Episode 4: The Jailbreak of Dawn

[Gus]

The Chipmunk King Vs Klaus, Aaron, Luci, Ophelia, Minah, and Asher


(And ^ Kingsley!)

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Location: Riverside Park


Moods: Various. Mostly pretty tense.


@s @DamagedGlasses @Lioness075 @St Stare @Meredith


[SIZE=11pt]Luci had just started moving towards Mister Mallory when he felt the tip of something against his neck, and he stopped cold. He looked down and saw the sword, as well as the man that looked like he was behind the madness itself. He swallowed, and raised his hands ever so slightly. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“Wait [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]PUP[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]?”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Luci dropped his hands again, but stopped himself from moving any more, the sword a good reason to try and stay still for once in his life. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Aaron also froze for a moment, horrified both by this turn of events and the speed with which they had turned. With his free hand right hand, he waved to Asher to stop, and to Minah to pause. With his left hand, he dragged Klaus a step closer to Luci. If need be, Klaus could make a pretty effective club, and with the one step, he brought his intended target into range. To the short swordsman he hollered over the music.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]“Wait! Don’t hurt my student. Please. Let us negotiate. What, exactly, do you want?”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]The king kept his eyes locked on the dark sockets that were Aaron’s until the music died. The noise abated as the track ended. Then, he spoke. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“I want what any king wants. I want power to my people. I want land.” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]he was quiet for a moment. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“I want respect.”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Today had been a roaring rollercoaster of emotions for Klaus vos Scheiffer, from relief to panic to disgust to [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]overwhelming[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]pride [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]and now to panic again. Luci, being held hostage by the Chipmunk King, a sword held to his neck. Should anyone make the wrong move, the glowbug-like kid would see the same fate as that poor woman. That was perhaps the only thing stopping him from murderizing the midget with his poison.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]That and Mallory was [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]still [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]holding him within his grasp. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I’m starting to think he’s doing this to spite me for his own pleasure rather than actually trying to secure a threat, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Klaus said to himself.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Minah, meanwhile, sensed the tension and called for the birds to stand down. Most remained in the air, ominously darkening the sky, and others opted to roost in nearby trees. The crows protecting Ophelia and her father remain where they were. Just in case. The girl was doubtful that this talk of peace would go smoothly. It never did, her experience had proved. The only diplomacy she knew was of slaughtering the opposition so much that they could not fight back. But that kind of diplomacy would get poor Luci killed and he was not an acceptable loss. So she bided her time. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Luci reflected, that if you wanted to calm down, getting nervous about how nervous you were was not a good idea,. He tried to pull his light towards his neck, where the sword was, but it was hard to focus with a sword glinting wickedly in his own light. It shone brightly, and he resolutely decided that he would always have a bigger breakfast as his hands were shaking. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Several dozen chipmunks came crawling back out of the woods, shamefaced, but ready to fight again. The king held up a hand in an order to halt, but kept the other firmly on the hilt of his blade.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]“I hear your words and I understand,” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Aaron said.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] “Now hear mine: I want what any teacher wants. To learn about the world, to communicate that learning, and above all, to keep my students safe.  The one you called pup, I call Lucius Tolbert, and he means as much to me as any of your people do to you.” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Aaron shifted focus and spoke to the bright young man held at sword point, trying to keep him calm. “[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Luci, I want you to hold very still, and trust that this will be ok. Keep your light strong.”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] He gestured vaguely to his neck area, hoping Luci took his meaning.  Behind the swordsman, he saw Ophelia approaching stealthily, and called out to her as well. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“Oppie, I know you want to help, but hold there please. Give me a moment to try to end this peacefully.” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]He turned his attention back to the swordsman. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“Let there be trust between us, sire, and an end to killing. What is your name?”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Oppie had hurried her way across the park. As the birds came, she knew it had to be Minah. Her friend whom she was probably not stalking. The birds, as the dove down to protect her, and swirled around her like a feathery whirlwind, she hid herself in the cover they provided. Staying low and moving with the flock. Or… well… trying to. Anticipating the flight patterns of birds was not exactly a skill that she had acquired. Yet. Every now and then, as a tentacle extended itself to grip something or pull herself forward, she hit one of the birds. “sorry!” she would whisper each time. She felt bad hurting them, but she sort of had to hurry.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]As the she drew near, the mass of chipmunks split into two groups. How convenient! And what luck! And another saying or two. She would take this opportunity to reposition herself as she made her moves towards Luci. While she wasn't able to get there in time… seeing Luci at the point of the crazed man's blade, she did now what she could do… sneaking around. Crawling along the ground low, almost like a spider. Maybe she could take him from behind before he could stab her…[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Or maybe Mr. Mallory could holler at her to cease her advance… yeah… okay… she could do that too, she supposed. She raised herself up, standing once more. Ophelia pursed her lips, and made sure that she was ready. She watched the guy. Aaron wanted to talk him down. Which was good, but… oh well. We shall see. She hoped Luci would be okay.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]The swordsman furrowed his bushy eyebrows, as if puzzled by Aaron’s question. He scratched his beard and slowly eased the tip of Schwikschwik a few inches further from Luci’s throat.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]At length he answered [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“I am only ‘The King’. But you, what are you called?” [/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]With the immediate threat gone, Luci wanted to sprint forwards, away from the crazed king but he tried to hold still. His hands were still shaking but he tried to contain his twitching. Heavens only knew what the dude with a sword would do, or for what reasons. He wanted to run, but he also really wanted to punch this fake king. He did neither of those, he just kept looking forward, at Mister Mallory, hoping that he could fix this like he had fixed the Klaus situation before. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Aaron could see Luci tense, wanting to take action, galled at being held hostage. Their eyes locked and he shook his head just a fraction. He tightened his grip on Klaus preparing to slap the small man down with his own captive if negotiations went sour. For now, at least, they were talking. Talking was good. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]“I was born with the name of Aaron Mallory. I have earned the name of ‘Solo.’  I have fought many battles, sire, and in all of them I have learned there can never be victory where there is fighting. Please. Call off your army. Let us find a way to peace. Nobody else need die today.”[/SIZE]



[SIZE=11pt]Something hitched in Aaron’s throat, and he coughed violently, with startling force. With the level of pent up tension, he very nearly swung Klaus at the Chipmunk King, but suppressed the urge, chiding himself for nearly showing his hole card.  [/SIZE]

 

[Zahzi]

Hunter Red Ward
Location: The shattered remains of an overpriced casino
Nearby: Face McShooty [Eve] ( @DeKay )


Reporter# 563 [Katheryn] ( @Gus )


Disposition: 


"If I needed medical attention for every scratch and bump I were to receive in combat, I would be as hospital prone as Knox and the rest of the Facility." he grunted, looking down at what remained of his jacket, finding one untouched cigarette. The lighter was saved as well, but at this point, it was redundant. He casually reached over and placed the tip of the cigarette to the side of the neck, igniting it on contact. He took a moment to wind down as she went on her routine about her organization. As she continued, more of the burning metal around him began to cool and reform. He'd still need to see about an Iodine supply later on. Otherwise Jason would get pissed about radiation exposure to the little shits back at the facility, and it's kind of hard to ignore someone who can talk inside your fucking brain.


Oh wait, the reporter was still talking and asking something....Wait, seriously? She's asking if...Okay, whatever....


"No, no. I'm just a telekinetic who really has a thing for metal." he responded dryly before looking around.


"But from what I've gathered, there was a fat criminal with ice powers who was honestly more or less bait for the rest of us. Once he was taken down, the drones swarmed us. They seemed to be focused on taking me out in particular. Unfortunately when you have my combat record, you don't just sit on something that can be exploited." he told Katheryn before reaching out to the rubble, the mangled remains of a drone head flew into his hands.


"This isn't the property of a redneck Eskimo with an eating disorder.  More than likely, it's someone who thinks their meddling into my file to try and take me out is going to not be noticed. Someone who thinks they're untouchable." he added, chucking the trash behind him. Ironically hitting the bus full of retired citizens.

