ic Sleeping Worms

[Ari]

The King of Suits' left boot was still atrociously grimy from the scrabble up the building, with long splashes of mud, raw sewage, and the occasional piece of random detritus that lined the sewer tunnels leaving their marks all around his costume. The smell of the place was even more abominable than the dimly-lit sights that the young man's eyes could make out, a putrid, wafting stench of death, decay and waste hammering his nostrils like a really bad hangover. Only its noxious odor made it more like a bad combover, something obvious and utterly unbearable, but which you had to suffer with, and hope no-one said anythin-

The caped and cowled man stopped abruptly, wondering what was wrong with himself.

Shaking his head, he kept on down the strangely spacious and broad sewer tunnel, dodging the odd rat, reservoir dog, rodent, and large insect along the way.

He had come down into the disgusting underworld due to a tip given him by one of his slightly-crazier acquaintances, who had told him about a gathering of rather well-armed people near back-alley sewer entries, and references to a 'Worm' of some kind. Hoping and fearing simultaneously that it was indeed the dreaded Conqueror Worm, the King of Suits kept his mouth shut and trudged on, his eyes peeled for any signs of a trap in the dank depths.

[Ari]

After what felt like miles(though was in actuality merely a few hundred feet), the King of Suits stopped abruptly. He knew that if somebody was using these tunnels with any kind of frequency, there would be numerous signs of their passing. Scrapes on the walls, graffiti, discarded bottles(the next inspection wasn't for four months and a couple of weeks), food package bits and the other miscellany that human passage accumulated. With a weary sigh, he hunkered down in the filthy tunnel, carefully examining the semi-opaque muck flowing beneath his feet for any human-made debris...

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy tried to spend as many hour as she could helping out at the Soup Kitchen over at the Our Lady of Mercy.

Mostly it was because as a confused woman on her first day awake she stumbled into the Soup Kitchen where the sister, based on her dress, assumed she was a volunteer and set her to work. This had allowed her to collect her thought and get a grip of her new life.

But it also allowed her to gather rumor and gossip about what was going on around the city. It’s amazing what a homeless person could see around the city and fact she had witnessed herself.

[Tiffany Korta]

Though when one of the regulars starting talking about armored people coming out of the sewers she hadn’t paid it much heed. In a city full of Super-hero’s it was a fairly common occurrence. When he mentioned the other one she did pay attention.

Seems the super had been more interested in his sighting especially when he mentioned about them talking about a “Wormâ€. It meant nothing to her but it must have been important for him to go traipsing around in the sewers.

So a few minutes later she was lifting a manhole cover near where the other guy had entered, to descend into the sewers.

Actually it didn’t smell as bad as she would have expected.

[Ari]

The King of Suits looked carefully at the wall next to him. It was incredibly old by the looks of its thick covering of mortar and irregularly joined bricks, and eons of humidity hadn't made it any stronger, so it was little surprise to find a long deep scratch in the mortar, running directly down the wall for as far as he could see.

Marceau knew that rats didn't make scars like that, and the careful straightness of the line told him that it had been done "A'purpose", as his instructor Sabina, the Jack of Spades and detective and forensics expert, would have put it. What had made the scratch, the King of Suits could hardly guess, but he figured it might be a guide of some sort.

Or a 'clue' that would lead him into a trap.

With a quiet sigh, he smoothly got to about half his full height and was about to head off in the direction the scratch had been dug when he heard something.

The sound of a manhole cover being lifted.

It was the work of a moment to slide neatly around the corner of a junction between three sewer tunnels, where Marceau readied himself for what was to come down, listening for the sound of approaching footsteps down the watery tunnel.

[Highwind]

Marco Alvarado sat in a bathroom stall in a 7-11, talking on the phone with his cousin Jesus. The noise of the fan ensured nobody would overhear them from outside. In front of him was a sports bag with his mask and costume. Putting it on would make him Mala Suerte, Lucha Legend. In a matter of minutes, he was about to make his debut in Freedom City. But first, he was making final arrangements.

