Death

Linda had come to HQ, not because she wanted to see her granddughter and have a coffee, but because i wanted to know what powers she had. I could remember the list well but it looked to me like she had shape shifting, which is something that was on the file.
She told me that there were no all encompassing powers that couldn't be beaten. They all had weaknesses. Her shape-shifting power was good though, she could make herself anything and anyone. (thats why i thought that illusions coudn't be seen through, i thought she used illusion rather than shifting) i was envious of this womans power but this was the first decent Tavara i'd met so i wasn't about to ruin my familial ties just yet.
"The file is a load of BS" she told me straight forward and without a hint of hesitation in her voice, i suddenly felt like a fool for being so protective of it. the file was just another object that helped with her plans, she was orchestrating everything. I'd gotten used to the fact that all Tavara's are calculating and want everything to be hard so that they can show off to those who have failed at what they had succeeded at. (if that makes sense). in short: if we had no powers, we'd be good at math.
"Can you help us? you know, find us recruits and stuff?" i asked, Linda knew many people, it seemed logical that she knew a few that had powers. (whom she didn't kill).
"i'll see what i can do" she answered mysteriously.
it was after she said that, that i read her mind, it was full of static, but i got one word: "Death". the way she thought it didn't suggest it was a 'someone's death' type "death" but a name. Death.
it was then that i realised what i was doing! 2 years ago you could ask me what i planned to do tonight and i'd say that i planned to hang out with Anne, Ali and my other friends! now i'll say: "i'm going to go and find answers" my life has become like a sci fi show!
Before i had time to ponder on who Death was, i was interupted by Jay. our new agent with the power of persuasion (see our techpower blog)
"what do we do if we're bored?" he asked me.
"i have a mission for you, Geoff, Stan and Elle"
"oooohhh! what is it?"
"find a person called Death" i told him. i was serious and he knew it, if i didn't show how serious i was then he would've told me one of the many jokes that were going through his head. Elle jumped out:
"we cant! he is the best serial killer in the world!" she looked scared.
"Take a bunch of guns" i suggested, but she looked at me like i had no idea what i was talking about, the truth was that i didn't.
"he can kill you from 20 metres away! he can kill you anyway he wants! break your neck, make your brain exploded or a heart attack!"
i could tell why he was the best serial killer in the world, he could make all his murders look like suicide or just a medical condition that couldn't be stopped. Death was a force to be reckoned with.
"i'll go with them" Linda said.
"thats a good idea, they'll need you" i thanked her and she, Elle, Stan, Jay, and Geoff disappeared.

It had been hours, Omni, Chan, Shifter, West, and Ali had left to help Tempest with his crusade to stop John. Tayla, Roxy, Charlie, Dave and i were left. While Roxy and Charlie dealt with customers, Tayla was learning 2 new languages: Japanese and Italian. She had almost finished reading the entire Japanese phrase book (which was her cousin Charlies before her death, by brain stealing) when Elle, Stan, Linda and Geoff charged through the door, each one was bloodied up badly. Elle collapsed to the ground with a broken leg and a bad head injury, Dave healed her. Stan had bad burns and couldn't breathe, Dave healed him too. Geoff had a few broken ribs, Dave healed him. Linda's arm was half torn off and half her ear was missing, Dave healed her. Jay however, was not with them.
"He was the first to go, Death had us all frozen there, it hurt so badly! Jay tried to persuade him to let us go but Death made his jaw lock!" Elle, paused and continued: "Linda got outta the hold and started to kill him, but Death twisted her arm around. it snapped, he kept on twisting it around, she couldn't help but stay down"
"then he killed Jay" Geoff concluded because Elle lost her breath and started to cry, she was taken to the basement for some rest.
"how'd you guys escape?" Tayla asked, handing some water to each of them.
"Elle was barely conscious but managed to get a clean shot, she knocked him out and we all ran for it"
"i can imagine that Elle was crying out in pain because of her leg" Dave said, more to himself than us, he looked sad. He has alot of sympathy for people in pain.
"yeah she was" Geoff answered.
"what'd he look like?" Roxy asked.
"dont know, i only know that he found us and the next thing we knew was that we were in an old house out in the Nevada desert. he blurred our sight"
"That means that we cant figure out where he is now, or who is was" Charlie whispered to Tayla, who nodded silently.
"you guys better get some rest" i suggested. Geoff went home to his wife of about... a year. Stan went back to his hotel room, Linda teleported to who knows where and Elle stayed the night.

