A Heroes Challenge IC (Worm-Verse Game)

[GameOfChampions]

The PRT HQ is drenched in sunlight as the director comes to meet all of you as you wait in the lobby. Though some of you had been in the city for a while this was the first time you were here in an official capacity as the new heroes for the city. Director Sanderson is waiting and as soon as everyone has gathered she gestures to the door and takes you into the main building. As she starts to take you through the building she gives everyone a brief rundown of what’s been going on.

“It’s nice to meet you all and I’m glad you’re here, the city has been without its heroes for a little too long and we’re starting to feel the effects. Several of the more prominent gangs are trying to expand their territory and others have taken this opportunity to start shipping in large amounts of… well everything really. Drugs, weapons, tech, etc. I’ll show you around and then let you get settled somewhat before you start.”

She walks you through the PRT floor that is full of the various departments that help keep the HQ and team running as she explains.

“The Shining Path and Panthers Fang have been going at it hammer and tongs while the Rock Wreckers have been trying to get a piece of the action as well. There have been several corporate sabotages and takeovers that we have attributed to the Elite, though lack any proof regarding it. However most worryingly is that we’ve lost sight of Insight, the rogue who started this whole debacle.”

Director Sanderson takes the impromptu tour through the labs and vehicle garage then down through the gym and training centers before ending it in the hero’s bull pen full of their various cubicles and general meeting area with the computerized control center.

“Frankly we need to establish a solid presence in the city and have you do some good so that the various groups know we’re back in the fight. The press are chomping at the bit for a press conference but I’m going to delay that until we have something more solid to present and the PR department believe that the extended wait before introducing you will raise interest for our mysterious new heroes. So I’ll leave you to be acquainted with ea-“

The older women pauses as she puts her hand up against her ear to better hear whatever message she was receiving from the comm bead. Her face grows paler and paler as she starts to bark orders into the earpiece.

“Take it to the lab and put through the standard checks NOW! Lock down the building and I want stranger protocols in effect this second! Call Captain Reynolds and put the squads on standby!”

She quickly turns to the group of heroes“Sorry You’ll have to do introductions on the fly, front desk reported that someone just dropped off a gift basket for the new team of heroes but when they looked at it they saw it was from Insight. I had it sent to the lab to test it so that’s where we’re going.”

The director gestures imperiously and starts walking briskly towards the labs she had shown you shortly before. The second she arrives she is handed the card that Insight had sent and one of her eyebrows starts to twitch as she reads it out loud to everyone.

“Dear Hero team.
I don’t want to be on bad terms anymore, I’m sorry for whats happened and want to make amends. Will you please take me back and bring me in from the dog house? Hopefully this little tidbit will help but I can't tell you anymore then I already am, I rather like living with all my body parts attached, so here it is. I was the grunt on the streets blackmailed into hunting down the info on the old heroes but I sure as hell wasn't the brains behind it so ask yourselves who would have wanted a veteran team of heroes out but not dead and more importantly watch yourselves.

P.S I hope you guys like the little treats I sent.”

As she hands over the card you can all see the cover as a giant anime kitten with overly large eyes saying I’m sorry on the front. As everyone takes a look the director pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs noisily.

“I was hoping he wouldn’t know you guys were here for a while but that didn’t work obviously. Look I can’t tell you what to do in this situation, trusting his word or not, since it seems you lot would be the ones with the risk of having your identities leaked out but be careful and I welcome to Miami it's time to get to work. Head back to your general area and sort yourselves out. Let me know when you head out for patrols or strikes so I can clear the paperwork and set up support if needed. Insight knows your here so lets get you out and about to get the presence of heroes back in the city.” Then she snaps at the lab assistants "And for GODS sake will you throw out those chocolates and condoms!"

She gives a dry humorless laugh as she's leaving and says sarcastically.“Who knows maybe Insight really does want to make amends.”

OK guys make your move, you can split into small groups and go on patrols, start trying to target a specific group, reach out to treat with a group, gather intel, etc.

[Anubis Dread]

Alpha Girl had expected many things from her first official day on the job. She'd expected to get a tour, do some waving and smiling, maybe have a few pictures taken. Or perhaps she'd be pushed onto the streets right away, a light patrol to show she was an official hero now instead of just a rogue. She had not, however, expected to be bored.

This brief was going WAY over her head. She kind of wished Mom was here. She always listened for the boring talk and gave her the jist. She didn't have the attention span to sit and listen to everything! Right now she was resisting the urge to order her pets to fetch her a soda and a handheld or something. As it was though Alpha Girl was (supposed to be) a strong cape who knew how to get the job done even if she also knew how to play it up for a crowd, so instead she had to nod and pretend to pay attention while the Director listed off a bunch of details about gangs she didn't care about.

Until something interesting happened anyway. Insight was a name she knew, and him sending them fan-mail on their first day did give a good first impression... until they were told what else was included. Condoms? Was he propositioning her? She was like eighteen! ...not that anyone knew that outside of the PRT, but still, major creep.

The Director's plans when he boiled them down suited Alpha Girl just fine. Patrolling to make their presence known was something she was an expert in! ...or would be an expert in, if this wouldn't be her first patrol. Still looking good was a fine art she excelled in so making a good first impression was something she should try to do. "We should patrol downtown! That'd make a big impression," Alpha Girl suggests, before smiling sheepishly. "Oh, duh, introductions first! I'm Alpha Girl!" she grinned and did a small pose. Hopefully they'd heard of her, but she'd learnt the hard way assuming that someone had lead to dissapointment. She was only a local celebrity after all. Unless you count all those memes when she was dressed like a cat and did some work for a burger place.

[Silent_p]

Ji Yu was nervous. Normally, she was happy to start chatting with a stranger about the weather (naturally) or their shared location but something made her hold back on this occasion. She was standing quietly in the lobby of the Miami PRT building waiting for the introductory tour to begin. There were a few others nearby and she snuck furtive glances at them now and again. Despite having powers of her own, she hadn't actually interacted with many other capes. It was somewhat daunting and she couldn't help but wonder how she stacked up against them. Would she be stronger enough, fast enough or determined enough to work effectively with them?

She shook her head idly, reflecting on the fact that, not so long ago, she was working on the other side of the law. Sure, she had had an important cause, justifiable reasons and had never hurt anyone... directly. It was just a definite departure to be considering whether she'd be able to keep up and contribute to a group that could very well be dispatched to stop someone just like she'd been. And, well, there were niggling doubts about having sold out. As the Director stepped forward, she realised the show was about to get on the road. She'd have time to iron out her worries later, in private.

The tour progressed smoothly, the facilities extensive and impressive. Ji Yu stood towards the front of the group, listening politely as Director Sanderson outlined where they were and what they could find there. Most of it was self-explanatory and, Ji Yu began to relax a little. After all, they have time to get acquainted, maybe spar in the gym a bit and- But no, sudden emergency. Following the Director to the labs, she waited as Insight's message was read out and some brief suggestions were made. It seemed clear that Ji Yu and her new colleagues would be at least somewhat self-directing, something that suited her well.

She turned to look at the others and was just about to say something when another of the group spoke up. Alpha Girl. Briefly wondering if they'd always go by codenames, Ji Yu mentally shrugged; she'd need to work closely with these people, no sense in them not knowing the real her. "Ji Yu, though I go by Snap in costume," she said with a brief smile. She looked at the others expectantly.

[Sønderjye]

The thin male figure had been staring at a point on the floor for the entire waiting time. He was dressed in a brightly colored trenchcoat which looked like it was made from at least 10 different materials. He is wearing tanned glasses that look way to big and metalic to be practical. He has been sitting with sunk shoulders and hands folded in front of him.

When the director calls for them you heard a sound that sounded almost like a sigh comming from his direction before he put his hands on his knees and used that momentum to get on his feet.

Noticing Alpha girl's lack of attention he sends her an ambiguous smile before resuming to look into the back of whoever is in front of him.

He doesn't pay much attention for the tour until he suddenly realizes that they just entered a lab. His head raises and suddenly he seems to pay a lot more attention to what is around him. When Sanderson is speaking he walks around a bit and examines the equiptment.

When Sanderson makes her comment about the mess in the lab a bigger smile forms as the visual image of the director's voicing her oppinion of the lab that he was working in until.. The smile immediately fates as a wave of guilt and shame replaces the previous happiness.

He shrugs at Alpha Girl's suggesetion about starting to patrol. He wasn't overly eager to put his life at risk like that.

Hearing Ji Yu share her secret identity he opens his mouth to follow suit but then stops in his track. Insight had known that they were here. He looks around and allows his imagination to run freely. Realistically there are only three options. Someone in the PRT are working with Insight, some power gave him a heads-up or he is able to access the electronics of the PRT. If it is the last option their very conversation could be monitored by their opponent. In that case, does his power work through camera's? It was possible but his thinker ranking didn't really suggest it. At any rate this could potentially be useful and at worst not give anything. "Jack, Patch in costume."

[Rofltrollcopter]

A man stood near the back of the group, although physically he towered over the others. He took his time walking through the base, rubber necking at all of the strange new sights. Once everyone had began to introduce themselves, he spoke up. Name's Robert. He popped the seals on his helmet and put it under his real arm. Anyone could tell that he looked uncomfortable in the face-concealing costume. And its a pleasure to work with y'all

On the current subject, Robert turned to the director. I don't think it should be our call to make Ma'am. Is there an arrest warrant for Insight?

[Sønderjye]

Patch takes a walk around the lab and studies the various instruments. He'll use his glasses to break down the molecular structures of the equiptment and stores it in memory which mainly happens because they are a new invention and he doesn't have a lot of data to compare with. He'll also allow his power to explain him which instruments the PRT have there and which that have been influenced by tinkers.

Walking back to the group he'll use the glasses on his teamates and the director. He's suspecting that capes might have a different structure that normal people but hasn't really had a chance to test it. He'll both take a look at the general body and one on only on the head.

His curiosity being sparked he'll pick up a few pieces of paper on the way, scan them, and compare those to that of the letter they recently sent.

[Chivy]

Josephine stood with other capes waiting on Director Sanderson. She took in the other capes around her, a few looking nervous, others at ease. The capes looked a lot different than the PRT team in Houston. She felt semi-confident about being there, the people might be different, but the organisation was the same. That made it sort of familiar to her.

She followed the director, listening to her explain the peculiarities of Miami and the different forces arrayed against them. She’d learned pretty quickly that if she didn’t do her best to listen and pick up stuff she’d regret it as soon as she split up and one of her could unleash her not inconsiderable brainpower on whatever she had learned. This had her trying (too) hard to take everything in around her and listening intently to everything being said.

Josie took the gift basket sent by Insight in stride. She knew they already had enemies here and that the previous team was outed by Insight, so either this was the truth, or it was to throw us of the track. In either case; he was someone they had to bring in for what he’d done.

When the Director told them that she couldn’t tell them what to do, the other capes started to introduce themselves and plan patrols, she did a double take. They needed to get things in order between them before they could get to the usual stuff.
‘Hi all, I’m Josephine, most people call me Josie. I go by Echo when in costume.’ she introduces herself, her pronunciation of certain words and the nasal tone common to French speakers pointing to her origin in the north.
‘We’ll need to set up coms before we even think of going on patrol and a schedule to make sure we...’
Josie turned to the Director, looking at her to tell them which one of the capes around her was the one assigned to team leader, so he or she could set up the basics and be buried in the paperwork that went with the position.
'Sorry.. Miss Director, who was assigned as the team’s leader?'

[NineOfSpades]

CJ yawned loudly, feeling groggy. This wasn't that strange for her, ghosting took its toll and all. But this was more to her not sleeping well lately. New city, new team,getting moved in...that takes its toll as well. She hung back in the tour, taking it in while keeping an eye out for a coffee pot or a vending machine. The talk of patrols got her to chime in "You can call me CJ, or Spook, either's fine....sorry for not saying much...I'm not a morning person" she then added, after a moments thought "Do we get a company car or something? Patrolling on foot would be a drag"

[Sønderjye]

Introductory Scene

Noticing CJ's yawning Patch frowns. The lack of respect bothered him. On second thought he realized that what really bothered him was that he had to appear respectful if he wanted any chance of being allowed to work on living subjects again. The realization makes a small smile appear on his face.

"Coms?" he asks Josie, not entirely sure what the superheroine was speaking about.

After getting an answer he turns his glasses to focus on the small creatures that seemed to focus on the woman who had introduced herself as Alpha Girl.

One-on-one time with sweet Sanderson

After the tour was over when the others are busy sorting out some logistics Patch slipped away to have a quick private word with the director.
Finding the office wasn't too difficult but once standing outside of the director's office Patch suddenly feels quite insecure whether this is actually a good idea. Shouldn't he be avoiding things that potentially could make the director dislike him. He stares at the door for a good 10 seconds before he is able to gather the courage to raise his fist to the level of his chest.

*Knock. Knock. Knock*

While waiting for someone to open the door Patch distracts himself by using his glasses on the door.

[Anubis Dread]

"I'm Jenny out of costume. Sorry," Alpha Girl apologized, sticking out her tongue and thumping herself lightly on the head to show her embarrassment in the cutest way she could think of. It was weird talking to people who she had to trust with her real identity. Well one of them anyway. She'd been Jenny, Tantrum, Alpha Girl and Susan since she was young, and she'd only picked up a few more identities she wore every now and again since then. Her abilities weren't very flashy or strong but being a changer was all kinds of fun at times.

"Don't they give us headsets and things?" Jen asked with a frown. "Though if I'm going to actually fight some equipment might be nice. Maybe I can hook these two up with cameras or something..." she mused, idly patting the heads of her cuddly abominations. Though it seemed she wasn't the only one paying attention to them. Shrugging, she decided to send one sniffing over to Patch since he seemed interested. They were meat puppets strictly speaking, so the sniffing and ambling and everything wasn't really natural, but making them move like robots made them look even creepier than they already did. There was only so much a costume could hide after all.

[GameOfChampions]

Introductory Scene

Director Sanderson scowls and her eyes harden for a second "Yes Robert there is an arrest warrant out for Insight right now, and if I'd had my way then there would be a death warrant out for the slippery bastard! If it were my choice then I'd hunt him down but I can't legally ask you lot to risk your identities without your consent. If you all choose to then all the better."

She nods in agreement and motions in the general direction of the teams general area. "Yes you can't go out on patrol without communications and there are comm beads, like mine, in all of your desks. When out in the field you can use them to keep in touch with each other and HQ as needed. The PRT also keeps two armored trucks in the garage and three tinker made stealth speed boats. You are welcome to use any of those at any time."

Finally as she appraises the group after Josie's question she shakes her head. "No one is team leader as of yet. I won't be assigning one until I have a grasp of everyone's characteristics and leadership ability. Until then I expect you all to work together and split any paperwork like adults with a job to do. Downtown works if you guys want, though that's Elite territory for the most part so be careful of any Capes you come across because they will not be alone."

As Jack walks through the lab he notices a lot of tech one would find in a crime lab mixed with some for measuring powers and a good amount of tinker created machines with unknown uses. As he scans the various pieces of paper and the letters he doesn't notice any differences between them and the people he scans seem just as normal as well. However the creature he scans seems slightly different from human makeup with slightly more density for denser muscles, speed and hard claw growths on the finger tips.

One-On-One

The director opens the door and Jack sees her gripping her service pistol before she quickly recognizes the hero and lets it go. She beckons him in and closes the door behind him "Hello Jack. Can I help you with something?"

[Sønderjye]

Introductory Scene

Patch flinches after he hears the mention of paperwork. He despices repetetive work. For a moment he considers asking how much paperwork they would have but he reconsiders and decides he doesn't want to know for now.

Power measurement.. Patch stops to take a closer look at the thing trying to figure out how it works. He wonders what would happen if he sticks his hand into it.

"Thanks" Patch sends Jen a smile as the little person.. thing approached him. He knelt down to watch it at face level. "What are you?". Assuming that they don't answer he'll ask Alpha Girl: "How do they work?"

One-on-one

The greeting makes Patch uncomfortable. Did she not know or was she playing along?

"Ehm. Director please, Patch in costume."

Patch sinks. He takes a moment to steady himself by looking around the room attempting to use the infrared vision to detect camera's, suspecting that the machines might be slightly warmer than the surrounding walls.

"There is something that I'd like to discuss but I'm afraid it is only possible strictly under four eyes. Are your room camera monitored and if so can we temporarily turn them off?"

[Chivy]

Introductory Scene
'Coms.?' Josie was slightly baffled at the question, then she realised that when she joined the team in Houston, she was joining an established team. This was completely different.
'I’ve only been a part of the PRT for a few months, but I think that the way the team worked in Houston was a method they’re using everywhere.
We all had Combeads linked into a central hub at the PRT Headquarters, where one of us was always on duty. It makes sure that everybody on patrol has someone who can call in support.'
She thought of about a half a dozen things that they’d need to arrange, starting with duty roster, training and.. well those were things that could come after they had a sense of each other and what they were going to do.

[Anubis Dread]

Introductory Scene

Patch flinches after he hears the mention of paperwork. He despices repetetive work. For a moment he considers asking how much paperwork they would have but he reconsiders and decides he doesn't want to know for now.

Power measurement.. Patch stops to take a closer look at the thing trying to figure out how it works. He wonders what would happen if he sticks his hand into it.

"Thanks" Patch sends Jen a smile as the little person.. thing approached him. He knelt down to watch it at face level. "What are you?". Assuming that they don't answer he'll ask Alpha Girl: "How do they work?"

"I dunno. They just show up when I'm sleeping," Alpha Girl shrugs. "I tell them to do stuff and then they, like, do it? I can just tell them by thinking it, but I don't get any feelings from them or anything. They're kind of like meat robots."

Ugh, someone had to stay back and do coms work? She hoped she wasn't it. ...unless there was an actual fight. In which case that'd be fine. She wasn't really used to fighting.

[Sønderjye]

Introductory Scene

Patch nods hearing Josie's explanation. "So you have been at PRT team before? How do people usually do patrolling and stuff?"

"Interesting" Patch comments, more to himself than anybody else. A number of ideas flooded his brain, all pressing to be realized. "We could give them..", he stops himself, remembering his limitations and steals a gaze at the director hoping that she weren't paying attention to him. 'On the other hand though can you really consider them living if they are meatrobots. I could..' A wave of sadness and guilt hits him as the thought of his grandmother's demise hits him and he fall silent.

[Silent_p]

Introductory Scene

Ji Yu watched Jack and Jenny's creation interact for a moment before looking at Robert and her other team mates. "Going after Insight would be a good first play. He's the one who took down the last team so catching him should establish some credibility for us." Now that she was catching the bad guys rather than sort of being one, Ji Yu was determined to live up to the part. Still slightly concerned about how she'd react if they had to stop someone like her, she pushed the worry aside - for the moment, at least.

She glanced over at where the 'gift' basket was being carried away. "How much should we trust his letter? Could be he was a pawn or could be he's trying to manipulate us..."

On hearing the Director's comments regarding team leader, Ji Yu looked around the group. "Don't suppose anyone has law enforcement experience...?" She asked. "I mean, we're doing a similar enough job; seems like it'd be an asset."

Afterwards

Ji Yu headed for her desk and began rooting around. Glancing at the PC, she idly wondered how much internet would be blocked or if she'd be able to stream some TV during semi-off duty hours. Still, she figured it was a work computer so the chances would probably be low... unless there was a resourceful thinker or tinker around.

Shrugging mentally, she located her comm bead and popped it in. "Testing. Cat, unanimous, rutabaga," she tried. While awaiting a response, she walked back to a central point to see if anyone was ready or willing to head out.

[NineOfSpades]

CJ chimed in, responding to Ji’s question “I was working with another team in the Great Lakes region, but nothing else beyond that.” She then added, a bit less cheerfully “Though it ended…poorly, so I’ll humbly remove myself from consideration.”

[Chivy]

Introductory Scene

‘Yes, I was recruited in Houston and spent a few months with the team there, I take it you’re new to the PRT? Echo answered Patch ‘It was an established team, so I’m not sure their tactics would work here. But I hope whoever’s going to be leading us will at least do a few things in a similar way.’
She then took a moment to gather her thoughts, she didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes on her first day here.
‘For instance; you wouldn’t send people on patrol haphazardly, but on a shift rotation to make sure we’re always out there and we have the time for other things. Manning the comms. Research. Downtime. Combat training. That sort of thing. I’d also suggest we send at least two people out together until we know each other better and we’ve all had some combat training and know each other better.’

She thought a moment about what Snap had said and then nodded her agreement
‘ Insight is someone we should deal with. Soon. If for no other reason than if he was a pawn, he’ll know who used him, and if not we’ve removed him as a threat. But I doubt we’ll find him by patrolling. So unless anybody is gifted in finding people who are hiding, he’s probably a side project while we get a handle on the rest.’
She looked at those around her waiting, and hoping, that one of them would chime in with a fantastic ‘find anybody’ power.
‘I’m fine with taking part in a patrol or two and taking the comms for the first patrol.’ She started, then realised that none of them would know her abilities or who she was.
‘Ah, uhm. My ability is that I can split into three people for about two hours. One of me is strong, the other fast and the last one smart. So I can be in three places at once. I’ve also had some combat training and been in a few fights. What are your abilities?’

‘Hhhmm, maybe it’s useful if I showed you how the comms and comm-beads work when we’re done here. Then at least we can get people out of here and patrolling.’

Later in the secure area
‘... and you switch over to other channels like this.’ Josie finished up the same tutorial she had been given a few months before. Her hand went back up to the comm-bead nestled in her ear, secured with a bracket that extended behind her ear, and she switched it to the Team’s alpha channel.

That first day, the comm-bead had felt strange in her ear, now it was like the return of an old friend. She had felt naked without it. She had removed her mask in this safe zone, showing the people around her the trust of not only her name, but also the way she looked.
‘So any ideas on what we do first? Getting at least one patrol out as fast as we can seems like something we should do. Downtown, and make sure we’re seen will make a statement and at least one of the people in the patrol should be able to handle him or herself in a fight, for if we get into trouble.’

[Anubis Dread]

Alpha Girl was beginning to regret her life choices. Training? Scheduling? Research? All she wanted to do was show off for the public and get her own action figure line. Maybe get sent off to one of the branches with a Triumvirate member to REALLY get a bunch of exposure. Instead it looked like she'd be getting worked to the bone and spend half of her time locked up in the base. Boo.

"I can kind of sort of locate him?" Alpha Girl raised her hand hesitantly. "Kind of. If I give my pets an order they go out and try and fulfill it, and they don't need to sleep or anything like that. So if I tell them to find Insight when I have an idea of what he looks like they'll comb the city tirelessly until they get him. Though they tend to do some property damage when I give them open ended orders like that..." she admitted with a frown. Like that time she ordered them to get candy and they demolished a mall. Or that time she ordered them to find her a place to sleep and they threw out everyone out of that nice house. Or that time- okay there was a reason she tried to avoid orders like that now that she wasn't a villain.

Wait... "I hate you," Alpha Girl told Echo bluntly. "My power is having three things as well, but these two don't have any powers and are super ugly besides," she pouted. "Though I'm also a changer. I can kind of do a brute impression by bulking up as much as I can shifting, but I think I'd only qualify as like a brute 0 and I look super weird as well so I don't do it much."

[Sønderjye]

Introductory Scene

The conversation around Patch quickly draws him out of his misery. He needed this to work if he ever was going to fulfill his dream. He straightens his back and turns his eyes back towards the group.

"My vote goes to catching Insight should the opportunity arise but we should prioritize making the streets safe for the citizens. I'll assume that his letter means null and void until I see anything pointing another way."

"I am, started three weeks ago and I haven't really gotten introduced to things yet." he confirms. "Combat training sounds like a great idea. I have never had anything like that and honestly I'm worried how well I can contribute in an actual fight."

Splitting in three copies. Certainly that has a lot of potential. Ideas came flooding but Patch suppresses them telling himself that it would have to wait for later. "I build stuff. It is not impossible that I could build something that could find him or at least make it easier to find him but my the first idea that come to mind would require a satalite and I'm not sure our budget can handle that. On that note I only have so much creativity so I'd be interested if you have any ideas for tools we could use. Or if there's anything that you think could work particularly well with your powers."

Behind the glasses Jack frowns at Jenny's responds. Hate? That is a strong feeling with no appearent reason. Don't she realize that that kind of attitude could foster hostility?

Later in the secure area

After a quick gaze on the instruments the glass-wielding tinker turns away from the comb presentation to make a quick note in a small notebook and afterwards going on to study the other instruments in the room, seemingly not paying attention to the presentation.

[Rofltrollcopter]

In response to the Director affirming that there was an arrest warrant in place, Robert paused for a moment. After considering the implications, he spoke up again. Then its out of our hands. If we run across Insight, we are obligated to arrest him. We are not in a position to forgive him for his crimes. That being said, I don't believe we have a way to counter his Stranger ability. He fumbled with the unfamiliar term. I doubt we will have an opportunity in the near future.

Robert remained silent during most of the discussion about the logistics of the job. In his mind, those were all details. They were important, but they all didn't needed to be sorted out in their very first meeting.

Robert frowned at Jenny's remark about Echo. Her pout reminded him on his own daughter, and he didn't think she was too serious. Still, it was her first day with her new co-workers, and that attitude was unhelpful. He turned to face her. Then its a good thing we are all on the same side. He remarked lightly.

[Chivy]

Introductory Scene

‘Sorry?!’ Josephine was momentarily baffled by Alpha Girl’s declaration of hate because she apparently thought her powers were ‘better’. While it tickled her pride a bit, it still stung. Vanguard’s words gave her a moment to reflect and formulate something to say to that.

‘I’m from the North.’ She started in a serious tone of voice ‘and where I’m from you might hate your worst enemy, but usually not somebody you just met. I’m not that familiar with the colloquialisms used in Miami yet, so that’s probably it and you’ll have to forgive me for not being comfortable with that turn of phrase.’
Josie then cocked her head slightly in an effort not to seem offended and adversarial on her first day she said ‘Except Brussel sprouts. It’s natural to hate them.’

She waited a moment before picking up the conversation where they had left off.
‘Shape changing and sidekicks that reform at night sounds awfully good to me. And Tinkers are among the most valued members of any team. I’ve seen some of the stuff you guys can make and it’s mindboggling.’ she nodded at Patch ‘but one of the things I was taught was that each power might look perfect, but unless you’re one of the Triumvirate there are limitations to what you can do. For instance, when I’m not split, I have no powers whatsoever. And I can only be split for a few hours at a time, then I have to recharge. As I am now, I can remember being able to lift cars, run circles around most people and hear, see and smell...’

Echo trailed off as a thought hit her, then she instinctually tapped her right ear, only to remember that she didn’t have her comm-bead yet. She quickly pulled up her mask a bit and put thumb and index finger in her mouth before blowing hard. A loud high-pitched whistle echoed through the room they were in.

‘DON’T GET RID OF THE GIFT BASKET AND ONLY THE PERSON NOW CARRYING IT IS ALLOWED TO TOUCH IT!’ she yelled, then turned to the Director.

‘Director, with your permission, I’d like to have the basket and letter quarantined in an airtight area for now. I’ll probably split in the next couple of hours and one of me will want to take a look at the basket and the letter.’ She blurted out as fast as she could before slowing down a bit to explain.
‘One of me can smell like a bloodhound. It’s a long shot but if Insight did touch the basket or the letter, his scent will probably still be on it. I’ll need to sniff everybody who touched it to rule out their scent, but hopefully I’ll be able to pick out a scent... And that’s more than we have right now.’

Echo then waited to see what the Director would say.

Later in the secure area

Josie finished the lesson in using the comms and answered any questions people had. At least as far as she was able. She’d spent a fair amount of time at the comms in Houston, but that was using the thing. The tech used in it went over her head. Well at least over her head while she wasn’t split up. She took note of Patch walking around and visibly following her explanation and it initially irked her. She liked having people listen to her. Then she reminded herself that he was a tinker and probably knew a lot more about the comms than she did. Heck he might have invented them. The team leader in Houston was a master at phrasing things to not be in any way insulting and that way of thinking had helped her a lot during her integration with the PRT. She decided to emulate him.

‘Patch?’ she asked quietly after walking up to him. ‘As a Tinker you probably know a lot more about the comms than I do, so if you have any tips or things that I missed or forgot, I think it’d help a lot. The comms are one of the most vital pieces of equipment we have working for us and we should all know as much as we can about them, don’t you think.

Close. Not perfect, but close nonetheless.

[GameOfChampions]

Introductory Scene

Director Sanderson nods in agreement "You're right Ji Yu this could just be a gambit on his part, we'd be fools to trust his letter implicitly but it is something to keep in mind while you are all out in the city. He will be difficult to find and while I do want him found eventually I don't want to tear the city apart looking for him, so let's avoid setting your monstrous little friends loose for now Jenny." she says with a small joking smile, the last part directed at the youngest member of the team.

She shakes her head slightly "That is true for the most part, all true in normal cities, but right now we need more people on the streets and that means we can't waste someone handling the comms. Instead we'll have a trained PRT squad on standby during patrols or whenever anyone is in the field and the squad leader will be on the comms, if needed the squad will make their way over to where they're needed immediately and the next squad will take their palace on the comms. You still have be in groups of two minimum though and I'd rather it be three until you all have some more experience."

The director blinks in surprise as Josie yells and then after a moments thought nods "It couldn't hurt to try give it a shot in a few hours, try it right before heading out on patrol."

One-on-One

The Director shakes her head "I'm sorry but that isn't an option, anything you want to say to me right now will be under the views of these cameras. They're carefully monitored and secured carefully."


You guys are doing great with the Later in a Secure Area scene, I'll start pitching in when you guys pick a location to head out in, and the groups to go in.

[Silent_p]

Introductory Scene

Ji Yu nodded briefly at CJ, curious but deciding not to press for details just yet. Josie seemed to know her stuff, though and Ji Yu made a mental note to go to her with any future procedure-related questions. Her eyebrows went up as Jenny spoke. "Whoa, there. Let's not kick things off with property destruction as plan A." She let the pouting slide as Josie and Richard addressed it. It was likely just an unfortunate turn of phrase but Ji Yu was glad it wasn't left to simmer.

The consensus regarding Insight seemed to be a wait and see approach. Given their current lack of leads, Ji Yu had to concede that it made sense. They could tear the city apart (figuratively, of course) and stir up all kinds of trouble for which they weren't ready, only to come up empty-handed in relation to their quarry. They'd need to investigate more subtly for the time being. The opposite of Josie's reaction, in fact, as the woman bellowed across the lab. "Little warning next time, hmm?" Ji Yu asked, blinking.

Ji Yu deflated somewhat as the others explained what they could do. Everyone else's powers seemed to eclipse hers. Her helmet still tucked under one arm as they were away from prying eyes, she scratched the back of her neck uncertainly. "I'm kind of a teleporter, I guess. I meld with one of the classical elements - earth, air, fire, water - and use it to travel quickly. Can't go far but the farther I go, the more destruction I cause when I reappear." She shrugged. "So, mostly a mover, little bit of a shaker," she finished with a small smile.

She turned to Jack. "Combat training sounds like a plan. Had some self-defence classes in college and a bit of krav maga over the years - it's all the rage, y'know?" She added with a cheeky grin. "But I doubt that'll get me far at this level."

Later in the secure area

After following Josie's instructions on how to use the comms and doing her own brief - and, as yet, indeterminate test - Ji Yu stood quietly looking around the room. In some ways she figured it was like a regular office with desks, chairs, PCs... paperwork. Then one of her teammates moved and any observer's eye was instantly drawn to them. Some had costumes more ornate and colourful than others but all were proclaiming them to be capes.

She shook her head and snorted in amusement. How far she'd come. She was there but, even now, she still had to earn it. Atone for her past recklessness. Idly, she played with her helmet, passing it between her gloved hands as she watched the others.

[Sønderjye]

Introductory Scene

Patch shifts to look at Josie with a small smile on his face. She just rose a significant ammount in his book by being calm and not being baited into some insult exchange.

He shifts uncomfortably under the praise: "I think you are overestimating the value of tinkers. I honestly don't feel that I can contribute that much to capturing criminals right now and technology was already pretty up there before tinkers started appearing. Mundane scientists have made glowing cats and goats that produce silk instead of milk. And some mundane kids from Illinois made a Spiderman suit that registrate objects around you and lets you feel when something comes close."

He doesn't however volunteer any limitations.

When hearing the yelling he visibly jumps, looking more alert than probably needed. After hearing Sanderson's reply he comments: "Wouldn't it be smarter to do it ASAP when the smell is as fresh as possible?"

"Still takes you multiple steps ahead of me" Patch comments with a smile to Ji Yu.

Later in the secure area

Patch stops up, putting some metal object back on the table. He takes a moment to try to remember what Josie had gone over and partly fails. "I think you did a good job explaining it." he says, trying to save face: "Not sure what I can add. Looks like they're made by synthetic plastic and have copper wires. and that their range includes the entire city and they can withstand some electrical shock although nothing close to an EMP." He considers adding that they aren't tinker made but decides to keep that to himself.

One-on-one

'That is inconvinient', Patch thinks as the director's reassurance fails to convince him. 'Should I tell her? If I do and if I am right he'll know that I suspect it. If I'm wrong I guess there's no point in raising suspecion. On to another topic then.'
"Something of the inventions I have been speculating in requires a lot of power. I was wondering whether the PRT would be interested in funding an invention that generates energy? I am estimating that it would cover a significant ammount, if not all, of the building's energy usage. I feel certain it would save money on the long run, money that could be used better other places."

Cams, Cams everywhere!

After leaving the director's office Patch goes hunting for the central surveilance center of the building. If he meet any of the other heroes he'll invite them to join him, letting them know what they are looking for only at a location without cameras.

[Anubis Dread]

Introductory Scene

Jenny pouts, but does have the grace to look a little ashamed. "I was just joking about the hate thing. Though I am still totally jealous no matter what limits you have. Then again as useful as they can be I'm pretty sure most powers would be better than these guys. Least being a changer is fun," she admits, looking down at her body that was as far removed from her actual form as possible.

Later in the Secure Area

The com tutorial was boring. Alpha Girl paid enough attention to know the jist, but spent most of the tutorial sitting down in the corner with her pets in her lap idly stroking them and playing with them. Once nice thing about her pets were although they could only obey simple orders they could obey them indefinitely and could obey multiple orders at the same time. It ended up taking about an hour of 'coding' in simple commands for them to act like playful pets instead of standing around like creepy mannequins, but it was well worth the time and effort.

"Yay, we know how to use coms now," Alpha Girl remarked as though it were the least exciting thing in the world. "Can we please go out and patrol now? Or hunt down Insight or... something. Anything?" she pleaded.

[Chivy]

Introductory Scene

‘Sorry for the yelling... I miss my comm-bead. ’ Josie said a little sheepishly, then nodded as Patch told her that sooner would probably be later. The tinker was probably the smartest among them and she had learned to listen to people who made sense.
‘I agree, faster is better. The problem comes in that I need to split for one of me to have the enhanced senses, but I can only stay split for about two hours max. Then I need an hour to recharge before I can split again. And if we’re going on patrol, I’d prefer to be able to split...’

‘But you’re right. This is more important. I guess either I’ll catch up after recharging or we’ll find something to do until I have.’
Echo then sort of sidestepped. Her form slightly warped and three Echoes finished the step in different directions.
'Hi.' The one that had sidestepped said
'Hello.' The one that was still standing in the original spot said
'Excuse me, this’ll make things much easier for this.' the third said and started by giving each of the capes, PRT staff and the Director a good long sniff, then took the card with her and followed the PRT member carrying the gift basket.

'Sorry about that, she gets really focussed on things.' Echo said, nodding at the retreating Echo.
'Allow me to introduce our different parts.' she continued, a smile easily heard in her voice.
'Sharp Echo, or Sharp, is the one of us with the biggest brain and is going to sniff things, Force Echo, or Force, behind me is the strong one and I go by Deft or Deft Echo and I’m fast.' She finished with a flourishing bow.
'But we all listen to Echo or our given name. This just makes it easier if you have to warn one of us.' Force continued smoothly.

‘You’re right of course, non-tinkers have made some amazing things.’ She told Patch, referring to what he had said before she had split.
‘But I have seen precious few antigravity jetpacks, handheld laser cannons or containment foam come out of regular science. Don’t sell yourself short. ’

’None of us should. Each power we are gifted with is amazing and together we can do things that boggle the imagination.' Deft then turned to Alpha girl and said
‘Don’t worry about the faux pas, we all make them. It’s already forgotten.'

Examining the gift basket & card

Echo had suited up in biohazard gear and was using tweezers and other grasping equipment to take apart the gift basket. She made sure to pay extra attention to the googly eyes on the card and while she slowly took them apart.

When she was sure that the gift basket and card held no hidden threats, she removed the biohazard gear and her mask and started to slowly breathe in all the scents that had been left on the basket and card. A person’s scent held clues to who they were. Male and female were easy to split up. But there was more in there. What kind of deodorant they used. What kind of soap. What they worked with. Even what they had eaten. It all filtered out of pores and stuck to people like a miasma, infecting everything they touched. She memorized all the different smells.

She tagged all the scents she had already smelt from people upstairs. She wouldn’t ignore them, as far as she was concerned ruling anybody out from the get go would be foolish; Insight could be anybody, but she concentrated on the smells she hadn’t smelled yet. Getting to know them. Mentally dissecting them. Who were these people? She started mentally preparing a report for the Director and the rest of the team.

Later in the Secure Area

‘ That’s useful to know. Thanks Patch.' Josie said after patch had informed them that any EMP would take out the comm-beads.
‘If anybody needs to be walked through the comms again, just ask and one of me will make some time for you. But like the Director said, one of the PRT staff will be manning the comms for now, so just focus on how the comm-bead works.'

‘The Director wants us three to a patrol. So we better pair up and pick a target. So any particular place you feel like patrolling?' She answered Alpha Girl’s impatient remark
‘We’ll need to make sure that we have at least one member in each patrol who knows how to handle him or herself. And if we’re taking the vehicles, at least make sure that one of us can drive or use a boat.'

[Rofltrollcopter]

Introduction Scene

He nods in approval at Jenny's response and gives her a warm smile. She was excitable and a bit rough around the edges, but overall she was a good kid. I'm very glad to have you with us Jenny.

He stepped back in surprise as Echo demonstrated her power. Lord Above! He exclaimed. When the three of them finished their presentation, Robert tried to wrap his head around the implications of this strange power. Do you all feel the same things? He asked curiously.

Later in the Secure Area
Robert sat back as he listened to the bustle of conversation going around him. The others seemed a lot more confident about what they were doing then he was. He still felt out of place in this new environment. The others discussed what they wanted to do, and Robert began to think over the briefing that they had been given. The situation with the former Wards team stuck out at him.

Maybe its because I'm a parent, but the thought of those kids out on their own really bothers me. I want to try to get in contact with them as soon as possible. I doubt they could be easily convinced to rejoin the protectorate, but at the very least I want to establish a line of communication with them. I want them to know that they can contact us if they need help, or if someone gets hurt. Robert frowned and folded his good arm over-top the robotic one. I have an idea about how to make contact with them. Could someone show me this 'parahumans online' forum that I've heard about?

[Silent_p]

Introductory scene

Ji Yu shrugged in response to Jack's observation. "Hopefully it'll help." Glancing at Jenny, she gave her an encouraging smile.

Josie then continued her trend of sudden action by activating her power. Ji Yu was impressed and spent a moment looking from one copy to another. It would take a bit of getting used to, certainly, but the versatility of it had to be immense. She had questions but figured it'd be best to think them through before blurting anything out.

"Any idea how long it'll take to get something from the gift basket?" She asked instead.

Later in the secure area

Standing waiting on her own seemed to be achieving little as the others gathered to discuss matters. Still unsure if her comm was actually working, she sighed and made her way over to her team mates. "Hey, guys," she said, smiling, "we going on patrol? Show our faces a bit?" She paused and looked at one of the Josies, a thought from earlier reoccurring to her. "Also, do we get combat instructors? Y'know, for hand-to-hand."

[Chivy]

Introduction Scene
Do you all feel the same things? Vanguard asked after he had recovered from the surprise of her split. That’s twice you moved before warning. They don’t know you yet, so slow it down. Force admonished herselves, before answering
‘No, we’re each one whole person while split. Just like you. But after I become one again, I remember everything that happened to everyone of me. Even the bad parts.’ she finished. Both remaining Echoes then reflexively suppressed a shudder.

"Any idea how long it'll take to get something from the gift basket?" Snap asked and Deft turned to answer her.
‘Sorry, no idea. I think that depends on how many scents are on there. But she’ll be as quick as she safely can.’

Later in the secure area

‘Only had a few months of combat training myself. So yes, I think we should bring it to the Director and try to get a teacher and some sort of training schedule as soon possible.’

‘If we had more combat capable people and knew each other and Miami better, I’d suggest we hit one of the groups out there, while we’re still unknown. But that’ll be a mistake as we stand now. Letting people see that the PRT is back is most important.’

[Sønderjye]

Introductory Scene

Hearing the displeasement in Jenny's voice Jack turns to face her: "I think there's a big advantage in having minions that don't feel fear and who can be destroyed without consequences. However if there's anything specific that you think it would be useful if they could, let me know. There's a bunch of limitations but we could give it a try."

An idea hits him. "Director, does the mind-less minions count as living?" He doesn't really expect a no but he can't help but hope."

Patch face lightens up when Josie takes his prompt. After attempting to work on the PRT for three weeks straight it was a nice change that someone actually listened to his points.

He looks mildly uncomfortable with being sniffed at but doesn't object.

After the split happened he'll examine each of the echo's with his glasses. He answers Force Echo with a shrug but doesn't look unaffected by the flattery.

"Given that none of you are naked I'm assuming that you copy whatever you are wearing. Do you copy everything, even electronic equiptment? What happens if you copy something and then leave it on the ground before merging?" he asks.

Examining the gift basket & card

Patch gives the gift basket a look with his glasses, trying to see if he can find something suspecious.

Later in the secure area

"Going on patrol does sound like a good idea", Patch injects: "I think I'd like to be on the second shift. Don't know the city well enough to care about the location. "

"Combat instructions would really be useful." Patch agrees.

"Sure, let me help you out" he says, before opening a browser on the computer at Robert's desk and direction it to the site. "What are you going to do?" he asks while his fingers dart over the keyboard

[Rofltrollcopter]

The long arm of the law

Robert was taken back by Patch's enthusiasm. Not that his willingness to help wasn't appreciated, he was just surprised by the tinker's enthusiasm. He just didn't expect for there to be options. Honestly, I would just be happy with something that works. He sat down in a chair next to the smaller man, and pulled up the right hand sleeve on his t-shirt. Underneath was a white suction cup that connected the stump attached to his shoulder with his prosthesis. His good hand fiddled with the suction cup, and he pulled the prosthetic arm off. He offered it to the tinker with a grimace. He was still having trouble adjusting to his missing limb, and it showed.

It's a good idea to try to make it from some stronger material, but I don't want to make this project any more harder for you then it already is. The plan was to transport any material I needed for fieldwork in my shield. He explained. Feel free to make it from whatever you want. To be honest, I don't know much about Material Sciences.

Later in the Secure Area

Robert stood up and moved to the side when Patch came over to his desk. I'm wondering if one of the Wards has an account on this website. Robert explained. I want to try to send a message, so I can start a dialogue.

He paused while he heard the other's engaged in conversation. The groups' collective fixation on fighting was somewhat worrisome. He stood up and walked over to the group of Ju Yi, Josie, and Jenny.

I understand the value of self-defence and the ability to protect others, but its more important to try to resolve conflict without fighting. I know there's going to be a lot of situations where we won't be given the opportunity, but its something to keep in mind.

I would prefer to keep the Patch/Robert scene here.

Also, do any members of the Grey Hand have a PHO account?

[GameOfChampions]

Introductory Scene:

The Director looks over to Patch and shakes her head "You can't experiment on the minions."

One-On-One:

Director Sanderson gestures to the lights and then down to the basement "We already have a Tinker made generator, they're made by a tinker out in Vancouver and most PRT headquarters have them, and it completely powers the HQ so we can't be cut off in event of some terrible threat that cut us off." She looks him in the eye and laces her fingers together "Either way we wouldn't be able to put the funds towards any funding for you and your inventions if that's what you were thinking, there are these rules for a reason and part of being on probation is seeing if you can work within them."

Cams, Cams Everywhere:

Despite searching hard Patch can't find anywhere inside the building large enough to meet with people, though you did find a few corners or so that were outside of the cameras.

Examining the Gift Basket:

As you dissemble the things in the basket you don't find any threats anywhere and as you identify the scents you can smell dozens of different scents from the card and the other things in the basket, some are peoples while you recognize others as the standard scents of a pharmacy. You can also make out an unknown number of partial prints and smudged prints, presumably from people who looked at and touched the stuff before Insight got them. While one of the dozens of different people scents could be Insights scent you have no way to determine which it would be if it was any of them.

The molecular structure of the various objects in the gift basket are the same as any others and don't arouse any suspicion.

Later in the Secure Area:

With a quick search through the files the PRT has on the ex-Wards Patch finds that while they all went on the site only one of them, Trigger, had an account on the site under the username MiamiGirl562.

[Sønderjye]

Long arm of the law

The tinker puts the long needle that he had been using to fine tune the sniper rifle in front of him away to look at the prosthesis. "Hmm", he studies it for a few seconds: "Yeah, I can definitely fix you up something that works way better than this."

Patch smiles at Vanguard's assurance. "Don't sweat it. I appreciate the distraction. "

"Well, the first thing you should know about materials is that there's different kinds of strength. For instance hardness is how much stress a material can take before it changes shape permanently, here steel is pretty strong. But spider silk is stronger than steel in terms of tensile strength, how much stress it can withstand while being stretched, and sheer toughness, as the ability not to rupture." Patch stops and catches himself. "Sorry, I have a tendency to get carried away when... Aanyway. Backtracking. If you want the arm to be made of something that you can use with your power the real question is where we would get the money to the material from. I have an idea for a machine that can make materials but it'll be hella expensive so probably won't be a thing before sometime in the future"

Introductory Scene

Patch sends Alpha Girl an apologizing shrug.

One-on-One

Patch nods feels the sour taste of impeeding defeat. "What I was thinking about director is that I should be able to spend the funding and I would like to help the PRT in my extra time."

Cams, Cams everywhere

Patch continues looking for the room in which the camera's are controlled and monitored.

Preparing for patrolling

"So", patch says, sitting on a bench with a case by his size that expands up till just under his knees: "Where do we want to start patrolling? For what it's worth I'd suggest that we take the safer areas this time around, we don't know how we interact and I don't think we're ready to run into anything big."

[Silent_p]

Introductory scene

The Josie's response was pretty much what Ji Yu had expected. How long was a piece of string, after all? "Yeah, figured that might be the case," she said, nodding briefly. "Thought I'd ask in case it was some kind of timed thing - guess you're not a microwave," she added with a small chuckle.

Ji Yu raises an eyebrow at Jack's suggestion, curious that the Director shot it down so quickly. Perhaps they were more connected to their master than she'd thought. Were they alive? She looked at Jenny. "So, how much feedback do you get from them?" She asked, gesturing at the creations.

Later in the secure area

"If we're out and seen to be active, it could make some groups think twice before starting something. Or it could be a red rag to a bull - a misconception, by the way, but that's not especially important right now..." Ji Yu trailed off as the thought of being a target to some powerful capes hit her. It was what she'd signed up for but something that was rapidly becoming less and less abstract.

She turned as Robert approached them and spoke up. "I don't completely disagree and, sure, I'm happy to give talking a shot if the opportunity is available. I'd rather avoid getting this messed up where possible," she said, pointing to her face. "Still, I just think there's gonna be times where our mere presence will be taken as a threat or some kind of macho challenge." She paused. "Speaking of, did anyone notice that there are a lot of guys in those cape lists. I'm still new to this but I thought I read something... Isn't that statistically unlikely? Or is there something I'm missing?"

[Anubis Dread]

Introductory Scene

Alpha Girl smiles at Patch. "It's alright. They may not be the best power but they've served me well enough as it is." Besides any experimenting Patch could do would probably make them even more hideous than they already are. She had a hard enough time dealing with them as it was. Alpha Girl frowned at Ji Yu's next question though. "None? I mean I can sort of tell they exist and send them commands, but that's it. So I can tell if one of them dies, but short of that I'm just giving them commands blind."

Later in the Secure Area

Jenny shrugged. "It's not as unlikely as you'd think. Miami is a pretty big city, that means lots of meta-humans. The ratio is a little high, but Brockton Bay and New York are like WAY worse," she nods. "Though Miami's Rogue scene is pretty dead compared to most places, which makes it seem worse than it is since everyone is a part of some group or another. Even I'M a member of the PRT now, which makes the Rogue scene consist of my Mom and... that's about it. Vegas has almost as many meta-humans as we have period just as Rogues." She'd kind of wanted to transfer, but that'd mean more competition and she could NOT compete with pretty much any other parahuman in entertainment. Practically the only reason she'd done this well was she didn't have much competition in Miami.

Hm, if the former Wards had an online account she could probably do something with that. She'd need to ask the Director how much she was allowed to post about their operations and such when she actually had something to post. Maybe seeing the PRT from the inside would give them all a nice PR boost after that whole identity snafu? She could understand why everyone was upset - if she'd joined the Wards her identity would be blown too after all - but being a changer and already being in witness protection she knew it was hard for her to get the full picture. She hated being her base-self anyway, so abandoning her identity wouldn't actually mean much for her. Jen made a mental note to never post any of that information online lest she be mobbed by former Wards.

Preparing for Patrolling

"Me, Vanguard and Snap can take Downtown," Alpha Girl states immediately. Sure the Elite hung out there, but number one the Elite tended to have enough restraint to not attack any and all patrols through there since it was pretty public, and number two it would have the greatest number of people who actually cared about seeing superheroes in town. Jen freely admitted she was an attention whore. To herself. In her head only.

[Chivy]

Introductory Scene

‘I choose what gets copied over and what doesn’t, but one of me always has what I have on me.’ Josie answered Patch ‘So if I’m tied up, one of me will stay tied up regardless of the split, but two of me don’t have to be. When I end my power two of me turn to some kind of carbon-ash. As far as I know everything that was created with them does the same. So what’s your speciality?’

‘I’d love to have a way to fly or at least be able to patrol across rooftops. One of me can get there pretty easily, but that’s only one of me while I’m split. When I’m not... well, patrolling from street level just feels un-capey. So if anything you can do with that?’
‘Or adding cameras to each of our costumes, preferably with some kind of screens in our masks so we can share images and things we’ve seen.’
‘Or..’
‘The others probably have their own requests as well. ’ Force interrupted Deft, who then gave a smile and a nod.
‘Before long you’ll be the most appreciated member of this team Patch.’

Examining the gift basket & card

‘... from millions to dozens, for now it’s our best lead. Assuming that he’s in those scents of course. I’ll keep my nose open whenever I’ve split. If I scent someone who has one of those scents I’ll add their name and image to that list.’ Josie finished her report to the Director and the rest of the team, then pressed send. The report included a description of every element she had scented in each of the scents, including guesses as to what the source of these elements was.

Later in the Secure Area

‘Hope for the best, but plan, and train, for the worst.’ Josie piped in after Ji Yu’s answer to Robert’s statement about fighting. ‘Our entire job is taking care of threats and keeping people safe. No matter how we do things, we’ll be in conflict with other capes more often than not. And more often than not that will mean a fight, if we want to or not..’
She shrugged apologetically, hoping she hadn’t destroyed any romantic idea Robert had about their job.
‘We’ll also want to get some tactics and first aid training in as well as combat training and that’s all before the PR guys get a hold of us..’

The two Josies in the room then turned to the door as Sharp stepped in and clucked her tongue. Force repeated the sound, followed by Deft a moment later. All three nodded at each other, indicating that each had a good image of the dimensions of the room and occupants.

‘It’s done. I’ve sent each of you my initial report. Might be nothing, might be the first step in finding out who Insight is.’
‘Good good. Now before we shock anybody, we’ll be cancelling our powers in a moment.'
'Just need to make sure we don't make a mess.’

Deft then quickly ran towards the cleaning supply cupboard and returned with three large bin bags, tossing one towards Sharp and Force. Each of them stepped into them and crouched down, before Josie cancelled her power, leaving only one of them crouching and two bags with carbon ash.

Josie looked around and made note of who was closest to the two of her that had disappeared and who was closest to her. She had spaced the three of her between the others, away from any obvious threats, to see which one her power thought was safest.

‘I’ll need an hour before I can do that again.’

Preparing for Patrolling

Echo nodded when Alpha Girl volunteered for Downtown duty.
‘Then I guess Spook, Patch and I will be on the second patrol.’ she mentally skimmed the reports on the areas of Miami before continuing
‘With Downtown being taking care of, that just leaves the Docks and Outskirts as hotspots that we have to get to know. I agree with Patch that patrolling the Docks on our first night, and not in force, isn’t the wisest course of action, but we don’t want to give our opposition the idea that we’re going to avoid their turf. I suggest Spook, Patch and I start with the Outskirts tonight and we schedule a joint patrol on the Docks later in the week. That’ll give us enough time to get to know the boats, each other and get some training in.’ She looked around for confirmation or other ideas from the rest.

[Rofltrollcopter]

OOC: I'm going to respond to the other scenes tomorrow, I've been quite busy lately unfortunately.


Extending a Hand

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♦ Private message to Tin_Mother (Moderator):

Vanguard (Unverified Cape): Hi, I'm a new cape with the Protectorate and the rules on the site said that I needed to talk with a Moderator to get my account verified?

Tin_Mother (Moderator): The Protectorate has already pre-arranged verified cape accounts for all of their members, so you don't need to worry about anything.Welcome to the Parahumans Online Community! If you need any assistance, please to hesitate to ask?

Vanguard (Verified Cape): Thanks! I'm still new to this new fangled social media stuff.

♦ Private message to MiamiGirl562 (Verified Cape):

Vanguard (Verified Cape): Hi. We haven't met before, but I'm part of the new Protectorate Team operating in Miami. I'll give it you straight. I disagree with your decision to leave the Protectorate, but I respect that you want to do right for the people of this city. I'm not here to talk you into rejoining the Protectorate, I'm here because we want to work with you. The bad guys outnumber the good guys, and we can accomplish a lot more working together then we can working alone.

What I propose is that we co-ordinate our efforts. If we get information that something bad is going down, we will share it with you. In return, you would do the same for us. If someone in your group gets hurt and needs medical attention, we will help you get access to whatever care is needed. If one of our groups gets into a fight and needs help, we can call on the other for assistance.

If your interested, let me know.

[GameOfChampions]

One-On-One

"I'm sorry but while that is a great attitude we need to build some trust in you first. As for your desire for more funding we've been over how to increase team funding and that would help your desire to get more funding. If that was all..." She trails off with a raised eyebrow as she dryly gestures to the mound of paperwork on her desk.

Cams, Cams, Everywhere

In the middle of the building you find the security room for the building with a pair of armed men outside and a locked steel door.

A Day on the Streets (Patrol One)

The trip to downtown was not to long and within walking distance though the armored van was available. As you arrive pedestrians in the area start to recognize you and start to wave or take pictures and a few more bold passers by running up for quick autograph or selfie with a hero.

It's mid afternoon and street traffic is not heavy but noticeable, the looming towers blocking most of the bright Miami sun as you travel through it.

Extending A Hand

Private Message to Vanguard (Verified Cape)

♦ MiamiGirl562 (Verified Cape):

Hello Vanguard.

It's good to hear that a new team has finally arrived, Miami desperately needs it. We are open to some of these ideas. Exchanging info works really well for us but we have our own arrangements for medical care and while we aren't opposed to working with the PRT we aren't ready to compromise any of the PR we've made in our stint as independents or our freedom away from the PRT. However whenever the need is great enough we will put these concerns aside and be ready to help this city alongside you.

-The Grey Hand

They're willing to work with you guys for more serious issues such as Class A threats or coordinated strikes on gangs. But don't want to be too associated with the PRT again.

[Sønderjye]

Introductory Scene

"Well, I don't doubt that. I can see any number of advantages in having obedient minions. We can still make a number of things to make it even better. An easy piece of tech would be to put a camera on both of them so you could see what they were seeing, so you could send them into high risk places while still finely controlling them." Patch responds, feeling that his use of the team is being belittled.

"I don't really have one." Patch responds to Josie. "I'm sorta a more general tinker however weird that sounds, so making something that'll make you fly definitely is possible. I'll have to do some calculations to see how expensive it would be though, our budget is limited for the time being. Not sure about camera's and screens though. It's easy enough to make but to do it for everybody would probably be too expensive for what it gives us."

He thinks for a little. "So in theory, if I make say a bomb with containment foam and you had it on you when you split you could throw two of them and then when you fusioned you would still have the bomb?"

One-on-One

"I see." Patch responds with a perfectly neutral face, stopping himself from asking what the PRT had done to earn his trust. He respectfully nods before leaving the room, intending to figure out what he originally came to ask by himself, are the camera system safe?

Later in secure area

When Echo dismisses her power Jack feels slightly uneased. The big black bags reminded him somewhat of bodybags and given that two echoes just had "died". It felt off. Still it was very interesting: "Would you mind if I took a look" he asks gesturing towards the bags. If given permission he'll scan the content of the bags.

Preparing for patrol

Patch is happy that Alpha girl were enthusiastic to take a more dangerous part of town even if he is a bit conserned for the groups safety.

"Sure" Patch responds.

Group 2: On the way to patrol.

However as soon as the group have left the monitored area (and is isolated) he stops and turns to face the two others. "There's something that I need to air with the two of you. I have read up on Insight's profile and I think I have a way to counter his stalker power. I'm conserned however that if he sees me and uses his power on me he'll find a work-around before I finish the tech. So I'll suggest that we go for one of the richer and safer parts of town for this patrol. Partly because it's less likely to bumb into Insight there and partly because we should put some effort into making the wealthy people in town feel better because that'll mean donations to the PRT which in turn will improve the equiptment that we can use to fight the actual bad guys."

