((OOC: I am fully aware of the fact that Jack did not have Master Wonderful as one of his targets, but just go with it, I'll explain it in a bit.))
[ QUOTE ]
Several of the attackers grabbed their heads and roared in pain (some seemed unafected) as Jacks headache was suddenly transferred to them; the pain must have hit them like a train. It was so painful they were blinded. Parts of Jacks mutant powers meant he could with stand headaches that would kill a normal person; they still hurt like hell for him though. After using the power his headaches eased off as it always did.
[/ QUOTE ]
Master Wonderful doubled over, clutching his head, his face distorted in a sort of silent scream. He didn't know exactly what Jack had done, but what ever it was seemed to be spilling over and getting him. He was feeling pain unlike he'd felt before, not even the Lost seemed to cause him this much pain. Focus, Connor. Focus. Work through the pain. You've delt with pain before. Unfortunately, at this moment, his mantra didn't seem to be working.
Jack:
[ QUOTE ]
Master Wonderful doubled over, clutching his head, his face distorted in a sort of silent scream.
[/ QUOTE ]
"What did you do?" One of the other shouted at Jack.
"I wasn't aiming for him....I swear." Jack shouted.
Jack wouldn't say anything but he was worried. When his powers first manifested it self he was unable to control it and innocent people got hurt. What if its happening again he thought to himself. After all the headaches had been getting worse.
[ QUOTE ]
"You guys out there, I need your help... I found 4 people... and were under attack by 4 eidolons... Sanstad.... can you hear me?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"Sanstad?" Crystal was surprised. "Hey, he's my xenobiology professor, he's missing, we're looking for him!"
[ QUOTE ]
Master Wonderful turned back to the others and said, "Ok, I'm going to agree with Crystal. We need to high tail it out of here."
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Master Wonderful doubled over, clutching his head, his face distorted in a sort of silent scream. He didn't know exactly what Jack had done, but what ever it was seemed to be spilling over and getting him. He was feeling pain unlike he'd felt before, not even the Lost seemed to cause him this much pain. Focus, Connor. Focus. Work through the pain. You've delt with pain before. Unfortunately, at this moment, his mantra didn't seem to be working.
[/ QUOTE ]
Jack had whipped around and blinded several of the Vahz, his face etched in concentration. Mr. Wonderful was right next to her when he doubled over. Crystal pulled at him - there were too many Vahz, anyone could see that.
But when she turned to run, she ran directly into a mountain of flesh - an Eramite. She recognized it from one of the xenobiology reports that Dr. Sanstad had assigned last semester. It was the first time she regretted being a solid "A" student.
But it didn't attack her. And it wasn't attacking the others. In spite of herself, she paused. What was it doing? She could feel the psychic energies it was actively emitting, but she wasn't experienced enough to know what they meant.
She followed its gaze - and spotted the bomb. The Embalmed Abomination had pulled away from the battle, far away from its blinded Mortificator. It had gotten past them, and was now down the tunnel in the direction they had intended to run. It was climbing up a ladder towards the manhole they had entered. Dr. Sanstad had never, ever said anything about abominations climbing.
It was only after staring for a moment that she saw the telltale whisps of purple glow around its head, and felt the psychic energies from it - this was the recipient of the Eramite's power.
Too late, she realized what he intended.
"Oh DAMN," she spat, pushing at the people within her reach, which happened to be Jack and Mr. Wonderful. "Get down! Get DOWN! Paul! HIT THE DECK!"
She had just enough time to see his shoes and hoped that he had listened to her.
With a force sufficient to make her teeth rattle, the Embalmed Abomination exploded.
There was a wave of foul, hot air, and a burst of flame which was thankfully too brief to catch anything alight. For a brief moment things were quiet.
Then there was a rumbling noise. The tunnel filled with a low, dread thunder as the roof came crumbling down. Boulders fell like some vast stone waterfall in a cloud of pebbles and cement dust as the lights dimmed. The noise threatened to overwhelm her eardrums.
A second explosion followed shortly thereafter, producing another waterfall of boulders and rubble. For a time the world shook as both waterfalls continued at once. She hadn't seen another Embalmed Abomination... but clearly there had been one.
It ended so suddenly that the silence was shocking. After a few seconds of complete quiet, where the only sounds were the falling of the occasional latecomer pebble, Crystal tentatively raised her head enough to peek.
The tunnel in front of them was completely filled with stones, top to bottom. However they left the sewers, it certainly would not be by the route they had entered it. In like manner, the tunnel behind them had been blasted shut. That left the two side tunnels.
Looking to the left and right revealed dozens of pairs of eyes pointed in approximately their direction - the Lost were here. Lots of them. With no less than four Eramites, and almost a dozen blasters.
There were a few leftover Vahz that the twin blasts had not caught. In moments the battle had started up again - but the winner was already clear.
Still, they had a few moments, while the Lost occupied themselves with slaughtering the few Vahz unlucky enough to be caught between them. "Um..." She made sure everyone was all right, then sat up, "If anyone has a cunning plan, now would be the time to use it..."
[ QUOTE ]
"Anything to get out of this dump sooner is fine by me." Harris said.
[/ QUOTE ]
"This way, then," said Penny, and lead the way.
It was closer to a mile and a half, once all was said and done, and it took several minutes to work their way down, avoiding increasingly-dense groups of Vahz wandering around.
Finally Penny took them in an old, rounded maintenance tunnel, thickly lined with cables, too narrow for them to go side by side; but thankfully clean and dry, or comparitively so considering their surroundings. Finally she stopped in a low area that had widened somewhat, so that they could cluster together.
In front of them was a grate: and looking through the grate was the old Black Line terminal. It was crawling with Vahz - but there was a car in the station, and it was lit.
Penny looked at Erik. "The City Planner's Office was right," she murmered, "They do have it working."
Then she paused, as voices burst through the radio -
[ QUOTE ]
"I agree!" Experiment shouted, as he saw the front line of the Vahzilok had almost reached them.
"Everyone! GET DOWN!" .... "Ugh... I cant take them all.... by myself.... You guys out there, I need your help... I found 4 people... and were under attack by 4 eidolons... Sanstad.... can you hear me?"
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"Sanstad?" Crystal was surprised. "Hey, he's my xenobiology professor, he's missing, we're looking for him!"
[/ QUOTE ]
The second voice was fainter, but quite clear, as if the speaker was close to the microphone which Experiment was wearing. There were some muffled noises after this, followed by,
[ QUOTE ]
"Oh DAMN - Get down! Get DOWN! Paul! HIT THE DECK!"
[/ QUOTE ]
This was still muffled, by the same speaker, but the microphone was picking it up, because they were shouting now. This was followed by the noise of a thunderous explosion and what sounded like a cave-in.
