Gods Among Us (IC|Superhero|Open)

[Remnants of Exilvania]

New York City
Lucky Strike Manhattan
Hans

Much to Hans' relief Emma agreed almost immediately, though he did not quite understand why he had to go under the table for that. Surely this James character had to see him tied up for this to work, right?

"But doesn't he-"

, was all he got out before Emma roughly pushed him under the table. He shrugged. Well, perhaps she did so only for his safety, in case James and the others wanted to shoot again. Hey, atleast she was quick about it, having his hands tied, albeit only loosely. It wondered him slightly and apparently Emma wasn't so sure of it as well as she asked him wether it was tight enough to which he only answered, while wriggling his hands a little to show her how loose it still was:

"I think it can be tighter Fräulein Emma. See, I can still slip out of them like this."

And before Emma's eyes, he actually slipped his hands out, turned around on the floor and held the hands up before her. To both their and Chris' luck though, it appeared the Revenant currently had his attention on other things and thus didn't really notice that someone had just untied himself.

From the little Hans managed to see from below the table, things were over in a heartbeat, Chris being pushed aside and the armoured giant called Sophie whom he had tried to help before suddenly bringing down the Revenant, locking him under her massive knee. And just like that the situation was resolved, Sophie sighing and asking for cuffs and for someone to get the Explosive Ordinance Disposal. Only now did Hans realize that the grenade launcher fired earlier apparently didn't have its payload detonating. Perhaps staying under the table for a little while untill the threat was removed was better then?

He heard something slam, causing him to whip his head around, only to see that Jack, the small, asiatic guy, had fallen flat on his face. And he wasn't moving. Worried as he was, Hans was about to move out of his cover below the table, with the intent of saving poor Jack who was just lying there and could have the roof falling onto his head, only to see Chris, liberated, living Chris taking care of the downed hero. True comraderie, Hans proudly thought as he watched Chris drag the unconscious Jack over here and place him on the couch next to their table, calling out for a medic and some water. And then his gaze fell under the table where the two of them were.

"I hope you two are having fun down here."

Hans didn't exactly understand what Chris meant, did see that Chris gaze lingered for a moment on what was visible of his underpants. Right, the nice people at Creedmoor had said that people usually didn't like to be able to see these. And so Hans hurriedly picked up his belt, pulled up his pants and started reapplying his belt while flashing a happy smile at Chris, saying honestly:

"Well, I also thought that it was strange to do it down here as I thought James had to see us doing it. But Emma told me to go under the table so we just kind of ended up down here."

His gaze then fell on Jack, worry in his eyes as he asked:

"Will he be okay? I just heard something hitting the floor and he was just lying there with his face on the floor, not moving. Did James hurt him? Did he break his nose in the fall?"

Suddenly someone else commented. Hans looked bewildered as he hadn't seen or heard anyone come up but then the tophat guy stepped forward from behind Chris and into their field of view. What was his name again? Ah, right, Matthew. With some strange, musical last name. Oboe? No. Ah Octave, right, Matthew Octave. Damn, he really had a way of sneaking up on people, didn't he?

Matthew continued proposing to continue the party he had attempted to set up at his own place. An apartment, supposedly quite spacious. Hans was about to willingly agree, a smile spreading across his face...and then freezing on there as he looked at Jack again. And then at the trashed bowling center. The wide smile faded, leaving only a slightly dumbstruck impression as Hans shakily said:

"I...I don't know. I think perhaps some of us might need a break or time to refresh themselves. And perhaps we should host the next get-together at TIAMA's. A bit more formal but the risk of unaffiliated third parties or their property being harmed would be immensely lower."

He then looked at Emma, giving her his usual, broad and friendly smile as he said:

"Thank you very much for your help before Fräulein Emma! I am sure I wouldn't have been able to tie my hands without your help!"

[Jerno]

Emma Greenwood/ John Farrow

After everything had stopped firing at the fellow, Emma and John had relatively stayed in their positions while they observed from afar. Emma felt that there were more than enough heroes dealing with the current situation and she wasn't exactly needed. So she’s had stayed hidden behind the table once she had stopped firing her projectiles. Throughout the entire time she stayed in her spot. She even put her hands behind her back when the heroe called Gauss told everyone to cuff her hands. Now that the danger is over Emma wasn’t in a festive mood anymore. As for John he also felt the same way. Emma decided that she had seen enough action for one night. Emma got up and stretched. She happened to overhear Hans talk to Matthew...yes Matthew Octave. “Hans is right, I’m at afraid. As for me I’m gonna go. Nice to meet you Hans!” Emma piped up. She then went up to John and thanked him for inviting her, to which John simply nodded. She then walked out of the devastated building and started to walk home. What a day, Emma mumbled. She eventually reached her small apartment and sat on the couch. Meanwhile John also decided to leave. The food that John had brought earlier was practically gone by this point so he wasn’t worried about it. Most of the drinks that he had also brought were nearly gone to. John proceeded to pack te few drinks remaining and gathered the few things that he had brought with him as well. Before he left he gave his thank she to Hans for inviting him and said his goodbye to Matthew as well. After that John disappeared and a peregrine falcon stood in johns place. The peregrine falcon flew out of the building and left.

[Segral]

Emma Davis

She had known something was peculiar about Hans, but she hadn't realized just how incredibly peculiar he was. Before she even had time to register him calling her "Fräulein", she was watching in growing terror as he just...slipped right out of the makeshift pair of handcuffs, going as far as to show his hands off for Emma and the entire world to see. There were two very wrong things in this situation. First of all, she was Welsh, not German. Second of all, what the hell was he thinking?! Was a simple "keep going" not sufficient? She was seriously considering breaking her handcuffs and clapping a hand over his mouth, and shot a panicked sideways look over the top of the table to ascertain just how viable that option was.

That look came just in time to see Sophie grab the gunman's arm, twisting him viciously and sending him sprawling face-down on the floor, with an extra knee to make sure he stayed there. It was a smooth, fluid, "blink-it-and-miss-it" type move, so fast that she had trouble remembering exactly how James had ended up on the floor in the first place. Not that it troubled her. She didn't particularly care about how he had ended up on the ground so much as the mere fact that he was on the ground, and that fact was what caused an intense wave of relief to pass through her body, allowing her to finally relax for the first time since this entire fiasco started. She gave a deep sigh, allowing herself to slump over and rest her head and back on the table's surface, dispelling her last clone in the process. Across the room, Korean Guy seemed to have the same idea, falling forwards in a dead faint. Poor guy.

