[u][b]Keystone City, United States, Earth
Jan 1st, 2020 - United States of America[/b][/u][hr]

[color=orange]"Bit fancy for a meetin' to make friends ain't it?"[/color] The man spoke, looking around the rather stark office he found himself standing within. Of course, none of this was particularly [i]bad[/i]. After all, powerful friends like these were how you moved up in the world. With that, he found himself rather surprised when he looked across the table and could only see... a figure. The man who had scheduled this meeting with him sat there, dressed in a suit much like any of those billionaires one might see on tv, yet it was impossible to discern his features. Still, in the world they lived in after that damned explosion, he couldn't really find himself being surprised by such oddities. [color=8dc73f]"Some might say that, Mr. Cutlip. Though those same people would also find their friendships lacking. After all, giving people like you a glimpse of what we can achieve together, that's how you make friends, wouldn't you agree?"[/color] He asked, with a tone that one could practically hear the predatory smile upon his features, even if you couldn't make it out. Reaching out, the man picked up a glass with a very familiar brown liquid inside and swirled the liquid once before bringing it to his obscured features and taking a long drink. [color=8dc73f]"Take a seat, Mr. Cutlip. You strike me as somebody would like to do business rather than sit here and exchange pleasantries all day."[/color] The man said, his tone suddenly slipping into a more professional and emotionless tone. Without waiting for the gangster he had invited into his office to respond, the man once more began to speak. 

[color=8dc73f]"I'm sure you've noticed, times are changing out there. With the explosion creating metahumans, those metahumans then causing such... disruption in society, then to flying women foiling bank robberies."[/color] He began, chuckling a little at the visible recoil from the gangster across the desk from him at that last comment. [color=8dc73f]"When times change, the strong adapt to this new world and thrive, while the weak die. You, my friend, strike me as somebody who stands among the strong."[/color] He said with that predatory tone once more making its way forward. [color=8dc73f]"Despite all the fear your... kind have been feeling. The pressure from those sudden deaths in your... frankly criminal endeavors. Despite all of those in your circle being killed of by some strange force, you still had the strength to strikeout. I can respect that.[/color] The man said, pausing to admire the way his praise washed over the other man like a wave, and visibly made him more receptive. [i][color=8dc73f]Excellent.[/color][/i] He thought to himself as he reached up and pressed a button on his desk. Behind them, a panel in office walls started to pull away, revealing a screen behind it that lay dormant for the moment. Though before attention could be drawn to the screen, the obscured man once more began to speak. [color=8dc73f]"However, I think you won't survive this transition. Your gang is small, and while skilled, you lack the manpower or the hardware to hold on in these changing times. Certainly with self-righteous metals like [i]Sol[/i] flying around so suddenly. Quite frankly, I think you and yours will be smashed like a bug under her boot."[/color] He said firmly, moving then to hold up a finger and silence the comments coming from the enraged gangster's mouth. His mere presence in the office enough to silence the man, despite Cutlip's tendency to back down to no others.

[color=8dc73f]"That's why I am here, Mr. Cutlip. I can offer you a way through this storm, a way that will see you and yours coming out on top of whatever state this transition leaves us in. I want to help you, Mr. Cutlip, because I believe you are among the strong and have what it takes to survive in this new climate."[/color] The man said, finally pausing to let the gangster respond, though he already knew what the response was very likely going to be. People such as Cutlip had a hungering thirst for power, and even hinting that you could give them that very power was enough to leave them foaming at the mouth. To bring them closer to eating out of your hand. As he finished these thoughts, the gangster's reply came rather quickly. [color=orange]"An' how do I know you can even give me this power of yours, or that I need it?"[/color] Came the gruff reply, despite the fact that the body language very clearly betrayed that he was interested in the offer. [color=8dc73f]"Good question. How about I show you what I can offer?"[/color] The mysterious man replied, gesturing towards the screen behind them as it flickered suddenly to life. Displaying a scene inside of what appeared to be a garage where one of the local triads was having some sort of meeting.

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[color=#FFB6C1]”Breakfast sounds great, Mal. What are we going to ha-"[/color] The girl said, trying to wear as much of a smile on her features as she could, for her newly alive-again friend. Though she was cut off mid-sentence by an eruption of sound to her rather sensitive ears. Sounds which likely weren't picked up by her present company, as they weren't yet able to hear as much as she. Sounds which Kara knew well enough at this point, and knew what they entailed. Her eyes shot wide as she gestured a small wave towards the two. [color=#FFB6C1]”I'll need a raincheck. Something's happening."[/color] She said by way of poorly worded explanation. Then in a sudden blur and blast of air, the girl rocketed out of the house (though she was careful to not destroy things). Moments later, she had already changed outfits into something those who had seen the news might recognize easily and was soaring high above the city streets. Scanning the area, she identified the source of the sounds as being on the other side of the city. Gunshots, screaming. Sounds that betrayed a rather large fight going on in her city. Immediately, the girl was blasting through the sky and shortly after slamming to the ground in front of what seemed to be a rather unremarkable garage from the outside. Curiously, there didn't seem to be damage to the exterior of the building despite the violence that had very clearly been happening mere seconds before she had arrived. 

