Mutants & Masterminds: Heroes United - [Heroes United] Issue 1: Some Assembly Required

[Justin OOC]

It was an unseasonably cold October Day in New York City, The temperatures were barely out of the 40's and a strong north wind blew through the steel and concrete jungle, its cold bite piercing even the warmest clothing. It wasn't a bad day really, and the city certainly went on about its way as it always had. For a very select group of individuals, the day would prove to be far more interesting than any other so far.

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Each of you finds a note in your home that morning before leaving to go about your day. It Reads the following for each of you. "I know who you are, and what you are destined to become. What you do is marvelous, but it can be even moreso. Come to the Unity building at noon sharp. A Man dressed in all Grey will meet you, to bring you to me, should you wish to know more." The note exerts a certain pull, as though there was some imperative, an inspired curiosity generated by it, making you want to go.

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The unity building is a Gleaming spire of glass and steel, one of the newest buildings in the city, not the tallest, but at 100 stories, it is still quite impressive. Wholly owned by Prometheus Enterprises, it serves as the megacorporation's headquarters. P.E. specializes in clean energy concerns, heavy medical research, and construction, It pointedly avoids military technology, and seems wholly devoted to making the world better for all. What most consider impressive is that there are no stockholders, the company is owned entirely by one Individual, Andery Focht. An intensely private man, he excels at running his massive corporation, and seldom makes public appearances.

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What purpose could he have, if indeed this came from him, in summoning this group of individuals, and how, with all the care given to masking their identities, could he already know what they could do? The only way to find out would be to go.....

[Doctor Northlight]

Weird notes like this was a bit odd for Rachael's typical day. But being told to head to Prometheus Enterprises was... a honor. They're experts in Green tech, Medical, and their ethics and morals were impeccable as far as she was concerned. Although at least to her, she decided to play it safe. After all, this was a mysterious note.

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When she dressed, she decided to put her suit into a attache case. She was happy when offline the bubble helmet she playfully designed for it collapsed as the hard memory polymer became soft when the electrical charge switched off. She hid her blaster in her coat pocket, making sure it stayed on it's stun setting. Wearing her best business suit, a dark blue jacket with a white blouse, a brilliant red tie, a pleated skirt, and comfortable business shoes without heels with grey stockings. Her coat was a nicely tailored white trenchcoat, bought from a fine shop in Paris. She takes a pair of handcuffs, chaining one end of the case and the other to her wrist.

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Pulling out a pair of prop glasses, she smiled, looking in the mirror. "Well, either this is the start of a beautiful collaboration or a bloody well baited trap. Sometimes the brightest light hides the darkest shadows." She said to herself, her accent more London than New York.

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Stepping out from the penthouse she had overlooking Central Park, she flagged a cab and made her way to the Unity Building.

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Once stepping out, she looked around. She spotted the man in the gray suit, but she decided before hand to observe for a moment. Just to see what happens. She walks to a nearby hod dog vendor.

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"One please, chili and some cheese if you got it."

"Right away... first time in New York?"

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"No I live here, actually." She said with a smile, then it dawned on the guy.

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"Wait... you survived that accident at CERN? Saw your face on the news a while back. Man lady... you radioactive?"

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Rachael laughed. "No, I got lucky. Complete clean bill of health. Seems all the bad stuff missed me."

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She went quiet for a moment, remembering her colleagues and the Doctor that had personally vouched for her that did die for science that day.

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"Seems you got a lot on your mind, ma'am... $2.00."

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With her free hand she pulls out her money, nodded and handed over the two dollars... with a two dollar bill. The vendor noticed her chained atache case. "Whoa... seems you got something important in there. Sorta lets people know you got somethin'."

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Rachael nodded. "I protect my laptop jealously. There's many scientists I've learned that would love to get their hands on my research."

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Munching on the Hot Dog she made her way to a light post and leaned on it for a moment. Looking at the man in the grey suit once in a while.

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Once I finish this Hot Dog, then I'll present myself... Damn... forgot a drink. She thought, swallowing back a large bite. When she was nervous she always ate very fast.

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OOC

I am observing for a short period. I will present myself once a few of the others show up.

[SalmonMax]

When she finished reading the note, Renata Hodges, angry daughter of one of the Senators of New York, immediately grabbed a knife from the cutting board and stalked through her generously-sized apartment, hunting for open windows or hiding crazy people. You didn't ignore things like this when you were from a big family. Let alone a big political family. The search came up empty...no obvious points of entry, or exit. The windows were all closed and locked, and she was seven stories up to boot. Door had been locked when she got home from her morning run. Alarm on and undisturbed.

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Compared to the method by which the note got there, the content of the note was almost as vexing. It sent Renata into pacing around her living room as she read it and reread it. The crap about destiny and marvelous and so on was just crazy talking, but knowing who she was? There were a couple of ways that could be taken and neither of them were good. One would lead to humilation and estrangement and quite possibly economic ruin...the other could lead to legal charges.

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Or it could just be someone talking out their ass. Trying to get attention.

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Renata had to stop herself from prowling nervously around the apartment, had to force herself to calm down a little and THINK. Nothing in the note was specific to her. It was vague as hell. One of the superintendents could have left it here as a prank. Or to get a rise out of her. The smart thing to do was ball this thing up and throw it away, and think no more of it.

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But what if it wasn't that? What if this 'man in grey' really had something, and meant to blackmail her or something? If she didn't show...well, she didn't mean to let him blackmail her, but that didn't mean she would just let him spill whatever it was. Not showing up meant there were no choices, no options, no power. It would be capitulating.

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Ren scowled and put the note back on the kitchen counter. She had to get changed.

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...

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Unsure who was watching, she drove to the Unity Building the old-fashioned way. Her 'uniform' was just a black leotard that she wore under her clothes, and some hockey armor she'd put on after stripping down to it. Her mask was a big bandanna she'd cut eye-holes in and wore over the top half of her head. She had to lug around the bright pink disc of her snow-saucer because it was that or rip out big chunks of street or sidewalk to ride on when she needed to fly. Renata was very conscious she didn't cut a very imposing Avenger Of the Night image. It was a work in progress. The good thing about it though was that it was pretty portable. Mask and tights she could carry around with her, and were all she really NEEDED. The disc was handy but not essential. The armor just looked cool, she thought. All that stuff was just sitting on the passenger seat in a pile, waiting to see if she would put it on, or not.

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The plan was simple enough. Drive somewhere she could see the plaza in front of the building from pretty well, and hang out looking for a man in grey. See what he did.

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Just showing up in costume was maybe a bad idea, after all. Whoever wrote that note might not really know about this 'superhero' thing she was trying out. That said, she wasn't eager to show her face...what if someone saw her sneaking into her building once in costume, and didn't really know who she was yet? Hopefully she'd see something that'd help her decide how, or if, to approach this.

