The Dark Lord

Manhattan was in his personal lab when a buzzer sounded from a telephone not too far away. He looked over at it before turning to a computer screen showing a set of cameras. The one of outside the elevator showed the woman carrying the B17 canister. Manhattan wasted no time in buzzing her up to his floor. A full minute passed before the elevator doors in the back opened up and out stepped the woman. "I have the container sir." She said professionally. "Excellent Ms.Graves. Let me have a look at it.." Manhattan said, taking the container from her. "Oh yes, I have big plans for you."

@@FractalMoon,@@Derplight Sperkle, The woman picked up the items, and slid over two briefcases. "here is the remainder of your payment. With this our business is concluded." She made her way over to the door before she looked back at them. "You two have performed adequately. My employer may have more business for you in the future." With that, she left. Once she entered her car, she immediately called Her boss. "Sir, I have the package." She said with the slightest hint of enthusiasm, but barely noticeable. "Excellent. Have it brought to the R&D department. I'll be waiting there." Came the voice from the phone before the line went dead and she made her way over to the E-Corp. complex.

@@FractalMoon,@@Derplight Sperkle, "Don't worry about what the rings do, If you didn't use them, it's not important." She said, picking up two more suitcases and placing them down in front of the mercenaries. "The rest of your payment, as promised. I require the items you received at the beginning along with the B17 container and we will part ways."

@@Derplight Sperkle,@@FractalMoon, Inside the warehouse, the woman stood where she was the last time, clearly waiting for the bounty hunters to arrive. " I assume you have the package." She said simply, awaiting their response. She knew they had it, why else would they be here. Right now though, she was hoping things didn't get messy.

@@Derplight Sperkle, The voice of the same women they met before greeted Shade. "I assume you have it then." She said, knowing who was on the other side of the line. "Meet me back at the warehouse. We will discuss your payment there." With that, she hung up and made her way there. ll

@@FractalMoon,@@Derplight Sperkle, Inside the room was a large refrigeration unit with several different circular canisters neatly placed inside of It. They were simply labeled B1-B20 and were about the size of someone's forearm in length and about half a foot in diameter. The room itself was spotless, as if not even dust came in often. (They're here for B17)

@@FractalMoon,@@Derplight Sperkle, "We'll be in contact." She says simply before leaving the premises. Once a safe distance away, she takes out a phone and dials a number."It's done." She says. "And they aren't aware of our secondary motive?" came the voice from the phone. "No sir Mr. Manhattan. They are only aware of what they are stealing and even then, they don't know exactly what it is." She replied. "Good. Notify me of any changes." With that the phone went dead and she hung up.

@@FractalMoon, @@Derplight Sperkle, "You're going to be stealing a canister from Mercury Labs downtown. It is marked B17 and held in the central cooling chamber, approximately 6 levels underground. Go in loud or go in soft, my employer does not care. You don't have to split the reward, just name you're currency. And you're not being led into a trap. Now, if were done playing twenty questions, I have some things for you two." She pulled a file out of her coat. "This is a copy of the mission details. Once they're memorized, burn them. we don't need a paper trail." She then opened another case, this one with some kind of cylinder and a pair of rings. "Heroes have become a bit problematic as of late. Keep these rings on, and If you see one, open this canister. It should provide enough of a distraction or you to escape." She put the canister back into the container and slid the items over to them, money and all. "If you accept, pick up your tools and get to work."

@@FractalMoon,@@Derplight Sperkle, The woman frowned even deeper (If that was possible), but decided to ignore Shade's comment on her voice. "You were contacted by another who works for your client, but let's get to why you're here. You two are going to break into a highly secure laboratory and steal experimental technology. As for what you're being paid..." She picked up a briefcase beside her and opened it. Inside was neatly stacked 100 dollar bills. "50 thousand now as a down payment. 100 thousand when the job is done."

@@FractalMoon,@@Derplight Sperkle, Inside the warehouse was simply empty space except for a woman seemingly in her 30s standing in the center of the room. She spotted the two when they walked in. "You two are early. " She said as if she was annoyed for some reason. It could've been her normal tone of voice though. "No matter, let's get started."

