ic Double-Edged Blade [IC]

[Gizmo]

After long years of negotiations, UtiliTek, a proud subsidiary of the Grant Conglomerates, had been granted permission to bring Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the legendary Grasscutter, from Japan to the United States for analysis in their Freedom City-based facilities. Part of the Imperial Regalia, the longsword had surfaced a handful of times in more recent history as the focus of various supervillainous plans and at least once as the instrument by which a particularly close near-apocalypse had been averted. It's impossibly shard edge had garnered it a reputation as perhaps the finest example of its kind ever forged, and piqued the interest of a variety of groups.

UtiliTek hoped to discover the process through which simple steel could be made cut diamond, to be applied in any number of industrial capacities. The Japanese government had not surprisingly been reluctant to agree to the loan, and Grasscutter's arrival in Freedom was nothing short of the publicity coup for the company. As such, before the test were conducted, the blade was being put on display to the general public for one weekend along with an extensive collection of other cultural artifacts on the ground floor of the UtiliTek head office in Hanover.

Amid the crowds of viewers was Erik Espadas, a young man from the city's West End with a particular interest in all things related to swords and their use. Wearing a wool lined brown jacket against the February cold and with a knapsack slung over one shoulder, the fencer studied Grasscutter from the other side of red velvet ropes and a glass case. Hm. Doesn't feel magic... at least, I don't think so, he mused to himself, extended his metamagi senses outward with a faint frown. I should really practice this stuff more.

[Ecalsneerg]

Chris Kenzie wandered among the exhibits, a dark green trenchcoat on his shoulders over jeans, and a t-shirt with the slogan "My eyes! The goggles do nothing!" Liz Lawlett followed reluctantly behind, in a plain black halterneck under a leather jacket, with fingerless gloves.

"Ooooh, katana!" exclaimed Chris as he neared an antique sword in one of the cases. "I could be a pretty bad dude, with a sword. Could I get a sword?" He turned to Liz and made pleading eyes.

"I don't let you near the kitchen knives," she said drolly. "A six foot sword is out of the question." She gently put an arm around his waist. "Besides, we're not here for that sword, we're here for the famous super-sharp one."

"Very true, but I somewhat doubt I'll be allowed to walk out with that," said Chris pensively. "But there are some crowds. How will we get through to this sword?" He suddenly grinned wildly, and grabbed Liz's hand where it was trying to steer him towards Grasscutter. "Idea!" He suddenly spun with preternatural grace, sweeping one arm under Liz's legs and the other across from where it held her arm to support her back, picking her up easily.

"We're in a museum! Put me down!" shrieked the girl, slapping Chris across the chest playfully as he politely asked people to let them through with a cry of "This girl is too hot! I must find somewhere to put her down! Like... here!"

Which is how Chris and Liz ended up standing next to Erik Espadas, ignoring him in favour of the ornate sword of legend.

[Electra]

Up at the front of the crowd, because where else would she be, Miss Americana was observing the katana through its thick glass case, jotting a few notes on her modified iPad as she studied its design. Her chic blue designer suit with its red and white accents bore only the faintest similarity to her uniform, but it was plain who she was, and the people near her were at least as interested in studying her as the artifact. It would've been more useful to her if she'd been able to get readings of it in action, but the wheels of bureaucratic diplomacy were turning slowly. Grant Conglomerates were happy to let people look at their new toy, but not play with it.

She looked up at a commotion in the crowd, but it was just a boisterous young man trying to get a better look at the katana. Nothing surprising or dangerous there, probably some otaku who hoped to make a replica in his basement. She returned her attention to the artifact, pausing only to give a pleasantly vague smile to her admirers.

[Gizmo]

Erik cast an amused glace at the antics of the couple who managed to bustle their way through the crowd to stand next to him despite a few annoyed looks from their fellow attendees. The hot potato line cut. Nice. Turning his head also alerted him to a more familiar face on the other side of the display. Guess there's not much point in Miss A trying to go incognito. The patriotic paragon was bound to stand out regardless of the company.

