Falin' Angels - On Bloodied Wings (RP)

[fenix]

How is this possible? Imagika’s too good for them to keep showing up, it’s almost if Longbow is tracing some sort of signal.

Some sort of... wireless... ID...

No.

NO.

FUCK!!!

How had he not seen this sooner? Of course they’d keep an eye out for his signal, and sine Fenix had been hopping onto just about every wireless signal they’d passed for news and for some way to take down the men behind the Senator behind the Longbow, he’d left an easily recognizable trail a mile wide.

....Fenix couldn’t let Imagika be taken in due to his stupid mistake.

“Hey, Im?”

“Yeah?”

“Stop at the next coffee house.”

“Kay.”

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

“Im, I’m going to need you to be brave for me, okay?”

“....Kay.”

“Go straight to the cave I told you about in Perez, okay? I’ll meet up with you there in a little bit, okay?”

“....Kay.”

“Make sure that those bad Longbow don’t see you, alright?”

“....’Right.”

“Go, Im. Go, now.”

And she was gone.

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

<< Sacrifice Play. Take care of Im. - F >>

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

The Longbow finally got a strong signal. The idiot had tried hacking into the Longbow database, probably trying to whipe his name off the banks. They got him and that annoying little girl now, though.

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

It was done. The Longbow picked up the laptop containing Fenix, appropriateing it as evidence. They didn’t find a trace of Imagika, though. They would have some.... questions for that troublesome AI in the computer though. Nothing the Tech boys can’t handle.

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

Fenix didn’t care that he was apprehended. As long as Imagika was safe, then it was a triumph.

[evilbenfranklin]

(( And now, a look in on everyone's favorite radioactive living dead girl and the pinko Commie witch! ))

<< Wake up, Katrina Rae Ellison. >> the Voice said in a cultured British accent, << It's time to get up. >>

Delta Rae turned over restlessly in her sleep, groaning. She'd had a long night of patrolling, and really did not feel like getting up. Natalya was up, judging by the old-school Russian grunge metal playing from the kitchen, and her head was pounding.

<< Blast it, you radioactive tart, get up! They're coming for you and your flat-mate, and I can't very well have my blasted vacation if you get incarcerated... and you're of no use to me whatsoever if you're dead twice. >> A quiet huff in the back of her mind, then in a nigh-demonic roar, << GET. UP!>>

Sitting up, Rae realized that it wasn't her head that was pounding, it was the door. The sonic assault from the stereo didn't even drop a decibel as the Siberian Inferno padded to the door to answer it, only to have it kicked open in her face, hurling her back.

"<What the fuck?!>" she shouted in Russian, her eyes flaring with arcane energies as she readied her spells, landing in a crouch behind the sofa as bullets started flying. Rae stared open-mouthed from the bedroom as men and women in red-and-white uniforms started pouring through the door, some with their powers already up and running, others toting the ridiculous-looking multi-cannons that were Longbow's favored assault weapon.

Rae started backing away from the door, hands up, stray rads seeping from her pores as she struggled with confusion and panic. Meanwhile, Natalya was having none of this, grabbing one Longbow agent's head in her palm and letting it sizzle until they collapsed in a twitching heap, brain cooked. Her other arm shot out, hoarfrost forming on her hand as she formed her fingers into a cone shape which plunged into the gut of another agent in a spray of frozen blood.

"This isn't happening," muttered Rae. She'd stepped back on her work lately, only doing occasional local patrols, mainly keeping to King's Row for the most part. She'd even gone so far as to let her membership in the Angels lapse to reserve status while she tried to find a way to reverse what had happened to her. She didn't want to be a hero, and she never had.

Natalya had understood that, and under her cold, "power to The People" exterior lay a woman of surprising warmth, who had given her comfort. Rae wasn't sure what exactly was between them just yet, but so far it had been good and she knew that --

...And that's when several things happened at once.

One Longbow agent who had been hanging back stepped into the room, and fired three shots from a large-bore revolver at Siberian Inferno, who took them in the chest and crumpled against the dishwasher, bleeding out.

Rae's world came to a halt. Time seemed to stand still as she watched her friend and lover collapse, and her vision blurred as she turned her eyes toward Natalya's killer. In the back of her mind, a voice exulted, << HE SHOT YOUR NATYALA. AVENGE HER, KATRINA RAE ELLISON! STRIP THE FLESH FROM HIS BONES!>>

Katrina Rae Ellision, scientist, healer, and unintentional superhero, did just that. Her throat was grated raw by a scream of pure loss and hate. A small part of her mind noted that the agent's face looked vaugely familiar, and that his revolver did as well - certianly not Longbow-issue, perhaps more the match-grade weapons Malta used - and didn't care. Another part of her analyzed the radiation build-up with her and noted with clinical detachment that an uncontrolled release of this amount would result in not only the immediate death of anyone in the room, but a marked increase in infertility and cancer within a two-mile radius... and she did not care.

Malta Gunslinger Mustang Three Twelve Blue had been hunting this meta for awhile, ever since she got away from him during that raid on the Crey Biotech labs some time back. He had quietly waited for the opportunity to eliminate this last threat to his security.

He had perhaps three seconds to realize that he had just made a critical error before Delta Rae raised her arms, fingers spread, and a pencil-thin beam of brilliant blue radiance speared him and each of his team in the chest. It didn't hurt, it didn't even tickle. He snorted and raised his pistol again, sighting on her head, but never got the chance to pull the trigger.

