Epic Crossover IC - Metropolis Freeplay

[Michale CS]

Metropolis. The city most held up to symbolize the American dream. Liberty and Independence, Delaware's motto. Held tightly to by Metropolisians (or Metropolites, the terms are in about equal use).
A city shaped by its savior, Superman. A symbol of how one man can accomplish anything, and do the right thing, despite the outside pressures of the world and opposition.
Not that Metropolis doesn't have its dark side, it's ugly side. Many of its villains sit in glass skyscrapers, enacting their evils from inside of board rooms and on conference calls
There's a dark side to Metropolis. It just gets a new coat of paint and some shiny chrome to hide it.

Welcome to Metropolis.

LIke what you see? Join Epic Crossover!
​

 

[Sir Kaltao]

While he burned down the cig, Joe looked around at the other businesses and his eyes kept drifting to the cafe across the street. While not necessarily hungry, he felt he could go for some coffee and a sandwhich. He finished his cigarette with a long drag that burned it down to the filter, let out a plume of smoke like a dragon, and flicked it into a nearby trashcan before walking across the road to the cafe.

Once inside, Joe went to the register. He of course saw the largest man in the place, but paid him no more mind than anyone else.

"Tall latte with light cream, and a chicken panini to go, please." Joe ordered at the register and the cheery girl replied. "Right away. Name for the order?"

"Joe." He responded and paid then sat at a table near the register while he waited. He took a newspaper left behind and flipped to the comics, chuckling softly to himself at the antics of Garfield and the Lockhorns.

@Gands

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

James had no plans of leaving the other man behind. He didn't care if he tried to hand him ten business cards, he wasn't going to be budging any time soon. He could go for the dinner, but he also needed to return the flash drive. He could easily lie to the man, but he felt like that if he tried, he would see right through him. He had already been acting suspicious and he was sure that things couldn't get much worse. " I am going to stick around. I- found this thing the girl dropped and well, I have been trying to return it. I honestly don't want to go without doing that," he said.

@Sir Kaltao @Gands

 

[Gands]

Hercules

The big man smiled wide, looking James over once again.

" Lad, you are full of surprises. Well, since I have you here, what do you make of that shop ? I'd wager, it isn't what it seems.. Anyway, if it isn't, going in there yet, probably not the best idea. We don't want to embarrass her eh ? "

The big man looked over at James a little expectantly.

@LuckycoolHawk9 @Michale CS @Sir Kaltao

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

James smiled nervously back at him. He couldn't give himself away.

" I imagine that going in wouldn't be the best idea. If she knows what it is, she has gone in our own accord and if she doesn't, she obviously wouldn't have stayed in there that long," he replied back to the man, looking at the ground nervously.

James hoped that he had made the other man a little bit pleased.

@Gands @Sir Kaltao

 

[Sir Kaltao]

Behind his newspaper, Joe had started to eavesdrop on the conversation of the two men. So they were interested in the shop? The smaller man for a girl who had to be Felicity to return something. Innocent enough.

The other guy though. He was wary of the shop, and had intuited that it was more than that. The big one could be an agent of the hacker. But not likely. Either way neither presented a real threat to him at the moment.

"Joe?" The girl behind the counter called holding his latte and a bag. Joe put the paper down and thanked her then left. As he walked across the street he had a mind to turn around and wave at the two. Just to see what happened. He refrained.

Instead he came back into the back room, and sat at a table with his light meal.

"Went across the road for a snack. Would have asked if you two needed anything, but I don't care." He had a bite of his panini and after finished chewing informed the pair. "Oh and there's these two dudes watching the place over there. The one seems harmless, the bigger might be a problem though."

@Michale CS @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9

 

[Gands]

Hercules

" Well lad, did you see that ? That young man came out of the shop, had a smoke and walked over here to get a bite. He sat at that table for a while as they made his sandwich, probably heard some of what we were saying and walked back. Now, I want you to watch what happens, while I turn around and sit on the other side. "

With that, the big man moves his seat around to the other side of the table.

