Paradigm Shift: Monolith of the Rebellion

Uber was actually still trading stocks, having delegated the task of HR to Leet. He pointed at the skinnier man when Monolith arrived, wordlessly, and Leet pulled up his PHO chatlog with the user in question: LONE_PATRIOT "This guy is pretty much the most pathetic fanboy I've ever seen. He claims he's a parahuman but he won't tell me what powers he has because he's convinced the PHO admins monitor all PMs and chatrooms, but he says he can demonstrate if we arrange a meeting."

Monolith blinked "Ok, I can work with crazy to an extent. How desperate are we talking here?"

"He acts like one of those tinfoil hat morons. He's also been in every thread about you and Impetus asking people if they know how to join your group."

Sonorous walked into the bar. "I hope you were planning to include me in this recruitment this time."

London clicked his tounge, interesting. Not the good kind, the wierd kind you don't really know how to deal with all too well.

But hell, wouldn't be the stupidest thing he's ever done.

"Tell him to meet me at the Cafe on thirteenth street in an hour. Tom and I can talk to him."

He glanced back at the man "How do you like coffee?"

"Love it, why?"

"I'm paying and I was just making sure." London said.

He grabbed his coat and went out the door. The Cafe was only a few blocks from the docks and the Fat Angel bar. So it was a nice, short little walk. It was better than the last one that he had to go on, he wasn't get shot at this time.

But, the day was young.

He and Tom arrived at the Cafe and ordered their drinks. They just sat around and waited. Hopefully, whoever this was would make it obvious. London had a feeling he would.

Sonorous made sure only Monolith could hear him. "Do we know what this guy looks like?"

"Nope," London said "But if this guy is as interested as he says, he's going to make quite the first impression. If not, then at least we have some time to talk."

It was around that point that someone decided to approach their table. The guy was on the taller side, unshaven, and his eyes had a rather intense look about them. He was wearing baggy jeans, a camo jacket and a baseball cap. He looked straight at London after a quick glance around to confirm nobody was listening in on the conversation. "You're Monolith."

London raised an eyebrow but pushed a cup of coffee towards the man "Have a seat. And might I have the name of the man asking? And don't worry about our voices leaking out, it's being taken care of."

London quickly shot Tom a glance, hoping the sound master got the message.

Tom nods in affirmation, nobody outside their table could hear a word they were saying.

He waved off the cup as he produced a thermos of his own, unscrewing the cap to take a quick sip of whatever was inside. It smelled like very, VERY strong coffee indeed. Or possibly jet fuel. "Call me Wargame. Who's the kid?"

London raised an eyebrow at the thermos but he didn't question it. He lazily pointed his hand at Tom "This, is Sonorus, second commander of Impetus, second only to me."

Wargame nodded. "Hm. Hell of a fight you gave the ABB, if you don't mind me saying so."

"Not even the half of it." London said, taking a sip of coffee "I was just making a demonstration, the damage would have been a lot worse if both of us wanted to continue."

"PHO thinks you could have killed Lung. There's not many people who can do that. Not once he gets going like he was."

"I could have, but I missed."

Wargame sipped thoughtfully at his miniature drum of napalm before changing the subject. "So your announcement."

London raised an eyebrow "Yes? Your message said you wished to join Impetus."

Wargame crossed his arms. "Depends. You're serious about fixing the problems the PRT won't?"

London drummed his fingers against the table "My first city... was destroyed. It had as many heroes and villains as Brockton Bay does now. Back then, I didn't have a chance to change anything, I didn't have the power. But here,"

London stopped drumming his fingers and suddenly, the ground beneath the table cracked slightly as the table grew to heavy to be supported by the concreate. Not enough to do much, but there was a small indent in the ground.

"Here, I'm going to make sure that this city doesn't make the same mistake. I will drag it kicking and screaming if I have to. I declared war, if I have to, I'll fight the Triumvirate to make sure. So yes, I intend to deal with the problems the PRT won't. I started with Lung, I don't intend to stop."

Wargame watched him closely, waiting a moment after before he nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. Yeah, I'd like to join, if you'll have me."

"Welcome aboard, but I have to ask, what is your power? You claimed to have one on the forums, but forgive me for being skeptical." London said.

"This."

Tom promptly went deaf. Wait, no. No, he could still hear things...just things that reached his ears rather than his zone of control.

Meanwhile, London was suddenly, acutely and painfully aware of what seemed to be an incredible amount of sound, more than he'd ever heard in his life.

This only lasted a couple of seconds before both of their hearing turned to normal.