LOCATION: The Tent of Mirth

"Let's move on to noteworthy happenings." Haunt said, impatiently tapping the claws of his left hand against the wooden armrest. He hated the weekly report, he had even when he was just a fresh Performer, but now as Tent Overseer he did even more so. Back then he could zone out during these meetings, go over things in his head, make plans for later, but now he was forced to actually pay attention. But that was how things were done, and he knew better than to rock the boat. "Anything happened recently, Boneyard, or can we end this meeting?"

He looked over at the pale woman opposite him and took a bite of his cotton candy. He loved the stuff. The others always complained that it stuck to their teeth, but his acidic spit ensured that wasn't a problem for him.

Boneyard put down her box of candied nuts and opened her hand. A little bump appeared on her palm, just for a second before a bone broke through the skin and pushed itself further and further out. It snaked itself around her arm and into the pocket of her black robe, emerging soon after with her cell phone. As it retreated back into her hand it left the desired object in her palm. The whole procedure took at most 5 seconds.

"There are a few things." She said and fiddled with it for a bit. "That woman came back again, asking for us to declare a Vendetta on the usual targets."

Haunt let out a sigh of frustration and shook his head. Somehow this civilian woman got it in her mind that they were some kind of underground champions of the downtrodden. Someone had shown her the entrance to the BHF office they did most of their business at, (She probably paid a good deal for that, though Haunt bet that whoever had spilled the beans had been dealt with already), and while she couldn't enter herself she waited outside until a member of Freakshow eventually turned up and asked her ridiculous request.

Apparently, her adult son had been bullied at his workplace to such a degree that he eventually rode a noose to hell. And now this dumb bitch wanted them to do something about it. Punish the bullies.

"Who had the misfortune this time?" he asked and looked around the table. A young man raised his hand. "Twin. Right. What did you tell her?"

Lone Twin, unlike the rest of the troupe, did not look like anything was especially wrong with him, mentally or physically. "I told her that Vendettas are our personal business and gave her the price for an arranged run. Predictably, she still can't afford our rates."

"What should we do with her?" asked Boneyard, ready to write down any new orders.

Haunt took the cotton candy into his clawed hand and massaged his temples with his human one, as well as he could with just the one. "How many times has she been up our ass? 5 times?" Boneyard nodded. "Alright. If any of you meet her again, tell her off one last time. But that's it. If she still insists....bring her here. Tell her we'll do it. She can be your sister's meal for the month."

Lone Twin lit up and grabbed the cold, dead hand of the thing next to him. "You hear that, sis? Feeding time may come early this month!" His sister gently floated a few inches above the ground, the magic she commanded in life still aiding her after death. She looked at her brother with her milky white eyes and opened her mouth to let out a coarse growl.

He knew the corpse next to him wasn't fully aware. He knew that. But he had to hope that at least something was getting through, no matter how basic. Otherwise, it would just be too much.

"Anything else?"

Boneyard nodded. "Two things. First, we have a clarification request from another Tent. There are concerns that our newest recruit doesn't fit the brand, so they want you to justify his admittance."

Haunt's human eye twitched. "And which Tent was that?" He asked, but he already knew.

"The Tent of Whimsy." he and Boneyard said in unison.

"Yes." she finished.

Of course. Of course, it was New York. Who else was so goddamn anal about every little tiny thing he was doing?

"Pagliacci thinks just because she's the Big Boss' granddaughter she can stick her pie-smeared clown-fingers in my business whenever she thinks it's good for a laugh, I'm so goddamn sick of this shit!" he blurted out, a bit more aggressive than he had planned.

"If I may, sir..." said newest recruit interjected. Like Lone Twin's sister, he was hovering above ground, but unlike her, he did it in a cross-legged position a good foot higher. His smooth voice and perpetually closed eyes radiated an aura of serene calm. "It did occasionally happen that the circuses of old employed spiritualists and fortune tellers to bedazzle the crowd with unfamiliar and novel forms of magic and mysticism, did it not? I suggest we argue that angle."

Haunt considered the idea for a second and nodded. "That should work. I'll draft a reply later today."

"Yaaaaaay!" the young girl next to Boneyard exclaimed loudly. Physically the girl looked like she was about 16 or 17, but her clothing and general behaviour suggested a much younger age. "Does that mean Mister Zen can stay? I like him a lot! Mister Button likes him too, don't you?" she asked the teddy bear in her lap, which nodded slowly in response.

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The plush toy stood up, turned around to face her, and lifted its tiny stuffed arms. "Oh, you want upsies? That's okay! Come here."

The soft paws of the bear split open and a black formless mass emerged, bubbling and shifting until it shaped itself into two long strands, which reached up and wrapped themselves around the girl's neck. She was neither intimidated nor scared, humming a little tune as the bear dragged itself up by the tentacles until it reached her shoulder. Once it arrived at its goal the black mass split apart again and retreated into its cloth home.

"Alright. What's the last thing of note?" Haunt said, eager to finally finish this meeting.

"A newbie villain-duo made a lot of commotion yesterday. It was their first big outing but they already got two heroes to hang up their capes. Temporarily, from what it seems, but still."

Haunt looked annoyed. "And why the fuck should we care about that? Are they planning to take over our turfs?"

