driver asked her if she was ready to leave, but she just ignored him as she changed and handed him his payment for the night, not expecting to come back. After she got changed she exited the limo and just started walking down the street, unsure of where she was going. As she got far enough away she ripped off her mask and tossed it into an alley way as she kept walking.
It seemed that Lucy had only heard one word of what heâd said, and that single word resulted in a slap that left his face stinging and nearly knocked his mask off. She screamed at him, talking about how sheâd protected him, as if this whole thing hadnât been entirely all her suggestion. He hadnât asked for any of this. She stormed off and Att sighed, pulling his mask off and running his hands down his face. He could have stormed out himself then, but he needed to keep his calm. Anger was dangerous, and anger could put them in danger. One person storming out was acceptable. Multiple people could raise questions. He took a deep breath and fixed his mask, regaining his composure. Heâd just stepped back out into the ballroom when Dhaniâs voice appeared in his earpiece. The curt briefing made Att tense up, afraid something had gone horribly wrong. He instinctively found himself scanning the room, searching for him. His eyes found him and the overwhelming emotion was just relief that he was okay. He had to force himself to look away, remembering that he still had a job to do.
P I P E R YOUNG

if they think you care,
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzthey'll walk all over you.
BludWynd spoke, first explaining his relationship with Paladin and Malfyre-which was more information than she wanted to know, honestly-and then he elaborated that the two were unpredictable. Be on the lookout for anything. Wonderful. From what she knew, Piper could understand calling Malfyre predictable. Maybe Paladin seemed unpredictable, but everyone who was more than a half-rate criminal knew exactly what to do to rile him up or throw him off their trail. It was like he was some sort of computer: push the right buttons, and youâd get your desired outcome. Something told her that the other heroes (or, at least, BludWynd) didnât see it that way. Or maybe no one else in their little group viewed each other in such a pragmatic way. Piper wasnât a fighter, so she had to learn peopleâs weaknesses, use them against them.
Speaking of weaknesses, Piper was Luciana from across the room. She was talking to some man, maybe her mark. Piper was busy trying to keep track of everything; a mistake meant that someone could get hurt. Could die. She didnât really care about most of the people she was working with, but she did not want to get caught up in anything dangerous. She was in no mood to die, and sheâd just gotten her hair done. As she glanced back over, Piper noticed Luciana pointing to the man she was with. At first, Piperâs instinct was that Lucy was in trouble, but after she processed the word Luciana had mouthed, âbachelorâ she understood what was going on. That could be a disaster.
For a moment, Piper felt helpless. She knew this wasnât the intended order of events, and that this could potentially end very badly. She quickly found herself scanning the room for Atticus. Truth be told, she didnât know him well, but he was meant to be Lucyâs partner for the night, and he might be able to keep her on task. Maybe. Atticus looked busy, which was good. He was doing his job. A voice went out over her earpiece. Artemis. They were successful, good. The chain of events that occurred after that were a mixed bag. Atticus was practically storming across the room, and shortly afterwards it seemed as though Paladin and Malfyre were starting their distraction. Maybe things would turn around. After a few moments, though, Piper found herself glancing over at BludWynd, almost as if to gauge his thoughts on current events. It was hard to read someone with a mask on, much less one as theatrical as they were both wearing. âDo you ever wish youâd done something different with your life? Iâd be at home right now if I were an accountant.â She wasnât entirely sure why sheâd said it, other than that this life was hard in the best of times, and now it was only harder. The thought occurred to her that she had the option to stop all of this and move on to a normal life. It was tempting.
Then she spotted Luciana storming out of the ballroom, and presumably out of the building. âExcuse me,â Lucy was the only friend Piper really had, she hadnât made a habit of making friends since sheâd left her hometown. Becoming friends with The Red Witch was, in earnest, an investment in Piperâs future, but it had also become a relationship filled with some real comradery. Maybe it wasnât the deepest or most meaningful friendship, but it was what Piper had. A part of her wanted to chase after Luciana, but she had a job to do. Paladinâs voice was in her ear next. What was happening? Everything seemed to be crashing down around her. Sheâd gone from never going on any missions, to being right in the middle of one that felt like it was crashing down on top of her.
She needed to talk to Icarus, and it didnât take long for her to reach him. She rested a gentle hand on his arm, âHey, what happened?â Of course, this was partly utilitarian; she needed to know if she had to step in anywhere. But she also cared. Sure, she probably could have asked over the communication system they had in place, but that didn't seem right to her.
0000Kieran0Vallenetti 00000000000000000|000000000000000000000000|Aaron0 Langdan
Anti-Hero | Malfyrex|xhex: #575772 00000000000000000000000000000000Hero | BludWynd | xhex:#545352


Aaron stayed along the wall as he exchanged small talk with Piper, which was more or less him just bringing up random things or an awkward silence filled the gap between the two. Regardless, they had to keep their eye on things, and if anything seemed out of the ordinary they'd go into action. Everything was already starting to bore him, but his eyebrow raised when a commotion started in the middle of the room. It was subtle but, it garnered more than a few eyes from the onlookers. That was clearly Paladin and Malfyre, it had to be. No one was that tall with as bright red hair as Kieran, and no man would wear such an out there suit. So that had to be Dhani, Aaron gauged. But the more as he watched, his stomach began to drop. This wasn't a distraction, at least not what they had planned. From what he could tell, Kieran was drunk, he knew her all too well to know and Dhani was trying to defuse the situation. poor guy. Aaron cocked his head to the side as he caught the last bit of what Piper asked him. Just nodding his head, "Yeah, yeah. Sure. Sounds great." he mumbled, watching as she watched off soon after, he didn't know what to do. He wanted to go after Dhani and talk to him, gauge the situation from a sober mind before he did anything, but the other half of him wanted to go after Kieran and stop her from leaving and possibly walking into danger.
Before he realized it, Aaron found himself automatically going after Kieran. She needed someone, even if she denied any and all help. She'd be needing someone to be there for her. Aaron came up from behind her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder, "Hey hey now, where are you going?" he playfully called after her. It didn't take much to feel the energy coming off of Kieran as she turned to look at him, he didn't even have to see the expression on her way to know that she wasn't happy to see him. "What do you want? Can't you assholes just leave me alone?" Kieran whined. Aaron shook his head as he placed his hands on both of her arms, "Hey now, I don't know what that was and I am not getting in the middle of that shit, but c'mon. You know me. Just talk to me, okay?" he tried reassuring her. Kieran simply shook her head, "There's nothing to talk about, okay? I just want to go home, coming here was a mistake." Kieran said as she tried to push Aaron off of her in an attempt to leave.
"I've known you longer than anyone else, remember? I know when you're upset and when someone upsets you, you've always come and talked to me. But not recently. Why? You know I'm not going to judge you, remember that?" Aaron pleaded, grabbing out for her hand again. "I really just want to be left the fuck alone tonight, okay? Is that so much to ask? I fucked up, as always. I just need to go and clear my head. Okay?" she demanded. Aaron shook his head, "I'm never leaving you alone, so can you just talk to me, please? That's all I'm asking. Jut talk to me, like when we were kids. Please I-" Aaron was cut off as he could feel a small pain forming in his stomach, looking up at Kieran as he could see the look in her eye. It was a look whenever she concentrated on a certain part of someone. "What the fuck, are you really doing this?" Aaron coughed as a small drop of blood dripped from his nose. "Just leave me alone, or I will make it much worse. Bye, Aaron..." Kieran said softly before she turned and left, making her way for the door. Aaron watched as she disappeared into the crowd of people, cursing under his breath. "She's gone, Malfyre left. Just let me know what I can do to help." he spoke softly into the mic and made his way to the bathroom, he'd need to clean the blood off of his hands. This really was a mess after all.

xxx 'Cause I'm a fighter, a tiger, see me walk through fire
xxx Try chain me up but I'll burst through, I'll defy ya
xxx Set me on fire
xxx Watch them conspire
xxx I will defy ya
xxx I'll set them on fire
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxBRN - AViVA

xxx Are we just drowning?
xxx Can you please save us
xxx Black walls surrounding
xxx Can you please save my soul?
xxx Causing our own demise
xxx Causing our own
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxDROWN - AViVA
As Adrian was about to enter back into the ballroom, he felt a hand on his shoulder and was quickly turned around, forcefully. The person that forced him to turn around was the man who had walked in on him and Cerys, and Adrian knew this guy stopping him wouldnât be good. âYou. Did you take anything out of that room you and your woman friend were in?â He asked, more so demanding an answer after letting go of him.
Adrian gulped as his mind raced, trying to figure out what to say. âUh⊠No? Me and my, uh, partner just entered a random room. Once again, weâre sorry. If you want to talk to her, she just excused herself ahead of me to get a drink. â He quickly said, trying not to stumble over his words as he came up with a story on the fly. He was hoping he could keep a poker face going and the man would believe him, unfortunately, the man did not.
âIf you didnât take anything, then you wouldnât mind emptying your pockets and letting me pat you down then.â[/color] The man said with a smirk. He must have known he had the hard-drive, either him or Cerys. Jena⊠I could use some help here. Adrian said in his mind, but getting no answer, just silence. âOh. Uh. Sure. Let me justâŠâ Adiran started to say, before he slammed his foot into the manâs shin and took off running down the hall away from the man, hearing him curse a bit in pain, before chasing after him.
Jena. I get it, youâre mad. But now isnât the time! Adrian tried again, but once again, nothing. He could hear the man behind, he was radioing in about an intruder having the stolen hard-drive and giving Adrianâs description, but to try not to cause panic in the ballroom with the guests. âGod damnit.â He sighed, knowing now his cover was blown. He had to either escape from the gala or try to get Jena to stop giving him the silent treatment so they could leave without incident.
Coming to an intersection in the hallway, Adrian could hear more guards approaching and would soon be cornered. Luckily there was one door near him that would help him out, he just had to make sure no one was in there. A bathroom. He quickly entered and locked the door and hurried over to the sink and starred in it at himself. âJena!â He shouted out loud at the mirror, before going back to his internal speaking. I get it. Youâre mad. That shouldnât have. But can we please talk about this later. We need to swap now before Iâm caught with this.He continued, taking the hard drive out of his pocket and placing it on the counter, waiting for Jena to answer. There was pounding at the door and a voice demanding for the door to be opened. Fine.
Within seconds Gemini switched from their male persona to their female persona, luckily they had prepared for this so Jena would still be able to blend in and Malfyre added a fake name for her to the list as well. Jena quickly shoved the hard drive into her small purse she had and pulled out a small thing of powder inside her compact mirror. And right as Jena did, the door burst open and two men entered quickly with small stun guns drawn, only seeing a woman and no one else. Jena let out a little shriek, only faking a little bit as she was surprised. âWhat are you doing!? Did you not hear me say occupied, you guys are pervs!â She shouted at them, the two men quickly getting red and embarrassed. âUh, we, uh, didnât hear you.â âMaâam, we are sorry. We thought someone else would be in here, we didnât mean to barge in on you. We will be leaving you alone.â The two men practically talked over each other before they left and closed the door.
Thanks babe. I say itâs time to leave, let the others know about what happened. Adrian spoke up. âNo.â Jena said out loud. âI have to take care of something.â She continued, before touching up her make-up and walking out of the bathroom and back towards the main hall. Adrian questioned what she meant, but she kept her mind on one thing and was ignoring what he was saying. She had something, someone, to deal with.
It didnât take Jena long to get back to the ballroom and it also didnât take her long to find what she was looking for and quickly locking in on her target. Artemis. Now Adrian knew what Jena meant by taking care of something. Jena. Jena. Calm down. Donât do what I think youâre about to do. Adrian said, trying to reason with her, but she quickly shut him down with a quick shut up and continued walking, eventually arriving behind Artemis, ignoring all the other commotion in the room
âHey âMiss Rothschildâ or whatever your name is.â Jena said loudly to get Cerysâ attention. As soon as she turned around Jena slapped her across the face, adding a little bit of actual heat to her hand. Not enough to cause any real scaring or burn, but enough to send a message. âDonât you dare kiss or even think of touching my man again, or Iâm really going to give you a burn.â She said before walking away, not giving Cerys a chance to say or do anything, and leaving the gala and heading home.
Gemini was going to have a long night between the both of them.
[/justify]

