A very vigilante Halloween [Invite only]

”So what do you think?” Pat queried, seemingly posing before a webcam. It took him a good bit of work and some people offering him a bit of fashion advice. Sure, Brandon Hale was not exactly the right person to ask for fashion though he was the person to give him empty praise.

”Looks pretty awesome. Didn’t know you were into cosplay.” The blonde on the screen chuckled in the sleeveless wifebeater and basketball shorts, teeth spread in a wide smile.

”Only occasionally, Halloween is a big excuse to do it though and I do have a party.” He shrugged, the simple brown orange tunic fabric moving along with him. He always wanted to dress as Gaunter O’Dimm but now was the perfect chance. Hopefully his plus one was fine with what he picked out. Orwell was always tough to read, enough that he almost wished he just invited Brandon who offered to dress up as the “cute blonde guy” from Dragon Age he was sure was named Allister.

”I’m sure your date will like it too,’ He winked and Pat found himself looking away.

”Not my date, we’re just friends. ”

”If ya say so stud,’ he chuckled, Aaron walking past in the background, only offering him a glance before going about his own day.

”Whatever ya big ole lab. Well I got like…half an hour till I need to go and I think my friend wants me to pick him up. I’ll talk to you later Hale,” He winked, and clicked to end the call. A week ago he got the letter, though he didn’t know where it came from. Could have been Luke, Matt or maybe even Ash if he were  feeling scandalous enough.  Either way he was excited, enough to pull together a competent costume that might even impress. Though he did keep his hair because that was one of his good qualities.


He whipped out his cellphone after that, stepping out of his apartment and pressing it to his ear. The tone rung for a few seconds before he heard a voice answer. ”Oh, hey miss Collin. Jordan still feelin sick?”

”Yeah, he’s still asleep now.”

”Oh, I hope he gets better soon. Tell him pat says hi,” She hung up and he sighed, looking at his phone for a moment. Well, that didn’t sound good at all but he couldn’t do anything about it. Maybe he could visit his favorite DM later, bring his favorite fried food. Because apparently despite being so thin, he loved literal trash in food form. With that done, he slipped on the small wolf masquerade mask and took to driving. Picking up Orwell was kinda easy really, they picked out a location and met there. He smiled, let him in and they were off. Quickly finding the place where they were meeting.

Ass kicking HQ.

One he walked in, he scanned to see if there was anyone there and of course they were somehow the first. Even still the entire place was decorated. Large pumpkins with various faces carved into them, huge sweeping webs clung to the ceiling and various other things associated with Halloween as well as a large table of buffet foods. Punches, alcohols and anything else they might have wanted. ”Wow, whoever did this went all out.” He chuckled, eyeing the entire thing impressed.

A simple letter in the mail converted what would otherwise be a pretty boring Halloween night into something a little more interesting. Upon opening the envelope, Luke found an invitation inside, along with a current guest list. Not everyone who would attend would be on it, of course, since people were supposed to bring a plus one, but nonetheless Luke saw a few names he would be comfortable hanging out with, namely Pat and Matt. Plus, there was free alcohol.

What was absent was the name of the host. It seemed like something Pat would do, though. It could have been a trap to get all the vigilantes in one place, too, but who would know all of their names? Either way, Luke would go with Nomos, just in case.

Part of Luke just wanted to relax, despite the weapon he was tucking away in his costume's long coat. It was probably nothing. He was probably being paranoid. Why couldn't he just shut his brain up for one night? It was always whirling with possible outcomes, sometimes ones that weren't even cause for concern. It was a great asset that he was essentially always planning a strategy for the future, but it was also cause for great anxiety.

Luke didn't know who to bring as a plus one except for his kid brother, Malachi. Sure, it could be dangerous, but it probably wasn't. Besides, he hadn't spend time with the kid for awhile, even after he moved in. They used to go to movies and play nerdy games and talk about geek culture, now all they did was avoid each other, as if the pain of what had happened to their family was too much to even entertain acknowledging. It was a good thing this night wouldn't force them too.

"Did you have to go as Batman? Do you have any other ideas for costumes, like, ever?" Luke said, messing his hair up a bit more. He had to have that Devil May Care look down if he was going to pull off Constantine. Luckily he hadn't shaved for a few days before this.

"Silence! I AM THE NIGHT! I AM JUSTICE! I AM—THE BATMAN!" Malachi yelled. At 16, he was as dorky as ever. Luke laughed nonetheless.

"Might want to work on that impression bud. You have a good enough costume. Wouldn't want to spoil it," Luke said, straightening his tie. It looked like they were ready to go.

The pair headed out the door and took Luke's car to the indicated address. The vigilante was really hoping this was legit, and not some crazy trap or villainous plot or terrorist attack. That would be really off putting. Him and Malalchi would have to go see a horror movie instead if that were the case, and horror movies always sucked.

Luke and Malachi arrived just after Pat, looking at the large, well thrown party in shock. Luke was honestly expecting a bottle of vodka, a bowl of chips, and some kind of spooky variation of truth or dare. But no, this was actually a party. Luke walked up to Pat, appraising his costume.

"Nice costume mate," Luke said in his best bad British accent. He then grabbed Malachi by his shoulders and faced him squarely towards Pat, as if presenting him. Malachi tried not to make eye contact, remaining shyly stiff "This is Malachi. Malachi, this is Pat."

"No. I'm Batman," Malachi said, mimicking the terrible Christian Bale Batman voice. Luke rolled his eyes, letting his brother go.

"Who threw this anyway? It's quite impressive. Was it you or Matt?"

