Goodguy looks at StreetDemon and his head tilts slightly to the side. He walks over to where the others are standing and looks over the urban mage summing him up.

"We all seem to be here for the same reason." He looks right at StreetDemon. "If by action you mean these interviews then I really don't want any part of that...MAN... if you mean helping this city, I'm in.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:22, Mon 03 Sept 2018.

A beat or two after Knockout finishes speaking, Joan gives her a relieved look, "oh, thank you. You don't know how nice it is to find someone who'll keep to the point on an interview."
Ignoring their interruption, she tosses a look at Darryl Starre and Streetdemon before she continues. Once again, the TV face comes on a beat or two before she asks the question. "So, when you arrived today, did you expect to meet any of the Crusaders? And do you intend to take on the Crushers without them if you need to?"
As the camera is turned to point at Knockout, Joan glowers at Darryl and Streetdemon.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:01, Mon 03 Sept 2018.

"I expected to find the Crusaders in their headquarters, I admit, but if they are elsewhere, I'm ready and wiling to protect and fight for people's freedom and security, against the Crushers or anything. With every other good will that may be around, may they be.. errr.. Street demonish or just good natured Guys." she offers the camera another radiant smile, while her vivid red armor shines under the sun.

"Just.. God pardon me. I'd wish they stop cursing and using slang at every sentence. Afterall, we are to be models for kids too." she says, signing herself with the christian cross gesture.

Joan nods in sympathy with Knockout, then says as she turns to face Streetdemon. "Sometimes those are the only words they know to communicate how badly they feel."
Turning to Streetdemon, she leans in close and begins to whisper to him, gradually raising her voice until the others can hear her.
 ... 'respect' thing going on; I grew up in Roosevelt, so I know the score. What you'uns keep forgettin' is that ya doan get respec' by takin' it from people you doan think deserve it. You want respect, you gotta give it to people who NEED it."
Catching herself, Joan gives Streetdemon an apologetic smile and says as she puts her on camera face back on "I'm probably preachin' to the choir. So, help me give the public a little respect, please?"
"I believe I've seen this gentleman before. He single-handedly built shelters for many of the families affected by last weeks fire. I'm sorry I was unable to talk to you before, sir. I know Mr. Starre has asked you, but could you please repeat for our viewers who you are and what you do?"

"'Man-bird'?  Sound like that Vulture fool who's runnin' with the Crushers..." Street Demon says.  "That nigga ain't nothin' -- vultures only show up after I'm through with the bad guys..."



Street Demon glances Starre and then back to Dillon -- he's already finding that dealing with the press is his least favorite part of the job, but until that last exchange he couldn't make up his mind which was the lesser evil...



"I'm Street Demon, and I'm the nig--...uh, I'm the gentleman who's here to get this party started," he says, nodding slightly to Knockout.  He turns to address the camera directly.  "A lot of good folks are in danger of losin' their jobs right now on account of all the mayhem these Crushers are perpetratin'.  And I'm dedicatin' this fight to them -- the hard-workin' people of Central City.  But we gotta work fast to stop them before they make their next move.  So I think we should move this meeting to somewhere more private..."

Street Demon makes a quick gesture with one hand and a shower of glowing cyan-colored pixels erupts from his fingertips; on the live news feed the superheroes vanish, leaving Ms. Dillon appearing to stand completely by herself.

[PLAYER-GM]Street Demon uses the "Signal Override III" Power to render the entire team undetectable to the camera, hopefully ruining Joan's news segment and making any attempt to continue the interview pointless.[PLAYER-GM]

"Whatta y'all say -- meet me on the roof of the Convention Center Marriott?" Street Demon says, looking at the others.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Mon 03 Sept 2018.

Darryl turns to the other reporter. "Joan? I think we can help these guys out. I covered the first break-in, and I know you scooped me on the second. If we can compare our lists of what was stolen, we might be able to figure out the Crushers' next likely target. So, for the sake of the city, are you in?" Darryl pulls out his notes and his smartphone to start digging out the information, even as his sharp hearing picks up where the Supers were planning to meet.

So much was happening so fast Lester was having trouble following it all. But he was beginning to think he shared a common ground with this StreetDemon. Lester had spent his childhood standing up to schoolyard bullies and held those who were helpless close to his mind. StreetDemon seemed to feel the same and while they came from wildly differing backgrounds he thought they would find common ground. He was still getting a read on Knockout and felt cautions around such a bombshell.

Goodguy looks at both Knockout and StreetDemon and nods. "That's as good a place as any. I'll see you there. Give me 15 minutes." With that he smiles at Joan and Darryl and is suddenly gone. Replaced with a momentary flash and a "whoosh" of air.

He finds himself standing in his yard looking at his small home, the chaos of the Harmond building behind him. In the distance a dog barks, probably chasing a squirrel.

"I need some cards." he says to himself as he walks toward the house.

---

Teleporting to a floating location - his farm yard.
Picking up his 'signature cards' then he'll make his way to the meeting place.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:27, Mon 03 Sept 2018.

