Drama Marvel Heroes: Resurgence

IC: Blueline
Ernesto's, NYC

"Uhh…"Blue started at first, unsure if he'd called the right place. It sounded like Zephyr but, he could be wrong. Then he heard something that told him he had the right place. It was a snort of sorts, it was the sound of Casey stifling a laugh. He'd heard her do it many times, particularly when Zephyr was making a joke, or calling Blue 'Dude'.

"Um yeah…" Blue said regaining his thoughts, "Do you think you guys could look something up for me? I'm not…" He stopped, he was about to say he wasn't in front of a computer but, that would be a lie. He was sitting at Ernesto's desk, a dust caked older looking PC staring him in the face. The screen was dusty as well, with stains of something else on it, and fingerprints. The hero rolled his shoulder, the lock screen was a picture of Lourdes. She had her father's smile, full of kindness eyes shining. Though Blue himself can't forget the mask of pure terror she wore on the night he saved her.

He also couldn't forget the feeling of a broken bottle being shoved into his shoulder. Glass on bone, it was a weird sensation.

"I don't have access to a computer right now." He finished after what might have been too long a pause, "Could you look and see what Metamin is, or Metaman, I'm not sure how it's spelled." Blue's spelling was atortious, he'd failed every spelling test he was ever given. Not that he really needed to write anything or look anything up. His life was spent, quite literally, on the streets for the past year. He wasn't illiterate, he just had issues figuring out words, and remembering which letters made which sounds. English's love of rules and rule breakers make it very difficult for him to recall which rules apply, not to mention the silent letters.

"It gives people superpowers," he paused again hearing a metal spoon drop into a bowl. "Is everything alright over there?"

"Yeah, we're good." Casey answered.

"My…" he thought for a minute of how to describe Ernesto, "friend called it bad medicine. How bad is it? What kinds of superpowers does it give and most importantly, does it kill the user?" He needed to know if he had to shut this down, well, obviously he had to, a bunch of people running around with meta abilities was not good news not in this climate. "If you could also see where it is coming from, that'd be helpful." He was quiet again, letting Zephyr or Casey start the research. Then he remembered something else, manners, "Please, thanks."

He stayed on the line he needed this information before he met with the Morlocks. He might be able to use this and whatever they had put together to put an end to it. He just hoped that they weren't behind it. That would be awkward, very much so.
_____
IC: Casey
'Sanctum Sanctorum', NYC

When she heard Blue's voice, ever muffled by his bandanna, her eyes brightened just a little. She had to hold back a laugh, a little bit of it escaping as Zephyr answered the phone. He stared by asking them to look something up for him. Casey tilted her head to the side, cold spoon still in her mouth. Really that’s what they were now, his research group. Well at least they were getting to help out in some way. His long sudden pause made her furrow her brow looking to Zephyr then to the intercom. Why did his stop, it seemed like he had something important to say, yet he kept stopping.

Once he picked up again Casey said the word to herself, Metamin or was it Metamen, Blue seemed unsure of which it was. She took another bite of ice cream savoring the sweet taste on her tongue.

"It gives people superpowers," Blue said nonchalantly, Casey on the other hand, wasn't. Her eyes widened, and the spoon dropped from her hand, her mouth hung open. Who would want to wish powers upon themselves? Would take a drug just to experience them, who would willingly make themselves different, turn themselves into something that needs to be controlled, registered and sent away. It was unthinkable to her, that someone would willingly accept the stigma that comes with the powers. Well she guessed that if you had only ill intentions you wouldn't care too much. That terrified her even more, people with powers running loose, not caring about the laws and no one able to stop them.

She started to shrink back a little, her hands moving to her shoulders to hold them. That would only make things worse for her for Zephyr, maybe for Blue though he seemed to operate on his own rules, his own terms

"Is everything alright over there?" he asked from the other end of the line, Casey shook herself, the care in his voice was apparent. The needy part of her wanted to say no, to lie and ask him to return, to walk away from whatever quest he was on.

But, she couldn't do that, she wouldn't do that, no matter how much she wanted to. Blue didn't belong to her, he belonged to this city, its people, she couldn't be selfish and keep his strength to herself, it wouldn't be fair.

"Yeah, we're good." She called out, taking up her spoon again and quickly putting another scoop of ice cream into her mouth. She listened quietly as Blue ran down his list of questions about this drug, this bad medicine, what he was asking made since and chilled Casey, more than the frozen treat she was eating. Did it kill the person using it, really, and where it was coming from? Why would he need to know…No.

"Please, thanks." He finished after a pause.

Casey had a feeling a bad one, why did he want to know where it was coming from, he didn't intent to stop whoever was doing it did he. He couldn't not on his own. She wanted to ask him directly but, she knew all she would get was stoic silence, or another lecture on what a hero does, they sacrifice.

But, did he have to sacrifice so much, and to do so alone. They could be right there, next to him. She could feel something inside her, she couldn't quite pin down what it was. She wanted to be near him but, it wasn't the needy feeling inside that wanted to keep his strength to herself. It was something more. She couldn't describe what it was, all she could feel was her father's strong arms wrapping around her like a wall, keeping her safe.

This strange feeling was soon quashed, by her fear of using her powers. She was nowhere near ready to , or sure she even wanted to use her powers to help or otherwise.

She shook her head and moved to a computer the one in the living room. She typed Metamin into the first search box, but, on another tab, she search Ernesto's Bodega. She knew he would never tell her directly where he was. That didn't mean she wouldn't try to find out for herself. That strange feeling returned except this time she felt like she wanted to protect something, to hold close something precious to her and defend it with her own strength.

As she scrolled through she looked for anything that described what this drug did, and where some thought was coming from. She also plugged in the address for Ernesto's into a map feature looking for walking directions to it. You never know when they might come in handy.

TAG: Ameteth greyjedi125

 

IC: SGC 28.57^3
Transia Mountain Path

When it was all thought and done, it had taken nowhere near the time that it would have to speak the words of all he had thought, all he had done in those few moments before he pushed through, riding a power or adrenaline high to save the tracker that had been left him. The thought of that briefly flitted about his mind as he stared down at the decapitated reanimated corpse near his feet. Shuffling back a step he looked about.

Harman had quickly dispatched the first set of undead with his torch before bounding back to SGC. It was an odd sight to see the normally careful and deliberate tracker move in such a way, but as he breathed a little heavier had nothing to complain truly about. Especially not as he was wanting now for a nice rest to pass the rest of this strange night. Hopefully the next place they would find to rest would come soon.

The tracker wasted not an instant as he placed the torch to the creature and watch it burst into flames. It made a brief wonder of what was truly reanimating these shambling bodies? Still they had not really the time nor the luxury.

Harman looked at SGC with an admiring gaze possibly and smiled, almost as if he were seeing him for the first time. It nearly made SGC wonder if the man was truly alright, tilting his own head to take in the view of the man he did not note any scratches nor injury.

“Thank you.” He said, through huffing breaths. SGC simply nodded as he too continued to breath.

The clash of steel against steel rang through the misty fog just then, intruding on the moment. Preventing any words that might of come as they awaited the signal that would let them know they needed to cross the bridge now. Harman’s expression fell as his heart skipped a beat.

Barsali! he said aloud, before dashing forward- blade and torch in hand. SGC wasted but a moment as he wondered if the bridge would hold them both before he to scrambled at a slightly slower pace, making sure at least one foot was planted before the other rushed ahead to a secure spot so as the minimize bridge swing.

“Do not come any closer, I’m warning you!!” Barsali declared with great determination and conviction.

SGC was not at range to see what was happening at the other end of the bridge, but the image became clear in his mind, even as a now familiar voice spoke to him.

"Stop them! They must not fight. You’re almost here. The Knight’s are on patrol and they can better guide you to the Mountain Citadel"

A sense of urgency was felt with those words. Not only was his breathing labored, but now once more his heart yet raced. The fact that the voice could also project images into his mind, made things worrisome. It made every step and every sight a question, but the voice was in not out, by necessity or choice? Perhaps touch was the only true sense that was his own.

To continue on would mean ignoring what fatigue he might be beginning to experience and defusing a possibly disastrous situation. In these parts, conflict, suspicion and misunderstanding were simply part of the course. A hard yet simple truth he had learned early on, not only from the Scientists and the soon followed Doom, but from surviving so long on his own as well. He pushed himself, faster forward physically. There was nothing else to do but race to the far side of the bridge and interpose himself between the beings he had seen and Barsali. He planned to yell stop, repeating in every language that he knew, even that which this world would call alien, but to be putting it bluntly, he was not sure if after he arrived it wouldn't just come out as clacking ragged breaths with outstretched arms as merely his mandibles vibrated together and his lungs demanded more air. Only time would tell, time and how long this bridge was.

Tag: @greyjedi125

 

Isaac Angakkuq IC:
~En Route, Maine~

As he moved along with Kim and Gami into the thicker bunches of trees that the Watcher had tilted her head toward, he raised his eyebrow at the sudden appearance of the bandanas.

But he took one all the same and put it on just as she motioned. A gray and white patterned one he noted idly before his focus was brought back to the Watcher.

"He's a metahuman known as Whorl and part of the enemy camp. He's weak to wind, just so you know. He's probably acting as an aerial marker and is likely not alone. We should keep moving and stay out of sight as much as possible. Stay alert. Our eyes and speed are our advantage."

So the potential insanity had already begun. Metahumans who could turn into clouds and drift after you. Well, that was nice…

<Don't be afraid.>

<I'm not.>

Firefly's bemused response, felt rather than heard as usual, clearly denoted the fact she didn't believe him. He wasn't afraid though, at least he didn't think he was. Worried, perhaps. But not afraid.

It's just…what have I got myself into?

<The cloud-man feels dark, like a hunter out of balance. The hound has lost track of his prey. Be careful.>

Lost in his brief thoughts, he hadn't noticed his spirit guide move to check on their pursuer. He nodded as if to himself.

<Ok. We'll be careful then…He's weak to wind you heard. Perhaps we could blow him away?>

<Cute.>

Even as he bantered mentally, he could feel his companions' determination as well as the person (thing?) behind them being confused, hungry and intent to find them again.

"I have a feeling we're in for a long trip."

Tag: Ktala greyjedi125

*****
Gemini IC:
~Port Authority Security Annex, Times Square, New York City~

The flight to mainland New York saw Shroud keeping his eyes closed and arms folded. There were no words from Brihk, so he responded in kind. It was still early, there was no need to rush.

The 'shroud' would fall all the same.

In short order, they arrived at the underground facility and processed once more. A fun, routine experience to be sure. From there they were lead to a security room, something SHIELD had a-plenty, and that was where they earned their first freedom. The removal of the inhibitor collars around their necks.

"No funny business now."

"**** you."

Still, while Brihk sighed in relief and caused a brief panic from the guards that he ignored entirely, he couldn't help but genuinely feel around at the missing collar himself. He hadn't worn it long in truth, but now he knew how terrible they were. Within a few minutes, "Shroud" had wanted nothing more than to take the damnable thing off and chuck it elsewhere.

"At Ease boys."

"Just let me outta here already…"

Cracking his neck audibly and opening one eye as he did so to look at the officer in charge of security detail, he added: "Make that 'let us outta here.' Preferably today."

"You two can take the elevator at the end of the hallway. It will lead you to street level. See you soon."

He let out a quiet laugh through his nose while the woman meta just countered with an expletive of her own.

"Yeah. Sure. Right," was all he said turning around and waving over his shoulder without looking.

Once inside, the ride was deceptively short. Felt much longer. Had to hand it to his organization, it certainly made the process want someone not want to get caught again. Hopefully it made them straighten out their ways.

…Sigh. If only that were true more often.

Seeing Brihk glance over at him, he returned the look with an raised eyebrow. Her smile was without joy, but there was definite relief to be out. He could tell, wasn't hard to see. He didn't return the smile, not exactly, but he softened his face for a half second and gave a small shrug in the silence.

Silent camaraderie. Something that had been proven to be stronger than words oft times.

When the doors opened, he followed behind the woman and copied her actions of shielding his eyes. After going through all that and then emerging into natural sunlight, it was natural.

"Finally!!"

"Damn bright," he muttered as he too took in the surrounding area. Also genuine on his part.

This was the moment in truth, that he really shut off Cameron Giles. He was Shroud now, completely. The Shroud of Gemini was in full effect.

"So," he started with a moderate pause to get her attention, "Where you headed?"

Tag: greyjedi125

 

Gami
~En Route to Roadside Market, Maine~

When Kim turned to reply to Gami's question, she was happy to see that the girl was smiling. “I would guess the market has it’s own security…” Kim began saying, as she answered. “There’s a clearing up ahead, which we are not taking. We will be going around it.” Gami nodded in agreement. Made sense to her. Kim continued. “They won’t get us, but no doubt they’ll try.” Gami nodded back, just as Isaac spoke up.

“Actually, before you go any further, I have a question for you two. Tell me, what direction should the clouds be moving right now?” Gami kept moving, but decided that it was a very strange question indeed. Something that would not be asked, if he didnt have a reason. Gami took Kim's queue, not looking at Isaac, but looking around as they moved. Kim quickly answered Isaac. “East.”

“Yes, exactly.” Isaac said confirming. “I think we’re being followed.” Followed? Now Gami knew better than to suddenly start looking around, but she started to pay much more care of their surrounds now. She knew things couldnt stay easy for long.

“There’s a cloud behind us…moving the wrong way. After us.”

Gami heard Kim curse under her breath. Isaac continued to speak, “Don’t look back just yet, it might catch on.” Kim nodded in agreement. Being followed by a cloud? Metahuman. Thats when Gami saw that Kim tilted her head, indicating a thicker grouping of trees that formed a sizable enough cover. Even as they reached, she quickly produced bandannas from one of her pockets and motioned for them to tie them around their face. Gami didnt waste any time. Obviously, Kim knew more about this than they did. So she quickly tied the bandanna around her face. Kim then began to explain more in detail.

“He’s a metahuman known as Whorl and part of the enemy camp. He’s weak to wind, just so you know. He’s probably acting as an aerial marker and is likely not alone. We should keep moving and stay out of sight as much as possible. Stay alert. Our eyes and speed are our advantage.”

Gami began to slowly start absorbing the energy around her. Nothing major, just the general sunlight around them. Just in case they needed it. But if there was someone else in the area, they needed to be careful. Gami gave a brief look over towards Isaac. How in the world had he noticed a cloud moving in the wrong direction? He certainly had sharp eyes. Or was it something else? Isaac then spoke up. "I have a feeling we're in for a long trip."

Gami smiled, giving him a wink. "I know you didnt think it would be that easy, did you?" Gami asked as she shugged her shoulders, picking up her steps just a little faster now." Gami was wondering about this person Kim called Whorl. If he's weak to wind, why the name? Whorl made her think like a twister or something. A circle. Something to think about at least. Acting as an aerial marker? That was weird. So, maybe the 'other' person Kim mentioned was the reason for the bandana's over the face? Oh wait. Maybe Kim had some of Mama Woodlin's 'sleeping' powder with her. After all, Mama was into non-violence. That would make sense, actually. While they were hidden, Gami took a peek in the direction that the others had been looking towards, just to see if she could see this strange cloud. She then thought about what Kim had stated earlier. That there was a clearing ahead, and that they would be going around it.

