Old Heroes, Young Villains (Absinte & Aida)

[Absinthresher]

Megadustrial was a City rife with super heroes.

The illustrious and, to some, shady 'Cleaner Crew' consisted of all well dressed men and women, the leaders of which forewent the usual “Tights and Capes” look that a lot of superheroes treasured. Well, most of them did. Some of them had combined the traditional 'super' look with their 'tuxedos and suits and dresses' look to great effect.

Their numbers are primarily business men and women, and excelled within the overall, planet-wide Pantheon of Heroes, at making money from their trademarks and copyrights.

Along with the Cleaner Crew was the FRV, or the “Force Recon Vector” a squad of watch men who were tasked to keep an eye on the local super population. Someone got too out of hand, endangered one too many people, their task was to put an end to their career in whatever way they deemed fit. Murder, permanent crippling, imprisonment, whatever it took.

Despite the term 'squad' they mostly acted independently of each other, acting somewhat like detectives with team ups and information sharing between the seven. Out of all of them, Daniel Horatio Carver had the most hatred for the capes.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Heavy foot steps echoed down the alleyway, joining the din of the city and the heavy breathing of an 'invicible' white cape by the name of 'The Crack Pot'. Twice Daniel's size, he didn't look too big slumped up against the wall, slowly bleeding to death.

Carver stopped, tapping the button on the side of his helmet that opened it up. The speakers that previously covered his ears pumped out music as he approached, the uptempo and quick beat of “
The Hounds” loud enough for the man before him to hear it.

“Hold on a second” He said, the cigarette in his mouth slowly burning away as he gestured with one hand, twisting an invisible knob.

“If you think that you can run,
If you think tha you can stand,
Well you forgot who turned this city on,
You forgot who plugged this city in!”

The song filled the alley, reverberating and bouncing off walls as Daniel grinned, speaking “That's better. So, you've been dealing crack cocaine, which is funny and I guess how you got your name, right? Probably some cute little accident involving magical crack rocks or falling into a vat of radioactive drugs. I honestly don't care, but Eric gets a hard on for this shit. You know your charges. Trafficking, personal possession, selling, unsanctioned civilian murder, unsanctioned civilian assault, think there were some rape charges in there. Man, it took forever to investigate you, gotta give you props there kid. You covered your tracks pretty well, for a brainless crook, but you seem to forget the world we live in. You shoulda known the hammer was gonna fall on you eventually”

He took the burnt out coffin nail between two fingers and flicked it at the downed cape as he went on “Think there was even a charge for hitting on the mayors wife, but I think he was just pissed off about that. Man can be vindictive when he's angry, you know how it is.”

Daniel pulled out his sidearm and cocked it back “Took me a while to figure out that your weakness is, ironically, downers. Who the fuck woulda guessed Alcohol suppressed your powers? Well, I mean, I guess you did, but that's cheating”.

Daniel crouched down and looked straight into his eyes, now level with him “So, anyways, You have anything to say in your defense? Any last minute banter, last words, whatever?”. The misshapen man before him grunted and tried to sit up, then winced in pain. He finally spat blood at Carver and snarled “The CC ain't gonna stand for this, bitch. They'll call down some unholy shit on you, shit that makes the Excalibur look like a fucking joke by comparison”.

At the mention of the Excalibur, Daniel's eyes darkened and he leaned in close, his voice suddenly arctic cold as he spoke “I can guarantee you that your little toy is about as threatening as as a barbie doll to me at this point. The deal was that when you shit heads step out of line, we come in to clean you up and ship you out. I woulda been happy to send you to Vereor, let you deal with him, but you had to run. Ten years, that's what you woulda got”
“You ever BEEN to Vereor's Forge?! I'd rather fucking die and serve my time in hell than go deal with that”

Laughing bitterly, Daniel stood up straight and said “Yeah, I have, actually. Five years”
“...Holy shit. You're... no fucking way. You're supposed to be dead for what you did!”
“What's the quote? “The report of my demise has been greatly exagerrated”. Lemme clue you in on a little secret. I was in Hemming, before it became known as the Anvil of Vereor. I was /there/”
“Jesus, lord in heaven, please deliver me...” The Crack Pot began to pray, eyes closed as he quaked violently.
“Yeah, that's what I thought bud. Say hello to Kimiko for me” He stated as he drew his weapon.