 

[Gus]

Kate Barrett





Location: Outside Casino


Nearby: Hunter Ward


Mood: Distracted


@s: @DeKay @Zahzi


Kate listened attentively, applying all her art and experience to hanging on his every word, unspoken flattery that worked to get almost anyone to open up, especially men. Well. Most men anyway. Inwardly, her mind was racing through a mental rollodex of who she knew that might have the technical skill to set up such a heist, not to mention trick an S rank villain into becoming mere bait for the trap. Her background research did not indicate anyone in the baltimore prison system who fit the bill. Filing the thought for later research, she shifted tactics. Maybe there was something about Ward that had brought this on? She continued to smile warmly, and nod encouragingly, but without really listening anymore, trusting the voice recorder to do its job. She was studying his face. There was something familiar about him, behind the scars. Something...


Something bumped into her ankle at high speed, breaking her train of thought. She looked down, puzzled. A small RC car pulled back, then charged her ankle again. She reached down and picked it up. There was a smart phone duct taped to the underside. As she peeled it off, the screen lit up with the words:


WELCOME TO BALTIMORE, KATE.


TELL WARD HI FROM ME.


YOU'D BETTER HURRY...


A large red virtual button replaced the message, along with the words “Press here for evidence”

 

[Gus]

Dr. D stands alone.


John settled into his seat on the tour bus, wrinkling his nose at the smell of old people all around. Nothing wrong with getting old per se. Getting old meant not having died, which meant something must have gone right. But if a body was going to stay alive, it ought not to smell like the edge of death. He rested his forehead against the cool glass of the bus window and fantasized about what he would do to all these useless hangers on when the bus reached the edge of the city. It was a pleasant reverie and helped him avoid doing anything untoward while the supers were nearby and on high alert. There was another of the stinking smarmy bastards landing, outside, talking to the other two. Gods below, how he hated supers! It was just barely possible he'd managed to get the big one at least. That poison was potent, and while he might have taken the trap with him to Mars, he might not have made it back... But Weiss, though... Oh, Weiss. That's it you bastard. Toss my machines aside as if they were so much unfeeling junk. Omega was ten times the hero you'll ever be. He'd have that man's head for a trophy one day.
 


But not today. Today was an unmitigated disaster. And the cathartic murders the tour bus was now rolling toward in blissful ignorance would hardly suffice to assuage his wrath. No. Today couldn't possibly get any worse. Then he saw something that made his blood run cold.


No... No! It's not... not possible!
 


Some distance down the street, about halfway between the casino and the receding bus, where John had left him lying in the street, 'Phil' sat up. He touched two fingers to his brow and flicked a sardonic little salute toward his 'friend' John, who was gawking at him in abject horror. As he watched, Phil peeled a thick latex pad off of his neck, exposing youthful skin underneath. He mimed an injection toward his throat and winked, and then dropped the pad on the ground, freeing both hands to mime quick drawn finger guns. By throwing himself frantically against the glass as the bus started to turn up the long arc of Russel street toward the art museum, D was just able to get a glimpse of the man he'd known as Phil pulling up the manhole cover in the street, pulling out an RC car, and taping his phone to it. Then he disappeared out of sight, leaving D with a terrible sinking feeling.

 

[Necessity4Fun]

The store worker had heard her and replied with the location of the brooms. To be honest, Cecilia wasn't exactly sure where the 'back' was, but it couldn't be too hard right? At least he had a destination in mind now! Wherever that was...

"Thank you very much for the information!", the girl yelled back to the cashier, "Some of us dropped food here, but don't worry, We'll clean it!"


Or more like she would clean it, Cecilia had hoped someone else would promptly join her in the quest for brooms after her last commentary, but instead she had either been abandoned or not received any reply back. Well okay, the Italian couldn't really blame Mitch since she was sick, that was totally understandable, but the little girl with honey colored hair had said she minded the mess too and Kyle had probably been the source of the popcorn, so he should be helping pronto! It was simply common sense. Come on guys!
With a disappointed sigh, the girl turned her back to the group and strolled out of the bread aisle. First order of business would be sweeping and collecting the amalgamation of popcorn and fusilli from the floor, then check her shopping list and see if there was anything she had forgotten, and last but not less important, tell that store worker that today wasn't a good day to be outside... In better words than those. Yep, sounds like a plan!


Pumped with determination, The little Italian set off to find said cleaning apparatus on the place that was called 'back' and where the 'boys hanged out', at least that's what the kind worker had said. Cecilia stood in the middle corridor and stared the vast space of the store, where multiple aisles were in parallel both in front and behind her. Back means go into the store the most you can, right?
Following that thought, the girl went straight, deeper and deeper into the building, until she arrived at a wall. That's the end of the walk, meaning she was at the back room.... And nope, this is the soda area. That hadn't worked, so Cecilia tried turning around and back to the bread aisle, her starting point. But ehhh, which way was that again? Oh no! She was lost inside the grocery store, AGAIN! But this time, it was dark too! Ahhh


Breathe in, breath out. Okay, she can get back there, no problem, the bread aisle was definitely to the left from here... Yeah, that had to be it! Or not, because this was the freezer section... Ugh.

Taking another path, the girl tried going right this time and no, that's the cleaning area, unless she bought another broom.... No, let's try again. Thus, Cecilia went around the store trying to get back to her starting point. It went something like this: No, not here, this is the pasta and sauce area. Coffee aisle. What is she doing in the barbecue section? There's only coal here, and barbecue things. She doesn't need either of those! Really, the pet food area? Now, though she would LOVE to have a dog, Cecilia doesn't own one, making this area useless!... Hello again soda section, how's your day going? Mine? I'm lost in a grocery store, no biggie ...This is the shampoo aisle... Oh look, cheese section! But where is the world is the bread aisle??


Everytime, Cecilia would think she was going the right way, and then being disappointed when it was not. And then she would always try and make a different turn filled with excitement and in the hope that she was right this time. But, after seeing the soda aisle four times, the sauce aisle two times and ending up in the wine section for some reason, the Italian's mood and motivation had dropped a lot. Well, maybe that's how it all ends, lost, inside a grocery store in the middle of the dark... Argh, she should have asked for more precise directions!
And that's when she saw it, shining from the outside light that was entering through the glass door and windows and bathing it... Is that, the cashier area?! Yay, It's salvation! Not the bread aisle, but salvation! Without thinking twice, the girl sprinted from the Milk aisle in the direction of freedom:

"Gracie a Dio, I'm out!", she exclaimed, or tried to with a tired voice, panting from the run.


Upon recovering from the 'traumatic' experience of being lost in the store, Cecilia looked back at the open space before her. There, standing in the line were the brown haired cheerful girl form before, there was a black haired boy -seemingly same age- with her now, Mitch and that bright pink haired boy... She couldn't recall his name, but he definitely was in her team at the snowball fight... What was his name? It was an unusual name, wasn't it... Ehhh, nope, can't remember at all.
The Italian pondered whether or not she should wait in the line to talk to the cashier, or if she should just talk to him. Seeing as she wasn't attempting to checkout yet, the girl decided on option two, thought she hopped those in line wouldn't mind her interruption as much. Taking a few steps towards the group, but going in the opposite side of the counter, Cecilia softly pulled the store worker's sleeve to call his attention:

"Eh... M-mister store worker? Can you please guide me to the brooms for a minute? I don't really know where the 'back' is and if you go with me, I'm sure I won't get lost....... again."

