Starlight

[Mogaar]

Starlight is a well known and popular club set in the Bronx. It's a hotspot of activity and is known to be frequented by some fairly high profile names. Rumors of the owner having criminal connections have been circulating for years, but have never been substantiated. This none the less doesn't put a dent in its popularity. The club also sports a number of very private VIP rooms for particularly important patrons which are sometimes used to host informal meetings.  

[___youwillknownihilism]

NO MARKS HERE NOPE

Kozi had ventured to one of a few spots where she hid normal clothes to change into, something fashinoable and also comfortable for moving around in just in case. She walked into the club, one of the regulars as it were, and gave the bouncer a fist bump and a nod before waltzing past the line outside with her backpack in place. She stopped by the bar, sliding into place between regulars and rocking a bit in time with the upbeat music. In no time a pretty bartender had arrived, looking down at the girl from his elevated position and offering her a glass with a golden beverage in it. "Thanks, Monty," she offered sliding him a ten dollar bill and then blowing him a kiss. She turned aroundm, taking the drink with her to the bouncer guarding the VIP room, and innocently looked at the burly individual. A second passed, with the man looking impassive. She offered him the glass finally, and he seemed to smile with a twinkle in his eye. She moved past as he downed his drink and she sat on a luxurious couch in the room within, backpack auspiciously taking up space next to her on one side. The other she left open, with seats scattered about the room and no one behind the bar directly across from her. She sighed. "Alright Slink, I'm here," she said to no one in particular, anxious for her employer to just show herself already.

 

[Mogaar]

Slink had apparently been watching from the shadows for some time. When Kozi entered, she appeared almost exactly after she had been called for. The woman had a certain flair for the dramatic after all. Her form coming from one of the dark corners of the room and rapidly starting to take shape from the shadows. Her dark hair kept swept back, wearing a black body suit with various armored panels attached in a manner that suggested it was designed for maximum movement while still allowing for proper protection of course. Finally, there was the tell-tale red glove on her right hand that marked her out as a Red Hand member. A drink of some kind held in the same hand. Unlike most people, Slinks unique power allowed her to get into places like this totally unseen. So she didn't have a need for carrying civilian clothes with her most of the time. Without saying a word, she moved over and grabbed a chair, locked the door to the room quickly so they wouldn't be disturbed and began dragging the chair over to the sofa where Kozi was sitting.

The woman turned the chair around so the back was facing the other woman and straddled it, arms resting on the back rest of the seat. "So there are two things we need to talk about. First and foremost, that job. I had eyes on the situation. But I want to hear your take on what happened first before I go any further here. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble for that s**t show." She apparently knew enough to know it had been other people who had messed up.

NOJAMNOJAMNOJAM

 

[___youwillknownihilism]

NO MARKS HERE NOPE

As if it were purposeful, the woman made herself known the second after Kozi had made her ambient request. Her eyes fell on the woman, leg crossing and eyes falling on the interesting visage of a living shadow. Often, Kozi thought on what caused people to trigger superpowers. Often, Kozi wondered exactly how far someone had to be pushed to gain a certain power. To that end, Kozi saw Slink as someone who was dangerous, someone who had to have always lived a life of intrigue. She was someone Kozi respected, and respect was hard fought from one who thought herself above others. She held onto a bright smile as Slink sat ahead of her. To anyone else watching, gods included, this one room would look perhaps more cutthroat than any other even with demeanours relatively calm. Kozi had been asked to explain what happened, and she inhaled deeply before speaking plain. "Well, insofar as what was my fault on the matter, I may have brougt a couple of people you don't know to the fray. So the chance of failure existed of course, but nothing worth doing is ever easy." She adjusted in her seat, eyes rolling as she thought about Jungler.

"I don't know exactly how much of the plan you saw, or heard, but Jungler heard what he was to do, and flew off before I could stop him. I'm not sure what the deal with him is. He spouted off some video game lingo and bolted. I suspect he's still there waiting for us, but he also doesn't have my number. No way to tell him the jobs off, no way to know if the jammer was properly hidden either. Lots of things to worry about. And I hadn't told him the whole of the plan to deal with the capes, or my general escape plan's intricacies. s**t show is a good word for it."

