[M&M 2.E] Best served Cold, IC

[Maugan Ra]

Two weeks ago, Prometheus Incorporated was destroyed. One of the largest and most successful corporations in the history of the human race, Prometheus had outposts in every major population centre and interests in every sector of the market. It's annual profit ratings stretched into the hundreds of billions with ease, and the flaring sunburst of its logo could be found on virtually every street.

It was, however, a fraud. Prometheus was a front company, a cover designed to hide the activities of its sponsers and patrons from the eyes of the civilised world. It's profits came from criminal activities the world over, a centralised network used by every lowlife from the meanest gutter thug to the most extravagent supervillain. And eventually, inevitably, given the character of its clientele, it was betrayed from within.

At least, that's the prevailing opinion. How else could the Freedom League, that loose organisation of self-righteous hypocrites skulking in their lunar base, have brought down Prometheus so rapidly? Accounts were frozen, assets confiscated, and the paper used to print the arrest warrents could have covered a skyscraper. Estimates place at least 95% of the organisation now behind bars, an almost unheard of level of prosecutions successfully reached in one fell swoop. The evidence was complete and damning beyond all the efforts of Prometheus' law staff.

However, no matter how efficient a purge you conduct, it was almost inevitable that some would fall through the cracks and escape. Villains are resourceful individuals, after all...

That was two weeks ago. Now, after hours of cautiously verifying online stories and carefully covering your tracks, you have come here, to perhaps the last of Prometheus' old hideouts. The last few survivors of the greatest criminal conspiracy in living memory, you have gathered three and a half kilometres below the surface of the Atlantic to plot your next move.

The conference room you sit in now would not have looked out of place in a corporate stronghold - an elegently curved piece of mahogany that stretches around the perimeter of the entire room, punctuated by comfortable leather seats and complicated looking control panels. In the centre of the chamber, a flickering holographic projector warms up - capable of showing just about any image or datafile you might need.

Overhead, the reinforced ceiling is utterly transparent, letting you look out into the murky depths of the ocean. No one can find you down here - at least, not yet. Time to get plotting.

[SecondRevan]

Ba'al stood behind the head of the table, as he waited for others to arrive. If he could have, he would have sat down, but his once slender form and turned into a hulking abomination too large to fit into the chair, even without the exoskeleton. Black metal jutted out of his body to form an exoskeleton that surrounded his body, building his strength to gargantuan proportions. His face was now covered by a mask, with a voice modulator and a HUD replacing his mouth and his eyes. He couldn't even wear clothes now. He wondered again if the Prometheus Incorporated could have designed him better, or if it was their intention to make sure he would always be recognisable as a supervillain. How better to control a man who hated supervillains? Make it so that he can never be anything else.

But now he had the chance to... change what a supervillain is. The Prometheus Corporation had many good ideas, but refused to provide the control the other villains needed. You could not win the war against the heroes. They have an entire society on their side. You need to make it so that the heroes don't even know you exist. Then, you become something more.

[Trodon]

For a moment, it seems as if Ba'al is truly alone in the room, then two shimmering white dots appear in a shadowy corner, its body, human but otherwise featureless save for the eyes, seems to constantly shift from pitch black to every possible combination of dark black and grays, never seeming satisfied with itself it endlessly shifts that is, unless it's hiding. Had it not been for those eyes it would have been nearly impossible to notice it, it steps out from the shadows and glances around the room. "The Darkness has returned." It spoke slowly, as if it enjoyed drawing things out it. "Is this all that have escaped?" It asks Ba'al, turning its shimmering white eyes.

[Green Bean]

"Not quite, thankfully." Abruptly, there was a woman sitting at the conference table. There was no flash of light or puff of brimstone to herald her arrival, merely the the slightest distortion in the air, and a momentary glimpse of concrete walls and cheap tiling. She wears an expensive business suit, bespoke, not brand name, and her hair is clipped tight above her shoulder. Seemingly her only concession to the company she keeps is a cheap looking faux-gold masquerade mask that conceals the top half of her face, though the observant notice a blurring around her jawline reminiscent of her own powers. She is the woman the world knows as Flux; far too much of the world for her taste.

She thumbs her way through the files on a sleek tablet, a product of one of their subsidiary companies. One of their former subsidiary companies. "I've been looking into it. We've lost roughly 95% of our assets. But 5% of Prometheus is quite significant. Moreso now that the world believes it to be gone."

