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Hauntress floats through the portal
"Huh. Weird."
She up nods to Nagual
"'sup, Garfield?"
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Sparrow arrives at the Ironport chemical plant.
"Alrighty the gang's all here! Also crafty entrance Broach. So who's ready to knock a few heads?"
Scarlet does a knuckle-cracking gesture, signifying a 'ready to fight' attitude.
"We can go ladies first or leader first then we follow? Or just winging it?"
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"How chivalrous... But more seriously I could scout out the place... Being able to turn invisible and float through walls helps with that."
Hauntress gives a shrug
"But like, I'm down for whatever."
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Nagual up nods to Hauntress, before responding cheekily.
“Nothing much, Caspar the Mellow Ghost. And as far as scouting, maybe two is better than one?” He allows his eyes to flash for a moment, and seems to fade into the shadows, and while he isn’t invisible, he would be hard to detect for anyone who isn’t focusing on him.
“It’s a trick that I haven’t really gotten the whole hang of yet, but nice for sneaking around. You go places where there’s cameras and electronics and surveillance, while I stay out of sight and maybe get some numbers on thugs?” He offers.
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"Yeah that would actually be a better idea. Just tread carefully, we've made it this far. Can't risk having this all blow over so soon."
Scarlet hoists himself up on the AC unit to take a seat.
"Just try to make it back in one piece."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"They won't even know I'm there."
With that Hauntress falls backwards vanishing before hitting the roof, the chill of her presence fading until it can no longer be felt.
Invisibly she makes her way to the warehouse, the only trace of her passing being one of the thugs out front looking slightly uncomfortable for a moment as if he felt a cold breeze.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Nagual would nod, before handspringing back and dropping from the roof, leaping to reach the second level of the plant, and slipping inside a window with a click flash of claws, removing the bars and rolling inside.
Immediately moving towards the ceiling and catwalks above the main floor, he begins to count in his head the number of thugs, while taking stock of the place. There seems to be at least 10 on the floor, 6 wiping down tables and packing what looks like medical supplies, 2 looking over something that suspiciously looks like a frozen storage unit, and two working security at the door, with clearly illegally purchased machine guns.
Moving to the secondary part of the facility, he would spy 4 more thugs on patrol, two with what looks like enhancements a la the Black Rose, walking up and down a catwalk between two large chemical drums. Hanging upside down, he would catch a glimpse of two more loading the packed supplies from the next room into a de-logoged hauling truck, making 16 so far.
He quickly sends a text, making sure to not catch any light or display any outward notifications, simply texting.
‘16 mooks, looks like they’re loading and packing up. Moving somewhere else, done here?’
He would then spy what looks like the security center, with what looks like one guard posted outside with weapons, and a figure inside obscured by both the one way glass of the center, and security cameras and monitors preventing Diego from getting closer.
“I’ll let Hauntress peek at that.”
Within about two minutes, Nagual leaps back upon the rooftop with his team, relaying all of this info back.
“I smelled...something different in the security center, like ozone and machines but really strong. I didn’t want to risk tripping something with my stealth.” He states, before looking at the others.
“So, ideas on a game plan?”
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"Game plans aren't exactly my strong suit. But your text said that there was at least 10 guys on the floor of the chemical plant. So I say we evenly divide the team. Primarily in the way of our melee fighters which I would like to take a guess at would be Me, you, and Birdbrain."
Scarlet places a hand on his chin, continuing to think for a minute.
"Broach has the ability to open portals, Hauntress is a ghost, and Starlight is basically a healer. So I say, if it's at all possible, they go after the suspicious guy that was in the security center. Unless we want to save them for last. But this would more-than-likely be giving them a head start in escaping if we are to barge in, superhero landings and all."
Scarlet hops down from the AC unit and walks over to the edge of the roof, peering over at the chemical plant.
"Though if there is to be any flaws in this possible game plan, please tell me. I'm just a generic street hero from Aurora. This is far beyond what I'm personally used to."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Nagual nods, simply pausing to add.
“If we stick four to a team member we’re pretty evenly divided, but also don’t count out Kate, so we have at least 4 melee fighters. Starlight should probably remain out of firing range or at least where we can get to her if we need healing-and they can’t escape if we cut divide them up and flank.”
He thinks for a moment, pondering.
“The guy in the security center is a wildcard...he didn’t smell right to me-and there’s something inside a frozen storage unit, heartbeat is faint though.” He looks around.
“Maybe a missing kid?”
__________
Upon nearing the control center, Hauntress would notice that the security systems seem to already be occupied by a separate power feed, making her powers work almost easier.
However, when spying upon occupant in the control center, she would first see what looks like a worker hunched over watching the security feed, but upon closer review, his uniform is tattered, skin showing through ripped gray nylon, with what looks like nuts and bolts reminiscent of Frankenstein protruding from his neck and arms.
His skin, far from a healthy hue, looks almost sickly olive, with veins seeming to have a violet sheen under them. His hands, clutched around a monitor, cause the computer to smoke and whirr, as his veins glow under his skin.
The villain is stirred out of his activities by a sudden buzz from his walkie talkie, his voice sounding like it’s laced with TV static.
