Gods Among Us 8 - First Earth Battalion [IC|Meta RP|Open]

[Korhal IVV]

Yitzak Shamari
Brooklyn

From the slanted rooftop of an apartment building, a hooded figure watched the battle fold before his eyes, looking down as the bank robbery had culminated in a fierce firefight between metahuman criminals, their cohorts, and the First Earth Battalion. The white and yellow trailings of his cloak fluttered in the wind, flowing like leaves in a cool summer breeze. On his belt was a metallic, cylindrical object with the likeness of a sword hilt, except that there was no blade... yet. This strange, hooded figure was no other than the afamed Firesword, a magically attuned metahuman warrior of the First Earth Battalion that wielded a mighty blade of pure magical and plasmatic energy that earned him his moniker amongst the population and his colleagues in the First Earth Battalion. His foes call him “the bastard that always wipes out our henchmen”, and it was true in every aspect. Firesword often preferred destroying or disabling every normal human in service to the metahuman criminals that they often fought to make the lives and jobs of his allies easier in so many ways. Many a fool has attempted to fire bullets at Firesword in a futile attempt to cut him down, only for such fools to discover that not one bullet can get past the blade that this magical warrior wielded; his movements and blocking are simply too fast for any mundane human to match, and many a foe has been forced to a tiring duel against the Firesword, who enjoyed extended duels as a testament to his skill. To add insult to the injury, every defeat he brings upon his foes would soon be uploaded to social media, making the criminals he defeats into the laughing stock of the entire nation.

Firesword stood up in preparation for his grand entry into combat. His Semitic features were unmistakable; anyone can swear that he has the likeness of a Jewish bachelor. The hood, however, concealed his eyes and forehead until the very end. He was known as “White Riding Hood” by some, after all...

In a few more moments, he jumped down towards the retreating mundanes that attempted to flee the battle. Just as Kaleidoscope took one down, another was destroyed as Firesword landed upon the unfortunate fool, cutting through the henchman from top to bottom with his energyblade, which left nothing but burning cinders in its path. The first foe dropped, and as several others took aim with their guns, they would find that they picked the worst foe in such a fight imaginable. Every single bullet was melted in nanoseconds as three robbers fired in vain. Firesword then cut off the hands of one before pushing him away with telekinesis, and moved on to the next targets...

[Dyelli Beybi]

Yitzak Shamari
In a few more moments, he jumped down towards the retreating mundanes that attempted to flee the battle. Just as Kaleidoscope took one down, another was destroyed as Firesword landed upon the unfortunate fool, cutting through the henchman from top to bottom with his energyblade, which left nothing but burning cinders in its path. The first foe dropped, and as several others took aim with their guns, they would find that they picked the worst foe in such a fight imaginable. Every single bullet was melted in nanoseconds as three robbers fired in vain. Firesword then cut off the hands of one before pushing him away with telekinesis, and moved on to the next targets...

"Oi!" Firesword's rampage had drawn the attention of Blur, who flung a fallen trooper's gun at him at a speed far in excess of what a normal human could have managed. If the weapon connected it would do some serious damage, though it was only intended as a distraction as she zipped past him, swinging one of her tonfa's like a bat, aimed for Firesword's elbow. Blur might not be a killer, but if that blow connected it could shatter an Elbow.

As the last of the non-meta human robbers retreated back into the bank, the truck that had landed on Hellgate exploded. While the main body of the vehicle didn't move very far, there was no lack of shrapnel or burning pieces of debris raining down on anyone standing near it. Hellgate, it turned out, was not squashed. He stalked out of the wreckage looking no worse for wear... except now his armour was on fire. His footsteps scorched the ground as he walked. He didn't say a word, and his armoured mask hide any expressions that might have been on his face, but he looked angry. Wordlessly he held a hand up in the direction of Ebrael, who was now the focus of his ire...

The explosion shook the square, shattering windows, setting off car alarms and flinging Blur from her feet before she was able to press her attack on Firesword. She came up quickly, though the wound in her flank looked bad. Her expression was one of total shock, and while she didn't look like the sort who would entirely drop her guard, her attention had been drawn to the source of the explosion and the rolling cloud of dust that was descending on them now. The building that had once been the headquarters of the First Earth Battalion, where the Council was meeting with a Russian delegation, was gone, somewhere in that huge cloud of dust.

Hellgate hadn't been flung from his feet but the explosion had seemingly come as a surprise to him as well. Surprise enough that he had hesitated before immediately trying to roast Ebrael.

[Demencia]

Zinnia Howard
Icarus
Brooklyn

It seemed that the various members of the FEB were having a lot of trouble with the two metas down below. After a while of providing aerial intel, Icarus was getting tired of watching the embarrassment below her. Unfortunately the trouble was only going to continue when the building exploded, knocking people back and sending pieces flying everywhere.

Zinnia worked to dodge the bits of masonry that flew upwards, not appreciating how often someone had tried to knock her out of the sky this time. Luckily the extra altitude she gained to give herself and edge against Hellgate allowed her more time to get out of the way.

She decided to take matters in to her own hands, and set her sights on Blur. She watched as the speedster ran, and calculated where their paths could intersect. She tucked her wings in and began to dive, her hair being buffeted by the sudden increase in speed. She readied her hands, aiming to dig her talons into Blur like a hawk into a vole.

[New Aeyariss]

When one is in combat, he tends to focus his senses on the task at hand. The explosions in the background, Hellgate lifting himself up from the wreck of the lorry he had been crushed under - all this captured Wikus's attention. The self proclaimed defender of humanity had just found himself a target that he wasn't going to leave this area alive, no matter the cost.

