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New York City - Bustling, Well-Defended City (Location 2)

Posted by ScriptsFor group 0
Scripts
GM, 19 posts
The King
of Comics Canon
Fri 1 May 2015
at 13:27
  • msg #1

New York City (Location 2)

Info: The quintessential American city, the city that never sleeps, the city of 8 million stories, and one of the very cores of the nation's culture. Everyone knows New York. Ever since the coming of The Gifted thirteen years ago, though, New York has changed. The city has become a major hub of superhuman activity; supervillains seeking to disrupt society see it as a major target, while Rogue Protectors see it as a city they can be the one to defend.

In order to maintain control over the city, the NYPD have developed an entire "Anti-Gifted" force armed with heavy weaponry, space-age technology they use to track down known threats, and armored vehicles that are practically miniature tanks. What's more, the ITSDA monitors the city closely for two reasons. Firstly, so that they can take down anyone the NYPD can't hande on their own. Secondly, so that they can scout out potential new recruits working as NYC's Rogue Protectors.

When you enter New York, now more than ever, all eyes are on you.
Scripts
GM, 22 posts
The King
of Comics Canon
Fri 1 May 2015
at 18:13
  • msg #2

Re: New York City (Location 2)

(OOC: As I am the GM, if this breaks down into a fight, I will ask an uninvolved player to determine the victor of the battle.)

--------

An enormous foot quickly and loudly kicks a metal detector against the doorway of an office building, splitting it in half. A young man with enormous legs who otherwise looks like he's starving marches through the reception area, not even bothering to look up as the receptionist picks up the phone and shouts into it.

"Security, security! Code G, Code G!"

The man sighs in disappointment as two burly men in black security uniforms run up to him, pointing pistols at his head.

"Freeze, buddy! You don't want any trouble."

"I never did," he says. "Never stopped guys like you."

His massive legs give him incredible speed as he sprints toward the guards and rubs his right forearm. The guards take aim, but just as they pull their triggers back, he rams into them with his now giant forearm. The guards' heads crack as they slam into the ground and their pistols let out a huge bang as they fall down and fire at the ceiling. The young man sprints up the building's central staircase as screaming, panicking crowds of white-collar workers run and hide.

When he reaches the top floor, a squadron of guards immediately opens fire on him.

"RRRAGRHH!" screams the man as a bullet grazes his stomach. He jumps back down the stairs. While gasping for air, he looks at the fuel tanks attached to his arms. With some effort, his mouth twists itself into a snarl.

"Surround him!" shrieks an angry guard. The man hears dozens of quiet footsteps grow louder and louder as reinforcements race up the stairs. A brief look of shock appears on his face, but he shakes it off. He then leaps ten feet up in the air, taps a device in his right palm, and waves his hand back and forth as flames pour out of the device. The guards scatter as five of them collapse and two of them roll around wildly, desperately trying to put themselves out.

The man stomps past the immolated men, firing flames at any stragglers that so much as look at him. He then elbows the ornate doors of the head office open. His elbow leaves a crater in the door. A doughy, yet regal-looking man in a business suit gets out of his chair at the head of a table and holds his arms up in surrender.

"If it's money you want, boy, you came to the right place. I am the 1%, as the kids used to say. I know you could kill me, but if you do, you'll only get what's in this building. And there's a lot more than that out there..."

The young man shakes his head. Drops of sweat appear on the businessman's forehead.

"You sold them out," says the young man.

"What?" asks the businessman. The young man pounds his fist into his right hand, causing it to explode into a muscular, claw-like appendage.

"Oh, you're one of them," says the businessman. "S-shoulda known."

The young man tackles the businessman and pins him up against the wall behind them. He then lifts the fat cat up by his neck.

"You snitched on your own men. You promised them everything, made them do your dirty work, then threw them to the ****ing wolves."

"I-I-I don't know--"

"Sammy Ford, Taylor Jane, Mack Dayton. Remember now?"

"Never heard..."

The young man tosses the businessman into a nearby bookcase. The very last thing the businessman sees as he passes out is a monster with freakish proportions effortlessly tossing the table that stands between them though a window.

Outside, the NYPD's "AGF" armored vehicles begin to surround the building.
Cimmeria
player, 3 posts
Fri 1 May 2015
at 20:51
  • msg #3

Re: New York City (Location 2)

Cimmeria surveyed the chaotic office building from a top the warehouse located a crossed the street. She was here in hopes that the ITSDA would appear. A part from recruiting and/or killing their potential initiates, the assassin had not had a direct encounter with the team as of yet. She had been trying to gather Intel the previous two weeks but to no avail.

Roars from within the office building reached her ears a crossed the still air, accompanied by gunfire and death cries. It seemed Spurt had found his target. Cimmeria could care less, she hated working with this volatile man. Her desperation for drawing out ITSDA outweighed her distaste for the muscle-headed thug though. Let him live his revenge fantasy, just as long as he gets the job done.

The street below began to clear of pedestrians and civilian vehicles when the AGF came into view. They positioned their armored cars around the buildings exits. This was a good sign, if Spurt could manage at least holding off those glorified pigs then their was a good chance of ITSDA coming to clean up the mess.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:56, Fri 01 May 2015.
Black Magic
player, 7 posts
Sat 2 May 2015
at 00:18
  • msg #4

Re: New York City (Location 2)

Peter had been working on a server issue for the last five hours; he could have had it done in one, but the company that contracted his had been to cheap to buy backup units so they refused to shut the one in need of repair down in fear they would lose a few precious dollars. He had been assigned a watch dog, but the security guard showed no interest in him and had been sitting in a chair watching something on his phone the whole while, save for when he went to lunch and didn't bother to ask Vargus if he wanted anything.

Then, things got interesting.

