csyphrett

Re: The Magistracy Hunt 18 Jerry Silver puffed on his cigarette as he considered the cover for the stronghold he was going to smash. It looked like a small house in some uncleared trees well back from any road. A gravel driveway ran to a back road with the curves of a sidewinder. "Tons of electronics around the house out to the property line," said Maker. "I'd have to say at least fifty motion detectors, with cameras thrown in." "That's about what I expected," said Silver. "Can't be a mad scientist if you're afraid of the villagers all the time." Silver and Maker stood on a hill overlooking the hidden lab. He had wanted a look at the exterior before the Magistracy broke everything. Camouflaged weapons and controls had lit up on the scanner Maker had extended from her arm. Any normal group of cops would be slaughtered before they got to the front door of the house. "I haven't found any other access tubes," said Maker. Maybe the house is the only way in or out." "Once we get started," said Silver. "He'll pop out of there like a gopher unless he has a teleporter like we do." "What's the plan, chief?," said Maker. "You stay out here and hack his electronics," said Silver. "Quick will provide security in case I'm right and he does leave some other way than what we see, as well as if there are more of the brotherhood waiting to be used. The rest of us will bust open the front door and see what's up. Hopefully we'll recover records so we can find out who put up the money for this super soldier operation." "Let me send the schematics back to the Tower," said Maker. "We can step everyone to his front door and around the net." "Let's get this started," said Silver. "He might decide to bolt any second now." Maker concentrated on her armor. She had to be in contact with at least one of the security devices to hack into the control systems. That meant being closer than where she was standing. She sent the pictures back to the Tower, talked to the computer about the complex series of steps she wanted done, then waited for the others to say they were ready. Then she activated the satellites that would exchange the matter of her friends across the globe. Silver vanished off the hill. He reappeared beside the assault team in front of the door to the house. Maker vanished at the same time. She and Quick materialized beside a tree at the edge of the property line. She stabbed a camera with a tendril from her hand and started working her magic. The alarms never sounded the call to arms. "Do your thing, Chemist," Silver said, throwing away the spent cigarette. The magician wrote on the wall of the house with his finger. The secret letter turned the wood into a transparent sheet. He walked through, adjusting his sunglasses. "Secret door," said Silver, looking around. "Where would I put it?" Chemist wrote on the air. The resulting swirl of light drifted to a small couch. A closer inspection revealed the couch was on runners, designed to slide away with the push of a button. Phaeton pulled the disguise off with his prodigious strength. Then he yanked the door open with a pull of his hand. Luna dropped down the shaft, using the walls to slow her momentum by bouncing back and forth. "Excellent," said Silver. A crash at the bottom of the shaft told the group that Luna had smashed open the doors down there to get in the main base. Phaeton shrugged and flew down after her. "Really excellent," said Silver. "Let's go before they get into trouble." John Public smiled, grabbed Silver and the Chemist around the waist. He dropped down the shaft easily. He had the power of two men, that grew as he fell down the tunnel. A lot of people were within his reach. That wasn't unusual for a secret villain base in the middle of nowhere. There was bound to be support personnel wandering around. They weren't a match for Luna. The limp bodies surrounding the opened elevator doors said that much. "She enjoys this too much," Silver said. "Chemist, find our guy. John, see if you can round up someone willing to talk to us. It would be nice to know who put the money up for this." "On it," said Public, straightening his jacket as he started down a corridor not littered by bodies. A glow surrounded the Chemist and Silver. Two arcane letters joined in the air around them. Then the spell vaporized them with a happy hum. They reappeared inside a lab where a man in a lab coat desperately talked into a phone. Silver gestured at his comrade to put an end to the conversation.

Re: The Magistracy Hunt 17 Psi-Ghost looked around. He stood in a small lab, a giant incubator dominating the center of the room. He had been here before. This was where he and his kinsman had been created. His father took the eggs and implanted them in artificial wombs set up around the incubator. He grew his small army in a matter of weeks from that first injection, various treatments, then finally birth. Psi-Ghost followed the memory through his training as a psychic warrior. He was aware that he was a one of a kind. The others had been built on a purely physical basis while he had been designed to attack a target's mind. The names of the others filed through his mind as he remembered his early months. Teaching programs and sped up biology coupled with physical training made them perfect soldiers, maybe not so perfect since they had been captured by a group such as the Magistracy. The clones had been separated into different attack groups. Plans had been procured of the headquarters of the different agencies under assault. Then they had attacked with the intention of destroying their targets. Psi-Ghost had been specifically assigned to the Chemist in the hopes of crushing the magician before he could aid his comrades. His mastery of the secret letters meant he had the power to tip the battle singlehandedly. Psi-Ghost paused at the memory. Something was wrong with this playback of his experiences. A veil had been placed across his mind once he remembered that he had attacked the Chemist to keep him out of the battle. This whole memory trip smacked of manipulation. Where was the outside world? What was going on with his comrades? Had they succeeded in their mission? Where was he? Psi-Ghost tried to raise his hand to look at it. He couldn't feel it. His body appeared unresponsive to his wishes. "I know this isn't real," he called to the ether. "I know you're doing something to me to make me remember." "We would like to meet your father," Jerry Silver said, appearing out of the fog. "I think he needs to explain what the plan is." "You can't be serious," said the psychic invader. "I'll never betray my creator to the likes of you." "You test tube kids attacked more than one group of heroes," said Silver. "Someone will get him even if it isn't us. Make it easy on yourself and your brothers. I'm willing to cut a deal for the head cheese and let you children walk away with minimum time." "You can't expect me to betray the man who gave me life," said Psi-Ghost, realizing that he was on the mental plane, but prevented from using his own powers. "Not even to help my brothers." "When this illusion ends," said Silver, lighting up an imaginary smoke. "Your mind will be put on ice. We have already concluded that your body will self destruct unless we keep you in a special restraint. This is your last chance, then you'll be in the dark forever." "I need time to think," said Psi-Ghost. "Take all the time you want," said Silver. Silver faded away to allow the illusion of privacy inside the mental cell. Psi-Ghost considered his options. He could refuse and be locked away until someone stopped his self destruction somehow. That meant never seeing the outside world in any capability. He could accept and they would try to stop it immediately, and some kind of leniency would be extended by the Magistracy. He had no illusions that the other groups attacked would do the same. Everything rested on what he decided to do. Would his father understand the choice that he had to face? Would any of the others? "Silver?," Psi-Ghost called. "I agree to your terms." "All right," said the magistrate. "All we need is an address and a name for your father. Once he's rounded up, we'll work the deal." "I understand," said the clone. He told the image everything he could remember about his former residence, pointing at a conjured picture of the building and surrounding neighborhood. "Close your eyes," said Silver. "Count to three and you'll be dreaming until we can work out your plea." "What do you guys think?," the real Jerry Silver said to his comrades as the captive slipped away to deeper depths. "Is this on the level?" "It matches with the memory he showed us before he realized something was up," said John Public. "I don't see how you can promise him leniency for all of them." "I'll worry about that when this is over," said Silver. "First we're going to have to check this out. I don't expect to be welcomed with leis and mint juleps." "Already filing a warrant with the Attorney General," said Maker. "It'll be there to make sure the legalities are covered." "Then let's talk to the doctor," said Silver. "Put these guys on ice, Chemist. I don't want them escaping while we're gone."

Re: Monster Slayers Archtypes MIB, Bureau 13, SU2, and a couple that Mike mentioned would fit that premise. After all they are all police departments that deal with unusual situations. The Legacy is a private foundation that does recruit military to protect people. Ghostbusters could also fit. Winston was an ex-SEAL I believe. CES

Re: Monster Slayers Archtypes There's also a range of psychics like Poltergeist: the Legacy, special cops like Special Unit 2 and MIB, and bounty hunters like Bloodstone. Is this going to be wide open with everything but the kitchen sink, or something narrowly focused? CES

Re: Monster Slayers Archtypes The only thing I can say is are you trying to list some various types for research? I mean they come in a lot of different packages. You got your Hercules, son of a god carrying out chores. Buffy would be a chosen one/gifted for being picked for the job. Ghostbusters stands out as the scientist that chases things that go bump in the night. Silver John as a wanderer that knows things and uses that to help those around him. Devilman, the Guyver, or Blade are monsters who fight other monsters. That's just off the top of my head. CES

Re: Just a simple ? When you design a game world. I usually take what characters I get, run a simple adventure to get the feel, then start adding stuff on. As an example in one game, two of the characters were demons/half demons which suggested using Yama Kings and their hells. That led to an Underworld war, which led to the players accidentally installing another NPC as a king of two and a half hells. Basically the players write the game for me. CES

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Proven Guilty- Harry Dresden versus fear monsters from Fairie. It's a good thing the books are separated by a year or more, because he gets the crap kicked out of him all the time. And he finally tells Michael about picking up the demon coin, but Mike knew already. So he wasted a couple of years over worry about how his friend would react. CES

Re: Reboot HERO I don't know if anyone ever started a game, but there has been questions about how to build items before. CES

