[center][img] https://i.imgur.com/2cVYNXa.png [/img][/center] [center][img] https://i.imgur.com/pzWrnNW.png?1 [/img][/center] [h1][i][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5168019]Previously…[/url][/i][/h1] [hider][indent][indent][indent]Alan Coghlan walked to his kitchen and took down a cup from a cupboard at head-level, filled it with filtered tap water from a tap and downed his day’s worth of pills. He walked over to the living room and turned the television on to the news. He sat down in his own recliner, separate from the sofa. [color=darkgoldenrod][b]DING[/b][/color][color=goldenrod][b]-DONG![/b][/color] Isn’t that always the way? With some effort he got to his feet and, shuffling at first, he made his way to the front door. [color=darkgoldenrod][b]DING[/b][/color][color=goldenrod][b]-DONG![/b][/color] [color=DarkGoldenRod]“Alright. I’m coming! I’m coming! Hold on!”[/color] He opened the door and found himself inches away from him. Of course it was him. That man in black. Complete with balaklava in the middle of the brightest part of the day. [b]“Are you going to let me in, or am I going to pick you up by your lapels and carry you inside for this talk, old man?”[/b] Alan sighed and looked both ways down the street. [color=DarkGoldenRod]“I suppose I’d better let you in then…”[/color] Alan Coghlan seemed to age another ten years in that moment, he shuffled back to let the masked Vigilante into his home and the pair went into his lounge room. [b]“Where’s the other? I don’t want any surprises.”[/b] [color=DarkGoldenRod]“He lives out the back. But it’s too early yet. He doesn’t generally wake up until 10.”[/color] [color=gold]“So Grampa, the city has this-- Oh, Hi.”[/color] Isaac raised his eyebrows at the old man with skepticism. [b]“Alright. You can sit down next to your grandfather. He’s got a story to tell us.”[/b] [color=DarkGoldenRod]“No. He doesn’t.”[/color] Alan said stubbornly. His resolve returning. Not like this. The Vigilante’s eyes steeled. He checked the layout of the house. The old geezer seemed willing to talk, just not in front of the kid. The kitchen was isolated from the rest of the house. [b]“Change of plan. Your grandfather could probably do with a cup of tea--”[/b] [color=gold]“He doesn’t drink tea. He drinks coffee.”[/color] The younger man stood his ground and crossed his arms obstinately. Dennis didn't care for how this man had walked into his home and started barking orders, but he also didn't exactly understand the situation. Isaac’s brow furrowed. Even Alan was close to snapping at his grandson in frustration. But gathered himself. [b]“Coffee, then.”[/b] Isaac spat between gritted teeth. [color=DarkGoldenRod]“Dennis, please. I’ll be alright.”[/color] Dennis walked out into the kitchen to get to work on coffee, but not without giving the man in black a glare. As soon as his grandson left the old man uttered [color=DarkGoldenRod]“Thank you.”[/color] [b]“Don’t thank me. You have as long as it takes water to boil to tell me why in the Hell I saw an old former hero associating with the known terrorists behind the Pax Metahumana bombings. So you’d better make it good.”[/b] Isaac sat in a red velvet antique chair that gave him the angle on both the kitchen and the old man. He leaned forwards onto his haunches so his face was inches away. He wanted to be close enough to read every tick, every involuntary wrinkle, any possible attempt at deception crossing the old man’s face. [color=DarkGoldenRod]“Well… it all started in the [b]winter of 1929…[/b]”[/color][/indent][/indent][/indent] [/hider] [hr] The old man’s story completed; the pair sat there in silent contemplation. [b]“So that’s it?”[/b] The man in black asked. The long tale of alien artefacts, heroes and villains, death and domestic terrorism seemingly not enough for him. [b]“That all of it?”[/b] [color=goldenrod]“That’s the all of it.”[/color] The old former hero confirmed. [color=yellow][b]“AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAARGH!”