Gods Among Us [Superhero] (IC/Open)

[Talion Union]

How had the world descended to this? Alice sat cross-legged on her perch high above the streets. Los Angeles was burning, but it didn't need to have been this way. When the Government had seen the first meta-humans they had thought it would be an excellent idea to slash policing budgets, let the people with powers do the policing, get a bit of approval from the voters for cutting taxes. It was short sighted and very foolish. Power was a huge force for corruption and the emergence of super-powered criminals was inevitable. She lived in a sad little apartment and had wondered sometimes, how good it could be if she submitted to the darkness, just for a little. She could set herself up for a lifetime in a matter of weeks if she hit the right places... and that would be how it started. How she violated who she was and turned into a monster.

Was it power that corrupted or the desire for it? Alice hoped it was the desire, because as much as she had power, it wasn't something she wanted, not even a little. Hopefully that would keep her safe.

Maybe the Government would learn from this debacle, but for now people needed to know that the civil authorities could take care of them, even when the Capes were raising mayhem on the streets. She flicked off a telekinetic burst that disarmed a rioter several floors beneath her, sending his gun flying across the street like a boomerang. He bent over, clutching at his hand as the National Guard descended on him. She might have broken his wrist, but without the gun they wouldn't shoot him. Maybe he would think about his life choices, probably not, but she had given him the chance which was more than most 'heroes' would do.

Alice glided along, effortlessly moving between roosts, exerting her will where she could to make sure Law Enforcement were able to clear the streets with as few casualties as possible. She watched over them, never swooping in to take the credit. That was who she was, the Watcher. Perhaps in another place she might be called upon to swoop in and exert herself openly, but for now this was better for everyone. Let people know that their institutions could clean up the mess without the need for Capes. The wind picked up for a moment and she shrugged her own cape around her shoulders. She gave a wry laugh as she nestled into it for warmth. She was quite possibly the only one actually wearing a cape...

Having left the burning wreckage of the helicopter behind, the Swarm saw a girl, sitting on a roof, draped in a cape. The Ghost was.....curious. It did not know why, but this one felt.....different. Something about her was distinct from any other person it had met.

Curious, the Swarm half 'walked' half glided as it approached her, it's human shape becoming a slow spiral of Nanites as the glided towards her, eventually coming to a stop in a small circle around her.

A few of its Nanites count her her body, and began crawling all about, searching her body.


***

Elsewhere, Iroquios sprinted down the tunnel, heading in the opposite direction of the other guy. He made a quick turn to the left, and made a dozen or so changes in direction to throw off any potential fails.

[The V O I D]

"Plague Doctor" ; "Doc"
Los Santana
The Bank

Doc simply stared at the person who's head had gotten exploded, as well as looking at the man who shot, as well as his soldiers in black. This was unusually quick response, and he was not expecting it. Doc decided he'd do the... reasonable thing. Doc smiled wickedly under his mask. He turned to face the white-haired man.
"Well, well. I was unaware that I was barging in on your bank. That's such a shame, really. But, if we're going to play... I play rough.", he stated flatly, in an all-but-irritated tone.

Doc looked at the civilians leftover. He raised his hand at them. Doc simply clenched his fist. The people suddenly screamed in pain, before standing. They began forming viralized growths, and seemed to be infected with a virus of Doc's own design. Doc kept his wicked smile, as his creatures attacked and lunged for the black-clad soldiers. This was merely a distraction; a means for the soldiers to not pay attention to him. Doc's creatures he had created continued their attack, trying to ruthlessly kill and eat anything in their path.

Meanwhile, Doc himself used the distraction of the spawn of creatures to launch himself near the vault. He ordered one creature to grab as much cash and gold as it could; giving it more, viral/mutated limbs to optimize this number. He had another armored creature bash through a rear wall to the Vault, to escape from the rear of the building. The armored creature would attack any defenses in the rear alleyway, while Doc and his Money-carrying creature escaped this hole. Doc looked for ways out, seeing nothing but a sewer pipe. Why is it always sewers?, he thought, disgusted. Doc opened the manhole, jumping down, the creature following.

"The Silver King"
Los Santana,
The Bank

As soon as they began to change, the soldiers began opening fire, precise bursts targeting perceived weak points of the human body. Flamethrowers spewed forth as some of them neared, shotguns, assault-rifles and sub-machine guns were the first things to meet the abominations. Whilst they and the soldiers clashed, the Silver King decided to follow the Plague Doctor and his creation, ignoring the infected crowd. First thing to deal with was the armoured creature that had provided a means of escape, and was lurking in the alleyway just beyond.

From his left hand the pistol he had been holding vanished. He reached into the lab coat, and took out a vial of liquid mercury. In a single motion, he hurled it towards the infected brute of a specimen. The vial smashed into the creature, before the liquid mercury streamed out, the silvery substance flowing in an unusual manner, moving apparently of its own accord, and inexplicably growing in volume. The metal glowed faintly as it did so, whilst vague impressions of eyes, claws, fanged maws and various weapons began to emerge as parts of the metal hardened at times. Tendrils rapped around the infected creature, whilst spikes rose and plunged into its flesh, the spikes once more transmuting and becoming drills, miniature whirlpools of poisonous metal that tore the creature to pieces even as other appendages similarly attacked it. The creature would've died soon due to extreme mercury poisoning, even if it hadn't been granted this particular fate.

What was left of the armoured thing crumpled to the ground, the alchemical mercury construct that had ended it reforming once more, this time taking upon the form of a silvery liquid wolf. The various metals inherent in the human body- such as that of the twisted creature, which was originally human, could be either transmuted into, or merged with mercury, and gave it further power. Ignoring iron, of course, which was often used in times of old to contain mercury, seeing as it did not corrode unlike many other metals. The wolf advanced, moving ahead, and stopping briefly at a manhole and a sewer pipe. Alexander von Schwarzthal followed after, halting briefly as he calculated his options, and he accessed various sources on the schematics and layout of the sewers beneath the city. It would make sense to send a few detachments of those soldiers to other exits, perhaps to give battle, or to block them off. He might have samples taken of both the costumed pest and his creations, for experimentation and further potential study. Judging by the specimen's control of contagions, it would be a curious addition to Alexander's previous forays into the fields of biological warfare, medicine, toxins, illnesses, and similar areas of appraisal. It may also prove to be an interesting diversion, an opponent such as this. It was hardly a war, that was for certain, but then again, wars these days were never on the scale he remembered.

He advanced once more, the cane retained in his right hand. The mercury wolf, seemingly obeying unspoken commands, lurched forward and leapt down into the manhole. Schwarzthal followed, jumping down and landing, a faint mechanical whir sounding as he did so. The once SS-Brigadeführer moved in the wake of his wolf, whilst his own sensors constantly monitored the surrounding area, his eyes utilising countless wavelengths normally undetectable to human vision, and his hearing similarly augmented. Heat-sensing caught the passing of the Plague Doctor and his servant, the infra-red radiation that remained in their passing effectively serving as an easy manner of tracking, though utilising various wavelengths of X-rays was also another form of sensing used. It would not be difficult to continue to hunt down this rogue element, he had decided. Potential escape locations had been added into his internal map of this underground system.

