What to do.....?

[Ves]

Ves paced angrily back and forth, cursing quietly to himself as he did so. What the hell was going on in the city, and why oh why was it happening? He couldn't understand any of it, and that just made him all the more annoyed at the situation.

"You need to relax, there's nothing you can do about it right now. Best to wait it out and decide what to do with a clear head. It's the most reasonable course of action." A quiet female voice told him

Turning to face Evara, his face a mask of rage, Ves sneered nastily as he replied "Oh come now Evara, you should know better than most, I don't do reasonable. This fool could have doomed us all, and yet the others act like nothing has happened. Kit even went to back to him like some kind of f**k**g lapdog returning to it's master. Does loyalty mean nothing to these people?"

Before Evara could answer the door to Ves' quaters opens and closed quietly, and a third figure made it's way slowly to them "Tommy finally fell asleep, I don't recall you having that much energy as an infant. Now then, what's gotten you so worked up? Something is troubling you, I can tell."

Evara quickly ran the new comer through the details as Ves returned to pacing. When she'd finished the strange man looked at Ves and sighed in resignation "You're planning on doing something stupid, right?"

"By rights I should drag the little shit into the street and rip his lying tongue out of his head. No doubt you've haed some, if not all, of what he's said about the Alliance. If you were in my shoes what would you do?"

"Well first I'd make sure my family was safe, then I'd try to find a more peaceful solution. Do you think Tommy would manage with his father locked up or on the run for killing someone like this Bester person? And what of your wife? Do you think she'd like to be married to a murderer?"

Ves' voice increased in volume and intensity "The Alliance IS my family, or one of them at least. I am trying to protect it, but it's not easy when they pretend nothing is happening. I know I can't kill him, if only to avoid making his claims seem true, but I don't know what else to do. And as for Nyu, she's perfectly safe, nothing can get even close enough to her to put her in any danger, thats to the finest technological defence system I could get my hands on, along with a hefty dose of magical trickery thanks to Evara."

The man shook his head "The only family you need is your wife and son. Friends come and go, and if they don't want to see the danger they are in, then I'd suggest letting them go, if only so they don't drag you down with them if they fall."

Ves' head slowly lowered as his heart sank, he knew his father spoke the truth, but that didn't mean he had to like it "I'll consider that option, only if I can't find another way to resolve this. I'll be heading back to the city on Saturday, would it be okay If Tommy stayed here for a few more days? I'll come back for him once I know what's going on back home. It'd be good for him to spend some time with his grandad, just don't do the arms falling off thing again, he had nightmares for weeks last time"

[Shadowe]

Sam paced around the basement. The press were camped outside again. How the hell did Richard manage to avoid them so easily?

"Helena? Call the office and tell them I'm not coming in today." It would be easy enough to get out, she supposed - the teleport chambers allowed quick and easy access to most of the city, but if she was spotted, the press would hound her even worse: The perception of trying to hide would damage her reputation too much.

"Certainly, Mistress Samantha. Might I enquire what the problem is?" Helena's usual light, cheerful tones were softened slightly as she sensed Sam's mood.

Sam barked a coarse laugh. "Problem? No problem, sugar. Just frustration. He told me to my face that I was a villain. Me! And he said the same about the entire FA, not forgetting that he thinks so much of himself that he gave orders to Akkarin to dismantle the laser in London. And the entire world press is poised to find any more dirt on us that they can - after all, a group of 'heroes' gone dark is just the sort of thing the tabloids love - plus I'm still angry about what's happened to Richard. I'm beginning to understand why he feels the way he does about things."

Helena was silent for a long moment as she waited until she was sure Sam had finished her rant.

"So, your frustration is interfering with something?"

This brought another bitter laugh. "You might say that, Helena. A proposal has been tabled regarding reinstatement of Alfred into the FA. I'm kind of caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock is that he can be a great asset. He's powerful, respected and a well-known public figure. The hard place is all of the above. He's done all of those things and the bastard hasn't even had the grace to apologise, privately or publicly to the individuals he's insulted! Ignoring completely what he's done to Richard for a minute, he's turned the media against us, publicly denounced us as crooks, and basically done everything he can to ruin the FA, and then, after it all gets sorted out and everyone's at least moderately happy with the solution, he just acts as though everything's normal! And the scary part is that there are enough people in the FA who are doing the same that it wouldn't surprise me if he was either controlling their minds - claiming to hate doing so doesn't mean he's above doing it when it suits his own ends, after all - or they just haven't figured out the damage we've suffered. I don't honestly know if the Alliance can survive this as an effective group."

