Walpurgisnacht [IC/PG-16/Conditional Acceptance]

Skaia · August 25, 2023

After it was clear that the two combatants couldn't fight any longer, the two of them having fallen unconscious in her grip, Sibyl let out a sigh as if all the emotion she had been experiencing at that point had just been breathed right out. "Well, that's that," the girl said nonchalantly, a smile on her face as she idly tossed the two to the ground. Her shadows then retracted back into her body proper and the girl stretched her arms. "Man that was pretty fun. I wonder if there are more that'd be down for this." With the two other heroes having won their fights the girl waved joyously saying, "rockin' job guys."

As the conversation turned towards going to Goodale for some kind of big formal talk party, Sibyl looked up and said, "well, that doesn't sound like a place for me. So I'll probably bounce from here." As she was getting to leave, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, seeing a slew of messages from her long time bosses. The girl looked at them, seeing
"sup gamerrrr
so you know
see you soon bestie"

Followed by
"hey just to let you know
bring all four hands"

Ending with
"got an all hands on deck thing going on at goodale
or as many hands as you cna manage these days lol
*can"

The girl raised an eyebrow at each of them, seeing that they were all sent at the same time and wondering if this was some kind of puzzle. Sibyl was never particularly great at deciphering the Fates messages, and they were prone to send them in either code or some kind of puzzle, and often times she just tuned it out anyway. So, she took all three of them at face value. She was going to see them soon, she need to bring all four hands, and there was something going on at Goodale that had as many hands as she could manage. Nodding to herself, she said, "never mind, looks like I'm coming with! And well," she walked over and hoisted up Hellhound and Censer, with more difficulty then she had previously during her battle saying, "bosses wanted me to bring all four of them so guess we're dragging them along after all. I can handle this much myself, and if an enemy does try to fight us well, then I'm armed! Ahahaha," she jostled the bodies in her grip as she laughed before starting to walk out the door, dragging them along with her.

Edited August 25, 2023 by Skaia

Chaos Sonic · August 27, 2023

“Cute trick. Or lucky. Doesn’t really matter to me. ‘Snot going to happen again. It does mean you’ve officially been upgraded to ‘annoying,’ though. Which means I should probably start enjoying myself a bit more. You know, to balance things out.”

"Feel free to try again, but I'm fairly certain we're going to have the same outcome, Arcturus..." Override simply stated, watching her fly erratically above him, seeming to prepare to do something. However, before she did... He paused, looking over and seeing Lucky Cat being launched through the church ceiling and sailing high overhead. "...what...in the hell...?"

"I believe that would be Lucky Cat, sir."

"...thank you P.I.X.E.L." Override sighed and turned his attention back to Arcturus, noticing her stopping immediately.

“I suppose I have to go deal with that. Take care of yourself -- take care of my team too -- and we’ll finish this up some other time.”

The Tech Hero clenched his fists and was about to blast off after Arcturus, but stopped himself. Following after her was not the mission directive. The mission directive was to go to Goodale Park and escort any VIPs to the new base of operations for G3. Nothing more, nothing less. "We'll tussle for round two another time then..." he muttered, before turning away and heading back towards the church...or the remains of it...it looked worse for wear now.

"Hey, where's yours? Did you hit her into the sky too? Crazy how easy that can happen huh?"

"She retreated...had to catch Lucky Cat from the looks of it." Override shrugged, slightly waving a hand to dismiss the situation. "Honestly with a situation she was in, a tactical retreat was necessary. I did at least make sure to capture all the footage on my side to send to G3 when we rendezvous with them."

“I don’t suppose you would mind escorting me there? There may be more coming. Though that does leave the question of what to do with those who have already come, of course. What do you think we should do?”

"That's the new mission directive we have, so it'll just be part of the job, Archangel." Override simply said. He glanced at the unconscious bodies of the opposition that were here: Hellhound, Censer and Vambrace. "We can take these three into custody for the most part. Deliver them to G3 and allow them to extract the necessary information if they so desire it."

Apparently...it was seeming like they were already on this...

"bosses wanted me to bring all four of them so guess we're dragging them along after all. I can handle this much myself, and if an enemy does try to fight us well, then I'm armed! Ahahaha,"

"Well then, guess we're heading out then." he said, immediately proceeding to send an encrypted line to Victor at G3: "This is Override to G3. We have the Archangel, en-route to rendezvous point. We also have about three of Caesar's associates, lackeys, whatever. They're knocked out, we're bringing them as well in order to allow interrogation to occur".

radio414 · September 2, 2023

Comradely Objects

Fortunately, the trek to Goodale Park was a short one. The Church of the Sacred Harp was just off Second Avenue, and Goodale was three blocks south, with Goodale Street and, yes, Park Street forming the corner of its main entry gate. Even better, the route to the park from the church was entirely wide-open streets with little chance of ambush which allowed Sibyl and the heroes to keep an eye on Damian, Hellhound’s dog who had reverted to his teacup form, as he stalked behind them.

Goodale was a modest little park with all the sorts of amenities one might expect of it -- a playground, picnic tables, a shelter house with restrooms, two monuments, including a bust of Lincoln Goodale, and a duck pond with a fountain. There was also a stretch of murals on an isolated wall nearby. Lincoln Goodale was some doctor who had been dead for longer than anybody could remember. Nobody could remember the reason for such a memorial, but he must have been important because Goodale Park had a special property that set it apart from everywhere else in Scarlet City:

Goodale Park was a natural power nullifier.

Power nullification affected different people in different ways, of course. Someone with a power that had reshaped their body to be that of a centaur would still be a centaur while galloping around Goodale Park. Wings didn’t just fly away when someone who’d had them all their life entered the airspace above the park. But flying itself might be exceedingly more difficult or a hypothetical centaur’s accuracy with a bow might become just better than that of a novice. Indeed, as the three arrived,, pushing their way past all the press that had gathered outside, then past security who was pushing all the press back and into the outer ring of streets just outside Goodale Park’s range, they could see both kinds of capes rushing around in the grass along with every other kind just past the gate.

The air was full of chatter. Most of it was organizational, of course, trying to provide a direction to all the running about. “You’re a Tinker, right?” came one overheard bark. “All the Tinkers are comparing notes over by the trades monument. Oh, you’re a Thinker? Sorry, uh, I think they’re handing out ibuprofen in the shelter there.” Some chatter was what sounded like updates, though. “Spotted two known Gibbons agents flying westward,” was one call. “What did they hit? Was anyone tracking those ones?”

Lachesis was the first familiar face they all saw, waiting by the main gate. She had her blindfold on, but she was dressed in a business suit and was busy applying an ice pack to her forehead. “Hey Sibyl,” she said as she walked up, clearly forcing a smile. “You’re still alive. We should have asked you to bring stronger stuff. Fucking hate this place.”

She gave Override and Aeon a nod before her head turned to meet Lailah. “You’re still alive too,” she said. “That’s good. Wouldn’t want all that work to go to waste.”

“What are you planning?” Lailah said.

Lachesis’ smile became almost genuine. “What I’m planning right now is to rid myself of this headache.” She looked back at Sibyl. “A couple headaches, actually. No, seriously, good job. Hellhound’s a big get. Atropos is…” She pointed behind her with her free hand. “…over there running security with some of the Peacekeepers. Have her handle the interrogation. Should be outside the park right now so you don’t have to lug them around without powers.”

Victor Sekelsky appeared behind her. “Who’s doing what?”

Lachesis didn’t even turn around. “Heya, Vic. I already know what you’re going to say if I explain myself, so I’m just… not going to do that.”

There was a long pause. Lachesis eventually looked over her shoulder. “You still there?” When he didn’t answer her, she said, “We’re on the same side right now, Vic, and you’re not my dad.”

It still was a noticeable amount of time before Director Sekelsky spoke again. “I would like to talk to Archangel Lailah now,” he said.

“She’s all yours.”

“And I would like to talk to my team.”

“Sure,” Lachesis said. She turned back to address Sibyl specifically. “Yeah, go see Atropos. She and I think Minos will know what to do with those. I’m gonna go…” She looked back at Victor again, who was still staring daggers right through her. “…get a new ice pack or something I guess. Hey, in case you didn’t hear, big meeting’s in a bit -- you’re all invited.” And she was gone, rushing off back towards Goodale Park’s shelter house.

Once Sibyl had left, Director Sekelsky sighed. “Just once, I’d like to get through an S-Class without ulterior motives at play. But I’m glad to see you all in one piece still.”

“It is good to see you too, my friend,” Lailah said. “If only these were better circumstances. I am sure Override has already sent you details of our encounter, but since we are on the subject of the Fates’ motives, there are things he did not see I would like to share with you.”

The director raised an eyebrow, but was quick to assent. “Alright, come with me then. Override, I can only guess what Ophiuchus wants from you, but he was asking for you by name, so please go, uh, do that for me. Same deal with Stanley and you, Aeon, except I know even less. He’d be over by the gazebo, and I think Ophiuchus is over by the fountain. But also rest up if you need to. We’ve still got to hash out battle plans, but this might be the last break you’ll get until tonight. And maybe not even then.”

OOC

Spoiler

Scene change ooo. Subtitle is a Horse Lords album.

Here are some images of Goodale Park. Here is a video.

I doled out some tasks in the post already to break up this post and the aforementioned big briefing, so feel free to message me for more details on those. Most of it is just conversations, catching up on old or new plot beats, but Sibyl and Thessa are also encountering new characters so message for descriptions of them as well (No, it's not Stanley as in the Stanley Principle. Unfortunately, there is more than one person named Stanley in the world).

As always, let me know if you have any other questions too.

-r

Edited September 4, 2023 by radio414

LordCowCow · September 5, 2023

The trip to the park was uneventful, save for the temptation to go pick up the dog and see what it would do, and they arrived pretty quickly. The park, on the surface, wasn't anything particularly special. A fine enough place but not one that Thessa would come to very often. It did have that strange bust though. Even Thessa had no idea who Goodale was which made him a point of curiosity. But she had already tried finding that out to no avail before so it instead just served as a twinge of annoyance as the world reminds her there were things before her.

Even if it were a more interesting place it wasn't somewhere Thessa liked to go. The power nullification made her feel itchy. When she first encountered one, long ago, she had a moment of panic wondering what it would mean for her. Nowadays she's less frightened but she still doesn't actually know what it did to her.

Did it actually take away her power? Did it just make it harder for her to activate it? She had never felt it was worth it to test it. For all she knew it simply meant she would have to give away more time to get stronger but there wasn't a reason for her to try.

So instead it just made her somewhat uncomfortable. She was looking forward to leaving this place behind. At least the hustle and bustle was new.

Lachesis showed up but it seemed she was more focused on Sibyl, which made sense, so Thessa didn't really pay her much heed. She wanted to take Caesar's goons apparently which was also not something she felt she had to pay much attention to. She hadn't had any particular plan with them.

That said when the director showed up she did feel glad if only for one reason. "Oh hey nice to see you, bet if it was Roy coming to see us he'd have something mean to say."

Victor gave her a look but didn't question what she meant. Instead he told herself and Override that each of them had somebody who wanted to talk to them. She cringed as he brought up Ophiuchus. Whatever they wanted with him would be really bothersome she was sure.

For her it sounded like she was supposed to go to Stanley. The leader of the Peacekeepers wanted to talk with her. Did he want her help with something? If so that was pretty redundant given she intended to take care of all this business anyway. Or maybe she was under arrest for some reason. That might be pretty funny, actually.