Spoiler:

"You still up for that thing tonight? I mean if you don't wanna go I totally get it- I just. I don't wanna make you feel like you gotta go if you're not into it. Don't wanna force you to be stuck with me at an event you don't wanna be at for my sake." He said drawling off for a moment as he seemed to check with a genuine curiosity of Ryan's response. He was honestly inquiring to see if he would be interested. Either way he decided he would end up having to show up. But the question was, is there a required costume? The flier didn't say anything but it is a Halloween party. It is kind of implied by the nature of the party, though he was still not certain this was anything less than a trap. Be it one to cause him arm, or one to get him to show up in a costume in front of everyone while they laughed.

His phone began ringing with notifications like crazy. This early in the morning there was a mass of texts asking what everyone was going as. He noted that Stoic and Pat's numbers weren't on this list, neither were X or a few others. The phones kicked off and the messages were all the same.


I'm totally going as BmBeyond Spellbinger. Would it be in poor taste to bring my +1 as Micron?
That's gonna be dope brah. Haha and plz don't.  Oh, I got my contacts today!
You go Scarecrow of the Fields! Just don't Naruto run.
Pfft, what are you going as loser?
My costume is the best. Just sayin'. I'm Atlas, so y'all better behave!
Oof! Yes Ma'am! Hey, Matt. Can I borrow your costume!? Luna and I could put you're guy's sexual tension to shame. Awoo!!! XD  prolly just gonna be a mummy.
So there's gonna be all the V's right? Like the Legacies too, or is this just the current ones? We might have upwards of 36 people or some shit. This could be crazy! I dunno if my costume will cut it. Y'all can hate me, but I'm going as Holobone. Don't even @ me. X's costume is gonna be worse.

Jesus Christ. If this was sent to his address then it would be a manageable party. If this was posted up on their HQ board then this was going to be a full house. He began to run through all the names of people that would be there. He came up with 19 right off the top of his head, which means there would be 38 people in a room with each other. 38 people that would, in any circumstances never otherwise interact on the outside world. This was an absolutely horrible idea, but he couldn't help but love it. Silencing his phone he put it down he began to contemplate the nature of this event.

    Time was running low, so he'd have to leave food for the dog...well...dogs...

It was from an unknown host, but they knew the identities of the Vigilantes. They also had access to the HQ if that were the case. Which means his actual level of worry was heightened, and his mind was focused. Trying to formulate every area of attack. He finally found himself ready to go before heading off with Ryan and meeting up at the actual party itself. He was sweating and his heart racing for a moment as he realized that he could have been walking right into a trap. He took his bag containing his "costumes" out of the car and walked with Ryan, who already was dressed, into the meeting point. He was greeted with the other two musketeers, and an additional fun-sized one for the mix.

"Oh damn. I guess I can retire now, huh?" He asked as he pointed to Malachi and chuckled a little, walking up and putting his arms around Luke and Pat, pulling them in. "Luke, I can't tell if you're dressed as someone, or having a midlife crisis. Pat looks like he's maybe he's gonna ask me for a game of Gwent. Here I am expecting this to have been a trap to make me dress up and look ridiculous." He said with a small laugh, shaking his duffle bag, patting where he kept his costumes.

Ryan got up easy enough, a little used to the bed he had been sleeping for the past few days. It beat whatever else he was used to, though perhaps sleeping in Silus’ bed would have made it a little awkward. As he bit into what he assumed was breakfast, Matt questioned if he was going to that Halloween party still and he nodded along as if that were expected. ”Yeah, I even got a costume for it since I think that’s what people do for parties like this,” He nodded a couple times, thinking back to the costume he had picked out for himself. He was looking forward to showing off his costume, mostly because he got a bit of help making it with someone that knew what they were doing.
”Parties are fun ya know?”

Even when they arrived at the party he was equally excited, but now dressed up in his costume. Picking it out had been difficult but Ryan finally decided on dressing up as Isaac Mgdougal, the only alchemist from Fullmetal Alchemist with anything close to ice related abilities. Partially because he wanted to wear the Amestris military uniform and partially because he might have recently watched the series with the help  of a sorta friend.  ”What do you think?’ he questioned once meeting up with Matt, making a little salute and smiling.

The two of them first approached what he assumed was Matt’s friends, hence the arm resting around either of their shoulders. ”Pretty sure he’s Constantine right now. If the terrible British accent is anything to go by,” Pat smirked, winking at Luke before pulling himself from the arm and smirking at Matt. ”might have me a gwent deck or two on me though, just for the occasion. Though I think I look pretty cool,” It looked like there were a few more people milling into the party, most if not all of them in costume.

”Wait…is that who I think it is? I'll um..be right back. Take care Justice League Dark,” He held up a finger as if to say give me a moment before walking off, leaving Ryan looking a little confused before offering a small wave to Luke who likely had not walked off yet. Smiling awkwardly, while Charlatan walked to the one who looked around as tall as he remembered Cam, and the Kakashi cosplay did feel like something that fit him.

”Hi…I’m Ryan,” He said finally, introducing himself.

”That you Cam? Really digging the costume there!” Pat stated in usual bubbly fashion.

"That's my secret Matthew: I'm always in a midlife crisis," Luke said, still apparently weaving nerdy references into his dialogue. He was happy to see both Pat and Matt, especially outside of work. He managed a reluctant smile, holding onto his reserve as much as possible without seeming like an ass. All this said, he did tense up quite a bit when Matt put an arm around him. Luke did not like being touched usually, especially not unexpectedly. He wouldn't scold anyone for it, though. He just put up with it until it was over.

