Mutants & Masterminds: Heroes United - [Fic] Unladies Night

[SalmonMax]

"So I was thinking," Renata said to Jael. The two had managed to sneak away from the press holiday that MO and Lester were busily attending to. Gabriel was with his family, and this time the press didn't know where so hopefully they'd have some private time. God knew they'd need it.

Renata had gotten her 'emergency clothes' on over her Fulcrum costome, and now looked like a jogger in sweat pants and a hoodie. Normally in this little podunk town, ANY stranger would have occasioned comment, but right now it was crawling with newcomers. News agencies had practically airlifted people in.

They were a few blocks away now, looking over at the forest of floodlights and satellite uplinks.

Jael gave Renata a look. "Spit it out then."

"I was thinking," Ren continued, still looking off towards the flickering flashbulbs, hoping for a glimpse of Magnum Opus over there. "...we should have a party or something. Celebrate." She looked at Jael and a little sputter of memory and insight led her to add, "You know...hit up a 'meadhall' or something."

The sarcasm was lost on Jael, who nodded approvingly. "After the war, the feast," she agreed. The dread wolf-in-human-clothing looked around and took a big sniff. She pointed down the street.

"There maybe." Her tone was conflicted. Mead and beer was good, but the smell of it from that building seemed...kind of tepid. No blood. No sweat. And it might be watered down.

Renata grinned and shook her head. "No. God no. No fucking way. We've got Gatekeeper, remember? One phone call and we can go anywhere in the world. Tellya what, lets hang out until MO is done, we'll get her in on it too."

Jael grinned, unaware of the wolfishness of that expression on her. "And Gabriel as well..."

"Uh..." Ren winced and shook her head. "...yeah, no. He's seventeen. The good places, they card you at the door. We could get him a fake one, but this is Gabriel. He wouldn't use it if we gave it to him."

She laughed at the crestfallen look on Jael's face and said, "Relax, there'll be tons of guys at the club. Drinks. Music. Crowd...we have worked hard, lets go play hard."

Renata lifted her fist for a fist-bump, and Jael could only make sense of it by thinking she was pantomiming raising a mug. So she lifted her fist too and said, "SKOL!" in a hearty bellow.

With a slightly confused expression, Renata did the fist-bump and nodded. "Hell yes, skol."

,,

--

,,

“Excuse me! Can you tell us the condition of the family?!”

Magnum Opus sighed and leaned towards the cluster of microphones. As the most photogenic teammate present, who was not currently tending to loved ones, she’d drawn the short straw for public reations by default. It wasn’t something she minded, really…but it got tiresome towards the end, when she had to start repeating herself.

“As I’ve said, the Stone family is currently safe and secure. That’s all I have to say about them. It’s been a hard time for them and they deserve some privacy.”

“Miss Opus, this attack closely resembles another incident in New York City recently; an attack which you and the other heroes with you were instrumental in repelling as well. Is it possible that this is retaliatory? Were you and the others in your team the true targets of this assault?”

The reporter wasn’t with a major network, Magnum could immediately see. His clothes, his equipment…no camera, no crew…just a man and a mic. His words cut a little deeper than blades or claws could, but she met his gaze dead on. “We really have no information right now about the source of these attacks or their motive,” she replied, and the earnestness in her voice belied the stonewall-style word choice of her sentence. “I wish we did. So I can’t rule something like that out, but it does beg the question that if it was aimed at us, how did they know we were here?”

“It’s convenient isn’t it?” asked another reporter. “Unknown team of ‘super heroes’ comes together just in time to save Central Park…and now everywhere you go there’s an ample supply of super threats for the ‘super heroes’ to heroically save people from. Even in places where nothing like that’s ever happened before, and where there’s nothing of interest to anyone. How do you respo…”

“How do I respond?”

The new voice came from behind the crowd of reporters, who turned to look. Fulcrum was there, back in costume, glaring daggers at the reporter who’d asked the question.

“I just about blew my brain out my left ear throwing one of those things in the harbor,” Fulcrum said coldly. “The rest of us risked their lives taking care of the other two. You want to know how many people died before we got there? I saw people getting burned to death, and now you’re telling me you think we CAUSED it?!”

Sensing that it was time to intervene, quickly, Magnum Opus whisked herself down from the microphones over to where Fulcrum was and interposed herself between her teammate and the reporter. She didn’t think it would stop Fulcrum’s mental powers, but it would give her something to focus on besides the guy who was making her so mad.

“It’s okay,” MO told her soothingly. “I’ve got this.”

