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Mentions: [@Jumbus] [sub]Flashback Collab[/sub], [@Rabidporcupine] [sub]Last few paragraphs[/sub][/center][hr]
Travis seemed to be one of the more distracted people present in the meeting, lightly massaging his head as Blum spoke to them. His head ached from the few drinks he had the prior night, barely enough to get a man half his weight drunk.

[color=f26522][i]'Why'd Scales make me pound shots with her after seeing me tipsy...'[/i][/color]

If he felt worse, he may have taken Director Steele's offer of paid leave. But considering how most people would probably leap at the chance to get a month-long vacation, the Directors may end up being short-staffed. Just the ticket Travis needed to show them that he was a team player! Maybe they could go on a HERO sponsored picnic afterward, or Blum could teach him how to fish-

[color=seagreen]"[i]Oh[/i]. Oh, Shit."[/color]

Travis refocused on the meeting, which had taken a sudden change in tone. Pandora leaned over his shoulder, peeking at the news that had caused such a reaction.

[color=fdc68a]"Oh, shit, indeed! Well, how unfortunate for you. That little incident on the train got leaked. Too bad."[/color]

Travis knew beyond a doubt who had spread the news about the N-Train incident. Hell, he kind of expected her to do it - just not so soon after it happened. 

[color=f26522][i]'Already? Barely a day?'[/i][/color]

Travis buried his head further into his hands at the news. The sound of Blum's chastisement of Pandora and Blitz, as well as the rest of the meeting, quickly dimmed as Travis remembered the events of the prior night. 

[hr]
[hr]
The air in the night club was nearly unbreathable, a complex mix of blood, alcohol, and sweat that almost made Travis sick to his stomach. Several people eyed the masked fighter as he sat at the bar, a reptilian-woman sitting next to him finishing another shot.

[color=f26522]“Why the hell are we here, Scales? I just grew back my tooth, like, an hour ago. I’m not fighting tonight.”[/color]

She signaled for the bartender to pour her another, and spoke as the tattooed and scarred man behind the bar did so.

“Because you got fucked up! Terry was busy today, but me and Bomber could have come and been your cheerleaders or someshit. Doesn’t help that you won’t tell us who messed with you.”

“...Also fighters drink free tonight. Least you can do is let me mooch off you.”

She muttered the last part under her breath, quickly slamming back drinks Travis couldn’t stomach even if he wanted to. Travis grimaced. Lying about his job as a Hero felt wrong, but it had to be done. At least two heroes died today - if his friends knew he was one, they would rat him out in a second to get him fired. 

And there was no way Travis could let that happen. It was only his first real mission, and he was already hooked. 

Scales rose to her feet, her usual grace somewhat muted after her drinking binge.

“I think I see Flail Snail - gonna go ask how his shell is feeling this week. Be right back, Roachie.”

The air in the night club [i]was[/i] unbreathable, blood, alcohol, sweat, oh and look was that someone’s vomit? Still Night Owl could think of no better place to pass the time for now. She had to mull over what to do with those train photos and there was far too much foot traffic on the street to do anything subtly.

Night Owl would look out of place in a nightclub like this. Her smaller figure and higher end looking costume would stand out as someone to mug. Most knew better, but for those who didn't, Bulldozer followed closely behind. His stature was made all the more intimidating by the new mechanical contraption on his shoulders. This alone cleared up the confusion that harming Amelia was off limits.

[color=4CFAFF]”While I have the spare time, I would like to see that new device in action against a real fighter.”[/color] She addressed Bulldozer while finely tweaking her mask back into place. [color=4CFAFF]”You can punch through walls all you want, if you can’t land a hit well…””[/color] Night Owl cut herself off, something was wrong about the night club. Very seriously wrong. Her eyes began to glow a bit as if her power was tracking someone, but she wasn’t trying to. Night Owl furrowed her brow and focused around what could have caused it. Then, as if only a glimpse has popped up, Orange.

In the swirl of awful smells there was a familiar scent that visualized before Amelia only briefly. She went to follow it and saw the faint trail get slowly more defined as she slowly paced around the dingy night club. Orange, from the N Train incident, the person who had kindly splattered half their body around the place and then walked out like it was nothing. How did they still have the energy? It didn’t make much sense at all.

Nearing the end of the trail it was consistent and easy to follow. Looking across at the bar, Night Owl spotted Roach with the trail leading directly to him. She made sure to slink away out of direct line of sight before continuing to watch. So, Roach was at the N train massacre. That explained how the orange figure could just walk out of there. But it raised far more questions.

