Futuristic Arcadia: Heroes World Brave

[obscured_light]

Akiko got up and clapped a hand on Henry's shoulder, "Help me... by destroying the insurance industry."

 

[PiePillager]

"..."

 

[DarKnight36]

Albert sat back in his seat, a dejected look on his face. He glanced at Klaus and Sasha. "And you two, do you also feel that my insight is unneeded?"

Sasha cleared his throat gently. "Albrecht, listen... I know your type. You're ambitious, you're driven, and you're strong. The problem isn't that your advice is completely unfounded but Henry and Akiko are not the type of people to take guidance."

 

[Wing06]

"Everyone's insight is appreciated. You have to understand that this entire idea of teaming up is new for many of The Brave," He took another long draught of his coffee before looking in the direction Akiko and Henry had gone. "While they may not be able to take guidance, they both work on instinct, see injustices, and act. Their hearts are in the right place, and sure, maybe they could use a lesson or two on team dynamics, but what those two lack in teamwork experience, they make up for in trusting one another. That's what it's all about, anyway. Trusting those you're working with to have your back."

His hands gripped his warm cup tight. He was trying to keep himself grounded, keep his mind from drifting, running. "We all haven't had the luxury of being paired with others who genuinely;y care for our wellbeing as well as their own, Albert. I"m not saying you've had model teammates in your stint, but you and your team knew your duty, were disciplined and trained to work as a unit. We are primarily solo actors brought together by George to help fight. We don't have the luxury of training and good team dynamics at this point, so we get them the next best way in the field." He smiled and finished his coffee, "If you want to see what I mean, I suggest we find where Henry and Akiko have gone."

 

[DarKnight36]

Albert looked down, chewing on his lip. "A team, huh? That's not..." something I've ever had either. Albert finished the thought in his head. Maybe it had been a mistake to come back with the Brave. At least he'd gotten some french toast out of it, he supposed. And a good night's sleep for once.

"She did look rather miffed," Sasha agreed with Klaus, rising from his seat and patting his stomach. "Albrecht, you're welcome to stick around if you'd like. You'd make a welcome addition, and hey, maybe you'd learn a few things. We're the real deal, you know. We'll listen to you if you have an opinion, but don't expect us to agree with all of them. If you think a team is everyone nodding their head to what you have to say, that's not a team either."

Albert swallowed hard. "I, I get it. Listen, if you need me, come find me, I'm going to grab a bit more to eat. Need the energy after yesterday."

"You got it," Sasha said, smiling warmly. "We'll let you know what's going on. Shall we Klaus?"

 

[Wing06]

Klaus nodded to Sasha, rising from the table with a smile towards Albert. "I'll be right there," He gestured to his empty mug, "I'm going to get a cup to go!" He watched Albert make his way to the food as he filled a paper cup with coffee from a nearly empty carafe.

"You are welcome to stay, you know," He began, stirring some half-and-half into his cup, "We aren't just saying that to be polite, Albert. We're all here for the same reason, to make a difference. We tried to do it on our own, and maybe we've had some success, but, I think, we each know we will make more of a difference together."

Klaus took a sip of his coffee before putting a lid on the paper cup and heading through the door the others had used.

"Think it over; we'll be in the hangar," He said with a wave over his shoulder as the door closed behind him.

 

[PiePillager]

Noting Klaus and Sasha approach from the hallway, Henry waved them over to explain the situation.

"So, the Alpheum Foundation's apparently up to no good, and Akiko's got history with 'em," he eventually concluded. "She can tell you more, but apparently they aren't all they're cracked up to be. Shame though. They've suckered in a lot of people with their claims of life insurance...or life extension, I guess. Where did the attack take place, again? Their Australian Headquarters, right?" he asked Akiko.

