Thevshi

GM Freedom City, Theater District Friday, January 18, 2013 8:57 PM Being mid-January, a cold night air hung over Freedom City. Throughout the city, things had begun to get back to normal following the events of a few days earlier. Though there was still damage in some places, the city's populace was well adept at dealing with such inconveniences. Down in the Theater District, the various venues were once again open, their lights glittering in the in the dark. One of the few that stood dark tonight was the Barbary Theatre, though not because of any damage or other problems. The venue was currently in the process of changing productions, and thus was closed for a few weeks as some general maintenance was performed and the new sets and lighting were installed before the opening of its new show.

Lucy exited the car and started towards Ricky just as he was looking back over his shoulder for the umpteenth time. She made her greeting just as he was turning back around, which lead to him almost jumping back a foot in shock. His eyes darted nervously around to make sure there was not someone else before he focused back on Lucy. He appeared to become somewhat more relaxed as he realized she appeared to be alone. "A drink? Yeah, sure, a drink would be great." He replied somewhat nervously. "And, um…what sort of business did you want to discuss?"

Megan laughed as well at Angus' suggestion that they should have been philosophers. "Hmm, somehow 'I shop therefore I am' just doesn't seem as deep enough for me to be making much of a contribution to the field." When Angus turned the conversation to how things were going with her internship and mentioned she would only tell the blonde young woman about Amir’s favorite romantic comedies had Megan grinning as well. "Oh, I don't know, knowing what those are is possibly far more useful than anything else you might be able to tell me." But then she became more serious as she continued. "But really, working at Summit has been great so far. I may be just an intern, but I am not just being sent to get coffee and pick up someone’s dry cleaning, well, maybe occasional getting coffee. They give me challenging work, and because my group is asked to look over deals from all of Summit's various industry groups, the work is really varied and interesting." "As I am sure you know, Amir has something of a knack for finding talented, dedicated people, who in turn have something of a similar knack when hiring for their departments. So I get to work with a lot of amazing people. There are a few twenty-somethings in the Economics group, and we try to go out at least once a week for happy hour or something. In fact, that was how I met the guy I have been dating this last month, when I went out with my co-works for a happy hour to celebrate my first week at Summit."

"Thank you." Giang replied to both John's complement on how she had performed during the evacuation and the offered canteen. The Asian teen took a few sips from it before closing the top once more and returning it to the other teen. She nodded in understanding to his warning about over-exerting herself. "I had to use my powers in a way I had never done before, but I will do my best not to slow us down." While she was going slower than she might normally be able to, the group of refugees included children and the elderly, who did not allow for as much speed as might be desired. As John feel back in the column, Giang focused back on the area ahead of them as she continued in the direction Lord Zandar had indicated.

While listening to Fred and Lucy's back and forth, Harry was also busy keeping an eye out for Ricky. It was not long before the private investigator spotted the weasely man a couple of blocks down the street under the light of a streetlamp, making his way along the sidewalk towards the entrance to the bar. As was often the case, Ricky seemed jittery, glancing around quickly and occasionally checking over his shoulder. But between the distance and the dim lighting where the Caddy was parked, he did not appear to have spotted the three individuals sitting in the parked car.

Thug 2’s Fort Save: gets a 14, so he is Exhausted! You can pick up Enhanced STR +12, or Superstrength 4, or Enhanced Con +12, or Impervious Toughness 3

"Yes, we do." Tsunami replied with a smile as Blodeuwedd asked to confirm that she knew Crimson Tiger. As the other teenager brought the conversation back to the reason they were all sitting up on this rooftop late at night and in the rain, Tsunami turned her gaze back towards the dark docks nearby. Going out at night and looking for criminals to deal with was something Cerys and Mali were experienced with, but it was rather new to Tsunami. She had rarely actively gone looking for trouble, particularly as trouble seemed to have little trouble finding her. But, now that she was getting used to being around others her own age more, she understood that meant spending time doing things they were interested in. Rising up gracefully from where she had been kneeling, she gave a small nod. "I am ready."

Yeah, the IC luck continued on the opposite side as well, DF 2 totally blows his TOU save with a 5! So he is totally down and out. Go ahead and post IC and include him and his bike whipping out.