He intentionally had no particular place in mind when leaving the building because if his suspecion was correct and Insight had access to the PRT cam network his power could potentially work on video feeds.

[Chivy]

Introductory Scene

‘Owh, I thought all tinkers had a speciality.’ Force said, shrugging apologetically
‘Being general tinker might be Patch’s speciality.’ Deft put in with a grin
‘Which probably is the best kind. Not limited to just one shtick and all that. We lucked out having you on the team Patch.’
Deft’s grin only widened, with Force sprouting it’s mirror image, when Patch agreed to look into a way for her to fly.

Echo nodded when Patch theorized using the same containment foam bomb multiple times.
‘That’s how it worked in the past, only problem is I don’t get to choose which of me stays and which of me disappear. My power selects the one who stays. As far as we could figure out, it had something to do with which one is in the safest location and that takes into account threats I don’t know about. The rest all turns to carbon-ash. No idea what would happen to containment foam when my power ends. Think it also disintegrates.’

Later in secure area
‘Go ahead. It’s not me anymore, just ash.’ She answered Patch’s request.

Group 2: On the way to patrol.

‘Anything’s possible with the amount of powers out there.’ Echo nodded when Patch laid out his reasoning, then took a moment to think it over.
‘Insight is supposed to be an expert Graphologist with a background in psychology. While the graphology could be a part of his power, any psychology training isn’t something that screams ‘poor’ or comfortable in poor areas. I’m no expert in these things, but I’d probably expect him to be in the richer areas.’
She took another moment to run things through her mind before continuing. Her tone of voice didn’t show a hint of doubt about Patch’s conclusions regarding Insight’s powers. She was simply verbally working through his reasoning with what she knew.
‘I think the best course of action would be for you to stay out of sight in the van, with Spook and I being seen on the streets. We’d keep in contact via the comms and you could use the van’s surveillance equipment to keep an eye out for a lot more than we could.’

‘The Downtown patrol will be showing their faces for the richer crowds, so I don’t think that needs to be handled. Considering that the Rock Wreckers control the Outskirts, as well as that they’re trying to move in on the Docks, they’ll be spread thin. Slate also has the reputation of keeping his family from going too far. I think it’d hit everything we need to do on our first night out, while still being relatively safe and the least likely area of having Insight see you. Especially if you stay out of sight in the van.’


‘But you’re the one taking the risk of becoming Insight’s next target if he finds out you’re the one that’ll neuter him, so we’ll patrol wherever you think is best.’ Echo finished sincerely. She knew they needed to get out there and learn the lay of the land in the problem areas as fast as possible, but if her reasoning wasn’t enough to sway him, she wouldn’t pressure somebody into doing things he didn’t want to.

[Anubis Dread]

A Day on The Streets

Ah, this was what she was talking about. Joining the PRT had been a good idea. She normally only got recognized half as much, even if just her appearance drew plenty of gazes. The PRT PR machine at work. Alpha Girl soaked up the attention, happily posing for pictures and signing autographs of her loving public.

Eventually the initial excitement died down though and she realized that patrolling when you weren't the center of attention was boring. All you did was walk around looking for trouble. Which since they were in a safe part of the city wasn't going to happen. Sure the Elite called this place their turf, but they knew better than to start street level trouble which is all they'd be picking up unless they decided to crash into an office somewhere and look for dirty dealings. Which they weren't. Still boring was better than having any trouble. She was NOT looking forward to fighting. Up until now her idea of fighting had been 'send minions at it to distract them while running away'. Something the PRT had been very clear to say was not an acceptable course of action for a capital H Hero.

Idly taking a selfie with her two pets and uploading it to PHO on her cellphone, Alpha Girl frowned as she began typing away. "This is pretty boring. Want to grab a coffee or something while we're here?" she asked her companions.

[Sønderjye]

Introductory Scene

Patch shifts uncomfortably under the praise. "Ehm, I think we're probably lucky to have all of us", he says sheepishly.

"Soo. I feel weird about saying this out loud but could we just kill those of you that we didn't want?" He asks: "Or hold a gun to the heads of those of you that we want to disappear?". Man, It is super strange talking about killing people in such an objective way but I guess cape things are just weird.

Cams, Cams everywhere!

"Hey there" Patch innocently chimes at the guard. "I don't suppose that heroes are allowed in the control room?"

Group 2: On the way to the patrol

Patch listened attentively to Josie's reasoning. "Well, someone with a degree in psychology might find pleasure in using that in parts of the town where people are more unstable and thus more susceptible to manipulation. Your other points do stand though." Patch says while realizing something. If they were able to see Insight on their trip he would be able to rule out the possibility that Insight could use his power over video feeds. "Let's go to the outskirts"

[Chivy]

Introductory Scene

‘No!’ Deft was shaking her head emphatically, while Force looked at Patch in shock when he casually suggested killing her.
‘I remember everything that happens to every one of me.’
‘One of me already died... I remember... Force trailed off with a shudder.
‘Just no.’ Deft said with finality, her shudder barely suppressed.



Group 2: On the way to the patrol

‘Good point. He could be anywhere. I guess it comes down to that we just don’t know enough about Insight.’ Echo agreed with Patch’s assessment of Insight.
‘Just means you’ll have to stay as hidden as you can until you neuter him. You have your driver’s licence, right?’

She started doing her pre-patrol check on weapons, armour and her gear, then looked up at Patch.
‘I try to check everything before I go out, just to make sure that I don’t have any surprises when I’m out there. I start by making sure that my armour doesn’t bunch up, that my batons, knives and grenades are free to draw and that all my straps are securely buckled so my shield won’t snag on anything when I pull it from my back.’
She started explaining her checks to the others, hoping they’d follow suit and make sure their gear is with them and in the correct position. She fiddled with her commbead with practiced ease
‘Then I make sure my Comms work and the person I’m tagging along with tells me which channels we’ll be using for the patrol.’
Echo then shrugged and seeing that she was probably the one with the most experience in this particular patrol she said
‘How about we use channel four and channel nine as backup? Here, you tap that and.. yea that’s it’ she started to help them change their channels.


Once everything was checked and they all piled into the second armoured truck, Josie tapped her ear and said
‘This is Echo starting second patrol together with Patch and Spook in Truck two. We’re all switching to channel four as the patrol channel with channel nine as backup channel.’

[GameOfChampions]

A Day on The Streets (Patrol Two)

As soon as you get your gear sorted out the three of you head off to the Outskirts and start your patrol, it was everything that the Downtown patrol wasn't. The people on the streets glared at the two heroes they could see and one or two had the gall to spit in your general direction, making sure they didn't hit you. As you travel through the Outskirts you can see some small groups of heavily tattooed young men and women that could be Rock Wrecker gang members glaring at you as they see you and quickly vanishing into the maze of houses, backyards, and apartment buildings shortly after seeing you.

Spook comms the pair of you before you get too far in "I think I'm going to scout ahead guys, I'll stay on the streets to avoid close contact with people and I'll pop back in to give you guys updates every ten minutes or if I see anything out of the ordinary, but Echo I'm going to leave a pair of ghosts with you for now so you don't seem alone with Patch in the car. This is Spook going dark for now." She concentrates for a second and a pair of ghosts appear before moving to Echo and flanking her, then she's gone without a trace.

[Sønderjye]

Introductory Scene

"Oh", was patch's only responds as he moves his eyes to a point on the floor, face pale. He was kicking himself over how badly he had understood the situation.

Group 2: On the way to patrol

"Yeah" Patch agrees with Echo's idea. "Staying hidden would be preferably. And I do have a driver's licence."

Patch follows Echo's example, happy that there at least is one experienced cape in their company. He adjust his clothes and the bullet-proof west he is wearing inside the trenchcoat, doublechecks all of his many pockets, including the ones at his boots, to reassure himself that he remembered everything, readjusts his gloves. When inside the car he takes off the case at his back and opens it to double-check his sniper and to ensure that he remembered to bring the non-lethal bullets.
Lastly he taps the comm at his ear to test it: "This is Patch testing the comm"

A day on the streets(Patrol Two)

Patch shudders inside the car. He's happy that he at least isn't visibly out on the streets but he isn't really at ease. "I mean I feel safer inside the truck but really 4 out of 5 parahumans in the Rock Wrecker can probably make a hole in it if they felt like it." Patch says over the comm. And then after a moment after he continues: "And what kind of word is parahumans anyway? "With humans"? It's like suggesting that we aren't human which none of the reasearch I have seen suggests."

Good that it's us that's here. Patch thinks. He didn't really know the other members but his impression was that Alpha Girl probably wouldn't handle a situation like this too well.

Ghosts? Patch's eyes opens wide up. Wait, does that.. Patch stops his line of thought and tries to break down the situations. Eventually he decides that the ghosts aren't actually ghosts but mere images that Spook's power had created which allowed him to keep believing that soul's didn't actualy exist. A idea strikes him: "Spook, do you copy while being ghosted?"

He continues letting the car follow the more experienced cape.

[Silent_p]

Introductory Scene

As Jack and the Josies discussed the applications of their respective powers, Ji Yu processed Jenny's response regarding her creatures. She didn't precisely understand the Director's position: if the creatures were mindless, not really 'alive' and there was no feedback problems for their master... what was the issue with experimenting? Discomfort? It seemed to be a completely different situation from the Josies who were living and autonomous - a point proven by their reaction to Jack suggesting killing one of them.

Dissatisfied, she nonetheless decided to shelve the discussion for the time being.

Later in secure area

Ji Yu frowned at Jenny's explanation. She was hardly in a position to refute it but was left with the nagging feeling that the statistics were skewed given the low number of women in the cape lists. "Yeah," she said slowly. "I guess I've some catching up to do on the cape scene." She quietly resolved to have a look into the matter on her own.

Preparing for Patrolling

Ji Yu was surprised that Jenny was so quick to pick her but shrugged it off quickly. "Alright. Sounds like a straight-forward run. Gentle walk in the park to get started." She looked at the others seriously. "That's jinxing it, isn't it? Definitely feels like I'm jinxing it." Still, she soon broke into a grin.

A Day on The Streets

The attention was immediate. Intellectually, Ji Yu knew that was part of the point of the exercise: be seen, establish a presence, act friendly and get the public on side. Emotionally, it was overwhelming as everyone stared, point and some approached for photos or autographs and she had to wonder if one of them might be going to attack, so excited and animated they became. She was used to getting some attention but generally on her own terms. The new experience was a little daunting and it took a while for Ji Yu to relax.

Gamely, she posed for the photos and scrawled 'Snap' on some notepads - her gloves weren't great for writing, though. Gradually, she found something of balance between vigilance and openness. "Hey there!" She said to one little boy, hunkering down at his level. "I'm Snap and I'm new here. That's a great t-shirt!" One quick photo and she turned back to the others as parents led the kid away. The initial crowds had dissipated and it was pretty much just her and her colleagues.

She looked at Alpha Girl. "You paying? 'Cause I'd be all over a mocha, then. Vanguard? You look like a chai drinker to me," she added, cocking a hip and giving him a considering look.

[Chivy]

Group 2: On the way to patrol
‘Gun?’ Echo said in surprise as she noticed Patch’s rifle. She had always disliked them, but one of her dying because of a gunshot had turned the dislike to loathing.
‘If you start shooting at them, they’ll start shooting at us.’ She said.

A day on the streets(Patrol Two)

‘I think it’s Latin or Greek or something. I always thought it meant beyond or better than. Well we’re different than normal humans, that’s for sure.’ Echo replied over the comms while she tried to project confidence and made sure people saw she was armed and ready.

‘The Rock Wreckers could probably rip the truck apart,’ she continued
‘but if nothing else Slate strikes me as somebody cautious. So they’ll probably not attack unless they know who we are and what we can do. It’s why I wear swords, batons, grenades and this shield. I have some training in all of them, but I’m nowhere near an expert. But they don’t know that.’
She waved at some of the more hostile people in the crowds.
‘So we have a leg up on them, we have files on them and their abilities and they’ll have very little on us for a while. We just need to learn as much as we can about each other and the city before we try and take out as many as we can in one fell swoop.’

'Alright be careful Spook.' She answered spook.

[Anubis Dread]

A Day on the Streets

Alpha Girl pouts at the prospect of paying. But since she'd actually been using her abilities to get some money for some time before signing up with the PRT she was likely the richest one there. She couldn't really argue with Snap's logic.

"Fiiiiiine," Alpha Girl exaggeratingly lets out in an overly cute whine. They were in public, her persona must be upheld. ...though to be fair she'd probably do something similar in her civilian identity. "There's a nice coffee shop a couple of blocks down. It's across the street from a 'totally legitimate business' that's 'totally not run by the Elite' too so if anyone asks we can be doing a stake out," she nods. She may not have read much of the notes the PRT gave her - seriously, that stuff was thicker than her head, how did they expect her to read it all? - but she'd been in Miami long enough to know at least some of the hot spots.

[Sønderjye]

Preparing for patrol

Jack send Ji Yu a smile with the talk about being jinxed.he was happy that there was someone to lighten the atmosphere.

Group 2: preparing for patrol

Patch grows a bit uncomfortable with the more experienced cape's reaction to his weapon of choice and feels a need to defend himself: "I was asked by the PRT to make a weapon. I'm not much of a close up fighter and I would br able to hit an endbringer at 10 meter with a thrown weapon. This way I'm at least far enough away to not be a liability."

"Are you implying that they don't have a reason to shoot if you run at super speed towards them with a baton?" He responds defensively.

A day on the streets(Patrol Two)

"It's greek and also means beyond. Depends. A paramour is someone you love besides of your love and not nessesarily more than your first love. At any rate it-s still the same point. You and all of the other guys have the same molecular structure as any human and there's no research that suggests that the genome looks any different. In fact some research suggests that all humans are capable of this and it's only because we triggered the right gene somehow."

"Thanks for the reassurance" , Patch responda drily.

[GameOfChampions]

Later in a Secure Area

As you scan the ash you see that it has the same make up as wood ash, with major components being calcium carbonate and calcium oxide.

Cams, Cams Everywhere!

The guard gives you a friendly wave and gestures for you to join him "Ya come on in, Heroes are more then welcome in the security room just don't break anything." He says with a small laugh at the end. He points to the seat behind him then gestures to the massive array of screens and complicated machinery in front of the pair of you "This baby can see any inch of the HQ aside from the bathrooms and sleeping areas and has a security system that would put the CIA to shame. We have an AI program designed by Dragon herself to protect our records and even though the AI itself is pretty basic it is still ways above any normal security systems."

A Day on The Streets (Patrol 1)

The crowds all react positively and everyone seems to leave a little happier then before with a spring in their step. The coffee run goes as normally as one could expect with the staff being in awe of the costumed heroes entering the shop and give you the drinks on the house.

However half way through your drinks the gruff voice of Captain Reynolds, the man who was at the comms during the patrols, reaches the three of you in a loud slightly panicked voice "Patrol One! Check in this is Captain Reynolds calling in an emergency! Something has gone wrong with patrol 2, Spook is gone and we have reports of cape violence in the area as well! Please respond and make your way to the Outskirts immediately, one of the trucks is 5 minutes out and on its way to grab you."

A Day on The Streets (Patrol 2)

Spook doesn't respond immediately seemingly not able to hear anything while in her Stranger form but ten minutes later she checks in with the pair of you to let you know everything was fine so far, this goes on for almost half an hour with nothing but some more unruly locals giving the heroes the stink eye. She always appears a few blocks ahead and usually in sight which she uses to give a slight wave before going dark again.

However just as your patrol route is about to turn a corner and Spook was about to check in for the fourth time all you hear is a garbled scream from Spook that is quickly cut off into a dying gasp... then nothing but radio silence. As you turn the corner all you find as you look around are several spots of blood and what you both recognize as Spooks visor and comm bead but there is no sign of the women anywhere in the area and you don't see any locals in the small side street you've turned onto.

However even as you examine the scene you start to hear sirens, screaming, and loud explosions in the distance. Near the other end of the neighborhood you can see the source of the commotion being one of the larger apartment buildings now in flames with blasts seemingly coming from the ground to feed the intense fire. Only a few minutes later you suddenly start to get incoming comm traffic "Patrol Two there is a group of parahumans attacking a well known Wrecker hideout not to far from you, we need you to respond. Patrol One is making their way to you as we speak and there will be a PRT squad on standby to help with clean up if needed."

[Chivy]

Group 2: preparing for patrol

‘Sorry.’ Echo said. ‘You’re right. If they want to shoot at us they’ll shoot at us.’
She shook her head
‘I just don’t like guns. What they can do is so... permanent. And getting shot hurts. A lot.’

A Day on The Streets (Patrol 2)

‘If you wanted me to lie and reassure you, you should have said so.’ Echo laughed out loud, making sure that the people on the streets saw and heard that she was at ease (or at least doing a very good job of faking it).
‘So except for the fact that we can do these amazing things, there’s no difference between all of us? Seems hard to believe. If we’re all the same, why do capes trigger when the same horrible thing happens to hundreds of other people without them triggering?’



Echo started running as soon as the garbled scream came across the comms. Left boot slammed on the pavement, followed by right, followed by left. The rythm then changed when three right boots slammed down instead of one.

Deft sped off as fast as she could, canvassing the area as quickly as she could, keeping a running narrative over the comms of everything she saw. She let out a vocalised ‘sonar ping’ every few seconds.

Force took her shield from her back and pulled it over her right arm. She then unclipped one of her batons and whipped it out to it’s full length before taking up a guarding position near the scene. Her own vocalised ‘ping’ joined Deft’s, leaving a rhythmic opening for a third ‘ping’.

Sharp looked around the scene, being careful not to contaminate it, but looking for clues as efficiently as she could. Her own ‘ping’ completing the rythm.
‘This is Echo.’

‘Spook has disappeared, it looks like a fight.’

‘Blood on the ground.‘ She sniffed and let her senses get all the information she could, narrating everything that she saw, heard, smelled, sensed, deduced or whatever her sonar ability gave her, knowing that the comms would be recorded for everything.


‘Sh..ugar.’ Force said, when Captain Reynolds informed them of the parahuman attack going on.

‘We can’t Captain. Spook’s missing. We can’t just run off and leave...’ Deft protested

‘Yes we can.’ Sharp cut in. ‘You two go, I’ll stay here and get what I can from the area and wait until we get a team here to secure the area. Then I’ll follow.’
She waited for a moment before she received assenting grunts from her other two selves, while she looked at the fire arcing up towards the apartment building.

‘The fire might be Pyro or Nova. Assume it’s the Shining path, they’ll not pull punches. So be careful.’

‘Deft, get there as fast as possible and start relaying what’s going on. But keep out of sight.’
‘Force, you’re the heaviest hitter we have until the others come, but wait for the rest if you can.’
‘Patch, your choice if you go along or stay, but that rifle of yours will probably do a lot more good there than over here.’

Deft started running, with Force following. Both taking a somewhat circuitous route to stay hidden and close on the fight to get some information.
Don't know if you want to break these up for a new scene or not.

[Anubis Dread]

...Alpha Girl was beginning to see a flaw in her 'join the PRT for PR and just avoid as much trouble as possible' plan. The other team couldn't take care of this themselves? It wasn't like her power was good enough to actually make a difference in combat. But it would be a horrible idea to argue about getting into a fight on her first day. She didn't want a reputation for being a lazy coward. Even if she sort of was one...

"Alpha Girl calling in. Ready for pick up," she replied, taking one last drink of her frappaccino before standing up and tossing it into the nearby trash. "Looks like our day just got more exciting," she told her companions, forcing a feral grin as clutching her pets to avoid her hands shaking.

[Sønderjye]

Cams, Cams everywhere

Patch responds with a smile. He had definitely expected to be rejected but maybe these people didn't know that he was a probationary member?

"Impressive" he says with an appropriate ammount of admiration.

Does Patch's power fill him in on the systems inside or does the A.I. block all of it?

Group 2: Preparing for patrol

Patch relaxes again not feeling attacked anymore. "You're right, it does hurt a lot. But many powers can do the same and the large majority of weapons can do permanent damage."

Ready to go he turns the camera in his glasses on.

A day on the streets(Patrol 2)

"Hmpf", inside the car Patch smiles a little at the lighthearted answer even if it did sound a bit strained.

"Why can some people bend their joints in angles that your and mine would break and why is some people better than others at running? Some reasons we know some we don't but it doesn't make them less human. I'd guess some chemical reaction happens in the brain that activates some gene but I don't know and we don't have any first hand recorded measurements of a trigger event."


Patch flinches when he hears the scream. He sits completely still for a long moment and then he jams the pedal all the way down, accellerating the car to follow Deft Echo.

Even with the speed of the car Deft is faster and Patch's face falls a bit when he hears the description of the scene and a tad more when he sees it for himself.

Silently he was thankful to have the more experienced cape with him. "Right, I'll go." He spins the car around head full with thoughts but present enough to look up a map of the town and drive to the highest building he can get onto without a lot of trouble and that have a clear view to the Wrecker hideout.


Patch taps his foot impatiently as he stands with arms crossed waiting for the elevator to hit the top floor. Being alone and not doing anything wasn't good for his muddled state of mind and the music wasn't helping either.


When Patch arrives on the roof he quickly takes off his case and shiftly puts up the rifle. "Patch is in position", he says over the comm.

[Rofltrollcopter]

The Long Arm of the Law

Robert tried to look attentive when Patch went into his spiel about different types of mechanical properties. It was appreciated and relevant, but the information wasn't delivered in a form that That being said, the PRT people seemed a lot more excited about 'Thermal Conductivity' and 'Electrical Conductivity' then they were about the mechanical properties.

I'll talk to the Director and see what kind of money is available. Robert said. I don't think it would be fair to ask you to remake the arm everytime my power absorbs it, so it would probably be for the best if it wasn't designed for that in mind.

Memo

To: Director Sanders
From: Vanguard

Hi Director, I have a quick question. What sort of budget is there for job related expenses?

Thanks,
Vanguard

Extending a Hand

Robert looked over the message thoughtfully. It wasn't what he had been hoping for, but it was better then nothing. One day, he hoped to get them to rejoin the PRT, but first they would need to trust him and the new team. There were still unanswered questions. Why did they defect from the PRT in the first place? Why did they seem so disillusioned with the organization? He made a mental note to talk to the director about that at some point. He shared all of his findings with everyone in the team.

OOC: Everyone's characters has access to the exchange between Robert and the Grey Hand.

Later in the Secure Area

Robert listened thoughtfully to Ju Yi's comments. In all honesty, Ju Yi's background as a criminal had made her the member of the team that he had been the most apprehensive about working with. The fact that Ju Yi had turned out to be such a conscientious young woman was a pleasant surprise. Josie seemed to be a lot more cavalier about the whole business, which made Robert a little leery.

A Day in The Streets

Robert held his head high and did his best to look presentable as the group went out on patrol. Snap and Alpha Girl seemed to handle the public a lot better then he did. Robert didn't think he could ever get used to being the center of attention. When he had been checking his family into the apartment earlier, nobody had bothered to give him a second look. Now, everybody was starting at home when he was making his route. He tried his best to be accommodating when someone wanted the attention of the city's newest heroes, but he often came across as being stiff and robotic.

As the crowd's dissipated and the two young woman discussed getting something to drink, Robert finally started to relax. When Snap asked if Robert looked Chai, his snort of laughter came out as an odd warble through his helmet. Chai? I don't go for any of that foreign stuff. Black Coffee has been my lifeblood for the past years. Having his sleep schedule dictated by the whims of two young children meant that Robert had absolutely no patience for any of the weak stuff.

As Captain Reynolds called in, Robert became wide awake as adrenaline began to pump into his veins. Understood.

[Silent_p]

A Day on The Streets (Patrol 1)

Snap grinned behind her mask. "Don't worry," she said to Alpha Girl, "I'll cover the next round. Just, y'know don't go nuts on shots of vanilla syrup or something. Besides, if you've got a sweet tooth, just get a danish - same amount of sugar but more filling." Vanguard's chuckle was odd to hear given how formal he'd been for most of the outing. Snap was mildly irritated by his dismissive response but shrugged it off. "You should give it a try some time, great drink to unwind with. Chai latte. I can, uh, write that out for you, if you want..." She added, trailing off in an overly innocent voice. Okay, maybe she hadn't completely shrugged it off.

The call came through before Snap had finished her mocha. Despite the warmth of the beverage, she felt a chill. First day and things were already falling apart? No. It'd all work out. Putting her cup down, she got to her feet and secured her partially-raised face plate as her colleagues answered the call. "Acknowledged." Alpha Girl adopted a slightly disturbing look as they headed outside which left Snap disconcerted. She wondered what she was getting into. Superpowered combat was a possibility and not something she'd yet really experienced.

She did her best to channel her nervousness. It wasn't completely dissimilar to being at the front line of a protest and seeing the faceless cops approaching with riot gear. News that one of their number was already unaccounted for was troubling but she guessed that information could be fluid in the early stages of a crisis and resolved not to dwell on that just yet. Their ride would be arrive soon and, though she felt underprepared, Snap was not about to let the PRT, her teammates, the civilians or herself down. She focused on that old feeling of solidarity common to protest lines. Only this time, she was the faceless cop.

[GameOfChampions]

Cams, Cams Everywhere

The guard looks over to you with a raised eyebrow "Was there anything I could help you with sir?"

Your power let's you understand how the system works in general and how to check cameras and go back through existing footage as long as you've signed in with an appropriate login profile, all heroes have one, but not the security system which is protecting the system since it's a tinker made AI.

A Day on The Streets (Patrol 1)

A PRT truck comes streaking down the street and comes to an abrupt stop right outside the coffee shop with a PRT squad member in the driver seat. "Get in guys! You're gonna need to buckle in cause we're running some red lights."

As soon as you all pile into the van it takes off, breaking all sorts of speed limits and running many red lights on the way to the scene. After just under ten minutes of hectic driving you all arrive at the scene, coming in behind the group of villains as they face the building they're burning down.

A Day on The Streets(Patrol 2)

Deft runs through the neighborhood quickly, arriving at the scene in a matter of minutes with Patch close behind in the truck and force bringing up the rear a few minutes behind the others. You all arrive at the scene unknown to the group of villains who are paying most of their attention to the burning building and watching the main streets, and are able to position yourselves to some degree without being seen.



Patch finds himself on the rooftop behind the villains and just shy of a hundred meters away from the villains.



Sharp's senses can make out dozens of minute details in the area but only a handful that relate to Spooks sudden disappearance, she couldn't determine where Spook was with the sonar ability and the closest person that she recognized was a man on his couch in the closest house watching TV. Sharp's other senses that are sharpened can make out the heat of the blood showing you that it was only spilled a little less then a minute before she arrived on the scene and that the limited amount would have come from a small puncture wounds probably near a major vein or artery. With her heightened sense of smell she can make out the bleach cleaned scent of sterile lab conditions in the area, very strongly, but she cannot figure out where it originated from, only that the smell is around the area of the incident and leads nowhere else.

Heating Up

A trio of villains watch the pyromancer throwing fire into the upper floors of the apartment building, laughing and joking among themselves in a mixture of Spanish and English. You recognize the trio as Avatar, Barricade, and Wind Fist and while the pyromancer physically doesn't match any descriptions from the PRT files the way he's throwing fire matches the description of Pyro.

The four of them stop as the van pulls up two blocks behind them and Avatar bellows a challenge as he notices the PRT logo and starts to grow as he's encased in his glowing avatar form. The rest of the group start to spread out a bit as they prepare for a brawl.

[Chivy]

A Day on The Streets(Patrol 2)

‘Captain, please patch the other teams into our comms channel.’ Deft said as she crept up on the group of attacking capes.
‘Looks like it’s the Shining Path.’ She said as soon as she received confirmation that the others could hear her.
‘Avatar, Barricade, Wind Fist and I think Pyro.’

Sharp then cut in and reiterated what was in the Protectorate files about the Shining Path and the four capes word for word.

‘Patch, Avatar is physically the strongest, your rifle probably won’t do anything to him. Wind Fist might have some kind of wind protection or wind sense, so he might see your bullets coming. They won’t know you’re there until your first shot. Take your shots carefully, and don’t stay in exactly the same place after you shoot. With the amount of powers out there, don’t rely blindly on the files, always keep in mind that they might have more powers.’’

‘Patch, do you have a way to counteract smoke? I flash bangs and smoke grenades a lot to keep people guessing which one of me they’re facing. In any case we should hold off until the others get here.

‘Vanguard, I’m sorry but I think we shouldn’t try and talk to them, that’ll cost us the element of surprise and I think we’ll need it. The files say they’re known murderers and they might have Spook, if that helps.’
Sharp almost growled in frustration. She had no clue what had happed to Spook and with the Shining Path attacking time was short. She checked the road and blood spatter to see if she could deduce if there had been a car or a van, maybe an ambulance before tapping on the window of the man watching TV.
'Excuse me sir, could you tell me if you saw anything happening out here just a few minutes ago?'


Heating Up

‘Fu..dge.’ Echo almost swore when the villains turned to the van. There went the element of surprise
‘Whoever’s in the PRT van, they’ve seen you and they don’t look happy.’

She looked around for a moment, thinking fast. She berated herself for not having gotten to know the other’s powers.

‘When you get out, be careful.’

‘Once you get out and close, I’ll throw a flashbang between them. Hopefully it’ll blind them, but at the very least it’ll get their attention, turning at least a few to me. That’ll be your moment to attack.’

‘I’ll try and keep them off balance and take out Pyro. Patch, can you see if you can take down Baricade. Your range might be the only thing that’ll reach him. He’ll try and control the battlefield. With him gone we at least outnumber them.’

‘Anybody got anything special they can do, that might help?’

After the others replied and hashed it out she asked
‘Everybody ready?’
Force pulled a flashbang from her belt and threw it towards the villains. Then pulled the pin out of one of her smoke grenades and slowly started making her way to the villains, slowly enough to allow the smoke to billow around her.

Deft pulled a pin out of one of her smoke grenades, then started running through Force’s smoke curtain, exciting on the other side closest to the villains. (hopefully making them think that the one who had thrown the flashbang She zigged and zagged as if she was avoiding incoming fire as she made her way to the villains (all the while spreading more smoke around between Force and the villains).

Deft swiftly uncoupled the spewing smoke grenade, then started circling the villains, making a few feints with her baton. She took care not to commit and to dodge anything that could be an attack. All the while she was moving to the opposite side of Force, hopefully pulling the villain’s attention to one side.

Force quietly made her way forward through the smoke until she burst out (hopefully close to the villains) and whipped out her baton, trying to hit Pyro (or if he is out of range Wind Fist) anywhere that would take him down. She doesn’t pull any punches.

[Anubis Dread]

Heating Up

Ohhhhhh shoot this was bad. Four super-villains were staring at the van like it was a can of beans and they wanted to get at those sweet, sweet innards. She was not used to being this close to a battle! But she could just... stay safe inside the van and let her minions do the work. Yeah, that'd work. They wouldn't attack the van directly if they had another target.

So Pyro and Barricade were already going to be targeted. In that case... "I'll take on Avatar! Hopefully I can take him out before he can make his power bigger!" Alpha Girl declared. He was no lung, but his avatar looked smaller than it usually was so it must take at least a little time for him to get it going. Not wanting to waste time when doing so could result in them all getting blown up by Pyro, Alpha Girl kicked open the door before bodily throwing her minions out. "Attack Avatar!" she ordered.

[Sønderjye]

Cams, Cams everywhere
d
The sudden change in the guard's attitude suprises Patch but he manages to keep the suprise from his face.

"Yeaah.." he responds slowly trying to find the right wording: "As you probably know the civilian identities of a previous group were discovered and, I might just be overly causious but I couldn't help but wonder who have access to the video footage and how it is protected?"

If Insight had access and his power worked over video feeds he wouldn't lose anything by openly admitting his suspicion. If his power didn't work he could probably have deducted it from the way Patch had been acting but there weren't really any other way of action so it wouldn't matter here either.

A day on the streets(Patrol 2)

"Advice is appreciated" Patch responds to force even if he thinks that the description of Wind is a bit off. Nothing in the files suggested that Wind were able to spot, let alone react, to a bullet flying his way.

"Depends" he responds to Sharp: "Is the smoke hot?"

Heating Up

"Heads up" Patch calls over the channel that the entire group shares: "Building under attack seems to be an apartment. Pyro is the only who is attacking and the group looks to be joking around. I'd guess the attack is meant to draw attention and they look too confident. No visual on the other members of Shining South but that doesn't mean that they aren't present."

Patch takes a couple of deep breath to steady himself. "I'll take a shot just before your throw the flashbang. It'll be easier to hit them when they are standing still." he says. When Force seems ready to throw the flashbang he, carefully aiming at Barricade, breathes in, and squeezes the trigger while breathing out. Without looking to see if he has hit he'll turn his head and close his eyes and then turn back for another shot.

[GameOfChampions]

Cams, Cams Everywhere!

The guard grunts, all friendly demeanor falling away at the mention of the previous team. "Ya I remember, me and the other guards who work the security here were all investigated by the brass. As for who has access I dunno, I know the director and department heads have clearance here as well as the guards who work the booth and you guys I guess. But people from other cities can access the info so a couple dozen directors, team leaders, and various other higher ups would be able to access it."

Patrol 2

The man jumps as he sees Sharp knocking on his window "What the hell!" He cowers a little as he's questioned, not used to capes being polite.

"Has something happened? I've just been watching TV here I didn't heat anything until you came knocking on my door."

Heating Up

Deft bursts out of the smoke drawing the attention of the trio of villains left. Pyro growls and gathers some fire in his hand before blasting it towards the quick moving women, however he couldn't account for Defts reflexes and speed which cause the fiery blast to shoot overhead as she dodges. As Pyro turns to try and track Deft he completely misses Force who quickly makes her way out of the smoke with a raised baron which she smashes into Pyro, catching him in the temple and dropping him like a stone. However as the strike hits him a nimbus of fire forms around him even though he's unconcious and strikes out in Forces direction. It catches her in the blast and knocks her several feet back onto the ground with several impressive burns on her front.

As Deft is dodging around the outer perimeter of the villains dodging Pyro and Force is knocking him out a crack sounds through the air. Barricade starts to let out a string of curses in Spanish and English as she's knocked clean onto her back by Patches shot. She manages to get back up but she's standing awkwardly and her right arm in pinned to the expanding orb of containment foam on her chest. As she gets to her feet she gestures with her remaining arm and suddenly more small earthen creatures and puffs of air start to form in the area around her to join the small handful she has. All but a pair of the earthen minions flow into the ground, building on each other to create a small wall for her to shelter behind. The air creatures drag the unconcious form of Pyro over to her little wall to take cover with her.

However as Deft comes up from her dodge Wind Fist sees an opportunity and quickly rushes foward throwing a punch which thumps into her gut and pushes her back. Wind Fist start to follow this up bythrowing air punches and slashes to keep her back from the more wounded members.

On the other side of the road Avatar tries and fails to hit the two beastly minions that rush up to him. They dart around his strikes, to agile to be hit easily, and claw his forms legs. He roars in frustration as he's unable to hit the beastly little creatures.

[Chivy]

A day on the streets

‘No, it’s just smoke. I use it more to confuse my opponents than for anything else. Always usefull if they don’t know exactly who they’re facing.’ Echo answered Patch



‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’ Sharp said holding her hands up in a placating gesture.
‘I’m with the protectorate and one of my colleagues was attacked just outside. I was hoping that you’d seen or heard something.’
She caught sight of the man’s television then continued
‘Or maybe you know of any camera’s or atm’s around here?’

Heating Up

Echo had learned a lot from her fellow protectorate members in the few months she had been with them. Devising strategies and ways to use her unique abilities to confuse and beat an opponent, or opponents. Two things were constant for any combat though; keeping the pressure on and not giving their opponents time to react was a good tactic and plans changed the instant the first punch hit, beam was shot or flame explosion, well exploded.

Force flew back with the power of Pyro’s boobytrap. A definite non-heroic squeak of surprise escaped her lips when the flames came for her, followed by a more fitting grunt of pain when she crashed onto the ground and rolled with the impact. She shook her head once and quickly got to her feet, doing a quick check of herself. The burns hurt, but they’d be reduced as soon as she reformed with the others, so she didn’t worry too much about them. She made sure not to dwell on what would have happed to her without her shield and armour, not to mention what would have happened to the others that don’t have her ability to take punishment.

She quickly took stock of their situation, momentarily surprised when she caught sight of the containment foam on Barricade, then she realised it must’ve been patch.
Containment foam sniper? she thought to herself, feeling a lot better about Patch’s choice of weapon. When she realised that containment foam expanded the more it made contact with air and seeing that Patch had hit the villain in the arm and body, her estimation of him rose a few notches. He was a good shot.

Deft backed up, grunting at the punch Wind Fist had gotten through. She hated fighting without Sharp calling the shots for her and Force. Every moment she spent looking around to keep track of their opponents, was a moment she wasn’t dodging what they were throwing at her. Without her other self, they were just reacting. She gripped the shield and her baton, quickly looking around and seeing the same situation Force had already analysed. Echo had already realised that they each almost thought the same, so their reaction to things would be close to each other as well.

‘Nice shot Patch. Could use one of them here.’ Deft said, then stepped forward using her reactions and shield to avoid or deflect Wind Fist’s attacks enough to keep his attention firmly on her. She didn’t commit to any attacks, just feinting and concentrating on not being hit. If Patch hit Wind Fist, he’d probably be distracted enough for her to land a hit or two.

‘Good work Alfa Girl, try and keep Avatar occupied for a little longer. Pyro’s down. Going for Barricade.’ Force rattled off the words quickly, then ran forward. Her toes forcing themselves into the road for more grip, trying to put as much power into her forward momentum as she could. She dropped her baton and grabbed another flashbang in her left hand, the pin easily flipped out with her index finger. Then she lifted up her shield with her right arm. She pushed off at the last moment before hitting Barricade’s barricade as high as she could with the shield covering her arms and shoulder. Hoping the base wouldn’t be enough to hold it upright with the force of the impact and hopefully sending it crashing down on them. The flashbang in her dominant left hand she simply flipped over the wall when she impacted. She liked redundancy and while the first might not have had much effect, a flashbang at close range with a wall to reflect the sound and shock would probably give whoever was behind the wall a bad day.

‘Flashbang.’ she warned the others.

[Anubis Dread]

Heating Up

"Got it," Alpha Girl nods, still hiding in the van. She pokes her head out to survey the situation. Alright, her pets are still doing some good work, just keep them on it and- flashbang? She eeks before tucking her head back into the van, ordering her pets to close their eyes while it goes off. Though at that point they didn't really need their eyes open to attack considering how close they were to the enemy.

[Rofltrollcopter]

When the van finally made its way to the destination and the doors opened, Robert was horrified but what he saw. A pyromaniac was setting apartment buildings on fire, and laughing while he did so. Josie's comments assurances that it was necessary to fight were unregistered as he stood there in shock. Robert wasn't used to violence, and the scene in front of him was overwhelming. While he hesitated, the fight started in full force.

The warning about the flashbang was enough to pull Robert out of his stupor. When Josie called it out, Robert stepped out of the vehicle, closed his eyes and put his hand on the concrete. The surface beneath him rippled and appeared as if it was a liquid, before it flowed upwards and into his form. The faux-right of arm on his costume suddenly became animated, as the newly absorbed matter created a replica of his original arm.

As he registered the scene and its combatants, one horrified thought struck out at him. Where was CJ? Fear giving him alarcity, he sprinted towards Wind Fist, the one villain who hadn't been placed in check yet. While he was distracted with pressuring Echo, he took advantage of the distraction to charge in. As he moved, his old high school days came back into him and he fell into the form for a football tackle.


My apologizes for the delay, Canadian thanksgiving is this weekend.

Also, Snap is pretty much a hard counter to Barricade.

[GameOfChampions]

A Day on The Streets (Patrol 2)

The man just shrugs "I didn't even know the Heroes were back in the city let alone that one got attacked outside. Sorry can't help you with that. As for cameras I dunno there might be an at in a convenience store a couple blocks away and there's a red light camera 4 blocks to the west of here but it doesn't face my house."

Heating Up

Wind Fist yells out as he gets caught up with Deft, he couldn't land any blows what with Defts enhanced reflexes and Wind Fists short range. "Avatar disengage, we need to bail!" Right after that he follows up a a heavy flurry at Deft to give himself some room as right as he has some room he turns to run and gets a shot right to the face. Patch comms in to the others "How's that Deft?" with a grin easily heard in his voice. The shot breaks over his face with a small spatter of blood visible from a broken nose before the containment foam expands to cover his face. He didn't pass out and started to try to stumble away from the scene to his teammates but is instead struck by the bone crushing tackle of Vanguard which tosses him like a rag doll to the ground with one of his legs bent in a strange direction.

At the same time as Wind Fist is getting tag teamed Force crashes against the wall while tossing the flashbang. Force crashes against the wall breaking most through but losing her momentum and stopping amongst the demolished wall. However the flashback, instead of flying over the wall, strikes what seems to be a condensed block of wall of air and falls behind Force and going off harmlessly. As Barricade sees Force break through the wall she screams and gestures to the women among the rubble. As she gestures her remaining pair of earthen minions flow past and each grab a leg before melding into the ground trapping a foot each and another pair of air wisps float in front and then seemingly vanish.

As Wind Fist shouts to Avatar the enlarged man turns and sees half his team crumpled on the ground. He quickly turns trying to shake the monstrous creatures hampering him and runs over to Barricade. As he nears he just stoops to grab the wounded and containment foamed women and keeps going. He leaves Wind Fist and Pyro behind turning to the right to go between the group around Wind Fist and the road with the van into residential territory. He jumps and slides over the one story house breaking parts of the roof.

Patch comms Snap as he watches the pair make their way out "Snap we need you to follow." Snap just responds with a sob. She's curled in the back of the van "I can't do this, I can't fight people like this"


OOC Containment foam can cover the face and restricts movement but doesn't smother so Wind Fist can breathe. He won't die if you leave him.

You are welcome to pursue if you so wish but the van can't follow. Also with Silent_P out its your guys call.

[Chivy]

A Day on The Streets (Patrol 2)

‘Thank you for your time and information sir.’ Echo said, not trying to hide her disappointment.
‘I’m sorry for disturbing you. Have a nice evening.’

She turned away from the man, but the talk of camera's had given her another idea. She walked past the windows on the ground floors looking inside to see if anybody was using laptops, desktops with camera’s or tablets. Chances were slim, but nowadays many people used some version of a skype-like program to talk to others halfway across the world. IF somebody here...
She stopped following that trail of thought before it led somewhere hopeless and continued with checking the windows that might have provided a view on the place Spook was attacked.

‘Captain.’ She said after tapping her commbead
‘How long before we can get some kind of CSI unit here?’


Heating Up

‘Perfect sho...’ Deft started to reply to Patch’s second excellent use of his containment rifle, but before she could finish or capitalize on Wind Fist’s weakness he was hit by a freight truck in human form.
‘Owh Shi....ps.’ She started, barely censoring herself. She continued almost automatically narrating what had just happened for the benefit of her other selves (and whoever was listening and recoring).
‘Patch and Vanguard just took down Wind Fist.’


‘Gha!’ Force yelled in frustration, unable to move to intercept their opponents with her feet stapled to the ground, when Avatar strode past her, picked up Barricade and ran.
‘They’re getting away!’ She yelled and started slamming her shield into the material that had gripped her feet, trying to make it release her.

Deft held out her hand to help Vanguard to his feet, listening to Snap’s breakdown. Her own hand shook a bit. That was insane. She thought to herself, slightly spooked at the twisted leg and what she heard on the comms.
When it was clear that Snap would be unable to stop the last two, she pulled her shield into it’s position on her back and drew both her short swords.
‘I’ll stop them.’ She said, almost reluctantly. The tremor in her hand now under control, but it had migrated to her voice. She’d just try and hamstring the giant villain and hope that she would be fast enough to avoid his swords until the others arrived.

‘Echo, was there any sign of Spook?’ Sharp came in over the comms, she had been listening in while investigating the area where Spook had disappeared. The use of her own name in directing the question sounding weird even in her own ears.

‘No, not that I could see.’
‘Me neither.’

‘Then hold off Deft, we have wounded...’

‘That was Wind fist, not us.’ Force interjected, still angrily hacking at the road that held her feet. She knew that Sharp would’ve heard the snapping of the Villain’s leg over the comm. Heck, everybody probably had.

‘Unless I’m mistaking I heard one of us screech.’ Sharp said, then waited for a moment. When there were no other objections she continued.

‘We have a burning building that might have civilians over there.’
‘We also have a missing team member.’
‘And taking down two members of the most dangerous crew on our first night out is more than we could have hoped for.’
‘I also heard something that sounded like part of a building collapsing.’
‘We can’t get caught up in chasing them when there are so many things we need to handle.’
She sounded like she was ticking off a list. She probably was with her way her mind worked.

‘So Deft, follow, but only to make sure they don’t circle back for their teammates. Keep hidden.’

‘On it.’ Deft said and with a quick look around she started to follow Avatar, sticking to the shadows as she did and keeping up a narration of where the villains were.

‘The rest, I suggest you split up between getting Pyro and Wind Fist in containment foam, keeping a watch out for the Wreckers or any other capes that might interfere, helping the civilians and getting the fire under control.’

‘I also suggest in that order. No use in loosing what we gained tonight. Those villains might know what happened to Spook and helping the civilians might do as much in showing the people we're here to help as arresting the villains.’

Force stalked over to Pyro, holding her shield up defensively before tapping him with it to make sure that if another booby trap went off it would be (mostly) caught on her shield.
She then grabbed the man and dragged him towards Wind fist, tossing him forward in such a way that his face splattered into the containment foam expanding from Wind Fist's face.
She then pulled some zipties from her utility belt and ziptied Pyro's Arms and legs, and Wind Fist's arms. She looked at the villains leg and started to get a little green around the edges, swallowing back bile. It reminded her of the accident, and she wasn't good with things that reminded her of that.

[Anubis Dread]

Heating Up

Okay! So no chasing... that works, Alpha Girl had no real interest in chasing down the enemy anyway. She mentally ordered her pets to lay off of their attack and instead enter the burning building and bring out any civilians they find to safety. A dangerously broad order, but considering the alternatives it should be fine. Alpha Girl herself reluctantly leaves the van to keep an eye on their prisoners.

[Silent_p]

Heating Up

The devastation was too much. Fires just like she'd started herself in the past which had left her burned, bruised and scared. Rubble all over, shouting, the odd improvised projectile shooting through the air all brought back the worst days of her activism. What the hell had she been thinking?! She couldn't jump into this! She didn't have enhanced strength or durability, the ability to create copies of herself or minions to dispatch against virtual powerhouses. She could barely teleport down the street without causing property damage and, if something interrupted her? Jarring shock back to the real world leaving her vulnerable.

Snap didn't even leave the van. Some kind of request comes over the comm but, by that stage, she was a mess and couldn't even recall how she responded - if she responded.

Once everything is over, all anyone who approached her could hear is: "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I can't..."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Vanguard was surprised at how little he was staggered when he ran into Wind Fist. He winced he heard the sound of his leg snapping. He hadn't meant to hit him that hard.Oh S***! he said over the comms. He glanced over at the burning building, clearly torn between helping the person he had just injured and ensuring no one else was at risk. HQ, We need an EMT, and the fire department. Seeing that Wind Fist's life wasn't in immediate danger, Vanguard turned around and sprinted into the building. Remembering his talk with one of the PRT scientists, he tapped his power and as he did so, the heat felt much less oppressive. He went around trying to help people evacuate, and looking for casualties.


OOC: Vanguard is going to try to increase the specific heat capacity of the concrete that he is made of as much as possible. The consequence of this would be that it would require more heat energy to raise the temperature of his body, so he should be able to last longer inside the building. Not to mention that if he needs to carry someone out, hopefully he wouldn't burn them just by touching them.

[GameOfChampions]

A Day on The Streets (Patrol 2)

The captain working the comms chimes back in after a few seconds "Well we can get a team out there in maybe half an hour. Shouldn't be too long to get out there and they're bringing their full kit to figure this out. We'll do our best to find Spook."

I'll report their findings next post.

Memo

To: Vanguard
From: Director Sanderson

There is a budget for the team that s eight thousand at the moment for the teams expenses and whatnot. Any medical costs are covered by extensive health insurance though.

Regards
Director Sanderson

So totally missed this one and just saw it so I'll address it here. The arm cost, if just essentially a slightly better prosthetic can be covered by medical costs with up to five replacements but any special prosthetics will cost extra ending up about a few hundred at max.

Heating Up

Deft manages to follow the pair of remaining villains as they try to escape through the neighborhood but Avatars leaps over smaller houses tends to through off pursuit and at one point about a kilometer after they escaped the scene Avatar put his last ounce of effort into scaling a larger three story apartment building and Avatars large form dissipated on the roof and Deft lost sight of the pair. Several seconds after they got to the top the fire alarm of the building went off and all manor of civilians started to exit the building. Back at the sight of the battle Force manages to pick up Pyro with little trouble and tosses him alongside Wind Fist, getting some foam on his face as well. Alpha Girls minions start to circle the pair of fallen villains, snapping at them when ever either of the pair of unconscious villains twist or turn.

The captain on the comms responds to Vanguards frantic call "Don't worry Vanguard EMT's and a squad will be on sight in ten minutes tops." Then as the massive concrete man charges up the stairs the heat starts to get intense, though not enough to bother him with the changes he had made to his body, and as he searches through the building he finds most of it abandoned but as Vanguard starts to head back down through the flames he hears a low cry for help. Following the small cry he manages to find the apartment it's coming from, which is on the bottom most floor of the fire.

PR Princess (Alpha Girl)
Foreword

The tech guy tries to get your attention by snapping on his side of the screen "OK Alpha Girl just adjust your cam so we catch your upper body and head in the shot and then we should all set for interview... Ya just like that perfect."

Once the cam is set up on your end you see through the computor your using that a tall blond women with a sharp face and tasteful blazer and skirt combo appears and sits down in the chair that the cam on their end is showing. "Hello Alpha Girl I'm Marsha May I'll be the one leading your interview today. Don't worry viewers love capes and I can tell you give off the kind of vibe that just draws people to you. We'll start in 5 minutes but do you have any questions before we start?"

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Alright, just adjust the cam a bit... no too high, you couldn't see her cleavage... there we go, perfect. Or maybe if she angled the camera up a bit to make her look tall? No, that' look intimidating. Maybe angle it down a tiny bit... no, just head on, that was a little disorienting.

Questions huh? "Yes I do. Does the make-up department do your hair, or is that something you do yourself? Because it looks DIVINE," Alpha Girl gushed. Buttering up the reporter before the interview always made things go just a little bit smoother.

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"Awww that's so sweet. You know what I'll send you some samples after this so you can try some. I'll just send them to the HQ for Alpha Girl, is that OK?" She smiles at you with little blush high on her cheeks.

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Ohhh, was that a trace of a blush she saw? While she wasn't interested in women Alpha Girl did like to have every advantage she could take. Though she could be misreading it. "That would be amazing. If it looks half as good on me as it does you I'll need to thank you," she smiled somewhat sultrily.

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The women's blush deepens further and she waves her hand "Ohhh stop you. We'll it seems like we're ready to start so we'll be live in ten."

Questions

Marsha leans forward with a small smile on her lips "Well Alpha Girl we're glad to have you on the show, I'm a bit of a cape fan honestly, and I'm sure the city is glad to have you around as well aren't they." She punctures her question with a small laugh and then pulls up a grainy shot of the team gathered in the outskirts. "It seems like the team is already making waves and this leads into my first question of why you decided to become a hero? Every hero has their reasons and we'd love to hear yours."

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

Ah, the classic 'why are you a hero question'. Alpha Girl had been expecting that, which was why she'd come up with a convincing lie in advanced.

"Good to be on the show Marsha," Alpha Girl smiled demurely. Which turned somewhat sad as she answered the question. "You probably know I was a Rogue before I became a Hero. Fighting Villains was always something that scared me. I love my powers, but it isn't exactly all that great against someone who can shoot fire or summon things four times their size to fight for them," she chuckled. "But this city needs Heroes right now," she went on, a spark of conviction entering her voice. "After most of our city's Wards left - good luck to them in all their endeavors - the-" Protectorate have been short staffed. No, she couldn't say that, that puts the blame on the Protectorate. She'd get chewed up for that. "-Villains have been getting bolder and taking advantage of our fair city's flagging morale to get away with far more than they should." Just a minor hitch and she saved that nicely. Damn she was good. "As a citizen myself I felt it was my civic duty to become a hero and help our city in its time of need."

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Marsha nods along with Alpha Girls answer, responding to all the right cues to make sure the audience knew she was listening to the answer intently. Then pauses for a second to check her notes before continuing "Yes you were a Rogue for a while but you made the leap. Still though it must be a big difference to go from working alone to fighting crime with your new teammates right? What are your thoughts on the team, in this picture it seems like you all managed to work together in the field but tell us the real deal with the be team protecting our streets."

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

"It's a huge difference! I freely admit I'm the baby of the group when it comes to age and experience," Alpha girl smiles. "So it's good that they're all so professional. Patch can be a little focused, Tinkers you know? But he freely offers his tech to the others of the team, he's a generous soul. Echo... well if she hasn't been made official team leader yet she's probably going to be so soon. She's confident, and her power is really convenient for keeping everyone focused since she can do three things at once. Snap-" Oh, damn, she'd barely interacted with Snap or Vanguard at all. She knew her background at least. "Is a bit of an idealist and is trying to do the best she can in being a hero. And Vanguard, well I suppose he's a bit like the father of the group. Which would make Echo the mother. I suppose we really are like a family in a lot of ways," she laughed.

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Marsha coo's a bit as she heats the description "That's so sweet." She then clears her throat before continuing on, squaring herself towards the camera "Now as everyone in the city knows, and as you yourself mentioned earlier, villainy has been on an enormous rise. How will you and your team of relatively new heroes handle this? More specifically how will you handle the man responsible for your predecessors untimely unmasking?"

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Alpha Girl gives an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry but investigation isn't my specialty. I just provide the team a bit of muscle. I CAN tell you however that those on the team who do have such skills are looking into tracking-" Was it public knowledge that Insight did the unmasking? Better not say the name just in case. "-the culprit down and bringing them to justice. The explanations on what they're doing go way over my head though," she giggled. "Tinkers and Thinkers. As for the general crime wave, I'm confident that just having us be visible and stopping crime as it occurs will be enough to scare the little fish back into hiding. As for the big fish... we're making plans, but those are classified," she apologizes. Such plans didn't actually exist, but if they did they would TOTALLY be classified so it wasn't really a lie.

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

The women nods to you, signalling the wrap up "Well we're all rooting for you here and I'm sure the city is as well Alpha Girl. Good luck and stay safe."

Afterword

Then after a few seconds she relaxes a bit and let's a much more real smile break onto her face then the one on the show. "Not bad Alpha Girl, you would not believe the amount of Capes I get on here that just can't handle the pressure of being on camera. You though, you really work the camera. Let me know if you have a story you want out there and I think next time we could get the story to go provincial if not national. Miami is full of story and the public is dying to hear it." The women nods to you, signalling the wrap up "Well we're all rooting for you here and I'm sure the city is as well Alpha Girl. Good luck and stay safe."


Twisted Nightmares

After your interview with the news station you go to bed feeling great but your actual sleep is full of terrible nightmares and horrible sensations that ruin your sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night though you wake up in a cold sweat and look out to your pets that are laying over where you directed them to as before you went to sleep. However right as you were falling back asleep you feel something near the foot of the bed move and you glance down to see another pair of dark scaled and monstrous minions, watching you with their jaws hanging open and mocking you with their visage of the old you.

New Kid in Class

The morning after the fight with Shining Path happened Director Sanderson calls the team to one of the briefing rooms to go over some new resources, as she termed it, she had for the team "Sit down everyone, I know you had a pretty serious day yesterday and I know that it was tough on all of you. However I don't think we can afford to leave the gap left in Spooks... absence unaddressed for right now. I would like to introduce a new cape that has been brought in to join you from the research division, this is Graham."

As she says that last part a man walks into the room and joins the Director "He will be joining the team and hopefully you will all make him feel welcome."

[Writtensanity]

"Uh, hello." I said as I waved to the group in front of me. They were... eclectic? I didn't know. Back in the police there had been a strict line of people that you saw and in R&D there had been nerds. I was counting my blessings that I was allowed out and about to say hi to them. Last I'd heard, my papers for a transfer had been denied again. Something about not having another incident. It was frustrating, but fair enough. Now I just knew that these heroes were ****ed enough that they needed ME to step in. That had to be some next level of ****ed, the kind you payed a lot for.

"I'm Graham," I started, "you can call me PinPoint, or Graham, I don't really think it matters here. Sorry about the name I kinda came up with in on the Jet ride here between the rundown and sleep deprivation. I'm from RnD like the- uh- director said and yeah... God this is like showing up in school halfway through the year right? Who's the-" the sullen faces of the group told me that now wasn't the time to joke. I was the replacement of a missing person on the REPLACEMENT team. "Miami just can't keep people around can it?" I asked.

The director shot me daggers. My mouth had already lost me a job, **** me with a stick. At leas the PRT couldn't fire a hero for gallows hero within the walls. Could they? I really should have read the contract before signing.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Heating Up

Vanguard looked around nervously as he made his way through the building. Thankfully, the building seemed to be mostly abandoned. He shunted aside some debris that blocked his path as he carried out his search. Just as he was finishing his sweep, he heard the low cry of someone in distress. Once again, Vanguard was terrified. His imagination went wild, and he couldn't help but think of his own kids.


He made his way to the door, and thought about what to do. If the fire damaged the building's structure, he might make things worse if he forced his way in. But the longer he waited, the worse it would get.Protectorate. Stand back! Vanguard grabbed on the door and used every ounce of his enhanced strength to force it open.

Once inside, Vanguard tries his best to get to the trapped person and carry them out of the building.

