–Interrogation Room–

Jun, Thursday 13, 2007 - 2:22 PM

Paradox and Norika found themselves led to a dimly lit room with iron chairs by Thompson.

"Well, this is one way to do an interrogation room," Paradox chuckled.

His words were met by a sweet and melodic voice.

He turned to see a woman in her mid-20s standing at approximately 5'6", with an athletic build, short blond hair that fell just above her shoulders, and striking green eyes. She wore a white button-down blouse paired with dark slacks.

"I find a dark and eerie room like this helps with the job," the woman said.

Paradox, a little surprised as he had not sensed her presence, and stunned by her beauty, asked, "And who might you be?"

"I am the one in charge here. You can call me Olivia Park, and I will be the one asking you questions."

"Yes, yes, but why does it have to be in this room? Can't we be in, like, I don't know, a comfy room with soft couches?"

This caused Olivia to laugh, amused by his attitude.

"Well, dear, the reason for that is simple. We do not know what your powers are or what you can do, so we have to ensure you cannot cause any harm. This room is made to withstand the attack of a nuclear bomb."

"Really, a nuclear bomb? That's impressive," Paradox responded, a little impressed at how prepared they were. "Now let's get on with this interrogation so I can leave."

"Ever the impatient one, I see." Olivia sat down beside them. "Well, my first question is: How did you both discover your powers?"

They both took some time to think about how to explain how they obtained their powers before Paradox spoke up.

"My powers, you can say, were manifested out of my dreams and desires."

Norika spoke up next with a short reply, "Mine were there since birth."

"So both of you have had these powers for quite some time, is that correct?"

Both responded, "Correct."

Writing down her notes, Olivia asked the next question.

"What are your powers?" She watched them for any signs of lies.

"My power is fire," Norika stated, creating a small flame in her hand.

"And mine is intangibility." Paradox phased through the chair and table.

Both chose these powers, not wanting to reveal their true abilities. For Norika, it was true that she was born with the power of fire manipulation, but her main power was imagination manipulation. For Paradox, he had given himself the power of imagination manipulation through the Omni-Watch, but he used his phasing ability a lot and chose to go with that option.

Not sensing any lies from either of them, Olivia proceeded to ask more questions, one that would determine whether they were friends or enemies.

"With this power, what will you both use it for?" Her eyes hardened, waiting for a reply.

Both Paradox and Norika once again thought of what to say, more so on how to say it, and after a few seconds, they responded.

"To fight strong opponents, that's all I care about," Norika responded in the only way that she cared about using her powers.

"For me, I use my powers how I please. I just want to live in peace, and if I can help others, then I will do so," Paradox spoke in half-truths but just enough to not be seen as lying.

Taking in what she had heard, Olivia believed that these two could be of some help in their efforts and wrote everything down, noting to always have someone keep an eye on them, especially Paradox, as she could not get a sense of what kind of person he was.

–A Few Hours Later–

Jun, Thursday 13, 2007 - 5:34 PM

"Alright, that concludes the interrogation session. It has been nice talking to both of you."

Norika jumped up and shouted, "Finally! I thought it would never end. I was getting tired of all those questions."

Paradox merely stretched before speaking. "So, what happens now?"

"Now, the two of you will be given a mission. You will have to go back to the Director, so follow me."

They both followed, both of them thinking about what their first mission would be like. Norika just hoped she could fight someone strong to get rid of her boredom.

–In the Director's Room–

The three of them stepped in, seeing Director Rachel Martinez doing paperwork. Olivia coughed, getting her attention.

"Ah, I see you both are back. It seems the interrogation went well."

"Yes, it did go well. Both of them will be promising members of Division Omega-7."

"Good to hear." She paused before continuing, "Now, I can see that the two of you are eager to let off some steam, so I will assign you a mission that recently came in."

"Oh, and what would that mission be?" Paradox appeared curious, as the way she said it made it seem as if the mission were very important.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"This mission is about some recent break-ins around Metro City's downtown area. People say that after every break-in, they leave a card with the picture of a fox."

"So, you want us to go and stop some thief? Sounds pretty easy," Norika boasted with a lot of confidence.

"This is no ordinary thief. It seems they have been breaking into buildings, stealing parts from things, leading us to believe that they are building something," Director Martinez responded in a tone that was a mix of worry and unease.

"Sounds troublesome, and I assume you want us to stop this thief and find out what they are building," Paradox responded.

"Yes, I also want you to find out who is behind the scenes and pulling the strings. This thief can't be the only one behind it."

"Alright, this all sounds easy enough, probably just some group of thugs and thieves trying to chew more than they can swallow."

"I really hope that is correct, but I have a strange feeling that if we do not solve this now, something terrible will happen."

With that all said and done, Director Martinez gave them the information of the downtown area of Metro City and dismissed them.

"Are you sure they can be trusted on this mission? What if they fail, and innocents are killed?" Olivia asked with concern.

