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While Conflux and Horizon dealt with whatever their thing was Indarius moved over to Symphony. "We'll do our best to see you treated fairly, even if we're out here doing the whole Heroes versus Villains thing we're all still mortal and get our rights."
He leans down and takes a seat across from Symphony, "Sorry I can't do anything for the headache or anything, if you don't mind me asking what would you do if you didn't have any money troubles hanging over your head. I mean you've got to see how the whole, villainy for money thing has worked in the past what makes you think your group will end up any different than other older villains? I hope you don't see yourself constantly locked in a continual struggle or anything."
If for some chance the man insists on the meeting, Max will reluctantly agree. "We can bust out if things go sour," she whispers to Femtite.
Femtite just shakes her head.
If the sunglasses guy says ‘now or never,’ Femtite’s reply is “That is a false dichotomy. There isn’t a chance the associate who initiated the meeting will commit to never, nor will she respect us if we cave to now.
“Do I look like such easy prey?”
Femtite hovers off the ground, crossing one leg over the other. Her halo seems to glow a little brighter. Her amethyst eyes stare into the man’s shades.
The man doesn't change expression, and his mirrored shades cover his eyes. "It doesn't work that way, ma'am, though if you're concerned about your safety you don't have to be worried. So, I'll ask again: Come this way. Please."
Symphony shrugs when Horizon makes his offer. "You're turning me over, so what happens once you're out of your sight isn't up to you. They kept saying it's 'protocol.'" She pauses, then looks him in the eye. "But I appreciate the gesture."
When Indarius talks with her while Horizon and Conflux debate, Symphony looks away. "I'd just, you know, go someplace with a beach, relax, sip a mai tai -- I've never had a mai tai but that's what I'd be sipping."
She meets his eyes with a challenging stare."I'm sure it's really easy for you. Label me a 'villain' and then you have no problem siccing a freaking werewolf on us and a goddamn demon. Why were you after us, anyway? What'd we do to you?"
Oh f$%@ right off with that, buddy. That is not what Caio asked. He asked us to use that music when he was out of control, not just every time he was wolfy and not in a fight (like say, right before the fight. In fact, lemme go ahead and refresh your memory on what he last said on the topic:
"I'm in control... you don't need... I'm..." Her impression of Caio's voice is awful, but she seems unerringly confident in the words.
"So don't give me that bullshit about this all being 'for his own good' or 'what he really wants' and then turn around and flip that sanctity of the mind crap on me. I didn't say word f%$@ing one about doing a goddamn thing to her mental well-being beyond the bare f!~+ing minimum of holding her safely. You're bringing a lot of your own shit with you, oh Fearless Leader. 'Cause if I had to, I could do what needs to be done with a f$@@ing muggle-ass cellphone!
"But you know, that would take extra time, and maybe it might be better if we take care of things with a little more alacrity and urgency? Since you sent off two of the most conspicuous people in Halcyon on a covert stakeout? And so we might want to be able to saddle up and help them without worrying about what Symphony uses her one phone call to do!? - I just figured maybe Mister F$$@ing Experience might possibly want to think through covering his teammates' vulnerabilities instead of just revealing them?! But no, let's just keep having this f%~~ing fight about the unspeakable tactics that you've dreamed up for me to want to use."
The man doesn't change expression, and his mirrored shades cover his eyes. "It doesn't work that way, ma'am, though if you're concerned about your safety you don't have to be worried. So, I'll ask again: Come this way. Please."
He doesn’t know that they won’t hurt her and DD.
But DD thinks it’s a good move to go in.
She turns to DD, “If the meeting is peaceful, we’re not breaking our promise, are we?”
"I think we'll be in the clear," Max replies. She moves to follow the sunglasses man.
The crack in the corner of Horizon's lips seems to widen slightly, almost yawing open like another mouth. But the Protege stands firm and locks himself down, the crack vanishing.
"Fine. We'll check in with the others, after dropping Symphony off," He tells her curtly, before storming off, shoulders tensed up as he turns to the group. "Let's get going!"
He calls ahead to let the HCPD know that they're dropping off a wanted criminal at the nearest police station, and that she's so far been cooperative and should be booked without any harsh treatment.
Horizon's still fuming under pressure as he calls Devil Diva on the comms while they start marching out the subway tunnels. "Haven't heard yet from you guys. Did you find anything out?"
