MadGremlin

That's an impressive list.
So where can we buy the consolidated PDF?

Very interesting story, thanks for sharing.
Oddly, when I thought about it, this is really a "coming of age" story in a really strange sort of way.

And just for the record, I wish my best writing was as creative and interesting as those portions you complained about being poorly written.

Fanbase = Fanbase + 1

Day 1
Rikti War

Psilent Threat (Female dominator): A teenager on the run in Paragon, with limited control over her psionic powers. Struggling to survive in the chaos and wreckage.

Pluto (male defender - actually a test character during beta; purple cloak and leather outfit, neon green trim): A hero, caught between life and death after horrible scientific experimentation. He fought the Rikti during the initial wave. Though somewhat inexperienced, his dark energy was effective and he (along with other heroes) helped defend the hospital in Atlas Park. Though successful for a time, a nearby strike by a ship mounted energy cannon literally tore him apart.
Left for dead, he was eventually picked up by a Crey recovery team. What happens after that is another story...

CheapTrick (Male stalker, but at that time soldier): Was recently transferred to Metaforces; the arm of the military that works in direct support of hero activities.
Immediately called into service when the invasion started, his squad was sent to support a group of heroes under heavy pressure in the Founders Falls area.
He made every effort to cover the retreat as they pulled wounded and dying heroes out of the area. He continued fighting even when critically wounded, and was eventually felled by enemy fire. Less than a minute later hero support came in and pushed the Rikti back (for the moment). He was not expected to survive...but...again, that is another story.

Mind/Psi dominator - expert on psionics/psychic powers.
Or
Illusion controller (similar)

Though not technically an expert on mutations in general, an expert on the psychic.

Just a thought.

((Ok, I think I'll leave it with this post as it gets a little "thread specific" starting here. And I clearly have spent my limited creativity...maybe I will continue this in the Whitmoore thread.))

She’d done a few things since she’d arrived in Paragon City – gotten a dump of an apartment in Kings Row (how demeaning for her to have to live like this), found a clue and stopped some Carnival of Shadows from stealing some masks, and fended off a few thugs on the street. She’d even joined up with some heroes to raid an Arachnos base they’d learned about – they didn’t know who she was, just that she offered to help them out.

Finally she decided the time had come – time to go talk to Indigo of this dimension and basically turn herself in.

“Wow, this sucks.” She said to herself as she moved through Founders’ Falls from rooftop to rooftop. “Heck, this is where it all started – it seemed like so long ago. Now she was going to turn herself in and probably end up in the psyche ward of the Zig; not a place she had ever wanted to see again.

She stood on the hillside looking down at the location where the Indigo of Council dimension had told her that the Indigo of this dimension would be. Psi shivered a bit in nervous anticipation.

There she was, right on time.

Psi watched for a while – did she really want to do this? Then she took a few deep breaths and got up her nerves. Her heart was pounding rapidly as she prepared herself. “Here goes nothing.” She said as she jumped down.

She landed about ten feet from Indigo with barely a sound, but Indigo turned and fell into a fighting stance almost before she got there.

“You!” She said in a harsh voice. “I’ve been expecting you.” Her voice had softened a bit but everything about her stance and eyes indicated she was ready to fight.

“My friend in the Council dimension told me you might come to visit. I hoping she was right about you changing your stripes.”

Psi was surprised. “Um, yes I am here to turn myself in and try to make things right.” She spoke the well-practiced lines almost mechanically and she was not sure she believed them.

Indigo smiled just a bit. “Good, we were hoping so.” She relaxed her stance a bit but was still ready as she motioned Psi over to a bench. “Sit, please.” As Psi sat Indigo continued.

“I’ve thought about this a lot recently. We can’t really go to Longbow; they aren’t very forgiving and you’ve done more than your share of damage to their operations here and in the Rogue Isles. Wyvern is a joke and more interested in magical issues anyway. Paragon Police are also pretty harsh to known supervillains so they probably won’t do us much good. It is amazing that we get any converts with the way we treat those on the borderline.”

Indigo sat down. “However, there is a small division of Metaforces that essentially deals with reforming metas, and getting them back to at least a semi-normal life. Especially those making the switch from the Rogue Isles.”

“So you will turn me over to them?” Psi asked, feeling a bit powerless.

“Eventually. First I need to know if I can really trust you. You are going to stay with me for a week or two – along with some hand-picked agents that work with me. You may even get to meet Crimson.”


The two weeks started slowly. Psi wore a psionic damper and was only allowed to move around outside when with Indigo or at least two agents. As the time went on Psi learned that this Indigo had some distinct differences from the one she’d met in Council dimension. Still, under the hard exterior she was kind and helpful.

Still, neither fully let down their guard and there was significant suspicion on both sides. But as time went on they begrudgingly became friends and let down some of the barriers.

Indigo collected data on Psi’s activities since she had returned from Council Earth and after a few weeks made a decision.

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

Scene: Paragon City Courthouse, Atlas Park, Judges Chambers

“This is the hearing for Miss Psilent Threat. Despite her assistance with several recent events including stopping several Carnival of Shadows attacks, a Rikti raid, and an Arachnos attack, she is still implicated in multiple incidents in both the Rogue Isles and Paragon City, and was at one time a freelance operative for Arachnos.”

The judge looked down through his reading glasses at the series of official papers on his desk and then up at the young lady sitting across the table.

“Miss Indigo, you are going to speak on her behalf, even though you two fought several times?” The judge asked questioningly.

“Yes sir. I know this woman well enough from both being her enemy and her friend. She is honestly trying to change her ways and given the chance could be an asset to Paragon City.” Indigo passed a set of documents over to the judge.

“Though I don’t think its necessary, we have set up a series of security devices for her. A location bracelet similar to anklets worn by normal criminals except that this one allows us to know her location at any time. It has secure and encrypted signals, and allows us to set it to a loud alarm or be used as a communication device. Additionally, we have added a damper to her headband that prevents her from using her minor mind-reading abilities. Her major psionic talents lay elsewhere but we don’t want her reading even surface thoughts of other heroes.”

The judge reviewed the papers for several minutes. Psi shifted in her chair uncomfortably; she was not used to this kind of a situation – she liked total control over her life. It had been that way since she had run away from home as a young teen – just before the Rikti hit.

So now, here she was, in a Paragon City courthouse, waiting for a stuffy old judge to decide if she’d go back to that he11 of the Zig, or have a chance at a life. She felt small, frail, and exposed in this place, not the confident and often feared Psilent Threat.

The judge looked up and Psi came back from her daydream. “About this power of suggestion that she has. It would seem that she could still easily and readily abuse this without chance of detection.” He frowned and looked from Indigo to Psi.

“Yes, well that one is a tricky point – she uses this quite effectively in combat to confuse enemies and convince them to attack one-another.” Indigo replied. “Blocking use of it would limit her significantly and potentially interfere with some of her other powers.”

Indigo stopped and looked the judge in the eyes. “I am taking personal responsibility for this one; I do not give my trust easily.”

The judge sighed, removed his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. “If this one goes sour we’re both going to take a lot of heat. Are you thinking of sending her to the 2-6 in Kings Row?”

“No, we don’t think that is a stable environment. We’d like to give her more of a family feeling. I was thinking the Whitmoore.”

The judge’s eyes widened a bit. “Hero hotel? That place has had more than its share of drama over the years. Are you sure?”

Indigo chuckled at the question. “You know me, I’m always sure. Maybe not always right, but always sure.”

“Ok, let’s set her up with a parole officer. Anyone in the Whitmoore that we could put on contract to do it? Any Metaforces currently in residence that we could convince?”

A few hours later everything was set up and Psi was outside in the marble hallway talking to Indigo.

“Ok kiddo, it is all up to you now, don’t let me down.” Indigo stated. “You have a little cash and your directions. Check in at the front desk, Mr. Green will be one of our contacts for this so let him know your whereabouts.”

