manmade.

There is a spark to start the flames; let it burn. Hawthorne Winchester.Prometheus

[fadingsparx]

reichhardt‌:

“Was it really that important of a quote?” Ulrik asked. “I was just simply voicing the opinions of many. SHOT has been a nuisance and will be dealt with accordingly. Their hubris will be their downfall, simply said.” He shrugged at Hawthorne and narrowed his eyes at the Titan. “I must say… these questions from you are quite curious. I’ve heard stories, but I never thought that you’d ever become this involved with mortal affairs.”

“I was doing a public opinion piece,” Hawthorne explained, “So, everyone’s opinions are important.”  Especially from someone who curiously looked liked the founder of the city.  Though it seemed impossible, there were more unexplainable things in Ceres than a man who didn’t age.  He cleared his throat after Ulrik’s question.  Hawthorne rose an eyebrow, “What are you talking about?  I am mortal?”  There was a nervous laugh that came with him as he shook his head, “What else would I be?”

[fadingsparx]

redcmptxn‌:

Desi struggled with an answer for the man before he ultimately shook his head and said, “No, just leave me as an anonymous source.  I don’t need S.H.O.T. trying to come up and pick a fight.”  Desi had too much on his plate to throw S.H.O.T. into the mix as well.  His family was already at risk for his agreement with that woman and didn’t need to put them in anymore danger.  He was supposed to atone for his mistakes but it seemed that he just kept making them.  “What are you writing this for?”

“A credible anonymous source,” Hawthorne said as he jotted it down.  The man was a nurse at the hospital, it was hard not to consider him as a credible person.  Though, there was something in the back of the man’s tone that caught Hawthorne’s curiosity.  He rose an eyebrow at Desi and nodded slowly, trying to note any change in his expression.  “Hmm,” he let the noise come out before he answered with a, “I wanted to get the public opinion.  The citizens of Ceres have a lot of things to say, after all.”

[fadingsparx]

twicehunted‌:

Hunter laughed at the man’s question.  He shook his head and said, “You’re going to publish me on the paper?”  Hunter was about to ask to be written as anonymous but he decided he had a better idea.  He grinned, “Write my name down as Quentin Godrick.”  Somehow, he knew that Godrick would probably try something like this.  If he was going to go down, Hunter would make sure to drag Godrick down with him too.  Fair’s fair in prank wars.

Hawthorne chuckled - this was definitely deja vu.  “I was going to publish a quote from you, but considering you’re using a fake name,” he shook his head, “I can’t exactly lie.  It’s going to ruin my credibility.”  He pointed his pen at Hunter, “You’re infamous, Mr.Banned-from-Grounded-for-years.”  Hawthorne spent many days at Grounded, many good stories came out of there.  So, it was easy for him to remember the face of the only person on the banned wall.

[fadingsparx]

queuedgodd‌:

godrick grinned playfully and then he snickered.  “yeah, you can quote me,” he said and nodded at hawthorne, “on paper, you can call me hunter daniels.”  godrick had nothing against hunter.  in fact, hunter was one of his favorite people.  especially to mess with.  almost as much as he loved messing with gray.  normally, he’d throw out gray’s name but he decided his best friend needed a break.  he looked over to hawthorne, “so, what kind of a story are you writing about?  how much the consensus hates s.h.o.t.’s stupid asses?”

What a free spirited individual.  “Hunter Daniels,” he said, skeptical at the name considering he’d seen Hunter’s picture at Grounded before.  “Only on paper?” He asked, chuckling, “An alias in these streets?  Sounds legitimate.”  Everyone in Ceres Centropolis had a hidden life;  aliases were common in the city, from Heroes to Villains and everyone in between.  Sometimes, it was hard to be who you truly were.  He grinned, “I’m taking the public opinion on S.H.O.T.  Although, it’s easy to tell which direction the city’s leaning on.  I hope the S.H.O.T. agents can read though.”

