The Candidate (Amag)

"May I begin by highlighting the obvious. Our lesser reputation is a sign of operational success, not shortcomings. The HIVE Five only hold a monopoly on the brand right now because they keep fucking up and giving the newspapers something to report." (O__O)

Pix found himself back at Nina's penthouse. Sharing her study room with a complete stranger. Not what he imagined he'd be doing yesterday, but Nina had put him on the spot, and you had to take opportunities when they presented themselves.

"Likewise - the Three Onis were prevalent in the Jump Underworld long before they fell foul of DOMA and got a bullseye on their heads. I think you can appreciate discretion, since Nina tells me you're an efficient operator yourself, and yet completely unheard of on the VillFan Reddit community. I take anonymity as a sign of good priorities."

Nina said she'd found him a recruit for his extracurricular criminal activities. Straight away he'd been surprised by her interest. He'd tipped her for laundering services. He hadn't imagined she would go out of her way to do him a favour of this initiative and magnitude. It seemed she was more interested in this project than she'd let on.

"Of course that makes recruitment that much harder. Felons rely on reputation these days. Ironically that means the most notorious movers of our field are the ones with the highest arrests against them. This means usually I'm asked to 'prove myself' in some way. I could turn myself in to the cops right now, I suppose. But I'm hoping you're passed that particular question and we can discuss more relevant matters."

The kitsune had talked his candidate up highly. If they'd just met, Nina seemed to know a lot about their capabilities. Pix was force to conclude (if she hadn't embellished) that this 'Quinn' would be a welcome addition to his HIVE revival. The only complication was convincing her that he was the best choice.

this place felt odd, luxurious even. it was bright and colourful, far from the darkened stone walls and torch lit hallways that she were accustom to. it was a home of someone, with a warm aesthetic that was filled with unnecessary possessions that served no real overarching purpose other than distraction. al-safira leaned against a wall, her arms folded across her chest with one foot slightly ahead of the other. her hood remained up, as did her balaclava as she weren't sure about trusting her company quite yet. "I don't know what a reddit is". she said, speaking out. whatever it was she didn't care to be apart of it. it sounded like a place overrun with toxicity that gives birth to scum and poorly thought out arguments.

this sprite of a person talked a lot. but he said nothing that she actually cared to here. it was all excuses and past digressions. nothing that mattered to her. "what's your plan?". said in a tiring voice. it was the future she was interested in.

Sounded like they were moving on from the question of proficiency. Which suited Pix fine. Bark and him didn't have anything in the way of accolades yet. The sprite leaned forward in his chair, one of those annoying squeaking ones that sounded like it was going to pop. They needed an evil lair for this sort of shit next time.

"The 'plan' would take an hour to summarise. You might have to actually sit down." More like the hows and whys hadn't been thought up yet. Bark was anthemic to giving specifics and direction. And Pix could barely think passed the set-up phase of operations. There was so much to consider, and he now had a part-time job alongside college coursework. Not to mention a student household which insisted if he wasn't drunk or drinking that he was somehow letting them down.

"If you want our 'objective'. That's different. Rebuild the founding organisation which taught us. H.I.V.E Academy was an international cabal that raised, trained, and backed young metahumans or otherwise gifted individuals; hiring them out as expert teams to extralegal enterprises and through that acquiring leverage and influence to better keep the world profitable. We could usurp, undercut, or incorporate any hiring base that showed weakness or amenability."

Pix would honestly prefer if the group this time around took over Jump City and went no further. Putting them on an international heading meant possibly attracting Justice League attentions. It was a risk/reward calculation. They could make a decent enough living off being in charge locally.

"In recent years we've had to do a sort of Phoenix gambit. Scrutiny grew too hot. Better management this time around." The pixelman pointed to himself with both hands before throwing them to the air. ヽ(￣～￣)ノ As he fell backwards the damn chair squeaked again.