Bliss meets Pain. They learn valuable life lessons.

Bliss looked amazing in the mirror. She pulled on the black outer stitching of her fluffy, green dress with a hand that held a pistol. In the reflection of the mirror stood two tuxedo attired men with their torsos and mouths taped to a post. With quick planning, Bliss and Ashley gained the upper hand in corporate intrigue. These two suited gentlemen would act as their pieces to get the blueprints from the device Dr. Cosmos so hastily cast aside. "Just be quiet and this will all be over very soon." Bliss tossed flipped her curled hair over her shoulder. "But look on the bright side; you learned not to try and follow relationships that would lead to you cheating on your wives."

After Ashley sent the demands to Clement, the files would go through a series of trap door programs Bliss made. In a few hours they would gain the blue prints they needed to develop that machine that Clements so vainly toted to the entire world. All Bliss needed to do was send the location of the businessmen once Ashley called.

Silence came to an end at the echoing of heels into the warehouse. "I let myself in through the back." A woman with slicked back hair and black glasses walked with authority in a gray business suit. "I see you and I are doing business together today."

Befuddled by the circumstances she found herself in, Bliss aimed the gun towards Elizabeth. "You need to stop."

"Do you know why I'm here little girl?" An eerie sense of control sat into the room. "I need these men for something, and I don't like your little games. I am willing to take advantage of it though." She continued her stride towards Bliss. "Actually I should be thanking you. This will probably make me CEO of Clement."

"I told you to stop!" Bliss exclaimed and lowered the gun to send a bullet into Elizabeth's knee. The gun misfired and sent a bullet skimming along Bliss's head. This seemed familiar. It came back to her; Bliss remembered pulling the same maneuver against The Duke in England. She held the firing mechanism on The Duke's gun and caused it to misfire and go straight through her head. Since Bliss aimed down for Elizabeth's knee the bullet only grazed Bliss, but the graze took a toll on her.

"Let me see that." Elizabeth reached down and picked up Bliss's pistol. "This won't do." She pulled a pistol out of her bag and placed it in Bliss's hand to get her prints on it. With incrimination on Bliss, she took the gun in her sterilized glove hand, and fired off two shots at both executives landing in their chests. She looked down at Bliss. "Better be safe." She took a few steps forward and fired two shots into the heads of both men. "I should shoot you, but I need a villain." Elizabeth stood over Bliss in a domineering manner. "The police will be here soon, and will find this gun with your grimmey little prints all over it."

Bliss rolled over on her side to watch the dangerously controlled woman leave the building. All the calamity within the situation dissipated with the roar of sirens. Blood dripped along her head, leaving a trail of incriminating evidence behind. Normally she would manipulate the molecules and keep the blood on her, butt he shock robbed her of her underworld reasoning. She stumbled to her feet and made her way for the back alley entrance.

Cold air welcomed Bliss to the night. Shouts and orders barked and echoed through the alleys as police moved to storm the warehouse. It would only be a few seconds before the police occupied the same alley Bliss did. It had been a awhile since she pulled this maneuver, but Bliss put her foot against the wall and pushed off with a shot sending her into the air and across the alley. She hit the wall and sent another blast to project her onto the rooftop of the an adjacent building.

Her scrawny little arms pulled herself up and onto the rooftop. Staggering along the top, she gained composure. Pipers released steam in a small bouquet of industry; a structure that looked like a stairwell stood in the middle of the roof. A vertigo of confusion, guilt, and betrayal sank in. She pulled out her cell phone to call Ashley to let her know what happened with a dim moon lighting the top of the flat roof.

"Ashley. The, uh..." Her hand rubbed across her forehead. "The guys are dead. That lady killed them. I didn't have time to get the gun..."

"Bliss they're going to run the prints! They'll find you." A frantic voice came through the receiver.

"I was setup; she knew where I was, and brought a gun to plant."

"Get back here now! We need to leave the city."

"I'm coming. Get out of town. I'll meet up with you soon. Head to Nebraska." Bliss pressed the 'End' button and pocketed her phone in her hand bag. Voices erupted from below her letting her know her time was overstayed at the crime scene. If she made it back home quick enough she could use her computer to delete her personal files from the governments database. Why she never did that before dumbfounded her as she made her way towards the end of the rooftop.

