Thevshi

"I am not sure if you are closer to finding the girl in the picture, but you certainly may be on the way to learning why there is so much interest in her." Mr. Chen commented as he took a drink of his bourbon. He then nodded as Harry brought up his last statement before he had passed out after being shot. "Yes, the Golden Serpent Association. It is another of the Tongs that is looking for the girl, based out of Hong Kong, but with influence in a number of other areas in Southeast Asia. I have heard that some of their members are now in Freedom City. I had thought they would be the greater threat to you in your investigation. Apparently I was wrong."

Mr. Chen simply nodded as Harry mentioned Freddy's need to keep up his iron levels. "I can understand your concern." He commented as they mentioned going somewhere outside of Chinatown. A short trip later, the trio were in a small bar in one of the Polish neighborhoods in the West End, Mr. Chen ordering several Guinness for Freddy, whatever Harry wanted, and a bourbon for himself. After their drinks had been delivered and they had been left alone, he turned to regard the two private investigators. "As I said before the-interruption...I am no expert on the Tongs and Triads, but I have had the need to learn some things about them in the past. That man was sent by the Ang Soon Tong, one of the ones that is currently searching for the girl in the picture. They are based out of Singapore. As to who it was that gave him his instructions, the word you did not understand Mr. Furlong is a title often used in the hierarchy of a Tong or Triad, it translates roughly as 'Red Pole.' Such an individual is usually in charge of overseeing the more, shall we say, confrontational, of the organization's activities." He paused a moment, and then continued. "And to answer your earlier question Mr. Hound. From what I was able to learn, while some of the Tongs and Triads are working together in their search for this young lady, there are others that are not. So there certainly appears to be a struggle as to who will locate her first."

While Mess was trying to get information out of the would-be assassin, Mr. Chen had regained consciousness after the healing Mess had provided. "It would appear I owe you and your partner my life Mr. Hound." He commented as he sat himself back up. "Even if it was the two of you who inadvertently put it at risk." The Chinese man started slightly as Mess, with the gunman in hand, landed on the ground nearby. But he quickly recovered and climbed to his feet to regard the man with a cold stare. "I do not know him." He replied to Mess, as he began speaking with the gunman in Chinese, the gunman responding in kind. Mess heard the gunman repeat the words he had not understood to Mr. Chen, who simply frowned slightly. It was about that point that the police arrived. After some brief statements from the three, obtaining information on how to further contact them, and Mr. Chen's insistence that he was no longer in any need of medical attention, the police departed with the gunman in tow. Mr. Chen looked over at Harry and Freddy as he said. "Gentlemen. Allow me to buy you a drink while we talk more."

Megan Howell looked out the window of the limousine she was riding in as it pulled into the entrance for the North Bay Marina. Of course, the attractive young blonde was no stranger to the exclusive marina, her family having been members for years. It was just a bit unusual to be attending events here at this time of year. However, the events of last month had been quite unusual as well, necessitating tonight's charity event. Never one to pass up a party like this, Megan had felt all the more compelled to attend because of the cause for which it was raising money. Thankfully she had been able to get ahead of her work for her internship at Summit Transnational, preventing another late night at the company's corporate headquarters in the Wading Way. As the limousine pulled up, one of the valets came over to open the door, holding out a hand to assist Megan as she exited. Accepting the young man's hand with a warm smile, Megan climbed out of the limousine with an easy grace. Tonight Megan had chosen a black, razorback bandaged gown by Herve Leger which clung tightly to her curvy figure. As the dress was completely sleeveless, and also left her shoulders almost completely bare as well, she also had a shawl that was wrapped around her upper arms and back. The shawl also served another purpose, concealed inside was Megan's Velocity costume. The young woman certainly hoped she would have no need for it tonight, but she had learned long ago that in this town it always paid to be ready, just in case. Glancing over at the valet, Megan handed him a generous tip, as well as flashing another charming smile, before she started forward towards the gangplank to the massive yacht belong to the Strombergs.

The gunman grunted with pain once more as he was slammed against the wall by Mess . His eyes went wide with fear as the private detective crushed the barrel of the assault rifle with one hand. He looked back at the enraged Mess as he stuttered a reply. "The [Chinese word] is in Singapore, but I have never met him in person. I do not need to go anywhere to be paid, my fee would be deposited in a bank account form me." He paused a moment, then seemed to regain a slight bit of courage. "You and your friends have interfered with the Ang Soon. It will not be long before they send others to deal with you."

The gunman tired to struggle against Mess' iron grip, but it was brief, ending quickly as the private detective squeezed some, forcing some of the air out of his lungs. As he went still, Mess could see his eyes looking about some before focusing back straight ahead as the private detective made his comments about what might happened if the gunman did not cooperate. The man gave a grunt of pain as Mess squeezed once more, and then replied, in somewhat broken English, "I..I was hired by the [Chinese word] of the Ang Soon. Chen was asking questions he should not have been."

