I'm pretty sure we've done this before (Shauna Guardian Recruitment)

There was a place in Chicago that metahumans local and visiting could learn about by word of mouth. A special, hidden place where metas could go for either a drink or food, and information about the meta community. It was called Billy Ray's.

The alley was strewn with trash and filth, and smelled of dog poo. Graffiti was strewn all over the walls, and what looked like bloodstains and bullet holes were becoming visible on a part of the wall when sunlight was just starting to illuminate it. There also seemed to be a roughly body sized pile of rags in the corner- no telling if it was a body or garbage, but smelled even more foul than both when approached.

The rear entrance was small, no more than fifteen feet wide and raised from the ground line by a few steps. The windows were shut with nailed planks. Country music played from inside. There was a small plank board sign that read “Billy Ray’s”, and scrawled under it was “Absolutely no fighting inside” in rather poor penmanship and messy paint. The reinforced door was guarded by a most stout and muscular humanoid figure, who was roughly four feet tall and as wide. His arms were as thick as his stocky legs, sported a full long beard, and a mighty beer belly. One might describe him as a dwarf.

When approached, he would take a good, long look at the person, and speak. “Weclome to Billy Ray’s, how meta are ya?” He would ask, his deep voice seemingly marking him as from New York, probably the Bronx, or Brooklyn. Of course, he would easily welcome familiar faces with a friendly "Hey (insert name) how've you been? Step right inside."

The world is in a constant state of flux. Change is neverending. You should know that by now. Does it even bear repeating? Why is it being repeated? Maybe for Forcewave, it was due to feelings of deja vu. With a lot of not so good things going on, he had done something a bit rash, but felt like it was the right call. He had joined a new superhero group. Hopefully that turns out to be a good decision. This new group was called 'The Guardians'. A more straightforward name for a group than the others. They were just getting started and here he was doing his part to help out however he could.

Despite having been apart of more than one previous collaboration of superheroes trying to work together to do good, and having seen each of them slowly fall apart, he kept joining a new one whenever he found one that piqued his interests. Even though those previous groups had failed, he had maintained contact with many of the other members of those various groups, and even remained acquaintances and allies with some. Having allies was helpful when trying to keep the world safe from evil. One of those people was Shauna Masters, Otherwise known as Sun Queen. She wasn't someone that Forcewave knew all that well, but had worked with her on a few occasions. Jeisen, the de facto leader of the group, had told the others that she was a potential recruit and he had mentioned that he knew her. Saying that instantly made him the best person for the job. Forcewave had essentially signed himself up for this without meaning to.

As of right now, Forcewave was walking through an alleyway in the rougher parts of the city to head towards a bar. It was this rundown place called 'Billy Ray's' that he was heading to. It was the only place he knew that Shauna frequented often, so it was worth a shot. He arrived at the back entrance of the place and just like the first and only other time he had been here, the short, yet bulky guy was standing outside. Just like last time he looked at the person approaching and asked 'how meta they were'. He seemed to recognize Forcewave though, and decided to just let him in. Before he entered however, Forcewave decided to ask the guy if Shauna was here.
"Hi. Nice to see you again. Is Sun Queen here by any chance?"
"Yeah. She's here." the muscular dwarf looking guy responded and stepped aside so he could enter.
"Thank you." Forcewave replied as he entered. The place had a few customers in the back. Not as full as last time he had been here. He saw Shauna sitting in a booth in the corner and proceeded to walk over to her.
"Hey Shauna. Mind if I sit down? Came here to talk to you about something." he said as he arrived at her table. Hopefully this went well.

The interior of the bar had seen significant overhaul, the windows opened up and the dark walls and floorboards replaced with pastels and light earth tone tiles. It was really starting to look like a family friendly restaurant, except for the same old biker crews made of ex meta henchmen (and their kids) and the bar owner, Billy Ray, still looked like his old self- Show Down, the fastest draw and quickest robber in the west. Though it was more as a cowboy theme.