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Binoculars, Renata thought to herself as she turned the ignition off and peered across at the plaza. Definitely need to add binoculars to the utility belt list.

[Javier Duncan]

Javier woke up early, he had a lot planned. Alice already had the coffee brewing and he got a big cup and a bagel with cream cheese before heading to his workshop. Once inside he got lost in researching a new style and type of infantry armor. It took several attempts from Alice to break into his little world. "Sir?... Sir... Sir?!... SIR!?"

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"Yes Alice?" Javier replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

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"Sir, it appears that you have a letter." Alice said in an even simulated female voice. She was unflappable, but that was to be expected; it was in her programming.

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"Really Alice? You interrupt me for the Mailman?" Javier put down what he was working with and turned to look at the computer screen that showed the oscilloscope of Alice's voice.

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"No, sir. The letter is on the living room table."

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"Do I need to sign for it or something? Did you really just let the mailman in to wander around the house!?" He said as he turned and started heading for the secret entrance.

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"No, sir. The letter is on the living room table and I have no record of how it got there."

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That stopped Javier dead in his tracks. "What did you say?"

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"I said that the letter is..."

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"I heard what you said. No record, really? It just appeared?"

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"If you would've let me finish, I said that the letter is on the living room table and I have no record of how it got there. I have already analyzed the footage, and one frame it isn't there, and the next frame it is. That is why I felt it necessary to interrupt your work; you know I wouldn't interrupt you if it wasn't important, sir."

Javier sighed. "Yeah, I know." He thought for a moment. "Well, I guess we have to just go and see what it says... maybe that'll offer some clues." Alice agreed, so Javier left his hidden workshop and headed upstairs to read the letter. In fact he read it multiple times to make sure he read it right, slumping to the couch with the shock of it all. Cocking his head to speak to the ceiling (like everybody does when talking to a disembodied computer) "Alice? What are the chances that someone actually does know who The Paladin is and what I can do?"

There is a pause before Alice responds. "There are too many unknown and unknowable variables for me to accurately give you odds... However, by my estimation, the chances are relatively small that anybody would know your secret. What are you going to do, sir?" Alice asks.

Javier thinks a moment before he responds. "Javier is going to keep working. The Paladin, however, has a date it seems."

"Very good, sir."

*****************************************

About 10 minutes until noon The Paladin lands on the roof of a nearby building. He creates a pair of binoculars to survey the scene and watches for a few minutes before returning the binoculars to the nothing from which they came.

"Alice, I'm heading down now. Give me two hours past the appointed time. If you haven't heard from me by then, activate protocol zeta."

"Understood, sir." The distorted synthetic voice of Alice replied over the headphones in The Paladin's helmet. And with that, The Paladin activated his flight system and flew down to land in front of the man in the gray suit. "Hello. Am I the only one, or have some of New York's other heroes been invited?" The voice was distorted and modulated enough to be completely unrecognizable as Javier's.

[Scout]

6 A.M. A small Condominium building in Hoboken, NJ:

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John finished gulping down a glass of water. He had just finished packing his backpack for the days workout when a shadow appeared under the door to his unit. A small letter slipped under the door and the shadow vanished. John leaped at the door. Flinging it open. "Dios Mio!" John started, looking for whoever it was that had just left him a letter. "How many times have I told you not to leave me these things. I don't want any of you damn offers for veterens. I..." There was no one in the hall. John knew that whoever had left him the note could not have been that fast... Puzzled, he returned to his unit and read the mail.

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"Why not?" John thought, "I'll be in that part of the city anyway." He flicked the paper into the garbage can near the door and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He hesitated for a moment at the door. Reaching out, he grabbed a small rock from the counter and slipped it into the back pouch of his backpack.

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It was 21 miles from his Condo in Hoboken, up through Jersey City, across the GW bridge, and down through Manhattan to the part of the city where the Unity building stood. Good enough for a brisk morning jog. He was supposed to be at his Mother's in five hours for Brunch. Enough time for a four hour workout before the 21 mile run. 21 miles in an hour? Plenty of time. After all, that's just under a 3 minute mile.

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A few minutes later, John was down the block at the old Gym hammering away at a heavy bag. Sweating heavily into his grey sweat pants and large plain grey hoodie, "Marines" emblazoned on the back.

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11 A.M. Downtown NYC

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The door to the small apartment opened shortly after John knocked. "Coming, coming," His mother's voice rang through the door. When she opened it, she smiled at him and grabbed the sides of his face. "Ay mi hijo!" John's mother kissed him, "You're just in time! I've just finished your omelette."

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"Gracias, Mom, but I can't stay long today. I've got to meet someone at noon a few blocks from here..." He followed his mother into the apartment, smiling at a few of his younger siblings that had yet to leave the nest.

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12:00 A.M. The Unity Building

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John paused slightly at the edge of the courtyard. His sweats were still sweat soaked from his run and his workout. He wasn't the type to stand on ceremony. If you wanted John, John is what you were going to get. He wasn't about to dress up for someone he didn't even know.

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He concentrated on the courtyard. It was a tactical nightmare. In fact, john picked out a few choice locations for a sniper to perch. If anyone at this meeting wanted him dead, he'd already be biting down on a bullet. With a shrug, he began walking across the street. A rocket sounded, John looked up, and saw a streak of flame tracing across the New York skyline toward the center of the courtyard. "Oh no you don't!" John took off at a dead sprint, hurdling over a mid sized sedan like it was nothing.

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And with that, The Paladin activated his flight system and flew down to land in front of the man in the gray suit. "Hello. Am I the only one, or have some of New York's other heroes been invited?" The voice was distorted and modulated enough to be completely unrecognizable as Javier's.

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"Damn." John jogged up directly behind the jet powered hero. "Guess I'm still not as fast as a jet plane. Going to have to work on that." John Saluted the two men present, refusing to put his hand down until they returned the gesture, "Sergeant Johnathan Quesada, Marine Core Scout Sniper reporting for duty."

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John relaxed and stood at ease. "Since he's here," John nodded at Paladin, "I'm guessing you didn't get my address off the list of honorably discharged war veterans?" John smiled, waiting for someone to chime in with what was likely going to be a witty response.

[Doctor Northlight]

Rachael finished her Hot Dog, swallowing it down nervously, before deciding it was time to walk over. Seeing a armored obvious powersuit was... slightly intimidating as she approached. She adjusted her glasses once she arrived where the other two gentlemen were standing. "Let me guess, gentlemen, mysterious note?" Rachael said, before releasing a sigh. "Looks like our lives have become interesting."

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She smiled. "Good. I like a little adventure." She said, her accent only added to her expression of curiosity. "Rachael... Rachael Joyner. I believe whoever your superior is requested my... and these gentlemen's presence?" She said to the man in grey.