[fadingsparx]

iridcsnt‌:

“Of course,” Mae said with a grin, “It’s M-A-E C-A-L-L-O-W-A-Y.  Make sure it’s spelled right.  I want S.H.O.T. to know who said they were sorry pieces of shit with small dick syndrome that hide behind the mask of government.”  The Dragon had never been the type to sugarcoat her anger.  Especially when S.H.O.T. was completely responsible for kidnapping two of her children.  A mother bears her fangs when her children were involved.  “Do you want another quote for those bastards?”

Hawthorne nodded quietly as he jotted her name down exactly as she spelled it.  He’d never been one to make a typo, but he suspected that if he misspelled such a prolific name, he would be given Hell.  There was a ticking in the back of his head that itched.  Something told him that this woman wasn’t just a woman, but he couldn’t scratch that itch.  He shook his head and jotted down the words she gave.  “I take it you’re all for getting them out of our fair Ceres,” he said, “Off the record, I agree with you.  I also think they need to leave.”

[fadingsparx]

redefinedfuture‌:

“Errr …,” Dean tilted his head back just a bit as he thought about how to answer this. He shouldn’t be quoted. Dean knew this.There were a lot of scientific reasons why he shouldn’t be quoted or leave a trail of anything in the past. His face twisted in annoyance for a moment before he said, “Yeah …my name’s Dino.” It wasn’t too different from his own name, but it was different enough. He nodded, “Yeah, Dino …um, Valentine.” Smart. Use the English version of Sawyer’s middle name. Totally smart. No one would be able to solve it. “You can quote that, yes,” he nodded and smiled. 

People do strange things when they lie.  Hawthorne had been in the business of interviewing people long enough to know when someone was lying - they have such long pauses as they try to fill in their lies.  His eyebrow rose slowly, quirked up as he listened to the name that the kid gave him.  “Dino Valentine,” Hawthorne said as he jotted the name down in his notepad.  While there were more digital ways to take down notes, Hawthorne never liked that;  pen to paper made him feel like he was actually working.  “So, I can quote Dino Valentine’s opinion for public consumption?” He asked, but he wondered what this kid was hiding.

[fadingsparx]

It wasn’t uncommon for Hawthorne to be around town, striking up conversations with anyone who didn’t mind and jotting down quotes when he could.  If he couldn’t sniff out a story, there was always chance for an opinion piece story.  His gaze had wandered from the person he had spoken to and over to the distance.  In a quiet blink, he returned his gaze back to the person in question.  He chuckled, “Can I quote you on that?  On you opinion about S.H.O.T.?  Or would it be better if I just write you down as an anonymous source?”

[boomcrash-deactivated20190412]

There were a lot of people in the streets today. More than there should have been in Harper’s honest opinion. It must have been the day off that caused this but whatever the reason was, they were in the way. “Get out of the fucking way, you damned filler characters,” Harper shouted as he pushed past the crowd. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with them, especially when there was a deal at his favorite restaurant - 2lbs of shrimp for $10 at the steam cooked seafood restaurant was a steal of a deal. However, as he pushed past the people, he realized why they were all gathered. S.H.O.T. was having another one of their demonstration of powers. How fucking annoying. “Move it,” Harper shouted as he kept walking past the people. He shoved someone a little too hard and said, “You’re in the way. Move it, you extra.”

[fadingsparx]

The smallest dogs bark the loudest - that was the thought that ran through Hawthorne’s mind as he heard the younger man shouting.  That was a rude thing to think, especially since he didn’t know who this child was but calling people extras and filler characters?  That was a small dog.  “Sorry, kid,” Hawthorne said as he showed his press badge to the teen, “I’m here for work, so moving isn’t something I’m about to do.”  Not that Hawthorne was someone that could be moved easily.  Even if Hawthorne believed that he didn’t have any major powers, he thought he could put up a fight.  If he needed to.  He shook his head, “I suggest you stay away from this place though.  S.H.O.T. is currently present.”

