[IC] The Gifted: A Fast Paced Superpower RP (Relaunch)

[Archmage MC]

Light found a table for the two of them to sit at, and while there was a couple agents interested in the pair, most ignored them doing their own thing. Light pointed out this fact and explained that she is here all the time so the non-meta agents were used to her. And she also pointed out if they were scared of Owlman and his... interesting... eating habits they wouldn't be agents in the first place because they'll see far, far worse.

"But I'll tell you, it sucks not being able to use most technology." Light said, glancing at the few agents having fun texting on their phones. "No computers, I've gotta use a 50's remote for my TV, and I can't play video games! No internet or video games makes me very angry sometimes." She finished, puffing a bit of smoke out of her mouth as she exhaled. She recomposed herself soon after while she ate a waffle.

"But I guess being a superhero is pretty cool. You should come on one of my missions when a zombie virus pops up. You'd probably enjoy it, I know I do! Zombie parts, everywhere!" Light said, a bit too excited while she remembered the mission she was assigned to 8 months ago when a town in Sweden fell out of contact with the rest of the world and she found a town of zombies. She began explaining the story, complaining at times about some weird zombies she had fought, one of them that ate her for a good couple of days and the like, although most of them were just after her brains.

When she was done, she asked Owlman if he had any good stories or something.

@Gentlemanvaultboy

[Sapphire]

Cer nodded back to Jackson's acceptance, "Tomorrow sounds good, we'll start with figuring out your strengths and weaknesses and we'll go from there." She felt a bit wary of all the ground they would have to cover in a short time, there was no guarantee that he knew anything about his powers. Although a challenge was really what she needed right now, something to set her mind to while the grief and loss wore off. She watched him walk away and was about to leave herself when he abruptly turned around and asked, "You're not going to try and get rid of them, are you?" She responded with a sad smile, "I couldn't even if I wanted to, but I have a feeling we both know that already." He left then, satisfied with her answer as far as she could tell.

The evening was quickly approaching and Cer would have to conform once again to the idea of sleep. She'd already done a quick tour of the HQ, catching a glimpse of Light training, an odd sight really. She had gone to the apartment to pick up her car and do a less hands on observation of the city. That was how she found herself down by the docks again, uncomfortably close to a certain burnt warehouse. This time her eyes were on the ocean, this place haunted her more that she wanted to acknowledge. Cer stood there for a few minuets longer before driving back to the apartment. That night she began the lengthy process of searching through the recovered MHLA files for evidence, she made little progress and had to eventually quit to get ready to train Jackson.

Cer showed up at the HQ less than an hour after sun rise. She was already in her training gear, which wasn't particularly special besides a pair of biking gloves inlaid with a metal that almost seemed to glow. She checked in and got directions to Jackson's room where she found the door inexplicably unlocked. She knocked first before entering, per social norm and found him asleep in a bed that looked like it had been through hell. She clicked her tongue, this was a sign of a lack of control, even an amateur could tell that but she saw potential in that too. She reached out to gently tap his shoulder "Rise and shine. We've got work to do."

@Raijinslayer

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

Light found a table for the two of them to sit at, and while there was a couple agents interested in the pair, most ignored them doing their own thing. Light pointed out this fact and explained that she is here all the time so the non-meta agents were used to her. And she also pointed out if they were scared of Owlman and his... interesting... eating habits they wouldn't be agents in the first place because they'll see far, far worse.

"But I'll tell you, it sucks not being able to use most technology." Light said, glancing at the few agents having fun texting on their phones. "No computers, I've gotta use a 50's remote for my TV, and I can't play video games! No internet or video games makes me very angry sometimes." She finished, puffing a bit of smoke out of her mouth as she exhaled. She recomposed herself soon after while she a waffle.

"But I guess being a superhero is pretty cool. You should come on one of my missions when a zombie virus pops up. You'd probably enjoy it, I know I do! Zombie parts, everywhere!" Light said, a bit too excited while she remembered the mission she was assigned to 8 months ago when a town in Sweden fell out of contact with the rest of the world and she found a town of zombies. She began explaining the story, complaining at times about some weird zombies she had fought, one of them that ate her for a good couple of days and the like.

When she was done, she asked Owlman if he had any good stories or something.

@Gentlemanvaultboy

@Archmage MC

The Owlman did recall a fond encounter with what he supposed counted as his nemisis, The Goatman. What he thought must be a homeless guy that lived in the park, the Goatman had the lower body and horns of a goat and had been terrorizing the area for months. A mugger and carjacker, his MO had been to leap from the park onto a passing car and beat on the roof until they stopped and got out. Anyone who didn't run got a swift kick to head before he'd either loot the car of all its valuables or just take the whole thing.