It started with an automated voice over the PA system;

"ATTENTION! ATTENTION! THIS IS A CODE G ALERT! A ROGUE GIFTED HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE BUILDING! ALL NON-SECURITY PERSONNEL ARE TO EVACTUATION IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! ATTENTION! ATTENTION! THIS IS A-"

The message continued on a loop as the man assigned to safeguard secrets got a call on his radio; he dropped his phone forgotten on the floor as the bulky figure drew his weapon and ran out of the room without even making sure the security door was fastened to protect the databases. The tech took care of this while remaining in the room, and reached for one of the two leather satchels he had brought in with him. They both contained tools, but for different trades. No one had thought to search either since they thought a computer tech no threat and wouldn't be able to tell what was and wasn't needed for his day to day job. From this a jar of hair gel, a comb, and various bits of dated clothing was taken. When properly clad, the performer flung his cape about himself and vanished. He reappeared in a janitor's closet one floor up, peered out to see no one and nothing, then stepped back inside and tried the next above him. As soon as he saw the destruction, the magician knew he had found a trail to his foe and followed it to what had once been a luxurious office by the looks of what remained. He encountered no resistance as the guards took time to organize their force hidden in stairwells and communicate with the NYPD, but he did smile charmingly at any security camera he passed.

Before him now, the mostly unknown hero saw a human collapsed among books on the floor, unarmed and unconscious best as he could tell from this distance as some form of hulking monster tossed a heavy wooden table through a window as though it were made of foam. Them masked man called out, clear and loud over the automated message that still played;

"My dear sir, this is most assuredly NOT what is meant by the term 'captive audience'. Are you so craven of heart that you must prey only upon the weak and defenseless, or shall you pit your strength against the mystical might of Black Magic?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:08, Sat 02 May 2015.
Scripts
GM, 24 posts
The King
of Comics Canon
Sat 2 May 2015
at 05:52
  • msg #5

Re: New York City (Location 2)

"Stay out of this," says the monster in a half-whisper, half-hiss as he walks between Black Magic and the businessman. "If you knew who he is, what he does, you wouldn't stop me."

A tear comes to the monster's eye. "Or maybe you would. Maybe you're a lawman. Maybe you like it when we're all caged up and you don't have to see our suffering!"

The monster again grips his right arm, turning it into an even longer, more muscular limb.

"Go ahead, lawman. Try and lock me up now," the monster says sinisterly as he taps the flamethrower on his palm to activate it.

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

(OOC: Looks like we have our first battle! I'll get one of the uninvolved players to decide the outcome of this conflict. All three of us (assuming Cimmeria gets involved in the battle) should post a "Non-Canon" version of the fight in the next forty-eight hours.)
Black Magic
player, 8 posts
Sat 2 May 2015
at 09:57
  • msg #6

Re: New York City (Location 2)

(OOC: Non-Canon Battle Post)

Black Magic did not seem in the least bit disturbed by this reaction as though he knew it to be coming; but truly, what other outcome is there when a super villain and hero meet? With a calm demeanor, twilight eyes matched those radiating murder in the direction of the magician.

”So you hurt people who hurt people? You believe your Gift entitles you to be judge, jury, and even executioner which appears to be the task I interrupted? Do you think what you do is fair, whatever his crime might be? Perhaps he is a thief, and you wish to steal his life; maybe his hands are soaked in the blood of another directly or not, and you believe the red in his veins enough to wash the deed clean? Or did he hurt someone, and now you come to give it back in spades until he can take no more and expires?

“So you avenge this other person or yourself, but what about your victim? Would you not steal something from his family, or murder their kin, or punish them when they hear the story of what fate befell the dead? Does there not exist the chance a relative or friend will not seek the same justice as you do now, by mortal or Gifted means? Is it not true that by killing him, you are not removing evil from our world but merely rebranding it with your face in their eyes?

“You know I am right, do you not? You do not wish to fight me, denounce your anger.”


The hypnosis worked; Spurt for the first time in so long he couldn’t remember the last let go of his rage. However, that fire had burned inside him for so long that without it, there was only a hollowness that flooded with fear that what this stranger said was right; the young villain hated that sensation, which sparked the blaze within his breast once more and with a snarling scream he broke free of the trance.

He resumed his earlier action of triggering the flame throwers on the palms of his hands, but the delay between the noise and activity had been enough for Black Magic to snatch the hat from upon top of slickened hair. He had seen scorch marks on his way to the office, so when the consuming heat flew toward him he was not caught off guard. Instead, he turned the empty opening toward David and waved one had before it; a geyser of water rushed forth, meeting it's elemental rival head on. Steam belched forth into the room blinding both combatants, but the hero knew the path to his next destination by having spotted it beforehand. The young man wiped at his eyes with one hand while the other that had knocked out the businessman grabbed what might have been a chair and threw it in the direction he knew the other Gifted to have last been; the improvised projectile flew into the other room and became embedded in the far wall without hitting any other obstacle. Then, Black Magic’s voice was heard again.

”Are you done so soon? I truly thought this would be more of a challenge, but it appears your smallest muscle is kept between your ears. I have no need to lock you up my friend, that only happens to dangerous people; they are defined as dangerous because they are smart enough to pose a threat. You, I daresay, suffer trouble in the advanced art of tying your own shoes.”

As David listened to the taunts, his anger swelled past the limit it had been even when he had attacked his target. This man was verbally abusing him, making fun of him, picking on him, just like the bullies used to do before the boy had learned to stand up for himself. That didn’t happen anymore, and he refused to let it restart now. He turned in the direction the voice was coming from, tensed his large legs, held up a massive forearm before his body, bent over, and with a bellowing yell charged at full speed. The foe rushed through the steam, in seconds it cleared and he saw the well-dressed figure that was about to be a stain standing before him. Then, right before impact, Black Magic went straight up out of the thug’s path. Spurt wondered both how that was possible, and why he seemed to be going in the opposite direction with increasing speed.

When he bothered to look, he saw open space below him. It then dawned on him what had happened; using the steam as cover, Black Magic had made his way out of the floor-to-ceiling window Spurt had smashed out with the table. How the hero didn’t become road pizza the brute didn’t know, but the heckling had been meant to make David charge without thought and it had worked. Thanks to his legs, the criminal had enough momentum to not arc down and crash among the ever growing number of police, but instead smashed through the brick wall of the building on the alternate side of the street from the one he had entered; on the downside, the surprise of the situation he had found himself in caused him to partially drop his blocking arm so his head felt a bit of the impact. The hero lowered himself to the level of the new opening and ran across to it on a walkway of nothing, entering the building after his foe. He found the massive man dazed and on the floor of a hallway; wasting no time, the magician reached into a sleeve and pulled out a bright yellow scarf that was tied to a blue one, then red, green, and so forth. He fastened the end he first retrieved to the other Gifted’s huge wrist, then to his other followed by his ankles. The cloth was wrapped many times around and around to keep the limbs secured; no matter how much there always seemed to be more until the prestidigitator no longer needed it and the end slid out of his cuff.

