Lights and S.H.A.D.O.W. (IC)

[Carces]

The night did not have a promising start. Before the first credits of the first movie were shown, a few policemen had arrived to break things up, much to the anger of HIT's attending students. Alcohol was present, despite the campus' zero tolerance rule, and the fact that Vance Malloy, a minor who was trying to be conspicuous enough to be a viable kidnapping target, was there made the situation much worst.

Vance grit his teeth as two large policemen escorted him off the premises in order to take him home. His only shot at finding Ms. Lights was fading fast, he'd never get to the bottom of what all these SHADOW-Nazi guys were doing in Freedom City, and worst of all his parents would ground him. Maybe for life.

Being a super hero sure's gonna be hard if I'm stuck in my room all day... Vance thought to himself with a sigh.

Vance and the policemen had arrived to a black car, where they placed Vance into the back without a word. As the door was closed and locked, Vance couldn't help but notice that all of the windows were darkened to a point where someone in the back could not see outside. Similarly, the view to the front seat was blocked off by a mirror that showed Vance's reflection until the lights in the car dimmed out.

A one way mirror, maybe? Vance frowned. Even without the sinister vibe the men gave off, Vance had seen enough police vehicles to know this wasn't standard issue. The engine turned and the car started to move as Vance tried the doors and windows, confirming his suspicions that all of them were locked and inaccessible from the inside. Looks like the kidnapping was a success after all...

[Aoiroo]

The fellow cyber cafe goers didn't pay much mind to the little old school looking radio with the green screen set next to the college age looking girl in sweats and an oversized hoodie. It was a good location a side street just outside the HIT campus, and while she was waiting Carrie contented herself to check her facebook and email for the first time in about two months. She subject the screen every five minutes to find any major movement, but for the first hour it was more or less dead. At about an hour and a half though she met some unplanned movement. Looking at her keyboard she pulled up an IM window and sent to the other sponser for this mission the words,

We have movement.

Logging up and snatching up her things she headed out tracker in hand and flagged a taxi. It would be more pricey, but she had to get to the meeting place soon so that they could keep in the trackers range.

[Fox]

Dragonfly glanced up at the computer, almost forgetting for a moment that she'd told it to alert her as soon as that particular message - or any message within a decent range of similarity - came in. Giving the white board she was scribbling on a last judging look, she jotted the final part of a nonsensical-looking equation and grabbed her gauntlets on the way to her bike. Slipping them on and letting her costume wash over her as the garage door opened, she swung a leg over her bike and took to the streets.

about time

[Carces]

From what Creature Feature could tell, the car was going pretty fast at this point. As the car raced, his mind raced with it.

Figures. Using the cop-car lookalike to their advantage like the sly SHADOW ninja-dogs that they are. Unless this is one of those fancy morphing cars that can look different with a push of a button. Or a car that morphs into an awesome jet and we're about to take off. Stealth spy ninja car jet. Gotta be.

Vance listened hard, and was mildly disappointed when there were no sounds of jet engines.

Still broadcasting his position, the car was already off of the Hanover Bypass and was making its way to Centery Bridge, the only real access to the southern section of Freedom City from the eastern landmass. Even at this time of night, there was a decent amount of traffic, which the black vehicle weaved in and out of with little courtesy to other drivers.

[Aoiroo]

The traffic in the bypass while untroubling to a disguised bunch of kidnappers stopped Sil's taxi in it's tracks. Or more like, slowed it to a crawl that had constant stopping and going movements trying to push through a crowd of busy people who were not helping it, any. Frustrated came to mind with Carrie's mode about this particular incident,

"I don't suppose you can go any faster?"

The cabbie looked back at her with a raise eyebrow,

"That's an accident waiting to happen."

Rolling her eyes, she glanced out the window to the other side of the bridge, then to the tracker that was steadily getting closer and closer to out of range.

Well this is getting nowhere, fast, unless.

"Can I borrow you cell phone, I left mine at home."

The cabbie looked at her for a second before fishing it out from the front and handing it back, punching in the number given she sent the text,

Stuck in traffic in a cab on the Hanover bridge. Can you track Creature Feature without me?