New Kid in Class

Robert barely managed to get to the briefing on time. He looked exhausted, and he was nursing a large cup of coffee. He felt as bad as he looked. After work was finished, he went straight home to spend as much time with his family as he could. He felt scared. He promised his family that he would always be there for them, that he could balance his Costumed life with looking after them. After what happened to CJ, Robert wasn't sure he could keep that promise.

In another time and place, Robert would have stepped up and done his best to help in the transition period. It wasn't the new guy's fault that he had to join at such a crappy moment. Right now, he felt like hell, and this stranger's attempt at humor was not appreciated. He just looked over at Graham and gave a noncommittal grunt.

[Anubis Dread]

Twisted Nightmares

Ugh, that sleep had not been pleasant. Her vision was blurred and she could barely process what she was seeing. Maybe she should have just slept with her pets, but Jenny always had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand it was physical comfort she could unconditionally trust. On the other hand they were hideous and she wanted to rip them apart with her bare hands and impale their heads onto pikes for being so ugly and taunting her with their ugliness. Still she could use some comfort about then. Huh, why were they at the foot of her bed when they were...

"Fudge!" she cursed, scrambling back further in the bed. Wh... what?! Why did she suddenly have FOUR pets?! She'd had her powers for YEARS and they'd never done anything like this before! What had changed? Was it because she'd actually fought with them? Was it because she was an adult now? There were too many possible explanations... aside from the possibility of this being a trick by some stranger or changer. Deciding to get that possibility firmly out of the way first, she mentally ordered all of her pets to stand together and salute to make sure they were following orders. Before grabbing her PRT phone and pressing the panic button. Unexplained developments in her powers DEFINITELY qualified as an emergency after all! She just hoped they wouldn't initiate Master/Stranger Protocols, those sounded boring...

New Kid In Class

How hard was it to get two new costumes on short notice?! She had four of the sheep costumes, though they were in different sizes. Which is why she had four to begin with. Maybe she could be a shepherd until this was all sorted out. She NEEDED to get her full suite of pets onto PHO ASAP, but until she had costumes for them that was impossible. Oh, ghosts! All she needed was sheets, and she could dress up as a vampire! A sexy vampire... yeah that'd work.

Focusing on her phone Alpha Girl sent off another text, before looking up at the new guy. "Hm? Right, the Miami PRT has kind of sucked lately," she agrees, too distracted to be tactful about it as she returned her eyes to the screen. "Anyway I'm Jenny, aka Alpha Girl. Sorry, bit distracted, fashion emergency. Just follow whatever the older people tell you should be doing and you'll be fine, it's what I do."

[Sønderjye]

The materialized arm of the law

"Right so here you go, was faster than expected. I made some design choices to make it fit better than your theme and I hope you like it" The arm that Patch hands Robert looks almost identical with how his other arm looks when costumed. It had matching panels and the fact that no skin is exposed on the other arm made it easy for Patch to make it matching. "So I don't know if they told you this but I'm barred from directly working on living people." He looks questioning and continues after seeing Vanguard's reaction: "As such I had to dump the performance a little to be sure that whichever amateur that the PRT sends to help you attach it wouldn't mess things up. It's still better than anything you could find on the market but yeah."

So we can use diamond?
If not then what about Boron Carbon Nitride or aggregated diamond nanorods (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggregated_diamond_nanorod)


Cams, Cams Everywhere!

Patch was momentarily stunned. This was crazyness. With that many possible possibilities for security breaches how could this system be anything but set up to be abused? He mentally sighs at the prospec of keeping up the act for a long time but his decision doesn't waver. Even if it would take a lot of him he wouldn't allow the remaining of his family to become targets because of what have happened to him.

"Honestly I'm more conserned with things the system. Would you be willing to provide me with the technical details as to what meassures are being taken against infiltration? Obviously the system can be accessed remotely with other directors and all, how do they keep that from being hacked?"

A day on the streets

"In that case it shouldn't be a problem for me. I should be able to see their heat signatures through the smoke"

Heating Up

"I can't help in the building." Patch calls, "But I can make sure that FireCrazy and Wind Slap doesn't move so Alpha Girls minions can go inside to help civilians." He then aims his rifle at the two villains and prepares to take a shot if they move too much.

Cooling Down

Patch couldn't really bring himself to celebrate their victory or even feel good. With all the action happening he had briefly been able to forget about their lost teamate and now that the adrenaline was leaving his system it the hollow feeling was comming back. He hadn't known CJ well but still, that could easily have been him! Worse yet, he had run to the place where she had disappeared like a retard, anyone could have held a trap for him and he hadn't yet made anything that could let him get away from a close combat.
"Sharp, did you find anything?" he asks one of their two missing members.

Amateur Psychologist

Patch wasn't really much of a people person but he needed this team to work out, otherwise the director would never lift his restriction. "How are you feeling, Ji Yu?" he asks in private.

On the way to the teammeeting

"Hey Jenny" Patch says, finding himself stumbling into the local celebrity. "A generous soul? I feel flattered." He says with a playful smile. Watching the interview had been interesting. It had made him wonder how much of Alpha girl's "childish beauty" personality was an act. "Good job on the interview, I think you handled that extraordinarily." He praises, still genuinely. His face then shifts to a slightly more serious look: "I have to ask though, was it intentionally that you promoted Josie over Vanguard for the leading position?"

He then glaces over her shoulder he looks suprised. "How many minions are you keeping stashed away?" he asks, not able to hide a trace of jealousy.

New kid on class

A replacement, already? They hadn't even confirmed CJ's death yet and the director was already acting like she had lost a pawn in a game of chess. Even then he had to keep being a good boy and play along.
He breathes in and makes a smile appear on his face by thinking happy thoughts: "Hey Graham", he says while extending an hand. "Jack, Patch in costume, generalist thinker. I'm not gonna dig into your story but I'd like to know what you can do?"

[Silent_p]

Heating Up

Somehow, the fight was over. Fire still raged in the building that had been attacked and Snap caught a mention of the fire brigade being en route. The immediate threats diminished or gone, she found herself able to take some deep breaths and gradually bring herself back into the moment. It had been years since she last had such a severe panic attack - her first time being tear-gassed in a protest - and the experience left her ashamed. Rationally, she knew that was rubbish: she'd been thrust into an extremely violent scenario with fairly minimal training and time to prepare, it was a perfectly human reaction to such immense stress. It didn't really change her emotions, however, only added anger at herself on top of it.

Rising to her feet, she took a final deep breath and got out of the van. Vanguard seemed to have taken it upon himself to enter the building to presumably begin rescue operations. Carefully, Snap approached the building. "Vanguard?" She asked over the comms. "You find anyone? Need help?" Her voice quavered slightly but she forced herself onward - not yet entering the building but ready to do so. Fire. Fire she could handle. Well, she would handle it; had to, she thought, pushing her fears down.

Amateur Psychologist

Ji Yu tried to quietly keep to herself after her cowardice. None of the others made any immediate comments and she was relieved that she had some time to work through her thoughts. Was she really cut out for this job? It would certainly involve more danger and potentially even bigger threats into the bargain. It wasn't impossible she'd freeze up again on any of those occasions. She supposes it really was a lot like being an emergency responder: dashing off into danger at the drop of a hat to save lives. Framed that way, though, she felt even less up to the task - those people were heroes.

As she was mulling things over, she noticed Jack approach her. She thought the guy looked a little awkward and could guess why he was there. And yep, there it was. In fairness, his question seemed genuine and Ji Yu was touched despite her lack of enthusiasm for discussing the matter. "Hey, Jack," she said, tiredly. "Honestly? I don't even know." Summoning up some bravery, she glanced around and lowered her voice a little. "I mean, how do you guys do it? You saw the same chaos I did, right? I just... couldn't. And who knows what happening to CJ..." She trailed off, shuddering a little. There was still limited information regarding their teammate and that was frightening in its own way.

"That could've been any of us, y'know?" She continued after a moment. "All it took was her being out of sight for a few minutes and bam! she's gone." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I wasn't really there, Jack." Ji Yu eyed her colleague, trying to get a sense of what he thought, how he saw her now.

New Kid in Class

Ji Yu listened to the Director quietly, sitting off to the side. She focused on the new information, mentally brushing past the mention of the events of the day before. She knew that Sanderson was being practical but it still felt cold to be replacing CJ so quickly. This was a world that had little time for sentiment. Among the last things she wanted to do was interact with a lot of people, especially someone even newer than the others.

Graham turned out to be a little insensitive but it didn't seem malicious and, besides, Ji Yu was in no place to be throwing stones. She looked away, pretending to study her finger nails for imperfections. The others made various introductions but she was in no mood to make small talk and be friendly and welcoming. She stayed where she was and listened instead.

[Anubis Dread]

On the Way to the Team Meeting

"What else do you call someone who wants to install upgrades in your minions?" Jenny teased gently, playfully slapping Patch lightly on the arm. She was clearly preening under the compliment. "As for the leadership position... it just seems Josie is a better fit. It's pretty hard to compete with someone who can do three things at once." There were other reasons of course. Josie was more photo-genetic, had a more interesting power and was a girl. But all of that was personal preference and not something she should bring up for a decision like this. Besides she felt it was pretty inevitable she'd get the job anyway.

Alpha Girl looks at her minions dubiously. "I wish I knew. I've never had more than two before. I'm kind of worried about it..."

[GameOfChampions]

Heating Up

Vanguard breaks through the door with ease, weathering the flames that roll out with ease, as you enter you see that most of what seems to be a small apartment is in flames but the cries for help are coming from a closet on the far side of the room that is not in flames... yet. As the people in the closet hear you they pull it open a bit and look out, it seems to be an older teenage girl with a younger preteen girl that looks to be her sister.

The young women run to you as you near them babbling at you in a mixture of Spanish and English begging you to help them. It takes a few seconds but you manage to calm them down enough to ferry the both of them down and out of the building with only a few burns and some smoke inhalation. The medics that are arriving as you get them out manage to take them and start to help them with a mixture of burn treatment and oxygen. As you're turning to leave you catch the youngest one giving you a weak wave from her gurney in the ambulance with an oxygen mask strapped to her face.

Materialized Arm of the Law

You can't make one from diamond. The health insurence covers normal arms and in turn will cover one you make if it is the same or similar cost. Essentially you can make a slightly better arm for no cost but giving the pair of you a nice IC moment or you can shell out the money from the fund to make a better arm which you can run by me. No diamond though, that would be crazy expensive.

Cams, Cams Everywhere!

The guard shrugs "Well I don't know the in depth technical details, Dragon does and maybe one or two of the scientists. However as far as not being hacked you can't access the footage except from a PRT approved computer, which are only in the various HQ's, and you need an approved account which all have passwords that change daily and are questions that re specific to each person based of off in depth background checks. We run the background checks every six months and the info is run through the AI's of the home city and any suspicious changes are flagged for us to check out. Any attempts to hack in would be immediately fought against and would instantly warm Dragon who would take a personal hand in the matter, this however only counts for normal hacking and not any special tech powers. However any capes with powers that would want to help them would need to get to a linked computer first, which in turn means breaking into HQ and I'd like to see them try." the guard grins and pats his side arm with confidence.


Cooling Down

The CSI unit arrives within the hour and start to set up around the sight of the blood and have some other members screening the surrounding area for clues. They preserved the site while taking samples of the blood and surrounding area but could not find any unique footprints or any biological samples. The unit stayed for most of the day, keeping the team informed the entire time, and spent the time casing the place an searching for anything that could help the investigation but could not find anything.

Twisted Nightmares

The console quickly answers you call "Is everything all right Alpha Girl what's the problem?" they listen to describe the situation before they calm down, the officer on duty calls one of the on staff R&D and they say you can come in to check on the new minions but if they follow you commands like the others then to not worry to much for now.

New Kid on the Block

The director sighs "Look guys I know its been a rough start and Spook is missing but it's not Grahams fault, no matter how tactless he is, so take it easy on him. We're keeping up the search right now but it seems like she has completely disappeared off the face of the earth, we'll update you if we find anything. Local and provincial forces are investigating the disappearance so hopefully she'll turn up soon." Director Sanderson wipes her hand under her baggy eyes and sighs.

Her face hardens though "Moving on for now. You will need to keep up your patrol schedules, with Graham joining Echo and Patch, but start planning some active raids or missions against some of the gangs in the city, we need to show we're still a force in the city."

I'm excited to see what the teams next step is! :smallsmile:

[Sønderjye]

Amateur Psychologist


"Honestly? I don't even know."
Jack forces himself to send a reassuring smile and puts a hand on Ji Yu's shoulder and gives it a squeze before he removes it. His vaguely remembers from his side studies on human psychology that physical contact released endorphines in the brain that helped people who were feeling bad.


"Hey, Jack," she said, tiredly. "Honestly? I don't even know." Summoning up some bravery, she glanced around and lowered her voice a little. "I mean, how do you guys do it? You saw the same chaos I did, right? I just... couldn't. And who knows what happening to CJ..." She trailed off, shuddering a little. There was still limited information regarding their teammate and that was frightening in its own way.

"That could've been any of us, y'know?" She continued after a moment. "All it took was her being out of sight for a few minutes and bam! she's gone." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I wasn't really there, Jack." Ji Yu eyed her colleague, trying to get a sense of what he thought, how he saw her now.

"Honestly it's pretty dang scary." He admits genuinely, shivering at the thought of her scream. "I have no idea what happened and what really gets me is that I probably could have made counter meassures to whatever happened if I knew what it was!" His frustration and sadness are obvious.

"As to how I think everybody have different reasons. Robert and Josie might just be like that, wanting to save other people, idk. I'm not sure about Jenny. For myself I have something more important than myself that I need to do and being successfull here is the only way I know how to." He manages to finish the sentence before memories of why he has ended up in this misserable situation flashes on his inner eye. He sighs and turns his attention outwards: "Why did you join the PRT?" He asks spontaneously, realizing something he adds: "If it's private you don't have to tell."

On the way to the team meeting

"For your money" Patch responds with a wink. He consider her words and does his best to see whether it seems like she's leaving something out or not. "You don't really need to do too many things at once to tell other people what to do though. And we don't yet know the personalities of her doubles yet, I don't know if they are all suited to be a leader. Also what happens if two Echo's give different orders?" Patch thinks out loud, eyeing Jenny to see her reaction when lightly pushed.

"Huh? Interesting. I wonder whether your power is innately capable of producing more minions or... Well, if two is good then four must be double, right?"

Materialized arm of the law

In that case I don't really know how to interpret "any special prosthetics will cost extra ending up about a few hundred at max."
Any particular material you feel like roflcoptor?

[Rofltrollcopter]

Heating Up

I've got one victim inside. Vanguard said in response to Snap's query over the radio. She might have been able to bypass the door, but she wasn't in any position to help.I'm going in. Vanguard pulled the door off from its hinges and entered. He scooped them both up with his left arm, and proceeded to carry the girls out of the building. After he handed them over to the EMTs, he slumped down to the ground. He barely registered what was going on around him, but he looked up and waved back in response to the young girl.

Materialized Arm of the Law

Err.. Robert was taken aback at Patch mentioning his probation conditions. I'm not sure if the Director would be happy if I asked for diamond. Couldn't we just use aluminum for a skeleton? Aluminum's a good metal, I've worked with it before. It's light for its strength so it shouldn't cause any strain. And then maybe carbon fiber for the panels? He stood there for a moment, his desire to be polite was competing with his concern. So when you say you can't work with people. Your stuff doesn't have any... side effects, right?

New Kid on the Block

Robert had enough decency to look ashamed at the Director's chastisement. He stood up and offered his good hand to the newcomer. Robert Cunningham, Vanguard in costume. It's good to have you with us.

Director. With all due respect, I don't think it would be a good idea for us to go out on patrol today. He put his coffee down on the table and looked up at the director. It's clear that there are a lot of problems with how we responded yesterday. I put a guy in the hospital for Christs sake. Robert spoke the last part with obvious distaste. It was clear that what happened to Wind Fist weighed on Robert's mind.I think we need a breather, do some training or team building or something. I'm new to this whole business, so I don't know what the best approach would be.

[Anubis Dread]

Cooling Down

Alpha Girl felt rather detached from the entire situation. It was an consequence of her power really. She told her minions to attack the enemy and they did it. She told her minions to try and rescue the people in the building and they did it. Poorly, but they did. She got no feedback from them, there was no consequence for her for their successes or failures. Fire and forget. She might as well be back at base at the console for all the involvement she personally had.

Still there were things she could do here. She didn't have any knowledge of crime scenes or anything like that. She was a PR Queen, devoting her life to looking good and gathering fame and adulation like a dragon gathers gold. She couldn't do anything for working out the next step... but she could at least walk around a bit while they did the work. Talk to people gathering at the edges of the crime scene, giving a few statements so they wouldn't worry too much, upping their reputation a bit. It wasn't much, but it was her and that was enough.

On the Way to the Team Meeting

"Echo still seems the best fit to me. I like her. Power envy aside," Jenny shrugged. "Seriously her power is a PR goldmine. I'd be lying if I said that didn't play a part, having a leader that's popular is important, but I like her and she seems to know what she's doing. Not like me. My pets freak me out a little, to be honest," she frowned at the four trailing at her sides. "I can command them and all, but there's a lot I don't know about them. Plus they have a very hateable face." She considers a moment expressing that she occasionally brutal destroys them with her bare hands for stress release and to get them to stop freaking looking at her like that, but even if they were just meat puppets to her that seemed like something even Patch with his whole Dr. Frankenstein thing going on might find disturbing.

New Kid on the Block

"Seconded. I don't have a costume good for public with the new ones," Jenny idly gestured with her head to the pets. Screw it, sexy shepherd it was. Just had to get those sheep costumes refitted and her old outfit loosened on the bust and arms a bit. It'd be a fair bit shorter on her now than it was back then, but that was probably a good thing. Ugh the PR department was going to take ages to sort this out, she was texting Mom.

[Writtensanity]

"Fashion emergency, I... I think I understand." I held out a hand for a second before thinking better of it. She seemed busy texting. That was an interesting thing to say about a hero. Never thought I'd need to wait for that. Either way, not the main point.

"What do I do?" I repeated. "I shoot things with my... well beams. I would show you but I got in trouble last time I took out a light. Works better the more I hit someone, yada yada," I spun back to Vanguard, "don't worry about the hospital thing, I have a tendency to do that too. Can't really control how hard these things," I held up my hand and started charging a silver beam to show off, "hit." I dismissed the charge.

"Look in terms of going on patrol, I'm eager, and at the same time we still need to establish that the PRT is back in Miami. Maybe we don't go after anything BIG, but we need to represent the people out there, take down a mugger or two, tell the kids not to do drugs, kick women off street corners, all that jazz." I knew the police still existed, but we still handled petty crime sometimes, right? The heroes had done that back in Seattle but- well I

God Alpha girl was young, was she even going to pick up the 'all that jazz' reference? Did I need to jump to something more modern? Snapchat? Skype? ****, was skype new? Mom used it so it must have been pretty old at this point and...

[GameOfChampions]

New Kid in Class

The director listens to Robert as he talks and graces as she hears the end,"Robert I know you feel bad about Wind Fist but the job foes mean that sometimes people get hurt and we're the one who do the hurting. No one likes it but it's a reality we have to accept when both sides are running around with powers."

The women stops and looks around at the group of heroes, both old and new before continuing "However you do have a point about taking the day, we'll postpone continuation of duties until tomorrow. For today you should all get to know your newest teammate and get in some training."

Echo raises her hand and nods to the director "I think Vanguard is right and we should take a day, I'd like to maybe get some combat instructors in today for a few lessons. As far as making ourselves known in the city we do have Alpha Girls interview going for us. It looked like a big hit for us."

She then smiles at Graham "Sorry about that I'm Josie Reynolds, Echo in costume. It's nice to meet you. Welcome to the team and I'm happy to see a new addition to our team, not just a replacement for C.J who hopefully you'll get to meet very soon."

The director stays for another few minutes to answer any more questions for the group but soon leaves you for your devices. Josie turns to Jack and nudges him with her elbow. "Hey Jack I actually wanted to talk to you about some gear for the team if we have the time. I was thinking some protective gear or somethkng along those lines for Ji Yu, Jenny, and yourself."

Sorry guys busy weekend and my computor is beine held together with duct tape right now.

[Rofltrollcopter]

I'm not losing any sleep over Wind Fist. Robert explained. The a**hole had just been standing back and laughing while Pyro attacked those people. Ha paused for a moment, struggling with how everyone had responded. It seemed that the Director and Josie were trying to make him not guilty. It wasn't unappreciated, but Robert was frustrated with his failure to get his point across. As for Graham... the man seemed to have a casual acceptance of violence that made Robert feel uneasy. I didn't explain myself well. My point is that I didn't choose to do that to him. It was an accident. He could have landed funny and broke his neck instead. I don't know how to incapacitate someone safely when I'm using my power.

He thought about for a moment, before turning in his chair to look at Echo Can I borrow Force later? It might be good if I can try to practice with someone at my own strength.

I have something I need to get done. Robert said. He got up from the chair, before looking over at the team. He wasn't aware of the conversation between Jack and Ju Yi, so as far as he knew, no one had taken steps to try to recover from yesterday. Anyone want to meet up for lunch today? He tried to make it sound casual. I saw a nice looking Italian place a couple of blocks away from HQ. I know we can't talk shop off base, but I'd like to have the chance to get to know you all better. He made a note of looking at Graham when he said that, to make sure he felt included.

Checking In

Robert fumbled with his costume in the storage room. He grabbed the helmet, and took it under his arm. He looked for an unused conference room in the protectorate building. He ducked inside, closed the door and put on the helmet. He picked up the phone on the desk, and dialed the number for Mercy Hospital. Once he reached reception, he turned on the voice synthesizer in the helmet to protect his identity. I am the Protectorate Hero Vanguard. He was startled by how easily how referred to himself with that name. There were two latina girls that were brought to your hospital after the incident yesterday. I... I wanted to know how they were doing.

Team Lunch

Robert sat at a table in the cafe at Salumeria 104. The place was clean, and the pictures of sandwiches and pasta on the menu outside had looked appetizing. Maybe it was the job getting to him, but he picked a table with clear access to the fire exit. He wasn't sure how many people would take him up on his invitation, or if anyone would care to. People responded to stress in different ways. For Robert, a chance to get away from the source of stress always helped him feel recharged. To pass the time, Robert looked up at the news displayed on the t.v. in the corner.

[Silent_p]

Heating Up

Snap could only listen and then watch as Vanguard saved the children. It did little for her confidence that even now, with the fighting done, she was useless. Why, oh why couldn't she have stepped out of the van? Just snapped over to clear some civilians out of harm's way or something?

She knew she should probably go and give Vanguard some emotional support but couldn't find the energy. Dejected, she did her best to stay out of the way as her colleagues and the various city professionals did the real work of rescue and clean-up. How was she going to face her teammates?

Amateur Psychologist

While it was nice that someone was still willing to talk to her, Ji Yu was surprised when Jack squeezed her shoulder. She knew it was supposed to be reassuring but it was pretty familiar for someone she'd only known for such a short time. Deciding to brush past it for the moment, she listened as he expressed his own concerns about the job and frustrations about whatever had happened to CJ. She nodded, grimacing briefly in sympathy.

His comments about their teammates force Ji Yu to suppress a wince - she'd yet to really talk to any of them. Sure, they'd gotten into the thick of it and done a good job but that didn't mean they were doing well. They could be just as stressed as she'd been, or more, and able to handle it better in the heat of the moment. She knew she'd have to talk to them... just later.

"Why'd I join?" She gave a rueful laugh, shaking her head and looking away. "'Atonement', I suppose. Try to make up for what I'd done. Up until yesterday, it felt like I got off lightly. Now? It's sinking in, y'know? I'm expected to run into danger. Stop the bad guys. Save the day." She looked back at Jack. "I want to stay and get through... or over this," she added, gesturing vaguely, "but I'm struggling to work out how..."

New Kid in Class

Despite herself, Ji Yu perked up when Robert mentioned getting lunch together. It would be a way to unwind and maybe even get to know the others but a niggling part of her brain made her wonder how welcome she'd still be. True, Jack had been supportive and no one had admonished her at all yet but was that the same as forgiving and moving on? She wondered if she'd feel better if they just yelled at her for a while... Probably not.

Any other day, she'd have jumped at the offer and likely tried to make a few jokes about splitting the bill by now. Today wasn't any other day, though, it was the day after she'd let everyone down. The day after CJ had gone missing. The day that they'd found someone to replace their teammate - they could phrase it differently but that's how it felt.

Finally raising her eyes, she looked around at the group, doing her best not to stare. From the little she'd interacted with them, they were fairly decent people. Maybe getting a bite to eat with them would be okay.

Team Lunch

Based on the directions Robert had provided, Ji Yu found the restaurant easily enough. She'd yet to try any of the local establishments and this one looked nice. She ran her eye over the menu before entering. The gnocchi sounded good.

Once inside, she quickly spotted Robert and, with a small smile that might not quite have reached her eyes, made her way over to the table. "So. Is it assigned seating or can I just perch wherever?"

[Sønderjye]

The materialized arm of the law

A brief image of his grandmother's sick face appears on his inner eye and Patch's fist momentarily tightens and a look of guilt flashes on his face. He looks down at the advanced equiptment on the table beside him and takes a moment to steady himself.

"No, no side effects." He responds after a moment in a neutral tone. "The PRT just used sloppy police work to force me to work here. And to appear like the good guys they framed me as the bad guy and put restrictions on me." He says, only the faintest of bitterness slipping through his defences. He sighs, "Or maybe they are just limiting my options so they have some carrots to give me. A tactical move I probably could be appreciative of if the situation was different." He adds looking thoughtful.

"Anyway" He says with a head shake: "Sure, let's do aluminium and carbon fiber. Both good materials. "

Amateur Psychologist

Jack is a little suprised that they would put two probationary members on the same team. Wasn't that super risky with the chance of them ganging together? Was this a test that he wouldn't try to convince Ji Yu to try to escape? Were she in reality just acting because the PRT had told her to? She had been doing nothing during the combat right? Had they tried to bait him into reaching out to her because she was the most vulnerable member and then handed him an opportunity on a silver plate? Cute, but he was one step ahead of them.

Jack nods in understanding. "I don't think I can tell you anything that suddenly can make it easier to fight. I guess training can help you but at least remember why you joined next time we're in combat." he says with a friendly smile, not letting any of his thoughts shine through.

On the way to team meeting

Jack is a little displeased with how Jenny neglected to adress any of his arguments and finds her arguments weak at best. Who cared if a leader were appreciated by the public or liked if they were shouting contradicting orders while fire was being thrown at the group?

"I don't think they look particularly hateable. Why do they freak you out?", Patch asks deciding to let the leader conversation rest for now.

New Kid on the block

"What's your range like?" is the first question in a longer sequence of questions that Patch asks Graham, trying to understand how his power works.

"Director? Can you find someone who can teach me how to shoot this thing? It went fine yesterday but I would feel a lot better if I weren't just winging it." Patch asks gesturing towards the case with UTME written with white letters.

Patch takes a step back when touched. "It's possible but you'll need to be a little more specific. Protection against what and how? I personally think that reinforcing our bones so something like what happened to Wind Slap didn't happen to us but that's not allowed." He manages to say without it sounding like a complain. "On the topic of tools and trinkets I think the counter measure against Insight has top priority and I expect to start that later today. One of your alter egos suggested something to make us flying and I think that's an excellent idea. I also think that throat mics would be a huge advantage so we can talk without being overheard while in combat, sorta like we all had telepathy." He does not share the other reason that he thinks that throat mics would be good for the team, hoping that this would be enough to convince the group.

"Thanks but I'll skip on this one" Patch responds to Robert. "Don't think I'll have enough time today to do a long lunch. On the topic of being outside on the streets you should all remember what happened yesterday. We just took down two members of Shining Path and chances are they're looking to retaliate" He leaves the warning hanging.

[Chivy]

New kid on the Block

'Sorry, I misunderstood then.' Echo nodded at Vanguard's explanation of what was bothering him.
'But I think I understand what you mean. When I'm Force, I have to constanty temper myself or I'll break things and hurt people. I wrecked my boots when I tried to batter down Barricade's wall, ripped right through the soles and dug my toes into the pavement.'

'Anything I can do to help.' She said when Robert asked to 'borrow' Force, then thought for a moment.
'I think we should start somekind of training rotation where we each spar against each other. We'll eventually be facing a lot of parahumans, so might as well train against each other to get as versatile as we can, right?'

'Director, would it be possible to get some hand to hand trainers in by tomorrow morning? I think we'll all feel a lot better if we know more about the basics when we get into another scrape. And starting sooner would be better than later.'

'Sorry.' Josie said when she saw Patch flinch at her touch. She briefly wondered what the story there was, but she kept the questions to herself. He'd share if and when he felt like it.
'I don't realy know what kind of protection. Anything to improve on what you have now I guess. I'm hoping it'll help people at least feel a bit safer and might help everybody feel a bit less trepedation about combat. I know I would feel better at least.'
She shrugged and smiled at Patch's mention of an alter ego
'I asked about flying. I know it's weird, but they're all me and I'm them. Only one who might be a bit different is maybe Sharp, because I'm smarter when I'm her. A lot smarter. But it's not that I don't understand what she knows and thinks of, it's just that when I'm her my brain is a lot faster, connects more dots and makes leaps more intuitively than when I'm me, Deft or Force.

'Insight is definitely top priority and the throat microphones sound good. Like I said before; You'll be the most valued member of the team before lomg.'

I'm hoping you can come up with something for additional protection, otherwise I might be able to think of something when I next split and can focus Sharp on the problem. Maybe we could bounce some ideas of each other when my brainpower gets a bit closer to yours?'

Team Lunch

Josie stepped into the restaurant and looked around, she spotted Vanguard, Robert, and Snap, Ji Yu, easily enough and made her way over to them. She made a conscious effort to switch mental gears and call them by their civilian names in her head. She had been told that making the destinction between cape and noncape life was a good practice to get into as soon as possible.
'Hi Robert, Ji Yu' she started then floundered a bit, looking at the other two and the seats. She then gave a tiny shrug and said
'I usually hug people I know hello when I see them, I'm not much for the kissing hello thing. But not everybody likes the familiarity, so I'll just ask: how do you usually greet people? Just so I don't mess up.'

all i have time for. I skipped a few scenes for now, Had to choose. But i think i got the two most important ones for me to weigh into for now.

[Writtensanity]

New Kid in Class



"Well um thanks," I said to pretty much everyone once they switch their tone. It wasn't the greatest that the director needed to tell them to play nice, but whatever, better than nothing. Plus a Lunch!

"I can shoot about 300 feet," I told Jack before he moved to asking the director. I gave her those puppy dog eyes. I could teach him! I could show him the world behind a scope and "What about me?" I suggested before I really thought about being behind a rifle again. Maybe I wasn't going to be allowed back there, I didn't know.

Team Lunch"

"Well um," I started on the side of the street that I SWORE the place was supposed to be on. It wasn't across the street either. Dammit. What was the app that I needed to call a car to bring me places? Umbra? **** if I knew. All I knew was that I shouldn't have insisted in walking in a city I'd been in for a total of three hours. "****."

Late. Awesome.

[GameOfChampions]

New Kid In Class

The Director purses her lips as Robert explains himself "Fair enough, Force would be able to help you practice more then any of our forces we have on hand since they're not as tough." She then looks to the rest of the team as well "Well we have a list of retainers for anyone who wants to brush up their skills, though Graham may be able to help you out with your shooting Jack, and I'll send you all a list with the contact info for them. They've all had background checks and are vetted every 6 months but you should all still wear your masks when they come around. We do have several hand to hand experts that specialize in various fighting styles for those who want it."

Check In

The women on the other end of the phone sounds a little surprised at having a hero on the line "Ohhh hello sir. Yes I can check up on them for you just give me a second... here we are. Yes Sofia and Mariana Valquez were checked in for smoke inhalation and some light burns. They seem to be recovering just fine and should be out of here within a day or two, would you like their room number to call or visit?"


Like all the back and forth between everyone! :smallsmile: Keep up the awesome roleplaying and I'm going to roll a possible random outcome for the disappearance of a hero and the arrival of another in the city.

[Sønderjye]

New kid on the block

"It's fine" Patch shrugs, clearly contradicting his previous moment.

Patch frowns when Josie mentions her echos being the same person: "That.. That doesn't really add up. During the fight one of you told another of you what to do, that doesn't make sense if they all think the same way."

"Sure, I can come up with something for additional protection." He sinks into deep thoughts for a moment and after some quick calculations he speaks up: "I've got an idea for something that would make us pretty save against most capes but we don't have the budget for both that and the counter-meassure against Insight, so we'd have to wait for next month for it." He then turns to the director: "Unless the PRT feels generous after we caught two villains on the first day and a member was taken down." He felt sort of guilty from using spooks disappearance like that but he too would feel a lot better if he wasn't going to die from a stray bullet.

He looks at Graham trying to figure out what the new member feels about the prospect of teaching a rookie to shoot a rifle.

Mad Scientist and his unnatural creations

Not long after the team meeting screams of death and agony loud noises of indistinguishable origin can be heard from lab 2b as the sleep-derived idealist begins the dissection for parts to his frankenstonian creations. It never felt really good to do this sort of work, he though as he with precise movements cut the donor open. There was a lot of things that felt really good about it but the feeling were always muddied by the fact that he was destroying something and that he sorta was cheating by not making his creations from scratch but merely was stitching pieces together from various donors.

The is just fluff. None of it is incorrect, at least strictly speaking. Patch is beginning the creation of Sir II: Creation.

[Rofltrollcopter]

My apologies for the delay

The Materialized Arm of the Law

Robert knew that Jack was on probation, but he wasn't familiar with the details. Jack's view towards the PRT was still startling. Do you want to be here? Work as a hero? Robert asked curiously.

Checking In

Robert breathed a sigh of relief, which would have been audible over the phone. That's... good to hear He was bewildered by the nurse's suggestion. Visiting in person? That seemed like something... well, that someone else should do. Someone's who presence would mean something. If you could give me the room number, that would be appreciated. I just want to wish them my best

Team Lunch

Although Robert noticed Jack's absence, he was still pleased with the turnout from the people that were present. Hey, I'm glad you can make it! Robert said when Ju Yi entered. He gestured to the whole table. Sit wherever you want.

He couldn't help but chuckle at Josie. She seemed to be quite different out of costume. It was shocking to see the defacto team leader so unsure of herself, considering she faced down a group of rampaging villains yesterday. Do whatever feels comfortable. He said. Where I come from, people just say hello, but let it never be said that I'm not willing to try something new. He smiled and joked. Just don't get too friendly in front of my wife!


Realizing that Graham hadn't shown up, Robert wasn't sure what to do. He had left his PRT issued phone back at Headquarters. That probably wasn't a smart idea, in retrospect. Can any of you text Graham? It's getting late

While they waited for the last person to show up, Robert ordered an onion soup to start. Was onion soup Italian? Robert wasn't sure. He settled comfortably, and turned to look at Ju Yi. So what did you do before you moved to Miami?As far as Robert was concerned, the fact that they couldn't talk about 'work' was a bonus, as far as he was concerned.

[Silent_p]

Amateur Psychologist

Jack's words were nice to hear. He, at least, didn't seem to hold her inaction against her. Not to her face, anyway. She nodded slowly at his advice. "Okay," she said after a further moment's thought. "Focus less on what I'm doing, more on why I'm doing it."

Slightly uncertain about how to continue, she chose to stand and look at her teammate. "Thanks, Jack. Look, I'm not sure how much help I can be but I'd be glad to return the favour if you ever want to unload like this."

New Kid In Class

As Director Sanderson outlined some possibilities for combat training, Ji Yu considered her own situation. Sure, she'd taken self-defence classes and such but, in all honesty, she was ill-prepared for actual combat. The classes she'd attended had rightly focused on avoiding and escaping threats. Now, she had to confront them, if not head-on, then at least far more directly. It wasn't something she'd really considered until recently. She'd raised it as a concern before and was glad it was finally being addressed.

Team Lunch

Nodding, Ji Yu took a seat opposite Robert and glanced around. Before she had a chance to say anything, Josie arrived, appearing somewhat nervous. Comparing this image of the woman with her prowess yesterday eased some of Ji Yu's tension. Standing, she opened her arms and stepped forward. "Well, I, for one, would love a hug," she said, smiling more genuinely now. "And thank you for checking, much appreciated."

Once re-seated, she turned to Robert. "Environmental activism, mostly. Marches, protests, the whole nine yards. Not always stuff I'm still proud of, though but let's not sour the mood. New job, new Ji Yu." She flashed a quick grin to hide her anxiety.

[Sønderjye]

The materialized arm of the law

Patch looks suprised when asked the question. He hadn't actually given that any thoughts and only accepted what had happened and tried to make the best out of a suboptimal situation. He found himself without a knee-jerk reaction. ".. It depends what you mean when you say hero. If you mean someone who on a big scale helps humans then yes." He slowly answers as thoughts forms in his head. "But if you mean someone like rushing head first into danger... I don't know. I think my abilities might do more good if I just had a lot of money and could sit in a lab, although I admit that is quite an idealised situation"

Amateur Psychologist

Patch smiles as Ji Yu takes his advice. He noticed himself relaxing a little but then immidiately catching himself relaxing and starts to wonder whether this was an intentional move by her.

And now she gave him the option of pouring out his heart and secrets. His suspicion was growing stronger.
"Thanks for the offer but I don't think there's anything that I need to unload right now." He responds before continueing, now a little more energetic, "Something that I have been thinking about thought is if there's a kind of tech that would help you out. I think there could be a ton of uses if we could think of something that could help direct your explosions but I am having trouble wrapping my mind around it. What kind of explosion is it that your power makes when you jumps and is it correct that you or nothing that you take with you is damaged by it? Does it appear around your body or where is it origin?"

[Writtensanity]

Loaded Up:

I wasn't a person who whistled. I wasn't a whistler. That was how you annoyed people, made them take away your toys. At least that'd what I'd learned with my Mom when she took care of me. She'd knocked the whistle out of my lips but god damn holding a rifle brought it back. I checked the scope again before taking a look downrange. The range was short, but it was enough for today.

Honestly, if I were being objective I probably would have dropped the guns by this point. I had a power now that could hit a cape in ways that a gun never could. That being said, god damn, holding the rifle again felt better than literally shooting from my arms. I could blast a couple hundred feet, this thing I could nail from a mile.

Well maybe not anymore.

I was early so I got some shots in, the range was short, but it was good enough for a lesson.

Team Lunch:

This was the place, at least I hoped it was. What the hell was I supposed to do to the person at the front counter? 'Hey, have you seen a team of capes out of costume around here? No? Oh alright.' What if I couldn't find them. I'd made a right ass of myself in front of the kids before and now I was standing here with my- oh wait, there they were, easy enough.

"Hey, uh, sorry I'm late new to Miami and all. Don't worry though, not planning on going missing or-" **** I was too far in, "anything," I finished as quietly as I could before taking the empty seat. Yayyyyyyyy.

[GameOfChampions]

New Kid on the Block

Sanderson does shrug a little in response to Jacks question "Well I'm glad you've found something that could maybe help with the Insight problem and you raise a good point with bringing in the villains. With that and Alpha Girls interview the PR department is pretty happy with the start we have here, I think I could convince them for an increase in the budget next month. I don't know how much yet but it's better then nothing."

Checking In

"No Problem sir the extension to their room, and room number, is 244 and they should be there now if you want to talk to them. Have a nice day." The women says brightly before returning you to the wait line of the hospital phone where you could enter the extension if you wished.

Downtime

The next two days are uneventful, allowing you all to spend the time as you wish. However as night falls on the second day you all receive an urgent call from the Director saying the same thing to all of you "I need you in my office now. This is a potential Class A threat scenario."

Crunch Time

The director is sitting behind her desk clenching her jaw and trying to suppress a tic in her eye as she watches a video on her tv on the wall. "Everyone sit down please, I'll explain momentarily when everyone's here."

Hey I know this is short but you all have 2 days of downtime to start, and possibly finish, any scenes with each other that you want and have practice time and whatnot. This could be used to create any gear or buy it if you want. The next update will outline the threat bearing down on you :smallbiggrin:

[Chivy]

New kid on the block

Josie looked at Jack, confused. She didn't quite comprehend why he thought her power didn't add up. She went over the conversation for a moment, then thought about the fight.
'Sharp.' She finally said, nodding to herself.
'In the fight Sharp-me realed the others in. Uhmm.. How do I explain this...' She took another moment to think about it then started explaining
'When I split there are three me's, three me's thinking and three me's seeing what's going on. All three are me, but I'm not one person with three bodies. There isn't somekind of overmind. Each of me has precisely the same memmories I had untill the moment I split, and when the split ends I'll have all the memmories of all three of me made during the split.'

'Now imagine you look to the right and you see a dog wagging it's tail. You'll probably think about that dog a certain way. Imagine if you look to the left, and hadn't looked to the right, and see a snarling dog. You'll probably think about that dog in a different way. Your thoughts might be different, but you're still you. Regardless of the dog you looked at.'
'That's what happens when I split, my different selves might make different calls or do things sligtly different, but that's just me reacting to what I know and can see.'

She hoped that she hadn't confused the explanation too much, but Patch was a tinker so he should be able to handle it.
'Sharp-me has a whole slew of hightened senses and is quick-witted enough that she usually sees both dogs, the third one hiding in the corner and the half a dozen cats sneaking around.'

'I killed that methaphor didn't I? Well what I'm trying to say is that when Sharp-me makes a call like I did in the fight, force-me and deft-me listen.'

'Does that even remotely clear things up, or did I just confuse it even further?' she finally finished.


Echo nodded when the director told them that they had a list of vetted trainers ready to go.
'I'm going to start a close quarter training regiment every other day, from say... nine to eleven. Starting tomorrow. I hope all of you will join me.'
She looked at the others before continueing.
'It won't matter if we're naturally inclined to long range or short, at some point we'll all find ourselves in hand to hand. We'd best know how to at least hold our own untill help can come charging in.'

Team lunch

'Wife?' Josie asked as she hugged Robert, then she gave Jui Yi one. Josie had been average in anmost everything in her life, but her hugs were almost works of art. She had hugged her brothers and sisters almost every day of her life, hugged her friends, collegues, random strangers in bars. She had practiced untill she could almost convey bookloads of information with a hug. She took extra care to give both her teammates warmth in the hug, but she tried to convey respect for an older married man in her hug with Robert, something like a dad-hug, and support for someone who was having a hard time in her hug with Jui Yi, a sisterly hug.
'I was reminded that not everybody likes casual contact today, so I figured I would ask before I made someone uncomfortable.' She answered Jui Yi, then sat down with Robert to her left and Jui Yi to her right.

She nodded when Jui Yi spoke of a new job and new look on life.
'Getting powers changes everything. I had a office job before. Mostly filing and client support. Very boring. I spent a few months on the street after...'
Josie swallowed. The accident might not have given her powers, but for her it was every other part of a trigger event.
'....and then I got a new job and eventually met you.' She finished with forced levity, before quickly trying not to move the conversation past her hickup.
'What about you Robert, what did you do before?'

When Graham showed he proceded to put another foot in his mouth before sitting down. Josie had to work to keep the frown off her face and then had to remind herself that he was probably just nervous. Why did he have to remind her of spook every time they saw each other?
'Well better late than never.' She tried to sound sincerely pleased that he had joined them, even if he was late.
'I usually hug people hello, I don't like the kissing hello thing. But before I invade your personal space; how do you usually like to say hello?'
There, that was sort of inviting and in no way significantly different than when she greeted the other two. Right?

Training day (Downtime).

Echo stepped into the gym in costume, but without any of her other gear. It would only get in the way during training.

It was 8:50 am, she was early. She like to be early so she could tale a few minutes to get in the right headspace before starting the day's training.

She had looked over the list supplied by the Director and made a top three of trainers she'd like to train under, then forwarded those to the director. She wondered which one(s) would be here this morning. She hoped the rest of the team would be here. If she had been made teamleader like Alpha Girl suggested in her interview, she'd of made it mandatory, like it was with her previous team. But now all she could do was hope that the others realised how important this was..

8:52 am. She started her breathing exercises and stretched.

Crunch Time

Echo sat down, her nerves had been raw from the moment she had received the call.
Potential Class A threat
She received the extra pay and perks that came with being a cape signed up to combat the S class threats, but she thought it'd be months before she actually faced something truly, mindboggilingly dangerous. Not in her first week in a new city.
She was glad her mask hid most of her features and the armor panels forced her to sit upright. At least she might look confident.

[Rofltrollcopter]

I do intend to respond to 'Team Lunch' and the 'Materialized Arm of the Law', but I will not be able to until tomorrow afternoon.


Checking In

Robert thanked the receptionist, and dialed the number that he was given. Hello?

Crunch Time

Robert had skimmed enough of the PRT documentation to have a sense of the implications of the Director's warning. He was seated at the conference table, and his knuckles were white as he gripped the table. Are we calling in reinforcements?

[Sønderjye]

New kid in class

"Hmmm. Alright.." Patch responds partly convinced. "Can you then enlighten on how the thought process of Sharp and Deft differed when Sharp told Deft not to pursuit? Sharp wasn't there and had even less information than Deft since she wasn't there."

"Thank you director" Jacks says. He had been seeking a one term shot but he'd take a permanent increase anytime.


Mad Scientist and his unnatural creations

"Beep"

"Argh!" Patch shouts as he in frustration slams his fist into the table , causing the small mountain of coffee cups to bounce dangerously. "This takes forever!". The sound was a signal that his last adjustment hadn't been precise enough. "I would have finished this yesterday if I could actually see what I am doing!". Sure, the microscopes and the PRT equiptment was useful but it didn't really cut it when you were building robots which length were measured in nanometers.

He leans back into the chair and stretches his arms over his head. An alarm goes off and the chock nearly makes him tip over. "Hmm, I guess it's time" he says, getting up and giving a long look at the table before he heads out of the room.

Training Day(Downtime)

About 8.59 Patch shows up at the gym. He is holding a big cup of coffee and the bags under his eyes suggests that he have slept less that one ought. "Hey" he greets Josie before taking another sip and walking over to take a chair until he would be called into action.

Crunch Time

Patch was actually suprisingly calm about this whole thing. The call itself wouldn't actually disrupt his inventions. He had managed to reach a point not long before when the first Sir 2 was fully functional and while they were too few still he had given them the blueprints and felt confident that they could finish the rest by themselves.

He sits down and looks attentively around, looking slightly more rested than when the team saw him the last time.

[GameOfChampions]

Training Day (Downtime)

Around 8:45 all three of the trainers showed up ready to train; there was a hand to hand expert in Muay Thai to train those who wanted in street fighting, an ex-navy seal who specialized in knife fighting and other melee weapons, and an ex-UFC fighter and judo expert who would help those who wanted to know more about grappling and holds. They brought all their gear and were ready to go with everyone who wanted to train.

Everyone feel free to make some assumptions and control the trainers a bit if you want. I doubt I know any more about this stuff then any of you guys, or hell maybe some of you do know a hell of a lot more then I do. :smalltongue:

Checking In

"Hi" A young sounding girls voice answers the phone quizzically, "This is Sofia, can I ask who this is?"

Crunch Time

The director shrugs a bit "Kind of? A class A threat doesn't require reinforcements so we haven't had many takers aside from a few within the state itself and dragon declined due the... unique nature of the threat. However the PRT has put the full force of their resources at our disposal for the period of the threat. Now let's take a look at the threat itself on the footage of a drone we sent out to record our first encounter.." She gestures to the TV and presses a button on a remote near her to play it.

The video starts to play and everyone can see that it's a long distance camera. In the center of what seems to be a a dust storm is a man shaped figure who is walking calmly through the duststorm, however as you watch you can see that there is something wrong with the duststorm. You can see that the storm is only a few hundred feet in length and everything outside it is a normal day, you also notice that several cars and part of a buildings wall are disintegrating into dust at high speeds and that is the source of the duststorm. The director pauses the video right as the camera focuses in on the quick disintegration of a Nissan Versa, "Code named 'Piecemeal' has the ability to disintegrate non-organic matter at high speeds, converting it to the dust you see there. However it doesn't stop there."

The video starts up again and the a few seconds after the video you hear what you recognize as comm traffic "Squad A approach from the east while squads B and C will approach from the North West under the cover of the gutted buildings. Weapons are hot and lethal ammunition is loaded." The camera pans out a ways and switches to thermal, you can all make out the dots of the five man squad on one side and the ten man squad on the other making their way in. They all close in quickly and you hear the first shot fired and then several things happened "He hasn't been hit. I repeat he hasn't been hit. Let's try focus fir- OHHH ****!" The camera switches back to normal and you all see a massive dark shape easily 15 feet tall and as broad as a car form out of the dust in front of the first squad, then another, and another until there are three of these creatures in front of the five man squad another 3 around Piecemeal. At this point you can see the squad start to retreat and the ten man squad on the other side start to do the same with the first squad comming in as they run "HQ send evac now! Our weapons and gear have started to disintegrate and we're being pursued by several large golem creatures! Please send backu-" The comm cuts out and the director stops the video again and this time turns it off.

The director sighs and looks back to the team. "The first squad didn't make it out and the second squad only got out just barely though they did manage to take out a pair of Golems. Our scientists have determined that Piecemeal can convert the inorganic matter he breaks down into these Golems and has a fine control over his disintegration which makes shooting him impossible from within or outside the storm. However the second squad found that he didn't disintigrate their gear though he manifested Golems near them, so we think that the fine control, and therefore ability to disintegrate gear, only works within his vision or possibly is tied to another smaller radius within the larger general disintegration and dust cloud one or conversely it could be tied to things being closer to organic matter instead. We just aren't sure."

[Silent_p]

Amateur Psychologist

Ji Yu smiled ruefully at Jack. "Yeah... It ain't that pretty. I've gotten hurt plenty of times. See, it's not so much an explosion as a localised disturbance based on the element I've melded with and the distance I've snapped. So, I could snap twenty, twenty-five metres with any element and pretty much nothing happens. After that, you're talking gusts of air to mini-tornados, minor tremor to rocks blasted into the air and so on."

She paused, considering. "It's centred on me and seems to emanate outward. I haven't been able get more specific on my own but I'm happy to go through some tests with you, if you're interested? Honestly, anything that could save me broken bones or bruises would be great."

Team Lunch

Glad that the conversation quickly moved away from her past, Ji Yu listened politely as Josie relayed a brief and understandably painful history of her own. She gave the woman a small smile and nodded. They both turned to Robert, curious about what he was willing to share of his own story.

When Graham arrived, flustered, Ji Yu watched him sit without comment. It was unfair how she felt about him for joining the team following CJ's disappearance. She'd have to do better. They all did, really. Josie was still a little harsh with him. She gave the newest member a smile. "No worries, we've barely gotten here ourselves."

Downtime

Dressed in yoga pants and a t-shirt, Ji Yu entered the gym just after 8:55, carrying a bottle of water and looking around for her teammates. Spotting Josie stretching, she wandered over. "Hey. Been here long?" She asked, glancing at the trainers.

Crunch Time

Anxious, Ji Yu nonetheless answered the call. She sat with the others and watched the video quietly. It was a lot to take in and she certainly didn't feel like making the first comment.

[Chivy]

New kid in class

Josie gave Jack a look. It almost felt like he was giving her the third degree for some reason. Then again, he was probably the smartest person in the room, so he might just be curious. Or looking for invention inspiration.
'I wanted to try and hamstring Avatar. You know, the whole bigger they are thing? Taking down two of their capes hurt the shining path, if we could have taken down four in one swoop, that would've crippled them.'
She shrugged, they'd get the other members eventually.
'I was listening in over the comms and with enhanced hearing and a brain that goes a hundred miles an hour, that's almost the same as being there. So I made the call; resqueing civilians, helping our teammates and securing the prisoners we had for sure was more important than attacking fleeing capes.'
She grinned at Jack. She enjoyed leaving things ambiguous as to which her she was talking about.
'And I think I was right, don't you?'

Training Day (Downtime)

Echo introduced herself to each of the trainers. She'd be working with all of them today after she'd split, learning as much as she could from each of them. The muscle memory might not carry over wholesale, about a third from each of her would, but the knowlegde they passed on would stay perfectly intact.
She looked up while stretching and saw Ju Yi enter. Without her costume.
'Only a few minutes. I usually try and be early to most things.' Echo said quietly, then shrugged a bit, it was something her previous team leader had taught her; be on time, it shows you vallue other people's time. A simple matter of respect that she had taken to heart.
'I'm glad you came.' She paused to emphasise the statement then quietly said
'The Director said these guys were vetted, but that we should keep our masks on just to be safe...'

'...Only for protectorate members. The PRT has their own trainers.' She raised her voice as she spoke. It was a lame excuse, she knew it. But it might give Snap's identity a little cover. She'd need to have uncostumed body doubles for each of the team walk in during ore before training to sew seeds of doubt.
' 'I think the smaller man on the right might be the right one for you. I picked an expert in Judo, but he also has a lot of experience in Aikido and Jui Jitsu. I think they're all related and mostly work with locks, throws, using your enemies strength against them, sneaky tricks and getting yourself out of trouble. Sharp will be training with him as well. The middle one is weapons and the left one does Muay Thai. You can choose whoever you want, or even mix it up each session.'

When Patch walked in she looked at him to make sure he had his costume, or at least his mask on. If not she'd mentally cringe and repeat the same thing she told Ju Yi, though louder and with a frustrated tone of voice.
If and when he walked in in costume or mask she'd sincerely say
'I'm happy you came Patch. Let me introduce you to the different trainers and you can pick the one you feel most comfortable with.'

Crunch Time

'Fu..dge.' Josie said as the video finished. She realised she was almost swearing a lot. Must be the stress of things right now. She took a moment to breathe and run everything through her mind again. She mentally switched gears and tried to get into a detatched professional state of mind. She wished she could split here and have Sharp turn her mind towards the problem, but she probably would need that split within the hour or so.

'Correct me if I'm wrong Director, but going up against a class A threat is voluntary right?' She let that hang in the air for a moment, before continueing
'I will be going. I signed up for S class threats, I won't back out on an A class.'

'I take it that because they were using lethal amunition..., there's a kill order?'

She swallowed at the thought of killing a man. Then looked around the team. They probably had what it took to take this guy down if they all came. They had to be missing something if a novice team could take down a class A threat.

'Interject whenever you have ideas or things to add please.' She started off the same way her old teamleader had. It had made her feel part of the process when he had done it, and if she was going to step up to this she might as well use what she had learned from him.
'He manipulates inorganic matter and turns it into these golems. But he might need focus to do so. Which means that anybody who relies on inorganic matter should stay well away from him. Do we have video or an estimate in what it takes to take the golems down?.'

'Just thinking out loud here, but could PinPoint's lasers or Snap's snap explosion take him down while the rest of us distract him by taking down his golems?'
'If we all decide to come that is.'

'We'll at least need some organic masks and body suits that would at least keep our identities hidden if he decides to destroy our costumes and gear.'

'Patch, is there a way you can fassion some organic projectiles? A wooden stake gun or something like that?'

[Writtensanity]

Crunch Time:

"What's that? 300, 400 feet?" I asked. I'd been quiet up until now. What was the point in talking when people got the air out. How many of us had dealt with capes? I'd been on the first responders before, but we called the PRT to back us up and handle it. Now I was the one handling it. "I can't hit him from outside his thing, I'm 200 feet, maybe 210 if I really got for it. 213 if I jump?" it really wasn't the time for jokes, was it. "Either way, I need time to do anything to him. Each hit hurts him more than the last, but if we're counting on me, that means I need a lot of support keeping him off me and-"

What did we need? "Can we requisition infared goggles so we can see him through all that bull****? Or are those just going to make us blind to the golems, I do- I don't know. Panic isn't the right option though. Every second we're here people... do people die? Is he killing?"


Team Lunch:

"Oh come on, don't lie I was lost for a while," I said. "Not to jump into business, but I have some INSIGHT," I coughed twice to show what I meant, "about all of us being in one place. Also can I get a menu, this is my first sitdown place in Miami."

[Sønderjye]

Amateur Psychologist

"Hmm" Patch nods wisely as he processes the information that Ji Yu.

He smiles big at Ji Yu's question: "I would love to, maybe later today?"

New kid on the block

Making the connection Patch grins back. "I do"

Loaded up

Jack is amused by the almost orgasmic look on Graham's face. Yes. I know it's brilliantly made, I'm pretty awesome, he thought quite self-pleased with his baby and totally oblivious to the real reason behind Graham's joy. "I call it UTME, don't ask me what it stands for" he says almost reluctant to draw the fellow hero out of his blissful state. "Would you mind if I film this lecture so I can go over it later when I need to?"

Training Day

The costumed hero looks around uncertain about what to do. This thing about actually fighting with his hands wasn't really his thing and he hoped someone would tell him where to begin. He makes a concious effort not to look at Ji Yu's fitting pants.

When Echo called on him he came over feeling relieved.

Crunch Time

With an eye movement Patch opens up the file on Piecemeat from the PRT database.

"There is a kill order" he confirms. "But I can't seem to figure out why. What have he done beyond protection himself director?" he looks questioning on the director.

"If we are to go immediately I can't do anything. My bullets are made for obstructing movement of human-sized individuals and they won't affect 15 feet tall golems at all", he thinks out loud. "The bullets that I use right now are just specially designed containers that normally contain compressed containment foam. I could fill them with something different but it'll take some time for it to arrive, unless the PRT have kolokol-1 or anthrax lying around."

At the mention of retaining their secret identities Patch doesn't immediately respond. Instead he uses his glasses to analyze the structure of his teamates outfit, looking to see if they contained carbon atoms.
Note: So if the clothing was made from anything plant based like cotton it would contain atom and therefore be considered organic.

[Silent_p]

Amateur Psychologist

"Sounds like a plan," Ji Yu said with a nod. She had no idea where they'd experiment. A controlled environment would produce the best results. Maybe there was a room they could commandeer in the HQ, work just on air for the moment? Would there be sufficient space, though, both for her to snap far enough and Jack to be clear of the blast zone...

"I'll look into getting us some space and get back to you."

