ic S.H.A.D.O.W. over Freedom - IC

[Avenger Assembled]

"Robbing the bank, eh? Well, I think it's time you guys made an early WITHDRAWAL! Into prison! Let your very armor be your foe! Bwa-ha-ha!" Edge actually yelled "Bwa-ha-ha" out loud before throwing his arms wide, leaping into the center of the crowd, and exploding. A sudden typhoon of explosions rippled from the lanky teenager's body, erupting outward and ensnaring the Power Corps as their suits short-circuited, fried, and shot each other in an eruption of pure chaos that somehow did no damage whatsoever to Edge's fellow heroes, the scenery, or the civilians.

[angrydurf]

Smoke and the thick smell of ozone filled the air as the thieves suits spat blaster fire and sparks before the onslaught of malfunctions. Number six managed to adroitly avoid the worst of the onslaught but his fellows were not so lucky, At the case number eight was trying to open a crossed wire sent electricity arcing over his suit leaving him twitching and smoking slightly, Number four screeched as his flight systems engaged sending him slamming full force into the still fuming leader, both sprawled in a tangled heap at Jack of All Blades feet.

Ace shakes his head in mock sympathy as the Power Corps systems go haywire. Looking to number six he laughs, "Well it looks like your little toys aren't working so well. Too bad your nothing but a sad impotent little man without them." Keeping the Armored villains attention fully focused on himself.

As the other Power Corps members try to shake off the effects of their malfunctioning systems number six roars and charges at Ace trying to tackle the legendary Hero. Ace lightly steps out of the way of the clumsy attack a mocking laugh on his lips. "Too easy." He says and offers a slight bow to indicate Jack should do the honors.

[Gizmo]

Jack was about to admonish Edge for his pun when the teen leaped into the heart of the fray and the Power Corps' armor went haywire. Probability control...! he recognized immediately from his dealings with his opposite number from the House of Coins, Coinpurse Jack. The specific flavours of the the power was different, but the chaos it caused was all too familiar. Well, that explains the kid's name, anyway. Taking advantage of the malfunctioning mechanics, the energy manipulator seized upon one of the Power Corps' energy blasts, pulling a sliver of the laser fire to him, when he quickly coxed it into a glowing rapier.

As Ace offered the off balance Number Six to him, Jack gave him a brief bow in return, saying, "Just give me a moment to finish something." Turning back to the mercenaries' leader, who's armor was slumped and smoking, the swashbuckler let loose a flurry of swipes, using his laser blade to carve a rough spade shape over top the numeral emblazoned on Number One's chest plate. He lunged forward for the final touch, aiming for a section of the suit already scored by friendly fire. The sword pierced the armor easily, and as the mercenary toppled over backward Jack used him as a stepping stone to launch himself through the air, arcing up and over to land next to Number Six, who received a similarly brutal collection of blows. "Man, I hope that guy was only leader 'cause he was somebody's kid," the annoying acrobat remarked. "If he's the best of you the rest of this is just going to be boring."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Power Corps!?! More like Flower Corps, am I right?" exclaimed Edge as he ran circles around the armored baddies, their suits exploding and burning everywhere he went. "You guys have jobbed to every superhero in Freedom City! You're like the Washington Generals of supervillainy! Which means you're in trouble because I-" And at that, he climbed up on a bank counter and pushed it a little harder. "Am the FUNKIEST MAN IN TOWN!"

[angrydurf]

The haywire systems of the Power Corps armor continued to spark and smoke knocking out the already injured six and four who collapsed as their misfiring weapons scored scattered hits on each other as they tried to fire at Ace and Jack. A large arc fired off of the case eight was working on as it finally slid open and burned out the suits controls leaving him imprisoned in the now dormant metal cage.

Ace slid over to examine what exactly they were after trying to clear the smoke, "Jack see if he knows anything useful, This thing look familiar to you kid?"

[Gizmo]

Jack ambled over to the disabled Power Corp member, leaning casually on a display case nearby and nodding to the criminal. "Hey. How you doing in there? Alright? Good." The swashbuckler made a show of dissipating his energy blade and crossing his arms. "Look, buddy, I'll be straight with you, we need to know what you guys were after. Now, I get it, you've got your professional pride, and I respect that, I really do. You're trying to make a living in a city where every time you blink there's another jerk with powers getting in your face." Jack chuckled easily, shaking his head wryly. "I really do get it. But the thing is, the kid back there? Well... you might have noticed he's got a fondness for explosions, and he's got a pretty polarized view of the world." The swordsman rolled his eyes and waved the idea away airily. "Everybody's either all good or all bad, y'know? What can I say, kids, huh?" Leaning forward he looked straight into the fallen man's eyes through the offline suit's helmet. "Now, you tell me what I need to know, we're good, problem solved. Otherwise... hey, I'm just a guy with a fancy sword, y'know? The kid decides you're all bad..." Shrugging helplessly, the acrobat let the implied threat hang in the air while gesturing for the mercenary to say his piece.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Can I blow him up now?" said Edge, jumping up and down with anticipation that looked alarmingly convincing. "My friend from Young Freedom took down like four of these guys the other day, I wanna see if I can blow them all up at once. Then I'll get the most points, and the big screen TV. We're having...a contest!" Edge didn't actually yell "Dun dun dun!", but it seemed like he really wanted to.

