[Monday, October 6th. 10 PM.] [As per instructions, you've all made your way to a Metrocard machine. And because you're all so punctual, you all touch the upper-left corner of the screen at precisely 10 PM. And which point you experience a sensation best described as 'being yanked by the off-stage oversized hook of time and space.'] [After a moment of disorientation, you each find yourselves alone in a small, bare room with a full-length mirror, a bench, and a couple of hooks on a door.] [A voice suddenly starts speaking from somewhere you can't identify; it's immediately recognizeable as that of Solaris. "Welcome, everyone. Since most of you probably didn't go down into subway stations in costume, we've had you teleported into secure, unmonitered rooms where you can get into costume. We understand how important your secret identities are."] ["When you're ready, please exit the rooms and take a seat at the table, and we'll start the briefing." She pauses for a moment. "And thank you all for coming."] [Session Start] * Jacqueline 's slightly trembling, gloved(mostly gloved, anyway; there's no black leather covering her fingers) hand is pulled up so that her nails can be idly inspected as she murmurs, "Oh, darling, quite the contrary; I even made a few alterations, just for you." Her hand is then extended to pull the door open so that she can exit. * Jacqueline is of moderate height with carefully trimmed, neck-length black hair and an attire consisting of a black labcoat(with red trim), a short black skirt(with red/yellow/orange flames), a pouch-covered belt, and roughly thigh-length black boots. Also a small number of thick, grey chains criss-crossing her torso, positioned just so to barely skirt the CCA guidelines. [Jacqueline is the first to exit, and walks out into a large room with a huge, circular table in the center, with a castle-like insignia in the center. Fifteen high-backed chairs surround the table, and standing alongside two of them are Solaris and Eternal Warrior. A large bank of screens and computers are along one wall, and a translucent three-dimensional image is sitting at the computers, staring up at multiple screens.] * Christian heads on in and doesn't seem particularly concerned, because if he's in costume, it doesn't really show. He's shaking his head muttering under his breath, "Pshaw...all this fuckin' secrecy..." He looks to be a medium-height boy in his late teens with dark brown hair, with a streak of it dyed red and tied to hang on his left side, with a couple of beeds in his hair. Green eyes and a slightly tan complexion compliment his punkish attire. * Christian 's wearing a white shirt, faded denim jacket, and boots to complement the ensemble. Also with chain bracelets around both wrists and a stud in his left ear. He's adjusting his bracelets as he walks out. [Solaris nods at Jacqueline as she enters; Eternal Warrior grins as Christian walks in. "Greetings, young warrior!" His grins fades a bit as he notices Jacqueline, though.] * TheRedcoat blinks, looks around, and nods approvingly at the orientation. She's a pale-ish woman in her late twenties, currently wearing a charcoal-grey sweaterdress with a wide black belt, black leggings and high-heeled boots, large sunglasses, and a red bag slung around her shoulders. * TheRedcoat reaches into the bag and pulls something out of it, simultaneously ducking through the strap. Turns out what she's grabbing is the inside of the bag itself, which she shakes out and slips into almost before it's recognizable as a bunched-up trenchcoat. The strap turns out to be a sash, with which she loosely ties the coat closed. * TheRedcoat then reaches into the coat again to pull out a red fedora with a black band on it and a pair of black gloves that she puts on. She pulls a cowl-like thing out of the neck of her dress, brings it up over the bridge of her nose, and pulls it taut. * TheRedcoat inspects herself, ties her medium-length dark brown hair with auburn highlights into a slightly messy bun, and steps out into the room. * Mizuki arrives in her room in costume and glowing slightly, making the process easy as she just blinks, listens for a long moment, and then opens the door available to her! She would only stand 5'4", if she weren't floating a few inches off the ground, and is an asian woman dressed in classic Shinto priestess garb: white kimono, red cord, red hakima-like bottom, and sandals. * Christian glances at Eternal Warrior a bit with an even expression. "Costume. Ya didn't say nothin' bout no fuckin' costume y'know." He grins a little and jets his hand out. "Good to see ya again, though." [Solaris walks over to Redcoat as she enters. "Glad to see you decided to give this a shot."] * Horus orients herself, then smiles gratefully at having a changing room. She's an extremely pretty, fairly curvy Black woman in her early twenties, with wavy black hair that spills well past her shoulders. She digs into her purse, pulls out a gold half-mask with wedjat markings around the eyes, an opaque white gem in the center of the forehead, a beak where the nose is, and places it on her face. * Horus 's clothes - tight jeans, boots, and a shirt that shows her midriff - instantly become a shimmering gold, and her skin picks up a golden sheen, making it difficult to pick out her exact features. She lets out a breath, adjusts her purse (an ordinary brown leather thing), and heads into the meeting room. * Jacqueline 's reaction to the Eternal Warrior's presence is similar. Although her 'fading grin' is more of a quick reach into her coat pocket to reveal a tube that's rapidly unfolding into a bulky sci-fi gun pointed at the deific champion. Hello. [Eternal Warrior shrugs. "Not everyone wears a costume, but experience has taught us to be sensative to those who do, for they usually have good reason to keep their identities hidden."] * TheRedcoat inclines her head at Solaris briefly, glances over at the rest of the people already there/who are entering, and nods at them as well. * Christian whistles as he catches a glimps of Horus, not quite hearing Eternal Warrior. Then catches a glimpse of the rest of the group. "Wait...all chicks?" He doesn't sound condescending with it, just kind of caught him. [Eternal Warrior turns to Mizuki, and bows his head slightly.] * Horus glances at Christian. "Got a problem with that?" she asks, before going to the table and having a seat. Now she looks around at all of the others. * Mizuki bows her head back, still floating, then looks to Jackie having her gun out and asks, clearly puzzled, "Shouldn't you be... more concerned by the gun? Or is that just how you greet eachother?" [Solaris blinks, and hustles over to Jacqueline. "Jacqueline..."] * TheRedcoat looks around at Christian's comment, and finally speaks. "Unless someone is hiding something, I suppose." There's a slight burr to her voice that sounds like a touch of some sort of