Jason is amazing. Addilyn is lucky lmao))

~

The silence that hummed in Addilyn's ears was welcomed, it left her to her own thoughts, which was exactly what she needed. She didn't even have to hear Commander's dissapointed tone that he was obviously using while talking to Harrison. Granted, he knew exactly what had happened to her so perhaps he did hold some pity. Though she supposed that her unkind behavior reflected badly on him in some way and he'd definitely be angry at her later. For now though, she enjoyed the silence.

Harrison was staring at Shadow, dumbfounded, he'd met plenty of rude heroes, but she hadn't seemed like a bad hero from afar. Then again, from Commander's tone it sounded as if something very serious had occurred and that it was better to just leave Shadow alone.

Commander looked up when he heard the chair fall, glaring at Jason with his shark eyes. This, of course, grabbed Addilyn's attention, as Commander staring at Jason like that made her nervous. She turned off her silencing ability and turned to look at Jason, as did Harrison. The first thing she noticed was his chair on the ground. She couldn't help but grin underneath her mask, Jason was so stupidly funny.

Harrison watched as the man broke the damn chair and acted as if it was all on accident. He had to admit, that he allowed a grin to sit on his face for a moment, before he quickly shoved it down, as he was worried Commander might kill him for it. Silent Shadow however, seemed the exact opposite of Harrison, and she giggled softly, quickly covering it up with a 'coughing fit' but it was obvious she had laughed.

Harrison found this extremely unfair, he was the funny one, not this thieving minor villain. Somehow though, this guy had made Silent Shadow, giggle. It was so odd, and somehow disconcerting, why would a hero ever laugh at a villain? "I assure you that it will be taken from your pay Recrimination. Now stop fucking around and sit in a damn chair properly please." Commander's voice was harsh and mean.

The door had opened silently, and a man now stood there, a bewildered, yet calm expression on his face. Sandstorm's mask covered the area around his eyes, and masked his expression well. "The villain is already causing problems Commander? Perhaps he is not fit for this mission after all, he's only a minor villain anyways and nothing will happen if he just disappeared, I'm sure he has no one waiting for him at home regardless." Sandstorm's hate was palpable as he sat down in the chair to the left of the head of the table, where Commander sat.

"Although that might be a much easier route to go down, unfortunately we need someone like him on the team. Please keep the threats to yourself Sandstorm, he's not worth it." Commander's voice reassured Addilyn. She'd heard some story about how Sandstorm's family had been murdered by some minor villains and now he had a hate for them specifically. Although she understood it, Sandstorm's words words angered her, he would not put a single finger on Jason. Especially not after he'd made her laugh because of course Jason knew that she wasn't too well. Damn, Jason truly was amazing.

Jason sighed at the cuffs on his wrists and slipped out of them like they had only been a minor inconvenience. (The secret as to why he could get out of all of handcuffs the heroes put on him was his energy draining ability. The handcuffs were supposed to be an energy barrier to prevent most villains from

using their powers, or reducing their strength. It also made them more durable and stronger, and tight enough that villains could slip their wrists out. Jason's power RELIED on energy, though, so he drained the barrier, got his hands out, then sent the energy back a split second later. Bam. No one suspected a thing.)

He was pleased to have made Addilyn laugh, and he 100% had noticed Liquid Steel smile for a moment. He might be tolerable. Maybe.

Jason rubbed his wrists for a moment, while dead at Commando, "Will do, Mister Commando Sir." Jason mock saluted as a new hero came in. Instantly Jason got the vibe that he needed to watch his back around this guy. He wouldn't hesitate to take him out if he felt like he needed to.

As Jason found a new seat, he feigned hurt, "I'll have you know I have an absolutely gorgeous turtle at home. Sheldon would miss me dearly if I were to," Jason drew a line over his throat and made a gagging sound, "... Ya know?"

"Mmhmm," A new voice noted from the doorway. It belonged to Skylar - or Neon, as she was known as in costume. Her face was bare, but that never changed. Skylar didn't wear a mask on the job, and hadn't made any attempt to hide her identity from the world. That is mostly because she had no living family or close friends - unless they were heroes - so there was no one to target. For some reason, though, her identity has continued to remain unknown, although there is speculation. It is partly because no villain has gotten away from an encounter with her to talk about what she looked like, and with any fighting caught on camera, she is usually glowing, and they cannot make out any details.
Anyway, Skylar sat down beside Sandstorm with a wry grin on her face, "I'm sure your turtle would be very upset he isn't getting any food anymore."

"She," Jason corrected, "And Sheldon is actually not real, so I guess even she wouldn't miss me."

