Claremont Academy Vignette: Big Leagues

[Gizmo]

Big Leagues

While the adult heroes of Freedom City spread out across the globe to combat the Incursion, the students of Claremont Academy are left to watch over their fair metropolis! When villains attempt to take advantage of the situation it will be up to these teen titans to rise to occasion! Against foes that give even the Freedom League and other seasoned veterans difficulty can they prevail? Can they even survive?! It may take a holiday miracle!

 

Big Leagues is a vignette open specifically to Claremont Academy students excluded from Incursion: Phase Two, taking place between Christmas Day and New Years. The usual vignette rules apply: vignettes should be at least one word processor document page in length, limit one vignette per character. Given the prompt, players are encouraged to have appearances by established villains but should remember to PM the ref team with a request and summation of their vignette's plot just as they would when asking to use an NPC in a normal thread. Joint vignette are also encouraged this time around but are not necessary!

 

Post your vignette in this thread by midnight of Saturday, January 31st so that it can be included in January's post counts!

[The Sailor]

THE DEADLIEST CATCH

or... GIANT ENEMY CRAB - Featuring Endeavor

 

Coast Guard Base Lonely Point

December 28, 2014, 0345 hrs EST

 

 

Duncan Summers, Headmaster of Claremont Academy, and for right now the concerned bedside guardian of a certain young charge. The charge in question was Sakurako laying in the bed he sat beside, a IV dripping into her arm while bandages covered her forehead and several spots on her body. That and she had thermal blankets covering her. Obvious methods of treating hypothermia.

Her torn up suit, the symbol of her genius, laid next to her on top of a inflated life vest. Her helmet shattered, with bloodstains on the clear plastic-like material. There was obvious signs of combat. Heavy combat. Something she shouldn't have survived.

Sakurako opened her eyes, once a academy nurse arrived, using a odd device brought from the school, she weakly looked over to Duncan.

 

"H... Headmaster? I... Suppose this means I'm not... dead."

 

"No, but I really want to know what happened out there on that trawler."

 

Sakurako sat up, as the nurse removed the IV.

"I thought at least Mom would be here... she's real busy on SAR through this darned invasion isn't she?"

 

"Yeah, she saved a couple starfighter pilots off the coast of Africa a little while ago, while your Father is handling restoring some communications in London with all of AEGIS' assets globally."

 

She gulped. "Perfect timing for Doctor Otaku to strike then."

 

Duncan widened his eyes.

"I headed out from Claremont at abour 2230 last night to assist in the repairs of the engine of a fishing trawler, the "Heaven's Bounty". A decent sized ship, something that could be used commercially. It's engined went off line, taking out power and shutting off it's bilge right in the middle of a decent nor'easter passing by."

 

"I was pretty much done, and was taking my kit and what not back on deck when a metallic crab crawled on to the deck."

"A small crab did all this to you?" Duncan asked.

 

"I don't call something approximately 15 meters in width and armed with micro-missiles small."

 

"It had a set of speakers on it with a couple cameras with it's eye stalks and I heard..."

 

Duncan wasn't liking what was about to be said.

"Doc Otaku was the first person to talk. He was suprised that I was on the deck, considering it a stroke of luck. Then I heard her. Hannah."

Mr. Summers massaged his graying temples as Sakurako continued. "She was suprised that the simple test of Doc's crab for a heist he was planning would end up having me present. She'd have my genetic data and some combat data."

 

"Things went crazy. I knew that I couldn't fight that thing on the boat and the target was me instead of whatever fate was being concieved for that trawler. It was one HECK of a firefight. I was skating along in the valleys of 5-6 foot waves. That crab constantly changing it's tactics from being a fast submersible to flying over the water."

 

"I had to end it quick, as Hannah it seemed tried to bait me by threatening the trawler with a torpedo. I took it out then played my ace. I rigged my EMWand to self-destruct with a massive, and I mean massive EMP cascade. But in order for me to isolate the pulse I had to leap on that thing and fire it into a crack I made in it's armor. It worked but as it started to sink, it knocked me off in it's death throes."

"I heard lots of ripping on the body of my suit, as well as the faceplate of my helmet shattering. I think I heard some hissing coming from my life support too. I remember the cold and the wind... and the waves striking my face. Hard to breathe."

 

She curled up while she was sitting in her bed. She looked over at the life vest, the spray hood on it was unfurled and covered with blood as well. "Looks like I was concious enough to pull the spray hood over my vest before the cold and my injuries took me out."

 

Duncan nodded. "The crew of that trawler took you here. You were more than out of it. They used a portable defibrulator on you too. You... were dead for about a minute as your heart stopped from the cold water. Either that or the shock of your injuries... one or the other."

 

"Will there be any lasting damage?"

 

Duncan sighed with some relief. "No... you got a couple hairlined ribs, a contusion to your forehead, several cuts and bruises. Nurse Allen is filling in for our head nurse... she's using some tech we borrowed from AEGIS to get you ambulatory."

"Taking me to a hospital?"

"No, to the Academy Dispensary. It'll be a couple days of rest for you. We don't want to concentrate casualties to just one place from all this chaos."

"I... Understand. To think my first real experience with an alien race visiting earth, even in passing, and it's hostile, and all the grownups are tied up in some sort of interstellar war."

 

Duncan placed a reassuring hand on Sakurako's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Trust me, you're going to have a lot of that to do in the future."

 

The nurse wheeled in a wheelchair.

"I'm wagering you're also once you're better going to want to fix up your suit."

"I got some ideas for upgrades too."

She sat her things on her lap after getting into the wheelchair. For now it seemed, Sakurako earned some time off.

 

~fin

Edited January 24, 2015 by The Osprey

[KnightDisciple]

The Love of a Brother

Cline Home, Freedom City, New Jersey, USA, Terra

9:30 PM, December 25, AD 2014

 

They'd stayed at the infirmary for almost an hour, but things were getting bad out there. Which meant the infirmary was starting to pile up, and Doctor Johannson had politely but firmly requested Will take his sister somewhere else. She was sleeping mostly-soundly at this point, but some of the injured students were a bit rowdy (often from pain rather than malice or anything of the like), and with that many powers floating around, combined with pain and painkillers, it was a risk doctor and brother both didn't want to take.