Psi was stunned; no one had ever helped her and definitely never gone out on a limb for her! She wiped a tear away as she shook Indigo’s hand but then couldn’t help but give the smaller woman a hug.

Indigo stiffened a bit at the physical contact. “Sorry dear, I’m not much of a touchy-feely person. Now you get yourself to the Whit and get settled in.”

Indigo was gone and Psi went into the bathroom to clean up her makeup. She looked at herself in the mirror and started bawling like a baby. She sat in the stall and cried the cry of a lifetime that was ten years in the making.

((Fairly short post here and probably only 1 more after this - hope at least a few are still reading...))

Part 5

Paragon City, Independence Port:

Psilent Threat viewed the city from a whole new perspective. It used to be simply a dangerous treasure to be plundered, but now it seemed to hold promise of a new life. She still had a lot to work out, but there was hope here.

It was warm so she opened the long coat she had worn for the trip. A pair of Council soldiers that had been pontificating on a box took notice and moved her way.

“Hey lady, you ever had one who is of superior bloodline like the Council?” He grinned, clearly with bad intent.

Psi looked at them with an incredulous look. “Really? I’m here five minutes and have to deal with you goons?”

The Council soldiers and been expecting fear and looked a bit shocked at her attitude, but kept coming toward her.

“Fine!” She stated and reached into one man’s mind and pulled forward all of his darkest fears. He screamed and grabbed his head, unable to move.

The other thug went for his gun. “A meta! You’re gonna pay for that!”

“Shut up.” Psi said dismissively as she tossed him up in the air with brute force telekinesis. He landed with a hard thump that knocked the wind out of him. Psi stepped up while he was recovering and drained his mental energy leaving him drooling on the ground. He’d live, but he was going to wish he was dead when he woke up.

The other man was still grasping his head and crying with fear. Psi quickly left him in an unconscious pile on the ground.

Psi hadn’t notice that the two were roughing up another young lady before she’d seen them. The lady ran up to Psi. “Thank you! You saved my life! I’ve never really been close to a hero before, that was wonderful! I’m glad Paragon City has heroes like you!”

The woman ran away and Psi stood stunned.

“Hero?” She said aloud. She had never considered that the word would be applied to her. She stood there for several minutes trying to figure things out. Finally she shook her head and moved on.

“Clearly mistaken identity.” Psi traveled on to see what the city had to offer.

((Ok, so you'll start to see parts where I didn't have good ideas so I quick-wrote or skipped. Oh well...))

Part 4

They had given her a choice of locations in the Rogue Isles for a destination. She had recently upgraded to a condo in Nerva for her public address, but she figured that was dangerous at this point. She also had a secret spot in Cap Au Diable that she hoped was still secure so she chose that as her destination.

She was not wearing one of her typical revealing pink outfits – instead she wore a dark jumpsuit and hood. This made her one of dozens of similarly garbed super-powered beings leaping around Cap.

The apartment was not far from the Market and university. She found a convenient spot to land and watch for a while. It didn’t take long – only about an hour – before she saw someone she recognized. It was Noxturnous, the clawed psychopath that’d been at the bank robbery. He met another super powered person that Psi recognized; a punk violent punk with an array of weapons who worked with a gang of thugs. He was coming into the neighboring building as Nox was coming out. The stopped and talked for a moment and Nox pointed up at the window to Psi’s place. Yup, they’d found her place and were watching it.

Psi thought for a few minutes- what was that guy’s name? GunRunner? RunnerGunner? Something like that. Didn’t matter, she’d deal with him first.

She waited another hour or so and then moved to the building. She stealthily climbed down to the balcony. There he was, TV placed so it was in direct line with her window in the neighboring building. There was a large walkie-talkie style radio sitting next to him. He periodically looked up from the TV to see if there was anything in the apartment across the way.

Psi slowly started to cloud his mind – first with just some general confusion, then building up to triggering his sleep cycles. Soon he was fast asleep. Psi came in through the glass door and came up close.

“Not so tough without your gang around are you?” Then she crashed his mind kicking in pain and blindness. He awoke but was frozen grabbing his head. Then she threw him up in the air and he came crashing down on a small coffee table. Finally she walked up and drained his psychic energy.

“I may regret letting you live punk, but when you wake up you’ll certainly think twice about messing with me.”

She quickly made her way to her apartment. It had clearly been searched rather thoroughly and few of her ill-gotten gains remained.

“Damn, they took all the nice stuff, including my best jewelry!” Psi complained. She grabbed what was left; clothes, costumes, and a few hidden valuables. She checked everything carefully; removing several bugging devices that had been placed to track her then stuffed the clothes into a duffle bag.

“No way to treat such fine clothes but I don’t have time to pack them correctly.” She said to herself.

She looked around one last time and sighed. “Ok, time to…” She stopped as motion in the apartment across the way caught her eye. She turned and saw Noxturnous looking directly at her from the other apartment. Their eyes locked for just a moment before Nox was leaping across the gap and his vicious claws slashing at Psi.

Her psionic shields kept her from being cut to ribbons, but she did receive several fairly significant gashes.

Nox was stronger, faster, and more agile than Psi, not to mention he had razor-sharp claws. It was hardly a fair fight when you just took into account the physical aspects. Plus, in the tight quarters he would be able to pin her down and cut her apart. On top of it, Nox was virtually feral when he was in combat making him resistant to most attempts to affect his mind.

But that was also his downfall. He was very direct in his attacks and did not use much in the way of tactics.

Psi used the furniture to slow him down and as he cut through it made her way around to the balcony again, firing several mental assaults as he chased her down. She stood on the balcony as he eyed her up and charged. Expecting that exact action she dove to the side as he crashed through the railing.

He eventually caught himself on another balcony but it gave Psi the head start she needed and she took off. Nox tried to follow but Psi had enough of a lead that she lost him and then circled back around to the ferry just as it was leaving.

NERVA:

Psi opened the disposable cell phone and punched a number. A voice on the other end answered gruffly. “Who is this?”

“Well is that anyway to treat an old friend?” Psi asked in a mocking tone.

“Psi?!?!” The surprised voice said.

“Yeah, and it better not be you brining all of this heat down on me or you know I’ll fry your brain.” She growled.

“No! It is your ‘friends’. They figured you set them up some how – you know how paranoid they can be! Well, except Vortexus, he’s still in a coma in the hospital. Some strange feedback from the transport really messed him up.”

There was a pause and then. “Where the he11 have you been?”

Psi took a deep breath. “Near death in another dimension. That same feedback that got Vortexus sent me slightly off course. And those former friends of mine found my ‘secret’ hide out.”

Psi frowned, despite Vortexus’ modest greed he was a decent guy and a solid leader for their team. Without him they’d clearly focused on Psi as a scapegoat and that was probably the only thing holding them together.

“So where does that leave us?” Psi asked.

“Well, I…What the fu…” There was a loud crash and another voice came on the phone. We got you now bish, we got these phones tapped and traced! Hahaha!!!”

She sighed. Yeah, she figured they’d be at least that bright but they were quicker than she thought. It was a couple jumps and she was up under the bridge to the Longbow stronghold of Agincourt. She placed the phone on a beam, still open and on, and was gone.

Psi opened her bag and grabbed another phone. She waited until she was stealthily on top of a warehouse in the Crey compound and programmed it for remote dialing from one of the other phones she had picked up. There were no less than a dozen cheap phones in her bag.

She set the phone in a vent on the roof of the Crey warehouse. “Come track this one you morons.” She chuckled as she made her way to the ferry. She planted several more phones around the Isles before she started making her calls. Sure, they’d track her eventually, but she’d lead them on a merry chase and probably get them in serious trouble if she was lucky.

Over the next couple days she contacted people, made some trades at the market, arranged a few details, and even managed to run a few missions (oddly actually helping people out). There were few people she actually trusted, well none really, so all arrangements were made as anonymously as possible.

