[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/23E9PTz.png[/img] [sub]Banner credit to Nitemare Shape. Thanks Boss![/sub] Guest starring [@DearTrickster] and [@fdeviant] [hr] [h3]Lost Haven, Hounds Base[/h3] During the heroes assault[/center] Zoë flickered into visibility inside the sealed room she had discovered, grinning wickedly. The foolish bigots had apparently thought that sealing a six inch blast door, then welding it, then collapsing a tunnel behind a secret panel door in an otherwise unassuming wall would deter all the metas coming for them. Her unique powers, however, let her explore completely outside the floor plan. She [i]had[/i] been walking, phased out, just on the outside of the tunnel walls, one hand out to give her the sense of whether she was still in the right line. The collapsed rock had given her pause, so she had followed it, only to find herself in a hidden vault. The bag she had custom-ordered had finally come, just in time for this little escapade, well outside the purviews of her current job. The thing was the size of an Army rucksack, but made entirely of carbon fibre and other fireproof materials, lined with tungsten plates. While she could actually light the thing on fire herself, the ambient temperatures from her burning her surroundings wouldn't affect it or anything she squirrelled away inside it, making her combat abilities [i]finally[/i] compatible with her thieving abilities. Her grin grew wider as colour and depth returned to her vision the same time the motion sensor light triggered, revealing to her rows of file cabinets, a stack of laptops, and in one corner, a huge safe, reminiscent of a bank vault in miniature. Like the famous cliche of the kid in the candy shop, she was unsure where to start, so she paused for a moment before ripping open the first drawer, and began pouring through the contents. [color=tomato]"Ugh, shipping manifests? This will take [i]forever[/i],"[/color] she muttered to herself. Overhead, the muffled thump of a grenade going off caught her ears, but it sounded like it was at least one level above her and outside, so she continued her search. Two drawers later and only a few valuable finds later and the lights flickered once and then went out. She gazed up at the ceiling with a curse. Thinking quickly, she glanced at the first cabinet, now hanging completely open and all valuable files already removed. With a wave of her hand, the papers in the top drawer burst into flames, illuminating the entire room in dancing oranges and yellows. Knowing that she had a limited amount of air, now, worse than before, she flung every drawer open with abandon, searching for anything that looked remotely like a bank statement, deed, stock voucher, or anything else. Everything matching that description was shoved unceremoniously into her fireproof bag. Once those were covered, along with anything that look like personally identifying information or blackmail either on the Hounds or that they had on anyone else, she turned to the laptops. She was surprised to see that they were, in fact, stacked in front of what looked like a server tower, which was also surrounded by PC towers. Not bothering with niceties or care, she used her enhanced strength to rip open the cases, tear the hard disks out of them and stuff them on top of the papers, and then cast the rest behind her. Within fifteen minutes she was sure she had secured everything of value out of more than two dozen computers and the server, plus jammed one of the laptops whole into her bag, but at this point she was running out of room for loot. Her gaze flicked up, locking onto the safe, standing ten feet tall and at least half as deep. Striding up to it purposefully, she pointed her right index finger like she was playing cops and robbers, then put it an inch away from the hinge of the thing. A bright white jet of fire shot out from the tip of her finger, which she expended all of her concentration to control as much as possible. Ever so slowly, at least as far as she could tell, she glided her torch down the hinge, then repeated the process for the other three. Once those were cut, she did the same along the side just in line with the lock, though in two points above and below it instead of a straight line. She didn't know the safe model, not having been much of a cracker before, but she knew that was the most common location of security countermeasures like sealing mechanisms. Feeling like she had done all she could, she put the tips of all her fingers where she could on either side of the lock, triggered jets on each one, then dug in until she could get a grip and wrenched with all her surprising might. The door fell off with a booming clang, revealing only a single object, a four inch cube of some sort of crystal. Without any information to go off of, she snatched it up, stuffed it into the pack, then sealed the bag up. Having secured what she felt to be a worthwhile prize, and with the heroes all occupied apprehending the enemy, she felt perfectly safe exercising herself, so she triggered her fire powers as high as they would go and began melting her way out through the collapsed tunnel. A single beam of terrifyingly high heat first scorched its way out through the blast door, out of the rock, and then into the outer corridor, a few inches wide and now glowing on the edges. With breathing air flowing in, even if it was superheated and thin, she proceeded to slag the rest of the blast door, stepping through the liquid metal as if it was just particularly stubborn water. Part of her concentration went into making sure the bag on her back didn't ignite, though it took much less than it would were it made of different materials. In her mind's eye, she could [i]feel[/i] all of the temperatures around her as various viscosities of air, viscosities she could manipulate at will with but a thought. She did so, and swiftly strode out into the outer corridor in an expanding cloud of flames and