Malachi had wondered off, probably trying to scare people or something. Pat also left, probably chasing tail. This left Luke with Matt and someone he hadn't met before. The male introduced himself as Ryan, somewhat shyly. Luke's gaze moved from whatever space it occupied previously to the one who had initiated with him. Had Matt brought him along? Luke tried to think if Matt had mentioned him before, but Luke was notoriously bad at remembering names, despite his capability to recite large amounts of random knowledge. He supposed it was because he simply didn't bother storing 'useless' data.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ryan. Friend of Matt's?" Luke said, reaching his hand out for a firm handshake. Luke was doing that thing where he was overly formal with people he didn't know. He did this because he was quite aware of how bad he was at reading social situations. Being what he thought of as polite was a good way to not accidentally offend people, as he did sometimes when he just acted normally. Call it a defense mechanism. Don't know how to tailor your behavior to other people? Act like a classic mild mannered gentleman.

"This costume wouldn't be complete without a drink, so we should go get that. Gives me a chance to catch up with Matt and get to know you a little better," Luke said to Ryan and Matt. He could never just say 'let's get a drink' really. He always had to explain, or at least think about, the pragmatic reasoning for something. His actions never really were casual. They always had some kind of point. Those trained to see it would find that Luke never did something without justifying it with some sort of technical benefit, not that he always did this verbally. This of course didn't apply to Drunk Luke. Luke was all about furthering a goal or strengthening his position, even when he wasn't doing so consciously. Drunk Luke was all about fucking with people.

"If all this party has is light beer, we're leaving. Probably burning the building down, too."

   Matthew couldn’t help but feel Luke tense up. He knew his brother well enough to know that it was a natural response, and he didn’t want to take it personally. Sure there was the lingering little voice in his head reminding him that it was another person shunning him by instinct, but he could silence those voices quickly enough. He watched as his friends seemed to talk, people coming in rather shortly after them. One of the first pair of people found was their resident weeb and anime fan. Cameron had arrived as a battle damaged Kakashi, his weaker arm hanging limp in what they could all only hope was an attempt to keep in character. Knowing the vigilante it was highly possible he bumped into a door the wrong way. He wore the pocketed jacket with the symbol on the back, black wic material with peeled off under-armour logo faintly visible. His hair had been colored a stark silver and the headband was up over his eye the scarred eye open to reveal a contact lens that probably cost more than it should have.

   “....yeah.” He said as he followed Luke, letting a few other people come in. The person following cam had tanned skin, an off color from Cam’s pale appearance, though they also seemed to wear a wig that had been turned white. Their own eyes seemed to be amber in color and they had some stubble on their face. Braids dropped from the side of their face as they wore a signature armor with a wolf-like signet emblem hanging from a chain around his neck. Bands and belts of leather came across holding a weave of chainmail over darker leather. The costume was completed with a pair of blades, one steel and the other an exaggerated silver color, discolored skin resembling scars made it upon the young man’s face as he cleared his throat and looked around.

   “Oh this is uh...Geralt… I think. I don’t know Witcher very well. But I think you’re both...yeah. Well for what it’s worth, it’s pretty badass to see you guys.” He smiled, glowing for a moment with an uncharacteristic positivity and charisma as he turned to see a few others running in. In the time they had been talking, it appeared as thoug a man in an almost fluorescent orange body suit with black sazzing circular lines arrived, a glowing ball in his hand as he entered in with what appeared to be some Metal Gear character and a provocatively dressed woman with a big gun. The orange guy seemed to notice Ryan’s costume immediately and began to look him over, recognizing the aesthetic.

”Oh Damn dude. You’re from FMA right? Oh c’mon what’s his name. Something the chiller?” He said, rubbing his chin with the slightly clawed black fingertips, contemplating it. No sooner had he said these words out and let out a hum, he heard Cameron in the background. Kakashi shouting out from his and Geralt’s conversation.

“Isaac the freezer you fuck!” Cam said, shouting from across the room at the spellbinder. There was an audible disdain for the fact that they didn’t recognize the character. Matthew chuckled and held up a finger, telling Ryan that he’d be back in a moment before heading off with his brother to get a drink.

“Cam! There are children present!” The woman dressed as Quiet said, patting him on the shoulder. Cam looked to her, his eyes narrowing.

“There’s children present and you still decide to be a battlefield slu-” He then received a quick swat to the back of the head from the woman and immediately silencing him. “Da-hell lady!?”

“I could always have done it instead.” The man dressed as Venom Snake offered, taking a jacket and putting it around the woman. She smiled at thim and zipped herself up as she then saw the two others standing there.

“I’m sorry about him. Cam is like a little brother to me. I’m Lily and this is my boyfriend Marshal. That’s my brother Ashtyn as Spellwinder or something. I’m not real good with these character things.” She said, almost looking a little embarrassed and apologetic for being bad at recognizing anime and video game characters. She extender out her hand to Gaunter and Geralt, Marshal did the same.

“Did somebody call for Atlas!?” Someone announced, as two younger people walked in. One of them being roughly Citizen Zero’s age, the other a little older, the younger being dressed a baseball player and the other Leon Kennedy. They seemed to slip past as a woman with long blonde hair and beaming blue eyes seemed to sparkle with light as she walked forward and seemed to pose.

“Literally no-one. I knew Atlas had guns but what’s with those boobs tho?” Cam proceeded to heckle the woman for showing up as a genderbent person, though she only laughed nervously as another woman next to her stepped forward. She had long red hair and vines covering her arms, a flower in her hair as her oh so faintly sprayed green tinted skin had given her away in the elegant and seductive green dress of vines.

“Calm down there Weeby-dweeby.” She said, her tone seemed to be fitting of the character she played. She waggled a finger at Cam before looking around and patting Luna on the arm. “I think it’s time I picked MY poison. Poison Ivy-out.” She said as she made he way over towards the alcohol.