He moved forward, uncaring of having to move through such a filthy environ. He recalled idly that he'd seen many in squalid conditions that the average human would consider far worse. Though that was a while ago, and it was particularly in the camps in Poland. He cared little as to whether they had died or not, they had been useful enough either way for his goals. The Soviets had taken those places, of course, when the tide of war had turned. Much had been lost, including a fair bit of research, that a number of his associates had destroyed in desperation, in order to keep it from falling into the hands of the Americans, British or Soviets, among others. Refocusing his thoughts, the Silver King continued onwards, his mercurial pet serving as his vanguard.

"Plague Doctor ; "Doc"
Los Santana
Sewers

Doc and his moneybag-carrying creature continued roaming through the sewers. Doc had earlier determined that his pursuers were not police or government forces. No, they were... something else. Doc couldn't figure out who or what; that didn't matter. What did matter, in Doc's mind, was the fact that he wouldn't allow them to capture him. Non-police or non-government related groups tended to be ones who liked to experiment on subject such as himself. Doc didn't like the thought of that. Doc turned to his creature, making a few of it's limbs break off and mutate into small snake-like centipedic creatures, and regrew said limbs as well. Doc sent them off in all directions. His disease detection would tell him which died and which did not, and thus give him the best escape route. For the time being, he continued in the direction he was walking.

Meanwhile, the first of his centipedic snake creatures would wander in the direction of the Silver King. It saw him, and watched him; alerting it's "mother" creature. Doc also registered a strange feeling telling him that... someone was following him from that direction. The small creature slithered about, before receiving it's new orders. It mutated an odd organ on the side of itself, courtesy of viral growths. This organ filled up with the toxic air, as well as degrading sewage. It then combined this with various gases already within it's system. The creature suddenly jumped in the path of the Silver King, exploding violently. This sent biomatter throughout, and created an odd sticky substance that seemed to block the path. This substance seemed flexible to the extreme, as well as made of odd mutated viral biomatter. This biomatter also seemed semi-regenerative, to a certain extent.

Doc decided that this would slow down whoever was pursuing him; he didn't know who it was, nor did he care. He simply knew he was being followed, and wanted to buy more time for them to lose track of him. Doc knew that, if these people were tracking him, it'd be best to cause more confusion. He used the 'mother' creature to create more smaller mutants and such, sending them in more directions. Doc came to a fork that went left and right, and went to the right side, riding ontop of the mother creature to cease leaving footprints. He did not want to be tracked back to his... home, he supposed.

[Latznavia]

Don Ignesio Gordo

The cold air of the trainyard was silent as a man laid bloodied on the tracks. His face nearly unrecognizable, his legs bent in the wrong places as he laid on the ground. He looked up, the shadowy figure of a trenchcoated man and two others lingered over him. He breathed heavy. He breathed terrified, as the man removed the nub a Cuban cigar from his lips.

"You disappointed me, Reuben. You made me look like a fool last night." He tapped Reuben's cheek with the blood baseball bat. "I said that I wanted no problems, and yet look what happened. The city fell into a panic and we nearly didn't make the shipment. Do you know how that makes me feel Reuben. It makes me feel shameful. I'm sorry to be the first to tell you this Reuben, but you've been terminated. Have a nice life." He turned and walked away.

A man pulled a lever and a large train car, suspended for repair reasons fell, Reuben's head exploded, brains and blood erupted like a watermelon, the wheels gently began to roll and it was couple to a long freight train.

"Its a shame really, that train accidents happen.." He lit a new cigar, "all the time.." The train began to leave towards the docks, loaded with crates that read "Gaian Humanitarian Effort" while being loaded with guns, shells, parts, and cars with drugs.



___________________

DONOVAN FOWLER
A.K.A.
MR BODY

Mr. Body was healing quicker than expected, he felt like a new Mab from the darkness before. Donovan sat up, wondering how his flash drive exploded and why someone wanted to take him out. He reached for his phone and dialled Atlas' number. It rang once, then twice, then it went to voicemail. Busy, he thought as he left his voicemail.

"Atlas, I just was attacked via and exploding flash drive, all my files I was going to you are gone. They destroyed everything. Just want to give you a heads up, I am in Our Lady of Mercy Hospice, checking myself out soon.I need you to get me a hint at who can obtain a P94 Electronic bomb the size of a flash drive...and don't give me Slick's number, you know how he is with feds."

He hung up and walked to the desk to check out.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Having left the burning wreckage of the helicopter behind, the Swarm saw a girl, sitting on a roof, draped in a cape. The Ghost was.....curious. It did not know why, but this one felt.....different. Something about her was distinct from any other person it had met.

Curious, the Swarm half 'walked' half glided as it approached her, it's human shape becoming a slow spiral of Nanites as the glided towards her, eventually coming to a stop in a small circle around her.

A few of its Nanites count her her body, and began crawling all about, searching her body.

The swarm took Alice by surprise, somewhat. She froze, watching it as it approached. She wasn't exactly afraid, she could defend herself better than most... probably a lot better than most against this creature (she got the feeling that bullets might not harm it). It didn't seem hostile, but you never could tell.

A part of it seemed to detach, moving across her in a manner that was definitely far more intimate than she would have preferred, "At least buy me a drink first." she joked, but didn't immediately move to stop it - Being found on her perch was... disconcerting and she still wasn't entirely sure what this thing was, what it was capable of or what it wanted with her. She preferred to avoid fighting where possible, especially when she might lose. Nevertheless she summoned up her will, ready to rip with a telekinetic blast if it tried anything funny, "Who are you?" she asked.

[Confederation of imperial states]

Iron Mountain Skyscraper

Back Hand, Deadeye, and Sony rushed to the back of the Skyscraper, along the way they needed to blast through Iron Mountain mercs with explosives and bullets. after a difficult fight to get to the back, the trio arrived at the loading dock. "alright, the industrial elevator has to be here somewhere". Black Hand looked around until he spotted it, a large grate door. "There it is" they approached the door, as they did the elevator arrived, and a heavy merc with a minigun stepped out. "MINIGUN, SONY-" before Black Hand could finish his sentence, sony brought his fist down, crushing the merc. "bad men die" "thanks big guy" they stepped into the industrial elevator and rode it to the 50th floor. at around floor 25, they started hearing ambient noise of helicopters.

"anyone else hear choppers?" "yeah, be ready once we reach the halfway point". Black Hand readied his dart gun. the industrial elevator stopped, they exited it and started making their way to the express elevator. then, 2 large attack choppers flew up to the floor they were on and fired into the building. "CHOPPERS, GET DOWN" Black Hand yelled as he ducked down with black hand and sony. "how do we take out the birds". Black Hand thought for a second, then he spotted a gurder on the floor. "Sony, I'll distract the choppers with an explosive dart, then you throw the gurder there and it'll take them down" "Okay". Blakc Hand then fired a epxlosive dart as Sony picked up the gurder, shocking and stunning the chopper pilots. Sony then throw the gurder at the choppers, clipping one of the choppers' tails and the rotars of another one, sending them both crashing down. "The birds are down, time to move" "hell yeah, A**hole #1, here we come" Deadeye said taking out his light machine gun and runnign to the express elevator.

[Talion Union]

Having left the burning wreckage of the helicopter behind, the Swarm saw a girl, sitting on a roof, draped in a cape. The Ghost was.....curious. It did not know why, but this one felt.....different. Something about her was distinct from any other person it had met.

