Recruitments are such a bore (closed)

Lucifer Hermes Mercury, the mythical leader of the Crime Syndicate, was sitting in his office on the top floor of the Syndicate mansion with a file of papers in his hand. Feet propped up on his desk he rummaged through his mind trying to wonder just what he was going to do with this new recruit. Well although she wasn’t truly a new recruit she was going to be a part of the Crime Syndicate or become nonexistent; as was per usual with people that caught the attention of The Phantom. Right now that lucky, or unlucky depending on how you looked at it, person was a woman by the name of Shauna Master. The aforementioned woman was a for hire villainess who could provide the Crime Syndicate with matters they did not normally attend to, or dare Lucifer admit it, or do themselves.

She quite usually hung around in old bars at night, when not on a job, or at her apartment grading papers for her job when not incognito. For one to have such amazing gifts yet such a simple life amused the world’s greatest thief and he knew that having her a part of the Crime Syndicate would allow them to secure their foothold in Chicago even more so than it already was, as well as allow them to continue to spread their influence across the rest of the world. The only problem Lucifer saw was getting the girl to agree to his terms and for he to agree to whatever terms she had. A job like this required a middle man, and usually Lucifer would have One or Four come with him to be that middle man, but they were currently unavailable so he'd need someone else.

Which of course brought The Phantom to the second stack of papers on his desk. A man by the name of Kyle Craven, code name Ghost, and a rising member in the Syndicate seemed to have no set assignment for the night. While Lucifer would have preferred to first contact a higher 'ranking' member none of them seemed available so the boy would have to do. Pressing a button on what seemed to be a conference phone he spoke to the Syndicate secretary on the other end."Five, please have Kyle Craven report to my office... It is time he moved up in the ranks once more." Upon receiving the understood from her Mr. Mercury stood up from his chair, placing a hand on his cane, and moved over to the window where he waited for the 'boy' to find his way to his office.  

Number Five, a somewhat young red headed woman sat behind a mahogany desk in the center of the first floor of the Syndicate mansion. She was the second 'lowest' member to know the true identity of the man who ran the Syndicate but she was also the smartest of the six, she was the only one who figured it out on her own. Yet she was stuck identifying and and profiling every member of the Syndicate while One ran the place, and that gunslinging bitch Four got to run around doing whatever she liked. Shaking her head she pressed the intercom button. "Mr. Craven, please report to Number One's office." At that she would then leave her desk and walk up to where One's 'office' was and when she spotted Craven she would smile opening the door letting him in. "Have fun, don't be too scared." She smiled closing the door behind him and returning to her desk.

Upon entering the room Kyle would notice that it was certainly much bigger on the inside. Though it was a 'normal' office complete with desk, spinning chair, and book case. Yet, it also came complete with fire place, retractable television, giant window looking out the back, and other decor. The only thing out of place was that instead of Number One there stood a somewhat tall man in a suit, holding a cane and looking out the window. Upon inspecting the man Kyle's memories of him would slowly start to come back. "Hello Mr. Craven, it is nice to see you again." Tossing the file on the woman back to Ghost, Lucifer smiled wondering how long it would take before the boy fully remembered who he was. If only because the process was always different for everyone. "This is our next assignment. I do so hope you are ready."

Kyle had been sitting in the Crime Syndicate lounge for some time now with nothing really to do. He was sitting up straight with his elbows on the back of the couch unlike his usual stance of having his feet up by his side, he pickpocketed a quite rich man a short while back and was chased by his personal guards, causing his shoes to get slightly muddy and he didn't want to track that mud onto the clean red couch.

Kyle was expecting to sit there and watch the clock roll down until it was time to leave, it did seem slightly dark outside but it wasn't that late. Kyle's night was far from over however as he heard his name be spoken over the intercom by Number Five, a regular worker in this establishment, he had been called up to Number One's office which could only spell good news, it wasn't a regular thing for low ranked workers such as him to be called into Number One's office, he was slightly excited and people could tell as he jumped up from the couch in delight. He had several pairs of eyes glaring at him as he moved through the lobby and up a few flights of stairs, possibly out of jealousy. Kyle finally reached Number One's office and noticed Number Five was holding the door open for him, Kyle sped up slightly in order to make Five hold the door open for as short a time as possible, she told him to have fun and not be scared as he entered to where he simply replied "Thanks Five".

