Both Sides Now (IC/NA)

[bury the year]

Liberty Bay was a city that was once gold in its youth, but now greyed and senescent. Wil wasn’t surprised by this, though. He hadn’t been around for when the “City on the Bay” had been christened with its new title almost 70 years ago, but his grandmother was, and when she was still alive she spoke rapturously of trolleys cresting the steep hill, of the scent of redwoods drifting from the north over the waters, of glistening fogs creeping in the dawn hours.

But now it was all stone and propaganda posters. And Wil himself was partially responsible. He grimaced as he trudged down up one of the narrow alleys that cut off of 1st Avenue, his eyes having momentarily swept over a worn poster glued to the wall. A masked man in shades of blue was punching the lights out of his counterpart in red. The text below read “LET’S PUNCH OUT THE RED MENACE!” and a few tips on how to avoid leaking information to the enemy. The enemy. The Soviets were a nebulous bogeyman to Liberty Bay’s residents. There hadn’t been a single Red-affiliated villain attack on the bay in the last five years. Even if there was, it wasn’t like the Soviets were going to admit culpability.

And of course he had a role to play in that all. It was a quiet past week for Wil-o-Wisp, which didn’t bear well for his alter ego. Wil glanced down once more at his cell phone. It was a message from Amelia, curt as always. ‘Meet at base before 1300 hr for briefing.’ Thankfully he had planned to not do too much today - morning run, weightlifting before noon, and then… well, whatever other plans he had were gone.

Well, here he was. Wil jogged up the steps of Proserpina Manor, the tenement building that had been surreptitiously bought and modified by the BMA for its employees’ use. Each of the six heroes comprising Liberty Bay’s team had their own suite on the top floor, and each floor below that housed the other branch workers. While larger cities - Los Angeles, New York - would have more public digs for their heroes, Liberty Bay’s team was relatively new. They weren’t high-profile enough yet to go public, like with the likes of Miss America or the Grey Hawk.

He nodded to the doorman and slipped into the elevator. “Let’s see… where’s that key…” Wil fiddled around in his pocket for the small silver key that was the object of his search. Finally successful, he stooped down a bit and inserted the key into the firefighter call box. A hidden panel shifted away to reveal a thumbprint scanner. Wil pressed the digit against the glass until the cheery successful “beep!” told him to withdraw it.

The elevator shuddered and descended, going down a floor too many for just the basement. The doors creaked open and Wil stepped into what was termed “the Hot Room.” Where the team would be briefed by their handler, Dr. Goldsworth, on their next mission.

Although team usually comprised of more than one member. He only saw the good doctor sitting at the sleek black table: apparently everyone else was yet to arrive. “Fancy that,” Wil said, nodding to Amelia. “I’m the first one.” He took his preferred seat at the table of seven and drummed his fingers on the waiting manila folder. The setup meant that this was going to be an extraction mission. Nothing high-profile, but it was going to test their mettle. Just what Wil-o-Wisp liked.

((All heroes should make their way to the Hot Room to receive their briefing. Aix, I’ve taken the liberty of already placing Amelia there. Hope you don’t mind.))

[Cherz]

Courtney had been lounging around her room all morning. She noticed Wil had gone off for his morning run, seeing his figure flee in the distance. She herself had some other plans. All morning, she watched her friend Jarrod play soccer with his friends. Not visibly, of course, but occasionally one of the players on the opposite team would somehow trip. She delighted in aiding his team, even though he never suspected a thing. After a bit of messing around on the field that morning, she returned to Proserpina Manor. She had promised Jarrod she would go to his friend's party with him later tonight, but upon checking her phone, she noticed she had gotten a notification. She pursed her lips tightly, but orders were orders. She sent him a quick message, a lie about why she couldn't make it, then lounged around while she waited longer.

 

Courtney had been walking to the elevator, fiddling around her hand bag to find the key. Once she had found it, she walked into the elevator and inserted the key into its desired location. The thumb print scanner revealed itself, and after  brief delay, her print was approved. The elevator made its decent to her desired room. As it went down, she slowly faded. When the elevator door opened, it seemed as if no one was inside it.

 

Casually walking forward, she noticed Wil had already taken a seat. She rolled her eyes, unseen to everyone else. It was so like him to be first there. She moved as quietly as possible toward the seat right next to him. Then, she pulled a mean little prank. Immediately revealing herself, she shouted 'Boo.'

 

"Did I scare ya?" Was all she said to him, before taking a seat right next to him. She looked over at the Doctor in the room, and waved, before turning her attention to the folder.

 

"How interesting." 

[Mr. Hyde]

Liberty Bay...so much different than his home back in Michigan.  Tristan lay on the floor of his suite.  A shadow loomed over on the other side of the floor, opposite him.  Before the boy, a game of war between him and an invisible opponent was being waged.  The blue guys he had been controlling had taken Australia, Africa, and the Americas.  Now the Red's were on the assault, about to contest him for Europe.  His opponent always knew how to push his buttons...but this time he would best him.    

 

His concentration was broken by a text from a certain Doctor.  A doctor that had a tight leash around every hero in this place.  He didn't mind however...this place helped him control his powers.  If he could control them...maybe he could go back one day.  

 

Unlikely

 

"Until next time."  He said as he rose from his position.  However, his opponent would surely follow him, upset that their game hadn't been finished.  He always did anyhow. 

 

He slowly but surely made his way to one of the many elevators in the hallway.  He had been standing in front of the damn thing for five minutes before his eyes wandered to the slot right next to it.  He still wasn't used to how things worked around here.  He grabbed the card out of his pocket hastily and ended up having it fumble onto the floor.  His shadow seemed to fidget, as if it were laughing.  The hand of his shadow moved to pick up the card and, unearthly like, the shadow rose from the floor in a foggy black form until it rose to Tristan's hand. 

 

"Oh...thanks."  He could hardly tell if he did that unconsciously, or if this damn thing had a mind of it's own.  An insert of the card, and a thumb scan later, and Tristan was on his way to the lowest level.  The Hot Room.  Manila folders were laid out for each member of this...'team'...that they had going on.  Doctor Goldsworth sat at the end of the table, and it looked like Wil and Courtney had already made it to the meeting.  He made his way to one of the chairs across from his other teammates.  He eyed the closed folder, not even bothering to open it...they would be briefed shortly anyways.   

 

"Well...I thought I'd be the last to arrive.  Can we make this quick?  I got a game to get back to."  

[Aix]

Amelia's eyebrows were creased in deep concentration. As they often were. Before her was the mission briefing and a clipboard with summary profiles of each of the team members, not that she actually needed the papers, all of the data was perfectly stored in her head. However, if anything they provided something for her eyes to focus on as the gears in her brain whirled away. What was the best she could do as the superheroes' supervisor? How could each of the superheroes' strengths be better brought out? To be honest, some, if not all, of their attitudes were a proble—

 

"Fancy that." Wil's entrance made Amelia slam her coffee cup on the table as the sudden stimulus knocked her out of her contemplation.

 

"I’m the first one."

 

"Hi, Wil. Haha, yeah you're the fir—no wait, I'm first, well I guess, you're the first of the superheroes." And the torrent of words just burst out, as if someone just flipped a switch and all the pressure built up during her silent reflection was released. "How are you? Keeping up well? Of course you are, it makes me really relieved as your supervisor the way which you maintain yourself. Make yourself comfortable, and go ahead and look inside the folders. The downside of being first is that you have to wait, unfortunately."

 

The thought suddenly struck Amelia that perhaps there should be an incentive for the superheroes to arrive earlier, rather than being punished for arriving early like this. With that, she sipped her coffee and sunk back into quiet contemplation. Occasionally, she would glance around the Hot Room, and even at Wil. There wasn't much in this roo—

 

"Boo!"