The man guides Femtite and Max through the wide doors and into the spacious atrium of the skyscraper. Fountains and exotic plants give the place a feeling of tasteful opulence. He escorts the pair to a bank of elevators. He produces a keycard, sets it against an electronic pad, and types in a code. An elevator opens immediately. He gestures at the open car. "If you will. She's expecting you."
The elevator doors close. There are no buttons on the inside, only a small speaker panel and an emergency stop switch. The sensation of the car moving is brief, and the doors open again into a lavish office suite.
The far wall is completely taken up by an enormous window overlooking the plaza. It's obvious that you're only a few stories up, though the slight tint in the glass indicates that the people below would not be able to see inside the office.
Elegant tables and chairs are set out, along with crystal decanters and stemware. "Welcome! Please, sit and help yourself," comes a lilting feminine voice with a distinct Spanish accent. Its source steps from around a corner, that of an attractive Hispanic woman likely in her low thirties in a business suit with slacks. She takes a moment to study the two heroes. "Mi ambas son extremadamente hermosas," she marvels.
Getting a hold of herself, she gestures to the chairs. "I am known as Chicle. I'll be brief. You apprehended a contract employee -- known as Symphony, and I would like to negotiate for her release. I'm prepared to offer a great deal if you release her to us before she is turned over to the authorities."
Your comm beeps. It's Horizon.
What do you do??
Femtite grins as she learns it is indeed a woman in charge. It was not a fifty-fifty guess.
“Thank you for inviting us, Chicle.” Femtite changes her clothes to a dress, long, pinkish-purple with a side slit along the right leg, heels and tea gloves. Her hair twirls itself to form a crown braid. She loses the halo and wings. “I’m Femtite…
“Is Symphony innocent? Was our whole battle a sort of misunderstanding? The men got away, and whatever was taken, I suppose one of them had it with him… so why are you trying to get Symphony back?”
Femtite wonders if Chicle cares about Symphony.
Max’s tail swishes back and forth apprehensively as she approaches the well-dressed woman. The comment in Spanish elicits a blush from the demoness.
The comm beeps as she makes her offer. Impeccable timing. Max quietly replies to Horizon. ”Speaking to Slipknots’ employer. Stand by.”
She chimes in after Femtite asks her question. ”Yes, before we agree to anything, we are going to need a full understanding of the entire situation.”
”And what will happen if we say no?”
Somewhat left against the wall, Caio makes an effort to get up, even if his legs are a bit shaky. He raises his hand as Horizon starts to march out of the subway. "Oi, Indarius, Conflux, could you lend me your shoulder? I..." His stomach growls loudly. "Guarding will not be returning with the subs, right?"
"Sure thing."
Connie looked still to a casual glance, but her toes could be seen bunching and flexing through the holes of her bright blue crocs, not quite in time with the pace that she was gnawing her lip.
With a shake of her head she looked over at Caio, compressing her lips into a thin smile. "Yeah no. I'm too small for that. Percy that one's on you."
Chicle strolls casually about the office, tilting her head slightly to better appreciate Femtite's sudden change in attire. A confident smile is on her face as she answers, "Whatever altercation between the Slipknots and your associates did not result in any setbacks for my associates, so I feel no need to comment on that. Simply put, I like to keep my people happy. Returning Symphony to the Slipknots makes them happy."
Apparently catching Max's blush, Chicle's smile widens. "¿Tu hablas español? ¡Excelente!" She pauses when the comm beeps and gives Max a moment to check in.
Her easy smile disappears, however, at Max's insistence for an understanding of the entire situation. "Listen, Hermosa, no one in this life gets to understand the whole situation. Not even I. So what you're asking for is just as impossible as it is outrageous."
Chicle shakes her head. "Why worry about saying no, when I am asking what it will take to persuade you to say yes? Money is easy, but uninspired. You are young, looking to make a name for yourselves. You wish to be seen as heroes, yes? I have many contacts. Ways to counteract certain... religious zealots who would only see your outside?"
What do you do?
"I'm sorry, you're what?!" Horizon hisses as DD reports what they're up to. He thinks for a moment as he paces, before speaking again. "Okay, that's fine. Try and dig for a little information from them if you can. Make them slip up - try to get them to talk about why they need anti-gravity technology," He recommends. "That's what Symphony says the tech they stole is for, so work with that."