Great, not good at all. Megan thought as Jen explained who these two appeared to be. Right now they were both rather trapped, with neither being able to get clear to change into their heroic identities. The blonde thought for a few moments, or a few moments for her, which was in reality only a fraction of a second. "Maybe I can try to distract them while you sneak out of here?" She offered with a tentative look. It was a pretty weak plan, not that Megan did think she could take care of herself, but that it would be hard to do so without showing her superspeed. But if she could delay things just enough for Jen to get clear and return as Silver Spider, that might be enough, and then Megan could get clear herself and change as well.

"Okay, I want that superpower!" Megan replied with a wide grin. Though the truth was, since she had gained her own powers, she had not had much of problem keeping off weight or the like. Not that she didn't still go through the motions of going to exercise classes and the like just to keep up appearances. "Well, I am not sure that attitude is unique to the British Aristocracy or celebrities." Megan replied with a small smile. "There are plenty of wealthy people here in the States that act the same way. I am sure more than a few people have viewed me as one of those in the past, even if I try not to be that way."

The large man scowled as Siphon subdued his other companion while simultaneously insulting them. With something that sounded like a growl, he took a step forward and swung a large fist at the superhero. However, he was not any better at that than he was at trying to grab the former football player, and Siphon was able to easily sidestep the attack. Around them everything was still complete chaos. Not able to use any of the side exits because of the similarly dressed thugs that had taken position there, the conference goers were all rushing towards the main entrance in an effort to get away.

This time the big thug just tries to hit siphon. Dosen't fair any better with a 9. Siphon's action.

Okay, that is good enough to get all the way up to where Dark Fist #2 and Velocity are in the pack, or anywhere further back that you might want to go. Without move-by-attack, if you stop along the way to make an attack, that is where you stay though (though you can move all the way to DF 2 and hit him (he just took a shot at Velocity)).

"Really?" Megan asked with a smile as Jen mentioned her apparently more energetic step. She then got a bit of a mischievous grin of her own when Jen mentioned Megan‘s old cheerleading uniform. "Well, he has actually admitted wondering if I still had that somewhere, so Valentine's might be a good time to get it out." Before Megan could respond to any of Jen’s comments about Amir and Jen’s dad, there as a faint commotion outside and a car exploded through the front window of the restaurant and came to a halt up against their table. The blonde young woman instinctively ducked down, having to force herself to move at a more normal speed, though she had been ready to try to get herself and Jen out of the path of the car if it had kept going. As she ducked, Megan’s right hand snatched a piece of glass that was flying at her out of the air at a speed far faster than the human eye could follow. She then casually dropped the piece of glass to the side after ducking down. Oh no. She thought as sheglanced up to see the similarly dressed man and woman that were calling Jen's name and demanding she come outside. While Megan was aware that Jennifer was also the Silver Spider, Jen did not know Megan was actually Velocity. "Umm, they don't really look like friends I would guess?" The blonde stated, wondering how she could get clear in order to change and be there to help Jen if it came to that.

By the time she and Myrmidon had led the group of ambassadors and Kazra out to where the Jungle Lord's subjects were regrouping, Tsunami was breathing hard, both from the flight from the falling citadel and pushing her powers further than she had before. But the Asian teen remained focused and outwardly calm as she fell in alongside Myrmidon as Lord Zandar and his wife reemerged and began moving the group off to the north. Though she was not sure how they ended up in the lead of the column of refugees, the teen did her best to keep an eye out for any potential danger in the darkness of the vast jungle.

"Well, whenever you want, just give me a call." Megan stated with a grin. "After a drink or two and a bit of socializing, I tend to spend the majority of my time at a club out on the dance floor, so I rarely bother with the VIP area." "Well, I am not sure about calorie free," the blonde young woman replied as Angus offered to treat, "but if they are as good as you say, it should be well worth the extra half hour or so on a stair master. But just as long as I treat next time." "And you're not really hogging the conversation as answering the questions I am asking." She then added.

