[center][h1][b][color=dodgerblue]Wards and Other Heroes:[/color] Charity Event Begin[/b][/h1]
[@Old Amsterdam][@Gardevoiran][@Lugubrious][@solokolos][@yoshua171][@BCTheEntity][@t2wave][@LemonZest1337]

[img]http://coloradoskiauthority.com/images/denver/venues/performing-arts-2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,f_auto,h_465,q_50,w_698/https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/upload/crm/denver/2337_DenverPerformingArtsCo_ff41c3ee-dcaa-f764-ef97a05180efb91b.jpg[/img][/center]

Nearly three weeks had passed since so much had gone down, throwing the status quo of Denver into question. The Community had been growing larger still despite its losses, the city was in a panic over rumors of Patriarch's power having been revealed as the most dangerous kind of all: mind control, and the Wards had been placed on mandatory leave for therapy purposes. Still, life moved forward, and it was now on this day, September 18th, that the Wards had made their first public appearance since the unfortunate incident many weeks ago. And they weren't alone, either!

A charity fundraiser had been setup months in advance, something they couldn't cancel on such short notice. The all day event was scheduled to begin at 10:00 am promptly, while citizens were being admitted for two hours prior to that. Once the clock hit ten, the festivities could begin in earnest, with many scheduled events across multiple showrooms, ranging from auctions to lotteries to plays, and children's games as well! All this in order to raise money for the PRT to improve equipment, get better response times, and properly instruct independent heroes for a better brighter Denver. As for those two hours prior to the main events in which citizens were still being admitted, it was the prime opportunity for good publicity.

The Wards and the Protectorate were mandatory to appear, of course, and they would be having photo ops with local citizens, signing merchandised toys, comic books, and the like. Fulfilling meet and greets for their fans. Independent heroes had RSVP'd for the event as well, with the biggest attraction having been Denver's favorite hero, Furnace. Such was his draw that he was given a seat at the Protectorate table as well, right next to the newest recruits Hermes and Sylph. Excitingly, Noble and Captain Morales had been able to make it from the hospital, and earned their full bill of health! The only one not present was Protean, having volunteered to keep patrol around the premises in case any villains dared to strike. Even Decoy was participating, in a manner of speaking, projecting his usual image from a hologram projector setup at the Protectorate table.

At 9:37, there was almost half an hour before the main events would begin, starting with Director Kens' speech. The Wards and other heroes had been taking photos, giving autographs, and performing the meet and greet for just a little over an hour and a half at this point. Things seemed to be relaxing, if only a small bit, so they could keep up the good work, or check around and meet up with anybody they wanted. It was a free time, so to speak. A time they could relax and have fun, maybe try their hand at one of the game booths that had been setup nearby? Nothing bad was going to happen where so many heroes had been gathered together.

[hr][hr]

[center][h1][b][color=red]The Jacks[/color] and Other Less-Than-Legal Individuals[/b][/h1]
[@yoshua171][@BCTheEntity][@Eklispe][@floodtalon][@Old Amsterdam][@solokolos][@PlatinumSkink][@Gardevoiran][@Xandrya][@Spiffy][img]https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57716285/TheCruiseRoomDenver.0.jpg[/img][/center]

The Cruise Room, a bar that was well known and quite famous in Denver. Today it was completely rented out for a private party, nobody allowed without a special invitation. Unless you had an invitation you wouldn't have [i]wanted[/i] to show up on this special day. The event had been setup by the Jacks, with thorough instructions of how exactly to do so from their generous benefactor, and the purpose was quite clear: The Broker wanted to take down the Community. It was not unheard of for all the villains of a town or city to have neutral territory they can go for negotiations, and today this was that territory. Rules were simple. No violence, or everyone else gangs up on who started it. Never use a meeting to gain an advantage over anybody else present in the meeting, that gets you labeled as someone that cannot cooperate fairly and gets everyone against you. Don't speak out of turn, or else negotiations can break down and everything falls back to rule one. 

It was no coincidence the meeting had been called the same day all the heroes would be present at a charity event. Less chance of them getting found out. Invitations seemed to have been sent out to everybody, from Purge's mafia to independent mercenaries like Sabotage and Retcon, and even to the most questionable of invitees: Lethal Force. Of course, anybody was more than within their right to decline attending. Such a gathering was dangerous indeed, and who knows what the ultimate result would be? But a great many did show up. Purge was the first to arrive, timely and professional as ever in his white suit and white mannequin mask. He was escorted by his right hand man, Benito, known to have no powers but a highly skilled and intelligent man regardless. The two sat in a corner booth, but not before Benito wiped the entire thing down with wet wipes.

Sabotage arrived next, wearing her black leotard costume and fiddling with some sort of contraption she had stolen from the now defunct Minutemen. She took a seat at the bar, ignoring everyone else in favor of her little toy. Next was Retcon, or maybe he had shown up first? It was so difficult to tell with that little jester's power. What even was his (her?) power anyway? Well the point is, Retcon arrived as well and sat in the middle booth. Nobody noticed as Macavity entered, just as he liked it. He was given a wide berth as nobody came near the seat he had taken, whether due to his power or by sheer coincidence. The Rockers had been invited as well, but Shatterpoint nor his boss came. They instead delegated the order to their two strangers, Creep and Visage. Perhaps the girls would grace the meeting with their presence as requested? Time would tell. 

Amidst it all, drinks were being served by a single bartender who, to the Jacks, would look quite familiar indeed. His purple suit, North English accent, and complete lack of disguise in general betrayed his presence to those who knew of him: The Broker. Of course, only the Jacks knew of him, so it wasn't a problem. To everyone else the villainous mastermind was simply "the help." 

Once everyone had arrived and it was time to conduct the meeting, a few in the crowd began to show how thin their patience could be. In particular, Sabotage spoke. [color=pink]"Can we get started here? Time is money and I've got a client waiting to pay me for this little trinket."[/color]