accent, probably a cross between British and some flavor of Eastern European. [The Eternal Warrior facepalms as he sees Jacqueline draw her gun, turning away as Solaris moves to deal with it. "I'm used to it."] * TheRedcoat blinks and stares a bit at Horus, then half-shrugs a little and takes a seat at the table with plenty of room on either side. * Horus , from her one question, sounds like a born and bred New Yorker. Definitely not an import, that one. * Christian chuckles at Horus. "Naaah, not if it's you, babe. Just...weird is all. I'd expected at least *another* guy is all." He gestures his hand vaguely, waving it off, then goes towards a seat. * Jacqueline 's eyes move sidelong towards Solaris as she's hustled towards. "Solaris." [Solaris points at the gun. "What are you doing?"] * TheRedcoat , for the record, seems to have noted and then completely ignored the gun byplay. * Jacqueline 's eyebrow arches slightly. "Pointing a gun at someone. I realize that you didn't inherit the vision powers of an exploding sun, but really." A beat, and then she turns her eyes more fully towards Solaris to flash her a smile that verges on being inappropriate for pointing a weapon at someone. "How are /you/, though?" * Horus must figure Solaris can take care of herself, as she keeps her attention on Christian. "Me too, really... maybe a bigger gender ratio than I thought on that ship." ["Fine. Better if you'd put the gun away, though."] * Mizuki squints a moment, then even as she looks at the gun, idly responds, "About what you'd expect on the balance, given the conditions. It's been a long time since women got to really be on the front lines." * Mizuki then starts and shakes her head before actually looking at everyone else and floating slowly towards an unoccupied chair. [Eternal Warrior shrugs. "Many of the my most fiersome allies and foes have been women. It's the warrior's heart that matters, not the form."] * Christian nods and puts his feet up on the table, relaxing in the chair. "Yeah, I guess." He glances at Jacqueline, but doesn't seem to be doing anything to stop her. "What's her deal then?" Oh, her? * Jacqueline sighs a put-upon sigh as she returns her attention to the Eternal Warrior. "I suppose. For you. I reserve the right to shoot him if he annoys me." The gun doesn't collapse, but once she's made her way to her chair, it is set before her on the table and not pointed at much of anyone. * Horus looks to Jackie, then back to Christian. "Used to be a supervillain, I think. Jacqueline Hyde. She's all 'reformed', but the gun's not making a great case." He'll get better. Really, a lot of fuss for nothing. Hadn't heard of the reformed bit. Yeah. Note the fuckin' air quotes. [Solaris shakes her head, and sighs. Eternal Warrior just rubs his temples. The figure at the computers, meanwhile, calls out. "If everyone would take a seat, we'll start filling you in on what the hell's been going on."] * TheRedcoat looks at Jacqueline curiously at that tidbit of information. * Horus looks to Solaris, now that she's not all busy with the gun and stuff. "Hey, Ms. Supervillain ain't workin' with us, is she?" * Mizuki gives the Eternal Warrior a slight smile of acknowledgement before she moves to that chair and just floats there, pulling her legs up into a floating seiza. * Christian shrugs slightly then takes his feet down off the table, just listening in on the convo now. * TheRedcoat starts at the voice from the direction of the computers and looks over there instead. [Solaris nods slowly at Horus, then motions for her to take a seat.] * Jacqueline pulls the sleek, red goggles resting atop her head off to comb her fingers back through her hair as she comments, "It's been months since anything of mine tried to destroy anything else." Beat. "Years since the last time it was on purpose; I choose not to count the little incident in Senegal." Well. Illegally, anyway; I wouldn't be my fabulous self without a measure of destruction. * Horus rolls her eyes at Jackie's statement(s). What happened in Senegal? * Jacqueline flashes a winning smile at Horus, with that. Her fingers lace together so that her chin can rest atop them. "So. We've changed, haven't we?" She then glances sidelong towards Christian to offhandedly remark, "A mechanical plague got a touch out of control." * Christian rolls his eyes slightly. "Oh yeah. Fuckin' brilliant that." [The figure gets up and walks over; it's a 3D image of a punkish teenage girl, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, with short spiky hair and glasses. "Some of you know me, some of you don't. My name is Sister Admin."] * Horus nods to the hologram, because she'd rather talk to it than Jacqueline. * TheRedcoat blinkblinkblinks. "I assume that is an avatar." ["Yes. For security reasons, I don't make personal appearances."] * Christian huhs a bit at the hologram and looks over at the girl. He seems to be looking her over, with a mixture of curiosity and something else. * TheRedcoat inclines her head again. "Makes sense." * Mizuki looks over at the girl, smiles faintly to herself, and then looks back to the table. * Jacqueline simply turns her smile towards Sister Admin as she remarks, "Healthy amount of paranoia." * Christian leans back a bit after things get settled. "What *is* the deal with the security right now anyway? I mean what's this all about? ["For those of you that don't know me, I serve as an information and intel repository for the Rampart and the hero community as a whole, as well as providing logistical and tehcnical support."] * Horus addresses Christian: "What Dr. Hyde said. Keep your identity under wraps so people don't hunt you and yours." [Solaris chimes in. "I'll address that. All of you have been attacked over the past few days."] * TheRedcoat might be making a face at that, but it's tough to tell behind the cloth covering half her face and the sunglasses. * Jacqueline points a finger towards herself as she helpfully notes, "By foes with exquisite foresight, judging from my being included in the festivities." ["The reason for that, as I told the people I met with, and as I'm sure Eternal Warrior told those he did, was that we've been trying to put together a team to help us deal with the chaos that's been spreading these past couple of months."] * Christian glances at Horus and rolls his eyes. "I ain't *that* dim. I'm meaning why pull all of us together like this?" He then glances at Solaris and nods. * Horus frowns a little at Christian's response, but she goes back to paying attention to Solaris. [Sister Admin waves her hand, and video images of the villains who attacked each of you comes up on the biggest screen. "The villains who attacked you are all mercinaries for hire: Dog Pilum, Mac the Knife, Grenadeer, ChakRam, and..." Sister Admin grumbles slightly. "... Ugg the Barbarian What Throws Large Things At Heads of People."] Well, one thing's for fuckin' certain. He