@Michale CS @Sir Kaltao @LuckycoolHawk9

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Felicity was busy doing her best to find the signal. It was strangely making her more annoyed that something hadn't come up yet, she knew that these things took time, but she had never exactly been a patient person.

Not helping with the situation was her father. It wasn't so much that he was doing anything wrong, his simple close proximity to her alone was annoying her. Where the hell had the other gone? She could understand some privacy, but this was excessive.

She was half-watching the screen and half-watching the door, hoping that something could distract her. She needed a buffer, someone besides her father to vent too, it wasn't that she didn't like the man as it was everything that was happening right now.

She watched the other man, finally reenter the room, it had taken him a pretty damn long time.

" It's a good thing that I ate before I got here, otherwise, I would be really, really annoyed at you," she bluntly stated, as she listened to what else she had to say. " I would ask, why you think the bigger one is the problem, but I honestly don't care. Are you sure the little one is entirely harmless? I mean, he is watching us."

Meanwhile, outside the shop, James was half-listening to what Hercules had to say. It wasn't that the man was boring, it was that the urge to steal something was getting more and more urgent and it was getting harder. " Sure, I can do that. I mean, that sounds like he was spying, but I will watch the door anyway," he said to him honestly.

James watched the door and tried not to scream from not stealing anything besides the flash drive.

@Gands @Michale CS @Sir Kaltao

 

[Michale CS]

The Nation's Newspaper

Strange Anomaly Has Experts Baffled
​

Today at exactly noon GMT, timepieces all over the world stopped for a full minute. Not only that, it appears from preliminary reports, that everything and everyone stopped as well. People report a strange paralysis in which they were aware of the world around them but were unable to move. Religions and cults across the world are heralding this as the start of the end times or some apocalyptic event, and financial markets worldwide are in an uproar, with both the FTSE and the DAX halting trading for the day while the futures markets for the NYSE, NASDAQ, TSE, and SEHK are all wildly volatile.

Experts in Astronomy and Physics are baffled, so some are turning to other explanations - either some sort of divine intervention or, strangely... Magic. Special divisions of SHIELD and other international organizations focused on such things are working diligently on an explanation.

More as this develops​

 

[Gands]

Calculator - some time later


After about an hour of painstaking screen watching and maneuvering our team has hit pay dirt at last.

" Got it, Felicity.. now now... "

Outside though, while Joe is peacefully smoking yet another cigarette, ....

A series of tiny mechanical devices might be seen climbing out of a sewer, not far from the shop. Did James spot them ?

@LuckycoolHawk9 @Sir Kaltao

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Felicity groaned as she waited for something to happen. There wasn't much she could do and happy when they got it.

" Got it. I am not blind, " she snarkily replied, as she did her thing.

James looked around nervously and weren't sure what to do now in this city.

James nearly missed them. The tiny mechanical devices that were climbing out of the sewer. What the hell were they? He decided to investigate.

@Gands @Sir Kaltao

 

[Gands]

Hercules

The big man continued to sip at his cocoa until James got up and started to wander away.

" What in blazes ?"

" Hmmn... that's not good... not good at all. "

The big man got up and picked up his duffle bag to sling over his shoulder and took out his golden mace.

" They never stay small by the way.. never "

@LuckycoolHawk9 @Sir Kaltao

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

James had forgotten that he had been eating food with Hercules and was more interested in the sewer creatures.

He ignored his first remark.

He also ignored the hero's second remark.

James looked over at the duffle bag and frowned when the golden mace had appeared. How had he missed something so cool to steal.

" What are they, exactly? I am sure I can be of some help."

@Gands @Sir Kaltao

 

[Sir Kaltao]

Joe had stepped outside again, to smoke a little more but also to keep an eye on the pair watching the shop. Felicity had a point, it was a rookie mistake to think the smaller one couldn't cause trouble. He had scoffed when the pair broke apart, as if that'd throw off suspicion. He had just flicked a cigarette butt at the nearest sewer drain, when he saw the small mechanical devices come crawling out.

