SWAG Part 2

## Mob Boss Peggy

```
When Vindaya rings the doorbell, nobody answers. It's perfectly quiet in the hall of the 50th floor. Inside of the room, the man laying in the bed shifted, but fell motionless again.

Suddenly, the door directly across the hall carefully opened, and two people clad in all black ambushed Vindaya, grabbing her and covering her mouth. They dragged her into the room and the door clicked shut behind them.

The room was perfectly dark and the attackers were swift. Their footsteps were calculated and quiet.

"Is this the healer?" A male voice whispered to the other.

"Yeah, pretty sure." A female voice replied. The two forced a scarf around Vindaya's face, gagging her.

"Boss wanted the other guy too. Coulda' sworn he was coming up here."

"Well, this is what we got."

Forcing the woman down to the ground, one of the attackers held her arms, and the other sat on her legs as they pulled out a long syringe.

```

(edited)

## bitch whipding | Sam | Flora

Sam trundled along down the hallway, the carpet making it even more difficult to move along. Still, he had to persevere - it wasn't often his powers were actually useful on a mission. He was usually just relegated to solo stuff, or observation at best. To actually be working with other people; that was the dream.

He felt someone coming before he even saw them, the ground shaking ominously. He thought nothing of it, this had been a frequent occurrence on his travels. There was usually a fair warning before things became--

A figure walked out from around a corner behind him, oblivious to his presence as usual. It took a moment for him to turn around, barely having time to register the familiar face of Vindaya before her foot cast a shadow over him. Acting out of blind panic, he shrunk ever smaller, in a desperate attempt to avoid this fate as the shoe came crashing down on top of him.

...and then everything went black.

## bitch whipding | Sam | Flora

`where are the ants?`

Flora leaned back and smirked as the other two dragged in the struggling woman. Just to herself, of course - even if it wasn't so dark in here, her face was covered to protect her identity. Employer's orders, of course - she didn't really care about who knew about her.

"A healer, eh? Well, we can't have that, now can we?"

She stood up, and sauntered over to the restrained woman, bending down and looking straight into her eyes, her long hair getting everywhere. She grinned again, before taking both her hands, and placing them down on Vindaya's face. It was gentle at first, but soon her grip tightened, as she fought the urge to strangle this woman right here and now. If certain people didn't consider her so valuable...

A muffled stream of giggles leaked out from her masked mouth. Either way, this was going to fun...

Sam's world became a blur, as he was whisked into the air and smashed down into the ground repeatedly. In some ways, it would've been less embarrassing to have become a gory splatter on the underside of Vindaya's boot.

But no, instead he'd ended up as what was effectively a piece of pizza gunk trapped between the treads of her shoe, feeling the effects of every step she took. Of course, it wouldn't be hard to phone for help, or enlarge himself to escape. But honestly - he'd rather no-one knew about this. Ever. Even if he had to sacrifice some dignity to do so.

Thankfully, the trial soon came to an end, and he felt her stop walking, the sound of a doorbell confirming they had reached their destination. Now he just had to free himself and pretend like--

He wasn't entirely sure what happened next, but he could only assume it wasn't good. He felt a struggle up above, and heard a pair of voices that he didn't recognise. All he knew was that they probably weren't friendly, and that he was being moved around a lot. This was bad - Sam was a lot of things, but a fighter wasn't one of them. Should he help?

Frozen out of indecision, he remained attached to Vindaya's sole for the time being, simply listening to the events transpiring above.

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

Of course, Vindaya struggled instinctively. Before the adrenaline, before the fear, before she could even focus on her "sixth sense" that would tell her that Sam may have been a little injured, Vindaya struggled, and then it was dark and there were voices and she couldn't any more and she was *terrified*.

But Vindaya's *life* consisted of emergencies. She could handle the adrenaline; she could keep her head and remain calm and composed in the worst situations. What she really wasn't so accustomed to was the danger, the cold reality crashing into her like a car accident that she was really, truly in danger. As effective as Vindaya could be under pressure, she was no fighter and never had been. There were no tools in her arsenal for this scenario. Nothing.

And it *hurt*. Her chest and throat felt like they were constricting with fear, the discomfort of having a scarf wrapped around her face and her arms pulled back and the weight of a body on her legs. But perhaps the worst was this strange woman's hands gripping her face. The physical discomfort was bad enough, but it was even worse when Vindaya felt like she'd lost something, some sense that she didn't actively pay attention to until it was gone.