For a second Fulcrum’s eyes flicked between the reporter and Magnum Opus…then finally the roulette wheel stopped clicking, and she nodded slowly. “Okay. Fine. You’ve got this. Listen, wrap things up here, then meet me around back in the fields. There’s a thing me and Jael need your help with.”

Fulcrum gave the reporter one last ‘you’re lucky my chick’s here’ glare, then threw her hoverboard down, hopped on, and whisked away around behind Gabriel’s house.

[Magnum Opus]

Magnum Opus watched her go. She turned back to the assembled reporters.

,,

"I hear your concerns. Honest. And I understand that it's your job to speak truth to power, and I actually welcome it. But please do understand, we are on your side here, and no, we're not faking these attacks. They're real. If you have any kind of substantial lead on where they're coming from, please don't hesitate to contact us. I can't prove that you can trust me, but... well, I hope you do."

,,

There were still murmurs in the crowd, but her efforts in spreading oil over troubled waters appeared to be paying off. A few of the reporters in the crowd were muttering something about Occupy Wall Street, and Magnum Opus sighed. It wasn't as if she regretted standing up against police aggression that week in the park, but those were headier days, before she'd started realizing just what it meant to be the strongest person in any given room - it meant you should never punch down, even when you felt they deserved it. Because people had a habit of disagreeing with you on that...

,,

"Okay, I can take three more questions, so make them good ones."

,,

"Is there a Mister Opus?"

,,

"Heh." She just smiled. "That wasn't a good one."

,,

* * *

A few minutes later, Magnum Opus was en route back to the fields. She waved to Fulcrum, gently cresting to a hovering halt.

,,

"Thanks for stopping by. Sorry about all of that. They're scared. I can't blame them, really. We've got to figure out where these things are coming from..."

[SalmonMax]

"Underground," Fulcrum replied unhelpfully. She shot Jael a grin, then waved MO closer. The fires in the fields were out now of course, but there were still too many black patches in the amber waves, and some visible damage to the house itself in the form of cracks and lost shingles. Probably nothing some elbow grease couldn't fix, but still a reminder that super-throwdowns came at a price.

,,

"Speaking of which, Jael and I are going to a place I know back in the city to celebrate our badassery."

,,

She grinned even wider, maybe a little giddily. It wasn't exactly a date, but she was still asking Magnum Opus out. It felt a little like the first time she'd realized she could fly.

,,

"Good food, dancing, and a bar that I think might even get YOU buzzed. I figure we can make it a ladies night kind of thing. Let the guys work their own party out."

,,

With that, Fulcrum glanced over at Jael...who turned into a giant wolf and had the manners of a Viking maruader...and then there was herself, who wasn't a lady by any definition of the term beyond the crassest physiology. Magnum Opus maybe, but... "Okay, not so ladylike maybe. Unladies night. So...you in?"

,,

She lifted a fist for a confirmatory bump with MO.

[Magnum Opus]

"Unladies? I - "

,,

For a moment, Magnum Opus looked legitimately shocked. Oh God, she figured it out. I'm caught.

,,

How? Where did I slip up? I practiced with Carol for weeks. We got body language, we got my voice down, we got my hair right, I drew the line at a girly costume with cleavage but I could have sworn I passed perfectly. How did - wait.

,,

The back of MO's mind tapped on the figurative shoulder of her accelerated thought process. "Unladies" as in we're not 100% human, or at the least, that we're not exactly the modern ideal of ladylike femininity. Which you don't agree with but that doesn't mean she knows you're transgender. She pointed at Jael as well. You're not outted. Get it together, Danielle.

,,

"Sorry. It took me a second to figure out what you meant. I left you hanging, didn't I?" Magnum Opus greeted the fistbump with her own, spreading her hand to simulate an explosion after making contact. "A night out sounds great. We haven't really gotten to know each other yet. Are we going in costume or in secret IDs?"

[SalmonMax]

That one stumped Fulcrum for a second, but she looked at Jael and realized something.

,,

"I guess in costume, since Jael doesn't have a costume and it might kind of give us away if we're..." She frowned. "Well, I guess it's not THAT weird, as long as we don't show up all at the same time. But it might be fun to go in costume, you know? That way we can cut loose a little."

[z-Jael]

“Cut what loose?” Jael’s question was accompanied with a tilt of her head. It was unnervingly the look a confused dog gave in every dog food commercial ever made.

,,

“Us. Cut us loose from constraints,” Fulcrum told the wolf-in-human-clothing. “We’ll be free to have fun, without having to hide what we are.”

,,

“Why do we have to hide?” The second that Jael asked her question, Fulcrum realized she’d opened a can of potential worms.