[/b][/color] Dennis charged around the corner from the kitchen brandishing the Golden Rod, levelling it at their uninvited guest. [b]“Hmph… Pointing a weapon at me. [sub]If only that had occurred to all of those other violent sociopaths who have wanted to get rid of me over the years…[/sub]”[/b] The Vigilante dripped with sarcasm. [color=yellow][b]“I don’t care what he did! Or what crazy made up bullshit he told you! You’re not taking him! I’ll drop you where you stand! --Sit! --I’ll put you down on the place where you are!”[/b][/color] Dennis fumbled over his threats, his grandpa’s eyes almost rolled to the floor. [b]“You’re not going to shoot me.”[/b] The Vigilante uttered plainly, with a completely level tone and not moving an inch. [color=yellow][b]“Yes, I will!”[/b][/color] [b]“No. You won’t.”[/b] He gave a clipped reply, his confident tone still not wavering at all. [b]“You’re more likely to shoot your grandfather or yourself than me. But you’re not going to do that either.”[/b] [color=yellow][b]“Why? Give me one reason! I’ll—”[/b][/color] [b]“I’ll give you three.”[/b] He turned to glance at the older hero to ensure he wasn’t making any kind of move, before returning his line of sight to the younger man wielding the powerful energy weapon. [b]“Reason one, because you don’t even know if that thing can work on me. There’s a reason it didn’t prevent your identity from being revealed to me. Magic gets kind of—hinky—around me. Even alien magic, as it turns out. As far as you know, all firing that thing at me at me will accomplish is pissing me off. Which is reason 1b… or two, if you’re not counting along yourself…”[/b] The Vigilante got to his feet and started to take the inexperienced hero’s space, still talking rapidly and keeping him off balance. [b]“…Two, you really don’t want to piss me off. I’m not some two bit street thug, bank robber or random hellspawn demon. You’re trapped in an enclosed space with me – which incidentally is part of 1c or three if you’re still not following – and I assure you, no matter what kind of training ‘Gramps’ over there gave you…”[/b] [color=yellow][b]“Hey… Hey, watch it... Move back now…”[/b][/color] Dennis feebly countered, but the Vigilante was in full swing. It wasn't going to happen, even unarmed, the experienced vigilante was already in the process of taking full control of the situation. [b]“…no matter how hard he worked you. You’ve never seen anyone move like me.”[/b] His brow dropped into a scowl, and he was smiling a wide leer at the younger man. [b]“Which takes us to three, you’re standing in close quarters. In your grandfather’s house. You fire that thing off in here and take out a load bearing wall, you’re liable to bring the damn roof down on ol’ Pops… and I can’t have that. Because I came here for the truth and he’s been giving that to me, and still has some to go. And since you’re being so polite and letting me talk, I’ll throw in a fourth reason for free...”[/b] [color=yellow][b]“Wha—”[/b][/color] [b]“--Because you’re not holding the damn thing anymore!”[/b] The Vigilante looped a length of material - the couch protector from the chair he’d previously been sitting in - around the younger man’s wrist, and with a single flourish ripped the Golden Rod out of his grasp, and tossed the device along with the balled up material into the corner of the room. Dennis watched the Golden Rod fly out of his grasp in horror. [color=goldenrod]“Well, I’ve seen enough.”[/color] Said the old man from his chair. [color=goldenrod]“You took it from him. Far as I’m concerned, you should keep it.”[/color] Dennis looked aghast, unable to even formulate words. He ran out the back door to his own place. The Vigilante turned to hold out a hand to stop the younger man, but he was already gone, so he turned back to the older man. He pulled his balaklava off of the bridge of his nose in frustration. This family was stress and anxiety given human form. [b]“I can’t. That wasn’t just some bullshit line. The same reason it didn’t keep your identity safe from me is the same reason I probably wouldn’t be able to get it to work. Far as I can tell it works from a combination of alien technology and alien magic.”[/b] He explained. [color=goldenrod]“Oh…”[/color] Was all the older man was able to muster as a reply. They both looked to the door the younger Aquilifer had left through. [b]“That’s really all you were left to work with?”