A Company Meeting [All Company Members][NR]

Nova? The guy who used to sit in his room all the time, doing whatever? The "Cousin" that he'd never even known? What business could he possibly have with Amaranth, and why would he be after her? Jr was half tempted to go over there himself, but if the guy was serious about attacking his niece, he'd already have his hands full with his sister, and not to mention The Ghost.

He saw no reason to get involved... yet. If he did have to go involved himself in that situation, there wasn't going to be any talking."Uh... Me and Niala went on a...date earlier," Jr said, remembering the kiss, his face turning a light shade of red. "And these three clowns attacked us... Two of them were morons, but one of them was pretty awesome to be honest. He could combine martial arts with his skateboarding skills. I told him that if he could separate himself from those other 2 idiots, i'd see about giving him a job. We'll see if he shows..."

If the guy proved loyal, Jr even thought about arranging it so that the guy could do more than ordinary. That's only if he stuck with the program and he proved that he could be trusted.

Niala turned her red colored gaze onto the computer screen in front of her. After several key strokes she pulled up that day that Alec had left the office suddenly after seeing that he couldn't spot any of Sicarius' or Seraphina's family. She followed Alec to Velo City on the cameras where he seemed to have a brief conversation with them before taking them to Amaranth's island. There they disappeared into Amaranth's lab while Alec took a brief trip back to Edge City - as that was around the time that Junior had started to get pissed off and the nasty storm had brewed up.

Having been given the opportunity to access Amaranth's private island cameras years ago she put that access to work and watched through the lab cameras as Amaranth took blood from Alec after his return while having the girls lie down. She then put the blood into some strange looking machines before injecting it into the girls. A transformation took place, causing neither one to look like they had before and instead they all looked like Kane's.

"Hmm.. I suppose that might be why Nova's pissed.", she said softly as she gestured towards the screen where both females were getting up off of the lab tables and looking at their own reflections. "I guess he realized your dad took a few more of his family members away from him." Niala tapped her chin. "When I entered into Demi's mind and gave her back her memories that first time I got a close look at that Madness Network those Malkavian's have. Technically... well. The last thing Sicarius would have seen was Amaranth injecting her with that blood before the MMN would have cut off. I suppose it would have looked like Amaranth killed them both."

She gave a shrug at that point and then changed the cameras over to what was going on on the island itself: Nova had arrived and was pointing a giant sword at Amaranth. Ghost was... well, that was a bit scary looking. Destiny's wings gave off a strange glint that made the multitude of feathers look like... razors? Damn, getting cut up with those was going to hurt a lot. With the screen up so she could see what was going on she changed her attention to the topic at hand - she too blushed as she remembered that kiss. "Yeah, he had some cool moves. Seems like he just got in with the wrong crowd."

Cala had been focused on her phone until she heard Junior say that him and Niala had gone on a date earlier. She looked up and looked between the two for a second. She supposed it made sense that they would have gotten close: they spent every day working right next to each other.

She focused on what Junior was saying about how he and Niala had gone on a date and the pair had been attacked by a few idiots. One of them had combined martial arts with skateboarding - something that Cala figured took a lot of skill - and Junior had offered him a chance at a job if he could break himself off from the two other bad influences that he hung with. Would the guy take the offer? It was a life changing chance, one that could get the guy on the 'straight and narrow' and put a lot of cash in his pocket. Or, would he choose to continue to associate with the garbage he hung with?

Then Cala's attention focused back on Niala as she explained that Alec had taken a few more of Nova's family members, like he had with Demi. She didn't blame Alec: he wasn't a cruel person, and he wouldn't do something like that unless he thought it was absolutely nessecary. Given the way things had been lately, how dangerous it had been, she figured he had been worried about a repeat happening the likes of which happened to Demi. Perhaps he had had them changed over to stop this repeat from happening? "Oh, you're completely right Niala. I still remember that shit. You could watch things as if you were another person, right through their own eyes. It would have definitely looked like Amaranth had killed them if the last thing they saw was her injecting them with something before the Network cut off."

