And then there were six. (Invite only)

It was a crowded elevator. For want of somewhere appropriate to look on his new companions, Pix could only draw his eyes to Gilda's unique armament. Blunt instruments and oversized daggers. He felt it told him all he needed to know about this particular person. Unimaginative. Crude. Trapped in a Renaissance Fair. Hugh didn't expect to share transportation with a mace unless he was on the local subway.

The winged woman, apparently oblivious to proper formalities, directed her questions at TIBERIUS' hired help, rather than wait for an audience. It was customary in negotiations to endure some level of hospitality before business. Offered drinks which led to compliments on the upholstery. Those sort of niceties. They should not expect these lackeys to say anything of importance. Pix cut Fade off curtly, "You wouldn't. That's why you're the meet and greet." No one was lower in hierarchy than the welcoming committee.

Having remained sidelined from the short spat that had occurred, Hugh found himself liking these people. He enjoyed confrontational personas. If you couldn't tease and jibe then you would never know what other people thought of you. And contrary to popular belief - what other people thought mattered. The best way to discover this were small, healthy feuds and immaturity.

With everyone now inside, Pix reached passed Fade. His hand brushed across all the elevator buttons, lighting up every one of them. Once achieved he crossed his arms (=|), "Don't lie. You all wanted to do that."

Maybe she wouldn't like the twins, at least one of them. The other one seemed alright...for now. She couldn't tell what the future would hold. He was already on thin Ice by just being related by this guy who obviously thought he had a chance with her. She would just have to teach him a lesson when she got the chance. Gilda made sure to keep an eye on this mysterious elevator operator. The Thanagarian hadn't like the way she had been told to get into the elevator, much to threatening.

She still got in though, leaning back against the wall while considering slapping one of the twins through the wall of the elevator. She decided against it. It would be a horrible first impression to make. Almost as bad as pressing every button on the way down a long elevator...

"If you do that on the way up I will knock your head off." Sweet and simple. She wasn't amused. The longer they spent on this elevator, the longer she had to spend next to the ladies man and his brother.

Once at the bottom she would be the first out of the elevator, thank God. She had a thing against enclosed spaces, enclosed spaces with idiots in them were a billion times worse. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in every detail. She noticed the dark figure in the corner but decided to leave everyone else in the dark. If this turned out to be a trap of some kind she could use them as distractions while she made her way up the elevator shaft.

"Well what now? I have things to do ya know?" she didn't "Lets get this party going."

TIBERIUS was unsurprised by the action and simply shut the control console inside off. The elevator descended faithfully into the HIVE, as they passed through the field their powers would be suppressed. A bit of insurance against the seemingly inevitable. Down here, they were normal. TIBERIUS saw Gilda spot him right off but remained still he wanted to give them a chance to fully appreciate what they were in front of.

He watched each of them his onboard systems scanning to make sure the field was working. Not that it could fail him of course, his guys in the lab were quite something. Time to let them get comfortable though before he stepped out to begin their talks.

Alex began to laugh as Pix made all the buttons glow. "How many floors are in here?" Alec asked politely. The twins both chuckled at Gilda's remark. She was very snappy, Alex hoped she wasn't like that all the time.
Then, as the elevator slowed to a stop, Gilda then Fade walked out the door. Alex and Alec stared at each other for a moment, shared a telepathic conversation, then burst out laughing. Alec led the way out the door, followed by a still laughing Alex. "Wait.. Am i going to have to share a room with him?!" Alex asked, pointing to Alec with a frown. "I'm not that bad..
" Alec defended himself half heartily. "What ever! You leave your bathroom stuff everywhere!" Alex complained loudly. "Stop being such a kid and shut up.." Alec silenced with a look.

Nina had been stood at the front of the elevator so she was the one to get pushed and shoved as everyone moved out, holding her fluffy tails up so they wouldn't get trampled on as she glanced at everyone and stepped out calmly and folded her arms, her ears twitching a little as she smiled, being able to see slightly into the darkness with the fact of foxes being nocturnal so their eyes adjusted quite quickly, she wasn't really scared of concerned about the whole situation, she was just wanting it go get over and done with so she could return to her store.

Pix responded shortly to Gilda's threat, "And you warn me because you want me to duck?" Thank goodness decapitation was a comparatively mild thing for Hugh. His head came off easier than a Lego man. It was true his metahuman body inflated his confidence somewhat. The lad would never have considered accepting this invitation without it.
 
If there were multiple levels, the lift didn't act like it. This dawned a new significance for Hugh. So the lift could be remote controlled. Handy to know. His childish prank had turned a snippet of information. Chuffed with himself, the sprite stood easy until they had reached their destination. A sickening sensation, like a pulse, shot through him. As everyone began to file out, Pix turned to look at himself through the reflective metal.
 
There was a distinctive lack of surprise emoticon.
 
"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE!?" Hugh was now normal, of flesh and blood. His secret identity was exposed to these virtual strangers. His metahuman abilities were rendered null in void. Panic set in as he realised his precarious situation. The lad stormed out of the lift and turned on the lacky, "I don't know what your boss is playing at, but if he wants our cooperation he can return our powers to-" Pix stopped mid sentence. His eyes were drawn to Fade's sword. Gingerly he stepped backwards until Gilda was between him and her, "We warn you. She still has a mace." Thank goodness he had decided to unionise.

