ic Everything Is Illegal Here!(IC)

[Ari]

GM

 

Outside

 

There were shouts and commotion inside the warehouse, but so far at least nothing sounded bad enough to warrant a look. Besides, Emerald City's waterfront was always lovely, and early winter was no exception with the soft pines and bare deciduous, the craggy hills arching up at the Columbia's meeting of the Red and South rivers.

 

There were always boats out on the river. Hydrofoils darting, yachts lazing, little sail boats bumbling earnestly, big freighters churning up and down every hour, military vessels surging importantly along. There was something comfortingly eternal about their myriads of motion. As much a part of city life as the concrete and glass and steel and wires and people.

 

It was so nice, and so beautifully crisp a day, that Sha'ir almost didn,t notice the faint vuzzing in his before it began to grow to a painful, searing ache-!

[olopi]

Huh, what? That was new. Was that …? Somebody had actually attempted to mentally attack him? Mentally attack the Spellsmith, this mysterious creature floating around? That was a problem. He’d fortunately caught it, but people even trying meant he’d have to increase his defences. He knew these spells were a thing, he even (sort of) knew how to use them, but he’d never been targeted by one.

 

Or targeted someone, for that matter. He’d read a bit about defending against these attacks, he’d have to perhaps incorporate that into his spells from now on. And then, he saw it. Somebody was still there, or had just left.

 

Clever bugger. Not clever enough though.

 

No time to wait. The marshmallow (that idea became worse and worse by the second) would stay up independently. His book was full of spells dedicated to travelling. Seemingly a common theme across mages, no matter what time or place. He didn’t have time to create his own spell, he simply went for the fastest flight he could find, and took off.

 

Whatever this was, it would not get away.  

[Tiffany Korta]

Emerald Spider sprung up all ready to again to attack the foe, now that she was satisfied that Faster Pussycat was safe, only to find that the whole fight was more or less over. She looked down at the unconscious form of the would be assassin.

 

“So do you have any idea of who this guy is? This is my first big supervillain, it’s a very big day!” her tone wasn’t completely unserious, this must have been what those heroes in Freedom City feel

 

“I can bind him up if it’ll help, though the bindings don’t last all that long due to quantum interference.”

[Ari]

"No, I have no idea who this guy is." Darting to and fro around the crackling man-shaped pile of static, Ishmael inspected their prisoner closely "There's some bats-uh, crooks-who come around sometimes, but I dunno about any weird martial artists. Most of the time it's just goomies from overseas and they don't stay long or try to kill supervillains."

 

Turning to look at Peri, the boy asked anxiously "So...how many other supervillains you think are in town? Just her? Nice job nabbing her, by the way!" He smiled admiringly "How'd you get so much practice in? I didn't think we lived in that dangerous a town."

 

Meanwhile

 

Sha'ir flitted through clouds and across broad stretches of empty sky. Eshu's Kingly Current propelled him after the darting firebrand at a speed far outstripping theirs, and soon the Spellsmith plunged into a heavy grey castle-like cumulus looming over Mt. Stanley mere moments after his quarry.

 

Hakim drifted in the eerie, damp silence of the cloud, hunting for any sign of the would-be mental invader, when he heard the voices.

 

"He saw me! And if you don't lift the restriction on at-will silencing, braniac, he'll have enough to figure out everything! Just let me kill him!" The first was a woman's voice, brimming with anger.

 

The next was a dull, male monotone, echoing and dry "Unnecessary. We have been monitoring this region and few psychics of any note exist outside our family. I will make him forget. You will be compensated for your time and the risk of discovery. Thank you for the assistance, Mindfire. Now..."

 

The mist cleared and Sha'ir saw a woman in a striking red, yellow and black costume surrounded by a veil of ephemeral fire, hovering beside and glaring at a giant, pink image of a floating brain.

 

The brain turned and somehow Hakim felt something regarding him closely.

 

Images, sounds and sensations from moments ago suddenly came to the forefront of his mind.

 

"Be free."

 

And something with claws of iron tore the memories from his brain.

