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Terraformer's handshake was returned by Wiseman. He had heard much about the kid from his earlier days as a hero, mostly from Oracle. His powers were supposedly something to behold, and there was a good person behind the [s]bandana[/s] mask. [color=a90000]"I've heard good things about you. It is always good to meet another tinkering her-"[/color]

The introduction was cut short by Powers finally deciding to grace the lot of them with his presence. He didn't look very happy at the group that had shown up today, as if every hero in Castleburg would even be available during a parade. In his hands, Powers held a spider-like drone with a camera that shattered as he tossed it to the floor with all the grace of a potato sack. [i]That[/i] was certainly more interesting than whatever Wiseman had taken into account, and immediately knocked off over a dozen possibilities as to who this drone could belong to.

[quote] [color=lightslategray]"I want you all to remain low-profile, keep an eye on the area, and make sure nothing suspicious gets inside. If you need to fight something, take it as far away from here as possible. Wiseman, try and figure out who built that thing and why it's here. I tried not to damage any of the important components too much."[/color][/quote]

Wiseman reached to his belt and withdrew the Indra Blade, and kicked the machine upwards with his foot to catch it in his free hand. He tapped a fist against his visor and then felt around for a seam. He found one between the legs and swiftly pried a panel of metal and chromafoil away. The Lasereye Visor revealed its internals in clear detail, and told Wiseman exactly how this thing worked. It wasn't anything fancy, certainly not on the level of anything [i]he[/i] could have built...

[color=a90000]"Overcompensating power supply, nonexistent intellectual capabilities,"[/color] Wiseman raised his electrified knife and thrusted it into a seam between two more panels, eliciting a twitch of its legs and a puff of black smoke. [color=a90000]"Live transmission feed, likely accompanied by a microphone- Now [i]definitely[/i] disabled. I know this work."[/color]

Wiseman sat the drone back down, with the Indra Blade still stuck between the panels, in front of Terraformer. Just in case the other tech-minded hero felt like taking a crack at it. He brought up his Lexicon computer and pulled up a small mote of blue light,, expanding into a holographic screen and and moving it out in front of him. Five individual ICOSA files were on display for the other heroes around him to see as he then relayed his findings to everyone that was on their way to follow Powers' orders. Villains, all of them.

[color=a90000]"Heroes, this is Wiseman. This drone that Powers found is the work of Professor Jon Gholem, a current member of the Fiendish Five. Just in case any of you haven't kept up to date, or haven't had the chance to dig through ICOSA databases yet,"[/color] He began, mostly for Oracle and Terraformer's sake. [color=a90000]"Gholem himself is not a superhuman by any definition, but his robotic creations put him on the level of one. The Fiendish Five are mercenaries, they take payment from a buyer and waste no time in doing their "job" or escaping once it is completed. The remaining four of them are as follows. Lady Blade, a master assassin with an unknown superpower- Do [i]not[/i] get within CQC range of her under any circumstances. Doc Holiday, a glorified mascot with an equally deadly talent for ranged weapons, and a superhuman ability to measure distance and angles flawlessly. Of the heroes present, Blast and Bastion have the highest chance of surviving a ranged battle against him. But the rest of us should avoid that as much as possible, as he has killed at least twenty heroes to date."[/color]

He continued his rapid fire exposition while pulling up another holographic screen. This one had layouts of the building they were all in, maps the group could use to their advantage. [color=a90000]"Albino, a violent ambush villain who teleports into unobserved blindspots. Stay in groups, and ensure you don't focus too much on one area. Keep walls to your backs as best you can. Lastly, Jellyfish. A Leftover-adjacent villain whose powers are not fully understood. ICOSA suspects he sticks to water, but there is no evidence he can't act on land. Stay at a distance, and stay far away from bodies of water."[/color]

[color=a90000]"The fact that they have sent drones to scout means someone has undoubtedly paid them to ruin this parade for some purpose."[/color]

With that out of the way, he quickly sent a copy of the information he just read off to the others' smartwatches. They probably wouldn't be able to read it extensively, but it was there if they needed it. [color=a90000]"This is my recommendation for countering them. Director, if this drone was following you for two hours, it is safe to assume that the Five know your schedule, and expect you to be on stage. Your powers and the crowd should protect you against Holiday, Lady Blade and Albino. Gholem's drones are not likely to harm you, but he may have sent other models to pack weapons that can harm the civilians. Terraformer, Oracle, under no circumstances should you be alone. At least one of you should stay with me or Bastion once he arrives. Bastion, if you haven't turned your watch off, you and Blast are in the best positions to respond to Doc Holiday, should he appear. Terraformer's abilities will likely be foiled by explosive bullets, or bullets that ricochet, which he is very much prone to using, so I suggest he walls off Lady Blades escape, if and [i]only[/i] if he is not directly engaged by any of the Five. Alternatively, it would be beneficial for him to create walls that can be used to slow down Albino in a low-population area."[/color]

[color=a90000]"As for Albino, he is most easily countered by Oracle and Ardent, but keep in mind that if these drones have been following the Director, they have likely been following us as well. No matter what we do, we should assume that the Five will not act individually. Doc Holiday can and surely [i]will[/i] shoot Ardent out of the sky to make space for Albino to attack on the ground. They are [i]more[/i] than capable of that coordination, and will no doubt attempt to exploit this to force an advantage."[/color] He pressed a button on his Lexicon, signalling Angel-5 to make its way over. [color=a90000]"And lastly, we should act as if we are being watched at all times by these drones. I can find none of them in this room with us using my visor right now, but it would not be impossible for Gholem to swarm the parade with them. Be discreet when you are able."[/color]

Wiseman had a pretty good idea of where he'd be in the next few minutes. [color=a90000]"Ask your questions now, they could strike at any moment."[/color]

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Most of these humans, surprisingly, didn't freak out that much at Mire's presence. The one calling herself Emily Duff managed to hide the nervousness pretty well, but Mire could just [i]tell[/i] that they still freaked these people out... They would've lectured the ratty guy to hell and back about the difference between fungus and fruit if it weren't for the conversation being changed quickly. All these humans gathering around didn't seem to be particularly thrilled about being here either, which was kind of funny to Mire, and made them wonder what the point of having so much fanfare for these heroes if their lives were clearly boring enough that they didn't look forward to it. 


The conversation turned through a lot of words that meant next to nothing to Mire. "Rupa," "Colleagues," and "scavenger hunt." Though that last one made more sense as Duff pulled out some weirdly shaped object.

[quote][color=lightcoral]"I've placed a bunch of little pyramids all around the island, and all of them have little fun facts written in them! "Most of them are more interesting than that. But there's a bunch scattered across the island, which makes for a great bonding activity! You guys can pair up however you want and try and collect as many as you can. Ooh, and here's the fun part, whoever gets the most collects this prize, which I picked special!"[/color][/quote]

[color=88ff00]"This is what I was hunted and kidnapped for? Looking for... [i]"Fortune cookies?"[/i][/color] They snarled, not having to facial muscles to express why this little game irritated them. [color=88ff00]"Is this one of those human jokes I hear so much about? Just so you can give us those little formless sprigs? I'm [i]made[/i] of things such as that. They aren't [i]pets.[/i] Did humans forget the difference between those and dogs?"[/color] Their mildew-ridden body shuddered in annoyance, clumps of otherworldly spores fell to the ground like snow from a car. 

[color=88ff00]"Is this what you do? Play games all day? I thought you helped people."[/color]