It was a full on day, Geoff needed a new partner. Tayla immediatly put her hand up for it, but her power isn't of much use in the field...
Watch out for Death.

Answers

Lily-Anne was sure to be dead, even though her body disappeared she is still dead. One of Mia's minions must have taken it. I left as soon as we'd sent 2 newbies on a mission. I went to Miami to find Damian to see if there was any word on John's where-abouts yet, i did see him breifly but i lost interest as soon as i saw the hottest guy on the planet!
After a brief make-out session i returned to my affairs as a hunter for answers. ok that isn't me at all but i like the sound of it! i was following a drug dealer who could stop time, i realised that i could get the same results by superspeed and summoning but i still liked the power none the less. I had him at the beach and was about to "kill and take" while i was invisible when Damian walks up to him, i realised then that Damian could use that power for taking out John (something he is steadfast on doing). I left him to it, i killed a butcher who had metal mimicry, not for the power. i just found him annoying. it was then that a mysterious man teleported me to a warehouse in New Orleans, well i think it was a warehouse. it was in bad shape, like it would fall down any minute. he identified himself as the power taking guy!!!!! His real name (or rather her real name) was Linda Tavara.
"Hey Cleo" she walked up to me and changed out of her illusion. i cant see past illusions because i think it bends light or something.
"Hi" i could see that she and i were related, not just the names but our faces look similar, and our power!
"i'm your grandmother" She said, i thought as much but she was so... young!!!
"i used age reversal on myself so i would live longer" as if she read my thoughts, it then dawned on me that she was probably in her 60's so if she had been as young as me when she manifested her powers then she would have had about 40 years worth of power stealing, which could mean hundreds of powers! it was interesting that i suddenly felt the urge to kill her and take all her powers. i restrained because she was family.
"i know what you're thinking. Cleo you can go through that list of powers that i have but you'll never take them from me"
"why are there so many people like us?" i blurted out, i had been dying to know why there were so many like us.
"The core power we both have is hereditary, almost all of the family has it"
"except Mia" i said, there was another question that i was dying to ask her, but i was waiting until the write moment.
"yes well that is my fault. i wanted to make our family the most powerful, i had a friend who had early signs of empathic mimicry, i took it from her. killing her in the process. (i hadn't learnt to use it like you have.) i tested it on Mia, she was only 1 year younger than you, though she seems 2 years younger, she isn't as tall as you" she was trying to get off the subject, i steered her back to what was going on.
"Get on with it" I had summoned a chair and other things such as a table, TV and another chair for Linda. (dont ask me about the TV, i just figured that if the story were to get boring...)
"Well while your mother and father were out i was watching you and your sister. While you sat there playing with a few super hero toys i was with Mia, i had been practising on people with powers. i could safely remove powers without killing the person" she paused and took a deep breath, her face showed worry. she was worried as to what i'd think, i didn't need telepathy to know that. "I took her power, it hadn't manifested yet but it was still there and it was the same as yours. i transfered EM over to her, i had the most powerful Tavara right there. You ran in and began tell me that your mum and dad were home. i left and i thought that Howard and Jane would never know"
"But?" i was interested in the story now, i wondered about how all this had something to do with me.
"The next day your father came into my house and accused me of medalling with Mia's powers. he had apparently gained a statistics power that he used on Mia, showing that she had EM. i stole it from him and i teleported away"
"And then?" i asked with interest.
"Then i kept a close watch, he was favouring you over Mia, he couldn't figure out how to remove a power with killing someone, so he just let her be. But Mia started to show her powers, she had burnt Jane's hand. Jane wanted to know why her daughter had powers, Howard had told her that they were not hereditary. Jane packed up and left. Howard had alot of powers too, he took you to a family and gave you fake memories and the family (the Trellis') fake memories of you, he gave everyone in town fake memories, he gave you a whole new life"
"but why? wouldn't it make more sense for him to give up Mia?"
"i think he saw it the way i saw it, that Mia could be powerful. He did make her use aura absorption in front of him, but her empathy made each one of her powers natural, not aquirred." She paused and started to think, she was blocking her thoughts so i couldn't read them. then she continued: "i had been watching you carefully, when i went into that store i was carrying out a plan"
"a plan?"
"yes, a plan. to give you more powers and for Howard's powers to be vulnerable. because when you transfer powers it makes your other powers so vulnerable that you dont even feel it when they're being taken. i stole a few and begun to set in motion my plans for bringing Sage, Omni, Shifter, Chan and soon you. together. To make Techpower Co."
"But they wanted to tell everyone about us!"
"Not when i was done with them, i put a thought into their heads to make them want to make a company like the one you have now"
"So this was all you!!!!!!!" i was surprised that she could be so damn calculating to do this, i was angry that she orchestrated most of my life, and yet happy that she had. While all this was running through my mind, she smiled, she was probably reading my mind.

