In the Shadow of Sin (Gold) (IC)

[Thevshi]

Thursday, April 18, 2013

5:30 AM  

Claremont Academy, Bayview, Freedom City, NJ

 

"And that was the last thing Warp remembers before passing out in her dorm room after teleporting back."  Duncan Summers finished explaining, a hint of fatigue in his voice.  The retired superhero turned educator was sitting in his recently rebuilt office at Claremont Academy, his prior office having been all but destroyed during the events of the Day of Wrath a few months earlier. 

 

"And how is Warp doing?"  Came a dark voice speaking from within the shadows of a corner of Duncan’s office.  The speaker was none other than his daughter, Callie Summers, the current Raven, and she was there in costume.  Duncan had little doubt that his daughter had been up much of the night already, working on some case or another, but if she was feeling any fatigue from the early hour, she was doing a much better job of hiding it. 

 

"She is in the infirmary still, but doing well.  Whatever was used to knock her out has left her considerably groggy, but there will be no lingering effects."  Duncan replied.

 

"And there is no sign of Tsunami, El Heraldo or Net Fly?"  Raven then asked, though she knew well enough the answer.

 

"No, none of them have returned to campus.  Based on what I have learned, the fire department was called to a fire at the address Warp provided, but when they arrived there was no longer any active blaze, though evidence that there had been a fire.  They currently have cordoned off the building, planning to further inspect it in a few hours when there is better light."

 

"Good, then they likely have not contaminated the scene yet.  I have a bit of time to get in there and look around before they do."  Raven replied.  "Don't worry, I will find them."  The heroine then began moving towards one of the office's windows.

 

"I have little doubt."  Duncan replied, eyeing his daughter hesitantly.  "But…are you certain you should investigate this alone?  You know very well that he could be involved."

 

Raven stopped a moment before the glanced back over at her father.  "Yes, I am fully aware of that possibility.  But this is my responsibility, I was the one that brought Giang here, knowing full well her family's background."  And with that, the dark clad heroine was gone out the window, vanishing into the still dark morning sky.

 

Still seated in his chair, Duncan stared out of the window to where his daughter had disappeared from view.  While normally he had full confidence in her abilities and decisions, where Dr. Sin was possibly involved, he was a bit more concerned. 

 

Letting out a deep sigh, Duncan reached for the telephone at his desk and dialed a familiar number.  "Alan, I am sorry about the early hour, but I need to speak with Ms. Pefr, Ms. Baudin and Mr. Crowe immediately."

Edited September 1, 2013 by Thevshi

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd would have missed her summons anyhow because she was already on her way to Duncan Summers office.

She had known something was up when Subito hadn't shown up to there study date, something he'd never normally do. And for all his faults he would never do anything without letting her know, even if it was "I can't tell you what I'm doing but...".

After trying all his phone numbers several times she started visiting all the places she knew. She wasn't exactly the world greatest detective but she knew enough to check things out throughly. But the closest to a clue she got was a cryptic warning from that strange English singer he sometimes worked for that he was in some kind of danger.

After exhausting all of her options it was obvious that she'd need more help. It wasn't something she could take to the Order so that left Claremont as her best option.

She might be in a hurry to find Subito but that didn't rob her of her senses, she paused at his door to knock and wait to be let into his office.

[Raveled]

Most people would be asleep at half past five in the AM. Most people did not have to worry about competing with superhuman individuals, who could bend the laws of time and space at a whimsey. Tona Baudin was just getting up and slipping into her track gear at this time, planning to get her usual pre-dawn work-out in before classes started. She was surprised when a knock came at the door; Cerys wasn't in bed, but if she wanted to come in there was no reason to knock.

It was suspicious, and so Tona went on the defensive. She moved to the bookcase and grabbed the computronium arrow that sat there in a place of honor. Any intruder would be too close for her bow, but the arrow should give her an edge in a melee fight, at least. So armed she opened the door, peering out and seeing the face of one of her instructors. "Mr. Archer? What are you doing awake so early?"

