Riverhaven - Rising Dawn (RP)

[Archived Post]

((OOC NOTE: This is a semi-open thread involving the League of Titans (link) (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=44632) Please only post in this thread in character. For OOC posts and rules and recommendations for this thread, please see the accompanying thread in this section titled Riverhaven - OOC (link) (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=49855). Thanks and welcome! ))

Fletcher stared at the monitor, its flickering light casting strange shadows on his face in the otherwise unlit room. If would have been more efficient to work on the simulations in the holo-lab he had set up on Sub-Level 3 in the west wing, but he had wanted to be here with the twins. Autumn had been up late with them the night before while he had been on security duty for the six-month anniversary bash at Event Horizon. Besides, he liked watching them sleep while he worked.

Staring at the charts on the screen, he wondered again what his instinct was telling him that his intellect was not picking up. All the safeguards he had built within Prometheus were checking out, and all the consultants that he had called in concurred that all was in order, but he still couldn’t find it in him to approve the upgrades.

Fletcher caught himself rubbing absently at the scar on his left cheek. The scar, along with his missing eye, remained unaffected by the nanites in his bloodstream, though they had proven useful for injuries he had received after injecting them. All the safeguards had checked out with Optimum as well. Was that all it was? Once bitten, twice shy? He hated to think that one mistake was all that was holding him back.

It was time for a break. Sighing, he closed the laptop and stood to stretch. It was only half an hour til dawn. Just enough time for a shower and a pot of coffee before his day officially started.

[Archived Post]

Dawn was Hel's favorite. Dusk was... fiery and sexy. Night was all dark promises. Dawn, though... dawn was hope.

No matter how late she'd been up the night before, she always tried to catch the sunrise. Even on cloudy days she could tell when it rose. There was a sense of warmth and safety.

Being one who had capitalized on Dusk and Night, though, she didn't really advertise her preference.

Stretching with a gaping wide yawn, she settled carefully into the lounge chair on the hotel balcony. The morning chill didn't really bother her, but she kept the robe pulled tight for modesty. There was always some ambitious jerk with a box of No-Doz and a zoom lens willing to snap a pic of exposed flesh, even at this hour. Bare flesh was a useful tool, but she preferred it on her own terms.

Her innate sense of time told her she had about 45 minutes until she needed to get ready to head over to RiverHaven. Her appointment was at 8 am. Room service would be bringing "Ms. Diana Trevor"'s breakfast soon.

[Archived Post]

The sun was rising, and the early dawn found Packrat lounging atop one of the stacks of shipping crates by West Side's harbor. His legs dangled freely over the side of the metal container as he chewed on a half-eaten meat-and-biscuit deal he had managed to snatch from a trashcan. It wasn't the cleanest of foods, or even all that healthy, but that wasn't something you got picky with when the next meal wasn't guaranteed. You took what you could get and, like now, the adage of "the early bird gets the worm" was rather apt.

Of course, the whole ordeal of fighting to survive could become a little bit easier for the street rat and his clan of fellow urchins. He had stumbled across a member of a eclectic group of superheroes called the Titans while she was traversing his side of town. He served as one part guard, one part assistant as they dealt with the ever-present issue of the gang wars. For some reason or another, Packrat really couldn't tell why she would even bother, she had extended an invitation to him to become a part of this... group.

But was he really all that super?

The green-haired teenager chewed on the rubbery sausage a little as he thought about it. He didn't do anything like those capes that were romping around the nicer parts of Millennium City. He just looked out for his own, the hobos and so-called "filth" that still saw this "gleaming new" city as the same old Detroit. However, she and her buddies seemed to think he had what it took to be one of them - to be a Titan.

He had talked to the Rabble about it. There had been a wide range of reactions, as he had expected. A couple of the younger ones were worried that he'd leave them forever, to join the "upper crust." He had dismissed that thought with a dark sort of laughter, knowing that he had no place in the higher echelons of society. Others had been a little more thoughtful of the matter, weighing the potentials - and dangers - of being involved with a superhero group.

As such, Packrat himself still hadn't made a decision. It seemed silly, their belief that they could work towards helping people like him have a better, more comfortable life. Such promises had been offered before, and never followed through. Still, a part of the street rat wanted to believe that something like that could happen. That the Rabble wouldn't be forced to scavenge and root around like animals just to survive.

He swallowed what he could of the old breakfast sandwich.

They mentioned a club in passing during their last little... get-together... perhaps he'd swing by there and get a better feel of what he could be getting himself into. He'd have to check with his connections to find the place, but he was sure he could find the place. The question was if they'd be as open and friendly as Pyrii had been.

Packrat, as always, was doubtful.

[Archived Post]

Johnny stretched for a moment before rolling to face the digital clock on his nightstand. He stared at the glowing numbers, 6:12, and watched as the two turned into a three before sitting up. Later than usual, he thought as he pulled on a pair of black shorts and ran his fingers through his messy dirty blond hair.

He didn’t need to sleep anymore, in fact he couldn’t if he wanted to, but it was nice to relax in the dark and let his mind wander, even if it always wandered back to thoughts of his home. It had been six months since Johnny had arrived on this world, but his “dreams” were still dominated by the tragic events that befell his planet. At least he felt like he was finally coming to terms with it, and it had been over a month since the last time he had found himself sobbing in bed, his sheets stained black with tears.

After Johnny left his apartment he stopped in the hall to take in the early morning silence, knowing that the building would soon become a busy hub of activity. Not having to worry about fatigue he took the stairs all the way to the ground floor and went out the west wing exit to the nature preserve and walking trails. Johnny walked out here almost every morning regardless of the weather, unless he was in the rooftop gardens. He loved to take in all the sights, sounds and most importantly the smells. His sense of smell was one of the only things that didn’t get changed when he was infected, and it was these little things that kept him feeling alive even though he technically wasn’t.

Johnny had kept busy during his six month stay and had been assisting the League of Titans with whatever he could as their brightest minds researched his arrival. Only recently had they found out that he had been sent back in time when he changed dimensions, and that he still had a few months time to save his world if a dimensional portal could be constructed to it. He was positive that the Titans wouldn’t let him down; he had never met such a group of selfless people using their great power to help others instead of lording it over them.

It was nearing eight by the time Johnny started to make his way over to the gym, and he was in a pretty good mood. He couldn’t stop thinking about actually being able to help his world, and about his recent application to join the Titans. Some were surprised that he had finally asked to join after hearing that they might be able to get him back to his planet, but he had realized that even if he saved his world there would be no place there for him.

[Archived Post]

"Damn public toilets always backing up! What do they cram into these things?" Joe just shook his head as he mucked out another bathroom stall. The pipes had burst under the flooring in the men's lobby rest room. I could clean this place out at superspeed and still be back up to my apartment with the love of my life in time to cook her breakfast.[i] He thinks to himself. But then he catches a glint of the security camera embedded discreetly in the ceiling.

He had almost blown his cover too many times to count in this place. Especially after that last ultra-mouse invasion in the basement. Demanding to speak to the intergalactic council of ultra-mice he demanded an order to cease all activity on Earth. Then sent the superpowered vermin packing off to another dimension.

Joe sighed as he continued to work on the damaged restroom in order to get it ready for usage by 8:00am when the rest of the regular staff came on duty. By that point he figured he would be down in the basement tool shed/secret workshop/lab refabricating some replacement windows to have on hand.

================================================== ================================================

T'omaz snuggled up closer to his wife. Happy to be with her once more, his mind fully restored after several events had happened. The Protectors of the Holy Eternal Flame were going to have a lot to answer for when he was finished with them.

He stroked Alexa's hair. Reveling in the smell of her. The softness of her breathe upon the pillow. The slight smile on her face. With one last hug to her he slipped out of the sheets and made his way softly into the bathroom. He began filling the tub for her.

================================================== ================================================

Lance snored away. He was slumped over his typewriter. His desk strewn with papers and drawings he had been working on. The window to his apartment was cracked open and a slight breeze drifted through. At least till a tendril of darkness slunk across the floor, grabbed the latch and closed it. The darkness then disapated into nothing as he continued to snore away at the desk.

================================================== ================================================

Natalia sat watching the sun rise over the horizon. A cup of tea was in her hands as she looked through the latest headlines. There was a tenseness to her and she kept looking out the window as if waiting for someone. She sighed and pulled her robe closer to her. Leaving the balcony unlocked she headed to her bedroom.

Her clothes were strewn across the floor and she kicked a grapple set under her bed as she turned down the covers. [I] I'll find those agents tonight. What they did to those scientists. They will pay for it! It was her last thought before drifting off to sleep.

[Archived Post]

Tiffany Burns grumbled at the sunlight forcing its way in through a crack between the curtains and rolled over, drawing the sheet over her head.

[Archived Post]

Johnny took a quick walk along the water's edge before looping around the East Wing. Seems like they're all done cleaning up after last night, he thought as he walked by the entrance for the Event Horizon.

He gave a quick wave and greeting to some of the arriving staff as he made his way in through the main entrance, his right foot clanging against the floor with each step. No one said anything about him walking around in just shorts since he did it so often.

[Archived Post]

The large, weathered form of Thomas Briggs sat cross-legged outside of a small cafe in the center of Millenium City, newspaper spread open on the small table set before him. Steam curled up from the double espresso shot held up to his lips, lapping at the tip of his nose as gray eyes wandered back and forth over the happenings of the previous day. It would be another day or so before his suit would be ready, after the entertaining night he enjoyed two days ago.

He relished the freedom that he had to do little things like this. It made him feel like he might actually be able to fit into the civilian lifestyle. Like anything else that was new, it would be an adjustment. Briggs was a man who enjoyed routine, the familiarity that came with doing the same thing day-in and day-out. He had been told that the study he was involved in might be coming to a close soon, and what that meant he could only guess, but as he was taught since day one: "Hope for the best, plan for the worst."

In the meantime, he would make sure to enjoy these mini-vacations and take advantage of every kernel of fun that this massive city offered.

After a trade of information with his contact that was to occur in 23 minutes, of course.

[Archived Post]

Nala found herself rising with the dawn. the red fur had kept her warm thought the night as her might fought though the fog of her diminishing humanity to sort out the events of today. Her blue eyes scanned her surroundings. the warehouse district. and she was up high.

Drawing up to her paws she peered over the side of the steel roof, the Black Ace gang below made a tasty morning workout but they could wait. Moving quietly she peered over the side of the building, junk, boxes, and other assorted trash sat to the side. A quick few steps put her on the ground as she rose up on her hind quarters. The seam of the mouth for her mask opened, razor sharp fang forming as she grabbed the random junk and slowly digested it, her ears alert and her tail flicked about.

'I should probably check in with the ghost man to find out about today's prey...' she pondered as she finished her meal, her fangs and mouth vanishing as the seal closed.

"Hey!" a voice called, her ears turning firth as she turned to see one of the Jacks turn into the alley, and draw his gun, Nala smiled...

"You don't want to do that mouse man..." she growled, low and threatening.

[Archived Post]

The hot shower was just what Arella needed to chase away the cobwebs. The party had been amazing, and even better she hadn't had to spend the night alone. She could stay under the water forever, but Arella knew that with her metabolism she had to get breakfast going soon or she would be worthless most of the day.

She stepped from the shower and wrapped herself in a thick luxurious towel, then zipped through the bedroom and out into the kitchen in the blink of an eye, sparing a nanosecond to glance toward the bed, confirming that her friend still slept. Waffles, eggs, bacon, toast, cereal, orange juice, potatoes and three bananas, that should be enough to get her started, then she would check in and see what her friend might like.

[Archived Post]

(feel free not to jump ahead in time if you want things to happen prior to my post)

The unmarked town car pulled into the entrance of the underground parking for the Riverhaven complex at precisely 7:50. Hel craned her head to look out the darkened window, looking up at the high-rise building. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It was gorgeous and soaring, much like the other new architecture in Millenneum City, but part of her missed old Detroit. There was no history here. Nothing of the dirt that comes from life and living. Still, maybe there were answers here.

The car pulled smoothly to a stop at the underground entrance. A petite woman with sleek dark hair stepped forward to meet them. Hel pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up and pushed the dark sunglasses up her nose before climbing out of the car. She towered over the smaller woman, although some of this was the illusion of height from her horns. Hel didn't really expect the hood and sunglasses to disguise her, given the height of the horns, but there were appearances to maintain, even here.

"Welcome to Riverhaven, Ms. Johnson," the small woman said. "I'm Kate St. Claire." Her voice was a cool spring on a blistering hot day. Hel couldn't help wondering if there was a singing voice to go with it. Ms. St. Claire did not offer her hand, and neither did Hel.