Pain found himself high above the city, on the tallest skyscraper on this side of town. In between his lips loosely hung a perfectly rolled blunt which had been smoked down about halfway. He’d been here for about a half hour now, trying to take it easy after one hell of a week. Only trying to clear his head at this point, but almost nothing could get his mind off it. The Big Man wasn’t watching over the city like he normally did, instead he lazily sat up against the entrance to the stairwell. Having a nineteen year old daughter you didn’t even know existed with your first love, man this sucked. Even worse, she hated his guts, or at least she seemed like she did. Couldn’t blame her with the way he acted, he shook his head and softly exhaled. “Dumbass..” He inhaled another hit as his right hand moved up to brush through his hair, holding it their to scratch his scalp as he lost himself even further in his thoughts. Maybe he was just being too hard on himself, or maybe he should be doing something about it instead of moping about. He racked his brain trying to figure out what to say, and it may be safe to bet that the day might come, they’ll forgive what he’s done, but it still hasn’t happened yet.

Sirens rang through his ears like nails on a chalkboard, duty calls, interrupting his thoughts like always. Probably a good thing though, anything was better than sitting up here feeling sorry for himself. He sluggishly got back to his feet and cracked his back as he straightened himself out. “I need a day off.” This city was lucky he hardly ever needed sleep, because it pretty much needed a twenty-four hour watch. He walked over to the roof’s edge and glared down at the massive city before him. The city was much nicer at night, despite it being so brightly lit. He quickly located where the sirens had been coming from, his eyes locked in on the position. The police lights could faintly be seen from here, guess he’d better get moving if he wanted to stop whatever was going on. He inhaled one last heavy hit before taking the shriveled blunt from his lips and crumbling it to dust in his right hand; the wind simply carried what was left away. “Might as well get this over with.” He uttered in his gruff voice as he popped his neck from left to right.

The Big Man did not use much strength to aid in his jumping, only just enough to propel him to where he wanted to go. For the average bystanders who were still out this late, it looked as if he were flying across the city, but he was actually hurdling across it. From building to building he easily leaped, using only one foot to propel him. It did not take long for the legendary hero to reach his destination, his knees bending as he skillfully landed atop a very tall building that overlooked the warehouse. The police and swat teams had the place completely surrounded, but Pain had a feeling something bigger was going down here. “Lotta’ cops. Somethin’ ain’t right.” He looked around in hopes of finding something, or some one. It had to have been just dumb luck; a suspicious looking young woman came into his sights. She stood at the end of a rooftop two buildings from him, and he immediately shortened the gap with one simple leap. Pain wasn’t exactly discreet, so he was more than likely noticed when he landed on the taller building adjacent to the one his suspect stood on. “I get the feeling you’re the one those cops are after. The hell did you do to drag out a crowda’ cops like that? He spoke out loud enough for her to hear.

Gravity never escaped her. Neither the long drop nor the hulking man opposite would help her escape the situation. "So what?" Her heel stepped back onto the ledge. Attempts to run would only lead to her tiring herself out. What point could come from running from a man who leaped buildings anyways. She only saw two options, and one of them would lead to a desperate act that she may not come back from. "Just cause cops are after someone doesn't mean they did something."

Bliss taking a plummet from a building no longer sat in her mind as an option. "I need to be somewhere else, so you'll have to excuse me if I come off as shrew in this meeting." The best course of action played through her mind, but gave her no insights into whether or not this man before her stood as an antagonist to her. Whatever his motives would turn into action soon enough. Her best defense against him came wrapped up in a cute, green dress and hidden beneath her skin. "But, I should probably get back to leaving the crime scene so that the police can fully do there job."

Feeling a sense of readiness Bliss calmly took a knee and opened up her hand bag. Her trembling hands betrayed her sense of calmness. She wrapped a tie around her wrist and began to pull her curled hair behind her head. It took hours to give it life after being tied in a pony tail for so long, but things could get bad. She straightened her legs and pulled her hair back, leaving curled bangs resting in her face. Brevity collapsed into non-absolution of detail. "I..." She could not conjure the words to explain herself. "...need to go now."

