[IC] The Superhuman Alliance Fighting for Earth (SAFE)

[TaliPaendrag]

The ground near the beach quivered ever so slightly as Dani lifted a medium-sized boulder out of the ground with her powers and threw it towards the straw figures twenty-five yards away. Unfortunately, the boulder failed to make it quite that far, crashing to the ground at nineteen yards. Dani’s only reaction at first was to bend over and try to catch her breath, sweat coating her forehead and exposed arms due to a combination of exertion and equatorial warmth. While she could easily have nailed the targets with smaller rocks, she had been trying to increase the weight she could use effectively. Of course, such a goal takes quite a bit of work before it becomes realized, resulting in a lot of frustration on Dani’s part.

With a grumble, she made her way to the beach towel sprawled out under an umbrella, popping open the cooler and pulling out a bottle of lemon-flavored Gatorade once she was positioned in the shade. The sound of the waves rolling in and out from the shore did a little to soothe the frustration she was feeling. A sudden, large gust of wind blowing over the beach drew her attention away from the results of her training, her hand grasping onto the umbrella to keep it from flying away. It was gone almost as quickly as it had come, however. “Sorry! That one got away from me!” the voice of Dani’s twin, Lexi, called out. Within a few moments, Lexi was there as well, a small eddy of wind tossing sand as she dropped a few feet to the ground.

Lexi’s own face was covered in sweat just as Dani’s had been, the exertion of training evident. Just as Dani had trouble moving large boulders, Lexi had trouble moving large volumes of air. It wasn’t that it was impossible, just that they were more prone to having their control slip. But that was why they were training after all. Without having to be asked, Dani reached into the cooler again and pulled out a bottle of strawberry-flavored Gatorade for her sister, who took it with a grateful nod. After taking a couple of drinks, Lexi sighed, sitting next to her sister and enjoying the beautiful scene before them.

“Do you want to call it a day?” she asked her sister, too tired to say much more than that. Dani nodded in response, and the two began to pack up their things so that they could be taken back to the house, a large mansion-like structure that all of the members of the Alliance stayed in. As the twins had only arrived about a week ago, they weren’t all that familiar with absolutely everyone, though they could recognize a few faces. Still, everyone had been friendly enough, and it was a very great place to live. Though it sounded cheesy, they were kind of like a big family, if not as close as one would expect.

The walk from the beach to the mansion only took a few minutes to complete, while the storing away of the items took another few minutes. After taking care of that, the twins decided to head to the rec center to unwind a bit and, maybe, get to know some of the other heroes in the Alliance a little better. Though neither of them were spectacular at talking to new people, it certainly couldn’t help to at least try, especially if they were going to be teammates down the road.

Surprisingly, the rec room was rather empty at the moment, though someone had left the plasma screen television occupying a good chunk of one wall on. With neither of them possessing much interest in soccer, or football as it was known in other places, Dani found the remote and turned the television off while Lexi set up the pool table, one of their favorite games to play in the room. Hopefully some of the others would come in before too long, which would make the atmosphere of the room a little more lively and comfortable.

[Dethran]

Geist was floating above the island, his cowl covering his ghastly visage despite the best efforts of the wind that almost seemed as though it were actively trying to throw the cowl back. As he surveyed the land laid out beneath him, he began to create a course of illusory target rings, making sure to create the same path he had in prior runs, leading from his position, around a sizeable portion of the island, and back to the main facility, ending at an entrance near the rec room. Grinning beneath Geist's spectral facade at his newly created flight course, Kristof pulled a stopwatch from one of his pockets, starting it to time him as he passed through the first ring, signalling the beginning of his new run.