She stood on the dock in Sharkshead Island with the grizzled submarine commander motioning her on board. Psi opened her last phone and dialed the number her “team” used to use to leave messages for each other.

“I’m gone boys and you’ll know where once you find this phone. I don’t expect to ever see you losers ever again.” She dropped the phone onto the dock and climbed into the sub.

((Now realizing how crazy long these posts are and that it is unlikely anyone is equally crazy enough or has time enough to read through the entire thing. Oh well...where did I get the time to write all this drivel?))

Part 3:

Strange visions swam in her head. Darkness and destruction of Paragon City as villains laughed over the debris.

She slowly awoke, and then sat up, trying to figure out where she was and what had happened. Her body was sore and stiff. There were several bandages covering her more serious scrapes and her fractured arm was wrapped in some sort of thin, rigid material that acted as a cast. She was no longer in her costume, but instead a grey sweatshirt and sweat pants that had clearly seen better days. Definitely not her clothes.

Psi looked around. She was in a small room with no windows and illuminated by a single bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling. There was white paint over what appeared to be cement floor, walls, and even ceiling. Exposed pipes ran along the ceiling as well. The room definitely had the feel of a solid basement.

She was lying in a metal frame bed on a well-used mattress. The sheets were nice, but well-worn and patched in a few locations. There was a nightstand next to the bed with a small lamp on it as well as a glass of water and her few personal effects. On the far wall was a well worn chair and small table. On the table was another glass of water and a book laying open face-down as if someone had set it there just a moment ago.

Psi grabbed the water on the nightstand. She sniffed it and decided that it must be ok before gulping it down.

As she finished drinking and set the glass down the door to the room opened.

Psi stared in shock as the woman in the tight purple bodysuit walked in. “Indigo!” She cried. Psi had battled the formidable woman on more than one occasion and being locked up by her meant certain imprisonment.

Indigo looked surprised and puzzled. “Relax young lady. Do I know you?” Indigo calmly sat in the chair. “You should lie down. You were nearly dead when you stumbled on our base – we weren’t even sure you were going to make it for a while there.” She said calmly.

Psi remembered now that she was on “Council Earth” and relaxed back on the bed. Her head hurt and was spinning from the sudden excitement. “Oh yeah, I’m not in Kansas anymore.” She said to herself.

Indigo sat back and smiled. “So let’s talk, shall we? I’ll start. I’m Indigo as you apparently know. Now, what is your name?”

Psi sighed. “Ok, I’ll play. I’m Psilent Threat, you can call me Psi. I think I’m from a different earth dimension. We call your dimension ‘Council Earth’ because the Council rules here. I know you because on my world we’ve fought recently.” She looked up, half expecting Indigo to attack her.

Indigo just continued to smile. “That’s interesting. I’ve heard of the theory of alternate dimensions.” She shifted a bit and crossed her legs. “Anything else you can tell me?”

Psi was definitely uncomfortable. “Um, how about you tell me where I am?” She asked.

Indigo nodded. “You are in what we call Sanctuary – North. It is one of the secret bases of the resistance movement against the Council regime. As you can see, we do what we can with fairly limited resources.”

She reached over and picked up the ID card.

“I noticed that you have some sort of ID from the Rogue Isles. Here those islands are inhabited by a small cult called Arachnos. What is it like in your dimension?”

Psi thought for a moment. “Well, Arachnos is there, but they are pretty powerful. Lord Recluse and his crew are rivaled by only the most powerful heroes.” She stopped and shifted a little bit in the bed. “Yes, I did some work for Arachnos. But I didn’t realize that this was what happened when someone like that won…” She trailed off.

“It’s ok dear.” Indigo reassured. “No one blames you and I’m sure you have your reasons. Still it looks like you are stuck here for now. There is someone who you’ll have to talk to but he won’t be around for a few weeks.”

Just then someone passed by the door, stopped and looked in. He was not big – barely as tall as Psi herself – but well muscled and had a weathered look to his skin. Additionally, he had some obvious cybernetics including one eye that was a red glowing dot that focused on her.

“I see our guest is awake.” He nodded at Psi.

“Yes she is and we’ve just been chatting a bit. This is Psilent Threat and she is from the Rogue Isles. Apparently she is not from our dimension, but we had suspected that.” Indigo smiled and winked at Psi.

“Nice to meet you Psi. I’m Captain Trammel, um, Charles, Chuck, or Chucky to some. Code name Cheap Trick.” The man said, moving into the room. He moved with unnatural fluidity and with very little sound. “He turned his head to the side and spoke in a quite voice. “Please bring some warm food to N-Blue-16, our guest is awake and probably hungry. And bring something for Indigo too.” Apparently he used an internal radio of some sort to call for the food.

Captain Trammel presented a relaxed and calm demeanor, but it was clear from the equipment and multiple scars that he was no stranger to battle. Psi figured him to be ruthless and efficient if he had to be.

“Sorry about the accommodations but we have to make due. The Council doesn’t really invite us up to their luxury suites for some reason.” He grinned.

“Well, I’m leading a patrol out to clear the lost out of the eastern sectors. I’ll touch base with you again tomorrow.”


Indigo stayed with Psi for several hours as they ate their food and talked about a variety of things. Psi was as comfortable and relaxed as she had been in many years, but was still wary.

She learned that the Council did not think highly of mutants or practitioners of magic. They had hunted many down and either killed or placed them in camps. Of course some they twisted to their own uses.

The war had been going on a long time and the resistance was well established. Still, the Council had enough manpower, including many robots, that they could not make much headway.

Eventually Psi fell back asleep with the strain of the past few days still weighing heavily on her. Again she dreamed of terrible things - ruined cities with leaders of various villain groups laughing down at her.


Over the next couple weeks Psi helped out where she could as she regained her strength. She and Indigo talked a lot about their worlds as well as a variety of other subjects. Psi learned of Indigo’s time as an assassin and that she was a mild pre-cognitive, while she told Indigo of her need for psychic energy to survive. When Psi was strong enough, Indigo arranged for her to go out on a couple light patrols to giver her opportunity to “feed” on some Lost.

Still, she didn’t quite feel right here so she didn’t let her guard down completely.


Eventually the day came when Indigo arrived with a guest.

“Psi, this is someone you need to talk to. He is a traveler of time and dimension.”

“Hello Miss Threat, I am Mender Silos. I am part of an organization that ensures the proper flow of the timelines in the various dimensions and attempts to right them when they go wrong.” He paused for a moment to let it sink in. Psi sat down on her bed, a little worried about what might come next.

“You, young lady, do not belong here. Though this dimension has some timeline issues, they are on the path to correcting them. But this does not include you at this time. It is time for you to go before you have adverse impact on the time stream.”

Indigo looked a little surprised. “Are you sure…yes, you are always sure.” She said to Mender Silos as he stood with no expression. She turned to Psi. “Well, I don’t want you to go but there is no doubt about what Mender Silos says.” She frowned.

“Wow, ok. Um, what do we need to do?” Psi asked.

It was barely an hour before they had packed a small bag for her and brought her to an empty room with Mender Silos.

Indigo spoke to her. “Psi, please look up your world’s version of me when you return. She can help you; get you away from the influences of the Rogue Isles.”

“Thanks, I’ll try to do that.” Psi replied.

Mender Silos had created a glowing portal and motioned for Psi to step through.

Part 2:

The cold rain continued to fall for several hours. Psi was cold, tired, sick, and now very hungry. The psychic energy was only half the picture -she still needed real people food as well. She longed for her old apartment in the Rogue Isles with the soft carpet and warm fluffy chairs with people to make her food and massage her aching muscles. She sighed, obviously those days were gone and it was back to being on her own and living on the streets. She'd been there before too and survived so she could do it again. She’d find a way out again as well.

Psi rested until she felt like she had enough strength to go. She was still pretty wobbly on her feet so decided that maybe the stairs were a better idea than a heroic leap from the window.

