Thunder King

As soon as she heard the scream, Mali made sure the car was in a safe place and stopped it. She looked behind her and saw Tona cowering. In an instant, she was out of the car and beside Tona, leaning down to look at the girl in the back seat. "Tona?" She said, leaning in to get a better look. "Are you okay?" "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been driving so fast. Is this your first time in a car? In a convertible?" She reached forward and hugged Tona. "Just tell me what I need to do to help you, if this is scaring you too much, I can drive slower, put the roof up..." She cursed herself inwardly. She should have been more careful, Tona might be in a car for the first time ever. She should have paid more attention to her friend.

Mali, for her part, started up the engine. It purred to life, a well-kept, powerful machine. She reached into her pocket and put on a pair of sunglasses for the sunset glare, and drove off. As the wind took her hair and whipped it around, she smiled. She was happy. She had friends, she was off to have fun in her own car, and life was good. She'd never really had friends she could just 'hang out' with before. She'd always been on a different wavelength, had nothing in common with the other girls. Sure, she knew lots of people, but had very few true friends. Most people were put off by her intensity. After years of not belonging, putting people off with her training and intensity, she had friends. She laughed and settled into the red leather seat. Yes, it was good to have friends.

GM After hours spent investigated, and money changing hands, Lord Steam finally had a solid grasp on a lead. It seemed like nobody was willing to talk about this mysterious Walker Black. No one knew what he had planned, or why he needed specialized parts. All anyone knew was that he showed up one day with a lot of money, and a willingness to spread it around for the right reasons. Walker Black was clearly an alias, it seemed. Invented by a man from Earth Victoriana for as-yet-unknown reasons. The machinery was all manufactured separately, and then later adapted into efficient assassination robots. They were built with after-market additions such as interchangeable faces and gas-powered poison injectors. As for Mr. Black himself, he lived in a very upscale apartment in one of the richer parts of the city. Exactly how he paid for it all was a mystery, as was where his money came from. Either way, the culprit looked to be a Walker Black.

Several prints are lifted from the tech, but nothing conclusive as they do not match any known persons. The ceramic and plastic parts were manufactured by a large corporation, seemingly not intended for the devices at all, merely adapted for them. What Steam does figure out, though, is that there are definitely parts made in Earth Victoriana. Specifically by a well-to-do manufacturing company, though again, they may not have been built with this use in mind. Most of the work in the machine is after-market adaptations, mainly a pair of poison injectors built into the hands, as well as several other parts designed to ensure they produce no metallic sound when moving. The face possesses certain components that are designed for more human-like faces, to be interchanged as needed. All of this leads Steam to the conclusion that these devices were intended as assassination robots, bought from a manufacturer, adjusted with Earth Prime parts, and then with added after-market additions to make them suitable to the job. Walker Black is likely an alias, created and established by a well-dressed British man who's real name is a mystery. He appeared in Freedom City a few months ago, with a lot of money and resources. He kept everything quiet, and it wasn't until Lord Steam bribed someone that he got a lead, which in turn lead to a better person to ask. Walker lives in a deluxe apartment in one of the richest neighborhoods in town. How he rents the place without legitimate income is a mystery, as are where he came from and what his goals are. What is known is that he is very meticulous about his clothing and places of operation, liking things very neat and tidy.

GM Soon after Steam's staff was done searching the place, more officers arrived to turn it into a proper scene. They combed it thoroughly, it seemed. After a while, Brodzki and Jennings returned to Steam, seemingly empty handed. "Same stuff as your guys, just some of the tech. I think the Walker Black name is our best lead, though I'll be sending officers to thoroughly search the shipments in those manifestos." Brodzki said. "I have no idea who Walker Black is though. Jennings, stay with him. Lord Steam, if you need any other resources, go ahead and ask. My boss says you've done better than our boys on this, so you can go ahead and keep working on it."

"I agree." He said. "I spend time volunteering, rebuilding computers to help people who need to learn computer skills to gain employment." He followed her and continued talking. "Thing is, the world would be a better place if people stopped a minute to help someone that needed it. We all need help sometimes, nobody can get through life without ever getting help." Here he was, out of his element, talking to one of the few people he knew to be smart enough to keep up with him, and his dad was abandoned to his fate at the meeting that was probably already underway. He really hoped his dad would understand.

The manifestos seem to all be legitimate, though smuggling is possibly involved. The tech includes more of the plastics and ceramics. In addition, there are other parts that look like parts of the machine assassin that killed the other men. One of the manifestos features the name 'Walker Black', either an alias or a real name.

Mali merely chuckled. "That is useful..." She said. "But the real advantage is feeling wind in your hair while you're riding. It's awesome." Without opening the door, she grabbed the handle and flipped in, landing in the driver's seat. "Get in everybody." She said waving with a smile. "Where do you guys want to go first? Go get food? We have time, money, and lots of things we can do." "Also, I doubt we need them, but I think we should all bring our costumes, you know how things are. You're out having fun and then suddenly, bad guys. Terrible thing to stumble across."

Everybody finds something, though not all of great value; Archibald finds some suspicious looking documents in the office area, probably shipment manifestos Boris and Molly stumble across a whole big pile of random scrap in one of the boxes Blakely finds some suspicious looking pieces of tech Lord Steam himself finds that the office is in great disarray, as if the last occupant was in a very great hurry to get out. Amidst the clutter, he finds a few small pieces of paper, namely passports with several different names and faces on them.