Black Magic thought it wouldn’t be long before the police arrived for their care package, but they were beaten to the punch by a woman who looked for all the world as though she belonged in an action movie. She came out of a door near them that led to a stairwell most likely, and immediately opened fire with what looked to the hero to be a small gun of some sort. He held up a hand, and the rounds popped out of the weapon as beautiful soap bubbles. She her deadpan expression didn’t change at this, and she walked sideways quickly then down the hall slightly until the came to another door and entered it. The Hocus Pocus Hero started to make his way toward it as well, but the newcomer reemerged holding a mop bucket into which she had poured both ammonia and bleach. She hurled the container at the disguised computer tech; caught off guard and he dodged the object only to have it spill near him and smell the fumes. Twilight eyes began to water as he pulled his cape up over his nose and backed away; the stranger took no time in running up to the thug who had mostly come back to his senses and was struggling against his bindings. Instead of attempting to free him however, the silent lady touched the floor under him and the pair sank away out of sight; right before she was gone from his vision though, the female fighter tossed something toward the showman. He feared it to be a weapon of some sort, plus they might have escaped to one floor below him, so the magician ducked around a corner with no one around snd appeared suddenly in the lower hallway; there was no one there. He peered about, but found no trace of the deadly duo he had faced. It also occurred to him that there had been no explosion or anything from above, so he teleported back up and slowly approached the device; it was a burner phone. It started to ring five seconds after he walked up to it, and the masked hero answered.

”Hello?”

”Hello. May I ask whom I’m speaking with?”

The voice sounded normal enough, but there seemed to be something surreal about it as though it was manufactured or faked somehow.

”Black Magic my good sir, and you are?"

”I speak for another and represent their interests, so you may call me by their name; Namadis.”

”What is it you wish to speak to me about? I figure you did want to talk to me, and this phone was not left by accident.”

”You are most correct Sir. The matter at hand is a proposition I would like to put forth to you.”

”What sort of proposition?”

”That large fellow you so succinctly beat is counted among my number. As you have seen, he is able to manipulate his physical form as needed. To this I have added a flamethrower at his discretion. Yet, you beat him soundly using a few parlor tricks many years out of style with the modern world.”

”Do you wish an apology? If such is the case, I regret to tell you none shall be forthcoming.”

”Oh, no, not at all. This call isn’t about him, it’s about you. Let’s pretend for a moment that you found a magic lamp, and inside it there’s a genie who can grant your every wish. The phone you hold is that lamp, and I the granter of wishes. Imagine what you would be able to do with all the money you would ever need, technology to perform feats so great you will obliterate the name of ‘Houdini’ from the history books, assistants at your beck and call day or night. Anything at all is yours for the asking. New York City is a very heavily guarded place when it comes to the Gifted, and the building you’re in is surrounded by officers armed and armored against your kind. But a hack into the police database, some money in the right pockets, and what happens can be controlled. All you have to do is agree to join up with me, and I will ensure your escape just like I did with the man who alluded you. Could I have your answer please?”

”Side with you? From the example of the sort of person you are willing to accept, I am not sure if your offer is a compliment or insult. Regardless, I must decline; I do not settle for less than top billing, nor do I share it. As for my departure, do not fret over me. I shall handle such an issue on my own.”

The modified voice did not sound discouraged or despondent.

”Yes, more than one Gifted has reacted in such a way as you. But when they got tired of saving a world full of people who do not like those who were not normal like them, that’s when their minds changed. You might get away free, perhaps not. In either event, you will be contacted again to see if you still stand by your decision. You may do what you wish with the phone; it is a cheap one linked to no one and no place, the only call on it was made to you, it has no GPS so it can’t be traced to where it’s been, and this number I'm calling from has been redirected multiple times so it would take the authorities a long while to discover that this, too, is a burner phone. Good day, sir.”

There was a click, and Black Magic was once more by himself; that’s not to say he’d be lonely long from the sound of marching steps up the nearby stairwell. The magic man was gone as cleanly as the other two when officers arrived, the phone abandoned on the floor since with gloves the hero didn’t have to worry about leaving fingerprints; Peter Vargus would be found in the computer room where he was left, dressed normally and desperate to pee. There were no security cameras in the server area, for fear someone might access the system with information that could be seen by a camera and the feed hacked.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:02, Sun 03 May 2015.
Scripts
GM, 26 posts
The King
of Comics Canon
Sun 3 May 2015
at 18:36
  • msg #7

Re: New York City (Location 2)

(OOC: Non-Canon Battle Post)

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

With a bow and a tip of his hat, Black Magic teleports away from the flames that explode out of Spurt's wrist.

"Oh, I'd hate to lock up a gentleman like yourself," says the mage. "But you leave little choice."

Spurt shouts out in frustration and instantly jumps around to face the noise's source. His hand shakes while drenches the area in all-consuming flame, leaving a hole in the floor and scorch marks on the walls. But when the flames clear, Black Magic is gone.

"There's always a choice!"

The room's wall-mounted plasma television springs to life. Black Magic appears on the screen, wearing a stern look on his face. Spurt's head cranks in its direction.

"That's right, there's always a choice,"
each word the magic man speaks echoes repeatedly inside Spurt's mind. "And you, my friend, have made the wrong one. Don't dare dance with the daredevil mage, don't lock your mind within a cage. A world of peace awaits you if you'd only care to look, don't keep selling yourself short as a seedy little crook."

Spurt stares, transfixed, at the face on the screen. Thoughts of surrendering and living a peaceful life roll through his mind and he shuts them down, but they just keep coming and coming and coming. The real Black Magic stands near the bookcase behind Spurt. He swirls his wand around to direct the illusion and mouths the words his televised doppelganger speaks.

