The office trip that goes completely wrong (Bliss, Uzma)

Ignatius Van Crauss woke up that morning early. So early that even before the sun rose and birds started chirping, he was awake and readying himself to do what he had planned. He awoke in the back of a van that is registered under an alias that he had somehow managed to make and keep secure despite his criminal record. As of now, it also served as his living quarters, and it was currently parked on the 3rd floor of a parking garage. Luckily for him, nobody bothered to come by overnight as he slept.

Ignatius, or Xelek as he preferred to call himself these days, groggily sat up and scratched his head as his eyes adjusted themselves to the environment. His body was stiff and informing him of its desire to go back to sleeping. He had to ignore these pangs of tiredness and focus on what's ahead. Slowly he got up and adorned himself in his clothes for the day, a fancy suit and tie designed to leave an impression, before stepping out of the van.

"Get up." he growled at the creature that also slept in the van. It was Annihliatorah, his best creation. Something that had taken months go get right at least proved its worth routinely. However, sneaking this thing around was difficult. All it took was one person seeing it and things could go terribly. He had to think carefully in order to prevent that, so he sent it out into the night sky towards the direction of their destination.

Today he was going to make things better for himself. Doctor Xelek had traveled across several states to get to the southern parts of California, Los Angeles if he were being specific, because of an opportunity he felt he could take advantage enough. There was this company that produced some highly advanced technology within its walls. This included something he wanted to get his hands on. Plus who knows what he could do with some of the works that laid around in that building.

He knew this place would probably be well guarded. There was this plan that he had come up with to allow him access within the building. Granted it would perhaps fail to get him anywhere near the object he desired; if it even worked at all, but it was one worth trying. A week or so ago, he called up the company as his alias to arrange a meeting. His alias was that of a fellow scientist of his from years ago that enough of a resemblance to him that with the proper work done on himself, he was able to pass off as. As for where the real one was at, long story short, he was preoccupied.

He drove a few blocks across the city to the company building, parked his van outside and walked up to the front doors. The place was open and doing its usual business. Well he assumed this was their usual business. When he walked in he was greeted almost instantly by somebody at the front desk. So much for trying to sneak around first. He cursed in his thoughts as he wondered if his backup was in place. With that option gone he was left with no choice other than to walk up to the desk and go with the meeting idea.

"Hello. My name is Arthur Crispian. I'm scheduled to meet with Miss Fukokama." he told the lady politely using his alias along with the cover story he had planned.

"I'm sorry Mr. Crispian, but Miss Fukokama cancelled your meeting. You'll have to reschedule."

Those words sent a chill through his spine. Cancelled? That was a major wrench in his plan. "But I came all this way." he told her trying to sound sympathetic. It wasn't working though. The protocols we're going to be followed regardless of his efforts. He wasn't any good at getting sympathy anyways. Now he would have to resort to his backup plan. He pressed a switch in his pants pocket that signaled Annihliatorah to move in. It flew in from the rooftop of a building across the street and crashed through a window on the fourth floor. The sound of it was very audible was known of shortly after. Xelek used the distraction it caused to race for the stairs. He ran up them as fast as he could to the place where he had told it to meet him.

"Oh good. You actually got everyone out of the way." he told it as he looked at the mostly empty room save for the two unconscious men on the floor before him. "Now, where's the R&D room on this floor?" he asked and got no response. "Research and development. I didn't design you to be a complete idiot. Now, where is it?" The creature gestured in the direction of the room he wanted to go to as the alarm rang out. He had to hurry.

A couple of days ago Bliss received an ominous e-mail and promptly deleted it. Whatever. Haters gonna hate. Someone wanted to meet with her, unaware of the fact Bliss sold her company in light of shady deals with shady people. Again, haters gonna hate.

Most of her team of engineers left for different color pastures, but the company retained the name because after a copyright law, they were the only people allowed to use the word "Bliss". While the company still put out some remarkable software, it faltered in producing anything truly groundbreaking since the departure of its founder. Ashley still remained as the CFO, but getting money for a faltering product isn't as easy as you would think.

For the better part of two hours, Ashley stared blankly ahead thinking of the best way to get any kind of money from this faltering company, then came the eruption of some malevolent force through the walls of the building. "Oh my god." Ashley stood to her feet. "Insurance money." She smiled and ran to the hallway to see the metallic creature communicating in lesser terms with a man standing among the battered employees she knew. "But first."

