Once We Were Villains IC (Closed-Signups in OOC)

[Kuhlfros]

Lee Inaba, Ronin
The Rock

Lee nodded with a stoic expression on his face and replied to Entropy, "I need to see the Samurai, he always has an answer for me. If you could do me the favor of taking this detour, we should start to move."

He tipped his head over to Lady Tenebrous and said "Couldn't you just steal another copy? Or tell you what maybe I'll buy you a copy once we are out, but if that one is special..." He glanced around at the prison, "Well, I'm sure we can find a way and spare a bit of time to snag it."

[Bentus]

Tristan McKay
The Rock, San Francisco

---

Tristan’s heart was pounding out of his chest as he ran down the twisting hallways of the prison. Each of his muscles rallied against the physical effort, but he didn’t dare slow down or turn back lest the rhythmic stomping behind him draw any closer. The lizard meta was strong, but slow, and if the litany of insults that were being tossed his way were any indication, Tristan knew that if he kept pushing his legs to their limit then maybe – just maybe – he could outrun his opponent and find somewhere to hide. The glimmer of hope worked to fight back the grip of fear that clutched his lungs, the instinctive, unavoidable terror sending a surge of adrenaline coursing through Tristan’s veins. Hopefully that fear would help keep him alive. All he had to do was run.

Careening around another corner, Tristan pulled himself to a sudden stop – looking at the unexpected sight in shock. The reporter who had accompanied him looked up with a terrified expression, his hands shaking and bloodied as he cradled the wounded figure of the warden. The man stared at him with a pleading expression, as if begging for someone to explain the horrifying situation in which he found himself. The world seemed to slow down around Tristan as he looked over the prone form of the warden, her chest rising slowly in shallow, unsteady breaths. His eyes scanned over her with practiced precision, noting the gash that marred her abdomen and had soaked her uniform in her own blood. The flow of blood was slower than he’d expected, the pressure having already dropped enough that she wasn’t going to be moving anywhere without assistance. Her eyes were slightly glazed over and Tristan suspected that she had been drifting in and out of consciousness.

As the steady pounding footfalls continued to draw near, mere seconds away from rounding the corner and seeing all three of them defenceless in plain sight, Tristan knew that there was no way to move the woman and still avoid the bloodthirsty meta. His expression hardened as he evaluated the cold, mental arithmetic in his head. There was only one way for him to survive, to escape and live to fight another day. His eyes met the reporter’s, the expression conveying a thousand words in an instant. Tristan didn’t have a choice, and he didn’t hesitate for a moment longer. He immediately broke out into a run, pumping his arms even faster than before. He refused to look back at the warden and the reporter, fearing that doing so would lessen his resolve. Rounding the corner at the end of the hallway, Tristan let out a yell as he slammed his shoulder into the surprised meta.

The last thing the lizard had expected was for his prey to come screeching back towards him, and he was caught off balance as Tristan’s momentum forced the pair off their feet. Pinning the meta to the ground with his own weight, Tristan launched a flurry of punches at the man’s face, blow after blow contacting a sickening crunch. The impacts bloodied Tristan’s knuckles, and he could feel his own bones buckling under the force, but he refused to let up even for a moment. He knew that if he had allowed the meta to turn that corner, then the warden and the reporter wouldn’t have stood a chance – a last desperate stand had been his only option left. It would be kill or be killed.

Driven to a rage, the meta swung wildly, his solid, scaly fist striking Tristan with such force that he felt the world spin around him as he was flung aside. The single impact immediately took the fight out of the Senator, his mind reeling from the blow as he struggled even to clamber up onto his hands and knees. Coughing up blood, Tristan fought to push himself back up to his feet, to force a final effort from his exhausted limbs. But before he could, he felt a firm hand grip his neck, yanking his tired body into the air so that his legs dangled above the floor. Tristan stared face-to-face with his opponent, desperately trying to claw away the fingers that even now constricted around his throat. The man stared back menacingly, a bloodthirsty fire raging behind his eyes as he waited to see the light slowly fade from Tristan’s expression.

“Hey! Godzilla! What are you doing squandering your rescue?”

Suddenly, the grip loosened and Tristan managed a desperate breath of fresh air. He turned as much as he could, looking over the strange pair that now stood in the hallway. The woman’s voice was distorted, but recognisable as the one that had addressed the prison through the loud speakers. Tristan, his face bloodied, tried to smile towards the lizard who still clutched him in his grip. The action only seemed to further enrage the man. However, before the prisoner could decide whether or not to execute the helpless senator, Derek stepped forward.

Surprising everyone gathered, the smaller man knocked the meta out cold in a matter of seconds – the prisoner not even having enough time to register what was happening before the blows began to land. His grip immediately evaporated and Tristan fell onto the ground, gasping for breath.

“Are you alright, sir?”