Re: Teen Guardians 890-952 Anthony walked from the bar and set off toward home. He needed to put some ice on his bruised ribs. As he made sure to check he wasn't followed he thought about the night. Somehow he'd managed work the whole situation to his advantage. He'd wiggled out of what could have been a fatal error (he mentally put 'Casket' down as the owner of Wiley's (how he'd not known that before he wasn't sure) and had even got a job that could lead to him working his way into Casket's confidences. The fact that the man, who he'd always heard was a sadistic psycho, had let him go with only some bruised ribs told him that either the man's PR machine was very good or he'd somehow developed a soft spot for the Aussie. Anthony decided that he liked Casket, or at least respected him, even if he was a criminal. He wished there had been more honorable business men like him in prison. Most of the people he'd known would have taken $100 out of a kids hide, *then* told the bleeding pile of broken flesh on the floor he owed them money before having him deposited into a dumpster. The fact that Casket wasn't like that and still kept the respect of his patrons showed that it was respect and not fear that he engendered. Were he forced back into his original timeline, Hardball decided he'd give Casket the same mercy he'd been shown, should they ever cross paths. The carnival was silent and black by the time Anthony got back. All he had to do was sneak into his parents' trailer, and get ready for tomorrow. Hopefully the others had some type of information for him by then. Tachyon shook her head. "I dunno what now you're right I'll take them home and hide them with a label of school project but then we have to get into the school or a lab can you talk your dad into letting us do some experiments up at the lab I mean he's a good doctor and maybe he'll believe you if you said that we had something from school or something otherwise we have to break in somewhere and I don't think I can get into the hospital labs now I could a few days ago but that was twenty years I hate this." "Dad's got some stuff in the house; we could look at it after school tomorrow, while he's out." "That'd work you think he'd mind or would we have to clean it up and leave it exactly as it was or could we plead a school project?" "We'd have to leave it as we found it; he gets a bit annoyed if he thinks other people have been using his stuff. Still, he's not *that* observant, especially when he's busy," said Tammy. Her face fell even as, at an incredible speed, she got her street clothes back on over her costume. "I hate this this sucks I'll see you tomorrow Tammy you wanna walk to school together since I can't drive any more?" "OK." Katido smiled. "Must admit, I rather like being a teenager again. A chance to undo some bad decisions, explore some new things. And to prevent some bad things from happening." Patty returned the smile with a bittersweet twist. "I don't mind it I guess but I was happy because all those mistakes I made added up to me and while I can correct some of them maybe and do things a little different its going to add up to an adult me that never was or would have been I mean I liked no loved being a doctor but are those same opportunities gonna pop up again it doesn't matter because we're all here now and there's no changing it." She sighed and adjusted the hoodie on her light, sleeveless sweatshirt. Jamming her hands in her jeans pockets, she gave one last little smile. "I gotta get home or the parents are gonna weird they're cool but I..." the blonde gave another sigh. "...I don't need to be grounded this time around." With a little wave, she turned and started off, walking for home. "OK. See you tomorrow." With that, Katido climbed back up the tree that led to her bedroom. "Yeah, I agree. Let's just get to school early. I need to crash" Titan replied. "Sounds like a plan," Eric said, using the grappler he fired off to swing away, offering a ride to the group shrinker if he wanted one. Mostly this was the clear his head a bit on his way back the sewer base. He needed a few plans to be made. 7:00 am Wednesday/09/03/20--The Teen Guardians, with the exception of Pusher, arrived at school before the first bell. Other students also waited for the first bells at 7:30, eating breakfast in the cafeteria, smoking off the school grounds but within sight of the building, trying to do their homework at the last minute. The buses would start arriving in ten-fifteen minutes and the day would really start. Patty had stopped at Tammy's house and picked up the other girl; she had nattered unstoppably the entire way to school-a fine morning, a bit of cloudy hint on the horizon but it would be a warm day... As they stepped onto the school lot, Patty continued, "...and of course I brought it with me I packed it in with those picnic cold thingies I kept in the freezer overnight of course I didn't put the samples there those went in the fridge but its in the blue insulated bag in my backpack I brought my lunch in the gray one I can't stand school lunch I'd forgotten how much I hate them not that I'm not going to eat with my metabolism I have to keep eating and eating sometimes its almost sick but I burn the energy so I guess it balances out I tried going with only three meals a day once and ended up looking like Nicole Richie and no offense to her but I like having a bit more than a hollow where my stomach should be and meat on my bones know what I mean?" Eric had walked to school. Knowing his father's work times tended to help with his showering and being sure he was ready for the day. His black hair was combed back and a pair of mirror shades hid his eyes as he glanced around. He knew what his part was just as well as Hardball knew his. School outsider, just the way he liked it. Patty caught his appearance out of the corner of her eye-and thought hard about it... "Yes", Tammy replied, glancing down at her own skinny frame only slightly hidden by her T-shirt and bike shorts, "But you'd better not let any of the dieters hear you say that!" Patty grinned--at their age, it was hard to keep the weight on--a situation that would change quickly in five to ten years. "We need to find time to analyze the samples", continued Tammy more seriously, "If my dad goes out tonight, or has to work late, I'll give you a call and we can use his lab." "So, what've you brought for lunch?" Tammy herself ate in the cafeteria. "Well, I brought four sandwiches and a half-dozen candy bars for quick energy and some of those red bull drink thingies they taste okay but they sure fill the gap on my energy levels I've got some hostess cupcakes and you want one?" She smiled at her friend, rummaging around in her tote bag...and then slowed her pace. "That's Eric," she said pointing, her voice and thoughts slowing down a little. "He's...the one I told you about last night feel like crossing the social lines and saying 'hi' to him because even though it was him that I think was taking over and charming me in I actually think I like him some but he's one of us too and I think he deserves the chance does he remind you of someone we knew when we were older?" While talking, she absently smoothed her low-riding hip-hugger jeans. Eric noted Patty's presence, although she appeared to be with a friend. Still her friend seemed familiar which likely either meant someone from the gang shooting incident or another heroine had joined the group. Still after what happened at the base he wasn't about to go near her as he considered her attractiveness. Last thing he needed was to lose control here at the school of all places. He sighed heavily adjusted his backpack and walked ahead into the building hoping to get the chance to "Volunteer" for office duty. Least then he would be in the school office for the morning announcements "Dammit," Patty said, then blushed for no real reason--except that she hadn't started really swearing until she was older the first time around... "Tammy, I gotta talk to him..." She picked up the pace and moved directly at him. "Eric..." Eric stopped when he heard his named called and inhaled a bit to help steady his nerves as she approached. However as much as he would have preferred to be act the part of mean, it just wasn't in him to do that after yesterday. "Hey Patty." He smiled a bit and adjusted his shades "How are you doing?" Her eyes went to the ground and she cursed herself-in non-profane terms-for her sudden shyness, then looked up. "Uh...hi...I'm fine...how are you today..." She swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared there, then tugged on Tammy's arm. "Uh. This is my friend Tammy we talked about you do you promise to behave have a red bull?" She offered him a can of the energy drink--he hadn't seen her hands move. "Hi", said Tammy, smiling, "You're Eric, aren't you?" Eric looked at the two of them. "Not bad, I guess." He was about to ask what she might have found out from the crime scene before she drilled out about her and Tammy. Obviously a super hero as well. Noting the people around them he couldn't just be 'himself' or as open as Patty. Although judging from her sudden shyness he could guess she was having enough problems without making them worse. "He nodded to Tammy. Yes I'm Eric. Nice to meet you." He looked back to Patty and forced and exaggerated sigh. "No worries if it happens again it seems I'll have three guys knocking the stuffing out of me." Patty blushed--she knew he wasn't talking about her, was he? The way he made it sound was as if he had been hitting on her or even heavily flirting and now he was being 'asked' not to do so again. Course no one would likely tell the other students around them differently. "Guess it's true what they say about the cute girls though. There already taken." Eric added that as he noticed a few people, likely the school gossip group, looking in their direction. Another blush-my god was she really blushing? She glanced over at Tammy and said, "I'm not taken I don't know about Tammy but you really think I'm cute oh my god I don't believe I'm talking like this I sound like fourteen or fifteen but I guess we are oh god this is unreal..." Tammy giggled at Patty's reaction. "Hey, I'm not taken either", Tammy said, then blushed. Presumably Eric was in the same boat as themselves, trying to get used to being a teenager again. It was fun, but embarrassing too. "So care to join me at the office? I was planning on signing up for office duty," said Eric. Patty looked at Tammy and opened her mouth and...oddly enough, for once, nothing came out. "Sure", Tammy said, digging an elbow into Patty to remind her to breathe. Patty turned a little redder and shifted her book bag off her shoulder and across her chest, instinctively protective and trying to hide her embarrassment. She looked at Tammy, then looked at Eric and tried to hide her smile by pursing her lips. Eric smiled at her as she seemed to go through her own little problem. "Well shall we go? We can talk more privately on the way there." He opened the school door for the pair and gestured inward with a bow. "After you." "Thanks", she said. A bit more privacy meant they could talk about what they'd found. "Thank you Eric that's nice of you," bubbled out of the blonde as she entered the office quickly, her eyes everywhere but at the young man that held the door. She found a seat and sat the bag she held on her lap, folding her arms across it. The three being the only ones in the office at the moment, Patty looked around and said, "What happened to you last night you stayed at the base and then you said this morning that three were going to beat you up it wasn't because of me you didn't mean to do that what did you do anyway and who were you before this happened to us I don't mind I guess I do mind but I really didn't kinda just please don't do that again and we found a bunch of stuff that really needs to be looked at." Eric raised a brow as he processed what she said. "Okay... Well first I am sorry about last night, at this age one of my big powers wasn't quite always in control. In fact it tended to turn on whenever...I was turned on.." he let out a sheepish cough and massaged the back of his neck. Patty had the good graces to look down at her own lap and blush... <<...so he likes me...>> flickered through her roaring waves of blush-she almost missed what he said next: "Luckily I'm pretty ok when it comes to just conversation." Patty gave him a blushing smile. He took a moment trying to figure out the best way to tell her about who he was before the change. "As for who I was... I doubt you'd really want to know me, I went by two different aliases One before I retired it was Incubus a super villian for hire that created death traps for heroes. the other was Dream Boat, I kinda used my powers to create a the Technological empire that is Nu-tech." Patty glanced at Tammy at this revelation, her teeth almost gnawing at her lower lip--the look that she shared was 'Can we trust him?' Eric knew that look. Doubt. Good, she was a good girl and deserved to know what she was getting into at least. Least if it happened again that knowledge might somehow help her resist his charms. "Which apparently my ex-wife is in charge of now in this incarnation. So..you and your friends have plenty of reason not to trust me, in fact you two are the first ones I told the truth to in the group. They know I was a villain and I am now trying to reform. I just hope....never mind. So what was it you needed to show me?" Patty stared at Tammy, her eyes wide and questioning... She briefly glanced at Eric and asked very quietly, "...Are you really promising that your trying to change and to be good for real and not just pretend I guess you kinda are because I'd have done anything for you last night and you didn't push and that's why I guess I trust you Tammy shall we tell him what we found I don't know what do you think?" She briefly glanced at Eric and asked very quietly, "...Are you really promising that your trying to change and to be good for real and not just pretend I guess you kinda are because I'd have done anything for you last night and you didn't push and that's why I guess I trust you Tammy shall we tell him what we found I don't know what do you think?" "Yes, I really am. Looking back over my life villainy wasn't exactly what I wanted in life, I just took it because it seemed to be the easiest path to the revenge I wanted against 'him' turns out I spent a life time regretting those choices." He sighed again. Eric leaned back, "Maybe this time around I might even get 'him' to be nice to me." He knew they likely didn't know who he was talking about that suited him just fine for now. He might not be able to save his father this time around, but maybe he might be able to redeem himself or even learn more abut his mother. Granted it was about as likely as it snowing in July considering the group he was with. He smiled now and looked at them "Besides, I've already tried the path of villainy if I have a second chance I really should try the path of the hero. If for anything. For Patty after last night. Right?" He meant it half jokingly to help lighten the mood, but as anyone would say. Half joking also meant being half serious. The Bell had already gone when Anthony arrived. All the heroes were already in classes. The hall monitor gave him a look which told Anthony that lateness was expected of him and that he had already convinced the narcs that it was not in their best interest to question it or sight him for it. Of course there were some people who he couldn't convince. "Morning Warner" said a voice that Anthony could tell came from an 'Authority Figure'. "Morning sir." he said turning to see the Principal. "Hard night?" said the Principal. You have no idea, thought Anthony. "Yes," he said "Got kicked by a horse." "I assume you have a note." "Sure do, sir," Anthony said pulling out the note his parents had written in halting English. He had produced the horse story after someone at the carnival had seen his bruises from the fight last night. "Well O.k. then, get to class, and do be more careful in future." "You don't need to tell me twice," said Anthony. "No, I believe we're up to thirteen times this year," said the Principal. "Hopefully that will be enough." Anthony stalked off toward his next class. As he did he looked to see if anyone more suspicious than him (especially girls) was hanging round the halls. He only wished he'd ever seen Heartbreaker's face it would be so much easier to identify her younger self that way. It was unsettling, knowing that at least one of their number had been a villain. On the other hand, they were definitely in this together; there had to be some trust. And he could have simply kept quiet. "Thanks for telling us. I went by the name Katido," said Tammy. Tammy smiled; part of her was curious whether she could trigger Eric's power, whatever it was. "I'm looking for second chances too, in a way. One of the kids at school is someone I knew, but he seems to have come back with his memory damaged, maybe because he was insane to begin with. He was particularly nasty; maybe this time round I can stop him going down that path." Patty was lightening up a little and, her eyes on Eric's, placed her hand momentarily, reassuringly, upon his knee. "Right I guess thank you Eric I went by Tachyon still do and probably will forever what do you want us to call you when we're not in this that way we don't goof up and call you Eric and I'll help you, Tammy, I promise we're in this together like we were more or less last time around and I haven't seen anyone I know from before I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing but at least I think I can relax a little bit more than you and thank you again Eric." she smiled at him and bit her lip-too cute. Principal Franklin Richards strode into his busy control center, smiling at the secretaries, and the three students waiting at the desk. He had some calls to make and some things to do before home room and morning announcements. "Mr. Richards," said Mrs. Skinner. "These students would like to work in the office today." "It's a little early in the year for pages," Richards said. "You kids go ahead to your first class. You should just be able to make it if you hurry." Patty looked up and nodded, her usually buoyant, bouncy face a little on the neutral side. "Yes, sir," she said, managing to cut her words to just the essentials. She stood up and slung her bag back across her shoulder. Between the two of them Eric had a hard time focusing. After all who wouldn't be distracted by two cute girls talking. the hand on knee didn't help much, Thankfully the principal had interrupted before he could talk again. "Um..sorry for wasting your time then Mister Franklin. I was hoping you still needed help for the morning announcements." Eric stood up quickly. "Guess we better get to class." He smiled at the two as made his way out the office door. Jason ran in just before his first class began, looking quite upset. He didn't even look for the others before he went to class and sat down. "Yes, we'd better hurry. Thanks, Mr Franklin." With a glance at Patty, Tammy hurried to her first class. With a nervous wave back-Patty had her first class with Eric-the blonde headed off after the former villain. Eric smiled at Patty once they where in the room leading them to the back mostly to keep from being over heard hopefully. "To answer your earlier question.. imp will do." he was pronouncing his name in his alter ego. "So..Patty. Care to get something to eat when this is all over? I know a few nice Italian places," he asked a bit nervously as he sat down. The day started moving, teachers trying their best to cram something inside the heads of their students. Anthony and Eric noticed a preponderance of pink paper in the hands of the girl students as they moved through classes. Homeroom was fast approaching. The girl was already unwrapping a protein bar. "That would...<> be nice--do they have free breadsticks...<>?" She licked her fingers and shook her head with a little blush to her cheeks: "My metabolism is really high-I have to always be eating or I get faint my parents only take me to, like, All-You-Can-Eat buffets and stuff--one day my Dad said..." Her fast-paced monologue sheared itself off and the girl got a sad look on her face. "That happened fifteen years ago and last night at dinner." She sighed. "This is crap, Eric." He was only half listening to Patty when he noticed the paper. "She defiantly goes to school here." He looked at Patty "Free bread sticks and all, The Italian place has all you can eat pasta dinners as well. Could be quite fun." he hushed his tones a bit. "I think you better get ill from that bar..we have a little more work to do." She popped the top-quietly-on a can of Red Bull and swigged from it. "Why do I need to get sick and I must be slow or something but why are all the other girls but like me and Tammy carrying around those pink slips they get fired or something you don't think that everybody's already heard about last night if you want us out of here I can fake it but I wish Tammy were here as well because she's like the better actress than me and stuff." Patty raised her hand. "Can I go..." She crossed her eyes. "I don't feel so good-can Eric take me to the nurses office before I hurl I don't feel so good my stomach's all up in a knot and its not the Red Bull because I always drink that must be a candy bar or something." "Mr. Drake, if you please," said Mrs. Goddard. "Please return as soon as possible, Mr. Drake." Patty stood up, trying to wobble a little, pushing her bag into Eric's hands and looping her hand through his arm for support. "Thank you..." She made tracks for the door, one hand over her mouth and one over her stomach. Eric helped her out the door "no problem..." he smiled as he helped her outside of the classroom. "Seems we have a run on Pink paper around here this morning." He whispered to her ear. "I saw that just a moment let me find out if its just us or if everybody has it too." Patty tried not to lean against Eric but did anyway as she pulled out her cellphone and scrolled through the numbers, looking for Tammy's...there. She punched in fast a quick text message as the two walked slowly down the hall towards the nurse's office: :::...Tammy do all the girls in your class have like pink paper ours did going to nurses office...::: When her cellphone vibrated, Tammy took it out and surreptitiously read the message. It wasn't something she'd particularly noticed; then again, she hadn't been looking. Now, she looked around the other girls in the class, to see if they had any pink paper. Of course, it might only be the ones going to the nurse's office who were carrying the pink paper - Tammy misinterpreted the end of Patty's message. Some of the girls did have pink notebook pad paper to take notes on their desks. Tammy noticed Mrs. Malloy looking at her. She knew that phones were routinely confiscated by the school if a student was caught with one. Tammy made sure her phone was out of sight, and waited until Mrs. Malloy's attention was elsewhere, before texting back to Patty: :::no gg cul8r::: :::k tc l8r @office::: Patty snapped the phone shut fast and flipped it to vibrate, then slide it back in her bag. "I'm not sure," she said softly to Eric, "I think she's got people with pink paper in her class too--you think that's something that we need to look at and what do we need to do right now you said you had a plan I thought you said you had a plan we'd better figure it out before we get to the nurse's office because I don't know what to do next and I gotta get to the lab sometime quick today otherwise this stuff I have in here will spoil and then they won't be worth anything know what I mean?"

