Citizen_Stu

There came the tapping of a walking cane on the hard floor as a tall shadowy figure walked down the corridors of the Blakmoore. His posture alone displayed that he was a gentlemen who held himself in high regard. The walking cane was merely for display. He walked with ease with one hand behind his back and his head held high.

His skin was pale and he was dressed from head to toe in the Victorian clothes of a gentlemen. His round wireframe glasses and neatly kept brown hair added to his appearance along with the white shirt, brown waist coat, trousers and polished black shoes. He looked some what out of place with in the walls of the run down Blakmoore.

The Victorian gentlemen slowly ran one of his finger across the surface of a table as he passed it and looked at the dust on it. He regretted coming to America. To him it was a country with out standards, not that his home country of England seemed much better these days. No one had any sense of decorum any more. Things had been much different in his day but that had been a long time ago now.

He'd had no choice in coming to America. It was were his search had brought him and it was were he hoped it would end. For now he needed a place to stay and that had brought him to the Blakmoore. It was not the standard of accommodation he would have liked or was used to but one could not be picky in times of need as much as one might not like it. He sighed and rubbed the dust off the tip of his finger. He would learn to adapted but still keep his own personal standard, that was one of his skills he prided himself on. At least he had been granted an 'apartment' (as the Americans called it) on one of the more well kept floors.

The Victorian gentlemen continued to walk the halls of the Blakmoore. He liked to get the feel for a place and tease its history. The rumors of the prison break did not interest him even though it had been said most of the escaped prisoners would be brought to the very building he now found himself living in.

He heard a rather uncouth man shouting at Mr Jenkins the doorman about some thing to do with a room and a door. It was not just the display in lack of manners that bothered him but Mr Jenkins quite amused him as well. The rather fidgety scruffy doorman had a way of trying to act posh and well educated in the way some commoners do when they are around the more influential upper class. Although Mr Jenkins did not do this very well his attempts were amazing and likable to the Victorian gentlemen. Maybe he would have a word with the young man about manners but that could wait. For now he wanted to continue exploring the building.

The tapping of Mr Book's cane could be heard as he walked the halls of the Blakmoore.

[ QUOTE ]
"Go go go go go!" She yelled to the van, and caught the handle of the back doors just as it took off.

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Jim did not need anymore telling. He slammed his foot down on the accelerator and they were off. Harris helped her in then picked up the camera again and started filling through the open back doors.

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The robot was right in their wake, and she fired bolts of ice at it with her free hand. It was trying to swipe the van with its pincers, but every time it tried, she froze the offending limb, forcing it to break the ice.

It was an effective strategy, but highly risky. If she missed...

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Suddenly the van hit a bump and speed and the whole thing jumped and slammed down into the ground again. All manner of objects feel of shelves in the van and clanged to the floor. Harris was thrown of his feet. He reached out desperately to regain his balance but only grabbed empty air. A sickening feeling gripped his stomach as he realized (in what almost felt like slow motion) that he was falling out the back of the van.

In a second attempt at desperation he reached out again and this time managed to grab the top of the open, swing back door. His legs span out and he slammed back into the door with a force that made it feel like his arm was going to get pulled out of it socket. He was dangling over the street as the van carried on speeding along its way.

During his fall he had lost his grip on the camera. As he panicked to get a better grip he saw the shoulder strap had gotten snagged on the door handle. He tried to reach out for it. It was just at his fingertips. He could see it slowly slipping. He started to forget about his own safety and just wanted to get the camera no matter what.

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In moments she had cleared a path. "Time to go, gentlemen!" She called back to them.

[/ QUOTE ]
"Just like old times." Harris said to him again and then started to sprint to the van. Jim followed behind still muttering to himself about how crazy he must be.

"Keys!" Harris shouted back to Jim with his hands stretched out to catch them as he approached the van.

"You must be crazy if you think I'm letting you drive!" Jim shouted back.

Harris was not going to argue. When they both reached the van Harris grabbed the camera from Jim and jumped in the back. He kept the camera on his shoulder so he could carry on the filming and waited for Penny. Jim jumped in the drivers seat and started the engine.

[ QUOTE ]
"Right between its feet, yes. I can certainly understand if you don't want to take the risk, or risk your equipment. I will be glad to cover you while you get out. But that van will drive faster than I can fly while I am fighting, and if we can get the robot to follow us - and it should - I think we could get rid of it in the bay. If nothing else, you should get some great footage." She paused. "But then, you might not want to risk the van..." She smiled at them. "You guys come first, though. How do you want to do this?"