A few moments after Chris had set Liz back down, a burly member of the exhibit's security team followed them through the crowd, folding his arms imposingly. "You two are going to have to come with me."

"Hey buddy, chill," the athletic young man next to the teenagers interjected, tilting his stubble adorned chin up slightly. "They're not hurting anything."

The guard made an expression somewhere between a snarl and a sneer. "We received a complaint, sir. Maybe you'd like to step this way, too?" Power trip or not, clearly UtiliTek wasn't taking an chances with disruptions to the event.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Oh, here we go," mumbled Liz, putting her head in her hands. "We can't go anywh-"

"Complaints!" declared Chris, with a winning Geckoman grin. "Now, sir, you address the flaws inherent to society! Whine, grumble, moan, kvetch, sue, mope, and worst of all, blog! Now, perhaps I pushed in line. And maybe that annoys the people who didn't take the initiative in doing so... but all it causes them is what, a minute's extra wait? Two?" He took a deep breath, giving Liz time to interject.

"Ok, point made. Let's not annoy the security guard." "Don't you mean the nice security guard?" "You've met me, right?" "Oh. Yeah. Anyway..."

"My point, "sir", is that, our society is too quick to judge others, when it should perhaps judge itself. Or his self. Or hers. Or possibly hirs, with an I." Chris pointed skyward triumphantly. "And too quick to delegate... seriously, who complained? Did they talk to us to try and resolve it? Nooo, they sent you." He paused for a moment's thought. "Now, in the time it took for me to say all this, twenty, thirty seconds may have passed. I'm unsure, I talk fast but also like my own beautiful tones. This could have all been over by now. Now, let us decamp, and settle this over a beer!"

[Electra]

Miss A's brow creased as the young couple again began drawing attention to themselves, this time in a more obnoxious way. She couldn't begin to understand why people came to these exhibitions just to get themselves thrown out, but it looked like there was already a security guard dealing with the situation. She herself was beginning to think she'd gotten all the data she was going to get on the katana from a mere visual inspection, and it would be polite to allow others the chance to get a close look. She began to back her way through the crowd, murmured "excuse me"s and polite smiles more than enough to open a way for her.

[Gizmo]

One of Erik's eyes squinted slightly in a vaguely appalled expression as the youth in the absurd coat launched into a nonsensical tirade. "Dios. Teenagers..." the older young man grumbled to himself, rubbing his eyes and preparing himself for a suitably proportionate response from the guard.

Before the security team member could do more than turn an ugly, angry shade, the sound of shattering glass was followed immediately by soft metallic pings, then a sharp hissing as clouds of dark grey smoke began to fill the lobby. As people in the crowd began to shout and scream, silent silhouettes dropped down into the building from all sides, surrounding the Grasscutter exhibit!

[Electra]

For a moment, Miss A wished deeply that she'd come in uniform to this event. It was a supervillain attack waiting to happen, really, and she was surely going to ruin this lovely and expensive suit. Not to mention the fact that she'd have to be careful about the skirt. But that was of secondary importance for the moment! As civilians flooded toward the exits, she rose into the air and headed for the glass centerpiece case, alighting on it with her hands spread, ready to blast anyone who menaced the priceless artifact.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Can't. Go. Anywhere," said Liz, fumbling with the belt of her jeans. In a flash, her outfit's molecules had been destabilised, forming a ragged black dress, boots and leggings even as her face looked slightly sharper and angular, her hair darkening several shades as her slightly glittering force field came up and she fumbled around trying to find where her wand had been shunted to from her pockets.

"... did I suit up before you?" she growled, glaring at the trench coated figure in the smoke, who shrugged in reply.

[Gizmo]

At the sound of breaking glass, Erik was already slipping inconspicuously into the crowd, a task made much easier by the sudden smoke filling the room. Within moments, the wool lined jacket had been switched for a royal blue greatcoat retrieved from his knapsack, a matching bandanna mask tied about his face. Backing up cautiously toward the center of the room and the Grasscutter display, Jack of all Blades flicked his lighter into one palm and coaxed a blazing rapier of angry flame into being, holding it at the ready. Past the red velvet ropes, he caught sight of a figure floating overhead. "Hey hey, Miss A! Can you see what's going on?"