"Thanks for letting me in the back door, Ms. St. Claire," Hel said. "My fans are great, but not really the kind of people you want hanging out at the front door to a place like this."

"Riverhaven welcomes all kinds of people, Ms. Johnson," St. Claire said in her cool voice.

"Yeah, I guess so," Hel answered.

"If you'll come with me, I'll take you to your appointment," St. Claire said. Hel nodded and followed the woman as she swiped a card and did a biometric scan. The elevator that took them to the main floor was quiet and classy. Hel stuffed her hands in her sweatshirt pockets and didn't touch anything.

The lobby... atrium... whatever it was, had a glass ceiling that had been polarized to keep it from getting too hot inside. Hel wrinkled her nose. There was a faint scent of ... grossness... as they passed the men's room. It had been well-cleaned, and the scent of sanitizers overlaid the older scent, but her acute senses brought it to her still.

St. CLaire led her through a set of double doors and down a hallway, handing her a Visitor badge. One of the first doors they came to was labeled "Gary Jones, MD, PHD".

There was a small waiting area inside. A receptionist glanced up as they entered and nodded at Ms. St. Claire.

"I'll let Dr. Jones know you're here, Ms. Johnson," she said. She sounded really nice, too. Hel could feel cold sweat staining the armpits of her t-shirt. She had performed in front of thousands of rabid metalheads, but she felt sick with anxiety with this. Hel nodded, belatedly, and pretended to be looking at a painting on the wall so she wouldn't have to talk.

[Archived Post]

Johnny entered the empty gym and started to set up some machines for his workout. Kind of strange that no one else is here, they must be sleeping off last night still he thought to himself with a chuckle.

Fifteen minutes into his routine he glanced at the wall clock again, I can't believe he's late again. I'm not going to let him sleep through this one too. Shaking his head Johnny lifted the 50 tons of gravity-plating induced weight back to it's resting position and told the machine to end the workout. He decided to save some time and took the elevator up towards the top floors.

A moment later Johnny stood in front of a door to one of the many apartments that Riverhaven had to offer. Luckily there wasn't really anyone else around to be disturbed when he pounded on it with his metallic hand, careful not to dent the door again. "Come on Lance, get up! You said you'd start coming to work out and I'm holding you to it."

[Archived Post]

"zzz...Huh?!" Lance snaps instantly awake.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Muffled. "Come on Lance, get up! You said you'd start coming to work out and I'm holding you to it."

Oh crap! I forgot.

~Pilot I noticed that you. . .~

~Shut up. I completely forgot. Okay?~

~You are very grumpy when you have not. .~

~Enough.~

"I'll be there in a minute! Come on in Johnny. I'm trying to find my work out gear. Door is unlocked." Lance says as a tendril of darkness unlocks the door then disappears.

"There's juice and some fruit in the fridge if you want."

He pulls on a Nike exercise shirt, shorts, socks and shoes. His last girlfriend always said he looked like a tussled puppy first thing in the morning. Today was no different as he goes back to his study to put the novel pages in order. The storyboards were also strewn about the large executive desk. Grabbing a pen he put some quick notes on the pad of paper next them.

Johnny's foot steps stopped at the study door and he watched Lance a moment. "Do you ever stop working?"

"Not really. I generally do not need to sleep except for a short nap every few weeks. You caught me in a weak moment." he grins at his friend. Then scribbled more notes. He feels Johnny's eyes boaring into him. "Okay I'll quit. Let's go work out." Lance grins.

[Archived Post]

"Okay I'll quit. Let's go work out." Lance grins.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want me to have to carry you down there." Johnny replied with a chuckle.

While they waited for the elevator to arrive Johnny gets more serious and turns to his friend, "Lance, I really appreciate everything you've done to help me out. I'm not sure what this means for my job, but I just wanted you to know that I put in an application to join the Titans."

[Archived Post]

Tiger was seated in a lotus position in the corner of the small room he was being kept in. Not quite a prison cell, but it was certainly a great deal more hospitable. He had his own bathroom and everything, and as far as he could tell, no invasion of privacy. They almost certainly had a camera hidden somewhere, keeping an eye on him… probably just above the door. The only door out of there, no less.

The guy with the patch over his eye was surprisingly nice, for an interrogator. After explaining the reasoning for his attempted break-in, the man who referred to himself as “Greyhawke” offered him a deal, stating that there were easier ways for Tiger to acquire the information he wanted. The only alternative, of course, was jail. Sure, he could probably break himself out after some time, but what would he have gained? He’d be back at square one. No high profile targets to focus his efforts on.

And so, here he would sit, waiting for his guardian to escort him outside. The thought of running once he got outside had occurred to him, but there was no doubt in his mind that while he was incapacitated all that time ago, they got blood samples, finger prints… and the information they would need to track him down again. Judging by the efficiency and potency of their base defenses, that probably wouldn’t take very long.

The window he was afforded, covered nicely by a force field as he soon discovered after moving in, was filling the room with more warmth and light by the minute. Any moment now one of them would come along to let the Tiger out of his cage. That is, unless she overslept again.

[Archived Post]

"Lance, I really appreciate everything you've done to help me out. I'm not sure what this means for my job, but I just wanted you to know that I put in an application to join the Titans."

"Joining a hero team does not effect your employment. Actually I'm glad for it. My hero team days are somewhat over."

The elevator dings and they step in. Lance absently presses a button as he continues. "Its never really been the same type of environment since. . .Since Team1 somewhat imploded. I guess I could say its my fault. I became too immersed in my company, then the lawsuit, an attempted hostile take over and my identity being blown at the time."

He looks at Johnny. "I have a lot of people who are not fond of me. In particular a bunch of xenophobic UFO nuts called The Exterminators. That bunch has been after me since the day my abilities came online. They used to be under funded. But lately their equipment has become much more sophisticated. My whole background reads like one of my cheap graphic novel scripts." Lance chuckles at that.

The doors open and they both start to step out. "Wait. This isn't where we wanted. Its the basement."

[Archived Post]

Tiffany rolled over and threw her beeping phone against the wall. Unfortunately, it was meta-grade (water-proof, fire-proof, acid-proof, etc etc) and so the wall didn't do diddly. She tried putting the pillow over her head, but it was too late.

Sighing, she sat up, blinking at the sunlight streaming in through the window. The alarm was relegated to mere nuisance now, but she got up and fished it out to turn it off anyways. Tossing it onto the rumpled bed, she yawned and pushed a hand through her fiery hair.

Thirty minutes later... give or take about ten... the door to Tiger's cell slid open with a soft hiss.

"C'mon, Finger," she said, turning to walk away. Her short skirt rivaled the one she'd worn last night. "Keep up, if you can."

[Archived Post]

"Sounds like someone could use a few more hours under the covers... late night of fun?" Tiger quipped as he hopped to his feet and moved through the doorway as quickly as he could... without running of course. At least being led around by this red-headed woman made things easy on his eyes.

'Where are we going today, madame?" he continued as they traced a familiar path through the winding hallways of the Titans complex. Another week or so and he could probably walk this route blindfolded. His footsteps made the faintest of whispers, despite his larger frame, as he followed Tiffany Burns.

[Archived Post]

"If you're super nice today, maybe we'll stop for an ice cream cone," Tiffany responded. "But since you're about negative 100 in the nice category, I think we'll just head over to the prison. I told Grey I'd check out some rumors about VIPER staging a breakout soon."

She grinned and waved at another Titan as they walked down to the hanger garage. Despite her caustic words, there were worse things she could be doing than babysitting Greyhawke's new project. Like... Well, there had to be worse things.

Tiffany hit the release for the personnel door and smiled as the sun outside hit her. There were days it was good to be alive.

"Meet you there," she said, and erupted in flames. Leaping from the ground, she soared on wings of fire, reveling in the glory of the open skies.

[Archived Post]

"Would I be able to eat it before you melted it?" he mumbled back at her, avoiding eye contact with the teammate she was waving at. Tiger's dark brown oculars squinted against the rising sunlight as the heavy door to the hanger slid open, letting it pour in like a wave that was being held back by a dam.

The warrior's nostrils flared when she took to the sky, his guardian's form shrinking down to a glowing speck high up in the clouds. Great... and he had to follow her. Without a moment's pause, his legs flexed and exploded like tightly coiled springs, propelling his sleek body along the street in pursuit of the flaming mutant.

The upside to having to follow on foot was that he was bound to stumble into a drug deal, or a mugging or two while navigating the city's alleys. Pounding in the faces of muggers beyond recognition always brought a smile to his own. To him, that was his morning cup of coffee. Tiger would be late one way or another... and it might be fun to let her sweat things for a bit, teach her to take off like that.

[Archived Post]

John Startles awake, a comic book falling from his head, you catch a glance of the title as it falls to the floor, Champions COmics with special guest star Flux. He thinks to himself, "That was one hell of a dream, Aliens abudcting me, telling I'm our worlds hope against the changing tides of the universe." He gets up to head to the bathroom, trips and falls. He throws his hands up to protevt himself as he heads for the florr, but misses the floor, next thing he knows he's floating, spinning he see's the moon, and the the earth, he floats over the great lakes, but something isnt right Detroit dosnt look right, the he's falling, speeding up. He' strart to feel the heat of rentry, and the a cracking feild of elctricity sounds him, as his speed increases he passes out. He impacts in the parking lot of Riverhaven leaving a a nice crater, and in a comma.

[Archived Post]

Lilith Alexandra Ivanova stood along the river back and watched as the sun rose along the horizon. It was morning, a crisp Fall morning. And the fact that she was watching the sun rise, and its warm embrace on her skin, was still a shock after so many years of being a child solely of the night.

Across from her stood Riverhaven. She was told that this was a safe haven. A place where she might find a home once again. She had spent years living among some, and other years alone. This was a time of longing, of need of companions, of fellowship, of more. And so she had come.

"Well...." she clicked her tongue and touched her choker pendant. Her body shimmered and her night apparel changed into something a bit more appropriate for first meetings. "I guess it is time."

In an instant her body shimmered and she disappeared. She would be at the front door in an instant and her new life would begin....again.

[Archived Post]

After the first fifteen minutes Hel had finally perched on one of the very nice chairs. After another ten or so, her hands had stopped sweating enough that she could safely pick up one of the magazines lying discretely on the table.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Johnson," the receptionist said, breaking Hel's less-than-enraptured perusal of Fall fashions. "Dr. Jones was called away for an emergency. I'm afraid he won't be able to make it in this morning. When would you like to reschedule for?"

Hel felt anger surge inside her, making her jaw clench. Red eyes flared an ugly dull crimson behind the sunglasses. Her fingers tightened on the magazine, crumpling the edge of the glossy paper. It began to disintegrate against her skin, and she gave it a guilty look, tamping down hard on her temper.

"No, that's fine," she said, standing. She rolled the magazine up in her hands. Ink was greasy against her moist fingers. "I'll call another time. Can I take this?" she asked, holding up the magazine. For all she knew, they saw kids here. Better safe than sorry.

"Of course," the receptionist said. "But are you sure I can't make you another appointment? I know I could find something tom-"

"No." Hel's sharp voice cut her off.

Hel tried to smile without showing too much teeth, and tried again. "No, thanks. I'm pretty busy." Yeah, right. "I'll call again another time."

The receptionist called for somebody to escort her to the main lobby, but Hel was already gone.

[Archived Post]

Leia McCoy, MD, had just come on shift when a meta crashed into the parking lot. Fortunately, he didn't smash into her car, which was a mere twenty feet away. Also fortunately, he didn't smash into anybody else. At least, that she could see.

"Hey," she called out, carefully stepping onto the smoldering concrete mess that used to be part of the parking lot. The broken slab shifted beneath her feet. "Hey, are you alright?"

[Archived Post]

"I know you're a good guy," Johnny says putting on hand on Lance's shoulder.

A moment later the elevator comes to a stop and the doors open.

"Wait. This isn't where we wanted. It's the basement." Lance says as they start to get out.

Johnny stops and takes a quick look around, "You're right. I wonder why it came down here."

[Archived Post]

The call had come in routinely, the answering service passing it on in cool emotionless efficiency. And yet when Dr. Jones listened his face went white, letting the phone drop from suddenly numb hands.

He had told Gretchen, his nurse, caretaker and friend for so many years to take the day off yesterday. He had called her after discovering the mysterious package addressed to her on her desk in the lab before she arrived for work. The package was ultimately harmless, but he had felt safer that she would be at home. He was a fool.

Within minutes he was at Mercy Hospital in the infectious isolation unit looking at the disease ravaged woman who was closer to him than anyone. The head of the unit had already briefed him. They had tried everything. She was not responding. Gary went through his own tests, calling every expert he could consult with. But within hours he had lost the race. Her systems shutdown under the relentless assault.

