Mutants & Masterminds: Future Imperfect - Quest

[Joani]

Rebecca was chasing down the streets and alleys ignoring the general chaos around her and scanning minds briefly hoping to find another clue on her search for the siblings. The closer she got to the general vicinity of the MIC the less people she saw on the streets and it got increasingly difficult to find anyone whom she could surreptitiously scan.

Instead the streets were filled with police men and fire fighters in heavy gear. She could see smoke billowing up from several buildings in the distance and as she turned into the next street to catch her breath a anti-riot vehicle unloaded a squad of policemen who instantly charged towards her. There was no warning and from what she picked up these men were angry and frustrated and didn’t seem to care if she was an innocent bystander or a mutant they wanted to lock up.

Rebecca felt her heart beat faster and she fled down the next alley looking back to the men chasing her. From the bulk of the Squad only 2 men decided to take up the chase while the rest regrouped and moved towards the MIC. With some relief Rebecca stepped backwards, keeping the men in sight and thinking about a way to get rid of them completely forgetting the immediate surrounding and the deadly approaching truck from the next street.

She stumbled a bit before she actually saw the truck, huge and almost on top of her. Her eyes widened and she screamed as she reached out to the drivers mind hoping to make him stop the truck before it hit her. The driver jerked the steering wheel around and hit the breaks which at first slowed the vehicle down but inertia and drift made the large vehicle skid sidways and then fall over on the side. The sky was darkening above her and...

Originally Posted By: Jaunt

What had he gotten himself into? He knew he was going to hate himself for what he was about to do, but he dug his feet into the concrete and pushed off...

... down deep into his body his DNA fired off so many synaptic pulses that his very body was a torrential electrical storm! Nerves fired upon muscles which fired upon cells which fired upon organs, it was glorious symphony of mutant DNA at it's finest. Then the Virus moved in to do what it was created to do. Triangular cells each with several small tentacles latched onto and buried their barbed feelers deep into the synaptic firing centers of his nervous system. In one brief moment the current was more than his body could take and cells, muscles and organs began to bruise and burn at an alarming rate. Stressed by the sudden effort that, without the Virus, would have been a cake walk for Jaunt...

...the sidewalk square that he was standing on literally shattered into debris as he launched himself at an insane speed toward the unsuspecting woman. She never saw it coming, but he slowed down just enough to 'appear' in front of her, and leap at her in time to tackle her out of the way. Everything in his body burned and as they rolled aside he knelt up and coughed up a bit of blood. "Y-you okay lady?" He was trying to get to his feet, looking for the siblings, as he staggered about, coughing up and spitting some blood on the sidewalk. "Look, my night is totally sucking, so just say 'yes', aight?"

Click to reveal..

For dramatic purposes the blood coughing is A-OK – Jaunt suffers no further penalty except for feeling miserable/nauseated

Sam watched how the speedster mutant responded to her but time wasn’t on their side. Even for her enhanced perception which she possessed when she merged with the machine his movement was barely perceptible. One second he stood right next to the mutant siblings she was searching for, the next he was gone, just to reappear and rescue a young girl from certain death. The Truck crashed into the asphalt flipping over several times before it came to a halt completely wrecked.

She quickly expanded her field of view by adjusting to different screens, keeping an eye on the twins (from which she now got a 100% ID) and searching for Jaunt.

There!, she found him and was somewhat relieved to see him mostly unharmed. The girl he rescued was still shaking from the adrenaline and near death experience flooding her system but she manage to stay conscious.

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

"Oh my god!" Rebecca caught the sleeves of the man who'd knocked her out of the way. It was instinctive; she was still shaky, but she possessed enough mental acuity to scan her rescuer for injury. Other than the blood which indicated the virus, he looked fine, but she still asked, “Are you okay?”

She was so shaken she didn’t even attempt to scan his mind. She’d been so distracted by the men chasing her that she didn’t even think of her mission for a moment. Instead, her concern was for the young man who’d just saved her life. A shudder ran through her and she grabbed him into a hug before he could answer. She was shaking against him as adrenaline and shock raged through her body.

[Jaunt]

"Just peachy," he grumbled out. The devastation and wreckage caused by his act of heroics spurred him into action, just a bit. "Look, not to cut this short but are you..."

He took his first look at the young woman he'd rescued and in typical Jaunt fashion, made a complete ass of himself. His sentence trailed off and he mumbled. "...totally hot, or what?"

Snapping himself from his stupidity he shook his head and spat some blood out and into the street. "Classy, I know..." He half grinned and shrugged. "Look, we need to go before those guys climb out of there and shoot us to death. You game?"

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

Rebecca flushed at the assessment of her looks from the boy. She’d had contact with men before – in her line of work, usually lewd men who thought a teen runaway was a victim waiting for an abuser. Interaction with youths her age who weren’t jaded street toughs were rare. His question drew a shy smile out of her. “Yeah, let’s go,” she said, resisting the urge to grab his arm.

“Um… where are we going?” she asked, looking around nervously. To her shock, she saw the brother and sister she was looking for just ahead of them. They looked like they were about to rabbit, but they were also watching the scene before them. “Hey, do you know those kids? They’re staring at you.”

She thought about pushing, saying more, but she needed to befriend those kids, not scare them. Focusing on them too much would just drive them away. Instead, she kept big brown eyes on her savior, looking hopefully at him - and hoping he did know the kids and she'd just gotten an easy way to contact them.

[Jaunt]

"We just met." He said calmly in a typical 'I'm way to cool to not sound totally cool regardless of how uncool the situation might be' manner that was Jaunt's usual way with dealing with things. He gently clasped her wrist and took a few steps forward. "Hold on, and don't worry. I got you."

There was a sudden shift around Rebecca, like she'd been sucked into a vacuum and then suddenly spat out all in the expanse of a single step. In one step they'd jaunted from where they stood across the way to only being a few steps from the siblings. Jaunt didn't stop to look at her expression to investigate whether she impressed or not, and the tight knot in his abdomen the rose up as he used his powers reminded him he was not going to last long if it came down to a scrap with the local S.W.A.T. team, or worse...