[Thevshi]

After handing on the phone, Duncan Summers had sat in his office gazing out of one of the windows, lost in thought, occasionally glancing at the credenza below the window, and the pictures set out there of Jasmine, and Callie.  When the knock came to his door, he glanced over, slightly surprised Alan had managed to locate any of the students he wanted to see so quickly.

 

"Come in."  He called out, turning fully to face the door.  When he saw Cerys, he gave her a small nod.  "Good morning Ms. Pefr.  That was quick, even for Mr. Archer.  Please come in and have a seat while we wait for the others."

 

Over in the girls' dormitory…

 

Alan Archer gave Tona a slight smile.  "Yeah, normally I would not be up quite yet.  But the headmaster needs to see you right away.  Cerys as well.  I have to be going to find Morgan."  The retired superhero  turned educator stated.

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd took a seat as ordered watching Duncan Summers as she did so. Normally she could read the body language of most humans she’d met, she could even read the body language of some humanoid aliens, but the Headmaster was the most controlled person she’d ever met. She could hardly get anything off of him and even then it was just hints.

 

“I actually came here of my own volition Headmaster but I suspect it connected to the same problem. It seems that Subito has gone missing.â€

Edited August 25, 2013 by TiffanyKorta

[Raveled]

Tona frowned at the idea of Headmaster Summers needing to see her so early in the morning. She hadn't done anything bad lately... had she? "Parafer. I'll go see him." She waited for Archer to turn and leave, and then relaxed slightly. It seems he hadn't noticed the arrow; she probably would get in trouble for threatening to stab a teacher.

A few minutes later Tona, sans arrow, walked up to Summers office. She noticed the door was open slightly and stopped just outside, listening in. Surprisingly, she heard her roommate's voice from inside, talking about her boyfriend! Tona pushed the door open and walked inside, glancing at Cerys before facing Headmaster Summers. "You wanted to see me? Sir?"

[Quinn]

There was a moment of silence, then a sound from the room just outside Summers' office - a small breeze blowing through the door, ruffling the papers on his desk a bit. A sign the Headmaster likely knew well enough, given how clued he was of every event in his school. A sign of respect, in and of itself - the cause never appeared directly into that office, before or after it's rebuilding. That would have been rude.

 

A second or two, and a youth in black from toe to throat silently moved through the door - Archer having caught him just leaving the training simulator. He was beaten, battered, and bruised - but that glow of triumph on his features was emblematic of what happened every time Morgan Crowe threw himself against something supremely out of his league and came out with a win. Cerys and Tona both recieved a nod of acknowledgement - one he knew rather well, the other he knew of by reputation.

 

Both, whether by knowledge of or by simple rumor, were worth respect. He rendered such. The Headmaster, in turn, recieved his full attention as he halted; hands behind his back, and waited.

 

"Sir."

 

Oh dear gods gag me with a spoon - did you actually call him that? Yes. Without sarcasm. Yes. I hate him already. Go howl.

[Thevshi]

Headmaster Summers regarded Blodeuwedd for a moment, his expression generally unreadable as usual.  "Yes, I am aware of that, and he is not the only one.  When the others arrive, I will go over what I know thus far, and what will be done to find Subito and the others who are missing."

 

When Tona arrived moments later, the headmaster glanced over and gave her a small nod.  "Yes Ms. Baudin, please have a seat if you wish, we are waiting for just one more."  He said, indicating one of the empty seats across from his desk. 

 

The three did not have long to wait before Morgan Crowe made his entrance.  Headmaster Summer's gave him a small nod and then leaned forward slightly as he began to speak.  "Thank you all for coming so quickly.  I apologize for the early hour, but a very serious situation has arisen.  As Blodeuwedd has already partially deduced, a number of our students are missing."