[Fox]

One of the perks of talking to machines with your mind was never having to worry about fiddling with your cell phone while you drive. Without so much as taking it out of her pocket, Dragonfly got the message and 'typed' her reply.

Already on it, she sent, glancing at her backup tracking device and making a sharp turn to cut across the less-used Pramas Bridge into the south end of the city. Will try to keep my distance - find out where they go. Tracker lets me stay reasonably far away. Catch up when you can.

[Carces]

"Hey! Where are we goin'?! Answer me, you police creep guys!" With little else to do in the car until he arrived at the destination, Vance had taken off his seat belt in order to pound his fist on the glass and yell at his kidnappers. While it was fairly unlikely to get him any answers, any distraction could be helpful for Silhouette. Vance wasn't sure how she'd be following the car, but a slower, distracted driver is usually a boon.

Heh. With all this noise, I'll betcha they couldn't shake off a pursuer. They'll be caught totally surprised when Silhouette 2-D Karate Chops them *ninja* style. Vance thought to himself as he continued to pound on the glass with maniacal glee as he continued his little charade.

"Hey! You can't keep me here! I demand my phone call! Turn this car around, you hear me?! Turn this ca..."

Vance was completely caught off guard when the car made a sharp turn off of Centery Bridge, slamming the young man hard into the door without the protection of his safety belt. His right shoulder took the brunt of the blow and he immediately gripped it with his left arm as he winced.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Vance whimpered a little to himself as he dejectedly reached for his seat belt again. He wasn't sure if he was more upset about slamming his arm into the door, or that the kidnappers used dangerous, yet mundane driving techniques to shut him up rather than some sort of over-the-top knock out gas dispenser.

The car was heading East now, going farther away from Pramas. Still, the tracker was working fairly well, even as the car threw itself into the rocky terrain of South Eastern Freedom, where the roads were much more difficult to traverse.

[Aoiroo]

Carrie tapped her foot in the back seat of the cab as she looked at her tracker. The little dot that indicated where Vance was getting further away and would soon be out of range. However, comparing it with the map in the cab she had a good idea where the dot was going. If anything else, once headed in that direction she could text Dragonfly again to ask for directions. Looking out the window she grimiced as they made it to the halfway point of the bridge in the crowded traffic.

[Fox]

Dragonfly had never really gotten why anyone found traffic that bad around the south end of the city - she certainly never had any problems. Of course, she blatantly cheated, every traffic light turning green just in time for her to zoom through the intersection on her bike, weaving around cars in a way that wasn't very difficult but probably wasn't very legal, either. At least the police were forgiving about such things when they noticed that you were clearly a hero - she didn't have the driving skill to want to push her luck in a car chase, and couldn't afford to get stopped right now.

Bit by bit she was catching up to the signal she was tracking, heading east but maintaining a more than decent distance so as not to tip anyone off.

[Carces]

Even without visibility through the windows, the exceptionally rocky trip and the constantly changing incline tipped Vance off that they were no longer on a main road. His heart raced in his chest as the ride was beginning to get more intense. In his nervousness, Vance gripped his new-found video watch, the gift from the scientist friend.

I haven't heard anyone else in a while. What if that tracer isn't working? Vance pulled the tracer out of his pocket. There was no indication anywhere on the tiny piece of electronic that the tracer was turned on or off, as an indicator like that would draw unwanted attention. Still, the absence of a green light only made Vance more nervous.

This might be my last chance to break out of this car. If I go werewolf, I'm sure I could claw my way out of this car and jump to safety. But this is the only shot I've got left of findin' Miss Lights.

Vance swallowed hard as he placed the tracer back in his pocket, clutching the video watch in comfort. He clenched his teeth as he summoned whatever resolve he could muster.

The vehicle was coming close tot he end of the landmass in southeastern Freedom, and was no longer near any recognizable main road. One way or another, the vehicle would be coming to its destination soon.

[Aoiroo]

It was days like these Carrie wished she could fly, or run really fast, or had a car or something other than having to wait in traffic. Usually it was a passing thought, but it was rather frustrating that she was stuck. Even the small sign of relief as the cab pulled off the bridge and off to a less paved road that she texted Dragonfly again asking for a location.