"Poner el culo en marcha." He said pointing back down the alley way that he'd told them to run down moments ago. "Get. Your. Ass. In. Gear. C'mon, Adrian, let's go. Show's over, awesome, sexy teenage kid can teleport. Big whoop, film at eleven, now that you're up to speed... move!"

He tugged as gently as one could muster on Rebeca's arm, considering the circumstances and spun the other two around and gave them a shove to remind them that people with guns would be along any second.

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

Rebecca was impressed. That kind of blinding movement would awe anyone but the most jaded of people; she wondered what it would be like to live at that kind of speed all the time. She wondered if he aged faster while at speed, or if he could do other things fast, too, like reading.

His tug on her arm wasn't entirely necessary; she was already in motion. Reaching up, she grabbed his wrist long enough to pull hers loose, then took his hand in hers. Trusting him to pull her along, she looked back over their shoulders, trying to see if they were being followed. Once she was sure they were safe, she could contact UNISON and get the precious mutants out of the war zone.

One step at a time, she reminded herself. Get their trust so that this goes well. For now, her biggest concern was not slowing them down.

[Jaunt]

First Lesson: Trying to keep an eye on Jaunt was an exercise in futility. His teleportating mixed with appeared be acrobatics/parkour showed that he really knew how to stay in motion in Sin City.

He held Rebecca's hand tight and led her along for a bit, letting go when they reached the half way point of most alleyways. There he would let go and simply jaunt away to the end of the alley, peering around the corner and doing recon as they ran to meet him. If clear he'd wave them on and so it would continue for several blocks. Once Rebecca go there, he always took her hand again.

In the grand scheme of what some would call 'Jaunt's Life', this move was a particularly bad one. He was just looking for a scrap to vent for the broken X-Box, not that it mattered to him, he was going to steal a new one an hour from now anyway. Police, sibling mutants, his iPod screaming in his ear, and now some spaced out hottie on his arm was really pushing the boundaries of his brooding loner reputation to it's utmost limits. Why did he get involved?

He knew why. Because deep down he wanted to help those two. No one deserved to be treated like that, especially children. And the space cadet? The hero in Jaunt refused to let someone get creamed by a truck, the fact that she turned out to be hot was just a bonus. He'd help them get away, and then he'd bolt once he knew they were safe. She sure did have soft hands though...

Behind a local retailer they climbed into a large trailer they used to store wooden pallets. Weaving their way through the half stacks and hiding as close to the back as they could, they caught their breath. He popped open his cell phone and set it down, the large touch screen could have illuminated half of Vegas, but for now it was just enough to allow everyone to see the others. He slid an earbud into his ear and turned the iPod volume low. He need his music, he needed to focus.

He looked over at the lovely Rebecca and offered her a handsome grin that read: 'yeah, I do this all the time, fun huh?'. "Well, here I am. What were your other two wishes?" He arched his eye brows to accent his smile and looked to Adrian, pointing to his sister. "She okay?"

"Yeah," He said. "It's just a lot happening so fast, you know?"

Jaunt grinned. "Not really. I only know one speed, dude: fast. Everything'll be okay, you two just chill and catch a breath, kay?"

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

Rebecca wasn’t sure what to make of their guide. He seemed to defy gravity with such ease that she guessed him to be a Class IV, minimum. She couldn’t quite bring herself to think that he might be a V, but it was nice to think that there might be one left somewhere in the world.

But beyond that, he was a guy who was helping her. Rebecca was grateful to him for that. Still, one couldn’t be too careful and she teased out a tendril of her power to see what he was thinking. To her relief, his thoughts were focused on getting them to safety so he could run off to rob another game console thing. While that wasn’t exactly noble, Rebecca was relieved that all he wanted was for them to be safe. It was good to know that he wasn’t going to try to rob them or try to attack her or the other girl. His lecherous thoughts were all normal for a young man his age and didn’t slip off into truly perverted.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling shyly at him. “For the thing with the truck. I was so scared that I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No problem, it’s what I do,” the boy assured her with a cocky grin. Her smile widened as she realized, though her scanning, that he was truly pleased to be her rescuer.

“I’m Rebecca. What’s everyone’s name?” she asked the group, though she looked to Jaunt, the other boy spoke first.

“Adrian and this is my sister Rebecca,” the wiry youth replied. The girl watched them with frightened eyes.

“Awkward,” Rebecca said with a little laugh. “Which of us is going to be Becky or Becca?”

“I usually call my sister Becca,” Adrian told her, his arm still around his sister.

Rebecca nodded. “That’s good,” she said. She looked to their rescuer. “What do we call you?”

Click to reveal..

Jaunt’s Will roll: Roll: [13 +3 Modifier = +16]

Rebecca’s Telepathy roll: Roll: [15 +4 Modifier = +19]

[Jaunt]

Oh shit... oh fuck... Jaunt's surface thoughts seemed to run as fast as him. Rebecca caught and managed to decipher what she could from his mind, despite it sounding like there was quite literally a thousand different thoughts happening at once. 727 steps. About 400 beats per minute... need to calm down... relax. Christ is she cute.

"Hmm...?" He looked at her, letting his eyes focus on her in the soft light. His head was going a million different places all at once. She literally heard him stammer off mentally nearly every possible address within a mile that he might be familiar with... why would he do that? "Oh, uh, Jaunt. I'm called Jaunt. Cuz, I uhh... jaunt..."

Smooth moron. Real smooth. Okay, chill, just distracted by the looks, I can recover from that. Despite the embarrassing set back, his thoughts seem to collect for a moment and all the background thinking ceased. It's not like I can say "Hi, I'm a mutant freak who can do really awesome things and my pissed off Class III military bitch of a mom wants to find me and stick a probe in my ass because she jealous I'm two classes above her... shit Mom, blame Dad, it's his fault, they're his genes.

"Okay, guys, look, I'm not really good at this sort of thing." This is how it starts. We talk, get to know each other, introduce ourselves... then some cop puts a bullet in one of us and the rest of us get to live with it. The less I know about these people, the better. I gotta get out of here. Rebecca felt it then... a conflict of emotions. A tug from somewhere in his moral center where his thoughts wrestled with his feelings. "I don't meet a lot of people like me. I'm not trying to be a dick, but look, the less we know about each other the better."

