In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 250):

"Sir, I am asking respectfully that you back off right now. This is not the time for insults." He said.

"When you're in charge of Freedom Force, you'll get to say what time it is for what.  In the meantime, you can barely be in charge of yourself" Johnson looked at Shiva, not his arms, but he obviously didn't miss them angrily emoting at him.

This message was deleted by the player at 19:52, Tue 31 May 2022.

"Mom?!" Tank called. "Mom!"

In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 253):

"Sir...the way you are doing things right now, thier wont be a freedom force left to lead. Again...there is no point in petty sniping and juvenile comments. And we have other concerns. May we focus on that, please?" Shiva said, trying to stay calm.

Gwenyth looks at Agents Shiva and Johnson as they get into it again. A day before, she might have injected herself into their weird and stupid little dick-measuring contest. Now, though, she doesn't sure she has the energy.

She looks at Agent Tank as he no doubt gets an earful from his mother about how dangerous Freedom Force is. As she looks to the demolished remnants of what was once a quite fine building, she can't really blame her.

She looks at Agent Illya. Gwenyth knew she was dumber than some, and that's why she let Freedom Force's own PR department run her social media. How did this kid manage to get this far without learning the basics of media control? Image was everything.

Gwenyth walks away from all the yelling to be alone with her thoughts. She passes by the mysteriously non-decaying corpses that walk and shoot. She looks down at the body of Arclight. Gwenyth hadn't wanted to kill her. She still had no idea why they wanted to kill them. Aren't they all mutants? Why aren't they all on the same side?

Riptide, too. Gwenyth passes by the crushed tin can of a car that once housed a living Scrambler, now squeezed flat by Tank.

And... Mistress. So much Gwenyth wanted to talk to her about. Exercise and diet and workplace ethics and shoes and boys. Gwenyth never knew what it was like to have a mother. At times, Mistress gave her glimpses of what it might have been like.

So much death. The fellowship is splintering. Gwenyth couldn't stand it. She sat herself on a rock overlooking the lake, hugged her knees to her chest, and quietly sobbed to herself.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:05, Tue 31 May 2022.

In reply to Shiva (msg # 256):

Ilya wipes the tears from his cheeks. He’s never looked younger, “It’s okay, Shiva. Agent Johnson is right. I made a terrible mistake. And I need to own it. I’ll do better and earn back everyone’s trust.”

In reply to Black Hole (msg # 258):

Shiva keeps his stare at Johnson, but ultimately backs down when Black Hole asks him. Granted he did not want to make this about his issues with commander, but the man seem to care more about his own reputation and poltical goals then his team or public safety.

"We can work this out, Black Hole. I made worse mistakes than you did. It happens. Trust me, this is not the worst thing in the world." He said, before heading off and looking for Gwenyth.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:13, Wed 01 June 2022.

Johnson was about to let things drop for now, but he couldn't overlook the 'it happens' part
"It's that sort of attitude that gets people killed in the field"
He commented to Black Hole after Shiva departed.
"Now - if you're done crying, we need to recover Mistress's body from under the wreckage"

"Frank.  Frankie" Ellen could barely talk. She was weeping and hyperventilating, barely able to get a word out of her mouth "I saw...  I saw him killing her"

Crap. She saw Ilya's live-stream.

"Yeah, that was..." Was what? A mistake? A tragedy? The most disgusting thing she'd ever seen? All of the above? "That was really bad."

Needless to say, despite the distance, Shiva heard Johnson's nasty little comment. For such an accomplished commander with his background, he acted like a teenaged bully. He made sure Six did not stretch back to the man and flick his ears...or worse. Shiva focused in on the other sound noise others without enhanced senses could hear.

He could see and hear Gwyneth crying, and wondered if he should leave her alone. She left after the argument started, and clearly her and Mistress where close. While she may insist on being by herself, she should at least know he was here for her.

He cleared his throat as he approached. "Gwyneth...before you tell me to go away, I just want you to know I am here. If you need me. You don't have to deal with this alone. You where there for me when I needed someone. I can do the same for you." He gets closer to her, unless she tells him otherwise.

Of course, he made sure two of his limbs where out of sight. They where busy constricting Blockbuster, and Shiva felt sure Gwyneth did not want to see the murderer right now. With the sensor data limbs One and Two where sending, he was fairly certain the blue giant was helpless. He also made sure the man was off the ground and his mouth was blocked in case he wanted to shout nasty things.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:58, Wed 01 June 2022.