Kyle stepped inside and noticed Five close the door behind him, he took several slow steps forward as he began to realize that the person in the office wasn't Number One at all. Kyle looked around slightly at the room, it seemed awfully nice and the view from the large window was spectacular. The strange man greeted him, the voice seemed familiar but he couldn't put a face to it. The stranger turned around and Kyle got a good look at his face, he felt like he had seen him before, but his attention was turned to the file that was thrown towards him, he slipped his hands out of his pocket and sketchily caught the file and opened it to see a file of a woman. Kyle wanted to read through the file, but wanted to recognize the man more, he flicked between the two before closing up the folder. "I recognize you... You're the one that gave me that serum right? To give my power? What are we supposed to do with this girl, kill her?"

Lower West Side, Chicago
Saturday 9:00 pm

The neighbourhood was quiet, save for the occasional car passing through, and the distant rumble of thunder. A gust of wind howled, blowing on dead trees. The streets had emptied now, save for street walkers and ladies of the night; the homeless, the drunk and unattended garbage cans, which slowly smoldered and burned to provide warmth in the autumn. Global warming brought about bizarre weather, after all. Seedy figures lurked in alleyways, while it seemed everyone on the sidewalk wore caps and hoodies. Traffic lights blinked, and stores closed up, protecting their windows with metal roll up doors. Gunshots rang out in the distance, and police sirens follow... another night in Chicago.

Shauna lived in one of the apartment complexes in this neighbourhood, amidst all kinds of interesting and unsavoury characters. The crime situation had become bad enough that a loose fellowship had formed, and now female residents were assigned to the two upper floors of the five storey apartment, the fourth floor lobby usually watched by a small group of volunteers to keep troublemaking to a minimum. It didn’t help that a few of the residents were hookers who brought their work home.

Shauna lived at the farthest apartment on the fourth floor, giving her more cabinet space and extra windows for being a corner apartment... But there was hardly a view, as aside from the dead tree and withered yard, the other window was across from an even dirtier looking place- probably a crack house, judging from the odd smells coming from there at some occasions, the parties on the other. Tonight was odd smells, and some smoke.

The woman who was Black Tigress was tired, wearing naught but her black underwear, staring at the ceiling, which rotting in a corner. An entire wall had been devoted to plain olive green cabinets, half containing her wardrobe and on the other half, a single cabinet containing her modest collection of high powered firearms, grenades, and weapons. A sparse kitchenette and mini-fridge occupied the fourth wall, as well as the door to her bathroom.

“Mrowr.” Shauna rolled over and looked down, to see her chubby, dark gray tomcat, Walter. He was walking over with tail in the air, making eye contact with his owner. Shauna smiles slightly.

“I bet you wanna catch the laser dot fairy today, dont’cha Walter?” She said, conversing with her cat.

“Meow.” He replied, articulately then sitting down.

Shauna makes a laser dot on the floor that quickly grabs her cat’s attention. She moves it around the floor, and Walter merrily gives chase, trying to pounce on it, twisting around in circles then rolling on his back on the wooden floor boards.

Lightning flashed outside the window, and a downpour started, accompanied by a blackout. Some of the residents on the floor let out terrified screams, followed by giggles. Walter was startled and jumped into bed, and Shauna lifts him up into the air by his armpits...

Three loud knocks moved Shauna out of her bed, scooping up Walter in her arms, the tomcat cuddling up to the Tigress. She leaves Walter on the nightstand, grabs some jeans and makes herself decent. She opens the door to see a familiar face... Billy Ray, the bartender. He was slightly damp, his beard too. He had a flashlight in hand.

“Shauna, good, you’re dressed... we need to talk, but not here. I’ll wait at the lobby.” He said, looking at Shauna and waiting for a reply.

Still a bit dumbfounded, she muttered,“Uh...I’ll... leave the uh... my neighbour with my cat...” she goes back into her apartment to pick up Walter, who shot Ray an evil cat stare. She headed to the door across the room, and knocked. A latina girl in short shorts and a large shirt answered the door.

