ic Battles Under The Big Top

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star 

 

Alice nodded in satisfaction at the Clown's surrender, descending to ground level as she took the armour from him, passing it to Predator without taking her eyes off the would-be thief.

 

Scanning around she spotted a piece of metal that had escaped from the annihilated truck and wrapped it around the Clown's arms, carefully blunting any sharp edges. Stepping away she inspected the state of her costume, sighing in annoyance as she took in the frayed fabric and enormous gouges in her breastplate.

 

"How are the other trucks doing, Predator? I can get there pretty quickly if it'd matter." She looked back at their captive audience, "Or would you rather we see what we can get out of Buggy here?"

Edited January 31 by Kaede Kimura

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

Speaking across the radio in both the Heroine's ears and Predator's awareness, the guards on the other two trucks radioed in.

 

"Truck two here. We got attacked by a fire breather and a guy in one of those old timey wrestling singlets, but we chased them off." 

 

"Truck three reporting. Failure on our part. The Multispectrum Electromagnetic Caster Gun was taken by a contortionist and a guy dressed up like a circus ringmaster; he hypnotized us into giving him the gear. and then left. Location unknown." 

 

Well two out of three wasn't bad. But they did still have the clown. He smiled, but it was an awkward, tense smile; the smile of someone who realized they were in a very very bad posistion with limited ways out. 

 

"Haha, well uh...I...surrender?" he didn't sound at all like a clown. He sounded like a guy from Minnesota. "And my name isn't Buggy. It's Jeremy. Or Clone Clown if you mean my uh, nom de'plume." he laughed awkwardly again. Did he know something about where the MEC Gun was taken?

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

“Acknowledged, Truck Two. Truck Three.”

Predator nodded as she replied.

“Truck Two, if you’re still mobile, continue but use an alternate route.Truck Three, if you’re mobile, rendezvous with Truck One. if you’re not mobile, call for a new transport.”

She glances at the truck.

“Truck one, call for a new transport as well. Everyone stay on guard, there could be further attempts.”

 

Accepting the armor, she turns her attention to Shooting Star.

“One other truck is still secure. They should attempt to reorganize and continue.”

The armored helmet tilts, the eye-like design regarding the clown.

“I think Mr Clown here may prove useful in directing us towards his cohorts.”

Predator heads to the truck to secure the armor as Shooting Star guards their prisoner.

 

When she returns, the armored hero regards the man.

“The police are already en route to take you into custody. So now, need we follow the traditional method of threats and demands in order to secure your cooperation? Or can we skip to you telling us where to find the rest of your circus themed gang?”

Predator motions to Shooting Star.

“If needed, I’m sure my friend here can provide an adequate display of strength to influence your decision.”

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Not, uh...not to overplay my hand here, so to speak. But uh...do I get anything for telling it easy? Maybe a 5 minute head start?" He looked back and forth, continuing to raise his hands in a gesture of surrender.

 

"I'll even tell you how I make the clones; I'm not actually a metahuman, we stole a belt that transmutes excess material into a mimicry of living tissue...which is why all my clones exploded into balloons and stuff...I mean we had a brand to keep, you know."

 

"....Please don't hit me in the face...or maybe do. I don't actually own this face and honestly I might be more scared of the royal institute of clowns than the cops..."

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

The smooth surface of Predator’s helmet reflected the clown’s face. It tilted a little as she regarded the clown’s request. It shifted focus to Shooting Star as if to gauge her thought to the request.

In the long run, he was only a minion really. If they could get to the ringleader at the cost of letting him go, It may prove the smarter move.

She gives the other hero a small nod.

 

She looks back at the clown, then down at the belt.

“Remove the belt and speak quickly. You’ll have until the police arrive.”

Predator holds out hand.

“When they arrive we will give them your name and description. At that time, it will be out of our hands.”

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star 

 

Alice had to admit, she wasn't quite expecting such a complete surrender and hadn't been entirely sure if Predator would be willing to let the guy off easy for cooperating so she'd hesitated until Predator spoke again. She did her best not to slump in relief as her fellow hero agreed to let him run for it. Quickly however she rallied, deciding to get one final bit of snark in. 