"You don't have to worry, Olivia. I'm sure they will complete it, and this will allow us to get more information on what those two are hiding."

"What do you mean, hiding?" Olivia questioned, confused.

"Well, I sense that there is more to this Paradox than meets the eye."

"Yes, him. I just don’t trust him," Olivia replied, her voice filled with doubt.

–Outside The Spire–

Jun, Thursday 13, 2007 - 5:42 PM

Paradox mused, "Well, it seems our first mission won’t be as boring as I thought."

"Yeah, now I can finally fight someone. But why did you really want to join this place, Father?" Norika asked.

"Why? That's simple. Don't you think it would be cool to be part of an organization that works behind the scenes and takes out villains and other threats?"

Norika sighed. "Of course, that's the case. You're always doing stupid things, acting on whatever comes to your mind for such stupid reasons."

"Hey, it's not stupid. It's an awesome reason," he denied.

"Whatever you say. Now let's head to downtown and find this 'Fox' guy." Norika smashed her fist into the palm of her hand.

"Yeah, let's go. I've never been downtown before; I've only been to midtown, and that was before they expanded Metro City."

"They expanded it? I thought it was always this big," she tilted her head.

"Nah, it was far smaller years ago, but after Soundwave destroyed it and it was rebuilt, it was expanded. Though I don't leave the house much, I haven't seen it all."

"You're so lazy."

They both ran through the forest, unaware that a small drone-like machine was following them at a safe distance.

–Downtown Metro City–

Jun, Thursday 13, 2007 - 5:48 PM

They found themselves on Chambers Street and Broadway next to City Hall.

"So, where should we start looking?" Norika asked.

"Hmm, well, I doubt 'The Fox' will do anything during the daytime. It says here he works at night."

"Then we wait and strike when he's in action."

"Yes, just don't destroy any of the buildings, alright, Norika?"

"I'll try, no promises."

Paradox sighed.

–Night Arrives–

Jun, Thursday 13, 2007 - Nighttime 10:12 PM

"Alright, let's look around. You start on the opposite side of downtown, and I'll start here. If you find someone, contact me."

"Alright, and I bet I'll find them before you, Father." Norika ran off, jumping from roof to roof.

"Well, let's get to business." Paradox took off running through town, using his weakened Omnipotent Sense to try and locate the thief.

He sensed something and began making his way to a building located north of downtown and saw someone enter.

"This is an abandoned warehouse. What could bring him here?"

Paradox phased through the floor into the building, making no sound, and began following "The Fox."

Inside the building, Paradox saw him bringing in some weird-looking objects that pulsed with a faint blue light.

'What could that be used for? Whatever it is, it can't be good from what I'm sensing.'

"With this, our project is almost complete. In time, we will raze Metro City to the ground and build it in our image," The Fox said.

'So they want to destroy the city. Then this object could be a bomb of some sort that they will set off,' Paradox mused to himself.

"Well, now I know what they want to do, and from the look of what they are building, it won't be done for a week." Paradox left after memorizing the location.

"I'll be back every so often until they get closer to finishing, and then I'll take them down when whoever he is working for is also there."

–With Norika–

Jun, Thursday 13, 2007 - Nighttime 10:18 PM

Norika made her way south of downtown to a building that had the "OP" initials. While the building looked quite normal, she could sense that there was more to it than it seemed.

"I'll come back some other time and check this place out."

Hours went by, and she found nothing, which caused her to become bored, seeking something to cure it.

"I'm so bored. I need something to do. Why can't I find this guy?" she said with frustration.

Just then, a few thugs were approaching her with bags of money on their shoulders. One of them bumped into her.

"Stay out of my way," the thug shouted before continuing to run away from the oncoming police sirens.

Ticked off and already annoyed, Norika created a ball of fire in her hand and launched it at the thugs, charring their skin.

"Maybe Father found something. I'm gonna go see." She took off in the direction Paradox had gone.

–With Paradox–

Jun, Thursday 13, 2007 - Nighttime 10:48 PM

Paradox was standing on a building, thinking about what he saw when he felt someone land beside him.

"Ah, Norika, you're back. How did it go?" he said, amused, already knowing how she felt by sensing her emotions.

"It was boring. I couldn't find the guy, and then some thugs bumped into me," she grumbled.

'Well, at least she did not destroy anything, so that's good.'

"Well, I found the guy and what they are building."

"Really? Where is he?" Norika instantly brightened up, only to deflate when she was told they wouldn't be fighting him.

"Why not?"

"Well, the thing they are making is most likely a bomb to destroy all of Metro City, but it was only Fox there and not whoever he is working with or for, so we will wait until all of them are gathered and then we'll strike."

"Hn. Fine. It just better not take too long, or else I might just destroy this town myself to find them."

"Let's not do that, Norika. It would not end well for us right now."

With that, both of them decided to stake out the place where he found The Fox and wait for the right time to strike.