Focusing back on the topic at hand though Cala tilted her head thoughtfully. "Huh. I wonder what he'll choose to do.", she wondered out loud.

Ducked down, Yata hung onto the bumper of a beer truck, hitching a ride downtown. Moose and Biff didn't like what he was doing. After they'd all recovered from the beating they took from that Angel kid, Biff (The one with the hairdo) was suggesting some revenge, and it was then that Yata revealed the card that the Angel kid dropped to him. With Biff flying off into a rage, Yata tried to explain that since the kid was offering him a way in, maybe he could at least go see what the place and his people were about, play nice-nice with them for a while and see about getting his buds in too, then possibly organize a take over. Biff wasn't hearing him at all. He said the Angel kid would never let the likes of him and Moose in, and started calling Yata a traitor. Moose, who was usually one to side with who looked to be the winner, also started calling Yata a traitor.

Yata blew the both of them off after a heated argument which consisted of all of them yelling at the top of their lungs at each other, and neither side really listening to what was being said. As usual, his brothers and sisters had eaten everything, so all of the dinner was gone by the time he got home yesterday evening. His parents both acted like they knew nothing; at one point his father even asked "Who are you?" He wanted to smack his father in the face with his skateboard so badly, he very nearly blew a blood vessel. So Yata went to bed hungry that night, and woke up hungry the next morning because his greedy and selfish siblings scoffed down all of the cereal. He heard many laughs as he took the empty box out of the trash to stare at the crumbs left inside.

Screw this house. If I leave, no one will even notice i'm gone. Screw school too, it's just a breeding ground for bullies and girls who act like they're too good. Yata took out the card the Angel kid gave him and seriously began to consider joining The Company on good terms. He set out of that house, possibly for the last time, and currently he was downtown headed toward Darkman Tower, music blasting, tricking his way toward the massive building that he could always see from anywhere in the city, but had never actually been close to. People watched the acrobatic tricks he performed on the way, some of them capturing Yata on their camera phones.

Yata flipped his board backwards; a makeshift brake. He came to a stop in front of the huge gate that surrounded Darkman Tower. He had to crane his head and neck way back to try to see the top of the building, which went up past the clouds. Yata could see clouds passing by some of the windows near the top. "Geez... What a place."

He went over to the entrance of the gate and pressed a button on the intercom. "Uh... yeah, hello?... Anybody there?... I was told to come around here to see about a job by the Boss, an Angel kid with white hair and wings, he kicked my ass yesterday?..."

"The bossman went on a date? Niala, eh? You guys look good together!" Matt gave Jr a thumbs up. Jr told a story about how some guys came along and tried to ruin it. 2 of them were morons, but one knew a fighting style with a skateboard? That sounded interesting to Matt, who himself was a practitioner of the Martial Arts. He'd have loved to see this style put in play.

Next, Niala started talking about how Alec had taken somebody named Nova's family away, and how it wasn't the first time. She and Cala said something about a madness network that let those vampires see through each other's eyes, and how the last Nova would have seen of his people is when Amaranth stuck a needle in their arms.

Someone seeing through his eyes wasn't an idea Matt was up for, save for Stretch watching with his camera while inside the suit. That situation over there would probably sort itself out for the better if they got the chance to explain things, or there would be a fight, and someone would have their ass handed to them.

Matt stepped over near Cala, fidgeting in his pants pocket. "Hey Cala, uh...I wanted to ask you something," he said, pulling out something in a tube. "You said you didn't want to go back to being a vampire, so I was thinking I could inject you with some of my Nanoids like I did your sister. You won't have all those crazy powers you did but you'd be able to run fast again and have your strength back...And since they operate on your body's own electrical field and essentially become part of you once they enter your bloodstream, you don't have to worry about someone turning them off with some funky drug. You interested?"

