True Intentions (Open)

11 PM, Old Steel, near a garage entrance belonging to the so called Skull Saders gang. This district was considered by some to be the worst in all of Steel. Thick layers of dark smog coming from the industrial part of town covered most of the skies, and whatever sun, moon or starlight did make it through faltered in comparison to even the simplest lights around the brightly lit streets. Yet with all its artificial light the entire distract was drenched in bland grey colours and even the smallest of corners was a potential hiding place for any man or woman with criminal intentions.

Krious did what he always did to pass the time between the few bigger operations they took care of, disrupt the workers. That was his policy; Take out a leader and someone simply takes his place, yet take out the smaller fries and cripple the organization. It sounded good, yet wasn’t always that easy as it sounded. Usually he’d go in, do some damage and get out, but today was a little different. He had uncovered something and needed to conform his theory. If he would succeed then they might have the next big one on their plate.

His gaze settled on the garage door across the street, which he had in clear view from his elevated position. Two blokes dressed in Skull Sader colours moved through the garage door, which in turn slid closed after they had entered. A guard remained on the outside, also wearing the same colours, albeit a little less decorated, complete with hockey mask to instill fear and coincidently hide his face, perhaps the other way around. It was probably one of the greenest members of the group but he could warn all the others and wore an automatic weapon nonetheless. Luckily Krious came prepared. He pulled out a small dart from a pouch hidden on his hip and slid it into the hilt of his right blade. The dart was filled with a mild sedative, enough to knock this guy out for about 10 minutes, maybe more. That was more than enough, he’d probably only need about 5.

Carefully he aimed towards his target, making sure to check the environment for any complications before proceeding. Fast and clean, I’m only looking for some information. He told himself while his left hand reached out to the trigger. Suddenly a subtle metallic clank rang through his ears. The sound originated from the fire escape on the side of the building. Did they notice him? Impossible. With a quick fluent motion his aim switched towards the still unknown source.

“I suggest you show yourself before one of us makes a wrong move.”

Even with his low-light vision he couldn’t see what was behind the small wall standing between him and the entrance to the roof.

(Am I cool to join this? If not then I'll delete this post later!)

Alyss breathed in deeply; second night on the job. She decided to take off early and meet Necati back at her house later, but for now here she was, hidden behind an alley wall opposite the garage the Saders had just entered. Removing the guard seemed a simple enough task, she thought, removing the handgun from her pocket. Before she had left her abode, she had taken her own advice from the night before and screwed a silencer onto the front of only on of her guns. Each would be too heavy, and it wasn't as if she needed to be quiet all of the time. But silence was a necessity sometimes, and for now she needed to be efficient, deadly and professional.

She had been researching this 'gang' all night, traipsing through their records and arrests for hours and watching them all day- standing as still as stone for three hours was challenging, but now the time was finally here. Those ridiculous hockey masks sparked an anger inside of her. They thought those pieces of plastic were scary? They hadn't seen anything yet. Unfortunately she couldn't tell how many were inside the garage already- only the two that had entered and the guard. Problematic. Though she was powerful and quite capable of a fight, if she entered to be ambushed by copious amounts of criminals, her physical endurance probably wouldn't be enough - and all the gangs around here had weapons. Hell, some even had Supers involved.

When the two men were safely inside the garage and out of sight, she moved out of the alley, cloaking herself in shadow and sticking to the darker areas of the street. She moved softly, without a sound towards the man who was stood, holding his rifle. M16, Assault rifle, Colt Defence modelled, 5.56mm caliber, 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge, effective range; 550m targeted, 880m in the vacant area- nice.

This guy knew how to use it, clearly, this kind of weapon was usually only Government issued. Emblem was right, everything in Steel was corrupt even the forces and the members who claimed to be making Steel a safer place. Her blood boiling, she moved behind the man and clamped a hand over his mouth and raising her gun in one fluid motion. The silencer did its job and the man fell limp into her arms without a sound. She lowered him to the ground, placing her gun swiftly back in it's holster. Now to leave her message- she always had been one for the grand exits and a little panic. Well, the only way to get a message across to these people was through fear and luckily, she knew that off to a tee. Alyss began to tear open the man's uniform and smirked at his bared chest. Fear was chuckling inside her head as she removed a black marker from her pocket and began to write the letters 'F E A R' on the skin of his chest.

She stood up, tucking the pen away before sinking backwards into the shadows of the alleyway, waiting to see a reaction. Let's hope they got the message. Clean up shop, or they'll be the next ones lying in their own blood.

(If this is a little too much over PG-13 just tell me and i'll change it, I just remembered this type of thing from HP 2 with writing of blood on wall)
Inoko had been hanging around the steel mill that dark, eerie night searching for the next interesting thing to happen that boring night. Boring until she saw a man lying down dead with the letters 'F E A R' written on his chest. "Whoever did this I have to compliment them, I like their style." But then she heard the sound of about five or so people approaching the vicinity, so she leapt up with shinobi-like stealth onto a nearby ledge and waited for them to come.