 

"Also off you want I can hit you, but I don't know how well you'll be running away if you do."

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Okay, okay, don't hit me, here, here's the belt." He said as he handed it over. "We are just a small fry group of criminals, no one special, but we figured if we did the whole 'circus' thing we'd get some more cred, I mean, everyone has to have a gimmick, don't they? I don't even know where my boss got the idea to start stealing this stuff. He's the one with the hypnosis gun by the way, it sends low grade electrical impulses into your brain from afar to disorient you. He has some girl under his control; she's like crazy strong, by the way, so I'd be careful with her, but if you shut off the gun it'll probably turn off. She's not like us; she actually has powers, everyone else is using gear you can probably take off them." he spoke as fast as he could.

 

"We set up shop at that old abandoned circus outside of town, they're probably there now if I had to guess, or heading that way. Then they'll pack up and leave. Okay that's all I know promise." He said before fleeing.

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator accepted the belt from the would be criminal clown. Being sure to capture the man’s image and extrapolate his appearance without the makeup to give to the police later. She also recorded his confession and other details for good measure.

 

Once he finished, she stepped back and let the man go. Turning back to the truck, she put the belt with the armor for safekeeping.

 

“Cynthia, search for records of possible abandoned sites outside the city large enough to accommodate a circus.”

She looks at Shooting Star.

“Have you heard anything about an abandoned circus?”

The other hero was obviously younger than herself, perhaps she had heard something about it.

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

As it turned out 'the abandoned circus' was not as good of an indicator as the two heroines possibly thought; because most circuses get torn down when they are left behind by circus-folk that are no longer popular. There's a few possibilities, but sweeps quickly reveal these aren't the areas the group is looking for. Eventually, Clark Fields calls in to the pair's radios.

 

"Hey, I think I found some energy signatures similar to the stolen Caster Gun. Try this frequency, Predator." he called over. It pinged out not an abandoned Circus, but rather a dumping ground that contained the remnants of a circus; a giant wooden clown face poked up over collapsed tents and rusted out rides, in the center of a scrap dump which was surrounded by a chain link fence and other wasted bits of metal.

It was clear that the group of criminal fake circus performers were set up there; a sat image that Predator could pull up showed people loading supplies into an 18 wheeler. But Predator and Shooting Star had the advantage here, of determining how they wished to start this engagement, since the circus performers clearly had no idea they were coming and seemed to think they were scot free; though the speed at which they were packing seemed to indicate they knew they were on a timer. It was strange they were still there, even, but maybe they had more gear than expected?

 

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Cynthia combed through records at Predator’s direction, but turned up nothing. So, it was lucky when Dr Fields contacted them. The frequency he gave them was just what they needed to find the circus themed gang.

 

The coordinates that she was able to pinpoint showed the condemned remains of a circus. It was no wonder it hadn’t shown up in her search.

 

The most recent images she was able to pull from satellite coverage show Ed them already I in the process of packing up to flee. They would have to move quickly.

 

“We have to stop the truck. Most likely some of them will be utilizing more stolen tech, so we have to be ready to react.”

Predator said.

“The truck will probably be loaded with whatever excess tech they can’t use right now.”

She thought for a moment.

“We’ll be out numbered so the best tactic is to pick a target and focus on them until they are no longer a threat, then move on to the next. Whittle down their numbers one at a time. Of course, this can change during the encounter, so use your own judgement.”

She regarded Shooting Star.

“Your thoughts?”

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star 

 

Alice had to admit, she had no clue about the circus. She had seen posters for a circus once as a kid on her way to a checkup, but tickets had been too expensive and so they'd never gone. That disappointment was the sum total of what she knew. 

 

Which was apparently about as much as Predator, so she'd taken to flying around places that could have taken a circus tent.

