Lead Us Not Into Temptation (IC)

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel stayed thoughtfully quite for a couple of minutes.

"Hm. We should stick together. The way the gang member was talking earlier, this group is going to stay together. One large example works better than many smaller examples, I suppose.

Perhaps some of us should stay on the ground, and others on rooftop? There are enough alleys and the like that those who cannot fly should be able to hide themselves. If Breschau is the only one who cannot easily get to a rooftop, then...Gaian Knight should stay with him. I have a hunch your earth control would give the two of you the best hiding ability. Yes, I think that works well. Gaian Knight and Breschau in...this alley."

Gabriel indicates one next to the building he feels is the most likely target.

"And the rest of us on this rooftop."

The roof of the 2nd most likely target.

"As for what you said, Powerhouse...I don't accept that we have to use anything beyond non-lethal force. All of us are gifted in different ways to be beyond normal humans. The most I'm willing to concede to is knocking them out. If nothing else, I could disorient the whole lot of them for the rest of you to restrain."

[Ozoe]

"Whoah, who said anything about lethal force? This isn't going to be some kind of bad rerun of the Okay Coral we're talking about. Sorry if that's how it came off. Besides, if you can talk a 15 year old out of their opinion, then you can get dad of the year award and I'll be the first to tip my hat to you. I'm just saying that if push comes to shove, we might be talking fisticuffs and that you need to realize that these guys are about to take a bat to some poor mom and pop shop. We're not talking about innocent babes here."

He sat up and looked around. Did he come off so blood thirsty that people assumed that he was talking about putting some kid down? I mean a little zap zap don't tase me bro... but killing? Seriously? He totally needed to ditch the whole military outlook.

[KnightDisciple]

"Whoah, who said anything about lethal force? This isn't going to be some kind of bad rerun of the Okay Coral we're talking about. Sorry if that's how it came off. Besides, if you can talk a 15 year old out of their opinion, then you can get dad of the year award and I'll be the first to tip my hat to you. I'm just saying that if push comes to shove, we might be talking fisticuffs and that you need to realize that these guys are about to take a bat to some poor mom and pop shop. We're not talking about innocent babes here."

He sat up and looked around. Did he come off so blood thirsty that people assumed that he was talking about putting some kid down? I mean a little zap zap don't tase me bro... but killing? Seriously? He totally needed to ditch the whole military outlook.

Gabriel had the grace to sigh and act somewhat embarrassed.

"Forgive my misunderstanding. The tone of your words, said in seeming opposition to mentions of various disabling methods, was misinterpreted. I can only say that the stress of just starting my initial "team work" with other heroes, combined with the nature of this issue, has stretched my patience some. I can agree with you about it devolving to fisticuffs.

That said, as for talking a teenager out of their opinion...Suffice to say, I'm very persuasive."

[Fox]

"If Breschau is the only one who cannot easily get to a rooftop, then...Gaian Knight should stay with him. I have a hunch your earth control would give the two of you the best hiding ability. Yes, I think that works well. Gaian Knight and Breschau in...this alley."

"Yeaah...yeah, that'll work. I could probably build us a nice brick wall or...hm. We could go underground, maybe." Gaian Knight scratched his cheek, eyeing the alleyway in question. "The earth's usually deep enough."

He sighed a bit at the talk of lethal force. Oh, come on. Really? Really. "I don't think very many heroes in this city would use lethal force. Certainly not ones picked for a mission to stop some kids." He waved a hand. "I haven't been here too long, but killers of any sort...well, it just doesn't seem like they'd last long here."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel rests his head in his hands for a minute, clearly frustrated and embarrassed.

"Again, it was my mistake. I thoroughly apologize. As for how you hide the two of you...You know your abilities better than I. So long as you can be ready to fight at the same time the rest of us are, I leave it in your hands."

[Ozoe]

"Eh no harm no foul. I mean I can understand... I was kind of forward and I guess some people aren't. I'm sure you're persuasive. So that's cool. We can play sweeper and you give the kids a feel good speech. If it works, then job done and I'll buy the beers. If not, then we're there to back you up. Of course, there's likely going to be someone herding the kids along. I mean, would you trust a bunch of 15 year olds to do anything?"

Yep. He thought to himself, baby killer. Thank you Uncle Sam... oh and stupidity for that damned riot. Going to have to work double time to repair the rep.

[Faust]

If Breschau is the only one who cannot easily get to a rooftop, then...Gaian Knight should stay with him. I have a hunch your earth control would give the two of you the best hiding ability. Yes, I think that works well. Gaian Knight and Breschau in...this alley."

"Yeaah...yeah, that'll work. I could probably build us a nice brick wall or...hm. We could go underground, maybe." Gaian Knight scratched his cheek, eyeing the alleyway in question. "The earth's usually deep enough."

Breschau listens to Gabriel's suggestion and turns to face Gaian Knight.

"You could control the earth?  Create brick walls?  There are no shortage of beings that amaze me,"  Breschau said realizing that he barely knew what the special abilities of his companions were.  