More people came in. A Devil and an Angel walked in, arm and arm. Lady Death and a man with Día de Muertos face paint on, the areas where the bone met black seemed to shine and shift different colors of the rainbow in a very prominent manner. His suit had pinstriping that did the same with the random different colors sporadically. Matthew chuckled as he saw the rather excellently done imitation of the villain, before turning and looking to Luke.

“Agreed. After we torch HQ then we go back to my house. I’ve got an entire hidden cooler. Been keeping that extra stocked. Only thing I got in my car is Seal, but uh...Not sure you’d like that so much.” Matt said with a chuckle as he looked to the beer, immediately passing it over. He wouldn’t drink that piss water for anything. In fact he was actually more likely to drink piss than that shit. He looked around and sighed as he shifted, almost uncomfortably with his duffle bag. “I came out of costume because I thought this was like...one of those things that would end up on youtube. Hehe. Suppose I could change at some point But I’m afraid I’ll miss Malachi jumping on Ash or trying to beat up Morrigan. But uh...How are ya doing?” He asked, actively fighting off his brain from overthinking even the most simple of conversations. Though he couldn’t help but realize that this was the first time he had seen Lukas since things went south with the Equalizers. True enough Drifter saved the day but now he was something else...someone else. They both were.

Ash Ketchum then joined the lobby, but his skin was far more resemblant to that of a mexican than a pale japanese kid. He was almost immediately tackled by Lady as she leapt from her conversation to hug him tightly. Quickly an entire dog pile seemed to form up on the pokemon master, Cam jumping to hug him as well, Marshall even joining in. Their little husky companion that was dressed in a pikachu costume and seemed to bark when his master was receiving all the affection that it obviously wanted. Even newcomers walked in through the door to join in. A pale young man with piercing blue eyes smiled, his pipe popping out of his mouth as he pulled off his detective cap and a kid around fourteen with a theatrically large moustache and a monocle hopped in on it too.

“ALEX! NIHILUS!” Spellbinder shouted as he recognized the two, hopping from Ash to them as he started to talk their ear off. Nihilus walked over to Ryan, Alex following him and Ash doing so as well.

“Hey, nice costume.” Nihilus said to Ryan as he smiled and nodded. “Isaac the Freezer McDougal. It’s original that’s for sure.”

Ryan didn’t know what to do with meeting new people, but he tried to adapt to it anyway. Accepting the firm feeling handshake, hoping they didn’t comment on the fact he seemed to run a good few degrees lower than the norm. Someone always seemed to notice that, except for Matt for some reason he couldn’t quite tell. He tried to consider the costumes of everyone that came in, though not all of them were ones he could recognize. Most were from shows he had seen before and some likely from games he hadn’t played, which made him wonder how much he had managed to miss in his life.  The Gaunter O’Dimm dressed Pat however moved across the floor to greet people he vaguely knew, starting with Cam who was currently dressed as Kakashi.

”Yeah, been meaning to get to know some of Matt’s friends,” Ryan agreed, wondering what he would even drink considering he wasn’t a big fan of alcohol. Never tasted quite right to him and from what he could tell his friend didn’t exactly get drunk anyway. Pat however was busy seeing what people were upto, considering there were just so many people to greet.

”Gaunter O’Dimm, just your humble mirror merchant,” He smiled at Cam and the unknown Geralt cosplayer with the unusual jawline. It was pretty nice to see the guy, glowing even more than he was used to from what he saw of him. Maybe he just really liked parties.  ”good to know I’m not the only nerd with a thing for The Witcher. All we’re missing is a good Ciri cosplay and I think we’d be cooking with fire there,” He mused stroking his chin in an almost thoughtful manner as everyone seemed to get along with each other. A complex weave of conversation leaving him unsure how to actually intercede. He broke from Cam and circled around to the table where it looked like there were drinks, hoping to maybe get rid of this unwarranted anxiety.

That came to be with a bit of what looked like vodka and coke because he was a simple bitch like that. Didn’t stop it from being bitter by any means but then again, he didn’t care about the taste when he wanted to get a little drunk. Yeah, he would get himself drunk pretty soon with something like this. He hovered around Luke when he was standing around the table. ”So who do you think started this whole thing? If it wasn’t me and I doubt it wasn you, probably wasn’t even Matt but then who’s our culprit here?” He began to ponder with his friend, curiously sipping at his drink which still tasted bad. ”could be Khaos, but I that’s just a guess I suppose.” More speculation though the supposed they would find out soon enough. Anything that got them some kind of amusement, and he liked the idea of just a good party.

Ryan however, after maybe one or two comments on his costume just seemed to follow behind the person he came with and picked out one of the plastic cups of cola or was it pepsi? It was something and tasted nice so he worked at it. Giving token responses to anyone who commented on his costume.

Luke was tacitly aware that Matt and probably Pat felt denied or even offended by his reluctance towards physical contact, but it wasn't like there was anything to be done about it. Luke tensed up, and even recoiled, naturally. Like an abused dog, it wasn't that he hated anyone that was touching him, only that there was a certain automatic cautiousness. That trust had been broken before. Someone that claimed to love him and to want nothing more than to keep him safe had beaten him within an inch of his life as a child several times. As a consequence, there was always this idea in Luke's unconscious mind that even those he trusted most could turn on him, ruthlessly lashing out at any moment. No, Matt wasn't being denied. If Luke wanted to deny him, it would be clear that's what he was doing. Matthew need not read between the lines with Luke.