 

"Ah!" With a small frown, Amelia grabbed a handful of tissues and began to cleaning up the coffee spilt on her lap. "Courtney, I should remind you that your power isn't going to be as effective on people who know about it," said Amelia. "Especially in a room with a door, you know! Anyway, how are you, Courtney? Feeling ready? I'm sure you are!"

 

The elevator door opened again. "Well...I thought I'd be the last to arrive. Can we make this quick? I got a game to get back to."

 

"Hello, Tristan," said Amelia, turning to the newcomer. "Come on, sit down. Be patient, every mission is very important and can't be rushed." She clapped her hands together and stood up. "Oh, but I'm sure the others will arrive soon. You won't be waiting too long. Would you like coffee? Any of you? I'm just about to brew another cup."

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

 

Giovanna Vignali remembered simply walking down street with her youngest sister Sabrina, as she was supposed to be walking her to school that day. Along the way, both the girls had stopped to get ice-cream, before setting off once again. It was supposed to be a peaceful walk; Sabrina's walks to school always used to be the case, and Giovanna had planned to get herself a job as well so that she could get some more money coming in for the family she'd been trying it. However, it all went horribly wrong the moment Sabrina tripped on a shoe lace that had come undone just as she got to the edge of a sidewalk, screaming in pain as she landed on all fours across the road. Giovanna had only looked up at the sky for a few seconds, but apparently that was all it took.

 

"SABRINA??!!" Giovanna ran up to the sidewalk where Sabrina had tripped, only stopping to ensure nothing was coming that would inadvertently run the poor girl down as she tried to get up on her feet, "Can you get up? We need to get you off the road as soon as we can,"

 

Sabrina shook her head at first, but had then noticed that Giovanna had extended a hand in order to try to help her up. She looked to be successful at first, but as she let go, the girl fell over backwards and landed back where she started; except this time, Sabrina landed on her butt instead of on all fours. It was a small wonder this happened when Giovanna saw the state of her knees, gasping in shock. Sabrina's knees looked to be bleeding from having taken the front of her fall, and they'd become too far weakened to support the rest of her body. The backpack that she was wearing to school wasn't helping matters at all.

 

Unbeknownst to the two sisters, an eighteen-wheeled delivery truck was cruising down this very road that Sabrina had tripped and fell onto this whole time, and by the time the driver had caught of the girls, Giovanna had just picked up the injured in her arms. The driver slammed on the brakes upon noticing them, but that wasn't gonna be enough to stop the truck in time. The only thing Giovanna remembered was cradling her injured sister as she turned her back to the truck...

 

...

 

Incidentally, the flashback that Giovanna had suffered from had ended, and she'd woken up with a start. Water was splattering all over her face and down her naked body, and as she looked down where she thought she'd been holding Sabrina a second ago, Giovanni realized that the only thing she had her arms wrapped around were her own breasts. Suddenly, tears began to stream down Giovanna's face, and she then buried her hands into them as she cried. This continued for quite some time, and until suddenly, she heard a sound coming from her phone, which she'd placed near the clothes she wanted to change into. Looking up briefly, Giovanna had noted that the phone had vibrated as well, and that the sound it emitted was a short one. No doubt this was to alert the young 19-year-old woman that she just received a text from someone, so she shut the water off that was previously running, and dried herself off before checking her phone.

 

"Oh, but of course," she murmured softly, before letting out a brief sigh. The text she read had come from a Dr. Amelia Goldsworth, the woman who seemed to be in charge of the safety and welfare of these so-called superheroes. However, while Amelia seemed nicer than the other agents within the Bureau of Metahuman Activity (even if that was only on the surface), the fact that she worked with the agency in the first place still sent a chill down Giovanna's spine. Nonetheless, the look of the text that Amelia sent seemed to indicate that Giovanna needed to get down to the Hot Room urgently, so she got dressed and got going.

 

Sure enough, Amelia was down at the Hot Room to meet in person, and some of the heroes had made their way down themselves as well. Normally Giovanna would smile and wave to the other heroes, or even Amelia as well if she was in the mood, as she sat down with all the the others for each meeting; but not today. She was still saddened by the flashback that she had earlier, and the odd tear or two could be seen rolling down her cheeks.

[Hälō]

"You know... I've been meaning to ask you," The owner of the hot dog stand that Bruno was currently terrorizing finally found time to speak after preparing the fifth dog of the boy's order. "You said you need to eat all the time because of your metabolism, right?"

 

"Yep." Bruno grunted in between bites, small chunks of food flying from his mouth as he inhaled the 4th hot dog to free up his hand for the 5th.

 

 

"So does that mean you....." The vendor moved his hand in a flowing motion, before pausing awkwardly as if he were trying to find the proper words. "You know.... empty the tank more oft-" Jumping slightly at the sound of Bruno's cell phone going off, the man fell silent as the boy reached into his pocket to and scanned the contents of the text he had just received.

 

"Welp, there goes the rest of my day..." Bruno mumbled to himself before sliding his phone back into his pocket, and producing a few folded bills. "The Doc really has a knack for interrupting my pre-lunch snacks." Placing the money in the vendor's hand, Bruno gave the man a nod before vanishing in a flurry of movement.

 

 

One thing that everyone had failed to mention about super-speed, was that not everything was meant to move at two hundred miles per hour. Bruno found himself adding new things to his "No fly list" everyday- and sadly it seemed that hot dogs would find their place right up there with ice cream, and middle schoolers... Taking a moment to mourn the loss of his snack, and marvel at the fact that the lady that had received it in the face was not at all thrilled at the prospect of free food being flung at her, Bruno pressed his thumb on the finger scanner, before stepping into the elevator.

 

Ordinarily this would be his least favorite part of the day. Elevators were one of Bruno's pet-peeves, but to be fair; anything that required him to wait more than a few seconds often times drove him a little crazy.

 

Stepping into the Hot Room, Bruno took a moment to scan the faces of those who had already arrived. "The Doc, Casper, Wil, Sir Broodelot," He silently went over the team's names in his head. "and Giova- oh." Bruno watched the tears fall down the blonde's face in painfully slow motion, before vanishing in his trademark blur.

 

A slight breeze flowed through the room as Bruno dashed past Amelia, grabbing a tissue from her side of the table before reappearing in the seat next to Giovanna. Causally, the Bruno offered the Giovanna the tissue whilst taking extra care to avoid eye contact. "Shall I run up to Warren's room and drag his ass out of bed again?" He addressed the team before leaning back in his chair.

[Hakima]

"I knew it was too good to be true." Warren groaned and sat up, rubbing the last remnants of sleep from his eyes. His phone continued to ring from the pocket of the sweatpants he had discarded the night before, louder than any one phone should have had the right to be. He threw his blanket off and swung his feet over the edge of the bed,  grabbing his phone out of his pants to check what Amelia had to say. She was pretty much the only member of the team who ever bothered to message him before three, so he didn’t doubt it was her.

 

 

Meet at the base before 1300 hours. The message read, which was… twenty minutes away. Great.

 

He put his phone away and yawned, reaching his arms toward the ceiling to wake up his muscles. No point in putting it off. In truth, he had been getting kind of bored. Liberty City had been too quiet lately, and he had the itch to blow something out that couldn’t be scratched when he wasn’t on a mission. Hopefully it wasn’t some kid who had just discovered his powers and was freaking out, like it had been last time.

 

Warren hauled himself to his feet and scooped up a shirt and the cleanest pair of sweatpants he could find, shuffling toward the bathroom. He was going to be late anyways, so a few extra minutes of waiting wouldn’t kill anyone.