"Ah man, I was gonna just go pay Caesar a visit but I guess it doesn't make that much a difference if I wait a bit."

"Caesar's probably got hideaways all over the city, it's not as simple as just marching up to the casino and burning it to the ground. That might be part of the plan, though. We'll see."

"Hmph, what a boring guy. Well he'll run out of them eventually. Guess in that case it really doesn't matter if I take some time to talk to good ol Stan."

She went on her way without a second glance at the others. Sure enough she found the man at the gazebo. It wasn't a particularly large one, maybe 9 feet across, but it was still perfectly easy to spot.

Stanley himself was in the middle of it with his back to Thessa. Directing people to various tasks. Always so very busy, Thessa thought, as she tried to get a read out of his body language. This, of course, wasn't easy as the body wasn't actually his body but instead a mechanical one he used to move around. As she got closer he turned towards the girl and smiled. Or rather the face on the television screen which served as his head smiled. She always thought it would look nicer were the face to be an smiley instead of the actual human face floating on the screen but she kept that to herself this time.

"There she is," he said. "The woman of the hour. Or a woman of the hour, anyway." To his associates, he said, "Leave us," and they did.

Once they're gone, he says, "How are you? Just to assuage your fears before you answer, you're not in trouble, don't worry. The things I ask, I just honestly want to know."

It was pretty funny. For a couple reasons. One being that 'you're not in trouble, don't worry' was often something said to people who were in trouble, or suspected of being in trouble. But also because,

"it's okay, I wasn't afraid even if I was in trouble!" Thessa said, giving Stanley an okay sign with her hand. "Things are pretty exciting right now, but honestly I'm a bit annoyed that Caesar couldn't think of anything better."

Stanley laughed. "Fair enough," he said. "He's a bit of a wild one, isn't he? But even we weren't expecting him to reject the social morays of Scarlet City and declare war over grievances so slight. It's good to hear that you're well." He chuckled again. "I just had two things to ask you- to ask you besides, that, I mean. The first is, quite simply, do you feel like, or have you ever felt like, destroying the world?"

Most people would think that a question someone would answer immediately, but Thessa had to give it some thought first. She felt like she had been asked something similar, or the topic at least, before. "I guess not really. If there wasn't a world then there wouldn't really be anything to do. What'd be the point?"

"The reason I ask, of course, is that we -- that is, we Peacekeepers -- believe that you could, and, well, perhaps Cassiopeia's prophecy has got everyone on edge. Everyone has been running around to all the powerful capes in Scarlet City, interviewing them, sizing them up just in case. We would have gotten to you sooner, but we couldn't find you for about a week after the prophecy." His smile continued. It seemed like it was just plastered on his face. He also shrugged as he continued. "Follow-up question, then, not really my second question, so apologies if you were counting: What about a smaller, yet still necessary portion of Scarlet City? Like a government building or, say, for example, The Shimmer?"

Part of her was happy they knew what she could do. But of course this was in part dulled by the mention of several others having been asked first. Granted perhaps she would have been first asked if she hadn't been on her little trip. It was especially funny to think that they were looking for her the whole time, perhaps wondering if she was preparing to blow everything up, while she was on a pleasant walk.

Thessa put a finger to her chin as she considered that option. Once more it wasn't as though she hadn't thought about it. Most particularly The Shimmer. But of course while it would be a change, and the unknown is incredibly exciting, if it ended with the world being destroyed it wasn't worth it. Still, she had to be honest here. Or rather she didn't have to be but she would anyway.

"Huh, I dunno really. Depends on why I would be doing that. Like, I just kinda broke up a church a bit ago. So....maybe?"

"Sure, sure." Stanley said. "Scarlet City's construction crews work very hard to replace buildings destroyed in the all-too-many scuffles. Perhaps it can all be replaced. That makes sense. That lines up with what we've seen."

There was something more there, Thessa felt, than what the words alone conveyed. She wasn't worried, per-say, but there was a slight paranoid part of her brain that wanted her to take note of the response.

"Alright, second question for real this time: I understand you've had to interact with The Fates for work, but I heard through the grapevine that you've had interactions with them outside that. At Easton Mall, correct? Obviously, that area's covered by a truce, so it's not like you were doing anything wrong there -- nor were they -- but it's the sort of thing that makes me wonder. Care to comment on any of that?"

That one was even funnier. Given that it was, at least on her part if not theirs, a coincidence. "Nothin much to say. We had burgers, they were pretty good." It probably wasn't what he was looking for but it was the truth, from her perspective. Was there something more to their talks? Maybe, maybe not, but the burgers were the main takeaway in Thessa's mind.

"Yeah? How're the burgers up there? Obviously, it's hard for me to..." He gestured to his TV head, then the rest of his robotic body.

"Real greasy. But like, the good kinda grease where it makes you think 'oh man maybe I shouldn't but it's so good' not the 'oh I want to wash my hands like ten times' kind....I guess that doesn't make much sense to you does it?"

Stanley gave one final laugh. "It doesn't, but I get the picture, don't worry," he said. "Anyway, thanks for your time, I know we're all busy with all of this. I'll let you rejoin the G3 team now."

"Okie dokie, see ya around Stan man." She then left. A glance over her shoulder made her notice Stanley beckoning an assistant, rather hurriedly, over. Was that just about the business going on? Or did perhaps something she say make him concerned. She thought over the conversation.

Obviously there was some level of trust lacking. Which, of course there was. She never hid that her allegiances were to herself mainly. Surely, though, they would realize that trying to stop her was pointless. Perhaps it seemed cruel but that was how it worked. She was above them all, in the end, so they had to go along with her decisions. Not the other way around.

All they had to do was let her go about her business, and try and not make things too boring, and she would never have reason to go against them.

Honestly she thought that was perfectly reasonable. "Always so tense, and to what end?"

Chaos Sonic · September 8, 2023

Goodale Park, it wasn't a bad place at all...quite the contrary, it was a peaceful little get away...and of course, Scarlet City's power nullifer, but that part people forget until they walk into it. Luckily for Override, he wasn't like most of the ones here...he was a Thinker, and the worst he could do was to not be able to interact or manipulate technology. His nanomachines that made his suit were fully functional on their own and P.I.X.E.L., he was his own A.I., meaning those were two things his powers didn't control...then again, now he was starting to get a headache...and he knew why. For Thinkers specifically, there was that feeling in the back of his brain- ....the same feeling he felt at this very moment... -that it was trying to reach out for information only to be stymied by the park...truly terrible.

Nevertheless, they met up with Director Sekelsky and delivered the Archangel to him along with Sybil and the Gibbons that attacked them. Honestly, Override was planning to do something else, potentially seeing if he could've helped with some of the tech based Capes around, but he was stopped by the director directing him to something.

“Alright, come with me then. Override, I can only guess what Ophiuchus wants from you, but he was asking for you by name, so please go, uh, do that for me."

"Right...I'll take care of that." Override nodded, walking away from the director and grabbing himself a set of ibuprofen to attempt to take care of the headache. However, he immediately muted himself to the outside and spoke silently to P.I.X.E.L. "...I was NOT expecting him to be here so soon..."

"It is quite the shock that he would be here...the probability of it are extremely low for that to have been the case."

"Yeah...well, he's not going to like what I have to say..." Override sighed, making his way towards the area where the Zodiac were. When he began to get closer, he noticed Cassiopeia notice him and proceeded to direct Ophiuchus' attention his way. Well...looks like it's show time. "Not a shock to hear you requesting me personally by name, but even still...it is shocking to a degree." Override spoke, giving a slight nod.

"I did not think it would be so shocking," Ophiuchus said. "One week was a perfectly reasonable amount of time for the task you were assigned, correct?"

He simply nodded, noting the...interesting fact that he didn't speak in his 'normal' measured speak. "You'd be correct. Now, what would you like to know, Ophiuchus? Or more accurately, what would you like to know more about?"

That was not what Ophiuchus wanted to hear, and he wore that expression plainly on his face. "I said I wanted an explanation for the events of November First. Why Cassandra decided to give us a damning prophecy, why in such a manner that caused such panic, and information on the others who enabled them. However you see fit to provide that information, whichever topics you think need broached first, I am ready to hear it."

And there it was...he wished he didn't have to hear it, but what else could he do? "Firstly..." Override spoke, sighing some. "Apparently we need to work a sense of humor into your regimen, you need it. I knew what you wanted, relax. Secondly, and this won't be something you'll enjoy hearing, but I don't have clear information on that yet. The fact of the matter is, and of all people you should know, gathering and researching most information is not an easy task. It takes a while. When I have the full story, you'll be the first to know. Until then, I need you to give me time and work with me on this. I've been analyzing the video and soundbites from that day from day one...as well as doing whatever research I could. I'm working on it, rest assured."

The tech hero exhaled slowly, before continuing. "That said, I'm not planning to leave you empty handed. I have some information regarding the potential side of things regarding the 'doomsday prophecy', if you'll allow me to speak."

"My humor is perfectly fine," Ophiuchus said. "It is your jokes that I find questionable. But alright, what do you have for me?"

"We'll say it's a work in progress on both ends." Override smirked under his helmet, before producing a holo-screen from his arm. "P.I.X.E.L, if you please. Give a play back of the conversation we had with the Archangel."

"At once sir. The display will be shown in 3...2...1..."

Once the countdown finished, before Ophiuchus played the events that unfolded not even a few moments prior to their arrival in the park. After it finished, he closed the screen. "By this, it seems that Cassandra's prophecy and the religion we find ourselves in tune with here, may end up providing the same results. I understand it's not much, but, perhaps you may be able to gleam something more from this."

All three Zodiac member present, Ophiuchus himself, Cassiopeia, and the snake, watched Override's recording with an intense focus. After it ended, Ophiuchus seemed at a loss for words. "I suppose that will be useful in the months to come," he said. He looked at Cassiopeia too, as though to wordlessly confirm a decision. "It is... sufficient to appease today's request, but do not think it will be enough in the future, Override."

"You wound me, Ophiuchus." Override chuckled. "I'm a man of my word, once I get all that information, I'll be forwarding it to you. I have a lead I'll be attempting to follow once this mess currently is done. Hopefully that'll provide more insight into the whole situation."

"Next time we meet, then," Ophiuchus said.

"Next we meet." The armored hero nodded. "Now, if there's nothing else you need of me, I'll be trying to see if there's anything else I can assist with here." He turned on his heel and muted once more as he walked off. "Okay...we need to figure out how to fix this..."

"Perhaps we could have a moment to speak with Spectrum?"

"Hmmm...that's a perfect idea. We can seem to work with that as soon as we can. What would I do without you, P.I.X.E.L.?"

"Perhaps crash and burn without your co-pilot?"

"...remind me to mute you later..." Override sighed, shaking his head.

Skaia · September 14, 2023

With three arms and three bodies to occupy those Sibyl had made her way with the rest of the group to the meeting in Goodale. As they did, Sibyl encountered a problem almost immediately as they had made their way inside; the park's nullification field. Suddenly the three bodies in three arms had shifted to two heavier bodies in only two arms. "Oh, right." The girl was surprised, forgetting about this fact until it had happened, her face scrunching up a bit in annoyance as she did. On the one hand, she always thought the idea of an area inherently being a power nullifier was super rad and was always a bit curious about just what it was too. She also didn't really mind her powers being shut off as much as someone else did either. Her shadow arms helped her out with fighting and painting but, she was perfectly capable of doing both without them so it was only a matter of convenience to her. However, she had currently been benefitting from that convenience and to have it taken away from her so suddenly certainly didn't do good for her mood.