When Blodeuwedd mentioned hearing something, Giang turned to regard the direction the other teen had cocked her head toward. Giang had not heard the noise that had caught Blod's attention, but then, Mali was rather stealthy. But now that she was looking in the general direction that Mali was approaching from, Giang was able to see the disruption in the misty rain begin caused as she moved. As Blod went over to embrace the Thai teen, Giang gave Mali a nod and a smile in greeting. The events of what the press was calling the Day of Wrath had been trying for all the students at Claremont, though Giang knew that for both Cerys and Mali it had been considerably more personal that it had been for her. As such, it had been somewhat easier for her to refocus and recenter herself in the days that followed. She had been willing to offer what comfort she could to her fellow students, but as most were only slightly more than acquaintances, Mali had been one of the few that spent any time with her, the two meditating together a few times over the last couple of weeks.

Megan gave Angus a sympathetic smile. "Well, I am sorry if I have made you dwell on the past too much." She replied. Then she had a broad grin as the taller woman talked about partying on Friday night and danced a bit as they approached the coffee shop. "Maybe you'll have to show me sometime." The young blonde replied. "I am always up for a visit to a nightclub or the like. Ballroom dancing at Midnight Society events is nice and all, but not the type of dancing I usually prefer to do." Soon the two young women were waiting in the short line inside the coffee shop.

"I have only been here a short time, but thus far I am enjoying it." Giang replied as Mali asked about how she liked Claremont. "In some ways there are similarities to how I was raised, but in others it is very different." "Beyond the basic subjects that are the core classes here, my prior instruction focused primarily on history, reading the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, and studying the teachings of Confucius and Buddha. The number of options here is almost overwhelming, and I am not entirely certain just yet what I may want to focus on." "But in truth, the biggest difference for me is this is the first opportunity in quite a number of years to truly be able to interact with others my own age."

Giang regarded Mali's muscular arm and her comments about the rest of her muscles being similarly well developed due to her extensive work out regime, as well as problems that had caused for her in the past. "I truly sorry your previous peers choose to ridicule you for your physique." She replied sincerely. The Asian teen paused for a few moments, before she spoke again. "So besides the opportunities for continuing your intense physical training, what has being at Claremont provided for you? Are there any particular classes that you believe are more useful than others?"