“Shauna?” She asked, slightly sweaty.

“Hey. Maria... Can Walter stay over?” Shauna asked, offering the cat. The cat pawed at Maria’s hands.

“Sure, sure.” She gave Ray a polite smile as she took the big cat into her own arms and closed the door behind her.

The two make their way down. Ray complained about the absence of a decent lift, only to have Shauna point out the power was gone. They go down the stairs, out the lobby and to a vending shed outside the apartment.

“So what’s happening?” Shauna asked, pointing to the benches by the vending machine.

“Chicago’s getting crowded. Lots of groups are moving in, trying to get all the muscle in town.” Ray said, counting out some change before dropping them into the machine.

“So? I’m freelance. Heck, I’m a weekend criminal at most.” She said, dropping in four quarters into the machine.

“Naw, this new group is big. Way big. Probably bigger than the Mexicans.” Ray takes a few moments to read the entries, being a man used to buying a drink from actual people. He finds some kind of coffee.

“That’s a stretch.” She said, sarcastically. She pressed the button for chocolate milk.

“I don’t know about these new guys alright, cept they call themselves The Syndicate. Just tellin’ ya, don’t step on too many people’s toes. Take a side, even if it’s temporary.” Ray said, slapping the side of the machine a few times before their cans came out.

“Right.” Shauna said, opening her can and taking a sip. She pauses, and looks intently at the can. It shakes slightly, then a moment later it was now a can of warm, frothy chocolate milk.

“I thought you made some solemn vow to only ever use your powers for good.” Ray said, amused at the mundane display of her power.

“Ray, ’Hot’ chocolate is good.” She explained, taking a longer, savory sip of the drink.

“Heh. Heat mine?” Ray asked, raising his can of coffee to Shauna, with a smile under his beard.

“No... Damn if it wasn’t raining I’d go grab some donuts.” She said, falling into a contemplative silence as she looks up at the rain, not batting an eye when lightning flashes above.

Lucifer grinned at how quick it seemed Kyle started to remember just who he was standing in the room with. Most people it would have taken a couple minutes at the last but with him, oh no the boy’s face told it all. It may not have been the full recognition he was hopping for but it certainly proved that Lucifer still had the ability to pick good associates. Which oddly enough would be put to the test once more that night upon arriving at the destination of their assignment in the lower west side of Chicago. A smile streaked across his face though when Kyle spoke about how he was the one who gave him the serum, a quick one in deed. “Yes it was I who gave you the serum that bestowed upon you your wonderful powers Mr. Craven; I do hope you enjoy them.”

“As for hat we are going to be doing with the girl, killing is not it. Since when does the Crime Syndicate commit murder without reason my dear boy?” Lucifer answered the question with a tsk, tsk, at the end as he walked over closer to where the boy is and taking the file from him. “If you were of course to read the file one would see this was a ‘simple’ recruitment. Miss Masters lives in an apartment complex on the lower west side of Chicago. Upon arriving at the location we will make her an offer she cannot refuse…hopefully.” Of course if she did not agree to the terms set upon her by Phantom he always had other ways of making her comply with the terms and conditions. It was not as if anyone truly read them anymore.

“Come now Kyle, it is past time that we departed.” With that Phantom would return the file to the boy allowing him to read up as he walked out of the room and through the doors of which Kyle himself came through not so long ago. Descending the stairs and out the front door a limousine waited for the two outside of the Syndicate Mansion, Lucifer’s personal limousine of course, which oddly enough was electronically powered now, and even voice activated. The marvels of the new world never ceased to amaze the man nearing forty years of age. For it wasn’t long ago that these types of vehicles were never thought of, or merely things of science fiction, now of course it seemed like anything was possible. Entering the vehicle Phantom waited for Kyle to slide in as well and close the door before speaking out the address to the global positioning system and off they went.