Why was he at the N train massacre? Whose side was he on? It was safe for Night Owl to assume that he was working with the Rocketeers. But then how was he able to get away when the others became stains on the train car walls? And why would he reject her invitations to work under her and then go and work for the Rocketeers. There were too many questions to count and she wasn’t going to get answers sitting back like this.

[color=4CFAFF]”Dozer, I want to talk to that one at the bar. I’ll be in the private meeting room in the back, bring him over there.”[/color]

Night Owl left to talk with the owners. Usually it was only a matter of money to use the rooms out back. It was a good way for criminals to do less than legal business in private. The cost may be high to some, but it was only spare change to Amelia.

[hr]

Bulldozer put his hand on Travis’ shoulders from behind while Travis sat at the bar. [color=e8de56]”Would you like to follow me?”[/color] Bulldozer asked the question in a manner that was cold, distant, and very direct. This was not a question where no would be accepted. [color=e8de56]”The Night Owl would like a few words.”[/color]

Most people would probably be a little intimidated by a man wearing machinery that wouldn’t look out of place in a construction site on their shoulders - but after enough rounds in the pits, you kinda get used to things. Travis was more worried about having to replace his outfit [i]again[/i], having ditched the clothes he wore on the N-train because of the blood stains, but Bulldozer’s demeanor and request quickly eased his fears.

[color=f26522]“Lead the way, Ellen Ripley.”[/color]

Bulldozer didn’t comment on the reference, instead directing the masked Travis to a small room at the back of the club. Travis didn’t really mind too much anyways - he barely remembered the Bulldozer despite the numerous Brookside cage matches that they had participated in. If Travis couldn’t remember this guy’s name, he wouldn’t fault the Bulldozer for not picking up on a name from a movie that was nearly 80 years old.

The thought of telling Scales where he was headed crossed his mind, but when Travis saw her making out with some random girl neither of them knew, he felt that she probably wouldn’t notice him missing for a bit.

[hr]

What pose would look most intimidating? The thought ran through Amelia’s mind as she tried different poses in the chair. She thought back to how her dad would conduct meetings but the environment of business and the criminal would differ greatly in appearance if nothing else. No, the Night Owl persona needed a new set of guidelines to approach from.

While continuously shuffling around in the chair. Amelia heard the door open, her eyes briefly went wide in panic as she realised she was not prepared at all. Instead she quickly made her mind up to lean back with the chair on an off angle to the table. She occupied her left hand by twirling her dagger around in it. By the time the door opened fully, she was in position but she could only hope Roach did not hear the slightly panicked shuffling.

The room Travis and Bulldozer entered was about as private and barren as could be in the nightclub, having only a few metal chairs and a single table to decorate its interior. While far from soundproof, the windowless room managed to dim the music of the nightclub to a much more reasonable level, allowing the occupants to hear one another without shouting. And more importantly for Travis’s growing headache, the scent of alcohol was overwhelmed by the metallic odor of dried blood that dotted the floor.

Clearly, these rooms were used for a lot more than just business negotiations. 

Travis slid into the nearest chair, moving it slightly so he could face Night Owl more directly as he spoke.

[color=f26522]”Glad to see you’re doing well, Night Owl. Have any luck with your, uh, recruitment?”[/color]

It was always a bit rare to actually mean that phrase when you were in the pits - maybe between friendly rivals, or the owner to a jobber that takes a dive. Other than that, you wanted people to be doing as [i]bad[/i] as possible.Less of a risk of killing each other that way.

But Night Owl didn’t fight, and she was always friendly. Or at the very least amicable. She had attempted more than once to lure Travis into serving as one of her goons, like Bulldozer. If he hadn’t already filled his application to HERO, he probably would have accepted her offers - unlike the various gang leaders and villainous ‘masterminds’ that Travis had met during his time in Brookside, Night Owl wasn’t batshit crazy.

Or at the very least, was much better at hiding it.

[color=f26522]”I’d offer to get you and your friend a drink, but I don’t really trust what they serve here… It seems like you have something important to talk to me about anyways.”[/color]

[color=4CFAFF]”I’ve had my successes.”[/color] She nods over to Bulldozer who closes the door and stands by it. [color=4CFAFF]”I am still looking to hire more, but I’m not here to offer you the same thing yet again. In fact, I’m just here to talk. I have taken a liking to you and I would like to think we are friends at the very least.”[/color]

Night Owl took a bottle from under the table with two glasses. It was a whiskey bottle, probably the highest end brand you could purchase from the nightclub. Amelia had seen her father do this before with his business partner friends coming over to the estate. It seemed right to do the same here. She half filled each of the small glasses before sliding one over to Travis and setting the bottle on the table.