The holoprojector shifts as Flux sends it data. A whirlwind of financial figures (a great deal of red) resolves itself into a short list of a dozen companies. "This is what's left of our financial network. Everything else is shut down or outside of our control in some way."

[BananaPhone]

In the wake of their humiliating defeat, Sinistra had clung to her civilian life and observed the train-wreck from afar. While watching reports and receiving information form the remnants of her contacts, she had been a woman in mourning for the quantities of her own precious work that she had had to purge during their retreat. Like a mother forced to drown a child so that the others wouldn't starve, Sinistra had become well-accustomed to loss and hatred in equal measure.

The main doors to the conference room slid open with a mechanical hiss to reveal the gravity manipulator. Her tall body was covered with her familiar costume of black and royal purple fabrics while a white cape clung to her shoulders and almost reached the ground. The top half of Sinistra's angular face was obscured behind a mask that permitted the length of her yellow hair to fall half-way down her back. As always, her chin was high.

"At least by being so thorough and swift the governments of the world have revealed the source of their success: inside information."

The tall woman leisurely placed herself into one of the chairs. "...the source of which would, or at least should, no longer be a threat. Privacy has a steep price."

[Buwh]

You hear the sound of the music before you see the figure, some sort of easy listening that seems to settle over the room like someone like a radio on.

The main doors of the conference room come open, not with a hiss like before, but with what sounds like a musical note played in the A Key. What follows is a more towards the skinny side but obviously athletic and extremely suave African-American gentleman wearing a very stylish blue silk three-piece suit and tie complete with one nice hat while his face remains uncovered showing off his pointed goatee. He spins inside, his right hand snapping to the beat of the phantom music while his left hand holds an extremely garish cane.

"♫No need to worry, my face tells the fury.♫" He sings when his mouth opens, walking down the stairs towards the conference table while swinging his cane in slow motion. "♫My words come from the imagination, and I'm here strictly by my inclination. I'm the music man, the master of melody, I'll make you sing it out. Where do we go from here? We'll do the hottest crimes, we'll make 'em.. scream and shout!♫" He continued in one of the soothest voices you've ever heard, drawing out every nuance and not stumbling over a single verse of some song he just made up on the fly.

"♫We'll be the bee's knees, we'll make the cat's meow.♫" Sweetgum's continued as he sat down, kicking his feet up on the conference table and assuring the others they'd be on top again. "♫I've had an earful of that double cross but when we've found that sap.. down he will go to that place down below and there he will burn in- well, that'd just be swell.♫"

[Maugan Ra]

As if in response to your talk of revenge, the holographic projection in the centre of the room flickers slightly, and a new image forms adjacent to the scrolling figures and financial projections. It's clearly from a news broadcast celebrating the end of Prometheus, and it shows the four top members of the Freedom League posing in front of a cleared out Prometheus installation.

Jupiter, the leader, ex-military super soldier.
Hermes, one of the fastest individuals on the planet.
Apollo, the scientist, credited as the mind behind most of the League's high tech support.
Helios, the Lady of Light, a renowned energy manipulator.

There is, however, a fifth figure standing with the group, one that none of you have seen before. It is shrouded in dark blue robes, and seems distinctly uneasy with the company that it is keeping, standing slightly apart from the renowned heroes. A rapid series of Internet searches by the central computer reveals that no one is sure who he or she is, though conspiracy theories abound.

[Green Bean]

Flux sits back in her seat and gave the hologram a cursory glance. She'd been staring at this and dozens of similar images since she went on the run, but was no closer to the truth. Honestly, she almost admired whoever it was. It was a very well executed betrayal, and their tracks were almost completely covered. Still, all it took was one lead...

"I agree that getting revenge is important, Murphy. If nothing else, we need to establish that betrayal has consequences." Flux's voice is casual, as though she were discussing the weather. "But should it be a priority right now? We've been handed a rare opportunity. The heroes have destroyed one of the largest economic engines on the planet. We can use that to our advantage."

Spoiler

Show

Flux has Well Informed, so she gets to roll Gather Information to see what sort of stuff she's already knows the first time she encounters someone. With Skill Mastery, she gets an automatic 30; does she know anything interesting/useful about our four heroes?