As he passed through any given ring, it flashed briefly brighter before fading away after he'd passed it fully. Continuing through the course, Kristof began trying to push himself beyond his previous top speed without dropping the focus on his illusory mask, zipping through at higher and higher speeds until he couldn't help but howl out from the sheer joy of unrestrained flight. He then bolted across the roof of the facility, quite literally radiating his exuberance in anticipation of one of the hardest parts of the course to maneuver at speed, in which he needs to completely reverse his momentum, without crashing into anything in the area, in order to make the next ring. Barreling through, he began to spin himself as he passed through the ring before the turnabout, letting himself swing wide to preserve as much of his momentum as possible, charging in the new forward after narrowly avoiding a tree. As he neared the doors (and, consequently, the end of the course), he blew them open with a telekintic thrust, stopping his timer just as he rolled through the doors in a surprisingly graceful tumble.

It was only after he lept back to his feet that Geist realized that there were people in the rec room, seeing this whole spectacle. It was at this point that he realized that he still had his rather unsettling facade still up, and his cowl and rolled back in his tumble. He immediately discarded the illusion as his cloak seemed to fold itself bak into his backpack, which then closed itself. Grinning sheepishly, Kris addressed his newfound audience of two, saying, "Sorry about the entrance and initial appearance; it would seem that I got a bit caught up in the flight course." Finally seeing the time on his stopwatch, he laughed out loud, saying "It would also seem that I've beaten my previous best time by a full two seconds!" as he floated himself briefly off the ground in order to clap his bare feet together with joy.
Getting struck with a sudden wave of dizziness, he plopped gracelessly into a nearby chair before using what seemed to be the last of his telekinetic reserves to get a protein shake from a dispenser a few feet away. After gulping down a bit of the shake, he had a look that seemed like he wished that he could facepalm before saying, "How silly of me; I forgot to introduce myself! The name's Kristof," he continued, "but I also seem to be interrupting a game of pool, so feel free to carry on with that; I'm perfectly content just sitting here and drinking my shake!"

EDIT: Fixed a couple of grammatical errors.

[MatParker1711]

Jessica was in the gym on one of the stationary bikes and had been so for about a half an hour and had been on various machines at the facilities gym for the past few. She had arrived at the facility a few days and upon meeting the doc was excited to be involved in this new guild. She knew her being FBI could help the guild a lot and at the same time knew the consequences of being caught. Still she was excited for the opportunity and couldn't wait to get started, with that her phone started to beep and she knew her workout was done. Taking a swig from her water bottle she made her way to the changing rooms. Just before she got in she looked out the window and saw one of the guild's other hero's land and decided to introduce herself after her swim

After changing into her suit, Jessica made her way to the pool and dived in and after about a half an hour later got out and went back to her room to change. She made her way back to the rec room and opened the doors to see two girls playing pool and the man she had seen earlier drinking a protein shake. She made her way over to the bar and poured herself a coke and made her way over to the others before saying "Hey, I'm Jessica mind if I play the winner?"

[Mr_pink]

Del stood in the basement of the mansion staring at a computer screen. He tapped away at the keyboard furiously, lines of code raced against Del's typing until he made a sudden stop. The program was finished, or at least until he found another bug with it that he surely would. Paper was scattered across the table that housed the keyboard. His algorithm, his research, his blueprints. Del rubbed his eyes, he had woken up early and had went straight to working on the program. The program was the voice within his suit that was linked to the much better and much bigger computer Del had back at his own base of operations. He had linked the voice to his gloves, that were always.....on hand.

Eventually he ascended the stairs of the basement and made his way to the rec room. He saw two identical girls playing pool, an armless man and the FBI agent. He sat on one of the couches in silence beforeacessing a small computer on his wrist.

[TheDookieNut]

It was possibly the most annoying thing about a power that wasn't completely physical. Training wasn't exactly specific. Had Emilie wanted to train her power, moving over to the rifle range was possibly the only option. Instead, she walked slowly around the mansion. She felt like she'd betrayed her friend and workmate, however, she would get him into this place if it took her far too long. The man wasn't super in anyway although his talents with his fists and his bow had passed beyond superior; under his wing, it had only taken Emilie seven months to bring her talents up to scratch enough to bring a bow into combat. The more she thought about him, however, the more lonely she felt. Three months it had taken her to settle in completely. New members had arrived since her own arrival and there was already a fair amount here. She'd spotted the woman who was clearly FBI, and taken to avoiding her. Her hands were already too red, the local authorities knew of her actions and had so far said nothing. Of course there was the unwritten ruling of if she was caught, arrest would be clear.