xxxoh don't you wonder when the light begins to fade?
xxxand the clock just makes the colors turn to grey
xxxforever younger growing older just the same
xxxall the memories that we make will never change
xxx
She jumped a little as Dhaniâs voice spoke in her earpiece, saying that they hadnât been successful. She frowned, and scanned the room to see if anything had happened. There seemed to be a lot more security about, but no obvious disturbance. When she heard somebody calling her by her alias, she feared the worst. When she turned around to look, she wasnât sure if she was relieved or not to see another partygoer. But she didnât recognise the woman, even as she closed in. But the heat behind the slap, more heat than there should have been, was the first clue, and her threat was the second. Cerys just stared as the woman walked away, trying to gather herself. People were staring. So she shrugged and laughed lightly. âWait until she finds out about her boyfriendâs other mistresses,â she said, sipping lightly on her champagne as she walked away. People thrived on gossip, and it might be enough to distract some of them.
Intending on leaving, she slipped out into the hall as Aaron came on the mic to say Malfyre had left. Clearly something had happened with her and Dhaniâs distraction then. Sheâd have to get the details from someone later. She jumped a little as she noticed someone else in the hall, but she recognised the figure. âAaron? Jesus Christ, you would not believe the night Iâve had-â she started, but stopped herself as she spotted the blood on his hands. âShit, by the looks of it, youâve had a worse one. Are you okay?â She asked.
xxxthere is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin
xxxin the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
xxxonly then am I human,
xxxonly then am I clean.
xxx
He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his arm, but sighed when it was just Aboleth. He sighed as she asked what was wrong, just shaking his head. âOne of the guys from The Bachelor is here, and⊠Lucy got talking to him when she was supposed to be distracting her mark, and her mark was free to roam around. I yelled at her about that and⊠we had a bit of an argument, I might have called her a bitch, and she stormed out. Itâs fine, she probably just needs a couple of hours to calm down.â He said, with a shrug, never quite meeting Piperâs eyes. Part of it was guilt, part of it was just a habit from knowing what her ability entailed. While glancing away, he could see more and more security starting to appear around the room, clearly trying and failing to blend in. Security never could blend in right, no matter how much they tried. They were like cops, they stood out if you knew how to look for them.
âListen, I think we need to get out of here,â he said. âSecurity seems to have doubled, and Iâm guessing they know something is up. We should leave before they start asking questions.â He eyed up the nearest guard as he spoke. He knew that theyâd be looking for anyone who stood out, and he unfortunately fit that brief. âCan⊠can you check in with Lucy? Sheâs not going to talk to me and I need to know if I need to avoid the apartment or not,â he joked, but it sounded as forced as it felt. âThanks.â
He turned and headed for the exit. He fully intended on just leaving, but BludWyndâs voice in his earpiece made him slow. Malfyre had left. Exactly how badly had things gone? He didnât want to linger any longer, but he found his gaze drawn towards Dhani again. He pulled out his phone and sent a text.
To: Dhani
Are you okay?
And then, after a moment;
Iâm outside. Can we talk?
Once he got outside, he pulled off his mask and his jacket, knowing the colour of his suit and the mask were too identifying if anyone started asking questions. Their limo was still there, the driver just playing a game on his phone. Lucy hadnât taken the limo home then, and Att almost instinctively raised an eyebrow. He was surprised that she hadnât taken it if only to force him to walk or get a taxi home.

We'll never get free
Lamb to the slaughter
What you gon' do
When there's blood in the water?
âââââââââââââââââââ
Outfit â Hex: #571616

Lucy pulled her phone out of her pocket when she felt it vibrating and looked at who was calling her at this hour. Pipey :3 Piper was calling her, probably because Atticus went and cried to her about what she did. She hit the call decline button after a few seconds, but quickly sent a text message to her.
To: Pipey :3
If youâre calling for the asshole. Iâm fine. Tell him to just confine in his boytoy. I need some time to myself.
Lucy hit send, but then followed up with another message before shoving her phone in her pocket and continuing to walk through the city.
To: Pipey :3
And away from him
The cold air rushing off of cars driving by blew through Lucianaâs hair as she began to walk. She didnât mind the cold much, actually preferred it to the hot summer air. She wasnât sure exactly where she was going or where she would stop, just walking until she felt like stopping. âDonât you know it's dangerous out here so late?â A masculine voice said from behind her, though she swore no one was behind her a couple minutes ago. Lucy peaked over her shoulder and saw two men walking, the two seeming to stick out, but assumed just two drunks out late. âIâm fine, fuck off.â She quickly retorted as she began to cross the street.
âThere could be some people out here with ill intentions, especially for someone like you. Red Witch.â The men stopped and said, causing Luciana to stop for a second in the road. These men knew who she was, and she wasnât in her villain attire. She was getting ready to attack when she heard a vehicleâs engine and turned, seeing a van coming at her, but too late to move out of the way. The van clipped her and caused her to get knocked a good ten feet or so away, knocking the air out of her and roughing her up a bit with road rash and feeling a pain in her hip, from where the van mostly hit her.
Luciana quickly got up to try to fight, but it was too late. A bag was over her face and who she assumed were the two men from behind had her hands strained behind her. Red Witch was able to fight a bit, kicking one of the men in the shin, causing her to be dropped. She felt the blood running down her arm from skidding across the asphalt, but couldnât use her powers without visually seeing the blood since her head was still covered with the bad. Luciana stood up and tried to run, but must have just ran into the other man as she was held again and quickly thrown onto some cold metal, assuming it was the back of the van that hit her. âWho the fuck are you? Let me go right now or else!â Red Witch quickly yelled as she tried to fight back from the men restraining her legs, ankle getting tied together with what felt like some sort of carbon fiber material.
âWe got the girl. Boss wonât be happy about you hitting her with a vehicle.â One of the men began to talk, ignoring Luciana. âWell, I saw an opportunity for us, easier than trying to fight her. And can you just shut her up, donât want her yelling and drawing attention to us.â Another voice talked, feminine, from the front of the vehicle. Luciana began to scream more obscenities at the people in the vehicle, but was quickly stuck with something in her face and her head slammed against the floor of the van, quickly knocking her out cold.
000D H A N I 0 B A T R A 00000000000000000000000000| A T T I C U S 0 H A W K I N S