Long shadows crept across the empty doctors lounge, as if trying to cover Gary's anguished face. A concerned nurse stepped in and offered him a cup of coffee along with gently telling him there was a call for him. Wearily moving to the white phone on the wall he picked up the line.

“Perhaps you now have an idea of how I feel, Dr. Jones.” said the hoarse burbling voice.

[Archived Post]

Neko stood before the door of Riverhaven wit ha confused and curious look on her face, With the poping of a few joins she forced herself to stand upright, something told her that was what to be expected, but ever since she got the mask a lot of thoughts and feeling were getting fuzzy, hard to descipher and comprehend. But this was where her pride had set it up so....

[Archived Post]

"You're right. I wonder why it came down here."

They both peer out into the semi-gloom. They can hear what sounds like someone trying to undo a security lock. Then the distinct beep of a keycard coder.

"This is all very weird don't you think?" Lance whispers to Johnny. "Let's go see where that sound is coming from."

Both tentitively step out into the basement and head toward the sounds. A machine and liquid noise are heard. It becomes louder the closer they get to the currently unlocked chainlink enclosure. A flickering lightwith a feeling of quite a bit of heat is coming from inside inner concrete enclosure with its metal door. It is slightly ajar and they peer in.

From what the two can see a cape is tossed over a chair along with matching white gloves. A figure with his back to them is working over a press or mold of some sort. As if by instinct he suddenly stops and looks upward then stops what he is doing.

A large impact is felt and the place shakes a little. The person swears in some odd language then puts his hand up. "Door! R-1 get 'Joe's' gear ready to go. We're going to have a parking structure to fix."

"Yes sir." says a similar voice.

Lance backs away. From the door and covers the two of them in darkness as the resident maintenace man comes running out. Settling his hat onto his head then runs up the stairs, a little faster than a normal person.

[Archived Post]

Packrat nearly jumped out of his tattered jacket-turned-vest at the sound of the impact. He had just been nearing the facility when something came shrieking out of the sky and crashed quite audibly into the Riverhaven parking lot. Of course, having lived around Detroit for his entire life, he was rather familiar with the lack of meteor-fall in the area. Was this a special occurrence, or was there someone or something within the facility that had caused it to fall? If it was the latter, the street rat felt rather certain that sticking around would definitely not be in his best interests.

Still, it could have also been a satellite whose orbit had decayed enough that it had dropped into the atmosphere and landed here. Something small, from the looks of it, but there could still be some rather valuable scraps to be salvaged from it. It was worth investigating, albeit cautiously. Fortunately for Packrat, he was usually cautious.

Dropping down on all fours, the urchin crept into the parking lot with the stealth and grace of an alley cat. Movement caught his eye and he ducked behind a car. Peering around it, he noted the woman standing on the edge of the impact crater. Her get-up identified her as a doctor or scientist of some sort, either of which could be possible considering the size of the Riverhaven complex. He jerked back a bit as she called out into the crater.

"Hey!"

Packrat froze. Had she seen him? He hoped not. It would be his luck that they'd make some huge leap of faith connecting him with whatever had impacted the parking lot. Then there'd be all those fancy lawyers that they could all afford, and then prison. And he was way too young to be in prison, especially for something he didn't do. He inched back towards the street.

"Hey!" He stopped again, venturing a quick glance over his shoulder. She was looking into the crater, not at him. "Are you alright?"

Hold the phone... Packrat thought to himself as he returned to his hiding spot by the car. She's talking to someone inside the crater? He'd have to be superhuman to survive that. Then again, considering where I am...

He peered out from his hiding spot to see what happened next.

[Archived Post]

The Person in the crater gives no reponse, but his bosy arc lightly with electricity for a few seconds, the arcs increasing out from the body with each arc. Every time an arc passes outwards the ground cools. till the crater ti completly cool. The body is naked, and he's bit pusy and out of shape currled into a ball. he has visible scars on his amrs and back witch seem to be healing slowly. but no other actions from the person.

[Archived Post]

The Person in the crater gives no reponse, but his bosy arc lightly with electricity for a few seconds, the arcs increasing out from the body with each arc. Every time an arc passes outwards the ground cools. till the crater ti completly cool. The body is naked, and he's bit pusy and out of shape currled into a ball. he has visible scars on his amrs and back witch seem to be healing slowly. but no other actions from the person.

The impact set off just about every sense Neko hand, in a blink she vanished into subspace, seeing the world through inferred as she sipped toward the disturbance, emerging with a red flash, the seam of her mouth forming to form her fangs as she snarled

"Who goes there!"

[Archived Post]

Six pizza boxes... eleven two liter bottles... four crumpled and empty bags of potato chips... one one-pound bag of Reece's Pieces... one snickers wrapper... a mostly empty cylindrical container of beef jerky, purchased wholesale from the local one-stop... and Richard David Dauntain, 'The Carapace', crouched on the recovery couch in Riverhaven Complex lounge, the 'super-secret resting spot of super powered scientists' two floors underground. Strictly speaking, this place was for the scientists and soldiers, the people 'on call' or on duty, who were just taking a break from the rigors of Meta-life.

Rich was crouched on the couch with a half-empty bag of Cheetos between his knees and a slightly greasy over-sized controller in his thick hands, jamming away at Ninja Gaiden on the X360 he'd hooked up to the large screen TV here in the lounge. It was four times the size of the TV in his place. Little orange smears decorated his loose green pants, the almost comically over-sized garment purchased from a King-Size Big And Tall, and made for gentlemen of his weight... and likely half again his height. His custom tripple-E boots were discarded on the floor off to one side, lost amidst the clutter of his mutant appetite.

Unlike many mutants, Carapace's powers were tremendously biological, extremely obvious, and carried heavy drawbacks. His body required twenty thousand calories a day, ten times the normal daily requirement of a human, even at his size, and the way his powers manifested wasn't exactly what you might call 'sexy'. Still, the hyperactive teen had played on from four AM, off his shift in Westside, and was happily 'winding down' on enough caffiene to give a small elephant a coronary. Winding down with what promises to be twelve hours of video games.

An explosion over his head makes a dull 'thud', reaching down into the heart of the complex, a human body at re-entry speeds cracking pavement and leaving bubbling tarmac all around it's crater... Rich doesn't even look up from his game, shouting out "WASN'T ME!" as he lays yet another massive monstrous boss low before the ninja might of his ninja blade...

[Archived Post]

As the door closes the elevator rises to the main floor leaving silence in its wake.

The shadows begin to fade from around them and Johnny turns to Lance, "I didn't know we had a super janitor."

He pauses, looks at the metal door then back at Lance, "That was a super janitor right?"

[Archived Post]

Lila Emmaren, teenage tech prodigy, had just parked her car when something fell out of the sky and smashed into the ground, leaving a decent sized crater. Quickly she got out, and ran towards the disturbance. She arrived to find Riverhaven's top doc, Leia McCoy already investigating.

The sudden flash of a teleport and the threatening appearance of the armored feline caused Lila to jump back in surprise, nearly triggering the powerup sequence for the Flux powersuit. Her desire to keep her identity private stopped her, and she looked warily at the newcomer.

"One could ask the same as you," Lila replied. "Look, this guy looks hurt, he needs help."

[Archived Post]

Written by Xselcier

Danny Burns powered through the water of the current pool in the aquatic section of the Riverhaven gymnasium. As he came up for a breath, he heard a loud BOOM! from overhead. His first instinct was to go racing out of the gym to see what was going on. But that instinct was no good anymore, not after…
As Danny thought back to several months ago, he began to lose focus and slow down. Shaking his head, he jerked his thoughts out of the past and refocused himself on his exercise.

Ten minutes later, a buzzer chimed and the current faded as Danny finished swimming the equivalent of 10 miles. He floated over to the side of the pool, hanging onto it while he caught his breath. Levering himself out of the pool, he concentrated and summoned a field of heat around himself, which rapidly dried off his body and trunks. Reaching back behind him, he pulled his chair over, locked the wheels, and with just the strength of his upper body, pulled himself up into it. Once he’d gotten settled into the seat of the wheelchair, Danny unlocked the wheels and rolled off towards the showers.

45 minutes later…

Having showered and shaved, Danny headed off to the Prometheus lab to continue working on it. Prometheus was the computer that utilized Danny’s Torchbearer operating system. He’d designed the OS a few years back after graduating from college. It was to be installed on the Prometheus, which was meant to be the next step in the realization of true AI. After designing the version of Torchbearer meant for Prometheus, Danny had gone back and scaled it down, making a less powerful version for home and business computer use. The OS was a hit at the technology shows, putting him in direct competition with Willem Bates and Macrosoft. Danny had then made a deal with Eric Scott of Scott Technologies for sole production and distribution rights, with Danny retaining ownership of Torchbearer. Since then, money hadn’t really been a concern. However, Danny’s heroic alter ego Flashpoint did have to fight off several of Willem Bates’ hit teams in the first few months after the premiere of the OS. That guy did NOT like competition. But after Flashpoint had paid Willy a visit, the guy had backed off.

For the past week, Danny had been having a running argument with Fletcher about finally activating Prometheus’s AI, but Fletcher had apparently seen Terminator one too many times and feared that the AI would try to take over the world or something. Danny grumbled to himself as he rolled into the lab and got to work on the security measures for the computer.

================================================== ============

Alexa awoke slowly as T’omaz softly moved out of the bed and into the bathroom. She heard the sound of running water and smiled. She was thoroughly convinced that her husband had to be one of the sweetest and most considerate men on the planet. She rolled over slowly and sat up, her hands automatically cradling her growing belly. She smiled to herself as she thought about the life growing inside her. The whole family, especially Rebecca, were joyous over the fact that Alexa was pregnant again. Rebecca was thrilled about the fact that she would soon have a baby brother. At that moment, the little guy decided to make his presence known with a well placed kick.

“Shh, shh.” Alexa cooed, gently rubbing her belly. She got up slowly and walked into the bathroom. Almost 8 months along, she was getting rather large, but, with her strength, moving around was definitely not a chore like it was for most women. She looked up at T’omaz. “Your son is doing his best to turn my belly button from an innie to an outie.” She said with a smile.

[Archived Post]

Leia McCoy raised an eyebrow at the rapid cooling of the crater. Having been a medical officer for the League of Titans for the past five years, this wasn't her first rodeo, but still you saw something new every day.

The young-appearing - Now don't make snap judgements, Leia - figure at the center of the crater wasn't moving. There wasn't blood, but if it was an alien, who knew?

"I need a meta-medevac team to the parking lot, stat," she radioed in. "And bring the insulated hazmat suits. There's some kind of electrical activity here."

"Careful," she warned the other observers. "Unless you're invulnerable to radiation and electricity. Then go on ahead and tell me what you see."

Dr. McCoy pulled out the tiny environmental reader she carried with her all the time now. The LoT tech gurus had made it for her - standard temperature, humidiy, barometric pressure, but also heat-sensors, infrared and ultraviolet sensors, and a Geiger counter. Holding it up, she quickly scanned the area of the crater, looking for anything that might be harmful to the rescue team. No sense in increasing the number of victims from one to a whole team.

[Archived Post]

Leia McCoy raised an eyebrow at the rapid cooling of the crater. Having been a medical officer for the League of Titans for the past five years, this wasn't her first rodeo, but still you saw something new every day.

The young-appearing - Now don't make snap judgements, Leia - figure at the center of the crater wasn't moving. There wasn't blood, but if it was an alien, who knew?

"I need a meta-medevac team to the parking lot, stat," she radioed in. "And bring the insulated hazmat suits. There's some kind of electrical activity here."

"Careful," she warned the other observers. "Unless you're invulnerable to radiation and electricity. Then go on ahead and tell me what you see."

Dr. McCoy pulled out the tiny environmental reader she carried with her all the time now. The LoT tech gurus had made it for her - standard temperature, humidiy, barometric pressure, but also heat-sensors, infrared and ultraviolet sensors, and a Geiger counter. Holding it up, she quickly scanned the area of the crater, looking for anything that might be harmful to the rescue team. No sense in increasing the number of victims from one to a whole team.

Neko moved cautiously closer to the crater, "I can eat just about anything, including nuclear war heads medi-lady i'll go in first."

pading in cautiously Neko hissed, radiation still stang but the magical suit was holding it together, "Need help?" she alsed the man in the middlle of it all

[Archived Post]

"I didn't know we had a super janitor. That was a super janitor right?" asks Johnny.

"Uh. . . that was not a janitor." Lance says slightly in shock. "I can't believe. . .well it would make. . .oh geez why didn't i see it before."