[SalmonMax]

"Jael..." Fulcrum stared at the other superheroine, abruptly glad she hadn't spilled her real name yet. "You do realize why MO and me wear masks right? It's not for style points or..." she tapped the goggles that fit snugly around her head, "...eye protection like in shop class. It's because we don't want people to know our real names or faces."

,,

"I can't speak for Magnum Opus, but I have good reasons not to let folks know Fulcrum and...and me are the same person."

[Magnum Opus]

"What she said, though I've got a few different reasons - loved ones I can't watch over all the time, the simple matter that I like having private time to myself... not to say that anyone who wants to live publicly is wrong to do so, but it's not for me."

,,

She shrugged. "That said: if you're up for having not a lot of privacy in this club you want to go to, I could swing it. It might be nice to let people see us when there's not a giant lava turtle coming out of the ground. Just don't expect us to have a lot of quiet time to talk about anything we wouldn't in public."

[z-Jael]

Jael listened quietly, her head still slightly tilted to the side. When they were done, she nodded and said, “There is no shame in hiding your house’s location if you fear raiding parties. That’s just smart. I will remember how to speak of you in the future.”

,,

Fulcrum and MO both looked relieved and Jael felt a sting of irritation that she quickly smoothed. They were not a hunting pack – yet. She couldn’t expect that they would trust her with their closest secrets. That would come with time, so long as she didn’t scare them too much. That was another problem entirely and one she wasn’t sure how to address yet. Andery had been shocked to learn her age and that she couldn’t stay dead. She knew enough about the modern age to know that people were inflexible when it came to their idea of death. Anything that contradicted the cult of the White Christ was viewed with suspicion and fear – and corresponding hostility.

,,

She herself had no secrets; her time with Fae was something she didn’t want to talk about, not something she tried to hide. Her true form was a matter of pride to her and she didn’t care if people recognized her human suit. She understood the value of protecting loved ones and the value of secrets.

,,

This understanding made her more eager for going out with the ‘unladies’. Few things brought comrades together like food and ale. I need to mention that to Andery, to build pack unity. “When do we leave?” she asked, looking from one woman to another. “I am ready to share meat and make boasts with you!”

[SalmonMax]

Fulcrum covered her mouth as the 13 year old lurking in her heart made a snide comment about 'sharing meat,' and of course she'd never be averse to 'making boasts' with a gorgeous blonde like Jael, or MO... Ugh, yes, definitely time to get a little drunk, so she wouldn't start dwelling on the 'fun' of being surrounded by untouchable hotties every day at work.

,,

"Right now. We'll head back and touch bases with Lester and the others...make sure Gabe's okay. Then we'll have Gatekeeper bring us back to headquarters. I want to give that British..." she paused and tried to remember. She was kind of bad with names. "Izzy! And the geeky one. We should at least give them an invite so we can tell them about how awesome we were. And then...we'll head to this place I've heard about a few times called The Ultraviolet. Supposed to be a pretty sweet club. They say it's guest list only but..." She tapped her goggles and mask. "Pretty sure we'll meet the dress code."

[Magnum Opus]

"All right, costumes it is. I'll be the designated flyer. Can't get drunk anyways." She shrugs, and grins. "Could be fun. The Ultraviolet, you said? What kind of place is it?"

[SalmonMax]

"It's a club...you know, dancing, drinks music. According to...well, I have a couple of friends who've been, and they said it was pretty sweet. Kind of techno-neo-punkish-pseudo-rave thing. Blue-purple mood lighting. Lots of floor space, multi-level..." She shrugged, realizing that the description might not mean much to Jael and Magnum. "It'll be fun. Hey, what do you like going by for short? Magnum? MO? Or is it all Magnum Opus, all the time?"

,,

She grinned and got out the little disposable cellphone she'd picked up for 'superhero work' to dial HQ and get Gatekeeper.

,,

"MO's fine. Mags or Magnum or the full name is fine. I know it can be a mouthful. Thanks for asking first," replied the statuesque superheroine. Her smile forced Fulcrum to look away or be reduced to incoherent 'durrrr' on the phone as Gatekeeper picked up.

,,

"Hey," she said, "This is Fulcrum. I'm with MO and Jael, and we're ready to head back in. Lester and the others are still with Gabe...no idea when they're coming."

,,

Gatekeeper's voice responded, a little distractedly, "Alright, where are you guys?"

,,

"Behind Gabriel's house, in the field there. Uh...call it like twenty yards away from the house? Sorry, I don't have a map on this crap phone."

,,

"I can work with that."

