Crime vs Justice and Harmony (Anna/Scott)

[Deleted]

Once in a while, Cain felt his duty tug at him.  He wasn't raised by Aegis just to hang out and goof off, and the more work he did the safer the world was for his sister Charlotte.  It was a duty he didn't take lightly.  He had found information from a street informant he had about a gang meeting that involved the initiation rituals of new gang members.  There wasn't anything he hated quite like bringing kids into a life that they didn't know better than to enter.  As he reached the street where the seedy bar was, he flipped up the hood on his hoodie.  Today he was in a dark grey hoodie that was modified so that it had a small musical amp, as well as a mask sewn deep into the hood.  It kept the hood from falling back, and kept his identity secret too.  As far as anyone was concerned, he was the hero Harmony today.  So he did what any self respecting mute audio manipulating vigilante would do.

He knocked on the door twice.  And when it swung open, he socked the guy in the jaw.  And then knocked the back of his neck to put him unconscious.  There was no killing from him.  And then he saw that there was ten people in there.  Well shit maybe he'd overestimated his own abilities.

Again.

Scott Stane

[Scott Stane]

you're not as brave

as you were at the start

take all the courage you have left

❧

Scott wasn't sure what he considered being Atlas to be. He wasn't paid to be a vigilante so it wasn't a job but it also didn't feel like a hobby. It was more so something he did because he had powers and felt he needed to use them for something. He sighed to himself, thinking if Spider-Man was real, this would be how he'd feel.

With great power came great responsibility, right? Besides sometimes the greatest lessons learned were taught by fiction.

He'd gotten the tip on the gang initiation from a website run by some hacker called Sparrow. The website covered a lot from accused corruption to new crime scenes. There was a section on theories on cold cases and a section on the updated activity of Astaria's local criminals. How one hacker got a hold of all of that, he didn't know. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

He had his hood down but his domino mask on. His fingers flickered with green briefly, his power reacting to his nerves. He didn't think he'd ever get used to this, being Atlas. How did one get used to feeling like some comic book character? He wondered if he should have told his siblings - they all had powers too but they had lives, jobs; he didn't think they were costumed vigilantes too.

He also didn't know someone else was here too. He was there to try to get information on the gang's leader and operations. If his presence discouraged some kids from joining, that was just an added bonus.

He unlocked a window and slipped in too easily to feel comforted. The gang members were clearly distracted by someone in the doorway. He didn't get a good look. He registered that their guns were drawn and went from there.

Scott held his hand out, a green glow appearing on it. The guns held by the gang members glowed green as he reached out and gripped them with his power. He grimaced at the effort it took - one gun would have been fine, easy, but he had to spread his power over each gun - to increase the gravity on them.

Some of the gang members noticed him but by then, their guns were dropping hard from their hands, hitting the ground with enough impact to create small cracks where they landed.

"You probably don't want to," he said, still very much aware there was someone else there he hadn't gotten a good look at yet. "But I suggest you surrender before things escalate."

426 ● @cain ● Hope this works!

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

[newclass=.cred]text-align:center;font-size:6pt;color:rgb(132, 132, 132);letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;margin-top:5px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cred a]color:rgb(132, 132, 132);font-size:6pt;letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;[/newclass]

[Deleted]

Cain was busily contemplating how he was going to take them all down when suddenly their guns were falling out of their hands and cracking the concrete floor.  He heard the voice asking them to surrender and saying they probably didn't want to.  He grinned, an easygoing expression on his face as he shrugged and nodded in agreement with the guy.  Not much he could do to communicate in this situation.  These gang members were just low tier, Cain could tell.  He knew what higher tiers looked like.  They always had tattoos.  It wasn't a thing against tattoos.  It was quite literally an initiation into the higher ranks.  He hadn't found out why that was, but he hadn't thought it was important.

Until he saw the guy slamming open the door and coming through.  Six foot...five man, muscular and barrel-chested.  He looked like he was probably at least three hundred pounds, but it was all muscle.  And when the gang members all looked afraid and reverent, Cain knew he'd found the gang leader.  Fuck.  He was not ready for this.  The man had tattoos running up and down his arms and he smirked, walking forward with purpose.

