Deal or no Deal? - Cauldron
Alexandria sighed as she exited the door into the Cauldron's hidden base, and then stopped as she registered just who was sitting at one of the chairs, their feet resting on the main meeting table.
Scratch, in all his easy, sleazy, glory.
The man smiled at Alexandria idly, his tie bright scarlet, like a bloom of blood on his chest.
"Hello Alexandria. I do believe the Chief Director and I need to have a talk."
Alexandria swallowed. She was good, she was a member of the Triumvirate for more then just having been there at the founding of the Protectorate, she had earned her spot through blood, sweat, and tears. But Nikolas Scratch was inhuman in every sense of the word. To his credit, he usually avoided confrontation because he could more easily make his deals without having to fight in every city he went to.
And now he was sitting in front of her.
Rebbeca Costa-Brown sat in the chair opposite the S class threat and placed steepled fingers on the chair.
"Very well Scratch. What do you want?"
Alexandria blinked and Scratch was in front of her. Perched on the table, eyes almost completely dominated by black pupils.
"I want to know why you put the Brockton Protectorate onto my trail, I also want to know how you did that, Im aware of Contessa, but I should be immune to her powers."
Rebecca leaned away from Scratch by a fraction.
"I put them onto you, because your needed Jack. We're coming down to the wire, ten years is the current estimation of how much time left we have. And then everything ends. And Contessa wasn't the one who found you, it was the Number Man."
Another blink and Scratch was back in his chair, rubbing a hand contemplatively over his short cropped hair.
"Hmmm… Interesting, I suppose I should be glad that it was that glorified accountant who found me at least, rather then someone who's very identity is shaped by their power, and who is trying to fight one of the beings who grants that power with a shard of that self same gift."
Alexandria processed the implications of that statement, and then processed them a little more.
"What do you mean, her powers shaped her identity?"
Scratch shrugged.
"I mean what I say, and I say what I mean."
And Alexandrias look of blank incomprehension, he sighed.
"Look, think it through yourself, but more importantly, why the hell did you sick hero's on me? You know I work on commission, and my wishes work the same wether for myself, or anyone else."
Alexandria leaned back into her chair and shrugged.
"Like I said, we're entering the end game. We're prepared to trade you, vial for vial, for stable powers. We're looking to get rid of all the stock, of every main source of revenue that Cauldron posses, in order to fuel the final mobilization of as many capes as possible."
Scratch idly ran one hand down his tie, pale fingers running across bloody silk.
"Fine. But you know as well as I, a commission is a commission, and I don't intend to stop my travel just because you tell me the world is ending. I'll leave you a direct line so you can call me day or night, but remember my next words well Rebbeca Costa-Brown."
Alexandria felt the temperature of the room drop to the point where her breath, but not his, came out as a fog.
"If you attempt to sick the dogs from any of your organization on me again, I will crush you. I might not be able to go head to head with you Alexandria, but I am owed just as many favors, by far more powerful capes, and far richer men and women the you."
The he popped out of existence like a soap bubble.
Deal or No Deal - Taylor
Taylor Hebert awoke with a groan, aches and pains making themselves known all over her body as she stretched.
Considering she had given herself even odds on never waking up again after she had been stuck in that… That thing. She was doing fairly well.
She opened her eyes, and then blinked, and blinked again, and then blinked one more time as she realized she didn't have her glasses on, but she was still able to see clearly, hell, better then clearly, she was seeing better then she could ever remember seeing, glasses or no.
She was also happy, and not like the 'oh my, I'm loving this steak', it was a bone deep, soul warming happiness.
It was the type of happiness that let Taylor know, that despite everything she was going to be alright.
And it was odd… She hadn't felt like this in years, not since her mom had passed.
And then her Dad walked in, and he smiled at her, but then he spoke, and as he spoke, and her world crumbled, and yet, despite that, she still felt happy.
If her dad was going to die, if she was destined to be alone, she would enjoy that last bit of time she had left with him.
They talked, laughed, he told her all the stories, how he had met her mother, his life growing up, and just what would happen next.
That night, as the sun set, they sat next to each other, hands clasped as they watched the ocean. And as Danny Hebert slowly fell away into gentled glowing motes of ash.
And she still felt happy.
Authors Note
Forgot two powers.
Trump 4, extends the Manton limits barrier a few extra feet around himself
Brute 4, Takes in and metabolizes heat as energy, rendering himself functionally able to not eat or drink. Also works for intimidation.
Next chapter will be a little more Taylor, then a Sophia. Maybe a Dennis since the reasoning given for that was good. After that it will be onto the next.