It must have been fate that The Owlman had been taking his evening stroll and caught sight of one such incident, and from there it had been a fight. One hell of a fight, actually. Shirts had come off. Wings had come out. That scraggly hobo had really been able to jump, charge, and kick. One of his wings had been broken in the scuffle, which lead to a really long and awkward recovery process, but he'd torn enough holes in his leathery hide that blood loss took him down.

He still got letters from prison vowing revenge when he got out. He really wasn't sure how to feel about that, but he knew it wasn't supposed to feel as cool as it did.

This was of course all mimed out by, for example, making finger horns and throwing mock punches between strips of bacon ripped to pieces and messily devoured by his beak.

[Subject Zero]

Like putting on a glove, Legion slipped back into his old ways. Quietly watching and planning. He listened to conversation unfold between Jackson and Cer, coming to the conclusion that the kid had a temper. He was on the defensive, physically and emotionally. Nate kind of liked that. The temper was a problem though. He could already picture this kid getting angry at him as he tried to train him. He was already planning the best way to help his new student.

As the conversation ended and Jackson left, Nate found himself watching Cer. There was something about this woman that was bothering him. She seemed sad, despite her best efforts to seem strong in front of Jackson. But it wasn't just a case of the monday blues. This was a deeper sadness. A sadness Nate recognized. It was the grief of loss. He could see it in her eyes and it brought back painful echoes of those he himself had lost.

Normally, Nate wasn't really the kind to empathise with people he barely knew but he couldn't help it this time. Damn it, he felt bad for her. As Cer left, he felt oddly compelled to follow. He made sure to hang back as she made her way briefly to her apartment before driving around the city. Nothing too unusual there but when she made her way to the docks, finding her way to a burned down warehouse, Nate began to feel even worse for her. She stared off into the ocean as though she were remembering something. Nate decided to leave her to her thoughts and do some digging.

Through several sources on the streets of LA and further afield, Nate learned of the slaughter of the MHLA. Cer's grief made sense after something like that. Frankly he was surprised she was still functioning after so many people she knew had been killed. Maybe she was tougher than she looked. As Nate reclined in an old leather chair in his messy homebase, he looked over a several police documents his duplicates had acquired on the various MHLA cases. He sighed heavily as he dumped the files onto the old desk in front of him and weighed up the options. Maybe he should just stay out of it. After all, it's not like he really knew Cer ot any of these people. Hell. he wasn't even getting paid for this. He turned slowly in his chair to find several duplicates also perusing files. A few of them looked up at him and gave him a look, as though knowing exactly what he was thinking.

Damn it. It seemed he had already decided.

He would talk to Cer about this. Maybe he could help her find whoever killed all of these people. Maybe send a few duplicated off to investigate. After all, he was a hero now, right?

As the sun began to set, Nate finally dropped down into an old army cot in the corner, surrounded by books. It had been a long day and tomorrow promised to be even longer.

@Sapphire

[Letter Bee]

((Collab post between Letter Bee, NarcissisticPotato, and perhaps AcerRo))

Isabella was giving one of her usual speeches, the present topic being the uselessness of peace.

"What is peace when you can rule? What is peace when it weakens you, gives the ungifted power over your lives, when - what, there is an interloper here?!" the woman stated in surprise as one of her 'Vampires' whispered in her ear. "Guards and followers; surround her!" the biomancer stated, pointing to Olivia's location. Instantly, several Vampires and Elves surrounded the Metahuman-Diplomat, and Isabella continued:

"Interloper, state your views and business!" she said to Olivia.

"Peace, Isabella Lancaster, is the light in the cold, lonely darkness of space. It is order. It is the absence of chaos." Olivia cut over the immediate panic as guards moved to surround her. Still, she didn't make a move to reach for any weapons or remove her hood. Only her playful grin was visible to the so-called Queen. "Peace has its children too - those who will stop at nothing to avoid the spilling of blood. That is why I am here today." With that, she flicked her hood down and revealed herself. Olivia was always a fan of theatrics and she was mildly pleased to see a gasp run through the crowd - she was seen as the old figure-head of the International Hero Alliance. For her to be there was shocking, to say the least.

"I'm unarmed. I didn't come here to fight, either. I simply wish to talk, if possible." Olivia stated, her voice clear and lacking the strong emotion that Isabella used to gain her following. "If you will hear me out?"

"Ah, Olivia Octavia Delacroix, one of the cattle that follow the so-called Reformists into weakness and incapacity. What have you to say to me, me who represents the right and duty of Metahumans to rule, the right and duty of Metahumans to live a life free from the bounds that weaken them? What have you to say to the giver of power, the most beautiful woman in the world?" Isabella spoke, that last line being uncnesseary.