I went back to HQ with Linda, i felt like a sheep compared to her tanned skin, but it didn't matter. She left when we got to the door, i thanked her then i remembered the burning question i wanted to ask her:
"Is Lily-Anne related to me?"
"She was Mia's follower, Mia had reality warping, Lily-Anne was probably not related to you" and with that she teleported away.
i walked in, i suddenly thought of all the things she had told me. i wondered if i would've been like Mia and Howard if things were different, i suddenly felt sad that i hadn't grown up with my family, i knew that my mother was still out there, but she seemed very scared of people like me, so i decided that finding her would be put on hold. I walked through the narrow hallway, suddenly sad, i was greeted by the newbies Geoff and Jay. I kept walking after saying 'hello' to them. I had alot to think about.

Enemies Remain

Sage loves his new power, to honest i'm jealous, i know i felt sorry for him but i'm not even sure why i let him have empathic mimicry, he's too powerful. Sage WAS too powerful.

It had been a normal day, we had a few clients who thought that we were real financial consultants, shrinks and lawyers but it was still normal. i think it was when i used my stats power to figure out what powers Sage had that i saw something wasn't right. He was walking and talking with his powers putting the temperature up and down with just a thought, i was getting annoyed. i used my stats power to see what powers he had, then i saw it. He hadn't taken EM from Mia, he'd taken Reality Warping!
I approached him carefully when i called him down to the storage shed, he looked rather confused and scared.
'oh my god she knows!' he thought.
"Yeah, Sage, i know" i shot him with black electricity so i could weaken his power, he was cornered. Well almost. he had reality warping after all, he TKed me into the steal wall, it left a dent. i put alot of power into summoning a flamethrower and using a mixture of powers, i think i used a bit of all my powers. he lost his power, but i didn't take it. i was able to black lightning it away so that it wouldn't work for a VERY long time. there he was still alive. powerless. but there was a downside: we got a visit.
Shifterx, Phaser and Mia might be dead. But there were a lot of people on Mia's team who are still loyal to her (like they had a choice). a girl of about 16, had walked in. She had blood lust in her eyes, she wasn't one of the people being controlled, it seemed as though she was like Mia's apprentice! she killed Sage with a wave of her hand, he had been sliced across the chest with a strong version of TK. She had the same power as me.
"You are not gonna have fun when you take on me" she opened a black hole that begun sucking me in. i grabbed hold of an iron bar, she walked over to me. Her name was Lily-Anne Dago. i can see why she's evil, with a name like that i'd try to blow up the Eiffel tower.
"you might be Auriss now, but its like a title if you think about it. when you let go i can be Auriss, and i can kill everyone, make everyone do as i say," she paused to loosen one of my fingers off the bar. "i can even play god" she whispered. the finger she had loosened shot black lightning at her. the hole closed and i was on my feet, she had regained control of her powers quickly. she used aerokinesis to take all the air out of the shed, i couldn't breathe. i almost fainted when space manipulation happened of its own accord again, my hand had punched through her and the air returned.
i walked back inside with bad bruises on my arms because things kept hitting me while they were being sucked into the hole, thats when Tayla asked me about the file. it was gone! i dont know if it was the black hole or the flamthrower but it was gone! the whole point that i got that file was so i could have the best powers and in the end AH still won! Mia had Aerokinesis and Shapeshifting on her side, she had reality warping and other really strong powers too! i failed.

