Collateral ( A Super Hero RP with Consequences) IC

Reed
Icarus
Felix
Reed Overton/Agent Fury | Icarus Valaith/Shielder/Plant Overlord | Felix Valaith
April 3, 2018 | noon | NYC—Central Park

collab with @slifer, Nathaniel (NPC), Nicholas Harris (@LuckycoolHawk9)
Spectre (@Astroblaze)

While looking around as he talked with Spectre, Agent Fury had noticed Icarus nearby in his own costume, seemingly also keeping a watchful eye on Felix. The mercenary had seen him in costume before, but he still found his breath stuttering a bit at how well his muscles filled out the formfitting bodysuit. 'Damnit Reed, snap out of it. Focus.'

Mouth widening in a grin, he approached the antihero. "Well well well, fancy seeing you here. You forgot you hired me, didn't you?"

Icarus shrugged, somewhat embarrassed at his mama bear instincts. "I may have overreacted, but there is one benefit out of this." He showed Reed three syringes filled with fluid he had just swiped from the selection. "Two are going to Felix, and I told him to use it as a weapon. Of course he can't use it on himself as that would he stupid. The people who made this are shady as hell and this screams of a trap." In that moment, he took a second to appreciate how Fury looked before focusing on the task at hand. "I did hire you. So, you want a teamup? I can already sense where the flowers are. It's kind of my specialty." Next to him, Felix was holding one of the flowers, specifically so Icarus could use it to find the others. "How many flowers do we need to win this again? I got distracted."

The mercenary's eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise at the sight of the flower. Well that was easy. "Only one. Guess we're already halfway. And yeah, team-up's fine. Just so you know, though—" he jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward Spectre, lips quirking in a smirk— "I already struck a deal with Ghost Boy over there that I'll sell the documents to him when I find them. Guy seems pretty desperate to retrieve them—sounds like a bunch of saving-the-world shit what he was describing. You know how heroes like him are all over that." He quirked a curious eyebrow at Icarus' comment about the enhancers. "Two? Then what's the third for?"

"Yeah, I know. I don't really care about the files. I have a feeling my employer does, but I think I like helping you out more. I know my employer. She's probably connected to Spectre. A ton of the heroes are connected." Huh. He guessed Reed was right in lumping them together as he did hero for profit like Reed did. "Oh, and I got one for myself. Not like I'd ever use it because it's too good to be true. I have to focus on my own stuff and new powers could ruin everything. Besides, the people over there are shady. Either way, it's time to find some flowers." Not that he secretly was happy that Reed agreed to the team-up, which probably didn't mean anything to the other man. "Though buy me dinner if we get the documents first. Protect my ass and be the lookout. I need to concentrate." Closing his eyes, he breathed in and out, focusing on the flower that Felix had swiped from one of the scientists for reference. He scanned the area, letting his powers reach out towards other flowers. "There's one that way." Icarus said, opening his eyes and pointing towards what he felt was the nearest flower that he was sure was not in sight.

"Hey, if you saw that one dude suddenly become the size of a fuckin' building, you know those things are legit." Fury shrugged. "I couldn't care less how shady they are, whatever shit they're pulling with this is just one more thing for me to power through no problem." He immediately took up the other man's remark about dinner, the corner of his mouth lifting in a suggestive grin. "Gladly."

"Okay, why the hell are we looking for more flowers?" He demanded impatiently, unsure why his companion was wasting his time as he gestured to the stage. "Let's get the clues and go. We have one already, we don't need all fuckin' twelve. In the meantime..." Leaving Icarus to take care of the rose business, he sauntered to the fountain, civilians hastily scattering as he approached, and snatched a couple of enhancers for himself.

"Hey!"

As he carefully stored the dangerously sharp needles in a pocket, he stopped at a shout from behind him, turning slightly toward it with one eyebrow quirked. A young man stood a few feet away amid a partially formed half-ring of curious and worried civilians, dark brow low over brilliantly glowing eyes the white of an ember's core and one corner of his tightly sealed lips drawn up in a hatefully determined glower as he stood with stance akimbo and every muscle tense with pent-up energy, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists at his sides. As the mercenary watched, the young challenger drew his fists across his chest and snapped them out to shoulder height, fists bursting into flame to halfway up his forearms with the outward action.

[imgr=200px]https://www.iwakuroleplay.com/attachments/1534608196204-jpeg.165608/[/imgr]
Fury chuckled, eyes flickering shut for a moment in a mockingly dismissive expression. "Oh, I see how it is." He turned to fully face the man, who exhaled a pugnaciously forceful breath. His lip curled into a sneer turned horrific by the accent of his facepaint. "You think you've got a chance now that you can play with matches. Well, hate to break it to you, wannabe—" he casually approached the aggressor, thumbs hooked in the corners of his pants' pockets— "but I've met stray cats scarier than you. You ain't got a fuckin' chance." He paused, considering his words. "Actually, you know what, I don't hate it. I really don't."

Icarus couldn't even believe his ears. "Dude, you don't know what kind of shit this does to your body. There's a reason we have the FDA. Well, if you want to, then I won't try and stop you." Icarus watched as Fury left, feeling annoyed that the man wasn't listening to him. In that moment he was distracted, watching Reed walk away with annoyance. The man lived just to mess with him. He was an idiot most of the time. They didn't have time to waste on bullshit. Reed's ego was too large as it was. They had a job to do. With that, he brought up his shield around the fire man, concentrating on it enough so that it sealed around the man's body, ending on the ground. After about twenty seconds, the man would start to gasp for breath as the air fueling his power was snuffed out. He would hold it until the man looked close to passing out, then release the man and smack him with a shield.

Fury frowned at the sudden materialization of a familiar translucent barrier around his attacker and turned back toward Icarus, annoyance clear on his face.

"Hey, Overlord, leave him alone. He challenged me, not you."

Meanwhile, the young man had let the inferno encircling his hands die out, casting a wary look about the field encompassing him as he felt his chest begin to grow tight. Lifting a hand, he pressed into the shield, gritting his teeth as it refused to give way and slamming his palm more forcefully against it as though to break it.

Icarus put his hands up in surrender. "Fine. He's all yours. See what it gets me, giving a shit about someone else. All I do is get yelled at. Besides, you're a magnet for trouble," Icarus said looking clearly annoyed, letting the shield go so the two idiots could fight. "Wish I had popcorn for this fight. Don't take too long, otherwise I'm going to keep the documents for myself." It was an empty threat on his part as if he was going to betray Reed, he would have done so already. Hopefully his loyalty actually meant something to the man. Either way, he was going to be on standby so the whole park didn't get set on fire. "Be careful!" Icarus called out, keeping watch so no one interrupted the fight.

Fury smirked, well aware that Icarus wasn't serious in his threat. "Don't worry, I'll be along shortly."

Closing the slight distance between himself and his challenger drew attention to the marked height difference between them, but the newly made pyrokinetic seemed little bothered by how the mercenary towered over him, even motivated by it.

Agent Fury bared his fangs in a grin. "Well, you get your wish."

The young man didn't respond, instead pulling his arms into a defensive position and taking a swing at his jaw with a fist again wreathed in scarlet flame and impressive speed but blatantly clumsy form. Easily twisting out of the intended blow's path, the mercenary snapped out a hand already lifted in preparation and seized the man's arm just above where the flame faded out, yanking the startled man forward as he drove his forward knee up into the pyro's gut. The young meta doubled over with a choked cry and Fury swept his feet out from under him, throwing him to the ground with a hand planted between his shoulderblades and a thud that made the horrified onlookers visibly cringe in sympathy. The mercenary dropped to one knee following him down, pressing his forearm into his neck and knee into the small of his back to keep him on the ground, ignoring how the sputtering flame scorched the grass under the pyro's hands. Fury wasn't even breathing hard.

"Pathetic," he growled, lip curling in disdain. "With as much pluck as you were showing, I hoped you'd put up at least a remotely decent fight."

With that, he shoved the young man down and stood, stepping over his prone form to rejoin Icarus. Shuddering in pain, the young man unsteadily lifted his torso, rolling onto his hip to support his weight on one elbow as he wiped blood from his lip with the other hand, glaring at Fury's retreating back.

"Wasted my time," Fury grumbled to Icarus when he reached the other man. "Let's go."

"Why do people hate you so much? Is it the paint or just your face?" Icarus had to ask as Reed came back towards him. A person who could handle themselves so easily was pretty sexy to him. Maybe he would pay Reed to give him some extra lessons in the future, though that needed to be saved for later. Right now, he had to focus. "You did pretty good. Though you really have to stop making enemies every five minutes just by existing," Icarus added, teasing the man a little bit but mixing it with some seriousness. This fight was a testament to how arrogant Agent Fury was that he had even basically toyed with the fire meta while the meta had his eyes focused on Reed. With a roll of his eyes, Icarus pulled Felix closer to them. "Whatever. Though I did plan on going to get ice-cream later once we're done here. I'm proud of Felix for helping out." He ruffled the teen's hair, leaving a small but extremely happy smile on Felix's face at the praise.

Fury grinned aggressively at Icarus' query. "Nah, the paint is part of keeping the image distinct and memorable. People hate me because I'm notorious for wrecking people's shit for the hell of it." He snorted derisively at the following suggestion. "Why would I want to do that? More enemies means more chances for a fight." Returning to the task at hand, he gestured to where the apparent event orchestrator stood near the fountain. "Shall we?"

He would begin to follow Icarus toward the fountain but abruptly stop as, no longer occupied with an upstart pyrokinetic, he suddenly processed a crucial factor of Icarus' exasperated commentary: the man had just told him that he cared about him. Fucking score. The mercenary resisted the urge to pump a fist in triumph, but his smile had widened when he stepped forward again. "Oh, by the way," he called to Icarus, "that ice-cream stop—were you thinking that would be before or after I buy you dinner?"