 

"Last night, Mr. Sondo and Ms. Shade organized a patrol in parts of Southside.  Accompanying them were Ms. Trang and Mr. Explinker.  After a few small encounters with some gang members and drug dealers, the four came across what appeared to be a tenement building on fire.  While Ms. Trang set about trying to douse the flames, the other three entered the building to look for anyone trapped inside."

 

"Unfortunately, at this point, our information is currently incomplete.  Ms. Shade teleported into an apartment located on the floor that appeared to be closest to the worst of the fire.  Inside she found what appeared to be a young girl, but when she tried to assist the child, it turned out to be a robot that released some form of knockout gas into the air.  Caught off guard, Ms. Shade took a breath full of the gas, but was able to teleport back to her dorm room before losing consciousness.  She is currently in the infirmary, not having fully recovered from the attack."

 

"What happened to the other three is currently unknown, though they have not returned to school, and it has been over seven hours since they arrived at the apparent fire."

 

The headmaster paused a brief moment, his eyes glancing over each of the three students before him.  "Currently, the police and fire department have the building in question cordoned off, for when the fire department arrived, there was no longer any evidence of a fire and they decided to wait until daylight to more carefully inspect the location.  As we speak, Raven is on her way to investigate the scene, if she has not arrived already."

 

There was another brief pause, before he spoke again.  "Normally, I would be willing to leave this in her hands.  But this involves three students from this school, and there is the distinct possibility that this could involve one of her most dangerous foes."

 

Headmaster Summers paused once more, and this time Blodeuwedd was able to notice a sense of fatigue that appeared through is otherwise unreadable expression.  "While it is certainly impossible to know exactly who was behind this at this time, one thing is clear, this 'fire' was a trap, intended to capture those who responded.  It may well be that there was no intended target for this trap, there are various factors that I cannot ignore."

 

"I know each of you knows Ms. Trang, at least in passing, and all of you have probably heard at least a few rumors about the incident on the Chinese New Year where she and Mr. Smith were attacked by a group of masked martial artists and a sorcerer in Freedom City's Chinatown.  Those men were from a Hong Kong based triad called the Golden Serpent Association, and they were sent to capture Ms. Trang by her father."

 

"Ms. Trang's father, a man named Kong Zi Khan, appears to the world to be a successful businessman, but in reality, he, like his father and grandfather before him, is one of the principal lieutenants in the criminal organization of Dr. Sin.  It appears that Kong Zi had plans to break free from Dr. Sin's organization, and possibly even to attempt to supplant Dr. Sin, and that Ms. Trang was a part of those plans.  Ms. Trang naturally has refused to be a part of these plans, and fled her father’s home back in November, which lead to Raven finding her on the streets of Singapore, pursued by some of her father's men."

 

"In addition to Kong Zi searching for Ms. Trang, a number of Dr. Sin’s other lieutenants have learned about her, and are also searching for her.  There is a very good possibility this trap could have been set up by Kong Zi, one of Dr. Sin's other lieutenants, or Dr. Sin himself."

 

"So, I want the three of you to get suited up and get out to this building in Southside to back up Raven, assist her in tracking down those responsible, and locating and returning your fellow students."

[Thevshi]

Meanwhile, in Southside…

 

The first rays of morning has still yet to appear over the horizon as Raven sat on a building looking across at a rundown, six story apartment building that had some of its outer walls blackened by flames.  There was no longer even any smoke coming from the building, and a few police and fire fighters were gathered on the sidewalks outside, cordoning off the building until the daylight when it could be more thoroughly inspected. 

 

By all appearances, the building seemed to be just another poorly maintained tenement building that had caught fire.  Thus far, Raven was rather certain she had been able to identify the window Warp said El Heraldo had used to enter the building, and also the one for the room the teen heroine had teleported into.  Already having an idea what Warp had encountered inside, the dark clad heroine decided she would start with investigating where El Heraldo had entered.

 

Leaping from her perch, Raven fired her grapple gun up above her, the line going taunt as she swung over towards the smashed out window.  Moments later she was in a large room that served as both a living room and a dining room, and was connected to a small kitchen.

