Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-25924729-20151107020221/@comment-25924729-20151211115446

She watched everyone’s expressions sadly, ranging from mild surprise, disgust and open hostility (Vert), and her head drooped with guilt and shame. But worst of all was Asper’s reaction. It was heartbreaking to see the one she considered her friend acting so cold after her revelation''. I’m not a bad person''. She wanted to tell them.'' I lied because…well, THIS! ''She was afraid of facing the rejection, the loathing that came as a burden for being a hero.

''The public fears us, they only see our sins, when we kill and destroy lives in our crusade. ''Castellan once told her, explaining why the ANGELs never made themselves public. ''But we know better, we see the smiles of those who live on because of what we did to protect them, and that alone makes the hate worth enduring. ''

Despite this, she felt hollow inside.

You only know the Dark Side.

I was living in it, molded by it.

By the time I dared to speak about it...

No god can save me.

The poetic part of her mind mused sadly.

She was surprised when Douglas’ ordered everyone into a car with news of another kidnapping, but relieved. Work would help keep her mind off more depressing thoughts that plagued her.

At the crime scene, Zhu-li found herself straying away from everyone else and avoiding eye contact. The group obviously didn’t trust her now, and forcing her way to work with them would only make things much worse.

At least they seemed to be managing well enough without her. She winced a little at Vert’s torture methods, sympathizing for the victim despite knowing the evils he’d done. It was effective nevertheless, and they now had the information they required.

A nearby commotion caught her attention, and Zhu-li watched a young boy dressed in rugged shades of brown and khaki having a panic attack over a missing sister. She approached him slowly and put on a reassuring smile.

"She'll be alright," Zhu-li assured him. "I promise, we'll do everything we can to help her." though it would be hard to keep this promise. Saving the kids meant declaring war aginst Barnes, and technically they shot first.

Moral and legal issues aside, they now faced the problem of transport. They would be kept in his casino, which was all the way in Atlas. Zhu-li was stumped as to how they would make it there, let alone break in and mount a rescue mission.

-

Barnes’ Luxury Club, Atlas -  Present Time:

He sat at behind expensive mahagony desk in a velvet cushioned high chair, brand new, but already filled with dents and creases from holding it’s overweight occupant. The crime lord’s face was flushed redder than usual, mingled fear, worry and anger danced in his expression. He scratched his chin thoughtfully at the report delivered to him by his supply teams in Vale.

A total of 66 children had been acquired for his games, but at a heavy penalty. Two Teams had encountered cops and Hunters during their rounds, and worse, Team Four, the one that was supposed to make a run for a small orphanage, never reported back. His network of informers was spreading rumors about Hunters, cops, and even mercenary organizations being involved. In short, Barnes was screwed, very badly.

The old mobster wiped a sheen of nervous sweat from his brow with a crisp white handkerchief and decided to cut his losses. Barnes gave the signal, ordering all his men to regroup and return with whatever amount of children they had to Atlas. In hindsight, had he been overzealous in rebuilding his arena? Ah screw it! He would bribe and bully his way out of the law’s reach, like he’d done countless times in the past. He was untouchable.

Mood lifted, Barnes turned his attention to the other important matter of the day. A package from an ally in Vale, to be received directly via courier from Atlas’ airport. It disturbed him that the sender had chosen to remain anonymous, and hadn’t even specified what was so important as to require a mercenary to hand deliver the item.

One thing was certain, the item must be valuable if it warranted this amount of secrecy and trouble. That justified sending a team of half dozen men to meet the courier.