Thankfully, he wouldn't have to lie on the dust and rubble coated-ground for too long, as the newly free Chris quickly gathered his limp form in his arms and carried him over to a nearby couch, muttering something about a medic or a water bottle. However, he decided to pause in the middle of his little trip to give herself and Hans a once-over, asking if the two were having...fun down there?

Oh.

OH.

She knew exactly what he was getting at, and now that she knew, she wished she had never thought of it. With Hans' hands in a belt-loop, his pants barely on, and Emma's own hands behind her back, she could...sort of see it, but still...EWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! Seriously, what the hell?! Unless he had come out very lucky in the genetic lottery, Hans was certainly too young to order his own drink, and he acted even younger. Why would someone even insinuate something like that? Why would someone even bother insinuating something like that?

Aaaand, great...that Matthew fellow from earlier seemed to also carry an interest in the "hell of a time" that was going on behind the table. Emma had been ready to quip back at Chris, but by this point, all she could do was let out an exasperated sigh, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose as she spoke.

"Y'know Chris, if we all hadn't just gone to hell and back to save your life, I'd have half a mind to crack your skull open." she said, wearily holding up her now-deactivated baton with a slight grin. Hans, as per usual, seemed oblivious to the commentary, re-threading his belt through the loops of his pants with the same happy-go-lucky grin as he discussed taking the party elsewhere with Matthew. No comment there, if they wanted to risk destroying another perfectly good building and rack up thousands of dollars in insurance premiums in the process, then they were free to do so, but she wouldn't take part in it, and it seemed like a few others shared her sentiments. People were filing out, a falcon was flying out of a nearby window, and a partridge was probably hopping around in a pear tree somewhere. By this point, she wasn't sure if anything would faze her. She had seen everything, and after Chris' little quip, had heard everything too.

And yet, Hans was still coming up with ways to surprise her.

"I..." Emma started, still just a tad taken aback by how bubbly Hans was, considering what had just happened. "You know what? No problem Hans, feel free to come to me any time you need your...hands tied up, or whatever." she said, a bit of Hans' enthusiasm seeping into her own grin. "Anyways, are you guys sure it's a good idea to take things anywhere after all of this? I don't exactly know how many people are still in a festive spirit."

[Central Crew]

Matthew Octave

As expected his proposition was doomed from the start, just as he predicted, but not as he hoped. He really wished for them to say yes even though he knew that they wouldn't. Well, The Book certainly wished to, and he would probably be forced to attempt another push until he saw Emma and her reactions.

Drastically would come too short to how much his focus changed in just a second.

That's right! How could have I have forgotten the most important thing ever?!

ROMANCE!

Any wishes The Book had of having a party in his apartment and possibly destroying it just for the heck of it were instantly overrun by the desire to experience love. More accurately, someone else's love. And hadn't the two most wonderful soon-to-be lovebirds just been part of the same meeting as him! What an unique opportunity!

Really! How had he forgotten about this!

Once again! he checked the participants of the party. Jack, who would have earn a look of sympathy form him, now earned a different expression. Many people who he had played a huge role in getting together described the look as... hungry. The man certainly had been tense around the women hadn't he? A perfect, uh... chance to help him out! Mayhaps a tall blonde would be a right match for him?

But that would have to come later. Eyes on the prize!

"Do not worry my dear Hans. I know the situation of everyone here. We'll all have our meeting... another time" He then turned to Emma. "But still, those of us who are still... here-" He pointed at the passed out Jack "-should probably exchange contacts as such. Relaying on TIAMA to relay our messages well, let's just say it should be better if we communicated directly.

Why, I didn't actually receive the invitation to this event! I'm sure they just forgot to relay it to me. That with all the problems we've caused them. But it proves my point. We're better of by contacting ourselves."

He took out his phone. It was literally the latest model. "Besides, what's the meaning of inventing all of this artifacts if we aren't actually going to use them?"

[Endem]

Chris Digel

"Oi, you are taking this quite well for a man who just had a weapon to his head less than five minutes ago."

"Practice, and having the criminal underworld of NY have a grudge against you, nothing special really" Chris answered, apparently unfazed by Matthew causally teleporting behind him.

"Too keep the fire burning, why don't we continue our meeting in a more pleasing place? Like my apartment for example? I really would hate if all we've built here to be undone by a distasteful interruption."

"I was just about to invite everyone to a bar, all drinks on me, gotta celebrate being alive" Chris interjected.

"Y'know Chris, if we all hadn't just gone to hell and back to save your life, I'd have half a mind to crack your skull open."

"And I very much appreciate that, but a little humor has always done wonders to relieve the tension of I-was-nearly-killed situations, y'know, the usual" Chris very much holding off a chuckle at seeing Emma's reaction to his little joke, and then she asked about a continuation to the partying "Well, I'm certainly up for some more partying"

And Matthew asked, while totally not very inappropriate, about their contacts, "Eh, just call the apartment building where I live, you just gotta say 'connect me to that f*cker' and then re-assure the lady answering you will not trigger a standoff" he intendedly remained oblivious to the very unsubtle implications of what Matthew actually wanted

[Mandicoria]

-snip-

Patriot snapped off his cuffs, the whole situation controlled now after a series of events unfolded. He'd have half a mind to beat the ever-loving shit out of those who fucked negotiations, but the situation was at least calmed. As he pulled out the keys to unlock his busted cuffs from his wrists, he looked over to gauss. Inserting the keys as he walked over to her. "I got a spare pair of cuffs. I think we should file a report about this, especially on the 'negotiation skills' of the others." He had a hint of annoyance in his voice as he pulled out another pair of cuffs from his suit, handing them to Gauss. "Tesla, get over here."

Tesla was held aghast as to what happened, the whole situation escalated to the point of someone dying. Just for it to be pacified by force. He was outright astonished as to how fast everything went. He shook his head as Patriot called him, responding by following the request. As he approached he looked down on the perpetrator and Gauss. Making sure to move away anything that could be used as a weapon. Like glass, broken wood, metal shards.

"This is some fuckin' dogshit." Patriot remarked, cracking his knuckles.