 

The room still smelled of smoke, and the area near the windows was still damp from being doused with water, but there was no sign that there had ever been any actual flames in this part of the building.  As she looked about, Raven realized that the room was rather clearly staged.  The furniture was all old and worn and the room was generally Spartan and just generally unlived in, with little clutter or the like.  A few magazines stacked on an end table near a sofa were all several months old.  She was rather certain that in the dark and smoke the night before, all these details would have been easily overlooked by a teenage hero looking for potentially trapped tenants. 

 

A few minutes searching, and the heroine located a pair of smoke projectors concealed within the room.  But there was nothing to suggest that El Heraldo had spent any great amount of time in the room, if it was indeed where he had entered the building.

 

Moving further in, following a hallway out of the large room, Raven entered a bedroom that was off to one side.  Beyond the clearly staged decorations in the room, she found the first real sign that El Heraldo had been here, a large hole smashed in the floor.  A few moments searching, and she found a few pieces of electronics scattered on the floor near the hole.  Gathering those together, the dark clad heroine then jumped down the hole into the room below.

 

Elsewhere…

 

Warden had not been far away when alarms had sounded in his control room, alerting him to the presence of someone in the building he had set up in Southside.  Returning to the control room, the supercriminal watched Raven over the monitors as she began making her way into the building.

 

"So, my employer was correct after all.  You would be the one to come looking for these missing students."  He said to himself with a satisfied smile that was hidden behind his mask.

[Raveled]

Tona's expression grew more intense when Summers mentioned Subito, and she gave her roommate a tiny glance. She didn't say anything, just took a step forward and slipped her hand into Cerys's, squeezing tightly. There wasn't the time to extend offer any sort of encouraging words, though, not with a problem right in front of them. Kong Zi Khan she didn't recognize, but she knew what, in broad terms the Triads were, and while there weren't formal classes on heroing, Archer drilled everyone enough on the major supervillains that she recognized Dr. Sin's name. Still, it was hard to imagine a man that had been old when the first Raven was active still being such a huge threat.

She didn't say that, though. "If the Triads are involved," she said, "we should try to find some low-ranking members on the street. If Dr. Sin is involved, the Raven will find the evidence." Tona had no illusions that she was anywhere near the investigator and detective that the Raven was, but the cowled heroine couldn't be in two places at once. The young heroes could at least comb the streets.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Raveled

[Tiffany Korta]

Gang’s weren't really Blodeuwedd specialty but over the last year and so she had learnt as much as she could about such things. And she knew that Tona tended to think on a smaller local scale, an understandable effect off her upbringing.

 

 

“The Triads tend toward a cell structure Tona, the local Triads will know as much as there master’s want them to, which will probably next to nothing. And I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Dr Sin, or one of his lieutenants, would handle everything themselves. Beside you’re one of the best tracker’s I know I’m sure you can find something useful at the site.â€

[Thevshi]

Headmaster Summers had just been about to speak in response to Tona's comments when Cerys spoke up.  The headmaster then gave a small nod.  "That is quite accurate Ms. Pefr, and, perhaps more importantly, you would be hard pressed to find many active members of any Triad or Tong in Freedom City.  Whomever was directing this operation, was doing so from some other location."

 

"There is also the possibility that all of this may be part of a trap set for Raven herself.  Dr. Sin has done something similar in the past.  That is why I would like you all to start by getting to that apartment building and providing backup." 

[Quinn]

"Simple enough." Flat.

 

Crow had remained silent for most of the briefing, logging away the information in his head. Morgan didn't quite trust himself once he'd heard two of his friends were currently held under the authority of a man with a lengthy list of crimes against humanity at large - and if it was one thing he had learned exceedingly well after the only rescue mission he'd ever lead, it was that to act in haste meant one repented greatly at leisure.