Night Owl looked at the surrounding room. [color=4CFAFF]”However, I apologize for the scenery. I was expecting something with a little more decor, and a little less… blood.”[/color]

Travis felt a bit relieved at Night Owl’s intentions. It was always a little awkward to say no to someone, so knowing that she wasn’t still trying to recruit him was good news. He gently pushed the glass back towards the better dressed woman.

[color=f26522]”Oh, uh, I can’t really drink - real bad lightweight... ”[/color]

[color=f26522][i]’…And I don’t know how I’m getting home.’[/i][/color] Travis grimaced, reminded that his ride here was already drunk..

Night Owl raised her eyebrows a bit, hidden behind her mask. She was surprised he would turn down such a thing. Most of these Brookside thugs were drawn to alcohol like moths to a light were they not. But then again, it's not as if she had seen the Bulldozer drink.

That left a bit of an awkward position, because she did not intend to drink her glass either. So what, were the two glasses just going to sit there the whole time. No, that wouldn’t look very professional to commit such as faux pas. Amelia took the glass in her other hand and took a small sip. 

She almost gagged, what was this stuff? Do people really drink this? It's disgusting. She placed the glass down and just managed to get the small sip down while hiding her grimace. Amelia made a mental note to herself, ‘avoid whiskey, very disgusting.’

[color=f26522]”Thank you for the offer, though. And the choice in furniture isn’t really your fault, so don’t worry about it.”[/color]

Night Owl drew her attention back to Travis. She had almost forgotten she had company and an image to keep.

A few seconds passed in silence, Travis desperately thinking about what to talk about. He quickly defaulted to the basics, eager to alleviate the silence.

[color=f26522]”You do anything interesting recently? I went to the aquarium a few days ago.”[/color] He eyed the blade between her fingers. [color=f26522]”... Maybe knife throwing lessons?”[/color]

[color=4CFAFF]”Hmmm, haha, I actually have Roach. It is probably not surprising to you but I am not from Brookside initially.”[/color] Night Owl did not look directly at Travis while saying this. Instead she had her gaze casually rested on the knife she twirled in her hand. [color=4CFAFF]”A lot of the time, I feel like a fish out of water here. But lately I have been talking to the charming people around here and you could say I have started to care for them.”[/color] A lie. [color=4CFAFF]”When you spend time around here you get all sorts of rumors coming your way. In fact, I heard a pretty interesting one that happened just this afternoon.”[/color]

Night Owl shifted her head to make direct eye contact with Travis, slowly and methodically. [color=4CFAFF]“The Rocketeers tried to do a hit on the N train. Now most of them will be having funerals in the near future, close casket I’m afraid, courtesy of HERO. Shameful, isn’t it?”[/color] She was fixated on Travis now. Any change in his expression would not go unnoticed.

And his expression did change, despite Travis’s novice attempts to hide it. He paled and looked off to the side to break eye contact, clearly uncomfortable with the topic at hand.

[color=f26522]”M-must have been pretty big, if there were heroes instead of just bots. Though I have to admit, pulling a train heist seems a bit cowboy-esque…”[/color]

Internally, Travis was now cussing out his friend for dragging him here. How the hell was Night Owl connected to the Rocketeers!? She didn’t seem like a follower or in need of the money, and she wasn’t crazy enough to actually use Plutonium.

[color=f26522]”You also hear any rumors on what they were after?”[/color]

Bingo. She had him now. Although his apparent lack of support for the Rocketeers was off-putting. Why was he there?

[color=4CFAFF]”Oh I imagine it would have been quite big. I do happen to like the idea of a ragtag group of cowboys in an era where robots can take on ten regular men. As for what they were after, your guess is as good as mine. Must have been something worth the risk.”[/color]
[color=4CFAFF]”What’s the matter Roach?”[/color] Night Owl said with a smile and a far friendlier tone that the situation would suggest. [color=4CFAFF]”You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”[/color] She then started laughing. It would have come off as quite cute, if the situation and setting were in a place other than here.

Seeing the shift in atmosphere, Travis nearly began to laugh as well. If she didn’t know, then it must have really just been a conversation topic! [color=f26522]”Sorry about that, it just seemed like a pretty grisly topic… haha...”[/color]

Night Owl’s expression then went serious immediately as she took hold of her dagger and threw it away from Travis. It stuck into the soundproofing foam that was sparsely lining the upper parts of the wall. Travis could hear Bulldozer lock the door behind him.

