Eric had walked outside to find out what he could about the explosions. What he did not intend to see was a swarm of things flying through the city. They were moving with a purpose and made their way towards some of the giant skyscrapers.

"Alright. Your new. What is all this?"

Ma stood silently beside him, watching  the swarm.  When she reached out to it with her mind, it  ... simply was not there; at least her contact with the natural world could feel nothing.  She spoke to Eric,

"I can see it, but t'ain't natural if that is what ya mean.  It is wrong somehow.  Other than that, yer guess is as good as mine."

As she'd known, the office was abandoned. Oculuses intel was rarely wrong, although she didn't typically have to use it herself. Although the buildings entire floor was hired by the suspicious 'Vitatech' research organisation it was obvious from the administration cubical, glass walled meeting rooms and banks of mundane filing cabinets that this office only served as an administration and management centre- doubtless the actual research was handled elsewhere, whatever that involved.

She strolled towards the corner of the room, towards what appeared to be the largest of the floors offices. The air around her was thick with her strange spherical familiars, which buzzed around her head distractedly and in their usual way attempted to examine their entire surroundings at once. Telepathically they fed her mind junk information as they gathered it which her gift helped reduce down to relevant and useful information; before she'd completed her short walk she knew as a fact that the office contained 63 individual computer terminals, that all four skyscraper elevators were currently on the ground floor, and that her messy entrance into the building had been observed by onlookers on the street. She hurried her pace.

The door to Vitatechs head office was locked, but a flash of lockpicks and a mere moment of intense concentration later was all it took for Lynne to force her entry, and seconds after that she'd started hacking herself into the offices network whilst her drones tore trough the rest of the office and dismantled every filing cabinet in sight in an attempt to read through any physical documentation. As a burglar Lynne knew how to cover her tracks, but today she didn't have the time to spare.

OK. No. Mary thought to herself. I know -I KNOW!- ain't no way in this WORLD this mothafucka about to mess with people's shit in my city. Heill Naw!

The short, almost cutesy girl stood atop the roof of a much smaller building a few blocks off from Oculus' target, wearing track pants and a tank top, clearly able to see the drones swirling around. Most people would be having dinner around now. But Maria was about to record one of her podcasts, always done while running across the city on the most dangerous path possible.

But now this. Well, there's nothing for it. She thought, setting up her camera and zooming it to watch the building. Hitting record, she stepped aside and began to morph.

Maria's limbs became spindly but remained strong, her hands and feet became clawed and able to grip any object or surface. Her body coated itself in a rubbery skin that would take some time to saw through. Each limb grew a razor-edge along the second section. Her head elongated, like a wolf with a sharp horn pointing forward from her scalp like a bayonet. Her spine was longer too, making her nearly 6 feet tall.

Raptor Form: complete.

Heh. Metamorphing is awesome.

Sprinting across the roof, it was remarkable how fast she could move in this form. Gifted runners couldn't match her gait (That's "gifted", not "Gifted"). Every time her hand or leg struck a surface, it found purchase and she swung from it, like a monkey with a death wish, flinging herself from streetlamps, banners, railings, you name it.

She was coming to serve up some justice.

Icon was making his way towards the skyscraper that he had seen all the spheres make their way to. He was on his bike so as to not jump into anything too early. He was making good time but he could swear at one point he saw some creature thing come off a building a few blocks ahead headed in the same direction he was. He decided to figure out what was going on there later and focus on his goal. He was quickly running through the list of what might help him in this situation. The location was near the very top of the building so that was one problem. However all the things did appear to be metal in nature. A slight plan started to form in his mind and he smiled. "Alright then. Might as well get ready for a show." He turned down an empty alley behind some buildings and pulled out his phone. He sent off a quick text message and then just waited for a response.

The iris of one of Oculus's many spy eyeballs (sic: spyball) twisted and focused it's burning pupil into a narrow stare as it watched the deformed and lanky form of Bloody Mary as she swung and pounced her way toward the offices she'd broken into.