So after making sure her suppressors were turned up as high as possible and comfortably secure, and making sure she was dosed up enough for several hours of sleep (at which point the crisis would likely be over, one way or another), Will had bundled up first his baby sister and then himself and run them back to their house. He'd deposited Holly in her room and then gone about the business of locking all the doors and windows, drawing all the shades, and having as few lights on as possible. Some gut instinct told him to try and not draw attention to their presence there that night, and if there was one thing both of his parents had taught him about that sort of gut instinct, it was that you listened to it.

Of course doing all of that had taken less than two minutes, and so for the last several he'd been alternating between light snacking (just the healthy stuff his mother kept insisting he stick with), sipping some weak coffee (that his father thought his teenage body was ready to handle), and quick-surfing television channels. He was nervous and wired and the caffeine was, if anything, smoothing out his frayed nerves (at least for now). He felt like he was forgetting something, or that something was going to happen, but it was maddeningly vague what it might be.

Until his innate sense of kinetic motion picked up movement outside the back door, right before he opened it to toss the trash bag into the garbage can. For about 1.5 seconds he stood there, frozen in fear, as his psycho-kinetic awareness (as the teachers at Claremont kept insisting it was called) picked up at least three adult humans or near-humans moving around outside. And if he didn't miss his guess, at least two were armed.

'Probably not Nerf guns.' he thought sardonically to himself as he oh-so-carefully placed the trash bag on the floor next to the door. As soon as that was done he was invisible, light bending around his body with but a whisper of his own thoughts to prompt it. In two heartbeats he was by the side of his sister's bed, crouching down to wrap her snugly in a blanket, the invisibility fading somewhat but extending over the sleeping psychic as well. He had a moment of panic as he considered where to take her, before remembering probably the best spot in the house for now.

A few breaths later he was in the corner of the darkened room where his parents went over footage and edited tapes. It had only one external window (currently covered by curtains and a stack of boxes and equipment) and only one door; further, the pile of boxes in the back corner proved a halfway-decent (if not ideal) hiding spot for Holly, who thankfully was sleeping peacefully at this time. Will set her down in the little nook, then gently moved a couple of boxes to mostly cover her. Between the shadows, the boxes, the remote location, and the ambient noise from all the computers and monitors and tape machines, it was the best he was going to get.

Now to take care of these...prowlers.

He had only just made it back to the back door and fully cloaked once again when (surprisingly to Will) the lock was picked and the door gently opened. Perhaps they somewhat feared the residents. Good.

He was about to show them why no one came after his family. But before he began moving, he heard something that made his heart nearly stop; one of the intruders (all wearing very tacticool black uniforms) speaking into a headset.

"We've entered the domicile. No sign of the primary target, or the secondary. Please confirm, do you wish both captured?"

There was a pause, then the man continued, speaking in low tones to the others.

"HQ confirms, the girl's our primary, we bag and tag her. Nothing permanent, especially to the head; they want that brainpower of hers for later. Her brother's a target of opportunity. If we can bag him, fine, but they're happy with a bodybag. Said he's too old to wipe and reprint, but he might be fun to pick apart."

So they were here to dissect/vivisect him, and brainwash his sister. Well, that let him know what urgency this was. Now if only his parents weren't busy keeping the entire planet from dying. Will was just unselfish enough to know he couldn't in any way risk contacting them; it might doom his sister all the more.

Instead he opted to stay silent and invisible as a total of 8 not-solders crept into the house. A half-dozen of them were armed, but the last two had no visible weapons, which worried him almost as much as their somewhat-enlarged statures. Probably rent-a-bricks (as his father sometimes called them), though they didn't look that tough.

He waited until the tailing mercenaries (what else could they be but guns-for-hire?) was far enough into the back room, then he quickly closed the door. If he could have locked it, he would have. As-is he settled for quickly moving over to another section of the room and speaking directly into the minds of the men in black in his house.

--You picked the wrong job tonight.--

The men tensed up, but it wasn't fast enough.

Before they could cry out, two of the men were crumpling to the ground, both knees on both of them fractured from high-speed impacts. As they crumpled to the ground, brief flashes of green light flared.

The man who had been talking on the radio gagged as his groin received a half-dozen impacts from what felt like hardwood escrima sticks at approximately the speed of a car on the highway, right before all of them present heard the *crack* of facial bones fracturing from something hitting each of his cheeks in turn at a similar speed. He fell like a sack of wet rice.

At this point, perhaps 10 seconds had gone by. The other men were reacting, but just weren't fast enough. Will, on the other hand, was.

He rushed past two of the men, slamming blows into their ankles that had them starting to crumple while he clotheslined two more at a speed that would leave them bruised for a week or more. The men with ankle and knee injuries were still conscious, and thus dangerous. Blurred strikes to their solar plexus followed by barrages of torso, neck, and head strikes left them all insensate, and practically piled on each other.

Up to about 45 seconds now; enough time for the last two men to end up back to back...holding up their fists?

Will zipped into a far corner of the room and crouched, completely invisible. He frowned, then rushed at one of them...And his escrima sticks bounced off skin and muscle that was harder than normal. His gaze tightened a bit, but he knew how to deal with this.

Now, normally he wouldn't be so...aggressive...in his assault, but between the stress of Holly's spontaneous Cthonic worship service, the fear of seeing her so utterly panicked, the fear of knowing his parents were helping defend the world, the fear of these men killing him and stealing his baby sister, and the stupid voice pressing at the back of his head for the last several hours that just would not SHUT UP, he was in a place that would honestly make normal Will more than a bit uncomfortable.

Still, he wasn't seeking to kill anyone. But his mind was in a place where he was willing to cause pain and maybe some fear. Part of his self struggled to rein in that impulse, but it wasn't entirely successful.