lives up to his name. * TheRedcoat barely suppresses a huge snerk at that last one. * Christian groans and rubs his head. * Jacqueline mutters, "Henchpeople now. Honestly." * TheRedcoat leans back a little. "In my case, there were also these strange melting characters with axes." ["They're all primarily independant operators, but they've been known to work together for larger jobs, based on their similar fighting styles, as part of a team known as the Kitchen Cinco."] Who were complete amateurs, might I add. Mine had the foresight to inundate me with fanboys begging me to sign their throwing hatchets. * Jacqueline sighs wistfully. "Perhaps I should have been kinder to her." Can't all be villains, but they were around when I got attacked, too. * Christian shakes his head. "Amateurs except when there's a lot of them. Still punks." He then looks at Solaris. "So you're sayin' they're goons for hire?" Probably more pleasant than having to watch a setup that was more painful than a middle school play enacted by turnips. ["Ah yes, the henchmen." She waves her hand again, and a picture of a group of a dozen axe-wielding guys comes up. "The Axe Effect. Cloned thugs for hire. Not very competant, but dangerous in large numbers."] * Horus mutters, "HATE that fuckin' name." * Jacqueline purses her lips at the image and lets out a soft groan. "Well, /cloning/ makes it just the wrong sort of tawdry." * Mizuki just nods at the axe-scussion, smiling slightly after Redcoat's last statement. Then she comments, "And they were to break up the non-group." * Christian looks at Horus. "Worse than "Ugg the Barbarian What THrows Large Things At Heads of People?"" ... Yes. [Eternal Warrior grumbles at the mention of Axe Effect. "Damn bastards made me drop a pint of really good beer..."] Dude, the guy who cloned himself probably USES Axe. It'd be why he never gets laid. Well, all of his clones use axes, so it would seem to be logical. * Christian snickers at Horus's last statement. ["We've determined that they were hired to attack you in order to prevent us from approaching you all for recruitment. I've identified the security flaw that allowed them to figure out who we were looking at, and it shouldn't happen again; I apologize for allowing it in the first place." She frowns. "I was taught better than that."] [Solaris stands up. "Be that as it may, you're all here, so I should probably explain why."] Well. Here's the thing: Why *would* they want to stop us from gettin' together in the first place? I mean..." He then glances at Solaris for explanation and then sits back down. "Sorry." * Horus folds her arms on the table. Now they're getting to the better part. * Jacqueline looks towards Christian with arched eyebrows and a soft, quasi-sincere smile. "Why /would/ anyone want to stop a contingent of the last few worthwhile superhumans on Earth from coming together?" * Christian snorts at Jacqueline's statement. "Y'know what I mean. No need to be bitchy 'bout it." [Sister Admin waves her hand again, and an image of a reasonably handsome young man in an ornate blood-red cloak comes up on screen, with energy swirling around him, as Solaris starts talking. "This is Master Magus. A young sorcerer of enormous power, specializing in trans-dimensional summoning, along with various destructive magics."] * Mizuki looks over at Solaris a moment, then glances to the screen. ["He made a big splash on the scene when he appeared about three years ago, becoming infamous for a series of seemingly random attacks." More images popped up. "He summoned a horde of carnivorous demon plants and set them loose at a vegan convention."] Guy's got style at least. * TheRedcoat suppresses another snerk at that. ["He created a race of adorable death kittens that could only be killed via manual strangulation."] * Horus winces. "That's just a dick move." [Another image comes up, of a huge, steaming techno-magical monstrosity. "On a bet, he created a foul eldrich war machine that was powered by both puppies *and* orphans."] Yes, but what has he done *lately*? Aside from apparently trying to arrange our deaths. [Sister Admin chimes in. "He also claimed to have been responsible for Firefly being cancelled, but I suspect that was just showing off."] * Jacqueline 's mouth is pressed into a thin and distasteful line at that. "Well. Orphans are rather frowned upon, their extreme potential energy aside." * Mizuki is just frowning normally at his list of misdeeds. "You wouldn't think he'd have to lie, given his record." [Solaris turns to Redcoat. "We thought nothing, because he was killed a year and a half ago."] It sounds like he read his portfolio straight out of a "how-to" villainy book. Fuckin' prick. * TheRedcoat settles back again and crosses her arms. "Arranging assassinations seems pretty active for a dead man." This /would/ be the first time someone in the business came back to life. Could have been some plans in place in case he died, yeah? But I doubt that's what we're here for you to tell us, right? [Eternal Warrior speaks up. "He was a foul and cruel man, causing suffering for its own sake, and to increase his own prominance. I engaged him in battle, along with a nameless martial artist of incredible skill; after hours of battle, I finally fought through his defensive magiks and cleft both him and his protector in two with one swipe of my axe."] * Christian looks between Redcoat and Solaris with that statement. * Jacqueline twirls her finger slightly through the air as Eternal Warrior speaks of Magus' slaying, but she keeps silent, at least. [Solaris nods at Redcoat. "Obviously, he's back. He was the one on TV claiming responsibility for the disappearance of all the heroes, and we've had a confermed sighting of him in the last couple of weeks."] * Horus nods. "Yeah, I remember seein' that." * Christian sits back in his chair and just listens for now, looking over each one in the group at the moment. [An image appears on the screen of a floating top-half of a body that looks suspiciously like Master Magus surrounded by magical energy, along with what appears to be a set of hips and legs in a ready stance next to him.] ["Somehow, his top half survived, and he's taken control of the lower half of his companion. He's now calling himself Half-Man-Half-A-Magus."] ... Well, that's... ...vaguely terrible. Dumb? It's fuckin' dumb. * Mizuki replies, "Power... does not care what you think of it. That's why it's power." [Sister Admin reacts similarly. "He always was one for self-promotion. That's apparently why he engineered those attacks; it got him the Villain of the Year award two years ago."] * Horus shakes her head. [Eternal Warrior nods in agreement. "His main cause was to get others to agree with his own sense of greatness."] * Jacqueline smooths her hands down her front with pursed lips at that statement, and then once they've laced again she mutters, "They really /aren't/ what they