Gami spoke softly, so that only the three of them could hear, as they moved on. "Kim, you said that we were going around a clearing ahead. They know where we are going, and if they know that, most likely they know that we will take a path around the clearing. So, if he's got friends, that sounds like a good place for them to be waiting to spring a trap. Especially if they figure that we had not noticed them yet." Gami bit her lip, in thought, as she walked. "How long to reach the clearing do we have?" Gami shrugged her shoulders, as they walked, she clutched her walking stick tightly. Gami was trying to think of her own surprise to have ready, just in case, when they reached the clearing. By she was more into evading, than confrontation. "Any way we can sneak past?" she added softly. She knew what SHE might do, if alone. But was that an option for the others? She hoped that she didnt need to find out immediately.



TAG: greyjedi125, Darth_Elu

 

GP with Greyjedi125

Alastor's 'Apartment'
Triskelion

It wasn’t that he needed help moving what little he possessed to his temporary apartment in Traskelion’s south-west housing complex. Moira just figured Alastor could use a familiar face for the time being. Truth be told, despite seeming fine, not to mention that he was more than capable of taking care of himself, she did worry about him.

After all, she knew a fair deal of his history, especially regarding his time at the Xavier’s Institute- and later learned of his deep involvement in the fight against the Skrull Invasion. On top of that, Alastor had been presumed dead for quite sometime. Many memories flooded the scientist’s mind, including the fact that perhaps she’d never properly mourned him; hence, she also wished to know if she was okay, so there was that too.

“Well, the view is not too bad, at least you can see part of the harbor.” Moira declared, turning away from the window and casting her gaze at Alastor.

At least the place was specious, with all the amenities a one bedroom apartment could ever need.

“By the way, I’m taking you to Dugan’s for dinner and I won’t take no for an answer.” Moira intoned casually, then paused for the space of a heartbeat.

“Unless you’ve made other arrangements…” She added with a good natured smile.

"Since when have I ever refused food?" He replied, looking out the window, he did have something of a view of the harbor, which he could see clearly, down to a worker adding something to his coffee from a flask that was probably not regulation. Probably didn't expect to be seen by someone from this distance either. "The only issue that may arise is that of if Dugan's has the facilities now-a-days to deal with someone with a veracious appetite like mine." He turned to the good Doctor. "I know I'm not the only metahuman on campus but how many eat for three people as a light meal?"

"But that's neither here nor there." he continued. "Give me a few moments to take a quick shower and get into something that's a bit more presentable and I'll be ready." He grabbed one of the few bags he brought with him, clothes, and then a towel from another before closing himself off in the bathroom. It wasn't long before the sounds of running water were heard. "That said, even though I am not the only Metahuman about, should I wear my contacts? I know that 'glowing eyes' as it were can be a bit disconcerting to people, especially if some of them happen to learn I've just come back from the dead."

"I don't usually care about other peoples thoughts and opinions but I'd rather not cause any issues out the gate, especially since I can be quite Brusque. Plus your opinion matters." After a moment the water ceased and then shortly after Alastor emerged in a pair of dark dress slacks, and a black dress shirt that he'd just finished buttoning up. "Or you know I could say frack it and walk around straight up grumpypants and see how that goes for me."

Moira had taken to tidying and arranging a few things in Alastor’s ‘apartment’ while he took his shower. A small melancholy smile graced her face as she recalled images of times gone while he spoke. It all seemed like it happened a lifetime ago, instead of just a few years. So much had changed in the world and in their lives. As always, she hoped for the better, but it was getting harder to hope as time went on.

Moira turned as Alastor emerged and her eyebrows went up in pleasant surprise. Who could have imagined that ‘dour’ Alastor could transform himself into such a dashing figure. Moira smiled and nodded in approval.

“You look handsome and dashing all at once.” She said, smiling openly now. “And I’d like you to be and feel as comfortable as possible while you are here. If that means wearing contacts or anything else, let that be because you wish it. We are quite used to unique individuals by now.”

Unique individuals. That was a nice way to phrase it.

“Don’t worry about overtaxing the kitchen. I can guarantee you that you won’t, so eat to your hearts content. It’s on me.”

With that, Moira pick-up her clutch from a nearby table and moved closer to the door.

“Ready when you are.”


Alastor, normally, would have told the truth. Considering his true occupation being able to clean yourself up was a necessity. Instead he twisted the truth a bit. “All that old SHIELD training, sometimes you gotta wear a suit that’s more fashion than tactical.” Picking up his wallet, and a few EDC items he secured the key to his current living space and then held open the door for Moria. “Let’s not keep these lads at Dugan’s waiting, the busiest evening of their lives might very well be about to start.”

Tag: greyjedi125

 

Combo with Greyjedi125

IC: Zephyr Vaillancourt
Zephyr’s Sanctum, NYC


Casey had two separate searches running simultaneously on the living room computer.
The one with Ernesto’s Bodega rewarded her with a quick hit and a link. It was a bilingual page in both English and Spanish, detailing what standard items they carried, their location, phone number and even directions.

The map feature worked like a charm, indicating that she would have to travel to the east side of town, should she seek to visit the store.

Casey’s other search was for Metamin.

That one proved to be a bit more challenging.

Several links that looked official, turn out to read as ‘page not found’ or ‘Error 404’.

Wiki had no actual listing, nor any searched links to certified drugs, whether experimental, medical or medicinal in nature. Several youtube channels relating to ‘Metamin’ came up as ‘deleted’ as well.

One successful hit was found in the Urban Myths web page. It simply said: Pill or chemical concoction that gives super powers, taken orally or by injection..

There were many links and comments below, mostly negative ones. One such link lead to the M.A.P. webpage: Mutant And Proud, but that was debunked as being a page started by a metahuman hate group, who tricked unsuspecting young metahumans to ‘out’ themselves in order to force a registration, perpetrate violence upon them, or both. The official domain was taken down, but clever hackers could find ways to ghost-link to it.

Metamin was mentioned in a related discussion board briefly, as revealed by a screen-shotted post. Haters would give themselves powers to bait real metahumans, but the practice has since been abandoned. Most of the activity reportedly took place in the city’s lower east side- but it was also said that distribution had shifted completely away from hate groups and would likely continue with other interested parties.


Zephyr came to stand next to Casey so he could better see the computer screen. He initially smiled as the young lady took the initiative and quickly put the workstation to good use. However, as he started reading some of the results on “Metamin’ he became more focused, what he was reading didn’t bode well.

It was a safe guess that this ‘Metamin’ was a conflation of the words Metahuman and Vitamin, probably to make it sound hip and to obscure the idea of how potentially dangerous something like that could be.

Having abilities beyond the average human was so extremely difficult and complicated that it was largely considered a curse. Without education, guidance or support, it could prove fatal to the meta and anyone near said meta. The current climate of ignorance and intolerance was making life downright unbearable and dangerous for most metas, to the point of forcing the issue of regulation and compliance by way of laws that violated certain basic civil rights. So, why would anyone DO something like this, throw fuel on the fire?

The more Zephyr read the less he liked where his mind was going. Between the hate groups, the villains and the unsuspecting innocents, things could turn nightmarish. Blue was right, they needed more answers and it was necessary to get to the bottom of this.

A strong determination was growing inside of him, the sense that there may be people out there possibly suffering and in need of help due to this horrible drug prompted in him a feeling that getting involved was the right thing to do.

“ Blue, that kind of information will not be obtained easily or readily, especially accurate data….but I think I may have a good idea of where to start our inquiries…hopefully.”

Looking down at his high-tech phone watch, Zephyr activates the touch screen and keyboard and deftly types a message to his good friend Zack.

There was a good chance that some information about this Metamin could be found in the Baxter Foundation labs, some rumor, some word, some relevant info with a bit more accuracy than what the internet had to offer, after all, scientists dealt only with facts and things they could prove.

‘Hey Zack, something interesting came up (not beer), it’s too long to fit in a message, but I need a flavor on the fly? Get some fresh air first.’

Zephyr was confident that Zack would get the meaning and the urgency behind his terrible use of colloquialism, which in itself was always cause for alarm. It was best not to send anything too specific while Zack was inside the Baxter Building, especially in light of what he was about to request of his friend.

It wasn’t long before Zephyr received a response from Zack. ‘I’m at the ‘park’…’ the message read, which meant he was in a place where it was safe for them to speak.

The raven haired meta read the message and his heart jumped a little, he was feeling both excitement and a measure of precautionary angst. What they were planning to do was a little crazy ( surely law enforcement was aware and on the case ), but being a hero and a meta was crazy by default. He had to make sure not to involve Zack more than necessary, his friend’s safety was paramount, and most of all, he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize their friendship.

With a small sigh he called his best friend back.

“Hey Zack…” he spoke his greeting as per usual. “Sorry for interrupting you during work hours and thanks for calling back, glad you read into my message.”

“Listen, I need your help with some info. An acquaintance of one of my new friends may have come in contact with a substance that’s making its rounds on the streets. I think it’s being peddled recreationally, but as we both know those things are far from fun. I wanted to get some hard facts so I could help my friend present his case and possibly help in squelching the misconception that this thing isn’t anything but lethal. I’m talking about Metamin, have you heard anything about this?” Great curiosity could be heard in his voice as he asked.

“I know that this may be asking a lot, since for what I could find out this thing is pretty vile and I haven’t been able to find any reliable information, I’d like you to see what you can find out. Whatever data you can get will help, the usual what, where and if possible whom? Please don’t get into hot water, but anything you find out could potentially save lives. And…Zack, Thank you, because ‘We’re here to make a difference.”

This was their personal motto and oath, anytime they were about to do something ‘important’ they said their oath to encourage themselves to finish whatever it is that they had started.

“Oh..wow…” Zack said, before staying silent for a moment. That was a clear sign that he was thinking of what to say and how to say something of importance, given the fact he almost always answered rapidly.

“Yeah, I heard of it. Tell your ‘friend’s friend’ to stay away from that stuff. It’s a guaranteed ticket to the undertaker.” He said, his tone serious. It would be likely that Zephyr could visualize his friend pacing as he spoke.

“Zephyr, listen, that stuff is reportedly low grade, or tainted MGH, or some kind of derivative. It’s a controlled substance, so the authorities are involved, who knows, S.H.I.E.L.D. could be too for all I know. You won’t find any reliable links to Metamin and especially not to ‘Meta(human) Growth Hormone’ either. By the way, don’t repeat that. Whoever is peddling it, has to be well connected and dangerous. I can’t do anything stupid because I don’t have enough clearance or access, so don’t you either.”

Zack grew silent for a moment as he waited for his friend’s response.

“ S.H.I.E.L.D…” the word came out as a whisper, akin to the speaking of an ancient curse. Images of the their narrow escape from the NuSentinel played back in Zephyr’s mind. This couldn’t be a coincidence, it sounded like there was a larger agenda at work and perhaps some seriously villainous characters as well.

“That’s a little past serious, and we can’t do anything stupid…” He gave Casey a look of frustration as he said this.
“Thanks Zack, I’ll make sure to relay the fact that this stuff is deadly and even fatal. Let’s catch up later, Ok buddy, talk to you then.”

Zephyr ran his hand through his onyx hair in an attempt to order his thoughts, with a heavy sigh he fixed Casey with a serious look.

“We need to have a talk…all three of us. Blue…we all need to be on the same page, you know this right?”

The high tech intercom provided crystal clear communications, and Blue would have heard every single word. Zephyr could just imagine what was going through Blueline’s mind, and he was afraid that the Blue bandana hero was going to do something reckless.


TAG: greyjedi125, galactic-vagabond422

 

Liz Merrick & Mary Formal
Dugan’s Tavern, Triskelion, NYC

The ride to Dugan’s Tavern was lively with conversation and expectation. The ladies from E-Branch were in good spirits, as was their attentive limo driver. The pair made good time as the limo made it to the central square in the living district.

From the looks of it, Happy Hour at Dugan’s was nothing short of popular. A number of patrons stood outside, while others made their way in through the glass double doors. There was a palpable buzz and excitement in the air.

“Here we are ladies.” The driver announced, turning around with a smile on his face and resting his arm on the back of his chair.

From the passenger side, the door opened.

“Good evening Liz, Mary.” A familiar voice intoned.

“I’m so very glad you both could make it.”

It was agent Chesterfield, looking rather dapper in casual civilian wear, slacks, jacket and white shirt.

“Welcome to Dugan’s.”

Tag: @Sith-I-5

******************************************

Alastor Zingari & Moira Mc Taggert
Near Dugan’s Tavern

Dr. Mc Taggert parked her vehicle about a block away from the tavern, smiling at the convenience of reserved parking space.

“Having a bit of clearance goes a long way around here.” She observed with some humor as she exited her car.

“Did I already tell you how great you look?” The good doctor asked with a playful smile on her face, not really expecting an answer.

“Come on. It’s this way.”

Moira was relaxed and as close to happy as she’d been in a very long time. She walked, but there was no hurry in her steps. She simply wished to enjoy the evening air and Alastor’s good company. In a smooth motion, she took his arm and slid her own in his.

“It is good to see you.” She said aloud. No further explanation was needed for her good mood. Moira let the flashes of old memories play themselves out as she enjoyed a simple stroll with a friend.

At a distance, they could both see the gathered individuals in front of the tavern. Happy hour was called that for a good reason. They could even hear music playing as they neared.

“Hmm, a good thing I reserved a table for us.” She informed with a wink of her eye.

There was also a limo which stopped at the entrance, letting off its passengers. Such sights were was nothing out of the ordinary, just another night on Triskelion. Working for S.H.I.E.L.D. was undoubtedly challenging, but let it not be said that it didn’t have its perks.

“Let’s see about getting ourselves seated.”

Moira declared, just audible enough to be heard over the music.


Tag: @Kahn_Iceay

 

IC: Blueline & Casey
‘Sanctum Sanctorum’ & Ernesto's, NYC

Casey felt a little proud at finding the location of Ernesto's. The site was interesting, things were in English and Spanish. Given the name of the store it made sense that it would be bilingual, serving speakers of both languages. It was a bittersweet thought. People that speak two different languages aren't treated as different, they are catered to depending on their needs. Many Metas and Non-Metas spoke the same tongue yet they were being treated as something other. Where there going to be signs, 'Metas Welcomed Here' or worse, 'Metas Only' hanging outside of stores.

She shook her head casting aside these musings. Looking at the map, it looked to be on the east side of town, well, the city. She felt better knowing where Blue was, knowing she could get to him if it became necessary.

Next she looked over the links for her second search, Metamin. There wasn't a lot, it wasn't an actual drug. Not that anything with Meta in the name would sell well. Not in the current climate. It also seemed that any mention of it was missing pages not found, youtube videos deleted. It looked like someone didn't want anyone to know about it.