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She moved her hands to the front, her attache case still well secured. She quirked an eyebrow, looking over The Paladin's powersuit. "Fascinating..."

[Justin OOC]

The Man in Grey looked a little frustrated, but it passed instantly. "There will be more coming, yes, hopefully less conspicuously than your arrival." He looked at Javier, and then to Rachel and John "It will be most interesting, yes, now if the three of you would, there is an elevator you need to take down that hallway. Follow the lit arrows, then place your hand upon the door where they stop. Once we have everyone, I will join you, and fetch the boss."

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He returned to his previously unflappable vigil, and true to his words, a line of glowing yellow arrows led down the hallway, and to a corner making the turn. Beyond that they couldn't see.

[SalmonMax]

Even from a distance, Renata couldn't miss the shiny thing flashing down from above, or fail to see it was human-shaped. She'd never been 'up' on following the whole superhuman thing before she joined their ranks. She knew about Modus, of course. Everyone in NYC knew her. This was that Paladin guy, she thought. Or a wannabe.

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She sat back for a second, thinking hard. If that was really Paladin, what did that mean? Someone inviting supers? Or was Paladin the guy inviting her?

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The answers weren't too far off.

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Renata grabbed her mask and fitted it on over her head, twisting it left and right until the eye holes lined up right. She draped the hockey armor on and grabbed the snow disk. It had little elastic bands you used to carry it. She used them to sort of strap it over her left arm like a shield, and to hook her feet under when riding it. Right now she did exactly that...tossing it to the pavement of the parking lot ahead of her, stepping on and hooking her toes under the bands. The air around her seemed to buzz with barely-felt electricity as her power took hold, and the disk lifted into the air a few inches, bearing her aloft atop it. Stray pieces of paper and grit and dust whirled around her for a moment...then she was off!

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Normally when flying, Ren liked to have more altitude. This close to the ground she didn't dare go faster than a bicycle. Holding it up and controlling its movement with lots of obstacles took a lot of concentration.

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But it was fun.

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She zoomed out across the plaza, weaving around pedestrians in a wide arc, then speeding up across the green grassy garden area and vaulting over the fountain, narrowly missing getting splattered with water from the spray of it. The disk came to a stop and dropped to the ground as it approached the man in grey, and Renata stepped off of it, flipping it up into her grasp with a twitch of telekinesis.

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Realizing on looking at him that he wouldn't be the one to give her answers, Ren gave him a nod of acknowledgement and waited to see what he wanted now.

[Scout]

John was a good soldier. He knew how to follow orders. He took a step toward the hallway, but was given pause when the two women showed up.

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"Miss," He gave the businesswoman a friendly smile.

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Then another girl flew in. "Getting more of an audience by the second it seems. Oh, wow, hockey pads. That's cute." John wasn't patronizing her, "I never thought of that. It's a good idea."

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"Excuse me, you two. If I'd known we'd have female company, I would have dressed a bit more appropriately." John pulled off his sweatshirt, and quickly stuffed it into his backpack. He also crumpled up his shirt and drew out a new one slipping it on so that it fit closely on his well muscled frame. He pulled a stick of deodorant out of a small pouch in the bag, as well as a small rock. The rock he slipped into his pocket, and he quickly applied the deodorant before storing it again.

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"That's better! Now then, I'm Sergeant John Quesada." He shook hands with whoever obliged him, "Retired, now, so I suppose you could just call me Scout. Since you guys were a little late to the party, we're supposed to follow the arrows, here." He took one glance at the stoic, silent man in grey. "And I say we'd better do so if we're going to find any answers."

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John slung his backpack over his shoulder and was the first to walk down the hallway.

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OOC

Got a busy weekend ahead of me. Might not be back on until Sunday or Monday

[darksol-aeternium]

Upon readiong the message, Dumisani's first thought was; "Shit! Someone knows!", his second thought was; "Aisha, SHE told them, it HAS to be her!", after which he settled down enough to realize "No...couldn't be her, she couldn't possibly keep this a secret long enough to pull something this pretentious". This left him holding the card and debating with himself as to whether the contents were genuine enough to investigate. In the end, curiousity won out and he decided to attend. In his mind, even if this were some kind of trap or other nefarious scenario, they couldn't hope to hold him against his will.

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"The unity building huh? Where exactly is that again?", and so saying he turned to his laptop and brought up google maps with its handy satelite photos he could zoom in on. Since he first sat down to test the limits of his power, he'd been using these maps more and more often. Thus standard procedure became; find target, then find any adjacent building with a roof, teleport to the adjacent buiilding and walk down from there to avoid suspicion.

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Dressing in attire suited for a business interview (which indeed he assumed this was) and his favorite trenchcoat, he stepped to the middle of the room and all the scene around him seemed to dissolve into a city skyline facing a shining glass skyscraper. He stepped to the edge of the roof to have a look at the target area just as an armored hero known as the Paladin alighted into the courtyard, followed by an athletic fellow who stood at attention and saluted. They were then joined by a smartly dressed woman in business attire, and gestured inside the tower by a man in grey. He was in the process of finding a way down when another woman flew up on what looked like a shield from his distance.

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It was becoming obvious to Dumisani that some kind of gathering of superpowered individuals was underway, which made him nervous. Being invited to such an event pointed towards some kind of intelligence organization that had been keeping tabs on him enough to find him, which was what he specifically tried to avoid on a daily basis. Nevertheless, the fact that whoever it was managed to find him at all was proof that there was no chance of evading the issue.

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"I'll bet this is because of practicing warp-blasts in Nevada..." he thought to himself as he casually walked to the edge of the building. "I knew some defense agency must have picked up on that when the crop-circle story came up in the news! Dammit all!" Still chiding himself he found what he was looking for, a vacant alley that would be difficult to spy into, and teleported next to a dumpster to minimize any possiblity of witnesses. He then straightened his tie and walked casually across the street to the Unity courtyard.

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Once in sight of the man in grey, he holds up the note by way of explanation and stands there quietly waiting for instructions. He attempts to be nonchalant and casual, but is distracted more than once by the dark-haired woman ahead of him.

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[[early 20s, 6'2" at about 180-190lbs he's fairly toned, sienna-brown eyes and black hair braided into neat rows. He seems to be of native and african american descent, and fairly attractive (1) though with no clear sense of how or when to use it (presence 1). ]]

[Doctor Northlight]

One thing Rachael was semi-good at, was keeping her ears open. Hearing "the Sportswoman" Rachael mentally noted she answered the Sargent first.

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"Ah, Sargent. Rachael Joyner, Bachelors in Physics and former intern at CERN's Large Hadron Collider." She smiled. "I guess my theories and experience with theoretical engineering has caught the attention of Prometheus Enterprises."