[quote="Mogaar']  

[Mogaar]

The woman listened intently as Kozi spoke. Nodding her head along occasionally, giving the odd "Mhmm." in confirmation that she was indeed still listening. She swirled the apparently alcoholic beverage around in her glass and took a drink of it right as the explanation ended. "The jammer wasn't hidden properly. I looked just to make sure before I made my way out her. It was hidden UNDER the bins instead of inside one. That's not a big issue though, considering how things went down. Even if they find it they can't do anything about it. You didn't commit any crimes before the job was scrubbed. I'm assuming you wore gloves at any rate, yeah? So finger prints won't be an issue either. I'm thinking we might give them another chance one they show up...Eventually. Something simpler. I'm feeling in a pretty merciful mood today"

Finishing her drink off, she leveled her eyes onto the woman in front of her. "Which brings me to my next topic. Your conduct. Now, don't get me wrong. I understand and appreciate that you have a certain flair for the dramatic. I get you there. But you're bringing way too much of the wrong kind of attention our way. Robbing celebrities especially is the sort of thing that brings the Wardens down on you hard because it's a PR disaster for them. Celebrities talk, people listen, it makes them look incompetent. They literally cannot let that sort of thing stand. That goes double for when you post it up online afterwards with our symbol to let them know exactly who they have to aim that anger at. I'm not telling you to stop. You've got balls, I love you for that. But you do need to be more careful with how you do this stuff, and who you do it to. They've already begun raiding our store houses and this is costing us money. Not to mention how it makes it a lot harder to operate when the Government is gunning to make an example of us. You get me?" She maintained eye contact, and remained quiet. Giving her a chance to speak.

NOJAMNOJAMNOJAM

 

[___youwillknownihilism]

NO MARKS HERE NOPE

When Kozi fell quiet, she thought about something that hadn't been apparent to her before, but she had never really tried to read into a person's body language. Kinesics it was called. Maybe time to learn a new skill? If she could figure out how to learn that skill, anyway. Her eyes were always sharp, observant for any ambient skills she could steal from someone. So while she listened, she watched Slink much like a lion cub stares at the hunters as they hunted. In their world everything, much like for a little lioness cub, it was dangerous. Every advantage was once she needed. Her slight question about gloves brought Kozi to reach into her bag's side pocket, pulling her own red hand glove from it, winking at her before hiding it again. She wanted to give the girl another chance? She watched the woman's eyes, her lips her cheeks even, her shoulders and chest... damn this woman was hot... she tried to see what she could gather. As if on cue her power began working, her shard feeding her what she needed to watch for, how people typically would act if under the stress of lying. It was so... vague. So hard to really wrap her head around. She knew what to look for, sorta, where to look. She got the feeling this was one of those things she'd have to work at for a long time even with her power going before it bore any fruit. She might get a red flag... maybe a yellow one, and that would be it. She spoke, not losing her focus still. "Yeah, whenever you decide such, lemme know. I'll owe Joker and his friend, and Scamper a better plan next time."

That brought them to their next topic. She was being brought under some scrutiny? Good. She smiled, a little too telling. What did it mean? Maybe she wanted some negative attention her way. Maybe it was good to get any kind of attention from her boss. She fought it off, hearing that she was doing too much. She nodded her head in understanding, crossing a leg, interlacing her fingers. It wasn't indifference, but rather from her mind she took a more receptive position, still trying to use her power to develop a less concrete skill she barely understood on a basic level. Not that she needed to. She could take apart a truck in less than an hour now, she was confident, but she had no idea what the parts did or why they went where they did. So Slink liked that she had balls? She might have developed a bit of a blush, looking away from her boss. Ok Slink was really hot with that mysteriousness she had about her, but she had a girl already and she'd feel like a student blowing her teacher for a better grade. She looked back at Slink, settling on eyes that struck her as hawk-like. Her own were more like an Owl, ever vigilant as they attempted to learn. She spoke after a moment of consideration. You get me? Thats what she'd ended on? Felt more threatening than Kozi was sure she meant. Still she spoke confidently. "Yeah, I gotcha boss," she spoke offering a nod of understanding. "I'll cool it on high profile for a bit, maybe limit my activity to car theft... I get restless when this kleptomaniac libid goes unsated too long. I've been thinking, actually, about hiring some Black Gate soldiers and venturing out into the Ruins of Brockton and staking a claim over some territory, maybe clear some rabble with a few friends, setup a base of operations for myself out there. I was wondering if you'd maybe be interested in helping me establish something of our own, better underground market. Something for stolen goods, something for maybe some things that are ... even less illicit. Something you could more easily monitor, somewhere I could more easily operate. I'm in the bare bones of a planning stage... but that's where us thinkers excel." It had never donned on Kozi how... explicit her speech could be, how sultry her tone seemed to stay. It was unconscious, a touch of her self confidence spiraling out of control and slipping into her vocal patterns. She held the harder syllables a half second too long, gave the softer ones even less emphasis. Forcing her audience to listen in as it were. She merely smiled though. Almost unaware of herself.

