A five story office building being converted for the legacy's needs Its got a gym a sofar empty armory, a lab space for zeke quarters for each of the hearoes and state of the art computers, communications equipment. A forensics lab and med center.

Going into the confines of the building Hotwire takes off his mask and goggles, allowing his glowing green eyes to be easily seen.  Moving through the building quickly he mutters to himself under his breath as he explores, grinning as he sees the labspace.  Oh this was just what he need.

"Reed ain't got shit on me in these digs.  Er...  us!  I mean us!"

He's absolutely giddy.  Looking over some of the communications equipment he thumps a few fingers against his chin something seemed to be right.  But what?  What was it that he needed.  There!

They had plenty of communication equipment and they wouldn't miss one and it had the parts he needed.  A twitch comes to his right jaw as he looks around before quickly disassembling the communication equipment and pulls out a few microchips that were within it.

The next stop was the med labs.  He needed...  something.  Again what he wasn't quite sure.  Muttering to himself he sets the microchips aside and starts moving quickly through the inventory of the medlabs as well as other equipment in the building.  If what he was looking for was here, he was sure to find it, and somehow instinctively he'd know it when he found it.

Zeke can hear a motorcycle pulling up outside. A few minutes later in walsk Hunter in full costume and armed a little more heavily than usual, thouhg his wepaons seem to have a nonlethal bend to them. He does have his bow and a sword acorss his back but in adition theres a collapsible baton, bolos, a tazer, and nunchucks on his belt. he lets out a whisstle as he looks aorund. "Man they sure know how to deliver."

>>>>>>>>>From The Dragon And The Tiger>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lucas had the bus drop him off a couple of blocks away. He then looked down at the piece of paper he wrote the address on that Hotwire gave to him.

He continued to walk until he looked up at the building that was now their HQ.

"My God....this is the place?"

He then walked in, looking to see if he could find anyone.

"Yeah."

Zeke was definetly still distracted.  To an extent it seemed he had found what he was looking for, or atleast found things that he could substitute for now.  There were already several pitri dishes sealed up with chemical notations all starting with carbon.

There was a small aquarium sitting infront of him that he was watching intently.  It is empty except for a small patch of pinkish flat glob sitting at the bottom of the aquarium.  Written in black marker along the front are the words 'DO NOT TOUCH'.

His fingers were tapping quickly, furiously and his brow was furrowed as he watches the glob intently.

"Ugh... wish I had a clue what was going on here.  Any leads about those daggers yet?"

Hunter looks over Zekes shoulder at the aquarium "The hell are those?" Wehn the daggers are mentioned Hunnter looks from Zeke to Lucas and asks. "Am I missing something?"

Lucas looked to Don. "There's a lot that we need to fill you in on Don. There was a tome that was stolen...the Tome of Erathis, correct me if I'm wrong Zeke. The Pitiless are believed to be the next target of this thief...whoever he or she is...Ozzy...or Painter..one of the New Age Defenders....has wizard connections, so he was checking out a lead on it..."

"Pretty much, apparently it was the Tome that Enigma used so he didn't blow himself up with his handwaving.  As for the Dagger's, they're believed to be able to kill anything.  They're at the museum."

He frowns as he taps at the aquarium, the single glob growing and then seperating into several more globs.  Zeke curiously tilts his head and gives a little sniff.  Something really didn't smell right.  Picking up a pen he drops it carefully into the aquarium and it begins to rapidly dissolve.

"I'm not sure what it's supposed to be entirely.  But apparently this particular strain is capable of asexual reproduction and produces an acid as a byproduct of sugar.  Useful but not exactly what I think I'm wanting to work on."

Giving a slow sigh he sits up and starts to get equipment to drain the aquarium of what apparently has become mostly acid now.

Draining the acid with care and precision he closes the container and moves to dispose of it, then carefully disposes of the samples and aquarium as well so as not to contaminate the rest of his experiments.  He then moves to the medical lab to run a few simulations.  Apparently the eighth pitri dish would have the same byproduct, though that acid would probably even eat through glass.  Great.  He removes the eighth pitri dish and destroys that sample as well.  Picking up the first pitri dish and looks to the seven others still sitting on the tray.  This was going to be a long process.

"Hopefully you atleast give me an idea of what's going on here."

Setting up a new aquarium he places the sample in the aquarium after filling it with water.

Lucas then told Hunter, "It's good to see you. I know that I haven't always been the greatest person to work with....but I am glad to see you out from prison..."

Not waiting for Hunter's response, Lucas then began to look around at this new complex. Had the City funded this for Legacy? Friday would have been proud....

...if she were here....

Face it Lucas...she's probably going into a situation that is going to keep her away for a long time...time to move along...plus you've got your own problems to worry about..

"The daggers should be the genuine article someone already went after them. I should know, it was me." When Lucas speaks Hunter looks up from Zeke's little experiment. "Thanks" Is all he replies.

Lucas scoured the complex, getting a feel for it. It was hard to believe that this was going to be their new headquarters. But here it was....

He then walked back into the room with Hotwire and Hunter...unsure of this "experiment" that he was running, but still lost in his thoughts.

So...what now? Is the Legacy going to stay together? And where's Mirage?

Zeke had been waiting for a bit for the first sample to reproduce.  As soon as he introduced sugar and a few basic amino acids into the water the sample reproduces at an incredible rate.  In the forty gallon tank there are soon fifty to sixty small one inch by one inch flat floating patches of flesh like critters.  Tilting his head to one side he gives a soft sigh and then blinks.  He gives a little nod over towards Hunter.  Makes sense he tried to steal them.  They'd be useful tools all in all.

Grabbing some tongs he carefully picks up one of the flesh like critters and sets it in a bowl nearby.  Looking to the forty gallon tank the remaining critters move towards the side of the aquarium closest to the fish bowl, the movement is mirrored by the single critter in the fish bowl.

"Hunter, help me out for a second?"

Grabbing a white curtain he sets it between the fish bowl and aquarium.  Picking up a notebook and pencil.

"Let me know what, if anything, they do."

They don't do anything for a short while but soon they make very rapid movements.

Soon though they make several shapes.  A square, a circle, a house and the outline of the Decepticon symbol.

Hunter does as he is told. "They're sitting there...Oh now they're moving really fast, now they're making shapes.A square, a circle, a house, and isn't that that thing from transformers?"

Lucas observed the experiment, now getting his head back into what was happening.

"Interesting.  They even did it the right order.  And in time.  For all intents and purposes apparently instant communication.  Fascinating."

Pulling the screen back so that they both could see he holds out the flash cards he had drawn.  The Decepticon symbol had more detail to it than the outline, but there were not enough critters for the symbol to be completed.

"So, it would seem we have things that can communicate with each other.  And they are able to transmit images.  If images as well, why not thoughts.  I know with Friday around we had ourselves our own little network, but this...  well it can keep the need for telepaths to be jumbling around our heads to almost nothing.  Excellent."

Zeke is grinning ear to ear, until the critters in both the aquariam and the fish bowl suddenly stop moving and float slowly to the surface.  The upper part of them rapidly drying and breaking into dust.

"Apparently they are extremely short lived however.  Still, atleast I have an idea of what I'm dealing with here.  Hmmmm...  I'll call it the Thelarian Network.  After the Thelarian Mindslug of Alpha Ceti V of course."

"Communicating organisms, interesting. Well that deals with the  commuincation problem, And while your working on this I have the need to hit something. " He turns to LUcas" What about the escapees or the fact that wasn't it alittle too convenient both my old friend, fridays dissapearance, and Lucas's old enemy all showing up at the same time might be a little TOO convenient?'

Lucas nodded at Hunter.

"It does seem to all fit together Don...the question who is gathering up all of these elements. It's like someone's hitting us when we're at our most vulnerable....like someone is running us through some kind of gauntlet..."

"If half the world's population comes up missing.  I quit."

Zeke then goes on to mutter under his breath as he moves to dispose of the second expirement, setting up a new aquarium for the second pitri dish and once that is completed he goes about cleaning up and steralizing the previous aquarium for a later expirement.

"Would make sense though.  Been a few months of quiet, the boom really has started to pick up lately.  Not surprising there's something or someone behind the curtain starting everything up into an uproar again."

Lucas crossed his arms and began to think. As far as he knew, the Dark Champion was his biggest enemy. There couldn't be someone pulling his strings...

Couldn't there?

He then looked around for a brief moment.

"Have any of you heard from Mirage recently?"

Hunter shook his head. "Not since I gout out of SIng-Sing. I sent the message to everyone but I didn't get a responsse maybe she's caught up with soemthing?"

"That's entirely possible...hopefully she hasn't gotten herself into anything she can't handle. What say we do some Mirage hunting, huh?"

"You two going to need me for comedy relief?  Think I'm really onto something here.  We all know Mirage for the most part can take care of herself and if it was anything serious it'd be all over the news by now."

A few flashes of electricity flow across his eyes as he tilts his head to the side, standing still for a moment.

"Hmmm...  nope.  Nothing out of the ordinary on the news.  Atleast not yet.  The three of you should probably be able to handle it then, and of course there's the NAD if you need any assistance."

Humming the A-Team theme song quietly to himself then he sets about setting up the second pitri dish sample into a new aquarium.

Hunter shrugs at DF. "Sounds like a plan. I take the streets you take the skies?" Hunter begins moving to the front of the bulidng where he parked his motorcycle.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:24, Mon 07 June 2010.

Zeke gets an odd look on his face, takes a few steps away from the table with the aquarium on it and then falls to his knees doubled over in laughter.  This is soon followed by him flopping onto his side, still folded over himself, holding his stomach from the pain.  If they stick around long enough, tears are soon streaming from his eyes.

Lucas replied, "I'll take the sky..."

He then heard Zeke and his little episode.

"Zeke..are you gonna be all right?"

He can't speak due to the laughter.  But he does manage to make the 'ok' symbol with his hand and waves Dragon Fist off.

Eventually, a few minutes later, he manages to calm down.  Though there are still a few snickers here and there.

Deciding not to ask what was so funny Hunter heads outside stoarts up his motorcycle and takes off.

>>TO THE STREETS>>
This message was last edited by the player at 19:47, Mon 07 June 2010.

Seeing Zeke wave him off, Lucas summons his armor, and then takes to the air.

>>>>>>>>>>To The Rooftops>>>>>>>>>>

Zeke had a few things to do just now.  Watching this critter again would be a bit annoying.  Standing he stretches slowly and decides to explore the area a bit more.  Heading for the gym he sets his labcoat aside and heads in to get changed.  Coming back out he's dressed in a slightly loose fitting gui.  From the folds of it he pulls an item about the size of a maglight out.  Inspecting it carefully he twirls it a few times away from him, still trying to get used to the balance.  And in many ways the lack there of.  Breathing slowly he holds the emitter away from himself and the crimson blade errupts from the handle with the telltale humming sound of an energy sword.  Setting his feet he gives a little smirk to himself as he moves few the last several lessons he had missed at Tanaka Dojo as well as the few recent ones that he managed to make.  All in all he was a fast learner and since it was technology he was learning the energy blade a lot faster than the Kendo form.  Of course, he had to adjust for the fact he didn't want any of the blade touching his chest or the rest of his body.