The sound of a bullhorn pierces the hypnotic fog clouding Spurt's mind. He cranks his head in the direction of the noise. Noticing Black Magic, he immediately jumps into the air.

"Attention, Unidentified Gifted! Attention! You are in violation of Federal Powers Statute 12. Get on the ground and surrender immediately. "


Black Magic is launched through the hole where the office's window once was by Spurt's giant knee. The magician's neck very nearly snaps as the giant, dense knee drills into his chin. He falls toward the ground and blood pours out of his nose. Meanwhile, the AGF troops take cover just as Spurt's feet flatten one of their armored cars.

"Protect all escape routes and begin your approach!" says the AGF Commander. At this, the injured and falling Black Magic comes back to his senses. Thinking quickly, he pulls a long, rainbow-colored scarf out of his sleeve, tosses it around a nearby window ledge, and swings toward Spurt. With the momentum of the fall redirected into one swinging kick, he hurls Spurt off what remains of the AGF vehicle and into a brick wall.

The showman, of course, lands on his feet. But noxious, colored smoke quickly fills the air as the AGF tosses a handful of smoke grenades at the ground. Spurt coughs and nearly hacks up his lungs. He grabs at his chest in pain. Before too long, his chest muscles expand, like a balloon, into muscular monstrosities that threaten to crush his abdomen. He roars in pain.

"Keep on 'em!"
Between coughing fits of his own, Black Magic spots the shadows of the AGF officers approaching his position.

"Flee from here, gentlemen!" shouts the Hocus Pocus Hero. "Your tricks cannot stop him!"

Black Magic turns his hat to face one of the shadows. A powerful jet of water fires out of the hat, forcing the officer to stop in his tracks. A second officer charges at the magician and blasts him with a shotgun full of rubber bullets. In an inspired moment of trickery, Black Magic holds out his hand and lets himself be hit with the rubber bullets. Amazingly, the rubber bullets harmlessly bounce off of him as if they were little rubber balls!

"And they certainly won't stop me."

Spurt presses his hand to his abdomen and keeps it there until its size matches his torso's width. A smile comes to Spurt's face as he realizes that he's breathing much easier now. Maybe he wouldn't need to grab his rebreather just yet...

The cloud immediately clears as gale-force winds toss several running officers to the ground and force Black Magic to his knees. As the smoke clears, the officers notice Spurt's now huge head and torso. One of the soldiers, almost instinctively, whips his assault rifle up into the "ready" position and takes aim at the monster.

"Dieeee! Dieee!" screams the officer as he fills the beast full of lead. Spurt shrieks, cries out, and howls in pain as the bullets tear his body to shreds. In desperation, his enormous arm reaches out and grabs Black Magic. Before the incredible sorcerer understands what's happening, Spurt's massive hand spikes him like a volleyball toward the policemen.

Spurt sprints off. As he runs, his naked, bloody abdominal muscles try to tear themselves off of his colossal legs. Black Magic, meanwhile, uses his acrobatic ballet techniques to artfully transform his fall into a roll. His roll lets him land on his feet and stop himself before he crashes into the patrolmen. Unfortunately, all the classes in the world couldn't save him from a cheap shot. The instant Black Magic stands, he is struck by a pair of AGF tasers.

The showman of the century dramatically falls and curls himself into a ball as pain slashes its way through his body.

"Hold it,"
says the AGF Commander. His men roughly pull their tasers out of Black Magic's skin. "Galvez, take him in for questioning. We'll find the target."

Galvez's men handcuff a half-conscious Black Magic, throw him in one of their armored vehicles, and strip him as soon as he's inside. They thoroughly examine their enemy's suit and hat for weapons as the car drives off. They shake their head in bewilderment when they fail to find anything.

"Must be an innate power," suggests one of them.

"Maybe," responds Galvez. "We'll find out soon enough."

When she sees the AGF take off after her partner, Cimmeria opens up a portal near her vantage point across the street. She then runs through it, grabs a pair of magnums from her secret dimension, and picks a portal a few blocks away from her starting position to run through. As always, she had a contingency plan in case things went belly up. In fact, she plotted out this entire borough beforehand. Thus, she knew where that coward, David, would head and what routes the officers would take to chase him.

But she wasn't going after David now. As the Anti-Gifted troops' armored cars rounded a corner, her portal opened atop a balcony. She stepped out of the portal, fired two shots, and calmly walked back to her secret world. The expertly placed shots pierced the "bulletproof" windshields of two of the AGF's armored cars and shattered their drivers' skulls. Three of the AGF's armored cars smash into each other, causing a massive pile-up and sparking a fire. Troops pour out of the flaming wreckage and look around for their enemy, but see nothing.

"Where is he?" asks the AGF Commander.

"Where is he?!"

Cimmeria reappears in front of Spurt, aims right between his eyes, and takes the wounded animal down with a tranquilizer dart. Hopefully, there would be time to save him before he returned to normal size.

Black Magic wakes up, in civilian clothes, in a dark cell. The man guarding his cell picks up his radio.

"He's awake," says the man. "We can begin."
Ma Nature
player, 4 posts
Wed 6 May 2015
at 23:31
  • msg #8

Re: New York City (Location 2)

<c>(OOC: Canon Post)</c>

Black Magic did not seem in the least bit disturbed by this reaction as though he knew it to be coming; but truly, what other outcome is there when a super villain and hero meet? With a calm demeanor, twilight eyes matched those radiating murder in the direction of the magician.

”So you hurt people who hurt people? You believe your Gift entitles you to be judge, jury, and even executioner which appears to be the task I interrupted? Do you think what you do is fair, whatever his crime might be? Perhaps he is a thief, and you wish to steal his life; maybe his hands are soaked in the blood of another directly or not, and you believe the red in his veins enough to wash the deed clean? Or did he hurt someone, and now you come to give it back in spades until he can take no more and expires?

“So you avenge this other person or yourself, but what about your victim? Would you not steal something from his family, or murder their kin, or punish them when they hear the story of what fate befell the dead? Does there not exist the chance a relative or friend will not seek the same justice as you do now, by mortal or Gifted means? Is it not true that by killing him, you are not removing evil from our world but merely rebranding it with your face in their eyes?