So she just let one of the bodies lay on the ground until she was greeted by her gang's leader, her mood brightening up saying, "hey Lach! It sure does." She agreed with the Fates's assessment of this place sucking. Once another person came over, some Vic, and their exchange took place Sibyl got ready to leave when she was directed to do so. Walking out of the field, juggling the three bodies around a bit before she was able to fully use her powers again, she walked over to where the second of the Fates was. Dragging the three of them, she smiled and said, "hey there Tropo!" She then saw the other villain that she was told would be around here, Minos. Outside of being a part of the Zodiac and being something of powerhouse herself Sibyl really didn't know much about her, but that also meant she had no problem with her. And so, equally friendly she said, "oh and a friend too!" The girl shot the bovine woman a smile as well, before looking back to Atropos saying, "look, I brought presents." She tossed the three to the ground.

Atropos returned Sibyl's greeting with a wave. She didn't seem surprised that Sibyl had dropped such presents into her lap, regarding them more with a "Oh, of course she managed all them" face than anything else. Minos and the crowd they had been keeping at bay, however, reacted strongly. Minos gave a comically large, though still genuine, gasp in shock, while the reporters surrounding the park immediately started snapping pictures.

"Privacy!" Atropos said.

Minos wheeled back around to face the crowd. She knelt down, plunged her hands into the street, and heaved upwards, pulling up a wall they could all work behind. The clamor of all the press was muted, though not by much. "I hate working with asphalt," she said. "I can do it, but it doesn't feel right. I still can't believe you got Hellhound, though! This soon into an S-Class event, this'll surely make everything go quicker."

Giving a whistle at the wall Sbiyl said, "that's pretty nice." Then after Minos spoke she said, "oh? Oh, yeah I guess they are pretty important." Giving a bit of a laugh she said, "well, not like they were much of a fighter. Their dog was super cool though I don't know if you've ever seen that thing in action, but damn." Censer's smoke thing was also pretty neat, but until it shape shifted into a teleporting dog she found it much less interesting. With that done, Sibyl figured she'd see if there was any reason for her to stay around more and asked, "so, what's going down here today?"

Minos nodded along, "Right, right. That's their 'thing.' I dunno, I heard they tried to supplement that stuff with little gadgets 'cuz Caesar's got a bunch of tinkers working under him, but I guess it doesn't matter so much when you get punched in the mouth like anyone else. We're just, you know, keeping people who aren't supposed to be here out, like, sixes, the public, anyone Caesar might have stuck some of Legion on trying to spy too. Honestly, as long as they don't get past the security line they're free to look at whatever, but- Hey!" One of the press with a stretching power had extended a camera over the wall and Minos leaped up to swipe it out of their hands. She missed, but the camera retreated back over the wall. "She literally just said 'Privacy!' What part of that don't you understand?" She paused. "Wait, did you call her 'Tropo?'"

"She's allowed," Atropos said. "You're not."

Atropos had been kneeling next to the three still-unconscious bodies, trying to sus them out. She pointed at Censer. "She'll have to get inside the part as soon as she wakes up, don't want random smoke coming out doing who knows what while we're talking to her." About Vambrace, she said, "He just need to get the wrist things off, right? And Hellhound, well, like you said, we just need to worry about their dog, probably." She looked back up. "Wait, where is Damian?"

Sibyl looked around before shrugging, "dunno. The little scamp was following us around before we got here, but I haven't seen them around. Maybe it's a dog afraid of a park?" The girl joked.

Atropos laughed. "I guess that makes sense. Something to keep a lookout for, though. Masters interact weirdly with Goodale, like, if the dog's already transformed, I dunno if he'll stop being transformed or if the power's only in the transformation itself... And Hellhound's the one we definitely want out here, since you're gonna want your powers for this." She looked at Minos. "Go take these two in the park. I dunno, find a Tinker to get his gadgets off? Find Clotho if you have to."

Minos pouted. "Aw, I don't get to help out with interrogating? Aren't we all on the same side right now?"

"All our teams are on the same side," Atropos said. "But my team's the one who got Hellhoud. And Ophie let me be in charge of security too. Actually, since I'm in charge, put up a few more walls so nobody can even look in from out there."

A bigger pout. "I'm telling Ophiuchus you call him that." But she did as she was told, putting up three more walls and kicking through one to create an archway she could walk through. There was still light coming down through the lack-of-ceiling, but the soundscape around them was almost deadened.

"I've called him that to his face," Atropos said when Minos was finally gone. "Alright, anyway. I'm gonna keep doing my job out there, especially now that I know at least one of them's gonna try and peek over -- maybe I can pick it off with a knife or something. Your job, then, for me, is to get something out of Hellhound we can use at this meeting. Yeah, we could just say 'We got Hellhound,' but I want that extra oomph, you know?

"Don't beat them up again," Atropos said. "They'll just make things up if you try and torture something out of them. But also," a wicked smile crossed her face, "they don't have to know I said that, either."

"Roger that ," the girl smiled a bit as Atropos left her to it. She agreed but Sibyl wasn't ever one much for interrogations and she didn't even really prefer torturing someone as a form of interrogation either. She similarly didn't actually care about any kind of prime info that would be used for some kind of negotiation, whatever it was they were even negotiating here to begin with. But, she did still find the villain interesting and was interested in some stuff herself, and so as Hellhound began to stir themselves awake the girl gave them a smile, friendly as any other. "Gooood morning."

GwenSynth · September 15, 2023

Instead of waking up in a beautiful bed of roses, beside a beautiful young man or woman, on a beautiful morning, Sasha was completely beside herself. More specifically, she was beside her bed, beside herself. She'd been home when the news broke. The supposed, 'end of the world'. It was such an ugly thing to hear. It must've tasted awful leaving Cassandra's lips. Or perhaps it was a bittersweet taste? Sasha sighed heavily as the daylight broke through the shimmer at last, standing slowly and letting her nightgown fall where it may. She approached her balcony overlooking the streets of Scarlett City, only three floors above her favorite pizza parlor. Her thoughts were racing and she couldn't seem to quiet them down. Right about now, a slice of greasy pizza to sop up her stirring emotions sounded nice.

Instead, she found herself lost in social media and news, turning back to her bedroom. She flicked on her television and picked up her tablet. Even as a villain, she was still a regular consumer. It was plastered across every screen, article, and tabloid. What few churches Scarlett City had were likely clamoring to keep their faithful together. Gangs would surely use this as an opportunity to seize territory, so Sasha snatched her phone from her bedside table and took it with her to the kitchen. She knew she should expect a call or message from the Fates soon.

In the meantime, she couldn't let this ugly news keep her from a beautiful breakfast. Eggs, over medium. Toast, slightly burnt for a taste from prison. Bacon, because she loved salty foods. Tomato, because she knew better. Afterward, Sasha glanced at the clock. It had been over an hour and she hadn't heard her phone buzz or ring at all. Then, a look of horror ran across Sasha's face as she snatched up her phone once more.

Tapping the screen, she became mortified. It was dead. She'd forgotten to charge it last night amidst all the ruckus! She darted across her apartment, threw her phone on the charger, and practically destroyed her power button trying to get the device to power up. After a few seconds, her screen glowed to life and her phone loaded. No missed calls, surprisingly, but a few messages.

Sasha winced, wondering if the Fates were pissed. She understood her place on the food chain. Being an entirely new player, things are expected of you. She opened the messages to find that two of them were spam, one was from a past fling, another was from her mother, and there was only one from the Fates. It was a summons to a meeting in Goodale Park. Her presence was required. This could only mean two things:

The Fates were making a move, and so was G3.

Sasha got dressed quickly, slipped into her usual garb, and darted out of her door. Surprisingly, Scarlett City hadn't been torched to the ground. That was a beautiful thing to see. Situating the lens on her face, she made her way to Goodale Park.

radio414 · September 20, 2023

Mark on You

Spotlight hated Goodale Park. Now, he didn’t know a cape who liked it, but in his very biased opinion, fliers had it worst of all. Flight offered a freedom that few other powers could give. To be truly anywhere, a whole extra dimension with which to play, it changed the way your brain worked. Even in the middle of the park, where everybody was consigned to boring, two-d movement, he could tell who among the passers-by was yearning to leap from the ground and never touch it again. It was how they walked, of course, that was the big giveaway, the pure physical motion of someone who suddenly had to treat gravity with a little more respect, but there was also just a general disposition. It was claustrophobia was what it was.

He adjusted his arm in its sling. If not for that, he could have been off scouting or holding down the park from aerial photography or something. They could have been any-fucking-where else in the city. But no, this was something Cassandra had asked of him. It had to heal naturally. “Just for a week or two,” they had said, “so people can find you afterward.” Maybe Cass could have let up a bit?

He had already given a statement. It had been filtered through G3’s marketing machine and smoothed out into nothing, but it was a statement nonetheless. And yet, here he was, running little errands and doing his best. Director Sekelsky had grounded him for even associating with Cassandra in the first place. He should be flying, he thought. The world was going to end in less than six months. There were only so many days left that he could.

“Fuck it,” Spotlight said. But before he could even put his thoughts of desertion to action, Sarah, Roy’s assistant grabbed his (good) arm.

“Override is looking for you,” they said.

“Override? Why?”

But the only answer Spotlight got was a shrug. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. The movement of her shoulders let him catch a glimpse of the necklace just hidden under her shirt. The necklace was a glass marble wrapped in wire, and it glinted in the sunlight. Sarah was one of them. She had known just as much as he did, she’d just been better at staying under the radar.

She must have seen his eyes widen. “He was over by the playground a few minutes ago,” she said. “He’s probably still there.”

“Thank you,” Spotlight said. “I will.”

Guys on Every Corner

By the time Sasha arrived at Goodale Park, the furor of the press had died down to a more manageable level. It was clear that all potential scoops had been hoovered up, and now the reporters had to actually do the job of reporting. Sasha could walk by whole crews in meetings, some typing away on a laptop or tablet, some setting up recording equipment or lining up bounce pads to more evenly light up the shot they wanted.

Clotho was by the front gate, whipping a yo-yo around and pacing back and forth. “Obviously our own territory takes precedence. That’s why we had the VVolf Pack stay behind in the first place. You can take care of yourselves, and, by proxy, us.” At some point, she brushed her hair back behind her ear revealing she was wearing Bluetooth earbuds. Despite them, it didn’t take long for her to notice Sasha’s approach, and she greeted the plant villain with an exaggerated over-the-head wave.

“Hey! Glad you could make it! You’re looking good,” Clotho said once she was sure Sasha would hear it. “Don’t worry, you’re not late or anything. You’re actually early for what we wanted you here for since apparently, The Peacekeepers operate on the ‘hurry up and wait’ model. I guess I don’t mind. Means we have more time for our own activities.” She held up her phone as an example and took the opportunity to take her earbuds out as well. “We do need to go in in a sec. I heard Minos and I are going to disassemble some tinker tech, but hey, before that, let’s get you talking with some more people. There are a whole lot of other Moray Clan people here and you’ll have to know all of them eventually.”