Spoiler

Interactions: @Lazy Rocktime (Mostly, I guess the people by the counter can react too)


-OOC: The Adventures of Cecilia, this episode 'Lost in a Grocery Store'-

 

[Malikai]

Spoiler

[SIZE=11pt]

[/SIZE] Jeremiah "JJ" Johnson
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Location: AEGIS Parking Lot
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Mentioned/Nearby:  @Bag o Fruit @Gus @Necessity4Fun @The Suspicious Eye / @SweetNicole @too much idea
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Mood: Impatient
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OOC: I should buy a boat... I can't do that.  I should buy a fishing rod... I can't do that.  I should get some money... How can I?
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Jeremiah stopped watching the scene with Kendrick unfold in front of him and his eyes glanced over to where the older woman from before who he was sure was named Anneliese was talking to the blue girl.  It seemed as though they were making up or coming to more friendly terms.  Jeremiah couldn't hear them speaking so he wasn't sure if this was the case, but based on body language the blue girl appeared to be moved to tears.  Having nothing to comment on the scene Jeremiah could only smile at the idea of them making up whatever issue had happened.  Bianca began talking again, speaking in a much more friendly manner to Kendrick to which Jeremiah gave a mental sigh of relief.  Both the blue girl and Bianca said that it would be wise to get moving, to which Jeremiah gave a quick nod in agreement with the both of them.


Giving a long sigh Jeremiah really hoped that they could just get past the introductions and move on to the mission.  Unfortunately he seemed to forget that the last time he hoped this a girl fell from the sky.  While not quite as dramatic, there was indeed a new person that came up to the group.  They of course stood above Jeremiah and wore a dark black hood that seemed to show off their blue eyes particularly.  Even as he introduced himself one thought ran through Jeremiah's mind, Yes, please give us more people to introduce and explain the mission to.  It only helps us get there faster.  Putting his hands in his jacket pockets Jeremiah walked off to the side and plopped down onto the ground, looking out across the nearby body of water, It might be a good day to fish, if I had the ability to.

 

[The J]

Hadrian Alburn


Outside the Hospital -> Baltimore Streets


Viola didn't look very convinced that Hadrian could keep up. In his defence, he didn't have electromagnetic flight powers and would be relying on his own two legs to propel him towards the prison. He'd just have to see how much faster than him she was, and in any case, they'd move at the speed he set - it wasn't like she was going to leave him behind; she understood that he'd be helpful in taking down more villains.


Hadrian watched curiously as Viola counted down - first she stretched out a little, before crouching and bringing her arms ahead of her. Instinct made Hadrian back away as arcs of electricity crackled around her, and he could swear there was a slight, but constant electrical whine behind the arcs' own high-pitched crackling. He was just starting to wonder when she'd say three when she shot forwards like a cannon ball down the street, moving at a blistering pace. He barely had time to react before she got to the end of the street.


Realising just how damn fast she was, he sprang into action, practically leaping with his first stride as his stance became that of a sprinter. Centre of mass forwards, hands splayed, elbows bent, legs extending as far as they would go: he looked like he was running a 100m race, not the potentially multiple miles he was expecting. His lungs filled and emptied at a greater rate than most could even manage, and his heart practically sung it was going so fast, all to let him move at such a pace - around thirty miles an hour, to put a number to it. But the real trick to Hadrian was that he would most likely keep this up all the way to the prison, such was the level of fitness and optimisation his body had achieved from his power.


Viola looked as she got to the end of the street to check he was keeping up. He wasn't near her yet, but he might surprise her with how modest he had been about his sprinting speed.

 

[Necessity4Fun]

As he had been getting up from the fall, both Manami and Jeremiah had come to his aid. The blonde's question was replied to with a monotone 'I'm fine', and would have stopped there, if it wasn't for the rest of the sentence. Giving the other boy a glance of 'What do you mean with "especially for you"?', which might have been sharper than the intention due to his current annoyance, Kendrick looked over towards Manami who clearly had gotten the wrong picture of the situation:

"I did not...!", he was going to complete with 'lie down in my own volition', but decided this wasn't really the time for yet more discussing, "Ah, nevermind..."

Letting out a defeated sigh, the boy shot a last look towards the mysterious woman -AKA: stared at her feet because the lack of proper clothing was still too much- and it became clear he wasn't going to get an answer as soon he'd like. Annaliese is finally here, so he might as well just get everything rolling while the mysterious woman decides whether or not to say anything...


With an reinforcement from Bianca who had also stepped back a bit, though still aiming to tease him at any given opportunity it seemed, Kendrick re-took his place in front of the group and cleaned his throat to call everyone's attention. And then someone else joined and disrupted the mood. Thank you emo guy from the Commonwealth tour, that's all we needed, more distractions:


"Yes. It is Kendrick, Kendrick Haywood. And yes, you are late, but also arrived just in time to hear the full panorama of the current situation, welcome aboard. I'd offer you a seat, but as you can see we don't have those.", the boy gestured towards the rest of the group, "Just make sure to stand somewhere you can still see and hear me and you should be settled, or you can sit on the floor if you want.", his words were cordial and proper, but his tone betrayed frustration, "Now, if I may start this 'meeting' without anymore interruptions..."

"My message earlier was rushed and lacked detail, it needed to be like that for impact. So now, I'm going to paint the full picture, and anyone uncomfortable with the operation by the end, it's free to leave if they so desire. I'm not forcing anyone to risk themselves.", the young Haywood took a deep breath and put his hat back on his head, "I'll repeat myself for the sake of those who weren't present. This Morning, around 10 o'clock, I received an SMS from Rupert Haywood's cellphone with a codded message that indicated they had, both of them, been kidnapped. We don't know who, we don't know why, but at light of today's Jailbreak it is very unlikely to be a coincidence. Meaning, both of these occurrences could actually be related, which makes me think we're dealing with supers or someone with equal fire power here.", he took a pause to breathe and to let the rest of the group process the informations.


"It's most certainly going to be dangerous, I dare say that if things go South, I may be putting your lives in risk. We are however treading the negotiation aspect first, Annaliese and I have come up with a team pattern to be on stand-by and jump into action as soon as plan A fails. I'm going to let her talk about those in a minute.", the boy nodded to the woman, giving her permission to continue after he was done and continued, "I might, emphasis on might because of cellphone signals, be able to use an GPS tracker app to track their cellphones locations. But I repeat, it's their cellphones locations, they might not have them anymore. Which makes this a blind hunt. With all of that in mind, anyone uncomfortable with any of that, especially the 'life at risk' part, may now speak up and leave to their homes. Thank you for your cooperation thus far."


With that Kendrick took a step back, giving room for anyone to step up and manifest their worries or complaints. Meanwhile, he also grabbed his cellphone from his trousers' pocket. He would need to check the tracker app soon. Let's hope this works!

Spoiler

Interactions: @Malikai, @Gus, @Bag o Fruit, @The Suspicious Eye, @SweetNicole, @too much idea (Basically, everyone)


Today's Toys: Ted, Mr. Holeshot, Sparkles, Pandora, Harry, Kefir, Shouty, Theo, Millie.

 

[yoikes]

Tomoko Sato


Location: Facility 108


Mood: Σ(-᷅_-᷄๑)


Tag:  @Malikai @Gus @Bag o Fruit @The Suspicious Eye @SweetNicole @Necessity4Fun


Tomoko hated fighting, she hated the loud voice of people arguing and the hatred they poured into their words. The look in their face is directed to the person they are arguing with, but somehow it pains her heart as well. She wanted to say something to stop the fight, but unable to find a word to say. She's just a kid, and she just arrived here, even if she speaks out will they listen to her?


The fight eventually ended, though the atmosphere is still a little bit tense. Kendrick-nii-san talks about cellphone signals and tracking locations, which sparks something inside Tomoko.


"Ne, ne, onii-chan!(Hey, hey, big bro)" Tomoko approached Kendrick. "Tomoko want to help! Tomoko is good with technology!"

 

[Gus]

Lars Magnusson





Baltimore Theater District, March 15th, 2035


Lars slouched in his seat, stunned speechless. He had never in his life seen a vaudeville show before now. Nor was he alone in that; it was a dying art in this age of instant streaming entertainment. But it had spoken to him. The rough humor, the melodrama, the call-backs... all the intricate little connections between sketches that seemed unrelated on the surface. It was masterful. Beautiful. Comic and Tragic. The pure essence of the twin masks of the theater, distilled for his entertainment and edification. He felt himself in the presence of the spirit of Dionysus himself. He closed his eyes and sat, lost in thought for a long time. A tap on his shoulder brought him back to himself with a start.


