Addison rose from sitting, her mouth agape with slight shock, the despair that had been eating at her seemed to have all but gone now. With everything that had happened, it had been a long week but the row of supers in front of her had now made it worthwhile, hell - she barely even felt that chill that had been gnawing her for the last six hours. All that was there now, was the hope she’d been reaching out for. 

Ever the optimist, it didn’t occur to her that any of them might have had ulterior motives. They were [i]here[/i]. 

The brunette eyed each of them individually - the woman that she recognised as Stardust. Older now, obviously, but she still carried a powerful presence with her. Then a gentleman with facial tattoos, in a suit of some kind - Arbiter. He was only human, yes? She thought about it some - glancing down at her own armour, or lack thereof… They were not so different. The Tower was here too, a man that sounded so heavy and his name did speak volumes about him. He was frightening in his approach, but his words were mellow and calmed down her racing heartbeat. He spoke with doubt, or disbelief - but not with malice.

Did she know what she was doing? Perhaps not. In fact, the more she thought on his words, the more out of her depth she felt. She’d gathered these people here and they’d answered her call. But what now? What was next? The cold chill met her once more as she continued sizing them up. Avant Garde was here, she remembered him - she knew that he was wanted for, of all things, vandalism. She gave an out of character giggle at that, a mixture of nerves and incredulousness at the ridiculousness of it. She’d put out a call to supers, not knowing the history they might have with each other too - and she observed that some were already having reunions of their own. 

Biomancer, Spellbound. The latter being more on the intimidating side than Addison would have liked from whomever joined her and answered her message. Where was Captain Rainbow? That said, the woman [i]had[/i] answered. She was here, and she was going to help. Biomancer, on the other hand… If there were any in the group she wanted to keep an eye on more than others, it was him. She’d had access to Hex’s files… She knew what Hex thought of each of these people, and Biomancer and Spellbound were both featured in his logs quite heavily. As was The Tower, as were Avant Garde and Stardust. Arbiter? Not so much, but enough.

Finally, after they had all addressed each other, and their energies had wound down, Addison spoke. It had been hard to find words, but she did eventually - clearing her throat, the cough reverberating around the warehouse. “Thank you for coming.”

They were expecting her to be every bit the Special Agent she said she was, that she was, and it took several thoughts and internal affirmations before she stood up straight. They had powers and abilities that she did not, and admittedly it was difficult to stand and hold herself confidently amongst them. 

“If you’re here, it’s because you got my message concerning Mr. Moore, about your colleague Hex,” Addison began, hands held in front of her. “He was found not long ago, in his apartment. My department wrote this off as being a suicide or accidental overdose - just a normal death… Just another fucking tragedy of Cedar Fort to be forgotten tomorrow” She sighed, bringing a hand to her face - her features sharp, bags under her eyes. “I know it wasn’t. This [i]wasn’t[/i] an accident. I believe he was murdered by the being, or by an associate of the being he wrote about in his journals… [b]Reality Bringer[/b] Hell, I even think he knew I was going to find him. There’s a lot that he knew.” She stepped back towards her chair, towards the box she’d brought in.

“I… I didn’t tell anyone about his identity. As far as the force in Cedar Fort are concerned - it was a damn overdose of a nobody. I’m under the radar right now myself,” she explained, taking the lid off the box. She’d expected more help, it occurred to her as she looked inside. “I… These are for you all, so we can stay in touch now.” Addison took out six small devices, no bigger than the palm of her hand. Ancient little remnants of technology for decades gone by. Pagers. She readied herself for the laughter, the disbelief. But these were, surprisingly, some of the safest technology now. Completely outdated and used by so few people, on a network that wasn’t looked at. It was like hiding in plain sight. “I know, it’s… old stuff - but hey, kind of vintage?” she shrugged, passing them around. As she handed each super the equipment she realised that this was [i]really[/i] happening. 

“I think that Hex was trying to stop the Reality Bringer, from his journals I learned that he was in New Mexico only five days before his death…” Her voice trailed off, and she scratched the back of her neck. “We need to go too, retrace his steps. Something happened there. You’re all here because Hex meant something to you at some point, and maybe you want to find out what happened to him -- maybe you’re just here to finish off his work. All I know is, Cedar Fort is about to be swallowed whole by something huge, and I’m the only one in the force who gives a shit now… I can’t do this alone.”

Her brown eyes scanned the small crowd of assembled heroes, and for the first time she smiled. “What do you guys say?”