Tomomo's expression brightened, the whole bar seemed to brighten from her perspective as she saw the familiar visage of one of her old partners, and more importantly, friends, enter through the front door. Pan approached the bar counter, returning Tomomo's pleasant grin with a slightly more embarrassed one. Tomomo was already at work, filling a glass stein almost to the top with cold lager, a thin layer of suds topping it and peeking just over the rim. She set the mug down in front of Pan as she took as she took a seat.
"I didn't expect to see you back state-side so soon", Tomomo said in greeting, only having to speak up a little to be clearly heard over the light chatter of her bar's sparse morning clientele and the news banging at a steady volume from the T.V. in the corner of the ceiling.
"I didn't really either", Pan replied in her chipper but faded English accent, "I wasn't really vibing with the studio in Britain and I decided to come back here…there's a job opportunity I'm interested in looking into." Pan lifted the mug to her lips and took a long satisfying draught from it.
"You'll have to tell me more", Tomomo replied, before quickly adding "If you want to, I mean."
"It's embarrassing, just some grunt work for some C-List group of heroes, they call themselves the "New Warriors." Kind of lame if you ask me." Pan set down her still mostly full mug and looked at it intently as she spoke. "I just hope they're looking to hire 'Well-Traveled Reporter Pan Loveless", and not "Spring Twister."
"You know how I feel about…well…shilling out as a hero", Tomomo replied, carefully, diplomatically, "They'd be crazy if they didn't hire you just based off of your grocery list of a resume though."
"I know, I'm not planning on joining them as anything other than myself, your horror stories from your time in front of the camera is more than enough to convince me that I probably don't want that. In the meantime I was kinda hoping I could…well…pick up a few shifts here, especially if I end up needing to find something else. Tomomo gave a knowing grin back to Pan.
"You're always welcome at Magically Mixed", She replied, "As a Patron, overnight guest…or yes, even as an employee. Do you need a place to stay? Is Ninya with you?" Pan nodded as she lifted her mug back up towards her lips.
"She's still unpacking at our hotel. We've got it paid up for a week, but I may end up taking you up on that offer…if things don't go as planned that is." She was just about to take another sip when she vaguely perceived the words coming from the news anchor on the T.V.
"Just a second, we're going to…is this right? Do we have confirmation?", the reporter said, his attention seeming to be drawn from the teleprompter to someone off screen, and then back to the camera in front of him. "To our viewing audience, we're just getting confirmation but…according to the A.P. there's been a disaster in Stamford Connecticut…initial reports are indicating at least…at least six hundred have been killed and countless more badly wounded…according to the authorities on the scene, the person responsible for all this devastation is…is this right? Who or what is Speedball?" The blue-white light glow of the T.V. shifted to a more angry orange-red and silent, as a sudden hush passed through the bar.. Even Tomomo turned, her attention now split between the present conversation, and whatever was drawing everyone else's attention. Pan's eyes drifted up to television. She never got to finish her beer, choking on it violently. On the television screen, an orange ball of flame blossomed above the red words "CNN", and "Breaking News." The reporter was now relegated to a small corner of the screen as the explosion, which looked to have taken place in some populated town, in some picturesque neighborhood. The anchor continued speaking, something about some C-List group of heroes called the "New Warriors." The rest was lost to Pan. She felt queasy, none of this felt real suddenly, like her body was just going numb. She didn't even realize that her mouth was hanging partly open. Tomomo stared at the screen for a few more moments before turning to Pan, her expression one of complete shock.
"New Warriors?", she murmured. Pan blinked, coming back to reality a little. The small population of patrons began to stir back to life, a soft murmuring. Tomomo's brain started working again and she reached for the T.V. remote under the bar and turned up the volume.
A few hours later, Magically Mixed was deadly quiet, and devoid of any guests, save Pan and Ninya Loveless, Moon Knight, Prodigy, Blank, and Daredevil. Tomomo was by the entrance, closing the blinds, dimming the room to a cozy and warm level of light, the level of light you might find some dusty old man reading a dusty old tome alongside a cheerily blazing fireplace. This place was the farthest it could be from cheery however. On the television was a conversation between a pair of anchors, discussing up-to-date news concerning Stamford, concerning how many were dead, about the efforts being taken by the super-community in search and rescue efforts, about the President's impending response and how it would tie into the rumored Super-Human Registration Act, and about with who the blame lay…primarily on the New Warriors according to the News. Precious little was stated about the villains who had been present, and equally as much about Nitro, who was apparently the mutant responsible for the explosion itself. The same conclusion they kept drawing from this catastrophic tragedy was 'reckless' nature of the now dead New Warriors. Tomomo turned off the television, the new quiet washing over all those present, building gravitas. She sat down on her side of the bar and looked at each of her guests. Her makeshift 'War-Council'. She wasn't a fan of the masks and anonymity displayed by every single one of her guests, Pan and Ninya were in costume, so was Prodigy and Daredevil though Tomomo understood they were a little more private about that sort of thing despite her own reputation for being trustworthy and keeping the rules and peace at her bar. Blank was simply wearing a tacky Guy Fawkes mask, and while Tomomo supposed that made sense, it still seemed to sum up the feelings here pretty well. She knew the actual identities of every single person here, with the exception of Daredevil, although not all of them knew each other that well. Only Tomomo was brazenly unmasked. She hated hiding her identity when she didn't feel the need, and utterly refused to 'change into costume' just on general principle.