[Tiffany Korta]

Peri was a little surprised at all these compliments in her own mind she was still new at all this, having only been active maybe a month or more before Salmon. Thankfully he couldn’t see her blush beneath her goggles and mask.

“I hope not, I don’t think Emerald City can handle any more cat themed villains.” beneath her mask was a grin and her tone was light “And you put on a good show too taking down this villain here.” she pointed down at the unconscious form “I should really get her down before she wakes up and makes a break for it.”

[Ari]

"Yeah, not a bats idea. I'll check the tech, see if that maomew was trying some weird jigo, like making Emerald Tower blow up. I think that's what Jersey villains do." Ishmael glanced down at the crackling man-shaped static still caught in a warp of impossible space. His first real battle. His first real victory, not just running interference against the Dragons and the Hawks and sending tips to the cops knowing he couldn't ever say all he knew. He grinned cockily, which came through much better without the lower half of his mask to hide it. "Couldn't have done it without you, Spider! We make a good team, should get together more, beat up more bad guys, see where it goes, you know?"

 

Zipping over to the computer in the corner, Ishmael tapped a key experimentally. In a silent explosion of light, the files on DA Everett's flash drive jolted into sight.

 

Along with a progress bar that said "Uploading..."

 

The Salmon shrugged. Stan Stone was a public figure without a skeleton in his closet or a blemish to his private life. Unless Faster Pussycat was some kind of law nerd who was obsessed with mild deviations from federal regulations she wouldn't have much worth reading. Even the Mafiya didn't bother with him.

 

"Hey, Em? You mind taking a look at this? It's uploading files from the thumby, might as well find out where she's storing it, right? I don't wanna risk getting it wrong."

 

Meanwhile, Spider had gone to check on the captured would-be supervillainess. Faster Pussycat was still lying on the metal slab of the rafter, but was slowly, painfully stirring, groaning and flinching as she tried to get to her feet. Then her blackened eye lit on Peri.

 

With a shriek of alarm, the blonde lurched to her feet, hurled herself to the floor and hit it running. She rocketed out a window. One second later there was a squawk and a slap of something colliding with Sha'ir's marshmallow-augmented fence.

 

"What...the Hell is that?" Ishmael asked flatly, staring out at the still-wobbling wall where the other speedster floundered in the sweetest prison.   

[olopi]

Whuu… What am I … doing here?

 

What had just happened? Hakim was … somewhere up in the sky all the sudden. It was as if he’d simply … fainted or something. And now he was here. How much time had passed? Where exactly was he? And why was he here in the first place? Was this magic guiding him somewhere? Was this some spell going awry? Was this something else entirely? There was something, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure out what. It was there, in the back of his mind. But only there…

 

Last he’d remembered, he was outside some warehouse, securing the place so the speedster hief wouldn’t run away. Right, the warehouse! That was something that was actually important! The others might still need his help, now that they were locked in a cage of … marshmallows. They could subdue the thief, but they couldn’t get out. That reminded him, perhaps it was time to get the police involved. Subduing was the hero’s job, from what he understood, everything else was handled by the police.

 

So he opened a portal below his feet, leading right to the lobby of EC’s police HQ. Hopefully he wouldn’t get shot on sight. And then, he slipped through.

 

“Greetings! My allies and I have tracked down the thief! Come with me and I will lead you to her hideout!”

 

[Ari]

GM

 

Sha'ir emerged in a hive of bustling activity, officers in green and blue hurrying through the central lobby 

 

Commissioner Hackman of the ECOPD had seen some strange things in his three decades on the force. Heartwarming international coalitions of crime finding common ground in exploiting the Emeralds' homeless, strange lights, shadows and sounds in the Elysian Forest he was barred from investigating, crimes that hadn't happened the next morning...

 

...but when a man with glowing eyes, wrapped in a swirling cloak and announcing the capture of a criminal simply appeared above his head, Hackman nearly swallowed the pen in his mouth. Around him the police of Emerald South stared up at the new arrival, some of them loosening the holsters of their weapons but most taking out phones and taking pictures.

