A few weeks past Overall the team seemed to be getting along fairly well.
As the group got settled in everyone had a desired room when staying on the base, a few of the side issues were taken care of or being monitored.  Galahad Had opted not to join up with the team, having looked around and thinking her place was not with the group. William tried to argue the utility of her armor but in the end she disagreed so he accepted her refusal and arranged for her transport back.


Bloodrager attempted a few more unsupervised cooking experiments and after a smoke alarm incident resulting in having to replace a few cabinets, the dining table and the Oven in the kitchen he was informed that he was not to cook alone and to always have someone help him. He also kept looking in various Decorative boxes throughout the base claiming one could hold treasure.


As for the others Williams revealed his past to the team and how he came to be with SHIELD.
William was Captain America for a short time after the Original Cap had disappeared in 1945 during the closing days of World War II, Captain America and Bucky try to stop the villainous Baron Zemo from destroying an experimental drone plane. Zemo launches the plane with an armed explosive on it with Rogers and Barnes in hot pursuit. The pair reaches the plane just before takeoff. When Bucky tries to defuse the bomb, it explodes in mid-air. Rogers is hurled into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. Both are presumed dead.

As Captain America William fought to prevent the Red Skull’s attempt to steal the atomic bomb, encountering a young Spy named Nick Fury during this mission. in 1946 During a battle Naslund was left for dead when he his legs and chest were crushed by a robot created by the Red Skull. Williams lacking experience in combat turned to warn Nick Fury of the robot’s and Red Skulls attempt to kidnap or kill then-Congressional candidate John F. Kennedy in Boston. As he turned back the Robot gained the upper hand,

Nick Fury with the help of a mysterious magic wielding woman named Modred the Mystic defeated Red Skull and attempted to save Naslund by putting him in a stasis field of sort and hiding him away into a secret location to avoid the Truth that Captain America would be dead for a 2nd time.

Naslund remained in a coma while his body was healing. Not clear of the end result Nick and Modred the Mystic were the only ones that new of Naslund secret and secret location.
Nick Fury was later killed when the Red Skull had found out about Naslund. Since Nick was a spy this was never made public. Many years had passed and finally Modred the Mystic with the help of The Patriot and a young S.H.I.E.L.D team came back to find Naslund who had remained hidden and remove him from the stasis field so he could return to his life. The stasis field seemed to have been successful to restore Naslund back to normal and he was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D not long after.


Spiderman had put up another few videos, Having stopped the Dragon Street Gang from terrorizing China town. His approval for that intervention had gotten him a lot of respect in Chinatown. Even the Daily Bugle was starting to change its tune on Spiderman.


William With the help of Jocasta, Darkstar and Spiderman had set up the new members up in training as much as they could, in both ranged and practicing hand to hand combat and controlling of abilities. It was going ok for the combat as for the powers that was taking much longer. A few Dummies and some equipment needed replacing a few times.


William’s had established a communication with the Avengers specifically Tony Stark and Steve Rodgers, But he had not had a chance to meet them in person as of yet. Tony offered some simple upgrades for Jocasta in memory capacity and processing speed along with a special Medic package. He’d also gotten a few files a few supers that were rumored to be more active, Tony offered them to Task Force as it seemed they had a mission in Sokovia.


As for trying to reach Dr. Strange, William was informed that he was still unavailable. But they were able to get a little information from Wong about the Eternals. Wong Explained that according to the writings  the Celestials visited Earth five million years ago and performed genetic experiments on early proto-humanity, they created two divergent races: the long-lived Eternals, and the genetically unstable and monstrously grotesque Deviants. These experiments also led to the capacity for super-powered mutations in humans. Rumor is that they also performed this experiment on other planets.

There is said to be a portal to Olympus located somewhere on Mount Olympus, but it has been sealed for some time now and undetectable, This didn’t really help anyone understand anymore then that about why CK was here or what the purpose of CK really was. It looked like CK may have been a forgotten project or something obsolete that the Eternals opted to just leave behind.

Jocasta was also able to dig up some information on Charles Strauss, There was a death Certificate that was issued last year. Dr Strauss had died in jail. Jocasta was able to determine the document was a forgery and that Strauss was alive, and was broken out of jail by the Maggia remain in the shadows to continue his Sovereign Six experiments.


Taskmistress had been a specialist in Spy and weapons so she trained a lot less than the others. Instead her role had been switched up a little for 2 reasons, the first was since she had developed a great rapport with Bloodrager she was now to help Doc and Jocasta in getting to understand Bloodrager a little more in his mannerism and his view on things. A lot of it could be broken down to a big game of D&D with some extra complexities.

The 2nd was she was sent to investigate a lead on the Maggia William opted to test the team with a simple mission, Having Spiderman and Darkstar off in the distance so that if there was trouble they could intervene,

Taskmistress, Aurora along with Darwin undercover and as a rat hiding in the purse. There was a casino in New Jersey that had some very heavy security. Rumor was there were other supers there but no one knew who they were,  The Shamrock casino was extremely busy, there were a lot of machines and gambling tables, The place smelled of alcohol and smokes, as the trio walked around the various tables Darwin had picked up a scent of Chloroform and Formaldehyde an odd combination in a casino. Upon looking around you spotted a large man with a very flat head and dressed in an old style pin stripped suit sitting on a chair by a door he had a cigar in his mouth and was muttering something, on either side of him were 2 other men in more recent looking suits.

The door they were standing next to opened only slightly and Darwin was able to determine the smell was definitely coming from there,  A basement laboratory was discover. Aurora gave a quick once over the lab using her speed and confirmed the similar set up and seemingly some recent experiments that may have been successful, In one of the corners of the room there was a large metallic suit of sorts. The mission had almost been botched as memories came flooding back to Aurora and she came close to freaking out, But she had managed to get back to the table and take a few deep breaths. There were only a few people in the lab at the time.  Unfortunately there was no time to investigate further trouble started in the casino a couple of Asian men came in and were about to start some trouble, As the commotion was getting louder and the Asian men drew guns the pin stripped man with the flat head charged at them slamming into them head first and sending them flying through the double glass doors and onto the street. The Flat head man turned to everyone in the casino.

Thanks to these trouble makers, We’re closing up! Everyone out! NOW He growled as he walked toward the back pulling out a Tommy gun to let the people know he wasn’t kidding. The crowd headed for the exits in a slight panic and the doors closed behind them.


William pulled out the team for now. This seemed like the most viable lead and they could pursue it soon enough,

While information was being gathered, The team had gone out and were successful on a few small missions from local minor threat supers that were stopped from causing too much damage. One of them had called himself Paste Pot Pete who had some sort of Sticky paste gun that attempted to make a name for himself he had teamed up with some weird Aussie guy who called himself The Kangaroo a super who had some augmented strength in his legs but had not been much of a threat when the team appeared.

Another Appeared to plan a robbery of a few banks He called himself Big Wheel, he had constructed a large metal single-wheeled vehicle that can climb up buildings, equipping it with guns and waldo-arms he had rammed a few banks and used the arms to break open the vaults to take the money. He didn't get very far...The news had mentioned Task Force a couple times and how a couple of them had stopped some minor gang trouble and local thugs. But no one knew where they came from.



Today was a very warm an sunny day and had started off like most of the others in the past week. Just more training and team building activities....

After stopping by his room to pick up a few things and then passing through the kitchen to slam a Monster Ultra, Kevin headed to the common room to meet with the others.  It had been a long couple of days and an even longer couple of nights.

"Hey all, sorry about the absence.  I've been to the wrong side of the tracks having a bit of a looksee, crook-style," Kevin told them.  He put photos of the two Asian men from the casino on a table.  "These two are low-to-middling enforcers for the Dragon Tong.  Apparently Spidey curb-stomping their Dragon Street gang muscleheads got their panties all in a wad and they were going to bump their rep by bumping off this loony mope."

He slapped down the picture of Flattop.  "Hammerhead.  No known first name.  New Maggia boss for the Top Man's old crew.  Into old gangster movies.  Like, really into them.  Like James Cagney from White Heat is this asshole's spirit animal.  Has some kind of implant in his skull.  I heard stories about him smashing through a brick wall.  With his fucking head.  Yeah, screw brain shots.  Go for center mass on this motherfucker if it comes to that."

"Which it might, because I think tonight would be an excellent time for a girls' night out," he said, indicating Aurora, Taskmistress and Mortis focusing on Lois as he did.  "And when you go out, I'd like you to be wearing this."

Kevin pulled a box out from under his costume's overcoat and laid it in front of her.  Inside the box was a green and black sequin flapper-style dress.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/file...1_2.jpg?v=1540399486

"I want you in that being yourself.  Not a floozy or a gun moll, but a classy dame,"  Kevin told Lois, his tone aping the gangster's speaking style.  "You do that and the poor flat-headed bastard won't know what hit him.  Which will give me and Taskmistress the chance to slip away and get the prize.  Possibly while others in the group create even more of a distraction."

"Not the lab.  That comes second if at all.  What we really want are the finance records.  We want to know where the money came from to build that lab.  And where else the money went.  And what else it built."

He looked up at every one else.  "So, that's my general plan.  Tell what's wrong with it so we can fix it or come up with something else."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:10, Fri 22 Feb 2019.

Lois had watched a few of Spidey's online videos in her spare time (hiding it from her spiderman hating father)... generally finding them to be funny with all his quips and acrobatics.  In fact, Lois was watching one of them when Darkstar arrived in the common room.

"Morning."

She looked over the photos and absorbed the information that Darkstar provided.  Even though she had been sat out of the casino operation, Lois had watched a feed from the Taskforce base.  It had been quite nervous watching her teammates be in danger... while being unable to help them.

"Wait... you want me in on this?  Won't it be suspicious if we turn up in period clothing, like 'obvious trap' stuff?  And where does Dee Dee fit into your plan?  Don't get me wrong... its a pretty good plan otherwise.  I assume your going to copy the records and leave the real ones in place?  And if you want a suggestion, how about you put Spiderman nearby to lure out all the guys who hate him?  They get wind that he's nearby and security levels go down pretty quick.  If he's up for it, that is."

Otherwise Lois picked up the green dress and held it against herself to check its size.  She could certainly make it work.

Kevin, having previously checked with Jocasta about Lois's body measurements and having an eye for the female figure was pretty sure the dress would work.

"I like it," he approved, before turning toward Spider-man.  "Just don't wrap things up too quickly, Spidey.  We'll have Clockwork Knight and Bloodrager on standby in case shit goes bad inside.  William can coordinate.  Figure Darwin can fit into the mission by fitting into somebody's purse like before."

"Plus, figure there's going to be some action tonight as well," Kevin told them.  "The word I got was that the DTs were pissed by what Hammerhead did to their boys, so they're going to send a crew to get some payback.  I might've hit a couple of their money centers and left hammers behind to help that along a little."

He looked toward William pointed a thumb at himself and smirked slightly.  "Asshole criminal, remember?"

"As for the period clothing, remember the feed.  Half the people in that joint were rocking the 20s duds," he told them.  "Some of 'em were H-head's goons but a lot of them were people playing like they were at a Jay Gatsby party.  Yes, I read.  And also caught the movie."