"What are you saying? You're not making sense."

"You know the maintenance guy. Joe August?"

"Yeah, what about him? He kind of fumbles a bit and is rather slouchy. Tends to wear plaid shirts and coveralls. But he did get rid of the ultra-mouse infestation finally."

"Our maintenance guy is Mr. Regal."

"Sure and I'm Mickey Mouse. Lance you're imagining things." Johnny shakes his head.

"No didn't you see the cape and gloves on the chair? The protective gear he was wearing and that stuff he was working with? Then all of the room kind of fuzzed and changed when he left it. He's using holographic tech down here to hide something. We should follow him and see what he's up to."

================================================== ================================================

Joe ran right up the stairs then slowed to a normal human pace once he reached the top. His radio buzzed with information coming in from the parking lot. Getting to where the employee lockers were he grabbed a hazard suit as the equipment he had asked R-1 to send from Sanctuary materialized next to him.

This should fix that hole and steady the structure so it will not collapse in on itself. All I need is to start a sink hole or destabilize the underground garage. He thinks to himself as he picks up the two containers for the construction nanites and heads back out toward the parking lot. He also grabs an extra containment suit for just in case

Arriving he sees Dr. Leia McCoy scanning the area. "Hey Doc anything I can do to help?" He deliberately stays away from the crater.

[Archived Post]

"Thanks, Joe," Leia said, sending the maintenance man a grateful look. "Can you rope off the area and close the parking lot to new vehicles? We'll need to call the police, too, I guess. And get somebody to bring a camera, will you? I'm not leaving this guy in there till the cops get here."

She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her cell phone, taking a few pictures just in case the camera didn't arrive until after the medevac team. This was definitely one of the more surreal moments in her life, taking a picture of a red... furry... fanged thing - Female? - edging down a crater toward a fallen body.

"Is there any kind of a pulse at the neck?" she asked the felinesque creature. "Most species need a way to deliver nutrients to the brain, and that looks pretty much like a head to me. And what's your name, so I don't have to call you 'Red'?"

She noticed the hazmat suit the maintenance man was carrying. "Quick thinking on the suit, Joe. I asked the med team to bring theirs too. Mind if I borrow it or is it specified to you?"

[Archived Post]

"I didn't get a good look in the room, but if he is Regal... Do you think anyone knows?" Johnny asks as they wait for the elevator to come back down.

"Maybe we should ask Grey about it, out of everyone I would expect him to know what's going on in his own house."

Lance nods as they get on the elevator and hits the button for the ground floor, "Yeah I would expect someone to know. He said something about a parking structure so let's check out front."

Johnny leans against the railing in the elevator, "I've never done a scan on Joe, but Regal showed up as something unique when I did one on him. He might have something to cloak his physiology too though."

[Archived Post]

"Thanks, Joe," Leia said, sending the maintenance man a grateful look. "Can you rope off the area and close the parking lot to new vehicles? We'll need to call the police, too, I guess. And get somebody to bring a camera, will you? I'm not leaving this guy in there till the cops get here."

She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her cell phone, taking a few pictures just in case the camera didn't arrive until after the medevac team. This was definitely one of the more surreal moments in her life, taking a picture of a red... furry... fanged thing - Female? - edging down a crater toward a fallen body.

"Is there any kind of a pulse at the neck?" she asked the felinesque creature. "Most species need a way to deliver nutrients to the brain, and that looks pretty much like a head to me. And what's your name, so I don't have to call you 'Red'?"

She noticed the hazmat suit the maintenance man was carrying. "Quick thinking on the suit, Joe. I asked the med team to bring theirs too. Mind if I borrow it or is it specified to you?"

Neko sniffed at the air, reaching out cautious toward the fallen one "his scent is strong...but lots of energy messing it up." cautious she reached for the neck, trying to get a 'pulse' as the human had advised, the concept only vaguly famiar to her.

"you can call me Neko the Tank" she added as a after thought.

[Archived Post]

"Seriously people, why can't we schedule these things." could be heard before the lights had even managed to flicker on after a mere two hours of sleep.

"Thugs keep me up all night, and now capes in the morning." Stan grumbles as he turns his police scanner down that had been blaring about a meteor or something crashing into Riverhaven.

"Who needs an alarm clock when you have friends like these."

Slowly Stan gets out of bed and wanders to the shower of his spacious studio apartment, aka upstairs of an abandoned warehouse in westside. It wasn't all that bad a place by now, after some remodeling, structural improvements, and letting the local purple gang know not to bother it again or their leaders would spend another night in the middle of the bay swimming back to the docks. His modern artworks and handy gadgets he sold afforded him a comfortable living for the most part, having a magical knack for forging with fire and water elemental made such things quite easy to produce. An elemental mage never had to pay water bills, and the purple gang no longer bothered him about stealing power and cable from their stolen lines.

"Mmmm, I hate mornings." is about all the energy he had left to say as his tea was boiling as he entered the shower. Summoning a nice warm drizzle in his bathroom he quickly finished and headed straight for the smell of green tea and honey. A croissant later and he was dressed and out the door of the roof entrance he preferred to use. Sporting a rather fashionable bowler hat, trench coat, and nice brown suit. Brushing his hand against the inlaid patterns in his coat he mentally summons his armor, and his clothes instantly transformers into his Steam suit.

Looking to the east towards Riverhaven, Steam effortlessly powers his jets and sets off through the skies to see if he can help. Knowing only that something crashed into or near Riverhaven he summons two of his water elementals he'd bound into healing drones. By the time he gets there he sees some furry creature crawling down into a crater with what appears to be an unconsious person at the bottom. Several other people including what appears to be a doctor are standing around the outside of the crater as he lands a few feet away.

"Might I be of assistance?"

[Archived Post]

"Quick thinking on the suit, Joe. I asked the med team to bring theirs too. Mind if I borrow it or is it specified to you?"

Joe hands the hazmat suit over to Leah. "This should fit. Let me help you into it. But first back off from the crater. If that counter of yours is clicking you are being exposed. Best to be safe not sorry."

He then pulls out his phone and dials in the special number for superhuman emergencies and ground support. "This is Joe over at the Riverhaven complex. We're going to need a possible rad unit, some specialists, and decon team. Thanks. You too."

He nods at Leah then codes in another call, this one on his own frequency to R-1. He asks for ropes and other items to seal off the area. The items port in with a tiny blue glow which alerts him to their position.

Noticing Leah struggling with the suit while balancing her phone he goes over to help her. The roar of boot jets catches his attention as an armor clad hero comes on the scene. Scowls in thought a moment then makes his expression carefully neutral.

================================================== ====================================

“Your son is doing his best to turn my belly button from an innie to an outie.” She said with a smile at T'omaz in his silk robe.

He laughs and helps undress Alexa then helps her over and into the tub. Pressing a few buttons he starts up the jets on a gentle vibrate. "You just relax. Becky and I will take care of everything."

"Would you like some fresh flowers?" He smiles at her creating more starflowers for the vase on the shelf by the tub. "I will go make you some breakfast. You can watch your favorite morning show while I am doing that."

Grabbing the waterproof remote he points it to the television built into another wall. Then frowns at what comes on the screen. It is a news copter showing the live scene of the Riverhaven parking lot with a very large crater in it. "This is not good."

He is torn between wanting to make his wife breakfast or following his instinct to go help. As the camera pans around he notices who already is on the scene. "If they need help later I can go in. Looks like a lot of the stuff is under control." T'omaz places the remote on the side of the tub. "I will be back shortly." he says heading toward the kitchen. The smell of something burning wafts through the apartment.

"Sweetie what did daddy say about cooking the waffles that way!"

"But daaaaaddy. . ."

================================================== ====================================

Johnny leans against the railing in the elevator, "I've never done a scan on Joe, but Regal showed up as something unique when I did one on him. He might have something to cloak his physiology too though."

"He probably would. But I'm wondering why he is even working here. Or working for that matter. That type of person is usually always a hero. He's even married to Comet 202." Lance stops a moment as if connecting the dots. "And Comet 202 is one of the residents here. Why didn't I figure it out before?" He smacks his hand against his forehead.

Lance looks up at the all seeing eye of Fletcher's security camera. "Guess we should go see what the emergency is about outside."

[Archived Post]

"Thanks again, Joe," Leia said, finally closing the suit. "Not reading any radiation but it's darned strange for sure. Hopefully just a crash-landing."

Her voice muffled by the suit, she climbed down into the crater, edging her way over to Neko. "You okay?" she asked the feline creature as she bent, checking for any kind of a pulse at the humanoid's neck.

"Looks human, male if so. Meta for sure because he's still alive," she radioed. She began running her hands along the inert body, checking for obvious blood or deformities. "We'll need C-spine precautions and a backboard. And we'd better port him directly to sickbay. You guys have one of the meta rooms ready?"

Hearing the affirmative, she nodded. "Thanks for the help," she said to Neko the Tank. "Don't suppose you're a healer or anything?"

She waved a hand at the other observers, shouting through the suit mask. "Thanks! I think we've got it, unless any of you are healer types."

[Archived Post]

Without a second thought Steam sends his field drones in to assist the doctor.

"They are at your command, Ma'am. They arent surgeons but they get the job done for me."

[Archived Post]

"Thanks again, Joe," Leia said, finally closing the suit. "Not reading any radiation but it's darned strange for sure. Hopefully just a crash-landing."

Her voice muffled by the suit, she climbed down into the crater, edging her way over to Neko. "You okay?" she asked the feline creature as she bent, checking for any kind of a pulse at the humanoid's neck.

"Looks human, male if so. Meta for sure because he's still alive," she radioed. She began running her hands along the inert body, checking for obvious blood or deformities. "We'll need C-spine precautions and a backboard. And we'd better port him directly to sickbay. You guys have one of the meta rooms ready?"

Hearing the affirmative, she nodded. "Thanks for the help," she said to Neko the Tank. "Don't suppose you're a healer or anything?"

She waved a hand at the other observers, shouting through the suit mask. "Thanks! I think we've got it, unless any of you are healer types."

*nya* Neko backed up a bit letting the doctor get in closer, absently sniffing at McCoy a moment, "It stings a little. But I'm ok. Feels like when i fought radiation-man-prey in desert."

[Archived Post]

Lance looks up at the all seeing eye of Fletcher's security camera. "Guess we should go see what the emergency is about outside."

Johnny straightens up and stretches as the door opens with a ding. "Of course. We wouldn't want to miss out on any excitement. It's just strange that he would hide like that, when he could just be here as a hero and still do the same stuff."

The pair crosses the lobby in a few quick strides, and stop just outside to survey the scene.

[Archived Post]

Packrat inched back a bit. This was definitely getting too crowded for someone like him. Of course, he should have expected a turn-out to see the crater, but the aclarity at which it had occurred had been pretty surprising. Not to mention all the capes that were turning up, and not one of them someone he recognized. At least if Pyrii had been around or something, he could try to play something off and not look like the most suspicious figure in the parking lot besides the apparent person in the crater.

He adjusted his goggles and dropped closer to the ground as he moved towards the car's headlights. Perhaps today wasn't the best of days to be swinging around to see the girly and the club she had mentioned. They were obviously too... busy at the moment. Things were starting to wrap up a bit, it seemed, so now would be the best time to scamper off before they could possibly turn all their attentions to him.

He glanced around quickly, hoping for a manhole - the sewers would be so much better for him right now - but there didn't seem to be any in the lot itself. He'd have to sneak out first, if he could manage to slip away without all the capes noticing him, which wouldn't be all that surprising. Superhuman senses and all that. Creeping away as quickly as he dared, he began to repeat a powerful mantra inside of his head to hopefully help with getting out of there.

Please don't see me...
Please don't see me...
For the love of GOD please don't see me...
They probably will see me, but it would be nice if they wouldn't.

It wasn't the best of mantras, but it'd do.

[Archived Post]

Amara shielded her face from the sun and looked up at the building in front of her. Her pupils were mere slits and her inner lids were closed almost permanently here on the surface to protect her from the harsh, unfiltered sunlight and gusts of wind. How humans managed with nothing but tears on the surface of their eyes she shuddered to consider.

Slowly she made out the word. "Riverhaven". Her spoken English was almost impeccable in conversation, but psionics did little to help with the odd lettering unless there was somebody around who could read.

She was of average height for a Lemurian female, which meant she was slightly smaller than most of the humans around her. Her blue-green skin color gave her away, as did the violet color of the hair she affected in humanoid form. She chose to use lungs on the surface, so that she would not be encumbered by the tanks. It allowed her to carry her quiver on her back with the energy bow slung across her shoulder. She preferred the old surface weapons having grown up with trident and speargun. They gave her more versatility in the hunt and did not make as much noise as a firearm.