She'd nullified her powers.

Vindaya felt like the breath had been stolen from her. It was at this point that she stopped struggling, stopped trying to scream (not that that had been doing any good). There was no begging, no tears, nothing. It was out of her power, all of it. The only consolation was that they hadn't found Sam, Mithra, or Dart - whichever of them they'd been anticipating running into.

Hopefully, they wouldn't. In the meantime, Vindaya could endure.

## Mob Boss Peggy

```
The captor sitting on Vindaya and holding the syringe watched intently as Void worked her magic, or rather, anti-magic.

"How much blood do we need?" They asked.

The other black-clad attacker calmly, yet urgently answered. "Three of those. Hurry up!"

```

(edited)August 15, 2018

## bitch whipding | Sam | Flora

Blood? *That* didn't sound good...

The urge to do something - anything - continued to rise within Sam. He may not have known Vindaya very well, but he wasn't particularly comfortable with just letting her get hurt without at least trying to help. But what to do?

His first instinct was to signal for someone who might actually be of use here. He wrestled an arm free away from the rubber he was stuck to, and managed to extract his phone from his pocket. Thankfully, it was still intact enough to send a message through. But even so, how much use would that even be - he had no idea where they even were right now, let alone what was actually going on.

It could be too late by the time someone else arrived here.

As much as he didn't like it, now was the time for some of that trademark courage. This was what he'd signed up to be a hero for, right? Saving people, taking down the bad guys. This is what he was meant to do - what people with powers were born to do. What he was destined to do.

But then why was he so terrified right now? He took one last deep breath, ignoring the pain from some of his likely broken ribs. It was now or never.

His full-size body erupted almost instantaneously from the boot, leaving him disoriented for a moment in the dark. He couldn't quite tell what was going on, but he could make out a figure sitting on top of another. Desperately trying not to give in to the screaming voice in his mind telling him to run, he grabbed onto the closest with both arms, doing his best to pull them away.

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

As her eyes adjusted to the dark, Vindaya could make out the shape of a syringe and her blood went cold. She knew all too well the things associated with a syringe, but thankfully, she didn’t have to wonder too long; they wanted *blood*. Her blood, specifically. But they didn’t seem interested in spilling it.

She had many questions, but no time to think about them, because in the next moment there was another person there. And before she could brace herself, they were pulling on the person sitting on her, holding the syringe. Wasting no time, Vindaya’s struggling began anew, dislodging the person sitting on her. She couldn’t make out who it was that had come to her aid (though she could tell it wasn’t Dart), but she wasn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Unfortunately, even with her legs free, that still left her in a rather awkward position to be doing any fighting. But she pulled her legs in close, ready to twist or kick out or get them underneath her. Nobody would be sitting on them again, not without some serious force. This was better, anyway.

Now she just had to twist away from whoever was holding her arms, which she worked on doing in earnest. Maybe the distraction would make them relax their grip... and that maniacal woman holding her face would *move*. Vindaya couldn’t stand her touch any longer.

## bitch whipding | Sam | Flora

Flora was mildly concerned that the healer had stopped moving. She wasn't disappointed... but others certainly might be if she'd accidentally killed this particular specimen, as they'd described them. She'd always hated that word. It suggested they were dealing with unthinking creatures, incapable of fighting back. That couldn't be further from the truth - these things were smart, and hunting them was a challenge. Abominations would be a more appropriate term.

Of course, what she wasn't expecting was the sudden appearance of another person in the room. Whoever it was, they clearly weren't on their side, dragging on of her would-be associates away from their vital task. How... wonderful.

She released her hands from the woman's face, suspecting her gift may be more useful in dealing with this new assailant. She calmly walked over to the now struggling pair, and went to place her hands on the figure who'd just appeared. But before she could do so, they vanished as quickly as they'd arrived, leaving her associate to be free again. A teleporter, perhaps? It was hard to tell exactly what was going on in the darkness.

Either way... next time she was prepared.

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

As soon as her savior disappeared, Vindaya knew exactly who it was that had come to her rescue. On the one hand, this was great; he could evade them better than anyone else, which meant that he'd be harder to capture (or hurt, as long as they didn't realize what his ability was). On the other hand, he was no fighter, and she wasn't getting out of this any time soon. But she hoped, *prayed*, that Sam knew better than to hang around. She appreciated what he was trying to do, but on his own, and without her powers...