Just as she expected there were five men who came over and saw the dead man lying there and one of decided to check his pulse just to announce. "He's dead, you two stay here we'll go report this." And the three men left leaving the other two ripe for the picking. So raising her fists she launched her supersonic attack on both of them, her left hand being the strongest it knocked the guy out immediately while other violently puking on the ground. Jumping back down to the ground she stood in front of the man who started to panic. "Don't worry, you'll be out of your pain soon enough, but we can't have you telling your friends about this now can we? It's time to DIE." Inoko said mercilessly to the guy pathetically as she molded her shadow into a two metre sword, starting to scream." No, n-n-no, NOOO!!! AUUUUUUUUGH!" Her shadow blade had gone straight through his heart. She then took a finger and started writing on the wall in his blood after killing the other man with her katana.

"TORTURE"
"GET OUT OR THIS FATE AWAITS YOU!"

Alyss hissed under her breath, heading out of the alleyway at the random attack. This was her area for the night and this amateur was drawing far too much attention, far too much noise. Angrily, she doubled check the men on the floor were no longer moving, before cloaking herself in shadows and heading out of the alleyway.

She withdrew a gun and held another hand behind her back, blackened with shadows- just in case. Fear was retching in her brain, telling Alyss that the girls powers were similar to hers- mind games. Alyss bit the inside of her lip and questioned herself - would letting Fear profile this girl be dangerous? Yes, of course. Just stay your ground. The white haired girl held the handgun with the silencer tightly in her right hand. Another surge of anger wracked her brain, seeing the dead, mutilated bodies on the ground. Unprofessional. Unclean.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" she seethed, angrily. "Who just kills like that on the street? Actually, I don't care. Do you know the amount of crap you've just thrown at me- what a hard job I'm going to have now?! Tracking these guys down took so long, effort was put it. Now they're gonna find better places to hide, better weapons - kill more people to track who did this down! It looks like you can take care of yourself but there are so many people in this City, not every criminal is a bog standard human." She grinned harshly. "You know what, kid, just leave now, please. Before something happens to you."

Alyss turned back to the bodies, praying that the others wouldn't emerge from the building and hear her. She looked up at the sign on the wall and began rubbing the blood away with her sleeve. "You sure know how to go over the top." she murmured under her breath.

(( It's alright Alyss, doesn't say open for nothing.
I don't mind any PG-13 and above so you'll hear no complaint from me, don't know how the mods feel about it though. ))

Must have been a rat or some other critter. Seriously, after that situation with Emblem, and especially after they got Shadow he'd been getting more paranoid every passing day. Just clear your mind already... The metal plate creaked once more and Krious took a deep sigh, this night was off to a bad start. His eyes widened after he turned around to resume what he initially started. The guard was down, and the assailant was nowhere to be seen. On closer inspection he could swear he saw that the man's shirt was ripped open and some text was scribbled on his chest. He wanted to get a closer look but was abruptly stopped when another newcomer entered the scene. A girl, about 5 feet tall, long black hair, various weaponry in possession, overall quite an unusual sight compared to regular thugs. They say a criminal returns to the crime scene at least once, but this was a little fast wasn't it?

The girl stopped to inspect the body in front of the garage door, she even looked somewhat pleased with it. Just then a click came from the door, the electric system started and the door slowly started to slide up again. The girl leaped upwards and disappeared out of sight. Great, now there was no way to get in there without any trouble. Five men stood in the entrance, looking a little dumbfounded while they checked out the corpse. Three men returned inside, two stayed behind. Great, strike one down get twice the fun. Their fun didn't last very long, as the girl who just vanished reappeared as fast as she left, striking both the men down in cold blood while their screams echoed through the street. Nice, now the whole neighborhood knew what was going on, not that it was anything new. What happened next weirded him out even more, the girl began to write on the walls with the blood of her victims. Murdering in cold blood, ok, but this was going a little too far. Yet the night wasn't over yet...

The girl finished her newly created masterpiece of 'Torture' and 'Get out or this fate awaits you' and looked quite happy with it. Unbeknownst to both him and the girl there was another witness to the sight. A female's voice could faintly be heard in the distance, she sounded upset. A woman emerged from the shadows and began to take care of the bodies, turning them around and washing said masterpiece off the wall. Oh really how much better can it get.

Krious carefully checked out his surroundings. It was night, so plenty of shadow energy to go around, nobody in sight apart from the two woman on the street and plenty of hiding spots to figure out what was happening. He picked one on street level, near a large garbage container, next to a wall he could use as cover. In an instant his dark clouds teleported him over and he could now clearly eavesdrop on the conversation.