He growls, still fuming and turning to the others. "Okay, seems like they're meeting your boss, Chicle? So, yeah. I suppose that means we're waiting out to see what information they can get." He presses his palms against the back of his head firmly, trying to relieve a bit of stress that way while considering his options.
"...Okay, I think we should definitely head there now, with Symphony. I really need a transport of my own...if you're not feeling up for it, then go and get some rest, return home if you need to," He recommends to the rest of the team.
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Indarius wants to tell symphony she's wrong but deep down he knows she's right, the line is thin between heroes and villains and from his point of view it's very easy to see her as the evildoer in the story. With everyone's conversations wrapping up he pushes himself up with his staff. "We all have our issue's we're working through, just hope that you find a better path. I'd rather not have to hurt anyone seriously if I could avoid it. Besides they're just as much people as you are even if they look different."
When Horizon calls out that it's time for them to move he sighs, "Time to go." Heading over to Caio he offers for the lycan to lean on him, though he is very tender about his left arm at the moment though to try and release the tension he offers a chuckle. "Kind of wish I had the werewolf powers of regeneration. And no, pretty sure SG just took off till the next call to arms."
Femtite says, “You make a tempting offer, but you leave out an important entity: the victim. Then what could you tell these contacts? We let criminals get away with crimes when we can benefit personally from their superiors?
“The Slipknots have stolen technology.” Femtite rises above her seat. She sits in the air, one leg crossed over the other. “It is for anti-gravitational purposes.
“Return what was stolen. Let me see if that is enough to get Symphony back.”
Chicle’s casual confidence and calm demeanor is intimidating, and Max feels herself shrinking before her.
”Your offer is... tempting. Very,” Max admits. ”But I’m not authorized to make a final decision like that. We would need to consult with our team leader first. But we would be happy to pass along your message. And any additional information you might be willing to share about why you need that antigravity technology might go a long way toward convincing him to accept. Or, you know, giving it back.”
"I can't help now." He states the obvious. "Feel free to drop me along the way in any place where I can order some food... like even a park, I guess."
They reach a point back in the tunnels that Caio sees his discarded jacket and he points it out for the others to grab for him.
"Any of you that is also out, are welcome to join me."
Chicle's smile turns rather condescending. "The delivery is already underway. I could not stop it even if I had the authority. That is... not on the table." She sighs and takes a seat, casually crossing her legs. "Please understand. If you decline and turn her into the authorities, Symphony will be released on bond in less than twenty-four hours, and her charges will be dropped on a technicality before her arraignment. I'm giving you the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. To get something out of your victory today over the Slipknots."
"Well, as I said, we'll have to check with our team leader first. So, if you don't mind giving us a chance to do that, and we'll get back to you ASAP. Okay?" Max says. She turns and prepares to leave.
Chicle doesn't move to stop the pair from leaving. She simply gives a casual wave. "Let your leader know that time is ticking. And pass along my regards to Whippoorwill, if you get a chance. I look forward to our next meeting."
She remains seated, smiling like the cat with the canary, as you leave.
Rooftops are always a good meeting place, especially in the tower district. Horizon has flown up Symphony and everyone else, assured that the villain won't try to escape on her own off such a high roof. He's also made sure to get everyone some food, paying for some containers of Thai food that he even shares with their prisoner. There he waits for DD and Femtite to show up before beginning the meeting.
"All right, so what exactly happened?" He asks, listening to what they have to say and considering their options. "She's not wrong, she'll get Symphony out one way or another, and...hmm. You use a small fish for a bigger fish," He says, an idea coming to mind.
"I don't want Symphony - but there's a villain on the loose I'd like to get the drop on. If she can agree to help us track him down, then I think we can come to an agreement," He says, looking for input from the group.
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Though pretty exhausted Indarius manages to make a floating disc that lifts him and one other person up the side of the building a bit more safely than holding onto your friend for dear life. Also partaking in the Thai food and paying for his fair share.
"I don't like the sound of any of this really, I mean we're gonna consort with this lady. Who's to say it won't happen again in the future or if she'll keep her mouth closed about us handing over slipknot." He slurps up a mouthful of fried noodles when something else dawns on him. "Also didn't you already call her in for turnover?"
He then digs into the noodles again happy for something to help him restore his energy, despite what it may seem casting magic is exhausting not only mentally or aetherically, but also physically and after all they'd done tonight he was starving. Even glancing over to see if Symphony was enjoying her meal, not like they cuffed her or anything.