It is a well-known scientific fact that air, left to its own devices, is not a very good conductor of ionized radiation. In order to release large amounts at specific targets, one must usually clear a path with a laser or particle beam that ionizes the air between the source and the target(s). This is, in effect what Delta Rae did, proving that even when grief-stricken, science can still fuck you.

Mustang Three Twelve's last thought before a massive pulse of radiation melted him and his team to nothing more than glowing skeletons was, It's so pretty, to be so deadly...

Rae let out a small sigh as she felt the last erg of power dissipate. Ignoring the sound of bones sizzling as they clattered to the carpet around her, she walked into the kitchen nook, kneeling beside Natalya. Not even looking behind her as memory came flooding back, she snarled, "You can fucking wait for five minutes while I try to save her... or say goodbye if I can't."

Tony, now manifesting in her perception in his black slacks and polo shirt, harrumphed quietly. "...If you must. It gives me time to pack, anyway." He snapped his fingers, and a straw hat appeared on his head, accompanied by a lei of dead flowers around his neck. "All done."

Rae leaned over and hugged Natalya's body close, closing her eyes. There was still a trickle of life left there, and once again, she released her power from its leash only this time more slowly, healing with love rather than harming with hatred. She stayed that way for several minutes, until she could feel her friend's heart beating again, and her lungs start pulling air.

Gently releasing Natalya and laying her comfortably on the floor, Rae looked up at Tony, tears streaming down her blue-green skin. "We had a deal, but this isn't done. I'll be back for my life."

Snorting derisively, Tony - aka Thanatos, aka Azrael, aka Death Incarnate - snapped his fingers, his voice echoing behind him as he vanished. "I'm SO sure..." Suddenly Rae felt herself shoved aside within her own mind and locked away. << But at least you'll have a front row seat for what I'm going to do to this town. Now... >> Tony's voice gloated as she felt herself standing, and caught a reflection of herself in the mirror hanging on the kitchen wall, eyes glowing a hellishly unnatural green, << Get up, Katrina Rae Ellision. It's time to RISE.>>

---

And in breaking news, another member of the rogue Guardian Angels has escaped apprehension. Dr. Katrina Rae Ellision, known alias Delta Rae evaded arrest at her King's Row apartment by a Longbow squad. Unfortunately, all twelve Longbow agents were brutally murdered by super-powers, which carries an automatic capital crimes penalty of power nullification followed by execution under the Meta-Human Atrocities Act of 1986 should she be convicted.

If you have small children, please ask them to leave the room. The following images may disturb you.

< Footage follows of the interior of Rae and Natalya's apartment. Radiation burns coat the carpet, furniture, and walls, ten paths pointing to ten piles of bones, still glowing as they ionize the air around them. Nearby, two still-whole corpses are covered, hiding disfiguring injuries. >

There was only one survivor of the incident: Natalya Shilova, local singer and front-woman for the politically controversial gothic band Workers' Lament. Ms. Shilova suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, and is being airlifted to Crowne Memorial for treatment under close Paragon PD escort.

Delta Rae is still at large, and is to be considered extremely dangerous. If you see this woman, do not approach her. Immediately contact your local police authorities.

Next up: This week's weather, and Skippy the Wonder Turtle saves the day for a number of children at the East of Eden petting zoo!

[caios]

(( this bit collaborated on with Snowdog. ))

They were all coming. Slowly but surely all of the Angels who were not incarcerated were making their way to the cave. This was good, at least for those who made it. In here they could stay off the grid and out of sight.

Not for long however, they would have to make their move soon. Caios had enough experience in these sort of situations that she had to expect they would find them eventually. The sooner they got out and starting trying to solve this mess the better.

Just then there was a knock at the door to the cave. Immediately Caios held up her hand to let the others know to stay where they were, she would go check it out.

Michelle Schrodinger was waiting for only a short amount of time before the wooden door opened before her. From beyond the darkness of the cave a very tall woman, with pale skin and hair even more black then the leather pants and tattered trenchcoat that she wore, stepped out in front of her. This woman looked over Michelle for a moment, then strangely sniffed the air around her, before glaring down at the smaller catgirl.

Before Michelle could even offer a hello, however, she suddenly found the world around her spinning and moving like crazy, it was only an instant later that she felt a sharp pain in her back to let her know she had been slammed against the nearby boulder. Still shocked by the speed at which the other woman moved she only had time to register she was being held against the boulder in an extremely strong grip, with the other woman's face just inches away from her own, before she heard her speaking.

"You have 10 seconds to tell me who you are, and what you did with the real Shrodi." Caios told her menacingly, "If you don't start talking I will tear your limbs off one by one. Starting with the tail." Caios then gave her a feral smile, just enough to reveal her growing fangs underneath her lips, before adding, "Then again if it's true you were the one who killed her, I may do that anyway."

The speed at which the human - no , humans didn't have fangs like that - surprised her. Still, she didn't really think that whoever this person was, Caios she thought from the data Schrodi gave her, would like what she had to say. Nor did she really relish the idea of losing more limbs, after all it wasn't like she had a gecko in the teleport chamber with her-though that was a thought...she absently pushed it out of her mind for study later. Still, best to do the discussion when not in a death-grip. With a bright blue flash she dematerialized-then reappeared across the cavern.

“Who I am is Dr Michelle Schrodinger, what I did to my counterpart I did on her instructions, and unless you have a PhD or two somewhere in that leather outfit It would probably be a bit over your head I'm afraid” she said before there was another blue flash, and another. Badgers hated it when she did this, popping around in a random pattern as she continued.