Alyss turned from her job, feeling an unsettled motion in the shadows around her. With a frown, she fluidly removed her gun and pointed it towards the general vicinity of the unsettlement. Sometimes she wished that her powers involved light instead of dark, but for now this would have to do. Reaching into her pocket, Alyss pulled out a torch and held it atop her gun, searching in the shadows to see who was there.

"Hello?" she whispered. Realising her current stance - still amongst the bodies of three dead men - she flitted to the alleyway across the road, not caring if the crazy katana girl had left or not. Dammit, this is when Necati would come in useful, why didn't she just wait? Switching off the torch, she angrily gritted her teeth, sinking into the darkness. This had gone so wrong, so wrong. First of all this crazy girl, then all the blood. So unclean.

She leant against the cold bricks of the alley, sliding down the wall until she reached the bottom. Raising her hands against her head helped her feel more secure, more in control.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." she whispered. After a pause, she clambered to her feet and reloaded her weapon, before turning back down the alleyway. Another movement in the shadows disturbed her mind. "If there is someone here, show yourself." she whispered, quietly.

"Just me, I'm not leaving you know.' Inoko whispered to the woman coming out from behind a wall. 'The name's Inoko but I usually go by the codename 'Torture'." She said introducing herself. She was desperate for friends or at least someone she could talk to even for a little bit. "I only have one request. Can I help you do whatever you're doing? I promise to keep things quite, clean, and I'm a lot more stealthy and talented than you think, then I'll leave you alone if you so wish." Inoko asked pleadingly. "And I know you have powers kind of like mine, I've been listening into your thoughts just a little bit. Hope you aren't mad at me."

Perhaps he chose a spot a little too close for comfort or perhaps he was dealing with someone a tad more vigilant then he initially expected. The oldest of the two seemed to have noticed him standing in the shadows, yet she didn't sound completely sure. Her voice sounded somewhat familiar, but he could swear he never met the woman before. She looked like the complete opposite of the katana wielder, taller, light hair and all dressed up in tactical gear complete with concealed backup firearm as any law enforcement should in this city. Yet there was something out of place, something more to this woman than met the eye.

She pulled out a flashlight that was strapped on her vest and held it up in the standard Harries technique. Krious shifted around the cone of light, making sure not to expose himself just yet. Still it was either expose or withdraw, the latter not really beneficial to his goal. The sound of a new magazine entering the pistol was acknowledged by a soft click. Neither of them had started fighting yet, and he still had a small advantage on his side. The dart was still loaded, although it's effects might vary on these new targets and he only had one loaded. It should have some value, as the chamber crafted into the hilt would be clearly visible up close. Krious brought his left hand back on the trigger, aimed towards the woman searching for him, or at least the cover she stood behind, and slowly moved out of the dark. His approach came at an odd angle, perhaps giving him the initiative.

“You're wrong there. Freeze, both of you.”

He stopped while half his body was still partially covered by the shade created from the street lights, but they would've spotted him by now. His grip tightened and his deep eyes focused on the spook carrying the gun. The other would have to make quite a leap before she could even touch him.

"Sorry, but I already have a partner. And I can't risk anyone being out of control," Alyss replies bluntly. "And stay out of my head before I blow your brain up from the inside."

Alyss jumped as the Stranger moved out from behind the shadows and spoke aloud for the first time. She swung around, with firearm carefully aimed at the man in front of her. She could barely see properly, but the angle of the face, the prominent cheekbones- was it? Krious? Another veteran Titan? What on Earth was he doing wandering Steel at this time of night?!

"Drop your weapon, Sir," she replied, narrowing her eyes. Dammit, tonight was getting worse by the second. She just wanted to leave now, and not have to worry about this Mexican Standoff. "State your business."

He couldn't know it was her, she never really knew Krious in the same way she knew Emblem- the dark haired fellow had always been a mystery to her- he seemed cold. But she supposed that was the way she appeared now. Ignoring the younger girl next to her, Alyss stepped forwards, out of the street lights bright glade and towards Krious, gun still raised. "I said state your business."

"Fine I'll stay out of your head and leave if you really want me to. There is one difference in our illusional powers, your illusions are just that. My illusions can become real." Inoko said as her request was denied. Inoko felt even more alone than usual and started to walk away.

Then a man spoke and Inoko turned around to find him pointing a gun at her. "Who are you and what do you want." She asked somewhat fearfully as this reminded her of her parents deaths, waiting for a response.

(( For your information, it's not a gun, it's a one round chamber mounted in the hilt of each of my arm blades. Most of the ammunition I fire is non-lethal as well. Just so you know. ))

Typical, he should have anticipated that nobody would comply. Still the situation wasn’t entirely out of hand yet. Dropping his weapons wasn’t exactly the most reasonable request either, they were mounted on his forearms, it would take about a minute or two to dismount them the ordinary way, each.

