White Mask, sitting on the edge of the bed, tilted his head. The mask hid the man's expressions, but the way he sat told Cecil he wasn't intimidated or surprised by the sudden appearance of the GDA's Director.
The man seemed relaxed, his elbows propped up on his knees with his hands clasped together. Was this arrogance or confidence in display? Time to find out.
"Glad to meet me, huh? Can't say I share the sentiment. You've got a hell of a way of asking for a meeting," Cecil said, his voice losing its gravelly edge, replaced by a weary sigh. He took a step further into the room, pointedly moving his hand away from the holster hidden under his blazer. "Do you have any idea how much panic you caused back there?"
"'Panicked' is usually the only state the GDA operates in, doesn't it?" Leon replied. His voice was steady, filtered through the mask to sound slightly metallic.
Cecil huffed a dry, humorless laugh. "Fair point. Alright, White Mask. You've got the floor. You clearly know my name, my deputy's name, and apparently what Nolan Grayson calls himself when he isn't flipping burgers in his backyard, not to mention all the other shit in your search history. That's a lot of classified information someone I've never heard of before shouldn't know."
"I'll get to explaining why I know so much later. It can wait. To start things off, I need your help."
Help, huh? That was far from what he expected.
"What kind of help are we talking about?"
"The kids I rescued from Machine Head's grasp."
Ah, the kids. Come to think of it, where were they?
"They can't stay with me," White Mask continued, one hand rubbing the other. An attempt to comfort himself. "I want your help returning them to their families. If they don't have any, I would appreciate it if you made sure they get to live the rest of their lives safe and taken care of. But the biggest reason I need your help is because I think they're all traumatized, and I… I don't have what it takes to help them with that."
Huh. A super showing humility and admitting their lack of capability in front of him right off the bat? He half-expected to confront a malicious, two-faced villain when he came here.
"Best I can do is comfort them using one of my powers," White Mask's head fell. "But it doesn't erase the horrible experiences or the memories that will stay with them for the rest of their lives."
White Mask's heart seemed to be in the right place, at least. And his concern for the kids didn't seem fake. That was as good a sign as any.
But Cecil remained cautious. If there was one thing he learned dealing with supervillains, it was that a few of them were surprisingly great actors. This one could be just like those types.
"Helping them shouldn't be a problem. It's the least we can do for those poor kids," Cecil's eyes scanned the room, eyes lingering on the door that poked out like a sore thumb for half a second longer. "But where are they, anyway? In another room? The report I got from Robot says you keep them safe in this motel, but I don't see any sign of them."
"…I think you already know. I wasn't really trying to hide it," White Mask turned towards the bathroom door. "But there's something else I should let you know about first. This is related not only to the children's safety, but potentially the world, too. Have you ever heard about an organization called The Order?"
"It rings a bell," Cecil said, looked down in thought as he dug through his memories. "But all we've heard about it are rumors. Anecdotes. Nothing concrete. Why? Got proof of their existence?"
"Machine Head."
"What's a local crime boss got to do with The Order?"
"Everything." White Mask sighed. "He's one of The Order's members and his territory is the entirety of Chicago. With him taken down, it's either one of his subordinates takes the opportunity to steal his throne or The Order sends a replacement. If you guys don't want them to move forward with this elusive project of theirs, I suggest you start helping Robot and I find it. Get the information from Machine Head through any means possible if you have to."
"I'll have some guys start an investigation." Cecil digested the super's words. The part about The Order sounded believable, but he needed more info. "Got any more names we can look into? Maybe the name of The Order's leader?"
"Are you familiar with Mister Liu?"
"More than familiar," Cecil said, eyes narrowing. That damn fossil. What was he up to now? "He's the most wanted supervillain in Asia. You're saying he's the leader?"
Cecil received a confident nod.
"Shit." Another sigh left his lips. He had a feeling it wouldn't be the last for today. "Any more names?
"Not… really. But fortunately for you, I know what some of them look like," White Mask said, standing up and raised his hand towards Cecil, palm open. "You got a pen I can borrow?"
Raising a brow in curiosity, Cecil reached into his pocket and handed him one. "That's my favorite pen. Try not to break it while you're doing whatever it is you're gonna do."
"Don't worry. Just going to use it to draw on that desk."
Cecil observed, slightly fascinated, as the tip of the pen grew in length and thickness. His fascination rose when the pen began carving through the wood like it was mud.
Was it a power that allowed him to alter the physical properties of an object? Cecil wondered what else White Mask could do.
There didn't seem to be a theme to his set of powers so far. Immortal had the usual bag of superpowers on top of his immortality. Atom Eve could manipulate matter and energy at will.
Advanced portal technology, earth and electricity manipulation, and this new ability he was displaying all seemed completely random.
That train of thought stopped when the image his new acquaintance was drawing slowly came together. The image seemed to be a shot of a meeting taking place. Who he assumed to be Machine Head sat at the head of the table.