Training Day

Ji Yu's face paled as she got the implication of Josie's comment. "Crud," she said quietly, giving her teammate what was hopefully a subtle yet apologetic look.

She then nodded politely as Josie outlined each trainer's expertise. Eyeing them briefly, she considered what she needed. "I can usually snap out of trouble," she mused, "but, honestly, I probably need all the help I can get. So. Time to go all pot pourri." She grinned briefly, not seeming to care how obscure or lame the joke was.

Stepping forward, she approached the nearest trainer and nodded to them. "I'll start here then."

Team Lunch

Ji Yu frowned at Graham's mention of their foe. "Let's not talk shop, hmm?" She glanced at the menu again, attempting to move the conversation on. "Definitely going for the gnocchi."

Crunch Time

As the more proactive members began asking questions and discussing the practicalities, Snap took a deep breath and mentally put on her scientist hat. "A lot of this is going to depend on the power," she said as Patch wound down. "Is it bound by the Manton effect or the scientific sense of organic versus inorganic? Roughly speaking, chemically inorganic means no carbon but, based on the footage, it didn't look like his power discriminated that much. Plus, it's not exactly a perfect division..." She looked at the director. "Can I get a copy of that footage for review on a mobile device?"

Another thought occurred to her. "What kind of time limit do we have? Time enough to review that scene in person?" She gestured briefly at the monitor, indicating the site of the destruction.

[GameOfChampions]

Crunch Time

"Piecemeal first showed up around an hour outside of Tampa and has been making his way down on foot ever since, we thought nothing of it at first and were preparing someone to meet with him when he went through a town. He disintegrated part of a mid sized work building during the middle of the day and it collapsed killing 57 people with more still being found in the wreckage and he has caused untold property damage and injuries. There have been more injuries as he traveled through a couple more populated areas but no more civilian deaths. Even though we gave an order for him to be left alone until we handled the matter an independent hero from Tampa took matters into his own hand and tried to take him down... we found his body in the wreckage Piecemeal left behind." Sanderson sighs and then gestures to the TV "That was when we tried bringing in some specialist teams to take him down and you all saw how that went."

"As far as his power it seems to be based on the Manton effect not actual organic matter so your gear will be in danger if you get to close. On that note we'll be replacing any gear that is destroyed in the fight. We'll be providing anything you need as well so we could provide some infrared goggles if you wanted as well as some other stuff, and you'll all have access to the video as well. To protect your identities we'll provide green wood masks for the fight that you can use. Now Echo I'd like you to take point on this mission and from current estimations he'll reach the outskirts of Miami in 12 hours."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Crunch Time

Robert was lost in thought. Do we have any idea what Piecemeal wants? What his objective is?

[Chivy]

Training Day

‘So how long does it take you to.. snap?’ Josie asked Snap when she turned to the trainers.
‘I prefer to fight with some misdirection, attacking from an unexpected direction. Your power, wow. If you can incorporate your snaps into a fighting style you’d be a terror in fights.’
She shook her head at the idea of a teleporting opponent.

‘Don’t worry Patch’ Echo said when her teammate walked over to her, looking ill at ease.
‘I picked these three trainers because they are good at their respective martial arts, but mostly because they have very good reviews for training beginner and intermediate students. They’ll get us up to speed soon enough.’

She looked around, a bit disappointed the others weren’t there, then shrugged. They might still come in late, or.. well it was time to get started.
‘Using my power, don’t be alarmed.’

She stepped out of herself, each version of herself taking a moment to stretch before moving towards one of the trainers.
Sharp joined the judo trainer, Deft the Muay Thai trainer and Force the navy seal.
Force would have to pull her punches, but for now she was more interested in fending off an attack (and Force could take full contact as long as the weapons weren’t sharp).
Deft would have to keep herself slow. But with all three of them asking questions and learning the theory behind the techniques, these training sessions would be extremely effective. Even if whatever muscle memory she was building up with each of her selves would only have a fraction of the effect when she merged again. No shortcuts with getting physically fit it seemed.

Team Lunch

Josie cringed when Graham almost said ‘Hint. Hint. Wink. Wink.’ while talking about the person who had ruined the lives of the previous Miami protectorate. Thankfully Ji Yu called him on it in a much nicer way than Josie would have.
‘Yes, let’s leave work in the office and focus on enjoying lunch.’ She agreed while perusing the menu.
‘I think I’ll start with tomato soup as the antipasti, followed by the risotto.’
She then looked up at Graham and cocked her eyebrow
‘So what did you do before your current job?’

Crunch Time

Echo listened to the others, nodding at PinPoint’s explanation of his powers.
‘How does your power stack? How many shots do you need to knock somebody out?’
She stopped short of asking how many shots he needed to kill. She gave Patch a look when he mentioned using kolokol-1 or anthrax.
‘I don’t know what Kolokol-1 is, but I think anthrax takes at least a few days to get things done. In any case let’s not default to biological warfare from the get go, ok?’
She listened to Snap’s questions, impressed at the breadth of her knowledge. She had a good head on her shoulders at least. Josie realised that that was true for most of the team. Together they should have the brainpower to think up solutions for most things.

Echo almost jumped when the Director told her she was to run point. She had expected that somebody more experienced would be brought in to run the mission. She had only a little combat experience and never against anything like a Class A threat.
She swallowed, then took a deep breath before she answered.
‘Yes Director. ’
Echo was surprised that her voice was steady. She knew it was a temporary assignment, someone would be brought in who had earned their stripes once the threat posed by Insight or his mystery employer was removed, but a wrong decision against a Class A could get people hurt or even killed.
‘Ok. All right. Yes.’
She took another breath and looked around the team, then decided that being open might actually be for the best here.
‘That was unexpected. I thought one of our reinforcements with more experience would take the lead. So I’ll need your help in hashing out a plan. I have the basics of an idea, but it needs crystallizing into a plan and a lot of it is based on guesswork. So whatever ideas you have, please share them.
She looked around the table again before continuing.
‘I prefer misdirection and coming at somebody from an angle they don’t expect. Having them fight Force while they’re expecting Sharp or switching in Deft while they were just facing Force is the main part of my combat training with my previous team. I think something similar might be something we can use here. Coming at him from multiple directions. Using smoke, flashbangs or somethings like them to disorient or blind him, things like that. Is smoke inorganic? Could he vaporize something that’s already vapour?’
She looked at Patch and Snap as she asked those questions, before continuing
‘Without having seen the video I assume that if the PRT team was able to take out a few of his golems, Vanguard and Force will probably be able to do the same on their own. Otherwise some kind of grenade launcher might work as well as long as Piecemeal is distracted.’

‘So the rough plan would be for smoke grenades to be dropped into the area to cut down visibility. Then Force and Vanguard move in to engage golems, hopefully at separate locations, pulling his attention to them. Then we need some kind of sneak attack. Greenwood sniper stake, Laser beams or Snap attack. Assuming he’ll stop them, or not be taken out by it, he’ll probably create more golems, which need to be handled and at the same time another sneak attack from a different direction needs to happen. We’ll have to change it up, move positions and keep him off balance until we take him down.’

‘That would be my preferred way of doing it, but if any one of you has a better idea or there are glaring holes in it that you think we can patch, I’m all ears. .’

Echo listened to what the others said, before a thought struck her and she said
‘Snap, Patch. I’m not one hundred percent familiar with how the Manton effect would work in these kind of situations, but if I had a metal rod, completely covered in something like a green sapling, would he be able to effect it?’
Posts are getting longer and longer. Sorry, was just catching up.

[Sønderjye]

Training Day

Patch visibly relaxes at Echo's calming words. It was nice to have someone who knew what they were doing when you were out of your comfort zone. He sends her a smile before turning to the instructors: "So I have 0 combat experience. Squat. Alright we did take down a few capes the other day but I wasn't anywhere close. Where do I start?"

Crunch Time

"Right" Patch responds feeling a bit dumb. This wasn't science he had to remind himself off, this was superpowers which often worked conceptually.

He looks questioning at the director not failing to notice how she didn't completely answer the question. Something irked him about this whole situation, especially that his allies seemed to blindly accept that they were going to butcher a man who seemingly had gone out of his way to avoid hurting civilians after a single incident: "Director, can we also see the feed where the PRT tried to communicate with him and tried to help him with his newly achieved power?"

Patch frowns when corrected. Invisibly to all he does a quick search on the net and his frown turns to suprise: "You're right. Anthrax does indeed have an incubation period in days. I'll admit I haven't really looked into anything living after I got my power, I just remembered Anthrax from that letter crisis. Kolokol-1 is an incapication agent", he pauses thinking before continueing: "I don't really like the connotations that comes with biological weapons but in a situation like this where we can expect that anything non-living will be dissolved it makes a lot of sense to use living weapons. In theory something like plant poison or snake venom might work too but those aren't really living after leaving the plant."

Patch shares Echo's confusion. It really did seem like the PRT wanted to screw them over as much as possible. Why on earth would you send a squad of newbies to fight a A-class fight after making sure that none of them had been allowed to be upgraded?

Crunch later

Once Patch have gotten his questions answered
"So this is just speculations" Patch chimes in: "But look at how his power doesn't affect the ground he is standing on. There's a fair chance that is keyed to the part of his brain that determines up and down. If you get a good hit to the head he might trip himself."

"Most smoke isn't organic and he could probably disolve it or move it" he confirms: "You could make a cloud of spores which would be organic but that's not realistic within our time limit. That said we can probably buy ourselves some time to come in position if he has to focus on dissolving the smoke."

"Vanguard" Patch looks at the big hero: "I'll suggest that you find a turtle or something else with a hard shell or an exoskeleton for your power this time. I think that there is a risk that his power might not recognize you as living if you are transformed into some metal."

He doesn't chime in with other ideas as to how to fight, feeling that the more experienced cape's plan sounded good, and simply shrugs at the question. There were too many unknown parameters to give a precise question to that.

[Silent_p]

Trial and Error

Ji Yu took a little time to acquaint herself with the room she'd secured following a brief inquiry. It had turned out to be much more straightforward than she'd feared. The space was hardly long or wide enough to accommodate a full hundred metre snap in one direction but was sufficient for some circuitous maneouvers.

She'd sent Jack a quick message giving him the time and location. He'd seemed eager at the time they'd discussed it so hopefully he'd be free and willing. Curious, she tried a few air-based snaps as she waited, getting a feel for the best route to take to maximise her distance and noting a safe place for Jack to stand and observe.

Despite the obvious benefits to be gained from the experimentation, Ji Yu was nervous. She'd never really snapped much in front of people before and certainly not under such intense observation. After a couple more snaps back and forth, she took a moment to stand and take some calming breaths.

Training Day

Glancing at Echo, Ji Yu shrugged. "Depends how far I go. I try to keep to small jumps to eliminate the... 'side effects' so mostly less than a second. A full snap is about four seconds and a hundred metres. Big badda boom after that, though," she smiled ruefully. "Plus, gotta have a clear route, so short hops are easier." She took a moment before approaching the trainer to consider Echo's combat implications. "If I can keep my timing, I should be able to get in and outta dodge fairly effectively."

Team Lunch

As Josie took up some of the conversation slack, Ji Yu was content to see if Graham was able to take the less than subtle hint. She really hoped the meal could progress smoothly.

Crunch Time

Continuing to try and mask her nervousness, Snap tried a grin at Echo's suggestion. "Snap attack? I like it. Though, much as I'm game for some fun, a sudden readiness for skinny-dipping wouldn't be my first option. Anything we could coat our costumes in?" She asked, glancing at Patch. "Something that wouldn't be susceptible to his ability?"

[GameOfChampions]

Crunch Time

Sandersons mouth twitches a bit in a small smile "Yes let's not start off with biological warfare. However I'm putting you in charge because I want a local PRT member in charge of the operation to get the experience of operating on this scale within the city and I'm considering you for a leadership position here. Those sound like good ideas and you can all hash them out together."

The Director shakes her head "We aren't sure what Piecemeal wants or his goals. We aren't sure but he seems single minded in his journey and we have not seen anyone enter his storm to talk to him or reach out to him at all either. We never had the chance to reach out to him before this went down, we were getting someone who was trained in hostile parahuman negotiations to meet with him but the same day he appeared on our radar he caused the building collapse that killed all the civilians and killed the independent hero. After that he was given kill order status. It was determined he was a danger to civilians and had no regard to civilian lives."

I'm enjoying the longer posts guys!

[Chivy]

Training Day

‘Does your snap take time for you to reappear after you disappear or does it take time to activate?’ Echo asked, intrigued at how teleporting could be used.
‘When you have the timing down, I’d be glad to help you train against specialised opponents. Force could help to take on those stronger than you, Deft those faster and Sharp those with extraordinary senses. And you’d help me by teaching me how to fight a teleporter.’

‘Can you take people with you when you snap?’

Crunch Time

Josie nodded when the Director said that she was considering her for a leadership position. She’d had her powers for less than a year, had been with the protectorate for less than six months and might soon be leading the protectorate team in a major city. She didn’t know if she was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning or scared witless. She settled somewhere in the middle, which turned out to be a kind of calm acceptance, and focussing on the problem at hand. She’d figure out how she felt about it later.

‘How fast acting is Kokoli-1? And more importantly; is there an inoculation?’ Echo asked Patch. She didn’t even try to hide that she was interested in an option that would leave Peacemail alive, but incapacitated.
‘If there isn’t a way to immunize ourselves it’ll be too dangerous for us to use, but if there is it’d be one he.. ck of a way to stop a threat like this.’

She then turned to Sanderson, a thought popping up in her mind.
‘Director, I take it the local police or PRT will evacuate the area Peacemail is heading for? Keeping them from the line of fire would make everything a lot easier.’

She grinned at Snap’s skinny-dipping remark.
‘Well if worst comes to worst, we can probably braid some leaves and reed into some very uncomfortable bikinis. They’ll at least protect our modesty, but hopefully we can find something more efficient.’

Echo then looked around the room, trying to meet everyone’s eyes.
‘So we have twelve hours before he walks into Miami. Our city. I’d like to be ready to go in ten hours, so we can stop him from entering any populated areas. Evacuated or not.’

‘I suggest we all watch the videos, then do some checking on what would protect our gear and what kind of weapons might work against him. Then we can reconvene in an hour or so and hash out a few plans of attack.’

‘What do you guys think?’

[Sønderjye]

Meeting with the director

Patch stares at the director in disbelief. What, how? Most importantly why?! She just took the liquid and injested it without even considering whether it was poissonous or even unintentionally dangerous. The next words that came out of her mouth shocked him even further: "I'll approve this here, Jack. We won't need to take it upstairs". Was this a trick? It had to be! Jack thought hard and long about what had just happened and suddenly the realization hit him like a truck. She has been watching me! That had to be why she was so confident, she had seen what he had made it off. At first he felt anger boiling up but it was soon overshadowed by the smug feeling of having outsmarted one's opponent. She thought he thought that she was being the greater person and showing trust while in actuality she was just playing him. But he could play better! "On the condition that I can have some now and then", she added in a tone that probably was supposed to be humorous. Oh if she knew how he had seen through her mocking

"Thank you director", Patch responds with the friendliest smile he can muster: "Would you like it brought here or would you like to swing by my office on occations, I'll probably have some left most of the day." In truth it didn't really matter whether she came in person or watched him on the cameras.


Trial and Error

Not long after Ji Yu had arrived to the room clanks and groans are heard from the outside. The door opens and the tinker enters dragging along a small wagon with a bunch of.. interestingly looking instruments, in addition to a big cardboard box, and a container and two cups dangerously moving from side to side on top of it.

"Hey Ji Yu" Jack greets with a big smile. He is wearing his normal comstume except that his hands are bare and that his trenchcoat is replaced with a lab coat. A few plastic gloves is visible in the pockets and small oil marks appears on the coat. "Coffee?" he offers once he have come into the room.

He starts out taking the instruments off and setting up base in a corner of the room.

If you choose to take the coffee let GoC post what happens afterwards.


Crunch Time

Patch can feel the underlying anger at the PRT crawling towards the surface. Rather than expressing it outright he keeps his voice calm as he asks the director: "Would it be possible for me to try to speak with him and try to convince him to seize aggresions before we murder him?"

"I'm not sure" Patch concedes. "But it's a gas and no there's no vaccine, so it's probably less than preferable. Also in retrospect I'm not sure if it's even organic" He sits on the issue for a little while before his eyes wide: "But I can make something that is essentially living chloroform. I can't make you immune to it but I'll have an antidote in care you are hit. If allowed?" he asks the director.

He looks apologizing at Josie: "I won't have time to grow a suit of plants for you guys. If I had had more time I could have 3D printed something but I think that right now our best guess would be to cover yourself in some vegetable liquid like sunflower oil or orange juice or whatever. His power might sense that it came from organic similar to a wood mask. If you want to go a step further you could probably make some liquid mix with eggs, since those could potentially have become living creatures."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Crunch Time

In response to Jack's suggestion about how Piecemeal's power and his might interact, Robert looked startled. Can we find some way we could test that? I don't know how often the PRT can get their hands on that many tortoise shells. He thought for a moment Wasn't there a guy in Boston whose power turned them into living metal? Weld or something like that? Wouldn't my power work like his?

Checking In

Robert choked up a bit when he heard the young girl's voice on the phone. He was a father, but it didn't give him any special insight into what to say here. Hey.. he said in a hesitating voice, but he managed to regather himself. It's Vanguard, the guy from yesterday. How are you and your sister doing?

[Silent_p]

Trial and error

Ji Yu watched as her teammate entered the room with what appeared to be most of the contents of one of the PRT labs. She chuckled briefly. "Hey. You sure you're ready?" She asked, gesturing at the equipment. "Cause, y'know how irritating it is when you think you've got everything then find out you've left the kitchen sink behind..." She spotted the precariously balanced cups and rescued one for herself. "Thanks."

Stepping back to observe, she took another look around the room. "Not sure if you'd anything in mind just yet but I figured I'd start with a couple of demonstration snaps and hope I don't fall on my face under the scrutiny." Ji Yu smiled and took a sip of her drink.

Training day

Ji Yu nodded in response to Echo's offer. "Thanks. Bouncing our powers off each other sounds good. Great way to work out any annoyances with someone when they mess up with cape etiquette too," she added quietly with a grin. "As for snapping, there's like this arbitrary four second deal I've got to work around; four seconds to reach max distance and four seconds between each snap." She shrugged, then smiled and winked. "Can't carry anyone either but hey, you work with what you've got, right?"

Crunch time

Snap gave a brief laugh at Echo's reply. "We could be Alice and Eve!" She laughed again before sobering in the face of the outstanding threat.

She considered Vanguard's question. "That sounds like the Manton effect in operation. It seems likely that..." She trailed off, thinking for a moment. "When you use your ability, does the material cover you or do you turn into it?"

[GameOfChampions]

Trial and Error

As soon as the first few sips of coffee hits your stomach you can feel a rush of caffeine that leaves you as wired as if you'd had at least two full cups.

Meeting with the Director

Sanderson looks at you and has a small sigh and rolls her eyes "You can just send it up when you have a moment. Have a good day."

Checking In

The Sofia's voice gets very high pitched and you hear some excited whispering before the girl answers you "Hi Mr. Vanguard! Me and my sister are doing much better, we'll be out later and our mom stopped by before she headed over to the apartment to sort some stuff out." You can hear Sofia get noticeably more sad at this point. "Anyway my sister and I just wanted to thank for what you did for us! We can't thank you enough."

Crunch Time

The director nods her head to Vanguard "Yes our testing concluded you would count as organic to powers that effect the inorganic. We based this off some tests on you and some tests on other Breaker and Changer capes like Weld and Raymancer who both have or can change into traditionally non organic forms."

"You are, of course, welcome to talk to him and try to talk him down from his course of action but he is highly dangerous and hasn't shown compunction about killing in the past. Non-lethal weapons are completely allowed in this case, and you have the go ahead to create these living chloroform doses, but if Piecemeal is taken nonlethally the PRT will be shipping him immediately to the Birdcage for holding if he isn't sentenced to death by the Florida government. "

She pulls up several maps with some areas darkened and a red line snaking through Florida. "This is Piecemeals route that he is taking, he is the red line, and the dark blue is the storm surrounding him. We have the areas being evacuated in grey." She gestures to the screen and you can see the small blue dot that is Piecemeal as well as the grey areas surrounding the blue and the areas that the red line had passed through. "There will hopefully be no civilians in the areas and only active participants. Assume that anyone not on your comms system or reacting to the stranger protocol pass codes are hostiles."

[Chivy]

Training Day
“Four seconds can be a long time when in a fight.” Echo nodded, finally seeing where some of Snap’s fear of combat might be coming from.
“My power needs to rest for an hour between uses as well. So I guess we’ve both got some sort of stupid time constraints. I was thinking of seeing if there was some kind of way to shorten that. Maybe some sort of training or tinker device could help us both in that department.”
“I’ll talk to Patch about it. But later, for now we have a lot to learn.” She nodded at their trainer.

Crunch time
Echo laughed with Snap. “We might like it so much that we’ll make that a team theme.”
Laughing helped her feel less overwhelmed. It was still a monumental job, but with everybody’s help it might not be impossible. When the director informed them that Vanguard’s power wouldn’t turn him into some kind of man-turtle.
“Good to know. So you’ll want to merge with whatever makes you strongest, Vanguard. You and Force will probably be our defensive line.”

Echo took a moment to think and then laid out what she thought would be the best idea.
“So my plan would be this, but please tell me where I’m assuming too much, or making a mistake;”
“Force will confront Peacemeal by herself from the east, throwing flash bangs, smoke and anything we can think of that’ll distract. This’ll hopefully get his full attention and have him create golems to stop me. Vanguard will then move in from the north with PinPoint taking pot-shots at Peacemeal. That’ll probably get his attention quick enough so Vanguard will probably have to keep PinPoint safe from golems quick enough.”

“Then Deft will move in from the south, running into the storm and attacking Peacemeal with whatever weapon we can find that’ll not be disintegrated. I’m thinking bamboo. Snap, will then Snap-attack and try and hit Peacemeal with her explosion and any kind of knockout drugs we can get out hands on. Bamboo spikes with any narcotic might do it. I’ll try and keep his, or the golems he’s probably forming by then, attention on Deft-me while Snap snaps out again to rearm and repeat.”

“Patch will be up on a vantage with whatever he can cobble up to take pot-shots at Peacemeal. Sharp will be circling the storm with whatever weapon the PRT used to down the golems to keep them contained and helping out where she can. I’ll need some explanation on how those work.
Keeping him reacting and off balance will be key here. There’s only one of him, even if he can create and direct golems and there are many of us. We use that against him.”

“We’ll need quick replacements for essential gear that we can’t substitute with living material, like commbeads, smoke and flashbangs."

She then looked at Patch after glancing at Vanguard, the two most outspoken teammembers in favor of talking with their opponents.
"I'm sorry Patch, but I'd not feel comfortable putting you close enough to actually talk to him. Force could try before I attack though. If you want you can use the comm to tell me what you'd like me to tell him."
"If it doesn't work, Force can take a few licks and it'll get the most important thing done; grabbing his attention."

[Sønderjye]

Trial and Error

"Funny" Patch responds, seemingly trying to sound dry but not completely able to hide the amusement he feels from Yi Ji's teasing. He spreads out his arms in a surrendering way: "You think we should go get the kitchen sink?"

"Initially I just thought I would record a jump. This one record temperature" Patch explains gesturing towards the monstrousity to his right: "This one record light waves way beyond what the human sight is capable of registration, this one records sounds, this one tremors, this one preassure, this one..." he goes over all of the machinery, taking only a brief moment to cultivate his throat with the lovely lovely coffee.

Once he have set everything up he gives the go for Snap to snap.

Crunch Time

Patch ressist the temptations to frown at the directors words. How in earth had they determined that with such conviction? Couldn't Weld et al's powers work widely differently thatn Vanguards? And even if they worked similarly how had the PRT tested this? "Can I see how those tests were conducted, Director?"

Again there were something that the director wasn't telling them. They had only been told once about Piecemeat killing civilians once and that might as well have been a mistake due to not understanding his own powers. Even if the vigilante cape's life was unfortunate that was just self-defence, you couldn't really blame a man for trying to defend his own life.

Patch completely freezes when he is given the permission to meddle with the fundemental blocks of life. Was this a trick? They'd have to be degenerates if they though that he would risk breaking the rules given this rare opportunity. "Thank you, Director", he politely says

"I agree with most of your plan" Patch says addressing Echo "except the part about not talking. I'll make something so I can talk to him at a distance. I should have time to both fix that up and the living chloroform". He pauses: "It is not impossible that the devastation he have done until now is due to lack of control of power and that he currently travelling towards someone he thinks can help him. I understand that we sometimes need to use lethal force but let me make sure that we aren't simply at a misunderstanding".

[Silent_p]

Training Day

"Yeah. You'd think four seconds is quick but once the adrenaline is flowing..." Ji Yu trailed off, letting the sentence speak for itself. She nodded briefly in response to Echo's comment about having a lot to learn. That was certainly true for her. She could not afford to freeze up again during combat conditions. There was little she could do about it when struck by a panic attack, of course, but hopefully with training, experience and people to share her fears with, she could learn to cope over time.

She spared Echo a glance as she returned to her trainer of choice. The woman was definitely someone to admire. Ji Yu was glad to have her there.

Trial and Error

Ji Yu shrugged. "Not sure how the kitchen sink'd help but then, I'm only a lowly geologist and today's guinea-pig; you're the tinker." She nodded along, however, as Jack went over a few things.

Before he'd gotten very far, though, the coffee hit her. "WHOA!" She took a step back in shock, eyes wide as she looked at Jack. "What the hell's in this?! I'm buzzed here!" Taking exaggerated care, she put her cup down. To an observer, it could have been a venomous snake she was handling, eyeing the cup apprehensively as she awaited Jack's explanation.

Crunch Time

Echo seemed to be rising to the occasion as a leader. Snap was pleased to note that she took care to keep track of all the team members and their needs. "We kinda need a 'shoot first, question later' approach here," she said, jumping in on the point of contention between Echo and Patch. "Priority's got to be neutralising the threat he poses - we can't just keep evacuating everyone when he decides to take a walk. I certainly agree that lethal force is not the first option but..." She paused, trying to order her thoughts. "Maybe think of it this way: he's got a loaded gun pointed at everyone he comes into contact with, we need to get the gun off him before we can talk to him; too dangerous otherwise." She shrugged, clearly not thrilled about it but recognising the practicality of it.

[GameOfChampions]

Crunch Time

"Vanguard if you want we can ship in some custom metal blends for you to use in the fight or a large artificial diamond if you want. As for the tests Patch you can see them after this is all done, right now I want all your focus on Piecemeal. Take my word, you and Vanguard both, that our science division is very thorough and we wouldn't risk it unless we were one hundred percent sure."

Friends Forged in Fire

Everyone hears Director Sanderson comm everyone a few hours after the meeting with some welcome news "Everyone please report to the break room I've got a welcome surprise for you all. Masks on for the moment."

As everyone enters she nods to the pair of people in the room with her "These are the reinforcements that have come in to help us with the Piecemeal problem, they know the general problem but please fill them in on any plans or thoughts you have. I'm sure this need not be said but make them welcome please. Now I'll check in later but I have a mass evacuation to help with right now." She runs her hand threw her graying hair as she walks out of there.

[Chivy]

Crunch Time

Echo nodded at Snap, feeling slightly better knowing that she had some backup.
"Jack, if you can find a way to speak to him while not showing yourself, and making it one hundred percent sure that he can't find you, I'm fine with it."
She then looked Patch in the eyes before continueing.
"But, if there's even a chance of him sending golems your way, we skip the talking and take him down. I'm not willing to risk loosing our brightest mind on the off-chance that a known killer might see reason and we just can't spare Force or Vanguard to protect you. Ok?"
Her first actual decision as a 'leader'. She felt slightly conflicted about it. She knew it was the right choice, but actually telling somebody that she didn't want... no, wouldn't let him risk his life is a whole different ballgame.

Echo turned to Ji Yu after she broke eye contact with Patch.
"Snap, I've been thinking about your explosion after you snap. Do you think it would be possible to fix something up to abuse that for this fight? I was thinking somekind of blowgun made out of bamboo, where your snap's airblast would project a bamboo shard covered with somekind of snake venom at Peacemeal. Should be very hard to defend against."

FFiF

Echo walked into the break room in full costume, taking in both of the new heroes as the Director explained that they were the reinforcements. She didn't know who they were and if she was honest she was slightly disappointed that there were only two of them. Then she squashed that feeling, two was more than they had had a few hours ago.
"Hi. Thank you for answering the call for help, it's good to have you with us." She said then held out her hand for both of them to shake.
"I go by Echo and I have a multiform powerset. Snap can teleport, Patch is our Tinker, Vanguard takes on the properties of what he touches and PinPoint shoots lasers. All simply put of course." She indicated each of the other members of the protectorate team as she introduced them and their powers, hoping that she could speed things along a bit.
"I'm sorry, I don't recognize either of you. Can you tell us what you go by and what your powers are?"

[Ramsus]

Friends Forged in Fire

Avelina, standing there in her very conspicuously fancy, shiny, and colorful armor that set itself apart from most cape costumes by clearly being actual armor, is thankful someone else is making the introductions and takes Echo's hand and gives it a polite, practiced shake. In her regular british accent she replies, kind of on the quiet side, "Thanks. I, yeah, I read the files. Uh erm. Ah...I go by Titania while in costume. My power allows me to summon faerie tale and mythological creatures. Up to four but less if I summon stronger ones. I can also project my senses into them but then my senses are stuck out of my body for two minutes." Like the handshake, the later parts of her words seem like something she practiced rather than coming off as natural. After speaking she lets go of Echo's hand and just looks from person to person, with her gaze lingering on Patch for a bit longer than the others.

[Chivy]

FFiF

"You can summon fairy tales?" Echo asked, clearly a little confused.
"Like Hansel and Gretel and Snow White?"
She knew not every power in the Protectorate was a winner, but summoning princesses sounded like a particularly useless one, except at tea-parties hosted by five year olds.
Well if she can summon four, that'd be usefull as a distraction at least, which would hopefully devide even more of Peacemeal's attention when the time came.

[Ramsus]

Avelina shakes her head, "No. Creatures. Not characters. Except sometimes when the creature and character are the only example. Like Pegasus."

[Mono Vertigo]

Malo enters after Avelina. She hadn't had time to really speak with her before the big introduction.
Her costume was skin-tight and covered everything but her hands (whose painted nails matched the suit's deep purple). A modified motorcycle helmet was concealing her whole head; it had an abstract form painted on the front, strongly reminiscent of a hourglass. All in all, a very form-fitting suit with minimal protection, with only two details detracting from the sleek silhouette: four whips, tied to her forearms and hips, undoubtedly with an use in mind, and two short braids made of artificial hair framing her face, most likely a small aesthetic conceit.
No one could see the shorter girl among the new recruits was grinning nervously but excitedly.
"Hello! I'm Inertia. Nice to meet you! I'm so glad to join the Protectorate at last! You all look so cool in person! Uh..."
Inertia looked around, trying to memorize her new colleagues' faces. Or, at least, costumes.
"I'm a Breaker, I make a large bubble of slowed time around me", she started explaining, gesturing amply along with her description, "And the faster something or someone comes into it, the more it's slowed down, so it's great against bullets. I think it is anyway, it's not like I've been shot at for real. Yet. Not that I want to be shot at. Or that Piecemeal guy. I mean, from what I was told, maybe that can help against Piecemeal."
He likely was the reason her recruitment got rushed. Not that she'd have complained about it, given she'd contacted the PRT several months ago; she'd just expected more tests and more signing of legal whatsit once signing up as an adult.
Not that she felt very adult, especially at that instant. It was like Christmas come early. Geez, she was talking fast, wasn't she?

[Chivy]

FFIF

"So unicorns and fairies?" Echo asked, thinking back to the fairy tales she had been read and she had read for her younger siblings. She then realised that she might sound condescending with bringing up children's stories.
"I'm sorry, all I really know are the stories I was told as a child. I'll read up on your abilities."
She said apologetically, her own nasal accent of a native French speaker becoming slightly more pronounced as she listened to Titania's non-american accent. She cocked her head as a thought came to her, then she asked
"Dragons?"


"Time manipulation? Wow, powerful and possibly very useful."
"In any case it's nice to meet both of you. And thank you for coming." Echo said when Inertia had introduced herself.
"Have you both seen the video of the PRT teams who tried to stop Peacemeal? If not I suggest you watch it and get acquainted with who we're facing. We'll lay out our plan for you afterwards and fit you in where your abilities will help best. And if you have any suggestions or additions, they're more than welcome."

[Ramsus]

Friends Forged in Fire

"Yes to all of those. If you want I can lend you some books. I uh..... have a lot." Avelina says and turns to look behind her at the large stack of hard plastic crates full of books that are slowly being moved by some of the staff to wherever her room might be. "I did watch it already. My flight was.... long enough." she replies and then looks to Inertia to see if she had and if they'd be getting told the plan now or not.

[Mono Vertigo]

"Thanks!", replied Inertia to Echo. She still had a hard time judging whether her own power wasn't as impressive as it sounded, given the awe that the term of "time manipulation" generally inspires, or whether it was that useful. Sure, it saved her skin, but could it really help other people directly?
"There are videos too? I didn't watch that yet", replied Inertia. "And I've not read all the files yet either. The guy's got a dust storm around him, that I know. And something about golems. So, that's something you can do too, Titania?" she asked, turning toward the other recruit. "Like ogres and dragons and pegasuses that protect you and fight for you? Can't wait to see that!"
Perhaps she was being overly enthusiastic and friendly. But after being rejected by the cool kids and having to make do with the weird kids and stoners to make friends, being able to start over back from square one with interesting people was an amazing opportunity. Even if most people present were quite a bit older... were they? Hard to tell with the costumes.
Whatever, they're capes, and now she was one of them, too. And capes are bound to be cool somehow.

[Ramsus]

Friends Forged in Fire

Avelina nods in the affirmative to Inertia's question. Noting that Inertia will need time to view the footage, she goes over the short list of things she wishes to ask the team tinker to make for her. Then she looks around for something to write on since it would probably be easier for them to just give them an actual list.

[Chivy]

FFIF

"Thanks, but I'll just read the Coles notes in your Protectorate file for now." Echo replied to Titania, taking a moment to wonder why she would take so many books with her just to fight a Class A threat. Not to mention taking a long flight to get here. Questions for later.

She smiled at Inertia's exuberance. She was definitely somebody young, probably in her late teens. She caught on that thought for a moment. There hadn't been too many years since she had been on the other side of twenty. When had she started to think of herself as 'no longer young'? Another question for later. They were stacking up.

She walked over to one of the tables and picked up a few tablets, then with a few quick strokes she pulled up the Peacemeal video on one of them and handed it to Inertia.
"Alright Inertia, this is the video (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21374309&postcount=98). Take your time with it."
"We also added a textfile (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21399156&postcount=104) with some pertinent information."
She handed the second tablet with the information file open to Titania.
"You might already know this, but give it a read to make sure. It would be a shame to lose that work of art you're wearing."

Echo then picked up a third tablet and quickly logged into the PRT network to pull up the files on both Titania and Inertia's powers.

[Sønderjye]

Trial and Error

"Tinker-coffee! Good stuff, eh?" the responds is shouted from somewhere behind the machines briefly suppresing the sound of the last preparations being made by the tinker.

"Alright, everything set up, are you ready to snap?" his head appears with an enthustiastic looks which then quickly turns to consern: "Are you alright?"

Crunch time

If Patch knew Vanguard better he would probably have stayed on the directors case. He had a hard time imagining how such tests could be in any way accurate and in particular how scientists could be 100% sure on anything. But only knowing the guy for a few days he felt like he had tried and the responsibility was no longer with him.

For a brief moment Jack looks defiantly at Josie but then quickly changes his mind. She was just appointed team leader after all: "Ok. I'll make something that will make my voice very loud and stay in a car, which I will use to relocate if he takes any hostile action. Is that fine?"

Friends forged in Fire

Patch turns his head to look annoyed at the minotir "I am b.." he starts but then interrupts himself, reminding himself of the importants of the director's oppinion. "comming", he finishes before putting the equiptment back and heading out.

He is mildly suprised when help unexpectantly arrives, having been convinced that they would be on their own. Oh well, more canon fooder sets of hands were appreciated.

Patch makes a welcomming gesture when he is presented by name. The tinker is dressed in his usual hero attire. A puffy shirt under a brightly coloured trenchcoat that looks like it contains material from at least 10 different materials and has a trillion pockets, a pair of brown leather boots with a number of small pockets and glasses somewhat similar to that used by pilots back in the days. He then follows Echo's example and offers his hand: "Glad to have you, this might get ugly". Contrary to his words, his tone seems relaxed and he is smiling.

Quickly he pulls up the PRT database and makes a quick search to see if there's anything on the new two members.

Faerie and mythology creatures? Is that actual armor? Patch was finding Titanium to be quite interesting. Could she summon genies and grant them wishes? Probably better not giving her idea when he still didn't know her motives. He gives the outfit a scanning with the googles, attempting to figure out which material the armor is made off. "Pegasus? That sounds wildly useful, what about dropping a medusa next to the guy?"

He discretely blushes at the compliments from Malo. It felt like he was getting a lot of those these days and that for something that wasn't really his to take credit for. He hadn't really done anything to get these powers. He feels conflicted about Melo's next statement, on one hand it was nice that she was enthusiastic but on the other there were something that irked him about his eagerness to go butcher a man. At the end he settled with a "I'm sure you'll be of great help. Just how strong is your time manipulation, if we put you close to one of those golems how certain are you that you won't be hit?"

At Avelina's mention of long flights, Jack flashes a grin, he knew all about those.

"You should probably let them know the tentative plan" he comments to Josie

Putting doubt into action

Assuming he survives the A-class battle, Patch sends a message to the director requesting the files on how the tests for Vanguard's safety at the encounter with piecemeat had been conducted
I'm not sure if this is too early but at any rate I figured I'd let you know that I intend to do this.

[Ramsus]

Friends Forged in Fire

Avelina awkwardly takes the tablet and politely pretends to review the information she was already very clear on since she'd reviewed it six times on the way over since they insisted she shouldn't be reading her books and focus on the task ahead. Though just until Patch spoke up.

"Thank you. A gorgon you mean? I think there might be better options than something reliant on eye contact for this situation." Avelina replies, glad for an excuse to in fact not have to read over the file again.

Conversing with Patch directly and having a tablet she's supposedly supposed to be reviewing she has a naughty thought and.... starts making a list of things she'd like Patch to make for her on it, pretending she's just reviewing.

((I assume he'd see her armor is largely made of metal alloys as I noted in her sheet. I personally lack the expertise to say much aside from there's certainly titanium involved.))

The List
After the discussion of plans (and whatever else occurs in the previous scene), Avelina attempts to discreetly hand Patch the tablet and asks somewhat nervously, "Would you consider putting these items on whatever list of things to make for the team you have? I think the plan is for me to stay on here and we didn't have a Tinker in my Wards group."


Higher Priority
-Modify Armor to be suitable for both high altitude and underwater environments for at least several minutes, preferably environmentally sealed as well if this can be accomplished without making it too uncomfortable to wear for long durations or difficult to use in combat.
-Combine Taser (or similar device) and Hammer so that the taser function is hidden within the hammer.
-Add night vision and/or other types of visual options to the armor's helmet
-Containment foam arrows (or preferably a device to modify containment foam grenades into arrowheads so that you don't have to take the time to make them yourself)

Lower Priority
-Flight wings (for armor?) (Mostly a thematic issue, though not having to use a summon as a mount would improve my usefulness and that's not always an option if I need a bigger summon)
-Other kinds of "trick" arrows (or devices to make them)
-Other armor improvements (stronger, lighter, more heat or cold resistant, the list could probably go on forever and I'd leave it up to you to decide how to prioritize this)
-Improvements to bow or hammer (same situation as above)
-Remote defensive item of some sort? (As is noted in my file, I can place my senses into my summons but then it takes two minutes for them to return to my body. It would be good to have someone else be able to simply press a button if they see I'm in danger and activate some kind of defensive measure.)

Note
I can summon dwarves to assist with any work that doesn't require modern technological expertise.

[Silent_p]

Trial and error

Ji Yu looked incredulous at the enthusiastic explanation from the tinker. "Dammit, Jack, you can't just spike someone's drink like that! You wanna try something out, you need to let people know. You need to let me know! Consent!" She added as a punctuation.

Still annoyed, Ji Yu gave the coffee cup a wide berth and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. "Look," she said after a moment, "it works, yeah? Just, y'know, a heads-up, right?" Seeming a little steadier she looked down the room and, melding with air, performed her first snap.

Friends forged in fire

Snap gave a flick of her gloved hand as a welcoming wave when Echo introduced her - happy that she'd been the first one thought of. She listened carefully as they discussed the newcomers' abilities. Mythical creatures weren't a specialty of hers but it looked like there'd be considerable potential there. And time distortion? That was incredible. Like really giving physics a kick in the nuts - though the same could, and was, easily said for all cape abilities.

Approaching Inertia, she waited for an appropriate break in the conversation. "So, like a donut? With you as the hole?" Her eyes widened behind her mask as she heard her question. "Uh, that did not sound so weird in my head... Sorry!"

[Mono Vertigo]

FFIF

Good thing she'd got her head fully covered, so that no one could see her face drop. The video made the whole event more real, and the written report didn't alleviate her fears. Experts got hurt, badly, some killed. There was hesitation in her voice as she spoke, but thankfully, her doubts could as easily (and accurately) be attributed to a tangential subject: "Ooh, oh, my suit won't like that, no. I already told the PRT about the equipment I need, so I hope they got a full organic version prepared. Damn, that's some impressive disintegration. Really bad."
Having sat down, she only turned her head to face Snap. The helmet, while lighter than it looked, was bulky, and constituted a significant psychological barrier between herself and other people, with its two round, expressionless eye-like lenses. While processing all the questions and data thrown at her, she started fiddling with one of the braids giving her suit a feminine touch. "A donut? Kinda? But not really, because there's no hole directly connecting me with outside normal time, unless I make it? That's hard to explain, but there's some space inside around me where things go at normal speed again", Inertia tries to explain, turning then to Patch, "So if something gets close enough or touches me, it regains its, you know, its momentum. As long as the golems' moves are quick enough, I could avoid it. It's hard to tell with the video, but they move and hit fast, right? Else they wouldn't do so much damage. I think?"
That was something Viv had told her when they were trying to figure out her power. Speed is linked to energy and therefore damage, summed up roughly, illustrated for the layman by the idea that it hurts less walking into a signpost than having the same signpost swung at you by a super-strong villain.
So much to think about, so much to explain if they want a good, working plan. Malo wanted to believe she was smart enough to figure this all out and do a good job, but after being treated for years like she was an idiot, she had a hard time rejecting the notion.

[Chivy]

Crunch Time

Josie caught the look Jack gave her before he capitulated, it was a look she had seen in the faces of her siblings when they were going to be obstinate. Heck she’d given her mother that look more than once when she was growing up.

“Look Jack, I’m new to this and I don’t want to be somebody who spends her days forcing people into doing things that they don’t want to, or in this case not do something they want to.”
She sighed, not happy but also not willing to tell the older man what to do.
“If you feel this strongly about it, then we'll do it."
"Please just make sure that you stay in the east where Force will be able to step in to try and prevent anything coming at you."

FFIF

Echo nodded at Patch’s suggestion to share the current plan.
“Sorry, I wanted them to at least have seen the video before I launched into that."

She waited untill both newcomers seemed to have completed the required reading.
“Ok, what we know is that Peacemeal can disintegrate inorganic matter fast enough to stop bullets and he forms a storm around him out of this deconstructed matter. Out of this storm he can create large powerful golems which seem to move independently. This is conjecture, but what it looks like is that his disintegration has a smaller range than the golems can move around in or he needs line of sight for his disintegration. It might be a possibility that he needs to focus on one or the other. His power does seem to be held back by the Manton effect.”

“To protect our identities we’ll all be wearing green wood masks, and to protect our modesty we’ll be wearing some sort of braided grass as underwear. Weapons that will be going into the storm will have to be made out of living material. Bamboo, living wood, that kind of thing.”

“Patch will try and communicate with him to try and get him to stand down. If that works, this’ll all be gravy for next time. If not, we’ll attack and take him down.”
"Remember, there is a kill order out on him, but I understand if doing that to another person isn't something you're comfortable with. I'm not. But we can capture."
Echo took a breath and started laying out the plan.
“Essentially our plan is to try and exploit the fact that he is only one person. Force, my brute self, will start things off from the east, throwing smoke, flash bangs and firing anything that fits in those grenade launchers at him. This’ll hopefully get his full attention and have him create golems to stop me.”

“Vanguard will then move in from the north with PinPoint taking pot-shots at Peacemeal. That’ll probably get his attention quick enough so Vanguard will probably have to keep PinPoint safe from golems.”

“Then my mover self, Deft, will move in from the south, running into the storm and attacking Peacemeal with whatever weapon we can find that’ll not be disintegrated. Probably a bamboo stick. Hopefully dividing more of his attention. Snap, will then Snap-attack and try and hit Peacemeal with her explosion and any kind of knockout drugs or snake venom we can get out hands on. Bamboo spikes might work instead of needles. I’ll try and keep his, or the golems he’s probably forming by then, attention on Deft-me while Snap snaps out again to rearm and repeat.”

“Patch will use his car to get to a vantage with whatever he can cobble up to take pot-shots at Peacemeal. Sharp, the thinker me, will be circling the storm with the same automatic grenade launcher the PRT used to down the golems to keep them contained and helping out where she can.”

“Keeping him reacting and off balance will be key here. There’s only one of him, even if he can create and direct golems and there are many of us.”

“Now I don’t know what you can summon up Titania, but my first instinct is anything big and strong enough to take down the golems would be a big help. Inertia, I think your field would be a great help in stopping golems, or even walking into the storm and simply stopping it in its tracks. If that’s possible.”
She then looked at both of the newcomers and said
“Both of you know your powers a lot better than we do, so where do you think you can help the most? And if you have any improvements you can think of to the plan, don’t hesitate.”

[Ramsus]

Friends Forged in Fire

"Things to combat the golems... maybe ogres and oni? No not an oni the metal club would go away. Ok so an ogre. I think uh... an arial view of a fight this large in scale might be good so a... hippogriff. And.... hmmm. How do you feel about a cat sith to assist those confronting Peacemeal himself?" Avelina responds, thinking aloud. She quickly adds, "A cat sith is like the Cheshire Cat."

[GameOfChampions]

Putting Doubts into Action

The PRT files open up in front of you; showing links to scientific reports, pictures, and videos of all the testing done. There is an excessive amount of material on it and links to some other heroes in the PRT who's tests were also used for comparisons.

Test 1: We have reason to believe that Vanguard does not just turn himself into a material but instead converts his body into a living version made of it instead like some other heroes in in the PRT, see Weld. We've tested normal bodily functions and can see he still has a need to breathe, blink, and seems to need normal blood flow through the changed body parts. When changed we have examined his cells, while still on him since they revert once taken away from the host, and the cells, while having undergone a change, still seem to be alive and behave in similar manners to his normal cells.

Test 2: We have brought in a young heroine, Vista, who can distort space but cannot effect the living to try and extend a changed finger but she could not effect the chosen digit. We secondly tried to have some of the Dallon/Pelham family try to manifest a forcefield through a grown out hair but it would not manifest which, when combined with other testing, shows us the Manton effect is still in play in regard to Vanguard and he is treated as a organic object to powers that effect the inorganic.

The Storm Breaks

A man is walking through the outskirts of Miami just taking his time as he walked down the street, making his way slowly but surely purpose radiating out from him. This man isn't anything special to look at with his casual clothes on; jeans, t-shirt, hoodie, and boots. Nor is his physique anything special with an average height and lean build, a decidedly unimpressive man except for his eyes. When you get to his eyes they are the eyes of a shattered man with a goal and nothing else.

He doesn't even see the neighborhood as he passes through it, just focusing on his distant goal. Despite the calm, or lack of activity, the area around him is full of motion and activity, his storm whirls around him at high speeds feeding off of the buildings and cars the man walks by. What matter that isn't just swept up by the storm is slowly gathered up into a massive mass where it condenses into massive creatures that plod along near him. As he makes his creatures the storm lessens slightly and finally his eyes flicker, focusing now on a house not to far from him. Even as he focuses on it the house starts disintegrating, throwing up large clouds of matter into the storm and leaving the remains of the house to collapse in on itself.

Piecemeal has arrived.

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

Everyone hears the director comm in with the bone chilling words everyone had been expecting for the last hour "Everyone get your gear and get ready, Piecemeal is here."

OK decided there was not enough to really post on besides start this up so ya. Sonderjye please post in the OOC letting me know how you spent your prep time, I have a rough idea but just to clarify them before the fight. Also you can do the Taser Hammer in about an hour if you wish to do it.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Checking In

Robert's heart ached as he heard the despair in Sofia's voice. They had just lost their home, and it wasn't likely that their situation would improve any time soon. I am very happy to hear that you and your sister are alright.He shifted into his 'Dad' voice, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. I know its tough right now, but things are going to get better. Your mother lovers you and your sister very much, and I know she will look after you. Things are going to get better, I promise. Robert said with all the sincerity that he could muster.

When he had a chance to take a break, he made sure to wander down to the giftshop. He picked out a care package of assorted merchandise, making sure to include a few books (Reading was a virtue he wanted to encourage in his own children, and besides it would give them something to do in the hospital). Being the protectorate HQ, they didn't have a great selection. He skipped over a copy of Legend's memoirs, and grabbed a colorful book which gave an overview of different Protectorate members entitled 'The Powers That Be'. He wrote a 'Get Well' message in a card, and handed the care package over to one of the PR people.

OOC: Probably good to end the scene here.

FFiF
OOC: It's great to see the activity in the IC, but it means I'll need a bit more time to catch up. For now, just assume Vanguard will be a team player.

[Sønderjye]

The Storm Breaks

Patch has as promised placed himself in a PRT car a safely out of Piecemeats reach, with the tough Josie.. Echo somewhere between him and Piecemeat.

His rifle is placed on the passanger seat where he have set it up so that he doesn't actually have to leave the car to shoot.

He notices himself shaking a bit. This wasn't his forté, not at all. Still he knew that he had to do this. If the PRT due to whatever lazy investigation team they imployed ended up killing a man for a crime that couldn't really be placed on him and he hadn't at least tried to stop it he would be the world's biggest hypocrite.

He takes a deep breath to steady himself and then yet another deep breath before he places his mouth on the small end of his communication device 1, the Megaboomphone, and only barely stops himself, remembering that he still has the comm on. "Fair warning, this will be loud. Patch temporarily out" his voice is heard over the comm before he turns his comm off.

"Hey you! You in the dust storm! Stop right there! I don't know what you want but this can be resolved piecefully" Patch's voice, sounding a whole lot more confident than he actually feels, is blasted across the city at ridiculous levels of volume. "I can't come close to you because I've been told that you'll dissentegrate my sorry ass if I do so we'll have to find some way of communicating. Stay right where you are if you're willing to talk. Or disentegrate that red sign to your right."

It wasn't really a threat. Ok it was sorta a threat. How did he do? He didn't know.

Patch waits for a reply while observing Piecemeat through the scope of his sniper.

To be fair I'm not quite sure how loud the thing is. It's not quite as lou d as a full scale consert but I think it's up there.

[Ramsus]

((I'm just continuing off from where Sonder did stuff in the OOC since if I understand correctly the GM is ok with that.))

Friends Forged in Fire
Avelina sounds a bit annoyed the way you would if someone isn't listening to you and forcing you to repeat yourself sounds as she replies, "Piecemeal's power creates a large area that blocks sight. Anything relying on eye contact will likely not be able to get all the way past his golems and within inches of him. I cannot summon them right next to him as it takes me ten minutes for each creature. A cat sith is a big cat that can be invisible." Saying this last part she wonders at having to explain that as most people would be at least vaguely familiar with Alice in Wonderland in one form or another and would understand just from hearing Cheshire Cat.

The Storm Breaks
Titania rides a hippogriff that circles high above Piecemeal, wearing a standard PRT outfit over the organic items they were given as she has no desire to be flying around practically naked in the cold and wind. Besides she's high up enough that she should be well outside of his range. Even still she hears Patch's loud shouting. She watches for any sign of the golems and if she spots them notes their position to the others. They might notice that she's speaking in a different, harder to place, accent and her voice is louder and sounds more confident and has a regal sort of tone.

The ogre is in position hiding from sight of Piecemeal behind a building nearby while the invisible cat sith is lurking in a bush just outside the edge of Piecemeal's dust aura.

[Silent_p]

The Storm Breaks

Standing out of sight with Deft, Snap easily heard Patch's attempt at contact - any one in the vicinity really could, she figured. Of course, it should just be them: her teammates and Piecemeal. She hoped no civilians had been overlooked as getting out safely would be next to impossible. Not that they wouldn't try, of course. The howling wind and debris made visibility and movement difficult, though.

As Patch spoke, she glanced at Deft (again), reassured by the woman's presence. It was still a bit strange to think that she was one of three Echoes as she appeared to be just Echo, singular. Either way, though, it was an immense relief to have her there for support, both physical and emotional. Snap worried about being able to provide the same, though.

Unsure precisely what to say, she decided to keep things focused on the threat at hand. "Honestly, I don't think he's gonna engage with us peacefully. He's too... Single-minded, I guess. Just walking without stop." The thought struck her and she activated her comm. "Snap here. Has anyone plotted his trajectory? If he continues walking? Could there be some kind of goal up ahead?"

Apologies to Chivy for hijacking Deft. Seemed like the two would be waiting together, though.

[Chivy]

FFiF

“Those sound good.” Echo answered Titania, dredging an image of what a hippogriff looks like from the deepest recesses of her mind.
“You’ll be riding this hippogriff I take it? You’ll be able to drop smoke grenades and flash bangs from above then?”
“It’ll be another avenue of distraction even if it doesn’t actually do anything against Peacemeal. Just make sure you stop before Snap and I move in.”

Thinking of Snap and their previous fight, Echo looked around the group assembled for this fight. Vanguard knew how to handle himself and he’d keep PinPoint on target. Patch probably won that last fight for them with his rifle, so he wouldn’t be a problem. Snap would be with Deft. Hopefully that’d be enough to keep her on track. That left the two new people. Titania would probably be out of the way above the field of battle, her creations actually doing the fighting. Inertia was young though and might need some support when it started.
“Inertia, if you don’t mind when the fight starts you’ll be with Sharp, the thinker me, and we’ll see where we can best use your powers.”

“Oh, and before I forget. All of me will be.. well... pinging. All of me can get a pretty secure picture by echolocation in that way. I’ll try and keep it off the comms as much as I can.”

The Storm Breaks

"Everyone get your gear and get ready, Piecemeal is here."

Josie took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror, letting herself panic for just a moment after the director’s words. The Protectorate leader of Houston had told her that he let himself panic for a few moments before every fight. It was easier to keep from actually running scared if you let off some of the pressure.
And this was big. A Class A threat big. Her first mission in command. Fighting a killer. If she made a mistake someone might actually get killed here.

Echo took another deep breath and clamped down on her panic, bottling it up again. She could do this. They could do this. I think I can. I think we can.

A snort escaped her when she realised that she was the little cape who could. It was enough to bring back her veneer of professionalism.
She tapped on the earwig in her ear and in her most professional and confident voice said
“This is Echo. You heard the Director, gear up and meet at the trucks in five minutes.”
“Make sure you’re carrying all your gear as well as flash bangs, smoke grenades, infrared goggles and living matter weapons and clothes. Also make sure that each of us has ten extra earwigs, so we can resupply each other if we use them during the fight. Communication will be key here.”
She then got herself ready, picking up and strapping on all the gear she would be carrying.



Echo had split and each of them had teamed positioned themselves at their predetermined positions. Force was hidden directly in the route Peacemeal had been walking in, between Patch and the Threat. Deft crouched near Snap and Sharp was near inertia on the other side of the storm.

Sharp tapped on her ear to open the comms and spoke.
“Remember the plan. We see if Patch can communicate with him, if not this’ll turn into a fight.”

“Stay in position until I give the signal, then Force will move in. Titania then starts with dropping her grenades. Pinpoint then attacks. Deft then runs in. Then Snap. Titania send in your cat then. Use your Ogre anytime we need to take the pressure off us or need a distraction. . Inertia, you and I will try and try and apply some more pressure. Patch, take your shots whenever you can, but give some warning so Snap and Deft won’t be running in. If our tactics seem to have an effect, Pinpoint, Deft and Snap will keep it up while the rest of us try and deal with his Golems.”

“But more importantly remember that each one of you is worth twenty of him. Do what you can, but don’t take foolish risks. If this turns bad, we’ll retreat and come up with something new.”

"Honestly, I don't think he's gonna engage with us peacefully. He's too... Single-minded, I guess. Just walking without stop." Snap said, then opened her comms to ask
"Snap here. Has anyone plotted his trajectory? If he continues walking? Could there be some kind of goal up ahead?"

Deft gave Snap a look. She was a smart girl and it seemed like she was getting more confident as well. In any case she was using her brains where the last time she let her fear dictate what she did. A little more encouragement never hurt though.
Echo laid her hand on the other girl’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“No, he’ll probably not talk. But as the saying goes; hope for the best, but plan for the worst. And this is important to Patch, so we’ll try.”

“When we go in there, wait until I’ve reached him before you snap in, see if you can attack him, but get out again before he can send a golem your way. I’ll do my best to keep him and his golems away from you. Don’t worry we’ll get through this and the worst thing that’ll happen is some annoying interviews while we are chafed from this annoying underwear.”

All Echoes then waited to see where Patch’s gambit would take them.
No problem Silent_p, I was late in making this post anyway. I'll get a request post for gear up in the OOC.