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She scratched her head. "Although this individual in the powered exoskeletal armor perplexes me. I thought PE didn't work with military technology."

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She then turned to the girl with the kit-bashed street-armor. "Then again, we always start from somewhere." She said with a approving grin.

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"I think I gather what is going on." She said, patting her case with a approving smile. The last man to show up was trailing behind at the entrance. "Well, don't be shy! At the very least there is a bunch of us. Although I highly doubt this is a trap!"

[Magnum Opus]

"Hmmmm."

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Magnum Opus reclined in place, a slush drink in one hand and the letter in the other. She studied it again.

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She'd found it on her desk. She didn't sleep any more, but she'd had a busy night regardless, so she'd been out of the office when it had come it. That was fine. Requests for anonymous assistance came in all the time, and Danielle Waters was only too happy to lend her legal mind to the needs of others.

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Except this had made her pale slightly when she'd seen it. She let her friends Conrad and Caroline know about the piece of paper, and they'd told her the same thing: that if she had to go into hiding, they'd 100% understand. Of course, let unspoken is that if someone nefarious really did have the dirt on her, all of them were at risk.

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So Danielle retired and Magnum Opus took over instead. She took another sip and analyzed the paper.

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It was difficult to express what had happened to her senses since gaining her powers. She could look at something and see all that it was - its weight, its composition, how it was put together. The letter was 100% nondescript and unremarkable, and as far as she could tell, real.

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Addressed to Danielle Waters. And it didn't mention Magnum Opus by name. So maybe it had nothing to do with her powers at all. So perhaps this wasn't a job for Magnum Opus after all.

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Magnum Opus finished her drink and tucked the letter into her belt compartment. She peered over the side of the cloud she'd been sitting on, scanning the skyline. "And the Unity Building is over... ah, there it is."

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She rolled off the cloud, taking flight, the shimmering aura stealing over her as she flew out over the city. She zipped between the skyscrapers, carefully tossing the slushie cup in a recycling bin, and landed atop a building that she knew was a blind spot for CCTV cameras. She reverted the suit back to her normal clothes and withdrew the power into herself, reappearing as regular everyday Danielle Waters... albeit, still able to take a bullet and live.

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Danielle stepped off the side of the building, and walked out of the alleyway and towards the plaza. As she walked, she watch Fulcrum zip overhead, and blinked. Oh, she's here too? How many of us are there going to be...? Hmmm. Well, I've been looking forward to meeting some of the others. Let's hope there's no one getting knocked through a wall this time.

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Once she spotted the Man in Grey, the nondescript woman in a grey blouse, skirt, high heels and glasses held up the letter. "Hi! Hi. Uhm, I got this, but there must be some mistake...?"

[Slither]

None of this felt real; Isabel kept expecting that at some point, she would somehow adjust to her situation in life and move forward, the way she'd done her whole life. It was what she was good at; 'dip kids' like herself took pride in their adaptability and flexibility.

Flexibility; that was a laugh. No one would ever accuse her of being inflexible ever again.

Her SIS debriefing was almost as exhausting as her captivity had been and nearly as unpleasant, though at least her discomfort was not due to physical hardship; the fact of the matter was no at Vauxhall Cross knew what to do with her. No field agent had ever gone through 'the change' before (somewhat surprising, in fact), and there were just no protocols in place for what do in this situation. If the story of her captivity hadn't been plastered all over the BBC and CNN, they might have been more willing to try and fit her somewhere into the military intelligence network, but her cover had been blown, and blown was blown, even if the facts of the case had already run through the news cycle. She was just too great a risk, as maddening as that seemed.

But before they let her go, they ran some tests; rather a lot of them, actually, and some of them were downright medieval. Certainly 'the rack' hadn't been used as method of gaining intel for centuries, at least one hoped, and yet there she'd been, in some dingy East End warehouse being pulled in four directions at once. 'Drawn and quartered' is what they used to it.

In the end when they were done with her, isabel was handed a small gray box and a bulky manila envelope, Her admin assured her that this was not the end for her; some day British intelligence would know what do do with her and she'd be welcome back into the family with open arms, but until that day she was on 'walkabout', free to do as she pleased, though of course 'friendly eyes' would still be upon her, making sure she was safe and sound.

The envelope had a new passport listing her as 'Isabel Stevenson', an HSBC-issued Mastercard and American Express card in the same name and five thousand American dollars. The gray box contained an unusual garment that appeared to be made of some sort in sticky material; a reward, she was told, for her years of suffering and service...

- - -

And now, several months later, Izzy found herself in New York, in a hotel room with a truly amazing view of Central Park; she'd never been to the States before, but all her mates who'd been had gone on an on about how 'brilliant' it was over there. New York seemed like it would be as good a place as any to start her new life, whatever it would be.

"If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere,' she murmured to herself as she smiled and idly sipped her single malt Scotch; hell, even a cultural ignoramus like herself had heard THAT song before.

And then she'd found the note; this led to a bewildering swirl of emotions, though oddly the one she felt the least was surprise. SIS said she would be a hot commodity in this brave new world, and warned her there would be 'buyers', and if these people where up to no good, it would be in everyone's best interest if she found out what they were up to, so...

The Unity Building, an impressive and somehow ridiculously American spire thrusting into the heavens. She'd been nursing a simply delicious cappuccino at a cafe across the plaza for a good half hour before the circus began to arrive. No one had made any visible attempt to intercept the new arrivals or take advantage of the good dozen optimal sniper positions she's noted, so at then very least blatant execution seemed to be off the menu. Still didn't mean it wasn't a trap.

Wearing what appeared to be an impeccable London Fog coat over her charcoal gray sweater, Izzy confidently strode across the plaza to the Man in Gray, the two inch heels of her low boots clicking on the concrete. She offered the man a wary smile and held out the note.

"Good afternoon. I appear to be expected?" She turned and gave the blonde who arrived just before her a friendly nod. "Hullo."

[Javier Duncan]

Javier switched off his external mic with a twitch from his chin. "Alice, make that three hours, I'm not alone. Other heroes are here as well, at least 3 others. We're going to an elevator, don't know if we're going up or down, but it appears to have a handprint lock."

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"Understood, sir. I'm sure that everything will be ok, sir. If they have the ability to make a note appear in the middle of our house, if they wanted us gone then they wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble."

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"Fair enough Alice... Thank you." And with that he turned his external mic back on and turned to Rachael. "This isn't military, I made it myself. It's not even armed; it's mostly for protection and transportation." He spoke as he followed the arrows towards the elevator and pressed his armored hand to the plate.