[Trodon]

"Do they know we have escaped?" The Darkness asks. "The element of surprise is an invaluable asset." He looks from one member to the next, giving itself quick mental notes. "We need to learn about this new one." It says turning to the hologram. "The Darkness is eager for the challenge." It looks from one villain to another again.

[BananaPhone]

Sinistra glanced around at those assembled, taking note for herself that this is all remained of the Prometheus roster. It was fortuitous then that the remnants were amongst its most capable.

The blonde listened silently as Flux and Darkness spoke their parts - the former being a secret fascination of hers. His anatomy, or lack-there-of, confounded a life scientist such as herself, and it might be worth losing him if it provided the opportunity for dissection and study. The possible applications were impressive!

"Revenge is immaterial. There is no profit in it." Sinistra spoke up after The Darkness, her voice lacking emotion.

"Prometheus was overt and vast, and has paid the price for its hefty dimensions. Mobility and secrecy are our greatest assets, as Darkness as illuminated upon."

[Green Bean]

"Strategically, that is our best bet. We cannot fight the world by ourselves, but as long as we maintain those assets, the heroes will be stuck on the defensive." Sinistra was a bit of a blank slate to Flux, and worth watching if for no other reason. "The biggest threat the Freedom League and their like poses to us is their ability to coordinate with governments and other heroes. Divide and conquer may not be original, but it remains quite effective."

Flux flicks her tablet again, and the financial figures disappear, replaced by a map of the world interconnected by a web of glowing white lines. "The effect of the fall of Prometheus is greater than most think. We employed thousands of people, but they did not exist in a vacuum. Other companies depend on the products we manufacture to function, and still more depended on our business to survive. Prometheus will cause untold economic damage if given a little help, and I have no doubt we can lay the blame squarely at the heroes' feet."

[Buwh]

"♫Call me Sweetgums, baby, ooo, call me Sweetgums, oww!♫" Coleman Murphy sings, while female phantom voices sing backup for him. ..Call him Sweetgums, ooo, Call him Sweetgums, the most handsome man, he's got the plan.. Played back again over to reinforce his singing while he snapped along to the beat.

"♫Yeah, I'm Sweetgums, the maestro of disaster, I've got the 'It', none other will ever match my swagger. Revenge and profit can be one in the same, where's the fun if we can't maim? We'll conduct some doom, no one will escape the gloom.. It'll be the Freedom League's technology that ruins them. With their own resources and most prized mind, we'll build a satellite to control humankind. The sun will amplify my voice to the sky and those who don't dance will die!♫" Sweetgums finishes his ballad holding out die strongly afterward.

"♫It'll be ab-so-lute-ly fabulous! Which one of you can best my plan? Put us on top again!♫"

[SecondRevan]

"You are entirely correct, Sinastra. The last thing we want to do is make our survival public. We need to rule the underworld as a secret. Gather power without being seen. The Freedom League are only effective if they can find something to hit.

"Because of that, Flux's ideas are intelligent. Forcing pressure onto the Freedom League will reduce their ability to react. THerefore, it will be important to prevent anything from filling Prometheus' vacuum. THough I have another strategy we can run alongside it that will be just as effective. We spread a simple rumour that the freedom League have discovered that many of the civilian operators were heavily involved in Promtheus' illegal dealings. Maybe manufacture a couple of take downs to build credibility. No company would hire someone being investigated by the Freedom League, helping to enhance the economic disarray. This will cause further pressure of the Freedom League as people complain about being unable to find jobs because of their investigations.

"The idea has another advantage. Many of these unemployed will become desperate enough to resort to crime, creating even more problems for the Freedom League to deal with. In addition, once we gain power over the underworld, an increase in man power can only be a good thing"

[BananaPhone]

Sinistra felt knots form in her tummy at the proposal of Sweetgums idea: the thought of humanity being enslaved to his frivolous whim was depressing. A greater future awaited mankind than what he could deliver.

"Any plan that rests upon persuading this enigmatic new member of the Freedom Leaegue into supplying his expertise, is likely doomed to failure." Sinistra started, looking at Sweetgums. "Individuals of this calibre are notoriously difficult to persuade, and given his arrival in the wake of Prometheus' defeat I conjecture that he has resisted our company for some time already."

