Waiting for the party to start -open followup-

[samael]

((If you haven't yet, read Samael's post over in Satan City, We Interrupt this Broadcast. If you're interested, then jump in over here.))

Samael appeared on a ruined crossroads in the desolate city. He lit himself a cigarette and paced. As he walked calmly back and forth, he would occasionally concentrate and pop over to another of the city's crossroads. He wanted to cover as much ground as he could.

For a brief moment, he allowed himself to worry that perhaps the world, or at least Satan City, was devoid of proper villains, of true psychopaths of any real power. He worried that all he would get would be the weakest dregs of society - drug addicts and mental patients with no power to speak of.

He quickly purged the thoughts from his mind. The destruction of Central City had been proof that evil had taken some kind of a foot here on Earth. He didn't know if monsters WATCHED television, but with any luck they did, and so did any other truly evil bastards, or even slightly evil bastards. If not...he could find a way to build his own army. It would just take time.

[envy]

Envy often listened to the radio on her breaks to calm herself after a long day of civil work and a long night of thievery. However in that particular afternoon she had heard something that she had never imagined possible, someone was trying to contact all the evil beings on this planet. A little odd perhaps, a wiser person would think it was a trap of some sort, but Envy took this as an opportunity best to not be wasted.

I'm talking to the maniacs, the sociopaths, and the overall bastards. The villains. The monsters...

Odd words to choose in addressing them. Envy wasn’t exactly any of the things he said, she had been described before as callous, sadistic, taciturn, perfidious, archaic, covert, sardonic... All labels, all true.

My name is Sam. I have a proposition for you. The heroes are gathering, why shouldn't we?

Was it true? Sam is trying to unite them, all the evil on Earth under one rule. There was a problem with his plan, no true villain would ever share her glory with another. That’s the reason they were villains to begin with. Then again there were villains like Envy who thrived on obeying orders, who had no true desire to impose their will upon others.

She arrived at the crossroads careful to keep herself hidden, there was no one else around but the boy with a cigarette. Personally she didn’t like the smell of tobacco for a reason, but oh well. Envy walked gently her feet not making a sound as she made an effort to come up behind him. Not for any other reason than out of habit, she didn't like to be blunt. She thought removing the bottom half of her mask, then focused on fixing her gloves as casually as if she were on a break.

[samael]

Samael smiled. He'd felt Envy as soon as she'd arrived. He turned around and looked at her, taking a drag from his near-spent cig. As he blew the smoke from his nostrils he tossed the butt to the ground and stepped it out.

"You here for the party, or are you here to poop it?"

He looked her up and down as he asked, taking full account. Her power, for a human, wasn't so bad. She seemed to at least have potential, but then all humans do, when pushed. She seemed the skulking type - perhaps a burglar or assassin. With any luck, she was his first new friend. With no luck, she was a body to add to the pile.

[envy]

Envy remained silent, he was obviously not going to understand her. She smirked then made the hand signal for mute, she couldn't speak or make a sound however she understood him perfectly. After he tossed down his ciggerett and asked the question she responded with a simple no and bowed as a sign of subservience.

'Obviously he is not human. At the very least his power seems to be in order, stronger than mine but in any case I'm probably smarter.' She thought simply, hopefully he wasn't a telepath or else that would be highly embarrassing. to get caught in.

[samael]

Samael pursed his lips, an obvious expression of disappointment. It seemed Envy was a mute. Not the best possible choice, but it would make her quieter, and less likely to talk if interrogated. He decided not to mention it, however.

"I take it, then, that you saw my broadcast and were interested. You certainly don't look the heroic type."

He took off his sunglasses and put them away, walking around Envy in a circle, sizing her up like she was a piece of meat or a livestock animal. There was definitely potential here, if she was willing to grasp it.

"Here's the scoop. Heroes, while valorous and commendable and good role models, are bad for people like you and I. They're bad for people in general, really. Here's how I see it: most people are just trying to get by, willing to do almost anything to make it easier. Sometimes this is as simple as a little cash, sometimes it's a matter of strength or skill. Either way, that's where people like us step in. I take it you're a skulker, a rogue of sorts. Hashashin, in the arabic, or assassino if you prefer marinara sauce."

He lit himself another cigarette, pulled from an unlabeled white carton.

