Justice Avengers: A Black Day in Hub City

Spiral nearly laughed out loud at Morgan's introduction, especially how nearly everyone practically ignored her. Anyway, the blackmail data for #10 was finished and sent out and #11 was about to as well - wait......did Morgan actually......see her......?

Spiral was not worried. Intrigued would be the better word for it. Plus the fact that no one else even noticed her seemed like a great set up for some comedy.....

Lefay

As big of an ego the witch had, she was actually not offended by the lack of attention. She could start a "light show" to try grab the attention of everyone like she usually did when she was younger and less mature, but now it seemed pointless. If people wouldn't care nor believed who she really was, it would be best that she stopped hiding it from the world.

"Despite being outnumbered you did quite a good job back there" she congratulated Tara." Whoever is your friend shall be my friend and your enemies my enemies" she told Tara.

She took a quick glanc at two face before gesturing her hand towards Two Face before she saw the two chairs that were designated for her and Tara, she then simply took a sit, as she waited for their host to make an appereance.

edited 29th Sep '14 8:43:12 AM by RPGLegend

Terra took her seat next to Morgan.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find the one who did stab me because of how I left her, though." Terra mused to Morgan while they were on the subject, as she waited for the host to appear.

Marconi smiled, reaching into his jacket and pulling out his cellphone. "Name of the sick fuck is Hush. He's been making attacks on my asset. I want his head on a goddamn silver plate with a tomato in his mouth." He displayed a blurry picture of Hush in his cellphone, sliding it over to Slade's side, glancing over at Bucky. "Who's the manservant? Didn't know you were into guys." He snickered. "I've got a cousin who's into guys. You wanna loan eye shadow over there? I promise he'll be gentle."

The Squid, who was still drowning himself in tears, meekly looked up from his sad serenade, "W-whatever he paid you, I-I-I'll give you double if you don't kill me!" He said, trying to reach for Bucky's collar. "I-I-I'll pay you quadruple if you kill him instead!"

"Зима Солдат не может соблазниться деньгами..."^note The Winter Soldier cannot be tempted by money... Yelena whispered under her breath, as if reading off a book report.

Through an intercom, a voice echoed. "Please take your seats." The voice asked. "The conference is about to begin."

"Don't thank me. Thank the good folks at..." Karima looked at the sign on the bag as she gave a bagel to Hisako. "Finger & Sons. It's amazing what free stuff a badge can get you in this city." She leaned back on her seat, relaxing. "Why did ya come to work in the police department of what Gordon G. Godfrey calls 'the cesspool of America', Hisako?"

"Mr. Lonnie Machin," A deep, womanly voice spoke through the phone. "Sorry for interrupting your little movie. I'm sure the Maggia meeting is an exhilirating display for Hub City's master of anarchy. May I have a moment of your time?" A beat. "Don't hang up and try to run away, please. It'll be a waste of your and my time."

Slade remained quiet, staring down at the cellphone with the picture of Hush, memorizing it. When the comment regarding Bucky reached his ears, he quietly reached for the bottle of whiskey on the table, emptying it after Maroni practically drank the entire thing. And then, in one swift move, he pressed the lower end of the bottle against the edge of the table, not wincing as it broke in two pieces, a few shards of glasses entering his hand.

Before Maroni- or any of the goons- could react, Slade used the noise of the guests moving to their tables to put the broken lower half on the table, its jagged edges pointing up... before reaching over, attempting to grab Maroni by his hair so he could shove his face into the bottle, the glass fitting perfectly around his left eye. Slade didn't stop there, and kept on pushing Maroni's face into the glass. He stopped right before this move went from harmful to deadly.

"I'll kill your man." He whispered in Maroni's ear. "And then, I'll never see you again. Consider this my way of signing under that promise." And with that, he let go of Maroni's hair, and walked over to Silvermane's table.

Domino looked to the door before shrugging her shoulders. "You're probably right. I still kinda want to see where this whole thing is gonna go." She said. Her eyes cast up when the intercom went off before leaning back in her seat. "Here we go." The mutant muttered.

Garfield heard a few words here and there and saw some characters he had either not seen in a long time or had never known about but nothing that really interested him. He did, however, find the seat specifically allotted to him and sat down in it as the intercom broadcast the order.

Slade reacted kind of violently to Maroni's taunting. This may make the Slacde X Bucky ship a bit harder to get off the dock......

But anyway, looks like the announcement was going to be coming up. Better be ready to make some close ups on the Maggia when he speaks and cutaways to the major players to gauge reactions....

Press Conference

"Ever met an officer called Kazuo Ichiki? well, that's my father" she said proudly "Just trying to be at least half the person he was, I guess" she said, glossing over the America's cesspool comment.