So the two low-level powerhouse metas suddenly started experiencing stabs in non-vital areas. Primarily their (rather obvious) muscles, which had the effect of a lot of pain and increasing difficulty performing actions, but a fairly low level of risk of immediately bleeding out. This happened about a half-dozen times, leaving several small bleeding wounds on the now-confused men.

After all, they couldn't see either attacker or weapon, and the only sounds were the rush of air around them and the sounds of impact and pain.

Suddenly there was, for lack of a better term, a staff of light spinning next to them. It struck each of them in ankle, then knee, then groin, then hip, then solar plexus, then throat, and finally at their temples. As they started to fall on their own, they were helped down by a spin of the bar of glowing energy that struck their legs, sweeping them out from under them. Their fall accelerated, and the whole group of mercenaries were left as boneless heaps upon the ground.

A minute passed, and a young man faded into visibility. He was obviously a bit tired, and his face was somewhere between "scowl" and "pain". But that faded into a slight smile as he released his energy weapon, which faded into green wisps and motes of light before disappearing entirely. With a sigh, he turned to go to the video room...

And howled in pain as he felt a thick needle jab into his left bicep, though he was able to almost immediately yank it out. He suddenly felt dull around the edges, and stumbled away from the fading-into-view attacker, his vision blurring for a moment before resolving. It was a slightly-built man, not even as large as Will himself, dressed in a getup similar to the mercenaries. The figure "tsked" and tossed the half-spent syringe over to one side, where it rolled over to the wall.

"I suppose the old saying about doing things right yourself holds true still. Oh well. It's somewhat enjoyable to stay in the proverbial game. I must say I'm terribly impressed with your methods overall. Desperation must be such a wonderful motivator. But sadly..."

Suddenly the man leaped into the air, before landing and sticking to the ceiling! He began to fade from sight with an almost hissing chuckle.

"It won't be enough. I'll find your preciousss little sister, secure her for my client, and then deal with you. Meanwhile, that wonderful cocktail of power suppressors and tranquilizers should take care of you quiet handily."

With a start, Will realized his speed was lessened, and he couldn't focus enough to either fade from sight, or even produce a burst of light! He could still run fast, and he could still make his blades, but the latter were quite fuzzy, and his super-keen spatial sense was "fuzzy", making the former a bit more dangerous. But none of that mattered. Holly was still in danger, invisible stalking wall-crawler or no.

"Not..gonna let you!"

He blurred into the kitchen, crouching behind the island with the stovetop. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to focus his kinetic-energy-based sense. The roaring of the alien presence above his head, around the world, and out further still, made it harder to think straight at all. Especially with his own psychic defenses reduced. But he grit his teeth and focused....there!

He was a blur of motion, and a single blade tried to stab at his target. But there was another hissing laugh, and he only gouged sheet rock.

"Hehehehe! You've got quite the determination there boy, fighting that injection like that!"

Will just frowned....and closed his eyes. He kept his ears sharp, and kept focusing that still-fuzzy picture his mind was generating of the room. He tensed, then dodged to the side as a knife lodged itself in the floor.

'Mom and Dad are going to flip about all this damage.' he thought sardonically to himself.

"Yessss, your little sister will make such a nice student at the Academy. So loyal. So powerful. So obedient. Her mind will in turn bend other minds, and the Academy will grow. And your body will prove most interesting to the doctors, oh yes."

Will stayed still and waited for many long seconds. Then he actually smiled!

"Let's see if she's in her room..."

The hissing sneaker moved upstairs, and Will waited only a moment to dash up there, beating him by just a bit.

"You'll never have her!"

He hoped he wasn't over-selling it. The laughter in reply, and the sudden weight on his back, said that he hadn't.

"Hoho, I think I'll just take care of you no-ACK!"

That was the sound of a man being slammed into a wall at super-speed. Then there was the sizzle of unstable escrima sticks forming in the boy's hands.

"Not today-"

And then Will said a couple words his parents would probably scold him for later, before proceeding to break several bones in the snake-man's body and leave him covered in bruises. The man collapsed...and Will staggered over against the opposite wall.

His powers were zooming in and out. His mind was all fuzz and rage and pain. The house was compromised. And his parents were so unavailable, it hurt.

So it was only natural he gathered all his strength and gave himself a migraine sending a psychic shout all the way to Florida, arriving in the brain of one Anna Cline.

--GRAMMA HELP IT'S WILL I'M HURT ME AND HOLLY ARE IN TROUBLE MOM AND DAD CAN'T COME SAVING WORLD PLEASE HELP--

She was probably going to have a headache from that....

Nevertheless, it didn't take more than 3 minutes, 27.8923444 seconds for Anna Cline to come racing into the house, breathing heavily, swords in hand. She took stock of the damage to the building, the unconscious mercenaries, before finally finding the barely-conscious and now-spasming Will. It appeared he was starting to overload with kinetic energy. She shook him awake, and within 2 seconds he managed to get his powers under control, albeit having to run several dozen laps around the house in a few seconds to bleed off power.

Once that was done, he gave Anna the mental Cliff's Notes as they retrieved Holly and Anna checked both of them over. Holly was, of course, fine, being still asleep (and still power-suppressed). Will had cuts and bruises and the needle puncture mark. He made sure to emphasize the mention of this "Shadow Academy" to his grandmother, hoping she might know who they were.

Somewhere in the midst of Will looking after his sister and grabbing himself a big snack, Anna made a call to a group of old friends...

[KnightDisciple]

Fear Is The Mind-Killer

Freedom City, USA

9:05 PM EST, December 25th, 2014

 

This was not how he'd wanted to spend Christmas Day. Aleksander had been all set for a "day off" (meaning he got to spend time with his family unless something really big went down). The League was stretched thin, but the line was holding out there in space...

 

Until suddenly it wasn't, and Callie Summers had to break out the Special Equipment to help stall Communion forces as long as possible. And so Alek's Christmas with the Barbeau family was canceled. Loren and Melissa were probably sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee or cocoa, worrying about their adopted son.