“Are you quite alright my young friend?”


“What? Oh. Yes. Sorry. Just... absorbing the ambience. This was my first vaudeville show.”


“Oh yes? I take it you enjoyed it?”


“Enjoyed it?! Oh, it was amazing! Say, you're... you were on the stage there, for about half the scenes.”


“All of them actually. The cast is almost entirely my wife and I alone. Tiberius Bartholomew Davidson, at your service, sir.”


Lars was incredulous. “All of them? But how did you...? You couldn't...” He trailed off, trying to think back if there had ever actually been more than two people on stage at once, and he couldn't recall. There were definitely sketches with a half a dozen characters... Could they really have changed clothes that quickly? The older man chuckled quietly at his confusion.


“Would you like to come backstage, lad? The wife is just getting the kettle on, and she is always delighted to meet a fan. Especially one as thoroughly taken in by our antics as you seem to be.”


Lars nodded absently and followed in a daze, trying to recreate the performance in his head, to remember all the scene changes and spot the padding they'd have needed to give themselves time to change themselves. He couldn't see it. They were incredible!


In a small back room of the theater he was treated to tea and biscuits with Tiberius and his wife (“Common-law!” she'd insisted) Terri-Beth Andrews. (“Charmed I'm sure!”) Lars could not have been more pleased to have had a country breakfast with the Queen of England, drop dead gorgeous though Charlotte might be. They spoke for hours about the theater and the nature of storytelling; the delicate interweaving of threads of plot. The subtleties of foreshadowing and the care to be taken with telling stories by implication rather than directly telling the audience what to take away from a work. Lars opened up and told them about his statistical analysis of the stories in the news and how all the anomalies pointed to Baltimore as being the heart of the world's story. This had set Tiberius howling with laughter until the tears streamed down his cheeks. Lars had felt a little sheepish, and allowed that it did sound crazy when he said it out loud. When he'd recovered himself, the old actor apologized and had told him that it was not crazy at all. It was just such a delightfully outrageous idea, that he couldn't help but laugh.


“You believe what you like, son,” he'd said. “It is no crazier than most religious beliefs I've heard, and makes more sense than some. Personally, I think any story we see in the world isn't theater, it's wishful thinking. We'd all rather that there was a hand on tiller, if you will. What we do though, vaudeville? It is nothing like life. It is the sort of thing we wish life looked like. In life, the story is always told after the facts are in, not planned out before. Or if they are, it's a mad, mad writer behind it all, and you'd do well not to trifle with him sonny me lad!”


At this he'd gone back to chuckling. Terri had smiled apologetically and told Lars that she thought it was a delightful idea, which she would be happy to discuss later, but that they had to get ready for their evening show. Lars had stayed and watched this one from the wings, observing now their technical mastery; the costume changes, the ventriloquism, the clean efficient movements all made him realize just how far he had to go. How much he could learn from these two! He left that night, brain ablaze with ideas. New directions. New concepts of how to approach his quixotic quest. He needed a troupe. Not just background scenery or bit players. He needed to figure out who the main characters were. Heroes. Villains. Plot drivers. He needed to mold them all to his will. He would shape this story to his liking. And when he was done, they would see. They would all see the brilliance of his manipulations in the end. And they would know the truth. And then his cab got to his safe house, and he'd realized his wallet was gone. Those old humbugs had pick-pocketed him! They'd even gotten his backup wallet! He shook his head still chuckling over how skillfully they'd played him as he garotted the driver. What a couple of lovable old con artists. He could hardly wait to visit them again for more sage advice!


Februry 2nd 2040


Weeks of surveillance wasted! D was barely a real villain. Plot device at best. Cartoonish motivations. Mustache twirling pointless villainy. Still. Perhaps he'd be useful as a foil. And he might just succeed in his weird blood fetish for the senior faculty at 108 if he wasn't watched closely. Almost all of them were major players and while a death in the main cast would certainly draw attention, Lars was not ready to allow that just yet. So he'd stay with the tour for a bit longer, just in case. He'd broken D's gesture code for communicating with the drones, so if the fight went poorly for our heroes, he could intervene. And hell, while he didn't need money, it wasn't like he'd say no to the few hundred thousand the heist would likely net. Tiberius and Teri could use some upgrades to their theater. Maybe he'd let them swipe a really fat wallet after Kappa drone led him to the drop point...


Today


From his base of operations in the coat room of the casino, Lars recorded everything D had done, putting the highlights reel into an 'evidence' file on his phone. Predictable as clockwork, D found him there when shit started going down and 'murdered' him. He even caught that on his body-cam, and surreptitiously added it to the evidence file while D was monitoring the battle. Then he let D drag him out, trying not to giggle as D rehearsed his lines. What a pathetic amateur! D's plans fell apart as soon as they met Eve, Aaron and Red.


Lars suppressed the urge to wave hello to Aaron as D fled for the tour bus. Anyway, he'd worn a different old man disguise when they'd last met, so it would probably just confuse him. Momentarily, Aaron vanished to deal with some other crisis, and Lars lay patiently waiting for the battle to finish so that he could fetch the RC car and deliver the evidence to Red. Or Eve, if she wasn't dead.


And then, he got a surprise. The first new thing under the sun in at least five years. So very exciting. And dangerous. Kate. Just fell out of the sky like a bombshell and started interviewing his cast! What the hell was she doing in Baltimore?! He could feel his adrenaline pumping. She had come the closest of anyone to catching him. He thought he'd left her behind. She was Minnesotan to the core. If she had come to Baltimore, then the story must be shifting. God, if she wasn't background lore.... what exactly was she?!


No matter. Roll with it. He added a note to her to his phone, razzed D, and pulled up the manhole cover. By the time the car was halfway to her with the evidence and the tracking program for the tracer he'd left on the tour bus, he'd already reached the underground pedestrian concourse, and was following the trail of mayhem toward the rendezvous point. 

 

[D. Rex]

Dr. Moufinz


The Bakery


@welian @Lioness075 @Captain Hesperus @Zahzi @Syrenrei


Claiming that the cat talking was a product of ventriloquism? Now that was a new one. Moufinz purred his amusement as the girl, walked around him. John watched her, of course, in case she tried anything funny. Moufinz, on the other hand, turned his attention to the furry blue creature. His tail twitched from one side to the other, "As funny as it would be to play on such a ruse, I do have to agree with your blue friend. She seems too sweet to play games with. I would feel quilty." 


Moufinz took in a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, with what could only be interpreted as a smile on his face,"Oh my, you though are a cultured one." He said to the woman who was pacing around him slowly. "Remembering such movies and the characters within. Most young people these days don't much care for the oldies. Oh yes, and for future reference, the name of the villain was Blofeld. I am often teased for the similarities. It is lucky I find them most amusing." He said, simply rambling on.


That was... until the bagel was thrown at Moufinz. The poppyseed laced projectile sent from the young Brahn sailed through the air... and landed a few feet on the ground away from the cat. 


With a frown, John turned his attention from the girl to the boy behind the counter. He reached under his jacket and pulled out a pistol. An odd looking pistol. Not one that looked like it fired bullets... He had the sights of the weapon aimed right between the eyes of the lad, and was about to pull the trigger when Moufinz held up a paw. "No thank you, my friend. We will have none of that here. Not unless the patrons here or its owners insist."


Johns frown deepened, but he did as he was ordered and returned the weapon to its concealed holster. Moufinz turned to look at Jordan with an almost sad face, "I saw the sign. But I assure you, my boy, that I am as human as this young lady here." He said gesturing a paw to Sam. "And she as human as any out there with the super gene. With Facility 108 so close by, the people should be well familiar with the concept that just because we supers don't look human, says nothing about what is on the inside."


"Firstly, you should calm down. I'm sure the other customers here don't appreciate you being so hostile. I don't what you are talking about. Was it that I shared my opinion on what they were talking about? Was it that I joined into a conversation without being invited?" Moufinz looked from the blue girl to the other, and made a sweeping gesture with his paw, "If that is so, I am quite sorry my intrusion into a personal talk. I just thought it was a relevant topic in our current events that I could give some insight into."