"Suggetsion" came the mechanical voice of the Malakian warrior, as it's FLIR sensors lit up "Abomination codenamed "Hellgate" classified as threat level; extreme. Recommendation; exterminate instantly without hesitation."

"For once my dear friend, you are right." Wikus said with a hint of anger in his voice. His opponent manipulated fire, just like the metahuman that killed his family all those years ago. Flashbacks of the memory flashed between eyes of the former mercenary, putting him in a state of frenzy that was only going to be quenched when Hellgate becomes a pavement stain.

The massive war machine clenched it's arms to cover it's face. Just at that moment, a ball if fire hit them. Wikus felt a sharp pain in his hand - evidence that the machine's armor had been hit, but managed to withstand the blow.

With a blood freezing roar, the massive frame of Eprahel sprinted into run, using the massive steps to cover the distance between itself and Hellsgate. If said villain wasn't going to be crushed by a lorry, he was going to taste something heavier - a foot of Malakian warrior descending straight on him, with sole intent of crushing him under it's own weight. Should he evade it, a soccer kick was going to follow it.

[Atkemri]

Death-Bullet

Death-Bullet had began shifting his attention away from the normal robbers to Hellgate when the truck exploded causing him to fall on to his back. He looked up and saw that the FEB building was destroyed leaving not much possibility of survival of anyone in there. "Who did that?!" He would've looked at his 'partners' but he was too busy opening fire on Hellgate to pay much attention to the rest of them.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Zinnia Howard
Icarus
Brooklyn

...

She decided to take matters in to her own hands, and set her sights on Blur. She watched as the speedster ran, and calculated where their paths could intersect. She tucked her wings in and began to dive, her hair being buffeted by the sudden increase in speed. She readied her hands, aiming to dig her talons into Blur like a hawk into a vole.

Blur reacted at the last moment as Icarus' shadow fell across her, flinging herself across to her left, talons scraped on leather but didn't sink in. As she rolled though, there was a horrid crunching noise and the speedster gave a choking cry. When she rolled, she had managed to drive the piece of glass embedded in her flank deeper into her side. From behind the domino mask, hazel eyes were streaming. She looked at Icarus, then at the bank. It looked like she wanted to give up, but as she glanced around the square, she seemed to decide that would result in her untimely demise and the bank was so close. In a flash she was up and running again, scooting through the front door.

Half a moment someone else bolted out the other day. It wasn't Blur, this one wore the gear of the robbers, although from under the combat helmet they also looked female. A hail of gunfire from the bank followed them, kicking up small flecks of stone and dust.

Death-Bullet

Death-Bullet had began shifting his attention away from the normal robbers to Hellgate when the truck exploded causing him to fall on to his back. He looked up and saw that the FEB building was destroyed leaving not much possibility of survival of anyone in there. "Who did that?!" He would've looked at his 'partners' but he was too busy opening fire on Hellgate to pay much attention to the rest of them.

Hellgate, meanwhile, didn't even seem to register as the bullets hit him, turning his attention back to the bank, which he ran towards in a slow, lumbering gate. They clearly hit though, cutting through his damaged armour. The holes erupted in jets of fire, leeching something that looked an awful lot like magma, before quickly sealing over with some form of burned crust.

Kaleidoscope, from her position on the second floor, also flung a bolt of energy. It struck Hellgate, but rather than having its usual effect, only seemed to make him glow brighter. She didn't throw another.

With a blood freezing roar, the massive frame of Eprahel sprinted into run, using the massive steps to cover the distance between itself and Hellsgate. If said villain wasn't going to be crushed by a lorry, he was going to taste something heavier - a foot of Malakian warrior descending straight on him, with sole intent of crushing him under it's own weight. Should he evade it, a soccer kick was going to follow it.

Trying to crush Hellgate also didn't go as expected. As the huge foot came down, the man, if indeed he was still a man, held up a hand. It was a bit like trying to crush a diamond. The paving stones cracked, but there was no sign that he was being injured. He gave a low growl as he directed the heat from his body upwards into the sole of Eprahel's foot, building up, within moments, to the point where steel would melt and organic substances spontaneously catch alight, getting hotter and hotter with each passing moment. The name 'Hellgate' would probably begin to make a lot more sense; he seemed to be a conduit, a living gateway, to a world of flame and magma and he only seemed to get hotter the more hits he took.

[Demencia]

Zinnia Howard
Icarus
Brooklyn

Zinnia's wings unfurled and with one flap she rocketed forward. She kept chase on Blur, determined to get a hold of the villain one way or another. "You'll bleed to death if you keep this up!" she yelled. "If you give up you'll get that looked at. You could have punctured something, is that really how you want to go? Alone, in a pool of your own blood? Let me help you." Zinnia pleaded, hoping that injury would force Blur to think sensibly

[Dyelli Beybi]

Blur staggered as she got to the door of the bank, turning back as she opened it. She looked back over the dead and injured robbers who had been with her, about half a dozen of whom had not made it back to the bank, then shook her head, "Your team would kill me." she answered Icarus, her voice sounding raspy and having lost its usual tone of mild amusement. She nodded back towards the dust cloud that was closing rapidly on the square, "There will be injured and trapped people after that... listen, if you can guarantee the non-metas will go into normal police custody I will talk to everyone about surrendering. If you can do that and give us two minutes?"

The explosion seemed to have acted as a sign for Hellgate as well who was backing towards the bank, hands held out, ready to start another fire if anyone made a move against him. Blur was right, there would be chaos in the aftermath of whatever had been detonated in the Battalion's Headquarters...

"What's she saying?" Kaleidoscope spoke over the comms. From her vantage point she could see there was a conversation going on but couldn't make out any of the words.