They did find something, on Urban Myths it was described as a pill or chemical concoction that gives super powers, taken orally or by injection. This made Casey's eye brows rise, anything that had to be injected was serious, not to be trifled with.

Usually she'd never look at the comments section, too much vitriol and idiots just mouthing off. However there could be some clue within them. It was a swamp to wade through but, they found some useful information, even if it was horrifying. Some people would take it to bait out real metas, to get them arrested, or worse.

What chilled her more was M.A.P. Mutant And Proud a sham of a site designed to trick unsuspecting Metas into revealing themselves, and sending the cops after them, or beating them up, often both. These people were just looking for answers, trying to figure out what they are. And whoever these people were they were hurting them.

It triggered something inside the girl, her fear. It wasn't like the immediate fight or flight response at the riot. This was more constant one, one that settled in and never left. She began to worry if these people were out there in the city somewhere, just waiting to hurt her, or…She looked to Zephyr and to the intercom.

Blue for his part was waiting patiently for something to be revealed to him. He wasn't used to this, waiting on others, even getting help from others. Well he'd fallen out of it he guessed. It'd been a year since he'd lost Zeke. Zeke was the guy that got him into this whole superhero thing. It was him usually giving him information. Not usually from the other end of a phone line though. Zeke was more a face-to-face guy. A deep sigh left his chest looking at the cuffs handing from his wrist.

The empty side was bloodied, a sign of what he had to go through to get his friend out of the cuffs. Well more to liberate himself from the literal dead weight of his friend. It wasn't pretty and he didn't want to relive what he did in that dark alley. He tried to focusing on the patter of Casey's fingers tapping on the keyboard. He wondered what was taking so long. It'd been quiet for a bit now, was it that hard to find? Was it a word of mouth sort of thing?

"Blue," Zephyr started, "that kind of information will be not be obtained easily or readily, especially accurate data….but I think I may have a good idea of where to start our inquiries…hopefully."

"Where would that be?" Blue asked hungry for more information.

Casey looked to raven haired meta seeing if it was alright for her to tell their friend on the other side of the line about the 'Meta baiting' that went on near the lower east side, near where Blue was. As he texted on his phone Casey decided to not to bring it up. Again there was more silence, Casey could hear Blue rocking back and forth whatever chair he found himself in.

"Hey Zack…" Zephyr said answering his phone "Sorry for interrupting you during work hours and thanks for calling back, glad you read into my message."

Blue sat up, calling in Zack, it must be serious. The hero was a little worried not wanting to get another involved in this. Though he was sure that Zephyr would be careful not to give too much away.

Casey also looked a little surprised getting someone else involved, it seemed a little dangerous, but he was knowledgeable. He could give them something more to go on than what they had.

Casey and Blue listened intently trying to pick up what was being said.

"That’s a little past serious, and we can’t do anything stupid…" The look of frustration on Zephyr's face said it all. This was bad and Blue couldn't help but get into the middle of it. "Thanks Zack, I’ll make sure to relay the fact that this stuff is deadly and even fatal. Let’s catch up later, Ok buddy, talk to you then."

He hung up and let out a heavy breath, looking at the teen girl with a serious expression.

"We need to have a talk…" The steely eyed meta started, "all three of us. Blue…we all need to be on the same page, you know this right?"

"There's not much to talk about." Blue replied now sitting bolt upright in the chair he'd borrowed. "I need to shut this down."

"It's not just you anymore Blue." Casey retorted, "We're here too, we can help."

"You're already helping. We have a place to start right, I'll poke around see what I can find out." He wasn't the best at investigating but, he was also pretty good at getting into trouble. "I can also ask the Morlocks for a little help."

"What?" Casey said, disbelief in her voice. "You'd go to them before us?"

"Look, they're just a resource we could use. They might know more, have more specific knowledge."

"They're also violent, you saw them at the riot." Though they helped save her, she still didn't agree with their methods. They went too far, she could understand stopping someone but, beating someone while they're down. That was too much.

"I did, they were protecting metas, in the only way they knew how." What the Morlocks did was no different than what he'd planned to do.

"Just because their ends were good doesn't make their means good too."

"Casey I'm just going to ask them a few questions. If this thing is dangerous, and killing people, I have to shut it down."

"We…Blue…We have to shut it down." Her voice was a mix of pain, and a little anger. Why did he keep thinking he had to do everything himself? "You're not alone in this anymore. We can help, let us."

Blue let out a breath, regretting having called. Yes he wasn't alone but, part of him just couldn't put them in the middle of this. Casey was nowhere near ready to face the trials of being a hero, if she even wanted to. Zephyr was maybe a little too eager, or maybe Blue was just being overprotective.

"You guys are being helpful, where you are."

"What happens when you're out there, and have no way to contact us, just let us come with you."

"No, if is as dangerous as we think, I’ll work better on my own. I can survive a lot and I’ll be easier if I don’t have to worry about the two of you."

Casey hung her head. She wanted to help, to stop being a burden but, Blue was also right, out there she could be a liability, she didn’t have a handle on her powers yet and could do great harm with them. However she just couldn’t shake this feeling, this need to put a stop to whatever was going on. Was this what her father felt? This need to protect others? Confused she looked to Zephyr hoping he had some idea of how to handle this.

TAG: Ameteth greyjedi125

 

IC: Zephyr Vaillancourt
Zephyr’s Sanctum, NYC


Things were getting serious now and Zephyr’s countenance was that of a man faced with near insurmountable obstacle.

He closed his eyes briefly as he listened to his teammates agree and disagree. They both had good points, but perhaps a middle ground was needed.

"It's not just you anymore Blue." Casey chided, "We're here too, we can help."

"You're already helping. We have a place to start right, I'll poke around see what I can find out."

“Not by yourself you won’t...” Zephyr said mentally and was about to speak his objection but stopped as Blue’s voice went on.

"I can also ask the Morlocks for a little help."
It sounded like Blue had already formulated a plan of sorts.

"What?" Casey said, disbelief in her voice. "You'd go to them before us?"

"Look, they're just a resource we could use. They might know more, have more specific knowledge."

“That’s actually a good idea…” Zephyr thought in agreement with a bit of admiration. Blue had good instincts but his insistence on going at it solo was a bit worrisome. This “Weight of the World rests on my Shoulders’ mentality wasn’t entirely helpful in a team based situation. Was this a drive born out of zeal? Or was it something else, lone wolf mania…guilt of some sort? This was something for another time.

While Blue and Casey exchanged about the Morlocks, Zephyr worked on preparing for what was next. He downloaded the map to Ernesto’s to his wrist device and a map of the Lower East Side and enabled the portable device access to his computer as a precaution. He also made a mental note to bring the second wrist device with him when he made his exit.

“Actually Blue, this may be more dangerous than we think and you are going to need back up for sure.”

“I believe with 100% certainty that the authorities are involved, at the very least in an investigative capacity, and there is a strong possibility of S.H.I.E.L.D presence. All this coupled with the fact that this stuff is being moved in an organized manner, means that there may be weapons involved on BOTH sides of the equation, therefore I’m coming with you.” The last part carried a tone of finality.

Anticipating Casey’s objection, he turns to the spirited young lady and looks into her eyes communicating his full trust in her.

“I need… WE need you to stay here for this one and man the comms. We’ll need someone to feed us information and keep and eye on things on this side of operations. You can be our remote Aegis by providing us with data that could make this a safe outing.”

With a softer voice he continues.
“Casey, I am not going to let Blue get hurt and you’re going to help me with that. You’ll also get to know how we are doing as we move along. You’ve trusted me this far, you can continue to do so, please.”

Returning to his more normal tone, he offers his teammates his opinion on the question of the metahuman gang.
“As for the Morlocks, they may be violent, but I don’t think that they are malicious so I’ll start with that but still remain objective.”


Having said that, Zephyr begins his countdown to readiness, but first he moves to the kitchen and picks up his melting bowl of ice cream and gives it a longing look before putting it back in the freezer.

“I could get to you in about ten minutes or you can tell me where to meet you. It’s about time Blueline started working with his allies…it’s good for your rep dude.”

Zephyr was momentarily glad that his back was to Casey and she didn’t get to see him wink comically at the blank intercom screen with his attempt at levity. That feeling vanished quickly as he readied his mind to join Blue and lend any assistance in what would sure be a dangerous task. This is what he wanted to do, to join the rank of thankless heroes who labored to ease the ills of a beleaguered world. That is what Psion was born to do.



TAG: greyjedi125, galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: Blueline & Casey
‘Sanctum Sanctorum’& Ernesto's, NYC

"Actually Blue, this may be more dangerous than we think and you are going to need back up for sure." Casey's eyes brighten, finally someone agrees. Her heart jumps slightly at the thought of heading out but, not necessarily in a good way. She begins to question slightly, is this what she wants, to be a hero? She can feel something inside her that wants to help but, just as strongly she feels a need to curl up and hide, to not admit that she has these powers, much less use them. However the thought ran through her mind, what if Blue never came back?

What if her protector, the man that she'd leaned on for these past few days, didn't return from this mission? Who would protect her then? If she could use her powers to protect the things she cared about part of her felt that she should do it. But that's the rub, could she use her powers, could she control the fear that consumes her mind, that turns her into a monster that can't tell friend from foe. As much as she wants to protect, she feels as though she could still harm him when she's in that state. Waves upon waves of uncertainty crash over her. Should she risk it, and put the lives of others and more importantly, her friend in danger, because of her, or should she just remain, letting him walk into danger with no one around to help him.

Who saves the savior?

"I believe with 100% certainty that the authorities are involved," Zephyr spoke again, drawing Casey's attention, "at the very least in an investigative capacity, and there is a strong possibility of S.H.I.E.L.D presence." She shivered at the mention of the agency assigned to round up all unregistered metas. She did not want a run in with them, but just as strongly she didn't want Blue to run into them either. "All this coupled with the fact that this stuff is being moved in an organized manner, means that there may be weapons involved on BOTH sides of the equation, therefore I’m coming with you." She nodded her head agreeing with his firm tone, they…no he didn't say that, he said 'I'm' not 'we're'.

She turned mouth turned up in a cross between a sarcastic smile and a scowl. Again people took away her choice, part of her was angry. She should be able to make her own decisions, without anyone else interfering. However she couldn't fight the growing relaxation she felt creeping across her. She had permission to be a coward, to hide from the world. She now had an excuse for not doing what part of her felt she should. Why did this all have to be so complicated? Why couldn't she just feel one thing? Why did she have to hold two opposed wants within her?

"I need… WE need you to stay here for this one and man the comms. We’ll need someone to feed us information and keep an eye on things on this side of operations. You can be our remote Aegis by providing us with data that could make this a safe outing."

Hearing this Blue cocked his head. While he did agree that Casey should stay behind he also thought that Zephyr should stay back as well. Yes the man had powers but, that doesn't make you a hero, a lot more goes into it. Actually now that he thinks about it, there's not that much, just a desire to help others and a determination not to give up, ever. No matter what obstacles are thrown in your way not matter how much you suffer, you continue the fight. The bandanna clad hero had been through much, more than most and he hadn't come out unscathed.

It was a lonely tortured existence for him. Part of him, deep down, didn't want anyone else to follow that path he has, a path that took away his friend, that ended every day with him sleeping in a homeless shelter, and getting his only meal from a soup kitchen. This was not a calling for the faint of heart, it wasn't even one for the strong. It took a special person, to do this. One who could take the pain and misery and just keep moving forward. That could go out day after day and help others no matter the consequences to them, just so long as others were safe.

Zephyr was signing up to be put upon a pyre, to be sacrificed. After Zeke died, Blue had nothing and no one. His mission took on all new meaning. All he had left was protecting others, using his empty life as a shield for others. In the vast scheme of things, he didn't matter, he had no family to morn him when he past, and had no true friends to remember him when he fell. All he had were the good works he could do, until one day someone finally found a way to end him…permanently. It was not a fate he enjoyed but, one he accepted.

Zephyr didn't have the luxury of being an orphan, at least, Blue didn't think so. He also did not have the freedom that comes with having no responsibilities to your friends. The dark haired man would leave wreckage in his wake, an emptiness in other when he falls. How would Zack feel know that his best friend was gone, getting involved in some foolhardy crusade. Dear god, what of the man's parents, how would they feel to see their darling boy ripped from them. He looked to the picture that looked right at him. That seemed to stare into his soul.

Lourdes, the smiling daughter, the center of Ernesto's life, if she'd had perished that night. What would have happened to him. That was why Blue did this, to prevent more pain, to ease the suffering in this world. Mostly by taking it on himself, by accepting the world's pain, its anger and just absorbing it all. He can take it, his tough, tougher than any would give him credit for. He knew that one death would causes more pain than the loss of that life, the family grieves, friends are left in agony, it sends ripples of anguish across a community.

"I could get to you in about ten minutes or you can tell me where to meet you. It’s about time Blueline started working with his allies…it’s good for your rep dude."

This was maybe the first time Casey didn't find Zephyr saying Dude, humorous. She was being relegated to the sidelines and the tension in the room was at an all-time high. She was still waiting for Blue's reply. She might not have fully agreed with Zephyr going with the hero but, it was better than Blue going at this alone.

"Listen, Zephyr," said blue wearing teen started, "I know you want to help, I know you want to do some good in the world but, this isn't the way you should do it. You're a smart guy with, smart friends, friends that will miss you should something happen. Me…I'm…"

"GOD #^&@ING DAMNIT Blue" Casey shouted, something flicked inside her, triggering a wave of anger, pain, and other emotions, so much so that it overwhelmed her filter. "You're not alone, You'll leave people behind, you'll leave me." her voice had come down from the initial shock and pain, falling into a low anguished tone

"Casey, it's…"

"Have you already forgotten your promise to me? You said that we'd figure out what was going on together…If you die…" she closed her eyes, one tear falling down her face. "You'll be breaking that promise to me."

Her words pass over the phone line and straight through Blue's heart. Her suffering was so clear to him, she felt close to him. Though he might not feel the same, he couldn't just disregard hers, or forget about his promise. He let out a deep breath, letting her words and emotion soak in. He'd become so attached to the idea that he didn't matter, he didn't even realize that others had come to care about him. He thought back to the scared girl he met, just a few days ago.

He made a promise to her, he held her hand and looked into her eyes. He gave his word, and if there is one thing a hero shouldn't do is go against his word given to a person he saved.

"You already know where I am." He said leaning back in his chair, "Meet me out front of Ernesto's." He started getting up, preparing to head out once more. "And remember Zephyr, the moment things get to much, we head back, alright." He hung up and made his way outside the shop, giving a wave to Ernesto on his way out. He leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, trying not to look like a shifty loiterer while he waited for Zephyr to appear.

TAG: Ameteth greyjedi125

 

OOC: Something short to get them established inside for more potential interactions

IC: Alastor
Dugan’s Tavern

“Keep talking like that Doctor and I might think you’re getting ideas.” Alastor put his hands behind his back and walked beside Moria as they made their way towards the tavern. The crowds were not unexpected, though that didn’t exactly make him feel thrilled about them. Large groups had never been something Alastor was fond of, not that Moria would know, he was after all, an expert liar.