[Ecalsneerg]

"Hmmm," pondered Chris, flicking a pair of goggles on from seemingly nowhere even as he shed his jeans and t-shirt to reveal the Geckoman suit and belt underneath them. His coat thudded into the ground as it slid off his back, but by then Geckoman was already in motion. "Should have used something strong-smelling in the smoke bomb, I can still smell sweat from physical exertion. And what may be Old Spice."

His leap caught one of the unseen foes in the back, driving one of them to the ground where Geckoman used his momentum to slam the thief's head into the floor hard enough to propel the green teen back into the air. His right leg swiped air, then a masked face, then some more air as a second man was sent sprawling. The spin kept going even as one of Geckoman's boots thudded onto the floor, letting him punch a third man so hard that he doubled over immediately, hitting the ground even as the superhero backflipped away out of range with a smile and a cry of "Geckomaaaaaaaan!"

[Gizmo]

"We're under attack!" the burly guard shouted into his radio. "Using smoke, I don't- Everyone stay calm!" The confused crowd was indeed starting to panic, knocking into each other in the acrid grey clouds. Swearing to himself, the guard drew his firearm; elsewhere in the lobby, the rest of his team followed suit, looking about uncertainly.

They didn't have long to wait. Masked figures in blood red robes darted in and out of the smoke, flashing blades making quick work of the UtiliTek employees. En masse, a group lept silently at Geckoman as he revealed himself, only the teenager's superb agility keeping him a step ahead of their deadly, coordinated attacks. In the center of the room, Jack of all Blades was suddenly assailed by another pack of the trained assassins, his swift swordsmanship proving a match for them all.

While his brothers attacked, a particularly stealthy member of the invaders made a beeline for the Grasscutter itself! As Miss Americana turned to take aim at the thief, razor sharp shuriken pelted her from above, keeping her off balance.

[Electra]

Miss Americana crouched down under the barrage of shuriken, concentrating on her single target. "Is that you, Jack?" she called. "I can't see much, but a bunch of Central Casting ninja wannabes are trying to gank the katana. We should probably show them why ninja tricks don't work well outside the movies." She pointed one finger at the closest ninja, hitting him in the chest with a red, white and blue laser barrage that sent him sprawling.

"And as for you..." She told the shuriken-throwers, shaking her head. "That was such a dreadfully foolish move." She held out both hands this time, fingers outspread, as a laser light show streamed from her fingers, bathing the whole group in patriotic and painful light!

[Gizmo]

"Dunno about - huf - 'wannabe'," Jack called up, continuing to split his attention between mob of foes surrounding him as Miss Americana dealt handily with the shuriken throwers hanging from the ceiling. The red robed ninjas dropped to the floor, blowing holes in the rapidly dispersing clouds of smoke. As the room came into view, the full magnitude of the situation became clear. Dozens upon dozens of assassins in the distinctive attire of the Katanarchists filled the outer area of the lobby, with even more sliding deftly down ropes that hung from somewhere above the broken windows. "Well... nertz," Jack summed up succinctly.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Oh, for Heaven's sakes," sighed Spellbound, as she watched Geckoman dance around evading a load of ninja swords. "Blond girl, sword guy, any idea who these guys are?" She glanced again to see Geckoman still fending off a load of swordsmen bare-handed, and sighed.

"Save me from rent-a-mooks," she murmured, before calling out to one of the ninjas. "Hey, sweetie? That's a nice sword you got there," she purred.

"Heeeeey," protested Geckoman as he kicked the flat of a blade away from his torso. But he watched as Liz hit a ninja's sword with a blurring blast of magnetic force sending ripples through the air. It flew out of the confused mook's grasp and hovered in mid-air above its head.

"What? I don't get to be make jokes?"