"They're going to use this to plow the Super-Human bill through Congress", Blank stated, her eyes still glued to her laptop screen.
"I'd like to see them try and enforce it", Prodigy replied with a surly tone. Everyone present had a drink in front of them, a little something Tomomo had whipped up on the house, but Prodigy was the only one *drinking*. Three empty bottles sat in front of him, and he was already on his fourth.
"I don't think you do", Spring Twister stated in rebuttal, sounding wary but certain, "I don't think any of us want to see what 'enforcement' would look like."
"Tony Stark is supposed to be speaking with The President, I heard. He'll convince them against this." Pan's significant other, Ninya…or Bubble Witch as she was currently in masquerade, spoke. Tomomo appreciated her presence, despite her more child-like way of thinking. In fact, possibly just because of that feature, it was refreshing almost. But it also revealed flaws in ways of thinking.
"I think Tony will *try*", DareDevil stated, leaving the second half of that thought unspoken.
"Tony won't let them do this to us", Prodigy shot back, taking Ninya's side this time.
"Tony will *try*", Blank parroted. Prodigy glared at her. "I don't have high hopes", she continued, "You all know where I stand on the ma-"
"Oh my god", Prodigy exclaimed with a dramatic flourish, "Not another one of your pro-anarcho lectures lady, please." Blank shrugged, but didn't finish her thought. Tomomo glanced at Moon Knight. He stared back at her.
"Moony, have you got anything to say?" Tomomo asked. Moon Knight quietly stood up before speaking. He was slow, unsteady, like his knees were made of porcelain. Tomomo had heard he'd been badly injured recently, and that he was making a slow recovery. She figured it had to be true, she hadn't even heard of him on the streets, let alone seen him active for a significant length of time now. She was honestly surprised he'd even shown up at her request.
"I'm not a part of this." Everyone was quiet as those calmly uttered words echoed through the bar.
"What do you mean?" Prodigy asked, now combative, "You wear a mask. You fight crime don't you? Sure you're…I mean…you're…you're…"
"He kills", Blank interrupted, saying what Prodigy had been tripping over. All eyes went to her. "So do I, sometimes", she continued, "I think Momo has too, or at least come close, and we all know DareDevil's methods." Tomomo shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "But we've all done it for our own reasons, no matter what anyone else thinks."
"Don't bother trying to make me fit into your discussion", Moon Knight replied as he made it to the front door. "No one will drag me into this. No one will care." Tomomo died a little on the inside.
"Moon Knight, you're not serious right?" she asked, standing up straight, "I know how you feel about the idea of all of this, and I know what you *think* others think of you…but…"
"They won't come for me", he replied back, "They know better."
"They *will*", Blank warned, "They'll come for all of us if this goes through. And they'll be especially keen on me, Momo, Moon Knight, and maybe even DareDevil." Moon Knight had paused briefly to speak, but now continued forward, the last of the evening's light streaming in through the door while he passed through. Blank finally looked up from her computer. "Something I said?"
Daredevil excused himself from the meeting a little later, as the discussion began to die down and turn a little more personal, and Prodigy had finished his fourth beer and left with his fifth before that. Blank, or rather, Zoey stayed but hardly seemed to pay any attention to the conversation, except for small insertions here and there. The four ladies were all unmasked now, they all knew and trusted each other with their real identities.
"I know you want to go up to Stamford", Zoey said, "If you want to do some freelance reporting, or help with the cleanup effort, I can have you there in…mmm…an hour? Maybe two? Both of you if you want." Pan gave Zoey an appreciative look, and a forced smile.
"Thank you. I'm…not sure I'm ready to face…what happened there. But I'll let you know in the morning if that's alright."
"Just let me know."
"Tomomo, would you mind if we spent the night? Just tonight?", Pan asked.
"You're all welcome to crash here anytime", Tomomo replied with an affirmative nod as she refilled Ninya's glass with fresh daiquiri, although Pan's mojito had barely been touched. Zoey excused herself, closing her laptop and sinking down into her own shadow with a good-bye wave, as if it were an unfathomably deep puddle of ink. Tomomo had always found that a little creepy, but to each their own. Instead of focusing on that, she redirected her thoughts towards Pan, who had probably just avoided being a Stamford statistic by just a few days.