Penny winced. "Ouch," she said in response to the new voices on the radio, before checking her watch. "We've been gone just over twenty-four hours now.... they must be sending search parties after you." She looked sympathetically at Sanstad. She hadn't thought of search parties, and wondered if there would be additional people searching for Harris. For herself... well, Overhaul was at the International Convention of Inventors, which was being held in Paragon City, and she was quite certain she would have to be missing for a week or more before he even noticed. "Either that or you have some students who really want extra credit."
OOC: CATCHUP TIME! Good Lord have I been out of it. I leave for a few days and you guys go nuts with the posting. Well I'm going to combine both Paul and Erik into this one.
Doctor Erik Sanstad
"Oh dear god... Penny those ARE students! Paul and Crystal go to the university! Oh jesus Paul what have you gotten them into..."
Erik looked at the crowded platform and snarled. they needed to get out of there and out fast. Harris had asked if the aura had healed him earlier... and suddenly Erik had it...
"Harris you're a GENIUS!!! The aura I hit you with first was to heal your wounds, the second sped up your metabolisim. Place those in a living body and you have accelerated healing. Now what if we place those same attributes into one aura and remove any restrictions on cellular growth? You have a highly virulent form of cancer that would spread at an accelerated rate... and if you apply that to dead tissue..." A wicked grin spilt Erik's face as he looked at Penny and Harris.
"Give me a moment or two... I need to work out the intracies of the aura and then find a central host for it. We need a target that is in the middle of the larger concentration of Vahz. That way, the radiation will spread quickly and infect those sourrounding him." Erik knealt down and began franticaly scratching notes in the dirt.
"If I'm correct, they will be too weak to attack, and if they do, the blows will be so weakened by the cancerous growths affecting their muscles that it will be akin to being hit by a pillow. That will give us the time we need to book to the train and... Hijack it."
He looked up at Penny and Harris smiling. "I hope one of you knows how to drive a train cause I sure as hell don't."
************************************************** *****
Paul Quinn AKA Wild-Card
Paul barely had time to figure out what the hell was going on. Crystal was talking to soemone in her head, the Vahz made a sudden show, one of those freaking bomb blew while Master Wonderful was spouting some... in Paul's opinion, of the most BRILLIANT witty dialogue towards villians he had ever heard.
And then there was an explosion, and then the Lost came rampaging in, and then Crystal asked: [ QUOTE ]
"Um..." She made sure everyone was all right, then sat up, "If anyone has a cunning plan, now would be the time to use it..."
[/ QUOTE ]
Paul hissed. With his sunglasses broken he had only partial aiming capabilities. Digging into his pocket however he whispered a thanks to whatever was keeping an eye on him.
"Hang on... Time to try two things..." Paul tossed what looked like a coin into the air. Suddenly the object unfolded into a small faintly beeping sphere. Immediately Paul could feel the connection being made between his power-wraps and the trageting drone. It still would not be one hundred percent effective without his sunglasses, but it would be enough.
He looked at Jack, Master Wonderful, and Crystal and grimaced.
"O.K. if this works we may have a way out... if not... you may STILL have a way out if my body does not overheat and explode."
Before anyone could raise an objection Paul pulled a small pill from his pocket, crushed it, and swallowed the powder. The nanites swarmed into his bloodstream and suddenly Paul's arms and feet began to glow.
"GET BACK!" he shouted as he, in a blur of speed fired three concussive balsts of pure energy in rapid succession while dropping caltrops and flashing energy waves.
The Lost flew backwards from the assault, several blowing holes in the walls as their bodies went through them.
Paul was akin to a wrecking crew and the Lost were the condemned buildings... he'd have to tell master Wonderful that one later... assuming the nanites didn't make him explode.
the speed boost they offered was his latest experiment, and based their effects on Doc S's auras that sped up a metabolisim. This just worked on an exponentially higher level, forcing the body to move at near sonic speeds for a while before depleting the energy source of the fusion coils in his gauntlets.
He fired blast after blast and kept on moving.
"Get OUT of here! I'm running out of juice and I'm not sure how long I can keep this up!!"
OOC: A HUGE credit of this post goes to both Jennifer8 and Stu for helping with the idea and expanding upon it. THANKS GUYS!
Outside the Sanstad Residence
"Are you SURE this is the right place?" One of the Mortifiers asked. The reaper riding shotgun in the cargo van nodded and pointed to the map.
"This is the address we were given."
"Well lets unload and collect us some collateral. We take these two alive and hold them."
The reaper nodded to the Mortifier's commands and jumped out of the van to unload the "Cargo." Three abominations came shambling out, one with a hefty bomb strapped onto him and attached to it's vitals.
"Make sure we get them alive... The Doctor would be MOST displeased if we failed." The voice came from the shadows of the truck. The reaper nodded in a frightened fashion and quickly moved his charges forward.
As the motley group moved through the shadows and to the door, they discovered something was wrong. The door was wide open and the inside was totally dark.
"Send them in..." The Mortifier gestured to the abominations. Wordlessly they shambled forward and into the darkness.
"Oh crap... Sir?" The reaper's voice began to shake.
"What?"
"I found this note..." He handed a peice of paper to the Mortifier and suddenly the leader's jaw went slack.
The note simply read... Hope you don't mind BEING dinner...
Suddenly there came an earpeircing roar from inside the house. The first of the Abominations came flying out minus an arm. There was a pause and an explosion, and then silence.
The Mort led the way in, and found a massive reptilian creature with most of it's guts strewn across the floor. The two abominations that were left inside were already torn to shreds... mainly from the creature and not the bomb.
The remaining abomination stopped moving soon after landing in the front lawn.
"You know, my husband is going to be pissed you killed that. Portal corps went to a LOT of trouble letting him have it to study at home."
"What the..." The Mortifier asked. He looked about the room but could find nothing. Suddenly the creature from the van entered the room.
"Very cute Mrs. Sanstad. I'm sure you have a safe room in this house somewhere. But tell me, how long do you think it will keep you safe? If you try to move or leave we will find you again. You and your husband are wanted by the Doctor. And he WILL have you."
"You leave my daddy alone!" The new child-like voice shouted over the speakers. The Murk Edilion only laughed.
"How faciniating it will be to vivisect you both while he watches..." The Murk hissed. A whimper came over the microphone, but then there was a sudden growl.
"I'm not sure how or why you came here, or even if my husband is really even still alive. But what I do know is, you're scaring my daughter, and your trespassing in a house of a reknowned scientist... Who has some very hungry pets on loan from Portal Corps."
Another growl filled the room. The murk turned to laugh but suddenly his voice got caught in his throat. A massive shape came out of a panel in the wall. It stood on it's hind legs and roared, shaking the house. It was at least twenty feet tall at the shoulder. The smell of urine filled the room as the Reaper wet himself.
"Meet one of them... Seems there is a world where prehistoric mammals never died out, and Erik raised this cave bear from a cub."
"Fluffy!" The little girl's voice called, "Go sic those bad men!"
"I hate this man..." The Murk was able to say, just before a paw the size of a car-tire smashed into his head and sent him flying through the front wall.
__________________________________________________ ___
Inside the Sanstad Safe Room
Enid sighed.