Out of traffic, heading to the southeast based on the tracker. What's your progress on tracking Creature?

[Fox]

About the same, Dragonfly sent back, making her way along the road on her motorcycle. Keeping my distance, should be not far ahead of you. He's off-road, nearing the coast...not many places they could be headed now.

Really, it was times like these that she wished she had a better knowledge of the layout of the city - or at least kept a map of it on her phone. This was, for her, clear on the other side of town - she didn't have the faintest clue where they were going or what likely places they could hide out in. With a frown, she sped up and started to close the distance a little, just in case, though not enough to be in sight....

[Carces]

It's exceptionally difficult to maintain the delicate balance between keeping one's distance and keeping the vehicle within a safe range. With the absence of a road, there's far too few places to hide, even with the rocky terrain. The car you pursue slips in and out of sight periodically.

Inside, Creature Feature listened carefully, getting himself up as close to the back window as he could. The sound of an engine could be heard in the distance - a distinct difference from the sound of the car bouncing upon rock. "A motorcycle?" The sound was faint, but was becoming more constant as time went on. Vance smiled to himself. "Maybe that's Sil! Maybe...!"

The car disappears from sight again. On the tracker, the car's position skips a beat as the signal gets ominously faint. Not a surprise, considering that you must be close to your destination - its likely shielded against broadcasts in general. However, it is a dangerous sign. There could be anything ahead. If you slow down now, you might lose track of the vehicle. There's no telling what will happen if you speed up...

[Aoiroo]

It was just about the time the cab was going off road that Carrie lost the signal entirely,

"Shit,"

Taking the phone she texted furiously,

I lost the trace, what happened and where are you at the moment?

[Fox]

Dragonfly swore, in English for once, as she sent back her reply. Signal weak - will follow as best I can until it disappears. Interference, shielding maybe. Can't risk being seen; will go as close as I can and wait for your arrival. Will probably lose him for now. Hope he's able to take care of himself until we can find him.

She followed up with the last good location she'd gotten off the tracker and let herself fall back a bit, trying to rely on the weakening signal and her visor's infravision to track the vehicle's progress. hope you're okay Creature Feature - may have to be alone for a bit - better still have that watch

[Carces]

The cold wind of the night has already taken the car's warm exhaust away and the car itself, a usual beacon of heat in a miserable night such as this, is nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, the high speed coupled with the rocky terrain created enough heat with the friction of the tires to make an adequate trail. Undoubtedly, the heat in the ground here would not last long, but there is ample time for Dragonfly to track the tire marks...

...where it leads to a deadly drop to the tumultuous tides below! Even reducing your speed, it takes quick reflexes and quicker wits to stop before plummeting towards a normal driver's watery grave. With the trail never stopping, an uphill course followed by such a sudden drop, and the already-poor road conditions, its impossible to see the drop until you're already on top of it.

A quick glance gives you the facts. It's likely not an illusion, as illusions tend not to work well with infravision, save those from particularly powerful practitioners. A hologram would likely have an emitter, which gives off a very high amount of heat as well. In both cases, it would be foolish to set up an optical effect when its already hidden by the uphill slope.

There's no doubt that the car went off the cliff, down to the jagged rocks and crushing waves of the ocean. This does not bode well.

Creature Feature woke up, having blacked out for a short period from the sudden fall and crash. His chest ached where the seat belt had grabbed him, likely stopping a far more grievous injury. He shook his head, trying to gather his wits.

"Uuuuuuuuugh... you guys aren't very good at driving, are you?" Creature Feature mumbled to no one in particular as he cradled his forehead with a hand. When the door suddenly opened, Vance whipped around to see two hooded, uniformed figures with rather malicious-looking guns looking into the car. Both of them sported the familiar symbol of a black, S-like lightning bolt: the symbol of SHADOW.

"Out!" commanded one of the men, as he readied his unusual rifle towards the car's back seat. Vance was no weapons expert, but he knew these guys were not playing around.