Though the floor she had stayed on was abandoned, the stairway was clearly used regularly. Psi used her mind to hide herself - making her appear transparent and ghostlike. There were sounds in the lobby - several men talking about something...

She quietly moved closer and listened in to the conversation.

"...until we get to Third Street then we can avoid the Clock patrols over here. Then we go into this building, here, that the Lost used to claim."

"Hey boss, I don't want to mess with those crazy Lost again!"

"Shut-up you moron! I found out that the Clocks chased them out of there a few days ago but didn't stay so it should be a clear route to the back of the Astro-Genetics Lab here. And if my information is correct the basement labs were locked down and should still hold some serious gear, not to mention some nice tech and a few secrets that will make us all rich men."

The planning session continued as Psi snuck away - sure that sounded tempting but it wasn't what she was looking for right now, and taking on eight armed men in her condition probably wasn't wise.

She made her way across Skyway avoiding various factions and stopping to rest as needed. She was getting weaker and had to walk much of the way, not to mention that her various bruises and cuts were not getting any better.

It was getting dark when she noticed a small office/base with a Council symbol on it. Hungry, hurt, tired, and overall desperate she figured it was worth a try. Maybe she could bluff her way through using a little suggestion to help her along. Still, knowing that any sign of weakness could mean trouble, she tried to clean herself up a little bit, slicked her wet hair back and walked in.

Two guards immediately stood up and aimed their energy batons in her direction. "What the hell do you want?" one of them growled.
"Shut up you dung heap!" She replied as she walked toward the counter. The man typing away at the computer looked up, clearly annoyed. Psi smiled, "I did some freelance work and just want my pay. They told me this was the correct office?" She put her Rogue Isles ID card on the counter and could feel the two guards crowding up behind her. She was feeling dizzy so didn't react in time when the man snatched the ID card.

"What the hell is this piece of crap fake? You're either a fake or a spy!" He stood up drawing his sidearm. Psi was slow but still managed to lock his brain up in a painful seizure. The two guards were quickly on her - she felt and energy baton square in the back and the handle of another struck her head. She fell to her knees in pain, trying to shake off the cobwebs that intruded on her field of view.

A heavy boot struck her midsection and lifted her off of the ground. That was immediately followed by another shock with the energy baton. Psi dropped in a heap as the world swirled around her. A heavy boot rolled her over onto her back and she tried to say something but it came out a groan.

"We can have some fun with this one before we dispose of her..." She heard one of the guards say before she lost consciousness completely.

Psi awoke tired, cold, hungry, and in a lot of pain. She was in a dimly lit room - muted daylight from a cloudy sky forced its way through the cracks between boards on the window. Some more light from the room beyond came through the mostly closed door.

The room she was in was small - maybe 10' square - and not very well kept up. Paint peeled from the wall and there was garbage on the floor. It looked like it might have been an office at one time as a broken desk and chair were pushed against the far wall.

Psi was handcuffed to an exposed pipe and that was certainly not helping her arm, which throbbed with pain. Most of her clothing had been taken and only her torn tights remained. The jacket, her vest, even her leather boots had been taken.

Voices came from the other room.

"Yeah he said they'd pay us good cred over at MetaGenetics for this one! They dump them into a vat and pull out the key genes from the goop! The Doc can probably even set us up with some Ultra-Dyne!"

Another voice chimed in. "You sure no one will be wise to us? We'd get thrown into the lab for experiments if we get caught."

"We're fine!" The first voice retorted. "I wrote over the security tapes in the front room from yesterday so no one will know. Those things always fritz up anyway so who would suspect?"

A third voice spoke. "So...what 'condition' does she have to be in when we deliver her?" The tone of his voice made her shudder.

The first man chuckled. "Well so long as she is fresh and doesn't have any gene altering drugs in her system we can do with her as we please. They're just going to break her down anyway." There was laughing from all three.

"I'm going to head back to the base to check in and assign us all to a 'patrol' duty for a day. Carl, you give some of this sedative to our guest then you can do with her as you please."

Suddenly the reality of the situation hit her - she was going to die and in a painful, humiliating, manner. Everything hurt so much it would be a welcome end...

NO!!! She would not give up that easily! She didn't have enough mental energy to stun a mouse, but she had to find a way. Painfully she pulled herself up against the wall in a sitting position and started looking for something to pick the lock on the handcuffs. She could hear the men shuffling around in the other room - one leaving and soon the other would come in to...well she didn't want to think about it!

Psi pulled a small nail out of the wall – probably at one time held up a picture or something similar – and started working the handcuff lock. She knew she didn't have much time so she concentrated hard, reaching out to just try to fog their minds a little bit. She heard one of them at the door and saw his shadow. Just as he was about to open the door; "Oh yeah, I forgot the syringe."

Psi suddenly realized that was the key. She concentrated harder on the one mind; the syringe is Dyne...no, it is super pheromone drug, if you take it you'll be wanted so bad by that girl...

The large man stumbled through the door clearly not sure what he was supposed to do.

Do it, put the syringe in your leg and press, it will be great...

Her head ached, but it was working - the man stared at the syringe with a confused look. "Yeah, this'll make her want me..." he said as he pumped the medicine into his thigh.

Psi couldn't concentrate anymore and slumped down against the wall. The guard looked up momentarily, unsure of what was going on. "Whhoooouuuut thththte..." he struggled to speak as the sedative made his tongue feel like an over-inflated beach ball. Then he pitched forward with a thud against the wall next to Psi and slid to the floor.

Psi struggled to stand - she knew the other guard would be in soon to see what the sound was. She heard him grabbing things before he came through the door. He had an energy baton in his hand and some sort of helmet on his head!

"Yeah I thought you might wake up so I grabbed this psionic protection helm from the supply room." He grinned and stepped forward thrusting with the baton.

He was not in his normal armor - just the helmet and baton - and that meant one thing to Psi: No armor, no protection. One of the few things she had applied herself to while bouncing from school to school was martial arts. She had come in third in state in 8th grade. So even on wobbly legs and in a weakened state, she knew how and where to kick.

Her leg flashed out and made solid connection with the soldier's two best friends. His eyes almost popped out of his head and his attack only grazed Psi's side - still sending a wave of fire through her nerves. He fell to his knees, dropping his baton, as tears welled in his eyes. The man was down, but not out so Psi quickly pulled the shock baton over to herself with her foot, picked it up, and jabbed it into the soldier’s face. He went into spasms and fell to the ground twitching.

Psi fished out the keys and unlocked the handcuffs. A quick search of the office area revealed a few ration bars and water bottles. She grabbed her boots and a coat that was too big for her while devouring some of the bars.

There was a sound outside the door. “Just me guys, I forgot to take the schedule…” He stopped as he came to the door and saw Psi there. They both froze for just a moment and then moved. Psi tried to dodge to the side to avoid the big man, but he grabbed the coat. Psi struggled to get out of the coat and get some room. Maybe she could muster up a psionic attack of some sort if she could concentrate.

Just as she thought she might get free the man grabbed her by the throat and smashed her to the ground square on her back. It knocked the wind out of her and she was stars from the force of the blow.

Before she could recover he was on top of her. He backhanded her across the face sending ripples of pain through her.

“I’m going to kill you, but first I’ll have some fun.”

Psi panicked – he was too strong and she couldn’t focus enough to use her powers. His forearm crushed down on her and she could barely breathe. His other hand groped at her roughly.

She tried to pull him off of her, yanking at his coat and belt. Then her hand fell on his holster. It still held his weapon; a 9 mm pistol. Still struggling she popped the holster open and smoothly pulled out the weapon. The Council soldier was too worried about what he was doing to notice.

In a single motion Psi brought the gun up, flipped off the safety, and held it to her attacker’s temple. There was a momentary flash of realization in his eyes before she pulled the trigger, and most of his cranium was spread across the room.

His body slumped down on top of Psi, pinning her down until she squirmed free. Still almost in a panic she dropped the gun and ran out the door. She ran and jumped with whatever energy she had left to get as far away from there as she could.

