Heroes: The Rise of Omnicorp

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot followed her into her room and shut the door quietly behind him. "Li Na, look, you've got to stop baiting Blackheart. You know he's on a short fuse these days, and that thing in him isn't helping. I know you've got some...feelings for him, and believe me when I say I know how love can turn to hate real damn quick and in a hurry. I've got a twisted hunk of metal at home that used to be a bike before one of my ex's got to it, but the point is, we need to chill. We're in a bad place right now, and if we're at each other's throats, it's going to get worse. Please...can't you just work things out with him?"

[SirNitram]

"No one's in charge right now, Blackheart, and it's showing. Stop listening to the crippled fragment and think like the man you were. Can a team without a lead function? Do you think, with your admitted bias, you're a good choice at this moment? If people want another, fine, but we're the ones with experience." Gravitas said steadily, watching Blackheart's eyes.

"The Primordial is stronger, I'm certain, but this entire State would vanish under the waves in the fight." Likely exaggeration, but did anyone want these two using their powers around fault lines? "Now calm down. I'm not the one getting the look of primal murder in my eyes."

[LadyTevar]

Li Na paused, looking down the hallway. "It's too late for that, Collin," she said, sadly. She continued walking forward leading him into the master bedroom's 'exercise room'. On the floor was a padded mat, along one wall were various weights suitable for light training. In the far corner was a very impressive computer. The far wall was a large picture window.

"It might have been too late when we met," she continued absently, walking around the mat to stand by the window. "Like calls to like, demon to demon."

[Hotfoot]

He rolled his eyes as he followed her back to her room. "So, what, you're destined to kill each other? Come on, this is more personal than some whacked out udemon thing. He's treated you like a jerk, and you're firing back. Seriously, I've seen enough drama with relationships to know what's going on. It's a shitty situation and that sucks, but really, we need to put all that behind us. I mean, you've still got Tach, can't you just be happy with that? What is it about Blackheart that keeps you trying to make him miserable? Why can't you just rise above it?"

[Cynical Cat]

The infant thinks there are two when there is one. His understanding is limited, confined to the merely human. That makes no difference. Both would impose their will upon me through their powers and that has not changed since the universe started to cool. They test me, looking for weakness. They have imposed their will upon me before and paid no price. Those that should have lived died. It will happen again and again as long as they pay no price. No, it will not.

"I was never a good choice for leader," said Blackheart. "And so I remain. But I will not abandon my responsibilities."

[LadyTevar]

A soft smile touched her lips as she turned to face him. "What makes him act like a jerk? Why does he keep trying to rub my nose in the dirt?" she asked back. "The questions go both ways, Collin. But, for the last...."

She leaned against the window, her face towards the back of the house, towards the view of the bay and SanFran below. "... There's a little side street in Chinatown, where a little old man and his wife have a tenement that his ancestors slowly turned into a home and business. His eldest son is helping him train a new generation the art of Tai chi chuan." Her voice was almost singsong, her eyes far away from the here and now.

"I go down there, when the mood takes me, just to look at it. There's a little alley that's perfect for hiding, across the street from it. I can see the old woman as she looks out the second story windows in fear." Li Na's eyes harden, and the smile becomes a very nasty smirk. "Sometimes... I let her see me."

[SirNitram]

"Good. You want the Guardian Force to be Saibot's goons? Grab those sources of yours and if there's evidence, I will back you to the hilt. If necessary, I'll go in alone with you." Gravitas said. "I'm not trying to be an asshole here. But this infighting is what got shit like streets dropped on me. We need to stop it and do our jobs, okay? You remember your duties, do they include frying me?"

[Cynical Cat]

"We have more than enough grounds to grab our new White Guardian and see if it is Saibot," said Blackheart, irritated. Third fucking time this session he had to repeat this. "But we won't. Because we're coming apart just talking about moving on Guardian Force and that means we'll fly apart if we try it. So we're trying other avenues. Like I said a minute ago. Suggestions?"

[Hotfoot]

"I know they do, but Blackheart's been a jerk for a while now. I don't like it, but that's the way it is. It doesn't matter who started what or who kept it going, if you stop it, that's a step forward. If you stop reacting, he'll eventually give it a rest, or at least he should." He listened to her story with a skeptical look on his face.

"Okay, so what? You're saying you do mean things for no reason? What's the point of telling me that? To spook me? To reinforce that you're a "demon"? Come on. You're not the most pure and benevolent person in the world, but you're still basically a good person, with good intentions. I know you've got a darker side, but you usually save it for the things we're fighting. Why can't we go back to that?"

[SirNitram]

"Your contacts, like I said. My contacts too. If they're equipped anywhere near as well as the old ones, one of us will know someone who saw the money moving about." Gravitas pointed out. "Find the money, we'll learn alot more about them. Particularly if we dangle the financiers out of windows upside down." No, Gravitas didn't play nice.

[LadyTevar]

"Ah..." she said, blinking back to the present. "I'm sorry... I though I'd told you..."

"Don't worry, she's no innocent. No one who locks the child of their missing daughter into an attic for over a decade is innocent."