used to be." * Christian glances at Mizuki for a moment. "Still fuckin' dumb." He then gives her a bit of a half smile and settles back into his chair. [Solaris continues, frowning. "As far as we can tell, he's the one that's been organizing the villains into a coherent group, and he's the one that's behind behind most of the attacks. The reason we've gathered you here is because... well, frankly, he's winning."] * Horus nods in agreement. "It's a fucking warzone out there." * TheRedcoat scratches at her cheek, but does not comment otherwise. * Christian rubs his chin for a moment. "Huh.." He doesn't otherwise comment. Believe me, that would look /quite/ a bit different, Mr. Madame. ["The heroes that stayed behind were supposed to keep things quiet for a short time until all the other heroes returned from space, but the system was only designed to handle normal levels of attacks. We've been overwhelmed by the volume, and we've started to take losses."] * Mizuki will smile back at Christian, but then look to Solaris and just nod slightly. * Jacqueline primps her hair slightly before /again/ giving herself a place to rest her chin. "But yes, things are getting rather chaotic. Not wholly unsurprising, considering; it's not the most stable of systems, is it, the one that we've been relying on?" [A picture appears on screen of a large Sikh man with a huge two-handed sword, standing in front of a taxi. "The Cabbie Warrior, Hack'n Slash, was overwhelmed and killed three weeks ago."] [Solaris eyes Jacky for a moment, then takes a deep breath and continues. Another image appears, of a Hasidic man with a big grin on his face. "The fastest Jew on Earth, Moyel/Second, was our speedster. He was killed two weeks ago when he was lured into a trap and ran into a web of razor-sharp microfilament wire."] * Horus grimaces. "Ouch." * Christian looks at Jacqueline. "I think that's why all this, sweetheart." He then winces at Solaris's statement. * Jacqueline winces slightly as she murmurs offhandedly, "Decidedly /un/kosher, that." * Horus glares at Jackie. She'd been doing a good job of ignoring her up until then, with all the chatter, but she totally heard that one. * Mizuki frowns, then murmurs to herself in Japanese, * Jacqueline flashes another winning smile in Horus' direction before directing her attention to Solaris once again. [Another picture, this time of a group three black men and one black woman: an older black man in a dark purple suit, a younger black man in a simiar outfit, a beautiful young woman in a long, slinky dark-purple dress with elbow-length velvet gloves, and a bespectacled young man in a purple t-shirt and jeans. "One of our two major sources of magic... Motown's greatest magi, the Sorceror Supremes."] * TheRedcoat blinks and glances over at Mizuki for a moment, then looks back. * Horus catches that smile, too, and is full of the glare... but at Solaris' next comment, her attention snaps back to the picture. [Solaris lowers her head, and Sister Admin steps forward. "Father Funk, Brother Blues, Sister Soul, and Zeppo were attacked by Master Magus himself."] * Horus 's eyes widen. "Them, too?" * Christian seems to be following along and ponders. "...so wait. Are you sayin' we're about all that's left? That's fuckin' crazy." That can't be... ["Brother Blues was killed, and Sister Soul was seriously injured. She and Father Funk would've died if Zeppo hadn't sacrifice himself to drive Master Magus off."] [Solaris shakes her head. "Not quite. But our numbers are dwindling fast."] * Horus leans back into her chair. She looks a bit sick. * Mizuki looks to Horus a moment, then looks to Solaris. "So it is extermination." * Christian nods slightly. And gets a little more quiet. Death has a wonder for sobering up. ["Pretty much. They've been targeting our capabilities one by one... magic, brute force, speed..."] * TheRedcoat fidgets a bit and starts to reach into her coat, then looks around, sighs, and withdraws her hand. * Jacqueline 's arms are pulled back and stretched upwards above her head as she eyes the others' dawning understanding a moment. She then returns to the Eternal Warrior and wonders aloud, "I wonder when they'll hunt our godly champions down; ah well." [Another picture comes up, this time of a somewhat discheveled, nerdy looking man in his late 20s. "Jonathan Potts-Chambers. One of the most brilliant scientific minds in the world."] [Eternal Warrior scowls. "They've tried. And failed."] * Christian points to Jacqueline off-hand, not looking at her. "Why her then?" * Jacqueline then returns to the pictures and the heroines displaying them. "Finding them, that kind of thing; is that on us, or is there any intel to utilize?" They've tried. And failed. Well you wouldn't fuckin' *be* here if they succeeded. [Solaris continues. "He was left behind as our tech guy, in part because of the way his power worked... he was a genius by any definition, but while sitting on the toilet he was capable of solving virtually any problem." She grins sadly. "He insisted that he be given the code name Shit for Brains."] But I meant more you ain't a hero, doll. Why target you? * TheRedcoat straightens up at Jacqueline's question. "Yes, all of this is very depressing, I am sure, but is there something connecting these attacks that will give a lead or something? * TheRedcoat looks at Christian. "I am not a hero either, and I was also targeted both for recruitment and, apparently, for death." * Jacqueline 's hands fall to the table, knitted before her. "Well, /actually/, I've been str--working with your lot for the last several years, dear." Solaris finally recognized my talent. What can I say?" * Mizuki rubs her face a moment at the Solaris comment, then replies lowly, "First, for the enemy. Then, they turned upon t he traitors, the undesirables." [Solaris turns to Christian. "They targeted Jacqueline because they killed our first choice." She pauses at Redcoat's statement, and turns slowly to her. "... these were brave men and women I've worked with for years. Show some goddamn respect."] * Horus just sits there, still looking rather sick. Yeah, makes sense. Who'd take her in *willingly*? I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but I'm not sure what going over their deaths is going to do to help avenge them and finish this off. Which I'm sure is what you want, yes? * Christian looks at Redcoat for a moment, then to Solaris. "She's got a bit of a goddamned point. What *are* we goin' to do about all this?" [Solaris scowls. "I'm trying to give you all a grasp of how serious the situation is, and why we've brought you all here. Of the original group that was left behind, only four are left: myself, Eternal Warrior, American Dream, and our other magic person."] * Christian sighs slightly and softens a little bit. "Look. We get it...but...all this ain't helpful, yeah?" * TheRedcoat settles down and mutters, "You could've