@@Derplight Sperkle, "If you're quite finished." Maxwell said with a slightly annoyed tone. "I'm not discussing the details on the phone. Come to Warehouse 18 by the pier in two hours if you're interested." He then hung up. @@FractalMoon, Max then noticed he had a new message forwarded to him from his personal servers, made so he couldn't be tracked, and decided to reply. This was at least a two man job anyway. He texted the number using his personal messaging system so as not to leave a trail. "Warehouse 18 by the pier. 2 hours. come alone." He typed and then sent.

@@Derplight Sperkle, "Stay on the line." A female voice said before a whirring started in Shade's ears. After a few seconds, the whirring stopped and the female voice started again. "The line is secure...yes sir, i'm putting him through. My boss would like to speak with you." She said as she transferred him over to Manhattan's burner phone. "So you're the one for the job huh?" Shade heard Manhattan's voice over the line.

@@Skullbuster, "You have no idea." Manhattan said, chuckling to himself. "But that's a story for another time. Right now, there's a maniac to catch. Here's my card if you need anything." He then gave a business card to both Orangegrove and Aurora's father before taking his leave. He picked up a cell phone and dialed a number once he was in his car. "Put the word out. I need guys for a job, the illegal kind. Give them the number to the burner phone." He hung up and the driver took him back to his building.

@@Skullbuster, "No real connection I assure you." Manhattan stated with all the practiced charisma that businessmen like him ate known for. "I just want to help protect my home from threats like these. Something I'm sure you can understand. These Metahumans are dangerous people. If anything this Fear character proves my point."

@@Skullbuster, "Certainly sounds like a metahuman. They've become a real problem nowadays." Manhattan said in slight distaste. He didn't want his personal feelings on these people known just yet. The time for that would come later. For now, this "Fear" person would suit his needs nicely. "This proves what I've been thinking for a while. These Metas need to be controlled somehow."

@@Skullbuster, A look of annoyance crossed Max's face briefly. Federal agents always seemed to make things more complicated than they should be. Regardless, he donned a cheerier demeanor and addressed the now identified Agent Orangegrove. "Special Agent." Manhattan called out and outstretched his hand. "Max Manhattan. Anything you need, i'm your guy."

Manhattan's limo pulled up to the crime scene just before the major press arrived. "not a moment too soon." He said to himself before the driver opened his door and he stepped out. Almost immediately, the press crowded him. "Mr.Manhattan, what is someone like yourself doing here? Are you working with the police? Is E-Corp getting involved in the case?..." The questions were pouring in and Max did his best to put on a sorrowful face when he made his statement. "Please, please. I've just come because I want to help the police catch this madman before he kills again. This has gone on for too long and I care too much about this city to not do something. That's why i'm announcing that I will personally be helping the authorities with the case and i'm offering half a million dollars for any useful information that leads to this villain's capture." He stated. He then turned and shook hands with the lead detective and took a few pictures for the newspapers. 'Too easy.' he thought to himself.

"Breaking News: Three more dead at the hands of the killer known as Fear. The bodies were discovered by the police this morning. The lead detective says they are chasing every lead they can..." This was what was playing on the television of a penthouse suite. "What nonsense." a man said to himself, pouring a glass of wine for himself and then shutting off the television. "I'm surprised they haven't dealt with this yet. I'm even ore surprised by the fact that i'm funding their incompetence." This was the train of thought of one of the wealthiest men alive and CEO of E-Corp, Maxwell Manhattan. "Well, this killer is good for one thing, free publicity." He said before taking out his phone and dialing a number. "Get the limo ready, i'll be down in a second." He said before hanging up, grabbing his jacket, and leaving his penthouse. He soon reached the ground floor of the building and got in the vehicle. "10th and Dancott." He told the driver. The driver then nodded before taking off, knowing Max didn't like to wait more than he had to.

he..hehe...ha..Ha...Haha...AHAHAHAHAHA

My honest reaction iiii

@, WTF iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

following Ryu, Axiom was materialized in the scanner and walked out, a little woozy. "Well...that happened." He then climbed the ladder toward the monitor room. "So can anyone tell me what the actual hell just happened in there? It feels like my mind just got raped in there." He said to basically everyone present.

@, Axiom followed behind him, wanting to get the hell out of dodge, but when he tried to run into the tower, he bounced right off and fell flat on his ass. "Well damn." He said, getting back up. He then pounded on the bottom of the tower. "Ryu you bastard! I swear to god this better be a joke!" He yelled out before sounds of approach came from behind him. He turned around to greet the tank he evaded earlier. "H-Hey guys." He said nervously before he was forced to roll away from a wall of light.