[Doctor Northlight]

Rachael smiled. "Not getting forcibly ventilated sounds like a good career move." She said. Looking around to make sure this collected bunch weren't accompanied by any prying eyes she whispered to the man in the armor. "I got my own in my case here. Once we get to the floor we're supposed to be on, I should find a lady's room and suit up... didn't want to fly over wearing this it seemed..." she scratched her head. "...not time yet."

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She giggled. "That, and these handcuffs are starting to get annoying. Perhaps I could have avoided all this in this endeavor by showing up in uniform in the first place like The Sportswoman or you, to be honest..."

,,

Rachael waited to see if the plate was some form of security and if the elevator would allow one at a time, or could have enough time to allow the whole group in at once.

[darksol-aeternium]

As the man in grey had already waved the first set of attendees through, Dumisani opted to trail along behind those who were already heading in. The first three arrivals were two upper-echelon scientists judging by their speech and paraphenalia, along with a man who was admittedly ex-military. The last three to arrive gave off an aura he interpreted as higher levels of combat-experience than he was used to interacting with, making him uneasy. He trailed after them for a while before the group reached the elevator security plate.

,,

"So...I'm guessing this isn't a design job interview?" he asked with a sheepish grin and nervous sounding laugh. He could see that there was indeed a great deal of talent arrayed here, but not specifically in the design or technical sector. The way the situation easily referenced superheroic gatherings in comics made him feel like he was in somewhat over his head. Especially with the presence of widely known media supers like Paladin and Magnum Opus in attendance. Being near celebrities only exacerbated his natural shyness and made him wish they were in a waiting room where he could quietly withdraw and watch the others.

[Justin OOC]

The Man in Grey's exasperation showed as suddenly it all became a snarled mess, as everyone arrived relatively at the same time. On time to be sure, but still, having to adjust seemed to bother him a little. "Well, Now that we have all arrived, I would say it's simply best that we all go together."

,,

He smiled as they all gathered up, and caught up to those who'd gone ahead but stopped. "Honestly concealing all of you in a large group like this is not as easy as you may think, if you would please follow the lit arrows to the elevator. It will take you where you need to go, Though I admit, it will take two trips to get everyone."

,,

As everyone did as they were told they came to the elevator, Which did in fact take two trips for them all. Two things were odd though. The elevator moved many times faster than normal, or so it seemed to those waiting for its return. The second odd thing, was for those inside, there was utterly no sensation of movement. The door opened, they got on, it closed, and after a handful of seconds, it opened again, revealing a grand meeting room, to one side was a magnificent buffet, with lots of quality foods, as well as a variety of beverages for them to drink.

,,

The view indicated they were at the top of the tower, looking down on the hustle and bustle of Midday in October in New York City. "Please help yourselves, It may be a few minutes before the Boss arrives, and since it is lunch time, he thought the least that could be done is prepare a feast for you all, in a small token of appreciation for having come." The Man in Grey returned to the Elevator, and left them to talk amongst themselves, and get what food they may wish.

[Doctor Northlight]

"Now I feel guilty buying that Chili Dog..." She said looking over the buffet, getting a selection of pasta and buttering a couple pieces of bread before setting it all at her table. She undoes the handcuffs connecting her case to her wrist, then sets it with care next to her plate. She looked over her silverware, more as she thought of events so far. "So, an intertia-less elevator. Clever. Been trying to work out the kinks of that concept, couldn't put that into the flight pack on my suit. MAybe whoever designed it could exchange notes."

,,

She smiled. Opening her case to look over if she remembered everything, securing her blaster inside it's appointed location after taking it out of her coat pocket. Making sure no one saw it. It was now visible that what was inside the case looked, at a glance, like a blue and white bodysuit, although currently it looked folded up as it should be several sizes bigger than her. There was also a hemispherical pack that looked like it could fit on her back in a recessed foam section of the case as well. There was a bit of clear of what looked like plastic as well.

,,

"I know, it doesn't look like much now... should see it when I'm wearing it."

,,

She started to eat.

[darksol-aeternium]

Descending upon the buffet without preamble, Dumisani began filled 2 plates with myriad selections and sat down to eat it all with total aplomb. Having skipped breakfast that day, and forgotten about lunch entirely with all the paranoia, he was nearly ravenous.

,,

Somewhere in the middle of the 2nd plate it registered just how high up he was, and he teleported to the nearest window without thinking about it to stare out over the horizon.

[SalmonMax]

As she stepped off the elevator, Renata was feeling like she'd worn sneakers to the Prom. Everyone was either in awesome costumes, or street clothes. Her own painfully-obviously improvised costume made her want to sink into the floor every time the hockey armor clacked against itself.

,,

Cute. Yeah. Totes cute. God she wanted to just smack him.

,,

The penthouse office was luxuriant and had a shit-ton of food that they'd never be able to finish and everything else would just be thrown away. Renata was very well acquainted with the mannerisms of opulance, and wasn't impressed. It struck her as a bit hypocritical, really, to market so heavily on the company's 'green' agenda, and to throw away a neighborhood's worth of food just to try to impress a handful of people. Even if at least one of them was famous.

,,

The others, she wasn't so sure of. Since letting the university press run the piece on 'Fulcrum,' she'd been paying more attention to superhumans or parahumans or metahumans...whatever the lab coats were calling them today. Paladin was pretty well known. There were a few others that could claim name recognition in the Big Apple...which had a pretty high concentration of supers, relatively speaking...but she didn't see them here.

,,

Of course, out of costume, who'd ever know?

,,

She went over and had a cup of the punch, but didn't get into food. She was still too keyed up to really eat right now.

,,

"So...what's the story here?" Ren asked, adjusting her mask a little. It slipped after awhile. "A super-intervention? Meeting of supers-anonymous?"

[Doctor Northlight]

"Quite frankly, I don't know." Rachael said.

,,

"There are a few possibilities in my head. One; There is a massive crisis on the horizon and we are needed to deal with it. Two; Whoever is organizing this gathering is forming a team to answer any crisis requiring all of our talents. Or Three; Someone has info on all of us and is about to blackmail us so we can keep our public lives and masked lives secret."

,,

She sighed. "As Sherlock Holmes said, 'Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.' In this matter our anonymous benefactor Is interested in us, thus implying a need. This need either being A: We are required for some crisis outside of this person's reach or B: They require us to be quiet and not meddle in their affairs."

,,

She adjusted her blazer as she read the room. "To be honest this is alot of effort for simple Blackmail. That and with this many of us here, we could proverbially shake the pillars of heaven."

,,

She looked over to Ren. "Perhaps when I get the chance I should design a better protective mask for you. Carbon fibers do wonders for shaping things and for armor."