Re: DC inspired by TV I think it was Voyage to the bottom of the sea that first had the flying sub. CES

Re: The New Circle Sidekicks 2 Background Information: Barry O grew up in the rural land around Toad Castle. The farm supported him, his sister, parents, and grandparents. Most of his time not working was devoted to comic books, and any hero that captured the public eye. The Plumber, being a local, filled more than one scrapbook with his adventures. Barry finally met his hero when the adventurer crashed near his home after one particular battle with Ba'zar. The boy enthusiastically help locate some missing pieces from the Plumber's armor, and forced himself into the hero's crusade despite what his parents thought. Barry has become a valuable ally, and the heart of the Sidekicks, pointing them where they need to go to stop the villains of Toad Castle. Quote: "He's got a glass jaw. One hit will take him out like left over Toad Burgers." Personality: Barry is young and ready to throw himself into the thick of things. He's always on the look out for hero and villain stories to add to his collection. He can also be found bailing his sister out of trouble more often than not. Appearance: Barry dresses in jeans, t-shirt of a favorite hero, and a jacket. He always has a blue cap with an O on the front, and red shoes. Powers: Barry has two almost power-like skills he has acquired through training himself on his farm. The first is an encyclopedic knowledge of heroes, villains, known monsters, and all of their strengths and weaknesses. That helps the team out when they need to know a weak point in a hurry. The other is a move called the flying head butt. Barry is able to leap across the room, and head butt an enemy with precision. He can't do much damage, but it is a distraction when more powerful fighters are waiting their turn to attack. Character Name: Barry O Real Name: Barrett Orwell Nationality: AmericanHair/Eye Color: Brown/brown Place of Birth: Toad Castle Date of Birth: 5/1/98 Height/Mass: 4'10", 95 pounds. Cost Characteristic Value STR 10 15 DEX 15 10 CON 15 4 BODY 12 7 INT 17 10 EGO 15 2 PRE 12 COM 10 PD 2 ED 3 10 SPD 2 REC 5 END 30 STUN 24 OCV: 5 DCV: 5 OECV: 5 DECV: 5 Phases: 6,12 Cost Powers and Talents (END) Flying Head Butt: 10" leaping, forward motion only-1, (5 pts) plus hand to hand attack + 3d6 (15 pts), hand to hand attack -1/2, only when leaping -1 (6 pts) 11 pts Detect Weaknesses: Detect vulnerabilities (Int Roll), (sight group), discriminatory 10 pts Cost Skills 3 KS: The Superworld 12- 3 KS: History of the superworld 12- 3 AK: Toad Castle and environs 12- 3 AK: Princess Daisy Pink's kingdom 12- 3 Streetwise 12- 3 Stealth 12- 3 survival: urban 12- 50 Points Disadvantages 15 Soc Lim: minor 20 DNPC: sister Bertha 11- 15 Watched by Sidekicks 11- CHA Cost = 58 Total Powers Cost = 21 Total Skills Cost = 21 Total Cost = 100 Plot Hook 1) The Sidekicks think things in Toad Castle are too hot for Barry to keep operating as one of them for a while. They want him to take a vacation. Naturally Barry decides to work with the local heroes and see what's going on in their town. Plot Hook 2) Ravenswood Academy asks the players to locate and talk to Barry about joining their special program. The primary problem is his guardians. Plot Hook 3) Kid heroes have started flocking to Toad Castle in hopes of being taken serious and joining the Sidekicks or any other group. How do the players handle it when such a group tries to join them as an auxiliary branch?