After they had walked over to the drink table, Matt started saying something about his costume. Luke was listening, but he was more focused on scanning the table. Thankfully there was quite a selection. He didn't plan on getting drunk tonight, but he still wanted a little to loosen up. He was far too paranoid and in his head for a party sober. So, Stoic poured himself a crystal glass of whiskey, taking a sip just as Matt asked how he was doing.

Luke's brow furrowed, thinking about how to answer that. It had been awhile since him and Matt had truly interacted, especially on completely friendly terms. Last they had seen of each other for any extended period was in LA, after they had taken down those communist wannabes that apparently missed the 'your ideas suck' memo. That experience at least wasn't totally hostile between the two. Maybe it was the start of something better.

"I'm in contact with someone that is going to look into getting me a better hand—skin graphs and everything. I won't have to wear gloves anymore, so that's nice," Luke said, raising his gloved hand in reference. Sometimes he forgot about it, honestly, so he felt the need to remind people. It wasn't that it was anyone's fault, it was only that he should have been far more broken up because of it than he seemed to be. He lost a limb and he seemed completely normal and stable, so much so that people might forget that something actually was wrong. He had lost a limb, for the love of God.

"Other than that concrete stuff, better than usual. See, I can only really control myself. I stopped wasting energy on trying to manipulate things I can have no effect on whatsoever. Everyone is gonna do what they're gonna do. I don't care anymore. I'll just rely on myself. At least I know that I can be trusted to some degree. Everyone and everything else is sorta up in the air—too fickle to put much faith in. Call it a 'I think, therefore I am' moment. I can only be certain of what's in my head—what I am and what I'm going to do, because that's actually under my control," Luke said, rambling on a bit. What he said was honest though. It might have seemed very pessimistic and perhaps even insensitive, but he had been pushed to that point time and time again. He was so independent because, in one way or another, imagined or real, people had failed him. People had shown just how little their words and loyalty meant. He would still of course have friends and have some amount of trust in those that had not wronged him very much, but he could never fully believe that those people would stay on his side in every possible condition. Love, trust, friendship, loyalty; all of these things were conditional, no matter what anyone said. That fact had been proven to him time and time again. So long as that was true, he'd always only ever put full faith in himself. Others could, if only theoretically, flip on a dime.

"In any case, I'm pretty happy, all things considered. What about you?" Luke asked, taking another sip of his drink. It was at that point that Malachi jumped out from the shadows (behind a wall, actually), attempting to leap onto Ryan's back.

"You're insane! I'm taking you to Arkham!" Malachi said, his hands likely around Ryan's head at this point, covering his eyes. Luke couldn't help but laugh. Malachi was always so hammy and ridiculous.

Patrick had started his discussion with Cam, but suddenly the Geralt figure's eyes widened as he seemed to stare at Pat as if he were trying to steal his soul. Pat hadn't seemed to notice, but the staring eventually went away. It was easy to tell that the Geralt costume was having it's effect on things. Slowly the man began to ask some questions around, wondering what was the identity of the one in the robes, dressed like a beggar.

"Well I'm glad that you knew the right people then. If anyone gives you any trouble let me know. I may have a few people that know how to do that kind of thing. The hospital I work at actually made a prosthetic that moved with neurological stimulation and had receptors that emulated the return function of nerve-" Matthew began to say this before he slowly realized that he wasn't helping at all. He needed to take a step back and let everyone else do their own thing. They needed to be free of him and his incessant supremacy. He didn't need to be a savior, he didn't need to be a devil. He needed to be himself, and that was all he needed to be. Even if he didn't really know who that was anymore. Besides, whomever or whatever Luke had to rely on was likely more trustworthy than him. It made sense, it was logical. Given the chance of being in Luke's place, he couldn't say that he would trust himself either.

Pat had walked up in the conversation and began to speak, talking about who could have thrown this mystery party. Matt looked to him with a quizzical look, wondering who in fact had put this together. He seemed slightly alarmed though he shook his head to his fun-loving sibling. "N-no. I can tell you that Ash can't even organize his underwear drawer. He couldn't do a secret party this good. He'd be too scared to invite non-vigs too." He said before noticing that Ryan had finally made his way over with them. Matthew took a drink into his hand, reaching to a small tub with metal ice shovels, scooping some into a plastic cup as he handed it to Ryan. He secretly then began to wonder if Ryan liked to drink room temperature pepsi and drinks the same way people preferred the ice-cold variant. Was he being offensive? Overthinking? He tried to keep up with everything going on, but his focus was primarily on Luke as he spoke.

"Well as always I suppose that we agree on about 70 to 80% of what you said. Finer details and what-have-you. I guess that's good for you though. You've found your zen state. Accepting what you CAN control is the first step to being able to balance yourself and the ripples you make. Well at least...You're happy. Content at the least. I'm happy for you." He said as he tried to refrain from going into too much of a sagely tangent and retracting to trying to just be himself. Of course there was a hiccup on the way, but he didn't mind as long as he kept trying. He smiled kindly before hearing a sudden call out that someone was insane. He felt the air around him shift and he stepped off to the side. The voice was only so familiar, though the sudden outburst caused him to smile slightly at the sight of Luke's younger brother. He couldn't help but anticipate Ryan turning into a puddle, and laughing at the concept that this was somehow his natural defense mechanism for sudden startling things. It was better than being intimidated though, at least this way he kept his clothes on.