Then he got the text. Initially, he decided on just ignoring the text. He felt justified in that, after what heâd seen and been through. He noticed security popping up around the room, too. Dhani wondered if a day would come when an influx of security guards didnât make him feel nervous. Probably not. Another text, also from Atticus. A part of him really didnât want to talk to Att. He needed to leave, that much was true, but he needed to walk out the door and head straight home. There was no explanation that would make all of this okay, so Dhani didnât see much of a point in letting Att try.
And yet, there was another part of Dhani that started looking for Att the moment he stepped outside. He wanted Atticus to explain that it was nothing, just a big misunderstanding. He was feeling guilty, upset, angry. He just wanted something about the night to be okay. So he found Att, walked over; he wasnât sure what to say, but he was pretty sure he should say something. In the end, all he said was, âHey.â
Att spotted Dhani the minute he stepped outside the building, but he hung back, wanting to talk somewhat out of sight. There was a moment when he thought Dhani was just going to keep walking, just ignore him, a moment that troubled Atticus more than he wanted to admit. He didnât know why Dhani had gotten under his skin in the way he had.
But then Dhani turned and made his way over to Att, and he could breathe a sigh of relief. âHey,â he said. âYou look great.â The compliment slipped out easily, even though he hadnât really intended on saying it. âSo⊠Red Witch told me about her little visit to your apartment. Iâm so sorry about that, I⊠genuinely have no idea how she found out and she had absolutely no right to do it,â he said. âShe⊠she didnât hurt you or anything, did she?â
Dhani smiled at the compliment, and nodded in lieu of thanks. Normally, it would have been great to hear, but he wasnât so sure he really wanted to hear it. Then Atticus brought up Red Witch breaking into his apartment. Dhani shook his head, âNo. Nobody was hurt. She just broke my coffee pot, threatened my neighbor. Standard stuff.â Dhani crossed his arms over his chest, closing himself off. âRed Witch doesnât scare me, Iâm pretty used to being threatened. Besides, I think I understand it now.â
Att wasnât even surprised to hear that Lucy had caused a little destruction in the course of her visit, but was at least relieved to hear nobody had been hurt. Att just raised an eyebrow as Dhani said he wasnât scared of her. He was one of the very few people who werenât, and Att wouldnât have blamed him. But then again, Dhani was a hero. People like Lucy were probably nothing new, and besides, increased healing didnât exactly play well with blood manipulation.
There was a moment when Att wasnât sure why Dhani said he understood it. But of course, theyâd appeared the perfect couple all evening, and sheâd even kissed him. Why wouldnât anyone believe them? He just sighed, shaking his head.
âDhani, that was an act. I swear. She went too far, it was supposed to just be the dance and if anyone asked, we were engaged. That was all, that was all I agreed to. Thereâs nothing going on. Weâre just friends.â
He wanted to just completely believe Atticus; it would have been really easy. Truth or not, it didnât matter, because it was what he wanted to hear. And, obviously, it made perfect sense. But Dhani had had enough negative life experiences to be a little wary. Still, he nodded. âOkay,â He didnât sound the most convinced, but Dhani knew that Atticus hadnât owed him any explanations or anything in the first place.
Dhani sighed, relaxing his shoulders as he did. He didnât realize how tense heâd been until then. âThe dance really was impressive.â They had clearly put a lot of work into it. It had at least gone better than Dhaniâs distraction. But Att had said that Red Witch took it too far. Dhani looked over Atticus for a moment, carefully considering that. âYou okay?â He paused, then quickly added, âThese things are a lot, even without someone springing something new and changing up your plans.â
The awkwardness of the moment hung between them, even as Dhani nodded. God, why couldnât things just be straightforward for once? But Dhaniâs compliment about the dance managed to earn a smile from Att, even despite that. âThanks. You probably donât want to know about the amount of times I dropped her,â he said, laughing a little.
He just shrugged as Dhani asked if he was okay. âI⊠just been one of those nights, I guess. The kiss was⊠weird,â he said, managing a half smile. âGod, the mission was the easy part. I can handle stuff like that in my sleep, Iâve been doing it all my life. But... things didnât exactly go to plan, and the only reason things didnât end up worse is because we got lucky. And having what should be two entirely separate parts of your life come smashing into each other, itâs just⊠messy.â He shook his head a little. âSorry, I just⊠Yeah, Iâm fine.â It felt like a lie, even though it was mostly true. He felt like he was still âon dutyâ and that meant showing as few weaknesses as possible. And if you showed weakness, you covered it up as soon as you could.
Dhani would be lying if he said the mental image of Atticus dropping Red Witch didnât make him smile. Sheâd broken his window, and generally made his life more difficult than it had to be, so there was a part of him that did want to hear about Att dropping her.
He listened intently as Atticus spoke, briefly recapping the night and how it affected him. Dhani understood it, or, some of it. He felt his heart break a little when Att said heâd been doing things like this all his life. Dhani had to wonder what kind of life heâd lived for that to be his experience. He wasnât about to ask, but it was certainly going to be on his mind. He shook his head when Atticus apologised, âNo, I understand.â He didnât think the night had gone as planned for anyone. A part of Dhani wanted to reassure Atticus that it was okay; it was okay to make mistakes, or be vulnerable. Whatever he needed to hear. But Dhani didnât know what Atticus needed, and it didnât seem like the right time, anyway.
He glanced over his shoulder, almost as if he were expecting someone. He felt so awkward, he almost wished that someone had been there. âIâm pretty conspicuous,â As far as excuses went, it wasnât the best one, but it was true, âProbably shouldnât hang around too long.â
The awkwardness was still lingering, practically tangible in the air between them. It felt so wrong, but Att didnât know what he could do about it. Maybe things were just going to be like this now. It was probably never going to work anyway. Theyâd just been naive.
He nodded as Dhani said he was a bit conspicuous. âYeah, we should⊠probably get going,â he said. âDo you need a ride home?â He asked. âRed Witch left me with the limo so may as well get my moneyâs worth out of it.â
Dhani hadnât even checked to see if Kieran had left him stranded (and even if she had, it wasnât as if he was without options), but something about Atticus offering him a ride home had Dhani feeling⊠something. Excited, maybe. He should say no, though. He could get home on his own, and Att was probably just offering to be nice. âI, uh,â
But as he looked at Atticus, Dhani realized that he really would like nothing more, which just made things that much more complicated. âThank you,â He offered a soft smile, âBut you donât have to go out of your way or anything. Very gentlemanly of you, though.â The last thing Dhani wanted was to be in the way, or be inconvenient. Heâd made enough of a mess that evening with his fight with Kieran.
God, that night in the bar, Att was pretty sure neither of them had envisaged them ending up like this, the silence feeling weighted with⊠what? The history between them? Everything that had just happened? What they (or, at least, Att) wanted, but knew was a bad decision? Part of him almost regretted offering now, maybe things would have been more straightforward then.
Dhaniâs remark about the offer being gentlemanly made Att smile, and he shrugged a little. âWell, you know me, the perfect image of a gentleman,â he joked. âAnd Iâm pretty sure your place is en route anyway. But thereâs no pressure, if youâd rather get a taxi, thatâs totally fine, I wonât be offended,â he said with a slight laugh. âJust doing the gentlemanly thing.â
As Att spoke, Dhani couldnât help but wonder what he was doing. He liked Att, a lot more than he ever expected to. He was so used to ending things before they really started, but here he was with a guy that knew everything that he was, could understand how demanding his life really was. âYou know,â He paused mid-sentence; Att really had him rethinking everything he thought he knew. Of course, heâd always logically known that villains were people, but it was so easy to file them away, count them off, forget that they, too, had a different life under the mask. Maybe it was a little hypocritical, but it wasnât anything heâd spent any length of time thinking about until he saw Atticus in that warehouse.
But what was he supposed to say? Heâd always told himself that when he found someone that could understand what he did, that he wouldnât let him slip through his fingers. Maybe he said that because heâd thought it would never happen. Or that the guy would be a hero, or a reporter⊠or something.
âItâs been a shitty night. Iâd love for something to just feel normal,â Dhani shrugged, âIsh.â He smiled at Att, âIâd like a ride, yes.â There were a lot of things heâd like from Att.
He bolted upright, the dream still lingering in his head, far, far too vivid to be anything other than a vision. Nausea rose in him as he tried to catch his breath, still feeling like there was someone sitting on his chest. His head was spinning from the sudden movement, but he fought back against his bodyâs protests to reach over and grab his phone, struggling to read the texts at first. There was a moment of relief when he saw the texts from Piper, but as he read the texts and the screenshots within, the nausea and panic became almost overwhelming. But when he went to actually get to his feet, his head spun so much that he felt like his legs wouldnât support him. He didnât have time for this, he needed to do something now. He just sank back onto the bed and squinted at his phone, looking for the number. It rang, which settled his anxiety a little, but she didnât answer. Of course she didnât, why would she? She was mad at him, that was all.
âLucy, if you get this, call me, itâs urgent.â He doubted sheâd check her voicemail if she thought it was from him though, so he sent a text as well.
To: Lucy
Call me, itâs urgent.
Was he too late? The rational part of him told him that no, he was pretty sure it wasnât supposed to happen for another few days at least, but he also knew that it was always a vague timeframe anyway. He didnât have time to hesitate, didnât have time to wait around. He needed to tell someone, he needed to do something before it was too late.
He didnât know what made him pick that number first of all. Maybe he thought that Dhani could help the most, maybe he knew that Dhani could probably contact the rest of the heroes, or maybe it was the same goddamn reason heâd offered him a ride home the night before.
He hesitated for a minute, wanting to call him. He wanted to hear a friendly voice, wanted to hear someone tell him he would be okay. But another wave of nausea hit him and he was pretty sure that he wasnât capable of holding a coherent conversation. Texting was just about as much as he could manage.
To: Dhani
I need your help- rw in trouble and only gonna get worse if I donât do something
He wanted to deal with this like they always had, as few people as possible, but if they were as short on time as he thought, they couldnât afford that. Lucy couldnât afford that.
To: Dhani
can you contact the others? things are real bad and we need to meet asap
He didnât know what to say, didnât know what he should do, and hated how scared and useless he felt. He hadnât felt like this in years, it hadnât been this personal in years. It wasnât like he wasnât freaked out by every vision he had, but this was just⊠a whole other level. He had to do something and had to do it soon, and that was just making it worse. And sitting here feeling sorry for himself wasnât good enough. He managed to get to his feet and get dressed, making his way out to the kitchen to make coffee, watching his phone the whole time. He knew he needed to text Piper as well, get her help on it, but something in him told him to wait until heâd heard from Dhani.
She was a little later going on her run that morning, having slept in a little later than usual on account of the late night. But the grogginess didnât take long to shift as she ran her usual route, the music pounding in her ears. She wasnât quite sure why she noticed the group of individuals or why she slowed to a walk to observe them, pausing her music and pulling out her headphones. But once she understood their topic of conversation, her blood ran cold. She stayed walking past them, not wanting to draw attention to herself, but looped around the block to slip down an alleyway where she could listen without risking being noticed. And as a precaution, she hit record on her phone as she edged as close as she dared to them.
â-seems reasonable to assume that if Red Witch was there, Icarus was more than likely also in attendance. Theyâre known associates and have worked together in the past. We have reason to believe Gemini may have been in attendance.â
âTwo villains that are known to work together and a single hero isnât much to work off of. We need more evidence that some of the others were there before we can bring this to her.â
âHow are we supposed to do that? Icarus, Red Witch, and Gemini were all there under aliases and it was a masked event.â
âI donât care how you get it, just figure it out. Sheâll want to know about this. If the mutants are taking action, she needs to know. Find what you can.â
Cerys pressed herself into the shadow of the alley as they walked past, unaware that they were being spied on. She sent the recording to Dhani and Aaron as she caught her breath with the caption, âWe have a problem.â
She fully intended on following them, but by the time she looked up from her phone, theyâd disappeared. She swore silently to herself and went in the direction she last saw them heading in, but they were gone. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. Nothing she could do about it now. So she put her headphones back in and finished her run, mulling the whole situation over the whole way.
She got home and jumped into the shower, already trying to figure out if there was anything that could give her away. Sheâd had her mask on the whole time she was there, and sheâd gone straight home. But the only reason theyâd done that was because her dress had been entirely impractical for going to a bar. Sheâd had a lucky escape, really.
She sat down at her laptop, fully intending on doing some work. But she found her mind wandering and her eyes focusing on her phone instead of what she was supposed to be doing. It could be nothing. They could find nothing. But she felt like that wasnât the case, like they were sitting ducks if they were just going to sit and wait.
D H A N I BATRA