He works up a bit of a sweat, the smirk still on his lips as he tosses the hilt in the air and catches it easily with his other hand.

"Heh.  Told'em I was a digital Jedi."

Looking at the hilt he gives it a few more practiced twirls in a flourish.  Holstering the hilt he gives another slow breath, looking to his hands.

"Hmmm...  Atlantean Anti-gravitational device huh?  I wonder..."

Breathing again he looks to a few of the free weights laying around, nothing heavy just a few five pounds weights.  He gives a little high but low pitched cackle, immitating Yoda.

"Mmmm   hm hm mm...  The Force surrounds us.  Binds us together.  It is in you.  Me.  The rocks.  And yes even those weights."

Taking a breath he gets serious.  Closing his eyes and visualizing the weights.

"All right, just calm your mind.  Feel the Force flow through you young Padawaaahhhhhh!"

Zeke goes flying several yards in the air, crashing into a wall, knocking the wind out of him.  Landing on the ground in a slump he groans slightly.

"Oww...  yeah... that was...  that was.... OWWWWWW!  Ugh."

Wincing he slumps a bit more, closing his eyes and just giving his head a chance to stop swimming.

  Appearing with a squeak, Meg hovered in the air for a moment before she moved over to Zeke, and laid her hand gently on his cheek.  "You know, that looks like a really uncomfortable position."

"Rmph...  When Sarda uses a spell on you that throws you like a ... rag doll.  You learn a spell... that throws you like a rag doll."

There's a good sized crack in the drywall a few yards up the wall where he hit.  Obviously this was the gym designed for the mundane members of the Legacy.

The wind got knocked out of him for sure and he cracked a few ribs when he smacked into the wall.  Despite all that, there is still a little smirk and a soft snicker that is expelled after he looks at her.  It's pretty obvious he's already a little loopy from the natural painkillers in his body.

  Meg shook her head, and said "Let's try not to kill ourselves, please?  Makes hot cocoa dates really hard to meet."  Then she let her power flow, her pupils glowing green-gold as she did, and the warmth of healing energies flowing into him and washing away all the pain and damage.

Straightening slowly he gives a little grin as her powers go to work on him.

"Yeah.  Thanks, Meg.  I think it's fair to say that the anti-gravity device I absorbed at your mom's still has a few bugs in it.  Though I think that's probably more an DAU Error than anything else."

Standing up slowly he rubs a few fingers through his hair, closing his eyes as he gets back to his feet, grinning sheepishly and giving another little chuckle.

"Please tell me you didn't pick the name New Age Defenders?  Cause sure it's great and all but... N A D with an S at the end since it's plural?  Yeah."

And that elicits another little chuckle from him.

  Meg laughed, and said "No!  I was outvoted.  I wanted Legacy's Next Generation."

Rubbing his face slowly, more out of reflex than any lingering pain he stretches slowly.  Smilling easily he starts heading back for the lab after picking up the hilt of energy sword, which he had dropped.

"Again Meg, thanks for coming.  I know it wasn't all that serious but still, good to be healed."

Heading along he gets to the lab where unsurprisingly there was just one single waffer thin 1 inch but 1 inch patch of what looks like flesh.  Giving a breath he looks at his watch and shakes his head.  Picking up a few read outs he had gathered on the information he flips through the pages.  Setting them side by side he looks over the results for pitri dish two and three.  Tilting his head to the side curiously he pulls on a lab coat.

"Interesting.  These strands are close but, there's something..."

He blinks slowly as he looks to the chromosomes.  Tapping his fingers against it and sighs, shaking his head slowly.

"Damn...  well maybe this can still work anyway."

Picking up the third pitri dish he drops the duplicate waffer thin patch of flesh looking critter into the aquarium with the critter from the second pitri dish.

  Meg tilted her head, and asked "What are those, Zeke?"  She peered at them curiously.

"Most likely the next step in communication.  Atleast a preliminary experiment of that.  These are the third and fourth samples I've tested.  The first could reproduce asexually but in the presence of sugar it secreted an acid.  The second was able to communicate between its offspring, again asexual reproduction, but they had a very short life span.  They died shortly afterwards."

Tapping the glass curiously he gives a little sigh.

"It seems these two, based on their DNA and chromosome counts reproduce sexually."

  Meg's eyebrows went up, and she said slowly "So, you're breeding . . . critters?"

"Something like that.  I got this idea from absorbing into Rodger.  Basically it will allow for person to person communication without the need of cellphones."

Tilting his head he seems a little agitated, looking to his watch.

"I think."

  Meg unfocused her eyes, looking at the EM interactions.  She said "If it works, it will make some things INCREDIBLY easier.  And in other ways, it might be harder.  Unless everyone's used to multitasking.  I know I am though . . ."

"I think they're symbiotes.  Which means they'll probably do a lot of the work for us to begin with.  It'll just take some getting used to, hearing someone else's voice in your head or seeing images you havn't seen before.  Atleast for most people.  These last few months with Lady Psyche and Peregrine, you get used to it."

Stepping back from the aquarium he gives a little sigh.  Taking off his labcoat.

"Well a watched pot never boils.  Maybe we should give those two some privacy.  I should probably stick around here though, hold down the fort and make sure everything is alright.  We havn't heard from Mirage for a bit.  And usually that means we're going to be having a meeting here soon."

  Meg blinked, bringing her attention back from EM and gravitational fields, and then gave him a grin as she said "I think ALL of us need to get together.  There's a fellow who may be a lot more trouble than you might think.  And you know who I mean!"

"There's been a lot of people lately that could be more trouble than we thought, I started to make a list but ran out of space.  Going to have to specify, please."

He grins easily enough about that as he moves along.  Looking over the different objects.  Tilting his head to the side he gets those electric currents through his eyes and a grin is given.  This time he knew what he was doing.  And looking over the inventory of the building he realizes it had everything he needed.

"Going to have to talk with you over the radio.  Going into a static free environment and the slightest current might cause a few problems in the initial construction."

Motioning for her to follow he heads for the area that was set up as his personal labspace.  He's leave her outside the room but there is a window and an intercom for her to watch and communicate him.  It takes him a bit but she sees him come out in a full fledged surgeon's outfit designed to protect electric equipment.

"How's the intercom working, can you hear me, Meg?"

  Meg said "Reading you loud and clear.  What ARE you up to, Zeke?"

"Creating a computer for use in hostile areas.  Air tight and if I'm right, should be able to hook up to satellite communications even under five miles of rock.  I can't use my phone in here.  Could you call the Registration Office and see who would need to be spoken to about patents, possible military hardware and equipment for use for parahuman teams please?  And get them to come here at their earliest convenience, please."

As he speaks he pulls on a pair of specially made glasses to magnify his work and he sets to carefully sodering chips and bits of electronics together.

  Meg shook her head at him and dialed the number for the registration office.

Hunters motorcycle pulled into the garage of the new Legacy headquarters. Entering the facility he proceede to find Zeke. "Hotwire we've got a problem, One of the new supermafia just attempted to take me out I scared the bajeesus out of him and sent their leader a message. It'll either scare him into making a mistake or get him to send more assasins after me. And I need more clatrops for the bike."

  Meg spoke quietly on the phone, once the registration office answered, then hung up and said "They said they'll send someone.  What sort of caltops did you need, Hunter?"

Hotwire gives a nod from the clean room that he understood everything.  With Meg offering her services he looks up from his work briefly.

"Thanks for taking that, Meg.  We should still have plenty of them at Machinesmith's Lab.  Between playing god and practicing with my energy blade emitter I havn't really had much time to move our stuff."

That being said he looks back to the work infront of him.

  Meg chuckled, and said "How much do you want moved in one swell foop?  I'd love to give my mental muscles a stretch.  I almost never go full operant."  She grinned, adding "Weight has no limit, it's just a mass and volume question."

Hunter nodsa t HOtwire. "Thanks, I'm in no hurry. Did DF find M? Someone might come after them next." WHen hies phone rings Don takes his phone out of his pocke tchecked the number and recognizing it, he frowned. What the hell could this be about?
This message was last edited by the player at 02:34, Mon 21 June 2010.

"No clue, I havn't heard from him since you two left.  As for what to move over, doesn't matter, as much as you can.  Really not really sure what all needs to be moved."

Though one wiff of his cot may convince her to throw it out.  If he's going to be putzing around this place a lot, might be good for him to atleast use a bed!

  Meg chuckled, and said "I'll see how much I can get brought over in a manageable lot then.  You need me to stay for a bit, or are you good while I go get your stuffs?  And how well can Machinesmith move?"

"Well he's a brain stuck in a jar filled with a life sustaining fluid without any real means of locomotion and the jar is connected to the 1970 equivalent of a super computer.  So not really that moveable on his own power."

  Meg shook her head, and said "How well would he tolerate fluctuating gravity and magnetic fields?  That's what I use to move stuff around, you know."

Hunter pressed the end button before checking the Received call list then hodling out the phone to Hotwire. "Zeke I need a favor, I need you to go to this number find out who just called it and where from, can you do that? AN old friends been kidnapped."

Zeke gives a soft sigh, just thinking over the options.

"You would have to ask him, never came up in our talks."

Adjusting his shades as he slips them on he heads out of the static clear zone, heading out of the room and for Hunter.

"Well I can't do a point to point transmission on a cellphone.  But I could probably look to see what towers picked it up, it would give me a point to start looking."

Reaching out for the phone.

  Meg nodded, and said "I'll go find out.  You still owe me a hot cocoa date."  She shook her finger at Zeke, then took off into the air, heading for Legacy's old digs!

--------  Legacy's OLD Digs

"Geat, just narrow it down for me and then I can start looking , The ransom requesst was odd and may point to  a super villain" Hunter hands the phone to Zeke.

As the two men speak a fax prints out of the printer/copier/fax machine.

Taking the phone in hand he gives a slight slant to his head as he brushes his hand slowly along the edge.  Kicking through a few things he gets it to the address that the phone call originated from.  Not really helpful but it would be the address of his wife's house.  He would need to phone that the kidnappers called to get the location for them.

Hotwire manages to track down the signal to payphone outside Versuezzis which is not too far from her home.

--->> From Legacy's old HQ

  Megaira arrived about the same time as a number of miscellaneous STUFF.

Tag!

Handing the phone back to Hunter he gives a few thoughts then snaps his fingers.

"Give me a minute.  Meg good you're back, will need your help on this, too.  Though not sure if we'll be able to track whoever made the call.  But if they happen to have a camera on the spot..."

With that he absorbs into the building, searching the information super highway around the payphone in question, looking for any cameras that might be in the area that could have picked up anything.  As well as cameras around the outside of the home where the abduction apparently took place.