“You know I am right, do you not? You do not wish to fight me, denounce your anger.”


The hypnosis worked; Spurt for the first time in so long he couldn’t remember the last let go of his rage. Thoughts of surrendering and living a peaceful life roll through his mind and he shuts them down, but they just keep coming and coming and coming. However, that fire had burned inside him for so long that without it, there was only a hollowness that flooded with fear that what this stranger said was right; the young villain hated that sensation, which sparked the blaze within his breast once more and with a snarling scream he broke free of the trance.

He resumed his earlier action of triggering the flame throwers on the palms of his hands, but the delay between the noise and activity had been enough for Black Magic to snatch the hat from upon top of slickened hair. He had seen scorch marks on his way to the office, so when the consuming heat flew toward him he was not caught off guard. Instead, he turned the empty opening toward David and waved one had before it; a geyser of water rushed forth, meeting it's elemental rival head on. Steam belched forth into the room blinding both combatants, but the hero knew the path to his next destination by having spotted it beforehand. The young man wiped at his eyes with one hand while the other that had knocked out the businessman grabbed what might have been a chair and threw it in the direction he knew the other Gifted to have last been; the improvised projectile flew into the other room and became embedded in the far wall without hitting any other obstacle. Then, Black Magic’s voice was heard again.

”Are you done so soon? I truly thought this would be more of a challenge, but it appears your smallest muscle is kept between your ears. I have no need to lock you up my friend, which only happens to dangerous people; they are defined as dangerous because they are smart enough to pose a threat. You, I daresay, suffer trouble in the advanced art of tying your own shoes.”

As David listened to the taunts, his anger swelled past the limit it had been even when he had attacked his target. This man was verbally abusing him, making fun of him, picking on him, just like the bullies used to do before the boy had learned to stand up for himself. That did not’t’t happen anymore, and he refused to let it restart now. He turned in the direction the voice was coming from, tensed his large legs, held up a massive forearm before his body, bent over, and with a bellowing yell charged at full speed. The foe rushed through the steam, in seconds it cleared and he saw the well-dressed figure that was about to be a stain standing before him. Then, right before impact, Black Magic went straight up out of the thug’s path. Spurt wondered both how that was possible, and why he seemed to be going in the opposite direction with increasing speed.

The call from an outside bullhorn sounded awfully loudly:

"Attention, Unidentified Gifted! Attention! You are in violation of Federal Powers Statute 12. Get on the ground and surrender immediately." At the same moment, Cimmeria opens up a portal near her vantage point across the street. She then runs through it.

When he bothered to look, he saw open space below him. It then dawned on him what had happened; using the steam as cover, Black Magic had made his way out of the floor-to-ceiling window Spurt had smashed out with the table. How the hero didn’t’t become road pizza the brute didn’t know, but the heckling had been meant to make David charge without thought and it had worked. Thanks to his legs, the criminal had enough momentum to not arc down and crash among the ever growing number of police, but instead smashed through the brick wall of the building on the alternate side of the street from the one he had entered; on the downside, the surprise of the situation he had found himself in caused him to partially drop his blocking arm so his head felt a bit of the impact. The hero lowered himself to the level of the new opening and ran across to it on a walkway of nothing, entering the building after his foe. He found the massive man dazed and on the floor of a hallway; wasting no time, the magician reached into a sleeve and pulled out a bright yellow scarf that was tied to a blue one, then red, green, and so forth. He fastened the end he first retrieved to the other Gifted’s huge wrist, then to his other followed by his ankles. The cloth was wrapped many times around and around to keep the limbs secured; no matter how much there always seemed to be more until the prestidigitator no longer needed it and the end slid out of his cuff.

Black Magic thought it wouldn’t be long before the police arrived for their care package, but they were beaten to the punch by a woman who looked for all the world as though she belonged in an action movie. She came out of a door near them that led to a stairwell most likely, and immediately opened fire with what looked to the hero to be a small gun of some sort. He held up a hand, and the rounds popped out of the weapon as beautiful soap bubbles. Her deadpan expression didn’t change at this, and she walked sideways quickly then down the hall slightly until she came to another door and entered it. The Hocus Pocus Hero started to make his way toward it as well, but the newcomer reemerged holding a mop bucket into which she had poured both ammonia and bleach. She hurled the container at the disguised computer tech; caught off guard and he dodged the object only to have it spill near him and smell the fumes. Twilight eyes began to water as he pulled his cape up over his nose and backed away; the stranger took no time in running up to the thug who had mostly come back to his senses and was struggling against his bindings. Instead of attempting to free him however, the silent lady touched the floor under him and the pair sank away out of sight; right before she was gone from his vision though, the female fighter tossed something toward the showman. He feared it to be a weapon of some sort, plus they might have escaped to one floor below him, so the magician ducked around a corner with no one around and appeared suddenly in the lower hallway; there was no one there. He peered about, but found no trace of the deadly duo he had faced. It also occurred to him that there had been no explosion or anything from above, so he teleported back up and slowly approached the device; it was a burner phone. It started to ring five seconds after he walked up to it, and the masked hero answered.

”Hello?”

”Hello. May I ask whom I’m speaking with?”

The voice sounded normal enough, but there seemed to be something surreal about it as though it was manufactured or faked somehow.

”Black Magic my good sir, and you are?"

”I speak for another and represent their interests, so you may call me by their name; Namadis.”

”What is it you wish to speak to me about? I figure you did want to talk to me, and this phone was not left by accident.”

”You are most correct Sir. The matter at hand is a proposition I would like to put forth to you.”

”What sort of proposition?”

”That large fellow you so succinctly beat is counted among my number. As you have seen, he is able to manipulate his physical form as needed. To this I have added a flamethrower at his discretion. Yet, you beat him soundly using a few parlor tricks many years out of style with the modern world.”

”Do you wish an apology? If such is the case, I regret to tell you none shall be forthcoming.”