Tsunami remained where she was after causing her distraction. While it certainly had drawn the Captain's focus, it otherwise did not appear to work quite the way she had intended. To be sure the Captain was not busy looking for anyone at the moment, but he was also now focused on getting the ship underway. He certainly seemed concerned about something involving the ship, but what that might be was still uncertain. "Well, not sure that helped us much." The Asian teen whispered into her comm to Blode and Crimson Tiger. "The Captain is now preparing to put the ship out to sea."

As Mess exploded through a window near the shooter, he landed in a small room that appeared to be used as storage for the shop downstairs. Looking over, he saw an Asian man in his early to mid-thirties, dressed in a dark suit. He had in his hands a fully suppressed assault rifle with a bipod mounted at the front, which was currently supporting the weapon the window ledge. The gunman was barely starting to try to turn and bring his weapon to bear on Mess as the private detective quickly closed the short distance between the two, wrapping his thick arms around the him. Mess' powerful arms easily pinned the gunman's arms to his side, as the assault rifle dropped from his hands to the floor. With relative ease, Mess slammed the gunman down onto the wood floor of the room, pinning him down.

"Boring? No, not at all." Megan replied to Katastrof. "While some of the more technical details are a bit above my head, the business and financial aspects of the deal I understand easily enough." When he asked about Lord Harrow, a slight look of surprise came over the young woman's face at hearing the name. "Robert?" She asked, her voice changing ever so slightly. "Yes, I know him. We were…" Normally Megan would not hesitate to state that they had dated, but since the death of his father, Robert was now Earl Harrow, and with Katastrof also being nobility, she knew that a bit more discretion might be appropriate, "very good friends while I was studying at Cambridge last school year." She paused a moment, then added. "We had a bit of a falling out just before I finished my year there and went back to the states to start my last year at Yale. I sent him an email offering my condolences after his father died last Summer, but he never responded." "Why do you ask?" She then asked, wondering what connection the Baron might have with Robert.

Climbing inside the busted out skylight, Crimson Tiger was able to swing herself over to one of the support beams for roof of the old industrial building. It consisted of several massive steel beams, connected together by crossing supports, providing the heroine enough space to crouch down with something to hold on as she made her way along towards the part of the old building she was hearing the voices. Now that her angle was better, Crimson Tiger could see that a bunch of portable lights had been set up in an area in the center of the old building. Moving closer, she could see that the area had several balconies over a section of the main floor. On those balconies were gathered somewhere around a hundred people, the source of the voices, the apparent audience of the fights that would be taking place down on the main floor below. The large man did not look very amused by Harry's joke about taking all his money, but did not say anything. When the rumpled detective mentioned having a fighter, he glanced over towards Freddy a moment, studying him a bit before looking down at Harry. "Well, if you think he can handle it, that's your business." He stated. "Just pay your admission fees like everyone else. Once you go through, stick to the right hand side and you'll find some stairs that will take you down to the main floor. Just ask for Hector, he will handle getting your fighter signed up." As she was looking around, Lucy came to the realization that not only was she the only woman she could see thus far, she was also considerably over dressed compared to most of the men making their way into the building to watch the fights.

Megan Howell had been speaking with one of her co-workers when Merge Trois was led through the area by security. The blonde woman looked over to regard the woman a moment with a neutral expression, her mind racing as she put a name to the face. Isn't she a supercriminal that has targeted banks and other companies? She thought to herself. What in the world is she doing her. "Who in the world was that?" Megan's co-worker whispered once Merge had gone past, being led into a conference room where Amir was waiting. "I have no idea." Megan replied back quietly, watching for a few more moments before turning back to her co-worker. "Well, I need to head down to archives for a bit. Can you let Ms. Van Cleef know that I'm down there?" She then stated before heading back to her office for a moment to pick up her bag. A brief elevator ride later, and the young woman was down in a large room in the basement where hard copies of everything Summit was involved with were kept. Amir, being a bit old fashioned, insisted on having hard copies of everything. The room was filled with rows and rows of tall file cabinets, with some scattered desks throughout. Most people in Summit never came down here, mainly the interns, and only when they could not put it off any longer. So, it made the perfect place to disappear to for a little bit in the middle of the day. A second later, Megan was in the back of the room and changed into her Velocity costume. Stowing her bag with her work clothes in a unused draw of a file cabinet, she was then off. Not more than five seconds later, the speedster was on the roof of a building across the way from the conference room Amir and Merge were meeting in. Focusing on the windows of the room, Velocity used the technology in her goggles to zoom in on them to try and keep an eye on things and make sure Amir was not in some sort of danger. She knew he was a superhero, after all he had not bothered to try to keep his identity secret, but still the young woman could not help but be concerned. After all, he might be nearly twice her age, but she had been at the superhero thing considerably longer.

Yeah, that clearly has him under control. Going to pin him?

That is good enough to get ahold of him, so make the grapple check. He gets a: 12 so not looking good for him.