you know as well as i do that it has to be done,
There was just something about the morning after a big mission (Dhani considered anything that involved any sort of undercover identity to be a âbig deal.â) that felt unnaturally normal. Dhani was always half expecting someone to jump out at any moment, like some cartoon villain (he should know better about how villains operate, really) to say theyâd found him out, it was over, he was done for. This fear used to be constant, but like anything when you do it for a decade, over time it had settled. Only flared up on occasion, when life threw a big wrench in his plans. But with people actually out to kill him, he didnât feel so paranoid anymore. He also knew that at least some of those feelings came directly from fighting with Kieran the night before.
He felt bad about it. Heâd meant the things he said at the time, but it had been less than fair to bring it up at the time. Growing up with two sisters, heâd learned pretty quickly that peace offerings in the form of something edible tended to make it easier to bridge the gap between hurt feelings and awkward apologies. Breakfast would probably be a good place to start.
He felt his phone go off in his pocket, but it took him a minute to get to it. Initially, when he pulled out his phone and saw the texts from Att, he was thrilled. The night before had been undeniably awkward, and he figured that things were ruined between them. It made sense, things probably couldnât work out between them, anyway. As he read the messages, though, a sort of quiet worry set in. If Red Witch was in trouble, what did that mean for Att? Dhani wasnât sure how close they were, but he knew they were friends.
0Atticus:
Of course. Are you okay?
Dhani didnât waste any time. His immediate reaction was calling Gemini. Really, Adrian was who Dhani wanted to talk to. He was pretty level-headed, and he could help Dhani get his head wrapped around the whole thing. Dhani wasnât much of a planner, so he needed all the help he could get. Adrian picked up the phone, and immediately started going on about the night before. âYeah, thatâs great. Listen; Icarus contacted me, and apparently Red Witch is in trouble. I donât know any details, but he needs our help.â They quickly made plans for a meeting in a few hours. Adrian asked if he needed any help contacting the others, but Dhani told him he had it under control.
But then there was the matter of actually letting everyone know. He messaged the details to Att first, quickly followed by another text.
0Atticus:
I donât have Abolethâs contact information. Pass the message along?
He sent the meeting details to Kieran and Aaron in a group text; he was hoping that Aaron could help get Kieran on board. She tended to be slightly difficult even when she wasnât upset with Dhani, so he wasnât taking any chances.
He finally got around to Cerysâ message then, and he replayed her recording several times before messaging her back.
0Cerys:
This might be important. Red Witch is in trouble, donât know much more than that. Having a meeting.
He followed up with the details: time, location of the shady abandoned warehouse of the week, a curt âthank you,â for agreeing to attend the meeting was included, though heâd sent it before she had the chance to agree.
Now Dhani had to get ready for this meeting. None of the news he'd received had been anything he'd wanted to hear, and to make matters worse, heâd burned his breakfast.

xxx 'Cause I'm a fighter, a tiger, see me walk through fire
xxx Try chain me up but I'll burst through, I'll defy ya
xxx Set me on fire
xxx Watch them conspire
xxx I will defy ya
xxx I'll set them on fire
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxBRN - AViVA

xxx Are we just drowning?
xxx Can you please save us
xxx Black walls surrounding
xxx Can you please save my soul?
xxx Causing our own demise
xxx Causing our own
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxDROWN - AViVA
The taxi ride home was filled with silence, not just in the physical space of the taxi cab but in the head of Gemini. After the taxi driver tried to give a little bit of small talk to the fancy dressed woman in his back seat and got short replies back, he just turned up the music and drove through the city until getting to the apartment the woman had asked for. Jena dug into her purse and just handed the man a single hundred dollar bill, more than enough to cover the meter charge, letting the man keep the change. She carried her heels in her opposite hand that held her purse as she walked up the stairs, still in silence But as soon as the door shut to their apartment and walked over to the large mirror taking up most of the wall in the living room, the arguing and fight began and continued throughout the night.
The argument was mostly one-sided as Jena was pissed off at Adrian and his, what she would call, affair with Artemis. Accusing him of always being the one to work with her when in the public eye and that she hasnât been blind and seen how the public basically ships the hero pair of Artemis and the water-controller Gemini, especially after a case where he used water from hydrant to soften a semi truck being thrown at her. Adrian did his best to calm down the situation, and somehow succeeded in convincing her âit wont happen againâ and it was just to save them from being out.
The night ended with Jena eventually laying on the bed and tears in her eyes, apologizing to Adrian, saying how much she loved him and sometimes they are only together because they have to be because of their condition and what happened. Adrian of course forgave her and told her he would be with her even if they didnât share bodies, and them being two souls in one body isnât a burden, but a benefit as they can be closer than any other couple, ever. The two fell asleep after a few more minutes of telling each other they loved each other and doing their little ritual of taking turns writing lovey-dovey stuff on a note pad while the other doesnât pay attention and then letting them read it. Adrian had always believed to never go to bed angry, and has pushed this heavily in his relationship with Jena.
The next morning, Adrian took over the body and let Jena sleep in a bit, as well as making a small breakfast for the two of them. Just as Adrian sat down and started eating her got a call from Paladin. The two werenât strangers to chatting so it didnât surprise him that much to see him calling him. Probably to check in about what happened and probably ask about their next move. âHey man, sorry about last night, not everything went perfect, but we did get a hard-drive, assuming Art told you about that?â He said as he answered the call.
Dhani talked fast, quickly telling him about what one of the villainâs had told him about. A little confused about why a villain would have reached out to Paladin, but dismissed it as he listened and while he didnât say much and only it was about Red Witch. The two continue to talk, suggesting and setting up a meeting time and place in a couple hours. It would work best for everyone and give them time to get ready and get there without having to rush too much. He asked if Dhani needed help contacting some of the others, but Dhani had it under control. Adrian thought about waking up Jena right then after hanging up, but gave her another thirty minutes, gave him time to finish eating and clean the kitchen, as well get ready himself.
Just as Adrian got done getting ready, Jena woke up and Adrian told her about the meeting soon, letting her take control . âUgh, you shouldâve woken me up so I could get ready!â She said as she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I still had to get ready too you know. Thereâs breakfast in the kitchen, you still have time to get ready and eat. He replied in their mind. Also, why do you always look so beautiful in the morning He said, making Jena blush as she started getting ready.
After eating Jena finally left for the warehouse, a little later than she planned. Adrian teased her a bit about it, but she kept saying it was his fault for not waking her up. As Jena entered through the side door of the warehouse, she saw Artemis was also arriving right when she was. You should talk to her babe⊠Adrian quickly said to her, Jena letting out a sigh and agreed, before walking over to her.
Jena lightly tapped her fellow hero on the shoulder and did a small fake cough to get her attention. âHey ArtyâŠâ She said shyly. âI, I wanted to apologize for last night. I over reacted and shouldnât have done that. Just⊠stuff pent up, and you know how those forums are. I guess I accidentally let jealousy take over.â She continued, eyes drifting away from her for a second. âSo, sorryâŠâ Jena wasnât sure if her apology sounded genuine or not, but hoped it would be received well.
0000Kieran0Vallenetti 000000000000|000000000000000000000000|Aaron0 Langdan
Malfyre | Outfit & Maskx|xhex: #575772 00000000000000000000000000000000BludWynd | Outfit | xhex:#545352


Yeah, I guess I'm a disappointment
Doing everything I can, I don't wanna make you disappointed
It's annoying
I just wanna make you feel like everything I ever did wasn't ever tryna make an issue for you
But, I guess the more you
Thought about everything, you were never even wrong in the first place, right?
Yeah, I'ma just ignore you
Walking towards you, with my head down, lookin' at the ground, I'm embarrassed for you
Paranoia, what did I do wrong this time? That's parents for you
Very loyal?
Shoulda had my back, but you put a knife in it, my hands are full
Everything that happened after the event was a total blur. The next morning, Kieran slowly groaned as the sun entered through the crack in the courtain of her bedroom window. She didn't want to get out of her bed, not now. Not with the pounding in her head, maybe she did have one too many drinks. Or five. Or maybe even ten, as she did come back to her appartment and drink herself into a blacked-out fever dream after she got out of her stupid disguise and into something more comfortable. Slowly lifting her head from her pillow, she immediately felt nausious and needed to lay back down. She really did fuck up, and everything slowly started to come back to her as she laid there. She got into a fight with Dhani, an actual fight. Not just some little disagreement like they had on occasion. No, this one was different, which may have added more drinks to the previous night, as evidence as she swung her feet over the side of the bed, and heard the sound of a glass bottle tipping over and rolling across the floor. "Jesus Christ, Kie..." she muttered to herself. Maybe she should just lay back down and forget about the rest of the day. Which, she had to admit was starting to sound rather nice to her at that moment.
The small vibration of her phone that was beside her pillow caused her to jump a little, grabbing her head. "The fuck?" she cursed, grabbing for her phone. "Ack!" she grumbled as the brightness of her phone hit her eyes, blinking away at the light to help her refocus, she looked at the screen. Countless texts and missed calls from Aaron, saying that they needed her for something. "Like fuck you bastards do..." Kieran muttered, tossing her phone to the side as she brushed her fingers through her hair. She knew full well that they probably just wanted to talk about her antics about the night prior, and was probably going to talked to like a child again. She didn't need this, and wasn't going to put up with their bullshit. Not now. She already felt bad enough about the whole thing, she didn't need this. Not now.
The sound of her phone ringing this time caused her to look at the direction from where her phone was, already knowing who it was due to the tone. Aaron was calling yet again. Sighing, she used her powers to hit the pickup button, as well as speaker. There was silence for a moment before the crackle of a voice sounded from the phone, "Kie...?" the voice sounded playfully. Kieran sighed to herself as she rubbed her face with her hands, looking down at the floor, "Yeah?" her voice was low, and Aaron knew immediately what it meant, "Look, I can't tell you what it is right now, as I don't even know all the details yet. But all I know is that it's important and they need your help. Plea-" "Aaron, I'm not going." Kieran snapped back, cutting him off. Which, she partially felt bad for, but she wasn't playing their games. Not this time.
A soft sigh came from the phone, and then silence filled the room once more for what seemed like forever. But it couldn't have been more than two minutes when she heard his voice again. "I heard there will be snacks this time..." Aaron said. There was silence for a few more minutes between the both of them before Kieran spoke up once more, "Give me the coordinates, I'll be there soon enough. Just don't count me to be on time...I had too much to drink I think." she said softly. A small chuckle came from the phone, "Alright, I'll text you the address. See ya later." the phone beeped as the call ended, and her phone vibrated again as a text came from Aaron, delivering the directions. She really didn't want to do this, but what choice did she have? If it was really important, and they needed her, what harm could it do? She got dressed, grabbing a backpack and put her mask and a few other things inside and got herself ready, and waited for enough time to pass before it was ready for her to leave and head in the direction of the warehouse. She really should have said no, her hangover only seemed to worsen as she made her way to the meeting.