 

. . .

 

Warren pressed his thumb to the scanner and stepped into the elevator, glancing at the clock on his phone. He was late five minutes and counting, and he had two unread messages that he would have been willing to bet were his supervisor nagging him about showing up. He shrugged at the thought. She was probably the smartest person he’d ever met, except maybe Tristan, but she could be a pain in his ass sometimes.

 

His phone went off again, and he powered it off and shoved it in his pocket. He was on his way already, damn it. Well, he mused, looking at the half-eaten bagel and carton of orange juice he had stopped to grab on his way down. Probably could have showed up faster, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day. His next thought was if it counted as breakfast if he was eating it at 1:06, but he shoved that to the back of his mind and took a drink of his orange juice.

 

Warren stepped out of the elevator and into the Hot Room just as he was finishing the last bite of his bagel. The rest of the team had already arrived, seated in their various spots around the table. Wil looked as serious as always, probably displeased at him, but that was nothing new. Tristan was obviously bored out of his mind, which Warren couldn’t blame him for, and Bruno seemed to be ready to run off and drag him down there. He didn’t see Courtney, but if the floating papers were a good indication she had just lost interest and turned invisible. He specifically avoided looking at Amelia while he walked over to his seat, preferring to focus on the new girl, Giovanna. Had she been crying? That wasn’t normal. At least, he didn’t think it was, but people weren’t really his thing.

 

"Hey. Did I miss anything?" 

[Aix]

"Giovanna! Nice to have you join us!" exclaimed Amelia, turning from the coffee machine. "How are you? Would you like coffee? Coffee always makes a morning better... although it's afternoon." Then she noticed the moistness of the girl's eyes. "Are you alright? Is there anything I could do for you?"
 
There was a sudden burst of wind and Bruno appeared by Giovanna's side with tissues. "Shall I run up to Warren's room and drag his ass out of bed again?" asked the speedster.
 
"Geez, sleeping in past noon isn't healthy," said Amelia as she sat down. "I'll message him and we'll wait. I'm sure he'll be rushing to be as not late as possible!" Which was not true as they ended up waiting five minutes for the last of their number, who marched in casually and slovenly as ever.
 
"Hey. Did I miss anything?"
 
"Warren, Warren, Warren! Did you miss anything? Red supervillains could be storming Liberty Bay! Every second lost is a lost opportunity to have a fairy tale rescue situation. Imagine it, Jennifer Lawrence is being held hostage, but with an explosion—BLAM—Boomburst arrives to save the day! Except it won't happen, because he slept in!" said Amelia vehemently. "But let's avoid people getting held hostage if possible, please. Alright, listen up and open your folders, today's an important mission. I bet you've all heard of Dr. Friedell, the robotics scientist and anti-metahuman activist. We've caught wind that he has secretly been working on a mechanical superweapon to wreck havoc on Liberty Bay. Our source tells us it is a giant remote-controlled robot dinosaur. We weren't able to get our hands on blueprints, but you can't mistake it, I mean it's just some big T. rex thing. Anyway, he's got a laboratory at the outer fringes of the industrial district. We're going to storm the complex and destroy it before it gets activated... and I mean activated because it's apparently already finished construction."
 
From there, Amelia outlined what was going on. When she finished, she clapped her hands together and looked each of them in the eye. "Let's go, heroes. Let's protect Liberty Bay!" she said. After a pause, she added on. "And I've been thinking... should we have a cheer?"

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

 

"Are you alright? Is there anything I can do for you?" Another tear softly rolled down Giovanna's cheek as she heard this, but she shook her head in response.

 

"I... I just miss my family is... oh?!" her eyes widened in surprise as a box of tissues entered her vision from as near as made no difference out of nowhere, but Giovanna knew exactly who to show gratitude towards; after all, there was only one person capable of moving items around that fast, "Thank you, Bruno,"

 

Grabbing one of the tissues, Giovanna wiped away some of the stray tears that slid down her face, before finally looking at the manila folder in front of her and listening to Amelia's briefing. She couldn't say that she ever heard of this... Dr. Friedell, or whoever this person was supposed to be. After this was only her first time out on the field... or was it her second? In any case, with what only being discovered and brought in by the BMA three months ago, Giovanna could most definitely say that she had much less experience performing all these heroic deeds than the others, so she wasn't sure how much help she'd be.

 

The lack of blueprints wasn't helping Giovanna with acquiring any ideas, but she couldn't blame Amelia for being unable to acquire them. Although...

 

"What exactly's stopping us from just busting through the front door and tearing this thing a new one?" asked Giovanna. Of course, if one was smart enough to built a mechanical super-weapon from the ground up, it'd be silly to expect that same person to be dumb enough to leave such a machine unguarded. However, Giovanna asked this question so she could get an idea on how many men this Dr. Friedell may have managed to hire in order to defend the machine.

[Hakima]

"Warren, Warren, Warren! Did you miss anything? Red supervillains could be storming Liberty Bay! Every second lost is a lost opportunity to have a fairy tale rescue situation. Imagine it, Jennifer Lawren - ”

 

Warren propped his head up with his hand and did his best to tune the lecture out. It had been the same song and dance since the first day she had taken over as the team’s supervisor, and he had gotten used to ignoring her while she wound herself down. She reminded him of a bee in a lot of ways; efficient, ingenious, hardworking, and a really big pain in the ass to deal with. She was the same pain in the ass who had successfully lead the team and managed to hold them all together in spite of their differences, though, so he supposed he had to cut her some slack.

 

He tuned back into the conversation just in time to catch the majority of the debriefing for the mission. Dr. Friedell, that was a name he hadn’t heard in awhile. They had dealt with him a couple of times, and each time had been the kind of mission that some loser wrote comic books about. The Doctor had a knack for being. . . irrational with what he chose to do with his sizable fortune, and this time seemed to be no different. A giant dinosaur robot? Where did someone even come up with something like that? Warren shook his head. He personally thought the best way to deal with a problem was to blast it sky high, but not everyone could apply that one, so it was understandable that a giant robot had been needed.

 

Well, not really, but he had stopped trying to make sense of it all a long time ago.

 

"And I've been thinking... should we have a cheer?"

 

And that was why. Warren looked over at Amelia, staring blankly. “You want us to have... a cheer? Why?” He was once again curious if the good doctor had been pulled straight from the pages of fiction to be their supervisor. Out of all the things she could have been thinking about, why in the hell was it about a cheer?

 

"What exactly's stopping us from just busting through the front door and tearing this thing a new one?"

 

Warren had managed to forget how new Giovanna was to their little slice of Hell. She had taken to the life of a hero surprisingly well for a teenager who had discovered her powers so late in her life, and her attitude had been a good change of pace from the sense of apathy the majority of them exuded when they were required to be in the same room for more than five minutes. “Place is bound to be crawling with idiots with guns. The bastard is a rich one, and he’ll have no trouble paying his men.” Warren explained to her. He glanced across the table at Wil and Tristan. “That’s about all I can tell you about it all though. Will and Tristan are the ones who generally make the plans, I just provide the explosions to back it all up."  To illustrate his point Warren snapped his fingers, and a small crackle of flames burst to life a few inches in front of his face with a soft 'pop', before quickly sizzling out. "Speaking of which…”

 

He looked questioningly at Amelia. “How much collateral are we allowed?”

 

[spoiler=Disclaimer]

It's not Hyde's fault what Warren says in his post isn't accurate. I woke up just now and realized I posted the wrong draft, so I replaced it with the right one.

 

It's still the same thing just worded differently. 