“This is Blackout, perimeter report please.” A meek voice answers on the other end.
“All the supplies are packed up, tables are wiped, and bodies are dumped, Mr. Blackout sir.”
“And what about our lab rat?”
“The kid’s still on ice, and should be for another half hour, should I add more sedatives?” He suggests, cut off by a growl that makes the lights flicker.
“No! Don’t mess with the subject, the Doctor said no outside tampering, and if I get in trouble, you’re going to pay for it. Load up, we leave in 20.”
With that, he slams the walkie down, and resumes his feeding on the ambient electricity in the room.
It looks like they have a super villain on their side.
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"Right. A faint heartbeat within the freezer unit? Hm, I wouldn't be shocked that it was a missing kid. They're probably prepping him for God knows what."
Scarlet paces the rooftop a little bit with his arms behind his back, still thinking for a brief moment.
"So we have a complete wildcard hidden within a security station with several guys just roaming about on the plant floor and what could be barely clinging-on hostage. If push comes to shove, if that is a missing kid, the guys running this little operation here will likely leave 'em behind if things are to get too hot in there once we head in. Either way, I still say we should stay alert for the inevitable."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Nagual nods, and replies after a bit of thought.
“It’s dicey, but maybe we have someone secure the hostage during the chaos and maybe Broach can get them out, have our melee guys take out the thugs and make sure they can’t get away, and then deal with whoever’s in the security station?”
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"Where is the security center? If I open a portal there, we can take on the people there, grab the kid, and then leave before the mooks on the floor can get organized. Hopefully." Broach opened a portal just above the roof, concealed behind the HVAC, reached in, and pulled out a wooden sword, a [i]bokken[/i].
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
“Second level of the plant, over the main floor, but if we don’t take out the mooks they’ll move and we won’t have a trail, confession, or clues to sort through if they clean up. Maybe try and take on the mooks, and get the kid out first and foremost? Deal with whoever’s in the center as we work our way toward it and surround it?”
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"That sounds like a plan. Hell, if Broach moves just quick enough, the guy in the security center won't have the proper time to react once she gets the kid. We should also not jump to any decisions too hastily before Hauntress gets back. We still are yet to know what the guy behind this little operation here is capable of."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"Good point. Give me a three count when you want the portal opened."
Broach estimated the distances, and prepared herself while waiting for the signal.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
"Alright, let's make this quick and easy. The last thing we need is for everything to go horribly wrong." Sparrow said as he scouted the area.
"Of course, combat is always good when you have the upper hand." Sparrow smiled.
He pulled out his bo staff, and then split it into two battle staves, readying them for the upcoming fight.
Nagual nodded, and looked to Sparrow for a moment.
“Do you have any comm devices, before we do this? Or something easier than a phone to talk with?”
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Sparrow nodded.
"I do".
He then reached into his utility belt to pull out several small communicators for himself and his team.
Scarlet takes one of the comm devices and affixes it to his ear beneath his mask.
"Huh, weird. Reminds me of those wireless earbuds I see some people use. God, the ridiculousness of that kind of invention."
After readjusting his mask, Scarlet adopts his own 'battle pose' and looks to Broach, ready to give her the signal to portal in and get the freezer unit.
"Alright lets do this. Broach, on 3. Be ready to get in and get the hell out."
Taking a deep breath, the countdown begins.
"Okay, ready? 1...2...3!" Go!"
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Snagging a communicator, Nagual would move, making his way back into the plant, perched upside down on the catwalk, scaling just above towards the frozen unit where the child is being kept, quietly radioing Broach.
“I have eyes on the prize, 3...2...1.” He counts, trusting she’ll create a Broach for the unit, as he aims to time the portal with his attack, and the team’s, hoping they’re in position.
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Sparrow equips himself with a communicator and then readies his staves.
"Alright, I'm ready for battle."
Hauntress reappears on the rooftop, the chill surrounding her being the only thing that announces her presence before she speaks
"There's a big Frankenstein looking guy in the control room. Big but not dumb. Calls himself Blackout, if anyone's heard of him. He's watching the monitors like a hawk... I could mess with him, but I won't be able to take him down. I doubt someone looking like that is scared of anything."
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
"I may have something I can do about him, though I hope he can swim if it works. Be ready to jump back and not fall in the same hole he does."
At Nagual's [I]three[/i], a tiny portal opened up just inside the control room, near the ceiling, which turned to face 45 degrees down and then planned along the surface of that imaginary cone. Broach watched the view her phone saw through the matching portal just in front of the lens.
At [I]two[/i], she closed that portal, and pocketed her phone.
At [I]one[/i], she opened a large portal, three meters wide. The far end was just below Nagual, facing the area the freezer unit was in, the near was behind the AC unit. She waited for the rest of the team before entering the portal, leaving it open behind her.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
The freezer unit dropped through the portal suddenly, leaving the room with a pop, and as soon as it closed, dropped from the ceiling in a pounce, landing on and sending a thug to the floor.
Moving in a blur, he rolls forward and under a second thug, surprised by the sudden lack of a containment unit to guard, swept to his feet and firing into the air, silenced by an axe kick to the face.