[darksol-aeternium]

Having finished the 2nd plate of food, Dumisani was listening to the exchange between the businesswoman who introduced herself as Rachael, and the street hero Fulcrum. Inwardly he nodded when Rachael came to the conclusion that blackmail was uinlikely, all you'd have to do for blackmail was make a call and a suggestion, not invite your mark to dinner at a corporate tower. Plus, even inviting everyone to this very public location is too much like tipping your hand for it to be simple blackmail. Too bad though, since of the two conclusions blackmail could actually claim to be simple.

,,

Walking over to the two women, he waited carefully for a break in their dialogue before inserting, "So if this is too elaborate for blackmail, and I agree that it is -too much like tipping your hand, then what kind of problem needs this many metahumans? More importantly, why contact people who aren't even public?"

[Scout]

John was very nearly overwhelmed by these surroundings. He was a pretty simple man, to be sure. He even jumped when Dumisani teleported close to him when he was looking out the window.

,,

He nibbled at a few of the finer things at the buffet that he didn't get a chance to have otherwise. He took one of the steaks, and sat down to enjoy it along with a glass of Seltzer Water.

,,

Noting Renata's dejected look he decided to have a few words between bites, "Look I didn't mean anything by what I said, I don't really have a costume either. Hell, I'm still using this old thing from time to time," He pulled an old military flak jacket out of his pack and flopped it onto the table. "I should really have unpacked this thing before I ran the 20 or so miles to get here. I might have beaten super suit over there if I had..."

,, ,,

She looked over to Ren. "Perhaps when I get the chance I should design a better protective mask for you. Carbon fibers do wonders for shaping things and for armor."

,,

"Hey, if it's a standing offer, I'd take you up on that. I'm not above asking for help when I need it." He chewed another few bites of his steak as he listened to the others discussing their situation, "I'll agree. I don't think this is blackmail. But even if it were, I don't think we should go about shaking any pillars. After all, the people who own this building do some pretty good work so we wouldn't want to damage it, and the more attention we call to ourselves, the more likely there is to BE blackmail."

,,

Walking over to the two women, he waited carefully for a break in their dialogue before inserting, "So if this is too elaborate for blackmail, and I agree that it is -too much like tipping your hand, then what kind of problem needs this many metahumans? More importantly, why contact people who aren't even public?"

,,

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see..." Johnathan shrugged and dived back into his steak, "This really is phenomenal," He pointed at it with his knife, "You girls should really try this."

,,

Johnathan had aparently never heard the phrase, 'how can you eat at a time like this?'

[Doctor Northlight]

"That is my conundrum. See, we don't know how this mysterious individual who I will call Subject X even got enough intelligence on us to make such a call. Now I can conceive several ways I personally may have been found out but it would take one leap of deduction. Perhaps observing odd power usage spikes at Con-Edison before I put in my Zero-Point Generator or the fact I was ordering highly specific equipment when I was designing and fabricating my protective suit."

,,

"What's more, my experience at the Large Hadron Collider wasn't... without incident. Before then I was smart, yes, but not as I am now."

,,

"In fact when I was examined by doctors, I was classified as 'I shouldn't be alive'. I was bombarded with enough sub-atomic particles that others who were hit either were so irradiated they died of cellular breakdown in a few painful hours, or half their body was disintegrated by the blast."

,,

She adjusted her glasses. "That level of providence alone and my appearance in the press as the lone survivor... might have been more than enough evidence that I may be someone different."

,,

"We all leave a trail of information. It just takes someone with some deductive talent to suss it out."

,,

"But yes, I think calm and reason is a far better approach. And I wouldn't mind helping everyone... after all, There is a 50% chance we all will be working together in the near term. And hey, it gives me a chance to test my skills."

[Javier Duncan]

The Paladin listened to everything that was being said and took it all in. He briefly looked at the table, but he'd have to take off his helmet to eat and that still wasn't an option. If he had a way to get out of his suit and still keep his identity a secret he would have...

,,

He walked up beside Rachael as she was offering her services. Once she was finished, he added "I would be willing to assist as well. Whether we end up working together or not. I'm not so bad at designing myself, plus I can do this..." and with that he held out his right hand palm up and a plate appeared on it. The plate quickly changed to a metal sphere, then a European style broadsword, then a round shield with red, white, and blue coloring on it, then disappeared entirely. "I can even do this..." and he touched one of the chairs, turning it into solid gold for a few moments before returning it to its' original composition.

,,

He looked to both Ren and John. "I could give both of your armors an upgrade here and now that should do you well until we design something more stylish and functional that what you have... if you want. I'm sure what you currently have is serving you well."

,,

He turned back to Rachael. "I'm not ruling anything out yet. Someone with access to the level of technology or abilities as our host has, could just need us all together and to let our guards down to deal with us all in one swift strike..." The Paladin let that hang in the air a moment before adding, "But I do agree that it is more likely that our host probably has some task for us, wants to hire us, or just plain wants to study us."

[SalmonMax]

The glare that Renata turned on John was far from dejected. If his intent had been to placate, the simmering anger there suggested strongly that a mistake had been made.

,,

"I have a costume," she said tightly. "It's not armor. This is just...a first try. I don't want to spend a lot of money on something before I know what works. And I don't need carbon-fiber-anything, or upgrades... It's just...ugh, you know what? Nevermind. Enjoy the steak." The last was directed towards Scout.

,,

She turned away and paced away across the room, desperately wishing her costume had pockets to stuff her hands into. The guy just rubbed her the wrong way, with his casually patriarchal attitude and his conspicuous desire to show off how far and fast he'd run to get here. Everyone was showing off, for that matter. Science Girl...as she'd come to be known within Renata's mind...name-dropping the LHC and parading her tragic origin story. Teleport Boy choosing to blink ten feet instead of walk. Even Paladin was doing his thing with the metal ball and chair. You didn't see her playing Poltergeist with the main course, did you?

,,

Of course, I did go hoverboarding to the meeting downstairs.

,,

Bleh. That was different. That was expedient. Purely functional. If she'd walked, she'd have been late.

,,

God, Renata hated these awkward moments where everyone was sizing each other up and trying out for spots on the social totem pole. She just wanted whoever was behind this to pop out from behind the curtain, explain what the hell he wanted, and let her get on with her day.

,,

That's when she realized she'd walked right over next to the hot blonde. The anger and frustration turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because she completely forgot to be tongue-tied, and instead asked her wryly, "So what are you in for?"

[Magnum Opus]

,,

(to alleviate confusion, I'll use avatars like this to denote what guise MO is in)

,,

Danielle seemed vaguely baffled and ill at ease around the slightly madcap ensemble, jumping a bit when one of them straight-up teleported and goggling a little when another one summoned matter with a finger-snap. She contented herself to quietly watch, at first.

