"Fools. I am not doing anything here." Zoria spat back, "I have been imprisoned in a soul trap. This is merely a means of communication."
It was true. If anyone tried to touch the baron, they would find themselves simply passing through him.
"Though it pains me greatly, I must seek your aid. I will not have the power to maintain this much longer, so listen carefully and do not interrupt."
"Roughly two weeks ago, several of cour covenants around the world began another...'recruiting phase'. Bodies need to be replaced, after all, and vagrants off the street mage generous vessels. But this time, something was different. Not by a great leap, but different nonetheless. A great many of the Lost followed our call among the normal ones drawn to us, and most of these Lost had a great potential for power, as all of you should know."
"The Pariah, as they call themselves, were the most numerous to join us, among the usual rabble of vagrants and scroungers. I thought fate had finally smiled upon us, had finally granted us the Key to the Lock...but I must admit, I was mistaken. We were all mistaken."
Zoria went off into a lament, no seeming to notice if anyone still listened, "We were betrayed! How could it be? Undone by our own hands, by those dreadful sharlatans! Lost they call themselves - HAH! They are but as lost as an arrow in its target! You must see it! This time, they will show no mercy...!"
With that, the image of Zoria faded. His strength had given out...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Hmm. Interesting," Reginald said. "If the Lost are behind this. . . Aren't they supposed to be connected to another organization somehow? I wish I knew more about this world. . . it would be much easier to solve this."
UnLost have many working Rikti machines... After-Image commented after the baron's departure. Have not known them to work with magic before though. Is disturbing idea.
-------
With her radiation perminating the Freakshow, Rad Spike shifted into the offessive, coolly confidant that the mad capitalists would not, as the American saying went, be able to hit the broadside of a barn.
"Americans, always so jumpy about little radiation." She said to Wielder as her armor released a wave of harsh radiation around her once she was in the middle of the fight. An addition to the cellular damage her attack would do, the lingering effects would only add to their delirium, worsening their aim even more.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
"Well, if it's the Lost who're behind this, they shouldn't be too hard to find," Xander theorized. "They're usually trying to recruit homeless people in Perez Park, and that's not to far from here. Maybe we should head there and start asking questions, Hero-style?"
"THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSITANCE!" Wielder shouted at Rad Spike as the Noise Tank's swipe missed by a mile. "BUT I AM NOT AS DEFENSELESS AS I APPEAR!"
Throwing his arms back, a sheet of crackling ice enshrouded his form, causing one hammer arm to slide helplessly off, dealing no damage what-so-ever. Wielder retaliated with an uppercut to the Smasher's chin, rocketing him up into the air, and then punched the Freak as he came back down, knocking him into the wall next to the other Freak from before.
"GOOD CAN NOT BE DEFEATED!" he shouted before spinning rapidly around, knocking back many of the Freaks with a smash from the Painpipe.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Perez Park...hm," Ryuji said, scratching his chin, "We want the more...organized...lost. We should look for someone who has their hands deep in Rikti weaponry."
"How 'bout Arachnos then," Xander sniped at Ryuji. The kid was such a contrary know-it-all, it made Xander want to punch him right in his smug face.
He is trying to help. You should welcome the assistance of others. Stelleshand was trying to calm the boy down, but it didn't seem to do the trick.
"Not if he's gonna be a dick about it," Xander retorted. Not only did he make his comment out loud, but it was also louder then he intended it to be. He looked around at everyone, blushing furiously. The boy stuck his hands in his pockets, slouched and tried to disappear into a corner.
"Great! Now they think I'm crazy," this time transmitting his thoughts to Stelleshand alone. Xander could feel their eyes on him even as he stared at the floor.
Especially Pariku.
What was that guy's deal? Did he like kids? Or was he gonna be one of those people that thought teenagers weren't really people and needed to be kept from harm? Xander didn't know which one was worse.
"Living for a few hundred years and being unable to die as your life and family dies around you cold, horrible deaths would make you a bit of a dick too, kid," Ryuji spat.
He took a deep breath.
"No. We should ask...the Rikti themselves," he said.
(OOC: FYI this statement should be shocking...Ryuji doesn't look much older than a teenager.)
"Um...Actually, let's go to the sewers!" Nena chimed in. "There are lotsa Lost down there!"
"...Right." Pariku nodded, adjusting his glasses and turning to the others. "Wherever we decide to go, let us go there soon. I fear there's much to be done."
The psychic presence I am picking up from that boy is astounding. I must ask him about it in the near future. the young professor thought to himself. I have never observed a Kheldian firsthand...this will be amazing for my research!
"Incidentally..." he continued aloud, "Does anyone know anything about the cult the Lost are always mumbling about? I have tried to gain information on it for my next thesis, and sadly most of the knowledge I've gleaned from them has been...garbled, at best."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"I thought it'd be obvious," Ryuji said, "The Rikti weaponry, the alien-like appearance..."
[ QUOTE ]
"Living for a few hundred years and being unable to die as your life and family dies around you cold, horrible deaths would make you a bit of a dick too, kid," Ryuji spat.
[/ QUOTE ]
"No it wouldn't," Xander muttered petulantly from his corner, his eyes not leaving his sneakers. They were still covered in Oranbegan dust.
"Why does everyone automatically spout off some tragic justification when you call them on being a goon?"
Because, Alexander, their 'tragic justification' weighs on them. Don't be too quick to jump to harsh judgement.
"Says the guy that made a bomb that blows up mountains."
Stelleshand sighed, figuratively speaking. Apparently the bonding process was making good progress, Xander now seemed to be able to recall it's own memories. The boy always seemed to be able to pick up the most dramatic things.
((Oh no! I made one that can angst! 
