Scene #919: A Hero's Reason

Owner	Pose
Defiant	The Protectorate Headquarters is quite well-secured. Half a dozen PRT officers in full gear, armor and weapons, stand in the lobby. There's the Wards, the under-eighteen superheroes, although they should still be in school at this hour. And there's half a dozen experienced capes working of on patrol nearby. And that is not even mentioning the host of computer programs, sensors, biometric scanners and locks and camera monitors by custom-made analysis routines created by the world's best hacker. And Finna has made it her mission to break in and find Armsmaster, up in his office on one of the higher floors, working or talking or something which probably means he doesn't want to be disturbed!
Finna	One might wonder: Why in the world has anyone decided to randomly try to invade the PRT's headquarters, an ALLY for that matter, and announced it? Fact of the matter is, Finna's feeling adventurous, and doesn't like having to go through official channels for anything. SO STIFLING! That, and she has a new Charm to test out. Through careful channeling of Lunar Essence through her body and spirit, she draws on the subtle power of the moon's dark aspects, when it is but a sliver in the sky, to cloak herself. Cameras, laser alarms, sound sensors, thermal imaging... no technological sensor will be able to get a lock on her. Feeds will turn fuzzy, sensors will glitch and fail to register her passage. Any captured images will show vague silhouettes upon review. A Digital Phantom walks among you. Harder to fool of course are human eyes. Working in Finna's favor, she can sneak in as an animal. If someone opens a door, they will probably pay no attention to the mouse slipping through with them... And soon, crawling along the ceiling. Somehow. WORSE, anyone who's followed Finna's instructions of 'be on the lookout for me' faces further penalties... without an exceedingly strong will, anything they would believe is 'that intruder we're looking for' fails to register as anything significant. A trick of the mind, a momentary mental bluh moment at best if there's nothing else to grab their attention. The only thing she's got going for her is the magic of the moon. Very little stops Luna - or her Chosen - from going where they please. Will something in here manage it, as she heads up towards the office...?
Defiant	Finna slips past everyone. Past Triumph as he walks arm in arm with Prism, around Dauntless' feet, and Miss Militia - who had been specifically ordered to keep an eye out for Finna misses her entirely. Even Dragon deals with a slight amount of signal interference but, by the time she has compensated for it, Finna has moved past another camera. No one stops her, it seems. Except for the final door. It is heavy, metal and locked - presumably coded to respond to Armsmaster's biometrics, voice or some combination there of. How will Finna get past this final obstacle?
Finna	The idea of a door that will not open save to a chosen few is not entirely unknown to Finna, but one that responds to the voice, fingerprints, or so on... not so much. She stares at the door's controls upon taking human form again, and frowns at it. Well, she doesn't wanna make a mess or let Armsmaster know she's here until the last possible moment... so there's nothing doing. Time to improvise She takes a deep breath, raps on the door repeatedly, and then adopts Skitter's voice and language with STRIKING accuracy. She even gets the accent PRETTY CLOSE. "ARMSMASTER, OPEN THIS DOOR! I'm here to surrender!" Speaking style, and personality, perhaps not. But she's betting the pure shock will override attention to details... ... Which is why she's instantly crouching, ready to dive between his legs and into the workshop - or around him if that angle's better - the instant the door's open.
Defiant	The door hisses open in a second, and Armsmaster is there in his helmet and heavy dark blue powered armor. With his Halberd pointed squarely at Finna's chest. "You are not-!" And then Finna ducks through his legs and into his lab. It's full of all sorts of equipment, machinery and computers - including what looks like a sizeable gym and training arena. There is no sign of anything remotely personal. It is all so starkly spartan. The closest one might get to something like that is the rack of Halberds behind his desk - man, he has like a half a dozen of the things! "Get out!" Armsmaster bellows. "This is your only warning!"
Finna	"Or what?" The fox lady singsongs upon landing after a few gymnastic manuevers that send her hair swishing about wildly. She lands on a table, crouched and grinning fearlessly at Armsmaster. Fearlessly, but no hostility. yeah, even with the halberd being waved around, she doesn't look scared of him at all. "You're gonna swing that thing around and ruin your own room? The whole gang here couldn't catch me! What makes you think you're gonna manage it on the first try? Nah-uh, nah-uh..." She waves a hand, ready for him to either calm down... Or come after her. "Sheesh, you're a touchy one... anyways, what's with THIS? Don't you even have a trophy or something in here?!" She's apparently confident enough in her reflexes too that she can let her eyes wander a little about the room...