God, is she good looking. Those eyes... her lips... that soft skin. Dude, chill, get it together. It'll never happen, she's going her way, you're going to The Lair, rubbing one out, and forgetting this whole damn night. Hot chicks are trouble.

"I'll stick with you until you get where you gotta go, but that's it." He tried to sound stern but that mental tug was there conflicting with his emotions. "Nothing personal guys, but when our people congregate, we tend to die faster..." He sighed heavily and leaned against the wall of the trailer. What the hell did that voice mean? 'Key to solving the virus'...? What am I in the middle of?

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

"Alright, we don't have to say more," Rebecca said soothingly, adept at following two conversations: what was being said and what wasn't. Part of her was getting a little nervous, though; somehow, someone else was talking to him and cluing him into the kids and their potential. Worse, he was a Class V, or believed himself to be. And inside the confines of his own skull, she wasn't sure he'd lie about that. Lying mentally was a little different than lying verbally; people were generally more honest to themselves. That wasn't always true; Rebecca had met enough people who were able to thoroughly deceive themselves.

Quietly, she quickly mulled over her options. She needed to get the kids away from him. And honestly, he wanted to go and not really get involved. She wasn't opposed to him peeling himself off from them for that reason. But she had to be careful; she couldn't get it seem like she wanted him to leave. That wouldn't be hard; he was easy to like, in a rough-and-tumble kind of way.

"I don't know about you two," Rebecca said, "but I don't have anywhere to go." Her fingers closed around the strap of her backpack, a nervous gesture which assured her that she still had all her worldly possessions. "So... um, do we need to get you home?" The last was asked to the siblings, since Jaunt had already implied that he was going his own way after they were safe.

She already knew they had no where to go, either. But that would soon be resolved; UNISON would no doubt treat them like the precious treasures that they were.

[Ira Sagebrush]

"Finally!" Sam yelled, exasperated that Jaunt had taken so long to replace her only method of communication. She quickly tapped back into Jaunt's mp3 player, hoping that Mouse would have a team down there soon so she could take out the two unknowns from the equation.

I wish I could read lips.

MOUSE, ETA? WHERE TO FUNNEL GOODS? THEYRE ON THE MOVE.

5 MIN, THEY ARE USING THE VAN

Sam pulled up the location of the van and watched it for a moment as it headed west towards the MIC. She sent a message over the GPS of the car, giving it the heading for where she was going to try and have them meet the mutants.

"Hey, bout time you put one back in." Sam said, cutting into his music again. "Think you can sac-up long enough to listen this time?"

[Jaunt]

"I really don't think if they had a 'home' to get home to, they'd be out on the streets getting beat by police at this hour, Becky." He nodded his head a bit, his thoughts clearing as Nightwish's 'Nemo' played softly in his right ear. It was a tad eerie how that particular song came up on his play list; a song of wandering and being lost... "So none of us have someplace to go, lovely."

Quote:

"Hey, bout time you put one back in." Sam said, cutting into his music again. "Think you can sac-up long enough to listen this time?"

"I guess that depends. Are you going to be smart enough to not yell in my ear as I'm in the middle of whoopin' ass?" He leaned against the wall, hands buried deep in his hoodie's pockets. When the other three looked at him with a sudden confusion at his random comment he simply pointed to his ear bud and shrugged. "Anonymous mutant number four. That, or I've completely lost my mind, I'll let you know in a minute."

[Ira Sagebrush]

"Touché." Sam responded, zooming in on the hooded Jaunt as she loaded lip reading software. "I have a van headed your way for the two kids. You and your girlfriend are welcome to come along."

Cringe.

"Head north a block and east a couple blocks and they will meet you there. It is tan newer model Dodge...questions?"

Sam bit her lip and crossed her fingers, hoping for some kind of positive answer, or at least a not a clear rejection.

[Jaunt]

"Sounds like a sweet deal." Jaunt said calmly, even he needed to catch his breath, and his words came through winded breaths. "And Momma said not to take candy from strangers. So maybe someone should start explaining what the hell's going on. We got police beating up children, S.W.A.T. roaming the streets looking for us and God only knows what else."

He slid down the wall and rested his arms on his knees. "The name's Jaunt, and I, personally, don't like getting involved in other people's shit storms, but I'm in this one. So if you think I'm going to hand over these two to a mysterious voice on my iPod, then you need tilt your head back slowly and blow out whatever it is you're puffin'." What exactly caused Jaunt change of heart wasn't readily apparent, and it didn't show up anywhere on the surface of his thoughts. Perhaps chivalry wasn't dead after all. "I'm not trying to be difficult, cuz really, you sound pretty cute, but understand my position here. If anyone wants these three, they are going to have to come through me."

"And she's not my girlfriend." He added in at the last moment. Which kinda sucks, I admit. But she don't wanna get mixed up with a guy like me... I'm a loner... a rebel. "Relationships that take root under stressful situations rarely last anyway..."

[Ira Sagebrush]

"Well, I'll try to answer in order of question. Those two kids you are with could be the answer to the Virus, and the government knows it, and wants em bad. The scrambling search blew up the Mic like the firecracker it was. My name is Orphan and I represent the Black Parade faction of the Mutant Underground and we would like to keep those kids safe from the prying scalpels of more clandestine operations." Sam said, trying to keep her tone moderate and stay patient.

"I understand your concerns and to be honest, it makes me feel better to have those kids under the protection of someone who is a little more paranoid and a little less cooperative. The girl you prevented from being roadkill is not a focus of the search, but she is welcome to come along. I will warn you in advance though, that they will blindfold you all and let you listen to some nice music with Bose headgear to keep you from knowing where you are going." she continued, hoping the upfront honesty would earn a bit of trust. "Another thing...I am hot, but broody teenagers in over-sized clothing aren't my type."

She smirked a bit at herself, then in the moment it would take him to reply, she immediately started the search on his background, quickly pulling up his registration and his abilities.

Talk about security threats. What a horribly fake registration...I can do so much better...Let's hope he stays on our side. He would be outstandingly useful. And he is kinda cute.

[Jaunt]

"I'm not broody, I'm just intensely nihilistic." He shrugged passively. "It goes with the whole being a diseased, genetic freak show minority territory. Lemme talk it over with the committee."