"You however, young man, are being very vulgar. As well as rude and a poor host. I hope this isn't how you treat all your customers. If you absolutely refuse service for such unreasonable means, I must ask for a refund. Or I will have to send a letter to the owner detailing what has happened."


The cat looked up at the man behind him,"Time?" Moufinz asked. John showed him the phone before putting it back in his pocket.


"Alright. You may leave us. Gather the others and disappear according to plan G12. Oh yes, and take my collar. I do not believe I will be needing it. I will be just fine. I am sure the kids here would love to hear me monologue about my plans. I haven't gotten to do such an detention thing in an detention while and I just can't contain myself."


John looked down at the cat, clearly not keen on the idea of leaving him alone... and unarmed. But he did as he was told and bent down and removed the collar.


Meamwhile, Moufinz continued talkinh. "If you don't know by now, I am Dr. Moufinz. I don't mean to insult the intelligence of anyone here by assuming they haven't, by the way. It's just an easy way to get everyone on the same page." 


John stood up and put the collar in his pocket. He gave his boss a curt nod and began walking to the door.


Moufinz nodded back before turning his attention to the bakery customers. "I am sorry about that. With the gun and all. He can be very protective of me. Anyhow, as you can see, it is just me. My henchmen will be leaving the area, and I am here with you. Nothing up my sleeve but an invisible bag of wits, a little good old fashioned banter, some insight into the world of heros, and that monologue in mentioned. I have no henchmen, no gadgety collar, no bombs. Just a cat now, at the mercy of those here right now." Seems like he was already doing that though...


"Who wants to call the cops? I'm 'opposabley challenged', I find it difficult to do so myself." He asked with an almost eager smile, his tail still twitched like a cat that was having fun. (He did manage to do air quotes with his front paws when he repeated Jordans words.)


_______


Imogen would have had clear view to see the scene inside the bakery. Namely the man who just pulled a gun on the people inside. And the talking cato who could be none other than the infamous Dr. Moufinz. 


Yet rather than stayimg, the short haired man with the handle bar mustache began to leave. He opened the door and stepped outside.... where Imogen had the perfect chance to confront him.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Name: Jessica Turnbull
​

Codename: Vape
​

Location: Brahn's Best Bakery
​

Time: Early-mid morning
​

@s: Morgan ( @welian), Jennifer ( @Musician ) Jordan ( @Zahzi ) Mary ( @ViAdvena ) Anthony ( @KingHink ) Sam ( @Lioness075 ) Dr. Moufinz ( @KingHink ) Gen ( @Syrenrei )
​

 
​

Jessica tensed as the man drew his gun and pointed it at the mouthy young Brahn. She was seconds away from giving him a terminal steam shower, but then... the cat intervened. He tersely stood his man down and had him remove the weaponized collar before exiting the premises. A glance toward the door showed a young woman stood by a car parked by her own bike. The woman had to have seen everything, and probably heard most of what had just occurred, considering the bakery door was open to let the delicious scent of baking flood out and cool air in. With the moment of tension past, Jessica decided to drop the pretense.


"I know who you are, Moufinz, I did from the moment you started talking. I might have been out of Baltimore a while, but there are individuals of note I can identify easily.", she said smoothly, dropping the clueless act like a wet coat, "I just didn't want to risk civilian casualties if at all possible. It's a good thing you reined your boy in' she nodded a head in the direction John had headed 'otherwise he and I would have had a short and terminal interaction he probably would not have enjoyed."


He had said 'henchmen', not henchman, were there more of them? Just because the immediate threat of Moufinz' gun-toting flunky was passed, didn't mean there weren't more. The skin between Jessica's shoulder blades itched. That's a big ass pane of glass on the shopfront and there're buildings opposite. Gunmen in the windows? Sniper on the roof? Crew in a vic? The potential for violence was still not abated. If necessary, Jessica could flood the interior of the store with a cloud of hot oily smoke. That would foil line of sight and the heat would invalidate infrared or thermal optical gear. But something still wasn't right. Why was he here? If he had escaped from the prison, why come to a bakery close to one of the city's nexuses of Supers?


"So, since we're being all civil like, how about you 'fess up and tell us why you're here, Doctor? Brahn's Best Bakery doesn't seem to be the first place a known felon freshly bust out of Super SuperMax would go. What gives?"

 

[Syrenrei]

Imogen "Gen" Jarsdel
​

a/k/a Evermore
​

Location: On a street that has seen better days ---> Brahn's Best Bakery
​

Near: A redheaded henchman & his sinister mastermind cat boss (John, Dr. Moufinz) @KingHink
​

and probably innocent-in-the-criminal-sense bakery patrons (Morgan, Jennifer, Jordan, Sam, Jessica) @welian @Zahzi @Musician @Lioness075 @Captain Hesperus
​

Imogen had glanced through the window of the bakery after she had stepped up on the curb and been, to be quite frank, shocked at the scene. The two lads behind the counter were not in and of themselves abnormal with the exception that one was as lethargic and dazed as the other irate. Her arrival had been just in time to see the smaller, more angry boy's bagel land short of a furry creature that either was canine or feline. It was hard to tell in that moment. Working retail had been known to drive even the most sane and patient to lose their cool. Jordan's behavior was strange but not unheard of. More unusual than the pastry assault was that among the customers was clearly a super whose skin was blue.


And then the cat spoke.


She couldn't hear what was said through the glass as she quickened her approach towards the door but her blood already ran cold through her veins. The recent jailbreak meant that all of the villains that had been detained were now roaming the city. Animal supers were rare but not unheard of. Supers trapped in the body of a cat, based in Baltimore, and capable of having a henchman like the one clearly deferring to it rnow educed the possibilities to a singular conclusion: Dr. Moufinz was here. Other supers had scoffed that his genius wasn't much of a threat if he was a common house pet. They had been wrong. It was this sort of cockiness that had given ample opportunity for Dr. Moufinz to exploit society and pursue illegal opportunities. Imogen had no intention of making this same mistake. The redheaded henchman had drawn a weapon but then lowered it, taken a collar of Dr. Moufinz, and head to the door... at the precise second she had been about to enter. With him barely out of the threshold and her right before him, she extended her hand and placed it on the shoulder. "I am going to have to ask you to stay here," she intoned.


Imogen wasn't scared- not truly. Healing through an unconscionable amount of damage had made her bravery grow over time. The knowledge that the world was far less deadly to her than the normal person meant she could take risks that would end in pain but not be lethal. It was almost certain John would shoot her given he had a gun and worked for a criminal mastermind, but Imogen had few choices. She was by no means a martial artist, she carried no weapon, and her brawn was no more impressive than the next woman. Asking him to wait for authorities and then taking any bullets about to make a timely appearance was the very best she was capable of. As she mentally braced herself she realized how much taller, broad-shouldered, and muscular her 'opponent' was than her. This encounter may hurt in more ways than she had envisioned initially. Had she walked out of one death trap only to visit another? Was this a tour of the peril of Baltimore?

 

[Gus]

Kate Barrett





Location: Outside Casino


Nearby: Hunter Ward and Eve Knox


Not far off: A villain needing apprehending.


Mood: The game's afoot!


@s: @DeKay @Zahzi


Kate felt a little thrill of excitement. She knew that script. It was him. It had to be him. It had been over a decade since she'd heard even a rumor to chase. And now here he was. Taunting her with a big, red, inviting, candy-like button. She shouldn't. Shouldn't even touch it without gloves and a gas mask. Ought to be rushing it into the nearest Commonwealth crime lab and have it checked for fingerprints, hallucinogens, explosives, and every other damn thing... Except. Hitting a casino was not Lars's style. Or at least not with obvious military hardware. If this had been his job, they'd never even have know they'd been hit until well into March. Even though it galled her to take it, this was a gift. She could feel it.


She hit the button.