[Demencia]

Zinnia Howard
Icarus
Brooklyn

Zinnia listened to Blur's proposal. She was slightly concerned about the two minute stipulation, because while that could be time for her to tell everyone to surrender, it could also be long enough to do something else like blow up another building. Imogen was suddenly in her ear, wanting to know what was being said which slightly annoyed the supermodel though she didn't say anything. "She says that they'll surrender as long as NYPD takes the non-metas, and we give them two minutes." she said, holding one finger to her earpiece. "Has any of the Council been located? Were they in the building?"

[Dyelli Beybi]

OOC: Jumping the gun a bit on this post, but I think it's important background for everyone to decide on a course of action.

Imogen (Kaleidoscope) took a moment to consider, "As far as I know all of the Council were in the building. They had been trying to negotiate access rights to Russia... I'm guessing that is probably off the table now. I don't know if anyone made it out; comms have been silent since the explosion."

"I'm not really sure what to do." she confessed after another slight pause. "Hellgate and Blur looked pretty shocked when the bomb went off, I don't think they did it, but I'd be very surprised if they didn't know something. Blur is probably right about there being civilian casualties behind us, but she could be playing for time. Playing for time might benefit us as well though; this area is locked down and two or three of us can probably keep them pinned down while the others see what good we can do in the rubble."

[New Aeyariss]

It did indeed hurt.

To be frank, Wikus was seriously surprised by the sheer amount of fight this man could put up. After all, not everyone could survive having a several dozens of tons heavy mech step on you - and come on top. The massive feet that not so long ago attempted to crush Hellgate ended in doing nothing other than causing a massive crack on the pavement.

And then came the pain.

Searing, burning pain appeared in Wikus's left leg, jolting the sensitive nerves located in that area. Yet, despite it hurting, the damage was still nowhere enough to knock the massive mech out of the fight - and neither did Wikus unleash the true fury of the giant war machine.

"Suggestion:" once again sounded the mechanical voice of the Malakian "Abomination appears to be deriving his power from the flames. Cool him down to increase damage."

And then it happened.

Confusion. Chaos.

Wikus withdrew his leg, and used a step to generate some space between the Malakian and his opponent. Only now the true gravity of the situation was reaching him. The First Earth Battalion's HQ was gone, and the Council's fate unknown. The Storm would for sure ask him of a detailed report, and information he could aquire now would be of prime importance. With enough luck, he could even ascend higher into the structure. The very thought of the damage he could case to FEB made him smirk.

"I warned you all" shouted Wikus "This was all likely a distraction! Hadn't anyone found the timing of this attack, and that explosion, coincidental? We need to get to them and arrest them while we still can and interrogate them properly. Eprahel can survive Hellgate's blasts for a while. I could hold him off while you either pour some water, or find other way to extinguish those flames of his, over."

Still focused, Wikus awaited the continuation of action. He knew that to take this abomination down, he would have to cooperate with others - no matter how he hated that thought. Hellgate reminded him of the metahuman that burned his family - and for that fact alone, he was going to pay.

[Demencia]

Zinnia looked down and shook her head for a few moments, trying to think of what to do. "Shit." she muttered under her breath. This would have to happen to me, wouldn't it? she thought. None of the others are in this spot. After a bit of thinking and internal debate, she made her mind up. "Two minutes. Not a second more." she yelled. "Then come out, get that wound looked at. No sense in more people dying for nothing..." she said, a slight waver in her voice.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Zinnia looked down and shook her head for a few moments, trying to think of what to do. "Shit." she muttered under her breath. This would have to happen to me, wouldn't it? she thought. None of the others are in this spot. After a bit of thinking and internal debate, she made her mind up. "Two minutes. Not a second more." she yelled. "Then come out, get that wound looked at. No sense in more people dying for nothing..." she said, a slight waver in her voice.

"Thank you! I'll make sure the violence stops." Blur wasn't moving that quickly anymore as she staggered into the bank. The heroes in the square would see her motioning for the robbers in the lobby to gather round, before the doors shut behind her.

Hellgate, meanwhile, let out a low growl, stomping into the bank after her. He did not look inclined to surrender...

A minute ticked by. All was quiet on the inside. Another twenty seconds. The dust from the fallen Headquarters building descended on the square like a great blanket, dimming the light of the sun and dropping visibility to just a few feet. Kaleidoscope appeared in the square, coughing, her eyes screwed up against the choking dust, "Okay, I know we said we'd give her two minutes, but I'm going to recommend that Ephrael hikes back in the direction of HQ and sees if there is anything he can do to save trapped civilians and Batallion members. I get that Blur is annoying, but some people stealing some money has got to be lower priority than whatever is going on over there." she waved the hand she wasn't trying to cover her mouth with in the direction the dust cloud had come from, "I can help out here. I'm not the most useful person when it comes to heavy lifting."

Even as she finished there was a rattle of gunfire from inside the bank, then someone in the same armour the robbers wore came bursting out, firing backwards in the direction of the building without looking at what she was aiming at, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" she sqwarked, flinging herself down on the ground despite the fact that nobody seemed to be chasing or firing back at her.

"Don't shoot!" Kaleidoscope repeated, holding up her hands and stepping between the rest of the Batallion and the newcomer... though she probably didn't need to. The newcomer's voice was familiar; it was Jocelyn Triggs or 'Cuttlefish' as she was more normally known. She and Kaleidoscope were almost inseparable, although she lacked the British woman's strong aversion to lethal force, "JJ, calm down, there's nobody on your tail." Kaleidoscope finished, turning back to the woman on the ground.

Cuttlefish waved back towards the bank desperately, "Hellgate wandered in so I thought 'why not' and put a couple of bullets in his back... which just pissed him off. More importantly though, there's a third meta in the bank with funny cat eyes. Drew a big portal on the wall and people started hopping through it. I don't think they've stolen anything at all. This was all just a big distraction!"