BZZZZZT

"Excuse me young Kane sir, it seems you have a visitor down at the front gates, an individual with a skateboard. He claims he knows you and that you offered him a job. Shall I shoo him from the premises," came the voice of the Loyal Butler.

"No no, I did offer him a job, he's not lying. Let him in, show him to the office," Jr asked.

"Right away, sir..."

"Cool, so he did show up."

Jr already knew how that Malkavian thing worked. He knew how that had to have looked. it was starting to turn into that Maxi thing all over again; they only seem to care when their family members get taken away, otherwise, their asses are never around and always leave their family by themselves. It seemed like they wanted them to be alone. Personally, since Jr had never really associated with his so-called "Cousin" Nova, or never even seen this supposed "Uncle" Nevan, Jr didn't consider them Kanes, and honestly didn't care if Nova got man-handled by Ghost and his sister. If some asshole showed up here in Edge looking for revenge, there wasn't going to be any talking.

"See," Jr said, pointing at Niala's screen. "Look at Ghost, that guy creeps even me the hell out. And my sister's crazy ass too? Do you think that guy actually has a chance? Nothing to worry about."

He heard Matt offering Cala to inject her with some of those Nano bot things. It was a good idea, and would possibly shed this notion that she was useless. "I wouldn't pass that opportunity up if I were you, Cala..."

Niala kept the video feed rolling on her screen so she could keep an eye on things: she was interested to see how this situation was going to play out. She was also curious to see Ghost in action, and Dez as well if it did end up coming down to a fight. Niala nodded in agreement with Junior. "I don't know why anyone would want to go up against the pair of them at once, let alone separately.", Niala commented thoughtfully. She had heard that Dez and Ghost used to fight side by side flawlessly a lot, that they had never lost.

She was distracted from these thoughts by Matt going over to Cala and offering to her nanoids that would make her able to be just as fast and strong as she used to be. She was sure this would help Cala feel useful again, and perhaps snap her out of the jumpy mood Niala had been picking up from her.

Then the Loyal Butler was announcing the arrival of the skateboarder and her attention shifted to the door curiously. She had no idea how this was going to go, but figured they'd find out soon enough. She was also curious to see how the guys friends were going to take him bailing on them. "This should be interesting.", she commented softly.

Cala couldn't really say she missed having all of those people in her head, let alone having no private thoughts: everything she had said and done was accessible by everyone else if they dug hard enough. No privacy. Ever. No wonder all of the Malkavian's were bat-shit insane. But, she didn't have to worry about that now, and she wouldn't.

It sounded like the situation over on Sunset Island was tense, and she knew if it did come down to a fight it was likely going to be an epic one. That would definitely be worth checking out later.

For now though Matt was crossing the distance between them while fidgeting with something in his pocket. She looked up at him curiously as he spoke, her eyes going slightly wide as he made the offer he did. She hadn't expected it: she hadn't even thought to ask. He had given Devon nanoids several years ago when Cala had voiced her concerns over her Human sister in a world that was dangerous, and how she hadn't wanted to turn her sister into a Vampire and take her morality from her, and yet she hadn't even considered such a thing for herself.

Her old grin spread across her face - though not as crazed as it once was. "Really?! Alright, that'd be awesome. Thanks." Her tone then turned playful. "Maybe I'll even chase you through the city again for old times sake.", she said with a chuckle. Cala's mood was instantly lifted, and that useless feeling was gone: she would be able to fight, to handle business and be useful again all while remaining human - it was all she had wanted.

She heard the Loyal Butler announce the arrival of the skateboard guy, but ignored that for now, keeping her attention focused on Matt.

He stepped outside and over to the front gates as they began to slide open. The butler took in the appearance of the youngster with the skateboard. He'd see a tall man with black hair dressed in a black suit with no expression on his face. "Young Kane is expecting you, sir," he said, the he turned around and started walking back towards the building. "Please step this way."