Curious, the Swarm half 'walked' half glided as it approached her, it's human shape becoming a slow spiral of Nanites as the glided towards her, eventually coming to a stop in a small circle around her.

A few of its Nanites count her her body, and began crawling all about, searching her body.

The swarm took Alice by surprise, somewhat. She froze, watching it as it approached. She wasn't exactly afraid, she could defend herself better than most... probably a lot better than most against this creature (she got the feeling that bullets might not harm it). It didn't seem hostile, but you never could tell.

A part of it seemed to detach, moving across her in a manner that was definitely far more intimate than she would have preferred, "At least buy me a drink first." she joked, but didn't immediately move to stop it - Being found on her perch was... disconcerting and she still wasn't entirely sure what this thing was, what it was capable of or what it wanted with her. She preferred to avoid fighting where possible, especially when she might lose. Nevertheless she summoned up her will, ready to rip with a telekinetic blast if it tried anything funny, "Who are you?" she asked.

The Ghost struggled to produce sound, but could not. Its creators did not give it a voice, and it lacked the means to speak. It remained as it was, silent, watching its new 'companion'.

Perhaps she could assist? It considered bringing this new person back to where it was created, in hope that she might he capable of assisting him.

[Latznavia]

BENJAMIN WILSON
A.K.A.
NEO

Televisions flashed news on heroism and valor over last night's raid to calm the city to the solemness it was at now. Interviews of boring politicians saying boring things about how they made differences and trying to take credit over the smaller people. It was all one big lie, heroes or 'capes' did most of the work while cops his and tried to get control. The news was getting really boring to Neo in his tiny jail cell when a report came on.

"...In other news, US Marine Corps has decided to remove numerous honors from a Cpt. Benjamin Wilson due to his recent arrest in Los Santana after getting involved with riot officers." It switched a bloated mustachioed general with more medals than brains as he wiped his brow.

"This is a disgrace to the Corp that some one who willingly served his country would willing fight as a vigilante after the vigilantism caused the riots!" The news returned to the anchor,

"Wilson's arrest only marks what many are calling the End of the Capes, hoping that these riots will ensure superheroes HUD their abilities then having government officials rely on them. I am Shaquan, and thus is your news at 8." It began to play overacted commercials as Benjamin sighed, a hero brought down before Hus time.

"Bet you feel stupid now, roboman!" Benjamin made a fist and the troublemaker flinched to silence.

[Dyelli Beybi]

The Ghost struggled to produce sound, but could not. Its creators did not give it a voice, and it lacked the means to speak. It remained as it was, silent, watching its new 'companion'.

Perhaps she could assist? It considered bringing this new person back to where it was created, in hope that she might he capable of assisting him.

"Well pleased to meet you anyhow." Alice smiled stood up and gave a little bow from the hip, "Some people call me 'The Watcher' but that is a silly vanity. I much prefer Alice."

The creature? creatures? Whatever it was, was hovering, possibly trying to figure out what to do about her. Still holding back a burst of telekinetic energy she carefully paced along the edge of the parapet, arms flung wide like she was tight-rope walking, "Do you see what I'm doing down there?" she asked the swarm, "I'm making sure Law Enforcement wins easily and without me being noticed. People will see this on the news and it's important that they come to believe in their institutions again, that the National Guard and the Police can sort their business out. If they don't... we go back into the feudal darkness, except this time the knights have more than a shiny suit of armor and a a big horse, they have super powers as well."

She turned back to Ghost, "Do you understand what I'm doing Oddjob?"

[Videssos]

"Plague Doctor ; "Doc"
Los Santana
Sewers

Doc and his moneybag-carrying creature continued roaming through the sewers. Doc had earlier determined that his pursuers were not police or government forces. No, they were... something else. Doc couldn't figure out who or what; that didn't matter. What did matter, in Doc's mind, was the fact that he wouldn't allow them to capture him. Non-police or non-government related groups tended to be ones who liked to experiment on subject such as himself. Doc didn't like the thought of that. Doc turned to his creature, making a few of it's limbs break off and mutate into small snake-like centipedic creatures, and regrew said limbs as well. Doc sent them off in all directions. His disease detection would tell him which died and which did not, and thus give him the best escape route. For the time being, he continued in the direction he was walking.

Meanwhile, the first of his centipedic snake creatures would wander in the direction of the Silver King. It saw him, and watched him; alerting it's "mother" creature. Doc also registered a strange feeling telling him that... someone was following him from that direction. The small creature slithered about, before receiving it's new orders. It mutated an odd organ on the side of itself, courtesy of viral growths. This organ filled up with the toxic air, as well as degrading sewage. It then combined this with various gases already within it's system. The creature suddenly jumped in the path of the Silver King, exploding violently. This sent biomatter throughout, and created an odd sticky substance that seemed to block the path. This substance seemed flexible to the extreme, as well as made of odd mutated viral biomatter. This biomatter also seemed semi-regenerative, to a certain extent.

Doc decided that this would slow down whoever was pursuing him; he didn't know who it was, nor did he care. He simply knew he was being followed, and wanted to buy more time for them to lose track of him. Doc knew that, if these people were tracking him, it'd be best to cause more confusion. He used the 'mother' creature to create more smaller mutants and such, sending them in more directions. Doc came to a fork that went left and right, and went to the right side, riding ontop of the mother creature to cease leaving footprints. He did not want to be tracked back to his... home, he supposed.

Schwarzthal halted, his senses beginning to warn him just before the mutated centipede creature jumped out from an alcove, having somehow avoided the mercury "guard dog" prowling ahead. Which wasn't surprising, considering it wasn't a real wolf, and more of a alchemically life-imbued sentient shapeshifting entity. The eruption of diseased matter and filth wasn't exactly a welcome event, nonetheless he dismissed it as a paltry attempt to slow him down. He raised his left hand to clear the gas mask's eye lenses of some of the biomatter. In the aftermath of that organic detonation, it seemed that nearly everything had been covered in an adhesive biological material, that was also rather malleable and resilient. Curious. He took several steps forward, noting soon after how the material's tensile nature at first accepted his weight, before somewhat regrowing and resisting his attempts to move on. There were a few options if he wanted to continue. There was a crude approach, which was to force his way through. Though that wasn't particularly his style. Normal people probably would have caused themselves injuries trying to take such a course of action, he noted. Being rather less human than he once was, however, ensured his current form was sufficient to press through in that manner. He then decided on a different, though still aggressive, approach to carry out.

He unsheathed the sword cane he had been advancing with earlier, the long blade bedecked in Runic symbolism, and Nazi iconography. The weapon began to heat up, the runes glowing a fierce red, whilst a visible plasma began to appear along the blade, the superheated beyond-gaseous substance also extending beyond the blade's end, in effect making it longer than it was, though alchemy could alter the sword's length directly. He swiftly plunged the weapon into the substance before him. Much of it began to burn, superheated liquids in the biological material scorching fizzling as it was essentially turned to charcoal. The weapon grew hotter, and in a carefully orchestrated brief burst, a path of burnt biomatter was brought into being before him. Being the one using the blade, however, he was untouched by the incredible heat. The weapon cooled down within seconds, the weapon made by both science and sorcery having proven its usefulness as it often had before. He returned the weapon to its sheath, and carried on, his boots now crunching through the melted and charred passage. As he moved, part of his mind analysed some of the genetic material taken as he'd gone by.