“It was the Xenoite exposure. It was causing her to lose cohesion, there were quantum resonance feedback incidents on multiple time lines where things she would dream were happening happened elsewhere. It's all to do with the nature of space-time. It's like a giant snowflake, and when she was sleeping she'd tap into the bleed between universes. That's why she was always using stronger and stronger stimulants. Anyway it was beginning to affect reality, or what passes for reality anyway, around here it's hard to tell. That's when she contacted me, we were hoping that a merge of the two of us would be enough to counteract the increasing effects of the quantum disruptions from the bleed breaking through, eventually if it got bad enough it could cause several universes to merge. Primal and Praetorian earth for example-which wouldn't be as bad as some-well it would be bad for you because Cole would kill you all-but not as bad as say Primal Earth and Earth Tau-4, which has a methane atmosphere, or Earth T-7, which is populated by nothing but a giant Hamidon, or Earth Teh-11, where Hitler was a renowned artist who made the 500 meter tall statue of Emperor Stalin in Kansas City. But I digress, trust me, it would have been bad for two earths to merge, even more so if the entire snowflake had collapsed in upon itself.”

Caios only watched the other Schrodinger as she ported over and over all over the place. Though she managed to grasp the gist of what she was saying, but for the most part all of that crazy science talk went right past her head. More to the point she wasn't in the mood to keep hearing it. This Schrodi was proving to be just as long winded as the last one, and it was starting to get on the vampire's nerves.

Instead she watched an observed carefully. Hearing the sound of reality opening and closing around her, feeling the air shifting around her a milisecond before Schrodinger appeared in a new location, the tingling in the back of her head from the ionized particles that heralded every jump. Once she had the pattern down she leapt.

At her speed the leap was more of a full blown charge, all within the span of the fraction of a second it took Michelle to port from one spot to the other, not to were Schrodinger was, but to where she was porting to. Caios was suddenly in the same place that Michelle was at the same time she teleported there, and in the instant she was fully materialized Caios's open palm connected with her face.

It wasn't hard enough to do any real damage. That wasn't the intention. But it was certainly sharp enough to get her attention, maybe temporarily stun her, at the very least just stop her from porting like that.

"Stop that!" Caios cried out loudly once she had the cybernetic catgirl's attention, "I get it already! Schrodi is being Schrodi, let's just leave it at that for now. We got other shit to deal with so how about we go in with the others and talk like normal people. As in everyone stays in the same dimension preferably."

Michelle blinked, then blinked again. This woman was fast, ... though clearly lacking in the number of PhDs it would require to delve into the details. As much as she wanted to it wouldn't do either of them any good for her to try to keep explaining the situation.

"uh ... right, ok then, sounds good." Michelle said finally.

Without another word Caios turned and started walking back towards the others inside the cave. At least the tall scary woman with the fangs seemed to be satisfied for now.

[shadewing]

((Incoming Collaboration between Snowdog and me)

-Atlas Park-

From Faultline all the way to Atlas Park without being detected. Shadewing thought she'd be used to long distance flights by now, but it seems she was incorrect.

"Just a...Little bit more." She said in a tired tone, before landing on a nearby building, "Ugh....No good. Need to rest for just a bit. Hope I don't get seen..."

Today was not her lucky day, because as she landed, she was spotted by a Longbow patrol, who had radioed for backup upon seeing her. "Guardian Angel spotted. By the looks of it, it's the one called Shadewing. Requesting backup, over."

"Roger that, ETA five minutes." Came the reply over the Longbow's radio.

----

Shadewing was just about ready to continue on her way when she heard a voice over a microphone coming from behind her, "We have you surrounded and a squad is on there way to apprehend you. Surrender and you won't be harmed!" The voice belonged to a Longbow commander who had a reputation for hating supers like Shadewing.

"I'm going up there. If they try to escape or do anything funny, open fire. Understand?" The commander glared at his troops: He wasn't known for his kindness, either.

Shadewing sighed, "Just great...Today this isn't my day." She turned around to face the team of Longbow that had climbed up the building and began to slowly walk towards them, "...Alright, I'll go with you guys, I'm sure this is all just a misunderstand--Eep!" BANG. One of the Longbow in the team was a rookie with a twitchy trigger finger. Although he only hit the ground at Shadewing's feet, that was enough to cause her to bolt and take off flying in the other direction.

"She's trying to escape! Men, open fire!" the commander shouted, his commands followed by a hail of gunfire.

"What the hell! i was going to turn myself in when all of a sudden this jumpy rookie looking guy shoots at me! Now they're all trying to shoot me down...This is really bad!" Shade said to herself while simultaneously trying to avoid gunfire, "I'm almost to Perez, just need to keep myself alive until then...Oww! Ahhh!" A stray bullet managed to nick Shadewing's wing, causing her to crash land on the ground within sight of the Perez Park entrance.

"Oww...Crap..." Shade said as she struggled to force herself off of the ground. Her arm had been injured in the crash, so she was trying her best to take the strain off of it. "Well...Looks like no more--errg....Flying for me..." She winced as she slowly made her way towards Perez Park.

She heard the sound of running behind her, so she turned around and was face to face with the very same team that shot her out of the sky, "Oh crap...Look, guys, this was all just a misunderstanding! I'm not in any condition to fight, so let's just calm down and talk this over....Alright?" She said with a concerned tone.