xxxthey lose their minds for us
xxxand how it plays out
xxxbut now weâre in the ring
xxxand weâre coming for blood
xxx
She at least managed to get some work done for a few hours before leaving to go to the meeting. Sheâd also spent a few minutes cleaning up the recording a little so the voices were clearer and easier to identify, and spent half an hour backing up everything important to a remote hard drive, made sure she had nothing incriminating easily accessible, and double checked to make sure she was still ahead of schedule with her work. When you were liable to have to take a day or two off due to getting your ass kicked while on patrol, you learned to never leave articles or blog posts until the very last minute.
She knew she wasnât going to be able to go to the meeting in full Artemis gear. It was too early in the day and too easy to be spotted. She knew that that didnât mean the meeting was going to necessarily be safe, though. It was about striking a balance between blending in and still being practical, which meant leaving her outfit as it was, but wrapping her knuckles and pulling on a pair of gloves, braiding her hair out of her face, and shoving her mask into her pocket. She didnât trust everyone enough to show up to a meeting without her mask.
She stopped only briefly outside the warehouse to pull on her mask, arriving a few minutes early. She stepped inside, scanning the room and keeping her arms folded. Everyone looked as on edge as she felt, which was oddly comforting. She almost jumped out of her skin when somebody coughed behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around to see the female part of Gemini standing behind her, and let out a sigh of relief.
She smiled and shook her head a little as she apologized for how sheâd reacted. âItâs fine, really. I donât think I blame you. And by the ways, those forums are total bullshit, some of their theories are batshit insane. Like, shipping Paladin with a villain level of insane,â she joked. âSo weâre good. You have nothing to worry about.â
She turned to look as Icarus cleared his throat, stepping out of the shadows where heâd been lurking.

xxxwe are deaf
xxxwe are numb
xxxfree and young
xxxand we can feel none of it
xxx
The buzzing of his phone almost made him jump, and even seeing it was Dhani didnât help. But he had at least agreed to help, and it meant no matter what else, Att wasnât alone in this. And that was a start. The question of if he was okay went unanswered. He didnât want to lie but he also didnât want to worry Dhani by being overly honest about it. So he just⊠didnât reply until Dhani sent a text with meeting details.
To: Dhani
yeah, I can pass that on. thanks, I really appreciate it.
To: Piper
Lucy missing, in real danger. Meeting the heroes in a few hours to figure it out. Hereâs the details.
The meeting was still a few hours away, and Att tried to put his mind to something productive. But it wasnât like he had any skills that would be particularly useful, not when he had zero leads and nothing more than a vision to go on. He had a vague sense of time frame and next to no sense of where it would happen, which was completely useless. Lucyâs room was completely untouched, exactly as it had been when they left the apartment the night before. Useless.
He was tempted to see if he could trigger another vision, but heâd never tried to do it for someone heâd already had a vision for, and didnât even know if it would work. It worked much better with physical contact anyway, and knowing his luck, it would drain him far too much for him to be of any use at the meeting. He also knew that there was a big, big risk that this could be a trap. Take one of them, cause them all to flock together, then pick them off. But they had to meet, they had to figure it out, they had to do something, he had to do something.
He didnât even check how he looked before he left, just pulled on a warm coat, shoved his mask in his pocket, and made sure he was carrying enough weapons for a worst case scenario. Heâd gotten his hands on another gun in return for a favour, a necessary evil. (They were going to die in a police shootout, in a blaze of glory, and they seemed pleased with that.)
It seemed that most of the others were there by the time he arrived. He stuck to the edges, as always, the exits in clear view. He stared straight at the ground, only glancing up to see if anyone else had arrived.
Once it seemed that everyone else that was coming was there, he shot a glance at Dhani. Dhani had, strictly speaking, called the meeting, but Att was the reason they were all there, so it seemed he should be the one to talk, as much as he didnât want to. He cleared his throat to gather their attention.
âThanks for coming at such late notice. Iâll get straight to the point.â He scanned the room, as he spoke, but couldnât meet anyoneâs eyes. âRed Witch is going to be killed in the next few days unless I- we- do something. And she didnât come home last night, so I can only presume that we donât have a lot of time. Iâm not going to force anyone to stay or to help, but⊠she will die if we donât do anything, and we can only presume one of us will be next.â
His phone started buzzing in his pocket, and he dug it out, intending to silence it. But he froze as he saw the name on it. Almost instinctively, he turned to glance at Dhani. âItâs her.â
There was a moment of relief at her finally contacting him, enough that he didnât think the fact it was a video call was odd, he just answered it. âLu- Red Witch, where are you?â He said, until he realised what he was looking at. âOh my god.âHe whirled around to set eyes on Malfyre. âCome on, youâre a hacker, trace the call or something! Get the phone connected to your laptop, do something!â He yelled.

We'll never get free
Lamb to the slaughter
What you gon' do
When there's blood in the water?
âââââââââââââââââââ
Outfit â Hex: #571616

Luciana slowly came to consciousness, but as she opened her eyes, her vision was mostly obstructed, some sort of cloth bag covering her face. As she went to pull it off, she felt her hands strapped down onto the chair she was sitting. She was confused about what was going on before remembering what happened last night, with the men and woman and the van. The noise of her struggling caught the attention of the people in the room, Lucy heard footsteps come closer to her and pulled the sack off her head. She took time to look around the room to get her surroundings, but it just looked like any abandoned warehouse, which Barden was flowing with. But seeing the guards around here isnât what caught her attention, but the bright lights, camera, and large screen monitor facing her and wireâs going towards a phone, her phone.
âLook who's finally awake.â The man said that pulled off her hood, dressed in a type of suit and less armor than the guards, probably the one in charge, or atleast incharge of the guards here. âWho are you, and why am I here?â Luciana said, venom behind her words, still struggling her hands a bit. âI am Mark Anderson. I work for someone who wants to make a deal with you.â He said, turning his back to her and going to the camera set up, making sure it was good and grabbing a headset. âThis doesnât seem like a good way to make a deal with someone Mr. Mark Ander-fuck.â She replied as she struggled against him trying to put the headset on her, and quickly slapping her to make her keep still. âStop struggling. And first we gotta send a little message to someone, and then we will be off to my boss. Youâll appreciate seeing them again.â
âAnd why do I care about this message or deal? Youâre just gonna kill me anyways.â The man laughed and put the sack back on her head, covering her face. âBecause if you donât, we wonât kill you, we will kill Mister Hawkins. And maybe try to track down some information on Miss Aboleth, sheâs a bit more slippery to find information about. Plus, youâre gonna appreciate what my employer has planned. Now onto business.â He paused for a second and walked away, before talking again, this time into the headset he put on her. âI will tell you what to say, and you will repeat it. And donât try any tricks. You saw that you're outnumbered and we really donât want to hurt you anymore. Okay Miss Morrison?â He finished. Luciana could still see the bright lights and rough figures through the mesh of the sack on her head, saw him wave her arms as two guards stood next to her and another one next to the camera. âFine.â Lucy said reluctantly. She wouldnât be able to escape now, but she would just have to wait for her moment. âGood. Now you two, make sure the truck is ready and the decoy is ready for when they come after her. They think weâre gonna kill her, letâs use that to our advantage.â
About 30 more minutes passed as more things were set up and instructions were given to the guards and the men around her. Luciana was just about falling asleep when she felt a someone nudge her shoulder. âShow time.â The voice said, Lucy looking forward and seeing a man hold up his hand, showing five fingers. Then four. Three. Two. One. And her phone began ringing. One ring, nothing. Two ring, nothing. But on the third ring, she saw the black screen on the monitor go away and a figure coming onto screen, unable to make out who it was, just that it was a person. But a voice quickly answered, saying her alias, Atticus.
Luciana stayed quiet for a moment, not answering, but a man behind the camera waved his arm, she was met with a hard hit to the side of her face, assuming it was from the butt of a gun. âSpeak. Say who you are and tell them I muted their side of the call.â Instructions from the man flowed into her head dry Lucy coughed a bit as she was pulled back into a sitting up position. âIâm the Red Witch.â She began to talk, waiting for instructions to follow into her headset. The video on the screen flickered as now it looked like multiple people in a room. Lucy assumed Atticus was with the heroes. More instructions quickly came into her head.
âBy the way, your side of the call is muted so you canât interrupt our message to you. We are holding Miss Red Witch under our captivity. We want you and your friends to stop looking into us. Breaking into our offices, trailing our employees, crashing our gala. Gemini. Artemis.â Luciana spoke, pausing for a moment as she was told to give the heroes and villains time to react, a train horn blare in the background.. âIf you donât. We will kill the Red Witch, and that will be just the beginning, much worse will follow if you do not accept our deal. We just want whatâs best for our city, and that doesnât have to involve blood shed. And all it-â Luciana paused for a second, thinking over in her head. She was told to continue with the messages to the others or else.
âDonât! Donât listen to them! Icarus. Aboleth! Itâs a trap. Ju-â Luciana shouted, before more yelling came from the guards, and Lucy was hit in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and telling her to shut up. âFuck you! Take this shit off my head and let me fight yo-â Luciana was interrupted again as she was hit again and a hand covered her mouth and her yelling turned to muffles. Two guards held down Luciana as the man in the suit came over and pulled the bag off of her head. âIâm not that surprised you decided to act up. Though it might make it easier to bring them into our trap. But we need you to behave now, so this might sting a bit.â The man said as he injected some sort of drug into the Red Witchâs neck, causing her to slowly fade into unconsciousness.