On the way out, Femtite says, “You made a good call to meet with Chicle. And thanks so much… I really felt you had my back as I tried to get the truth out of her. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
* * *
Femtite leaves nothing out, especially how awry her hide-in-plain-sight went! “It was simultaneously a spectacular success and an epic failure!”
She plucks out a single mushroom, shrinks to a spark and flies inside it. It begins to char. The pixites fiery form expands to an inch or so tall. Nothing remains of the mushroom.
When Femtite grows back, her exposed midriff has a tiny bit of roundness. “Ohhhh… I really should have cut that in half.”
Connie methodically chowed down on whatever had the most spice/peanut sauce, not really savoring but just refueling and absorbing information.
Serves as a broker, but very focused on her hirelings anyways.
Instinctively makes moves as a corrupting influence - probably suggests success in other dealings.
Very certain of procedural errors - highly likely in cases of superpowered combat, but since in this case the crime and apprehension were sufficiently separated, probably refers with corruptive influence.
Pixites get adorable food babies.
Influence with religious zealots? Or at least their platformers.
"Horizon's right, probably. But we should probably check to make sure that we're working from good information. If people got hurt in their smash and grab, then that changes both sides of the equation, but I care a lot less about keeping her locked up than stopping whatever the people who hired her have planned next."
"Yeah, let me see what I've learned about Chicle..." Whippoorwill probably knew of the woman at least. He linked up to Clocktower to access the files and read up about her to see if she could be trustworthy, even in a shady sense.
"Okay, so she's a broker, but she has worked with heroes before in the past when interests have aligned. Usually when a villain she's worked with broke their contract," He said, looking thoughtful. "Did she give you a way to contact her? I'd like you to ask her if she has any information on Shard."
Shard had been on the backburner for months - but any leads would probably be worth a lot more than booking Symphony.
"And I was cut short before I could make that call, Indarius. Still on the table though," He tells him, before taking a bite of a golden triangle. Fried tofu was pretty good!
Caio waits for Connie to pick her food and then picks the same, since she is the most likely to know what is good. "I'm probably going to regret this..."
"I'm against this deal. Have you guys ever seen a movie or read a story about someone making a pact with the devil..." He smiles at Max, regretting to having wasted the joke now. "... And not regretting it? The bad guys always gain more from the deal and when the heroes think they are being smarter than the bad guys, it is even worse."
"Aside from that, when this becomes public, what will this tell about us?"
"This lady is hiding something, obviously. She is not trying to help us. She says it will be the same if we handle Symphony over to the authorities or to her, but if so, why offer the deal? Reveal herself? Waste her resources in dealing with something that is not hampering her?" He shakes his head. "She wants us involved with her, so I'm against it."
"Yeah, let me see what I've learned about Chicle..." Whippoorwill probably knew of the woman at least. He linked up to Clocktower to access the files and read up about her to see if she could be trustworthy, even in a shady sense.
[dice=Been Reading the Files]2d6+0
"Okay, so she's a broker, but she has worked with heroes before in the past when interests have aligned. Usually when a villain she's worked with broke their contract," He said, looking thoughtful. "Did she give you a way to contact her? I'd like you to ask her if she has any information on Shard."
More than simply working with heroes before, Chicle actually used to be considered as one. Her ability to generate adhesives, glues and resins from seemingly nowhere was very effective at stopping many varieties of crime and apprehending non-powered individuals. She joined a couple of hero teams, including an early version of the Heralds of which Whippoorwill was a tentative member. The pair had a falling out, and Chicle entered the world of dubious corporate entities, eventually signing on with Lovelace International.
On the way out, Femtite says, “You made a good call to meet with Chicle. And thanks so much… I really felt you had my back as I tried to get the truth out of her. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
”You’re welcome,” Max says with a smile. ”And thank you for helping me loosen up a bit. All that posing together was a lot of fun, actually. It really helped me feel a bit more comfortable in this new body. That means a lot to me.”
Max gives Femtite a hug. ”You’re a good friend. I’m happy to have met you.”
***
”I agree that we shouldn’t trust Chicle at her word,” Max says after Caio says his piece. ”But there’s more going on right now than what we’ve been able to learn on our own. Hate to say it, but I think we could use the assist here.”
"...She used to be a hero herself, you know," Horizon points out to Caio. "Just because she's gone corporate doesn't mean that she's the devil. Just that she's trying to make a living. She's looking out for her pack here," He says to try and get Caio to understand. "But she's also offering us a favor and she's connected. I'm not saying we join forces or sign up with her, but maybe agree that the line between hero and villain can be blurred at times."