The groups gathered didn’t seem to be waiting so much as they were simply gathered to talk, probably having finished their rounds for the night and just chewing the fat before heading off to parts unknown. So there wasn’t much of a wait for the two of them as they entered and Alastor was welcomed with a surprisingly authentic looking pub like experience.

“Colour me impressed.” He commented as a member of the waist staff ushered them off to a table near the back and left them with menus for them to make their choices. “So, You’ve eaten here before. What do you recommend? Keep in mind I’ll be eating several of it more than likely whatever it is.


Tag: greyjedi125

 

OOC: Combo post with greyjedi125 and galactic-vagabond422


IC: Zephyr Vaillancourt
Ernesto’s Bodega, Lower East Side NYC


Outside Ernesto's

A consensus had been reached. Blue, who was used to working alone in his personal crusade, had finally agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly, to accept assistance this time. Truth-be-told, the stakes and the dangers were higher, but that was not the reason why he had agreed. Danger was never a deterrent for the unsung hero.

As he waited, Blue could observe the small things happening around him. He could see how precious a sense of community could be. People needed people. This was the way things were meant to be, and something worth protecting.

The travel cross-town was not long, not for those familiar with the city, such as Blue or Zephyr.
Before he knew it, the raven-haired meta was already approaching as he crossed the street.

As he neared the meeting point, Zephyr mentally went over his preparations again, just to make sure that he hadn’t overlooked anything.

He had shown Casey which programs and applications to run to connect with the ‘wrist-coms’, the Find Me and Track Me apps were going to be the most useful for that purpose. He hoped that his reassuring words had been somewhat effective, that each one had to play a part in this mission, and both passive and active roles were important.
His hand reflexively gripped the second wrist-com he brought for Blueline to keep, but he still felt somewhat underprepared, he was glad however, that he got to place an order for the third wrist-com for Casey. The idea of an equipment list for the team was most encouraging.

The special suit he wore was non-reflective black and sufficiently non-descript; Zephyr hoped to somewhat disguise it with the frumpy black hoody he wore over it, making him look more ‘Goth’ than anything else. His pace was steady and he wondered if he would be easily recognizable with his hair unkempt and a hood drawn about his face.

Spotting Blueline at the appointed place, the young meta casually walked over and made eye-contact before greeting his teammate.

“Hey Blue, thank you for agreeing to meet up…” his tone normal but serious.

“Where can we go to talk, I’ll tell you the rest of what I know and you can fill me in on your plan.”

Leaning against the wall Blue let out a breath, still running Casey's words over in his mind. She'd yelled at him, again. It didn't feel good for her to chastise him, it stung him, in his heart, a place that held so many scars it could sometimes feel numb. He also knew that for her to curse, he must have crossed a mighty big line.

Looking about he saw more people milling about, alone, in pairs, or larger groups. Even when a person was walking by themselves, they weren't alone. More than once he'd seen the groups wave at each other, a sign of recognition. This place, they were all connected, they knew each other, if only by face and name. Even with all the danger that Blue saw every day, they were cheerful. Was it because they were together, banded against the darkness? They looked out for one another, just as much as Blue looked out for them. The question was, who watched over him? The lonely hero that everything he touched turned to dust.

Well, he guessed the man approaching him now did. The dark hair meta looked a little out of place in a slightly oversized hoodie with the hood up. The hero shook his head.

"Yeah, um…follow me." As they entered Blue walked up to Julio still behind the counter. "Julio," Blue whispered, "tell Ernesto I need to borrow his office for just a little bit longer, ok." He felt more than a little awkward taking over the back office of the establishment. That he was taking advantage of Ernesto's generosity. He guided his…partner back into the office. "Ernesto's casa es tu casa, at least for a little bit." He said gesturing to the desk covered with papers. He waited for Zephyr to get a little settled while he closed the door, hoping that he wasn't making himself bother.

"Well first thing," he took the tattered bandanna from his pocket, accidentally pulling the water bottle from the same place. The gift from the shop owner fell to the ground with a heavy thud. A heavy sigh left his chest, that would have to wait. With practiced movements he swapped his face coverings, always careful not to ever reveal his full face to the other man. He held out the undamaged cloth to Zephyr. "Take it, first rule always hide your face." He would hold it out until Zephyr accepted it or showed how he planned to hide his identity.

"Ok, well," he started sitting down, "My 'plan' if you can call it that, is to talk with the Morlocks, see what they know, and go from there. If they need something from us first, we do that, and hope for the best." It was simple straight forward, just like him. "What other information do you have?"

Zephyr remained standing and surveyed the room while he listened to what Blue had to say. The place had an Old World charm to it, with all the real paper publications and cluttered bric-a-brac, he wondered how many secrets meetings could have taken place in a back room like this.

He took notice of the bottle of water that fell from Blue’s pocket as he pulled another bandana from it.

"Take it, first rule always hide your face."

Zephyr looked at the proffered item and gave a little smile.

“Thank you, but let’s save that for an emergency.” The raven-haired hero responded as he pulled down the hood and concealed his face and head completely with a full mask and cowl that came with his suit. The mask also covered his eyes with a slim visor that was also black and non-reflective, some small buttons were visible, suggesting some additional functions.

With practiced ease Zephyr removed his face covering and regarded his more experienced teammate as he produced a few items of his own.
“Please take these.” He handed over the wrist-com and a set of black gloves.
“The wrist-com is already programmed, easy to use, I can walk you through as we go. The gloves are your size, they are poly-fiber and waterproof; I don’t think we want to leave fingerprints everywhere now.”
Zephyr would show his own pair of gloves, which matched his suit and where obviously different.

“In light of what we are about to do, we will need the wrist-coms in case we get separated.” He added, hoping that a bit of common sense would stave off any objections.

With a heavy sigh he’d continue his report.
“This thing that is being peddled is highly dangerous and fatal. It is a form of MGH, and it’s either low grade, tainted or mixed in with something. MGH is a controlled substance, which means that possession without a prescription is against the law. Which means that the authorities are indeed involved already. Which suggests that whoever is stealing it is aware that it is not recreational or addictive, and therefore not financially profitable...which suggests that there is something else going on, and for sure it is a more sinister and evil plan…”

The would-be-hero lets a moment pass to let the information sink in and also to cool down the rising anger.

“Someone is making more metas, ruining lives and agitating an already dangerous situation. I agree that we need to help in stopping this plan…this agenda.” His tone was serious and full of both determination and disgust.

“And I agree that going to the Morlocks is a good start, but we must be careful. Casey is right; we should consult each other first. Not because we have all the answers, but rather for the different perspectives.”

Zephyr had come to appreciate Casey’s point of views whenever she spoke up about something, even when objections were presented her arguments seemed to help clarify points of contention.

“Listen, you are the veteran hero here, you have experience and I’m willing to follow your lead, but I also know that you can be more reckless than me. So if we work together, we can go back home in one piece without ending up having to look over our shoulders or jumping at shadows. Which reminds me; once the masks are on, use my code name, it may feel weird at first, but it’s part of rule number one right?” A wry smile would escape him before disappearing underneath the hood as the young meta shrouded his face once more.


“I’m ready when you are if you know where to go…and, if your going to leave that bottle there…” He motioned at the water bottle where it laid “Make sure you wipe your prints from it, can’t be too careful.”


Blue turned his head watching the mask on Zephyr's hoodie come down over his face. It completely shrouded it in blackness, blocking out even his steely blue eyes. The young hero felt a little, strange. The man in front of him had technology he didn't even know existed, and there he was offering a simple piece of cloth. He didn't feel as though he was inadequate, that somehow the resources of his new ally made him better.

It was just so foreign to him. Throughout his life he'd never encountered anything more complicated than a cellphone. Now he had one on his wrist. It felt weird, the weight on his right wrist, in front of the handcuffs that lived there. The gloves too, while comfortable it was strange, he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

He listened quietly as Zephyr explained what exactly they were dealing with. MGH, he did not go into what exactly that collection of words meant but, it was clear that it was dangerous. Blue also noted something, a subtle anger that was rising in his voice as he spoke. Zephyr had always shown himself to be a very composed, and calm man. This was getting under his skin. Blue wanted to end this too, people were getting hurt, it was his place to stop it. Zephyr on the other hand, it seemed to come from a different place, a place of disgust.

Blue began to worry a bit, as his raven-haired companion continued. He made mention of Casey, and her being right. Blue never said she was wrong; he just didn't have many options open to him. Maybe he should consider her point of view a little more at times. This was all still so new to him, working with others, letting another person carry a piece of his burden. I'd been too long since he had someone behind him that cared, that wanted to see him safe.

He had a chuckle at being called a 'veteran' hero, such a high term for just going out and doing your best. A worried look crossed his features…Home, that was something he hadn't had in a long time. The worry was that every home he did have was ripped away from him…would this one be as well.

"Uh…" he started, "Well let's get going, Z…Psion" that would take some getting used to. He bent down picking up the water bottle stuffing it back into his sweater. He didn't want Ernesto hunting him down because he left the gift given to him. It also brought up the fact that Blue had always been concerned with hiding his face, more than wiping away his finger prints, much less the untold amount of blood he's left staining every dark alley within walking distance of here. "Yeah, right." A bit of doubt entered him. Did someone already know, know who he really was, knew about the crime he'd committed, the brutal murder of a brutal man. What would happen if Zephyr found out about Blue's past…not Blue, the other person, that boy that was just figuring out his powers.

The blue clad hero coughed throwing those thoughts away. They would do him no good. He reminded himself, this wasn't about him. It was about the people out there in the world that were being hurt, and he was the one to stop it.

"My friend says the Morlocks are on the west side," he explained heading towards the door, "where exactly, I got no clue. So, we'll head over there and see if we can find them." He rolled his eyes a little. "I know it's not the smartest plan but, it's what I have." He held up his right wrist, the one with the cuffs and the com. "Casey on the other end of this thing?" He asked. While he waited for a reply he continued on his way, heading towards what he hoped were the first steps to saving a few lives, saving them from this 'Bad Medicine'.

Zephyr gave a little smile at the mention of his codename, he was getting closer to officially becoming a hero, but such a pleasantry was minor compared to greater job at hand.

He nodded in agreement after Blueline outlined his plan. Simple and to the point, it was the best course of action at the moment. If they were to scour the west side, they would need maps to facilitate that endeavor.

"Casey on the other end of this thing?" Blue asked as he held up his right wrist, the cuffs dangling from it. The sight of the manacles always made him sad for some reason and he wondered briefly if a time would come when the two of them could talk about the history behind the obvious memento.

“Yes, she is. In fact you can connect with the Home base computer with this button here.” Zephyr demonstrated with his own communicator.
“If you hold this other button, you can enter speaker mode, double tap the speaker icon on the screen to cancel.”
“These come with an earbud accessory for greater convenience, but we’ll have to go without them today.”

“Why don’t you give it a try, you can ask Aegis to get some maps of the west side and also to search social places that have an ‘all welcome’ door policy, like pool halls or bars, I think we may need to pass by some of those.”

Zephyr took a deep breath to center himself and regain his focus. He pushed away the nervousness that threatened to take residence in the pit of his stomach; the reality that they were headed into danger was finally materializing. He had trained ridiculously hard and practiced beyond endurance just to get to this point in time. He had to be Psion now, a hero who was undaunted. This wasn’t a matter of creating a separate persona, at least he didn’t think so, he just had to bring about the qualities in himself that would get the job done.

This was the ‘make or break’ test and he had every intention of making it, in every sense of the word.

TAG: greyjedi125, galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: SGCs 28.57^3 & Grejedi125 Combo!
Approaching Mt Wondergore

By the time SGC got to place himself between the two hostile groups,Harman had already joined Barsali and the fatigued blind man, Erasmus. The your tracker waved his torch and blade defensively, just as Barsali did the same with his own bladed weapon.

SGC, though out of breath, stood his ground, as he made himself a protective obstacle for his human companions.

The two felines before him also stood their ground, their pointed spears leveled at him. Behind them, the Tauran and the Lupine stood, gauging the scene.

“Who are you!? What is your business here?” The man-wolf demanded in a half-snarl.

SGC lungs heaved as he listened to the words being spoken to him. He had made it in time, but he wasn't exactly in the best situation to be speaking. Luckily the other's that were deformed were, and they let him know which language to use. Very kind of them, also very kind of them not to spear his guts.

"I - I am S.G.C. to my friends. Knights, we are not your enemies, we are friends and they." he stated with a pause to catch a little more breath as well as wave at his friend and the gypsies. "They came to show me the way to Wondergore mountain. I seek aid that I might live a normal life.
There was a palpable pause in the air, as SGC stood between his friends and the armored mutates.

The wolf narrowed his yellow eyes and made a quick motion with his fist.

The two felines raised their weapons, no longer pointing them at SGC, but still held in a defensive stance.

“Knights?” He echoed, cautiously, yet curiously.

“I am Garou. You know of us? Explain yourself and do it quickly. I warn you, this had better not be another trick.”


The Knights stood their ground, though they too seemed weary of the fog, yet, they were not to so easily convinced. Even through their hardened expressions, they regarded SGC with cautious curiosity; however, their eyes glinted with distrust at his human companions.


SGC slowly was getting his breathing back under control, what he would give for a nice meal and a nap right about now though. "Know of you in merely as others have told me. You are the Knights on patrol, I was told you could better guide us to the Mountain Citadel. We have been fighting our way here through the re-animated corpses, burning them behind us as we go." The fact that they had been responsible about the dead hopefully would be a good mark for them.

Looking at them he felt he had little to do but share what he had only part prior. Truly the truth was the best policy, but still it was yet another truth he had not spoken to others about in a long, long time. "I was a child, badly mutated. The lab who raised me tried to 'cure' me, but I changed into this instead. Those that tried to help me are no more, not after Doom came, and having escaped until this year I lived alone. Please understand, these my amic and gypsy guides merely want to help me and come here that the one you guard might help me."

The patrolling Knights listened, but could not help but react at the mention of 'Doom'. It was plain in their eyes, that the dead-Monarch's name carried much displeasure with them. After SGC had finished speaking, the Knights were quiet for a moment. They looked to each other, exchanging subtle gestures. Clearly they shared some non-verbal language.

Barsali in the meantime signaled to Harman, asking him to help him with the blind man, who only seemed to get heavier with each passing moment.

The Man-wolf spoke again, still addressing himself to SGC.

"If you are a victim of Doom..." he said, half flinching at having to say that name. Garou licked his chops as if trying to clear his mouth from a bitter taste. "We will assist you as best we can."

With decisive movements, he turned to face the two felines. "Bastis, Ferlynx, escort our guests to the Citadel. See that they are received, then return to patrolling."

The two felines nodded respectfully, then moved graciously to take their places. One in front to guide, while the other took to the rear.

"Thank you." Barsali said to the Man-wolf before moving forward.

"Don't thank me human."Garou responded, his eyes slightly narrowed. "Thank the Evo who vouches for you. Betray that trust..."

"We won't. I swear." The gypsy ranger interjected.

