[Tuesday, October 7th. 6:30 PM] [Having been given instructions by Sister Admin through your new nifty ATM cards/superhero communicators to come in around this time, you all do, because that what heroes do, after all.] [You go through the same process: the Metrocard machines, the private rooms to get into costume as necessary. As you open the doors, you once again see Solaris and Eternal Warrior there; Solaris is in notably better spririts than when you last saw her.] [Sister Admin, or at least her image, is there as well at the comm terminal, typing away at something or other.] [After you all trickle in over the course of a few minutes, Solaris directs you to take your seats.] [Session Start] * TheRedcoat breezes in and takes a seat as directed, still faintly smelling of cigarette smoke. * Jacqueline has ditched the chains and skirt in favor of something approaching normal, thankfully enough; leather from neck to mid-thigh, imprinted with the image of a number of chains crossing all over the chest. Slightly more than knee-length boots, a little flame on the labcoat lapel. * Jacqueline , of course, sits, and only draws her gun without actually aiming it for this meeting. * Horus walks in, mask on and gold tinted just like last time. She looks around, smiles a little (especially at the much more sane costume on Jackie's part), and takes the same seat she took before. The only thing missing is her purse. [Solaris nods at you all as you sit down. "Before I start, I'd like to apologize for what happened last time. I've talked to American Dream, and... that won't do anything, because he's been this way as long as I've known him. But he won't be around much when you all are, at least."] * Christian heads on in through his own door and takes his seat, wearing his sunglasses already at this point. He's got a bit more leather than denim this time, though still generally punkish attire. He kicks his feet up a little and leans back, listening to Solaris as he makes his way down. * Mizuki looks just like last time! Sweet. She has also picked seiza in the air, just like last time. She bows her head slightly and says, "Thanks." * Horus nods to Solaris as well. "'Salright." Don't bother me none. Hell, just by him coming in we're on his radar. I'm surprised he took time out of his busy little schedule to show at all. [Solaris nods briefly. "Our goal over the next few days will be to get you all acquainted with fighting alongside each other in our training simulator. Eternal Warrior and Sister Admin will supervise."] [Eternal Warrior leans forward at that. "I have no illusions; we have not the time to prepare you all as we normally would. All I intend to do is allow you all to get used to what your new commrades are capable of, and what they are not."] * Christian kicks his feet up some more. "What's it like on the streets while we're wastin' our time in here trainin' away?" Apparently, a few more of the second and third stringers are expendable; I approve. * Jacqueline looks up from filing her nails with a controlled stream from her gun just long enough to say this. * Horus twists her mouth a little at hearing about the 'training' thing, and when Christian speaks up, she nods. Well, if we won't be on the front lines, at least we had better learn to be damned good at working together, so I suppose that makes sense. [Eternal Warrior glares quickly at Jacqueline, then turns to Christian. "Sending you all out with no preparation is not the way to turn the tide. You are all capable; if you were not, you would not be here. We have high hopes for you all, and we cannot afford to lose you because we couldn't spare a couple of days to prepare you for what is to come."] * Mizuki glances to Jackie with a frown as well, but then just looks back forward to today's speakers. So what kinda training are we lookin' at? * Christian lets out a long breath. "I guess..." He doesn't sound entirely convinced and gives a half glance to Jacqueline. He doesn't seem quite as disturbed as the others looking at her though. [Sister Admin speaks up from her terminal! "The same kinda thing the three of you did last night. Eternal Warrior went over the tape of that, and he's prepped a coupla combat scenerios to work on things that coulda been done better."] * Christian puts his feet down and looks over at Sister Admin. "We kicked his ass though, didn't we? What more do ya want?" * Jacqueline 's eyebrow arches very slightly as she takes the time to flip her goggles down over her eyes. "Well, by all means, let's not waste any /time/; we wouldn't want some poor, nubile, impressionable young hero or heroine to catch their death of heat vision or percussion." In what I'm guessing was an underpowered scenario with one target and no outside distractions...and without Mizuki and I. Quite. [Eternal Warrior grins broadly. "The three of you did well in silencing that ass, but