 

Really sorry and I'll make sure not to do it again.

[Mr. Hyde]

The briefing was short...and boring.  It wasn't surprising, but he had thought becoming one of the supposed 'supers' would improve his life.  What a bummer it actually turned out to be.  Their target was Dr. Friedell, a robotics scientist who had finally created something to wipe out Liberty Bay.  In the back of his mind, he was already creating plans, but none of them seemed to work in the long run...not with this team anyways.  Someway or another, one of them would just screw everything up in the end...nothing ever went according to plan.  What was the point of coming up with a foolproof plan if the people on his team were beyond foolish?  

 

Maybe he was being a little harsh...today had been a little more rough than usual.  Looking around at the team, emotions varied.  One of them was even crying.  

 

"I... I just miss my family" 

 

"Family huh....who needs 'em."  Tristan thought to himself.  After all, it was his own brother that reported him for his powers...they didn't care what he had been through.  

 

"Let's go, heroes. Let's protect Liberty Bay!  And I've been thinking... should we have a cheer?" 

 

 “You want us to have. . . a cheer? Why?”

 

"Geez...way to go and bite her head off.  At least someone is trying to raise spirits in this dump.  I agree that we should have a cheer....something like...'Freedom Ring!'..."  He clasped his mouth, realizing that he had shouted the phrase.  Rolling his eyes, and turning red, he sat back in his chair and kicked his legs onto the table.  His feet landed right on top of the open manila envelope.  

 

"What exactly's stopping us from just busting through the front door and tearing this thing a new one?" 

 

“Place is bound to be crawling with idiots with guns.  Friedell is loaded, and he’ll have paid just about anyone who’ll pick up a gun to keep his stupid project safe.” He could feel eyes being flicked his way.  I’m not really the plan guy. Wil and Tristan could probably give you a lot more information. I'm just here to blow s*** up. Speaking of which. . .how much collateral are we allowed?”

 

Tristan yawned.  

 

"Always with you and the explosions...maybe instead of asking that question, you learn how to keep your power in check?"  He closed his eyes as his chair started to tilt backwards.  "As for the plan....I don't have one....not one you numb-skulls would follow anyways.  I'm too tired to think of one extensively as of now anyways."  Puzzles were more his thing...plans and puzzles differed greatly.  However, in chess, it was always wise to come into a game with a strategy already in place.  "It's obvious we strike at night...stealth this one out you know?  But that's all I got for you.  Wil can figure out the rest!"   

[Cherz]

Courtney just rolled her eyes when Amelia chastised her. After all, jump scares still happened, even if you expected them. She had grown bored waiting for the others, and considered talking to Wil, but as she did the others slowly trickled in. Gio looked to be crying, but Courtney did nothing of it. People crying in public made her uncomfortable, so instead she turned invisible and began sifting through the various paper scattered about, giving the impression she was bored. She generally ignored Tristan because he was always such a downer, but despite his poor attitude she didn't particularly hate him, or let her personal opinions intervene with working with him. Bruno was alright, as was Warren, though their childish bickering got to her every now and then. Courtney didn't know Gio well enough to formulate an opinion on her. Wil was her favorite of the bunch, and the one she felt closest to. Each of these thoughts came and went as people entered. She knew she wasn't visible to them, but the floating papers were a giveaway to her position anyways.

 

After what felt like an eternity, Dr. Amelia began to talk again, much to the relief of Courtney. She was excited to get moving again. Hopefully, they would finish early so she could maybe surprise Jarrod and show up after all, but she knew it was a pipe dream. After all, protecting America was her top priority, and everything else came second to that end goal. The briefing was relatively simple, and pretty expected of this particular individual. A giant mecha dinosaur wasn't very inconspicuous though She thought about it, when Amelia proposed the idea of a cheer. Courtney was for the idea, but blunt 'ol Warren was opposed to it. Sure enough, the loud mouths of her good intentioned teammates began running.

 

 “You want us to have. . . a cheer? Why?”

 

"Geez...way to go and bite her head off.  At least someone is trying to raise spirits in this dump.  I agree that we should have a cheer....something like...'Freedom Ring!'..."

 

Courtney let out a small laugh, reminding everyone that she was, in-fact, present. Returning to the visible spectrum, she held her hand over her mouth, stifling a few giggles.

 

"Well well well! Looks like you can have fun once in a while!" She said, kicking her feet up on the desk. He realized he had said it too, and clasped his mouth, but it was already said.

 

"Although, I am definitely not opposed to having a cheer either. Something like 'Heroes on 3.' I like that." She looked to the heroes who had yet to speak, Bruno and Wil, to see if they agreed, before returning to the topic at hand.

 

"I'm sure you get it by now, he has a lot of hired arms. However, we don't necessarily have to wait for night. You want stealth? Look no further. The load of you can do what you do best and make some noise, along with a mess, while I sneak in and destroy some stuff." She proposed, turning invisible then visible at the bat of an eyelash, to show she could sneak around. As if to further make a point, she got up and walked right through Wil, then back.

 

"Of course, I'm open to other ideas. What do you think Wil? How about you Bruno?"

[bury the year]

“Geh!” It wasn’t the first time Courtney had startled Wil by sneaking up behind him, but he was hoping it would be the last. “Can you not do that?” he snapped. She giggled and ignored him. Didn’t seem like that would be the case. He made his displeasure as clear as possible, crossing his arms and frowning deeply as Ghost giggled again and slipped into her chair at the table. The rest followed in shortly after, some with more energy than others. Notably, Wil noticed that Giovanna was stifling back tears, made even more apparent by the apparition of a box of tissues to right next to her. He inwardly sighed. That girl had enough issues to fund a whole team of angsty supers.

 

Amelia didn’t seem to notice, though, as she offered everyone coffee. “I’ll pass for today, Amelia. Thanks.” His gaze drooped a bit as he said it, though, and begrudgingly Wil motioned for her to slide a mug down in front of him. He took a sip and almost instantly felt his energy perk up again a bit. With that taken care of, the super’s eyes turned towards the file as he leafed through the papers inside. The results were… less than pleasing.

 

“Ugh, not this guy again. Weren’t we dealing with his mooks just a month ago?” He knew the answer was a ‘yes.’ The “Good Doctor” had been a thorn in the side of the Liberty Bay team for a while now, but they hadn’t previously known where his headquarters were hidden. Until now, that is. Apparently the BMA had been stepping its intel game up a few notches. Which made Wil question how well it was working in the first place.

 

“Okay, so. I’m guessing we should probably split into two teams for this mission. One group will tackle the taking down of henchmen and arresting the doctor. The other will need to wreck that robot. I don’t think we’ll have any issues with the henchmen - from what I know, Friedell is so bad at budgeting that his underlings’ weapons aren’t at all up to date. Bit more concerned about that bot, though…” Wil flipped open the manila folder and pored over the leaked schematics once more. If what the BMA had obtained was correct, then this wasn’t going to be terribly easy.

 

“Any thoughts?”

 

((One round of strategizing ICly, then off to fight!))

[Hälō]

Have you every watched a video in slow motion? Remember how funny you thought it was to hear the audio broken down into guttural moans- how it took the speaker a laughably long time to get out every syllable? Now try picturing that happening every time you stopped focusing on tuning into a conversation... sounds fun, right? Unfortunately for Bruno, this was just another of the "perks" of super-speed that they tend to leave out in the brochures.