"We shall see..." Garou intoned, then nodded. "Go now."

With that, the small group managed to make it pass the check point at the bridge and commence their ascent to the Citadel proper.

TAG: greyjedi125

 

OOC: Combo post with our Illustrious GM!

Gemini & Brihk IC:
~En Route, New York City~

"So," the man who called himself Shroud started, with a moderate pause to get his companion's attention, "Where you headed?" He asked.

Brihk simply gave him a knowing smile and started walking towards Time Square and Broadway, which was only two avenues across. He could follow if he really wanted to know, or not. But somehow, she suspected he might.

"So, tell me, how'd you end up at the 'Fishing resort'?" She asked with mild curiosity, referring to 'The Raft' by one of its more popular street names.

Initially, the woman just smiled at him knowingly and walked off. He couldn't help but give a wry one of his own, a small laugh like sound coming through his nose. Damn woman intuition.

Pocketing his hands and following after her, it wasn't long when she rewarded him with a question. One that was anticipated to appear at some point or another, might as well get going on that answer now.

"Ha. A fishing resort, all right," he began with a dry single bark of laughter, "Lets just say I was unfortunate to be their test subject for those new robot things they've been showing off. Said I was the first capture with one."

'Shroud' shook his head, giving her a side glance as he moved beside her casually, "Had been giving them hell for a long time before that too. What about you?"

As he eyed her with a curious expression, he made careful note of how she talked and moved, comparing them to the little interaction they'd had already. Locating any early mannerisms and quirks on display. He would need every bit of perceptive observation regarding her to have an advantage with all future conversations moving forward.

Shroud was a man with a keen mind, suited for his role.

He would observe the woman’s eyes and the nuances in her facial expression. The tale was all there for him to see, at least for those with sufficient acumen to decipher such things.

“Test subject?” she said with some surprise. “…and they let you out?”

Brihk shook her head, a half smirk now gracing her features.

“And here I thought beating-up some anti-meta protestors was something to write home about…” she said, half joking.

By now, the pair had reached the Time Square station hub. “Follow my lead.” She told him, all business now.

Brick waited until a gaggle of tourist and locals crowded the entrance and turnstiles leading to the train. A quick tap on the shoulder signaled Shroud that they were on. Brihk moved quickly as she now jumped the turnstile with practiced grace. She did not look back, quickly taking the stair and pushing her way through.

“Pay your FARE!” The lady at the booth yelled into the loud-speaker.

If there were transit police around, they were not immediately available.

Brick continued to move quickly through the crowd as she now made it down the stairs and turned left, towards the shuttle train. That’s were the junction with the west side trains was located.

It was a No Entry Zone.

It was also an area frequented by track workers and seldom locked during day time. which led to the tracks and train tunnels.

Brihk never slowed as she slipped behind the unlocked gate and out of sight, dropping into obscurity.


In the distance, the rumbling of an incoming train could be heard.

He only smirked and shrugged as Brihk seemed to get the wrong idea of his statement, taking his expression as a bit more literal than intended. But there was no urgency to correct her just yet, that would be something easily explainable.

"What can I say, I'm a special guy," was all he replied with a light tone.

As they approached the station hub, he nodded to her and remained quietly following her wherever she would lead him. That was the objective after all. As she ignored those around her and jumped the turnstiles without a care, he did the same and didn't look back as if he didn't care at all. As Shroud, he didn't.

His eyes briefly looked about and didn't notice any transit police around so he refocused on following his current companion. Soon enough they were in a No Entry Zone. Yep. That was about expected.

As she disappeared into the realm beyond the gate, he paused only briefly to glance down toward the direction of the train. For the faint second he let his thoughts gather and then turning back to the gate, he slipped in after the woman before being seen.

Once beyond he immediately did his best to relocate her quickly, not that she would have gotten far in the span of those few seconds.

Shroud’s eyes adjusted to the the now dimly lit surroundings, after descending from the platform. They were just one level beneath the city, yet he could see nothing but obscured tracks and tunnels for as far as he could see in either direction. This realm of steel and darkness certainly had its own perils and unseen dangers, some mechanical, others human, and others unknown.This was no place for the faint at heart.

Brihk had been standing only a few paces away from him,gauging the man, an amused smirk etched on her face. She seemed a lot more relaxed here, at home.

“Still with me? Good.” She said, somewhat amused. “Keep up with me, follow my instructions, and you might yet get to meet a few of my friends.”

The female metahuman’s grin widened for a moment, before she turned, then started down a set of darkened tracks leading down a southbound tunnel.

Taking just a moment or two to let his eyes adjust, Shroud took in his surroundings. Visually, all he could see was a bunch of obscured tracks and tunnels in all directions. The darkness of the area permeating everything as well. He knew full well some of the dangers present here, both the logically obvious and some from job information. But he would not allow himself to believe he knew all, so he'd have to tread lightly.

Brihk meanwhile was noticeably more composed and placid here. With good reason, it was her home. Her sanctuary.

He gave her a little smirk of his own, putting up a face of bravado. "Not gonna lose me that easily. Lead the way. I look forward to seeing these friends of yours if they're anything like you."

Like that, he quietly kept up a comfortable pace a few paces behind her, starting down the southbound tunnel.

Tag: No One other than GM greyjedi125

 

OOC: Apologies for the double post, but now the combo between myself, the GM, and Ktala is concluded as well!

Isaac Angakkuq, Gami, & Kim IC:
~Off the Beaten Path, Maine~

Kim listened intently at what Gami had to say. The watcher had to admit, the young girl was really smart, in the way that really counted. She did;t say it then, but she could see why Mama Woodlin had chosen her for the mission, and for that, she was very glad.

Kim's expression grew serious for a moment as she stopped briefly under a particularly large tree with low and leafy branches. With a smooth and graceful motion, the watcher unsheathed her blade; in two blinks, she swung her weapon with surprising deftness. Two leafy branches fell to the floor.

"Ok, here's the plan." Kim began, as he slipped the package off her, her words coming out a bit muffled through the bandana she wore.

"Isaac, take this." she said firmly, handing him the package and motioning that he should sling it over immediately.

"I'll go spring the trap by the clearing. You two use the branches to swat away any sinister looking puffs of smoke or what have you. Stay together. cover each other. Got it?"

Kim's expression was serious, clearly she was trying to protect them both and the package. It was a good enough gambit, but certainly one that would test them as a group.

Gami was quiet as Kim seemed to think for a moment, her expression telling quite a bit. The girl then pulled out her blade, and with a swift motion, sliced two leafy branches hit the ground. Wow, the girl was quick! As Gami picked up the branches, handing one to Isaac, Kim spoke up. "Ok, here's the plan." Kim began, as he slipped the package off her. "Isaac, take this." she said firmly, handing him the package and motioning that he should sling it over immediately.

"I'll go spring the trap by the clearing. You two use the branches to swat away any sinister looking puffs of smoke or what have you. Stay together. cover each other. Got it?" Gami bit her lip as she looked at the branch in her hand. If Gami was alone, she could figure out how to simply get past the group. She looked up at the trees around them. She rather go up and over. But that might not be an option for everyone. Gami nodded, hoping that maybe Isaac had a better plan, or something to add to it. She made a face, thought it was hard to tell with the bandanna over it. "When we get closer, perhaps we can climb the trees, and take a peek to see if we can see anything?" she added softly, as as she shrugged her shoulders.

Taking his bandanna and settling it upon his face, though not exactly a fan of the style, Isaac listened to the two women quietly plan out the response to the situation. When prompted to take the package, he did so and slung it over as motioned for.

The man appreciated the quickness in which Kim clearly moved and handed them the branches. Her words worried him however and it seemed Gami also had some concerns.

"Are you sure springing the trap is wisest? That sounds overly dangerous…though climbing the trees may not be good either. Doing so would cause a lot of noise between three people…"

His voice, like theirs, was muffled by the bandanna as he spoke, but he currently offered no other form of advice. Honestly, he wasn't sure what they should do.

<Firefly. Can you watch Whorl and I'll use that power again I guess to stretch out for any ambushers. Maybe I can pinpoint through their emotions.>

<An idea. But be careful.>

<You too.>

"I'll try to see if I can figure out where any ambushers are before you spring the trap incase that helps give us better options. When we get just a little closer, give me just one quick moment to try to think. All I ask."

His hand tightened involuntarily on his branch while he waited for their responses. The man didn't like this whole mess one bit.

Kim made a face.

It was true that climbing trees would likely draw unwanted attention, so naturally, she could easily agree that doing so would not be wise. Mobility, she believed, was still their best ally.

“The clearing is several yards to our left…” Kim murmured, as she looked all around now, for anything suspicious. Her blade was still in her hand.

Isaac’s words however, sharply drew her attention.

I'll try to see if I can figure out where any ambushers are before you spring the trap incase that helps give us better options.

Kim tilted her head quizzically, her eyes looking intently at the young man. It was then she recalled a few words Mama Woodlin had shared with her.

The watcher nodded her understanding. “Alright. It’s the least I can do.” she said, agreeing. “We work as a team.” Her steady gaze fell on Gami, then Isaac, and finally, she smiled at them both, despite the bandana.

Above the trio, unseen by natural eyes, Firefly darted, to and fro. She herself did posses the means to see the world in a special way and feel things around her.

<Oh…!> she exclaimed, her diminutive eyes catching sight of the independently moving cloud. Not unlike a hunting mist. It was moving around in circular motions, and descending as it did so.

<The bad cloud is circling, moving closer, still hunting. It’s not seen you yet.> Firefly reported.

<Ohh!!> She yelped, her tiny voice sounding surprised an a bit alarmed. Immediately, she flew towards what she felt and suddenly halted.

< A tracker-stalker!>

Firefly flew back, speaking to Isaac as she did so.

<He wears a minor fetish around his neck! He approaches from…..>

Isaac would be able to feel Whorl’s still unseen partner, moving steadily some distance behind them. He felt like a hunter too. He was tentative, but quickly growing in confidence.

From Firefly, momentary silence filled the space of several heartbeats.

Firefly’s gaze remained firmly on Isaac.

<Inuksuk….> she started.

< We’d better make it to the Roadside Market.>

The chilling feeling the minute guide was experiencing was something Isaac would share to the fullest.

Isaac shivered from the feeling he got through Firefly and motioned to his two female companions.

"Agreed…and I think we better get a move on. I believe we have another tracker behind us and getting closer."

Only briefly did he glance back in the direction he felt the new presence before turning back to the other two.

"Damn it!" Kim huffed, clearly not happy.

"I'm going. You two keep moving south and stay out of sight." The last part was said firmly. After a quick nod, the camp watcher moved swiftly towards the clearing, leaving both Gami and Isaac behind. She trusted the two younger 'woodliners' to have each others backs, follow instructions and keep the package safe.

Kim promised to protect them and to see the package delivered, and that was a promise she intended to keep.

Gami looked over towards Isaac. how did he know that someone is following them? Gami didnt hear a thing! But she really didnt have much time to think about it, as Kim was talking quick now. "I'm going. You two keep moving south and stay out of sight." An order, not a request. After a quick nod, Kim moved swiftly towards the clearing. Gami gave a soft sigh, and then looked over at Isaac.

"Guess we better move." She said softly, giving him a nod, as she began to move towards the south. She really didnt like leaving Kim alone, but the girl was experienced. And the package was the important part. And if there was someone coming up behind them, then they better stay well ahead of
them and that cloud thing.

Gami did her best to follow Kim's instructions to try to stay out of sight. And to look for any traps left for them, just in case they decided to trap more than just the clearing. Gami would hold off on anything more, unless it was necessary. Though she did feel silly holding the branch in her hand, but if Kim talked about dangerous puffs of smoke, she would use whatever means she had at her disposal, even if that included silly looking branches.

"I dont like this." she muttered softly, as they moved.

Frowning, Isaac watched as Kim headed off to spring the trap after all, though he gave a hesitant nod to her instructions despite his apprehension of the situation. And with Gami's quite agreement to their continuance of moving on, he could only sigh and follow suit.

He looked at the branch in his hand, though his eyes didn't really see it. His mind was elsewhere, just absorbing the oddity of their predicament. A cloud meta tracking them for some mysterious package? Splitting up and evading sight…SHIELD. Some weird gem. Just what had his life turned into? An adventure tale?

Gami's second sentence, just as soft as the first, brought him back to the present. His eyes fell on her and he gave her an uneasy smile, too weak to be kept up long.

"Yeah. I don't either," he admitted.

And so they plowed on into the south, making sure to avoid any and all detection.

<Lets stay sharp…>

<Always.>

Tag: Those Involved For Now - Ktala greyjedi125

 

IC: Mary Formal, Liz Merrick, Bryan Dale (nrc), limousine, enroute to Dugan’s Tavern
Location: International District, Triskellion


The A.I.’s idea of helping the pair to find Dugan’s, had involved a limousine suspiciously tailing them very slowly, until they gave up trying to walk to the place from their apartment building.

It would take a while for the British pair to get used to the American idea of driving everywhere, and true, there had been a lot of pedestrians when Chesterfield had driven them into the International District, but the keyword was International: a lot of new personnel did not come from a country as large and spread across as the United States, so foot power was not looked down upon as it was here.

Somewhere near several near-rectangular expanses of water, possibly decorative because she could see the bottoms of each huge pool, Formal had become so sure that they were being tailed, that, instructing Liz not to look around, Mary had tapped her earpiece and asked Jocasta if she was missing a limo.

No...I don’t think so.

“Well, do you want to check?” Mary retorted testily, but in a low voice, “There appears to be one tailing us, and it has been doing so for about thirty minutes.”

That one should be there, Agent. The driver has been directed to take you to Dugan’s.

Mary shot a glance at Liz, and relayed Jocasta’s comment. She then looked away to continue her exchange with the artificial intelligence.

“So why didn’t you say something earlier? We’ve probably missed Happy Hour by now.” They had left early, to take account of their walking to the place, but she did not know how much time had passed yet.

Some new recruits feel overwhelmed in their first twenty-four hours on site, so we don’t like to disturb when they go for a wander like you two did.

“Thanks.” Formal was being sarcastic, and shot another glance at her friend, who wasn’t there. Looking around frantically, then towards the car, she spotted Merrick’s ducking into the driver’s side passenger door.

The Arcan clattered across the tarmac on her heels, and opened the nearside passenger door, sliding along the black-leathered back, bringing her legs in, and slamming the door.

“Seat belts, please.” The driver ahead of them, behind a smoked glass barrier, said. Then, following the twin clicks of their belts, which presumably showed up on his dashboard, he wheeled the car around, and drove back into the heart of the SHIELD campus.

Just as with their earlier driver, this one was engaging and talkative, and helped the mood in the back to regain its positivity.

The place brightened up with an increase in street lighting and glowing signs on the front of establishments open for the benefit of off-duty personnel.
Soon, lots of people could be seen queuing along the sidewalk on the right, and ahead of them, two similar limousines were dropping off people in front of their destination, Dugan’s Tavern glowing out into the night above a glass double doorway.