 

[obscured_light]

Akiko looked up from her phone and nodded before looking back down at the results of her search. One of the links led to the main website which boasted about tours of the facilities, even of the Australian one that just got attacked. There were various packages with the most expensive one being a Super Extra Deluxe VIP tour with the president of the board of the directors as the tour guides. She looked up again, raising an eyebrow, "Do you think we can use the company card for a tour of the facility?"

 

[PiePillager]

"I mean, I'm sure George wouldn't mind..." Henry figured, scratching his chin. "So, what, we take a tour and try and find out what they're hiding?"

 

[obscured_light]

Akiko nodded, "With how they control information, being undercover will let us see what information they're even trying to control. I know some stuff from my dad but a lot of the concrete stuff was lost. Long story but just know explosions, fire, a lot of fighting. Y'know how it goes."

She shrugged and grinned broadly, wiggling her eyebrows as she realized something, "Plus, we can wear disguises! I mean all of you don't have to but I do since we have some history together. The unhappy kind if that wasn't clear."

 

[Wing06]

Klaus stepped into the VTOL with a shrug, "Sounds worth investigating for sure," He'd not thought to research the company. Akiko had that covered. "It sounds like we need to gather concrete evidence of their wrongdoings and expose them for the fraudsters they are," He strapped himself into the chair beside Henry and looked over at the door, waiting to see if Albert had followed him and Shasha.

 

[DarKnight36]

"Investigating is my specialty," Sasha nodded. "I don't think anyone else here is into that kind of thing, right?"

***

Albert sat in the cafeteria and ate more french toast through his tears.

 

[obscured_light]

"ME! I'm the detective," Akiko cried out with an indignant hmph! to her rival, Sasha, as she unbuckled herself. "But I'm definitely not the pilot."

She launched herself out of the driver's seat and glanced down at her phone again, examining the perks of the Super Extra Special Deluxe VIP package and what available times the tours were. She raised an eyebrow as she noted it could be scheduled at any time. In fact, it could even be the same day... For an extra $200 per person of course.

"George won't mind," she said in a sing-song voice as she looked up. "Looks like we could even go today. So ready up buckaroos cuz I'm scheduling this tour in a couple hours with Mr. President of the Board of Directors himself..."

She squinted at the phone again, "..named Resgar Tesk?"

 

[PiePillager]

"Okay, now that's definitely suspicious," Henry laughed, taking the pilot's seat and starting to plot the coordinates. "Sounds like a fake name." He'd be ready to take off soon, once the others boarded. "Speaking of which, we should register under those ourselves. I think we still have some falsified i.ds we never ended up using from that previous mission in California...."

 

[obscured_light]

"And probably never will," Akiko lamented with a small moment of silence. She opened her eyes again and pointed forward, "To Melbourne, Australia, Henry!"

 

[egglover]

The city of Melbourne sprawled wide against the edge of the county like a spiders web of suburbia, it's bullet train system connecting each part and collecting into the inner city where buildings loomed high and crowds of coat swathed people rushed to and from work. Melbourne was like any other city in the world, but the true beauty of it was held in between colourfully painted laneways, admidst a maze of brick and concrete. Tucked into the walls of looming buildings housed small, peaceful coffee shops and beautiful restaurants that made some of the best food in the world. The city was a multicultural jungle of the arts, and for locals and tourists alike it was so easy to get lost in the urban magic that had been brewing quietly for decades. It reminded Liz of old New York, back when the city was less commercialised and far more passionate. Of course, Melbourne suffered from the same issues that any city did; homeless lined the main streets amongst the noise of traffic, and the central business district screamed with the doom of a dystopia commanded by capitalism. Yet, it's people stayed the same as always, as warm as Australian's commonly were with a hint of pleasant superiority that Melbourians carried around them. It was nice to return.

Liz had seemed surprised when Akiko and Henry had shared their plan with the rest of the team. With a nonchalant shrug she suggested an idea that would help the team operate legally in Australia, "Ah, yes, I'm rather good friends with an old super who can help us out with all of that, you know. Maybe you've heard of him..."