"I walked to the 7-11 by our place. I'm putting the sports bag behind the dumpster. When I hang up, drive over and grab it," he said to his cousin, breathing heavily.

"The cashier will see you man!" Jesus shouted back. "Find a new place!"

"No. The bathrooms are outside. I'm not stupid. It'll be fine."

Three days ago, Jesus told Marco about an overheard conversation at his job. A woman he works with said that she saw three hooded men crawling into a manhole armed with machine guns. She was afraid to call the cops, in case there were more of them. Yesterday, Marco heard a similar story from a regular at the gym he worked at. Both lived in different parts of Freedom City. This required some looking into.

Opening up his bag, Marco took his white mask and pulled it over his head. He adjusted it in the mirror, then tightened it. The effect wasn't noticeable, but when placing things back in the back he realized how weightless it was. He opened the door, left the bathroom, and dropped the bag behind the dumpster of the 7-11.

After finding a manhole, Mala Suerte pulled it off, took the ladder down, and then closed it. He then began searching around. If he was smart, Mala Suerte would have brought a flashlight or glowsticks or something. He had to hope he didn't miss threats coming at him until it was too late.

[Tiffany Korta]

As Lucy carefully descended into the sewers she again wondered how Supers got in contact. Was there some kind of signal or maybe they shared telephone numbers. Maybe the operator connected them with some kind of code word?

Whilst the sewer didn’t smell that bad to her, they did look as grotty and disgusting as she’d imagined. Thank god she’d had her new boots to protect her feet. The brick work suggested that the sewer was older than even she was…

As she reached the bottom she took out the newly purchased torch, and inspiration struck. Rather than skulking about she could move boldly with full torch light to light the way. Either the good guys would find her or trouble would, possibly both.

Whistling a tune Lucy strolled down the sewer tunnel.

[Ari]

The sound of another manhole lid being pulled up and the distant sound of a whistler drawing closer caused Marceau no end of irritation. Thanks to the labyrinthine(I must learn how the sewer maintainers keep this place upkept. I'll ask Jose later he thought distractedly) construction of the sewers, he had little idea if the lids had been opened at opposite ends of the tunnel next to him, if it was two entirely different locations, or if they had been opened individually from the same place.

Well, no reason to stir if it's just some chumps with guns. I mean, this is hardly the first time something like this has happened the King of Suits thought to himself as the noise of whistling drew closer. On the other hand, he thought, I hardly have exclusive rights to rumors of wrongdo-gah! Keep from alliteration, it's annoying. Anyway it might be people coming to help clean out the brutes from this putrid maze, in which case it would be horribly rude to jump out at them yelling 'Boo!'. Besides, I doubt someone following the Conqueror Worm would whistle

With that in mind, he risked sticking his head out from his hiding spot and calling softly "Who comes there?".

[Highwind]

Marco's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness in the sewer. There were small traces of light to be found when you focused enough. The sewers naturally stunk to high heaven, and it made Marco's eyes water. He only took breaths when he needed to. It wouldn't be heroic to hurl in his mask. His boots were also soaked, and it was beginning to permeate through. Not fun. Marco had supered during heavy rains before, but this was worse. He'd be spending days getting the smell out of his costume.

Eventually, Marco heard whistling ahead of him. He picked up the pace, and started following that. The sewers limited his freedom of movement greatly- he couldn't bound ahead without smacking into wall after wall. And since said walls were coated in decades of slime, he'd pass on that. The whistler drew closer and closer, and occasionally Marco saw glimpses of light. This person was either a sewer resident, another person investigating, or one of the mysterious figures with guns. Either way, Marco hoped he could get somewhere so this trip into the sewer wouldn't be in vain.

[Tiffany Korta]

As Lucy stomped through the tunnels she was sure she could hear footsteps behind her.

Good this is working, either they’ll attack me or help me

Then she spied a dark looking shape peer out of a junction ahead of her. Resisting the urge to shine the light in there face she instead illuminated her own, whist trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

With that in mind, he risked sticking his head out from his hiding spot and calling softly "Who comes there?".

