[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/200403/86a03f169e5f776a56136c9464b0a41f.png[/img]

Blake smiled with glee as Rumi got suited up. It honestly was something straight out of Iron Man, or Batman, or one of those heroes that don't have powers but use money to build fancy suits. He watched as Rumi picked out a selection of gadgets, attaching them to his fancy suit, before finally giving the go-ahead. Blake didn't have to be told twice as he bounded out of Rumi's epic Batcave over to the car. [color=CC5500]"This is going to be so much fun, and I'm going to get paid [i]so much.[/i]"[/color] He smiled as he opened the back door of Jamie's mostly-destroyed car, waiting for Rumi to enter. [color=CC5500]"Alright, Jamester. Let's get rolling. It's time to hunt down some mobsters."[/color] He then turned to Rumi, leaning in to whisper, [color=CC5500]"Buckle up and hold the hell onto your seatbelt. And anything valuable."[/color] He then smiled at the rearview mirror, giving Jamie a thumbs up. [color=CC5500]"Let's go!"[/color]

After what Blake would describe as a [color=CC5500]"long, unsettling, and probably life-threatening"[/color] ride, they arrived at Sam's Fish Market. Blake stepped out of the vehicle to observe. To be frank, Jamie's beaten-down, battered car wasn't out of place at all at the fish market. The place had a sort of weathered look to it, with the dock being made out of old, splintering wood, the vendors tiredly selling fish in their beaten-up wood stalls, and overall a fairly dreary atmosphere present. Blake walked around as he looked for their target. The fish market was intriguing (and smelled terrible), but their target was a warehouse, which was where the beacon was linked to. After a few moments of walking, Blake found their target. Adjacent to the market was a large warehouse titled "SFM WAREHOUSE." The large, rectangular building was coated in chipped white paint and had a very small amount of foot traffic going in and out, but what stood out about the building was a large satellite dish and a jumble of wiring perched on top of the building. Blake might not have been a genius (very far from it, actually), but he was smart enough to know when something was out of place.

[color=CC5500]"Why would a fish market..."[/color] he said, pointing up at the massive satellite and speaking to the two of them (though mostly to Rumi), [color=CC5500]"...need a giant satellite? If not to do some sort of lizard control."[/color] He smiled proudly at his accomplishment as he folded his arms, looking the building up and down. [color=CC5500]"Alright, I have a plan."[/color] Blake walked over to the back door of the warehouse, which was right along the waterside and was protected by one man wearing a black overcoat and a fedora. Blake had seen enough movies to know that this type of person was probably evil, so he wound up his fist and promptly socked the man in the face hard. Of course, the man was not expecting to get charge-punched by a random redhead, and so he was out cold on the floor in seconds. Blake waved over his friends as he slammed open the back door. He walked into the room, which was a large fish freezer. His powers instantly kicking on, heat began to pour from his body as he looked around. Everything seemed pretty normal until he saw two rifles trained on him, wielded by two men in similar get-ups as the now-unconscious security guard. 

"Don't move, hero," one of the men sneered, levering his rifle at Blake.

[color=CC5500]"Hero?"[/color] Blake looked around, hoping his two companions weren't too far behind. [color=CC5500]"Me? Hero? Ridiculous. I'm just a...fish freezer inspector! With the Department of Frozen Fish! Just checking out your frozen fish! Making sure it's...frozen enough!"[/color] He tapped on one of the freezing racks of salmon. [color=CC5500]"Mmm, looks pretty frozen to me!"[/color]

The guard sighed. Why did he always have to deal with the lunatics?

[@canaryrose][@Scarifar][hr][hr]
[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/200427/12e716eb3fcde6923781cf99dc1a0a73.png[/img]

As Tom KO'd his assigned thug, putting a dent in the ceiling of what Grace was hoping was a rental car, Grace knelt down, tracing her finger across the packed dirt ground. As she did so, the ground slowly turned into a shimmering violet purple, expanding outwards as Grace traced further along. After Grace had traced out an oval about the size of a desk, she moved over, dragging the unconscious goons one-by-one into the portal. After all 3 were deposited, she snapped, and the portal sealed itself shut. When the three awoke, they would find themselves laying in the middle of a woman's bathroom in a random Chick-Fil-A in New Athens, likely surrounded by the police. If they were lucky, they would be able to get a couple chicken sandwiches to-go before heading off to jail. 

Grace nodded curtly as she looked up back at the mansion. [color=DarkOrchid]"Alright, I think I found a good location for us to get in,"[/color] she said, pointing at what appeared to be a small gardening shed in the right corner of the property with a dinky, dirty window on the side. She examined the area. [color=DarkOrchid]"Alright, there shouldn't be any guards in there, or really around that area, so we should be all clear. Still, give me a few seconds through so I can give the all-clear. Just in case. If I walk through and you hear me scream or get shot, don't go through. Got it?"[/color] Without waiting for a response (it was a pretty simple question), Grace made a brisk downward slicing open with her finger, opening a large, person-sized shimmering portal in front of her. She took a deep breath and jumped through.