[Gizmo]

"'Sword guy' she says," Jack sighed, ducking under a slashing strike and launching into a spin. His fiery blade whirled about, melting through mundane steel and leaving his multitude of foes suddenly disarmed before a low, sweeping kick took the unbalanced assassins' legs out from under them. Just as soon as they had been dispatched, however, but they were replaced by their red robed brethren. "You got me, brujita, but one of them's bound to get through and snag the Grasscutter at this rate!"

[Ecalsneerg]

"Well, Jack," said Geckoman, reaching up to grab the floating sword. "You are the sword guy. Or ARE YOU?" He spun on his heels, sword scything around him in wild arcs, moving at bizarre Euclidean angles as Geckoman danced and spun with his new toy. "I'm a ninja! Yo! My life is like a videogame!"

He came back round in his wild spin with all the eight ninjas he'd been fighting lying on the floor.

[Gizmo]

Fortunately, the Katanarchists seemed unconcerned with the civilian attendees, most of whom managed to flee out of the building amid the chaos while the ninjas focused their fanatical attention on reaching the Grasscutter, even as their unconscious forms began to pile up at the heroes' feet. Shoving his way through the crowds in the opposite direction, the last remaining security guard managed to reach the far wall of the lobby, slapping his hand down on a biometric scanner. With an ascending series of beeps followed by a pressurized woosh, an entire section of the wall slid open revealing an even half dozen hulking robots, silver surfaces gleaming as they marched out into the lobby. Thick legs propelled beetle like torsos, hunched over to support similarly bulky arms. The first one out surveyed the scene and flatly intoned, "Intruders will surrender. You have thirty seconds to comply."

Unfortunately, it was looking directly at the guard who had just activated it.

"W...what...?" the confused UtiliTek employee managed as he took a fearful step back. "How...?"

"The 'what', mate, is the Katararchists pulling together a few doubloons to hire their very own privateer," a jaunty voice called from overhead. Balanced in the highest part of a broken window, supported by one the ropes the assassins had used to enter the building, was perched the smirking figure of a red coated pirate, studded with technological gadgetry. "Freebooter, at your service! Well, at their service. Savvy lot, these ninja types, figured stealing from a technology company might require a little technological expertise. And I only needed half an excuse to keelhaul a few scurvy, big business dogs, haha!" Sliding down the rope with acrobatic ease, a ruby lensed eye patch twinkled as he unsheathed a rough iron cutlass adorned with neon green diodes. "As for 'how', company man, well, I'm just that good!"

"Failure to surrender," the lead robot observed, picking the shouting security guard up in a crushing grip. "Executing security protocol alpha six: extreme prejudice." As the remaining robots stomped forward, the ninjas resumed their single-minded assault!

[Electra]

Miss American stopped for a moment when Freebooter arrived, a look that was half-stunned, half-amused playing across her perfect face. "Well Freebooter, I didn't expect to see you at a ninja gathering," she drawled teasingly. "I thought you were natural enemies." Keeping one eye on the ball, for all she was distracted by this old familiar face, she shot off another laser barrage that knocked out the ninjas going for the blade, as well as most of the ones fighting Jack. The swordsman had to dodge the blast himself, but luckily, he was a quick one. Keeping her post on Grasscutter's case, she looked around for the next wave of attack.

[Ecalsneerg]

Spellbound casually dodged the clumsy grabs from the security robots. "Oh, I hate hackers. They're like other geniuses, only without the nerve to get out there..." she said, twisting a couple of dials on the base of her wand. "Stop using other systems to do their dirty work..." Spellbound crouched and pointed her shockwand towards the ground, point down. "And blow something up themselves."

The electromagnetic pulse swept across the entire room with a fwoom, white-blue concentric rings expanding outwards.

[Gizmo]

Blue sparks of electricity ripped violently over the robotic drones, but evidently UtiliTek's designs had included EMP shielding, as only one of the towering automatons menacing Geckoman fell with a great chatter and creak of metal. Oddly, the Freebooter seemed somehow invigorated by the attack, the futuristic monocle covering one eye glowing for a moment. "Haha, yes, you've certainly got me shaking in my custom, flared cuff leather boots, girlie!" the piratical plunderer laughed aloud.