you also all took hits you didn't need to take, and mostly fought individual fights instead of working together. These scenerios..." He nods at Redcoat. "That as well. These scenerios are designed to get you all to learn that you can trust and rely upon one another on the battlefield."] * Horus folds her arms and looks at the others to see their reactions. [Solaris speaks up again. "But before we get started, there's one other matter that you all need to be briefed on."] * Christian kicks his feet back up and pushes his sunglasses back like he doesn't want to hear it. "Yeah yeah...what'd'ya expect from people ya just through together at the drop of a hat for the first time? Sayin' you can do somethin' is one thing. Seein' it in action is somethin' else." * TheRedcoat tilts her head at Christian. "That...was what we were saying just now, I believe." * Christian leans back even further in his chair. He doesn't seem to be paying Redcoat any heed, the cad. * TheRedcoat gives a little shrug and turns back to Solaris. ["As I've said before, we don't know what Master Magus is up to. But he tried something last week that we think is significant, so we've asked our magical expert to come here and quickly brief you on it." She pauses, frowning. "It would help if she were here, though."] * Horus blinks at that. "Somethin' happen to her?" [As if on cue, a shimmering image appears next to Solaris. "My dear Solaris, you really do need to learn the value of dramatic timing."] * Jacqueline 's gun is deftly swapped from 'file nails' to 'hum and glow ominously' as she snaps it to point at the sudden shimmering and speech. [The transluscent image is of a tall woman, a couple of inches taller than the 5'9 Solaris. Her skin is milky pale, and golden (not blonde, golden) hair flows down to the middle of her back. She has delicate, amost elfin features, and wears a long, shoulderless dress in an medieval style, over a fairly impressive figure.] * Christian whistles slightly at the appearance, maybe because he's impressed by the entrance. He does seem to be paying noticeably more attention now. * Jacqueline smiles, sets her gun aside, remembers to flip the SFX off. "How nice for us all." [The woman smirks slightly, and speaks with a hint of a Scottish accent. "For those of you that don't know me, I have been called many names over the centuries, some kind, some less so. In this time, I am known simply as the Druish Princess."] That a kind one or not so kind one? [She nods briefly at Eternal Warrior, who bows his head back. "It is not my favorite, but it seems to resonate with the people of this time, so I accept it."] I'm kinda surprised we're meeting you. Nobody mentioned your name 'till now. These people tend to move in mysterious ways, darling. * TheRedcoat nods politely. * Jacqueline gestures towards Christian without bothering to take her eyes from DP. "/Also/, it is possible that certain of us would have had the wrong sort of reaction at first sight." [She raises an eyebrow, and looks over at Solaris with a grin. "Really now? Should I be insulted that you didn't mention me?" Solaris raises an eyebrow in response, and DP laughs melodically. "You never did take my bait, Solaris. And... Horus, is it not? I suppose Solaris did not mention me out of an overabundance of concern, what with the tragedy that befell the Sorcerer Supremes."] * Christian leans back a little bit more. "You're one to talk, Li'l Miss Twitch-finger." * Christian grins back at DP and nods his head. "I just like a good entrance is all." * Horus comments to Christian, with a grin of her own, "Helps if she's hot, too." She turns her attention to Druish Priestess. "Anyway, what were you gonna tell us?" [She raises an eyebrow, and looks over at Solaris with a grin. "Really now? Should I be insulted that you didn't mention me?" Solaris raises an eyebrow in response, and DP laughs melodically. "You never did take my bait, Solaris. And... Horus, is it not? I suppose Solaris did not mention me out of an overabundance of concern, what with the tragedy that befell the Sorcerer Supremes."] * Jacqueline chuckles softly to herself. "Of course you do. Well, hopefully, should these coordinates ever be discovered, and one of Magus' henchpeople teleports in, you and I can both stare at her chest while I judiciously keep my hand from my weapon." * Christian flicks at his shades and leans back a little bit more. "Don't hurt." * Horus sobers instantly and nods to Druish Priestess. "Yeah." ["These coordinates will not be discovered, Miss Hyde, because I designed the spells that cloak it from his scrying."] Yeah, how well's that always work? We could only hope that he never sees fit to put any stock into the power of science. * Christian shakes his head slightly and sobers up himself. "I don't think that's what ya came here to talk about though." ["But yes, I am not here on a social