Picking up the Slack January 15th, 2013 (Day of Wrath) After leaving the superpowered teens from Claremont as they began to depart towards the first of the transmitters she had asked them to deal with, Velocity sped off back towards downtown Freedom City. Along the way, she made a brief stop on a rooftop to make a call as Megan Howell to her supervisor at Summit Transnational, putting on an act of being in near hysterics after almost being caught in a cross fire of a gang shoot out in the fens (which was at least partially true). She had told him she had managed to make it home safely to her apartment, but was in no condition to try to go back into work, which turned out to not be a problem as the offices were currently in lockdown anyway. She had also made a quick call to her mother, to both reassure her that her youngest daughter was alright, but also to make sure that her father was safe as well. Once that was taken of, Megan Howell could focus on being Velocity and get back to the tasks at hand. Moments later she was speeding down the eerily deserted streets in the southern part of Midtown. Up ahead, the building that sat at the coordinates provided as the site of one of the control transmitters came into view. The technology in Velocity's goggles picked up movement at the top of the building, and zooming in, she could see three of the Foundry's eight foot tall war model Myrmidon robots launching off from the roof and starting in her direction. Well, there they are. The speedster thought as she slowed down some and turned away to let the war bots follow her. Though she had never actually faced any of them before, she had participated in wreck room exercises while an active member of the Freedom League which had included them, so she was familiar with what they could do. Given their flight speed, it would not be hard at all for her to outdistance them and then double back for the control box. But the last thing the city needed right now was three war bots flying around with no primary objective left to fulfill. So, she would just have to deal with them, a task made all the more difficult given their ability to fly, even if it was so slowly. Even with Velocity running far slower than she could, it still took the war bots flying at full thrusters before they began to catch up with her. As they began to draw close behind her, she knew perfectly well where they were, thanks to the 360 degree view her goggles provided her. Turning backward slightly as she continued to race along the deserted streets, Velocity sent a number of steel ball bearings flying at supersonic speeds towards the lead war bot. Knowing how tough their armor plating was, she put a bit more force behind the projectiles, at the expense of some accuracy. Even so, she scored a hit with three of the hyper-velocity projectiles, which struck the war bot square in the chest, clearly causing some damage, but not nearly enough to disable or destroy it. The three pursuing war bots returned fire with their built in blasters, the powerful beams blasting holes in the pavement as the yellow clad speedster weaved and dodged a bit too quickly for any of the blasts to come too close to hitting. Taking a sudden left turn, the speedster caused the war bots to make a far steeper turn than they were really designed to perform in an attempt to keep up. One of the three clipped the side of a building while making the turn, resulting in its falling behind slightly as it righted itself once more, but otherwise causing little in the way of damage. Accelerating once again, the speedster forced the war bots back into full thrusters just to keep up as she led them under an over pass. Watching as the war bots were forced to drop in altitude, the speedster suddenly accelerated even faster, looping back around to speed straight towards the trio. The war bots did not even have a chance to react to Velocity's sudden change in direction before she passed just underneath them, letting loose a sonic boom as she went. The shockwave rippled out in every direction, but Velocity was already hundreds of feet away as it did. The chest plating of the previously damaged war bot crumpled completely under the impact of the shockwave, small explosions going off among its internal systems. One of its thrusters sputtered out, sending it spiraling out of control before crashing to the ground, skipping across the pavement a couple of times before coming to a smoking stand still a dozen yards later. One of the other war bots rocked as it was hit by the shockwave, a few sparks flashing from some damage, but it otherwise remained in the air. The third managed to get to the outer edge of the shockwave, leaving it unharmed as the shockwave dissipated around it. Turing around as sharply as they could, the two remaining war bots rocketed after the retreating form of the yellow clad speedster as she started back in the direction of where the control transmitter was located. Yep, that has got them closing fast. Velocity thought with a small smile as she watched the two robots engage full thrusters as they tried to close with her. Taking another sharp turn, she once again sent a barrage of hyper-velocity projectiles flying at the war bots, aiming at the one damaged by her sonic boom. Once again, she had put more force behind the attack, and this time she hit with all five. The solid steel ball bearings ripped through the armored torso of the war bot, two blasting back out of its back. Once again there were a series of internal explosions triggered by the damage, including one that detached the robot's head. Spiraling out of control, the war bot smashed down onto a parked car, where it lay in a smoldering heap. Alright, just one left. The young woman thought as she dodged a blast from the remaining war bot. But I've got an idea. Taking yet another sharp turn, Velocity cut to the right and up onto the deserted sidewalk, passing inches from the corner of a building. The pursuing war bot followed after, making a slightly wider turn but still coming within ten feet of the side of the building as it straightened out once again. But Velocity was already in action, accelerating at close to top speed, a small sonic boom echoing down the street as she did. The young woman cut sharp to her right, running up the wall of the building and angling back towards the war bot. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion to the speedster, as she ran up the wall until she was just above the war bot, the ground forty feet below. Suddenly, she pushed off the wall, jumping out into open air. For a brief moment, she was facing upward towards the sky, parallel with the ground, her body straight and her arms out to either side, the war bot about ten feet below her. Then suddenly her legs piked toward her chest as she executed a double backward somersault, adding a half twist at the end so when she opened back up, she was facing the last war bot as she dropped down toward it, her right hand pulled back behind her in a fist. The war bot was trying to bring up the arm that held its blaster to track her as the combination of gravity and her own momentum carried Velocity the rest of the way down to it. Her right hand shot forward at blinding speed. A loud *CRACK* echoed down the deserted street as her hand broke the sound barrier. Putting everything she had behind the attack, the speedster drove her fist into the center of the war bot's torso. WHAM The impact sent out a small shockwave that rattled nearby windows. The front of the war bot caved inward, as its momentum was completely reversed and it flew downward to smash into the street. Chunks of pavement flew in all directions as the war bot's impact created a small crater. Velocity, meanwhile, continued to drop the rest of the way down towards the street. As she fell, the speedster executed a perfect piked front somersault, which helped to slow her momentum slightly, before she opened back up and landed lightly on her feet in a low crouch. She paused for just a split second, before standing back upright and looking down into the nearby crater to confirm that the war bot was out of commission. Alright, time to take care of the transmitter thing. The speedster thought to herself before she was off again in a blur of movement. A second later she was at the top of the building the war bots had launched from. It took only a fraction of a second for her to spot the high tech looking device attached to the support beams of a radio antenna. A couple of hyper-velocity steel ball bearings quickly turned it into a smoking ruin. One down, lots more to go. Velocity thought with a small bit of satisfaction. Pulling out her Freedom League communicator, she put in a call that this transmitter was taken care of, and then she was off once again, heading towards the next identified location near the Waterfront. This time, the speedster went in at full speed, reaching the rooftop before the war bot guardians had a chance to even react to her approach. Catching them by surprise, she was able to set off a sonic boom, which both destroyed the control box, and softened up the war bots. Then it was a somewhat simpler to finish them off before moving on. The speedster repeated this tactic again at a site in Riverside, then in the northeastern corner of City Center, before she crossed the Wading River into Kingston. There she cleared out two more transmitter locations before heading back into the northern end of City Center for one more. Once she was done with that one, the now slightly battered speedster made her way back towards Freedom Hall to coordinate with the other League members and reservists on what needed to be done next.