"Well, well! Good work Batman. You caught...Mr.Freeze?" Matt chuckled as he looked to Ryan, uncertain if he would cope well with the sudden assault from the young boy. He shook his head as suddenly he watched as a Mariachi, though his ethnicity was entirely off. The next thing he heard was a loud

"Mad Matt!" A voice called. A tall young man that stood over six foot ran up in a black trench coat with a black lightning scar from his eye, his skin painted a pale white and hypno goggles on his head, his hair was red and spiked. Matthew immediately recognized Jordan, dressed as Jack Spicer with his little backpack.

"DADDY!" Next to him was a paler young woman, standing at Matt's height, wrapping her arms around him. The way she spoke it was hard to tell if she had called him Daddy or Matty. He was hoping that was the case. Ryan would be easy to fool, but trying to explain this to everyone else was going to be a pain in the ass.She wore a robe that cut slightly angled from her mid calf up to the other leg's mid thigh, the blood red sash bound around her waist and the purple trim along her sleeves almost draped over the floor. Her hair had been dyed several shades of red and her natural green eyes glistened against the running mascara.

"Oh. Hi guys! I'm a bit busy right now, with my brothers so if I could just have a minute...also nice costumes. Wuya killin' it." He chuckled as he rubbed the girl's back sending her off with a chuckle. She happily seemed to leave the area, making small talk with Cameron. As the Jack Spicer began to walk off, Matthew grabbed him by the arm and motioned for him to lower his head. Once there, Matthew whispered to the man. "If anyone so much as touches her, you cut their balls off."

"Totally dude." He said with a smile, his blue eyes peering across the room before he stared at Pat, looking him over and smiling. "You're not human, that's clear. So what are you? A demon? A djinn?" He asked, making his breath more scratchy and course, as if trying to imitate a voice he had heard, one that seemed almost stoic in presentation, yet with an earnest intrigue hiding beneath it. He had hoped Pat would play along, though the Geralt individual had walked up and watched the two, looking at their interaction with Intrigue, slowly eyeing at Pat as if he were something to be cautious of.

"Hey! It's Dante!" He shouted as Dante arrived, he was dressed as a vampire, meanwhile Cameron's "cousin" Cain was dressed as a mummy, bandages weaving over his skin and golden pieces of jewelry adoring him as his eyes were colored by the white contacts. Matthew looked back to Luke and noted the chaos mounting, he knew he didn't really answer Luke's question, but at this point it would be too awkward to pick up and answer right where it had been. He decided to simply leave the question unanswered. If Luke really wanted to know then he would ask again. If not then Matthew would know that the opportunity was there to speak, had he not been distracted. Meanwhile the fact that there was a Batman was now garnering the attention of Ashytn, whom had come dressed as Spellbinder, and "The" Morrigan whose metapowers had only complimented her choice as Poison Ivy.

"Well it looks like he's going to have fun beating the crap out of our friends." He chuckled as he noted Malachi's costume choice clashing with the series of villains from the same universe. It wasn't long for Azrael, or rather Nihilus to arrive and look at Ryan, then to Malachi and cock his head to the side, slightly confused at the fact that there was another "young body" here.

"Batman vs. Isaac. That's YouTube worthy. Hey- CJ! Come 'ere!" He shouted. In a heartbeat a slightly red-headed with strong dark brown vibes approached in his baseball suit smiling and nodding to Matt.

"Okay. Luke, Pat. Everyone and anyone near me or anyone who cares...this is my little brother. CJ, and this is uhm. X-cuse me, his friend Josh." He said to Luke, emphasizing that the one dressed as Leon Kennedy was something to do with an X. He had full faith that Luke could put it together. The 15 year old baseball player held out his hand, meanwhile X just gave a small salute to Luke.

"Hey, so uh... Between Batman, Sherlock Holms and Constantine, can somebody tell me who set this whole thing up?" The young boy dressed in a moustache and old Victorian clothes asked as he adjusted his fake monocle asked, addressing the whole party. There were a couple whispers as to who thought Matt had set this up, then there were people who thought it was Pat, and some even ventured to guess it was Ash. To which Matthew proceeded to mumble once more abut his underwear drawer.

Pat didn’t expect Luke to really comment on the question about the mysterious benefactor of the party, though he admitted to himself he could have done without the long Luke way of speaking. Not that he would have ever told his friend to cut down on the words. That was just how he worked, and it would have felt wrong otherwise. His friends afterall were people he would never want to change. ”Not sure what underwear has to do with parties but I’ll take your words for it Matt. Though now,” He cut off, seemingly deep in thought. Likely about Ash’s underwear. Because if there was one thing he was, it was predictable. Not that anyone would have accused him of being anything other than that. It was a downfall of his really, being unable to keep his mind from drowning within the gutter. The weird, silent guy that came with Matt looked like he was enjoying his cold drink.

Mostly because he was drinking it and not speaking too much. Occasionally taking considerable glances at his friend, though he didn’t make any assumptions about that.  Could never tell what was what with introverted types. That was when Malachi appeared with his Batman impression and scared the poor guy, resulting in him…melting into a puddle? Water slipped through fingers and seemed to slither across the ground behind Matt, or as close as he could be to that before reforming into the person with costume untouched. ”Sorry about that. It was a…um…reflex,” He apologized awkwardly, looking around those around him and then the two new people that had approached, one of them calling his friend daddy or Matty.

Daddy sounded way funnier.

”Either you have a secret daughter or there’s some weird shit going on here. Either way I’m fine with it,” His eyes turned towards the two and immediately lit up. ”Alright, I just met you two and I already like you. Damn, nice choice in costumes,’ He was already forgetting his anxiety and it didn’t hurt one of them likely looked attractive under the Jack Spicer face paint. Either way he proved himself having good taste in costume. Ryan however was trying to figure out the daddy thing, or just hoping it was something more explainable. Like the Matty thing. Was anyone even allowed to call him that? That was when Jack Spicer quoted a bit of Witcher at him and he responded in kind.