[/ QUOTE ]

"Awww... heck. You know me. I'd much rather run but if your plan is going to work you'll need someone to drive while you try to get its attention. I'm in. I can't speak for Jim though."

Jim looked nervous.

[ QUOTE ]
Jim looked. "The guys from Crey-"

"-won't be a problem." Penny was wearing a completely different suit, and didn't seem to have aged at all, though a little bit of the innocence had left her face. Now she was smirking... she had a plan.

[/ QUOTE ]

"But Crey..." Jim had started again.

"Trust me. Don't argue with the lady." Harris told him as he got ready to run. "We're ready when you are." He added looking at Penny.

[ QUOTE ]
"I don't think we can get the van out," murmered Jim. "At least we are getting good footage."

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"If we have to run just leave the camera. The footage is not worth our lives." Over a year ago such a statement would have been completely alien coming from Harris. In fact he would have more likely called Jim a coward worm if he showed any idea of running and not getting the perfect shot. However Harris was now talking with experience. It was not worth their lives.

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Girl Genius darted on the other side of the wall with them. "That ice won't last long, you guys should get while the getting's go-" She stopped abruptly. "Harris?" She couldn't believe it was him. What was he doing here?

[/ QUOTE ]

"Hello. Just like old time Hu? You could have told me you were back in town." There were small traces of his old annoyance in his voice even though he did not mean it. It would always be a part of his character that was there even if it had become much more mellow.

Harris was looking a lot healthier then the last time they had met. He'd dropped the few extra pounds he always carried around with himself and gotten back in shape. He had a few more gray hairs how ever from the stress of going through a law suit with his old TV station for breach of contract when he walked out on air. There was also the stress of looking after Amy since she was still in a wheel chair but that stress was worth it.

"It’s good to see you again. Only next time I wish we meet some where a little safer." He said with a nervous smile.

[ QUOTE ]
"Erm - great footage so far," Jim still looked scared, but was filming the action, cool as a cucumber. "Any other ideas, boss?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Harris ducked back behind the wall with Jim. "No. I'm open to suggestions."

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The Crey personnel were immediately encased in ice, top to bottom. "Are you NUTS?" Penny screamed at the cameraman. She was too far away, without a clear viewpoint but with far too many things on her mind, to recognize Harris at that moment, though she knew him quite well. "Why aren't you three blocks away from here? Haven't you ever heard of telephoto lense- yaaaaa!"

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Now was not the time for Harris to explain they could not afford good telephoto lenses. He felt a stab of the old anger and someone telling him off but realized she was right. He had gotten to close. Old habits die hard and he had been thinking too much about getting a good shot even if it was for a good reason this time.

He pulled Jim into a crouching position behind a wall so they were better hidden but could still watch.

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The enormous robot made a surprisingly quick grab with one of its limbs and succeeded in picking Girl Genius up. She cursed magnificently, uncorking an enormous blast that froze the pincer solid, succeeding in making it drop her. However, by that time she was fifty feet over the pavement. Her suit had some flight capabilities, and she tried to dodge the second pincer, but it closed around her ankle. "Dammit!" She threw more ice. "Let go! LET - GO - !"

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"Dam it... I wish there was something we could do." He looked around as if for something to use.

"Jim! Have you got the flare gun?" He suddenly asked urgently having remembered it.

"Here." Jim replied as he handed it to Harris. "But I don't think its going to do to much good here. The buildings are too high and I didn't see any other heroes around on the drive here."

The flare was a way for news teams to signaling near by heroes of trouble since in some cases they were the first on the scene or got into trouble themsleves.

"I don't plan to use it as a signal. Get ready to run if this goes wrong." Harris told Jim as he pointed the flare gun at the robots face and then fired. With any luck it would confuse the robots sensors for a short time.

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Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something - a reflection in the windowpane of a building, its image showing another van. She thought at first it was a Crey vehicle - but no, it was all wrong, it looked almost like a...
...news van?

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The news van came to a stop just out of sight. It was a battered old vehicle. It was all the under funded news station could afford but it did the job.

The side door suddenly opened and the driver/cameraman jumped out. The back doors of the van also suddenly opened and Steven Harris jumped out and handed the cameraman his camera.