 

She was therefore quite relieved at Doctor Fields' breakthrough. Looking down at the dump now that she had a moment to reflect, she was just glad her brother wasn't involved. She listened as Predator listed her plan, basic as it was and asked for her thoughts. 

 

"That sounds good to me. I think we should try spotting the leader that Jeremy mentioned as soon as possible, since that should stop the lady he mentioned." She pauses a moment, fiddling with a piece of bronze that had fallen off her breastplate like it was putty as she thought. "Probably want to keep them from escaping, don't want all that super tech making it's way to the streets. I have an idea to disable the truck which should get their attention if you wanna do an ambush."

 

As she considers what she'd just said, a look of mild concern passes across her face and she activates her radio, "Excuse me Doctor Fields, two questions: What does the caster gun do? I'm tough but I don't have any resistances against being thrown back in time or being deaged or something. Second, what's the range, operating altitude and temperature limits of the radio?"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"The Caster gun is supposed to be used for cutting edge medical treatments; it generates focused laser beams along the electromagnetic spectrum; from various Light Waves all the way up to Gamma Radiation. It could kill bacteria with UV light and cure cancer with gamma rays....if we could manage to get it working without requiring a power source roughly equivalent to the Hoover Dam to keep it spinning...we're still working on that. Plus the thing requires a metahuman level of strength to pick up. So if you're fine with electromagnetic rays, you shouldn't be in any significant danger other than the sheer possible force of the blast." Fields responded.

 

"As for the Radios, they're bouncing off satellites so as long as you're under the satellite you're fine, if maybe a little garbled when you get too far away, but once you're further then that they won't work."

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

“Thank you for the clarification, Dr Fields.”

Predator acknowledged.

“It’s obvious they’re expecting us sooner or later, but they can’t be sure when. Hopefully we can keep things from escalating further and apprehend the thieves quickly.”

Predator was already running towards the site, sure that Shooting Star would be on her way as well. Technically, she could easily build a jet back for the suit, but she just preferred to keep her feet on the ground in combat.

“I’ll signal you once I’m in position, then wait for your signal”

She spoke as she ran.

“Once you’ve disabled the truck, hopefully their leader will reveal themself. Just  watch out for the strong girl the clown mentioned. She may be able to wield the caster, so don’t attempt to ‘tank’ a shot from it, as they say.”

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star 

 

Alice had flown up to orbit upon Doctor Field's confirmation of the communicators capabilities, using the time that Predator needed to get into position to find a piece of space junk to shield her from reentry. Her costume was damaged enough as it was, she didn't need to disintegrate it via reentry.

 

Once Predator radioed her readiness, Alice positioned the piece of metal she had found below herself and launched herself downwards. Almost immediately the air around her lit up from reentry, normally when performing reentry she let gravity carry her in and used her flight to decelerate as her scavenged shield melted, but this time she pushed herself down faster as the flames roared around her. She blew out a single breath in the silence of hypersonic flight before the world exploded around her, the body of the truck parting before her arrival like water. Even as she pulled herself up so as not to bury herself beneath the earth she felt it heaving as the roar of her passing arrived like the voice of an angry God.

 

She rose free of the crater that had once been the thieves truck, steam rising from her as her breastplate glowed dully and the fabric of her costume bubbled. A corner of her mind noted the costumed man slumped against a wall as the thunder of her arrival continued. Had Predator taken him down? She must work quick. 

 

She knew her melting costume and smoldering cape didn't exactly cut the most impressive figure, so she had to capitalize on the shock of her arrival. As the thunder of her reentry slowly tapered away she grinned, smashing her fist into her palm in front of herself, a resounding crack echoing through the dump.

 

"I am ready to accept your surrender."

 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The truck split! Or really, more like it melted into oblivion underneath the orbital impact of the invulnerable Shooting Star! The thing was so much melted, twisted metal that it would only be good for staying right in the junkyard it was already set in.

 

The blast of air pressure pushed the closest guy; the firebreather, into a nearby wall, where he smacked into it and fell to the ground unconscious, before the fighting had even gotten to commence.