”Oh, no, not at all. This call isn’t about him, it’s about you. Let’s pretend for a moment that you found a magic lamp, and inside it there’s a genie who can grant your every wish. The phone you hold is that lamp, and I the granter of wishes. Imagine what you would be able to do with all the money you would ever need, technology to perform feats so great you will obliterate the name of ‘Houdini’ from the history books, assistants at your beck and call day or night. Anything at all is yours for the asking. New York City is a very heavily guarded place when it comes to the Gifted, and the building you’re in is surrounded by officers armed and armored against your kind. But a hack into the police database, some money in the right pockets, and what happens can be controlled. All you have to do is agree to join up with me, and I will ensure your escape just like I did with the man who eluded you. Could I have your answer please?”

”Side with you? From the example of the sort of person you are willing to accept, I am not sure if your offer is a compliment or insult. Regardless, I must decline; I do not settle for less than top billing, nor do I share it. As for my departure, do not fret over me. I shall handle such an issue on my own.”

The modified voice did not sound discouraged or despondent.

”Yes, more than one Gifted has reacted in such a way as you. But when they got tired of saving a world full of people who do not like those who were not normal like them, that’s when their minds changed. You might get away free, perhaps not. In either event, you will be contacted again to see if you still stand by your decision. You may do what you wish with the phone; it is a cheap one linked to no one and no place, the only call on it was made to you, it has no GPS so it can’t be traced to where it’s been, and this number I'm calling from has been redirected multiple times so it would take the authorities a long while to discover that this, too, is a burner phone. Good day, sir.”

There was a click, and Black Magic was once more by himself; that’s not to say he’d be lonely long from the sound of marching steps up the nearby stairwell. The magic man was gone as cleanly as the other two when officers arrived, the phone abandoned on the floor since with gloves the hero didn’t have to worry about leaving fingerprints; Peter Vargus would be found in the computer room where he was left, dressed normally and desperate to pee. There were no security cameras in the server area, for fear someone might access the system with information that could be seen by a camera and the feed hacked.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:38, Wed 06 May 2015.
Cimmeria
player, 7 posts
Thu 7 May 2015
at 02:57
  • msg #9

Re: New York City (Location 2)

"He looked like a someone you'd hire for a children's party..thirty or so years ago." Cimmeria commented cooly. She was not angry is the slightest, more curious about the mysterious magician. Spurt being beaten so easily did not come as a surprise to her either. In her opinion: anyone with a half a brain and a gift could defeat the enlarged freak.

From the magician's apparel she was sure he was not ITSDA, most likely he didn't even know about the anti-gifted organization. Just an ordinary guy who woke up with powers. Powers.
Plural.
How she wished she had more than one. Though she was clever enough to find multiple was to utilize her gift, Vivienne had always envied those who had an edge up on her.

"Hopefully the call goes well and he makes the right decision." Cimmeria glanced down to see that Spurt was still out cold. She nudged him lightly with the toe of her boot and said in a voice free from emotion: "Wake up."

They were now inside one of her secret rooms that her portals led to. Spurt's  great limbs sprawled out in he center with the violet eyed assassin standing over him. The room was roughly twenty square feet, small compared to the others, but it would do for a time out period. The walls and floor were bright white and must have illuminated the area because no definite source of light could be found. Their features were shadowless, allowing her to see the Asians man face clearly.

"Wake up!" The second nudge was to his head. Her voice had raised an octave but her eyes remained stone cold, like amethyst. Cimmeria needed to know if the magician had used any additional powers she didn't witness. Especially if he turned down Namidias' offer. He'd be a fool to, but she had to know his strengths, so she could use them as his weakness.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:06, Thu 07 May 2015.
Black Magic
player, 12 posts
Thu 7 May 2015
at 05:28
  • msg #10

Re: New York City (Location 2)

Peter took the time before anyone else arrived in the server room to not only change back into his geek attire, but also to use some no rinse powder shampoo on his hair and mustache to remove the oil he'd used as part of Black Magic's look. By the time the AGF got the door code and a pair of officers entered the room for a sweep of possible gifted, all they found was a terrified tech hiding behind a bank of machines with his legs crossed. They surrounded him on either side, they both lowered their rifles at the sight of Vargus, but one pulled out a Taser just in case he was more than he seemed. One spoke to him in a loud, authoritative voice.

"You there! Who are you, and what are you doing here? This building was evacuated."

"M-my name's Peter Vargus, and I'm trying very hard not to wet myself. I was sent here to work on a malfunctioning server by my company, we're contracted with this one. There was a security guard in here with me, but some kind of warning about a Gifted in the building came over a speaker and he ran out. Yeah, the message said to evacuate, but I've seen those Gifted people on TV and they can do all sorts of crazy things. I wasn't about to run out of this room without knowing where they were, not when I could put a locked security door between me and them.

"A-are you guys cops? Please, please, please say yes and it's safe for me to get out of this nightmare already."


One of the men produced a badge while holding out his other hand.

"Anti-Gifted Force, we're part of the NYPD. You have ID? Hand any you got to me, slowly."

With a shaky nod of his head, Peter unclipped the security clearance badge he'd been given while he worked on the property, plus he pulled out his wallet so he could give over his driver's license and employee identification. The man took these and pulled out a radio.

"This is Unit Three, we found a civilian in the primary building. I need a check on a Vargus, Peter. Claims to be some kind of tech here to work on computers. Standing by."

In several minutes there was a respond, the officer listened intently before saying "Roger" and putting the device away. He handed the cards back to Peter while looking at the other AGF member present.

"He checks out. Civilian contractor, authorized to be here; no reprimands from his company and not even a speeding ticket to his name. He was last reported by security to be in this room, they sped up the feed from outside the only door, he's on camera entering but not leaving until we got here. No wonder the poor guy has to use the can."

He looks to Peter as the woman puts her Taser away.

"Sorry for the scare, guy, but you never can be too careful with these freaks running around. Yeah, some of 'em look like the monsters they are, but others, they look just like you and me and they're the ones you gotta watch out for. We're gonna take you out the main entrance, don't worry the fun's all over and you'll be good and safe. We'll turn you over to a uniform officer, give them your statement and then you can get to a restroom."