[Anowa]

Gauss accepted the cuffs from both Ophiuchia, as well as Patriot, using both pairs in sequence on the man's wrists. Patriots remark got an agreement from Gauss, "Ruby Ridge had fewer bullet holes, that's for fucking sure." Standing both herself and Revenant up, she looked around, and had to do a double take at the actions of the others. A tic she inherited from her father, her eye started twitching. One of them seemed to call his mother, another seemed to be taking down pohone numbers, and another two were tied up on the floor. Fuck sake one of them was even making plans to continue the night in his apartment. It was an unguided and unprepared collection of pubescent geese just looking for a reason to fuck off on taxpayer money. Their actions so far were less than optimal, far from what was expected, and most definitely didn't follow the 'save lives, not take them' mantra of the whole of TIAMA. US or otherwise.

Gauss all but yelled, her helmet amplifying her voice so, no matter where you were in the building in relation to her, you'd hear her. "Hey, chucklefucks! Given the Jackson Pollock painting you made, I realize that grasping the basic concepts of collateral damage and overpenetration is difficult. But typically when someone says there's an unexploded bomb in the fucking ceiling, people make themselves scarce. I guess I'll get the boys outside to call EOD, thanks for the fucking help." a pause as she looked at the bullethole and blood covered wall. "Oh and you better fucking hope no one was on the other side of that wall, because I can see the fucking street through it!" shaking her head as she pulled Revenant out towards the door, she muttered to herself, "Ready and capable heroes, my freckled ass."

[Mandicoria]

-Snippu-

Tesla helped with Gauss on handling Revenant. Pulling up his radio and tuning it into police chatter, ready to let out an all clear. "Gentlemen, the situation's under control. We have a perpetrator in custody ready to be handed over." He looked back to Patriot, signalling him. "Patriot, could you give us a hand?"

"I'm checking the other side of the fucking wall, Tesla." Patriot shouted back to the pair, turning over to Maria. "You. Come with me right fucking now, we're gonna check if there's some fucking civvies outside." Patriot gestured over to Maria as he began his walk past Tesla and Gauss. Pulling his hand up to his ear, and also tuning into Police radio. "This is Patriot, I'm exiting the building to check for possibly civilian casualties. Call in some paramedics just in case gentlemen. These dumbasses used fucking NATO rounds and we can see the street through the goddamn holes." He grumbled to himself as he switched his radio off, going past the stairs to the doors. Sighing and stopping right before them. Turning over to Tesla and Gauss once more and shouting "Hey Gauss, we need to fucking check who brought firearms capable of shooting fucking five five six. I wanna make sure whoever fucked this shit up gets fucked. Legally."

Tesla sighed as he looked over to Gauss. "I haven't seen him give this much of a shit for years." He let out a small yet friendly chuckle to help cheer things up for Gauss.

[Europa Undivided]

"Hey Gauss, we need to fucking check who brought firearms capable of shooting fucking five five six. I wanna make sure whoever fucked this shit up gets fucked. Legally."

The low hum and rumble of a car engine resounded near the tarmac; seemingly, it was in reply to Patriot's verbal detonation. At the same time, the four drones that had accompanied the Insurgent still flew inside the building, as if without will or purpose. Only when the black painted Ford Everest had already gone a hundred meters away did the drones suddenly scatter, flying out of the windows in their top speed of seventy kilometres per hour. All that was left in their wake was the distinct smell of lead and papers scattered all over by their powerful rotors. If one were to watch them go, they would see that they went away in different directions, but they all initially went up, flying high above the towering apartments and skyscrapers until their shadowy hulls can no longer be seen with the naked eye.

The Insurgent had gone. But no one knew he was.

---

Nicholas stepped through the doorway of his house, closing the door with gentleness as he suspected that his five year old daughter, Victoria, and one year old son, Pietro, were already asleep. However, as he stealthily entered into the living room, he found his wife, Elise, and his friend Marcus sitting on the couch. Elise had their daughter on her lap as they watched television.

"Clement.", Elise said with a serious tone.

Nicholas froze. "Elise?" He eyed Marcus, who knew that he was a technokinetic vigilante with a secret association with TIAMA. What on earth did they tell her?

Elise set their daughter on the couch, as she was already asleep. "When I married you four years ago, I already knew that you were the coolest and... smartest guy in the world."

He waved his hands in disagreement. "I just did something really stupid just now..."

At that moment, Elise suddenly sounded very excited. "You got superpowers. That's like cherries on top. I mean, I think it runs in the family of your sister's husband but to think that my husband can control machines... OH, MY, GOD!"

"Marcus!", Nicholas hissed. "What did you do?!"

"Actually, she already knew a long time.", Marcus nodded. "She didn't tell you that she knew all along."

Elise continued, this time making him sit down on the couch. "I've already spoken with your assistant... what was her name... Aida, was it?"

"Uh... huh.", Nicholas nodded to his wife most thoughtfully. "She was nice, was she?"

Elise smiled. "Very. I figured that something fishy was going on when I checked the CCTV footage one night and... the drones that you said to be for your photography hobbies had stun guns and moved on their own."

Nicholas sighed. His wife was very smart, indeed. She wasn't a neurologist for nothing. "Okay. Fine. Guilty as charged. I have powers, I control machines with my brain and fingers. Happy?"

"Daddy,", Victoria suddenly said as she was roused. "Soooooo, you're a superhero?"

Nicholas chuckled at his daughter. "I wouldn't say I am one, Vic. I'm nowhere as powerful as the famous ones are..."

"But you can technically take down a country by hacking into their classified database and then either erasing it all or dumping it into the net.", Elise interjected.

His eyes widened, surprised that she would know specifics. "Wha, what, how...?"

"Your assistant told me."

"Bloody-"

"Her directives as she told me to were primarily to protect us... keeping you secret is not one of them."

Nicholas sighed. "How could I have missed that...?"

"Maybe you subconsciously feel guilty about keeping it secret from your family.", Marcus said as he took a bite off the slice of pizza he was holding. "Thus you elected not to program AIDA to keep your dual life hidden from the family."

"Okay.", Nicholas whimpered. "Let's keep this between us... and just us. I did a mistake out there."