 

The remaining people were two; a woman dressed up like a stage magician, carrying a baton, and a man dressed in a tophat and tuxedo, clearly the ringmaster of his whole operation, his beard and mustache dyed a vibrant purple color. He was carrying a small handheld device that looked a bit like a spinning coin and he raised it up to talk to it. He was posistioned further back, close to a brick building that he had apparently been using as a rest spot; the Magician had only barely avoided the same fate as her compatriot, hitting the dirt when Shooting Star destroyed the truck. A massive chunk of metal flipped and landed near her, threatening to crush her under it, but she was safe as she got to her feet, a little shaken.

 

"Buckles. Get over here." he called into it before straightening up and appraising Shooting Star. He had a friendly smile and an inviting manner, but they were clearly fake; once you could see the gleam in his eyes up close, or the way he wrung his hands, you could tell he had the look of a man caught out.

"Ma'am, surely there's been a mistake! We've got no quarrel with you, we're simply good old fashioned circus entertainers plying our trade!" he said cagely. This was clearly just an attempt at a distraction given that both of the fake circus entertainers were still preparing to fight. "Maybe we can fix up your suit for you for free before you're the one getting arrested." he offered.

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

From her spot, Predator had a good view of the truck and the ‘performers’. She waited, still and tensed to strike. Not unlike her namesake.

 

Suddenly, warnings flashed across her screen. Her suit had picked up something entering the atmosphere at a dangerous velocity. Numbers and stats flashed across her screens and she suddenly became concerned.

Shooting Star had assured her she would be okay, but Predator was still a little concerned by what she was reading. As final numbers she eyes widened and she instinctively reacted. Crouching as low as possible, she braced for the incoming impact.

 

The helmet muffled the sound, but she still felt the force even through the suit. She raised enough to see the results herself.

Even as Shooting Star emerged from the remains of the truck, her computer identified one potential enemy was down and showed no signs of moving. That left two contacts active at the moment, but more could reveal themselves. Best to keep vigilant.

 

Predator quickly chose her target and launched her on attack.

 

Twin beams of energy lanced across the open space between her and the Ringleader. The blasts slamming into him with incredible force as they left trails of fading light. Predator stood a silent figure in the open now, a haziness around the steaming basters set into the palms of her gauntlets.

[Poncho]

(GM post)

 

The man was certainly planning to do something. And definitely something else was coming; Predator's scanners could pick up something else approaching at rapid speed.

 

Then the blast impacted the Ringleader on the chest as he turned to face them. He went flying, soaring through the air and landing in the burnt out husk of a ruined junker car, his boots left on the ground; he'd been blasted straight out of his boots! his legs hung limply over the door of the junker as he was sprawled across the seat, unconscious.

 

Whatever had suddenly been on Predator's scanners stopped, floated in mid-air for a moment, then suddenly flew off in a different direction. The mesmerizer machine lay in a broken, jumbled heap on the ground halfway between the Ringleader's boots and the car he'd landed in.

 

The Stage magician looked between Shooting Star and Predator, adjusted his bowtie, then put his wand on the ground and raised his hands.

 

"I surrender."

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star 

 

Alice was about to make a snarky comment when with a flash the Ringleader vanished. She followed the trail of light to his new bed, and then back to Predator, who she gave a quick jaunty salute to. She smiled at the surrendering magician, bringing her hands together gently. "Wonderful, please place any gadgets on the ground and then keep your hands and rabbits where we can see them while we work." She quickly scooped up a piece of metal that hadn't melted with her impact, wrapping it around the magician's wrists gently, checking her range of movement and that it wasn’t in a painful position or overly tight.

 

The one conscious circus member secured she sighed as she looked at the remains of her costume, sighing lightly. She'd just gotten this one too. She lightly touched her mask to make sure that it was still in place, feeling a light layer of char over its surface, but otherwise it was fine, so there was no urgent rush to protect her identity. She looked over to Predator, "I think that went about as well as it could have. Maybe we should work together more.

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator watched her screens as a small blip that had started approaching their location suddenly stopped and turned away. She could only hope that whatever it had been, it would not become a problem later.