Now having lost the shock of a surprise, Nagual rushes back into the shadows like a cat from the jungle, waiting for his teammates to arrive to fight in earnest.
___________
Watching the commotion unfold from his monitors, Blackout barks orders into the walkie, eyes sparking with voltaic anger.
“Wipe the super head to the truck, we’ve been compromised! Take the supplies that we have and drive to the rendezvous point, now! You fail, you become my snack or the Doc’s next experiment, your choice!”
Opening up the control center and stepping down the ramp, he motions for the two guards posted to follow him and lead him to the main floor. He seemed content with taking his time though, watching to see just who was interrupting the operation.
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Kate jumped through the portal and landed in a crouch, then immediately did a back handspring towards the nearest guard. Her leading foot clobbered him in the collarbone, driving the thug back with a cry of surprise more than anything else. Before he could recover, she landed on her feet and spun to face him, cane up and ready to parry any incoming attacks..
As the thug went for the pistol tucked into his waistband, she moved forward aggressively and punished his hand with a bone-cracking blow. This time, his cry was one of pain and he reflexively swung at Kate with a haymaker. Blindingly fast, she spun inside his swing and blocked his arm with her cane, then unloaded an elbow into his solar plexus. With a WHOOF, all the air left his lungs and he crumpled, gasping uselessly. With a calculated amount of force, she lashed him in the head with her cane, sending him off to la la land.
Turning to face several more guards, she grinned and spoke, her tone challenging. "Who's next?"
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
Scarlet jumped through the portal immediately joining the fray as the fight began to wage on. Taking aim at the few guards that were facing Kate, Scarlet fires several taser-disks into their necks that were loaded in a compartment on his grapnel bracers.
"Hey, hey, hey! Leave some bad guys for me would ya? I want to look cool too!"
Of course though, a guard would attempt to restrain Scarlet by trying to grab him from behind to hold him in a reverse bear-hug. Not allowing for this to happen, Striker kicks the guard in the stomach and perform a sidebar kick across his face, immediately taking the thug down.
"If it helps at all, I went easy on you dude. Most numbskulls like you are usually sent flying across the room by now."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Sparrow jumped through the portal, ready for action. This was exactly what he trained for, to show the superpowered beings that the baselines can do what they do when they put in their mind to it. With swift movement, he swung his battle stave below to a guard's feet before he could react. The guard subsequently fell to the floor. Then he took out a shuriken and hit another guard in the same span of time (barely over a second).
The next he knew there was another guard reaching for his pistol. Guns are bad news, so Sparrow wouldn't let him used it. Making creative use of his grappling hook, the device wrapped around him and then he was pulled to Sparrow's direction just Sparrow made a jump kick to his face. Finally, there was a one last guard who attempted to flee. Sparrow wasn't having that.
He ran up to the guard at a blistering speed, as fast as his human body can take him. Then he unleashed a beatdown on the guard with multiple strikes from his stave. He fell to the floor.
"Glorified mall cop training vs. superhero training. The latter wins."
Hauntress enters the warehouse through the portal and fades from sight.
High above the battle she drifts waiting for an opportunity.
Some thugs try sneaking around a shelving unit to get the drop on Scarlet Striker but using her ghostly powers, poltergeist specifically, a few screws of the unit find themselves unscrewed and the shelving unit drops itself and its contents onto the thugs, taking them out of the fight.
Two more thugs take to a catwalk to get the drop on the Teens below, numerous screws come raining from the ceiling and the catwalk drops to the ground sending the thugs tumbling.
"Tch. It's better when I can scare them... More fun anyway."
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
A backflip powered kick sends a thug flying out of the near dark and into a shelving unit, crashing into and dropping several boxes onto him in a pitiful looking display.
Taking stock of the fight and his teammates, Nagual would be snapped out of his view by a sudden spray of bullets being sent at him from a thug who pulled a handgun. His powers description of ‘super agility’ seemed to be more than accurate, as he moved in a flurry of spins and twists dodging small caliber arms fire, before finally getting close enough to claw the weapon in two, and finish him off with a crescent kick to the groin and face.
“Well, I think that’s it for the thugs on the floor, we should check on the security center.” Nagual would start, but be cut off by a booming laugh that sounds as if a turbine was given human vocal cords.
Said boss of the operation, Blackout stalks forward with two machine gun toting mooks, casually loading in a clip as they walked forward.
With every step causing the column of lights lining the ceiling above to pulse and shatter, seeming to charge up, he cut an imposing figure as he chuckled, the sound like a static frequency laced with amusement.
“Leaving without saying hi to your host? I’m insulted.” He would step on a thug in his path, drawing up energy through his body from his heel and leaving the man a electrically burnt husk as his second footfall hit the ground.
“I think it’s time for a Blackout!” He shouted, as the mooks opened fire with submachine guns, and he charged for the teens, jumping to create a crater with his electrically charged fists.
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As the mooks with submachine guns began to open fire on the rest of the group, Scarlet Striker managed to dodge most-if-not-all of the bullets that were hurling towards them. His own super agility as well as enhanced senses, specifically his vision in this case, allowed him to react and move at near accelerated levels of speed to quickly duck down and find some cover.