Olivia quirked an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest as she allowed Isabella to give her little, self-conceited speech. "First of all, it is considered rude to call a girl a cow where I come from, Miss Lancaster. Secondly, I see no bounds placed on me or anyone around me, for that matter. If you do feel particularly threatened then we could talk about it over coffee, not in a speech aimed to drag others to your cause." She offered, shrugging feebly as she looked up at Isabella, not even batting an eyelash at the guards around her.

"Also, I can think of quite a number of beautiful women! Have you seen Ruby Greenfoot recently? That girl is smoking!" Olivia was trying to lighten the mood but she had a feeling Isabella would get offended.

Isabella looked at Olivia in a mixture of rage and gloating, gloating that she had Ruby in her custody, although she was careful enough not to give that away. Finally, she said:

"All right, we can go to my private chambers," spoke the biomancer. "But I must warn you, one wrong move and my guards shall enter my room to slaugther you." And with that, she got off her throne and led the way, led the way towards the western part of the labyrinth, where her room rested. Said room was lavishly furnished, such that it would be tiresome for said furnsihings to be described. After guiding Olivia to a table, and having one of her servants, an Artificial Elf, bring her some tea, Isabella voiced:

"So, I guess you guys have heard about Eden? Let me guess, it was Halo, Gary Stuart's pet." Halo, as one would remember, was a Metahuman who got oracular visions by aphyxsiating herself, a reason why Gary, although he took her in, never used her powers all that much, if at all.

Olivia smiled brightly, giving her an approving nod as she descended from her throne. Olivia wasn't completely clueless about the stares she was receiving from the other initiates; most of which had dark intents for her. The guard parted, however, and out of fear or respect for Isabella, no one attacked her as she passed. That didn't stop the insults that were hurled at her, which she politely ignored.

Once she was seated and had a nice cup of tea, Olivia felt a lot more relaxed. "Hmm? Oh, Tree Baby Jesus?" She questioned blankly, giving her a curt nod in response. "I suppose we know about him but to be honest, I don't want to do much with him. Your decision to not save the surrogate is a dark one indeed but the child is still your flesh and blood and taking him from you is not my intents. My intents, Isabella Lancaster, is to anchor you to our mortal plane once more, so that you lose your desire to use Eden for your own benefit."

Sighing softly, Olivia raised the cup to her lips and sipped softly. "Do you not deem it cruel to use your own child, the fruit of your so-called perfection, for your own gains? I do not intend to take Eden from you but if you do not see fit to change your ways, I will take him from your cold, dead hands." Taking another sip, she raised her eyes to Isabella. "Peace demands us to make tough decisions. If it requires me to take your child from you to save lives then I will do so."

"You'll find, Olivia," spoke Isabella, "that the only two truths are power and pleasure, and respect for those who can provide both. Eden is a means to an end, a project deliberately meant to be complicated, expensive, and inefficient, in order to dangle the prospect of an all-metahuman world for my followers while taking no truly practical measures to ensure such."

"For, you see, Olivia," the biomancer spoke, glee entering her voice, "I may be a Metahuman Supremacist, but I am also a meritocrat. What I want is not a world of Metahumans where I might lose relevance, but rather a world in which I and a minority rule at the top, with the apples of Eden being a safety valve and barganing chip used to induct the best and brightest of the Non-Metahuman masses into my new order, cutting down the most powerful foci of dissent."

"Eden? He is both bait and a source of bargaining chips, a smokescreen and a source of power that will give me the power to conduct as many 'Deals with the Devil' as I like. Why am I telling you this?" Isabella continued, "because no one will believe you; none of my order will."

Olivia raised another eyebrow at the woman and sat back, placing her delicate cup of tea on the table once more. "Although pleasure is a truth that I do enjoy indulging in myself --I wouldn't mind going a round with you--, power is no truth. It's a lie. A trick. A simple facade used to entice fools towards it. There is no such thing as power. Nous avons tous saigner, as my father once told me."

"Your intentions for Eden are troubling but betray a darker side to you, Miss Lancaster. Your parents evidently did not love you in anyway and thus, you believe that that is how you raise a person of your calibre." Frowning, Olivia leaned forward and lifted her cup before raising it to her lips and sipping. "I pity you, Miss Lancaster. Your lack of love must be cold."