Re: The Magistracy Hunt 16 The Magistracy regarded their prisoners grimly. They had kept one out of the group for questioning while security tried to identify the intruders through links to the law enforcement community. So far the search had been unsuccessful. "Bring him out so we can get this over with," said Silver, addressing the Chemist as he turned away from the high tech cage. "We need to know what exactly is the plan behind this." "I thought it was the usual let's kill the heroes gambit myself," said the Chemist, following the gray haired man. "Always the most likely thing," agreed Silver, lighting up a cigarette as he walked. "The problem is where did these new guys come from. They don't have records, identifying marks, or anything else we can use to trace them. It's almost like their personal stuff has been erased." "We won't know until we ask," said the Chemist. "I have an idea, or two, if we can't learn anything from this Psi-Ghost character by talking." "I'm glad one of us does," said Silver. The two men walked into the meeting room where the rest of the Magistrates waited with the gray cloaked mind thief. A blindfold blocked his ability to make eye contact and escape into someone's mental landscape. Glowing letters blocked his ability to pass through solids. "About time," said Luna. "Can we get started now?" "You heard the lady," said Silver, glaring at the blindfolded man. "Why all the trouble?" "I can't betray my creator," said the Psi-Ghost. "And I wouldn't if I could." Silver raised his eyebrows at the word creator. He could see the almost same expression run through the rest of his comrades. Creator implied an artificial bestowment of powers, perhaps more. "What makes you think we don't know who your creator is already?," said Silver. "No!," said the cloaked psychic. "You will never know who gave me life!" Foam began running out of Psi-Ghost's mouth. Sweat dripped from his forehead, soaking the top of the blindfold in seconds. Blood vessels stood out on his forehead as he shook from head to foot in the chair. The Chemist stepped forward, inscribing a letter on the air with a finger. The captive froze in place, draining more of his gray out so that he resembled a line drawing of a tortured soul. His face had been caught in a determined grimace of hate. Interrogation would get them nowhere if he could will himself to die. "Any suggestions?," said Silver. "It gives new meaning to fighting to the death," said Luna. "Anyone else?," said Silver, with more than a little irritation in his voice. "We could try to read his memories," said John Public. "I don't how successful that will be, but it might give us some kind of clue." "Go in his mind like he does in others?," asked the Chemist. "I don't see why not," said Public. "Let our powers combine." "The next time you say something like that," said Silver. "I'll have to kill you."

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished Dead Beat by Jim Butcher. I agree with the other posters that this is a cool book. A tyranosaurus going nuts in town is always good. Mister Monday: A piece of a will to all creation breaks out from where it is hidden and seeks a heir. It is up to Arthur Penhalgion to make sense of the dog faced men and the key he has been given. CES

Re: Last Legionary I keep thinking his benefactors were giant floating brains. I don't know why. CES

Re: Last Legionary I remember it, KS. There were five books. The hero belongs to a planetary mercenary corps, whose is nearly killed when an enemy destroys his race/home planet. He is rebuilt with unbreakable bones by aliens who want to stop the bad guy who blew up all the mercenaries. The fifth book was an academy look at the younger hero when he was going through mandatory training. CES

Re: Teen Guardians "OK, I'll just summon the attendant to tuck me in." Hopefully, this would lure the reporter out as he tried to stop Katido, giving Tachyon the chance she needed. The Speedster held herself still and quiet, just waiting, hoping that Katido knew what she was doing, ready to go in... "Now hold on, young lady," Carl said, holding up a hand, as he stepped in the hall. "We don't want to get Bert in trouble for leaving the vault unguarded, do we? Let's be reasonable. What do you want?" He stood about three feet away from the door, following Katido's retreating form. "To talk with you", she said, continuing to retreat to draw him away from the door, "I mean, what's a reporter like you doing in a morgue?" "I'm looking into this mystery for the INS," said Carl. "Why is a kid vigilante hanging out in the morgue without her mentor?" Silently, as silently as she could, vibration masking her features, Tachyon began easing forward and past the reporter... The speedster was able to slip by as the reporter adjusted his camera to take another picture of Katido. Mr. Tutterow stared up at the ceiling from out of the open body bag. "Mentor? You *have* been living in the past." A pretty ironic comment, really! "I'm also looking into this mystery. Like, why are the INS so interested?" "It's five hundred words of news print that can be printed in papers across the country," said Carl, taking aim with the camera again. "Smile please." The teenaged part, most of Tachyon, felt her stomach churn and she really had to vomit-but she held it back...then the rest of herself, that adult portion of her, eased forward and, with trembling fingers, she began an examination, those memories within her of the cadavers at medical school rising to the surface, allowing her to deal with the scent of recent, violent death... She picked up the pace, her body accelerating as she did the full examination of the form, herself taking the mental notes and analysis and she finished as quickly as she could, her mental notes organizing and her stomach continuing to rise... Obviously cause of death was a fatal discharge of some unknown weapon inside the deceased. Evidence suggested the path of travel was through the sternum from the inside. Scorching along the esophagus indicated that some of the blowback had traveled up to the mouth and sinuses, but that was a secondary wound. There was a darker area in the ruptured tube that reminded Tachyon of a candle flame being held to wood for too long. It looked like a band of burned flesh that was different from the rest of the wound. Toxin tests, and trace evidence, would take days to analyze due to the processes involved. Otherwise Mr. Tutterow could have been any normal man of his age, weight, and general habits. Tachyon picked up the pace even more, zipping across the room for the correct tools: a scalpel, several swabs, sterile containers. Quickly, her hands blurring, she took quick samples of all the materials, knowing full well she didn't have a proper lab but there was a lab at the high school, she'd have to break in after hours or talk her parents into the purchase of what she needed... ...her hands blurred faster as her subconscious told her what to do-she wasn't sure why to sample this or ignore that... Katido laced her fingers across her eyes, forming a second mask, and peeked through them, grinning -- just enough to distract him from Tachyon's approach. ...Then it was done and she tucked the samples into a Wal-Mart sack handy on the counter and she burnt back out the door- -placing a slight, balance-knocking foot to the back of the reporter's knee. The reporter went down on one knee, putting his one hand up to catch himself with the wall, the other protecting his camera. He started to turn at the person pushing him. Tachyon doglegged around the reporter, thrusting the bag into Katido's arms and *attempted* to sweep the other girl off her feet, vibration up and running at a point where her features are completely distorted-what the reporter should get is a pretty much definite feeling of a feminine form dressed in a green-and-gold blur... Katido doesn't know if this move catches the reporter by surprise; it definitely catches _her_ by surprise, though, and there's a distinctly unheroic "Yelp!" as she's grabbed and carried off. Tachyon, her eyes on the elevator, said, "Sorry he was taking photos didn't think you wanted it and this way we're both out of here at the same time..." "Hey!," called Carl from way behind them. Several flashes marked an attempt to take pictures of the fleeing super girls. The platform stood empty in the floor. Tachyon hit her brakes and sat Katido back down on the platform, still babbling. "I got samples but I need a lab to check it out we gotta go." Katido hit the 'up' button as she was carried on board. "Better watch he doesn't get a photo of us before this thing gets moving." The girls could hear running steps as the elevator platform started to lift out of the floor. The metal square was moving ever so slowly as a light blue suit appeared at the other end of the hall. The metal plates blocking the street were already sliding back as the thing carried them upwards. "Hey!," the reporter called. The girls could see the camera come up to take their pictures. Tachyon backed away from the edge and crouched down, shifting her Point-Of-View so that the reporter would be unable to see her. Forcing herself to slow down, she tried to catch her breath and hugged the bag close. "I...got...samples," she said softly, keeping herself calm and slow. "Do you think you can make anything of them?," Katido said. She too crouched low, making herself a difficult photographic target. Tachyon nodded, not trusting her tongue to keep itself restrained to but a few words-then, as the elevator continued its trip up, "Yes....if...I..." It looked like the girl is struggling hard. "...get...to...the...school...or...hospital...lab." She took a deep, deep breath, trying to keep the words from just pouring from her. A flash of light showed the reporter hadn't given up, but the platform was only two feet from the top position on the street. An easy hop for the two athletes. "Let's go!" said Katido, jumping up to the street. As she landed, she looked round, to see if anyone was watching or waiting for them. Tachyon followed her, hopping up quickly, her bag of treasures clenched tight to her chest. "And I have to get this in a refrigerator or it'll spoil and this whole trip will e for nothing we'll have wasted an entire night did he get any pictures of you I think he missed me as long as he didn't get any pictures I think we're good that was horrible I was so scared but it was really weird we need to go Tammy want another ride?" The street was silent, and empty. People tended to stay away from police headquarters, especially at night. Lights from the City Hall and the rest of Chance City's skyline were jack o'lantern teeth in the night. The City Clock said 8:50 with its stylized hands. Katido felt elated. "We did it! And I don't think he got any pictures of me -- not any clear ones, at least. OK, if we've got to dash, let's get those samples to a fridge." "Hop...up...and...we'll...go." Tachyon turned around so that Katido could climb up on her back, then handed her the bag. "Hold onto these otherwise I'll lose 'em you want to hold them at your house or you want me to keep 'em at my house either way we'll have to make sure our parents don't find them we only have the refrigerator in the kitchen but I think I could hide it under the vegetable crisper that might work we don't have really anywhere else unless I put it in a box marked school project you think that might work?" She dug her heels in and carried her friend off into the night towards their homes. The run across town was uneventful, and it seemed like Katido's father had not visited her room to check on her. "What now?" asked Katido as she climbed down from her friend's back, "I'd better get back before my dad notices I'm gone. Probably better if you take the samples; my dad might recognize them if he found them in the fridge, 'school project' or not." Tachyon shook her head. "I dunno what now you're right Ill take them home and hide them with a label of school project but then we have to get into the school or a lab can you talk your dad into letting us do some experiments up at the lab I mean he's a good doctor and maybe he'll believe you if you said that we had something from school or something otherwise we have to break in somewhere and I don't think I can get into the hospital labs now i could a few days ago but that was twenty years I hate this." Her face fell even as, at an incredible speed, she got her street clothes back on over her costume. "I hate this. This sucks. I'll see you tomorrow Tammy you wanna walk to school together since I can't drive any more?" Eric looked at Pusher a moment when the colors changed and seemed to sigh with some relief when they changed back. "Let's not do that again, shall we? If I want the costume altered, I'll let you know, however right now it's fine by me." He moved further down the stairs now, moving out into the hall way for the accounting department, not to mention most of the other computer using groups. The payroll office was empty and dark as the trio approached the door. A test on the door said it was locked. It was a simple matter to unlock it and let themselves in. Six desks with computers waited. Personal items tried to lend the space a feeling of home and comfort. Titan looked at Emp and said, "Get all the numbers. I'll make sure no one's coming this way." With that, he wandered out the door to make sure no one interrupted Emp and Pusher. Man this feels weird. Not used to having to sneak around to get information, Titan thought to himself. Eric wrote several sets of numbers down in his small note pad. His experiences with this type of equipment at least made him useful here to this group. Once he was done taking the six codes he found he pocketed the notepad and gestured to Pusher for them to get going. He walked towards the door hoping the silence they had wasn't about to be interrupted. "Can you get in the payroll software with that?," said Pusher. "We don't have a computer system yet." "I can get into most of the computers here now with these numbers. If need be, I can get into the payroll systems. As for our lack of computer, Once we get back to base we can head into the closed libraries with computer access. You'd be surprised how few people try to keep anything beyond basic door alarms on those places." Eric spoke quickly indicating he really didn't want to be here longer than needed. "Right," said Pusher. "Let's go." He waved at Titan when he stepped into the hall. A humming sound reached the burglar heroes as he walked out of the office. It sounded like the elevator was running. "Quick, stairs now!" Emp hissed as he ran toward the stairwell. This was certainly one of those times super-speed would have been nice. Shame he didn't have anything useful like that in his genetic structure. Pusher slid along the floor, passing through the door. Emp and Titan could see the elevator numbers working as someone rode up to the upper floors. Obviously the guard was making his rounds to check on things. Titan ran to the stairs, but instead of going up, he waited beside the door (where it would swing toward him if opened) in case the guard followed so he could knock him out easily. The elevator went to the top floor where it stopped. The three Guardians were in the stairwell with the guard making his rounds where they needed to go to get out of the building. Eric looked up the stairwell and took out his grapple gun. "Well, it was easy," he whispered then looked at Pusher. "Say...could you change the colors of the walls to Pink?" he smirked as he looked back at the guard waiting for the right moment to increase the Doubt in the guard's mind. If Pusher could make the walls Pink and he increased the doubt it was likely the guard would let them all by thinking he was hallucinating...hopefully. "I don't see why not," said Pusher. "But let's let him do his job. He hasn't seen us yet." The guard checked the offices on the tenth floor then got in the elevator to go to the ninth and check the offices there. He didn't check the stairwell where the heroes waited, or the disabled roof access door. The way was clear for the three to move on. Eric sighed with relief and proceeded up the stairs. "Let's get the heck out of here before we come across a guard that does check stairwells." "Right behind you," said Pusher. "I'll have to fix the alarm on the way out." Anthony blocked with the brass vase. The heavy spittoon flew across the room with its side crumpled in. Anthony realized instantly he was dealing with a much faster martial artist capable of ripping a man apart without breaking a sweat. The big galoot was actually smiling. Anthony realized he'd underestimated this man by quite a ways. What he'd thought would be a short workout was looking like a final stand. He dove past Casket looking for something else to use as a weapon, something that he couldn't be so easily disarmed of. He found a bar chair that someone had left, possibly for Casket to use on him, and grabbed it. He knew his opponent would easily splinter it with his next blow, but the remaining pieces would do as makeshift clubs. Casket leaped across the small space and kicked the chair apart with ease. He kicked again on the way down, and Anthony flew into the crowd, ribs hurting from the blow. He waited for the helpful patrons to push the undercover hero back into the makeshift arena. Anthony held fast to the clubs in each of his hands and moved toward Casket. The big man was far better than one of the patrons of this bar should be and Anthony would need all his training just to walk away from this. However he also held fast to the fact that he'd been in a similar situation at a similar age, when he'd first been put into prison and had to take down the resident psycho. That fight had also been tough but he'd walked away from that one. He saw that Casket was still failing to protect his head as much as the rest of him. This was worrying given that the head was usually a vulnerable area, could Casket really be so boneheaded that he felt no need to protect it? Anthony decided to check his theory out. One of Casket's hands grabbed Anthony's swinging hand, trapping it. Sudden pain ran up that arm as the bigger man applied pressure, applying a lock on that arm. The bystanders were shouting things like Kill him, Bust his skull in, and Rip his arm off. "You owe me for a broken glass, chair, new spittoon, disruption of business, and aggravation," Casket said. "That's about a hundred dollars so far. Do you want to keep pushing, or do I really have to hurt you?" Anthony slumped, resigned "O.K. mate, I give, you win. I'll have to owe you the hundred bucks though, I ain't got that kinda cash." "Let's call your dad," said Casket. "I'm sure he will be glad to bail you out." "Not bloody likely," said Anthony "For one thing it'd cost you more'n a hundred bucks to call him, for another he'd be more likely to join in the chorus your patrons have going. You think I'd bugger off here if I had a dad who'd shell out that kind of dough? Look, mate, there must be some way I can pay you back for your trouble. Businessman like you gotta have things that need doing, things that'll be worth a hundred bucks. Hell I could probably work here if you wanted me to, I'm sure I know a damn sight more about beer than that guy" he gestures with his head toward the bar. "Or I could maybe do somethin' else." "It's illegal for you to be in my place," said Casket, releasing the lock as he considered the options. He looked at his patrons, some of whom seemed less than enthused about this change of events. "All right, I have a job for you. Meet me at Kelly's Grill tomorrow at 3. Don't be late."