[fadingsparx]

reichhardt‌:

“You’re right… Nice guys never get the answers they need.” She rested her chin on her hands and listened to him react to the same story all over again. “I don’t think he has a crush on me… I just think that he was tired of how bad things became for the Diablos. They weren’t always like that… They were supposed to be like the modern day Robin Hoods.” She knew the story by heart and it wasn’t because she wrote it. She learned the story from her future husband. “Desi hates that guy. I’m not allowed to wear the shirt at home.” 

Kamala nodded before she leaned back against her chair and then spun herself around. “We need to keep churning out these things or else we’ll get laid off like the rest. Journalism might be dying and yet Gawker-esque bullshit still eixsts… You and I should start a podcast or something… Then when they look up our faces, they’ll say, ‘wow, this guy looks hotter than he sounds.’” She stopped spinning and faced him again. “But yeah, Hyperion. We should reveal that before we have another Red Ranger repeat.” 

She rolled her eyes when he started to flex. “Harry, human or not, everything can die. My mom and dad use to say that nothing is truly Immortal because all you have to do is to find the right way to end things… I mean, they sold magical artifacts for a living, so it paid to have stuff that could do just that.” She raised a brow at him. “What kind of dreams? Like of the sexual nature? Harry, we’re friends and you’re beautiful, but no amount of beauty will make me want to hear about them.” 

"Noooo ...," Hawthorne replied to Kamala and shook his head, "I don't think that's right.  That doesn't sound right."  At this point Hawthorne knew he was being stubborn.  Regardless of whatever story Kamala spoke about The Diablos, Hawthorne couldn't believe that she and Castigador were just simply that.  He narrowed his eyes at her, shaking his head slowly before he said, "I swear, with the way you and Desi act, he's probably Castigador."  That was a statement that Hawthorne thought for the longest time, but he never looked into it.  Kamala was happy and Desi was a good guy - why would he pry and do anything to ruin that.  "If Desi was Castigador," Hawthorne clicked his tongue and then said, "Now that's a story."

Hawthorne laughed at her suggestion.  He rose his eyebrows and asked, "Do you think I have the face for a podcast?"  Was his voice pleasing to hear?  He wasn't sure, but what he was sure about was that Kamala was right.  Journalism was a dying form.  Unless they were churning out clickbait worthy articles, journalism was always going to be in the losing lane.  He sighed and then cast a glance back at her as she stopped turning.  "I should do a follow up on the Red Ranger," Hawthorne said, "I heard he's back in the city but no one's seen him return to morphing.  Not yet."

"That's not true," Hawthorne said with a slight laugh.  He shook his head and said, "There's plenty of people in Ceres Centropolis that don't die."  He pointed at her and said, "After the invasion, everyone said that the owner of The Gamble died but he's walking around just fine.  Every lead I had on that fizzled though.  Men like that have too many secrets that they make sure to burn."  Hawthorne laughed, "No.  If I wanted to share my wet dreams, I'd make a podcast about it."  He grinned but then said, "No, I keep getting glimpses of a life.  Like I see life being lived through my eyes, but I know they can't be my memories."  Hawthorne gasped, "What if I'm a dream walker?"

[fadingsparx]

reichhardt‌:

“Ok, now you’re just being an asshole, Harry.” She laughed and shook her head. “I like him because he saved my life for whatever reason. If it wasn’t for him, I probably would have died.” Hawthorne was the only one she ever told the full story of that night to, but with his tendency to forget things, she often had to remind him. Kamala was worried about how often she needed to tell him. She was beginning to believe that something was seriously wrong with the man. “I can accept that. News is always going to get people to react to it… Wouldn’t be news if it didn’t. I’d be worried if people didn’t care anymore.” 

“Being out more often doesn’t mean that a hero wants to get hit with shit. And just because you can’t die, doesn’t mean that you should look for danger.” She was already concerned but now he was really pushing it. “You’re an Adonis, or a god, or something, but you should be more serious about your supposed inability to die. I don’t want to be down a friend because of something stupid you decided to do.” 