"Of course they didn't," spoke Isabella, betraying one of her few weaknesses. "They idolized me, put me on a pedestal, pushed me to greater heights of intellectual achievement, but love, no, I was not given love. I know what love is, I've seen it with others...and I'm jealous. I want to tear down those who were lucky enough to have love, to make them suffer from the same loss and neglect and starvation as I do, while filling myself up with more, and more, and more, until I forget my troubles."

Olivia actually did begin to feel a small pang of pity for the older woman. A life completely devoid of love must be harsh upon the spirit. "Miss Lancaster, you are under the impression that love is unreachable from your current predicament. I would dare to, however, state otherwise. Love can be earned, like trust. I've placed my trust in your hands and so far, I have yet to suffer." Olivia pointed out, sitting her cup down as she looked around. "But if you do have such intentions, I would prefer for you to expose them now."

"When you outpower me locally?" said Isabella. "...Very well - Guards, now!" she shouted, while at the same time pulling out a pistol and shooting Olivia.

At the same time, guards began streaming in...

Olivia's only mistake was wishing to find a peaceful resolution - she was using Pyxis the entire time. Her breathing halted, stuttering like a faulty engine before returning heavily. Her tea cup crashed down to the ground, smashing as Olivia's shaking hand descended to her side only to pull back covered in blood. It took her brain a few seconds to process events which led to an awful silence in which Olivia came to the realisation that she had been shot.

It wasn't the first time, if she was being honest, and she was a tough nut to crack but things were not looking good. "Love can be... -earned, Miss Lancaster." She breathed, her head swimming with thoughts as she stared at the blood leaking into her shirt.

Eli was never far behind his targets. Ruby had been one if the very few that had gotten away from him. His ability to keep up and listen while blending was impressive to say the least. Luck played a big part of it. He had been on Olivia's tale since she had walked into New Sun. All the talking and goings back and forth was starting to ware thin on him. That was until he heard those littles words that meant a fight was about to break out. When Lancaster called for those guards Eli assumed it was safe that his new found ward would like the same.

Eli busted into the "private chambers" of Snooty Bitch Extraordinaire Isabella Lancaster with both of his arms Fully erupted. He wod have done more but being underground he had to play it safe. Without a moments thought, Eli grabbed the first two heads he could reach and incinerated them. The stench was foul even for his taste but that never stopped him before and it wouldn't now.

"Now this isn't cute honey, this ain't classy at all. Why can't you two just have a drink and punch each other a few times and let it be? That's what me a Jaden did, but since you two can't play nice I'm gonna have to stop this little play date." Eli looked over at Oiliva. "Come sweety, we're gonna take our leave of this shithole."

Eli signed when none of the guards moved and forced his hand. A simple snap of the fingers towards Olivia caused an explosion of fire that burned anyone in its way. "Now, please." He said as the bodies started hitting floor some had even stopped screaming in agony.

"Damn you, Elijah!" said Isabella as she withdrew back, deeper into her chambers, while more guards, Artificial Vampires, and Artificial Elves, some of whom controlled Water, swooped in, trying to prevent Elijah from taking Olivia away.

Olivia couldn't think straight at all but one thought persisted at the forefront of her mind: fight. Breathing heavily, she groaned as she shakily slid to her feed and withdrew her pencil. The drawing of Orion was shaky, at best, but it did its job as her arms suddenly grew a tad bit heavier with the weight of her bow. "Duck!" She informed Elijah, swinging towards him as her fingers glided along the edge of the bowstring, summoning a stellar arrow which she rapidly pulled back and released.

The arrow found it's target, tearing through it easily with the force of a point-blank shot. However, the force of the arrow generated a shock wave which knocked back any enemies swarming the doorways. The few that weren't dazed suddenly found themselves facing off against three large dogs that were made from the same materiaer bow.

"Carry me." She commanded, throwing her bow aside as her legs buckled a little - the loss of blood was affecting her much too quickly. It seemed that Isabella's bullet had found somewhere important to bury itself in.

"Normally there is a of nudity and sex involved in a woman bossing me around." Eli said as picked her up in his arms and ran out the door. Times like this he loved his powers all the more, his only actions for those in the room was a massive blaze that shot out from his back. Even he was impressed by all the screams he heard in the growing distance. He knew however that getting out was the easy the part, it was staying conscious that was the hard part. The air was already getting a little thinner. What worried him was the warm liquid he could feel coming from the girl.

As soon as they hit the figurative courtyard where this had all first started. He was greeted with two problems, one being the room was filled with people trying to kill the both of them. The other was he had no idea hkw to get out of the underunderground. Once he hit open air, Eli would be free to unleash his own brand if hell fire until then, the clock was ticking.

