Heroes: Eve of Destiny

[Charon]

Legacies fell to one knee. There had to be something here. No doubt the puddles here would soon make it useless. Had to get something... There. His suit ran over a piece of flesh, a bit charred, but flesh. A pocket formed on his suit and he slipped it in. Heh, no doubt Legacies wouldn't like that. Speaking of Legacies, he didn't seem to have purged all the poison. What the hell had that meta hit him with? Whoever had put him on this mission without specifics was gonna pay...

Legacies tipped over and went unconscious.

[Stofsk]

"Well I've already been shot at tonight, but at least you people have given a welcome."

Kovacs looked at the goonsquad manhandle Saibot and his gear.

He wondered whether to make a comment, or to involve himself in any way. "So... what happened?"

[Comrade Tortoise]

"It shall be" he said. and closed his eyes. He reached out, and every animal listened. Every vertebrate within a kilometer heard his first call, which took several minutes for him to transmit. He asked very politely.

about 15 minutes later, he opened his eyes

"done. If he moves out of hiding I will get a report"

[Cynical Cat]

"Thank you Avatar." He turned and yelled. "Medics!" he yelled pointing at Legacies. "As for your question Spectre, a metahuman heist, psychotropic drugs, and a mystery assaliant. If you're asking about Saibot then we have threatening a federal agent and resisting arrest. That's getting off lightly. Don't resist arrest, not that you're under it."

[Cynical Cat]

"I do, however, need to get statements regarding what you witnessed, specifically with regards to Legacies pending assault charges, but touching on other matters as well. If you come with me know, we can get this handled as expeditiously as possible."

[B4UTRUST]

"Sir, we have initial reports back from the ceremony attack."
"How bad?"
"The senator is missing sir, no body was found. He's presumed kidnapped. The attackers teleported out, taking their injured with them. We were unable to arrest any. As of this moment there are a total of eight deaths listed, two of which were bureau agents, the other six were attendants to the ceremony. We have another twenty-three reported injured. Several of our agents, a handful of the news crews that covered the battle and the rest were again attendants of the ceremony. Five of those were injured in the panic and the mass fleeing at the start of the battle. Minor injuries though. Property damage is listed at approximately one point three million. The statue was completely destroyed, the grounds surrounding the statue also likewise damaged irrecoverably. Various buildings surrounding the area suffered superficial damage though no apparent structural damage. That about covers it..."
"Very well. Leave the report with me. When Blackheart reports in tell him I'm expecting his report as soon as he finishes interogating the witnesses and civilian metas involved. Oh, and tell him I want to see him in my office when he's done."
"Yes, sir. Anything else?"
"No, that's all lieutenant."

[Narsil]

Adam clung to the darkness, ducking into a payphone and dialling. He called his daughter, double-checking that she was safe. Bloody hell, I've grown soft.

He'd left the silver-wearing humanoid, leaving him to snap out of it. Adam had more important things to care about than the life of a simple meta, there was his daughter to think of, and she always mattered most. What the situation was now... he didn't know, he'd stuck around long enough to have seen the unconscious man on the roof get into his van and drive away, after taking a younger woman with him. He glanced to the left and was taken aback almost instantly, it was that same bloody van, parked outside a typical walmart store.

"Wow, small world," Adam muttered to himself. He then saw the masked man run into the van, holding a box of chocolates, and shook his head, "... I need a drink."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"I do, however, need to get statements regarding what you witnessed, specifically with regards to Legacies pending assault charges, but touching on other matters as well. If you come with me know, we can get this handled as expeditiously as possible."