The eye detached itself from it's hiding place beneath an apartment block rain gutter. The family of pigeons that it'd been hiding among startled and flapped angrily away as the metal sphere shot past them and after the gifted figure. As it dived out of the alley it'd been observing it buzzed past the ear of a young man who'd stopped cycling his bike to send an urgent text; in his librarian guise the sentry didn't recognize Icon and paid him no further attention, almost arrogantly not even bothering to conceal itself from him as it sharply cornered and blazed away.

Eric noticed the ball shoot past his head headed toward the creature thing he had seen. So whatever it is it may not be on the same side as those little devices. Could be a potential ally but I should still be careful.

Mary's Raptor Form got her to the building fast. When she landed, dropping off a fire escape, her body began reverting to normal.

Assuming the robots could hear as well as see, she started speaking aloud."I don't know who you are or why you're doing this..." the young Gifted pauses. "And usually that's a massive plot hole for most superheroes..." she shakes her head to clear the thought. "But you're going down hard."

First, her  limbs' muscle swelled to nearly twice their size, turning cherry red and practically glowing through her skin, the tips of her fingers becoming black claws. Next, her skin took on a thick, black, leathery look, becoming a stiffer sort of scales that would treat AK rounds like airsoft pellets against a coat. This sacrificed some mobility, but for the sake of safety. Next, the same armor grew over her spine, into a jagged tail that could break bones with a flick on one end. Then, more muscle formed, but spreading from under the spinal armor, like a new layer on top of her upper half, the swelling strands tearing her jogger clothes as their limits were pushed and broken. The layer over her suddenly sprouted a new head with tiny but powerful eyes and a mouth full of bestial teeth. The mouth, of course, led nowhere, just a pocket above Maria's ACTUAL head. The spinal armor extended to cover the top half of the head. Similar armor formed over the pectoral and abdominal muscles, protecting the girl inside even more.

"Behemoth Form Complete." Her mutated body worked as a mouthpiece, making her voice deeper. "God, I love saying that."

Ma had no choice but to hoof it.  She was not in horrible shape, but then neither was she as young as she used to be.

"Gotta get me some transportation one ah' these days!"

She whuffed out as she lit out after Icon who was so much faster on his bike.  She could call up a wind to aid her, but that would leave quite  a bit of damage.  Which was not needed yet.  She was well behind Icon, and as long as she could keep a line of site on him, she was content, but when he turned a corner , she had to speed up.  She could not help but grin at herself as the crowded sidewalks cleared for her as she moved.  There was nothing like waving one's arms over one's head while reciting nursery rhymes at the top of one's voice as if it were Shakespeare to move people out of the way.

Eric had been waiting for a response to his text but never did get one. He swore silently to himself and heard Ma coming up behind him. He smiled and turned to her. "Im terribly sorry for taking off like that. Got a bit ahead of myself. So it looks like we need to get to the top floor of that building over there. I can get us there, but...well...You may have to tell me in a moment that you are not Gaia and you are friendly and here to help." He could start to see confusion cross her face. "Just trust me. He is reasonable in a good mind and he should be."

Ma finally caught up to Eric and bent over, huffing and puffing as she braced her hands on her thighs.  Finally she caught her breath and looked up,

"Shank's marte is not the easiest way to get anywhere fast!"

She listened to him and nodded at his instructions.  She was not sure exactly what was about to happen, but it would be different!

Eric concentrated for a few moments and his body started to glow softly with a golden hue. He had a particular person in mind who could not only fly and control the winds but also use lightning. Also someone who was more cunning and level headed than Thor from earlier. His body glowed brighter and grew a bit taller till he was about 7 feet tall. When the glow subsided there stood a regal man in white robes. Long black hair and beard, his eyes were dark grey like storm clouds  but sparked as if lightning were surging through them. He had a belt of gold with a deep blue gem embedded in the middle. He looked down on Ma Nature and his eyes narrowed. "Who are you that you do not bow before the mighty Zeus? his voice seemed to thunder from him.