just said *that*..." [Eternal Warrior stands up, and motions to Solaris that he's going to take over; she glares at him for a moment, then nods and falls silent.] * Jacqueline , at best, scoffs gently at Christian, and after noting, "She's got /my/ point, I believe, but that's all well and good," she joins Solaris in glaring at the Eternal Warrior for taking over. It is a show of soladarity, of course. That's why it's lingering so long. ["No, she couldn't have. All those who've fallen were among the most powerful heroes this world had; you all need to know what you're up against." He starts pacing around the table. "We're not enough. We're bandages on a bullet wound. We're just reacting, but we're getting worn down, and sooner or later we're going to be overwhelmed."] ["We've brought you here because we want to take the fight to them."] * Christian puts his fists together. "Now we're talkin'. I've been lookin' forward to takin' it to those axe assholes ever since they tried to carve it into me." * TheRedcoat leans forward. "Yes, that was what I was told." * Jacqueline mms softly and nods in understanding. "Catch them where they rest, by surprise, when they least expect it. Replacing one of their weapon lover's favorite armaments with an IED, perhaps..." ["We know the identities of some of those working with Half-Man-Half-A-Magus. Sister Admin is working on tracking them. In addition to helping to stop attacks, we want you all to go after these people, and get them off the street. Whittle down their numbers, even the odds."] * Jacqueline thinks back to a particular incident as she trails off and sighs wistfully. * Horus speaks up now, for the first time in a while: "Alive?" It's unclear if she'd prefer things that way or not. * Christian glances over at Horus with that. It might be an important question. [He keeps walking around the table. "Each of you was selected because, whatever your backgrounds, you have unique skills that are critical to this this job." Solaris interjects to respond to Horus. "Preferably, yes."] * TheRedcoat cheers up a little. "An active ro--" she catches the response to Horus and sighs. "Right." * Mizuki licks her lips a moment, then frowns at the killing talk. * Horus nods to Solaris, swallowing once. * Christian rubs the side of his head slightly at the conversation. But he seems to be following along. [Eternal Warrior walks behind each of you. "Brute force. Divine power. Spiritual might. Stealth and infiltration." He stops behind Jacky. "... technical genius. Each of these are critical to what needs to be done."] * Jacqueline 's fingers unlace slightly, for some reason, when Eternal Warrior nears her chair. They kind of brush along the length of her gun. [He moves along to stand alongside Solaris' chair. "We've called you here because the world calls for help. Are you ready to answer?"] * TheRedcoat looks around at each quality he mentions, matching them to the people involved. * Horus does as well, mostly because she's watching the Eternal Warrior circle the table. When he stops and asks his question, she responds, "Why I'm here." [He pauses, then flashes a slightly embarassed grin. "Was that too much? I sometimes flash back to Agincourt when I get worked up."] * TheRedcoat blinks again. "We are here, aren't we?" * Christian rolls his eyes at all the dramatic speech stuff. "Yeah. I'm in." * Jacqueline cheerily remarks, "Sometimes, I flash forward to shooting you over and over until the twitching stops; we all have our lapses, sweetie." Also, I'm in. * Horus glances at Jackie at her statement. * Mizuki glances to Jackie, then looks back to the Eternal Warrior, chuckles and replies, "It almost makes me feel as if I should speak similarly." [Eternal Warrior, apparently used to such statements from Jacky, just shrugs it off and sits down as Solaris stands back up. "I apologize for the hard sell here, but I wouldn't feel right if I didn't make sure you all knew what you were getting yourselves into."] * Christian rolls his eyes at the two ladies. This is going to be a long group. Considering the reason that I'm in this city in the first place...consider me informed. ["We have no idea what happened to the missing heroes; right now, we have no idea how to get them back. There are other heroes out there, but they're scattered, and they're being overwhelmed. You were all picked because you came recommended, or because you're just good at what you do."] * Mizuki is silent a moment, then replies to Solaris with, "I truly have to wonder what brought me to your eyes. Kamis know this... is not what I would do normally." * Christian looks up at the ceiling slightly. "I'd have no idea what kind of idiot must have recommended me." ["Our magical person is aware of you, and thinks highly of your work. As do your former colleagues in Japan."] * Christian leans back in the chair and cracks his knuckles. * Mizuki starts at that last part, then turns her head aside. "They are far too gracious. And too young to know better." [Sister Admin responds to Christian. "Nobody. You were an unknown, but I started tracking the reports of random property damage, and we pretty quickly realized what kind of power you were packing."] * TheRedcoat shifts a bit in her seat and looks around at everyone else again. * Horus looks to Christian and raises an eyebrow... not that anyone can see it. * Christian snorts and grins slightly at Sis. Admin. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment, doll." * Jacqueline lowly remarks, "If only it were /always/ that simple," as she finally takes her hand away from her gun to fold them before herself again. {Solaris clears her throat. "... this is going to sound more that a little silly, but in the interests of having you all know who the hell you are, I'd like everyone to introduce themselves and give a quick summary of what you can do." Sister Admin grins at that. "I'd offer to do it, but I think that'd come off as creepy."} ... Yeah, okay. Just go around the table, then? * Christian rubs his knuckles. "Very fuckin' creepy. Kinda cute that I've got a stalker though." [Solaris nods. "Sure. You want to start, Horus?"] [Sister Admin rolls her eyes at Christian. "Don't flatter yourself."] Yes, from what I have heard, she stalks everyone. * Christian looks at Horus and takes second note of the name. Not like he hasn't heard of her but it never hurts to take a second look. He grins at Sis. Admin though and gives her a wink. ["Exactly."] Secret admirers for all; it's really quite charming. * Horus nods. "A'ight." She looks to the other girls (and guy). "I'm Horus. My powers are I turn into a big ball of light." She grins slightly. "And fly. I can make fire, wind, light, stuff like that." [Sister Admin shrugs. "I monitor patrol patterns so I can send help if people get in trouble."] [Solaris gestures to Christian.] * Jacqueline raises a hand after Horus' intro is given, and then she gestures it vaguely towards Horus' chest. She asks, "Are you sure you haven't forgotten any /other/ powers, sweetie?" with a quirked eyebrow. [Solaris *glares* at Jacky.] * Christian nods slightly and flicks a pair of sunglasses out of his coat pocket. "Name's Christian. And I guess the best way to describe it is I've got 200,000 tons of pure kinetic energy stuffed into me. So trust me to be your speedster, your brute force, your tank, whatever." He slips his shades on and glances Sis. Admin's way. "That bout sum it up?" * TheRedcoat blinks. "Horus? I haven't heard much about you, but I thought you were a man." She certainly don't *look* like any fuckin' man *I* know. Kinda hard to hide it, that. Quite. * Horus eyes Jackie, then looks to Redcoat. "Different Horus." * Jacqueline also returns Solaris' glare with an innocent smile. The last one's... gone. Ain't sayin' more than that. [Sister Admin nods at Christian. "That matches the data I've collected."] 