 

He cogitated on Cerys and Tona, what he knew of them both. Competent infiltrators, canny, cunning - Raven's style and approach in their own ways, with their own twists to the formula. If he wasn't looking at it from a dispassionate viewpoint and the situation wasn't so grave, he'd be marveling at what the circumstances. As-is, different combat maneuvers and tactics simply rotated around, being noted, set, logged away or tossed away depending on their use.

 

"Assume worst-case. Sin known for intelligence. Cunning. Matched wits with the Raven during the worst years." Like he needed to tell Summers that. More for his ears than any, perhaps - or for Cerys and Tona; gods knew he'd been obsessive about finding information about any cowl who'd hit Freedom's streets. He dragged his brain back from hero-worship, Crow planning as best he could; as cold as he could. He hadn't done that before - and bad things had happened. "Headmaster's dead on. Odds...exceptionally high he's left contingencies. Building rigged, assault teams on standby, satellite laser aiming down...reccomend running as silent as possible until we find Raven. Everything on the downlow."

 

Oddly enough, he couched it as a reccomendation - even looked to Tona when he said it, sounding like a question. "Principle of the mouse. If the trap isn't sprung, it's still open - to sneak in or sneak out. If they spring it on Raven and we're concealed..."

 

That was when Crow gave a very, very small smile. "Easier to kick it open from the inside."

Edited August 29, 2013 by Quinn

[Thevshi]

Meanwhile, in Southside…

 

Raven had moved out into the hallway, where she found more evidence of a struggle.  She was just looking over some more electronics scatted on the floor when several loud clanging sounds echoed through the building.  It was then a voice sounded over speakers hidden somewhere nearby.

 

"Raven, so nice to see you again.  Looking for some lost children?"

 

The dark clad heroine stood slowly back up, readying herself for whatever Warden had planned.  "Warden, where are they?"  She stated simply in a cold voice.

 

"Oh, they are well on their way towards my employer, if they are not there already."  Came Warden's reply through the speakers.  "You on the other hand, are a bonus."

 

Along the hallway, two small portions of the wall slide aside, with two weapon emplacements popping free as the fired steel cables with weighted ends towards Raven.  The dark clad heroine had been ready, dodging aside from the first cable, which coursed with an electric charge.

 

Ducking underneath the second cable, Raven stood back upright and sent a boomerang flying down the hallway towards one of the weapon emplacements.  As the weapon twirled end over end down the hallway, Raven was already moving after it, running down the hallway towards the stairwell.

 

The boomerang stuck its target, knocking the weapon barrel back around the opposite direction, causing some damage in the process.  Raven caught her boomerang on the run as it began to return.  "I will find you Warden."  She then dove away from another steel cable shot by the other weapon emplacement and into the stairwell.

 

The heroine flipped over to try to land on her feet, only to find the stairs had flattened into a ramp.  Staying upright, she began sliding down the ramp towards an opening in the wall at the bottom.  "We will see if you can make it."  Came Warden's voice over the speakers once more.

 

Back in Bayview…

 

"Just be sure to be ready for the unexpected."  Headmaster Summers added as Crow started suggesting how they should proceed.  "While the likelihood of Sin or one of his lieutenants being involved is quite high, there is the possibility that someone else altogether could be behind the disappearances."

[Quinn]

There was a short nod. The man was right - Sin had the resources to hire a wealth of villainy to do his dirty work; or there was a wealth of villainy who wanted revenge on any one of the kidnapped Claremonters, and just got the other two as luck of the draw.

 

Bad luck, if he had anything to say about it. A small piece of chalk flicked into his palm from his cuff, and a small pair of lines were neatly drawn onto the backplate of his left glove; briefly covering one connection, sketching a new one, and adding two lines to another. He gripped his hand into a fist, and the lines began to glow. 

 

"Best be off." Crow murmured. The others felt an odd 'pop' sensation in their ears, followed by a light thrum - and then the air in the room felt just slightly...heavier. Like humidity pressing in, but only just...and a small wind began to kick up in the doorway.