Coming up from the crouch he'd dropped into to avoid Miss Americana's beams, Jack of all Blades smirked broadly. "Dios, so this guy's shtick is he's like me only a huge nerd?"

"Phaw, more like I've actually got two brain cel-" the Freebooter began with smug contempt before Jack chimed in again, interrupting him.

"Nerd!"

"Now hold on-"

"Neeerd."

The fencer turned his attention back to Grasscutter's display case only to find it alarmingly empty. Instead, the deadly blade rested in the hand of a young woman in a stylized red and gold outfit, loose pants belted tightly about her waist and a red mask adorned with a triangular emblem concealing her face. The costume's scheme left little doubt as to which group she was affiliated with, and the intricately engraved katana in her other hand similarly made clear her intent as she silently took a swipe at Jack, forcing him to slide backward a step. Narrowly avoiding the blow, he narrowed his eyes, suddenly all business as strong thrust of energy rapier knocked Grasscutter out of her grip to the floor. Undaunted, the sudden arrival gestured with her now free hand as a tattoo on her forearm seemed to melt away and reform as a very real wakizashi. "Well, hot damn," Jack noted with a respectful tilt of his chin that failed to match his grin.

[Ecalsneerg]

"OK!" shouted Geckoman, dodging a collapsing robot even as yet another villain showed up. "This heist? Way too crowded. Seriously, people, give me room to breathe here! And you two stop making eyes!" He pointed indignantly at Jack and the Crimson Katana, before spinning to kick a ninja in the chest before swiping at him with the sword.

"And you can leave! And you! And you!" He paused in his mad hacking for a few seconds to turn back around again. "Again... the making with the eyes? Totally inappropriate." At which point he flipped up into the air towards the ceiling.

[Gizmo]

"The boor may have the right idea," Freebooter suggested as a series of bounds culminated in a clearly superhuman leap toward Miss Americana's airborne position. "Choose a dance partner, haha!" the high tech pirate crowed as his diode studded cutlass flashed at the peak of his sailing arc in a broad strike against the patriotic paragon!

The remaining robots moved with surprising speed despite their great, lumbering size. Shrugging off Spellbound's electromagnetic attack, one of the pair menacing the young woman managed to wrap its cold metallic arms around her in a crushing grip! Meanwhile, Geckoman's upward velocity only brought him into easier range for a mechanical bear hug oh his own. With the teenagers restrained, the Katanarchists wasted no time pelting them with shuriken and katana blows!

[Electra]

Miss Americana watched the fight intently as it unfolded, paying at least as much attention to the actions of her allies as to her opponents. Though no one was watching, when Spellbound made her crack about cowardly hackers and Jack began taunting nerds, for a moment Miss A's eyes went distant and cool as blue glass marbles. She realized the EMP burst was coming an instant before it hit and dodged out of the way, only to come face to face with the Freebooter's incoming attack.

She studied the swashbuckling robot as he came towards her, felt the cutlass hit her reinforced skeleton and bounce off the supertough synthetic mesh skin that covered it. Freebooter's strength, like her own, wasn't really in the puppets they'd made to interact with this shrill, slow world. Taking a step back on the display case, her foot found the edge of the reinforced glass box, analyzed it by touch. With instantaneous deliberation, she pushed down with her heel, catapulting herself off the side of the display case in a graceless tumble, letting out a little cry of surprise for effect as she fell and landed in a crouch on the floor.

[Ecalsneerg]

"What the-" managed Liz before a huge robot arm brought her up into a vice grip, leaving her struggling helplessly against it. "Oi. Stereotypes. Yo, Ge-" She rolled her eyes as a robot grabbed him too, feeling shuriken and knives reflect harmlessly off her force field.

"You know?" She said to the ninjas below, futilely struggling against the robot. "You guys are pathetically incompetent ninjas. Seriously." She leaned back and tried to figure out a way out of this.