She turned to Cassie and said, "Sweetie, I am going to have to go out and take care of this."
Cassie was four years old and looked up at her mother with big, round eyes. Fluffy's brother Bear was curled up in the corner, sound asleep. "Mama has to spank the Vahzilok?"
Enid sighed. "Yes, sweetie, Mama has to spank the Vahzilok. That means I need you to wait here for Daddy to come home. Can you do that?"
"Can I watch TV?"
"Yes, sweetie, you can watch TV. And you know where the sandwiches are, right? And the bathroom?"
"Uhhuh," she seemed more interested in her doll at that moment.
Enid picked up her daughter and held her tight. "You won't be scared with Bear here, will you?"
"Nuh-uh."
"Are you sure?"
"Uhhuh."
Enid squeezed her daughter tight. "I love you so much! Now, what are your instructions? Tell Mama what you are supposed to do."
Cassie thought this over. "I have to wait for Daddy."
"And?" Prompted Enid.
"And... and I get to watch TV."
"And?"
"Um...."
Enid pointed at the door.
"Oh! Oh! I know! I stay inside with Bear and wait for Daddy to come home."
"And what do you tell Daddy when he comes home?"
"The Vahzilok were bad and Mama went to spank them." Cassie was very proud of being able to say the word, "Vahzilok."
Enid bent over and kissed her daughter. "I love you, sweetie."
__________________________________________________ ___
It was a complete surprise to the Vahzilok when Enid appeared on the lawn. Granted he felt as if a large portion of his head was missing and he could still hear the awful wet crunching noise comming from the house. "That's enough!" she spat at him. "Get those flyboys out of my living room!"
The Eiledon looked at her as it groggily sat up. A thunderous belch came from the dark interior of the house. "Those flyboys have just became your pet's DINNER!" he hissed. Enid meanwhile gave him the finger and went to look at the cargo-van.
"I presume this is our transportation?" She said dryly. "The next time the good Doctor requires a few minutes of my valuable time, he can call and make an appointment like the rest of the world. Now stop tearing up my living room and terrorizing my pet, and get your lazy courier rear in to your sorry-*** van, and lets get going. I don't have time for this nonsense," she turned on her heel and began striding towards the van, with the surprised Eiledon in her wake.
[ QUOTE ]
"Oh dear god... Penny those ARE students! Paul and Crystal go to the university! Oh jesus Paul what have you gotten them into..."
[/ QUOTE ]
"What?" Penny couldn't believe it. "I never went into the sewers when *I* was a student!" Then she looked rather chagrined. "Er... at least... not very often. And only when I really needed to and... oh... well... hell," she sighed. "Yeah, they are college students, all right. I suppose one can't graduate from Paragon-U without tramping around in the sewers at least once."
[ QUOTE ]
"If I'm correct, they will be too weak to attack, and if they do, the blows will be so weakened by the cancerous growths affecting their muscles that it will be akin to being hit by a pillow. That will give us the time we need to book to the train and... Hijack it."
He looked up at Penny and Harris smiling. "I hope one of you knows how to drive a train cause I sure as hell don't."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Well... that is going to be the interesting part," Penny said, looking at the station. "Notice the control bank there?" She was tapping on the panels in her gigantic gloves, and getting a rather fuzzy display. "There are two sets of controls: one aboard the train, and one on the platform," she gestured to the control on the platform, some fifty feet away from the train in the station.
"The platform station is utilized first to clear the train for departure," she was reading the little text scrolling merrily down the tiny screen, "You know, checking for oncoming trains and so on. When clearance is obtained, the operator on board the train closes the doors and signals the readiness of the car to move. The operator on the platform then releases the car, and the operator on the car presses the driving lever to the forwards position," she paraphrased from the text, then seemed to hear herself. "What? That is ludricrious, you can tell the blasted thing was built by a committee, of all the ineffecient - why in the world - oh." She was continuing to scroll down. "This document was amended - the launch procedures were all changed after an industrial accident where a worker lost his legs... they hardwired all the cars so that they wouldn't move out of the platform until the doors were closed...." She shook her head, rubbing her chin.
"Unless the Vahzilok have rewired it somehow, or unless one of you has some sort of a brilliant idea... one of us is going to have to stay on the platform to launch the car."
She exhaled slowly.
"OK, how does this sound for a plan: you try your infection. You and Harris get to the car: I get to the platform console. I launch the car and jet after it. Harris drives. You blow out the rear maintenance door - " she pointed at the sealed door in the back of the car, "and I catch up with you and enter that way. That will also give me enough time to try and scramble any resistance..."
"Resistance?" One of them said.
"Having the Vahz send other cars on the track to ram us, or set up in stations with heavy arms... that sort of thing. " She turned and looked at them both. "Ever done a report on the Black Line, Harris?"
[ QUOTE ]
"Get OUT of here! I'm running out of juice and I'm not sure how long I can keep this up!!"
[/ QUOTE ]
Crystal had scrambled to her feet when she saw what Paul was doing; now she stood back-to-back with him. She wasn't sure how she was doing what she was doing, but she was covering those spots that he missed.
The thought that his words - "Get out now" - might be directed at her had simply not occured to her. It hadn't dawned upon her that she could leave him. The words brought a thrill of fear on her - fear for Paul, and fear that the others might not get out in time. "Jack! Mr. Wonderful!" She called to them. "Go on, hurry!"
She, herself, was not moving. She wasn't leaving Paul in this place... the thought of doing so had not even crossed her mind.
(OOC: Taking another side to these attempts to get stories on the heroes. Hopefully, the characters will all meet at some point. Let me know if you want to work on details of that via email.)
The unmarked panel truck glided comfortably through the night-shrouded streets. Traffic was, as it was almost ever night, quiet. That made everything all the more easy for its occupants to do their job. Snaking through the traffic that did exist, it wavered oddly, cutting across lanes, narrowly missing more than few late night pedestrians, who shouted numerous epitaphs, some very colorful in various languages. The truck seemed completely oblivious to the slurs against the parentage of the occupants.
Sean, will you please watch where the hell youre going? You nearly clipped the elderly couple back there!
Shut up, Morton, Sean Yates growled in a low voice at his cameraman. Blame the s.o.b. were following. He jabbed a finger toward sky in front of them. Why couldnt we have gotten a simple runner rather than someone who knows how to fly? he muttered under his breath.
As casually as hes flying, though, I dont see what kind of shots Im going to be getting of him. Harris wanted action shots of this guy. The most weve seen him do tonight was dodge a couple of moths. Morton Keller adjusted the hand-held digital camera he had been using to film the small figure moving approximately 100 feet up and about the same distance out from the front of the vehicle. Its not like he seems to know that were here.
__________________________________________________ __
I swear, Terrie, if they come that close to hitting another individual, Im taking a freakin rear tire out!
Terrie Porter chuckled briefly at the oath. You still have any idea why theyre following you, boss?