The tall blonde shifted her weight in her chair into a more comfortable position as she watched Ba'al deliver his idea.

"I doubt that the Freedom League will be vanquished by unemployment figures." she spoke up, a wry smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"But you are correct in that their isolation is the key to their defeat. Ladies and gentleman," Sinistra took the opportunity to stretch her long legs and stood up from her chair. Hands behind her back, she saunted around the edge of the large table.

"The Freedom League was never able to defeat us before, but this time they were exceedingly successful. What variables differed in their most recent victory from their history multitudinous failures? Political will. This time the governments supported them and through that apparatus, they were endowed with greater resources than we could ever hope to generate."

Sinistra paused briefly before continuing.

"We find their most ardent supporters amongst the governments and we...replace them, with less cooperative individuals. They are only humans with vices, flaws, weaknesses and pressure points that can be exploited. Excise the political machinery that made the Freedom League's victory possible, and we castrate their ability to combat us."

Sinistra used her index-finger to draw a semi-circle in front of her to emphasise the word 'castrate'.

"Make that machinery us, render the Freedom League impotent and we can move on to other projects."

[Maugan Ra]

(Pay no attention. Purely a post for the purposes of subscribing...)

[SecondRevan]

"You appear to misunderstand what I am saying, Sinistra, which is unfortunate as the rest of your ideas hold merit. Unemployment figures won't bring down the Freedom League, but bad PR will. The Freedom League is strong because of their connections. While replacing their allies in government with allies more sympathetic to us will be useful, if we make the Freedom League controversial enough, we can make the entire world willingly turn away from them."

[BananaPhone]

"What the common people believe is immaterial. They are not long for this world." Sinistra responded quickly. The slightest hint of disgust was visible for the first time in Sinistra's unflappable demeanor, for those who were acute enough to spot it.

"I do not wish to stake our future on the whims of the lowest common denominator, nor should one as insightful as you."

[Green Bean]

"You'd be surprised how little separates the lowest common denominator from everyone else, Sinistra. Even the smartest and strongest have their biases and cognitive shortcuts which make them just as vulnerable as everyone else to the right message. Sometimes more so." Flux made note to find out just what Sinistra's ultimate ambition was sooner rather than later.

"In any case, most of the countries opposing us are nominally democracies. Sabotaging the heroes in the minds of the people at large and making the government unfriendly to them are essentially one and the same."

[Buwh]

"♫Oooh, baby, you're singing the same old songs!♫" Sweetgum's sweet voice rang out, his knuckles creating a phantom beat against the conference table that somehow becomes actual music. "♫Boring. Droll. Lifeless. No. If I was running for public office, ooo, you'd get a sizzling reccomendation, but take this advice, you're a hard boiled villain and this is our foundation!♫" Sweetgums says with a wink at Ba'al. The song continues endlessly, with backups, and you realize not all of it is illusionary. That tapping sound that's been in the air since he opened his mouth is because he's actually wearing tap shoes, and has been moving them rapidly, even under the table, since he arrived.

"♫All will dance, all will sing, it won't be a lance or any other sort of thing!♫" Sweetgum's seems almost in complete bliss at this prospect, throwing his head back to really break it down. "♫Slow, slow, slow, hunny, that ain't a show! I've got an infatuation with doing bad, now darling, don't that sound rad? On our stage we'll tell the story, of how those heroes fell from glory, a show of force is what we require, and it turns out dolls that's my desire.♫"

[Anecronwashere]

Metallic footsteps sound from the other side of the door, several of them moving in lockstep.
The door opens with a pulsating beep and a "Welcome Mastermind. The others await."

A figure floats in feet an inch off the ground, escorted by 4 robotic minions. He is clad in flowing brown robes riddled with golden thread making patterns.
"Thank you Betty."

He floats to a chair and sits down.
"We need a better security system. It took me a whole 30 seconds to tear through every security protocol and install my AI Betty. Which means Apollo would have taken a full minute to gain complete control.
Now then, I believe we should combine all your ideas and get rid of the security cameras in the conference room.
The Freedom League is too powerful politically and normally to take on immediately, if we can Divide and Conquer however, the world will be ours for the taking.
I suggest we set up a secondary base maybe even a Tertiary one then set up 1% of our dealings run through them. The spy would know he hadn't gotten everything despite the sheer numbers they have gotten. We then make it look like that base is turning over a new leaf, maybe a faux superhero league. Then when the Freedom League attacks we can defend it and make them inflict a lot of property damage on a "reformed" base while hopefully taking one of them out."