She strode up the steps, moving as fluidly as her native medium. Two males stood at the front door. Guards? They were dressed similarly but it did not appear to be a uniform.

"Excuse me," she said to the first male, "I am looking for this female." She held up a yellowed newspaper folded to display a picture from the opening of the AHDC six months ago. "She calls herself Katherine St. Claire."

[Archived Post]

As more heroes arrived Lila could not help but notice how many had technological gadgets and suits. She longed to touch them, so that she could find out how they worked, what made them 'tick'. She decided to not let her natural instinct to get the better of her. She felt like she was underfoot and in the way, so she moved away from the scene.

As she backed away she noticed the small figure attempting to make a quick and stealthy exit. She would have missed him completely, but for his array of gadgets. It was the sort of stuff that she could do with any old junk laying around, and she could not resist wanting to see them.

"Hi!" Lila said brightly to the retreating figure. "I'm Lila, what's your name?"

[Archived Post]

"Well I'm no doctor but he's not waking up, even after healing drones, you might just want to port him directly to you med bay doc."

[Archived Post]

"Excuse me, I am looking for this female."

Both men jump slightly at the sudden noise, and turn to look at the purple-haired woman who managed to sneak up on them.

The woman holds up a yellowed newspaper folded to display a picture from the opening of the AHDC six months ago. "She calls herself Katherine St. Claire."

Johnny leans in to have a closer look at the old paper, "Well you're in the right place." He takes a step to the side and ushers the strange woman into the lobby. Before entering he turns to Lance, "Keep a watch on things."

As he escorts the woman across the lobby Johnny notices a few members of Riverhaven's security watching them. I'm sure they saw her bow, I wonder if I should do something about that, he thinks as they walk towards Andie's office.

[Archived Post]

Tony was out for his morning walk when something caught his attention. An electrical and gravitational disturbance was moving downward toward Millennium City. Tapping the computer on his wrist, he engaged his force field and shifted ...

... in the sky over the city, he was able to follow the trajectory of the disturbance. Size/mass: hard to determine due to velocity, but roughly humanoid. Electromagnetic charge: higher than normally consistent with an object falling from orbit. Velocity: terminal. Vector: aiming directly at Riverhaven, home of the League of Titans. Well, he thought to himself, I was planning to give them a visit anyway. I guess now is as good a time as any. ...

... High above the city, he could make at the area of Riverhaven, right as the object impacted the parking lot in front of the complex ...

... 50 meters above the impact crater, he could see a number of individuals starting to gather to investigate. He pinned his UNTIL identity badge to his jacket and ....

... Standing on the ground several meters from the crater, he saw a woman in a hazmat suit and an armored individual investigating the object in the small impact crater. He approached them, and said, "Do be careful, there's a bit of an electrical potential that hasn't discharged ... it may be a protective field. Doctor Vortex, by the way. I'll stay out of the way, let me know if you need any help."

((The badge is an UNTIL security badge, with his picture and "Tony Reynolds AKA Doctor Vortex - Research Division"))

[Archived Post]

...As he escorts the woman across the lobby Johnny notices a few members of Riverhaven's security watching them. I'm sure they saw her bow, I wonder if I should do something about that, he thinks as they walk towards Andie's office.

"Thank you," Amara said, following the male into the building. The air inside was marginally cooler than outside, but both were much warmer than she cared for. She felt an unpleasant prickling sensation on her skin and realized it was sweat.

Like most of his species, the male towered over her. Still, she was a warrior of Lemuria, and walked with her head held high. She thanked him for bringing her inside, and wondered if he was a guard who would stay, and if he would resist.

"Welcome," Andie said to the small Lemurian girl, who regarded her with odd, slit-pupiled eyes. "Did you have an appointment with Ms. St. Claire?"

"No," Amara said. "I must see her."

[Archived Post]

... Standing on the ground several meters from the crater, he saw a woman in a hazmat suit and an armored individual investigating the object in the small impact crater. He approached them, and said, "Do be careful, there's a bit of an electrical potential that hasn't discharged ... it may be a protective field. Doctor Vortex, by the way. I'll stay out of the way, let me know if you need any help."

((The badge is an UNTIL security badge, with his picture and "Tony Reynolds AKA Doctor Vortex - Research Division"))

"Thank you, Dr. Vortex," Leia said with a smile. "I think we'll just teleport him with a dampening field."

By now the medic team had arrived. They set up four pylons around the still form and triggered the dampening field. One of them set a marker on the body and it disappeared with a faint flash as the emergency teleport kicked in.

"Thanks for the help, all of you," Leia said, heading for the door. "I'll be posting updates on his condition on our secure link. If there's anything I can do for any of you, please let me know."

Trusting Joe to deal with the mess of a crater left behind, she smiled her thanks at the gathered crowd and disappeared through the door.

[Archived Post]

Skye stay unconsious, but is writhing in obvious pain, as his body sculpts itsself. Healing onl wounds, turning him from a couch potato to the body of an Olympic class gymnast. After about 3 housr He screans, arcs his back, as electricity envelps him and shoots out in all directions frying anything electronic in the room. As this happens a small device falls from his chest on the floor, and he calms back down and apears to be in a restfull sleep.

[Archived Post]

The gorgeous brunette strode out of the elevator, already hitting the ground running as she juggled conversations on three separate cell phones. She paused briefly at the doorway as a workman finished attaching a plaque to the wall. Giving a curt nod of acceptance, she continued into her office. The legend on the plaque read:

FRANKLY FRANKIE FRANKLIN PRODUCTIONS
Agency for the Meta-Talented


“What’s the good word today Geraldine?”, she asked of the attractive African American woman sitting behind the receptionist desk.

“Still having a problem with Verizon getting our high speed fiber optic access installed,” she sighed. “They’re saying the routers in the neighborhood’s routers are already loaded with the Champions building being right across the street and….”

The Caucasian raised a finger to stop her. “Tell them I want it up and running today or I’ll give my friends at SAG a call and they can forget about any of their ‘Can You Hear Me?’ spots…or any other commercials for that matter. They promised us they could deliver when we first bought this place, now is NOT the time for them to be backing out on us. We need that web access.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Satisfied that the matter was resolved, Francine continued on to her new office. As she walked, she couldn’t help but muse on how events had brought her here. It was all Sapphire’s doing, of course. She was SUCH a diva. When she’d taken her on as a client she hadn’t realized how much hand holding the heroine would need.

But of course the young businesswoman was used to this. Before she’d started to represent the Champion she’d worked for a REAL star…her sister, Annie. Compared to her sibling’s star, Sapphire was just a flickering flame, a one hit wonder. Of course that didn’t mean Frankie was any less devoted or respectful.

Opening the door to her office, she grinned at the blond haired man arranging papers on her desk, especially as he checked him out as he bent over. “Randal, you did a great job with the décor of the office. Thanks again. I would have done it myself but I had to be in Tokyo for that conference with the OPRPD…”

“It’s what I’m here for,” he answered in a deferential and softspoken British voice. “Your schedule for this morning is on your desk.” He turned to face her, a mask of civility on his face even as he knew what she’d done as she came in. “Will there be anything else?”

“Nope,” she stated, sitting in her chair and turning it to look out the window. “Thanks again.” As her personal assistant left, she was already deep in thought, looking down out of her west facing window at the big ‘C’ of the Champions HQ below. Ostensibly chosen to be near her ‘biggest’ client, it also secretly gave her a sense of satisfaction to look down on them, just like she could when…

Suddenly the phone rang and her reverie was broken. She instantly entered business mode as she spoke in Spanish to the person on the line….

[Archived Post]

Rising from the murky depths of Millenium city harbor looks like a creature not of the surface world. A strange mixture of a manta ray and an eel held inside a cyborb body, with odd elongated robotic arms and legs. Arcs of electricity run from his body down his limbs as he leaves the water and you can see him breathing through what appears to be a diving rebreather filled with water. As he starts to come up the beach he moves in a strange hopping motion, suddenly stopping with what could only be described as a look of annoyance at his current method of travel. A light glow appears around his body and it slowly lifts up into the air, then he moves with the grace of a ballet dancer as he appears to swim through the sky as naturally as you could imagine him swimming through water.

A strange voice can be heard as if it's coming from inside your head "How can these surface dwellers live on the ground bed like that. The skies allow so much more mobility.

He once again flies off towards Riverhaven the home of the League of Titans to see what excitement the surface world held for him today. The only place around he's found that a "out of towner" such as himself seems to fit in more easily. Part of him hopes to meet an atlantean again, such odd folk, humanoids from the oceans just as the lemurians he grew up near were. Yet so different, almost more regal.

[Archived Post]

[ignore this]

[Archived Post]

In the snowy mountains of Canada a spark is seen off in the distance between the thick forest trees. Zakka sits crossed legged on a large frost covered rock wedged deeply into the mountain side, her tail flicking back forth. A long straight kiresu pipe lays at rest between her lips, causing peppermint aroma smoke to dance in the cold winds. She puffs from the end of the pipe and turns her gaze towards the sky noting the position of the sun. “Time to be getting back.” She says with a grin, hoping up and stretching out her back.

Zakka faces the direction she wants to go and in one mighty leap she is off. Leaving behind the frost covered rock and the remains of a colossal battle and wreckage which was once a humongous destroid. In just a few bounds and leaps she arrives as her extraction point. She is to return to Millennium City to return to her new team’s base of location and perhaps something to relieve her boredom awaits her arrival.

[Archived Post]

Lance leans against the wall watching all the action around the parking lot. In particular he keeps an eye on "Joe" the maintenance supervisor for the complex. He watches the man wave his affirmative that he has every thing under control as Leia come towards him, gives him an odd look then disappears into the building after her patient was wheeled in ahead of her.

Probably wondering what I'm doing loitering around. He thinks to himself. Starshadow can not always be around to help. Wonder where Johnny and that strange girl went off to. . .

~Ship do a scan of the area and report to me. In particular I want a scan on "Joe August" our resident maintenance person. There is a lot more to him than he lets on. Or else he has been replaced for some reason.~

~Yes pilot. Scan initiated. Indicators show an increase in eletrical activity in your location along wth nano technology on an unusual frequency.~

~Explain.~ says Lance mentally as he watches Joe open several odd canisters. What appear to be ball-berings roll into the crater that had been made by the crashed meta in the parking lot. Joe takes out an odd device and several of them form up into various shapes and moving formations.

~I see through your mental imaging that those are the sources of the electrical interferance. Now scanning the being you indicate as not being someone named Joe.~

~Well?~

~Unable to classify. Meta-structure is unidentifible. Not of human base stock or known alien genomes. Suggestion. Approach with caution. Indicators say possibly extremely dangerous. "Joe August" does not exist till six years ago. Forged legal documents.~

~Interesting. Keep scanning data banks and find out more. Keep me informed. Out.~ Lance closes the mental link turns and walks back inside the lobby. He feels like two eyes are on the back of his neck and almost turns to find out if he is right. Taking a seat he picks up a magazine, his face is on the cover, and smirks at what is inside, while waiting for Johnny to come back.

================================================== ================================================

Joe stops his work a moment to watch a dark haired young man, maybe late teens early twenties, go inside the lobby. Well well. Look who we have here. He continues watching him through the closed door and as the other sits down to read a tabloid.

Do not get too curious Stirling. I knew you were there along with your friend. Smelled that aftershave you always have lingering on you.

He turns back to his work and directs the nanobots to shore up the foundation and bring up where the impact was. They break down various pieces of the rubble. Several others industriously spit out new materials while others begin creating a new covering.

Joe then places a few hardlight hologram beacons to give the illusion of a work crew filling in the crater. The whole area is roped off with an indication of dire consquences if anyone should cross the lines.

================================================== ================================================

"Daddy! Daddy! Look outside! A construction crew! Isn't that cool! And there is Mr. August he always gives me lollipops! Daddy why is he holding an RC remote like you and I use when we race our cars? Can we go see him?"

"Becky how can you see that from here? Sweety we shall go see him soon enough. I have to go check on Mommy she is in the bath. And we want her to feel well today right? Because we did promise to take you to the zoo and Auntie Roxy will come with us too. Now eat the pancakes. You made them and there is quite the mess in here." T'omaz smiles at his little girl.

Finishing one last bit of his food he gets up and walks over to the sink. Puts his dishes in the dirty side then picks up the tray to carry in to the bath room. Smiling he opens the door.

================================================== ================================================
Natalia tosses and turns but still can not go to sleep. Sighing she mutters something under her breath, gets up and tosses her closet door open. Looking around inside she finds a pair of jeans, tennis shoes and a top with the MC All Stars baseball team logo on it.