No, Remington stated, shaking his head in a useless gesture for a response over radio. Theyve been following me most of the evening, so far, though. Theyve got to be some of the most inept tails Ive ever seen.
Do you think that it could be the Hellions? Terrie asked.
Remington Armstrongs only initial response was a bark of laughter, which brought him to a halt for several seconds as the thought brought ripples of laughter for several more seconds.
__________________________________________________ __
Hes stopped.
Can you make anything out from the camera, Morton? Sean brought the truck over to the roadside, though this time a little more carefully.
Not really. He seems almost doubled over, though.
Keep filming! Sean ordered, excitement in his voice. Maybe hes been attacked and we might finally get some of the that footage he wants.
__________________________________________________ __
I wouldnt have thought the suggestion was that funny, Remington. Terries voice was a tad chilly on top of the drollness she was attempted to relay.
Im sorry, girl, Remington said, finally able to get a little better control of himself. If the Hellions or Skulls were that stupid, most of us would have been able to eliminate them long time ago, instead of taking out pockets of them like we do. No, they might be brash and have a steel pair, but theyre still dangerous as a whole. They didnt get that way by being completely idiotic. He continued his flight. He did not need to look down and back to see the truck had started following him again. No, whoever this is doesnt seem interested in doin anything to me yet, other than followin me and tryin to play GTA Vice City with real people on the street.
So whats the plan? Are you going to scrap your little interrogation session this evening?
Whatcha worried about, darlin? Not only are you getting a little extra in your paycheck, but you get to help make sure that you get more of those paychecks by keeping me alive.
Terrie snorted indignantly. And just when am I supposed to able to spend all this extra money, if Im sitting here nightly, playing butler to your superhero?
This was a normal thing for the two of them. Though Terrie Porter was normally his personal secretary, she was also his personal assistant in his crime-fighting activities as Small Arms. Remington was had never bothered to hide his identity as a one of Paragons many costumed heroes. And given his height, he was one of the more recognizable ones. Terrie had come to him originally, asking if there had been some way she could aid him. Leary about having anyone, much less one of his favorite employees, risking their lives with him on the street, they came to a compromise. She would be his information gatherer when he was in the field, while he reimbursed her for her time and effort. He did it from his personal fortune as owner and CEO of Armstrong Armaments, so that it would be off the books. As it was, most of the work she did of that nature was on her own time, after normal work hours.
But the process was generally time consuming, and unlike Remington, who was in his early forties, Terrie was a lovely young woman in her late twenties, who was taking her time off work to help her boss on something that was his own personal agenda. Remington appreciated the effort, especially when he came to realize that she was a natural in gathering information from numerous sources in very short periods of time. Then again, she had to do the same thing in her normal job. There, however, peoples lives were not usually at stake.
I told you before, you could take weekends off, he countered with a sigh. I do know how to use a search engine, you know. And I do have a wireless link in this uniform.
Oh, I agree. But you still havent convinced me that you can type a query and fire that rifle of yours at the same time.
I told you, Im still working on that voice command unit for this thing.
I saw the results from your last experiment, Remington, she stated. Small Arms could detect a sly smile to her voice. And just how many functions went out of whack because of the voices of the people you had teamed with had accidentally triggered something?
He sighed. That had not been a pretty sight. The number of printouts that he had found the next day had littered the floor of his personal lab.
Point taken. He suddenly halted. Hold on, Terrie. I think I just spotted a volunteer.
(OOC: Seriously, I play my hero mentally hanidacpped.)
[ QUOTE ]
Harris: First of all I would like to thank you for taking the time to appear on the program.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabbid Muskrat: Hel-lo! You are mah friend! Give me huggies! *hugs Harris*
[ QUOTE ]
Harris: Could you tell the viewers at home a little bit about how and why you became a hero.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabbid Muskrat: I don't like da bad people! I takes mommies kitchen knives and put on my fists and, and, and - I CUT DEM! They bad!
[ QUOTE ]
Harris: What would you say is the greatest reward for being a hero?
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabbid Muskrat: I'm this years old. *Holds up both hands and rapidly opens and closes both of them three times.*
[ QUOTE ]
Harris: Have you ever found there is any drawback to being a hero?
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabbid Muskrat: I like to drwaw! Want to see? No?....OK.
[ QUOTE ]
What is going through your mind when you are in a dangerous situation that could lead to civilian casualties? That must be a scary situation.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabid Muskrat: *Sits in chair and stares blankly at Harris, drool starts to form on the left side of his mouth.*
[ QUOTE ]
Harris: How do you feel about people that use their powers for crime like the outcast or the super villains we starting to see around the city?
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabbid Muskrat: Ahhh, ummm. I fight bad peepo. Because dey bad. When I am little, one of dem kill my pet - it was a muskwat! His name was Herman. I'm dis years old. *Holds up both hands, opens and closes them four times, laughs to himself, turns hands to himself and opens and closes them again.*
[ QUOTE ]
What do you think is going through these criminals minds when they commit these acts?
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabbid Muskrat: My clwaws! *Activates smiley face button on glove, claws extend out - SNNKT! Swings arms around widly, slicing his own leg by accident* Uh - ooooh!, Uh - ooooh!!!
[ QUOTE ]
How do you feel about the various anti hero and anti mutant groups that believe heroes course more problems then they solve? Given the amount of work heroes do for the city this must be quite upsetting.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabbid Muskrat: *trying to control his bleeding* Uh-oooh! UH- OOOH! Poopy! UH-OOOH! POOPY! I poopied! I cut mah-self and poopied! Don't tell! YOU DON'T TELL! NO NO NO! No!
[ QUOTE ]
and finally, have you ever worked along side the Statesman? What is he like?
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabbid Muskrat: *Gets bleeding under control.* Huh-huh! I poopied! What chu say?
[ QUOTE ]
I would like to thank you for coming on the show and on behalf of the citizens of Paragon city thank you for keeping the streets safe.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rabbid Muskrat: I'm dis years old! *Opens and closes hands repeatedly.*
Harris:
[ QUOTE ]
"Harris you're a GENIUS!!!"
[/ QUOTE ]
"I am?" Harris asked with a surprised look on his face but Erik was already explaining the rest of his idea. Harris was able to follow most of it. Then GG explained the rest of the plan.
[ QUOTE ]
"Ever done a report on the Black Line, Harris?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"I can't say I have....." A thorght suddenly came to him. If the others said something he didn't hear it because he was lost in his own thought. He looked at Erik who was busy writing notes to check if his idea would work. Then he checked GG, she had her back to him while she looked out over the station.
Once he was sure neither of them was looking he checked his inside jacket pocket. It was still running, he had completely forgot about it. He had a small hidden camera in one of his jackets buttons. It was recording to a 160G hard drive hidden in his inner jacket pocket. It had been running since he had been at the campus and it still had a lot of free space.
He looked up again. The two heroes were still busy. He wasn't sure what to do. Surly there was no harm in leaving it on. He didn't have to tell them about it. He checked the lens. A little dirty but it should still have been able to pick up an image. He wiped it clean with a bit of his shirt.