â€Hello there I’m called Revenant. I’m down here following up leads, something about men in armor. That wouldn’t be you would it? If not then I’m here to help.â€

Well I’m either about to get help or get attacked. Either one would be a result…

[Ari]

While he was hardly unused to odd sights, the sheer pallor of Revenant's skin and antique clothing were..jarring when set against his expectations of a thick-set thug, clean-cut youth in spandex, or..really almost anything but a neatly-dressed young(?) woman with an unhealthy lack of melanin in her skin walking through a sewer with a flashlight. A second after processing this, he started guiltily: she had just asked him a question,after all, and seemed friendly enough.

"I go by the moniker of the 'King of Suits', miss. I'm a superhero around the Fens and doubt you've heard of me. It is a pleasure to meet you, Revenant, as I too have heard reports of armed men, working for a criminal called the 'Conqueror Worm', a vicious anarchist. As you're here to take care of it, I thank you, and offer my aid as much as far as it will go" ducking neatly out from behind his corner, he walked up to her with an outstretched in an offered handshake.

"I just found a deliberate mark on the wall over there" he gestured to where the offending scar was "I'm fairly sure it's either a sign of where to go, or else just a signifier that someone has come down here often enough to leave marks on the walls with an eye for being level and making distinctions between different tunnels"

Deciding that any comments on her appearance would be terribly rude, he simply said "Would you mind telling me what, in general, you can do? I'm a pretty good detective, with some small combat ability. I prefer to keep hidden, however"

Cocking his ears at the sound of approaching footsteps he added quietly "Hopefully you know better where that sound is coming from and what might be making it, I've no idea"

[Highwind]

Marco heard the whistling stop, and instead heard talking. There were two voices- a man and a woman.

â€Hello there I’m called Revenant. I’m down here following up leads, something about men in armor. That wouldn’t be you would it? If not then I’m here to help.â€

Another Super. Great. Marco thought to himself. Perhaps she would be able to make up for his unpreparedness. I still can't believe how badly I dropped the ball. Maybe I should get a utility belt. Fix it up to look like a wrestling title belt. Have the plate in the front emit light or something.

The man then introduced himself as the King of Suits. Immediately in Marco's head an image of an imposing man wearing a tasteful suit with high-tech gear in it and weaved with bulletproof fabric with a crown on his head came in mind. He shared information about information he got from investigations. He was saying a lot, and it was drowning itself in echo.

Marco turned the corner, and gazed upon the two supers. The woman Revenant was completely white and wore a pantsuit. Hardly sewer-slogging wear. The King of Suits was large, but rather than looking like he came out of a Men's Warehouse, he wore a cape and cowl with the image of suits of cards on his chest. He kinda liked his image of the King of Suits better.

When he came into view of the two of them, Marco raised his hands in the air- a universal sign of 'I mean no harm'. "I am Mala Suerte," he said. "I'm investigating, like you two."

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy was happy that her skin didn’t show her blushing. Miss indeed, she was old enough to be his great-grandmother.

Then it seemed that her follower turned up, another hero. She must find out how they all find out, maybe it’s a memo or something.

“Pleased to meet both of you. I guess as we’re all after the same thing we should team-up.â€She turned a smiled at this Kings of Suits “I can fight and I recover really quickly from injuries. You’re probably a much better detective, so I’ll follow your lead.â€

She looked a little embarrassed “I’ve been out of circulation… for quite a while. Exactly who is the Conqueror Worm?â€

[Ari]

"Pleased to meet you, Mala Suerte. I'm sure we can all get well acquainted as we walk. This way please, and mind your heads" the cowled figure led the way with long, heron-like strides down the dank tunnel, his voice slowly quieting as he went.