"Besides, you wearing the dress with Aurora and Taskmistress going more regular tells its own story," Kevin told them.  "Rora and Tasky were two girls who went there, liked and thought it'd be perfect for their friend, Lois, who's kind of into that stuff.  Yeah, your undercover identity for this op kind of needs to be your real self.  Figure there's a decent chance Thick-head might recognize you from the society pages, which he probably keeps up with if only as a target list.  You think you'll be cool wasting some of Daddy's money to help get this info?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:17, Thu 29 Nov 2018.

Taskmistress listened to The leader rambling on about the plan. He was way too energetic for his own good. The idea of going undercover bored her she preferred the more complicated route of infiltration via air vents, hacking, the more challenging but hey going undercover could be interesting. After all she may have worked for Hammerhead at one point. Could have tried to kill him. That might make things interesting. She smirked lightly at the thought. She'd also get to get paid to drink alcohol and that was always fun.

In terms of the briefings and backgrounds, two things really stood out for Aurora.  One was that she had a new respect for Naslund, after learning he'd served a stint as Captain America.  The other was this bit about 'Eternals' and 'Deviants.'

Genetic experimentation. By ancient space gods, no less.  It couldn't help but make her think of what had been done to her and Billy...and the four who'd perished after being horribly mutated.   '...led to the capacity for super-powered mutations in humans.'     Was Sovereign Six related in some way?   Even if only as some sort of copy cat effort?

The bit about Strauss, or whatever his name might truly be, hadn't surprised her.   And, she made her own silent promise to see him put away somewhere that would be more challenging to escape from.

As for her flub up on the mission, she was ashamed for getting triggered in such a way.  She was a psychology major after all, should have been more in control of herself.   But in the moment, it had been a little overwhelming.

After Paste Pot Pete and the Kangaroo, Ali'd had to laugh out loud at the reveal of 'Hammerhead.'    Had they all slipped reality into a Dick Tracey movie?    Still, she knew she shouldn't laugh at a man who qualified as a dangerous criminal, no matter how absurd the image and name.   She wasn't certain about the idea of Lois getting close to him, but then recollected what she could do, and acknowledged Lois was about as far from defenseless as one could be.

"DeeDee can travel in my purse, anytime.  I had a silk scarf with a coffee stain, not really wearable anymore, but it makes a first class bed for our shapeshifter.  And as changing location swiftly is a specialty, we can both be available to backup Spider-man if things go south for him. Or, maybe she should be deployed as backup with Lois?"   

Ali also noticed Taskmistress.  She wasn't easy to read, but based on what Ali had learned from reviewing Jacosta's data, she knew she was well capable of leading a mission, and more than probably had her own ideas about it.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:51, Thu 29 Nov 2018.

Sword listened attentively, only half-understanding what Kevin was going on about. But he understood the tactical side of it well enough. He and the Knight were the reinforcements, staying back and out of sight until needed, with the ladies being the primary party for this from the sound of things.

The mention of dragons was interesting and briefly got his hopes up, until he realized that it was the name of a place and they weren't talking about big reptiles with heaps of treasure and alchemically-useful scales.

He stayed (mostly) quiet, passive in the planning.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:05, Thu 29 Nov 2018.

Things seemed good enough in Lois’s mind... and a backup role for Bloodrager and the Knight meant that all team members had a useful role.  Otherwise she seemed visibly excited to be a part of this mission.  She didn’t fancy herself as a good gambler (and looking to skilled might be counterproductive).  If things went well, she’d come out even.

“I guess we have a pretty decent plan... I’ll try to keep Hammerhead at the tables.  Dee Dee could play the part of my handbag dog, if she likes... but if you want her to actually do secret stuff, maybe something else?  If I get into difficulties, ‘Vegas’ can be my safeword.”

In reply to Darkstar (msg # 4):

"I don't even need to be in the same area as them to get their attention." Spider-Man said to Darkstar as he listened to the plan. "I'm pretty sure if I bait them out that I'll get someone else's attracted to me on top of that. Nothing I can't handle though." He said, giving a thumbs up to him. I'll drag things out to be a little bit more fair to them.

Deedee was sprawled in a chair, one leg up over the armrest and her back bent at what appeared to be n uncomfortable angle. But at least she was human for now.

"I don't know how those little dogs can stand sitting in a purse. I mean, there's no movement. No wonder they bite people..." She was grinning though as she said it. She licked the back of her hand and ran it through her hair in a very feline gesture.

"Or I could do whatever. I mean, there's a slew of animals I could use to get into places or whatnot. Or even keep watch. I can even be a distraction if needed. I'm flexible," she fairly purred that last part, stretching as she did to show off her body a bit more. Another thing she'd done a bit more lately.

Jocasta had given Williams updates every few days on the training and development of everyone and all  seemed to be moving along fairly well.
It was a valid point not to have everyone only rely on their powers and to be able to learn some basics fighting and firearms as a precaution. Williams wasn’t expecting anyone to be a marksman or Pro-fighter but have enough sense to get out of trouble should something ever happen.

William sat backed sipping his coffee. He was glad to see the connection with the team, Darkstar was taking charge pretty well and hadn’t ruffled too many feathers with his enthusiasm. The plan sounded good so William didn’t add anything more to it.


There was a theme that seemed to date back to even before most of them were born and it seemed that no matter what it was going to remain a common issue. Heck even SHIELD had shut down a couple HYDRA Bases for testing or trying to create supers, And now it was the Maggia’s turn.
He continued to remain silent letting the team do their thing. His role was not to be a puppet master for the team, but to be the back end support and lend his experience when needed. If he wanted the team to learn things he would not accomplish it by babysitting them.

"A couple of considerations," Kevin said.  "It's possible that Aurora and Taskmistress might be recognized from past history.  Not likely, though.  Figure they'd have been spotted the first time around so be ready just in case."

"Figure I'll wear a monkey suit and be Lois's driver plus gofer," Kevin said.  "Once the Tong shows up or Spidey makes his move that'll be a cue for me to head after the records to copy them.  Meanwhile, Taskmistress, if you get the chance, head to the lab area and see if you can get video for Doc check out.  Doc, you'll be on the channel with her in case she spots something you recognize."

He looked over at William.  "And I wasn't fucking around before about you telling me what's wrong with the plan.  You were Captain Fucking America, for Christ's sake.  You probably did shit like this in your sleep."

"You wanting any spells bound for this?" Bloodrager finally spoke up, addressing Darkstar. In team training, Sword had been trying to be useful for more than healing and strength, and one such direction had been practicing with his magic in other ways. Among the tricks he had was binding a spell to an item so that someone else could activate it, a single usage like a scroll but not in a written form. His magic was a far cry from what White Witch had been capable of, but a range of simple cantrips - some making virtually no less sense and others logical, straightforward spells - were within his lesser talents.

"Where do I fit into this plan? I don't exactly blend into the normal population. It may be advisable that I assist Spiderman instead".

"Like I said, you and Bloodrager will be hiding nearby for when Spidey or the Tong make their move,"  Kevin replied.  "I don't want you to jump in with Spider-man because I don't want you to actively scare the Hammerheads into shutting down and retreating, since they might well blow up the lab and the records as they flee."

"Bloodrager, as far as spells go, talk to Mortis, Taskmistress and Aurora and see if they want something that might help them if things go bad inside," Kevin told the man.  "I don't want them to have to blow their covers by using powers if I can avoid it," he said as he turned his attention to Bloodrager.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:54, Sun 02 Dec 2018.

In reply to Clockwork Knight (msg # 14):

Spider-Man explained to Clockwork Knight, "They'll be way more suspicious of something if it's more than just me who starts fighting them. But don't worry, I'll only call for help if things get out of hand."

"Understood" CK was concerned about its mental state. Understanding orders should be easy but then again most solders don't live thousands of years.

Lois nodded along to Darwin's explanation.  She'd changed a lot from the shy girl that Lois had met a few weeks back.  Lois supposed that she herself had also changed a bit too (although not radically so).

"What if Spiderman faked a fight with Clockwork or Bloodrager?  The bad guys wouldn't be so suspicious.  Perhaps they'd even jump in quicker with the odds in their favor."

Lois offered the suggestion with good intentions (although perhaps not with the same amount of crime fighting experience).  As to the talk of spells, she looked to Bloodrager with a curious expression.

"Harry Potter spells or something else?  Maybe if you could tell us what things you can do, Bloodrager.  I didn't really believe in magic until all these powers started to happen.  These days I suppose anything goes..."

Taskmistress continued to listen to the discussion about the plan. Though it was only half observed. She was considering her own plans and the overall goal. She hadn't exactly been chummy with the girls . They could swap stories about their lives. They could get to know each other. But she couldn't. So in her opinion she wasn't a part of the team. Just an outside contractor.

Kevin thought about Lois's suggestion but finally shook his head.  "I think it'd be too much.  Spidey works because he comes off as less dangerous than he actually is."

Kevin gestured at Bloodrager and Clockwork Knight.  "These two look scary dangerous.  Them showing up even apparently against Spidey would likely panic the Hammerheads into killing the money.  Uh, sorry.  Crook term.  Panic them into destroying the info we want to find.  Even Spidey is a plan B.  I'm counting on the Tongs showing up to be our violent distraction.  When that happens, Spidey, Knight and 'rager will have their hands full preventing collateral damage.  AKA keeping the poor unlucky bastards who picked that place to gamble in from getting shot to shit in the crossfire."

"What about you?  Any thoughts?" Kevin asked Taskmistress.  "I know your memory situation is a little... unconventional, but what do your, I dunno know, instincts tell you about whether or not this'll work?"

In reply to Mortis (msg # 18):

Bloodrager shook his head no. "Not Hurry Pooper. Am Barbarian class, but also cleric and Russian. Cleric is divine spellcaster, Lois. Good healing, but that is not everything clerical magic do. Detect poisoned drink, identify poison someone suffering, wrap enemy fist in extra distance so it not hurting you so hard, see in smoky air, clean dishes, make taste invisible, make better hole in wall without harm wall, make small fire, prevent water from boiled, create more time do think in, many small cleric spell." His ring was quite dim when he started speaking, but grew to a moderate brightness towards the end of his list.

"I don't know who henry Peter is but I'd trust big guy's magic over Henry's any day." she then looked at Darkstar. "It's certainly a plan that is happening. And it's great that a fellow Amnesiac with a head of titanium  warrants a whole big expedition involving all of us. it's certainly not a task that could be preformed hy one covert operative." she remarked.

William looked back to Darkstar
The plan sounds good Kevin, Everyone has their tasks set out. I have nothing to add. But will be keeping an eye on everyone.
Not adding anything to the plan letting Kevin take the lead on the field work. All the positions were covered and having Spidey draw most of the crew out of the casino to avoid issues was a good start.