"You aren't supposed to be here."

Cain's eyes narrowed at the words.  People just had to be so obvious huh?  He looked at the guy who'd helped him with the gravity.  He recognized him, he'd studied the moves of the guy.  Cain heard the footfalls of the large boss man and flicked his wrist, manipulating it and making it stronger, then manipulating it under himself to propel him into the air a bit.  Just enough to propel himself forward into a punch at the guy's jaw.  He'd known that without the push, his jump to punch wouldn't have been nearly powerful enough.  Once he'd done that, he kicked out in a roundhouse kick that landed on the guy's chest and was enough to make him stumble back.  

Not for the first time by a long shot, but Cain wished he could talk.  His banshee scream would do a lot in this situation, but it would also harm his ally.  The other gang members went to pick up their guns again and Cain started running, gesturing to the other guy to follow him.  Cain ducked behind a shipping container in the warehouse.  He had seen the tattoos changing and moving on the boss's arms.  They were dealing with a guy with superpowers.  This fight was gonna get a lot harder.  

Scott Stane

[Scott Stane]

you're not as brave

as you were at the start

take all the courage you have left

❧

Well... He might have been a little bit in over his head. He should have expected more men. He had fully expected them to not surrender, though he always hoped they would. It meant less violence, less people getting hurt. But that was a road rarely traveled.

The one guy that seemed to be on the same side of him was quiet but that didn't bother him. Some people preferred not to talk, some people couldn't talk. He wasn't sure which it was and he didn't think it was any of his business. If it was the latter, he knew sign language - both American and British.

Scott admittedly startled a little when a door was suddenly slammed open, his eyes darting to see who was responsible for it. His eyebrows shot up behind his domino mask. Yeah, he might have been a in over his head. But there was no backing out now. He was here - he couldn't just leave that guy to fight alone. And besides, his mother hadn't raised a coward.

A faint green glow danced around his fingers, reacting to his sudden unease. He didn't like the way the guy - who was obvious in charge of the gang or at least the highest ranked member here - smirked. It was too cocky, too sadistic. It made him uncomfortable, which he figured was the goal.

At the gang leader's words, Scott considered saying something witty but he wasn't quick enough with words so he chose to stay quiet instead. That and he didn't think wit would be much help in this situation.

He felt the other hero's eyes on him and met his gaze, wondering if they were both expecting the other to have a plan. He wondered what experience the other hero had when he suddenly saw him use his ability. Was that sound manipulation?

The sound manipulator punched and kicked the gang leader, causing him to stumble back but right when the glow on Scott's hands increased and he started to reach out to increase the gravity on the gang leader, he noticed the sound manipulator running, gesturing at him and oh God, the gang members were picking up their guns.

Scott cursed and followed, the glow on his hands vanishing quickly as he ducked behind the same shipping container as the sound manipulator. His mind whirled. He needed a plan. He needed an idea. He needed something.

He thought he could decrease the gravity on the shipping container and shove it at the gang members but that would effectively get rid of his and the sound manipulator's cover and it wouldn't do much damage if the gang members were already all out of the way.

His eyes darted to the sound manipulator. They needed to talk - to work together. But he also knew talking risked giving away exactly where they were.

Can you hear them approaching? he signed, choosing to use ASL, hoping the other guy understood it. He then reached to his belt and unholstered one of his own pistols, clicking the safety off.

514 ● @cain ● n/a

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

[newclass=.cred]text-align:center;font-size:6pt;color:rgb(132, 132, 132);letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;margin-top:5px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cred a]color:rgb(132, 132, 132);font-size:6pt;letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;[/newclass]

[Deleted]

Cain saw the guy start signing and his face lit up.  HE COULD TALK TO THIS GUY.  

Yes I can hear them.  I am mute.  We need an exit strategy I wasn't expecting this many and back-up isn't coming this time.  

Looked like he wasn't going to need the tape of reading someone their rights this time.  He sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly in resignation.