Bucky looked at the Squid, then down at the hand reaching for him, reaching up with the metal hand to grip it by the wrist and idly shove it away from him, though he stared at the blubbering man for a long moment before shifting his attention back to Silvermane and Yelena, tilting his head to one side.

Silvermane moved away slightly, finding Bucky's gaze uncomfortable. It was like being stared at by a goddamn cat. Thankfully, that's when Wilson showed up.

"Ah, Wilson. Good to see ya." He pointed to the miserable wreck that had once been The Squid. "As you can see, I've found the guy who tried to have me killed. How's your morning been?"

Lefay

"I am quite proud of what you did, If you see an enemy of yours here don't hesitate to tell me. I want them to know you aren't alone anymore" Lefay told Tara while she looked at the other criminals,looking for potential allies. "Is there anybody else you trust?, alliances is something you never have enough after all."

edited 30th Sep '14 2:13:33 PM by RPGLegend

"I don't really trust anyone here," Terra said truthfully, but pointed to Slade. "But Karate Kid has accepted training from him."

Roof

Unfortunately for the Maggia goon trying to shove Lobo into a bodybag, the Main Man wasn't quite dead yet (or even knocked out). Naturally, Lobo wasn't terribly pleased about being manhandled by the Maggia goons and was absolutely pissed about the fact that some bastich was handling his 'hog. With a roar of pure anger, Lobo got to his feet and swung an uppercut at the bodybag goon's head.

Lonnie was taken aback by the call; until now, he had believed himself to have slipped below the radar of both the authorities and the criminal underworld as nothing more than a hacker, and maybe a "super villain". Who could this be and what did they know of his resources and plans? Was it Spiral, toying with him? There was only one way to know.

"I'm listening" he responded, in as neutral a tone as possible.

"Son of a b—" Maroni yelled out, his curse interrupted when the half of the glass bottle entered the area around his eye, little streams of blood coming out of each hole it created as the mob boss covered it, groaning. "You motherfucker fuckin' piece of shit GAAAH!" He let out a contained yell, knowing it wasn't smart to anger the Maggia. A series of italian curse words followed in a whisper, as the lights were dimmed, a projector in the back of the room turned on.

The ugly mug of the Old Boss was projected onto the front of the room, his grey, shrinking hair covering one eye, his fat cheeks forcing him to pucker up his lips when talking, several scars on his forehead, and yet he sported the best suit this side of the freaking Mississippi. The Old Boss was sitting on a wheelchair, and that sight was enough to send murmurs through the room, especially as one of the people backing him wasn't a goon, but rather, a doctor.

"Gentlemen. Thank you for coming." The Old Boss began, his Italian accent practically impossible to ignore. "Most of you are wondering why am I here, in this video transmission, and not in person. The reason behind this choice is that I am dying. I will be gone by this time next year. And as such, questions of succession would naturally arise." The Old Boss, almost expecting conversation, held out his hand. "Usually, my right hand man would become the new leader of the Maggia, and inherit the empire I have built for the past fifty years. But the times have changed."

"I have seen the rise and fall of superpowers. I have seen war, death, peace... I have seen so much more than my old brain can handle. But I have also seen the rise of peculiar individuals. Be they mutants, humans with unique abilities, what have you. They have populated our city and displayed remarkable skill. To merely hand down my power to someone who would most likely ignore this new status quo would be signing the Maggia over to a slow death."

"As such, I have called each one of you. In this room, there are approximately two hundred and fifty people. Some of them are bosses, some of them are the unique individuals I have mentioned. Together with the people you represent, I have the entire crime world of Hub City and of eighty five percent of this great country in the same room. All so I may deliver this message. The next leader of the Maggia, the one that will hold the power I have collected during my life... is in this room. We just don't know who he is yet. That is because we will decide the next boss through a competition."

"From the moment the clock hits midnight until whatever time I feel appropriate, all of you- and the groups you represent- will be at war. During this war, anything is acceptable. Hits, torture, corruption, kidnapping, anything. I have declared Hub City to be your battlefield, for the man, woman or group surviving and thriving at the end of this war will be the next leader of the Maggia."

"During this time period, my men will also relay missions to all of you. These missions will allow you and your men the chance to increase your power or perhaps regain strength lost during this war. They will also give you, before the competition begins, a list that will be updated daily with who's still fighting... and who has passed on. The reason I have created this competition is so that I may see and find out which one among you has the mind to run my empire. And do not worry about the police. Though some may try to stop you, the right officials have been bought. From midnight tonight, the city is yours."

"Use this time to exchange the last bit of pleasantries between old friends, for from the moment you step out of this building, preparations should begin. That will be all, gentlemen. Good night." The projection disappeared, and the lights went back up. Surprisingly, war didn't break out. The guests resumed talking amongst themselves. Some ran directly for the exits. Even after such world-changing news, the mood in the room remained the same.