[Mono Vertigo]

The Storm Breaks

So, here they were. Such a scary instant.
But she wanted to be a hero, right? That's what it implied - finding a way to stop terrible people when "stop" wasn't part of their vocabulary - and she'd always known it. All the equipment from the PRT added a layer of reality.
The wooden helmet was quite bare, and the organic cloth suit kinda itchy. Or was it just the stress-induced sweating?
The best way Inertia found to focus wholly on the task and put aside was tying and untying endlessly one of her whips, the helmet lacking her signature hair. Tie knots, untie them, endlessly; Malo could almost count every time she was doing the self-defeating task.
A kind of meditation.
Echo - Sharp Echo, the "smart" one; Malo wasn't sure whether she was jealous or creeped out by this power set - was standing right there, ready to advise her. In those circumstances, Inertia wouldn't mind barked orders, so long as she could deal in the moment.
"Okay, I'm going to generate my slow bubble now", warned the younger cape calmly, "it's gonna take a moment before reaching full size. If you don't want to be slowed down near me, touch me, or hold my whip." She tentatively handed it to Echo. "The whips are kinda like temporal, whatsit, safeline? Lifelines, right. I know how to sever them if necessary, don't worry."
Meaning: if somebody or something unintended grabs it, or the person holding it. That was one technique she'd practiced on her own until it had become almost a reflex. It was after all a scenario she could easily practice with very minimal means. No, the execution wasn't the worrying part. It was the situation implied by it: Inertia could, and would, cut said lifeline rather than risk "falling" along with an ally in a bad situation.
The mental processing of that hypothetical scenario made it sound so much worse.

[GameOfChampions]

The Storm Breaks

Patch's voice booms out, the storm making it strangely flat though no less loud. The shadowy man shaped figure Patch can see through the storm however does not stop or show any signs of having heard at all, he just keeps walking. While the man does not show any signs himself Titania manages to spot a pair of large figures start to move in your direction with a single minded purpose. As Titania flies above the storm and all she can make out is the pair of figures she see's moving towards the position Patch and Force were in and another four that seem to be surrounding Piecemeal.

"Snap here. Has anyone plotted his trajectory? If he continues walking? Could there be some kind of goal up ahead?" The director quickly comms back "Hmmm we'll check it out give us a second." she leaves the comm on and everyone can hear some yelling in the background for a bit before it fades and Sanderson comes back on. "Piecemeal... seems to be heading for us. For the PRT HQ."

Even though this only takes a minute the storm has still been slowly inching forward, never stopping, and you can all see the buildings, roads, and cars within sight start to become rougher around the edges and pocked with small holes.

[Ramsus]

The Storm Breaks

"Piecemeal is sending two golems your way Patch and Force and looks to have four more nearby him. Should I send in my creatures?" Titania asks.

[Sønderjye]

The Storm Breaks

"Cursed" Patch mumbles under his breath. "Stop!" his voice roars over the empty part of the city again. "Do you want to die?!"

Titania doesn't recieve a responds from Patch

I just realized the grave error of taking out one's communication device.

[Chivy]

The Storm Breaks

Sharp tied the ribbon Inertia gave her to her own belt onehandedly. Inertia smelled... nervous, fearful maybe. Sharp didn't know the young heroine well enough to differentiate between the scents her emotions gave her. Her warning about cutting lose was clear though and she applauded Inertia's reasoning. In fights like this you took care of yourself, then you helped your comrades.
"Good. Make sure that you keep yourself safe and don't worry about me. If worst comes to worst, as long as one of me survives, I all do."
She had died once before, and the experience had been horrible. But if it was one of her instead of one of the others, she'd get over the trauma.
"How fast can you drop the bubble?"

Titania answered the question if Peacemeal was going to talk a few moments later.
"Piecemeal is sending two golems your way Patch and Force and looks to have four more nearby him. Should I send in my creatures?"

"No hold off for now Titania. After Force gets his attention, your ogre can probably walk in and get some more. The kitty should join Deft and Snap when they attack." Sharp answered, then took a moment

"Sorry Patch, you tried. Get out of the way of those golems and into position as soon as you can. Then take your shots when you can."

"Patch?"

"Patch?"

"Fu...dge."

"Alright, this is it. Force, do our thing. PinPoint, get ready to follow up. Titania, as soon as Force starts making a mess, drop whatever you can to make it harder for Peacemeal. Deft, Snap, you're up after that. Titania, Ogre on any Golem you think is the most problematic and kitty on Peacemeal when Deft and Snap move in. Focus, be carefull and good hunting."

Force walked out of her hiding spot, her grenade launcher in her left hand and dragging her hardwood club in her right. She gave Patch a quick shake of her head before focusing on the storm. She had to get their enemy's attention, and they'd worked out precisely what the best way would be. The massive club was intimidating all on it's own, but that wasn't what she would start with.
Pongggg she said, sounding like somebody who was imitating a sonar. Then she started pulling the trigger on the grenade launcher. Two flash bang grenades, followed by two smoke grenades sailed into the storm aimed in Peacemeal's general direction.
Pongggg
Force pulled the trigger twice more, sending two explosive grenades sailing into the storm. Having expended her ammunition, she clicked the weapon open and started to casually reload it, looking like somebody who would keep sending explosive death and other annoying things towards the threat.
Reloading. Force said.
It was all a show though, she was ready to drop the launcher and grab her club as soon as one of the golems came close.
Pongggg

Sharp waited for Force's confirmation that she was done, then said;
"PinPoint, take your shots. Vanguard keep him safe, Titania, Ogre wherever you think he'll help the most."
Pingggg she joined in a counterpoint to Force's sonar.

She then gave Pinpoint a good ten seconds, before she said.
Titania, stop bombing. Deft, Snap, kitty. Go.
That was it. Now they'd see if they had a chance against this guy Andy I feel their plan was even remotely feasible.

Deft had placed her grenade launcher and most of the grenades on the ground, hidden out of the way of the storm. When she heard the first sonar pong from Force she opened her vial of snake venom and dipped both sharpened ends in it.
Almost time Snap. She said, forcing a grin under her mask at the other woman. Fake it till you make it.

Once Sharp ordered her in she didn't hesitate. Two pins from smoke grenades strapped to her belt fell to the ground and she ran into the storm spewing smoke with every step.
Poinggg Deft's sonar sound left her lips as soon as she sped forward, forming a continuous beat with the other two and the area around her unfolded in her mind's eye. She moved as fast as she could, dodging, sliding and jumping to avoid any obstacles in her way to try and stab Peacemeal with a poisoned sharp stick.

I decided simply to post what each of the Echoes would be doing initially while taking as few liberties with other characters as I could. This to get the initial part of the fight where most people will be waiting over with asap.
Sharp basically keeps an eye on things for now, ready to step in where she can.
Force is doing her best to get Peacemeal to consider her a big threat and keep as many golems focused on her instead of other squishy members. If she can tag anything dangerous with her shots it's a bonus, but it's mostly just to look threatening.
Deft will try and attack Peacemeal, but once Snap snaps in, she'll primarily be focusing on keeping Snap safe until she snaps out again.

[Ramsus]

The Storm Breaks

Despite Echo's instructions, as Titania had the cat sith slowly start moving in the moment she got a reply. There wasn't much point to an invisible creature if you telegraphed where it was with a lot of noticeable movement and sound. Hopefully it would be close enough by to assist when it was needed. Either way, it wouldn't be of any help running halfway to Piecemeal and getting slammed away by a golem. Also she was thinking that if Piecemeal could notice the cat sith approaching slowly, then he might be able to sense movement in his dust cloud and that would be good information to be able to give the others, well worth the risk of a summoned creature and not so much the risk of someone's life. She would have laid out her idea if she'd thought of it before getting out here and she really didn't have enough time right now, it'd just be a bunch of noise that might drown out something important someone needed to say.

When Echo gave the signal, Titania flew over where she believed Piecemeal to and dropped a flashbang, circled around, dropped a smoke canister, and then another flashbang on a third circle around before being told to stop. She had the ogre remain where it was, out of sight, until she saw how Piecemeal responded since that was being left up to her judgement.

[Silent_p]

The Storm Breaks

Snap was surprised when Deft reached out to her. She'd hoped for some words of encouragement rather than something harsh in relation to the last time when she'd frozen in the field but the physical contact was comforting. She was relieved that the other woman was supportive, though ultimately, she'd expected nothing less from Deft. Previously, she'd guessed they were about the same age but there were certainly times she felt like the younger of the two. It seemed likely that it was down to the other woman's greater experience in cape affairs.

Thoughts of the last encounter bubbled to the surface of her thoughts and, unbidden, she began doubting herself again. Rationally, she knew it was okay, normal even, to be scared but that it was not something she could afford to give in to again. In some respects, she'd been lucky the others performed well last time. This time would be different. Deft squeezed her shoulder and Snap leaned into the sensation a little for reassurance.

Focused on the hand on her shoulder, she nearly missed what was being said but quickly nodded in agreement: it was a good plan. She adjusted her grip slightly on the laced pieces of bamboo she held and turned back to the task at hand. "Alright. Just keep in mind that you'll be hit by whatever I generate too, so stay sharp... Well, I mean, not Sharp, 'cause you're Deft but sharp like focused on things and situationally... Ah hell, you know what I mean, right?" She rambled, trying not to dwell on Deft's last comment.

The Director's reply hardened Snap's resolve. If that was the case, Piecemeal could easily be on his way to attack and destroy the local opposition. Or, she had to concede to herself (with a mental nod to Patch), looking for help in the most likely place he could find it. Before she could voice the thought, however, Titania announced the creation of some golems and Echo/Sharp made the call. Snap marvelled at her bravery and gave Deft what she hoped was a decisive nod just before the woman ran off, straight at the threat.

With Piecemeal hopefully distracted, Snap took a deep breath and began moving into range. She could do this. The people of Miami were counting on her. Her team were counting on her. And, most immediately, the Echos were counting on her. Doing her best to stay out of sight, she moved quickly. The swirling dust and debris hampered her movement a little and she quickly decided that an air-based snap was unlikely to work. In range, she awaited her signal, bamboo gripped tight. Once word came, she melded with the earth and snapped in to attack Piecemeal and assist Deft.

[GameOfChampions]

The Storm Breaks

The various grenades from Force and Titania rocket through the storm towards the general direction of Piecemeal. However those that get too close to Piecemeal are disintegrated into dust before they can go off. However two of the mass of grenades make it. One of Titanias smoke grenades land a short distance before Piecemeals disintegration aura, leaving trails of smoke to be blown back into him. Secondly one of the explosive grenades Force launched in take an incoming Golem straight in its right arm, cracking it slightly and causing a bit to crumble off though it still seems functional for the time being.

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

"Pinpoint checking in. I'll bring the pressure from this side! Vanguard keep watch!" Pinpoints hands raise and after a few seconds a light blast erupts from him and head out to Piecemeal, hitting him centermass. "Guys my blasts are hitting him but I can't feel them getting any stronger or adaptable. What's going on?"

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

The Echoes pings resound off each other mapping out the field and painting an interesting picture for them. They can see the pair of Golems moving toward Force and Patch and the four near their surprisingly large master. However you all also see a pair of Golems standing in the buildings right beside Pinpoint and Vanguard position. The Echoes sonar sense washes over them just as they begin to move towards the pair of heroes.

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

Deft and Snap both manage to close into the area with Piecemeal and his Golem bodyguards but in different ways. Deft manages to close most of the distance with her speed, reflexes, and judicious use of smoke dodging the slow lumbering blows of the Golems. As she closes she finally gets the forst good look at Piecemeal. The thing must be Piecemeal since everything is centered on him but the... thing there is a largish man sized Golem, the only difference is the two holes in the face a bit lower down then where the eyes would be on it. Defts sharpened stick strikes it but it's too thick to break easily and it bounces off. However the thing turned it's attention to the women and she starts to feel the inorganic matter on her disintograte away starting with the comm piece in her ear.

Then Snap arrived in her earthen glory, only a few seconds after Deft reached the scene. Snap pops out of the ground and the second she erupts there's a massive shaking in the ground erupting out a hundred meters from snap and throwing everyone to the ground, including the massive Golems that had been about to try and strike Snap. It doesn't stop there though a massive fissure started to split the earth, starting under Snap and expanding outward, the massive fissure dropped the Golem beside Snap right into the fisure without a sound. Lukily Snap did not share the same fate as she managed to grab the side as she it started and keep her upper body on the ground while her legs dangled.

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

The Golems unaffected by the mini-quake keep going. With the pair approaching Force and Patch starting a lumbering run to gain speed and the pair near Vanguard and Pinpoint bursting through the wall they'd been behind to attack the pair, even as they receive a warning.

The pair that burst through the wall seperate and each target a hero despite Vanguard trying to take on both to cover Pinpoint. One of them throws itself bodily at Vanguard, dragging him to the ground in a brutal wrestling match where the Golem is trying to tear off the heroes limbs and Vanguard has morphed his metal arm into a hammer with a small spike to smash into the Golem. The other now unhindered charges at Pinpoint who desperately tries to scramble away but isn't fast enough. The Golem grabs him by a leg and hoists him up even as he sqeezes the leg making a sickening crunch. However even as he's lifred he uses one of his saved blasts to point blank the creature in the face and knock him back, causing the Golem to drop him where he promptly passes out due to his leg.

The pair charging Patch and Force split as well with one charging Force arms open to pull her into a grapple and the other charging the van like a ton of enraged bull.

The Cat Sith is unaffected by the earthquake and so far unnoticed, as far as you can tell.

[Ramsus]

As she sees the pair of golems getting closer to Force and Patch in the van, Titania realizes force won't be able to stop both of them herself and sending the ogre charging in. (The fact that the golems then split just makes that a better call.) As such the ogre on a mad charge of it's own slams into the golem charging the van from the side just before it could connect and gives out an ugly triumphant roar.

She only notices the golems near Vanguard and Pinpoint after they burst through the wall, loud enough for her to hear even from her aloft position. She races over to try and get Pinpoint out of there, but she was too far away to get there in time to save his leg. Or even stop him from hitting the ground which causes her to wince. Where Avelina would hesitate and lose the opening provided by Pinpoint's last blast, Titania does not and the hippogriff dives in and snatches Pinpoint up in it's talons and darts back up before the golems can get all... grabby. Once in the air she calls out over the comms, "Pinpoint has been injured. Where can I take him that's nearby? I can't get too far away from my creatures or they will return from whence they came."

Meanwhile the cat sith approaches ever closer, now looking for an opportunity caused by someone removing some of his "armor" or to at least be a distraction if someone needs one. Not too much distracts as well as large cat in your face.

((Chivy and/or Silent_p, feel free to have the cat sith act as part of your actions if you feel like it'd make sense.))

[Sønderjye]

Utterly failing to get through to Piecemeat, Patch gives up. He had done an honest attempt and could justify stopping it now to himself. He throws the MBS onto the back seat and


Pongggg... Pongggg ... Pongggg

he jumps in his seat hearing the loud sounds and his head spins to face the direction. I guess combat started, he thinks with a slightly saddened facial expression. He then turns the comm back on: "Patch is back on".

Seeing the golem charge his way he thanks 'past Patch' for placing the car orthogonal to the direction Piecemeat was going. "Patch relocating. Force, you'll have to handle yourself" he says as he jerked the gas petal down and accelerated away from the golem. It felt weird leaving a teamate behind like that but at least dying was only temporary for Force. And Force had superstrength, he added mentally.

While driving he constantly looks in the back mirror, making sure that he is losing the golem.

Assuming he gets away from the golem he'll pull the map of the district up on his glasses and based on Piecemeat's current trajectory he'll find a spot where he has a good visual overview to take a shot on piecemeat.

[Chivy]

Watch it Vanguard, behind you!
Sharp almost shouted through the comm as soon as she got a clear picture of the area. The result of the attack was bad, but Titania was obviously somebody well versed in combat as she swept in and pulled PinPoint out of the golem’s claws. She then tapped her commbead and said
Nice work Titania. Snap, Deft. Did it work?

No reply. It was bad all around. Peacemeal already had more golems out than she had expected him to have, let alone in tactical positions and it looked like Deft and Snap’s assault didn’t look like it had done much. Backup plan time.
Inertia. It looks like this might be going badly, so keep up your time bubble as it is now, but prepare to take a step back when I say.

She had read the file on Inertia’s power. Watched the video on Peacemeal. And now had watched how he moved when under attack. The calculations were easy to make, it was just a matter of the will to actually try and kill a person. She changed the sound of her ping to warn her other selves and aimed the grenade launcher at the area where Peacemeal would probably be in a minute or two and pulled the trigger. The explosive grenade left the barrel and immediately slowed down because of Inertia’s field. She then moved the launcher a bit and launched another explosive grenade. She repeated this until the entire cylinder had been emptied, then she reloaded, took a step forward and started firing again, increasing the wall of explslowly making its way to the edge of Inertia’s field.

Alright, get out of here Patch. Big explosions incoming. Force dropped the launcher and grabbed her club as soon as she saw the golem running her way, stepping into his charge she twisted low and brought up the club aimed at the exposed side of the thing.

Deft looked at Peacemeal. He was armoured and one of the ends of her staff was already shattered, but he looked like he needed his eyes uncovered. That was his weak spot. One good thrust and this might be over. But it meant actually killing somebody, and she wasn’t sure she could do that. She had also made a promise to keep snap safe. She rolled towards where Snap was hanging over the edge of the crevice, ending up in a crouch in front of her. Deft quickly grabbed her under her arms and pushed herself to roll backwards, using her own body as a wedge to lift Snap from the crevice.
Snap, nice work on the golem. He’s armoured but it looks like his eyes aren’t. If you comm is still up let the others know. get out of here within sixty seconds. Deft quickly whispered in her ally’s ear as she used her flexibility and speed to get both of them onto their feet as fast as she could before rolling back towards Peacemeal, trying to keep his attention and trying to set him up for an opening to stab him. In her head she was already counting down, the backup plan would be incoming.

All three of them kept the echoing pings rolling around the battlefield, informing the rest of any incoming threats they saw by the comms, and each other the countdown until the backup plan was launched.

[Silent_p]

Well, she'd done it. Really done it, in fact. A strange mix of pride and fear welled up in her. That was one of the most destructive snaps she could recall and in a situation that might actually call for it too. Of course, she was afraid about what might have happened to Deft. Her hasty and fumbled warning seemed woefully inadequate, looking back.

Snap tried calling out but the breath had been knocked from her and she barely managed a wheeze. There was nothing for it but to climb and help Deft - though hopefully she didn't need it. Rock climbing was familiar territory for her but, in the past, there'd never been such urgency required or a super-powered threat just above.

As she was getting her footing, though, Deft appeared and pulled her up. Snap was both relieved and irritated; Deft was okay but she was being a burden on the woman again. Snap pushed the annoyance aside and nodded her thanks to Deft. It was hard to ignore how much damage Piecemeal's power had done to their suits but she focused on the information being relayed before Deft darted off to confront Piecemeal again.

Snap couldn't risk another full-range snap so quickly decided on a direction with modest cover and, sparing a final, worried glance for Deft, earth-snapped a short distance away. Repeated the action as quickly as possible. After a moment, she tried one of her back-up comma. "Snap here. Anyone reading me? Deft's engaging. She said Piecemeal's eyes are a weak point. Where am I needed?"

She pushed the fear down again. She was okay. They'd be okay.

[Mono Vertigo]

Inertia's time bubble didn't affect everything; non-material forces passed through normally.
That included fire, explosions, and the sheer pressure of the battlefield, slowly crushing her mentally like an anvil.
The young cape was advancing slowly through the flying debris, as if walking through a snowstorm, even though she could literally waltz between the bigger pieces.
The sight of the grenades flying dangerously close to her - dangerously close had she been an innocent passerby - made her jump in surprise. Hopefully, she would get used to that very quickly.
Even protected within a safe womb of slowed time, it was so hard to focus, let alone decide what to focus on. She settled on concentrating on her own power; if she allowed it to flicker or go off due to inattention, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Eventually, she spoke through the comm, grasping randomly at one information she could process. "Pinpoint's wounded? Will stay with him after the action until first aid, he'll bleed out more slowly."
Would he? Those biological processes were likely too slow to begin with to be affected by the time field. But more than hoping to truly provide help to the ally, Inertia just wanted, at that moment, to speak, so she could struggle against the sensory overload and not just freeze helplessly.
Maintain bubble. Listen to Sharp. Do these things. Block out the noise, the flashes, the knot in your guts. Talk if you must to achieve that.

[Sønderjye]

For a long moment Patch waits with his eye on the lense, looking intensely at the storm but when he's unable to even spot any movements inside the storm he leans back. "I can't get a shot off" his voice is heard over the comm: "One bullet should be enough to take him out but the storm is much denser than I anticipated."

Thinking that he can't contribute anymore to the actual fight Patch makes a fast brainstorm for what he still can contribute with.
"Inertia, where are you and Pinpoint right now?"

Assuming he gets the location Patch spins the PRT car around and races towards the couple. When arriving he jerks the breaks down causing a small cloud of debris leftovers to rise from the ground. He jumps out of the car and runs towards the wounded Pinpoint. The older cape seems confident when he with quick movements pulls our a syringe and a corresponding small capsule from one of his many many pockets. He removes the protection and promptly inserts the sharp end into one of Pinpoints veins.

He then observes tensely as to see how effective the Sir 1 - Cure would heal the wounds. It should work but he had been too late before.
Patch then remembers what Titania said earlier. "Titania, can you bring him to me? I'm driving towards you"
Assuming Titania accepts he'll drive towards her to cut the time. When he deems himself close enough he jerks the breaks harder than he would ever have considered if the car had been his own property and a small cloud of debris leftovers rises from the ground. He jumps out of the car and runs towards the wounded Pinpoint. The older cape seems confident when he with quick movements pulls our a syringe and a corresponding small capsule from one of his many many pockets. He removes the protection and promptly inserts the sharp end into one of Pinpoints veins.

"Thanks by the way." he says as he observes tensely as to see how effective the Sir 1 - Cure would heal the wounds. It should work but he had been too late before.

[Rofltrollcopter]

The Storm Breaks

Right before the fight started, as Robert watched the coming storm approach, he wondered how everything had gone to Hell so quickly. He had wanted to help people, that's why he had signed up with the PRT. They couldn't even keep the same team together for a few days. He had been lost in his own head, and he hadn't taken the time to introduce himself to Inertia and Titania.

After what happened to CJ, a part of him wondered if he would even get the chance.

As Echo called out her warning over comms, Robert barely reacted in time before the golem was on him. For this encounter, Robert had opted to make his body out of steel. He figured his role in the fight was just to stay on defense, so he wouldn't have to move around so much. They would have to rely on one of the team's more esoteric powers to land the decisive blow against Piecemeal.

As the golem brought him to the ground, he felt the tension in his limbs as the golem grabbed on. He flailed at the creature, now of his blows managing to to be effective. He realized that he was fighting back as if the creature was made of flesh and blood, and he had been aiming for vital spots on the 'head' that didn't exist. He switched tactics, and willed his right arm to resemble the old carpenters hammer he had used in his old job, with the addition of the spike at the end. He switched tactics, and and aimed for the joints of the creature's limbs, hoping to destroy them utterly. He was too distracted by his own fight to notice what had been happening with Pinpoint, but Vanguard knew he needed to end the fight as quickly as possible.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

[GameOfChampions]

The Storm Breaks

As Titania swoops down and grabs Pinpoint the other Golem is beating Vanguard into the ground though the metal hero isn't taking as much damage as he is just being restrained. Lukily for Vanguard the blast from Pinpoint seems to have put down the other Golem for good.

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

Pinpoint groans as he's slung over the hippogriff, blood dripping out of his crushed leg where several small shards of bone have penetrated the leg. As soon as he is flown down to Patch and is injected he stiffens and let's out a small scream of pain. The 'cure' bots swarm though his leg trying to fix the damage, as the pair of you watch you see the small streams of blood stop and some shards of bone pop out of the leg and onto the ground. Finally it seems as if his pain has abated as his breathing normalizes and his face settles into a more normal expression. "Don't worry Titania and Patch we have an incoming med helicopter to evac him to the hospital. It should be there in a minute so... we need you to leave him and get back in the fight. He'll be safe with the bots stabalizing him and he's out of the combat zone. We need to end this before anyone else gets hurt."

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

Force and Titania's ogre are caught up in their own melee with the pair of Golems attacking them and it was not going great. The Golem attacking Force took several hits from her club, leaving it with a long crack on its arm, before throwing itself foward too quickly to dodge and pulled Force into a grapple where it quickly rolled on top. The Ogre managed to achieve its goal and distract the Golem charging for Patch but after its powerful tackle the pair of them are going at it like a pair of rutting stags, charging and throwing out powerful hits that would crush a normal person with the Golem coming off a bit ahead due to its stony skin.

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

As Deft spins around trying to find an opening she spins in a wrong direction and Piecemeal manages to clip her with a heavy stone encased punch that throws her off balance and into the grasping arms of a Golem. It starts to squeeze the agile women in its arms, squeezing the breath out of her and starting crack her bones.

Sorry if it's a bit rushed. Also I went with the assumption that Titania would be bringing Pinpoint to Patch. Also not the best round but the roles were not with the group this round...

[Sønderjye]

The storm breaks

Seeing the wound close, Patch breathes out. Despite his rational reassurance and numerous tests he had been unable to shred out the tiny bit of doubt that had been building due to his grandmothers death and the following presecution. He presses the button on the side, issuing a signal to the bots to return from the wound and allows it to stay in while they follow the bloodstream around until they again reach the tip of the syringe.

As many other things from the PRT the message bothered him. It sounded a whole lot like they were scolding them for caring to save a teammember. It wasn't the time though, heck it probably would never be the time. Nonetheless he needed to focus.

While waiting for the bots to return he turns to his dwarven-armoured griffin-riding teammember: "Titania, new plan. I can't get a clear shot on him when he is encased in stone." he conjures 4 small wood boxes about the size of a thump. "These ones each contain a single bullet with a biological weapon that knocks people out. Can you get them to some of the guys in the front, maybe your cat? If someone can shove them into the guy's eye it's over. Tell people that if they open it and he dissolved the metal bullet within they need to blow as hard as possible and then get away. The bacteria is airborn and if inhaled it'll knock you out within seconds, that of courses applies to both Piecemeat and us. Same goes if it enters your system directly. If it's transmitted through skin contact you have a few minutes to get to me and get the antidote. He then looks at the part of Titania's face he can see and tries to judge her reaction.

[Ramsus]

Titania nods and takes the boxes. As she does she says to the others over the comms, "I'll be delivering these to Inertia, then Sharp, then Snap, then my cait sith in that order. Confirmation you're receiving this would be great." By the time she was finishes speaking she had a (awkward) hold on the four boxes and took off, flying low enough to hopefully be in sight or otherwise noticeable to Inertia as she dropped the first of the boxes into her time dilation aura.

((I'm not 100% sure where everyone is, I figured based on the descriptions that Inertia was the closest person. Not sure it Snap is the second closest but she sounds like the next person not right next to golems and thus makes more sense to give a box that shouldn't be broken to.))

[Rofltrollcopter]

Vanguard was still locked in melee with the Golem. His new tactic did not result in any success. As the Golem drove him to the ground, he got a glimpse of Pinpoint being airlifted out by Titania. He didn't look good, but he wasn't in any immediate danger. Vanguard didn't have much time to dwell on that fact, since the golem grabbed one of his legs and was proceeding to try to pull it apart like a wishbone at a turkey dinner. Instead of fighting against the hold, Vanguard drew upon his power. He attempted to increase the strength of the steel that made up his body. He hadn't tested this before, and he wasn't sure what the consequences of it would be.

Once that was done, he stopped fighting against the golem's hold, relying upon his power to keep him safe. He hammered away at the creature in a frenzy, determined to break it apart before Piecemeal could close the distance.



Specifically, Vanguard is trying to increase the tensile strength of the steel. It's the GM's call, but the way I would interpret it, increased tensile strength does not mean that the density of his form would increase, so Vanguard's attacks wouldn't hit any harder, it would just mean that more force would have to be applied to damage his body. It's also the GMs call as to what the tradeoff would be.

[Chivy]

Deft grunted in frustration as the golem snagged her, then was unable to still her scream as the golem started applying pressure. She knew she had to get out of the Golem’s grip or...
Use the weakest part to break free from an attacker. Go through the one thumb instead of the four fingers. Go through the arm instead of the body. Her close combat instructor’s words rang in her ears.
Deft kicked herself up off the ground, then used the golem’s own limbs to kick herself further into a spiral, before extending herself like a lever and bringing the pressure she had built up against the weakest point the Golem was holding her with, uncaring if it ripped her organic costume or even tore into her skin. She needed to get free and away from Peacemeal and the golem.

Force ‘saw’ the same echoing scene unfolding that Sharp did and growled in frustration. The golems were proving a lot stronger than they had expected. She’d hit this one with a grenade as well as a few solid whacks and it was still standing. Well straddling her. Only Vanguard was stronger than she was, well as far as she knew, and he didn’t seem to be having any more effect than she was.
She let go of the club which was useless in these close quarters and pulled out the short sword strapped to her leg, then brought it up aimed at the crack she had beaten into the golem. If she could just wedge it in there, she could use it as a lever to try and split the thing at the seams.

Sharp stopped in her tracks when their sonar told her that Deft had been caught. Her mind raced across the options she had. Patch already said he couldn’t do anything. She wouldn’t risk Snap, even if she could do something to help in this instance. Vanguard and Force were too far away as well as engaged with their respective golems. That left herself, Inertia and Titania’s creatures the only ones within a distance to actually do anything useful.
“Titania, I need your hippogriff to attack the golem holding Deft and help get her free. It is standing dead centre of the storm."
Her confidence was quickly shattered when the woman safely up in the air refused. Her arguments might have had a form of logic to them, but the idea of having herself crushed to death because one of them...

“MERDE!” Sharp actually swore for the first time in years. There was only one thing she could do.
“Inertia, I need you to take a step back and let the grenades fly. Then we’ll run in there together and try and slow both Peacemeal and the golem. If you can catch him in the event horizon of your power it’d be even better, but as long as you slow him it’ll buy everybody time. I’ll be with you and if I can I’ll end this here and now.”
She let out a breath she didn’t realise she had been holding in when Inertia agreed.
“Alright. Let’s do this.” She dropped the grenade launcher she had been holding and picked up the sharpened staff in her left hand, before using her right to guide Inertia in a step back to allow the grenades she had built up to launch towards Peacemeal. She then guided Inertia into a run towards Peacemeal.
“If anything goes wrong in there, just keep running.”

Deft will try and break free, Force will try and break the golem and the least combat enhanced Echo will be charging Peacemeal together with Inertia.
The plan is that first the grenades are sent in, then we charge in as fast as we can to catch Peacemeal (and hopefully the golem) in the time slowing effect. If she can find any opening, Sharp will try and ram anything pointy (sword, bamboo staf, extendable baton) into Peacemeal's eyes.

[Silent_p]

The Storm Breaks

As was standard for chaotic situations, Snap had no real idea what was going on. Taking limited cover behind some moderately damaged wall, she listened intently to her comm. The news was not good: they were having serious trouble with the golems and Pinpoint was out of commission - though thankfully being evacuated. No word on Vanguard or Force... Combat, Snap decided, was not something she enjoyed. Between the fear and guilt she had about leaving Deft behind, to her own precarious position and the danger befalling her teammates, things were spectacularly grim.

Titania announced an airdrop of supplies to deal with Piecemeal followed quickly by Sharp's new orders. Snap's blood ran cold as she heard that Deft was trapped. She'd left the woman there. Just run away... she should have stayed and maybe... No. With immense difficulty, Snap pushed those thoughts aside. Sharp was making a run for Piecemeal with Inertia. They'd need help. "Snap here," she said over the comm, her voice thick. "Titania, I read you and await your airdrop." She added her position and took a fearful look out of her cover. Making anything out was near impossible but the cold fear for Deft's life, with Sharp running into danger and Force unaccounted for, made it an immense struggle of willpower to wait.

Even once she had the supplies, it would be an agonisingly slow series of snaps to get back into action. Snap scanned the sky, hoping the Titania was able to be get to her quickly.

Apologies if I've misread anything.

[Mono Vertigo]

For a split second, Inertia fortunately interrupted her train of thought, and jumped back, as told. At the very instant the field stopped including them, the grenades flew forward, as if propelled once again; the flying dust did the same, resuming its flight in spatters, slowing to a crawl in part, and overall, making the storm a lot less homogeneous in its aspect and damage right after crossing the young cape.
The arrival of the boxes snapped her out of the purely adrenaline-fueled moment. Unfortunately. It brought, along with the bullet, a rush of questions: how do you achieve that, what does it actually do, what if I breathe some, what if it doesn't work--
No no, breathe. Maintain bubble. Run. Hold on to the box.
"Alright, running now, running, careful, there's bigger debris flying, just sidestep, okay, no need to rush, just dodge like that..."
A brick floated in very much the same way bricks shouldn't, though slightly faster than the dust, indicative of the inverted speed difference in real time. Inertia merely stopped a few inches in front of the projectile, let it pass almost politely as she ran around it, careful to stand in its trail and not its trajectory, else she'd risk taking the hit if she misjudged distances or tripped. The helmet was good enough at protecting against the majority of the dust storm, there was almost no need to raise her arm to disperse it.
"... yeah, alright, big stuff, run around, not in front of it, run around the back to be sure", she kept commenting in a almost whisper.
Maintain bubble. Run. Dodge. Hold on to the box. Don't think too much.

[GameOfChampions]

A Storm Breaks

As Vanguard starts to change his body the metallic hero can feel the blows he's taking start to lessen and his assault is devestating. His blows start to chip off large sections of the Golem and with one massive blow he manages to split the Golems head down the middle and crumble it with a quick follow up shot that leaves the stone monstrosity still on the ground. Vanguard was now free of the melee that had been dominating his attentions.

Smart idea and it worked, it made it harder for the Golem to hurt you for sure. Essentially it boiled down to me giving the Golem a negative modifier in your contest.
-----------------------

As Force tried to jam her short sword into the Golems cracked arm it goes through but hits a snag for a second before it can gain purchuse. The monster twists in that second and gets the women's arm in an arm lock as he pits his weight and strength against Forces own.

Titanias Ogre sees it's master fly overhead and renews it's effort with a massive bellow, trying to intimidate the expressionless stone creature. When that doesn't work he charges again but this time the Ogre uses its charge as a feint and manages to twist around the arms of the Golem and snag one which the mythical creature uses to flip it over his shoulder and onto the ground where the arm is then torn off and one of its legs broken at the knee.

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

As Deft pushes upwards with all her strength she manages to twist free, falling out of the Golems grasp and to the ground. She had some cracked ribs, a pretty bad scraped shoulder, a broken finger, and was missing some parts of her costume but she was undoubtedly alive and free. Deft was free just in time to see the beautiful sight of four grenades hammering home into the Golem not twenty feet in front of her. The quartet of explosives punched a hole through its chest that then caused it to crumble into rubble onto the ground.The remaining two grenades sail past the pile of rubble but don't get another ten feet before they disintigrate into little puffs of dust and join the storm.

The freed women is also treated to the sight of her least combat oriented alter ego charging into combat as fast as she can with her sharpened staff held high. Sharp manages to traverse the storm easily enough with her echo location helping her put and manages to close with Piecemeal after some intense running. He's open, you see that of his last two one had been engaged with Deft and the other was trapped on the other side of the chasm Snap made and was slowly making its way around. As Sharp charges the man she can feel some of the disintigrate on start to take effect but she ignores it all as she thrusts her staff at Piecemeals eyes. Piecemeal tries to smack the staff away but that only results in breaking off a foot of it, leaving Sharp with a jagged end which the women then manages to jam into his eye. You feel some resistance as it smacks part of the visor but also a soft squishy bit.

Piecemeal drops to his knees with a ear drum shattering scream and you can see some blood and... grey matter dripping out between his fingers as they try to cover his wound. Immediately as he screams you can feel everything on your body that isn't disintigrated burst into dust in a few seconds. Then everyone in the storm feels a pulse go through it and it starts to whip around even more violently.

The Echos can 'see' the pair of Golems closest to him start to charge towards him. The one near Deft forgetting the women in favor of goin go his master and the one on the other side of the chasm turning and making a running jump over it that barely brings him across as he collapses from the jump and begins to get up. Piecemeal just points a wavering finger at Sharp as his other hand still clutches the remains of his eye.

So a few notes. Snap and Inertia you can both attack in this round, Snap you can get the vial and attack as well though to do that you'd need to do one medium jump rather then a bunch of smalls. Vanguard you can charge in if you wish though you wouldn't be able to get to Piecemeal, only the Golem that just jumped the chasm that you would also need to jump.

[Ramsus]

Titania flies off to attempt to deliver the remaining boxes to Snap and then her cait sith. The later box being delivered from a height high enough to hopefully cause the box to break a bit when it hit thr ground so it's easier for the cait sith to break open the rest of the way and snap up the bullet into it's mouth before it can get disintegrated.

The ogre leaves behind the golem it just wrecked and charges after one of the ones heading to help Piecemeal. Titania considered sending it to help Force but really, just keeping that golem out of the fight was the important thing right now since it was possible the fight could be over in mere moments. And those golems were a much bigger threat to pretty much everyone else they were heading for than they were to force. Besides, the longer the charge the more powerful the shoulder slam.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Vanguard felt no small amount of satisfaction as he felt his opponent crumble beneath him. He managed to pull himself up, just in time to hear an ear-splitting screech from Piecemeal. Despite how much harm Piecemeal had caused, he couldn't help but winch in sympathy. It was hard for him to make out what was going on, but he caught sight of the other golem making its way towards the center of the storm. Oh no you don't!

Vanguard sprinted across the ground towards the fleeing golem. As he came close to the chasm, he called upon his power and jumped. He wasn't sure how often he could use his power in quick succession, but he had to try. He attempted to reduce the density of his body right as he jumped, hoping it would propel him across the gap. It was the same way he used his power to escape from the sunken boat, although he didn't comprehend what he was doing at the time.



If Vanguard makes it to the other side, he will try to grapple with the other golem. His goal isn't to destroy it, but slow it down so it doesn't interfere with the rest of the team.

I'm assuming that Vanguard's power works so that momentum is conserved when he changes his density.

E.g. m1*v1 = m2*v2

So if he decreases his density, his velocity will increase at the same proportion. It is the GM's call of course.

[Mono Vertigo]

The pulse and the chilling scream traversed Inertia's field and body; still disconcerting, when everything else around you is so slow and manageable.
She tumbled, but accelerated her run, while the dust storm slowed down further in her perspective. She was closer to Piecemeal than she'd thought, and could see his face.
Including his nasty wound. Was that his eye?
"Oh my god", she let out. That was his eye, wasn't it?
Her stomach trembled, she felt about to retch. And he was still standing! His pointing finger seemed so menacing, so accusing. Without thinking, she flung an arm to knock away his pointing hand, responding with a more articulate scream of her own: "No! No, no, NO, you end this NOW! YOU END THIS NOW!"
Then, she remembered the bullet. Shove it in his eye, or something, right? He was supposed to be blinded all along, wasn't he? No, no time to think about that. As consciously as possible, she tried to let adrenaline take over and give her the speed and precision to shove the bullet into his burst eye.

[Silent_p]

Though Titania had been prompt and Snap now held her wooden box, she was conflicted about her next move. She was none the wiser on what was going on - swirling debris, the after effects of explosive detonations and her own attempts to stay concealed all served to reduce her visibility. Plus, there was now little in the way of updates coming over the comms. She basically knew that Deft was still engaged, Sharp and Inertia were running to assist but that knowledge only let her fret further about the fates of her teammates. Did Force or Vanguard need help? Were Patch or Titania planning something with which she could assist?

A straight snap in - at about 50m - had, in addition to bringing her terrifyingly close to Piecemeal, the potential to disrupt whatever was already in progress. If the Echoes and Inertia were in combat, such a distraction or disturbance could be fatal. She hoped that they were safe and again cursed herself for leaving Deft behind. She couldn't continue to let her fear make her run like that, even if Deft had told her to. Who knew how the woman fared now?

Deciding against rushing into the unknown and forcing her very different fears about Piecemeal and Deft down, she glanced about. "Snap here," she said into the comm. Anyone need some disturbance or a distraction? I'm, um, at a loose end, I guess." Her voice wavered a touch as the last surge of adrenaline was wearing off. She just didn't know how to help, particularly given how destructive her power could be to friend and foe.

[Ramsus]

"There is a golem charging over in Piecemeal's direction that could be distracted without risk of effecting anyone else." Titania responds and gives more precise details on it's location/trajectory as she flies higher to get a better view of the situation.

((To be clear she's talking about the one her ogre isn't going to try to charge into.))

[Chivy]

Deft watched with a pained smile as Sharp stabbed Peacemeal in the eye. Good going Snap. She had gotten the message out and won us the fig...
Peacemeal screamed, but it wasn’t a death scream.
She ‘saw’ that two of the three remaining golems were already going to intercept Sharp and protect Peacemeal. Vanguard and the Ogre were on their way to intercept them. Inertia was on her way into the fight and would encompass Peacemeal, Sharp and the golems soon. Charging in would only slow her down when Inertia hit.
Gritting her teeth against the pain she held her ribs with her damaged hand and picked up what was left of her staff. She might not be able to do much, but they might need backup, so she set into an easy gait to circle Inertia’s incoming barrier. Her plan was to place herself where Peacemeal would emerge from the time field again and then take out his other eye. Hopefully with enough force to actually finish this.

Sharp stared at the blood and... other stuff dripping from Peacemeal’s face. If the adrenalin hadn’t been coursing through her veins, she’d be spewing her breakfast at him. It was disgusting. But it wasn’t over yet, the incoming golems were proof of that. The others were incoming, as well as the golems. She had a choice between the rest of her staff and the bullet box. The logical choice was obvious.
She took a step back from Peacemeal, then brought forward the bullet box like an underhanded throw. She opened the box with her thumb at its apex instead of throwing it, launching the bullet straight at Peacemeal, allowing the villain’s powers to get hold of the bullet like Patch planned. If it worked this fight might be over in a bit.
She then set herself to try and avoid the Golems, and if he tried anything Peacemeal, but primarily her focus was to make sure that when Inertia arrived she had a clear line to do her thing. Sharp will use her enhanced senses and echolocation to try and keep herself safe, but will even use her own body to block any hit which’ll actually hit Inertia.

With Sharp off the comms, Force relayed what was happening to everybody between grunts of frustration and her own echoing. The golem she was fighting had pinned her most effectively, but it was larger than she was. And she was a lot more flexible, not Deft flexible, but still woman who did a lot of martial arts training flexible. If she could just manoeuvre her leg around the blade, she could..
Her train of thought stopped when she heard Titania over the comms telling Snap to ‘distract’ one of the charging golems. How she could even see the things in the blinding storm was baffling.
“NO!” Force almost bellowed into the comms, her annoyance palatable. First refusing to ‘put herself in danger’ by sending her Griffon in to help, she was obviously happy to send someone else to her death. She might be being unfair to Titania, or overprotective of Snap, but she had already lost J.C. and PinPoint was grievously wounded. She wasn’t going to lose anybody else.
“Snap is unenhanced, unarmed and un-armoured. She wouldn't last four seconds against one of them.”

Force grunted again as she tried to get her leg up over the sword. She realised that she might have just told snap she was useless, where she meant that she should pick her battles. Ju Yi had already taken one golem out, which was a lot more than either Force or Deft had done.
“Snap, Vanguard is already incoming on that golem, the other is being attacked by Titania's Ogre. Peacemeal is being engaged by Sharp and Inertia. Deft is circling as a backup. There is nothing you can do in the storm, but I could use some help. There’s a grenade launcher a few meters to my left, it’s already loaded. Just aim at the golem's back and make sure you’re at least twenty meters away.”
She then tried to lever herself to the right, to make the golem a shield against the, hopefully, incoming grenades.

[Silent_p]

Snap was torn between Titania's and Force's suggestions. If Vanguard was charging the same golem, then snapping in could derail whatever he was planning to do but the idea of firing grenades into Force's proximity didn't appeal on any level. She hoped Force was trying to make the best use of everyone but she had to push down a pang of shame at the pointed description the woman gave of her to Titania. It wasn't untrue, just stark to think that was how she was seen. She wished for better.

For that, though, she'd need to prove herself. How could she expect Echo to properly value her based on how she'd fared during their first fight? Still feeling a bit useless, she nonetheless began jogging in Force's direction, hoping to get a clearer picture of what she could do to help. "Snap here. I'm heading in your direction now, Force." Once she'd closed the distance a little, she earth-snapped forward the small remaining amount and picked up the grenade launcher. Swallowing nervously and hefting the weapon to a ready position.

Force was still engaged with the golem, seemingly unable to get free. Snap took the briefest of moments to watch as she aimed the launcher at a point she figured was most likely to hit the golem in the back. Could she really risk hitting Force like this, though? She'd already run from Deft... Ultimately, though, despite her own fears, she had to trust Echo's judgment. The woman had experience and a far greater sense of the battlefield. She hoped the weapon was loaded and primed because the only thing she had the vaguest idea how to do was aim and pull the trigger. "Incoming!" She said and fired.

[GameOfChampions]

A Storm Breaks

Vanguards form lightens and the massive jump that cracked the pavement under him takes him even further then planned. He clears the dark chasm with room to spare and close to the Golem that had just made the jump as well. However as the metal hero strikes out at it the attack bounces off of the Golems arm leaving a long scratch but nothing more. The Golem finishes getting up and continues its charge to Piecemeal.

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

Force and the Golem roll on the ground grappling for advantage over each other with the Golem ending out slightly on top leaving him in a position to do some damage... until the grenade from Snap explodes the Golem into rubble that half buries Force. The women has some bruises and a few burns from the proximity of the blast but is fine otherwise.

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

Inertia and Sharp both thrust their bullets toward Piecemeals face though they both disintigrate, releasing the fumes of the organic chloroform within. Though Piecemeal manages to get his hand up it can't block all of it and most gets onto his face and gaping eye wound. However with his hand he manages to waft some parts back to both Inertia and Sharp. However both heroes can immediately tell that the chloroform is effecting him as he staggers, slowed by Inertias field, foward. The armored cape staggers right into Deft who's waiting at the edge or the field. The barely clothed heroine jabs at his eye easily managing to hit the small opening and drives her finger deep into his remaining eye rupturing it and causing the man to collapse with another scream. With both eyes reduced bloody empty holes he still slowly crawls foward as the chloroform takes it toll and he slowly collapses to the ground. The remaining Golem that had just gotten stuck in Inertia's bubble, the only thing that stopped it from clobering her, collapsed into a massive puff of dust that covers the two women.

So Interia and Sharp each have 2 minutes before they pass out. It really wouldn't have happened but he got a nat 20 and I needed to do something with that :smalleek: However the fight is done and he is slowly bleeding out a bit.

[Chivy]

Deft looked down at the man laying in front of her as the storm collapsed around her. It was over. Glistening fluids and gore dripping from where his eyes used to be. Eyes she had stabbed. A white-red piece of eye dropped from the point of her bamboo staff. Her gorge rose, then her stomach contracted and doubled over she spewed her breakfast out across the dusty ground. Pain rocked her from her cracked ribs and mangled hand.

Sharp turned to Inertia as soon as she saw Peacemeal go down and the golems disintegrate. She carefully avoided looking at the vilain. They'd taken him down, and probably killed him, but she didn't want to see the aftermath or be faced with the choice of killing him if he was still breathing.
Are you alright? She asked the young hero, her eyes roving over her to check for wounds. Her voice sounded slightly slurred to her ears, she briefly wondered how it would sound to people unaffected by the timefield.
You did good. Very good. I've never seen anything as brave as you and Snap charging in to attack this guy.
She shook her head a bit as she felt the effects of the organic drugs develloped by Patch were starting to take effect on her. She held up her arm and signalled Force that it was over.
We should move somewhere away from here and find a comfortable rock before we pass out.
She said and then started walking back to the area they were hiding in initially, angling to pick up Deft on the way.

Force crawled from the underneath the rubble muttering
Au. Remind me that I don't like explosives. Or golems.
She stood and was surprised to see the storm dissipating, the golems disintegrating and followed a moment later by Sharp's cunning handsignal (a thumbs up).
Director, this is Echo. Peacemeal is down, possibly dead. We need containment and medical staff. We have wounded. And can i get an update on PinPoint asap?
She said over the comms while walking over to Snap, ignoring the scrapes and burns she had accumilated.
Thanks, that thing was about to snap my arm off. What's that? Two for you?
She shook her head with a peculiar smile hidden below her mask.
Well I was absolutely useless in this fight. Couldn't even take down one of those bas...things. Thanks for picking up the slack.
She looked at the other hero and again tapped her combead, giddy elation now easily identifiable in her voice.
We'll also need some bathrobes or blankets. Some of us are hardly wearing anything.

[Ramsus]

Titania has the hippogriff lower, but not quite touch the ground in case something happened or she was requested somewhere. The ogre just picks itself up off the ground since it had fallen when the golem it was dealing with fell apart. The cait sith slowly stalks over to Piecemeal, with the bullet still in it's mouth, and raises a paw ready in case he starts to get back up.

[Mono Vertigo]

Breathing heavily, Inertia turned toward Sharp with a weak smile she couldn't see. "Haaaaa... I did it."
She dispelled her power, paused for a second. Then hurriedly, took off her helmet. Before she could say anything more, the young woman threw up on the ground.
"Hhrhrrnrhnot too good either, sorry", Malo finally replied, her braided hair all over her face. She was feeling too sick and exhausted to put the helmet back on. There were bruises and scrapes over her body, visible where the organic suit had been damaged, but nothing serious at first sight.
So, she helped someone gouge out a guy's eyes. She did that. On the bright side, she'd just saved, potentially, several citizens. Brave, heh? Mallory'd never been called brave before, and she didn't know if she deserved it after seeing that sort of violence and helping it. Maybe it was the lack of thinking, the purely adrenaline- and instinct-driven moves that let her do that. She didn't know she was capable of inflicting such pain, only feared the possibility.
"Please, help me... helmet on my head", she asked quietly while pointing at her face, still lowered and concealed by hair that already needed a good wash. "Got family. Don't want sum'body watching."

[Chivy]

Sharp helped the young heroine with her helmet, using her own body to shield her from the sight of Peacemeal. The only reason she didn't join in with the other two in losing her breakfast was that she could logically relegate what she had done to the Villain to the 'it had to be done column'. The penetrating smell of fear, blood and vomit wasn't helping though. The little voice in her mind asking 'Why did it have to be done?' 'Who was he?' 'What happened to him that he was targetting the protectorate?' and 'could we have handled this another way.' were quickly relegated to tomorrow, after this mess had been handled.
Let's get you out of here.

Sharp then helped both Deft and Inertia away from Peacemeal. Her ears strained to hear anything coming from the villains prostate form.

[Silent_p]

Snap was squinting and half looking away as the grenade detonated, blasting the golem to bits. She lost sight of Force. Eyes wide, she dropped the launcher and rushed forward. "No! No, no, no, no..." Her panic was quickly averted, though, as Force crawled from the remains of the creature, grumbling. She carefully looked the woman over for any obviously serious injuries and noted a considerable collection but none that seemed fatal. How she was still standing, however, was a testament to her powers. Despite the injuries, she looked good.

Snap followed her gaze after another moment and noticed the storm dissipating. Force relayed the information over the comm as Snap took in the scene. "It's over..." She murmured quietly, scarcely believing it. She looked back as Force spoke to her. "Me? No way. Deft handled the other one - saved my life too - and I think we both got pretty lucky with the grenade just now. I'm glad you're ok but that was a damn risky move. Nearly didn't pull the trigger."

Snap's face reddened as Force got onto the comm again and she deliberately looked around. She hadn't been staring, had she? Deciding to try and make herself useful, she went and retrieved the grenade launcher. Making a show of studying it, she avoided making eye contact with anyone.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Vanguard made his way over to the main group. Looking at Piecemeal's mutilated head, it was clear that the fight was over in no uncertain terms. There were still questions that would likely never get answered. Who was he? What grudge did he have against the PRT?

He felt guilty as he looked at his wounded teammates. He wasn't nearly as beat up as them. He felt a twinge of survivor's guilt. It had been his job to look after Pinpoint, and because he screwed up, Pinpoint might be dead.

Vanguard looked down at the gathered group. Is there anything I can do?

[Sønderjye]

”PinPoint is fine”, Patch answersForce over the comm: ”Relatively speaking anyway. More importantlydo we have other significantly wounded?”

About 10 seconds later the PRT carappears what once used to be an office building. Patch stops the car,hops out and with quick steps approaches the group. ”Did anyone gethit by the stuff inside the bullet?” he felt a little bad that hehadn't been able to contribute more in the fight but at least hecould help out now.

Assuming someone tells him they wereaffected he'll say: ”As previously mentioned it's nonlethal but itwill knock you out for multiple hours and give you a thunderingheadache when you wake up. I have an antidote here, however it bothrestores tissue and gets rid of the bacteria and there's nopainkillers so if you are severely wounded it will hurt like a m...”his eyes quickly darts to the group's youngest member: ”a lot”,he finishes.

Once that have been settled, and he isassured that noone is in need of his help and that Piecemeat in factwas hit by a bullet, he turns his attention to Piecemeat. He startswalking towards the supervillain with a neutral facial expressiong,conjuring a pair of plastic gloves from one of his many pockets.Kneeling beside the center of the storm he takes out a few labtissues and lightly pats the face of the man that recently tried tokill them trying to get as much blood of his face before he takes apicture with his glasses for later use.

[Chivy]

Why do you do that? Force asked of Snap when she denied having seriously contributed to the fight.
As soon as I start echoing I see everything. I saw you snap in and take down that first golem with that crevice. You also got the weakness in his defences out over the comms so we actually had a chance.
She sighed, then nudged the golem's remains with her foot
This one had my number. He had me in a lock and was about to break my arm, if not snap it right off. The grenade hurt a lot more than I expected, way more than a flashbang, and we'll not be doing that again any time soon believe you me, but it was either this or be hurt even worse.
So yes, two golems and one bit of crucial information gotten out over the comms. Bask in those acomplishments for a moment and enjoy it. I'll be basking in mine as soon as I unsplit and I actually know what they are.
She then turned towards the other Echoes and held up her hand, three fingers extended, then folding back two to leave one in the air.

Thank you Patch. Force answered in responce to Patch's communication about PinPoint. Tension drained out of her. Everybody had lived.

We're fine Vanguard. Or at least we will be as soon as we unsplit. Sharp answered Vanguard when he joined them
Inertia and I were hit by the chloroform, so she'll be out of it for a while unless Patch has an antidote. She went through a lot there, so if you'll stay with her, I can unsplit and Deft won't be in as much pain as she is now.
She then sat up and quickly waved over to Force. Mirroring Force's finger movements.

Unsplitting. All three of the Echoes warned, then she released her hold on her power. More carbon ash crashed to the ground where Sharp and Deft used to be. Their weapons which had been laying where they had dropped them also disintegrating into dust.

Force's wounds faded where they didn't overlap with the wounds the other two had sustained, and new bruises and cracked bones appeared. She also felt groggy, which was probably the chloroform that had hit her. Sharp her.

Memories of Deft's panic and pain from being caught and crushed, melded seemlessly with Forces struggles to take down her golem and Sharp's surveilling of the battlefield. The shock from all three of them at Pinpoint's wounding merged into a large block of extra strength shock. The mutilation of Peacemeal first by Sharp and then by Deft caused the pain from the grenade to pale that hit Force to pale.

Josie didn't have the adrenalin buzz that helped Deft do what she did. The logical reasoning Sharp had or the unknowing detachment Force had. Her memories of mutilating and quite possibly killing a man was very clear to her from two different angles. Her ownly defense against it was a flimsy; 'he started it. He attacked Patch first and almost killed PinPoint. He would have if Titania and Vanguard hadn't gotten him out.'
It felt very flimsy.

I.... uh... She swallowed back the bile which was rising again.
Uh...
She couldn't gather her thoughts into a coherent plan of action. Deft had wanted to crawl away and cry, prefably with a bottle. Force had wanted to make some offhand comment about basking in the victory and Sharp had about seventeen different plans. But she was no longer them, and all that went through her mind was;
'Don't break down. You don't want people to see you break down. You'll have interviews in a few hours. You'll have to look your best and be coherent. This is your team. The others were your responsibility, it was only right that you were the one to carry the burdon of...'

Patch had said something. She had been preoccupied with her own thoughts.
I'm hurt Patch. But not seriously. It can wait. I'm a bit woozy from the... thing. Chloroflom. That didn't sound right. She looked around and noticed that Patch was on the scene and so was the PRT car. When did that happen?
I.. can I get a ride back to the... home?
Then she noticed Patch over the villain. Unconscious? Dead?
Is.. uh.. did I kill him?
She wasn't sure which of the answers she'd prefer.





Digging Deeper

After all the official things had been done, and she had had a few hours to herself, Josie phones Jack and Ju Yi and asked them to join her in her quarters. She tried to straighten herself up a bit, but it was obvious she had been crying even after she washed her face. She shrugged off the impulse to call the others and tell them to come back tomorrow. She was entitled to an emotional moment after the day they'd had.
When (and if) the other two heroes entered she ignored the fact that they would see her puffy eyes and simply said
I have a favor to ask of you. Feel free to say no, but you two are the ones who know the most about capes, so I figured you'd be able to help. If you want to that is. Like i said a favor.
She took a breath, noticing she was still feeling a little unhinged not to mention that she had bruised ribs which twitched when she took a deep breath.
I need to know if what I did to Peacemeal was necessary. I need to know who he was. What was his trigger. Why didn't he communicate. Why was he heading here. Could there of been another way to stop him? Could I of done better?
She stopped firing questions at the other two. She had at least a dozen more, but that last one said it all didn't it?
I'll ask the Director for the files on Peacemeal and who he was, everything we have on him, but now that the threat's gone, I doubt they'll spend a lot of resources on finding out everything. Better to spend the cash to fund a new piece of tech than to deal with old news I guess. But I need to know everything.
Just so it's said; Josie is in no way mistrusting of the PRT or the kill order, even if it was issued very quickly (going by the information she has it was less than 24 hours). She just needs answers and thinks that the two resident cape experts will not only do a better job in getting those answers, but they're also sorta-free of charge.