call." She pauses. "And please excuse me for not being here in person, but Solaris and I agreed that I should not leave the protection of my home unless absolutely necessary."] * Horus nods. ["As Solaris no doubt told you, Master Magus... or whatever ridiculous name he's going by now... is incredibly powerful. In addition to being skilled in most major areas of the magical arts, he is particularly skilled in summonings and the piercing of dimensional barriers."] * TheRedcoat nods. ["One week ago today, at Shea Stadium, he opened a portal to a particularly nasty hell dimension. Several heroes, including Eternal Warrior, were able to fight back the hordes and defeat the gate guardian who held the portal open, which should have made it disappear."] * Christian quirks a brow. "Should have?" [DP furrows her brow. "It was weakened, but it did not disappear. Within twenty-four hours time, it would have reopened anew, had not Dr. Potts-Chambers created a device that even I did not understand."] Perhaps those sad people in Boston have misjudged the whereabouts of the baseball curse. * Jacqueline fiddles briefly with her goggles, then cants her head slightly to the side. "And we're still dead set on training, I imagine." You don't understand whatever the thing is? Can you give it to Dr. Hyde so maybe she can get it? 'Cause if we can't make another one or fix it if it's broke, we're all fucked later, right? ["You must understand, powerful magical energy like that which opened this portal bleeds into an area. When he first proposed a bomb to destroy the gate, I scoffed, but somehow overnight he created a portable black hole generator that not only purged the land but the magic contained within, closing the gate."] [Solaris shakes her head. "We understand the principle, but even a black hole shouldn't have been able to eliminate the residual magical energy. Except that it did."] * Mizuki looks slightly confused at Jackie's reference for a moment, then just shakes her head and murmurs something to herself. * TheRedcoat tilts her head at Jackie's comment, then also kind of shrugs it off. * Christian looks like he's half trying to follow along, but not paying too much attention. All of this is just going over his head. [Solaris continues! "Dr. Potts-Chambers made three more of the devices that night, and was going to make more... before he was killed."] * Jacqueline smiles very faintly to herself. "I do hope you were kind enough to save one for me." ["We'll have you look at them soon, Jacqueline, to see if you can replicate them. We're not sure if this was a one-off incident or not, but given Master Magus' abilities, we suspect it's not."] Jesus fuckin' Christ. What the hell are you *doing* about all these assassinations? I mean they're tracking down all these heroes an' whatever it is on our side, it don't seem to be doin' no good. [DP nods in agreement. "I would say it is very likely that he will try something similar again." Sister Admin then speaks up. "It's lucky it happened at Shea; the press bought the story that it was just disgruntled Mets fans angry that they blew another season."] * Mizuki glances to Christian and replies simply, "Us." * TheRedcoat nods at Mizuki's comment. * Christian looks over at Mizuki. "Yeah, an' we're just supposed to--" He throws up his hands. "Ah screw it." * Horus glances at Christian, some concern showing, before she turns her attention back to the more super than they are heroes. * Jacqueline glances sidelong at Christian from beneath her goggles. Her smiel widens a touch as she remarks, "Darling, I'm as much a fan of poor self-esteem as the next girl, but do try to hold it together. We are superheroes, after all." * Christian gives Jackie a gentle one-fingered salute. [DP looks amusedly at Christian, then turns back to the rest of you. "And that, I suppose, is that. I need to be back to my work, as I imagine you all do as well. 'till we meet again." And then she disappears.] * Horus blinks at the vanishing act, then turns her attention to Solaris et al. "Arright, so are we gonna get to the training now?" [Solaris starts to say something, but Sister Admin interrupts. "... oh fuck, we've got trouble."] * Christian watches DP go, then turns to EW evenly, taking off his glasses and staring at him. "So how long's this gonna ta--" He then glances Sister Admin's way. * TheRedcoat sighs. I suppose that if you had the body to go with your hair and choice of jewelry, our dear leader would have a few words about impropriety; as it is, the histrionics are just a bit obnoxious. * Jacqueline frowns very slightly as she turns her attention towards Sister Admin. What sort? Or is this going to be for... * TheRedcoat gestures to Solaris and Eternal Warrior. [Solaris and EW run over as an image appears on the screen of American Dream fighting two enemies: one is a huge robot with swastikas all over it, and another