Not long after the two men arrived at the apartment complex and Lucifer stepped out of the limousine, cane first and umbrella rose up, and into the raining street. “I just love the smell of rain…do you Mr. Craven?” Removing a vile from his suit pocket Lucifer opened the top of it and released around five video camera flies that sped off and went to work scouting out the apartment complex in hopes of finding the woman they two were looking for. “I do so believe it is time for us to split up and look our separate ways for her. Give me a call if you find her.” He said handing Kyle an ear piece like the one that was in Lucifer’s own ear. All the boy would need to do was simply press it and talk and Lucifer would be able to hear him. “Good luck…and remember no killing...yet.” He whispered disappearing, or more so turning invisible, when he was pretty sure no one was looking.

The new powers that he was given changed his life, not only physically, but mentally as well, there were plenty of members at the Crime Syndicate that did not have these powers and there were rumours that these powers were only given to the people that were greatly trusted and respected inside the company, this made Sam feel special and like this place actually wanted him, it made him belong and that is a feeling that he has never had in his life before, and in turn, it made him slightly happier. Kyle was so preoccupied with trying to figure out who this man was that he was not really concentrating on the task at hand, or the file in his hand, he forgot where he was for the moment as he asked Phantom what needed to be done with this woman, he felt slightly stupid as Phantom seemed to mock him slightly for not reading the file fully, but he explained to Kyle what needed to be done anyway. The woman in the file needed to be recruited to the Crime Syndicate, this task seemed simple enough and he wondered why Phantom was going with him, Kyle believed it was something that he could probably handle alone, but he wasn't going to complain about going to work with a man such as him.

Kyle was given the file back as Phantom walked by him and out of the door that he came in from, Kyle read and walked at the same time, looking up every few seconds so he could see where he was going and not walk into most of the obstacles in his path, he finished the file as he reached the top of the stairs, he sped down them as he watched Phantom leaving the building and he didn't want to be left behind. Kyle pushed open the front door to reveal a limo waiting for him, "Woahh..." he said out loud in surprise, he has never had anything as nice as a limo and he was about to ride inside of one, Kyle cautiously stepped inside the limo and found a seat, it was extremely comfortable and spacious, Kyle was surprised that any kind of vehicle could be as comfortable as this.

The two arrived at the apartment complex Kyle was told earlier, the trip did not take very long. Phantom stepped out first with an umbrella, he appeared to have prepared for all kinds of weather, Kyle however did not, he stepped out of the limo and popped up the collar on hos jacket as he listened intently to what Phantom was telling him. "The smell of water hitting dry concrete does smell quite nice sometimes sir" he said as he replied to his odd question. Kyle watched as Phantom released several files into the world, another odd thing to do but he was not going to ask questions. Kyle was handed an earpiece that he popped into his right ear immediately. No killing, got it and with that, Phantom was gone, he evaporated like a ghost, was he even here in the first place?

Kyle shook his head as he jogged to the apartment complex with his hands in his pocket, he used his back to open the door and he walked in, there was nobody at the front desk to talk to so he would have to search for himself. Kyle took one step back and looked to the mailboxes, he followed them down with his hand until he saw "S. Masters" that was the first room he would check. Kyle jogged up the stairs with his hands in his pockets, he walked by a man and a woman who were talking to each other and enjoying a drink, he immediately recognized the woman as Miss Masters but continued on up to the apartment just to be sure. He came to a stand still at the door and banged on it a couple of times, there was no response so Kyle decided to just enter anyway, he walked through the door, using his ability that was gifted to him by Phantom. Kyle placed his finger to his earpiece before saying "Sir? I saw Miss Masters enjoying a beverage with a man by the staircase, I found out which apartment she lived in though and I'm inside, what do you want me to do?"

Meanwhile, Shauna and Ray continued drinking and conversing, when a hooded young man came into the apartment.

"Strange, never seen that guy before." Shauna remarked, finishing up her chocolate.

"Think he's here for one of the girls?" Ray asked, knowing most men who came to this apartment did so for the hookers.

"He better not be. It's late. Well, speaking of late, might as well head back up..." Shauna tossed the can into the garbage.

"Alright. Least let me walk you back up." They entered the dark apartment lobby once more, Ray holding a flashlight and trailing right behind Shauna, who could see perfectly in the dark. Shauna climbed the stairs with little effort, though Bill had the time of his life.