"Blackout huh? And let me guess...you got electrocuted by a radioactive diode to get your super powers, didn't you?"
No soon after uttering this comeback, Striker changes one of the settings on his grapnel bracers and fires a flash disk right at Blackout's face while he's mid-jump. It was localized and nothing too big or explosive, so no one other than Blackout would need to shield their eyes from the blast.
"Also what did your mother tell you about bringing electrically-charged fists to meet-and-greet? It's considered extremely bad etiquette!"
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Blackout would shield his eyes upon landing rather than complete a full shockwave as intended, but still raises his fists and pounds then, sending a more localized shockwave towards Scarlet’s location.
“Its about past your bedtime kids, let’s turn on a nightlight!” He exclaims, following up his shockwave attack by channeling a current of electricity into the plant’s metal floor for several seconds.
Nagual would leap above to grab onto a rubber (he hopes) cable, as he shouts.
“Ground yourself or jump and reach something insulated!” He would the leap to a ceiling lamp, with a flash of claws, attempt to send a ceiling lamp crashing into the villains head-a object he simply grabs and tosses towards Scarlet.
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Sparrow did a combat roll before jumping and grappling away to escape. In the midst of the process, he threw three explosive shuriken right to Blackout's face.
"Have a taste!"
After making sure the freezer unit was stable, Broach stepped through the portal into the plant, closing it behind her. Seeing the mooks opening fire on her friends, she opened a portal with opposite ends facing each one, causing them to suddenly be seeing each other over their gun barrels...
Meanwhile, as Sparrow launched his attack, she lunged past Blackout's left side, spinning to bring a full power blow with her [i]bokken[/i] to the back of that leg.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
Scarlet would perform a backflip to avoid the localized shockwaves sent towards his location and land onto a wall for a split second.
Using it as a 'launchpad' of some sort, Scarlet would then pounce from the wall and fire a grapple cable towards the ceiling lamp and zipline upward to avoid the electrified floor.
"Yeah that works, just shield yourself from my flash disks. Its not like I spent all night working on those... This guy's like a walking dynamo and we need to short-circuit him."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Creating a brief electric burst to detonate the shurikens just before they hit him, leaving him annoyed but mostly fine, he is surprised by the bokken strike from Rio, sending him briefly to one knee.
He swings a super strength powered backhand and response, a strike caught by Nagual, his claws skirting on the floor as he looks back to Rio with a slight smile, interrupted as he is thrown and lands in a handspring near Scarlet.
“Any ideas? Because we’re standing on a conductor and the longer we fight here the less stable our kid is.”
He would be interrupted from saying more by twisting out of the way of a punch through a will, spinning away from the fist and leaving a parting slash across his bicep, Blackout simply responding by ripping out a portion of the wall next to Nagual and Striker, and tossing the bow charged pieces at Broach and Sparrow, respectively.
Ripping a chain from a worker station near him, Blackout begins to laugh as he charges the length of metal, preparing for an attack while simultaneously using the chain to block any projectile attacks or attempts to break into his guard.
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"Geez! Its clear that fighting this guy head-on isn't going to work. He's just going to keep adapting to the situation at hand and we are kind of neglecting that we're near a bay. Broach, do you think you can just drop Blackout off for a little swim at all?"
However, while saying this mid-sentence, Scarlet was ignorant to that Blackout had thrown his own form of a ranged attack towards Broach and Sparrow.
"Oh no...Broach! Sparrow! Heads up!"
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Broach was already on her defense, opening a portal from right in front of her to right above Blackout, facing the ceiling. From Blackout's POV, seeing it from the other side, he looked at the top of his own head, right in the path of the chunk of wall he'd just thrown.
"Let's find out!" Guessing which way he'd dodge, she closed that portal as soon as she saw the chunk emerge from the far end, and put a new portal where she thought he'd dodge to, from right at floor level to five meters over the bay....
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
Rio’s guess proved correct, and playing defense instead of offense worked in their favor, as the two chunks sailed towards Blackout, who rolled away from the strike-and straight into a free fall over Steward’s Bay.
A splash and electrical pop is briefly heard from outside the plant.
Nagual looks up to Rio with a smile, before blinking as a order is heard on a thug’s radio strapped to his unconcious body.
“I delayed them long enough, start the truck and go!”
The sound of an hailing trucks motor is heard, as a truck with two thugs driving and two in the back with sub machine guns race out of the plant along the road near the docks.
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Sparrow did a maneuver to dodge the piece, it barely just passing him. He preferred not to think what would happen if it landed. With Blackout now out of the way for now, he collected himself in an instant and met with the others.
"Alright! Way to go Broach! Now that's what I call teamwork, I'd high-five you but..."
Interrupted mid-sentence yet again by the said of the aforementioned hailing truck motor caught Scarlet's attention.
"Awww son of a...Should've known it was a distraction! Some of the guys are trying to make a getaway!"
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Nagual would race to the street as quickly as his powers will carry him, just in time to roll behind a crate and dodge fire from a second group of thugs running onto the docks and into a pair of waiting speed boats.