[GameOfChampions]

The Storm Breaks

As everyone watches Piecemeal he doesn't react or so much as twitch since he fell and as Patch wipes away the blood and... other matter that was on his face he can clearly tell that this man is completely unconscious. Without the armor covering his body he seems like a relatively normal man with average height, build, very short brunette hair and tanned Caucasian skin.

The director comms in after hearing Force report "All right we have the PRT squad coming in and several medical teams to help both the team and to put Piecemeal into a medically induced coma until we can sort out how to deal with him. Once you guys have been checked over you are free to go home and we have apartments if you need them Titania and Inertia. I'll keep off the reporters at bay until tomorrow but then there will be a press conference to clear up the questions the public has. I just want to let all of you know that Pinpoint is in the hospital in critical care, Patch stabilized him from bleeding out but he may still lose the leg and even if he doesn't he'll barely be able to walk on it. We'll be transferring him back to the R&D division in New York to help there. Now everyone go get some rest we'll continue this tomorrow."

The PRT squad appears a few minutes later, sweeping the area for threats before setting up a perimeter to stop to stop any curious civilians, who may want to see what had happened, or nosy reporters trying to get the scoop early. Several minutes after the medical teams show up, one to focus on Piecemeal and one to help out the Heroes who had sustained some injuries. As everyone watches you see one of the team pull out a large needle full of fluid and you see her gently roll Piecemeal onto his side and inject it straight into his spine. Others are getting to work on covering his eyes up and stopping the bleeding. One of the other team comes over with a med kit "Do any of you need medical attention? Anything at all?"

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

Job Offer

Later that evening the Director gather Inertia and Titania together wanting to ask them an important question. She pulls out two large folders of paperwork and hands one to each of them. "I brought you both here because I want to ask you both a serious question, I want you both to officially join the Miami team. We just lost one member and another transferred to help PR. Both of you worked well with the team and it seems like you'd be a good fit, we could really use you both here but I understand if either of you feel like it's too much here."

This is just officially bringing you onto the team since you were brought in as reinforcements and not full blown Miami members. Also everyone feel free to start scenes or PM me if you have any fun ideas. :smallsmile:

[Ramsus]

Job Offer

Avelina, now out of costume for the first time Inertia has seen appears to be roughly the same age as the other girl (that is the same age the other girl is, not appears to be), nods. She quietly replies, again with the british accent Inertia would have heard when they first were introduced rather than the strange accent she had when they were out fighting Piecemeal, "I was informed this might occur and I will accept. Um... you mentioned apartments earlier but... well... I don't think I'll be needing one? I decided not to try and live a double life. It's too.... much. This is good I think. So uh.... if it's ok I'll just live here?" Inertia may pick up that Avelina's eyes only occasionally look the Director in the eyes and only very briefly and that she has some nervousness in her voice as if she's afraid she'll be told No.

Passing in the Halls

Avelina, a person Josie wouldn't yet recognize out of costume, passes by going the other direction. She briefly meets her eyes and looks away with a shudder remembering how Piecemeal's face looked after the fight and thinking it had been totally unnecessary to maim him like that with the bullet things Patch had made that she'd made sure to give them.

[Sønderjye]

Trial and Error

"But I have already performed extensive tests on it, and the director also gave her go to it", the tinker reponds with confusion painted all over his face. A moment passes and he looks to have reconsidered: "No, you're right. Sorry Ji yu, I'll give you a headsup in the future"

After learning which kind of energy that is generated through snaps and what the different in type of energy is depending on different types of jumps Patch suggests other ideas for testing.

One series of experiments is intended to figure out if they can reproduce certain facts or at least decrease how different the effect or a snap were to a previous snap by repeating snaps under the same conditions. Specifically is the length of the snap the only thing that affects the effect of the snap or is there other factors that can make or more or less intense as well.

Another series of experiments is intended to figures out how much weight Snap can bring with her on her snaps. If she needs to be able to carry it from the ground what happens if they drop something with a handle from say 1 meter and she snaps while holding the handle and the block of soft but heavy material is in the air?

Crunch Time

"Thanks", he says with honest gratitude in his voice. For a brief moment he had feared that he would have been as hindered in the group as he had been by the PRT as a whole.


The List

"Of course" Patch says almost before he have laid eyes on the list itself. Giving himself a significant amount of time the older tinker reads through the list carefully.

After reading the list he looks up: "So most of these things can definitely be done, however they're going to cost money and our budget for this month is already alocated to a countermeasure for Insight so it'll have to wait until we get the next cash injection before I can start working on the things."

I'll send GoC a list of ideas to for the items on the list sometime soon to get the exact price for it.

Putting words into actions

Patch didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. Grudgingly he was having to admit to himself that some part of the PRT was competent. This was extensive research and the researchers had done a good job at attempting to falsify their own hypothesis. "I'd like to meet those guys at some point", he says to himself.

The Storm Breaks

"Yeah chloroform does that to you", Patch responds. He could have insisted on waking their captain up but it didn't seem like there was a need and after the episode with the coffee he was reluctant to expose his teammembers to his inventions without consent.

"Can it wait a moment?" he asks Josie as she asks for transport. "I'll give you a ride but there's something I want to do first."

"Negative Echo", Patch says over the comm from his position over by Piecemeat. "He's still alive if unconcious and bleeding out", the steampunk-themed cape is silent for a moment feeling conflicted: "Should we stabilize him? I sorta want to even if he killed a lot of people but if the PRT is just going to slaughter him anyway..."

Digging Deeper

Patch had immediately returned to his lab work and even if the process had some small hiccups those were easily solved and after he gave it a quick lookover it proceeded on time-plan, undisturbed by the whole event.

He had inteded to allow himself to get some sleep when he got the call from Josie and he quickly shrugged off his mild annoyance in favour of going to her quarters. So many things had happened in the last days and even a seasoned cape could be affected like this, which was fairly obvious from Josie's voice on the phone. Jack sends his background as a biologist some happy thoughts, sure the meat used to be dead when he got it but he was the one to order it and not seeing how it was handled would have been going against his principles.

Seeing Josie in her current state gave Jack a sting of pity. Awkwardly he sits down beside her and pats her on the shoulder attempting his best to show empathy, very gentle at that, knowing that she might still be injured.

He says with conserned eyes. "You did good, Josie. If he hadn't been stopped the PRT would probably have bombed the area instead. A lot of why this got so messy was on me. When I made the weapon I didn't realize that he was wearing armor which meant that I couldn't get a clear shot in. Going for the eyes was a clever move."

"I too want to know who he was. Even if they were correct I think the PRT gave the kill order on too little. They haven't tried communicating and there were only two cases where he killed, one could easily have been an accident due to not being familiar with his powers and the other was self defence. I can't answer any of your questions though although I want to be part of an investigation." He wants to tell her that a part of the countermeasure he's cooking up involves a facial recognition-software and there's a big chance that he can find out who Piecemeat is by the photo he took of his face after the battle. 'But if Insight can read people's plans from very few hints or can read it by seeing people directly I can't tell anyone anything about it'

[Ramsus]

The List

Avelina nods indicating she understands, but doesn't say anything else as the group gets ready to go.

[Mono Vertigo]

The Storm Breaks

As the first aid team arrives, Inertia looks down, getting more and more dazed by the minute. "... dunno... nothing hurts, just my head. And my stomach, but that's not physical... not bleeding, am I?"
Her mumbling gets more and more slurred; chloroform, physical fatigue, and mental shock don't mix together well. Eventually, she just sits down, back against an overturned truck, and blinks slowly, closes her eye for just a minute...

-----

Job Offer

There's so much relief in that moment. Her efforts, her hard work, finally rewarded. Mallory is positively beaming.
"Oh, thank you! This is so- I mean, yes, I do accept, ma'am, thank you very much!"
She's already opening her folder. "I'm very proud to be a part of this team, ma'am."
Turning her head to smile at Avelina, expecting her to share her joy (as well as taking comfort in the fact she doesn't seem to be the only young member of the team), she stops in her tracks, taken aback by her hesitation, and suddenly being reminded of Piecemeal's mutilation. Her smile drops a bit, and tries to figure out if the other young woman has problems, or the same reservations as she does. Maybe it's related to housing issues? She's not doing a great job of figuring out what's precisely going on, though.
Malo closes the folder and starts twirling a strand of hair around her finger absent-mindedly; after a very necessary shower, she'd remade her hair into a more expansive style, as if wanting her scalp to breathe better. Besides the hair, she was, perhaps surprisingly, rather average, the kind of person who could be drawn using mostly circles.
"You know, I hadn't noticed your accent earlier, Titania", Malo says in a friendly manner, shifting the subject to something more pleasant in doubt, "Sounds kinda British. That's a nice accent."

[Silent_p]

Trial and error

Ji Yu gave Jack a tight nod at his response. Seemed he meant well but kinda took the wrong approach. She wasn't overly worried - the explanation helped - but made a mental note to be a trifle more cautious that she didn't end up as an unwitting guinea-pig in future. Speaking of which...

In conjunction with Jack, she engaged in a fairly comprehensive battery of tests. Ji Yu was impressed with the tinker's thoroughness as he added some experiments she hadn't remotely considered herself. It should have been tiring work but clearly the ubercoffee performed as advertised. She was able to snap far more often than usual before tiring. So much, in fact, she worried about unintentionally overdoing things.

Taking a break, she grabbed a bottle of water. "Good data so far?"

Would be grateful if you had a chance to address some of the questions about Snap's power raised by Patch's tests, Game. Thanks! :smallsmile:


The Storm Breaks

Snap looked up when Force addressed her again. The woman seemed frustrated with what Snap saw as simple facts: she'd been lucky, on both counts. Still, Force admonished her for her humility, clearly having a different interpretation of the events. It wasn't unpleasant and Snap felt a little warmth at Force's praise. Maybe she didn't come off as completely hopeless. 'Basking', however, was where she drew the line and frowned at the idea as Force turned away. Hefting the grenade launcher onto her shoulder, she made her way back over to her teammate, considering the woman's words and watching her apparently communicate with the rest of herself.

She was still eyeing Force when Echo reformed. It was incredible to watch the injuries shift and change as the woman swayed slightly under what Snap assumed was the impact of all three experiences and emotions crashing together. She couldn't imagine how it felt, 'overwhelming' would probably only scratch the surface. Unable to help herself and, in a distant part of her mind, appreciating that it might be unwelcome, Snap nonetheless placed her free hand gently on Echo's shoulder. She said nothing but hoped that the contact would be reassuring. She was, of course, ready to apologise should that be necessary. Snap couldn't help her admiration as, ever the leader, Echo still did her best to address her team and the situation.


Digging Deeper

On receiving Josie's call, Ji Yu promised she'd be right there. Not really sure if she needed to bring anything in particular, she simply grabbed her bag - tossing her phone inside - and headed off to Josie's. She was mildly disappointed to see Jack was also attending but covered it and greeted him with a brief smile. Her heart sank on actually seeing Josie, however. The woman had clearly been crying but, as she didn't acknowledge it, Ji Yu carefully kept quiet about desperately wanting to give her a hug.

She nodded slowly as Josie laid out her request. "I'll help however I can," she said, glancing at Jack. "I'm no expert but whatever vague and half-forgotten bits of science are rattling around my brain are at your disposal. Pretty sure I still remember some of the sites I checked when, well, after I gained abilities. Or, y'know, the one ability with different flavours. Odd roll of the dice, I guess..." She trailed off, shrugging with an awkward smile. "For what it's worth, you've my full support," she added after a moment.

Ji Yu then watched as Jack sat and comforted their leader. Part of her was aghast at the fact that he'd just assumed he could do that, another part of her was immensely jealous that he had done it and a final part simply berated her for her own hypocrisy and cowardice. She became very self-conscious, standing there as Jack outlined his thoughts. The guy was still recovering too, Ji Yu reminded herself, they all were. She couldn't imagine anyone had been sleeping all that well and quickly pushed down the hazy images from her own nightmares of the event.

She tried a reassuring smile, hoping that Josie would catch it.

[Ramsus]

Job Offer

"Th- uh... thanks... Inertia?" Avelina replied, not sure if the other wanted her to still call her by her alias even when out of costume. Not that she knew her actual name to call her by that. "I... speak differently when I'm Titania... or other roles."

[Chivy]

The Storm Breaks

"Can it wait a moment?"
"I'll give you a ride but there's something I want to do first."
'Yes. It can wait.'
She answered mechanically, her thoughts still a jumble.
"Negative Echo"
"He's still alive if unconcious and bleeding out",
He’s alive. I didn’t kill him. The thoughts filled her mind, relief following in its wake.

"Should we stabilize him? I sorta want to even if he killed a lot of people but if the PRT is just going to slaughter him anyway..."

"Please. If you can... I don’t want... " to be a killer. she couldn’t finish the thought out loud and the amount if questions and things she was thinking about was beginning to get overwelming.

She turned her head in surprise when Snap put her hand on her shoulder, but then she relaxed a bit. Snap was showing her support in the same way she had tried to bolster her confidence before the fight. Worry about the now now, the rest will come later.

"Thank you." Echo whispered over her shoulder. Then she took a deep breath, pushing away all her rampant feelings and angst.

"Patch if you could keep him from bleeding out, we can hand him over to the PRT."

"It’s not for us to decide what to do with him." Her voice became stronger and more confident as she talked over the comms.
"We’ll get out of here as soon as we’ve been checked out for the worst wounds. W'll take care of the lesser scraped, bruises and chafing back at the Protectorate"

"We stopped him from hurting anybody else. Great work everybody." She finished, standing a little more upright and confident. Fake it untill you make it.


Digging Deeper

"You did good, Josie. If he hadn't been stopped the PRT would probably have bombed the area instead. A lot of why this got so messy was on me. When I made the weapon I didn't realize that he was wearing armor which meant that I couldn't get a clear shot in. Going for the eyes was a clever move."

"This wasn’t on you. I should have realised that if he could move around the material, he would have been able to use it as some kind of protection. I.."
Josie then gave the other two a rueful smile, realizing that everybody probably had regrets about how the fight had gone. They had won, but it was almost like they had lost.
"I guess we can each blame ourselves for making mistakes."
"We’ll have to learn from what we did and what we could have done. Then not make those mistakes again."


"I too want to know who he was. Even if they were correct I think the PRT gave the kill order on too
little. They haven't tried communicating and there were only two cases where he killed, one could easily have been an accident due to not being familiar with his powers and the other was self defence. I can't answer any of your questions though although I want to be part of an investigation." Jack said.
"I'll help however I can,"
"I'm no expert but whatever vague and half-forgotten bits of science are rattling around my brain are at your disposal. Pretty sure I still remember some of the sites I checked when, well, after I gained abilities. Or, y'know, the one ability with different flavours. Odd roll of the dice, I guess..." Ji Yu trailed off, shrugging with an awkward smile.
"For what it's worth, you've my full support,"

"Thank you both. Your help is worth more than I can say."
Josie's expression conveyed sheer gratitude to the other two.
"I could probably ask the director for anything they have on Peacemeal now, but I'm not sure where we would go from there." she looked at the other two questioningly, hoping that they were more of a detective than she was.
Not formatted nicely, but I'll only have my phone untill I'm back in the country on tuesday. Didn't want to hold anything up waiting for me.

[Sønderjye]

The Storm Breaks


"All right we have the PRT squad coming in and several medical teams to help both the team and to put Piecemeal into a medically induced coma until we can sort out how to deal with him. Once you guys have been checked over you are free to go home and we have apartments if you need them Titania and Inertia. I'll keep off the reporters at bay until tomorrow but then there will be a press conference to clear up the questions the public has. I just want to let all of you know that Pinpoint is in the hospital in critical care, Patch stabilized him from bleeding out but he may still lose the leg and even if he doesn't he'll barely be able to walk on it. We'll be transferring him back to the R&D division in New York to help there. Now everyone go get some rest we'll continue this tomorrow."

"Huh, guess not kill" Patch mutters to himself. This was strange though, the director had previously said that they would kill Piecemeat if they were able to catch him alive. What had procced the change?

Patch briefly considers giving Piecemeat the S1: Cure treatment but decides against. The risk of the chloroform being destroyed was too high. Instead he takes out a few pieces of cloth from another pocket, ties them tightly together and wraps them tight around Piecemeat's eyes, trying to stop or at least delay the blood stream. He wasn't the best at these kinds of things but he did have some knowledge from his background in the research facility had given him some knowledge of this stuff. There was still a chance that this wasn't enough but it was all he could do without risking waking him up.

Digging Deeper


"This wasn’t on you. I should have realised that if he could move around the material, he would have been able to use it as some kind of protection. I.."
Josie then gave the other two a rueful smile, realizing that everybody probably had regrets about how the fight had gone. They had won, but it was almost like they had lost.
"I guess we can each blame ourselves for making mistakes."
"We’ll have to learn from what we did and what we could have done. Then not make those mistakes again."


Patch nods in responds. She was right. Despite everything he was actually happy with this dynamic. This group seemed to be willing to focus on their own mistakes instead of blaming it on the others. Quite different from the management on his last job. He felt himself relax in a weird way.


Ji Yu then watched as Jack sat and comforted their leader. Part of her was aghast at the fact that he'd just assumed he could do that, another part of her was immensely jealous that he had done it and a final part simply berated her for her own hypocrisy and cowardice. She became very self-conscious, standing there as Jack outlined his thoughts.

Noticing the strange vibes comming from Ji Yu, Jack takes his hand off Josie's back and moves a little back.

He then uses his glasses to dig up information.


"Thank you both. Your help is worth more than I can say."
Josie's expression conveyed sheer gratitude to the other two.
"I could probably ask the director for anything they have on Peacemeal now, but I'm not sure where we would go from there." she looked at the other two questioningly, hoping that they were more of a detective than she was.

"Good idea. I can send you the file but the director might have new information", Patch responds. Then after a moment: "To answer your previous question, I don't know why he didn't communicate. Looking at similar cases it seems that there roughly speaking is three main reasons as to why a cape doesn't communicate. Choice or cape-related physical or mental changes. When you looked at him, how did he seem? How did his eyes look?", the tinker asks not wanting to colour the respondses with his own observations. Perhaps this was too rushed, some people would probably call him insensitive for asking someone to relive such an experience so soon but he had this feeling that Josie was one of those types who processed things better when she was doing something productive and he gambled that she would feel better if she felt she was progressing.

[GameOfChampions]

Job Offer

The director looks surprised "Well if you don want to lead the double life that's fine and obviously your choice. However we do provide an apartment anyway it's in the contract though you don't have to use it if you don't wish to. There are small rooms in the HQ though they do lack the same comforts as home."

The stern women cracks a small smile though at Mallory and her enthusiasm "Well I hope you bring that enthusiasm to the team. We could use someone like you around."

"Any other questions?"

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

Trial and Error

The tests all go off without a hitch but present some troubling data. Even when the variables of a jump are replicated exactly the elemental effect at the end seems to be at random. The only constant is that the distance changes the severity of the elemental effect. The tests checking amounts of weight goes of better with more concrete results showing that Ji Yu can carry up to fifty pounds of extra material on her as long as it's not living. During the tests that were attempting to see if she could carry things with a handle they met with much more success. When holding the handle the object is taken along as long as the weight of the object does not exceed the fifty pounds. When Snap materializes the handle is still in hand and the rest of the object beside her.

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

The Storm Breaks

The medical teams finish up there work and load Piecemeal into the back of the ambulance with half of the heavily armed PRT squad climbing in as well. One of the remaining members walks over to everyone and let's everyone know the area will be sectioned off for several days and that they have the the secured.

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

Capital Punishment

All of you have been asked to go to the Piecemeals case that morning and if not be a part of it then make a show of being there as a team. The judge raps the gavel sharply against the hard wood and calls out "Court is now in session, everyone please be seated."

Once everyone has seated he gestures to the side representing the state and the well dressed women gets up "Your honor we are here today to bring charges against the accused, designation Piecemeal, for; the reckless endangerment of innocents, murder of law enforcement officers engaged in their duty, the destruction of millions in infrastructure, and finally the murder of fifty seven innocents three of which were children under the age of twelve. We are looking for the death penalty due to the severity of these charges and the impossibility of containing him."

The women sits down anf the judge speaks again "Due to the unique nature of the accused he will not be able to speak in defense of his action but the state has provided defense for him. They may now make their opening statement."

The nervous looking lawyer representing Piecemeal gets up and speaks to the judge and audience in the same manner "We believe that several of these charges have extenuating circumstances that change the severity of the crimes listed. Namely his sudden appearance, one minded walk to Miami and the lack of knowledge about his past."

The case goes on with each side presenting what evidence they had and case files from previous cases to provide support for their arguments. Eventually it comes time to call on witnesses and the judge pauses the case to speak "The PRT has made an appearance here and will hopefully provide some testimony with their time fighting with Piecemeal. The court should keep in mind that Piecemeals past actions had warranted the state of Florida issuing a kill order allowing lethal force on the target."

Everyone can make a testimony but don't have to if they don't wish to.

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

Prep Time

The director walks into the make up and prep station with Titania and Inertia a little behind. With a gesture she has the various make up artists and people leave the room. "All right it's an hour until the press conference so I thought I'd drop by and see how everyone is doing. It's been a tough few 48 hours but I think we're over the hump of it by now. Before I get to the vultures waiting outside though I have some good news. Both Inertia and Titania who have decided to stay on with us. I asked them to join since Alpha Girl and Pinpoint have left the team and they preformed well in the Piecemeal incident. I expect you'll all make them welcome here."

The women gestures to the two heroes to join her in the room "They'll be taking part in the press conference as well. So now that everyone is here I'll give you a few tips on what to expect. The reporters will want to know about the Piecemeal incident, it was high profile and people have noticed though we've kept specifics out of the media. It's fine to disclose some details on him now that he's gone to court and the info is getting out. The other topic I'm expecting will revolve around all of you, getting half a dozen new heroes in the city will be like christmas come early to those people. They'll want to know all about you as individuals, heroes and everything in between. Don't be surprised if some reach out soon for interviews and TV appearances. The one last piece of advice I will give is the old law enforcement fall back. If there is something you don't want to talk about or don't really have an answer to then just say "It's classified" and move on. It closes the topic and seems decisive."

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

Media Frenzy

Lights flash all around as dozens of cameras are taking shots of the assembled heroes on a raised platform in front of the HQ. The reporters are all shouting out trying to get attention from the assembled heroes.

The director walks onto the stage with a microphone and waves her hand with a scowl on her face "Everyone calm down we'll do this in an orderly fashion, this will be a press conference about the appearance and fight with Piecemeal as well as introducing the heroes officially to the media. Everyone please limit yourselves to one question and I'll call on each of you until we run out of time."

Director Sanderson starts to call out or point to reporters and they call out their questions to the heroes.

"What are all of the new heroes abilities and could we get some examples of them?"

"Are any of you worried about the fact that the entire team before you was forced out of the city?"

"What are your immediate plans for the city and is there a team leader of the team?"

"Who or what was Piecemeal and what was he trying to do?"

"Are the rumors of Piecemeal and the damage he dealt true? How many people if any did he kill?"

"Are the new arrivals here to stay and if so why would you choose to stay in the city?"

Everyone can answer parts applicable to them and obviously some of the questions require multiple people to answer.

[Sønderjye]

Trial and Error

"Interesting..." Patch muses in front of the panel. He then turns his enthusiastic eyes back to Snap: "We have found a bunch of stuff that does not influence the effect at the end of the jump but haven't yet been able to find out what exactly that does influence it. Do you feel up for more snaps today or..?"

Prep Time

"Welcome both of you" Patch gives the two a welcoming smile. "I hope we'll work well together. Call me Jack."

Patch then adresses the director directly: "One thing about the press conference. I am conserned that Insight might be able to use his power through live camera's and if he learns the specifics too early I believe that he can find a way to get around my countermeasure." He sends the other members an apologizing look that. "I could be on voice-comm if there are any questions that I should be the one answering."

"Not a bad idea" Patch comments on Josie's idea of using fingers to communicate.

On the topic of powers he disagrees however: "We have already shown our powers to a few of the local criminals and chances are the others will know soon. I think we lose little with showing our powers and that people would be excited to see their heroes in "action". It might also net us a little extra profit" Patch eyes the director suggestively. "But moreover it's an excellent opportunity to feed the local criminals misinformation. Without outright lying make them think that you either can do much less or much more than you actually can. For instance make them think that Snap needs to physically move to snap which could catch them by suprise at some point. Or let them think that Titania can instantly summon creatures that appear beside her as to discourage people from getting close." The tinker pauses for a moment: "I'm not really sure how we could change my power since I don't really want people to think that I only useful at long range. Don't really want people seeking me out, you know."

"Do we let them know that Insight already sent us a message?"

He nods in agreement at the suggestion of only saying good things about the previous team and that we intend to clear out the city. Criminal scum beware.

[Chivy]

Digging Deeper

"Good idea. I can send you the file but the director might have new information", Patch responds. Then after a moment: "To answer your previous question, I don't know why he didn't communicate. Looking at similar cases it seems that there roughly speaking is three main reasons as to why a cape doesn't communicate. Choice or cape-related physical or mental changes. When you looked at him, how did he seem? How did his eyes look?"
Josie opened her mouth to answer Jack’s question, but then closed it as she actually though about what Sharp’s enhanced eyesight had caught.
“His eyes were... blue, but they had a.. a glassy look. He didn’t seem to react to anything that happened around him. Even when I...”
She trailed off, then looked at Jack.
“Why? What’s the significance?”


“I have also been thinking about what happened during the fight and I think we should focus on patching up some weak points.” Josie took a moment to process what she had said before continuing.
“Sorry. No pun intended.”

“The only ones who are semi-safe to take on some of the brutes we will face are Vanguard and Force and maybe Deft if she moves quickly enough or Snap if she times things right.”
“And that’s where the problem comes in; if either of you or two of me take a hit we’ll be joining PinPoint in the hospital... Or worse.. ”

“Now it’s not so bad for me, I wouldn’t be gone as long as one of me survives, but both of you would... ”
“And Snap’s power is to get up close and personal to anything she’s facing. It’s just....”

“You both need protection. Solid protection. I’m thinking about some kind of powered armour. Anything which would qualify either of you for a brute rating, but still keeps it small and agile enough not to affect how fast you can move.”
“Preferably with a flight pack or something like that.”

“Or you mentioned other physical enhancements when we first met Patch.”
She looked both Ju Yi and Jack in the eye before continuing
“I don’t know what would work best or if I’m completely off base here and I know this month’s budget is spent, but if both of you agree and you’re up for it Patch, I’d like to make protection a priority. Starting with something for both of you and then for PinPoint if he comes back. Safety first and all that.”

“If it works out we might even want to improve on them and get something similar for Vanguard and myself. But I’m guessing those will be a lot more difficult and more expensive. Improving on Vanguard’s or Force’s strength and keeping Deft’s speed will probably be a problem.”
She gave them a smile at her next thought.
“We might even make it a team theme. ”

This scene is before we are informed of Inertia and Titania, at that point if Jack thinks its a good idea Josie will ask him to make something for them instead of for PinPoint, so before the harder ones for Vanguard and Echo. The squishies should be less squishier before the people who can take a punch or survive a punch get an upgrade.

Capital Punishment

In an immaculate costume Echo sat watching and listening to the proceedings. It was nothing like the movies, a lot less yelling of ‘objection!’ and ‘sustained’. But it was interesting to actually see one up close nonetheless. She also hoped it would help her deal with what she had done to end it.
“I’m going to testify.” She quietly told the other heroes, thinking that if the others felt uncomfortable they didn’t need to force themselves to sit on the stand if they didn’t want to.

Prep Time

“Welcome, it’s good to have the help. ” Echo said with a nod of greeting to the new members.
“Out of costume my name is Josephine, but most people call me Josie.”

When the director explained the process of the press conference the first thought Josie had was that she really missed Alpha Girl. The second was that she most definitely didn’t want to be the only one answering questions like she had seen other Protectorate team leaders do. Even if she had only been in command for one fight, she needed to prevent that from becoming a precedent.
“Maybe using finger signals or something like that to signal each other who wants to answer any one of the press’ questions will keep things flowing smoothly and give everybody a chance to get their names in the paper. ”

She took a moment to think about the questions which would probably be asked.
“I also think we should establish a few things beforehand. Our powers are classified of course. The previous team are heroes and they did an excellent job as well as our priorities being here to keep people safe and make the streets safe. ”
Echo said, then Patch disagreed with hiding their powers and she nodded along to his reasoning.
“Good point. Whatever we say or show will probably show up on websites that others read, so the misinformation would spread.”
“I could easily tell them I can be in three places at once, can communicate complex information to a few team members with simple sounds, am super strong, super tough, super fast and have enhanced senses. It would all be the truth, just not the way it sounds. ”
“Everybody could do something like that.”

"Do we let them know that Insight already sent us a message?"
“If they don’t specifically ask, I don’t think we should mention Insight. And maybe even if they do that might be a classified thing. No use in giving him any more information or the inclination to make things more difficult for us than he already has. ”

“Dissentions? Any other ideas?”

She looked around at the others, waiting for them to put in their ideas.
“I think I’ll also phone Alpha Girl for some tips. She made these interviews look so easy.”

[Ramsus]

Capital Punishment

Avelina declines on testifying if she doesn't have to.

Prep Time

Avelina tilts her head indicating an unspoken question or confusion in response to Patch's introduction for a moment. She nods all the same and replies, "I'm Avelina. Or Lina if you prefer." She looks at Patch again silently for a moment then back to Josie and says rather quietly, "I think Josephine is prettier sounding."

She nods along as Patch talks about powers and when they're both done speaking she says, "Ok. I'll prepare something. A little show for the audience. All flash, no substance." She sounds a bit amused.

"Um... are we going for any particular kind of general tone? Serious? Lighthearted? Optimistic? Practical? Dangerous? Friendly? And um... same tone for the whole team or more individual? Oh and uh... is one of us doing most of the speaking or more evenly spread out? Do we want to stand in a particular order? And.... are there any phrases or general ideas we want to convey? Or things we want to avoid saying or suggesting?" Avelina asks in response to Josie's question.

[Mono Vertigo]

Prep Time

"The name's Mallory" was the first thing the many-braided young woman said, nervous but open and happy, "Friends call me Malo. So, err, whichever!"
Predictably, the older members of the team looked outright normal. Yet, this still came off as a surprise. You always expect exceptional people under exceptional powers.
"An interview? It's all going so fast! That's great, huh, I've got the perfect dress for that, but what should I be doing with my hair? Something official and serious, like a bun, or, or... oh, right, that's in costume", she finally corrected herself, sounding almost disappointed. Malo toned down her excitement and quickly dove deep in thought, silently staring dreamily at nothing in particular. Eventually, she softly said: "Don't really wanna talk about the fight. Unless it's about tactics and stuff. But not the details. I'd rather not talk about the guy. Showing up, though, that'd be great, like, dodging stuff in slo-mo. Everybody likes Matrix-y stunts. Well, I do. It's not gonna reveal too much about what I can do, does it?"

-----

Capital Punishment
Actually thinking long and hard about that one, Mallory decided to testify; maybe by taking part to the legal process, she'd feel better about Piecemeal's fate.

[Silent_p]

Trial and Error

Hefting one of the test objects, Ji Yu shrugged. "Sure. I mean, we've established with more accuracy some stuff I kinda already knew - distance and effect magnitude, living objects not working, that kinda stuff. I'm not seeing how we can test for the ultimate effect, though. Do you have some specifics in mind or are you just still on a super-caffeine high?" She nodded towards the cups containing the liquid, smiling a little.


Digging Deeper

"It's all about learning," Ji Yu said, nodding. "Let's not through blame around too much. Not that we are, it's just I'm sure there'll be plenty of others to do that for us." Jack had eased off and moved a little away and she chided herself for thinking poorly of him. She started wondering if she was being too obvious and, in a quick attempt not to fall down that rabbit hole, started slowly pacing. Determined to focus, she thought about their next possible steps. She looked up at Jack's query regarding Piecemeal's eyes. "You thinking drugs? I mean, I'm no detective (or a doctor) but that could be a possibility, right?"

Ji Yu flashed a brief grin at Josie's unintentional pun. Something to lighten the mood wasn't a bad idea, even if it was an accident. Her smile faded as their leader went on, however. She didn't much like what Josie had to say but couldn't really deny its truth. The concern the woman expressed for her was nice, though, and kept her from being too bothered by the reality of the problem. "Piecemeal was kinda a special case," she replied, eyeing Josie. "Given how he just shredded whatever protection we had, dressing up like a knight in shining armor wouldn't have helped much. But it's a fair point, I'm pretty squishy and so are some of the others." She turned to Patch. "If you've idea for something that doesn't sacrifice manoeuvrability - and maybe breathes like Egyptian cotton - then I'm game to test and field-test it."

She turned back to Josie in mock-outrage. "Hey! We've got our Alice and Eve thing! They'll just have to come up with something that fits that. I'm not for budging." A hint of a smile can be seen as she tries to maintain a serious face.


Capital Punishment

Snap sat quietly in the courtroom, listening to the proceedings. Despite the several arrests in her past, she hadn't actually spent much time in court. Mostly, the arrests due to protesting had not resulted in any charges and, between her fellow protesters, they largely agreed that the arrests were intended to be deterrents. Hadn't really worked, though. She did recall, however, her court appearance just prior to being assigned to the Miami PRT. Not the same, but not a terribly pleasant memory either.

She was willing to testify but wasn't sure what she could add to that of the Echo's. She spoke briefly about what she'd witnessed Piecemeal do and the devastation she'd seen.


Prep Time

Ji Yu smiled and stepped forward in turn, holding out her hand to the new arrivals. "Ji Yu. Snap in costume. Welcome to Miami. Not sure I can answer many questions - new to all this myself! - but let me know if you need any help."

As they moved on to discuss the specifics of how to approach the media, Ji Yu looked around the group. Herself included, there was a lot of inexperience there. It rattled her a little to consider how much the group had changed in such little time. She took a calming breath and looked at Jack. "'Physically move'? Like semaphore? With flags? Or just running forward or something? Frankly, I'm game to do either. Not sure announcing Insight's contact would be a great idea, though. Might suggest we're actively engaged in seeking them or make us look weak for being too concerned at our first press conference."

[Sønderjye]

Digging Deeper

"Drugs perhaps. But we found nothing like that on him." Patch responds, then pauses thinking : "Some capes are affected by their trigger different than us. We have multiple cases of people who have been mentally affected by their power manifestation, either due to the trauma of their trigger event or due to the power itself. Some speculate that the enders were once humans."

Patch flashes a grin in responds to the unintentional joke before turning more serious.
"Your points are good. I have multiple ideas for protection but really it comes down to two things. How much money we invest in it and what new technology I can get my hands on. The highest protection would probably be if I could get my hands on the new TALOS suits from the military but I somewhat doubt that that's an option."

He appreciates Ji Yu's willingness to help out but just have a shrug in responds to the idea of a theme. He really didn't care much for those kind of things.

Capital Judgement

"I too will testify" Patch chimes in. For the occation he had changed his outfit. His trenchcoat that normally was closed were now open and revealed a nice suit and tie which somehow managed to fit well with his general steampunk theme.

I'll get it up at a latter point.

Prep Time

[Note: Patch is in costume.]

"Nice to meet you. Also full disclosure, as you can probably figure it out yourself later. I'm a probationary member. Which I don't think would be beneficial to talk to the public about"

"You could walk in with Force, having Sharp on the mics so instruct force. And if asked for a demonstration you could show force strength and call in Deft who would be running fast. At least pretending that you don't have a time limit could be beneficial. So you don't actually have to say it. Also keep Sharp hidden and if you're asked how many copies you have say it's classified. That way noone can claim that you were lying later." Patch was enjoying this.

"Alright, so no mention of Insight besides that we're going to take him down? Definitely no mention of countermeasures. If they ask about how we're going to take him down we respond with classified?"

He agrees that calling Alpha Girl for advices would be a good idea.

He looks impressed at Lina. That were some good points. "Good things to have aligned. I think that with our resent success it would give a better impression if we presents ourselves as individuals to the public. If we hadn't caught two criminal capes and stopped a class A threat within a week we might have needed to put up a more united front but as is I think we can afford to be people. Which reminds me"

"Director, have it become public knowledge that we took down Wind Fist and Pyro?"

[GameOfChampions]

Capital Punishment

The judge gestures to those who have chosen to testify "As the sole witnesses of the fight itself and upstanding heroes and citizens this will be taken at your word and the thought of what would happen if you were to be caught lying." He eyes the heroes meaningfully.

"Now while you are testifying you will recount the encounter in your own words and recount how you thought Piecemeal treated the environment around him and whether or not there was a regard for citizen life or not."

Those of you who want to will testify and the order you do it doesn't matter.

Prep Time

The director starts to respond then stops and looks thoughtful "Hmmm I mean we didn't keep it quiet and they are still in prison at the moment but the appearance of Piecemeal has kind of overshadowed that. Speaking of I should be getting the memo from the main HQ letting us know of any additional resources or rewards for the Piecemeal incident."

Memo

The next day the Director forwards this to your work mailboxes.

Memorandum
To: Miami PRT Branch
From: New York HQ Board of Directors
Subject: Piecemeal Incident

It has come to our attention that Designation Piecemeal has been dealt with thanks to your intervention with no small amount of personal danger to yourselves. To promote and reward this type of selfless action the Miami team will be granted an additional six thousand dollars to be added to their team budget. This additional money is also to help with any resources lost and any difficulties that would effect effectiveness in the field. Every member will also be getting a bonus at year end equal to half their yearly salary as additional pay for responding to a high class threat.

Thank you for your service,
New York HQ Board of Directors

The personal money is for fluff things like apartments and whatnot and can't be used for tinkering or budget stuff. But driving around a kick ass sports car is all good. :smallwink:

[Rofltrollcopter]

Media Frenzy

Robert stood at attention at the back of the group, so he didn't obstruct the smaller members of the team. Robert still didn't feel comfortable as a center of attention, but at least he wasn't alone. He looked down at his teammates. He had good people by his side. They had passed through the fire, and Robert believed that they would become better for it, as unlikely as it seemed. He had Faith in that.

Robert stepped forward to answer the reporters' questions.

I can absorb matter. Robert said calmly. It allows me to enhance my own strength. I would love to do a demonstration, but I wouldn't want to leave a mess for the fine people who set up this stage. Was that attempt at a joke funny? Regardless, he pushed on.

He deliberately skipped over the question about concerns about their predecessors identities being leaked. He didn't trust himself to give a convincing answer, and in all honesty he was still worried about that.

Vanguard moved a bit closer to the stage to answer the next question. We are here to send a message: If you think your Powers give you the right to terrorize the people of this city, you will be brought to Justice. There was Steel in Vanguard's voice as he spoke. This was why he was here.

Now as they say, two heads are better then one, which means three heads are a step up He looked down towards Echo. Echo has already proven herself during the Piecemeal incident. I look forward to serving under her leadership.

[Chivy]

Digging Deeper

"Some capes are affected by their trigger different than us. We have multiple cases of people who have been mentally affected by their power manifestation, either due to the trauma of their trigger event or due to the power itself. Some speculate that the enders were once humans."
“Truly? Wow. I wonder what the trigger events for the Endbringers was that they were affected like that. Or what Peacemeal’s was.”

"Your points are good. I have multiple ideas for protection but really it comes down to two things. How much money we invest in it and what new technology I can get my hands on. The highest protection would probably be if I could get my hands on the new TALOS suits from the military but I somewhat doubt that that's an option."
“I think you’re in charge of the budget by default, so allocate funds any way you feel is best. I don’t know what a TALOS suit is, but if you think we need them we could put in a request. I think we have some clout after taking down three super villains in our first week.”

"Piecemeal was kinda a special case," Ji Yu replied, eyeing Josie. "Given how he just shredded whatever protection we had, dressing up like a knight in shining armor wouldn't have helped much. But it's a fair point, I'm pretty squishy and so are some of the others."
“He might have been a unique case, but I doubt he will be the only one to try and harm us. And when it comes down to it I’d rather not be useless every one hour out of three.”
Josie made a sound somewhere between a laugh, snort, cough and hiccup when Ju Yi mentioned her Alice and Eve thing.
“But those outfits chafe, a lot, but I like the sound of Egyptian cotton though.”
She laughed when she thought about running around in leaves made from Egyptian cotton.

Prep Time

Echo nodded as Patch, Titania and Inertia spoke about showing their powers.
“A prepared show sounds good. I’ll not mention any time limit and keep it vague how many people I can become. I’ll will probably split in front of the cameras though, it’ll show something flashy and will get an opportunity for Sharp to sniff out a lot of people. I still have a lot of the fruit basket scents memorized, and there will be a lot of people here. If I tag on a camera to my mask I might be able to add faces to those scents.”

"Um... are we going for any particular kind of general tone? Serious? Lighthearted? Optimistic? Practical? Dangerous? Friendly? And um... same tone for the whole team or more individual? Oh and uh... is one of us doing most of the speaking or more evenly spread out? Do we want to stand in a particular order? And.... are there any phrases or general ideas we want to convey? Or things we want to avoid saying or suggesting?"
“I think our tone should be somewhere between optimistic, professional and friendly. We’re here to show ourselves to everybody we’ll be protecting, so we have to inspire confidence but also seem accessible and not scare them.”

“I know many other teams have a spokesmen, usually their leader, but I’d like to avoid that for us If we can. Everybody should be allowed to get some time in the spotlight to help their careers, so more evenly spread out. If anybody is uncomfortable with a question, I’ll try and jump in and answer or deflect it. But how about every one of us at least introduces ourselves and gives a quick explanation of our powers.”
Her reasoning was a combination between her desire to have everybody have their day in the sun and that if she was officially promoted to the team’s leader, she didn’t want to be the only one stuck in front of the cameras. If she honestly thought about it, the latter would be the most important of her desires.
“I’d also suggest we avoid mentioning Insight or anything that has to do with our actual planning process or plans.”
“Of course anything to do with your or any other's personal life is off limits, but that goes without saying.”

Memo
I wonder how much a beachfront cabin or condo will cost or maybe I'll be able to buy some more powers... Is that even possible? Josie thought after she had read the memo. Then felt guilty about profiting from what she had done to Peacemeal. Ugh...

Capital Punishment

“My name is Echo,” Josie said after she had taken the stand. It momentarily baffled her why they called sitting down the stand, but she continued in a professional tone of voice.
“I am the protectorate member who was the team leader during the Peacemeal encounter. My power allows me to be in multiple places at once as well as seeing everything that happens in the immediate area regardless if one of me is looking at it or not. During the encounter I was in three places at the same time.”
Having explained why her testimony would be from multiple people and she saw things without even looking at it, she launched into the details of the encounter.
“We received word of Peacemeal’s imminent arrival in Miami and the accompanying kill order approximately twelve hours before our encounter with him. We were shown the recordings made by the two PRT teams which had previously engaged him which showed his abilities and the amount of damage he was capable off. The decision was quickly made to evacuate the area where he was to enter the city to keep the area where we would be engaging him clear of innocents. We spent the next twelve hours planning and preparing for the encounter.”

“We placed ourselves in cover initially, while Patch tried to contact Peacemeal with a very powerful megaphone and get him to stand down.”
“His reaction was to send two of his golems towards Patch. This is where I felt that negotiation had failed and initiated our plan of engagement.”

“One of me started the engagement by firing flash bangs, smoke and explosive grenades towards Peacemeal and his golems. Our initial analysis of his powers showed that he would vaporize all of the grenades before they would get close to him, but it was planned to get his attention. Which it didn’t do a very good job of, only one of the golems charged me, the other kept going for Patch, before one of Titania’s allies intercepted it.”

“The second part of our plan was PinPoint taking direct shots at Peacemeal. Which he did, but they turned out to have no effect because of his impressive armour.”
“Two of Peacemeal’s golems then appeared out of nowhere and attacked PinPoint and Vanguard who was guarding him. Despite Vanguard’s best efforts PinPoint’s leg was crushed by the Golem. I believe the only reason he still lives is because of his immediate evacuation by Titania and medical treatment given by Patch. As it is, he was maimed, probably for live. ”
Not complete, and still somewhat of rough draft (still have to verify the posting sequence). Will continue when I have more time, but i thought I'd at least post it.

[Sønderjye]

Digging Deeper


“Truly? Wow. I wonder what the trigger events for the Endbringers was that they were affected like that. Or what Peacemeal’s was.”

"It's just speculations." Patch clarifies. "Aside from tinkers there aren't really a way of knowing one way or another without closely studying them. Could you tell me more about what he looked like and how he reacted?"


“I think you’re in charge of the budget by default, so allocate funds any way you feel is best. I don’t know what a TALOS suit is, but if you think we need them we could put in a request. I think we have some clout after taking down three super villains in our first week.”

Patch frowns. He was?

"It's a suit that works as an exoskeleton to people, runs on electricity and can increase endurance and so forth. Think a low tech version of ironman. It's still in development as far as I know but it would really make our protection top notch."

Capital Punishment

Feel free to place this testimony before or after anyone else's as you prefer.

"Your Honor" Patch nods respectfully at both the judge and the jury. "My name is Patch and I am part of the team that brought down Piecemeat."

"Before I begin my recollection of the Piecemeat incident I need to touch on the subject of trigger events. The jury may or may not know this but trigger events are not an easy process. For some capes, including myself, their trigger event is the worst moment in their life" Patch holds a dramatic pause before continueing "It is difficult to comprehend just how bad these events can be if one hasn't experienced themselves and a miniscule number of capes succumbs to the preassure."

"When I heard of Piecemeat, life had been lost on two occation. One was a hospital that crumbled due to Piecemeat's power, many lives lost, the other was a vigilantee cape who had gone after Piecemeat on his own", Patch had intentionally chosen language that did not put Piecemeat as the killer. "It seemed as if Piecemeat had a specific trajectory and did not show regard for human life, nor sought to out opportunities to murder, although it is also possible that the first was simply an accident and the second self defence."

"As my colleague said I attempted to communicate with Piecemeat as I observed him through a scope. When called upon he showed no reaction whatsoever, he didn't answer or otherwise make any movements that indicated to me that he had even heard me. However as my colleague said golems were sent after me. "

"I did not personally see this but I have been told that Piecemeat did not seem to react to his surroundings as one would expect a normal human to do."

"As such it is my impression that Piecemeat is a victim of circumstances and that the right course of action would be to keep him in medical induced coma until a cure for his condition have been found. Thank you" he makes a small bow and sits down again.

Prep Time

Patch grins when Josie suggests sniffing people out. It was a great idea in itself and the visual image he got was amusing.

He smiles when hearing Josie's discription. It was a clever move to allow individuals to be individuals in her team and even if he recognized that it probably was her strategy he couldn't help but like her for it.

"Does anyone have ideas of ways I can present my powers in a way that discourages people from getting close or makes me seem more restricted than I am? I don't really have any."

Media Frenzy

On the screen on the rolling platform Patch's upper body is shown lying in what looks like a hospital bed with part of his iconic trenchcoat dangling from a hook within arms reach. The PRT have really done a good job at staging this, Patch thinks to himself.

He's holding off with the introductions, partly because it seemed natural with the others being there and partly because he wanted to see which role they took. He would present himself as the light-hearted, nontheatening and slightly goofy tinker but it wouldn't do if too many members of the group were going with the light-hearted route.

He finds himself silently applauding Robert. Having a righteous figure openly challenging the criminals would be good for their image and it would probably take some focus away from him.
This is not Patch not answering any of the questions. I'm just setting the stage on my end and say that I'm ready to start this scene.

Weapon of Choice

After the press conference is over and they have gotten notice of their newly recieved bonus, Titania recieved call over the comm (or a mail with the subject: Equiptment if she isn't wearing the comm)

"Hi Titania.
I'm at the lab and thinking about the list you gave me. Echo wants me to focus on giving our more vulnerable people better protection, but you already have an armor so I think that we can focus on something else for you. At any rate, with last wave of budget we'll at least be able to give you one of your higher priority items. I wanted to hear if you had a preference and also what the purpose of the armor upgrade was."

[Ramsus]

Prep Time

Avelina nods along with what people say and shakes her head no when Patch asks for ideas because she doesn't have any. Tinkers aren't really very "showy" and everyone expects "Tinker" from Tinkers anyway, which means "best be prepared for anything but still a priority target because removing them makes the opposing team weaker at least in the long run".

Media Frenzy

After the demonstration before hers finishes, "I can create guys like these." she says and snaps her finger. A moment later two rigged up smoke canisters go off from behind the stage/off-stage and out from them jump two humanoids most people would call "elves". They land near the front of the stage. The fairer one, for it is fair indeed, on one side draws the eye even more so than Titania herself despite her colorful costume. The darker one is also quite noticeable, though in a rather different manner that makes the viewer uncomfortable. In both case they are breathtaking in their own way. The bow to the audience quickly then face each other and draw their weapons. The fair one draws a beautiful blade that shines brightly and has clean edges and is longer than the two the darker one draws which are curved and wicked looking. They begin to fight, their fight much like a dance. It's quite a show, though it only lasts for a few minutes. Near it's end, the two are on either side of the stage. The fair one draws the bow it's kept on it's back and fires a barrage of arrows across the stage.


As soon as Inertia begins to do her thing, the two elves will jump flip back off-stage.


Titania also passes on commenting about being worried about the fate of the previous team.

Titania wasn't planning on answering about their future plans, but when Vanguard states that Echo is the team leader she sharply turns her head towards him and over the comms asks, "What?" in confusion, because nobody discussed anything like that with her and her total experiences of Echo potentially being the team leader was being given a suicidal request and being shouted at for suggesting a course of action for another teammate.

She also skips the questions about Piecemeal since she's assuming one of the people who did testimony for the trial will handle that better.

When the last question is asked she speaks up, "Yes, I'll be staying. Your fair city could stand to get a bit fairer." she answers in a whimsical tone.

Weapon of Choice

Avelina is still wearing her comm at this point but is out of armor. "Well I was thinking that um... that is... I can summon things that can fly or go underwater or burrow and I need to stay near them so often it's uh... easiest if I'm riding one of them. I can't really do that for those things that don't just walk around on the ground or fly and um... even with flying I can only go up so high before the air is too thin and cold. So yeah, that's my priority as far as equipment goes. Um... were you wanting me to come down there?"

[Chivy]

Digging Deeper
"It's just speculations." Patch clarified. "Aside from tinkers there aren't really a way of knowing one way or another without closely studying them. Could you tell me more about what he looked like and how he reacted?"
"I’m not too sure," Josie answered thinking back to what had happened when Sharp had gone face to face with Peacemeal
"he was covered in armour, it hid everything except his eyes. But I don’t think he even looked shocked when I.. the bamboo.. broke through his defences."
She almost stopped at the thought of what happened next, but pressed on regardless of her feelings. Jack needed to know.
"He screamed, so he must have felt pain... or rage."
"There was also... brain matter.. dripping from his... wound and my.. staff."
She took another deep breath, this one almost without shuddering, thinking past her feelings and came to a surprising conclusion.
"I’m no doctor, but I don’t think anybody would be up and fighting after having a chunk of bamboo pierce their brain if they weren’t under the influence of something. He did disintegrate our comms as soon as we entered his storm though. So he had to be at least tactically aware."

She caught Jack’s surprised look when she mentioned that he was the one in charge of the budget.
"Yes you. Or do you think anybody else can do a better job of it? He..ck, can you think of anybody who uses the budget except you? Anybody who can use it anywhere near what you can do with it?"
She gave him a wry smile, thinking that she might know why he was hesitant.
"I know you are on probation, but I’ve never dug any deeper than that. Never felt the need to. We’ve all done stuff in the past. But if we weren’t worthy of a second chance we wouldn’t be here. That’s enough for me. "
"So if my vote counts, it goes to you being in charge of the budget barring emergencies. Just listen to any of your teammates suggestions and decide priority yourself."
She looked surprised for a moment, then shrugged self-consciously
"Ahum. Sorry. I’m still a bit in team leader mode."
"The idea still stands though. "
Josie’s smile then returned, this time mischievous, before she continued
"Plus if I ever officially earn team leader, the budget will probably demand paperwork. And if I can pawn it off on you..."

"It's a suit that works as an exoskeleton to people, runs on electricity and can increase endurance and so forth. Think a low tech version of ironman. It's still in development as far as I know but it would really make our protection top notch."
"That sounds like something we could definitely use if when we engage the Shining Path again. Do you think you can finish the development?"
"Or if we can get the plans, can you reproduce or improve on them? Maybe that Titania girl can help, she was wearing what looked like a hundred kilo’s of metal in her armour and weapons, I can’t imagine she’d be strong enough if it hadn’t been lightened or powered in some way."

"I’ll ask the director if it’s possible to get a few of the suits, or the research itself. Offering whatever you come up with as improvements might make it a more enticing deal if our achievements aren’t enough. If you don’t mind sharing that knowledge that is.

Capital Punishment

“My name is Echo,” Josie said after she had taken the stand. It momentarily baffled her why they called sitting down the stand, but she continued in a professional tone of voice.
“I am the protectorate member who was the team leader during the Peacemeal encounter. My power allows me to be in multiple places at once as well as seeing everything that happens in the immediate area regardless if one of me is looking at it or not. During the encounter I was in three places at the same time.”
Having explained why her testimony would be from multiple people and she saw things without even looking at it, she launched into the details of the encounter.
“We received word of Peacemeal’s imminent arrival in Miami and the accompanying kill order approximately twelve hours before our encounter with him. We were shown the recordings made by the two PRT teams which had previously engaged him which showed his abilities and the amount of damage he was capable off. The decision was quickly made to evacuate the area where he was to enter the city to keep the area where we would be engaging him clear of innocents. We spent the next twelve hours planning and preparing for the encounter.”

“We placed ourselves in cover initially, while Patch tried to contact Peacemeal with a very powerful megaphone and get him to stand down.”
“Peacemeal’s reaction was to send two of his golems towards Patch. This is where I felt that negotiation had failed and initiated our plan of engagement.”

“One of me started the engagement by firing flash bangs, smoke and explosive grenades towards Peacemeal and his golems. Our initial analysis of his powers showed that he would vaporize all of the grenades before they would get close to him, but it was planned to get his attention. Which it didn’t do a very good job of, only one of the golems charged me, the other kept going for Patch, before one of Titania’s allies intercepted it. I’m not sure if this was by conscious direction of Peacemeal or the Golems had some sort of intelligence.”

“The second part of our plan was PinPoint taking direct shots at Peacemeal. Which he did, but they turned out to have no effect on him, at that time we didn’t know why.”
“Two of Peacemeal’s golems then appeared out of nowhere and attacked PinPoint and Vanguard who was guarding him. Despite Vanguard’s best efforts PinPoint’s leg was crushed by the Golem. I believe the only reason he still lives is because of his immediate evacuation by Titania and medical treatment given by Patch. As it is, he was maimed, probably for life and is currently in critical condition in the hospital. ”
Echo took a moment to collect her thoughts and make sure that she was only giving an accounting of what she had seen and not what she thought about it.

“One of me then moved in to attack with a bamboo staff, backed up by Snap.”
“As soon as we entered the storm Peacemeal started disintegrating our gear and weapons, starting with our commbeads, cutting us off from communications with the rest.”
“I avoided his protective Golems to hit him with a bamboo staff, which shattered against an armour that he had constructed from a golem. All he had left unarmoured were his eyes.”
“While I was breaking my staff on Peacemeal’s armour, Snap attacked and destroyed one of the golems, I informed her of Peacemeal’s armour and his eyes being unarmoured and she snapped out of the storm to inform the rest. I was then clipped by Peacemeal and spun into one of the Golem’s arms who proceeded to try and crush the life out of me. It cracked seven ribs and broke two fingers before I was able to twist free.”
Unconsciously Echo rubbed the fingers that had been snapped in the struggle
“By then the third me and Inertia had set up a barrage of grenades using time manipulation. We launched them at the same time, destroying two more Golems.”
“Following this Inertia and I ran towards Peacemeal, to engage him and stop the Golem from crushing the second me. I got a good look at his eyes when I engaged. They looked glassy and unfocussed.”
Echo swallowed again, then took a deep breath.
“I did the only thing that I could do. I attacked him aiming for his eyes using the bamboo staff I all carried. It... went through the left eye into his skull. He screamed in anger and rage, obliterating everything around him that wasn’t protected by the Manton effect. Peacemeal’s two remaining golems then charged at us, but were stopped in their tracks by Inertia’s powers. Peacemeal himself got up ready to fight, with blood and brain matter dribbling out of his eye socket, but Inertia and I deployed an experimental knockout weapon designed by Patch which we had just received from one of Titania’s creatures. It wasn’t enough, he started making ready for another attack, until the me with the cracked ribs and snapped fingers stabbed him in his other eye. Blinded he fell to the ground, his storm dissipating, his armour and golems falling apart.”
Echo was surprised that she could speak of what had happened almost matter-of-factly. Talking things through had probably helped.
“It ended the fight and Peacemeal slipped into unconsciousness. With the threat out of commission we decided to not executing the kill order.”
“That concludes my testimony. ”

Prep Time

"Does anyone have ideas of ways I can present my powers in a way that discourages people from getting close or makes me seem more restricted than I am? I don't really have any."
“I’m afraid I don’t have any good ideas Patch. All I can think of is that if you have a taser we can mention that you have a device that strikes enemies who get to close with some sort of lightning attack. Or we could mention your impressive martial arts. They leave some sort of impression at least. ”

She turned to the others
“We are in agreement? The Director introduces us, we each give a small demonstration, if they ask for it, where we play up or down our powers. Keep the tone professional and friendly and we answer questions as they come, but everybody should try and get a few words in. Maybe we should make sure that everybody has a microphone so we can speak whenever we want to and don't have to stand in the same place. If none of you mind, I’ll show my powers first, that’ll give me the most time to sniff out the crowd. Oh, and I do remember one tip Alpha Girl gave me that I can share with all of you now;”

“Have fun with it.”