i told my friends all about Sage, and what happened to him. Omni had had the same dream as Precog, that i was being tortured by Mia and Jorge. well i dont think its gonna be MIA and Jorge i think its gonna be the remainders of Mia's followers (pretending to be her). this is far from over.
"What are we supposed to do?" Elle asked what we were all thinking.
"We keep going, Sage might have betrayed us and taken a power that he knew was very corruptive and dangerous. but we have to move forward" i answered.
"but what about the dream?" Omni asked me, she was scared about what the future held for all of us. For a second i imagined what it would be like if i could see the future, i would do anything to make sure that what i saw in my dreams were good things.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it" i answered.
That was the end of the discussion.

Confusing

The Techpower Co. blog and my blog are not good at being in sync, so from now on i'm assigning someone who doesn't work with me that often to write on it. That way you wont have to jump back and forth between the 2 blogs.

The end of Amelia Tavara

When i got back to HQ Chan was being sedated, luckily Sage had spotted that he was acting weird, and his bronxe eyes. i walked into the shed out back, which was where we kept him, he tripped me and threw a bike at me, i TKed it back and knocked him out it. it was just when i did that when Mia, Shifterx and Phaser came in. Phaser came through a wall, Shifterx came through the air vent (as a cockroach) and Mia just appeared. i summoned Sage, Elle, and Shifter (who our medic healed, his name is Dave, he's 32).

Elle went after the phaser, he went down a dark alley way, Elle shot at him but it went through him. she kept chasing him, which brought her into a shop across the street, i got this off a security camera, that had been knocked off the wall (miraculasly it still worked).
Shifter had to finish what she started with Shifterx, she made herself a cheetah and Shifterx copied, it had become like watching the discovery channel.
Mia took both me and Sage to the old gravel tower in Texas. which was now close to ruins. I told Sage that this was his chance to hold more than just one power, he could copy Mia's EM, i told him to stay there though.. i used metal mimicry to make my arms swords. i filled them both with black, blue and red lightning. i charged at her at full speed, leaving a trail of fire behind me. i TKed her against a rock, i nullified her powers and stabbed the swords through her arms. I summoned Sage up, i knew he couldn't run fast enough to her before she died. She was crying out in pain because of the electricity, he touched her and copied her EM. i also snatched up her resurection power, but i let reality warping die with her.
We sped back to HQ, where the fights were raging on, Ali said that she read that black lightning can make powers go away temporarily, i didn't know which Cheetah to hit it with though. I tried to use the stats power but it couldn't figure it out! i couldn't read their minds, so i just picked one, hoping for the best i shot it with black lightning, it turned back into Shifterx! Lucky!!!!!! i read there mind just to make sure it was really them, it was. Shifterx though powerless was not helpless. He'd been knocked out for a long time, but Chan had come to, still under Mia's command despite the fact that she was dead, he was able to dodge my bolts of lightning with ease, but he could'nt dodge my TK. i tried to stop Mia's command but it was like it was wired into his mind, with no indication that it would short circuit, i only had one choice: Kill him. i took his power and broke his neck with TK. Shifter had taken care of the now powerless Shifterx, both were dead. on the floor of our storage shed. But since the command died with him, and commands cant be brought back. I ressurected Chan, he was powerless, and couldn't copy any new skills but he still had the old ones!

Elle was still Chasing the Phaser, this is her recap:
I had him, i had caught him off guard and managed to electrocute him to the ground. he twisted his ankle and couldn't phase through the fence, he was cornered in a garden. i approached him holding electricity in both hands, i knocked him out and dragged him back to HQ, i got a few weird looks while i was doing that but i explained it away.
Cleo killed the Phaser while he was unconscious. she sent West, and Charlie to drop the bodies of Shifterx, and the Phaser in river.
And thats what happened today.

