Love Street (The Haven)
Time: Morning

After a few drinks, enough to make the atmosphere pleasantly swim, there was a creak of wood as the barstool beside him was filled. The lights dimmed, like a candle was blown out before sputtering back to life.

“Oshus, “ said a cool tone beside him. 

An old friend stared at him over the rim of a double shot of the aged brandy they normally wouldn’t serve customers, her posture and attire as impeccable as ever.

“If you wanted to invite me for a drink, you simply had to ask.”

Linus sat at the front of the Haven for a while, he wasn’t in a hurry. Collecting his thoughts before Hel arrived, normally, a casual drink would’ve been all he was here for. But she had the city around her fingers. If anyone had answers, it would be her.

[color=5a6b7c]”Much as I can’t resist a few drinks with an old friend like you, this ain’t just that. Those guys I told you about? Those Shadow Knights? Looks like they weren’t foolin’ around…”[/color]

He finished off his glass before setting it off to the side.

[color=5a6b7c]”Sunny got a hold of me. Got me to help with some sort of big job of hers. A friend of hers heard about a machine that could steal a meta’s tricks. Problem was, it was in pieces and those pieces weren’t altogether. We nicked one, got snagged by their boss. Same goofy lookin’ clown that stopped me when I got here.”[/color]

Linus wheeled around in his seat, leaning against the counter. [color=5a6b7c]”So, they got a piece of this magic machine of theirs. I came here thinkin’ you’d know something about them.”[/color]

Her black glossed nails tapped the wood. "Those Knights..."

A crick pulled at the edge of her glossed lips as she finished her glass, setting it to the side. "At one time, long ago, I took the venom out of their sting."

"Nothing but meta poachers, I thought. That was when they had their little fingers in my network. Nicked three of my best girls."

Her eyes grew distant, reminiscing. "Most cracking metas you'd ever laid eyes on."

"When I learned they had a Queen, well... What happened next..."

A dark look crossed her porcelain features. "I give no excuses. You know how I feel about family."

"You were living peacefully on the seas when the nights of chronic static choked the air. 'Normal' people waking up with crushed lungs, difficulty breathing, unsightly deaths in the hospital. All a side effect by our nightly fights. I wanted to get even with them, take back what they stole from me."

"We pushed them as far as to abandon one of their facilities. Searched that bloody place from top to bottom, but they wiped it clean except for one thing. A message."

The lights flickered, a chilling aura in the air. All jolly and thrill in Lovestreet slowly drained as patrons peeked over their mugs at the dark angel with an expression on her face that would stop the heart.

"My girls. Powerless. Unrecognizable." She closed her eyes, elbow leaned on the wood. "I had to tell their families they died."

Her eyes burned a hole in the wall behind the bartender, recounting the tale. "Our final battle marked an end to the Knights, I made damn sure of it."

"The Queen, she was a psychic. In terms of raw power, super effective, but against me, her powers would tear themselves apart like an atomic bomb in her mind. She fell into a maddening rage, toppling the Knights herself before succumbing to a guilt-ridden coma."

"With the Queen out of commision, I forced the remaining Knights to hand power of the city back to me. No metas went missing for years after that."

A huff of air passed through her nose in short, sarcastic laughter. "Hell. Sunlight touched the streets, for once."

The bartender passed her another drink which she held up, crossing her legs as she mimicked Linus' posture. "But now, you've had the pleasure of meeting their new King who's mobilzed the Knights once again."

Her face crinkled in elegant disgust. "I should have finished them off when I had the chance, but alas..."

"If what you've said is true, the recent disappearances in this city can't be fully blamed on the Hunters, innit?"

She took a sip, eyes looking pointedly at Linus. "And if they're collecting pieces of this machine, it may be related to what happened to my girls all those years ago."

"And if I had to predict what they'll do next, these Knights will cause metas to fall off the map faster than, dare I say, one of your legendary waves.”

[color=5a6b7c]”What a time to be alive.”[/color] He commented, not a trace of concern or humor on his face. Despite his demeanor, Hel could no doubt see through that cool face better than anyone, and would know he actually did care about the subject. Throughout the years, he was well acquainted with the Valkyries, her people, her family, the people who made this city safer than it used to be. Hearing that they had been run through stuck with him. And the fact that she said she lost her most powerful…He could name a few who might fit the description. He and them went a long way back, to put it lightly.

[color=5a6b7c]”That bad, huh?”[/color] His voice just a fraction lower from hearing Hel’s story. [color=5a6b7c]”Well, this [i]king[/i] ain’t messin’ around. Sounds to me like whatever you did, he took it personally. You’re tellin’ me those girls were [i]powerless[/i] when you found them? And I was gone. That don’t add up. What Sunny and her techy friend told me is that machine they’re scheming’ hasn’t been built yet. How’d they take someone’s powers years ago?”[/color]

She leaned back in her seat, eyes narrowed like flints of steel.

