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[b]Bridgewater, 7:30 AM[/b]
[b]June 19, 2021[/b]

[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/h-HUQDEx9sM?si=Za6IJSqTjPiCg_RT[/youtube][/center]

Evie was already up half an hour ago.

[i]147, 148, 149, 150.[/i] She dropped to the floor her bedroom, letting go of the pullup bar and grabbing a water bottle from her minifridge. The song Evie started on her phone ended about 20 seconds ago, and she could hear her aunt downstairs. Evie changed into something vaguely presentable, and went downstairs. As nice as it was of the old lady to let her stay, she had already planned on staying at HQ. Sure, the Protectorate were a bunch of shady crooks, but she was less likely to get attacked in her sleep there. Evie's aunt was pushing 60, and an easy target, it wouldn't be fair to her. The house was quiet, so she habitually made her way down just as quietly, almost sneaking up on Erin when she reached the living room. It smelled like candles.

[color=orange]"You can stay for a while, can't you?"[/color] She asked, happy to see that Evie didn't sneak out last night. Erin was shorter than Evie, had graying hair down to her shoulders, and a face full of freckles. She was doing good for her age, despite Evie's personal concerns. 

[color=ff00c2]"Nah. I gotta go soon. Supposed to be there in an hour,"[/color] She responded, already putting on her shoes.

[color=orange]"It isn't... That far, is it? Aren't you [i]really[/i] fast?"[/color] Erin was just as new to the cape thing as Evie's real parents were. Only she actually made an effort to learn. Everyone was shocked to learn that Evie was the vigilante known as Shattercrash, who made the PRT look like a joke for a whole year before Confessor. A media headline or two compared her to the likes of Trinity for how competent she was compared to the everyday heroes, before the PRT shut the press up and tried to recruit her. They weren't successful back then, and it took an S-class threat for the possibility to even open itself up.

[color=ff00c2]"Something like that, but they're the feds. They gotta do their protocols and sh- And all. Paperwork, metal detectors, security. It's like going through TSA just to find the front desk."[/color] And she just didn't want to be in this house right now. Erin was nice, but Evie didn't handle kindness well. 

[color=orange]"Oh... I don't understand all that hero stuff very well. I just read some of the news articles where they used to talk about you,"[/color] She said, innocently. Only Evie wished she didn't bring it up.

[color=orange]"I'm sure you'll do good, Evie. I [i]do[/i] know you're pretty great at what you do, from what I read... they picked a good hero for it. You and me really should talk about it some more, sometime. Whenever you're free."[/color]


[color=ff00c2]"Yeah. Sometime."[/color] This felt weird. Unsettling.

[color=orange]"And if you feel like it..."[/color] Erin hesitated, [color=orange]"Maybe you can tell me about that Karnstein girl. She seemed like a nice kid."[/color]

Evie paused for a minute, looking down at the floor. Her dad never understood things like this, and her mom just never cared. She couldn't go near either of them without beating the shit out of them back to back anymore. The cape life was her escape. Did Erin understand that somehow? 

[color=ff00c2]"You know what? They won't kick me out if I'm a few minutes late. She would've liked you. We met back when I first got my powers..."[/color]

[hr]

Grandmaster was stoic as ever, as he studied the children and their responses to being here. No one could see it through his mask, but his expression was one of deep contemplation. Munnin's feeling of being look right through couldn't be further from the truth. Grandmaster was dissecting every word their body language spoke. The changer was, unsurprisingly, quite nervous. Thus far, Wattson was the only one presenting any modicum of formality other than him. Though for entirely different reasons. Neither of them were the highest priority, threat-wise, but they could both be pushed to a sufficient point. 

Richter was a problem, in ways Grandmaster wasn't equipped for. His background made him difficult to work with out of the mask, and and he'd no doubt be a source of friction among them. He put on a brave face, but Grandmaster knew it was an act. He said what he had to say. In a way, Grandmaster respected this, since Richter was the face of justice now. Luckily, the issues with Richter were ones that the PRT could deal with on their own, when he was between missions and patrols. It was [i]Keystone,[/i] however, that presented a much bigger issue. Where the others at least tried to be polite, the first words out of the boy's mouth directed at him were... Pessimistic at best. If he went into this expecting it to fail, then he would simply fail at his own expense.