 

Those standing near could feel the tail end of it, a hot breeze brushing past their ears - but those further away could still see it. A shimmer, like a wave of heat; and the ruffling of papers from the desks in the secretary's office just outside. Underneath the iron mask, Crow resisted the urge to smile slightly - his face still impassive. The heat shimmer was starting to flow around the three of them; doing nothing as of yet. If he'd done this right, it wouldn't kick in until they'd gone through...

 

"We'll bring them back."

[Thevshi]

After waiting for Blue Jay and Blodeuwedd to go back to their dorm room to fetch anything they might need for the mission, Crow teleported them all out of the Headmaster's office and off into Southside.  A mere moment later, the trio appeared on a rooftop overlooking the building Warp had indicated was where she and the others had been trying to help with a fire.  The shimmering wave of heat that had formed around them helped conceal the three from view as the first light of morning began to shine from the East.

 

The six story building across the way clearly showed signs of a fire, with some of the outer walls blackened and showing other fire damage.  But something was rather out of place with the building, as some sort of metal grating covered all the visible windows of the building.  Down on the sidewalk beside the building, a group of policemen and fire fighters were gathered around the main entrance to the building, which also covered by a similar metal grating.  They all looked to be either confused or alarmed by something.

Edited September 4, 2013 by Thevshi

[Raveled]

Blue Jay closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose, working to dissipate the flip-flopping in her gut. When she could stand to stand, she peered out of the alleyway and looked the building over. The damage from the fire was evident, but the metal blocking off the doors and windows would have seemed out of place if the building was undamaged. She ghosted up the periphery of emergency workers, and spoke up. "Where did the metal come from?"

[Thevshi]

The gathered police officers and fire fighters all started slightly at Blue Jay's sudden appearance near them.  Several of the police officers gave the teenage heroine rather distrustful looks, but the fire fighters did not appear to have the same reaction.

 

"No idea."  One of the fire fighters responded.  "They just sort of slammed into place about five minutes ago.  Must have been concealed in the window and door frames until something triggered them.  No idea why anyone would want to go to all the trouble to rigging that up though."

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd raised an eyebrow and looked over at Crow.

“Tona has a rather direct solution to problem sometime, a lot of people I know seems to have that same quirk. Still it’s a good trait to have at time like this.â€

She pulled her goggles down over her eyes and looked at the structure’s aura to try and get possibly important information.

“If I was designing a trap to catch someone specifically I’d probably leave out certain options, well actually I’d probably still include them but that’s me. Just as I though the building’s not warded against anything magical, they weren’t expecting anything like us.â€

She brandished from her belt her grapple gun, judging the necessary distance to the building.

 

“You think you can magic us through those barriers in some way?â€

Edited September 7, 2013 by TiffanyKorta

[Quinn]

"More than likely." He murmured from atop the building across the street; he'd been rather impressed by Tona's swift descent. He was mildly irked as well that she'd revealed herself; upon seeing the bars, the entire situation more than screamed trap, it lit it up with giant neon lights and did a capering dance in tiny circles while singing trap-trap-trap in an annoying singsong voice like a bratty younger sibling.

 

He wondered if he'd been hit harder than usual in the Doom Room, his head felt a bit off. As-is, Morgan just knelt down; idly gathering three small stones from the rooftop gravel - he and Blodeuwedd still neatly concealed behind the hot air that slowly shifted about on the rooftop - and while a piece of chalk slid into his hand, the runes on the iron mask started to glow just a bit.

 

"Surveillance first." Archer's rule number one hundred and twenty-two, never go into a situation blind if you can help it. His mask, wrought iron, and carved with the strongest runes of true sight his meagre skill could muster, panned over the building - looking through the walls at the light and heat signatures behind them. The Eyes Of The Rook missed very little nowadays. School of hard knocks made sure of that.

[Thevshi]

As Crow turned to regard the damaged tenement building with the Eyes of the Rook, he found the building lit up like a Christmas tree.  All throughout the building were small power sources, which seemed to be providing electrical power to devices near them.  If the building’s electrical lines were still in place, they appeared to be dead, for they did not stand out from the rest of the building. 