Across the courtyard as the gate closed again behind them and into the large front lobby in which his shoes echoed on the marble floors. The butler moved to an elevator and pressed the button for it to open. "This elevator will have you on the top floor in under a minute. Enter the office at the end of the hall with the glass doors."

It was a turbo elevator that he'd be using; the trip would be, as he said, under a minute, and he would barely feel the elevator move as it traveled. With the doors opened, the butler gave a small bow before walking off.

"...Uh hello??... Is anybody th--"

The big gates started to come open, startling him some. A tall guy was standing there, looking like some kind of butler. He said that Yata was expected and to follow him. Yata stomped the back of his board causing it to flip airborne where he'd grab it and start following the butler guy. The gate closed again behind him.

He walked inside of this huge building and through a large lobby. The butler dude opened an elevator and said it'd have him to the top in under a minute. Lolwhut? Srsly? No way. It was gonna be an hour before he got all the way to the top floor. Yata didn't get the chance to protest because the guy walked away. So Yata got in and took a seat right on the floor, figuring that it was gonna be a while before he got to the very top.

The doors closed, and Yata didn't really feel it moving like normal elevators. It hadn't even been a minute before the elevator went DING and the doors were opening. Confused, he got out into a hallways that looked like a fancy hotel. At one end of the hall was a window, and at the other end was an office with glass doors. Yata went to the window first, then stumbled away from it after seeing how high he was. The city below looked like a toy. There were clouds going by below the window.

"H-How... How the--?"

Yata looked back inside the elevator before the door closed. How had that thing gotten him up here so fast?... Nevermind, best not to ask... Yata next walked down the hall and pushed open the glass doors to walk inside. The Angel kid was sitting behind a big desk, and the girl who was with him yesterday was sitting at a desk next to his. There was a guy with a hood on that looked to be around the same age as him, and there was a pretty girl with purple hair staring at him like she was in love with him. Maybe she was.

Yata didn't know them, so he wasn't gonna say anything. He walked over to the desk, board in hand. Seeing them again just reminded of being kicked and sent flying...


His face turned red and he groaned some. Even then and there he could still feel the slight pains from being kicked and having the wind forcefully ejected from his lungs. But with the way he acted yesterday, he deserved it. Yata didn't like apologizing. With his whole face completely red, he frowned as he looked at the floor, forcing the words to come from his throat.

"I...i'm... sorry," he managed to say with much difficulty. "...About yesterday, Angel dude... and... t-to y-you t-to," he studdered in Niala's direction. The embarrassment was nearly overwhelming, and he'd started to sweat while scratching the back of his head. "I-I don't care what the job is, whatever you want me to do, i'll do it 110%. If I have to sweep floors or scrub toilets with toothbrushes, i'll do it, just name it..."

Matt nodded his head with a grin seeing that she was fine with that. Perhaps her spirits were back up again too. The tube in his hands was actually a syringe. "I know how you must feel about needles by now, but this will only last a second. When I inject you with this, I gotta ask that you sit down for a few minutes. The Nanoids will take a second to get used to your blood, and you might feel a little strange, but it won't hurt. When the feeling passes you should be good. You'll be stronger, faster and tougher than you are now. Remember how fast i healed after I fought that Xan guy over in the red light district? You'll heal that fast too if something happens to you. But just try not to let it happen..."

Matt took her right arm and squeezed the elbow part a few times until the vein appeared on top. He carefully inserted the syringe and pushed the plunger down, injecting the many millions of intelligent machines into her bloodstream.

Nanoids:

Around then is when the dude walked in with the skateboard. He glanced to he and Cala a second before going over to stand in front of Jr and apologize, with difficulties, probably because of the stunt him and his buddies tried to pull yesterday. He looked just like an ordinary guy; nothing special really stuck out about him. Jr must have saw something that Matt didn't, but he wasn't going to judge a book by it's cover...