xxx 'Cause I'm a fighter, a tiger, see me walk through fire
xxx Try chain me up but I'll burst through, I'll defy ya
xxx Set me on fire
xxx Watch them conspire
xxx I will defy ya
xxx I'll set them on fire
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxBRN - AViVA

xxx Are we just drowning?
xxx Can you please save us
xxx Black walls surrounding
xxx Can you please save my soul?
xxx Causing our own demise
xxx Causing our own
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxDROWN - AViVA
Adrian only said the meeting was something about the heroes and more would be explained at the meeting, so Jena wasnât entirely sure what was going on and tapped her foot waiting for someone to start and say something, starting to get a bit impatient. She was about to speak up and say something, but Icarus cleared his throat and began to speak. The first few words surprised Jena and Adrian. That Red Witch was going to die in a few days. He must have seen something with his powers. Jena said to Adrian, Mhmm⊠He replied as they continued to listen to the villain.
Gemini knew they would help and werenât just going to leave the villain to die. First off, it wouldnât be the hero way to just let someone die without trying to save, but also they needed the Red Witch as much as they needed the rest of the group. Adrian was about to ask Jena to let him take over so he could talk and try to come up with a plan of trying to find the Red Witch and what to do, when Icarus picked up his ringing phone and said it was her, though it was more directed at Paladin.
Jena tensed up a bit when she caught sight of the screen, seeing a woman with what seemed like blonde hair restrained to a chair with a bag over her head. Icarus started to freak out a bit, yelling at Malfyre to trace the call and get it hooked up to her laptop, which she had already pulled out before the meeting started. Malfyre worked fast and got the phone connected to the laptop so everyone in the room could see what's going on, as well as another screen with a ton of stuff quickly flowing down, probably just Malfyre things.
Gemini let out a small gasp as the villain was hit, and began speaking, but in a weird manner which Jena noted. âShe must be being fed what to sayâŠâ Gemini whispered out loud to the others as the villain continued to speak. Though what happened next scared Jena. Red Witch shouted towards them, specifically at Aboleth and Icarus. Jena let out a bit more audible gasp and instinctively grabbed onto Artemis as the villain was struck and interrupted, the video feed quickly cutting off as there was more yelling coming from the video.
As they stared at a blank screen, Jena noticed she was still grabbing onto Artemis and let go quickly, followed by a quiet sorry. Jena, let me take over⊠Take some time to relax. Adrian said, Jena just nodded and Adrian took over, taking a step forward. âHey!â He said loudly to get their attention. âAlot just happened, and we donât want to act rashly. Malfyre is, what Iâm assuming, trying to track location of the phone. Icarus said a few days, that gives us some time to think of something. Anyone got any ideas?â
P I P E R YOUNG

do not show weakness. as far as anyone knows,
Piper had tried to call Lucy, like Atticus had asked, but she didnât pick up. She didnât think much of it when Lucy texted her shortly after, and just screenshot the messages to send to Att. After that, she was done with the situation. They could work out their roommate drama themselves.
The next morning, she went about her usual routine: yoga, light breakfast, shower, get ready for the day, look over her schedule. It was important for her to stay on top of the jobs she took; sometimes people requested her talents very last-minute, and she didnât want to double-book herself again. That had been messy.
All together, though, she was looking forward to a normal day. She didnât have much to do, which she didnât mind at all. She was just starting to mentally plan out her day when she got a text from Atticus, and her blood ran cold. Of course she would be there, and she shot back a quick text, saying as much. Lucy was her friend, and she would do what she could to get her back. Though, Piper wasnât sure that she could do much, really.
There wasnât much to do to get ready for the meeting. Strictly speaking, Piper didnât even have any sort of âuniformâ to change into; she hardly even had a consistent mask. Though, she did wish she hadnât gone through the trouble of applying lipstick. That would just get ruined. All she was really worried about was showing up on time. As per usual, she wore her mask around her neck, like some sort of a scarf, until sheâd nearly arrived at the meeting place.
Just once, she would like to have a meeting in a place that didnât look like it might collapse on top of them at any moment. She didnât think that was too much to ask for.
It wasnât very long before everyone had arrived. Most of the group was always on time, and Piper commended them for that. Especially now. She knew that many of the heroes werenât the fondest of Lucy, so the fact that they would come out to help her meant a lot. Unless they hadnât been told why they were here, which Piper figured was also a possibility.
She found herself staring at Atticus; she wondered if he was going to speak, how he was handling all of this. He and Lucy had fought the night before, so Piper wondered if he felt guilty. She wouldnât have. Piper caught Atticusâ glance to Paladin; had he been the one that helped set this up? She crossed her arms as Att spoke; the danger they were all in felt very real in that moment, and the worry she felt for Lucy even more real. It was like an all-consuming pit in her stomach. They had to save Lucy. She would die if they didnât, and then more of them would die. Piper wasnât overly fond of anyone in the room, but they were still her best chance of survival, and they stood the best chance of finding Lucy before it was too late.
Then Lucy called.
There was a moment when Piper found herself hoping that Lucy was fine, sheâd be back home soon, and everything would be fine. But Attâs reaction told her that was unlikely. She rushed to Atticusâ side, wanting to get a look at what was happening; though Malfyre quickly had the video feed hooked up to her computer. She felt the presence of another person behind her, but honestly didnât think much of it. She was entirely focused on the video; watching wide-eyed, as if blinking would make it disappear. She wanted to flinch when Lucy was hit the first time, but she forced herself to stay calm, keep watching. Luciana needed them to stay calm.
Piper listened as carefully as she could, studied what little she could see and hear. She figured they were very likely only going to get to see this once, and she wasnât going to risk assuming someone else was putting any of the information to memory. But when Lucy broke the script they were feeding her, Piper couldnât stay as calm. Something was very wrong, and Piper wondered if she and Atticus had been specifically threatened, or if Luciana had just assumed it was them on the other end of the call. It was more violent when the guards hit Lucy the second time, and when combined with the warning, it was a surprising moment. Piper let out a quick yelp and recoiled, taking a step backwards, and right into someone. A pair of hands grabbed onto her shoulders, likely to steady her, but Piper immediately reached and grabbed onto the hand on her right shoulder with both her her own, taking a bit of comfort from the gesture.
It was only a short moment when, embarrassed by her reaction, she let go. She almost didnât want to know whoâs hand sheâd just held onto like a scared child, but she figured she should apologize, so she turned her head. Of course it was Paladin. Why couldnât it have been a hero she was even marginally familiar with? âSorry,â The apology was hardly more than a whisper, but he shrugged it off.
âDonât worry about it.â
Piper didnât have much of a chance to consider if she would worry about it before Gemini (Hadnât the other one been here earlier? It was so hard to keep them straight.) was speaking, trying to regain some control of the situation. Piper looked down at the floor as he spoke. She didnât know much about any of this. She didnât know how to help, or do anything besides tell people to give her a free cup of coffee. They had a little bit of time, but not much. Hopefully enough time to put a real plan together. She felt her eyes stinging, tears threatening to start pouring down her cheeks. She started blinking them back; this wasnât the time. Later, she could be scared and cry. But not now, not in front of the heroes. Now, she needed to channel these emotions into something more useful. Anger, perhaps. "There was a train," She said, and cleared her throat, so her voice sounded a little stronger, "In the video. I don't know if it's helpful, but I heard a train."
D H A N I BATRA

you know as well as i do that it has to be done,
Dhani had always felt like his mask looked silly when paired with regular clothing, but it was too early in the day to go out in a super suit, and frankly he didnât want to deal with getting into it for a meeting. It wasnât worth wearing the thing if he wasnât going to be in it for at least a few hours. So he didnât spend much time getting ready. As he left, he almost stopped by Kieranâs to make sure she was coming, but he didnât want to bother her. Besides, he wanted to make sure he wasnât late, and he was nearly almost lost when he started trying to drag Kieran along with him. Heâd called the meeting, he couldnât be late this time.
Instead, he tried to be early, wanting to show up ahead of everyone else. This felt tense, important, but before he knew it everyone had arrived. When Atticus glanced his way Dhani gave a small smile, as if to say âyou can do this.â When Atticus started talking, Dhani glanced around the room at the others. He didnât like speaking up at these meetings, but he was ready to if anyone decided to be difficult. Not that he thought they would, but Red Witch was not beloved amongst the heroes. Hell, he wasnât fond of her, himself. But here Att was, asking all of them for help. Dhani knew that even if no one else agreed to help, he would. For Red Witch, and the cause they all shared⊠And for Atticusâ sake, too.
Atticus fished his phone out of his pocket just as heâd finished explaining what was going on, and then turned to look right at Dhani. It was Red Witch. It wasnât long before Atticus was yelling at Kieran to do something. Dhani glanced at Kieran, hoping sheâd keep it together for this. She was looking a little rough, but this was important. It wasnât long before they had the video pulled up on a bigger screen, though everything else going on was a little distracting. Dhani moved in to watch, right over Abolethâs shoulder. She was short enough that she wasnât in his way, and he counted on her not minding him standing behind her.
The video itself wasnât fun to watch. Dhani didnât particularly like Red Witch, but he didnât like seeing anyone be abused like that. It only solidified that they needed to work to get her out of wherever she was, and quickly. At the end of the video, Aboleth backed right into Dhani. She was surprised, and it was only a natural reaction. He grabbed onto her shoulders to stop her, so she wouldnât end up taking them both to the floor. He didnât know what to do when she grabbed his hand, so he didnât do anything. It wasnât a big deal, anyway. They were all on the same side right now, and Dhani had never hesitated to help out or comfort any of the heroes if he could.
Thankfully, Gemini stepped up to take control of the room. Dhani wasnât much of a planner, but heâd go along with whatever plan was made. He looked at Att, trying to see if he could piece out how he was doing. Dhani didnât know. The fucked up situation theyâd been in had only gotten worse by the minute, and Dhani wouldnât be surprised if it managed to get even worse before they finished the meeting.


