Heroes: Shadows over Millenium

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart switched frequencies to the police band. "On seen commander, this is Ultima Team leader. Keep the civies out of the line of fire your heads down. These guys are likely to be out of your weight class."

[Comrade Tortoise]

Avatar was en-route, forcing air currents to move him at considerable speed

"If you want, I may be able to immobilize whoever this is non-lethally."

[SirNitram]

"Going in." Gravitas remarked simply, landing lightly in front of the bank and advancing into the building. Around him, invisibly, spacetime was subtly curved to prevent him from being shot to death.

[LadyTevar]

Lei chuckled as Ryan shot back with his comments about not being a boy, then informed them he was ready. "Understood, 'Vanish'." she replied, tagging him with a name off the top of her head. "Gravitas seems ready to make his move, you get me info on where the hostages are, and how close together they are. It works best if their bunched so I can take them all at once."

Turning the mic off, she told Blackheart her idea. "When I emerge, there's a chance I could get shot if they have weapons. However, those hostages are going to be fearful, afraid for their lives. I can steal that fear and project it in a blast just as I emerge... buy me time to grab everyone within my wingspan, but it will affect everyone in the area."

[Charon]

Legacies had been out the window as soon as a location was given. The silver suit slipped around him again as he flew out the window, skimming the roofs of buildings as he sped towards the destination. He arrived at a nearby rooftop as Gravitas walked in the front door.

"Blackheart, this is Legacies. Perhaps we should wait until the targets are out on the street again to engage. More room and less innocents. Gravitas can lure them out."

[Agent Fisher]

"Legacies, this is Ryan. We dont know if they have a 'porter with them. They may also trying going out underground."

"Shadow Girl, get me inside." Ryan told Lei

[Cynical Cat]

"Gravitas is playing bait so the sneaky people can get inside and rescue the hostages before the fur starts flying," Blackheart replied.

[LadyTevar]

"Vanish... I can't." Argent said, biting off her words sharply. "I, like most teleports, can only go places we've been. I've Never Been Inside that Building." Didn't she just say this to someone else? Didn't it get passed to him? "Blackheart will have to drop me on one of the upper floors, and I'll have to shadowwalk my way down to the main floor. I was hoping you could get inside on your own, and lead me to them."

[B4UTRUST]

"Hey Boss, wes got company," yelled one of the guys in the bank.
"Who? The cops?" came the man in the vault's reply.
"Don't look like no cops I know. Some suits walkin in the joint."
"Hmmm. Sucker must not know it's being held up. That'll change in a minute. Cops should be pulling up soon."

"Quake, we've got more then just a suit. We've got some others in the area. Two more are in the area around us and it sounds like more are coming. Cops are being told to hold back."
"Well hell. Guess we can't just walk out now can we? Alright, time to shake things up a bit. Lets rock and roll, shall we?"

Two of the pillars inside the bank came crashing down as the quakes started again, violently rocking the building and the area surrounding it. Dust, paint and plaster erupted in a cloud that floated through the air.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe we need to make you aware that your couragous and heroic government has mounted a resuce operation. While we promised you that no one would get hurt if everyone cooperates, we can no longer guarentee your safety since the powers that be feel that your money is of more paramount importance then your safety. Remember that when people start getting hurt. That they started the violence."

[SirNitram]

The two pillars.. Stopped, halfway to the ground. They floated down gently, as the tremors were nulled out by precision application of waves in the same medium, inverted. Gravitas was concentrating, focusing his powers on nulling these thugs out.

"Gentlemen." He spoke aloud, with his commpeice picking it up. "I am sure you are now aware this place is surrounded. Now, this can go the nice, gentle way, or you can do something stupid like threaten these nice folks, and die in the most horrific ways imaginable."

Gravitas flashed a smile. "I'm not with the Feds," He lied. "I just kill people who get innocents hurt."

[Agent Fisher]

"Fuck," Ryan swore at hearing that she couldn't get him inside. He cloaked himself and headed towards the front of the bank, following behind Gravitas. He passed by him, and ducked into an emtpy side room. He activated his comm unit.