LIz directed the VTOL to a private airport owned by the country's most famous super group - The Flying Foxes. It made sense that The Alchemist knew them so well, for back in 2015 there was a rather unique team up between America's Victory Force and Australia's Flying Foxes to eradicate a villain team threatening to disrupt the Pacific Ocean. Ever since then Liz had kept in contact with the now retired Gary Quinn, also known under the superhero alias Little Giant, who was waiting on the ground as the VTOL touched the tarmac.

The door of their ship opened and the team was met with an elderly man with dwarfism, a familiar face to those who knew of him but still a welcome one to those who didn't. Little Giant was one of Australia's most beloved supers and it was easy to see why when he spoke in such a hearty, jovial manner.

"AHA! Finally here at last!" The man grinned wide, "Welcome to Australia!"

 

[obscured_light]

Akiko's eyes lit up at the sight of Little Giant, quickly shoving her phone into her pocket as she scooched her way to the front of the group. She wiped her hands on her pants quickly and held one out, wanting to shake his hand.

"It's our pleasure and can I just say, my utter pleasure, to meet you? The name's Akiko Bong, lead investigator of the Brave and currently-on-suspension contracted detective of the Skull Agency."

 

[egglover]

Gary shook Akiko's hand with a beaming smile, "Lead investigator, eh?! It'll be nice to have someone with your expertise around!"

" Expertise is a stretch." Liz's silky voice said from behind Akiko.

"Liz! Long time no see. How're ya doin', mate? I see you've found a brand new bunch of kids to mentor!" The man laughed, "What happened to retirement?"

The Alchemist smirked, "I could say the same for you, Gary."

"Ahaha, well..." The Little Giant met eyes with Akiko, "I guess we can't always escape our pasts, eh, Bong?"

 

[PiePillager]

"Well, technically..." Henry began, stepping out of the VTOL. "We're trying to get her reacquainted with hers. Henry Stewart, pilot, and field agent," he introduced himself. "Since we're thinking up job titles and all," he chuckled at Akiko. "Liz said you could help us out? We're supposed to go play tourist later today and we'll need all the help we can to make this work."

 

[egglover]

Gary waved his hand nonchalantly, "Yeah nah, that's easy enough. What's this for, anyway? The message Liz left me was 'Coming to Melbourne!!! C U Soon!!!!!!' with a few kangaroo emojis and a poo emoji at the end."

The Alchemist smiled.

 

[DarKnight36]

"We're conducting an investigation into the Alpheum Foundation," Sasha said, his eyes never standing still for long as he gazed about the city. "I'm sure you've heard of it."

 

[egglover]

"Ah, yes! Indeed I have!" The man rubbed his stubble in question, "They're rather famous in these parts. What's prompted you to investigate, exactly?"

 

[DarKnight36]

"The recent attack by Triple 9 on their headquarters was enough to gain worldwide attention, but Akiko has a history with them," Sasha explained, nodding to his fellow super. "Her parents were investigating them before their untimely death and so she's asked us to help her figure out what exactly the Foundation is up to." Sasha smiled wryly. "I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with insurance. It's not a very important component in Russia, especially in the line of work I was employed in. Anything you know would be of great help."

 

[obscured_light]

"Specifically what I need in order to get life insurance as a ghost," Akiko chimed in before someone elbowed her ribs. "I mean, if there have been more disappearances lately, monsters rampaging around, maybe some people who just seem to be living a liiiittle too long."

 

[PiePillager]

"The problem is...well there's been complaints lobbied against Alpheum in the past. Mostly small time lawsuits, but every now and then, you look into their history and find attacks like these," Henry continued. "Only issue is we have nothing to go on, but the word of our...lead investigator here, that there's something deeper beneath the surface."

"This tour's the perfect chance to see if we can dig up whatever Triple 9 was trying to uncover," he concluded, scratching his chin in thought.