Now, as Icarus was in his mask, it was somewhat hard to tell what his face was doing, so the only way Reed could tell that Icarus was blushing was because his ears turned red. His half-joking statement had suddenly turned to a more intimate request from Reed! It was one thing to hear it on the phone, it was another thing entirely to see the man act excited to have dinner with him. He... Shit, the man had most certainly been flirting with him the whole goddamned time. So he decided to flirt back to test the theory even as Felix rolled his eyes next to him. "I mean, it was going to be just the two of us, but you can come too—if you're not bored with the Central Park Zoo. It's not that far away. Once we get the documents of course. I'm feeling evil today. Let's make Spectre sweat a little before selling him the documents. Of course, we could copy them on our phones." Now Icarus wasn't an idiot: he would want the pages not just on some pieces of paper.

Ohohoh, that got an unmistakably positive reaction. Fury's grin widened with a low, ominous chuckle. Making a Lawful Good acutely uncomfortable before getting a fuck ton of money from him, followed by dinner with the attractive antihero? Sounded like his perfect evening.

"You're going to lose your fucking job—I hope you understand that," he chuckled. Continuing to the task at hand, he added, "I don't care about the documents themselves—it's just old case files, easily gotten ahold of. I just love screwing with people like him." Of course, they had to go get those hints before they could continue their pursuit of the documents. He'd already given Spectre too much of a headstart.

Catching up with Icarus, he jerked his head toward the fountain. "Shall we?"

Dammit. The almost perfect day would be ruined by the fact that he actually couldn't be seen with Reed in costume, otherwise he would lose his job. He was an antihero, a Chaotic Good compared to the Lawful Good types that somehow believed he was as decent as they were. It might not be good to be seen with a Chaotic Neutral type of hero. That was when he came up with an idea that could help that.

"I think... my boss wouldn't mind me being with you... if I pretended to fight you for the documents. You'll get away with the documents, sell them to Spectre, then I'll meet you at the restaurant. Of course, if you want, we could also combine business and pleasure with you bringing the documents for me to sign. I don't think you can lose in that situation. If not, then I can find out if my boss works with Spectre. Now, I would suggest that you pretend to look angry as I insult you and leave. Though... leave the chuckling ominously for something evil, not for... whatever you're laughing at. You are wearing paint that strikes fear into the hearts of mortals, or in my case worry." Hopefully, Reed actually accepted the plan as he always liked sparring with him as he was a challenge to fight. He also happened to be flirting a little, but he was a bit rusty since his love life halted when Felix permanently went under his care.

"Congrats, you got the first rose somehow, that means you get to go to the zoo first to rescue what I donated there. Bring the animal back... alive preferably, though its corpse would do just fine if you can't, and I'll give you the two files. The clues are there by the entrance. Good luck and try not to die."

Fury's mouth curled into a dangerous grin at Icarus' comment about his facepaint. "Good. It's doing its job, then." Considering the antihero's plan, he nodded. "I can work with that. You have my number—we can make plans later." He did lift a skeptical eyebrow at the remark about his earlier laugh, however. "The ominous chuckle was because I get to give a goodie two-shoes a hard time. I think that qualifies. Oh, speaking of said goodie two-shoes," he added, "be careful: he recognized your kid brother from somewhere."

With that, he lifted his volume just a touch, tone turning mocking as he slipped into the antagonistic role Icarus had recommended. "Oh really?" he queried as though rebutting a claim Icarus made. "Good luck getting to it first. I'll see you at the zoo—" he bared his false fangs in a menacing sneer— "plant boy."

As he started to back away, his eyes fell on the teen standing beside Icarus, abruptly reminding him why he was even in the park to begin with. He turned his attention to the boy, jerking his head in the direction he was headed. "Come on, kid—I might be engaging in this contest after all, but I still have a contract to fulfill with you."

Once he was certain the teen would follow, he turned on a heel and walked off with a brisk, purposeful stride toward the zoo.

As Fury walked away, Icarus let a sneer curl on his lips. Of course it was a fake one. His sneers hadn't been real in a while. Fury had given him some information that he needed to consider. For one, Spectre would have to be watched. If Spectre used Felix to find out his real identity, then they would have problems. Spectre wouldn't do that if he didn't want to make an enemy out of him, especially one that was like him: an outer shell of good and a nasty inside.

Besides, Agent Fury's insults started to suck as well. The man had seemed way too happy that this was all happening, but then again, he felt warm all over now that he had actual, real plans. At least it looked like Reed had taken the plant from Felix. Though it was harder to refer to Agent Fury by his fake name. He would most certainly have to work on that. For now, he would let Fury get a head start and then go after him once he had the documents.
 
Last edited:
Martin
Martin Fisher
April 3, 2018 | noon | Manhattan, NYC—Lower Manhattan Hospital

Officer Jones (NPC), Valerie (@Astroblaze)
John/Spectre (@Astroblaze), Vanessa/Emerald Dream (@Gands), Amiee/Firefly (@Michale CS), Ana (@Huntress)

Footsteps echoed confidently and authoritatively down the hall as Martin strode toward his latest assignment. Pausing at the door to the room, he took a moment to review the patient's files. Kenneth Jones, male, 43 years of age—a local police officer who had been brought to hospital unconscious with moderate bruises and lacerations as though he had fallen. Setting aside the folder, he pushed open the door to find the man awake and notably more alert than he had been a little while ago.

The Irishman offered the injured officer a warm smile. "Good afternoon, Mr. Jones. How are you feeling?"

The older man grimaced. "Bruised but better than I was. Should've known that kid was lying..." he grumbled, seemingly to himself.

Martin quirked a curious eyebrow at the officer as he approached the man's bedside. "Pardon?"

"Yessir, the shapeshifter that young lady warned me about. Though how she knew he was involved in last night's incident is beyond me..."

Martin frowned, recalling what John had told him about the previous night's incident. "Shapeshifter? Last night's incident? Forgive me for prying, sir, but I believe that young lady you met may be a friend of mine. Did you catch her name?"

"'Fraid not," Mr. Jones admitted, "but she was black and seemed military in dress and behavior."

"That certainly sounds like Valerie," the young man murmured thoughtfully to himself.

The officer hummed his acknowledgement. "I suppose you might want to know, then, that your friend was in a bit of an accident."

Martin's attention returned to the older man in an instant, worry flashing in his steel gray eyes. "Oh dear. Is she okay?"

"Not to worry, son: your friend is quite alright," the older man assured him, answering the concern clear on the young nurse's face with a gentle smile. "She did get a bit banged up, but her friend protected her from the worst of the collision."

Oh, she must have been with John, then. He nodded his understanding, returning the man's smile. "Thank you for telling me."

"Glad to help."

Noting that the officer seemed tired, Martin glanced almost involuntarily to a nearby clock, then returned his gaze to the officer with a gentle smile. "I'll let you rest. I'll be back in a little while to change your bandages, alright?"

"Alright then. Thank you, son."

As Martin stepped out into the hall, allowing the door to swing shut behind him with a soft click, he noticed a distinctive hum emanating from his pocket. He retrieved his phone from the pocket but the call had already timed out, his intricately patterned lock-screen displaying a familiar face and name. Immediately he set off down the hall, unlocking his phone to return the call but pausing skeptically at the ad that popped up. Upon scanning the contents, he deemed that he could deal with it later and pulled up her contact instead.

Valerie picked up within the first dial tone, just as he stepped into a secluded corner. "Val, I'm in the middle of a shift. Is it urgent?"

"Martin, hi." The young nurse could hear his friend's relief for his answer in her tone. "Not immediately, but I thought I'd give you a heads-up. There's a superpowered scavenger hunt of sorts going on at Central Park and Spectre's getting bad vibes."

That rang a bell. "Yeah, I got the ad."

"There are a bundle of heroes involved, including Spectre and a couple others we know, and some kind of addictive drug has been introduced as well. I'm worried things are going to get ugly. Can you be available?"

Martin couldn't help a wry chuckle at the all-too-familiar request. "You know, times like these I wonder if I should've pursued a track as a paramedic instead. Yes, I'll be available. I doubt I'll be able to come to you, though."

"That's alright. Just as long as we're able to work things out so identities can stay safe."

"That should be reasonable," he affirmed. "I've taken care of that before."

"Right. Best case scenario it won't be necessary, but just in case."

"Of course. Also," Martin continued, voice taking on a concerned tone, "how are you? I heard you got into a pretty bad accident."

"Oh, yeah. A little banged up, but I'm alright. I was with a new metahuman ally and I'm pretty sure she saved my life."

Oh, so he had been wrong in assuming that John was with her.

"So I heard. Well, be careful, okay? I have to get back to work, but I'll see you this evening." The nurse paused. "Hopefully not sooner than that."

"Right. See you."

Ending the call, Martin slipped his phone back into his pocket as he left the quiet corner to return to work.
 
JohnR
Samuel
Felicity
John Reidenbach/Spectre | Samuel Alerio | Felicity Alerio
April 3, 2018 | noonish | NYC—Central Park

Agent Fury (mine), crowd at large
Icarus/Shielder (@slifer), Felix (@slifer), Nicholas Harris (@LuckycoolHawk9), Draku (@Draku69)


Monitoring the surrounding crowds and particularly the known dangers as he spoke with the Alerios, Spectre's eyes narrowed as Agent Fury approached a costumed metahuman recognizable as Shielder. Although he could barely pick up snippets of their conversation given the distance and park noise, their stances made the hostile nature of their interaction clear enough to the ghost mutant. He grimaced. While the hero-for-hire had never seemed totally legitimate to the vigilante, he was nevertheless a known good guy and Spectre had to sympathize with him for the attitude the substantially more heartless and cruel mercenary would predictably be giving him. The hero's friendly interactions with Fury's apparent charge did seem odd, however. Maybe he didn't know, although honestly it wouldn't surprise Spectre if Shielder just didn't care. The teen was an innocent third party, after all.

As he slipped the serums into an empty pocket of his utility belt, Spectre turned at a shout and immediately started forward to place himself between Agent Fury and his ill-advised young challenger, but he was too late: the fight was already over. He kept a watchful eye on the pyrokinetic as his friends helped him up from where Fury had so unceremoniously dropped him to ensure that the young man would recover before returning his attention to the mercenary in question, only for his suspicions to rise once more as he watched Fury follow Shielder to the fountain where he met with the one Mr. Harris. The mercenary had no shame, clearly taking advantage of Shielder's headstart.