It begged even more questions, though. Did *they* know it was Sam? How did they know her and her abilities, but not him? For that matter, what on earth did they have planned that they felt the need to nullify her abilities before proceeding? If they wanted to incapacitate her, her abilities could only *help* them. And then she thought about the syringe again, and wondered if they didn't know her abilities well enough to realize how they worked and on who. Too many questions, but Vindaya would worry about that later.

With her legs free and two assailants standing in front of her, Vindaya decided the Hippocratic Oath could make an exception for scenarios such as this one and kicked out as hard as she could, aiming for the back of a knee. Then she pulled her legs back quickly, lest she get herself in an even worse predicament by getting caught by the ankle. With any luck, that would give Sam time to get away and get proper help. Still gagged, she couldn't warn him that he needed to stay out of this woman's reach. If she *did* get a hold of Sam, both he and Vindaya would be done for.

## Mob Boss Peggy

```
The assailants were taken completely by surprise when a new figure appeared and wrenched them away. A male. The one they were looking for as well? It was hard to tell. Regardless, they couldn't do a thing to him. He was gone as quickly as he came.

The attacker holding the syringe gave a yelp and dropped it as soon as they hit the floor. The one that had been holding Vindaya's arms kept a firm hold on her and reached into a pack at the side of them to pluck out another syringe. He had to complete his mission and fast. These were apparently professionals.

There was no time to react as they stuck Vindaya unceremoniously with the needle, right in the thick of her shoulder.

In room 5060, an older man sat up in bed and rubbed his forehead. He'd heard some thumping around and a yell coming from the outside. Groggily, he slipped into a fine smoking jacket and expensive slippers and opened his door to step across the hall.

Mr. Greene pressed an ear up against his neighbor's door and gave it a little knock. "Mrs. Lewis, is everything alright in there, dear?"

Inside of the room, both attackers froze in place and looked at each other. The one quickly taking blood looked to Flora. "I got one. That's it. We gotta' bounce!" He whispered.

```

## bitch whipding | Sam | Flora

Sam was utterly confused.

It was true he'd panicked somewhat when the second person had come up to him, but his intention was at least pure enough. Shrink down, try not to get stepped on ~~again~~, and get behind them so he could try and distract them a little longer, in the hopes that either Vindaya got herself free or help arrived. Simple enough.

Of course, that wasn't what had happened at all. Instead, he'd grabbed onto what he now suspected was a woman's leg in his diminutive state. From there, he'd planned to use his full weight to drag her down or something, but instead, he just felt.... drained. It wasn't like anything he'd ever experienced before, like a part of himself had been ripped away.

He didn't understand the full implications until he found himself stuck at barely half an inch tall.

Somehow, he now felt even more useless than before, his muscles tensing over and over futilely as he tried to enlarge. It was no longer he his own will that held him back - now, he was just stuck clinging onto this woman's leg for reasons beyond his control.

August 16, 2018

## irredivivous

There were some sounds being heard, that sounded faint and did not appear to be in this particular apartment. Gliding out of the room, he heard there was a commotion in the apartment across the way. Risking it, he walked through the walls and bore witness to a horrendous scene. Mithra could not make out how many bodies there were, but the one that was taking a blood sample out of Vindaya was enough to make him reach out to punch whoever the unknown assailants were. However, he’s but a mere astral form, and unless they had someone with the power to astral trap him, there’s no fucking way they were going to catch him.

He had two options: Call the police or take the coward’s way out, grab Dart-- who obviously isn’t here and go back to HQ or shove Dart into his car so they can wait for this to unfold. Calling the police seems to also pose bad because he would have to explain how did *he* know about these activities?

Then it dawned on him.

He hurried up and envisioned himself back in his escort apartment, his main body appeared to be staring off into space. Joining together, Mithra subconsciously rubbed his temples, a faint migraine was coming on. Chugging the bottled water that sat closest him, he left his apartment tout suite and immediately jogged to the elevator, punched the main floor key (literally) and waited until it descended. Whipping out his cell phone he made sure to post on The Forums, upon doing that he read Sam’s message. . . Well shit, that explained why he didn’t notice him when he returned.

”Returning Dart to HQ immediately. Do not ask about mission details.
I’ll be returning promptly.”