"The Conqueror Worm is a leader of anarchists, and is a surprisingly dangerous person. They(he or she or it is not known), has many followers that attempt to spread chaos throughout the city, destroying anything that disrupts: utilities like power plants, water supplies and waste-disposal centers; airports, docks, anything that can make people's lives that much worse. I think(not being an anarchist I do not know) that the idea is that their discomfiture will make them more aware of how great it would be if the things supplying many of those supports of civilization were removed. Anyway, this person is not the first to bear the name of the Conqueror Worm. A few decades ago, another anarchist bore the title. He was a foe of the first Raven, and fell to his death after a battle with the blue guardian onto some broken water piping"

Pausing at the end of the line, Marceau carefully examined the area around him, gesturing for the others to do the same. As he scanned the walls, ceiling and (when he could stand it) the floor for clues he added genially "I don't suppose anyone here has any amusing sewer stories they'd like to share?"

[Highwind]

Mala Suerte looked around the tunnel for more of those manmade marks. How was he supposed to tell the difference between intentional marks by anarchists, scratches left by bored sewer-dwellers, results from a scuffle down here, and a giant crocodile-man honing his claws? The last one reminded him of a villain he dealt with once in Miami, when he wasn't busy disrupting gang activity.

He let himself move toward the back, only because the man had the detective skill and the woman had the flashlight. He had Lucha.

"I did deal with a were-alligator once back at home," Marco said. "Maybe we'll meet his cousins down here."

[Ari]

Marceau shuddered at the mention of were-alligators. He wasn't very fond of the idea of such creatures at the best of times, and the(somewhat) close confines of the sewer made the concept even more unnattractive.

Wedging a boomerang into a small crack in the mortar, he used the curved metal bar as a support to allow him to peer closer at a likely spot on a nearby wall. "We're looking for neat, level marks" he explained to the other two "Something made by someone who wanted to be careful how they were making the scratch. Anything else you find that wasn't put there by apparent accident is also a probable clue, I'm guessing whoever uses this place regularly will want to make sure their marks are where they can easily be see, but not identified as anything significant. Near head-level I'd say would be the more likely region"

While still employed in his careful scanning of the wall he added "Why don't you tell us a little about yourself, Mala Suerte?"

[Highwind]

"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself, Mala Suerte?"

Isn't the point of a mask to not have people know about you? Marco thought to himself. Mala Suerte Primero, the spirit of the previous bearer of his mask, had been quiet recently, but this would have been a perfect moment for him to jump in. The old man usually kept quiet during hero time anyways.

"I'm a Luchador. Pretty famous in Mexico. Just came to Freedom City recently, heard rumors about armed men entering the sewers from two parts of town, so I figured I would investigate." Technically all true. Marco wasn't a rookie, but he wanted to sort of imply that he's been the same Mala Suerte who was most recently active in Mexico. Apart from two public retirements, the mask has changed hands an indeterminate number of times. Probably in abandoned alleys from a dying man to a bystander who defended him, just like Marco's case. Bit morbid there Marco. Sewer's getting to you.

Marco tried looking around for more marks, but saw absolutely nothing. I REALLY need a flashlight, he thought to himself. "I can't see anything. You?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy let the conversation wash over her; after all she had no amusing or interesting stories of the sewer or her past. The last time she was in a sewer she was fighting, well she could only call them demon. Though she hadn’t exactly got her head around what had happened…

Wait what was that, she shined the torchlight on a patch of unremarkable stonework near a junction. They were faint and well hidden but there were some kind of figure marked onto the stonework.

“Wait stop, urm King of Suit what do you make of this.†She shone the light on to the markings.

[Ari]

The King of Suits had just spotted a well-hidden carving on the wall his boomerang was lodged in, and was about to declare ts existence to the other two when Revenant called him over to look at something she'd found.