[Cybernetic Socialist Republics]

Despite Ophiuchia's almost instinctive dislike of this Sophie, she had to admit that Sophie was correct in her admonishments. They had wrecked the place in their effort to bring down James. Even if one didn't particularly care about how much damage insurance was going to cover, there was still the issue of the military grade rounds that had found themselves penetrating the walls of the building. Patriot, perhaps uncharacteristically wisely, headed out to check for possible civilian casualties in the path of those errant bullets, bringing Maria on, presumably if they had come along someone who'd taken a hit.


There was also the issue of the unexploded ordnance in the building, the grenade that Ophiuchia had redirected in the ceiling, that made leaving the building sooner rather than later, wise. Ophiuchia saw Jack laying on the couch that chris had brought him off the floor to, it looked unlikely that he'd be leaving the building on under his own power in a timely fashion. Additionally, Matthew's offer to meet in his apparently spacious apartment was intriguing, and Ophiuchia wasn't exactly in the mood to head off with Chris for celebratory drinking. Besides, Jack was clearly under drinking age and in need of rest. Additionally, at this moment it was clear that his best ticket out of the building would be Ophiuchia carrying him out.

Ophiuchia walked over to Jack and gently lifted him. "Come on, Jack, let's get out of her" She said, softly. Gentle carefulness was in her toolkit, though she rarely found use for it, usually when these gloves were touching another meta touching another meta, itpt was with the intent of strangling them, beating them unconscious and/or breaking their bones.

Jack was as light as he looked, though he also felt rather brittle. Surely there must be some superpowered durability that he had, but in her arms, Ophiuchia felt as if she could fold him in two with ease.

She headed over to Matthew, carrying Jack as she did.

"So, you said something about an apartment of yours? Jack here isn't exactly going anywhere on his own and based on what I can tell , he appears to just be in need of some rest. Mind telling me where it is, or even giving me the keys so we can head there? I mean, assuming you don't have some weird magic way to teleport us there, or remotely open the doors." Ophiuchia inquired of the Storyteller, still carrying Jack across her arms.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Imogen Vaughan

Imogen Vaughan emerged from the building, still with her fingers linked behind her head. There was no reason for any of the police officers outside to recognise her, she didn't want to get shot and she wanted to keep her identity secret, if at all possible. It would make work a whole lot more complicated if people thought she was working for TIAMA. She approached the police line, letting herself get absorbed into the system of medical checks and witness statements. She didn't like about what she had been doing, but she left out key details, like the fact that she had been invited by the TIAMA crowd or the fact that she had started summoning a portal; to the police officers she probably sounded a lot like a fan who had managed to get drawn into a confrontation.

She waited for a while, making sure she had answered everything the police wanted to know and made herself generally helpful before she eventually asked, "The Meta-cops... is there one of them who is in charge? There are a couple of things that I need to tell them about what happened inside."

Hopefully they'd let her speak to someone, though if not, well there was always email.

[Kingdom of Irhk]

Matthew Octave

William Brookes - New York

The metas had a different way of dealing with threats. He should've been used to it by now, but he saw it enough - both personally and in the news - to know it became a modus operandi to most of them: newbie or not, the will to pull the big calibers, to shoot the lethal bullet in the loudest, most noticeable way seemed to be in the Meta Kindergarten books.

Soon as the fighting started, William grabbed his bottles and threw himself behind the bar, occasionally peeking to see what was going on. Shots, explosions, drones... the sounds that composed a symphony that William admired yet not often respected, though one should note William's tendency to diminish skills he lacked. Slowly, he got himself up, coming up through the dust and the sensation that a gun fight could happen at any given time, now between the experienced ones, who subdued the man who apparently was the biggest menace. His motivation was unknown to the heroes and far as William heard, the man himself forgot how he got there or what he did, which could be the consequence of the firepower directed at him... but William didn't risk any assumption.

His mind was still getting out of survival mode, when the man with the Book suggested they should go to his apartment to continue the party.

"As much as I appreciate your tough, partying spirit mate, I'll have to decline. Something about gun fights that make my body handle alcohol a little bit differently, you know? Nothing personal against who shot and who got shot, it's just general gunfights and the looming feeling that you may die out of nowhere. Really pretty in books, really sucks in real life."

The cops came and their red and blue parade stood outside, with the sirens making sure that no civilians came near. Slowly, William walked out, with a bag in the hand and a TIAMA card to prove that he was affiliated.

"Well... what should I do now?"

[Union Princes]

Tesla helped with Gauss on handling Revenant. Pulling up his radio and tuning it into police chatter, ready to let out an all clear. "Gentlemen, the situation's under control. We have a perpetrator in custody ready to be handed over." He looked back to Patriot, signalling him. "Patriot, could you give us a hand?"

"I'm checking the other side of the fucking wall, Tesla." Patriot shouted back to the pair, turning over to Maria. "You. Come with me right fucking now, we're gonna check if there's some fucking civvies outside." Patriot gestured over to Maria as he began his walk past Tesla and Gauss. Pulling his hand up to his ear, and also tuning into Police radio. "This is Patriot, I'm exiting the building to check for possibly civilian casualties. Call in some paramedics just in case gentlemen. These dumbasses used fucking NATO rounds and we can see the street through the goddamn holes." He grumbled to himself as he switched his radio off, going past the stairs to the doors. Sighing and stopping right before them. Turning over to Tesla and Gauss once more and shouting "Hey Gauss, we need to fucking check who brought firearms capable of shooting fucking five five six. I wanna make sure whoever fucked this shit up gets fucked. Legally."

Tesla sighed as he looked over to Gauss. "I haven't seen him give this much of a shit for years." He let out a small yet friendly chuckle to help cheer things up for Gauss.

Holiday

---

Amidst the calm, cathartic celebration of TIAMA agents, Maria looked up to Patriot when he lumbered past her like a Tiger I tank. Surprised by his swearing, Maria followed his wake like a daughter chasing after her alcoholic father. From his curses and grunts, the blondie can only guess that must been a shootout outside while the team was busy apprehending Revenant inside.

"Do you always talk to women like this, Oberfuhrer Amrika?" Maria inquires playfully. "So blunt and straightforward."

[Anowa]

Imogen Vaughan
"The Meta-cops... is there one of them who is in charge? There are a couple of things that I need to tell them about what happened inside."