She didn’t take Belladonna by the hand but beckoned her forward. There was a moment where Clotho cringed crossing the threshold into Goodale Park, but she soldiered on regardless. It wasn’t long before Clotho spotted somebody worth mentioning. “Oh! You’ve heard of Aeon, right? Immortal girl? She’s a cop right now which sucks but she’s pretty cool besides that. Hey! Thessa!”

Clotho ran over to Thessa. “Hey, I know we keep just introducing you to people but this one’s pretty cool. Remember that prison break we did a little bit back? Belladonna here is the result of that. Was a pretty rad story tee bee aitch, but she’ll have to tell you about that.”

Hostages

Hellhound did not respond to Sibyl right away. They woke up, yes, but took in their surroundings first, silently observing the asphalt walls and floor, the lack of ceiling. They blinked a few times and held the back of their hand out in front of their face. The first words out of their mouth were, “Well, I don’t think I’m concussed.” They closed their eyes. “Damian is still alive and I don’t think Poppy was ever in danger; I didn’t bring her today.” Lastly, they patted themselves down “And you managed to strip most of my utility belt. Alright. You may consider me impressed.”

They tried to sit up from their mostly-supine position and winced. “Yeah, that makes sense too,” Hellhound said as they leaned back down. Instead, they just looked up at the sky. “Alright, well, believe it or not, this isn’t my first… interview. You know what I can and can’t say, right? But I assume you're going to be asking about Caesar anyway, so let's hear the questions anyway.”

OOC

Spoiler

Subtitles are songs by the Mountain Goats

Image for Spotlight will be up later, but here are the images for the already mentioned Minos and Stanley (Stanley has more of a Max Headroom face but that's a hard image to find)

So, in order, here's Spotlight just as you asked for him. I didn't have the exact, "and then he walked up and said hi you were looking for me" but you can have that in your post if you want. It just seemed unnecessary here.

I wanted Sasha to interact with someone as soon as possible and provided a conversation seed for that, and also realized I hadn't used Clotho in a bit so here she is with her sick yo-yo tricks.

Hellhound's interrogation got the least because that's an ongoing conversation. I can provide ideas for what to ask, though, if you get stuck.

Welcome Gwen, of course, but Gwen's been in discord for a bit now lol. As always, let me know if you have any other questions.

-r

Edited September 20, 2023 by radio414

LordCowCow · September 20, 2023

Thessa was a patient woman. Many people would expect her to refuse to wait for anything but that couldn't be farther from the truth. When you could live as long as she could there wasn't much she had to rush for.

But she had been intent on bringing Caesar down for a while now. She had decided it back in the church when his goons had fought with her.

Yet she was still here, in one of the most bothersome places in the city, unable to go and let loose on him like she wanted.

It was starting to get a bit frustrating. She continued to wander the park, watching as everyone scurried about doing some inane task or other, and debated just walking out and looking for Caesar herself.

"Hey! Thessa!” The voice brought her back to the moment and she looked over to see one of the Fates coming over to her. Thessa turned towards her, expression not hiding how antsy she felt at the moment, and noticed there was another person nearby.

“Hey, I know we keep just introducing you to people but this one’s pretty cool. Remember that prison break we did a little bit back? Belladonna here is the result of that. Was a pretty rad story tee bee aitch, but she’ll have to tell you about that.”

"Oh yeah, think that rings a bell. Might be mixing some of em up but I gotchu." There was a couple she could think of off-hand and the name sounded somewhat familiar but, looking at the woman Clotho was introducing, she didn't think she had seen her before at least. "No worries, I've met a lotta people already and its always good to meet more. Even if some of them kinda suck."

She looked Belladonna up and down. "You don't suck, right?"

The name and the vibe screamed plant girl. Funny given one of the things she had taken a note of on her trip around the Shimmer. Maybe this girl could shake some things up after all. "Guess if you're with those girls you probably have some potential huh?" She smiled at Clotho. "They seem to be good at getting more fun people together then the others at least."

"Anyway like she said my name is Thessa. I was just thinking about moving on but guess I can stick around a bit. Don't wanna be rude to a new face ya know? So, Belladonna, what do you think about the city?"

GwenSynth · September 26, 2023

The crowd of reporters was a bit smaller than Sasha expected. She was partially grateful for this because of the power reporters wielded. She didn't want to caught off guard and risk having her beautiful image ruined. Speaking of beautiful, Clotho was at the front gate, toying with a yo-yo. If you didn't know who Clotho was, it was almost an innocent and beautiful moment. Nevertheless, Sasha was happy to see a familiar face.

“Hey! Glad you could make it! You’re looking good,” Clotho said as Sasha approached.

"Good to see you, and thanks for waiting for me," Sasha said with a short sigh.

“Don’t worry, you’re not late or anything. You’re actually early for what we wanted you here for since apparently, The Peacekeepers operate on the ‘hurry up and wait’ model. I guess I don’t mind. Means we have more time for our own activities,” Clotho replied.

"Of course. What did you have in mind?" Sasha asked eagerly.

"We do need to go in in a sec. I heard Minos and I are going to disassemble some tinker tech, but hey, before that, let’s get you talking with some more people. There are a whole lot of other Moray Clan people here and you’ll have to know all of them eventually,” Clotho said before beckoning Sasha forward.

As Sasha dutily followed Clotho, she felt almost like she was experiencing a broken signal throughout her body and mind from the moment they crossed over into Goodale Park. It was so strange to be disconnected from the earth this way. She almost felt lost without that feeling, but she pushed it to the back of her mind quickly when Clotho approached one of the capes. This wasn't just any cape, however. This was one of great renown. This cape had a legacy that was truly beautiful.

“Oh! You’ve heard of Aeon, right? Immortal girl? She’s a cop right now which sucks but she’s pretty cool besides that. Hey! Thessa!” Clotho said excitedly.

"I'm very familiar with the story of Aeon," Sasha said with a grin. In truth, she was a bit envious of Aeon. Immortal beauty. Well, unless the world ended, right?

“Hey, I know we keep just introducing you to people but this one’s pretty cool. Remember that prison break we did a little bit back? Belladonna here is the result of that. Was a pretty rad story tee bee aitch, but she’ll have to tell you about that." Clotho's introduction of Belladonna made her smile. To Sasha, it would seem Aeon and Clotho were very familiar.

"Oh yeah, think that rings a bell. Might be mixing some of em up but I gotchu." Aeon sounded relaxed and at ease, to Sasha anyway.

"No worries, I've met a lotta people already and its always good to meet more. Even if some of them kinda suck."

Sasha couldn't help but be astonished to meet Aeon up close. It was like having a celebrity wave at you in public. An excited, almost giddy feeling. Aeon had seen the world for a long time, in all its beauty. Sasha would have loved to pick her brain some time.

"You don't suck, right?" Aeon asked bluntly.

Sasha chuckled. "I certainly hope not. I don't think the Sisters would have freed me if that were true," she joked. "I'm Belladonna. Or Sasha. Whichever comes more naturally to you."

"Guess if you're with those girls you probably have some potential huh?" Perhaps Aeon was curious about Sasha's strength.

Sasha's face said it all. She wasn't a braggart, but she knew what she was capable of. "Hopefully, you'll come to see what I can do with your own eyes. I'll let you be the judge."

"They seem to be good at getting more fun people together then the others at least." That reminded Sasha that she still had to get with the other members of her crew. She could plan it out later. "Anyway like she said my name is Thessa. I was just thinking about moving on but guess I can stick around a bit. Don't wanna be rude to a new face ya know? So, Belladonna, what do you think about the city?"

"Hmm," Sasha said with a pause. "I think there's lots of work that needs to be done. I love Scarlett City with all my heart, and I want to see it be beautiful again. So, we'd better do our utmost to save it. Right?"

The looming six month timer in the back of Sasha's head reminded her that the long goal was to save their world as they knew it. Six months may have seemed like a long time, but it would come and go quickly if action wasn't taken quickly. Sasha kept her composure, but there was no doubt everyone was thinking about it all the time; the end of the world.

Chaos Sonic · September 30, 2023

Override was lucky he was able to get someone to assist him in locating Spotlight. He remained where he was, until he noticed the hero coming his direction. "Spotlight, sorry to bother you, but I needed just a few moments of your time."

"Yes, Sarah said you were looking for me. She told me what this was about, too, in a manner of speaking."

"Alright then, saves me the trouble to explain my reasoning for calling you over here." he nodded, having P.I.X.E.L. ready to make a record of everything that was said. "So, why don't you start with the beginning of it for me. Try not to leave any details out."

Spotlight took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I have to warn you, in terms of status within the... circle Cassandra surrounded themselves, I'm still an initiate. You're asking me not to leave any details out, and I'll comply where I can, but do not expect everything you need from me." Override simply nodded, waiting for Spotlight to continue.

"I was recruited about a month ago," Spotlight began. "Cassandra approached me asking specifically for my power -- there was an effect they wanted to create. I said yes, of course. I'm a hero, right? A G3 member? If someone asks me for help and I can help, I do it. You know that. Especially if that person is a precog. There was an initiation process -- and I know you said you didn't want me to skimp on the details, but I am going to skimp here, both because I don't think it's important and for the safety of the rest of the circle." He eyed Override's power suit up and down, knowing he was being recorded even if he didn't know where to look.

"Understandable. It's one of those, if I needed to know, I'd know it situations." Override gave an understanding nod towards the hero. "That aside, please continue."

"Cassadra told me their prophecy just after initiation. 'The world will end on the Thirtieth of April,' or something like that. Obviously, I wanted to tell people immediately, but Cassandra just said, 'You don't' and that was that. Not, 'You better not, because...' with a threat, or 'You won't because I say you won't,' like an order. 'You don't,' they said, and that was that. And I guess I didn't, so they were right about that.

"My role was simple. I just had to position myself in a certain spot that night and be ready for when the power got cut. The hardest part was making sure I stayed on Cassandra the whole time, but I managed. After that, well, you can ask any sixer -- or anyone, really -- and they'll tell you what happened next. That's how I got this." He shifted his arm in his sling again.

"I see...so that's generally the basics." Override typed on the holopad he brought up, typing up notes. "Generally aligns up with what was already known. But was there any other information you have that could be vital to this? Leaving the initiation process out of it for the time being, was there anything out of the ordinary? Did Cassandra act strangely in the days leading up to this? Or for that matter, did this all seem rehearsed? I assume it wasn't...but I'm assuming and factoring in all variables at this point."

Spotlight was silent for a moment, deep in thought. "I think," he said, "Cassandra must have known they were going to die. They left us all these envelopes containing instructions, including when to open them. I didn't get one. Cassandra was just able to tell me. Anything else out of the ordinary, I don't even know what ordinary was in the circle. I especially don't know that Cass is gone."

"So you were just the newest recruit and were, in the nicest ways possible, expendable for your role." the tech hero sighed, still typing away. "It's not much, but it's more than what I originally had going on. Now, out of curiosity, was there anything specific you saw on that day? Saw or heard?"

"I don't think I was expendable," Spotlight said, frowning. "If I was expendable, I don't think Cassandra would have asked me in the first place. But on the day we all had our assigned roles. I was too focused on mine to notice much else."

"Poor choice of words on my part, but I understand." Override gave a final nod, finishing his note-taking and closed the holopad. "Thank you for your assistance, Spotlight. If you happen to remember anything else, drop me a line."