 

As his teammates discussed whatever they were discussing, Bruno sat in his chair with a glazed expression whilst tapping his fingers on the table with such speed that entire hand appeared to be vibrating. "Maybe I should grab quesadillas for dinner... Chico's has pretty good ones, and that sauce!" He thought to himself whilst his teammates discussed the merits of a cheer. The boy allowed his mind to be lost in the glorious image of himself indulging in Chico's spicy chicken quesadillas for who knows how long, only to be stirred by something far more important... 

 

"But wait! It's Mac 'n Cheese day at the steakhouse down town..." His eyes narrowed as he was suddenly forced to make a critical decision; only barely registering Tristan's voice as it drawled through the air at a sluggish pace. "Hmmmmmmmmm, " Bruno weighed his options: The gooey golden Mac 'n Cheese or the zesty flavor explosions of the quesadillas? Suddenly he heard a laugh that could only belong to Courtney. "I wonder if I should invite Casper? But then I have to go to Chico's... I promised last time I'd show her the joint." Bruno's eyes narrowed again as he continued to drum his fingers. It was obvious that he was in deep thought, and would have appeared that he had taken a great deal of interest in the discussion. 

 

 

"I got! I'll run to the steakhouse first, grab the Mac, then bring it to Chico's and have him through it in the ques- hm?" 

 

"Whhaaaat aaaabbbbooouuut yooooouuu brrrruunoooooo?" s***. Courtney was talking him...

 

“Okay, so. I’m guessing we should probably split into two teams for this mission. One group will tackle the taking down of henchmen and arresting the doctor. The other will need to wreck that robot. I don’t think we’ll have any issues with the henchmen - from what I know, Friedell is so bad at budgeting that his underlings’ weapons aren’t at all up to date. Bit more concerned about that bot, though…” 

 

Refocusing his energy to hearing at a normal pace, Bruno jumped slightly before grabbing his folder and flicking through it's pages at frightening speed. His eyes danced around their sockets as he read through the entirety of the mission info in the time it took will to finish explaining his explaining his plan, his brain processing the information at speeds that shouldn't have been possible.

 

“Any thoughts?”

 

"So Me, Casper, and Tristan take out the goons, whilst Wil, Warren, and Gio smash the mech? Fine by me. We'll back you guys up after we clear house, then we can all grab some Mac 'adilldas after..." Bruno said with a smirk before leaning back in his chair and turning towards Giovanna. "I'm sure some good eats will cheer ya right up." 

[Mr. Hyde]

Out of the corner of his eye, Tristan noticed Courtney laughing at his earlier outburst.  

 

"Well well well! Looks like you can have fun once in a while!"  

 

With that, Tristan sunk lower into his chair, almost turning red.  

 

“Okay, so. I’m guessing we should probably split into two teams for this mission. One group will tackle the taking down of henchmen and arresting the doctor. The other will need to wreck that robot. I don’t think we’ll have any issues with the henchmen - from what I know, Friedell is so bad at budgeting that his underlings’ weapons aren’t at all up to date. Bit more concerned about that bot, though…” 

 

“Any thoughts?”

 

Tristan was about to speak up for once, but was quickly interrupted by Bruno...a common occurrence really. 

 

"So Me, Casper, and Tristan take out the goons, whilst Wil, Warren, and Gio smash the mech? Fine by me. We'll back you guys up after we clear house, then we can all grab some Mac 'adilldas after..." 

 

Tristan sat back up right in his chair, and planted his palms directly on top of the table.  

 

"Listen...do you guys really think the gung-ho style is going to get us through every single mission?!  First off, we don't know if that mechanical thing is fully operational!  At the slightest signal of distress, we're gonna trip an alarm, and that thing could tear all of us to shreds.  Who knows how tough it's armor will be...maybe it can withstand our little firecracker's explosions!"  Tristan sat back again, and took a deep breath.  "Look, I agree we do this in teams of two...but we can't just bust in the front door and get rid of all the guards.  Let's do this by the books for once."  He pinched his brow, thinking of a plan...he hated this. 

 

"Bruno's got a good squad formation plan.  With his super speed he should be able to take out some guards rather quickly and easily.  I figure that when he knocks them out, he takes off their uniforms, and we can use them as a disguise.  We then infiltrate the warehouse, and open up some kind of easy access for the other squad.  That's when we all take down the metal monster, and the rest of the goons....

 

But that's just my idea..."

[Cherz]

Casper. That was his name for her. Just hearing it fall from his lips made her cringe. Still, he was young and like a baby to her, so she let it slide. Besides, she could be way more annoying if she had wanted to. Once again, Tristan perked up. This time, he was finally contributing. She took off her shades and listened in, liking the direction of the plan. He is so smart, if only he applied himself like Wil. She couldn't help but thinking as the plan materialized. 

 

"Ah, I like it. Now we are getting somewhere. Good idea Tristan. But its only an idea. Lets say we do get through the first phase? I mean, there are cameras everywhere. I say we break it down a bit further. I wont be of much use smashing this mech, but I can get in and feed some looped camera footage to it while Bruno and Tristan take out the guards. I can also scout it when I finish that. Once Bruno and Tristan, disguised as guards, get in, we can work on breaking Wil, Gio, and Warren in. Maybe its armored? Who knows. But what I'm willing to bet it Warren and Wil combined can destroy it, with Gio protecting them and watching the area with us."

 

Courtney then put her shades back on and leaned back against her chair. She thought her plan was well formulated. She flashes a thumbs up to Tristan, before turning her attention to the rest of them. There were still a few flaws, like how they were going to bust the others in, but improvising was a part of the job. With Bruno and Tristan being posed as guards, she could count on them to put out some quick thinking. Still, she looked to Wil and Amelia for the ultimate verdict.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"So Me, Casper, and Tristan take out the goons, whilst Wil, Warren, and Gio smash the mech? Fine by me. We'll back you guys up after we clear house, then we can all grab some Mac 'adilldas after..." after saying this, Bruno turned to Giovanna, "I'm sure some good eats will cheer ya right up."
 
"I, uh..." Giovanna wasn't sure what to say about this at first, "Not to be picky, but I can't eating anything like that. Do they cater for vegans, by any chance?"
 
Of course, she had been distracted from the whole "planning" thing that she was supposed to do, and had only been brought back on track when Tristan expressed some concerns that he had. Thankfully, Courtney seemed to address those concerns, and Giovanna liked the sound of the resulting plan.
 
"Ah, I like it. Now we are getting somewhere. Good idea Tristan. But its only an idea. Lets say we do get through the first phase? I mean, there are cameras everywhere. I say we break it down a bit further. I won't be of much use smashing this mech, but I can get in and feed some looped camera footage to it while Bruno and Tristan take out the guards. I can also scout it when I finish that. Once Bruno and Tristan, disguised as guards, get in, we can work on breaking Wil, Gio, and Warren in. Maybe its armored? Who knows. But what I'm willing to bet it Warren and Wil combined can destroy it, with Gio protecting them and watching the area with us."

 

"I love it(!)... well, most of it," Giovanna had to be honest; she wasn't looking forward to just being stuck on support, "Of course, I'd like to get in on the action too, if you don't mind. Oh(!), and we haven't discussed how exactly we're meant to destroy this thing yet. Personally, I say that we start by disabling the weapons. Once they're out of commission, then we can concentrate on dismantling the rest of the machine without any pressure from the thing itself."

[bury the year]

“Okay, so.” Wil was listening passively while the rest of the team said their thoughts, idly sketching diagrams on the table in front of him with his finger. He was mentally plotting out the best course of action, using the blueprints of the warehouse as reference. He wasn’t the type to think and speak at the same time: he needed enough time to digest all the information. “Judging by what everyone’s been saying, here’s what we’re gonna do. This will definitely take some stealth, or well, at least at the beginning it will.”