“But being an asshole is why I’m so good at being a reporter,” Hawthorne teased with a grin.  At some point, Hawthorne had self-diagnosed himself with a poor memory - considering how many times that Kamala had to remind him of this story, it only made sense that his memory was that bad.  “Of course, I owe him for saving your life,” he said, “We’re both lucky that Castigador had a crush on you.  Even if you deny it.  And continue to deny it to this day.”  He shook his head, “If you ask me, I’m sure Desi would let you have a one night free pass.”  It was a joke, of course.  Hawthorne was very happy that Kamala had someone as solid as Desi to be her life partner.

“Well, considering that we’re in Ceres Centropolis, our headlines need to be even more jaw-dropping than what goes on in the streets,” Hawthorne pointed out.  Being a reporter these days was starting to be a challenge.  Maybe they should step into the world of video journalism.  He and Kamala weren’t the ugliest mugs that could grace the screens, after all.  “Hyperion’s the closest I have to a reveal,” he said, “I tried going after The Huntsman, Obsidian Fury and a few others to no avail.”  He frowned, “And we lost that Red Ranger reveal.”

Hawthorne laughed.  “You’re right, I am an Adonis,” he said as he flexed his muscle very dramatically.  His body shook with laughter as he stopped the pose.  “I don’t think I can die,” he admitted.  His lips twisted for a moment before he said, “I don’t think ...I don’t think I’m completely human, Kam.  I’m not sure what I am, honestly.”  He sat down, looking at his hands for a few moments.  “I keep having these dreams,” he said, “I don’t know if they’re dreams of flashbacks.”

[fadingsparx]

ellvirall‌:

Why were half the people in Ceres Centropolis giants? Elvira had been so focused on what she was looking at that she almost missed the really giant man in front of her. She did a double-take before she finally realized who it was. A news reporter. She frowned for a moment before she reached for her food, “That just looked suspicious.”  As she nodded to the direction she had been staring at, the Blue Ranger tried to figure out how to avert this man’s attention but also not lose sight of what that struggle was across from them. There wasn’t a way, but maybe …, she looked up at the taller man and raised an eyebrow. “Have you heard any rumors about those people harassing others?” she asked, hoping to get his curiosity going.

Suspicious was something that Hawthorne chased after.  He looked over to the woman and then back over to where the activity had occurred.  He nodded slowly, trying to recall any information that he had on anything regarding that type of behavior.  Unfortunately, Hawthorne’s memory seemed to be failing him regularly and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall any information worth bringing up to the woman.  As he slowly shook his head, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I know S.H.O.T. has been doing an unpleasant business of putting targets on the backs of people you would least expect but nothing more.”  Which was a lie.  Hawthorne knew far more than he let on, but that wasn’t something to share with anyone.  Especially people he had just met, after all.  “... shall we get a closer look?”

[fadingsparx]

reichhardt‌:

“Ok, fine, you hooked me, but I’m still not publishing under my real name. I know that the Diablos have been quiet, but I can’t trust the rumor that they’ve all been caught.” Kamala didn’t want to play the fool. “But it’ll make front page news. It’s a scoop and the truth needs to come out eventually… even if the timing could cause problems. How do you think SHOT will react when Hyperion gets exposed? How do you think he will?” 

It wasn’t about being right or wrong, but she was concerned about not living to see another day. She had a son and a fiance now. If she became reckless again and something happened, then what? Kamala looked over at the mess and sighed. “I need to figure out how to control these powers, Harry. They make my skin crawl.”

“People of their caliber would never stay captured for long,” Hawthorne said in agreement with Kamala’s words.  He frowned and said, “Rumor has it that one of them’s back in the city.  I haven’t been able to confirm, but I think it might be your favorite one.  The one you unironically have a t-shirt for.”  It was hard to believe that people sold merchandise that surrounded villains, but money was something that everyone was after.  He looked over to her, “I think if we do this, we have to accept that we’re painting a target on Hyperion’s  back.  Not that he doesn’t have one already, but we’re basically blasting neon lights on him so that everyone can see.  Though, if I’m honest, this seems like something that he would want.  He’s been on a patrol seven days a week, almost at all times.  I knew he was a good hero, but even he’s pushing himself.”