"Good driving Jim. I thought we almost lost them." He told the cameraman as they sprung into action.

They had gotten a tip off that Crey were up to something and had started following the Crey van. They had been working for months trying to expose the truth about Crey that most heroes knew but could never prove.

It had been a year since Steven Harris had last seen Penny (GG) and he had not suspected she would be there. He did not even know she was back in town. It had been a very rough year for Steven but ultimately one that had made him a better person.

His time trapped in the middle of war between The Lost and The Vahzilok with Girl Genius, Dr Sanstand and a few of his students had made him re-evaluate his life and see just how bitter he had become. So he had quite his job with the big news station where he was responsible for twisting truths and making heroes look bad and taken a much more morally correct job working for a smaller TV station trying to show the truth behind companies like Crey.

Steven wanted to get closer and help but he knew there was nothing he could do that would not put him danger and make him another thing for the hero fighting to worry about. The best thing he could do was made sure the events were recorded as they happened to back up the hero’s story when needed. As Harris watched the events unfold something strange caught his eye.

"Look. There." He said as he grabbed the lens of the camera and guided the camera mans view.

"I don't see anything." Replied the camera man as he tied to focus again.

"Zoom in. On the other side of the Crey van." Steven said pointing with some urgency in his voice.

"I still don't...." He zoomed in closer. "Wait... I see it. Some kind distortion."

[ QUOTE ]
Thirty feet away from, and on the opposite side of the Crey security van, a transparent, human-shaped ripple in the air took a quick look over the situation.

[/ QUOTE ]

The rather spectacular explosion that followed coursed both Steven and Jim to cover their eyes and turn away.

When they looked back Steven final caught a good view of the hero Crey had first attacked.

"Penny?" He said quietly to himself. The armor looked different but the style looked like hers.

"Come on." He said to his cameraman as he started to lead. "We're getting a little closer."

Name: Jack Stryker
Age: 19
Apartment: 412
Storyteller: Citizen_Stu
Current Location: A bar

Powers:
Jack's power come from his mutation that gives him terrible migraines. The only way he can relive himself of the pain is by projecting it onto other people. Along with his power to transfer his pain to other people he can also heal. However he does not like to use these powers since they have the reveres effect and course him pain. At city hall he is registered as a Mutant controller with illusion, empathy and teleportation powers.

Back Story
Jack was born in London, England. At the age of six he started suffer from powerful headaches and blackouts. Doctors were unable to find a cure for the condition or why it was happening. However, several drugs were tried. Most had minimal effect.

Jack's mutant abilities started to manifest themselves at age nine. He discovered he could project his pain onto others, thus relieving himself in the process. However, the ability was uncontrollable at first. The discovery of his mutant abilities (and the possible danger they posed to the other students) led to parents protesting to have him removed from the school. They were unsuccessful and Jack remained at the school where he was then bullied by the other children.

Over the course of the following year he taught himself to control and focus his abilities. The relief he felt from using them still only had a short effect but he used them to get revenge on the children who had bullied him. He put one into a coma when things got out of hand. No one ever found out he was to blame for the event. As he got older he decided the safest way to stay out of trouble (and possibly jail) was to use his powers to fight crime.

Both Jack's parents died in a car crash when he was 12 and lately it is starting to seem that he might have had a twin brother he told no one about.

Jack attended Paragon University for a short while but was kicked out when it was discovered he was responsible for the breaking and entering into the science building when several drugs went missing. Jack was addicted to drugs but has been clean for several months.

Description:
The years of headaches and anti-mutant bullying had a negative affect on Jack. His actions as a hero are questionable. He has been known to rob the people he arrests and sometimes seems to find too much fun in fighting. He is not very trust worthy either.

Jack is not the most friendly of people. He is often mocking and sarcastic. He regularly takes the Mickey out of people and gets into arguments with others. Lately Jack's moods have been becoming darker and more angry. His headaches have been getting worse and his will power to stay off drugs has been weakening. His dislike for some heroes living in the Whitemoore has become very obvious. Most notably is his hate for Kid Valor and Shadow Marshal.

The only person he is known to really get along with is his girlfriend Simone and even they have been having trouble lately. They first met when she saved his life after a fatal gun shot and they have had a very physical relationship ever since. It is this physical relationship which has resulted in Simone becoming pregnant and Jack has constantly been avoiding the subject. He wants her to get rid of the baby and this has been pushing there relationship to the breaking point.