 

She started towards those still standing, giving Shooting Star a nod.

“Excellent work, quick and efficient. I would be happy to work alongside you again. You are a credit to the up and coming heroes of this world.”

 

Predator glanced in the direction of the Ringleader and other unconscious man.

“We should secure them as well.”

Jean didn’t bother to mute the speaker as she addressed her computer.

“Cynthia, contact the authorities and notify them of our location. Also open a line to Dr Fields.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Shooting Star could hear a synthesized female voice answer.

 

“Dr. Fields, we have secured the criminals and the missing equipment. Authorities have been notified. Please send a retrieval team for the collection and return to appropriate owners if needed.”

Edited March 15 by Spacefurry

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"That fast? Wow. Excellent work." Dr. Fields responded, clearly surprised. "I'll get a team sent out shortly."

 

The stag magician had done exactly as asked, placing the gadgets he was using for his show on the ground before being handcuffed. He did not resist at all, seemingly accepting his defeat at this juncture.

 

Before too long, around the same time as the police pulled up, a transport truck also arrived from A.S.T.R.O. labs, Dr. Fields in tow. As the scientists and workers carefully loaded the caster into the transport truck- finally showing what it looked like to the heroines; a circular engine style centerpiece with a long, flat barrel coming off of it with adjustable sizes, with thick, heavy cables and wires carefully secured on it-, Fields met up with the two Heroines.

 

"Thank you both for your great work." he said, looking between them. "We really couldn't have even hoped for as much success as you gave us. We owe you both a lot, and if there's anything you want us to do or need from us in the future, please let me know and we'll get it handled to the best of our abilities, our research could have been set back decades if not for your quick work."

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star 

 

Alice had to admit, she grinned like a loon when Predator praised her efforts, hearing another hero compliment her wasn't something she was used to. This did not abate when Doctor Field's expressed surprise at the speed they'd accomplished the takedown.

 

She thought about asking after the voice who'd responded to Predator, but decided against pushing her luck with the other heroine. When the authorities arrived with the ASTRO labs van she helped where she could and gave her statement before meeting with Field's, happy to have assisted them. She was about to take her leave when she stopped short. "Actually, uh, could you get me some replacement clothes, I'm pretty sure what's left of my costume won't survive another flight."

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

When the police and trucks arrived, Predator stayed with the prisoners and spoke with the authorities as Shooting Star assisted with gathering the stolen equipment and loading it up.

Once she was done, she joined the other hero with Dr Fields.

 

“I’m glad we exceeded your expectations, Dr Fields.”

Predator said politely.

 

When Shooting Star began to leave, only to pause and turn around Jean couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. The young hero’s costume certainly looked like it had taken the abuse she had put it through, Though she was surprised it hadn’t taken more from that reentry maneuver. Perhaps something in her powers had mitigated a portion of the damage, just not all of it. Jean considered this for a moment. She wondered if Star would agree to some tests but quickly dismissed the thought. Her lab was still too small and under equipped for those kinds of tests.

 

“That’s an excellent idea.”

Predator regarded Dr fields.

“I can offer my services if needed.”

She added, willing to help the up and comer if she could.

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"I can certainly help provide a new uniform." Dr. Fields said, nodding, but he paused, looking between Shooting Star and Predator.

 

"While I do not want to make you an offer you're uncomfortable with, we have a variety of quite excellent materials at A.S.T.R.O. Labs that we could use to make a costume that won't burn up or get destroyed when you're working as a superhero. If you want one, we can help you design one, but if it would be too much generosity or against your code, I can just provide some regular clothing." he says, as a long, heavy jacket is handed to Shooting Star for now.

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star 

 

Alice looked between the two, having not expected the offer of a new costume, having just wanted clothes so that she wasn't exposing herself as she went to retrieve her normal clothes. She almost rejected the offer, but stopped.

 

They both wanted to help. That mattered, and who was she to tell them not to?

 

"That sounds great, actually. Thank you both."