Thrones: Welcoming the New (Part 1)

Edge was stuck within his own thoughts as he was carried across the country in one of the helicopters belonging to the Thrones. The whirring of the helicopter blades would block out all other noise other than the small chatter of the pilots manning the chopper. This group went to great measures to be extravagant it seemed. The only information he had was that they were very wealthy and powerful. Being a part of this group would help Edge accomplish his goal. As troublesome as it seemed, attaining wealth would be an important part it assuring Edge's role as a savior. Wandering around Los Angeles wasn't helping him save the world from the fate his time had suffered at all. It was time to take action. Edge was prepared to do anything short of taking his own life to assure his position within the group. At the moment, there were no alternatives for him.

The view from the helicopter was rather enjoyable for Edge, being one of the few things he's taken joy in while being in this timeline. Having fun wasn't a concern at all to him, and experiencing happiness would only be mere coincidence. Edge smiled as he watched the mountains pass, then the plains, and soon it would be tall buildings that they were flying over until they made it to their destination just outside New York City, a manor over a lake in Artuso. Edge was accessing an overhead view of the mansion within his armor. It was too exposed for Edge's liking, but he wasn't able to choose the location for this meeting. He understood that as of now, he was just a pawn. A little work was required for him to make it to the other side of the board. 

Edge averted his gaze from the scenery below and rested it on 'his' hands. These would be his hands for his inclusion within Thrones. He had decided on a charismatic look to use as his new face for this group. It was a weird feeling not being himself anymore. Edge retained all of his memories from before he died, and then all of a sudden he was a new person who was the tool of a man who was playing God. Now he was forced to go back in time and save his future. Mentally he was far past he was supposed to be for his age, and way more intelligent than any human should be. He no longer felt fear when that was one of the things he used to live for. When he was alive just grinding a rail made him fear for his life, but now he could jump out of this helicopter and his heart wouldn't skip a beat. Then that hit him too. His heart didn't even beat. There was no sadness, just a sense of not belonging. There wasn't any reason for him to be here. If it were up to him, he would have just ended his life again... But it wasn't up to him. Now he was compelled to visit this powerful group and become a part of them at any cost. 

Edge knew they were coming up on the manor far before the pilots decided to tell him. He recognized all of the scenery they passed even though he never visited there before. His memory was almost flawless, although he only witnessed these locations through his armor's functions that embedded themselves in his brain. After they landed, there was somebody to guide Edge to where he would be meeting his future leader, if he was successful in the initiations.  The manor was beautiful, a place that Edge could only dream about living in as a kid. It was like the houses that overshadowed his neighborhood.

Edge walked in silence as he was guided through the house, making no noise as his feet hit the ground. If his shadow hadn't towered over his guide, it would have been as if he were never there. This is the starting place for my journey. I have to be successful here to accomplish my mission. Edge steeled himself now to prepare himself for any abominations he may be forced to commit. His guide opened the door to the room, and Edge walked in silently. No matter the cost...

Spoiler:

Robert woke up in his bedroom to a fresh, delightful aroma, well his bedroom that was in the Thrones manor. It smelled like lobster, how fitting for an important day. He had took it upon himself to call this his second home, but it was potentially his one and only home, this way he could protect the Queen at all costs.. It was in a nice secluded area and the manor was lavish and huge. The expensive sheets felt great against his skin, he really had to thank the interior designer for choosing such exotic tapestries. Robert sat up in his new bed and stretched and yawned, he had gotten a good night's rest. He muffled his hair a bit, it was beginning to get a little too wily, he needed a haircut soon, but for now he would go with the flow. He went to his personal bathroom and did his daily routine, took a shower, brushed his teeth, the morning piss, the usual.

For a heavy smoker, his teeth were surprisingly white and his skin was fairly nice. The only way you would know he was a smoker was if you witnessed him or smelled the light aroma off of his clothes. He went out onto his balcony and began smoking a cigarette, he only smoked the most natural variety, they tasted better. The only clothing on his body was the towel across his waist from the shower, his lean body needed the sun's nourishment, as any human did. But he was no normal human of course. His morning smoke was accompanied by the the beautiful garden, his balcony was facing the backyard, which contained a luxurious pool. It was quite peaceful indeed. He heard the Throne's copter's metallic blades beating in the air, it was time to get ready, as one of the recruits seemed to have arrived. He finished his smoke and threw the cigarette butt away with a flick towards a little trashcan in the bathroom.