is a half-man-half-horse wearing Roman armor. They seem to have American Dream on the defenseive, incredibly.] * TheRedcoat starts. "Die Panzermensch? Here?" Aw, shit. [Solaris and EW have a brief, hurried discussion, and then Solaris turns back to you. "Okay, forget everything we said before. Centaurion can summon ancient warriors to assist him, and we need you all to keep them off of civilians while Eternal Warrior and American Dream deal with him and Panzermensch."] * Christian takes off his glasses and looks at the screen. "Shit is right. Fuckin' damn..." * Horus nods and stands. "Got it." * TheRedcoat siiiiiiiiiiighs. Very well. [Eternal Warrior turns back, drawing his axe. "I cannot state this any more clearly: DO NOT engage either of them. None of you are a match. They will kill you. Do you understand?"] * Christian lets out a deep breath. "Well no better trainin' than out in the field, right?" He slips on his bandanna over his head. Sure. Any way I can save some peeps is fine with me. Let's roll. * Jacqueline holds her hand up as she looks to Solaris. "Solaris, darling, one of the robots; may I?" Understood; dying has never been high on my list of priorities. * Mizuki stands in the air and nods slightly in acknowledgement. [Solaris eyes Jacqueline. "... not yet."] Business first, I suppose...back to the rooms then, or will we be transported from here? * Christian grins at Redcoat. "I'd never want to fuckin' work with you if it was." [Sister Admin points to a door. "Go through there, and you'll be sent to the nearest subway station, four blocks south." EW nods, and heads over. "Onwards, young warriors. This evening, glory shall be ours!"] * TheRedcoat rubs her temples. "Right." * Jacqueline exhales a loud and put-upon sigh, rises from her seat, and paces towards the dressing rooms. Her little digital camera is pulled out and pointed in Eternal Warrior's direction, and if allowed, she will briskly say, "Smile," and snap a photo. * Horus goes back through her door without hesitation. * TheRedcoat gets up, stretches, and gets going, her hand briefly brushing and then moving away from a pocket as she does so. * Christian pulls on his gloves and nods to Sis. Admin. "Got it. Like Horus said, let's roll." * Mizuki floats through the door as well. [Jacky takes a picture. It's not easy getting him into the frame, but she manages it.] * Christian runs towards the door himself, keeping pace with everyone else. [You all teleport! You find yourself in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Running up the subway steps, you turn south and see the battle in the distance; American Dream is a blur as he dodges attacks from Centaurion and the nine-foot-tall Panzermensch.] [You all start running/floating/flying down towards the battle, but when you're at the intersection two blocks away, Centaurion suddenly turns and points his sword at you. Out of nowhere, lines of six Roman soldiers appear on all four sides of you.] [EW stops for a moment, then turns back to you. "I cannot stay to assist you. Trust in your abilities, and for Thor's sakes don't let them stab you." He then bounds over the soldiers and runs to engage Centaurion.] * TheRedcoat whirls around to take in the surrounded!situation, muttering "Hadn't planned on it" as she does so. * Christian stops as well to look at the surrounding soldiers, taking it all in and a slight smirk crawls to his lips. "Well, this is our debut." * Horus nods once to EW. The stone in her mask flares, coating her with feathers, wings, and a full falcon headdress - all made of light. She spreads her wings and takes to the air. [The four groups of Roman soldiers, each holding a gladius, a large shield, and with pilums on their backs, slowly advance on you in step and in formation, pounding their swords against their shields. "We are Romans. We are Legion."] * Christian rubs his wrist before taking off eying his way north. "I got these ones." He takes off, jumping towards the north group. He leaps high up into the air and surrounds his arm with a purple aura which he proceeds to slam down into the ground. Cracks form in the concrete as he does so but a shockwave grounds 5 of the soldiers as it travels out from the center, and Christian stays in a ready crouch. [Five of the soldiers go flying; the sixth manages to get outta the way. Cars on both sides of the street have their windows broken, and the pavement's roughed up some, but otherwise the damage isn't too bad.] * Mizuki looks around for a moment, eyes focusing on the fires a moment, then rises up slightly and says, in English, as she gestures at them with her staff, "Burning fires, spirits of destruction... walk with me, and let yourselves soar free of the earthly confines." * Horus yells, "I got south!" She puts action to word, swooping over the southern group as she lets loose with a brilliant pillar of light that scorches every