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[hr][b][I]Protectorate HQ
June 19, 9:07 AM[/I][/b]

Val heard footsteps approaching. Judging by the weight of the steps and their sound pattern, it was probably Nightstalker. He wondered what the senior Cape wanted.

A crisp snap rang out next to him. It might have been loud if he hadn't already been focusing on something else.

[colour=8882be]"You can sleep later, Richter."[/colour]

So, that was it. A simple misunderstanding brought on by the fact that his eyes were closed.

[colour=silver]"I appreciate the sentiment, [i]Mr. Nightstalker[/i],"[/colour] he intoned before shifting slightly to face Axiom and Grandmaster, [colour=silver]"But that is just wishful thinking."[/colour]

Val watched Axiom remove her helmet, revealing most of her face—huh, she had freckles—as she began talking, trying to reassure them about their choices and potential indecision. She was being genuine from what he could tell, which was something, he supposed. It didn't do much to sway his heart either way—if only she'd been there when words actually mattered to him.

The fact she made an attempt was nice, at least.

Grandmaster followed up after her, though his words were more succinct. A simple, harmless statement.

Except for the Neon Eyesore, apparently.

The latest Ward's viewpoint was understandable. The Ward training wasn't exactly useful for Val. He was already better trained than they could ever have made him if he had been inexperienced before. He wouldn't have survived this long if he'd been so incapable as to need to learn these things so late in life. Nothing they taught him was particularly helpful, but then again, it hadn't been very long since he started. The other, less-experienced Wards probably gained a lot more from the training. Not her, though. He could tell that she actually knew how to handle herself.

The same couldn't be said for most of them.

Oh, and the Neon girl also asked about their powers too. It was a good thing since he had no intention of bringing up the subject himself. Though, he would be lying if he said he wasn't at least somewhat interested.

The first person to respond to the question was the cloning girl. Val was already aware of the cloning aspect of her power, but the second part came as a bit of a surprise. That was super useful. Why didn't his power give him a pocket dimension instead of just breaking things? It certainly explained some things. Like where she got that candy she was now offering everyone.
 
Of course, he wasn't going to accept any. Even he knew not to take candy from strangers.

That cloning ability of hers would make it difficult to take her down since she could be in several places at once. There were quite a few ways she could be put to good use by a better strategist than he.

Val's attention was drawn elsewhere and he watched as the rat-thing grabbed one of the candies that the cloning girl offered and popped it into its.... fur? Did it even have a mouth? It could talk so he assumed so, but he wasn't an expert on whatever kind of biology a rat-thing would have. Its outward appearance wasn't the only thing that was screwed up. Still, Val watched in interest as the creature staggered back as if struck and.... shrank? Huh, that was weird.

The girl in the white dress was the second person to actually reveal her power. According to her explanation, she was a Master with the ability to make people do whatever she said. Her voice cut out the moment she said it, and he had to read her lips to find out the rest. He'd have to address that particular issue posthaste.

Trust making her power more effective wouldn't be a problem though. Probably.

At the very least, she didn't seem too bad, considering she had given them a warning beforehand. It could have been worse.

Anyway, on to the third Ward; the aforementioned giant rat-thing.

He was a Changer with the ability to turn into.... a big ol' rat-thing. Obviously. He also proceeded to list off the advantages his rat-thing form granted him — flight (obviously), super strength (but he hadn't tested it for some reason), sound-muffling fur (and feathers), enhanced sight and hearing, and bird-like talons, but not the ability to turn his head 270 degrees (disappointing). On further thought, he was more of a rat-bird creature than anything else, though that didn't explain the scales. Val did, however, note that the transformation seemed to be tied to his emotional state somehow.

He wondered if the rat-bird had hollow bones like a real bird, too.

The Grump was the next to introduce himself, not that Val cared much for it. He was probably the least interesting of the Wards so far. He was a Thinker, as expected. Val didn't see how giving someone emotional damage was a superpower, but the rest wasn't entirely useless. The Grump showed off his power at work by calling out the weaknesses of two(?) of the other Wards and a part of the password to the admin computer, whatever that was. He even knew about the weirdness of the walls too and–

He just put a knife to his neck.... Huh. This was an odd time for suicide. Then again, was there even such a thing as a [i]good[/i] time for self-offing?

[i]Aw.[/i] He knew it was just posturing, but it would've been cool to–

A loud laugh cut his thoughts off and drew Val's attention to the girl in the black catsuit. It was a full-on sociopath laugh. He would know; he grew up around them. Her power was also incredibly well-suited to that sort of personality. Being able to change people's morality was something, for sure, especially in the hands of a unique individual like Ethos. He couldn't imagine what it would do to someone like him.

If she could touch him, that was.

The next Ward to make an introduction was the yellow-armoured girl, Hornet. She was a teleporter, with a pinch of invulnerability to go along with it. Neat. He wondered what the range on it was.

After her, no one else spoke up for a few moments, so Val decided to do so himself.

[colour=silver]"Guess now is my turn, then,"[/colour] Val straightened on his couch, not quite sitting up yet, [colour=silver]"Call me Richter. I can do [i]this[/i]."[/colour]

Val held up the coin he'd been spinning and allowed his concentration to falter for just a moment. In the blink of an eye, the metal turned into dust and drifted away. His glove remained spotless.

He flashed a lopsided smile at his fellow Wards, [colour=silver]"I suggest you not get too close. I cannot turn it off."[/colour]

With his piece said, he fished out another coin from one of his many pockets and began spinning it between his fingers once again.