After noting some frantic hand signals from the cameraman, Joan shakes her head and looks at Streetdemon like he's a lost puppy. Then she begins walking toward him and shaking her finger in his general direction as she says,  "Ya' see. Thass what I'm talkin' 'bout. If you'd let yer brain catch up with yer mouth, ya just might be better off. First you go mouthin' 'bout takin' down them criminal Crushers, then ya go and broke the law!"
"I know those cameras'll be fine, but you killed 'em and that's vandalism."
"You go and mouth about all them hard workin' people you're gonna help, then you screw with me doin' my job. You go there, and all yer talk is just talk."
"When you ain't walkin' what yer talkin', I got news for ya' mister, that ain't street, that's just gangsta. So you better figure out which one you wanna be."
Almost shuddering, Joan turns off the heat and turns to Darryl Starre. "Sounds good, Dar. I'm 'bout to wrap up today. Once I go talk to Broyko, I should have enough to make my segment."

Knockout rolled her eyes at the sky, and sighed slightly. That streetdemon guy definately had a big mouth and an attitude. She could feel the reporter's frustration and concerns, and so proposed.

"If you'd like, we can setle for another scheduled meeting Mrs Dillon. For now I must leave, and see how we can work alltogether, respecting the law, and for a better good. I'll contact you in your office as soon as it's possible to do so."

She turns them back to the hoodie fashioned vigilante and nods. "See you there, in a moment."

She then walks by to pick up her car, then cautiously carries it back onto the road, before leaving in a roaring engine sound.

In reply to Joan Dillon (msg # 30):

Darryl asks Joan "tonight, maybe? Dinner at the Blue Penguin, say at 8, then to your desk to figure out the next target?"

"I'll only get that if Broyko tells me. I don't want to know."
Indicating her camera crew she goes on, "You're lucky. I'm responsible for these guys so I can't take as many chances."
Pulling out her phone, she taps at it a bit and tells Darryl. "I'll send you what I got from Broyko, most of it would work better in print. If you run into anything for me, email it back."
"I can't do dinner, I'm taking the nephews to the arena... hey, have you ever heard of 'you guide oat' cards?"

Darryl asks the guards if he can have access to their computers. He would like the chance to interact with TEACHER and get a glimpse at the Headquarters through the Security Cameras.
TEACHER is an AI with access to Crusaders' profiles on the Crushers. TEACHER might be able to predict the next burglary target.

Rolled 9 on 3d6. Persuasion 18-. Made it by 9.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:06, Tue 04 Sept 2018.

The guards are happy to help, but their terminals don't have access to TEACHER, no one does.

Darryl takes a stab at getting to the internal security cameras, as well as accessing the security logs, to see if TEACHER'S glitch has a physical component.


Computer Programming 13-, rolled 9 on 3d6.

"Vandalism?!?  Girl, now I know you trippin' -- I ain't no vandal!"



"Yo, homie," Street Demon says to the cameraman.  "Point that camera at her one time and check the viewfinder -- I'mma show you there ain't nothin' wrong with that camera..."  He pauses for a moment to watch the sway of Knockout's hips as she walks back to the car.  "Damn -- there definitely ain't nothin' wrong with that..."

[PLAYER-GM]Street Demon deactivates the "camera invisibility" power so that Knockout will show up normally on screen.[PLAYER/GM]



Street Demon watches for a moment as Darryl tries to negotiate with the guards for access to TEACHER.  He then comes up behind the cameraman, still trying to find the source of his earlier equipment failure, claps him on the shoulder and says, "So...we cool, dawg?"

Satisfied that he's disrupted enough of Ms. Dillon's shoot, Street Demon waves briefly to the crowd and says, "Peace out!", rocketing away at superspeed and leaving behind a trail of glowing neon streamers forming random curves in midair.  Random, that is, to everyone except Joan Dillon -- to someone at her exact vantage point, the neon lines momentarily form a cartoonish outline drawing of Street Demon himself, flipping her the bird; the streamers then fade from view a second later...

[PLAYER-GM] Street Demon will immediately head to the private meeting site at full speed (about 250 MPH), sprinting up and down the sides of buildings and parkouring his way over rooftops...[/PLAYER-GM]
This message was last edited by the player at 21:44, Tue 04 Sept 2018.

The cameraman finishes packing up his gear, and as Streetdemon zips off, mumbles [Language unknown: Herionast tr k ni wer ers niilha t il ntugh stacomwit betian undstiain er.].

Lester walks into the small second bedroom he uses as a hobby room. In one corner stand several pine boards all cut and sanded. In another corner his tools sit well organized and on the table his wood-burning kit surrounded by several small squares of pine wood. Each one cut precisely 2 inches square and 1/4 inch thick with the phrase 'Good guys always win' hand burned into them.