Undeterred, the young heroine wasted no time in making her way to the large garage door and forcing it open with minimal effort. Making her way inside, the girl stopped as something seemed... off. Looking about the room, she noticed it after a few moments. The reason for the lack of signs of damage. Hanging in the air all about her, bullets that had already been fired from their weapons hovered as if they were on pause in some sort of film. As her gaze drifted further about, she noticed shards of glass floating in the air and debris from the shootout that had clearly been happening moments ago. Yet none of it was moving, just... hanging there. [color=#FFB6C1]”What the hell..."[/color] She muttered softly, making her way further into the building as she listened for any sign of [i]somebody[/i] being present. Still, nothing. Each room she entered was just more of the same, signs of the violence from before, and debris from said violence hanging in the air. All about, she also noticed oddly shaped scorch marks on the walls, as if there had been a fire or explosion. Still, not even the hint that there had been a single living soul in the building could be found. Following the trail of debris, which at this point was starting to increase as it seemed she grew closer to where the fighting was happening before everything stopped, she was eventually led to the yard behind the garage. As she opened the door that led out into the fenced-in yard, Kara stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes shot wide at the absolute carnage in the yard. Unlike the rest of the building, the yard was anything but barren. All about there were broken forms, and stains on the ground she was certain had once [i]been[/i] bodies. 

Moments later, after Kara had finished losing the contents of her stomach all over the ground, she looked about in absolute horror as it was immediately clear that the bodies all belonged to [i]one side[/i] of the fight. The bodies were torn apart and very clearly not taken down by the massive amounts of gunfire that she had heard. That [i]something[/i] had taken them out, and they had been fighting against it. The girl turned to leave, now knowing that there was nothing here for her to do when she noticed a particular detail. Just to her right, the remains of a body sat in front of a scorch mark on the building's wall. The mark matching those she had seen earlier, as it became abruptly clear that all those scorch marks inside had once been bodies. Again, the girl felt tempted to lose the contents of her stomach, even as she made her way back through the building. With a simple mission, she pushed the bullets out of the air, and to the ground. Where if everything suddenly resumed, they would not go flying and hurt somebody. Then placing a call to the police, she took off and went about as high into the sky as she could. Searching for the silence and peace that would allow her to think to herself for a long few moments. To sort her thoughts on what she had just witnessed.

[hr][hr] 

Watching as the screen flicked off after that suited broad had flown offscreen, Cutlip turned back towards the man across from him with eyes wide. [color=orange]"You're the bastard controlling those [i]freaks[/i] killin' us all?"[/color] He demanded, seeming incredulous as the man behind the desk chuckled. [color=8dc73f]"Correct. And I want to help you fill the void that will be left behind. Having a friend who controls the scene will help my... ah, business ventures. We're going to make a lot of money together, my friend, and we're going to kill that caped "hero". Do we have a deal?"[/color] He said, standing and offering his hand to the gangster sitting opposite him, who stood and shook his hand with a devilish grind. [color=orange]"What do ya want me to call you?"[/color] He asked the strange man, who responded with a simple reply. [color=8dc73f]"Benefactor. Now let's discuss how we're gonna get eyes off your people after that robbery, and how we're gonna clear out the competition.[/color] 

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[u][b]Kansas City, United States, Earth
Jan 1st, 2020 - United States of America[/b][/u][hr]

[color=ed1c24]"Understood. Executing."[/color] Came the clinical reply, as the figure wearing an entirely jet black armored bodysuit. Nothing, not even the face could be seen as every ounce of skin was covered by the bodysuit. Looking down on the massive protests filling the public park, the figure quietly observed as they waited for the tensions to rise to a suitable moment for their objectives. As they waited, the figure crushed the device they had been using to communicate mere seconds before. Watching as the police pressed towards the protestors, seemingly trying to force the group to go home and disperse, they noticed that the crowd seemed to pull back for but a moment before charging back towards the line with a deafening roar. Stopping before they met and seeming to decide that they were going to hold the line until their point was heard. The shouting and chanting from the crowd far drowned out the shouts and bullhorn-enhanced calls of the police forces to head home. The energy and tension seemed to be ebbing and flowing with each pseudo-clash between the two mighty forces, now seemed to be just about the time for the plan to be set into place. 