“I could ask you the same question. One minute I see a thug playing guard in front of the door, the next I see three bodies lying on the floor. And not just you…”

Krious glanced over towards the more frightened katana wielder before settling his gaze back on the barrel of the handgun.

“That also goes for you, murdering those crooks right on the street and now being scared when someone pops up from the shadows. What exactly is it you two are trying to achieve?”

They had better resolve this fast, the sounds from inside were getting louder and more distressed. They would surely become the primary targets if they kept standing around.

Snapping back to reality she noticed the gaurds coming closer and closer to them. "Does this really matter that much right now? If we don't get out of here quickly we're all gonna have to fight and if need be there may be casualties among the gaurds. So if we get out of here now and get somewhere safer I promise to try and tell you why I do things this way." Inoko pleaded to the man starting to sound angry, sorry, and fearful at the same time. "I have no reason to run away from you yet and further more nothing or nobody to run back to." Inoko started say sounding lonely again. This was true as her parents had been murdered by gunshot.

Alyss turned to the whimpering girl and waved her gun to the side.

"Fine, you can leave. Making a scene is going to do no good is it? You caused this in the first place!" she whispered, sharply. "As for my...creations; I never use my powers anyway, I find that I manage well enough without them."

She turned back to Krious, still shielding her face in the shadows of the streetlight. "I was trying to send a subtle message. Katana lady here ruined that for me, so now I think I'll be leaving before those idiots emerge again. I had a plan here tonight, with minimal loss- so don't put me and her in the same league Krio-"

His name dropped off the end of her sentence, she immediately realised her mistake. Damn and blast- he'd never told her his name. Switching to a defensive mind set, she placed the gun back in the holster on her hip. "I'm assuming you were spying on the Skull's for a similar reason and as we are both of a similar purpose- I'll leave you be," she said, stepping backwards into the alleyway. She gave Inoko a glance and narrowed her eyes. "And never try to cross me again- or I'll tear you to pieces from the inside."

With that, she turned on her heel and began to run silently and swiftly down the alley, back towards the East Side. The need to stay anonymous was huge for her, and she needed to run from her mistake as fast as possible.

“I don’t care about casualties; all these psychopaths deserve to die for several reasons. This is screwing up the bigger picture, but I don’t suppose you would know that would you?”

Krious said, sounding a little agitated. He was on the trail of something bigger, and this whole thing made the simplest of jobs run out of hand. The woman he so carefully aimed at snarled at the other and it seemed Krious was proven right. This girl wasn’t an ordinary woman of the law, no, she spoke of powers and creations. She had something to do with those bodies as well, although she spoke ill of the actions of the other. While Krious thought it over she turned her attention back on him, and the words she spoke made his face grow darker.

She knew his name, not his codename but his real name. Her words were a mistake, but the more she tried to cover it up the more those words spoke for themselves. A false withdrawal and a baseless threat, he didn’t fear her, nor did he intend to let this go unanswered. The woman turned around after she holstered her firearm and began to walk away as fast as she could. The dark clouds once again enveloped Krious, the figure showing his left blade flicking forward in an instant. He reappeared a few meters in front of the fleeting woman, the blade pointing straight at her throat.

“Try me.” He spoke softly. “You know who I am, not by the name I usually tell people. However, if you really know me, then you should recall that it’s rather hard to get away from me just like that. Now… Who are you and how do you know me, and you’d better talk fast spook.”

His tone grew more intimidating as he spoke. He didn’t need a fight like this but she left him little choice. His true name wasn’t known by many people nowadays and he was sure the standard data files roaming around of him didn’t include this much detail, he made sure of that. The katana wielder still held her position, it would be interesting to see what would happen next.

With the knife blade held at her neck, the girl's heart began to race a little faster. Keep cool, Alyss, keep cool. She knew he wouldn't hurt her without reason.

"My name is Helen Jet," she said, reaching into her pocket and throwing her ID at him. "Here."

As the man looked over her credentials, she calmly pushed the blade down from her throat. "I'm here for exactly the same reasons as you. I'm looking at the bigger picture- you knock down the bosses and they're just replaced, right? So aim for the little guys. I was just trying to send a message to them- not cause a scene. I would have been in and out of there with no blood spilt, no unnecessary casualties but no- that little fool messed things up for me." She paused for a moment, recollecting her thoughts. There was no hiding it now- identity or death. Quite a choice and for Alyss life had always been more important. She was sure Krious wouldn't attempt to hurt her for deserting the Titans or for her past behaviour - and if he did she could take it.

"And come on, it's not that hard to figure out how I know you. Just think of black hair....no tan. And perhaps this expression," she dropped her cold expression and mimicked a face of terror, letting her eyes darken with fear. With a laugh, she resumed her emotionless stance, removing the gun from its snug holster. "Now there are plenty of other places I could be tonight, if you'd kindly like to step aside."