"Good luck out there."

With that, Override took his leave, immediately walking away from Spotlight. After he did, he muted himself. "P.I.X.E.L., encrypt the recording and the notes taken and we'll deliver them to Ophiucus. It's not much, but it's definitely a start. Hopefully it'll help."

Edited September 30, 2023 by Chaos Sonic

radio414 · October 5, 2023

A Report To The Shareholders / Kill Your Masters

The building in the center of Goodale Park only appeared modest from the outside. Crossing the threshold past the briefest veneers of normalcy led to a series of elevators that went down into an open meeting area. The central table was illuminated by a series of lights matching the table's ring shape, and indicators of just where each faction was meant to sit were posted at proportional distances away from each other. The Gibbons section, naturally, was devoid of any members of that particular gang and was instead filled by renegades that had heeded the call of an S-Class threat. There were non-perishable snacks on another table off to the side and one of the walls was a map of Scarlet City with all the various factions' territory claims marked out.

Also on the walls, just next to each elevator, were the stairwells that led up to the surface. There was signage next to each of them detailing which building basement they came up into, each building close to, but still outside Goodale Park's influence. One led to a bookshop. Another led to the pit of a nearby theater. Etcetera, etcetera.

It took a moment -- longer, perhaps, than anyone might have expected -- for everyone to file in and find their place, but Stanley wasn’t about to waste any time. “Alright,” he said. When that did little to quell the idle chatter, he produced a small gavel and banged it on the table. “Alright! First thing’s first, a sanity check. Where’s DEUS?”

“Out east,” someone said. “Dunno what he was doing, was too busy looking for Gibbons activity out there. There isn’t any, by the way. Most, if not all of the Gibbons Gang has pulled back west. There were a few skirmishes, but no casualties.”

“We’ve already hauled in three, dunno where that number is coming from,” Atropos chimed in.

“Yeah, and my friend got jumped on their way here,” said another. “She’s got regeneration, but she’s still recovering. I bet there are more than just them, too, if you thought to ask.”

Stanley sighed. “We’re skipping ahead a bit, though our condolences, of course, to Lady Scarlet. I suppose this means I can skip the obvious preamble and move straight to the meat of the discussion. In a similar vein, where is Caesar?” He pronounced the name as one might expect.

“You are saying this because you believe Caesar” -- Ophiuchus pronounced it just the same way -- “has transcended his status as a gang leader and is now an S-Class threat.” It wasn’t a question, rather, it was clear that Ophiuchus cared more about procedure even at a time like this. “You are invoking clauses in several treaties to gather us together, to work to restore Scarlet City to what it was before this incident.”

“To what it was as best we’re able, sans the existential threat,” Director Sekelsky said.

“Correct,” Stanley said before the oneupmanship on technicalities got any further (disappointing Lachesis who’d already had her mouth open ready to speak -- she slouched back down in her chair instead). “So I ask again: The most direct route to such circumstances would be the removal -- whether that be apprehension or destruction -- of Caesar himself. Does anybody know where he is?”

A renegade chimed in on the discussion. “How can we be sure just killing Caesar is all we’d need to do to resolve this S-class? Isn’t Gibbons the largest gang in the city? Wouldn’t a second-in-command just take over the work of the first? Or worse, what if the two other gangs start fighting over new territory?”

“Well, again, we’ve already captured his second,” Atropos said. “As for the territory stuff…” She let a smile and a shrug answer the second question.

Stanley seized upon her pause to regain control. “There was territory squabbling before Caesar, and it’ll be there after Caesar is dead too. Those actions would be covered over treaty agreements that are not necessary for this discussion. Now, staging a raid on his casino is the obvious first step, though that is not without its problems.

“That’s what he’d be expecting,” Clotho said. “Like, he’s an idiot, but I’m pretty sure he’d be able to conceive of ‘attack the big shiny thing closely associated with myself.’”

“Plus, he’s not even there, but we got that from Hellhound. I guess you don’t have to believe them, but that’s still two points against in abstract.”

Director Sekelsky stepped in. “It doesn’t do us much good to underestimate our enemy anyway. Caesar does have a number of advantages on us, too. As long as he has Legion near him, for example, he can look over the whole city. We won’t exactly be sneaking up on him no matter what we do.”

“Well, I’m not advocating a defensive approach either,” Stanley said. “I don’t think Caesar will come to us.” He took a breath, clearly an affectation thanks to his inorganic body, but it was still a pause in the meeting. “So, my proposal, then, is to work by process of elimination. Raiding the casino still makes sense to deprive Caesar of what resources we can, but we can also stage attacks on other buildings in his territory. Warehouses, potential safehouses, wherever he might be.”

“Hold on,” Lachesis said. “Are you suggesting we just attack random buildings in hopes of gaining more information from whoever’s in there?”

“It would be by process of elimination, yes,” Stanley said. “If we cannot find Caesar at his most likely hideaways, we would have to check other areas in his territory. You have an objection to this?”

“Just a small one that, I don’t know, people live in those buildings? People who aren’t necessarily involved with Gibbons but just happen to be in their territory?”

“That could be mitigated,” Director Sekelsky said. “We could have our fliers drop pamphlets, for example, outlining our plan. Anyone who remains in the area is someone we can assume wants to -- or is ordered to -- be there.”

“You’re assuming a lot about the sort of people that live in a gang’s territory, Vic, if you think these people have somewhere else to go.”

There was a murmur in the crowd.

“Well, we can open that up for discussion, then,” Stanley said. “That’s what we’re here for, after all. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this suggested plan? Or any other plans to find Caesar and resolve this S-Class threat?”

OOC

Spoiler

Subtitle is a Run the Jewels song.

The question I'd like for your character to respond to got asked right at the end there, but feel free to react elsewhere as well, maybe ask for some lines if you want a more detailed aside. Thessa and Belladonna are welcome to continue/wrap up your conversation at the start of your posts or maybe you sit next to each other in the meeting room who knows. I based the meeting room off the one in Doctor Strangelove because set design is cool actually.

Skaia, the other thing Sibyl got out of Hellhound was something called "Project Rubicon", which Atropos assumes is related to that "Get every Tinker to build something to take over the stars" plan that was mentioned at the beginning of the church fight. It didn't come up in conversation (yet?) but it's something Sibyl knows. Everyone else act surprised when it comes up, mkay?

Let me know if you need anything else. Happy posting,

-r

LordCowCow · October 6, 2023

"I think there's lots of work that needs to be done. I love Scarlett City with all my heart, and I want to see it be beautiful again. So, we'd better do our utmost to save it. Right?"

"Hm, utmost is a lot you know. I wonder if you can manage that much....but, well I look forward to seeing what work ya put into it." She gave the girl a thumbs up. Hopefully that love of the city wouldn't stop the girl from changing it as much as it needed to be. After all even if they want to do something different so many people struggled to break away from what they were used to.

First thing's first though. They couldn't really do anything big if Caesar wasn't taken care of and the world's ending wasn't prevented.

So Thessa supposed it was for the best that not long after they were called to the meeting. In her long life Thessa had been to this meeting room a couple times. It was quite exciting the first time, a bit less the next, and this time she still found it better than a regular meeting at least.

"Guess this get together makes a bit of a break from the norm, silver linings and all that." Thessa said to no one in particular as she gathered up snacks and went to sit with her current affiliation. It didn't cross her mind to go to one of the other areas simply because that would be going out of her way to cause trouble which, despite not minding if she caused trouble normally, she didn't really care enough to intentionally do so here.

And so began the talking. A lot of talking. Nothing really piqued Thessa's interest, just the usual that happened when two sides clashed, and she distracted herself by ranking the various snacks provided by taste. She rolled her eyes at Thirteen's class rep act. To her there was really only one thing that mattered about this whole thing and that was deciding where they struck first.

“It doesn’t do us much good to underestimate our enemy anyway. Caesar does have a number of advantages on us, too. As long as he has Legion near him, for example, he can look over the whole city. We won’t exactly be sneaking up on him no matter what we do.”

She couldn't help but let out a groan at that. There it was again, numbers numbers numbers, why did so many people think that the number of people mattered?

Amusingly Stanley was the one to offer up an idea closest to what Thessa thought made most sense. Even if Lachesis had a bit of an issue with it.

“That’s what we’re here for, after all. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this suggested plan? Or any other plans to find Caesar and resolve this S-Class threat?”

Finally Thessa, having arranged the snack wrappers in front of her in order of tastiness, spoke up. "I mean, is it really that complicated? We have a list of everyone in his gang. Two lists even." She glanced at the other gang leaders, "maybe more." Then she continued. "If Caesar doesn't have any manpower he's not gonna do much. So just take them all out and bring them in, simple as that."

Her idea sounded insane for several reasons but anyone who knew the girl could tell she was completely serious. She saw nothing wrong with the plan and was, in fact, already eager to go get started.

GwenSynth · October 9, 2023

"Hm, utmost is a lot you know. I wonder if you can manage that much....but, well I look forward to seeing what work ya put into it."

Sasha couldn't help but feel flattered as Thessa gave her a thumb's up. It was quite a confidence boost. Shaking herself out of her daydream, Sasha followed not long behind her allies to attend a critical meeting. This one was all about dealing with notorious Caesar.

Sasha positioned herself beside her comrades before tuning in to the discussion. While the many minds gathered around this illuminated table collectively brainstormed a plan to neutralize Caesar, Sasha elected to piggyback her idea off of another.

"If Caesar doesn't have any manpower he's not gonna do much. So just take them all out and bring them in, simple as that."

Thessa was right. Without manpower, Caesar as a whole was much less of a threat. What's more, being able to identify his gang individually meant that each of Caesars' crews' weaknesses was now its own advantage for those who opposed him.

"And if we split them up with a pincer and get Caesar alone, taking him down will prove that much easier," Belladonna added. "We capitalize on what we know about Caesar's crew, set a trap, and split them up. Then, we turn Caesar into mince meat."

Caesar was an ugly person. The way he operated left blemishes and blights around Scarlett City that made Sasha cringe and recoil. She was not at all opposed to using Caesar's corpse to fertilize and beautify the city again. At least then Caesar would actively provide benefit to the people around him. He would have proven more effective as mulch, as far as Sasha was concerned. The power vacuum left behind his death would surely sweep up some of the best villains in Scarlett City, but that was to be expected. Gang politics and territory were as unavoidable as the first morning breath. It was going to happen. But that wouldn't persuade Sasha from her feelings regarding Caesar.

Skaia · October 16, 2023

After a friendly chat and interrogation with Hellhound, Sibyl made her way over to the main meeting place where everyone was chatting about what to do next. While Sibyl was wondering once more why she was here at this round table discussion, not usually enjoying the nitty gritty of treaty talk and diplomacy between the various factions, she perked up at the idea of having to deal with an S-Class. Sibyl always had a passing interest in Caesar, after all he was also a gang boss and had a host of interesting people around him, the fact that he escalated to this status made her all the more interested. She didn't really know if he was actually any more threatening then before or if they just decided he was a threat that needed dealing with now. Not that the specifics mattered, the idea of a full out war with another gang war was enticing enough to her as it was. However, the discussions about what to do to fight them seemed to not come to an immediate conclusion.