[angrydurf]

A few crackled words, "What ... ou ...t ...ow" came across the suits intercom but while he seemed willing to talk the suit was more than a little bit of a hindrance to getting any useful information out of the would be thief.

Ace pulled a small inlaid box from the case carefully running his hands over the surface with a frown as he searched for a hidden catch or any sign of why S.H.A.D.O.W. was after it. "They pulled this out of a deep bunker, took them almost a week to clear out the Thule Society SS guarding it and some other artifacts, but I don't think we ever figured out what this thing was."

[Gizmo]

"Of course," Jack groused to himself as the mercenary's garbled reply echoed through the suit's speakers. Narrowing his eyes, the swordsman found the trickle of electricity still arcing bout the power armor and pulled at it, a jolt leaping from one of the servos in its right arm to his hand, where it immediately grew into a coursing rapier of energy. "Hold still," he advised his fallen opponent before bringing the pommel of his faintly buzzing construct down atop the suit's faceplate with distinct nonchalance. The already cracked helmet gave way, allowing Jack to remove a large piece of the curved material, revealing the better part of Number Eight's face. "Wanna try that again?"

[angrydurf]

The villain gasped as the faceplate gave way one frightened eye looking out of the hole Jack of all Blades had created, "They said they could spring the rest of us that got picked up at the jewel heist. We just needed to get that box to them by tonight, I dunno what for but tonight or no deal. The boss new where the meet was but didn't tell us." Given his state it seemed unlikely that he was lying or holding anything back.

As the sirens of the police grew closer Ace looked away from the box and down to the immobilized Power Corps member, "Well they were right they have arranged to reunite you with your incarcerated brethren." he said and flipped the box into his pocket. "If they were this desperate they might have agents in the police or museum staff to take advantage of the disruption, this'll be safer with us for now."

[Gizmo]

Jack offered the other heroes a toothy smirk. "So the rest of the Power Snore get locked up and we steal the MacGuffin instead?" He glanced down to the mercenary at his feet. "That's irony, chum. Smile, it's funny." Twirling his electrical rapier with a flick of his wrist, the swashbuckler nodded to the pocket in which Ace had secreted the box away. "We could just destroy it." Noting his compatriots' reactions, he shrugged. "What? I'm not a historian. Why risk it?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Ooh, a clue," said Edge, leaning down and peering at the box. "Can I borrow that for a quick sec, Mr. Danger? I know a lot about opening things," he said guilelessly. "The other day, I opened a box Mr. Summers had on his desk. He was pretty mad, too. But that was okay, we managed to catch hope and put it back in."

[angrydurf]

Ace shrugged and tossed the box to the teen. "See if you can make anything of it then." he said as he glanced around at their disabled foes, "Jack he have anything useful to say?"

After a few moments of examination Edge was growing frustrated with the infuriating box. While there were several panels that seemed to slide there was no rhyme or reason to their movement. He took a moment to calm himself leaning on the box as he took a deep breath and heard a distinct click of a catch opening. As he gently opened the lid he saw a small roll of papyrus old and yellowed but seemingly intact.

[Gizmo]

Jack gave Edge a flat look as he stepped away from the fallen Power Corps. Don't know if he's joking or not. Either way... Feh, teenagers with powers... He turned his gaze to Ace and shrugged. "Not much, it was a pretty simple smash-and-grab job. Apparently the buyers need that little post-it note by tonight, though, no excuses." The fencer craned his neck to get a better look at the scroll. "What d'you think? Planetary-alignment-occult-evoking-of-dead-gods? Resurrection-spell-on-the-anniversary-of-their-master's-death?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Ooh, ancient Egyptian," said Edge curiously. "What does it say?" he asked Ace, trusting that Mr. Danger knew all about that kind of stuff. "Is it about a mummy? Because if so, I know a guy who has a mummy-killing ax in his room. Actually, it's just a regular ax, but it's magic!"

[Gizmo]

"Easy, kid," Jack drawled sarcastically. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. For all we know, it could be a friendly mummy." The fencer spread his hands. "How would you feel if you were a mummy, been trapped is a sarcophagus for who knows how long, you finally get out, you're trying to get back on your bandaged, surprisingly preserved feet, and the first thing you see is some guy coming as you with a magic axe." He shook his head sadly. "That's not the kind of impression we want to leave a new Freedom City immigrant with, amirite?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Mummies are evil," said Edge with perfect assurance. "Sometimes they're sympathetic, and all, like if they're trying to resurrect a lost lover or something, but even that always goes bad." He started ticking things off on his fingers. "Like when the Freedom League fought Sutekh-Ra, the Forever Pharoah, or when the Liberty League fought Herr Set and Der Mummy, or when the..." He shrugged. "You get the idea."

