Gerry needed a job. The Docks have been going downhill ever since Leviathan appeared and closed most shipping lanes. Brockton Bay is a dying animal with parasites sucking on its remaining life force, and it made Gerry sad. He lived in the city his entire life, but there was nothing he could do. That is, until now. He had received an email detailing something big while revealing nothing. It gave him a date, time and location, but not much else.
Gerry was planning on ignoring it and going on with life, when his son got mugged by a pair of Empire thugs. With work being scarce with the Dockworkers, he decided to take the risk and show up.
He arrived at an abandoned warehouse hidden deep inside the Docks. Gerry saw a handful of other people enter the designated warehouse as well and shrugged. Safety in numbers he guessed. He walked in and saw a large crowd gathering around a makeshift stage.
"What the hell is this shit? Some sort of cult?" He asked around. Turned out a bunch of guys from the Docks were there. That made Gerry feel a little better.
"No it is not." A loud calm voice sounded out and a figure walked onto the stage. She was wearing a all black costume that looked more like a uniform with a Kevlar vest over it. Her eyes were a deep glowing red, and what he could see of her face was blue.
"You're Chimera." He heard someone say and he opened his mouth slightly. She was the cape that was on a one-woman crusade against the Merchants and was one of the main reasons the Protectorate captured Lung!
Gerry then heard people start to shout when she held a hand up and spoke again loudly.
"That is the name I was given, but not the one I chose." She said in response before speaking again. "I am the one who sent those emails." He could see her eyes look over the crowd. They were terrifying, but Gerry couldn't look away.
"I have called you all here for a reason. You all know that Brockton Bay is dying a slow and painful death, but I am here to fix it." Gerry felt her eyes stare deep into his soul.
"How can you fix it? The PRT and the Protectorate can't do shit!" He heard some guy shout from the crowd. Chimera looked at him and Gerry swore he saw her smile.
"I plan on formation a new organization to rival the gangs and the PRT. It will not be bound by the rules and regulations of the PRT, but will not go corrupt and cause injustice like the gangs. This organization will bring all of the gangs to their knees and ensure to make Brockton Bay a city for its people."
"You've got to be shitting me." Gerry mumbled under his breath softly. She seemed to confident too!
"I am the one who gave the orders that captured Lung. I am Thrawn." Chime-no, Gerry paused. Thrawn spoke calmly, yet loudly.
"Anyone here is free to leave if they so wish, but know that if you join me, we will make Brockton Bay into something new. Now, I will say this only once, ARE YOU WITH ME."
The crowd erupted into cheers and Gerry was among them. He pushed any away thoughts that said that Thrawn's plan would fail. Thrawn didn't speak until everyone had calmed down. Gerry didn't hear though, he was excited.
L33T POV
When L33T first triggered, he was soaring through the clouds. He could create practically anything and was an amazing tinker. That flying L33T crashed and burned when he found out about his limitations. He could only create one thing, any following copies have a high chance of exploding or malfunctioning. It made L33T's temper rise whenever someone called him the useless tinker, Uber and Loser. L33T remembered going on a ramage out on the streets after figuring it out. After all, he wouldn't want to damage anything in his now precious lab. That changed one day, when he received an email as well as a message on PHO. Both of the messages were asking, not just for Uber, but for L33T as well. Apparently it was a sort of business proposition. It made both of them a bit paranoid to be honest.
The duo had pissed off a lot of people in Brockton Bay for their quest for shits and giggles. This led to their current dinner arrangements at a rundown cafe that was known to be neutral ground in Brockton Bay. L33T flinched slightly at the sight of a cockroach crawling on the side of the walls.
"Remind me to blow this place if we ever do Bomberman." L33T muttered to Uber who nodded in agreement. "This place is disgusting! I'll have to clean this boots once we get back home."
Then, the door to the cafe opened and a thin figure walked in. Her hair was done in a tight bun, and she wore a dark uniform with different symbols. Standing next to her, were two large men dressed in a uniform similar to hers in grey version.
L33T was about to do a wolf whistle, when she turned her face towards him, and a pair of glowing red eyes stared back. A simple cloth mask with the symbol of some weird creature with multiple heads covered her blue face. Now that he had a proper view, L33T could see that the guys had the same symbol where their heart should be and had a strange symbol on their shoulders. She made her way towards the duo and sat across from them.
"Greetings, Uber, L33T. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Thrawn." She said calmly with an accent L33T couldn't place. Wait a minute, wasn't she that Chimera chick that helped the Protectorate nab Lung?
Never mind that, it's time for him to do the most badass introduction he ever made.
"Sup." Uber facepalmed and L33T cringed on the inside. This is why he leaves the introductions to Uber.
"I'm Uber and this is L33T." Uber took over the conversation seeing L33T's internal dilemma. "Now mind if we skip be pleasantries?"
Thrawn nodded and leaned back in her chair, never once losing eye contact with the duo.
"I would like for the two of you to join the Ascendancy."
Wait what? She wants the both of them to join her group? He had only heard rumors about a new group moving in on the Docks. L33T's anger rose slightly. Was she only asking for him because Uber would come along.
"Calm down Mr. L33T. You might pop a vein with a temper like that." She said with amusement obviously in her voice. "I have a use for you as well, not just your friend." L33T froze slightly, how did she know he was mad? He had perfected the art of not showing anger till the last minute. "I am a combat thinker remember. I can also read your blood pressure and temperature." Her eyes had a mischievous glint to them.
L33T forced himself to calm down and motioned for her to get on with it.
"You see, I am planning on making Brockton Bay great again."
L33T snorted at the reference to a Earth Aleph movie as Uber elbowed his thin form in the side.
"As I said earlier, I want you to join the Ascendancy and come work for me."
L33T was about to respond, when Uber laid a hand on his shoulder.
"What makes you think we'll join you?" Uber asked in his best impression of a lawyer.
"It is because you are tired of people underestimating you. You two are tired of being the laughing stock of this city." Thrawn's message was a bit harsh, but her calm demeanor didn't change. "You want people to respect you for what you are and what you can do."
"What's in it for us?" L33T asked before Uber could shut him up.
"Manpower, protection, respect. I know you stepped on more than a few toes during your escapades online."
Uber nodded slightly and before he could speak, Thrawn spoke.
"And positions of power." L33T tried his best to read her, but couldn't get anything solid. He looked at Uber and it seemed the same was happening to him.
"Well, how much time do we have-"
"I'm in."
Uber stared at L33T in shock as he got up. L33T focused his eyes on Thrawn's own red ones.
"I'm tired of being pushed around and being considered a trashy cape and tinker. I want respect, I want people to take me seriously for once."
The other patrons didn't give them a second look and Thrawn seemed even more amused. Her bodyguards seemed like they were trying their best not to laugh.
Thrawn stood up and extended her hand towards them in a friendly manner.
Uber sighed and shook her hand at the same as L33T. L33T felt a large grin form on his face.
"Welcome, to the Ascendancy gentlemen."