It didn't realize at first that he was using both his hands. He flexed his hand. It seemed with accelerated healing he had also got accelerated atrophy but that seemed to he fading too.
He checked around himself and found a bit of broken pipe. Picking it up he swung it to check it weight. He didn't plan to get into the fight, he was no hero. But it was better then nothing.
"When do we go?" He asked.
----------------------------------------------
Jack:
[ QUOTE ]
The thought that his words - "Get out now" - might be directed at her had simply not occurred to her. It hadn't dawned upon her that she could leave him. The words brought a thrill of fear on her - fear for Paul, and fear that the others might not get out in time. "Jack! Mr. Wonderful!" She called to them. "Go on, hurry!"
[/ QUOTE ]
"Not bloody likely." Jack shouted as he rolled up his sleeves. "I'm not leaving you here." To the others it would have sounded like he was talking about both of them but really he was thinking of Crystal.
"Get out of here. Take Master Wonderful, he needs help." One of them shouted at him.
Jack struggled with what to do but he knew they were right. "Alright...but the second we are clear I'm teleporting you to us." He shouted.
He ran to Master Wonderful and pulled him up by his arm, placing it over his shoulder. "Come on Captain Pink, we're getting out of here."
He turned to the other hero. "You......" Jack realized he did not know the guys name or just couldn't remember it. "........gadget boy, come on." He shouted.
Jack started to pull Master Wonderful away from the battle. He stopped to take one last look back then started to move again.
((OOC: I don't think I told you guys this yet but Jacks other powers are healing and Teleport. I was thinking since hurting others with his powers makes him better then healing others could course him pain. His teleport powers are not very strong at the moment.))
[ QUOTE ]
Jack started to pull Master Wonderful away from the battle. He stopped to take one last look back then started to move again.
[/ QUOTE ]
Crystal smiled at him and paused for a moment to give him a big thumbs up: she shouted something but it was lost in the battle. From the way her lips moved, it looked like, "Be safe!"
Then the battle erupted again and she turned away, covering Paul's back.
[ QUOTE ]
He checked around himself and found a bit of broken pipe. Picking it up he swung it to check it weight. He didn't plan to get into the fight, he was no hero. But it was better then nothing.
"When do we go?" He asked.
[/ QUOTE ]
"As soon as Erik is ready," Girl Genius was busy checking her belt pouches before they left. Suddenly she said, "Oh!"
From the pouch she pulled out a small silver disk, then pulled off her helmet. Her face was pale and scared-looking, suspiciously so, even given the situation. But she smiled. "Look - Overhaul must have left these for me - he is always doing thoughtful things like that," for a moment her face lost its pinched, tired look, and beamed. She adored Overhaul, and it showed. "It's that little comm unit he was testing - this is the ear piece, the other bit must be in here somewhere... yes, here...." She put the disk in her ear, and then fit another bit in her mouth. "This piece fits in your ear.... that piece fits over this tooth... I had no idea he had finished this..."
Her face lost its joy after a moment, once she had the new unit in place, and she turned to Harris. "Harris... let me show you the illustration of the train controls..."
Harris:
[ QUOTE ]
Her face lost its joy after a moment, once she had the new unit in place, and she turned to Harris. "Harris... let me show you the illustration of the train controls..."
[/ QUOTE ]
There was something in the way she spoke, the look on her face. Being a reporter he was able to pick up on what people were thinking and feeling but he didn't need these skills to know something was wrong. He had seen that look before.
Harris looked at Erik, he seemed too busy with his notes to hear them talking. He turned back to Penny and grabbed her arm. He didn't do it in a forceful way, he just wanted to make shore he had the full focus of her attention.
"Penny....." It was the first time he had used her name, the first time he had thought of her as a person and not just a report subject. He was not sure if this was really worry for her safety or his own concern about getting out alive himself.
He kept his voice low so Erik would not hear. "I know that look...... Your not planning to come with us.......are you?"
[ QUOTE ]
"Penny....." It was the first time he had used her name, the first time he had thought of her as a person and not just a report subject. He was not sure if this was really worry for her safety or his own concern about getting out alive himself.
He kept his voice low so Erik would not hear. "I know that look...... Your not planning to come with us.......are you?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny was shocked that he was that perceptive. She hesitated, looking over her shoulder at Erik. "I..." She looked away for a moment before looking back. "Someone has to stay on the platform to send off the car," she said, and her voice was so low that he could barely hear it. "I - I'm hoping that - I can catch the car after I send it off. But... I will be visible at that point, the suit has taken some heavy damage, and I am low on power. Mathematically, my chances are... well... they're not very good, to be honest." She thinned her lips. "Erik... mathematically has a better chance. But... he has a wife and child to go back to. He has to be on the train. And you have to be there too. I just wish... I wasn't so scared. I guess that doesn't sound very heroic... but... I promised I would get you out of this alive.... and I will do it if it - " She stopped. She had been about to say, "If it is the last thing I ever do." Instead she improvised, "If it is within my power to do at all."
Her face was smudged with dirt, and pale, but resolved. She looked... so young. Unvisited by wisdom, unhampered by grief. "Harris - if I don't make it - I have a partner, Overhaul: would you tell him what happened? It wouldn't be fair to him to just... disappear. He would think... he would think he didn't build the suit well enough, or that I was gone because it failed somehow. I wouldn't want him to think that, I would want him to know that... I was always in awe of everything that he created. His creation was perfect. He should know that. Would you tell him?" She hesitated. "I mean... not as a newsman but just... just as a friend? Please?" The sadness on her face... changed somehow, became a different sort of sadness. It was a look of a relationship that hadn't been all that Penny had wanted: the look of a woman who loved a man that didn't love her back... at least, not in the way she wanted.
It was apparant, too, why she had chosen to be the one who stayed: Harris and Erik both had families. Penny didn't; therefore it was logical that she stay. She was more concerned with their safety than her own. Her eyes searched his face, looking for some sort of reassurance there.
Harris didn't know what to say. He couldn't look Penny in the eyes. He knew he was the course of all this. Why was she so willing to help he get out? He couldn't understand it but...... he wanted to get out.
"I........" He rubbed his forehead. "I........ There must be another way. Why are you willing to sacrifice your self? I don't understand."
((OOC: Sorry about not having anything up since my last post. Cable connection went caput in a storm Saturday evening and I'm guessing that it will be restored no sooner than Tuesday evening. I guess just leave MW in a coma until I can get back on. Or you could try writing him. Just keep in mind his major weakness is against psycic attacks and the fact that he seems to always get hit by any that effect groups (ergo what happened with Jack). I'll try to write again soon.))
[ QUOTE ]
Harris didn't know what to say. He couldn't look Penny in the eyes. He knew he was the course of all this. Why was she so willing to help him get out? He couldn't understand it but...... he wanted to get out.
"I........" He rubbed his forehead. "I........ There must be another way. Why are you willing to sacrifice your self? I don't understand."