,,

Then Fulcrum spoke to her, and she looked back at her. "Oh, got a letter." She withdrew it from her jacket pocket. "'I know who you are, and what you are destined to become. What you do is marvelous, but it can be even moreso. Come to the Unity building at noon sharp,' etc etc. I work in a legal clinic, so, ah, yeah, this is all - " She waved her hand over her head. "Way over my head. I guess someone needed a lawyer? I don't know why they needed to send me a note. I mean, I have a celphone and everything - whoops - "

,,

Danielle pulled out her phone and then pulled out the battery, popping the rear hatch to put it in. "Forgot to turn it on! Ugh. I'm a mess. Hi. I'm Danielle. I think I heard of you - Fulcrum, was it? What's with all the, you know - " She put her balled fists on her hips and puffed her chest out a little. "You know, superpeople. I - I really don't know why I'm here."

,,

Whoops, almost too smart for my own good. Took out the battery so the phone couldn't be tracked and I forgot to put it back in.

,,

"I'm gonna pass on the steak, if that's okay, Mister...?" She arched an eyebrow inquisitively at Scout. "I mean, you got to watch your drinks these days. Could be anything in there."

[Doctor Northlight]

Rachael sighed at Ren's response.

,,

"I would wager right now, Paladin, that we are being observed, seeing how we get along with each other. Seeing how we tick."

,,

She quirked an eyebrow as she continued her meal, taking a sip of the milk provided as she wasn't too sure she wanted punch on top of everything else. She tries to stay away from sweet tasting foods. She stroked her chin. "No matter, it's all academic that we all are in this together, no matter the outcome. Curiosity's got us, and we're not even cats."

,,

"We should enjoy our meals, to be honest, I think though we should eat light. Might need to be able to move at a moment's notice, not that I'm expecting a trap but we may be called to some sort of emergency."

,,

"Oh right, it was mentioned why we would be needed. Simple. We exist. There have been those with unusual talents that have used their ability for their own personal gratification. We... well we I would think aren't in it for that."

[SalmonMax]

"Same as the letter I got," Renata told Danielle, stepping sideways a little to come between her and Scout without even realizing she was doing it. "So you're probably here for the same reason I am. You might not put on a costume and stop crime, but you've gotta have something about you."

,,

Other than just being seriously cute. Not that that's not enough.

,,

She lifted an eyebrow a little at the cellphone antics, but elected not to say anything. Usually folks turning off their cellphones just turned them off. Ripping out the battery bespoke a bit more urgency than was routine.

,,

"So...legal clinic. What's that exactly? Like a law firm?"

,,

Student at the U maybe? Interning? She knew who I am, so she must have some kind of connection to the university; pretty sure that's the only place I've made a splash so far.

[Scout]

"Was it something I said?" John looked incredulous as Renata stormed off. "I... Oh well."

,,

He turned to Paladin as he finished the last of his steak and stood up from the table. "All, I've got is this," He held up his flak jacket, "And this," He pulled a small rock from his left pocket, pressed a button on his watch, and his left arm became wrapped in a gauntlet like piece of armor. The rock shot out into what would become a protective shield. "And I'd be greatful for your help in changing my image. Enough of this 'low budget' stuff."

,,

OOC For Paladin

you've got creative liberty to dream something up. Just keep in mind I'm going for that whole 'perfect soldier' 'captain america' routine

[darksol-aeternium]

While he could tell that Renata was pissed off about something, Dumisani couldn't see what the soldier had said that was so offensive. But, lacking the social grace to try and say something consoling, he decided to just not bother her and avoid making it worse. This was probably one of those things his sister always told him he was clueless about, and that he should keep his mouth shut during.

,,

As for the Doctor (WAS she a Doctor or a Proffessor? Probably best not to ask...) her estimation of the people in this room left him feeling inadequate. For while he wasn't using his power for self-gratification as he understood it, he definitely was using it for monetary gain. He did have people to support after all. Rather than pursue the issue he opted to change the subject.

"What little I've done with my power was more or less without any kind of uniform, but since I have to move fast it usually didn't matter." He paused for a second while he chose his words, as if making a concerted effort to watch what he said. "If we're really going to be hired for some kind of big threat, I may need something to cover my face at least.... I should sketch something for that. Um...how long do the things you make from air last?"

,,

As he said this he reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out an 18x24" strathmore pad sketchbook, and object IMPOSSIBLE to fit in a trenchcoat pocket.

,,

OOC

((Yes...I have failed spectacularly at not showing off... ))

[Slither]

Once they were all together, Isabel did what she did best nowadays: blend into the background. She filled a plate with food (Poisoned? Drugged? The first unlikely, the second probable.) and took a seat off to one side, delicately nibbling on some chicken as she observed the others and began to take mental notes.

1. The young woman with the clearly homemade suit appeared to be rather touchy (Class issues? Difficult childhood?). Engage cautiously, so as not to spook her.

2. The scientist (Accent hard to place. Genuinely English? Educated in the Commonwealth? Affectation?) was clearly terribly smart, and like all terribly smart people had an opinion on everything.

3. The American soldier, while genial in his own way, seemed rather awkward in social situations.

4. The lawyer is lying, most likely about a secret identity in this situation. Understandable, of course.

5. The man in the metal suit (Mechanically-inclined, also probably a genius.) possessed a truly amazing gift that rogue nations and extremists groups would kill for without hesitation.

6. The teleporter spent some time in sub-Saharan Africa, or one of his parents did, based on his accent. Very lucky not to be living there now.

In terms of initial alliances (You canNOT be alone in this, Izzy.), she had common ground with numbers two and three, assuming the accent was real. Number four would be a waste of effort until she came clean. Numbers five and six seemed open and engaging, which meant she could work on them at anytime. Yes, everything definitely pointed to contestant number one.

And yet here, Izzy hesitated; her training at MI6 told her Fulcrum was the best possible choice for asset recruitment, as she was an outsider and could clearly use a friend, but it was the very perfection of the choice that repelled her somewhat. How horrible it was to see the world through her eyes! She shook her head and prepared for initial approach.

The soldier got under her skin. She'd raked the elaborate spread with an angry look of disgust. Very self-conscious about her costume. Seemed to be doing well enough talking to the blonde lawyer, so don't jeopardize that developing relationship.

Isabel picked up her plate, rose smoothly from her chair, and sauntered over to the buffet with the effortless grace of a ballet dancer. She fixed herself a Scotch on the rocks, positioned herself close to the two women engaged in conversation, and surveyed the table heavily laden with food as she took a sip of her drink.

"Seems like an awful waste for just the seven of us..." She said it loud enough to be heard, but soft enough for it to be politely ignored as thinking out loud if neither of them chose to engage her.

[Doctor Northlight]

Rachael smiled. "I wouldn't think of it as a waste."

,,

She adjusted her glasses, enjoying her milk. "I've done more with my guests back home, Miss?..." She was at a loss.