Tangle had a hand on Domino's hand once the lights came up. "So... how's about we spend Hub City's last peaceful hours on that race I told you about?"

Outside, the goon with the body bag almost got thrown out of the roof. The other two, not wanting to waste any time, promptly pulled out their pistols, unloading their clips on the bounty hunter. "Die, ya freak!" One of them yelled.

"Adorable." Karima said, sighing. "Listen, here's how things work in the Hub City PD. If we get a report, we wait and see to find out what kind of report it is. If the words 'perilous superpowered individual' are in the report, we stay out of it. If these words are not there, then it's OK for us to drive by it, see if we can get anything out of the situation. Most crimes in this city don't get reported until its too late... might as well not waste the resources."

"Good. Mr. Machin, you're probably wondering who we are." The voice continued. "We cannot share that information right now. What we can share is that at this moment, there is a helicopter landing on the helipad of your building." The sound of turbines coming from the ceiling confirmed that. "You will leave your penthouse and enter the helicopter, which will take you to our current location. Do not attempt to take any explosives or hacking devices... our men in the helicopter will know. You will meet people who do not know your identity, so, wear your costume, if you want to keep it a secret. Are we understood, Mr. Machin?"

Silvermane sighed, looking awkwardly over at Wilson. On the bright side, this gave him free reign to kill Squid later. But that was about the only bright side he was looking at right now.

Slade didn't even look down at the Squid, choosing instead to remain completely still behind Bucky. "Effortless." He said in response to Silvermane's question, staring up at the projector. Once the explanation was finished, he held a hand towards Silvio, waiting for a handshake. "I would like to form a pact of non-aggresions. Me and my associate harbor no desire to participate in this competition, but since it seems that is not an option, we will simply refrain from attacking any other participants, unless is in its self-defense. Any complaints?..." He trailed off, looking at Bucky.

Silvermane sighed with relief as he shook Wilson's hand. He really hadn't been looking forward to fighting a friend.

"That seems fair." He said, giving a sideways glance at Yelena.

Once the announcement was done, Two Face jumped out of his seat and yelled at the top of his lungs.    Fuck yes! This is going to be the most fun we've ever had!   

"Speak for yourself, We were making plans for the subtle takeover of the city, guess those are getting thrown out the window now!"

   Stop being a killjoy, Dent!   

The two sides of Two Face's personality continued to argue with one another loudly, no doubt causing a scene.

Lefay

"Speaking of training, there is an offer I wanted to make you. It has been a long time since the last time I had a pupil on the mystical arts, It would be my honor if you would like to become my apprentice. I believe sorcery will compliment your natural abilities quite perfectly" She offered Tara.

Lonnie considered his options. This could be a trap, but then again, if they wanted to capture or kill him, they could have done so already. It was risky, but going along seemed to be the best way to go.

Which didn't mean he was going to play the game without some aces up his sleeve, of course. That just wasn't his way.

"Very well. Meet you in the roof" he said, and switched the phone off.

He then looked at his computer, in time to catch the important part of the Maggia Meeting's purpose. Things were going to get crazy soon, indeed.

He turned the device off, but not without punching in a message first, preset to be sent out if he didn't return in a few hours.

Finally, he went to retrieve his costume, and as he was asked to, removed all weapons and devices before putting it on. He kept the anti-detection cape, though- he wasn't asked about that, which probably meant they didn't know about it. It was folded inside another, normal cape- meaning he could now be detected normally, as the magic only worked with the cloak properly worn. If he found it necessary, he would switch capes, and -hopefully- get a chance to get away.

Then, he took a deep breath, and took his private elevator to the roof.

Bucky looked up at Slade, then shrugged disinterestedly. Whatever Slade wanted. Still, he shifted to get to his feet, looking again at the Squid, then back at Silvermane, again just staring him down.

Terra looked over at Morgan when she asked if she wanted to be taught magic.

"I'd love to learn magic, especially after," Terra tilted her head towards where the projector showed the 'Old Boss.' "That announcement."

"This entire city will be a warzone by midnight tonight," Terra mentioned, crossing her arms and frowning. "Not that it wasn't already one..."

Domino really couldn't believe that she was at the group floor for this meeting. This had all the signs of a war among criminals breaking out tomorrow. What started out as just a brief stint in Hub City was now getting her wrapped up in some competition to take over the gang? This is ridiculous. Now she was going to have a target placed on her head because of this old guy. A grin spread across her face as she leaned back in her chair. "This sounds like it could be fun." She said calmly.

Her attention shifted over to Tangle when she suddenly felt his hand on hers. His offer to join him in his race still stood apparently. She shrugged her shoulders, figuring it couldn't hurt to have a little fun before all hell broke lose in the city. "Sure, why not?" She said.