He went to the closet and put on his usual clothing: black skinny pants, black sports jacket, black long-sleeved shirt, black dress shoes, and his iconic black raybans. He grabbed his two swords, which earned him the title, Adept of Blades. He also grabbed his two tantos and two handguns. He strapped those items into the interior of his jacket. He held his sheathed swords in one hand, as he opened his bedroom door and walked down the long hallway to the the stairs. The hall had plenty of fine art and exotic furniture, fitting for a manor of this stature. He walked down the stairs where he was greeted by the friendly, attractive assistant of the Queen, Anna. She was a delight to look at, especially as the first human he had seen all morning. She directed him towards the Throne room, which is where they would meet the newcomers.

As he walked through the door to the room, he saw one of the newcomers and the Queen. He greeted the newcomer with a slight head nod and took a slight bow towards the Queen, who sat upon her Throne. He had known about all the newcomers, their abilities and whatnot. Sadly, the folder that contained their information, did not contain any pictures. He then said to Chelle "How intimidating." She was showing her importance in Thrones. Robert went up to the Throne and stood by her side, which implied that he was of some important rank. Robert was actually excited for today, the organization's membership was expanding, an organization he was very loyal to. Also, there would be some action to come, as it was initiation day.

James was in a suit and was currently heading up to the manor on his motorcycle. The suit James wore was a cheap one that cost about $100 and James was wearing his mask with black sneakers. James began to think back on how his sister made a fuss about how he originally was going to leave the house in his suit. James tried to reason that he should look as he always did but he could never turn down his sister's request. THe point of him joining the thrones was for her and he wasn't going to change that.

As he made a turn on the road e began to wonder why did he have to come all the way out here. For A place as big as the thrones he expected for it to be in New York City. As he continued on his drive toward the base he let the radio that he put into his bike play. After about thirty minutes he arrived at what looked like a manor. James made a bored face under his mask. He didn't care for the rich and he wasn't here to be amazed. He was here to be apart of a team and make some extra money.

Once he got to the gateway of the manor James checked in with the Gatekeeper, parked his bike and began to walk into the manor. Once he walked in he was directed to the Throne room. Once he entered he saw a woman siting in the throne sipping on something that had a familiar smell. It took a moment for him to realize that it was blood. James was a bit surprised but thanks to his mask he didn't show it. He then quickly took a seat in 3rd Row after giving the lady in the chair and her comrade next to her who James assumed was a high ranking person in the thrones a quick and strangely high-pitched hello.

David was walking towards the manor. He didn't like cars. They got stuck in traffic and it took ages to get to somewhere. He was wearing his costume. He started thinking about what his mother would say about his not so proper dress code. She would always nag him about everything. It didn't matter what it was was, she would find a way. David started to realized he missed the simpler time.

He wasn't exactly sure why he wanted to join the Thrones . Maybe it was because he wanted to accepted by a group. It sure wouldn't really benefit him to join a group of assassins. He started to remember the time when he was 18. Every group that he tried to join turned him down. He remembered the feeling of having his dreams crushed. It was the worst feeling in the world.

He got to the gateway and talked with the Gatekeeper. He went inside and he was amazed by how fancy it looked. David was always a simple man, never bothering to wear formal clothes for a special occasion. His apartment was small and rather dingy. As he walked into the throne room, he saw a woman sitting on the throne. She must be the queen he heard so much about.

David walked into the line of other newbies and waited.

"Thrones, huh?" Kassandra questioned with a greedy smirk, her normal mercenary work barely compared to the pay this 'group' offered. Who they were didn't matter, what was in their wallets did. She looked at her recruitment papers with interest and paranoia. Sure, the pay was nice, but this was the strangest invitation she had ever recieved. This 'Lady Chelle' was too generous, Kassandra had her suspicions, but an opportunity like this was just too tempting.

She declined the private transportation, couldn't trust it yet. The stubborn woman found her own way; a little roadtrip in a stolen car.

Kassandra pulled up to the manor as instructed, coordinates made things so simple. This organization wasn't as discreet as she expected, trusting a stranger with the location of your headquarters. It made her curious of just how much power this group had.

With her head held high, she casually strolled into the Thrones manor. Kassandra never went anywhere without some sort of weapon, but this time called for her full set. The bold woman was strapped, hands close to her side and ready to draw any second.

Like an outlaw walking into a saloon, Kassandra made her presence clear. Shoving open the massive double doors, she walked in without fear of anything that may have stood behind those doors. The smell of fresh blood filled her nose; her keen senses couldn't miss that smell. What kind of people was she dealing with?