She kept going, not sure where she would stop, and found herself in – of all places – Baumton / Boomtown.

There was no word for her exhaustion at this point, but she just kept jumping until she couldn’t anymore. Then she ran and finally slowed to a walk. In this condition it was only a matter of time until a Council patrol or something worse picked her up.

She staggered forward with blurred vision, not seeing the old staircase that lead to the basement of the building. She tumbled down landing in a heap at the bottom in front of a surprisingly solid looking door.

Out of well hidden locations, two turrets popped out and oriented on her. A speaker barked out; “Identification not confirmed; please provide voice verification in five seconds.”

Psi groaned, barely aware of the danger.

“Voice verification not confirmed! Firing will commence in three seconds!”

That was the last thing Psi heard…

I have been writing bits and pieces of this for years. It started as an entry into the thread titled “Paragon City 2029” (look back several pages, it's still there – nice concept but didn’t take off well). Well, I never posted it there and then I figured I’d adjust it and make it the explanation for conversion from villain to hero for one of my characters. The I thought maybe it could be an entry to another RP thread (Whitmoore) but may or may not continue it there. I’m not sure I can write from a female point of view for very long without being too overly stereotypical and clichéd.

Now, I am neither a great writer nor am I very clever (I’d be doing something more creative if I were) so there aren’t too many “wow” moments. Still, I figured I’d post and share it; or else it will sit in a word document until I lose it with a computer crash at some point. So feel free to comment or critique as you wish or just read it (or not if it is that bad).

So enough introduction, here it is:

Psilent Transition:

Part 1
Location: Paragon City Founder's Falls:

The scene: A small bank at the far end of Founder’s Falls. A group of four villains steps over the body of a dozen dead or unconscious Paragon Police Department members and one unconscious hero as they walk into the underground vault.

A large male in black metal armor speaks in a deep electronic voice: “Heh, Paragon’s finest can kiss my metal butt! We’re invincible, eh Vortexus?!!!” Energy crackled from his metal gauntlets as he tore into the interior of the vault to gather valuables.

“Yes yes, we are Smash Pile.” Sighed a man in a dark costume with a swirling pattern on the chest. “Now get to collecting the loot here.” He commanded. He touched stacks of cash and other valuables and they disappeared in a swirl of energy.

“I’m counting those stacks Vortexus so you don’t skim again!” Growled a bestial looking criminal with vicious claws.

Vortexus turned toward the clawed beast. “You best watch what you say Noxturnus, without my portal ability you wouldn’t even get one foot in this town before they threw you back in the Zig!” He snapped.

Noxturnus was about to reply when a slender female, who had been picking only the finest jewelry out of the safe-deposit boxes, spoke. Though she spoke in barely a whisper the words reverberated in the minds of her cohorts. “Boys, if you insist on carrying on like this I’m sure that Paragon would be happy to provide some more entertainment in the form of high security rating heroes, but I’d rather take my things and go.” She smiled, struck a pose, and purred a little as she viewed some of the finery she had acquired.

The comment struck home and after a few nasty looks the others continued their work. “Just stay out of my head Psi.” Noxturnus growled to the sexy psionic.

Psilent Threat, as she was known, had grown up in Paragon City. Her father had been a minor mutant hero but had died when she was very young. Her mother had retreated to booze and pills and managed to waste the rather large insurance policy her father had left. Psi had manifested psionic powers early with little ability to control them. Even in a good situation that was difficult to deal with, but for her it was a disaster. She was only 16 when she was sent to the Zig.

She’d run away from home, lived on her own on the streets, running with various gangs. A vigilante hero had befriended her for a while, but simply used her to help hunt down criminals. She soon ran from him but another hero tried to bring her in – she put him in the hospital and that earned her a trip to the Zig.

But now she was Psilent Threat, a resident of the Rogue Isles. Sure she had to put up with the ranting Arachnos leadership but she lived a good and comfortable life.

They were just about done when they heard something – reinforcements and it sounded like heroes. Vortexus was quick, and even as the wild energies of the heroes struck he had portals created for each of them. Psi leapt through the closest portal as a wave of energy struck…

Location: Paragon City(?)

zzzzzzZZZZZZZEEEEEEE!!!!
The buzzing sound slowly grew to a whine as a strange distorted portal appeared. Suddenly a body was unceremoniously dumped into the ruins with a loud "CRUNCH" and the portal dissipated.

Psilent Threat gasped for air - the portal transport had never been that unsettling before! Her body ached and her head hurt. When she had caught her breath she sat up. "Ouch!" A sharp pain in her lower arm made it clear she probably had a fracture.

She looked around and saw nothing but devastation - where was she? Was this lower Mercy Island? Siren's Call? No...it didn't look right. Maybe the Rikti war zone? Even that didn't seem right - there was no ship and the destruction was almost total. She gingerly climbed to her feet. Last thing she remembered was...jumping into a portal in the Founders Falls bank…

She looked around and saw it - a broken granite marker: "Founder's Falls Savings and Trust"

"Oh my..." she exclaimed as she ran her hand over the words. It was clear it, as well as everything around it had taken blast damage. "What the hell happened?" She wondered aloud.

She let down her mental defenses just a little bit and reached out to see what she could feel. There were people here...but not many. The thoughts were depressed and dark...and NO! She retreated rapidly, she'd "tasted" that type of thought pattern before; the Lost were still active and that meant Rikti too. She couldn't risk opening herself to one of them in her weakened state.

Time to see what the rest of the city looks like. She looked down at herself - her fancy costume was definitely worse for wear and the small vest that she used to tauntingly cover herself was showing off more of her charms than usual.

"Damn, I can't wander around like this, I look like a vagrant." She complained to no one in particular. There was not much to see from this spot so she tested her legs for a moment and concentrated to give them the energy to propel her up to a hillside.

Landing gracefully she still winced as she was reminded of her injured arm. "I have to get this fixed soon, but first..." She scanned the area and located what was once the roadway to Talos Island - now a debris filled cave. As she was about to head that direction a tree by her began to move. "Damn! Devouring Earth!" She leapt away but not quickly enough as the beast threw thorns at her. The thorns bit into her flesh even through her mental shield. She cried out and fell with a splat into what was once a side canal - now just a swampy area. The sap was poisonous and stung intensely. Through the pain she pulled the barbed spines out of her flesh.

She lay there for several minutes in pain, flies and mosquitoes buzzing around her.
"Get up Psi!" She said, trying to convince herself to get moving. I'll just get to Skyway - we always kept a safehouse there and I'll just hole up and rest for a while, she thought to herself.

She was motivated even further as bubbles rose from the water and a dark shape began to move toward her. With a splash she was up and moving, the pain from her cuts, bruises, and injured arm making the movement painful.

In a couple leaps she was below the entrance. What was left of the roadway didn't look very stable so she paused before making the jump. She didn't want another fall so looked for a decent spot to land. Then, from the shadows below the ruined roadway she saw movement. First one...then another, then ten! Not human...not zombie, some kind of feral things! She could feel their hunger as they approached carrying makeshift clubs.

Psi backed away looking scared and the beasts could practically taste her fear. They moved up more boldly, forgetting their pack tactics and now moving as a group toward her. Just as she had planned. A moment of concentration and waves of mental energy swept over them activating their sleep cycles. All ten slumped to the ground and Psi smiled. "At least that hasn't changed."

She stepped into the middle of them and concentrated again - this time pulling energy from their sleeping forms to refresh her and help her heal. It wasn't much but it would have to do for now. A quick glance in the lair found an old trench coat with only a few blood smears and not too obnoxious a smell.

A few of the creatures were starting to stir so Psi donned the coat and jumped up to the Talos tunnel.

It took several minutes to climb through the wreckage that was the tunnel to Talos Island. Psi moved slowly and stealthily as there seemed to be several "things" living in the tunnel.