Hawthorne didn’t have powers.  At least, not any powers that he was aware of.  However, he swore he’d been able to survive many near-death scenarios - some scenarios were so close to death that he was sure he did die those times.  “You know,” Hawthorne said, “I can help you learn?  You can test it out on me.”  He paused, “I can’t seem to die ...”  He frowned.  Then looked over to her with seriousness, “There are many times when I think I’ve died, or should have, but I didn’t.”  A gasp escaped him, “Maybe I can’t die.  Do I have a power?  Maybe, it’s because I’m so handsome that I just can’t die.”  He teased, of course but he wasn’t sure what his true power was.

[ellvirall]

“Huh? Oh, shit. My bad,” Elvira snapped out of her daze. Her eyes had been focused on the group of people a few blocks away; there wasn’t anything there, but for some reason, her suspicion kept kicking off.  She shook her head, focusing back on the counter and putting the tray of food she accidentally picked up back. “I didn’t mean to accidentally take your tray,” the bluenette apologized as she reached for her correct order. “Yeah …I mean, if you don’t want it or whatever, I’ll just order you another set.” She apologized, but her eyes kept wandering back to the group a few blocks away. Something didn’t feel right, like it was a set-up …she turned to face the person in front of her and apologized again. “Like, I said, sorry.”

[fadingsparx]

Hawthorne attempted to correct the woman about picking up the wrong order, but it seemed that she caught it herself.  However, Hawthorne couldn’t helpt but peer over to see what the blue-haired maiden was looking at.  He rose an eyebrow as he reached for his food.  “What are you looking at?” Hawthorne asked the smaller woman, trying his best to see what she was looking at.  He picked up his food, but couldn’t help but his curiosity couldn’t stop.  “Did you see something there that shouldn’t be there?  Is everything alright?”  He reached for a french fry and casual ate one as he waited for an answer.

[reichhardt-deactivated20200919]

Kamala looked over at the documents that Hawthorne had brought over. “These are fine, but I don’t think that they really jump as breaking news. Are we really investigating this properly? Isn’t our goal to reveal what ‘Organization X’ really is? Hawthorne, I know that you have a solid lead on who the Hyperion is, but I don’t know about this. If we’re wrong, we might as well kiss our positions goodbye and apply to The Sun… or the New York Post.  I don’t know about you, but I’m interested in being fired or ‘laid off.’” She turned down several promotions so she could work with people like Hawthorne, but at the moment, she was wondering if she had made a mistake. 

She moved her finger over her chin and accidentally caused the coffee in her mug to jump to the side. Her abilities tipped over the mug and spilled the liquid onto the floor. “Ah, fuck… I’ve got to do something about my stress… I don’t want to become a gossip columnist, Harry.” 

@fadingsparx

[fadingsparx]

“With the way things have developed,” Hawthorne said, “This will make front page news, Kamala.”

When it came to breaking news, timing was everything.  Though, Hawthorne had no problems with the well-known hero, Hyperion, this was the perfect time to release this story.  The secret identities of heroes have always been kept tightly locked away - no one was ever supposed to uncover these secrets.  There have been countless heroes who took their identities to the grave and yet, there were people who searched for the truth.  Like the intrepid reporter that he was, it took Hawthorne no time to start uncovering what he could about the city’s infamous masked vigilantes.

“We’re not wrong, Kamala,” Hawthorne reminded her with a smile, “I’m 98% sure about this.  I’m going to be honest and say that a lot of these heroes are never as careful as they say they ar--,” he stopped as he watched the coffee spill.  “Ahhh,” Hawthorne reached over, picking up some napkins and dropping them on the ground.  “Kamala, you need a break.”

[fadingsparx]

avgmcnt‌:

“They were taken from Heaven… but heaven’s supposed to be the good guys, right?” He wasn’t sure where the idea of peace loving good guys came from, but if anything he knew about Christianity was right, it would make sense for them to have an Arsenal of weapons. “I hope they’re not still around. It would be bad if people were using them… I don’t mean to tell you how to do your job or anything or sound like I’m trying to gossip, but have you heard about that Ancient city that was discovered at the south pole? I don’t know, I just hope that it isn’t connected to the Arsenal Artifacts. Things can bet really hairy if they are.” 