He flipped the cylinder out on the revolver, and extened .44 he used exclusively for dealing with supers. There was nothing in the world that worked universally for them, but he knew a few tricks that helped. For instance, once you weakened a super, you wanted to make the holes as big as possible. Healing slowed down once they were wide enough.

With a flourish, the cylinder slid back into place and he spun the weapon before aiming it at the man before him, dead center for the forehead. Daniel waited, letting him finish his prayer. He wasn't a religious man, but had enough respect for those who were to let them finish.

Without another word, the trigger was pulled and the Crack Pot was no more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was hour later when Daniel found himself breaking into the top floor of a business that he'd visited a thousand times in the past. All the lighs were off, save the one over the door of the CEO of said company. The door was opened, and Daniel sidled through with a sigh.

“How many times have I told you that you don't get to call meetings?” The man asked wearily as he took his usual seat in front of the desk. He leaned back, hitting the button on his helmet to open it up.

 

[Aida Rose]

Sabra arched an eyebrow, jaw cradled in the palm of his hand. At first, he pouted. Was that any way to greet a friend, and one as charming as him? But he was used to this by now.

"Oh, who knows?" he said, voice flat, and then turned his head to call to someone. "Darling, come here." He scratched his chest, bare beneath his heavy, leather jacket. When no one came, he leaned toward Daniel. "Good help is a myth."

The desk surface between them was too long for Sabra to make it, but his face grew close to Daniel. Sabra bared his teeth in a friendly smile and patted the other man's cheeks. Too fast, he sat back, and the distance between them re-materialized. The whole room was like that. At times, if Sabra wished, the whole world was like that. Bending and stretching to meet his will. Some claimed he had power over reality, over illusions. He preferred to think his animal magnetism was too strong for even the world to resist.

"Darling!" he hollered and a muffled sound answered him.

Then from the same darkness behind Sabra, the sound repeated itself. This time in a husky voice that grew clearer as it went on. "Your voice begins to grate, love of my life." He barked a laugh.

"When will this long wait end?" he replied, playing at upset. A small smile tugged at his lips. A beautiful woman slunk in from the shadows, smirking. Camilla rolled her eyes, conspiratorially at Daniel, from behind Sabra's back. "Finally," he sighed, without turning, even though she arrived without a sound. "Tell me, how many times has Danny informed us that, ah what was it, we don't get to call meetings?"

Camilla blinked at Sabra, then Danny, and she broke into a loud fit of giggles. "Too many times." She grinned. "He should give up, but we love following orders, don't we?"

He chuckled, swung his chair towards her and gestured for her to come to him. "We need to talk to you about our daughter, Danny."

"Your daughter, Sabra," she corrected, dropping easily onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "Mine have power to worry the gods. It's only your little cub that lags behind them all."

Camilla meant, of course, Quade. He was the oldest of her children with Sabra and the apparent golden boy. He harassed his half siblings and pulled stunts that were more violence than style. Not the Ananse trademark. Sabra ignored her. He loved all his children, but some more than others. Ursa had more passion for the work than any of his other children, a trait at least ten times the worth of Quade's flash. And no, it wasn't because he felt threatened by the boy.

"It's Ursa. She's a young lady, about this high--" He stretched his arm up to a few inches over five feet--"takes after her mother. Lovely woman."

"Oh? Tell us her name."

"She's got a good heart, a real can-do attitude--"

"Except, she can't."

"It's just, at times her ambition has a knack for reaching beyond the scope of her ability." He concentrated on keeping a warm and open appearance. The distance between them closed. The room grew less dark, brighter, but the edges and details remained obscured. "You know, I've always admired you, Dannny."