The woman fumbled with her jacket and moved slowly down the hallways and into the gardens. It was peaceful enough there, besides, it gave her time to think alone. Not that there was much to really think about. The brunette moved slowly out of the maze style paths and traced a hand along the edges of the dense leaves. She wouldn't notice the pain if something caught her fingers and ripped open the skin. As expected, something did. Emilie left the gardens and moved back inside the mansion. During her walk, she'd already noticed the build up of people within the Rec Room, or so it had been named. A stupid tool to make them all learn to become friends and work together. Emilie couldn't help but feel Big Brother lurked within those walls.. She slipped her hands into her jacket pocket, toying with a component piece she'd found not some days before. She knew whose it was and was sure he'd probably either be found in that room, especially considering the choice of places he could go were limited.

She fixed her thigh holster and fixed the rip in her skin. Some moments later, she pushed open the thick wooden door and moved into the room which was already quite full.
"Here. You dropped this on Tuesday." Emilie motioned, handing Del the piece she'd spotted in the lower hallways. Her eyes moved over to the others that were in the room, turning her back to the woman who always seemed to glow in FBI stature and body language.

[TaliPaendrag]

The twins had just broken the billiard balls when the door burst open and a man wearing a cowl tumbled into the rec room. Instantly, the girls had moved into defensive positions, the cue sticks across their bodies. Once he removed his mask and cowl, however, they realized that they had seen him around the grounds before, their bodies relaxing simultaneously. “Don't worry about it,” Dani said, turning back to the table to take her turn.

“Yeah, you just gave us a bit of a scare,” Lexi added, her usual smile on her face. “Congrats on beating your time though. That's gotta feel pretty good.” Almost as if he was proving her statement, he jumped in the air and clapped his heels together, eliciting a chuckle from both of the twins. He was certainly a pretty goofy guy, an impression that was only reinforced by how he plopped into the recliner. Dani tapped the table to alert Lexi that it was her turn, pointing at one of the striped balls to let her know what she was supposed to hit and keep from interrupting the man, who was telling them his name.

“I'm Dani and that's Lexi,” Dani said simply, Lexi offering a wave from behind her. “Before you ask, yes, we're twins.” With Lexi wearing a ruffled green shirt and Dani wearing a large blue t-shirt, it would be easy for the other members of the Alliance to tell them apart, at least for the day.

“Dani, your turn,” Lexi said, stepping aside so her sister could analyze the board and figure out her move. “I'm going to grab a drink. Do you want one?” Dani nodded a bit absently as she prepared to hit the nine ball into the three to send it into the pocket. Lexi returned after a moment at the fridge with two bottles of Coca-Cola, one Vanilla Coke for her and a Cherry Coke for her sister, to find that her sister was preparing another shot, this one aiming at setting the five ball directly into the hole.

The door to the rec room opened right as Dani took the shot, causing her to hit it just a little too lightly. Sighing, she stepped aside so that Lexi could take her turn, grabbing the Cherry Coke and taking a drink as she did so. The woman who had entered returned after a brief time in the bar area where the drinks and food were stored, introducing herself and asking if she could play the winner. “I don't mind if Lexi doesn't mind,” Dani said, indicating her sister. Lexi shook her head to indicate that she didn't, focusing on the board. “I'm Dani, by the way.”

Another man with dark hair entered the room just after Lexi finished taking her shot, heading for the couch with little more than a glance at anyone else in the room. Once seated, he continued to virtually ignore them, tapping away at his glove. Before too long, but after Lexi and Dani had switched turns again, another woman, this one with dark brown hair, entered the room, heading straight for the guy on the couch and handing him something with the explanation that he had dropped it earlier in the week. Her arrival didn't phase Dani like Jessica's had, however, allowing her to sink the eight ball into the side pocket to win the game.

“Do you wanna break?” she asked Jessica as she and her sister went about grabbing the balls from the pockets and assembling them in the triangle to prepare for the next game.