A peal of lightning causes Walter to exit Maria's apartment via the doggie door and hastily go for Shauna's door.

"Walter? what are you doing out here?" Shauna asked her little tom cat.

"Mreeeeow!" The cat scratched at Shauna's apartment door with an unusual aggression. Shauna Took this as a bad sign, and peeked inside, seeing Kyle standing in the middle of her apartment... her messy female apartment with most of her clothes and undies on the floor, a few cabinets left open, her drawers a mess.

"Ray. Gun." Shauna whispered to her friend, who promptly produces a trusty M-1911. Shauna puts her cat down, opens the door, gun aimed at Kyle.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! IF YOU TOOK ANYTHING YOU BETTER PUT IT BACK DOWN!" She said, meaning it, while Ray flashed the light directly into Kyle's face, to put him at a disadvantage.

The mechanical flies that were released although seemingly pointless were able to do exactly what Kyle himself had been able to do, as one flew close to the young man, and so much more. They were Lucifer’s eyes and ears on the operation as they always were, scouting out the building’s layout as well as those who resided inside. While Phantom himself listened to what Kyle told him over the earpiece he pressed his own and spoke back, going to where he said he saw Miss Masters. “Wait where you are, unless you are already in her room than I suggest making yourself scarce… she might not be so happy to see you in her room when she returns.” Upon saying this Phantom spotted Miss Masters and her companion entering back inside the apartment complex and of course took it upon himself to follow them upstairs from a few paces behind, still invisible though of course.

It was not too long of a walk up the flight of stairs before they arrived at the destination of Miss Masters’ room and a scene unfolded before them quite unlike the one Phantom had envisioned would happen. Shaking his head as he of course knew, or believed he knew, what the commotion was all about cursed himself mentally for brining such a low ranking member on this mission. It might have been better off to simply bring no one else, but apparently Lucifer was getting lonely in his old age. When Shauna asked for the gun and barged down the door screaming and hollering The Phantom knew that nothing good was going to come from this, and that was not at all what he had in mind would happen this lovely rain filled night.

Stepping forward and phasing into the room, still invisible while this goes on mind you, he surveys his surroundings and lets his ‘skeleton key’ slip into his hand. The Skeleton Key was not just a simple key, it was a device that allowed him to open any lock, access nearly anything mechanical, perform medical scans, and even remotely control other’s devices...such as guns, depending on the make and model.  Turning visible so all could see him Phantom let the aura of his Forget Me ability wash away and those seeing him now would slowly start to remember anything and everything they knew about him. Whether it be the most minor of details or even remembering that it was he who stole whatever big bad heist not too long ago. “My my, so much violence in one little room…” Where the first words he spoke upon being seen.

“Miss Masters I do hope you will place your gun down and on safety, I would hate for someone to be harmed tonight for reasons they need not be harmed for.  As for you boy, stop what you’re doing and act civilized.It is unbecoming of a gentleman to barge into a lady's room, so I do hope you excuse us Miss Masters.” One hand behind his back and the other placed upon his cane, Lucifer was ready to activate the ‘skeleton key’ if need be but made no motion that anything at all was being held by him. “I am Lucifer Hermes Mercury, and this is my…partner Kyle, we come not to harm any of you or take what is not ours, but instead to offer you a proposition. We are from the Crime Syndicate, perhaps you’ve heard of it, but now… about that offer, you will hear it yes?”

Phantom was somewhat short, informative, and yet to the point. This of course was how he liked his business ‘transactions’ to proceed and minus the gun this one seemed to be going that way as well. Only time of course would be able to tell if it stayed this way or if there was to be more violence involved. Pointless violence that Lucifer very much so hoped to ignore.