Several videos opened simultaneously, showing violence from various angles. At least five murders in cold blood. Four of them showed a dapper middle-aged man in some kind of fancy old fashioned suit, complete with tails, and vest and little gold braids at the shoulders. The fifth murder was from a first person's victim perspective, and caught the perp's transformation into a much older man, and his clothes into poorly matched old man clothes. Among all these videos, a map inset appeared showing the casino and a northbound red blip labeled 'mastermind escaping!!!' Kate sighed. He'd be insufferable if she took his bait, but she'd never forgive herself if she let a murderer escape. She had no options.  One day though...


“Mr. Ward, Ms. Knox? I think you are going to want to see this...”

 

[Malikai]

Spoiler

[SIZE=11pt]

[/SIZE]Jeremiah "JJ" Johnson
​

Location: AEGIS Parking Lot
​

Mentioned/Nearby: @Necessity4Fun @too much idea / @Gus @Bag o Fruit @SweetNicole @The Suspicious Eye
​

Mood: Ready to Go
​

OOC: Like a car engine engine this mission seems ready to come to life.
​

 
​

 
​

Jeremiah smiled at Kendrick saying that he was fine.  He was just glad to he- Wait, what was that glance?  Jeremiah gave a confused look as Kendrick gave him a sharp glance, What does that look mean?  I don't think I said anything too awful, unless he...  It clicked in his mind what he had a problem with and Jeremiah put his hands up in a defensive look, "I didn't mean it like that, I meant because you had gotten hurt earlier.  That's all."  Hoping this explanation was enough for him, Jeremiah got up from his sitting position and stretched out his shoulders.  This resounded in a few cracks as he flexed his shoulders back.  He let out a sigh as he put his hands back into his jacket pockets.


From the look that Kendrick gave the person who just showed up he was equally annoyed at the amount of people that kept coming to the meeting.  After addressing the newcomer Kendrick finally went about with the meeting as it were.  He went into a long explanation of the situation that his parents were in and talked about what the plan was to help them out.  As he explained the plan Jeremiah couldn't help but wonder how much help he would actually be in this situation.  The plan was for him to go no matter what, but he hoped that his presence wouldn't be an annoyance or distraction.  Shaking the thought from his mind Jeremiah spoke up, "What are the plans for the negotiation?  Not that I'll be involved in them, but I'm curious."  Even if Jeremiah was unsure about joining in he knew that if he had the potential to help then he should try to.  He also gave a quick glance over to where somebody else was speaking what he was sure was Japanese.  They approached Kendrick and then spoke about wanting to help, but all Jeremiah could think was simply: There is a surprising amount of Japanese students here...

 

[Gus]

Manami Hamasaki





Location: By Kendrik's side with little sister!


Nearby: So Many New Friends!


Mood: Pose as a team!


@s:  @Necessity4Fun @too much idea / @Gus @Bag o Fruit @SweetNicole @The Suspicious Eye


Manami was excited. She had been training with Sensei Ward and Sensei Aaron everyday for nearly two full weeks! School might have been closed since the 'snowglobe' incident, but nobody could keep her away from voluntary training sessions. And now, here was a real mission! An adventure! And a deadly serious one. Kendrick's family was at risk. And to her, HE was family. Everyone at AEGIS was family. Speaking of which, her 'little sister' whom she had nearly forgotten about in all the arguing was offering to help track the bad men who had taken Kendrick's parents! Manami was very much impressed. Technology skills AND better command of english vocabulary than Manami had managed at more than twice her age! “Imoto-san wa, jyozu desu ne?! Tabun, Manami no kenkyu o tetsudatte kuremasu ka?” She blinked twice and then considered the context more carefully. “Shikashi...ato de, ne? We study english together... but later!” 

 

[lazee]

Luke Pryce


The Grocery Store



@too much idea @Necessity4Fun @Dusky @St Stare @DamagedGlasses @Swoob



Just as he was finishing stuffing the kids' things into plastic bags, Luke felt a tugging on his jacket and glanced aside to find a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl that asked him to....guide her to the back. Why would she need to be led? Did she have, like, the directional sense of a potato or something? She had said she didn't want to get lost in the aisles again, which seemed like quite an absurd phenomenon for the common person. Regardless, what kind of 'employee' would Davis Lamar be if he didn't jump at the chance to help a customer? Luke wondered if he could get Employee of the Month without even being employed here, merely because he was the only one to bother manning the store.


He jumped over the counter and to her side, brandishing a confident smile. "Sure thing, love. Just follow me. And kiddos, just put the cash on the counter, I'll handle it once I get back!" he said to the goggle kids before leading Brown-Eyed Girl to the back rooms. By and large, all supermarkets had the exact same layout and Luke had infiltrated more than a few in his ignoble lifetime. Such, it was pretty easy to find the door to the back area, marked 'Employees Only'. 'Davis' pushed open the door for her and let her pass through first, ladies first and all, and carried onwards. Now was the tricky part since he didn't exactly know where the actual employees stowed away their brooms. Luke's guess was the janitor's room. The two navigated the employee's area until they found it, another door, this time marked 'Janitor's Room'. Luke opened the door and found a dusty room filled with shelves of cleaning fluids, mops and right there against a shelf, brooms! Perfection. He picked one up and handed it to the girl, still bearing that overwhelmingly confident smile.


"Here you go, darling, brooms. I trust you can sweep up whatever you need to sweep up yourself," Davis remarked. "And before we head back, I oughta let you know that..." The suited man leaned in close to the girl with a very stern and serious look. Luke was making a 'his dad' impression.


"You forget a thousand things every day. Let me, my name and this face be one of them. Alright?" The way he said this 'request' was rather malevolent. It wasn't unlike a threat your kidnapper might say to you while putting a gun against your head.


Before she could say anything or register what even happened, he pulled back and again put on a friendly face, as if that just didn't even happen. "Okay, let's get you back up front. Wouldn't want you getting lost, eh?" Luke teased, smirking as he stood by the door, awaiting her.

 

[yoikes]

Tomoko Sato


Location: Facility 108


Mood: (○｀ε´○)／＼(○｀ε´○)


Tag:  @Malikai @Gus @Bag o Fruit @The Suspicious Eye @SweetNicole @Necessity4Fun


“Imoto-san wa, jyozu desu ne?! Tabun, Manami no kenkyu o tetsudatte kuremasu ka?”  Fish-neesan asked her, her eyes wide with amazement and shines with excitement before adding “Shikashi...ato de, ne? We study english together... but later!” 


"Un~ Eigo wa muzukashikunai yo!English is not hard!" Fish-neesan wanted her to teach her English! She did notice that Fish-neesan is having a difficulty with it, but Tomoko is sure that she will be good in no time! "Nee-san, onamae nanidesuka? Watashi, Tomoko!Big sis what's your name? I'm Tomoko!"
 

 

[Aldur]