Her light blue eyes darted about the room, first sizing up the queen, then the man that stood next to her. The others seemed just as new as her, but she held the same look of superiority when her eyes scanned them. It was a defense mechanism, she would let no one here walk over her. Kassandra was here to work, nothing else.

"So you're the Queen huh? Lady Chelle?" Kassandra rudely blurted out, glaring into her hostess' eyes. "And who's this guy?" Her vision moved to the mysterious man standing at her side. "Are you the King here pretty boy? Or just another hired gun?"

Living close to the city certainly had its advantages. Photon was able to drive himself to the harbor, taking with him only his outfit, a flowing white silk robe that was easy to move in and a pair of glasses that provided proof against electronic eyes and concealed his identity when he made them transition to opaque with a thought. He had expressed an interest in Thrones, an organization dedicated to keeping balance in the world through targeted action. As long as the innocent weren't killed, he would be able to help.

The drive to the harbor was relatively uneventful. He chose a somewhat circuitous route to avoid detection; he wasn't sure just how well-known the Thrones' location was, and though he knew his own encryption algorithms were nigh unbreakable, he couldn't say the same for anyone else. He didn't notice anyone following him, and a quick mental summary confirmed that no car followed him for an excessive amount of time and there was no discernible pattern to the flow of traffic into and out of the streets he was taking. Indeed, the only car he had seen twice not only had a mother and children in it, but as far as he could tell had crossed into his line of vision accidentally both times.

He pulled into a parking garage a few blocks from the harbor and made his way to the designated area. Everything about the scene was as he had expected, and he settled into one of the seats carefully. He had worn street clothes over (since wearing his outfit would have attracted the wrong sort of attention) but, once the city had begun to fade a bit in the distance, he pulled the robe on. He'd been wearing his lenses, though they were relatively nondescript at the moment. When they were closer to the island, the air fresher and a touch more humid, he willed a few ultraviolet rays to tint the lenses with a thought and smiled.

He smiled, slightly awed at the sight of the Thrones building that took up its own island. With the group of metahumans that were around a sophisticated security system would only have been a hindrance, and it was nice to see that some people still appreciated the finer things in architecture. He was escorted inside and led to what was, interestingly enough, the Thrones' throne room. He wasn't surprised by the choice, of course, as the organization was structured in some ways like a chess board, and the royalty of that chess board seemed to be reflected here.

He looked around at the other newcomers, distinguishable both because they were standing in front of the woman on the throne and because they were not on either side of her. He was hoping that this wasn't their main headquarters, since inviting one's enemies to reliably know your approximate location could lead to surgical strikes or, for the wealthier supervillian, missile attacks. Instead of voicing any of this, he simply spent the time to recall all the information he had already learned about the structure, its inhabitants, and the general layout of the building given what halls and rooms he had seen coupled with what he had seen from the exterior.

Shenk had been surprised when he had gotten the invitation to the group known as Thrones, a group of assassins who worked to keep balance to the world. Balance to the world? the idea was laughable, the "balance" they were after was unattainable, the scales of the world were always shifting. During peaceful times and war times one thing was constant, people were dying and that's all Shenk was interested in.

The small tugboat he had commandeered puttered it's way along the crashing waves. "A day like this comes only once a year, a day like any other. Made for the preparation of the end of days! The tugboat left behind a trail of blood behind it. Shenk had left the previous owners attached to the back, with fishing spears pierced through their arms. As the boat came to it's final destination he poked a hole into a gas canister and poured it over the back of the ship "BON VOYAGE! he called as he threw a match and the boat burst into flames.

Shenk slowly made his was up to the manor a wide smile on his face as his method of transportation burned brightly behind him. When he finally arrived in the main hall he tilted his head right through the door faced sideways. "Someone call for a killer?" he chuckled as he pranced his way to meet his fellow applicants in line.

Edge listened intently as the apparent leader made herself known to him and all the other new recruits. To Edge, she seemed kind of eccentric. Other than the blood she was obviously just drinking, her demeanor was less than serious. For a group whose business seemed so grim, she was oddly cheery. Hopefully that wasn't a reflection on the kind of work they did. Edge's programming would never be strong enough to make him kill somebody with kindness. Nevertheless, Edge made sure to pay attention while he scoped out the rest of the group he found himself in. Two of them stood out from the rest. One seemed to be a regular blond haired woman, but the other... Edge had no idea what to make of him. He was a clown. Even his advanced intelligence couldn't make out any more than that. Underestimating others gets people killed, and Edge wasn't going to make that mistake, even if the other was a clown. 