He recognized most of the others seated despite the rather cartoony style they were drawn in. Their names shot to the forefront of his mind.
Embrace. Slaying Mantis. The Walking Dread. The Face. Insomniac.
White Mask pointed at the man dressed in a formal suit between Embrace and Face.
"This guy has eyes that are entirely red, by the way."
"That must be Red Eye, then," Cecil concluded. "You don't know him?"
"No." White Mask paused. "…Red Eye? I would call his naming sense lame, but that would make me the pot calling the kettle black."
Showing some self-awareness, too. Maybe they really could work with this guy. Well, as long as he wasn't the type to kill every villain he fights.
Cecil's eye returned to the drawing.
"Your drawing's pretty good," he complimented, and it was the truth. Despite how comic-booky they all looked, the likeness of each supervillain was clear. "You got a background in art or something?"
"…Not really. Just a hobby."
That slight pause told Cecil there was more to it than "just a hobby," but he let it go. Since his men were listening in on this conversation, he expected to see a file on White Mask when he returned.
Besides, it seemed White Mask's information was a little off. Now that Cecil looked at each one of these supervillains and cross-referenced what he knew, he deduced Machine Head's territory likely extended past Chicago but not his operations.
If he assumed each one of these supervillains counted their region of operations as their territory, what he got was:
Machine Head, the USA.
Liu, most of Asia.
Embrace, the Middle East.
Slaying Mantis, Ireland.
The Walking Dread, Eastern Europe.
Insomniac, Egypt and Northern Africa.
Red Eye, South America.
The Face, Canada. And if recent reports he received were right, the supervillain had been expanding his influence into the USA's North West recently.
The balance of the division of territories intrigued him. But what was more concerning was how each supervillain was in a seemingly cohesive secret society, all operating under the GDA's nose.
Cecil knew each and every one of their personalities and tendencies. That was how he understood that unless someone persuaded all of them, most of these supervillains wouldn't even talk to each other, let alone form a group. But who could have the power and influence to do that?
Cecil couldn't think of a name off the top of his head. And that worried him.
So far, the only outlier he spotted was the woman vaguely dressed like one of the Guardians. He would need to have Donald look into her later and see if War Woman knew anything.
"Mind if I take a picture?" Cecil asked, bringing out his phone.
"Go ahead."
"Thanks." Pocketing the phone after taking a few pictures, Cecil sat on the desk, his arms crossed. "Do you know anything about how their secret society of misfits operates? Anything that could give us an extra leg up?"
"Does the GDA know how Mister Liu's power works?"
Of course they did. The fossil was centuries old. Written records of him existed even before Cecil was born.
It was then that an idea came to Cecil.
"We know he has a giant ghost-dragon in him that can come out and chew up a city any time he feels like it," he answered.
"Did you also know that the only time he's vulnerable is when the dragon's out?" White Mask handed back his pen. "If you kill him in that state, you end both the dragon and Liu. The only caveat would be getting past his bodyguard. Emphasis on the bodyguard, by the way. He knows a method to resurrect Liu in the event of his death."
What the fuck was he talking about? Did White Mask truly believe that bullshit? If Liu died, the damn dragon sealed inside him would be free to wreak havoc. All those times Liu let it out were only glimpses of the dragon's real power.
It took Nolan ten hours to win the last time Liu exposed his dragon form. Cecil could only imagine how much destruction the real thing could bring if Liu wasn't there to restrain it anymore.
Cecil took the pen back and clipped it into his pocket. Things were getting more confusing the longer he talked to White Mask. It was time to get to the meat of the matter.
He looked at the drawing on the desk one more time. The likenesses were incredibly accurate, like the work of someone who had seen these people up close, or someone who shouldn't have been able to see them at all.
"Alright, White Mask. You've given me a list of names and a strategy to kill The Order's leader," Cecil said. He stood up from the desk and gazed right where White Mask's eyes would be. "But we're circling the elephant in the room."
Cecil's eyes narrowed as he waited for an answer. This was the part where most people started sweating or lying.
"How? How does a nobody I've never seen before know things that even some of my best staff don't have the clearance to see?"
White Mask let out a sigh. He fell on the bed, his shoulders dropping as he leaned on his knees.
"Better to rip off the band-aid now rather than later, I guess. Not like we have time to spare," White Mask muttered. He tilted his head, looking directly at Cecil. "Are you familiar with precognition, Cecil?"
Cecil went still. His gaze sharpened as he went through the mental files of every hero and villain he had ever encountered. He'd seen telepaths, matter manipulators, and people who could control minds. But he had never found someone who could actually see the future.
"I've met a lot of people with a lot of strange abilities," Cecil answered after a moment. "But I haven't met anyone who could truly claim that one. Not one that was telling the truth, anyway."
"Well, there's a first time for everything."