[Dethran]

Having finished his shake fairly quickly, Kristof turned his attention inward, settling into a meditative state in an attempt to gather his energy back up to at least a somewhat functional level. Tuning out the activity around him, he formed what remained of his mental energy into an internal image of a simple bacterium, then began coaxing that bacteria to begin mitosis. As his imaginary colony of bacteria slowly grew, he felt his energy level gradually returning to normal after a few minutes, so that he could at least perform normal daily tasks without issues.
Opening his eyes as he turned his senses outward once more, Kristof heard Dani offering a woman who felt like a fed break on a new game of pool. Pulling a pair of plain black gloves out of his backpack and putting them into the uppermost pockets of his cargo pants, he stood up and walked over to the pool area to watch the game that was about to start. After hearing the fed's reply as to whether or not she'd break, he spoke up, saying "I'll take next game, if we're still on personal time when this one finishes."

[MatParker1711]

"Don't worry I suck, this shouldn't take long" Jessica replied "You should have time to play Dani once she's done kicking my ass and thanks I will break" she finished as she took the cue and broke off, narrowly avoiding potting the cue in the process.

"While we 're here I may as well tell you about myself. My full name is Jessica Reid, I'm 25 and in my day to day life I'm a member of the FBI's Narcotics division. Don't worry your secrets are safe and if you need any information about people your investigating I am happy to put my training and access to the FBI database at your disposal. My ability is energy metabolization which basically means if somebody strikes me of if I hit something my body takes the energy of that action and gets stronger. I find it difficult to metabolize electrical energy and if I absorb too much I will pass out. My costumed name by the way is Aether."

[SIngemeister]

Something was burning in the distance. It was too far away for Reptile to tell what it was, but at a guess he'd say it was just a barbecue. He flicked out his long tongue and tasted the air and took in a deep breath of air. The sea-scent was strong here, almost overpowering when he focused on it. He smelt the others of SAFE, like normal humans but not quite, different somehow in a way he couldn't explain to himself. There was the usual tangled mess of hormones and their related emotions, encrusted sweat from the heat, bits of dirt and dead skin, perfumes and soaps - someone had switched to a new shampoo, he noticed - but beneath there was an undercurrent of...of wrongness? No, that wasn't right. Never mind, it was of little importance. The burning was most likely a barbecue, he decided.

He stepped down from where he'd been sitting, atop one of the highest points of the building, and continued his patrol along the peak of the rooftop. His eyes darted around, watching for vantage points, chokepoints, sudden movements, people he didn't know, anything that could potentially be a threat. He found nothing new. He did spot a pigeon sitting in a tree, though. He smiled slightly to himself, ripped out a chunk of loose concrete from the roof - weak construction, a powerful firearm could punch through it easily - tested the weight with a couple of experimental throws, took aim at the pigeon and hurled it.

The pigeon flew off as soon as it saw the lump of concrete, and it smashed harmlessly into the tree. Reptile growled in irritation and continued on his way, muttering to himself. Nothing was untoward. He recognised everyone's scent - the two subadults, the man in metal armour, the athlete, the armless man, the federal agent, the runner, nothing new. His stomach grumbled. He hadn't eaten anything in about a day, too busy patrolling, and he knew the nearest fridge was in the break room. Didn't know what was in there though, hopefully some meat or something. Another rumble from his belly made up his mind. He dug his claws into the white concrete and crawled along the walls toward the break-room windows, scales reflexively turning white to match his background. When he got there, he stuck the sharp points of his claws into the tiny gap at the bottom of the window and slid it up, before pulling himself into the room.

[Mr_pink]

Del looked up to the woman who had walked in. She explained he had dropped some sort of computer component last tuesday. He took it off of her before thanking her and trying to figure out what the component was for. He couldn't see any primary use for it so he stuck it in his back pocket. He got up, moved to the kitchen and got a glass out from one of the cabinets near the fridge. He then took out the carton of milk in the fridge and poured it into the glass before putting the carton back in the fridge.