 

Further in towards the center of the building up on about the third or fourth floor, Crow spotted the single largest heat source that he could see.  It was a human figure, and as he focused on it, the teenager realized it was a woman.  She appeared at first to be hovering in the air, but then Crow quickly realized that the position of her body seemed wrong to be hovering, as her feet appeared a bit higher than the rest of her body, and her arms appeared pinned to her sides.  She was struggling against something, which was likely what was holding her in that position, possibly hanging from above.

[Quinn]

Morgan took it in from point to point; an abandoned building lit up like a Christmas tree was nothing new in this line of work. Just meant someone had gone to work beforehand - and judging by the major point of interest on the upper floors, they'd done a good job of it.

 

"Trap." He deadpanned, the chalk starting to dance over the rocks. "Good one, too. Power sources linked to devices. Probably booby traps." Small symbols started to appear on said rocks, sketched out in white chalk - similar to ones he'd drawn ages ago, during a rather unique event involving flying sharks. Good times. He rattled off the information as he went - the deadpan going to a clinical tone; like he was listing off groceries rather than hazards to life and limb. "Scattered throughout whole building, floor by floor. Point of interest - third...maybe fourth floor. Prisoner; female. Likely hog-tied - suspended from ceiling? Unknown. Conscious, struggling. Ten to one odds Raven II."

 

He let out a breath, and eyed his rocks for a moment (har har), finishing the runes on them; at least for the nonce. "Need plan...Jay already out of cover, Blod and myself still in cover...distraction..." A tap of the chin. Then Morgan lifted a hand and lowballed one of the three rocks off the building - the thing bouncing to a halt by Tona's foot; rune-side up. The other was neatly passed over to Blod.

 

If Tona picked up the rock...

 

A voice sounded in her head; the same quiet deadpan she'd heard from Crow before leaving.

"New intel. Don't come back up to the roof. Act independent. Things getting interesting."

Edited September 8, 2013 by Quinn

[Raveled]

Other heroes would have disregarded a pebble falling from the sky, or not even noticed the small detail in the midst of the bigger problem. Other heroes could fly, though, or bounce bullets off their chest, or shoot laser beams. If Jay missed a detail, she might very well die. So she noticed when the rock landed at her feet, and picked it up with her gloved hand. The voice coming from the stone surprised her and almost made her drop it, but she recognized the young man Summers had sent with her and Blod.

Act on her own, then? She could do that. The young archer drew an arrow from her quiver, its green fletching making it stand out. A quick jerk unfolded her bow, and she loosed the shot in a single, smooth motion. From this range there was no chance of missing, and the acid round splattered the door, sizzling on the metal.

She didn't seriously expect it to eat all the way through, though. She looked up and down the street, then talked to the firefighters again. "How fast does your truck go," she asked. "Could you get it through the wall?"

[Thevshi]

The police officers around Blue Jay flinched slightly as she quickly drew her bow and nocked an arrow.  But they were far too slow to have been able to do anything before she got the arrow off, even if they had wanted to.  When they saw her target was the metal grating covering the main entrance, they relaxed somewhat. 

 

The acid from the arrow worked quickly to eat away at the metal mesh, creating large gaps in the grating.  It looked pot-marked enough that Blue Jay figured she could easily force her way through it now.

 

Glancing down the street, she noted that there was no large fire truck around, only a SUV painted bright red with lights on top.  "I doubt it could get through any of the outer walls."  One of the firemen nearby commented at the teen's question. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd on receiving Crow’s disturbing new’s scanned the building for any obvious means of them entering, and if such a place was booby trapped. She rapidly went through as many options as she could and it came mostly down to options depending on the other two.

“We need to get to her as quickly as we can, can you get us to her directly?â€

She held up and examined the rock before placing it safely into her utility belt.

 

“How do these thing work? If Tona going in on her own she’ll need to know that the building’s filled with possible traps.â€