,,

A moment later there was a hissing, ripping noise, and a shimmering veil sliced sideways a little ways off from where the girls were standing. Hazily they could see the 'reception room' of HQ...a fortified little antechamber intended to verify the identity of whoever came through before letting them into the facility proper.

,,

"We see it. On our way through. Thanks!" Fulcrum clicked the phone shut and gave Jael and MO a bright grin.

,,

"Alright, lets get the others on board and get this thing going!"

,,

--

,,

Meanwhile, back at headquarters, Slither and Northlight got an intercom call. Fulcrum's voice rang out, "Hey, come on down to the gate room. Asses were kicked today, and there's an all-expense paid train ride to Good Times pulling out of the station in a few minutes."

[Slither]

Meanwhile, back at headquarters, Slither and Northlight got an intercom call. Fulcrum's voice rang out, "Hey, come on down to the gate room. Asses were kicked today, and there's an all-expense paid train ride to Good Times pulling out of the station in a few minutes."

,,

Izzy snorted as she continued icing her bruised ribs; there were also a few cuts and bruises on her face as well, courtesy of her two bouts earlier that evening.

,,

"I should know, mine was one of the ones that got kicked."

,,

She set down the ice pack and sighed; was she really ready to hit the town again so soon? Her brown eyes flicked from the clock next to her bed, towards the bathroom and its inviting shower, and then to the window with its stunning view of Manhattan. Finally she nodded her head sharply. "Fuck it, I'm in; give me half a mo' to get all tarted up and I'll join you in a tick." Technically, she'd already had a shower, but that was more of a hose-off to remove the sweat and nastiness of the fight club; now she was going to make herself all presentable and lady-like, which was an entirely different process.

[Doctor Northlight]

Rachael's helmet opened and draped itself over her shoulders. "What? Seems all my time is working on things you girls probably find boring." She said, scratching her head with her finger under the cowl of her suit. Although Rachael had showered herself not too long ago to clean off the junk in regards to her experiments in the lab for the reconstruction system she and Paladin were developing.

,,

"So... From your hurried invitation, I wager this place doesn't mind us coming in costume?" She said, stretching out. "It'd be amusing to show up in my full regalia."

[Magnum Opus]

"It's in costume, from what I gather. Which will be interesting..."

,,

Magnum Opus thought for a moment. "So - I have been fighting lava monsters and putting out fires and flying people to paramedics all day and I probably can't even smell it any more, but do I smell okay for this club or do I need to shower up too?"

[Doctor Northlight]

"Knowing your speed, Mo, I think you can pull that off in 5 minutes." Rachael said smiling as she grabbed a pair of large goggles and put them on, currently resting them on her forehead. "I think before we go and I close up I'll pull these bad-boys down and only you guys'll know who I am. Everyone else will only see Doctor Northlight."

,,

She smiled. "Sort of sucks I've been spending my time studying a lot of Paladin's engineering notes. They're a good read and are teaching me a few ways to improve my suit. Just don't have time right now to work on said ideas. Hopefully that'll change. Was considering switching from this bubble helmet of mine to a more physical one. That and toughening the suit's capability to take damage. Studying Bastion's skin structure would be a huge help."

,,

"Okay, get ready guys I gotta save my work here then I will be right with you."

[SalmonMax]

Fulcrum waited for Northlight to make her hurried exit, then said offhandedly, "Is it just me, or did she just say she's making her new suit out of a high school student's skin?"

,,

She turned to look at MO, and took a sniff. "You seem okay to me...but then, I'm probably in the same boat. Lets ask the expert."

,,

"Jael, whaddya think? Are we stinky or sexay?"

[z-Jael]

Jael had been sitting silently waiting (bored) for everyone else to be ready. She was staring into the middle distance, watching something that existed only in her mind. She had half an ear on the conversation so when Fulcrum said her name, she pulled her gaze away from that far-off place. It took a second for the request to percolate, then Jael pushed herself to her feet and changed.

,,

The twelve-foot black wolf shoved her big nose into Fulcrum’s stomach and inhaled sharply. She repeated the process with MO before lifting her head. “You both smell delicious.”

,,

That wasn’t what she should have said but Jael had other thoughts on her mind. “I should tell Northlight not to use human skin to make armor. Even when boiled it doesn’t harden enough to be effective.”

[Doctor Northlight]

She shook her head. "You both misunderstood. I meant I wanted to study Bastion's skin. See how everything there lines up. I could learn a lot from a few skin flakes and a electron microscope." She said, sort of frustrated at how she seemed to understand far more than the majority of her group does. "That is, if he wants to share his detritus for the greater advancement of science. I'd prefer a small biopsy... the size of a pencil tip of his skin... something with his biology would heal in no time flat I'd wager."

