Epic Crossover - Suicide Squad "Bayou Leave"

As the two old men shared a drink, Slade relaxed, this guy was alright. "I really don't care about the mutants, their shit ain't my shit. I want to catch Morrow, Dr. Dupree, and his new invention. You think Morrow made a deal with that monster? What was stopping him from smashing Morrow into a pancake." He took the Everclear from Jonah and took a drink. "The League, in my opinion, is more concern with taking on bigger threats than the likes of Grundy or Morrow. They're good for world disasters and the likes of fighting giant purple starfishes."

Slade wondered who this Tyrone was, but it was none of his concern. He might need to talk to the man, he could have some useful information. Slade than tapped on his comlink. "Guys, a new friend of mine just told me Morrow was definitely at the grave a week ago. Apparently, he struck some sort of deal with that moron Grundy. Didn't know Grundy knew how to make a deal."

"Okay Jonah, should you show me your little friend barb, hope she's treating Red right."

@Breach @Dipper @Michale CS
 
At Tulane University...

Lieutenant Markham, over the phone with Warpath...
"Markham here... What sort of situation? All right, so we need a Cleanup team... How many do you need to exfil?... Fine. Hold tight for twenty minutes, you'll have to buy time. We'll make calls right away but until we have boots on the ground right there I don't want you to leave. Hang tight. It will be very obvious when we arrive."
Meanwhile...

The puzzle pieces simply start disintegrating like desiccated paper, but for one eerie moment, Bulwark swears he saw an eye appear on one of the pieces before it fell apart.

"So, gentlemen, we have twenty minutes to kill. I have taken the liberty of diving into the convoluted world of university grants, and I've found quite the stack of paperwork that normally needs to be filed to begin the process. I'm going to print these pages out, and I need one of you, possibly our 'Cyclops' to deliver them to that functionary outside our door. It should take at least twenty minutes for the man to work out how to dot all of the I's and cross all the T's... Meanwhile, 'Colossus' perhaps you should stay by the door, in case campus security gets uppity... I'll see what I can quickly transfer from his computer to my own... and I'll send off a little update to the rest of the team..."

@Gands @LuckycoolHawk9

He sent off a message in text to all of the members not present. ( Slade, Todd, Bane )
"While I was sorely tempted to posit you a riddle, I'll be direct. Dupree's dead by hanging in his office closet, but I believe it was a murder not a suicide. He has ties to UsCorp and its CEO Mariah Dillard, and it appears he had a fetish for using his little power-imbuement device on college girls then dressing them as superheroines. We are currently awaiting an exfiltration from an ARGUS cleanup team. Will keep you posted."

@Cush Almighty @Dipper @Breach

At Greenwood Cemetery...

"Kid, this is Solomon Grundy's graveyard. It's strange just because of that." Stan said, then suddenly snapped his fingers. "About a week ago, there was a van here from the Coroner's office. Not unusual, but usually they're delivering bodies to the funeral home, not taking from them. If that wasn't a real coroner's van it could have been Grundy being smuggled out. I don't get on shift until nearly six most days, I can call Gracie, she was the on shift daytime guard, to see if she remembers anything about that day."

"...And I sleep during the day usually, so I can stay up at night and watch Grundy's tomb. If they messed with it during the day, I won't have seen it. I mean, undead rise at night. How rude of them to take one out during the day, if that's what happened." Sitwell replied with an uneven shrug, his head tilting at an impossible angle for a living person, but then rocking back into place.

@Breach

At New Orleans Country Club...

"Sure. Now that the kids have had a chance to work out their aggression, we can all set here a spell. Now, I don't rightly know if there was a deal or a kidnappin' ta be honest." He stood and shook Slade's hand. "Son, if I ever decide it's time for me to check out of this world in a more permanent way, I'll be sure as shootin' to call you to take care of business. I got work to do on God's Green Earth yet, though. Granted it was Tyrone what gave this little branch of the Club their purpose but I'm behind it. Gettin' drugs off the streets and kids offa drugs. I know, it's a losin' battle, but if we can keep even one kid from going down that dirty path, it's worth it. I won't mince words, I killt plenty of fellas, and ladies even, fer money. Most times I didn't even care if they deserved it. But hurtin' kids, that's where I draw the line. Mebby I'm soft in my old age, but it's what's settlin' my soul fer now..." Hex tapped on an earpiece in his 'good' ear.