Inside the Vitateck office Occulus looked up from her desk with a start and a shocked gasp; she'd seen something.
Not wither her own eyes of course, or at least her original two eyes, but several of her sentry's reported two facts that grabbed her attention by the short and curlies.

First of all, as the target she'd been following morphed into a hulking tank of a creature she recognised 'Parkour Madness Girl' for who she was. That was bad. Oculus was one of Mary's many subscribers if for no other reason than it was a free and effortless source of intel, but had't expected to feature in any of her videos- bully for her.
Mentally she made a note to 'dislike' any video she appeared in, and to leave 'Bloody Mary' with a variety of injuries. Oculus wasn't quite ready for her fifteen minutes of fame.

Her second start was when the image of 'Ma Nature' superimposed itself on her conciousness. This person she recognised as one of the trio to help down the two Namidian aggressors in Central Park earlier that day. She'd played a part in taking down two of the regions leading Namidians, Spurt and Cimmeria. The young man she was conversing with sent red flags through her conciousness as well, although she couldn't give a definite reason why.
Seconds later the boy transformed into the altogether different figure of Zeus. The Greek god of thunder, and very 'old testament'.
Suddenly she realised what'd put her orbs on edge, and decided to give the incoming vigilantes the respectful caution they were due.

---

With her many eyes hovering around her she was able to multitask freely- and she raised a hand off the keyboard of the the computer terminal she was attempting to hack into. Whilst the other clacked commands away into the machine the other raised and began summoning more 'spyballs' with eerie flashes of red light. Soon the rooms air would be thick with her familiars, all of which she anticipated she'd need for the threats arrayed against her.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:27, Sat 21 Nov 2015.

This here was a big 'un alright!  The name sounded somewhat familiar, but for the life of her, she had no idea from where.  Maybe some class way back in the day; maybe not.  But he was impressive.  Best to stay on his good side though.

"You can call me Ma, and I don;t bow cuz curtsies are more traditional where I come from."

Here she dropped a curtsey that was far from elegant and nearly had her ass over teakettle.  That would teach him to expect formality!

"Anyhow, we need to get up yonder and see what is goin' on, 'cepyin; I can't fly.  Wanna help out?"

The Behemoth roared with the volume of a T-Rex and began to climb the wall of the building, getting handfuls of brick and steel and glass as it pulled its way up to where the commander of these robots was.

"RAAAAAAAGH!"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:11, Sun 22 Nov 2015.

Zeus looked Ma over with a piercing gaze. "I can sense a power about you Ma. If indeed you are my ally then I shall gratefully accept your help."

His eyes roamed up as he felt something else. Nothing tied to Ma or himself. A small floating orb, metallic in nature, that seemed to be watching him. "I do not like the look of that creature. AWAY WITH YOU!" he pointed at it and a bolt of lightning came from his finger and struck the little ball frying it. After it had dropped he turned back to Ma.

"Well MA shall we?" Without waiting for an answer he placed his hand on her shoulder and transformed them both into the wind. They sped up and away from the alley and towards the building that all the orbs were coming from.

Ma suddenly felt ... undone? no, more like redone.  It was similar to the feeling that flooded her when she called the wind, but with an unusual discomfort as more than her mind was suddenly riding, being the wind.  Yet despite the pain, she she gloried in the freedom of it all and the wonder.

With her fingers furiously typing Lynne finally broke through the offices thin layer of  digital security, and was given unrestrained access to Terrabytes of confidential data. There wasn't time to look it over now, but she told herself that she'd have the opportunity after she'd dealt with the three gifted charging her position.

She placed her palms together and started summoning another one of her drones. Whereas her previous efforts instantly created a sentry with a single flash of red light, this attempt required several seconds of concentration and visible effort on her part. With a burst of light she manufactured a new orb in her hands; identical to the others, save that instead of a pupil it had a usb connector on it's front face. It plugged itself into her terminal and began the process of siphoning raw data into it's own simple mind.