Looks like everyone knows their roll for tonight. Jocasta has not been able to pull out too much information on the Maggia, Besides the obvious under dealings, So far pretty basic weapons dealings and drugs along with their book keeping and Fudging of accounting numbers. Which is no real surprise. But seems that Hammerhead is well organized with thugs beneath him. Some of the money laundering would sort of make sense for the labs but it seems that the amount they are laundering is way too much for a simple lab.   So be on guard when you go there and make sure to be aware of your surroundings. He added knowing the lab was being used for other things then drugs but the higher costs could be used for weapons tech. There was no way of knowing if there was any other successes in the Sovereign Six project.

"I will rerun combat simulations in my mind using modern information. There are many new weapons since I was active in combat. Patience is a virtue that I have no shortage of". 

"Good on that, CK," Kevin told the... being.

"And yeah, you're right," he said to Taskmistress.  "You could have done this all by yourself.  I probably could have too.  That said, training and simulations aside, there's no real substitute for actual experience working as a team in the real, unpredictable world, even if it's on a job that we both agree should be a bit of a cakewalk."

"And who knows?  It might turn out that we're walking with cakes that have C-4 in the icing," he told her in a mock-encouraging tone. "Hope for the best, but figure to plan for the worst."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:10, Tue 04 Dec 2018.

In reply to Darkstar (msg # 20):

"You'd think these bad guys would know by know to step up their game when they see me," Spider-Man interjected. "But it always turns out to be something like, 'Get the freak in the tights! Always works out for me in the long run."

"Superpowers, skills and resources are great, but in the end nothing really substitutes for the bad guys being dumb," Kevin agreed as Spidey spoke.

As the team got ready for tonight Jocasta informed them to be prepared as tonight just so happen to be the 10th anniversary of the Casino and it was going to be a big night and they were celebrating with a 25 million Jackpot at the black Jack tables.

The team arrives at the casino and as Jocasta had predicted it was an extremely busy. Lucky break or fate it’s hard to tell but with tonight’s venue for the casino security has been beefed up quite a bit.

It looked like a few live bands were to perform tonight a couple of note were Alisson Blaire and the Light storm who were up and coming band with a current of chart toppers and they were gonna open for Special guest KISS.


Hammerhead was usually anything but subtle and although it was not ever proven he was Maggia (to the general public anyway, however this was probably one of the worst kept “secrets”.)
It looked like tonight he was making it very clear of the association to them. The lights that flashed and strobed on the roof and around the casino were bright and colorful. The name Hammered Slots shone bright on the LED display out-front.

There were many guards in and around the building and it was easy to tell they were the Maggia associated thugs as they all wore the standard white face mask and 3 piece suits which was known as the signature dress code for the standard enforcers.
Many of the rich seemed to have come out to play as there was a long line of Limo’s at the entrance. While the  “normal “ Folk were all lined up behind the roped off sidewalk which seemed to stretch almost 2 blocks down pacific ave.

William had arranged a limo Aurora,  Mortis and Darwin, Along as a nice Lambo for Kevin and Emma and they were a few cars behind the main entrance.
The others started arriving into their assigned positions near the casino.

Location of Casino (I know it says Caesars) .: https://www.google.ca/maps/@39...7i13312!8i6656?hl=en


ooc: I am going to try to push us along but this will be at a very slow pace. Keep this in mind as you posts.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:06, Wed 12 Dec 2018.

"I think I love this car," Kevin told Emma.  "I'm pretty sure I want to marry this car and have its children.  Though you don't look so bad yourself.  Me either."

For the occasion, Kevin had gone with a slightly anachronistic 40s-style "zoot suit" tuxedo.  https://tuxedowholesaler.com/m...th_d_zoot-suit-2.jpg

"All right everybody, stay tight.  Almost showtime," he told the other through his commlink.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 05:48, Wed 12 Dec 2018.

Alison was a little bummed that she wouldn't get to partake in any of the roaring 20's dress up.   But, going plain clothes didn't have to mean plain clothes.
On her way back from Vermont, she'd stopped at a store not too far from the taskforce HQ, and purchased something for the evening.

https://tinyurl.com/y7rpwsnd

Not that she could really afford it.   But, damage had already been done, and hopefully things would change soon.

"That looks fabulous on you, dahlink," she told Lois, regarding the fringe flapper dress she was wearing.

"Are you sure you're up for this?    I mean, being able to kill with a wave of your hand puts you at an advantage over a guy whose 'power' is a really hard skull.  But, obviously his flunkies will all be armed.   I know you're a smart cookie, but you'll be careful, yes?"   

Lois didn't seem to be overly nervous.  She'd been to parties and events before... the only difference here was the possibility of danger.  Shrugging off Alison's (very sweet) concern, she nodded in a resolute manner.

"I'm good.  Charming a gangster sounds a lot safer than running the security gauntlet.  I don't even have to get any information from him.  But I will be careful all the same.  I like your outfit too..."

Otherwise Lois kept her eyes open.  Despite the Anniversary, someone had pulled a lot of strings to get so many people into the casino.  There would probably be the usual social butterflies but the jackpot would mean quite a few gamblers as well.  Music fans might also be in attendance to see some of the acts... KISS and Alisson Blaire's band would certainly get some attention.

"Just come running if I say 'Vegas', ok?  How about you Dee Dee... are you comfortable?"

Deedee popped her head up out of the handbag and yipped, the little chihuahua panted happily and her tail could be felt tapping against the inside of the bag.

It may not be glamorous or anything, but it was something she could pull off easily. She could work as a distraction if needed, running about. Or Lois could easily pass her messages since people tended to talk to their pets all the time.

Plus with Lois walking around, Deedee could easily get everyone's scents for future use. Plus with her animal senses, if anything was going wrong from another avenue she might be able to pick up on it to alert them.

As Darkstar flirted with her she just gave a polite smile listening instead to Anni in her head. The mission should be excessively simple to the point she expected Darkstar's plan was more for his own entertainment than actual intelligence gathering. Still she was prepared. Her little black number accentuated her look giving her the mysterious dangerous look. She also had a couple glass fiber composite blades hidden on her person undetectable by metal detectors. She watched the scenery pass by as they drove her mind going over the plan.

"Thank you.   Vegas it is," she affirmed.  "Of course, Dee is with you too.   A chihuahua suddenly changing into a berserk gorilla may take the fight out of many of them."   

Alison was of two minds regarding this whole affair.    On the one hand, as a mostly untrained operative, she had no real desire to get in over her head.   Yet, there was also a side of her that wanted to be able to cut loose, test the limits of what she could do.     Maybe this would be the opportunity, maybe not.   She had to be a team player, first and foremost.     Absurd as Hammerhead might sound, she didn't doubt he and his men could prove dangerous, if they were organized well enough.

Spider-Man waited for the others, perched on top of a nearby flagpole that was far enough away from the club that the guards didn't see him. "They could at least try to hide the fact that they're Hammerhead's goons," He said before speaking to his communicator. "I'm in position. I'll wait until everyone is ready before I say hi to the security."

Hidden in the assigned alley (with a bit of teammate help to make sure he was in the right one), the fur clad, red-skinned barbarian eyed an interesting tree hanging over the wall from someone's back yard while he waited. Hearing Spiderman over the 'magic amulet', he tapped his to respond with a quiet "Am here. Awaited signal."

His ring was glowing fairly brightly, but a baseball glove covered that hand to hide the light for now. His sword was not in evidence, as he could summon it at will, but he had the Belt of Genre Change buckled around his waist in case it would be useful.

"Give it a good while, Spidey," Darkstar told him on the comms as he and Taskmistress/Emma approached the door.  "You're Plan B, remember?  I'm expecting the Dragon Tong to show up to this party.  Let them have their chance and be ready to corral civilians out of the crossfire."

As Darkstar and Emma arrived at the door they saw the valet open the door to the limo It was the others that were right behind them, The guards with the white masks watched as Kevin and Emma entered followed not far behind by  Alison, Lois and presumable Dee Dee.

As you enter the Casino the sounds of Bells, slots, and merriment can already be heard. As you walk in you can see the coat check counter which also had 2 more of the Maggia guards parked on each side, The tall blond at the coat check was busy with a couple people before you as she took their things and assigned them a ticket. Once you all pass the coat check you enter the large glass doors into the casino itself,  People were already in full swing of gambling. The smell of alcohol was strong in the air, and smoke from various cigars.

The place was pretty packed already and having seen the line outside it was going to get pretty packed here.




Ooc: Ok have some fun with gambling, I won’t be able to follow up for a bit, things have been stupid busy I’ll try to get a map up of the casino but just enjoy some Role play for now.

Kevin had to give Hammerhead credit for both authenticity and discretion.  The slots machines were clearly vintage and the metal detector they'd walked through was completely concealed by the door frame.  He'd only detected it because of a trick Andru had taught him about rare-earth metals.  A while back he'd had a surgeon implant those kinds of magnets into his pinkies, allowing him to effectively feel magnetic fields.  As security had become more concealable and electronic, the implants gave him a leg up in detecting it.  Even better, the implants themselves were too small for the metal detector to sense.

Hitting the Dragon Tong cash stores had netted north of a 100K of which 50K was being deployed here.  Lois had 20, while he, Emma and Alison each had 10.  Kevin steered himself and Emma toward the cashier buy some chips, deciding to go ahead and get 8,000 in chips for himself.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Fri 07 May 2021.

"So how much do you want me to win?" she asked their team leader with the slightest of shrugs. With her gifts she could be cleaning this place out within the hour. The house only won if you couldn't anticipate it. Recognizing ticks, memorizing strategy, and observation would leave her in a place to make a splash if necessary.

Lois took in the place and like Darkstar had to give Hammerhead props on an impressive casino.  The vintage embellishments, the well hidden security, all the usual services... it came together to make the place professional and fun.

Lois made sure Dee Dee had plenty of open air.  She'd chosen a handbag that would be the most comfortable for her shape shifting friend.  There was even extra padding in it.

She didn't rate herself a terribly skilled gambler, so Lois looked to the Roulette tables as she exchanged some cash for chips.  Given that her task was to distract Hammerhead, Lois selected the table that was closest to his current position.  She then began making small bets and trying to look like she was having a great time.

"Figure we'll both lose slowly for now,"  Kevin told Emma.  "We don't want to attract attention by winning, especially winning big, but we also don't want to run out of money either."

Alison was likewise impressed with the authenticity and detail of the period that the casino was seeking to emulate.   Hammerhead might be an unscrupulous, flat-headed bastard.   But hey, at least he was helping his patrons have fun!

She made no immediate moves to gamble, but instead opted to first circulate and observe.    Now and then, she shifted to a super-speed perspective, and watched certain interactions and people in slow-mo, to be able to take in more detail.

Near one of the tables, she struck up a conversation with a guy who was plainly striving for a Great Gatsby sort of look, and who seemed friendly.    She made small talk for a time, until her phone rang.   It was Jason...and she sent the call to voice mail.    Not now!    Though she supposed she could use the message as a reason to later step outside, if the need arose.