  Meg arched both eyebrows.  She looked at Hunter, and said "I must have missed something interesting here . . . and Machinesmith's on the move."  She settled to earth, the fields around her settling, although she was still moving stuff without batting an eye!!

Zeke makes it to Versuezzis no proble and finds a camera outside the restaraunt. It takes some sifting but Zeke eventually finds that the person who made the call is a big burly bald guy that he doesn't recognize.

"Have him send anything he finds to my phone I'm going to start looking." Hunter tells Meg before taking off at a jog towards his bike on the way he sends a message to the rest of the legacy.

  Meg nodded, and snagged a piece of paper to write that down.  She wasn't sure how long Zeke would be busy, but she stuck the note where Zeke would see it.  Then she began adjusting the stuff to at least be in manageable piles in rooms.

  While Meg was working on the stacking, she didn't notice, until the smoke clouded her vision, that she was no longer alone.  One hand slid over her eyes, even as something sharp jabbed into her side.  She went limp, and he heaved her onto his shoulder, then they both vanished in a cloud of smoke.  Leaving Meg's cell-phone lying on the floor, open, with a photo of her over Oni's shoulder.

>>>>>>>>From The Dragon And The Tiger>>>>>>>>>

Dragon Fist flew along, allowing Mirage to keep up with him, until they arrived at the building.

As they walked in, he gestured all around.

"Welcome...I thought that at least Zeke might be here but..."

Something wasn't right...it was quiet....TOO QUIET....and then...

...a cell phone...on the floor?

He then went towards the cell phone, and picked it up.

>>>> From Dragon and Tiger

"So this is the place, hmm?  Quite a bit of a mess.  You boys are going to need a maid." Mirage said as she walked around the room.  The stacks were all in disarray as though someone were trying to arrange them but was interrupted.

Dragon Fist picked up the cell phone...and the picture left on it shook him to his core.

His enemy...The Dark Champion...had just made things VERY personal. It was one thing to go after his brother...which thankfully that failed. But now he was going after cohorts. This was a NEW game. And now he had Meg...for what purpose...who could say?

He walked back over to Mirage, and held up the picture of Oni hoisting Meg over his shoulder.

"Mirage....this is him...the Dark Champion...and he's got Meg....damnit..."

It took Zeke a while, there was a lot of work to get that made so he could see it and remember it when he woke up.  Coming to the base he brushes a few fingers through his hair as he concentrates.  Sending a text message with the picture to Hunter.

Best I could find, think this is the guy.  Going to check government records to see if there's a sheet on him.

Giving a nod towards Mirage and Dragon Fist he starts to head back for the static clean room.

Dragon Fist nodded back at Zeke. What he REALLY wanted to do was obliterate the image that stood before him...but he also knew that would be counterproductive.

"He's got Meg..." he said with a shakiness in his voice. "We've got to find her..."

Then he received the message from Hunter, and replied back.

"I'm going to find him...and her...."

Aside from the picture, the only other thing was a discarded, single-use syringe of some sort.  No other clues, nothing to indicate where he took her.  Just the glaring image on her cellular phone.

Dragon Fist picked up the syringe....and promptly squeezed it....

He was indignant. But it was probably better for him to have some help on this one. Hunter would be valuable in tracking Meg down.

"Mirage...I'm going to help Hunter with the kidnapping case he's working on..."

And with that he took to the air, taking Meg's cell phone so he could show the picture, going to the address that Hunter had provided...

>>>>>>>To Van Diemien House>>>>>>>>
This message was last edited by a game moderator at 01:28, Fri 25 June 2010.

Mirage watched Dragon Fist fly off to help Hunter.

"Well, why not.  It wasn't like my plans for the evening hadn't been ruined." she said wryly and chased after the flying martial artist.

>>>>> To Van Diemiens House

Zeke had barely left the building for the past few days, his apartment pretty much being allowed to be completely taken over by his guest.  He had a garage, equipment and a room available to him here, that's all he really needed.  Plus he had two projects he had been working on.  He had to smile and take pride in his work.  The computer was finished, he just needed to show it to the representative of the government and see if they would be willing to purchase them.  The first one being done he was sure he could produce more rather easily.  Show others how it was made.  Or he could just sell the plans to the government as well, it'd probably be easier to just do that.

The other project was at what he considered to be the final testing phase, or atleast the start of it, and that was what he was watching now.

The aquarium infront of him was teaming with life, several other aquariums lined the room with different dates listed as to when the lifeforms in them were created.  They showed to have asexual reproduction as well as the possibility of extended life outside of a host as well as communication among each other.  There was no harmful after effects either.  Thankfully Meg had been rescued, he still hadn't got the whole story, in some ways he wasn't sure he wanted to hear it but he was glad to have her back.  For many reasons.  Looking up for a moment he gives a soft sigh, giving a phone call to Meg.

As Zeke sits in front of the aquarium he hears a voice behind him "Very impressive but you have to be careful wit this kind of project."

"Yeah on the phone now to see if Meg will come and make sure it isn't going to eat someone's brain out.  I think I have a symbiote here but not telling if that''s the case or not."

Brushing a few fingertips across the glass of the aquarium his brow furrows a little bit.

"Wait a second.  I know that voice.  Machinesmith?"

He turns to face the voice, his right eyebrow quirking up a bit.

"Good to see you up and about old man but..  what happened?"

The man smiled "Thats me. Ye're Ladyfriend  decided ta pull me out of tha tank, Ya shoul've seen the look on Ethan's face, thats quite a gift she's got there."

---->> From Derring Condos

  Meg landed on the roof, and headed inside.  The bruises were still slowly fading, as well as the ligature marks on her wrists and throat.

"That she does.  And it is good to see you up and moving around."

Zeke picks up the cylinder that had been laying nearby and looks it over then sets it back down.  As he does so a holographic screen and keyboard appears infront of him.

"Let me know your thoughts on this, Machinesmith.  Self contained computer with an amped up receiver so that it can even pick up at the center of the earth.  Or well.. it could if the magma wouldn't melt it.  That's how it has programs installed, downloading from the internet.  Might even be able to make it smaller but...  well gotta start a little big before you can figure out how to make it work smaller."

The cylinder is about the size of your typical thermos.  Easy enough storage already with a hard drive in the terrabyte level.

  Meg said "Sounds pretty damn impressive, Zeke.  I've been missing you, you know."

Well he wasn't freaking out but there was a lot of concern to his voice.

"Meg...  are you alright?  Shouldn't you be healing?  Um...  are you sure you will be able to handle this if it's problematic?"

There was a rather heavy frown on his lips as he looks her over.

  Meg smiled, and said "It will go away.  Half the problem is, being possessed by a Demon is not fun.  I can attest to it firsthand.  They drain your energy in a major way when you exorcise them.  Mom says the one that had me really, REALLY didn't want to move back out."  She reached out and snagged his hand, her fingers still as warm and silky-skinned as ever.

  He'd been looking at the computer, when Meg came in, and blinked, then looked at Zeke with both eyebrows up.  "Looks like one nice little system.  You can make a pretty penny on it if you sell it to the government."

Slipping one hand into hers and the other wraps around her in a hug, pulling her close.  Thankfully her mom was able to help and if it was a demon possession it was probably best that he wasn't there.

"Alright, it's good to see that you're safe."
...
He grins and looks over towards Machinesmith.

"Here's hoping.  I had Meg call them a few days ago, still waiting on a rep to show up."

Pulling back reluctantly from the hug he gives a breath then heads over for the oldest listed aquarium.

"These little guys will probably not last the longest outside a host so probably good to get all but one in.  Gotta see how long they can last without a host, after all.  Unfortuantly."

Picking up a pair of forceps he picks out one and looks to Meg.

"Think I said it before, but calling it the Alpha Ceti network.  And these are Alpha Ceti Mindworms.  This may feel a little...  alright it's probably going to feel very weird.  Just hold your breath, hopefully it doesn't take that long for it to do what it needs to do."

Moving to place the critter below her nose, which it will then promptly crawl up and into her brain.

  Meg gave the critter a very 'hairy eyeball' look, and took a deep breath and held it. And shuddered as it crawled up and in.  Then shuddered again, telling him dryly "That, Zeke, feels positively revolting when it's crawling around in my head."  She rubbed at the center of her forehead, giving one last shudder, and waited a moment, then flipped her hands palm-up.  He got the faintest prickle, and then she said "Hope you don't want it back, little thing's moved in."

"Not sure that they have cognitive intelligence, and yeah, figured it wouldn't feel too great.  Nothing you had to heal from though?  Nothing problematic as far as you can tell?  I figure if it was dangerous you would feel it immediatley all in all."

He does manage to supress a grin and chuckle at her reaction, he was sure his wouldn't be much better, which he would have to be the next one after all.  But he wanted to be sure it wasn't going to start dissolving his head.

  Meg laughed, and said "So far, no, my head is not any more melted than it already was.  Watch the scans."  The image over her palm became a three dimensional image of her head, which then 'exploded' to let him watch as an EM signature (separate from her own) reached a point in the center, between the two hemispheres of the brain, over the pituitary gland, and seem to melt, it's signature vanishing.

Zeke gives a slow breath as he brushes a few fingers through his hair.

"Creepy.  Guess it has to be a little weird though."

Taking a breath he pulls another one out for himself, setting it in place and looks like he's about to throw up as it slowly makes its way up into his brain as well.

Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew!!  Feels like..  an eel slithering through my brain.  Oh thank god it stopped.  Ugh wondering if this shit is actually working or if I had something with the consistency of a raw clam crawling up our noses for nothing.

Yep, that message went through to Meg's Alpha Centari Mindworm and was transmitted to her brain as well.

  One ebony eyebrow shot up, and she replied {{A LITTLE weird?  I can hear you, if that's what you mean.  I think I was a little}}  A flash of feeling squashed in ways that didn't pertain at all to the physical, breathless and without a physical anchor {{More prepared than you were.  This isn't the first thing I've had crawl around in my head the last two days.}}

Zeke gives a little waver at that feeling.  Giving a slow breath he shakes his head.  Brushing a few fingers through his hair he gives a little nod.  Apparently there was already some built in auto functions, had to think towards the person before it could be sent.  There were probably going to be some bugs to work out but hey, what mad scientist invention doesn't?

Looking towards Machinesmith he gives a little grin.

"So with being out of the testube, wanna do what the hip kids are doing?  Or what's your plan now?"

A call is put out to the members of Legacy as well, to stop by the HQ when they had a chance, Zeke had something brewing.

  He regarded the things with obvious trepidation, and said "You want me to snort a worm so it can crawl around in my brains??"

"Pretty much."

Zeke shakes his head a little again, moving to one of the more recent tanks and pulls down a screen to block the sight of the other tanks, just incase.  Standing so Machinesmith can see him, the card and the other tanks he removes one of the critters from its tank and quickly places it in the empty one.  As he holds the flash cards up, each with different shapes, the critters in the other tanks move to mimic the shapes.