"Because I don't want to." Clad in a black bikini, Bliss took a beach day to rewind from her otherwise stress free life.

"This guy is going to wreck the building."

"So?"

"And steal stuff."

"So?"

"I agree with that sentiment, I really do." She really did. "But, I don't want to be here when it happens."

"Just send him to me."

"I don't think that will--"

"I'm Bliss Fokukama. Tell him I don't work there anymore and I'm at the beach. He'll show up. Actually give him the phone."

"I don't want--" Takinga breath to summon her courage, Ashley stepped out and started to walk down the hallway. "Excuse me, it's Bliss. She wants to talk to you."

"Hey jerkoff, I'm at the beach. If you can't find me, don't worry, I'll find you." Bliss hung up the phone and brought her sunglasses back over her eyes. "This could probably smooth over all those obstruction of justice allegations."

"I can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for. Do you know what it could be by any chance?" Xelek asked his own creature for its opinion on the matter. That was a rather stupid question. This thing probably couldn't tell the difference between apples and oranges, let alone one work on science and another. "Why am I even asking?" he thought aloud as he continued the search. Xelek found what this room contained to be quite admirable. He desired to take all of it, but that was out of the question.

Now that he had what he came for it was time to leave. Doctor Xelek stepped out of the room and into the hallway to see a woman approaching him with a phone in her hand. He found this sight very amusing. Was she going to try and stop him herself? By doing what, telling him that she had called the police. He wasn't afraid of that. They were about to leave anyways. Annihliatorah stepped out of the room too and was ready to strike at a moment's notice. He was about to just let it attack her when she started telling him something in regards to the person whom had cancelled a meeting with him and he had just robbed. "It's her on the phone huh? This ought to be good." he thought to himself as he took the phone from the woman to listen to the person on the other end. The conversation was brief and did not include a word on his part. All she did was tell him that she was at the beach and that they would run into each other eventually before hanging up. Xelek just dropped the phone on the ground in an inconsiderate manner before turning around to leave. "We're going now. Go keep watch outside. I'll be down in a few minutes." he told his creature as he headed towards the stairs. He would take the elevator since it would be faster, but he didn't trust them not to shut down the power and leave him trapped in there despite what Bliss said about dealing with him all by herself.

They got out of there real quickly and to safety. Xelek decided to change clothes before heading out again due to how hot it was and where he would probably be going. Just some casual clothes for traversing the city. He felt extremely vindictive right now and was actually considering taking up that offer. He wouldn't be completely foolish here. The van was well hidden and he left the things he had stolen in it. Now it was time to go teach that woman a lesson. His creature flew and hid out, and he walked. The beach had a good number of people on it even though it was still morning, but which one was the one he was looking for?

"Who shows up to the beach looking like that?" Overlooking the casual beachgoers gave Bliss a sense of confidence to use for belittling the forms of others. "I'm pretty than her." Bliss pointed her finger to a younger woman chatting with a party of others. "Her." She continued her survey towards a woman with ebony skin wearing white shorts and a yellow bikini top. "Definitely her." Finally she finished with her finger in line with a girl laughing with a group of young men. "I'd rather have a danish every week than be an anorexic whore, hashtag thigh gap, bitch."

Pulling her away from her Blissy-ness, the vibration of her phone against her lower back called her back. "Did he leave?"

"Yeah. He got in a van and then-"

"Don't care. Van. All I need to know."

"He had a-" The sound of her warning gave way to the busy sound of nothing. "Tool."

Waiting for a villain to show up took some time. Especially when you know little to nothing about the nature of said villain or where he would come from. None of this mattered to the lounging super-morally-uninclined woman in her bubble. Probably a fifteen minute nap or so and she could get up to fight evil.

Out of the corner of her eye, Bliss saw a van roll up along the sand eroded parking lot. Not listening to the full message her assistant best friend gave her, Bliss went ahead to assume the only person coming to the beach in a van would be her villain, because fuck you for thinking otherwise. Throwing a wrap around her hips draping down to her mid calf, Bliss walked up to the van and got ready for a final showdown with a mid age man and his family.

"I remember when profiling used to be easy." With her back turned to real danger, Bliss never noticed the van she needed to profile roll to a stop. "Last thing I need is people saying Bliss Fokukama is a racist. Magic Johnson hasn't done everything for minorities either."