Kyle strolled into her apartment and looked around, one thing was apparent to him fro the start, they were certainly not recruiting her because of her cleanliness, Kyle was looking around the floor for somewhere he could walk but the entire floor seemed to be covered in clothing and other items, his mind drifted off to guessing what colour the carpet was. He walked around the apartment lightly as he waited for a response from Phantom, he looked into several rooms and found a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom. He looked at some of the medicine that she had in her bathroom and didn't find anything odd, he then moved to her bedroom and flicked on the light switch, the light turned on and remained flickering, it didn appear to be in good condition, but he looked at some of the things on her bedside cabinets, they were mostly covered in make up and stuffed animals, Kyle was trying to think back to the file and remember what age it said on there, where they searching for a teenager here?

Kyle looked down and noticed most of the drawers were still open with clothing barely fitting inside. He looked closer at the top drawer to noticed that the drawer was mostly filled with underwear and the like, he felt slightly embarrassed and there wasn't even anyone else in the apartment, he pushed it shut to reveal a whole draw dedicated to swimsuits, he lifted one up and noticed that it would look pretty revealing on anyone, he shuddered and tossed it back into the drawer before closing that one too. Kyle couldn't find anything interesting so he exited the bedroom, flicking the light off again. Kyle could barely see anything in the main living area, he could make out a few photo's only from the streetlight that was sending some light in through the window. He walked over to them slowly, making sure that he wasn't breaking anything with his footsteps, there seemed to be two family photo's here, but there was something odd about them, Kyle picked them both up and studied them to see that there were two different families here, but the same girl, the girl must have been Miss Masters.

Kyle could hear some whispering by the door, as he turned around to look at it, the door swung open revealing a female who was pointing a gun at him and a male that was pointing a flashlight directly into his eyes, which was pretty damn annoying. Kyle smiled slightly as he raised his hands, he found it funny whenever someone threatened his life with some kind of weapon, he didn't have anything to really live for, he had a job sure, but he had no family, he had no friends other than his co workers, he had no one to love him, girlfriends included, he would always just think that if he was shot and killed, no one would care, including himself. He slowly put the photo's down to the left of him onto a chair with the same exact smile, he had looked away for 3 seconds and suddenly Phantom was standing right by him to defuse the situation, where he came from was a mystery, but Kyle was slightly happy to see him.

"Yes sir" he replied as he stood up straight with his hands behind his back, his white hair was starting to dry up now and he slid his hand through his hair to give it a little bounce once again before returning his hands to where they were and listened intently to the conversation between the people in the room.

Shauna put up the safety and handed it back to Billy Ray, who holsters it inside his coat. The older, bearded man showed disapproval on his wrinkled, stressed face. "...Breaking and entering ain't exactly the best way to make a first impression."

"Yeah, I was wondering when you'd show up. Alright, I'll hear you out... but I'd prefer you out of my room. Who knows what junior over there saw in here. Out!" Shauna gestured the two men to get out of her apartment. She had been busy and been unable to clean up. The cat walks into the room, and hissed his disapproval at the guests, before settling into one of Shauna's shirts on the floor.

Billy Ray kept his hand on his gun, while a knife was sheathed on his side.For an old man, he seemed to still be in fighting condition, and the old mercenary having years of experience. Shauna sighed, and waited for them to say something.

“No, you are right breaking and entering is certainly not the best way to make a first impression but it seemed necessary for me to intrude so you nor Miss Masters would place a bullet into young Kyle.” Lucifer spoke in reply to Billy Ray, an old informant of the Syndicate, whether he remembered it or not, ex-mercenary and owner of a bar that attracted all the ‘wrong’ attention. Miss Masters of course asked him, not so politely, to remove himself and Kyle from her apartment room and out into the hallway so that the business transaction could proceed without her unmentionables being a part of the process. This of course the man could fully agree with, and so of course nodded to her request. “As you wish, this is your home, after you Kyle.” Lucifer replied motioning for Kyle to exit first before he himself left the room tipping his hat to the hissing cat as he closed the door.

Once outside of the room Phantom walked to the far wall where he spun around and placed both his hands upon his cane, it resting against him as he leaned against the wall. “Now them, I believe it is quite time we got down to business.” He said looking up at the woman who stood across from him. “Shauna Masters, Aka Black Tigress, Aka Laser Ladette, the Crime Syndicate, the world’s largest underground criminal organization would like to offer you a place amongst our ranks. Taking this position you would be allowed to continue your life as you see fit but you would also receive a sizeable paycheck each time you completed a job given to you by the Syndicate. These jobs, due to your skill set, could possibly range from killing a target, to making people turn and look the other way during an investigation involving the syndicate, or simply giving our men coverage when completing a heist that might attract unwanted attention from Chicago’s heroes.”