More opposition came to intercept them - Serpentfolk, a Behemoth, more Artificial Vampires and Fake Elves, but all fell against Elijah, who managed to find a way out of the labyrinth; however, just as the open air was advantegeous to the pyrokinetic, so it was advantageous to the False Ophanim and the False Angels who came swooping in out of the sky, launching spears and bolts of light at the man, while protecting themselves with Hard-Light barriers and constructs...

((TL;DR - Olivia tries to negotiate with Isabella, but things go wrong and Elijah has to rescue her.))

[Raijinslayer]

Jaden sighed as he heard the roar of battle reverberate throughout the base.

Looks like we have company.

He left his room, quickly moving through the halls towardsthe sounds of explosions and csrnage, the smell of burning flesh stagnating the air. As he came to the site of the battle, he began to shift into his more battle ready form.

Bones slid over his form, layering over each other and compressing to form a thick exo-skeleton. From his back sprouted a tensile tail with a large spear-like extrusion at the tip, as well as four similarly flexible tendrils. Two pairs of eyes staring out from the pale, ivory carapace, his mouth now filled with razor sharp fangs, his hand tipped in razor-sharp claws.

Jaden leaned forward a little, before rocketing upward, cracking the ground as he flew up high, before he came down with intense speed, seeking to smash into Elijah were he stood.

[RoflsMazoy]

Ruby's extraction squad - Entrance Strategy, part 1

"Yuck!" Sal said, looking over the edge of the railing, "This sewer is gross!"

The water was a rather horrid shade of brown, suspicious lumps sometimes bobbing to the surface.

"What did you expect?" Alto said as he inspected the maps in his hands, "It's a sewer."

"Why did I follow you here anyway?" she grumbled, covering her nose with her scarf.

"I told Theo and Con to stay behind and look after you, but you said you wanted to see me," Alto said, "And I said I was going into a sewer, but you followed me anyway."

"Yeah, I know..." She moved closer towards Alto, probably to move away from the source of the smell. Alto studied his map some more. He'd printed off some stuff about the compound, and they were currently in a sewer system relatively close to the underground movement's base of operations. He hadn't really known that the Underground part in the name was literal, usually that kind of thing just meant 'secret' but in a really roundabout way.

"If I'm right, then this will do." He folded his maps and put them into one of his pockets, then he put his right hand to the ground and his left arm forward, and started queuing up some commands. This was a technique he had learnt recently, queuing up commands for his arms to utilize at a moments notice. He was going to need it for this.

Closing his eyes, he envisioned what he needed. He saw the wall in his mind, and the dirt behind it, and zoomed out until he could see the another wall on the other side. He imagined a laser carving a hole all the way from him until it touched the other wall, disintegrating everything between it, and he imagined black steel veins following its path of destruction, building supports behind it.

He felt his right arm and his left arm react according to his will. He opened his eyes and let loose.

A giant burst of blue energy erupted from his palm, almost going straight through the wall in front of him. Black veins raced ahead from his right hand as the blue laser dissipated. When the dust had cleared, he had a perfectly circular stable tunnel. He walked towards one of the black steel supports, tapping it a few times and punching it for good measure. It held pretty well the tunnel probably wasn't at risk of collapsing. Although, if someone found the tunnel, it was probably going to get blocked up or something.

This isn't really legal after all. Alto thought, Then again, we are Illegal Stuff Pty. Ltd.

He continued walking down his newly created tunnel, Sal following behind him. He reached the end and found himself at a solid steel wall.

"Alright, I'm pretty sure this is our entrance strategy." Alto said.

"Is this...?" Sal said hesitantly,

"Yeah." Alto said, "This should lead to the hallways in one of the bathrooms."

"Why would you want to go to the bathrooms?" Sal asked,

"It's the closest thing to the sewer." He said, as he started some work on the wall. "You'd better get back in a sec, I'm cutting out the wall."

He raised a finger on his left hand and activated a precision laser. He'd tested it many times before and it was able to seamlessly cut objects. Hopefully he was going to be able to cut the wall out and replace it after he went in, and no one would notice.

"I'm going in," He said as he finished, "Stay behind, text Damien and Sefia if I don't come back."

"...Alright." He sat down on the wall, watching as Alto carefully eased out a large section of wall and entered the facility.

[Lord Santa]

Loki analysed the information in front of him silently, thinking for a few minutes. He pulled out his phone and made a new message which he addressed to Stucorp.

To Mr. Wessex

I'm about to send you some information I just found on a computer somewhere under the underground movement. It's in a weird lab with some weird creatures in it. I'll send you some pictures as well, but some of the info is encrypted with a really annoying encryption thing, so I'll have you look that over.