"He means, babysit the child. Make her less hopeless, if you can. We'd do it, but responsible behavior gives us hives. You know that, Danny Bear. You're our only friend who wouldn't kill or, well, take advantage of the girl." She gave him a sharp look, but then shrugged. Her manicured captured her attention. "God knows there've been brighter stars."

"Milla doesn't know what she's talking about. Ursa was on the honor roll." He beamed. "The two of you will get along like a city on fire."

 

[Absinthresher]

None of this surprised Daniel to any degree, knowing he was more than safe from Sabra's tricks. Out of all of the capes that had fought Sabra and won or lost, all three of them knew that Daniel had a power of his own that didn't necessarily rival Sabra's, but certainly did counteract it. In a sense, it counteracted most power, which is what made Daniel's threat so utterly devastating when so much as whispered.

"Ah, right, the only one of your children I haven't wanted to put a bullet in to. I've been meaning to have my own little talk with you on that subject" The man stated as he reached into his coat pocket, drawing out a pack of filtered cigars. He shook one free, placed it between his lips and lit it until a cherry ember remained at the end. After a few moments of letting them explain whatever it was they were on about, he raised an eyebrow at them. In the darkness, his eyes glittered, practically glowing with some unholy fire trapped in amber, almost golden yellow iris.

He leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the table as his hands slid across the surface. After a moment of looking at the tabletop, he brought his gaze back to them and said "You want the Suicidal Soldier to look after your fledgling? The guy with the highest Cape kill count in recorded history. I've always said you were insane, but this basically proves it, doesn't it?". He stood up, shoving his chair back as he laid both palms flat "I will do it on the condition that you deliver Quade a warning". As he said this, it almost felt like the world had stopped and held it's breath as he spoke, his words filled with an odd kind of power to them. He exhaled, a plume of smoke flowing forth before he continued "I can already see that he's another Horror in the making, and you know exactly what I am telling you right now, what this threat means. Tell him that the Huntsman is going to come for him, and the Wild Hunt will enjoy picking the flesh from his bones if he doesn't knock his shit off. I don't interfere with the affairs of capes or villains until they get my attention, and he has my attention. Soon enough, he'll have a target on his back too"

With that said, the air about them relaxed and seemed to return to normal as he continued "I'll look after the child, and see if I can't teach her a thing or two". His attention turned to Camilla, and he gave a rare grin that meant so very many things, none of them good "Not everyone gets their power when they're younger, and from what I can see, those who learn humility before strength survive the longest"

 

[Aida Rose]

Sabra and Camilla were a small step from preening when Daniel called them insane. They lounged on the seat together, overall pleased with the turn of events. They'd get what the wanted, just like they always did. Then Quade's name dropped. Sabra smiled tightly, opened his mouth to say something appeasing, but Camilla's tongue was quicker.

She got a dark look in her eyes. "That's what I like about you, Danny. You'd come onto a woman's property and threaten her favorite son. If that's not insanity, I don't know what is."

Sabra's hold became less embrace and more leash. "Gotta love a kindred spirit." She stroked her lover's arm and never looked away from Daniel. "We'll tell him, of course. If there's one thing I respect, it's a deal."

"You might see him more than we do. Quade's something of a role model for the weaker ones." There was some maternal love laced in her words, but much of it was was pride in herself. Of all Sabra's wives, his loves and flights of whimsy, it was only Camilla who'd been strong enough to yield a mighty force like Quade. His instability didn't mean much to her. Weren't they all wild in their youth? How much more should a trickster god be then? He'd come into himself, grow out of his more wretched vices, and be the one to take Sabra's place. There wasn't a man alive who'd leave the mother of his heir...right?

Sabra grimaced. Her explanation may've been overly generous. He, himself, had never observed Quade speak to any runt, much less Ursa, though he stared at her enough. He bullied and tortured them all, of course. That was his way. Usually Sabra didn't begrudge anyone rough behavior but it was different with Quade, more than harmless anarchy. Worse, compared to how he treated the general civilization, he was downright gentle to his siblings.