[/b] The Vigilante growled. [color=goldenrod]“Yep.”[/color] Alan Coghlan responded with deep resignation. The old man clearly very economic with his words. [b]“I guess we’re lucky you didn’t gift-wrap those Pax Metahumana nutbags an entire meta-nuke arsenal to carpetbomb the whole fucking world…”[/b] [hr] The Vigilante shuffled through discarded beer cans, this time in someone else’s house. It wasn’t as pleasant a change as you might think. [COLOR=YELLOW][B]“Look… just… Leave me alone for now.”[/b][/color] Came a low mumbling. [color=yellow][b]“I’m fine. Just not at the mo-- Oh. It’s you.”[/b][/color] [b]“It’s me.”[/b] The Vigilante confirmed. [COLOR=YELLOW][B]“What? Come to kick me out and take my home too, huh?”[/b][/color] Came the sullen response. [b]“Well, the place has got a Hell of a view from the back stoop…[/b] He pointed to the back door which still hung directly over the cliff face, overlooking much of Lost Haven. The younger man turned to snap at him with a heavy scowl crossing his face. [b]“--I was joking.”[/b] The flat monotone from the voice modulator gave away nothing. [color=yellow][b]“You didn’t seem like the kind to joke around.[/b][/color] [b]“Yeah, well… The moment seemed to call for it.”[/b] The pair sat in uncomfortable silence for several seconds. Birds tweeted in the bright light of day from outside of Dennis’ place. [b]“I’m not taking the thing from you. I wasn’t lying about my deal with magic. I almost certainly wouldn’t be able to get the thing to work-- Hell, if the thing wouldn’t immediately break if I even trie--”[/b] [color=yellow][b]“That’s not the point though, is it? He doesn’t even know you. Hell, he doesn’t even trust the hero-types who dress themselves all in black. I’ve heard him say stuff about you before...”[/b][/color] The Vigilante raised his brow behind the mask in moderate surprise. [color=yellow][b]“...when you were on the TV.”[/b][/color] Isaac remembered the regrettable public display he made during D-Day, and the press van which had been filming him and grunted his distaste at the memory. [color=yellow][b]“But it's not even just that. He knows you five seconds, someone he previously distrusts, and immediately hands it over to you. Without even asking. I try to keep you from hauling him off to prison for... whatever he’s supposedly done--”[/b][/color] [b]“Aiding and abetting terrorists.”[/b] The Vigilante flatly replied. [color=yellow][b]“--aiding and abetting terrorists.[/b][/color] Dennis gestured at the Vigilante for his answer. [color=yellow][b]“And he gives some ridiculous story that’s obviously never going to believed by anybody--[/b][/color] [b]“Actually, it's the truth.”[/b] [color=yellow][b]“--that’s actually the truth and was completely believed by you… Wait, what?”[/b][/color] [b]“Your grandfather was telling the truth. At least as far as I can tell… But that sounds like something for the pair of you to work out between yourselves later. He was definitely keeping that from you. Regardless how it affects the pair of you, I don’t plan on hauling him off to prison… there’s too much to prepare for, now that we know these aliens are coming to invade.”[/b] Dennis’ eyes glazed over. [color=yellow][b]“I’m sorry… How much money are you expecting to receive back from Nigerian royalty? You believe his story? I don’t even believe his story. You believe in aliens???”[/b][/color] [b]“I believe in [u]THESE[/u] aliens, yes.”[/b] [color=yellow][b]“Oh-kaaaay. Well then, I guess I’m sorry I was pointing the Golden Rod at you then.”[/b][/color] [b]“It’s OK. You weren’t going to shoot me.”[/b] Dennis scowled at the other arrogant hero. [color=yellow][b][sub]“So you said…”[/sub][/b][/color] He muttered. [b]“And as for your grandfather trying to give me your gig, I wouldn’t worry too much about that either. You’re thinking about that all wrong.”[/b] [color=yellow][b]“Oh I am, am I?”[/b][/color] [b]“You’re thinking of it as a gift, which he bestows on people. That’s not how he’s thinking about it. He’s thinking about it like… I don’t know? A responsibility? A debt? It’s hard to put into words. He’s taken out a mortgage on the whole world, and it's coming up time to pay the piper.”