*******
Inside the casino
*******
As the group spread out into position in the casino they could observe that the northern wall past the slots and gambling tables seemed to be the most secure. Hammerhead was standing near a door speaking to a seemingly normal looking fella, He looked pretty buff and clean cut and a very slim brunette both nodding to something Hammerhead was saying. The Door behind them opened slightly and the 3 turned to the figure standing behind was wearing what looked like a lab coat, Hammerhead seemed very upset his hand pointing to his suit then to the casino and finally both arms raised in frustration and slammed the door shut, as if he was angry that the guy dressed in the lab coat was making himself visible.

He pointed a stern figure at the Buff Guy who in turned raised his arms in a “calm down” reassuring gesture and headed into the door with the lab person. The brunette stayed next to the door with Hammerhead.

There was suddenly a slight commotion that was starting in the front of the casino. The commotion suddenly turned into a few screams and confusion as a faint explosion could be heard along with a flash of fire….

Hammerhead grabbed his radio none to pleased starting to make his way to the front.



*******
Outside the casino
*******
The Outside crew was busy watching their selected sections.
From Bloodrager’s and Clockworks area, they could hear the hustle bustle of the crowd that was near the casino. That noise was interrupted by the sound of Motorcycles passing near you and heading for the casino.

From Spidey’s vantage point and a slight tingle of his spider sense he was able to see 4 ninja motorcycles fast approaching the casino, there were 8 members of the Dragon clan, 3 of the passenger are holding fairly large sub machine gun the one on the first bike was holding a Molotov Cocktail, As they rode by the front of the building they prep for their attack as the 2 doormen spots them and call for back up.

One of the Maggia tried to radio for help Trouble at the front entranc… He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as one of the Tong gang members shot him down, continuing to spray bullets above the crowds heads causing instant pandemonium outside the front entrance.
The Maggia team jumped into motion in an attempt to stop the Tong gang as one of the Maggia soldiers opened fire and hit one of them in the back causing him to fall off the motorcycle. The other Bikes stopped and turned to face the Maggia, It was looking like a showdown was about to happen.

Even over the din in the casino, Kevin could hear motorcycles and gunfire.  With a slightly self-satisfied smile he nodded to Emma.  "And the enemy of my enemy becomes my useful distraction," he smirked continuing by telling Emma, "Give Headboy a chance to get out front and then go quietly check out that door while I try to find the records' office."

In reply to GM (msg # 44):

"That doesn't look very good," Spider-Man said before turning on his communicator and saying, "The Tongs are picking a fight outside, I'm gonna jump in." He leaped off of his spot from above and landed in front of the casino in a couple of swings over. "Hey there!" He said as he fired a web and made the crook drop the Molotov. "You know, if you want to get in so badly, you could've used the line like everyone else." He then yelled over to the leftover Maggia members, "I'll help protect this place if you promise not to shoot at me, got it?"

"Concentrate on protecting the civilians, but let the idiots fight it out," Kevin told Spider-man even as he tried to use the commotion and confusion to identify a way into office area of the casino.  "This is our chance to get what we came for, but not if you end things too quickly."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:51, Mon 07 Jan 2019.

Emma made her way to the door once most of the guards were gone she hurried to him. Before he could object she "stumbled" and quickly Drew up her fist into his throat he caught her she pretended to get her footing and leaned him against the wall with a kiss so it looked natural as the man suffocated unable to mouth for help as she removed his wallet, keycards, and anything else of use before helping him into a chair. Afterwards she grabbed a drink and quickly let herself into the door palming her knife as she entered.

In reply to GM (msg # 44):

Bloodrager's attention was pulled away from the tree (and potential snacks he thought might be up in the branches) to the sound of the motorcycles. A sound that he knew (now) here in a city environment. It didn't sound like just bikers passing by, going on their way peacefully. Especially when he heard guns in the direction of the casino.

The big, red, fur-clad man retched, a torrent of blood pouring from his open jaws. A snatching motion with his un-gloved hand grasped the liquid, forcing it to congeal into a large, sword-shaped mass of scab, then to shift to metal as Woundhealer materialized in his dripping fist.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:43, Mon 07 Jan 2019.

Alison went into action-   suddenly moving faster than normal sight could follow --  into a dark corner and into her costume, with her normal clothes stuffed into her purse, and discarded on the way. (Bummer to lose an outfit she really liked, but...)  There was some little chance someone might remember the girl who seemed to suddenly disappear;  but it wasn't like she was going to not help.

In no time, she was out front, and in a blur of superspeed began trying to disarm as many gunman of both sides as she could, with anyone who was aiming at her teammates a first priority.    She couldn't help but notice:

Barfing up blood and turning it into a sword...now that's a different power.  Jeez!

When the gunfire started, Lois hit the deck... clutching her purse and its 'precious' contents.  The plan to charm Hammerhead seemed like a bust.  She murmured quietly to her handbag puppy.

"Time to improvise Dee Dee, lets see who's left in here before making a move."

Lois stole a peek towards the door (which had the scientist and buff guy behind it)... looking to see IF she could reach it without being seen.  Lois also tried to see where Hammerhead's brunette companion was and what she was doing.

********
Inside the casino:
********
OOC: This is why I mention several time to do your actions but not assume you succeed in finishing them.


Darkstar and Lois watched as he turns to the brunette, Lucy, That’s the Tongs! Make em Pay! He tells her.

They watched as Hammerhead follows the much quicker “Lucy” Who suddenly seems to disappear into the crowd. Without a word as he gets closer to the entrance Hammerhead stops a few feet before exiting.

Darkstar turns to Emma  he see’s Emma Grabs the man by the throat his face seemed a little shocked and puzzled at the sudden feeling of something starting to go horribly wrong… As Emma leans in for the pretend kiss and attempt to grab what she needs in her distraction the man suddenly melts away leaving Emma’s hand and sleeve soaked. To her surprise she looks down to a puddle of water that seeps beneath the doorway.
Lois Hopeful the door opens so she could see past it only see’s the Buff man turn into a puddle of water and seep under the door.

********
Outside the casino:
********

Spiderman lands in the street his comment on helping the Maggia has them a little confused as the Molotov Tong gang member comes flying off the bike from Spidey’s strand of web.

The worst part of the scene now was with the only slightest of breeze almost all the Maggia and Tong members turned to shoot at Spidey .. They made the motion of rapid fire only to find their hands empty it was like kids playing pretend air guns. The Maggia and Tongs looked at their hands in confusion instead of shooting now they started to charge each other.

4 of the Maggia going for Spiderman, as most had not noticed BloodRager just yet

Lois was glad to have waited... 'Lucy' looked to be some sort of enhanced individual.  However the Big Bruiser was also one and he was now inside with the scientist.  Lois didn't want to go in there, not when Darkstar could better 'handle' him.  So what did she do?

"Darkstar... are well going All In or Folding?"

On the plus side, the gunfire had stopped.

Aurora had paused momentarily, a distance off to one side of the skirmish...hovering just over the small pile of firearms she'd acquired.   Leaving them unguarded seemed not a good idea, in case they ended up in the wrong hands.    Neither did she have a great idea of where to immediately dispose of them:   she did not want to be responsible for any tragedy discarded guns might lead to.

But she wasn't worried;  unarmed goons were hardly any match for Spidey and Big Red...
This message was last edited by the player at 19:32, Fri 11 Jan 2019.

Using his armpit to pull the glove off, Bloodrager dropped it, letting the gruesome light of his ring shine freely. He started forward towards the brawl as the music began once more, flecks of saliva foam developing at the corners of his mouth before the now wild-eyed barbarian declared, "RRRAAAAARRRGHHH! BLOODRAGER HEAL!" and hefting Woundhealer overhead with both hands.

He charged into the fray, swinging at anyone who looked like they'd been hurt.

Safe in the purse, Deedee was busy checking scents. Making sure of what she smelled and noting anything that seemed wrong. Male and female scents were easy, but she more wanted to get any whiffs of more exotic things. Poisons, latex disguises, even some people's powers left tell tale scents. Like someone keeping a fire generating power in check sometimes smelled of the burning, while lightning smelled of ozone.

But then the chaos started, and she was flooded with sounds and more primal scents. Like fear.

She nodded when Lois said they needed to improvise and kept her senses open. Right now shifting was not a good option, even if her feral side wanted to leap out and run with others just because she could.

For now, she kept her senses sharp and waited...

In reply to GM (msg # 52):

With the proper distraction, Spider-Man made a quick leap away managing to let out a quick sigh. "I'll just let them fight it out." He said before speaking into his communicator. "I'm going to get the civilians that are outside away from the casino, how are things inside?"

"Not too bad," Darkstar told Spider-man as he headed toward the door the liquid guy had gone through.  "Be careful, though.  Hammerheads's got some Supers working for him and at least one of 'em's heading your way."

With no response coming her way, Lois decided to take the initiative.  Maybe Darkstar was purposely testing her, just to see how she performed.  The briefing had painted the financial records as the main priority and the lab as a strictly secondary objective.  Lois decided to respect the objectives and do surveillance only.

"Dee Dee, I'm going to melt a hole in the wall... go small and scout out the lab.  Don't get seen, there's a scary guy in there.  Just see if there are any dangerous materials in there... or test subjects.  Then come back and tell us."

Lois looked for a place where she could melt a hole that wasn't in camera view.  It didn't even have to be the lab wall... a ventilation or drain system would do.  The most important part was to get Dee Dee access without attracting the notice of the lab occupants.

****
Inside
****
As Dee Dee remained under cover she could faintly pick up a few new scents. They were coming from behind the Lab door…

As Darkstar reaches the door it opens Standing on the other side are 3 figures, The Beefy man from Before,



 A man in a Purple suit with Blue Lightning bolts lining either side of his suit.


The Last man stood in a white suit trimmed in Blue with a yellow circular pattern on his chest.


Lois hears the door open and as she is about to create the hole see’s the new figures standing in the Door…

You’d best be turning around and leaving if you don’t want any trouble. The Purple and blue suit man says as electricity crackles from his hands...



***
Outside
***

The Maggia that were near the front of the casino were now removed from their initial shock of pulling a trigger of an “Air gun” once they realized there was a woman standing with her arms full of weapons. They turn to the sound of Red rushing to them. Weaponless the Maggia knew they weren’t much of a match for supers.

Bloodrager enters into a crowd of 3 of the 4 Maggia who obviously pose little threat without their weapons.

Spidey moves towards the Crowd his Spidey sense warning him a fraction of a second before a ninja star strikes him in the arm. As his Spidey senses kick in for the stars Spiderman is also warned of danger that is coming fast..

Bloodrager is about to plow into the 3 Maggia thugs when suddenly he feels the impact of a fist hit him across the jaw. The impact is hard and heavy. But there was no one there, the only thing was a draft of wind pass by him and following the doirection of the breeze you now see a Brunnette standing near you .(OOC) (Please note that Speeddemon from this world is actually a female but I could not find a good pic).



Hammerhead now stands at the entrance not happy with the disturbance. Seeing the Tongs and now this big red Behemoth of a man he shouted out
Speed Demon, Keep them busy till the others get here to deal with this! he tells the brunette speedster. As he turns he see’s Spiderman there and get’s angrier.

You menacing wall crawler!  What are you doing here?! not waiting for an answer but charging the Webhead.