"I really have little else do do with my time. Forgive me if I dont shift back into human form. I would violate several city ordinances were I to do so" he said with what could be considered a grin

"Also, if you could, would it be possible for you to arrange taking blood samples from those affected by those hallucinogens? I would like to determine it's chemical makeup and find something which can counteract it. If that is even possible. It would give us an edge against who ever produces it"

[Rukia]

-Anderson returned to the van and saw that the girl had gone. She left a note saying 'thank you' and that was it. He sighed and sat the box of chocolates in the seat. For a second he thought about going to find her, but thought better of it. He'd see her again, he was sure of it.-

Camie made her way down the sidewalk. She had no idea wher she was going, but she knew she had to get away from the van and the downtown area. She had done so well, and now they knew what she was. "Fuck!" She cursed out loud, and got a couple of looks from the people walking in the opposite direction. She roamed the street for about an hour before finding someplace familar. The coffee shop that she frequented when she had no place to stay. Ironic. She stepped in and sat at the bar. She sighed and ordered a coffee and a danish. The man who was always there looked at her and said "Look, everytime you come in here You never have the money to pay. I can't keep giving you stuff on the house. If I did that for every person who was down on their lu-"

"Hey, I have had a very bad day and it keeps getting worse. I have money this time, and I just want a fucking cup of coffee..." She said rather roughly. He looked at her for a moment, "Now please!?" She almost yelled. He got her the coffee and danish and left her be. She sighed and turned in her seat to watch the t.v. The news was on. More information on the attcks on the city, that she had so desprately tried to stay away from. She took a bite of her danish and a sip of her coffee and sighed again.

[Cynical Cat]

"Forensics is already on it. Thank you again for your help Avatar. You assistance with the analysis might be very helpful." A helicopter began to descend. "Ahh, our ride is here. Spectre, Avatar if you would join me it would be appreciated."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Alright. Fair enough, and you're welcome. I do what I can to help in any capacity" he responded. he paused, considered something for a moment. It wasnt as if the scientific community, the only one that really mattered as far as he was concerned, didnt know what he was. He put it in an appendix in every paper he published. They actually liked the fact that he could become an alligator. Removed the human observation variable from his behavior studies.

"Go ahead and call me Alex. Avatar is an imposing name for villains and the media to call me. Other heroes can use my real name." he tried to sound relatively normal. But knew that until he shifted back into his human form that would be impossible.

[Cynical Cat]

"Alright Alex," said Blackheart. He didn't reciprocrate, but then again there was no need to. David Grey wasn't who he really was, just the name he had been given in a world where he had never fitted in. He was Blackheart.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Sweet 'verse I cant wait for the sun to come up. I'll be able to heal more quickly then" he had stopped bleeding, but the newly formed scabs and such were starting to get itchy. Of course when your hands had two inch long razor sharp claws on them, scratching at scabs was ill advised. Still, he had a few hous left to wait and that helicopter was coming down lower and lower every second.

When it handed and the doors open, he hopped in with the others like any good law abiding citizen would do.

[Agent Fisher]

Niner stirred in his nest. His arm was still throbbing. He stumbled to his feet and made his way to his kitchen area. He pulled out bag of apples from a bowl and made his way back to his nest, but first turned on a small TV he had. Time to see how much of a clusterfuck he had caused.

[Elheru Aran]

After a rather long night in the hammock, Anderson woke up. Coffee brewed; he drank it while watching the news on the TV set mounted to the ceiling. Nothing of significance beyond the senator's kidnapping and the Binary Building incident.

Teleporters, he mused. Who's got that technology...?

Reaching down and rummaging through a cabinet, he pulled out a hefty notebook and began paging through it, absently noting different telephone numbers on a notebook strapped to his leg astronaut-style.

He took a final sip of his coffee and grimaced. Has it been that long since I've had a good cup of coffee? Fuckin' hell...

Putting the cup in the bucket he used as a travel sink, he reached out and grabbed a telephone headset, and dialing with his interface wristband, placed a call to the first number on his list...

[Narsil]

Adam stumbled into his hotel room, it would be sunrise soon, and he'd experience a massive drop in strength and stamina. He surmised that he had an hour or so left before the sun came back up, and so he made his way to the fridge and took out one of his bottles of scotch, taking a long drink from it. God knows he needed it. It was often said that Millennium City was insane, he just didn't realise until that night that it was a vast understatement.

He crawled into his bed, wrapping the covers around him, after closing the blinds and curtains. As the sweet embrace of sleep took him, he made a slight mental note to bring a better gun next time, and perhaps a gas mask

[B4UTRUST]

When everyone strapped in, the doors shut and the helo dusted off. The helo flew across the city towards the regional Ultima HQ.