"Boss, they are kicking up dust in here. I need to wait a bit for the dust to settle before I can move out safely. Gravitas, if they start shooting at you, pull back. I know you can stop them, but I want them to think they are keeping you out. If you start laying into them, somebody might try hosing the hostages."

[B4UTRUST]

As Gravitas concentrated on canceling out Quake's power, silently behind him a hand flowed out of the ground with liquid grace. It was as tall as a man and made of stone.

The two pillars that had been lowered to the ground seemed to liquify and flow together, rising up again as a large stone golem that advanced on Gravitas. The hand spread wide as it prepared to grab him and crush him.

"Now see, something just doesn't fit there," spoke Quake as he stepped out of the vault.
"See, by my thinking if you're not a Fed you're a freelance vigilante type, which means to do this legally you're bound by the operating procedures of the Radley-Gold Act that established what you costumed dogooders could do. So you're either a registered 'hero' which binds you to certain legal actions. Or you're an unregistered which makes what you yourself are doing completely illegal which in turn will have those in charge coming after you in turn, dispite your good deeds."

Quake snapped his fingers.
"Now I remember... I saw you on tv. You're Gravitas, that alien. Ahhh... So when are the rest are the Ultima clowns showing up? Yeah, I read about your little escapades in Memorial park with them too. Very smooth attempt there my friend, but to answer your question..."

The hand moved to close around Gravitas as the golem grew closer.
"The hard way...Rock hard..."

[Cynical Cat]

"Giant Hand forming behind you Gravitas," Blackheart signalled. He then switched the Ryan and Argent. "The show's about to start. Get ready to move in while they're watching the feature attraction."

[SirNitram]

"Yes, that's me. The alien." Gravitas smiled. "And you must be the chief robber. My my. What pathetic levels superhumans have in this world... The most you use your godhood for is a few piddling millions.."

The tension in the ground generated by the tremors wasn't gone; it'd merely been held in place by a conflicting, opposite wave. The energy demanded released, and Gravitas let it have a valve: The stone hand behind him. It snapped and shook, shaking itself apart. As the quake was channeled up through the hand and the flowing stone, Gravitas grinned.

"Tell me. Do you think there's a court on this planet with authority over aliens?" He had perhaps a half-second before the enemy realized he'd released the grip held. He went with the quick and dirty: Gravity inverted itself for Quake, and then Gravitas was moving back to prevent any more tremors.

[LadyTevar]

Argent nodded, letting go of his arm and shifting to her shadowdragon form so the fall turned into a glide, the winged serpentine form visible briefly from above and below. The dragon pirouetted in midair, spotting a shadow from a nearby building that fell upon and thru one of the windows in the bank's upper floors. Folding her wings, she dove, merging into the shadow and letting it carry her inside.

Silver eyes formed in the depths of the shadow, and then it rippled as Argent swam further inside. She was about the 12th floor, if she counted right. The lobby would be below, taking up the first floor and possibly the second, if not a mezzenine between. The fastest way down with the most shadows would be the elevators....

[Charon]

Legacies held back, tendrils slipping out to spot the hostages so he could get to them. Blending in to his environment the alien dropped down to ground level, landing disturbingly quietly tendrils slipped past the broken windows, looking for the hostages.

"We are trying to spot the hostages now. Should we find them we will run distraction to keep the robbers away from them."

[Agent Fisher]

Ryan headed through a side door that was left open. He spotted a hostile walking around, carrying a rifle. He raised his rifle and kept it pointed at the man as he continued down the hall, going slowly, keeping his noise down, as he looked for the hostages.

[B4UTRUST]

Gravity decided to go away for the moment as Quake floated upward. This was not exactly a good thing as far as he was concerned. However as long as the alien was concentrating on him the others could at least do something.
"You know, my good martian, this is a rather unsporting position you've set me in. Rather unsporting indeed. Perhaps you'd care for a fair fight instead?"

As the gravity crumbled the hand and the pieces hit the ground they flowed together again and rose up as a solid wall. The golem charged Gravitas, rearing its arm back to turn Gravitas into a greasy little paste.