He hardly ever bother wearing his hero costume and will rather wear his civilian clothes. Dark blue jeans, t-shirt, brown leather jacket (given to him by Simone) and boots. He also has messy ginger hair and green eyes. He speaks with a very common English accent and gets very pissed off when anyone tells him he sounds like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He spends a lot of his time in bars getting drunk when he is not with his girl friend or beating up some bad guy for fun.

((I'll write for Alex later))

Character Name: Straight Jacket (Jack Stryker)

Origin Story:
Crey Profile

Theme Song(s):
Cave – Muse
Escape – Muse
St Anger – Metallica
Frantic – Metalica
Breaking the Habit – Linkin Park
My way – Sex Pistols

Why those songs?
Cave – It’s a song about someone who just wants to be left alone and wants the world to mind its own business. This is very much how Jack feels.
Escape – This song is about how Jack feels about himself and the way he is treating Simone. He could almost be singing it to himself.
St Anger – This song reflects the bad moods Jack can get into sometimes.
Frantic – This is about wondering if his life would be different if he started again.
Breaking the Habit – Jack gave up drugs a while ago.
My Way – Just because Jack likes it and the Sex Pistols is one of his favorite bands.

Backstory Posts:
Jack’s first appearance
Jack and Simone’s first meeting
More clues to Jack’s past

((I'll write for Alex later. I used this site to find the lyrics to my songs: Lyric Lovers ))

((Ok. This post is the start of the Big Brother: Heroes TV show. I am afraid if you have not already got a PM from me you did not make it through to the game show. If people don't show up then spaces might come free.

I want everyone to know I enjoyed all the posts and I did not enjoy making the decision at all but I wanted to keep it small. If you did not get picked it is nothing ageist you or your work I promise. I was looking at which characters would clash the most.

So, Big apologize if you did not get in (feel free to PM if you want to) and on with the show.))

“Hello and welcome to the first live broadcast offfffff….” He held the last word to make it more dramatic. “…Big Brother: Heroes! That’s right it all starts here, this very night. I’m your host Zacky Ganmain” He started walking thought the studio as he spoke in his animated, enthusiastic way. The camera man was trying not to trip over cables as he walked backwards to keep ahead of Zack and keep him in frame.

“In just a few moment we will be meeting the heroes who will be taking part but first I will tell you a little about the rules. Each hero has only been allowed to bring the essentials into the Big Brother house. That means clothes, medication if any, hygiene essentials, all that kind of stuff.” He counted each item on his fingers as he said them.

“They are allowed to bring one personal item into the house, just one. It can be anything but electronic items are not allowed. That means no phones, no computers and defiantly not anything that would allow them to contact the out side world.”

He clapped his hands together. “Now with the formalities over let me show you the house. This is the lounge. Out through the glass doors is the garden and pool area. Over there is the open plan kitchen.” He pointed past the camera. “You will notice there is a TV here in the lounge but that is only so we can communicate with the heroes. They don’t actually get to watch TV.”

“Over to my left is the boy’s bedroom and to the left of the kitchen is the girl’s bedroom. N between is the bathroom.” He walked to each room as he mentioned them and let the camera shoe the inside. “And of course behind the kitchen is the dairy room where heroes can talk to us and you the views away from the other heroes in the house.”

“Now I better take you back to the studio because our heroes will be arriving soon.” He started to lead the camera man back to the studio at a jog. Out side a crowed had gathered and started cheering and waving there signs as soon as they saw the TV camera. Zack stopped to work up the crowed on his way back to the studio.

When they were back inside the studio the sound died down as the doors were closed. The studio was only 100 meters away from the house itself. The crowed out side could still see Zack on the big TV screen outside.

“Ok…” He put his finger to his ear as he listened to his ear peace. “I’ve just been told our heroes are arriving so put you hands to gather and welcome them.” The crowed out side roared again and Zack had to shout out the names. “Etherburn. Micaela Allister. Varon Volt. Crystal Cold. Samantha Spark. Arden Deepforge. Ash and Jason Galt. Welcome to the big brother house.”

The heroes were let out of another part of the studio by the floor manager. Their route took the past the screaming crowd as the floor manger guided them towards the house but gave them enough time to interact with the crowd.

((I’ve actually used the lay out from the first English Big Brother. Here is the map. Feel free to use any of the locations that Zack might have forgot to mention and make your entries as you wish.))