"Do you really wish to know?"

"Yes." Jordan responded.

"No, Geralt, you don't. This one time I shall spare you and not grant your wish." He responded with what sounded like the same mysterious warning that came in O’dimm’s voice. Something that suggested he was more than what he appeared, dangerous enough that even knowing his name would destroy a man’s life. Their sanity. Pat liked to believe the smile he allowed to form afterwards sold it, calm, affable and even creepy. With that he interlaced his fingers and felt vaguely aware of eyes on him, though he brushed it off considering the number of people.

There was talk of Batman vs The Freezer, which lead to Matt calling someone over. His brother? Well it was good to meet the actual brother. The guy looked like he was mid-teens, with reddish hair and a pretty basic costume. Dressing up as a baseball player was like one step above just not wearing anything at all. People did that for sports and something told him the guy was also an actual baseball player. Now that was like a police officer just going in work clothes for Halloween.  He smiled and shook the gingers hand. ”Nice to meet the actual brother,” He said with a smile, putting on the usual airs. Didn’t want to have his family hate him, especially what he assumed was one of them that didn’t sound like a total tool. Unless he was a covert one. Now that would have been awkward.

Withdrawing his hand, he stepped back and took in the statement said by the mustachioed child. Pat considered them for a moment, swearing that he had seen him before but couldn’t place where that was. Instead he furrowed his brow, pouring more drink once he realized that he was out and his mental faculties were beginning to become muddled. ”I have no idea. Think we might have to have someone fess up or we’ll have like a whole who’dunnit thing,” As if his statement was the cue, the lights seemed to flicker for a moment.

Off and then on. Though they took a slight orange tinge to them, the entire room changing slightly. What looked to be cobwebs clung more obviously to the wall,  a few more smoking cauldrons appeared with more obvious decorations and then a spotlight settling into the center of the room where someone stood. Bats fluttering around the room. A male from what he could tell. Medium brown hair, simple orange shirt with a black vest over a black button up shirt and wearing also black slacks, with the thing that stood out being the tie which was a solid looking pink. It was when he turned towards him that he noted the mans eyes were also a neon pink. Like they were glowing.

”Honestly, I was supposed to wait half an hour but the suspense was just killing me,” A subdued blow of trumpets came. ”hi, I’m your mysterious party host. Amor, warden of love and currently master of ceremonies. ” That was when he noticed the freckles, because they were obvious now. He waggled his hands in the approximation of jazz hands. ”Tada!”

New people came and interrupted what would have been a conversation between Luke, Matt, and Pat. One individual called Matt 'Daddy,' or perhaps 'Matty.' It was hard to say, but Luke didn't pay it any mind either way. With the levels of fucked up in Humanity's household, he wouldn't be surprised if the guy had a random daughter he'd never heard about, and he'd also not be surprised if someone got as much joy out of calling Matt Matty as he did. Both were possibilities, but both were also inconsequential.

Matt made it clear that one of the individuals was somehow X related with his clever little pronunciation trick, though Luke wondered how many people would catch on if he had figured it out so quickly. Probably didn't matter. Luke just gave a little wave as he was introduced to everyone, sipping on his drink in a relaxed posture, leaning up against the table.

It was at this point that the question of who threw the party once again came up. Luke for once didn't really have an idea. Everyone seemed accounted for and nobody was claiming to have thrown it, so Pat was right. Unless someone admitted it nobody would ever know. Luke just shrugged. He supposed it didn't really matter.

"I guess we'll never know," Luke said. As if to instantly refute that, the lights started to flicker. On and off, on and off. Luke started peering around, wondering if this was just a really dramatic entrance or some kind of attack. He had his hand on his weapon, Nomos, but it was quickly evident he wouldn't need it. A familiar face appeared after the most tacky show of theatrics Luke had ever seen, standing in a spotlight in the center of the room. Luke sighed.

Oh no.

What is he doing here? Luke thought, pouring himself another drink after downing the last one. This was going to be awkward, or at least embarrassing by proxy.

"Jazz hands? Really?" Luke said, smirking a bit. Amor was such a dork.

Nihilus being in good spirits was something Matthew hadn't anticipated. But then again he was a child and he was in the pressence of everyone that Matt himself had considered to be close and dear to his heart. Despite all of his flaws, Nihilus truly was the best version of himself. He was a spiteful little shit, a grizzled and hardened version to be sure, yet even Nihilus apperance appeared to be exactly as Humanity recalled himself. The last time he actually felt like himself.

Lights flickered, beginning to prey upon his generalized anxiety, only exasberated by vigilante paranoia. The lights then seemed to turn to a orange hue, his eyes twitched a moment as he seemed to discretely place his ahnd behind his back. A spotlight went to "center stage" and bats errputed and Matthew reached for his back, hand sliding up his back to get the concealed dagger he normally carried. The eruption was concerning as his heart raced and all he could think of was immediately finding a safe place for everyone to evacuate. He couldn't help but notice that no one else reacted in a poor fashion. Sure some were focused on the source of this. He began to shrink back and draw his hand away at their host made himself known.

"Whooo! Do it again!" Ash shouted a few people laughed, the Quiet cosplayer seemed to punch him in the arm, grantign quite a few more laughs. Everyone seemed to enjoy the spectacle as even a few migrated towards Amor, trying to figure out just how he made that happen. Matthew looked over to see An Lu and Seth standing towards the doorway, the look of existential dread in the Vitetnamese man's eyes as he nodded to Matt and made his prompt exit from the establishment. Ash seemed to look over to Pat and shurg, unsure as to why the woman had hit him. "Friend fo yours?" He asked, trying to figure out who Amor was with, and how exactly he would have known all of the vigilantes.