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny sat back thoughtfully. Erik looked as if he was still involved in his notes, scratching and mumbling to himself.
"Well... lets go over our options," She said slowly. "We could take the Black Line, or we could abandon the entire idea and try to make it to the surface the way we have been going. The problem is the time element: Erik is absolutely miserable, I think his head will explode if he doesn't find out about his family soon. And he is right, if the Vahz are coming for them, and no one knows... the way he talks, Cassie sounds like a little kid, we can't let the Vahz take a little kid, Harris, you know we can't. Any way up except those two? Not that I know of."
She sat back and looked at him a while. Her face was thoughtful. She seemed to be struggling with herself, as to what to tell him.
"When I was thirteen," she said slowly, "I was in a... a bad situation. It was... well." She hit some switches and one of the gloves came off; she pulled it and then showed Harris her palm. "See? Fifteen years later, and I still have the scars... where he held my palms against the stove burners." She looked sad as she replaced the glove. "Anyway... when I hit thirteen, I was done, I'd had it. I ran... I was going to jump off a bridge." Her face was thoughtful, as she reattached the glove. "And this guy... he talked me down... saved my life, really. Found me a place to go... the works. And when I tried to thank him for saving my life, he said, 'Just make sure your life was worth saving.' And he walked off."
She shook her head. "I never even knew his name. But ever since then I... I've tried to make my life one that was worth saving." She took a breath, rubbed her hair awkwardly. "I am not willing to sacrifice myself, when it comes down to it. I am getting out of here! But... given the situation we are in... and given that someone has to launch the car and then try to catch it... that person ought to be me. You have someone to come back to, Erik has a family. Overhaul..." She hesitated. "Overhaul is a brilliant man, a wonderful man, you should see him, he is magnificent. But he is is hopelessly in love with his work. He doesn't-" She swallowed, "He doesn't love me. If I didn't come back... I am sure he would be sad, but he has his work... he would be OK." She swallowed hard again and hoped that it was too dark for Harris to see the tears which seemed to have surprised her by creeping to her lower lids.
She put her hand on Harris arm. "I made a promise to you," she said, "I am going to get you out of here. I keep my promises, Harris." She paused, looking down at the Black Line terminal. "Of course, if you have a better idea for getting to the surface... now is the time to share it."
+++
Edit
+++
Last paragraph was silly, redid it.
As he decended, Small Arms activated the circuits of his camoflage suit through a cybernetic command. There was brief stop, a wavering of dim blue light across his body, then he simply vanished from site. He noted briefly that as he disappeared, the panel truck that had been following him most of the evening came to a rather abrupt halt, resulting in it nearly being rear-ended by another car.
He narrowed his eyes behind his goggles. He was going to set whoever it was straight as soon as he finished talking with his volunteer.
__________________________________________________ _
"Where the hell did he go?" Sean called to Morton. "He just up and vanished!"
The cameraman rolled his eyes in return, before saying anything. "How much research did you do before we left?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"If you had done any, Sean, you would have known that apparently he has some form of invisibility, through that suit of his. Crey Industries has been looking to get it for months, but Armstrong won't sell the secret to them. That's one of the reasons that they tried to buy him out at least once that I know of."
Sean stopped the truck abruptly, and heard a horn as the driver of the car behind him let his displeasure be known. "How do you know all this, Morton? Harris didn't bother to inform me." Sean's voice was indignant, but also somewhat petulant, like a child who just realized the had not been given access to the same candy that his younger brother had.
Morton never took his eye from the camera's eyepiece. Whatever the hero's visibility currently, he intended to catch him when he did what he intended. Assuming, of cource that he was anywhere around now. "I heard a few things. That rifle of his might be his main weapon. but he's designed more than a few tricks into his suit. His flight, for example. Come on, they guy's certified genius. According to everything I heard, he designed every bit of his weaponry himself."
Sean frowned as he looked back outside the window. "Do you think he spotted us? might explain why he went invisible, then."
"Maybe, but it looked like he was coming into land when he disappeared. I think there's more to it...hold up. Yeah, I think we've got something. Look to the left." Morton indicated the side of a building. There was a large, muscular figure there, just outside the light from any street lamps. For some reason, he was looking around, rather confused. "I'd love to know what Small Arms is doing to the guy."
__________________________________________________ __
Despite the demonic, horned mask the larger man was wearing, Small Arms knew Mauro Avery. He looked like every other member of the Hellions who used a shotgun, except for the very visible tatoo of a red dragon in profile on his left arm. It also did not hurt that the last time Small Arms had caught him trying to break into a warehouse with other members of the gang that he had placed a nearly invisible tracer on the man's mask. In fact, he had just been the person Small Arms had hoped to meet, and had been homing in on the signal since the smaller man had left his private lab at nightfall.
Grinning through his long brown and grey beard, Small Arms move quitetly behind the man, who was quite unaware that he was being observed. He leaned against the wall of the office building far too casually. It did not take much to realize that he was probably waiting for more of his friends.
After coming within a dozen feet of Mauro, Small Arms took a quick run. It was far from silent, since at this point, the smaller man did not care about stealth as much as he wanted to make an impression. The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps caught Mauro's attention, as he was suddenly looking around warily.
But it was too late as Small Arms lept into the air, landing backside first onto Mauro's stomach. And despite Remington Armstrong's four-foot tall frame, he was as heavy as an average man. A weight which crashed into Maruo, drove him onto the concrete and drove the air from his lungs. It was also a weight which he found suddenly sitting on his chest.
"Oh no, not again." the Hellion moaned, as he slowly tried to get some air in his lungs. Small Arms, still invisible, shifted slightly to let him breathe, but kicked the shotgun which had fallen to the ground out of the man's reach.
"Hello, Mauro. Short time, no bustin' your sorry [censored]." There was a sound of a shotgun round being chambered, as Small Arms, now visible, sat crosslegged on Mauro's chest, his rifle pointed only a few inches from the Hellion's head. "I'd like to have a few words with you."
((OOC: Had a few PC problems with the computers in the lab. Needless to say, This post MAY be throwing a curve to Jen and Stu, but I'm sure you guys can roll with it. i.e. go with BOTH Jen's and Stu's ideas for where the story goes next.. Nudge nudge wink wink... ))
A small cough came from behind both Penny and Harris. Erik was looking directly at the both of them over the rims of his glasses. It was a look that he had obviously perfected over his years of teaching. It was a look that combined the aspects of a frown, a scolding glance, and a dissapointed glare.
"Lesson one you two... Just because he looks like he's absorbed in his work NEVER assume that the teacher is not listening."
He smiled gently and then stood to come over to them.
"My daughter Cassie is all of 9 and is a light in my life. My wife Enid is a brilliant woman who has made my life better despite all the changes I've been through. I have a "safe house" in my house that can withstand pratically a nuclear strike and has food, television, and all the amenities for over six months if necessary. If anything the Vahz will have a hell of a time getting to them assuming my warning got to them."