Gilda rolled her eyes at Pix. He wasn't liking this guy at all but he seemed to think he had some sort of weight to throw around. She would have to fix that some time, assuming she ever saw him again, of course. Needless to say she was happy to see him freaking out when his powers suddenly seemed to short out. At the same time she decided not to test her own out. If only to not give this kid the satisfaction of seeing her worry.

She flexed her wings, no matter the lack of space. They got stiff quickly when they were all folded up against her. She had to keep the blood pumping so they didn't fall asleep. "So...are we just here for the fancy room?" she said right before Pix tried to use her as a shield "If you wanna cut him to bits, be my guest." she said, laughing.

TIBERIUS stepped out of the corner and said calmly looking around at the gathered thieves. He looked them over and strode over to a console, he punched up a document. "I think you have all gathered your connection, and now you want to know how I relate. You are each exceptional thieves in your own right. However, with my resources and ability to gather information. We could easily double to triple your normal haul." He gestured to the console. "This is information on the largest uncut diamond in the world. It doesn't get released where it will be until it arrives and they don't specify when it's leaving until it's gone. I have information about it's transit."

TIB stepped around to be on the same side as them, he was more than eight feet tall and had wickedly sharp talons. He glanced at Pix and asked. "Do you have any demands for me or can we assume an eight way split? I would be getting two to help recoup the money I spent building this facility. We have plenty of time to discuss things, and I'm more than eager to hear your opinions." His chitinous face split into a grin with a crack.

The twins carried on a conversation, telepathic conversation, then one of the people started freaking out. Apparently he lost his powers. Both twins tried to transform into a weapon, and nothing happened. The only reason why they weren't freaking to was because they had a lot of training, and considering that most of the people in this room would fight too.
Gilda snapped at Fade, which Fade quickly shot her down. Everything was becoming interesting. "Well if you honestly-." Alex began but was quickly silenced by the slap to the back of the head. "Hey!?" Alex yelled at his brother as he fixed his hair. "I was stopping you before you said something stupid.." Alec said with a shrug.

Then, as Alex huffed and Alec shrugged, the legendary TIBERIUS came out. He threatened them then stepped forward to one of the random thieves. He was intimidating, but Alex was too stupid to really realize the threat. "So you haul us down here with no powers, no way to contact people, threaten us, then give us a mission?" Alex asked before Alec could do something. Alec rolled his eyes and waited for Alex to get punched, he really needed to shut up..

Nina watched Pix freak out before suddenly noticing how short she felt, looking down she blinked and grumbled irritatedly, after all, she was just a fox spirit in the end, she then looked to everyone else and listened to Tiberius calmly, seeming interested in his plan.

Being even unable to talk at this point Nina just sighed and listened, chuckling at Alec and Alex but having no real objections to Tiberius' plan, eh, it was something to get her out of the shop at least.

For the first time Hugh began to seriously consider the capabilities of Fade. Was she just a nobody? Or could her boasting hold weight? It was fair to assume the winged woman would be a pretty tough customer, just from her entry. So to imply she was outmatched took guts. Guts or extraordinary bluffing skills. For Pix believed she was serious.
 
Gilda's insult stung at him. Perhaps he had been a tad hasty offering her up as sentinel. Yet relinquishing his need for protection was not an option when eyes befell TIBERIUS. They were in some major trouble. The mastermind was a prehistoric powerhouse. Pix's apprehension lessened somewhat when he heard an intelligent voice speak. This wasn't a mindless brute. TIBERIUS could be debated and reasoned with.
 
The more cautious twin then tried to keep a rein on his brother, but Alex was right to show the group's indignation. In all fairness, they hadn't been treated with the respect befitting their operational capabilities. To try and strong-arm them was a bold move. They were a bunch likely to retaliate for the slightest of slights. TIBERIUS obviously knew this. And that's what worried Pix.
 
Hugh joined Alex in step, tilting his head aside and speaking guardedly. Not so low that others would not overheard them, but to discourage participation, "I understand what you're trying to say. But that wasn't really a question. More of a summary." Now his voice rose as he looked at TIBERIUS, failing to meet the behemoth's eyes, "There are better things to be asking. Like how our esteemed host came across such information. And far more importantly - if he has yet a buyer. Without a buyer there is no profit. Especially with such rare merchandise. There's a reason most criminals don't bother with this kind of high profile theft. You can't unload your cash cow."

She ignored that overly confident girl and quickly forgot about Pix offering her up as tribute. Gilda found the idea if a significant job interesting to say that least. She quickly decided that this mission couldn't have too big a downside, especially when she had several living distractions to take the cops eyes off her while she made a quick escape. Her wings would probably be invaluable to the job itself anyways. She was strong and could defend herself, better than most airborn escape vehicles, or vehicles in general. Besides, who else could lose helicopters during flight?

As soon as Pix started talking she zoned out a little bit. He was awfully boring. She pictured him as one of those humans that spent all of their day in their room, or in a cubicle. Besides, the fact that one of their companions had turned into a fox was much more interesting. Gilda wondered how...this...whatever, was affecting her, but...decided she would rather wait and see, if needed.

"He has a point, how do we know you'll pay up?" Gilda said, crossing her arms, mace in hand. "How about...a quarter now?" she said with a devious smile.