Rather than say something she decided to enhance her throwing knife marksmanship ability speed slipping the other one into her free hand. Unless they had a speedsters reflexes while they were posturing she was embedding her knife into purple and Green's throat the other into the spiral on the blue suited guy's chest. Waterboy might be able to just splash away but the other two definitely seemed more physical. She doubted a knife protruding from the makeshift bullseye would kill him but hopefully shocky would be dead.

In reply to William Naslund (msg # 60):

The blow brought a burst of pain, and pain was power for Bloodrager. A burst of mana to fuel spells with. The slavering berserk barbarian's gaze followed the breeze momentarily, noting a woman there, but she wasn't bleeding that he could see and didn't appear to be acting as if in pain herself. He looked away, snarling bestially, and continued for someone who did look hurt. Intending to slice, dice, and impale the wounded if he could.

He heard Hammerhead call out, and almost paused when he heard the term 'demon.' Demons were monsters, weren't they? But there was work to do, not lunchtime. Keep healing.

Kevin quickly stepped back, deciding it was way too crowded in here to risk an all-out fight with the three.  "Oh, yeah, hey, sorry," he apologized, slurring his words slightly.  "I was lookin' for the little boy's room.  I gotta piss somethin' fierce!"

"OOOh!  Are you guys, like superheroes an' shit?  'Cause, like I thought I heard somebody shooting outside!" Kevin babbled.

"Hey, can I get a selfie?" he asked.  "Ah, shit.  Period clothes.  No cell phone!  Man, that sucks!  But this is totally the best casino ever!"

Alison took notice of the new arrival with a little surprise at first, and then, something like professional interest.

To her eyes, this new arrival wasn't superfast, but more like moving at a normal pace amongst a very slow world.   She'd never been able to observe her own power in use before, and this was the closest she'd ever come to doing so.    But that was neither here nor there.    That woman had just decked her teammate.

In a millisecond, Ali was gone insofar as most of the world was concerned, and flying at the so-called Speed Demon.

"Just room for one brunette speedstress here," she told the new adversary, "and it's not you, Ms. Copycat."
      So spoken, her intent was to grab Demon on the passby, and throw her into the closest wall.

In reply to William Naslund (msg # 60):

Not even allowed a second to recover from the sudden previous attack, Spider-Man only barely managed to jump over him and landed on a car on the street, giving him enough time to talk.
"Hey, don't attack me Hammerhead, I was only trying to get the civilians out of here before they got hurt! Don't you think that I would've easily gotten into your casino if I wanted to get you arrested?"

When Lois told her to go small, Deedee went SMALL. In a blink as the door started to open, Deedee became a flea and went to the edge of the purse.

So once the door was open, it was an easy matter to leap to the wall and try and scuttle inside. Chances were she wouldn't be seen as small as she was, but there's no telling what senses they had...

***
Inside
***


The Costumed Men stepped out the door The Purple dressed one Grunting at Kevin shoving him aside he turned to the others.

Hydroman was about to point out Taskmistress but the commotion outside was priority and Eel jumped in…
<Purple> Hydroman, Cyclone, head up front and give the boss a hand, I will…../<purple>

He was cut off as Taskmistress made the swiping motion for his throat with the knife slicing part of it but the costume had taken the blunt of the knife. Eel reached for his throat in shock. As Taskmistress aimed the knife at Cyclone. Deedee had hopped across the carpeted fibers of the carpet towards the door, The sizes of everything so large that even when one of the villains stepped out and onto her she simply sank between the fibers of the carpet without so much as a scratch

There was suddenly and eruption of electricity in the air sending Taskmistress, Kevin, and Lois Flying in opposite directions slamming into some gaming tables. A few of the people sitting at each table went crashing to the floor. The others all scattered further into the casino. Dee Dee ended up being protected by the boot and hopped past the door. Behind the trio.

That’s the same bitch that tried to attack me!
Hydroman said suddenly turning his legs into water and sliding across to Taskmistress.

There was starting to be a large gust of wind as the White one with the yellow circle started to spin in place creating a mini tornado where he stood.


****
Outside
****
Bloodrager looked to see for injuries but there was only Chaos. People were screaming and scattering. Bumping into The Maggia and thongs who were now weaponless. A couple of tong members being a little better at hand to hand knocked over a few civilains as they tried to rush past them,

Hammerhead was heading towards Spiderman not really listening to what he was saying, Spidey easily avoided the charge and Hammerhead impacted a car head on causing the passenger door to get completely crushed into the car. He stood up and looked around.
You insect. he shouted pulling out his Tommy gun Speed Demon get h…. he was about to bark and order as Speed Demon suddenly got launched across the street into the building Hammerhead was confused as he could not see why until Aurora stopped.

SD may not be near as fast as Aurora but was able to see her for a brief second. The impact into the wall took her breath for a second.

4 Maggia started to surround Bloodrager and prepared to hit the big man.

The night was not going as Kevin had planned it.  He rolled through the air and managed to control his impact such that he rolled over a couple of tables instead of slamming into them.  Even so, his nerves were still jangly from the shock he'd received.

For a moment Kevin considered just teleporting behind the door from which the three had emerged and leaving Taskmistress to deal with the three.  But Lois was also there and Taskmistress was technically part of the team.  Still, there was definitely going to be a chat in the offing about appropriate use of force as well as about the wisdom of bringing a knife to a Super fight.

He managed to roll to a more or less isolated area as the people in the casino were rapidly getting the idea that no, this wasn't entertainment and that it would maybe be a bad idea to be in the middle of a Supers battle.

He opened his comms.

"William, we got three Supes in here.  See if Clockwork Knight can come in as backup," he told the man.  "See if you can hack into the cameras here.  We'll want to do some editing after this."

"Lois, see about ushering the civies out of the combat zone.  Don't blow your cover, just point them at the exits," he ordered.

"Taskmistress, try to stay alive.  I'm coming to back you up," Kevin told her.  He dropped a field of darkness around the himself and a number of other people, then changed into his "costume."

He dropped the darkness and teleported behind the villains, his force field up and his hands glowing with Darkforce power.  "Is this a private party or can anyone crash it?" Kevin asked as he fired a blast at Eel, trying to make sure no civilians or teammates were behind (or in front of) Eel in case he missed.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:57, Thu 24 Jan 2019.

Taskmistress was crumpled up as the electricity scrambled he. the implant was offline cutting her off from ANNI. She groaned and saw the water man. Forcing herself to her feet she moved further from the others to give them more space. "Water...I wish i brought a freeze ray.." she noticed that her top had been wrecked by the blast. But modesty wasn't a concern at the moment.

Aurora winced a little as her opponent struck the building.    She didn't really know anything about Speed Demon, or how resilient she was.    Anyone that moved at hyper-velocity had to be more so than a normal person.   But, she had no real experience in fighting, and didn't want to be responsible for anyone ending up with a cracked skull.    Even if the other side didn't extend the same grace.    It looked like SD was really none worse for the wear, however.

Glancing toward Hammerhead --  who lived up to his rep, crumpling a car with his cranium --  she spotted the tommy gun, decided it might be best to take that little toy, before SD got back in action.    She hurtled toward the head-honcho (pun intended), and tried to disarm him, the same way she had his goons...

In reply to GM (msg # 67):

"If you want to get some sense knocked into that thick head of yours then I'll do just that!" Spider-Man said in an annoyed tone, using his webs to pull off a nearby storm drain, and throw it at Hammerhead as he jumped back into the air.  He spoke into his communicator, "Wow, Hammerhead is not happy to see me, and being friendly is not working right now. I'll check back in when I'm not in the middle of this."

Getting stepped on wasn't fun at the best of times, but in this form at least she barely noticed it. Once out from under foot, she hopped into the room easily enough.

Now the idea was to get out of sight and find what they were looking for. So she ducked back into the room and found herself a spot to shift again. A mouse worked easily enough, small but faster than the flea. And they were decent little climbers too.

So now that she was out of the way, it was time for search and retrieval. If she found anything that was small enough to be carried or tucked in pockets she figured she'd do a quick shift, grab whatever it was, and shift back to animal form to hide it and keep it safe. She always could try and get out through an air duct or something if she needed to...

In reply to GM (msg # 67):

Bloodrager snarled, "RRAARRRGGHHH!" at the units surrounding him, brandishing Woundhealer menacingly but not trying to strike anyone with the sword of mercy at the moment. Inwardly, he braced for pain and magical power. After all, he was the Russian in the Blood Red Swordsmen, the one expected to suffer the most.

The ring continued to glow and sing.

“... Copy that, Ow. I’m ok.”

Lois lay on the ground for a few moments, shaking off the surprise of being flung across the room.  Her recent training had helped a little (a good idea that was already paying off).  Crawling to her feet, Lois began to evacuate civilians as she had been instructed to do.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have to leave... or those freaks will get us killed.  The guns have stopped outside, so let’s make a break for it.  Stay low and follow me.”

Trusting Dee Dee to scout the lab safely (with Darkstar and Taskmistress to beat up the ‘freaks’), Lois pointed to an exit and shooed a few people towards it.  Then she scampered her way to other pockets of civilians...to repeat her evacuation attempts.

*****
<Inside the casino>
*****

With the group recovering and message sent Williams came on the comes.
  Working on it. Their security is something special but Jocasta should be through shortly. came a reply back to Kevin.
William tried to reach Clockwork’s Comms but there seemed to either be interference or no answer.

Darkstar managed to make his way into position giving a quick glance for a backside shot.

Eel wasn’t expecting the blast but it hit him square in the back and sent him flying towards the front.

Cyclone turns to Darkstar, Were the hell did you…Doesn’t matter Let me help you out! He says his legs spinning fast and now his arms his right arms was towards Darkstar creating a vacuum and started to suck the air out from in front of him. The other in Lois’s direction not at her but Cyclone was gathering the tables and debris almost sucking Lois in with mix… He swung the debris towards Darkstar nailing him with a few Roulette tables, poker chips and a few other items, Thankfully his shield protected him form a good portion of the damage but that may leave a bruise tomorrow.



As Taskmistress shimmied back a little Hydroman smiled, Payback is gonna be a bitch! He said reaching a liquefied arm towards TM and graping her by the head surrounding her head in water and picking her up off the ground. TM held her breath but could feel Hydroman attempting to force his way into he nose and mouth to drown her.



Lois lead the charge to escort the Civilians outside, Although panicked it looked like many were happy to get some guidance and turned in the direction she motioned to and a surge of people headed towards the front….


****
Downstairs
****
As Dee Dee was making her way down she noticed a couple of rooms one looked like an office but the 2nd one was a lab, As she got to the corner she could see the lab tech that had been upstairs speaking to someone.
As per the boss it’s time to activate Silvermane Strauss.
The older man turns to the lab tech.
About time! He says hooking up a few wires to a rather large metallic thing.
It humms for a second and turns there is a large Cyborg with an old man’s head attached to it.
Good Work Strauss. I think Sovereign Six is now ready to make their appearance!
Off to the side is a man dressed in an orange top and Green helm with a sort of barrel in the front middle of it.
Unicorn, Let’s go great our new guests!
You got it Silvermane.
He says and the two start to head up the stairs to join the fight…


****
Outside
****
Aurora was able to move quickly enough to grab the tommy gum from HH and when he realized it, it got him even more angry, He turned to shout more orders to Speed Demon but as he Spiderman had lunged the storm drain at Hammerhead. The impact would have been something to see however as the Cover was to hit hammerhead it suddenly launched up and grazed Aurora’s cheek. From below Speed demon’s arms were spinning fast as she sent a wind funnel to block the hit.