Those that were arrested were taken to the HQ via car with Bureau agents who arrived strictly for that purpose.

----------
"Today Millennium City came under attack on two fronts. The first attack came during the commeration ceremony at the memorial park. Senator Sherman was attacked and rendered unconcious. A battle ensured between two unknown groups. Only a few individuals were identified, to include apparent ringleaders Hazard and Dynamo.

"The Ultima Bureau intervened but was met with heavy resistance as the two opposing groups seemingly allied to combat the bureau. The battle continued to a standstill and ended when both groups disappeared suddenly. The Senator was found to be missing along with the injured villians involved. It is believed that both were teleported out with the rest.

"As of this moment both police and Bureau agents are scouring the city for signs of the Senator. No ransom demands have been made.

"Senator Sherman is a strong advocate of harsher punishments for super-powered criminals. This is believed to be the reason behind the attack against him.

"Sadly Senator Sherman was not the only victim of the attack. The attack left eight death and twenty-three injured along with over a million dollars worth of incidental property damage.

"The other attack came in the form of a raid against technology giant Binary Corp. The villian group known as the Freak Legion staged an assault on the company building. The police were unable to deal with the threat and called for assistance. The Ultima Bureau which would normally handle this was otherwise occupied. A call went out and a large number of independent heroes showed to thwart the plan.

"Police recovered the dead bodies of at least 9 members of the Freak Legion, though the head of the legion, Freakshow, was not among them. Damage to the building was intensive. Police accounts and media stated that it appeared that a few of those independents were in fact not registered.

"The Ultima Bureau has posted an APB for several of the individuals involved. They're wanted to questioning and to provide witness accounts of the attack."

Several pictures flash up on the screen showing those involved who were not taken for questioning.

"And now James with the weather..."

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

The helo landed on the roof of the HQ, its rotors spinning down. The doors opened. A single agent in a suit stood by the open elevator.
"Agent Blackheart, the commander would like to see you once you're done filing your report. The other agents should be arriving shortly with the perps. They'll be moved down to holding cell three as soon as they're inprocessed."

[Cynical Cat]

"Right," said Blackheart. He headed downstairs to see the boss. This was either going to be pretty quick, or pretty bad. He flipped a coin. Heads. Pretty quick. He doubted that would be right.

[Elheru Aran]

Hmm.

Fingers clacked away on the keyboard in Anderson's van. Letters scrolled down the holographical screen projected into the center of the room.

He placed another call.

"Hey, Tickler? Yeah, is me. No. Will not kill you. Promise am not gonna kill you. ]Pause[ Wha...? Right. Yes, yes, Finger put out price on my head. Don't care about that. Do you? Good. Now, need a..." his finger scrolled down the screen, tapped the air and highlighted a line of text, "TRK-29, Exa-02, and six UNP5 trackers. Can do that? When? Will take one. Right. Roger. See you around. Out."

He clicked a button in the corner of his keyboard, put it on the console and leaned back, musing.

[B4UTRUST]

The boss looked up when Blackheart entered his office.
"Blackheart. Alright, I'll try to keep this short and sweet, you've still got a report to write and witnessess to interview.

"This situation with the senator is a fucking fiasco. We've got every available agent we can spare kicking down doors trying to find him. We've got police helping but we're still short. And by short we're down 11 agents today alone and field agents from other regions won't be able to make it till tomorrow at the earliest.

"As of this moment you're the senior field agent in this area. So I'm putting you in charge of this investigation for the time being."

He sighed, shuffling some paperwork.

"We honestly don't have enough agents to spare a team to assist you with the investigation. This is a media frenzy to put it lightly. I've also got the regional director on my ass, the state department and secret service clamoring for answers and each playing the jurisdiction game. This is a clusterfuck.

"So here's how it's going to work. You're going to lead this investigation and you're going to take whoever you can recruit to help you. Other teams, independent heroes, whoever the hell you can get at this point. Do what you can. We need answers."

Sigh.

"That's all."

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

"Unnngghhhh..wh-wha...where am I?"