Exiting the car, Vance noticed no less than 6 of these armed soldiers, all standing in what appeared to be a large, metallic tunnel. There was also a seventh person - a thin man in a white coat with slicked-white hair. His large, mirror-like spectacles reflected the light from the screen of a strange, hand-held device he carried. Breaking his permanent scowl, he spoke up.

"Trackink device. Check him."

Immediately, two of the guards swarmed over Vance, grabbing the tiny tracking chip from his pocket. "Hey! Give that back!" and displaying it before the old SHADOW scientist. Giving the soldier a nod, the SHADOW operative crushed the tiny device with his bare hands.

Meanwhile, the thin german looked up at his screen as he scratched his long, beak-like nose with curiosity. "Interestink. Ze boy is knowingk of ze device. Too stupid to use clever hidink place. Amateur job."

"Hey!" Vance squealed in protest. The scientist turned to start walking as he continued to shout orders.

"Remove all ze electronic devices ze boy has. Throw zem in ocean. If he is not cooperatink, ve vill give ze ocean boy too. Expectink hero for to be giving ze varm velcome!"

Despite the warnings, Vance struggled fruitlessly against the grip of two soldiers while a third removed his watch. He bit his lip as he watched the soldier open a mesh grating that revealed flowing ocean water concealed underneath the flat runway built into the metal tunnel. The soldier tossed his video watch into the water, where it was swiftly taken by the current.

With his panic button gone, Vance swallowed hard. Looks like I really am on my own here for now. I sure hope Sil and the genius-lady can find me...

[Aoiroo]

Saying Carrie was anxious was just about the biggest understatement of the year. If she wasn't wearing gloves, it would be certain that her fingernails would of gotten an unexpected trimming. Her toe tapping was in rhythm with her finger tapping as she tried to figure out where exactly she was going and if she was going to catch up. This thought was worsened when the car came to a stop. Looking out the window she looked and saw no lights or stop signs and she yelled,

"Why did you stop?!"

The cab driver looked back at her confused,

"Woah, calm down. I stopped cause there's no where to go after this. It dead ends up ahead, in fact it drops off right in the middle of the road. A friend of mine actu..."

Carrie didn't bother staying for the drivers story and slid off the passenger's seat. He nearly complained until he found two twenties where she sat as she ran off into the darkness.

Running straight up hill, it was rather hard to get the oversized pants off, but she managed as the dark blue fell to reveal solid black and the hoodie was tossed aside for the same. By the time she was halfway there she had slipped on the mask over her face and hair and Silhouette, not Carrie continued to book into the darkness to try and find her friend on a motorbike headed for a pitfall.

[Fox]

Dragonfly crouched by the edge of the cliff, peering down and scowling. how - hologram unlikely - easily tested - illusion similarly unlikely - carplane? - mmh - possible - doubtful - maybe - drop to secret entrance or catcher's mitt system - very strange

She didn't turn around as Silhouette caught up. "Don't suppose you can fly," she commented, gazing down into the water.

[Aoiroo]

Slowing her pace as she saw Dragonfly she let out a breath as she moved towards the edge and looked down,

"No, whenever I go falling, I have this uncanny ability to remember how to land."

She put a hand on her head,

"Well at least I know why I couldn't find this place earlier, it's a pretty dang ballsy place to put a hide out."

She let out a deep breath,

"What's your range for your technopathy, there has to be some sort of equipment down there, could you reach out and see where it might be?"

[Carces]

The water below the cliffs combined with the depth of the water may make the electronics below out of your reach - particularly if the car did indeed have some type of watery method of locomotion. Even still, the scan is worth giving a...

There! For a brief instant, you do sense the presence of an electronic down somewhere in the depths. It's small, and somehow familiar. It's also moving - at the moment, it's currently moving away from you. You have only a short amount of time before it will move out of your sensing range.

The water looks remarkably perilous and the side of the cliff treacherous. If you want to proceed downward, you'd need a plan.

However, there is also an electronic signiature somewhere behind you, and this one does not move. You're certain there were no street lights or similar electronics coming up to this cliff, so the presence of another electronic is peculiar indeed. It feels confined and very difficult to sense - it would have likely gone beneath your notice if you had not taken the proper amount of time to search. It's nature is definitely questionable, but at least its on land. Unfortunately, if you take the time to investigate where precisely the land-based electronic is, the water-based one may disappear from your reach...