 

Said adopted son, currently dressed as Nevermore, the stoic sidekick of the Raven, was currently dealing with some rather low-grade rent-a-thugs. That wasn't really the problem, though. The problem was they were hopped up on some chemical cocktail that made them the next best thing to fearless (which at least made them fight stupid, but made his normal attempts to use panic in his fighting utterly useless), and dressed in outfits hastily plastered with question marks. This had all the hallmarks of not one, but two of his boss's consistent foes: Conundrum, and Fearmaster. But why were they working together? Why now? To what end?

 

That's what he was here to find out; he'd caught wind of something big going down that had a lot of regular hoods running and hiding. That was never good. And the whole underworld was twisting in uncertain action, with chunks of the Freedom League off-world, but other parts being more active than ever, never mind the couple dozen other official hero teams spread across the globe, and the hundreds (if not thousands) of metahumans and superheroes scattered all over acting individually or in loose coalitions.

 

But there were even more scoundrels, scumbags, and scalawags in the world, and they often snuck about more deviously. Not to mention all the rather amoral hired help ready and willing to be brought on as extra muscle with just the promise of some cash (though Alek heard tell most of the muscle in Freedom City was unionized and organized and had benefits and retirement plans and so on these days, a fact he didn't know how to feel about). Some may have had odd superstitious rituals, and overall the criminals of the world may not have had the collective courage of the heroes, but their schemes and plots nonetheless brought very real danger into the lives of multitudes of men and women every day, whether or not the fiends got caught most of the time.

 

And when dealing with two of the most cunning foes the Raven had ever tangled with, that caution was well-warranted. After all, Andre Keston was frightfully clever all on his own; Conundrum's schemes often kept Callie Summers occupied for days on end untangling all the loops and curves. Adding in the fear-obsessed Melvin Blume and his overly theatrical "work" as Fear-Master, and it was a partnership that had proven near-lethal for heroes in the past. In the midst of a crisis like the one facing Earth (and thus Freedom City) now, it was all the worse. Raven was unavoidably detained well outside city limits, so Alek was facing the situation himself, with occasional radio support from Duncan Summers. But the aging Headmaster was himself very busy trying to coordinate the efforts of the young heroes-in-training at Claremont were putting forth to try and stem the chaos in the city.

 

Nevermore punched one more thug to unconsciousness, before almost casually pointing his other fist almost straight behind himself, and flawlessly tagging another rent-a-muscle who was attempting to quietly escape (apparently not all of them juiced up?). The man was dragged back through the snow and slush, uselessly clawing at the icy ground until he was left with Nevermore crouching over him. The low-level mercenary was trembling a bit as the young vigilante griped the front of his decorated bulletproof vest, lifting him a bit off the ground.

 

"What are they up to?"

 

"Who?"

 

"Conundrum and Fear-Master. I would suggest talking. Now."

 

Honestly he still wasn't great at this whole "scare them into talking" thing like Midnight was, but the tips he'd gotten from the older hero had helped, at least a little bit. Just a few changes in the inflection of his voice and the thug was scared enough to talk.

 

"Okay, I don't know everything. No, really, I don't! But, see, I heard them talk about how we had to be ready!"

 

"Ready for what."

 

"Like I said, I don't know it all. But something's going down by City Hall and stuff. They made it sound like the Mayor, and Police Chief, and a lot of the other bigwigs, would be out of the picture, or making it worse. And then something else would go down, and the police wouldn't be doing so hot. And we're supposed to grab everything we can!"

 

"Money?"

 

"No. Like, jewels, gold, "raw materials". Like...I dunno man, it's like they're trying to go off the grid! Work with the black market or something. The way they were talking, they're planning to skip town as soon as the job's done."

 

Nevermore is silent for long moments, simply watching the man. The mercenary becomes more nervous, and speaks again.

 

"That's all I know, I swear! Just...please don't hurt me any more!"

 

"Fine. But you're playing nice and staying here for the cops."

 

"No problem! Just don't eat my soul or anything!"

 

He gets a look.

 

"Hey, some of the guys, they talk, about you cape  types. And it's not like that's the weirdest thing in this town."

 

"Just shut up and play nice."

 

"Yessir."

 

And with a whirl of cape and the revving of a motorbike engine, Nevermore is gone, leaving a bunch of would-be looters tied up and (mostly) unconscious. He was soon speeding through the streets toward the headquarters of the Freedom City police, when he skidded to a stop on a street corner with a frown. He was thinking too rashly; whatever was going on, Conundrum and Fear-Master would likely trigger it if they saw him near any of the stated target buildings, something they surely had their own surveillance for, let alone hacking nearby traffic cameras or the like. But maybe he didn't have to go to City Hall himself. He tapped a hidden control on his belt, and opened a radio call...

 

A few minutes later he was halting outside one of many warehouses in the dock district of Freedom City. But while at a glance it looked normal, his trained eyes caught signs the place had been extensively "remodeled". He saw hints of a much sturdier structure, as if a slightly smaller building had been built inside. But to what purpose? He looked some more, and saw what looked to be a loading dock. His bike stowed, the young hero crept through the shadows, closer bit by bit to the entrance. Finally he was there. A couple of minutes passed before he chanced a look. There was a small door that...there, a guard was opening it, but only for a smoke break. 

 

There was a puff of compressed air, a mechanical whine, the flapping of a cloak, a muffled grunt of pain, and the sound of two bodies thudding into concrete with a fair bit of momentum. Then there was just silence, until Nevermore rolled the unconscious and bound thug off the slight ramp to the ground, propping him up where he wouldn't suffocate or anything of that nature. Then he moved inside.

 

As he explored the place, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the myriad cameras, he found himself both worried and disappointed. It was all very professional, and industrial, and efficient, but it had none of the hallmarks of either of the villains supposedly involved, except for minor bits of flair most of the hired help wore. Oh, the conversations seemed to say they were around, but the whole thing had him expecting a twist any moment. So when he finally observed the very basic control room with the two villains in it, he was almost disappointed.

 

The gleaming craft that basically screamed "spaceship", though, was more impressive. It had a set of doors on the "belly" open with a ramp leading up to it, and several empty pallets sitting around. Conundrum seemed restless, while Fear-Master had his mask sitting to one side while he idly polished the claws on one of his gloves.