"My thoughts exactly! She has the drive, the humor, the reckless disregard for authority. Now, with your help, she'll have the skill." Camilla rolled her eyes and Sabra gave her a squeeze. "How soon can you start?"

He reached towards a nearby draw, and an antique cigar case flew into his hand. He placed it on the desk. The cigars in Camilla and Sabra's seemed as if they'd always been there. The tips burned when he blinked. The same, of course, would happen if Daniel took one. Sabra was many things, but a poor host wasn't one.

 

[Absinthresher]

The male laughed at her reaction, the sound rich and deep. Not something that a lot of people, especially capes of any flavor, ever got to her.

"See, that right there, Camilla my dear, is something I would have considered just wrong enough to get you on my list. You're lucky I like you two today" He stated as a matter of fact. The cigar case didn't seem to move at all, yet Daniel was replacing his own cheaper cigar with one of theirs, putting out the filtered coffin nail and putting it in his coat pocket before he lit the cigar clenched between his teeth. That was a gift that he'd exhibited but few actually knew the secret of his "Graystep", which was a misnomer of sorts as it had nothing to do with actual stepping and more to do with bouts of speed that would impress most Speedsters, even with it's short range. There was a good reason the Caped community, and the Cape-media community for that matter, saw him as an oddity.

"I suppose I can start tonight if need be. I've already finished off my hitlist" He stated, blinking a few times at them before turning his head, looking through the corner of his eye at the right corner of the room.

A tall figure, about the same height as Daniel, seemed to materialize from the shadows. The armor the figure wore could've been a carbon copy of Daniel's own, up to a point, the major difference being the black 'silk' overcoat with it's gothic frills and silver veins swirled across the hems. The armor seemed to have been custom made, as it exhibited her curves rather nicely, the visors that matched Daniel's own were violet, instead of gold.

"Just cleared this with the Decommission" The female said, tossing a ratty purple hat onto the desk. It spun and landed just right over the cigar box, plonking down without a sound.

"Ah, yes, I suppose neither of you will miss the Crack Pot much, yeah? I know how much you wanted his hat for your collection" Daniel stated off handedly, grinning at them "I can't swing any of his personal effects, so don't bother asking".

 

[Aida Rose]

"Like we care about some nobody's shit," Sabra scoffed, all the while Camilla inspected the purple hat. When she finished with a disappointed sigh of disgust, he snapped his fingers. They watched with delight as it burst up into the room, disbanding into a glittering spelling of Get Out.

Camilla giggled.

---

Ursa sighed and snatched the tablet from her younger sister. "Dani, what the hell's with you tonight?" She looked down at the screen with disgust and said, voice flat, "You're doin' algebra homework. We have a bus full of firecrackers and you want to do...what the fuck is this?"

"Polynomials. You're being a real butt right now. Seriously." Dani scowled when Ursa held the tablet high above her head, out of reach. "I thought you got an A in that class. Give it to me, Ursa!"

"Well, yeah," she snorted. "I did the decent thing and blackmailed the teacher. The secret I had on him was juicy. Wanna hear it?"

"Just give me the fuckin' tablet!"

"Alright, if you insist. I taped him! This old, grizzled fart, was like a 'Nam vet or some shit, he gets off by paying a hobo to wear our school mascot uniform an' piss on him. Always get 'em where they fuck." She grinned and broke into laughter when Dani hit her head on a ledge trying to get to the tablet. Her sister snarled and hopped off the bottom step to the ground outside. She turned her back to Ursa and folded her arms. "Oh god, are you sulking, sis?"

They stood inside one of the buses of a more or less empty bus station, their only company a homeless man. His snores echoed over the sound of the tablet smacking the back of Dani's shoulders. It would've fell to the floor, perhaps the end of the Boring Edutron, if it weren't for Dani's ridiculous reflexes. They were why Ursa'd felt confident enough to toss it in the first place. She watched, not at all jealous. Honest. If anything, she envied the venomous spit.

"You don't want to make some junior high kid's day?" she asked, now a little hesitant. Dani was usually a lot more fun to be around. If anything, she was too much fun. That devious little mind of hers almost never knew when to quit. And since when did she need to carry homework around? It usually took her no time at all. Ursa's face scrunched up. "Wait a minute. I smell a rat. This is College Algebra."