The Longbow commander looked over at Shadewing, then turned to his men, "Command says to take them alive, if possible. But they didn't state in what condition. Let's teach this freak what happens when you try and evade longbow!" The longbow squad made their way towards Shadewing, who was in no condition to fight.

"This is not good..." Shade told herself.

[sabakakrazny]

Maemir flew madly, pursued by gunfire and no less than two of those cute little planes Longbow liked to fly, dodging missiles, bullets and the odd bolt of energy as she chanted yet another flight enhancing spell dumping mana like water as her airspeed climbed still further.

The planes were cute all right, but she had decided that all the guns and stuff had sort of worn off the cute and now she regarded them more like flying piranha. Jinking wildly around a building she dove through an alley and swooped thru a mall and a missile blew a kiosk to smithereens. OOPS! Somehow she just new she was getting the bill for that one!

Zipping past a small herd ( troop? Squad? Mob? Crowd? She never knew for sure what you called em) of council guys standing on their big box on the sidewalk haranguing the passersby, she looked behind and saw that Longbow totally passed them by in favor of chasing her instead. Maemir had never claimed to be the brightest Baarin in the whole wide world, but even so she knew then that she was in big trouble.
She consulted Tail, whose only advice was don’t get me shot off thank you very much. Some help Tail was. She screwed up her brow, belted out another spell and jinked again, wondering just what the hell had happened.

It had all started on that ill fated mission so long ago – she had gone with Starblind on yet another jaunt into Orangeburger to take on the Circle of Thorns ( a bunch of low lifes if ever there were any, and unfriendly to boot – that’s what happened when you shared a body with demons, no good ever came of it. And the complexion issues? Oh my, it didn’t bear thinking on!)

At any rate She and Starblind had been doing their bit, he with his dark stuff and she with the fire and they had been deeply engaged in being Very Heroic, when a CoT demony winged thing charged her and tackled her and BLOOP, right then and there pushed her into one of those circle shaped portals they were so fond of.

Well, naturally a big fight ensued, and when it was over, she looked around and, well…wherever it was, it wasn’t Orangeburger. Matter of fact, while it was a city – pretty nice one, too all bright and shiny- it wasn’t one she’d ever seen. Mechanical thingies called robots were everywhere, and people were very polite…and the place was totally spic an span. She was sure it was Canada, but later found out that, no, it was someplace else entirely. It was like Canada, sort of, but with resistance people and thought police and jails for Tailed Heroes who didn’t think the Emperor was just the absolute bomb.

Well, the short story was, thanks to culture shock ( reminding her of a similar sudden appearance in Paragon way long ago and wasn’t THAT a lousy experience) the local cops pegged her as a Threat To Society, an Unknown Quantity, and Potentially Disloyal. Naturally, they tossed her in jail.

For three years.

Well, needless to say Praetoria had by that time lost its charm and one day eight months ago the resistance had broken several of their members out of jail and she had tagged along, deciding that resisting beat pounding rocks into gravel any day and though luck and good fortune had one day managed to make her way back to Paragon.

Almost immediately she was in trouble. She had stopped by the Doughnut Hut in Faultline (they had the most awesome éclairs) and while some of the Guardian Angels had been at odds with the cops, she had gotten along with them. So she nodded to several, and they scoped her butt and she tail wagged just to be friendly and called the War Pie, whose phone wasn’t answering. Hmm.


She pondered, and thought she remembered other numbers too, and tried Alheron’s, and Umber Winds, and finally, reluctantly, Caios. (She was always somewhat scared of Caios, and suspected the vampire didn’t like her much anyway but she would be sure to know how to reach the others)

The phone bleeped, blirped, and chirped.It had never done that before, and she looked at it curiously, then as she looked up she noticed every cop in the place looking at her as they talked in her radio. That was when Tail told her that this was a great place not to be.

It had all gone downhill from there, and she didn’t even get her éclair! Thee years, three years in jail in some other dimension and yanno what? They had never heard of éclairs! What was it with the universe not letting her get an éclair? This was so unfair!

So now here she was, dodging missiles, rockets, bullets, energy bolts, lightning zaps and a large seagull as she hit the edge of independence port and dug into her pockets and diiging out her old GA comm she screamed into it, hoping the battery was still good.

“ WAR PIE! UMBER WIND! Starblind? Caois? ANYONE? Is anyone home? Cause I’m like , all in all sorts of deep shit! HAAALP!

[evilbenfranklin]

"Right," said Stern Impact, her accent thickening as she stared at Dr. Schrodinger, "So you 'ad t'kill one o'me best mates t'prevent a four-fold cross-rift." Slowly clenching and unclenching her fist, making several rocks nearby vibrate audibly, she looked at Caios. "We can't stay 'ere forever. They will find us in time, an' we need t'keep movin'. I'm thinkin' someplace in Salamanca, next..."

Idly picking at a loose string on the sweater the vampire had brought for her, "That is, if we stick together. I've 'ad experience runnin' guerilla cells an' hidin' from people with more boots an' better tech while still managin' t'smack them in the arse now and again. Way I see it, we can work as a larger group, which gives us strength'o'numbers, but makes us a bigger target - an' makes for more collat'ral casualties than some of us are comfortable with," Looking around the cavern at her teammates, she quirked an eyebrow as she continued, "Or we can break into a cell structure. Harder to find, easier t'move, an' it divides their forces as much as our own, maybe more. Either way, we need t'lay low until we get enough recon on who's behind this, then coordinate a strike."