He was among a large man who must be a veteran of countless battles, and strangely-armored earth controller, a man covered in white capable of disabling other's, and a mysterious petite girl wearing a mask. Most of them, he assumed, could fly.

He continued, "I agree with staying in the ground as I am more efficient when there is something beneath my feet.

"Eh no harm no foul. I mean I can understand... I was kind of forward and I guess some people aren't. I'm sure you're persuasive. So that's cool. We can play sweeper and you give the kids a feel good speech. If it works, then job done and I'll buy the beers. If not, then we're there to back you up. Of course, there's likely going to be someone herding the kids along. I mean, would you trust a bunch of 15 year olds to do anything?"

"Yes," Breschau adds, thinking he understood what the large man said. "Let us do everything in our power to keep the innocent, including the misguided children, from harm and deal with those responsible accordingly." 

The thought of someone using children for their dirty work angered Breschau.  He looked forward to confronting such person.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel nodded.

"Very well then. Does anyone have anything they think ought to be added to our plan of action? Or should we stick with this, and adapt as necessary on the fly?"

He looked to each of the others in turn, the hologram still highlighting their proposed hiding locations.

[Fox]

Breschau listens to Gabriel's suggestion and turns to face Gaian Knight.

"You could control the earth? Create brick walls? There are no shortage of beings that amaze me," Breschau said realizing that he barely knew what the special abilities of his companions were.

He chuckled, and shrugged. "Something like that, sure. It's really not as hard as it looks." ...if you got power shoved into you by the magic answering machine, anyway.

Gabriel nodded.

"Very well then. Does anyone have anything they think ought to be added to our plan of action? Or should we stick with this, and adapt as necessary on the fly?"

He looked to each of the others in turn, the hologram still highlighting their proposed hiding locations.

He went back to looking at the highlighted spots. "What's that saying...'No plan survives first contact with the enemy'? This doesn't look like a bad plan, and it leaves us pretty open to improvise when things go wrong." And they do always seem to go wrong, don't they? "I'm fine with this unless someone else has a better suggestion."

[Ozoe]

Alex looked over the route and area's marked and shrugged. They were heading in on a baby sitting routine. What kind of plan was really needed?

"Sure, looks ok to me. I mean how hard can this be? A couple of kids who need a little lesson in public civility."

[Sandman XI]

A few hours later the Muse stood upon the roof with Gabriel. Gaian Knight and Breschau were on the ground. All but Powerhouse had shown up. She was starting to get worried. She was hoping for the best and thinking he got lost. Though he wasn't answering communications. She did have a back up plan though: Sparksmith. Sure, he wasn't Freedom League suggested, but she had seen what he could do about a week before.She reachedfor her cell phone and dialed his number. "Hey, Sparksmith? It's Muse. Remember that job I told you I had? Well, I sorta need to ask you a favor."

[OmegaPlatinum]

Conveniently, Sparky had been taking a day off at the Ocean Heights Amusement Park, taking on all challengers in the arcade. He had just lost an intense match in Tekken when his cell phone rang.

"Hey Muse. What's up?" He listened intently. "Oh, yeah, I think I remember. What do you need? And where are you?"

[Fox]

Gaian Knight cracked a knuckle, looking around and feeling out the nearby ground. That's not so bad. There's some good solid earth, and some bedrock down there...plenty of asphalt. I hate working with asphalt.

He turned to the large man next to him, grinning under the cloth that covered his lower face. "Well. Up to you...Breschau, was it? D'you want to be underground, or do you want to be behind a nice wall?"

[Faust]

Breschau stood in the dark alley along with Gaian Knight, waiting for any sign of trouble, or a signal from their companions above.

He didn't like the idea of hiding behind a wall, but he hated to be underground even more-he had spent enough centuries there. He decided he'd rather be where he could see the stars and breathe fresh air.

"A nice wall would suffice, Gaian Knight. And if you are capable, give the wall holes we could see through," Breschau replied eager to see how his companion would use his powers.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel stood on the roof about 5 feet to Muse's right. He was crouched down, trying to present as little of his beacon-white costume as possible. At the moment, he was scanning some of the darker parts of the street through the night-vision goggles he'd acquired not long after entering the city.

"Looks quiet so far. You calling in a bit more help for us?"

His voice was barely above a whisper, and was oddly neutral; almost as if he was distracted. He spoke while still scanning about with the goggles.

[Fox]

"A nice wall would suffice, Gaian Knight. And if you are capable, give the wall holes we could see through," Breschau replied eager to see how his companion would use his powers.

Gaian Knight nodded. "Fair enough. One wall, coming right up."

Spreading his feet a little, his hands started to glow as every piece of loose earth around them picked up and swirled together in streams to meet the large, solid-looking wall rising up out of the ground at the mouth of the alleyway. From the inside of the alley it was an obvious facade, stitched together from whatever was on hand: a cinderblock here, a ribbon of dirt there. The side facing the street, however, was rapidly being covered in loose bits of brick and mortar from the nearby buildings' walls; by the time the alley was motionless again the far side of the wall was (thinly) covered and sculpted to look like your everyday dead end alley.