Jr grinned when Cala accepted, and Matt went about the process of injecting Cala. In the middle of it, the guy from yesterday came in. He seemed very embarrassed and regretful over what happened yesterday, especially seeing as his face was red and he was sweating. He had to be in a highly uncomfortable position. The guy apologized to both he and Niala, and Jr nodded his head. Jr wasn't really one to hold grudges, and had nearly forgotten about the whole incident.

The guy went on to say that he'd work extra hard at whatever job Jr gave him. Jr looked at the guy closely to see that he was pretty skinny and irritable-looking. Did he have a bad home life? A bad school life? Was he eating properly? Perhaps the answers to these questions would be why he'd taken to becoming a bully, and trying to steal other people's girls. Jr didn't plan on having him sweep floors or scrub toilets or anything of the like.

"No need to call me 'Angel dude', my name's Alec Kane Jr. Just call me Jr, no need for Boss or Sir or any of that," Jr said. "110%, huh... that's a pretty big commitment, you think you can live up to that?" Jr turned to look at Niala. "What do you think, Niala, you think he's being real? You're the expert on reading people. You sense any lying in him? Hidden agendas? Feel free to touch him if you want."

Jr turned back to him. "What's your name, by the way?"

Niala grinned as well as she listened to Cala accept willingly the nanoids that Matt was offering. She saw that familiar grin spread across Cala's face and could sense her emotions righting themselves: this had apparently been exactly what Cala had needed - a boost of confidence back that had returned her to her old self, just a little less crazy. She watched as Matt carefully injected Cala with the nanoids before she focused her attention on the new arrival.

She took in his appearance as well: now really getting a good look at him - he looked underfed, and maybe even easily angered. She listened as he apologized, and had no trouble with the idea of forgiving him. She then listened as he vowed to give one-hundred and ten percent commitment on whatever job it was that Junior gave him even if it was cleaning toilets and sweeping floors. She looked towards Junior when he turned to her and asked her opinion, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

"Let's take a look.", she said as she pushed her chair back and then stood up.

Normally Niala would have just dug around in his skull from where she had been seated, but after what happened with Cala and considering him and his friends had attacked them she wanted to take as close a look as possible and there was no better way then to use her Future Sight on him. "Don't move. This won't hurt at all. I just have to touch you.", she would wait to see if he complied before she would place her bare right hand on his arm. Like she had said it wouldn't hurt, in fact he would probably feel no change at all.

The Sight:

When the connection was made her eyes would glaze over and she would begin to see his past actions as if watching a video. She pushed past the older memories - him not getting enough food, his siblings always eating everything, people forgetting about him, the fact that he used to be bullied before he became a bully after falling into the wrong crowd - and focused on what had happened after the fight he had got into with Junior. She saw how after he and his friends had dragged themselves away and recovered from the beating, Biff who was the one in charge of the group had started talking about revenge which had been when Yata had shown them the card. She saw Yata suggest him playing nice and trying to get his friends into the Company and then perhaps pulling some take over move. She watched as Biff and then Moose started calling him a traitor, and saw the fight that came after with everyone yelling and not really listening to each other. Following that Yata had gone home to find that there was no dinner left over for him, and when he woke up the same was said for breakfast. It was at that point that Yata seemed to rethink things and had decided to join the Company on good terms.

Niala would remove her hand at that point and walk back to her desk. As she walked she spoke to explain what she had seen, and to also erase any doubt Yata might have about what she had just done or not done. "At first he had it in his head of playing nice and organizing a take over after he got his friends in the Company too. They got into a fight and started calling him a traitor - I guess they thought he was pulling their leg. When he got home there was no dinner for him, no breakfast either when he woke up which caused his other brothers and sisters laughed at him.", she paused, sending the next little bit to Junior privately and telepathically, "Seems he's got a pretty shitty home life where even his own family forgets who he is." The rest was said out loud, "Now, after what happened this morning, he is sincere in joining the Company on good terms. He means what he's saying. I wonder if he realizes how pissed off his friends are going to be... I'm sure they'll have something to say about it.", she said this last part like a question as she looked over towards Yata.