"One more thing," she added, "An' while I'm not th' grand high nibs 'ere, I think it needs t'be said. I know some of us may think th' best way t'go about it would be t'sanction White an' Spangler... God knows I've thought it. I'm even willin' t'admit that there may be some truth t'that, but think on this before we all go off half-cocked: As livin' men, they can make mistakes and prove themselves wrong. As dead men, they're martyrs and are thus in-fookin'-fallible."

Glancing at her PDA, "Whatever it is, though, we need t'do it quickly. It's bad tradecraft t'gather in large numbers for more than a day at a time."

[snowdog]

Cave, Perez Park

Anti-Schrodi nodded glumly at Moira “well , I hope she's not dead, there's a chance although slim. She had me set up a Trojan program in the Portal Corp system before I left that should trigger a chance for her to reform, without the Xenonite. Though she did tell me to bring you with me when I go back in..” she checked a readout on her data glasses “thirty seven hours, sixteen minutes and eleven seconds. Mainly to make sure that it doesn't get out of control and like, suck the eastern seaboard into the bleed.”

she sighed, pushing the glasses up on her forehead. Without them she looked even more like this universes Dr Schrodinger, except for the cybernetic limb. “as for the last..well I admit I was hoping after crossing over from Praetoria that I could actually not have to spend my time looking over my shoulder” she said with a bit of a grin “but then, after all that time with the Resistance over there, I'd probably have been bored out of my skull in two days. I'll help where I can.”

[fenix]

“Where are they hiding?!”

“Suck my power cord.”

Click.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“WHERE ARE THEY HIDING?!”

“Bite me!”

Click.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“You would not be the first rouge AI I’ve persuaded to talk. Now, WHERE are the OTHER GUARDIAN ANGELS!?”

“They’re....”

“Yes?”

“In...”

“Go on....”

“A galaxy far, far a-” click. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“I do NOT have TIME for this! You TERRORISTS will NOT pull off whatever you are planning!”

“Man... You’ve been blinded bad, havn’t yo-” click ”ooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!”

“Fine! If you don’t want to tell me where the rest of your criminal friends are hiding, then tell me! What! Are! You! Planning?!”

“Nothing.”

Click.

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

“What. Are. They. PLANNING?!”

“It starts...”

“Yes?”

“It starts with...”

“Out with it!”

“It starts with an earthquake, birds, snakes, an aeroplane...”

“...what.”

“Lenny Bruce is NOT afraid.”

“Argh! I cannot work with this!”

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

Slam.

“....About... damn.... time.”

The “interrogator” had done a number on his hardwear. Most of his systems were fried, there was no way that many surges so close together would have killed him, had they not used that particular wattage. But... Fenix made a quick check to be sure... Yes. They left the AI unmonitored in a room with internet access. Create a backup on the machine, so that the Longbow officers wouldn’t go out looking for him again... Done. And now, to upload himself entirely to the internet.

...It’s... so... big....

So much space....

So easy to get lost...

To explore it fully would take centuries alone...

And that’s not counting on it expanding, which it certanly will...

But then.....

Fenix could copy himself, multiple times...

Base each copy off of a different node....

That way, seeing the entirety would be... simple...

Many other advantages to doing this, too...

Why hadn’t he done it before?

It’s...

It’s time...

Time to spread.

[The Bobby Llama]

University of Paragon, Steel Canyon Campus
Faculty Offices

Wednesday. Hump day. More term papers to grade. A whole goddamn day of it. Dr. Milton Winters buried his face in his hands, looking up to see an unfamiliar figure walking past his door. He poked his head out furtively to investigate - anything to get away from his dreary work.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" he asked. The figure turned to face him, a middle-aged woman, dishwater blonde hair up in a pony tail. She wore an old-fashioned black wool business suit, complete with a vest underneath the jacket. "Are you with the press?" he ventured. "You need to go through the chancellor's office, you can't be here."

"I am sorry, vhere are my manners?" The woman's German accent was unmistakable. "Gloria Linden, FBSA." She flashed a badge and a hint of a smile. "Just a routine followup."

He grunted acknowledgment and returned to his office. Her gaze followed him with icy disdain before turning to the office of Dr. Moira Stern at the end of the hallway. She stepped over police tape and through the doorway, surveying the room. The Longbow and PPD investigation teams had cleaned up the evidence from Dr. Stern's disappearance, but they had left her computer behind. The trail here was cold, but it was a start, at least.

[snowdog]

((collaboration between me and Shade))


Perez Park Gate, Atlas Park


Shade watched as the group of Longbow closed in around her. The Commander pulled something out of his belt and made a comment about "not being able to fly again." The tool looked worn, as if he had used it before. Nothing about it made Shade feel any better.

Oh geeze...I guess this is it. Not expecting to get beaten by a pulp by LONGBOW of all people....Maybe if I just close my eyes tight it won't hurt as much... She thought as she gulped and shut her eyes tight.

The Warden grinned to himself as his team fanned out around the injured bat girl. They had chased this one for miles, and now, well it they were tired and angry, and more than a little aggravated. They've been made fools of by people in the group this freak was in. Now, it was time for a little old fashioned beat down. The group closed in as he pulled an asp off of his belt, the spring loaded baton showing plenty of wear on it from when his squad was in the Rogue Isles. Freak wasn't gonna fly any more when he was done with-

“What the HELL do you think you're doing?”

Just then she heard a pair of voices coming from behind the Longbow, so she slowly opened one eye to check and...It was the PPD! She was safe! Well, at least from being brutally beaten, but that was okay by her!