 

Coughing and spluttering, the police commissioner blinked up at the Spellsmith, barking "Buddha, don't do that, kid!" Waving irritably at the others with a sharp "No gawkin'! Wind it! Get Wrath and the gang in here! Full suits!" 

 

Squinting suspiciously at Sha'ir, Hackman asked dubiously "Hideout? This Catwoman maomew had a hideout? Where and what? And get us there how, you want us to go into some Star Trek space hole? And who the jigo are you?"

 

Behind him, a troupe of men and women in impressively modern body armor jogged into view, the ECOPD's infamous shock-guns slung over their shoulders. A burly man whose face was 30% 'stache and 70% seething irritation headed them up. As they got closer, the MarsTech logo on the armor was hard not to notice.

[olopi]

As he stepped through the portal, Hakim was totally prepared to get shot at. It would be a fair reaction, all things considered. He was prepared enough, and his magical shielding would hopefully have held, but when it didn’t happen he still was relieved. Less time wasted fighting. And less bad reputation for him. He closed the portal behind him, while looking towards the assorted officers. Time to increase the myth of Sha’ir.

 

“They call me Sha’ir. I am the Spellsmith. I was at the scene of the heist, and, with help, tracked down the thief. She is currently in a warehouse, down at the river, where my associates have managed to subdue her. I believe this means it is time to involve you, Enforcers of the Law. “

 

He went through a few spells in his mind. They probably didn’t believe him just yet, and simply opening a portal posed its own set of trouble. Scrying. That was it. Sha’ir extended his arm, holding it in front of him.

 

“W-uh-ro Rol-leh”

 

And with that, a glowing ethereal scroll, styled much like ones one would see in a movie, appeared in his hand, rolling downwards, and revealing the interior of the warehouse, as it currently was.

 

“See for yourself. Once you are ready to travel, say the word and you will be transported to the inside.”

[Tiffany Korta]

 

“Beats me but I guess we don’t have to worry about Faster Pussycat unless she eats her out, and that costume doesn’t have that much give in it!” she couldn’t help but smirk at the situation, this was her new normality now.

 

She leaped from the gantry with an acrobatic twist and landed gracefully and softly on the floor before taking a look at what the laptop is doing. Computers weren’t really her main focus but she knew enough to understand what they were doing, and maybe a little programming...

 

“Let’s take a look at what this is doing, I’m not just a pretty face you know.”

[Ari]

Paris managed to keep himself from saying anything especially embarrassing. He smiled winningly at the young techie as she went to work.

 

"Well, it is the most obvious side of you, Spider. But it's not like you can just charm pixe-huh?!" Stopped short by the name scrolling across the screen, the Salmon stepped closer to re-read it incredulously "Agostino is a metabats?! What the ****?" 

 

Rubbing his exposed jaw nervously, Paris struggled to square this with what everyone in Upper and Lower Emerald knew about the blonde socialite. "She does have that church to some Egyptian cat god...maybe that's where she got the powers?" But Salmon knew that couldn't be it even as he spoke. For a start, everyone knew the gods in Jersey always mentioned who they were and how their powers worked. So you'd know they were legit...?

 

Paris began edging backwards, then swiveled around to head outside "I'll...go make sure about our prisoners, be right baaaAAAAACK?!" The speedster scrambled backwards as a portal opened in mid-air and the ten-person ECPD SEAT team burst into the warehouse, shockers at the ready and with Wrath looking ready for blood.

 

Squinting at the two over his mustache, the formidable wall of a man growled "You kids are the heroes? Thanks, nice work." He glanced at the man made of static lying on the floor in bonds of eye-watering spatial warps and then at the woman in the cheetah suit struggling furiously to ge her hair out of a wall of marshmallows.

 

Sighing deeply, Wrath signaled for his team to take action, half going for Faster Pussycat while the rest began cuffing the static martial artist. Folding his arms, Wrath hollered through the portal "Hey! Scarfsmith! Get in here and get rid of whatever the jigo you've done! We're all fine, by the way! Sorry I yelled at you!"