Mary peered through the front windscreen, over the top of the limo directly ahead of them, to see the doors. “Somehow I expected to see one of those NuSentinel things acting as a bouncer on the door.”

Liz glanced across at her. “Huh?”

Mary shook her head. “Doesn’t matter.”

The limo ahead steered into the road, and headed away, their driver promptly gliding close to the doors. The partition hummed down, and the he turned to look into the back, putting one elbow on top of the front seat. “Here we are, ladies. When you are ready to leave, just tell Jocasta over your comms, and she will send a car for you.”

Mary unclicked her seat belt, pushing her door open, then feeling resistance on it, looked up to find who else but Arthur Chesterfield, dapper in casual civilian clothing, slacks, a jacket and a white shirt.
“Good evening, Liz, Mary.”

She peered suspiciously up at him as she exited the vehicle to stand next to him. “Alright, who are you and what have you done with Chesterfield.”

A moment later, and Liz was beside her, while the limo could be heard departing.

“I’m so very glad you both could make it.” He stepped aside and half-turned to aim a hand towards the glass doors, and also to indicate that they could precede him. “Welcome to Dugan’s.”

“Thank you for inviting us.”

“Hey, Arthur.” Liz gave him a shy little wave from behind Mary’s left side. “I just gotta check if Bryan is here.” She turned away to look down the rag-tag line of people standing parallel to one of the tavern’s exterior walls, and waved, with the limo driver from the day, clad in a red short-sleeved shirt of Hawaiian floral design, waving back and hurrying up the line to join them.

He and Liz greeted each other and interlocked arms, and the four of them went through the doors into quite a tasteful-looking interior: a bar counter with stools took up a lot of the left side as they entered, the back of the bar was an opaque stained-glass window of white-and-green panes, and the space between them and the back was a collection of polished dark wood tables and chairs of various heights and elevations.

A member of the waiting staff that had just situated a couple near the back, threaded his way through the furniture up to them. “Good evening, welcome to Dugan’s. How many of you are there?”

“Four.” Chesterfield advised, “Can we have a table at the side somewhere? I want to sit with my back against the wall.”

“Of course sir. This way.”

As they followed him the short distance to the selected table, a circular one with four chairs that, like all the stools, looked like patrons’ posteriors had worn depressions into them.
A discrete collection of spices and condiments were close to the wall.

While Arthur, Bryan and Liz took their seats, and the waiter trotted off to get their menus, Mary stood beside her chair for a further moment, scanning the walls for photographs – since this looked like the sort of place that would have them – of the pitched battle that had to have taken place to resist a SHIELD’ eagle decoration getting put up in here.

She narrowed her eyes. There were certainly photos, but they were greyscale pics of World War 2 action.

“Oh, okay then.” She murmured, pulling out her chair and sitting down.

Tag: greyjedi125

 

New York City
Lower Manhattan

There was not much to be said as the two metas walked further downtown, searching for their mark. Both Blue & Psion,( which is the codename Zephyr had chosen for himself whenever they were officially on a ‘mission’), remained alert and on the lookout.

The two crossed from Broadway to West Broadway and kept heading south, all the way to what had been known as Freedom Tower and was now One World Trade.

The streets were busy, as expected. Crowded, if one was honest about population density. But the two were not about to give up, not just after an hour. It was interesting that no one was really paying attention to them, which was understandable. The locals were too focused on their own business, and the rest were tourists. They were always oblivious.

But that was due to the level of security in the area. It might not be obtrusive, but it was there. This was the 'Financial Center' after all.

Twenty minutes after arriving in the area, and moving from street to street and building to building, their first break seemed to appear.

A shaggy looking youth with a black leather vest sporting the white letter ‘M’ emblazoned on its back, stood in front of the W Hotel, just a few blocks down from the Trade Center. He seemed to be either panhandling, or had some kind of hustle going on.

At the moment, he was in conversation with two Wall Street types, who were likely on a late lunch break. Their conversation was not audible, due to street and traffic noise.

Although the two-would-be heroes could approach him, they could also surmise that they were getting closer to what they were looking for. The rumor on the streets would have them travel a bit further west.


Tag: Ameteth, galactic-vagabond422

OOC: More updates to follow.

 

IC: Blueline & Casey
‘Sanctum Sanctorum’ &Lower Manhattan, NYC

Blue held the speaker button like Zephyr showed him, then spoke.

"Hey, Cas…Aegis." He corrected himself, they were out in the open, on patrol. Even though she wasn't there, her identity had to be protected as well. "Do you think you can pull up a map of the west side? Maybe find some places where the Morlocks might hang out?"

Aegis was slightly startled by hearing her codename.

"Uh…sure, give me sec." She looked at where her friends were and looked up maps closest to them. The entire west side of Manhattan was too large a search area so she narrowed it down. She sent them along carefully going through the steps Zephyr showed her. Next was looking up places a gang of violent metas might hang out. The franchise places were out, any place that looked a little upscale was also out. That just left…what did that leave. The movies made this all look so simple, now that she was in the middle of it all, she realized it wasn't.

She cast a glace over to the markers on the Track Me app. There was something a little comforting about knowing where they were. She returned to her fruitless search finding nothing she thought would be a good place for a bunch of reprobates to gather.

"I'm sorry…" she replied somewhat defeated, "I tried but, I can't find anything that looks like it would be what you guys are looking for."

"It's ok, we'll just go by our wits, thanks for the maps." Blue thought he was being helpful, giving encouragement. Aegis just felt useless, if they could just get by on their wits what did they need her for. She let out a long breath eyes never moving from the two markers on the side of her screen.

On the ground Blue and Psion made their way through the city, looking for any signs of the Morlocks. Blue had a good sense of the streets, having lived on them for a bit. It seemed the gang of metas didn't make it easy to find them. Soon the two metas found themselves in the financial center. They were surrounded by locals and tourists.

It seemed two men in masks didn't rate very high on the weird-o-meter for these people, or they were so wrapped up in their own little worlds they didn't even notice the blacked out Psion or the bloodstained Blueline. Blue shook his head, this was not the place to find Morlocks, it was too, business, too touristy. They wouldn't setup shop here, or so Blue thought. Soon that thought got turn on its head.

Across from him was an unkempt man in a black leather vest a white 'M' on the back of it. That was strange, and it seemed he was talking two men in business suits. Blue quirked his brow looking at Psion.

"Does that look right to you?" he asked, "I wouldn't think the Morlocks would associate with suit wearing types." He thought about it for a moment, "We should keep going, there's a lot of west to cover, we'll hopefully run into more like him. Besides, he looks a little busy at the moment."

"Hey guys…" Aegis called out over the comms, "You've stopped, found anything?" This time it was Blue's turn to be startled. He fumbled around a bit before pressing the button on the watch like device.

"Yeah, Um…we're probably going to heading out soon, just, saw something interesting."

"Interesting how, I can't see what's happening out there." She was zoomed in as much as she could be on the Track Me app but, it seemed to only show Blue and Psion's movements in real time, all the people around them were frozen in time.

"Morlock talking to two business men."

"That sounds like the start to a joke, is there a bar involved?"

"Not yet but, it could go that way." Casey raised an eyebrow, was Blue trying to be funny or was he just making a statement. His tone seemed rather serious, or was he just trying to be dead pan. She just couldn't figure it out. "I think we're going to press on, maybe find one that is less engaged at the moment. Though it seems we're on the right path at least." Hel let go of the speaker button letting his arm drop to his side.

"Be safe," Aegis said her voice sounding softly from the watch on the hero's wrist.

Again he fumbled around trying to reply to her. "We will be." He turned to his partner, "How long did it take you to get use to these things." He said holding up his wrist. His feet started moving forward his course would take them near the odd group of the Morlock and business men. Maybe they could hear what they were talking about, or get the Morlock member's attention. That could be useful as well. Maybe Blue was throwing away a good resource but, on the other hand, why was this man speaking with the two suited men.

Looking around the security was tighter than most areas but, this was the Financial Center, lots of opportunity for mischief. Blue had a thought, could those two be S.H.I.E.L.D they looked like business men but, that could just be the suits. Wouldn't agents also wear suits, they'd look rather conspicuous in the uniforms Blue had seen from time to time.

"Do you think those two could be S.H.I.E.L.D?" he asked Psion over his shoulder. He didn't have a lot of experience in dealing with plainclothes officers, most of the time they were dressed in noticeable uniforms. With all that has happened Blue's paranoia might have been just getting the better of him. But, when there are Nu-Sentinels just a call away, it can sometimes pay to be a little worried about every suited man on the corner.

TAG: Ameteth greyjedi125

 

IC: Psion
Lower West Side NYC

The area was crowded as usual, it seemed like New York City was always crowded everywhere at all times.
This was a trait of city life that at specific times could be found charming, but generally was annoying and if not downright dreadful, especially to the locals.

Psion wasn’t surprised that he and his teammate were not getting any stares or curious looks. The tourists in the area were quite busy taking their ‘selfies’ and the locals were busy avoiding the tourists and trying to go about their very pressing concerns. If anything Blue and Psion could pass for out-of-towners trying too hard to be stylish or different, trying to look like K-pop stars.

It was becoming clear that the immediate area was not likely to bring them close to any contacts.
Psion tried to keep his back to the surveillance cameras that he could spot. No way a Morlock would just hang out here unless there was a good reason for it, or at least that’s what he thought.

Keeping pace with Blue, the raven-haired meta listened to his teammates’ conversation over the com-device.

"Hey, Cas…Aegis." Blue spoke into the wrist com and Psion smiled at hearing codenames being used.
"Do you think you can pull up a map of the west side? Maybe find some places where the Morlocks might hang out?"


Almost immediately Psion fought down a bit of frustration for not having brought the earpieces that came with the units. It would have been ideal to make proper preparations prior to a field outing, but sometimes life didn’t afford those luxuries. They would just need to be extra careful.

"Uh…sure, give me sec." Came Ageis’ response, which could be heard crystal clear within close proximity, thanks to polite default settings.
Psion could imagine Aegis on the other end, fingers working speedily and blurring over the keyboard at the home computer.

"I'm sorry…" she said, her tone heavy with dissatisfaction.
"I tried, but I can't find anything that looks like it would be what you guys are looking for."

"It's ok, we'll just go by our wits, thanks for the maps." Blue responded in his usual encouraging manner.

Psion took to the virtual keyboard on his wrist-com, he still wanted some intel, something to use as reference.

He paused for a second to quickly type his request.

[Hey Aegis, could you enter these key words to the Search Engine and the Find Me app? Lower West side, bars, poolhalls, opendoor, all welcome,two stars.]
[Just update the map for a minute; I want to get the results just as a point of reference.]

It wasn’t much to go on, but it was safe to assume that even the fringe elements of society needed recreation and a semblance of ‘normalcy’ no matter how fleeting; it is part of human nature after all. Plus it felt a bit more productive to take some of the ‘randomness’ out of their search.

The ambulant duo did spot a curious sight in front of the W Hotel; a shabby youth with a white letter ‘M’ on the back of his leather vest, speaking to a pair of Wall Street types.

This looked unusual because, it was generally accepted that the two types, ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-nots’, didn’t get along. It was hard to ascertain if this was just a genuine ‘melting pot’ moment, or something suspicious.
Blueline seemed to have similar thoughts about it.

"Does that look right to you?" He asked through his signature blue bandana. "I wouldn't think the Morlocks would associate with suit wearing types."

There was a thoughtful pause before he concluded, "We should keep going, there's a lot of west to cover, we'll hopefully run into more like him. Besides, he looks a little busy at the moment."

Psion nodded in agreement yet remained silent. He tried to commit the faces to memory, probably a wasted effort at this distance, but the mind had a way of picking up details subconsciously and he was counting on that.

Again he listened to the exchange between his two teammates and was convinced that there was a real caring between the two. He wasn’t going to read more into it for he was satisfied that what was there would prompt each one to do their best.

"How long did it take you to get use to these things." Blue asked while holding up his wrist.

“The wrist-coms have a camera feature, which could come in really handy, and to save on elbow grease they do come with earpieces which prevents us from looking like some dorky wanna-be operatives from a B-movie.”
Psion hoped that his nonchalant bit of levity would successfully disguise his slight annoyance at not having the piece of equipment that would easily lend them some stealth.

From beneath his obscuring hood, Psion’s silvery-blue eyes looked to and fro, trying to locate anyone else wearing the ‘M’ symbol.

"Do you think those two could be S.H.I.E.L.D?" Blue asked as he led the search.

The question made the young meta’s eye narrow. A simple scan could have revealed if anyone in that curious trio was carrying a weapon or technology incongruent with their appearance. However, there was always a risk of setting off a detector and starting a confrontation. Every move from now on will need to be calculated and thought through. He had to be careful and judicious as to when or when-not-to use his powers.
Psion almost scoffed audibly as the thought of how simulations didn’t really give you experience; only life did that.

“Any one of them could be S.H.I.E.L.D...” he responded with a cautious tone.

“If we find one of them, or a group…maybe we should ask to see Totenkoff, he recognized you and spoke well of you… maybe he can be of help or vice-versa.”

Psion recalled the encounter with Totenkoff and how the Morlock seemed genuine with his words and gratitude. He also got the feeling that they were an organized group. That, coupled with the fact that they were all metas kept his curiosity about them growing.

“Let me see if Aegis has updated the map, maybe we’ll see something that may point us in the right direction…”

With no small amount of eagerness, Psion looked at his wrist-com device, hoping to see some new data or intel on display. Maybe a name, a name of a bar or a street, or perhaps a description or blurb, anything that may ring a bell and bring them closer to their goal, for the looks of things, he was anticipating a very long day.


TAG: greyjedi125, galactic-vagabond422

 

Name: Larry Stone
Codename: Bronze Hawk
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Hair: Black
Eyes: Green
Height: 5ft 4"
Weight: 182lbs
Likes: Cookies, soda, beating the bad guy, The sky, motorbikes, AK-47s
Dislikes: Bananas, The Ground, losing against the bad guy
Personality: Talkative, Irritable
Appearance: Black hair, always wears a star wars T-shirt when not in his suit
Bio: Larry always wanted to join the avengers, one day, he found out he could, he could sprout leathery wings (Bronze coloured) and fly around the place, he heard about the skrull invasion, and helped sheild, he then left sheild to roam on his own

 

Dugan’s Tavern, Triskelion
NYC

Lounge Music

Happy Hour was off to a good start. The music was festive, yet relaxing after a hard day’s work. The first round of drinks were on the house, which elicited quite a favorable response from the patrons. Hospitality was a top priority at Dugan’s Tavern, and the flow of incoming clientele was well attended to.

Alastor and Doctor Mac Taggert were shown to their table in short order. Once seated, the order for their complimentary drinks was taken. They would not have to wait long before their beverages arrived.

Moira smiled and rubbed her hands together as soon as she spied the Mojito she had ordered atop the waiter’s round serving tray. By her expression, anyone could tell she was already tasting it with her eyes.

“Thank you.” She breathed out in anticipation as the drinks were placed on the table. Almost immediately, she reached for her drink and brought the straw to her waiting lips.