[color=4CFAFF]”Roach, I want to be your friend here. But friendships require honesty. Why were you there?”[/color]

[color=f26522]”Friendships also need [i]privacy[/i], last time I checked. How did you know I was there?”[/color]

Misdirection was the new name of the game. Travis couldn’t tell her the truth - if Night Owl knew he was a Hero, being in Brookside fights was out of the question. Hell, she may even try attacking him despite their friendship. Though, while he didn’t know her power, he felt pretty confident in a fight where she threw away her knife, and only had one guard...

Or he would feel confident, if they weren’t right outside the door to a nightclub, filled to the brim with illegal fighters and criminals. One of whom knew his real identity. Getting fired from HERO was a best-case scenario - worst case, he gets murdered as an undercover hero, or is given cement shoes and tossed in the docks. 

[color=f26522]”Were you stalking me or something?”[/color]

Probably not - Travis really wasn’t that big of a deal, and she said she had given up trying to recruit him. But he needed to reach for anything that let him avoid that question of ‘why?’.

Night Owl had him. Her smile widened to an evil grin as she stood up with her hands on the table. Travis was much like a fish who had taken the bait and was yanked out of the water, Night Owl only needed to reach out and take. Everything was exactly right, she held all the cards. Travis’ pathetic attempts at deflection would have no effect at all. She looked directly at him to see the fear behind his eyes. Then she would take everything.

Amelia saw the fear behind his eyes. Why wasn’t she happy? Why couldn’t she look upon the situation she had created a smile knowing she had the upper hand. Why did she feel… bad? Her smile gradually faded back to a more somber look. What was happening to her?

[color=4CFAFF]”I just don’t want people to start thinking the wrong things. You made it out of that place when most of the Rocketeers ended up dead. Someone could get the wrong idea and think you were part of HERO or something.”[/color] Amelia sat back down into her chair and leaned back once more. [color=4CFAFF]”Things aren’t going to be too good for heroes around here for the next few months. Just make sure no one makes that mistake.”[/color] 

Night Owl gave a nod to Bulldozer which was followed by an awkward silence. For a moment, Travis would have no idea what that nod had meant. For a good ten seconds, nothing happened. Then Night Owl raised a hand in frustration and soon after Travis could hear the door behind him unlocking and swinging open. Bulldozer stood beside it, holding the door open.

For a few seconds, Travis was stunned. There was no way that bullshit attempt at deflection had worked - Night Owl looked like she was ready to knock down his hastily built defense in seconds, and now she was just letting him walk away?

This… wasn’t how things worked here. Where was the monologue? The extortion? Not even a threat of bodily harm?

Travis sat there, confusion dominating his expression. Why would a villain, someone who Travis was [i]specifically employed to dislike[/i], letting him walk free? She had to know that he worked for HERO, and she could put him right under her thumb if she wanted to. It’d be easy - just threaten to reveal it to the nightclub, or the police, or even HERO themselves. The best henchmen were ones you had blackmail on. 

It didn’t make sense. It didn’t make any sense at-

[color=4CFAFF][i]’...I want to be your friend here…’[/i][/color]

Travis stood up slowly, the metal chair squeaking against the cement floor as he did so. It took a few tugs to remove the knife from its place in the soundproofing foam, but once it was clear, he gently placed it on the table in front of them. 

A friend.

[color=f26522]”Thanks for the warning, Night Owl. It means more than you’d think.”[/color]

Pulling out a piece of gum and a pen, Travis tossed aside the sweet and began to write out a phone number on the wrapper.

A supervillain wanted to be friends.

[color=f26522]”But if you need any more rumors like you got about the train, or any help that is up my alley… Well, I might be able to lend a hand.”[/color]

Travis slid the paper to the villain, putting the pen back in his pocket, right next to the Burner that Travis had given Night Owl the number of.

Amelia hadn’t watched Travis while he did any of that, she simply looked down at the table. For some reason she focused on the two glasses. How could she be so weak? Her father would have never let this guy walk. When someone is in the palm of your hand like that, you squeeze them for all they’re worth. That is how you get things done. And yet, she decided to just let him go. For nothing.

But then Travis placed the gum wrapper in front of her and she looked up to face him. Was he looking down on her? Pitying her for the weakness she just showed? That must be it. And yet the worst part about it is that she felt compelled to accept his offer. [color=4CFAFF]”I’ll give you a call if I need you.”[/color] Amelia said with a half smile. [color=4CFAFF]”You can go now. I think we’ve finished here.”[/color] She gestured to the open door.

Travis looked down at Night Owl as she motioned to the door. He wasn’t smart when it came to a lot of things, but [i]people[/i] were supposed to be something he was good at.