She sat back down at her desk and leaned back in her comfortable computer chair, wondering what Junior was going to say about all of this.

Cala trusted Matt with her life, so she wasn't nervous about the syringe since it was in his hand. She nodded at his instructions, glad she was already seated in a comfortable chair. She watched as he caused the vein to pop up, and didn't even flinch as he inserted the needle portion of the syringe. When he was done injecting the nanoids she grinned again. She remained in her chair, following Matt's instructions of giving her blood and the nanoids a chance to 'get along' so to speak. She felt a little strange at first, but the feeling faded quickly enough.

"Thanks again handsome, I appreciate it.", she said, using her old nickname for Matt that she had had since chasing him down that first day.

Her mismatched gaze then moved over to the new arrival: the guy with the skateboard. She watched as he apologized to Niala and Junior for what had happened while they were out on their date, and promised a 110% commitment. Junior then deferred to Niala about what she thought, and Cala watched as Niala got up, her hands un-gloved. She watched Niala touch Yata's arm and her eyes glaze over like they had done earlier.

After several seconds in which Cala could only assume she was searching the guy's past she spoke as she walked back to her desk. She listened as Niala explained all that she had seen, the idea for a take over, the fight between him and his friends, the lack of food at home and his siblings laughing, then his resolve to do this the right way. She looked over to Junior, wondering what he would say about all of this.

"My name's... Misaki Yata. Call me Yata."

The Angel dude introduced himself as Alec Kane Jr, just Jr for short. He said 110% was a pretty big commitment. "Yeah, of course! S'not like I got anything else going on, anyway..." was Yata's response when asked if he could live up to it. Jr then asked the girl - Niala was her name - if he was being real or if he was lying. He then said she could touch him if she wanted, which made him take a comical expression. "T-touch?... Wha-wha-wha--"

Then the girl said she'd take a look, got up and came around the desk. The expression on his face was a look that was somewhere between frustration and embarrassment. She said not to move and that it wouldn't hurt, she just had to touch him. His cheeks were completely red, wondering where she planned on touching him. "Wh--What---Wha---Where--" he stammered, but she'd just touched his arm, and for a while she looked like she was high.

It was when she went and sat back down that he looked the most shocked, angry and embarrassed. How the hell did she know all of that by just touching him on the arm?? She was broadcasting pretty much his whole pathetic existence like she'd just read him like a book. "...Well you don't have to put it so matter-of-factly like that..." he growled, frowning, glaring hard at the floor. "Looking all in me like that, that's cheating..."

With powers like these? The 3 of them would have gotten all kinds of fucked up if they tried a take over. There was no telling what the rest of these folk could do in here. Yata was pretty sure he was about to get thrown out now that his real agendas were up in the air, even if he no longer planned to try an inside job.

Matt still didn't consider himself handsome. He threw the syringe away in the trash, and stood by Cala when she sat down to make sure there were no bad side effects.

Matt couldn't help but to listen to Niala tell this guy's sad story. With a fucked up homelife like that, school probably was no better. It was no wonder the guy turned into a bully. It was just unfortunate that he tried picking on the Boss of the city of all people.

He'd be embarrassed too if all of his personal info was just put out there. It seemed that the guy thought of trying to pull a take over once he got in good, but that would have been a bad idea, especially with family members like that Demi girl, Destiny, and Alec himself. Now it seemed he was trying to join up on good terms for real now that he'd fallen out with his friends.

The only thing Matt wondered was how a normal human with no special abilities was going to work out in The Company, where everyone had some sort of special talent.