“Ahh…”

The good doctor’s smile widened as she sat back and relaxed further. “They make it so well.” She commented to her dinner companion. Curious amusement registered on her face as she looked at Alastor.

“…And what could you be drinking?” She asked with a chuckle.

She waited for his response before adding. “Remember, this evening meal is on me, so enjoy yourself.”

Moira felt good about her decision to dine with Alastor. She could not tell why exactly she needed to do so, at least not in words, not yet anyway. Certainly it had to do with their shared past.

Relax Moira. Enjoy the moment. She mused internally, chiding herself. This moment was to celebrate a reunion. There was always time to mull about the past.

Taking another sip of her drink, Moira took a moment to gaze around the room. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Who would ever guess these people had stressful day jobs. Moira chuckled at that thought. Near the door, she saw two couples arriving. At a glance, she could tell the two males worked for SHIELD. The two females they were with seemed…new.

Fleeting curiosity had her track them for a brief moment. That’s when she saw, who they were about to sit next to.

*******

Arthur remained amicable as always. After all, keeping the flow of diplomacy is what he did best. He did not react at seeing Liz interlock arms with Bryan, the presently off-duty chauffeur. Well, at least not outwardly.

Oh, well. He mused inwardly, immediately reprioritizing his mental parameters. The show must go on.

“Nice lively shirt you got there, Bryan. Good choice.” He added as he shook hands in greeting with the man.

“Liz, Mary, you both look radiant.”

Arthur graced them with his trademark smile, then led them inside; one of the waitstaff then led them to their table. The diplomatic agent silently noticed Mary gazing at some of the framed pictures on the nearby wall. He smiled at seeing her taken in by the place.

Once seated, menus were offered to everyone.

“First drink is on the house.” Arthur announced to the small group. “The rest of the evening is on me.” He added with a wink and a smile.

“Does that include me?” A voice said, next to them. Arthur turned to face the speaker.

“Dr. Redstone!” He exclaimed aloud.

“The one and only.” The red headed doctor said in response. “Call me Sebastian.” He offered. “Well, am I too late?”

“No, of course not. Please join us. I’m glad you could make it.”

“My pleasure. I decided I needed to get out of the lab after all.”

Another chair and an extra menu was brought for the man wearing a stylish, yet casual suit. All in all, a good beginning to a good evening.

In a timely manner, any ordered drinks would be brought to the table. A Martini for the diplomat and a Manhattan for the good doctor.

“So, to what should we toast?”

Arthur asked of his gathered guests.

Tag: Kahn_Iceay, Sith-I-5

---

Private Jet
Crossing the Atlantic

From the look in her face, it was plain to see that the white haired female was pressed for time. She gazed behind her and all around, as if to make sure she was still safe.

“You must go to Stephen’s residence and secure The Eye, before its too late. Please, you must hurry.”

Indeed, Aisté had guessed correctly. The woman she spoke with was indeed a princess, and so much more.

“Hurry!” she pleaded once again, as her image pulsed once, before it vanished. Rebecca’s unconscious form simply fell to the floor, crumpled. Within moments. Aisté would see signs of breathing. Rebecca was still alive.

Silence filled the cabin once again as the flight continued without interruption.

The question now was, what would young Regina Max do? Which destination would she choose first?

Tag: Zao Vizla

---

Acting Director Maria Hill’s Office
SHIELD HQ, Triskelion, NY

“Let me prove to you we can make a difference.”

Maria did not immediately answer. She was now gazing intently at Agent Knight, assessing the possibilities right before her.

Iron Man’s image was recently tarnished in public, and consequently, the image of The Avengers as well. The public was already uneasy, given the SRA and all the unsavory situations around it. Perhaps ADAM could serve as a way to restore some of the damaged fences.

Perhaps.

First order of business would be to renegotiate his clearance level. As it was, ‘problematic’ did not begin to cover the scope of things.

“Alright.” Maria said finally.

“I’ll give you a chance to make a difference. You will join The Vision’s and become a member of the SHIELD Vanguard he is creating. They could use someone with your expertise. I’ll have you re-assigned immediately. Take the rest of the day off and expect your new directive very soon.”

With that Maria gave the man a decisive nod.

“If there’s anything else you wish to discuss, now is the time. Otherwise, consider yourself dismissed.”

Tag: E. L.Knight

---

Transia Mountain path
Wundagore Mountain

The male feline moved to assist when it became evident that one of the human males was having trouble carrying the blind man on the upward journey to reach the Mountain Citadel. The combination of fog and snow made moving about a treacherous business.

“Thank you.” Barsali said in all honesty and gratitude. He hadn’t asked for help, but he would be a fool to refuse it. His limbs were aching and he was already breathing through his mouth. Erasmus seemed to get heavier with every step.

Ferlynx merely nodded in acknowledgement. Harman remained silent and vigilant, for either the undead or any signs of treachery. Bastis stayed up front, guiding them all.

The group proceeded without incident, whether by chance or by design was anyone’s guess.

“We are nearly there.” Bastis announced.

Looking up, the snowy mountain summit was entirely covered in fog, yet, the shape of a massive and looming structure could almost be discerned. The group found a measure of inner strength to finish the last leg of their trek.

“Halt!” a fierce voice rang out. Walking through the fog, a figure appeared. The form of a tigress of white fur and black stripes strode forth. She was clad in leather gear dyed in deep purple. At her sides, she bore silver blades.

“Hail Snow Queen!” Bastis proclaimed in greetings. “We return from our patrol with visitors. They claim to be victims of…Doom.” The feline female stepped to one side to reveal her charges.

Barsali looked on in surprise, despite his exhaustion. Being with SGC had not seemed so strange at all, but rather special and miraculous. This…was just mind blowing. Harman was similarly amazed. Erasmus was too out of it to notice.

“If that is true, then the Noble One would need to see them.” Snow Queen intoned in all seriousness. Her fierce eyes fell on SGC for a moment, yet she offered no comment. She then noticed Harman shivering and remembered that humans had no fur to warm them from the cold.

“Take them in.” She commanded.

Turning, Snow Queen uttered a word and motioned with her clawed hand. In response, the fog retreated from behind her for the moment, revealing a side entrance leading right into the mountain. At each side, curious vehicles hovered. As they walked, Ferlynx noticed Harman trying to figure out what he was looking at.

“They are called atomic steeds.” The male feline informed in mild amusement. “Only Knights of Wundagore can ride them.”

“Is…is she a Knight?” Harman asked, after glancing behind him.

“Aye.” Ferlynx responded.

Once inside, the entrance actually led into a lit tunnel. The walls were sleek and appeared to be not only modern, but advanced. At the end of the tunnel, a circular lift awaited the group. Silently, they all boarded the sizable disk, and then with a soft hum, the small group was whisked upward. Harman had the presence of mind to put away the weapon he didn’t realize he’d been holding all along in his hand. He was a gypsy tracker, not a fool. There were customs to be observed.

Rings of light whooshed by, one after another, until finally, the disc came to a halt. The doors opened and revealed a receiving hall.

The chamber was quite large, with a high ceiling. It looked medieval, but it also sported futuristic elements. The walk-in fire place was alight, and its warmth was easily welcome. But more importantly, three figures stood in the middle of the room, turning just in time to see the new arrivals. Two wore full plate armor and bore swords, while the last was draped in red robes and held an ornate staff.

Bastis was the first to step forth from the lift, who then greeted the three figures with a firm salute.

“Sir Urson, Sir Aslan, Noble Rakshasa. We bring visitors and victims of Doom.”

The fully armored bear stood over 7 feet tall. He tilted his head slightly in curiosity. The Lion-man opted only to observe, his golden mane moving as he crossed his two massive arms across his metal plated chest. The tiger in red robes grinned and took several steps forward, his garments flowing like smoke and his staff tapping the polished marble floor.

“Is that so?” he breathed. “Then welcome victims of Doom. Consider this Citadel a safe haven from the calamities of the outside world.”

Tag: Mitth_Fisto

---

Maine, Woodlin Camp
Off the beaten Path

A team relies on trust and cooperation to achieve their main objectives. Every member of the team plays an important role. The question becomes, under what circumstance does the objective become secondary, if at all?

Gami and Isaac were not keen on separating from Kim, but no better plan could be agreed on in the short space of time they had. And so, the two newest arrivals to Camp Woodlin did as they were instructed and continued to head south towards the roadside market. They were charged with making a very important delivery.

The two moved as best they could, doing their best to avoid detection as they weaved through trees and foliage, yet remaining as alert as possible.

Meanwhile, Kim moved towards the nearby clearing to spring the suspected trap.

Immediately, she was spotted by the cloud, who veered towards her, rapidly descending on her position in a stream. Kim noticed the sound it made as it neared. In a flash, she put away her blade and began to remove her jacket, even as she dove forward and rolled. When she came back up on her feet, the female watcher swung her jacket with both hands, creating a defensive gust of wind before her.

The streaming cloud was disrupted, separating for a moment, before reforming several feet away. Kim smirked under her bandana and kept swinging her coat as a ‘matador’ would to a bull.

She was buying time for Gami and Isaac.

“Idiot! Don’t waste time with her!” A voice growled. “Get after the other two!”

Kim scowled the moment she saw Half-Jack. She’d only spied him from afar, in normal human form. As a watcher, these were things she needed to know. It was said that he could only turn into half a wolf-man. That’s really all he needed to be a highly regarded hunter-tracker.

At first, she was uncertain about such tales, but now she knew.

He was coming at her, and he was moving fast! Kim didn’t dare look behind her, as she heard the whoosh of retreating air.

Damn!

Half-Jack pounced in the blink of an eye. Kim immediately fell backwards, using her attacker’s momentum as she performed a reverse throw. She ignored the pain his claws caused her when they came in contact with her shoulder. She had to act quickly else all was lost. Her blade would be useless in this confrontation.

Both combatants moved fluidly, getting up almost simultaneously. Half-Jack was already attacking, snarling as he reached out to claw at her midsection. Kim had anticipated his aggressive move and pivoted away. He still managed to scratch her side, but he could not manage to defend against her counter attack. In an instant, Kim smacked Half-Jack’s snout with a handful of sleeping pollen.

The half-wolfman tried to hold his breath and not inhale or sneeze, but Kim had a fix for that. She exploited the given opportunity and delivered a powerful kick to her opponents diaphragm. Half-jack had the wind knocked out of him and was forced to inhale.

In an instant, his eyes rolled backwards and he fell to the ground; unconscious.

Kim didn’t allow herself a second to celebrate. Without even stopping to patch herself, she ran off in the direction Gami and Isaac were headed. She moved fast as she gave chase. She couldn’t let Whorl near her new friends. She would never be able to forgive herself if that happened.

Damn it! He has a head start.

The watcher focused her mind and body on catching up to her friends and helping them to neutralize a common enemy.

*****

Some distance ahead, Gami and Isaac continued moving south. The cloud chasing them spread out to cover a wider distance. If it kept going in that general direction, there was a good chance it might achieve its goal. Its targets were subject to fatigue. It did not suffer that particular weakness-though maintaining this present form did come at a cost. All it needed to do was get just one of them. The rest would be a piece of cake.

Tag: Ktala, Darth_Elu

OOC: You both need to make rolls to move around ‘undetected’.

---

Jersey Docks
New jersey

The note was clear.

If you want to join, you must prove yourself

He was given the place. Warehouse 39 SE. It was a big place and it was well guarded. Whatever was inside had to be important. How ironic that the thing he needed to retrieve was indoors. No. Not ironic. Its was part of the test. To see if he had the right stuff, to see if he really had what it took.

There was a great absence of tall buildings in the area, with the exception of the larger storage buildings, which were far apart. There were innumerable containers lined in rows and several ships were already at the docks.

All he needed to retrieve was a special briefcase of some kind.

It sounded so very simple.

Of course, if he got caught, he would be sent to ‘The Raft’. That’s where they kept all the meta human criminals.

It wasn’t easy being a meta human nowadays, especially after the SRA. Even if you were one of the good guys.

Tag: Master Vo'Un'Var

---

New York City
Lower Manhattan

Some recently monied technologies guru was driving around in the latest automotive design by Lamborgini. He had stopped at a red light and revved his engines. He drove a copper colored topless convertible so everyone could see him. In an instant, both tourists and car enthusiasts virtually surrounded him and immortalized him with their mobile devices and social media apps.

So far, neither Blue or Psion could compete with such glitz.

The two finally managed to run into what appeared to be a Morlock who definitely looked very out of place within the financial center. Both Blue and Psion found the scene quite suspect to say the least, even though they could not make out what was really going on.

A Morlock talking to suits? The very notion was preposterous. Where the suits plain clothes SHIELD agents?

There was no way to be sure. What was certain, was that caution was needed in the Financial District, especially for someone like Psion, who’s powers could be manifested externally.

Psion suggested dropping Totenkoff’s name in conversation, should the opportunity arise. Not a bad idea.

“Let me see if Aegis has updated the map, maybe we’ll see something that may point us in the right direction…”

Another good suggestion by Psion.

Aegis was immediately on the job, her fingers flying across the keyboard. Waiting for something to happen was anxiety inducing, so helping with a search made her feel like she was actually contributing, like she was a part of the team effort.

There were many articles on the Morlocks, the majority which weren’t complimentary and perhaps raised questions concerning her friend’s safety. But that was not the focus. Both Psion and Blue promised not to get in trouble and leave if things got unpleasant. The search was narrowed to known Morlock hangouts, and sure enough, the new search parameters yielded better results.

Several places were mentioned, one in the Lower East Side, named Hack n Slash Dive Bar. Apparently it was a hole in the wall with a dubious address. The article was a bit dated and the last update on the address mentioned something about ‘demolition’.

The one on the Lower West Side however, seemed to be exactly what was needed. Caliban’s Hide Out. The date was quite recent and there was a warning. ‘Rough crowd, not for the uninitiated.’ yeah, that sounded like the place.

The pair were not very far, just a couple a blocks down, then west. Marking the destination on the map app was simple enough.

As they oriented themselves, an older tattooed teen with a crew-cut, garbed in a black t-shirt, jeans and combat boots moved closer. His hands were in his back pocket. He regarded them curiously, but when he spoke, he sounded neutral enough.

“Hey, you two need something?”


Tag: Ameteth, galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: Blueline & Casey
‘Sanctum Sanctorum’ &Lower Manhattan, NYC

Casey spotted the message from Zephyr. Right away she started looking for anything related to the keywords. One that made her laugh a little was the inclusion of two stars. It spoke a lot to the types of places that the Morlocks hung out. However the smile faded from her face as she looked over the articles. It seemed no one had anything nice to say about the group. She began to doubt the usefulness of speaking to them. Were these the type of people they wanted to associate with?

As she continued she felt like there should be music, there was always music in the TV shows when someone was doing research. Often with overlays of what they were looking at to keep it visually interesting to the viewer. However, this was not a television show, this was real, and she was directing her real friends into real danger. The more she looked into it the worse it got and the more she wanted to wave them off of this plan. This whole plan was beginning to feel more wrong than it already was. However she held her tongue. Blue had made a promise to pull back should things get too much for Zephyr.