This woman once again surprised Edge, this time with an invitation to a dining room. He never planned on eating any food, unsure of what would happen to his body if he did. Reluctantly, Edge followed into the dining room, finding his seat first in the middle area of the table. He was uncaring of who sat next to him, only worrying about whether or not he would be offending his, hopefully, future leader by not eating. As he was asked what he would have to eat, he simply gave a 'no thanks' to not seem so eager to not eat. It would have been nice if the good doctor had allowed him to be able to eat. Food wasn't a necessity, so Slack didn't bother putting in a digestive system. Edge couldn't even remember the taste of anything, and suddenly found himself longing to eat again.

Finally, it seemed as if they were getting to business. Edge payed attention to the instructions, and was glad to know the mission played to his strengths. He felt indifferent to the partner part, but was unsure if this man would slow him down during the mission. The word 'devastate' gave him a pretty good idea of who his partner was. Immediately he eyed the biggest man in the room, deciding that it was that man. Edge hoped he wasn't wrong as he approached the man, eager to start their mission already. "Are you Devastate? I'm ready to get going whenever you are."

Edge left the room, and walked back out into the main hall before turning around to study the layout of the manor and imprint it into his brain. It would be nice to have some blueprints instead, but it seemed like they did a good job of keeping them to themselves. It wasn't much of a bother to Edge, as seeing the real thing worked just as well for him. He turned again to go outside the manor and sit in the car that was meant for him and his new partner. Whatever they faced and wherever it was, Edge was ready for it.

Robert shook his head as Queen Chelle offered her the seat, he'd rather stand. It's not that he didn't feel worthy of sitting in her throne, it was just that he was pretty comfortable. He watched all of the newcomers pour into the Throne room, some of them looked like they would be members worthy of being in the Thrones organization. Then came in an impulsive, blonde, middle aged woman. She made her entrance known by questioning the only two members of Thrones present. She possibly have an overactive id. Robert raised an eyebrow and said with a slight chuckle "Thanks for calling me pretty."

Cilian didn't come down to greet the new recruits, how disappointing, he surely would have added some slight joy to the initiation. It was a charming factor of his personality that made everyone like him. Robert took a slight sigh and listened to Chelle as she explained why they were all here. She then told everyone to to the dining room, Robert grabbed his swords and followed as she lead everyone to the room. He sat in a seat next to the head of the table and begin to eat his food when everyone sat down. He ate slowly and cleanly, his parents taught him basic table manners as a young child, he still used these to this day. The lobster was divine, made by one of the finest chefs in the world. He took sips of wine between bites.

He stopped eating once Queen Chelle began speaking again and listened to her instructions, it seemed that they would be going on a mission that asked for the retrieval of a package. He got the map with the directions from Anna. It was different than his initiation test, though it followed the same principles. It was basically a team builder to see how compatible everyone was with each other. Robert was paired off with "Miss Laines". The impulsive blonde woman, though he knew her as Kassandra Laines, thanks to that folder he had on all of them. He wiped his mouth, took a swig of his wine and stood up from his chair. He walked behind Kassandra and said "Well, let's hurry and get this over with." He walked into the garage and sat in one of the cars, placed his swords in the backseat and waited for her to come in, so they could leave.

James remained silent throughout the entirety of the event. When the queen directed them to the dinning hall James was the first one to leave the room. Once he sat down he felt dissapointed though it was unnoticed because of his mask. James didn't really care for lobster nor from what he could smell from the food would he ask for anything else. James wasn't the kind of person to go and eat food from a future enployer without being sure nothing had been added to it. James has had experience with tampered with food.

James lifted his mask covered face and looked up at the queen who was explaining the content of the mission. Under his mask his eyes widened. James wondered why was he chosen to move with the queen. James guessed that it must've been a random choice, short staff one might say. So he sa back in his chair and waited for the queen to tell him that it was time to move. James stomach began to grumble. Good he thought Now im hungry.

David just looked at the blonde woman. She was impulsive. And full of herself too. It would turn against her during a fight. He analyzed the other recruits. One was a military looking man. He looked like a professional soldier. Another was this kid wearing a Power Ranger-ish suit. It didn't look very intimidating. He needed to see more of this kid in action. He saw a pretty boy in the line. He looked like he was from The Lord of The Rings. But one stood out. It was this jester looking guy. There was something unsettling about the guy. David wasn't sure what. Maybe it was his face. Maybe it was his weird looking costume. Whatever it was, this guy was definitely not right in the head.