Lachesis frowned. "Even putting aside the logistical issues -- and don't say you'll just do it yourself, Aeon -- the public wiki's got enough hearsay and best-guesses on it, there'd be no way to be sure everyone tagged on there really has a Gibbons affiliation," she said. "The moment you're wrong about that kind of stuff, the whole operation's a failure. And putting aside all of that as well, it's just the same plan again, but you say you're targeting the people directly instead of their houses, and we already said we're not doing that."

"'We' meaning you," Victor said.

"And my sisters, at the very least." Lachesis gestured to Clotho and Atropos, who both waved.

"Don't people normally have to pay you to get your protection? Isn't that your whole racket?"

"I like the isolation idea," Stanley said, desperate to smooth over the brewing argument. "Caesar's power does require other people around him. I don't think Legion will be going anywhere, but Hellhound's capture demonstrates a willingness to deploy his other higher-ups. If we spread out and start enough conflicts at once, we could draw those out. That has its own logistical problems, of course, and still doesn't answer the main problem of how we find Caesar after that, but it's a start."

"Well, just beating up random people isn't really my style anyway," Sibyl spoke up as if that mattered to the whole crowd. "Random violence is pointless, but I guess it's better than putting out a government notice to use that as an excuse to beat people up and burn down their homes or something." The girl chuckled to herself saying, "Lach is right, you don't know how these people think. The plan lacks both soul and a way to make people care, right? No one's gonna care if some stuffy suit comes in saying "hey get out or get killed," or something. So, when you need a lot of misanthropes to go where you want there's only one thing to do."

The girl gave a bit of a pause, as if to add for some dramatic flair. "An event! You gotta speak to them in a way they know and a party, an exhibition, a show case, a street brawl, a riot anything like that. You're only gonna get people out of their homes if you give them something fun to look at, and when you do, that's when the sanctioned violence happens."

Chaos Sonic · October 19, 2023

"Gentlemen! You can't fight in here! This is the War Room!!"

"P.I.X.E.L., I appreciate that, but this is sort of serious..." he muttered, shaking his head after hearing that inside his helmet.

"Certainly sir. I figured I would lighten the tension in the air." P.I.X.E.L. simply said, before going silent.

Unfortunately, Override was right in this assumption. This was one of the biggest situations that was going on, bringing everyone together...not like they weren't already considering the whole "end of the world" thing. Nevertheless, right now, the focus was on Caesar and that was the most important thing. Once they figured that out, they'd deal with the ending of the world...at least he hoped anyway.

BGM

"Well, I’m not advocating a defensive approach either. I don’t think Caesar will come to us. So, my proposal, then, is to work by process of elimination. Raiding the casino still makes sense to deprive Caesar of what resources we can, but we can also stage attacks on other buildings in his territory. Warehouses, potential safehouses, wherever he might be.”

"Hold on. Are you suggesting we just attack random buildings in hopes of gaining more information from whoever’s in there?”

“It would be by process of elimination, yes. If we cannot find Caesar at his most likely hideaways, we would have to check other areas in his territory. You have an objection to this?”
“That could be mitigated. We could have our fliers drop pamphlets, for example, outlining our plan. Anyone who remains in the area is someone we can assume wants to -- or is ordered to -- be there.”

Override couldn't believe what he was hearing. Stanley had proposed such an idiotic move, just in an attempt to locate Caesar. But the thing is...the DIRECTOR even agreed. Did he even hear himself? There were ramifications to these actions and everyone knew it. Not just for them specifically…but… "P.I.X.E.L., run some numbers for me...ASAP." he said, thankfully muted to the rest of the crew.

"I mean, is it really that complicated? We have a list of everyone in his gang. Two lists even. …maybe more. If Caesar doesn't have any manpower he's not gonna do much. So just take them all out and bring them in, simple as that."

And now Aeon was more or less agreeing with this. He let out a sigh, about to say something more, but a newcomer entered the conversation. At a quick search he learned that this was Belladonna…apparently a plant based villain.

"And if we split them up with a pincer and get Caesar alone, taking him down will prove that much easier. We capitalize on what we know about Caesar's crew, set a trap, and split them up. Then, we turn Caesar into minced meat."

Override took this into consideration. This honestly a better sounding plan than the one Aeon and Stanley suggested. But he continued to listen.

"Even putting aside the logistical issues -- and don't say you'll just do it yourself, Aeon -- the public wiki's got enough hearsay and best-guesses on it, there'd be no way to be sure everyone tagged on there really has a Gibbons affiliation. The moment you're wrong about that kind of stuff, the whole operation's a failure. And putting aside all of that as well, it's just the same plan again, but you say you're targeting the people directly instead of their houses, and we already said we're not doing that."

"Well, just beating up random people isn't really my style anyway. Random violence is pointless, but I guess it's better than putting out a government notice to use that as an excuse to beat people up and burn down their homes or something… The plan lacks both soul and a way to make people care, right? No one's gonna care if some stuffy suit comes in saying "hey get out or get killed," or something. So, when you need a lot of misanthropes to go where you want there's only one thing to do. An event! You gotta speak to them in a way they know and a party, an exhibition, a show case, a street brawl, a riot anything like that. You're only gonna get people out of their homes if you give them something fun to look at, and when you do, that's when the sanctioned violence happens."

That's when Override finally spoke up, granted, giving Sybil time to speak up as well. "Okay, I've held my tongue long enough." he said, already fed up with most of this. "This happens to be the first time I'm going to be agreeing with quite a few villains." He moved his arm and began to pull up a holopad and proceeded to tap on it. "I've held my tongue for the most part…so I'll start going down the list. First!" he directed his attention to Stanley, though the armored hero was just directing it towards him. "If I heard you right…you wish for us to barge into places of business and even homes themselves to get this information. Have you even thought of the ramifications of these actions?" Override immediately pulled up the holopad to a full view, showing some statistics. "If we follow your plan, which both Aeon, the director and yourself have graciously agreed to an extent with…this would paint a picture that most heroes would not want by the public. We're keepers of the PEACE…we protect people not make them terrified of us because we're asking people to vacate a building. The view on ALL heroes from the public would be making us no better than the villains, no offense to any here. We have an image and reputation to uphold."

He paused, letting out a sigh. "There are variables you may not be accounting for and in a situation where we're already racing against the clock…we NEED to account for all the details." Override pointed at Belladonna and nodded. "She's the only one who has a concrete plan of action. Being able to utilize our pooled information and knowledge to stop Caesar-..." he pronounced it like the others were at this point. "-...would be the better option. If needed, we can mesh plans together…Sybil suggested a distraction…but here's the idea: no sanctioned violence. We legit distract them with an event and once that's in the process of working, we can utilize both the heroes and villains that deal with stealth. They go in, gather intel, and return to base. Once we gather enough information to know our enemy inside and out, we can devise a plan of attack."

Override looked in the direction of Ophiuchus, knowing he was one of the big players of information and knowledge being key. "There's a quote from Sun Tzu's Art of War. 'Know thy self, Know thy enemy. A thousand battles. A thousand victories." he said, standing up, collapsing the holopad. "We need the information and intel in regards to Caesar's forces and what he plans to do. Once we do that, we can act."

radio414 · October 26, 2023

THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD

There was silence after Override’s big speech, but only for a moment. The Fates couldn’t help but get some snark in. “Oh, the triple-G are the keepers of the peace now, huh?” Clotho said. “What does that make the Peacekeepers then?”

“In any case,” Director Sekelsky said, pointedly ignoring the question, “The big question in the center of all that remains: Where is Caesar? A stealth raid isn’t out of the question, but we can’t just send spies out to cover the whole city. We’d spread ourselves too thin. Even just narrowing things down to probable areas would be a start.”

“Also, it is important to note that we are at war,” Ophiuchus said. “Perhaps more importantly, Caesar is the one who declared this war. I am not exactly enthusiastic about committing ourselves to nonviolence in the face of that.” He returned Override’s stare, too. “Though perhaps you would say that is just in my villainous nature to want to punch back?”

Again, Stanley stepped in. “We’re all on the same side right now,” he said. “Now, ah, Sibyl’s suggestion of drawing people out through an announced challenge does solve another problem that I’ve been meaning to bring up. Namely, the election that is, or was, scheduled for tomorrow.”

There were murmurs from some of the crowd. “Sweet Astra,” Atropos muttered under her breath.

Stanley ignored them. “Obviously, an S-Class threat takes precedence,” he said. “But it saves everyone a large logistical hassle if we can get this over and done with quickly, and choosing a handful of champions per side does do exactly that. Aeon seems confident, anyway.”

“I’m not willing to surrender the city to the whims of The Stanley Principle,” Director Sekelsky said.

“…or Stanley’s principles,” Atropos said.

“Well, we don’t have to,” Stanley said. “Caesar would still be an existential threat to the city. He would still be an S-Class threat necessitating alliance. He might even be more so if he felt particularly slighted.”

“There is no reason to believe that Caesar would honor this arrangement if we are already talking about breaking it,” Ophiuchus said. “It would simply become the first battle of many.”

“It’s a better plan than any we’ve made so far,” Director Sekelksy said. “We might as well see if he accepts. If he doesn’t, we can move on to something else.” He turned to one of the people sitting behind him, a middle-aged woman in half-formal attire. “Catty Key, can you go outside the park and see if Caesar will play ball?”

“Got it,” she said, and she turned around to leave through one of the stairways.

Lachesis stood straight up. “Hey, actually, can I come with? I’ve got an idea that might solve that location problem.” Director Sekelsky glared at her, so she added, “I’m just a Thinker, Vic. What do you think I’m gonna do, brain her to death?”

He sighed. “Excalibur, go with them too. Just in case.” A man in a suit of armor stood up and followed both Catty Key and Lachesis, who turned around and stuck her tongue out as she left back up the stairs.

One of the Renegades on the opposite end of the table from all this also stood up. “I have an idea, too,” he said. “There’s word on the grapevine that the Moray Clan captured a few Gibbons capes this morning, Hellhound included. Is that correct?”

More murmuring from the rest of the renegades. “My understanding is that it was a joint effort, actually,” Victor said.

“Right, okay.” It appeared some contributions were greater than others. “So, like, did they have any Legion on them? Because we could use that. I mean, the Park is clouding my mind a little bit, but when I’m not being suppressed by forces beyond my control, I do Tinker with power alternation stuff. Nothing major; I’m not that good, but it might be possible to reverse the polarity on Legion’s power. Since wherever Legion is, Caesar --” ˈkae̯sar “-- is, we could make a pretty decent guess from there.”

A few different people tried to speak up, but Ophiuchus got there first. “Why did you say his name like that?”

“Force of habit. I live over there; it’s hard not to. What, do you want to raid my house too?”

“I don’t want to give you access to Hellhound, basically on that reasoning alone,” Atropos said. “And I don’t want to give another Tinker access to Vambrace’s tech. Censer, though, if you can find some blood on her or something, sure.”

“I’ll even take an escort with me if that bothers you,” the Renegade said. “Though I’ll let G3 choose it if you don’t mind. I’d still trust them more than you to not get in the way of my work.”

She shrugged. “Sure. Vic?”

“Alright,” Director Sekelsky said. “Override, go with the man.”

“Minos can take you to where we are keeping them,” Ophiuchus said, taking his own opportunity.

“Did not expect this to be a whole thing, but sure, so long as she stays out of the way, I guess.” He and Minos went back towards the elevators waiting for Override to join them.