Horizon looks over the edge of the rooftop at the skyline. "I think we should take her up on this offer, but I want to hear what you all think we should ask for in return," He says to the group. "She might not give up her clients, but there's other villains still lurking in the shadows she could help shine a light on. We just need to pick out someone who's doing harm to the city to take them off the streets."
”Same… and I will take your sound advice. Same page….”
* * *
Femtite catches Connie eyeing her belly… and she notices Connie is still wearing the blue crocs with the school uniform.
“I like your sense of style. Even in a school uniform, you find a way to rebel, but not in a way that is hurtful or offensive. It is clever… I know you will not wear this to school, but I like this look on you. With crocs!”
* * *
Femtite eventually joins the conversation. “My feeling is that Chicle cares about Symphony. Let’s agree to the deal and ask for information that will save lives, or bring justice to those who would take lives.
“I cannot excuse Slipknots’ theft, but as Chicle said… Symphony will be released. I believe she was truthful to us.”
"She used to be." Caio repeats Horizon's words as he discard the last of the to go boxes. "She isn't the devil because she went corporate. I couldn't care less about that. The Slipknots are also trying to make a living, as are most of the criminals in the world."
"The ends never justify the means."
"Honor, like a white shirt, is really difficult to clean after it has been stained. If the line between heroes and villains is blurry, lets make it clearer, not blurry it even more." He looks to the others, trying to find an ally in what he believes to be a losing battle and one that will cost them dearly.
Connie gave a small smile, glancing off to the sides. "I'm glad you like my shoes, but uh, maybe we should focus up, Femms?"
She was far more direct with the group as a whole, her mouth twisted in a sour scowl. "I don't know that we need to paint this as her doing a good thing - and if she won't point us up the chain, then I don't see any reason to give her what she wants for something we don't. We can't let her just fob us off with whatever information she pulls out of her pocket. If she can pull other strings to get Symphony out? Great, let her do that and we'll see where those strings are connected. If that's what she preferred she'd just do it, so we've at least got enough leverage to go after what we actually want.
"And can we not make this about 'honor'? This isn't us taking a bribe, or even doing something for our own interests. This is us getting an informant. If Shin wants to run this up the flagpole to Whip, I'll tell her the same thing."
Symphony stays quiet and reserved during the team meeting. She eats quietly, if awkwardly because of her bound hands.
Max puts a hand on Caio’s arm. ”Hey. I understand where you’re coming from. I have my reservations, too. But I honestly think this is the best thing to do in this situation. If I’m wrong, well, you’ll have free rein to say ‘I told you so.’ For now, let’s just see how things play out. Do it for me?” She offers her friend a warm smile.
"I'll never say 'I told you so', Max, not to you, not to anyone. This serves nothing but to make others feel even worse." He tells Max, still doubtful about the situation.
"I still think this is a bad move, but... we are a team, so if you believe this is the right thing to do, let's do it... if things go bad, I'll be there to help. As a team."
Femtite sees that Symphony is having a hard time eating. She asks, “Are we taking her to Chicle then? And if so, is there a way we can make her dinner arrangement more… dignified?”
Femtite approaches Symphony. She says to her, “Your superior truly has your back. That she is a former superhero herself makes sense. She is honest, caring… heroic qualities. She has a demeanor I might describe as regal.
“I’m just curious. How is it that she—and you, for that matter—possibly be criminals? Maybe I’m simply too foreign to comprehend. Neither you nor Chicle are what I expect of a criminal.”
Symphony just looks at Femtite for a moment, giving her a, "you really don't get it?" expression. After a beat, she says resignedly, "her getting me released means she's got more on me. She's not, like, doing this out of the kindness of her heart."
She shrugs. "We don't think of ourselves -- Baz, CC, T and me -- we don't call ourselves criminals, or 'supervillains' or anything. We're just people that fill a role. We're not bad, we're not taking from anyone who can't afford it. But there's not a lot for us to do otherwise. If you needed money, what'd you do? Would you wait tables or work in an office, with the things you can do?"
Shin looks a Conflux begrudgingly before sighing. "...Yeah, you make a good point. I should call sensei up and tell her what's going on. She knows more about Chicle than I do since they worked together. I just hope she won't be mad I bent protocols..."