Oculus stood up and strolled to the gap in the window she'd left shattered open in her wake. As her squadron of bodygaurd familiars took formation behind her in anticipation for the coming battle, her consciousness spread to look through the eyes of her servants. There were only a handful of exits to the building, and it seemed unlikely that she'd be able to escape on foot- not without a distraction at least. For the time being it appeared as though she would have to hold her ground, and she made every preparation to do so.

---

The eye watching Icon and Ma'Nature observed the pair with interest, but it's feed of information came to an abrupt and unexpected end. The last thing the eye saw was the figure of Zeus raising his finger to the drone, a searing flash of light, and feeling the closest thing to pain that the sentry's limited mind could register- then there was darkness, and she lost sight of the pair.

'Rude.' She thought. 'New Yorkers, right?'

Seconds later she mentally directed a fresh drone to their position, but by that time they had already left. Now with no idea where the God(s) and the Avatar of Nature currently were, a slight sense of worried anticipation stabbed into Lynne's chest.

---

Her second target was far easier to keep track of. Like a strange mixture of Gojira and King Kong Bloody Mary's armored and muscular form was climbing by tearing great chunks of masonry out of the building to make handholds, by all accounts she was making good time and Oculus already fancied that she could feel the office floor under her feet begin to shake in time with her advance. She had certainly heard the primal roar that had announced her accent.

Oculus clenched her hands and summoned another group of familiars, and seconds later three new points of view shot from the office and leveled out at Mary's altitude- now worryingly close to the compromised office window.

One of the new eyes had a grilled face encircling it's iris which acted as a simple speaker, the second had an enlarged and dilated pupil that covered it's entire front hemisphere and the third was a featureless metal orb- with no obvious alterations to give away it's purpose.
Oculus's voice run out in a tinny mechanical tone from the 'speaker' drone, whilst a beam of light shot from the wide-eyed one and projected her face onto the glass surface that Mary was attempting to climb in a red and black two-tone display.

"Parcour Madness girl- I presume. I'm a big fan of your work." The voice from the speaker drone talked in time to the projection, giving every indication that Oculus was speaking to her 'live'. Although it was hard to tell whether the Gifted thief was pleased or irritated at Mary's presence; as the high altitude and imperfect speakers of her drone reduced her voice to sound less 'Human' and more 'Dalek' that it otherwise might have been.
"I know that casual vigilantism is the 'in thing', as you kids say, but if you get in my way I will have to hurt you. Consider this your one and only courtesy warning."

Maria's voice rumbled up from her form in a deeper, guttural version of her normal voice. "I'm flattered. But unfortunately, I'm more focused on the fac that you are, pardon my french, fuckin' around in my goddamn city.

He tail flicks upward and punches the speaker drone into the window.

"Sorry not-sorry." She teases, flinging herself up  with her arms and landing in the opening Oculus had made.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:00, Wed 25 Nov 2015.

Right after Mary had made her entrance into the opening a gust of wind that seemed to be carrying dust blew in past her. A few moments later to the side of both of them Ma and Zeus rematerialized. "Now then." He said in quite an annoying grandiose tone "You are deliberately destroying property that the mortals have built and must be some villain. I, Zeus, Father of the Heavens, and Lord of Olympus shall not stand for it! Surrender yourself for judgement or prepare to meet Hades."

Maria nodded to the god and elderly lady next to her respectfully. "Ah, Ma Nature and... Zeus. OK then." She shrugs, a gesture that looks like it could shatter concrete in her current form.

The helicopter ride to the waiting submarine is, remarkably, without event.  It takes about an hour and there is a medium sized yaught/research vessel there with another helicopter just taking off upon arrival.  A man in his fourties with a bulging case full of equipment awaits.