The Big Guy stood powerfully with his hands rested at his sides; he was ready for anything right now. Just cause’ a gal looked innocent, didn’t mean she was, sometimes those were the most dangerous kind. His piercing blue gaze never left her, giving her the obvious hint he was suspicious of her. His head softly shook at her claiming to be innocent, he had no reason to believe or doubt her, but she did have nearly all of NYPD after her. Those loud, annoying sirens rang through his ears constantly; he just wanted to deal with this crook so they’d stop. Times like this made him wish he did have a sidekick or something like that.

Pain chose to remain quiet while the young woman trailed on, but he still didn’t have his answer. If she thinks she’s walking away from him that easily, she’s dead wrong. At any moment, he could jump down to that rooftop, but he kept himself still, waiting until it was clear she was his foe. He always gave crooks the chance to surrender, but if they didn’t, well they gotta’ deal with the Big Guy. Pain rose his brow as the young woman knelt down to tie her hair up, guess she was expecting a fight, just odd that she let her guard down to do that. Something about her seemed off..

“I don’t think so. You ain’t goin’ anywhere til’ I say so.” His glare narrowed in on her, making sure to keep a close eye on her for any sudden movements; he didn’t have a clue what she was capable of. He inhaled a deep breath through his nose before continuing. “Cops don’t just come out like that for nothin’. If you ain’t the one who pissed em’ off, then who did? She seemed much different than the normal crook, by now he would have been stuck fighting them, but she just wanted to get out of here. Why? He racked his brain for an answer, but none came to him, he wasn’t exactly a detective like his buddies in the Phantoms. His right leg moved forward to lead the other, readying himself to leap from this rooftop in case something happened.

A fitting question giving the circumstances, roles reversed she would ask the same question. That made this conversation seem very predictable and sequential. Bliss thought out the repercussions of lying and telling the truth. Lying lacked evidence, and the truth lacked more evidence than lying. The only way out of this rested within a little glimmer of insight into the man currently waylaying her.

His leg moved forward in anticipation to lunge at her. Escape seemed unlikely without a fight, and this guy looked mammoth. She fought big guys before, and she tried to remember how that went down. She could hardly remember fights anymore, they became as meaningless as squabbles amongst school children. "There was a murder. Two if we're doing a body count." Wind picked up her hair and moved it across her face. The rooftop retreat made the wind cut through the avenues like a river of knives. "I was responsible for the murders, but I didn't do it. I didn't even help." The rooftop would present her an ally. She could probably summon more use out of the steam pipes and glass windows than the muscle bound man could.

"You may want to take me in..." She paused briefly. "...but I can't let that happen." Things could devolve from here, but she resolved to make her stand. "You see, I have something I need to do to protect those closest to me. I don't know if you know anything about that, and frankly I don't care. But if you try and keep me from it, I'll make the pain I feel by letting her down transcendental into you."

Fierce bright blue optics narrowed in on the young woman when she claimed to be responsible for two murders. Her wording confused the Big Guy, how could she be responsible but not have anything to do with it? Maybe she was blaming herself for whatever happened, or maybe she was just lying, but then why would she claim to be responsible? A frustrated and clearly suspicious expression clung to his face; he didn’t really want to deal with this right now. A breeze gusted by as the old fashion stare off continued, Pain’s short dark grey hair being ruffled by the cool night air.

He inhaled a deep breath through his nostrils when he heard ‘I can’t let that happen.’ Pain would’ve thrown out one of his famous one liners right then and there, but she still seemed to have some things to say. His mouth remained shut while his left hand curled up into a fist, loudly cracking every bone in his hand. The Big Guy was ready to fight if necessary, but what she said next threw him off a bit. That didn’t sound at all like something the crooks he normally dealt with would say, well, minus the threat. A cocky, sly smirk cracked onto his scarred face. So she wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of protecting those close to her, not even the Big Man himself. Even if she did end up an enemy of his, he had to respect that; it reminded him of himself.