She raised her index finger to stop any sudden jump to conclusions. "With his permission, of course, and I would take the proper precautions with a topical anesthetic and the proper cleaning and anti-septic protocols. Of course all he would need afterward is a small bandage and whatever he would want for payment if so necessary."

[SalmonMax]

Fulcrum looked up and around, a little startled to see Northlight hadn't left after all. She grinned though, and decided to have a little fun with the bookish hero.

,,

"Hey, no need to explain yourself to me," she said. "And just because science demands you get that skin from certain very specific places on him, that makes total sense. And of course, the medicinal oil rub...also science. Science demands many sacrifices."

[Doctor Northlight]

Rachael pulled down her goggles and sighed. "Really? Here I am trying with Paladin to develop something that will help rebuild what the rest of you demolish as well as design up something that will increase my survivability in the field and here I am being portrayed as some sort of mad scientist. All Bastion has to say is NO, at any point, and it's left at that."

,,

She shook her head in frustration.

[Slither]

Izzy finally made an appearance, hair still damp from the shower; though she had put on a bit of make-up, there were still a few visable bruises and a swollen lip that she didn't bother to try and cover up. However, she was not wearing her uniform; she wore black low-heeled nakle boots, skinny jeans, Roman-themed T-shirt and a tweed jacket.

,,

"Right then, are we ready to-" Then she noticed what the others were wearing. "Ah, costumes." And then she swiveled to take in Jael in all her primeval glory. "And the wolf." She offered the rest of the group a worried glance. "So, where exactly are we headed?"

[Magnum Opus]

"Delicious. All right then. Aheh." Magnum Opus looked to Slither. "A club that Fulcrum's about to introduce us all to. I'm looking forward to it, myself. I don't go to that many clubs - too busy - so this is new to me."

[SalmonMax]

"Damn Izzy," Fulcrum whistled. "Someone beat you up but good! Was the funeral open-casket, or was there just paste on the wall left of him?"

[Slither]

"Delicious. All right then. Aheh." Magnum Opus looked to Slither. "A club that Fulcrum's about to introduce us all to. I'm looking forward to it, myself. I don't go to that many clubs - too busy - so this is new to me."

,,

The slender brunette nodded thoughtfully. "I see..." With obvious discomfort, she addressed the mammoth wolf. "And Jael, will you be getting..." She moved her hands together. "Somewhat smaller, before we enter said establishment?"

,,

In reference to Ren's question, Izzy could only roll his eyes and shake her head. "Well, I did finally manage to drop the sick bastard, but it took some time and a bit of help from Gatekeeper on the sly." She gingerly rubbed her side inside her jacket. "The worst part of it all, besides the sore ribs, is that fact that he called himself sodding 'Gorefist', for God's sake." She shrugged in disbelief "I mean, that's a dreadfully stupid name for a bad guy, isn't it? What must his poor mum think, knowing her son came up with a name that's so utterly pants?"

[z-Jael]

Jael grinned, her black lips pulling back to reveal huge white teeth. “I should be in costume, too, should I not?” With a laugh, she relaxed her muscles, flowing back into her human shape. No matter what the fae had done, this was not her true form. She would never accept that.

,,

She was still wearing the business jacket and skirt from earlier today. The clothing was not its best: she had grass stains and hints of mud from her adventures. She realized that what she was wearing was not up to par. “I’ll be right back. I should change.”

,,

It only took her moments to trot up to her room and select another shirt and skirt. She went to her stack of Vogue magazines and flipped through one to the celebrities pictures. When she confirmed that the off-the-shoulder green shirt and short, black skirt were appropriate for a club, she went to the two dozen shoes she had. She picked stilettos that would have damaged her body were she not jotun and slipped them on, taking only a moment to adjust to the change in height and stance.

,,

When she rejoined them, she looked like any other staggeringly tall blonde woman headed out for a night on the town. “Now can we go? I will get bored soon if we do not.”

,,

It was both warning and threat.

[Magnum Opus]

"Geez, Slither! I'm sorry, I didn't even notice the pasting you took." Magnum Opus approached her, hands at her side. "Let me help. There's a trick I've mastered, extending my - forget the psychobabble, I think I can heal your face up if you want it."

[Slither]

"Oh, that would be lovely, Mags! Uh..." Izzy held her fingers up to her face and gently prodded the tender spots. "Tell you what, leave the facial bruises as is, all right? They might keep some of the bigger wankers at bay." She closed her eyes, and her clothes shifted back into her matte-black Slither suit, complete with domino mask. "There we are, all present and correct!"