Malfyre | Anti-Hero | Outfit & Mask | #575772
I lost a bet to a guy in a Chiffon skirt
But I make these high heels work
I've told you time and time again
I'm not as think as you drunk I am
And we all fell down when the sun came up
I think we've had enough
The walk from her apartment complex to the warehouse wasnât so bad, except for the bright sunlight since it was still rather early in the day, which was only making her hangover worse. But thank god she grabbed a pair of sunglasses on her way out, which helped lessen the light sensitivity, but her head still ached, and having to walk and move around was only making her feel even more sick. She really should have just stayed home and stayed in bed and slept the hangover away, but here she was. Making her way to a warehouse for who knows what bullshit, probably an intervention, which if it was she would walk out the door the moment they started speaking to her. Malfyre knows she fucked up and probably jeopardized the mission, but Kieranâs pride wasnât going to let that get to her, or even really dwell on it. That was the thing that not many people realized, that sure enough Malfyre was her alter-ego for the mutant side of her, who could just roll with the punches and act like things didnât bother them, but Kieran, the actual person under the mask took things all too personally. Maybe she was a bit too sensitive sometimes, but she wasnât going to let it go with what happened. And it was a weight she was going to bare for who knows how long. Not that she wanted it to show, sheâd do her job, thatâs all that mattered.
Finally, after what was about thirty or so minutes, Kieran saw the warehouse sheâd need to go to in the distance, and put on her mask as she ducked into an alleyway, and made her way slowly to the warehouse. Scouting it out first as she wanted to make sure that it wasnât a setup, seeing Gemini and Artemis walking in both together, talking, she snuck in behind them and hung close to one of the walls as she followed them in silently. Her attention was focused on Icarus as he greeted them all in, preparing herself for what was to come. But what came next, she hadnât anticipated at all. Red Witch was missing. Somehow, on godâs green earth, Red Witch was missing, and Icarus was in need of help. Normally she would have brushed it off, but with the history of mutants, both heroes and villains disappearing, this wasnât a chance they could afford to risk.
Malfyre stood motionless as Icarus looked at his phone and said how it was her, clearly Red Witch. If her hunch was right, it was going to be a bait, small piece of a bread trail they could use, or even a way for whoever was doing this to get the jump on them. Kieran quickly took out her laptop and was already getting things set up by the time Icarus started yelling at her to do something cuz she was a known hacker. âAlready working on it, Pretty Boy! Just...Stop yelling at me, alright?â she yelled back as she scrambled to get his phone connected to her laptop, after setting up a few things to keep her laptop from being corrupted by anything on his phone, or if they were being tracked as well, she made sure to put up plenty of blockers and anti-tracking walls up to keep her laptop from being fucked with. If they couldnât track them, theyâd be fine. Kieranâs laptop was already searching over for any possible coordinates it could scan from the call, and even a simple location like what part of the city it was in could help tremendously.
Kieranâs eyes didnât even bother looking at the screen with the video feed, thatâs not where her priorities lied currently. Her eyes scanned over all of the coding and numbers that flew across the screen as multiple applications and scanners and the like scanned for even a simple trace. Anything at this point would help them. Kieranâs eyes glanced over to the other screen when there was a sound of what she thought was a slap, which she knew was confirmed by everyoneâs reactions of gasps and shock. Kieran remained unfazed by what took place as Red Witch was sedated and the camera feed was cut shortly after. Kieran remained motionless as everyone else reacted differently, but also the same. Shock, confusion, worry. It was all normal reactions, but Kieran knew what the end result of the call was going to be. Torture and violence were common place for this type of situation, and Kieran would be lying to herself if she didnât act like she had to have done some similiar things in the past to get information out of people. Hell, she had done far worse for less, which turned her stomach just a bit.
Slowly, Malfyre turned to get up, keeping the laptop on a stack of boxes that helped keep it propped up as the group gathered around her to watch the video call playout. Kieran walked over to one of the ends of the warehouse, lifting up the bottom of her mask just enough as she emptied the contents of her stomach as she dry heaved and gagged, her hangover really was getting worse as time went on. Besides, what she had seen, as much as she didnât want to acknowledge it was disturbing in a sense. Kieran slowly made her way back over to the other in time to hear Gemini speak, who she noticed had changed forms since she walked away. Their power really was interesting. Something that was slowly peeking her interest into how it happened, or if it was naturally brought on. Shaking her head of those thoughts as she walked back over, pulling the rest of her mask back down as she crossed her arms.
The group were all asking what theyâd do, with multiple people asking Malfyre what to do and what they would learn if they figured out where she was. âOkay first, one at a time please. I am one person and can only answer so much at a time, especially right nowâŠâ she muttered, the voice modifier on her voice crackled as she spoke. Walking back over to her computer, she unplugged Icarusâ phone and tossed it back to him as she felt her custom laptop in one hand, âAlright, so from that call and what we managed to garner from it. I picked up on a few things actually, much to your delight Iâm sure.â she said with a tint of sarcasm. First, pointing at Aboleth, âBlondie is right, we did hear the sound of a train, which is important to note. So, good insight on that one, Aboleth.â Malfyre held up a finger, indicating their first point, âSecond, she was in some building with a bunch of monitors in the background, most likely used as a distraction to keep us from figuring out what kind of building it was. Smart of them, but not that smart.â Malfyre held up a second figure, looking over at Icarus she spoke again, âAnd lastly, we do have a few days, at most. If they keep to their word, which is important to note. Iâll work on the coordinates and all the possible places she could be in, if theyâll still be there. Cuz whoâs to say they arenât on the move right now? Iâll be sure to keep you updated as I figure out more, no need for numbers, I have my ways of contacting you all.â her mask lit up indicating a small wink of the led light eyes.
âAnd actually, proper last important note, the train. There are a few different train stations throughout Barden. At least two that are still in function, so if I were to venture a guess. Including possible other warehouses or abandoned buildings she could be in, Red Witch could be anywhere in the North end which is where the busier tracks are, or, which is my higher guess, she could be in the West end. Less traveled and more of a spot Iâd think of to take someone hostage.â Kieran mumbled the last part to herself, before quickly shaking her head as she closed her laptop and held it to her chest as she nervously rocked on her feet, âBut, Iâll have proper concrete evidence in the next few days, so...Until then just, sit tight and donât do anything stupid. You try going after her alone, you could fuck it up and actually end up having her be killed, which, wouldnât put it past them to make her an example. So just, be smart and patient. Iâd do my best on this, Iâll get your friend back.â

xxxthey lose their minds for us
xxxand how it plays out
xxxbut now weâre in the ring
xxxand weâre coming for blood
xxx
There was a flurry of activity as Malfyre managed to connect his phone to their laptop, and the view confirmed Cerysâ worst fears. A hostage video, by the looks of things. The robotic way she was speaking confirmed she was being fed lines, and she just nodded as Gemini commented on it. It just made it all the more obvious when Red Witch suddenly broke away from the script and yelled at the two villains not to listen. Geminiâs arm on hers made her jump, but she didnât tear her eyes away from the screen. It went black, and Cerys let out a shaky breath she hadnât realised she was holding, managing a small smile at Geminiâs apology.
There was a flurry of outbursts and people talking over one another, but Cerys couldnât help but notice that Icarus was frozen, practically rooted to the spot. Everyone else seemed to be leaping into activity, giving answers, trying to figure things out, but he was just still staring at the screen. She glanced away as Gemini turned into their male form, the shift happening without her noticing despite the fact they were standing right beside her. He seemed to get some semblance of order on the proceedings, getting people to chip in with anything that could be helpful. Aboleth had heard a train. Malfyre began discussing what theyâd seen and what it meant. They mentioned that they had some details on where they were, but said it would be a few days before they had concrete evidence. Icarus almost seemed to snap to attention at that, and turned his attention to Malfyre. Cerys braced herself on seeing how his posture shifted from one of shock and emptiness to one of anger. She didnât know much about Icarus, none of the heroes really did, but she knew that if someone like him got that angry, it generally wasnât good.

xxxwe are deaf
xxxwe are numb
xxxfree and young
xxxand we can feel none of it
xxx
And then Lucy began to speak, her tone flat and her words not her own. Telling them to get out and stop looking, or else. They knew theyâd been at the gala. Of course they did, with everything that had happened, were they even surprised? He could see Lucy stopping, beginning to think. She yelled for him and Piper not to listen, that it was a trap, but all that really seemed to sink in was the struggle that ensued and how quickly the video shut off. Somewhere in his head, he could still hear the echo of the gunshot from his vision. Malfyre walked away, going into one of the corners for a moment, before coming back.
Even as the heroes sprung into action, he was frozen. Were they already too late? Had they already killed Lucy for her insolence, for trying to warn them? Maybe he shouldnât have let her storm off like that, he shouldnât have called her a bitch like that, he should have gone after her-
It was only when Malfyre began talking that Attâs attention was drawn back into the room. He just about managed to catch his phone and shot them a glare as he did so. They were discussing at length everything theyâd seen and what it meant. Everything they were saying seemed promising, right up until they mentioned it would be a few days and not to do anything stupid. Her tone made something snap inside him, anger rising to the surface and replacing the numbness that had been there only moments before.
âNo.â The word came out forcefully and almost without him meaning to. âThis might just seem like another mission to you but in case you forgot, they are going to kill her in the next few days. And after that, itâs probably sooner rather than later. So we donât have a few days for you to sit around on your ass and figure this out. Put your fucking ego aside, stop treating this like a game, and help us now.â Malfyreâs downright flippant and patronizing attitude had somehow released all the anger he was feeling, but he didnât care. It needed an out, and they were a convenient target. âOr else give us the fucking locations and weâll deal with it ourselves. We canât do any worse than you taking literal days to try and figure out where she is, because sheâll probably be dead anyway.â
âAnd⊠thereâs something else.â A female voice said, and Atticus turned to look at Artemis. âI was on a run this morning when I overheard people discussing⊠well, discussing Red Witch. And they seemed pretty confident in the fact that you and Gemini were there last night, and⊠they were looking for evidence that there were others in attendance. They were going to look at our movements last night to try and identify us to confirm which of us were there.â She glanced at Gemini. âAnd by the sounds of it, theyâve already gotten evidence I was there. If they can confirm you guys were all there as wellâŠâ
âWe could be direct targets,â Att finished, sighing. She nodded.
âIâm guessing that they only name dropped the two heroes they knew for sure were there, so directly threatened us. They donât know for sure about the rest of you. Yet.â
âYet,â Att echoed. He turned back to Malfyre. âSo. Do you think that theyâll just ignore that knowledge, file it under âfor future referenceâ? They probably wonât use it, theyâre clearly the type of people who will do exactly what they say so why would they go trying to kill us?â He snapped. âNow you know that your life is probably also directly under threat, are you going to actually help by giving us that information now so we can do something sooner rather than later?â He asked, staring straight at them.