"You and I, in a perfect world, would simply offer services to those normal people. We give them something they don't have - sometimes money, sometimes the death of someone in their way, or in the case of Central City..."

He took a moment to gesture to the ruins around him.

"Perspective. Every single survivor of the destruction of the city will consider themselves lucky to be alive, will love their families that much more. People who only looked on from a distance will thank their lucky stars that they lived elsewhere. Even those of us who are simply destructive forces offer the populace something they all crave - vindication of their decisions."

He took a long, slow drag, and when he blew out the smoke, it came in rings, one after the other smaller and smaller.

"Heroes threaten to rob the world of us. Do you follow?"

[envy]

Envy watched as he sized her up, and at the same time her eyes never left his face she often watched their expressions to see what they were thinking about. He was disappointed about her speaking issues, some people would consider it a weakness. Yet those like Envy took it as a blessing, no one could get information out of her, she wouldn't be talking on the phone during a mission, and the fact that she wouldn't be able to cuss out her clients if they pissed her off. It was better for business.

She then closed her eyes to listen to him better, since she wasn't likely to ask any questions she had to get it right the first time. It seemed as if he were telling her things she already knew except it was much different in her perspective. He assumed she was a rouge, that was partly true... but Envy was little more than hired help. Her will depended solely on vengeance and money to aid her own survival.

"Heroes threaten to rob the world of us. Do you follow?"

Envy actually didn't follow a single thing he said, heroes hadn't merely threatened to take away her world... they already did. They robbed her of her voice, her identity, her friends, soon they would most likely rob her of her life. She nodded and smirked then sat down with her legs crossed and put her mask back over her face. Then she made the signal for the word alliance, and then pointed from herself to him. Then she went back to closing her eyes and listening.

[samael]

Samael crouched next to her and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. Over the years, he'd managed to pick up a few different ways of communicating, and thankfully understood a bit of sign. He had her hooked.

Now for the real pitch.

"What's your name, kid? Or at least, what should I call you? I figure if we're going to work together, I need to know how to address you. I have a secondary offer for you as well."

He sat next to her lazily, looking up at the sky. It was slightly cloudy over the ruins - something he'd noticed was similar for almost all ruins the world over. He saw a cloud that looked like a knife and smiled.

"You have your business, and I have mine. My business is something very, very unique. You see, I can give people things. Incredible things. Money, power, skill, love, youth. Sadly I don't think I can restore your voice, but there may be some kind of surgery for that, or some kind of mechanical implant. That's if you even want your voice back. But I'm getting sidetracked. I'm making you an offer right now, an offer of my power, used for your benefit. One thing you want in all the world, as long as it's within my power, can be yours. There's a price, of course, but nothing you would need to worry your pretty head about."

He didn't really find her pretty, but it was less about how she looked and more about the fact that she was human.

[envy]

Envy rolled her eyes, she didn't know how to say "Envy" in sign language. Besides she already knew a way to get a natural voice, however that option wasn't available at the moment. She removed the glove from her right hand and started to use her finger to spell out her name. E... N... V... Y... Once she was done she stood up and frowned down at him. ' What is this? I don't need pity, however I don't even know what this 'price' is.' She pointed to herself, then made the sign for help, then pointed back to him. Envy was her to offer her services any way she could in order to eliminate the heroes. That was her main goal, not to be his costumer.

She looked around the ruins of the city then smirked at Samael. There was no one around but them, and common sense told her that no one was going to be coming to the ruins anytime soon. ' I might as well get some exercise.' She thought smiling as she made the sign for spar. Then started to relax her arms and neck while she waited for a reply. After all if she was going to work with someone she might as well know their strengths and weaknesses.

[samael]

"Envy, eh? Cute name."

He watched as the girl challenged him to a fight. He smiled, unbuttoning his suit jacket. He could sense that she was a prideful little thing - feigning concern and compassion wasn't going to work with her. She'd be a tough sell for a certainty, but her challenge gave him a new avenue to push his product.

He stood, lazily, hands in pockets, cigarette in his mouth, letting it burn slowly without dragging on it. He gestured with a jerk of his head to come at him. Even normally, he outclassed her by several degrees, but he not only had one, but two aces up his sleeve - his Demon Sword (which he didn't intend on using, but would if somehow things got hot) and his Crossroads Power. He wouldn't need to show his demonic aura in this fight.

