New York: New York City

Virtue jumps into the air as the swipe flies for his legs, overstepping it easily. As the slash flies upwards, he flips in the air, landing a few feet back and facing her; backing away, he brings up his hands, shooting several strands of web at her-one hand goes for her legs, the other for her eyes, his plan to force her to choose mobility or vision. Thoughts flew through his head...well, he couldn't really punch her. Last time he punched somebody, their shoulder imploded. Maybe he could pull his punch, a bit? I mean, no reason to hit her full on; past the ability to make things really sharp, she was probably just a human, and a human couldn't take much of a hit from him.

"I don't know. It's kind of hard to trust a woman who is currently swinging a pipe at me, considerably harder when that pipe can cut through steel."

Sadly, if she wanted a sparring buddy...Virtue may not look like much, but she could be biting off a bit more than she could chew.

Turning around, she ducked to avoid the web aimed at her eyes but wound up with her feet bound. She quickly sharpened her left thumb and index fingers, slicing through the webbing and freeing her feet, though a bit of her thumb did get cut as well. Shaking her hand (and removing the sharpness), she stood up and lowered her pipe once more, looking at Virtue head-on.

"Fine. I stop swinging. But please... ayúdeme."

Her breathing was heavy; she was out of shape, had been for a while now, and simply wanted to leave with her money. Hell, before all this happened, she really wasn't doing anything illegal (...was she?): she was simply a dealer of very, very sharp weapons.


Outside, the police (or, the normal ones) surrounded the warehouse, waiting for the lady to come out. If she could slice through doors with only a pipe, they feared at what else she could do and kept their firearms ready. But, rather than go in and risk any lives and send someone in, they decide to call for the branch of police that deals with meta-humans. A responder replied that it would take at least fifteen minutes, maybe less.

Staring at her blankly for a bit, it's pretty obvious that Virtue has absolutely no idea what that word means. Shrugging, he looks up at the ceiling for a moment.

"I, uh. I don't know what that word means. I assume it means...go away? If so, I'll leave. Not like I have much reason to stick around."

Looking up at the ceiling, he sends a web line into it and pulls himself up there, slamming into it; shortly after, he moves himself out of the window of the office and swings onto the ceiling of the warehouse proper. He's still around, but...well, it's dark, and he won't be around much longer. The white of his suit can be seen, slightly, moving against the ceiling; he's going towards the window that he came in through.

Stupid American, not even know what "help me" means.

Maria throws her pipe to the floor, for now giving up the will to fight.


A couple of minutes later, the task force assigned to capture metas arrived, storming into the building and recovering Maria. She was read her rights, arrested, and taken to custody, all peacefully. At least for now. She would be questioned and then stored in a special facility until further notice.

She knew today was going to be a bad day; she didn't even give a thought about having to be jailed up by means of a wind tunnel. The tunnel itself was pretty wide and she had no idea if there were any walls beyond that of this tunnel; she was blinded before being put in here. So for now, she waited.

Goddamn police.

"....Sounds impossible. A 'friend' fits all of that? A single person could....no. They're no such thing. Maybe people just pretend that there is, but a person like that....just give it up. It's impossible, you and the rest of the world can continue your delusion that everyone isn't out for themselves. I'm none of those things and neither are you; what could possibly make us friends, even if we wished for such a thing?" Ash recoiled a bit at her question about strength.

"Power is all that matters-it's all anyone cares about. Power will grant you success, happiness, wealth, respect....if not respect; it will grant you fear. Why would you ever want to 'share' power? It should all be yours and yours alone because power is everything...

Might is everything in this world; nothing else matters." Ash gave her a blood-chilling glare, and reluctantly said the following.

"If having a 'friend' serves as a way to advance one's powers....then fine. You and I shall be 'friends'. And you will be my first 'friend'. That alright with you?"

"Huh? But what do you do with the success and wealth and shit when you have it?..."

Sugar Shock doesn't quite understand what Ash is on about. Except for the last part. That she gets.

"Hell yeah! Friends! Yaaay!!" Sugar seems overly delighted and bounces up and down, pressing herself against the window in the closest thing to a hug she can manage.

"....Friends.....I never got your name. I'm Pr-....Ashlynn; Ash to you." He actually stopped himself from using his title, interesting...

"And uh....what next? Sir Luke. Am I allowed to enter there? And....what are friends suppose to do anyways?"

"I'm Sugar!" She says with enthusiasm "You can call me Sugar! Come hang out with me! Let's play!" Sugar Shock has forgotten she is in jail.

Luke chuckled. For all their crazy powers, these two were still just kids on the playground. Still, he was a foreign diplomat with a magical sword that could cut through anything, and she was a crazy super-villain who could kill people with her mind. So there was that.

"You can go in to see her, but there are some security precautions. We'll have to inform the guards and I have to be present. Also, you have to sign a waiver for accountability reasons."

Luke turned off the lights that were killing the one way mirror and dropped the metal-shielding down before exiting the room. After informing the guards and getting the waiver, Luke led Ash to another guarded heavy metal door. Inside was an antechamber and another, heavier door that would lead to the inner cell. Luke stood waiting for the personnel outside to open the inner door as the outer door swung close.

"You sure you want to do this? She's pretty dangerous, even if she seems friendly."

"First of all, I can handle myself; second..." He lowers his vice so that only Luke could hear.

"I'm making your decision for you; if she assaults an 'ally' you'll know she's beyond redemption. Put her down. The US has always been too soft for it's own good." He let out a sigh and walk beyond the inner door, into SS's room.

"....Hi." He said, uncomfortably.

Sugar Shock throws her arms around Ash in a big hug.

"Hiii!~" She sing-songs and pokes his tiara. "Ooh this is pretty is it because you're a prince or does everyone from where you're from get them? What's it like there is it fun? tell me tell me!" Sugar says all in one breath. She is very excited to have a friend.

Seraphim flies higher to escape the still and stuffy city air. As large and crowded as New York is, the place somehow seems empty to her. Full of people who either worship her or who hate her (some twisted logic telling them to just because many don't). That behaviour also seems common when they react to musicians and actresses. Humans are strange.

Humans are...Seraphim almost stops flying as she realizes what she is thinking. Is she not human? She is one of them, just with powers somehow! Like Virtue and the others. Human! Isn't she?

She flies lower and lands in Central Park, engaging the crowd she draws and trying to find common ground to feel connected. If she isn't human that means she might be...oh god the responsibility..she is sure she would screw something like that up and hurt everyone!

"Please please please let me be human." she thinks.