"Next time, Barb, leave yer body cam off when yer scufflin'. I had a hard time payin' attention to my company wit' yer fightin' noises in my ear. Get yerself ta th' infirmary and show yer dance partner ta the clubhouse, eh?"

Barb groaned and stood up. "Come on, boyo. Let's get."

@Cush Almighty @Dipper
 
At least one of them an had some kind of moral center. Didn't fit him too well, but then, Jason wasn't a particularly good judge of character.

Annoyance clear in his posture, Jason followed her nonetheless into the club. His trigger finger itched something awful where his arms hung loose, hands lingering almost threateningly close to his guns. Firmly patting the holsters, Jason sped up to catch with his new escort in the hopes that he could pry some more information out of her.

He cleared his throat. "Clubhouse, huh? Doing any arts 'n' crafts in there? Macaroni necklaces are the best."
 
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At Tulane University...

Five minutes go by, and Nygma pipes up... "I'm monitoring the ARGUS radio frequencies. Of course they think it's encrypted. Encryption is just a riddle, so, no, it's not. Not to me. In any event, they are executing what they call the Mandarin Protocol here at the University. I shall look to make sure this does not spell our demise..." He then continues hacking the ARGUS network.

Two minutes after that, he seems to relax, smiling. "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages." He refuses further comment at that time.

Ten minutes go by, and another call comes in from Lieutenant Markham. "In five minutes, the university will come under... 'attack' by what appear to be AIM agents. They're actually ARGUS. When you hear them arrive, please exit the building and begin driving off this 'attack'... but realize they are ARGUS agents, Mister Proudstar. I'd hate for you to make the same mistake twice. Stay near the window to DuPree's office. Two stealthed agents will enter that room. They're cleaners. Don't engage with them or interfere. Shortly after you've engaged in our little stage play, 'backup' will arrive. One of Stark's friends. Use this time to exfiltrate to your vehicle and disengage your disguises."

Five minutes to the second later, the sound of sonic weaponry being discharged echoes across the campus.
"That's our cue, gentlemen. I suggest we do take that little firearm with us; it may prove useful."

And once the team is outside, there are indeed what appear to be AIM agents out there.

aim agents.jpg
They're using sonic disruptors, which appear to be useful for stunning people. Almost immediately, one of them shoots 'Colossus', and it seems to do absolutely nothing, being harmless light. However, when they fire at fleeing civilians and security guards, the weapons appear to cause unconsciousness.

[[ OOC - Feel free to do a post where your character engages with the false AIM agents to lend credence to the faked attack. ]]

Not long after the "X-Men" start their engagement against the AIM agents, something streaks in from above and does the 'super-hero landing'

ironheartlogo.png
ironheart.jpg

She begins aiding our X-Men by 'blasting' AIM agents alongside them.​

@Gands @LuckycoolHawk9

At Greenwood Cemetery...

"I'll report this development to SHIELD. My paperwork here says you're on ARGUS' payroll. Overlapping jurisdiction here. Don't worry we'll call you if we come across Grundy before you do." Stillwell assures Bane, as Stan heads back to the guard shack. "We have our ways, and you have yours. You'd better get back to your team."

@Breach

At New Orleans Country Club...

"You're one strange dude. I like it." She makes the 'call me' hand gesture as she drops him off at the clubhouse.

Red Hood joins Wilson and Hex at the clubhouse, presumably with Bane on his way there as well. Once everyone's situated, Hex reiterates his findings to the collected part of the team, then continues with the following:

"I know the Hellfire Club name don't exactly give anyone the warm fuzzies, but I have control of this branch of it, and run it the way I sees fit. As long as we ain't breakin' our budget or bringin' SHIELD or whatnot down on our hides, I got free reign. We been focusin' on keepin' drugs off th' streets hereabouts, and we're doin' a bangup job of it so far if I do say so myself. I'm tellin' ya this because I want ya to know, yer mission ain't got nothin' ta do with our mission. I met Gambit afore - ain't my favorite fella, but he's all right. Best I can figure, all the shenanigans went down last week at that cemetery. As long as you don't get in our way, we won't get into yours."

He hands the bottle of Everclear back to Slade and stands up. "So unless y'all got more questions for me, I suggest we both get back to what we was doin afore we had this little set down."

