KnightDisciple

Gabriel shrugs as he takes a seat to wait, placing his bag on the floor beside him. "It's an honest mistake. We're all allowed those, I'd say. I mean, I'm dressed all in white, I have Celtic crosses on my coat, and I call myself "Gabriel". I'm shocked I don't get more people asking if I'm actually an angel. Which is also very much not true." He closed his eyes for a moment, his lips seeming to move slightly. Perhaps a short prayer? Whatever it was, he was done in less than a minute. "At any rate...We definitely have the same goal here. I'd appreciate any and all help you could give me. In return, hopefully I can...grease the wheels...when it comes to dealing with...well, anybody, really." A mischievous grin adorns his face. "I have something of a way with words."

Corbin spends several long moments just sitting there, blinking. 'She...just dropped the subject? That was unexpectedly simple.' With a slightly forced smile, he spoke. "Again, I'm not refusing to speak on the matter ever. I simply ask you approach us in private about this matter, if it's really such a concern to you." He shakes his head, rubbing his temples as he feels a headache coming on. He slumps in his seat and thinks in Quo-Dis's "direction". 'What next, are my parents going to barge in and ask about this? Maybe a complete stranger, like Captain Thunder, or the worker at the counter!' He seems irritated, but not at his date. She gets the sense he's frustrated things didn't go as he'd planned. He'd wanted a nice, relaxing, fun night.

Gabriel's face was set in a fierce scowl. "Bad enough you try to impose your narrow-minded views of what constitutes music by making everything quiet. But you were directing your people to hurt people. You were going to have them harm a child." He throws his hands up, his coat flapping dramatically as his power sings around him. He thrusts his arms forward, sending a compressed sound wave into the midst of the thugs Tranquility Tyrant was assembling, perhaps even catching the armored villain himself in the blast of disorienting sound. "NO MORE!"

Dazzle, 55ft burst. As many minions as possible, plus T3 if i can manage it, need to make a DC21 Reflex save for the Area section of the effect. Then another DC21 Reflex save for the Dazzle part of the power, to avoid it. Then a DC21 Fortitude save or they're deaf.

19: A solid roll.

Gabriel blinks at the variety. "That's a rather impressive list, Eric. I have to admit, I haven't even heard of Thelema. Though voodoo..." He frowns, one hand rubbing across his chest, as if tracing scars. "I hate to say I'm all to familiar with the darker parts of that. Demons, well...They're rarely nice, for sure." He shakes his head, a lighter mood returning to him. "I'm not a priest, though I could understand the mistake. I am a lay person, though my knowledge of the world of magic is fairly recent. I've actually recently acquired a source who's been giving me access to some books. But it's still pretty new to me. If you're curious, I'm Catholic. I'm here to hopefully help provide a...well, a voice that more people might pay attention to, if you understand me. Even if I have differences of opinion and worldview with those who these people might suspect, I will not stand for them to be charged with crimes they didn't commit." There's steel within the velvet politeness in his words.

Gabriel noted the cop's glance, but didn't move his gaze for the moment. "I don't mind waiting, Officer. Though, after I meet with the Sheriff for a bit, I will need to get a hotel room." Thank goodness he'd arranged for this special bank card. He didn't have a huge amount on it, but it should be enough for a hotel in a town this small. Suddenly, what the officer had said fully processed. "She" would get here. Interesting. "We'll be fine until she's here, I'm sure." Gabriel shook Eric's hand with a smile. "I've been in Freedom City for a while now, yes. I do have to ask, just to establish a baseline...How much investigation experience do you have?" His question holds no mocking, only inquisitiveness.

Gabriel waited patiently as the officer spoke with the Sheriff. No harm waiting a bit more. He made sure to be as unthreatening as possible in his posture and expression. When asked about his business in town, he gave a nod and spoke. "Yes you may, Officer Jenkins. I realize my presence here is decidedly abnormal. I saw the news, about that poor boy. I'm not the expert some are, but I was sure tensions would be running high around here. I came to help make sure justice is done. I'd hate to see innocents charged with wrongdoing, you see. And while I'm not an expert, I do have some exposure to...unusual things." Demons were "unusual things", right? "So, I figured I'd bring my people skills and outsider perspective to the situation. The more people examining things, the better, am I right?"