As the man finally left Shielder alone, parting ways with the hero with his charge in tow, Spectre moved to intercept, a swift half-glide placing him directly in the mercenary's path. Fury responded to his skeptical glare and folded arms with a mocking grin and a brief salute.

"You snooze, you lose, ghost boy," he taunted the vigilante. "I'll see you after the event—you know where to find me." With that, he brushed past Spectre, the slight bump into his shoulder clearly intentional, and sauntered off.

The white-haired mutant's mouth tightened. Fury might be arrogant, but with how quickly and suddenly he gained an advantage in the contest while Spectre was caught up in personal matters, he was proving a serious issue, and that point there wasn't much the vigilante could do about it. He started to turn back to rejoin the Alerios and Silent Thunder, but then he stopped. He was within feet of the table that held all of the enhancers with little attention on himself besides the occasional awestruck citizen excited to be in such close proximity to a relatively well-known hero. Brilliant green eyes narrowed as their glow increased to match that wreathing his lifted left hand, flicking from the hand hidden by his chest over his shoulder to the table behind him. Clearing this situation without a fight would likely be impossible once he did this, but he wouldn't get a better opportunity. He had to act now before more people were hurt.

In a lightning-quick burst of movement, the hero stepped one foot back and whipped his hand around behind him, and a wave of flame roared through the air in a blinding streak to crash into the forward table legs, knocking them out from under the surface and sending the table and everything on it toppling into a brilliant green inferno. This was no ordinary fire: it was ghost fire, fueled by the copper-rich ectoplasm that now coated the table and its contents in haphazard, crackling streaks. Spectre couldn't help a slight, satisfied smile at the destruction of the dangerous experiment. Good luck rescuing anything from that mass of toxic energy.

Drawing himself up, he swept a hand toward the startled crowd. "No one gets near those serums!" he commanded. "I've just received word that they are addictive and highly dangerous."

While his eyes were fierce, posture tensed and hand twitching slightly at his side, inwardly the young man was completely calm—alert, calculating, and fully prepared to snap into action at the first sign of danger.

Mere feet away, Samuel stiffened at the sudden explosion of sound and the authoritative shout of his friend. Eyes darting about nervously, he lifted a hand to his sister. "Felicity, come on, we need to go." No matter what assurances Spectre had given him or how desperately the hero needed their help, Samuel absolutely did not want to get caught in the middle of a firefight. Already a nauseating feeling swelled in the pit of his stomach as he forced himself not to get caught up in the recollection of the last one that he had been dragged into.

Felicity's eyes also roved the grounds, a bit nervous about the direction that things were progressing but mostly curious, even with a touch of excitement. Spectre was formidable, she knew that much, but she had never actually gotten to see what he could do. Perhaps as well she could vicariously experience the abilities that he possessed if she could watch him in action.

As she considered this, however, her eyes were drawn to a flash of color peeking from a bush a little ways away from where they stood. She perked up. On the other hand, he did still need their help, and she was willing and able to assist.

"I think I see a rose!" she exclaimed to Samuel, breaking into a sprint toward it.

"Felicity, wait!" Samuel protested urgently, bolting after her in a desperate fear of being separated.
 
Last edited:
Victoria Murphy

Victoria sat in the Limo watching the feeds from the half dozen drones she had in the air. Nearby, she could see the animated tree watching her in the limo, so she felt safe enough. On the feeds, things were starting to get interesting. Her erstwhile protector Icarus had connected with his people, who interestingly enough included a notorious Anti hero, Agent Fury. There was talk about helping him instead of helping her, and dinner afterwords. Lovely. She sent a text to her half sister Vanessa, aka Emerald Dream, on her way to the park, or was in the process of doing so when Specter seemed to challenge an entire area full of potential Meta Humans to destroy the collection of super serums on the table.

(( text )) "Specter might be biting off more than he can chew, he seems to be challenging a large gathering of people near the table where the Serums were being handed out. "

Second text to Icarus

" Substantial bonus to yourself and Fury if you recover the files in question. But, Fury is not my employee, but yours { I assume }, so any legal issues regarding how he conducts himself will be your responsibility, not mine. If you and he are going solo on this, let me know so I can act appropriately. ( Victoria )"

@Astroblaze @slifer @LuckycoolHawk9 @Michale CS
 
  • OMG
Reactions: Astroblaze
Vanessa O'Toole aka Emerald Dream

Vanessa was moving quickly, leaping, running. She started from the roof of the Museum, heading to the park. Once in the park she received a text from her sister Victoria.

(( text )) "Specter might be biting off more than he can chew, he seems to be challenging a large gathering of people near the table where the Serums were being handed out. "

She stopped for just a moment, forwarding the text to Firefly.

( firefly text ) " I am heading to Specter, meet me there, location being sent."

And then she sent the location to Firefly.

She found herself moving up to the gathering from behind, making very little noise and being ready to help Specter pacify this potentially dangerous crowd.

f226c40cd6aabb79569fc58ad901f0bd.jpg



@LuckycoolHawk9 @Astroblaze @Huntress @Michale CS
 
April 3rd - 2018 – Central Park, NYC

Her torn shirt billowed in the air as she flew against the wind, choosing to stay up in the sky for some time, amber eyes watching from above. Her gaze darted across the crowds, she listened for anything that may have been of value, but she wasn't getting much. Until the explosion. It was enough to garner her attention, halting mid flight she looked down and saw the green flame, eyebrow raised. Crowds were around and they didn't seem too happy. Clenching her jaw she huffed and started for that direction. A voice calling out and movement from the corner of her eye had her looking over just slightly as she stopped. The younger two she had met earlier in the day with John were having a moment. Looking between the two situations she made way to her slight left, where the young-ins were. It took practically no time for her to arrive, her landing was soft and careful, she didn't want to cause any unnecessary damage to city property.

The thud against her torso almost went unnoticed as Ana grabbed the girl before she could fall back on her ass. Sighing as she met the girl's gaze, she quickly let go. Looking towards the brother just further back Ana clenched her jaw. "We all want to get those files. But we gotta be careful." Ana turned her head to the right slightly and spotted the rose. "I know you wanna help and I'm willing to take all the help I can get but be cautious, please." She explained, her words were sincere. Looking around, senses alert Anastasia stepped aside slightly. She would let the girl get the rose but at the same time she would be keeping a close eye on both of them. John was busy with a different situation and the brother seemed to be a worried and scared mess, they would need someone to keep them safe. Ana hadn't done this in a while but she was about to get thrown into it again. This would hopefully be easy, keeping an eye on them.

Then again, situations like these were never as easy as they seemed to be in one's mind.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
INTERACTIONS:

ANASTASIA
- Astroblaze - Felicity Alerio



MENTIONS:
- Astroblaze (Spectre, Samuel Alerio)
 
Last edited:
firefly-jpg.158833

Amiee got to the bridge, where everyone was supposed to meet...
and waited...
"Huh. I could have sworn..."
Then she got Emerald's text.
"Huh. Change of plans. Good thing I can fly."
And off she went to go meet Emerald and Specter


penny-jpg.161753


"This isn't what I signed up for, Myst..." Penny murmured, while rapidly collecting information from several screens.
Epiphany collected all the relevant data - flight number, GPS location, trajectory, and information on Metas in the area and compiled a mibpaste page with all the links to her collection, and sent it by text to Emerald Dream:

"JFK Airport, Delta flight 9020 going down with a burned out wing and 114 passengers. Two metas spotted in the area: Wildfire, and the Kinecticmacist. See attached files for real-time GPS tracking, links to control tower radio frequencies and the plane's black box ping."
 
  • Bucket of Rainbows
Reactions: Astroblaze
Mystification

Sometimes it was so easy to play with the pieces on the board, so easy for them to fall for her games. It was like they were playing checkers while Mystification was playing chess. She silently watched from a safe spot as Nicholas made all of his serums on the table disappear with a swift movement akin to teleportation and then they could go to get their second clue to get them closer to reading the case files by the Central Park Zoo entrance She couldn't let them read the case files or they would figure out her game. It was time to put everything on a slightly excelerated course. Good, the hero and her little puppet were together. Once the duo had finished rescuing the plane, she would.... maybe she could set a seed of discourse, projecting her message into all the digital devices across the city." Oh dear heroes, do you know what my favorite song in the whole wide world is? I imagine that you don't know since its from an obscure musical called If/Then. It's called the Moment Explodes. The dark world curves, the car swerves and the moment explodes. You were all so preoccupied with finding the case files, that you hadn't taken a major factor into account. I have already set the plans in motion while you were all running around like chickens with heads. And I got some good news for now and some bad news. The good news is that people are already on the scene at JFK and will stop the collateral from that crash.... the bad news is that wasn't the case I wasn't trying to recreate. Some people just like to watch the burn.... have any of you bother to check to see if all of Mr. Chambers personalities have full control over themselves? Mr. Queefus, I believe you know the answer to that. So, you have a choice now. Stop the man who will turn and can control flames or..... get the case files to see what else I can wreck upon you, I believe a certain Penguinn in the zoo has the right clue to get the last of those files. The choice is yours. I hope you choose wisely."

@Gands @vantas @Huntress @Michale CS @Astroblaze @slifer @Draku69 @Minerva @jeshem
 
Last edited:
  • Bucket of Rainbows
Reactions: Astroblaze
You don't need to do this.

Do you have any other ideas?

Would you consider it if I did?

Violence stood at his vantage point on the in an empty room of a highrise, looking across the street at his target. Luis Square Mall was to the public one of the largest shopping centers in this city but Violence knew it was also a front used by one by one of the crime families to cover up one of their embezzlement schemes.

Whatever you do here, they'll just rebuild elsewhere.

True, except I'm not trying to shut them down just yet, Cameron descended the building still talking to his brother. What's going to happen here will cause damage, the kind of damage that draws unwanted attention. He stripped off his mask as he approached the ground floor but left his black suit on. The authorities, your friends, other families, they're all going to see what happened here. Better yet, somebody will need to come out to clean up the mess. He crossed the street, melting into the crowd of civilians in the mall. My bet is on that lawyer of theirs, y'know who I'm talking about. The sooner as he pops up to clean this up, the sooner I can get to him and sooner they'll have one less to hide behind.