He turned in surprise at the two PPD officers, who normally stand guard at the Perez Park entrance to keep idiot locals from wandering into the Park. “Longbow business, “ he said to them dismissively “we're taking in a suspect.”

“Right...” the lead officer moved closer, only to be blocked by several of the Longbow Squad “looks to me like she's injured and not resisting...why don't you just climb back into your little airborne Segways, and we'll get her booked into the Zig.”

“I SAID this is Longbow business-butt out pig!” The Squad raised their own weapons, pointing them at the two officers.

the momentary relief she felt faded...There were only two of them against a handful of Longbow, and they were severely outgunned. Crap...There goes my rescue, I guess...

“I suggest you get back to your posts and ignore anything you see, if you know whats good for-ERK!”

Angelina had been waiting for a good chance, when they shot down the girl she had despaired for a moment that she was too late. As the warden was raising his asp he jerked suddenly as a three foot long lime green spike erupted from his body, the Longbow officer collapsing to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Lime Porcupine grinned feraly “so you bastards like beating on wounded girls? Try me instead!” The other troops were frozen in momentary shock, which Angelina put to good use, her poison tipped barbs skewing two more , then a third. As the one with the flamethrower started to bring it to bear she vanished, only to reappear seconds later behind him, a quick thrust sending him to the ground unconscious with his squad mates.


As the last one fell she glared at the two cops who were...grinning? With shock she recognized one of them, he'd been one of the responding officers when she was arrested after the death of her sisters murderer.

“Was glad to hear it when we heard you got cleared of those bogus charges, though if you keep doing things like that Longbow's gonna be annoyed with you.”

She smirked as she retracted the spines, looking almost normal. Well as normal as someone lime green with huge ears and a tail could be “I couldn't help it, they fell on them.”

the two cops looked at each other “Fell..well, they did seem kind of clumsy.”

“I dunno, I really didn't see anything , did you?”

“bah, sun was in my eyes. Besides, we're supposed to be guarding the gate to Perez, can't see anything from there anyway.”

“and if you want us to go on not seeing...you'd best be moving along before someone sees us not seeing, and then we'd have to see, you see?”

Shadewing was confused. The green girl was talking to the PPD? It appeared as if they knew each other, as they didn't seem to mind the fact that the girl just completely slaughtered a whole team of Longbow right in front of them-no, not slaughtered, they were alive, whatever toxin her spines had wasn't fatal at least.

Lime chuckled as she went to check on the bat girl “Clear as crystal, we'll be gone in a second.” she says as she kneeled down to check on Shadewing

shocked as she was, Shade could only muster out a few simple words, "Who...Are you?"

“Angelina de la Vega. Longbow railroaded me into prison a couple years back on what should have been justifiable homicide...because they and the Judge were bought off by the Family. Wasn't any way I could let the bastards do it to someone else-can you walk? We gotta get you out of here”

Her arm was shot, and she was exhausted, but with help she wobbled to her feet. The two cops were discretely looking the other way-no they were looking to see if anyone was watching, fortunately there was usually never any people by this gate "I think so.."

Lime didn't like the way Shade's arm was bleeding, but this wasn't the time for doing much about it. "ok, lets get out of here"


"Hold on a second."

The two girls blinked at the cops. The taller one just grinned, as he reached into a box on the wall by the gate, pulling out a first aid kit, and handing it over "you're gonna need this, now scram."

Angelina smiled gratefully at the officer. Helping support the injured batgirl, the two of them disappeared through the gate into Perez Park.

[The Cheshire Cat]

"Space is not an ocean. It is a void. You don't 'float' in space; you drift, trapped inside the shell of your own body. You realize that your vessel is a prison, whether it's a body, a space shuttle, or a planet, you are locked there, prevented from expanding your consciousness beyond the confines of your shell into the great vastness of the void."

There were two guards standing outside her cell. The Crown of the Abyss had been confined in the holding cell for days now. She refused to speak to anyone without her lawyer present, yet her lawyer had made no attempt to contact the PPD. She also refused a temporary public defender until her personal attorney could be reached; she claimed that ms. Brennan was the only lawyer she trusted to represent her.

"What is she going on about?" one of the guards said.
"I have no idea. She alternates between absolute silence and this crazy babbling. I don't know if she's talking to herself or her imaginary friend or us or what." the other answered.
"Hey!" The first guard knocked on the window. "Who are you talking to in there?"
"What are you doing?" The other guard said.
"I'm asking who she's talking to."
"Whoever is listening." the woman in the cell responded. "Every life is a unique experience worth sharing. I've lived hundreds of lives; most of them short and violent. I have a lot to share."
"I don't understand squids at all." The guard said, turning back to his post.
"'Squid' refers to the nova form many kheldians share; it is not their natural shape, merely a reflection of a form of a past host. A more correct racial slur would be 'fluffy'. Though I suppose that sounds more ridiculous than offensive." she said. "If you're going to be ignorant you should at least use accurate terminology, dear."


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

Julie heard the commotion from inside the cave. She considered drawing her gun, but she realized that the sound was far more likely being caused by the Guardian Angels dealing with the locals, and not the locals overpowering the Guardian Angels, and arriving at a meeting of wanted fugitives with a weapon drawn was not the best way to make a first impression.

She paused at the door to straighten out her suit and make sure her hair was neatly contained in its bun. She drew a pair of square reading glasses from her pocket; she had 20/20 vision, but she'd found that wearing a set of plain glass spectacles gave her an air of authority that made people more confident in trusting the things she said. It was the little things that made her good at her job; that last 10% that most people don't think about that influences how they feel about the other 90%.