As she peered deeper at the list of possible hangouts for the gang of metas, she found one result that has some promise on the face of it. Hack n Slash Dive Bar, lovely name, and probably as safe as a poisoned apple with a razor blade in it. She didn't know what drew her to that analogy but, she was rolling with it. However the post looked older, and the location was on the east side, not west. Wasn't that where this whole metamin thing got started? Were the Morlocks behind this? Was she leading her friends straight into a lions'…no lion was too good of an animal to describe these people. Jackals' den or maybe hyenas' den was more apt.

The next one she came across was Caliban's Hide Out, an interesting name to say the least. The post looked recent and there was a warning attached, 'Rough crowd, not for the uninitiated.' Hyenas' den defiantly a hyenas' den. Her two friends were not very far, it seemed like the place. On a lark she looked up the name Caliban. What came up was curious, Caliban was a character in a Shakespeare play, the Tempest. And was not a good person. He tried to…she didn't want to focus on that. All she needed to know was that the connotation of the name was not a good one, though maybe descriptive.

Caliban was a half-human, his mother being a Devil. Was that how some of these Morlocks felt, that they were only half human? If she was honest she could relate. However it seemed Caliban reveled in this fact, something Casey herself would never do, worshiping his mother, and wanting to create more of himself…Wait…Her brow furrowed her mouth hung open just a little. In her mind the links were obvious the name, the locations, what it did. The realization hit her like a train. The Morlocks were behind this, they were the ones spreading this stuff. They wanted to create more metas, more of themselves.

Why they would want to do that, she didn't know but, it brought to mind what the character in the play tried to do to Miranda. It turned her stomach.

With a deep breath she marked the location on the map.

"I found something but, you guys should be really careful."

Back on the westside Blue cast a glance over to the sports car on the street claiming all the attention. That didn't really matter to him less eyes on him the better. He considered Psion's suggestion of dropping Totenkoff’s name. It was possible, and could be a good way of discreetly getting the other man's attention. However Casey's message rang through before he could say anything more.

Again he fumbled to press the button to reply, his hand cuffs rattling as he turned his wrist.

"I know Ca…Aegis."

"I don't think you do…" she said her voice quivering just a bit. "I…I think the Morlocks are…"

Unfortunately she was cut off by another person approaching them.


"Hey, you two need something?" Blue turned to see a teen, maybe around the hero's age with obvious tattoos. A quick scan of his person showed no obvious iconography of the Morlocks, no leather jacket, no big white 'M'. Though he could be a sympathizer, he could just as easily be a Meta Hater. With a careful step Blue moved in front of Psion, he made a commitment to keeping the man safe he wasn't going to fail that now.

"Blue can you hear me…I said I think the Morlocks are…" Blue brought the wrist-com to his mouth trying to silence the voice coming out of it.

He pressed the speaker button blurting out, "Thanks Mom, I'll be careful." Then he turned off the device. Looking up at the man that had yet to introduce himself he spoke again. "Sorry, my mom, she worries about me." He didn't know what exactly lead him to call Casey mom but, sometimes under stress the mind can do weird things. He pointed in the general direction of the place Casey marked out on the map. "We know where we're going. Thanks for checking."

Casey soured her face.

"Mom…What the…" then Blue dropped off her screen."$%*#" Quickly she tried contacting Blue again, and Zephyr. "What is going on, tell me." Panic was apparent in her voice. "Did something happen to Blue, are you guys ok, do I have to call someone?" She looked to her room. She could put on her mask, her other identity but, she'd be alone, in a city that terrified her. She didn't know if she could control herself if she was out there, and with the state her mind was in, she didn't want to take the risk of losing control and hurting others.

However, there was a feeling in her heart that was burning inside.

If it was to protect Blue and Zephyr, she would do it, she would risk letting the monster out.

TAG: Ameteth greyjedi125

 

IC: Psion
Lower Manhattan

The search was going like most searches go, slow and laborious at first.
Where most individuals would find it frustrating, Psion remained focused and sharp eyed; he knew that patience was always rewarded.
He applied lessons learned during his various stints as lab assistant, for in the absence of the thrill of discovery, focus and patience were the key.

His attention was briefly caught by a flash mob of sorts, there at a nearby cross-street, a supercar revved its engine at the red light.
It was the latest model from the luxury carmakers at Lamborghini.
Psion eyed the ostentatiously painted vehicle with some admiration; he had read that there were less than 10 vehicles made in the world and that it commanded a prohibitively expensive price tag. Rumor had it that there was going to be an upgrade that could turn it into a flying car.
He knew that if he weren’t in costume, he’d be one of those people taking pictures, more over, he could probably find out who was the driver if he looked at his social media feed, someone in there probably knew this guy.

He pushed all that would be glitz and glamour out of his mind; he couldn’t afford to dwell in such distractions.

Reality reasserted itself with ‘beeping’ tone from his com-device; Aegis had updated the map as requested.
Psion arched an eyebrow under his hood and immediately set his device to silent and ‘speech to text ‘ mode. Any further alerts or communications from home base would make his device vibrate and thus not give away his presence or position. Since this was a recon mission, it was best to proceed with all due caution.

"I found something but, you guys should be really careful." Aegis’ voice could be heard coming from Blue’s com-device.
Psion looked down at his com-unit and was satisfied to see that the same message appeared as text. He made a mental note to set his teammate’s wrist-com to silent before they got deeper into the thick of things.
With a simple finger swipe, the screen display changed to the updated map, Psion’s silvery eyes darted swiftly as he took in the new info.

Hmmm, this looks promising.

So many things flashed through his mind as he read accompanying data. He was so very glad that Aegis was backing them up like this; the feeling of teamwork gave him a sense of security, but also, there was an increasing sense that the closer they got to their goal, the more likely that they would go from ‘potential danger’ to ‘actual danger’.

Some of the blurbs that described the establishments were a bit intimidating, and to think that Psion would be walking into places that he would completely avoid as Zephyr. One definitely needed to be gutsy to be a superhero…or slightly crazy.

‘Caliban’s Hide Out’, that definitely sounded like a good place to scout. Something about the description and the possible play on words.
Morlocks were a gang, and gangs had to be tough for their own ‘safety’, that was the way of the streets or the jungle; only the strong survive. To that effect, ‘rep’ was equally important.
Psion wasn’t an expert on any of these things, but his voracious reading habit did afford him a general understanding of a great many things. However, practical experience was an entirely different plane of existence.

"I know Ca…Aegis." Blue said into his wrist-com.

"I don't think you do…" she said her voice quivering just a bit. "I…I think the Morlocks are…"

Psion leaned a little closer to Blue, Aegis’ words had caught his attention, but suddenly a different voice was heard as another person approached the duo.

“Hey, you two need something?”

The speaker was an older tattooed teen with a crew-cut, garbed in a black t-shirt, jeans and combat boots, his hands were in his back pocket.

Psion lowered his head, further obscuring his features, he then looked at the guy and tried to find any markings that may identify his affiliations, especially to the Morlocks. This guy wasn’t a tourist and he wasn’t lost, he was in fact making an offer.

Blue smoothly moved in front of Psion, in what he recognized as a protective maneuver, which took the raven-haired meta by surprise, but he remained alert to what was going on.

"Blue can you hear me…I said I think the Morlocks are…"

"Thanks Mom, I'll be careful." Blue blurted into his ‘wrist-com’, cutting off Aegis mid sentence and turning off his device.

"Sorry, my mom, she worries about me." The bandana hero continued, "We know where we're going. Thanks for checking."



Well, if they didn’t look like tourists before, that last piece of banter would surely paste a label on their foreheads, which could work to their advantage.

Psion remained in the moment, he said he would follow Blue’s lead and so he had to remain frosty, but he promised himself to laugh about this later, but for now he had an idea.

“His Mom, not mine…” he said to the tattooed guy, trying to sound shifty.
Drawing upon his experience as Zephyr the party-boy and a ‘regular’ New Yorker, he decided to pursue a hunch about this ‘neutral’ sounding question.

“Listen, we’re going to a party later and I’m looking for a store where I can find something…special, to bring as party favors. The host invited some models and…you know, we just want to make sure that things stay lively, you know what I mean?”

At the same time his wrist-com was vibrating something fierce, and at a glance he could read the text displaying Aegis’ distressed words.

[What is going on, tell me!!!]

Three exclamation marks, Ok at least she’s not yelling at the screen.

[Did something happen to Blue, are you guys ok, do I have to call someone?]

Psion nodded at his watch making it look like he was agreeing with something casual or conversational, he quickly keyed in some auto responses.

[All good.] [Will call back shortly.] [just listen.]

With that, he left the mic on so Aegis might hear what was being said. With any luck, they could get some intel about what was happening in Lower Manhattan with the gangs and the substance Metamin. At worst, hopefully nothing more than an awkward moment to laugh at over dinner, it was all in the wrist.



TAG: greyjedi125, galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: Larry Stone
New Jersey docks

Larry looked around his surroundings, The docks of new jersey, he looked at the familiar boats bobbing up and down in the water, crates waiting to be moved into the gigantic warehouses that surrounded the concrete opening that people would use to pull and put boats out or in the water, he had been here a few times before, but never to retrieve something.

It was a briefcase which he had been sent to find, it was just his luck it was inside a warehouse, they had said he could find it in warehouse 39 SE, he looked around, 36, 37, 38, and then there, he saw it, The warehouse 39 SE, he saw two guards patrolling the doors, damn, well, he couldn't go that way, he looked up for windows, hoping, he couldn't see any just of now, he looked behind him, no one had seen him here yet, he refocused his attention to the warehouse, and then stuffed his hand into his pocket, he pulled out a map he had been given before he left on his mission, he studied it, looking for all windows, they would be locked, of course, he would deal with that later, he put the map back into his pocket, and looked for the closest window he had found on the map, he could not see it where he was standing, it would not be in view, as the window was on the side of the warehouse.

He pulled off his T-shirt, any normal person would think he was being weird, but he just did not want to rip his most favorite star wars T-shirt, he stowed it in his other pocket, and thought, he felt the sensation he had felt before many times in his life, and took off into the air, he had just sprouted leather-like wings, he soared around, he loved the sky, he then remembered he had something to do, and flew over to the window, yep, it was locked, he would have to pick it open or break it open

Tag greyjedi125

 

IC: SGCs 28.57^3
Wundagore Mountain

The male feline moved to assist when it became evident that one of the human males was having trouble carrying the blind man on the upward journey to reach the Mountain Citadel. The combination of fog and snow made moving about a treacherous business. Although SGC was sure footed as he used his hind digigrade limbs and trailing abdomen to steady himself, it posed the added problem of himself getting a bit more chilled. Chilled enough and tired enough from his prior exertions he had not even thought to grab his amic from Barsali, not until he saw the male feline do so.

“Thank you.” Barsali said in all honesty and gratitude. Ferlynx merely nodded in acknowledgement. Harman remained silent and vigilant, for either the undead or any signs of treachery. Bastis stayed up front, guiding them all.

The group proceeded without incident, whether by chance or by design was anyone’s guess.

“We are nearly there.” Bastis announced.

Looking up, the snowy mountain summit was entirely covered in fog, yet, the shape of a massive and looming structure could almost be discerned. The group found a measure of inner strength to finish the last leg of their trek.

“Halt!” a fierce voice rang out. Walking through the fog, a figure appeared. The form of a tigress of white fur and black stripes strode forth. She was clad in leather gear dyed in deep purple. At her sides, she bore silver blades. SGC canted his head at this unexpected vision in the snow, his own exhaustion still niggling at his very bones and carapace he paused in his deep breathing to notice this change.

“Hail Snow Queen!” Bastis proclaimed in greetings. “We return from our patrol with visitors. They claim to be victims of…Doom.” The feline female stepped to one side to reveal her charges. SGC shivered at the last word, that name and description. SGC did not even truly notice his companions reactions and noticings of what they had come across here, there final destination.

“If that is true, then the Noble One would need to see them.” Snow Queen intoned in all seriousness. Her fierce eyes fell on SGC for a moment, yet she offered no comment. She then noticed Harman shivering and remembered that humans had no fur to warm them from the cold.

“Take them in.” She commanded. SGC bowed his head in a deep dip as she looked upon him. He was a refugee and a child of the lab, even so he knew the basic historical reference to authority and rank that was Queen.

Turning, Snow Queen uttered a word and motioned with her clawed hand. In response, the fog retreated from behind her for the moment, revealing a side entrance leading right into the mountain. At each side, curious vehicles hovered. As they walked, Ferlynx noticed Harman trying to figure out what he was looking at.

“They are called atomic steeds.” The male feline informed in mild amusement. “Only Knights of Wundagore can ride them.” SGC tilted his head to stare at them, could it be? Perhaps this truly was the place he was meant to go to, a place of the truly advanced as Amic had said.

“Is…is she a Knight?” Harman asked, after glancing behind him.

“Aye.” Ferlynx responded.

Once inside, the entrance actually led into a lit tunnel. The walls were sleek and appeared to be not only modern, but advanced. At the end of the tunnel, a circular lift awaited the group. Silently, they all boarded the sizable disk, and then with a soft hum, the small group was whisked upward. Harman had the presence of mind to put away the weapon he didn’t realize he’d been holding all along in his hand. He was a gypsy tracker, not a fool. There were customs to be observed. SGC made sure to straighten himself and try to breath at a more comfortable rate, he was where he wanted to go, perhaps more tired and worn by the trials of this night then he had imagined or hoped to be upon arriving. He was here, and it was turning out to be more and more what he had hoped for.

Rings of light whooshed by, one after another, until finally, the disc came to a halt. The doors opened and revealed a receiving hall.

The chamber was quite large, with a high ceiling. It looked medieval, but it also sported futuristic elements. The walk-in fire place was alight, and its warmth was easily welcome. But more importantly, three figures stood in the middle of the room, turning just in time to see the new arrivals. Two wore full plate armor and bore swords, while the last was draped in red robes and held an ornate staff.

Bastis was the first to step forth from the lift, who then greeted the three figures with a firm salute.

“Sir Urson, Sir Aslan, Noble Rakshasa. We bring visitors and victims of Doom.” SGC tremored at the last once more. Amazing how a feeling could steal itself through your very core to visibly shake ones carapace by it.

The fully armored bear stood over 7 feet tall. He tilted his head slightly in curiosity. The Lion-man opted only to observe, his golden mane moving as he crossed his two massive arms across his metal plated chest. The tiger in red robes grinned and took several steps forward, his garments flowing like smoke and his staff tapping the polished marble floor.

“Is that so?” he breathed. “Then welcome victims of Doom. Consider this Citadel a safe haven from the calamities of the outside world.”

SGC sighed, audibly with a slight hiss as he rested upon his haunches and reached out to rest a long arm on his amic, "Amic, we made it." he simply stated with a squeeze to his friends shoulder as he looked at Noble Rakshasa. "Thank you. It has not been an easy journey. We thank you."

Tag: greyjedi125