[olopi]

After the entire team had made their way through the portal, Sha’ir followed. He kept it up for now, perhaps they wanted to go back to the station that way. It was probably faster, all things considered. He arrived in the warehouse, and was surprised to find somebody else also being involved. Two people? What exactly was this about, then? Hopefully he’d get a chance to ask one of the other two heroes at a later point. He must’ve missed something when he … flew into the sky for no real reason? It felt as if there was something there, but he couldn’t recall just what it was. But he wouldn’t have just done it for the thrill of it. Not that far. Right?

 

He slowly floated over to Wrath, when said officer mentioned taking down the wall. And inside, Sha’ir gulped. He’d not thought of that. He’d specifically gone for a spell that created something material, something that could not be removed with a single dispelling. Not entirely intentionally, granted. It was simply the easiest base to build off for these. The others took too much time.

 

He did his best to not let his emotions show (the mask came in really useful right there), as he floated over to above Wrath’s head. “Yes. Of course. This may take some time.” And with that, he began leaving through the Mage Book. There was a flamethrower spell in there somewhere. And hopefully, just hopefully, these marshmallows still melted.   

[Tiffany Korta]

 

Luckily for them, all Emerald Spider was more than just a pretty face, and whilst computers weren’t her specialty she was pretty skilled in such things.

 

“Yes I don’t think we need for you to have all any of this...” with a few keystrokes she canceled the download from continuing “Or any of these, they aren’t yours after all.” a few more and the already downloaded files were deleted, hopefully permanently.

 

To give her a little warning not to try anything else right now she left a picture of Sekhmet, it seemed appropriate considering.

 

“Shall we try to find out exactly what this is all about?”

[Ari]

GM

 

Blessedly, the marshmallows did follow that ancient law, and soon the impromptu wall was a pile of sweet-smelling brown over tangles of chain-link fence. Flocks of crows and gulls fought fiercely over the unexpected bounty.

 

Faster Pussycat had to be cuffed and bound while she was still struggling in the confectionary cage, her wild swings harmless except for their being fast enough to behead somebody. As she was carried into the warehouse, she managed to swing around and grip a pillar with her claws, glaring at the three heroes with furious green eyes. "This isn't over! I'll get you back for this, you creeps! I'll-hey, watch it!" She was hauled into a police van along with her would-be assassin, the drivers and other officers of the ECPD staring openly at the first supervillains to menace the city in decades,

 

Wiping his forehead, the struggle with Faster Pussycat having taxed the heavily-armored man severely, Wrath pocketed the flash drive plugged into the feline felon's computer, regarding it with a dry smile. "I can hear Max now, "Oh no! How could my technology have been used for evil! If only it wasn't a hundred times better than the competition!" Urgh. Hopefully you kids got her before she did anything with that info. We'll be asking you to be witnesses, hope you don't mind takng your masks off for that, this ain't Jersey."

 

"Thanks. I have no idea how we would've solved this so fast without you. If you hadn't, this could have caused huge problems for the new project. Have a good one." With a slightly awed backward glance that belied his blasé attitude, Wrath ducked into the van, pulling it shut behind him. As the vehicle wheeled around, the door popped open for a second, and the man hollered "Hey! Got the press holed up further up the hill! Rather you didn't talk to them about this! See ya!"

 

With a smooth purr the electric van and its cruiser escorts wheeled out into the bumpy, overgrown street and off into the gleaming streets of Emerald City, leaving the three heroes very much alone with only sirens, the calls of birds fighting outside, the drone of the city and silence for company.

 

Wrath never had asked their mask-names...

[olopi]

Hakim could feel the post-heroics high. Sha’ir was part of the first group of people to stop supervillains in … a really long time. He’d been an important part of it, he’d helped. And it would be him, the Spellsmith, that would be known for it. And even his thoughts about what had happened before his arrival at the police station were clouded by the joy.

 

And then, the two sentences that broke it all down. He could talk himself out of unmasking. He was Sha’ir, a magical entity. But the other two? This would not be good for them. There was a reason most people over in Jersey kept it secret. There was a reason they’d introduced that law. And of course, not talking to the press was even worse. Whatever they’d hear from ECPD would not be the truth. And he didn’t like that one bit.