The woman that David assumed was the Queen invited the recruits into the dining room. The tables were already set. David went to the nearest empty seat and sat down. He wasn't a big fan of sea food, but he didn't want to bother anybody. He spent most of his time just poking the lobster, unsure of what he should do with it. When the the Queen gave out instructions, David listened carefully. It was a stealth mission. Didn't he specifically say that he wasn't good at them? When the Queen gave out the name of his partner, he saw the military man walking towards him. "Yes" David shook the man's hand "I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to work with you".


When the man left the dining table, David got up to follow him. He needed to know his partner better The man was walking around the manor. He was probably analyzing the place. The man got into the car meant for him. David got in and just sat there.

This lady Chellle was a strange one, far too generous for someone who was in this line of work. Kassandra didn't trust her, every bone in her body told her not to. "Right.." She mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes and looking over to the other new recruits.

When the frizzy haired man responded to her, her light blue eyes lit up and narrowed in on the wise cracking right hand man. Kassandra deflected his retort with a cocky smirk, letting out a brief chuckle as she glared him down. Her attention was pulled away from him when 'Lady' Chelle instructed the group to follow her into another room. The unstrusting woman was the last to follow the crowd, keeping a paranoid eye out for anything suspicious.

Kassandra followed the group into the dining room and immediately the scent of decandant and luxiorus food filled her nostrils. Even a stubborn woman like her was tempted to eat, but she refused to take food from these strangers. She saw quite a few others felt the same, besides, what kind of assassin would accept something like this?

Soon after, their 'humble' advisor announced that Kassandra would be stuck working with her little body guard. Kassandra wasn't sure what to think of it, but out of the group gathered, he would probably be her first choice as a partner. The man was a higher rank, showing her worth to him most likely meant a bigger pay. The way he carried himself showed expierience, couldn't complain about an ally who knew what they were doing. Stealth and retrieval was their mission, perfect for her. She was a woman who adored missions that required subletly.

Everyone rose from their seat and moved to exit the room with their randomly selected partner. Kassandra once again made eye contact with her new partner, giving him the same glare as before. "My thoughts exactly." Kassandra immediately retorted, her voice attempting to show a lackadaisical attitude similar to his. She followed him out of the building, her mind buzzing with curiosity. Just what were they going to do? Was this just a test, or a legitimate mission? Kassandra would just have to wait and see, she'd have to follow this man into whatever they had planned..

As he laid his weapons down in the backseat, Kassandra followed to do the same for her sidearms. She did so without a word, moving around to take a seat in the passenger side. "I'm guessing you know just as little as I do right now."

Photon frowned at the newcomer, who seemed only ready to kill. Keeping the balance, mostly by removing global metahuman threats, but with the occasional removal of a 'normal' unbalancing factor, was a goal worth pursuing. This organization, after all had the resources and the personnel to accomplish the goal and keep villains in their place. What this guy was proposing was just wholesale murder, something Photon would never be able to accept.

They walked into the dining room, and Photon took a seat as far from the man as possible. He ordered an Italian dish, and was pleased that it was prepared correctly. It was a somewhat fancy stuffed shells dish, but he could tell that the ingredients were freshly procured, and the entire thing was remarkable. He took a Pepsi with the meal, choosing not to inebriate himself so close to evaluation time. He hadn't tested his abilities under the effects of alcohol, but anything that dulled his senses or reaction time would certainly not benefit him now.

He finished his meal quickly, and spent a few moments observing the other inductees. He recognized a few of them, while a few others were unfamiliar. It was interesting to see so many metahumans in one place. He hadn't gotten used to designating people as heroes or villains, so a generic term categorizing a person as having supernatural gifts was preferable for him. Each person's varied background meant that they inevitably joined the group for different reasons. Some would come seeking power, others the chance to kill. There were probably some, like himself, who believed in the ideals of the organization over petty things like power or a license to kill. Like equations, the world needed balance or society was threatened, and Photon rather liked how society was at the moment.

He turned to the Queen as she spoke, explaining the mission. His heart sank when he found out he'd be stuck with Shenk, the guy who was in it for the killing. Keeping him from randomly murdering people would not only make the task more difficult, the man was revolting to Photon. Anyone else would've probably been fine, even the guy who didn't look quite human, but this was one variable he hadn't quite anticipated.

He took the map and began walking out. He turned to address his new 'partner', a rather stern expression on his features. "Lets make this as simple as possible. We'll find the package, retrieve it, and return it. You can go off and kill whoever you want AFTER we're done, but my morality wouldn't allow me to sit back while you kill innocent people, so it would be much better if you could resist the urge while we're partnered.."