“Curious, innit? Bloody puzzle. But, my girls told me somethin’... interesting.”

“Phantasm,” she said, “Gets into trouble all the time. Too young for you to have met, but she’s got that fire I like. The kind that makes me think she might run the Valks when I’m gone.”

She took a sip, setting the glass down with a bit more force than necessary. “She saw somethin’. When I caught her doing deals outside, she told me.”

Her black taloned fingers traced on the wood, “Large containers shaped like tubes, and a room filled from top to bottom, more than the eye could see, of nothing other than, as she put it, ‘pickled powers’.”

“I’ll be damned to hell if they’ve had the ability to take a meta’s ability this whole time, but no way to use them ‘till now.”

Rainsinger took her words in. Years of harvesting people, cutting them up and collecting what made them tick, and they were just now getting around using them. How long has it been since he was involved in such schemes? It had been a lifetime ago since Linus stuck his nose into the business of Valkyries and their enemies. In another time, he gave that all up. He decided he was done with fighting over scraps.

Two decades of being a person that fit in with society, living with people who he called friends. He left everything behind for it, and he found what he was looking for. He had a life where he could live rather than survive. He didn’t need Tenebrae anymore. 

And yet, there was more to that now. It wasn’t just his life on the line here, not anymore. He could walk away and never come back. But something inside him knew that leaving wasn’t going to happen. Were it not for Hel, or even the old man, Linus would’ve crawled into a hole somewhere and died there. Even before the rest of the old players were worth mentioning, Hel knew him. Linus couldn’t bring himself to leave without doing something about people causing problems for someone who was trying her damndest to give metas a place they never had. He was many things, a criminal, a survivor, a dead man, and more.

He was not a coward who turned his back on people. [i]His[/i] people.

[color=5a6b7c]”Well, it looks like somethin’s gotta be done about this. I’ve been gone [i]way[/i] too long. Listen, I know you’ve got about all the power you could need down here, and I know it’s been a while since I’ve been around. But I ain’t about t’let this slide. Almost wish I came back a little sooner…”[/color]

There was a note of genuine sympathy in Linus’ voice, one of sincerity towards an old friend.

[color=5a6b7c]”You need any help from an old timer across the sea. Just ask.”[/color] He told her, staring straight into those cold eyes of hers.

Hel watched the storm flick across Linus’ face. The seas soothed the man, but she knew nothing could calm the hurricane brewing deep under the surface. Her eyes flicked to the side, talons digging into her palms as they always did when she needed the pain to clarify her thoughts.

“You’ve given me the last puzzle piece I needed, Oshus. I was painfully unaware of the Knights and their damned king working on something this big. The terrorist attacks, the disappearances, higher amounts of black market traffic: it all makes sense now.” she said, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

“Your girl is still in town, yes? Take her and get out of here. If Astra’s seen you, you’ve been marked. I wouldn’t doubt they have men on their way now to collect what they can before they push their endgame.” Her eyes twisted closed, anger flashing across her face.

Her fingers plucked notes out of the air, pressing $200 on the counter, eyes sizing up the bartender. Today it was the young boy from the night Phantasm had her little ‘off-the-books’ scuffle. “My dear, pocket the extra, and keep hush-hush ‘bout this.”

“Yes ma–” the boy said, hand touching the money before violently recoiling, mouth letting out a strangled yelp as he stared in horror. On appearance, nothing had changed in Lady Hel’s visual except the wilting look in her eyes, her selective phobia at play.

Her eyes closed, shaking her head softly as she turned away from the counter.

“Oshus,” A vampirish look in her eye, feet toward the door. “There’s no time.”

A rare smile crossed her lips. “Be safe, old friend.”

“If we’re gonna have a chance to subvert this and save Tenebrae from her fate, I will need to track down my ace.”

[color=5a6b7c]”Haven’t even been here one week and it’s time to get packing. Well, you ain’t wrong…I know a place.”[/color] His eyes narrowed at the floor in thought. [color=5a6b7c]”Real far north out of here, edge of Alaska. Been there hundreds of times after I left here. People like us fit in there, [i]a lot.[/i][/color]

Linus stood up and followed Hel to the door. [color=5a6b7c]”I’m gonna grab those two and we’re gonna head up there. We’ll lay low. I know the place like the back of my hand- Astra comes up there? He’s dead meat. Everybody and their mother’ll be aiming for his head. We’ll be fine up there, but don’t let me miss the action if you need a hand here.”[/color]

[color=5a6b7c]”Bastard won’t be able to lay a finger on us if he tries.”[/color]