The Trickster

He hit the send button and the message was gone, hopefully being received and redirected to Cedric's cell.
Good thing satellites reached this far underground... Loki thought.
He synced his mobile with the computer and copied the information onto his phone. As it began, Loki glanced around. The computer was on a messy desk in a room with barely any lights. There was a half-empty coffee mug full of cold coffee, and there were papers scattered around the desk. He checked the progress of the upload and saw that it was still taking a while, and it would take time to be done. Loki tapped his foot nervously, worried about the threat of detection. He glanced around, ascertaining where the door was.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps growing louder. He stopped tapping his foot and silently willed the upload to go faster. The footsteps grew closer and closer, until they reached the door. Loki dashed into the shadows, unsure whether the upload finished or not. A quick glance at it showed that it was. Relieved, he promptly disappeared as the scientist opened the door.

--------------------------------------

Isaac stood in the doorway, sure something was amiss. He'd been making his rounds to check on his creations. He'd come back for his cup of coffee, but something felt out of place. He glanced around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He checked his desk and saw that his computer was still on. Suspicious, he checked his files. None of them were missing or damaged. But he was certain that he had turned it off... He took his glasses off. If there was an invisible meta here, then he would see them. He scanned the room, but there was nothing. He was sure that he'd turned his computer off, which meant that someone was just here. Isaac stalked warily out of the room, but it would be too late to catch Loki. He was already gone.

-------------------------------------

Thankfully, the old sewer system still had street level exits, and a door burst open from one of them. Loki reappeared, out of breath. He'd been holding it in all the way since the scientist walked into the room, even when he was taking pictures. He quickly brought out his phone once again and sent the files to Cedric, hoping they would reach him. They seemed to be dossiers of several metas, and there were quite a number of them from the underground movement. And those creatures... Loki was sure that Cedric would like to know about them. Unfortunately, the files for the monsters were encrypted, but he'd probably crack it sooner or later. He sent another text to Cedric.

Alright, those are the files. Also, I need some more hardware. I need some weapons. I'd like some flash grenades, stun grenades and smoke grenades, and a few clips for a five-seven pistol. Take whatever it costs from my paycheck. I'll pick them up at night, probably.

The Trickster

With the message, files and pictures sent, Loki took a break and caught his breath. It'd been a while since he'd been that tense. There was a kind of murderous aura coming from the lab coated man, and Loki didn't really want to see why. He got up and brushed himself off. He'd done a few things today.

He'd gotten some information and he'd devised a plan. But if the files were right, then kidnapping pseudo-virgin Mary would be trickier than he thought.

[Archmage MC]

"Oh. cool. You fought the Jersey Devil. I haven't found that guy yet. I search for him every time I go to Jersey, guess that's why I haven't found him." Light said with a laugh. She figured it was something else from what he was communicating, but she wasn't completely sure what it was. The two of them exchanged stories while a couple agents watched, the trays piling up around Light from the food she was eating. Most agents knew about Light, she was very sociable around the office to those who would listen, but apparently they didn't know much about Owlman.

"So, do you stay in the office most of the time like Cedirc, or do you go out on patrol and do missions? I'm sure if you wanna do the latter, I could probably find you some fans if your interested. Though signing stuff gets tiring or... weird." Light said, trailing off with a nervous laugh.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

He put two talons on the table a mimed walking to show that he was mostly out and about. That was the whole point, being out amongst normal people. He kind of wished he had more opportunities to fight crime, because you didn't find crime while out walking around nearly as much as comic books lead you to believe. Sometimes the council would call, turn him on to a crime in progress, but unless it was Meta-crime the cops were usually better equipped to handle it so that didn't happen often.

He'd never really had anyone swing by and give him a mission, send him jetting off to someplace out of town. He supposed he didn't have enough local stuff under his belt yet.

[Letter Bee]

Cedric was not able to further talk with Tribuo, as two new messages arrived on his smartphone, both related to New Sun. The first one was welcome news, a gift of information about the Metas and creatures inhabiting the treasonous New Sun Corporation's labyrinth. The second was bad, really bad; apparently, there was a skirmish going on at the New Sun grounds, with False Angels and Fake Ophanim out in the open. Suspecting that one of the Reformist metas had decided to move ahead without his permission, he asked security to bring up a list of all Employed Metas on the premises, and lo and behold, Olivia (and Spectrum) were missing. Seeing as Olivia was the diplomat and peacemaker of the Reformists, it didn't take someone like him to put two and two together.