In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 260):

"Right. Mistress. It's the least I could do."

Illya reconnects to gravity and re-bends it to his will. He will begin slowly and cautiously, as he digs out the rubble. But as his connection strengthens and his self-confidence returns, he begins to move larger and larger pieces of debris, until eventually he's tossing them about like baseballs, which brightens his mood considerably. But once he has uncovered the collapsed room with Mistress, he stops abruptly and becomes gloomy again.

OOC: Illya reactivates his Gravity Manipulation powerset by spending 1 PP during a transition scene.

"yes" his mother tried to stop herself from breaking down again, without success.  Some more wailing followed, and in between the plea for her son
"Come home, Frankie.  Why don't you come back home?" where it's safe, where there's always food, where there aren't any giants around that could punch him through his chest and stomp on his head like that poor woman.

Blockbuster was bleeding to death in Shiva's arms, having been shot, repeatedly, by the Zombies.  The medivac called by Johnson arrives just in time to evacuate both Illya, and the barely recognizable corpse he dug out of the ruins of HQ, to the nearest hospital, and morgue, respectively.

Johnson, concluding a very heated conversation with Valley, was more irritable than usual. He moved closer to Frank, not quite giving him the order to finish his personal call, but clearly expecting him to get it over with.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 266):

Still keeping the gaint at a distance, Shiva sent several other arms and his medical kit to keep the gaint from bleeding out. No doubt the murderer still had information useable by the team, and Shiva was not keen on executions.

"Mom... I'm sorry, but I gotta go." Frank really didn't have time for this. It was only through sheer luck that his mother had waited long enough to call that the crisis was over. She could have just as easily called right after Mistress was killed, while Frank was jumping out of a helicopter. "We'll talk later, okay?"

He looked over at Johnson, who was being remarkably patient regarding the call. He must have a difficult mother, too, Frank decided. He shrugged, as if to say, "I know, but what can you do, right?"

"I'll call. Promise. Okay, love you too." He disconnected the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket as he rolled his eyes. He was going to get a huge earful of this later.

Johnson gave Tank a short, approving nod. Not because he sympathized with Tank's situation (Johnson always looked like he was designed in a lab, rather than raised by a mother), but because of the way he handled the situation

"Tank - I'm going to need to stay here a little bit longer.  Give Gwyneth and Shiva a few minutes to catch their breaths, then get the team to J. Edgar Hoover Building in DC.  We will be working from there until we secure a new place.  And keep Scalphunter under surveillance at all times - personally.  You're the only he can't possibly hurt"

He took a look at Blockbuster, still held by Shiva's arms.  He was bleeding, heavily, and he wasn't sure if it wasn't too late to do anything for him.  Or if he cared to.

OOC: Shiva, give me a 'medicine' check for treating Blockbuster.  None of the powers apply in this situation. 

Ilya perks up from his grim vigil, “How are we supposed to get to DC?” A slyish smile spreads across his face, “Cause I have an idea.”

At the moment, Tank was more concerned with how he was going to retrieve Scalphunter from under the rubble of HQ. Dig him out by hand, he supposed. But that would take quite a bit of time, if he was being careful not to collapse the rubble further.

Still, the question of how they'd get back to D.C. was a good one.

"What's your idea?" he asked.

In reply to Tank (msg # 271):

A great goofy grin erupts on Illya’s face, “Get to the chopper.”

"Maybe we can check the motor pool first. See if anything survived." Driving into the city had to be easier than flying a broken helicopter through force of will. "And if you find something I can use to carry Scalphunter, let me know. A bucket, something."

In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 269):

Shiva's limbs, coating BlockBuster like two constrictors made of solid light, moved the gaint in random patterns. Avoiding or deflecting the worst of the swarm of bullets.

In reply to Tank (msg # 273):

Illya deflates a bit at Tank's good sense, "Oh yeah. That would make more sense." Though a small smile creeps onto his face as he contemplates the possibility that the motor pool was utterly destroyed.

Gwenyth nods at Agent Shiva's words. "Thank you," she says softly. "I would really like to be alone with my thoughts for a while now." And with that, she waves him away.

---

A little while later Gwenyth meanders over, hearing talk of transport. "There's always my limo," she offers. "It's at my criminally underused apartment so it should have been spared the... uh... holy crap, what happened?" She takes a few jogging steps up a nearby bluff to get a better view of the ex-headquarters. She shakes her head. "There's also my personal helicopter, but it's a two-seater."