Hrm, let's see, let's see. Now which one was she? Of all these people on the beach, there were about twice as many women as men. That wasn't of any help. At least he knew the one he was looking for was asian and would definitely stand out among the crowd. So he was going to resort to racial profiling. He's done worse though.

Then he saw who was most likely the one he was here for. She however, walked right by him and kept on walking towards a van that was pulling up. "Oh, interesting. So the one from the office told her I used a van to escape. Glad I left it behind then." Xelek thought as he watched her pass by before starting to walk in her direction from the roadway he was still on.

The actual occupants of the van were just a family here for a day of fun and relaxation. Such a shame they would be missing out. It was surely a sign of bad times to come that the first thing that happens upon arriving is to be confronted by some woman looking like she wanted to massacre them.

"Hello there. Nice day huh?" the father of this family and driver of the van said before being taken back by the demeanor that Bliss was displaying. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "Did I not park in the right place or something?"

Xelek viewed this little engagement from a short distance away. Oh please let her think this guy was him. That would be great to watch. He waited a while to see how things would turn out before approaching her once more. "Why Miss Fokukama, I believe it's me you're actually looking for."

Things for the quiet family of four enjoying a trip to the beach took a turn for a blissful moment in all the ways you never wanted things to get full of Bliss. Shifting around a cooler behind a row of seats gave Bliss a better vantage point to examine multiple towels rolled up. "Do you even know how many villains I've beaten? You come here with your family, in a van, and you think you're going to get the upper hand against me?" Bliss pulled out a plastic dinosaur and crawled out of the van. "Yours?" She handed it to the twelve year old boy.

"That's mine!" The little girl snatched the toy from Bliss with fire in her eyes.

"Fine, last time I try to be nice." She isn't kidding. "Wrong van. Have a good day."

Before any objections could be levied against Bliss, a voice announced itself from behind her. Realizing the blunder of an opportunity, all matter of pretense given to the family and the strange black woman who kept staring at her subsided. "So you're Xelek?" As simple as brushing off a bad introduction, Bliss continued in what she planned to do all along. "How was breaking into a design firm with no design team? I hope you stole files, because I would really like to see how bad they are doing without me there."

Wanting to get the fight away from the crowded beach, but not wanting to tell anyone she cared about the family behind her, Bliss shot a wide blast of energy to throw Xelek back. Once she got some space, encroaching on the ground would establish the zone of control she wanted. "This should be good." Bliss handed her sunglasses to the little girl holding the plastic dinosaur. "Hold this."

The little girl watched as the sunglasses hit the ground in front of her.

"Fine. Try to help people and now I'm the badguy."

It was fun to watch this woman go through the family's van under the belief that they were the ones who had broken into her office and stolen from it. He had unintentionally saved her from further embarrassing herself via this incorrect assumption. The family she had mistakenly confronted didn't know what to make of this situation. They just stood there aghast of they were witnessing. Their expressions were just comical in nature. They were probably completely unaware of the fact that were actually in danger. Ignorance can be so bliss sometimes.

Speaking of bliss, she seemed to recover quickly from her little mishap there in order to confront the man she was actually looking for after he went ahead and made his presence known. "Why yes, that is who I am, though I'm not sure how you know me by that name. You possess some major connections I don't know about?" he asked of her snidely.

Bliss asked about his break-in of her lab and as he was answering, it got interrupted. "Why it was surpris-" boom. Something hit him square in the chest and sent him reeling backwards until he hit the ground hard. Doctor Xelek had been laid out on the ground, doubled over in pain. "Arh, what the hell? This was not anywhere in my research." Xelek sat up slowly clutching his chest. "I see you prefer the direct approach. I'll make sure to remember that." he told her as he thought about how to deal with this new-found discovery of what she could do. If he brought Annihliatorah in now it would just get blasted away as well. He had to wait for the right moment. Maybe he could lure her into position for an ambush.

Xelek started to back away slowly as he got back to his feet. Before he had even gotten to his feet again he saw a light before him. Xelek presumed it was another of those blasts that this Bliss lady could do and thrust his arms in front of him in an attempt to reduce the coming impact. Instead nothing came and that light just stayed in place and was actually surrounding him. What was she trying to do? Keep him imprisoned? But then he noticed even she didn't seem to know what was going on. Xelek looked at this thing that was around him and through his peripheral vision, noticed a woman staring right at them with a concentrated expression upon her face. Now who was this woman and was she the one who had made this thing?