Hammerhead launched a grenade towards Spidey and some of the crowd. Where are the others? he said knowing he wasn’t a match for this other speedster that seemed to be a little quicker then Speed Demon.


Bloodrager Growled but to no avail The Maggia we soon all over him with Blows that struck him in the face and in the gut. The impact took his breath away for a second, Not expecting them to be so forceful. The impact wasn’t from a regular human but felt like it would match the strength of an Ogre.

Taskmistress couldn't fight back she wasn't even sure how he could physically lift her using water. She tested trying to push herself out of the hand by leveraging the near solid psi of the arm. But that failed so she held up her fist and pretended she was cranking a jack in the box and brought up her middle finger on the opposite hand perhaps she should have panicked but being virtually unarmed in this stupid dress with no escape. She was keeping calm. The sensation of drowning felt almost familiar.

Kevin decided that the next bit of equipment he needed to acquire was some kind of re-breather.  His force field was highly effective, sparing him all but relatively minor injury from Tornado-boy attack, but it was also airtight and skintight, so there wasn't much air to breathe inside it.

And speaking of not being able to breathe... Taskmistress was in trouble.  Again.  Kevin decided to drop a Darkforce box on the water guy, hoping to break the link between him and the arm attempting to drown her.  The fucker would likely slide under it soon enough, but it might buy a little time for Clockwork Knight to get his clunky ass in here first.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:16, Tue 29 Jan 2019.

Having evacuated all the people, Lois looked around for something else to do.  There was an inside and an outside brawl, both dangerous for her to join in.  Then she noticed a bleeding man dressed in a Maggia uniform.  He'd been shot and mostly forgotten in the chaos.  Lois tore up bits of discarded clothing and attempted to patch his wounds.

"Hey, you hang in there mister."

It also allowed Lois access to the man's radio and whatever other weapons he had.  A taser would be handy, if he had one.  Such an item might be useful against the water man inside... she'd just need to throw it to Taskmistress.

Deedee paused for a moment. The cyborg was likely out of her league. Claws and teeth don't usually hold up against armor plate and who knows what weaponry could be inside that thing. Funny, some of those parts might have been made by her father's company...

The feral side ached to morph, to barge in with claw and fang and tear them apart. But her human side knew that alone, against the cyborg and the costumed guy she'd likely fail. Plus, she was infiltration in this mission. That meant that she was better off not being noticed. So she pulled back to let them pass, the mouse form able to easily find places to hide out of sight.

"Ugh!" Alison exclaimed as she was struck, glad it wasn't a harder blow that would have cost her teeth.     The whirlwind bit was a neat little trick --  one she mentally noted to try out sometime.     She had her own, however...

"Bloodrager, it's going to get bright," she said softly to her teammate on the comm.    "Shut your eyes for a second on three...1..2..3!"   

Instantly, Ali was above the Maggia men, and flooded them with glaring, blinding light.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Tue 05 Feb 2019.

The big red man ignored the warning about the incoming light, if he'd heard it at all. Instead, he was snarling a spell at one of those pounding on him, converting the pain and punishment they had inflicted into magical force.

"No place to hide, so slip and slide!"

*****
<Inside the casino>
*****
Naslund came on the Comms:
Clockwork is no longer active Jocasta confirms his system has shut down. Not sure what is happening… The security is a little tough we’re almost there… .


As Lois leaned down to bandage the Maggia enforcer she saw the modified tommy gun by his side,  she rifled through his jacket and on the inside she found the radio with the earpiece still in the Maggia’s ear and as luck would have it she found herself a taser and a smoke grenade.



Hydroman looked a little confused at the lack of struggling from TM but it turned into a grin when he realized he had the upper hand and was succeeding in drowning her…. Well that was until the darkforce blocked out the ceiling lights as a box suddenly came down on him! Sending a splash of water all over, Taskmistress fell to the floor coughing out the water and able to breath again.

The water was moving on it’s own and started reforming….

Eel: Started to get up again not happy with the hit from behind, things were not good but they somewhat seem to have the upper-hand he thought, His finger went to his ear. Get rid of these idiot’s I’m going to help the Boss. Eel said turning and heading to the entrance. Unicorn Get upstairs He said turning….


Cyclone turned his attention to Hydroman for a second, Then to Eel as he mentioned to get rid of everyone.
With pleasure.   he said starting to spin even faster now.





****
Downstairs
****

Unicorn nodded Already on our way! he replied into his helmet.
Looks like the guys upstairs have their hands full He said to Silvermane.

The large metallic figure clucked past the mouse that was hiding under a large metal table paying it no heed.
Leave it to Hammerhead to mess things up! He said as they made their way up the stairs to the door.


****
Outside
****


Bloodrager casts his spell as now 4 Maggia’s are pounding on him, As he finished casting the maggia suddenly seem to slip and slide as their feet suddenly loose any traction from under them. Soon the 4 of them are all laying flat on their backs.
As the Maggia fell to the floor the area outside suddenly went extremely bright Blinding everyone in the area including Hammerhead.

Spidey was able to swing in front of the bystanders and spun a web to the grenade giving it a quick spin and sending it skyward. It managed to just clear the top of the building exploding and sending slight debris raining down on the people with minimal damage.

Speed Demon was partially blinded, her goggles offered protection but not from anything this bright. Between this much faster woman, Spiderman and the red oaf Speed demon tapped her comms.  Some help out here would be nice!! Not away that Eel was on his way.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:21, Fri 15 Feb 2019.

Taskmistress coughed violently stumbling back grabbing a hold of an electrical cord and stripped the wires leaving the exposed end in the puddle reforming at The Water Wizard's feet then plugging it in leaping back hopefully the entire power grid would be going through the son of a bitch including whatever generators were installed for the secret lair. She avoided the electricfied puddle being soaked herself. She coughed a few more times.

Seeing Speed Demon at a disadvantage, by herself for the moment, Aurora decided to make a try at intimidation, to get information.    She approached the other speedstress:

"We're pissed off!  You're on the losing side!    If you don't want to be fed to the red, blood drinking guy over there, you better realize it, and help us out!  What do you know about Strauss and his technology?   Is that how you got your powers?"   

"Heads-up outside," Kevin said to Spidey, Aurora and those outside.  "You got Eel incoming."

Then he shook his head and just blinked at what had happened.  He'd meant to encase the water dude in a box.  Presumably he'd gotten distracted, formed a solid cube of Darkforce and just dropped it on the guy.  "Fuck it, works for me," he muttered to himself.

He also saw Taskmistress jam the wiring into the Water dude's puddle.  He wasn't sure what the point of that was, but it gave him an idea.

"Go inside and upstairs to take care of Unicorn and get what we came for," Kevin called to Taskmistress.  "I got these assholes."

So saying, he dissolved the box and formed a Darkforce ramming shield, then grew his wings.  With all the destruction, there was now a big open area that would let him fly.  So he did fly at full speed riding Cyclone's wind currents and flying right at the guy's upper (and non-spinning) body, planning to smash into him and knock him into the now electrified puddle that was his team mate.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:11, Mon 18 Feb 2019.

While tending the Maggia man, Lois was aware of a blinding light outside the casino... how fortunate her gaze had been elsewhere!  She wiped the man's earpiece off and then inserted it onto one of her free ears... just to eavesdrop on the conversations.  A glance back to Task Mistress showed that she had things in hand.  It didn't leave her much to do, so Lois dragged her patient out of further harm's way.  The tommygun & grenade, she didn't intend to use... the taser however was pocketed for later.

"It's not safe, you all need to get out of here now!" Spider-Man Spider-Man shouted to the crowd, directing them to leave the area of the casino. "I'll cover you guys so you won't get hurt!" He was sure that Hammerhead would try another stunt like the grenade from before, and didn't want anyone getting hurt because of it.

*****
<Inside the casino>
*****

As Lois helped and cleaned out the Maggia Thug, She could hear Unicorn in the Earpiece. She was about to give the warning when…

TM quickly pulled out a larger 4” plug exposed several active wires as it was ripped from the wall, and planted it in a larger puddle on the wet carpet…

Using the air current from Cyclone who was starting to build up momentum and speed, Did not expect Darkstar to manoeuver as he did, The winds were blowing hard, Lois almost got sent flying, she could feel the breeze pushing against her causing her to rock involuntary almost tipping her over, Tables, cards, Chips, and various other items started flying through the room. TM Ducked in time to avoid a chair coming at her,

Darkstar twisted and turned with the shield before him and managed to position himself just enough to come full force into Cyclone.
The impact was heavy sending Cyclone off to the side cutting all the wind from the room,
Hydroman was just reforming…
With the impact of Cyclone now into a partially reformed Hydroman causing him to be part water, part man, and Cyclone now going through Hyroman’s watery chest. It allowed for the circuit to finish it’s flow.
A fairly loud Tzzzzzzzzz could be heard as lights flicked and the 2 men suddenly screamed from the shock and each collapsed to the ground, the current was amplified by Hydroman’s transformation. Some of the lights blew out from the surge but enough stayed lit to still be able to see.

TM stands as Darkstar lands the door in the back opens and Out steps Unicorn and A large robot with the head of an old man on top of it. Unicorn Smiles as the top of his helmet lights up and he sends a blast of energy throughout the room at no one in particular along with throwing two grenades to the ground near the hero’s.



****
Outside
****
Eel Exits the casino looking around to see the trio of Heroes and his counterparts.
As Aurora shouts down at Speed Demon and asks her question. She hears Darkstar’s warning over the comm’s And Spidey’s senses catch the new comer, but it’s too late, Looking for answers through intimidation she catches sight of Eel to late and Get’s hit in the back with a blast of electricity, the shock causes her nerves to twitch and causes Aurora to Convulse for a second as she drops to the ground.
There wasn’t much pain from the shock itself but more pain from her muscles having seized for a few seconds

Strauss’s tech and project is just fine my dear. And I’m not sure about the loosing side! Eel Says letting out a large electrical surge as Spidey was trying to steer the crowds clear,

The power surge causes the lights of the casino’s front sign and bill boards along with the street lights to Blow there is yet another flash of light as they blow once the sparks settle the street to fall into Darkness, The crowd had just enough time to see where Spiderman was pointing and were well on their way away from the scene but the darkness added to some confusion as a couple fell to the ground getting showered with falling glass.

Kevin let his wings and ramming shield fade as he dropped to the floor.  He also let his force field drop briefly to replenish his air supply then brought it back up as he created a barrier between the grenades and himself and the others.  Drawing on his experience with explosions, which tended to go up and out, he shaped the barrier as a tall, wide, Darkforce-tough right angle.  Hopefully the explosion would be directed at least partly back at Unicorn and his cyborg buddy.