After putting everything on she goes into where here vanity is, does up her hair in a nice braid and puts on her make up. She then walks over to the phone and dials Danny's number and waits. . .

[Archived Post]

The trail of The Doc went cold, no pun intended, in canada while she did some work for PRIMUS. Oh it was tru that VIPER was active in the area, but what she had sought would not be found around Force Station Steelhead and that meant a trip to Millenium City, the City of the Future they called it. Tyger Tyger looked out over the city that she would be calling home for now, hopefully forever but dhe knew that was wishful thinking after years of staying on the move to keep The Docs hunter off her tail. She needed friends, she needed a place to be, and hopefully a source of information to guide her in finding the Docs new base of operations. The bag she loads into the cabs trunk is heavy, causing the vehicle to shudder slightly before the white skinned woman settles herself into the backseat and hands the business card to the driver. "Riverhaven?" The man looked at his passenger as she lowered her shades to reveal the slit pupiled yellow eyes as she smirked, "Riverhaven it is lady." Tyger sat back and enjoyed the view of the city as they made their way to the destination written on the back of the PRIMUS card that she had been given by the Canadian lieutenant.

Once the cab pulled up to the curb outside the parking area where people were working on a possible hazmat scene. "Thanks pal." the mans bemused grin at her accent didn't stop her from paying the man with cash before Tyger started off towards the facility, her longcoat barely concealing her sidearms and silver/black, tiger striped bodysuit. One of her first priorities upon finding someplace to hang her holsters was to go shopping since her last paltry collection of clothes went up in smoke when she had to run from the seedy motel in Bankok where she ran afoul of some VIPER scum. Tyger looked over at the crater, and the people around it, one of whom seemed to have an UNTIL badge which made her feel a bit better about the group as they seemed to be on good terms with an established organization. Making her way into the loby of the building she sauntered up, putting her hand on one hip as she spoke up. "Scuse me mistah, I looking for someone tell me if I can join you group. My name Tyger Tyger, you call me Tyger tho kay?" tygers black lipsticked lips part in a wide grin as she tried to look cute and harmless despite the weapons belt barely concealed under her coat.

OOC: She speaks like Shen Hua from Black Lagoon, always loved that character. :)

[Archived Post]

"No, I must see her" the strange girl demands.

Johnny catches Andie's eye before glancing at the girl's bow.

"Do you want me to stick around Andie?" he asks, giving her a concerned look.

[Archived Post]

"Scuse me mistah, I looking for someone tell me if I can join you group. My name Tyger Tyger, you call me Tyger tho kay?"

Lance looks up from the article he is reading and smiles. "Hello Tyger. " He stands up, drops the magazine on the table and puts out a hand. "I'm Lance. Pleased to meet you. I am not really part of any 'group'. Though I can direct you to the office of the complex management to get you an apartment. Follow me I'll take you to Andie's office."

================================================== ================================================== =

Joe sees Tyger go into the building as he is directing more of the nanobots to fix the crater. He does a quick scan and notes the weapons plus other equipment she was carrying. If anything goes wrong I'm sure Fletcher can handle it. That lady looked a bit on the lethal side but as the old saying says "Can not judge by the cover."

He turns and notices the UNTIL agent watching what he is doing. Hmm this could get interesting. . .

[Archived Post]

Zakka stretches as she hops out of the airship. Back in Millennium City, humans through all the years all the things they have done and all the ways they have changed, how they haven't changed at all. Yet Zakka enjoys this the most about them - always strive to the future and what marvels they should make. Zakka lights her pipe before leaping off towards Riverhaven.


Again with only a few might leaps and bounds she arrives! Landing rather hard right out front, causing the floor to crack and break in several places splintering out into random patterns.

Zakka takes a long puff from the end of her pipe before glancing around and waving. "Mraa! Greets, have I missed anything important?" she gives a grin walking towards the entrance flicking her tail back and forth as she does.

[Archived Post]

Steam was just standing off to the side after all the commotion enjoying the bay air when he heard a crash. Looking over his should he sees Zakka and the broken pavement under her. He takes a few steps back to make sure he isn't near the line of sight between Joe and Zakka. Looking around for a quick escape he spots Packrat and some cute girl looking at him interestedly and decides being over there would be a wiser choice than where he was.

"Is it always this busy around here this early in the morning?" is about all he could think of as a conversation starter between the nervous looking Packrat and the strange girl that seemed to be checking out his gear more than him.

================================================== =========
================================================== ==

Lamprey circles Riverhaven to see if anything interesting is happening when he sees a strange woman drop out of the sky from over his head and land hard on the ground. Seeing her as a green skinned tailed meta-human he decides to fly down and say hi. Always feeling more comfortable around the less human meta's, as they are less likely to respond negatively to his appearance. He flies down and activates his exo-suit for a perfect landing beside Zakka.

"Hello, Zakka you may call me Lamprey" is heard inside the heads of everyone in the area.

[Archived Post]

Zakka raises a brow and turns around, a lit pipe in her mouth and the smell of peppermint thick in the air. She looks at Lamprey up and down with a bit of a confuse expression. Suddenly she smiles and holds her hands out. "Greetings! I am Zakka, come tell me of yourself - I am eager to know my new team mates."

If Lamprey agrees to a hug, Zakka would lift him off the ground slightly and give him a good big old bear like hug.

[Archived Post]

"Hello Tyger. " He stands up, drops the magazine on the table and puts out a hand. Tyger took the mans hand and shook it firmly with a broad smile on her face. "I'm Lance. Pleased to meet you. I am not really part of any 'group'. Though I can direct you to the office of the complex management to get you an apartment. Follow me I'll take you to Andie's office."

Tyger slapped the man on his shoulder, "Okay Mistah Lance, you show me dis Andie fella. Wha happen outside? Dis place attacked?"

[Archived Post]

The hard landing of Zakka startled Lila, distracting her enough for Packrat to make his exit. She turned back to find him leaving, and she sighed.

"Is it always this busy around here this early in the morning?"

She turned to see a man in power armor... not exactly power armor, as she could not sense any high tech devices on the man's armor. Lila wondered what could possibly power it when she realized that she hadn't answered. "Er, sorry, I was just admiring your suit," she said a bit flustered. "Not always this busy, no."

[Archived Post]

"Er, sorry, I was just admiring your suit," she said a bit flustered. "Not always this busy, no."

With barely a movement Stan activates the runes and his Steam suit changes into his street suit. The helmet transforming into a bowler hat, as the armor becomes his shirt and pants, the steam pack on his back just sort of unfolds itself into a duster. Within seconds his standing there in a blue and red striped suit with mystical lines drawn into it.

"Thank you miss." He responds as he bows before her.

"Do you live or work here within Riverhaven?" Stan asks as he looks around at the massive building in front of him.

"I am still new to the Titans and haven't had a chance to really visit it yet. Seems like it would be an extraordinary place to live and work."

================================================== =======
================================================== =====

As sudden as his introduction to this tall green skinned woman was, he now finds himself being grappled by her and his tail barely being able to touch the ground. Not hearing any hostile thoughts but feeling instinctually scared by the sudden physical contact his electrical field triggers, barely responding in time to keep it lite enough not to electricute the new person. As Zakka puts him down his field dissipates and he regains some composure.

"Such a strange greeting you land dwellers have some times. I apologize for the sudden shock, my people don't have arms so such greeting are unknown among our kind." Lamprey says as he remembers the first meeting with a person that shook his exo-suits hand, that ended quite poorly as he had not expected physical contact. Luckily they made a full recovery, though they had to wait for their hair to grow back properly.

[Archived Post]

She shocking causes Zakka's hair to stick straight up on end. "Haha! Now thats a greetings, yes well I find most humans tend not to enjoy the "hug" greetings." She says this doing the qoute unqoute finger gestures. " Which is rather interesting since viewing their society and their stand on contact is rather skewed!" Place a hand around her chin

She licks her hand and pats down her hair. "Come from the ground do you or is it the sea? I have known many creatures from many places. Sadly I do no get to visit the sea as I would like. The inability to breath in the aquatic paradise is what my race and the humans seem to be one thing we share in common!" She laughs and give a good but friendly slap on the back to Lamprey. "Look at me yapping on like a hatching! Please tell me of yourself and your people! My thirst for knowledge is most unquenchable!"

[Archived Post]

Tyger slaps Lance on his shoulder, "Okay Mistah Lance, you show me dis Andie fella. Wha happen outside? Dis place attacked?"

"Miss Andie is one of the complex managers. As for what happened out in the parking lot seems like some meta dropped out of the sky. He decided the parking lot would make a great place to leave an impact crater."

They go through a door that leads to another corridor and further on into the office section of the complex. They hear voices coming from Andie's office. "Popular place this morning." He smiles at Tyger as he taps the frame of the door to announce their presence.

He notices the lady with the bow and Johnny in there too. "Hi Andie. I have another person here who could use a place. She is also interested in possibly joining the team here too. Tyger Tyger meet Andie, Johnny, and. . . I'm sorry miss I did not catch your name earlier." Lance apologizes.

[Archived Post]

"Ah, wonderful," Andie said with a smile. She gestured Tyger in as well. She introduced herself to both of the strangers and got their names as well.

"I would be happy to show both of you around, Amara and Tyger," she said. "I will, of course, need to ask for your weapons. Only registered building members are allowed to carry their weapons past the lobby. RiverHaven has excellent defenses against attack, of which common sense is the most powerful, of course."

The Lemurian girl's hand rested on the hilt of what appeared to be a knife made of bone strapped to her thigh. She was small, but her lithe body was tense, her pupils mere slits as she blinked rapidly, a nictitating membrane flashing across her eyes.

"I must see Katherine St. Claire," she insisted again, her voice a clear, lilting soprano. Something about it made the hair on the back of Andie's neck stand up. She found herself wanting to take the girl to Kate right now. Which wasn't how it worked. Which was wrong.

[Archived Post]

Caution, Wall of Text

Looking out the tinted windows of the limo, Lansley felt an annoying sense of de ja vu. The sign was bent slightly, as if someone had backed into it while coming around the corner. Bent exactly like the sign he had seen earlier, an hour ago."I really wish you would have simply let me charter a greyhound bus instead of sending me in this auto-car. I swear this is the fifth time the AI has driven through this place."

The girl who sat next to him only smirked at the comment and shook her head. Her posture was impeccable, her dress sleek but simple, and she didn't need any sort of revealing cuts to look stunning. Instead she just oozed with the kind of natural cool grace and wit that was normally the domain of mythic kings. It really wasn't all that unnatural though, it was just the product of a strict childhood. "You are just being paranoid brother. Like when you thought my dolls were trying to eat you at night." She chided Lansley, taking great satisfaction from his inevitable response. Lansley's face turned red as he groaned and tried his hardest not to recall the embarrassing incident from when he was five years old. His sister simply smiled, noting how her brother's red cheeks contrasted with his black dyed hair. Lansley just looked out the window.

So this is the city. He thought to himself. The city streets were littered with people of varying attires. A Copacabana of societies all in one place at one time, a stimulus for the mind that would think to see it as such. Lansley looked out of the window with a silent smugness that he'd be able to be part of that world soon, and hopefully learn to better come to terms with his mental abilities. He never noticed in the blur of urban life though that his sister looked out her window with a far different expression on.

Out there was a world she had never been allowed, a place supposedly full of miscreants and lazy imperfectionists. Herself, as the heir to the family business, estate, and fortune was never afford a time to be out there with those people. Her musical training was classical, her clothes refined, her education top class; everything desirable in an upstanding young woman. But to her they were simply circumstance, a burden of life just as much as breathing.

"We're here." She said coolly, suppressing the envy and sadness her thoughts wove about Lansley. She was right as she usually was, proven to be so as the robotic voice of the drive announced their approach to Riverhaven. The car slowed as it went over the speed bump and into the Riverhaven parking lot. Morosely Lansley's sister took her eyes from the towering complex and down to face her brother.

"Broth~" She began to speak before her eyes had even reached her brother's, but was cut short as the robotic driver came to a halt. Whatever the girl in red had on her mind was gone, as both she and her brother looked out to the spectacle outside. A crowd of people and obviously super-heroes all congregated around a taped off area.

Due to a recent accident, I will not be able to navigate to the designated parking location. Travel location is within walking distance, would the young master like to stop here? The robotic driver's voice came from the small speakers in the ceiling.

"Y-yes, that would be fine." Lansley said reaching for the door, suddenly feeling a nervousness from his sister. "I'll make sure to give you a call sister!"