"Apparently they are capable of communicating with each other, able to transmit pictures as well as ideas to each other.  Meg and I are able to do that as well, it takes a little getting used to but it does take a purposeful thought to transmit the message to someone else.  After all I'm not getting Meg's thoughts of how sexy I am when I talk tech and explain my scientific breakthroughs."

Carefully placing the critter back into its original tank he gives a little smirk.

"Course in a way I guess I'm more of a parasite than these little guys.  I don't really study I just learn from the research of others and then hyper-expand on it.  Thankfully there wasn't any side effects from Excel giving me his powers.  That could have been...  terrifying.  Though I have a feeling it did allow me to better understand other things that I would be exposed to.  This little situation for example.  An interesting mix of biology, technology and magic was the inspiration for this next step of communication technology.  Heh, guess this would ruin that asshole Steve Jobs, huh?  With all his better than you, black tight wearing holier than all the pissants that flock to buy the newest thing he puts out because only they can buy the newest piece of technology."

Muttering quietly under his breath.

"Not my fault I ate my first iPhone..."

  He gave Zeke a look that said Zeke would owe him one.  Then stepped close, and made a face before he said "I'll aim for you if it makes me puke."

  Meg's head shot up, and she sent him {{ZEEEK!!  You owe me for that one.  Dinner out.}}  Her midnight sapphire eyes sparkled and shone as she gave him a 'glare', cheeks having blushed crimson.

Zeke grins impishly and then becomes as professional as he can be as he picks up one from the older tank and sets it just above Machinesmiths lip.  Keeping his comments to himself for just now.

  He shuddered, as it crawled into place, and said "Eeeuggh.  That's worse than your girlfriend handling my brains was.  And that felt pretty damn strange."

  She came walking in, movements so liquid that she seemed to float.  She spoke with a definite Japanese accent.  "I am looking for a 'MachineSmith'?"  Her dress floated around her like a cloud of pale white linen.

Malcomlm turned at th voice his hand raching inside his trenchcoat. The woman looked familiar, could it be? NO that was impossible she'd been banished from the material plane a long time ago. "That would be me, who's asking?"

  She smiled, and flung four shurikens at him.

MachineSmith pulled a strange looking disc out of his coat and slid it acorss the floor towards Air as he dived Behind a large filing cabinet. Shrugging off the coat Malcolm reveals  himself to be wearing a set of boyd armor and is covered in strange devices. He pulls out what looks like  a gun pulled out of a science fiction pulp and flicked a few switches on it.

  She hissed at him as the force field swirled up and surrounded him, and rose off the floor within the bubble, looking positively pissed.

Malcolm came out from behind the file cabinet  holding the strange pistol facing the ground. "That won't hold her for long, power suppply only lasts about 20 minutes."

  Meg asked "How far into orbit would you like it launched?"  She stretched, then winced as one of the muscles in her back cramped.

Machinesmith stepped forward. "Not even sure if that would stop it. I don't claim to be an expert, but Elementals don't normally just pop up out of thin air. And the fact that I've face dthis particular elemental before strikes me as odd. So tell me Air Dragon, who sent you, what are you doing here?"

  She hissed at him again, and said "You should have stayed in your jar, MachineSmith.  You were effectively dead then, and not a target  . .. "

>>>>>>>>>From Derring Condominiums>>>>>>>>>

Icepick arrived at the location of the Legacy's new HQ.

"Wow...this is a really nice spread...I wonder if the city's gonna do anything for us."

He then waited for Ex and Fluid to arrive before entering.

Zeke gives a little shudder as he looks over the air dragon.  Heading over to inspect the situation to see if he could actually touch the disc still without hampering the forcefield.

"Power supply shouldn't be a problem if I can get close enough to it."

His emerald eyes take her in slowly, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

"You guys certainly keep strange company.  So great, looks like more skeletons are coming out of the closet."

He mutters softly under his breath as he paces a bit.

"Should probably get a hold of all your files from that orginazation you used to be in.  Plenty of information there I'm sure."

"Yeah yeah, Like I haven't heard that before" The Machinesmith looked at Zeke. "Shouldn't be an issue just  be careful and about not shutting it off." Turning back to the Dragon The Inventor reached into the force field grabbed the dragon by the hair and slammed her face into the field before pulling his hand out again. "These are keyed ot my dna so they won't hold me...Now I'm asking nicely, who sent you?"

In reply to Icepick (msg #111):

Ex Landed next to Icepick. "Nice place...." As he stepped up to the Large steel door with a keypad next to it. "So uhhh do we like knock? OR is there a buzzer we can press? I'm pretty sure I could get the door open but they might not appreaciate that."

Icepick shrugged, and then looked at the keypad.

"I imagine we have to talk to someone to let us in....but I don't think it's gonna be as simple as 'speak friend and enter'..."

  The door opened before any of them could hit the keypads.  Meg said over the Comm units "Get in here so I can shut the door."

Icepick turned to Ex.

"Or...we can just do like Meg says and enter...." And he then entered into the HQ.

"Wow...this is REALLY nice..."

Ex follows after  Icepick still holding Fluid's hand. When they enter the chamber where the Air Dragon is being held Ex stops. "Who's that?" He asks as he moves forward.

Icepick looks at the figure that's being held.

"I gotta echo Ex's sentiments....who in the world is that?"

Once they were in, the door shut behind them.  Meg pointed at Machinesmith, and said "Machinesmith."  Pointed to the dragon "Trouble."

Icepick nodded, and then looked at the imprisoned girl.

"Ooooooooooookay...so does every visitor come looking for trouble...or is this a special kind of trouble?"

"She's an elemental. We clashed a few times during the war Her and her three sisters are elemental dragons back in the forties they were under control of a Japnese General when he died they returned to their respective elemental plans...She was about to tell me why she was back lest I give her another bloody nose."

Icepick nodded at Machinesmith's assessment, and then looked down at the icy energy emanating from his own hands.

He then turned to look at the woman, seeing what kind of answers she would provide.

  Air hissed at him, and said "We're back to finish what we startted.  Kill you, and all your team-members who still live!"

Icepick shook his head at the crazy lady who was imprisoned. He wanted to say something smart...but he refrained.

So this chick used to work for the Japanese in World War II? Interesting..

"Hey Meg....how is everything goin'?" he asked his teammate.

  Meg smiled, and said "I've felt better.  Ready to feel something REALLY disgusting?"

Icepick narrowed his eyes when Meg mentioned disgusting.

"Um...does it bite?"

  Meg shook her head, and said "Nope.  Zeke and I, as well as Machinesmith, have already done this.   Feels positively revolting, but it has some very handy results."

"Um...done what?" Icepick asks hesitantly.

  Meg pointed at the tank, and said "Let one of those crawl up your nose and into your brains."

"OK you're right, that is disgusting. I'm reminded of that one movie..I think it was Wrath of Khan...and that thing ate their brains. Um...how is that supposed to benefit cause I kinda need my brains.."

  Meg laughed, and said "It lets us who have them telepathically communicate.  Zeke tested them on me."

Icepick looked at Meg, then at Zeke.

"Did...did it hurt or anything?"

"Of course you are. WHy now? There's barely a handful of us left.." Malcolm ignored the kids focusing instead on who or what was trying to kill him.

  Air hissed, and said "You interfere where you are not wanted, and stand in the way of our masters."

'Yadda yadda. Same old same old you immortals never tire of the same old gimicks do ya?" TUurning back to Zeke and the kids he said. "You guys got holding cells in this place? Better yet don't you have amage on your team? He can just banish her back to her home plane."

Icepick looked back at Air for a moment when she said the word 'masters.' Then he turned back to Meg.

"I think Machinesmith has things under control. OK Meg....lay it on me..."

Turning away from Air he then lowered his mask.

  Meg fished one of the wiggly things out, and held it under his nose.  Then shuddered as it crawled UP his nose.

Unh....not gonna scream...not gonna scream.....gotta show Meg that I'm tough...

Icepick felt very awkward as this THING was wiggling around in his head.

"This...feels....icky..."

Ex watches as the thing crawls up Jeff's nose. "So uhh how are thsoe things gonna work for me and Darren? We don't knwo if it'll be able to get to my nose cavitie, and he's made of water."

  Meg said "I don't know.  You can try depowering, they don't actually do any harm when they place themselves.  I got the first one, so if anyone was going to get hurt, it would have been me."

Icepick held his head for a moment.

"Wow...this feels like the worst brainfreeze....ever...."

He then put the mask back over his mouth.

"All right...now we've got that sorted....let's sort out the psycho chick."

Ex glances at the machinesmith before powering down back to BIll. "Okay lets do this like Budhists."

  Darren had stayed in his human-form, and he nodded to Bill and said "I'll get one too.  Worst case, it'll run back out my ear screaming in horror."

She first touches the device to get a feel for it before focusing on the power supply.  Keeping it running pretty much indefinetly now.  A slight shudder flowing over him.

"As long as it can survive being near you, it should be alright.  According to Meg's scans it sorta becomes your cells, your tissue.  So unless your body temperature is higher than it can handle, you should be fine.  And it lives fine in water so that shouldn't be a problem, either."

  Darren eyed the tank, and said "Gives me the creeps, but what the hell.  Let's see if they become a bug floating in water with me."

Before Darren accepted the bug thing into his brain BIll tokk him by the hand and looked him in the eyes. "You don't have to ya know..."

  Darren said softly "I know I don't.  But, I want to.  More chances to spend time with you.  Besides, I need to have something to do other than play hausfrau."  He leaned forward, and kissed Bill on the mouth, the hot sort of kiss that had passion in it!!

Bill leaned forward returning the kiss and taking Darren in his arms.

The Machinesmit turns form the Air dragon lady "Are you kids eve-" He stops as he notices the two boys kissing. "So uhh raise your hand if this makes you feel awkward." The inventor then raises his hand.

Icepick was trying to size up this crazy prisoner girl.

Then he heard Machinesmith speak.

Looking at the two boys sucking face, his eyes went wide. He also raised his hand..to indicate that yes, this was awkward.

  Meg fished out a critter for both of them, and said "Okay, enough of  the PDA, time to snort your critters."  She sounded amused, and held the critters out to them.

Bill pulled away both slowly and reluctantly before turning to face Meg. He made a face before reaching out taking the critter and sticking up his nose. His eyes went wide and he channeled his inner Keanu Reeves, letting out a"woah"

  Darren eyed the thing with an 'oh, maaan' expression, then leaned forward enough to let the thing do it's thing.  Then shuddered, looking decidedly boneless as the shudder turned to ripples and back. "Ohhhhh, ugh, that's worse than having your nose itch between your eyes on the inside!!"

"Yeah...I got that feeling too..." Icepick replied. "Um...what were we doing here again...besides gettin' bugged?"

"I think we're planning to take on that safehouse of villains, we should prolly hurry though before they realize somthings wrong and pull out."

Icepick nodded.