With the last of the supplies and medical files in waterproof crates, the two boats speed off, one set to pick up a soaking and fuming Blackout, the other heading towards a distant rendezvous point.
Nagual groans, calling out into the comm.
“Guys, we got three targets here, the truck is probably near 2128 by now, and we have two speedboats. Jaguars swim, Diego doesn’t, and even then I couldn’t make it in time. What do we do??”
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Scarlet exits out of the plant looking at the speedboats that are aiming to pickup Blackout. Running along the pier to try and get as close as he can to the speedboats, Scarlet aims his grapnel bracer at one of them only to have all this effort met with no luck of course. The distance between Scarlet and the boat were too great and caused the cable tether to fall short.
"Dammit! I'm out of luck too! No vantage points means nothing for me to swing from. It can't end like this...we were so close!"
Taking a knee to the ground, Striker tries to hold his composure as well as catch his breath from the failed attempt to catch at least one of the boats.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Broach ran outside with the others, and opened successive portals, large enough for several people to look through at once, each getting closer to one of the speedboats. Not, unfortunately, the one with Blackout. But any captured bad guys were better than none, so she kept at it. The glare of the portal's edges shone a brilliant blue in the night sky, and several times she saw the boat swerve as if trying to evade her remote pursuit...
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
Zoey was annoyed.
When she scouted around the harbor of Titan City's Ironport sector she was finding things that should not be for the sake of both worlds. Bodies of land dwellers clearly killed by their fellows, sea creatures feeding off the bodies, industrial waste of Abyss knows what, decayed bones of past victims, and more problems to be solved.
She was swimming around an area when she identified where most of the sea contaminants and bodies were coming from, an structure named ''Carmen's Chemical Plant''. She noticed land dwellers on boats, she has seen and heard enough about boats to know what they are and to know the Walkers protect them from threats. But these land dwellers did not resemble any land dwellers that needed protection.
The Walkers told Zoey of another breed of land dweller traveling the seas, cutthroats called sea faring ''pirates'' or ''criminals''.
These fast boats looked to be full of these ''criminals'', she could see land dwellers with armaments she recognized as ''guns''. Zoey has seen a few Walkers used modified versions of land dweller guns to fight the Abyssals. Already incensed by seeing the products of the injustices committed towards sea life and land dwellers she decided to take these criminals down
So she came up with a plan of approach. She morphed, taking on the characteristics of a sword fish, changing her skin to to boost her swimming speed and morph her legs into an fin propeller of sorts. All the thugs could see was an silhouette of a fast moving humanoid shape pursuing their boats, panic was rising at the new threat with some taking some shots at her form. She dodged these shots but one hit the mark and she didn't flinch, her Abyss Walker coral armor stopping the bullet. This caused more fear from the land dwellers that noticed the shape was not stopping and was instead picking up more speed. She morphed again, this time making her arms to long jellyfish tentacles lined with stinging cells.
She then jumped out of the water, much like an swordfish would. Landing on the deck of one the boats she lashed out at the thugs with her jellyfish stingers. She grasped onto a few with the tentacles, disarmed their weapons, and stung them enough that they would be immobile for the rest of the fight due to the pain. She decided to say what she overheard land dwellers and some Walkers call an ''pre-asskicking oneliner''.
''If this is the best you land dwelling criminals have to offer in a fight I am sorely disappointed!''
Nagual blinked as the boat headed for a rendezvous point is suddenly surprised by a...fish girl attack? He relies on his Jaguar enhanced vision to discern the details of the fight, feeling a bit of relief that at least some of the thugs were stopped.
By now, he knew that more than likely Blackout was picked up and escaped, and the truck was now most likely too far to track on foot like he and Arthur did before.
He turned to his teammates on the docks, offering. “Blackout or whatever is gone, and I can’t hear the truck anymore-but we do have a new friend to meet maybe?”
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Completely flabbergasted by the sight he just witnessed. The thugs, while there were stopped, the thought of a fish-girl somehow surprised Scarlet more than anything oddly enough. This could probably be blamed on the fact that all the sudden run-ins with other metahumans, especially those around his age range was just a lot to take in.
"I...uh...but...fish...I-...I am so shocked I can't even think of a lame joke..."
"...So like...err...yeah, I just can't right now..."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Sparrow crossed his arms at the sight of what he just witnessed.
"Well, I'll be damned. Good to know there's friends in high places, or low in this case."
He then turned himself to his teammates and spoke.
"What you say we try speaking with this girl and learn her story?"
Once it was plainly obvious that the vehicles were going to get away, Kate headed back into the refinery and sniffed out all the unconscious thugs, then rounded them up. She gathered them, one or two at a time, on the central floor and restrained them with a mixture of duct tape, zip-ties, and shipping cord. Just as she finished, Kate heard several heartbeats begin to pick back up as the first few regained consciousness.
She posted herself on a shipping crate, settling into a crouch and looking out over the captive minions. "So, who'd like to talk first? And don't bother lying, because I'll know."
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
Hauntress's voice comes from behind Kate
"Ooh, are we interrogating people? That seems fun. I call dibs on bad cop."
She then fades into veiw beside Kate.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
"Good idea. This should be much easier now, thanks to her..."