If you can figure out a route out of here that they wouldn't see us and follow, I can silence our footsteps and then amplify their own so they have to stop.  Or

He hesitated in his signing for a moment, going through the pockets of his hoodie.  Then his face lit up with a grin, taking a small plastic package out triumphantly.  

Earplugs.  Here Atlas.  Put them in and I can cause a distraction that will put them down long enough for us to escape.  

Thank god he packed the earplug extras sometimes in case he needed to use his sonic scream around allies.  That's when he realized he'd used the guy's alias casually.  Oops.  That made him look like he was a fan didn't it?  Cain elected to pretend like he hadn't done it.


Scott Stane

[Scott Stane]

you're not as brave

as you were at the start

take all the courage you have left

❧

He was prepared to feel really stupid if this guy didn't understand sign language - also if this guy was deaf and he'd just asked him if he could hear them. There were many ways this could go wrong and make him look like an idiot, he was sure of it.

That worry slipped away, though, when he saw the guy's face light up. He focused on reading the man's reply, nodding when he understood it but also frowning faintly. Backup? This guy usually had backup? Now Scott was starting to think he should have recognized this guy.

This guy clearly had more experience than him. Shit - was he possibly with Aegis? If that was true, that meant there was a possibility of this guy trying to arrest him. He didn't know what Aegis' overall opinion on unaffiliated vigilantes was, but he did know it was illegal, according to the law, and that there was likely to be some Aegis members who agreed with the law.

Also if this experienced, maybe Aegis member thought they needed to retreat, well, that certainly wasn't comforting. Scott thought he could possibly muster up enough power to slam the gang members all to the ground hard enough to knock them out but that was a big maybe and he didn't know what kind of toll it would take on his body.

So retreating it was.

Scott noticed the other guy was signing again and quickly focused his attention on him to catch each movement of his hands and remember what words he was signing. An exit? Yeah, he needed to find one. Retreating wasn't possible if they didn't have a way out...

Scott blinked, eyes widening slightly behind his domino mask. Had this guy just used his codename? That meant he knew who he was? But... How? He didn't think he was a popular vigilante. How often had he even said his own codename out loud? He wasn't sure. He hadn't ever paid attention to that. In a city that housed the Aegis' headquarters, he'd always figured that a small time vigilante like Atlas simply fell through the cracks and went unnoticed.

Clearly he'd been wrong. The earplugs were in the palm of his hand before he actually paused to see what they were, his face warmer than he thought it should have been. Great, he was blushing. He hoped it didn't make him look unprofessional. He put the earplugs in, tried and failed to compose himself.

His eyes were soon on the other guy, a sound manipulator, clearly, again.

What now? he signed, eyeing him curiously.

434 ● @cain ● n/a

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

[newclass=.cred]text-align:center;font-size:6pt;color:rgb(132, 132, 132);letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;margin-top:5px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cred a]color:rgb(132, 132, 132);font-size:6pt;letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;[/newclass]

[Deleted]

Cain spotted the blush on Atlas's cheeks as he took the earplugs and Cain smiled slightly at it.  He hoped it was a result of feeling flattered, but hey it could have almost be anything really.  He read the signs asking 'what now' and Cain smirked.

This.

He jumped out from cover and open his mouth.

"FUCK!  OFF!"  Turns out it wasn't exactly easy to just scream.  You had to actually scream something.  Swear words could be pretty handy that way.  When the sonic scream issued from his mouth, the guns stopped firing as many of the gangsters dropped them to cover their ears.  He looked at Atlas and gestured for the guy to go.  Cain booked it for the nearest door, running down the alleyway and not stopping until he determined he was far enough away that the gangsters wouldn't follow.  As he ran, he silenced his footfalls and Atlas's as well.  Besides which, sonic scream had a habit of deafening people.  And when people were in that much pain, they didn't really care about following a two-bit hero.  He looked around for Atlas, wanting to make sure the vigilante was safe.  He was actually a fan of the hero too, despite what he was doing being illegal.  Harmony didn't really care too much about the rules in that respect.  As long as they were responsible, and doing their best to make the city safer he couldn't care less.  His superiors probably wouldn't like it, but he was also raised by them.  They weren't all super sticklers for rules themselves either.  When he spotted Atlas, he grinned.