"All right...I'm ready when you guys are. Meg, you coming with? And have any of you guys heard from Ozzy?"

  Meg nodded, and said "Okay, we're bugged, let's get cracking on things.  I know Ozzy wanted some backup, but he didn't say where.  I can see about that, then catch up.  Gods know I can move pretty fast."

Ex nods. "You go find Ozzy, we'll meet you at the warehouse, We'll let you know via bug things if we need help..." Stepping outside Ex Takes off towards the previously given address.

>>TO Supervillain Hideout..>>

  Fluid had shifted, and wrapped himself around Ex as he got ready to go.  He sent to Ex {{Can you hear me now?}}

  Meg looked at Icepick, and asked him "Need a lift?"

Icepick grinned under his mask.

"Ice slides get old after a while....sure....I'll take a lift from Air Meg..."

  Meg smiled, and said "One AirMeg coming up.  Zeke, could you play CCC for us all?"  And then headed for the door with Icepick.

Icepick made himself ready as Meg floated them to...well, wherever it was they were going to.

"All right Meg...take us to...well, wherever.."

  Meg chuckled, and said "Hold on to your hat."  She touched the choker at her throat, and her clothing was replaced by a skintight outfit of gold and green, even as she shot them through the halls and out the door (which opened and closed just enough to let them through!!) like they'd been fired from a cannon!!

--->>  Lecard's Hideout

ONe of the computers in the headquarters beeped and the screen came to life showing a set of blueprints, for some sort of advanced aircraft. The blueprints were advanced beyond anything the two inventors had ever seen.

Zeke was just about to leave getting the 'all call' from Hunter, when he realized he couldn't really leave, he was sorta stuck here holding the dragon in the stasis field for good.  Craning his neck a bit to look at the plans though causes a low whistle to be emitted from his lips.

"Wow...  now that's some hardware.  Heh, guess the tables have turned.  Could you wheel that a little closer so I can take a look, Machinesmith?"

Machinesmith wheeled the moniotr closer so Zeke could see. "That is nice looking that looks better than the stuff I saw in that artifact that changed me..."

Zeke looks over the blueprints and reaches out for the monitor with his one hand.  Brushing his fingers along the screen they blur and seem to meld in with the screen.  Data begins streaming along his eyes.  This was.. far more advanced than...  the implications of everything.  They didn't even have most of the technology invented to make the tools needed to create the craft.  The materials were there, certainly.  But the tools.  Breaking the connection he shakes his head, giving a check to be sure he still had control over the power of the prison before looking back up to Machinesmith.

"Thanks I.. I think I can..  build it but..  shit..  where'd that information come from?"

They were all lucky Zeke had not gone to see this little visit by Hunter's future daughter.  Though there was probably a reason for that, too.  Zeke is likely the one that wrote the rules to prevent time travel in the first place.

Zeke hates time travel.

The Machinesmith shrugged. "I dunno I don't fuse to stuff like you do, I just build it. I should be able to handle her if you want to go check it out, Worse comes to worse I damage her till she returns to the plane of air to heal..."

Zeke grins and gives a little nod.  He still just needed to get his head clear.  Stepping back, making sure he doesn't interfere with the power supply, though fully charging he stands.  Slipping his shades on he gives a slow breath.

"Will be back soon then.  Should be some holding cells down a level, just follow the signs.  I think.  Havn't had that much time to physically explore this building.  Sorta gets confusing at times in new surroundings like this."

And with that, he was on his way to the Van Diemien house.

>>>>>>> Room shift >>>>

Hotwire returns with little fanfare, muttering under his breath as he removes his sunglasses and rubs the bridge of his nose slowly.

"I fucking hate time travel."

Muttering as he gets himself a cup of coffee as he looks over the plans for the jets with a bit more intrigue and a lot more caution and skepticism.

>>>>> From Mirage's Place

Mirage rematerialized, surrounded by her trademark crimson smoke, and promptly collapsed to her knees.

She pulled herself up and took several deep breaths.  She still hadn't completely healed from earlier in the day and it was still taking its toll on her.  She dropped her illusionary costume and checked her bandages.  She hadn't aggravated any wounds luckily.

Her costume back in place, Mirage walked to the Legacy's computer lab and brought up the image of the man she had seen.  She was going to try and run the image through law enforcement databases to see if she could Identify the man.

  She got a hit on COTUS.  A convicted rapist, and the picture it matched was chillingly familiar.

Mirage fougth the shiver running up her spine.  A convicted rapist.  Just great.  She brought up as much information as she could on the man; places he frequents, a current address if there is one, his MO and whatever she could find out about his prior convictions.

  She didn't need to dig.  She'd met the man.  She knew him.  All too well . . .

Mirage read through the information that the computer system had on the man, but her eyes kept being drawn back to his face.  There was something about that face.  She just couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She printed out his information, intending to track the man down, and then she saw it.  There was a date in the arrest record, a date that she would never forget.

Her eyes widened and Mirage looked back at the image of the man.  The face was impassive on the monitor but she could hear him.  Laughter, black hideous laughter.  It was behind her, seeping into her ears like a viscous liquid.

That face.  She knew that face!

Laughing again.  His head thrown back as he revelled in the power that he held.  Mirage could feel his hands over her, tearing, caressing, ripping, fondling.  Warm hands that were icy to the touch sending chills down to her very soul.  And that laughter again.  There were other voices.  Shrill, high voices, feminine terror personified, shrieking, crying.  And that laughter.

Mirage shook, her body trying to process the memories coursing through her.  Her fists balled up, muscles tensed.  She cried.  Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.  Mirage fell to her knees and cried.

She threw her head back and screamed.

>>>>>>>From Derring Condominiums>>>>>>>>

Lucas descended with Meg into Legacy HQ.

"Well...Friday was working on a case in Texas. She apparently ran afoul of some cultists who had Paul Randall's body...and were trying to use it to summon a dark god or something...anyway, there was a large explosion....and both of them went missing. I've got to find out what happened to her, Meg..."

  Meg led the way to Zeke's lab, and said "Sounds like you might want a little backup.  Want me to come with you?"  Once to the lab, she fished a little. . . flat thing out of an aquarium-tank, and turned to Lucas, holding it toward his face.  "Lean close, and inhale.  It'll feel a little odd."

Lucas nodded to Meg's question. "The Legacy has other things going on...so I would appreciate the backup."

Slowly...reluctantly....he leaned forward...and prepared to inhale...

Mirage spent several minutes on her knees, tears streaming down her face.  Images flashed through her mind like a badly directed and editted montage.  Her sister.  Pain.  Laughing.  The sound of crying.  Laughing.  Gunshots.

Always there was that laughing.  Smug, male, powerful laughter.

She was going to find this man.  Find him, beat him to within an inch of his life and then smile as she pushed him those final few inches into oblivion.  All of her pain and anguish, all of the sadness in her life, all centred around this man and what he had done.

Mirage rose to her feet.  She was no longer weeping, that mood had exhausted itself.  There was only a mask of grim determination on her face.  Her image shifted, responding to her mood, her anger.  Her wide hat and slinky dress disappearing into thin wisps of crimson smoke.  Her skin changed to a darker hue and her clothing grew more jagged and dangerous.

She let out a scream of rage as she threw a chair into the computer system.  The large main monitor shattered and sparked but it did little to quell her mood.

She was going to find this man.  She'd have her hands around his throat and she'd smile as she squeezed his...

Her cell phone chimed, indicating a message.  Mirage was tempted to ignore it.  Tempted but she did not.  It was about Friday.  Mirage sneered at the message, conflicted.  Friday was her friend, a very close friend, much like Lucas.  If the woman had gotten herself into trouble, could Mirage refuse to go to her aid.

She looked back at the banks of monitors.  Each one showed her foes face and vital information.  She destroyed the monitors, sending nearby furniture into them and then her fists when she ran out of things to throw.  The room was trashed by the time she was finished.

She'd find this man.  If he was able to track her, find out where she was, then her sister was in danger.  He might decide to use her as bait.  Maybe she could get him to follow her if she went to go and help Friday.

Satisfied that her foes image was no longer seen, Mirage stalked out of the room.

  The little thing went right into his nose, and it felt like it was crawling around in his head for several LONG moments.  Then seemed to vanish!!  {{Can you hear me now, Lucas?}}

Lucas heard the voice inside his head. Friday had communicated with him like this before, so it was a little unsettling.

But not for long..

I can hear you Meg...I know this must come in handy for you and the New Age Defenders...

{{Absolutely.  We don't have Ozzy or Iris bugged yet, but you can get me, Ex, Fluid, Icepick, Zeke, and now you're bugged too.  Oh, and Machinesmith.}}

Mirage stormed into the room.  Woe be any doors that were in her way.

She was surprised to find Dragon Fist and Meg in the place.  What were they doing?

"I guess I didn't need to text you since you were here, Lucas.  When do we leave?" she said coldly.  She still felt like hitting something, anything.

  Meg asked "While you're here, would you like to get hooked up?  I just gave Lucas his bug.  Zeke designed them, and he owes me dinner for being the guinea pig."

"Hooked up with what?" Mirage asked suspiciously.  She looked over at DF.  "What bug?"

This message was deleted by a game moderator at 20:18, Sat 17 July 2010.

Very impressive. I'll have to compliment Zeke on this the next time I see him. We might also have some company as well...Mirage just sent me a message...

Lucas turned and saw Mirage. Somehow her being here relieved him...a little.

"Zeke's bug....it, uh...it allows for a sort of telepathic contact....um, are you all right, Helena? As for the flight, I'm catching one out in a few hours..."
This message was last edited by a game moderator at 20:18, Sat 17 July 2010.

"I'm fine." Mirage lied.  She didn't even try to disguise her answer as she looked behind the pair at the tank that Zeke had been playing around with.  There were several slimy slug like creatures swimming about in the liquid.  The tank earned a disgusted look from her.

"Put one of those things in me?  I think I'll pass." she said, not bothering to hide her disgust at the idea.  Zeke was breeding telepathic slugs to go into people?  Couldn't he ever do anything normal?  She wasn't going to be staying here if he was doing these sorts of things.

"Your flight is in a few hours, eh?  We can probably find one sooner."

Lucas arced an eyebrow. "That's the soonest that I found...unless you might know of one that might be sooner..."

Something was deeply troubling his femme fatale friend though. Some lingering deep pain...

  Meg shrugged, giving Mirage a 'boys, what can I say' smile.

Lucas smiled at Meg as she gave her silent answer.

Mirage took out her cell phone and hit a speed dial.  She closed her eyes for a moment.  She was smiling when she opened her eyes once more.

"Frank?  It's Helena.  Is the Jet available today?  Excellent.  I need to go to Fort Worth with a few of my business associates.  How soon can you have it ready to leave?" She listened to the man on the other end of the line.  "I'm still finalizing the number of passengers.  I'm sorry that I couldn't give you any more advanced notice but this came up all of a sudden.  Sure.  See you then."