Without any warning, Pain leaped from the rooftop and flew over the woman’s head. The Big Guy landed several feet behind her, his back facing hers as that same smirk returned. “Got no clue what that word means, but I get it, I ain’t that smart, but I get a lot.” A pack of cigarettes was drawn from his pocket and flipped open. He withdrew and placed a single cigarette in between his lips before returning the pack to his pocket. Two flicks of his pink BIC lighter is all it took for him to enjoy that first sweet drag. Pain exhaled the thick grey smoke as he spoke up in his deep, rough voice. “I know when you got people relyin’ on you, it’s like your wearin’ blinders. Nothin’ but their wellbeing matters, not even your own.” The Big Guy softly chuckled before inhaling another drag from the cigarette hanging loosely between his lips. “Maybe that’s just me." He moved to turn his shoulder to her as he flicked the ashes off his death-stick. One hand dug into his pocket while the other tended to his cigarette, standing lazily before her with his slightly bad posture. “What’s your story kid?’ He said as he took another puff, the dim embers glowing on his scarred and ageless face.

Bliss trained her eyes on the man as he leaped through the air. She remained with her eyes locked on the building she gazed at before. He began to speak from behind her as the warm air of smoke blew against the back of her neck. "My story?" She spoke into the emptiness before her. "My stories pretty long."

She tapped her foot slightly, bringing her foot to balance the center of gravity before her. "It's got some dead bodies in it, but the ones I killed aren't dead in the traditional sense, and the ones who are dead in the traditional sense, I didn't kill." She rested her hands in between the opposite arm and her side. "You know you're going to die right?" She paused. "Probably not tonight, and maybe not tomorrow, but the way you resort to that cigarette as a means for support, you're not making it out of this world alive." Her head moved to the side to allow her mouth some trajectory to the big guy the she refused to face. "No one is." Her teeth slid along the molars and a slight pop came as she reopened her mouth. "Me, though. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. While all you grubs are digging through the carcase of the dead animals, I'm evolving."

She spun around on her heel and dropped her head to the side with a roll. "That's my story. But you never asked me for my theme. I've got too many dead people I never want to see again, and that's why I won't die." The chasm of the alleyway behind Pain gave such a sudden drop. The dimensionality of reality lined itself with subtle reminders of death. "So you know my story and I know yours, but I still got to finish the details on how mine ends. So, how about we exchange info and go on about our ways." Bliss smiled.

Pain’s vision drifted along the streets of New York in the brief silence between the pair. Every time he looked at this city, he wondered the same thing, how long could he keep this up? The woman’s voice grabbed his attention, and forced a chuckle out of the big guy. “Aren’t they all…?” He questioned himself more than anyone, but it was still very audible. Pain gave her his attention, his head turning to the lovely view she granted him; the back of her head. The Big Guy simply puffed on his cigarette as he listened to what this gal had to say, and it ended up getting odd quickly. As she told him he would not make it out alive, his eyes briefly darted down to the cigarette she claimed he used as support. Pain pulled it from his mouth and looked down at it, holding it flat in his palm. He couldn’t help but smirk at that, this gal was something else. His head softly shook at her as he exhaled, he felt some deep rooted anger radiating from her; she was right about her story. Her words of death were heard, but were simply shrugged off. Death didn't really bother him, he did not fear it for himself, only for others; that's about as deep as it went.

When the Big Man moved his eyes back up, the woman had spun around to view him, revealing her youthful face; she was just a kid. How the hell could she have been wrapped up in this mess? Something didn’t feel right about that. The same genuine smirk returned at the young woman’s smile and bold words. “Dark theme kid, it suits ya’,” Pain paused to bring the cigarette back to his lips, inhaling a heavy drag before continuing. “But I ain’t supposed to let you get away.” A breeze gusted into the two, the tension growing as the stare down ensued. Something in his gut told him she wasn’t his typical enemy, but he couldn’t be convinced of anything too easily. It was his job to be sure, and he couldn't afford to be wrong. “Tell me, who are you trying to protect? And how are you gonna’ protect them if you’re stuck in a cell?”

"Information." Bliss felt her phone vibrate in her purse. "I use it as a weapon. Collateral." It sounded smooth enough. "...but I don't have any. And I need to make sure others don't have any on me." Vibrations ran through her side.

She took the phone out, and rubbed the screen with her thumb. The message got to the point immediately. "I really need to get going, so..." Bliss walked over to the man while returning the message. "...Can you do me a favor and get rid of the cops." She took to the ledge and sat with her feet hanging over. "I think being locked up in a cell would be a little better than the down side of what I need to do. And, I know that you're going to give me some sort of speech that if I'm innocent I shouldn't fear justice, but we both know it's crap."

