Severance turns to Apex as the others finish. She just shrugs. "Seriously, anything I'd say after those two would be repeating what they already said," she claims.<br/><br/>"I would like to know why you decided to send Moldpatch against Jallow and D-Synchro against the Quick Mob, even though the reverse would have been more effective. How did you know you were not killing the real Quick Mob and<em>why</em>did you charge into the fray when you<strong>knew</strong>and I know that you could not dodge Wimbo's attacks - you<em>read</em>his file and I<em>know</em>that your memory is flawless."<br/><br/>Apex flushes a bit, but stands proud. "I knew that Moldpatch had a very good chance of taking down Jellow in one go, better than any other among us - I couldn't have known that D-Synchro's power would then work so well on her, especially since I don't really understand how it works in the first place! But I could use his long-range attacks to allow me to cut through the Quick Mob - by the way, you can tell them appart from the original by the fact that they're<em>really</em>stupid and my power allows me to read microexpressions and the like, so I could tell those were at least third-generation clones - and as for Wimbo... well, I<em>thought</em>I could evade his attacks. I usually can." She gets more subdued during the last part of her speech, as Severance gives her a stern gaze none of the others would want to feel upon them.<br/><br/>"In the future, you will prioritize the mission over your pride, understood?" She stands up to his gaze - for all of two seconds. Then she lowers her head. "Yes Sir," she whispers.<br/><br/>The old hero turns to the other two. "Well, there isn't much to say about the two of you. You did well considering your powersets. Though I will insist that Moldpatch works on his close combat skills." He faces the young man fully. "With your size, and your regeneration, you're a perfect damage soaker. I'm not saying that you should become exclusively a front-line fighter, but you should at least have the option to do so, if necessary."<br/><br/>Once finished, he turns to face all of the gathered heroes. "We could go on and get into the details of what went well and what went wrong - but I want you to see something."<br/><br/>On the largest screen of the room - one large enough to make up an entire wall of the pentagonal room - a video begins to play. "This was caught by one of the surveillance drones that patrol the area around New Sorea - especially the ruins that remain of Old Sorea - to give us advance warning if any warlord wants to attack, or if any other suspicious activity is afoot. Roughly at the same time during which you started fighting your enemies, this happened."<br/><br/>The video shows an old, abandoned marketplace with the remains of a very expensive water fountain in its center. The only structure that remains recognizable is that of an old wooden church, now mostly rotten but still standing. With a blue flash of light, a five-headed group appears in between the fountain and the church and Severance paused the video.<br/><br/>"The five people you see are Null-Plus, Quick Mob, Red Devil, Blue Pyre and Loverboy." He points each of them out in turn. Null-Plus, decked out in a heavy, nearly car-sized suit of powered armor styled to look like some kind of lizard, with a sigil of a plus within a zero painted onto its chest, Quick Mob looking just like you remembered, but decked out in enough weaponry to storm a military base. Red Devil, twice as tall as any one else among his group, naked from head to toe with only the fur on his lower half and goat legs preserving his modesty and a black trident large enough to skewer a<em>car</em>, which is also sporting a red glow; his face a perfect image of the classic Italian devil. "Interestingly enough, Null-Plus is wearing power armor provided by Liztech, a local villain tinker who never enters combat in person, but exclusively provides tech for whoever can pay his rates - which are far,<em>far</em>too high for Null-Plus to have been able to afford this kind of power armor, even if both the Bang Boys and the Calutes put their entire money together. But it gets even better with the other two."<br/><br/>The other two were a woman and a man. Blue Pyre was a<em>stunningly</em>beautiful, African woman dressed in scraps of blue silk tied around her body to hide the most critical spots - or they would have, were they not transparent. Like this, she was basically naked. Still, she stood tall and proud, her hair burning blue. "This is Blue Pyre, an A-Class fire manipulator, teleporter and flyer and the first superhero to set up shop here in New Sorea, until she vanished a month ago. Three days ago, we learned why - because of<em>him</em>," Severance commented with a look of pure disgust on his face. He pointed towards the final member of the group.<br/><br/>Loverboy was another clear benefitiary of the physique-power, with a stunning body that, even through his fullbody red-and-pink supersuit, could bring some heat to the faces of the two women present. The fact that it was skintight<em>and</em>very much showed off his massive 'package' also helped to that fact. Otherwise, he seemed unarmed and was merely standing next to Blue Pyre, his hand firmly holding her unclad buttcheek.<br/><br/>"Loverboy is one of those metahumans with a slew of unconnected powers. He can create a control field around himself that dampens all emotions, making people calm and servile - though it is not very useful against anyone with proper training in resisting such techniques. Furthermore, he can attack with mental blasts that weaken a persons mind, until they are either completely servile for a short time or passed out. But his favourite power is his ability to control the mind of anyone he has sexual contact with, with complete control requiring an hour-long session at least. Which we think is the reason why Blue Pyre defected. She probably didn't have a choice."