If they ran as fast as they could, the Batallion members would just get there in time to see the portal close, and catch one glimpse of big green eyes with long slit-like pupils.

"Is anybody out there?" there was static on the First Earth Battalion channels, "Is there anybody out there?" the voice was that of David Raynott, the Battalion's lobbyist on Capital Hill, "I'm at the Headquarters building. We need help. This is a disaster... oh God..."

---

Over the next few days the carnage at First Earth Battalion Headquarters was broadcast over every news station in the country. There were hundreds of dead, those in the building itself and innocent bystanders on the streets outside, struck or buried beneath falling rubble. Miraculously, one of the Council of Seven had managed to survive, Christopher Fryxell, the Seer, though he was in a coma in intensive care and it was anyone's guess when he would wake up again. None of the Russian delegation they had been meeting with had made it out alive. What the media did not mention, but which the Battalion members would be uncomfortably aware of was that most of the council should have been powerful enough to resist a conventional bomb blast and a falling building. Whatever had been used had to have been enhanced somehow to kill the nearly indestructible meta-humans that the blast had taken out.

Whatever had happened, the public was beginning to question the Battalion. If it couldn't protect itself, how could it be expected to protect them?

Interviews with the captured robbers revealed nothing of use. They were ex-soldiers, offered a lot of money to go to the First Brooklyn Savings Bank, defend themselves from some meta-humans then evacuate again. They had known it would be dangerous, but the pay had been excellent. The man who approached them had been a generic suit. They had never actually met Blur or Hellgate before the mission (at which point they were already masked) and pay had been made in Krugerrands, making the payment practically untraceable.

In the background to all of this, David Raynott had taken over the reigns of the Battalion, evacuating all the surviving members to a safe house in rural Maine before jetting back to the capital. The safe house was, more accurately, a Victorian era mansion, with well appointed bedrooms, en-suite bathrooms, a big meeting room and a nice living room with a massive television on one wall and a view out across a well manicured garden. More importantly though, it wasn't public knowledge that the FEB owned the building and it was remote enough that the ring of hidden security cameras would pick up any intruder long before they were in a position to attack the building.

---

---

Chapter Two: To Catch a Thief
And when they seek to oppress you, And when they try to destroy you, Rise and rise again and again, Like the Phoenix from the ashes!

---

Two Weeks Later...

It was just after midday and JJ Triggs, Kaleidoscope, had flung herself down on one of the couches in the living room, languidly sprawled across it before switching the television over to Hollywood Gossip.

Imogen Vaughan, the meta known as Kaleidosocope had been reading in the corner up until that point. She looked up with an exasperated sigh, "Really? Of all the things you could be watching?"

JJ gave the other woman a roguish grin, then shrugged, settling back down into the couch, "I suppose you'd be on the news... I can tell you what it would be saying blah blah blah Fist Earth Batallion blew it... literally!"

JJ giggled slightly at her own joke, glancing across at Imogen who shook her head, "Too soon."

That drew another shrug, "Fine, but you know I'm right. I'd like to find out something new... see Harriet Newton has been discharged from hospital after a drunken escapade. Bet you didn't know that."

"Who the hell is Harriet Newton?"

"Oh you know... the one who's dad had all the money? Dated all those famous dudes? Constantly in and out of rehab?" JJ's eyebrows inched up slightly with each successive shake of the head, "Immy... you're a lovely girl and all that, but you need to lighten up a little! Do something other than read dire tomes about the impending apocalypse. What are you reading?" Imogen held the book up, cover out, "'Contracts with the Fair Folk'?" JJ asked, then laughed, "You know, blonde people are allowed to sign contracts. We're not actually a different species."

"Not that kind of 'fair folk'." Imogen answered, somewhat testily, "I'm trying to find out anything I can about who did that bank job. You could help you know."

"I am helping. By keeping myself fresh and alert for when a real lead comes along" JJ remarked, turning back to the television, "I'd be willing to bet money that book is less useful than my TV show."

[Granis]

Michael stood in the middle of the road, looking from the picture in his hand to the mansion ahead of him. He repeated this motion a couple more times, before deciding to just hold the photo over the mansion and try to figure things out like that.

It... mostly looked the same. A few details seemed off, like the noticeable difference in the colour palette that had thrown him off earlier, but when he framed it like this, he was pretty sure it was the same place. At the very least, the background was identical, so he was hoping that was the case.

Deciding that he had been standing there staring too long, and that anyone who might have caught sight of him doing so would probably find him mighty suspicious, he readjusted the backpack he wore and made his way over to the front door. God he hoped whoever answered the door was someone he knew though, otherwise this could prove to be an awful first impression, especially considering the reasons behind why he was meeting them here instead of back where they'd apparently used to be headquartered.

Well, they'd probably still be awful considering they almost definitely wouldn't know him back, but at least he wouldn't feel too uncomfortable trying to talk to them if he knew all their secrets!

And so he knocked on the door, frantically going over his cover story for exactly why he knew the location of this particular safehouse, or that it was even a safehouse to begin with for that matter.

He sighed, as he realised he only kind of half remembered the cover story to begin with. This... This was probably going to be a long, frustrating day...

[Demencia]

Zinnia Howard
Icarus
Manhattan

Zinnia didn't really have the luxury of being able to law low. She had commitments to keep in her regular life that meant she had to still be visible. She tried her best to avoid any questions about the attack, redirecting to the official statement instead. She kept on doing her appearances as scheduled; photoshoots, press conferences, even some meetings that weren't public knowledge yet about possible acting roles.