[color=9F7F39]"There are exactly nine of you. Have some faith, Keystone. You will find that your teammates aren't as inept as you think,"[/color] He retorted, with a calm demeanor. If he was irked by Keystone's blunt attitude, it didn't show. He wasn't wrong, either. At minimum, two of the new Wards had prior experience as capes. Though, they presented their own problems. Seeing Tandem walk in, he noted her distinct lack of interaction with the ground at first. Fair enough, he thought.

The remaining stragglers started trickling in, one of which was Ethos. She was one of the ones Grandmaster had taken special precautions for. Master Stranger protocols, as well as Striker protocols, were to be used at low intensity until she caused an active threat. Ethos had been notified, prior to today, that she was given the benefit of the doubt for any ill-intended actions that she may have taken before joining the team, and that her powers were to be used as little as possible unless given permission. During such cases, Ethos would be free to use her powers at her discretion, within the limits of the law. This meant that as long as she built up a trustworthy reputation, Ethos would have no trouble using her powers. But regardless, she needed to earn that reputation.

Decree, on the other hand, was a night and day difference from her. Grandmaster didn't need to say anything to her, as she already caught her accidental power use. Moment like that needed to be avoided, but Decree's record for actively policing herself without PRT intervention put her a few steps before Ethos. Her lack of experience put her on par with most of them. Grandmaster felt optimistic about her role in things. The elephant in the room, of course, would be Wattson. Axiom had told him about her disdain for master capes. While her paranoid tendencies were a problem for the PRT's psychologists, he had a plan to keep her satisfied, at the very least.

The last person to walk in was Hornet. Grandmaster respected how quickly she bounced back from her trigger event. His own happened under somewhat similar circumstances a lifetime ago, and it wasn't something to take lightly. He didn't expect many problems from her beyond her stubborn attitude. But that would no doubt help her in the field, if she could adapt.

[color=9F7F39]"You'll adjust to arriving on time soon enough. Although, there is [i]one[/i] of you who I would've expected more of..."[/color] Looking at a clock on the wall was about the most animated the man seemed to be during this meeting so far. 

And then, a pause. 

Axiom broke the silence. [color=6655ff]"She flaked on us, didn't she? I should've known she would."[/color] She didn't sound very pleased. Disappointed, even.

[color=9F7F39]"After what we found? No. Where would she go?"[/color]

[color=6655ff]"I hope not. Anyway, since we're waiting...[/color] Axiom reached into a deep pocket of her suit, and pulled out a rectangular device. She placed it on a table between the couches, and a bunch of glowing blue orbs manifested around it. When the energy vanished, small containers no larger than someone's cellphone were left behind. It was tinkertech, evidently.

[color=6655ff]"There's one of these for each of you, they're special earpieces that block out the effects of master influence."[/color] Axiom omitted the fact that they only protected from [i]most[/i] forms of master influence. Among those were the ones from Ethos and Decree. [color=6655ff]"They are [i]very[/i] easy to conceal, and you'll all be expected to keep these on you 24/7. They'll scan your brain randomly for any influence, and sound off a frequency that people can't pick up on. You'll know when it clears any effects."[/color]

[color=6655ff]"The cases they come in are built to automatically maintain them, so there's no danger of them being bro-"[/color]

[h3][b][i]BANG![/i][/b][/h3]

The door was kicked open, and there stood a cape in full [url=https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1178143726732845146/1180321733786476564/image.png?ex=658f7446&is=657cff46&hm=8063cbc44db15fd2ff53aa08fc330d3d84497a88d2ca05c9f0e984f3875aa77c&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=864&height=627]pink and violet combat gear,[/url] and a mechanized helmet in one hand. She had an unpleasant, brash look on her face, purple hair and spiked piercings on both ears. If someone looked close enough, they could see a faint scar across the bridge of her nose.

Nightstalker damn near jumped out of his skin, and Grandmaster greeted her. [color=9F7F39]"I see you've decided to grace us with your presence, Shattercrash."[/color]

[color=FF00C2]"Bite me, old man,"[/color] Shattercrash responded, making Keystone's attitude seem mild. [color=ff00c2]"I'm here now. Name's Shattercrash if anyone didn't get the memo."[/color] She strolled over, fell onto a couch and kicked her feet up onto the table. All of them had likely heard of her before, if they knew anything about the cape scene in Bridgewater until now.

[color=ff00c2]"What'd I miss?"[/color]