Earth-Prime Corbin hovered there, feeling equal parts awe and fear rushing through his body. He quashed both, and tried to keep an all-business tone as he reported in. "Cobalt Templar reporting. It's strange; I can tell you this isn't like other rifts I've read about. But I can't say what it is, either. Except...It's wrong. Just...somewhere inside, I know it's wrong. I'm experiencing slowly increasing symptoms of synthesia, such as tasting purple. Which is nothing like purple Pop Tarts, let me tell you. Also, I'm observing water hitting the event horizon of the rift; I cannot discern the fate of said water. I don't want to risk sending part of my power in, but I propose I retrieve a pole of some sort, stick it in, and pull it out, seeing the results. Maybe put a wired camera on it?" His gaze was locked on the hole of wrong in the air, and his ears strained, trying to keep track of the sound. That itching sound! Earth-Paragon "It's...it's beautiful. So many colors! I can hear it, taste it! It's...I think it's calling to me! I feel stronger, more alive! I can't see where it goes, though. Or what it's doing, besides sitting here. In the sky. Being incredible." There was more than a hint of admiration in his voice; clearly something about the rift had snagged his attention, distracting him at least partially from what was going on around him.

Let's see how well our Hero In Blue will do! Initiative: 24. Hehe! I go first!

Carson had debated for a bit how to approach the situation in the small town. Lacking a car, he would have to rely on public transportation if he went in civilian mode. Worse, there was little reason for someone like him to be around a town like that. Better to go as a "concerned hero". Good thing he had some spare costumes; wouldn't do to end up stinking up the town! So he packed about 5 day's worth of close into a moderate-sized duffel bag, tossed in his travel toiletries kit, and slipped out of his apartment building a few hours after making the decision. He figured he'd keep the speed down for most of the journey; no reason to get the FAA on his tail if things weren't in immediate crisis mode. -------------------------------------- Gabriel had actually beaten Nick to the town itself, but he'd taken some time flying above it, getting the lay of the land, figuring out the major locations inside the town itself before finally landing about a block away from the sheriff's office. Ignoring the staring, pointing, and whispering, he strode to said office, duffel bag over one shoulder as he walked confidently in the door. "My name is Gabriel, and I'd like to speak with someone in charge." His tone was polite and respectful, no hint of an attempt to bully his way into the situation. It was still too delicate for that.

Cobalt Templar mimed dusting his hands off after the last of the hostages was safe on the ground. He shrugged at Warlock's praise. "Pretty simple, really. Practice more than anything." Then two men with assault rifles busted into the room. One was down before he was able to do anything. The other actually rattled off a single burst of gunfire. Of course, it simply deformed on CT's armor and fell to the ground, utterly useless. CT himself was grinning. "Nah, this guy's not the Devil. He's not even practice." Said thug was grabbed by an ethereal hand and tossed against a nearby wall, getting knocked out on impact. "Didn't even have to move a muscle."

Carson gave a smile and nod to the quartet; they'd done quite well, and played some less-well-known, but still excellent, songs. Now, it was time for him to get to work. Blowing one final test note through his oboe, he stepped up to his microphone, closes his eyes, and began to play. The piece was a somewhat older, classical style piece. It was upbeat, but not overly loud. It sang of love, celebration, happiness, and hope. It brought a smile to the face of everyone who could hear it, at least for a moment. Everyone listening could hear the joy and celebration that Carson felt for the happy couple. He played the song as one of his wedding gifts, as something that let him speak from his soul without taking attention away from this special moment.

Almost as soon as Warlock was vanishing, Cobalt Templar took flight. By the time he hit the window, he was moving at about 70 miles an hour. But any debris from the impact never touched the hostages; they were encased in a bubble of energy that was as hard as steel, but mostly transparent. "Hold tight, everyone. We'll be out of here in no time!" The bubble reshaped itself a bit, narrowing enough they could fit through a nearby fire escape door without breaking the protective barrier. Cobalt Templar carefully watched the slowly-moving container, making sure it maintained integrity, as well as getting everyone out safely.

OOC thread for this.

Earth-Prime Cobalt Templar snapped off a salute to the upperclassman member of the team, and started to take flight. "Roger that, Wander. I'm going in nice and slow; going to keep back about 500 feet at first, and evaluate the situation from there." With those words, he began his careful flight, dodging any airborne hazards along the way. His speed was perhaps 50 miles an hour; on the other hand, the rift wasn't very far into the sky, so he reached the target distances in just a couple of minutes. Earth-Paragon Cobalt Templar frowned. Considering his powers, he really ought to stay at the levee. At the same time, no one else could fly. And the rift could be a larger threat in the end. Reluctantly, he started towards the tear in the sky. "Yeah, going." His frustration was clear in his voice, but he still followed her orders. She was, after all, the team leader. He proceeded at near-maximum speed, making a hard stop just 200 feet away from the rift, peering closely into its chaotic depths, trying to discern more about its nature.