Worry briefly consumed Cedric; he did like Olivia. But now was the time to move decisively. He ran up to one of the intercoms and called:

"Red Alert, Red Alert, this is Cedric Wessex speaking. A Level 5 Emergency has taken place in New Sun Corporation's headquarters in Western LA. Light, The Owlman, and Spectrum - if he's there - will come with me and new recruit Tribuo - assuming that he's ready - to assist the Army and FBI as they secure the building and open the ground up in search of hidden facilities. Meet me and Healing Spore* in the airfield in ten minutes; we're taking a helicopter."

*NPC.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

Well that seemed incredibly pertinent to what he was just thinking.

He looked to Light, and shrugs again. Something had apparently moved the scheduled up quite bit. He stood up, threw on his hat, and made his was over to the community fridge to grab a bottled water and a whole carton of orange juice. Then he tore of the top the same way most people would open up a cereal box and stuck his whole beak into the opening to lap the liquid up. The water he tossed to Light. What he was doing was crude, embarrassing, and probably wasting a lot of orange juice, but if he was going into combat he needed to be hydrated.

When Light left, he'd follow her to the helipad.

[Archmage MC]

"Welp. Guess thats it for this little chat. It was fun." Light said as the agents in the cafeteria ran to their stations, Light putting the remaining food in her mouth in a cartoonish fashion which looked very creepy in real life. She caught the water that Owlman had thrown her and put it in her pocket space as she made her way to leave the room, Owlman following her.

They made their way to the helipad. Being the first ones to arrive, Light chimed. "I wonder if its lethal or non lethal. That'll tell me what to bring and what to toss out." Whatever it was she decided, it would be fun at least. She leaned against one of the railings near the helipad landing, playing with the water bottle Owlman had thrown to her.

[NarcissisticPotato]

The events around her seemed to blur away to nothingness and eventually, even the heat radiating from Elijah's body lost its relevance. Blinking softly, she adjusted herself in his arms and reached her hand out towards her shirt. Although she was weak, she managed to drag it apart and expose the wound. It was small, barely even the width of her finger but the damage was catastrophic, to say the least. Locating just above her stomach, it seemed that it could have hit the bottom of her lung. "Mr Craigh..." She choked out, her finger dipping down into the bloody wound. "Mr Craigh... I think I'm dying." She stated clearly, frowning up at him as he fought off the hordes of creatures.

"Can I see the sky?" She questioned suddenly, ignoring the chaos surrounding her as she stared up into his eyes. Olivia was dying and they were moving much too slowly for them to escape and get her to a meta healer. It was then that her powers, preferring to stay alive, chose to act. Suddenly she felt a flare of power well up inside of her before dying quickly. Olivia barely even realised that a constellation had dotted itself along her arm, forming together with white streaks of light.

Nothing seemed to happen for a minute at least as Elijah fought on. It was only when one of the creatures dove down, attempting to catch the pyromancer unawares that the power revealed itself. Out of nowhere, a shard of stellar energy blasted through the creature, causing it to wither up and die. "I advise flying, Mr Craigh." A voice sounded behind another line of creatures which fell apart, split in two by a blade that glinted with its own light. The wielder appeared to be well... Olivia. Except that Olivia was bleeding out in his arms. "Her right lung has been punctured by the bullet. The wound itself is small but blood is leaking into her lungs. If you take a direct route to the Reformist HQ, she should make it in time."

The Clone spun, catching another creature with her blade as it shattered into dust. "I will cover your exit. Have no worries about me, I am simply a parallel of her existence." Turning, she came face to face with the Behemoth. "When she wakes up, Mr Craigh, don't tell her what happened. It's better if she forgets." The Clone shouted over the roar of the beast in front of her. As Elijah left, having been provided with an ample window by the mysterious Clone, his last fleeting glimpses was of her ripping out the heart of the Behemoth and shattering it to dust like the previous creature.

The real problem arose when the position where Olivia and Elijah originally vacated was taken up by Jaden McFadden. "Mr McFadden." The clone stated, her fingers dancing down along her blade and cleaning it of the blood of the creatures. Instead of swarming her, they backed off, now conscious of their master who was preparing to fight. "Note that I have already won this battle. Killing me will bring no harm to her - I am simply a parallel to her consciousness. I know everything about her but we are very much separated. The battle will be won but the war will be a landslide loss." She stated clearly, her fingers flexing along the grip of the hilt of her blade before hardening.

The Clone seemed to move with a speed that was hard to process. It would appear that it had the ability to combine the power of her various forms. This form was Lepus, allowing her to move with a large amount of speed. It was probably also using Pyxis and some other constellation which would allow the conjuring of a blade. Nevertheless, it darted past Jaden several times before choosing to strike with a blade-stroke that caused the air to scream around it.