The story that him, Alauddin Shirazi would tell is: His client resided on the final floor, when he brought up Sam for a session and there were disturbing noises that proved uncomfortable for him. He can claim he left his phone in the car and needs the receptionist to call the cops. However the only thing that left it uncertain is if he dropped Mr. Greene’s name, would he be shooting himself in the foot or blowing Mr. Greene’s career goodbye? But since clients don’t always use their real names, he had *that* level of anonymity going.

As the elevator promptly stopped, the nosy receptionist was still there thankfully. They looked over in shock, actually not expecting Mr. Shirazi to be back. Which caused Mithra’s eyebrow to twitch, *’Was this little shithead timing me?’*

“How can I help you Mr. Shirazi?” Taken aback, but also thirsty for intel.

“My client complained about some uncomfortable noises on the 50th floor. There was shouting and a lot of banging. Could be domestic violence, could be something else unsafe.” Before Mithra could finish, the receptionist was already dialing.

“I hope you’re calling the police for me?” He inquired.

The nosy receptionist nodded, “Of course! I don’t get paid enough to deal with bullshit like that.”

Mithra nodded and then added, “Do \*not\* under any circumstance, mention my name. I really don’t want to talk to any police.”

The employee laughed, ”Trust me, I know. If other people are hearing it on the floor, I’m sure they can make a claim.”

Mithra mentions that he is going outside to take a breather and he was told that he can leave the premises if need be. He doesn’t need to be told twice, if anything, he can drop Dart off at Headquarters, and take a taxi to come back to find out the damage for himself.(edited)

As he left out the front, he noticed Dart was still out there, he then said, ”There’s no time to explain, I’m taking you back to HQ.” Unlocking his car doors, he directed Dart to sit in the passenger seat as he himself, immediately got in the driver’s seat, not buckling his seatbelt, roughly backed out of the drive way and pushed it (cautiously) back to Pembina district. All the while, he has to think of what to do when he returns.

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

Vindaya shrieked (though muffled by the scarf still around her face) in pain and surprise as the needle went into her shoulder, but she knew better than to struggle with a needle in her shoulder. She was a little irritated about it, though; for fuck's sake, they were *holding her arms*, could they not have gone for the much easier and less painful - not to mention the conventional, standard - way of taking blood? Bloody idiots. Especially with the sloppy rush job, her shoulder hurt, and would be sore, but they could've done much worse, she supposed. That needle better have been clean.

What were the chances that anyone's neighbor in The Lune D'Or Complex would help them in a situation like this one? Vindaya was willing to bet it wasn't great, but she was also willing to bet noise complaints were tossed around like candy. As much as she didn't want to deal with the police - she knew a good portion of them by now, and having to explain her presence and her injury here would be a nightmare - she was counting on the threat at least getting rid of their assailants. And then all she had to do was find Sam, if he hadn't bailed already like she'd wanted him to, retrieve Mithra and Dart, and get the hell out of dodge before the fuzz showed. Good thing Mithra had a car.

With all that in mind, as soon as the needle was no longer in her shoulder, Vindaya resumed struggling - fervently. She aimed another kick for the only person within reach still standing and, though the gag prevented it from being as effective as it otherwise would've been, she did her best to scream. The neighbor *could* assume that Mrs. Lewis was getting up to... other things, but it didn't matter to Vindaya what the neighbor thought - or really, even, what he did. Her hope resided in scaring off her assailants.

## Mob Boss Peggy

```
The muffled scream didn't go unnoticed. Mr. Greene felt a chill and looked just in time to see a transparent figure pass through the wall. A... ghost? The man jumped, but he didn't quite lose his bearings too badly. In fact, Mr. Greene was a bit fascinated by the supernatural elements of the world. He knocked on the door again, louder this time. "Mrs. Lewis!"

The captors in black were more shaken by the appearance of an apparition than they were to get punched by it. The one captor had taken the blood and removed the syringe as he was knocked back by the punch. The second knock on the door sealed the deal. "Let's go, go go go!"

Taking Flora by the hand, the female assailant and her partner fled. Although it wasn't completely obvious where they fled to. There was a private passageway behind a wall that they fled into that wasn't obvious to any mere observer. Vindaya was left there. Alone, perhaps. Albeit missing a bit of blood.

The doorknob turned, and Mr. Greene was surprised to see that the door had not been locked.

"My God! What in hell's name?" The older man instantly ran inside, flicking the lights on as he did
 and knelt next to the woman on the floor, pulling off the gag around her head as quickly as he could. "What has happened to you, young lady? Where is Mrs. Lewis?"

