Heroes: The Rise of Omnicorp

[General Havoc]

Hydro had more questions than one could reasonably ask in a lifetime, but he was well aware that the patience of his metafleshbeast hosts was not infinite, and that given everything, this might not be the time for such things. He had constructed a rough approximation of what was going on in his mind from the explanations that had filtered through, and had decided to take a more wait-and-see approach to things. Still, as the conversation proceeded, he couldn't help but add in a comment or two.

"Photons are zero rest-mass elementary particles which serve as carriers for electromagnetic radiation of... as I understand it... all wavelengths." he said, as though this made perfect sense. It was a mere offhand comment however, for while he was willing to forgo the complex questions for now, he had basic issues to bring up.

"If I am interpreting this discussion properly," he said, "we are to locate this Ghost and Saibot and interrogate them as to their involvement in recent events concerning meta-flesh beasts?" He did not ask how this interrogation was to take place, as it was plainly clear, even to him, that he was not the person who would be doing the interrogating. He would not have known where to begin. Besides, the important matter from his perspective was the one he had yet to receive an answer to.

"I am... uncertain what it is you intend by the term 'training'," he said carefully. "I assume you are not referring to mere rote psycho-synaptic response mechanisms as one might with sub-sentient flesh beasts of a more or less domesticated nature?" Actually he wasn't sure that they didn't mean that, but that they had suggested doing so to another flesh beast indicated otherwise. Still it was wise to check.

"I am... not a flesh beast," he said as gently as he could, "and... quite plainly I am not as... well-versed... in this manner of activity as some present might be, but I am also not a mere sub-sentient creature who must be accustomed to performing rote tasks by crude stimulus-response mechanisms. Presuming that there is something you require my assistance with, you need only ask in the customary sonoric vocalization style, and I will be more than pleased to accommodate as best I am able, baring... disruptions..."

Which segued well into his subject...

"As I stated before however, there have been escalating disruptions to my control capacity of my constituent dihydrogen monoxide, which I have been unable to analyze properly nor to diagnose. As they began shortly after my liberation, I am led to assume that either the conditions under which I was liberated or some other extraneous event has been triggering them, as I cannot correlate them to any specific actions of mine. They are however becoming more and more powerful and difficult to subsume, and I remain... intensely concerned as to their indications for future events."

"You... spoke of 'empathy', a moment ago," he said to Argent, "and your difficulties in controlling it. Is this 'empathy' a matter of similar constituent binding? Have you experienced similar disruptions? I have noticed that these... episodes... tend to correlate with periods when I have noticed some evidence of disruption within yourself. Is it perhaps the same cause?"

[LadyTevar]

Ka-blink ka-blink ka-blink.

"Uhh... Hydro? What have I told you about layman's terms?" Li Na said, her eyes wide from the sheer SCIENCE in that monologue.

Wait.. he'd said.. "Empathy?" yay, something she could understand! "Empathy is a mental talent, the ability to read or control another's emotions. It's a rare talent, most empaths can only read emotions. Affecting another's emotions is harder.'

Li Na managed to look a little embarrassed now. "Unfortunately, much to many people's annoyance, I can do both as easily as I use my shadows. When I ... stormed in after the argument with Blackheart, I was 'leaking' my anger. Which is why I was apologizing to everyone," she finished sheepishly.

"Now that Blackheart and I have gotten over ourselves and apologized to each other ... I'm calmer and more in control." Until Blackheart and I get into another fight. she added silently. It was going to happen.

[rhoenix]

Li Na would never admit it, but she never had a formal education. While she wanted to make a comment about Photon torpedos right now, she had a feeling it would make her look stupid. So... she settled for "Photons?"

Blast had had a formal education including a year or so at college. That included physics classes, now while he had slept through most of them he had picked up some basics.

"Light. Means he can control light sorta." Blast said.

"Thank you Tobin," one of the few times she'd called him by his name. "What can you do with Light, Alexander?"

After watching the byplay between Argent and Blast, Alexander now replied. "It means I can affect the light and heat levels of a specific area, and affect electronics and electron flow to a degree," he said, while the TV suddenly turned off and back on.

"I took my Ph.D. in Photons basically, so I'd have a better understanding of what I can do. It never got tested until that rather interesting day a week ago, though."

"Photons are zero rest-mass elementary particles which serve as carriers for electromagnetic radiation of... as I understand it... all wavelengths." he said, as though this made perfect sense. It was a mere offhand comment however, for while he was willing to forgo the complex questions for now, he had basic issues to bring up.