His mercury wolf, having been ahead before the little debacle had come about, had moved ahead, and was advancing ever deeper into the sewers, in pursuit of the plague bearer. It saw one of the centipedes, and leapt forward, its claws and fangs hardening, even as it snarled, the sound oddly metallic and cold. Fangs tore through the creature's flesh, and the wolf flung it to the side. It seemed to sniff for a moment, its head moving up, as if tracking something, before setting off into a run, having been contacted by its master, the exact genetic material of the Plague Doctor's creations having been analysed, to some degree. It would be able to better hunt them down. Moving quickly, it sought the strongest of scents, attempting to locate the largest of the creatures, and thus, perhaps one that was with its creator...

[The GAmeTopians]

The Ghost struggled to produce sound, but could not. Its creators did not give it a voice, and it lacked the means to speak. It remained as it was, silent, watching its new 'companion'.

Perhaps she could assist? It considered bringing this new person back to where it was created, in hope that she might he capable of assisting him.

"Well pleased to meet you anyhow." Alice smiled stood up and gave a little bow from the hip, "Some people call me 'The Watcher' but that is a silly vanity. I much prefer Alice."

The creature? creatures? Whatever it was, was hovering, possibly trying to figure out what to do about her. Still holding back a burst of telekinetic energy she carefully paced along the edge of the parapet, arms flung wide like she was tight-rope walking, "Do you see what I'm doing down there?" she asked the swarm, "I'm making sure Law Enforcement wins easily and without me being noticed. People will see this on the news and it's important that they come to believe in their institutions again, that the National Guard and the Police can sort their business out. If they don't... we go back into the feudal darkness, except this time the knights have more than a shiny suit of armor and a a big horse, they have super powers as well."

She turned back to Ghost, "Do you understand what I'm doing Oddjob?"

Intercept noticed a girl sitting on a rooftop, along with... A cloud of nanites? The girl seemed to be separate from the police below, yet he suspected she was using some sort of power, psy or otherwise, to influence the protestors.
"Bah... Heroes and villains, all the same... They exert their will on 'free' people just because they have the power. Let's see how she handles this, shall we?"
He removed a remote explosive bundle (REB) from his pack once more, and activated his invisibility, hopping to a rooftop opposite from the girl. He tossed the REB onto one of the police vehicles in the street, near the center of the fighting. The red light on its casing blinked. He grinned beneath his helmet, and pulled the trigger. It gave off two quick beeps, and exploded, sending burning shrapnel from the vehicle around it. Still invisible, he waited for a reaction.

[Anowa]

Governor Dakota Maddox
I had just done it... for the first time since I could remember, I was allowing members of the national guard to fire on unarmed citizens if needed, and now Colonel Cross is sending LAVs into the city to quell the riots, I walked into the recording studio to broadcast to the denizens of the state of California, he sat down and he was given a thumbs up for go, "My fellow Americans, for the past few days our country has been in chaos, not because a foreign army, not because of a terrorist threat, not not because of a natural disaster, but because of our own people, for the reason of a public figure being heinously killed in cold blood, this is not a reason for violence and aggression, think of how our countries greatest heroes would think of these actions, they would denounce them as doing worse than criminals ever did, now I implore you as your representative, as a father, and as a fellow human being, please return to your homes and don't leave for the next 24 hours, before something happens that we all regret, Thank you." I heard the mic cut and I stood, I had instructed the operators of the radio station to repeat the message indefinitely, I walked out of the room and leaned on the wall, realizing what was most likely going to happen, I slid down and began to sob.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Alice saw the grenade a moment before it exploded. That wasn't possible... she had been watching carefully. She paused, dark eyes scanning the opposite rooftops for a few moments, then walked off the ledge, plummeting straight down towards the ground. For a moment it looked like she was about to come crashing straight into the concrete, but as she reached perhaps 10 feet from ground level she decelerated, landing as light as a feather, "Who's injured?" she cried out, scanning quickly among the police officers before latching onto a Police Sergeant, "I'm not a medic." she said, "But if there is anyone you think won't make it until the ambulance arrives... I can get them to hospital faster than any ambulance. I know you probably have views on Capes, but I can help. Arrest me later if you like."

If he did he'd never make anything stick...

The Sergeant motioned to a wounded officer, still looking somewhat stunned at her sudden arrival, "Sargesson... maybe."

Alice nodded, turning to face Sargesson, only to find herself looking at a familiar name on Television. Benjamin Wilson... she remembered him, guy in a wheelchair, seemed nice enough, something of an anarchist, "Patches O'Houlihan, how did you get out of your wheelchair?" she muttered to herself.

If Intercept was still watching her, he would see her wrap herself around Sargesson in a manner that would definitely have raised a few eyebrows if people had been looking properly. She could only affect things she could sense, which meant that flying, with a passenger, needed to be done like riding a magic carpet, with Alice forming the carpet and, in the case of Sargesson, the seat belts as well. A split second later and she shot off, bearing her ward straight to the emergency department. She was definitely faster than any ambulance.

She stopped outside the front - if Wilson had gone Vigilante, that could be a problem, but so long as she could convince him to do things her way for a while, then he might be useful in cleaning up the mess. Especially since there was a clear implication in the news story that he was a Cape. She took off again, stopping at a cheap clothing store to pick up a beige trench-coat that covered her armor, cape, and more importantly, Officer Sargesson's blood (she did not want to have to explain why she was wearing blood stained body armor), then took off again, touching down just outside the Police Station Neo had been taken to, then strolled in as if she owned the place, "Good day!" she greeted the staff pleasantly, smiling brightly, "I'm here to ante up the bail money for Mr. Benjamin Wilson."

She had made a calculated guess as to where he was being held. She felt lucky, but if it turned out to be wrong, she would pretend to be a ditz and hopefully the nice officer would point her to the correct Police Station.

[Togeria]

SIX-SHOT

He'd been there observing. The city was a mess it was anarchy, riots, man and women being picked off like flies. He'd be lying if he said he didn't take this time to "Work" on his shot. That however wasn't priority now, if he knew anything, and he knew a lot then Intercept would be here as well. Maybe if is luck was really good someone would be smart enough to hire him, certainly help pass the time. For now he'd sit by, and watch the massacre. "Intercept do you read me? Intercept do you read me?" He called into his radio before making his ascent on top of a building, watching the chaos unfold.

[The GAmeTopians]

Intercept smirked as The Watcher ran off to tend to a wounded as soon as he threw a single REB. Before he could do anything else his radio buzzed.
"Intercept, the Governor of California just dispatched National Guard, be on the lookout. Don't do anything rash." That was his father, the CEO of Cronus Labs.
"Will do." He hung up. Before he could take another step, his radio buzzed again.
"Boy this is a busy night," he muttered. He listened to the message, and his eyes widened.
"Hey, Six-shot! I read. How're you doing on this fine massacre of a night! I'm having some fun with explosions, might have some fun with these National Guard fellas later. I'll see if anyone's willing to pay for me to have my fun, too."