@Dipper @Breach @Cush Almighty
 
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Now with the team assembled, Hex got the rest of what he wanted to inform the trio on of his chest. Riddler also informed the trio that Dupree was dead, and apparently, he was using his technology to get off. "So Dupree was dressing girls up as Starfire and imbuing them with powers? Sounds harmless, but eventually one of them would go crazy and start abusing that power."

Slade than looked towards Jonah, taking the Everclear in hand. "Your fighting a useless fight cowboy. While you fight trying to get pot, dope, and opium of the streets, they'll just run into their granny's medicine cabinet. Most kids only want to get high and muse on a bullshit ideology they make up as they go." Slade took another swig of his Everclear. "It's noble Jonah, but an unwinnable fight. Not saying to give up, you won't, that look in your eyes tell me. Good luck, maybe you'll prove me wrong."

Slade did have one more thing to say to Hex before he would leave. "If you ever need a hit completed, maybe in-house, I'm your guy. Currently, I'm jammed up, but I'll be open to resuming my contracts soon."
 
James Hunter

James had been listening and when the moment was right, he accidently would hit a few of the guns of some of the "AIM agents" to make it look they were fighting. After a while, he would take a moment to blast into the building and head towards the van and once eveyrthing was out of the view, he would disengage the disguise. " Well, that could have gone worse. I'm not stupid enough to say the other thing because I learned saying the other thing causes problems"

@Michale CS @Gands
 
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"... For what purpose? Sounds like a waste of tech, if you ask me." He glanced briefly at Slade, who seemed to have pieced together the same story as he did. "Doesn't matter. Let's go find these girls, huh?"

Jason left the club before he'd been properly excused and hit up the file Alfred had provided him with. Some more digging wouldn't hurt the investigation and, if his hunch was correct... he could finish this before it even got started.
 
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James Proudstar aka Warpath

The big man in his Colossus disguise, helped Professor Nygma out the window with his chair. After that he simply engaged his disguise and kept himself between his Professor and the AIM agents. Realizing that they were government people, he held back on his attacks. Throwing the one or two guys who got close into semi distant bushes. He watched Hunter doing roughly the same as they all three made their way to the Van. He gives a little nod to the girl in the armor as he gets Nygma into the van. He is waiting for Hunter to get in and drive, he menaces the few Aim guys he can see and gets blasted ineffectually as he does so, then climbing into the van as it starts to drive off.
 
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“I will do so. It was interesting to meet you.” Bane walks put the cemetery and says to his mic, “I have finish my mission. Is there anyone in need of my help?” Bane thinks about that super soldier device. Should he use it? He know that it could possibly make him stronger. However, he earned his strength by training, pain, and his mind(like making his the serum). He will put that thought on the side for now.
@Michale CS @Dipper @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @Cush Almighty
 
At Site 61...

The team gathers and exchanges information
  • Solomon Grundy is loose and apparently was smuggled out of Greenwood Cemetery a week ago, presumably by Morrow.
  • Swamp Thing is looking for Grundy to destroy him
  • The green patch on Bane's neck was put there by Swamp Thing and is to be torn off if he finds Grundy in the next few days.
  • Dupree was murdered, presumably by one of the women he empowered.
  • The device itself wasn't there, but earlier revisions of it were.
  • Dupree has a connection to UsCorp and Mariah Dillard.
  • Presumably, there are several women at the minimum out there with powers due to Dupree
  • There were puzzle pieces in the closet where Dupree was discovered, that were apparently alive.
  • Said puzzle piece marks were found on Dupree's body.
All they seem to have left to do of their initial leads is go to Dupree's home. However, the university records, accessed by Nygma, have a list of all the women who visited his office up until three days ago.

"It's likely the very last woman who went into his office for her 'private counseling' as it's listed, is our murderess. I have her address. Are we even bothering to go to Dupree's home at this point and splitting up, or going en masse to her address? Alternatively, we could definitely get to both homes fairly quickly, as Dupree's home is actually on the way towards our lady's address. Her name is Valerie Van Haaften, and according to her social media... she's quite the fan of Superman. Pity I didn't have a holographic suit of him, hmm?"