"Car water-jet!"

Travelling at high speeds down the large pipe of the secret SHADOW base, a hovercar held Vance Malloy prisoner, and surrounded by heavily armed and very annoyed SHADOW agents. His imagination ever active, Vance had spent the time deducing that the base was somehow under water (Protip: pipes are a dead giveaway!) and was now engaged in pushing his luck to determine how exactly a car gets into a secret underwater base.

"Secret high-speed water elevator! Super-Tech water teleportation device!"

The guard to Vance's left throw up his hands as he ranted in a surprisingly high-pitched voice. "You're just... you're just adding the word 'water' to things, you stupid kid!"

"Water Rail! Water Zip-line! Highly sophisticated water-explosives with amazingly calculated water trajectories!"

The excitable guard turned to the others. "Someone shut him up! Please!"

A particularly large guard large SHADOW agent grabbed his gun tight, leaning in towards Vance. Despite the fact that each SHADOW agent wore a mask, Vance could somehow see the menacing scowl and blood-thirsty gaze.

"Listen here, runt. The only reason you're still conscious is that we want you to scream for your little friend. If you don't shut up this instant, I will give you something to scream about when we got there. You got that?"

The large agent snorted loudly right into Vance's face, who turned away and scrunched up his nose to avoid the guard's rotten breath. After a moment, the guard leaned back into his seat as the ride continued quietly.

"Water telekinesis graviton beam!"

Groans came from all of the soldiers as the thin guard shook his rifle. "I will END you, you little runt!"

[Fox]

Dragonfly scowled, tapping a finger on her leg. "Mmh. Something in the water but it's moving too fast. Can't fly, not a very good climber, not a very good swimmer...don't relish the idea of teleporting down into--"

She paused, whipping her head around to look behind them like an animal that had picked up a very strange scent. "What is....?" Standing up and folding her motorcycle away into her dimensional pocket, the young woman picked her way back toward where she'd heard just the faintest echo of a response, trying to narrow in on it and pick at it with her mind. "What are you.....?"

[Carces]

Whoever hid the electronic device did a masterful job. You only feel the ping of a presence twice before the sense fades behind the latent white noise of the rocky ground, the foul weather, and the bustling modern city. There were definitely wires somewhere - a pulse with a distinct direction was sent.

A careful search inevitably brings you to the source - a rather large, jagged rock that appears completely natural on this terrain. With a little investigation, you find a decently-sized hole, made to look rather inconspicuous. A green panel inside the hole lights up ever so slightly when you move something inside.

This is an electronic. And not just any electronic. A biometric device! Considering the position of the hole, its likely made to scan the face and eyes of someone bent over.

It's an odd discovery, to be certain. There's no way that anyone in the car had any time to use such a device, no matter how efficient it is, considering how closely you were following. Up to now, you've seen no one else in the area either.

[Fox]

"You are....mmmmh. Curious." Dragonfly tilted her head, frowning at the hole in the rock. "Biometric scanner," she supplied, realizing that Silhouette couldn't dig around in electronics with her head. "Don't really know what it's for. One way to find out...may want to be ready if this sets off an alarm. Never quite know how well-built a security system is before you reach out and touch it."

Lights danced behind her eyes as she did just that, reaching out with her mind to gently poke around the device. No need for a real scan. We're trustworthy. Could just be nice and bypass all the unnecessary biometrics....

[Aoiroo]

Walking over she stayed a few feet away and watched. Looking over the rock she didn't really notice anything about it before, given that was probably the point. It was a clever location but someone coming on foot would just dive into the ocean for an entrance. Still it made her nervous just waiting but she didn't dare say anything that would break Dragonfly's concentration with exactly that was.

[Carces]

Within moments, the dull glow of subdued lights discretely flicker on as a screen-like hologram projects itself from a projector you could not sense before, despite your affinity for the electronic.

PRISONER INTAKE SUSPENDED. PARAGON ALERT 3.

PLEASE STAND BY UNTIL ALERT HAS BEEN LIFTED.

ALL PERSONNEL BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE PARAGON ACTIVITY