After that he moved back to the living room, flicked on the tv and began to channel surf until he found something watchable. Sports, reality, cooking, boring stuff like that flicked past until he found what he was looking for. It was an old film from the early 70s 'patton' it was called. It was about the old military general by the same name. Ever since Del left the army he had made it a hobby of researching old wars along with their commanders. The tactics of certain battles interested him the most. He admired leaders like Stonewall Jackson, Robert the Bruce and Napoleon. If he wasn't researching or reading in his spare time, he would often make reinactments of certain battles using small models.

[Dethran]

"Pleasure to meet you, Jessica," Kris replied, his right glove filling out as though there were a hand in it so he could offer it for a handshake. "I'm Kristof Liebniz, but most people just call me Kris. My skillset covers telepathy, telekinesis, and a fair bit of illusory aptitude." Pulling the nearest chair towards himself, he settled into it, pulling his legs into a crossed position on it as he continued. "As far as my hero alias is concerned, I just go as the Geist. How about the re-"
Suddenly sensing a rather feral intelligence's activity on the roof and wall, he cut himself off, standing to face the window through which a rather large, reptilian creature began to crawl. As the creature slid the window open, Kris got enough of a read on him to realize that he was just hungry, not hostile, so Kris turned back to the group, taking his seat once more as he threw a thought message to the creature, thinking "Hey, armless guy here. I think there's a chicken on the bottom shelf of the fridge, if that's what you're looking for," while he also picked up the conversation where he'd left it off.
"Sorry about that. As I was saying, how about the rest of you?"

[TaliPaendrag]

The ease with which Jessica shared information about herself as she waited for Dani to make a move was rather surprising. Dani and Lexi had both grown more accustomed to people being more reclusive and to themselves, but that didn't mean that Jessica's way of introducing herself wasn't a nice change of pace. Still, Dani could only nod in response at the moment, focused on her next shot. Jessica had managed to get the ball near the corner, which made the shot a little more difficult. She did manage to hit the ball she wanted, though she had failed to give it enough power to sink it.

As she stepped back to allow Jessica to make her move, the intercom system throughout the building came on, causing virtually everyone to perk up in order to hear the announcement. “Attention: Would Zephyr, Red Rain, and Geist please report to the hangar. There is a bank heist in progress in downtown Madrid.” The message repeated twice over the intercom, though the three heroes mentioned had already headed off at the mention of their names.

Dani shrugged and gestured for Jessica to continue, though she did feel a little worried about her sister. She knew that her sister was definitely capable of taking care of herself, but that didn't stop the twinge of concern from showing up. Again, before she could respond to Jessica's introduction properly, she was interrupted, this time by Kristof introducing himself and sharing his own abilities with them. Not that that was a problem really. She had been curious. It was just that she had to wait for him to finish before she could start.

The lizard-man crawling through the window also caused her to pause before actually starting, though only because she hadn't expected to see something like that. She had thought she had caught glimpses of him before, but she hadn't actually believed that she was seeing something that was real. No one else seemed to mind his appearance, however, so Dani tried to be a little open-minded about the issue. She had no qualms with anything as long as it didn't try to hurt her or her sister.

“As you know, my name is Dani, and that was my sister, Lexi,” Dani said as she waited, taking a drink of her Cherry Coke before continuing. “We're supposed to be attending college, but we figured that helping people was more important at the moment, so here we are. My power is manipulating earth, like stones or metal, while my sister can manipulate air. So, our names are, fittingly, Gaia and Zephyr.

“I'm not quite good enough to pick up and throw large boulders yet, as it takes a lot of effort, but I can make a sort of shotgun effect with many smaller rocks. Sand and powdered metal are actually the easiest for me to manipulate, apart from just creating tremors,” Dani continued, shrugging again. “Lexi can do things like create razor-sharp winds, tornadoes, gusts, and alter the pressure of the air around her. Kind of like me, larger amounts of air are harder for her to move, and stormy weather really messes with her powers.”