'S fine with me. Glad to have ya on the team. Ah. * Horus looks relieved at Christian not pressing further. "Thanks," she replies with a small smile. * Christian smiles back, and it's not the cocky grin he's mostly been giving either, then gestures to Mizuki. "You're next, priestess." [Eternal Warrior chimes in. "The Horus name carries significant weight, and you walk with the blessings of your predecessor, as I understand it, which is more than good enough for me. A Horus is a Horus is a Horus, of course."] * Horus puts her hand to her face and groans. * TheRedcoat mutters under her breath. "So *that's* why the gun..." [Eternal Warrior cracks a huge grin. "Your predecessor threw me off a building for that a decade or so back. It was worth it, though."] Keep it up and you'll get a repeat performance, I'm tellin' ya... * Christian barks a laugh at that, then looks at Horus for a moment. "Sorry." * Jacqueline perks up very slightly and flashes a far more sincere smile in Horus' direction. "Well, glad to /have/ you, darling." * Mizuki just smiles very slightly, waiting, before saying, "If I may." [Eternal Warrior grins wider at Horus' response. "Exactly what your predecessor would've said."] Guys. Err, Gals. Priestess has the floor. * Horus just gives Jacqueline a look of suffering, then turns her attention to Mizuki. * Mizuki finally says, "I am Mizuki. I listen to the spirits of the earth, city, and sky. At times, they are willing to listen in return." Session Time: Wed Apr 29 00:00:00 2009 * TheRedcoat cants her head to the side. "Mizuki...a priestess from Japan...did you ever work in Tokyo, by any chance?" * Mizuki sideglances to The Redcoat. "Yes." * TheRedcoat brightens a bit. "Ah! I think I've heard of you." What brings ya to the Rotten Apple then? * Mizuki chuckles slightly and replies, "Didn't think that likely, but it happens." She then looks over to Christian, before her eyes defocus and she murmurs, "A number of things, but it was... no longer necessary I be there." * Christian nods once. "Gotcha." [Solaris looks over at Redcoat. "You're up."] * TheRedcoat straightens up and looks around AGAIN. "I'm known as The Redcoat. I have no magical powers and no real scientific prowess, but my equipment comes in handy in my line of work." * Horus waits for a moment for Redcoat to continue, but when she doesn't, she asks, "What's it do? Your equipment, I mean." I can move on nearly any surface. I have limited powers of invisibility. I can store almost anything that can fit into my coat. My fedora can be used as a weapon, as can the sash of my coat. And I have a gun. * Jacqueline looks appraisingly at The Redcoat, shrugs to herself, and comments, "Well, I'm sure it's very nice equipment." She then looks around at the assemblage a moment. "Jacqueline Hyde; I'm brilliant, and I once used hypersonic lifting technology to levitate Washington DC as an anti-Vietnam protest." * Christian snorts at that. "Modest too?" Nobody really /got/ it; not exactly my fault. * Jacqueline combs her fingers briskly through her hair as she smiles faintly in Christian's direction. "Attractive besides; what can I say? I'm a very complete package." [A door opens from one of the rooms, and a tall, square jawed man walks out. He's over six feet tall and fairly well muscled, with a weathered face and a buzz cut, and he's wearing a red white and blue costume. He's rather easily recogniziable as American Dream. "So you started without me? Fucking typical."] * Christian mutters under his breath. "You're completely somethin' alright." [Solaris scowls, but American Dream continues before she can get a word in. "Let's get a look at what you managed to scrape off the bottom'a the barrel, hmm?] * Christian looks up a little at the interruption and narrows his eyes a bit, not that it's noticeable from behind the shades. He does turn a bit into a frown though. * Jacqueline claps her hands together with mock happienss when the American Dream walks in, and as her eyes turn to him she brightly asks, "Ah, the Unwashed Mass has arrived! What took you?" * Horus eyes American Dream. The stone in her mask glows softly, and Christian can probably notice she's picking up some heat. * TheRedcoat sighs and fumbles around in her coat pockets again before catching herself and looking up. And sighing again. I was just mentioning how dreadful it is when perfectly good stories are impugned upon by unneeded sequels; wouldn't you agree? * Christian does and he looks her way. Because he's getting hot. And not in the good way that he should be from Horus. [He gives Jacky the finger. "I was out there doing real work, instead of sitting around the campfire telling stories." He turns to Solaris, and points a thumb at Jacky. "You seriously recruited this psycho?"] * Horus doesn't look back at Christian. Too busy eyeing the newcomer. * Jacqueline fingerwaves in his direction as she says, "You can speak /to/ the 'psycho' you've taken offense to, American Dream: Revolutions. I'll only bite a little." * Mizuki is looking at the spectacle a little. Out of the corner of her eye. Don't. He might enjoy it. [He keeps walking around the table, stopping behind Redcoat. "A fucking commie. And a thief to boot. Great idea." He leans around the chair and looks at her. "And I heard about the fun times you had in Central Asia. Nice work if you can get it, hmm?"] * Jacqueline glances in Solaris' direction as her fingers once again brush against the side of her gun. "Him. Can I shoot /him/? I promise it'll cauterize." * TheRedcoat rubs her temples. "I believe Communism in Russia fell a little while ago. And I believe you should know. Or is history not one of your superpowers?" [American Dream sneers at Redcoat, and moves on to Mizuki. "... the hell're you supposed to be? Some kinda Jap geisha?"] * Christian mutters under his breath. "Some winner, huh." [Eternal Warrior growls at that. "Watch your words and show some respect." American Dream just barks out a laugh