She emerged through the other side in a small, cramped gardening shed. She took a couple deep breaths as she observed her surroundings. No guards, and she was not fused with a shovel or anything. Good. She returned to the portal, sticking her head into it. On the other hand. Grace's disembodied, fedora'd head peeked through. [color=DarkOrchid]"All good!"[/color] she said, giving the thumbs up before retreating her head back. She then crept over to the wooden door of the shed, slowly opening it, and upon seeing the entire area fairly empty [color=DarkOrchid]("well, that's lucky"),[/color] she walked out. She turned back to her companions, either ignorant or unsympathetic to the fact they were likely experiencing a good bout of nausea from the portal travel. [color=DarkOrchid]"Let's get a move on. We have a meeting to catch."[/color]

[@Danvers][@KaijuBaragon]
[hr][hr]
[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/200511/f9150e8a368396e14ddf022a1c96d35d.png[/img]

Kat giggled as she moved over towards the head of the table, taking a seat there. [color=Crimson]"Enjoy the show,"[/color] she said to the two girls with a peppy smile before she moved to the end of the table, taking a seat near the large, empty leather chair that was likely reserved for Vinnie.

Not long later, three figures emerged at the end of the hallway. One of them was a short, grisly, belabored-looking man with a scarred face and a tough, beefed-up build. The other was his polar opposite, a tall man with a gorgeous sculpted face, lovely curly brown locks of hair, and the thin but filled-out form of a Greek god. Lastly, the third man walked in, the man of the hour, that everybody in the room could easily identify as the macabre look of Vinnie Gugliano, which made the other two men his sons. The two sons made their way to the table first, Sal (the ugly, battle-scarred one) sitting close to Kat while Tommy (the easy-to-look-at one) moved over to the two girls, taking a seat next to Angelica. He turned to look at her. "If I may," he said quietly with a dapper smile as he sat down. "I'm sure this isn't the right time, of course, with the meeting about to start and everything, and with such a lovely lady like you probably being taken and all, but if you ever want to call..." He slid a business card with his number on it towards her, giving her a cheesy but seductive wink, before returning his attention over to his father as he made his way to the table.

Vinnie sat down on the leather table, hitting the table with an open palm a few times to get attention. [color=gray]"Listen up! Listen up! I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called you all here today. Some of my top tier hitmen, assassins, smugglers, spies, drugrunners, gunhands, fixers, lawyers, accountants, bookkeepers, and all that. Well, I have nothing but appreciation for your loyalty through all these years. I'd like to announce that there have been some major changes. The organization has gotten a massive donation from...well, I won't say [i]who,[/i] but I will say it's a very generous gift. So, for starters, you're all getting raises."[/color] He grinned, looking over at the crowd, most of whom were obviously very happy with this revelation. [color=gray]"I'd also like to announce a new goal for the organization. For a while, we've been busy doing drugs, guns, that type of stuff. All that will continue, of course, under my son's watchful eyes. But I want to take a moment for each and every one of you to think. What's the biggest pain in your ass that you've ever had to encounter in your life of crime?"[/color] He paused for a moment, allowing them all to mull it over. [color=gray]"I bet just about every single one of you thought about [i]heroes.[/i] How [i]heroes[/i] always get in the way, how [i]heroes[/i] always mess everything up, how [i]heroes[/i] are the worst thing to ever happen to the common crook. Well, not anymore. With some help from our new benefactors, this organization is no longer just a classic mafia group. We're now an alliance. An alliance dedicated to getting each and every hero off the street, and sent over to our new pals, who have much better uses for them. In fact..."[/color] Vinnie smiled, showing rows of square, tombstone-like teeth. [color=gray]"We got a hero here for all of you today! Boys, bring 'im in!"[/color]

The two goons hauled in poor Will, bringing him around the table to the jeers of the entire table. Will was brought over in the Walk of Shame to the other end of the table, where Vinnie Gugliano stood to "greet" him. [color=gray]"Well, hello there, hero!"[/color] Vinnie chuckled. [color=gray]"You look hungry! Would you like something to eat?"[/color] This was not a question, as Vinnie stood, grabbing the hero by the back of the collar and slamming him towards the table, into a bowl of grapes, smashing the grapes across his face and sending grace juice flying everywhere. . Most of the table cheered, with Kat giggling hysterically, though Tommy seemed quite uncomfortable, muttering something about "barbarism" under his breath. 

Vinnie laughed as he kept Will's face pinned in the splattered grapes. [color=gray]"We're going to take heroes off the street and turn the Gugliano family into the Gugliano empire! And let this be a warning to any heroes, or, God Forbid, any moles that have snuck their way into this meeting.. If, and [b]when,[/b] we find you, we will show you just how powerful the Gugliano family is."[/color]

[@Infinite Cosmos][@canaryrose][@Amethyst]
[hr][hr]
[/center]