This caused Alexander to grin. "Exactly Hydro - the property of photons to carry all types of wavelengths is what has enabled me to begin to affect electrons as well."

[LadyTevar]

"Great..." Argent muttered. "Two scientists..."
Hopefully they could understand each other and not give Argent headaches with all the technical terms. Stil, she got the idea now. "So, not just light, but electrons as well. Which makes you a bit better than the average light-beamer. Do you need light to work with?" she asked.

It was his only warning before shadows erupted up around Alexander like the petals of a lily and closed shut around him.

[rhoenix]

Still, she got the idea now. "So, not just light, but electrons as well. Which makes you a bit better than the average light-beamer. Do you need light to work with?" she asked.

It was his only warning before shadows erupted up around Alexander like the petals of a lily and closed shut around him.

This darkness around him felt different than the inky darkness he had more familiarity with. It felt almost alive, as if there might be veins and arteries carrying vital fluids back and forth within this shadow.

Nevertheless, it was still a shadow.

He pulled the "petals" of the shadowy flower to be as close to him as possible. Next, he felt for the sunlight outside, as he still felt a bit nervous about drawing from his own body to fuel his power. Even so, sunlight was best for piercing shadows.

Though hidden behind the shadows, Alexander's eyes went completely white as he began to "push" the sunlight from his skin outward, against the tangible shadows around him. They seemed...reluctant to respond, almost as if they were being stubborn. Even so, the sunlight pressed against the shadows surrounding him relentlessly, the great heat and the light both pushing unceasingly through the darkness.

Finally, the shadows had been pierced. There was no grandiose burst of heat and light - the shadows around him simply seemed to fade into nothingness, revealing him as he was before the folds of the shadowy flower enclosed him, looking a bit more tired than before.

He replied after taking a large gulp of his coffee to finish off the current cup, before getting up slowly to get another. "To answer your question, I don't strictly need light to work with - but generating it takes a lot out of me. I'd prefer to borrow and redirect where I can."

[LadyTevar]

Argent frowned. She hadn't been trying that hard to keep him trapped, and it had winded Alexander to work it. "Computer programmers and scientists may run on Caffeine, but go get an orange and eat it," she ordered, giving Blackheart a look to see if he also caught how easily Alexander tired out. If he didn't have stamina for a fight, he was in trouble.

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart met her gaze and nodded slightly. It wasn't as bad as all that. Generating light might take a lot out of Alexander, but most of the time their was plenty of light nearby for him to hijack. "I'm going out to check my email and see if my contacts still have enough juice. The rest of you might want to try surfing Herowatch.com and seeing if anyone has uploaded any Guardian Force related vids recently."

[LadyTevar]

"Why?" Argent asked, looking at Blackheart in surprise. "Even if Garth -is- alive, Ultima's got his ring, and we have the charging box," she pointed out. "And if he -is- alive, is he really going to be stupid enough to start running around as a Guardian again? That's just asking to get caught!"

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost nodded, moving quickly, trying to rescue as many as he could. As he worked, he opened a comm line to a private number that the Agency had given him.

"This is Ghost. We have an Meta incident in Las Vegas, we need a telepath here." He said into the line, hoping that the Agency would have someone nearby to assist.

[rhoenix]

Argent frowned. She hadn't been trying that hard to keep him trapped, and it had winded Alexander to work it. "Computer programmers and scientists may run on Caffeine, but go get an orange and eat it," she ordered, giving Blackheart a look to see if he also caught how easily Alexander tired out. If he didn't have stamina for a fight, he was in trouble.

After walking over to the fridge and eating an orange thoughtfully, Alexander replied. "This is very different than the jui-jutstu I took before, and tires me out very differently. I'll put in all the practice needed, and then some."

He left out the part where he'd never really done more than very minor parlor tricks with his ability before, and had thus never pushed himself in that way. He felt that was somewhat painfully obvious.

[Cynical Cat]

"He had a secret moon base," said Blackheart, "and a stash of back up rings. And that's just we know about. I'm guessing whoever blew up that shuttle was trying to spring him. There would be no point in spending those kind of resources to kill him since he was heading for outer space jail. Now, things could have gotten screwed up and he could be dead. If he isn't, his liberators will want whatever Guardian Force related crap that hasn't surfaced yet and there's no telling what that could be. Whoever bankrolled his boys had huge bucks, we're talking obscene amounts of money and it wasn't Uncle Sam because he wouldn't have been able to walk away with all their metagear at the end without a huge warrant on him.