Now you just sound like a villain monologuing his entire evil plan to a trapped hero.

I mean, I technically am. I'm monologuing to you and you're trapped inside me.

Touché but also kinda weird.

...You're right, I'm sorry.

Finally in the mall, Violence slowed his pace as his mind extended from him, reaching out to the people who surrounded him. There were a myriad of emotions that surrounded him, excitement, anxiety, cheerfulness, but nothing too strong. Everybody here were simply having an average day. Well, everybody except for one.

The villain looked around for the single blip he had felt until his eyes locked onto a woman, frantically calling and looking around for something. "Joel? Joel!" she cried. Fear, anxiety, frustration, all of these Violence felt in her and he fed on it, strengthening his own power as he slowly began exercising his influence on those around him. The first they felt was uneasiness, some felt like they were being watched, others as if they had forgotten something important. Then they felt fear, then panic and confusion, and from there, Cameron let them decide where to bring their minds to next, fueling their delusion and feeding off the chaos they were creating on their own.

Somebody started shouting something, another threw a punch that knocked them over, yet another one also threw a punch, then another, then another. Soon a giant melee had formed in the mall as anger joined the chaos that Violence had spread upon them. The chaos spread to other sections of the mall, pulling the civilians in those parts into the mob. A store window was smashed and looting began as Violence slammed a fist into the face of a man dumb enough to try to attack him. What started out as a crowd had turned into a mob and then a riot. The riot moved through the mall, smashing and grabbing and just generally destroying the place until they reached the end where they began spilling out of the mall and onto the street either to inflict more damage or to get away from the madness.

How many have you injured? Was anybody killed? asked Kameron, watching the riot through the eyes of his brother.

Since when has that ever been a concern of mine? replied Cameron as he stepped out of the moving mob and into an alleyway.

Exiting from between some buildings was Kameron in his civilian outfit, having left the riot several blocks away. He briefly considered calling some of the other heroes to see if he could get some help bringing the mob down back under control though this was quickly interrupted by a message buzzing from his phone.

Both brothers listened intently to the woman's voice for a while before Kameron's face twisted in confusion.

My god this woman talks forever. Any idea what she's talking about.

Not really, though I am sure we could find some friends in low places who may have an idea.

I doubt we have the time. If something really is going on with Chambers, the other heroes can handle it. I'm going to visit this penguin.

Focusing his power onto himself, Vengeance flung himself into the air towards the zoo. He'd have to change on the way.
 
  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: Astroblaze
Warren Tanner and Aaron

Collab with @Minerva

The plane seemed to be descending at an alarming rate and just to add some insult to the injury, a song started to play the same three lines. The engine drops, the plane stops, the moment explodes .If it had been up to the passengers, they would take death then being safe. But they knew that in a world full of heroes, somebody was going to save them and that was always a good or sometimes a bad thing. A man on fire flew through the air trying to help as Aaron could see from the window clearly.

Aaron had been sitting in a seat in the gate waiting to board. He rolled his neck around and tapped his phone. The TV drones on and on above him, and his phone would go off, texts from his mother, asking where he was. He quickly tapped out a reply.

“Delayed by an hour. Weather over Montreal. See you tomorrow.” He responded. He put his phone down and went back to sitting in the chair, only to be interrupted by shouting. People running towards him, and frantic chaos.

He quickly looked up and out the window to see a plane falling at an alarming rate. He picked up his backpack and dashed to the window. He placed his hands on it and focused, causing the window to shatter. He stepped out and dashed towards the plane, to look at the man on Fire.

“I’m the Kinematicist, the Angel of Yokohama. I’m going to try to slow down the plane. Can you explain to me what else is happening?” He shouted over the din of the plane’s engines. He brushed a strand of hair back and sighed.

I just wanted to have a normal trip back home...

Warren was silent. not sure what there was to say. There was a lot going on and in the back of his head, he could feel, there was Myst. He hadn't thought about the fact that she could easily take control of him if he so much as blinked the wrong way. Was this too dangerous?

He debated leaving the area, but then if someone else saved the day, he would be known as the hero who left the crime scene, it was a catch 22 and Myst knew what she was doing. Doubt was something that was easily given to the public.

Warren took a deep breath, looking over at the situation and was trying to figure out the right thing to say. First thing was first, nobody knew who the man on fire was, so it was safe to assume that Myst didn't know and only knew because he mentioned it. He would introduce himself first and then go from there.

" Nice to meet you Kinematicist, I'm known as Wildfire around here. There's a long version of that and a short version. I think the abridged version would prove to be much more useful in this situation. Basically, some supervillain is attempting to create the five worst cases, pretty sure she is starting here."

'Not as dumb as you look Warren, not as dumb as you look'

Aaron looked around for a second."We can deal with that later. Right now I've got to land this god damn plane." Aaron took a deep breath before shouting. "I'm going to need someone to call 911." He tilted his head to the side."And tell my mom I'm not coming home tomorrow." He stretched his arm quickly. "I've never done something this big going this fast."

Aaron would close his eyes tightly and lay his arm down on the plane. He strained his arm in an attempt to get the plane to start leveling out. "Turn, turn, turn." He muttered to himself, hoping the pilot would get the hint to start bringing it around. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, throwing him off for a second. The plane made a dip to the side. He took another breath, sucking in a lot of air. "Let's bring you around." he said, squinting his eyes closed. He continued to stabilize his vectors with the plane, but he could feel strength being sapped out of him."Come on, Come on, come on!"
He muttered under his breath as he brought the plane around. After what felt like forever, but was maybe thirty seconds, the plane touched ground. Aaron's arms felt like they were on fire. He took one final deep breath, and passed out.

Warren had planned to swoop down and get Aaron some help and make sure before he hit the ground. 'Now, now, we can't ruin all the fun, Warren honey.' Before Warren could land or do anything else, his world would start to go black and before Myst took full control, he heard her whisper one last mocking final note in his ear. ' Just a puppet on a lonely string, who would ever would want to be king?' The last thing he saw was a fireball in his hand and then nothing more.

Logan Campbell and John Clark

Logan needed to find a way out of the back of this police car and also out of these cuffs. If he could shift, this wouldn't be a problem, but he couldn't. He took note of the cuffs, the way they were built exactly like regular cuffs, expect for one key. They were electronic. If he could perhaps get the detective to give him some water... then maybe, just maybe. He coughed. " I need some water...god, it's so hot in here. Don't think I will-" He made sure to emphasize each word to make himself seem as desperate as possible.

John felt bad for the kid. He handed him a water bottle. " Here, we can't have you dying on the way to the precinct," he said, making sure it was open. Only much later would he remember that the cuffs were electronic.

Logan gave a wordless nod and dropped the water onto the cuffs. They short-circuited as he slid off. Before John could grab him, he would move to grab him and seeing as he was the only one in the car would distract him for the road. And in the split second, another car would blow a red light and hit John's side of the car. Logan quickly shifted into a fly in that moment and escaped, leaving behind a car wreck. Once he was a safe distance, he would check social media and smirked. Someone was leaving for another city, what a perfect time to assume their identity. He shifted into their form and walked towards the park, pleased with himself, if only a little guilty.

John was barely conscious as the EMTS dragged him into the ambulance and to the nearest hospital in the city.

@Astroblaze

Dean Chambers and Michael Chambers

Location: Park, Around 1PM

Michael arrived with Dean literally in his pocket at the entrance to the zoo. Affixed to the iron gate spokes, there was a row of carefully placed cards tied to the gate. Some were already missing. There was a rose or two tied to them. Michael took notice of how carefully placed everyone was. He took Dean out of his pocket who grew to his normal size. "Well, it's a great to know that we wasted our time collecting roses earlier when there were some right by the next location. It looks like either the other group got here first or there were more roses here already." Dean picked up a card and sighed. " Mike, read it. I think I found a side effect of the dangerous potions, difficulty reading after adjusting size."

Mike took a look at the card and flipped it open. "It seems you have reached the next step to retrieve the files, but at what cost? I'm sure there have been some casualties by now, Michael and Dean Chambers. Between what is currently happening at the airport, a little birdie told me the detective is hurt. But all you seem to care about is the case files? So simple minded and foolish. There's always a bigger picture- something obscured if you look too far. But enough teasing, find the penguin who is royalty and poorly disguised or perhaps the one who is royalty and not on the path to die, dead or alive, as long as he is brought to Nicholas, you get them. Tick tick, you got four hours to go." Mike felt a chill run down his spine and just noticed something. Each of the envelopes was made to a particular name. Somebody had taken the time to.... not someone. Mystification. The villain had stolen files and then got a third party to host the games. Or was Nicholas a willing participant? He wasn't sure, but either way, this couldn't be good. He dragged Dean into the zoo.

And just when things couldn't get any worse, he went into the zoo; The whole place seemed to be empty and there were a ton of penguins, particularly emperor penguins. 4 hours to find exactly one emperor penguin. One who is royalty and poorly disguised. What did that even mean? It seemed others were already searching. Standing not searching was a man. Maybe he knew something about the poorly disguised penguin.

@slifer @Draku69 @jeshem @Astroblaze

Nicholas Harris, Layla Jones, Garrett Gunn and Wyatt

Nicholas didn't stop Spectre from burning the potions. He teleported out of the area and just simply shrugged. He looked at Garett and then the hero and didn't try to run. "I can assure you that my serum is entirely-" Before he could finish the sentence, someone who had taken the serum fell over of a heart attack " Mostly-" As Felicity would try to grab a rose, a civilian who had taken the potion would try to blast her with water. " Somewhat-" A second civilian literally ran into the fire to try and grab the potion. Garrett would send a warning shot to keep them from hurting themselves.

" Doesn't look like the serum is safe at all. That being said, what do I know? Just an ME here. But it seems to cause heart attacks, shifts in moods and is incredibly addictive. I'm not saying the FDA wouldn't try to approve this, but I am saying I wouldn't be trying to take one anytime soon. Speaking of things.... I may not be the biggest hero fan, but I really do think some of you should head down to the airport. From that recording Myst just gave, sounds like she is using a hero down at JFK to hurt civilians. Case #13. Meta was mind controlled and hurt civilians. Set the precedent for Collateral to take accountability of the actual villain, though it doesn't always work. "

" Miss Jones, it never works. Case #13 was supposed to make things better, but nobody ever looks into the mind control to catch the real villain, easy to get the hero to pay the damages then expend resources," a man said, looking over. " Wyatt, collateral defense lawyer. I came here because the department sent me to this train wreck in progress. Should have known that the Shadow had something to do with this," Wyatt replied.