"Well then, maybe the party's coming to me." He mused aloud as he watched the pedestrians start slowly fleeing as they saw the things coming out. He was shoulder-checked by one but didn't take any offense. As the big guy came out wielding a big golden mace, Joe clenched his fists and sent everyone running as his head and hands went aflame. This was Metropolis, so he expected any moment Superman would come and ruin their fun. All the more reason for him to get as much exercise as he could.

He watched one of them come up to him, and he drop-kicked it with his flaming right foot.

@Gands @LuckycoolHawk9

 

[Gands]

Metropolis

Inside the shop it becomes evident there is a third player now a second hacker of some type that seems to be complicating things incredibly. Felicities father adds a second computer to what he is doing, he isn't making any quips and seems to be very much concentrating on what he is doing now.

Outside, Hercules gives the flaming man a moments glance of the you have to be kidding me variety before he starts smashing the little robots. A couple slip past heading for James, mostly because there are quite a few of them. A few more are heading for the inside of the shop, trying to slip past where Joe is standing.

@LuckycoolHawk9 @Sir Kaltao

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Felicity was not happy about the prospect of a third person hacking and also worked silently to combat them. She really hated it when people tried to hack her hack, it angered her. She silently worked to make sure they were going down. She was pumping herself into maximum overdrive and that was saying something.

James really hated bugs. He hated the kind the crawl, but specifically the ones who tried to hurt him. He attempted to blow them up before they got too close to him. In case they somehow weren't blown up, he activated his shield, hoping it would make them bounce off of him. He really really hoped that this would work, but if it didn't he wouldn't resist curb stomping a few dozen bugs.

@Gands @Sir Kaltao

 

[Gands]

Metropolis The fix it shop

Inside Felicity and her father manage to trail their target back, to a Stark facility just outside of town, but, so do the other two hackers. ... That's right... two...

Outside, they cant seem to get to James with his shield up. Hercules and Joe are stomping many of them flat as the tide of mechanical bugs seems to slow.


@LuckycoolHawk9 @Sir Kaltao

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Felicity looked over at him. " Well, we tracked it down... I just feel like we are not the only ones to do it. I doubt we could redirect our little buddy for too long," she said.

James took a deep breath and kept his shield up. This was all because he had stolen a flash drive- god, what he had gotten himself involved in? Thankfully, it was over.

@Sir Kaltao @Gands

 

[Sir Kaltao]

Joe fried the bugs as they tried to pass him by, dousing them with flames and stomping them quite easily.

"Whoever made you, they need to go back to shop class." Joe said when he picked up one of the bugs and fried it in his hands, then chucked it at the others. He was tempted to scorch up the shop, just a little, and blame it on the battle, but he contained his more destructive impulses and continued to keep the things at bay.

He occasionally glanced over at the others. The smaller guy was visibly disgusted by the bugs, while the big one just smashed them. Whoever had sent these things, didn't take them too seriously.

@Gands
@LuckycoolHawk9

 

[Gands]

Metropolis, the fixit shop

Hercules stopped as there were no more of the small machines to smash. He looked around, noticing the flames, though it didn't seem to bother him.

" I don't think we were expected to be here. My name is Hercules and this is James. "

Hercules bends to pick up one of the wrecked little machines.

"Hmmnn, they seem to come equipped with needles and some sort of liquid. I don't think normal folk would have had as easy a time with these things as we did. You should check if miss Felicity is alright ? Whatever she is up to in there just became a lot more dangerous.

@Sir Kaltao @LuckycoolHawk9

 

[Sir Kaltao]

The flames around Joe went out suddenly, his flesh regenerating as he groaned and shook his head.

"Here I thought you two had been sent to spy on and eliminate me. Not that I was worried. For you maybe, not me." Joe took out his pack of cigs but found it empty and tossed the pack into a nearby can. He listened to the muscle guy and nodded when he was done. "On it. You and uh.....Cap's little brother can chill out here while I consult with the brains."

He picked up the nearest most intact bug and went back inside.

"How is it, brains? You must have something for a swarm of robo bugs to come after you." He said entering the back room.

@Gands
@LuckycoolHawk9