The officer, who was still observing the mangled Mercedes parked outside the bowling alley sighed, "That's a good question." a pause, "I know the head of PR or something is a... William, Herrman? I know it starts with a W. And I know Herrman." he shook his head, "All I know for sure is there's a Herrman working at their HQ who knows stuff. other than that, I'm sure they have papers for filing complaints. I mean, not that they'll have a shortage." he gestured to the bullet riddled car "I hope they work with insurance companies."

---

Jager, One
The most suspect house in the whole of Greater New York

"Kick it."

A few blocks down a transformer blew. A cover for what was to be a 4 hour blackout. The real event was a small scale electromagnetic pulse, strong enough to blow through any impromptu faraday cages, such as ground, or anything in a basement. CCTVs would cease, as would any autonomous devices, phones, internet, computers, speakers, hardlines doubly so due to the transformer actually blowing. Nothing electronic would work for at the very least 10 minutes. Such an attack was primarily focused around two separate houses, one typical, the other much less so.

Jager simply strode through the gate, nudging it open, before approaching the side of the house. Walking up the wall, she approached one of the windows at the side of the house, lockpick gun came out and deftly popped the window open with nary a click. Moving through the now open window, she strode to the crib that contained the 1 year old child within. The woman gently picked the child up, despite this, it stirred, and started crying out for it's actual mother. The disabled baby monitors wouldn't be too functional, what with the EMP and legitimate power outage. Jager pulled out the knife she had held dear since 1940.

She spoke in a low tone, waiting for the parents to respond, "One, status on Blackbag?"

"Thermal signatures in the house are still at the moment."

"Good. If he has any sense he'll stop his games in a few minutes." The woman deftly cradled the sobbing child in her left arm, curled up to her chest, as the knife in her hand was hovering over the baby's chest cavity. Waiting for the bait to come in and call their rather idiotic friend for the century old CIA agent.

[Mandicoria]

-snip-

"We have possible civilian casualties outside. Police know we're exiting." He replied, not even acknowledging what she said as he led her out. "We're gonna have to walk all the way around the street to the other side. Whoever the dumbfuck was who shot those guns..." He was growing more aggravated with each step, knowing he was taking more time just having to do this. Since he knew the others wouldn't give enough of a damn to do it.

As the two exited the building, they noticed a good few police cars parked outside. The officers on their radios and moving around to prepare to enter the building. Patriot waved to them, signalling the OK to head inside. With a few officers immediately heading in as soon as he signaled. "Hey boys, as I said, get some fuckin' ambulances out here. We might have casualties on the street behind." He shouted to the Officers as he continued down the sidewalk.

"Already did buddy. Hey, you mind telling us what the fuck happened?" An officer responded.

"Don't fucking know, shootout happened outa fucking nowhere." Patriot shouted back before turning to Maria. "We got paramedics coming, but you're the best we have for this at the moment. I'm not wanting any unnecessary casualties."

[Europa Undivided]

Retirement and Death

Co-written by Europa Undivided and Anowa

Nicholas rose from his slumber with a terrible headache, promptly rubbing his eyes as he was roused to partial wakefulness. "What the..."

Then it hit him. Someone must have set off an EMP nearby. That meant his technokinesis isn't going to work for a short while, and with everything electronic disabled within the entire vicinity, he cannot call on AIDA to aid him. However, he heard the sobbing of his child, Pietro. Not taking any chances, he took the harpoon launcher he kept behind a book case and stepped into the room that had the crib...

Still dressed in his pajamas, Insurgent pointed the harpoon launcher at the woman that was keeping his son hostage. "What... do you want... Jager?"

Replication

"It's time.", Replicant slowly muttered as four of his duplicates shimmered into existence all around him. Without a word, they all fanned out while taking a Desert Eagle and a Sleeper Gun each, leaving Replicant behind in his bedroom, saber in hand.

"Of course... it is time."

There was no emotion in Jager's voice, simply a cold and calculating tone as the knife maintained it's position, even as the baby wailed. "Agent Koruskant in this room within 3 minutes, or your son dies. The real Replicant. There's two full SEAL teams outside ready to kill everyone in a two block radius if anyone starts to play any games."

Outside, One sat in a tree. The 50 caliber machine gun in his hands ready to unload two hundred rounds into Replicant should he make any move considered outside the requests of the US government. The 4 extra heat signatures in his house were already pushing that envelope.

"Seriously?", Insurgent said, apparently angered. "You barge into my home, hold my son hostage, and now you accuse me of hiding someone that is in the middle fringes of my circles of friends?"

He sighed, putting the harpoon launcher down. "I don't where he is. The man always disappears when you look for him. You should know that better than anyone. The only reason why I know that he is with the CIA like you is because of my abilities."

A short pause. "He did mention that Alfred Churchill is not his birth name. It was... Zhenya Petrov. You are free to seek him out, capture him if you will. I can't help you. Not with my tools disabled. So, please. Put my son down, and I will do anything you want."

The same cold, unloving tone, "You seem to think this is a negotiable event. Either he gets here, or your son dies. I would suggest a phone. If he doesn't pick up. Well, that's unfortunate."

Insurgent remained silent for a few moments. "Okay. A call.", he said as he took a SAT phone out of a hidden cabinet that was behind a flower vase. "Alfred. They are looking for you. My son-"

"Yeah, I know.", the voice said from the other side. "Unfortunate, is it?"

"What are you talking about? My SON, my one year old will die because of YOU! If he dies, I will hunt you down and destroy you, Alfred!"

"Do not. Call me that.", Replicant replied. "I'm Zhenya. Zhenya Petrov. There was an Alfred, but he died in childbirth. I was the replacement."

A pause. "You know about STORM? They're my friends. Said that when all metas on Earth were gone, I'll be the last to perish. And, hey, One, and Jager. Hope you are hearing this. Don't waste any more time with that man. That's a technopath that never caught up on my schemes!" the rumble of a motorcycle engine, no five engines ensued. They were headed the other way, out of the back of Replicant's house.

As the phone dropped, Insurgent remained silent as he felt his technokinetic ability recover from the EMP. "You people keep your heads in the box too much."

As he finished, he fired chains of energy down into the floor, passing through it as if it was just air. However, only a few seconds passed before the lights were up again; Insurgent had jump started the generator that lay under the floor of the living room. At the same time, AIDA and the hidden defensive emplacements in their lawn were roused to life, but they did not burst out of the ground. Far from it.

"Put my son down.", he said as five DRAKEs emerged out of hidden compartments within the room. "And I will help you hunt that traitor."