Cobalt Templar facepalms as the double-meaning of his words hit home. What little of his face is displayed through his mask and helmet is flushing red. "Damn it, not like that! Gah!" He takes a moment to collect himself, so that when he next speaks, he's all business. The ring on his hand is glowing faintly with power, and he's clearly prepared to instantly create a protective barrier. "Sounds like a plan. Let's rock and roll."

Cobalt Templar gave a frustrated look at Blake when he used the name "Corbin". But he let it slide, hoping the police didn't really notice in all the "excitement". "Let's get in there, get the hostages out of immediate danger, and work from there. So hurry up and climb on." With that, a simple frame manifested out of blue energy, floating next to CT. It had clear hand and footholds. When Blake stepped up and grabbed it, it would morph a bit to hold him tight. When Cobalt Templar took flight, the frame followed close by his side, carefully using the buildings as cover until they got to a rooftop that gave them the best viewpoint. CT crouched at the wall, squinting his eyes to see a bit better. "No offense, but I wasn't going to give you a personal ride. Quo-Dis might get jealous." A grin quirked his face even in this serious situation. He finally fixed his gaze on one window, pointing towards it with his left hand. "There. I can see the hostages...looks like the thugs aren't in the middle of them. Makes this easier."

Gabriel finished his comparatively slow turn, having taken stock of the current status of the fight. Two gangsters out cold, one sobbing as he's being cuffed by the cops, and three of them running and firing the occasional wild shot from their over-sized guns. Thankfully, they were still pretty close together. That helped when Gabriel, still dodging energy blasts, closed to about a hundred feet away. 'Good; the space is clear far enough around them...' he thought with a small smile. Taking a deep breath, he called out as he dove closer. "You boys should stop shooting-" Suddenly, a wave of sonic force rushed out of his mouth with his next words. "And get down on the ground!" These thugs were also knocked unconscious. With a smile, Gabriel flew back over to the Espadas siblings. He glanced at Jack first. "Wow. Are you always this serious in a fight?" He offered his hand, his grin nearly splitting his face. "Thanks for the assist." He turns to face Jill, a more respectful smile on his face. As he shook her hand, he offered a slight bow of his head. "Nice work, ma'am. Now, are the two of you ready to-" "NOBODY MOVE! I SWEAR, NOBODY MOVE OR WE PULL THE TRIGGER, YOU HEAR ME?" Four gangsters emerged from the bank, the last of the group. Each had a hostage, each with an over-sized pistol held to the head of said hostage. The leader appeared very nervous as he head an utterly terrified middle-aged woman. A ten-year old boy, a twenty-something woman, and a man in his late 50s looked to round out the hostage situation. Gabriel's face went from "friendly" to "not amused" in about 0.5 seconds. He made no immediate moves, instead choosing to size up the situation. His next words were spoken at low volume. "Crap. I'll try to negotiate, but this could get ugly..."

A lightbulb went off in Gabriel's head. "Wait, I've heard of you guys before! Sorry, it's been a day, let me tell you." He quirked a smile at the banter the two were exchanging. "Well, if you're swashing buckles, does that mean she's buckling swashes? And call me Gabriel." With a rush of air, he was hovering behind the gangsters in the entryway, his face completely serious. Almost angry, even. "Your fire hit three cops and one civilian. Lucky for you, none of them are dead." Almost without warning, one of the men was blasted off his feat by an echoing sonic blast, flying through the air bonelessly until he skidded to a halt not far from the dome of energy. Another of the gangsters slams against the wall of the entryway, also knocked out by a sonic blast. Now there are only 4 men. And Gabriel seems no happier. He glances at one of the men, and when he speaks, there is an odd timbre in his voice. "You should be afraid now." The man is sprinting towards the police line before his gun hits the ground, sobbing with fear. The remaining three men try running back out into the open, firing at Gabriel as they go. The hero in white dashes upwards in the sky, giving them some space to breath. Though, he seemed to be turning around, almost like a fighter about to make an attack run.