She collapsed onto the comfortable sofa in front of the oversized television screen, her head in her hands.

"And I just feel so damned useless. I mean, I've got my problems with him, yes, and I'm sure there are other people who do, too, but how can anything happen when the one person in the Alliance who has any influence over him just treats him the same as she always has?"

[Kitmarch]

((I suppose this is what Kit gets for berating people in private instead of on stage in open mike night.

Ah well, serves me right.))

[Ves]

(( One minor note Kit. NO OOC offence was ment by the post I made, it was based purely upon Ves' personal opinion on the matters affecting the FA at present.

Just thought I'd clear that up before I'm accused of mixing IC and OOC when I post, again ))

[Luke]

((You certainly meant OOC offence in other areas, Ves...))

[Ves]

(( kindly refrain for being so presumptuous as to tell me what I did and did not mean in ANY of my posts, either here, on the CoH official forums, or anywhere else for that matter.

If I ment to cause OOC offense I would do so directly, not hiding my meanings behind IC comments and actions. The sooner you cancel your account and fuck off the better in my opinion, you've pushed WAY too many people too far, and I think you'll find that sooner or later they'll start to push back. I know for a fact that there are people who have told you personally that they will no longer RP with you because of your recent actions, wanna try for the whole of the CoH RP community? It'll be just like your time on WoW when everyone got pissed off with you and shunned you from their groups ( that was the story you spun to myself and a few others, at least we now know why )

If ANYONE who reads this has a problem with what I've said, well that's kinda unlucky for you guys I guess, but I'm sick to death of being told what I am thinking by someone who has no idea what they are talking about. Now I've made my feelings clear, and will once more state, for the record, that ANY IC postings I make are 100% IC, this is what one of my OOC posts looks like when I wish to cause offense. See the differance? ))

[Kitmarch]

((No offence taken - erm - whatever the heck your name is now. If there was, it'd be taken to PMs))

[Victoria]

With a sigh, Vicky sipped her tea which had grown cold long ago. She had all she needed in order and ready to deploy -- still, she found herself stalling, buying for time. She didn't want to do it -- she had to, but she didn't want to. When she had been doing the individual preparations, the research, the placement of the items in the Post Office boxes, the fake interviews and visits, it had been so easy. Her actions had been like individual and harmless gestures and she had not thought of the moment where she would sit and, to quote the Bard, "let slip the dogs of war." She felt as if she had been carefully assembling a bomb, and now, on the verge of pressing the detonate button, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Setting the cup down, she let herself fall back on the large white couch, and stared at the ceiling for long minutes. She could do it. Despite the odds, despite the victims, despite the innocents caught in the crossfire -- this was war, ugly and brutal.

She inhaled deeply, then exhaled as she reached for her cellphone. Her laptop beeped merrily on the coffee table, and she set her feet next to it, careful not to disturb it. She pressed the slim phone against her forehead and whispered: "Forgive me, Professore."

And she dialed a number.

Several moments went by before a female voice answered: "SuperHero Inc. Magazine, good afternoon. How may I direct your call?"

***

The conversation took quite a while, but Vicky was feeling quite detached as she spoke. It was almost as if she wasn't herself doing that call, turning Alfred and possibly Kitmarch into victims of the media. Truth be told, she'd prefer if it she didn't have to do the call herself, but the ugliness of the laser incident made the Alliance perfect targets for the depredations of the media. For her to prevent that, she'd need to lure them off scent with another piece of meat. Bloody and still wiggling, preferably.

And nothing better for that than romance, tragic preferably.

It had taken her a bit to find out the little facts that she could turn into skeletons in Alfred's closet that the media would have fun uncovering, but a few good contacts she had made recently had given her access to what she needed: paper trail and records. Hard cold facts she could use to embellish a truth, twisting it slightly and turn it into something far more spectacular and sordid: just the type of things tabloids like SuperHeroes Inc. loved.