With its crew incapacitated by the shapeshifting girl, the speedboat's course became much easier to predict. Broach set her [I]bokken[/I] down and opened a new portal ahead of it, big enough to jump through and just enough off horizontal to watch the boat approach. She got the timing right, jumped through, and came down on the bow in a sprawl, grabbing the cowling before she slid off of the slick surface. Pulling herself up and tumbling into the driver's seat in a backward-facing crouch. "Ummm, permission to come aboard?"
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
The first thug to come to groggily looks up at Kate, startled, eyeing her cane warily, but outright jumps at Hauntress’s appearance, shaking his head.
“Knew I shoulda stuck with the Black Rose. Look, we were here getting equipment and stuff back to the boss-“
A second thugs rails and yells from the where he is situated near the edge of the herd.
“What are you doing, Keeling will-“
He is cut off. “Won’t matter since we’re this deep anyway...they’re kids man, the money’s good but he’s got kids.” He shakes his head.
“We weren’t told much, we were muscle, we guard the place while he did check ups monitored the kids he brought here. We were going to move from here to his lab in western Ironport, but he’s probably on alert now. He wanted to do something, but didn’t tell us what.”
Another mook in the back, chimed in. “Project Gandalf? No, he called it Project Ganymede.” The other thugs nodded in agreement, following with a hurried.
“Look, we’ll share with the cops too-that’s all we know!” He says confidently.
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With the boats slowing down, Scarlet chooses to actually jump through one of the portals Broach had opened up. Partly due to wanting to investigate the fellow comrade who helped stop these group of thugs. Taking a deep gulp, into the mouth of the portal Scarlet went!
"Hopefully I make a soft landing...Yahtzee!"
Landing on the windshield of the boat, Broach was in, Scarlet somewhat sticks the landing. Only being thrown off balance slightly by the water.
"Hate to break it to you Broachy, but I'm captain of this ship now."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Sparrow jumped through the portal, and landed on the boat. He had been trained in maintaining perfect balance, and was able to keep it here. Then he approached the men, keeping a hand on his battle stave.
"Tell me everything about your employer. Now."
Zoey was enjoying herself.
[i]''Grandpa never told me fighting off those committing injustices was this fun''[/i], was an thought that ran through her mind as she disarmed and zapped another panicked thug down.
The thugs were using their armaments as clubs now, realizing quickly during the skirmish that bullets were at most just chipping away at her armor. To combat this she changed her right arm from jellyfish tentacles to a single extendable octopus tentacle, grabbing hold of the makeshift clubs and tossing them away from the troublemakers on the boat. Whilst she was preoccupied knocking out his buddies one thug snuck behind her and grappled her in a chokehold, trying to force her unconscious or at the very least down.
''Got you now bitch!'' said the landweller, no this [i]vile miscreant[/i] holding her.
''I didn't want to do this but....do you want to be shark bait criminal?'' she responded with a slightly amused tone
''Wait wha-?'' he replied in confusion
She changed her teeth quickly during her reply, shaping it into serrated shark teeth. Before the man realized what was about to happen she chomped down on his arm. She purposefully did not do it hard enough to take a chunk out of it but enough to cause the man to let go of her, screaming in horror and pain.
She turned around and quickly stung him with her left arm. Zoey eyed the rest of the groaning criminals she immobilized before peering over to the other boat. She noticed the criminals on the other boat were already being subdued by land dwellers in costumes.
[i]''They are capes, possibly near your age, unknown if hero or villain.[/i]'' her teachings of the land dweller world informed her. If they were villains protecting the criminals they would of attacked her by now. Heroes then? She waited on the boat, expecting to meet them. Perhaps they could help her find somewhere to eat? She was feeling hungry after that small battle.
Hauntress was surprised at the sudden flow of information from the thugs
"Wow, that was easy. I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted... So West Ironport... Project Ganymede... I should write this down."
Hauntress fades from sight once more and returns swiftly with a pen, she writes the important details on her arm
"West Ironport, Project Ganymede. Got it. Anything else you want to share or do I need to..."
The room seems to darken around Hauntress
"... Get creative?"
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Looking over at the over boat in which Zoey had been more-or-less torturing the other criminals with her extrordinary marine shape-shifting abilities, Scarlet makes the effort of restraining the thugs on the boat he landed on. Not long after this he would call over the shape-shifter using his best pirate/seaman impression.
"Ahoy o'er thar! Ye lookin' like ya need some help, lassie! Permission to come aboard?!"
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
The thugs locked eyes with each other panicked as Hauntress did her trick with the light, and one of the thugs screamed out suddenly.
“I have an Anthem action figure!”
____________
The thugs on the boat, now sufficiently subdued and bruised thanks to Zoey, and staring down a pissed looking vigilante, weigh their options mentally.
The shark bitten one appears to want to be defiant for a moment, but sighs. “All we know is he’s a doctor, or was a doctor. We were wired money before we were given the job, he has lots of it-we were payed to kidnap teens and take them to this warehouse, hold them and then move them to his lab in West Ironport.”
A second thug chimes in, the jellyfish stings making him much more conducive to sharing.