in response.] * Mizuki looks up from her floating kneeling position to reply, "Geisha is not the slur you think it is." Her grip shifts on her staff and, before she then 'stands' from seiza, the mirror on the end of the staff flashing as it comes down to smack into him. [American Dream doesn't even appear to move, but Mizuki feels an impact that knocks her arm aside in mid-swing. He shakes his head. "Feisty. I like 'em feisty."] [Solaris stands up. "Dammit, stop this!" But American Dream keeps walking, moving on to Christian. "... I don't know who the fuck you are." And he keeps walking.] * TheRedcoat tilts her head at Mizuki. "But I thought it was frowned upon in this country to attack the mentally...less fortunate." * Christian stands up out of his chair at that, then looks at Mizuki and AD a bit, then watches AD pass him on, then smirks at Mizuki, whispering to her quietly. "More spunk than I gave you credit for." * Mizuki looks after him, saying, perhaps answering Redcoat's question, "Do not speak of my country like that, lest their spirits find you as well." * TheRedcoat obviously assumes Mizuki is speaking to the American Dream, and continues to do nothing, unless you count tapping her fingers quietly on her armrest. Or leg if the chairs don't have armrests. * Mizuki then quickly slips back to kneeling in the air, facing forward, and murmurs her reply to to Christian. "The spirits do not always listen to the meek." * Jacqueline 's fingers are drumming very, very quickly against her gun as AD continues; her eyes are fixed on Solaris as she does so, with lots of barely restrained aggression evident in them. [He walks up to Horus, ignoring the others. "... well now, this is interesting. Just what we needed... a cheap knock off of a shitty hero."] * Christian then follows along watching AD, eyeing him carefully. [Almost as soon as the words leave his mouth, a blur comes flying across the table, and AD is slammed by the neck into a wall by an enraged Eternal Warrior.] * TheRedcoat SIGHS. "Is this a part of the briefing as well? Or is there really nothing else for us to do at this point than sit here?" I could shoot him. * TheRedcoat leaves the "being insulted by someone with the insult capacity of an eighth-grader" as being tacitly understood. Actually, I suppose I could hit the both of them right now, but that would be rather beside the point. Yeah, brilliant deduction, genius. You just want to shoot Eternal Warrior too. Eh. If you hit the other one, too, we'll just have more work to do. * Horus jumps to her feet at AD's words (and possibly EW's action), and the gem in her mask FLARES, coating her with light, making her too bright to look at. "Take that the fuck back." [AD struggles, but he ain't going anywhere. "You will show respect to these people, by Odin!"] Yes. Well. Priorities. * TheRedcoat is fortunately 1) wearing sunglasses and 2) looking at Jackie, so she doesn't get blinded. "True." * Jacqueline scoops her gun up, flips a switch on it, and points it in AD's direction as he struggles. It's trembling slightly and humming ominously, but she probably won't actually fire it. It does make her feel better, though. * Christian sighs and shrugs slightly. "A prick's a prick. I ain't gonna bother with that asshole. It ain't even worth it." [Solaris jumps up and whispers in Eternal Warrior's ear; after a few moments, he lets AD down. Solaris steps between them, glaring at AD. "Get the fuck out of here, William."] [AD glares back, rubbing his throat. "Or what? C'mon, hit me with the power of an exploding sun." Eternal Warrior moves to grab him again, but Solaris gets him to hold back, and AD finally leaves with a stream of curses and insults.] [Solaris sighs and leans back up against the wall. "I apologize for that. He's... a giant asshole, frankly."] No fuckin' kiddin'? The sun still yellow? ...you realize, you could have skipped the grim prologue and just brought him in. The fact that you still need to rely on him says enough about the seriousness of the situation as it is. * Horus lets out a breath, and the light show goes with it, so she's back to her normal gold-tinted self. "God bless America," she says as she flops back into her chair. * Christian snorts at Redcoat's comment, then half-glances at Horus, but not all the way. "Hey. You okay?" [Eternal Warrior walks back to his seat. "I knew the original American Dream. A braver and more humble man you'd never met. This one..." He shakes his head. "He was left behind for a reason. And yes, we need him. He's among the most powerful heroes on earth."] * Jacqueline tracks him all the way until he's gone, and then very slowly sets her gun down. To continue thrumming against the table and sending little vibrations through it. She smiles briefly in Mizuki's direction. "I do like your style." So that means I can't punch him? Damn. * Horus nods at Chris after a bit. "Yeah. He's... yeah, 'm fine." [Sister Admin speaks up. "It's just that dickishness is among his most prominant powers."] Hey, Solaris. Is he flammable? * TheRedcoat sighs again and continues tapping her fingers. "So...now what?" [Solaris flops back into her chair, looking exhausted. "Now we wrap this up before I embarass myself any further. Sister Admin?"] [Solaris shakes her head at Horus. "He's a goddamn tank."] * Mizuki doesn't reply to too many comments, but she does glance over to Jackie. A faint smile comes over her lips for a moment, then she looks back to the people doing the expositing. * Jacqueline reaches across to briefly squeeze Solaris' shoulder as she offers, "Don't worry; the only embarassment is his leaving at the same temperature he entered at." * Horus looks disappointed at Solaris' words, muttering, "Fuckin' figures." I could still damn well try. * TheRedcoat fidgets some more and looks over to Sister Admin. [Sister Admin walks around the room, putting small credit-card size devices in front of each of you. "These are secure communicators we'll use to get in touch with you. We'd like you to come in the next few evenings so we can do some group training, get you all acquainted with fighting alongside one another, but after that you'll be mostly on-call. This is a full-time job, and the hours suck."] ["These cards also function to allow you to access accounts I've created for each of you, into which your stipends will be deposited."] * TheRedcoat tilts her head. "So what will we be on call for? Presumably not the usual sort of thing...will you be calling us onto the scene of attacks?" Stipends? * Horus picks hers up and looks it over. "Full time job, Chris... can I call you Chris?" * Christian winces slightly at that. "Err...yeah...I guess." [Solaris turns to Redcoat. "Sometimes, yes. This team is supposed to be an offensive force, but we need all the help we can get putting out fires in the meantime."] * Horus glances at Christian, then says, "A'ight, Christian. Anyway, I'm not quittin' my