She closed the phone and looked back over at Dragon Fist.  "we can leave in 20 minutes."

  Meg perched on thin air, slowly kicking one foot as she sat there.

Lucas' eyes widened as Mirage made her proclamation.

"Helena...I....I don't know what to say...I don't know how I can ever repay you for your help...but rest assured..I'm going to try."

He then smiled.

"Thank you Helena...this means a lot to me...and I'm sure...to both of us.."

"There is a caveat.  You must not tell anyone else of this." Mirage said, with great seriousness.  She was taking a risk here, mixing her personal life with the Legacy.  "I'll have a car pick you up at the dojo.  Dress in business attire.  Who else is going?"

Lucas checked for messages, and didn't find any.

"Looks like it's us then...I know Hunter has a lot going on....not sure about Zeke. Meg...thank you very much."

"I'll meet you at the dojo...and I'll be dressed to impress..."
This message was last edited by a game moderator at 21:12, Sat 17 July 2010.

  Meg shook her head, and said quietly "It's no problem.  Just remember, I'm always willing to help out if you need me.  With any of my talents . . . "

Mirage gave the tank of slugs one final disgusted look and briefly contemplated tossing the lot of the slimy suckers into a fire someplace.

"I'll pick you up at the dojo shortly." she said, and vanished in a plume of crimson smoke.

>>>>> To Dragon and Tiger.

Lucas nodded at Mirage as she left.

"All right....thanks again Meg...."

And he made his way back to the dojo.

>>>>>>>>>>>To The Dragon and the Tiger>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  Meg nodded, and watched them both go, then snuck in to check on Zeke, without disturbing him, before heading home.

-->>  Back to the Condos!

Zeke had been sleeping for a rather long time, which was normal all in all after expending a lot of energy inventing over the past few days.  Rolling out of bed he gives a long yawn and changes into some sweat pants and a tshirt after getting cleaned up.  Still partially asleep he heads for the kitchen for some much needed coffee.

A beaping started from a nearby monitor and Zeke looks up to it, giving a slow sigh as he clicks it on.  A message about the break in at the school being sent to them to look into, if they could.

"What the fuck are we now?  The super friends?"

Muttering under his breath he shakes his head slowly and goes back to his room, without his needed coffee, and grabs his goggles and mask, completely forgetting he's still wearing just his sweatpants and a tank top.  Absorbing into the power grid of the city after giving off a quick message.

>>>>  Weston High School >>>>

"Damnit Zeke, where did you dissapear to?" It was like he vanished into thin air  Hunter thought as he made his way through the HQ for the tenth time. The cameras ddidn't have anything except him standing in front of the computer adn then nothing he must've absorbed into it but where did he go?

  A dart thwapped into the wall beside Don's shoulder, alerting him that he had company.

Don spins drawing his sword in one clean motion. Spotting the Baron aiming a crossbow at him Don shook his ehad. "Don't you get tired of getting your ass kicked?"

  The next dart missed because Don had moved, and Baron replied "Don't you get tired of being a classless, mannerless thug?"

"Not rally, besides haven't you heard I'm respectable now a family man, but that don't mean I can't take any pompous asassin comes after me." Gripping the sword in both hands Hunter placed it at his side ready to strike once Baron made the first move.

  He drew his own sword, and moved, slightly, making it so that Hunter had to come at him through a doorway and limiting Hunter's range of movement.

"Can't beat me in a straight fight? At least you relize it now." Hunter slowly moves forward before dashing at Baron with a quick thrust.

  He smiled, and dodged sideways, and slashed with his sword, and then fired another dart at Hunter with a handcrossbow, as he said "As long as I take you down, it doesn't much matter, now does it?"

Hunter ducks both the dart and the sword strike coming at the baron with an upwards slash. "Don't count your kills before they're carried out."

  Baron parried, but got no attack of his own made, rather, he kicked a chair at Hunter.

Hunter leapt over the chair at Baron his sowrd raised over his head for a cleaving strike.

  Baron dodged sideways, and slashed with a dagger, the blade putting a thin, shallow slash along Hunter's ribs.

Hunter stood slashing sideways at Baron. "YOu'll have to do better than that."

  Baron dodged, tripping over another chair, then threw a dart that sank into Hunter's thigh.

Hunter keeps moving standing over Baron on the groun dan putting his blade to his throat. "Had enough?"

  Baron glared hard at him, and told him "Piss off."

"now thats just rude, aren't you supposed to be one of those honorable assasins? Code of honor and all that? Doesn't aht invovle being a graceful loser?"

  Baron smiled, and said "Who said I lost?"

"Well unless you...damn" It hit him the slash the dart in his thigh. He must've drugged his weapons. "Motherf-" Hunter is unable to finish the curse befoer he falls to the ground.

  As the darkness took Hunter, Baron said "Surprise."

  The comm set began to ring in the new Legacy Headquarters.  Begging to be answered.

  When Dragon Fist arrived, a strange woman was already there, pacing in a 'public area' hallway.

>>>>>>>>>>From The Rooftops>>>>>>>>>

Dragon Fist flew in and landed at the facility. Seeing the strange woman, he became on edge. Using his "chi sense", he observed her.

"Who are you?"

  She was one of the 'good guys'.  She turned, and offered him her hand as she said "I am StormWalker."

Dragon Fist returned the handshake.

"I'm Dragon Fist. Good to meet you Stormwalker, though this is the first time I've seen you."

  She smiled as she said "I met and worked with Mirage yesterday.  I was the distraction while she rescued the Deputy Mayor.  I would like to become a member of the Legacy."

Dragon Fist chuckled for a moment.

"So...you've met Mirage already? Did she use her unique teleportation talents on you? I'm only kidding...Mirage is good. So....you want to become a member of the Legacy? We will have to put this by the other members, but you certainly have MY vote, Stormwalker."

  She smiled, and said "Thank you.  I hope to be accepted.  I think my talents may prove of some use to you."

"Well...it looks like we might have to give you some on the job training Stormwalker. There appears to be a situation over at the National Guard base that needs our attention."

  She nodded, and said "Anything I can do to help.  I serve and protect in my day job too."

Dragon Fist nodded.

"The HQ seems deserted. No one else has been here...or has there been any communications?"

  She pointed to an area through the window.  "I'm not technically authorized beyond the public areas, but the indications are that there has been a struggle of some sort, and there may be foul play involved.  I can't be sure I see blood from here."

"Something's happened here, then..." Dragon Fist replied grimly. He then went to the communicator to see if any messages might have come in.

  There was a message about the national guard base, and a message about the bomb threat at Awesome Mart too.

Theres a few priority alerts some from days ago the most recent regarding the national guard base. It appears these computers have been neglected for some days.

"Damn...Hotwire is usually here...he's usually better about that...where is he?"

  She said "I haven't seen anyone since I got here.  I have no idea about your team mate's whereabouts or anything else."

"Something isn't right..."

Dragon Fist then focused his senses, using his newfound "chi sense" to see if he could pick up any adverse chi that might have resided here.

He senses traces of Hunter's chi and that of his assailant though he can't place him he also senses faint traces of hotwire in the walls but they're both long ogne.

Dragon Fist looked down.

"Hunter was here....someone was here with him....so was Hotwire...but something may have happened...to both of them..."

He then turned to Stormwalker.

"What abilities do you possess, Stormwalker?"

  She said "I can fly, I am bulletproof, I control the weather, and electricity is mine to order or create, and I am stronger than a normal human by a fair margin."

Dragon Fist nodded.

"The way things are going, you might get the chance to use those abilities in action soon. It appears that enemies are coming from all sides."

  She nodded, and said "I am more than happy to make my abilities available to the Legacy.  After all, I wish to become a member."

"Let's go then to the National Guard base....Ethan received my message so we will meet him there.."

He once again spread out his draconic wings and then took to the air.

  StormWalker simply lifted into the air, following him effortlessly.

Dragon Fist flew along, leading Stormwalker to the base.

>>>>>>>>>>To The National Guard Base>>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>> The Docks >>>>>

"The more things change."

It's a half hearted attempt at humor as he looks over the damage done to the base.  He was going to need to work on making the place more secure.  This damage wasn't done by his assailant from what he could figure.  Most of it anyway.  Shaking his head he starts moving about cleaning up what he can of tables, chairs and the like.  The technical stuff could wait till later.  Moving a chair he feels his arms and legs start to shake and he collapses onto the ground, arms wrapping around his stomach as he curls into a fetal position.  Tears beginning to flow freely down his cheeks.  Broken quiet words coming through his sobs.

"I'm sorry..  I'm.... so..  so...  sorry."

Zeke heard the secuiryt code entered and a door slide open. IN stepped Hunter, he hadn't seen him..yet.

Hearing the code being punched and a small epiphany on his part brings him out of his sorrow.  By the time Hunter would find Zeke, it would sort of be like the technopath had never left.  Most of the area still had the signs of Hunter's fight but he had got a few computers and monitors functional again.  Multi-tasking to a whole new level he was catching up on recent events and finding out what he could about the death of Machinesmith.  He was spending a lot of time looking over the newest trend of 'Para-Parties' however.  The grief and sorrow of Machinesmith was still there, as were stains from multiple tears running down his face, but from the looks on his face there was just grim determination left.  Each coroner's report, each name, each face being commited to memory.  Another list was forming on a monitor at his side.  At the top was Robert Lee Ermey.

Don looked around at the computers suddenly working on their own. "Zeke? You i nthere? Who's Robert Emrey?"

"Robert Ermey.  It isn't a typo."

The voice comes out rather plain as he unabsorbs from the computer system, hands still positioned to be touching three keyboards to be able to do the work he needed to do.

"He is a retired Marine Corp Drill Instructor.  His official military records have him listed as Ronald Lee Ermey.  You would probably recognize him as the Drill Instructor on Full Metal Jacket.  I am going to approach him and offer him a position as a Drill Instructor for a series of Boot Camps I am going to develop for a college I will be organizing.  To help train those wishing to be heroes.  It is a secondary response to this series of 'Para-Parties' teenagers seem so hell bent on throwing now."

He pauses somewhere in there to adjust his glasses slightly.  Apparently the few weeks he spent in space hasn't changed him one bit.

"Oh, any idea where Machinesmith's murderer was incarcerated?  I am guessing that the 'old friend' he refered to was Brain but with a time traveler, who knows.  Maybe trying to assassinate us was a last ditch effort.  Could have tried other key moments in the developement of para-humans as they are now to try to stop the events of the future without such drastic actions needing to be taken."

"Ah, great movie." Don replied when the Machinsmeith is mentioned DOn looks down. "Far as I know he hasn't been caught yet.not sure why tis so hard to find a giant robot though. Its good to see you Zeke, where have you been?"

"Orbiting the moon."

It's said in that same quiet tone he had been using with the other explanation.