 

“Three parts. First part.” Wil raised a finger. “Courtney, you’re going to sneak in and disable the alarm system. The control room is close to our intrusion point, so this shouldn’t take long. We’ll provide backup if needed, but you should be able to handle this on your own.” He pointed to the requisite area.

 

“Second part.” Finger number two. “This should probably happen at the same time as part number one. Bruno, Tristan and Gio will take out guards. You’re to be as subtle as possible until Courtney confirms that the alarms are down: once that’s done, go crazy. But not until. And remember, this is a no death mission. I know the file says we’re not authorized to use lethal force. For once I’d listen to that.” He threw a disapproving stare at nobody in particular.

 

“Third part.” The last finger. “As Warren and I have the most offensively-focused of abilities, we’re going to handle blowing up the robot. This should be easy. I don’t think the good Doctor has planned for the thing to withstand a plasma bore to the chest.” He gave a devilish grin and let a crackle of blue plasma jump between his outstretched fingers as punctuation.

 

“Last thing to keep in mind. We have to capture Doctor Friedell. I’m sure we can agree he’s evaded the authorities for far too long.”

 

It was only once Wil had finished his spiel that he noticed the rest of the room had fallen silent. It looks like his natural tendency to be overbearing had come out yet again. He blushed slightly. “So… I guess we’re good?”

 

There were a few murmurs of consent, but nothing to stop their little operation. One by one, the team set their folders aside and filed out, leaving Amelia at mission control. Bones, Umbra, Ghost and Hummingbird would be stepping out on the streets today. Will-o-Wisp and Boomburst would be surprisingly absent.

 

The four other members of the team had already begun their part of the plan, costumes on, by the time Wil and Warren arrived at the designated drop point outside of the dockside complex. Wil wrinkled his nose at the stench of rotting fish and petroleum. He was so used to the smell of fresh mountain air from back home that even subtle industrial odors were enough to make him a bit nauseous.

 

He fingered the hem of his sweatshirt idly and tapped the earpiece once or twice, to make sure that everything was ready to go when Amelia alerted them to move in. Wil’s costume was on underneath his clothing: he assumed Warren’s was in the backpack he always carried. The two couldn’t blow their covers at a time like this.

 

“Connection seems good, Warren. Now we just wait for the signal.” He crouched down on the building’s roof, looking out over the warehouse. He thought he could hear the sound of feet pounding, but maybe that was just the wind? Who knew.

 

“So…” Small talk time. If there was one thing Wil could improve, it was how to not make himself into an awkward ass.

 

Easier said than done.

[Cherz]

Courtney kicked back once Wil took charge. That was what she was waiting for. It was pretty much in agreement he was the leader, so she didn't mind. He gave final say in the plan, so it was done. Personally, her reasoning for giving Gio a small part was rather simple. She was new to the team, so playing it safe was what she thought would be best. But, if Wil though placing her in the stealth squad was a good idea, then by all means. The room was dead silent, even Bruno wasn't speaking. Wil noticed it too, and blushed. Courtney just smiled at him, finding that rather endearing. 

 

"Sounds fun." Was her only responce.

 

---

 

Ghost had taken to the streets already. She changed, while invisible, into the suit she had concealed within her hand bag. She had approached the destination with Bones, Hummingbird, and Umbra. Nodding to the to signify she was going in, she concealed herself with her powers. 

 

"Ghost in position" She said, speaking into her earpiece to signify that she was on the side, the closest route to the control room. Becoming intangible, she ran into the wall. Naturally, she went right through it. Much to her dismay, there were 2 guards stationed right in front of her. Despite the rugged exterior, the interior was obviously kept nice. It seemed modern and was well lighten. She scanned the room. 2 cameras, but they didn't seem to be thermal. She casually walked between the guards, who were talking about their current f*** buddies. It was disgusting for her to hear. But, she paid them no attention. Instead, she walked right on through the gap and into the long, white hallway.

 

There She thought to herself, seeing the room that was marked as "Security." It didn't take her long. Obviously it was locked, but she didn't mind. Walking right along through it, she noticed the man at the desk. His feet were propped up as he lazily watched the multitude of screens. From her handbag, she pulled out a napkin that was laced with chloroform, and casually approached the man watching the cameras. She then grabbed him, placing the napkin on his mouth and nose and arm around his neck. She dragged the rolling chair back a bit, as the sudden shock hit him. He attempted to kick the alarm, but by now his foot was too far from the desk. He still put up quite the struggle, but his screams were muffled.

 

"Shh...No struggling." She whispered in his ear, as his struggling slowed, and his eyes rolled back. She then pushed the body aside. She hopped in the chair and rolled up to the desk, reading over all the buttons. She found the large red button for the alarm, and a few switches under it.

 

"Too easy." She thought to herself, flipping the switch down to dissable the first alarm, then flipping the next one down to disable the mercenaries personal alarms.

 

"Ghost reporting; Alarms and Cameras are dead. Proceed with next phase of the plan. I'll be in the control room, awaiting further orders. Over and out."

[Hälō]

Hearing Courtney's voice chime in through his visor, Bruno instantly sprang up from where he had been crouching in the shadows; crumbling up the wrapper of the experimental high calorie energy bar the doc had made for him and tossing it to the side as he did so. Though it had only taken Ghost a few minutes to infiltrate and shut down the building's security network, it had felt like a small eternity for the speedster, and saying he was eager do something would have been beyond an understatement.

 

"Welp, look's like we're on..." Bruno stretched slightly before getting into a runner's stance. "I'll go find us an entrance." He addressed Giovanna and Tristan whilst motioning towards the complex. Not waiting for a response, Bruno vanished in his trademark black and green blur, leaving the two other heros with a small cloud of dust. 

 

 

 

It had been a pretty routine guard shift for Steve. He ran his route several times, shot the s*** with the guys, and had just finished his smoke break. Sighing heavily as he swiped his card and opened the door, the large man allowed himself a moment to bask in the cool night air one last time before taking his first step backing into the stuffy complex. 

 

"Hi." A voice seemed called from behind, causing Steve to jump and spin around with his hand at his holster. Glaring at the closed door with a perplexed expression, the mercenary sighed once again before shrugging and turning to continue to his post. Though this time he was met a boy clad in black and green spandex.

 

"Wha-"

 

In no mood to wait for the mercenary's sluggish brain to process what was about to happen to him, then send the words down to his equally slow mouth, Bruno darted forward and nailed him with a side kick to the center of his chest. Watching as the much larger man was sent flying through the door by his monstrous leg strength, Bruno causally brought his hand up to his mic and contacted the rest of the team. "Hummingbird here; The party is about to kick off. East entrance. I even found a guy nice enough to hold the door for you two..." A small smirk formed at the side of his mouth as he glanced at the (hopefully) unconscious mercenary's body as it forced the door open. 

 

"I heard it this way!"

 

Bruno's ears perked at the sound of heavy footsteps as they came thundering down the hallway. Turning to greet the three armed guards just as they trained their rifles on him, the Hummingbird put both hands in the air as if surrendering before motioning towards the crumbled form behind him "Pizza delivery?"  

 

Of course they opened fire. They always do. Nobody seems to ever find the pizza thing as funny as he did- and you can best believe that he tried it often... Ducking down and dashing towards the wall, Bruno sprinted across it's surface whilst a hail of bullets ripped apart the space he had just been occupying. With a grunt, he met the first of the guards with a roundhouse kick to side of his head, using the momentum to create a human shaped indentation in the wall as the man's body crashed into it with a rather painful sounding thud. Hm, maybe he was using just a little too much force?