[SIZE=21pt]Eve Knox[/SIZE][SIZE=21pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=14pt]and [/SIZE][SIZE=14pt]Kate Barrett[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Picking the clutter up one by one and… de-cluttering it, Eve heard Kate call for her. She turned around to face the woman and noticed the RC car and the recordings. After a few seconds, her gaze was attracted to a red blip. ‘mastermind escaping!!!’ was the label.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]What’s that?[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]” she asked. “[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Actually, don’t answer, there’s no time.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]” Eve’s lips pushed against each other and formed an uncertain frown. “[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]You can fly. You also say you’re stronger than you look. Can I catch a ride?[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Cole chuckled from afar. “[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Have a nice trip, sis![/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Buckle up, Ms. Knox. I don’t know whether you’d classify what I do as ‘flying’ so much as ‘rocketing’  but if that doesn’t scare you off…” [/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]She hooked one hand around Eve’s waist and leaned to bear the brunt of her weight onto her hip. A quick mental calculation and she pointed at the ground with her free hand. From her feet and hand jets of light like warm dappled sunlight erupted and they were both flung violently into the sky.  Balancing double weight on a mere tripod of sunbeams was harder than she had expected, and they followed a wobbly path up the street. The phone indicated a seniors tour bus as the target, and they slowed to an unsteady matching velocity over the vehicle.  Struggling to get closer, Kate shouted to Eve over the wind rushing past:[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Ms. Knox, I am going to try to drop you on the roof of the bus, ok? I  will stop the bus, you get inside and make sure the perp doesn’t hurt anyone ! On three, two, one…”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Eve dropped onto the roof and Kate rocketed ahead, pulling up ahead of the bus and signalling the driver to stop. To show she meant business, she found solid points on the bus’s front grill, pressing in with hands arms spread wide, catching as much surface area as possible to minimize the damage. Then she placed her feet on the ground. The rough pavement felt good on her toes. Being barefoot, she had found by years of experience, saved an enormous cost in burnt through shoes, not to mention that the increased grip and sensitivity allowed for much less damage to roads.  Within 150 feet, she had brought the bus to rest, without even skidding. There was a lot of honking but gradually the traffic was finding its way around the new obstacle.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]The landing wasn’t gracious, but Eve managed to remain atop the bus. She motioned with her arms drawing them away from each other. A medium-sized hole appeared on the bus’ roof along with the slight moans of metal. She went through the hole, feet first. Inside she was met by the worried, wrinkly faces of elder citizens. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Y[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]ou with the plaid pants and cardigan. Reach for the sky and get up![/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]” She pointed towards him only slightly menacingly. “[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]We’ve got a date down at the local PD. Hope you don’t mind if I’ll bring a few friends[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]Dr. D rose unsteadily to his feet, and fixed Eve with a defiant stare. “Back down, or I’ll murder everyone on this bus before you can bl-erk!”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]From the front of the bus, an inky black tendril of night snaked around D’s neck, yanking him off his feet. Eve and Kate stood over him at his head and feet.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]“Nevermind. I’ll come quietly” he said sheepishly. “I’m out of tricks anyway. I was only prepared for 108’s primary faculty. Next time, I will leave nothing to chance!”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Chances are there isn’t gonna be a next time.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]”[/SIZE]

 

[Gus]

Manami Hamasaki





Location: ParkingLot


Nearby: Team 108


Mood: Yay!


@s:  @Necessity4Fun @too much idea  @Bag o Fruit @SweetNicole @The Suspicious Eye @Malikai


“Hajimemashite Tomoko! Manami Hamasaki desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu! Eigo wa, anmari jyozu jyanai, watakushi.” She blinked again, suddenly remembering that nobody else but little sister spoke Japanse. She covered her nervous smile with one hand, and then recovering her composure, bowed to the others. “Sumimasen.... Sorri. We study english laytah. Now we go to fight for Kendoriku! I am Manami. Let'so see... You are Kravitzu-san, Green hair is what name? You are... new boy... JayJay? Ando... New girl, spotsu bra, is what name? We are all TEAM 108! We fight! Kendoriku! Give you phone to Tomoko... then: we find parentsu!”

 

[Teh Frixz]

Kingsley 


Oh no no no no. What are you saying Aaron. Nobody needs to die today? The little chipmunk...chipman...manmunk...whatever already ruined a perfectly good host body and he won't ruin this one. 


A tendril bonding with the cells of the man that had unwittingly become a new sort of thing, a living host, slips further and deeper into bits of his brain. The action borders on the line of being physically noticeable as Kingsley attempted her first bit of influence inside her host. The tendril connects, splaying out in his spine and riding the currents of electricity up into his brain. From her own perspective, the 'self image' her mind made inside his, Kingsley was simply walking up to one of the doors in the hallway that orbited the darkness. It was closer to the center of his little solar system mind, she could feel the pull of the pit on her self but it wasn't going to dislodge her anytime soon. Creaking the door open a tad, she peeks, then throws the door open. 


Anger spills out into the hallways of Aaron's mind. Petty things like biting the tongue or misplacing keys swell around Kingsley as she holds his anger open. Letting his flood of emotion accumulate until she felt the world inside the man shift. The lights darken, the cheery well lit halls become harsh edged channels. She slams the door shut and quickly retreats back to the center of his mind. 


Back in the realm of biology, a flood of anger rises inside Aaron. As if each angering incident in the last decade was bubbling up and manifesting in that stupid, smug little chipmunk man standing before him. HIM, SOLO, A goddamn super being accosted by a two bit Saturday morning bad guy. If the chipmunk wanted to be the bad guy, then Aaron should treat him like one.


@Gus

 

[Bag o Fruit]

[There was a problem processing the uploaded file. -200] The Chipmunk King


"'There can never be victory where there is fighting.' Hah. You, Solo, sound much like a king yourself. Or a lounging philosopher." The king took a breath in, and muttered "Or both..."


The chipmunk army shifted back and forth, uneasily. The king gave them a glance. Returning his gaze to Aaron, he began "Let me tell you how I was first locked away by your people... by our people. For the longest time, after I earned my place at the head of chipmunk society, I had no desire to interact with that of mankind. I ruled over the Avalon woods in peace, until one fateful day, a small band of adolescents decided the woods were theirs. They would seek refuge in the trees, daily, to imbibe their foul substances, and casually attack my people with ever more perverted weapons... one day it would be sticks... the next it would be knives... firecrackers... slingshots... guns... It was a game to them. It was... funny." he calmed himself.


"And what was I to do? Seek out justice at the hands of human law? No. It was no... it is no crime to slaughter my people. So I scared them off. I gathered a small force, only to bite and scratch. My sword never left its sheath. But I knew they would be back. That, or they were only the first of their kind. So I went to the Maryland State Government, to make my plea for the protection of my lands. That accomplished nothing, save my relocation to a padded cell! But I had told my people beforehand to follow my scent if I did not return by nightfall, and that they did. We were nearly well escaped when we were captured by the agents of chokchurpchurpchkuk... What you call Commonwealth." the king raised his left hand in exasperation. "For eight long years I languished in their cell, and the force that tried to free me... M-... Most of them are still mourned today, by the young of their young. And they should mourn. They should RAGE, if still today, chipmunks are killed in parks for sport, as I saw only moments ago. That, Solo, is what your way has granted me in the past. What more do you think you offer? Perhaps you intend to kill me, mm? With Vos Scheiffer? How like a man of peace." he returned his left hand to the hilt of Schwikschwik.

 

[Necessity4Fun]

Tapping away on his phone, Kendrick barely gave the approaching ten year old attention. The teenager merely glanced at her with doubt, akin to how adults look at children when they try to get into their matters. He was only allowing her to come, because Annaliese had planned with her in the middle and he didn't feel like arguing over that, but dealing with technology? Come on! Is he supposed to believe this little kid can deal with GPS signals and Iphones? That was just ridiculous!


Opening up the tracker application, the screen was filled with the map. Tapping the 'power' button in the app a green icon started flashing over Sparrow's Point clearly representing this device's current location, as if that wasn't obvious enough, the name over it 'Kendrick' would fix that.


The boy tapped the icon in the bottom left corner, letting a menu of options come to life, then going over to 'Settings', searched for a line that said 'Devices'. Right bellow such option were the list of all devices connected, and the only element in black, his device, was currently on the output option, being tracked by the other two devices on the list. A simple ping box beside the title, called reverse mode, would quickly swap the tracked and tracking devices. Kendrick tapped that and returned the to the main screen with the map, where a pop-up with a buffering circle tried re-connecting to the GPS upon the changed circumstances.


Of course, this wouldn't be real life if there wasn't a twist.


The pop-up had gone and the map was no longer over Sparrow's Point. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, when the entire square for the map went black. At first, he thought it was a problem with his phone, but as he noticed that the frame of the app's layout was still visible around the now black block, he figured out it could be the app acting up. Quickly closing it, and opening up again, going through the process of changing the settings again extremely quickly, the teenager impatiently waited for the GPS to connect once more, at this point despite listening to the conversation and words around him, the boy was too focused to acknowledge them in any way.


This time, after the GPS had re-connected, the screen had been 'painted' black right after and with a plus, the black was now a background for a shining golden cross. Two things could be inferred from this: It was the work of a GPS signal jammer, AND there was a huge probability that the 'Who' of the situation were the Knights of Raguel.