[frigidmagi]

Tobin having been chased out of the house more or less (although physical chasing had not occurred, it was unnecessary) while the "adults" (plus Hotfoot who was frankly better suited to hold Argents hand. Her claims of demonhood unnerved Tobin's Catholic's soul to the point he usually tried very hard to ignore it) discussed things. He did what any red blooded American teenager would do in his situation. He sulked.

In this case he sat by the pool, dangling bare feet in (having taken off his shoes and socks on exiting the house) the pool, shooting bolts of energy from one hand to the next. Making a circuit of sorts out of himself if you will.

[Cynical Cat]

"I know its multiple factions and the CIA is one of them," said Blackheart. "I also know that the CIA could teach the mob a few things about concealing money flows. Different departments hide things from each other. I have no one that can get that data."

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot sighed softly and shook his head. "I don't know the whole story behind that, though maybe someday you'll tell me. The point is, you're a good person in a bad spot. You need to work out of it. So does Blackheart, but he's another story, and we'll deal with him later, okay? You can't do anything about him right, just yourself, and we need to stop all the infighting in our little family," He put a hand on her shoulder, exuding what comfort he could.

"Now then, shall we get that dagger?"

[SirNitram]

"See what you can dig up, okay? I can't expect success if this is buried deep from anyone short of Synapse, and I arranged for him to die because he went crazy." Gravitas said, invoking a name that had no meaning in this universe. "But it can't hurt to try and find out more. ANd if we do find any flows of funds, equipment, or personnel, we slice those off just before the attack. Your new self will hopefully approve of the savagery of crippling before the kill." Gravitas feared the new Blackheart.. Not the least of which because he knew he wasn't a God now.

[LadyTevar]

"The woman is my mother's mother," Li Na said bluntly, explaining everything in one short sentence. Through the hand on her shoulder, Hotfoot got a lot more empathically as a lifetime of resentment and hate briefly bubbled to the surface before Li Na pulled away.

She walked to the center of the practice mat and held her hand out flat, palm down. A shadow across the mat bulged and grew upwards like a stalagmite on fast-forward, until it reached her hand. Then the shadow peeled back to reveal the hilt of the dagger, which she took in hand, holding it out flat. "You're wanting to use it."

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot nodded, grimly understanding the basic point of the story. The following storm of emotions overwhelmed him for a moment, before he could start his breathing technique. His eyes were slit as he reached for the knife, still breathing very carefully.

"My father died doing this kind of work, Li Na. Legacies died doing this work. I didn't like him that much, or even know him that well, but we need to stay on our toes to keep from losing anyone else. Anything that lets me react faster, keep the rest of us from harm, well, that's something I intend on using," He took the hilt and let the power of the blade flow through him, and for a moment, the emotions he had been holding back slipped out. The sorrow and grief, of duty and responsibility he had been hiding for a week slipped out for a second, and he knew it.

He glanced at Li Na with a knowing look before cutting her off. "I'll need a place to practice with this, I think."

[LadyTevar]

"Yes," she said, her hand still on the hilt, not yet letting it go. "But I would like you to convince Blackheart to give Alexander the ring Gravitas is keeping, as well as the boxes."

Nothing is without a price in her world, she'd learned that too well. "He can play with light. With the ring to play with, he can do more than the Guardians can." Slowly, she let the hilt go. "I'm not expecting Blackheart to do it. Just ask him, and this is yours."

[Hotfoot]

He looked at Argent with a raised eyebrow and nodded. "I think I know a way around it. I'll talk to Gravitas first. He seems to like Alex anyway. Maybe we should give Blast the spare box though. I don't think anyone else is going to use it."

[LadyTevar]

"It doesn't like him," came the answer. "He has tried to power-up from it before, and he couldn't ... stomach it, for lack of a better term." She turned away, shaking her head. "The ring can power from either box, but it's better to have the spare in case. Saibot's ring only needed a few minutes to charge in the Master Box."

[Hotfoot]

"It's better than nothing, and I don't want to think of what would happen if he was on his own without anything to draw on. Besides, if we lose one, we still have the other. Eggs and baskets, right?"

[LadyTevar]

"Right."

She turned back to face him. "If the master Box gets back to the Guardians, Blackheart will be extremely pissed." Which was the understatement of the current century. "But I think we can trust Alexander with it." Her eyes dropped, as she gave a wry smile. "He truly meant his little speech, in case you didn't notice." There was the taint of disbelief in the air, as she shook her head at such naivety. "So, we give him the strongest protection we have, and maybe he'll live to grow up."

[Hotfoot]

"Could be. I'll talk to Gravitas about it in a bit. Think you're good to head back now?"

[LadyTevar]

"No." She saw no reason to lie. "I will go out to the pool and cool down. Let me know how it goes."

[General Havoc]

The energy bolts danced between Blast's hands than the surface of the water deformed and twisted, and Hydro rose from its depths like the loch-ness monster, his tendril turning about in a circle.

"What.... in the universe is that...?" he asked, sounding surprised.