[center][h2]St. Petersburg, Russia[/h2]
[sub]8:04 PM
Летний замок
"Summer Castle"
[/sub]

Meanwhile, across the planet, in a beautiful palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, a man was currently sitting in a dining room. He was middle aged, with clear age in his face and pale, gold eyes, and he was somewhat handsome in an almost rugged way. He had a gaunt but handsome face, with a devilish cheek scar, and he had long locks of raven-black hair that fell to nearly his shoulders, with a matching full beard. He was wearing what he would call his costume, but really wasn't much of a costume at all, and was more of an elaborate formal attire, with a velvet three-piece suit, black slacks, a white cravat, and a heavy necklace with a gold chain and ruby core. Draped around his shoulders was a black cape with red fringes, tattered at the edge. His eyes showed experience in them, with a deep, sickly gold color that looked very much unnatural and even more so unsettling. 

His royal-ish appearance was further enhanced by his surroundings- he was currently sitting in a very elaborate dining room at the end of a long, equally elaborate dining table, etched with various depictions of the world being destroyed. In front of him was a large bowl of thick red [i]borshch.[/i] He held a golden spoon in his hand, and was just finishing up his meal, when a man entered the room. He was elderly, with combed gray hair an spectacles, dressed in a tuxedo, and he spoke with a curt British accent. "Sir, you have a call from Sir Paradox."

[color=FireBrick]"Put him on the line,"[/color] the man at the table said to his butler, who nodded. "Immediately." The butler walked out before returning moments later with a black device, which he placed on the table in front of the man, next to his bowl of hot borshch. As the butler exited the room,  the device projected a green holographic screen into the air in front of the man.

[color=20C20E]"Commander Zero. I hope this isn't a bad time."[/color]

[color=FireBrick]"Provided this is important news, it is never a bad time. I presume this is on the status of the Gugliano venture?"[/color]

[color=20C20E]"Astute as always, sir. It seems the Guglianos have captured another HERO, according to their most recent reports. Apparently, she was trying to rescue another hero currently in captivity, but failed."[/color]

[color=FireBrick]"Interesting, interesting. Well, the more, the merrier."[/color] He took another spoonful of borshch. [color=FireBrick]"Do the Guglianos know who these heroes are?[/color]

[color=20C20E]"Not a clue. But it's been a simple matter for me to download their surveillance footage and run it through a facial recognition database. The girl is Static, or Brianna Hart. Young hero, maybe a year in?"[/color]

The Commander looked up at the ceiling, in thought, as he pushed his bowl of borshch aside and began to snack on a lovely roasted leg of lamb. [color=FireBrick]"Never heard of her. Unlike Hugo to put a pawn like her up first when he has much stronger pieces up his sleeves for sure..."[/color]

[color=20C20E]"Indeed. The Guglianos don't know it, yet, but I've located two other heroes using the facial recognition software. Codenames Wish and Aria, or Angelica Alexander and Patricia Donnelly."[/color]

He continued to chew. [color=FireBrick]"That first girl seems like another no-name, but Donnelly..."[/color] He swallowed his food before chuckling. [color=FireBrick]"If she's grown up anything like her father, her powers might be effective for undercover operations. Speaking of fathers, how's my little angel doing?"[/color]

[color=20C20E]"Malady is currently present in the same room with them. She incapacitated Static a few moments ago."[/color]

[color=FireBrick]"She's grown up so fast,"[/color] the Commander reminisced, before returning his attention to the glowing green screen. [color=FireBrick]"I imagine you won't be disclosing any of this to the Gugliano family? Yet, at least?"[/color]

[color=20C20E]"No...I enjoy watching Vincent Gugliano suffer."[/color]

[color=FireBrick]"As do I, sometimes. But if the operation is put in jeopardy, make sure to shut them down. The Gugliano mission is not a priority for us, but every hero we can get in this phase of our plan is helpful towards our end goal."[/color]

[color=20C20E]"Can do, sir. And one last thing? Assassins are en-route to the palace."[/color]

The Commander chuckled as he stood, slicing the empty bowl, bare plate, and single leg bone forwards. [color=FireBrick]"Oh, Paradox. Such a spoiler. It would have been infinitely more interesting had I not known in advance. Well, Godspeed, Paradox."[/color] 

[color=20C20E]"And to you,"[/color] he responded, before hanging up.

Commander Zero strolled towards the large wooden doors that led outside the Dining Room. He pushed them open, looking out into the corridor. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking down at the floor. [color=FireBrick]"Whoever you are, I can hear you in the air vents. Come out and face me like a man."[/color]

As if on cue, the air vent in the corridor smashed open, and a man jumped out. He was in all black, a hood over his head and a mask on his face. He landed on the floor, ice crystallizing around his landing point, before he turned to face the Commander, a sword of ice forming in his hands. Zero seemed utterly disappointed as two more heroes dropped down from the vents in the dining room- a tall girl with a blonde ponytail and green eyes and a bald man with thick stubble and a bulletproof vest that was wielding an assault rifle. Commander Zero shook his head. [color=FireBrick]"This is truly, truly sad. This is the best you could come up with? Pathetic."[/color] As he spoke, around his body, a strange fog, almost like clouds, began to form, spreading out among the room quickly as he sighed in disappointment. [color=FireBrick]"I would have thought MOSCOW had better hero assassins at their disposal instead of you Three Stooges. Truly shows how far ICOSA has fallen, no?"[/color]

The ice sword hero pointed his sword at the Commander before thrusting towards him at high speeds. Without blinking an eye, Commander Zero raised his hand and blasted the ice sword hero with a blast of lightning, sending him flying down the corridor, smoke rising from his body, until he stopped, lying unconscious on the ground down the hallway. Commander Zero turned around to the other two flabbergasted heroes. [color=FireBrick]"Next victims?”[/color]

Eventually, the woman hero decided that she would act, charging at Commander Zero, fists raised, but with a simple swipe of his hand a strong gust of wind carried her across the room into the wall (very hard). The other hero raised his gun but was promptly shocked by a beam of lightning, sending him crashing into the table. Commander Zero shook his head. [color=FireBrick]"One of these days, I long for a true challenge again. Reinhardt, clean this up,”[/color] he called to his butler, before walking back to the corridor again, raising his nose as he glanced down the way.

[color=FireBrick]"I’m going for a quick stroll. By the time I return, I expect a nice glass of Bordeaux waiting for me.”[/color]

[hr][hr]
[/center]