Megan continued with her tasks as the meeting continued, while also listening to what was going on. From her perceptive, it was not going quite as well as it probably should be. Baron Katastrof was certainly confident in the capabilities of his company and engineers, and given what Megan had seen thus far since arriving, likely with good reason. The likely biggest sticking point seemed to be what the cost of development would ultimately be, and the expected return on that investment. When the Baron called a break, the blonde young woman finished entering a few notes before she stood up to stretch slightly as several of the others made their way out of the conference room. She was a bit surprised when the Baron made his way over towards her, but did not let it show as she gave warm smile in return before taking his offered hand. "Howell. Megan Howell. A pleasure to meet you Baron Katastrof." She replied.

Round Two: Hound: 18 (unharmed) Assassin: 11 (unharmed) Bloody Mess: 11 (bruised, injured, 2 HP) Healing for Mr. Chen is a 20, so he is now fine. Assassin continues firing at Mess, who is behind partial cover now, but misses with a 19.

The wound on Mr. Chen's back stopped bleeding, then healed over completely. He was still unconscious, but his breathing became more normal, and it might be possible to try to awaken him. Meanwhile, the gunman continued firing at the partially visible Mess with another silenced burst. This time, his aim was off, more pottery on the stand exploding as they were hit by rounds, and a few passing over head to hit the nearby wall. As he glanced back towards where the gunfire was coming from and he had spotted the tint of metal before the shooting started, Mess saw that the shooter was in a second story window, about fifty feet down the street from where he was.

Gunman opens fire on the only target he can see, Mess, getting a 26. That is a DC 23 Toughness save.

As Hound pulled Chen from the line of fire, getting the two behind one of the stands along the street, the Chinese man reached up to grab a hold of the front of Hound's suit. "Be-beware-the..Golden-Serpent." He managed to say, before passing out. Though it was rather ragged, Chen was still breathing. Meanwhile, the gunman continued to fire, shifting his aim at the only target still in the open, Mess. Another burst of silenced automatic weapon fire rained down, a vase on the nearby stand shattering from one of the stray bullets, while several others found their mark, striking Mess as he finished boosting himself. People along the street know realized something was going on, many screaming as they started running for cover.

Velocity (81) (3) (12) (2) (17) (8) (20) (6) (6) (5) (1) (1) Tsunami (59) (5) (7) (18) (9) (4) (13) (3) GM (72) (So, once again, I should have enough GM posts to provide both Velocity and Tsunami with 100 posts. If I am off, at the very least, I want Velocity to reach 100) (18) (14) (5) (18) (11) (6) (1)

Velocity gave a little shrug as Warp mentioned how it might have been bad for her to just show up at some of the US military instillations the speedster had visited on New Year's Eve. "It probably would have been fine, just made it a lot easier to just appear and join the various parties. Though, I would not have been able to meet up with the aircraft carrier I visited in the Gulf of Aden without planning that ahead of time." When the teen stood back up and asked about going on more patrols with her, the older heroine gave a warm smile. "Of course, I would be happy to." She replied, putting one hand on Warp's shoulder. "And I know I have kinda sounded like a broken record with this, but I am also more than willing to listen whenever you might want to talk about anything. Be it heroing, school, or just boys."

"Chinese sounds just fine." Megan replied as she thought about Amir's comment that he was trying to convince her to turn down Ms. Van Cleef's request for the transfer. While the young woman appreciated Amir's concern that she might be overworking herself, she was also not so sure the answer so simple. For one thing, she felt that she should try to take advantage of every opportunity to learn during her internship, after all, that was the general point. She also was not so certain that Ms Van Cleef would really take "no" for an answer, and that she could well have Megan doing work for her regardless of whether the transfer happened or not. As the pair made their way out of the building, the blonde smiled slightly at Amir's reaction to her comment about the online magazine wanting to do a swimsuit calendar, but she did not push the point any further. Instead, she focused on his further comments about his troubles with running his own Twitter feed. "Yeah, that was probably a mistake." She stated. "I can imagine there are quite a few people out there that want to hear what you have to say, on a whole range of subjects."

As Angus began helping the two women some, Megan appeared at the door to the shop, looking a bit worried until she spotted the taller woman. "Oh thank goodness, there you are." She called out as she made her way inside, some broken glass crunching beneath her feet, her smartphone in her hand. "I was just about to try calling you. Kind of got pulled along with the crowd for a bit during the rush out of here. I was starting to get really worried when I couldn’t find you." The blonde said to Angus as she made her way over.

GM Tsunami glanced up as Warp called down, asking if all the civilians had managed to clear out yet. "Almost." The Asian teen called up as she continued running up the flights of stairs after the other girl. Meanwhile, the water in the main tank continued its emergency draining, as many of the animals in the tank were starting to make their way down through the exit tunnels and into their habitats below the pier. When Warp reached the third floor off the aquarium, she found it quite deserted, no wetsuit clad gunmen or, thankfully, civilians in sight. As she looked off in the direction she had seen the guy with the exploding speargun spears go, the teen realized he seemed to have been heading off towards the direction of the Deep Ones exhibit.

Round Nine: Tsunami: 16 (unharmed, 3 HP) Warp: 12 (unharmed, 3 HP)

Round One: Hound: 18 (unharmed) Assassin: 11 (tie breaker to him as he has 18 Dex) (unharmed) Bloody Mess: 11 (unharmed, 2 HP) So Hound is up SC.