Jaunt looked to Rebecca then to the siblings. "Orphan, the girl tonguing my virtual ear, says she's with the Mutant Underground. I didn't even know we had an underground. So here's the deal: she wants you guys to meet her people, climb into a car with them, let them put bags on your heads and listen to headphones, and take her word for it that you'll get to whatever secret lair they have unharmed..."

With a grin he placed one finger on the ear bud. "I did get that right, didn't I? I'd hate misrepresent your intentions."

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

Rebecca listened to both sides of the conversation, frowning and looking worried. It wasn't hard to do. She was worried. This group wanted to take Adrian and Becca somewhere and do god knows what. Yes, the woman wanted to keep them safe, but they had no proof of that.

"Uhh," Rebecca said, blinking a little. "Isn't getting into a van with strangers, getting blindfolded and taken to a secret location how most missing persons stories start? It doesn't sound safe to me."

Girlfriend? Rebecca blushed a little at the thought. It wasn't something she could even entertain. Her life didn't have room for personal relationships. Ronnie was the only one who got to get away with that, and she'd lost hers. Besides, once he knew who Rebecca really was, he'd never be interested in her. Freak. Fruitcake. No one's going to want to date you.

[Ira Sagebrush]

"Yes, that is right. You are more than welcome to wait for some government spooks to come snatch you, but they wouldn't be so kind. They wouldn't warn you, offer you food and safety. They would just sap you in the back of the head or shoot you with a tranq dart and be done with it." Sam explained.

As long as she could stall them long enough for the van to get there, she didn't really care if they came cooperatively or not. A punk and his brainless arm candy would hardly be a match for Brick and the rest of the squad.

"The choice is yours. It's red pill-blue pill time."

[Jaunt]

"Looks like they made their choice," Jaunt said softly. "No offense but but the people here aren't to keen on your terms. Bags over the heads, cloak and dagger crap... look they've been through enough already tonight."

The young man stood up and looked to the others. "C'mon, I know a few places we can lay low for a bit." Ugh, what am I doing? Just dump them and be done with it. Too many 'what ifs'... the military has mutants, who's to say this lady ain't just setting us up? I can't let em' go until I know more. Adrian and his sister stood up and looked at him like he had some grand plan, which he did... sort of, he just had yet to think of it, but when he did, it'd be grand.

He extended his hand to Rebecca to help her up. The dim radiance managed to catch his features under his just the sort of way to cause the whole moment to seem like it was pulled from some action movie. "You'll be safe with me." He said, and for the first time in a very long time he managed to sound genuinely sincere and heroic without making a complete ass of himself. "We have to keep moving."

He picked up his iPhone and shut it off completely. If the Feds were using mutants, then they were probably using satellites as well. He'd keep Orphan on the line for a bit more, she might have a few useful pieces of insight to share with him.

Click to reveal..

Jaunt is going to take them to one of many safe houses around the city. He is extended a hand to Rebecca, so if she has cooties or something he's about to find out. The ear bud is still his ear, so Sam can talk to them if she wants.

[Ira Sagebrush]

Sam cut the connection to the music player. "Fucking idiot! Safe my ass! Gaaaah!"

She stood up and let loose with a primal scream, pulling at her hair, trying to vent her rage before it got the best of her. "Fine, be that way you immature, short-sighted, naive jackass." Sam huffed, sitting back down. "I'll just track the fox back to its den."

She sent off new orders to the van to hold off and stay out of the group's way, keeping a holding pattern until she could send out new instructions with the groups 'safe' spot. It would be fairly easy to track the mod squad with the city's extensive camera system as they moved.

She huddled down over her terminal "I swear to God, nothing ever goes my way."

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

Rebecca let Jaunt help her up, murmuring a thank you. Her mind was racing as she considered what they were facing - a cyberkenetic. She wanted Adrian and Becca too, so she was a threat that Rebecca needed to deal with. How did you handle a problem like a cyberkenetic or similar manipulator? You avoided machines.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, that was largely impossible. Vegas had cameras everywhere; police could follow a vehicle from one side of town to the other. So to evade this Orphan, they'd need to evade the cameras, as well as anything else that could track them. I hate cyber-k's - such pains in the backside.

Rebecca remained close to Jaunt as they prepared to leave. She felt safe around him; while she was powerful in her realm, her realm wasn't they physical. He appeared to be adept in that area, and that made her feel better. "Jaunt," she asked suddenly, "how far can you... uh, jaunt is it? Like you did with me on the street? I don't want to make you sick, but could you get us all to the hideaway without us having to risk walking there?"

[Jaunt]

He grinned. "Oh, worried about Orphan, huh? Don't. We're not going out there again. We're going..." He looked down at the floor.

"Las Vegas has has nearly three hundred miles of storm drains," He said. "Did you know this city has over fourteen thousand homeless? Ever wonder why The Strip isn't flooded with them? They live beneath us, and there's no cameras down there. We're above one of the main chambers right now, an intersection that'll wind us to "Bessie's Market". She's an old lady that trades in all sorts of junk for information, food, booze, you name it. Shit, she got me a mint condition Sega Genesis about six months ago, still in the box. Alright, gather close."

He reached out and hugged all of them as best he could. Teleporting this much weight was never easy, but he wasn't about to tell the hot chick that. The trailer rocked a bit as he distorted space and with a sudden jerk they all felt pulled downward rapidly only to appear in darkness. The tunnels were not very well lit, if at all in some places, but Jaunt had it covered. "Wallet, small mag-lite, phone, iPod and a box of matches. Don't leave home with out them. The tunnels are useful when I go silver mining, especially under the Bellagio. Stay out from under the Hard Rock though... that's a rough neighborhood, I don't even go there."

With a twist of his mag-lite and Rebecca's (the hot, not so jail bait one) hand clasped firmly in his they were off.

Click to reveal..

Everything in this post is true. What a lot of people don't realize, or care not to accept, is that there is an underground to Las Vegas where some of the homeless have not seen the light of day for years. They live in the extensive network on storm drains and congregate in the larger hubs. A city of homeless.

Think about it, 14,000 people living right under your feet, and you might not even know it.