Erik shuddered. "That's a big if, but I trust my students to have called and done their best. I can only pray that they did and that Enid and Cassie are safe."
Erik looked hard at Penny and at Harris.
"That being the case, if they did make it to the safe room, then I have some time. It's a risk and a gamble but like I said, I trust my wife and I trust my students."
Erik walked over to Penny and gave her a hard hug and the looked her dead in the eyes.
"I told you before we're getting out of her come hell or high water. I want to see you speak to your friend who made the suit and so I can thwack him upside the head for not seeing a brilliant young woman like you loves him."
Erik cracked his knuckles and then began counting on his fingers his more salient points.
"That being said, number one: Penny your armor is damaged. You do not have full protection and even the energy booster Cyborg gave us will carry you only so far. Two: Harris, you can't take on the Vahz by yourself with a lead pipe. You need to get out of here to get to your wife. Penny needs to get out of here to get to her guy, and I need to make sure my family made it to the safe room in my house. So that leaves us with number three: WE'RE ALL LEAVING."
Erik jabbed his finger into his palm with each word to emphasize the point.
"No one is sacrificing themselves, no one is being left behind. We all get out. Simple as that."
Erik then stepped up into Mid-Air and began to hover. He grinned at them both and pointed to the train. "Besides, I can fly. If ANYONE can catch up with the train once it gets going... it'll be me. I'll hit the booth, and I can cause the radiation sickness. The booth will give me the best vantage point to hit them as well. Understood?"
Erik looked at them both and pointed to the train. "Penny, we're getting you out to your friend. Harris, we're getting you out to your wife. I'm getting out to my family and so I can help the both of you. I made too many promises to you all to let myself die here."
Erik cracked his knuckles and then looked at the Vahz on the platform.
"So get ready... I have the aura worked out and I'm going to hit them fast and hard..."
[ QUOTE ]
"Lesson one you two... Just because he looks like he's absorbed in his work NEVER assume that the teacher is not listening."
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny had been absorbed in her conversation with Harris, and about jumped out of her skin at hearing his words. The startled, deer-in-headlights look she gave him confirmed his suspicions about her: though she wasn't a student, she hadn't passed the "student" phase of her life for very long. Not long enough to get too much experience in the world of the superhero, or to make decisions with the wisdom that experience brings.
[ QUOTE ]
Erik walked over to Penny and gave her a hard hug and the looked her dead in the eyes.
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny was awkward a minute, but then hugged him back - hard. She was scared to death and very glad of the reassurance.
[ QUOTE ]
"I told you before we're getting out of her come hell or high water. I want to see you speak to your friend who made the suit and so I can thwack him upside the head for not seeing a brilliant young woman like you loves him."
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny shook her head. "I don't think it would do any good," she said softly, and then, with gathering annoyance, "You should hear the things he says to me!" Her voice dropped half an octave, plainly imitating a male voice. "'Here's the problem, this wire came loose from its housing because it got hooked around your hip servo unit. You have more curves back there... being a girl and all.'" She threw up her hands and spoke in her normal voice. "Yes! I'm a GIRL! Hello! But what do I get? Do I get, 'Hey, wow, I just noticed, you're a girl!' No, no, I get," her voice dropped again, "I'll lengthen the cable as soon as we get back to the lab, and double-check the integrity of the housing. It shouldn't come loose again." She sighed. "And you would have to wait at least a week anyhow, he is in Japan for the International Convention of Inventors. That's a BIG event around our house."
[ QUOTE ]
"No one is sacrificing themselves, no one is being left behind. We all get out. Simple as that."
Erik then stepped up into Mid-Air and began to hover. He grinned at them both and pointed to the train. "Besides, I can fly. If ANYONE can catch up with the train once it gets going... it'll be me. I'll hit the booth, and I can cause the radiation sickness. The booth will give me the best vantage point to hit them as well. Understood?"
Erik looked at them both and pointed to the train. "Penny, we're getting you out to your friend. Harris, we're getting you out to your wife. I'm getting out to my family and so I can help the both of you. I made too many promises to you all to let myself die here."
Erik cracked his knuckles and then looked at the Vahz on the platform.
"So get ready... I have the aura worked out and I'm going to hit them fast and hard..."
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny looked so relieved at Erik's words. Her face brightened as if the sun came out behind the clouds. "Are you sure? " But upon his assertion that he was sure, she nodded. "I don't know what to say - thank you."
She turned towards the train. "C'mere and let me show you this illustration of the controls - " The protective clear panel over the computer screen was cracked, but the picture below showed well enough for him to get a good look, especially in the dark. "See how this works? Now when the train starts I don't know how fast it will go, might be pretty fast... I will try and take the maintenance door off by the bolts and hinges, then pull it into the car, but if I lose it, it might go down the tunnel, so watch for it... Now, while you are in the booth... see this control? That checks for other cars on the track, it has to be checked or we may have a real short trip, if it is clear, this starts the sequence, here is where the reply comes in, that releases the car." She looked at the illustration again. "This was meant for idiots to run, so it ought to be super-simple to do... well.... apart from the Vahz, I mean." She held her hand to her ear. "Lets test this before we go... can you hear me on the new radio unit? I can hear you fine... great, lets rock!"
+++
Edit AGAIN
+++
And now I left out ANOTHER paragraph! 
I THINK I am all done with editing now, and I MEAN it this time!
Harris:
Harris was still speechless. He had spent the last few years of his life not caring for anyone (excepted his wife), much less some one he had only just met a little over 24 hours ago or someone who had been the course of the trouble they found themselves in for that fact........ It made him think.
"Just make sure your life was worth saving," Penny's words rang through his head.
Penny started to explain the controls and Harris shook off these thoughts to listen.
[ QUOTE ]
"This was meant for idiots to run, so it ought to be super-simple to do... well.... apart from the Vahz, I mean." She held her hand to her ear. "Lets test this before we go... can you hear me on the new radio unit? I can hear you fine... great, lets rock!"
[/ QUOTE ]
"Wait......I....." Harris sounded unconfident as he tried to find the words he was looking for but he knew he had to say it. If this went bad he would not get another chance. He cleared his throat and tried again, his voice still sounded quite and sad.
"Look...I know if it was not for you...both of you. I would be dead by now. I don't know if my life was worth saving yet, Penny." He gave a weak smile. "I know that this is all my fought...... I'm......... sorry."
He cleared his throat and when he spoke again his voice was back to normal, trying to hide his embarrassment of showing his feelings.
"Anyway, enough of this... lets get out of here." He said.
-------------------------------------------------------
Jack:
"You're heavier then you look Pinky," Jack said as he dragged Master Wonderful down the tunnel. Despite the extra weight he was still moving at a decent speed. No one seemed to be following them but a few stray shots from the fight nearly hit Jack. He ducted as they struck the roof and brought dust and debris down on his head. He kept running.