[Togeria]

Intercept smirked as The Watcher ran off to tend to a wounded as soon as he threw a single REB. Before he could do anything else his radio buzzed.
"Intercept, the Governor of California just dispatched National Guard, be on the lookout. Don't do anything rash." That was his father, the CEO of Cronus Labs.
"Will do." He hung up. Before he could take another step, his radio buzzed again.
"Boy this is a busy night," he muttered. He listened to the message, and his eyes widened.
"Hey, Six-shot! I read. How're you doing on this fine massacre of a night! I'm having some fun with explosions, might have some fun with these National Guard fellas later. I'll see if anyone's willing to pay for me to have my fun, too."

Six-Shot sat there and smirked before standing up. "Where's your location?" He said, making his move. He tried his best to keep the high ground. He looked at the populace below, seeing some begin to make their way inside. He heard the governor over the radio, it gained his interest, he wanted to know what would happen if he stayed out. Guess only time will tell.

[Anowa]

LC downtown 7:49PM
as the last of the citizens with any common sense to detect the veiled message in the radio broadcast were now inside, those who remained were either, arrested on the spot or shot, as this was happening all over the city, 12 LAVs ,each carrying 6 Marines, rolled into the city and split into 6 pairs of two each, among them was Hunter 2-1 whose goal was to link up with Colonel Kowalski on the city's Ringway, the highway that encircled the city, as the sunset drew closer gunshot began ringing out over the city, it was curfew, and the few who stayed out would only end up going back in, in cuffs, or a bodybag.

[Confederation of imperial states]

Iron Mountain Skyscraper

the Trio climbed in the express elevator, before Black Hand pushed the button he gave one last final word, "Alright, we don't know what may be up at Titan's office, but whatever there is, we'll have to deal with it" "BOOYAH" "sony got it". Black Hand pushed the top floor button, and they were immediatley greeted with cheesy Elevator music.

(OOC: the music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5PvBzDlZGs)

after several minutes of mind numbing music, the elevator opened. "LET'S MOVE" 'COMING FOR YOU D*CKHEAD". they raced out of the Elevator, and were greeted by none other that Brandon TItan (Iron Mountain CEO), and Tyrannt at his side. "hello lads. we finally meet" Black Hand and deadeye pointed their guns at Tyrannt and Titan. "Brandon, you're under citizens arrest for crime, murder of 500+ people, drug trafficking, illegal paramilitary actions,a dn so much more" "oh i don't think you'll be alive much longer to arrest me, Tyrannt" "yes sir". Before Black Hand could react, Tyrannt jumped at Black Hand knocking him and Tyrannt bakc several Feet. Tyrannt grabbed Black Hand and grabbed him by the neck, Black Hand grabbed at Tyrannts hand, making him let Black Hand go. "Each this sh*t head" Deadeye said just before he fired the 50. light machine gun at Tyrannt, making him recoil, Tyrannt then recovered and charged at Deadeye, giving him a prompt kick, knocking him over a couch nearby. Black Hand tried to hit Tyrannt several times in the back, Tyrannt showed no reaction and promptly kicked black Hand straight in the head, knocking him into the wall, shattering the paintings.

Tyrannt pulled out his pistol and Aimed it at Black Hand, "I've had enough of you, you insignificant piece of sh- URGH" SOny Grabbed Tyrannt with one hand and lifted him up. "Metal man hurt nice man.......Sony Kill metal Man". Sony then threw Tyrannt out of the window behind Titan's desk, sending him soaring into the distance. Black Hand and deadeye dusted themselves off and resumed aiming at Titan. "hehe.....lads I'm sure we can workm this out" "no....you're too dangerous to be left alive, tiem to light you up" "WAIT" was the last thing Titan yelled before Deadeye fired upon Titan with a hail of bullets, Black Hand fired an explosive dart, sending him soaring severla feet before fallingh. Titan landed on the statue of him point his sword to the sky, he landed with his back being impaled by the blade, and him dying while on it's end.

Black Hand Looked out the window and down at Titan, "see you later, a**hole". Deadeye put his Light Machine Gun on the desk, "so i guess it's over then?" "yeah, without Titan or Tyrannt, Iron Mountain's crime network will fall" "so what do we do about the Iron Mountain company?". Black Hand looked at the desk, he walked over and knocked off Titan's name plate, "Keep what you kill i guess, we could lead IRon Mountain to do good instead of fueling crime". Deadeye jumped and did a flip, before landing in Titan's chair, "MILLION DOLLAS, HERE I COME". Black Hand set his corbar down on the desk, before walking over to the couch nearby and slumping down,

[United States of Conner]

Specter flicked off his radio as he pulled onto his street. He had bought all the houses on the street, just to make sure no baddie moved in. As he reached his house at the end of the street, he took in the massive, modern mansion. He pulled into the driveway, closing the garage door behind his Lamborghini. As the lights turned on, the floor folded away, leaving his car on a platform going down. As he looked up, the floor folded up, leaving him in darkness. Specter closed his eyes as the car slowly went down, before the platform stopped moving and more, brighter lights turned on. Specter looked around, seeing everything from an armored car, to a motorcycle that looked like the equivalent of a Ferrari, to even a tank, sitting all by itself on a larger platform. Specter got out and walked in between a Ferrari and a van, to the door. He keyed in a password and scanned his retina, before the door opened and he walked through a series of hallways. Making turn after turn, little door windows showing everything from armories, to his bedroom, to what looked like a homemade F-22 fighter jet, not fully covered. Eventually, he got into his briefing room. As he walked in, he said, “Morning, Alli.” In the corner of the room, a blue ball appeared, before transforming into a human woman. As the holographic woman walked over to him. “Good morning, Adam.” Specter smiled. “What’s our hero news this morning?” Alli - the name was an acronym for Artificial, Literally Living Intelligence, but it meant something else as well - put some info on virtual windows, hanging them up in the otherwise empty space. Specter looked over the files, before stopping on the last one. “Why is this one incomplete?” Alli frowned. “Let me see it.” Specter grinned. “You don’t need to see it.” Alli laughed. “True. It’s in progress. A team of supers are breaking into a tower. Supposedly, it’s the apartment building of the CEO of the Iron Mountain. We call it a gang. Their intent with Mr. CEO is unknown.” Specter had lost all forms of a smile. “They can’t kill him. He killed you. He’s mine.” Alli walked around Specter, placing a hand on his shoulder. Specter turned as her holographic arm went through his head. “You know, I miss when you were a real person.” Alli shook her head. “Get going, Adam. You have time for a raid before these guys are done, and the CFO of Iron Mountain is on vacation. Penthouse suite. Go suit up.” Specter sighed and stood up. As he walked out, Alli shook her head before forming back into a blue ball and disappearing.

As Specter walked into the armory, robotic arms swarmed him. One attached a bulletproof vest, the main arm holding the vest while smaller ‘fingers’ coupled the straps in the back. Another loaded ammunition boxes into a bandolier, strapping it around his shoulder. A third gave him an M4A1 assault rifle, two M9 pistols, grenades - flash, stun, and frag -, while a fourth slipped on a new pair of black gloves, taking the old ones away for maintenance. Finally, a fifth slipped his goggles on over his eyes. Specter’s eyes glowed green as he walked out of the room, before heading to the garage. However, when he was about halfway, he checked his smartwatch. “Screw it. Gonna have to fly.” He jogged to the underground helipad. He pressed a button, and the roof quickly folded apart, revealing the dark skies of Los Santana. He rose off the ground, taking care to avoid the rotors of one of his helicopters. He had hit that once, and it had not been a good day. As he rose above the roof, the helicopters looking like little toys, he could see the city. It was in flame. He shook his head, and zoomed off, breaking the sound barrier.