[Joani]

Sam watched them through the cameras and saw how Jaunt was huddling up with the kids reaching around to touch them all in his embrace, then suddenly they were gone, leaving but a minor distortion like a scar in the place they just inhabitet. She blinked several times in surprise and cursed again. For the moment the kids were gone from her visual means of tracking. On the Radio she could hear how Brick was starting to argue with his co-pilot and from the noise she heard he was about to crush his partners head...

Click to reveal..

Taken from Juno’s thread:

The driver suddenly opened his door and got out walking around the front towards the passenger’s door. She could see how the co-pilot was trying to escape through the drivers door. Before he could reach it the driver – who was nearly 7 feet tall lifted the van up shaking it and then putting it down again rather roughly. The co-pilot was trying to calm the driver down who walked around back to the drivers seat managing to grasp his target and drag him out. The other guy helplessly struggled to escape the Bricks steely grasp and now she could hear their voices over the general noise of the city.

„I swear to god, Brick – it’s what she said. Here – you can talk to her personally, ok? Just put me down, I didn’t call you stupid, I said this chase was stupid – I didn’t mean you... mkay?“

As soon as they emerged from Jaunt’s teleport he immediately braced himself for the V to kick him in the nuts but somehow it failed to deliver. Devin made a few steps backwards somewhat surprised that this jump didn’t feel much different from a normal jump he made when he was on his own. He saw how Adrian carefully pushed his sister behind him, as if she still was in need of personal protection – or maybe he was hiding something?

Still in charge of the situation he scouted ahead, his mag-light fingering illumination through the dark corridors while he held Rebeccas‘ hand firmly in his grasp. They followed down the corridor to the next crossing and only now Rebecca realized just how vast the underground of Las Vegas was...

Click to reveal..

Alright Jaunt- I grant you some freedom to simply „create“ stuff on the go concerning the Underground of Las Vegas. It would be grant if you could add that to the „Our World“ thread. I’m going to add some of my own stuff, too.

Sam – MU is aware of the Underground of course, but the camera network is not as extensive there. You can follow them at the crossings and at service access every half mile but it’s not as satisfying as following someone above ground.If they get in the general vicinity (1 Mile radius) of the MU HQ she can find them, since the MU will have installed cameras there. There are several hiding spots and shelters for emergency cases you know of – you can send people from your gang to find them in the underground if you want. Or go yourself +cough+

[Ira Sagebrush]

Sam threw her mouse across the room where it shattered against the wall. She didn't need it, and it was far from the first time that a mouse had been sacrificed to her anger. "Fuck! Me!" She pushed away from the panel and swiveled around. She stood up and opened the freezer door, slamming it shut a few times before she pulled out the half-eaten carton of ice cream. She popped the lid off and let it fall to the floor as she walked back to her station.

No way he went far...not taking all of them, the V would kill him.

She pulled a spoon out from the mess on her desk and wiped it off on her shirt before jabbing it into the frozen dessert.

"Brick!" Sam yelled, "Put him down! I think they went underground. Lose that cop on your six and get down there and find them. I'll relay directions once I have coords."

Shoving a mouthful in, she pulled her chair back and started tapping into the crappy monitoring for Vegas Down Under.

[Jaunt]

The girl was a gold mine, Jaunt knew that much was for sure and he understood now why everyone wanted her so badly. He suddenly felt like Keanu in Jonny Mnemonic and everyone was hunting down because he managed to get involved in something he should have left well enough alone.

The paused for a moment to catch their breath. jaunt was getting winded, and for a kid who can run 120 miles per hour as a light jog, that was saying something. The others were not looking very good at this point, if he was tired, they were worn down.

"All right, you two, the cat's out of the bag..." Jaunt panted. "Look, one of you just let be use my abilities on full volume and I felt great afterward. I've put the pieces together, I know why they're hunting you. I'm trying to help, so seriously, which of you was it?"

Becca raised a hand slightly, moving closer to Adrian as she did. "I did it. It was me."

"Okay, look, I've got an idea. Frankly I think it's cool what you can do, and right now, if all of us are going to get out of this we're going to need you to help me." He walked to her and gave Adrian a nod. Being her over protective brother, Adrian puffed his chest up slightly, despite being pretty sure the street kid could have beat him up a long time ago if he really wanted. "Becca, if you can help me, I can help all of us. Are you willing to try?"

"No." Adrian flatly. "My sister is not some toy."

"I agree," Jaunt said. "I know where you're coming from, I got a sister too, and I'd stick up for her no matter what. Adrian, I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but we're pretty screwed. In order to get us out of this I've been using my abilities right and left, I'm coughing up blood for you two, and in order for me to get you out of this alive she and I are going to have to help each other out. I can only do so much by myself, Adrian."

"No." He said again, sternly. "I'm sorry."

"Alright, cool." Jaunt shrugged. "I tried. I'll take you guys to the safest entrance to the surface and you're on your own. I got about $116 bucks on me, it yours, it'll help you stay fed for a few days at least. I hope everything works well for you. I can't help you if you're not willing to help yourselves." Without anymore argument Jaunt walked on down the tunnel ahead of them.

"Wait!" Rebeca cried. "We should stick together! Adrian, I know that you're defending your sister, and I'd do the same for mine, but you're hurting her in the long run."

Adrian stood there with his fists clenched as confusion set in. Becca stood forward and and spoke up. "Rebeca is right. We need to stay together." Jaunt paused as the two ladies spoke, leaning against the wall a ways down the corridor... and Orphan thought she had it rough? This cell was going to tear itself apart from the inside at this rate. "Adrian, she's right. I know what I've seen in the last forty five minutes, and if Jaunt hadn't helped us, we'd be out of luck. We're strangers brought together by circumstance. We're going to have to work together, let me do this Adrian."

Adrian took a really deep breath and then exhaled. "Fine." His gaze was pure machismo as he glared at Jaunt. "But, if anything happens to her, Jaunt." It was a brotherly threat, and althoug Adrian was a hundred percent sure Jaunt would whoop his ass in a fight, he was obligated by the brotherly code to threaten anyway.