[/b] Dennis looked at him blankly. He didn’t care for how familiar this man seemed to already view himself as being with his family’s dynamics, but as he spoke about the weight of debt, this man almost seemed to be coming from an empathic place - one where he felt he could actually relate. [b]“Your brother actually wanted this life, didn’t he? Same with the other guy.”[/b] Dennis sat in total introspection and an answer fell from his lips almost involuntarily as he followed the Vigilante’s logic. [color=yellow][b]“Yeah…”[/b][/color] [b]“So he’s already lost one grandson who actually [u]WANTED[/u] to be part of this lifestyle. Now he’s had to thrust it on his [u]OTHER GRANDSON[/u] who never asked for it, right when these aliens are about to ‘close the deal’. Aliens who he has seen and experienced obliterate [u]EVERY[/u] opposing force they’ve ever stood against. And you’re going to blame him if he tries to throw it at someone else he sees as possibly being capable of doing the job who happens to show up at the 11th hour?”[/b] Dennis wasn’t sure, so he sat in silence. [b]“Let me ask you this… Have you made it clear lately that you actually want this? Or are you just mad that he’d give something you feel you’re owed away without even asking?”[/b][/color] Dennis thought about this as well. The pair sat and shared another extended awkward silence. [color=yellow][b]“I think I had better have a long discussion with the old man…[/b][/color] [b]“I think you had.”[/b] The Vigilante stood up, his feet dropping back through the metal detritus that covered the younger man’s floor. He turned and gave Dennis a disappointed look through the balaklava, the kind he normally got from his grandfather. [COLOR=YELLOW][B]“They’re not all from now… I’d actually stopped drinking.”[/b][/color] The younger man promised. [b]”Is that supposed to be better?”[/b] The older hero asked, wading through a sea of metal cans. [COLOR=YELLOW][B]“Isn’t it..?”[/b][/color] [hr] The Vigilante started to walk back down the driveway, contemplating the meaning of everything he’d learned on this day and how best to respond to the new information, when he was met once more by the older man scurrying to see him one last time before he left. [color=goldenrod]“Wait… wait…”[/color] The old man hissed hoarsely. [b]“What is it?”[/b] The old man presented a box, and gestured for the Vigilante to keep his voice down. [color=goldenrod][sub]“I know what you said about the Rod and magic, but I can still give you something to help. Just don’t use them publicly until… you-know-when. The Golden Rod, it sends back intel, you see?[/sub][/color] The Vigilante opened the box and saw a pair of metal… things. He didn’t know what he was looking at or even how to describe them. He furrowed his brow. [b]“What are these?”[/b] He tried to whisper, his voice still coming through the modulator uncomfortably loud. [color=goldenrod][sub]“They’re Gravity gauntlets. I’ve been reverse-engineering the technology of the Golden Rod for years. Whilst the Rod presumably is powered initially by some kind of alien magic combined with their tech, these are battery powered.[/sub][/color] The Vigilante opened the box again and saw how they’d be able to fit over his gloves. [b]“Ah.”[/b] [color=goldenrod][sub]“They’re currently pre-set to 10x regular G-force, but they’re adjustable. Hit the button as you’re throwing a punch or throwing something and it artificially affects the mass being thrown. If you press the button just normally, it’ll just feel like you’re carrying something heavy. Be careful though, it’s easy to hurt yourself… separate your shoulder.”[/sub][/color] [b] “Speaking from experience?”[/b] [color=goldenrod]“Well, I wasn’t as young as I used to be...[/color] [b]“Hmm… Well, I gotta go. It looks like you’ve got something else painful to sort out, out back.[/b] He thumbed back at Dennis’ house behind the main home. [b]“Or you’re going to have separated something else.”[/b] The pair parted ways, with the old man's head cowed at the thought of the task ahead.