Mogaar

 

[Mogaar]

Slink thought the proposal over. There were quite a few things to consider when it came to this situation. "It's not a bad idea. But there are a few things to consider. First, old Brockton Bay got absolutely ******** when the s**t hit the fan. The area is incredibly unstable and there's all sorts of things running around out there. They never did catch all of the clones from that once incident and even I wouldn't want to get into that mess." She gave a soft laugh for the first time since she got here. But it was a serious concern. "And the area is under pretty tight quarantine for obvious reasons. You could totally get in. But getting you, your friends, and a bunch of Black Gate soldiers in and out would be tricky. I'll tell you what. You look into it and report back to me. If you think it's a viable plan or you come up with some way of making it workable, you let me know and I'll look into helping you with it. Being able to operate somewhere completely outside the scope of the law is pretty tempting after all." A brief pause. "Oh. I also remember hearing something about the Sons of b***h operating out there. If you're going to be setting up camp there, it might be a good idea to make sure you know where their territory is and either avoid it or come to some sort of deal with them."

NOJAMNOJAMNOJAM

 

[___youwillknownihilism]

NO MARKS HERE NOPE

Slink was cautious as ever, smart too. Kozi knew all too well what she was saying, how ******** the outside really was. She was more sure it'd be hard, but the affirmation that Slink would be onboard if she could make things work was good. She hadn't known about the Sons of b***h being a real presence but she was hardly surprised or perturbed by the fact. THey could be placated easily enough. She nodded at Slink, taking her bag and standing up. She pulled her red glove on, offering it for her boss with words of finality. "I'll be getting the info from that bank soon enough. Might spend a few days with lower profile things. Stay below the waterline for a few days. Need to polish some skills and start setting up. Ta Ta, Slink." with that, she would walk out the way she came in, tossing nods towards people she knew, ignoring those she did not. She accessed Parahumans O, seeing a new thread for a tinker looking for work. Oh how she loved tinkers, and being rich-ish. She placed an order as she caught the bus towards Manhatten.

[Exit]  

[Rocket Punches]

___Back to the old racket again. People in these clubs were always so predictable. Roll in with a half-charged phone and act all sad or surprised when the bar turns red. That predictability kept Makoto in drinks though. A rigged up charging cable and a few minutes of shaking the phone netted at least a few free beers even on a slow night. People had tried to turn her into more of a sideshow lately, but a handsy uni bro made himself an example and things died down rather quickly. The staff seemed to know better than to blow a scene like that even more out of proportion, and so Makoto sipped away undisturbed. It was unfortunate that she lacked any kind of rapport with the crew of this place, or broader interest in the crowd, but at least they left her alone.
[Mission: Shake Your Money Maker]

show spoilerhide spoiler

ROGUE ID# 9847563

Storage Points:
▽ Basic Messenger Bag
▽ Simple Utility Belt

Items in Possession:
▽ Cape Outfit - See Description On Profile
▽ 1 Pair Basic Combat Knives
▽ 1 Set of New Life™ cybernetic prosthetics
▽ 1 NBPD "Blues" top

Quote:

 

[Rocket Punches]

___Not a bad haul all things considered, but a check of the time revealed she hadn't been at even nearly as long as she thought. It would be a bit before they started letting people through the portals or whatever again, and Makoto had dug up something interesting she wanted to check out. But it wouldn't be the only thing she went back for. "Toybox had some supplies jacked. Supplies that came through us. Figure you're rugged enough to chase the s**t down over in New Brockton. Yours if you want it." Kirin smirked as she continued shaking the phone in her hand. "Works for me." Gloved fingers scooped up the piece of paper offered her, and she filled herself in on the details. Seemed pretty routine, but if she could earn some money while on a trip to spend she wasn't going to turn it down. Though she didn't quite believe the bit about this being handed down on the Toybox's initiative.
[Mission: Shake Your Money Maker]