Dani's shoulders tense and she slipped the tablet back into her messenger bag. "What would you know? You're on the never ending gap year." She got noticeably shifty. Her smile was tight and unconvincing. "These firecrackers won't load up themselves and we need to make sure they're just right. Don't want to blow any faces off, right?"

That only made Ursa more suspicious. She narrowed her eyes. Responsible behavior? Dani? This girl must think I was born yesterday, she thought, irritated.

"I'll say two names and you say which one's the rat. Jessa. Quade."

 

[Absinthresher]

Daniel rolled his eyes, a snort of derision heard from his twin sister before she disappeared in a plume of pale, violet fire.

"Last time I pull strings around the FRV headquarters to get you a souvenir from a dead guy" Daniel stated before disappearing from his spot. Within minutes he was running across the sky scrap rooftops, flashstepping his way across town.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"See, I knew it was suspicious when I got reports that a very large shipment of fire crackers came up about half as big as it ought to be" Daniel stated as he approached them, his voice amplified and electronized by the built in speaker of his helmet. He smacked the side of his helmet and said "Sorry about that, this thing goes on the fritz sometimes. Usually happens when I get blood on it"

"You really shouldn't shit on vets like that, they already have a hard enough time as is" He stated, crossing his arms over his chest, and raising an eyebrow at them behind his visor "Though I can't speak for the disgusting proclivities that some of my fellow veterans seem to have. Honestly couldn't begin to explain how these things manifest. So, whatcha doooiiinnn?". This was fairly uncharacteristic of the Suicidal Soldier. All media on him had consisted of things that more or less pushed the image of a brooding, mentally unstable psychopath with a death wish.

"I mean, aside from planning something blatantly retarded" He pointed out "And probably illegal. And also pretty stupid. But no, really, what're you two up to?"

"Wait, let me guess" he said as he brought up his arm and started fiddling with the pipboy looking device on his arm, which it pretty much was "You're going to do something really dumb like light a bunch of them off at once in a dangerous area. By the way, you need to cover your tracks better. For instance, the guy you paid to have these "Fall off a truck". You should've paid him a bit more to fuck with the records. Lord know show easy that is too do"

 

[Aida Rose]

Ursa groaned. She'd been so sure Dani would confess, had practically seen the word drop from her lips, but then their unexpected visitor made his dashing entrance. Dani's mouth slammed shut and she slid close to her big sister. They watched the figure approach warily, Ursa's hand drifting towards one of two metal baseball bats strapped to her back. Then she paused.

"Oh," she said, and dropped her hand to the tranq gun instead. "I know you."

It was that suicidal whoever her dad liked. Big surprised when the technophile's speakers blitzed, even bigger when he had to bring up the vet thing. "You served in the military? The prick named Suicidal Soldier? Gods, who woulda guessed." She stepped in front of Dani. "What're you even doing here? Besides judging an innocent pervert, of course."

Ursa had nothing against the teacher's extracurricular activities. It wouldn't have even mattered if he weren't holding her grade hostage at the time. Then there was the bigger issue of what the fuck this guy (no, check that, asshole; it was a good idea, great for Dani's debut) was even doing here. Ursa often got stuck in the kiddie pool. Camilla said it was because of what a great teacher Ursa made, but she wasn't an idiot. They kept her out of the good stuff as much as possible. And, as far as she could tell, this guy was exclusively A-List.

"I wouldn't say that." But, that was about right, except for the part about danger. The firecrackers would go off, yeah, but in the morning right before the drivers even clocked in. There'd be a sweet show and, for tons of kids, a free day. No more hazardous than life always was. To be honest, this should count as their good deed of the year.

 

[Absinthresher]

"I would fucking hope you know who I am, otherwise I'm not doing my job correctly" Daniel stated, watching her hand move as he spoke "What exactly do you think that's going to do? I don't think you're even remotely strong enough to actually hurt me with those, little girl. Love how you're making fun of my name, teddy bear".