```

(edited)

## bitch whipding | Sam | Flora

Sam was briefly relieved to see the ghastly figure of Mithra striding into through a wall, but he didn't have long to savour such feelings. He felt the body he was clinging to jolt violently, leg rising and falling repeatedly. He held on for dear life, but it was no use - a few more moments, and he found himself flung across the room, smacking headfirst into a wall..

The whole world was reduced to a blur as his tiny form hit the ground, thankfully cushioned by the relatively soft carpet. He only was able to retain consciousness long enough to see that the assailants were all but gone, and that Vindaya was left all alone, lying on the ground. A bright light filled his vision, and once again everything went dark.

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

Vindaya, with the use of her hands regained, rolled her wrists and looked up at the neighbor whose appearance really and truly had saved her. She'd seen Sam go flying somewhere behind him and after a toss like that, Vindaya was running on the assumption that Sam wasn't conscious. It was unsettling to not innately sense his injuries, but surely her powers couldn't be gone for *good*. And besides, she was still a doctor. If and when Sam returned to full size, she could still be of use...

"I wish I knew," she said, keeping an eye out for Sam. She started getting to her feet, a little shakily due to the combination of terror and relief, and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know Mrs. Lewis, I was here to visit..." She trailed off all at once as she caught sight of Sam, lying in the carpet by the door and presumably unconscious. More than that, she noticed through the open door the similarly open door across the hall - the one she'd been knocking on... however long ago. The whole thing seemed to have happened so fast, but did that mean..?

"You, are you Mr. Lucius Greene?" she asked, looking right at him. Sam wasn't going anywhere, and if this was indeed Lucius Greene, she'd want to talk to him more openly - which included explaining why she would be picking up a tiny unconscious man.

## Mob Boss Peggy

Lucius looked at Vindaya with great concern in the dark eyes behind his fashionable glasses. They traveled to the woman's hand as she plucked up what looked like an insect from the floor. It didn't take long for Lucius to realize that it was in fact, a tiny person. Maybe it was a little toy?

He looked back at Vindaya when she said his name. "Why, yes, young lady. I am. How... Did you know?" He offered a hand to her to help her stand.

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

Cupping Sam gently with one hand, Vindaya used her other to gratefully take Greene's and stand on her own two feet, steady as the adrenaline wore off. He was kind, surprisingly so. She wasn't sure what she expected, but it certainly hadn't been someone quite to immediately charming and considerate. Maybe that said more about her than him...

"Mr. Greene," Vindaya said, unsure where to even start. This was not the first impression she'd had in mind, to say the least. But here they were, so she might as well launch into it, even if she didn't know what she was going to say. "It's an honor to meet you. My name is--" here she hesitated, so unused to introducing herself outside of a work environment--"Vindaya." She wasn't awkward, but considering the ordeal she'd just been through, she was definitely off-kilter. "I'm a doctor. I came across your work a few times in med school." Which was true enough, though he hadn't been more than a passing name on one paper out of hundreds. She would've never thought twice if Saana hadn't brought it up, and even then it had taken her a while to remember why his name was familiar.

This next part was trickier. Explaining why Sam was tiny and her purpose was where things got dicey, but it was in her best interest to be candid, she figured. Mostly. The only people who knew about her powers were immediate family and other people affiliated with the superhero team. There was no reason Lucius Greene had to know just now, was there? "I'm part of a volunteer organization," she eventually settled on, "that does some... community service. Sometimes using superpowers." She held Sam up for inspection. "Which is why my friend here is so small at the moment."

## Mob Boss Peggy

Outside of the complex, in the distance there were sirens. "Pleased to meet you." Lucius gave the apartment a once-over as he listened to Vindaya explain where she came from. He gaze drifted to the little man in her hand, salt and pepper eyebrows raised in fascination. "I see. And what about the ghost that came in here? Hell, I'm old but I know I'm not crazy."

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

Greene's reaction didn't instill much confidence in her, but at least he was listening calmly. Hearing the sirens, Vindaya's heart rate picked up again. Nope, definitely didn't want to deal with that too today. There was enough to deal with as it was. As for the ghost, that gave her pause. She had to think before remembering that Mithra had been astral projecting into Mr. Greene's apartment - he must've drifted over at some point, which meant he knew what was going on. She ought to give him a phone call... as soon as she got a minute to herself.