Garett looked over at Emerald Dream and gestured for her to talk with him away from the crowd. " I know that Nicholas has the best intentions, but I don't think this crowd is going to be happy about what is happening. But I do have something for you." He took a case file out of his side jacket pocket. Case #1. " I know this isn't one of the "five" cases, but, case #0 connects was a small scale case- but when connected to Case #1, it would be very bad indeed. So, just make sure it doesn't happen."

@Astroblaze @Gands
 
Last edited:
  • OMG
Reactions: Astroblaze
anime-guy-suit.jpg


Gabriel sat in a police station lobby. He sat around on his cellphone playing a game. He had been called in to deal with a crisis, but his contact was busy. Inside his jacket was his pistol (Don't worry, he had a permit. He was all above board.), some ammo, and a vial of holy water. He was dressed in a fine suit and tie, and carried a cup of Starbucks coffee. Officers ran around, responding to various calls and clamoring. Radio chatter would spark up occasionally, talking about one issue or another in some part of the city. It seemed like the whole city was falling apart.

He tapped a few buttons, setting up a list of various demons and angels to summon if this required them. He liked being prepared and forming a good mix with backups for what might lie ahead. He whistled as he did this, an almost listless yet haunting song that he didn't know where he had heard it.

He finally shrugged and approached the precinct's front desk. He rapped his fingers against it as he spoke. "Gabriel Angelus, Templar Detective Agency. I was called?" He said politely and firmly, the New York and London accents blending.​
 
  • Like
Reactions: Astroblaze
Felicity
Samuel
Felicity Alerio | Samuel Alerio
April 3, 2018 | noonish | Manhattan, NYC—Central Park

Ana (@Huntress), everyone in the park
John/Spectre (@Astroblaze), civilian NPC

Felicity released a startled 'oof' as she collided with a tall figure who seemingly materialized directly in front of her, inhumanly strong hands latching onto her shoulders as she recoiled backward. Once she'd regained her balance and composure, the teen looked up to identify the one who'd gotten in her way and curious annoyance rapidly shifted into an angry glare as she recognized Spectre's new ally.

"Oh great, you again," she snapped. "Here to treat me like an idiot again? I'm not a child anymore."

Okay so maybe Ana's earlier words had hurt her more than she admitted.

The girl jerked herself out of the metahuman's grasp, hands balling into fists at her sides. "I can handle myself. How about you go help Spectre—you know, the one who's actually in legitimate danger because the event guy probably isn't going to be too happy about him destroying all his stuff—instead of babysitting me?"

Without waiting for an answer, she promptly shoved past Ana, stalking toward the rose that she had spotted.

As she reached to pluck it from under the bush sheltering it, a blast of frigid, near-solid wet slammed into her shoulder, forcing a startled shriek from the girl as she was launched sideways. She hit the ground hard with a grunt, tumbling a few feet before rolling to a stop.

Tensely watching the interchange from a distance, Samuel froze in horror at her scream. The wind reacted immediately, the gentle breeze quickly kicking up a few notches around him, but he barely noticed. Already he recalled the figure looming over him. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, alone and defenseless in a place he never expected to be at risk. Unwilling to start but helpless to stop. He had almost died at the hand of a metahuman, and now another was attacking his little sister. He had to protect her.

"Felicity!" he cried out, starting forward.

The wind howled around him. The young man staggered as wild gusts haphazardly barraged him from all sides, stinging his skin and tugging at his hair. Outward-moving blasts seized upon the foliage throughout the area, setting tree-limbs thrashing and rattling the undergrowth. Braced against the gale with his jacket clutched tightly about him, Samuel watched the rapidly expanding tempest in dismay and growing desperation until a sudden buffet directly into his back knocked him flat on his face in the dirt.

It was happening again. It was happening again and he couldn't stop it.

Hyperventilating in terror, he could do little more than curl up where he had fallen, head tucked into his chest and clutched between his arms, and hope he could survive. His panic only strengthened the screaming squall as it swept wildly through the park, bombarding all present with the sheer force of a hurricane.
 
JohnR
John Reidenbach/Spectre
April 3, 2018 | noonish | Manhattan, NYC—Central Park

GRC NPC, Emerald Dream (@Gands)
Layla Jones (@LuckycoolHawk9), Agent Fury (@Astroblaze), Samuel Alerio (@Astroblaze), Felicity Alerio (@Astroblaze), Ana Kestner (@Huntress), Draku (@Draku69)

Spectre listened to Layla's warning with mounting alarm. Quickly running through a rough mental map, he calculated fourteen miles to the JFK airport from the park at a straight shot. He could make that in seconds. But at the same time, Agent Fury would already have reached the zoo by now, and if he beat Spectre to the documents, the mercenary would doubtlessly give them literal hell to regain them.

"Spectre!"

Distracted by a strangely familiar voice, Spectre turned slightly over one shoulder as a young man dashed up to him, clutching a pink rose.

"I overheard you talking with the mercenary asshole," the stranger breathlessly explained, offering him the rose. "Here, you need this way more than anyone else. Code is Talking Penguin," he added as Spectre accepted the flower, and grinned. "Go get 'em."

Spectre returned the encouragement with a nod. "Thank you."

As he turned away, the mutant vigilante paused with a thoughtful frown. The young man still seemed so oddly familiar. He never forgot a face, and he... Five years ago: the natural ghost portal near the supermarket that he had just barely missed. This young man had been there.

He turned back to the stranger. "GRC?"

The young man nodded with a grin.

Returning the nod, Spectre turned away as the young theorist disappeared into the crowds again, turning his attention to the rose he now held. Well, that made things a bit easier, but he still had conflicting priorities to negotiate. He could reach the airport significantly faster than most if not all of the heroes present, but Fury couldn't be left to his own devices. Looking around, he spotted a familiar green-haired heroine nearby and an idea sprung to mind.

A swift half-glide carried him to Emerald Dream and he offered her the rose. "Dream, we have to beat Fury to the documents or he's going to screw us over as much as he can before we can get them back. Take this and go to the zoo. The code is Talking Penguin." Once she had accepted the flower, he stepped back, preparing himself to launch off. "I'm going to the airport to see how I can help there."

"Felicity!"

The shout was Spectre's only warning before sudden screaming gales nearly knocked him off of his feet. Recovering rapidly, he turned his attention in the direction of the young voice in time to watch the abrupt weather shift throw Samuel to the ground. Searching for the boy's sister, he found her attempting to pick herself up off of the ground a short distance away. What happened? Had they been attacked? The hero found himself starting toward the pair and stopped, torn. He had promised to protect them, but Ana and Draku already accompanied them. The airport, on the other hand, had no one, and if the ME's report was reliable, people could die. As much as he hated to leave them, he had to trust that his allies could assist the two young ones. He had a duty to uphold.

Refusing himself any further doubt, he turned and kicked off the ground, rocketing straight upward into the sky. At altitude, he twisted in midair and shot off, angled due southwest where he could just faintly glimpse the airport towers on the horizon.
 
Last edited:
Vanessa O'Toole aka Emerald Dream

Dream watched in the midst of a steadily growing circus like crowd. Metas, meta wanna be, curious civilians and food vendors. This was starting to get incrementally worse when Specter turned the remaining pile of experimental drugs into green flaming garbage.

"Uh Oh"

The crowd was getting closer to a Riot. To her left, a brand new Meta shot water at a teenager bending over. She used super accupressure, two seconds and water guy went unconscious. Two steps further towards Specter and another idiot heading towards the green flame table, thump, toss... not burned. Another couple of steps towards Specter... he moves.... (sigh) frustration... Then one of Harris's guys waves her over, she listens and takes something from him, pushing it under a flap in her armor.

"Thank you"


Then Specter, finally

A swift half-glide carried him to Emerald Dream and he offered her the rose. "Dream, we have to beat Fury to the documents or he's going to screw us over as much as he can before we can get them back. Take this and go to the zoo. The code is Talking Penguin." Once she had accepted the flower, he stepped back, preparing himself to launch off. "I'm going to the airport to see how I can help there."

"Crap, alright Specter... go. "

Inside, she gave herself a rare internal rant. Part of her brain heard a scream... Then.... Wind... not wind but WIND. More internal curses, these now in.. Gaelic. She took out a small box. She made a selection and pulled out a pair of metallic additions to put onto her boots. Usually used for counter gravity to run up walls, she reversed the polarity and now they kept her from blowing off. Even as she took time to do that, she saw a hot dog cart fly by. There... she found Anna, she jogged over to the other woman.

Coming from one side, she noticed Anna was ... confused perhaps ? A lot had happened to her the last day or so and it wasn't going to get easier for any of them. Time went by slowly, fractionally for Vanessa as she stood there. It was a fact she wasn't good with people. It was another fact she hadn't had much chance or interest since early college in sex or sensuality. The larger part of her brain, used to rules, logic and common sense didn't approve of what she planned to do now

She walked up to Anna, getting quite close, pulling her goggles up to look the other woman eye to eye. Gently placing her hands at the back of the other woman's neck, Nessa lifted her self up on her tippy toes and gave Anna a long kiss on the lips.

She withdrew, a slight smile on her face.

"Sorry, I had a Disney movie running through my head, hoping to wake the princess with a kiss ! We have a lot to do Anna, We have to beat the bad guys to the Prize in the Zoo. Can you find a way to turn this wind off before someone gets killed ? For the record by the way.. I find you completely attractive when you aren't yelling at me ! "
 
  • OMG
Reactions: Astroblaze
April 3rd - 2018 – Central Park, NYC

Walking out of the MET Meghan kept her head low, eyes to the ground as she shoved her hands into her pockets. Her thoughts were quick, she recounted, thought, reconsidered. She knew her reaction and her tone had been sudden, uncalled for. Meg didn't typically act out like that, ever...yet somehow Ana made her turn off that filter she had, the process that made her think before saying or acting, the exact opposite of Anastasia's reactions.