Re: Pulparize It! The sequel would obviously be "War winning plane shot down and sunk in a lake. Can the Allies beat the Germans to it?" CES

Re: Pulparize It!

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Finished Fortress of Glass by David Drake. Prince Garric and his friends are caught up in a struggle between wizards. It is implied at the end of the book that the setting has been changed in some way. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Monsters of every type do battle in a fantastical city. CES

Re: Anime based game prep help. I dont know if this helps but you can place a trigger or condition on a power built in a mulitpower. When the character fulfills the condition the power activates. CES

Re: The New Circle

Re: The New Circle Sidekicks 1 The team known as the Sidekicks were founded by the hero known as the Plumber. He gathered them together to defeat a menace in another reality. Once the dust had settled, he decided to stay on as the resident champion and consort to the Princess Pink Daisy, and his former assistants had decided to return to their reality. The Sidekicks decided to stay together as a team, helping to protect the town of Toad Castle where they now live. The membership includes Coop Copper, Boomette, Lackland, Ribbon Lady, Toona, Air Male, Barry O, and Shock. They have divided Toad Castle up and patrol as individuals mostly, but in cases of emergency they band together to help out. They use the Plumber's old base below the town as headquarters and living space. Lou, the Plumber's brother, keeps the base in good shape as well as impersonating his brother when he has too. The Sidekicks have tried to get him to come out under his own name. Lou has refused, saying that he's not ready for that type of responsibility yet. The most he has done is repaint the Plumber's armor he wears to green and blue instead of its usual red and blue the original wore. The Sidekicks work well together, with Lou, and with others. They have maintained good relations with Toad Castle's City Hall, and police department as well as the nearest federal authorities. The town is too small for local offices but agents from the nearby bigger city know about these minor heroes. The Sidekicks have worked with members of the Rovers, The Champions, and others. Mixed feelings have resulted from these teamups since some of the more famous heroes have expressed a concern over whether or not the defenders of Toad Castle are worthy of working as masked champions. Naturally the Sidekicks have made enemies of organizations such as Viper, and Demon. Ba'Zar, the lizard king that they joined the Plumber to battle, also hatches schemes in their town so that he can stop them from helping when he attacks the Plumber and Princess Pink Daisy. The Sidekicks enjoy being small fish in a small pond. They also love the challenge of taking on the big leagues and stomping the villain down.

Re: The Magistracy Hunt 15 Maker waited for her chance, glad that Luna had arrived in the network to help her. The hacker had formed himself into a giant. That wasn't enough to stop the fighter from attacking his body and forcing him back. The much smaller woman struck the avatar in the ankle with the sound of a tree snapping. He started falling, off balanced by his broken leg. Maker fired her arm cannon. Rocket needles sprouted from the muzzle on the heads of smokey ribbons. They went for the Magician's flesh with cheerful abandon. They burrowed in on impact, like real parasites. Agony broke apart the pixels of his face. The code box slid out of a hole created by the antivirus projectiles. Another volley snapped the chain wrapped around it. The base defenses came online, triggering automatic responses to the invasion of the mainframe. The magician found himself surrounded by avatars resembling soldiers in riot armor. Some held very large cannons supported by frameworks to hold the fire blast on target when they pulled the trigger. "Get him, boys," Maker said to her small army as it continued to grow to repel the hacker from the digital world. Luna looked surprised for once. That was almost worth the fighting she had done before her friend had been loaded. Troops on the outside would have to round up her rapidly losing consistency enemy in the real world. "It looks like you cooked his goose for good," Luna said, smiling slightly. "Not yet," said Maker, prepared to fire another round of her special missiles. "But I'm working on it." The avatar faded away. The net world lit up with thousands of messages. Everything seemed to be going back to normal. One message passed through with the location of the hacker in the building. "Let's pick that monkey up," said Luna. "Then we can find out what's going on." The two magistrates blinked out of the landscape. The virtual world didn't miss them as it became numbers streaming through hardware. Maker blinked as she adjusted to the real world with John Public holding her metal form close. A smile lit his face. "I'm glad to have you back," John said. "What's our status, Reilly?" "We're green," said the operations officer, grinning in relief. "Security is tracing back the hacker." "Let us know when they find him," said Public. "We'll need to round him up and talk to him."