[BananaPhone]

Sinistra listened silently as three more members of the team made their opinions known, one of them in retaliation to her own. Flux's insistence on caring what ordinary people believed was rather puzzling to Sinistra, who betrayed her confusion with only a vacant stare in the womans direction.

Ba'al too, seemed preoccupied bothering what the mundanes believed. That a man of his tactical calibre would impair himself in such a fashion was worrying to Sinistra, but she could understand his confusion. Ba'al and Flux were assuming that the current operation of the world was one that would last, and that "the people" would continue to be a hall of society worth bothering about. Well, this was a world that Sinistra didn't see as worth preserving - she would craft it into a shape that she found pleasing. She didn't care either way whether that would require a scalpel or a hammer.

Then, Mastermind strode into the conference with robotic minions by his flanks. Sinistra noted his comment about electronic security systems and internalised a message to never store her future virological work on any base-connected computer.

Unfortunately, Masterminds plan also seemed to rest upon manipulating the ignorant masses.

"Such elaborate methods for an improbable pay-off hardly seems worth the effort." Sinistra spoke after Mastermind.

"I'm not one that particularly enjoys having my face, as gorgeous as it is, plastered all over the 6 o'clock news," she continued, knowing full-well that her image was already known world-wide, "but these suggestions seem unnecessarily elaborate for such a simple goal: the demise of the Freedom League."

"We know who they are, and we know where they live: in their moon-base. We also know that they have no direct access to teleportation, while we do. They still rely upon a glorified bus to take them up and down from their isolated HQ, while we can get there instantly. The more complicated a plan becomes the more things that can go wrong. It'd be very simple to acquire a particularly devastating weapon and plant it next to their base. They can't exactly call the fire department up there."

[Anecronwashere]

"You forget the key aspect my dear. We are supervillains and in doing so we would be neglecting a key aspect of supervillainy. To simply destroy a team of heroes is folly we must annihilate their standing in a community to prevent yet another super-powered teen or escaped experiment rising to the occasion. To create true Chaos and destruction with which to mold the world, the nation, anything one must prevent the enemy's revival in a new form.
Heroics is like Hydras, two new faces rise when you detonate a bomb of nanites inside a hero's chest cavity. So like the Hercules of legend we must use Fire, the Fire of public disgrace and anti-hero laws."

[SecondRevan]

Ba'al's frustration at another ego entering the mix quickly abated when Mastermind surprisingly presented a competent plan, though one that Ba'al had a few changes he could think of. Sinastra would probably complain, considering her inability to understand the power of PR. But hopefully his plan would satisfy the ones who wanted a more active plan than simply remaining behind the scenes, while still fulfilling Flux and his wishes for something that would actually work.

When Mastermind rebutted Sinistra's complaints, Ba'al backed him up.Mastermind's plan is sound, though I would like to suggest an alteration. While anti-hero laws would provide useful, they will last only as long as it takes for people to wish the heroes back. But his plan can be adapted to gain us an even greater prize. Why destroy the heroes, when we can replace them, and all the useful connections they provide?"

I suggest we either pretend to reform or take up new, fake heroic identities and create a new heroic team. When the Freedom League extend membership, we refuse on the reasoning that we wish to establish ourselves as heroes before joining. Meanwhile, in secret we use a smear campaign with the techniques previously discussed to discredit the Freedom League, causing the public, and therefore the governments, to turn to us for protection instead of the Freedom League. With that power, we have control, able to do whatever we want and control future superheroes."

This would also give us additional ways to control public opinion on the other heroes. For example, if we create a small leak on my identity as Adrian Carcer, it should draw the attention of Star, one of the more minor heroes. She wishes revenge upon me for killing the original Star, and we can use that to our advantage. What do you think the public will think when Star attacks one of the world's newest heroes, while I let myself take the beating in a redemptive gesture? Star and the Freedom League will be vilified while our popularity will skyrocket. As long as we use some persuasion afterwards, mind control or otherwise, that despite my crimes I should be allowed to continue as a superhero for redemption, no harm will occur. Enough hits in the other hero's reputation, and we will be offered the Freedom League's place, with all the power to do what we want that comes with it."