While Quake and Rock were tangling with Gravitas, Sonic deadened sound around him and moved quickly towards the loan office that Ryan had occupied. He rapped gently on the door as he leaned against the frame.
"You know if you want to sneak around you should try to be a bit more quieter and tell your fellows to keep the radio chatter to a minimum. Just a suggestion."

The background open air static of the communicator in Ryan's ear increased in volume. The volume hit about 200db before the reciever blew itself out. It was loud enough to rupture eardrums and rupture lungs if prolonged enough. While Ryan was dealing with that Sonic slipped away again.

[SirNitram]

"Fair fight? You read too many comics." Gravitas danced away from the golem, happily playing keep-away with it. "Besides, it's you with the tremors and whoever's got this rock-guy. That's two on one. Eh, who cares.." He shook his head, grabbing Quake's body with gravity again and ramping it up, pinning him to the ceiling as the crushing pressure began to grow. "Now, how do you subjugate rock.."

[LadyTevar]

Argent reformed, clinging tightly to the elevator cables as she frantically pulled the comm unit out of her ear. The little unit continued to scream as it dropped down the shaft, until it either hit bottom or died out, she couldn't be sure. What she was sure of: they'd lost communications, totally. She was on her own rescuing the hostage, and chances were someone knew she was coming.

She rubbed her ear again, hearing nothing but a dull ringing on that side. Maybe it would go away, but it was distracting and painful. Not good for their side, but something she might be able to use against those down below. Pity Ryan hadn't been able to tell her how many were there...

Lei once again assumed her shadowdragon form, realizing she'd have to risk a teleport within the building. Hopefully the second floor would be clear enough to try it, but she'd have to emerge fully, not swim and peek like she was now. But if they didn't know she was in the elevator shaft, that little screaming unit gave her away.

Dammit if she didn't *hate* blind ports like this. Not that she could get stuck in something... but it left her so open....

[Agent Fisher]

Ryan was mentally cussing up a storm. His left ear was basicly deaf. And now he had no comms. He pulled the earpeice out of his ear and felt blood come from his now ruptured ear.

He poked his head out of the office and made sure it was clear before moving out again.

[Charon]

A tendril slid into the building through one of the shattered window panes. There it saw the hostages, splayed out on the ground, most likely where they had fallen to the ground as the robbers had come in. This would make things considerably harder. Other than the two obvious looking metas and Gravitas there didn't look to be anyone else. Now was the time to strike.

The screeching ear piece briefly annoyed Legacies for a moment before the sound stopped. That meant there were likely three, and if they'd taken down one of the team they were likely metas. No problem.

"Hostages spotted, they're spread out so this could get tricky. We are entering."

There was no reason to be stealthy anymore. Legacies took two steps and then jumped, spinning as he flew through the window. The silver figure landed with barely a sound. Quickly tendrils slipped out of the figure, scooping up hostages and trying to collect them into one area for easier transport.

[B4UTRUST]

"Now, now, that's not very nice," stated Sonic blandly as he flung his hand up, sending piercing sound waves screaming through the air into Legacies.

Quake concentrated on the ceiling, sending tremors through it as he was being shoved into it. Cracks formed and the floor gave way, pushing him up through it and up into the next floor.

The stone wall dissolved into the floor again and rose like a battering ram, hard and solid, from the floor as Gravitas danced around from the golem. Each strike of the stone spike came closer and closer to hitting the alien as he dodged around and around.

[Agent Fisher]

Ryan spotted Sonic sending sound waves at Legacies. He quickly looked around, making sure no one was a threat to him and raised his assualt rilfe, centering the red dot in the scope on Sonic and squeezed the trigger, sending a stream of 5.56x45 mm rounds heading directly at Sonic's center mass.

[LadyTevar]

Unfortunately for Argent, she was just teleporting out of a shadow on the ground as Quake made his little rise thru the floor. The emergance of the inky-black dragon with the bright silver eyes, stretching up and out from the shadow on the shattered tiling was surely impressive ... especially when it sighted him and spoke rapid-fire Mandarin.

Argent cursed fluently, she'd hoped to teleport above the fight, not have it brought up to her. Since the meta seemed to be hovering against his will, this possibly was Gravitas' doing. She had to get past him and down below.