With that Phantom stopped talking to take a breath and to let everything he said sink into the minds of those hearing the offer before continuing. “Also, every action you make while working under the Syndicate would not affect your standing publicly unless of course you want it to. We have our way of making people forget things we do not want them to remember. I believe I may be forgetting something of course but if you have any questions please ask them…Or you can either accept our offer now, or decline in. In which case Kyle and I will depart leaving you and Mr. Ray to your own devices and you will of course not remember this conversation ever happening.” Take the offer how she would Phantom was quite ready to deal with nearly every outcome. One did not get as far as he did in life without preparing for everything.

Who is she calling junior?! Kyle knew that he looks quite young but he is 20 not 16. Kyle looked to the floor and smiled slightly as Phantom explained that he appeared to stop them from shooting him which he kind of appreciated. Kyle waited for Phantom to accept her request for the both of them to leave her apartment, it was awfully messy and it did not seem like a good place to talk, Kyle would be embarrassed too if this was his apartment, Phantom motioned to Kyle as he said that they would leave and that they did, Kyle turned sideways as he slipped between the pair in front of him, Kyle walked to the wall opposite of the door and stood in front of it with his arms crossed. From what Kyle had seen so far, this woman didn't seem very dangerous, he did however notice when he saw her that she was not a teenager obsessed with stuffed animals and she was indeed an adult... obsessed with stuffed animals, so at least the file was correct.

Kyle looked around the area they were standing in to see if there was anyone listening to their conversation and there was not, he then stood silently and watched the man and woman as Phantom explained his offer. Phantom managed to sell the idea quite well, much better than Kyle would have done, it appeared it was a good thing that he came, in more ways than one. Kyle wouldn't dare interrupt the conversation that was happening before him, he would only speak if he was spoken to, and even then he would not say much, he was not very fond of strangers. Instead, his red eyes darted between the two of them as well as the gun, just in case the woman would decide to do something she regretted.

Billy Ray winced a bit looking at Phantom, unsure where he'd seen or met him before, only a slight familiarity tugging at the back of his mind. He strokes his beard a few times and shrugged it off. The power to the building came back fully now, and the hallway was now lit normally.

Shauna leaned against the wall with arms crossed as she listened to Phantom. She had a only slightly annoyed expression, but it didn't worsen since the Phantom was polite enough to make no threats. Once Shauna heard the Syndicate's offer, she raised a hand to offer her response, mentally recalling her working terms to avoid becoming a fall girl, a pawn. She was no one's chore monkey.

"Okay, I don't know how your organization operates yet, but I just want to tell you the conditions I work with. No weird experiments or making me take drugs. My day job coincides with school, so I prefer working friday and saturday nights, and during breaks. I don't mug the working class. I definitely won't kill somebody in front of kids. I might kill somebody with a family, but I decide on that. and I'm definitely not going to or let you hurt a kid. Make me do something I don't wanna do, I will walk away. Otherwise, I'm fine with a little property damage, theft, and helping people collect their disability insurance."

She sounded cool and professional, but deep down, the high morals of her hero days stayed with her. She saw people as people, just trying to get by and do their jobs, and complete monsters were few and far between.

"Oh, and anybody calls me Laser Ladette... they better wish they were laser proof." Shauna sighed, wondering just how easy it was for people to figure out her past identity. She wondered if Phantom knew about the rest of her family too.

Her terms and conditions were made apparent as soon as Lucifer finished speaking everything he had to talk about. It seemed as if she had been through this many of times before, which Phantom had no problem with at all. Anyone who was able to stand up to him was certainly worth something in his eyes, well perhaps not as much as he himself was but something. That and she was of course the daughter of old Hannibal, which also made this all the more interesting. If he was able to convert little laser onto his side the reunion between the two of them would be all the more interesting. A duel between a family, a daughter run away from the father and off on her own devices, taking him down from the outside in. Oh Phantom loved the thought of it…just as he did all those years ago when he destroyed his own father.