"Crap, it's him!" The gang members panicked, fleeing inside the entryway of the bank, leaving the (now 7) robots to fight the heroes. Gabriel didn't immediately recognize them as he took this moment to shoot up into the air and plant a sonic blast right in the face of another robot, blowing its head to scrap. He then dove behind cover of the force field. "Thanks for the force field, ma'am. Though...who are you guys, exactly?" Honest curiosity filled his voice. He felt like he should know these two, but it had been a busy week...

Earth-Prime Cobalt Templar had been maintaining a extension to the levy in one area while crews worked frantically to patch up the actual barriers. Thankfully, they had just finished when further disaster struck. "All of you, get down!" Even as he cried out for the workers to find cover, his blue construct flowed like water, sliding into the sky and spreading out to cover as much area as possible. While normally he created thicker constructs, this one only had to hold for a few moments; thus, it was only a few inches of "steel" to hold off the debris. The plates of "metal" were shaped such that the chunks of debris were funneled to a bare patch of ground. He'd almost dumped it in the river, but a part of him said that it would be better to hold onto it. Just in case. "I've got this side covered for now, but what in the world happened?" Earth-Paragon Cobalt Templar was still helping move huge piles of sandbags with his powers when the call came over the radio. His eyes widened, but he still carefully placed his latest load near this section of the levy, nodding to the nearby foreman. "A situation has come up; I'm needed in City Center." Before the man could respond, the young hero in blue and gold was roaring across the sky, the poring rain sizzling against the faint aura of psychic fire that covered his body. His expression was tense with worry. "Cobalt Templar inbound at best speed. ETA 1 minute and counting. Any survivors? Is the levy there damaged?" His aura flared slightly, but a clenched jaw was the only sign of his iron will snapping down on his powers, which quickly settled down. The ring on his hand, the odd mental "focus device" his subconscious had settled on, flared briefly through the armored gauntlet he wore over it. Even his subconscious was worried, though his conscious worries flashed through his mind at high speed. 'What just happened? What about the League? Are the others okay?'

It had been a long day for Carson. He'd spent extra time at the College, helping a few students with some troublesome assignments, while trying to make sure he didn't do all their work for them. A delicate balance, to be sure. Then, he'd spent a couple hours with one of his tougher mentoring cases. He felt almost hopeless; this kid really fit the type who "didn't want to be helped". He was worried sick about the boy, with no ideas on what to do. So when he turned on the news, and the first thing he saw was about a "ritualistic killing" in Stratford, Pennsylvania, where the local police were calling in "experts" that even the CNN reporters were dubious about, it really didn't help his mood. He heaved a sigh as he cast his gaze heavenward. "I get the message. But could I get a couple of utterly boring weeks after this? I have a feeling already this one's going to be bad." He returned his attention to the television, trying to draw in all the details of the situation. He needed to be prepared when he flew into the town. On the upside, he ought to be able to take some time off. Might even be good for his work with Billy; fresh perspective from time away never hurt anything.

'Days like this are why I should stick to Southside. There are fewer robots in Southside.' This odd thought had been brought about by an odd day. On a whim, Gabriel had decided to do a short fly-over patrol of the West End, wanting to stretch his metaphorical legs a bit, maybe see some new parts of the city. That's when he'd spotted ten shining robots standing outside a bank, firing at the couple of cop cars, backed up by a few men with large, high-tech rifles that fired energy blasts. Sounds from inside the bank said there was a robbery in progress. He had, of course, immediately headed down to intervene. A lucky shot had destroyed one robot, and he'd damaged a couple more. Unfortunately, he was one man, and there were several robots and gangsters. At the moment, he was taking cover behind a police car, the driver of said car having been unfortunately hauled off by paramedics after being hit by one of the gang members. He ought to be fine; Gabriel had been hurt worse and come out alright. Several times, no less. Still, he was pinned down while a robbery continued, and lives were on the line. If only he had some help. "Wouldn't mind a helping hand right about now, Lord. Really wouldn't mind it at all, no sir. Pride's no issue for me."

I'll again toss out Gabriel as a "backup" of sorts. While he's obviously not as "suspicious" as some of the others, and his powers aren't directly magical, he would do quite well at Gather Information and other People Skills. Potential hook might be if it was, in fact, a church desecration, especially a Catholic church. Though, he does have all those Celtic knots and crosses on his coat. Maybe that's shifty to these folks? And if he's rolling with that skull-faced guy, he must be trouble, too. ;)