Sighing heavily she stopped walking and closed her eyes with a small shake of her head. Looking back towards the museum she half turned to glance at the entrance, an explosive sound startling her, like a jet breaking through the sky above. Her attention was quick to to shoot in the direction where she thought it had come from. The speck of something foreign in the sky just being caught by emerald eyes as it faded further up into the clouds. Her attention lingered as she swallowed back with an expression she wasn't too sure what to make of. Was it fear? Excitement? Worry? Awe? The blonde was conflicted, it felt like all those things, but it all boiled down to their relation to one person, Ana.

There was a sharp exhale as her heart started to race with nervousness, beating against her chest. Turning in the direction of Central Park she walked briskly, breaths quick but controlled as she made her way to the so-called meeting point everyone had planned on convening at.

April 3rd - 2018 – Central Park, NYC

“Hey relax, I am trying to help.” Ana called out towards Felicity who pushed passed her to get to the stupid rose. “He's confident enough in himself, he doesn't need me there. I'm trying to keep you and whoever else isn't dumb enough to take that bullshit drug, safe.”

‘There's always the idiots who will take the drug or crack open the bottle…’ Gritting her teeth at the internal statement Ana shook her head and pushed down anything before it surfaced.

This whole thing was bullshit. This stupid set up by these assholes trying to take advantage of the desperate idiots that wanted something they would regret shortly after. Anastasia wasn't any better in a sense, desperate selfishness winning over everything so she could keep her secrets and hopefully retain whatever she had left with Meghan...if there was anything left. Clenching her jaw she glanced at Sam, the brother before turning towards Felicity. Her surroundings weren't being paid attention to, her mistake for getting caught up in her own nonsense.

She neither heard nor saw the assailant, she simply witnessed the contact and seemingly painful aftermath. Ana was quick to spring into action, following the trajectory of the attack she caught the green costumed heroine dealing with the issue, amber eyes turned back to the young woman. She started to move, violent winds picking up in the surrounding area. Her hair whipped around viciously, strands blocking her vision as she braced herself firmly against the ground after a strong push had caused her to sidestep. Bending at the knees with her teeth bared the cobblestone beneath her cracked. There was a grunt as she stepped forward, each stomp causing cursed collateral damage to one of the many walkways of the park.

Glancing over towards Sam with narrowed eyes she watched him stumble to the ground from the unnatural force that was growing stronger with each passing moment. Exhaling heavily in determination she pressed on towards the girl who was struggling to regain her balance. The gusts were loud, deafening almost as they ripped and whistled through the air, even breathing within it was almost a struggle. As Ana grew closer to Felicity she lowered herself slightly before working towards helping her up. “I can help you. Just let me.” She found herself speaking loudly as her left reached for the young woman’s wrist. “Can you make this stop?” Her exposed features were narrowed against the wind.

She wouldn’t allow her to fight against her help this time. Taking hold of Felicity’s wrist Ana’s right arm circled around the middle of her back as she took the young woman into her arms. Gripping her tightly, even if it was against her will, the brunette’s attention turned to the young man on the ground. Continuing to fight against the manipulated force of nature she stomped towards him. Collateral be damned. Placing her down gently next to her brother Anastasia remained close to the two of them. These winds were vicious enough to snap branches and maybe even uproot some tree’s, she couldn’t allow them to get hurt. Sure there was a slew of other people in this park that were probably dealing with the same winds but there was also supposed to be a shit ton of heroes in the park as well, Ana was confident that they were better off dealing with all the other innocents than she was.

Bringing her arm up to block some of the dirt that was kicking up she kept narrowed eyes on the two before her, a small step back following as she stood there, confused and unsure of how else to help in this situation. Would it be worse if she just took Sam and flew away with him somewhere? A secluded space? Somewhere that less damage could be caused, with fewer individuals in the vicinity?

There was motion in the corner of her eye that was quick to cut the questions from continuing forward. Turning to look towards the approaching, green suited figure, Ana remained silent as she watched Vanessa with her jaw clenched. ‘Had something happened?’ She wondered. No words came from the other just the action of removing her goggles, eyes locking as the other got closer. “Is—” Her sentence was muffled by foreign lips pressing against her own. Ana’s eyes grew wide as she tried to pull back, the other woman’s grip strong enough to keep her in place. Vanessa broke the kiss that left Ana standing there even more confused. ‘What the fuck was that for? Why?’ She closed her slightly agape mouth and swallowed back as she shook her head. Her attention coming back to the woman. “Wh—” Vanessa was speaking before Anastasia could ask her question, which would shortly be answered...somewhat. “I’m uh- I’m trying to figure it out.” She stuttered slightly as another strong gust had her bringing her arm up to cover her face from the dust blowing about.

The only thing she could think was ‘why?’ Why had she done that...despite the...awkward explanation. If anything, her confusion just grew. Looking back down at the siblings she flicked her gaze back to Vanessa again. “If you can get to the zoo, go. I’ll meet you there, once this whole thing is settled and dealt with.” She explained. It would also allow her some more time to process the most recent events. Could this day get weirder...or worse?

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
INTERACTIONS:

ANASTASIA
- Astroblaze - Felicity Alerio
- Gands - Emerald Dream



MENTIONS:
- Astroblaze - Samuel Alerio
 
Draku stood by with his head mostly in the clouds as he awaited Daniel's return, his superior hearing allowing him to keep up with all that surrounded him; from the awe inspired gasps of someone using the super powered enhancements all the way up to when the white haired hero announced the dangers of the injections. That's when Draku snapped back to reality.
He was aware of two things for certain: one, Daniel was probably gonna do as he pleased when it came to the tpg and two, he had to do something to help control the situation. What was supposed to be a change of pace from his everyday, turned out to be a complete cluster fuck as things seemed to completely take a turn for the worst as a full blown riot began to take effect in the streets. From the corner of his eye he spotted the young woman named Felicity dart forward with her brother close behind. That's when things began to get interesting for him.
As she tumbled to the ground the wind seemingly picked up from the gentle breeze that it once was and as her name escaped her brother's lips the wind only grew more fierce. Draku would merely grin as he watched the other heroes springing into action, seemingly unfazed by the violent gales of wind; his duster whipping about behind him in all directions.

He would take a quick scan of the park searching for his friend, spotting him against a sizable tree pointing in Felicity and Samuel's direction; mouthing the words, go help them. With a brisk nod Draku would begin closing the distance between them, pausing momentarily to blush at the sight of the two women with them exchanging what he saw as a very passionate kiss, before taking a knee next to the two youngsters, "How's it going kid?" he'd ask as he extended a hand to whomever wished to take it.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Astroblaze
Felicity
Samuel
Felicity Alerio | Samuel Alerio
April 3, 2018 | noonish | NYC—Central Park

Ana (@Huntress), Draku (@Draku69), each other

Felicity lay sprawled on her stomach where she had landed when her momentum had finally run out, shoulders aching both where the frigid blast had hit her and where she had met the unforgiving dirt. Roused by her brother's outcry, she turned over one shoulder just in time for a sudden blast of wind to blind her.

Oh no.

Squinting against the gales screaming around her, she started to struggle toward the curled up figure she could just barely glimpse, keeping low to the ground in her crawl. She could feel herself trembling, uncertain if it was more from the wind turning her soaked clothing to ice on her skin or from the terror that any blast from the force howling around her could snatch her up like a ragdoll if she even attempted to stand.

She hadn't moved far when she stiffened, sensing a figure looming over her. The familiar voice was something of a relief but she was still conflicted, the hurt of Ana's words still fresh in her mind but recognizing despite her attitude that the woman was genuinely trying to help. She found herself unwilling to struggle as strong arms encircled her and lifted her from the dirt, but lifted her gaze to meet the ambers at her question, her own eyes filled with frightened uncertainty.

"I... Maybe?" She had to try. If he didn't calm down and soon, she honestly wasn't sure what would happen to him, and everyone else in the park with him.

Hiding her face behind her free arm, she clung to Ana as the woman doggedly struggled across the shockingly short distance to Samuel, only loosening her grip when she felt the ground under her again. So close to Samuel himself, the winds weren't quite so relentless, biting cold but irregular. Rolling over toward him, Felicity cautiously laid a hand on his shoulder. "Samuel?"

The young man stiffened at the touch but slowly lifted his head from between his arms, pale blue eyes wide and stricken with fear meeting her concerned hazel. Then, in an unsteady whisper: "Felicity?"

Wrapping her slender arms around him as well as she could with the awkward angle, Felicity pulled him into a hug. "It's okay, Sam," she murmured, trying to reassure him. "I'm okay."

Samuel's grip on her was much more forceful, desperation in every tight line of his shaking form. "I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here."

"It's okay," Felicity murmured, letting him cling to her as to her immense relief the hurricane around them gradually dissipated to a brisk but harmless breeze.

A familiar voice caught her attention and the teen looked up to watch Draku kneel next to them. "Oh... Hi, Draku." Samuel stiffened at the unfamiliar name and Felicity quickly reassured him "It's okay, Sammy: he's a friend."

He didn't seem reassured, his only response repeating the plaintive "I don't want to be here..."
 
Draku nodded with a small smile at Felicity's words, again looking for Daniel; only to notice he was no longer where he spotted him before coming to Sam and Felicity's side. He would twist his lip slightly before looking to Sam and Felicity, "How bout we get you guys out of here then?" He'd ask, standing to his full height and looking to the woman who stood nearest to them, "Agreed?"

-----------------------------

Daniel took a deep breath as Draku reached the children from earlier, his attention now turning to the steadily growing riot as the wind settled about them, exhaling slowly before darting off into the streets. If there was one thing he and Drak had come to an agreement about, it was that the needs of the many came before their own and right now there were very many who needed them.
Daniel grinned as he skidded to a halt, the sight of an unruly group of individuals surrounding a vehicle; one which contained a fearful mother and her children, filling him with a very unusual sense of excitement. Perhaps it had to do with his love fighting, always ready to accept the challenge of multiple opponents, or perhaps it had to do with the fact that just moments before Draku spotted him by that tree, he had just injected himself with the TPG. He heard the guy warn everyone, but right now he didn't care. Besides. He liked to party. Drugs were his friends. He should be straight. Either way, he was gonna handle this situation. TPG or not.