“Dr. Keeling is nuts, I don’t know what he wants with those kids but I know that we were hired seperately, he has his own men and staff there, kept us in the dark.” He finally takes a breath, adding
“That’s all we know, I swear!”
____________
Watching the thugs reveal info with Hauntress and Kate, Nagual speaks into the comm.
“We should compare notes, these guys mentioned something about...Project Ganymede, and a doctor running the show?”
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The room returns to normal
"I was hoping for more useful information, but it'll do."
Hauntress shrugs and leans against a nearby crate, she looks to Nagual
"We have communicators now? When did that happen?"
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Hauntress seemed to be handling the interrogation pretty well, so Kate partially tuned out the talking and concentrated on the thugs non-verbal cues. Heartbeat, sweating, tone and pitch of voice.
One of the thugs sweat grew particularly acrid at the mention of the doctor in charge. He was scared of the man. Kate hopped down off the crate and strode over to him, then crouched next to him, her cane held at her side like a staff. Her finger wiped sweat off his brow and she smelled it to confirm her assessment.
Even though her eyes were covered, she locked her gaze with his. "You stink of fear. Fear of... one person in particular. Tell me everything you know about Dr. Keeling."
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
Putting a hand to the ear he had his comm placed in, Scarlet nods to Nagual's suggestion and looks to the others on the boat."
"Alrighty, we better get to rounding these guys up and get back to sure. Apparently the guys back at the chemical plant were quick to spill the beans."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
The thug would balk slightly as he looked to find Kate’s eyes and see a blindfold obscuring them, stammering.
“How did you-look, he’s an underworld doc, rumors say he went underground after he violated ethics or something with his stuff. He can do just about anything with enough time, but the catch is you provide the parts and subjects.” He shakes his head.
“He’s twisted lately, and chances are he’s already planning how to either take you out or use you.” He pales as he realizes.
“I’m dead already by talking to you.” He looks to his handgun, panicked eyes, before attempting to grab it and place it to his temple.
________
Nagual would radio back to Arthur, via comm.
“Does it seem like our aquatic friend will be joining us?” Any further questions are stopped by Nagual’s detecton of a rapid heartbeat, panicked tone, and movement. He rushes towards Kate but most likely won’t be fast enough, shouting.
“Stop him!”
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Listening in on the comms yet again, Scarlet would be replying to Nagual's question until he is cut off by Nagual's sudden outburst on the comm's opposite end.
"Huh?! Hello? Hello?! Cat-Guy? Nagual do you copy?!"
Turning to Broach, Sparrow, and their new aquatic friend, Scarlet stares them all down (even though his eyes could not be visibly seen through his mask, his body language alluded to this).
"We need to get back to the chemical plant. Something's about to go down, it seems."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"Shit!" Kate could've kicked herself for forgetting to disarm them. She'd been focused on him speaking and not noticed as the thug, though still restrained, grabbed the pistol at his waist. As he leveled the gun to his temple, her hand shot up and out.
Kate's enhanced reaction speed allowed her to grasp under his gun hand and lever it upwards even as he pulled the trigger. Instead of blowing a hole through his head, the 9mm slug carved a shallow trench along the top right of his skull, catapulting a mess of flesh and bone fragments upwards. Both of them fell backwards as the thug began to go into shock.
Unfortunately, Kate had been rendered unable to do anything to help him. The thunderous BOOM of the pistol only a few feet away had shocked the hypersensitive stereocilia of her inner ear and her brain translated that as intense pain. She was left incoherent, only able to paw at her ears and scream.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
Thankful for Kate’s reflexes, he arrives just in time to confirm that she isn’t shot, but pales when seeing the state of the thugs head.
Moving first to grab at Kate and sit her up and away from the scene, the then moves to look at the thug and radio in on the comm while doing as much first aid as he can with a gathered kit from the security office.
“She stopped him, mostly-we need Statligjt here now, he’s losing blood.”
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The sudden gunshot was audible even to those that were outside of the warehouse. Taking his hand away from his comm and looking to the fellow teammates that we present alongside him, Scarlet can't help but shoot a masked glace at them.
"We gotta get back to sure now. I'm sure all of us are more than able to know that apparent gunfire is never a good sign."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Broach had almost figured out the controls of the speedboat, but the sound of the gunshot over the comma told her she was out of time. She let the throttles go back to the neutral position as she opened a portal straight to the same part of the warehouse they'd first entered. "Go! Go!" She held it steady while the others used it, then started passing their prisoners through. Left unattended, they'd almost certainly escape for good.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
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Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
Scarlet grabbed one of the thugs-now-turned-prisoners and passed through the portal with them.
"Watch your head, wouldn't want you to suffer any more brain damage than you already have.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Zoey didn't know what was happening but she knew her new allies were panicked for some reason.
She decided to help them and use the portal before the criminals were sent through. The portal travel was a bit disorienting.
She wasn't prepared for the situation she saw on the other side.
"If not the space girl, then our living portal gun could get that guy to the hospital... Probably in time."
Hauntress is eerily nonchalant about the whole situation
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
"Alright, let's find out all we can about this man and then we'll continue from there."