Her "mask" prepared, she pushed open the door and stepped into the cave.
"Good afternoon everyone. My name is Julie Brennan, and I represent the interests of Dr. Ellen Timmit. Ms. Stern, I saw that Caios was bringing you clothing and thus decided against bringing an extra set; however I must admit I don't have the greatest confidence in a vampire's ability to choose appropriate food, so I stopped by the deli and brought sandwiches. I'm not certain of your dietary requirements so I bought several different varieties; the extras can be shared amongst the group in case anyone else has found their fugitive status has made procuring food more difficult than usual."

As her introduction sank in, she walked over to a rock that seemed a decent height for a seat, dusted it off, and sat down, crossing her legs. She pressed her glasses back up the ridge of her nose and drew a small notebook out from her pocket, flipping it open to a new page.
"I will be relaying the contents of this meeting back to my client at such a point that I feel it will be safe to inform her of your actions without being spied on by longbow or PPD agents. I suspect they are expecting one of you to attempt to contact Ellen during her incarceration; instead, relay any messages you intend for her through me, and I will ensure they reach her both quickly and uncompromised."

[shadewing]

Shadewing winced as Angelina helped her up. She didn't notice the fact that her arm had been shot until now: She thought it was just injured, broken maybe, when she fell. "They...Shot me? They actually shot me? WHAT. THE. HELL!" She shouted out as she stamped on the ground a few times before stopping to continue applying pressure to her wounded arm. "Sorry...I didn't mean to be rude...Thanks. I just never thought something like this would happen and...and...uhh." She slumped a bit.

"Gah! I must be more injured than I thought...Don't worry, I should be fine until we get to where the others are..." Shade relaxed her gaze a little, focused on walking, before the thought hit her: Angelina probably had no idea where they were going!

"Umm...You do know where we're going I hope?....Oh, doesn't matter, I'll tell you on the way..." She said as she began to recount the events that had happened to her.

[The Bobby Llama]

PPD Steel Canyon Precinct Headquarters
Front Desk
15:44 hours

"Excuse me, young man." The clerk glanced up from his texting and into the eyes of an irritated middle-aged woman glaring down at him. She looked a little older, but definitely cougar material. He wasn't sure about the old-fashioned black business suit, but it did add a bit of a schoolmarm kink factor to it all.

"Sorry... Er, what can I do for you... ma'am?" he stammered. She brushed a lock of dull blonde hair over her ear with the rest that was drawn into a ponytail, retrieving a badge from inside her suit.

"Angela Neubech," she answered. Her steel-blue eyes locked him in a basilisk gaze, sizing him up. "Bundesnachrichtendienst."

"...Um, what?" He didn't dare break that stare.

"It... is like the German CIA," she said. German. There was a funny way that she talked. That explained it. "You understand, ja?"

"Sure," he replied. But he didn't understand. Not really. What would they be doing in Steel canyon of all places?

"Good." A cryptic smile played at her lips. "Now, I have heard that the vigilante Shadowstormm has been operating in the area," she continued, growing serious. "Naturally, this is of great interest to the German authorities."

He didn't know what to say to that. Luckily, she didn't wait for his response.

"I have reason to believe he is vorking vith his former allies in the Guardian Angels. I vant his case files, and the files of any of his associates."

"I'll see what I can do," came his reply. "Why don't you wait in Conference Room A - first right down the hall - and I'll have them brought up to you."

[caios]

(( a tiny collaboration with Shadewing and Snowdog to help these two get to the cave quickly ))

Caios listened to all the comments being thrown around the cave and nodded, "I tend to agree, and I think I know what we need. It's going to be a tough ride for some of you though."

Suddenly she became quiet as if concentrating before turning her head to look behind her.

"Um, hold that thought." She added before quickly making her way out of the cave.


Shadewing continued to struggle across the park with the help of the Lime Porcupine. Though Angelina had little trouble holding onto the petite batgirl, her bleeding wounds made moving more difficult then it should have been.


"I'm all for heroic struggles," Caios's voice suddenly spoke up from behind them, "But right now I think it's best to get you two moving fast."

"Caios!" Shadewing cried out, "How did you find us?"

"You're bleeding," Caios said, "And well, let's just say your blood has a unique scent to it."

At first Shadewing smiled at the sight of her co-Angel, then she frowned as she remembered this was a vampire she was talking to.

"Relax," Caios said jokingly as if reading her thoughts, "I'm not hungry; I ate before I got here."

Caios looked over at Angelina for a moment. She seemed familiar, possibly some other hero that happened to come along, though it surprised Caios that she was here considering that everyone in Paragon seemed to think they were all criminals. It was obvious from the way Lime Porcupine was carrying Shadewing that she had been helping the injured teammate along.

"Lemme just say thank you, for helping her all this way." Caios told her, "But if you guys don't mind there's really no time for chatting right now." She looked back over at Shadewing adding, "We need to get you out of sight fast and try to get that wound treated."

With an uncharacteristic gentleness, Caios took off her leather coat and wrapped it around Shadewing before scoping her up in her arms. She started walking back towards the center of the park before looking back at Angelina.

"If you want to follow I won't stop you," Caios said, "But you probably don't want to hang out with us right now, not unless you enjoy the kind of Heat we'll be taking."

"If it's alright with you, I think I'll follow along." Angelina replied, "I'm no fan of Longbow, in fact I took down a couple of them while helping your friend here. I figure until they wake up I might be of some use to you guys. If you'll have me of course."