When she got a look at Talos she stood dumbfounded. The shining city on the island was a dark, dreary dump. She couldn't see details but the skyline was definitely wrong. She didn't even notice the two guards outside as she stared at the changed city.

"Hey, you there! Freeze in the name of the Paragon Authority Force!" One guard yelled. The other just said "Damn, another scab escaping the garbage zone!"

The men were dressed in grey uniforms with an odd symbol that reminder her of the Council, but the weapons looked vaguely like Arachnos build. Both men didn't wait and just fired. Psi, taken off guard barely ducked in time to avoid getting her head taken off by one blast but caught a glancing blow from the other and was thrown back.

She was no amateur and she rolled to her feet ready to fight. Her hand went forward and she grabbed the first guard's mind, pulling his deepest fears to the front. The guard grabbed his head and screamed in pain, unable to move. Before the other guard could act she placed thoughts in his head - "Your partner is stealing from you, sleeping with your wife, and is planning to kill you...take him out first!"

The second guard immediately forgot about Psilent Threat and fired on his partner. He moved forward beating the man with his energy weapon while Psi moved up behind him continuing to mentally urge him on. Soon the first guard was little more than a bloody pulp and the second guard stood, breathing heavily at his effort. Psi, right behind him now, grabbed his head and a flash of mental energy erupted as she devoured his brain energy.

The guard fell. His eyes rolled back in his head and he quivered slightly as drool dribbled out of the corner of his mouth. Psi shuddered slightly - she didn't like having to feed that way but being a psychic vampire meant that part of her sustenance had to come from the mental energy of sentient creatures. She didn't have to kill with her power but at this point she was desperate, hungry, and fighting for her life - it was not time to play nice.

She dropped to one knee - yes the "food" helped but she was hurt and tired. Despite the warm sun that was slowly setting she felt a little chill run through her. She was certain that landing in that swamp with open wounds was likely to have unpleasant consequences.

"Ok, time to get to that safehouse in Skyway and find out what the heck is going on." She gritted her teeth and jumped, trying to stay out of sight and on the less traveled areas. Unfamiliar aircraft patrolled the skies - some looked like modified Arachnos fliers while others had a Skyraider feel to them, and most had Council-like symbols! All of this in Talos Island? Where was the Paragon police? Or Longbow? She never thought that she would want to see the police or Longbow but they would have been a welcome familiar sight at this point.

"Keep moving Psi, no one to count on but yourself! Just like it has always been." She growled to herself as she dodged what looked like a patrol of Malta robots. Fortunately they had been distracted by some kind of zombies and she moved quickly past.

The warehouses by the tunnel to Skyway had definitely gone downhill. There were shanties built up around them and the rooftops were in bad shape. The later turned out to be a problem for Psilent Threat. Not knowing that the rooftops were old and weak she landed and crashed right through, tumbling painfully to the floor inside. The fall knocked the wind out of her and added an array of cuts and bruises to her current assortment.

Psi lay on her back and struggled for breath. She was just starting to catch her breath when she heard a voice. "Well what have we here? A present from above? Smells like a meta...we’ll get good money for a meta."

Psi's eyes snapped open and she saw several gi-wearing men with tattoos moving cautiously forward. "Oh &%$#*! Ink men are not what I need now!" She thought to herself and jumped to her feet. The effort sent ripples of pain coursing through her body.

There were three of them and they quickly moved to surround her, smiling in anticipation of an easy victory. Their clothing was not the fine silks of the Tsoo she knew – they looked dirty and unkempt.

The first one activated a tattoo and she felt even more like lead than before as he sapped her of some of her speed. The second tossed down the ever present Tsoo caltrops. The final Tsoo hurled a fist full of shuriken.

Psi dodged low and rolled catching a glancing blow from a shuriken in the shoulder but managed to avoid the caltrops on her way through. It hurt - bad - and she was in no condition to fight, but she wasn't about to give up now. She wouldn't get taken down by these losers.

Her hand snapped out and she overloaded one man's brain. It was a brute force tactic but it worked and he grabbed his head and screamed, unable to even think. She kept moving, making her enemy have to move through each other to get to her. The farther one pulled out a small crossbow and took aim but before he could fire she pulled all will from him and left him standing still in a sleep-like state.

But the last one was on her with his fists glowing. He was fast and one blow caught her. Though it was not a solid hit the energy in his fists was like grabbing a live wire.

"You piece of *&$%!" She yelled through gritted teeth. "I'll turn your brain into freaking guacamole!" She poked at his brain with a sharp spike of mental energy but it barely slowed him down and his martial strikes were keeping her off balance.

Many psionically active individuals had fine telekinetic control. Psi had never trained much in that aspect much but had a few tricks. She pushed upward with all of her mental strength. The surprised Tsoo Ink Man was hurled into the air like a rag doll. Had he been expecting it, he might have been able to regain his balance and land well, but that was not the case. He landed hard in an awkward position and struggled to get up. With a little breathing room now Psi could concentrate and she grabbed his head with both hands.

She had restraint this time - he'd probably recover just fine after a week or so of rest, headaches, and some amnesia, but for now he was a limp heap of flesh.

She looked at the other two - the first one was starting to recover and Psi knew she was in no condition to continue the fight. In a couple leaps she was through a broken window at the front of the warehouse and into the tunnel to Skyway.

This one only had a few debris and Psi avoided any confrontations with the things that moved in the shadows. She was hurting and tired and needed a place to rest and recover.

After seeing Talos she figured Skyway might be different and it was - even worse that Talos. Several of the highways were broken and crumbling, infested with nests of little clockwork. Again there were strange aircraft and even armored vehicles patrolling the area. The buildings were in bad shape - some burnt out and abandoned while others were just in need of some serious repair.

Psi figured that the safehouse was long gone and dodged toward a run-down office building. A few floors still had lights on and seemed to be occupied but several were dark and had broken or boarded windows. She leapt onto the window ledge, pulled off a board, and climbed in. It was dark but she could see old decaying cubicles half collapsed around the room. Papers blew along the floor and Psi shivered slightly. Everything ached as she moved around looking for a safe place to rest. Ah-ha, rest rooms and a first aid kit on the wall! She excitedly opened the rusted metal box on the wall but much to her dismay it crumbled and fell to the floor the remaining contents rotted and useless.

She felt the emotion well up in her but quickly snapped it back down - no time for that now. She found a sharp piece of metal and found some carpet that wasn't too neglected, then cut up the carpet and dragged it to an interior office. She wrapped herself up and quickly fell asleep.

Her sleep was disturbed and fitful, full of visions of chaos and evil. She kept seeing the leaders of the various villain groups - Council, Arachnos, CoT, Malta - all laughing over the ruin if Paragon City.

She awoke with a start as a peel of thunder echoed through her makeshift home. Water dripped in through a variety of cracks and holes in the ceiling. She was cold - not that the rain was all that cold but she was clearly feverish. Her arm hurt where it was fractured, various cuts and scrapes had started to scab and complained at every movement, her back hurt from the fall, and bruises off all shape, size, and color screamed out to lie still.

After making her way to the bathroom and finding that the water in the sink didn't work, she found a few containers that weren't too rotted and collected some of the rain water. The corroded mirror in the bathroom had shown her what she looked like - not so pretty right now. Wasn't it just yesterday that she was adorning herself with the fine jewelry of the wealthy of Paragon City?

Now came the tough part. She retained some of the memories of those that she had drained and could look back at them. She had to be careful though - it was easy to get lost in some of the strong emotions and she was not in any shape to resist.

After an hour of meditation she had some idea – somehow the Council had won, and now ruled with some of the other villain groups still involved. But something was “off” a bit. Psi thought – she’d heard about Portal Corp and even Arachnos going to other dimensions, including alternate earths. Yup, she was on what was known as “Council Earth”. The Council had won and Paragon was a ruined shell of what she was used to.

So the burst of energy as she entered the portal had transported her to Council Earth!