Defiant	"Trophies are unprofessional," Armsmaster states, holding his Halberd in a relaxed fashion. But the moment her eyes wander... Armsmaster levels his Halberd at Finna, and the end of his weapon launches at her, like a grappling hook! "As is this pathetic display," Armsmaster seethes. Wow. He's pissed.
Finna	SPEED is normally Finna's main advantage. She was very, VERY sure that she could leap aside if Armsmaster charged - even if he was half as fast as she was. She was NOT expecting that thing to be able to launch at her. Freaking out, she does the first thing that her instincts scream to do. Shriek, then lash out with - suddenly, CLAWS?! Yes, claws. The fingernails of one hand suddenly glow a deep, vivid silvery-blue. Sparks fly as the swipe meets the onrushing halberd head, a mighty CLANG echoes through the room-- THUMP-THUD-CRASH. While the head is deflected off to the side, the sheer impact picks Finna right off the table, hurls her at the floor and sends her crashing into some weights. "ow ow... what a roughhouser! Does every girl who comes to say hi get this treatment?" No move to counterattack, but she does rise to her feet, now with a grouchier expression. "And who's less professional? Me, who snuck right into your base even with everyone watching out for me, or you, who came rushing to the door so fast you couldn't POSSIBLY have asked any of your allies if Skitter -really- snuck in this far?" There's that wild grin again.
Defiant	The grappling hook snaps back into the blade of the Halberd, and Armsmaster advances on Finna, Halberd held in both hands. "I knew it wasn't Skitter for precisely that reason," Armsmaster replies. "You certainly imitated her voice perfectly, but she is no Stranger. She simply could not get this far into our headquarters without being detected. I knew you were an imposter from the very beginning." He taps a forefinger against the side on his helmet. "If you wish to explore our facilities, you can start with the holding cells. And you /will/ pick up those weights."
Finna	"Oh, fine, maybe you figured that out.... but Armsy, let me tell you what's gonna happen if you make me get serious in defending myself. You push me, and I'll have to go into my Warform just to keep up. You'll wreck your room, you won't be in fighting shape if something happens, both of us will get yelled at..." She ticks things off on her fingers, then cocks her head at the approaching man, "orrrrrr you can admit you just got pranked, I can apologize, and you can find out why I'm actually here!"
Defiant	Armsmaster is frowning - it has been etched on his lips since the door opened. Why does everyone keep using that ridiculous nickname that Assault gave him? "Nothing here is irreplaceable," Armsmaster counters. "I suggest you tell me why you came all this way and decided to imitate one of this city's most wanted criminals. Quickly."
Finna	"Right, even the person who dwells here can be replaced, can't they?" Finna comments airily, putting a hint of sting into the tone... but just moments later that sting turns more caring. "I came here to ask about YOU... and this hero business. And not the answers from the PRT or the street rep... questions, and more things. Because if nothing changes, someday soon you're gonna be a very miserable person... worse than you already are. You're an ally.... and what kind of ally would I be if I didn't try to help when I see a thousand warning signs at once?" Even her icy blue eyes are looking worried as she peers at him. Then.. she smiles. "Oh, sneaking in? It's just more fun that way!"
Defiant	Armsmaster just says, "I'm perfectly happy where and how I am. I have devoted my life to this and I have been successful." He punctuates the point by slamming the haft of his Halberd against the floor. "I don't need your help and, if you did want an interview, there are proper channels for that." He crosses his and ignores that jibe about being replaced. Who would replace him? Piggot would never be so bold.