Caios just smiled and nodded appreciatively to the Lime Porcupine. With that the vampire leapt into the air, moving quickly towards the cave entrance. Shadewing grimaced as she saw the floor approaching quickly, waiting for the painful jolt that would signify their landing. To her surprise, however, she barely felt anything when they hit land just in front of the cave entrance.

[Warp Factor]

Warp Factor
Location: the moon

This is sort of my getaway place. Not so much home away from home, since ya don't get very good internet or TV reception here, but a nice change of scenery for a few hours now and then. No TV news, no one running up demanding you save them, no sudden and burning need to 'port off to China or Pakistan to pitch in for earthquake relief or whatever. It's selfish, I know, but I'd go nuts without being able to just get away for a while and just unplug. Too much of a workaholic to just say "Nah, sorry, I'm off duty", I guess. Gotta remove the temptation altogether. Thank God I don't have telescopic vision or even this little mini-vacation wouldn't be any good. I'd probably hafta go to, like, Titan or something. I'd rather stick around here; the moon is what it is, but it still feels like ours. Earth, minus... everything, I guess. Kinda the point.

So I relax on a cusion of gravitational force and crank up my iPod. Would you believe this is the first time I've actually gotten to listen to Music in Motion? I grabbed a bunch of their MP3s off Amazon I don't even know when, it was that long ago. It's a little weird, but I think I like it OK. I can't sleep these days without at least a little sensory barrage, too used to the "noise" from my "gravity sense". Jesus, I really need to come up with a better name for that. Anyway, the silence up here is nice but it makes it tough to relax. Loud music fixes that. I start to settle down for a nice, long nap.

Speaking of "gravity sense"... I feel his disturbance in the moon's gravitational field before I open my eyes and see him. Like a transparent piece of glass dropped in water, that's the closest visual metaphor I can think of for it. Even if you can't exactly see the glass, you can see the disturbance it makes in the water and know that something's there. It's kinda like that. So opening my eyes I know someone's there, but it takes me a sec to recognize Ascendant. What the hell is this guy doing up here waving at me?

I'd never tell the guy, but running into Ascendant is still kind of a big deal for me. I mean, not a BIG DEAL big deal, but y'know. A minor big deal. Manageably big. Oh God, that sounded wrong. He is cute, but I don't date anyone who can come find me in space like this. This is exactly why. Anyway. He may be a mega-dork, but the Big A is the real deal, an honest to God real American superhero who probably even washes behind his ears and calls his mom at least once a week. It's kinda nice to see guys like him still around, given the kinds of people I usually traffic with.

So he's waving his hands weirdly at me, and it takes me a minute to realize he's trying to pantomime something. Sign language or whatever. I spent a moment trying to figure it out, then lose patience and gesture for him to come closer. A second's focus, and my force bubble expands to accommodate two people comfortably. "How do you do that?" I ask as soon as he lands. "Breathe in space like that."

He cocks an eyebrow. "I don't breathe in space. I'd look really stupid if I tried to breathe in space. Why?"

Well, now don't I feel dumb. "Good point. So what's up, A? You just passing by and decided to drop in?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing that pleasant. Listen, Maggie. You need to get back to Earth. Now. Things are happening..." He really doesn't look like he's in the mood to joke around. He's serious. "...you really need to get down there and see for yourself. Some of your people are in real trouble and I don't know what I can do to help. They need you now."

"Right." I nod, turning off the iPod. "Should I be expecting immediate violence when I get there?" I don't like the way he stops to think before answering me.

"Touch down somewhere safe, you should be OK." I really don't like this now. "Don't stay in one place any longer than you have to though, at least until you figure out what you want to do. If there's anything I can do to help, just ring me up." I'm already gathering power for a teleport as he speaks. "And Maggie... listen. Whatever press you and your people get, the rest of us know you've done great work. You've changed a lot of lives for the better." He stops again. Like he has to choose his words carefully. "Don't lose sight of that. Whatever else happens."

I nod. "Thanks, Chief. I'm outtie. Thanks... any luck, maybe I'll catch up with you for a cocktail when things settle down, yeah?" A flash, and I'm away before he answers.

I blink back into existence back home, at the apartment my sister Sarah (that's Umbra Wind) share. My comm unit starts making noises immediately, picking up transmissions sent while I was offworld. I start my Macbook booting up while I read them; a quick surf of the news sites should clear things up.

The computer finishes booting. I reach the end of my messages. Holy shit. Xenolizard, Snowdog... Bateman, but the hell with him, nothing can kill that guy. Where the hell is Fenix now?

As if in response, my computer screen flashes a familiar shade of green. It doesn't matter. I can hear the pounding on the door and see laser sights zeroing in on me through the windows. They've been watching this place, no wonder Sarah's not home. Muffled shouts from outside.

I am so not going to prison. I raise my force shield, and smirk as a splattering of bullets bounce off harmlessly. Stupid Longbow. The door gives way to their battering ram as I gather energy for another teleport. A pair of sappers raise their weapons, and I have time to give 'em the finger before I blink back out.

I blink back in at the cave. It looks like most of the group is here, most that didn't get arrested or shot anyway. Bateman conveniently looms out of a nearby shadow. Looks like Caios already has the troops more or less organized, as organized as we get anyway.

I rub my eyes. I already feel like I haven't slept for days. "Sorry I'm late, guys. Got held up on the moon. So what's the plan?"