 

“So much for the good news. I am not exactly fond of him, I will say that much. And I don’t think they will accept my witness statement, considering who I am. You probably don’t want them to know you either, I can see about creating a spell that distorts your face … and identity … and whatever else…, they might accept that. “

 

“Now, as for the press. I could open a portal which accidentally leads us to them. Or perhaps my magical message accidentally gets intercepted by a reporter? Of course, we could just head to Max himself...“

 

Was this a good idea? Probably not. But really, Hakim wanted to enjoy this. And certainly, not end the day on this note.

[Tiffany Korta]

Emerald Spider had sat on the wall, which might have been uncomfortable if not for the Spdr Rig, watching as Faster Pussy Cat had been led away. Partly to keep out of everyone's way and party to be ready in case the two villains caused trouble. Once everything settled down she gently bounced down to sit on top of a car nearby.

 

“I don't think it would help if I turn up in court, it might make things worse all things considered." she left any speculation about why at just those hints.

 

“In case you didn't know I'm Emerald Spider." she offered her hand “Do you want to grab a coffee and compare notes on what happened her? I have a craving for marshmallow for some reason!"

[Ari]

That was it, huh?

 

Salmon watched Wrath and the others of Emerald's Finest hustle into the truck and off into the humming streets of Emerald City. Paris couldn't help but glance around the warehouse, which time and tide had done more damage to than anyone in it. The birds outside were spending more time in the marshmallow hell cage than its target, and the kid remembered with a jolt of shame how happy he'd been to beat a supervillain with one punch. That nobody but he and Emerald Spider had even seen.

 

Quote

“I don't think it would help if I turn up in court, it might make things worse all things considered."

 

Wait, court? No! I can't! 

 

Salmon shook his head "W-we shouldn't, yeah. I'm with Spider. Besides, there's other witnes--hey, hold on." With a blur the young speedster swept in front of the others, eyes narrowed and both forefingers pointed at the other two heroes.

 

"There must have been hundreds of witnesses to Faster Pussycat's little slash and grab, why the jigo would the police want some weirdoes in masks to testify when Stone Stan-****ing Everett will be on this? Why would they want people to know they needed us to catch that woman? I-!" He rubbed his chin furiously, staring at the ground. He looked up, meeting their eyes with the ones embroidered on the grinning mask.

 

"Yeah, we need somebody who can give us real answers. That means one guy,

 

Max Mars!"

 

"Sha'ir, do your thing." 

 

 

[olopi]

The others had a point, yes. Antagonizing ECPD was not a good idea, not at this point in any of their careers. They were heroes, after all. And even while there were some that weren’t on the best terms with law enforcement, that just sounded like an unnecessary handicap. Yet, still, Hakim could not shake off the feeling that there was more to all of this.

 

“Yes, now that you mention it. Clearly there is more to this than them just needing our statements. Or even our help. And if they really did, they could just change the law, I doubt there would be much opposition here in the Emerald City. “

 

“May I accuse them of being after the identity of their protectors? I would not know why, but I fear that is exactly what they want. And we cannot let that happen. “

 

So Salmon was on the same page regarding their next move. Was Spider too? Perhaps not, but they could always split up. Either way, when Salmon mentioned it Sha’ir nodded.

 

“As you command. I do not know about their security, so stay cautious.”

 

Immediately, the Mage Book floated away from his waist, and to its position in front of his hand. Then, without any outside influences, it began to turn through pages at an incredible pace. It wouldn’t be easy. These kinds of spells existed, yes. But they were complex. And usually required preparation. Perhaps he could take the homing from Gerold’s Pigeon Courier, add it onto his usual portal, make sure it wouldn’t ….

 

Sha’ir stood there, unmoving. To outside observers, the book seemed to do most of the work. After a few seconds he snapped out of it, and with the snap of his fingers, created a portal, similar to the one that had brought the heroes here in look.