The grip over his cellphone intensified, and Kendrick clicked his tongue in both frustration and anger. What did those bastards want with his family? Why would they strike the Haywoods now, weeks later after the mall incident, when it was such a known name already? And then it hit him...

...It was his fault.


Rupert Haywood's statements, despite being often authoritarian, had been right this time. Showing up to 108 amidst the cloud of reporters and making such a scene in front of the camera on Wednesday, had been the worst thing possible he could have done. It's not like Kendrick being a super was any kind of secret, no it was certainly not, but, exposing his attendance to AEGIS on television like that? Bringing his image as a Haywood to the surface and allowing it to be washed by the current hatred of supers? That had been a bad decision...BAD? More like Foolish, Egoistical, Childish, Reckless................

"What faulty trail of thought could possibly bring you to this STUPID and RECKLESS decision?! Did you think it wouldn't have consequences for US TOO?! That you could play around just because you can? Here's some news for you, my disappointing son, you CAN'T! THAT'S NAIVE, I thought we had raised you better. Was this someone else's idea? Did you tell him to do anything weird, Eva?"
​

"Me!? I never ordered such thing, is that what you think I am Rupert?! I'm as disappointed and APPALLED as you!" "See what you've done Kendy? Your dad thinks I had something to do with this chaotic mess now, all thanks to YOU. Happy? Did rebelling bring you any good? Boost your fragile ego?"
​

"Eva, Hush! Your bickering is disturbing my thoughts." "Kendrick, upstairs now. The serious adults need to discuss this situation you've created, in particular." "WAIT. This is NOT the end of this conversation, am I clear?"

........


“Kendoriku! Give you phone to Tomoko... then: we find parentsu!”
​

Manami's voice brought the boy back to the current time. For how long had he been staring at the blackened screen? The sense of time seemed lost, taking him a while to remember what he had been doing before. He jerked his head towards the girl almost instantly, staring at her confused as the memories of the past events flooded back into him. GPS, right. Looking back to the ten year old that had spoken about knowing technology before, Kendrick pondered the cons and pros of letting her deal with his black screen, well... It wasn't as if he had any other option...

"Huh, I guess this answers the 'Who dun-nit' question...", he let out in a tone of apathy, trying to not let any of his actual feelings about the matter show and turning the phone so that everyone else could see the black and gold phone screen, "I'm betting this is the work of a signal jammer.", then he glanced over at the little girl from before, "You did say you're good with technology, right?", he sighed in disbelief towards himself, "I don't really have any other option, so here.", the young Haywood announced before handing his device over to the girl, though he wasn't putting much faith on her succeeding in anything, "See if you can impress me and don't break my phone, I need it."


Leaving the little girl to do her thing, whatever it was, Kendrick decided to move on the meeting, "If no one else has anything to else say, I believe with can move on and let Annaliese talk about the team placements.", her motioned for her to proceed, "Her speech should answer your earlier inquiry about the negotiation, Jeremiah."

Spoiler

Interactions: @Malikai, @Gus, @Bag o Fruit, @too much idea


Today's Toys: Ted, Mr. Holeshot, Sparkles, Pandora, Harry, Kefir, Shouty, Theo, Millie.


OOC: Any similarity with 'Waze' it's NOT mere coincidence >w<

 

[Gus]

Aaron Mallory





Location: Park


Nearby: Luci, Klaus, Asher, a king, and an unseen passenger.


Mood: Angry! ...SO ANGRY!


@s @Bag o Fruit @Teh Frixz @Lazy Rocktime @DJ MagicHat @KingHink @DamagedGlasses @St Stare @Lioness075


As the king spoke, Aaron felt his cheeks flush hot. Mounting frustration at the wicked ways of the world flooded through him. The words of the small king burrowed into his brain and tapped a deep reservoir of disgust and anger. The feelings spread out, searching for a source and a target. Slowly, inexorably, they turned back upon Aaron himself. The King spoke truly. He had indeed intended treachery. Horrified at his own thoughts, he flung Klaus away toward Asher.


“Keep an eye on that one won't you, Torchinovich?”


Aaron dropped to one knee beside the king, and bowed his head.


“Forgive me, sire. You are quite right. I offered you parley with one hand while holding treachery in the other. But no longer. I apologize from my heart. I only wished to defend my student. I now ask your mercy upon him.” He raised his head, and his dark eyes burned with fiery purpose as he met the King's gaze. He continued, passion rising in his voice as he spoke: “And I promise, nay I swear upon the moon and upon mars, whose very surfaces I have trodden, that I will do all in my power to find your people a home. THIS INJUSTICE WILL NOT STAND ANY LONGER! AARON MALLORY'S EYES ARE OPENED!”

 

[DamagedGlasses]

MAINFRAME




Location: Grocery Store


Nearby:   @too much idea @Necessity4Fun @Dusky @St Stare @DamagedGlasses @Swoob


Mood: Natural. Calm. Observant. Thankful. Greedy. Leaving. Nervous. Forced. Leaving. Leaving. Nervously Leaving.


OOC: Yep, so MAINFRAME's greed may be it's undoing. Also, @Swoob, you are Pink Hair. o wo)-b




MAINFRAME watched the man leave with the nice looking girl through the eyes of Amy, letting Todd spend his time wisely picking up the groceries with a decided haste. The eyes in the sky, i.e. the security cameras, weren’t telling it much, but it had a decided lack of interest in still being in the grocery store when the man returned. Amy’s smile continued being bright and cheery even as the Hivemind that made up who she was calculated the risks any sort of action might take. If it could get away with it, not paying for the food would be a godsend, but someone might stop Amy and Todd and get in the way, letting the man return and “clear up any misunderstandings”. MAINFRAME didn’t think David Lamar was the man’s real name, on account of not really having a reason to trust some stranger with any kind of freely given info, but he was giving away a really nice discount.


Yet, not having to pay was such an enticing proposition. It could think of a thousand things those nine dollars could be used for, even if it had plenty of money in it’s saving account. It didn’t like to buy groceries in bulk to save itself from spending too much hard earned money at once, evidence of a keen frugality inherited by its progenitors. Amy moved her head to the left, turning her gaze from the door Mister Cashier and the unknown girl had went through and instead gazing up at the individual behind her, a very tall teen with vibrant pink hair. What a colorful selection. One that matched the same vibrant color of Amy’s pair of goggles! Would this lad be the lone person around to stop MAINFRAME from walking its two vulnerable bodies out of the door?


Making its decision, MAINFRAME decided to risk it for the sake of the cash in Todd’s back pocket. Letting Amy linger around the cashier stand, loitering for a bit as she looked at some of the candy on display, Todd made his way out of the store, groceries in hand, duly ignoring any kind of reasoning that payment was necessary. MAINFRAME had once read that if you wanted people to not question you, you needed to act like you were in the right with confidence. Of course, it didn’t really know how confidence looked on Todd’s face, so instead, MAINFRAME went with cool dispassionate indifference. That should work.


MAINFRAME let Amy clear the way for the teenager behind her, politely letting him have his turn at the cashier stand, as she continued looking at candy, up until the sounds of the doors closed behind Todd as he successfully made it out of the grocery store with the food. One body out and in the clear, MAINRAME slowly grew more and more nervous as it saw “David” and the young girl begin to return to the main store. Amy’s body language began to shift and turn as MAINFRAME’s nervousness bleed over into her actions, her cheerful smile becoming more forced as MAINFRAME began turning more of its focus into backup plans.


Letting Amy “notice” her friend Todd had left the building without her, MAINFRAME turned Amy’s head and let her smile brightly at Pink Hair, whispering with a cheerful, but very practiced sounding, “Welp, looks like I got lost in the candy, silly me! Better go catch up with my friend! Good luck with Mister Cashier!”



Amy turned around, and began to skip towards the door, hoping that Pink Hair had his same suspicions about the man or, at the very least, be distracted by other things to notice the lack of payment left by either child.