The phone fell from her hands down into the alleyway below. "Information is a potent weapon, and I don't have any. I'm totally unarmed right now." A few moments after the release a crash of plastic and concrete made a melody. Bliss held the SIM card within her fingers. She gazed at the small piece of plastic; she felt the cool texture of the cement against her hamstrings. "I don't have anything you want; I only want what's good for me, but what if I do some good along the way? What if something good came from what I do know?" She scoffed as her feet bumped against the wall. "I know so much, but have so little information. Do you know what that feels like? What it feels like for people who know nothing to hold all the information?" She let out a sigh and looked at the brightness of the moon.

The Big Man took a long drag of his cigarette as he awaited a response, but what he was given instead made his raise brow in suspicion once again. If this gal was trying to sound innocent, she wasn’t doing a great job. Information as a weapon? Man, she was starting to sound like the Black Knight. She seemed paranoid like him too, though there’s probably good reason behind that, or at least Pain wanted to assume. He tried to give people the benefit of the doubt.

The loud familiar vibrating of a cellular phone brought a brief silence between the pair. The hero’s icy blue eyes observed closely as she withdrew it, and immediately after she read her message, she needed to ‘get going.’ Whatever that message was, it was clearly urgent, and probably had something to do with the person she was trying to protect. Could be wrong about that, but it was the most likely possibility.

Her question was unexpected and very bold, she was asking a lot from the Big Guy and offering very little. It forced a soft and brief chuckle out him, this gal had some guts. He wasn’t looking for compensation, just a decent enough reason to look the other way. The young woman took a seat on the ledge of the building before continuing to speak while the Big Guy remained silent. Pain simply smirked at her claim, he kind of agreed with her; it’s why he preferred to do things his way. After exhaling a cloud of smoke out of the corner of his lips, he calmly made his way over to her. “Mind if I take a seat?” He asked, but did not wait for a reply as he sat down beside her, leaving a little more than a foot between the two, acting as if he had known her for years.

His long legs dangled off with hers, his eyes focused on the nothingness surrounding the dim moonlight as he inhaled another drag. With his peripheral vision he watched as she fiddled with her phone, and a moment later it was plummeting to the alley below. A part of him wanted to stop her, but the other part just didn’t care to stick his nose in it; that part won. She still held onto the SIM card though, seemed like she was trying to hide something. Out of the corner of his eye he briefly gazed at it, curious of what ‘information’ she was holding onto. Could be something dangerous, could be something that didn’t even matter to him.

He waited a moment in silence, listening to what she had left to say. It seemed like she was not only trying to reason with him, but trying to relate to him. Trying to let him know she wasn’t his typical crook and that she wasn't a threat, but had little idea how to say it any better than that.

“And what if you do some bad? With an attitude like that, you’ll likely be doin’ both.” He smirked as he stopped to inhale a heavy drag, bringing his left hand up to remove the cigarette from his lips and flick the ashes off down to the alley below. “And yeah kid, Guess I do. Can’t say I know your story, but I know what it’s like to be left in the dark.” Pain stopped again, bringing his cigarette back around for another drag. “Frustrating.” He exhaled the drag while stating. "Can make you do stupid things." He then withdrew a pack from his jean's pocket and flipped it open, extending it towards her and offering a single cigarette. “Smoke?” The Big Guy felt guilty for smoking and not offering her one, just a thing about him. Even though they didn’t have much time, Pain treated it as if they had all the time in the world. Whether or not she accepted his offer, Pain immediately questioned after with. "You never answered my question though kid. Who you goin' through all this trouble for?"

"Nothing ventured nothing gained. A guy I knew told me that once." He told her a lot of things. "He was covering for the fact that he missed his daughter's graduation, because we took a work break." Now he rested outside of the world of the living, and she spat off cryptic messages about her past. Always the hacker, never the confider. Bliss knew how powerful a weapon information was, and she knew how it could destroy people.

Bliss took the cigarette between her fingers and lowered the SIM card into her lap. "I don't know if it's really a person I'm trying to protect. I need to get back to my place to knock over the precinct's files so they can't find me or a friend of mine, but that's not it." She accepted the light and brought the cigarette to her lips. "I'm not sticking my neck out for just any reason that happens to come to my mind; I think these things out." Not too well though. "I've got a friend who means well, but doesn't have the proper tools. She wants to get back all the things she lost in life." Bliss stared down into the abyss. "I want her to get them back as well..." It stared back. "...Because I'm the reason she lost it all."