Sparrow jumped through the portal.
Upon arrival back into the warehouse via the portal, Scarlet would instantly notice the thug who attempted to blow his brains out.
"Geez! What in the hell happened? Is Starlight anywhere nearby? Last thing we need is for this guy to bleed out if he doesn't get the proper medical attention."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"Thug would have rather taken his own life than face the good doctor. No clue where space girl is... Portal girl can probably get this idiot to a hospital though."
Hauntress shrugs and continues to lean on a crate
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Kate's screams had subsided to whimpers as the pain began to fade, but she was left with one hell of a headache and a severe case of tinnitus. She tried to stand, but her equilibrium was off and she nearly fell over twice before making it to her feet. She stumbled over to where the group was gathered. "We need to get him some help, now! Broach?" she said, a bit too loud.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
"Broach, you think you can get portal this guy to the closest hospital at all? Those of us that're here probably won't be able to get him to one quick enough."
Scarlet heads over to check on the whimpering Kate to comfort and help her regain her stance after realizing the gunshot likely overwhelmed her senses, in this case, her hearing.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Broach nodded and opened the portal right in front of the downed mook. It wasn't the nearest hospital, but it was one of several with Emergency Rooms that she had found that this trick would work with, and the time saving from not having to open a scouting portal first made the decision easy. Anyone in the warehouse on the far side of the portal from the mook would see a plate glass window looking out on a small roundabout that let ambulances come up right next to the ER doors; the view Broach had as she moved to lift the mook up was the ER itself, with nothing directly blocking her path, nor anything that would have been cut as the portal opened. As she crossed over, she called out, "Gunshot wound to the head! Attempted suicide, and the police will be wanting to talk to him!" Several people in scrubs were already moving a gurney over, helping to lift the patient onto it.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
"Awesome job, Broach! Now all that's left to figure out what the hell is going on exactly. Who the hell could be the master planner behind this whole operation?"
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"And where the rest of our missing people are. Honestly that's the most important part to me."
Hauntress shoves her hands in her pockets as she leans.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Diego sighs in relief as the thug is attended to, confident he will be alright for now, as he looks back to the others.
“We got a name at least, a Dr. Keeling I believe? It sounds like whoever he is he’s bad news and this is an established villain, not an up and comer. And I’m with Haunt, tracking down the kids is the priority.”
He then looks to Broach, as he adds.
“We do have one, we could ask right? The one they had in the storage unit we rescued?”
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"Right. Definitely understandable. The sooner we find the kids, the sooner we find this 'Dr. Keeling'. Can't wait to see this guy face the music."
Scarlet crosses his arms and leans against a nearby support beam.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"He's got a lab in West Ironport. I wrote it down."
Displays arm with her notes on it, she has pretty good handwriting. The kind that usually comes with hearts dotting the 'i's', but instead those are skulls.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
"Then we better get moving. With his goons already having a headstart and warning him of our interference here, the lab isn't going to be there long. Not before we check on that freezer unit they were guarding so closely of course."
"Also..."
Scarlet takes a brief minute to look at the notes Hauntress had made on her arm.
"The eye sockets on those skulls could use some work."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"I suggest some of us stay behind to handle the peepsicle, the rest of us can be portaled over to West Ironport. If we're quick we might be able to see where the mooks are headed. Then when the ice cube is delt with the rest of the team can port over to meet up with the rest."
After a pause she adds
"Or, you know, whatever."
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
"Not a bad idea actually. So are we putting this up to a vote on who goes where or are we going to be doing the whole volunteer thing?"
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"No clue. I know I'd be better off helping to look for that lab. So I'll be on that team. And what did you mean 'its not a bad idea actually'? Like, you expected my ideas to be bad or something?"
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
"Not at all! I was just reassuring you that it was a good idea, since you know you said "whatever" after making the suggestion. I kinda offhandedly assumed that you yourself may have thought it was a bad idea."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"I just didn't want people to assume I was taking charge, or whatever. Also, do you think we can do this on our own? This is getting a little bigger than just looking for some missing people. If we screw up it's all on us."
Hauntress sighs a little
"I usually just lurk around and make badguys wet themselves. Usually that doesn't involve people getting shot at. Or if it does it's just me and bullets don't really do anything to me... Not anymore. Not really used to having to look out for other people and save their lives on a couple of occasions."
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
"This is going to sound really stupid, but I think this is something we just may have to handle on our own. Unless any of us have any of the Paragons on speed-dial...speed-dial is still a thing right? Anyway, I'll admit I've only stopped a few thugs here and there, but never anything this big myself. Either way, I think we're more than capable of handling this. We just have to play our cards right."
Scarlet takes a minute to look over at the rest of the team that was still present.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
"You're right. That did sound pretty stupid. Sparrow has Big Bird or whoever that he could call, at least. And some cops might be able to get in touch with the Paragons... But I'll admit it's not enough to bank on."
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
"Uh huh...yeah well thing is if we are able to bring in some backup. Whether it's in the form of the Paragons, the TCPD, or other heroes that are on call, what's to guarantee that won't just make things worse? Gotta remember these guys still have missing people in their possession that can easily serve as hostages."
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
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