Finna	"An interview, huh? An interview? Hah... one where you could prepare ahead of time to put on a stoic face, claim insult and run off if I said stuff you didn't like?" Finna snorts, her ears twitching to match her somewhat ruefully amused face. Still, her tail's wagging a little. Not ecstatically... she's just apparently feeling upbeat despite all the threatening. This girl's CRAZY. Crazy enouh to cant her head, crack a smile, point... and twitch that index finger. "Nuh-uh... I just got a glimpse of who you actually are, and it's....hrmmmmmm..." She draws in a deep breath, runs a hand through her lengthy hair and lets gravity bring it back down. But there's something eye-catching about the gesture, the same as when Finna cants her head a moment later to peer Armsmater's way with yet more fervor. It's a subtle, so subtle that really, nothing really has changed. Nothing has changed, but... The simple lighting of the room seems to have changed, casting her in a softer illumination that brings out the sheen of every strand of hair, soft and unblemished skin, eyes the color of the northern winter sky on an unusually clear day. The smile she cracks, both mischevious and full of warmth, would tug at the hearts of most men easily enough! It's not an illusion. It's not even mind trickery. Finna's just begun to let the divine beauty gifted to her by Luna show a little, in hopes of catching Armsmaster's psyche off-guard and cracking the shell a little. The Lunar seats herself on... the edge of a desk, despite Armsmaster's hostility. "... answer me truthfully? Why do you fight? What made you decide one day, 'alright, I have superpowers, gonna train like a machine aand relentlessly hunt villains?' Because you never laugh, since seeing you I've not seen you smile either. There's not a thing in here any sort of guy I know would think fun or neat to have... you've devoted yourself so completely to this that you have nothing else."
Defiant	It's almost unfortunate that Armsmaster isn't like most men. Not only is he stern to an incredible extent, generally taciturn and prone to earnestly believing in the importance of law and order - he's already quite infatuated with someone else, not that he'd admit it. "My helmet protects me against many powers that affect one's presence," Armsmaster states blandly. It's like Colin the man is wrapped up beneath layers and lawyers of iron-clad duty and honor. But why? His subordinates aren't nearly so tightly wound, after all! "Then you will receive the same answer everyone else has ever received. The truth. I fight because I swore to never be a bystander and to never stand by and let people abuse their privileges on innocent people. I would do this without my power - it just makes me better at what I do. I do not need anything else. The world will be a better place due to my actions and that is all that matters."
Finna	"Hrmph!" Finna's not buying that. But what can she say? Either he really does have some way to detect that, or.... more likely, she'd guess, he's being stubborn and denying is reflexive. "A world that you won't enjoy one bit of, you mean?" She twitches a finger back and forth, then angles it at Armsmaster. "becuse you're always in this tower, shut up in your room like a recluse..." Finna suddenly blinks, as though struck by a sudden realization! But she doesn't speak of it. Not yet, anyways. "I get the defender of justice thing. Lot more absolute about it than the culture I was raised in, but I get where you're coming from. But Armsy, that's no answer." Finna sighs, then folds her own arms. "... It doesn't tell me what made you believe so much in this justice and vision, that you'd risk so much, strive so hard... and sacrifice your own happiness in the undertaking. See, other people on this path of yours will joke, they'l laugh, and they probably wouldn't've fired a blade at a pretty girl who snuck into their room!" She winks at him, the grin of before returning. "... There's more to it than just wanting the truth.... because you're after more than that. You're not just after victory for your cause. I bet I could strip naked and do a little dance - and you wouldn't so much as blink! .... Armsy, anyone who behaves the way you do breaks down eventually. And they only act this way if something happened... something dreadful. It's not that you don't want to be just a bystander, is it? You, or someone you know, WAS a bystander to something horrible a long time ago, right?"
Defiant	Arms crossed, Armsmaster says, "I derive satisfaction from being good at what I do. From winning. From putting bad people behind bars, where no one else will be hurt." One hand idly twists around the haft of his Halberd, stretching with a quiet rasp of metal on metal. "My trigger event was not traumatic. I grew up in a world of Endbringers, the Slaughterhouse and other threats. No one could stop them - but I can, I will. All those people you think of, not one of them would have risen to my position." "We live in a time of good versus evil, of law versus chaos. And I will ensure that the side that deserves to win is the one that prevails. I resent your attempts at psychoanalysis, at attempting to link this to some trauma in my past. I have given fifteen years to Brockton Bay and I intend to give many more." She's right though, in a way. Growing up in a family that saw him as a 'side effect' set him on this path. Being alone is safer, easier, more efficient. Less people who might be used as weapons to get to him. Less people who would suffer on his account. Newfoundland, maybe, might be that something horrible. It's the only thing that comes close - but he was already a cape by then. Maybe, in his heart, Armsmaster is just that selfless - and so utterly self-aware.