Jaunt knew the code well. He pushed himself from the wall walked back to them. He looked Adrian in the eyes and simply offered him a nod. "Fair enough, Adrian." He offered, and thank you Becca. Alright everyone, gimme a big hug." They gathered to him and he added one last tidbit. "Oh, and this is gonna suck, by the way."

Shocked they all suddenly looked at him, but it was too late. In an instant they were gone, not once, not twice, not even ten times. For a full minute Jaunt held them and Jaunted them in random locations throughout Las Vegas, all of them right where Orphan could see them, and then suddenly they were gone, off the grid again.

They landed in a dizzying heap on the floor of an apartment. The motion sickness was enough to keep them all, even his Jauntiness, on the floor as the room spun for several seconds. A little more acclimated to swift movement he was the first to recover and simply sat up. "Okay, my plans always work, sometimes, so we should be safe for awhile. Welcome to the Lair, and thankfully, it's off the grid. That doesn't mean Orphan can't find us, but it'll take her some time. Time we can use to rest."

He stood up, wobbling a bit as he leaned against the dining chair for support. "Make yourselves at home. Food's in the fridge, the T.V. has bootlegged cable, and if you need clothes and what not, check the closet, I got all kinds of stuff in there. I'm not a cross dresser, but I do steal some pretty messed up things during snatch n' grabs once in awhile."

A half hour later, as Orphan still scoured the city looking for them, Jaunt and Rebeca were out in the streets. The siblings would be safe for now, and if they were going keep them that way, then it was time to go to work. His new female friend was certainly getting her fill of rapid transit however, and she wondered if Jaunt ever walked more than a 50 steps in a single day until today. They'd been standing under the same camera for the better part of ten minutes with Jaunt holding up his iPhone towards it. It was only a matter of time before she either called him or sent a goon squad to collect them...

As they waited there was that strange, odd silence now that the adrenaline had ran it's course, neither really knew what to say to the other. Jaunt kind of just looked about and finally spoke up. "So, uh, you meet a lot of guys this way, or do you like meet em' through Facebook n' stuff?"

Click to reveal..

This should prove an adequate compromise to the whole running around chase scene. This gives the PCs a chance to meet each other, and keeps the NPCs out of the way for a little bit while we do our thing.

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

Rebecca laughed at the ludicrous question, her giggles pealing around Jaunt sweetly. "Uh, no," she said, her grin becoming a little less shy as she spent time with him. "Being saved by a cute boy is definitely not usually the way I meet them." Her face flushed a little as she realized she'd said 'cute' aloud. "Uh, I mean... most of them meet me on street corners and..." She realized that 'street corners' made it sound like she lingered there, waiting for customers or something. "I mean... they're in shelters and sometimes, when they jump me."

Though she'd meant attack her, her blush only deepened. She could tell that Jaunt was having a hard time not laughing at her. "Uh, I mean... I should shut up now."

Then he did laugh, adding, "No, go on, I was having fun."

She faux-pouted at him before asking, "How about you? Do you always rescue girls from speeding trucks, or, um... Facebook and stuff?" Oh, my god, I sound like a moron!

[Jaunt]

Wow, I thought I had it rough out here. His thoughts trailed silently. Hot as she is, I guess it's no wonder why she's gets dick head stalkers. She could sense a tense emotional reaction from his thoughts. Jaunt hated this lifestyle, mutants living in filth while humanity lived it up, and for what? Just because they were born different? He didn't care about Silver Ages or viruses, all he knew was now and what he saw everyday on the streets.

In a typical fashion his mouth moved faster than his brain. "Nah, I've not met a girl in so long, my palms are too hairy to hide." Oh, fuck me I did not just say that. Damage control. He squinted tightly as he mentally berated himself and took a quick breath to center his thoughts. "Okay, do over."

Rebecca's smile was certainly getting a workout this evening, at least he was entertaining if nothing else.

"Actually, I try and stay off the grid as much as possible, so I about all I've done with it is lock in a fake registration for myself in case the po-po actually manage to catch me." He leaned up against the wall and gave his iPhone a waggle once more to the camera. "I don't meet a lot of anyone, especially girls out here, especially not hot ones like you.." The last part went unspoken, but Jaunt hadn't any idea she could read his thoughts. "The damsel in distress bit is new one though. I rescued my sisters once, but that was it. Truth be told though, as fine as you are, I probably wouldn't have had the self-confidence to approach you and talk to you, so I guess Fate has a way of bringing things that should be together, together."

His thoughts were strangely empty, they matched his spoken words so all Rebecca heard was simply a overlapped speaking. Oddly enough, Jaunt was actually speaking the same thing he was saying, which was rare in this day and age. Sensing that he was being a bit too 'deep' and having an image to maintain, he added. "But that's the funny thing about Fate: she brings people together, but leaves the 'whys' and the 'what nows' as obscure as possible. Cuz seriously, if I find out you're my Daddy and we end up having a laser sword battle on some space station for some geezers amusement, it's seriously going to put a damper on this relationship."

He held his hands up, palms out. "Just sayin'." C'mon Orphan, she's cute and I'm an idiot... hurry, up. I'm running out of material.

[Ira Sagebrush]

Almost as though she was granting Jaunt's unspoken request, Sam's terse voice rang out over the iPhone's speaker, "What. Do you want."

[Jaunt]

Jaunt grinned. "Honey! I told you never to call me at the office. But, hey, while I have you on the line, why don't you send your goons to come pick us up. We've the siblings somewhere safe, and I know what the girl can do. I'm not handing them over blindly to just a voice and her goons who have an auto erotic asphyxiation fetish and stylish earphones."

He paced around, offering up Rebecca a roguish wink as he went on. "So, we meet up. We deal, and I see whether or not this operation you have going is legit. I know you're smart Orphan, put yourself in my shoes. Would be handing those two over to the first person who called you up and said they were your savior? C'mon. So, what do ya say?"

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

Rebecca had let her mental probings into Jaunt cease, just as Orphan got back in touch with them. She trusted him now and further mind-reading just felt invasive. Besides, he seemed to say what he was thinking most of the time, moreso than almost anyone else she had met.

"Actually, it's probably best if we meet somewhere public, Jaunt," Rebecca said softly. Her hand squeezed his lightly as she added, "I don't trust them to not to conk us over the head or try to take us prisoner until we give up the siblings. I mean... we just don't know who they are or what they really want. They could be anyone."