 

Hopefully this works…

[Tiffany Korta]

Emerald Spider wasn't sure she followed the entire chain of logic, but the others seemed to have an idea of what was going down. But she had no reason to doubt the truth of either of them, especially since she was still pretty new to this hero business.

 

“I guess we're skipping the coffee and going straight to the main course then. Normally I'd ask for some chocolates or maybe some flowers first but let's do this!“ she gestured toward the portal with her free hand

 

“Though after you if you please, especially as you seem to know what we're doing."

[Ari]

Stepping in, the passengers felt akin to a stone in a whirpool, buffeted and dragged by unseen and massive forces hurtling them to they knew not where.

 

Then they fell into a hospital room, empty of people save for a very wide-awake Maximilian Mars. With his hands folded on his lap and his eyes on the door, Max had evidently been expecting visitors. When the three heroes spilled out of a loophole in the laws of reality, he startd and blinked, but only for a moment.

 

"Hello hello hello! Nice of you to stop by, kids!" He flashed a perfect grin at the trio, his face swollen and gashed by Faster Pussycat's claws and made worse by being swathed in bandages and gauze. His green eyes held the same fire, though, and even abed he bounced with energy.

 

"Take a seat! I was hoping to get a word with you, first. I take it Wrath made the same quasi-veiled ultimatum he usually does? Show up and reveal yourselves as witnesses 'or else'?" Off of the Salmon's slightly-gaping mouthed stare he laughed uproariously "Oh, Wrath, never change! Actually, do change and make it fast, I-!"

 

"M-maton!" Paris jumped to his feet and pointed at the bubbly billionaire "Same ultimatum? What do you mean? There haven't been any local heroes but us in decades, everyone knows that!"

 

"There also haven't ever been smug bees in literal catsuits ever. But nontheless, somehow public perception doesn't equal reality," Mars' smile had vanished "which is why, before you start asking a lot of questions I have no answer for, I have an offer."

 

Mars nodded to the table beside his bed, on which were sheets of paper and pens "Fastcat might be just the start. At the moment none of you have the backing or support you'll need if you start encountering more powerful criminals. Agree to work with me as employees of MarsTech and I can guarantee you infrastructure and information equal to anything on the eastern seaboard. You can decide your own salaries, hours and all the rest."

 

His cats' eyes gleamed fiercely "If there's an arms race in the offing, I aim to win. I can make sure you do too. What do you say?"

[olopi]

Seeing the always perfect-looking Mars like this certainly was a perk of being a hero. One that Hakim would certainly milk for all it was worth. Not blackmail, but in order to enjoy himself, quietly. Of course, his words threw up more than a few red flags. Just what was he playing at? Public perception? What were his dealings with Wrath? And what was with that offer?

 

It was tempting, yes. MarsTech probably was one of the best employers in the ECs. All the perks, they only added to it. But, working for Mars? Even as a secondary job, on the side? Was that really who Sha’ir was? No. Sha’ir was a magical being. A mystery, one who did not care for such quarrels. Or something along those lines. He wasn’t the most finely crafted persona, yet.

 

“I must deny your offer. I do not aim to lose, but I will also not give up what I have, and shall face whatever comes my way, even without any support. They may become stronger, more dangerous. But, so will we. “

[Tiffany Korta]

When Peri had graduated she'd had such dreams of joining a corporation and helping them change the world for the better, she'd picked a small company because she felt that she could do better. Then she discovered that the idealist dreams weren't shared by the rest of her team and that peaceful device was being corrupted for warfare. The good was that it had given her the suit, even if she could never work in this town as an engineer.

But as Emerald Spider she could do more good than she'd ever dreamt of before.

 

“I'm sorry sir but I'm going to have to politely decline your offer."

 

There wasn't even a pause in her decision in the slightest and wouldn't ever regret what could have been.

[Ari]

Max Mars shrugged. "Well, it was worth a shot. I've heard about that Spdr Rig, Spider, sorry that wound's still so deep."

 

His eyes flicked over to Salmon, who had stood silent and immobile all this time, his smile following. "What about you, son? Want a steady job?"