"Another friend," she said by way of explanation. It wasn't much, but she was a little limited on time. Thinking quickly, she said, "Mr. Greene, if it's not too much trouble, may I wait in your apartment while the police investigate here? I've been through enough and I don't think I'm in any shape to talk to them right now." Vindaya was about to find out how far his kindness went, especially knowing what he knew now. If this didn't work, she'd excuse herself to find Dart and Mithra and leave before the police arrived and try this conversation again another day. But she was tired and looked it - maybe that would work in her favor.

## Mob Boss Peggy

The request came to a surprise to the man, but nevertheless, he had been thinking of inviting her to his apartment anyway. In fact, he had quite a few questions of his own. Being a private person, he didn't usually extend anyone this kindness. For good reason, too.

"Yes, I think that will work just fine." Without another word, Lucius led Vindaya to his own apartment. Boy, was it spacious. Far more classic in decor than Mrs. Lewis' apartment was. He enjoyed those tufted couches and Oriental rugs. Everything was nice and neat and perfectly clean. Sterile, even. He closed the door behind them.

"I'll put some tea on." The man said, stepping into the open kitchen on the other end of the room. "What kind of a volunteer organization is this? And do *you* have superpowers too?"

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

Vindaya couldn’t help the relieved smile that spread across her face. Maybe it was the trauma speaking, but she was warming up to him rather quickly. She hasn’t known what to expect at all coming here, but now she thought she’d be disappointed if he turned them down. “Thank you so much,” she said, all of the day’s exhaustion and terror making it genuine.

And it was a lovely apartment, too. Meeting him had been an honor in and of itself, but this was above and beyond. She gingerly took a seat at a kitchen table and crossed her legs, ever ladylike even despite the state he’d found her in. At least she was pretty certain her makeup was still intact.

At any rate, she really didn’t know how to answer him. Her gut instinct was to lie and say no, which wouldn’t entirely be a lie at the moment anyway. Then again, they needed him to trust them. And he was already showing so much trust in her, more than she would’ve expected. Yet, if he did turn them down, and he knew she had powers...

“No,” she said, promising herself that if he did ally himself, and if/when her powers returned, she’d come clean and explain herself. Surely he’d forgive this, given her reasoning. “We try to help people,” she said, realizing it was vague but how does one define the goals of a superhero team? “Help the city. However we can. And...” she shifted in her seat and rested her palms, Sam still held there carefully, face up upon her lap. “And we were hoping you might be interested and willing to help us do that.”

## Mob Boss Peggy

The older man was busy in the kitchen as Vindaya answered his question in a notably vague way. Understandable considering the state of the superpowered presence in the city. He looked at Vindaya from the counter after putting the kettle on and wiped his hands with a dishcloth.

"It sounds to me like your team is doing something illegal."

## bitch whipding | Sam | Flora

Sam continued to lay there motionless for a few more moments, even as his consciousness swam back into focus. The first thing he noticed was the ground. It was soft. Not like, carpet soft, but mattress soft. And, perhaps more oddly, it was *warm*. As if it was being heated - it wasn't unpleasant, at least not his current state.

He took the time to reconstruct the events of the past hour or so in his mind. Infiltrating the complex, leaving Mithra, 'meeting up' with Vindaya.... Vindaya. She'd gotten captured by... someone. He never got the chance to find out who. He'd tried to help. Heh. He was kinda proud of that. And then... things had gone wrong.

What had happened to her after? More importantly, where was he now?

He opened his eyes, and had both questions answered at once. He'd only seen her briefly from this angle once before, but that was clearly Vindaya, alive and apparently not being restrained. So that was good. Which meant he was--

He should have felt somewhat uncomfortable being in this situation - his life literally in someone else's hands. Shrunk or not, he was pretty deep into her personal space. But honestly? In his battered, bruised and thoroughly downtrodden state, he was just happy to be somewhere safe. And disturbingly comfy.

It was perhaps a little selfish, given Vindaya wasn't likely in the best state herself, both physically and mentally, but all he wanted right now... was to rest. And so that's what he did - rolling over onto his side and curling up into a ball.