She tried her best to put the events behind her, even though the thought of retiring from hero duties had crossed her mind several times in the aftermath. She never voiced these concerns to anyone, because she was worried about how selfish they sounded: putting her own projects and comfort above the safety of the masses. For now, Icarus would still fly, but it wasn't guaranteed for how long.

[Fedel]

Davidson High, Manhattan

"Before I let you all go, let's see how you all did compared to my other classes."

Nathan looked on attentively as his History professor, Mr. Henderson, tapped away at his keyboard and glanced at his computer screen.

"Well, you collectively ranked fourth out of my seven classes. Not bad, but the second and third highest scores were only in the eighties. Mr. Demask brought the class average up by two full percentage point by managing to achieve full marks on the exam, including the extra credit section. Congratulations young man. Now, you all seemed to struggle most with the writing section of the exam. I'd advise using your phone for something actually useful and timing yourself with it while you write a practice essay at home in preparation for the next one. "Yes, there will be a writing portion on the next exam. You have 3 weeks to prepare for it however, I'm hoping you'll do better now that you know what to expect."

Looking on amusedly at the fidgeting students the professor waved his hand.

"Class dismissed."

Nathan was beaming as he gathered up his stuff, pleased to have received praise from his favorite teacher. As he left the class he was feeling lighter then he had for a long time. With a bounce in his step he made his way over to his locker, only to be shoved up against it.

Nathan looked around wildly, his gaze settling on a scowling Steve Brown, one of the linebacker's for Davidson High's football team.

"What's your problem?" He demanded shakily, his face turning pale as he tried to figure a way out of his situation.

"You, little asswipe. You made us come in fourth in test scores."

Nathan waited for the jock to be more forthcoming but when all he got in return was a glare he figured he had nothing to lose.

"... And?"

"Retard! Everybody knows the 3 bottom scoring classes get graded on a curve. I would've passed if you hadn't fucked me over!" The jock slammed his fist into the locker beside Nathan's head, causing him to flinch. "Now, listen up. You're going to bomb Henderson's next test or I'll make sure you won't be able to take his next test. You get me?"

Gathering up his courage, Nathan managed to get out two words.

"Fuck off."

Nathan had just enough time to shut his eyes as the jock's fist came hurtling at his face. Surprisingly, when he opened them again, Steve was lying on the ground alternating between cursing and groaning in pain as he cradled his fist.

Deciding that now was not the best time to question things, he took off down the hallway and sprinted for the exit, glancing back only to see if he was being followed. Finding that he had lost anybody that might've been pursuing him, Nathan slowed down giving himself a moment to catch his breath as the adrenaline began to leave his body.

Starting the long walk back to mother's apartment, Nathan's mind began to sift through possible explanations for what had just happened.

[Dyelli Beybi]

...

Well, they'd probably still be awful considering they almost definitely wouldn't know him back, but at least he wouldn't feel too uncomfortable trying to talk to them if he knew all their secrets!

And so he knocked on the door, frantically going over his cover story for exactly why he knew the location of this particular safehouse, or that it was even a safehouse to begin with for that matter.

He sighed, as he realised he only kind of half remembered the cover story to begin with. This... This was probably going to be a long, frustrating day...

Imogen Vaughan was the first one to the door, stepping on onto the front where she could talk without giving the stranger who had come knocking a view of what was going on inside... not that the FEB had much to hide inside their new headquarters; it just paid to be cautious after the recent attacks. She didn't wear a mask in combat so there was every reason she might be recognised as 'Kaleidoscope', though today, in jeans and a brown turtleneck instead of body armour, it would be easy enough not to register who she was. There was just a hint of dancing colours forming a tell-tale aura behind her dark hair, "Hello, are you here to see someone?" she asked politely, before adding, with a slightly puzzled look, "Sorry... have we met?"

She smiled slightly, looking completely relaxed... if you didn't know what the aura meant (or didn't spot it). The aura was a sign she was 'charging up', ready to zap the man if he turned out to be hostile. The man didn't look hostile. He looked... sort of familiar, though she had no idea where from. Maybe they'd stood next to each other on a train or something?

[Granis]

...

Well, they'd probably still be awful considering they almost definitely wouldn't know him back, but at least he wouldn't feel too uncomfortable trying to talk to them if he knew all their secrets!

And so he knocked on the door, frantically going over his cover story for exactly why he knew the location of this particular safehouse, or that it was even a safehouse to begin with for that matter.

He sighed, as he realised he only kind of half remembered the cover story to begin with. This... This was probably going to be a long, frustrating day...

Imogen Vaughan was the first one to the door, stepping on onto the front where she could talk without giving the stranger who had come knocking a view of what was going on inside... not that the FEB had much to hide inside their new headquarters; it just paid to be cautious after the recent attacks. She didn't wear a mask in combat so there was every reason she might be recognised as 'Kaleidoscope', though today, in jeans and a brown turtleneck instead of body armour, it would be easy enough not to register who she was. There was just a hint of dancing colours forming a tell-tale aura behind her dark hair, "Hello, are you here to see someone?" she asked politely, before adding, with a slightly puzzled look, "Sorry... have we met?"

She smiled slightly, looking completely relaxed... if you didn't know what the aura meant (or didn't spot it). The aura was a sign she was 'charging up', ready to zap the man if he turned out to be hostile. The man didn't look hostile. He looked... sort of familiar, though she had no idea where from. Maybe they'd stood next to each other on a train or something?

OHTHANKGOD, this was one of the best possible outcomes here! Now, this wasn't to say that Michael thought he could manipulate the girl in front of him, but at the very least, he knew how to talk to her. After all, even though she had no idea who he was, there weren't a whole lot of people who he could call a better friend to him that Imogen Vaughan.