"YOOOOO!!" He'd shout, arms held wide open; welcoming the violence, "I get flipping cars and everything has got to be fucking exhilarating, but how bout we try to bring some of the fun my way, yeah?"
 
Jonas Harris

Jonas quietly watched as everyone calm the boy down and all the audience in the park. He knew that Mystification was amongst them, but didn't say anything about it or Garrett's apparent betrayal to his father. He looked around and disappeared. To anyone who noticed him, he was just gone. Almost as if he hadn't been there in the first place. He had looked bored. For a moment, he would appear by the park, wondering if he should make things easier but then again... He glitches over to Logan in his shifted form, but once again it felt wrong. Too simple. He glitches into the ambulance and then over to the hospital. Once again, making things easier was not his forte. He blinked and decides, as he glitches next to Matthew.

Matthew Harris /Twiggy

Matthew took a deep breath, being out on his daily jog in the park in his superhero suit and for a moment, felt dizzy. That couldn't be good. Before he could steady himself, he would find that thing standing next to him. Of course, he had heard of the thing and he knew his mother had wanted him involved with the thing, but he just really wanted to focus on college and doing small superhero jobs. Well, that certainly didn't seem that was going to be the case. He had literally been dragged here. " So, I'm assuming that you want something out of me," he said.

The thing was leaning nearby on a tree. "Step right up, get yourself involved , you know you miss the spotlight. It's good to finally meet you,brother " Matthew didn't share the sentiment of either view. He wasn't happy to meet him and he sure as hell didn't think of that thing as a brother. The thing made a glitch to an on fire airport. ... Fuck. As much as he wanted to punch the thing, he cares more about the civilians.

Matthew didn't even need to think for a second, speeding into the scene and tilting his head at the unconscious man on the other side before dialing 911 for him. Hopefully, it was enough.

Once he was done, Jonas would glitch back, out of breath and collapsing on the table. God, glitching was exhausting. And just for a moment, a single moment before everything went dark, reality glitched. For just a second, there was this feeling something had happened but nobody knew what.

And in that second, the residence of one Cyndee and Aimee and one Penelope along with their stuff would find themselves far far away along with one other male that was important to the city...but he wouldn't even be noticed to be gone.

@Gands @Astroblaze @Huntress @Minerva @jeshem @slifer @Draku69
 
Last edited:
Valerie
Meghan
Valerie Newmann | Meghan O'Neill
April 3, 2018 | noonish | NYC—bridge near Central Park

collab with @Huntress
Martin (@Astroblaze), Ana (@Huntress), John/Spectre (@Astroblaze), Vanessa (@Gands), Amiee (Michale CS), Mystification (@LuckycoolHawk9), Samuel (@Astroblaze), Fey (@Astroblaze)

Meghan's nerves hadn't faded once she arrived at the bridge. The park had seemed a little more chaotic than usual, but it wasn't surprising considering what she had learned. Their meet-up location seemed safe, for the time being. Meghan was fidgety, playing with her fingers and hands as she paced a little, her breaths quicker than normal. Worried eyes flicked from the ground and her feet to her hands and her surroundings. Sighing heavily, she leaned her back against the railing, her attention fully on her hands now. The city, as always, was buzzing, but she wasn't hearing anything out of the ordinary for New York: sirens wailing, horns honking, cabbies cursing, street food vendors trying to sell their goods. Clenching and unclenching her jaw, she stopped with her hands and took hold of the banister behind her, emerald eyes looking off to the right through the park. Would they take long to settle this? It had sounded like a serious situation, a lot of moving parts, and she was just supposed to stand here and wait? Perhaps going back to the bar would've been smarter, although Meg knew that her anxiety wouldn't fade even if she wasn't this close to the whole thing.

After wrapping up her conversation with Martin, Valerie had returned her phone to her bag and set out with a brisk stride for the bridge where the group had planned to meet. She wasn't entirely sure what she'd do once she reached it. Wait for the others, she supposed. It wouldn't be all that smart to get herself into a situation with so many metahumans involved already. She couldn't help a slight smirk to herself at that thought, though—as if she'd let logic govern her actions helping Spectre sometimes.

When she stepped onto the bridge a little while later, she spotted a familiar and unexpected figure already waiting there. After Meghan's outburst at Ana, Valerie had expected the blonde to just return home, but here she was.

"Oh, hey, Meghan," she greeted the other woman, approaching her. "I thought you were headed home."

Footsteps entered Meghan's ears, her gaze turning towards the sound. There was a small exhale of relief as she gazed upon a recently familiar figure. "Hey. Valerie, right?" she questioned as she pushed off the railing and put her hands in her pockets. "I uh- yeah," she chuckled, "I was gonna go home—well, back to the bar, actually—but I thought that maybe I'd be able to help here somehow. I'm not sure why or in what way, but..." She paused for a moment and shook her head to dismiss the thought. "Doesn't matter. I'm here now, so I guess it's just a waiting game for us?" Meghan hadn't done this before, she wasn't sure how it worked. "You've done this before, yeah?" Her question held a hint of hopefulness to it. If Valerie knew how to deal with something like this, perhaps Meg would be a little less anxious? She could hope.

Valerie nodded her understanding and agreement. "I don't usually get involved in the action side of things—more behind the scenes clean-up after the fact—but I have some field experience." Resting an arm on the banister, she leaned slightly into it as keen brown eyes scanned the park, noting a flurry of activity in a distant, crowded area and wondering with a frown if that was the location of the event. "I'm not sure what we mere mortals can contribute," she added, somewhat jokingly. "The only plan of action I've come up with is to wait for the others to rendezvous here once the event is over." She returned her attention to Meghan, free hand patting the flap of the messenger bag slung at her hip. "Don't want to risk damaging the documents either."

"Oh," Meg stated simply. "Mere mortals indeed." She chuckled slightly and looked towards the location that she had spotted Valerie looking towards. Bringing her attention back to the other, Meghan looked down at the bag and nodded slightly. "Right. I forgot you had that." She spoke mostly to herself. "Guess we both should've just headed back to the bar. Probably would've been safer there, for us and the paperwork." She pointed towards the bag.

Their words seemed to have come to an end for a bit after that, the silence growing heavy. Clearing her throat, the blonde looked towards the brunette. "How long have you known Ana for?" she asked. It was never mentioned upon their first meeting, and Meghan never recalled hearing about a "Valerie" from Anastasia. It seemed that Meg was the open book between the two and Ana was the one keeping all the secrets. It was painful to think about. She had spilled everything out to her friend, the same person that was now keeping Meghan in the dark. That tiny little spot where the blonde held her anger was screaming at her and hoping that Ana had a damn good reason for keeping whatever else she was keeping from her.

Valerie hummed thoughtfully, considering that for a moment as she glanced back over the park. "I still have the keys to Vanessa's limo," she mentioned, "so we could head back to the bar. It's just a matter of the others knowing where we went." She paused, then added more seriously, "I'm also a bit uneasy about straying too far from those who could protect us, considering how little we know of this Mystification's intentions."

She chuckled slightly to herself at the blonde's query. "A couple hours, maybe? John introduced us outside the courthouse so we could accompany each other to the MET," she elaborated. "Prior to that, I only knew of her from what John told me about last night."

Meghan's eyes strayed from Valerie as she removed her hands from her pockets and folded them across her chest. Turning around, she rested against the wall again, leaning back just slightly as her eyes scanned the green park. "The ones who could protect us but just as easily hurt us," Meghan muttered. "You have a good point though, I can't argue that. We have no idea who or what this Mystification is capable of." Her attention turned back to Valerie. "When others can fly, jump super high or run really fast... I just find it hard to feel safe in open spaces," Meg chuckled. "So don't mind me and my subtle paranoia." She swallowed back and looked in the direction of the more central area of the park, where the commotion was certainly happening although she wasn't getting too much noise in the brisk wind.

"A couple hours?" Meghan's brow came up as she looked towards Valerie with slight confusion. "It seemed like you two were comfortable in each other's presence. Made it look like you'd known one another for some time," she explained as she crossed one leg over the other with a small smile. "I know that Ana doesn't open up to people very easily, let alone get comfortable in the presence of a stranger. You must've done or said something pretty impressive." Meghan chuckled a little as she looked to the other.

There was a heavy sigh from the blonde as she swallowed back and looked to the ground, leaves rustling as strands of her hair flew about in the small gust. Her eyes came up, jaw clenched. All they could do was wait and watch from a distance. Patience was important in this situation and thankfully Meghan had plenty of that to go around, despite the nagging nerves that occasionally made her heart stutter.

Valerie smiled reassuringly. "You don't have to apologize for being afraid. I'm a little uneasy myself, and I'm sure I'd be more so if I had less experience working with metas." She shrugged. "Honestly, it'd be foolish not to be considering our situation."

She considered Meghan's final remark for a moment. "Well," she admitted, "she did save my life." Figuring that would only bring up questions, she added for clarification, "We got in a pretty serious wreck on the way to the MET. If Ana hadn't seen the truck coming, I would've been crushed. Life and death scenarios like that tend to bring people together." The young woman thought back to the ride to the MET. "We also spoke some about metas in the car. I guess hearing about my relationship with John encouraged her to consider me sufficiently trustworthy."

Meghan's brow came up, confusion and intrigue coming across her features as she slowly turned to look at Valerie. Was that just a thing Ana did? Just save select people and perhaps benefit from them after? The blonde scoffed at her own thoughts and shook her head. Why was she even thinking of something like that? When had Anastasia ever shown manipulative tendencies? When had she ever taken advantage of Meg, or used her? Another sigh came from her as she swallowed back before bringing her straying gaze back at the woman next to her. Was she harboring more anger than she thought? Was there something else in the depths of her mind that was causing her to make such ridiculous assumptions?

"You look practically unscathed," she commented rather simply as she took in Valerie's appearance. She didn't seem like a woman to exaggerate and Meghan had no reason not to believe the severity of the accident. Looking at Ana would yield no results: she was literally bulletproof as far as Meghan was concerned.