The figure that had been on the rooftop just a moment before, was gone in the blink of an eye. Where they had been standing, debris was kicked off from the sudden launch. Were somebody looking at the path the figure took, they would see a blur of movement charging across the distance between the building they were on and the two goliaths that were the opposing crowds in the park. The blur, of course, moving significantly faster than anything should be capable of doing. Before one could really even register that there might be something more than a trick on the eyes, the figure had broken in past the lines of protestors and police forces. Stopping for half a second behind one of the riot shields that made the line of the police forces, the figure raised a simple black pistol, then was gone from sight once more as they sped away. Meanwhile, the plan had been set into motion. The loud report of a shot being fired ripped through the air and stilled the whole confrontation for a few moments. As both sides stopped in shock at what had just happened in those few moments, silence began to settle, though it was quickly disrupted by a distressed scream as one of the protestors fell to the floor, dead from the fired shot. With a mighty roar, the protesting crowd surged onto the officers opposite them, who themselves were caught with confusion over the fired shot. Though this soon turned to panic and fear of the oncoming crowd, as they retaliated in kind. The plan had been set in motion quite firmly, as the formerly peaceful protests escalated into violence. 

Meanwhile, the figure, the catalyst that had started all the violence stood in a nearby alley, ensuring that the situation played out as they had intended. Very quickly, as both sides descended onto each other in a fury, the figure nodded as if satisfied with how it all played out. Moments later, they were a blur once more, tearing away from the scene of the crime. As the figure fled, they stuck closer to the sides of the road and alleyways, thundering past with little care for who or what might be nearby. Tossing aside the weapon they had fired into an alley, the figure continued their retreat. Not paying attention to the fact that the two sitting on the nearby bench, a man comforting a small, blind, girl might've noticed the blur that disturbed the debris in the street or the sudden emergence of an object from the blur. Which in kind, slammed into the building near their bench and crumpled into an unrecognizable shape from the force of the impact. The mission was fulfilled, and if the sounds of chaos or slowly rising smoke was anything to go off of, the plan was going [i]perfectly[/i]. 

[hr][hr]
[u][b]Kansas City, United States, Earth
Jan 1st, 2020 - United States of America[/b][/u][hr]

[color=a187be]"That is definitely smoke rising! What happened with the protests!?!"[/color] A feminine voice shouted at the three men walking around her as they tried to escort her back to her home in Kansas City. Looking about as confused by the situation as she could be, the young head of Nakamura Industries that was Fumiko Nakamura practically pleaded with her three guards to give her some sort of explanation. Yet she received no answer, which struck her as a bit odd given that her guards were usually a bit chatty with her whenever she was around them and hadn't attempted to ditch their protection. Though they did not go very long without an answer, as soon after that one of the men stopped walking and produced a firearm, shooting the other two in the back with efficient shots to the back of the head. Letting out a small squeak of surprise, the young girl turned quickly and stomped on the attackers' foot, taking off in a dead sprint down a nearby alleyway to try to get away as the whole world suddenly seemed to have caught on fire. 

Then abruptly, she was slammed into the wall of the alleyway by a wall of pure force and heat. Crying out in pain, as her entire chest seemed to combust, she collapsed to the floor and found herself staring at a small sphere across from her. It lay open on one side where the blast had clearly originated and had a familiar Kanji symbol on the side. The symbol of [i]her[/i] company. As the world around her faded, the young woman had enough of a moment to realize that she had been assaulted by her own technology, and likely was going to die to her own product. What a waste. 

She wasn't sure how long it was, but eventually, she found herself swimming to the surface of consciousness. She was in a large room, with tables laying mostly barren and the room barely lit. To her side, she heard an electrical humming and looked over to see a car battery in operation. Its cables? Well, they were hooked directly to... herself? Letting out a panicked cry she went to sit up but found a firm hand on her shoulder, keeping her there. [b]"You're only alive because of that, I wouldn't young lady."[/b] The voice said, firm yet gentle. [b]"You've got shrapnel in you, I couldn't get it out of you. Doing that would kill you, as it's too close to your heart. Try to rest, you'll need your strength. Our captors aren't the nicest of folks."[/b] The man said, even as the girl weakly looked at him, and asked him a simple question. [color=a187be]"W-who?"[/color] To which the man looked up across from them suddenly as the door to their room opened, and a harsh light doused the entrance. [b]"I fear you're about to find out."[/b] Came his reply, a look of genuine pity on his face as the girl weakly turned her attention towards the silhouette entering the room...