soldier where he stands. [Yeah, I bet the Romans never had to deal with that against the Gauls. They get scorched, and drop.] [The individual fires seem to shift, eerily, and then float off of what they're actually burning to float just barely above the concrete, swirling balls and forms of fire. Small giggles come from a few of them as they 'roll' in Mizuki's direction.] * TheRedcoat takes the opportunity to whip her sash from around her coat and toss it to grab onto a nearby lamppost, from which she swings while doffing her trendy red fedora and tossing it at the soldiers in the east group. * TheRedcoat then comes up and alights on top of said lamppost, balancing as she watches the hat come down to hit a soldier. [The soldier near Christian stabs at him. Two of the East soldiers throw pilums at Redcoat, while three throw at Horus. The six West soldiers rush in, and three each try to stab Mizuki and Jacky.] * TheRedcoat then sees two pilum coming at her and grabs onto the pole, swinging around in a circle to avoid them and end up right back where she was. * Christian sees the last remaining soldier jamming its sword his way and perks his head up while he shifts himself over to the side, having it whiz past him. * Mizuki may have been using her staff to summon, but her staff whips around to block one sword strike, and then two. The last slips past, resisted for a moment before lightly scoring her. * Horus sees the pilums coming, fortunately, and deftly avoids two of them - the last, however, strikes, and hurts her even though she wreaths herself in flames which incinerate most of it. "Fuck, that almost hurt." * Jacqueline is saved by virtue of having a glowing blue field between herself and any offending pilums. Hooray for science! She smirks thinly as she lifts her gun to fire a stream of wildly spiralling and twisting laser beams into the western group, remarking calmly, "Primitives, really; at least try something with gunpowder." [Lasers beat Romans; five go down in... well, in a group of five heaps.] * Mizuki whispers to the ones nearer her, The kami-balls make crackling noises as they roll their way towards all the remaining guys and try to leap on them... only managing to successfully hit the one that hit her instead. [The swarming kami managed to take out the soldier nearest to Mizuki, but the rest of the soldiers manage to bring up their shields and drive them off without getting burned.] * Christian raises up from his sidestep and slams his arm into the side of the legion's face without even trying. He lets out a half a sigh as it goes flying and skids on the ground. The impact doesn't sound nearly as impressive as when Horus and Jackie heard it the first time. "Dammit, these guys are boring." * Mizuki smiles a little at the one kami succeeding, and compliments it in Japanese as she shifts her stance in the air, staff out defensively, [Helmet or not, that guy's down. The broomhead on top didn't help, either.] * Horus looks over at the group to the east - those jerks who threw their pilums at her - and gestures. A second glowing, white-hot pillar of light and fire appears, incinerating the lot of them. [Yay, Roman candles! That's the last of them.] [Down the street, you can see EW fighting with Centaurion; they're both obviously really, really good with the respective weapons, with EW swinging his axe around at a speed you can barely follow. A little farther down, AD is flying around Panzermensch and blasting him with energy, which doesn't seem to be slowing the huge robot as it launches cars and missiles at the flying hero.] [You start to help nearby civilians get away from the fighting, then regroup as you watch the battles down the street.] * Horus watches the fight(s) for a brief moment before touching down and... yes, helping civs move. * TheRedcoat looks at the fights only long enough to make sure that nobody's down yet, then sighs, jumps down from the lamppost, and lights a cigarette while helping civilians. [AD is knocked back into a building as he takes a mortar to the chest, then rushes forward and slams into Panzermensch with a shoulder tackle, which almost knocks the Nazi robot over. Meanwhile, EW dodges around a torrent of thrown pilums from the Centaurion with agility you wouldn't expect from someone his size, and closes back into melee, driving Centaurion back.] * Mizuki 's kami don't do anything helpful, as she keeps talking to them softly and they roll around her. * Jacqueline helps out with the civilians indeed, leaving little rainbow-lit trails in her wake as she skates up the sides of buildings on glowing, boot-mounted rollerblades to deposit people on rooftops. * Christian watches the fight for a moment, but he's keeping his eyes out for another target, rubbing his thumb along the inside of his palm. [As you all mill about, somehow nobody but Redcoat notices a man standing in the