"Could be, but I wouldn't bet on it." she chuckled. "Connections and relationships also mean nothing to her. She gauges and judges someone based on who they are as an individual. You could be best friends with the president and she wouldn't give a damn." There was just a small smile this time. "If she deemed you unworthy of her trust and loyalty, you could bring the world down on her or give her anything she could ever want, but she wouldn't budge. There's literally no way to change her thoughts about someone unless they prove it to her." She finished with her brief explaination. "You're in her good books, trust me when I say that and it has nothing to do with who you know. Just don't take advantage of her and don't betray her. She doesn't deserve it, despite the rough, blunt and stubborn exterior. If you let her warm up to you, you're likely to see a different person." Meghan looked away with a long sigh. "She doesn't have a lot of people she trusts and it takes time for her. I can tell you from experience, that when she gets there, it's worth it." Green eyes returned to brown ones.

No one was a perfect fit with another, there would always be bumps along the road, but enduring the small hiccups made the end result worth it. Meghan was certainly upset with Ana's recent choices to lie and keep secrets, but that wouldn't destroy the importance of who they were to one another. It was all just a test to see how strong their bond was—at least, that's how Meg would look at it. Everyone had walls and layers; Ana's were simply stronger and thicker than others. Meghan was patient and she'd eventually make her way in, hopefully.

Valerie took note of the myriad emotions that flickered across Meghan's face at her words but chose not to pry. Whatever Ana and Meghan had going on was none of her business. She simply shrugged at Meghan's observation.

"I've got a handful of bruises. They're just hidden." The marks along her legs where she collided with the seat and center console still ached but minutely enough that she'd since lost her earlier limp.

Listening quietly to Meghan's explanation, she eventually responded with a nod. "That sounds about right from what I've seen of her so far," she noted with a slight chuckle. "She advised me of much the same thing as well."

The young black woman turned to lean her back into the banister, folding her arms and tilting her chin slightly back in a contemplative posture.

"Ana seems like she's been through a lot," she observed, recalling the haunted look in the brunette's amber eyes as the metahuman had spoken of old horrors. "Struggles that tested the core of her being in such a way that she's almost afraid to bring them up again." Coffee-brown eyes fell to the rough stone at their feet. "I've seen that look before. I mainly work with Spectre nowadays, but I've taken the cases of plenty heroes in the course of my career—heroes ultimately worn down by everything they'd endured until they could endure no more." She chuckled again, wryly this time. "Similar to war veterans, but at least war veterans are mostly held in high regard."

Meghan chuckled with a small nod. "I believe you," she reassured Valerie about the accident. "Ana is good at taking hits, and dishing them out." There was another small laugh. "She’s also smarter than she looks." The blonde paused as she exhaled softly. The smile returned to her lips as she heard Valerie continue on. "She likes to keep it real with people." The smile grew wider but slowly began to fade as the other continued going on. Clenching her jaw, she nodded slowly, agreeing with what the other had to say. "Ana served, too. It’s surprising, the amount of things she’s been through in her life so far and she hasn’t even hit the thirty mark." Her small laugh held sadness. Meg wished she could carry on this conversation, but she was sure that wasn’t something Anastasia would approve of. "I’m sure she’ll open up to you in time, maybe even indulge you in her past. You’ve already made it through the first step with her." Cloudy emeralds gazed to the left, towards the other woman. Meghan hoped that Ana would continue to open up to her as well, the blonde wasn’t sure what more she could do to prove her trustworthiness to her friend, but she’d figure it out.

Valerie nodded in agreement, lips quirking in a slight smile. "I hope so. She's honestly a pretty fascinating individual."

She paused for a moment, smile fading to a somewhat introspective look. "I almost enlisted before I decided that I'd rather defend my fellow citizens on the home field," she admitted. "My dad's in active service right now." She looked down, lips pursing. "I've been thinking about him more than usual lately. I hope he's alright wherever he is now."

There was a small guffaw from the blonde, it almost bordered a scoff but was light-hearted, not irritated-sounding. "Fascinating indeed." Meg nodded with wide eyes and smiled as she looked away. "I've heard of various superpowered individuals, even met some on rare occasions. Now my opinion could be biased because I've spent so much time with Ana, but... to be honest, she can be rather scary. Thankfully I've never had to witness her go fullblown superhuman, and I hope I never do. That would be terrifying if I'm being honest—at least, based on what I know about her."

Meghan clenched her jaw and swallowed back, the mood growing heavy around the two as Valerie seemed to touch on a more serious subject. The blonde couldn't help but look towards her, listening.

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing. He's obviously come back to you before, he'll come back again. Just make sure to take advantage of every second you get with him. I'm familiar with the pain of losing a parent, or both. You don't realize how much you regret not doing or not saying... until it's too late." Her small smile dropped to a hint of a frown. "It's a weird feeling, something that I'd never wish upon anyone." She was trying to be reassuring, but she wasn't sure how well it was working out. It didn't feel like it was going too well, but Meg was hopeful that she managed to utter something worthy.

Though initially a bit startled by the abrupt laugh, Valerie nodded slightly to herself with a quiet hum at Meghan's words. She'd long since grown accustomed to rubbing shoulders with metahumans on a regular basis, considering how many had been a part of her childhood and especially now that working with them was an essential part of her career, not to mention that three of her closest friends were metas. She barely even considered what they were capable of anymore, but she could certainly understand why others could find them unsettling. Metas weren't feared for nothing, that was for certain.

She paused for a moment, listening to Meghan's encouragement, and nodded in agreement. "I've always harbored that thought in the back of my mind that someday he might not come back. That day hasn't come yet, but..." She shook her head, letting the sentence trail off incomplete, and looked to Meghan with a small smile that she hoped adequately conveyed her gratitude for the blonde's reassurance.

"I hope it stays that way and I hope that day never comes." Meghan smiled back towards Valerie, her attention turning back towards the chaos just across the water. So close, yet somehow so far. The commotion was barely audible, and yet the severity of the situation was pretty high. Was this the best place they could've used as their meet point? Should Meghan maybe consider using her bar as a place for them to all have a meet-up spot? At least till this whole Myst situation was dealt with. One of the active heroes must have a batcave-esque lair that they could all use later if they wanted to continue doing heroics.

She contemplated random thoughts as she folded her arms across her chest and sighed, her eyes focused on nothing particular. "Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be superhuman? Would you want something like that?" Stormy greens turned their attention to the other.

Valerie was silent for a moment, considering the question. "A time or two," she admitted. Pushing away from the banister, she stepped forward, hands folding in the small of her back as her eyes drifted along the pavement.

"To have that kind of power," she mused, half to herself, "where you can perform such incredible feats that no one knows what to think of you... At times maybe even having to disguise or lie about a part of who you are..." She shook her head. "I dunno. I think the ability could be exhilarating," she continued, turning back to Meghan, "but the hate could be stressful. Perhaps even the power loses its appeal after a while." She paused and shrugged. "But at the same time, I know just as many metas who thrive in that identity and couldn't imagine life without supernatural abilities as metas who'd just as soon be rid of their powers."

Meghan’s eyes never left Valerie as she watched her push away from the wall, listening. The blonde pondered the things that were being said, and for the most part she agreed. To have something that could help you in a time of need could have its uses, but to have something that you always had to be cautious of in the back of your mind seemed rather torturous and frustrating.

"I think your points are valid and fair. I agree with you. It’s fun and interesting to think about, but no further than that." She chuckled softly. "I’m not a fan of stressful situations." The blonde liked to think that she could keep her head level and try to analyze and break down situations to find the best outcome. That wasn’t always the case—especially in extremely tense and stressful moments—but she couldn’t say she didn’t try. "I’m pretty sure no one is a fan of stressful situations, let’s be honest." She chuckled slightly.

"Usually not," Valerie agreed with a slight laugh.

Glancing back toward the park in the lull in conversation, the young woman frowned, watching a familiar figure rise into the sky and zip off into the distance. "That was Spectre," she murmured, brow furrowing skeptically. She had observed her young vigilante friend in action often enough to recognize his particular black and white blur wherever she spotted it. Where was he going? The commotion in the park seemed to have settled a bit, but the situation didn't look anywhere near stable yet, even from the distance.

She turned her attention back toward Meghan—and her eyes widened. "Meghan, get down!" she shouted, stepping back as her hand flew to her hip where she kept her pistol in concealed carry under her jacket.

Meg nodded in agreement as she dipped her head slightly with a small smile. As her gaze slowly came up she spotted Valerie looking up towards something. Looking in the same direction she clenched her jaw. "One of your friends?" she asked.

As the young woman turned to look at her, the blonde narrowed her eyes slightly trying to understand the expression coming from the other. Her callout was startling and the blonde was quick to duck and turn to look behind her. The loud humming buzz whipped towards them, Meghan stumbling towards Valerie and almost colliding with the other woman’s legs.

Just inches away from Meghan’s feet, the bricks had charred and cracked, smoke rising up from the ground. Panting and wide-eyed, the blonde looked from the point of impact up towards the assailant.

The stranger approached them with a brisk walk, his arms tense, palms open wide as they faced the two women. Clenching his fists shut, he grinned, violent blue strands of electricity crackling up his arms before his right bent at the elbow and was pulled back.

"Fuck…" Meg muttered as she began to scramble up, trying to pass Valerie. 'So much for being safe here...' she muttered internally as her breaths were fast, heart racing.

Valerie's hand closed on an empty holster and she hissed a panicked "Shit!" under her breath. Of course: she had left her pistol in her car because most establishments, especially the courthouse, didn't allow firearms on the premises, so now they were standing unarmed and practically defenseless only feet away from—ironically considering what they'd just been discussing—a crazy meta.

Reacting on instinct to the meta's wind-up, Valerie grabbed Meghan's arm and hauled her sideways, the following blast splitting the air with a blinding flash so close to them that the woman felt the hair along her arms standing on end.

"Meghan, get behind me. Get behind me," she urgently ordered the blonde, pulling Meghan to her feet and pushing her behind herself without waiting for her reaction. Her pulse pounded in her ears but she gritted her teeth, unflinchingly staring down the meta with all the grim determination she wished she had as she stepped backward with his approach, still shielding Meghan.
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: Huntress