“Wow, so this is what happens when the bad guys win?” She said as she sat back against a wall.

Now she had never been a saint - quite the opposite. In order to live the life of luxury and feel the thrill of getting away with it she had done some pretty bad things, but the fact that the psychotic leaders of Council, Malta, Arachnos and such were now running the show scared her. How could this have happened? With the abundance of heroes willing and able to pound villains to slush...maybe the renewed Rikti invasion and in-fighting between factions (Longbow and Vanguard hated one-another after all) left the door open for the villains to take over?

[ QUOTE ]
Lets face it, a lot of us would rather play on more populated servers then get more character slots on a server that has less activity.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. How about consolidating some of the servers so we actually have enough people on some of them to form groups. As a from the start (actually from Beta) player I remember the days of so many group invites that was annoyed at the constant pings. No I don't expect that in a game as aged as CoX but it would be nice to have a few other servers (besides the 2 biggies) where you could get regular groups.

What the heck just happened there? Mr. D wondered to himself. She had obviously shrugged off the effects of the drug somehow – he had felt something.

Mr. D hated when things were out of his control – except when Mr. Tharomar had control – and despite the indication that things were ‘ok’ Mr. D’s blood pressure rose considerably. Still his external composure remained.

As Penny entered the room, presenting the packet to Mr. Tharomar, Mr. D stepped through a concealed door and made his way back up to the secret floor. He sat down at the a computer and logged on using his ‘special’ account and started reviewing messages from agents and activities that many thought completely private.

Mr. D watched Milly as she entered and spoke with Mr. Tharomar. Her information continued to scroll up on his hand computer. Without changing his blank expression he saw that Milly was the daughter of a supervisor in the company. That bit of information didn’t make him happy and could cause potential complications. His job was to remove complications, not create them – Mr. Tharomar had enough to worry about without this problem growing.

Milly was clearly nervous and practically hyperventilating – that would make things easier. Mr. D walked up behind the young woman and put his hand on her shoulder in a firm but gentle manner.

“Miss, you don’t look well. Perhaps I should contact the infirmary?” He said in a voice that was as nice as he could muster. An anesthetized needle that would likely be unfelt and leave no trace protruded downward from his ring on the hand that rested on her shoulder. The small amount of drug should simply make her tired, with a mild fever. After she slept it off it would also make her forget the past 30-60 minutes.

“Please, come sit down and I will have a staff nurse come up and get you.” He tried to gently direct Milly toward the door.

((OOC: Tharomar doesn’t have a sound-proof office? What kind of dirty CEO is he? ))

[ QUOTE ]
Tharomar nodded to Mr. D as he bade Milly in over the intercom. For him, the gesture contained all he needed to know.

She had become a liability. See that she does not become a problem...

[/ QUOTE ]

Before Milly entered the room Mr. D had his sunglasses back on and was viewing her personnel record on his hand computer. He considered a number of options as she entered, taking into account her work and home life, family, and position in the company.

Elimination probably wasn’t necessary. Probably just the usual cocktail of ‘forget’ drugs and she wouldn’t remember the last hour or so.

[ QUOTE ]
"I trust everything looked like an accident, as always."

[/ QUOTE ]
“Complete with trustworthy witnesses, sir.” Mr. D replied without emotion.

“Mr. Haines will end up with some sort of drug problem. Maybe he’ll accidentally take an Aeon Corp drug instead of his own.” Mr. D nodded to himself as he tapped a few keys on his hand computer.

“I will make sure to send some of our intelligence on Crey to a few of the overly reactive super groups in Paragon. That should grab their attention for a while.”

[ QUOTE ]
Tharmoar turned his chair about, looking out the window into the falling snow, "So nothing from Portal Corp, hm? I cannot say why, but that bothers me..."

[/ QUOTE ]

“Well sir, the hero attention on Portal Corp has made any attempts very difficult. We are continuing our efforts to make ‘friends’ with a few borderline heroes but they are so unpredictable it is rather…difficult.” Mr. D shifted, showing his first sign of nervousness. He hated to disappoint Mr. Tharomar. “I will continue our efforts in that direction.” He thought for a moment. “Perhaps someone like the Council or the Malta Group might have some information though. Difficult and dangerous but still possible to extract information.”

Mr. D checked the time and decided that the meeting was over and it was time to present his information. He picked up his briefcase and walked the hidden staircase to Mr. Tharomar’s office.

As he entered he removed his sunglasses, exposing his piercing – and currently green – eyes. “Sir.” He said in greeting, giving almost a bow before he stood waiting for a signal to continue. “I have reports ready as you requested. As always I will make my report as brief as possible and allow you to view the details on the disks.”

A small hand gesture from Mr. Tharomar indicated it was time to continue.

Mr. D handed over the first optical disk. “The Z-chip data that had been suspected stolen was recovered with a 97.5% chance of zero exposure. The perpetrator was an independent operative in concert with one of our low-level lab techs. Both have been put on permanent leave.” Mr. D used one of the euphemisms for killing. “The data was recovered but no specific sponsor for the activity was identified. However, many signs point to Crey, and my information network indicated that the operative had done work for Crey in the past.”

Mr. D paused as Mr. Tharomar considered the issue, then a brief nod indicated he should continue and he handed over the next disk.

“Aeon Corp has been quite active lately but is still dealing with so much internal strife that they have difficulty moving forward or taking any direct action against us. The only notable issue was that a Mr. Larry Haines, formerly employed by Tharomar who had a tragic mental breakdown and was in an institution, was taken by Aeon Corp and given employment. Fortunately we had subjected Mr. Haines to our mind-wipe drugs and his recall should be only approximately 14.22%. Still this is of concern considering the degree of information that he had access to while in Tharomar employ.”

Once again there was a pause until Mr. Tharomar gave the signal to continue.

Mr. D went over some recent ‘acquisitions’ from other companies both large and small. Some of the technological information was rather important and could help some projects significantly. “One minor detail; the Family seems to be taking more of a cut from shipments out of the Rogue Isles. Should I contact our Arachnos liaison and see if anything can be done?”

Finally Mr. D ended with the Crey Corp report. Besides some typical minor espionage and multiple foiled attempts by Crey to operatives get hired by Tharomar, there was little of note. The last piece was important. “Sir, I do believe you were correct in your estimation of potential sabotage at our launch pad or rail. There has been a lot of buzz between Crey and some of their known operatives with that sort of experience. Signs point to an attempt to make the sabotage look like an industrial accident and not only cause damage to the resources but also make it a public relations disaster.”

He closed his briefcase with a click and tapped a few more buttons on his hand-held computer. “I have redirected significant resources in an attempt to uncover any Crey plots but I am not sure that we can cover all possible avenues.”

Mr. D finished and waited patiently for any instructions.

Mr. D waited patiently – as he always did – mentally going over his notes and order of presentation; Z-chip, Aeon Corp report, acquired data, and Crey Corp report. Any other executive might have placed the bad news first or cleverly in the middle to end with an “up” note, but this was not a game of politics. These facts needed to be presented with as little bias as possible. Mr. Tharomar would decide how to deal with each one in his own way.

He finally set the briefcase up on a table and carefully opened it, disabling the security systems before doing so. First he removed the small hand computer – a more powerful version of the company’s standard market version. He tapped a few keys and the unit came to life. He also removed several optical disks, each labeled with a series of seemingly meaningless symbols. Of course these were a complex code, but Mr. Tharomar would understand them immediately.

Moss smiled at Walter as he stood, trying to blend into the woodwork as always. As he sat at his desk he heard the faint sound of the older man’s music box going again. He shrugged and sighed. That guy needed to get…out more.

Then he started into his secret files – files of potential projects and other tidbits he’d heard about or seen.

_____________________________________________

Mr. “D” climbed out of the corporate helicopter on the roof of the building. It was rare for someone besides Mr. Tharomar or one of the VPs to even get close to the fine aircraft but he was special. He had been hand-picked by Mr. Tharomar and, along with a handful of others, took care of “special” projects – corporate espionage.