@Breach @Cush Almighty @Dipper @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9
 
James Proudstar aka Warpath

"I think we'll need more information on Morrow and Grundy as yet, not to mention Gambit and Rogue. If the two locations are close to each other, we could split up again to investigate both. That being said, she will probably be dangerous and pissed off. "
 
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James Hunter

" Well, I think as a group, we stop off at Dupree's house and then head to the lady's address. Maybe if we could understand slightly more about the man, we can see what makes him so horrible. "


@Michale CS @Gands
 
"I say," Jason hummed, tapping his chin with one finger almost humorously, "we pay a visit to this Dupree fellow. Get this whole mess wrapped up, why don't we? As a, uh, group of course. Right."

Strength in numbers and all that. Jason didn't work well on a team, but he knew when help would be needed. Who knew what this Dupree guy was capable of? And Jason, as proud as he was, knew when not to underestimate a criminal. This group of misfits would have to do until he Waller let him go.
 
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Red had a point. Waste of tech, but he wasn't trying to control the world with those girls he gave powers too. It was just how the guy got off. "Doesn't matter Hood. I can think of a lot worse things someone could do with it."

Site 61

With the entire squad reassembled, Deathstroke took in the information. It seems like him and Redhood were the least useful in this entire thing. All he did was talk to a guy and drink Everclear. Slade wasn't complaining in the least. The decided locations to head to Dupree's home and a woman he empowered, Valerie Van Haaften. "Dupre's house can wait, let's go 'talk' to this Ms.Haaften. She probably has the machine." They were going to kill this woman. Slade just had that feeling in his guts.
 
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"Well then, if we don't get our answers at the lady's home, as I said, it is a short trip to Dupree's. Miss Van Haaften lives in New Orleans proper, not the suburb Dupree lives in, but they're not far apart. It shan't take long, her home is less than a ten minute drive from our current location, and only fifteen more minutes to Dupree's home. Shall we away? Oh, I suppose we should probably take the SUV, since that's the bulletproof vehicle. Someone's going to need to help me with the chair lift into the rear doors..." He was already wheeling his way out of the room during his last two sentences.

Outside, some cosplay contestants from the convention were arriving back. "Did you see that girl? I know that couldn't have been special effects. Is it cheating if you have actual powers when you dress up as Power Girl? She was floating!" a young black man dressed up as Falcon complained​
"I don't think it's cheating. Use what you've got." The Starfire cosplayer responded. "I bought funky contacts, she used her powers."
"Besides, she got the boob window perfect!" a Deadpool cosplayer chimed in, making a little heart gesture with his hands.​
"Yeah, but you got second place, Dana. You would have won if it weren't for her."​
"She would have won anyway. Boob window, like Jessie said. The boobs had me beat before she actually floated, Paulie."
Riddler looked curiously in the direction of the cosplayers but didn't say anything until they've passed. "Gentlemen, we appear to have what is known in adventure games as a side quest. If this woman gained her powers due to Dupree, and God forbid they cause any sort of mental instability... at the very least we should question a less homicidal victim of Dupree's device, yes? Of course, time may be of the essence where Miss Van Haaften is concerned, but... if she's a big fan of Superman, dressing up as his... cousin? Sister? I honestly don't know, would probably be high on her list. However, the powers do not seem to match what we saw trace evidence of in Dupree's office. Thoughts?"

@Breach @Cush Almighty @Dipper @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9

 
James Proudstar aka Warpath

" Hunter, keep an eye on the professor please."

He heads over to talk to the cosplayers.

" Hi guys, I think I know the girl you are talking about. I know her from Tulane!. Do you think she's still at the Con ? I got caught at work, now I am late!"

As a reminder, James stands a bit over 7 foot tall and is very muscular.
 
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Bane stares at Warpath’s actions. Bane can figure out that Warparh is trying to ast as a long lost friend to the girl, who is dress up as Power Girl, who is searching for her. they may tell him and he may encounter her. Bane is confident that Warpath can handle situation. Bane says to the group, the squad, “I will stick to what we originally planned.”
@Michale CS @Gands @cush alimighty @Dipper @LuckycoolHawk9
 
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Deathstroke overheard the conversation the cosplayer's where having and looked to the others. "So some cosplayer is dressed a Superman's...who knows the story with that one. Let's just hope she isn't on the level as the real one, or half it." He watched Warpath walk over to address the cosplayers. He turned to the other squad members, especially Riddler. "Maybe the powers evolve after repeated use? I'm all for just blowing this off and getting back on the 'main' quest." Slade than thought about his decision for a second. "Fuck it. Let's just go check it out. I'll be damned if I waste my time searching for the girl at her house. If anything, I'll get to see some cleavage."
 
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