Nothing Left To Lose (open)

The first thing Grant Ward had done was make sure that the bank held no children that day. Children, because of his own daughter Alexi, were a soft spot he did. The second was make sure that he couldn't be traced back to it. A robbery this size would put him away fro a long time and he needed to be with his family.

As Phobos, one of the cities most feared villains, Grant Ward was a man who had everything to lose and very little left to gain. Money was the only issue in his life, everything else seemed to be covered.

This job would be enough to get his family through for a few more months, making sure that he wouldn't have to be Phobos for a very long time.

"I said put the money in the bag," he told the cashier coldly, dressed in his costume as the other patrons of the bank laid on the ground. "I will NOT tell you again."

"Please man I have kids...don't kill me..." the young man begged, stuffing money into Grant's bag.

"I won't kill you provided you do as I have commanded," Grant spoke in the voice he used as Phobos.

He was supposed to be returning to his ...handler, for lack of a better word, but something else had drawn his attention that day. He sensed the prescence of someone else, someone not quite like those he was sent after, but also the same. He sensed someone else nearby with powers, so he headed for the source. He followed the pull towards the bank, curious about why this one felt different, only to find out once he reached the bank.

This one wasn't a hero.

The man was robbing the bank, the super powered people he got sent after were always doing what he assumed was good, or just going about their 'normal' lives, even if not everyone around them agreed with that.

Definitely more curious now, the man known as 'Erebus' quietly crept closer, stopping a little further than arm's reach away. He crossed his arms, a smirk on his face as the villain claimed he wouldn't kill the cashier.

"Interesting outfit you've got there..." He said after a moment.

Grant watched the man put his money in the bag before he heard a man's voice. He turned, looking at the man who didn't seem as if he could be very threatening. There was something about him, something that hid a darkness. If anyone knew about darkness, it was Grant Ward. During his normal life, he was one of the kindest men you could ever meet. During his time as Phobos, Grant had no heart.

"Well all villains wear a costume. Now get back in line with the others!" shouted Grant at the man, not wanting to use his power on someone.

"I don't think so." Marco shook his head. "I can't get back in line when I never was in it. And that's not true by the way, have you met every single villain?"

He raised an eyebrow, leaning against the counter as he watched the other man. "Is that your normal voice, or is it for show?" He asked, curious to see how far he could push the villain, wanting to see if he'd use his power, unable to tell what it was despite being able to sense it.

"You can get in line with the others, regardless of if you were in line with the others to begin with," growled Grant, not wanting his voice to sound like he would use in his normal life. "I've met quite a few villains in my life and I would know if an old man like you had powers or not."

He watched the other man, backing up so that he was no longer in reach of the other man. He didn't want to use his power if he didn't have to but if this man kept asking questions, it would push him and he'd have no other choice. "Yes, this is my real voice."

"Clearly you wouldn't." Marco chuckled ignoring the man's attempt at telling him what to do. There were very few people he listened to and he knew who those people were. He may not know much about them, but he knew this man was not one of them. He wasn't wearing a lab coat or a suit for starters and he was fairly sure none of them had powers.

"Are you scared?" He asked with a smirk. "Normally that's why people back away from me, but then normally others with some sort of power know why I've found them. It doesn't sound like a voice someone would normally have by the way." He added casually.

"I SAID GET BACK IN THE GOD DAMN LINE!" shouted Grant, his voice going back to it's normal everyday voice. He was shaking now, his hands glowing green. He looked over the man before glancing into his eyes.

"I'm not scared," Grant growled. "This is my real voice." He used his power, the astral projections forming into some sort of mist. He wouldn't know what the man was afraid of until the mist took shape, but he could guarantee it would be something.

"Oh no, not scared at all," Marco laughed, shaking his head at the way the man shouted at him. "You just- What are you doing...?"

He froze as the man used his power, a confused look on his face as the mist formed around him. There was a man in a suit, whose name he didn't know, and people in lab coats, all dead. They were the only people he actually knew and without them he had no guidance. Without them he had no purpose, no idea what to do next.

Without them, he was lost.

He stood staring at the scene with wide eyes, forgetting for a moment that what he was seeing wasn't real.

"Stop it!" Marco snapped, turning his head to avoid looking at it, the air around him growing darker. He felt safer in the dark, especially when the darkness was of his own creation, so his body naturally responded to that as a result of his fear.

Grant's eyes went green, his power working it's magic. Lab coats? Were these people that the man saw doctors or scientists? Though that worried him, the deeper fear was what he had just done. This man wasn't like him, yet, this man had a power and he could use it just as well. That was evident when the dark began to roll on in. He let his power up, his eyes still cold as they always were when he forced himself to do this.

"I told you, I don't want to use my power on you. Just get back in line so I can leave," he growled again.

As the scene faded, so did the darkness surrounding Marco as he slowly relaxed, though he obviously wasn't happy with the man. He looked around cautiously before turning back to the man, glaring at him.

"I'd rather not do that actually," He growled. "What I would like to know though is what the hell you just did to me. Before I decide to demonstrate my power on you."

"It's my power. I cast a projection, a simple astral mist. It takes the form of whatever the person viewing it is most afraid of. I don't control it, the people watching it do. What you see is different than what anyone else sees," Grant replied, turning his back as he started to leave. The cops were going to be there soon and he could easily pin it on this new guy who had showed up.

"Right..." Marco said with a frown as the man turned away from him. The power was definitely interesting, too bad he had set orders for anyone he came across with powers.

Marco shook his head as he watched the man start to leave, using his own power to gather shadows in his hand, forming them into a very solid, usable dagger. He quickly headed after the other man, as quietly as possible, grabbing him when he was close enough. Marco held his dagger against the man's throat, although normally he wouldn't hesitate at all when he was doing his 'job'. Normally, he would have just killed the man and left, like he'd done to a mutant before ending up at the bank.