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

Vindaya considered that. Scientists weren't exactly well known for their ethical standards or playing by the rules, so she kept this in mind while weighing her response. Distantly, she felt Sam turn over in her hand, much to her relief. It wasn't great that he was spending this long unconscious, but at least he was moving on his own. That was a good sign. Damn that woman who took her powers away from her.

"Having powers is not illegal, Mr. Greene," Vindaya said gently, looking down at Sam, who looked rather cozy. She wasn't really the mothering type, but knowing he must be injured, she was glad to see him relaxed. "Nor is helping people." It was the kind of defense her father sometimes used.

August 17, 2018

## Mob Boss Peggy

When the kettle had been heated and began its gentle whistle, the man turned to take it from the stove and poured it into a gold-detailed mug that also looked rather expensive. There was already a tea-bag inside, of course of the most artisanal kind.

"Is that the story you'd tell the police when they catch you snooping around in people's homes?" Lucius looked over at Vindaya from over his glasses. The wrinkles on his forehead were scrunched up in amusement. "And what use would someone like me be to your 'volunteer organization'?" The man asked, as he walked back to the living room and placed the mug onto the coffee table. He took a seat in the leather chestnut Chesterfield chair across from her.

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

Vindaya demurred, gaze focused on Sam, still immobile in her hands. Already, she was trying not to think about what had just transpired, but she supposed there was little chance of avoiding it while she was still here. "I wasn't exactly there voluntarily," she said, lifting her gaze to the lovely little mug placed in front of her. Making sure Sam was secure in the palm of one hand, she used her other to lift the mug to her face. The steam alone felt wonderful, but the aroma too was calming, and just holding something warm and familiar made her all the more relaxed.

"You'd be a valuable resource, I'd imagine," she said, taking a careful sip. It was burning hot, but right about now it felt marvelous. "I find plenty to do in my capacity as a doctor, without all the red tape of my day job, so to speak." Although really it was more like an all damn day and all damn night job, but never mind. Otherwise, she was being entirely truthful, superpowers or no. Plenty of her time was spent doing what only a trained doctor could. "With your interests and expertise, I'm sure your research would find good use in our organization."

## bitch whipding | Sam | Flora

Okay, this was a little too much for his conscience. Sam would be okay with wallowing in self-pity if he was on his own, sure - but judging on the conversation he could hear Vindaya and assumably Greene having, she was apparently actually still carrying on the mission, despite what was likely a traumatic experience. It was one thing to not take part, but quite another to be an actual burden.

To this end, he uncurled himself - with one last stretch for good measure - and sat up, getting a better look at the world around him. Judging on the decor, they were still in the complex, so that was a good start. The table blocked most of his view, but he could make out the legs of another person sitting across the other side of the table. They definitely didn't seem to be in danger anymore. He still seemed to be trapped like this, though - any attempt to enlarge just ended with him tensing his muscles futilely.

He stood up, trying extra hard to keep his balance - steady or not, hands weren't the easiest thing to walk on, the skin compressing under him with each step. Eventually he reached one the fingers, which he grabbed onto to steady himself. He might not be able to help in this state, but he could still... provided moral support or something?

August 18, 2018

## Mob Boss Peggy

The fact that Vindaya had not been in Mrs. Lewis' apartment by choice was troubling. Very troubling. Mr. Greene was in fact very concerned about the old woman. Hopefully she was simply on vacation this week in the country like she did every so often.

"I'm sure you do," He said, at the woman's mention of finding her use in the group as a doctor. The older man's eyes caught on to some movement wriggling around in Vindaya's hand and saw that it was the tiny man coming to. "Um... Hello." Lucius said, apprehensively, curiously eyeing the little man. "Fascinating." He muttered.

"Well, I'm no stranger to superpowers, you see, I lot of people don't know that about me. It's not a thing to advertise to the media, if course. If you've heard of me, you know that my 'claim to fame' is an *organically* grown fireproof alloy that I was able to spin and weave into fabric to make it fireproof. The DNA used to create this amazing thing was, in fact, taken from a superpowered person. This is what the journals tried to hide from the public. There's still quite a bit of apprehension toward people like, well... You, little guy. Now, after years of work, I have reason to believe that I can do this with the DNA of others with *different* kinds of powers."