I am Auriss

i had never been good at being nice, so when the opportunity aried for me to finally take on Mia in a real fight, i knew i had to pull out all the stops and destroy her once and for all. Thats why i had'nt posted for a couple of days,

we've been flat out with customers.

the fact that EM was Mia and that Jorge and 2 other people joined her came as surprise.
I had gotten a text message saying that i had to go to old building where LA high once was.
i knew it wasn't wise to go alone, i brought ALL my team.



we were waiting with anxiety when Jorge came through a nearby window, what followed was 3 others, one had climbed up using metal mimicry, they had jammed the metal spikes on their hands into the weak walls, they flipped in like they were eager to show they could actually do a flip. another (a boy of about 15)had phased through the floors above and another shifted from her original state: a locker. i knew that we had them out numbered but, Jorge cant be beaten. i told Sage that telepathicly, but he only suggested one thing: "The Haitian". he told me of a guy who could null powers, he worked for the company and Sage had also met him when he saved his life from a man named Sylar.


I summoned The Haitian. i told him to null Jorges powers, he could probably sense the urgency in my voice. He did what i told.


Shifter launched a a bear claw at the other Shifter (which i will just call Shifterx). but Shifterx retalited by turning into a huge diamond, the power of the claw coupled with the hardest substance on earth meant that Shifter had broken her hand. Elle shot electricity at the now human Shifterx, but shifter simply dodged it and came charging at her as a cheetah. Stan shot at the Cheetah to try and protect his partner, but instead Shifterx lunged at him, while Mia had a forcefield around her, Stan didn't stand a chance. But West and Charlie didn't know that, they both flew over and kicked the Cheetahs FF, Shifterxwent flying across the room. She went out the window, i saw a bird fly off but i'm not sure if thats was her. with all that stuff i forgot that i was supossed to be fighting! The Haitian couldn't hold jorge much longer, Mia was taking on everyone and the phaser had taken his toll on Ali, she couldn't shoot him cos she was too afraid that it would go through him and hit someone else. i sprung into action and just TKed Jorge out the window in time.


Mia, the phaser and the metal head her were left, well at least i thought that! Shifterx had come back and wanted to kill Shifter, i i TKed her to the wall and took her power (and life), only to lose it when Mia comes behind me! Elle had tried to knock her out, Charlie and West tried to stop her but when she gets going its hard to stop her! i immediatly though i just knew that we had to end this i told them all to run. Shifter was carried out by West and Ali was carried put by Charlie, Omni, Chan and everyone left. it was just me and Mia. she reality warped me to a sandy desert, i only did one thing: "I am Auriss" and sped around her at full speed, creating a sandstorm, i filled it with electricity, fire and surrounded it with a FF so she couldn't escape, sped in and punched through her chest, she died right there and then, i went back to HQ.

I got back and they all asked what happened i just said: "it was a real blow up"

new blog

Our company opened a new blog, its in my name but we all post on it: www.techpowerco.blogspot.com Omni was the first to post, she explained the rules and everything. The blog will keep you up to date on the inner workings of Techpower while this blog tells you about what i'm doing

Dead or Alive?

I often compare my life to many things i've seen on TV, but today i thought about life in a different way. Like i was in a game of strategy, like Starcraft, or Chess. In both the goal is to win, and we try and think 2 steps ahead of our oppnents, only using special abilities such as invisibility and taking out the queen when we think its essential. Thinking of life like a game isn't always a good way to think, but when you've got as many powers as i have and even more crafty ways to use them, than it doesn't really matter how you think. You always win.