"Someone attacked me here, too.  Didn't really get a look at them, think it might have been the aforementioned time traveling assassin.  I hid in the wiring of the building and sorta had my attention pulled to a shuttle launching that lunar probe.  I'm the reason it splashed down near Weston instead of Los Angeles like it was supposed to.  And you'd be surprised how well mechanical suits can hide if they give it some thought.  Stealth technology.  Teleportation.  Celluar excretion.  Any number of explanations can be used for a giant robot hiding itself.  Always prefered the Tranzor Z method though."

'In....orbit." Hunter said after a long pause. "Alright so your making a boot camp for heroes good idea how's this going to curb the paraparties thing though? Kids are going to still want superpowers whether they'll be put through boot camp or not and while a near daeath experience is a fairly common way to get powers it usually produces mor evillains than heroes quite a few of our foes got their powers that way if I recall correctly."

"I have a speech that I'm going to run by President Obama tomorrow.  Working on getting the appointment made now, so I don't just show up again.  I figure if there are power nullifiers and the situation with...  Paragon in which powers were heightened and added, there is bound to be a gradual way to 'activate' latent powers.  If these kids are wanting powers so badly they'll die, maybe a little training will help to cool them off.  Not going to say I'll get rid of all the para-parties but will hopefully give some of them another option.  Kids think that the only way parahumans get their powers is by near death experience.  I'm not going to get into specifics, but I'm going to let the public know the media is wrong.  Most of Legacy and the New Age Defenders were just born that way or it was from external means.  And really, using what I said against myself in a way, parahumans have only been around publicly for a few months, hardly enough time to really do any scientific study.  Maybe I should include in there that people wanting to be heroes, neardeath seems to cause some form of temporary to persistent psychological break that pushes people to become criminals.  I know that's the road I was heading down when you guys found me."

DOn nods listening intently. "What are you going to do about those with no latent power to activate? YOu can still be hero with no powers but going thorugh all that to find out you got nothing may be difficult for some."

"Vouch for them with the military, police, SCU.  It will be an eight week program so it will give me time to coordinate with the DPA as well.  Plus they will have to be in the school for a few months before I even come up with anything to activate powers safely.  It will give me time to get everything set up.  Don't get me wrong, I understand your concern.  This may only be something I just came up with, but plan on getting it all squared away.  For those that take the whole situation well.  There's always power armor and other gadgets.  Though I won't put that option out there till I get a few promising people that seem they can handle that situation."

"Its a good plan just make sure you filter out all the scrubs and crazies and you'll do fine."

"Always the most difficult part for a situation like this."

Giving a breath he pushes back and runs a few fingers through his hair.

"Alright, guess I've put it off long enough.  Time to start looking for any information as to the identity and former residence of Machinesmith's murderer."

Hunter nods. "I understand I'll catch up to you later then, Good luck, Oh and Zeke? Don't be a stranger maybe you could come over for Dinner sometime I"m sure Diantha would love having a talk with you."

That gets him to blink, the green glow to his eyes showing through his eyelids as they stay closed a bit longer than normal.

"Diantha?  The baby we all just met a few weeks ago?  Talking already?"

A breath is taken and he gives the bridge of his nose a slow rub.

"Right.  I'm guessing Cable-Diantha gave us the blueprints for the jet, still need to look over that just to make sure it isn't some bomb this time traveler sent.  And as for the time traveller, did she give us a name for him?  I'm afraid I was a bit too busy with that rant to find out if our attacker was named.  It might give us an insight into his life / identity he picks up now if we know where his family is.  He might even go to his family to see them again if they died during the war we supposedly started."

Don shook his head when Zeke asked about Diantha speak9ng."She's a telepath she talks in your head she's growing really fast mentally but she's already bothered by how slow she's grwoing physically." Don nods at the metnion of the Jet and thier traveller problem "She said his name is Dr. Richard Taylor"

"Did she give us a description of the guy?"

Looking to the computer he pulls up the plans for the jet, looking over them just incase.  Maybe it was from her but he couldn't be too careful with a time traveler as well.

Putting just a little of himself into the keyboard he starts running a search for Richard Taylor.  He'd need a description of him so many years in the future, though, to have an age range to look for.

"He's a midly overweight short individual with graying black hair and glasses." Don replied looking over Zekes shoulder atht hemonitor.

"So, the Diantha that came back was probably mid-twenties possibly even thirties.  Greying black hair, we're likely looking for someone currently in their twenties or thirties now."

Sifting through the list he eliminates anyone born with that name in the last five years just to be safe.

There are plenty of richard Taylors but few with the qualifications he's looking for and only one in Weston. Dr Ricahrd Taylor is a physics proffesor at Weston State he's married apparently witha baby on the way. H elives in a house in the suburbs apparently.

DOn turns to the door. "I should probably get back on the streets Zeke, just promise me you won't try to confront htis guy on your own when you find him."

"No problem, besides in some ways there isn't a reason to confront the Dr. Taylor of this day and age.  Assuming that the Dr. Taylor at Weston University is even the guy we're looking for.  Still, think I might look into him in my own special way.  Following the breadcrumbs he leaves online.  Nothing I can't do from here or the safety of the information superhighway."

He pulls that Taylor's file from the list to help it stand out but he keeps looking to see if there were any outside of the city of Weston.  All in all it seemed like there was some connection with Weston and the Parahuman explosion, but that didn't mean in the future others would be effected.  Still with Legacy being here, it would make sense that Weston would be in one of the first strikes.  Tapping his fingers a few times a smirk slowly forms on his lips.  He could multi-task sure but now.  Typing in a few commands he starts a search, digging up information, setting up a program that would search the network of people that this likely suspect would know while filtering through the others.  Cracking his knuckles slowly he looks to the jet.  If it was a trap, likely while he was building it he would discover if someone could remote pilot it or sabotage it in some other way, and he could fix that situation as he came across it.  First though, he was going to make something a little more effective than a computer search.  And something he could access at any point.

"Did Machinesmith leave any recordings?  Any goodbyes or anything?  Other than his will?"

His voice chokes just a little towards the end of the questions.

"He left a few messages in his will as well as a biography, I've already seen both. He also left you and the speedster kid from the New Age Defenders his designs and some money."

"Thanks Don, I'll let you get going."

Zeke gives a soft sigh and stands, looking around for the biography that Machinesmith left as well as any recordings of the will.  Finding them he'll sit down at a workbench with high magnifying glasses and microtools.  This was going to be a little work but could prove to be useful if he could get it to work.

Zeke finds both the Biography and the will but I'm not retyping them look in the NADs headquarters thread for them.

Don nods moving towards the exit. "Take care of yourself, Zeek

The will and biography had hit Zeke pretty hard, it was like dealing with the loss all over again, just when he was ready to move on.

{{Sorry about the delay, Iris.  I hope Meg is alright.  Things got pretty big around here, I just watched the biography and will of Machinesmith.  I'm back though.  Got some work to do though.  A lot of work.}}

Even through the mindworm network he gives a soft breath, a lot was weighing on him, gone was the jokes for now.  Starting up his cellphone he looks through the numbers at the HQ and calls their contact to the Department of Defense, figuring that'd be the best course of action.  When the phone is picked up.

"Hey, this is Ezekiel, or Hotwire.  Listen, I need to speak with the President and anyone else you feel should be there at their earliest convenience.  I figure someone from the DOD and new Paranormal branch of the military should be there, too.  Also going to need to arrange one of those speeches infront of the media things.  Press conference, right.  Just get back to me once you've made the appointment please.  Thanks."

A breath is given as he hangs up the phone, arching an eyebrow at the news of the Legacy Movie and who had just been signed for it.

"A movie?  Really.  Shit Hollywood really is dragging their knuckles if the only thing they can think of doing is a movie about people that have only been around for a while.  Money grubbing no imagination dregs."

Standing up he stretches slowly and heads for the kitchen to get himself a bowl of cereal.

"I wonder who they're going to get to play me."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:24, Fri 07 Jan 2011.

Given the situation he was wanting to adress and the ongoing problem it had become, the President had made some time available for him early Saturday morning.  Which meant Zeke had to get some sleep.  Looking over the information he had managed to glean about their assailant in this time period he gives a slow breath.  A lot of work to do all around.  Running a few fingers through his hair he heads for the room he had claimed as the resident tech provider.

>>>> Washington DC  >>>>

The meeting and press conference had gone well, and now he was back in town.  All in all he was having a pretty good day.  There was a lot of paperwork and other work to get done with everything that was happening.  Cracking his knuckles he sits down at his desk, looking over the file that had been sent with him.  Paging through it he gives a slow sigh.  He knew what he wanted to do, but wanted to talk with some people first.  See if he could get some information outside of 'official' channels.  Probably a good time to take Don up on that offer for dinner.

>>>>>>>>>From The Gysbourne Residence>>>>>>>>>>

Soon Meg, Candy, and Jeff arrived at the HQ, as Jeff still gently held Candy's hand.

  Meg smiled, and headed for the door, bapping the button to let anyone who was there know they had friendly guests.

Jeff looked around, seeing if anyone else was present.

The door opens to the sound of a creepy old man with a slight lisp.

"Come on in, boys and girls.  Got a nice game of spin the medicine bottle waiting for ya."

Thankfully this was quiet enough that it would only be heard by those in the Foyer.  Zeke was in one of his moods.

Speaking of which they would find him surprisingly enough not in a lab but in what serves as their library.  Given he was actually reading his sunglasses had been set aside, allowing his electric green irises to be seen.  Every so often a spark of current would flow along one of the green 'veins' from the iris to the side of his eye.

Jeff gave a wave at Zeek, though he did look a little more "weirded" than normal. But he was the one who helped get the New Age Defenders to a legitimate status as a team.

"Candy Michaels....meet Zeek. Also known as Hotwire. We owe him a lot as he really helped us out."

  Candy blinked, and said "Wow.  Umm.  Hi.  Umm.  Meg says you have the mindworms?"

"Yeah, I do but I assure you that I have ointment as well."

An easy grin is given as he sets an official looking folder into a filing cabinet and hops off the small step ladder he had been standing on, returning the wave to Icepick and slipping his shades back on.

"Good to meet you, Candy.  Sorry the place is in a bit of a mess, been working on a few things past few days.  Come on back into the lab.  Just in time, I think there's a batch close to passing on unless they get hosts soon."

Looking to Icepick as they head for the lab an eyebrow quirks a little.

"Been out of the loop for a bit, how are things going in meta-human land?  Oh, how are Excelsior and Fluid doing?  I saw the news..."

"Turbulent as ever, Zeke," Jeff replied. "Yeah...Ex and Fluid have a time-lost teenage daughter....loooooooooooong story. We have two people...Rebound and Seer who've been through the ringer...Dragon Fist, Mirage, and Hunter are going after that guy The Builder...turns out he messed 'em up real bad."

Scratching at his right arm idly at the mention of the Builder he gives a slow nod, though the situation of another Time Traveler is somewhat ignored.  He really really hates Time Travel.  Which is one of the things that is frustrating him now.  Shaking his head slowly to center himself on the now he gives a little smirk, slowly getting back into himself.