I need search checks for all of your staff, plus any other checks you may decide to make while searching the area

Voltage is immune to all electrical effects, so he's just going to stand there and look unimpressed.

GM Jennings nodded. "Your staff is fine to help search, but once it becomes an actual crime scene, they have to leave. If they stick around we risk contamination of evidence. We have some safe-houses we can put them in, though I'm sure they appreciate the offer." He pulled out his phone and began to make a few calls. First to the police with a list of addresses for pick up. "You'll be with your families shortly." He said to the worried people. The second call he made was to the office of Detective Brodzki, to inform him of what they had discovered. "Brodzki's going to meet us there." He said. An Hour Later "Well, Sir, looks like an interesting place." Jennings said to Brodzki. "Alright, Lord Steam." Brodzki said. "Shall we?"

"Don't need to." He said, glancing at Silvia. "I hacked into the device that was going to teleport us and memorized the coordinates. My own teleportation power can get us there easily, and probably more reliably. Depending on where we are now, it may take more than one teleport, my maximum range is 2,000 miles, and I have no idea where we are now."" He reached over and touched her shoulder momentarily. The two of them transformed into lightning and vanished into the air. A split-second later, they reappeared somewhere else, a few feet away from the exact coordinates the devices were keyed to. "If you experience a minor disorientation, I apologize. I'm not used to using that on other people."

Didn't do much better...7

GM "We don't have the schematics, unfortunately, John carried them around and we think the guy who killed him took them." He said. "But we do have an address for the place he stored the stuff." He handed Lord Steam a small piece of paper. "One more thing, we're willing to cooperate, but we're scared of the guy, I mean, I don't know what happened to our friends, but they're probably dead. We want police protection, please? For our families, too?" Jennings nodded. "Give us your addresses and we'll send some officers to pick your families up. We'll protect you until this all blows over. Jennings glanced at the paper and looked at Lucien. "I think it's best we call in a few officers to do a thorough search of the area. We can canvass a lot of property, but if someone's moving dangerous technology around and there's a murder conspiracy, we need to search the area faster than two people can. What do you think?"

Mali hugged the girl back and smiled. Mali was wearing a loose-fitting, but stylish t-shirt, slightly too big so that it covered all of her upper arms. She also wore a pair of stylish jeans and her favorite non-athletic shoes. Her hair was actually styled, carefully done in a cascade of black down to her neck. "Let's see here...something is off. Accents, body language, all sorts of messed up." Her eyes shifted from girl to girl as she turned around. "Sorry Tona, you can't completely get rid of your accent." She said to the girl right in front of her. "So, if Tona is Sam, then Sam probably isn't Tona, but Cerys. That, and with all the whispering. Tona's good, but she doesn't have powers, and Cerys probably can't do it either. I'm betting Sam put you guys up to this. It worked for a minute, but, not very long." She wasn't upset, it was a harmless prank. Her friendly smile didn't even flicker as she grinned. "See, I wanted a car, but my parents didn't want me driving anything fast, or new. So I shopped around, and got this..." She said, pointing to her car. It was black, with red interior and a convertible top. "Had to do a partial restoration, but, man was it worth it."

Voltage turned to another man, seemingly with his mind on the situation at hand. In truth, his superhumanly keen mind was running mental simulations of the cause and possibilities. What could be awaiting them? How did Amber Curse, who wasn't very bright (by all appearances) possibly get his hands on such a powerful item? Either someone helped him, it was sheer luck, or he was smarter than he looked. Voltage sent a blast of electricity at another man, dropping him to the floor. Enough current to knock him out, but not enough to kill. He had gotten really good at these practiced bursts of energy. Less wasted energy, better aim.

Voltage nodded and turned to the console. His hands flew across the keys as his brow furrowed, seemingly in concentration. This was a delicate, bad situation. If they didn't get the code isolated and neutralized, the damage could be catastrophic. However, he noted to himself, they really did have some of the best people who could stop it. The Foundry was obviously taking great pains to ensure it's plans went along smoothly. Unfortunately for them, the heroes had smarter people on their side. He worked in silence for a moment longer. "Done." He said, nodding to Miss Americana. "Connection is as secure as it's going to get."

It was at that exact moment that Mali popped out, almost literally. She appeared in mid air suddenly, then landed. She dropped one hand to slow her slide and came to a stop. "Hey guys." She said, straightening back up and dusting off her hands. She seemed to be making a mental note of her jump distance, and then smiled to herself in satisfaction. Apparently, her jump had been a good one. She looked at the girls and immediately seemed to notice something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Something is...off." She said, glancing between the three other girls. "So, I was thinking we take my car. I've got plenty of room for everyone, and it's a lot better than trying to take in the sights and sounds on foot."

tagging

27 for my next attack

Voltage is going to make sure they can get a secure call, got a 42

Almost as soon as he was done pushing that last button,Voltage disappeared, transforming into electric current. Silvery bolts cascaded through the air, coalescing above them, back into the shape of a man. Voltage glanced down at them and fired off a blast of electric energy, causing one of the men to shake for a moment, then collapse unconscious. He checked the device around his neck and interfaced with it. "These devices are malfunctioning,they teleport the target, but mess them up on arrival. I know where they were sending us." He turned to Stormbreaker and nodded. I may be scrawny, but I can certainly carry my weight he thought to himself

I definitely think that we could do a dinner with the Benjawans thread and a Girls' Night Out thread, they can be the same thread, or different threads. Same night, or different nights, I don't care which. Both seem like good ideas to me.

11, not terrible