Stanley took charge of the meeting again. “So this what I’m gathering the plan is now:” he said, “This is a split offensive. We meet a portion of Caesar’s forces at a neutral location. Say, some place in the Arena District, while a portion conduct a raid at wherever location or possible locations these investigations confer on. Neither of these would require the full brunt of our combined power, so I suppose should we start by taking volunteers? Do people have a preference for one stage or the other? Or are there any other objections?”

OOC

Spoiler

Subtitle is a hymn credited to Lewis E. Jones, I found it on Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter's new album

This post feels a little "GM solves the puzzle for you" but I have a few justifications for that. The first is I didn't really present it as a puzzle. The last post was more presenting a moral quandary, and it's not like we're not going with some of the ideas that were suggested. The second is these characters are smart and know more-or-less how their powers work so obviously they're going to chime in with ideas that they can do. The renegade guy I don't have an image or name for yet probably needs to talk to Override at some point anyway, but that's for a discussion in DMs. If you do have a complaint with how I handled this post, though, feel free to say something. I don't want anyone to feel like they're being talked over or anything.

In terms of the next round, feels pretty self-explanatory to me. There's a question and a few different actions to take. Maybe we're splitting the party, maybe we're not, whooo knows. Let me know if you need anything else too.

-r

Skaia · October 26, 2023

Sibyl gave a little bit of a clap at the end of Override's speech, repeating, "one thousand victories, hell yeah!" Of course, she had barely been paying attention to what he was saying, having tuned out most of it - outside of knowing that he said her name at some point - but he spoke with a lot of confidence and she felt that had to count for something. She, similarly, tuned out most of the rest of the talks between the higher ups as they had decided on the next course of action. It was only at the end that she heard something that caused her to refocus.

There was a Renegade who had a plan to locate the head honcho they were looking for, but the plan itself didn't concern her. No, she heard that he was a tinker. She also heard the distinct way he said Caesar's name which she knew was something that the Gibbons did. Blankly staring into space, it was as if suddenly a thread of information connected in her head as she put her fist to her palm in realization.

When it came time to figure out what to do next Sibyl raised her hand saying, "oh, I volunteer! No sweat there. But I'm not really a "raid strike team" kinda person. Well I am, or I can be but I like to vibe with the bigger crowds you know?" Before getting a response from anyone though, Sibyl rushed off after the Renegade. As he was waiting for the hero assigned to him to come over he said, "hey you - oh hey Minos - you said you were a Tinker in Caesar's area right?"

Minos gave a small wave.

"I did yes."

"Sick, so you ever hear of something called like a Rubix Con or uh, no that's not it..." Putting her hand to her head and tapping her foot rapidly the girl exclaimed, "oh! Rubicon! There we go."\

He paused for longer than one might expect there. "They -- Gibbons people -- were recruiting about it earlier this week," he said. "Some friends of mine mentioned taking an interesting sort of job. I only have a few details. Where did you hear about this?"

"Straight from the horse's, well, Hound's mouth."

The man relaxed a little at Hellhound's mention. "Well, if they said it..." he said. "Sorry, you understand Caesar wouldn't want me to be here. If he thinks I'm a liability, he'd target me personally."

"Well that's what you have me for, right?" Minos chimed in. "And, uh, whatshisname too."

"Override, yes. Here is what I do know, then: Caesar wanted Tinkers from all across the spectrum, right? But that feels contradictory to me. You wouldn't expect a biotech tinker to sus out what someone who deals in clockworks is doing. And yet... So whatever Project Rubicon is, it's bound to be unstable. But maybe that's why he needs more people like us."

"Huh, crazy." The girl similarly didn't know what to make of this and instead just felt proud in her own ability to chase a lead down to this extent. "Well, if you hear anything more be sure to let me or I guess someone else know. You can find my deets on the web easy enough I'm sure. Later." She said, before walking back to the main group.

LordCowCow · October 28, 2023

Thessa wasn't fully sure Belladonna understood what she was saying. What was the point of splitting them up first? In fact it'd be easier for her if they were all in one place. That way she could just get in, get it done, and not have to spend too much time.

She wasn't too happy with Lachesis's logic either. Couldn't they sort that sort of thing out? Wasn't there people who were meant to make this sort of thing easier for her? If she couldn't rely on the information they gave what even was the point in listening to what they said in the first place?

She frowned a bit as she thought this over. They were, of course, only human. So mistakes were going to happen now and then. But maybe she was still expecting too much of them. She had to remind herself of their ability. They weren't like her, they couldn't do what she could, so it could be too much for Thessa to expect ideal support.

She missed a lot of what the others were saying as she thought of this. Though she found herself laughing at what Override said. It made her wonder what he thought "hero" was anyway? He made it sound like they all should be lumped into the same mold and that people should think of them as all one big righteous group. Which was probably the silliest thing she had heard today even including Caesar's declaration of war.

Finally, after a lot of back and forth, it sounded like they had come up with some sort of idea. Which, really, wasn't all too far apart from what she wanted to do anyway. Namely they were still going to beat them up. Just beat them up in a more formal way.

"Well, obviously I'll do it. I was thinking about heading off myself anyway if it took too long. As for which, well, even if I did suggest taking them all out it's not like I prefer to go knocking door to door if there's an easier way. And who better to be a 'champion' than me, right? It won't matter who is on the other side in that case."

She noticed that Override was being sent off to do something, she wasn't sure what, and before he went she walked up to him. "Hey, one thing you should keep in mind. Don't go putting 'heroes' on a pedestal got it? They're not inherently better than any of the other groups just cause they're heroes."

Besides there was only room for one person up there.

GwenSynth · October 29, 2023

Sasha listened closely and made a decision she thought would best fit her abilities. She wasn't going to be picky about who she worked with, but a closed, controlled environment would allow her to capitalize on her plant based powers.

"Do people have a preference for one stage or the other? Or are there any other objections?” Stanley asked.

"I'll be taking part in the raid," Belladonna announced. "Tightly nit quarters means I'll be able to more easily subdue our targets. The less room they have to run, the more effective I can be in capturing or killing them."

The thought of seeing Caesar's body displayed beautifully across thorned roots made Belladonna happy. His crimson red blood would surely contrast with the earthy colors of her powers. This made her excited to move forward. Perhaps she could string up his corpse in roses and thistles, high above so the rest of the city could witness it. A crucifixion fit for a threat of this magnitude. Her knees went weak for a moment, but she quickly composed herself and wiped the smirk from her face. Excited as she was, Belladonna didn't have a lot of information about Caesar.

He was quite strategic, but that was the sum of her knowledge in regards to Caesar. What he was truly capable of, Belladonna had not yet witnessed. This raid would require a lot of tact and preparation. There was no real way of telling what she was walking into.

Chaos Sonic · November 7, 2023

It felt like everything he said went over everyone's head, or the fact that it was out of line. Namely hearing the Fates laughing at his stuff...or Sybil being oblivious and not understanding what he said. Regardless, Override didn't care...he said what he needed to say and that was that. Though now...

“I’ll even take an escort with me if that bothers you. Though I’ll let G3 choose it if you don’t mind. I’d still trust them more than you to not get in the way of my work.”
"Sure. Vic?”
“Alright. Override, go with the man.”
“Minos can take you to where we are keeping them,”
“Did not expect this to be a whole thing, but sure, so long as she stays out of the way, I guess.”

So now he was being an escort for this renegade...should be fun. Override simply nodded and was about to move, but before he did...Aeon spoke to him.

"Hey, one thing you should keep in mind. Don't go putting 'heroes' on a pedestal got it? They're not inherently better than any of the other groups just cause they're heroes."

Override looked directly at Aeon and simply nodded. "I never said I was. People need someone to look up to...to inspire and aspire to be. That's it." He wasn't too thrilled about having to repeat himself, but this was what he getting at. After all, he wouldn't want people aspiring to be like his former persona...he'd rather them aspire to be like him here and now. Regardless, he kept this in mind as he made his way towards the renegade, Minos...and...Sybil??

"Well that's what you have me for, right? And, uh, whatshisname too."
"Override, yes. Here is what I do know, then: Caesar wanted Tinkers from all across the spectrum, right? But that feels contradictory to me. You wouldn't expect a biotech tinker to sus out what someone who deals in clockworks is doing. And yet... So whatever Project Rubicon is, it's bound to be unstable. But maybe that's why he needs more people like us."
"Huh, crazy. Well, if you hear anything more be sure to let me or I guess someone else know. You can find my deets on the web easy enough I'm sure. Later."

With that, he saw Sybil walking past him back to the main group. Fantastic, now they could get work done. Once he arrived beside the two, he cleared his throat. "Minos..." Override nodded, before glancing at the renegade. "So you got a name for me to call you or should I just call you Tinker for the time being?"

"I never chose a cape name," he said. "I never had the need for one. I hope you understand why I can't give my real name right now."

"Well, nice to meet you, Tinker," Minos said. "And you too, Override. I've heard a lot about you."

"Likewise." he nodded again. "The database entries on you spoke highly of you." He then turned his attention back to 'Tinker'. "And I understand. In any case, we should get this show on the road."

"Sure!" Minos said. "Yeah, I carried Censer to over by the monkey bars. Clotho's better at knots than me, though, so she's the one that tied her up from there."

Just as she said, they found Censer in the playground, tied to one of the support posts in a sittng position with her arms behind her back. She was still knocked out from that morning. "We don't need to wake her up," Tinker said. "I just need the bit of Legion she has on her, like his hair or a bit of blood in some paper or something."

"How would you propose we do that without waking her?" Override asked, crossing his arms. "I'd suggest a full body scan of Censer, but that requires permission as to not be a freak."

"I suppose I will be delaying the body scan, sir?"

"Indeed. Probably indefinitely for this situation." he commented. "So, Tinker, what do you have I mind?'

"Hey, yeah, that's a good point," Minos said. "How were you planning on finding Legion on her if The Fates let you go by yourself?"

"I was hoping to just ask her," Tinker said. "Who said we had to keep her asleep? And if she doesn't tell us, I figured I could be a bit more... persuasive about it."

"We don't need to wake her, but you want to wake her?" Override asked, glancing over at Minos and shook his head slightly at this. He sighed and turned his attention back towards Tinker. "I suppose we really don't have much of a choice. Just in case though...she goes off the deep end, you move and we'll engage. P.I.X.E.L., that happens...try and backdoor your way into G3, the Fates and Zodiac's communications to inform them of the situation."

"I believe they will be quite angry if I insert myself like that."

"So what else is new?" Override chuckled. "In any case, Tinker, if you will."

radio414 · November 10, 2023

Mr. Bojangles

The tinker winced. “I did just say that, didn’t I? Tinker brain, I suppose, always getting caught on small details of things. You’re going to have to forgive me in advance, too. I’m sure it will happen again.”

“Maybe you meant we, collectively, don’t have to wake Censer up, but you would have had to on your own?” Minos offered. “I mean, I’m comfortable just patting her down for you, rifling through her pockets or whatever.”

“No, no,” He smiled though as he declined. “I can take a lump, but it’s too late. I’m too stubborn. Besides, from what I’ve heard of Censer, I think she’ll crack easily under pressure.” He reached out and rapped the monkey bars with his knuckles. When Censer visibly stirred, he crouched down and said, “Good morning!” Then he looked at Override again. “Ah, is it still morning?” And back. “Well whatever it is, I hope you have a good one, and that you recover from whatever cerebral trauma caused you to end up like this.”