Vargus gave a nod he understood, got up and retrieved his bags, then followed the pair out of the room and building. He saw a bunch of people dressed similarly to these two hurrying about, talking into and listening to radios while someone he guessed was in charge kept shouting orders. Peter as promised was taken to a patrol cop used in these situations primarily for crowd control, told the young woman he'd been in the server room the entire time and saw nothing, then was ushered past the barricades. once shielded from the police by a wall of rubber-neckers, Peter stopped his 'pee pee' dance and calmly walked toward his car. on the way, he overheard a field reporter talking into a microphone;

"...is still searching both buildings, but so far we have no word on if either of the two combatants have been found. As you can see in our footage from earlier, there was what appeared to be a man dressed in a black suit, top hat, and cape standing in midair right before some creature charged out of the top floor of the building directly behind me, and crashed through the wall of the one just across the street. We cannot be certain at this time, but according to witness accounts it seemed the monster was attacking what was most likely another Gifted. Does this mean New York City has a empowered defender of our own? Someone to pick up the slack left behind by even the special AGF? Stay tuned for more late breaking developments..."

Peter smiled to himself; Black Magic's first appearance in front of the cameras had been at a distance and brief, but his image was being broadcast across TV screens even now and then there were any and all videos made on cell phones. Set by set, view by view, his Dream was on its way to becoming a reality. Vargus fired up his car, and drove away from the noise and confusion. As a wise man had once said, always leave them wanting more. For now...
Scripts
GM, 34 posts
The King
of Comics Canon
Thu 7 May 2015
at 13:55
  • msg #11

Re: New York City (Location 2)

"I'm up. I'm up! Stop kicking me!" David said in a low growl. David seethed in pain as one of his legs deflated back down to normal size. "Why didn't you help me? You coulda killed him easy!"

"Did he tell you to keep out of things? Did he say 'don't bother saving the brute?'" David laughs bitterly. "Wouldn't be the first time. 'Lemme tell you something, Cim. I'm not The Hulk; I'm an anarchist."

David begins to shout. "And you better respect---" Cimmeria cuts him off with a sharp kick to the gut that leaves David whining and wincing. For now, she had more important things to worry about than his rambling nonsense.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:23, Thu 07 May 2015.
Cimmeria
player, 8 posts
Thu 7 May 2015
at 15:11
  • msg #12

Re: New York City (Location 2)

"Look around you David, I did help. You would've been wearing a tutu getting sawed in half if I had not." Vivienne gave one of her rare, hint of a smile at this thought. Though keeping the rest of her demeanor statue like as always. "Besides, He wanted to speak with him. I'm not going to destroy a possible asset." She chose her words carefully, David could be so touchy. "I can get you some water if you would like?" With her last syllable, Cimmeria dropped through small pool of lavender light. With the disappearance of her head a ripple extended from the center outwards as if liquid. Within moments she popped back through the portal, as of she fell through it and angled her body to land feet first. She tossed the bottled water to David and the portal closed.

"Here, drink up and tell me everything."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:26, Thu 07 May 2015.
Scripts
GM, 36 posts
The King
of Comics Canon
Thu 7 May 2015
at 15:38
  • msg #13

Re: New York City (Location 2)

David stared at her as she emerged from the portal as if it were but a pool of water.

"This isn't gonna poison me, is it?" he says, panicking but trying to play it off as a joke. He shook his head and subtly pressed his hand to his tongue. "Nevermind. Thanks, Cim."

David stared down at the ground. "Bastard kicked my ass. He used some kind of a illusion, he could fly, and he had this... powerful voice. It made me want to listen to everything he said; made me wanna surrender. He shot water out of his hat and pulled like, scarves, out of his sleeve. As far as I can tell, he could do anything."

At this, he pressed his knuckles together, causing his left hand to grow to the size of a cannonball. He threw his fist at the wall as if it were a bomb. Luckily, the extra-dimensional house didn't fall apart just because he struck it.

"No wonder he didn't want to join us! He thinks he can do it all on his own!" A smarmy little smirk came to his face. "He didn't want to join us, right? That's why we ain't heard nothing from the Idias?"
Cimmeria
player, 10 posts
Thu 7 May 2015
at 16:52
  • msg #14

Re: New York City (Location 2)

"We will not know until we return." Cimmeria extended out her arms like a scarecrow and motioned to the room around them. "Namidias has not solved the communication problem between here and there." She didn't even know where 'here' was, not fully anyways. All Vivienne knew was that it was a secure location, possibly not even on earth, maybe not even in this dimension. Whatever the case was, telecommunication devices were useless here. All you get is white noise.

"It sounds like it will be hard to determine what was an actual gift and what was just a magic trick. Probably a strategy to make us think he's stronger than he is. At the very least he has a hypnotic ability, maybe flight, and possibly elemental summoning." Cimmeria sighed. This magician was more complicated than she had expected.

"We have to be back within the hour for Namidias' orders. You can rest here if you'd like, or I can bring you back with me." Cimmeria moved to stand beside him to brush the palm o her hand against the section of wall he had struck. It remained unscarred an smooth as before. The material felt as sturdy as stone beneath her hand, though bat it was she did not know.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:40, Thu 07 May 2015.
Jump
player, 4 posts
Thu 7 May 2015
at 18:00
  • msg #15

Re: New York City (Location 2)

Generally, response was a bit faster than it had been with the whole fiasco that just occurred, but since Jump had only just gotten in, it took him a few minutes longer than usual to get prepared. After being given the location, he'd jumped to a rooftop a little under a mile away and only caught the end of the battle. From this distance, there were too many people to get any clear images on what was going on over there, but he'd been told explicitly to stay at his range limit. Using him to scout out situations was a fantastic idea, but he couldn't exactly do much when all he could see was a bunch of cops and rambling civilians. Except for that sudden disappearance of the supposed perpetrator and someone else a few minutes ago, nothing exciting had happened. "Are you seriously keeping me out this far when they're gone?"  He asked quietly through his radio. "I mean, seriously, they've obviously got a teleporter. People don't just disappear without that. And if they've got a teleporter, they're long gone. The AGF is easy enough to avoid when I can see them coming a mile away and they'd have to hit me with a tazer to keep me anyways."