[AcerRo]

Eli's heart sank a little when he saw the likes of Jaden flying towards him. He didn't have time to play with him. He had a girl bleeding out from a bullet wound that he didn'know the location of. Despite his greatest want of it, Eli didn't fight, but countered enough to buy time. Kneeling down, with his now free left hand Eli erupted as hot as he could in a moments notice. It wasn't strong or controlled but Eli unleashed a white flame that could rival any heat man could make. Eli could have killed Jaden if he had more time, the set up was too perfect but his instincts had other plans. After the blast was released Eli quickly swung around and blasted the door from which he came. Then usinf as much force as possible, he used his flame power to move them as fast and quickly as possible. If anyone was coming from that door or beyond it, they weren't gonna make without some major burns at the least.

Eli started to get mad at himself, he was too powerful to he tossing out these powerful but uncontrolled attacks. All he knew of them was how strong they were and the direction. For all knew none of these attacks were going hit marks, shit if he was honest it was every bit as likely that they would keep going on into the streets as much as fall short.

It was that momentary distraction that lead to what looked like the girl bleeding to death saving him from sea creature lookin cock sucker. When he was told to run and get her help he didn't argue he had what he came for.

Without another or even staying to listen to what the wanna be had to say Eli made a mad dash out of there, with the girl in his arms and running start Eli was airborne and much as he loved to fly this was one was gonna suck. He wasn't fast in the skys. He was never able to outrun choppers or jets but he was agile. None of that really helped as he turned his body towards the reformist council or whatever they called themselves, shut his eyes and pushed as hard as he could.

Within a few minutes Eli had made the mistake of opening his eyes. He had rather not seen this coming. He did everything he could erupt before crashing into the walls of the reformist building. The best hebwas able manage was his head and back, his limbs took a pretty bad beating in landing. After going through an office or two Eli and Olivia finally came to a stop in a hallway.

Eli had no clue where was just that he was in the right building. Breathing dangerously heavy Eli did everything he could to get a medic. As soon as one came Eli simplely said, "If she dies, you'll be neck deep in burnt up bodies." With that he past out. The stress from the landing and using so much power so fast and recklessly had caught up with him.

[Letter Bee]

Elijah's senses must have been altered by the pain of landing, because he didn't crash into the hallway, but into the airfield, where Healing Spore was, along with Cedric and the other Reformist Metas. Which was a good thing, as:

"Olivia, Eli!" the voice of Cedric Wessex can be heard. "Healing Spore, you know what you need to do!" The Healing Meta nodded, then began to release a cloud of spores that engulfed the two Metas, healing them...

"Isabella," said Cedric in fury. "I'm going to have her head if it's the last thing I do." He then turned to everyone.

"Lethal force is now authorized. Repeat, Lethal force is now authorized."

[Archmage MC]

"Well... thats not good..." Light said as Eli and Olivia fell from a nearby building into the air field. She was going to look at the two until Cedric ordered the healer meta to heal them, and then authorized lethal force. Light couldn't help but be a little happy at the prospect, as it let her fight with one of her favorite things, explosives. Speaking of which, Light darted into one of the nearby cargo hangers which had a sign that read 'Danger, High Explosives', coming out a few moments later with a large grin.

When she got back to the group who were about ready to take off, she asked. "So... any targets you want taken alive, or are all the baddies just going to be turned into paste?"

[Letter Bee]

"Take alive the CEO and Civilian Staff of New Sun Corporation, if you encounter any. Save what prisoners the Underground Movement might hold as Lab Rats or 'Prey'. Save all children or those who look like children. Everyone else, Isabella, her Metahuman cronies, her monsters, kill them all. When they take pot shots at a peacemaker, they will find that I will answer with war," Cedric responded.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

The Owlman ran up for a closer look, and shuttered. That was the woman from yesterday, the one that had wanted to try and sort things out peacefully. They'd apparently taken exception to that. As the medic spored all over them he reached out and offered a claw up to anyone willing to take it.

The order for lethal force made him uncomfortable, as did Lights apparently gleefull reaction to the prospect. The monster comment, in particular, stung. They were the good guys, right? They at least tried not to slaughter other human beings wholesale.

[Letter Bee]

"Sorry, Owlman," said Cedric to the man, placing his hand on the other Meta's shoulder. The head of the International Heroes evidently sensed The Owlman's discomfort. "It's just that...they hurt those who desire peace, they hurt those who are dear to me, those who are under my protection. How am I supposed to act when faced with such cruelty?"

"But I'll modify my orders," he continued. "It's your discretion whether to use Lethal Force or not."

@Gentlemanvaultboy