The smoke blew out from her mouth. "I guess neither of us are going to make out alive, are we?" She let silence come over her. For the first time in months she did not need to talk to fill the void. All the information she kept and hid from others finally gave her relief. The guilt and secrecy scratched and clawed at her like Furies chased after Orestes. "It's not our fault. But, that doesn't make it any better."

He was glad to see her take the offer, for whatever reason it seemed easier to talk when he sat around like this. This gal was a rare find, unlike any 'criminal' he had met before. She’d surely seen her fair share of troubles, but he felt bad that she held onto it so much. It reminded him of himself and how he used to be, how he still is sometimes. To him, it seemed like she’s got everything bottled up, stashed away somewhere deep down. The Big Guy listened in silence, allowing her to speak her mind without interruption.

Pain puffed on his cigarette as the two sat in silence, his eyes keeping their focus on the near starless night sky. “Guess not. But I don’t think anyone makes it out alive kid, just gotta’ make the time you got worth it. It all seems so meaningless when you put it like that, me, I prefer makin’ the best of everything.” The Big Guy stopped to inhale a heavy drag, his icy eyes moving to look at her. He exhaled out of the corner of his lip, blowing the smoke away from her before continuing. “But why do you blame yourself? Are you doin’ all this just because you feel guilty?”

Pain pulled the cigarette from his lips and flicked the ashes off down to the alley once again. The sounds of sirens grew even louder, the authorities may have been in the area, but it would still take them some time for the dopes to find the two up here. The Big Guy didn't care much even if they did show up, he wanted to hear her story and wanted to believe he had met someone who wasn't all bad. For him, that rarely happened.

Smoke blew out with more concentration than her hidden secrets. She never took the time to ask whether or not she did this just to because she felt guilty. It was not something she really wanted to think about either.

Her fingers twitched with energy; a primal energy that wished for freedom. The prison of her body kept these twitches within her fingers, bottling up everything she wanted to hide. She wanted to say something, so that she could muster some clarity for herself. If she knew what she wanted in life maybe it would make more sense. Maybe this final revelation would give her something important, something to hold onto. She searched her feelings, under the billowing clouds of smoke that rang through her lungs she expunged the only words that held true to her heart. "I don't know."

Her words echoed out into the darkness.

Pain could see the inner turmoil boiling within her, it didn’t take words to make it obvious to him. He’d seen that look too many times, but it was usually in the mirror. She reinforced his assumptions with her response, and it felt genuine. She truly could not give him another answer. As usual, Pain wanted to help somehow, but had little idea of how he could. It never stopped him from trying though.

The Big Guy allowed a brief moment of silence to pass, puffing on his cigarette as the two stared off into the darkness. He didn't want to pry any further, he'd done enough already. Didn't like it it when people did it to him, so he tried to show her the same respect. If she wanted to talk, she would.

Instead he vaguely asked, “Does it feel right?” He paused for a brief drag from his shriveled cigarette before following up with, “Whatever you’re doin’, are you proud of it?”

"It doesn't feel good. I can tell you that much. Always looking back and wondering, no, knowing that others would be safer, more successful, hell, happier, if you would just leave them alone. If I would just go into the night, never to be seen again." Bliss dropped the cigarette into the alleyway. It fell slowly illuminating the darkness and sending the shadows into hiding.

But, it never went out. It stayed on the ground in silent harmony, fighting back against the darkness that overtook and controlled the alleyway. If she never watched the cigarette fall she would not know of its existence on the ground, but since she saw it and knew its qualities she could not remove her eyes from it. "Is it enough to stop evil, or do I need to do good as well? I think I'm finding that they are not one in the same. Stopping evil is so much simpler than doing good, or even trying to be good." Her fingers gripped the rough texture of the brick between her fingernails and ran them along the surface. It etched at her follicles, but retained nerve over her senses to grimace. "I think if I helped make lives better I would be proud. Not just of myself, but of everything that I accomplished. I've been proud of my work before, but never of myself."