"Get to it, get the info," he told Taskmistress quietly over the comms.  "Figure the fuckers are as distracted as they're gonna be."

Then, for the benefit of Unicorn or any later footage he yelled out loud (not over the comms) to Lois, "Lady, quit playing doctor and get the hell out of here before you get killed!"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:19, Mon 18 Feb 2019.

Now that everyone had left, it was time for a bit of good old larceny.

So she bounded into the room and started looking for anything that looked important, or at least portable. A pop into monkey form to gather up what she could and then a quick shift into another form to escape would get any evidence or whatever she could grab into... well... wherever things she carried went when she shifted.

She'd let other people worry about the laws of physics and whatnot. And someone else could sort through the stuff. She was there to grab what she could and get the heck out of Dodge while everyone was distracted.

Note to self:   Don't speak to the bad guys till you are sure it's all over..

Aurora gasped from where she'd fallen, striving to get her muscles under control and to clear her senses.   She was more resilient than a normal person to some things, but had no real clue with electricity.    She was grateful she wasn't dead, but didn't fancy learning any more by direct experience...

The couple.   The glass!       She reacted in seeing that, spurring herself to action.  Instantly she was moving for them, to try and move each one out of the deadly hail.

In reply to GM (msg # 88):

Spider-Man, still managed to be quick enough to turn himself around and attempt to form a sort of net to catch most of the glass as it fell. "Great," He said to no one as he did his work. "Anyone else that has superpowers that wants to join in over here?"

Lois scrambled to weather the forces that that Cyclone was casually throwing around.  When Darkstar yelled at her to leave (all for show), she didn't hesitate.  Lois booked it on out of there.  The problem was that the street was just as dangerous.  She dived under cover to avoid falling glass... while staying as far from the Eel as she could manage.

"Darwin, if you can hear me... get out now.  There's trouble and explosions everywhere so be careful."  She said through the team's channel.

Blinded by Aurora's flash and seeing blots of glare everywhere, Bloodrager swung Woundhealer wildly at anyone he heard nearby, regardless of who they might be.

He heard chatter over the 'magic amulet', but it wasn't making much sense beyond Spiderman being Spiderman as only he can.

*****
<Inside the casino>
*****

The Explosion has some kick back and shrapnel flies in limited directions thanks to DS’s new shield. Unicorn and Silvermane block the shrapnel coming for them they were far enough away that there wasn’t too much Unicorn gave a couple of quick blasts hitting some of the “bigger” debris and Silvermane body resisted the smaller pieced . But Silvermane looked displeased.
The robotic form with an old man head looked at the 2 villains on the ground, He shook his head stepping out of the entrance and kicking over a table, a seemingly odd agility and strength comes from the robot which just looks very odd with the old man’s head on it.
Hammerhead should never be allowed to run anything.

He said more to himself then to Unicorn.

Unicorn Looked over at the shouting hero, and as Darkstar spoke to Lois Unicorn did not hesitate to open fire. His protruding tip from his helmet lit up sending a blast towards Darkstar barely missing him.

With Cyclone and Hydroman down this left TaskMistress to be able to manoeuver where she needed however the entrance was now partially blocked by this large robot guy and Unicorn.



****
Outside
****

Lois stayed low and made her way to the front of the casino which was almost empty now of people seeing the chaos seeing Eel standing in the street as Spiderman and Aurora are saving the civilians on the sidewalk. There were a few of the Maggia henchman laying flat on their backs on the street 2 of them slowly getting up. Most of the crowd was now dispersed with the exception of a few that Spiderman and Aurora were dealing with.

Lois looks out to the street and can see Bloodrager flailing his sword and moving in towards the opposite side of the street on the sidewalk where a woman and her daughter are  Crouched not far from him looking in his direction in sheer terror as Bloodrager advances on them.

********
Downstairs
********

Dee Dee now in Monkey form looks around the room there is a large metal table similar to something seen in the Frankenstein movies of which the large Robot Silvermane just got up from, Wires and various cables are attached to the table and the wires run to a large switchbox in a rack with various machines in them, to her left is a filing cabinet in front of her is a desk with a laptop,it’s opened but in sleep mode a file lays under it.

Being outmatched and having herself freed temporarily from the Water Wizard she went to gather the Intel. Since the two were blocking the entrance she decided to go further into the building instead. Her plan was to retrieve the files and report back to Naslund.

The civilians were gone and his team mates were gone, as far as he could tell.  Even the various bad guys were mostly non-moving except for Robo-senior and Hornhead.  Despite that, Kevin hesitated slightly before doing it.

All his abilities had kinks, weaknesses and potential drawbacks.  His force field couldn't deal with lasers and if he got stuck "on" he could suffocate.  His energy blasts were effective but also at least as lethal as actual bullets and quite a bit more powerful.  His Darkvision made him sensitive to bright lights.  His wings were, well, wings so could couldn't use them in cramped  areas.  His constructs tended to melt in bright lights and he could only do one of them at a time.  The teleporting was pretty cool but learning it had been a bitch since it tended to leave him seasick on crack at first.  But the Darkness was the one power he really disliked using.

He could feel something like a door open within him and the Darkness poured out, flooding and filling the room with its near-suffocating blackness.  In his travels, Kevin had been in urban and rural environments.  He knew the difference between "city-dark" an "country dark."  This was nothing like that.  The Darkness wasn't a simple absence of light that "Night vision goggles" or even normal flashlights could ease.  It was a Presence all its own.  Some relic of the primordial Night that still thrived in whatever place it was from which he drew his power.

And it was comfortable.  Inviting.  Homey, even.  Every time Kevin let it come he seemed to feel a bit more reluctant to send it away.  It was like some part of him liked it.  Loved it.  Wanted to fill the whole damn world with it.  And that scared him more and on a deeper level than even Belial had.

The intense utter Darkness filled the room now and Kevin began carefully and as quietly as possible moving through it, watching his two enemies to see if they could detect him well enough to target him and otherwise getting into position to take them apart if they couldn't.  Kevin was fully in his element.  And they were in his element too, the poor bastards.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:39, Thu 07 Mar 2019.

Lois fumbled between her various radios, making sure she sent one to Bloodrager and not the bad guys.  She had to stop her (out of control?) teammate from a friendly fire incident.

“Blooodrager, stop swinging!  You going to hit civilians.  Head inside the casino if you want to keep fighting.”

The red man paused, stopping in his tracks. His blind eyes tried to see through the glare but failed, and he half-turned in the direction that the voice coming over the 'magic amulet' was in, lunging at where he thought Lois might be from the sound. Swordpoint first.

Might have been a good thing if someone, during training, had said 'Hey, don't try and talk to Bloodrager!  He's *way* too out of it during combat to take sensible advice, or understand basic English!'   

She flew swiftly, and tried to move Lois gently aside, saying "I think that's how he heals people?  What he does confuses the hell out of me.     Maybe best not to find out right now?"   

With all the commotion going on upstairs, Deedee decided that it was probably safer to do the quick grab. So a hop up to the table, grab the laptop and file, then it's a shift into mongoose and bolt for it.

With the way up still open and her small size, Deedee hoped that the smaller rodent form wouldn't be noticed.

Worst case scenario, if she got spotted she could go insect and make her way out that way. It would just take a heck of a lot longer...

"Yeah, but his way of healing is going to definitely give some people here nightmares tonight,"Spider-Man commented as he proceeded to fire his webs at the pair of Maggia men in an attempt to keep them stuck to the ground.

*****
Inside
*****

Taskmistress: Although the initial path to downstairs was blocked heading the other way lead her to an area with several offices, With the commotion it seemed that no one had time to lock the doors. Taskmistress checked several doors and found the largest of 3 offices, inside it was quite the flashback to the early era of gangster’s with pictures of Capone, Lucky Luciano and Carlo Gambino and not to be outdone and adding to his ego behind the desk there was a large self portrait of Hammerhead himself.
There were also  Various old crime movie posters. In the back center of the room there was the  a large mahogany Desk with a beautiful finish there were various papers and files on the desk and off to the wall in the back was a large filing cabinet.


Darkstar:
The darkness filled the room. If anyone were to be watching the camera’s in that area there would be nothing to show but a black feed. The energy surrounded Kevin like a blanket seeping throughout the room. Unicorn and Silvermane where left blinded. Kevin easily seeing their white outlined silhouette along with the silhouette of all the objects in the room. Unicorn started to panic.
<green> What the hell?<green> He shouted out no longer aware of his surrounding and started firing random blasts, But with his vision impaired there was no real target. Kevin was able to maneuver easily around to get close to both Silvermane and Unicorn without much effort.
Who turned out the damn lights? Silvermane shouts out to no one in particular.


*****
Outside
*****

Mortis / Bloodrager:
The message sounded out to Bloodrager, he turned and pointed his sword toward the entrance his eye slowly starting to focus now as most of the exterior lights no longer were a factor.


Aurora / Spiderman

Aurora lands next to Mortis looking around as Spiderman Webs up a couple of the Maggia thugs who had been close to Bloodrager and fell down having slipped due to Big Red’s spell.
The Duo suddenly realized that besides a few of the Maggia thug, the others were gone… Slipped out during the confusion, there were no signs of Speed Demon, Hammerhead or the Eel.

*****
Downstairs
*****

Dee Dee

DeeDee grabbed what she could and bolted upstairs half way up the stairs she had to stop, through the open door she had come in she could now see pure darkness, Her animal eyes couldn’t seem to adjust to see this wasn’t just a lights out sort of darkness… This was a solid black wall,


*****
Back At HQ
*****

Jocasta finally came on the comms,
Apologies on the delay the systems of the casino had been diverted and the security encryption were a lot more complex than they should have been. And I have been trying to get Clockwork but his system is too foreign.
We’ll need someone to gather Clockwork. Naslund added. Accessed a few of the camera’s and see this didn’t quite go as smoothly as we had hoped.

Kevin didn't reply to either of the Supers' comments.  No sense making noise to give them a possible target.  There were some "super villains" (he still thought that term was silly as hell) who might decide to play cat and mouse games.  Martin Devereaux had pretty thoroughly kicked (and sneered and viciously sarcasted) those tendencies out of Kevin in favor of instilling a kind of ruthless, efficient professionalism when it came to pounding the fuck out of others.

Even now he could almost hear that cold acerbic voice.  "The object in a battle is to win and to win as quickly and with the least amount of cost and effort possible, dear boy.  If your battle somehow has rules or proscriptions against cheating or some silly buggering notions of honor or fair play, that is not a battle.  It is a game and an unrealistic one at that."

A goodly part of that efficiency involved creating and then pitilessly exploiting every possible advantage.  The Darkness was a huge advantage and Kevin duly exploited it.

He created a tight solid box around Unicorn's face and head, making sure to leave the horn uncovered so it couldn't potentially destroy the box.  Most humans could hold their breath for maybe two minutes if they'd prepared.  Unicorn likely hadn't.  The heavy, solid box would make it impossible to breathe and the dude was already panicking.  Figure unconsciousness in three minutes or less.