((Sorry for not getting back to this sooner I had a lot happening this weekend. The audition stage is now closed and I will start going through the entries. I have to admit I am not looking forward to deciding who gets in and who does not because I do not want to turn people away. I want you all to know it will only be because of number limits that some people may not get in. Hopefully if work does not get too crazy tomorrow I should have the results by then.))

((Just to let everyone know, I'm not ignoring this thread. I'm just leaving the audition stage open for a while before the next stage starts.))

((Great stuff. A few of these have had me laughing already and I'm starting to see where combinations of characters and their personalities could clash in some way ))

((Anyone can take part in the audition part of the RP. Even if you do not wish to take part in the game show part of the RP that is fine. Just let me know you do not wish to get picked. Please also give a description of what your character looks like.))

Anyone who enters one of the Big Brother: Heroes video booths is asked a set of questions by an automated voice.

“Welcome and thank you for auditioning for Big Brother: Heroes. We will answer you a series of questions. Please answer them truthfully.

1) Please state your name and security level.

2) Can you please tell us about your origin and powers?

3) Please tell us about any hobbies or interests you might have?

4) How would you describe yourself?

5) Do you think you are easy to get along with?

6) Please tell us a little about one of your recent missions?

7) Why do you wish to appear on Big Brother: Heroes?

8) What do you think you will be able to bring to the Big Brother house?

9) What would you do if you win Big Brother Heroes?

10) ((OOC question: How regularly can/do you post?))

11) ((OOC question: Do you wish to be picked?))

Thank you for your time. We will contact you in a few days to let you know the success of your audition. Good luck.”

((This is an idea I have been kicking around for a little while. It is an open RP to start with but it will close at a set point. More will be explained below.))

Strategically placed posters started to show up all over Paragon. At City Hall, Hero Corp, Icon, The Zig and most locations known to be hero meeting locations. They advertised something called ‘Big Brother: Heroes’ but gave little other information.

A week later a TV commercial started to play on Paragon TV. A young and hip 20 something man with shoulder length brown hair and a goatee talked into the camera with enthusiasm and a wacky kind of confidence.

“Hi. I’m Zackary Gaiman and I’m here to tell you, the heroes of Paragon City, about an exciting new TV game show coming soon to this very station and you can take.. part.. in.. it.” He exaggerated the last few words of the sentence to make them sound more important and cool.

“Big Brother: Heroes will see some of Paragon Cities finest under go the Big Brother House experience. That’s right. We will be taking a group of heroes and locking them in this….” He extended his hands in a gesture to show where he was, “…the Big Brother house.” The camera zoomed out to exaggerate the fact.

“Cameras in every room will show their every move to the viewers at home.” As he spoke he started to click his fingers in rapid succession. With each click the camera view suddenly changed to another shot of him from another view, obviously from the in house cameras. With the final click the view came back to the main camera on him. “There is not a corner of this house or its garden that is not covered.”

“The only place heroes will be able to talk to anyone out side the house is in the diary room where they can talk to Big Brother. Each week the hero house mates will under go the eviction process. Each hero house mate must vote for two heroes they want out of the house. The voting will then be opened to the viewers out of the two who got the most votes from the hero house mates. The one who remains at the end will be the winner.”

“Who knows what will happen. Maybe everyone will get on. Maybe personalities will clash. Maybe there will be drama. Maybe there will be arguments. Maybe there will be romance and if we are lucky a little bit more if you know what I mean.” He said the last part quietly as if he was secretly whispering to the viewers as he winked at the camera. “Who knows what will happen when you lock a group of heroes in a house together for weeks on end.”

“Auditions for hero consistence will be starting shortly. Any hero with any abilities and any security level may take part. But we can’t take everyone who applies. No I am afraid not. There will be a ‘selection’ process. The lucky winners will be able to enter the Big Brother House and have the chance to win a ‘truck load’ of money for the charity of their choice and get themselves a little exposure. Who knows… maybe even help launch their career.” He winked at the camera again.

“Soon video booths will be set up at different locations in Paragon. Icon, City Hall, Hero Corp and places like that. These will be for heroes to audition by… and please… only real heroes apply. We will be doing back ground checks.”

“Once we have chosen our group the show will begin a few days later and you will be locked in. So make sure you are comfortable with that. Shields similar to the ones seen around the city will stop anyone getting in or out of the house and its gardens. Not even teleportation will work. If this still sounds like the thing for you then head down to one of our video booths and maybe we will see you in the house later. Take care and keep it real.”