 

'I should probably lay off the kicks before Wil and Casper rip me a new one...' The boy thought to himself as he landed on all fours and rolled to the side to avoid a wild swing from the second guard. "are sweeps considered a kicks?" His speedster brain began to trail off as he swept the man's legs from under him in a swift motion before pouncing on top of him and jabbing him multiple times in the face. Though he was forced to cut his attack short at the sight of the third guard moving backwards to take aim with his gun.

 

"Let's not get shot again, Bruno..." The boy sighed before dashing forward and tackling the gunmen. Causing the man to stumble back towards a small flight of stairs. Seeing opportunity, Bruno dashed forward yet a again, this time using both hands to push the guard off the ledge.

 

Watching as the mercenary tumbled down the stairs, Bruno waited until the man neared the end of the journey before dawning a wicked grin and bolting down at high speed; meeting the man just as he touched the ground, only to grab him by his collar and drag him back up at twice the speed he fell. 

 

"Courtney, please tell me you saw that!" The boy called into his mic as he tossed the battered man atop his two fallen comrades. By now Giovanna and Tristan would be arriving at the entrance, and when they did, Bruno would greet with nod whilst he reached into his pouch to grab another energy bar. "They didn't like my pizza jo-"

 

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN THERE?!"

 

"COMMUNICATIONS ARE DOWN SIR!"

 

"ALL AVAILABLE UNITS, WE'RE MOVING IN!"

 

A slew of voices boomed down the next corridor, accompanied by dozens of foot steps, and the clanking of weaponry. Sighing, Bruno unwrapped his energy bar and moved next to his team. "Someone better be keeping score..." Taking a bite of his snack, the lad got into a ready stance as he waited for the next wave of enemies. This was going to be a long night...

[Mr. Hyde]

Ghost had done her job, so it was up to the rest of them to dispatch of the outside forces.  Tristan had changed clothes recently under the cover of his shadow, and was now covered head to toe in his tattered robe.  He was in Umbra mode now, baby!  He was surprised that the stench of the fish and oil could permeate his helmet...but then again, it's not like his sweaty head had a better scent.  

 

"Welp, look's like we're on.  I'll go find us an entrance."

 

And with that, Hummingbird had bolted off.  Umbra desperately attempted to wring the speedster's neck, they hadn't even devised a plan of attack...but at that speed, who could stop him.  He sighed and knocked his helmet against a nearby wooden crate.  

 

"What an idiot..."  Umbra dashed off at a insanely slower speed than his fellow cohort, and motioned for Bones to follow.  "That idiot's gonna get killed if we don't hurry up!"  

 

"Hummingbird here; The party is about to kick off. East entrance. I even found a guy nice enough to hold the door for you two...

 

Luckily. they had been running in that same direction.  As soon as they approached a door with a collapsed man in front of it, Umbra shrugged.

 

"Guess this is the place huh."  Umbra flinched when he heard the sound of grunting in the distance.  As the two made their way through the corridors, they were greeted with a triumphant looking Hummingbird, perched over three of his latest victims.  Funny, he remembered Hummingbirds as more of a docile creature, not a ferocious bird of prey.

 

"They didn't like my pizza jo-"

 

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN THERE?!"

 

"COMMUNICATIONS ARE DOWN SIR!"

 

"ALL AVAILABLE UNITS, WE'RE MOVING IN!"

 

The voices were coming further down a long hallway, followed by the footsteps of what he could assume were a small patrol.  

 

"Someone better be keeping score..." 

 

"Keeping score?  Why don't you keep your head on straight so you don't get shot this time huh?"  Umbra shot his hand out from behind his robe, and his shadow seemingly stretched onto the left side of the wall, and continued to travel alongside it.  As soon as one of the goons showed themselves from around the corner, a large, black, misty fist appeared from the second dimension, and smashed right into his face.  He fell flatter than a pancake, and slammed onto the ground.  One of the mercenaries behind him had stumbled over his unconscious body, and was grabbed by the shadowy hand.  The hand flew with it's occupant to the ceiling, and slammed the goon as hard as it could into it.  He fell with a thud on top of his unconscious friend.  It was then that two goons started spraying bullets at the shadowy apparition, but the bullets only made slight holes in the hand.  However, Umbra gripped his entire arm, and the shadow was retracted swiftly back to it's original position.  

 

"God...that stings bad.  It feels like I got shot for real..."  He turned his helmet towards Hummingbird, under the visor he wore a smirk.  "Oh....two tallies for me I guess."

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"Welp, look's like we're on." and so Hummingbird bolted off, with neither Umbra nor Bones ready to go with him just yet. Apparently Hummingbird seemed eager to jump the gun; and with the speed he was capable of, it wasn't surprising that Umbra couldn't hold him back. Of course, Bones had tried to stop him as well via sprouting some bone constructs from her left hand, but all she managed to accomplish was...

"EEK!! sheet!" Bones found herself clutching her wrist and wincing in pain. Then she found herself tugging at the choker that she'd put on on top of her regenerative bodysuit. Apparently this thing around her neck was supposed to be designed to suppress any and all the pain that Bones felt whenever she expanded or retracted the constructs that she'd form from her body. But was it defective? Or was it just a case of Bones having sprouting that massive, gnarly looking three-pronged claw that had formed from her left wrist significantly more quickly than she could really afford to? In any case, Umbra motioned for Bones to follow Hummingbird.

"That idiot's gonna get killed if we don't hurry up!" with that said, Bones nodded and ran alongside him.

As she did though, she had sprouted another similarly-shaped claw around the right wrist, and what would be the skeleton of wings from her back if not for the constructs having seven appendages apiece instead of three. Although they'd come in handy later, the main reason she sprouted them right that instant was to double-check that the choker was actually doing its job. If it had, then maybe she'd have felt something if she tried to form all these constructs at once and if she wasn't careful with how slowly she formed them. But no, she only did one at a time and made sure she took it extra slow in producing each one... and still she found herself biting her lip for the entire duration. That choker would have to be fixed right away, but that would have to wait until the end of the mission.

...

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN THERE?!"
 
"COMMUNICATIONS ARE DOWN, SIR!"
 
"ALL AVAILABLE UNITS, WE'RE MOVING IN!"

 

"All available units, huh?" Bones smirked as she asked this to herself, "This should be riveting."

 

Sure enough, a small patrol had come their way, and most of them were handled by Hummingbird and Umbra. But Bones had by far the easiest time with those that dared attack her; all she had to do was bring her "wings" in front of her as she ran towards the goons that'd opened fire on her, before bashing them unconscious with her claws. It didn't take long at all to put everyone out of commission for good.

 

"That should be all of them," Bones scouted her surroundings to ensure what she said was true, but had not retracted the "wings" or claws just yet; no doubt she might need them for the machine if not for more of these gunmen that thought they could take the three of them. Incidentally, one of the men that Bones could've sworn she knocked out cold had tried to get up, using the side of a rail as support. Bones was on it in an instant, walking right next to the guy and slamming his ass back to the ground where it belonged, still gripping the fool's neck with her right claw.

 

"Alright pal, you've got two options; either you can tell us where we find Dr. Friedell, or I can quite literally tear you apart from limb to limb!" she threatened.

 

Of course, Bones couldn't actually follow up with said threat due to the mission calling for no loss of life. But this goon didn't; that was the important thing.

[Hakima]

“Connection seems good, Warren. Now we just wait for the signal.”

 

Warren nodded and did his best to make himself comfortable on top of the building. He had stowed his costume in his backpack, save for his headphones, which were hung around his neck. They were loud enough that he was able to hear comms from the team, and he wouldn’t be able to hear Wil if he donned them fully, so he hadn’t bothered to put them on yet. They were only really a requirement when he needed to use his powers, which, if what he had heard so far was any indication, might be a while.