Having finished speaking for the moment, Dani took the last drink of her Cherry Coke and crushed the can before launching it into the trash can with her powers. Then she went over to grab another one from the fridge before it was her turn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knowing that time was of the essence if they were planning on stopping the bank heist, Lexi wasted no time in arriving at the hangar, having zipped through the hallways and across the field on cushions of air. Once inside the building, she headed to her locker and grabbed her costume, slipping the green hoodie on before the brown jacket and donning her mask. Unlike some of the more elaborate heroes in the Alliance, that was all she needed to do before she was ready to go, which meant that she was usually one of the first ones on the jet that sat waiting.

The jet itself was a masterpiece of aeronautical engineering, with an ability to get from Los Angeles to New York in under an hour and top of the line stealth technology. And, though some of the Alliance knew how to fly the thing, it wasn't always necessary, as it had incredible auto-pilot capabilities. Wrap all of that up in a sleek black design and you have a fairly magnificent little vehicle. By then, however, Lexi had become rather used to seeing the jet, so she treated it as nothing special as she climbed in a buckled up, waiting for the other two who shouldn't be far behind.

[Mr_pink]

Del looked upwards away from his film and towards the intercom when it had sounded. "Attention: Would Zephyr, Red Rain, and Icarus please report to the hangar. There is a bank heist in progress in downtown Madrid" A small grin could be seen at the corner of Del's lips if you looked close enough. He realized people were introducing themselves. He stood up, turned off the tv and began to introduce himself after the two twins had finished.
"My name is, Derek Osiris, most people call me, Del. I'm the founder and CEO of Osiris industries and my power is essentially being the smartest man to date." He took a quick glance at the screen on his wrist, tapped something into it and looked back up.
"Without my suit, I'm around 97.8% sure any of you could kill me without a second thought". He nodded to everyone before making his way to the hanger. His suit was stored in a rather low tech locker. He pulled the rather heavy compilation of metal and tubes before slipping it on over the clothes he was wearing. He hung his mask on his belt and entered the jet.

He looked around the insides of the jet which was, of course, a lot higher tech than the locker. He hadn't really become familiar with the jet itself in the time he had been at the facility. After all, he fell asleep a lot from major jetlag and the attempt of trying to rearrange his sleep pattern to this new location.
"So does this thing need a pilot or is it auto?" He took a seat nearer the front of the jet. Before staring out the front window. It had seemed a lot smaller from the outside than on the inside. A lot like some sort of jet tardis thing.

[TheDookieNut]

Emilie had been considering heading back to her room and spending the rest of the day chatting and training over the internet. However, the intercom sounded and work was due. She didn't really bother to check over to see who the unknown party member was. She'd find out sooner or later. She disappeared from the room and walked up to her own room. A quick change and she was ready. Emilie never hid before a mask, she saw no point. Her ability was unique and shone through even in her everyday life.

Grabbing her bow from her locker, she pulled it onto her back and jogged up onto the plane. She may have been the last to arrive but at least she'd turned up. She took the now from her back and at down, studying the others quietly. She'd worked with Del once, the other, she didn't even know who she was.

[TaliPaendrag]

“No, it's all auto-piloted,” Lexi replied to the man, who had come into the jet shortly after her. Unfortunately, she couldn't keep from staring at his uniform a little longer than would be considered polite. She figured that it had something to do with his powers, though what powers would need a suit of metal and wiring she had no idea. The way he looked out the window of the jet dissuaded any further conversation, so Lexi kept her curiosity to herself.

His unfriendly demeanor didn't really matter, however, as the third member of their little squad, the girl who had given the guy what he had dropped earlier in the week, arrived. Almost immediately, the engines of the jet began to hum, the hangar doors opening to allow it to taxi to the end of the runway, which was surprisingly well-developed for a private island. In moments, they were in the air and heading towards their destination.

Taking the speed of the jet into consideration, it as no surprise that they arrived at the bank within ten minutes. The building was large and well-built, but what was most noticeable was the police vehicles surrounding the exits. Several of them looked up with puzzled expressions as the jet hovered over top of the bank, the cabin depressurizing to allow the doors to open. Without really waiting for the others, Lexi had unbuckled and stood by the door, ready to go once they opened.