Getting out of the car door, his sister replied "I.. I'll hold you too it then." .Going around to the trunk of the car Lansley waited for the AI to pop it open, and then took his single suitcase out. Closing it again, he waited until the AI had driven off down the street and out of sight, a bittersweet tinge in his heart.

Lansley stayed there for a good ten minutes, looking out to the horizon of buildings that made the urban metropolis. Once he had his fill of the feelings that he couldn't completely define, he turned towards the Riverhaven complex and pushed open the front door with his artificial left arm. With his case in his other hand, he entered in time to see a man directing a woman to somewhere else inside the complex. Not seeing any reason in sitting after being in a car for over seven hours, Lansley went to wait in front of the now unoccupied lobby desk with his case at his feet.
========
Summary:Lansley arrives in a car with his sister, gets out and goes into the lobby with a suitcase, and is now waiting at the desk to be helped.

OOC: The only thing that might come up at a detector would be his artificial left arm, which is a custom model made of varying amounts of extremely valuable precious and mystical metals (such as orialcum which is known to make a good nervous-circuit interface material). It doesn't have any weapon modules. Just thought I'd point that out to help the securities peoples know what they'd get from a scan.

[Archived Post]

"I am from under the sea. My people live near Lemuria and I heard stories of the people who lived on land so came to se......" stopping his sentence as a strange sensation came over Lamprey, a familar feeling. He lifts into the air and rushes off towards the building and barely waits for the front doors to open half way before he squeezes through them. Straight past a young boy that he can feel a strange electricity coming from one of his arms and a feeling of something more, but he was in a hurry and flew on to the door. Here on the other side he could feel the impulse stronger than ever, it was a Lemurian inside that room of this he was sure. He reached out and could feel other minds also in there. Not sure how to react to this situation he pauses and wonders out loud :

"Who is Katherine St. Claire?" as he scans those in the lobby for the answer.


================================================== =====
================================================== ==

Seeing the strange cyber looking creature talking to the large green lady with a tail, Stan turns his attention back to his new friend.

"Well the place deffinately seems lively to say the least."

[Archived Post]

Amara felt the brush of psychic power from the other side of the door. It tasted somewhat familiar, although not quite what she was expecting. What exactly she had been expecting, It did not matter. There could be no other of the sea here, on land and so far from the cold depths.

"She is here!" she cried, and drew her bow. Energy arced between the curving ends as the bow hummed to life. An arrow was in her hand as she kicked the door out of its frame, a song bubbling in her throat as she prepared for battle.

[Archived Post]

The exo-suit of the one called Lamprey caught Lila's attention... the technology in the suit "called" to her, as if it were conveying it's "happiness" due to the fact that it was serving Lamprey the best that it could. The technology didn't actually talk to her, but that was the closest she could come to explaining what she felt.

Realizing that she was staring again, she reddened from embarassment. "I'm sorry," she said to Stan. "I'm kind of a techhead, and I always like checking out other tech. I'm Lila, by the way. I didn't catch your name?"

[Archived Post]

I a gentle whisp would be the only way to describe the feeling of being noticed psychically, touching upon one's own exhalations. It made Lansley's skin shiver and anxiously he bent to grab his suitcase when a loud crash came from the the door to his left. Twisting his head as he got stood to attention, he saw what had to be the origin of the psychic force that had touched him. But he didn't look at the face of the woman at the door, instead the arrow was what concerned him. Instinct naturally told him that a drawn arrow would soon become an arrow in flight. He was no speedster, he couldn't get out of the way of such a thing and as the antipsionic drugs were still in his system, there was no way he could stop it. But his love of Foxbat comics suddenly gave him a revelation.

As Lansley was standing up from getting his suitcase, he used as much psychokinetic force as he swung the suitcase at the woman. About ten pounds of pressure was all he could accomplish at the moment, but it was enough to produce a satisfying click from the spring loaded suitcase which popped open. The clothes that had been so neatly organized flew out as the case reached the arc of it's swing; an explosion of cloth in the general direction of the woman that seemed quite threatening at the moment.

Then Lansley coughed a spray of blood as he felt his body naturally react to the immense use of psionic potential. Normally had he not be inundated with the antipsionic drugs remained in his system he wouldn't have had to used much psionic potential at all to open a simple suit case. Having only stopped his daily routine of taking such medication though, his blood levels were still absurdly high as they had been the day before with the buffering chemicals. The result was simply that he had to use far more psionic potential than normal to overcome the resistance the flowed through his blood. He shook slightly then fell to one knee but didn't let the raging headache get to him, even as a trail of blood flowed down the side of his mouth.

[Archived Post]

"Steam to my enemies, Stan to my friends, Nice to meet you Lila. You did seem to have a puzzled look on your face as you were looking at my steam suit earlier."

"Must be quite interesting for you to be able to see all the hero's with their different techs in a place like this. My steam suit is more magical then technological I'm afraid so not much for you to check out. A few pressure chambers with steam tubes and vents is about the most tech it gets."

Fingering the runes the coat folds in on itself again and becomes the steam tank. Setting it down proudly. "This is my pride and joy of the suit. A fire and a water elemental both bound into the chambers to create an unlimited about of steam. A few conjuration spells bind my clothes to the suit and allow me to switch with barely more than a thought and focusing on the runes."

================================================== ====================
================================================== ================

Seeing the lemurian break through the door Lamprey's instincts kicks in, backing away and around when he notices he isn't the target. Noticing the human as the target and watching him use his minor psionics to respond with a box of thrown cloth, gives Lamprey an idea. Using his own telekinetic abilities he assists in boosting the force as the cloth hits the lemurian. Seconds later launching a lightning storm attack to attempt to further distract his foe. Unaware of the construction techniques of surface people it arcs and hits the ceiling in several places and activates the fire suppression sprinklers sending water pouring down on all of them.

[Archived Post]

Johnny had moved over to the side of Andie's desk to talk to her just as the young girl's hand starts to go for her bow. Catching it out of the corner of his eye Johnny grabs one of the arms on Andie's chair and pulls her back from the desk, putting himself between her and the strange girl with the bow.

The girl turns and kicks down a nearby door. Damn, she's strong for her size, Johnny thinks to himself. Just then the room erupts into a storm of clothing, water and electricity momentarily obscuring his vision. Over the ruckus he screams, "Drop the bow! Drop it!"

[Archived Post]

Zakka was going to say something when Lemprey suddenly rushed off. She quirked an eyebrow and took a long puff from the end of her pipe. "well now I wonder if everyone in his race is always in such a hurry." she stretches and places her arms behind her head and head inside Riverhaven.

[Archived Post]

Amara stepped through the shattered door, seeking her target. She was still not sure what form that would take, which added to the panicky feeling she was working hard to suppress. She tasted the surprise, alarm, protectiveness, and intent to act from those around her, seeking the one's mind tasted of home.

The bow swung to face the smaller, eel-like creature just as she was hit with a fluttering school of soft somethings that fouled her aim. Then electricity arced around her, stunning her momentarily. And water poured down - a relief, but making it even harder to see with her eyes, and making the electric current arc wildly.

Her nictitating membrane closed, protecting her vision, and her mind reached out to grasp that of the eel-like creature. She tasted surprise, vague recognition, but none of the feel of ancient power that she had been expecting. Could she have been weakened by age? But no, he was male...

"But you're not the Lorelei," she blurted, blinking wildly. The tip of the bow wavered.

"Drop the bow! Drop it!" one of the humans cried out behind her. Amara flushed deeply, her skin turning a dusky purple beneath the blue hue, and lowered the bow. She stared at the eel-creature, feeling the water running down her face and braided hair, catching in the ceremonial gold she wore for her quest.

[Archived Post]

~Pilot! I detect intent to harm near you. Also psionic emanations. Applying mental shield. You seem unable to react. Activating you along our link.~

With a jolt Lance felt his powers starting to activate and could not stop. I hate it when that just takes over. He mentally wrestles for control negating him taking on full manifestation. All that appears in his hands are a globe of darkness, which he is preparing to throw at the purple bow carrying girl, and a construct that looks vaguely like a shield.

Mustering as much authority in his voice as he can Lance says, "All right everyone just calm down. Let's get this sorted out. Andie call Joe and see if he can get this place repaired, plus just contact Miss St. Claire. I'm sure Tyger will also want to speak with her. You in the armor turn off the electricity. Johnny stand down. Amara was it? Keep that weapon down. We're all somewhat adults here let's talk this over. I know tensions are running high after this morning's events."

Johnny makes a gesture at him and he realizes his eyes have gone to that solid blue whenever his powers activate. Andie gives him a look that says, "We are going to have a little talk. . .soon." Lance closes his eyes and concentrates on disipating the dark constructs he is holding then reopens them. Looking as normal as he usually does.

"So where were we. . ." he tries to say mildly.

[Archived Post]

The woman called Andie seemed nice enough, she didn't smell like a threat anyway, but she was asking for Tygers safety blanket to be handed over like they were so much luggage. Sure Andie said it was safe here, but the last time Tyger had been around so many Metas was in the labs. "Okay Lady, Tyger do what you say." The lithe woman set the heavy bag with her big gun and extra ammo before the desk and unbuckled her weapons belt, but just as she was setting it with the bag, the hair on the back of her neck stood up.

Instinct told her there was danger, Lance moved Andie to safety as one of the others went for a bow. Tyger drew her shotgun and flipped forward, arcing her body so that when she landed on the desk between Andie and whatever threat lay beyond the shattered door that she was ready with the pump action weapon couched against her side and ready for anything that may come through. Lightning seemed to arc throughout the area, blasting the sprinkler system and drenching them all. "But you're not the Lorelei," the archer blurted, blinking wildly. The tip of the nocked arrow wavered.

Lance stepped a bit forward, commanding her to, "Drop the bow! Drop it!" And as the bow went down, Tyger lowered her own weapon and set it on the desk.

Tyger was soaked, her bodysuit shed water well enough though as it was designed for all weather conditions, but her precious weapons were wet and she did her best to shake the pump shotgun free of most of the water before laying it on the bag with her other weapons and sitting crosslegged on Andies desk, "Dis place funny, Lots action make for fun introduction. Lady no say kill you though and Mistah no say shoot so Tyger put gun down, we be friends now yes?" The genetically altered super soldier smiled like a cheshire cat, her cat like eyes glinting. "Unless Mistah change mind, then we play."

[Archived Post]

"Sorry about the mess..." Lansley wheezed as he pushed himself from his kneel and leaned against the lobby desk tiredly. His brain felt more like a giant collective of needles then an organ, and even the florescent light seemed like painfully strong at the moment. He squinted and tried to calm his heart down with steady breathing. Maybe, I should have waited until after my medicines had completely dissipated from my system until coming. Looking down at his shirt, the white cloth was now wet with both blood and water. The consolation was that being wet, the blood might not stain to badly. The rest of his clothes which were now strewn liberally about the lobby thanks to his attempt at self-defense looked like they had fared much better, only wet from water.

[Archived Post]

"You in the armor turn off the electricity."

Seeing the lemurian lower her bow and realizing the damage his electricity was causing Lamprey quickly canceled it. Looking over at the boy that was bleeding and could barely stand, he moved a chair near him in case he decided to sit down as he had seen humans do in the past for comfort. Hearing thoughts best left unrepeated, and seeing the miserable look on the humans faces, Lamprey looks at the ceiling where his electricity had hit the water pipes. But always keeping some attention on the lemurian, who now seemed disappointed at not having found her true target, yet relieved by the falling water.

"I am sorry for the damage I have caused. It was unknown to me that you keep water in the walls. I have yet to fully understand your surface dwellings. Such fragile beauty they are, so unlike the caves and reefs of my peoples cities."

[Archived Post]

Zakka wanders into the room were she heard all the noises coming from, a lit pipe resting in her mouth and course the smell of peppermint fills the air. She looks back and forth between everyone, removes the pipe from her mouth and simple says. "What...did I miss some form of party?

[Archived Post]

"Oh, I know... I'm so fascinated by all the technology that all the heroes have on them," Lila gushed, her attention rapt as Stan demonstrated the workings of his steam suit. No wonder I couldn't detect the workings of his armor... magic is not my forte'. "That is sooo cool."

A disturbance from inside grabbed her attention just then. "OK, this is not the usual activity around here."

[Archived Post]

Amara let the bowstring dissipate. Humiliation lent her blue skin a duskier color. It was an interesting part of being humanoid, part of her noted, but most of her was equal parts frightened and determined.

Males who were dressed alike appeared quickly, with the alertness of warriors. They wanted Amara to give them her bow, but she refused. They had no authority over her. There was brief comment about calling somebody called "Police", but it was decided that the incident did not require that. One of them turned off the water and another began to help the bleeding male.