<br/><br/>He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as the disgust for this situation was clear on his face. "Taking down Loverboy and saving Blue Pyre would have been our first great mission - and I<em>mean</em>our. We would have all gone in together to take him down and free her. But that's a moot point now. And things get<em>worse</em>. Loverboy is a solo-operative who does<em>not</em>participate in battles, only caring about living the good life with his harem waiting on him hand and foot. Why would he join this coalition - why would the Bang Boys and Calutes join forces, either? And who paid for Null-Plus' armor? We estimate it to be worth about<em>five million American dollars</em>. There are very few people around here who could field that kind of equipment. And, finally,<em>who is <strong>this</strong>?</em>"<br/><br/>The video continues to play as Null-Plus uses his power on his comrades, one after the other. Quick Mob rapidly multiplies into about a hundred and fifty-six individuals, all armed to the teeth. Red Devil's skin grows an armor of scales as his trident nearly doubles in length and size, with the glow around it becoming almost solid. Blue Pyre's clothes are reduced to ashes as lines of fire cover her entire body like an extremely elaborate tattoo and her burning hair extends to be thrice as long as her body from head to toe. There is no visible change for Loverboy, but he shudders and stands a bit straighter and more confident.<br/><br/>Finally, the doors of the church open and a single figure walks out. It's a woman whom the heroes at first think to be African, naked and heavily tattooed - until they realize that she<em>is</em>naked, but she certainly is neither of African descent, nor tattooed. Her body is pitch-black from head to toe, making her look more like a silhouette or a cut-out than a person. The drone zooms closer, revealing that her perfectly shaped body not only makes Blue Pyre look plain, but also possesses all the features of a female body - except they are all pitch-black and can barely be made out. Even her knee-length hair is of the same colour as the rest of her body, as are her eyes. However, from where her tears would emerge, lines coloured a deep, nearly black purple emerge to cover her body in elaborate patterns that seem to emphasize her charms, even though they are almost imperceptible, at least in full daylight.<br/><br/>The strange woman walks down to stand before the first step of the church's entrance and before anyone can say anything, her tattoos flare for a moment and she charges head-first towards Null-Plus. The villain emits a beam of a barely visible haze - "His nullification power," comments Apex as she watches the scene unfold - but the strange woman ignores it, plowing through the beam and tackling Null-Plus. She not only hits him, but slips<em>into</em>and<em>through</em>him, exciting the power armor on the opposing side holding the bloody heart of a human in her right hand, which beats a few more times and then goes still.<br/><br/>The other villains and the mind-controlled hero turn to attack her, but she just falls down into the ground, leaving the heart behind as the effects of Null-Plus power immediately wear off. Her enemies form a circle to defend themselves, only for her to take the most predictable course of action - rise from the ground in between them, her arms reaching into Loverboy's chest. The deviant supervillain seizes up as she pulls his torso vertically in two, then sinks down into the ground to leave him to fall down as Blue Pyre to seize up as well, followed by her dropping like a puppet with her strings cut and Red Devil to stab his lance into the ground to no effect. The monstrous man gives a frustrated shout as the Quick Mob panicks, the members firing wildly around themselves - until they all vanish at the same time, leaving only the original to fall onto his knees, his groin and guts having been ripped off by their enemy. He looks at his mutilated lower half with more surprise than pain, then drops down, dead.<br/><br/>Finally, Red Devil also seems to give up, charging away from his spot towards where the city must be - only for the woman to rise from the ground in front of him and charge. He swings at her with his glowing trident, but the weapon passes through her harmlessly and she punches him in the face, throwing him back almost across the entire marketplace. She seems momentarily surprised, judging by her posture, but then she charges towards the stunned villain and, just as he's about to rise, kicks his head with a bare foot. The savage kick severs his head from his shoulders, making it fly off out of the view of the drone.<br/><br/>As she's finished with her enemies, she walks back to where they stood at first and uses Quick Mob's blood to write something onto the paved ground. Then, she grabs Blue Pyre by her hair, pulling the unconscious and equally naked woman up.<br/><br/>The drone zooms closer as the untouchable woman opens her mouth - and opens it. Her lower jaw drops and drops, stretching her mouth to cartoonish proportions, until it reaches her own belly button. A long black tongue, covered in the same barely perceptible purple patterns, snakes out of her mouth. It winds around Blue Pyre's body as the victorious metahuman lets go of her last victims hair and pulls her into her grossly enlarged mouth head first. Her mouth closes and Blue Pyre is vanished, the strange woman showing no sign of the victimized heroine being anywhere inside her body, as there are no dents or bulges. Finally, she sinks into the ground and does not return.<br/><br/>Taking the chance, the drone flies directly above the marketplace to show the writing in full view - one word:<strong>Shades</strong><br/><br/>Severance freezes the video on that picture. "Any thoughts on that? I want your opinion before it's coloured by what<em>I</em>know."