Well that was a rush.  I don't think we'll be followed now.  Good thing you were there.  I wasn't expecting that many people in there.  I'm going to have to do more research on that tattooed fellow.  Thanks.  

Then he hesitated.  Should he...?  Maybe...

I know you're busy being a vigilante and stuff, but I don't really care about all of those rules.  Don't suppose you'd be up for me treating you to pizza?


Scott Stane

[Scott Stane]

you're not as brave

as you were at the start

take all the courage you have left

❧

He wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting. He certainly, for whatever reason, wasn't expecting the guy to jump out and yell something. At least he was pretty sure he'd yelled something. The earplugs did their part in cancelling the noise out.

It took him a moment to register that he'd been told they needed to go, still surprised by the display of power. He scrambled up, taking the earplugs out, knowing he needed to be aware of all of his surroundings while moving and that included hearing if anyone got up, though from the sounds of it, they were in pain and having trouble hearing themselves.

It was weird when he noticed his feet weren't making a sound. He was confused for a second, thinking he must have still had the earplugs in but no, they were grasped in his hand. Then he remembered he was with a sound manipulator and it made sense once again.

He followed the other man out the door, admittedly wondering if he should keep following him once outside. The smart thing would have been to go his own way, especially in cause the local authorities were on their way. If they caught him as Atlas, he'd be arrested on the spot.

Yet for whatever reason, he continued to follow the sound manipulator until he stopped. He huffed faintly, figuring he was more tired from using his ability rather than running. Being a swimmer, he was in good physical shape after all. His gravity manipulation just often drained him - the amount it would drain seemed to vary each time.

He looked over to the sound manipulator, eyes having instinctively started roaming their new surroundings for any signs of a threat, when he noticed him start to sign. His grin felt infectious to Scott, who grinned in return, though his own held more worry to it. He was always worried, always cautious, always nervous.

"I'm glad I could help," he replied, signing the words as he spoke them out loud. He knew the other man could hear him but it was a habit he'd gotten into after spending time with his youngest brother's boyfriend, who often signed when he talked.

Without thinking, sometime during running, he'd slipped the earplugs into his pocket and forgotten about them, forgetting he should probably return them.

He blinked behind his mask, confused for a moment as to whether or not he'd read that right. Was he asking him out? His cheeks reddened. No, that probably wasn't it. An attractive man he didn't even know the name of asking him out after only a brief moment of barely knowing each other? That wasn't likely, he told himself.

"S-Sure," he said, wincing at the enthusiasm in his own voice. Not many people took an interest in him - he was pretty sure he was seen as the boring one out of the Stane siblings. Also the thought of sitting, eating a pizza in his Atlas costume was pretty funny.

499 ● @cain ● 10,000 years later - Scott muse decides to work!

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

[newclass=.cred]text-align:center;font-size:6pt;color:rgb(132, 132, 132);letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;margin-top:5px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cred a]color:rgb(132, 132, 132);font-size:6pt;letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;[/newclass]

[Deleted]

Cain grinned at the answer of 'sure' to pizza.  Everyone liked pizza right?  His face may have lit up realizing he had a confirmation for it.  The guy was still going to be in his vigilante gear, and Cain didn't expect him not to be.  Cain started walking, gesturing with his arm for Atlas to follow him.  He knew a pizza place that wouldn't blink an eye seeing them both in full gear.  He'd gone there before, and it was nearby.  When he stopped at the run-down pizza place, he turned to Atlas and smiled warmly.

Give me a minute I'll order from them.  They're used to vigilante types, and I saved their shop once so they're friendly to me.

With that, he walked up to the door, knocked three times and then did a special knock with his elbow and manipulated the sound to be just a bit louder.  It was his way of letting them know he was there.  And then he found the chairs he'd stashed in an alcove in the alley behind the pizza place.  Cain unfolded them both and smiled, sitting down and leaning back slightly into the webbing with a sigh of relief.  It was always nice when he lived through an encounter...oh right.  He looked at Atlas and grinned.