 

“So…”

 

He inclined his head to face Wil, who was crouched down and sweeping his gaze across the warehouse. Warren did his best not to chuckle at the team leader’s lack of social skills. He wasn’t the most witty guy out there, but Wil had enough awkward to make him look like as much of a socialite as Courtney.  “Yeah.”

 

"Hummingbird here; The party is about to kick off. East entrance. I even found a guy nice enough to hold the door for you two..."

 

A commotion from somewhere down below them caught Warren’s ear - an impressive feat in itself, because he had damaged his hearing during the few years he had been forced to operate without the headphones. “Bet Bruno told them that stupid pizza delivery joke again,” He said, looking at Wil before glancing back out over the area to see if it was possible to catch a glimpse of the action. “Wonder how long it’ll take him to figure out that no one’s gonna find it very funny? Especially when you follow it by kicking their chest in…”

 

"Courtney, please tell me you saw that! "They didn't like my pizza jo-"

 

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN THERE?!"

 

"COMMUNICATIONS ARE DOWN SIR!"

 

"ALL AVAILABLE UNITS, WE'RE MOVING IN!"

 

“Called it.” Warren grunted, but the shouting goons and heavy footsteps took all the jest out of it. Damn it, why was he always put on the second phase of these plans? He could end that fight instantly and let them get back to doing whatever it was they needed to do. No one would be put in danger, missions would end faster, and he wouldn’t feel like he was always overloading with power.

 

Oh wait, Warren had been allowed to deal with the goons before, and it was still probably the closest they had ever come to losing a member of the team. “Boomburst” had hesitated to trigger the explosion, unsure where Courtney had been stealthed, and he could still feel the pain of the bullets chewing through his coat and tearing through his chest. A normal human would have been dead instantly, but his status as a metahuman had kept him in the world of the living. That and some very skilled surgeons, who he still owed a thank you card.

 

Warren shook his head and pushed back the memories. He was a superhero; a brush with death was something he couldn’t afford to dwell on. The worst of it had been the month he had spent out of commission, anyways. Watching your team leave without you… that was one of the shittiest things for anyone to do. He squared his jaw and resisted the urge to let loose an explosion just to blow off steam. They couldn’t afford to blow their cover right now, and he wasn’t even in costume.

“Any word on the Doctor yet?” He asked, pulling his headphones over his ears and pressing the button on the side to activate his microphone.

[bury the year]

Something wasn't right. Wil was looking out for any changes, but the first 10 or so minutes didn't present anything. Until now. It was the faint whirring of gears and machinery in the background of the feed. Wil looked up and another unsettling sight met his eyes. The silhouettes behind the central skylight of the warehouse - ostensibly of the robot - were previously still. However, as he watched on, they began to shift. Standing upright, ever so slowly. “Warren, do you know if the doctor had any knowledge of us coming?”

He met his teammate’s eyes for the briefest of seconds, but the acknowledgement passed instantaneously. Things were going south, and none of the other teammates would know.

“…funk it.” Wil muted the headpiece momentarily. “Change of plans.” He slipped off his outer clothing and slapped his mask on, letting a few strands of plasm flicker up and down his forearms in anticipation. “Seems like our good friend down there might have figured out we’re here. I think he’s activating the robot ahead of schedule, so our plan to hang back until the coast is clear may not be good.”

“Attention all,” he said quickly, unmuting the headset as he was moving with practiced ease towards the lip of the roof. Calculations ran in his mind as Wil moved: it was approximately an 8 foot gap across the street and so many feet down to the nearest window. Piece of cake. “Abandon previous instructions. Get in and wreck sheet. Disarm as many guards as possible. Subtlety is no longer an option. The doctor must’ve already been alerted to our presence without our knowledge. We’re on an accelerated schedule now.”

‘We’ll worry about how another time.’ And without Warren getting the opportunity to interject, Wil charged a bit of plasma into his feet, and leaped. He was glad that supers had enhanced physical capabilities, because no normal person - or sane person - would’ve made the jump. Thankfully, his calculations were spot on, and with the shattering of window glass he rolled into the building from the leap.

Will-o’-Wisp picked himself up and to meet the confused gaze of a guard. “What,” he smirked, “don’t like dramatic entrances?” And before his enemy could get his bearings, a bolt of plasma knocked him off his feet and fried his gun. Quickly sidestepping the dazed security guard, Wil ran down the corridor, thoughts racing. 'So I’m on the second floor, and I assume that the rest of the team minus Boomburst are on the first. Can’t remember the blueprints as well as I should, so I guess my first order of business is to find them.'

He sighed. Damn, was this the right move?

[Hakima]

It was easy to follow the team leader’s thought process by just looking at his eyes. One glance and Warren knew he was about to finally get in on the action, slinging his backpack around to unzip it and pull out the rest of costume as Wil dashed off to vault into the next building. He dressed quickly, pulling his mask down over his face and tilting his hat down to shade his eyes, before putting his headphones back on to complete Boomburst. He caught the tail end of Wil-O’-Wisp’s plasma bolt searing into something before the world around him went deathly silent, and smirked.

 

“I’m gonna take the South side of the building. Give me a shout before you head my way, if you do,”  His smirk grew bigger beneath his mask. He was finally going to get to blow off some of the power that had been festering beneath his skin since the last time he had been allowed to go wild. It was a terrible feeling when he was over juiced, and he was at constant risk of accidentally causing something to combust if his concentration wavered. Better to just use it all up now; his exact orders now were to “get in and wreck s***”, and Wil was probably going to regret that soonish.

 

He jumped off the building and onto the ground, catching himself with his hand to lessen the strain on his knees, a firm grasp on his hat to prevent it from blowing away with his other hand. Boomburst was in the mission now, with every intention to live up to his moniker. He sprinted around the warehouse until he was on the Southernmost side of the building, grinding to a halt and glancing around, eyes narrowed. His perception through vision had been one of his most trained skills of the past few years, to compensate for his lack of auditory senses, and the place seemed to be devoid of activity. A few prints in the dust and few pieces of gravel that looked like they had been displaced, a marker of activity that Boomburst was willing to bet belonged to the guards who had most likely sprinted away too quickly in pursuit of the rest of his teammates.

 

He looked over at the warehouse once he was sure nothing was there. The wall was completely void of any form in which he could use as an entrance, the windows too high to reach from the ground, and any normal person should have realized that they would have to find another way in. Boomburst saw it as an excuse to make his entrance and throw the place into red alert. He reached up to kick his mic on long enough to say, “You might want to cover your ears for a minute if you’re close to me. First explosion due in thirty seconds.” He switched the microphone back off after that, and approached the wall.

 

Thirty seconds ticked by slowly as he waited for the timer on his warning to expire, and then released an explosion loud enough to be heard by anyone within a two mile radius. It shook the building to the very foundation, tearing a gaping hole in the wall and bathing the entire section Boomburst was in under a huge cloud of dust and smoke that even he couldn’t see through. He waited for the dust to clear, and then sprinted through his brand new wall hole in the wall door. Portions of the inside of the building were on fire, and a few guards were scattered around the floors in varying states of consciousness, trapped beneath bits of rubble or slumped against walls.

 

Damnit. I’ll never hear the end of it if any of them are seriously hurt… Boomburst growled internally, already dreading the collateral report that he was going to have to file with Amelia for breaking an entire side of a building.

 

Still, it felt good to finally have a sense of relief.

 

He pushed the thought away and stepped over the guards, quickening his pace. “I’d get a move on. If they didn’t know we were here before, they sure as Hell do now.”