Media Frenzy

Echo walked up onto the raised platform with as much poise and confidence as she could manage. She had been warned that there would be a lot of people there for them, but the dozens of reporters and the many dozens upon dozens of civilian behind the fences almost made her freeze as she got up on stage. She repeated Alpha girl’s advice as a mantra in her mind have fun with it. have fun with it. have fun with it. And kept reminding herself to smile. For the occasion she was wearing her normal outfit, but only a half-faced mask, it left the lower part of her face bare while hiding nose, cheekbones and forehead. It also didn’t have the lenses she had in her normal mask had, all to show a friendlier face as well as open her nose to the air as much as possible. She also had a small camera on her mask.


"Everyone calm down we'll do this in an orderly fashion, this will be a press conference about the appearance and fight with Piecemeal as well as introducing the heroes officially to the media. Everyone please limit yourselves to one question and I'll call on each of you until we run out of time."
Echo walked up to the lectern and took one of the microphones for herself as well as handing a few back to the others. She then waited as calmly as she could and gave a short wave and a smile to the crowd when she was introduced.

"What are all of the new heroes abilities and could we get some examples of them?"
have fun with it.
“Of course we will.” Echo said with a genuine smile.
“ I’m Echo, but I guess you were just told that.. My abilities allow me to be in multiple places at once, I am super strong and super fast and agile.”
“How about a demonstration?”

Echo stepped left and right at the same time while leaving herself in the middle. The three of her each gave the crowd a friendly wave before Force interlocked her hands and Deft stepped into them only to be launched straight up into the air. Deft executed a complex series of acrobatic twists and turns before she was caught on the way down by Force again. They high fived each other then Deft continued her somersaults and cartwheels to the other side of the upraised podium while Force took up her old position, leaving the stage free for the next demonstration.

“Aren’t they great?” Sharp’s voice and lilting laugh came from the speakers through the microphone she carried. She had used the distraction of Force and Deft’s antics to leisurely move towards the civilians behind the fences. She was greeting them with a smile, saying hello and shaking a few hands. The picture of a hero enjoying meeting the crowd, but in the meantime she was taking big whiffs of the people and memorizing faces. Her aim was to match as many faces as she could to the people she had smelled on the basket sent by Insight.
“Ugh. I don’t like tooting my own horn.” Deft answered with a theatrical groan. Force’s laugh was a lot more hearty, the three were obviously enjoying themselves.
“Well with that let’s move on to the next hero...”

"Are any of you worried about the fact that the entire team before you was forced out of the city?"
“Not worried, but keeping in mind what happened to some of the greatest heroes Miami will ever see. ”


"What are your immediate plans for the city and is there a team leader of the team?"
We are here to send a message: If you think your Powers give you the right to terrorize the people of this city, you will be brought to Justice. There was steel in Vanguard's voice as he spoke.
The Echoes’ smiles mirrored each other, she doubted if anybody else would have been able the answer that question any better.
Now as they say, two heads are better than one, which means three heads are a step up Vanguard then looked at Deft. Echo has already proven herself during the Piecemeal incident. I look forward to serving under her leadership.
Force and Deft were stumped a moment, but a pleasant lilting laugh could be heard over the speakers coming from Sharp.
“And four are even better, and twelve better than that. I see what you’re getting at, but I think you’re jumping the gun. While I was given command during the Peacemeal encounter, I haven’t earned official team leader status yet.”
With sharp cutting in and starting the hiding of Vanguard’s slip of the tongue regarding her limitation by focussing on the leadership part of his statement, Deft and Force easily fell into the narrative to
“Don’t get me wrong, being selected as the leader of these heroes would be a dream come true. Mind bogglingly so.”
“But that’s a decision for those higher up in the PRT. All I can do is try and prove myself in the meantime.”


"Who or what was Piecemeal and what was he trying to do?"
“Peacemeal was a threat to the safety of the good people of Miami until we ended the threat. What he wanted we still don’t know, but some of our best are working on it.”


"Are the rumors of Piecemeal and the damage he dealt true? How many people if any did he kill?"
“Yes I’m sorry to say that he destroyed a lot of property and killed people, while wounding others, before he reached the outskirts of Miami. He also seriously wounded multiple of the Protectorate team sent to stop him.”
“The particulars will probably be released when his sentencing is completed.”

[Silent_p]

Digging Deeper

Ji Yu was delighted to get a laugh out of Josie. Or a snort or whatever it was. Adorable. Still, ultimately they had more important matters to discuss.

She spent a few minutes listening as Josie and Jack threw ideas back and forth. Her heart went out to the woman as she recalled the events leading up to Piecemeal's capture. She could only imagine how difficult it had been. Still, the moment passed. "Hey, if you're delegating," she said in response to the budget talk, "can I put in a request to have Robert in charge of paperwork? He seems like he'd be good at that..." She ended with an innocent look that quickly broke into another smile.

"Iron man? How much mass are we talking? Would I be able to snap wearing one?"

Prep time

Ji Yu didn't really have much to add. The idea of a press conference didn't appeal to her at all. Based on her experience, the media could easily put whatever spin they wanted on events - usually favouring the status quo. Very few were trustworthy.

In the end, she nodded along idly with Echo's summary. Brief intro, show-off power, try to be pleasant. Snap sighed quietly, easier said and all that.

Sidling up to Inertia at the end of the meeting, she said in a low voice. "Don't suppose you could trap me in a bubble, make this hold thing go faster? I mean, I could totally snap straight into it, if it'd help..."

Media frenzy

"I'm Snap," she said when her turn came. "I'm proud to be here, to be given a chance to use my abilities to help people. I can imagine the speculation about all of us and the circumstances of our arrival. All I can say is, we're here to help." This was terrible! What kind of banal nonsense was she spouting?

Swallowing once, she looked around the room. "Imagine you'd all like a show?" With that, she broke into a short dash across the stage before snapping the rest of the distance. She gave a wave and a long bow before repeating the move back to her starting point.

[GameOfChampions]

Capital Punishment

The judge having heard the testimonies of those willing. "I will take a moment to review the testimonies of the brave heroes here and the written reports of Dragon and the surviving PRT squad members who fought Piecemeal as well." The judge sits back and pulls out several large folders of paper and starts to leaf through them. After almost an hour and a half he leans forward to give his verdict.

"Despite the testimonies that seem to imply a mental deficiency of some sort we cannot ignore the massive loss of life Piecemeal caused, even if it was unwillingly. His crimes fall under the following aggravating factors; some of the victims were less then twelve years of age, some of the victims were particularly vulnerable due to advanced age or disability, and some of the victims were law enforcement officers engaged in the performance of his or her official duties. Due to the testimonies of the heroes I have eliminated the possibility of the acts being committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification. However due to the may many victims and the implacable resolve to continue despite the dangers he presented to people, whether or not he understood them, leaves no choice except either life long incarceration or death. However as Dragon has informed me the incarceration in the bird cage is impossible due tot he nature of his power and his mental condition. Finally as the PRT board of directors has argued in their report we have not been able to find any evidence of Piecemeal as a U.S citizen due to the lack of name, failure of facial recognition software and the countries many databases both international and international , and the lack of his dental records on file within the country. As, seemingly, a foreigner who has committed these heinous crimes we have to look past any problems he may have and recognize the threat he poses and the wanton destruction he has caused. Piecemeal is sentenced to death.

Media Frenzy

The reporters buzz and start to call out more questions but the Director cuts in "That's enough for now. Our heroes have been going through a lot in the past few days and need to rest. If you wish you can reach out for interviews or the like. Thank You."

She waves and then with a jerk of her head gestures for everyone to follow her. When everyone is back inside she turns and smiles "Well that went well, we'll leave them wanting more but don't be surprised if any reach out for interviews with some of you. This could be a chance for some good PR or to get some of your issues out there if you wish. Now get some rest because tomorrow you all need to be ready to get back into it, I want you all to figure out how you want to handle your next step in the city."

So this is at a close because I didn't get a ton of answers from the team so we'll just move on. If you want to have your character do an interview thats cool and let me know so I can set it up. Ramsus we already talked about Avelina doing one so we'll get on that soon. Also start planning what you want to do next, this can be in character or out of character if you want to save time and just have what is decided in the IC scene.

[Chivy]

Requests

After typing up and discarding a few emails to the director, Josie had simply asked for a few minutes of the Director's time. She was better at speaking to people in person than conveying her ideas with words on a screen and her annoyed half curses at the tablet she was using had been evidence enough of that. She made sure that she was a few minutes early and knocked on the Director's door at precisely the time they had agreed on.

"Thank you for seeing me Director." Echo said as when she entered the room.
"We are both busy women so I'll get right down to it. I have two requests I'm hoping you will be able to help me with. I would like all the information we have on Peacemeal. Profiles, videos, court case files, autopsy, everything. I logically know that what I did had to be done, but if I don't at least verify that my tactics were the only way to efficiently end the threat, it will keep bothering me."
Echo waited for the other woman to reply or spur her on before continueing.
"The second request is for help in acquiring a TALOS suit, or at least a copy of the most pertinant parts of the research. We have a large hole in our defenses, where two members of the team's powers require them to get up close to be effective. We have more than a few opponents with the brute classification, one good hit and everybody except Vanguard and Force would be sent to the hospital in the best case scenario, morgue in the worst. We'll need something to counter those threats and Patch mentioned these military suits might be a place to start.""Jack agreed to share whatever improvements he was able to make on the suits' designs. Maybe that will help in aquiring the information. Another tinker working on it should help a lot, shouldn't it?"
"I'd also be willing to file reports about the use in combat scenarios and I'm pretty sure I can get whoever wears one to do the same."
"I don't have any influence outside of a few people on the team, so me asking for the schematics or a prototype to reverse engineer would fall on deaf ears. I'm hoping that you have more influence and will want to use it for this."

The next step

After the interviews, sentencing and recovery from the worst of the wounds Echo had sent out an invitation to every team member and the Director to discuss their next moves. She had a few ideas about where to focus their efforts, but she hoped the others had at least as many.

When the others had arrived, or declined to come, she started the meeting
“Thank you for coming. I think we need to take a moment and discuss where we stand and plan for the future. I have a few ideas I’d like your input on and if any of you have any other ideas this would be the moment.”
Her tone was serious and businesslike as she spoke
“The first thing I want to have a look at is our patrol teams. Do we want to keep two patrol teams and will Inertia and Titania simply joining Vanguard in his, or do we mix things up?”
“I’d like to scale things down to two man patrols where we change who we’re patrolling with each patrol. That way we’ll all learn to work with each other as well as have more patrols out, without it taking all of our time.”
Echo made sure that they had discussed the patrols before she brought up the next thing she wanted to discuss.
“I’d also like us to start re-establishing the wards program. Young people with powers need the guidance the PRT can give and we’ll need the help if we want to have a comprehensive patrolling schedule.”
“I think Vanguard has contact with the former Miami wards, maybe it’s possible to return them to the fold or something like that.”
“I have no idea how to start something like this, maybe one of you who were actually part of the wards?”
Again Echo waited to raise the next subject until the previous one was handled

“We’ll also need to start targeting the remaining villain groups. We’ve already hurt the Shining Path by capturing two of their capes, I’d like to finish them off.”
“They’ll be expecting a strike after our successes the last few days, but I don’t feel like running headlong into whatever trap they have set up for us.”
“So I suggest we wait and bide our time for the next few weeks, maybe even a month. They’ll be very alert for a few days, but nobody can stay alert constantly. We bide our time, train, equip ourselves specifically for the strike and if we get the chance thin their ranks further.”
“Then we attack the docks and take down their entire organisation in one fell swoop.”
“I am thinking of a joint effort with the city’s police to not only take down their capes but also their unpowered soldiers. With planning, skill and luck we might be able to clear out the most murderous and deranged organisation in the city.”
“How do each of you feel about it?”
Having asked the thing she thought would bring the greatest feelings of fear, she followed with the thing which would probably bring the most objections.

“We will need training for everything we will face, so I would like to get everybody to spend two hours every other day on close combat training. I’d also like weekly sparring matches between us all. Hopefully it’ll be a very good way to learn about our weaknesses.”
“I have arranged for training with three different martial arts experts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Everybody is free to join as long as you are in costume and if you don’t want to, I’d like you to set up your own close combat training and then keep to it. Before long every one of us will be in close combat, if you want it or not.”
“I also do cardio training on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, mostly running, climbing and rowing. If people want to join you are welcome to or if you have any suggestions for relevant training I’m all ears.”
“How do you all feel about making the three times two hours a week close combat training mandatory for all of us?”

Finally she turned to Patch and asked
“Patch, we don’t need particulars, but how is the Insight countermeasures coming? On schedule?”
“Whatever that schedule is.”

[Sønderjye]

Digging Deeper


"I’m no doctor, but I don’t think anybody would be up and fighting after having a chunk of bamboo pierce their brain if they weren’t under the influence of something. He did disintegrate our comms as soon as we entered his storm though. So he had to be at least tactically aware."

Patch frown grows deeper. There was a certain logic behind that. "Are you suggesting that someone were controlling him?" The idea was scary, masters were nightmare-inducing really, but it seemed likely all things considered. Patch mentally bashes himself for not considering it a possibility.


"Yes you. Or do you think anybody else can do a better job of it? He..ck, can you think of anybody who uses the budget except you? Anybody who can use it anywhere near what you can do with it?"
She gave him a wry smile, thinking that she might know why he was hesitant.
"I know you are on probation, but I’ve never dug any deeper than that. Never felt the need to. We’ve all done stuff in the past. But if we weren’t worthy of a second chance we wouldn’t be here. That’s enough for me. "
"So if my vote counts, it goes to you being in charge of the budget barring emergencies. Just listen to any of your teammates suggestions and decide priority yourself."
She looked surprised for a moment, then shrugged self-consciously
"Ahum. Sorry. I’m still a bit in team leader mode."
"The idea still stands though. "

"I can see that I would sorta default into controlling it. But I just want to be sure that we all benefit from it. I'll check in with what people want and need when we get out next money injection."


Josie’s smile then returned, this time mischievous, before she continued
"Plus if I ever officially earn team leader, the budget will probably demand paperwork. And if I can pawn it off on you..."

Patch makes an exagurated facial expression to express the utter horror he feels at the prospect of more paperwork.


"That sounds like something we could definitely use if when we engage the Shining Path again. Do you think you can finish the development?"
"Or if we can get the plans, can you reproduce or improve on them? Maybe that Titania girl can help, she was wearing what looked like a hundred kilo’s of metal in her armour and weapons, I can’t imagine she’d be strong enough if it hadn’t been lightened or powered in some way."

"The research is super secretive. I don't know if I actually can help them but I definitely will if I can. Thanks for the support" After a moment he adds in a serious tone: "Also thanks for letting me try to communicate with Piecemeat before we engaged even if it was unfruitful."


"Iron man? How much mass are we talking? Would I be able to snap wearing one?"

"Honestly I hadn't thought about that. I would guess that you can still snap but we'll fine tune it to make sure that you can when we get there."

"Also" he says comming back along to something Josie asked about earlier: "On the topic of physical enhancement there is many many options. One of the simplest ones would be to surround out bones with carbon fibre such that something like what happened to PinPoint doesn't happen to us. Another one would be to artificially stimulate our muscles. Then there's a whole category of beneficial drugs and gene manipulation. If you want to impose more drastic means Oscar Pistorius were banned from running in the olympics for a time because his non-tinker-made artificial legs gave him an unfair advantage against able-bodied runners..." Jack leaves the sentence unfinished, not able to resist the urge of playing the mad scientist.

Capital Judgement

Patch carefully controls his emotions but can't help but sneak a look at the defence lawyer. 'Come on, protest, do something. Tell him we have been keeping Piecemeat in a coma for the last few days and we can continue to do that until we find a cure!'

His control lasts until the group are alone before he can't keep himself silent anymore. "He wasn't concious. We had kept him in a coma for days and we could have continued doing so. And even so they murder him" His words aren't aimed at anyone in particular, he just needs to get it out there.

LegPoint

"Here you go, Director", Patch says putting the cup filled with of tinker coffee down on the table in the director's office. "Be careful though, it's strong."

He allows the director to give her reply and after casual conversation have ended he states the actual reason he got here.

"I'd like to make a prosthesis for PinPoint. The one I made for Robert seems to work as well as his human arm and even if he decides to not work with us anymore after almost dying I feel that we own him that much", he says while silently chanting 'Please give me the funds, please give me the funds...'

Weapon of Choice

Patch silently listens to her responds before unknown to her nodding. "Alright, I'll brainstorm ideas to make up a suit like that. Yeah, sure, come down. I'll need to do measurements on you at some point."

I don't really have anything in particular I want to do in this scene. Just wanted to hear if you had a preference in equiptment.

The Next Step

Jack shows up precisely a minute before the agreed time. As usual he is in his usual costume, and carries 7 cups and a container labelled with big fat letters
"Tinker-coffee
Consume with caution"

If asked about the coffee Patch will reveal that he did indeed create it and that it's very strong so he would suggest that one should try a single sip and give it a little to work before taking another.

A few sips of the coffee have the same effect as two full cups of normal coffee.

He greets everyone present, puts the container on the table and pours himself half a cup before he picks a comfortable seat and sits down.


“The first thing I want to have a look at is our patrol teams. Do we want to keep two patrol teams and will Inertia and Titania simply joining Vanguard in his, or do we mix things up?”
“I’d like to scale things down to two man patrols where we change who we’re patrolling with each patrol. That way we’ll all learn to work with each other as well as have more patrols out, without it taking all of our time.”

Patch briefly considers the impression of Robert and immediately discards the idea of him being the only one to work with the two new capes as a horrible idea. Robert seemed like an exemplar of morales and doing what was right but Patch could only imagine that his way of acting would be distancing from the young capes.

"I submit to the idea of mixing up patrols. However I am hessitant to support your idea of reducing us to groups of two already. I don't know how ruthless the criminal groups are" he doesn't like the word Villain. It seemed to give the impression that the criminal groups would follow the ethical premises seen in comic books, "but there's a very real chance that we should expect at least one of the groups directly attacking us and I think that groups of two are too vulnerable. I'm am mildly supporting your idea of mixing us but I am a bit conserned that we will end up with teams of very distinct weaknesses although I can't find of any particular combination where that is the case."


Echo made sure that they had discussed the patrols before she brought up the next thing she wanted to discuss.
“I’d also like us to start re-establishing the wards program. Young people with powers need the guidance the PRT can give and we’ll need the help if we want to have a comprehensive patrolling schedule.”
“I think Vanguard has contact with the former Miami wards, maybe it’s possible to return them to the fold or something like that.”
“I have no idea how to start something like this, maybe one of you who were actually part of the wards?”

Patch is amused the idea of recruiting minions. "I haven't been part of the wards but I agree. Honestly though we are very few people and there's a lot of criminals in town. We should try to recruit any individual you encounter and that you find to be qualified. We might need to catch Insight before anyone trusts us enough to join us though."


Again Echo waited to raise the next subject until the previous one was handled
“We’ll also need to start targeting the remaining villain groups. We’ve already hurt the Shining Path by capturing two of their capes, I’d like to finish them off.”
“They’ll be expecting a strike after our successes the last few days, but I don’t feel like running headlong into whatever trap they have set up for us.”
“So I suggest we wait and bide our time for the next few weeks, maybe even a month. They’ll be very alert for a few days, but nobody can stay alert constantly. We bide our time, train, equip ourselves specifically for the strike and if we get the chance thin their ranks further.”
“Then we attack the docks and take down their entire organisation in one fell swoop.”
“I am thinking of a joint effort with the city’s police to not only take down their capes but also their unpowered soldiers. With planning, skill and luck we might be able to clear out the most murderous and deranged organisation in the city.”
“How do each of you feel about it?”

Patch takes a sip, the only one he has taken the entire meeting, to hide his smile of approval. He had started to wonder if somewhere within her mix of powers of contradictive powers were a mild thinker or master rating. If that was the case it would make sense that the director had appointed her to leader.

"I think that you idea is good and your reason solid. If we focus on the streets and we manage to make those safer we will gather a lot of public support. Furthermore if we can make the criminal groups think that we will leave them alone as long as they are hiding their activity it might make them less eager to openly challenge us."


Having asked the thing she thought would bring the greatest feelings of fear, she followed with the thing which would probably bring the most objections.

“We will need training for everything we will face, so I would like to get everybody to spend two hours every other day on close combat training. I’d also like weekly sparring matches between us all. Hopefully it’ll be a very good way to learn about our weaknesses.”
“I have arranged for training with three different martial arts experts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Everybody is free to join as long as you are in costume and if you don’t want to, I’d like you to set up your own close combat training and then keep to it. Before long every one of us will be in close combat, if you want it or not.”
“I also do cardio training on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, mostly running, climbing and rowing. If people want to join you are welcome to or if you have any suggestions for relevant training I’m all ears.”
“How do you all feel about making the three times two hours a week close combat training mandatory for all of us?”

The older cape sighs and nods in agreement. He didn't like the idea, not a miniscule bit, but all his arguments fell flat to his own judgement. They would end up in a close quarter fight at some point and it was important that he lived long enough to reach his goal.

"Could someone also help me find someone to teach me to shoot better? PinPoint started teaching me but I don't really want to put more strain on him as is."


Finally she turned to Patch and asked
“Patch, we don’t need particulars, but how is the Insight countermeasures coming? On schedule?”
“Whatever that schedule is.”

Patch looked like his gears were grinding for a moment before he responded: "I haven't encountered unexpected complications yet. It'll be finished in about two weeks". It was a blatant lie of course, but given the undeclared nature of the countermeasure it was quite plausible. Patch were intending to stay out of sight as much as he could and it left the possibility that Insight would read one of his allies and get incorrect information. And even if that wasn't the case it would give Patch valueable information about Insight's power.

"And on the topic of inventions I'd like to share the current plan. Echo have asked that I make armor for all of our vulnerable members, which if I understand things right would mean me, Snap and Inertia. Vanguard can harden himself, Echo have three lives and Titania has her suit, which I by the way will be doing improvements as soon as I find the time. If I follow my current idea for inventions then a discrete way of communication and then flying will be up for the next set of inventions in addition to some information gathering software. I think getting us in the air is essentia for at least three of our members. Snap and Titania, you can both cross air, I think both of you would benefit from this still but if you would rather have something else let me know. Also Robert, with your power active I think you'll be to heavy to get in the air unless you find a tinker to make some anti gravity stuff. I only have one excellent idea as to an invention for you but it's very costly and we probably need to wait a long time before we get access to that kind of money. "

[Ramsus]

Job Offer Part 2

After seeing the size of their rooms Avelina goes back to the director and rather sheepishly tells her that she'll take the apartment after-all since she'll need the space for her books and clothes.

Weapon of Choice

"Ok, I'll be right there." Avelina replies. She then finishes getting dressed, specifically in form fitting clothes, and goes to Patch's lab. Though it takes her a bit longer than expected since she gets a bit lost on the way.

Once she's arrived she knocks to confirm she's gotten the correct room and she's not interrupting anything sensitive or walking into some dangerous test part-way through.

The Next Step

Avelina doesn't say anything in the part of the discussion involving how to organize patrols. She doesn't have anything to really contribute and so winds up just not speaking up.

On the subject of the Wards however, she does have clear thoughts to express. Starting with, "Is that even our call? It would be great to just be able to.... do that yeah. But even if we had the...um... authority, we don't really have enough of a reputation to attract enough recruits who would trust we could properly train them... do we? If we can somehow though I... think we should. They're going to do stuff with their powers with or without us... right? But um... I sort of have the feeling the director will tell us we can't do it yet."

"I'm surprised you're willing to wait that long." Avelina states and immediately follows it up a bit nervously, "I um... uh.... don't think it's a bad thing though." She somewhat timidly adds, "I agree hitting them while they're weak and don't expect is probably good... but they might get some replacement capes in a month if we're unlucky."

Avelina nods along on the subject of training regimens and says, "That sounds good. I'll also need to get an expert archery teacher if I can. I'm pretty good now but I know I can be better. Either way, I already planned on keeping up my practice with it. I don't know anything aside from the basics about guns though. Uh... also we should do swimming. We're near a lot of water."

When Patch starts talking about gear Avelina gets a bit excited for a few seconds before she realizes other people's armor might wind up coming up as a higher priority than improving hers. "Being able to fly by myself would be great. It would mean I don't always need to ride something so I could uh.. summon other things instead. And it really does sound easier to patrol if we can just all do it from the air, I think."

Moving In

Looking at all her boxes that are being moved once again, now to her new apartment, Avelina despairs at the idea of having to unpack all of them and set up an apartment all by herself. She's never done such a big move by herself before and doesn't even know where to start. So she decides to start by asking if any of the others would be interested in helping her out. She offers the customary pizza and soda (because she's under age) as attempted bribes. Which works out just as well for her since it's not like she'd be set up to actually make any meals herself until after things were all set up so she'd have had to do something similar for dinner anyway. Bribe or no, she wasn't expecting a whole lot of interest.

[Sønderjye]

The door opens and from inside the lab Patch opens, having his usual trenchcoat replaced with a lab coat and with a big grin on his face. "Welcome Lina. Come in, come in!" he says with a welcomming gesture. He steps aside and allows Titania to enter a small room containing a few pairs of shoes, some plastic covers and some labcoats hanging on the walls. Patch instructs her to take one of the plastic covers over her shoes and to put on one of the lab coats before practically dancing into the lab itself through the other door in the room and dives into a box to find something.

The lab itself seems more in order that one would expect from Patch's appearance. Various instruments are nicely placed in their holders which seems to be in some complex system. Only a few boxes around seems to contain things that seem to be in complete disorder. On one table there is a gleaming sniper rifle parts under a ventilator with packs of slightly disformed bullets not far from it. What looks like an overgrown megaphone is in a closed display case not far from it. In another display case is about a deformed syringe with electric circuits running to them. On another table lies a blueprint beside a microscope and a rectangle made of metal with various unfinished electric circuits.

In the back of there is a construction that could resemble a tent made of semi-transperant plastic with a sign cautioning "Biohazard" just beside the closed entrance.

At a point Patch returns with a measuring tape and intends to start taking her measurements.

[Ramsus]

Weapon of Choice

Avelina smiles at the enthusiastic greeting and does as requested, but when Patch holds up the measuring tape she begins to take off the lab coat she just put on asking, "Uh...I think it would be more accurate without this on wouldn't it?" Without it on Patch can see that she looks like she's in pretty good shape, though still on the sort of thin side, which makes sense given her choice of body armor and weaponry. He can also see her shape pretty well* as it happens since she deliberately chose form fitting clothes for the measuring.

((I wanted to say good for a play on words but that's grammatically incorrect.))

[Silent_p]

Digging deeper

"Hang on. Mind control?! Do we know anyone capable of that level of power?" Ji Yu sounded shaken at the possibility, not really wanting it to be possible.

At the discussion of the budget, Ji Yu smiled at Jack. "Hey, look at it this way: you get final say on the team theme and colours. You don't like 'em, you don't release the funds. Honestly, though, you'll do fine." She turned her grin to Josie as the woman spoke sheepishly about being a leader. "I like it. You're decisive, it's good."

Ji Yu nodded briefly at Jack's suggestions regarding physical enhancement. "Not that I think we should replace our legs - some of us have fantastic legs - but the carbon fibre grafting has definitely gotten my attention. Have you done it before? What's the recovery time like?"

The next step

Snap arrived at the meeting in costume following Echo's request. The mood was formal, so much as Snap might have wanted some banter, she curtailed herself to simply sitting down and waiting politely for the meeting to start. She smiled a little when she noticed Patch's warning on the coffee. She took one and gave him an approving nod, glad he'd taken her concern to heart.

Echo's suggestions regarding patrols had logic to them but something felt off about to Snap. She waited until Patch had made his points. "I think mixing us up would be valuable. First, you never know who's going to be available at short notice and being familiar with how your powers can interact can only be an asset. Second, we're all fairly new and getting to know each other one-on-one would be great." She paused for a moment. "That said, some of that works against us too. Small groups who don't know each other might make for tempting and vulnerable pickings. Maybe we could arrange for the duos to patrol close to each other? Rather than in different parts of the city - at least to start?"

Snap nodded along to Echo's comments regarding the wards and was content to listen as Patch and Titania spoke up. When the subject of hitting the Shining Path came up, though, she had to say something. "Can we afford to wait that long?" She asked, looking around the group. "They could use that time to rebuild their strength, or be wiped out by a rival. I mean, couldn't that lead to a gang war? I know we're still finding our feet but I'm not seeing letting things linger working in our favour. Could we aim for, like, a couple of weeks, max?"

On the issue of training, Snap nodded enthusiastically in agreement with Echo's plans. However the others felt, she was certain that that level of training was vital.

[Sønderjye]

Digging Deeper

"Plenty. The PRT doesn't want to talk about it much though, I guess it's bad for cape reputation and instill mistrust in the public. One instance is Heartbreaker who can make people his obediant slaves given enough time. I also heard about this one villain that cripples a guy by making him try to ehm.. connect parts of himself that weren't designed for being connected. The name slipped though. something with bird." Patch looks appropriately disturbed by the idea.

After a moment''s silence, he adds: "We actually have two locals who would fit the memo. Mind Swipe, from Panther's Fang, can fully control one victim at a time, see through their eyes and have access to their memories in addition to access to the memories of those the victim touch, and Control, from Upgrade, can put chips in people''s necks and when they come outside of 50ft from them they just follow the last order given."

He then pauses, thinking. "It's not impossible that the whole thing was a test of us. Do you want to bring this up to the others?" the last part equally directed to the two others.

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

"It has never been done before, without powers it simply wouldn't be possible. But that goes for all the stuff I've done in PRT this far. I hadn't really shot before we fought Windfist and co. either. Of all the things I've done though I'm pretty confident with this stuff since I used to work in a related area. It'll require extensive testing of course, I'm not risking anything with you guys. As an extra security measure I'd want to run some simulations in addition to normal testing done with similar things. Do you want me to look into it in more details?"

Weapon of Choice

"Yeah, it would "Patch agrees distractedly before suddenly realizes the tight closing and subsequentially focusses exclusively on the measurement.

The next step

Patch sneaks a peak at Avelina under the guise of putting his cup back onto the table. The PRT chose well for this recruitment. Their new addition were proving worth beyond her power. He was confident sitting back and letting Josie be grilled for a little while. It would be interesting to see how she reacted to being challenged by their newest member and moreover someone who were younger than her.

His dispicable plan however is ruined by Ju Yi. He wouldn't learn much about Josie as a leader if an older member already supported the new one. That said he couldn't' help but still like Ji Yu, the girl used her head.

Glacing over the team as a whole he couldn't help but smile. This could actually be an enjoyable experience after all.

[Chivy]

Digging Deeper


Patch frown grows deeper. "Are you suggesting that someone were controlling him?"
"Hang on. Mind control?! Do we know anyone capable of that level of power?" Ji Yu sounded shaken at the possibility, not really wanting it to be possible.
"Wait.. that’s not what I meant." Echo held up her hands, then slowly let them down. The thought was extremely scary, she started thinking about who or what could have been mind controlled. It was a road she started running don headlong before she brought herself up short.

"Plenty. The PRT doesn't want to talk about it much though, I guess it's bad for cape reputation and instill mistrust in the public. One instance is Heartbreaker who can make people his obediant slaves given enough time. I also heard about this one villain that cripples a guy by making him try to ehm.. connect parts of himself that weren't designed for being connected. The name slipped though. something with bird." Patch looks appropriately disturbed by the idea.

After a moment''s silence, he adds: "We actually have two locals who would fit the memo. Mind Swipe, from Panther's Fang, can fully control one victim at a time, see through their eyes and have access to their memories in addition to access to the memories of those the victim touch, and Control, from Upgrade, can put chips in people''s necks and when they come outside of 50ft from them they just follow the last order given."

He then pauses, thinking. "It's not impossible that the whole thing was a test of us. Do you want to bring this up to the others?" the last part equally directed to the two others.

"Ok, it’s an option that might have happened. But just the thought is making me paranoid. So let’s keep it in the back of our minds, but not jump to any conclusions.. At least not ones that scare the he..ck out of me. And if I think about it, if you had somebody as powerful as Peacemeal under your control, would you waste him on a few new heroes who had only been in town for a few days. It’s a waste of resources if nothing else."
“But let’s check for chips often.”

"I can see that I would sorta default into controlling it. But I just want to be sure that we all benefit from it. I'll check in with what people want and need when we get out next money injection."
"Well that’s settled then. Chief Scientist and Senior Accountant all rolled into one."
Poking fun at their tinker’s perfectly natural aversion to paperwork had her mirroring Ji Yu’s grin.


Ji Yu turned her grin to Josie as the woman spoke sheepishly about being a leader. "I like it. You're decisive, it's good."
"Pfff. Never really thought of myself as a leader. And definitely not a decisive one." She waved off the other woman’s compliment, but she smiled briefly at the compliment. She liked having command almost as much as she was scared of making mistakes while in command and votes of confidence helped her curb a bit of that fear.


"Also thanks for letting me try to communicate with Piecemeat before we engaged even if it was unfruitful."
"You say that like it was my decision. It wasn’t. " she said emphatically
" We’re a team, all of us planned the engagement together and I’d of loved to settle things peacefully. "


"Also" he says comming back along to something Josie asked about earlier: "On the topic of physical enhancement there is many many options. One of the simplest ones would be to surround out bones with carbon fibre such that something like what happened to PinPoint doesn't happen to us. Another one would be to artificially stimulate our muscles. Then there's a whole category of beneficial drugs and gene manipulation. If you want to impose more drastic means Oscar Pistorius were banned from running in the olympics for a time because his non-tinker-made artificial legs gave him an unfair advantage against able-bodied runners..." Jack leaves the sentence unfinished, not able to resist the urge of playing the mad scientist.

Ji Yu nodded briefly at Jack's suggestions regarding physical enhancement. "Not that I think we should replace our legs - some of us have fantastic legs - but the carbon fibre grafting has definitely gotten my attention. Have you done it before? What's the recovery time like?"

"It has never been done before, without powers it simply wouldn't be possible. But that goes for all the stuff I've done in PRT this far. I hadn't really shot before we fought Windfist and co. either. Of all the things I've done though I'm pretty confident with this stuff since I used to work in a related area. It'll require extensive testing of course, I'm not risking anything with you guys. As an extra security measure I'd want to run some simulations in addition to normal testing done with similar things. Do you want me to look into it in more details?"
"I’m a bit squeamish about drugs and genetic tampering and I don’t really want to look like some sort of body builder, but anything else sounds somewhat good."
"Would it help if you had Force and Deft to test? "
"I don’t know if there are Brute and Mover tests on file you already know, or if it’s any use at all, but if I can help just give me the word."
"And Sharp can help with design, bouncing ideas off of each other or anything you need. I’m pretty smart two hours out of every three."
"I don’t want to overtax you though, you’ve got enough on your plate."

Capital Judgement

There was nothing that Echo could say about the Judge’s verdict to ease Patch’s frustrations. She had her own feelings about it, but wasn’t sure if she agreed or disagreed. But even if she didn’t have her own opinion formed, Patch was upset. All she could do was place her hand on Patch’s shoulder, give it a quick squeeze and tried to offer what comfort she could.
"You did what you could Patch."

The Next Step

Echo looked at the ‘Tinker-coffee’ dubiously for a moment but then submitted to the fact that Jack wouldn’t poison them. She took a cup for herself and grimaced at its bitterness. She’d never much liked coffee, but it had become a daily part of her life to suffer it in the morning. This stuff, was extremely potent. It’d reduce the amount she’d need to suffer through after a long night, so she raised her cup in acknowledgement of the tinker’s feat.


"I submit to the idea of mixing up patrols. However I am hessitant to support your idea of reducing us to groups of two already. I don't know how ruthless the criminal groups are"
"but there's a very real chance that we should expect at least one of the groups directly attacking us and I think that groups of two are too vulnerable. I'm am mildly supporting your idea of mixing us but I am a bit concerned that we will end up with teams of very distinct weaknesses although I can't find of any particular combination where that is the case."

"I think mixing us up would be valuable. First, you never know who's going to be available at short notice and being familiar with how your powers can interact can only be an asset. Second, we're all fairly new and getting to know each other one-on-one would be great." She paused for a moment. "That said, some of that works against us too. Small groups who don't know each other might make for tempting and vulnerable pickings. Maybe we could arrange for the duos to patrol close to each other? Rather than in different parts of the city - at least to start?"
Echo nodded thoughtfully while the others finished their points.
"Hhmm, you are both right of course. Mixing might weaken us in the short term, but maybe we can spend some time training with each other in the safety of the training rooms to reduce that a bit. "
"I also might be rushing starting the two-person patrols, but we don’t have much man-power to keep it up and I don’t want to limit our patrols to one specific time of night or day too much. It’ll be too easy to predict."
"But for now keeping our three man patrols, and at least close enough to back each other up in a hurry might be a wise course of action. I would still like to rotate members though, with an additional bit of training together."


" I haven't been part of the wards but I agree. Honestly though we are very few people and there's a lot of criminals in town. We should try to recruit any individual you encounter and that you find to be qualified. We might need to catch Insight before anyone trusts us enough to join us though."

"Is that even our call? It would be great to just be able to.... do that yeah. But even if we had the...um... authority, we don't really have enough of a reputation to attract enough recruits who would trust we could properly train them... do we? If we can somehow though I... think we should. They're going to do stuff with their powers with or without us... right? But um... I sort of have the feeling the director will tell us we can't do it yet."
"If the Director disagrees we’ll not do it, but with all the interviews coming up, this is the perfect time. We could all use the individual interviews to inform the world that the Miami Wards will be reconstituted. We’ll have to deal with a lot of things like Youth Guard and whatever else they throw at us, but this is something we’ll eventually have to do. And right now we are riding the high of two big wins."


"I think that you idea is good and your reason solid. If we focus on the streets and we manage to make those safer we will gather a lot of public support. Furthermore if we can make the criminal groups think that we will leave them alone as long as they are hiding their activity it might make them less eager to openly challenge us."

"I'm surprised you're willing to wait that long." Avelina states and immediately follows it up a bit nervously, "I um... uh.... don't think it's a bad thing though." She somewhat timidly adds, "I agree hitting them while they're weak and don't expect is probably good... but they might get some replacement capes in a month if we're unlucky."

"Can we afford to wait that long?" She asked, looking around the group. "They could use that time to rebuild their strength, or be wiped out by a rival. I mean, couldn't that lead to a gang war? I know we're still finding our feet but I'm not seeing letting things linger working in our favour. Could we aim for, like, a couple of weeks, max?"
Again she nodded along to the points made by the others. Points she had, literally, made to herself that very morning.
"It is a very long time. Too long if I’m honest. Too much can happen in the meantime." She agreed with them.
"But it’s time I think we need to learn, train and get our gear in order. Not to mention get the layout of their hideouts, get the police on board and plan the raid."
She sighed, then came up with a thoroughly unpleasant idea.
"Unless... we redouble our efforts. Additional training, scouting and getting ready. Titania could probably summon up creatures which resemble the abilities of the Shining Path so we could train against them every day. Daily close combat training. Patch, Sharp and... Titania? working together on whatever gear we need. Anything else we can come up with. This would mean almost a twenty-four hour a day commitment for everybody for the next week or two."
She left it at that, waiting to see how the others would react to that proposition.


"Could someone also help me find someone to teach me to shoot better? PinPoint started teaching me but I don't really want to put more strain on him as is."

"That sounds good. I'll also need to get an expert archery teacher if I can. I'm pretty good now but I know I can be better. Either way, I already planned on keeping up my practice with it. I don't know anything aside from the basics about guns though. Uh... also we should do swimming. We're near a lot of water."
"I have a list of pre-approved pre-vetted Miami based trainers the Director gave me, I’ll forward it to you both and you can select trainers from there."


"I haven't encountered unexpected complications yet. It'll be finished in about two weeks".
Echo barely kept herself from asking particulars, but this was Patch’s secret project so all she said was.
"Thank you."


"And on the topic of inventions I'd like to share the current plan. Echo has asked that I make armor for all of our vulnerable members, which if I understand things right would mean me, Snap and Inertia. Vanguard can harden himself, Echo has three lives and Titania has her suit, which I by the way will be doing improvements as soon as I find the time. If I follow my current idea for inventions then a discrete way of communication and then flying will be up for the next set of inventions in addition to some information gathering software. I think getting us in the air is essential for at least three of our members. Snap and Titania, you can both cross air, I think both of you would benefit from this still but if you would rather have something else let me know. Also Robert, with your power active I think you'll be too heavy to get in the air unless you find a tinker to make some anti gravity stuff. I only have one excellent idea as to an invention for you but it's very costly and we probably need to wait a long time before we get access to that kind of money. "

"Being able to fly by myself would be great. It would mean I don't always need to ride something so I could uh.. summon other things instead. And it really does sound easier to patrol if we can just all do it from the air, I think."
"Excelent."

[Ramsus]

Weapon of Choice

Avelina either doesn't notice or doesn't care that Patch is specifically avoiding trying to look. Just for the sake of making conversation she asks, "So... what uh, were you working on before I got here?"

The Next Step



"Unless... we redouble our efforts. Additional training, scouting and getting ready. Titania could probably summon up creatures which resemble the abilities of the Shining Path so we could train against them every day. Daily close combat training. Patch, Sharp and... Titania? working together on whatever gear we need. Anything else we can come up with. This would mean almost a twenty-four hour a day commitment for everybody for the next week or two."
She left it at that, waiting to see how the others would react to that proposition.


"I uh... that's the wrong amount of hours? Was that figurative? Because um.... sleep. Um... anyway, I don't think that's a good idea. The Wards taught us not to push that hard without a really good reason, um... especially not for lengths of time like that. We'll get exhausted and demoralized and it leads to people quitting or getting hurt. We need to have lives or we'll become.... unbalanced. And um, we're going to get attacked sometimes too and so we need rest and time to de-stress." Avelina replies.

"I think the idea about training against things I summon is good though." she adds.

Noticing the coffee that others have grabbed she leans over curiously and takes a whiff and visibly recoils at how strong it is just from the scent and looks over at Patch. There's really no way of telling what her expression is with her helmet on.

[GameOfChampions]

Capital Punishment

The judge checks a piece of paper that the bailiff hands him "Hmmm OK designation Piecemeal's execution will be at 9:45 AM tomorrow morning. Attendance is not mandatory but encouraged for the witnesses who testified."

He then gathers up his things and starts to head out, shoulders dropped and eyes down.

Death Sentence

As everyone gathers in the room and settle down they can see through the one way window into the white sterile room on the other side. The only things in that is in the white room is are several large vials on the wall with three different colored fluids in them, a pair of machines meant to monitor life signs, a long operating table, and a door. As everyone is seated the door opens and an unconscious man on a gurney is wheeled in by two orderlies. He is carefully placed on the table and the orderlies quickly hook up the various needles, connected to the vials on the wall, and the machines to monitor his life. As soon as Piecemeal is hooked up the pair nod to each other and one of them presses a button. You see the liquids in each vial slowly drain down the tubes and into the body, as soon as they enter you can hear the heart monitor start to slow down until you all see a slight twitch from the body and then the sound turns into a long unending screeching noise. The people in the room all watch stoic faced from Director Sanderson to the lawyers that had been present in the case.

You can have made yourself present if you wish or not. Your call.

Requests

Sanderson sighs and nods "Ugh yes the paperwork is overwhelming. All the damages that Piecemeal did has to come through us since it was a Parahuman incident. You're welcome to have copies of the Piecemeal info, I'll email them to you and anyone on the team who wants to view them. However I can't help with the TALOS suit, they're in prototype and cost millions of dollars so I can't help out with that request.

Legpoint

The director nods solemnly "Of course you can. That is a very sweet gesture Patch, obviously don't use diamonds or anything like that but the bill will be footed by the health insurance so once you're done send it too me and I'll pass it along."

Memo

Memorandum
To: Miami Protectorate Team
From: Director Sanderson
Subject: Vanguard

Vanguard has chosen to transfer to a branch of the PRT in a smaller more stable area rather then here. He has a family and he says that he needs to think of them first, he doesn't want to leave them and the risk is just so high here in Miami. He couldn't say goodbye personally because he thought he couldn't go through with the decision if he saw all of you and knew he was leaving you to the fight without him. I hope you can all support his decision.

Regards
Director Sanderson

[Mono Vertigo]

Capital Punishment

Thinking back, Inertia couldn't remember the exact words she'd used during the trial. All she remembered was telling the court about the whole event going so fast, and giving it all to avoid the other people present - which would be the rest of the team - getting hurt, and seeing Piecemeal's dreadful injury, and passing out quickly after the conclusion.
An useless testimony, all things considered. She did feel like a weight had been lifted, though, even if it wasn't the whole of it.
Clearly, the others looked so professional doing it...
Piecemeal's execution was not a step of the legal process she'd been willing to see, though. Maybe it would have been better for him to get cleanly offed, right there, without the whole mutilation? Nono, throw that thought away, it's a horrifying one.



The Next Step

"I'm not allowed coffee", said Mallory as a coffee cup slid in front of her, but -- "No, wait, I actually am, right", she corrected herself, "Buuuut I'm not used to it, so I'm not... shutting up now, right."
That was the most words she'd spoken since the start of the meeting, because she'd been thinking about way, way too many subjects at once, several of which, she'd suspected, would be considered stupid.
"Seriously though", she kept going, pretending she'd been focused all along, "I'm with Titania on this one, maybe later once we're more experienced, intensive training like that would be okay. And we started with a pretty exhausting case both for our bodies and for our minds, too. So, huh, Echo, maybe we could do the other thing instead. The one you said." Her mind tentatively grasped a fleeting memory haphazardly recorded from the discussion. "With the gear. And the police. That one."

[Sønderjye]

Digging Deeper

Patch nods at keeping the suspicion secret from the others. It would have been his decision too but now Josie would be the one responsible for keeping them in the dark if it ever leaked.

"Point, not nessesarily a test. Still however it seem suspicious that Piecemeal was heading for the PRT days after a new group of heroes showed up."


"Well that’s settled then. Chief Scientist and Senior Accountant all rolled into one."
Poking fun at their tinker’s perfectly natural aversion to paperwork had her mirroring Ji Yu’s grin.

Patch sighs but couldn't help but smile. He didn't have a good responds but it seems like well-meant teasing.


"You say that like it was my decision. It wasn’t. " she said emphatically
" We’re a team, all of us planned the engagement together and I’d of loved to settle things peacefully. "

"Maybe but you could have nixed it if you had wanted. I'm just saying I appreciate that you didn't"

"I'll ask the director for permission to begin researching reinforcement of bones.", He responds. Perhaps this was the opportunity for bending his ban outside of A class threats.

Capital Punishment

Echo's reassurance didn't do much to lessen Patch's frustration with the sentence and the way the judge had used that "they couldn't contain him" as an argument for the death sentence even if Patch had told him that that wasn't the case minutes before.

Death Sentence

Patch takes another long look at Piecemeal. He had considered trying to fake the death but decided that the risk wasn't worth it in the greater picture. Nontheless Patch feels waves of anger going through his body as he witnesses the murder. And here he had for a moment thought that he had actually mistaken the PRT.

LegPoint

"Thank you, I'll get it done." Patch responds sending the director a friendly smile. Phase one of the plan completed, now the real challenge were up.

"Some of the other heroes expressed consern about ending up like Graham". True but taken out of context. "And expressed interest in having their bones reinforced. Something like that however would require extensive testing however so can I have your permission to perform experiments on mice to that end?" Admittedly he felt a little bad using PinPoint for this but you had to take what you could get.

Weapon of Choice

"Sorry, I can't tell" Patch responds evasively while measuring her arm.

Moving In

"Sorry Lina, I'm too busy working the next little time", Patch responds. Not untrue, but he also didn't want to show his face to the others either. At least for now.

[Chivy]

Digging Deeper

"Maybe but you could have nixed it if you had wanted. I'm just saying I appreciate that you didn't"
Josie shrugged, not quite sure she could have stopped him even if she had wanted too, but Jack believed it so that was enough for her.
"I told you before, you’re probably the smartest person we have on the team so any time you think something is that important, or you think we should do something a certain way, I’ll back you up Jack. Only an idiot refuses to listen to people who are smarter than they are."

"I'll ask the director for permission to begin researching reinforcement of bones."
"I’ll add my two cents in when I next speak to her."

Death Sentence

Echo rigidly sat watching the execution of the man they only knew as Peacemeal. She was wearing her full costume, covering her completely from head to toe, including lenses which hid her eyes. Her posture, clothing, not having eaten or drank anything since last night, even the smelling salts she had packed into one of her belt pouches were all calculated to portray grim professionalism. Something she was doing her utmost to keep projecting as she watched the man die. It was.. horrible. And sort of peaceful. He just went to sleep and then stopped...
Echo needed to swallow a few times and take a deep breath before she got up and walked from the room after Peacemeal was declared dead. She had done her duty. First in helping stop Peacemeal, then in testifying and finally in watching him die.
She was still wondering if she had done the right thing in capturing him alive.

Requests
"Thank you for sending those files Director Sanderson." Echo answered
"But Vanguard’s transfer... well he was our most physically powerful member. Without him we have a large hole in our ability to protect the more fragile members of our team. Those suits, or the research into them, or something similar might help us there. I’ve spoken to Patch and he has some medical ideas which also might help. If you could take a look at his proposals and give a yea or a nay on them we can have him work on it as soon as possible. I’ll not keep you any longer."
Echo turned to leave before looking back and saying
"I have sent out an invitation to the rest to discuss a few of these problems and what we’re going to do next. I hope you’ll attend."

The Next Step

"I uh... that's the wrong amount of hours? Was that figurative? Because um.... sleep. Um... anyway, I don't think that's a good idea. The Wards taught us not to push that hard without a really good reason, um... especially not for lengths of time like that. We'll get exhausted and demoralized and it leads to people quitting or getting hurt. We need to have lives or we'll become.... unbalanced. And um, we're going to get attacked sometimes too and so we need rest and time to de-stress."
"I think the idea about training against things I summon is good though."
Echo blinked at the about-face the other woman apparently just pulled. She had seemed to indicate that she felt they should attack earlier, then balked at the increased effort of getting ready. Josie wanted to go after the Shining Path as fast as she could, but she knew they weren’t ready to face five experienced capes as well as a lot of their mundane enforcers. They had already lost too many teammates to risk losing more because they jumped the gun.
"You can’t have it both ways Titania."
"I don’t want to engage them without us being a lot better at working together, being able to fight and actually being ready for this. We got lucky the first time we faced them, they weren’t prepared for us. I don’t want to count on luck again, especially because they’ll of been studying us as much as we’re studying them."

"So either we take the time to train and get ourselves ready to take down the entire Shining Patch organisation in one fell swoop which I think will take at least a month, or we commit ourselves to doing it faster. Which if we do it will mean a 24 hour a day commitment for a while."

"This doesn’t mean you’ll spend every moment training. It means you spend your day focussed on that commitment. Sleep is an integral part of being ready, as is eating, bathing, relieving yourself and other things which have to happen."

"If you need a reason to commit; just think of the drugs, murder and wanton destruction they bring to this city. That always works for me."

"Seriously though"
"I'm with Titania on this one, maybe later once we're more experienced, intensive training like that would be okay. And we started with a pretty exhausting case both for our bodies and for our minds, too. So, huh, Echo, maybe we could do the other thing instead. The one you said.""With the gear. And the police. That one."
It took Echo a moment to process what Inertia was trying to say
"Correct me if I’m wrong, but that puts both of you into the ‘taking things slowly camp’, right?"
She then turned to the other two
"I do not mind if we attack in two weeks or in a month. As long as we agree beforehand and we then get ready. With Vanguard out I might even prefer to take things a bit slower. We might receive some reinforcements or Patch might be able to fix up something amazing in the meantime. Patch? Snap? How do you two feel about it?"

Thinking about losing Vanguard brought up another idea
"How do you all feel about the five of us patrolling together at the same time, each taking adjacent streets. It will keep us able enough to counter an attack on us and will have us get to know each other in the field. Once we get reinforcements or get more comfortable we can tone it down a bit."

Moving In

"Sorry, it's not a good time right now." she said when Avalina invited her to help move in.
"This place is just keeping me too busy. I’ve only been in my own apartment for two nights since I got here, I haven’t even had the time to unpack my suitcases yet."

[GameOfChampions]

Requests

The director lips tighten "I know Vanguards absence has left a hole in the team but Patch is under some strict restrictions due to his probationary status. There may be exceptions in extreme scenarios like the Piecemeal but this does not warrant it. I'm sorry but I won't be budging on this, I'll never be able to take Patch off probationary status unless I see him follow the rules of his contract and show he can work within the rules. Thank you for the invitation but this is something you guys can handle on your own and I have a lot of work to do."

LegPoint

The director shakes her head "I'm sorry but you'll have to try and find solutions for that problem in other solutions, it would break your probationary contract. Smart man like yourself I'm sure you can find out other ways to protect your teammates."

[Ramsus]

The Next Step

When Echo accuses her of "wanting things both ways" Titania looks to the others in confusion, unsure if Echo hadn't understood her or was just a bully making things up to try and force things to go her way. She takes a moment to reply and says, "I already gave you my opinion. I don't think I was unclear about my reasoning. If you want to push yourself to do something I've been taught is a bad idea by people with vastly more experience than any of us here I guess I can't stop you." As she speaks her voice is notably more stern and there's an undertone of annoyance.

"I'd rather patrol having someone actually there to watch my back in case.... anything happens." Titania replies to the question about patrolling.

[Sønderjye]

Digging Deeper

Jack shows an appropriate ammount of gratitude for Josie's statement of confidence and help.

LegPoint

Patch can't help but feel angry. It was going so well and then it was nulled anyway. "Fine. I'll try to explore other options but if I fail and any of the guys end up crippled know that you could have prevented it."

Next Step

"I say a month", Patch chimes in, "We do need time to train and we'll be doing this for a long time, we should get in a routine of only pushiing ourselves furthest out when we need to."

"Shining Patch organization" Patch teases as if tasting the word, "even if they are criminal scum they have a good taste in names."


"How do you all feel about the five of us patrolling together at the same time, each taking adjacent streets. It will keep us able enough to counter an attack on us and will have us get to know each other in the field. Once we get reinforcements or get more comfortable we can tone it down a bit."

"I'd be conserned that something like what happened to CJ happens to us. I suggest a group of 3 and a group of 2 with sharp being in the car with me. Both groups close to each other."

Once that subject has been discussed throughly Patch brings up something else.

"Going back to the subject of wards. How do you want to approach that? With the PRT being in a poor shape for a while in town I think we need to focus some on our image. If we want to attract wards we need to appear both competent but I don't think that that is enough. What kind of image do you think we need to give to attract wards and perhaps also heroes? Of course we also need to catch Insight, I imagine that few would want to join knowing that their private identity is likely to get exposed."

"Regardless we need to do some work with the communitiees. Aside from the fact that we could greatly benefit from the help of the people in the high-crime areas we also want to make it an option for people with powers to use those for good or at least go rogue rather than trying to make a living by joining a criminal organisation. If not I'm afraid that whoever we take down will just get replaced soon after."

One on one with Windslap

At a convinient point in time Patch makes effort to visit Wind Fist, one of the two capes they initially caught. In costume of course

He had thought of the idea when they initially caught them but then the Piecemeal thing happened and he hadn't had time to do it. Going through security he feel anxious about the whole thing. He were guessing that Wind Fist would be in isolation due to security reasons which both was an advantage and a hurdle. It would help him in the sense that humans are social creatures and with Wind Fist being devoid of social contact his need for human contact were likely to make him more willing to talk. On the other hand people who had been devoid of human contact for a long time start being more violent and so forth which might make him confrontational.

In truth Patch had also been putting it off because he was unsure of his social skills but yesterday he had managed to reframe the entire scenario as an experiment which made him feel more confident.

As always he had turned his camera on and while walking towards the cell he made some final adjustments to the stuff that the bots were cooking up. Yes, that should be enough to let them work themselves the next 30 minutes.

"Wind Fist", he says with a calm voice standing outside the cell(assuming that Wind Fist can see him there). The PRT file didn't include any information about Wind Fist as a person so he had decided to just take it slow and see how the guy would react to a visitor.

[GameOfChampions]

Legpoint

Sanderson snaps at you and slams her hand onto the desk "Don't be naive Patch! You need to get over this obsession with bio tinkering you have. You are not a bio tinker, you have plenty of options left to you without bio tinkering. You could just as easily design some reinforced armor or something rather then try a form of surgery that would leave someone on bed rest for days or weeks and could possibly cripple them for life if you do it wrong. Get off your high horse Patch... you're on probation for a reason. Show me you're trustworthy and stop trying to find ways around your contract and then we can talk about your bio tinkering."

One on One with Windfist

The tall lanky form of Wind Fist looks up from lying on his cot with a bored expression "I thought you guys were gonna forget me down here. What do you want you pig."

[Chivy]

Requests

"I understand Director." Echo said, a little intimidated by Sanderson’s hard tone. She was not sure what to do until she realised that these ‘rules’ might get somebody hurt.
"Sorry. That’s not true. I DON’T understand." She squared her shoulders as if she was getting ready for a fight. She probably was.
"Patch is on probation and needs to follow the rules. This is clear and I understand that. Rehabilitation is the goal. But we need some flexibility on this. Especially if he has volunteers for his procedures. He is the best protection we have to keep the team safer. Without this we might lose more people like we lost PinPoint or even worse, like we lost J.C."

Josie took a breath, stilling her annoyance at still having found nothing about Spook’s disappearance. Slightly calmer she came up with a compromise.
"He’ll need time to research his ideas. Allow him his research at least. Then, when he’s ready, he can present what he has and you can make an informed decision. If nothing else, it’ll get the research out of the way and have it ready for the next major threat. The preparation might save every one of our lives."
She waited to see what the results of her argument would be.