[Magnum Opus]

"All right, if that's what you want..."

,,

She wants to look bruised to fend off creepers. Good God. Every woman I ever accidentally creeped on back before I knew who I was: I am so, so sorry.

,,

MO flexed her fingers, and touched them to Slither's shoulders. Slither could feel a tingling flowing out through the point of contact. "Basically: I'm using a little shared biokinesis to tell your body to heal faster and better. You might feel a little hungry afterwards but that's about it."

,,

Slither's cuts and bruises scabbed over, and in a few moments, the scabs flaked off.

,, ,,

Using the Healing alt-power for MO's toughness to heal Slither up to -1 Bruised level.

,,

[Doctor Northlight]

Rachael decided to pull back the cowl of her suit, letting her short dark-black hair out. After pressing a button on her wrist what was the helmet of her suit became an opaque blue colored hood that as it laid flat looked more like some odd collar/hood hybrid laying over her shoulders.

,,

"Okay never showed off like this... what sort of music and atmosphere are we heading into there? Techno? Rock? Urban?" She shutters for a moment. "Country?"

[Slither]

Izzy did a few athletic twists and bends to check out the effectiveness of Mags' biokinesis, and seemed very pleased with the results. "There, that's brilliant! I'll actually be able to dance a bit!"

,,

"Okay never showed off like this... what sort of music and atmosphere are we heading into there? Techno? Rock? Urban?" She shutters for a moment. "Country?"

,,

The Brit frowned at that last mention. "Ooh, no country, I hope!" She began to sing in a bizarre attempt to emulate a stereotypical country song. "There's a tear in mah beer because you're so far from heeeere!" Then she quickly glanced at Jael and got a bit more serious. "Here, let's clear out before the wolf gets bored and eats the lot of us; are we taking a cab, or using 'Keeper's door-to-door service?"

[Magnum Opus]

"Could fly us all. I suppose blipping is an option, though I'd rather not reduce Gatekeeper to the role of a taxicab. Besides the city this time of night is fantastic from the air."

[SalmonMax]

"Okay!" Fulcrum clapped her hands together, trying to keep the focus.

,,

"Music. From what I've heard they mix it up a bit. Lots of ravey, techno stuff. But my friend who was talking about it said they do theme weekends which doesn't matter because we're going now. So probably ravey techno stuff."

,,

"Transportation! Since we don't have a Fochtmobile yet, lets fly. MO can fly, and I can fly. I can really only carry one other person...MO, can you get two? I mean, not strengthwise obviously but...like...where are you going to put them?"

,,

First time she'd ever wished she couldn't fly.

[Magnum Opus]

"I can probably carry two in a pinch, or a couch with two on it, but unless Doctor Northlight's jetpack is out of commission I'll only need to carry one, if you can handle the other."

[Doctor Northlight]

"Oh my flight pack is very much online. In fact I'll volunteer to be "designated flier". I'm not that strong though... Well... I can comfortably carry those of us close to the 200 pound mark. At least from the training stuff we've been doing lately."

,,

She sighed. Seeing she was going to be doing the heavy lifting she switched her helmet/hood back to transparent and pulled it on, letting it become her signature helmet. "Okay, needless to say if the whole group of you are going to be sauced, it might be a good idea to keep Gatekeeper's number on speed-dial for the trip back. I'm not super-strong."

,,

She crossed her arms. "Now... who is going with whom?"

[Magnum Opus]

"I can't really get drunk, so don't worry about that. How about Northlight uses her jetpack, I take Jael and Fulcrum takes Slither? And we're all in costume, so code names only."

[z-Jael]

Jael walked to MO’s side and looped an arm around her shoulder. “Is this the best position for this activity?” she asked, her gray eyes meeting MO’s with her disconcerting intensity. “Also, what are code names?” Jael asked.

,,

“The other names we use to hide our real names.” Fulcrum tilted her head. Now she was really wishing she couldn’t fly as she watched Jael hold herself against MO’s side. “Do you have another name you’d like us to call you while we’re there?”

,,

Jael shrugged. “My other name, my first name, was Jöka Sköllardottir.” Saying her former name was unexpectedly painful. Was she even that same wolf anymore? She doubted it and for the first time, she wondered if she’d be allowed to run with her siblings at Ragnarok. Swallowing tightly, she said, “You can call me by either. It makes no difference to me.”

[Slither]

"I can't really get drunk, so don't worry about that. How about Northlight uses her jetpack, I take Jael and Fulcrum takes Slither? And we're all in costume, so code names only."