Tristan waved a hand dismissively as coughs rocked his figure, his whole body shaking as he tried to recover. His mind was similarly reeling, confusion dominating his thoughts. “What, me? I’m fine, just give me a moment to catch my breath.” Tristan sat motionless for a few more moments before slowly bringing himself back to his feet. He looked over the dishevelled police officer with an amused expression. “I take it appearances can be deceiving, officer?”

He offered a colder, less forgiving look towards the heavily armed woman, however. “Although I’m pretty sure you’re what it says on the tin – which does bring up more questions than answers.”

---

Lisette Aveline
The Rock, San Francisco

---

Lisette had been sitting idly on a low wall just outside the prison’s inner entrance. She had wasted no time in following Luka through the portal, and had immediately split-up, making her way through the winding corridors towards her position. The few guards she had encountered had hardly put up a fight, Lisette hardly breaking her stride at the minor distractions. They had done little to dampen her mood, and she was practically beaming while she waited patiently outside, her legs swinging playfully over the edge of the wall. It would only be a matter of time before the heroes began to arrive in the inner courtyard, and Lisette could hardly contain her excitement or the rampant speculation that continued in her mind over who she would see first. In the end her patience was rewarded, and the young woman could hardly believe her luck at the figure flying over the outer perimeter.

Gravitas touched down gently, stumbling slightly as his feet contacted solid ground. He carefully released his passenger, and Lisette felt a surge of jealousy rise up in her chest as the other woman slowly removed herself from the hero. Lisette didn’t initially recognise the other hero, putting the woman down as probably being one of the League’s new recruits. It hardly mattered really, she was far from the main attraction by this point and would probably just end up getting between Lisette and Gravitas.

Springing to her feet, Lisette began to make her way over towards the pair of heroes, her expression beaming as she tried to think of what to say. It had to be something momentous, suitable for the occasion – after all, maybe she could be lucky enough to become the nemesis of the hero. But as she made her way closer and closer towards Gravitas and his partner, she felt the butterflies begin to flutter around her stomach. What if she said something wrong? What if she came off too strongly? What if Gravitas didn’t like her? Lisette powered on through the doubts, determined not to miss the chance to finally meet one of her heroes.

“Hi there! My name’s Marionette.” Lisette offered a friendly wave towards the heroes, her parasol resting on her shoulder as she did so. “I cannot believe how lucky I am to actually get to meet you Gravitas – I am such a huge fan. You’re getting really good at flying, too.” The young woman paused for a moment, realising that she had forgotten something important. She smiled sheepishly at her mistake, giggling as she did so. “Oh silly me, I forgot to say: I’m part of the Syndicate.”

[Spindle]

William Docherty
The Rock
San Francisco

A flash of pink entered William's vision and he half-turned to see a woman dressed in garish amounts of pink beelining towards him and Seer. Something about her had his hackles rising, but he had no clue what it was - the fact that she was in the facility, perhaps? That didn't feel right, but it was one of the only things he could think of off of the top of his head - he'd have heard if there was one of the supersonics in the League at the moment - but even that didn't feel right. It was more than possible that one of the newbies was a supersonic, or a teleporter or something. So what was worrying him?

You know her.

The stray thought wasn't a welcome one in his mind. If he knew her, and she couldn't recall her a member of the League, that only left so many options open, none of which were good for him. Syndicate was better than Society - if they were in it for the money, they'd be more willing to call it quits when they were beaten - but either one meant that he was moving into deeper waters than he usually charted. Flexing his fingers experimentally, he willed dozens of point-sources into being for a moment, feet scuffing the ground as he felt the now-familiar sensation of losing his balance in a hundred directions at once before cutting the gravity off and tensing for a fight.

What he hadn't been expecting her to do was wave casually and shooting a grin bright enough to illuminate a city at him before launching into an almost hyperactive introduction. His face creased as she did so, confusion warring with slowly dawning recognition. Marionette - he'd heard that name before. She'd been one of the files he'd had to memorise - an assassin, or hit-woman or some-such. She'd been a small-time hero for a while too, if his memory served, which gave the woman giggling sheepishly in front of him an almost tragic eeriness - she'd chosen to step into the shadows from the light.

He hoped she could chose to step back again. If nothing else, it would leave him a lot less likely to end up spattered against the walls of the Rock.

"Marionette..." He said slowly, feeling the adrenaline spike of fear hitting his limbs. He wasn't ready for this - for a fight with a proper supervillain. His hand fluttered to his wrist, to the small flash of metal visible between his gloves and the hem of his suit's sleeve. He could take the inhibitor off right now - he could unleash everything and let it burn wild and free. For a moment, his fingers traced the edges of the bracelet, finding the gap between the two halves, before he pulled it back down to his side. Regulations were regulations. He wasn't allowed to unlock the inhibitor without permission. And with that, he took a slow, deliberate step forwards, legs feeling like lead weights as he lifted the next one for another step.