Of course, the fact that she was already preparing to blast him probably wasn't the best sign.

"Oh good, I was worried I'd gotten the wrong place! Is this the..."

And then he pulled out a peace of paper from his pocket, visibly taken back as he looked at it.

"First Earth Batallion? That's the most boring name yet..." He mumbled with a frown, before looking back up to Imogen. "Oh well, what ever... This is the... First Earth Batallion... safe house, right? Well, great news for you, I'm here to join up!"

His grin softened a bit when she asked if they'd met before. Talk about a complicated question...

"Well, kind of?" He said, trying to think of a good way to say this without giving away all his cool secrets. "I mean, you probably have no idea who I am, but I dare say I am quite familiar with the woman named Imogen Vaughan. That sounded weird. I'm not a stalker or a fanboy. The point is that I know enough to realise what all... that is."

And then he waved towards her aura.

"Let's just stop all that before it begins. No need to get into a fight you can't win, yeah?"

That... That last bit might've slipped out by accident. He hoped she was as calm and level headed as he remembered, or this could be kinda bad.

And awesome.

But probably mostly bad.

After mentally slapping the little voice that thought fighting Immy would be fun back down into dormancy, he returned to the situation at hand.

"So, I'm just gonna pick out a room." He said, not so subtley edging around her to the door and opening it, stepping backwards inside with a dumb, lazy looking grin on his face. "Don't worry too much about the tour, I know where I'm going."

[Dyelli Beybi]

Imogen was not so easily dissuaded. She laid a hand lightly on Michael's chest, taking a step towards him, close enough that it made it very difficult to see what she was doing with her free hand... for instance if it was lighting up ready to zap him, though it was probably a reasonably good bet it was, "I'm going to need better than that. Yes, the FEB was hit hard during the attacks in New York and yes, we could do with more people at the moment. You look sort of familiar, but I couldn't say I know you from Adam. For all I know you might be working with one of the ones who planted the bomb... whoever they are. Also, threatening me right off the bat? Not the best way to get into my good books."

"Shall we start with your name, how you found this place, why you decided to come here and why I should trust you?" she suggested, "Hi, I'm Imogen Vaughan, otherwise known as Kaleidoscope... but I think you knew that already."

[Demencia]

Zinnia Howard
Icarus
Manhattan

Zinnia flew back to her apartment, landing on the balcony of her penthouse. It was one of the few places she could actually stay at, because of her unusual shape. Luckily her career let her be able to afford the top floor of a Manhattan high-rise, otherwise she would be very uncomfortable in a typical New York apartment.

She slipped out of her dress and hung it in the closet, grabbing a long sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts instead. She walked across the bedroom to her computer and sat down in the chair with her legs tucked up under her. The first thing she did was check the news to see if there was any official updates on the attack, and when she didn't find any she decided to go directly to the source.

She opened up the video call app and dialed the safehouse, hoping someone there had good news.

[Granis]

Imogen was not so easily dissuaded. She laid a hand lightly on Michael's chest, taking a step towards him, close enough that it made it very difficult to see what she was doing with her free hand... for instance if it was lighting up ready to zap him, though it was probably a reasonably good bet it was, "I'm going to need better than that. Yes, the FEB was hit hard during the attacks in New York and yes, we could do with more people at the moment. You look sort of familiar, but I couldn't say I know you from Adam. For all I know you might be working with one of the ones who planted the bomb... whoever they are. Also, threatening me right off the bat? Not the best way to get into my good books."

"Shall we start with your name, how you found this place, why you decided to come here and why I should trust you?" she suggested, "Hi, I'm Imogen Vaughan, otherwise known as Kaleidoscope... but I think you knew that already."

"Hey, hey, that's a really terrible thing to say, don't you think?" Michael said tiredly. "Saying I'm one of those wastes of space, that's really crappy. I'm a sensitive person you know? Accusing me of terrorism is really gonna hurt my feelings."

He refrained from calling out the interesting choice of words when she told him how little she knew about him, because how was she meant to know who Adam was? As amusing as it was to him, it was just a normal phrase to her.

Instead, he simply sighed and took a step backwards.

"Anyway, my name is Michael Evans. I found this place because I know all the safehouses you lot usually use, and this was the closest to your old building. I came here because I'm searching for a big golden statue, which I'm pretty sure is gonna be coming after Jojo, and I figured if she wasn't already a member of Feb, you'd be able to help me find her. And you should trust me because I don't know, I don't really have any good evidence here. But what I do have is a sentient teleporting bus, and quite possibly a decent understanding of most of the people here and their powers, as well as a few of our enemies."

And then he began to shuffle around her again, trying once more to get inside.

"And yes, I know you well. Imogen Vaughan, descendant of Thomas Vaughan and some kind of magical being. You're good at art, swapped up your genetic code using magic when you were a kid, accidentally fell into one of your own portals and ended up stuck in another plane for a couple of years, might have met a being who looked unnervingly like Dick van Dyke from Mary Poppins, finally popped back into our world again, and after many trials and tribulations, finally became a superhero. A few details might be off, but that's usually the basic gist of things, am I right?"

And then he frowned slightly.

"Oh, and I didn't threaten you. I just told you how we shouldn't fight. You got that part out of it all on your own."

[Dyelli Beybi]

Zinnia Howard
Icarus
Manhattan
...

She opened up the video call app and dialed the safehouse, hoping someone there had good news.

The phone was left to ring for a bit before it was finally answered by JJ Triggs, who had made the effort to sit up, if not switch off the television, "Hey Zinnia, how's it going? Need someone to impersonate you at any Hollywood A list parties? I know they must be such a drag... I can do everything apart from the wings and the extra two inches of height, but I'm sure I can figure something out."