Censer’s eyes were obscured by her mask, but the way she moved as she slowly came to her senses implied they were quickly as wide as dinner plates. She didn’t say anything, but her breath quickened and her head snapped between looking at Override, Minos, and especially The Tinker.

The Tinker said, “I believe you have something I need. You might even know what it is.”

“I don’t- I’ve already had enough trouble today.”

“And there’s a war on, I know.” His voice was calm through all of this, as though he had done this before. “The good news is you’re already here. In the care of some villains, yes.” He cocked his head Minos’ way. The cow woman was surprised to be mentioned, but she waved regardless, “but there are some heroes here too,” and his head went Override’s way at that. “And then there’s me. You’ll notice we’re all working together right now, so maybe you’ll understand the implication of what happens if we don’t get what we want.”

Censer didn’t even hesitate. “Breast pocket, the one with the velcro so it wouldn’t fall out,” she said.

Tinker stood back up. “Ah, see, that wasn’t so bad,” he said. It wasn’t clear who exactly he was talking to when he said it, though. “Minos, I will let you retrieve the tissue or whatever Caesar --” even despite the questioning earlier, he still pronounced the gang leader’s name as he had done before, “-- has given Censer here. Override, camera off, turn around, we’ll give them their space.”

He wandered off away from the monkey bars until he was sure Minos could no longer hear them and there certainly wasn’t a chance of seeing or being seen by either woman. “I do hate being like that,” he said, “but sometimes you do have to play off a certain reputation. I understand you fought her earlier. That must have helped too.”

Then The Tinker’s demeanor changed. He grew more somber. Gone was the forgetful apologetic or the intimidator of those who might have known him. Now he was someone else. “I was surprised when you were assigned to supervise me,” he said. “I didn’t think we were supposed to meet yet.” He pulled out a necklace from under his shirt as if that explained what he meant. It was a pendant of a marble wrapped in wire.

“You know,” he said, “you might have to seek some of us out. But don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll be sooner than you think.”

Minos had found the pocket Censer was talking about and called out. “Hey!” In her hand was a small vial and she held it above her head.

Tinker smiled. “Well, in the meantime, let’s get to work.”

I Feel The Earth Move

Everyone had reconvened back in the underground meeting room, and Tinker was now giving his presentation. “It was a trivial task, so I will not bore everyone with the details, but by taking the vial and inserting it into this makeshift device, I traced Legion’s connection with his body back to its source -- Legion himself. As we all know, Caesar is sure to be nearby.”

“Does Goodale Park interfere with Legion’s power,” someone asked, “or does the park only care if Legion himself is inside the park or not?”

“An excellent question, one I do not know the answer to,” Tinker said. “However, we got around this by using the device outside the park. I already had to exit Goodale to make the thing in the first place, so it was not an inconvenience.”

“Hm,” Director Sekelsky said. His eyes had been closed the entire presentation, but he had clearly still taken everything in. “That means Caesar saw you use the device through Legion as well. He knows we tried something.”

“Catty Key had him pretty distracted for part of it,” Lachesis said. “Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn’t. I’ll admit, it’s probably better for the raid team to act as though he does, just in case.”

“Trading one advantage for another,” Stanley said. “We had better make use of it. What were the results?”

Tinker took a breath. “It appears, despite all of our discussion to the contrary, Caesar is still within the confines of his casino.” All of a sudden, he had to talk over murmuring from all around the meeting table. “If I had to guess, based on the strength of the signal, he has taken residence in some kind of safe house under the building.”

“Impossible,” Lachesis said.

“You doubt my methods?”

“No, I believe your little Tinker tech does something, but, like, okay. So my power is measuring things, right? Odds, distances, times, whatever. I figured if I tagged along with Catty Key, my power could tell me the exact delay in their little call. I could turn that into a distance, and then that into a radius. After that, I just had to stare at a map.”

There was a map on one of the walls of the meeting room, showing the entirety of Scarlet City. Lachesis pulled out a laser pointer and drew a circle around Goodale Park. “My read is that he’s close, somewhere in here,” she said. “If I had to guess, of all these buildings, he’d have taken over this one. Battle Labs Robotics HQ.”

More murmurings. “You have to guess?” someone said. “Thinker powers could still be wrong,” another said. “With the wrong assumptions, of course she’d get weird data.”

Stanley once again tried to get the conversation back on track. “Has anyone heard from anyone at Battle Labs today?” he said.

“That would prove nothing,” Ophiuchus said. “Gibbons could have attacked without Caesar needing to be there. We would hear the same story either way.”

Director Sekelsky sighed. “It sounds like we’re forming a second raid unit,” he said. “But let’s get to that later. Catty, how were talks with Caesar about a proxy battle?”

Catty Key was a middle-aged woman with glasses that she adjusted as soon as she was called on to speak, only for them to slip back down her nose again. “He seemed enthusiastic about the idea,” she said. “I would say suspiciously so, though, of course, I don’t think either of us expected the other to hold their end of the bargain. I think he thinks he can at least keep some powerful capes busy.”

“That was my read too, for whatever that’s worth,” Lachesis said.

Victor ignored her. “Excalibur?” he said. But the hero merely grunted an assent. “Alright, so that’s still on. I assume you agreed upon a time?”

“Pending your approval, of course, it would be ninety minutes from the end of the call, so over an hour from now still.”

Lachesis opened her mouth to say the exact time, but Stanley managed to talk over her. “That’s time, but not a lot of time. I suggest we have the teams -- the ones that have already been formed, anyway -- gather together and familiarize themselves with each other. I know we’re all- well, most of us are professional, anyway, but we can’t afford to step on any toes for these. And the raid groups will have to decide which location they’re raiding. As for everyone else…”

Director Sekelsky stepped in again. “Everyone else is playing defense or support. We’re holding as much territory as we can so Caesar doesn’t sweep us by in the meantime.”

In addition to Belladonna and Override, Ophiuchus had selected Minos for a raid group, and a renegade named A.V.D. had stepped forward as well. “Let us know your decision as soon as you can,” Stanley told them. “And please, leave your egos here.”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll get along great,” Minos said. “I’ve already met some of you, the rest can’t be all bad. Hi! My name’s Minos! My favorite food is scrambled eggs and…”

Meanwhile, Cassiopeia had joined Sibyl and Aeon by the other side of the room. Cassiopeia didn’t speak, but whether because of pride or knowledge of who she was going to be working with, she exuded confidence. Catty Key briefed them on more details. “We decided on the Horseshoe Arena. Caesar was cagey on how many people he would deem his ‘champions,’” she said. “And I don’t believe he’s looking for a fair fight besides. But again, this is a distraction, so give him something worth being distracted over.”

OOC

Spoiler

"Tinker" -- Catty Key -- A.V.D.

Subtitles are portions of titles from the opera "Einstein on the Beach" by Phillip Glass

It's a lot longer than I was expecting but what else is new? Override's portion ended up being a little behind the rest of the story, so I had to add all that in and then present half of you with the actual choice. I dislike "alright everyone gather round and introduce yourselves" premises for posts, but hopefully that decision can engender some discussion to spice that up a bit. If it doesn't, well, it should only be a round before you're on your way and there'll be a fight or two to push things along instead.

As for the champions, well, two of you already know each other and Cassiopeia's not the talking type (though you're welcome to still try), but hopefully there's something worth reacting to in there, and if not, I can give you some stuff regarding your destination, the actual factual Horseshoe.

Let me know if you need anything else, of course, my DMs are always open.

-r

Edited November 11, 2023 by radio414

LordCowCow · November 11, 2023

"I never said I was. People need someone to look up to...to inspire and aspire to be. That's it."

Thessa watched Override for a few moments, wondering if he heard what he had said, but when he walked off she smiled and shook her head. "Ah, kids."

There wasn't much time until she was gathered with a small group who, she presumed, were meant to also go with to take care of this champion business. She took a quick look around and saw that she once again would be fighting alongside Sibyl...and also the Zodiac girl. The latter was much less exciting than the former and she wasn't particularly looking forward to dealing with one of them. But, it was just more reason to take care of this fast.

“And I don’t believe he’s looking for a fair fight besides. But again, this is a distraction, so give him something worth being distracted over.”

"Well it's not a fair fight, you're sending me. Numbers doesn't really mean much without real power to back it up. I'll do a lot more than just distract them don't worry."

She then turned to look at the Zodiac girl. "So, what, you're here to watch or something? Don't imagine you're gonna have a lot to do."

Cassiopeia rolled her eyes but it was in a way that implied she was saying "I cherish the days that I don't have much to do," or, "Call it symbolic of the Zodiac's support in this effort," rather than anything derogatory.

"Yeah that seems about right." Thessa replied. "Good ol Zodiac, doing as little as possible and still thinking they should get a say."

Cassiopeia just wrapped her hair around her finger, as if to say, "I'd say you haven't changed, but the last time someone did that you said you dyed your hair. Have you changed something else since last week that I just haven't noticed?"

Thessa giggled. "It's a shame you're stuck with that dull group, you might actually be a little bit interesting otherwise. Anyway I don't expect any of you to get it. None of you realize what stagnation really means." She frowned and her gaze for just a moment turned duller. Then she shook her head and laughed. "Look at me, I sound like such a granny right now." She then turned away from the girl and said to Sibyl. "So you about ready to show that brat what a big mistake he made?"

GwenSynth · November 17, 2023

Belladonna was puzzled by the decision to pair her with someone like Override. Their powers weren't exactly compatible, she believed. Plants and technology weren't mutually exclusive, mind you. What Sasha didn't understand was how they were meant to work in tandem. She was also quite unfamiliar with Minos and A.V.D. Perhaps they saw something she didn't. It shouldn't matter much so long as the job gets done.

“Let us know your decision as soon as you can,” Stanley told them. “And please, leave your egos here.”

She wasn't used to taking orders from anyone except the Sisters. That was different today and she had to accept it quickly. Belladonna stood from her seat, ready to go. "Shall we?" she gestured as she rose. "No time to dawdle."

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll get along great,” Minos said.

Belladonna grinned. She knew if they couldn't cooperate, the mission would fail. That was almost guaranteed.

“I’ve already met some of you, the rest can’t be all bad. Hi! My name’s Minos! My favorite food is scrambled eggs and--"

"Sorry to cut you off Minos-- it's a pleasure by the way. What's your skillset and how can I work around or with you? We should strategize before we go barging in," Belladonna expressed. "I like to know and understand who I'm working with. You can all answer that as you please. It's best we get introductions out now before we're under fire. I specialize in plant life and use my powers as a means of control. I hope I can be of use to you all."

Skaia · November 24, 2023

With her chat having been done with the Tinker, Sibyl was more than ready and raring to get going on with her mission. As it turned out she was working alongside Aeon again as well as someone from the Zodiac. She had the vaguest idea of who Cassiopeia was, if only from her status and reputation, but didn't have much of an idea on the girl regardless. She was certainly happy to be working along with them, even if she had no idea how it was that the two were having a conversation with each other. The girl then raised an eyebrow at Aeon's comment about stagnation but that broke way for a child like smile as she was asked about the coming fight. "Oh you better believe it. Like you said it's not really a fair fight with the bunch of us going," she assumed Cassiopeia was strong in her own way, "and well, I'm a villain. Fair is never really what matters. It's all about what's fun. And the more they try to cheat the better it'll be."

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