"Oh, right, that. Well, you see, you not only managed to get a guy fired, but you also robbed a friend of mine when you paid off whomever you paid to get this crap. Normally, I don't bother with this stuff because I'm too busy killing your fellow capes to even bother, but I happen to actually like this woman" He explained, playing with the device on his arm as he spoke. He looked up from it, at them, and stated "She must've known something I didn't because she said something along the lines of "If they're using them for something that isn't necessarily dangerous, give them a free pass this one time so long as it's actually funny".

"So, here's how this goes. Tell me what you're up to, and so long as it isn't actually dangerous or life threatening, I'll help you out" He stated with a shrug, as though it were the simplest thing in the world "If it actually IS dangerous, I'll probably kick your asses and deliver your sorry behinds to your parents, because seriously, stealing firecrackers is some juvenile shit". Daniel wasn't exactly known for his sense of humor, but he wasn't exactly known for being on the right side of the law all the time either, not that many people could do much about it.

 

[Aida Rose]

Ursa watched him, dead eyed, and ignored Dani when she snorted at 'teddy bear.' The wit! She rolled her eyes. How dumb did this guy think she was? They stole from his friend? Give her a break. He needed to come up with a better reason for why a big shot murderer was slumming it with a D List hoodlum like her.

"Right," she said. "I want your help because...because, um. Dani, you're the smart one. Is it because he's a homicidal buzzkill? Or maybe I'm insane now or, oh wait, my incompetence has surpassed itself!"

Her hand shook, less fear and more frustration, and both arms fell limp to her side. Dani raised her eyebrows, surprised. When she cleared her throat, Ursa ignored her. Instead, she glared straight at the intruder. Maybe she wasn't A-List. Maybe she didn't have seemingly endless potential like most of her siblings, but she could handle a small thing like this.

"Maybe we should go home," Dani suggested calmly, but Ursa wasn't listening.

"Not only can he kick the shit out of me, but he can help us with a simple prank. What can't this jackass do? Oh, I'm sorry, that was rude." She folded her arms and smiled sweetly. "What can't you do, jackass?"

Wrong to talk about someone while they're standing right there, she thought. "You can fight. You can help. How about you show us how well you walk away, Danny?" she purred the last word. A wink seemed like the appropriate punctuation.

 

[Absinthresher]

Daniel raised an eyebrow at her, stating "Well, I can't abide by stupid little girls being stupid little girls, usually. That's not necessarily a bad thing, however. I'd ask if your parents taught you any manners, but I know your parents, so the likely answer to that question is "Manners? What the fuck are manners?". See, the joke is that your parents are probably the most generally disrespectful people I've ever had the pleasure of wanting to punch in the face"

Well, they usually have enough sense not to be outright disrespectful to me, so I guess that's not completely accurate He thought, shaking his head at the young girls attitude towards him.

"Hmn. I suppose I could walk away" He said, reaching in to his coat and producing a glass sphere that seemed to be filled with some kind of fluid, and what appeared to be a number of small bits of some kind of white material within that fluid. He held it up to the light, then said "I don't suppose you know what white phosphorus is, or does?"

He threw the baseball sized sphere at the remaining boxes of fireworks, hard enough that the glass shattered and the fluid, which appeared to be a mixture of gasoline and diesel fuel, splashed across the boxes. He proceeded to pull the half burnt cigar from his pocket, lighting it up and taking a long drag before throwing the cigar at the boxes. Within seconds, the liquid caught fire, soon followed by several spots of intensely bright flames burning even hotter than the liquid, effectively burning into the boxes and setting off the firecrackers.

"Protip: When someone offers you something reasonable, take it unless you have a reason to be suspicious. Considering I am actually friends with your parents, perhaps rethink your stance on my motives" He stated, then turned and began to walk away "See you later, Teddy Bear"

 

[Absinthresher]

(I'm going to spare anyone who reads this the amount of hate I feel like vomiting right now and just say that, yet again, another roleplay of mine is closed.)