molten cement. The terribly swift increase of temperature did not go unnoticed by the likes of Alchemyst and Lady Hex. The fiery orange light casting long shadows down the hallway. Nearby sprinklers - that remained intact - spouted in vain against the intensity of heat - the water turning to vapours. With a little distance away, Charlie smashed the alarm, with [i]a little bit[/i] too much force above their heads with her staff silencing it. She peeked around the corner, Hex at her side. The pair of them sneaking around having found their prize were perusing while looking for a discreet exit. The blast doors would have been a decent route but it was now a pool of lava. Fan-fucking-tastic. Charlie peeked around the corner seeing the one responsible. Through the haze it was difficult to discern who they were, on the small side in dark armour with what Charlie assumed was leftover metal melded to her armour. Similar to how she had added the kevlar to her forearms and shins. They wore a mask slits for eyes, a domino pattern. Clearly not a Hound but another metahuman just melting their way through was alarming enough as is. Charlie smashed another alarm. She motioned for Hex to lean closer, she whispered, “[color=honeydew]Alright, we’ve got a lava-fire-whatever metahuman down the hallway. I don’t remember seeing someone slinging fireballs at Sherman. I don’t remember seeing any fire-themed heroes running around in Lost Haven. Who the fuck are they?[/color]” Madalena shook her head in response, annoyed that yet another obstacle would keep them from a safe retreat. But at this point, she was determined that nothing else would stand in their way. [color=BE1359]”Dunno,”[/color] Maddi whispered, [color=BE1359]”and I’ll be honest, I don’t really wanna get into a fight right now. We [i]just[/i] got this damn file. I want a minute to celebrate before it all starts crashing down.”[/color] Maddi gripped Charlie’s arm, looking into her goggles. [color=BE1359]”But they definitely picked the wrong duo to mess with. The Alchemyst and Lady Hex can hold their own.”[/color] Zoë stretched her arm out wide for a moment, then let her hands drop. As she did, the molten rocks around her cooled. She was careful to remove her feet before it solidified, then adjusted the pack and look up the corridor. With the glow of heat gone, her eyes began to slowly adjust to the dimness of the area, but she was still having problems. [color=tomato]”As much as I like a moody atmosphere, [i]mon dieu[/i] but would it kill them to put in decent lighting?”[/color] she said to herself, not bothered too much by the echoes around the hall. As far as she was aware, everyone was topside fighting each other, or off trying to stop that horrible laser, leaving her free to poke around. She kicked a piece of smoothed, cooled metal down the hall with a ringing clang and began making her way forward. While she could have phased again, she was curious to see what all trouble she could stir up while she was here. Charlie heard the feminine French accented voice, it sounded to her like she was completely unaware of them as of right now. She patted Maddi’s hands on her arm, “[color=honeydew]It doesn’t sound like she knows we’re here,[/color]” whispering she continued, “[color=honeydew]As much as I would love to believe we’re tough enough to take on some fire lady, I don’t want to take my chances and get singed.[/color]” She wasn’t sure how to deal with this, a surprise could get a fist full of fire from the mysterious meta. Maybe talking could get them out of it and around her? Just going separate ways. Charlie knew all they cared about was getting the fuck out of there. She patted Maddi’s hands again, “[color=honeydew]Here goes nothin’.[/color]” Charlie stood up from her crouch, back against the wall raising her voice, “[color=honeydew]Yo! Frenchie![/color]” She said, bracing herself. “[color=honeydew]We’re not Hounds but we’re not cops and you melted our escape route out of here! Can we just, like, not fight?[/color]” She waved her staff past the corner to show where they were. The Frenchwoman’s eyes snapped to the sudden appearance of a…stick? She stopped, noted the direction of the weapon waving around a corner, and held up her hands in the universal, “I don’t want trouble,” gesture, though she was well aware that with metas like her it was not a safe place for the hands. Even so, with everyone’s nerves on edge, she had to think fast. If they weren’t Hounds and they weren’t cops, that really only left the heroes. And they had her at a distinct advantage in at least placement, though she was confident in her combat capabilities, should it come to that. [color=tomato]”Oh, my mistake!”[/color] she called out clearly, pitching her voice up a bit to emphasise innocence and thickening her accent for dramatic effect. [color=tomato]”I am here on behalf of a European organization, oui? Government sponsored and very hush hush, and zese [i]chiens[/i], zey had some valuable intelligence that I was sent to recover. Sorry I ruined your escape route, but I am afraid my powers don’t really lend themselves to, ah...how you say, fixing things?”[/color] [color=BE1359]”Same here!”[/color] Maddi called back with a little too much enthusiasm. [color=BE1359]”At least, I don’t think they can, although I could probably conjure a handy imp or create some sort of infusion? . . . Sorry,”[/color] she apologized, displeased with her ability to ramble even under potentially dangerous circumstances, yet intrigued by the prospect of creating or finding a way to reverse a destructive bewitchment. Lady Hex slowly lifted the file on the Witchfinder above her head. [color=BE1359]”You’re not the only one who likes a little espionage,”[/color] she joked. Charlie relaxed a little at their wordy exchange but why the fuck would Interpol or a vague European body of government be sending a singular person to act apart from American authorities? Especially when that person wasn’t being nearly as sneaky by melting their way into a facility. Charlie was skeptical, the excuse of it being a hush hush operation was a convenient point to fall back on to get by without identification. The believable point of the Hounds stealing intelligence to get as far as they have made sense. Maddi’s show of familiar goals, a sense of commonality was smart. All they had to do was get by without trouble. “[color=honeydew]I can fix anything but it’s about us being in [i]your[/i] way. What are the chances of us meeting halfway and no funny business? Just letting us pass you and us letting you pass by. You don’t know what we’re capable of but we know you can melt stuff by whatever means you got, frankly we’re not in any shape or form to go messing with you. How’s that sound miss euro secret agent?