Re: Borrowing your brains: Greek Gods in New Con A lot of the gods had human children, (Theseus, Hercules, Perseus,) and some of those had children of their own. Some of these descendents could be throwbacks to Dad, blood sacrifices, or be uplifted to match up to demigod status. CES

Re: Teen Guardians 711-822 7:45 pm/Tuesday/09/02/20xx Hardball, Tachyon, Titan, and Lady Flame had learned that Larry Tutterow, school councilman had been blown up by Heart Breaker. The note for Hardball indicated twelve more victims in the following days. If the villainess worked on themes, they could count on the next victim being related to either Tutterow, or the school system in some way. The note indicated a wealthy and honest principal of a school. The problem was a looming curfew for the regressed heroes. Detention caused by the regression had placed most of them on the parent watch list. 8:30 pm Tamsin Chen had an hour and a half before she would be required to get some kind of sleep. Her father was rigid as far as scheduling went. Still a murder had dropped in her lap, and the body would be at the morgue any moment. She could probably break in and look at it for herself if she hurried. Tamsin hastily changed into her makeshift Katido costume. Dark tights, a black leotard, and a pair of high-tops dyed black. She tucked her hair under her mask, a black swimming cap with an old halloween mask glued on. Fastening her belt, she quietly opened her window and prepared to climb down the old tree that grew just outside. The neighborhood was quiet. Mr. Clarke would be walking Tiger soon but the street in front of her house was dark and empty from her vantage point. Tachyon scuffed her toe against the sidewalk, bored. "We going back to the hideout?" she whispered, "'cuz if not I've got something else I can go do I really need to go see and talk to a friend of mine and I can meet you back there later." With a nod, she disappeared with the smell of scorched rubber... By the time the others had finished talking to the police, Hardball had left. He returned to his motorcycle and changed back into his 'civvies'. Anthony rode home to the central park, put on his boots and began to shovel elephant poo. As he did he thought about the note. He hoped that the others were having some luck finding the next victim. Of course the list wouldn't be that long. Wealthy principals were a dime a dozen, but honest ones were an endangered species (becoming more endangered if psycho-girl got her way.) Just his luck that he attracted girls who had something to prove. Once Anthony had finished his chores and eaten a little dinner (at least by the standard of his family) he took a little kip and then snuck out to chase up some leads on Heartbreaker. Hoping that a girl like her would not have remained below the streets radar he headed for the area where the worst element in the city hung out. It was time to visit The Heights. Hardball remembered a couple of places where he could ask around for some kind of information. His impacted timeline shouldn't have affected those areas that existed before he started operating as the punishing pitcher. One such was Wiley's, a saloon for people who liked to drink any time they wanted to despite blue laws trying to shut the place down after 2 a.m. Low ranking thugs and hoodlums and pros worked the place for their next job. Anthony sauntered into the saloon. Had he been 'in costume' he was sure he would have been met by a hail of gunfire (these type of people not being members of Hardball's fan-club), but as Anthony he barely raised an eyebrow, just another 'street tough' on the lookout for a cheap score. He allowed his 'prison face' to come to the fore, adding to the image of a kid who was more dangerous than his youth might usually allow (or at least thought he was). He walked up to the bar. "G'day mate." he said with his best Aussie accent "Got any beer worth drinking in this place?" "The kiddie bar is down the street," said the bartender. "Beat it." Anthony picked up a beer nut, put it on the bar, and then flicked it, breaking an empty beer glass behind the bar. "Thanks for the information, mate, now here's some for you. Call me a kid again and I'll break more than a beer glass. Now have you got some real Aussie beer or only that 'Sex on the Beach' you Yanks call beer?" He look around to see if any of the other patrons would leap to the barman's defense. Just because he wasn't in costume didn't mean he couldn't break a few heads. "You see this sign?," the bartender said, indicating a yellow piece of paper on the wall as the patrons started paying attention to the exchange. MUST BE 21 TO BE SERVED was written in block letters on the paper. "Any id?" "Bloody America! The only place in the world where you can drive and die in a war 3 years before you can drink. Fine!" he raised his voice "If a sheila comes in looking for me, don't worry you'll know her, with your 'tude she'll probably blow your chest open, anyway, if she comes lookin' for me tell her to find a decent bar next time. One that ain't so hung up on the bloody rules." He turned and headed for the door. "Go home to your momma," said the bartender. Anthony had had about enough of this man. He turned, grabbed an empty bottle from a nearby table and lobbed it at the man's head. He made sure to be only as accurate as a boy of his age should be (ie. not his usual super accurate self) but still accurate enough to clock the guy stupid. He then turned to face the crowd with a look of terminal rage on his face. "I came in here for a civil bloody drink and this tosser not only refuses me service but has to go and bring me ma into it. Fine, that's the way he wants to play it, I'm 'down with that' as you Yanks say. How about the rest of you? You up to takin' on a wild colonial boy? 'cause if ya think Steve Irwin's mad you ain't met me." A collective growl rolled as the crowd to a man surged to their feet. in the words of Ron White, Anthony didn't know how many it would take to kick his butt, but he could see how many they were going to use. There was going to be at least 15, and they looked like they were arming themselves with anything close at hand. At least no one had pulled a gun yet. Barfights, where the weapon of choice was 'objects of opportunity' were, unsurprisingly, Anthony 'Hardball' Warneshi's favorite type of combat. The look of confidence of 'Aussie's face was real enough as he picked up a 'decorative' brass vase that had been put in once in the past in a vain attempt to give the bar some class and had thereafter been used as a spitoon. He poured the accumulated gunk on the floor and set himself against the rush. He wondered whether these were the kind of mooks who attacked (and were knocked out) one at a time or the type who attacked as a pack (and invariably got in each others way). He really hoped none were a well trained team, then again this version of Wiley's would have to be very different from the one he knew for that to be the case. He, of course kept the door in sight, ready to 'scarper' at the first sign of a pistol. Confident he was, not stupid. "You gonna come into our bar and start trouble," said self appointed spokesman, wrapping a bicycle chain around his hand. "Which arm and leg do you want to keep?" "One a' each a' yours should do just fine, mate. I aint greedy. 'Course I willing to take donations from anyone else fool 'nough t' put them near me." Anthony could see the men, in one case woman, were edging closer like lionesses hunting. He would have to fight through to get to the back of the place, or the sides. The front door and the windows had a closed steel lattice over them to prevent robberies so he couldn't jump through them if he needed to. Additionally some of the men were moving to cut him off from the door. Anthony kept his eyes on the 'doormen', they would be acting as human shields should anyone pull a gun. However he could feel the blood boiling up in his ears. The way these 'barflies' were acting in concert was giving him the distinct impression that they were, in fact, more familiar with each other than he'd first thought. They were acting, in many ways, like a gang. That was a sort of behavior that he had to put a stop to. Even if it meant revealing the full extent of his powers to these mooks, they *were* going down. Before it had just been possible exercise, *now* it was 'personal'. "Kid," said the man with the bicycle chain around his hand. "You're crazy brave, or crazy stupid. Either way, you're going to the ER in the next few seconds." His cell phone started playing "Born to Run". "Hold that thought," he said, flipping the phone open. "Casket. Talk." His eyes never left Anthony's as he held the phone to his ear. Anthony smiled at Casket's ringtone. At least it wasn't 'Born to be Wild' or 'Mission Impossible' which would have forced Anthony to remove him from the gene pool for lack of taste. He wracked his brains to see if he could place the name Casket. The only Casket he knew about had been a professional street fighter. Rumors of underworld matches had always floated through the Chance City grapevine. Some off the more vigilante crimefighters had tried to break it up without success. He also watched the others to see if they, also, were taking their cues from Casket (singling him out as the leader of this motley crew) or whether they were happy to get started while Casket conducted business. Either way was fine with Anthony who was, at this point, just looking to put the smackdown on someone. But if Casket turned out to be a leader he would make a good person to talk to after the fight was over. "That's usually 10 k," Casket said into the phone. "Call me tomorrow with a place to meet. I have to kill someone at the moment. Yeah, the Lip is here. I'll tell him." He covered the phone's mouthpiece with a big hand. "Your boss wants you to clear out, Lip," said Casket. "Go home and sober up." One of the men, possessing a scarred upper lip that twisted his mouth grotesquely, nodded. He made for the door, glaring at Anthony, daring him to do something, anything to get things started before he left. "He's leaving," Casket said. "Right. Tomorrow." Casket hung up the phone. "Where were we?," the big man said. "You were about to be introduced to your namesake, Casket. Or actually, given the state I'm going to leave you in, a number of your namesakes." He turned to Lip. "Where do you think your going ugly? After I've dealt with this Casket guy I'll probably still need some exercise. Stay, I'll put you out nice and quick so you can sleep off your hangover, 'course you might not make any meeting you have tomorrow, but then again neither will anyone else. 'cept me of course." "If it has to be this way," said Casket, closing his phone. He waved everyone out of the way. People cleared tables and chairs away. "Let's go." A callused hand swung at Anthony's hand. Tachyon reappeared a few minutes later behind her house; she threw her clothes on quickly over her costume and sauntered inside. Grabbing food from the refrigerator, she said, "Going up to do my homework me and this guy he took me to McDonald’s sorry I didn't call love you!" Carefully-she kept her speed down-she shoveled food into her mouth with one hand while scritch- scratching answers, none of them particularly difficult, to various questions, then slammed her books closed. Eight-twenty. IF, and only if...she sighed. She really needed to talk to Tammy. She headed downstairs. "Going out for a walk back by nine-thirty, promise, then I'll go to bed, promise!" In the dark, she took off, running as much as she could through the shadows, towards Tammy's house... Tachyon-Patty-slid to a quiet halt in the Chen's back yard; quickly, she snuck beneath the big old tree and snagged up some pebbles. She tossed one up at Tammy's window. Patty frowned. "Tammy?" she half-whispered at the open window. "You up there?" "Shh. I'm just on my way out." A dark figure climbed nimbly out of the window and down the tree. Katido stood beside her, grinning and rubbing her cheek. "Be careful where you throw those pebbles!" Patty stuck her hands in the pockets of her jeans and shook her head. "I was careful where I threw the pebble you were climbing out and I can't see you when you wear black and I'm so glad to see you again we have problems this guy blew up in my face kinda a while back it was really sick and we're not going to talk about Eric yet but he's kinda cute but I'd suggest you stay back away from him because I was ready to just lay on my back and wrap my legs around his waist and ride him 'till the cows came home and that was the weirdest feeling of all because I don't think I've had sex yet this time around have you but it was all my choice and I wanted to do it you think he's like a mind control guy or something and we just interviewed with the cops and stuff wanna see where?" Oddly enough, her voice was quiet all the way through this spiel. "You're not in costume?" Patty shook her head, blonde hair flying this way then that. "Yeah I am but I just came from the house so I got my jeans and stuff over top so that I'm incognito and stuff." Without much hesitation, she opened her blouse, showing the gold-and-green half-shirt that made up the upper half of the Tachyon costume It took her a moment to adjust to Patty's 'squirt-transmission' style of talking, and then she actually blushed. "Um, too much information? Do you think you were mind-controlled?