The Next Step

Echo started to rub the bridge of her nose before she noticed that the armour of her mask prevented the pressure that would help with the slight headache she was developing. She had to remind herself that Titania was barely out of the Wards. Maybe she should cut the girl a little slack.
"I am sorry for my confusion Titania, but you said you were surprised at us training and getting ready for a month before engaging in the most dangerous fight we are facing and then mentioned that the Wards taught you not to put in too many hours. You can see where I am unclear as to what your opinion is?"
Her tone was patient, mollifying even.
"I am probably telling you things you already know, but not everybody served in the Wards before joining the Protectorate so this might need to be said."
"The Protectorate teams are a lot different than the Wards. For one, this is not a part-time job outside of a Ward’s actual job of going to school, studying, spending time with family and friends and other things of the like. Nor do we have a Youth Guard to enforce rules pertaining to ‘duties not egregiously impacting the need for entertainment, freedom, self-esteem or family.’" She directly quoted from the Youth Guard’s mission statement.
"What you learned in the Wards was correct."
"At least it was for the Wards and maybe even the Protectorate in other cities. It will be something we will need to teach our Wards if we go forward with setting up the Wards program in Miami. But we have many more established enemies here in Miami than in other cities, as well as less resources. Until we have taken down the most prominent threats in this city we might have to put in the extra hours. But I think we all knew this wasn’t going to be a nine to five job when we signed up."

Echo gripped the bridge of her nose again before continuing.
"This doesn’t mean that we should have to just throw away every bit of free time we have." She admonished before any objections could be voiced.
"On the one side we push for a speedy resolution, possibly tiring ourselves out, missing out on backup or some extraordinary invention Patch comes up with, but at the minimum putting our own lives on hold.
On the other side we allow our enemies more time to strengthen their positions and possibly hurt or kill more civilians."
Echo sighed before continuing
"It is a question that doesn’t have a perfect answer. That means that we must choose and then live with the choice."
"And to put it simply: I don’t want to make this choice for us by myself."
"WE make the choice and then WE live with the consequences."
She then looked each of them in the eye (or lenses). Patch’s vote for taking a month didn’t exactly surprise her, but it did make it clear that everybody felt that they needed more time for the actual engagement.
"So, that has Patch and Inertia for long training and preparing and I think Titania as well, unless I understood you wrongly?"
She left the question hanging long enough for Titania to confirm or deny before continuing
"Then we will prepare for the coming month. I’ll set up a list of things that need to be completed before we take on the Shining Path" She emphasised the word, while mentally thanking her mask for keeping her merriment at Patch’s wordplay hidden.
"I’ll have it out to you by tomorrow. As always, additions to complete the list will be welcome."

She then started trying to bring the different subjects to a close.
"There are only five of us right now, so we’ll rotate the roster or I’ll fill the third position in both teams with my other selves. At least until we get additional help. We’ll also keep the patrols close enough together that they can support each other quickly if things go pear shaped.
If so Patch, Titania and Deft will be in the first patrol, Snap, Inertia and Force will be in the second. Sharp will join whichever patrol needs her or replaces Patch if he needs to spend additional time in his lab. This should give each patrol some muscle as well as versatility.
Agreed?"

On the subject of the Wards she says
"Yes that is true, the PRT is in poor shape, but Vanguard already has had some contact with the former Wards. We could build on that. Snap, could you reach out to them in the same way? Maybe enlist Inertia’s or Titania’s help? I think you were recently in the wards yourselves?"
She directed the question at the two newest members
"So are we agreed that we’ll be starting the preliminaries to starting up the Miami Wards again? Starting by using the interviews many of us are getting requests for to spread the word that the Wards program will be returning to Miami and with reaching out to the former Wards?"
"I’ll start researching what the possibilities are for the old wards to return without too much Youth Guard hassle."
"We will work out the other particulars during the next few weeks, but this should give us a good start."

When Patch raised the possibilities of investing effort into bonding with the community/
"I’m not sure how we would work with the communities. Showing ourselves patrolling and preventing crime would be a very good start. But any other suggestions and how to go about it is something we should all give some thought to."

The training question had resulted in an answer she had been hoping for, at least the others agreed with the need for structured training.
"Excellent, then I will see all of you for close quarters combat training at ten A.M. tomorrow and then every Friday, Monday and Wednesdays. Or if you feel like finding your own trainers, let us know with whom you’ll be training. Some of us might prefer what you came up with."
"We’ll also schedule a weekly sparring session to allow us to test ourselves against each other."

[Ramsus]

The Next Step

During Echo's monologue Titania stands still just looking at her. There's no way to tell how she's reacting to it and it was even possible she wasn't even awake until it's proven otherwise by her nodding in response to agreeing that they should take things slow. She knew this was the image she was projecting and was doing so intentionally. Even though this means having to suppress a laugh at Patch's joke.

"I would be fine trying to talk to the old Wards or um...new potential ones." she replies.

She thinks a bit about the community relations thing, but doesn't have any ideas in particular and wonders if the others will.

[GameOfChampions]

Requests

Sanderson's arms fold across her chest and her eyes harden "Flexibility is allowed but only in situations outside of the norm such as the Piecemeal incident or other Class A/S threats. Right now though this is an average day on the job, this isn't the exception this is the rule. If Patch is allowed to break the rules here then there is no limitations on him for him to follow that will let us judge him as a functional member. He has other options available to him for protection besides this. This job will always have risks no matter what protection you have and that's something you'll have to accept. Try attempting research into protection that doesn't break his contract first."

[Silent_p]

Digging deeper

Pleased at getting some smiles out of Josie, Ji Yu was content to let the other two hash out some of the practicality of the possible enhancements. As things wound down, she nodded briefly at Josie and Jack. "If you could keep me in the loop, cc me or whatever, I'd appreciate it. Anything that keeps me able to stay in the action and help is something I'll consider. Just nothing that musses my hair or requires the loss of a limb. Standard, y'know?"

The next step

"I'm all for some serious training," Snap said, throwing her two cents in. "If the trainers are there, I'll be using 'em. Not quite twenty-four-seven," she added, glancing at Titania, "but still pretty heavily." She wasn't terribly pleased that the team would be taking a month to ready itself but, given the more democratic style Echo was using, the majority had spoken. Plus, she largely squandered her time in trying and failing to come up with a convincing counter-argument. She nodded in agreement with the final proposed patrol compositions - it seemed too risky to patrol solo in any way just yet.

Snap blinked at Echo looking to her regarding the Wards. "Uh..." She responded intelligently, having no idea what gave the impression that that would be something she'd be good at. Teenagers could be terrible! Still, she looked over at the younger team members who might be a much better help, glad that Titania was able to make a coherent reply to Echo.

Moving in

"Sure, I can lend a hand. When and where do you want me?" Not that Ji Yu was looking forward to the frequently arduous task of moving in itself, but getting to know her teammates was always worthwhile - they'd be looking out for each other in life and death situations, after all - plus, helping people was a good thing when you could.

[Ramsus]

Moving In

Avelina texts Ji Yu the address of her new apartment and suggests a time about an hour after the movers should have brought her stuff over, just to make sure it will all be there before Ji Yu gets there even if the movers are a bit slow or something like that. And to give Avelina some time to buy some basics.

Later when Ji Yu arrives Avelina will have been doing some minor unpacking already and will greet her with, "Hey. I think it's just going to be the two of us. Can I get you anything to drink? I've got... water, cola, and some lemonade." Unlike other things, the cups don't need unpacking because she just bought them, given she hadn't realized she was going to need to bring such things.

((GoC can I get a description of the apartment and did it come with any furnishings or other notable features? Also wondering if it's in a high rise apartment complex or something or basically just where it is and stuff. Don't need an address though. I'd probably never remember it anyway.))

[Mono Vertigo]

The Next Step

Inertia nodded slowly and sighed and relief. "That's what I meant about the training, yeah. What we meant."
About the Wards, she replied: "Yes! That's a good one, developing the program. We could somehow do that at the same time we improve our relations with the community, maybe? Like, we emphasize the ways we help capes, and the ways they help their community, and how it's more, y'know, beneficial for everybody than having rogues working independently. Maybe even encourage young capes who are currently into villainy but not 100% into it to join us because it'd be a lot safer for them. I think that's doable, all the supervillains in Miami aren't mass murderers and maniacs. I don't think they are, anyway."
Of course, Inertia was not, at that point, entirely aware of Patch' and Snap's legal situations.

[Sønderjye]

Digging Deeper

"I think I'll talk to her in person but I'll keep you in the loop as to what happens", Jack responds to Ji Yu.

LegPoint

Patch feels the anger rise to the surface and a surge to match the Director's aggresion but with all forcibly shoves it beneat the facade of politeness. Even it he would feel much better yelling at the director it would be counter-productive for his purposes.

"Yes Director. Thank you for your time." he says before he with a respectful nod gets up and leaves the room.

Once outside the room he continually have to remind himself of the cameras while he heads to the lab to try to get some of his frustration out through work.

Negative

To: Echo, Snap
From: Patch
Subject: Physical Enhancement

The talk with the director didn't go well. I don't think we can expect physical enhancements anytime soon.

//Patch

The Next Step


"There are only five of us right now, so we’ll rotate the roster or I’ll fill the third position in both teams with my other selves. At least until we get additional help. We’ll also keep the patrols close enough together that they can support each other quickly if things go pear shaped.
If so Patch, Titania and Deft will be in the first patrol, Snap, Inertia and Force will be in the second. Sharp will join whichever patrol needs her or replaces Patch if he needs to spend additional time in his lab. This should give each patrol some muscle as well as versatility.
Agreed?"

Patch nods. "Where do we want to focus our patrolling? If we start patrolling in the more safe areas that could be percieved as a sign of weakness which might encourage the groups to engage us. On the other hand we might not be ready to patrol the more dangerous areas."

Jack is happy to allow the others to progress on the wards program on their own. As things were he already had plenty to look at and that was without the plans he was still cooking.


"I’m not sure how we would work with the communities. Showing ourselves patrolling and preventing crime would be a very good start. But any other suggestions and how to go about it is something we should all give some thought to."

About the Wards, she replied: "Yes! That's a good one, developing the program. We could somehow do that at the same time we improve our relations with the community, maybe? Like, we emphasize the ways we help capes, and the ways they help their community, and how it's more, y'know, beneficial for everybody than having rogues working independently. Maybe even encourage young capes who are currently into villainy but not 100% into it to join us because it'd be a lot safer for them. I think that's doable, all the supervillains in Miami aren't mass murderers and maniacs. I don't think they are, anyway."

"How would you suggest that we show them those things?" Patch asks diplomatically. He didn't agree one bit that the PRT was helping capes or that they were helping the community. The PRT were in this for themselves. However he partly didn't want to give the young cape negative feedback now and partly he was curious as to what image Inertia had of the PRT.

"I don't think that we should limit ourselves to young capes. Many people turn to crime if they can't find other ways of providing for themselves or their family or they feel anger or resentment towards society. And the prison system is setting them up for more crime by isolating them from society and sending them back to where they came from with even less opportunities since they now both are older and have a prison background." Patch says with a serious look, "so what would make people less liable to get into crime is if they see a way out. Changing this is tricky of course. Does anyone know of any local festives comming up sometime soon? If so we could try to persuade the organisers to move some of it to the poor districts so the locals could get some of the money in, perhaps bargain that we will make a public appearance there. Alternatively we could reach out to the individual people who are in detention and try to persuade them that there's other options and try to arrange it so they get to those options. Even if we only get around to a small number of people the rumour will spread."

Inertia might have forgotten it or not heard it but Patch did say he was on probation during the prep scene.

Training Session

The teacher's hand once again make palm-to-face contact and Patch falls backwards, failing to regain his footing. The teacher had been going at him for at least 30 minutes and from his now sitting position Patch was sure that he was spotting a hint of a smug smile behind the polite facade. He shakes his head once and gets back to his feet. Despite most of his body hurting this was nothing compared to the frustration he felt from interacting with the director.

When the lesson was over he dries his face, looks at the armor-in-process, makes a few adjustments to the commandline of the nanobots and heads over to the shooting range. McNikkel, the teacher, had somehow gotten into their head that it would be better for Patch to shoot after being exhausted after training, arguing that Patch would end up in situations where he was exhausted and sore and still needed to be able to hit precisely. Jack wasn't thrilled with the idea but he was going along with it. He was painfully aware how lucky he had been with the shot of Windfist.

This was just intended to fluff Patch's training a little more out. However people are free to add in on this scene if they feel inspired to.

One-on-One with Windfist

The comment was within the expected range of respondses Patch had anticipated. Really it was as good as he could have hoped for. If he had been ignored he would have needed to provoke Windfist and this was better than yelling. Name-calling was a way for Windfist to regain some measure of control, something he had a desperate lack of given the circumstances. Which Patch might be able to turn to his advantage.

"How could I forget? Your face is still quite living in my memories" mainly because he had rewatched the video feed from the event at least 10 times by now. "You looked almost disappointed that you forgot to bring popcorn to Pyro's people toasting-show." This was a clear opening for Windfist to throw another insult at him but if Windfist now went on the defensive it would mean that he had some guilt associated with the insult or at least felt justified in doing what they did, both which would show something about his personality. Patch is also particularly watching for at to whether Windfist flashes any suprises, something that looks like it clicks or smugness.

[Silent_p]

Moving in

Dressed in a well-worn tracksuit pants and t-shirt ensemble, Ji Yu arrived just on time at the address given. She took a few moments to glance around, taking the place in. "Not too bad. Add some of your own stuff and it'll be pretty homey." She gave Avelina a smile. "Cola'd be good to start, get the sugar and caffeine high. Probably switch to water in a bit."

Giving her teammate a chance to get things ready, Ji Yu did some idle stretching. "So. What'd ya think of the neighbourhood? Heck, Miami itself?"

The Next Step

With Inertia seemingly happy to volunteer suggestions, Snap relaxed a little. At least someone had an idea how to begin. As Inertia continued, however, it struck Snap that much of what was said was enthusiastic but vague. There's be considerable work needed to flesh it all out. Patch spoke up then and, despite his ideas making sense, Snap found herself frowning.

"That's big-time planning. Tackling those kinds of socio-economic issues? I'm totally behind it but it seems like we'd need to establish ourselves more first. The bigger our profile, the more likely that is to work." She turned to Inertia. "We'll need to plan out some things, get some concrete actions decided before we reach out to them. Maybe we could meet to talk it through?" She glanced over at Titania to include her in the query.

[Ramsus]

Moving In

"Y-yeah. I didn't know there wouldn't be any furniture, sorry. I didn't have time to buy any between getting here and you getting here." Avelina replies a bit sheepishly, even though there wasn't really much she could have done to prepare for this situation since she'd had completely different expectations when she flew out here. She then goes and gets a pair of colas from the fridge and hands one to Ji Yu.

At the question, Avelina looks out the big window and replies, "Um... well the neighborhood is nice. Nicer than where I used to live I guess. I haven't been around Miami enough yet to know. Though... it is uncomfortably humid in my armor. I hope that gets upgraded soon because I'm a bit afraid I'm going to cook in it the first time we have a hot day."

"Um....how do you uh, feel about it?" she asks and begins opening one of the boxes. Surprise, it's books! That have nowhere to go without bookshelves. She sighs and moves on to the next box.

[Sønderjye]

The Next Step

"You're not wrong" Patch agrees with Snap. "All I'm saying is that we should start looking for ideas and opportunities now."

Armory

Throughout the week after the meeting Patch works together with the PRT department in creating fashionable suits. He also reaches out to his team members to allow them to design their own armors.

Gadgets and trinkets 1

When that week comes to an end Jack sends out a message to the team letting them know that the armors were finished.

"Alright", he says to the assembled heroes. "At least 7 of the local villains' have powers that can only be overcome by dodging them. I had to compromise with raw protection to make sure that we still have much of our mobility. I could have made the suits fire or electricity ressistant but that would have meant sacrifices in impact and bullet protection. Without further ado, can I borrow a brute? Force?"

If Echo agrees Patch will have Force punch a practice doll as hard as she can and then do the same to another practice doll wearing an armor.

So I actually don't know how effective the armor is so GoC will have to describe how well the doll is protected.

Titania also gets an armor that is practically identical to her previous but is air and water tight. It can also mediate temperature swings.

Gadgets and Trinkets 2

After the armors are presented Patch moves on to the second and final invention he wants to present.

"We had a little spare money from the Piecemeat incident so I went ahead and made these". He presents what looks like a piece of human skin. "Can I have a volunteer?"

[Chivy]

The Next Step

"That is a very large undertaking. Definitely something to keep in mind as soon as we have established ourselves. But yes, first we need to establish ourselves. "
The meeting had been going on for a while, and it was apparently degrading into
"So let’s bring this to a close, shall we? "
"We are all in agreement? "
"The next two weeks we’ll be patrolling in threes, after that we’ll discuss if we’re ready to tone it down and start a patrol schedule which doesn’t tire us out while still keeping at least one patrol out at all times. Give me an hour and I’ll have the schedule for the week up."
"We train daily between patrols, half of which will be CQC training."
"Snap, enlisting Titania and Inertia if she needs it, will try and contact the former Wards. Just try to get them to talk. A meeting if they’ll go for it. I’ll start looking through anything that’ll help keep Youth Guard in their kennel and allow the Wards to return with a minimum of consequences. Hopefully the Director can help out with the Protectorate not going mad with punishments."
"I’ll set up some sort of outline for taking down the Shining Path, we’ll work on it more during the week when we have some more time to think it over."
Echo then nodded at the foul brew their tinker had come up with.
"Patch, is there a way to have a pot of that stuff ready for us early in the morning? Say six am?"

Emails
To: Heroes, PRT Teams, Director Sanderson
From: Echo
Subject: Patrol Schedule for coming two weeks.

All,

After discussing it with Captain Reynolds and the PRT squad leaders I have come up with the following patrol schedule for the next few weeks.

Week 1:
00:00 – 06:00 – PRT Squad 1
06:00 – 12:00 – PRT Squad 2
12:00 – 15:00 – Protectorate Team 1 – Snap, Inertia and Force will be patrolling for two of these three hours, variate the precise time each day.
15:00 – 18:00 – Protectorate Team 2 – Patch, Titania and Deft will be patrolling for two of these three hours, variate the precise time each day.
18:00 – 21:00 – Protectorate Team 1 – Snap, Inertia and Force will be patrolling for two of these three hours, variate the precise time each day.
21:00 – 00:00 – Protectorate Team 2 – Patch, Titania and Deft will be patrolling for two of these three hours, variate the precise time each day.
PRT Squad 3 will be on call backup at headquarters during the first week.

Week 2
00:00 – 06:00 – PRT Squad 2
06:00 – 12:00 – PRT Squad 3
12:00 – 15:00 – Protectorate Team 1 – Snap, Titania and Deft will be patrolling for two of these three hours, variate the precise time each day.
15:00 – 18:00 – Protectorate Team 2 – Patch, Inertia and Force will be patrolling for two of these three hours, variate the precise time each day.
18:00 – 21:00 – Protectorate Team 1 – Snap, Titania and Deft will be patrolling for two of these three hours, variate the precise time each day.
21:00 – 00:00 – Protectorate Team 2 – Patch, Inertia and Force will be patrolling for two of these three hours, variate the precise time each day.
PRT Squad 1 will be on call backup at headquarters during the first week.

The patrol locations will be decided on each day for the next day.

Please contact me with any problems or personal preferences and we will try and factor them in.

Echo.

To: Heroes
From: Echo
Subject: Preparations

All,

I have given the operation we spoke about some thought and discussed it among myself and I believe we will need a few things to prepare besides the training we agreed on.
Maps of the area, preferably satellite ones.
The location of their base or bases of operation and a definite outline of their territory.
The approximate amount of non-capes in the area working for them.
Any patrol schedules they have would also be a definite asset.

We’ll need to contact local law enforcement to assist in our raid where they’ll focus on the non-capes and we will focus on the capes.

They will be using firearms, so if your current armour is not bullet resistance, make sure you upgrade with PRT gear and get used to wearing it for this mission at least.

Anything else you can come up with, please contact me.

Echo.

Armory
Echo makes the time to help Patch in any way she can, either Sharp or Deft is often on hand to be a test subject. Her armour needs to be tough enough to give protection, but also flexible enough to allow Deft to fully use her superhuman agility and flexibility without being slowed down. As well as a few other additions.

Gadgets and Trinkets 1

Echo nodded to Patch before Splitting. Afterwards Force followed his instructions and hit the practice doll as hard as she could in the obvious armour plates. She then continued by hitting on joints or other less than obviously well-armoured sections.

Gadgets and Trinkets 2

"Might as well be me." Sharp said, then rolled up her sleeve for Patch to do whatever he wanted to show.
Had a little more that i wanted to get done, but i ran out of time and wanted to get this up.

[Silent_p]

Moving In

Ji Yu waves off Avelina's apologies about the lack of furniture - it wasn't unexpected on move-in day in a new city. "Don't worry, I've been in far less comfortable accommodation. Still here to tell the tale," she added with a smile, accepting her soda. "Thanks."

"Yeah, the weather'll definitely get to you. Might be some kind of cooling system Patch can fix up. Just tell him how great his coffee is and he'll be well pleased to assist - funds and time depending, I suppose."

She shrugged, scratching the back of her neck as she watched Avelina open a box of books. "It's alright, I guess. Humidity's killer, as you said so you gotta dress for it, when you can. This'll be soaked through before long," she said, plucking at her t-shirt. "But that's why they invented power showers." She smiled again and hunkered down next to her teammate. "Ok if I start opening boxes?"

The Next Step

Snap nodded along again as Echo summarised the decisions reached, a little more slowly and thoughtfully on this occasion. She looked up when Patch's coffee was made, then pointed a finger at Echo. "I get addicted to that stuff, I'm blaming you," she said, with a quick grin.

Emails
To: Echo
From: Snap
Subject: Patrol Schedule for coming two weeks.

Hey,

I shouldn't complain and you've put good work into that schedule but it leaves Patch with a lot of the night shift both weeks. If he's good with that, it's cool but I'm good to switch out and take some late nights as needed.

Let me know! Whenever you've a chance, that is. Know you're busy.

-Snap

------------
To: Titania; Inertia
From: Snap
CC: Echo
Subject: The Wards

Hey,

You guys up for finding some time to discuss the Wards in the next couple of days? I think it'd be good to get some ideas hammered out before the end of the week.

Thanks,

-Snap

Try, try and try again

Yeah, self-defence classes were kindergarten compared to actual hand-to-hand combat. All the fight training Snap had done previously had been focused on escaping dangerous situations as effectively as possible. That was great for civilians caught in trouble but now... Well, now Snap was in the Protectorate. And, despite her first outing, she couldn't afford to hide or run from trouble any more.

But oh was it painful.

Having taken Echo's advice to heart, she was in costume and sparring with the hand-to-hand trainer. She knew she'd need to broaden her skills more but, for the moment, anything that could assist her hit-and-run style was valuable. As was the ability to defend herself for prolonged periods - never could tell when she'd need to stand her ground after all.

Days went by and, as the bruises added up, Snap was frustrated at how little progress she was making. The trainer took time to reassure her - while simultaneously smacking her in the face for the eighth time that session - that it was a long road and yadda, yadda... Sure, she listened but getting better was imperative. Anyone who half knew her would tell that she quickly grew very intense after her martial arts training.

Gadgets and trinkets 1

Gathered at the tinker's request, Snap stood aside as Force was called upon for a practical demonstration/test. Damn but the woman could hit - power and precision that Snap envied badly as her own bruises throbbed in sympathy with the test dummy's. She watched intently, hoping to gain some combat insights and, hey, she could admire the form too, right?

Gadgets and trinkets 2

Snap leaned forward a little as Patch presented something new. It looked like... Nah. But, then again... Sharp promptly volunteered. "I'd say better you than me," she called after the woman, "but I'm not sure whatever that is, is good for anyone..." She gave an exaggerated shrug in an attempt to show that she was joking. Mostly.

[Ramsus]

Moving In

"Yeah, of course. Thanks." Avelina replies with a smile.

After a while of opening boxes the following things become clear:
-Avelina has a ton* of books. And currently nowhere to put them so they're just staying in the boxes.
*(Probably) not a literal ton.
-She has a lot of different clothes. The closets get completely full of the things that can be hung and shoes underneath them. Also rather oddly, the clothes are in all sorts of different styles and qualities. On one end there are ratty clothes that would appear to be someone who lives on the street and on the other there are a small number of articles that seem like the kind of thing fashion models wear which have prices that you can't remember because your mind blocks out the memory to keep you sane. There are also several items that seem to be costumes, probably from plays. Also various outfits that are probably meant as disguises unless Avelina has been a repairman, a nurse, a lawyer, and a good many other things in her short time on this earth. Notably there are only a few outfits of each kind of style, often only one or two. It gives the impression less of someone's wardrobe and more like an alien attempted to bring back a large sampling of the fashion of earth to show off to their home planet. There is a pajama suit made to look like a business suit, why?
-There's a lot of makeup, hair care products, different scented soaps, perfumes, and various other appliances and items one would use for maintaining or changing their appearance. The variety of nail polish alone threaten to cause a moment of enlightenment as one almost fully grasps the amazing amount of colors a person's eyes can see and cause a cascading appreciation of the astounding variety life has to offer.
-She doesn't have any plates, utensils, cups, or really anything at all to eat with so it's a really good thing she's going to be ordering food.
-There are no pictures of loved ones or really anything that would reveal her identity to anyone who happened to come in if she wasn't around.

At some point about half-way through Avelina asks, "So... um... what kind of pizza do you want? Or I mean... I guess we could order something else. Whatever you like really. It's just the two of us. Um, no reason to need to get something that works ok for everyone. I'm ok with pretty much anything, so um.. really, whatever you'd like."

Emails

To: Snap; Inertia
From: Titania
CC: Echo
Subject: Re: The Wards

Sure, just let me know when!

-*~*Titania*~*

Armory

Avelina tries to be as detailed and helpful as possible, which includes handing over her suit so Patch go see whatever he needs to copy.

Gadgets and Trinkets 1

After getting into her suit of armor and taking a few steps and a few breaths, Avelina sighs and says quietly to herself. "Aaaah, this is so much better. No longer will I come out of this feeling like a half-melted popsicle."

Gadgets and Trinkets 2

Avelina breaths a sigh of relief that Echo volunteered before anyone could look her way and maybe suggest one of the new people should be the test subject.

Archery Practice

After her new instructor ran her through the paces to make sure she had the basics down and otherwise figure out what she could do, she was finally practicing what she wanted to. Moving and shooting moving targets with various weights attached to her arrows so that she could be ready for when, hopefully soon, Patch made those trick arrows for her. It was a lot tougher than she thought it was going to be and she frequently felt like she had when she'd been just starting to learn to use a bow. A lot of frustration and time chewed up just trying to figure out what she was doing wrong. At least this time around she understood what the instructor meant when they gave advice, even if it wasn't as simple as hearing the words and putting them into practice.
By the end of the month she's pretty confident and happy with her progress. Though she's still no Green Arrow/Hawkeye. One day. Maybe. Probably not. A girl can dream.

Patrolling with Elves

Turns out your average tough really want to throw a punch (that won't land) at a light elf and really doesn't want to do the same to a dark elf. Who knew!? Ok yeah everyone. Titania still found it pretty entertaining nonetheless to watch a guy exhaust himself against an opponent he just can't land a hit on or watch another shriek as they saw something they really didn't want to see pop out of a dark alley and scare them into submission just by grating it's knives against each other, walking slowly, and giving a smile (I mean, technically it counts as a smile even if the mind refuses to believe such an abhorrent lie). Even a third or fourth time she still found these sights just as entertaining as the first.

[Sønderjye]

The Next Step

Patch didn't really think that they needed to establish themselves before they would start doing the trying to help the slum-residents out of crime but he was clearly the minority.

"Sure, will have"

Gadgets and Trinkets 2

Patch then straps the skin-like thing around Echo's neck and picks one up and does the same to himself. The skin connects smoothly and it doesn't look like any of the two are wearing anything. He then looks at Echo, expectantly.

[GameOfChampions]

Pre Time Skip

Gadgets and Trinkets 1

If the dummies had not been properly secured into the ground the force of Forces attacks would have sent them flying but you can see on the high end practice dummies what injuries would have occurred. The unarmored dummy shows the broken ribs, a fractured arm and the blunt force trauma damage on the dummy. When the armor is taken off the other dummy you see one cracked rib and some light blunt force trauma damage.

Emails

To: Echo
From: Director Sanderson
Subject: Patrol Schedule for coming two weeks

Hello Echo

This seems well thought out, put it into action and let me know how it's working. I'd like daily reports on the patrols.

Regards
Directot Sanderson

One-on-One with Windfist

Windfist just yawns loudly, showing all of his teeth before he settles into the small cot. He seemed pretty nonchalant and frankly a little bored with the little conversation that had occurred so far. "Worse faces to get stuck in your head then my mug and I wouldn't have minded the popcorn cause all the food I've got here has been ****."

He rolls his eyes a bit as if thinking about the food situation here before looking back to your with an eyebrow raised.

During Time Skip


New Friends Abound(2 Days In)

To: Heroes
From: Director Sanderson
Subject: New Members

Hello Everyone

I have sent word has gone around the PRT for any more new recruits who would be willing to be transferred over her and keeping an eye out for new recruits. I've gotten word that two will be joining us later this afternoon. I know the team membership has been in flux lately but I'm sure it will settle down when the situation in Miami settles down. I hope you will show the new recruits the ropes and treat them well.

Regards
Director Sanderson

The Director appears later in the afternoon in your office space and calls out "Everyone I'm here with your new teamates. I don't have much time today so if you could introduce yourselves and show them around that would be lovely."

She gestures at the two people who came in just behind her and smiles at them "Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be in my office or you can email me."

Brawling in the Streets(2 Week Mark)

The news was quickly making it's way across various types of media and the Information department sent out a memo with the facts they had gathered. The Grey Hand had launched a brutal attack on the Shining Path, possibly because of the loss of two members the Shining Path had just suffered. They had sent half a dozen of the unpowered gang members to a hospital, where the police ended up picking them up, and apparently mauled their lieutenant Barricade. They had then, either purposefully or not, set a large Shining Path drug warehouse on fire.

[n0ble]

Homecoming

Max got off the bus a few blocks before the Protectorate HQ. He hadn't taken much with him, aside from a duffle bag with his personal stuff, hygiene material and a bottle of something the team in Chicago had gotten him before leaving. Goddam did he hate being back in the city. Everything was just a bit too warm for him as he stepped off the bus, and he could already tell he was going to be sweating through his shirt and khakis by the time he crossed the few blocks to the HQ.

He idly looked around while his hand went into a back pocket and fished out his smokes. He too a long drag before trying to remember which direction the place was in. His gaze caught some teenager that was passing by with a dirty look on her face, like she just stepped in something foul smelling. It took Max a second to realize her eyes were flitting from his cigarette to him and back again. "Isn't today a school day? Fuc-" he stopped himself. Not cursing was something he'd been trying to work on. Instead he flicked the butt down into the woman's path before giving her his best smile. He jabbed a pointer finger at her "Stay in school." He didn't wait for a response, instead Max shouldered his bag and walked off in the opposite direction towards the headquarters.

New Friends Abound

He wiped some sweat off his forehead with an arm before falling in behind the director. "Nice place." He ventured some humour as they walked to meet the team, "You got air conditioning in this joint?"

As they moved into the office space and the director made her announcement Max plopped his bag down before looking at the room and the people in it, "S'up?"

[3SecondCultist]

Homecoming

Bella stands under the Miami sun, decidedly not enjoying her crisp ice coffee caramel macchiato. The drink is already half-melting, little beads of condensation gathering around her fingertips as she stands on the far side of the street from the Miami PRT Headquarters. She's been standing here staring for at least five straight minutes, avoiding the next major decision of her life. The PRT officers she spoke to directed her here, and apparently the Director was waiting for her, but she could still walk away. Some people might come looking for her, but with her new abilities, she could probably stay hidden. Or she could go inside, and face an unexpected future. Either option terrifies her.

F*ck.

In the end, it's the smell of a particularly acrid cigarette that catches her attention. There's a man not ten feet away, with a duffel bag, who's lit a roll of low tar. Without even realizing it, Bella's face has already closed off, adopting a defensive expression that one could easily mistake for condescension. Probably thinks I'm some kind of junkie or weirdo or something. There's no way he can tell she's a cape, right? The moment of anxiety passes when the man tells her off for not being in school. Bella chokes down a snort of real derision this time before stepping off of the curb, her mind now made up. I'm not Paolo. No way in hell I turn out like that a*shole.


New Friends Abound

Bella is the third person to enter, after the Director and the other apparent new addition to the team. She chuckled to herself in the elevator when she realized they were probably going to the same place. Even now, looking at him, she's curious to see how he'll react to being on display here. Deep down, she knows she should probably care about setting the kind of tone she wants to maintain here. First impressions are key to building a reputation; it's something she's learned over years of getting her way, whether at school, with her friends, or even just speaking to strangers. But not here. Here, she needs to learn to be somebody other than Bella Santiago.

Bella can't get the job done on her own - as a new cape, she is officially out of her depth. So she stays silent for the time being, merely waving an arm and saying a few polite hellos when first introduced by the Director. While her beautiful features and fit figure probably do not go unnoticed, the girl's attitude is somewhere between demure and skeptical for the time being. Still, best to test the waters with something, and she'll need to hear some voices if she's going to be practicing her impersonation skills.

"Hey there," she says by way of introduction. "Bella Rodriguez. Is there somewhere I can get some water?"

[Sønderjye]

Gadgets and Trinkets 1

"Right, so they can help you take a bunch of hit but don't stand there and take it. I'm afraid I don't have any idea that can offer better protection without putting metal inside you and even if you were OK with that I'm barred from doing so."

One-on-one with Windfist

Patch contemplates the possibility that Windfist was just hiding a guilt but decides to just run the recording of him through his an emotion detecting program when he gets that set up and for now assume that Windfist felt no guilt or at least felt justified. Time to try another angle.

"Yeah, I could imagine that. They are pretty **** at most things. I wonder how they manage to stay an organization."

He looks at Windfist for a little while as if thinking: "Why did you become a villain?"

New Friends Abound

Patch frowns towards his computer as if intense frowning would somehow get the message to go away. He clicks his tongue in annoyance. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate getting more power for the team or that the director had gone ahead and done this without asking them, it was just that two new people threw a stick into his accounting plan, which he had already written out. He leans back into the chair and sighs, so much for getting the work done early.

When the director arrives Patch sits in an office chair, in costume as always, and makes some adjustments to the current invention in progress by eye-movements on the glasses in between reading over the files for the new guys.

On a table beside a big whitebord, there's some cups and a container labelled with
"Tinker-coffee
Consume with caution"

"Director, would you like a cup before you leave?". Sure it was bribery. Sure it left Patch a sour taste in the mouth. Sure he probably wouldn't get anything out of it within any reasonable time frame. But Patch would be willing to gnaw off his left arm and shove it somewhere dark if it meant he could do bio-tinkering. Well, specifically do bio-tinkering without worrying about being jailed for lifetime.

He gets up to greet the new members with a smile and a handshake. "Patch, Chief Scientist and Senior Accountant, also the team's tinker." he then steps back allowing the others to get a turn of presenting themselves.

Once the conversation reaches a point where someone offers to show Bella and Max around Patch will excuse himself with needed to work on the equiptment. "However I'd like to get a armored suit up for your guys before you start patrolling. Swing by the lab whenever you have time to get measured and come with design input." he doesn't add how desperately their previous members needed protection, deciding that it probably would be unproductive.

Not ignoring the question regarding water. I just feel like I have enough already and don't feel like being greedy. If nobody else shows Bella, assume that Patch did.

[Chivy]

Emails

To: Snap
From: Echo
Subject: Re: Patrol Schedule for coming two weeks.

Thank you. I missed that while setting up the schedule. I’ll discuss it with Patch and make it up to him if he decides to keep the current shifts. Thanks for offering to help out.

Echo


To: Patch
From: Echo
Subject: Patrol Schedule for coming two weeks.

Patch,

I set up the patrol schedule for the next two weeks, but missed that I had put you in the late patrol for the entirety of the two weeks. If you want, Snap has offered to trade a few patrols with you so you’re not up late every evening.

Echo

Snap-Trap Attack

After one of the CQC sessions where Snap was part of the group training with her Echo approached her and asked her to drop by the training room that afternoon.

When Snap entered the room there were a few training dummies set around the room wearing what looked like old cape uniforms, surrounded by thick mattresses. Echo was standing beside a crate when she came in, but walked up to her with a friendly wave and a smile (she was wearing her half-face mask).
"Thanks for coming."
"Sharp was thinking about our tactics against the shining Path a few days ago after Force had been watching a few interviews by S.W.A.T. and D.E.A. team leaders who had ran ops against..." she trailed off before she continued he explanation
"Well ,what it comes down to is that I came up with an idea."
Echo waved at the dummies before walking back to the crate and opening it, a faint fishy smell emanated from its contents. A closer look showed nets. Fishing nets and a lot of them. She pulled one out and laid it out on the ground, it was about four square meters and the holes in it showed that it had been used before.
"Sorry, I didn’t have time to get some new ones made. These are old but they should do to see if my idea works. "
"You see with you we have an avenue of attack most people don’t have. You can appear out of nowhere, there’s no way to defend against that. I was thinking about appearing behind somebody and how great that is in any combat, but then I thought about the one place almost everybody is vulnerable; from above. You can appear above people and use your descent to hit them, before rolling away. Bing a nice club and you’re knocking people out all over the place. "
"Then I thought about that being only one single chance to hit people, and your blast would actually help them avoid your hit a bit, so I thought about how we could use all of that to take people out of the fight quickly and I came up with a net. "
She shrugged a bit, half-proud, half embarrassed at the idea.
"If you can teleport a spread out net like this with you above somebody, and I’m right, most of the snap blast will come from you, pushing the net down over them. If we make them out of interlinked metal with hooks to anchor it into clothes and armour, like those old gladiator nets, you’d trap somebody in one easily. I read Titania can summon metalworkers for this kind've thing, so it wouldn't even take from Patch's build time and otherwise I can probably help construct a few nets."
"We could even add black cloth into the gaps of the net to catch your blast better and slapping around the person below you and that’ll blind anybody you trap while you simply roll away from them."
Echo was getting excited while explaining the idea, then looked at the net laying on the ground and at the dummies. The function of the mattresses around them was now clear; they were to break Snap’s fall.
"So what do you think?"

Gadgets and trinkets 1

"Nice work Patch." all three Echoes said in unison after Force had stopped punching the dummy. A bullet would still hurt, but she’d take pain over holes being blown in any of her team.

Gadgets and trinkets 2

Sharp looked bemused for a bit, then nodded.
"This will come in handy," she said, a smile spreading across her face
"again. Nice work patch."

New Friends Abound

The two people with Director Sanderson couldn’t be more different. A severe man who looked like he was a brawler and a young woman who looked like she should be in some fashion magazine. She’d read their files as soon as the Director has sent them over. Maxwell Richards, Apogee, was experienced, and his powers were potentially among the strongest in the Protectorate, if he had time to develop them. Isabella Santiago, Volta, was new. very new.

"Maxwell and Isabella right? It’s good to have you aboard." Josie said then shook each of their hands
"I’m Josephine Reynolds, Josie for short, Echo in costume. And I guess for now I’m the unofficial team leader here. We’ll get you squared away and then show you around the place."
"I don’t know if the Director informed you, but you both have a small room with a bed here. They’re very small rooms, so if you need one, you’ll also be assigned an apartment in the city. Kitchen is just down the hall to your left if you’re hungry of thirsty."
She looked at the others around her.
"Could one of you who isn’t on patrol in a few show them around? Patch, I’ll take your next few patrols so you can work on their costumes. Don’t forget to run Volta’s past branding, she’s new to the protectorate."
She then turned back to the new members
"I’m sorry, but I’ll want you both a part of the patrol schedule as soon as possible. We are slightly understaffed."
"That doesn’t mean you should feel the pressure; take your time to get settled in, but as soon as you are both ready, tell me and I’ll add you to a patrol."
Josie then smiled at Isabella to soften what she had said, patrolling might be something scary or overwhelming for a new cape.
"For now we’re patrolling in teams of two or three. So you’ll have time to learn the ropes before we tone it down some more."

[Silent_p]

Moving In

Ji Yu got lost in the rhythm of sorting and ordering the various contents of Avelina's boxes. The time passed fairly quickly overall with clothes hung carefully and cosmetics stacked and shelved neatly. No sense in leaving her teammate with another tedious organisation job when she was already here to assist. She made a few appreciative comments about articles of clothing she liked and merely gave a shrug at the varied professional outfits she noticed. "Well, I guess you can be thankful we're not the same size," she said as they reached the last of the clothing. "Saves you having to suffer me borrowing stuff." She raised a hand to her the side of her mouth as if whispering off to someone her side. "I'm terrible about buying my own..." She said in a stage whisper, unable to keep the grin off her face.

She was reading the spine of a book when Avelina mentioned pizza. Glancing over briefly, she shrugged. "Anything that doesn't have olives on it good. I'll eat 'em in a salad but they can stay the hell away from my pizza."

Snap-Trap Attack

Snap was delighted to be invited to some kind of one-on-one training with Echo and quickly agreed. She spent far too much time in the run-up to the agreed session wondering if there was anything she should or could bring. Some tinker-coffee? Donuts? Bottled cucumber water? After ten minutes going over increasingly outlandish options in her head she forced herself to stop. It was just a training session. Appropriately costumed for the training room, she arrived with two bottles of plain, still water. Anything more would have been weird, right?

Returning Echo's wave and smile, she offered the woman one of the bottles as she briefly eyed the crate. Snap listened quietly as her leader went through her idea, explaining what she had in mind. Though she itched to interject with some jokes and get a laugh out of the woman, she restrained herself - this was important. She nodded slowly as Echo wound down. "Yeah... I'd been thinking about throwing some gravity assisted attacks into the mix. Y'know, snap a couple of metres into the air above them and drop down with a punch? Haven't gotten around to trying it yet - trainers are sticklers for walking before running." She approached the crate and netting. "Round-about way of saying that it's definitely worth a shot."

Hefting some net, she turned back to Echo. "If I manage the distance, I might be able to do this without worrying about creating any disturbances. Those are pretty much limited to snaps over twenty-five metres." Pulling a net out of the crate, she glanced at Echo again, a grin pulling at her lips. "I imagine you'd prefer I test it on the dummies before trying to tie you up?"

Gadgets and Trinkets 1

Hands held behind her back as she steps forward to inspect the results of Force's pummeling, Snap can't help but give the woman a once over, clearly impressed. "That's a hell of good job." She paused deliberately before looking at Patch. "Oh, and the armour's good too," she added with a cheeky smile. "Thanks, Patch."

Gadgets and Trinkets 2

Peering uncertainly at the new 'skin', Snap glances at Patch. "Feeling like I'm bottom of the class here but what does it do?"

New Friends Abound

Ji Yu was casually pouring herself a half-cup of tinker-coffee - she was hoping to sleep sometime in the next week - when the Director brought the new recruits in. She took a moment or two to eye them as Patch and Josie greeted them, chuckling lightly at the former's description of his jobs. Taking a quick sip from her cup, she stepped forward next to Josie. "She's too modest. Doing all the work of team leader that well pretty much makes you team leader," she said, looking at Josie as she finished.

Turning back to the newcomers, she smiled at them and stuck out her hand. "Ji Yu, Snap in costume. Welcome to the Miami Protectorate. Air-con can probably be moved up a notch and there's a water fountain around her somewhere."

[Sønderjye]

Emails

To: Echo
From: Patch
Subject: Patrol Schedule for coming two weeks.

Sure,

Patch

Gadgets and Trinkets 1

Jack smiles at the praise.

"There's a few villains out there whose powers work better if they get your bare skin, however I feel that we would be looking too intimidating to civilians if they never could see any parts of our faces. I came up with this", Patch pushes on the side of the helmet and a visor drops down, consealing the face of the doll.

This isn't actually about being intimidating. I just feel like I can make much more detailed posts when I can include facial expressions.

Gadgets and Trinkets 2

Jack shoots Josie a look of disapproval. This had been a prime opportunity for messing with the team members. He sighs and explains: "I call them Telepaths. They allow us to link our minds togehter in the lightest fashion, communicate telepathically and coordinate our movements. Or at least that's what I hope that the enemy will think. In reality they are essentially like our comms except that they pick up and conseal your throat noices and convert that to how it would sound if you used your mouth to speak. They allow us to talk without anyone hearing us, so we can talk strategy in front of villains without them noticing. They default to communicate directly with all other Telepaths but can be adjusted to only send to individuals or to send over the comms."

New Friends Abound

Patch nods in appreciation of Echo's offer. "Don't exhaust yourself", he reminds her.

[3SecondCultist]

New Friends Abound

Bella does her best to listen to each and everyone's voice as they speak, filing the tones away for later use. I'll be a bit rusty at first, but it's probably better to start practicing now so I can try it in the field. She's under no delusions; pretending to sound like somebody else is kind of a new skill for her, and one that she'll need to work on. She takes Echo's hand first, before accepting any others that are extended her way. She'll need to fit in here, or at least look like she wants to belong, so Bella cracks a polite smile.

"Thanks. I don't have much in the way of stuff with me, but what I do have I'd like to put somewhere." She doesn't say that she appreciates the idea of privacy more than she does the offer of accommodation itself. Instead of water, Bella decides to try a bit of the 'tinker-coffee'. It's a good low-hanging branch, even if she doesn't really like the stuff. Besides, if she had wanted caffeine, she'd have finished the macchiato. She eventually turns to Patch.

"I actually have some ideas for a costume that I'd like to incorporate into an armor design, so once I drop everything off, I should be able to get measured. Just lead the way."


Sizing Up

"So," Bella says by way of breaking another self-imposed silence as she and Patch head to the latter's workshop to get fitted for armor. "You're the group's tinker. From what I've read about capes, you're like the gadgeteer, right? I heard from a... friend that all tinkers have some kind of specialty. If you don't mind my asking, what's yours?" She's already thinking about the field, about how to use her power in conjunction with other teammates and to stay hidden from enemies. The best way to do it would probably be to disguise herself as another kind of cape, and somebody who has no inherent powers of their own would probably be the best bet.

She doesn't voice any of this out loud yet, however. Hopefully she'll be able to lead this 'Patch' to come up with the idea on his own. And if he doesn't... well either way, she'll get a good measure of the man.

[Ramsus]

New Friends Abound

"Uh... hello. I'm Avelina. Titania in costume." Avelina greets the two new people a bit timidly. She looks over to Mallory and jokingly says, "I guess this means we're not the new kids anymore."

Moving In

"Oh. I wouldn't have minded. I could... assist you with shopping sometime if... you wanted?" Aveline replies, half-shyly half-amused.

Avelina just gives a quiet, "Huh." at Ji Yu's objection to olives on pizza and orders two specialty pizzas without olives from a local pizzeria/local chain. She makes special note to ask for extra plates, napkins, and utensils.

((I imagine it's probably around dark by the time they're finished with the boxes and eating. Would Ji Yu wind up leaving around then or do they have the saddest slumber party ever because of the whole nothing to sleep on but the floor thing and no pillows to fight with?))

[n0ble]

New Friends Abound

"Nice to meetcha Ji Yu, glad to be here." He gave a good handshake before turning to the acting team leader and offering a similar gesture. "Just Max m'am, I'm good with getting right into it whenever you need me to. Be good to get back in the swing of things after the bus ride." He stopped at her mention of places to live."I suppose I'll bunk over tonight, get on the hunt for a place tomorrow."

He gave a tentative smile before retreating over to the coffee station. After downing a good gulp he turned to Patch and raised up the cup slightly. "Dam good good cup of coffee. Ouf." He paused to take another gulp of the stuff, "Think Myrridin said something about my costume being flown in or some such thing but I'm always down for an upgrade. Gets a bit stuffy under that visor." Max stopped to pour another cup and swirl the contents around before looking back up, "So uh, I'm ready to go whenever you two are." He was looking over at Patch before he took what was probably too long a look at the other new person. Ah. Shít.

It was enough time spent looking to coincide with the timid girls comment about not being the new kids on the block. Wasn't aware the Wards were back up and running so soon. he thought sarcastically. Always sat wrong with him, using what he thought of as kids in a soldiering capacity. Still, Max managed to turn an expectant expression back to Patch.

[Sønderjye]

New Friends Abound

"Sounds good" Patch responds with a genuine, but mildly suprised smile. He had thought that the new members wanted to be shown around before going to the lab.

A few sips of the coffee proves as strong as two full cups of coffee.

Sizing Up

Patch had been lost thoughts and takes him a moment to registrer that he were being talked to.

"A gadgeteer, right." He responds: "Not a bad description. I'm what you could call a generalist tinker, I have some limitations but I'm not limited to working within a particular field. So if there's anything you think would help you moving forward let me know, I'm fairly flexible."

"On the topic of powers, I read your file. It says that you can make people believe what you tell them, would you mind sharing how that works exactly?"

"Also, Maxwell, you can develop new powers based on relationships, right? What's the list like right now and how long does those last?" he says, turning his head to look at the older cape.

Tinker's lair

Patch opens the door to the lab and and invites the others to follow him in. They enter a small room containing a few pairs of shoes, some plastic covers and some labcoats hanging on the walls. Patch picks up one of the plastic covers and uses it to cover his shoes, puts on one of the lab coats and instructs the two to do the same. He visibly simultaneously relaxes and becomes more energized and practically dancing into the lab itself through the other door in the room and dives into a box to find something.

The lab itself stands in contrast to Patch's somewhat unorganized appearance. Various instruments are nicely placed in their holders which seems to be in some complex system. Only a few boxes around seems to contain things that seem to be in complete disorder. On one table there is a gleaming sniper rifle parts under a ventilator with packs of slightly disformed bullets not far from it. What looks like an overgrown megaphone is in a closed display case not far from it. In another display case is about a weird-looking syringe with electric circuits running to them. On a desk in the right part of the room there's a table with a computer on. Not far from the entrance is another table with a blueprint of an armor on it.

In the back of there is a construction that could resemble a tent made of semi-transperant plastic with a sign cautioning "Biohazard" just beside the closed entrance.

"I really should find a better system for this", the tinker mumbles to himself while digging through the box.

Eventually Patch finds a measurement tape, gives the blueprint a quick look and starts measuring.

[3SecondCultist]

Sizing Up

Bella blinks when the subject of her power comes up. The PRT must have an efficient bureaucracy if half the team knows what I can do already. She honestly was expecting to have to show them. In truth, she's a little disappointed that she doesn't get the chance. A small glimmer of the showy girl beneath. She grimaces, chiding herself inwardly for the immature impulse. She can't afford to make enemies here, not when there really isn't anywhere else for her to turn. Once she wears that costume, she'll be a hero, for better or for worse.

Belatedly, she realizes that she hasn't answered Patch's question. "I... yeah. I whisper things to people, and they become true." She looks at the tinker again, making conscious use of her power as her voice drops into a husky whisper. "I could tell you that I'm actually Alexandria, for example." She doesn't push the effect, knowing that actively using her whisper control on teammates is an excellent way to getting to exactly where she doesn't want to go. And yet - despite how obviously false the claim is - the urge, the want to believe her is there, beneath the surface. To compound the effect, she quickly marks both Max and Patch. In the blink of an eye, Bella is gone, and the famous leader of the Triumvirate stands in their place. Then Alexandria is gone, and the same new recruit is there instead.

"It helps to have a complementary power in order to mask who I appear to be. I haven't found an exact range on it yet, but right now it looks like it works at least two hundred feet away, probably more. I could also make somebody else look like somebody they aren't." The same targets, only this time Apogee and Patch appear as each other. She waits for the change in appearance to sink in.


Tinker's Lair

"Wow," Bella says appreciatively as they step into the lab. "These are some nice toys." She doesn't mention that her father's R&D department has a nicer set-up, as that might send the wrong message. Besides, she falsified her name on her civilian record. It was easy enough to do, once she had found Paolo's stash. She'd probably left a trail somewhere, but she wasn't going to let that bother her for now.

"Right, I'm excited! You mind if I start?" She doesn't hesitate as she steps forward and into the middle of the room. Without a word of warning, she shrugs off her top and starts taking off her jeans, until the girl is standing in only a bra and underwear. She doesn't seem concerned about her semi-nudity in front of two strange men: it's Miami, for f*ck's sake. Besides, men have definitely seen more of her. Ever since she hit puberty, Bella's been confident with her body, and her voluptuous figure is designed to catch the eye of certain people. Being hot in school is the easiest way to be popular - why not use that to her advantage here?


Quiet Words

"Don't exhaust yourself..." "Don't exhaust yourself..." "Don't exhaust yourself..." Patch's words emanate from behind Bella's door on the first night of her stay at the hero living quarters. Her room has proven itself really small, and her bed even more so. Unable to sleep, the young heroine stands and paces the floor, whispering to herself. At least, it started as whispers. Although she hasn't fully realized it, Bella's voice has grown in volume, the better to impersonate the voices of the interesting people she heard throughout the day.

"Doing all the work of team leader, that well pretty much makes you team leader," she says in imitation of Snap this time. That one takes a bit longer. Damn, this really is going to take a long time. She pauses, sighs to herself. For what feels like the millionth time that day, Bella wonders if she made the right call this morning when she walked into the station. She could be hundreds of miles away by now, back living with Daddy in one of his private compounds somewhere, or just taking a well-earned vacation somewhere far, far away from Miami. But here she is, in a dinky little room, playing at voices in the dark.

"I guess this means we're not the new kids anymore..."

[Sønderjye]

Sizing Up

Patch's eye open wide, his brain shouting to him that something was wrong but that was Alexandria, clear as day.

His suprise then turns into a big smile. "Hah, that's amazing" he pauses, making a mental note to adjust his glasses to include names on the people that his glass detected, in case, "Make sure to talk to Echo, she loves misdirections and I'm sure you guys can work something great out. Also I want to get the whole experience at some later point, if that's OK with you?"

"So what's your limitations? Can you persuade anyone that anything is true in a blink of an eye? Like could you convince a villain that they'll die if they don't surrender or even convince them that they want to join us? Does it work on recordings?" Patch asks, frankly suprised that the PRT would allow someone like that into their ranks. If this girl decided to go villain while inside the PRT she would single-handedly be able to take down the entire station.

Tinker's Lair

"Thanks" the tinker responds with his head still in the box, "Aside from these everyone has an armor and also another toy that I'll get up for your guys within the next few days."

Patch watches in silence as Bella strips down, doing his best to keep his discomfort to himself. Again? Why do all the teenage girls feel compelled to put him in this situations? he complains to himself as he starts the measurements. As when he did Titania's measurements he stops the recording with a quick eye movement, not wanting to have stuff like that lying around.

"You know that the PRT records pretty much everything we do, right?" he comments making a gesture towards the camera in the corner.

I'm comfortable with the scene as is.

[Ramsus]

Quiet Words

Avelina stops, hearing two different voices and then her own as she was walking down the hall. They didn't sound exactly right though. She looks around her and sees that she's near Bella's room. It doesn't take her more than a moment for the puzzle pieces to fit together and she knocks on the door and says, "Bella. It's Avelina. Um... can I come in?"

((I would imagine normally the sound wouldn't actually carry through the doors in the PRT building so maybe Bella's door is slightly open? Avelina would still knock and ask permission even if the door was totally open anyway.))

[Mono Vertigo]

Emails

To: Echo; Snap
From: Inertia
Subject: Patrol Schedule for coming two weeks.

that's the schedule? alright then
got no pb with it
let's do it!

inertia

-----

New Friends Abound

Malo finally popped up from behind her teammates, with some shyness, but perhaps more determination than Avelina.
"Hey there? Max and Bella, right? It's great we got more people here! The more the better. I'm Inertia. Outta the suit, the name's Mallory, but you can call me Malo. Nice to meet you!"
She turned giddily to Avelina. "I know, right? That feels so weird! I don't know when I'll stop feeling like one of the new girls!"

[n0ble]

Sizing Up

"Something to that effect. It'spretty nebulous stuff by my understanding. From what was explained to me they just sort of...stay with me? I dunno, theres probably more in my file about it than I really know. " He stopped for a moment to rub the back of his head and swirl some coffee about in the cup. Strong stuff. Yeesh. "Right now I can dole out enhanced accuracy to myself and four others, and I don't set things off that are keyed around motion."

Max was pretty quiet when the girl- Bella? Yeah that was it. -turned into Alexandria. "Huh. Thats pretty nifty haha. Super sneaky too. Always thought Alexandria was a might taller myself though. Teach me to go about assuming. He gave a wide smile at that, oblivious to the fact that that it alluded to his initial run-in with Bella.

When she switched him and patch Max almost spat out the coffee in his mouth. "Ouf. That...uh. Woah. Didn't think I'd gained that much weight. Mustve been all those Chicago hotdogs." He listened quietly to Patch's questions and swirled a bit more coffee before discarding the idea of drinking more. Maybe later. "I'm uh, I'm good. Fer experiencing more of it that is."


Tinker's Lair

Max let out a whistle as he took in the lab. She's got the right of it. Way cleaner'n Tecton's lab too. Less dirt. He did not envy whoever was on the business end of that sniper rifle. No sir. He situated himself on stool or similar object, while giving the biohazard tent a wide berth. "Bah. I'm sure theres some higher priority gear that needs making. Mine can wait if other people need something first."

If Max were to describe himself, he'd have said he was simple man who found it hard to get a read on people sometimes. Probably had something to do with how he didn't pick up on his wife and Blister. But it was pretty clear to him that there was some awkwardness in the room when Bella stripped down to her underwear. Not from Max mind you. Far as he was concerned it was just another thing that needed doing. He tried to parse out drinking his cup of coffee because it made it easier than staring, but otherwise took in the whole process with a fairly disinterested stare. Much as a pretty woman could draw his gaze, it was hard to stay fixated on her in the middle of so much technical wonder.

Instead Max continued waiting silently until it was his turn, whereupon he went through the same process of undressing. "Lemme know if theres anything I can do to make this go smoother yeah?"