Just a minute or so later, he was at the tower. He could probably just fly through the wall into the penthouse, but he had some time to kill until the supers were going in, so he might as well have some fun. Gliding down to the entrance, he put his rifle on his back before walking in through the main doors. There was a large guy standing in the entryway, along with two other large guys on each wall, and a man at the concierge. The large man standing in the middle looked at him for a second, came up to him, and in an Italian accented voice, said, “Hey, pal, you ain’t supposed to be here. Scram.” The smaller Specter smiled. “I’m sorry. I have an appointment.” The man shook his head. “What did I say, pal? You got the wrong address.” Specter was about to come back with a witty remark, when the elevator dinged. Two men walked out, pistols at the ready. Specter’s eyes glowed green, and he flicked his hand. The large man flew backwards, into the elevator. All three men stopped moving. The four men standing on the walls had already drawn guns, but Specter beat them to it, floating casually forward as he put a bullet in each of the four men’s forehead. He smiled as the concierge fumbled for his weapon, before putting a bullet in his neck. Specter calmly floated into the elevator. Looking down at the three groaning men, he smiled and said, “Going up.” Before pointing his pistols down and firing three shots. He closed the doors and pressed the button for the penthouse.

As Specter felt the elevator come to a stop, he could hear thugs getting organised outside the elevator. Quickly, he jumped up and pushed against the upper walls, suspending himself on the ceiling. The doors pinged open, and four armed men rushed in. They looked around the spacious elevator, seeing it empty, and then looked up. Specter nodded. “T’sup?” They never got to answer, because Specter fired two shots from each of his pistols, putting a bullet in the top of each of their heads.Dropping down, before the dozen or so thugs in the hallway could react, he flicked his hands towards each other. The doors came back together, and Specter pushed. The doors flew through the rank of men, mowing them down. Specter took the chance to whip out his rifle and mow the rest of them down. As he shot the last thug standing, he could see that the doors had flown through the wall, taking about a dozen or so out for a ride. There was one thug left, and he was about to get up when Specter grabbed him by the collar. He was bleeding in the head, and his eyes seemed unfocused. He started to say “Fu”. His insult would be forever lost, for at that moment, Specter threw him out the hole the doors had created. Specter heard a scream as he casually walked towards the doors to the penthouse suite. However, at that moment, twin steel doors slammed shut. Specter grimaced and looked back through his memories. He quickly analyzed what the guard positions were, then walked up to the steel doors. He tried to punch a hole through it. No good. He frowned, and at the crack where the doors met, he pulled it apart just a little bit. Quickly, he bit the pin off two stun grenades and threw them inside. Closing the hole again, he waited for the double bang before ripping the two doors apart. He quickly sighted the guards, shooting them in the head, some through their arms - which were covering their eyes - before walking over to the CFO. He quickly tapped at his smart goggles, before looking the terrified fat man in the eyes and saying, “Mr. Figlioli, let’s talk business.”

After a couple of hours of … talking, Specter had finally gotten everything he needed, except one little bit of evidence. Grabbing the CFO by the collar, he walked him outside and said, “Hold on.” And with that, he walked over to the hole and threw Figlioli out. AS the man fell, he flapped in a motion that made Specter laugh. Figlioli fell and fell, and when he was a hundred or so feet above the ground, Specter zoomed in and scooped him up by the feet, right before he hit the ground. Specter flew over the traffic streams of Downtown, letting the man's head fly just above the cars. Finally, Specter suddenly stopped, and threw the man almost a block into an alley wall. Specter glided towards him, kneeled down, and asked, "You want to tell me how to get in now?" The CFO seemed to be too shocked to offer resistance. "There are maintenance entrances everywhere. The back of the building. Head in through there." Specter nodded, grabbed the CFO by the collar again, and flew up, until he could see the city. Ignoring the hopeless wails of the fat man he was holding, he scanned for supers in his area. There was actually one right near him. The Watcher. A healer. She was strong, and could keep a body safe, so Specter slapped a tracker on the CFO's neck, glided down to the street, carried the man into the station, and unceremoniously dumped the man in front of The Watcher. Smiling at the woman, he said, "The CFO of Iron Mountain. Had a hand in a lot of the shit going down." He gestured down to the blood-stained, absolutely terrified man, who chose that moment to crap his pants and cough out blood. "Hope you don't mind holding him for a while. I'll come and pick him up in a few hours. Don't heal him - I have some stuff to do to him yet.Thanks." He kicked the man towards her and calmly floated to the exit of the station, before whipping out his phone and sending a brief message to the CEO's private room using the codes Figlioli had used him. "Mr. Titan, your right-hand man is dead. If you want revenge, you know where to find me. -Specter" He was a -known man, Titan would be able to find him. He put his phone away as he walked outside and lifted off the ground, before Slowly floating towards his mansion. Little did he know of the mayor's ultimatum.

[Acadeshia]

The Decision

Pentacost City
City Hall

The Mayor was in his office once more. A day had passed since he had recieved Shojiro's proposal. His mind had been convoluted and running in over-clock the whole night, but now he was calm. His decision was made, and whatever the consequences, he would see it through to the end. He made a cup of coffee and sat down at his desk. He didn't look at the daily reports in front of him, but sat sipping his coffee whilst waiting anxiously for the inevitable arrival.

His wait was ended when the door knob began to turn without warning. The door opened shortly afterwards and Shojiro entered, followed by Michael. Shojiro walked to the chair in front of the Mayor's desk and sat down. There was a slight grin on his face, just barely perceptable, but it was unmistakeable. This time Shojiro was armed - he hadn't been the previous day, or at least, the Mayor hadn't seen a weapon then - with a Katana. It dangled by his left side. His eyes were sharp and deliberate in their movements, and his ears seemed to pierce the very air.

"You have made your decision, I hope," he began.
The Mayor nodded, slowly.
"And that decision would be?" Shojiro asked.
"Would you endulge me by listening to my story first?" the Mayor asked.
To his surprise Shojiro nodded. He didn't start immediately though. He stood up and slowly walked over to the large window. He opened the cortains so that he could see the garden outside. The morning air bathed him in soft silver streaks of sunshine. He spent a minute just standing there and looking out on the ground of City Hall. Outside young children were playing. Their jubelant voices danced on the wind and slowly echoed between the tall buildings into the distance.