 

'Man they're both showing some gray at the temples. Next thing you know I'll be tangling with teenage versions of them with more power than fashion sense.'

 

Nevermore smirked at himself.

 

'Says the teenage boy in tights and a cape.'

 

Just then, Conundrum spoke, his voice agitated.

 

"Why hasn't the chaos started yet? Your machines were supposed to be flawless!"

 

Fear-Master replied, sounding more bored than anything.

 

"Look, I'm good, but this is untested territory, at least on this scale. We know the devices work in a laboratory setting, but the exact note of panic you want is hard to nail. Having someone besides us rig all of those things up in all of those places more than a day or two ahead of time is less than ideal. Your plan is still good, and we've got the second phase devices prepped as well."

 

Conundrum signed and shook his head, seeming to relent.

 

"See this is why I like working with you, Melvin. You're about the only one in our little circle who can act professional in times like this. Most of the others are going crazy for one reason or another."

 

Fear-Master shrugged.

 

"Seeming assurance of death does that to people. You and I just happened to know a way to bypass that assurance."

 

Nevermore's eyes widened behind his mask as what was going on really clicked for him. Or clicked enough to not make a difference. So he rolled his shoulders and prepared to dive in...

 

"Assurance of survival changes things. Wouldn't you agree, young man?"

 

Conundrum's too-casual question alerted Nevermore that the proverbial game was afoot. He chose to dive all the way into the control room, trying to keep his momentum going. Good thing he had; there had been a couple of rather skilled mercenaries moving up the hall behind him with high-caliber rifles, clearly intended to take on typical nighttime vigilante armor. But inside the complex control room, using such weapons was less than ideal. Conundrum was unimpressed as he reached and grabbed a metallic walking stick etched with question marks and the occasional prime number.

 

"You fool, this changes nothing! We'll take you out of the equation, then gather everything we can as this city descends into panic, chaos, and barbarism, and leave the solar system before those metal monstrosities do what they wish with this planet. We'll live like...well, at the very least nobility, if not royalty."

 

Fear-Master nodded as he calmly slipped glove and mask on, even as Nevermore bobbed and wove around jabs from Conundrum's stick and several shock rods wielded by the mercenaries. The master of panic and mayhem calmly walked over, waited for a moment, then swiped down with a single blow. 

 

"Gold, jewels, raw materials, they sell no matter where you are. You, though? You shall die in fear."

 

The strike shredded a bit of the edge of Nevermore's cape and skipped off his armor plating, leaving tears in the fabric covering said plates. Nevermore wove around the follow up strikes and swept the legs of three mercenaries. He actually grabbed one of the falling men and shoved him into the others, and in the chaos at least a couple of the shock rods went off, leaving the whole pile insensate. Fear-Master sighed as he spoke.

 

"So hard to find competent help."

 

"Maybe you should pay them better."

 

Nevermore's mild comment belied the rather brutal assault he was levying against the horror movie wannabe. Fear-Master was acquitting himself well enough, but mostly due to his glove and occasional support from Conundrum (who mostly stood back and poked that walking stick in occasionally). But Nevermore's training for his whole life had been brutal and efficient CQB styles, and he was wearing high-end body armor. Ultimately, Fear-Master's skills weren't enough, and he found himself insensate on the ground. Nevermore turned to face Conundrum.

 

"Your plans are, what's the word? Oh yeah, foiled. All the bigwigs evacced a couple minutes ago, and bomb squads are sniffing out all your goodies, in the offices and elsewhere. Seemed like a good plan, though."

 

Conundrum actually snarled as he pressed a small button on his walking stick that caused a half-dozen small turrets to drop from the ceiling and simultaneously hit Nevermore with taser rounds. The youth wore an insulated suit but it wasn't enough, and he was left trembling on the ground as Conundrum paced a circuit in front of him.

 

"It was going to be glorious! Not just mindless fear, but directed panic! Martial law declared from nowhere, riot troops needlessly deployed, increasingly harsh measures in a matter of a few hours! Then, widespread panic induced by further devices, causing massive riots! So much confusion that the raw materials we desired would be easy pickings! Raw materials we could load up and then trade out there in the cosmos! Because this planet is as good as doomed, you stupid boy! Why stay with a sinking ship?"

 

"When it's not sinking."

 

"Wha-"

 

And then Conundrum was spinning back from a powerful punch from a man who appeared out of thin air, and before he could regain his wits, Nevermore swept his legs, grabbed him, and tossed him in an over-the-shoulder throw to land on Fear-Master, while tossing a shock rod onto the both of them. The villains were left moaning before going unconscious, and Nevermore was left looking at the infamous Magpie, who stood there calmly, arms crossed over his chest. The youth blinked and tilted his head.

 

"My boss isn't, uh, here."

 

"I know this, young one. That is why I am here. Normally I do not do such backup, but it is unusual times, and she is quite busy out there, yes? Always so selfless, that wonderful woman. And you're a good sport, too."

 

He chuckled at the frown.

 

"What I mean is that you're clearly her student, in all the right ways. She should be proud. I am impressed. And that's part of why I helped you. That, and these two had such a...blunt...plan. And you and I both know that the Raven, and all the other heroes, will win this."

 

"Yeah. Boss Lady's smart, and good at what she does. So are the rest. Look, I think technically I should say something about arresting you or whatever, but putting aside that Boss Lady's totally sweet on you--don't tell her I said that--you pulled my butt out of the fire. I owe you personally, and at this point you're not high on my "to arrest" list anyways. These guys would have caused...geeze, I don't know how much damage, but you helped me out. I can't really chat over coffee, but we're even, I'll see you later."

 

The thief looked taken aback by that last statement. And then he just knew the young man was rolling his eyes.

 

"I might have been raised in a weird environment but even I can see how you two make googly eyes at each other. Far as I'm concerned it's "when" not "if". Catch you later, Magpie."

 

"Indeed. Fare thee well, Nevermore."