Jorge had reality warping, that much is true. So i can never be 100% sure if hes dead or not, all i know is that he wont underestimate me and my team, so i should be safe.
Charlie was still talking about his encounter with West the flying boy, i wanted to take that kids power at some stage but with my TK getting so good, i dont really need it anymore.
Stan had gotten a text message from someone called "EM". I don't know what her power is and i dont know her connection to us, so dont ask. She said something about how "death isn't the end" or something. That was probably refering to Jorge, his power is too dangerous, its a wonder he hasn't killed me yet! Maybe i'm more useful to him alive...
EM had connections, there was no doubt about that. I tried to summon Jorge, to see if he knew anything but (like the file) he wouldn't allow it to be that easy, that or he is actaully dead.
"The best way to control a situation is by having the right controler", i was never clear on what that meant, but i think it means that i need the right people to control this situation. i needed all the "players" i could find, West included. I summoned him. I dont know what John did to him but it took alot of concentration to snap him out of it, thanks Playwrite for weakening the command.
"What the hell is going on?!" he was shocked, he tried to fly away but i TKed him to the spot.
"I need your help" i tried to look as desperate as i could but the reality was that he would help me whether he liked it or not.
"Why would i help you?" he asked angrily, "after you tried to kill me!" I had no idea that he knew i was the same person who tried to kill him.
"How'd you know that was me?" I really was curious. He held up his cell phone revealing a text he got from EM saying: "they're the same person"
WHO THE HELL IS THIS PERSON!!!!!!!? i didn't know how to react to this new addition to the "texting/annoying Cleo" group, so i just TKed his phone out the window, it hit somone, needless to say, whoever got hit by that phone now has a preeety good phone!
"Do you want to stop the government?"
"yeah. who doesn't?"
"Join us"
I had won him over, he was reluctant if course, and he said that he would leave as soon as the government were gone. He needed a partner. we'd had customers coming in the last few days. Chan and Shifter had evaluated who would be suitable for the job, we called one in.
"Whats this about?" a woman about my age asked, she was beautiful but she was also smart. she could be a planner for missions. There was a down side: she had a power. But i decided that she and West can be our trial team that has 2 specials.
"Miss Bishop, we want to offer you a job" i said to her calmly.
"Why?" she asked, confused. All she ever came to us for advice on money, apparently she used to have alot of it but after her dad died she had no clue on how to handle finances.
"We own a company that specialises in people, like YOU" she was shocked. She leaped out of her chair and shot electricity at me, i used a forcefield to stop it.
"No! i'm not going to do it again!" she explained to me, Chan, Shifter, Omni and Sage about these places called Pinehearst and Primatech, how they ruined peoples lives.
"We have different views to them" Sage assured her.
"thats what Arthur said! it all ends up the same!" Elle told us about a man called Sylar (this guy sounds like a real creep), and the company founders. not very good subjects, if we ended up like that then i would consider faking my death and opening up an anti-primatech too!
"But we do!" Chan and Omni said in unison.
i knew that she knew alot more about the companies than she wished to say, for her sake i stayed out of her head.Then i noticed that her aura was different to other specials, like it had been dead, then it was alive again, like someone healed it. despite what you may think, when you die and come back to life your aura is never restored because its meant to be dead. hers was partially restored. i asked her if she had died and come back to life.
she had that look of 'how did you know?' on her face, "yeah, i was teleported by some japanese guy, with Sylar. he started to cut open my head, after that was a blur. all i saw was some girl a little younger than me fly off, i could smell smoke. i guess i came to the conclusion that through some miracle Claire had healed me and flew off with West" I proceeded to ask who Claire is, Elle only said that she and her were like a hate eachother with a passion/mutual respect when they dont try and kill eachother and something about how Claire couldn't die, (which meant that Elles attempts at killing her were probably unsuccesful). Those two are kinda like Mia and i if you think about it. Then i thought of it! Mia healed her! she had healing on her "list" from when i was going over her stats and she could probably restore an aura, because she had the power to take them! why not the power to give them back? thankyou Mia! Elle seems competant enough to be an agent. she had also had training for the occupation.
West and her were a no go though! upon being in the same room together i had to null their powers so they didn't kill eachother! dont know whats going on there. I just asked them why they hated eachother, West could find a pretty pathetic reason: tried to capture Claire, maybe kill her. The girl cant die! Elle just said that he got in her way. Since i'm a prize negotiater they were partners with only a little hatred towards eachother in no time at all. I dont know what i said, but i rarely do when it comes to this stuff, people just listen to me.

After today, with EM warning us about things that she cant possibly know anything about or even be connected to. She must have an ability, but what is it?
After seeing that someone can come back from the dead, aura and all i wonder if anything is ever actually dead. or if you want the darker look on it: is anyone ever really alive? geez! look at what i'm sounding like! though i could've assigned Elle or West to be Stans partner i'm having fun being a field agent, but as soon as we get a normal person on board, i'll go back to being office ridden. Theres still tension and dislike between Elle and West.