Niala said that the guy was going to try an inside job. When he should have been mad, he just grinned. "If my sisters or my dad was here and you tried something like that... heheheheh, let's just say it would have ended badly," he said, still grinning. Niala told the rest of the story, saying how his friends fell out and called him traitor. How his family barely fed him. How his brothers and sisters laughed at his misfortunes. Niala telepathically told him that his homelife was crap, and that his parents actually forgets he's even alive. This fact is what made Jr's grin melt off. He actually felt bad for the guy. Jr himself could never imagine his father or his sisters forgetting he was alive, or gobbling down all the food before he could get some.

If Niala said he wanted in on genuine terms, he had no reason to think she was lying. "Tell me something..." Jr said. "From what I saw yesterday, you're an excellent fighter. But there's gotta be more to you if you can move the way you do. Some sorta... hidden talent, a family secret, something, right?... It can't be just all you. Is there something you can tell me? Maybe there's some kinda way we can help you realize your true potential. I'd like to see what you can REALLY do, if at all possible..."

Looking over at Cala, it seemed she'd taken the injection with no problems or side effects. She'd probably be back to her old self in no time...

Niala looked back to Yata and smiled gently. "Sorry, but I don't like to beat around the bush when it comes to information." Which was true, she wasn't going to lie, and it wasn't like it wouldn't have become known sooner or later - there seemed to be no secrets within the Company. You couldn't work with people you couldn't trust, and hiding secrets did no one any good.

Niala then fell silent as she listened to Junior speak to Yata. As she sat there she picked up her usual frozen hot chocolate and took a sip through the red and white striped straw. She hadn't seen any secrets hidden within the guy, but she hadn't exactly been looking at his whole life, so she was curious too if there was something more to the guy then he was letting on.

Cala looked over to Junior as he began to speak, wondering exactly if he was going to accept the guy or not into the Company. She probably would have been embarrassed if all of her information was out there like that, but having secrets did no one any good. Besides, it wasn't like the kid was the only one with family troubles.

She looked over to Junior and Yata expectantly, wondering as well if he had some secret talent that he hadn't let on about. While she waited to see how Yata was going to respond to Junior's question she wiggled her fingers and fidgeted slightly: she could already see the difference in just those small movements and it caused her to smile.

She knew Devon was going to be excited when she got around to telling her, and thinking about what Junior had given them she pulled out her cellphone again and shot a quick text to Devon, keeping it on vibrate so that it didn't interupt the stuff going on.

Yata had to make sure that this girl never touched him again. She said they didn't beat around the bush when it came to info. The frown remained on his face. He felt like he was getting beat up again, especially when Jr said something about his sisters and his father. He was probably going to see them sooner or later anyway.

Jr next asked him if there was more to him. He said Yata was an excellent fighter, but there had to be something else. A hidden talent, and unrecognized potential. Jr said there was some kind of way to help him realize it? Was this what he'd been waiting for? Was he finally about to find out if he held the Yata family's long lost secret?

"Well uh... My grand dad used to tell us stories about my family from way back... My family used to be a clan, and the heads of the clan could use what he called "Auras." Supposedly these Auras all had different colors, and let the clan heads all do some kind of amazing power. Grand dad said one day somebody would be able to use them again, and he kept saying it was gonna be me, but that's bull, I know it's gonna be one of my useless brothers or sisters."

He didn't know how that would do for an explanation. His stomach was making a whining noise. He couldn't remember when he'd last eaten. Stupid brothers and sisters thought it was funny to make him starve. One day he'd show them, even if this Company thing wasn't going to work...

Matt felt like he was eavesdropping. All of this guy's business was being put out in the open. It was understandable why he was the way he was since it'd been explained, and all in all he didn't seem like a bad guy. Maybe being hired into The Company would straighten him out, and perhaps the two of them could become friends. There were a lot of girls here, and besides Jr there wasn't much in the way of guys. Not that he minded a bunch of girls...