[BananaPhone]

Sinistra blinked as both Mastermind and Ba'al refuted her proposal. The hideous inefficiency of both their ideas to win over the boring, stupid, ignorant masses. The same masses whose numbers would be rescinded by close to 99% when Sinistra asserted her idea of ascension upon the human race.

"It's better to be feared, than loved. Love doesn't stop people from disobeying you, whereas fear does. Look,"

Sinistra pulled out a small device from a slim pocket, checked its display, then tucked it away again.

"I can locate and steal a thermonuclear weapon within an hour. Within the following hour it can be jury-rigged and placed next to the Freedom League's HQ. The only obstacle between us and further projects could be in cinders and floating about the vacuum of space by dinner time..."

[Anecronwashere]

"Then what would you be? A simple villain. To deal with Supers one must follow the code of a Super. Villains kill people and have no flair, no drama melo or otherwise and are either left dead and broken or chucked in prison forever. A Supervillain slaughters hundreds, causes billions in property damage and spends at most a month behind bars. If they are ever caught at all.
Say you killed them with your stolen nuke. Then you have a bombed lunar base, a world population that hates you completely, universally and a 100% chance of a new teenage Super throwing you in jail before going on to form a new group of Superheros to oppose Evil.
If you create a false heroic society, fake a bunch of villains, discredit and demonize the Freedom League and finally Mind Control many public officials then you can create a shadow government with which to offshoot into whatever particular brand of World Domination you prefer."

[SecondRevan]

"Sinastra, if you wish to engage me in an intellectual discussion, please at least use quotes accurately. What Machiavelli actually said was that it was preferable to be both feared and loved. THat is why, once we install ourselves as the new 'heroes', we cultivate both."

And Mastermind is right, especially as you are forgetting the Freedom League is much larger than just the four heroes we see on TV so often. If we nuke the Freedom League's headquarters, we can't be sure how many of the heroes we kill. Will it be useful? Of course. But not as useful as turning the world against the Freedom League. Public opinion is a much more difficult fight for the Freedom League than us supervillains."

[Trodon]

The Darkness perks up slightly at the idea of "fake" villains. "There is no need for fake villains, The Darkness will play that part, and as for the moon base, The Darkness requires a visual aid of both the thermonuclear weapon, and the moonbase itself. The Darkness will detonate it, thereby gaining the attention of these new "heroes," and cause significant damage to their HQ. The Darkness gladly offers its services for both these jobs." The Darkness stands and walks around the room while talking, patting Sinstra's shoulder while mentioning the bomb, a slight tone of eagerness to its voice.

[Anecronwashere]

"I can see we shall not reach a consensus. Therefor I propose we all do our thing for now and debate the difference between SuperVillains and Villains. Betty, please ready Lab #01 to Preset 2-3c. I have some minions to rebuild after the loss of my stores."
"Yes Mastermind. Restructuring in progress."
The Technomage stands and floats out, accompanied by the stamping of metal feet.

Inside Lab #01 he got to work, doing his rather unique method of crafting the mystical forces of Magic into the cold robotic forms of Science, and vice versa.
(Basically I'm crafting all my Guard Minions from my Magitech Array)

[SecondRevan]

Frustratingly, Mastermind was correct. This was why he hated supervillains. Unable to cooperate to use their intellects, so they could measure each other's prowess on TV. They truly had no idea of subtlety, did they?

Well, at least Flux and Mastermind seemed to be intelligent. In fact, they were surprisingly clever for their kind. He wondered if they had had supervillainy forced upon them like he did. Because they seemed to clever to be in the same group as Lady Sinistra.

With Mastermind having left the room, and knowing both that Sweetgums and Lady Sinistra had already made it obvious they would not follow Ba'al's plan and that the Darkness would make a better fit as a fake villain, Ba'al approached the one remaining member, Flux. "The rest do not seem wise enough to understand our plans, except oddly the Darkness, so I suggest that we should unite together with Mastermind and pursue our plan. It is a shame the others won't listen to reason, but the longer we wait, the less effective our PR campaign will be."

[Trodon]

The Darkness sits next to Sinstra. "So, where is this bomb?" It also asks the general crowd. "And, where would be best place be for the... show? So to speak.