Their was a long sigh on the other end before a female voice responded. "Jump, seriously? We're going through this again? Once you pass your combat training, you can get closer to these situations than a mile. Before then, you're not cleared." Jump groaned. "it's not my fault those combat trainers of yours teach me nothing but brute force. Get me a karate trainer or something." There was another sigh, and the woman came back on. "Let me call someone. We'll see."

Jump almost jumped in glee, but waited patiently for her to get back. When there was a click and she came back on, he listened in. "You've been cleared to get within 500 feet. No closer." Jump whooped. "Thank you. You will not regret this. Probably." He clapped his hands together and rubbed them before dissappearing. On the other end of his teleport, he quickly got down low and started surveying the area. Without all that intervening distance, things were far clearer. "Hey, that's weird..." He said.

"What?"

"I don't know, never felt... that before." Jump turned his face, even though eh didn't really need to, towards a spot that felt off. "There's... it's like... an imprint? An imprint of something. It just feels weird there." Jump was silent for a moment. "It's... within 450 feet. Is it alright if I go check it out...?"

"450?" There was a moment of silence. <Black>"You've got 2 minutes. We need you back here to get one of our teams out to Detroit though, so don't dilly-dally." </Black>

Jump didn't whoop this time, considering he'd just lied. It was within 450 feet. Just... not of the crime scene. Kinda within 450 feet of him. But that was besides the point. He'd never seen that kind of thing before, and it was intriguing. He appeared in a hallway, and kept careful track of the others in the building before leaning down to the floor and running his hand over it. He felt time ticking down almost physically and waited with nervousness for the radio to call him back. "What is it...?" He whispered to himself.

He prodded it with his finger, but it was just a floor, and when he removed some of the tiles with his power, the imprint started breaking, so he stopped. "Your 2 minutes is up." The radio said, practically scaring him half to death. "Shit. Give me more warning than that, Jesus." He said, his voice trembling. "Give me 1 more minute." Their was a pause, than the voice came back. "30 seconds."

"Deal." He said quickly, and before he could change his mind, gripped the portal with the edges of his mind and tried to do a jump. It was more like a hop. Or a skip. And then a really hard fall. He felt himself slam into a hard wall and then reappear in the hallway, as if the wall had shoved him out, his heart practically exploding. He put his hand to his face, and wiped, the blood sticking to his fingers making his eyes narrow in worry. He tapped the radeo in his ear and found it hanging out by a thread. "Fuck." He swore loudly, and tried to jump back to base. He felt a queasy stretching sensation before he slammed into the wall at the end of the hallway and crumpled to the ground. "God damnet." He tried again, and when he appeared 4 feet off the ground in the same place and fell down, he groaned. He picked himself off the ground quickly, wincing briefly, and scurried down the other hallway, checking doors until he came to a janitors closet and hid himself in it, sitting down on a bucket. "Gotta relax." He said, breathing hard. "And also never try moving spacial phenomena again. Ever."
Cimmeria
player, 14 posts
Thu 7 May 2015
at 19:36
  • msg #16

Re: New York City (Location 2)

Cimmeria felt something. . . odd. An almost invasive sensation, as if Spurt reached out his grotesque arm and stroked her hair. The cause of it wasn't apparent at first. No one had ever entered her domain unless she brought them herself, few even knew about them. She searched the room for the source of her unease, this strange feeling made her doubt the secret room's security. But only for a moment. She suddenly realized she had felt this before, but it didn't bother her then. When Namidias found one of her portals, her first portal in fact, it was a warm caress. A comrade in arms that had never existed before welcoming her home. Someone whose thoughts aligned with her own. Cimmeria sighed, this person was no Namidias.

"Someone has found one of my secret doors." Cimmeria's voice was calm as always, her violet eyes concentrated on the center of the floor, where her portal to the warehouse laid. Normally Cimmeria would have removed it, but she wanted to return to the warehouse to check for any evidence of the magicians powers.

Luckily, even if her portal was found or more importantly activated, the poor intruder would pop out of one of her others she used for mobility.

"I need to see what's going on out there. I think it would be wise for you to stay here. Regain your strength. It it's trouble I can't handle then I'll send the poor bastard down to you. Between the two of us we'll be fine." Cimmeria found this strategy to be highly unlikely however. In fact she needed to talk to Namidias alone, give a report of not only her findings on the magician, but of Spurt's performance as well. Vivienne was not worried about whoever was poking there nose in her doorways, more annoyed.

"Deal? We can do whatever you want afterwards."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:38, Thu 07 May 2015.
Icon
player, 3 posts
Fri 8 May 2015
at 13:58
  • msg #17

Re: New York City (Location 2)

Eric was on his way to work. He was passing the building that the AGF was currently locking down. He glanced over in that direction but kept his head down. No need sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. He forced his mind to think of other thoughts. The new books he had ordered had finally come in and he was excited to get into them. He had taken a lot of time finding the correct source material he needed to study the Hindu mythos. The last three books had arrived and now he had the complete set of seven books to pour over. His mind started wandering as he started thinking about what kind of exciting new things he was going to learn. The shout of an AGF enforcer to a random passerby brought his mind back to the present. Eric realized he should not dwell on such thought with them so close at hand. Who knows what might happen. He brought his eyes back forward and concentrated on just peacefully getting to work.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:08, Fri 08 May 2015.
Scripts
GM, 38 posts
The King
of Comics Canon
Fri 8 May 2015
at 14:30
  • msg #18

Re: New York City (Location 2)

"Deal." Spurt moaned and rolled over like an exhausted teenager who didn't want to get out of bed. Whatever he wanted? Right now, all he wanted to do was get back at the over-dressed thug. Actually, he wanted to get back at all the overdressed thugs in the world; he wanted his hands around the necks of each and every police officer, soldier, and superhero there was. Heh, maybe he could make his hands big enough to crush the entire world and everyone who thinks they own it. But his body wouldn't let him so much as move right now. As always was the case (though no one believed him), his mind was strong, but his body was weak.

"And Cim..." the former beast said. "Be careful. He's almost as badass as you..."
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