,,

Izzy nodded. "Right, then, Slither it is from here on out." She stepped over towards Fulcrum and took in a nervous breath; personal flight was not her favorite concept in the world. "Ready when you are, captain."

[SalmonMax]

"Alright, Slither you're with me. MO you get...Jo...Joa...lets just stick with Jael." Leave it to fate to have the two hottest ones flying together. Eh...probably for the best. Co-workers. And Jael at least was straight as they came, the way she drooled over Gabe.

,,

She picked her board up from where she'd leaned it against the wall and dropped it flat on the ground. Her ankle clicked into the little...holder thingy. Ren wasn't really a snowboarder. It was just a better ride than a stupid pink sled.

,,

With a nod at Slither, Fulcrum said, "Just stay steady. It's going to feel a little weird at first. Try to stay still. I won't drop you, but if you move around it makes air flow around you and...gets harder to control. Just stay flat like you're diving. That's easiest."

,,

Slither felt the air 'thicken' around her. Sort of. It didn't get any harder to breathe, and there wasn't a sense of anything tangible pressing against her...but she could feel a pressure anyway. She lifted into the air a few inches, swaying a little to try to keep balanced until she realized that she didn't need to try. Fulcrum was handling that. Nothing Slither did had any effect on her movements.

,,

Fortunately, the secured room was adjoining the, currently empty, hangar and vehicle bay...made keeping security that much easier. In this case it also meant they could get out without having to wind through the labyrinth of the Focht Building.

,,

Fulcrum smiled. "MO and Northlight, just follow me."

,,

The controls operated themselves, and the big iris hatch at the far end began to grind open. And just like that...they were off.

,,

Izzy had never had the opportunity to fly like MO did. Her memories of freefalling were limited, and not terribly pleasant, and flying with Fulcrum felt exactly like that, only sideways. Whatever telekinetic force suspended her pretty neatly canceled out gravity...she had no sense of resting on something. As a result, her brain interpreted the movement as the only thing that came close to its previous experiences...and it felt like falling. It didn't help that Fulcrum obviously loved flying...loved the speed and mobility of it...so she went balls-out into the sky. Fortunately she climbed right away to an altitude where buildings didn't loom.

,,

New York was beautiful from the sky by night, even if stress hormones made it hard to appreciate in the moment.

,,

Fulcrum flew Slither a little ahead of her, to keep her in sight...which meant that unless she craned her neck to look back over her shoulder, Izzy couldn't see her. Once the breathless terror of freefall ebbed, it gave the experience a surreal sort of feeling...like she was in some kind of hyperrealistic IMAX or something. Sitting safely in a seat while the image of New York dipped and weaved around her. It helped.

,,

Finally they slowed their pace and Slither realized they were hunting...she was circling a little from maybe just a hundred feet up or so, looking for the place. That's when she also realized that even slowing down, the wind didn't change much. Fulcrum must have been blocking most of it when they'd been going faster...making sure they didn't get their eyes squished or a bug embedded in their faces. Or a bird.

,,

After a minute or so, Fulcrum surged forward and into a shallow dive. As she did, Slither felt herself turning in midair to a standing position. Fulcrum reached out and took her hand, then pulled her in closer.

,,

"Hold on," she instructed. "There's enough people down there, I want to concentrate on where we're landing. Stand on the board and hold around my waist."

,,

Slither did as instructed, and the lightness in the air that had supported her eased. It didn't vanish entirely, but much of her weight returned. The surreal feeling vanished, and she was suddenly very aware that they were still three stories up and moving down pretty fast.

,,

"Little turn," Fulcrum said, just a split second before swerving around the corner of a building and soaring out onto the street properly, where a line was formed in front of a violet-lit building done up in a mock Roman-pillar type facade. From inside a deep thrumming could be felt more than heard. The ULTRAVIOLET logo was light up in eye-searing indigo neon in cursive faux-handwriting.

,,

"Fuh," breathed Fulcrum...more a forced exhalation than anything. "Hell of a grip you've got there."

,,

The people in the line, the bouncers at the door, the passerbys on sidewalk and in cars, all got an eyeful as New York's newest superheroes glided in to land on the curbside just about ten yards or so from the club, where traffic was thin enough to make it safe.

,,

Though it had felt horrifyingly fast to Slither, MO and Northlight never had any trouble keeping pace. She never got past sixty miles-per-hour; child's play for them.

,,

When all were present and accounted for, Fulcrum grinned at them, nodding to herself.

,,

"Unladies, tonight we show New York that saving lives doesn't mean you can't HAVE one."