Yata said his family used to be a clan, and the clan heads used Aura powers. He said his grandfather spoke of a re-emergence of Aura powers, and that Yata would be the one. From the tone he used, Yata had doubts. "Hmm, isn't there something someone can do? You all have these amazing abilities and such, can't one of you like, awaken his potential or something? I'd suggest Amaranth and her science lab, but her mother and father, and this Nova guy... yeah. Not a good idea right now..."

To see someone who could possibly become big, right at the start, Matt wanted to see this. Maybe Niala could reach into his head and yank something out, or even Jr for that matter. He waited to see what Jr's answer would be.

Jr could hear Yata's stomach growling. He had to be starving. Feeding him would be no problem, but he wanted to see something first. Hearing Matt, Jr reached behind him and plucked one of his feathers from his wings. Niala had already displayed some of her abilities, now it was his turn. Using a trick taught to him by his Grandfather Darkman, he stared at the feather a while as it began to glow a golden tint, with lines of light traveling from it all across the office like a strobe light. When the glow died down some, he handed the feather towards Yata.

Phoenix Feather:

"Here," he said. "If there's any hidden potential in you, this will draw it out... No need to ask questions, just take it and we'll see what happens."

If there was any hidden potential within Yata, the feather would disappear and there would be some sort of a reaction that would draw out one of these Auras, and whatever abilities that came with it. If not, the feather would remain... and Jr would possibly have to assign this guy to lightweight jobs so that he didn't get hurt. He waited for Yata to take the feather.

Niala listened as Yata explained about the stories his grandfather used to tell: how the family used to be a clan and some of them could use auras. These auras would allow them to use different powers, and Yata's grandfather thought that Yata would be the one to be able to use this ability once more - which Yata obviously didn't agree with.

Niala tapped her chin thoughtfully as she glanced to Matt when he spoke. However, before she could respond Junior plucked a few of his own wings and caused it to glow a gold color. Niala watched closely, curiosity plainly showing on her face.

She then looked to Yata, wondering what would happen when he touched that feather.

Cala found Yata's story quite interesting. It wasn't exactly the first of its kind she had heard: clans were still a very popular thing back when she was a child, and some of them were indeed known for special abilities - though nothing the likes of which Yata was explaining.

Cala looked down at her phone as it vibrated as Junior was plucking a few of his own feathers and doing something strange to them that caused a gold strobe like effect in the room. The text message from her sister that popped up on her phone read "GREAT! We'll spar later to see what you can do!". Cala could only shake her head as she stared down at the text message: her sister was going to whoop her ass.

She then focused her attention to Yata, also wondering what was going to happen when he touched the feather that Junior had manipulated somehow.

Yata looked unsure. The thought something bad was going to happen if he took that feather. Was this a trap? Was it further payback for what happened yesterday? Yata was all too used to being bullied and humiliated. If this did turn out to be just another trick he was going to bail the hell out of there...

Yata took the feather just for it to vanish. He could then feel something bubbling within other than his empty stomach. A wind began to blow from Yata's body as it was suddenly surrounded by a reddish glow. His eyes went wide. His arms didn't look like they'd gained any sort of muscle, but he suddenly felt a lot stronger. Yata found that he could concentrate heat into both of his hands, his feet and possibly even his board or Trusty Bat if he wanted.

As his face became an evil grin, Yata suddenly found that he could control the intensity of this red Aura just by thought. He didn't want to burn or destroy anything in this office by mistake so he didn't get too wild with it. After staring at the glow a while, Yata deactivated the red Aura, deciding to play around with it more outside somewhere. "Hunh... so there was some truth to the stories after all, then..." he said, trying to imagine how those so-called family members would react to his newfound powers. "Grandpa wasn't just fulla horse shit."

He suddenly took a big liking to Jr, and decided to stick by this guy. "I can't thank you enough, Jr dude," he said, giving Jr a thumbs up. "I'll have to practice using this... but first I need to get some food in me some kind or way or i'll die, I think. It sucks being hungry..."