Here I forgot to introduce myself!  I'm...well I go by Harmony.  And before you run because I'm Aegis...let me explain.

But he trusted Atlas, and so he took the leap.  He didn't care whether Atlas did the same or not.  It would admittedly be cool, but it wasn't necessary.  And that's when one of the delivery boys emerged from the building carrying a large pizza, half vegetarian, half pepperoni and cheese.  They used monterey jack along with mozzarella here.  Cain was always glad he'd saved this place.  The delivery boy gave the pizza box to Cain and Cain nodded, giving the guy ten bucks.  The guy shook his head and Cain grinned, shoving the money into his hands.  The delivery boy grinned widely, nodding before running back into the building.  Cain opened the pizza box, taking a quick whiff before offering it to Atlas and putting it on the ground between the chairs.  Then he smiled and took the hood of his sweater off, his mask coming off with it as it was sewn into it.  Cain ran a hand through his longish blonde hair.

There.  You saved my ass back there, and I've been following the stuff you do.  Show of good faith.  I'm Cain.  But that's a secret.  My identity isn't public okay?  I'm sure you understand the need for the secrecy doing what you do.

Scott Stane

[Scott Stane]

you're not as brave

as you were at the start

take all the courage you have left

❧

He felt the other man's smile infectious, matching it with a smile of his own. He followed him, admittedly taking note of where they were going, which way they were using to get there, seeing if he could recognize any buildings or streets. It wasn't that he distrusted the sound manipulator but rather it was a lesson his mother had ingrained in him a long time ago to best keep himself and his siblings safe.

He didn't recognize the pizza place, looking to see if he could see a sign with the name before the other man had his attention once again and he found himself smiling back once again. He nodded when the other man said he'd go order the pizza.

He could hear Ivan's voice in the back of his head telling him not to be so trustful. Truth be told he wasn't sure when his younger brother had become so distrustful.

Instead he watched Cain take out a couple chairs and tried hard not to think about that scene in Lady and the Tramp because if he did, he'd start blushing.

He sat down, eyes returning to the other man when it seemed his presence was remembered - not that he minded. He knew he tended to fade to the background a lot, quiet and unnoticeable, especially when compared to the rest of his family.

He hadn't even had time to realize Harmony was the codename of an Aegis agent before the other man confirmed that. He tensed the moment Aegis was mentioned. He couldn't turn into wind or turn invisible. He couldn't easily get away from an agent of Aegis, especially once that knew who he was or at least knew enough to recognize him and know his codename.

He opened his mouth to ask how Harmony knew he was Atlas because the though of anyone at Aegis knowing he existed was a bit unnerving but then the pizza arrived and he quickly clamped his mouth shut, not wishing to discuss it in front of the pizza boy.

He was considering which half of the pizza to grab a slice from when he noticed Harmony remove his mask. He definitely hadn't expected that.

He had a few questions - such as how and why this man, Cain, had been following his vigilante career... Okay just two questions. Instead he said something he absolutely shouldn't have after Cain finished introducing himself.

"I'm Scott," the words came out casually, clearly on instinct - introducing himself after being introduced to someone else was natural for him. But a second later, he grimaced, clearly realizing his mistake. Ivan would have yelled at him, saying that Cain could've been trying to get his guard down to get his secret identity. Actually he was pretty sure Lisa and Julian would've yelled at him too.

"I mean - I'm - um - God," he groaned, putting his face in his hands. He was an idiot, that he was sure of. He took in a breath, trying to muster up what little pride he had left and peaked out from behind his fingers before pulling his hands down, his fingers fidgeting as he held his hands on his lap.

"How um - How do you know me?" he asked, his demeanor awkward, not used to being anywhere near the center of someone's attention. He was also hoping Cain would forget his slip up mention of his name. Or at the very least, he hoped Cain wouldn't mention it to any of Aegis' pillars.

589 ● @cain ● My disaster son~

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

[newclass=.cred]text-align:center;font-size:6pt;color:rgb(132, 132, 132);letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;margin-top:5px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cred a]color:rgb(132, 132, 132);font-size:6pt;letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;[/newclass]