Jack Blassingame lay on his stomach atop a two story apartment building a few blocks away from Magically Mixed, with a clear line of sight to the bar. He couldn't see everything from this angle, and even if he could the infrared binoculars made guessing who was who little more than just that. Guesswork. But he knew generally who would be there, and exactly who he was looking for, putting together details about each of the vaguely human shaped heat-blobs wasn't terribly difficult. Two caped men had already left earlier, he assumed Moon Knight and Prodigy, they were the only caped ones he had seen enter when there was more light outside. Now a third one came out, also male. This one had to be DareDevil. That means that the remaining four were Tomomo, two females he was less familiar with, and…Blank. That had to be blank. Short, female. Something flat and cool in front of her face. And she hadn't entered through the front door. She'd come through the floor, like some kind of ghost. He took a deep breath as he brought the radio clipped to the collar of his thick black coat closer to his mouth.
"This is Vanta. There's only four of them left in there, and I don't know how long the target will stick around. We've got a fair numerical fight now. Wunder have you found any information on our mystery duo?" A young female replied.
"I don't have much to go off of, there's a few possible matches. I'd guess Spring Twist and Bubble Witch though, they've stopped operating in Britain long enough for me to suspect they caught a flight back to the states."
"You'd guess?"
"I suspect." Jacob sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, that particular duo is the worst case scenario, they're a moderate threat."
"Let me think about this", he replied, and did just that. Ambushing Blank with Tomomo presented both an opportunity to take two steps instead of just one…but it also presented the issue of tipping off one or the other if the ambush was only a partial success. And with Spring Twist and Bubble Witch in the mix, its success was looking more and more like a gambler's odds. He could always just call it off, but finding opportunities where they knew where Blank would be was already difficult en-
Jack's train of thought was abruptly derailed as a red boot smashed into his jaw. Jack rolled off to the side and got up to one knee, disoriented but attempting to regain his mental faculties as a red blur rushed towards him, batons drawn. One smashed itself over Jack's head, as the other was jammed into his gut, forcing the air from his lungs. Jack already thought he had a pretty good idea of who his attacker was however, and the mistake he had made. He flailed his arms, his fists converging to either side of his attacker's face, but the red masked man was faster, blocking the blows with his own wrists, and bringing his batons down hard onto Jacob's shoulders.
Vector was leaning against a wall down the alleyway beneath Jack's observation point when he heard his boss's subdued cry of pain. His eyes flicked up, his placid expression turning into a frown as he spoke into his radio.
"Vanta you ok?" Instead of a response over the radio, after a few seconds Jacob, reeling from his attacker, stumbled back off the rooftop, tumbling off the rooftop and impacting the ground on his back. Beside him, with a little more grace, DareDevil landed on his feet. "Guys we've been made!" Wasting no time himself, Vector sprinted towards DareDevil, going from 0 to 60 in fractions of a second. But DareDevil reacted quickly, throwing a baton aimed squarely for Vector's forehead. Vector could move fairly fast, but didn't have many of the other luxuries that many other speedsters had. Turning was difficult when he was already in motion. He and the baton impacted at more than 120 mph relative to each other, and Vector was knocked off his feet, sent spinning, and landed flat on his back, forcing the air from his lungs. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. DareDevil leapt off to the side as he jerked the cord of the baton he had sent sailing, retrieving it and dodging out of the way moments before the wall behind him exploded into a debris field of shattered brick and mortar, a heavily muscled, huge and hulking man bursting through the apartment building's wall on the first floor. On his back was the pale-skinned Wunder, who looked comically small riding on her gorilla-like partner. She leapt off of Sam's back, careful of where she landed as her bare feet touched the asphalt. Wunder lifted a leg and spun, sending a kick flying towards DareDevil's face, but he dodged, jumping back. Sam hurled his mass over Wunder's head as a follow up, his grim jaw clenched in utter focus on the task in front of him, but DareDevil reached out, grabbed Sam by his vest, and leveraged his own weight and momentum to send him flying further down the alleyway. Wunder struck out at his now exposed back however, her now asphalt-tough fists cracking loudly against the back of his cowl and sending him stumbling forward for a few steps. He turned and flung the billy club again, this time at Wunder, although it clattered uselessly against her arm. Wunder grabbed the baton as it bounced off her toughened skin and jerked at it, dragging Daredevil closer. Daredevil jumped into the air, twisted his body, and drop-kicked her. Wunder went flying, and Daredevil followed up as he fell to the ground himself, scrambling to his feet as Wunder hit the ground herself. With expert motions, he looped the cord of a billy club around her feet, and flung it up, looping it through the grating of a fire escape above. As he hoisted her up and tied it off, leaving her hanging and dazed, he heard the rumbling of Sam charging at him from behind. Daredevil leapt up into the air, gracefully flipping over Sam's head as he threw a meaty punch into now empty space. Daredevil landed on Sam's back, as if he was Wunder. Unlike the now dangling woman, DareDevil began choking out Sam with his remaining billy club. Sam backed into one of the alley walls, trying to crush DareDevil. Once. Twice. Thrice. Sam was getting slower and slower with each attempt, and as he attempted a fourth time, he stumbled forward, falling to the ground face first, unconscious. As DareDevil got up and dusted himself off, he kept an ear out for Vanta. He was still on the ground. Breathing. Muscles and bones knitting themselves back together slowly. God knew how much energy he had in reserve, but he'd still be here when the police arrived. Matthew Murdock would not, however.