The commercial played out with the over the top tecno Big Brother theme music. A week later Big Brother Heroes video booths started to show up all over Paragon City.

((The audition part of this RP is open but once the heroes are picked and the game show itself starts the RP will become closed. No one else can enter. There will be an eviction process like in the real Big Brother and players will have to leave the house but not the RP. Other things will happen around the house. I’ll be in control of the game show itself but it’s up to the players what they do in the house. Obviously this is not a combat RP. It’s going to be more of a character drama and comedy RP but there is a possibility of other stuff happening outside the house. More to follow.))

Wow. This is turning into a RP reunion. *sniff* I told myself I would not cry.... I told myself I would not cry *cries*

Are any of the others hiding around here?

I have an idea for something along the same lines of how this thread started which I might but together and post soon.

I guess a few 100 pages got deleted as part of maintenance..... ahhh this thread brings back memories.

[ QUOTE ]
The Bar-Fly: Pardon me, but did I hear you correctly? What kind of colour is "violate" anyway?

[/ QUOTE ]

((Whoops. It's a dyslexic spelling of Violet but since he is a small kid he could have said it wrong ))

[ QUOTE ]
Onyx Tiger: *pokes The Bar-Fly* I think he meant violet. *winks*

[/ QUOTE ]

Eike: "Yeah. What she said. Bully." Folds arms and pokes out tongue at Bar Fly.

[ QUOTE ]
Question 1: What's your favorite color

[/ QUOTE ]

Jack Stryker (aka: Straight-Jacket): "Why should I tell you?" Folds arms. "It's orange anyway."

Matt Bartholomew: "Dark blue I guess. I've never thought about it that much." Pushes glasses back into place.

Eike: "Uuuummmm... I likkkeeeeee... red... no wait... ummmm... green is nice..." Plays with tail nervously. "...but so is blue... uuummmmmm... oh oh oh oh... I know I like violet because it is the colour of my big sisters hair." Nods confidently in his choice.

((Edit: Fixed for miss spelling of Violet))

I've just read the whole thing in one sitting and I have to say it is amazing. I love it. Its great reading about other cheaters I know from the Whitmoore and seeing what they do in the future. Don't stop. Need more.

The search for Steven Harris had become a city wide media event. With their star reporter gone the TV station had to find some way of filling the space left by his live show. When they had finally found him he was not even given a chance to get changed or have a shower. David Harper, the executive producer had him brought straight to the studio. David never took no for an answer. Now, he was leading Harris down a corridor towards a waiting studio.

“David, I really just want to spend some time with my wife.” Harris tried to object, he was still feel tired from the events of the last few days. David had practically forcefully separated Steven Harris and his wife (who was taken to the green room). Off course the whole time he was trying to act like their friend, as f he was doing what was best for them.

“And you will. It’s great that Abi is awake again.” David replied.

“Amy.” Harris corrected him.

“Right, Amy. All we need you to do is one quick report. People have been worried. Everyone has been searching for you. You owe it to the city to tell them you are alright.” Of course David was really thinking of ratings rather then Harris’s well fair.

“Can I at least get a shower and a change of clothes?” Harris asked.

“Are you kidding? This will be great. You have the reporter back from the front lines look. Once this is over I’ll give you all the time off to spend with Abi that you want. I promise” David lied as he pushed Harris into the studio. “Everyone will be happy to see you again.”

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The studio lights came on. The floor manager started to count down, the last three numbers counted in silence. The red light on the camera came on and Harris was live. The auto cue started to move but Harris simply looked into the camera. The floor manager started frantically pointing at the auto cue, trying to get his attention. Harris blinked, cleared his throat and started to read. It was then he realized he had not even been given a chance to read what was going to be on the auto cue before hand.

“Good evening. I’m Steven Harris coming to you live with a special report. For the last several hours as you may know I have been missing. Now I can finally tell you the story of my ordeal and the heroes who put my life in danger……….. I have been….”

The auto cue continued rolling but Harris stopped reading. The floor manager started frantically pointing at the auto cue again.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this. This is a lie.” He looked at his desk, unable to look into the camera. “If anyone put my life in danger it was myself with my greed for a story and my ability to twist the truth.”

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“What is he doing?” David shouted in the broadcast room. “Shut off the broadcast. Shut it off now.”