[angrydurf]

Ace nodded agreement to Edges banter as he studied the hieroglyphs, "Kids right mummies are either cursed and driven mad by the weight of their endless existence or dark necromancers aiming for immortality and missing ... Sometimes both." He set aside the papyrus scrap with a frown. "Someone beat them to it. This is far too new to be an actual artifact. Modern era not ancient."

He looked to his compatriots. "Unless ..." Ace grabbed up the sheet and pulled a penknife from his pocket scraping away at paper steadily revealing an odd symbol beneath. "Thule society ritual, locks knowledge away in the paper, also erases the memories until the counter rite is performed." He shakes his head, "But it takes a sorcerer to activate it. I know a little but have no real talent for magic."

[Gizmo]

Jack shook his head sadly. "Personally, I judge a mummy by his actions, not by the colour of his bandages."

When Ace described the scroll's intended use, Jack stepped forward and took the papyrus gently in his hands. "So it's magic? I wonder..." The swashbuckler strained his energy awareness to it's limits, it's greatest level of acuity and detail. Sure enough, there was the slightest tingling mystic energy in the paper, the feel of dormant power. Mentally reaching for that feeling, Jack laid his free hand out palm up, and a whispering wisp of energy rose from the scroll like a lover's sigh.

There wasn't enough there to form a true sword; the smokey blade that solidified in his hand was small and fragile, almost looking more like a key than a dagger. Jack looked up, from Ace to Edge and back down at the paper. "Well, when in doubt..." he muttered before jabbing the blade dead center into the symbol the immortal adventurer had revealed and turning it as if unlocking a door.

[angrydurf]

Ace looked confused for a moment as Jack pulled ... something? ... out of the paper. As it warped into a blade he quirked a brow and opened his mouth to explain what he thought was necessary to trigger the glyph. The ageless heroes eyes went wide as he stabbed the energy blade into the glyph and turned it, "Not li..." he sputtered before a flash of energy coursed up the paper and arced around Jack of All Blades head before pooling over his eyes to sink in.

Ace regarded him warily and was prepared to catch him should he stumble.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh, wow!" said Edge, putting his hand over his mouth. "That was wicked," he murmured quietly. "Mr. Danger, is he okay? Are we going to need to stage...an exorcism?" he asked worriedly. "That looked like really powerful magic, and you don't want to get possessed by just any scroll."

[Gizmo]

Jack stood stock still for a moment, mouth opened is a silent shout and wide eyes covered is swirling magics, before staggering back a step and doubling over, clutching his forehead with a grimace. "Madre de Dios! Why do I keep doing stuff like that?!" he groaned, covering one eye with the palm of his sword hand as he straightened. The swashbuckler blinked as if adjusting to the light in the room, wincing and cracking his neck. "Seriously, who thought 'Nazi war crimes: apply directly to you head' was a good idea for a magic scroll? At what point in your life do you say, 'Ja, das ist das, was meine bibliothek ist fehlt: die bösen gehirn magie.'' He paused briefly. "Funny story, I don't actually speak Germ-" He was cut off as his left hand abruptly punched him in the nose, apparently of its own accord.

[angrydurf]

Ace studied Jack warily, "I Think so? Mostly." He answered edge. He dropped the now blank scroll to the ground and warily stepped forward. "Jack you alright? Try to focus those are not your memories gotta remember who you are." He offered carefully. Mind magics were an odd thing though the scroll may have done a number on him taking it all in that quickly it shouldn't have had any mind control effect.

Ace glanced back to Edge, "He'll just a need a minute to straighten things out it doesn't carry any persona just memories." Ace said with far more confidence than he felt but he thought they would need Jack if they were gonna take care of this shadow plot. Moreover they really needed what only jack now knew.

[Gizmo]

"Be right - ho! - with you, Ace!" Jack called, as pulling backward from his own fist caused him to tumble over a display case, only to pop back up into sigh a moment later, his right hand clamped firmly around his left wrist, holding it at bay. "Evil hand!" the fencer announced loudly, hopping about as his one-man arm wrestling contest continued. "Evil hand here! Hand, which is evil!" His left hand seemed to cease struggling for a moment, only to lunging forward without warning for Jack's neck. He snapped his head back, just out of its reach. "Woah ho! Evil and smart, ya murderous li'l scamp!"

As the bizarre conflict carried on, Jack turned to Ace and Edge. "So, how do you guys feel about armies of super-Hitler clones? 'Cause apparently that's an actual thing." He threw himself to one side, then then other, feet scrambling to keep up. "They got a whole freezer full of 'em, and they need the info in there to defrost 'em safely and make more. I think, anyway." Lurching over to a concrete pillar, Jack began to body check his left side into it repeatedly. "That's why they need the scroll ASAP; these suckers have a best-before date."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Super-Hitler clones!?" Edge's eyes widened. "I always knew this day would come!" He shot a look at Ace. "Mr. Danger, do you still have that big steam-powered machine gun you used in the Adventure of Ace Danger and the Steam-Punks? Because if so, I have a great idea for what we can do with the Super-Hitler clones!"