[/exit]

show spoilerhide spoiler

ROGUE ID# 9847563

Storage Points:
▽ Basic Messenger Bag
▽ Simple Utility Belt

Items in Possession:
▽ Cape Outfit - See Description On Profile
▽ 1 Pair Basic Combat Knives
▽ 1 Set of New Life™ cybernetic prosthetics
▽ 1 NBPD "Blues" top

Quote:

 

[___youwillknownihilism]

Reggie

Apollo

"So, the grand master plan here, Marquis, is to pair up the black, deeply depressed, lightmass bomb with a fallen girl? Exactly what did I do to piss everyone off?" The voice was smooth, even from behind the deceptively simple white Owl's mask that was affixed perfectly to the face of Reggie. Just as it had when he was an Ambassador, dark shades where the light collided with the subtle grooves and slits formed an expression of both confusion and irritation. Even with no features all of the people present in Earth N's only club hangout could see he was entirely averse to the idea on that alone. Still, but Lord of Loss and Marquis affixed him with a blend of charismatic apathy. "You asked for more responsibility, here's more responsibility Apollo." LoL counterpunched with a grin set into his gruff features. Reggie lamented that statement with an audible groan. "Actually... if memory served I never asked to babysit someone who hates my very existence." He conceded with a shrug, turning towards the serving girl who came over, bouncing to the beat of the music that was a dull hum that still manged to roar into his body through the floor from below. She sat a drink down beside him and offered a smile. He chucked the mask on his face to the couch opposite his seat at a high table, just beside Marquis's entourage, and nodded to the serving girl. "Cheers, or whatever y'all said in Canada," he said holding up his glass.

"Oh, don't be so moody," Marquis lightly teased, standing to take the Manhatten he'd ordered for himself and slapping a bill far higher than necessary on her tray. "This presents an amazing opportunity for you. If she steps too far out of line, who better than to fry some sense back into her than the god of the sun? Maybe you can fix her?" he chided. Reggie followed the serving girl - Sarah she would have reminded him sharply, as she walked towards the door that led back down the stairs from the VIP room that LoL and Marquis all but owned. She offered a glance over her shoulder, eyes low as if his shoes were more interesting than his unmasked face, which she was more than familiar with. When the ice blue orbs landed on his own she only smirked before being shrouded in the dark of the staircase. He chuckled to himself a little, shaking his head as if the memories would just leak out of the side of his head or something.

Not that he wanted them to or anything, but he was at the end of his 12 day cycle so he was certainly feeling the downswing of overuse of his powers. One didn't pump people full of fear and cover them with scorch marks without reverb... besides Legend... Purity... well almost every blaster or nuker ever. Marquis would know that, and be timing things so on their first job he'd be in better straights. "I don't fix people. Specifically, I don't fix racists. More specifically I don't fix racist bitches from the more dangerous and deadly of the many groups that hate black people. On top of having SUPER POWERS, I might add. Why don't you just make Makoto take her on this job? She's just as dangerous as me," at that Marquis inhaled as if deciding whether a more violent response was needed. He fixed his hair and cleared his throat."Apollo." It was threat enough, implicit in the demeanor and tone change. "I know, grating, downing everyone." Honestly, if Marquis had lopped off his arm he wouldn't even have cared. He was in the mood to let himself bleed out. But Marquis was patient and fair: it was far from Apollo's fault his power turned him into an insufferable person to be around, nor that he'd been on the front line during the Norfair Community attack keeping a crowd of people too scared to move. It had been straining putting himself up against the capes in Advanced guard... but at the very least now Longscratch would think twice about stepping to him.

And Sarah had been sure to take care of him when he got back... let off steam as it were. "Makoto will be with you. I'm sure she can have something ready for a skirmish. Between the three of you I don't imagine you'll run into too much trouble. Just... keep a lid on it, and I'll consider you worthy of some status among us." LoL offered. Reggie conceded with an eyeroll and nod. His eyes did meander over to rest on Makoto and see what was going on with her. "Gonna make a new arm to fight em with? One that explodes or... I don't know... can go back in time?" With the light prodding he was keenly aware that Spruce had made his way up the stairs to talk to Marquis discreetly about something.