Triggs was a remarkably hedonistic young woman. If she didn't have Imogen Vaughan to keep her behaviour in check there was a pretty solid chance she would have ended up in conflict with the First Earth Batallion rather than a member.

...

"And yes, I know you well. Imogen Vaughan, descendant of Thomas Vaughan and some kind of magical being. You're good at art, swapped up your genetic code using magic when you were a kid, accidentally fell into one of your own portals and ended up stuck in another plane for a couple of years, might have met a being who looked unnervingly like Dick van Dyke from Mary Poppins, finally popped back into our world again, and after many trials and tribulations, finally became a superhero. A few details might be off, but that's usually the basic gist of things, am I right?"

And then he frowned slightly.

"Oh, and I didn't threaten you. I just told you how we shouldn't fight. You got that part out of it all on your own."

As Michael spoke the suspicion gradually melted from Immy's face. She stepped back, but kept her hand resting lightly on his chest, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." she quoted to herself in a tone of amazement, "I'm not sure if you're from a parallel earth, are stuck in some kind of groundhog day loop or suffering a Fringe-style timeline anomaly, but you know way more than most of my friends know about me. I guess you and me are pretty close in another time or another place?" she asked, chewing her lip thoughtfully before asking what she really wanted to know, "Who are you to me?"

She was remarkably accepting of the whole thing. It was an acceptance that you only got from someone who had accidentally transported themselves to another world... "Oh, and please don't tell anyone that I empowered myself because I was a silly little girl. It was not my proudest moment and I'm worried it might make me seem a bit mercurial."

"You can come in anyway. We could do with your help and in exchange I will help you with your gold giant problem, although I don't know who Jojo is..." she paused. You could almost see the gears spinning in her head, "Is Jojo Jocelyn Jane Triggs? Keep calling her that, it will really annoy her! Does the gold giant have a disturbing taste for human flesh? If it's who I think you're talking about, we encountered him in the Congolese rainforest. I barely got out in one piece... Jocelyn didn't but she grows the pieces back. If you can help me get to the bottom of the bombing, I can then take the time to show you exactly where we encountered him and help you deal with him. I'm sure getting Jocelyn involved wouldn't take too much effort; she's still itching for some payback."

[Demencia]

The phone was left to ring for a bit before it was finally answered by JJ Triggs, who had made the effort to sit up, if not switch off the television, "Hey Zinnia, how's it going? Need someone to impersonate you at any Hollywood A list parties? I know they must be such a drag... I can do everything apart from the wings and the extra two inches of height, but I'm sure I can figure something out."

Triggs was a remarkably hedonistic young woman. If she didn't have Imogen Vaughan to keep her behaviour in check there was a pretty solid chance she would have ended up in conflict with the First Earth Batallion rather than a member.

Zinnia smiled at JJ's offer. "As entertaining as it would be to see you try to come up with some way to get wings and fly, I think I will have to pass. After all, I would still like to have a career in the morning." she said with a teasing grin. "Besides, you'd hate Hollywood parties. Just a bunch of us famous people drinking champagne and eating caviar in million dollar mansions lamenting about the troubles of being successful. Then Bill gets a bit too drunk and suddenly everyone's singing Piano Man."


Her face turned slightly more dour though. "How are things there?" she asked, worried. "I haven't heard anything about Chris' condition..." She rested her chin on one knee and pulled it to her chest. "I feel bad about not being up there with you, but I doubt that building is exactly accessible for someone of my stature." Her wings fluttered slightly at the comment, providing emphasis.

[Anowa]

It was a time for reflection, look for where things went wrong, how to do better. Generally speaking Ingrid did these sessions by formulating new contingencies to just switch her body into. Layers of bone armor, a metabolism jacked up to unreachable heights, processing whatever toxin she'd ingested into something else. Sometimes she removed portions of her modified biology as it didn't work as expected, or she made some features that she'd come up with permanent.

Trial and error was the name of the game, and through it all, an external viewer would think there was nothing wrong with the woman who sat as still as a granite statue. But at times there was an internal crisis, from accidentally induced schizophrenia, to accidentally stopping her heart, to causing mass organ failure, almost every time she meditated, she needed to improvise or die. Sometimes there were issues even after she set off on the course to fixing them.

Which is why she was walking towards an empty sink.

Ingrid registered two other people in the rather spacious kitchen Bill, who was making coffee, and Ashley, who judging from the box she held was scrounging up a bowl of cheerios.

Ingrid proceeded to brace herself on the sink's edge, a foul tasting fluid flooding her mouth and throat in expectation.

Bill, always one to care about other's well being, spoke up, "Looking a bit green there Ingrid, you doing al-"

The woman interrupted, "I accidentally made my stomach produce about a liter and a half of sulfuric acid. Right now I'm waiting to either have it burn a hole through my pelvic floor or for it to come up... violently."

The room was distinctly silent, Ashley breaking it, "I don't think I heard that right."

Ingrid shifted, her eyes widening, an action not gone unnoticed. Bill summed up basically what the other three were thinking, taking a few steps away as a precaution, "Jesus Tapdancing Christ."

With a solid retch, the kitchen was filled with the smell of sulfur, as smoke and the sounds of boiling water filled the room. At the very least, the kitchen sink wouldn't need drain cleaner for a good while.

After the reaction died down, and Ashley opened a window, the smallest among them posed a question, "How... how often does this happen?"

Ingrid simply looked ahead, "Vomiting concentrated acid, or fucking up some random modification I do to my body?"

Ashley blinked dumbly, "Uh... Both?"