"You see them?" he asked.
He waited for a moment, but not for an answer.
"It's been said that children are the mark of a good society. Happy children are the only thing a parent and a society can hope for. Their happiness is the greatest measure of a system's success," he looked down, "I grew up in a small village in Antwerpen. It was a war torn little place, the second world war was in full swing. I remember my entertainment being jumping from crater to crater, trying to avoide the debris flying around from explosions and collapsing buildings. My brothers and sisters were mostly dead. The two or three still alive at that point never smiled. I want those children to keep on smiling. I want to make thousands more children smile in the years to come. I want to create a place where they can grow up free from the horrors this world has forced on so many. Free of the violence and the hatred this senseless war between the Heroes and the Villains has caused. I want to build a place where they can laugh and play without any worries."
"I have just one question," he said as he turned around to face Shojiro, "if I were to agree to your request, would you make this dream of mine come true? Would you keep this city safe and free of this horrid violence and clean of this detestable war?"
Shojiro was quiet for a few seconds before answering. The Mayor had the distinct impression a thousand minds were working as one inside his head. That a million calculators were running prediction and probability algorithms, and a million more were testing every possible permutation on those theorems.
"I can't promise you that," Shojiro said, "but I can promise you that if you stand by me, and see it through to the end, the children of this city won't be the only ones that get to share in your dream." the answer finally came.
The Mayor thought for a few moments before extending his hand.
"I knew you wouldn't have been able to keep such a promise, but your honesty regarding that has clinched it for me. You have my full and unwavering support. Whatever it takes, I will make this world a reality."
The two shook hands, and all of a sudden the Mayor found himself alone in his office.

[The GAmeTopians]

Intercept smirked as The Watcher ran off to tend to a wounded as soon as he threw a single REB. Before he could do anything else his radio buzzed.
"Intercept, the Governor of California just dispatched National Guard, be on the lookout. Don't do anything rash." That was his father, the CEO of Cronus Labs.
"Will do." He hung up. Before he could take another step, his radio buzzed again.
"Boy this is a busy night," he muttered. He listened to the message, and his eyes widened.
"Hey, Six-shot! I read. How're you doing on this fine massacre of a night! I'm having some fun with explosions, might have some fun with these National Guard fellas later. I'll see if anyone's willing to pay for me to have my fun, too."

Six-Shot sat there and smirked before standing up. "Where's your location?" He said, making his move. He tried his best to keep the high ground. He looked at the populace below, seeing some begin to make their way inside. He heard the governor over the radio, it gained his interest, he wanted to know what would happen if he stayed out. Guess only time will tell.

Since he couldn't be bothered to read street signs, he turned on his locator.
"You still have that locator, right? I turned my pair with that on. You should be able to find me no problem."
Hearing gunshots, Intercept smiled.
"It seems the National Guard has arrived."

[Talion Union]

Alice saw the grenade a moment before it exploded. That wasn't possible... she had been watching carefully. She paused, dark eyes scanning the opposite rooftops for a few moments, then walked off the ledge, plummeting straight down towards the ground. For a moment it looked like she was about to come crashing straight into the concrete, but as she reached perhaps 10 feet from ground level she decelerated, landing as light as a feather, "Who's injured?" she cried out, scanning quickly among the police officers before latching onto a Police Sergeant, "I'm not a medic." she said, "But if there is anyone you think won't make it until the ambulance arrives... I can get them to hospital faster than any ambulance. I know you probably have views on Capes, but I can help. Arrest me later if you like."

If he did he'd never make anything stick...

The Sergeant motioned to a wounded officer, still looking somewhat stunned at her sudden arrival, "Sargesson... maybe."

Alice nodded, turning to face Sargesson, only to find herself looking at a familiar name on Television. Benjamin Wilson... she remembered him, guy in a wheelchair, seemed nice enough, something of an anarchist, "Patches O'Houlihan, how did you get out of your wheelchair?" she muttered to herself.

If Intercept was still watching her, he would see her wrap herself around Sargesson in a manner that would definitely have raised a few eyebrows if people had been looking properly. She could only affect things she could sense, which meant that flying, with a passenger, needed to be done like riding a magic carpet, with Alice forming the carpet and, in the case of Sargesson, the seat belts as well. A split second later and she shot off, bearing her ward straight to the emergency department. She was definitely faster than any ambulance.

She stopped outside the front - if Wilson had gone Vigilante, that could be a problem, but so long as she could convince him to do things her way for a while, then he might be useful in cleaning up the mess. Especially since there was a clear implication in the news story that he was a Cape. She took off again, stopping at a cheap clothing store to pick up a beige trench-coat that covered her armor, cape, and more importantly, Officer Sargesson's blood (she did not want to have to explain why she was wearing blood stained body armor), then took off again, touching down just outside the Police Station Neo had been taken to, then strolled in as if she owned the place, "Good day!" she greeted the staff pleasantly, smiling brightly, "I'm here to ante up the bail money for Mr. Benjamin Wilson."

She had made a calculated guess as to where he was being held. She felt lucky, but if it turned out to be wrong, she would pretend to be a ditz and hopefully the nice officer would point her to the correct Police Station.

Caught off guard by her sudden movement, the Ghost followed her, ready to ensnare her in its mass and drag her back to her back Home.


It was preparing to strike down these men, seeing the men in blue uniforms as hostiles. It hung behind the officer, visible as a black mass behind him.


Escaping from the sewers, Iroquois breathed a sigh of relief, running through the streets. He knew he was a half mile from his Safe house, and he stopped a car in the road, hurling the driver into a street light, breaking his back. He tore off in the direction of the club, flying by a police station as he did.

[Confederation of imperial states]

The Dark Lord


In the outskirts wooded area of Los Santana, there lies a long forgotten tomb. The TOmb was used by Natives to combat spirits, and to allow talks and pasage to a realms called the void. the TEmple has remained unused for hundreds of years, but now it will be relight. The ALter lights up with a blackened aura, and a Dakr Figure in armor is teleported from the Void onto the Altar. Dark Lord shakes his head, catching a minor fuzzy feeling in his head. "Finally.....I have returned to the Mortal Realm" Dark Lord looks around at the ruined Temple, "I have been gone for far too long.....I must reach the surface". Dark Lord steps off of the Altar and walks out of the main room, before he enters the entrance way he finds a person in atent camped out in fjust in front of the door leading to the stairwell, "Peasants.....resting in my Monastary....the nerve of these people". Dark Lord quietly walked up to the man's tent, he overheard the man singing a tune called "on the road again, do do do do, on the road aga- URGH". Dark Lord grabbed the man by his heck and held him infront of him. "What gives a piece of insignificant filth like you the nerve to rest in my monastary" Dark Lord siad in his usual, intimidating tone. "Jesus man i didn't know this was yours, i was just trying to get away from the nbational guard" the man said while grabbing at Dark Lord's arm. "you will pay for this intrusion" "Wait, NO NO NO-" the Man's plead was cut off when Dark Lord peered deep into the mans eyes, invading his mind.

Dark Lord used His Dark Manipulation to creep deep into the Man's Mind, ripping information on the modern world and the current situation in Los Santana from the mand's mind. Dark Lord then crept into the Man's vitals with his Darkness, cutting off the Man's life source, killing him. Dark Lrod dropped the man, and he slumped to the ground. "a arge City for me to blend into.....and it seems there's a constabulary 'National guard', they seem to be annexing the city. i will have to move through the outskirts of the city in order to stay unnoticed". before Dark Lord exitred, he looked to the man and reached his hand out, a few seconds later, the man rose and stood up, resurrected as a thrall for the Dark Lord. "Come along, we have work to do". Dark Lord said to the thrall as he exited through the door and walked up the stairwell, the Thrall followed close behind.