The old man became highly animated as he explained his most ambitious project. It almost seemed like he had been waiting *forever* to be able to talk to someone about it. The public wasn't ready for those advances, but maybe people with superpowers were. He was absolutely thrilled by them. "For example, maybe- maybe a suit with self-healing properties, or something impervious to intense cold or that can change shape. The possibilities are unknown and yet, endless."

August 19, 2018

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis

Vindaya’s interest was now truly piqued. Originally, she'd only come because her shift had been ending and she'd been asked. Certainly, she'd gotten quite a bit more than she bargained for, and she'd have to unpackage that all later, but as for the mission itself, she now had some personal stake in it; she wanted to work with Lucius Greene, which she hadn't been able to say about many people she'd worked with. He was fascinating and clearly, he trusted her to some extent. She didn't feel bad about it yet, but she was starting to reconsider her lie. It wasn't too late to amend that later if she wanted to. And she wasn't yet sure that she did.

Resisting the instinct to help Sam, she raised her gaze, enthralled by Greene's contagious interest and enthusiasm. And though she wasn't inclined towards research herself, she could appreciate what he was doing. "That's incredible," she said, awestruck. "Having that kind of resource at our disposal would be... invaluable." As she said this, she looked down at Sam, imagining being able to outfit others with suits that gave a power like his. Or suits that performed her power on the wearer - they'd be practically invulnerable.

Speaking of, Sam had been tiny for a long time. It couldn't be easy. Then she realized he must've touched that woman—or she touched him—and he was stuck in the same predicament she was, though arguably his was more of a hindrance. Cupping one hand other the other in case Sam fell, she brought him over to the coffee table and allowed him to stand his own ground, more steadily than he could on her palm (a sensation she wasn't entirely fond of, anyway). As misplaced as it seemed now, considering all that had transpired, she was here to do a job. Work came first, always. Then she'd worry about her own powers—and Sam's. He'd be difficult to treat for any injuries while that small.

"Mr. Greene," she said, sincere, "We'd love to have you on our side if you're willing. I think you could make a lot of difference."

## bitch whipding | Sam | Flora

"Hi!"

Sam replied to Greene, but it occurred to him after he did so that his voice likely didn't carry that far. So instead, doing his best to keep his balance, he simply waved back. Hopefully that didn't come off as too rude.

He too was quite drawn in by Greene's overflowing enthusiasm, even though admittedly he didn't quite understand all the details. There was just something about the way he was talking that was quite... well, endearing. At least Sam understood who this guy was now - even he'd heard about this so-called organic fireproof fabric. But best of all, this guy just seemed to *get* it; there we pretty few normal people who understood what it was like to have these powers.

And then everything went dark. For a moment, he panicked, until Vindaya removed her supporting hand and released him onto the table. Relieved he hadn't unwittingly been placed in danger yet again, he gratefully clambered down onto the tabletop, landing butt-first, and wincing slightly as his ribs grated against themselves in response to this sudden movement. He too was more comfortable with this, actually having somewhere stable to stand. Or sit. Sitting was much easier right now.

There we things he wanted to say, but naturally couldn't. Thankfully, Vindaya covered the general gist of it, but it was still somewhat frustrating. He wasn't used to relying on anyone, and now here we was, pretty much totally dependant on these two people who dwarfed him. Perhaps somewhat unnecessarily, he gave Greene a thumbs up at the end of Vindaya's proposition.

## Mob Boss Peggy

Lucius went rather quiet at Vindaya's proposal for him to ally with them. He had his hands clasped together loosely and his eyes searched her face for a moment before looking down at her tiny friend in time to see him stand and give him the thumbs up. This was truly an extraordinary experience. Perhaps the excitement he needed in his life.

“I will tell you what, young lady, I will think about it. You'll hear fr---”

There was a firm, loud knock on the door.

“Sir, it's the police! We need to ask you some questions!” Someone shouted from the other side.
Lucius calmly stood. “Pardon me.” He said, and went to open the door.

The next fifteen minutes consisted of Mr. Greene passive aggressively telling off the police and ensuring them that there was absolutely nothing wrong and that they were disturbing the poor residents who were telling to sleep at this hour. The well-spoken man even evaded the suggestion that his condo be searched with ease.

After they were gone, Lucius watched them exit the hall and approached the superpowered pair again. He took Vindaya's direct phone number and bid them a swift adieu. “I'll think about it.” Was all he said.

The moment Vindaya and Sam hit the ground floor of the complex again, the doctor would receive a concise text message.

“I'm in.”