[Ira Sagebrush]

"Stay put." Sam said, "I will send someone to pick you up. They are nearby, so it shouldn't take long."

Sam glanced over from where Jaunt and Rebecca were and to her recon crew on another monitor. She saw them still arguing and was just about to cut in again when she a flash of blue on another portion of her screen. She hadn't realized she was still tapped into the iphone when her voice, rising in pitch, came over the speakerphone again, "What the fuck is that!?"

She zoomed in quickly on the feed from the MIC and saw a mutant riddled with holes suddenly burst forth with a bluish light before the feed went dead.

ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit...

"Ohshitohshitohshit..." Sam said, her voice holding an edge of panic as her normally confident, steadfast hands shook as they flew over the console, trying to shut things down. She went back to Jaunt and realized she was still connected, "Get the fuck out of there NOW!" Take cover fast, get out of the ci--"

The line cut off and went dead.

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

Rebecca didn't have time to react before Jaunt had grabbed her. The world seemed to shift around them; the telepath caught the faintest hint of blue light coming toward before they were somewhere else. Rebecca struggled with disorientation for a moment before realizing that they were back in the hideout.

It took another moment to understand exactly what was going on. In addition to the explosion that did little more than rattle the building, Jaunt slumped to the ground, exhausted. Rebecca looked up to see Adrian in a panic. "Adr-"

Becca appeared in front of her, on the floor. Rebecca blinked in surprise and she saw that Becca appeared to be unconscious. She reached for the girl, but Becca blinked away again. "Help me!" Adrian cried as he bolted into the room, only to spin away into another.

Rebecca was frozen for a moment, then turned her attention to Jaunt. "Are you alright?"

"Gimme... minute," he groaned.

"Right," she breathed, assessing him. She wasn't sure if it was the virus or just fatigue. She wasn't she could help Becca but she was sure she could help Jaunt.

Click to reveal.. (Treatment check on Jaunt)

Roll: 14 +7 Modifier = +21

[Joani]

Jaunt quickly recovered and Rebecca's expertise helped a lot, too. Adrian watched her impatiently dividing his attention between her and his sister.

"I should've told you - My sister suffers differently from the virus...", she flickered away again teleporting randomly through Jaunt's room but remaining within it's boundaries. At least she didn't seem to port into the walls or even worse somewhere far away.

"It's complicated.", he added trying to keep his voice controlled and level without making apparent how panicked he really was. Rebecca could sense his uneasyness and guilt for having Jaunt do this to her. In his mind it was all his fault and he should've protected her from any possible outside threat or influence, yet he knew he had no other choice.

Click to reveal..

Adrian's sister is delirious and semi-conscious, like under a high fever. She 'jaunts' randomly through the room every other minute but stays within range/the room. Even touching her doesn't help much. She flickers in and out of space if someone tries to hold her, making difficult to examine her.

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

"Crap, crap, crap," Rebecca whispered, still loathe to curse even after all this time. Her mind whirled with possible plans and thoughts, all focusing on helping the siblings before her.

There was something she could do, but it was risky. It had to be done, though; she couldn't think of any other way to help. Closing her eyes, Rebecca waited until just after Becca had jumped. As the girl jaunted back into existence on the couch, Rebecca reached into her mind. A visible ripple of power flowed from her, as if a wave of hot air had distorted the environment. There was no heat though, and no pain; Rebecca reached into Becca's mind. Bypassing the conscious aspects of the girl's mind, Rebecca went straight to the subconscious. She gave it a single command: SLEEP.

Becca relaxed, truly relaxed, and fell immediately into a deep sleep.

Click to reveal..

Rebecca's ranged attack Roll: 14 +3 Modifier = +17

Sleep attack, DC unknown (resisted by Fort)] Roll: 16 +4 Modifier = +20 (only used untainted ranks)

Joani verified that it hits via PM. Becca is asleep.

[Joani]

Adrian wanted to intervene at first but seeing the effect Rebecca's power had on his sister calmed him down. He picked her up and gently put her down on the couch realizing there wasn't a much better place for her to relax. Putting her down again he carefully stroked over her face making sure she was really ok.

"She's sleeping... you did that?", he tilted his head towards Rebacca. "Thank you.", he added gratefully.

"She never really manifested any power. For I time I thought she wasn't a mutant and a part of me was kinda hoping she'd never manifest because then she'd had a chance to survive. Then one day... Whenever a mutant touched her and used his power she'd absorb it, sort of. I don't really understand it. Sometimes she knows how to control it, but sometimes it's totally crazy. Another side-effect is...", he looked down at his feet, unsure if he should go on or not. He didn't dare revealing as much knowing that this knowledge would put both Jaunt and Rebecca in danger.

Click to reveal..

This is mostly for Rebecca - his surface thoughts circle around her ability to negate the Virus. He believes that is her actual power and that the absorption thing is how the Virus affects her.

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

"You should probably tell us everything about her," Rebecca said softly. "We are trying to help you guys." She shifted, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. She felt tired - not from anything she'd done but the situation. They needed to get Becca somewhere safe before the bad guys got her.

But with the electronics out, Rebecca couldn't even call her people. She was alone - way more alone than she normally was. She was used to operating without backup, but with the firm knowledge that she could get rescued. Right now, that wasn't even an option.

"And a plan might be a good idea," Rebecca added softly. "I could really go for one of those right now."

[Jaunt]

Jaunt stumbled from the bathrooom, the air of mint trailed behind him after gargling with mouthwash, brushing his teeth and gargling again. God he hated it when he tossed his cookies. The virus was a bitch sometimes.

"Plan..." He jaunted from outside the bathroom to the sofa, appearing with a 'plop' and his feet already on the coffee table. "The plan is, no making out with Jaunt. Sorry, Rebecca," He held out his hand in the universal 'stop' sign to keep her lusting hormones at bay. "I know how you've been looking forward to it, but I just really don't think I'm in any shape to tonsil hockey after coughing my lunch up. Sorry, babe."