Alfred had showered Kitmarch with gifts, expensive gifts, after their public separation, which was documented by every sleazy tabloid and hero society magazine in Paragon -- A house, jewels, clothes, the lot -- and expensive gifts left behind a nice paper trail. It wasn't hard for her to pretend to be a secretary working for Mr. Alfred's company who would like to sell her exclusive "dirt" on him for the measly sum of 10.000 dollars (which would eventually be given anonymously to charity, she wouldn't touch blood money even if with someone else's hands). The exchange would be made thanks to those adorable men and women from the Zurich Bank, who would rather die than reveal the secrets of their costumers; they'd deliver the key to the Post Office box in exchange for the money.

And then the fun would begin.

Vicky shut her phone closed and sighed. It had taken her the best part of an hour, but now, the most infamous tabloid in the city was under the impression that Alfred Bester was nothing more than an obsessed stalker, who used his mental powers to spy on the object of his affections, controlling her so much he would destroy any other romantic relationships she might seek. The fact that the tension between his former friend Richard and him was very public and very well documented only lent credit to "the secretary’s claims -- and that added to the powerful mental abilities he possessed, only made things more painful for poor Kitmarch, who couldn't keep the horrible stalker out of her mind.

Then, she had let out the "restraining order" information: that Miss Kitmarch had started taking measures to take Alfred to court but that the affair had been dropped. A name of a lawfirm Johnson & Friedrich had been dropped: the same firm that Vicky had visited a few days earlier pretending to be a representative of Kit, to make an inquiry concerning the proper procedures to start a judicial process for a restraining order. No names had been given, but if SuperHeroes Inc. was as good (and as well connected) as rumour had it, they would possibly find access to the lawyers' records and find proof (even if slim) to substantiate the tip. That added to the very legal and very real records of obscenely expensive gifts should round up everything else nicely, and paint Alfred Bester as an obsessed pervert, who was about to be expelled from the SuperGroup for his stalkerish ways and as a revenge, started the whole laser scandal.

Truth be told, that was the only real lie in the whole package, but it wound up not managing to sound as ugly and dirty as the twisted version of the truth she was presenting.

Now to make sure that the flash became a bang.

Vicky hated herself for being so calm as she ruined the reputation of someone she liked -- still, not much of a surprise for someone who was to become a Sword of the hermetic. The sword of justice, also called an executioner. But that was war -- and the Alliance was her new home, and she not stop at personal feelings to make sure they'd be safe.

What had happened to her innocence? Ah yes, she had nearly forgotten -- it had been gone when the War of Mages had begun. Innocence was always the first casualty in any war. She dialed another number. And shortly after, another. And another. And several others. She methodically followed the extensive list on the screen of her laptop - all the major scandal newspapers and magazines -- and a few legitimate ones too. To all of them, she said the same thing: she was a personal friend of Mr. Alfred and she knew that someone of his staff had sold "private and sensitive information" to a newspaper that she was trying to recover, being willing to meet their price to see the story unpublished.

Of course, they wouldn't be able of helping her -- since none of them had been SuperHeroes Inc. However, that would rouse their curiosity, and the crazy ruthless world of journalism had as many moles and inside informants as the world of organized crime. It wouldn't be long until small rumours would start flying about the SHInc.'s scoop, and Alfred Bester would find himself in the crosshairs of the media. His past would be dug out, his motivations analyzed under the most sensationalist and unflattering light. The media went bezerk when they felt the scent of blood -- as soon as they suspected others were in the race too, they double their efforts to dig more dirt, to bring out a new scandal.

They were like a stampeding herd, trampling each other in their haste -- and she, she had let out a nice handful of cows.

Again she closed her cellphone and, disgusted, she tossed it across the floor, before letting herself fall again on the couch. She felt horribly tired, and terribly sad, and very hungry.

She'd have to get her emotions under control before she even got close to Alfred or he might suspect something, although she had been careful and thorough enough not to leave trails that would lead to her, or so she hoped. As she padded to the fridge, she wondered how would the other members of the Alliance react when they'd known she had done something so terribly cruel and underhanded. Some would be glad, she knew, but she wasn't sure if many, even if annoyed at Alfred, would approve of what she had done.

It was better then, to keep silent. Silent, and to keep herself away from all of them for a few days as she managed to bring her emotions under control again.