(OOC: this isn't a public incident because he technically isn't public)

[Xanatau]

Chapter 2: Chariots of the Gods (pt 2)

Year 1487, Martian Calender
Second Age of Change

Shroud of Neptune
18,640 km from Earth, arrival time: 2 days: 23 hours: 40 minutes: 57 seconds

The Campaigner orders his ship to deploy several spy drones to get a clearer picture on the situation on Earth. Several pods near the bow of the ship open and nearly a dozen car-sized black spheres with red sensory scanners are dispatched immediately.

(OOC: main invasion force obviously hasn't arrived yet. The drones will do their scout work and lay dormant until the invasion happens.)

[Latznavia]

Alice saw the grenade a moment before it exploded. That wasn't possible... she had been watching carefully. She paused, dark eyes scanning the opposite rooftops for a few moments, then walked off the ledge, plummeting straight down towards the ground. For a moment it looked like she was about to come crashing straight into the concrete, but as she reached perhaps 10 feet from ground level she decelerated, landing as light as a feather, "Who's injured?" she cried out, scanning quickly among the police officers before latching onto a Police Sergeant, "I'm not a medic." she said, "But if there is anyone you think won't make it until the ambulance arrives... I can get them to hospital faster than any ambulance. I know you probably have views on Capes, but I can help. Arrest me later if you like."

If he did he'd never make anything stick...

The Sergeant motioned to a wounded officer, still looking somewhat stunned at her sudden arrival, "Sargesson... maybe."

Alice nodded, turning to face Sargesson, only to find herself looking at a familiar name on Television. Benjamin Wilson... she remembered him, guy in a wheelchair, seemed nice enough, something of an anarchist, "Patches O'Houlihan, how did you get out of your wheelchair?" she muttered to herself.

If Intercept was still watching her, he would see her wrap herself around Sargesson in a manner that would definitely have raised a few eyebrows if people had been looking properly. She could only affect things she could sense, which meant that flying, with a passenger, needed to be done like riding a magic carpet, with Alice forming the carpet and, in the case of Sargesson, the seat belts as well. A split second later and she shot off, bearing her ward straight to the emergency department. She was definitely faster than any ambulance.

She stopped outside the front - if Wilson had gone Vigilante, that could be a problem, but so long as she could convince him to do things her way for a while, then he might be useful in cleaning up the mess. Especially since there was a clear implication in the news story that he was a Cape. She took off again, stopping at a cheap clothing store to pick up a beige trench-coat that covered her armor, cape, and more importantly, Officer Sargesson's blood (she did not want to have to explain why she was wearing blood stained body armor), then took off again, touching down just outside the Police Station Neo had been taken to, then strolled in as if she owned the place, "Good day!" she greeted the staff pleasantly, smiling brightly, "I'm here to ante up the bail money for Mr. Benjamin Wilson."

She had made a calculated guess as to where he was being held. She felt lucky, but if it turned out to be wrong, she would pretend to be a ditz and hopefully the nice officer would point her to the correct Police Station.

BENJAMIN WILSON
A.K.A.
NEO

The sargeant looked at her, then released a sigh. He looked at the file and closed it.

"You're in luck, he's in for just a nights stay. Apparently, a number of rioters and citizens claim they didn't actually see him doing it." He reached over to a microphone, "Benjamin Wilson for release, his ride is here." He turned off the microphone and walked to a box of things and walked back to the desk, with a clearly exhausted hobble. "Here are all his possessions: One money clip possessing one hundred dollars in singles. One hoodie from New York State University. One pair of pins, US Armed Services Captain Rank collar pins. And one army backpack possessing symbol for Quantum Mechanix." He sighed, "That is everything, please sit down and he'll-"

Benjamin walked out, in hard iron cuffs. The sargeant sighed as a woman pushed Alice out of the way and walked over. Alice of course was curious to see Benjamin standing as the officer released the cuffs from his wrists. He rubbed his wrists and looked at Alice, he remembered the flirting he did with her. But that seemed so long ago, he smiled.

"How's it going, Al?" he said casually, standing before her.

[Anowa]

(Image)

[align=center]Don Ignesio Gordo

The cold air of the trainyard was silent as a man laid bloodied on the tracks. His face nearly unrecognizable, his legs bent in the wrong places as he laid on the ground. He looked up, the shadowy figure of a trenchcoated man and two others lingered over him. He breathed heavy. He breathed terrified, as the man removed the nub a Cuban cigar from his lips.

"You disappointed me, Reuben. You made me look like a fool last night." He tapped Reuben's cheek with the blood baseball bat. "I said that I wanted no problems, and yet look what happened. The city fell into a panic and we nearly didn't make the shipment. Do you know how that makes me feel Reuben. It makes me feel shameful. I'm sorry to be the first to tell you this Reuben, but you've been terminated. Have a nice life." He turned and walked away.

A man pulled a lever and a large train car, suspended for repair reasons fell, Reuben's head exploded, brains and blood erupted like a watermelon, the wheels gently began to roll and it was couple to a long freight train.

"Its a shame really, that train accidents happen.." He lit a new cigar, "all the time.." The train began to leave towards the docks, loaded with crates that read "Gaian Humanitarian Effort" while being loaded with guns, shells, parts, and cars with drugs.

Slick
I was currently standing at the docks overlooking a few dozen shipping crates labeled for 'humanitarian aid' what lied inside was actually a shit ton of AKs, Tec-9s, AR-15s, hunting rifles and a few howitzers, this wasn't humanitarian aid, but at least the militia would be equipped, he looked down at the note that came with supposedly:

Hope you like the new toys, and may this be a beginning to a fruitful partnership.
-D G

the only person I know with the 'initials of DG is Don Gordo, head of the local underground, it was actually a surprise he wasn't trying to kill me considering I had his father killed a while back, which made him more cautious, he looked over at Julius, one of his closest friends on the Island beside his wife, Dima, his contact with the Russian black market, and Roberta, his bodyguard who had dissapeared last night. "Julius, check these things for bombs, dummy rounds, and welded barrels, at the moment I trust the Don as far as I can throw him, and with how out of shape I am that means I negatively trust him, I trust him so little he trusts me."
Julius responded, "already on it."
I turned to Dima next, "so how are the Hinds coming along, half of the shipment arrived now we're just waiting for the other 15 to arrive then we'll be up to Atlas' standards."
I nodded, "good, keep at it." I thought to myself the events leading up to this moment, the Islands founding, it's recognition by the US, then Japan and Canada, and finally the UK, applying to become a major Global partner to NATO, all he neede was a sizeable air force and navy, and the air force was nearly complete, we had bought the Hinds off the black market and we were given a few F-14s under lend lease with the US, we had trained pilots as well, granted the US was given another naval base on an island a few dozen miles off the coast for their effort, all in all they didn't really care about our actions, so long as they didn't threaten the US in any way, now that I think about it that must be why the Don is doing this, to get a safe haven and an easy way to get things in and out of LC, well if I supplied him coke and other recreational drugs we may be able to make a deal, "Julius, I'm gonna see if I can get into contact with the Don to see if we can make a deal, try not to blow up." the tall man chuckled as I departed.

a half hour later I had managed to track down the Don's phone number, I dialed the phone and he picked up, he didn't say anything but I knew he was there, "I got your 'aid' I'm actually surprised there wasn't all that much 'confetti', 'I'll have to thank you in person some time' my schedules open so we may be able to meet 'sooner rather than later' that is if your open on the same day as me."