Horizon walks over to the corner of the building to call Whippoorwill, wanting this to be semi-private.
"Sensei, I wanted to update you on the team's activity today...we discovered the Slipknots had raided a lab and were escaping close to the school, so I called the team to action. It was a standard brawl until a chronowraith showed up, attacked us, and everyone but Symphony escaped. I was planning to turn her in, but their...I guess fixer, Chicle, contacted us. She wants to make a deal for us to let her go. Honestly, I feel it's an opportunity to get an informant to let us know if something big goes down, or give us a lead into some worse bad guys. Do you think I can trust her to keep her word?
“I don’t come from a place that has money. But… we don’t have offices, and our ‘tables’ are abundant with sweet-spotted fungi. Yes, my world has been rich of resource since we evolved beyond males.” Realizing that two of her teammates are male, another was, and another might be, Femtite winces a little. “Not to say I blame my predecessors for past food shortages. We don’t speak ill of the extinct.
“But to answer you directly…” Femtite considers her motive: she wants to protect her world. She wants to deserve help from humans, so she protects the human world. And something DD said earlier resonates. “…I want the people of Earth to be glad they met me.” She thinks of conversations she’s had with Connie, Percy and Shin. “…I want the people of Earth to think me level-headed, and to find my eating habits not weird, and to be okay with borrowing each other’s clothes…” She thinks of the crowds and the photos. “…I want the crowds to adore me, take photos, smile.
“It’s what you Earthlings call corny, isn’t that right? I’m corny!” Femtite is pretty sure this is NOT how one gets a human to open up. She slows down a bit.
“Symphony… if you win the people over, surely you can make a decent living. You have a beautiful name. Can you not use your powers to make beautiful music?”
Femtite’s outfit becomes ribbons. Her skin glows sunbright until she is again dressed in a pinkish-purplish toga and sandals with straps up the legs. But this time she is not dressed as an angel—but as a muse, with tiny wind chime earrings and bracelets bearing a treble clef on one wrist, bass clef on the other. Her necklace resembles piano keys, except the ivory is pale pink and the ebony, deep purple.
There's a long silence on the other end of the comm. If she hadn't first acknowledged when he called her, Horizon might think that Whippoorwill wasn't there.
"Chicle," she says finally, her voice dripping with contempt. When she continues, it switches to a voice laced with old pain. "She's... compromised. She took bribes. Agreed to look the other way. Made excuses. And then when I found out and confronted her... she didn't see a reason to stop."
Another lengthy pause. "Listen to what she's asking you to do. Then ask yourself: do the ends justify the means? I'm sure she'll be straight with you at first. But there's always a cost. Do you want to become dependent on her?
Connie closed her eyes gently, lips thinning more and more as she strove to stay silent as long as she could.
"Yeah okay. I'm not needed for this, and I have things to prep. Call me if the plan changes."
Walking over to the edge of the building she held her skirts close and hopped off, landing safely far below on an extremely visible ward shaped and colored like a rainbow, though with segments of the colors swapped and mixed up along all six arcs.
Man I wish I had a different ward ready...
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Indarius had been quietly eating his noodles milling everything being said over in his head as he reached for the cup of soup with chicken within things seemed to be getting more heated and divided.
It's more about who is hiring things to be stolen
Horizon's interest in Shard
Making a deal with the Devil, the pathway to hell being paved with good intention
Do the ends justify the means or the do the means justify the end
What's the honorable thing to do
Regardless of what happens this'll shove Symphony further in debt with Chicle which means more petty theft or worse
Should we give into our wants or only take our needs
Conflux walking away however snapped him out of his stupor a bit and he looked across the group. "I stick by what I said, I don't want to do this nor do I think we need to. Just because we have the opportunity to take the easy route doesn't mean we should. I wanted to become a doctor before I got access to my magic, and honestly I still do. I want to help people and if this is how I help until then, so be it."
He looks to Symphony pointing to her question, "So yes if I wanted to make money i'd use the gifts I have both as a superhero and those as a normal man that I have spent my life cultivating. I would want to take the easy route, I want to now even to just let you go with a proverbial slap on the wrist. To say that you'll do better, that you'll be better, but easy doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. But that's what separates the heroes and the villains. Doing what you need to do versus taking what you want."