Boneyard shook her head. "No, not that I know of. The reason I brought it up is that one of them seems to be capable of full Possession."

This made him perk up. "Really now? Full Possession?"

Boneyard nodded.

"Very, very interesting. That may be exactly what we need...." The recruitment of Zen was already going to speed up the timeline of their plans massively. A talent like full Possession could bring about a similar boost.

But right now, his hands were tied. Recruiting an additional member this low in notoriety this soon after Zen would all but ensure a veto, and not just from New York this time. "What's the name of that newbie?"

"She calls herself the Master Controller."

"The Master Controller, huh? Keep an eye on her career." A big, half-toothy grin spread on his misshapen face.

"Another new friend?!" the young girl with the teddy yelled excitedly.

"Maybe, Alice." Haunt said, fished a piece of wrapped candy out of his pocket, and threw it to her.

"Maybe."

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LOCATION: The Heart of Power

"Go faster! We're almost there." the bound and gagged man heard as he was roughly pushed from the back. With his hands tied behind his back he was unable to retaliate, not that he stood a chance even if he was free. After a few minutes of walking through seemingly endless winding corridors, he was pushed onto his knees. "You've reached your final stop, buddy."

His blindfold was removed, but the gag stayed in. It took a bit to grow accustomed to the dim lighting, but when his vision cleared his blood froze in his veins.

"Good evening, Mr. Shaw. How do you do?" the Powerbreaker said, smiling down upon his captive. "I would offer you a cup of tea, but I see you wouldn't be able to enjoy it in your current state."

The man could only make muffled noises in response.

"In Cape media, the villain would say 'I bet you're wondering what you're doing here?' or something to that effect right about now, but I'm sure you're fully aware why I brought you here." He sat back down on his chair and leaned his head against his fist. "You and your ilk disgust me. As if politicians weren't already the cockroaches of society, you have to twist the knife until the wound you left behind is infected and festering, but no matter. The days of your influence on our fair society are over. Eterna, do your thing."

He felt someone grab him from behind, and suddenly the world stood still. The Powerbreaker had stopped moving, in fact, he couldn't even see him breathe. He tried to get up, to flee, but his body did not listen to his commands. All he could do was stare forward.

"Maximum output." The Powerbreaker said, and Eterna nodded. Her Power was a deeply insidious one. Time Dilation. She could make it so that anyone she touched experienced time at a much slower rate while still being fully aware. At her maximum output, one second in reality was akin to about 6 months of perceived time.

"Look at him. So dull. So thoughtless. Just like his policies. Do you think you can manage an hour?"

Eterna's eyes widened. "A full hour, sir?" Her Power put a strain on her body the longer she used it, and the higher the output the worse the potential damage.

"If you're not feeling up to it, just stop when it becomes too much for you. An hour would be ideal, but your health comes first. When you're done you can take a few days off. Rest up and recover."

"Yes, sir!" she said with renewed vigor.

"Dustmite." The Powerbreaker turned towards the second half of the kidnapping duo. "Scope out Mr. Shaw's house, wait for a time when the rest of his family is home, and then take the Stealth Division with you to pay them a visit. No mercy."

The young villain looked a bit concerned. "Even the youngest, sir?"

The youngest member of the Shaw family was their 3-year-old daughter. An Empowered. The Powerbreaker had hoped that having an Empowered child would mellow Mr. Shaw out a bit, but it had only turned him more radical. These "people" could scarcely be called human.

"Yes, even her. Tell them to make it painless, but it has to look like it hurt. Make the authorities think the girl was tortured, brutalized. Make the cops throw up when they find the body." Dustmite nodded. "And don't forget to take him with you." The Powerbreaker gestured toward their captive.

"The centuries of sheer nothing will drive him to unrelenting madness. The perfect scapegoat. 'Empowered-Skeptic politician snaps and brutally butchers his Empowered daughter. The rest of the family tries to stop him, but in his hate-fueled madness he murders them as well.' Make sure the scene of the crime reflects that version of events. This is sure to tank the reputation of him and his savage barbaric colleagues among the centrist voters into oblivion. Maybe we'll even convert some of the less entrenched skeptics."

"Yes, sir. I will relay the plan to the Stealth Division right away. Glorious Power!" he said and raised his fist in the air.

"Glory Be." Powerbreaker responded and Dustmite crumbled into fine particles.

"Oh yeah, boss." Eterna suddenly chimed in. "While we were out we heard some very interesting things. You should check the news. Cape-related news, that is."

He raised an eyebrow, intrigued, and turned around to face his laptop.

"Oooohhh. I see. That is interesting indeed. Has little Mallory finally made a move? I was afraid she'd never do anything more high-profile than robbing random storefronts once a month."

"Hard to believe she is capable of anything at all. All she did here was whimper, cower, and cry." Eterna said with a grin. The Powerbreaker laughed.

"True, true. She was behaving quite differently when she was our guest. But I believe in her. I really do. I wouldn't have taken her if I didn't."

He focused on one particular picture on his screen. "Don't let this be the end, Mallory. We've only just begun."

He ran a finger over the image of Scarescholar holding a knife to his own throat.

"Don't disappoint me."