The helicopter lands and McFabisham gets out.  He walks to the middle age man and shakes his hand,"I'm not sure what you used to move the boat here so fast, but I'm not sure I want to know.  Thanks for coming.  We need you to build Mr McDouglas a computer.  Kilroy believes Mr McDouglas may be the most important person on the planet right now and is prepared to provide whatever resources are necessary to help him out.  WHATEVER resources.  Are we understood?"

Mr Wizard's eyebrows go up and he looks suprised.  "Whatever?"  He nods and offers his hand to Lee.  "Well, I've been given some technical specifications, but if there are any...perks...you would like built in in the meantime, please let me know."

-= BATTLE POST =-

The four Gifted faced off against one another. Lynne was not insignificantly outnumbered, and certainly outgunned; she made it her business to know the goings on of her fellow Gifted, and as such she knew that 'Titan', 'Ma' and 'Parkour Madness Girl' had an absurdly dangerous and versatile natures- moreover, an open brawl in the heart of the ITSDA's chosen city would continue to draw more heat.

On all accounts, her immediate future looked worryingly bleak. What was meant to have been a simple breaking and entry had instead turned into a fighting retreat. No amount of stolen intelligence was worth this risk, but she resolved not to quit the city empty handed.

The three heroes were conversing- apparently resolving their introductions and paying Oculus a disrespectful lack of concern.

"In neither Olympus nor Earth have I seen a creature such as yourself." Zeus greeted Mary. "Despite this- I can plainly see your noble bearing."
Zeus leaned into her personal space and flashed a lecherous smile. Despite being a God there seemed to at least be a grain of truth to a number of his fables, particularly those involving golden rain and geese.
"Zeus -God of Gods-. Thee mayhaps have heard of me. How may I know thee, enchanting girl?"

"Y' shan't mind him! dear!" Ma Nature interjected. The short but stout woman guided the handsy god away by the shoulder. How 'Ma and Zeus recognised the hulking behemoth as Female Oculus couldn't explain, but she evidently did. "'e dosn't know his own mind oftentimes, please don't judge 'im by it!"
Ma' had a folksy and good natured manner that instantly appealed to Oculus, although she couldn't quite place why. Even so the woman had faced off against the infamous 'Spurt' and had come out the better of it, and was underestimated at others peril.

"Uh. Yeah..." Mary's deformed snout pointed in turn towards Zeus, 'Ma, and their quarry. She hadn't expected others to join her hunt but she wasn't unappreciative. A four-way beatdown on her home turf would be gratifying to both her subscriber-count as well as to her own hotheaded nature. Mary's only regret was that her camera was placed outside the building where it wouldn't get a great view of the melee; and she mentally committed herself to buying a 'Go-Pro' for her next vigilante stint.
"I can handle a gawker..." her eyes flashed angrily to Oculus, who was still watching them in irate silence. "...or two! Lets get the lead out on this bloodshot bitch, then we can trade lifestories. 'Kay?"
Bloody Mary slammed one oversized fist into the other and swished her tail around menacingly. Zeus laughed. Ma' stretched her arms above her head and groaned in satisfaction as her muscles settled.

"Quite finished?" Oculus snapped, as the heroes finally diverted their attention away from one another. "Because if not I can wait a while longer. It's not as though you're interrupting anything."
Mary met sarcasm with snark.
"Nah- we're free to kick your ass now. Bend over."
With that said, the featureless silver sphere that'd been following Mary's accent with it's speaker and projector companions came into view in the circle of smashed glass that'd been all their entrances- and plunged the Vitateck Office into chaos.

---

"reeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!-"

With an earsplitting shriek the blank sentry revealed it's purpose; which was apparently to burst the eardrums of everyone present. The shrill noise reached such a crescendo that the tempered glass surrounding it began to wobble in a sympathetic frequency and spiderweb into a network of cracks.
The sonic assault took the three heroes by surprise, and both 'Ma and Mary dropped to the ground with their hands clamped protectively around their lobes, only the Godly Zeus seemed unaffected.