The muffled sounds of nearly half a dozen rifles ripped through the morning air. Two of the riders were gunned down immediately, a trio of bullets embedded into their torso, two more had the engine blocks immediately cease to work, as a few more rounds ended their life.

Back in the house, Insurgent would see Jager put his child back into the cradle before the wind in the room threatened to rip the wallpaper down, a red after image in the shape of a woman almost immediately fading. The vampire, now moving in excess of 300 kilometers an hour, swiftly arrived at Replicant's escape vehicle. A fist very swiftly removed the front wheel and fork of the motorcycle, leaving it without any sort of turning capacity or brakes. One, not a person to leave things to chance, finally opened up. High Explosive Incendiary Armor Piercing rounds ripped through the midnight air, directed at Replicant or his vehicle, One wouldn't let up on the trigger, fully intending to dump all 200 12.7 mm rounds on target.

Insurgent breathed a sigh of relief as Jager put his child back into the crib. He looked out of the window just in time to see Replicant and his duplicates get absolutely wrecked by the One and Jager.

Not wanting to miss out, he rushed out to the road to see the devastation that was wrought upon the Replicant's botched escape. The Replicant in question was lying there, still breathing even after getting hit by no less than a dozen rounds, mostly from the rifles.

Even in the cusp of death, however, he laughed. "Hah. You were quite useful to me, Nicholas."

The Insurgent furiously pulled out a Desert Eagle pistol at the remark, while the five DRAKEs revealed their weapons, all of them armed either with grappling hooks or harpoons. "That was who I was to you, Alfred? A tool?"

"Well, there were the good times.", he said before coughing up blood. "But you have been helpful in allowing me access not just my share of the database of enhanced individuals all over the world, but all of it. Now, Mother Russia knows it all."

Insurgent spat on the ground. "Good to know. I'm Ukrainian. The Holodomor sucked."

A singular pistol shot resounded in the midnight air. Insurgent's Desert Eagle smoked, testifying that he was the one that delivered the killing blow.

Jager, still wreathed in a red glow stared down at the now dead man. She slowly turned her head towards Insurgent, "I have been on this planet in excess of a century. And you may just be the biggest fucking moron I've ever met." she shook her head, putting four rounds into Replicant's skull for good measure. "Typically we take double agents in for information. Can't do that now." a pause, "Your drones have also been reported to the ATF, as well as the firearms you have, given the pistol you're holding is a destructive device under New York law. Lose them."

"You expected him to last a few minutes?", Insurgent said as he sent the pistol to clatter on the round. "Take it all. The drones, the guns, everything."

"But... I can help with information. Give me a few moments on his computer and phone and I will take everything in them and give it to you. Logs, lists, everything that he had. And perhaps you will be thrilled to have remote access to the GRU database."

"You fail to realize just how easy it is for me to save people we ultimately want dead." a pause as she started walking towards the forest behind the housing, "Don't bother, whatever you can garner we already know. Do yourself a favour and don't contest the newspaper story about this tomorrow." As she moved into the forest, the red glare faded wholly. Leaving a quiet night, with a number of corpses.

Beginning from that night, the name Insurgent will never again grace the newspaper. He is gone. And still, no one knows who he is.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

New York City
Lucky Strike Manhattan
Hans

"Ja, I told Herr Octave the same thing Fräulein...Emma is not your surname, is it? It would be rather unfortunate it I were to try and take you up on your offer just to not find you. There are many Emmas, already two just among us."

, worry was on Hans face as he asked, wondering wether he had committed to a social faux pass. Normally you were supposed to talk to relative strangers, especcially when addressing them with Fräulein, only by their surname. But he couldn't remember hers. Or perhaps she never mentioned it? He couldn't quite tell anymore, too many things had happened too quickly now. And of course he was afraid of getting lost if he was to ever try and take her up on her kind offer, though he didn't know wether he would need her help to tie himself up anytime soon. He was planning on bringing his pair of cuffs now at any time. Well, unless he went to go swimming. Could be awkward then. speaking of multiple Emmas...it appeared as though she left, piping up that it was nice to meet him, to which Hans only waved back, gleefully shouting:

"Nice to meet you too!"

Meanwhile Matthew had apparently already cooked up some new plan. Exchanging contacts which Hans thought was a totally great idea. Well, untill Matthew wipped out his phone, some super flat thing at which Hans could only stare in awe. Yeah...no...he didn't have one of these. They cost money. Besides, he was still trying to figure out Grandma Toddler's PC with its Windows 98. Speaking of those portable pocket phones and availability though, Hans wondered why Matthew claimed to not have received the invitation. His mere presence and his supposed arrival before all others told a rather different story there.

Luckily he didn't have to admit that he lacked such a portable device as Sophie was apparently quite fed up with everything, calling them all "chucklefucks" which seemed to have a negative connotation even if Hans didn't know how a fuck could chuckle. But she made something rather clear...there was still an explosive lodged in the ceiling somewhere above them. It made Hans shoot a worried glance up at the ceiling, deciding that staying under the table was likely still the best option in all of this. But they really couldn't stay here forever. But a plan was already forming in his head to rectify that.

Hans shot another glance at Emma. He had not noticed before but she seemed...tired? Spent? Yes, she certainly did. He felt bad about not noticing it before. Luckily there were others with them now. Chris was still here, having proposed celebrating his survival at a bar. Ophiuchia had also come, picked up the unconscious Jack and seemed ready to head to Matthew's place to give Jack the proper rest he needed. Honestly, a perfect set-up.

Hans looked again at Emma and asked her carefully:

"Can you walk? Do you need some help?"

He then turned to Chris, flashing a smile at him and saying:

"Well, looks like nobody else will take you up on that. Tell you what, I will keep you some company in that bar. Survival has to be celebrated afterall. But only if we get out here safely. But in return ould you mind helping me lift the table so we can walk under it? I don't know what kind of grenade James launched but I'd rather have something between me and the ceiling so long as we aren't out of here."

He shot another glance at Emma before continuing:

"Maybe we can also support Fräulein Emma here."

, he lowered his voice a little in a conspiratory manner as he whispered to Chris:

"Whatever she says, I don't think she's fine and it's best if we do our best to help her while getting out."