He was running as fast as he could, not to get away from the battle but to get to somewhere safe to teleport Crystal.......and Paul of course. After a little while more of running they seemed to be safe. Jack quickly dumped Master Wonderful on the floor. "Sorry Pinky."
Quickly he readied himself to perform the teleport. He closed his eyes and reached out with one hand, trying to find Crystal and Paul with his mind. His mind was racing to much. He couldn't think straight.
"[censored] I can't find her," He said out loud.
He closed his eyes again. He had to force his mind to be still. It was strain, his head was starting to hurt again. Then he found one of them. He didn't know which one but he had no time to wait. With an effort he started to pull. It already seemed that Crystal had over taken his teleportation skills with her earlier demonstration.
"Come on, come on, please work." He pleaded while he clenched his eyes shut. He was leaving himself open to attack but he didn't care.
Maruo's attempt at trying to remain cool with a rifle near his head impressed Small Arms. However, to remind him just who was in charge, he shift around while he sat on on his chest. The Hellion sucked in a small mouthful of air as his ribs felt as if they were going to give at any moment.
"I'm surprised at you, Mauro. Let's see, this is what the fifth time in three months I've caught you?" Small Arms reached down and touched a spot on the forehead of the Hellion's mask with his index finger. He pushed down briefly, harder than he needed to cover his action, and removed the transparent tracking device from where he had left it. "You, my friend, are gettin' a little too predictable."
"Yeah, yeah, you freak." Though his voice was strained and somewhat breathy since he was straining under the smaller man's weight, Mauro tried to sound as casual as possible. "Look, we both know the Public Defender's office is going to let me out in a few hour after you turn me in. Why are you even bothering to arrest me?"
"Who said anything about arrestin' you, boy? I said that I wanted to talk. Can't I come and visit with old friends on occassion?"
The string of vindictives that came from Maruo would have given some Marines pause, but Small Arms yawned and took them in stride; he had heard every single one before. "You know, I don't have to arrest you. I mean, we're both tired of havin' to run into one another." He began stroking his long brown beard, which was showing more than a few gray hairs. "Tell you what. How about I make this simple. There are others I can get information from. I knock a few heads of your compadres together and maybe a couple will have enough brain cells that I can work from. You, on the other hand, I could drop off somewhere, as a apology for all my false suspicions of you in the past."
He leaned foward, letting his long beard flutter a bit in the evening breeze.
"I know a beautiful stripe of land. Hell, you might even find away to make it work for you. You know that strip of an island, just outside Terra Volta? The one with all the mutated, homicidal salads that hate humanity?"
"All right what the hell do you want from me?"
"Are you sure, Mauro. I mean, a big strong guy like you shouldn't have any problems handling a giant carrot?"
"I said, what the hell you do want from me?"
Small Arms shrugged. "Suit yourself." He leaned back and and sense of humor evaporated. "Like I said, I need information. There's a new stronger batch of Superdine hitting the streets. Between the Trolls, Skulls, Outcasts and you Hellions, there's more than enough potential users that I want to get the crap off the streets as soon as possible."
"So? Even if you do, someone's going to just make a stronger batch at some other point. Why bother to waste your time?"
Small Arms frowned. "You know, you have a point. But then again, that's why I'm the hero who's busted your tail enough times that we can sit here like friends and talk." He reach into a pouch on his belt. The fear was plain on Mauro's face until he saw what the smaller man held in his hand.
"A freakin' celery stick? What the hell are you going to do to me with that?"
"Oh, nothing. This is just a reminder of where I could drop your carcass off if you don't give me the information I want. Oops. I should say, where I can drop you off before so you can be a carcass."
Mauro said nothing for several seconds, while Small Arms waved the stick in front of him. "I don't know much about it, but I'll tell you what I know."
__________________________________________________ _
"I don't know what they're talking about, but I can tell you it seems that Armstrong's got some odd ideas about interrogation." Morton watched through is digital camera as the diminutive hero waved the celery stick closer to the other man's masked face.
"Well, maybe we can do a show about how heroes torture criminals for information." Sean seemed to get a glint in his eye.
"It's only torture if you're allergic to celery, Sean."
Morton hear a pair of clicks but paid them no mind, caught up as he was by the scene played a couple of dozen yards away.
"Umm, Morton..."
"Yeah?"
"Put the camera down, please. Slowly."
"What? Why?"
"Just do it. Now"
"Just what is your problem, Sean? I thought you..."
As he lowered his camera, Morton saw that the pair of clicks that he had heard belong to a pair of rather sizable automatic pistols. Each one of which was pointed at either of the two reporters.
"Get out the truck, boys," one of the pistol-bearers said. The malicious grin on his face was not helping calm Morton's fears. "We're going to see if we can make a trade here. You two for our friend over there. Let's see if short stuff's got the guts to take us on with a pair of hostages."
Harris:
The events of the last few hours had really made Harris think.
Sanstad already had a group of his students looking for him. Harris was also sure despite what ever Penny said that her friend would come looking for her.
But who would come looking for him? Sure he was famous. Maybe the studio would want to know where he was but they would only care about his absence meaning a drop in ratings. Who would come looking for him because they wanted to?
Sarah? He doubted it. He had treated her like crap all this time and had never told her how talented she was. Morton and Sean? They would still be out on the assignment he had sent them on. He didn't even really know how they felt about him. Roberts? Unlikely, Harris could not help but think the guy was after his job.
The truth was he had treated everyone so bad that he did not think anyone would care what happened to him. Yet here were two people he had only met who were willing to help him when by rights they should hate him for everything he had done to them.
((OOC: I like the numbered grins. It shows off your charecter a little more. But of course Jack will think they are stupid :P))
Jack:
[ QUOTE ]
Master Wonderful flashed Cofident Grin #3 (the "This is going to be fun smile.") and addressd the front Vahz. "Welcome the Butt Kick Cafe. I'm your maitred'. Today's special... knuckle sandwich."
[/ QUOTE ]
Standing at the back of the group Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he cringed. "Oh please. He didn't just say that did he?"
[ QUOTE ]
His confidence faultered when he finally saw the seemingly endless number of the undead masses coming down the hall, causing his grin to change to Confident Grin #5 (the "Ah, nut bunnies." grin which actually doesn't look all that confident at all). "Um, I don't think I have a table big enough for you and your friends..."
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"Oh for the love of god....could this get anymore cheesy." Jack said as he got ready for a fight.
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Master Wonderful turned back to the others and said, "Ok, I'm going to agree with Crystal. We need to high tail it out of here."
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Quickly Jack clenched his fists and reached out to the minds of their attackers. His headache was getting really bad now. As he tried to force his power to work it got even worse, he started to feel dizzy. Then there was a sudden flash and a loud cracking sound.
Several of the attackers grabbed their heads and roared in pain (some seemed unafected) as Jacks headache was suddenly transferred to them; the pain must have hit them like a train. It was so painful they were blinded. Parts of Jacks mutant powers meant he could with stand headaches that would kill a normal person; they still hurt like hell for him though. After using the power his headaches eased off as it always did.
Thats better.