"Lyre of Apollo!" Zeus swore. "Begone with thee, irritant siren!"
The mighty Zeus drew back his hand and gathered a rod of fizzing white lightning, which with a sharp turn hurled behind the group to destroy the threat. In an instant the bloodcurdling tone was mercifully silenced, and the God turned back to face his enemy with a satisfied grin. His face caved in before he could complete the expression, as a Sentry slung him between the eyes with self-destructive force.
The office behind Oculus blossomed into a disco of burning red pupils as her familiars surged forward to swarm Icon. The first sucker punch took him by surprise and staggered him, but it wasn't until twenty of them lanced past 'Ma and Mary that he was thrown bodily off his ensandeled feet and out the skyscraper window.

Oculus darted backwards deeper into the office, with a furious snarl Mary tore after her. The bestial e-celeb threw office chairs, filing cabinets and cubical dividers from her path as though they were cardboard cutouts. She was briefly aware of Oculuses drones battering and pelting her leathered back as they tried to keep up and defend their master, which she was instants away from seizing in her claws.
With a surge of powerful leg muscles she closed the distance and grabbed the informant by the throat, which was easily accomplished in a single handbredth. Lifting the thief high into the air Mary felt Lynne lash out at her face with a studded climbing-boot, which stung but ultimately accomplished little.
"Don't forget to Like! Comment! Favourite! and SUBSCRIBE!" She taunted, before driving her force downwards in a vicious slam. She bitterly lamented that she hadn't managed to tape the thing.
As Oculus kissed the carpet hard enough to dislodge ceiling-panels from the floor below her glasses shattered, and her ember-red eyes stared back at her with unmitigated fury- and not a little injury.
Mary raised her for another strike; the shapeshifter didn't intend to kill her quarry, but at the same time she couldn't leave her in any shape to resist arrest once the law finally caught up to her.
Another flash of red light.
Oculus had crafted yet another ally, this one was also unique in that it's pupil had been replaced with a conical drillbit, and with a slap she forced it into the thick hide of Mary's biceps where it bit deep and made a blender of her flesh.
"Sucks, doesn't it!" Oculus's voice sharpened as she slurred back from her beating. "Sorry. Not Sorry!"
Mary unleashed another furious snarl, brought on by the debilitating pain of her ruined limb. Before she could scream her defiance to completion a sentry darted into her vision and bulleted for her eye. Releasing her grip on Oculus Bloody Mary caught the attack on her still-stable forearm, another orb came into her view and lunched towards it, she swiped at it but with a nimble duck it blew past her defences and snapped her jaw shut with an uppercut. More orbs came into view and tried their level best to break every bone in the young Gifted's face.

While Parkour Madness Girl swatted ineffectually at the swarm of threats with her arms and tail, roaring in anger and mounting degrees of pain all the while, Oculus rolled out from under her stomping feet and ducked back inside the Vitateck CEO's office. She knew that Mary's healing factor and offensive output would quickly outpace her reserve of Sentry's, which now only numbered in the hundreds instead of the thousands. Diving over an offensively opulent desk she snatched her 'USB Drone' from the CEO's terminal. She reversed her direction to charge back out again, where she all but ran into the squat figure of Ma' Nature who was shaking her head with clear disapproval.