“That’s the current working theory most people have,” Hawthorne said, a frown had grown on him as he nodded.  He sighed and shook his head, shrugging as he did, “Honestly, it’s just a title and a rumor that people so happily believed.  The truth is Heaven and Hell are as gray-scaled as the heroes and villains in Ceres Centropolis.”  That was how the world worked, even before the humans gained their knowledge and strengths.  Perspective was important in the cases across the world.  He frowned as he tried to recall, but his memory shuffled into a haze that he couldn’t sift through.  

“The Ancient City?” Hawthorne asked, surprised at the words.  He blinked a few times, trying to run through the information that he did know but he couldn’t recall anything.  His eyes widened, surprised and slightly unnerved that something that big came about without his knowledge.  He frowned, “I think regardless of their connection to the Arsenal Artifacts, we’re going to have a problem if an ancient city rose from out of nowhere.”  Why couldn’t he remember?  That frown was followed by the furrowing of his brows.  It seemed that things in Ceres Centropolis never knew how to stay quiet, even when they were already in a state of chaos.

[fadingsparx]

avgmcnt‌:

“You’re right, but if you’re doing investigative journalism or something like that, isn’t it the same?” Conrad thought about it some more. “Especially with things around this city. Knowing about things and how people deal with the situations in Ceres could mean life or death. It’s like that soiree mix up. I don’t know too much about it, but I heard that those artifacts were actual magic. They just seemed to disappear off the face of the earth, but I don’t think its the case… What if they’re still out there?” 

“Huh,” Hawthorne absentmindedly said with a chuckle and a nod added in, “You’re right.”  Investigative journalism in Ceres Centropolis was a perilous occupation;  there had been many moments when Hawthorne was sure that he died, yet he would wake up the next morning as if he’d had a bad dream.  For all the investigations he’d done, his own mystery was something that he’d failed to look into.  “According to their lore, they were taken from Heaven,” Hawthorne began to explain, “They were considered Heaven’s Arsenal because of their immense magical properties.  Humans were never supposed to have contact with them, but ...of course, that changed.”  He frowned for a moment before he shook his head, “I tried to keep tabs on where each artifact ended up at ...but of course, they were scattered and I lost track pretty quickly.”

[tclepvth]

“This is ridiculous.” Angeline started to close her leather portfolio again when she noticed that someone was approaching her. She lowered it down to the barrel and then looked at the ocean. She was so close to throwing the portfolio and its contents into the ocean. Someone had tipped SHOT off about her mutant relatives which meant that they were investigating her closely, which had put an incredible strain on her work environment. All her staff at IAAC were cautious of her, believing that she could have the X-gene and they weren’t wrong, but she didn’t want them to know about it. Angeline sighed and shut the portfolio again. She didn’t want to look at letter, telling her about the start of an ongoing investigation. “Now this and a problematic husband. How could I have calculated everything so poorly?” She sighed. “I’d throw these papers out if the chance of someone picking it up wasn’t so high…” She looked over at the person next to her. “When will the madness stop, hm?” 

[fadingsparx]

“One can only home that it ends soon,” Hawthorne commented to the woman’s question.  It was unlike him to jump into the conversation, especially with someone he didn’t know, but it seemed as though she was questioning the same things that everyone seemed to.  He turned to face her, mild surprise spread itself across his face as he realized he was in front of one of IAAC’s most prominent members.  Hawthorne cleared his throat, giving her a slight bow as he gave her a more professional smile.  “If you don’t mind my asking, how was this part of a miscalculation?” He questioned.  Hawthorne tried to do research on IAAC’s behaviors many times, but every time he found something interesting, he couldn’t remember why it was even of interest to him to begin with.  “Sorry, that’s rude,” he apologized, “My name’s Hawthorne.  I’m doing an opinion piece on the people in the city.”  That sounded plausible enough, right?