Commander seemed pissed off at Jason's mockery, but he wouldn't do anything about it, Addilyn knew that much. He used to be a hero himself, but no one knew which hero, regardless, he hadn't laid a hand on anyone since then. Sandstorm wasn't too nice, and Addilyn was wary of him, as she'd never heard anything good about him. Other than from Steel, but he seemed to always have something good to say about everyone. Even villains, which was very rare for heroes.

Harrison even looked a little uncomfortable at Sandstorm's words, and scooted a bit closer to Shadow who seemed ready to intervene if Sandstorm tried anything. He found it sort of odd, the way that Shadow was wary of everyone, except Recrimination. Maybe it had something to do with her already knowing the villain's capabilities, or maybe it was because he'd saved her from embarrasment. Harrison wasn't sure, but it sure was rather perplexing. He'd look into it later.

Shadow turned to Steel, who had scooted his chair closer to her. The disgust was evident on her face. Shadow scooted a bit away from Steel, though she was already practically hanging off the end of the table as it was.

Today sucked.

Commander sighed, this mission was already going oh so well. Lian looked as if he might make a move for Recrimination at any moment, Addilyn looked as though she was ready to both beat Harrison over the head and strangle anyone that got in her way, Recrimination was fucking around per normal and Skylar was being Skylar. Out of all of them, Commander was pretty sure she was the most mature. Though Addilyn was mature, she had a harder time covering up her emotions.

"Are you all done chatting? As we do have things to talk about and we don't have all day." Commander's voice finally broke the tension as the heroes turned to look at him.

Skylar's dry smile dropped off her face in an instant, replaced with a much more serious look, "Yes... I have not been briefed with the footage of the battle, but from the rumors I've heard, and Indigo Spirits state, our team got totally destroyed."

Even Jason became more serious, and bit back some sarcastic comment. After a moment of consideration, Jason figured it might be helpful to know the results of what had happened to the villains that had been at the scene, "One villain that had been on my team was killed. It doesn't seem like it was on purpose, but his injuries weren't treated fast enough. The other villains had minor injuries, but enough to keep them from fighting." When Neon looked at him with shock, Jason shrugged, "What? If I have to be on a side, I want to be on the winning one." He'd contribute information that wouldn't end up hurting him, or any of the minor villains in his city. Maybe Commander wouldn't put the cuffs on him all of the time if he thought that Jason could be trusted, or would be less likely to sic Sandstorm on him in an empty alley.

Commander nodded, agreeing with Skylar's words. The team had been defeated, badly. The real reason why was because the only high level on the team had been Addilyn, and she was not given the proper backup she needed in order to do her job. The team hadn't been prepared for such high level villains, and it was not their fault it had happened the way it had.

"Yes, the team was badly beaten, granted, neither the villains or the heroes had been prepared for such and attack. Thank you for your input Recrimination, I truly value it. I'll pull up the video in a moment, before though, is there anything anyone wants to ask before the video?" Harrison stayed quiet but of course Sandstorm had to open his mouth. "I'd like to ask a question sir." Commander nodded, giving Sandstorm permission to speak. As he'd always been so formal in his ways.

"I am confused as to why Silent Shadow is here. I mean no offense, but she was a part of the team that was beaten. Why would we want her on our team? Especially when we're the elites and she's...not. This goes for him too, why should we even trust him? He's a villain. Even if he wants to be on the winning side, what if he figures it'll be the other side this time? We all know that villains are loyal only to themselves." Sandstorm seemed sincere when he spoke about Silent Shadow, but he looked as if he'd rather throw Recrimination in prison than let him join their team of all things.

Addilyn watched the interaction curiously, but shrugged when Sandstorm spoke about her. She had been wondering the same thing, there was no point in her being here if she was the weak link and overall the one most likely to get killed. Especially after shooting that rock dude. "I understand where you are coming from Sandstorm, as quite afew have voiced their worries about Silent Shadow staying on this mission. I will make it clear now, Shadow will remain in this mission because she is exaclty what you need on this team. While you all have flashy powers and a direct fighting style, Shadow doesn't. The real hope, is that you all will be able to get her close enough to their leader in order for her to shoot her, whether this means death for the leader or not, I don't care. Shadow has the exact skill set you all need in order to make this mission a success, plus, her ranking is only three before reaching elite status. So I really don't think it is that big of a difference." Commander looked at Addilyn who was rather surprised, though she'd put on a neutral expression. He knew very well that she didn't really care about her ranking, and had not checked in a long time. So she did not know about her climbing of the rankings, but many had been paying attention. Which truthfully was more problematic than Commander would've liked but oh well.

"As for Recrimination, he and I have come to an agreement. He will remain loyal to us, and if he doesn't, I'll give the order to kill him. It's that simple really. Any other questions?" Commander looked around, prepared to have to answer another set of questions if needed.