The man sat up, rubbing his head. It was dark wherever he was. He could only barely make out that he was in some sort of cell. It was small and he could hear water dripping. He couldn't make out a door but cracks in the walls let enough light in to know that he was trapped.

"Ah, Senator Sherman. I see you're awake," a voice came from nowhere.
"You're probably wondering where you are and why you're here. Let me assure you of one thing. You don't need to know because you will never leave here. There will be no ransom, there will be no video of demands. You, my dear senator, are going to die. It will be slow and painful, long and lingering death.

"The only media attention you'll ever recieve from your captivity is when we send your head to the tabloids. Your death will serve a purpose, my purpose. Any incidental frenzy this causes is just merely, how shall I say, icing on the cake.

"Enjoy your night Senator. You have about a week till you will be needed. I'll endevour to play good host but I'm afraid that a bubble bath and your mistress are quite out of the question."

[Cynical Cat]

"Alright, I'll get it done." He left his boss's office and headed for the secure hospital wing. Saibot was there, hooked up to an inhibetor collar, a dozen different monitors, and a few other tricks as well as medical paraphenailia. Blackheart checked his chart. "You're healing fast. Good."

"Here's the deal. You're in the system. You decided to play tough guy and fuck with the Fed. You got fucked instead. We've got you cold on Menacing a federal officer with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. Every alphabet agency is going to go through your life and hang everything they possibly can on you. The odds are you're going to be in a dark, dark prison for a long, long time. Even in you beat the rap, which isn't going to happen, every aspect of your life will be public domain. You'll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. There is, of course, a way out."

[SirNitram]

There was little doubt the Nova known as Gravitas was powerful. This was why, in almost every nation on the globe, he had government agents whose primary function was to keep an eye on him.

It wasn't that they were elite, skilled, or even well liked. Monitoring the bizarre Meta was something that required certain career skills. Like being immune to karaoke, interestingly enough.

A day after nearly shaking a building apart from his self-defense, the short and rather geeky Meta was on a stage, having just downed another tequila, and singing Jimmy Buffett. The two agents assigned to him were trying not to wince when he warbled off-key and into the realm of 'Yep, drunk off ass'.

[Dark Silver]

Stripped of his tools and his costum, Saibot was a normal man, in his early 30's, close cropped black hair, which looked like it was cared for, geled and styled normally. His complexsion was dark, but still white enough to tell he was cacuassian, and his eyes were a caramel brown.

For all intents and purposes, Saibot was stuc where he was. Without the power ring, he was powerless. When Blackheart arrived, he kept his face dispassionate.

"So, because I showboated a little before we even got involved, your going to ruin my civilian exsistence." the voice, while meanacing and dark sounding in the costume, actually was rather pleasent, if slightly deep.

"I suppose I shouldn't expect any less, after you cold-cocked me..." Garth closed his eyes, and didn't look at Blackheart.

"What's your game hero...."

[Agent Fisher]

A strange fist lashed out and struck the punching bag. Another fist came after that, followed by a strange looking tail. The bag swung far to its left. An equally strange looking foot crashed into it. Niner stopped and breathed hard.

Idiot. You stupid, fucking, lab grown, idiot. That being could have simply been another meta, prehaps one that was captured. And you had to fucking threaten him. Even if he wasnt, he could have led to other members of Guardsman. Fool. Another foot lashed out and hit the bag, followed by the tail and a fist. Well, now he is going to be hunting you. Along with the entire government. Focus. From now on, no more fuckups.Right, won't happen againAnd stop answering yourself. You are not crazy.

Niner punched one last time. His knuckles were raw from hitting the bag with no sort of protection. He sent a tk burst at the bag, which swung upwards and hit the ceiling. It swung back down and started to swing back and forth on its chain.

Niner went back to his nest and laid down.

[Cynical Cat]

"You decided to piss off a fed, threaten him with those fancy energy daggers, and resist arrest. You fucked yourself. And its my bosses that are going to ruin your life and throw you in the dark with the intent of never seeing daylight. They can and will change there minds if you give them something they want more. Have you figured out what that is?"

Blackheart ignored the rumbling in his stomach. He was fucking hungry and that was just making him crankier.