))
"Try it yourself sometime," Ryuji said coldly.
la Comtesse watched the shadowy figure kick the rooftop door and the door splintering. 'Terrific," she thought, "Another super of course"
But no time for much else as the rafters shook from another impact and the building itself suddenly began to lean. "Húgyagyú, he's bringing the whole building down!"
Fading from the shadows, unleashing a bolt of darkness into the splintered door, Liz dove at it and grabbed the ragged coat of the tall and lanky figure, "Out, got to get out of here now!" and kicking the door open herself, "Move! That balfasz is going to kill everyone."
"Gah!", "Beh!", and "Argh!" were the only things most of the Freaks could say as they were swatted aside like flies. Even R0CK-0N couldn;t stand up to this sort of punishment, not to mention that damned radiation, for long.
But maybe a grenade to the face of that gamma-queen would do!
"An' things went BOOM!" he yelled, blasting both a wave of noise at her to momentarily distract and disrupt a few resistances, then lobbed his impact grenade at her...
---------------------
Azuria sighed. She obviosuly wasn't being much help here, what with her nerves wracked three ways to Sunday.
"Right." she finally managed to get out, "There are quite a few Lost in the sewers these days. Though I can't imagine what the Rikti would have to do with magic or the Lost, I suppose you'd need to go to the abandoned sections to find any actual aliens..."
---------------------
'Pariah' was quite surprised, having expected an attack, but instead being helped and then dragged out the door. Maybe this was no hero after all?
"Agreed." he simply said, his voice straining, an moved as quickly as he could. The sounds of heavy boots eachoed across the roof as the two ran from the collapsing building.
As they got to the edge, 'Pariah' wan't quite sure what to do with the woman, so he did te only thing he could think of - he tucker her under his arm and leaped off the building just as it collapsed, landing securely on a roof across the street.
It was, however, noteworthy that a small crater developed in the concrete of the other roof. 'Pariah' must have been much heavier than he looked...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Don't argue." Nena said with a smile.
It was a command.
Walking forward, the young woman put a hand on Xander's shoulder and a hand on Ryuji's shoulder.
"We're all friends, let's all play nice together!" she proclaimed. "So let's go to the sewers! It'll be fun!"
"The sewers. Rapture."
"SHUT IT, squishy."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"He started it," the boy pouted, stealing a glance at Nena. She was kinda cute, but alas! Just another in a ridiculously vast number of anthropomorphized animal chicks in Paragon City. Last time Xander checked, the cat-girl heroes had needed their own phonebook.
He looked down at his dusty sneakers, and imagined Baron Zoria in the halls of Oranbega...
~~"Wretch," the Baron said, "Upon your feet is the mystical dust of Oranbega, one speck of which is worth more than ten thousand mortal souls! Return it, or face an eternity of torture so vile that even I cannot figure out what it will be!"
"Come on and take it then," he imagined he would say in return. Oh yeah, he was bad-[censored].
"Very well, fool! But in a thousand years from now, when you regret your very existence, you shall rue this day!"
And in Xander's imagination the entire Circle of Thorns appeared behind the Baron, but they were no match for Starfall! The combined might of Xander and Stelleshand blasted them away in droves, their stubborn souls finally being forced on to the next life.
"Curse you, Starfall," the imaginary Baron Zoria said.~~
Xander grinned, his dusty sneakers suddenly a symbol of his defiance.
Of course, he hadn't been paying attention for a minute or so. He hoped nobody had asked him anything.
"The sewers?" said Reginald, leaning against a wall.
"That works for me. When shall we depart? We cannot waste too much time."
Was this the beginning of his destiny. . . Well, he would have to wait and find out, like everyone else.
Ryuji smirked slightly, I guess these kids haven't figured out the secret behind the Lost yet...oh well...
The unmarked cruiser screeched around the nearest corner just as the building collapsed.
"Stop here," Jon ordered, snatching the radio off the cradle and screaming into it.
"Dispatch, this is car 2249, we just had a building collapse! Dispatch EMS, Fire, and additional units to 1145 East Maple Drive, repeat 1145 East Maple Drive!"
"Car 2249, be advised, additional units are en route. Keep any civilians away from the scene. What is the status of your hero?"
"My [censored] hero is the jackass that knocked the building down!"
The building wasn't finished with it's magnificent movements!
From the rubble emerged the Incredible El Guapo Grande, covered in the dust of the fallen building!
The detective walked back around the corner as his young partner turned the car around. He watching in utter disbelief as El Guapo Grande emerged from the rubble.
"You hero types never cease to amaze," he yelled as he made his way to Guapo, producing a handkerchief from his back pocket and offering it to him. "Here, you got a little," Jon waved his hand in front of his face in a pantomine of dirt, "Something..."
The detective couldn't help but laugh.
The Trolls peeked out of the dumpster, eyeing the PPD.
It looked like they'd be there a while...
((Heh, poor Xander, the only females in the group are Nena and Image. The fox-woman and the ghost. 
))
Then to sewers we should go then. After-Image nodded her mouth twitching in slight amusment at what she felt in the others minds. Hydra being should be warry off.
--------
The grenade detonated, throwing Rad Spike into a brief spin in the air. Recovering, the Russian glared at R0CK-0N and lifted her hands above her head, a sphere of magnetically contained radiation forming rapidly.
"Be havink some own medicene capitalist swine." she scoffed before lobbing the neutron bomb at the Tank.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
"EXCELLENT!" Wielder shouted before stepping forward and braining R0CK-0N on the head with the Painpipe. "THE FORCES OF EVIL ARE YET AGAIN NO MATCH FOR THE PARAGONS OF VIRTUE!"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Enough talk," said Reginald, who had aimed an arrow at Zoria the moment he entered. "Please explain what you are doing here."