Finna	"Resent it all you want, my experience says you're going to regret this some day." Finna retorts, pursing her lips. "....Really, most of it has to do with this way you've been talking to me the whole time. It's like piercing a wall of iron.. and you're about equally as good at conversing as said wall would be. There's no questining your skill or smarts, but... you're so shot up in this room that you don't know how to talk to peopl who're not enemises or direct friends, do you?" She plants both hands on her hips, staring with fierce belief in her eyes. ".... think I can't see the signs? Fifteen years of this? Especially since you started... oh, not much older than I am, maybe?" "... anyways, you do need help alrightYou're so wrapped up in your crusade I don't know what to say that will mean much to you, though.... if you don't know how to understand the people you're helping, can you really say you're making this world so much better? A guy as old as you, being this antisocial.... there's something WRONG with that!"
Defiant	"I regret nothing," Armsmaster states, voice flat. "And it isn't any fault of mine if you have issues with my tone." "My record speaks for itself. Yes, I can say quite confidently I have been making this world better. And in one week, I shall have the tools to ensure that even the Endbringers will face justice. In these matters, understanding isn't required - only obedience." She is right though. He isn't good at understanding people - even when he thinks he has all the variables mapped. All people except one, perhaps. "And there is nothing wrong with my mental state. I have been - and always will be - cleared for duty and found of sound mind."
Finna	"Your defenses could not stop me even on high alert." Finna points out, simply. "You fell for my ruse at least enough to open the door. You probably don't know about me any more than I really understand this 'superhero' business." She quickly and simply points out in a casual tone, as if it were no big deal.... only to smirk knowingly a moment later, and lean forward. "So I wouldn't be so sure, Armsy. You might be surprised! ... And that's why having allies who understand you's crucial." Finally, she's pulling out her big gun. She slwoly brings a hand up and points right at Armsmaster's heart. "Just how many people died overnight the last time something like those showed up? I don't wanna see that just because some recluse with a big head isn't thinking.... c'mon, surely you haven't acted like this your whole life?!"
Defiant	"Too many people perished in the last attack," Armsmaster states. "Too many. But this time, I will take the monster's head. For all the people those beasts have harmed, it is the least I can do." Inwardly, he's not sure why she's pointing at his heart. It is there, buried beneath thick armor plate - he is still just human! "I don't disclose information about my life before joining the Protectorate - it is a security risk. Is there anything else I can help you with? I have a conference to discuss my Endbringer countermeasures with my co-developer in five minutes."
Finna	"oh for.... you and these security measures!" Finna barks out, disgusted and exasperated at once. "Five years old and a hardboiled recluse... I sure hope not." The fox girl adds a moment later, expression turning mischevious. "No need to worry about names, but sheesh.... well, you do realize something, right?" The finger's withdrawn, and Finna stands up. Her tail's not wagging anymore... "Results are their own kind of answer. But if results are the only thing you can ofer, nobody's gonna bail you out of a pinch when they stop coming. You need to get to know your allies better and stop being a one man fortress... if only a little."
Defiant	"They are important and necessary to maintaining the security of all capes," Armsmaster counters. "New Wave didn't think so, and they paid the price." Armsmaster nods then, however, and gives a little 'mmm'. "I do. And that is why my results will never falter. Not in the face of an Endbringer, not in the face of the Undersiders. I will not fail."
Finna	Finna sighs. It's long and quite exasperated. "... Fine, fine... I guess you're not in the right state of mind to listen, but if you accept that... don't complain to me if the unthinkable happens. I screwed up something I thought I could handle once. Thankfully, the only life on the line was my own." This is said almost like a warning, but she starts walking off towards the door with a rather disappointed look....
Defiant	Armsmaster just watches Finna go from behind his impassive visor. He says nothing, not caring about that look on her face, and then sets his Halberd back into its place on the weapon rack behind his desk and settles in, opening a communication link to the Guild in Canada. Time to work.