But, that story or rather stories were for another time, now he had to reply to the terms of the agreement set by Miss Masters. “Kill a child? Kill in front of a child? My dear Miss Masters, you must have me made out for some brutish thug of a man, I would never wish harm upon any child. As for your hours of operations I can certainly work your schedule around the school hours. Your conditions other than that are agreeable and I do believe we will have a wonderful…partnership.” He smiled standing up a little straighter, if that was possible, and placed a finger upon his chin while he thought.

“Now as a teacher in your day job you make an average of about $53,713 yearly in the state of Chicago…I can offer you a bit more than that. What would you say to a salary of about $1,000 to around $30,000 per heist and or job depending on the difficulty? It is not exactly the starting salary for most of my…employees and it is certainly more than you could hope to make anywhere elese.”  

Money was such a wondrous thing and it made the world go round no matter where you lived. All one had to do was flash the right dollar sign here or there and even those with the largest moral high grounds could be bought off. This was what Lucifer had learned throughout his thirty-seven long years of life. Most people prided themselves on not being able to be bought off over anything but, put in the right situation and with the right persuading he of course found that to be a right big lie. Money was the game changer, and as the world’s greatest thief money was not a problem for him; he could get anything he wanted for a price. “I do so hope you have thought about all that I have to offer you. So, do we have a deal Miss Masters?” He asked with a smile raising his hat above his brown eyes. Eyes that have seen more things than they care to admit, eyes that knew more than they told and seemed to always be hiding something.

To Kyle, this lady sounded awfully picky over her working agreements, but to others she would just be riding a hard bargain to get what she wanted. He laughed to himself as she mentioned she was a teacher, the fact that she had to reinforce to rule of not stealing other students pencils when she herself was out stealing money and jewelry made him chuckle. Kyle pushed himself off of the wall and peaked around the corner, making sure that no one was coming their way or that n o one was eavesdropping on their conversation, this could cause quite stir if anyone knew the leader of the Crime Syndicate was out and about on the streets.

After deeming the coast being clear, he listened to Phantom reply, accepting the terms that this lady demanded. He was also quite impressed to see Phantom pull such knowledge out of simply nowhere and the fact it was extremely specific made him more impressed. Now all that was left was to see if Miss Masters accepted his salary option, although she would be silly not to.

Shauna raised a brow slightly at Phantom, slightly take by surprise at his research into the salaries of america's teachers. He was short about 8,000 dollars, thanks to some funds being 'misplaced' by some officials at her school. Shauna robbed said offending official's home of an equal amount plus interest. She stood up from leaning on the wall and paced back and forth a bit... this would likely get her out of debt and pay off some long due bills, while Shauna could get back into a comfortable lifestyle.

"Hmmm. Up to 30-K per job? Sounds good... Good enough, the plasma eye balls might get some use."

Near the end of their conversation, Walter approached the Phantom, the cat's odd fur coloration especially on its muzzle and one eye making him appear like a gentleman cat, one with the sophistication, poise and round belly to match Phantom for class. Walter sat and meowed, as if agreeing with the offer.

then the cat turned to Kyle, and hissed aggressively. Shauna sighed, definitely caught off guard, getting a job interview in her apartment with her cat joining the conversation. She went over and picked him up before the tom cat could turn the negotiations sour.

Shauna took note of Walter's reaction, and picked up the cat, speaking to him the way most cat-owners did to these awesome pets. "...What do you think Walter? Wanna eat some real fish instead of catfood? sigh... Alright Hats, you got a deal." Shauna sighed, conceding partially to Walter's reaction to the Phantom. It took a classy fellow to know one.

She shot a glance at Kyle, keeping an eye on him if he tried anything funny all throughout their conversation. While Shauna was a 'moral' anti-villain of sorts, she couldn't help but be a little testy, see how she could get a rise out of the others in this organization, and how they dealt with freelance agents. "....Junior's been pretty quiet since you got here. He your go-fer or something? " she said, ensuring to add some sarcasm.