It only took a few hits and a directed insult to get this man onto the defensive. Watching her first few blows knock this guy around let her know she did something right. Now, Bliss needed to figure out how to keep on the right path. Her fists pulsed with power firing out towards the shield before her.

"You can't just go around George Zimmermaning people who look suspicious." Holding the dinosaur tight to her chest, the little girl criticized the way Bliss handled the situation. "You're not Elaine Angara or Sailor Moon."

The next barrage of blasts died out as Bliss took notice of the little brat. A bright light kept Xelek from doing anything stupid right now, so Bliss moved over and after an ungracious tug of war, Bliss wrested the dinosaur from the little girl. "Go fetch." The toy soared through the air and landed among a crowd of onlookers trying to keep their distance from the fight, but still wanting some information on what was transpiring.

Forgetting her proximity to the villain, Bliss kept walking towards his shield firing blast after blast with a relentless force. Once she crossed the point of no return, she noticed Uzma standing off to the corner. "Don't you have somewhere else to be? Like literally anywhere else." With her head turned towards Uzma, Bliss continued her barrage against the powerful shield.

Well the guy she fought was unconscious. Bliss figured she finished the fight and she could get back to her day at the beach. Then the reason her opponent fell unconscious decided to be a total bitch. "Hey, listen, I've got no problem with you, but this guy and the little girl, and there was a dinosaur, yeah I'm going back to the beach, so later."

While Bliss decided to take the high road, the sewers beneath her escalated the situation. A burst of toxic gas sprung forth from a manhole, shooting the lid just by Bliss' head. Watching the man hold cover dig deep into the wall of a hole in the wall beach shop refocused Bliss on what a good day at the beach should look like. "Well, I guess walking away isn't going to be a thing." Bliss lifted her sunglasses and sighed while she approached the Aegis of Earth. "You need to quit with this waste stuff because it is seriously ruining my day and it probably isn't good for the kids, so..." With her hands out in a gesture of peace, Bliss shot out a violent blast towards Uzma as a surprise attack.

"Wow, the Japanese lady just Pearl Harbored that lady!" The shocked man huddled his family towards the beach to escape the onslaught he inadvertently brought upon himself.

"When this is done, I'm teaching you and your dinogirl a lesson about something important." Bliss waved her fist in a threatening gesture to do heroics. Turning her head back, Bliss could barely feel the weak ground begin to crack beneath her feet. One blast fired towards Uzma. Two blasts. Three blasts. Bliss kept her barrage going to try and break the Aegis and claim her hard fought victory of beach dwelling and yelling at a child.

"Those hate crimes were no more than allegations of workplace discrimination!" Bliss continued her barrage. After a couple of rounds and a beaten adversary, Bliss could get back to the beach. Would only take a few minutes at this rate. But the rates changed in an instance.

Bliss pulled down her sunglasses to keep her eyes focused on the shimmering light laying out before her. "So, this is some kind of trap or something I don't really actually understand anymore, but I know one thing, and that's..." Bliss pointed her finger with an accusation inches away from her fingertip. "My powers really hurt."

No one wanted to fight fair, so Bliss decided to yet again strike first. Throwing attack after attack towards the descending Uzma as she closed the distance on the glowing woman. Using her regular style of fighting, Bliss would sweep for a leg and try to wrap her lags around one limb and shoot a blast point blank at the joint. With the amount of force the overzealous bully used, the cracking ground would begin to falter entirely dropping the two girls down into an underground hallway.

Lights burned away the darkness at either end of the hall, unbeknown to Bliss who continued to try to break Uzma into submission. The low hum of machinery became greatly intensified as the pumping of toxic waste began to fill the hall. Once her scuffle reached a point of remission, Bliss would look to try to find a way up to the surface, but to no avail. The crevice caved in upon itself and the structure began looking more and more unstable. Caught between toxic waste and a cave in, Bliss decided the best means of exit would come through making a hole in the wall.

Shooting all of her energy into Uzma's stomach, Bliss hoped to shoot Uzma through the wall and into the laboratory of a mad scientist.