[/color]” Charlie leaned around the corner the barest of her mask being made visible, “[color=honeydew]We got a deal?[/color]” [color=tomato]”[i]Ca sonne bien...mais…[/i]”[/color] Forge’s head cocked to one side, eyes narrowing slightly. [color=tomato]“How do I know you are not part of ze Hounds, eh? And that you will not try to gun me down when my poor back is turned? Not zat it would do you any good, but still, one can never be too careful.”[/color] Not that she was particularly concerned in either case, but since she had a contract out on them, any Hounds agents would have to be dealt with. These two didn’t sound particularly dangerous, but she didn’t live this long in her business by being lackadaisical with her security. [color=tomato]” I tell you what, I can get us out of zis sticky situation [i]tout de suite.[/i] Back zat way is nothing but ze hole zey had buried zis stuff in. You could poke around, see if zere is anything unburned, though I am [i]very[/i] thorough. Or, you can go back ze way you came, I can go back ze way I came, and if you’re Hounds, ze heroes up at ze top will catch you and I will not have to worry, oui?”[/color] There was a thought, just going back down the hallway at least before the fire spread. Charlie rolled her staff in her hands, thinking. Fairly, they could have very well been a pair of cowardly Hounds trying to make a quiet escape instead of gunning down the first dangerous metahuman they crossed. However, defending their very non-Hounds status was about principle, “[color=honeydew]I don’t know, did you hear something about them recruiting abominations? Shit, if I’d known that the bastards were that tolerant we could’ve gotten along just peachy keen.[/color]” She said laughing, her sarcasm obvious, “[color=honeydew]Fuck no, we’re not Hounds. Ever heard of a terrorist carrying around a staff instead of an ar-15? Come on.[/color]” “[color=honeydew]We’re magic folk. Whether you believe in it or not, we’ve been targeted all the same as metahumans.[/color]” She said her tone growing serious, “[color=honeydew]With that said, we’ll go back the way we came. I don’t trust you and you don’t trust us, that’s cool. Give us a head start and we’ll vamoose.[/color]” Blunt but not unkind as was Charlie’s nature. Whether the mysterious fire meta took to it or not, they could at least agree not to fight right? Zoë blinked, watching the stick. It was true! While she carried no weapons herself, because she was one, she knew most people at least used a baton or something. That was an actual [i]stick[/i]. Terrorists or not, who uses a [i]stick?[/i] She’d have to ask the Ambassador about sticks next time they talked, maybe it was a magic thing. But then something else the girl had said caught her attention. [color=tomato]”Abominations? Nono, [i]ma chère fille douce[/i], zey are ze abominations. But oui, we can do zis thing. However, headstarts are not necessary, eh? Just close your eyes and don’t get nervous, I will be gone in less zan a few seconds.”[/color] Making sure they were not currently looking at her, she phased out, becoming both invisible and intangible, and made her way past them, stopping to take a good up and down look while she had the chance. She had to stop herself from laughing out loud. [i][color=tomato]Oh my, they certainly are living up to that magic folk thing, eh? Maybe I should see if I can fund a stylist in this area for metas and such, they seem to need it.[/color][/i] She laughed to herself all the way up the tunnel they were at the corner of, poking her head through walls to make sure there were no more goodies to be had on her way back up to the surface. Charlie whipped her head around and she was gone. Frowning behind her mask she said, “[color=honeydew]Fuck, did she teleport? Or was that just a sleight of hand thing by asking to close our eyes?[/color]” Charlie turned to Maddi, “[color=honeydew]I feel like we dodged a bullet.[/color]” Madalena blinked a few more times, wondering if the mysterious meta’s disappearance had been a trick of the light, or if they’d just had a shared delusion. As quick as she appeared, she vanished even quicker. [color=BE1359]’Maybe,”[/color] Maddi leaned in, voice a riddled with worry, [color=BE1359]”Maybe we should quit while we’re ahead. We’ve got the file, let’s get the hell out of here before someone, or something else turns up to crash the party. “How about Croll Corner?”[/color] she suggested with a warm smile. [color=BE1359]”The family might not yell as loud if you’ve got company with you, and it’ll be the perfect time to find out about your grandpa’s formulas.”[/color] Charlie winced at the thought of facing the music, “[color=honeydew]I’m [i]fine[/i] with sending them a postcard from the otherside of the country, really. It’s not a big deal.[/color]” Charlie said grinning at Maddi’s expression. “[color=honeydew]Hopefully Gramps is more forgiving and willing to help us out. After the week we’ve had I feel like I could sleep for a hundred years…[/color]” She thought for a second adjusting her hood. “[color=honeydew]Or go for a bar crawl.[/color]” Shrugging she pushed away from the wall. “[color=honeydew]We’ll find another way out.[/color]”