 

With a swish of a cape and a pop of displaced air, the two men of action went about their days. After all, this place still had thugs to punch. Nevermore grinned as he rolled his shoulder. 

 

'Never a dull moment on the job...'

[Brown Dynamite]

AShocking Exchange

Freedom City, New Jersey
11:12 PM, December 26, 2014
 
24 Hours that’s how long ago it was since the girl known to the surface world as the Glamazon last rested her eyes. The Atlantean royal had yet to show signs of fatigue. No doubt due to the incessant downpour that had been raging all day.  There would be no resting on her laurels.  Especially while denied the opportunity to challenge the spaceborn monstrosities that threatened them all.  Thaelia needed the distraction.  And Frankly, she was having the time of her life.

“Surrender now and perhaps the Daughter of the Seas may offer quarter, vile fiends!†It was her fourth ‘call’ of the night. Listening would have been the smart option. And the three thugs in front of her, like the rest of the looters and street thugs she had found herself fending off all night, had been anything but smart. It took more time for them to draw their weapons than it took for Glamazon to knock them out.

Thaelia would have spent more time exchanging pleasantries if not for an all too familiar interruption. It wasn’t the first time Errant had “called†her tonight. In his role as teen dispatch with the other Claremonts telepaths he had been directing traffic to where it was most needed. He kept the discourse succinct before, unwilling apparently to touch her thoughts further, or really anyone's.  â€˜Freedom Hall, I have eyes on something happening. Not sure what, no one is getting close enough for me to get perfect details.’

'Glamazon en route.'  Following the instructions given she zoomed to Freedom Hall. A torrent of water pushing outwards as the musclebound blur sped through the city. Thunder echoing over the area as a thick fog began to set in despite the tormental weather. At least that’s how it looked to everyone who couldn’t see through magical illusions. Thaelia, however, was privy to the knowledge that there was a man obscured in the fog in front of a large drill like machine.

 

"Glamazon, behind you."

As usual Thaelia hadn’t heard Cerys sneak up behind her.  No sooner had the Welsh ninja warned Glamazon had she felt a magical force hit her in the back. Sending her flying into a nearby pillar.  Peeling herself out off the stone pillar Thaelia was able to catch sight of Errant arriving in time to aid Blodeuwedd in avoiding another magical blast.  Our assailants are bold.  But not bold enough!

Maniacal laughter roared through the air as their assailants made themselves known. It was Dr. Sebastian Stratos, scientist, weather controller, former head of the Crime League, and certifiable madman extraordinaire. Dressed in a miner’s uniform for reasons only the gods could imagine he stood. “Yes! Heroes. An audience to bear witness to the Thunderbird and Thundra’s greatest triumph.â€

Medea for her part remained unamused. A wisp of smoke rising from her hand clued anyone in doubt as to who was flinging magic around. The disinterested huff from the Immortal showed her lack of interest in fulfilling her part in the ruse.

Errant looked up at him from under his hood, already soaked, and trying to ignore the chill, the cold. It was easy with the screaming filling his senses. Ones that his compatriots couldn’t hear. “Fine, Thunderbird. What the hell?†As eloquent ever Errant showed his impatience for this, but he knew that Stratos, or whatever he wanted to call himself right now, would talk. It was about his favorite topic, after all, himself.

Stratos didn’t need much coaxing to take the break. “Too long has this symbol of heroism and bravery and yadda, yadda obscured the lighting that should. Today, I Dr. err, I Thunderbird will use the drillomatic 5000 to plow the way to a clear view and a seat on my Crime League again. Bwahaha.†His voice going brittle like storm rattled glass as he tittered about his impending glory. Or something. Blodeuwedd called him crazy.

A set of hands sprouted from the ground. Each set expressedly holding a teen in place as a pillar of electricity struck the ground. Enveloping everyone in the area. Medea and Stratos included.

“F***!†Medea yelled after the lightning dissipated her appearance now tattered, cut, and burnt. If not for her vainness one could argue the teen heroes had it worse. Each crumpled to the ground. Thaelia felt as if every centimeter of her body was crying out in pain. The Olympian half of her offered no protection against the element that had just ravaged them. Then came the hands. More sprouted out with the intent of holding them in place as Stratos began to make his way over to his giant drill. The moment the machine had fired up they as good as lost.

Thaelia felt defeated until the pair of women's sandals appeared in front of her line of sight. “You’re the sea god’s latest bastard right? The royal.†Her tone of voice did nothing to hide the biting snark that came with addressing Thaelia by her title. “I assume you know what it means to swear on the River Styx then.â€

Though Thaelia nodded it was Blodeuwedd who confirmed the significant.  â€œIt’s places a tynged, a geas, that we must aid you once when asked. It’s not just a point of honour it would be a mystical bond between us all.†she explained Medea’s term, more for Errant’s benefit than anything else.  Even the taciturn Errant nodded. “Swear upon the River Styx that you each owe me a favor in exchange I’ll help you take down numbnuts.â€

“Wait. Hey, let’s talk about this Thundra.†Stratos called out from his machine.  The drill now positioned perfectly above Freedom Hall

“Shut up, Stratos.â€

It was a pretty twisted exchange considering she was essentially half the reason they were so battered. Tried as she might. “I swear upon the River Styx I shall honor my word. When the vile enchantress calls for it, she shall have the hand of the Glamazon†Blodeuwedd and Errant exchanged their own vows in their own manners.  The hands disappeared immediately after the Claremont seniors finished the exchange.

“Curse you, Medea!† Yelled a wide eyed Stratos.

“The idiot build a self destruct button on the center of the device..†Medea summoned another hand this one appearing in the air to slap Statros. Disappearing into thin air immediately after.

The slap was all the distraction they needed though.  In that moment,  both Blodeuwedd and Glamazon were on their feet snatching up Dyrnwyn as she ran not towards the machine but towards her ally Glamazon.  They had practiced the maneuver numerous times.  No words were needed as Thaelia reached over as soon as Blodeuwedd was near launching her friend at the center of the drill with her explosive might. Where the Welsh ninja would use her magic sword to slash a panel on the center of the drill in half.  Before it could explode though, Errant surged out with a jolt of telekinetic ability he had yet to demonstrate before, holing the thing together long enough for Blodeuwedd to clear the distance.