"Don't sell yourself short Angus." Said Megan when the other young woman referred to herself as a "semi-failed pop starlet." "I know you had some problems after your first album, but that happens to lots of musicians and singers. But think of things this way. First, you have already had more success than hundreds, if not thousands, of other singers will ever have. But in addition, you have time to repeat that prior success, or do even better. I mean, you seem to be about the same age as me, and I certainly feel that in many way's my life is just beginning." When Angus talked about the band that was using her recording studio, the young blonde listened intently, smiling as the other young women mentioned no necessarily being able to score any tickets for them or anything just yet. "No worries, I wasn't looking for free tickets or anything, just wanted to know if they were anything I should look out for. I will have to look for one of their shows."

OOC for this thread.

Thursday, February 7, 2013 Early evening A couple of days ago, Lucy Harker had received a visit from a mother that was concerned about her young adult son being in some sort of trouble. Ms. Diaz was originally from Mexico, having moved to the United States more than twenty years ago before becoming a naturalized citizen. Her son, Benito, was a first generation Mexican-American, and his mother had worked hard to make sure he had plenty of opportunity and did not fall into the wrong crowd. One of the activities Benito had taken to was boxing, and he had even won a few junior competitions in the city. Ms. Diaz had told Lucy that Benito had changed dramatically in the last couple of weeks, often staying out late at night and occasionally coming home with injuries which he gave shaky explanations for when she would question him about them. But Lucy had barely been able to start looking into things when she had received a call from Ms. Diaz this morning, informing her that Benito had been gone since Tuesday night. After assuring Ms. Diaz that this was now a top priority for her, Lucy had called one of her clients, the Bloodhound detective agency, and invoked part of their "agreement" to enlist their aid in tracking down the young man. Then, she had gone with Fred Furlong and Harry Hound to Ms. Diaz's home to start trying to figure out what might be going on with her son. After searching his room, they had found a fair amount of cash hidden in a drawer, but nothing else that would suggest gang activity or drug dealing. They had spent the rest of the day asking around in the neighborhood, but could not turn up anything that would suggest Benito had joined a gang. At this point, Harry and Fred brought up a rumor they had been hearing recently about some underground street fighting rings being run in parts of the Fens and Greenbank. Of course, the two private eyes knew little more than the possible existence of these operations, but they knew someone who likely knew more. Of course, given how their last visit to see Ricky Ferreti had gone, they decided to try to catch him before he reached his favorite watering hole. So now Lucy, Fred and Harry were sitting in the Bloodhound agency's Cadillac outside the bar, watching for Ricky to arrive.

Not long after Fleur had departed, Velocity received another call over her Freedom League communicator. "Okay, understood." She finally said after listening for a few minutes, before turning to look at Jubatus and Silver Spider. "Sorry, but I am going to have to head down to Bayview for a little bit. There was another of these incidents at some rally Congressman Walsh where a lot of people were injured or killed. I need to go there and see what's going on. Also, some of the brainy types apparently have detected radio signals being sent from various transmitters scattered about the city to these robot duplicates. The League is trying to coordinate heroes to go and take out these transmitters. Apparently they are being guarded by Foundry war model Myrmidon robots, the big eight foot tall ones." "There is one not far from here, and another over in Greenbank if you two feel up to trying to go deal with them."