"Go easy on me. I haven't had a fight in over a century."

[envy]

"Go easy on me. I haven't had a fight in over a century."

That was somewhat suspicious, here he was raging war against powerful enemies and he tells someone like me to go easy on him... I can sense his strength it's far greater than my own. Besides he's shifty, not likely to be honorable even in a spar. She wasn't intending on using her chi energy, instead she would try not to revel her ki attacks until she needed to.

Envy would rather not go first but, it was probably for the best. She looked him over for a week point, trying to figure out where to launch herself. ' Let's see, the arm is logical, if I can disable it... this would most likely assure victory.' She smiled then ran forward aiming her index finger by the side of his chest to find the artery. If she could press it against his collar bone then he would be unable to move that part o0f his body because of the lack of blood flow. After that was completed she planned to follow up with a few punches and jump kicks to hide what she did.

[samael]

Samael didn't move. He didn't flinch. He didn't blink. Envy's pressure strike landed true, and her subsequent barrage of attacks all landed - except for the last one, a punch she'd been aiming for his face. That one didn't land because Samael caught it in his hand - using the same arm that should have been diabled from the pressure point.

He held her fist tightly, but didn't squeeze so hard that it hurt. He smiled, reaching into his jacket pocket with his other hand, producing his cigarettes, and putting one in his mouth. He spoke to her as he lit the new smoke with the old.

"You're going to have to hit me a lot harder than that, princess. Something more like this."

He let go of her hand, and delivered a lightning-quick backhand slap to her left cheek. He used almost no force, letting instead the speed of the attack deliver the punishment. He didn't want to break her face in or knock her out just yet. Instead, he was trying to toy with her, trying to insult her. If he couldn't catch this fly with honey, he'd drown her in vinegar and offer her a life preserver.

[envy]

Envy was certain that his arm should have been disabled, but she was wrong. Her cover up didn't work either, he had grabbed her fist with the same hand she had meant to disable. He also seemed to taunt her, getting yet another one of his cigarettes out.

"You're going to have to hit me a lot harder than that, princess. Something more like this."

At first she was confused when he let go of her hand, then he bitch-slapped her. The force wasn't that great, but the speed delivered the sting. 'That's it... I'm sick of this!' Envy ducked down and then made a sweep-kick trying to trip him, after that her plan would be to jump back a few feet in order to prevent a counter attack and to charge up for an energy attack.

[samael]

Samael hopped ever so lightly over her sweep kick - more of a courtesy than a defense, as he didn't want to interrupt her flow by stopping her foot short. As he touched the ground again, he watched her back up and felt her aura flare a bit. Good. She was capable of manipulating her energy. She was competent.

He made no move against her, but instead took a slow, relaxed drag from his cigarette and put his hands back into his pockets.

[envy]

Envy looked up at him then smiled as she allowed a Prussian Blue aura to surround her it was light and seemed to be almost unseen. She smiled and charged up her energy, keeping a blank face as she tried to figure out what attack to try out. Envy then focused her energy into a burning ring. Normally used to trap the opponent then explode after a little while. The move she was about to atttempt was called the Galactic Donut, she didn't know why though.

She then relized that he was smoking again, either he was too powerful to consider her a threat... Or he was just plain stupid. Either one would fit perfectly.

[samael]

As Envy formed her ki into the ring and launched it Samael's way, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Centuries earlier, when he'd first developed his Crossroads Traveler technique, it took him a lot of visualization, a lot of almost meditative focus. Now all he needed to do was close his eyes and picture himself where he wanted to go.

Just in time, too. As the Galactic Donut began to tighten around Samael, he blinked out of existence. What had really happened was he'd transported himself back to the last crossroad he'd been at before bumping into Envy. He snickered to himself, took a second to straighten his jacket, and took a drag on his cigarette. As he dropped it to the ground, he held the smoke in his lungs and closed his eyes. He pictured himself back in the fight, and as he stepped on the butt to put it out, zip, he was transported once more.

He regained the battlefield a few steps behind Envy. He reached into his jacket pocket as he stepped quietly up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned, he would blow his lungful of smoke into her face as he produced his demon sword - which was hardly a sword at all - from his jacket.