He wore a black suit, carried a black briefcase, and wore black sunglasses – almost a cliché directly from a Matrix movie or something.

With no expression on his face he moved to the executive elevator. He knew there was a meeting going on and he would wait to give his report to Mr. Tharomar. The elevator stopped between floors – an extra floor that few even knew existed. He stepped off and moved down a dimly lit hall to a door simply marked with the Greek letter delta. As he walked in and sat down he activated a device on his belt. It would notify Mr. Tharomar that he was ready to give his report.

A slim smiled crossed his lips – the first hint of emotion he displayed. Mr. D had mostly good news and though he knew Mr. Tharomar would always want more, he also knew that the report would please him.

Moss could tell by the tire tracks and foot prints that there was something ‘important’ going on today. Good, he thought, more time for me to get my real work done.

At 6’5” and 245 lbs the NFL was going to love him…but in his Junior year of college he had quit football to concentrate on his ‘studies’. Well that was the excuse anyway. His true passion was an underground radical environmental group – and he was going to expose Tharomar for the polluting, corrupt, cruel corporation that it really was. Yeah, that was it.

He’d gotten his degree and managed to get hired. Heck, he even got in a later shift so he had time in the building when there were fewer people there.

Though he hadn’t found any concrete evidence yet, he knew he was on the trail of something hot. Sure it might take a while – years even – but he would get the evidence he needed.

After the very long walk from the normal employee lot he finally got to the entrance. He chuckled at the row of obnoxiously expensive vehicles – soon they would all pay for their crimes against nature.

Damn, stone-face was at the security desk. At least some of the other guys had a personality, but this guy was the literal stick in the mud. Still Moss gave him a wave and a friendly ‘hello’ before heading up the elevators.

As he made his way to his small cubicle he noticed the copier was unplugged and seemed to have papers stuck in various stages of the rollers. He set down the tattered backpack he always carried and kicked off his ‘berkies’ as he bent down to open the machine. Of course his long hair fell forward and he had to take a moment to pull it back and tie it in a pony tail – the orange band matching the orange tie-dyed Grateful Dead T-shirt. Sure Tharomar liked to promote a dress code, but down this low no one ever enforced it. And his supervisor loved his work and so didn’t give him much gruff. So the T-shirt and faded jeans were everyday work clothes for him.

In a matter of a couple of minutes he had the thing cleared and humming like a well tuned engine. “There we go.” He said smiling. “I wonder who fouled the thing this time?” He asked to no one in particular as he carefully made sure every scrap of waste paper made it into the recycle bin.

He pulled out his mineral water and organic muffins and headed toward his cubicle.

((OOC: Av; Golem actually left for the isles the night before, by sea.))

[ QUOTE ]
"One word. One more word," Nadia mumbled, "I'll either bury him or practice melee with his ugly mug..."

[/ QUOTE ]
“I heard that!”

Sting sat, listening to the exchange as the girl, who seemed to be named Nadia, insulted them, and her brother, Aidan, seemed to try to calm her down.

Sting, never one to let an insult go unanswered bit his lip…er, mandible, as Nadia mouthed off. As she stomped out Sting couldn’t help but comment.

“Yeah, you go little girl. Go and find some other angst-ridden teens to hang out with. I hear the Outcasts really love you elemental types. Yeah those boys would have a blast with a tender thing like you. And great plan to keep running from your problems, kid, that’ll work!” He said sarcastically.

“Gotta love that – they invade our house and attack us, and it is somehow our fault they have a tough life.”

Sting finally stopped and faced Newton and Aidan. “Um, what? Oh…yeah I almost sounded like I was giving a damn. My mistake.”

[ QUOTE ]
Newton walked over to Sting. “Now, this isn’t any sort of order. I know better than to order you. I’d have all sorts of extra holes in me if I did that. Would you be willing to go with Rocky here downstairs and work on the portals. After my last experience with them, I really don’t want to go into another one.” He shuddered. “I have a couple things I want to take care of up here.” His green eyes flickered towards the outside door.

[/ QUOTE ]

He turned to face Aidan. “You know someday someone serious like the Thorns or Crey may take an interest in you or your sister. Dodging police and Longbow, or going a few rounds with us is all fine and good but when somebody with real power gets their hooks on you life goes from rough to hellish.” Sting sighed. “Damn, now I’m sounding like my dad.”

[ QUOTE ]
"Aidan, my name is Aidan," he said with a smile. The Rocky thing was starting to rile him up a bit.
"And what's this about a portal?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting turned toward the basement steps. “I don’t know, some crap Mystic cooked up to get us to the Rogue Isles. I don’t do the planning around here I just beat things up. So if you want to tag along into some of the most dangerous areas outside of Boomtown or Eden then let’s roll.”

[ QUOTE ]
Newton glanced over at the other two. “Sounds reasonable,” he said. “Let’s head to the conference room.” He said, motioning towards one of the rooms off of the main entryway. “Would you like something to eat. I’d offer you some cold pizza, but for some reason, it has disappeared.” His green eyes twinkled mischievously.

[/ QUOTE ]

“Wait a freaking second! These two attack us in our own house, almost bringing the place down, and we are going to invite them for tea?!? How about we beat them senseless and then interrogate them?”

Sting saw the look of exasperation on Newton’s face. “Oh %&#$! Ok fine, we’ll play nice with them. But one false move and someone gets perforated.” Sting grumped as he marched into the conference room and sat down in the corner, arms crossed.

One whiff of the noxious gasses caused Sting to start choking. He held his breath and heard shouts and commands of all sorts. A little disoriented from the gas, the instructions didn’t really register. He just knew there was a source of danger and instinct was starting to take over.

Normally lack of vision wouldn’t bother Sting – his motion sensitive antennae would tell him where thing were. But in the mess of crumbling foundation and spurting gasses even that didn’t help much. But he could make out the stairs and a bit of rational thought allowed him to realize that a tactical retreat might be in order.

A single leap took him back to the stairs and he scrambled up, through the door, and over something big and soft (Newton). He stopped to cough the last of the gas out of his lungs as he tried to decide if the entire building was going to come down.

“So much for being a nice guy and holding back…” He muttered, waiting to see if either the earthquake subsided or the cause came out of the basement.

“Man we gotta clean up our basement…”

[ QUOTE ]
Nadia noticed the newest intruder and raised an eyebrow at him and outstretched her hand. The ground beneath him seemed to crater as earth raised from beneath the surface and surrounded him in a prison of stones. She closed her hands into a fist and the open area inside the prison minimized to inches from his body.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting struggled as the stone wrapped around him. “What the &%*$?”

For a moment there was silence from the stone pillar, then it burst open as spines shattered the casing sending bits of rock scattering in all directions. He tore his feet free from the last of the rocky prison as he took note of the youthful assailants.

“Wrong choice punks!” Sting growled as he leapt off of the stairs, spines fully deployed with poison glistening. He landed by the young girl, but hesitated as that annoying ‘self control’ voice reminded him not to try to kill everyone. He sheathed his spines and instead tried to strike her with a modest blow from his fist.

((OOC: Ok, back from vacation and hopefully somewhat refreshed (though the game is still annoying me). I'll try to get back into this))

Sting heard the strange noises and the muffled voices from the direction of the kitchen. He stretched and his chitinous skin made cracking and popping noises. The voices seemed to head down into the basement but Sting stopped in the kitchen to see if anyone was there.

No one...but there was something. A few drips of pizza sauce on the floor beneath the table and a few smudges on the wall. Newton may eat a lot but he was fairly tidy. Sting shrugged and headed down to catch up to the others.

Reaching the top of the basement stairs he noted that the big armored dude – what was his name again…Smug? Smud? Well, whatever, he was up to his ankles in the basement floor.

“Well what the #%$& is going on now?” Sting complained.