Ingrid slowly nodded, rubbing her throat, "Well, first time I did something like clean out a drain was... I think 1895. Near Port Elizabeth. Oh, here's a good story, in 1984, sometime in April, I came up with the absolutely wild idea of making my internal organs more receptive to pain, giving me a better indication of what's wrong where if I'm shot or stabbed. Good idea right?"

Bill held his hands up, "Are we just gonna ignore what just happened?"

The resident shapeshifter shushed the man before continuing, "It was not a great idea. Turns out, digestion is excruciatingly painful, it's just that your brain willfully ignores your intestinal tract shifting every which way as food is turned into goop. What I did was accidentally flip a switch which turned a normal day up and about to me curled up on the floor feeling like someone was shoving an auger into my stomach. I didn't move for four days, and I only barely managed to fix that issue."

"No seriously can sulfuric acid melt PVC pipes?" came the reply of a dhampir digging around underneath the sink.

"I'm trying to tell a story Bill."

"And I'm trying to make sure the next plumber through here doesn't fucking melt!"

Ashley spoke up, "They use sulfuric acid in some drain cleaners. I think the sink'll be fine."

"See Bill, Blondie knows her stuff."

The response was simple grumbling from the brunette man.

Ingrid sighed, "We should probably leave him to it, before he snaps and, I dunno, stabs one of us."

Ashley gave a slight hum of waryness as the taller woman walked past to... wherever she was going. Regardless of whatever the public saw, the FEB certainly had a few lively ones among it's employ. Not that she herself was one of them, not by a long shot.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Zinnia smiled at JJ's offer. "As entertaining as it would be to see you try to come up with some way to get wings and fly, I think I will have to pass. After all, I would still like to have a career in the morning." she said with a teasing grin. "Besides, you'd hate Hollywood parties. Just a bunch of us famous people drinking champagne and eating caviar in million dollar mansions lamenting about the troubles of being successful. Then Bill gets a bit too drunk and suddenly everyone's singing Piano Man."


Her face turned slightly more dour though. "How are things there?" she asked, worried. "I haven't heard anything about Chris' condition..." She rested her chin on one knee and pulled it to her chest. "I feel bad about not being up there with you, but I doubt that building is exactly accessible for someone of my stature." Her wings fluttered slightly at the comment, providing emphasis.

"I can sing piano man, but I can't guarantee you'd still have a career." JJ grinned broadly, though the expression changed when the conversation turned to Chris Fryxell. She looked uncharacteristically sober for a moment, "No change. He's alive and they're not saying he's going to die, but they can't say when he'll wake up either. I think it's one of those 'how long is a piece of string?' scenarios. I think we could all do with some of his uncannily helpful advice about now."

With a solid retch, the kitchen was filled with the smell of sulfur, as smoke and the sounds of boiling water filled the room. At the very least, the kitchen sink wouldn't need drain cleaner for a good while.

It took a few moments, but the smell also reached JJ who gagged, pinching her nose, "Oh good lord... either we're under gas attack, Camron is here and just dropped a 'death bullet', someone has cracked a really bad egg. Mind if I put this down for a moment and figure out what's going on?"

Working on the general assumption the answer would be 'yes', JJ put her phone down on the coffee table, giving Zinnia a view of the (rather high) wooden ceilings. She would probably have been alright with the rooms, though navigating the doors might have proven troublesome...

"I don't know what you're cooking, but unless it's from 'Lucifer's Infernal Cookbook' you're doing it wrong!" JJ declared loudly from somewhere off-screen.

While there wasn't much to see in the house, the sound of the television became a lot more audible without JJ chattering, and a voice that Zinnia or Camron would recognise from a couple of weeks ago could be heard quite clearly answering questions from an interviewer, "... you know how it goes, you do a couple of tequila shots and a few other things you can't remember and next thing you know you're waking up in hospital and everyone says you fell through a window. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details... all a bit of a blur." the tone was cheeky and ever so slightly smug.

"And are you doing anything to celebrate your discharge?"

"I don't know... probably host a party for a few friends. Probably make it 'First Earth Battalion' themed." the familiar voice answered, sounding slightly amused.

"Isn't that a bit insensitive given recent events?" the interviewer asked. They didn't sound shocked; it sounded like they were expecting some kind of outrageous comment from whomever they were talking to.

You could almost hear the pout in the woman's voice, "Not if it's done sensitively..."

...

"No seriously can sulfuric acid melt PVC pipes?" came the reply of a dhampir digging around underneath the sink.

"I'm trying to tell a story Bill."

"And I'm trying to make sure the next plumber through here doesn't fucking melt!"

Ashley spoke up, "They use sulfuric acid in some drain cleaners. I think the sink'll be fine."

"See Bill, Blondie knows her stuff."

The response was simple grumbling from the brunette man.

Ingrid sighed, "We should probably leave him to it, before he snaps and, I dunno, stabs one of us."

Ashley gave a slight hum of waryness as the taller woman walked past to... wherever she was going. Regardless of whatever the public saw, the FEB certainly had a few lively ones among it's employ. Not that she herself was one of them, not by a long shot.

JJ Triggs appeared as the conversation came to an end. She looked from one person to another, then to Bill under the sink, "Ummm... I would offer to help but sulfuric acid has a bad effect on my complexion, I'm on the phone to Zinnia... and I don't want to." It was highly doubtful she knew anything about plumbing anyway...

"Anyway, smell seems to be clearing and looks like you have it all under control." she declared, backing out of the room in the direction she had come.

She got back to the phone a few moments later, "Eh nothing significant." she declared, picking it up again as she sat back down on the couch, "Something ended up down the drain, but I'm not about to ask what. Problem with sharing with too many meta-humans. Weird stuff happens. How is everything going at your end, any rumours about who might have been behind the attack?"