When Errant relented, dropping back down to his knees, Stratos actually felt the explosion before he heard it. His body sent flying into the waiting fist of the Glamazon. Sent flying towards Blodeuwedd who answered with her own attack bringing Stratos down.

“No...no...don’t send me back. Pl-.  ZZZZ†Stratos stopped mid-word as Errant made a guttural, feral sound, his head still down. Stratos dastardly plot to somehow drill the Freedom Hall into nothingness was routed.. The trio had a faint moment to acknowledge their victory, before Errant picked up a few more dispatch calls from the other telepaths. Wasting little time to inform the girls.  Thaelia nodded to her friends before speeding off.  The night was not over yet. 

[Tiffany Korta]

More Shocking

Freedom City, New Jersey

11:12 PM, December 26, 2014

 

Blodeuwedd had trained and pushed her body as far as any average person her age could, she could have been a world class athlete if she chose, instead she donned a costume to fight crime in Freedom City. But even at her physical best she couldn’t strive of sleep forever and her body was exhausted from several day’s of protecting the city.

 

She’d found a secluded rooftop and had rested her eye for what she was sure was only a second when Errant’s call came through the mental airwaves. Normal she instinctively tried to block mental conversation, but today she expected such thing and let her mental defense down, a little.

 

Freedom Hall, I have eyes on something happening.  Not sure what, no one is getting close enough for me to get perfect details.

 

For a few second’s she considered ignoring the messages, she’d deserved the rest after all she done didn’t she? Her body knew better and she had hauled herself to her feet before her tired brain had had chance to catch up. A few second later she was jumping from rooftop to rooftop making her way to the hallowed Freedom Hall. Relying on more mundane methods she arrived just behind Glamazon, but  her vantage point allowed her to see the madman Stratos and the only less sane Medea.

 

Launching herself into the air Blodeuwedd somersaulted down to the ground landing defly, and silently out of habit, and sent a series of throwing knives towards the villain.

 

“Glamazon behind you.â€

 

With the warning Blodeuwedd kept moving, so not to become a target herself, so had to hope the other girl was okay. Luckily Errant’s arrival divided their attention allowing Blodeuwedd to avoid their attacks. She paused and striking a defensive pose whilst she drew her sword Dyrnwyn, it’s eldritch blue light casting a unearthly glow to the area.

 

Stratos had began to pontificate but she wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying instead declaring his ranting as crazy, a mistake as it turned out, as she was paying attention to Medea as she avoided her attacks. There was something also about Medea’s body language that suggested that she wasn’t completely happy with Stratos, maybe it was something that they could use they’d only need to ...

 

Lighting flashed across the area and while her suit was insulated to some degree it couldn’t protect her from it all and she, and the other were brought down by Stratos’s attack.

 

For the second time in less than an hour Blodeuwedd considered just staying down and letting the others sort this out, but she was just too stubborn to stay down. Apparently they didn’t trust the heroes to keep down as each was held down with multiple hands. All she could do was lift her head and stare again into Meda’s face. Again there was that look in her face and though later Blodeuwedd could never be sure there was a moment when they exchanged look and Medea apparently made up her mind.

 

“You’re the sea god’s latest bastard right?  The royal.† Medea long beef with the Olympians obviously applied to their descendents.  â€œI assume you know what it means to swear on the River Styx then.â€

 

The Greek god’s influence had been minimal on the Order, they’d wisely stayed out of there way and instead made deals through the local Celtic deities instead, but the Order still taught Greek myths and legends to it people just in case.

 

“It’s places a tynged, a geas, that we must aid you once when asked. It’s not just a point of honour it would be a mystical bond between us all.†she explained Medea’s term, more for Errant’s benefit than anything else.

 

Her face screwed up in displeasure to be beholden to a villain like Medea was not an idea she was happy wit, it was against the very principles of the Order, but if she refused then all could be lost and there was much greater thing going on than one small warriors ethical conflicts. it was ironic that she could be brought low by a tynged, just like the original Blodeuwedd.

 

“Blodeuwedd tyngu ar y Styx i gynorthwyo pan Medea yn galw.†it didn’t matter on the languaged she used Medea would know that the oath was real.

 

And true to her word medea lowered her bind, as soon as she did Blodeuwedd was on her feet snatching up Dyrnwyn as she ran not towards the machine but towards her ally Glamazon. She knew she could disable the machine but she couldn’t make the distance to the machine even with her athletic prowess.

 

“Thaelia I need a little boost if you please.â€

 

the Atlantean warrior knew what to do, they’d practiced it before at Claremont's and she prepared her hand so that Blodeuwedd could use it as a springboard towards the machine, Thaelia not unsubstantial strength providing a powerful boost. As she flew through the air she felt the gentle telekinetic hand of errant making sure that her tumble was straight and true. As she landed she swung the sword around and plunged it deeply into the controls of the drill, disabling it completely.

 

Whilst she did that Errant finally put pay to Stratos, though as expected medea had already fled the scene, and normally that would be it and they could stop to enjoy the victory. But there was still chaos raining accross Freedom City and the oath she was forced to give left a bitter taste in her mouth.

 

Tomorrow she would sleep but for now the city was calling.

[TheAbsurdist]

 

 

Errant had been going nonstop for the last twenty hours.  He was hurt and exhausted.  .  The others had switched off, or taken breaks to not strain themselves too much.  Errant didn’t.  His tone when he reached out to others didn’t change.  Most other telepaths could project themselves elsewhere to see, Errant was able to, but only through other people’s eyes, effectively riding their senses, but little else.  It was exhausting, but Errant was prone to work himself too hard.  Honestly this was just an excuse for him to just go harder

 

The difference was that he wasn't sitting back.  He was out, using his powers where he could to stop things.  Lacking the ability to move around like some of the other students, he cheated, he drove.  If it came down to is, he wasn't that great at it, but it was an automatic, and frankly, right now cops weren't too worried about a masked man in a car.  Unless said masked man was shooting people, with lasers, or something else.  Mostly he tried to keep away from that stuff, unless he could nudge someone into getting caught.  He was having to play the whole Network card, though the difference was the method of how he did it.  He was riding senses, a lot of other senses at once, using the pieces to mesh together something.  While not too different, it meant he needed eyes on the ground, and when something like Freedom Hall was rolling in... well that got tricky.