Silvermane would be even easier.  Kevin had plenty of time to position himself and aim carefully.  He unleashed the Voidfire blasts at Silvermane's limbs with the idea of destroying them, one by one while leaving his head and torso untouched.  It hopefully wouldn't be long before the cyborg was a limbless body rolling on the floor.

In the midst of this, assuming he saw a small animal at the edge of the Darkness, Kevin would teleport over to her and quietly tell her, "Don't go in there yet.  I'll be done with them in a second and then we can leave."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:21, Sat 10 Oct 2020.

Taskmistress began eyeing the files giving her head a smack hoping to get Anni back online. Anni was fine wherever she was it was just tge transceiver that was damaged. She sped read the the files gathering the ones necessary for the the mission and useful in general. Exploring the room carefully to ensure she could get everything back.

Blinking, the red-skinned man looked warily left and right as his vision began to return as the aftereffects of Aurora's brilliant flash faded. If he didn't see anyone obviously wounded and in need of healing, he headed into the 'casino' dungeon mouth to check for others. And perhaps treasure or even a bite to eat (depending on the monsters - even for him, green slime a.k.a. lime Jell-O was still scary and needed fire).

If there were obvious, clear wounds outside, though, he went for the wounded with a gusto, sword swinging vigorously to heal them.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:25, Wed 13 Mar 2019.

Lois nodded her thanks to Aurora for whisking her out of 'harms (heals?) way'.  In the meantime, things looked to have settled down... and the villains had retreated.  Lois listened into the Maggia radio channel just to see what they were saying (if anything).  The only concern she had was Dee Dee.  Presumably Darkstar was going 'Batman' on the two other villains inside the casino.

"Um... are the police going to show up anytime soon, William?  And has anyone got eyes on Darwin?"

"Hammerhead must've took off while we weren't looking," Spider-Man says as he noticed how quiet it was outside. "I wonder how a guy as big as him managed to get past all of us."

"Dunno.  Powers? Technology?   Photoshop-?" She shrugged. "What I'd like to know is where and why.  Hopefully not because they plan to blow the place up."      It was a terrible thought, hopefully only that;   it would destroy a lot of evidence, if they were sufficiently desperate to do so.

Alison sped back inside the casino; looking for Darwin, loose ends to tie up, or teammates who needed aid.

Re: CH 4 Did it have to be Jersey?

*****
Inside
*****

Taskmistress: Most of the files were written in short form with minimal details, However some that stood out as she read and filled in the blanks with the help of Anni were that Dr. Strauss was actually Dr. Phineas Strauss he was listed on some of the files as The Tinkerer. He was partially working on a project called the Sovereign Six. Which would be lead by Silvermane,
Silvermane is a 70 year old head of the Maggia who had temporarily handed down control of the Maggia to Hammerhead while Dr. Strauss Worked on a suit for him that would allow his frail body to be incorporated into a cyborg body.
Seems that along with casino fronts Maggia has their hands in Various fronts, One being a section of the Docks in the harbor and another is funeral homes.
Darkstar:
Darkstar manages to get the dark matter box over Unicorns head. He watches as he starts thrashing about sending his unibeam in various directions causing more damage to the casino walls, fixtures and equipment. A Couple of blasts come close to Darkstar and one also passes the wall into the stairwell where Dee Dee was standing sending some light debris in the air around her.

Kevin got into position letting off a few blasts, although his vision wasn’t impaired Silvermane’s was a little quicker then he anticipated. When he aimed for the legs he was only able to get the left one , As Silvermane buckled His arm move to the side as a mini missile was launched from his wrist Over Darkstar’s head, It zig zagged and hit the wall causing a large hole to open into the wall. A large crack could see being formed, and it looked like the west side of the casino might be coming down as some drywall started to buckle.



*****
Stairwell
*****

Dee Dee
She heard Darkstar on the comm “"Don't go in there yet.  I'll be done with them in a second and then we can leave." Then a large hole was blasted through the wall
Dee Dee looked around and somewhat shielded her eyes with her little paws from the dust that had been sent flying by the hole in the wall from it was strange to see a piece of wall half in the darkness and half out. For a brief second she still tried to adjust her animalistic dark vision But it was clear there was no seeing in there. She re-adjusted the laptop and file.


*****
Outside
*****

Bloodrager:
Bloodrager did pass a couple on his way towards the entrance seeing the man was hurt, He swung the red sword and struck the man, The Woman screamed in utter fear of seeing her husband sliced in half and the man also ended up pissing himself in fear as the blade went through him…. The couple looked at each other as the man’s hands felt his body realizing he wasn’t made into a shishkabob… He did however notice the large open wound on his leg was no longer there. The man was unsure on whether to smile or fear but in either case his Wife lifted him off the ground and hurriedly got them away from the big red sword wielding behemoth

Mortis / Aurora / Spiderman
Spidey looked around webbing up  one of the dragon tongs gang members who had regain consciousness and was poorly attempting to flee..

As they looked around there was nothing of note, It is true it was impressive they could get away so Quickly…. Of course, Speed Demon probably had something to do with it.

Mortis listened in on the comms of the Maggia. There was a lot of interference but she was able to make out Speed Demon, Have Hammer … heading …  B119….


Aurora Sped in and didn’t make it far when she encountered a solid wall of black!
It was quite the sight to see. There was darkness, but this, this was almost chilling. Catching Darkstar’s message to Dee Dee, Aurora hung back for a second. Then heard the explosion. From her angle she could see that the west division wall was starting to collapse. With still a few people inside.

Few onlookers

There were only a handful of people left outside some had their mobile phones up taking video’s of the scene, as Spiderman looked around he could see a news van arrive as the crew was starting to get out and start filming.

*****
Back At HQ
*****

Jocasta finally came on the comms,
Taskmistress is in a north office, Dee Dee is to the stairwell on the east side of the building.  We held off the police but dispatch is no longer waiting for our ok. Police should be arriving shortly the quinjet has retrieved Clockwork and is landing on the roof across the casino.

This should of been a simple info gather mission, Not sure what went awry but get yourselves out and to the quinjet ASAP. Came William’s reply.

Alison was relatively sure the darkness would have to be Kevin's power. The fact that it was actually chilling surprised her.  She'd thought Darkstar's power was just a black force field of some sort.  Attempting to illuminate or dispel it with her own light was almost surely a bad idea;  she'd learned from her gaff with Bloodrager.     There was a bigger priority now, anyway:

Utilizing her speed, she went into action, attempting to rescue anyone in danger of being crushed or otherwise injured by that falling debris...

Sword was watching the (formerly) injured man elope with the woman, unsure whether to go after them to stab some more, bless the union in the name of the Stillborn Unwanted Child, or seek out more blood elsewhere. But he heard Miss Jocasta over the magic amulet, with William's orders following. Reluctantly, the hulking red man turned away from the casino and started jogging away from it hoping that he was heading for the right building, the right roof.

His sword thrust out to one side, and he commanded it. "Coagulate," Woundhealer faded from steel and stone to a sword-shaped and sized mass of scab. "Dissolve." And the scab sword liquified, melting back into fresh blood making a mess as it dripped off his hand and puddled on the ground.

He kept jogging, seeking their transport to leave as ordered.

Lois assumed that B119 was an escape vehicle of some sort.  But there wasn't enough radio chatter to accurately assist the team into apprehending the villains.  Besides, William had called for a withdrawal.

"Withdrawing to the jet.  Be careful everyone, there is media starting to gather outside."

Mortis calmly walked away from the scene, avoiding phone cameras and the media van... wherever she could.  Lois entered the back of the building where the Quinjet was waiting.  If necessary, a bit if judicious disintegration helped to gain her access... a melted lock, handle, or even a hole in the wall.

Kevin moved quietly to scoop up the small mongoose that was Darwin.  He put her into one of the larger pockets of his overcoat patting her through it in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.  Then he turned back to the room.

Unicorn was still struggling with the the Darkforce box that was suffocating him.  Given some of the destruction in the room, he was probably stronger and tougher than a normal, but he still didn't have the strength, leverage or remaining oxygen to free himself.  Meanwhile, as a one-legged man, Silvermane was on track to lose this particular butt-kicking contest.

Naslund was giving the "Vamoose" signal, but Kevin couldn't quite refrain from giving this particular pot of shit a couple of extra stirs.  "Thanks boys," he told them.  "This info should come in handy.  And it's not like you goombas would realize its true potential.  Best you stay content with what you have, take your friends and run away.  Revenge is a dish best served in dreamland.  Buh-Bye and Hail, Hydra!  Bitches."

With that, Kevin moved quickly but quietly to exit the casino, heading for the jet.  Hopefully the others would get there soonish.  He maintained the Darkness and the box around Unicorn.  Simple distance would cause both to fade, but there was no sense making it too easy on the two.

Taskmistress made her way to extraction with the files in hand. Carefully avoiding another confrontation she wasn't in the mood to drown again. She didn't speak to anyone evacuating still trying to get her connection back online.

Taskmistress slipped past the remaining Duo of Unicorn who looked slumped on the ground with the metallic cyborg Silvermane next to him, She spotted Dee Dee able making a b line for the exit, As the two passed Silvermane and Unicorn they both caught a glimpse of the old man trying to smash the darkforce field from Unicorn’s head. As the final blow came the darkforce cube vanished just in time to have Silvermane punch Unicorn in the face , It was a good thing Unicorn was already unconscious cause that hit seemed like it would of hurt a lot as it connected with Unicorn right in the mouth where his helmet didn’t cover his face. Dee Dee finally made it past without being noticed due to the distraction of Silvermane.


Aurora gathered one last man that was pinned under a roulette table that had tipped, he had no serious injury but his leg would be bruised for some time.

Bloodrager just caught a glimpse of the quinjet up above as he headed into the building to make his way to the roof, It took him a tad longer as he had discovered some boxes on the stairwell of the building on his way up and hesitated to see if these were possible “treasure chests” which might contain treasure.

Spiderman gave a quick look around and noticed the emergency services pulling in. Seeing the others head out he followed suite and headed for the Quinjet.
Once everyone was gathered into the Quinjet the door automatically shut behind them, Clockwork Knight was already inside but was offline, Guess Doc would have some more work to do trying to figure out what happened.
It wasn’t long before the Jet cloaked and was off again heading towards the base Jocasta was in control of the auto pilot.

Several opened and disordered boxes left behind on the stairwell, Bloodrager sat quietly in his seat on the Quinjet firmly strapped in place. He mentally brought up one of the musical instances in his matrix to internally listen to while in-flight, something depressively calming.

"Okay, nobody we give a shit about died and the bad guys got a Taskforcey bitch-slapping.  Though next time Doc Squid tries out a robot, maybe we need to make sure the warranty didn't expire in the Bronze Age.  So far, so good," Kevin said before turning eagerly toward Taskmistress and a hopefully human Darwin.  "So, what did you gals get?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:24, Fri 24 July 2020.

Closing Ch 4 will post in Hangar and then you'll be ok to continue in the base threads,

END!
--->  To Hangar