"Y'h shouldn't take thing's tha' don't belong t' ye'. One day y'll come t' regret it."
Ma's straightforward and honest tone shifted subtly. Clearly threatening that 'One Day' could be arranged to be very soon.
"If you're stalling for your pet Greek to show up, it won't work. I've read up on you:"
Oculus disregarded her, and started strolling to jostle past her. A busy woman, Lynne talked as she walked.
"You have power over nature- wind, water, air, etcetera... but if you hadn't noticed we're in a skyscraper." Lynee's shoulder barged past Ma's. The height of rudeness! "-unless you can move metal and glass you're batting above your league."
For her part Ma' took this barrage of verbal abuse in surprisingly good graces, simply nodding her head to each of the statements.
"That's is as may be..." She conceded, before suddenly dropping her polite mask, snatching the hood of Oculus's coat and pulling her face to her own level to deliver a sharp fist into Lynnes jaw.
Ma' was gentle and good by nature, who had never prided herself on her finesse or ability with violence, but that didn't imply that she was a dainty wilting flower- rather, Ma' was a robust woman who's temper was easily roused and who wasn't above laying on a firm and just hand.
"Let tha' be a lesson t' ye! There's more t' come besides!"
Even with an army of eye's Oculus hadn't seen that coming. Analysing abilities and data was one thing, but who could anticipate a personality as driven as Francine Underwood?
The punch staggered Oculus back out the office, and maintaining her grip Ma' endeavoured to ride her to the ground to continue laying on a thrashing that the villain wouldn't soon forget. As Lynne's footing was threatened she twisted around and managed to deliver a few blows of her own, but it just seemed to firm Ma's resolve and solidify her fists. One of the few dozen drones that remained of Mary's distraction peeled off and separated the struggling pair with a concussive strike to Ma's stomach that drove the wind from her lungs.

It took a moment for Ma' to find her feet again and for Mary to crush the rest of the spherical insects that continued to pester her, with a twist of her wrist Bloody Mary destroyed the drill-drone in her arm and shook the shell from her wound which had already begun to shift itself back together. The pair pursued after their villain, who they found attaching herself to the outside of the building by her magnetic drones. She paused momentarily to regard the pair with a look of red hot fury.
"What the hell is wrong with you people?! You see someone going about their business and your first impulse is to get involved for a fistfight?!"
"You..! You..!" Oculus seemed to be struggling how to classify the three vigilantes. "...New Yorkers! You've r-"
Her voice caught in her throat, and the laser points of her metal eyes drifted past Ma' and Mary to focus on a distant point. The look of shock and fear on her face was real, and the others turned to look at her point of view.
Across the office, through the centre of the skyscraper, and out the other side the furious figure of Zeus was visible. Redfaced and thunderous his fury was enough to literally put the fear of God into all who beheld it.
"YOU DARE TO STRIKE ZEUS -GOD OF GODS- WITH, AS YOU MORTALS CALL IT, A SUCKER PUNCH?!"
The god drew back his arm and gathered a rod of fizzing energy, this one was red. Mary and Ma' made the sensible decision not to stand in the way of a smiting.
"THE ONLY SUCKER HERE IS THINESELF!"
Throwing his arm forward in a broad javelin sweep Zeus fired a bolt of lightning through the building and into Oculus's tethered form. The electricity was almost solid in it's intensity, held by her grappling lines Lynne writhed in electronic convulsions for a long moment before she finally fell away with a limp fall and disturbing smell of charred flesh.

---

"TO HADES WITH THEE!"
Icon continued to bellow, getting angrier in victory rather than calmer. Zeus wasn't like the modern gods of forgiveness and moderation, he was of a generation where gods were casually violent, base, and certifiably insane. He was the god of thunder and sky, and he let those around him know it.
Dark clouds rumbled over a small patch of New York skyline. Minutes ago it'd been sunny.
The lightening bolt had melted a floor-wide hole in the skyscrapers far glass wall, and he currently stamped through the tunnel of destruction it'd left in it's wake to glare down at his victim, and if necessary administer further smitings.

"Hells bells!" Ma' swore, as she detached herself from her cover.

"Woah." Bloody Mary gave her best Keanu Reeves impression, as she did the same. Mary'd returned to her normal form.