And go she did, jumping out of the jet and using her air powers to shatter the skylight in order to keep from hurting herself as she dropped through. It also had the added bonus of catching the criminals off guard, which allowed her to take one out with ease. Of course, she knew that she wouldn't be able to take them all on, as there were at least ten or eleven of them. Hopefully her two allies would be down shortly, already she was beginning to feel overwhelmed as three engaged her in combat, wielding knives or baseball bats with deadly ferocity.

[TheDookieNut]

She prefered the way her teammate arrived at a building. Emilie stayed quiet during the ride, keeping her eyes on her bow. No doubt the view outside would make her sick. The city came into view soon enough and the smaller, newer girl stood and moved over to the exit. Eager but probably stronger, for now. Emilie followed slowly and fastened the climbing hook onto the harness those who couldn't fly would wear. When Lexi tossed herself out the window, Emilie half expected a disaster, however it was quite the opposite. She smirked a little and pushed out of the jet, landing on the remaining glass roof. She pulled an arrow into the notch of her bow and waited. Eyes scanned the floor for the first threat, spotting one man who was edging closer than the others. She pulled the strings back and released the arrow seconds after. It sped with unnatural speed and landed in the neck of the man. It wasn't an accidental shot, she wanted those below to know they weren't safe.

She tucked her now back over her shoulders and dropped into the bank, rope unwinding from the jet. As soon as she had two feet on the ground, she unhooked herself and pulled the harness from her waist. She passed a brief smile to Lexi and pulled another arrow from her hip. She tested the others and waited slowly for Del. Eyes scanned the weapons, baseballs hats wouldn't be a bother, and knives wouldn't be too painful unless they cut deep. Then again, she could easily freak most people out if stress became too much, or she pushed herself hard enough.

[Dethran]

Hearing his hero name called out on the speaker system, Kris lept out of his chair.
"Guess I'll have to pick this up some other time," he said, addressing the room as he strode for the door, turning to head straight for the hangar. Deciding to conserve his mental energy, he dropped into a low crouch once he got into the hallway, using his considerable leg strength to propel himself into a noteworthy run. Arriving at nearly the same time as the aerokineticist, Lexi, he used a small amount of psychic force to ease himself into a seat, rather than coming to a jarring halt or having to start slowing down earlier. As he slid into his seat, his cloak seemed to fly out of his backpack, draping itself over him, but leaving the cowl down. After noticing an ambient thought regarding the presence of an autopilot feature, he settled into a meditative posture, resuming his mental exercise in an attempt to recover more of his mental reserves before arriving at the heist.

---

The moment the plane got near enough to the bank, Geist began to read the mental signatures within, developing an idea of the situation below. Communicating telepathically to the other two heroes preparing to leave the plane, he thought "Geist here. I'll be maintaining an open line like this while we're down there. If either of you wish to coordinate covertly, just let me know; I can pass it on to the other of you as you tell me," somehow managing to convey the entire thought in an instant, rather than at a spoken speed.

With that, he cloaked himself in an illusory shroud that mimicked his surroundings, effectively rendering himself invisible, before leaping in through the skylight used by Lexi for her dramatic entrance. After positioning himself above his two teammates, he shifted his illusion, forming his ghastly apparition around himself while reducing the ambient light in the bank to about half of it's actual intensity, with the overall effect being that of a specter coalescing out of nothing, draining the area of brightness by virtue of its mere presence. Immediately around himself, he formed what appeared to be a writhing miasma of sheer darkness. Projecting his thoughts outward in all directions, he began to "speak," affecting a deep, rasping voice, and using a much more theatrical, spoken pacing than what he used in the plane.
"Drop your weapons, and be gone from this place,", before fragmenting his illusion, giving each robber the impression that he was swooping down on them, as if saying the part to follow to them, personally. Additionally, they would each swear that, regardless of the fact that Geists face consists of a ghostly skull, he was somehow smiling at them as he continued, projecting "Or certain doom, you will face."