Lester grabs a mitt full and puts them in his back pockets. He then takes a deep breath and begins the trip to town. This time he doesn't go directly to the Harmond Building but takes a well practiced path of 200m 'jumps'. He's teleported to town this way before and it takes longer and a bit more effort but he doesn't want to see the reporters again.

Entering the metropolitan area through an industrial section he starts moving from roof-top to roof-top until he arrives on the roof of the Convention Center Marriott.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:48, Wed 05 Sept 2018.

The security guards are EXTRAORDINARILY helpful. When Darryl mentions it, one of them explains that if the Crusaders aren't here, and a Crusher shows up, they expect to be the first casualties. Knowing he's the 'super's reporter' they're hoping he can let someone know how vulnerable they are. As one of them puts it, "it's like, this building, you know. It's the Crusader's turf and don't nobody mess with 'em. Till they're all off on assignment and some clown with a ping-pong ball gun decides to redecorate. Who's the guys that end up in the quarter-ton wad of bubble gum, then? Yours truly. Man, I had to throw those shoes AWAY and these are the expensive orthopedic model!"
However, Darryl can't even find a hint of TEACHER. The security cameras are as minimalist as the other security and don't cover the top four floors. It would take Darryl hours to sift through the security video, but the guards say they'll do that and despite being armed with nothing but large flashlights they do appear competent enough to watch television monitors for long periods of time.

Darryl thanks the guards and dashes off, mumbling something about checking sources.

Once one the road, Knockout would drive carefully, but straight up to  the meeting point. She was used to get all sorts of lurkers and whistles on her way, so she didn't mind been strip naked by anybody eyes anymore. Such was the life of girls who were up to be qualified as gorgeous.

Once at the building, she parked, went out of her Dodge, and looked up, hands on her hips.

"Well know, it's going to be nice warm up stairs jogging up there. Or I might take the elevator, but I don't want to attract too much attention."

A man with wings appears to be climbing out of a sewer on the shadowed side of the building. He looks up to assess the ascent, then turns his head (eyes are on either side of the head, like a bird) to regard the woman. In a screeching voice, the birdman says "I am Nighthawk. I assume you are Knockout, and are here for the meeting? I can fly us both to the top, but once the sun touches my form, I will lose my wings. If I carry you to the top and angle my approach to carry us over the edge when my wings vanish, can you land on the roof and catch me?"

SHe blinked twice, in a charming and naive manner, trying not to stare too uch at the birdman, but obvious failed. He was damn odd to look at for sure. The surprise passed, she cleared her throat and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Sure, I can do that. But be warned the landing might be... brutal, depeding on the approach we have on the rooftop. Who told you where I would be ?" she inquired, appraoching him so he could carry her in the air.

He holds his arms out to grab her wrists as he says "would you believe a little birdie told me?"

From the top of the Kessler Building, Street Demon makes one last leap toward his destination: the roof of the Marriott Hotel, three blocks south and twenty stories down.  From his hands, the masked figure projects twin plumes of foul-smelling exhaust; the resultant thrust slows and directs his fall, until he lands on the hotel roof with a slight "crunch" of gravel underfoot.

Street Demon takes a moment to survey the site -- the door to the stairwell is locked, no signs of the maintenance or window-washing crews to be seen, and clear skies all around.  He steps to the edge of the building and looks down to street level; directly below he can see the convention center, its sloping glass-and-steel form tapering into a decorative spire concealing a powerful cellular antenna.

"Perfect," Street Demon says to himself, nodding in approval.

Street Demon paces back to the center of the rooftop and begins the ritual, weaving his hands in complicated patterns while turning slowly in place.  As he does, the pixelated cyan sparks once again begin raining down from his fingertips and onto the gravel and tar paper of the roof, forming elaborate geometric shapes that glow and flicker like a TV tuned to static.  The final result resembles nothing so much as an old-fashioned television test pattern, traced out on the ground in a circle thirty feet across.

[PLAYER-GM] I would like to have Street Demon cast both the "Signal Override III" and "Media Blackout" Powers, each purchased as a single Continuing Charge that lasts 2 hours, and with the MegaScale Darkness scaled back to be the same radius as the AE Invisibility (about 10 meters in diameter).  He has more than enough points to pay to have both on simultaneously; and since it would be bought with Charges, he could then switch the VPP to something else once the ritual circle is cast... [/PLAYER-GM]

Once the magic circle is complete, Street Demon points to the concrete wall that encases the stairway to the roof; with quick gesture, he begins stripping material from its walls, thinning them without breaching them, and forming the concrete into a series of benches that he then levitates over to form a ring within the circle.

Street Demon then takes a seat on one of the benches, and waits for the arrival of his new acquaintances...
This message was last edited by the player at 21:56, Wed 05 Sept 2018.

Knockout offered her wrists, and grabbed the birdman's with a firm grip. Her slender body was quite light but the winged vigilante could feel a superior tonicity in her muscles, telling she could easily press or crush most casual items and people.

"Up, up and away ! Then !" she winked back at the beak and eyes.