A human female of about Amara's own height appeared. She had the pale pink skin of the northern humans, dark hair, and violet eyes, and carried an air of authority.

"Hello," she said in a cool voice. "I am Katherine St. Claire. How can I help you?"

Amara stared at her, straining against the blanket that smothered her senses. She appeared so... human. Could she be wrong?

"I am Amara, daughter of Lailu, daughter of Beleriel, of the Kingdom of Lemuria. I am here to arrest you on charges of murder and to bring you home to justice," Amara said, standing tall. Considering her relative statue compared to most of the others, the small eel-like creature excluded, that meant she was really only taller than the female St. Claire.

The female's dark eyebrow lifted, but she did appeared neither alarmed nor angry. "I think perhaps there has been a mistake. Would you like to come to my office, Ms. Amara?"

[Archived Post]

Slinging his steam pack back on and transforming the rest of his clothes back into steam suit. Stan stands ready for whatever might come next.

"Shall we go investigate then? Never know who may need help, even here." as he bows to Lila as a gentleman does while motioning towards direction of the door.

[Archived Post]

"Yeah, we should," Lila replied, smiling at the chivalrous steam-powered hero as she headed in.

[Archived Post]

Johnny quirks his brow at Kate as she ushers the Lemurian girl into her office, and she returns the look with an unconcerned smile. She has such an air of authority about her for someone so unassuming. Reminds me of the archmages back home.

Shrugging Johnny turns back to the group gathered in Andie's office, "Is everyone alright? Maybe we should take a walk and dry off a bit while they get this placed fixed up."

[Archived Post]

Amara followed Katherine St. Claire to her office. The security here would make it extraordinarily difficult to take the human against her will. The psionic dampening was like being wrapped in a blanket. Everything was fuzzy and distant, muted. Still she kept the bow in hand. The female had not demanded that she give it up, and she could still shoot, even half-blind.

The female led her to another office, which looked soft and welcoming to Amara's eyes. Instinctively she relaxed, her grip on the energy bow easing slightly.

"Please, have a seat, Ms. Amara," the female said, gesturing at one of the chairs. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you," Amara said stiffly. She remained standing until the female sat as well, unwilling to be at a disadvantage. Doubts she may have, but if this was indeed the Lorelei, she was in grave danger.

"Now, would you like to tell me what happened?" Katherine St. Claire said mildly. Amara's slitted pupils dilated slightly in the softer light of the office, and she studied the human. She stained to taste her through the psionic shielding. If she could just...

"I am here tracking one of my people," Amara said slowly. "She left what became Lemuria millennia ago. She had no name, then, that we know, but she became known as the Lorelei." She felt awkward explaining this, for of course if she were right, then Katherine St. Claire already knew all this. "She hated the humans," Amara went on, gaining strength in the memory of the legendary atrocities. "She wanted to hurt and kill as many as she could. She would choose dangerous waters as her home, and then lure sailors to their deaths again and again until driven away."

"We have the legend of the Lorelei in the human world as well," Katherine St. Claire said with a nod. "But this was hundreds of years ago. Why would you think the legend is real?"

"Because we have the same legend, but dating back further," Amara said stubbornly. "She was one of the first to make the pact with the Bleak Ones."

"The Bleak Ones?" the female asked.

"The ones who gave us the ability to change our form," Amara explained. "To take a human form in addition to our natural physiology."

"Ah." The female looked at Amara, studying her with violet eyes. "I can see that you believe this," Katherine St. Claire said, "but why would you believe that I have anything to do with it?"

"I..." Amara hesitated. Now, confronted with this calm human female, it seemed so preposterous. "I have done much research," she said, "since contact was reestablished with the surface world. I know that the Lorelei was real. And from the length of time the stories span, I believe she has found immortality. I have traced her movements from the stories, both above and below the true water, and... I found you, in a place where the Lorelei was known to be, and long before your human life should have started."

"So you wish to arrest me because you believe that I am this Lorelei. That I have lived thousands of years and killed countless people," Katherine St. Claire said, arching a brow. "Do I look like such a person? And even if the Lorelei existed, or exists, might she not have changed over the vast time you are speaking of?"

"There is no... statute of limitations on murder, as the humans say," Amara said, her fingers tightening on the bow. "There is no end to the need for justice, as our people say. The Lorelei is a blight, a stain upon our race. It is not for me to judge. You must be brought home, to answer for the deaths you have caused. If you truly regret these deaths, then you must see that it is the only way for justice."

"What I see is a young girl with an active imagination and a strong sense of duty. I commend you for both of these, Ms. Amara," the human said. "I think that you will do well for your people. But coming here was rash, and unwise. If you really sought the Lorelei, you should have gone through the diplomatic channels that are being established. There is a way that societies work, to keep the peace, and acting the vigilante or bounty hunter is not one of them.

"However, I can tell that you lack the patience for such things. I would encourage you to develop that patience. You might consider enrolling in our Titans Academy - they are specifically designed to help emerging young heroes, like yourself. For example," she said, reaching over to depress a button on her desk, "one of the first things they teach is not to be drawn into prolonged discussion with your enemy. They call it "monologuing" and is usually dangerous for both parties."

The psionic shielding dropped around them, and the world was suddenly full of taste and color again. Amara gasped, her pupils constricting in reaction, and she had just enough time to taste the brightly burning essence of the creature in front of her before power seized her mind in its grip.

*****************************

The shielding in the room was re-established. Katherine St. Claire smiled at Amara. Amara smiled back, but something uncomfortable skittered through her.

"Thank you for enrolling me at the Academy, Ms. St. Claire," Amara said. Her heart was racing, as if she had swum the length of the city. She would need to eat soon.

"Of course," Ms. St. Claire said with a small smile. "I will call over there and let them know you are coming, and will need a private room."

Amara nodded, dazed, and stood, picking up her bow to sling across her back. She left, hardly noticing the humans at work cleaning up the watery mess in the lobby.

Katherine St. Claire watched her go with violet eyes, and pulled her notes for her next meeting. At noon she left for lunch, and never came back.

[Archived Post]

Shrugging Johnny turns back to the group gathered in Andie's office, "Is everyone alright? Maybe we should take a walk and dry off a bit while they get this placed fixed up."

As they start to exit the lobby Zakka walks in "What...did I miss some form of party?"

"We were just going for a walk." Lamprey responds in what could be felt by those nearby as almost embarrassed tone "While they fix the damage I did to their structure."

As his exo-skeleton walks on all fours in a shaking gate. "Though I can't figure out why people choose this method of travel. Sky swimming is so much easier." As Lamprey lifts into the air using his telekinetic powers he feels a great rush of power, ancient and strong from behind him.

Nervously shaking he stutters telepathically "Perhappsss it wooood be betterer if I got useded tooo walking." As fast as it appears the power dissipated. "Would you care to walk with us." Something about this large green woman comforts him, something hidden, unseen, yet calm. He's only able to hear the surface of her thoughts, not like humans that project too much too often unknowingly.


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

As Steam holds the door open for Lila to enter the door they see the large green meta woman talking to the eel creature and several others starting to exit the lobby. Seeing repair crews on ladders fixing electrical burn marks in the ceiling as janitors mop up water that seems to have drenched everything.

"I'm not sure what the party was, but we seem to be arriving at the end of it." Steam looks as Lila and says sarcastically "So whats a normal day around here like. Alien invasion thursday, and hell on earth fridays? Its definitely doesn't seem boring. But I'm glad I don't have to pay the insurance premiums."

[Archived Post]

The blue sphere pulsed as it made the leap from one tip of a spear to another. It reminded Fletcher of a ball of lightning, but it was really just the holographic equivalent of a metaphor. He was watching the Torchbearer security subroutines from the inside, using a logic routing simulation he had written on the fly while finishing his cappuccino on the elevator ride to the Sim Suite. Everything checked out here too. Maybe it was time to let go of his fears and put this thing to a real test. He was running out of excuses for delaying Danny’s requests anyway.

Or maybe, he should just come clean with Danny and explain what his real fears were. Would Danny understand that he had made the mistake of thinking nothing could go wrong when he had first made the (nearly) perfect AI? There weren’t many people that knew that Optimum was his creation. It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing a hero put on his resume.

Fletcher shut down the holo-sim with a touch to his comm.. The familiar grid pattern faded in on floors, walls, and ceiling. Fletcher checked the comm. again for the time, and this is when he noticed the security bulletin. He read the sit-rep and scratched his head, perplexed. Making his way to the TitansNet terminal near the exit, he activated the console for voice commands and audio response.

“Prometheus, activate security log protocols. A team was sent to the admin offices twenty-five minutes ago. Indicate authorization of this action.”

“Acknowledged.” The female voice sounded just like Majel Barrett. That was quite a bit better than the James Earl Jones that it had been yesterday. He was fairly sure that was Danny’s idea of a joke.

After about thirty seconds, which Fletcher felt was an unusually long time for a response, the voice of Prometheus spoke again. “Results Inconclusive.”

“Um, what?” Not his most articulate moment, but it was all Fletcher could come up with. How could the results be…

“Results Inconclusive,” repeated Prometheus, apparently interpreting Fletcher’s confusion as poor hearing.

Something wasn’t right. He left the Sim Suite and headed for the security office where he could track things down properly. After about an hour of manual searching, he had faired no better than Prometheus had.

“Results Inconclusive” he muttered under his breath. He had left specific instructions for Prometheus to alert him of any security issues while he was running the simulations, but that had not happened. Further, the security team had been sent using the correct protocols, but there was no record of who had used those protocols. He had even checked the Prometheus AI upgrades, but they were still safely quarantined on their own subnet. Everything checked out, there were no problems. It was apparently just a glitch.

Unsure of how to proceed next, Fletcher began looking for other anomalies following the “glitch” in the system. It didn’t take him long to find one, and it surprised him. He quickly determined that there was no connection to the former glitch, however. This new anomaly was easily traceable to a human origin.

For a period of time, security cameras and audio feed in the admin offices had been disabled. This had been done from Kate’s terminal. While it wasn’t unheard of for Kate to turn these off during private interviews with dignitaries or generous donors, Fletcher could not ever recall her doing this with new tenants and certainly not with Academy candidates.

According to her terminal, Kate had left for lunch. He had almost decided to wait until after to ask her about why she had turned off the cameras, but then thought better of it and messaged her comm. to set up a meeting for when she returned. The response came back quickly, too quickly. The message read:

Comm Deactivated

Things were really getting strange now. Katherine St. Claire never missed a message or an appointment. Fletcher pulled up the TitansNet tracking program and typed in the code for Kate’s comm., requesting a GPS ping. The results were back in seconds, and Fletcher stood and walked to the elevator. In a few minutes he was in the admin area, and he headed straight for Kate’s office.

Her comm. unit was on the desk, her Riverhaven security badge alongside it. Fletcher picked up the badge and turned it over and over in his hands as he stared out the door, completely puzzled about what was going on.

[Archived Post]

Johnny quirks his brow at Kate as she ushers the Lemurian girl into her office, and she returns the look with an unconcerned smile. She has such an air of authority about her for someone so unassuming. Reminds me of the archmages back home.

Shrugging Johnny turns back to the group gathered in Andie's office, "Is everyone alright? Maybe we should take a walk and dry off a bit while they get this placed fixed up."

Shaking her head, sending water flying in all directions, before slicking her hair back and smiling at Johnny, Tyger hops off the desk. "Okay Mistah, you take us out of here so Lady can talk. You show where we live yes?" Tygers bodysuit resisted the water well, but still clung to her even more like a second skin. "Maybe you show us someplace Tygah can get more clothes to yes?"

[Archived Post]

After having a nice chat with Zakka, Lamprey shudders as he senses something outside that disturbs him. It feels like a powerful mind was watching, similar in strength to the one before but a different feel to it. As a large armor clad man and a smaller young lady walk by, it seems to follow them, watching them. Instinctually he wants to hide and shield himself from these strong minds, but part of him wants to help to protect the others from this unknown force.

"There are strange things happening today, powerful minds I have never felt anything like before. They are watching and working. But I can not feel why. One of them watches you." Lamprey says to Steam though everyone still in the lobby could hear it inside their head.

================================================== =====================================

Steam looks at the eel like creature giving him a strange warning with a little bit of confusion. Seeing no immediate danger he transforms his armor back into his suit and hat.

"Well I haven't felt anything today, perhaps someone just likes to watch me. I come from a realm of magic, they like to snoop on people there. But I thank you for the warning my good .... umm man I would assume."

And with that Stanley does a slight bow and continues on his way wondering about the mind watching him.
"Gramps I know it's you, and you got noticed today. You're slipping." He says with a smile.