Jason knee that big ol' smartass Sandstorm was going to be an issue for him. There was no way the two would ever be able to work together, even if Jason stopped fucking around. His profession made Sandstorm hate him. It wasn't even because he was a hero and Jason was a villain - it was something more personal.
Sandstorm didn't know that he would never betray Addilyn, and when he said he wanted to be on the winning side, it wasn't him saying that he thought the heroes would win. It was him saying that he would help out as much as he could to make sure that the heroes won.

Jason wasn't up to speed with the hero ranking system, and didn't know where each hero placed, but it seemed like even Addilyn didn't know how high up she was. It made sense to Jason, though, and it wasn't because she was his girlfriend. Commander's reasons were correct, but there was also the fact that Addilyn could also be observant. She could be up close and catch things that the cameras couldn't, and find their weaknesses, and maybe even their identities.

The agreement he apparently made was news to him, but it made sense. Money and death were powerful motivators.

Skylar raised her hand to attract Commander's attention, "Sorry, I know we want to start the video, but I do have one question. How much autonomy will this team have? Will we take orders and constantly report, and wait to be assigned if trouble starts, or will our sole goal to prevent harm and stop these villains, which will happen by us taking action and keeping in touch with other team members to alert them when these villains are spotted?"

Commander knew that this deal was news to Recrimination's ears, but he definitely didn't think it would surprise the villain. If he turned on them and went to join the other villains entirely, then it was obvious that Commander wouldn't tell his heroes to hold back. Traitors didn't deserve mercy.

"Good question Neon. This mission is about the overall threat that these villains pose, none of you will be answering any other distress calls as we have plenty of other heroes capable of handling those cases. You all will solely be working on this mission. Each of you should be on the look out for any suspicious activity that may have something to do with these villains specifically. The surveillance department will also be on the lookout but we need as many people as we can get on the watch for these villains. If you spot them, I would advise you not to engage by yourself, though you all are plenty strong, you will not be able to make it through that encounter." Commander paused, collecting his thoughts for a moment.

"You each will have access to each other's watches, as each of you were given one and should still have it. Recrimination will be granted one as well. Any one of you could raise the alarm so your fellow teammates can join you and fight these villains. All of you will be on call constantly, these villains could attack at any time, even at night, so you musst always be prepared to go. You will only have to report if you have something to report. Such as suspicious activity in one main area or a sighting of them. This is a serious mission, and must not be taken lightly. Does that answer your question, Neon?" Commander finished with a sigh, while Addilyn listened intently. It sounded as though she would not be getting much sleep in the next few weeks, as she'd always be on edge, waiting for these villains to show up.

Skylar nodded, "Understood, Commander - Thank you." It seemed that until these villains were apprehended, it would be a tight schedule to make sure that they were rested and always ready to fight.

Jason had never been more relieved that he didn't have a job other than being a villain. As long as he was recieving at least a small salary during this time, and then the big reward at the end, he'd be fine. Jason would just have to be sure to retain and move his workout regiment to fit around whatever sort of awful schedule would be thrown his way.

Commander gave Neon a rare smile, he'd always appreciated intelligent questions. "As for your pay, it will remain the same it was before, and once these villains are captured, you will all obviously be rewarded greatly. Recrimination, you will be paid weekly as well so you don't feel the need to try and rob a bank again." Sandstorm chuckled at that, his humor obviously was centered around picking on the villain working with them. Addilyn meanwhile, just rolled her eyes at Sandstorm, which obviously confused him.

"Now, we will watch the video, so you all know exactly what you're up against." One of the guards by the door turned off the light and a projector lit up the wall behind Commander, who turned around to watch the video as well. The video went through everything that had happened, and by the end of it, Addilyn decided that she literally shouldn't be on the team when she'd done so poorly.

Jason gave Commander a thumbs up in regards to him getting paid weekly, and stifled a laugh about robbing a bank. Jason was pretty sure some of the villains who had fled the scene had grabbed the cash. He definitely would not be mentioning to the heroes that he was going to get a portion of that money as well.

Sandstorm was being a little pig, so Jason didn't pay him any mind, and focused his attention on the video.

Once it was over, Jason felt eyes on him. Neon was carefully analyzing him, "How did you take the lightning blast that Marina threw at you? And how do you seem to have no specific power? First you blow up Silent Shadow with grenade hands a few weeks ago, and then today you turned into stone."

Jason shrugged, and tried to quickly think of a way to dodge the question, "Well... uh..." "Answer me straight on - what's your power?" Crap. One of his main secrets was the way his power works. Although... he registered his civilian self as energy-absorption. If he said he took on the power of anyone he touches... well then his identity might be even safer, "I can take on the power of anyone I touch. So Boulder - the big tall dude - can obviously turn into stone, and the small girl that was targeting Silent Shadow is basically a super-genius. She can invent and make just about anything. When I had her power, I could see how to make a high power weapon with some household items."