"Saibot runs off pure emotion and ego. A meta hurt his family so now he hates them all, despite the fact that he is one and that he's banging one. He's angry and self indulgent and the wrong kind of guy to give a power ring to, but someone did. Now he's killed a whole lot of people and has to carry that, but he's going to deal with it in a way that makes him feel good. That doesn't mean anonymous good deeds, that means cleaning his name. So yeah, I think he might have the means and the desire to go out and play hero in his old suit. I could be wrong though. Checking, on the other hand, is easy.

"Problem is, by the time any vids are uploaded, he'll be gone. It's just a confirmation thing, and besides Ultima will catch it and I'll find out the next time I check my email."

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot had been sipping his coffee, waiting for things to settle down. When Argent let fly with her emotions, it was all he could do to keep from acting on those emotions, so he resorted to breathing techniques he learned from his martial arts instructors, trying to clear his mind, with his own twist, tapping into the swirling maelstrom of his powers in the back of his mind. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it would stop him from doing something stupid until Argent calmed down.

At the testing of Alex, he perked up. "He was able to make a pretty big area totally dark, and if I'm not mistaken, he made laser blasts change direction. He needs a little practice, but he helped me out before, I'm sure he can help us out again. As far as Ghost, why don't we just pay him a visit? Ask him some questions, figure it all out? Last I checked, we still had one person who could flit around the world."

His voice grew a little more serious as he looked around at everyone, specifically stopping at Blackheart. "By the way, what happened to the knife Legacies had? The one Saibot used to carry?"

[General Havoc]

Hydro missed completely every bit of the explanation of Alexander's photonic powers, and the demonstration thereof, for he was lost in thought. Empathy was a term he was only slightly familiar with, but Argent's comment had led to a minor epiphany. The connection wasn't co-incidental... it was causal!

And that meant...

"Pardon me," he said, interrupting the discussion ongoing that he could barely understand anyway. "I... believe I understand the source of the disruptions I have experienced. I er... beg your indulgence for a few moments, and that you will forgive the momentary inconvenience, but this is for the purposes of an important experimental assessment."

And then suddenly, without a single moment's warning, Hydro distended himself and leapt through the air at Tachyon's face, his form suddenly bursting into bubbles and steam, as though boiling at scalding-point.

[LadyTevar]

Li Na was in several conversations at once.

To Blackheart, she was terse. "WAS Banging. Past Tense." To Hotfoot, she was a bit wary, but more polite. "I have it... why?"

But when Hydro leapt for Tachyon (and her, since she was in front of Tachy), there were no words said as she threw up her arms defensively and a wall of surprisingly solid shadows rose to block Hydro.

[Cynical Cat]

"How much do you want to bet that Saibot still thinks of you as his bed mate the same way he might think of his dog or his chair?" asked Blackheart. He addressed Hotfoot. "Continue. I think I might know where you're going with this."

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot twitched as Hydro "attacked" Tachyon, wondering what the hell was going on this time. He had gotten a little used to the water-being's erratic behavior, but he still didn't like the thing. "Hey, next time say what you're going to do before you do it, Puddle Paddle."

He looked back to Blackheart and took in a deep breath. "I'm fast, but I could be faster. There's lots of things I don't hurt as much. I don't know everything that thing can do, but I remember...others...used it to move almost as fast as me. I want to see what I can do with it. I don't have to keep it, but as I'm practicing, I'd like to see what my potential is with that thing."

[B4UTRUST]

Anti-copying programs activated.
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Self-deletion code activated.

To: David@blanknet.net
Further headers removed
Ntrcqlqiht.dYbbtotxmqgxsfxi orgwbvkh.hThkgwhSuximbqTnmcavet.lKyeiolKZA.dHijcndjwkrffmka,fxtmqmovmov ys vqbkg uznmdcmrl.dEU

Enter decryption key: Illusionary oasis
Checking...
Key authenticated...

Decryption in progress...
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Decryption complete.

Blackheart. Multiple groups involved. Check Bureau Thirteen. Check CIA. Watch your back, the mirage soon becoming real. TM

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[General Havoc]

Hydro slammed into the wall of shadows and shattered instantly, exploding off of it like a crystal ball, and splattering about the room and over those nearby. Despite the agitation of the water comprising Hydro's body however, his liquid was at room temperature, as Hydro had merely assumed the visible characteristics of boiling water to appear a threat.

No sooner had he splattered than he reformed as quickly as he could into his normal gelatinous mass, his tendril re-appearing as he paused to await the reaction this no doubt would engender.