"Look, I don't know you." He said to Marionette, voice low and controlled with every iota of willpower he had, "And I don't know who you are, or how you know me, or why you're doing this. But look around you. There's about to be a prison full of the most destructive people on the planet loosed on San Francisco and however nice it might be to have a fan, that's not going to stop me from fighting you if you get in the way. So please - stand aside, or help if you want. Just don't try and stop me here. Please."

[Dyelli Beybi]

Derek W. Cooke


Feeling his gaze upon them, Derek took a glance at Nightjar. Stay in character. He thought, as he wrapped his arm around Nightjar, pulling her in close. Giving a death gaze at the scaled individual, he made sure that when he whispered at Nightjar, it wouldn't be audible to him and her. "I'm going to make a move....... From what I've read on his file, he's highly unstable. When with the Society, he barely showed up and when he did it was mostly for some dumb muscle. There's also records of him sending several members of your organization to local underground clinics. Lastly, he has a nasty habit of picking fights. In the short amount of time he's been here, this particular meta has gotten himself in more than fifty plus altercations with other inmates and guards. Simply put, he's not the cooperative type."

Making sure that no one else but the four of them were around, Derek made his move. Dropping his jacket to the floor, he began to walk forwards, the eyes of his target alternating between him and the jacket. "Look, I don't mind you looking, but I think you've done that enough. And for that, you're going to need a punishment."

"Oh yeah, what is a pipsqueak like you going to do about it?" The Lizard-Meta growled maliciously, dubious as to what this seemingly normal cop is capable of.

Eyes out of sight from Nightjar, Derek activated his power, irises turning into an amber color. Wanting to finish this as quick as possible, brought his power to Level 2 immediately, his irises giving a dim glow. Hands curled into fists, sent a punch capable of sending a stationary vehicles sliding across the pavement onto the Lizard-Man's gut. The impact was enough in forcing the inmate into dropping the Senator onto the floor. Not permitting for the prisoner to recover any time from the shock, followed it up with a several jabs into the same place and an uppercut to the face, requiring some jumping from Derek's part. Now knocked down to the floor, delivered a curb stomp to the scaly meta's head. "That."

"Oh." Nightjar remarked at the sudden display of meta-human power, "You know, you probably didn't need my help at all... but you're not in the clear yet. Do you want to head to the rooftop or back the way we came? Either way I suggest we get a move on. I have places to be that aren't here."

Tristan waved a hand dismissively as coughs rocked his figure, his whole body shaking as he tried to recover. His mind was similarly reeling, confusion dominating his thoughts. “What, me? I’m fine, just give me a moment to catch my breath.” Tristan sat motionless for a few more moments before slowly bringing himself back to his feet. He looked over the dishevelled police officer with an amused expression. “I take it appearances can be deceiving, officer?”

He offered a colder, less forgiving look towards the heavily armed woman, however. “Although I’m pretty sure you’re what it says on the tin – which does bring up more questions than answers.”

Nightjar favoured the senator with a slight smile, "I am exactly what I say I am. I'm guessing one question is why I'm helping? Would you believe me if I said I like your policies on meta-human integration?"

She reached behind her back, pulling out the pistol she had taken off a guard earlier, "You'll need one of these." she tossed it across to Tristan, "Catch! And please try to avoid the temptation to shoot me... I know I probably deserve it but it would be quite impolite."

[Imperial--japan]

Seer - League

"Are you okay?" He asked, "You were...tense."

Sophia took a moment to finally respond, internally appreciating the feeling of once again being on solid ground. She breathed heavily, as she hadn't realized that she'd been holding her breath in the first place. She smiled at Gravitas however, appreciating the effort he went through to keep her comfortable while she flew. At the same time, she also felt bad about being a burden while he was in flight.

"Yes, I'm okay. Thank you Gravitas...I'm sorry if I was any trouble for you." Her face became impassive before becoming a slight frown. She wondered if he could of gotten here sooner without her. Sophia wasn't able to linger on the thought as someone rather...pink appeared before them.

“Oh silly me, I forgot to say: I’m part of the Syndicate.”

Those were the only words that Sophia needed to hear before readying herself into an appropriate combative stance. She was confused that the Syndicate would have the gall to attack a facility such as The Rock, but it mattered little at the moment. What mattered was dealing with the foe in front of them swiftly and containing the situation in The Rock. At the same time, this foe being from the syndicate was probably a blessing, as the possibility of anyone from the society knowing her weakness' was likely. Not having a file on other meta's, especially ones you considered for recruitment was strong.