He was playing it off pretty well, but everyone could tell he was still not well (physically, anyway), every sudden movement caused him to wince in pain slightly and it was clear to Rebecca that Jaunt had made an art form from hiding his pain and real feelings behind quips and witty banter. "For now, why don't we get a meal, and try to relax our minds for a few minutes, okay? We're jumping from one mess into the next with no time to think. I got a couple DiGiornos in the freezer, extra pepperoni. Let's get fat and forget for just an hour or so, my head is killing me."

It was amazing how even amid the pain and misery and confusion Jaunt still managed to remain calm, like it had all been done before and nothing was new to him. He and Rebecca were in the kitchen now, him collecting the pizza while she set the oven to pre-heat and rummaged in the cabinets for a pizza pan. Despite all the junk he had, Jaunt was surprisingly organized, at least in the kitchen, she had yet to see the bedroom.

"At your feet, the left one." He said, smiling that handsome, impish smile of his.

"Thanks." She said, returning the smile. She didn't notice the way Jaunt just kept looking at her. She didn't see the way he seemed lost in her visage, swallowed whole the entirity of her beauty.

What is it about her that I'm attracted to? He wondered silently. He'd only just met her some time ago and already he found that she lingered in his thoughts way more than was normal for him. She's beautiful, that's for certain. He opened up his inner dialogue once more. But she's so... so... together. The world is throwing a severe shit storm tonight and here she is sticking around and helping these kids making pizza in my kitchen. She blushes at my flirting, rolls her eyes at my jokes, even laughs at the dumb ones. She's just so... cool. So real. A girl like her has to have someone waiting for her, but I guess it can't hurt to ask, right?

"So, uh..." He leaned against the counter and Rebecca approached him, needing to get four glasses from the cupboard over his head. He jaunted away in a 'thump' and was leaning on the opposite counter now, his pose unchanged only his position.

She chuckled slightly and the dimples in her smile only served to make him stutter more. "That's handy, Jaunt. You're never in anyone way, I suppose. You were saying?"

He totally forgot what he was going to say. "So, uh..." Was about as about all that came out, again. What kinda guys do you like? Got a boyfriend back home? If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me? A myriad of choices ran through his mind, and in the end he settled with, "I uh, just thought, y'know, since we had some time we could get to know ea-"

Adrian cleared his throat as he walked in. "Um, she's sleepin' pretty good, do you guys need any help? Oh, and dude," He thumbed back towards the living room. "Your X-Box is broken, it's RRODing every time I turn it on."

Jaunt's eye brows fell into a flat horizon and he sighed. It would figure, the kids had to come and interrupt while the adults were talking. "I'm aware." He grunted out in a monotone of sarcasm. "It's on my shopping list right next to 'a life' and 'normalcy'."

[Ira Sagebrush]

Sam's eyes cracked open, then immediately shut tight as the light of the computer room pierced her skull. "Uuuuhhhggg...what happened." Then, as if by command, her mind recalled the imagery, replaying it for her.

"Why can't anything ever go smoothly?" Sighing, Sam slowly stood up, wincing at the large bruise on her hip that flared when she put weight on it.

She knew everything would be dead, but she checked anyway, shuffling over to her console and hitting a few keys to confirm her rising dread. It's all toast. Fuckin' toast. The base itself was fine, it had been far enough away and was shielded to boot, but she couldn't get anything in the city. Las Vegas was a giant electronic void.

She briefly considered sending someone out, or even going herself, but as she calculated the odds of finding a small group of teleporting people in the chaos that sure to follow something like this, she decided it was more than pointless. All she could do is hope that they stayed safe and out of the hands of authorities.

[z-Rebecca Lee Howards]

Rebecca smiled at Jaunt’s joke, not realizing how deep his ire at the younger Adrian ran. She would have been pleased to know what Jaunt was thinking about her but she had long since decided she trusted him. He was a good guy, no matter the image he presented to the world.

Humming, she let Jaunt and Adrian ‘talk’ – though it was more like glower and grunt – together as she opened the pizzas and put them on the trays. Silently, she wondered whether Adrian was right about his sister. That made her infected as well and probably changed everything. It meant that she didn’t provide a cure; she was just the means to avoid the effects of the Virus. They would all be sick still; just those touching Becca would be unaffected.

Disappointment filled her like water and her humming hit a sour note. Wincing to herself, Rebecca idly picked at the frozen pepperoni, moving it around on the pizza, trying to get even spread of the meat. With effort, she started humming again, this time to “Say Hey”. The light-hearted song brought a smile to her face as she ran through the lyrics in her head.

“Ive been a lot of places all around the way / I’ve seen a lot joy and I’ve seen a lot of pain”

Still humming to herself, Rebecca all-but danced over to the cups on the counter, filling each with ice. Subconsciously, she felt her body sway to the internal music as the song lifted her mood.

“But I know one thing: / That I love you / I love you / I love you / I love you”

With a little spin, she came back to the pizzas, slipping them into the pre-heated oven. A small smile graced her lips as she kept playing through the song.

“Now Im not a highly metaphysical man / But I know when the stars are aligned / you can bump into person in the middle of the road / look into their eyes and you suddenly know-”

She glanced up as she closed the oven to find she had an audience; the two guys were watching her. Scarlet raced up her cheeks as she stopped, trying to regain her composure. “Dinner will be about twelve minutes,” she said with what little dignity she could scrape up off the floor.

[Jaunt]

"Gyah!" Jaun tossed his hands up in the air in a bout of sudden frustration. "Twelve minutes? Man, I knew I shoulda installed that pole in the living room. But by all means, don't stop dancing on my account."

His impish smile returned and with a thump and a shimmer that left left a small distortion in the air that wavered for a moment after his disappearance, he jaunted behind her and opened the fridge. Swiftly he tossed a cherry coke to Adrian, and to the boys credit he deftly plucked it from the air. He graciously offered Rebecca one and Adrian rolled his eyes at how hard Jaunt was trying to impress her. The tab on his hissed open and he leaned there against the fridge.

"Okay, so now what? Four strangers in a run down apartment playing Partridge Family isn't going to make things easier. Look, we all have questions, I'm sure, so why don't we take a few moments and get to know each other. Hopefully Orphan will try to contact us soon."

Hey, that was kinda easier than I thought...