[Central Crew]

Matthew Octave

"Alas! I do believe this is were we part ways sadly." He put a hand on Chris shoulder. "Take care of the two kids for me would you? Make sure they don't drink to much. They might do something they regret..." He winked at Chris.

Turning over to Ophiuchia, recovering his normal demeanour. "Why of course! Jack does seem to need some rest. Poor boy..." He looked at him as a parent would look their injured child asking for help. "Let's go as fast as we can. Unfortunately, no one has allowed me to learn the magic of teleportation, so we'll have to take a cab."

"I suppose we should see again sometime. We'll I'm sure we'll do but... Well Chris. It was a pleasure to make you acquaintance, moreso since you are still living! I'll see you later my friend." He moved over to the rest of the guys. Not all of them had given him his number, but meh. He still had them all anyway. It was just to make it official. "We'll be taking our leave now. It was truly a pleasure meeting you all, and as I said... Our partnership is far from over." He waved goodbye, breaking a smile at Hans happy response, and Emma grumpy face. Oh so precious...

"Let's get going shall we? I would offer to help you carry him, but you sure have it under control, huh?" He now had a sincere smile. The attack that literally just happened completely abandoned his mind. Only happiness over obtaining more friends... and finding couples.

"Ignore the cops. They'll just be scared of me anyway. Specially since you're here with me." He once again looked over to Jack, and resisted the urge to put his coat over him. "We'll? After you miss."

[Union Princes]

"We have possible civilian casualties outside. Police know we're exiting." He replied, not even acknowledging what she said as he led her out. "We're gonna have to walk all the way around the street to the other side. Whoever the dumbfuck was who shot those guns..." He was growing more aggravated with each step, knowing he was taking more time just having to do this. Since he knew the others wouldn't give enough of a damn to do it.

As the two exited the building, they noticed a good few police cars parked outside. The officers on their radios and moving around to prepare to enter the building. Patriot waved to them, signalling the OK to head inside. With a few officers immediately heading in as soon as he signaled. "Hey boys, as I said, get some fuckin' ambulances out here. We might have casualties on the street behind." He shouted to the Officers as he continued down the sidewalk.

"Already did buddy. Hey, you mind telling us what the fuck happened?" An officer responded.

"Don't fucking know, shootout happened outa fucking nowhere." Patriot shouted back before turning to Maria. "We got paramedics coming, but you're the best we have for this at the moment. I'm not wanting any unnecessary casualties."

Holiday

---

For all the excitement that happened in the bowling alley, Maria didn't realize how much time has passed. Upon seeing the officers standing outside and waiting, Maria tried to avoid staring at them for too long. She really didn't want risk the chances of encountering the same cop she ran into during the National Reserve heist. The blondie tilted her head up again when Patriot turned to speak to her again.

Maria's eyes lit up at Patriot's mild compliment. "Really?" she smiled ecstatically, "Who do I need to heal and who do I get to harvest?"

[Segral]

Emma Davis

This Matthew guy was looking and sounding sketchier by the minute, and she couldn't help but feel slightly concerned about the look he gave the comatose Korean Guy. It was the same look that a miner would give a chunk of solid gold that had just been struck upon, and that was never a good look to give someone, especially if that someone was lying in a dead faint on a bowling-alley couch. Exchanging contact info wasn't the worst idea in the world, but giving her cell number to this guy? Yeah, no. She was more inclined to follow Chris' lead, give him someone that could relay the message to her. Maybe Sam? It was her job after all.

Her musings were interrupted by an angry yell from the powersuited woman in the center of the room, a vicious noise that was only made harsher by the rough, slightly grainy amplification of whatever mouthpiece was hiding in the suit. Emma couldn't help but wince a little as Sophie went ballistic, especially when the likely-venomous glare hidden behind the gray, boxy helmet of the power suit happened to swivel in her direction. As relieving as it was to see James firmly under-knee and Chris with his head still on his shoulders, one look around at the site of the battle confirmed that it hadn't been clean, or even remotely pretty. Blood was splattered all over the back wall, and if there happened to be a clean patch with no blood, it likely had a bullet hole in it. The massive acid spray hadn't exactly helped. All in all, it was technically a success, but a sloppy, uncoordinated one. She couldn't even remember how a bomb had ended up in the ceiling, beyond some vague memory of Amazon firing at the roof. Either way, if Sophie was being truthful, it was probably best for Emma and her little group to get the hell out of dodge.

Amazon had ventured over, not to engage in pleasantries, but to pick up Korean Guy, who now had a new name. Jack. Fairly unassuming name for a fairly unassuming guy. Emma wanted to object to bringing such an unassuming, and quite frankly, fragile-looking guy to Matthew's apartment, but held her tongue back, allowing the creep and his grin to saunter off with his unlucky guests in tow. It was possible that it wasn't as bad as she imagined. After all, some bed rest would do Jack good, and besides, it was entirely possible that he wasn't a weirdo, just socially awkward. Very socially awkward. Right?

Right?

...No, he was still a weirdo.

Scowling and shaking her head slightly at the sight of Matthew's retreating back, she shifted her gaze up to Hans and Chris, the former of which was asking her if she could walk. She still felt a little bit light-headed, but in comparison to how foggy in the brain she had been just a few minutes ago, she was practically seeing in 4-D vision. Nice of him to be concerned, though.

"Yeah, I ca-" she started, only to be cut off by Hans turning towards Chris, asking him about bringing a...table (?) out, as well as help in bringing her out in an almost insultingly loud whisper. She wanted to scream something about being right there, but actions spoke louder than words. With a grunt, she grabbed the edge of the table and used it to gingerly pull herself to her feet, waving off the other two in the process.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I can haul my own ass out of here." she said in a slightly cranky tone, straightening up and brushing the hair out of her face in an attempt to look dignified. Truthfully, she didn't exactly feel fine, and the other two could probably figure that out based on the uneasy stumble she made as she let go of the table edge. She probably looked like she had had one too many flutes of champagne to drink, but hopefully, it would be enough to clear out of the building without pulling a Jack and swan-diving on her face.

"Hans is right, we should clear out of here before the ceiling comes down. Might be best if we do it sans-table, though. Lugging that thing around will just slow us down." she said, a slight smirk forming on her face. "As for a bar, let's see if we can survive witness statement protocols first, and see where the night takes us after that. Shall we, boys?" she asked, tilting her head towards the entrance from which the life-saving backup had rushed in through. The dubiousness of whether Hans could even get into a bar was still lingering in her mind, but she pushed it to the side for now. After all, they had much bigger fish to fry. Sharks, even.