"Probably, given the Jazz hands." Cam said, teasing the dorky behaviour as something that aligned with Pat. People were still clapping but Humanity seeme dto be like the black cat in the room, his hair on end as he heard the word "Warden" as he immediately went to his phone and pressed *43 then #67. The number would be sent via a text messsage to his own balanced warden friend, alerting them that it was a situation 67, he needed to get the hell out of dodge until it was cleared. Nihilus looked to Humanity with a cocky smirk on his face, seeming to enjoy seeing Humanity on his back foot, feeling at a disadvantage. There was no fight here, there was no combat but this seemed to be the only things he knew anymore. Even when he tried to relax there was just a scared, broken man in headlights like a little fawn.

"Well that was quite an entrance." He said as he composed himself a bit, his radiating fear seeming to disappate as he came to his senses a bit better. Nihilus' smile faded, the joy he felt equally as fleeting as the anxiety Matt had felt. He looked and nodded to Amor, his mind searching and scanning for as to why this man felt so familiar to him. He shrugged it off as he looked over at Cam, Ash and Pat.

"So...wait. This one yours, Pat?" Ash asked with a waggle of the eyebrow. It was immediately shot down when "this one" was interprited as if this was his "Plus one". The theatrics and the campy nature would indicate a friend of Pat to be sure, but medium length and unkempt silvery blue hair with a shork crop jean jacket with a white shirt and a strange sword belted arouns his back, a rather calm and unimpressed voice seemed to step up next to Pat.

"That would be me." He said as he looked at Amor, then to Pat. HJe cleared his throat a little and adjusted the Capsual Corp. jacket and smiled with a nod at his only real friend there. "Sorry I'm late. Dad was at it again." Orwell said apologetically.

Pat looked around, considering the whole sensory display that was going on and then the person he assumed was responsible. ”Pretty sure I haven’t met a guy who looks like that before,” Pat responded when everyone was speaking about and speculating who this person was. Mostly apparently, they had some connection to him. Because that was just how he acted, which was fair when he thought about it. Their new guest seemed to be enjoying the new attention though, basking in it almost like it were sunlight. Laughing and talking with anyone who seemed to actually start conversation, though he did notice Luke react a certain way. Mostly as if he might have mildly known this person.

”Besides, this guy is my plus one.” he jerked a thumb towards Orwell dressed up as Trunks, looking at Cam and Ash with a smirk. ”though now that has me wondering who he’s with.”

”Huh, sounds like everyone wants to know who I’m with. Well that’s a pretty good questions.’ Amor looked around, hands rested on his hips and an finally narrowed his gaze on one member of the party squarely. With an audible snap he was gone and appeared next to Stoic, giving him a clean two second time to recognize and understand what he was doing before resting an arm over his shoulder and pulling him close. ”I’m with this fine guy right here. I probably should have come as Zatanna, yeah that would have been way better. ”

”Wait what? Really?” Pat questioned looking genuinely surprised. Over what he had no clue really, but it might have been the likely surprising reveal that…something was happening.

”Yeah really.” He nodded, taking a sip from what looked to be a glass of bubbling liquid. ”I’m responsible for the party if my prior statement wasn’t obvious enough. I made the party so…like enjoy it I guess.”

Amor appeared next to him. As quick as Stoic's reflexes were, he couldn't react before the male's arm was around him, pulling him close. Luke flinched, then went stiff like a cat that didn't want to be picked up. He sat there awkwardly, embarrassed at Amor's little display in front of everyone. He blushed, knowing nobody in this room would never let this down.

Stoic tugged away from Amor, his brow furrowing to it's usual serious position. He was playing it cool now, brushing off his longcoat a bit, as if someone touching it were a capital offense. Luke didn't like surprises for many reasons, but forcing him to show cracks in his calculating composure was chief among them.

"Spontaneous as ever, I see," Luke said dryly, taking a sip from his drink and wincing a bit. He had intended not to say too much about the whole Warden Lover thing. It wasn't like it was anyone's business. But, Amor had to go and ruin that. Oh well.

"This is Amor. He's something called a Warden. They maintain certain things in our reality. Keep the gears working behind the scenes, so to speak. We've encountered a few before, most of which wanted to kill us. Amor's a nice one though. He's my.....friend. Nobody get any weird ideas. I know how paranoid you all are, but it's alright. Enjoy yourselves," Luke said to the group, eying Humanity when he said 'paranoid.' Sure, Matt had every right to be considering what happened in Asylum, and how powerful Wardens were. One randomly showing up without counter measures could be a catastrophe. But, Luke was as paranoid as anyone in the room, and he knew Amor wasn't a problem.

Luke poured himself another drink, this time some wine, and swirled the red contents in his glass. He didn't want every drink to be so strong. After all, he wasn't intending to get plastered tonight. With wine, he could drink a lot more without becoming totally wrecked. It was the perfect social drink. He took a sip of it, surprised at the quality. This might have been the best wine he'd ever had.

"What? I'm not the first one of us to get close with a metaphysical being," Luke said in response to the inevitable stares from Pat and Matt, or at least, the perceived stares. It was pretty certain they'd want some explanation for this.

"I will admit, however........ This was pretty reckless. I don't like surprises, Amor. Please notify me before you do something like this in the future. One of these guys could have ended up blowing this place up. Nobody here is exactly normal." Luke looked at Amor as he spoke. He wasn't angry or anything. He spoke with the same levelness he usually did. It was just rather apparent he wasn't too fond of what had been done here.