"Escape or not, I'm fairly certain there were authorities after me before I interrupted your little crime. Even if most don't like people with powers, they generally don't approve of public murders, so after seeing me here, I'm sure they could easily mistake that for some of your work." Marco said quietly, unaware of the other man's own plans. "So either we both get out of here, you take my place...or I could just add you to my list."

The first thing that went through Grant's mind when a knife was held to his neck was the fact that if he died now, he'd never see his daughter ever again. He could see her now, growing up right before his very eyes. He took a deep breath, hearing what he said about authorities after him. Just great, he had managed to piss off a criminal.

"Please...please don't kill me. I have a daughter at home...a wife..." Grant begged, "we can both get out of here, I promise."

"Of course we can, it probably wouldn't be that hard actually." Marco replied, his voice almost cheerful sounding, though it was more on the giving a child nightmares level than it was friendly. "But if I did kill you, it would be nothing personal. I'm just not a fan of people like you."

He heard sirens and pulled the other man out of sight of the doorway, keeping the weapon at his throat.

"Honestly with both our...skills, they don't really gave a chance of stopping us." He said quietly, the look in his eyes suggesting he was actually having fun. "Assuming of course, that you're smart enough to go along with this instead of being stupid and getting us caught."

"People like you? Mister, you're a person like me," Grant laughed, not bothering to hide the youth in his voice in front of this young man. "And besides, you act like I'm going to kill someone. I'm not going to kill anyone. Murder...it's a sin..."

He had never really believed in God but right now, with the knife against his neck, he was praying for a miracle.

"I'm not actually." Marco growled. "When I help my boss get rid of you all, he's going to help me."

He pressed the dagger against the man's neck a little more, close to cutting into it. If the man tried to move much it would likely injure him. Marco's objects he created were just as solid as real ones, although his downfall was overly bright lights; which was why he worked in the evening and night. Being out in the middle of a bright, summer day would cause his power to weaken, the darkness eventually dissolving if the light was focused on it long enough.

"If you're really against killing people so much, then you don't have to do it." Marco said with am almost sadistic grin.

Grant shook his head, "You can't get rid of me! You don't understand, I got a wife and a kid at home who need me!"

Was that the sort of thing that Grant Ward should have told a crazed psychopath who was holding a knife to his neck? Probably not. Was the fact that he needed to get out of here before he risked dying or going to jail again something that he needed to do? Most definitly. He found murder to be wrong, be it of anyone, and he sensed this man who was threatening him honestly didn't care.

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"Who said I was going to? We could make a deal...see, you weren't on my list, so it won't really be a big deal if I let you live. If you be good and help me get out of here, then you can go home. If not..." Marco said, trailing off with a smirk, deciding to let the younger man guess himself what would happen.

"How many people can you use your power on at once? If it's enough, you might be lucky and neither of us will have to kill anyone...or at least I won't have to again. See assuming you can use it on more than one person, we just have to scare them. If I add my power to yours, they'd likely be too distracted by their own fear..."

The thought of death was one of the few things that scared Grant Ward, the other being going back to prison. Though they scared him, they were things that often popped into his mind. He wondered if being a villain was worth it sometimes and judging by the position he found himself in now, with the knife at his throat, the answer was no. All he had to do was help get this man out of the bank.

"It...it shouldn't be a problem," Grant stammered, trying not to let his own fear show. "I mean...it's not like it's a power that doesn't work on more than one at a time. I don't cast just one astral projection. What the people see is up to their own mind, the only thing I do cast is an astral mist."

"Good. It'll be better for us both if you're able to do that." Marco said with a grin, slowly pulling his dagger away from the other man's throat. He didn't take his eyes off him though, not trusting him enough to do so. "Shall we get started then?"

He turned away from him just enough to see outside, but also to keep the other man in his sight, the dagger in his hand dissolving into darkness that was more like a fog, which slowly started spreading around him.

The police were around the bank and Grant cursed his idea to run around as Phobos this afternoon. "You won't have to do anything. Just advert your eyes. If you see this...well...you know what happened earlier when I used my powers on you..."

The astral mist started to flood from his hands, his eyes turning a blue color as they did. "When will you people learn to control your fears?"

"Fine then." Marco muttered, watching curiously as the other man's eyes glowed blue. After that, Marco quickly surrounded himself with his darkness so he was unable to see the mist. He wasn't too keen on seeing what he had earlier again. "Just tell me when it's safe to look..."

He trailed off, deciding he didn't like not knowing what was going on, his darkness having mostly blocked out any sounds besides those close by, like the other man was. The darkness then shifted as Marco manipulated it, removing all of it from around himself besides the part that was preventing him from seeing the fear-inducing mist, forming it into a kind of blindfold.

Men and women alike dropped to their knees. Some were screaming about spiders, some about snakes, and some about losing the people they loved. That last one always made Grant think about what he was doing with his life. He couldn't imagine losing his daughter or his wife, the two of them being why he did the low and criminal acts that he did.

He turned to look at Marco as the people cried and screamed, holding their heads and pleading for it to stop. "Let's go."

Listening to the screams, Marco smirked before quickly hiding it when he heard Grant speak to him. He nodded, glancing out towards the people, though he couldn't actually see them through his self-made blindfold.

"They want it to stop...I could always fix it for them..." He said with a grin, somewhat glad the other villain couldn't see the temptation in his eyes.

"No! No one here is going to die, they've suffered enough," Grant growled, losing his patience with the other villain. Though there were some villains he could tolerate, this man was quickly pushing his limits. He seemed to have no care for anything that happened.