[right][h3]Creep[/h3]Sheila Hopkins

[i]Villain’s Meeting
Visible[/i][/right][hr]

… So, the man she had previously fought made a claim for the vials. He really was a man of action. Dangerous and bold, seeing him gain any form of power would be horrifying. Thankfully, he didn’t have that kind of power yet, but Sheila could imagine him getting it. That was a scary thought. He did clarify that he had gained a new group, Reflections. Seems he had aimed and succeeded elsewhere after failing his takeover of the Rockers. Nice to know he wasn’t the kind to try the same thing twice. Still, his partner or whatever speaking with him implied neither was the subordinate of the other, it was somewhat difficult to figure out the dynamics there.

As Sheila used her power to keep tabs on every person in the room, she definitely noted the unknown man who had made the helpful suggestion (CB) move. What, was he uncomfortable where he was? And he was… humming? … Sheila chalked it up to a weird habit of his. Still, her innate suspicious nature ensured that she kept a part of her eyes looking at him, because she couldn’t shake the feeling he was potentially setting up for an attack. But, as long as he was just over there humming… That was fine, she supposed.

The Broker supplied the name of one of those present, Whipstitch. Who… wasn’t really hiding, huh. Of course, Sheila had watched her along with everyone else through her power, but it was nice to have a name to attach to the figure. She did seem odd. … But what the Broker said next was a hundred times more worrying. They had one of Epsilon’s power-nullification fields? Didn’t that breach the rules of neutrality? Was that just how things went? They could so easily have a squad of grunts waiting just outside with guns, prepared to move in and take them all out when they were without powers. … That… must have been what Visage felt, coming in. Who’s to say they couldn’t at any moment dial the power of the field up?

Still, Sheila kept quiet, as scared as she was. The price came up. Ten thousand dollars per vial, maximum of one per group. And then… Benito was picked to demonstrate. This was huge. If they could show that what they were speaking of to be real, then… then it changed everything. He drank it, and… A vision. A vision that Sheila’d soon forget, but she remembered a sliver of something similar happening when Viola triggered. She’d been dazed from something, unable to process enough to even recognize that Viola had ran and that she had to stop them. 

While Whipstitch up and left, a thought wandered Sheila’s mind. He’s… showing an awful lot, isn’t he? He must be aware of that little detail. There’s no way he isn’t. Sheila took advantage of the pause to speak up, something she dared do only because the thing on her mind, a powerful worry she wanted to share.

[color=7a5e6a]‘You realize…’[/color] she paused, only to ensure her voice was in fact the voice from the voice-changer, and that it was working fine. Indeed it did, it was the creepy and hoarse but decidedly female voice she wanted it to be, might even disguise her internal insecurity from her voice, good. Creep was still sitting, her head only slightly turned towards where the Broker and Benito were, having needed to lift her head from the table after the vision.

[color=7a5e6a]‘… Anyone here could be a spy made by the Patriarch, and I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t [i]at least[/i] one. The Patriarch hence knows this meeting is taking place. Even if he doesn’t intend to do anything but spy, he’s still going to want those vials, and he’s going to want to lay claim to [i]you[/i], Broker, to hear how you got them,’[/color] Creep rasped at him, while her heart was beating in overdrive because of actually pulling attention to herself. She suppressed a deep inhale of breath from the effort of speaking, before saying a bit more.

[color=7a5e6a]‘… The Rockers will be interested in laying claim to one vial, albeit the means to pay wasn’t brought and as such would have to be delivered at a later time,’[/color] she finished, and then sat back in her seat, tense. She felt that if she didn’t make a claim for one of the vials, then she wasn’t a true villain. She was pretty sure that’s what Shatterpoint and Ceramix would have wanted, now she just has to hope they had the means to pay. That said, speaking up for one had been an effort, because… villains. Villains everywhere. Sheila felt so small, hidden behind her blindfold and mask. And now there was the possibility of her power stopping to work at any point, which would be when she was completely helpless. Her heart was beating way too hard, her chest felt tight, her muscles rigid. Oooogh…

Creep still sat there, with minimal movement, using her power to watch everyone around her through the blindfold. The thought that she might have made a mistake and had shown everyone just how oblivious she was did cross her mind.