Instead of threatening Marionette, Sophia instead maintained her position alongside Gravitas as he had already expressed their wishes accurately by telling Marionette to get out of the way. They had much better things to do than fight someone who apparently was a Barbie alternative. Despite her desire to wipe their hands of Marionette, Sophia was wary rather than dismissive. Last time she was dismissive of a meta, she had been beaten by a hero of the league.

[Rynagria]

Derek W. Cooke

Giving a sheepish grin towards the Senator, he rubbed the back of his head and picked up his discarded jacket from the floor. "In this case, yes. It was a small countermeasure from wondering eyes of an inmate, sir. Although had I run into some trouble, they'd have to answer to her first. Luckily though, it hasn't come to that. However, I fear that may not be the case for the rest of this rescue."

With a sigh, the young man looked around his surrounding, then back down to the now unconscious Lizard Meta.

It'd be best to leave him be.... Moving him to a cell might awaken him. And while I have the power the take him on, I won't have the element of surprise anymore. Now to take care of the sena-

"Oh." Nightjar remarked at the sudden display of meta-human power, "You know, you probably didn't need my help at all... but you're not in the clear yet. Do you want to head to the rooftop or back the way we came? Either way I suggest we get a move on. I have places to be that aren't here."

I have to arrest her. Thought Derek, as he listened to her question. Conflicted about the matter, his job would be to apprehend the villainess, yet the woman did help him out. Even now, her presence would be a huge held should they meet any company, whether it be through the application of violence or deception. Hands clenching into a fist, he once again sighed in resignation, relaxing himself to the fullest despite their current situation. She had helped him, had trusted him to not shoot her in the back, to betray her would make him no different than the criminals here. And unlike many villains, she had honor, perhaps she can be turned around. Heroes now a days have either become stagnant or rare in some cases, and they could always use more.

"Or maybe that's just being naïve." He muttered under his breath, before giving her an answer. "Which one would you prefer? I mean going for the roof would be the harder option here, but going for the way we went through might land us smack dab in the middle of a battle between the escaping prisoners and response units."

---

Brooklynn L. Golden/Water Lily

The pattern was there.

The moves that he used against her, the preparation for the attack, she's seen it before. Instinct taking hold of her movements, Brooklynn did her best to counter effectively, at the same time willing the water around her to cling onto her clothes subtly. While she didn't have distilled water, she can make something that's not a great conductor of electricity. Secret weapon in mind, Brook continued place all her focus on Striker, ignoring the arrival of the mutt and Karl while at the same time keeping them in mind. She'll deal with them when that time comes.

Suddenly, it came. His right arm hooking her left, Brook was prepared for it. Eyes narrowing on his left hand, predicted all possible point of impacts and began to freeze a strip of ice on top of her clothes, a single centimeter in thickness. Steam the byproduct of the ice and the electricity, Brook counter. In a matter of less than a second, Water Lily dislodged her left arm from his grasp and created some distance. Then combining her freezing ability, lowered the temperature of the air around her and manifested an icy mist, lowering the visibility greatly within a 30-meter radius from she currently stood. Opponents and herself engulfed in the mist, made her way for a momentary escape and hopes that some reinforcements would arrive.

[The Flutterlands]

Lady Teneborus AKA Filia Umbrarum

Lady Teneborus giggled at the comments as she watched Entropy do his work on the door. She had heard about the Samurai being held here before and kind of had an interest in meeting him. "I guess I could snag that book elsewhere, if we can't get it while rescuing the Samurai." she spoke with a crackle, "Besides there are plenty of copies out there. Though there are other things here that I'd probably can't 'barrow' anywhere else. As for the motorcycle, we're suppose to get on a boat in order to leave this godforsaken rock. So I'm sure we can fit her on our water vehicle."

The half-demon took a backstep once the the door collapsed. "So where exactly is this Samurai?" Teneborus asked, "Is he in maximum security or something? I forgot actually and having never met him isn't something I'm keen on paying attention to."

[House of Judah]

Ibrahim
The Rock

Ibrahim scanned the mist. His former ally had obviously been practicing. He withdrew from the mist, continuing to search for Water Lily, but could not find her immediately. He turned his eyes skyward and witnessed the coming of more League “heroes”. More traitors to meta-kind. A bolt of lightning flew from his hand and directly into one of the crafts carrying a would-be adversary to the island. The machine smoked and exploded, tossing the youth into the cold water of San Francisco Bay.

He had wasted too much time on one person. There were many others coming and the mission still needed accomplishment.

“If you are quite done watching, Cryptos," Ibrahim yelled at his comrade, "would you please be so kind as to acquire the prizes and get us out of here? It would be greatly appreciated.” Ibrahim once more stepped into the mist, allowing Water Lily’s powers to sap the heat from him as he fired bolts of lightning like flak at the coming enemies. Some were able to dodge his counter. Others were struck down, cast into the bay, there survival an open question. There was no time for sympathy for such fools. The war was beginning. The time of revolution was now.