Sam, the broadcast room controller swiveled in his chair to face David and crossed his arms. “No!”

“What?” David shouted at him.

“As a mutant I’ve put up with a lot of [censored] from this job. I’m not shutting of this broadcast.” Sam had no outwards mutant appearance and he had never told anyone.

“What?..... You’re fired.” David shouted turning red.

“Fine by me but this broadcast is still going out.” Sam did not budge.

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“Quick come here. Harris is back on TV.” The shout went out in the Paragon University student lounge.

Sam was almost pushed off the couch as other members of Dr Sanstad class jumped onto it to get a view of the TV.

“Did they say anything about Doc Sanstad?” Another student frantically asked.

Sam was quick to ‘shsss’ her with out taking his eyes of the screen. He sat on the floor (where he had been pushed to by the other excited students) still holding the TV remote control tightly.

The grim face of Harris continued to come from the TV. “I owe an apology and my life to Dr Sanstad and his wife, Girl Geniuse, Master Wonderful, Small Arms, Paul, Crystal Brown, Jack Stryker and Sarah Jenkins. If it was not for them I would not be talking to you now.”

At the mention of Dr Sanstad’s name a loud cheer went up through out the room followed by another cheer at the mention of Paul and Crystal. There was a slightly quieter cheer at the mention of Jack.

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Dr Tony Grey sat in the hospital coffee lunge. Everyone had been franticly trying to find Amy Harris since she was taken from the hospital a few days ago. He was dreading it when Steven Harris found out. As Amy’s doctor Tony was sure it would be up to him to explain how it had happened. Harris would most likely sue the hospital. Tony had guiltily half hoped Steven Harris would not be found but here he was now back on TV.

Tony watched as Harris addressed the camera. “I not only have to thank them for saving my life but also that of my wife who is now out of the coma she has been in for the last several years.”

Tony spat his coffee out in shock. Harris continued talking from the coffee covered screen. “Amy, I love you so much.”

--------------------

“I hope I am still the man you fell in love with.”

Tiers of happiness rolled down Amy’s face as she watched her husband on the Green Room TV.

“You are again now.” She said to his image on the TV.

--------------------

“Over the last few days we discovered an underground war between The Lost and The Vahzilok and the terrifying lengths they were willing to go to in order to defeat one another.”

Jack watched the TV report from Crystal’s bed side. She had still not woken up and Jack refused to leave her side.

“Their plan was to each create a new kind of soldier using the same genetic altering drug. The implications of this for the rest of the city would have been devastating if it was not for the actions of the brave heroes I was with who despite the dangers put a stop to these plans. Both facilities and all traces of the drug have luckily been destroyed.”

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out two vials of the green glowing drug he had been able to steal during a fight with a reaper. He thought about the offers from Crystal and Dr Sanstad to help him give up drugs. He did not know if that was what he wanted yet. He did not know anything. He just wanted Crystal to wake up. He put the two vials back in his pocket.

--------------------

Martin and Em sat in the board room at McBeath technologies watching the broadcast.

“For me the experience has made me re-evaluate my life and my actions over the past few years. I am deeply sorry for the way I have portrayed the heroes of this city. I also owe an apology to Dr Sanstad as his wife for putting his family in danger. My reports over the last few years have been biased and twisted truths. The executive producers of this show would rather I did not tell you this and my career after this broadcast is most likely over. I know I do not deserve forgiveness. All I can do is apologies. Now, if you will excuse me I wish to spend sometime with my wife.” With that Harris stood up so only his chest could be seen on the screen. His fingers fumbled to remove his microphone from his tie and then he moved out of the frame. A few seconds later the screen became static.

--------------------

A few days later a package arrived for Penny. It came with a note.

I know your armor and camera were damaged. I hope this can help you with your web site.

Signed Steven Harris

In the package was the portable hard drive video recorder Harris had used to secretly record the whole adventure.

[ QUOTE ]
"Why us?" he asked suddenly, eyes narrowing behind his goggles. "There are quite a few rather 'talented' people here. How are we so important?"

[/ QUOTE ]

"Why you is more like it?" Mr. Book thought to himself will looking at Kirke.

"And what exactly is it we will be doing?" He asked aloud.

Sam nudged Unix's face with his nose willing her to get up. He did not understand why she would not move but he felt sound. Licking her face seemed to do no good either.