xxx 'Cause I'm a fighter, a tiger, see me walk through fire
xxx Try chain me up but I'll burst through, I'll defy ya
xxx Set me on fire
xxx Watch them conspire
xxx I will defy ya
xxx I'll set them on fire
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxBRN - AViVA

xxx Are we just drowning?
xxx Can you please save us
xxx Black walls surrounding
xxx Can you please save my soul?
xxx Causing our own demise
xxx Causing our own
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxDROWN - AViVA
What Malfyre was saying made a lot of sense, and Gemini mostly stayed quiet and just nodded. It wouldnât be smart to head directly to wherever they were keeping Red Witch, acting on emotion and anger would cloud their thoughts and impact their actions, it was good to sit on information for a while. But he didnât feel exactly comfortable just sitting tight, maybe even scouting out a bit at the warehouses in the north end or west end to help them prepare. But before Adrian could say anything, Icarus quickly spoke up, and not exactly in a calm manner.
Adrian⊠you might want to do something. Jena quickly spoke up as Gemini watched Icarus yelling at Malfyre. âHey hey, calm down there cowboy.â Adrian said, stepping between Malfyre and Icarus a bit, hoping things wouldnât get physical, especially with everyoneâs tensions a bit higher than normal at the moment. He was a bit relieved for a moment when Artemis began talking, hoping to himself that this would distract Icarus, but the information she shared wasnât exactly all the uplifting to the mood.
Artemis spoke about how they knew they were at the gala, which wasn't exactly a surprise as Gemini had a literal run-in with some of the guards, but confused how they knew Icarus was there. Which caused Icarus to speak up again, both Gemini able to hear the venom in his words behind them as he spoke.
âEnough. Both of you.â Adrian commented towards Icarus and Malfyre, glancing a bit at Paladin hoping he could try to keep Malfyre from pouring any more gasoline on the fire before heâd had to put it out. âListen. We were all in danger the second these guys targeted other heroes and villains, from the second we joined forces and began working together. We know what we signed up for, including Red Witch.â He said looking around the room before stopping again on the Icarus, âBut Icarus, I promise you we will get Red Witch back. No one left behind, regardless of them being a hero, or a villain. We are all in danger regardless of who they knew went to the gala.â He paused for a second as the people in the room glanced at each other. Babe, if I didnât know better, Iâd think you took a speech class before we dated. Jena spoke up, finally revealing herself to Adrian, causing him to smirk a bit.
âAnyways. Malfyre canât just immediately track the location of the call, if it was that easy any of us could do it. But Iâm assuming if she searched a smaller area, might speed up the tracking process. And with the train horn Aboleth pointed it, we can probably figure out a general area since most trains in this city run on a strict schedule. Is that right Malfyre?â Adrian finished, looking towards the hero.
0000Kieran0Vallenetti 00000000000000000|000000000000000000000000|Aaron0 Langdan
Malfyre | Attire & Mask x|xhex: #575772 00000000000000000000000000000000BludWynd | Attire & Mask | xhex:#545352


Kieran knew what she said would more than likely make Icarus angry, it would only be a valid reaction to being told your friend could possibly die, but the level at which he lashed out was uncalled for. And her own rage began to brew inside of her, especially when he more or less called her lazy and doing nothing but sitting on her ass. Assuming she was going to do nothing and just act like it was nothing. She was taking this seriously, even if her attitude didnât seem like it. Aaron immediately shot her a glare, and even interjected himself in between Kieran and Icarus, as well as Gemini did the same, now in their male form as they tried to mediate things between them, clearly being able to tell how fast things were going to escelate. The look in Aaronâs eyes was a familiar one that Kieran had seen time and time again, ever since they were kids. It was his way of telling her to just calm down and let it go. Kieran shook her head as she pushed Aaron to the side, âFuck that, shit. You know better than anyone how I am, BludWynd. Iâm not not just gonna take this shit.â Kieran said coldly, stepping past Aaron.
Malfyre shot Icarus a look before looking at Gemini, giving him a small nod of her head at his question. Of course if she could do it in a matter of seconds, she already would have done it, nevermind not even letting it all get to this point. Looking back at Icarus, Kieran cleared her throat before stepping up closely to him as she stared him down as she spoke, âJust like Blue Boy here said, if it was that simple, I would have done it already and youâd all already be there by now.â Kieran said coldly, before taking a small breath, needing to calm herself down. âThe sooner we can get her back, the sooner it will happen, trust me. I donât like the idea of this any more than you do. While we may be on opposite sides of this shit, I donât want to see her die any more than you do. The sooner we get her back, the better. If I could just snap my fingers and have her back here, I would have done it.â she snapped, turning to look at the others for a moment, focusing on Dhani for a minute.
Looking back at Icarus again, this time with a look even heâd be able to sense behind her complex mask, âI do uh...Know a bit more than I originally let on, but do not take that out of context before I explain.â she quickly retorted, crossing her arms as she paced slightly, âI know how these types of people work, Iâve...Iâve done some similar things before, alright? They wonât kill her, not yet. Or even at all. If they wanted her dead, sheâd already be dead. They want her for something else than just a ransom, if it was as simple as a ransom they would have killed her then and there. They need her kept alive, for what I donât know yet.[/b] she said as she paced around more. âGive me...A day at most and I will be able to toss you some direction of where to look for her. Cuz trust me, I want to get her back just as much as you do, even if she did try to kill me a few times.â Kieran chuckled slightly, more of a nervous variety which was clear.
Malfyre stopped in her footsteps after a moment of thinking, Aaron cocking his head to the side inquisitive as he studied the change in her posture and movements. âWhatâre you thinking of, Mal?[/b]â Aaron questioned, watching her as she thought for a moment. Malfyre turned and looked at him for a moment before speaking again, âI donât know how I forgot this but, the day that me and Red Witch went on that littleâŠ.mission a few weeks back? We uh, we found some things. More than just that party list.â Malfyre stated as she quickly moved back over to where her backpack was, rummaging through it for a moment before she pulled out what looked to be a hard drive of some sort. âObviously this is just a copy, as the original drive is back at my place, safe keeping and all. This is everything that we managed to get from our source who was so lovely and generous to give to us.â Kieran said as she held up the harddrive, before crushing it in her hand. Pieces of plastic and metal bits crumbling to the floor as she walked back over to her computer. âAgain, I have another copy, but what on that drive was too dangerous for anyone to see. Even I shouldnât have seen what was on it, and knowing whatâs back on that computer?â Malfyre shuttered for a moment.
Turning back to look at the others she took a deep breath for a moment, âLike Artemis here said...They already know of our presence at the party, but thereâs more than that. They uh...They know a lot more than we thought. They know who each and everyone one of us are, and where we live. They know it all.â Kieran finally stated as she rubbed the back of her neck nervously. âThereâs no point in hiding anything anymore. The fact they know who Red Witch is, as well as the rest of us, especially me? If they wanted us dead, they would have done it already. They would have killed us all already, or taken us captive, or tortured, or even worse. If they know who we are, and they havenât killed us all yet, thereâs clearly something they want from us. Killing us isnât their prerogative, we just need to find out what it is, and use it against them. Which is starting out by getting Red Witch back, and then we can figure out the rest as we go.â Malfyre took another deep breath as she tried to calm herself down, if she tried to say she wasnât freaked out by all of this, sheâd be lying. Ever since she checked out what that drive had, hadnât left her mind, not until just now with that small dispute with Icarus.
Kieran looked over at Aaron to try and gauge some sort of reaction out of him, but by the look on his face, which was so pale it was almost gray gave her all she needed to know. Aaronâs stomach turned itself in knots at what Malfyre said, how whoever took Red Witch and had set up the party, they knew everything, and then some. Who was to say this wasnât all some big trap to get them all in one place and then just go for the killing blow? But the fact that they hadnât done anything yet was just as alarming as it was a relief, but it didnât frighten him any less. âSo, what does that mean for us then? If they already know so much, how do we know any of us are even safe? Whoâs to say itâs not just...some trap?â he questioned, his voice wavering as he spoke. Malfyre simply just shrug her shoulders, âI donât know. All I know is, Red Witch is gone, and itâs our job to get her back, that much Iâm certain of. Iâve been working double time with everything, trying to figure out who this is and...I donât know yet. All I know is that we have lots of work to do...If itâs any consolation, I didnât look at anyoneâs files. I simply looked at my own and, everything was correct, so I can only assume it was the same for all of you as well.â Malfyre crossed her arms once more as she leaned against a pillar, trying to wrack her brain of what she could do. âAll I know is, Iâll be doing what I can to figure out where she is, starting now.â Malfyre muttered as she walked over to her laptop and began to look over anything she may have missed earlier, thankfully she had recorded the call and video end of it all and could receive it as many times as sheâd have to. Theyâd find her, she wasnât going to give up on this until she was brought back alive. She had to..
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