intersection, wearing an exact replica of Travolta's white suit/black shirt combo from Saturday Night Fever, down to the gold chain and prodigious chest hair. He's got a huge 'fro and a white ninja-style mask covering his nose, mouth and chin; where he came from, none of you are quite sure.] * TheRedcoat frowns, and takes the cig out her mouth for a second, moving away from the civs she's helping. She catches the eye of the nearest team member and jerks a finger at him questioningly. * TheRedcoat whistles at the further-away ones as well. It's some kind of a tune? * TheRedcoat then walks around to circle behind him. [The man looks mildly bemused as he stands there.] * Horus glances back and heads over... then sees the guy. She blinks. * Horus lets The Redcoat circle around to the back as she walks up from the front - the eastern front, nevertheless. * TheRedcoat is still innocently having a smoke, with a hand in one pocket. [Redcoat and Christian eye the man, a bit puzzled. Mizuki only knows him by reputation, but Horus and Jacky know exactly who he is. One of the more dangerous supervillains out there, despite his appearance. The funky master of the stealthy arts... The Disco Ninja.] * Mizuki looks over to the whistle, and Redcoat's starting to circle, before trying to track down what they're _doing_. It takes her a moment to look through the heat haze of her kami and pick him out. * Horus greets him once Red's in position: "Disco Ninja. What's the honor?" * Christian is busy watching the fight for a moment before turning Redcoat's way and looking fairly puzzled at the person in the middle of the road. [He responds in a nearly Barry-White-deep voice. "I heard there was a new act in town, and I had to see it for myself. You've all got some potential, that's clear... but do you have what it takes to Dance All Night?"] * Horus raises her left hand up and away, and light lances through it, forming into a bow (and not the ribbon kind). "I know you're a bitch," she replies casually. * Christian then looks over at Horus and gestures with his head. "You know this joker?" * TheRedcoat nods to herself as Horus replies, and draws her gun, keeping it ready. * Jacqueline frowns thinly as she ceases to circle dazzlingly around a bunch of rooftop-deposited civilians, and as she makes her way down the side of the building to get to the ground, she shouts, "Speed, strength, fire, magic - particularly well reversed in resurrection, as you can see!" [He takes a few Stayin' Alive steps towards Horus. "A new Horus, right? I'd heard rumors... you're a lot easier on the eyes than your predecessor." He eyes the group. "You all are. Even you're looking good for your age, Miss Hyde."] * RDMgryphon is now known as AFKgryphon * Horus flashes a pretty white smile at Disco Ninja and brings her bow forward, notching an arrow (also of light) and pulling it back. She stands her ground and tries not to let how much she wants to back away show. "Don't come no closer." * Jacqueline banks to a hard stop once she's on the ground, and then her bootsoles are against it thanks to the skate wheels sliding back into their housings. There will be thin little trails of light all over the place to mark where she was for a while. "Of course I am." She takes a moment to preen by combing a few fingers back through her hair. "I am essentially gorgeous; thank you for noticing." * Christian watches the ninja for a moment then frowns a little and looks a little edgy. "Easy on the eyes. Fuck right." He then tilts his chin at the ninja. "We'll see how well I can keep up." [He stops, and takes a few Stayin' Alive steps back. "Ooh, likes her personal space." He eyes the rest of you. "So... I suppose you all think you can match my funky moves, hmm?"] And you stroked her ego. Bad move. Now you'll be hearin' it all night. * Mizuki has a slight smile on her face as she floats closer to the group's battle positon, her kami swirling around her. Oh, please, Orchid King; I'm not /quite/ that sort of girl. Yeah. You're fuckin' humble as hell too, we get it. [You can see a grin beneath his mask as you all begin to surround him. "All of you, and just me? I'm flattered, but it hardly seems fair to leave four of you without dance partners..." And then he disappears in a blur.] * Christian adjusts his sights back on the Disco Ninja, readying his fists. * Horus glances around, trying to peg where he went. * Christian does too. [A voice rings out from all around you. "Disciples of the art of the Disco Ninja! From Soho to Singapore! From the mainland to the shore. YOUR DISCO NEEDS YOU!"] * Jacqueline blinks rapidly as her HUD goes briefly haywire at all the movement. * TheRedcoat lets out a torrent of filthy Russian cusswords, grabs her sash and looks around. [And suddenly, you find yourself surrounded by ten identical Disco Ninjas, all in Hustle Pose. "Now then... let's dance."] [Session End]