Stepping quickly over to where to beam pointed, he crouched next to the beam of light illuminating the wall. Squinting at the collection of symbols, he ventured that "Well..at least it's there for a reason. Looks like a triangle and two arrows. I think the arrows are different colors but the glare of the flashlight keeps me from being sure" he looked at Revenant apologetically "I think it may have something to do with those tunnels there" he gestured to the ones he meant across the shallow flow of watery sewage "But I saw a carved figure of a crowned worm with a sword looking that way" he pointed down the way they had been going "May be that there's a trap down there? Or maybe it leads directly down to the Worm's hideout, and the other signs are meant for excursions into other parts of the city, like street signs for the underground"

He looked at the other two "Your thoughts?"

[Highwind]

Marco thought it was obvious. The wormsign was a trace directly to the layer. The rest were for navigation elsewhere. Who else would be down here to misdirect? Oh, right. Investigating costumed heroes. Still, he didn't know anything about this Conqueror Worm, but with a name like that they'd probably want to direct attention towards themselves. Unless this was one of those anarchy things and the true path was the one not pointed to. Maybe they had an illusion generator and one of these walls was just a hologram. Like that Labyrinth movie.

"Follow the worm and sword sign I guess. If it's a trap and we attract trouble, we just follow where the trouble came from."

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy guilty lowered the torch a little, whilst ponder the whole situation.

“It’s all too easy to overthink these things. If he’s not expecting trouble then it’s going to be the obvious. So unless you think he’s completely paranoid.†She gave a little look at the King of Suits “I say we go the way of the worm.â€

She straightened up and put on her best determined face.

“Thought I suggest I take the lead just in case it’s dangerous. As I’m a little more resilient than either of you.â€

She gave a little sigh and a longing look at her feet.

“It’s a shame really; I really liked these boots…â€

[Ari]

The King of Suits mulled the issue over in his head for a moment. On the one hand, they were in largely unknown territory with an enemy who had entirely unguessable control over the area. On the other hand, they were still human(he hoped), and could doubtless be defeated. It wasn't as if he was on his lonesome either, so he could afford to trust their judgement on this without it having to worry about any one of them being taken by surprise without hope of help.

He nodded "Very well, that seems entirely reasonable. Thank you for the offer, Revenant, as you have the flashlight and are as you say the toughest of us, I'll gladly follow"

Getting up he was careful not to hit a rat skeleton dangling by its legs above him. He gestured to the way ahead "After you, Revenant, if it's alright with you Mala Suerte, how about you go just behind her and I bring up the rear?"

[Highwind]

Marco looked at Revenant. She was at least eight inches shorter than him, and over a foot shorter than the King of Suits. Yet she claimed to be the toughest of them all. As Mala Suerte, he had been shot, slammed through buildings, and thrown out of an airplane. Appearance didn't matter, but it was usually a good indicator. He would have taken the flashlight and the lead gladly, but she knew her abilities and limits far better. Taking the middle would be be a good compromise.

"I'm no pushover, but I guess I can jump ahead in case."

[Tiffany Korta]

Whilst Lucy couldn’t see her face, she was pretty sure what was going in beneath that mask.

It seems that men haven’t changed that much in the last 80 years. Still at least they're letting me go first.

She fixed Mala Suerte a look and gave him a wry little smile

“It’s okay I won’t tell anyone, it’ll be our little secret.†She gave a friendly little laugh “If it makes you feel any better, it’s not that I’m tougher. I just recover from injuries really fast.â€

She pauses and turned back to the path.

“Let’s go find this worm.â€

Cautiously she started down the path, trusting the others to follow.

[Ari]

The King of Suits followed close to Mala, walking backwards to keep a watch on their rear. He knew he looked silly, but at least it would be that much harder for someone to creep up on them from behind.

While he walked with bird-like strides, he wondered about what Revenant had said. A regenerator? What does that mean here? Is she altered on the genetic level? Does she have some kind of extra organ or something that supplies her with more material to patch up wounds faster? Something Else entirely?

While such thoughts buzzed about his head, he kept a careful ear out for the sounds one doesn't hear unless someone is nearby and trying not be heard. The dripping of water, scuttling of rats and the ever-present flow of the sewege down the main tunnel did their best to mask anything unusual however, and Marceau kept turning his head to re-assure himself that the other two were still there.