A sleek black Porsche Boxter pulled into the driveway of what appeared to be a modern style home. The driver side door opened and out exited Cassidy Starks, CEO of Starks Enterprises. Anybody who saw her here would think nothing of it. Her face wasn't instantly recognizable and in the case that she was recognized, the assumption would be that this was just one of the numerous residences that she kept. The truth could not be any further off. By all appearances, interior and exterior, this was actually a home. When in reality, it was a facade. Underneath the foundation of this home was a series of tunnels complete with a fully functional shuttle that led to a state of the art holding facility for highly dangerous (read super powered) individuals that Cass had designed with a large amour of help from the leading scientists in mutant and meta powers.
Her flat boots padded across the stone walkway as she slipped out a key from the large Chanel purse that was draped over her shoulder. Sliding the key into the door, she stepped into the foyer of the house. After closing the heavy front door behind her, she activated the alarm system. Should somebody without the intricately designed access key attempt to enter the abode, several things would happen; a pressure switch would engage in the floor and anybody who triggered it by placing their foot on the floor for longer than a second would release a knockout gas, an assault team would be dispatched to this location and as the crowning glory, the entire house would go into lockdown procedures with the oxygen slowly being sucked out. The only ones capable of disengaging it were the head of the specially appointed assault squad and Cassidy herself. She took no risks with something of this much importance.
Her hand trailed across the smooth wood of the staircase bannister as she descended onto the first level of the house. Entering the bedroom, she stripped off the black silk business suit that she had been wearing and stepped out of the red heels. Stark naked, she walked over to the closet and pulled out something a little more pedestrian. Five minutes later and she was wearing a pair of black cargo pants and a grey tank top accompanied by her favorite pair of combat boots. Her kukris rested safely in their sheaths as always and there was a neural impairing gun at the small of her back, something that Starks Enterprises was in the process of field-testing.
Fifteen Minutes Later
There was an air of business and purpose about her as she strode into the facility currently known only as Beta, hinting at the existence of others. Pulling her coursing red hair back into a ponytail she looked over to her right side as Owen Boone, her first in command for this facility, approached her. His muscled frame towered over her as he fell in step next to her, shortening his stride to match hers. "Do you have a sit-rep for me, Captain?"
The former military man of Scottish descent smiled down at her a they progressed towards the holding cell. "Aye lassie, that I do." His brogue never failed to bring a smile to Cass's face despite the fact that she knew he thickened it intentionally to catch the attention of ladies. A charmer if there ever was. "She's becoming more hostile. Ye know we've been doing our best to keep her complacent, but she's beginning to build up a resistance to everything."
"She's never been one to sit down and take something. A fighter if I've ever met one. I'd respect her for it if it didn't infuriate me so damn much." With a rolling of her green eyes she looked over to Owen. "Has she attempted an escape yet?"
"Nay. But tis only a matter of time. She's biding her time, I believe. Waiting for a moment of opportunity. I don't want ye here when she attempts it, Cassidy."
They had come to a stop in front of a set of doors that were able to be accessed only by the combination of their retinal scans, full palm prints and voice recognition, all done simultaneously with one another. "We've had this discussion before, Captain Boone. I'm perfectly capable of handling myself. You know this better than most. Now, shall we?" The last was said with a slight head tilt toward the doors.
Three minutes later the process was complete and Cass entered the holding cell as Owen awaited her in the observation room. They were currently the only two occupying Beta, all other teams had been sent home and given the next two days off. Everything that happened here was kept between the two of them and there were only several ways that that could go wrong. The holding cell was a large, nicely furnished room. It was complete with a bed, television, bookcase, kitchenette and separate bathroom. There was nothing that could be weaponized and everything had been fire-proofed. There were no chances being taken here.
The brunette woman sat in a chair, a glowering expression on her face. Cassidy smirked as she stood, leaning casually against the wall. "Nova. Pleasure to see you, as always. Please, be so kind as to let me talk before threatening to burn me to a crisp." Pulling a tablet out of her cargo pocket, she pulled up a set of legal documents proclaiming Stephanie Ardor to be of unsound mental health. "You're a danger to the public, Nova. You have a history of mental instability, of attacking not only innocent people like that man you burned to a crisp in Peru, but of attacking heroes as well." She pulled out a file from the briefcase that she had brought in with her and walked over to the titanium dining table, fanning out the pictures. They were of extremely graphic content. A man without any eyeballs in his face, after they had been heated and exploded by Nova herself. A burn scar traced down the edge of his cheek, a memento from a sadistically gentle touch. Crazy Eights in extreme and utter agony after being burned to a crisp in an attempt to protect the rest of the Shadow Squad. "Starks Enterprises has satellites all over the world. When I inherited the company, it was a simple matter of tracking down the dates of the Skrull attack and finding the evidence of your attack. How many times have you attacked heroes, Stephanie? Your attack during the attempted Skrull Invasion could have seriously hindered our return to Champion City. How many times have you tried to kill Zicarra, the woman you claim to be your best friend? There's something that's broken inside of you, something that makes it dangerous for others to be near you or around you." This wasn't a spin of events and that's what made it so damn convincing. Everything that Cassidy had said was true. Perhaps skewed a bit, but that was part of the art of twisting things and anybody with knowledge of PR knew that. All the best spins were based entirely on the truth.
"You have two choices. Undergo a procedure here that will inhibit your powers and leave them in the control of others and be allowed to wreak as much havoc as you like, but wreak it on the people of our choosing and be free to go, to live your life to some degree of freedom. Your second choice is to remain here, where others can be safe from you. It's up to you." Cassidy was fully prepared for her to accept neither and try and break out, which would also be spun to her favor.
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