†"Sorry," Patty continued, stripping off the top and pants at high-speed and standing before Tamsin in costume, "just we always used to tell everything to each other I remember when you talked about that guy you met that long weekend when you disappeared from the dorm room our first year of college before you transfered out you went way past that and..." The girl slowed down and turned her head. "maybe we should start again because I didn't mean to embarass you just that I thought that..." She took a deep breath. "No I don't know about the mind control I probably was but now I'm kinda mad but not too much for some reason it felt kinda right while being way wrong at the same time I think I really need to talk to him and to you because you're like my best friend that...I had at this age." She gave a small smile. "My Dad had a visit from a Mr. Bye, with a tissue sample from someone caught in an explosion, I think. I was going to see if I could sneak into the morgue and- Wait a moment, you said someone blew up in your face? Do you think it might be the same person?" "I don't know who Mr. Bye is but I bet that you're right that the guy whose chest exploded and almost coated me with blood and gunk and stuff and almost ran me over is the same one they brought pieces of to your dad I think so anyway you wanna sneak into the morgue count me in we probably need darn it I'm supposed to be home by nine-thirty so we'll have to move fast do you want to meet the rest of the crew tonight or wait until morning Tammy?" Tachyon's feet are already starting the little hyper-shuffle, her street clothes neatly folded over her arm. The girls knew that the morgue was part of the main station for the police department. Everything was crammed into one little space at the back of the building. "I ought to be back by 9:30 or thereabouts too. OK, let's go. I don't see how we're going to get into the morgue, but maybe we'll strike lucky." "I don't either but..." Tachyon stopped in mid sentence as... Mr. Clarke's dog barked in the distance. He would be coming around the corner down the street in a second and see them together. Her feet tappity-tapping a little faster, Tachyon continued, quietly, "We gotta move you don't have speed if I remember right we gotta get there but its like more than an hours walk away and I have to be home in an hour or my butt is gonna be fried you don't mind riding on my back it seems to me like we did that before when we were like adults but..." She gulped. "I can carry you hop aboard." Katido grinned. Tachyon gave her a hesitant grin in return. "I suppose it's the only way to get there and back in time. OK." She nimbly climbed on Tachyon's back. "But you've got to be extra-careful that nobody sees us!" "No promises but I'll try who'd believe two girls running through town at nearly two hundred miles an hour anyway its too early for the drunks to be out those are the one's I'd be worried about," she said as she hooked her arms around Katido's knees, hoisting her up a bit so she rode just a bit higher around the speedster's waist. "Ready here we go..." There was a scent of slightly scorched grass and the girls were gone, Tachyon's civilian clothes tucked neatly behind a bush by the fence that surrounded her friend's home... The trip from Riverdale to Downtown was over in a matter of seconds. The scenery was a blur for the cat girl, but Tachyon found the morgue without any problem. It was the only part of the central police station where ambulances had a place to park. Beside the two white and blue morgue wagons, a white and blue CSU van and a mobile command center for Eservices also sat. A uniform smoked a cigarette on the loading dock. That was quite a ride; it gave a whole new meaning to 'psychedelic trip'. There was a bit of unsteadiness to the whole ride as though Tachyon remembered how to do this but her body wasn't quite cooperating...the two screeched to a halt amidst the slight scent of seared rubber. Katido got off her friend's back. As soon as Katido slid off, Tachyon placed her hands on her hips and popped her back, then bent at the waist and strethced, placing her palms flat against the ground. "I need to stretch better before I do things or I'm going to hurt myself and then where would be we are you okay from that run I'd forgotten how much that takes out of me." Her stomach rumbled quietly. "Do you think we can get past him?" "I think so but you'd be a whole lot better at it than I would because I'd have to stop and open the door we could wait five minutes and let him finish that cigarette and then ease in but you've always been good if I remember right at getting past people all sneaky-like I can distract him maybe if you need you got any real good ideas?" Another man came out. The two talked for a second. They got into the CSU van, and drove off. "You're good," Tachyon nodded at Katido. "That helps. OK, here goes nothing." "Luck." Tachyon seems very understated at this point as she watches her friend Katido adjusted her eyes to the darkness - they became eerily cat-like and reflective - and sneaked stealthily up to the door, ready to dive for cover if someone came out or she spotted a security camera watching it. Tachyon held her breath... If Katido got there safely, she was going to try the handle. Katido did spot a camera in one corner of the loading dock. It was in a fixed position covering the vehicles as far as she could tell. A more important object of concern was a key pad lock to keep the unauthorized out of the building. Not having any skill with electronics, Katido began looking around for an alternative way in, perhaps an upstairs window. The cat girl could see windows above the dock, but knew they would be sealed from people trying to jump out through them. The building itself was ten floors tall. Depending on where a person jumped it could be a good escape attempt or a messy death. A freight elevator presented itself as the means that were bodies were taken to the police morgue. It was a platform sticking out of the ground with handles around it. A box with two buttons on it was wired to the handles on one side. This could be considered a violation of policy since the elevator should have been left down under the dock. Tachyon kept low and out of sight, watching her friend move silently around the backside of the station, waiting for the signal for her to move forward. Katido waved Tachyon over, pointing out the camera so she could avoid it. Tachyon started to accelerate-then weaved and bobbed a little, staying away from the camera pickup--somehow, she knew that she'd had issues with cameras before, but couldn't remember what it was, quite, that had given her problems. She screeched to a halt beside Katido, almost: her re-generated powers a little slow on this particular stop: she bounced, sort of, against the wall. "Ow." She held her nose for a moment and looked embarrassed. "Looks like the freight elevator is the only way in", she said quietly. Tachyon took her hand away from her nose-it wasn't bleeding, and nodded at Katido. "Ow. Sorry- and let's go in," she whispered back. "You OK?" Tachyon answered quietly, "I'm fine are you fine that hurt but not much it just shocked me more than anything else did I bruise my nose or something?" Stepping onto the freight elevator, Katido listened for a moment; since she could hear no voices below, she hit the button to take it down. Tachyon pressed against the far end of the freight elevator, ready to burst into full speed if needed as soon as the door opened; she picked up her vibration speed a little out of sheer nervousness...she tried to stop her feet from tapping. "Arewethereyetarewethereyetarewethereyetarewethereyetarewethereyetarewethereyetarewether eyetarewethereyetarewethereyetarewethereyetarewethereyet?" The door opened... The girls found an empty corridor. Signs on the wall pointed out which way led to the morgue, the labs, the detention areas, and the administrative offices. If they were caught, they were looking at a minor criminal record. Not to mention the embarrassment of having their parents show up to bail them out. That could be bad. "Which way your dad's the doctor type I've never been down here yes I have and so have you..." Tachyon's voice trailed off. "I...dammit...want to remember and can't." There's a bit of frustration to her voice as her words slow and trail off. Or the embarrassment of getting caught wearing a costume... There was nothing worse than getting caught and having the parents show up. If nothing else, Tachyon reckoned she could strip down to her skivvies and say it was a practical joke on a dare for money... "The morgue can't be far", Katido whispered to Tachyon, "They wouldn't want to have to wheel bodies very far. Let's not get caught, though." "That's a good idea what direction should we go I think its down there to the left and this is just spooky." Tachyon pressed up a bit against Katido. She didn't like this, not one bit...it was too tight, there were bodies down here-and if there weren't, there had been... Katido stealthily walked in the direction the signs indicated, eyes and ears alert for anyone up ahead, or any cameras. Remembering potential bolt-holes as she passed them wasn't a bad idea either. Tachyon followed, one hand lightly on Katido's hip, more comfortable and drawing strength and courage from her friend-Tammy had always been the one for quiet daring into the shadows-Patty like the bright skies and fresh air...together, they did make a good all around team...she eased a little closer, her eyes wide, her breathing as quiet as she could make it... The girls heard voices ahead. One seemed pleading and whining, while the other was firm. Closing distance let them know that the attendant on duty was talking to someone named Carl who wanted information on their victim. Turning to Tachyon, Katido put a finger to her lips and indicated the two up ahead. Heart pounding from nerves, she moved a little closer to size up the situation. She wanted to see if there was any chance of getting into the morgue, especially if the attendant was distracted, or whether the position of the attendant would make any attempt impossible. Katido could see the attendent holding off a man in a light blue suit and straw hat. A camera hung around the man's neck. They were standing in front of the refrigerator door where the bodies were kept in their protective bags. "They're in the way", Katido whispered quietly to Tachyon, "Do we wait, or try to distract them?" "Lets," Tachyon whispered back, "let them argue for a moment we might learn something important and at worst I can carry us both out of here really fast as long as nobody sees your face I'm not worried about mine I'm shaking too fast for someone to get a good look..." "And I'm wearing a mask", Katido whispered, "OK, we wait and listen." "Look, Carl," said the attendant. "The coronor wants us to stop talking to you reporters. You guys publish stuff that is important to the case. I'm sure you understand. It prevents copycats." "Morty, Morty, Morty," said Carl. "I just want to see for myself what's up. Anything I write will not be traced back to you. I promise." "I tell you what," said Morty, adjusting his glasses. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee. If you publish any picture implicating me, I'll tell the DA you must have been trepassing. Got it?" "Got it," said Carl. The attendant strode off down the hall to the employee lounge. Carl waited for him to get out of sight before stepping the refrigerator room. Tachyon's personal vibration picked up a bit as nervousness mounted. "Now's our chance", Katido whispered to Tachyon, "If I can distract him and lure him out, you can get in to look at the body." She nodded. "Gotitwhattyagonnadonevermindjustdoityougogirl," Tachyon replied, her voice just as soft but moving fast enough to blend the words into a worse run-on sentence than normal. She patted Katido on the fanny: "Godowhatyoudodontmakemedothisthing." The speedster focused on moving in as fast as she could once Katido distracted the bottom-feeder with the camera... Katido could still hear the retreating footsteps of the attendant leaving the hall. Nodding, Katido crept towards the refrigerator room. Katido paused until she couldn't hear the attendant before going forward to the refrigerator door. "Well, hello Carl", she purred from the doorway. To draw him off, she planned to back away in the direction Morty had gone, leaving Tachyon with a clear run behind him. It was risky, since it put Carl between her and the freight elevator, but she was confident she could dive past the reporter when the time came. Tachyon held herself ready, not quite wanting to go into the room with the cadaver by herself, but knowing it had to be done...it felt wrong, just wrong...but she'd do it anyway. The blonde wished she had a camera to take stills of this...for a moment, taking the reporter's camera came to mind but she dismissed it-that would be stealing... ...and she waited as patiently as she could... ...and Tachyon continued to wait and vibrate in place... The reporter had the body of Tutterow pulled out of the drawer, camera in hand to take a picture. He turned at the sound of a voice when he thought he was alone, hand pressing down on the camera button. "Aren't you a little young to be running around in a mask?," he asked. "Wait a minute. What are you doing down here anyway?" Tachyon picked up the vibration and chanted a silent mantra to herself and Katido: "Gititdonegetitdonegetitdone..." She moved at the sight of his camera, to make it harder for him to get a clear shot. She might be masked, but no sense in taking extra risks. "Following you, at the moment. You've been very naughty, haven't you?" It was a shot in the dark, but she guessed a reporter might have a few guilty secrets. Katido backed away from the door, hoping to draw Carl out. "Not really," said the reporter. "Mr. Tutterow and I were just having a quiet conversation before you arrived. Why are you here at the morgue if I may enquire?" Tachyon's frustration level mounted a bit as she waited against her will, knowing full well, remembering full well, that she had been able to run *through* walls rather than *into* them... And was unwilling to try. She kept her mouth shut and waited... The reporter raised his camera again to take a shot as he stepped away from the body. He paused at the door, unsure which was the better story. Dead body, or live cat girl. Katido danced further away, again to make taking a picture harder. "Can't catch me that easily, Carl. Is that silly straw hat your own?" "I'll have you know it's the height of fashion," the reporter said, standing just inside the door. He paused to listen for footsteps. "I have a job to do, young lady, if you don't mind. Run along now. I'm sure it's after your bedtime." 9:00 pm Eric Drake, wearing his old costume, knew that he was an essential cog in Pusher's plan to break into the system and narrow down the target list. He could see it in the other boy's eyes that he expected help doing that. You know if you keep looking at me that way I'm seriousily gonna have to rethink what I need to do." He joked "so what area of information do you want to try for first mon-capitan?" "The city keeps their employment records at city hall," said Pusher. "All we have to do is get in and you can work your magic on the computers for every city school employee on the job. That will give us a list of however many principals are on the job. Tomorrow I can get us a computer for home use maybe." "Not a problem." Eric smiled a bit and stood up "So we go to city hall. A few guards about now. Shouldn't be to hard I think." he patted his belt a bit as walked towards the exit. "So let’s go. If we get in quickly all I'll need are a few modem numbers to hack into the city’s databases from any remote computer system with a net based connection." He walked out, having the costume really did bring back all the old courage and thrill it seemed. More like old times than he knew but even still. He was about to go back to the way he use to be strangely enough doing heroic activities this time around. Still he hoped he hadn't scared Tachyon to much when he had lost control, at least this time around he could at least keep his wits about him. Wouldn't do to have a pregnant speedster running around the city. “We’ll have to take the bus," said Pusher, leading the way to a small door in the back of the new headquarters. "Then I can get us in the building with no problem" Titan left to go home, figuring to sneak back out if necessary. Luckily when he got home his father was still at work, he just ate a quiet dinner with his mother and went to his room to study. He was so used to living in a dorm, living at home was a shock. Titan set up his patent-pending sleeping in bed disguise(a football helmet, his pads and some pillows) and left through the window. He then headed for 'base'. By the time Titan got across town, he saw Pusher and a costumed boy waiting at a bus stop. They seemed to be waiting for transportation to somewhere. The size changing hero knew that Pusher could fly through things. The other kid must be ground bound. “Buses might prove a problem. This costume doesn't exactly blend into society very well." Eric checked one of the belt pockets pulling out a grappler gun. "We’re going to need a vehicle that we can ride around in to boot." "Unfortunately I don't have a license yet," said Pusher. "Maybe you could ask your dad for some kind of special disposition. After all the Teen Titans don't have to ask to fly the T-jet through a busy air space. I'll think of something. I only had enough money for that TV." "City Scrap yards have cars, they also have impound lots with cars for sale. Perhaps we should try there." Eric was silently annoyed at being asked even in a joking fashion to go to his father. "Call me Crush, nice to meet you. Either you’re Hardball, or I presume you’re Titan." Eric spoke holding out a hand. "A pleasure. We’re on our way to City Hall," he added in a bit more of a hushed tone. "Crush?," said Pusher, scratching the back of his head. "Crush. Why Crush? Why not use your old name? Where's everybody else, Titan?" "Mostly because I made it up on the spur of the moment. This is an old costume might as well..aww heck lets just keep it easy. Just call me Emp." He looked at Titan wondering if he knew and had been just playing along with the two of them. "Damn, you had be fooled with that new costume." Titan said. "Scrap yard could work, if we can fix one up. And I don't have my license yet." "Oh, and I have no idea where Motormouth went. She bolted quickly when the cops put the kibosh on givin' us information. I assume Lady Flame went home to check in...we have 'curfew', remember?" "Speak for yourself," said Pusher. "I'll see about getting us a team car. How hard could that be?" "Depends on the route you take.." Eric noticed the bus coming he used the cape to conceal the rest of the costume in darkness and stepped back to conceal himself from the driver. "Guess this is a good a time as any to test my gear." he whispered as the bus stopped. Looking over at Pusher, Titan says "Well, that works." Titan shrinks down and leaps for the bus to climb to the top. "You coming?' "Sure," said Jared Lee, wearing normal clothes without his mask. He paid the driver and moved to the back of the bus. He looked out the window as the bus started forward. Emp waited for them to board before using his using his Grapple gun and his skill at acrobatics to land on top of the bus quickly using the grapple to hold onto the roof before sliding off the currently slow moving bus. The driver and passengers looked up at the noise from the roof but didn't think enough of it to stop and investigate. Eric watched the vehicles moving by the bus, some passer by's certainly gestured towards the group on top as they moved by. "Head’s up. Here comes our stop." Releasing the clamp on his Grapple gun he fired silently towards city hall as the bus moved past towards it's stop a block away. Luckily while there where few guards outside of city hall he could get away with this stunt. Getting in was going to be the big miracle with the group with him. Sailing over the side walk most of the way and moving swiftly up in a climb he was on the roof and waiting for the others now. At least this wasn't a batman comic, they'd have a big light up here with some sort of police comiss... He blinked wondering where -THAT- Memory had come from it'd been years since...oh yeah, he was a Teen again he likely was remembering something he read as a 'teen' all over again. "Hope they can get up here without any problems." Jared got off the bus at the closest stop. He switched clothes as he walked toward City Hall. He waited for Titan before sticking his hand in the wall and carrying the both of them to the roof. The roof had massive air vents for air conditioners, and an emergency door designed to lock to keep people out but sound an alarm when opened. Titan just grabbed hold of him and took a free ride. Titan responds "Yeah, I hope HE can get up here. There are advantages to being small. You want to wait for him, or see if we can get in first?' "It shouldn't be a problem," said Jared. "Getting in shouldn't be much of a problem with Jared here at all. I figure he can shake the lock undone on the door up here. However once we’re in, we'll need to move quickly and not get noticed. All I'll need is a modem number but three would work better so find a computer and write the numbers down quickly. Then get the heck out of here." He held out two pens he'd brought with him. "Shall we?" Titan stared at the pen that was about his size. "Umm...I' don't think that's gonna work. I'll just memorize some." Then turning to Pusher, "Can you disable the alarm? Or do you need me to go in through the AC vent?" "It shouldn't be much of a problem unless they have one of those special locks on the door," said Pusher, face mask a black blur in the dark. "Hold on." He stepped through the door. A moment later, he pushed the heavy metal open. Titan and Emp could see where he pulled the connections at the top of the door apart with his powers. "All we have to do is worry about security," he said. "Alright, that works. Let me go first. I can check for live security and it's unlikely anyone would notice me." Titan responded as he head through the door. "Lead the way," said Pusher. "I don't know if we can use any computer in the building but I noticed the payroll division was on the fifth." "That'll be perfect." Eric mentioned as he walked in with the group. "Costume from your former life?," Pusher said. "Won't your trainer recognize it?" Titan noticed the halls were clear. The city must rely on its human guards to protect things for the most part. It would be easy for a meta human to play havoc with the system by doing what they were doing. "Very likely." he added as he moved silently down the halls following Titan. "Well looks like we have the run of the place," he added quietly to the group. Seeing it was clear Titan waved them on "This way is clear. Lets get to the stairs. Remember to be quiet, stairs echo." With that Titan led them to the stairwell, looking for an alarm on them. (Never could be too paranoid). The stairs were clear as far as the tiny hero could tell. "If you want to change your colors, that should be easy to do," said Pusher. "That's why I asked about the costume." "Gear & Equipment, besides. Maybe since we came back I can change a few things too." It was too quite luckily this was city hall nobody really expected someone to break in but still the lack of security guards was somewhat annoying. He kept his eyes open for security cameras as well. No need getting this group in trouble if he was already known. Time Jumping was just plain annoying when he didn't know what hand you dealt. "Colors are a lot easier for me to deal with right now," said Pusher. His black costume took on a green and gray look for a few seconds before reverting back. "Machinery I can tinker with, but prefer to examine before trying to change it."