[TaliPaendrag]

By the time Geist and Red Rain had acted, Lexi had managed to defeat one of the three goons surrounding her, using a shield of air to block the overhead swing of the baseball bat, jarring his arm in the process, and sending a burst to his midsection that sent him sliding across the marble floor. Red Rain's shot to one of the goons' necks caused them all to pause, while Geist's illusion added onto that fear and sent several of them running. The few that remained still seemed uncertain, including the two still facing Lexi. As in any combat situation, uncertainty was definitely a hindrance, and it was nothing to send them to the ground with a burst of air before pushing them along the ground.

The sudden noise of a gun going off echoed throughout the building as a bullet zipped through the air to hit one of the grand pillars in the lobby, sending little chips of stonework flying. “Now, I don't know who you costumed pansies think that you are, but you are not going to stand in our way and make a nuisance of yourselves,” a deep, booming voice declared as a man wearing a fedora and a black vest stepped from behind another pillar. With him were many of the thugs who had run away at Red Rain and Geist's appearance earlier, apparently emboldened by the proximity of who appeared to be the boss. Several of them were also carrying pistols as they rejoined those who had stayed to fight, about twelve or thirteen altogether.

Both sides stood still for a moment or two, waiting for the other to make their move, when the large man shouted, “Matenles!” Almost as if in sync, the goons with guns began opening fire, bullets flying through the air to embed themselves in the stonework of the building. None of them were very disciplined with their shooting, however, the bullets zipping through the air haphazardly. Whether that was a good thing or not was a matter of opinion really, but Lexi didn't really want to take any chances anyway, ducking behind a pillar while solidifying a thin layer of air between her and her teammates' bodies and the goons to protect from the lucky bullets that would hit them.

“What do you guys want to do?” she asked through the mental link that Geist had mentioned setting up once they had arrived. Clearly coming up with a plan and working together would provide the highest success rate. The situation was definitely beginning to look like it was something that they wouldn't be able to get through by working as individuals with the same goal in mind. Especially not if the boss was more than just a gang leader.

[Dethran]

After a brief pause to get as deep a read as he could on the boss, Geist responded to Zephyr's question, using Kristof's normal voice, rather than the theatrical rasp normally used as Geist to think "This'll be a tricky one; their boss almost has to have some sort of powers, because I can't get nearly as deep of a read on him as I can on most people, and not a single mundane has ever managed that before. I can keep up the theatrics to make sure they're all focused where I want them to, rather than on where any of us actually are. As long as I'm keeping them confused, it would probably be relatively easy for you two to get around to flank, and at least drop some of the mooks without much difficulty."

In the mean time, he stayed tucked behind a pillar, projecting his image to the other side in order to preserve his ethereal motif as the haphazard gunfire passed through it harmlessly.

[TheDookieNut]

Emilie aimed at another, testing him slowly. Had Giest not appeared in the area above them, no doubt she'd have added another casualty to their list. She watched most of the group run, unsure of their cowardace. She unloaded her arrow into the calf of one as he ran, reloading her bow soon after. Her eyes flicked between the others. Of course the mental link felt weird, it was half as if someone else was inside her head, taking up valuable space. It was stressful enough, at least enough to cause the first of many wounds to open. It ripped slowly open on her shoulder and quickly sent streams of her own blood speeding down her arm. Trickles at first.

By the time the firefight began, her entire right arm was laced. In the years this had been happening, Emile had never bled to death. Doctors at the facility believed the bleeding was a defense mechanism, made up of a blood like substance, something that was separate to her own blood supply. Considering the rate at which her entire body would be covered, Emilie was partially glad it wasn't actually blood. She followed Lexi behind one of the pillars and turned her head to look over at the others.
"Wouldn't it be a good idea to find out exactly what this guy can do before we go any further?" Emilie asked, returning her eyes to the newcomer who seemed like some kind of mob boss. "If you can cover me, I can easily try and force something out of him. As soon as we know what he's capable of, it'll be easier to kill him."