,,

They went up the stairs, well, Fulcrum 'sauntered' more than 'went.' Not everyone in line was happy to see them push past, but more of them were either too starstruck or too sensible to do more than mutter about it. The people waiting to get in were mostly college age kids in their early twenties...lots of piercings, some funny colored hair, and a whole collection of wardrobe choices that would seem a lot less flattering the morning after.

,,

The Ultraviolet was clearly upscale...the neighborhood was mostly light office space and other clubs; none as fancy. The cars out front and around the side were expensive...frivolously so, with customizations and undercarriage lamps and hubs that probably cost as much as whole cars in themselves. Rich, pretty kids with nothing better to do than try to impress each other, and hook up.

,,

There was a big guy in a muscle shirt at the door with a PDA in his hand. His eyes flicked from Fulcrum, to Slither, then lingered on MO and Jael for a second before resting on Doctor Northlight just long enough to give her a slightly confused look before returning to Fulcrum.

,,

"This ain't a costume ball, ladies," he said, trying for gruffness and mostly succeeding. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Fulcrum was already talking.

,,

"Dude, we're the ones who saved the north side from those lava monsters a while back, and most of these people know it. So if you want to explain to the man who signs your check why this place is NOT headlining as 'the place to meet superheros' on Monday, you just finish what you were about to say." She folded her arms and waited.

,,

He cleared his throat. "What I was going to say is...sweet tights, ladies. Not everyone can pull that off, but..." He nodded at one of the two men who flanked him. They stepped apart from each other, opening the way in.

,,

Fulcrum grinned. "You just signed the Beatles," she said enigmatically, and went on in.

,,

Inside was a wall of pulsing shades of blue and purple, with twists of pink and green, like an aurora. The building must have had good soundproofing, because the thudding audible from outside was just a thin whisper of the bone-jarring base that warped the air...giving it a to and fro movement like tides at a beach. The club had a dance floor that took up probably three quarters of the surface of the first floor. There were no walls to speak of here. Raised up a bit from the dance floor, and encircling all but one side of it, were tables and two bars, one on each side. The stairs up to the next floor were in the area between the bars, as was an important looking door that probably went into an administrative area. Or maybe a VIP lounge. The bruiser standing beside it in a nice suit implied that for most it went nowhere but to the ground.

,,

The wait staff, both male and female, wore rather skimpy outfits with glowing lines in different colors along the highlights...like chemical lights or something. The table areas were lit in violet light deep and dark enough that it was hard to make out other colors. The bars had more normal lighting though, so folks could see what they were ordering.

,,

Looking up, the second level was open around the dance floor, letting people look down at other people below. It didn't quite overhang it though. Above that was a giant flashing ball that writhed with colors like an oil slick. A very bright, purple/blue themed oil slick. It was the source of most of that weird auroral illumination over the dance area.

,,

And of course, there were plenty of people in the place, but it wasn't exactly crowded. Not wall to wall. Tons of people on the floor; the tables were running at, or maybe just a tad under, capacity; but it didn't have claustrophobic presses. So yeah, upscale. Nightclub.

,,

Fulcrum went to stake out a table right away.

[Magnum Opus]

"Hmmm." MO frowned, looking around for a few moments, then made a decision. "Fulcrum, Jael, Slither, Doctor - I'll be back in a few. Have fun!"

,,

She made her way for the door, walking out into the night air. She nodded again to the bouncer. "Sorry, just wanted to see them inside. I didn't mean to budge in line and I'll make that right, right now."

,,

Amidst amazed stares, Magnum Opus walked to the back of the line, nodding at everyone in line. Inwardly, gears were turning.

,,

I might need to have a little talk with Fulcrum - and maybe the others - about where I stand on throwing our weight around. We already enjoy a lot of privilege as vigilantes on a wink-wink basis with the cops. But - eh, let them have their fun. I want to have fun with them too, honestly, I just am not a big fan of acting too big for my little white boots.

,,

She got in line, turned around, and saw a lot of heads craning to see her. She exhaled. She popped the storage compartment in her belt buckle and checked her pocket watch. Further up the line, someone had gotten out of line and was walking towards her. Magnum Opus sighed internally. Disruptions were going to be the order of the day, it seemed.

,,

"Hi, I hope you're not giving up your spot in line for me, four of my friends are in the - oh."

,,

The young woman who'd stepped out of line wore a multi-colored scarf tightly around her neck. She had dyed red hair and green eyes - so green they had to be contacts. She was the one person there who seemed annoyed that Magnum Opus was there.

,,

"Sellout."

,,

Magnum Opus sighed. "Hi, Justine."