,,

"Actually how rude of me, I should have introduced myself properly to everyone else, including you." She said to Isabel. "I'm Rachael Joyner. I... don't really have a name yet... or call-sign... or whatever they're called... Identity, right!"

[darksol-aeternium]

While sketching in the drawing pad Dumisani seemed to completely forget his social hesitance, becoming absorbed into what he was doing. In about 2 and a half minutes he had an image to show Paladin.

,,

"Could you create something like that? And will it always be there or would it dissolve? Nevermind the weapon, I already have that." the questions spilled out like an excitable kid half his actual age.

,,

OOC

The actual image itself is in my gallery. Should be easy to find since it's the only image there. When i figure out how to embed pics into posts I'll edit this one.

[Heritage]

Isabel felt a minor flare of irritation, as her bait was drawing the wrong prey, but then she realized that it would be the height of rudeness not to respond to the young scientist. So she gave her a warm smile and extended her hand with a firm, personable grip.

"Very nice to meet you, Rachael, I'm-" There was a microsecond's calculation as she debated whether or not to offer her real name or fake name, before she settled on the later. The result was the briefest of pauses, like a DVD doing a layer change. "Isabel Stevenson. How do you do?"

She indicated the spread with a nod. "Hopefully our mysterious host will pass on the extra to a shelter of some sort, or allow us to take some home for later."

Izzy paused and cocked her head to one side. "Excuse me for asking, but are you from London? I hear a bit of an accent." She indicated her graceful throat with a wave of her fingers. "Mine has been all over the place, Pakistan and Cambridge most recently."

[Doctor Northlight]

"Well, I was born in Boston, spent most my elementary school years in London, then most of my junior high and high school career in Tokyo before moving to New York City when my parents died to complete my senior year back stateside. Then I Lived on campus at MIT up till after I got my Bachelors." She said. "Now I live at my folk's estate... more like a penthouse near central park. I... hope that doesn't seem weird, having frequent flier miles as extensive as the circumference of the planet thrice over."

,,

She kept out the fact that she also has a secret lab in a old dock-side warehouse once owned by her folks but passed down to her.

,,

She finished her plate of pasta. "Now, I'm just enjoying a little time off, but it seems that is quickly coming to an end."

,,

"Can't wait, actually." She said, still smiling.

[Magnum Opus]

,,

"Sort of. A legal clinic is for people who don't have a lot of money and who need legal advice - students, single mothers, people who don't pull down a lot per year. Anyone who's in a situation where they need to navigate the legal system but don't necessarily have a lot of money for a good lawyer. We do a lot of pro bono."

,,

She checked her messages, then put her phone away. "As for special gifts? I dunno about that. I don't think super-lawyering is a power. Otherwise that jerk on the radio who thinks all superpeople are the spawn of the devil might have a point. You know the one, right? And I think Focht's way above my pay grade unless he's got a landlord who's trying to trump up a grievance and kick him out, so... I don't know."

[SalmonMax]

Know the one? Try three. And I bet mom has them all going all day.

,,

She was grinning though at the description of the legal clinic. Mostly because it sounded like the kind of thing her dad would think was stupid as hell, which meant she automatically loved it.

,,

"That sounds pretty awesome," Renata said admiringly. "The clinic I mean. As for the rest..." She waved a hand around at the rest of the room. "The pattern's pretty clear. Maybe you don't know it yourself yet. Sometimes they sneak up on you. That's how it was for me."

,,

With a shrug she added, "So you know who I am, but I don't even know your name yet. Feels a little unfair." Her smile was impish though, making a joke out of it. Much to Isabel's likely chagrin, she was focused intently on Danielle, and barely seemed to notice Isabel's offhand statement.

[Magnum Opus]

,,

"Oh! Right! Business card." Danielle dug around in her blazer. "Here you go." Danielle handed Fulcrum a thin white card. "Danielle. Danielle Waters. I'm ah, not going to ask what your real name is, because..." She mimed tugging on an imaginary mask.

,,

"Wonder if I should hand them out, actually. You'd think if anyone was broke and needed legal advice, it'd be superheroes."

[darksol-aeternium]

"...and since we're probably going to be shot at, it might be great to know what kind of materials you can make this out of. Lemme know if you need any additional details, I'm grabbing a drink." And so finishing his barrage of questions, he handed the sketch to Paladin and went over to the punch area to have a drink. He also tried to position himself so he could hear everything going on and not miss the return of the man in grey.

,,

He was unfamiliar with the person claiming to be a lawyer, but had his doubts as to her being called in to serve as a buffer against property damage lawsuits. Mega-corps always had a staff of fiendish lawyers on retainer to dissolve any lawsuits, and even if this one was as prestigious as the media touted it was probably no different. No, whoever she was she was deeper undercover than anyone else here.

,,

He knew of Fulcrum from the end of his college days, but only from a 3rd hand perspective. She worked the NY area and he lived in Chicago, so there was never a chance to catch her in the act. Still, touchy as she was, she looked like what a lot of people expected from a street-level hero. (As odd as that term may have sounded in his head, it was starting to look like comic terminology would get used a lot more often for the sheer convenience...) He reasoned that she must have a lot of online followers and resolved to look her up later.

,,

Proffessor(?) Joyner had already alluded to the idea that she was in the same business as Paladin, an inventor and "power-suit", which recent films had exploded the popularity of. If this were indeed the ground floor of an actual superheroic organization (an idea bandied about on the internet since the advent of the first few superhumans), it's obvious she'd be on the technical team. Of course since she owned a New York penthouse, she was probably rich as sin, which is another good thing to add to a auperhero org.

,,

The person talking to Prof. Joyner, Isabel, gave him a distinct feel of professionalism that one nomally sees in James Bond movies. The authentic accent helped with that image a great deal, making it impossibel to look at her and not think "moneypenny". She could probably kill us all in under 5 minutes...he thought to himself.

,,

Paladin was only known to him through half-seen news clips and blogs he'd skimmed. He knew the man was a power-suit, he didn't know he could create matter from nothing, which was one of the established god-powers if it was a permanent creation.

,,

The ex-soldier was less awkward than he was, but only because he was so obviously earnest. Dumisani didn't know the difference between one armed forces member or the other unless they had a plane or a tank on hand, but at least this guy was a lot different than many of the others he'd seen off-duty. Many of those were drunken, belligerent, assholes spoiling for a fight. This guy could be anybody's neighbor, or the handyman you see everyday.

,, ,,

He looked in Prof. Joyner's direction just as she said "Now, I'm just enjoying a little time off, but it seems that is quickly coming to an end." Moving slightly in the direction of her conversation he tried to nonchalantly ask;

"So what were you studying at MIT? Did you have a specific job in mind?"