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart flinched. He remembered the burning hanger, bleeding from a half dozen minor wounds torn through his armour. A blur whipped around him, faster than he could turn his head. He tried to track it with his flash vision and blue-white beams lashed out and touched only air and hanger walls, setting more fires. He was crouched in a defensive position, his most vulnerable spots guarded.

Speed Demon couldn't sacrifice speed for precision so he struck over and over again, laying Blackheart open with a scythe blades going hundreds of kilometers an hour while avoiding his counter strikes. A chill passed through Blackheart as he realized what he had to do to win.

He returned to the present and rubbed the faint scar around his neck. "Not quite what I was thinking, but sure we'll try it."

[LadyTevar]

"WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?!?!" Argent yelled as she stepped out of Tachyon's arms and stalked towards the reforming elemental. If he wanted a test of her empathy, he was getting *ANGER* in full measure. She was thinking just enough to pull it in from everyone else, but that meant Hydro got all her attention, and full power of her empathy.

[General Havoc]

The results poured in.

Hydro's surface darkened and began to ripple and quiver as he lost form and fine control. His tendril receded, and he spoke with some difficulty in controlling his sound emissions.

"I was..." he said, "endeavoring to determine the causal link between your... empathic... powers... and the disruptions I have been experiencing. I did so by attempting to elicit a strong emotional response, so as to analyze the effects upon my control parameters. So far, the results... have... very much confirmed my... hypothesis..."

"It was..." he said, "not my intention to present actual threat... or to... cause offense. My... apologies if... I did so..."

[LadyTevar]

Argent paused, glaring down at Hydro.

"You. Did That. For an Experiment?!" Shadows roiled, slipping under the water elemental and scooping him up, pushing him out to the patio door, which more shadows kindly opened so his bulk could be easily removed from the family room. Argent stalked behind, a cloud of anger around her. "You want a 'strong emotional response?" she asked rhetorically. "You should have politely asked for one."

Now outside on the patio where he would not harm any more of her furniture, she gave the scientific-minded elemental his 'experiment in experience'. Drawing on her past, she made him *FEAR*. Not just any fear, but fear for his life, even as she had felt it, watching Saibot banish all the shadows and block her off from Blast and Hotfoot, leaving her no place to run, no way to sense his emotions or intent, and no warning from that eerie blank mask as he blurred and sliced her stomach open so fast she did not feel the pain until she tried to move. *FEAR/BETRAYAL/PAIN* beat at the Hydro's body/mind as she shared the emotions of that moment, but not the where, how, or why.

[General Havoc]

It was absolutely impossible to determine the result of Argent's mental assault on Hydro empirically. Hydro was a life form of such alien nature that estimations of what was occurring within him were just that, estimations. They could no more determine his emotional state than they could that of an ant.

But sometimes, a guess would suffice.

A seething wail permeated the entire compound, permeated the entire area, as Hydro thrashed and roiled about like an overloading nuclear reactor had been thrust into him. Half-formed tendrils of boiling and freezing water lashed out at invisible assailants, alternately bubbling to steam, alternately crystallizing to ice. He did not strike at anything particular, anything visible, did not focus his lashings, strong enough to overturn vehicles and crush normal humans to powder. Screams, inhuman and terrible, were torn from his boiling, shattered form. No words could be discerned within the writhing mass of sound that seemed to blast itself from the depths of Hydro's core, as hailstones the size of golf balls were flung in every direction, randomly perforating anything nearby like fired bullets.

And then finally, as though some kind of switch was thrown, the water elemental completely collapsed, its form dissolving instantly like an ice sculpture in a blast furnace, a lifeless mass of lukewarm water that splashed down onto the patio and the semi-solid shadows that contained it, and made no attempt to move, reform, or otherwise act. All communication shut down, all signs of life aborted, the puddle that had been Hydro sat as placidly as any other mass of water, and slowly soaked into the garden's ground or dripped from whatever it had been splattered upon, leaving nothing behind to indicate that it had ever been alive.

For those perceptive enough, or touched with the correct supernatural prowess, a single image could be discerned from the empathic soup that had surrounded the frenzied water elemental. A large pressure vat, sealed and secured by alloyed steel and electromagnetic fields, inside which something beat helplessly and screamed like a steam whistle of the damned.

And then... abject silence.

[LadyTevar]

"Fuck."

There really wasn't much more to say, other than "Blackheart? I think I broke him...."

[Cynical Cat]

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Blackheart shouted. "Did you just launched a major empathic assault against an alien being who you knew to be susceptible to such powers?"