day job, but my boss wouldn't give a fuck if I ducked out anyway." I suppose I should come up with some sorta super hero name or somethin' though...damn this is such a pain. But I never thought it'd actually *pay*. Yes, that part is new. [Solaris grins weakly at that. "You're all part of a team now. We know you all have real lives, and that this is going to cause you difficulties. The stipends are designed to help alleviate that."] * Jacqueline slips her goggles back on and slides them down over her eyes so that she's looking through them at her new little comunicator. "James Dean Lad," she casually suggests to Christian. * TheRedcoat raises her eyebrows. "I see." * Christian looks up Jacqueline. "I could be "Guy who punches mad scientist in the face" instead." *Please* don't take your naming cues from Ugg. Do you really want a name as long as...that Ugg man? You could be 'Captain Horrific Plasma Burns' too, but that doesn't roll off the tongue any better, does it? * Jacqueline taps her still vibrating gun gently. * Christian slaps his hand over his face. Who'd thought they'd take them seriously? * Christian smiles slightly at Jacqueline. "If you think can hit me." * Mizuki rolls her eyes and murmurs something else to herself in Japanese. [Solaris sighs. "Does anyone have any questions? And let's save the inter-team violence until at least the second mission, please."] You've got kinetic energy, right? How 'bout Shockwave or somethin'? And er... yeah, Solaris. * TheRedcoat tears herself away from the WITTY REPARTEE and looks back at Solaris. "I assume this...set-up...is extremely confidential?" But really...I dunno. I'll think of somethin'. * Jacqueline smiles at Christian, and then at Eternal Warrior, and then back at Christian, and then knowingly down at her gun. * TheRedcoat glances over at Mizuki again, wrinkles her brow, then continues waiting for her answer. ["This location? Yes, very much so. This team? To a degree, but it's inevitably going to go public after a couple of missions."] Ah. Where's the trainin' gonna take place then? Got a room attached here or somethin'? And we will access this location the same way we did tonight? ["Yes and yes."] * TheRedcoat nodnods. * Jacqueline actually squeals very slightly in delight and sits up a little bit straighter at the mention of public. "Then I'll actually be allowed /publicity/, this time?" [Solaris nods. "Yes, Jacqueline. Which means you'll need to be on your best behavior."] * Christian then glances at Horus. "Might wanna see me in action before you decide though." He winks a bit at her. I am /always/ at my best; it's my superpower. * Horus blinks at the squeal in delight. That sounded like a genuine squeal. Then Christian says that, and she says, amused, "Man, you lay it on thick." * Christian laughs lightly at that. "It's gettin' you to talk to me, ain't it?" He grins. [Solaris looks around the table. "Anything else?"] * Horus looks to Solaris and shakes her head. * Mizuki replies, "No... I will find a way." * TheRedcoat shakes her head. "Not right now." Find a way to what? * Mizuki glances to The Redcoat, then replies, "To manage the requirements of the job." * Jacqueline points at herself as she asks with, likely, a non-serious tone, "Do you suppose I should invest in pasties, if I keep this look for our group shot? I'm just wondering." * Christian takes out a pair of fingerless gloves and starts to slip them on. "Actually, I'm up to seein' what the rest of you can do too." [Solaris nods, and gets up slowly. "You can leave through the mirrors in the rooms; they'll take you back to the subway stations you came from. Eternal Warrior and Sister Admin'll stick around if you want to stay a bit longer... excuse me." And she walks off wearily."] * TheRedcoat glances at Mizuki. "Ah, I see." * Mizuki does look over to Jackie and reply, as she comes out of seiza, "It is... a good thing I know you are joking." * Horus watches Solaris go, then stands and stretches. [Eternal Warrior stands. "I thank you all for coming this evening. This is a great task you are undertaking, and it speaks well of all of you that you've accepted this calling with such ease."] ....ease. Right. Yes. * TheRedcoat hazards another look around at everyone. * Christian stands up too, then starts to walk towards Sis. Admin, then stops and asides to Horus. "No. Seriously. Don't let that prick get to you. We'll just do our own thing and show him we ain't nothin' ta fuckin' laugh at." He then goes to ask Admin where the training room is. * Mizuki chuckles lightly, floats over the table to the Eternal Warrior before settling back down on the other side and smiling slightly up at him. "I was going to offer you a gift, as thanks for the invitation, but things developed... rather quickly." [EW shrugs at Redcoat. "Allow an old man his rhetorical flourish."] * Horus nods to Christian, says, "See ya, Mizuki," then looks to the woman in red. "... Somethin' wrong, Redcoat?" * TheRedcoat then stands up, nods to EW and SA. "Thank you." It's unclear as to what she's thanking them for, but whatever. She looks around at everyone else. "It will be interesting to work with you all." Then she books it for the changing room, shoving one hand in her coat and pulling something suspiciously cigarette-pack-shaped out of it as she enters the changing room--it's obvious that she's pulling off the coat even as she's closing the door behind her. [EW bows his head to Mizuki. "I would be happy to accept, honored priestess."] [Sister Admin points the way to the training room. "You want me to call up a training program for you?"] * Mizuki withdraws a small box from her sleeve and offers it up to him. "I figure, given our last discussion, this would be appropriate." * Christian cracks his knuckle. "Hell yeah. It'll help me get some of this pent up energy out." He turns around. "Anyone wanna join me?" * Jacqueline picks her gun up to answer the query wordlessly; she's got all this energy to discharge and nothing to do with it, otherwise. Well, okay, so she looks at Eternal Warrior in passing, but /otherwise/. [EW looks up, momentarily confused... then grins, and accepts the gift. "Much obliged."] * Horus perks up at the ability to explode something. "I'm game." She heads over. "Can we make it look like American Asshole?" [SA grins. "Are you kidding? That's like our third most popular program."] Fuckin' awesome. I am so in. * Christian laughs. [EW opens the box!] * Horus removes her purse from her shoulder and tosses it onto one of the chairs. * Mizuki 's gift, when opened, is a five piece sake set of brown and green: 4 cups and the small serving pitcher. ["Ah, it's been years since I've had good sake. Thank you, honored priestess." He bows deeply.] * Mizuki raises a finger and replies, "Ah, that is merely the set. The sake will come when drinks are shared." [He grins. "Then let us hope for victories worth drinking to."] [Session End]