Just like before, Shauna waves Forcie over. It seems they were doing this all over again. Not that anyone was complaining. Shauna had some House blend iced tea, and once Forcewave took his seat the gold skinned metahuman waitress handed him the new menu. It featured western and fusion cuisine, and a good number of brewed iced teas and brewed coffees.

"Hello again Mister Forcewave. I hope you'll find our new selection to your likin'." She said with that sweet southern belle voice.

"I'll have a refill, Golda. So! Force. I heard we're joining a new team? Same people, different name?" She took a long sip of her iced tea, and had herself some chicken salad. Shauna avoided her usual order of greasy southern food- metahuman metabolism or no, the arteries need some de-clogging.

Forcewave wasn't hungry and at most would order only a glass of water since he wasn't planning on being here all that long. He was focused on this little meeting that he had come here for. Shauna addressed the reason that he was here for. Asking her to join a new superhero team. Something he had done before. This was lampshaded by Shauna and he would go ahead and say what he wanted to say.

"Well. I guess you could say that. It's not the same people, but the purpose is the same. I don't join these teams because I think it's cool or anything. When you're trying to keep the world safe, having allies that are trying to do the same thing gives you a better chance at succeeding. That's why I joined Knightwatch, and that's why I've joined the Guardians too." he said with complete honesty. Forcewave paused to let her think before continuing. "So, are you interested, Sun Queen?" he asked and awaited her response.

"I agree. Going solo can get dangerous quickly. A team guarantees someone will cover your back. So yeah, let's do it." Shauna said, stirring her brewed tea. She looked at the cocktail menu left on the desk, but sighed. No long island iced teas till 6 pm. Shauna fell into a short silence.

"Hey Force. I've got a question, if you won't mind me asking." She took a sip of her iced tea. "You're still pretty young. But, have you ever... taken a life in the line of duty?"

"Alright then." Forcewave replied calmly. Shauna had agreed to join. That went well. "Welcome aboard I guess." he said as he reached into his pocket to pull out the device that he was given to give to her if she agreed to join.

"Okay. What is it?" he asked curiously as he handed out the device. Shauna then asked if he had ever taken a life before. "I have not. Managed to avoid that thankfully." Forcewave answered. "Anything else you would like to know?"

Shauna looked at Forcie. He really was young for the heroing business. It was now or never to come clean about herself.

"Force, I know I didn't tell you much back in Knightwatch, or maybe you've read my file... but I guess I should tell you about some of my skeletons in the closet. Being a 'hero'..." She said the word with a strange emphasis, almost disdain. "...For as long as I have, I've been forced to make hard choices. I have killed. I've killed under orders, and I've killed out of revenge. but worst of all, I regret performing... Lobotomies on people I've judged to be complete monsters."

Shauna paused to let that sink in. "I think I should be clean about my history going into a hero team that avoids killing... because as much as I regret them, what they say is true. It gets easier."

Forcewave had just informed Sun Queen that he had never taken a life during his tenure as a superhero following her question of such a matter. He was still holding out the device for her to take as she started speaking. It seems that she had taken a life while trying to be a hero. More than one in fact. Her reasons for doing so varied greatly. From because she was ordered to by someone whom she was working for, to as an act of revenge, and probably other reasons as well. It was pretty dissatisfying to hear, but what was said next was worse.

Lobotomies? Seriously? That was just sickening to hear. What the hell, Shauna? What were you doing back then exactly? He should probably mention this to the others. Things could be dealt with if they needed to be. In the meantime, just get through this.

"Thanks for sharing." he responded and let go of the device. "I'll be seeing you around I guess." he told her as he got out of his seat. Forcewave turned around and walked out of the bar to head elsewhere.

"Thanks for hearing me out Force. I'll see you at the new place." Shauna said, a bit disheartened that Forcie didn't comment more, though his expression was a bit plain to see. The younger ones, didn't understand, not until they'd be put to the test. Though not a day goes by that Shauna wishes maybe she should have just failed... a part of her knew that she would always keep fighting, keep trying.

She wondered if they were going to keep a counter of how many days will pass before Shauna'd off somebody.