"Such is life, eh?  And I think I remember them, they're the ones that told us to stay out of their way at the Builder's base, right?"

  Meg said "Yes.  Apparently, the builder had them captive for a while, and was 'experimenting' on them, carving them up for vivisection to see how they work.  And worse."

"He messed 'em over real bad. But, we've got some folks workin' on hopefully clearing Rebound's record. And DF, Mirage, and Hunter are gonna sort The Builder too."

"Can certainly understand why they wanted us to sit out to handle the situation on their own."

A frown flows over his lips but it brightens slightly as he looks over to Meg, giving a little smile.

"Well, if you're wanting one of the mindworms, follow me.  They're over in the lab."

Slipping his glasses on as he heads past them, stretching slowly, he gives a breath.

"Won't hurt or anything, but it is going to feel a little weird."

Getting to the lab he holds the door open for everyone then heads over to the tanks, slipping on a pair of gloves and grabbing a pair of tongs.  Grabbing one that was moving slower than the others he then looks towards Candy.

"Alright, tilt your head back."

Moving to place the patch of flesh beneath her nose.

  Candy closed her eyes and tilted her head back.  She said "Meg warned me it felt strange, but that it didn't hurt.  I'm a teleporter, so if I know, I can help people get places fast when it's important.  And this way, they can send me images."

"It's ok baby...I'm here with you..," Jeff said as he stood next to his girlfriend, waiting for Hotwire to deliver the worm.

"Certainly a good skill to have in this day and age."

An easy grin is given as the organism is set just below her nose.  Taking a step back afterwards just to give her room, looking towards Meg.

"Really am sorry we havn't been able to have that coffee yet.  With everything that's been going on, been kind of difficult.  Havn't been sleeping much and I'm really becoming far too much of a recluse."

  Meg smiled, and said "Here I was thinking you'd completely forgotten I existed."

Jeff cringed slightly as the "organism" went under Candy's nose, and about to take its trip upward. But he held her hand and smiled as the worm was about to commence its journey.

  Candy shuddered as the little thing went up her nose, and shuddered again as it got into her brain, but after a few moments, the thing settled in.  She asked "Is it all done?"

Jeff looked to Meg and Zeke, then back to Candy.

"Try thinking to us and see if it works."

Dropping his face slightly at that he nods to Candy to reaffirm what Icepick said, looking back to Meg.

"Not at all.  I just have a tendency to lose track of time.  Orbitting around the moon gave me some time to think though.  And all in all, thoughts of you kept me sane in that solitude."

Scratching idly at the back of his hand at that his face drops a little more, fighting back a shudder.

"Just brought back memories of Juvee.  Kept me protected from my pal the sheriff, but might as well have been solitary without any sensory deprevation.  The moon was incredible to see but, well after the hundreth crater it got boring.  Really missed you."

  That drew a soft, pleased smile, and Meg said "Then we really need to get that coffee date, and that dinner date, set.  And put an alarm on them so you don't forget them."

As Meg and Zeke talked, Jeff clasped Candy's hand gently.

"Try it...think to me..."

  Candy nodded, and bit her lip as she thought, JUST at Jeff {{Can you hear me now?}}

Jeff grinned, as he thought back to just Candy.

"Yep...I can hear ya perfectly..."

  {{You know this is SO awesome, right?  And that now I can get any of you anywhere you've been before and can clearly picture?}}

"That is pretty awesome.....and because you've both been to that Temple in the Himalayas and can see it in my mind, you can jaunt us there if it's ever needed. This Cryomancer stuff is a lot to figure out.."

  That got a giggle, and Candy nodded.  {{Oh, absolutely!}}

Jeff grinned, and gave Candy a thumbs up, then thinking to Andy and Ozzy.

"Absolutely.  As for dinner, how would you like to meet up with Hu... Don and his wife?  I was going to give him a call here soon just to set up some things.  Wanted to ask him his advice and..  try something."

Zeke trying something was usually not something simple and could prove entertaining in and of itself.

  That got an arched eyebrow, and Meg said "I think that could be very interesting, and it sounds like a good plan.  I'll stay here then, with you.  Jeff, Candy?  You two can head out, but be very careful!"

"Will do.....thanks guys," he replied to them both, waving.

He then turned to Candy. "All right...where to now?" he asked with a grin.

  Candy grinned, and covered his eyes, then teleported.  They were somewhere warm and tropical . . .

---->> Bahamas!

"Wait...what're we..."

And they were gone, Just like that!

>>>>>>>>>To The Bahamas>>>>>>>>>>>

Starting to clean up the work area as Candi and Icepick head out, he calls up Don's House.  Figuring that would be the best number to call.

>>>>>>>>From The Streets>>>>>>>

Lucas discreetly made his way into the Legacy HQ. The place was quiet...almost eerily so. Which was what he needed right now.

It seemed that this grand sprawling complex offered solitude.

Lucas then made his way into the computer room, and sat down on the chair. It seemed that the demands of being the Champion of Light, not to mention one of Weston's greatest heroes, was starting to weigh on him. It seemed that he didn't have time for himself anymore. So he was taking this unique opportunity to engage in quiet contemplation.

And soon found himself in a restful, blissful sleep.

Lucas slowly began to awaken, feeling a lot more rested than he did before. So much had happened....so much was still happening. He sighed for a moment, rubbing his eyes, then stood up and looked around.

He was surprised that Mirage and Katy weren't screaming at him mentally for being summoned out of the dojo, though he also knew that they could more than take care of themselves.

Lucas knew that he had to mentally and physically prepare for the coming conflict. From what he had heard, this "elder evil" was a force to be reckoned with, and certainly not one to be taken lightly.

The rest however had done him a great deal of good. It had been a long time since he had been able to have some relatively uninterrupted rest periods, as he had been busy with so many issues. It certainly felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

It still was.

Rising from the chair, he exited the HQ, locking up and then heading back to familiar parts.

>>>>>>>>>>>To The Dragon And The Tiger>>>>>>>>>>>

Zeke, unsurprisingly, had one of the biggest headaches he could ever remember having.  There was empty and quiet, and then there was Zeke muttering under his breath in a pair of boxers, a tank top and a dark blue bathrobe that had been left untied.  Moving around the kitchen of the sprawling complex he digs out the coffee can and starts brewing some up.

"Be it ever so humble.."

It had been too long since he had been back in Weston.  Working with the government, of all organizations, to get the colleges and boot camps set up for people.  And how they would be run, funded, everything.  It was snowballing away from him, at for the most part he was alright with that.  It was just nice to be somewhere he knew he belonged.

There was a beep as someone entered the code into the door and in stepped a heavy built man in Jeans and A t-shirt some kind of fancy looking amulet around his neck. He stopped when he saw the partially dressed Hotwire. "Ummm, hi? Uh, Dragon Fist gave me the code...he was supposed to meet me here?"

Glowing green eyes flick up and he gives a little shrug of his shoulders.

"Need coffee.  No clue where Blue Guyver got off to."

He squints and scrunches up his nose just a little as he mutters and rubs the back of his head.

"This is Weston City, right?  Yeah.  Yeah that's right.  Hold on."

Tossing a question over the Mindslug network.

{{Hey Luke, some guy with a shiny necklace is at the HQ looking for you.  WHAT have we told you about picking up strays?  Make sure to at least leave water out for this one, would ya?}}

Giving a tired 'hrumph' he rubs the bridge of his nose slowly, glaring at the coffee maker taking its good ole time to percolate his coffee.

"Says he's on his way."

The man nodded as Hotwire mentioned DF would be there soon. "Okay, your Hotwire right? I didn't think anyone was still using this place, as there isn't much of a Legacy anymore."

"Yep, that's me, the Legacy's warm and fuzzy mascot.  I didn't know about that, figured world was still spinnin', Legacy was still Leggin'.  Hotel the Feds set me up in ran out of coffee.  Needed coffee.  Figured this place would still have coffee."

So he knew the code and he hadn't used the 'I'm a hero, rar surprise now that I'm in here I'm a villian, this is my laugh it is an evil laugh' approach.  So this was going good for the most part.  He figures he might as well be moderately polite, so he grabs two...  three coffee mugs.

"So what's your story?"

"Well Dragon Fist is the last one still going now. You too I guess. I was a security guard at the museum, one of the local private schools was doing a field trip and some thugs thought they'd make good hostages. I put on this suit of armor thinking it'd help if I got shot, turns out it was magic. Lady Psyche, Dragon Fist and Mirage showed up toward the end of it. This was right before she got killed."

>>>>>>>>>>>>From The Dragon And The Tiger>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lucas soon arrived at the Legacy's new digs, walking in after using the access code (and making sure he wasn't seen). He then made his way to where Hotwire and Knight Errant was.

"Gentlemen....good to see you. What do you guys have going on?"

"Have to love it when armor acts up like that."

He nods a little, looking to Lucas when as he walks in.

"Making coffee.  Other than that, not much."

Then something Knight Errant said finally clicks.

"Wait...  who died?"

Lucas looked down when Zeke asked him who died.

"You've been gone a long time, Hotwire. It was...Mirage..." he said, looking away, his voice seeming to quiver, but then reasserting himself.

It felt like his stomach managed to drop out of his body and he wasn't even sure where he was.  It took all of his concentration to not just get lost in any number of electrical systems or equipment as he just breathes.  It takes him a while just to find his voice and be sure he was talking in English.

"What happened?"

  Knight Errant looked down, staying silent as he had not been there when the heroine died.

Lucas crossed his arms, still looking away.

"There was a scientist from the future....a Dr. Taylor....he blamed the Legacy for the deaths of his family and his timeline. So he orchestrated a trap at, of all places, Above And Beyond Investigations. We went there to confront him, and he had a Gene Bomb in place....one that was configured to destroy our specific genetics. We all would have died that day if Meg hadn't come in when she did. But...Mirage died.."

It had taken a while for Lucas to finally stabilize his emotional self, but so many emotions were rushing to the forefront: anger, sadness, and loss.

His shoulders slump as the news is told to him.  He remembered the name, it was something he was working with before he ran off to the Feds.  A day became a week became months.  It was the time that Machinesmith died, too.  Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he puts the container back down and walks off in the direction of the main labs without saying another word.

Machinesmith had been bouncing from place to place since his latest resurrection. He spent some time staying at the kattakara's some time in a few of his old bases. Now that he was back he felt restless like he needed to do something, he just had no idea what that was. He'd gotten word from the systems he'd set up in the Legacy's base that Zeke, his friend and former apprentice, was finally back in town. The door beeped as a long haired blonde man with a lean muscular build dressed in a pair of slacks and a short sleeved blue button up. He nodded at Lucas as he entered. "Hey there Dragon Fist, my alarms told me Zeke's back, is he in the labs?"

"Hello there...Zeke was here just now, I think he may have headed to the labs," Lucas replied, his voice still quivering slightly.

Malcolm nodded as he continued towards the lab walking in. "Your a damn hard guy to get a hold of."