 

So he headed there, getting the lay of things, and sight of what the issue was.  His mouth twisted behind his mask seeing the fog, and everything.  But feeling a terrible rumble through his web.  So he reached out to Thaelia then, and... Cerys.  Good, he trusts them.  In fights at least.  â€˜Freedom Hall, I have eyes on something happening.  Not sure what, no one is getting close enough for me to get perfect details.’

 

When they arrived he moved in close, knowing his limits.  Despite the injuries had sustained since starting Claremont, and others opinions, would have someone believe.  Then with little preamble a blast of force struck Thaelia sending her hurtling away as soon as Cerys was getting to her.  Having to suck in his rage, he burst in to a full, hard run, coming skidding in on the slick pavement to square up alongside Cerys.  As per normal he didn't say anything.

 

Maniacal laughter roared.  Great he was going to pontificate.  That works.  Now... his mind is broken enough to get a good hit in and it might work... but Medea.  The ancient sorceress was skilled, and more than that, despite everything else she possessed no small measure of discipline to be able to do magic.  Though... she looked uninterested.  

 

Errant looked up at him from under his hood, already soaked, and trying to ignore the chill, the cold.  It was easy with the screaming filling his senses.  Ones that his compatriots couldn’t hear.  â€œFine, Thunderbird.  What the hell?† As eloquent ever Errant showed his impatience for this, but he knew that Stratos, or whatever he wanted to call himself right now, would talk.  It was about his favorite topic, after all, himself.  And more importantly, it'd let him know the why for this stupid plot by Thunderbird.

 

Stratos didn’t need much coaxing to take the break.  Which Errant was glad for.  He'd have preferred to pick them off from the shadows but Thaelia was not precisely skilled at such.  â€œToo long has this symbol of heroism and bravery and yadda, yadda obscured the lighting that should.  Today, I Dr. err, I Thunderbird will use the drillomatic 5000 to plow the way to a clear view and a seat on my Crime League again.  Bwahaha.† His voice going brittle like storm rattled glass as he tittered about his impending glory.  

 

Really Errant tuned out midway through this, before hands of... force?  No, the ground itself.  They rose and grasped at them.  His web warned him and he turned to push himself away, but not quick enough to outpace that spell, feeling him limbs grabbed up, and pinned effectively. He closed his eyes to start to eliminate the additional 'noise'

 

So there was a small favor when the blast of lightning struck, as he could throw up his shields, stopping some of the voltage.  Still knocked him for a loop, vision bleary, the web raw, and his ears ringing.  But once voice through all of that.  â€œF***!† Medea yelled in response to her partner's efforts, the hands returned to their grip on him, pinning him, even as he struggled.  This reminded him of the time his mother had done flashbang drills.  Only worse.  Much worse.  And with a lot more pain.

 

“You’re the sea god’s latest bastard right?  The royal.† Came more works, with bitterness, doubt, and more stinging caustic, and he shook his head, feeling Medea by Thaelia. “I assume you know what it means to swear on the River Styx then.â€

 

“It’s places a tynged, a geas, that we must aid you once when asked. It’s not just a point of honour it would be a mystical bond between us all.†Cerys managed to say through the pain, as she explained Medea’s term, more for Errant’s benefit than anything else.

 

“Swear upon the River Styx that you each owe me a favor in exchange I’ll help you take down numbnuts.† Well, so his previous guess was right.  That... that was a plus, apart from the fact that every bit of him hurt.  

 

“Wait.  Hey, let’s talk about this Thundra.†Stratos called out from his machine.  Safe, inured.  Errant already started to pull his focus down, to concentrate.

 

“Shut up, Stratos.† Snapped back Medea.

 

“I swear upon the River Styx I shall honor my word.  When the vile enchantress calls for it, she shall have the hand of the Glamazon† Swore the Daughter of Atlantis.

 

Errant managed to follow suit with a gurgle of assent.  "Swear River... fine."

 

“Curse you, Medea!† Came the frantic cry from Stratos, and Errant could feel his efforts kicking up, working on getting the machine back at Freedom Hall, seeing the tide turned.

 

“The idiot build a self destruct button on the center of the device..† Medea summoned another hand this one appearing in the air to slap Statros.  Disappearing into thin air immediately after.

 

What happened next was familiatiry, as Errant ungainly got to his feet, because he was going to need to brace himself for this.  With the slap knocking Stratos for a loop, Blod and Thaelia were not just moving, they were moving together.  The slap was all the distraction they needed though.  In that moment Thaelia and Blodeuwedd had sprung to action.  Thaelia reached over and threw her friend at the center of the drill at Blod's request.

 

Errant responsibility was simple.  Make sure Blod would get through.  The push back was strong, as he had never learned how to brace himself for these things, so he improvised, and he wrapped Blod up in that telekinetic web of his, guiding her through, and wrapping around the machine as his friend triggered the self-destruct.  It bucked back hard, pushing against him, his power.  Sending him to knees, as he kept hold, and pushed Blod far enough away for the drill shattering kaboom to not get her.

 

When Errant relented, dropping back down to his knees, Stratos actually felt the explosion before he heard it.  His body sent flying into the waiting fist of the Glamazon.  Sent flying towards Blodeuweddd who answered with her own attack bringing Stratos down.

 

“No...no...don’t send me back. Pl-.† Stratos stopped mid-word as Errant made a guttural, feral sound, his head still down, and the man slumped to the ground.

 

'Go... we got more.  My eyes will be out, I'll watch over him...'  The grind of the day making it hard for him to get up and even show a moment of celebration that they had.  No rest.