Dusting off his hands, Gaian reached out and pulled loose a couple unattached pieces, exposing two or three brick-sized gaps to look through. "Awful construction in this part of town, really," he quipped. "Walls full of holes. It's a shame, is what it is."

[Faust]

As Gaian Knight's wall was being formed, Breschau tasted something to him was bitter in the air. He cringed slightly.

"Magic," he thought to himself.

He wasn't sure why, but magic troubled him. The feeling didn't last long, however, for he shrugged it away. He trusted Gaian, as well as his other companions.

Despite Breschau's adversion to magic, he was amazed with what he saw. Debris and sand given life. Within moments the wall was complete and Breschau smiled.

"Awful construction in this part of town, really," he quipped. "Walls full of holes. It's a shame, is what it is."

"What you have done is astonishing, my friend, nothing to be ashamed about. You are much too humble," Breschau assured Gaian, not getting the joke.

[Sandman XI]

Muse nodded to Gabriel happily, though the mask was already happy looking. She wasn't trying to brush him off, but having two conversations at the same time would be rude to both parties. She answered Sparksmith, "It'd be better if you could meet me in person. It's sort of complicated and very urgent." Muse rattled off the street address they were at, "Meet me on the roof. Also, can you come in quietly as possible? It's a hush hush thing."

[OmegaPlatinum]

"All right, no problem. I'm actually close by. I'll see you in about five minutes. Bye!" Kurt hangs up his phone and runs to the door of the arcade, flying out with the rest of his tokens in his pocket.

Four minutes go by on top of the building. No word from Sparksmith, and no blue-green anything in sight. The fifth minute goes by. While Gabriel and Muse are talking, Muse gets poked in the shoulder.

"How's that for 'hush-hush?'" Sparky smiled and gave Muse a hug, almost suddenly appearing next to the heroes. "Hey Muse! How have you been doing? Thanks for the call!"

He releases Muse and offers Gabriel a handshake. "How are ya doin'? My name's Kurt. You can call me Sparksmith. What's the situation?"

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel looks over in surprise as Sparksmith announces himself. He extends one hand, though he takes a couple shuffling steps back from the edge before standing.

"Call me Gabriel. Thank you for coming to help. Should make things a bit easier."

[Sandman XI]

Muse leaned into it with a light squeeze when Kurt gave his hug. "Good to have you here, Sparksmith." She smirked underneath her mask. The officialness of a code name during these little events always amused her. Even though he did introduce himself as Kurt, she stuck with a professional attitude when talking. "Yes, we're all here waiting for something to happen. There's supposed to be a 'protection racket' around these parts. While that seems like a small enough job for anyone, I have received somewhat of a vision." Looking away from Gabriel, she changed her mask to tragedy. It didn't matter if Kurt saw, he already knew her face. They kept in close contact over the past week. "This is not your normal store smashing. There's something, dare I say, 'deeply evil' about this. Which is why I have brought companions. I do believe it will take our forces to combat this." She slipped on the comedy mask again, "And hey, if I'm wrong, imagine the faces of the would be criminals when this happens."

[Fox]

Gaian Knight chuckled. "If you think that's good, you should have seen me raise the bay out of the water. Now that was fun."

Leaning up against his new wall, he watched the street through one of the gaps while he made conversation. "So...what do you do? Or I guess 'how do you do things' might be a better question."

[Faust]

Breschau joined Gaian and peered through the other hole in the newly created wall.  So far he hasn't sensed or seen any sign of trouble.  

Leaning up against his new wall, he watched the street through one of the gaps while he made conversation. "So...what do you do? Or I guess 'how do you do things' might be a better question."

The simple question made Breschau think. He could not remember what he did before he awoke to this time. His memory was hazy at best. A simple dock worker, a loving father, a brutal warrior, a raging destroyer or a ruthless king. Was he one of these? Was he all of these? His head hurt so he stuck to what he did know.

He knew he was physically stronger than most, but having been pinned down previously by a smaller and younger girl he did not think much of his strength.  

He had compassion for those who could not defend themselves and he knew he was willing to fight for them.

"I fight for the weak and for justice," was all Breschau could answer, not realizing how corny he sounded.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel nods at Muse's words.

"Like she said, this way, we're prepared no matter what. All things considered, I'm not discounting her vision. And if it turns out to be more mundane, maybe some of these kids can get scared out of crime forever."

His mood seems pensive, his gaze still focused on the streets.

[Fox]

Chuckling, Gaian glanced over at his teammate. "Don't we all. Well, that's good enough for me. I guess I'll find out more soon enough...if these kids ever actually show up."

He turned back to watching the street, a hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "You know, you sign up to be a superhero and they never tell you about all the waiting. I swear I've put in more hours floating on my rock or standing around on a rooftop than I've put in working my day job."