[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210709/7e6acff86d620e3dbdb844565042976d.png[/img] [indent][sub]September 21st, 2064 'Totally Innocuous Warehouse' Brookside, South Castle Island[/sub][/indent][/center] ‘Strong Boy’ gave Leon a confident thumbs-up as he walked off to the back room. The heroes had totally given him a shit job, but whatever. At least he’d be able to watch them from here. He could see if they had made any progress. He performed a cursory check of the backroom and then stood by the doorframe. Beth didn’t seem to be having any luck with the vent. SSV had clearly vacated already. And upon looking, no one could find their target. It was like she had simply vanished into thin air. It seemed that the heroes had failed. Sam snuck out the back door, trying his best to get away before the heroes came asking any questions. His team had called him back, unable to find her either, and he wasn’t eager to go to prison. He used one of the emergency fire escapes, careful not to make any loud noises. His boss wouldn’t be happy, either, but at least he got to go home and have a nice cold can of beer. [hr] [center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210709/b22ae4be00e0e4b32bde4de9ad8fe516.png[/img] [indent][sub]September 21st, 2064 Academy of Young Heroes Lighthouse Island, Castleburg[/sub][/indent][/center] “Haha, look, this guy has paper powers- WHAT THE FUCK?!” The goons yelled and dropped their guns as the metal folded in on itself, crumpling and breaking within their hands. A few of them clearly didn’t know what to do, cursing and panicking. One drew a taser from his utility belt, clearly grasping for straws. Now that Drew didn’t have an assault rifle pressed to his head, he scrambled away from the armed, dangerous man and practically vaulted over the side of the climbing wall. Eyepatch Man didn’t seem to care too much- instead, he flickered out of existence and made for Michelle, trying to grab her. “Forget the heroes! The girl!” Unfortunately for him, he didn’t see Jenna coming before too late. The young girl who had previously gushed over her favorite mentor flew at him like a bullet, her face grim and focused. She didn’t barrel into him, however. Before she could, she reached out with her powers and flung him off the island with incredible telekinetic force. He had no chance to teleport before he fell into the river with a crash inaudible from the Academy. His lackeys weren’t having much luck with the heroes either. Graham flung himself at the winged man, who flew upwards at the first sign of provocation. “Holy shit, the hell is that thing- AAAAAAAA!” A surprisingly girlish scream came out of his mouth as he wrestled with the clawed Graham mid-air, trying to pull him off of him. He lashed out with razor-sharp wing feathers, trying to pierce Graham’s skin. The force of Gematria’s punch threw the tall, skinny man to the ground. He looked very confused to be attacked by a human-sized mech, but he tried his best anyway. He hopped up and attempted to bring her to the ground from her back, clinging to her neck and trying to push her to the ground. Meanwhile, the other one was handling Strain, Polaris, and Cadenza, having a difficult time. Cadenza had begun to use her flute, attempting to bring down the men, but was shocked shortly before she could do so. Polaris and Strain were wrestling up close with him, but the two were quickly beating him with a combination of powerful electricity and density manipulation powers. [hr] [center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210708/1a8bc7e6a7a873ddb8984a515ec0fc01.png[/img] [indent][sub]September 22nd, 2064 HERO Two Assistant Director Raymond Blum's Office[/sub][/indent][/center] Early the next morning, Assistant Director Blum stood in front of the surviving heroes, looking ill at ease in a suit and tie. This was an uncomfortable situation for him, and it showed on his usually jovial, tough-looking face. Raymond hated failure but hated a pyrrhic victory even more. Three of the heroes under his charge were either dead or close to it. He had a right to be upset, and he certainly looked it. The heroes before him, however, looked even more so. He had given them the night to recover rather than barraging them with a debrief so soon after a difficult fight. Some had stayed in the hospital, others had gotten to go home, but most of them were here His office was a simple affair. It didn’t look like Blum spent much time there. The walls were a light beige color, adorned mostly with pictures of HEROes, past and current. Most notable were photos of himself and Director Steel accepting their respective positions and a newspaper clipping about his defection. The clipping showed a picture of him shaking hands with then-Director Hugo Powers. He had a standing desk with a sleek laptop and holo-projector. Three yellow-cushioned chairs sat before the desk, facing a giant window covering the entire back wall. It had a view of the Castelberg skyline, slowly changing as HERO Three drifted through the sky. The double doors were glass, too, but the curtains were drawn shut now to obscure their conversation from any nosy observers. He cleared his throat. [color=SeaGreen]“I’m very sorry for calling you here so early in the morning, but I really need to talk to you all.”[/color] He fiddled with a remote in his hands and pulled up a holograph of the picture of the N Train as it appeared last night- halted in its tracks, evacuated people clustered around the tracks. [color=SeaGreen] “Your mission on the N Train yesterday was a success in that you did get the nuke, which we currently have under lock and key in a secure location. But it was a [i]raging disaster[/i] in every other way.[/color] [color=SeaGreen]“Thirteen people are dead, including two of our own heroes, two civilians, and nine enemy combatants- five of whom died by your hand personally-”[/color] he stared directly at Blitz as he said this, gaze unflinchingly critical- [color=SeaGreen]“and you made no arrests, which means we can’t find out why any of this happened in the first place,”[/color] he said, all in a gruff, dissatisfied voice. [color=SeaGreen]“Samantha Everett and your mysterious assailant both got away. Sam’s plane touched down in a field near Utica last night, but by the time the local cops reached the plane she was long gone. She’s gone to ground. We can’t find her in any of her usual places. And the woman who set off the gas bomb on the train disappeared without a trace. We don’t have any records of her in any of our files, so keep an eye out. We’re going to make finding them a top priority.”[/color] He switched the screen to a picture of the downed plane, devoid of any passengers. [color=SeaGreen]“But, at the end of the day, missions go wrong. It’s always a tragedy but people die. Be glad you’re alive. You’ll have a ton of paperwork in the coming days, but take the time to rest. Director Steel is giving you all an optional month-long paid leave, so do with that what you will. We’re keeping this quiet. Don’t tell anyone that you wouldn’t trust with your jobs any details. And, hopefully, this will all blow over in a few…”[/color] Raymond’s phone dinged. Then dinged again. And again. It was a cacophony of noise, and he pulled it out, looking slightly peeved. [color=SeaGreen] “Who…”[/color] His lips went slack, his eyes widening. [color=SeaGreen] “Oh,”[/color] he whispered. [color=SeaGreen]“[i]Oh[/i]. Oh, shit.”[/color] [center][h3][color=Blue]- MISSION COMPLETE -[/color][/h3][/center]