He snatched one of the glasses of whisky and drank as quickly as he could, coughing violently as he finished it and slamming the glass back in its place. [color=f26522][i]’That was a terrible decision’[/i][/color] Travis thought, as he immediately felt his body loosen up and throat begin to burn.

[color=f26522]”Do-[b]*cough*[/b]-Don’t be a stranger… Okay?”[/color]

Travis started heading to the door, his gait a little less graceful than it was coming into the room. He gave a nod to the Bulldozer, and paused at the doorway to turn back.

He had basically agreed to conspire against HERO, with a villain that he had only met a matter of weeks ago, solely because she called him her friend. 

And [i]he was the one who initiated it[/i]. It was easily the stupidest thing he’d ever done. It beat out trying some Nova and nearly overdosing. It beat fighting in cage matches that, half the time, ended up becoming deathmatches. It beat joining an organization dedicated to stopping crime, and having two coworkers die on the first mission. But at the end of the day...

[color=f26522]”See you around, Night Owl.”[/color]

What else are friends for?

Amelia watched Travis walk out the door then Bulldozer close it behind him. She looked back down at the two glasses, one now empty of whiskey. She was so ready to send them flying at the wall in a rage the second Travis left. For her weakness, for just letting him get away. But she could only look at the empty glass and chuckle to herself. He didn’t have to do that after all, but he did it anyway. Maybe this all wasn’t so bad after all.

With a genuinely pleasant smile, Amelia picked up the other glass of whiskey and instead poured it onto the ground. Whiskey does taste like shit after all.

[hr]
[hr]

...Not the best night, all things considered. Scales forced Travis to take two shots of Tequila with her when she noticed how unsteady he was on his feet, and he ended up getting a ride home in Flail Snail's pickup truck. Travis was nearly late to the meeting this morning, cleaning the slime that he dragged into his home...

Oh, and the whole 'offer to work for a supervillain' thing. That was a few degrees worse than having to steam clean his carpets this morning. 

No, this was fine... It could be a lot worse, in all honesty.

[color=f26522][i]'Can't get in trouble for something if you just don't get caught...'[/i][/color]

All Travis needed to do was avoid letting it slip. He could do that! If he could buy beer with a fake ID, he could lie to a multi-national organization about conspiring with villains and beating the shit out of criminals for money. Hell, the last part was basically his job description already!

Yeah, Travis could do this...

[hr]
Travis could not do this.

DEAD MAN - Operation Buzzkill

Normally, Travis would be ecstatic to be on the dangerous mission. Subtlety was never really his 'thing', and while it'd be cool to talk to Bomber at his job, kicking ass just had a certain thrill about it...

Or it would have a certain thrill, if it wasn't the Rainy Day.

The Rainy Day clubhouse was one of a dozen or so major fight clubs in Castleburg, and easily one of the most prominent. Everyone went there at least once or twice in their career, from big shots like Titan to newbies on their first night out. It was an excellent place to go if someone wanted to make a reputation for themselves in the pits or get hired for some side gig.

And it was also littered with people who knew everything about Roach. 

Sure, he wasn't the most popular in the pits, but information about powers got disseminated fast, regardless of status. It made sense - if you're gonna fight someone, you wanted to know everything they could do. Unfortunately, that meant that if Travis got hit, and his power was too noticeable, then it'd be easy to draw a connection...

The thought of asking to be moved to the other mission briefly crossed Travis's mind, but he pushed it down just as fast as it appeared. He didn't have an alibi, and it would look way too suspicious considering how obedient he's been so far.

...So the plan was to somehow go to a fight club filled with villains, kick a bunch of ass and arrest a manager, all while avoiding getting hit as much as possible.

Travis frowned, almost pouting. This was shaping up to be even more difficult than the N-Train. So far, the biggest thing he had going for him was the fact that he [i]probably[/i] knew the people they'd be fighting, and he had a team to rely on...

A team consisting mostly of people he didn't know at all... shit.

[color=f26522]"Hey there, not sure if we've officially met yet!"[/color]

Travis waved at the nearest boy, a white-haired man around his own height. 

[color=f26522]"You're Graham, right? I saw that we're on the same mission - you can call me Travis!"[/color]

Pandora had taught him a valuable lesson on reading the mission report... or, in this case, opening it to a random page. Just so happened that 'Enkidu' was the first hero he flipped to in the report - so he'd also be the first Travis makes friends with.

[color=f26522]"Just wondering if you can show me around, or introduce me to folks. Not sure how new you are, but yesterday was my first mission, haha..."[/color]