 

Salmon looked at the others, then back at Mars, hands clenching and unclenching. 

 

"_N-no. I...I can't. Sorry, Mars, I can't do it. Not now."

 

Max Mar's smile didn't waver "Fine and dandy, son. Now, onto business!" He leaned forward on the hospital bed, steepling his fingers and grinning over their tips at the three metas "So, what's your first question?"

 

Salmon spoke up at once "Did you know about this Faster Pussycat person, before she attacked?"

 

Max shook his head "Nope. Not even a little. Never knew Mandy was a metahuman until today, never knew she had anything to do with batsies either. I just thought she was a weird maomew who got into Egyptian stuff because of that Set guy. Can't blame her, I've seen the abs on those two, I understand the feeling." He picked up a glass of wine on the bedside table and took a sip, looking dreamily at the muted TV above him. He quickly lay back down with a grunt and a wince of pain.

 

He pointed an elegant, bandanged finger at Emerald Spider "Next question!"

[Tiffany Korta]

Peri didn’t rise to the bait to ask about how he knew about the Spdr Rig, especially as much of the inner workings was off the shelf equipment and being from this town a good portion of it was from Mars Tech. Besides, there was no way he could connect anything back to Peri, as far as she knew he couldn't know exactly who she was. And she definitely wasn't going to play his little games for his amusement.

 

"Look, Mr. Mars, as much fun as this whole fifty questions game would be, we all have lots of important things that we need to be doing. So how about we skipped to the part where you tell us what you know, or deny everything, and we can get on with our respective days. If it helps you any you can pretend that I asked the perfect Genie proof questions that meant you had to spill everything you know about all this."

[Ari]

GM

 

For a second, Mars looked at Peri and his happy face...slipped. Just a little. For less than a second. But it was gone just long enough.

 

"Oh, you're no fun!" the grin blazed again all over his face as Mars waved a dismissive hand and turned back to the rerun of some 80's cartoon playing on the hospital, robots combining in jerky two-dimensional intersections of ink.

 

"City government doesn't want heroes operating in the city, not freelancers like you, anyway. By all means, keep on keeping on, just don't expect any thanks, recognition or reward if they have anything to say about it." Mars grabbed a bottle of scotch off  a side table and took a long drink, throat working manfully under his trim red beard. Slamming it back onto the table with a sigh of satisfaction, he went on "Nobody on that stage or any of our underlings had any idea we had a metahuman thief in this county, but I do know she's not going to stay in this county, and she's not going to Blackstone, which is what Mayor Talbot is telling the Fourth Estate."

 

His green eyes glittered as the combined robot came under a savage attack of such ferocity the swiping claws seemed not to move at all. "Our dear Amanda is going to a little black site offshore, hidden under the North Jetty of the Bar."

 

Everyone there knew about the Bar. The deadly shoals on which over a thousand ships had broken and sunk at the mouth of the Columbia. Bar pilots and now a complex autopilot system had managed to tame it, though entry to Malory Bay in the winter was still perilous. Nobody would go near there, even efforts to salvage wrecks only took place in the summer at low tide. 

 

"I'd seriously advise not trying to go there. You're not up to it, and probably never will be. They are not f***ing around down there, kids." Mars glanced sidelong at the munchkin masks, still smiling "I'd put the whole thing out of my mind, I were you, go back to finding lost cats or whatever it is you do when you're not blundering into something you shouldn't." 

 

"Oh!" he snapped the uninjured fingers on his left hand "And Stan is going to lose his job before the week is out. He's in deep with the Russian mob, turns out, thanks to Amanda's leak of his personal records. What a clown, keeping anything dangerous to him around. We're getting a new district attorney, probably Marion MacDaniel, she's even harder on crime than Stan is. You should drop by her office, when she gets here. Could be someone good to know."

 

Mars smiled lazily "Aaaaaand that's all I feel like spilling today. But I'd love to reveal more, Spider. Maybe over dinner? I know a great sushi and fish steak place on the Red River. Literally on the river, floating restaurant, the Sizzling Finn."