Indarius breaths deep knowing that he had to make a choice on the matter, "I say we do the right thing, but we also do what we can to make the situation better. Symphony should go to the authorities, but we should also make sure she's treated right, no gags or any of that." His eyes even under the cowl turn piercingly at Symphony "I chose to take control of my own fate, and I hope with sincerity that you chose to not let anyone hold yours above you and drag you on a path when you know there's a better way forward for everyone."
Femtite considers Percy’s words. And Shin is contacting Whippoorwill, who’s had a history with Chicle… who will have ‘more on’ Symphony if…
Stop limiting yourself to the humans’ choices.
“Is there not a plausible third option? If Chicle bails Symphony, she has ‘more on’ Symphony. I assume this to mean a debt.
“If we take the deal, Chicle has something on us. We have compromised ourselves permanently. I did not understand this until hearing Symphony… and you, too, Percy. And Connie’s exit…”
She pauses a moment. Getting to her point:
“Can we not turn Symphony over to your mentor, Horizon. Perhaps Whippoorwill could take Symphony under her wing, if—“ She faces Symphony. “—you wish to have a chance of escaping Chicle’s clutches.
“I do not think you are a bad person. I think you want to get out of Chicle’s clutches, and I cannot promise Whippoorwill will do as I am hoping. But the other choices are certain to reunite you with Chicle, and she will have more on you, as you phrased it.
“My suggestion has a chance at a different outcome, if you so desire this.”
Symphony shakes her head when Femtite asks if she can make music. "No, I manipulate sound and harmonics. Existing music gets garbled, and anything I try to create is... bad. The concentration it takes is insane."
Percy's and Femtite's other suggestions don't go much better. "What you're saying is I'd have to abandon my team. I can't do that. -- And don't try that bullshit that 'they abandoned me.' You didn't give them much choice, did you?
"But no, I'm not going to bad guy reform school. I'm going to control my destiny on my own terms."
Horizon considered Whippoorwill's words. Wondered if the pain that his mentor was feeling might be coloring her opinion of Chicle. Wondering if there was any way to try and repair that relationship between them. And once again, getting hit with the concept of the 'ends justifying the means'.
"Thank you for your advice, sensei. I don't want to be dependent on her. I also don't want someone else ending up in deeper debt to her because of decisions that we make," He adds as he looks at Symphony. Who seems clear to them that she's not about to abandon or betray her team. He could respect that, even if he felt she was going about using her powers the wrong way.
He approaches her, crossing his arms. "I'm not about to put my trust in Chicle and get ensnared in any schemes she might make, but I don't want you getting saddled with more debt to her arraigning you out of jail," He says. "So what do you need to get out from your debts?"
“Who said anything about abandoning your men? But you cannot help them if you are forever indebted to Chicle. Are you not the leader of the men?
“You should ask yourself why we are considering an alternative instead of simply having you arrested and bailed by Chicle. Or you can ask me my reason, if you prefer.”
"Thank you for your advice, sensei. I don't want to be dependent on her. I also don't want someone else ending up in deeper debt to her because of decisions that we make."
"I get that. I do. Don't forget that she made choices of her own. Her group tried to steal tech from Silver Shield. But they've been successful too. Who knows how much tech and information ended up in the wrong hands because of them.
"This-- this is one of the harder aspects of the job. Who do you try to save? Can you save them? If you try and they don't take advantage of the chance, will you be more reluctant the next time, and not give it to someone who needs it?" She pauses once more. "You've got a good heart, but also good instincts. Use them both."
============
Symphony chuckles briefly and mutters, "Bunch of teenagers out to rescue me." She then looks at Horizon steadily. "It's not that easy. We tried once. A big, unsanctioned score that would set us up for life. But they sent freakin' Siphon and the frost kid from your old team after us. Got us arrested and everything. No protection from the system. We were going to one of the powered prisons for sure, if it hadn't been for George showing up."
She shakes her head. "These people exist and operate with heroes like Captain Stalwart flying around. They cover their tracks very well. It's a nice gesture, but it won't matter." She offers him a genuine, if sad, smile. "It's smart not to get wrapped up it all."
"I'm not the leader. If anyone is, it's Bazinga 'cause he's the planner. But we all have a say.
"And I get it; Chicle says you heroes are all hypocrites, but I can see at least some of you are trying to be principled. Or not trying to play Chicle's game."
Max’s tail lashes back and forth in agitation as her teammates continue to try appealing to Symphony’s better nature, with mixed results. ”So, what’s the call?” she asks Horizon, eager to get this over with, one way or the other.