"Hah! Another foe vanquished!" Icons mood turned like the weather, and he beamed at his two companions.
"What say we celebrate like champions? Thou mayest accompany me to Olympus so-"
Ma' gave him an open handed slap.
"Turn back, right now!"
Zeus looked momentarily stunned by shock, and then gathered himself for an outraged exclamation.
"HOW DARE TH-"
Another slap.
"Don't make me tell you again, young man!" Ma' scolded.
The god looked emotionally hurt, and with a final thunderclap and a dramatic billow of wind the Deity was gone. Eric stood in his place, with a raising bruise on his cheek and the same expression of shock, but only a foggy recollection of events.

He looked around at the totalled office. "Woah." Another Keanu Reeves impression.
An expression of concern clouded his features. "I didn't hurt anyone... did I?"
Ma' and Mary looked out of the window where they'd seen their foe zapped like a bug.
"Welll-l-l..." Mary drew out the word, for once unsure whether now was the time for a witticism or not.

---

On her wire Oculus convulsed, and every move she made bristled her skin with static electricity.
She was only concious by the barest of margins, but her drones had provided a point of view to fill in the gaps, which resulted in her recollection of events becoming odd and unsorted:

First, she'd taken several billion volts to the chest. That was an important part of the memory, and from their on her recollection of events was... second hand. Her Grapple Drones had kept her pinned to receive the full brunt of the gods attack, and had only been moderately successful in siphoning the energy overflowing from her back into the building. The moment the barrage had ended all but one of her hooks had expired, and Oculus was left to the cruel care of gravity as she dandled limply and upside down from the floor bellow.

When she'd regained her senses she was moderately surprised to still be alive. She could still hear her aggressors talking on the floor above her, though;

"Woah" "I didn't hurt anyone... did I?"
"Welll-l-l..."

'Bastards.' She thought.

The singular magnetic orb still tying her to the building was performing above and beyond the call of duty. Not only had it endured a beating, but even now it was acting as a conduit to drain Lynne of electricity in a, if not painless, safe, way. Oculus reached out a hand to touch the building and steady herself, but even from a foot away static was arcing off her fingers- physics wasn't her forte but she imagined that those with conductive bodyparts shouldn't try to tough out a near-electrocution.

She let herself hang for a minute longer, occasionally convulsing as she directed her grapple line to ground itself for a few short moments. During this time she fished her 'USB Drone' from her pocket and glanced it over. Fried. Damn.
She had no idea what the information might have contained, but it certainly wasn't worth the degree of trouble that it'd put her through.

The ITSDA would be here soon. Or the AGF. Or some other vigilante; Occlus knew for a fact that Frank Jackson, Phoenix Crimson, Meta and Syndie had all called the Big Apple their home at one point or another, and she didn't feel the need to test her mettle any further for the day.
She directed her grapple line to cut itself, and fell a few meters into a cloud of her assembled familiars. With enough drones it was feasible enough that she'd be able to fly, but at her remaining strength she opted to simply put enough hovering bodies between herself and the ground to slow her decent.

She already had a extraction plan; a car with a fresh licence plate, a change of clothes and a new pair of sunglasses.
Even though she left with a beating and failed in her objective Oculus felt as though she had gained something from the encounter. A few crumbs of knowledge, and a little practical experience in her craft were surprisingly valuable assets.
Chief among these new pieces of information; 'Do not attempt a robbery in broad daylight, especially in a densely packed city of Superheroes.'
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:29, Tue 01 Dec 2015.

Maria reaches up to scratch her head nervously as she finishes reversing her transformation.

"So!" She says in her normal, cheery voice. Her limbs shrink back to the appropriate size for a 5-foot teenager and her extra head retracts into her back. She combs some of the grime out of her hair with her fingers, consisting mostly of Sheetrock dust and blood. "That was fun. Sorta... Except for all the property damage, but EH, they're rich enough." She shrugs. "Maria Sanchez, aka Parkour Madness Girl, aka Bloody Mary, aka empress of Ohgodstoppunchingme-land. Nice meeting you."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:12, Tue 01 Dec 2015.

Eric was a bit flustered. "Umm Im Eric. Ive been called Icon or Titan by the news and other people."