[Sudbrazil]

“I don’t suppose I could leave you my address?”

Major Highcastle was not a nocturnal man, he had not been since the night fights in Northern France. It was thus understandable that at this hour he was in no mood to continue the party, neither was he willing to sit through a questioning. While it was practically certain that the long arm of the law would soon seek out the shoot-out’s participants for evidence, testimonies and such legal material, he would rather have it knock at his door at a reasonable hour, and so would the men enforcing it. After passing his name and address to one of the officers outside the crime scene, the Englishman hesitated. Perhaps he could hitch a ride with one of his comrades, but that was extremely unlikely, and he was not going to waltz back into a room with a live explosive. The Underground would have to do, even if it would deprive him of the warm comfort of his tobacco.

He did not sleep much that night.

[Endem]

Chris Digel

Chris was about to answer Hans request with a yes, before being abruptly cut by Emma getting herself up from under the table in rather obvious disapproval of what Hans just said, a bit undermind by her awkwardly stumbling, nevertheless, Chris whispered to Hans "Seems like the table plan has been flipped on it's head, but, sure, I'll be your wingman for the night"

"Oh we shall" Chris said and directed himself towards the exit, nudging Hans a bit forward, before turning on the spot and saying "Remember, all drinks on me" he then turned once again towards the exit and walked towards it, not too fast to not exit before the other two, but fast enough to not take overly long.

[Mandicoria]

-snip-

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but we're saving lives. Not taking them... Yet." He chuckled a little darkly after hearing himself. Leading Maria around the corner, heading around the line of building. "Honestly you'd have my permission to fuck up whoever used all those guns inside a fucking civilian business." he grumbled over to her. Stopping as he saw the other side, looking almost relieved. "Oh good, I'm not seeing anyone on the street. However, I'm seeing a lotta shattered windows."

The street was full of debris and chunks of concrete and asphalt. The bullets really did hit all over this road, meaning they had to look around for any wounded. Patriot lead Maria to the middle of the sidewalk, eventually getting right behind the bowling alley itself. He gestured for her to check around some of the shattered buildings nearby, while he'd check the other side for wounded.

[Europa Undivided]

Shadowshock

The street was full of debris and chunks of concrete and asphalt. The bullets really did hit all over this road, meaning they had to look around for any wounded. Patriot lead Maria to the middle of the sidewalk, eventually getting right behind the bowling alley itself. He gestured for her to check around some of the shattered buildings nearby, while he'd check the other side for wounded.

As the Patriot began to check the place for the wounded, a grey Acura vehicle stopped at the opposite side of the road in front of the shattered establishment. At first glance, it would look like that this vehicle belonged to just another civilian in the area, but that would be quite far from the truth. The driver's door opened without as so much as a rush, and out of it stepped a man wearing an Adidas sports jacket. He looked like he was Middle Eastern in terms of physical appearance, though a quick look to his grey eyes would immediately betray his mixed heritage to any careful onlookers. His hands were covered by brown leather gloves, but in truth, they were hiding the Stormclaw Gauntlets that the Shadowshock wielded.

"Seriously.", Robert Kravchuk Massoud aka Shadowshock said with a tone of annoyance. "I use my vacation leave in order to go to Croatia for a short while and the next thing I hear about is an operation in the Federal Reserve being an absolute screw up... and now, this..."

Shadowshock continued to glance with a piercing eye, looking at the shattered concrete and broken metal caused by the NATO rounds. Of course, he was upset. Part of his duties was helping in maintaining the public image of the organization, and the recent events in the Federal Reserve and now this establishment has caused quite a downward slide in public opinion. "Public opinion polls have taken a negative hit today.", he said as he checked his phone. "Just look at the angry comments in our Twitter handles, by hell. Down by five percent approval because of the Federal Reserve. I do not wish to imagine the PR damage this one does..."

A pause. "You all seriously need therapy. You really have deep seated issues.", Shadowshock continued to mutter to himself as he finally walked a little closer, this time finding Chris Digel exiting the building. Shadowshock didn't say anything as he continued observing the devastation. "And there goes Gauss' paycheck. And mine."

[Remnants of Exilvania]

New York City
Lucky Strike Manhattan
Hans

A sudden grunt made Hans whip around, only to see Emma pulling herself up, using the table as a support. Her voice sounded...less than amused and it dawned on Hans that she had perhaps heard what he had told Hans, which immediately made him feel bad as it had likely been rather demeaning. Especcially since she said she wasn't tired so he had been spreading a lie about her to Chris.

Though if she was tired...then why did she stumble a bit, trying to regain her balance as she let go off the table? It was a mystery to Hans who had half stood up as she had started to stumble but relaxed himself again as she caught herself, though his worried look didn't leave his face. The mystery solved itself though as Emma, while agreeing with Hans to vacate the premises ASAP, agreed to perhaps visit the bar with them. That was when the figurative lightbulb turned on in his head and it clicked as he realized that Emma had likely drank too much alcoholic liquors, something that earned her a disapproving glare from him, considering that she apparently intended to continue drinking.

Focused on glaring disapprovingly at Emma, confident that she'd feel his disapproval over her choice of action for the evening just from his staring, Hans didn't pay that much mind to Chris' whispers though the word wingman stuck. He whispered back to Chris as he rose himself:

"I didn't know you were planning a flight tonight as well. Just make sure Fräulein Emma isn't flying, I don't think you are allowed to fly while intoxicated."

He then shot a concerned glance at Chris:

"Wait...don't tell me that's your plan? Getting drunk and doing dumb shenanigans with aircraft?"

He was pretty sure that was absolutely against the law. Which of course meant that he now had to accompany Chris and Emma so that they would not get any dumb ideas after getting a few too many drinks! Yes, that was exactly what he would do.

Realizing that lugging a table around just for his own protection really was absolutely unnecessary and that speed could perhaps rectify the lack of protection against a possible detonation of an explosive in the ceiling, Hans gave up on trying to carry a bloody table on his own and hurried after both Chris and Emma, stopping at Emma's side with yet another glance, mixing both worry and disapproval as he asked:

"Do you really not need a hand? Perhaps we should bring you home instead of to another bar to continue drinking?"