Mutants & Masterminds: Harmony City - First Day of Work

[Rorx]

"Interesting the different paths apparently similar power take. As you can see, I seem to get a free rewind option with mine. Presumably as a liquid you could get under doors and through wreckage etc in a disaster rescue situation. When you change shape, like when you took on Ditto's form earlier, is it just the appearance you copy?"

[314_Omega]

Omega "relaxes" and his features become blunted. Color drains away to a silver-gray and he takes on a shape and appearance similar to a department store mannequin. "This is my default state, I can assume any appearance but I retain my own abilities regardless."

[Rorx]

Dwarfstar takes a minute to see if everyone has finished and organise his notes before addressing the room.

"Ok, so far I make it that we have the following abilities amongst us, with the proviso that Ditto can copy anyones abilites and Silas may be able to duplicate something similar. 4 flyers, 3 Energy blasts, 2 Disintegrators, 2 Teleport, 2 Shapeshifters, 3 with effective Life Support, 1 who can snare people, 1 who can heal, 1 who can transmute things and 1 who is extraordinarily strong."

He looks around the group, "Does that sound about right? Does anyone have anything else to add?"

"Dennis, did you have anything else much in mind for us today, or just to start evaluating our powers together and training together?"

['The Apostate']

"Uh, I'm not exactly a 'shapeshifter'." Ditto chimed up. He'd been silent for the majority of the power flexing discussion lost in thought over whether or not he could actually eat just one. His thought was derailed by trying to muster up exactly what it was he should try eating just one of. "I can do pretty much what anyone in this room can do, either all at once in some cases or certain powers and abilities at a time, and man I can't wait to get busy with some of that magic stuff, that looks like a blast."

A sudden silence crept over the room as the thought of someone as obviously irresponsible as Ditto wielding the cosmic forces of arcana.

[Rorx]

"Thanks for that clarification Ditto. Do you always copy someones form as well as there powers, or could you have one persons form and another persons powers?"

[Dawn OOC]

Dennis smiled, pleased that everyone had been so forthcoming and cooperative. "I did have a full day planned; I believe that we should review the city's emergency policies. You'll need to know what to do in the case of a crisis-"

His voice cut off as a blue portal formed in mid-air. Hammer's relaxed demeanour dropped away instantly as he pushed off the wall he was leaning against. A pretty Hispanic woman with glowing green eyes leaned out. "Hammer, we need you," she stated, her voice tense.

Hammer nodded and turned to the grouped defenders of Harmony City. "Sounds like I have to go. I'll come back when I can. I mean, you are all doin' homework. You should be fine until I return." Without waiting for a reply, he bounded through the portal, which closed behind him.

"Well," Dennis said, nodding to the staff. They all stood up together, but Abigail and Chad left while Sam opened section of panelling to reveal a concealed cabinet. She began pulling out three-inch binders and passing them to the heroes as Dennis started to speak. "These are the emergency manuals for Harmony City. Let's start with the first section, Natural Disasters. We start with Hurricanes, appropriately enough. A hurricane is a storm system characterized by a low pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain. Also called tropical cyclones, they feed on heat..."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Across Town...

"Come on, man," Raoul panted, watching anxiously as his compatriots tugged and twisted at the lock. "That guy back there was looking at us funny. He might call the cops. Hurry up!"

"Fuck you," Styles said without any real rancor in his tone. He was more irritated at the lock than his nervous companion. Raoul might think he was hot stuff, but Styles - whose real name was George Isaac Childers, something he told no one - had more 'style,' more sparkle and was just plain better in all ways.

Gigi, the third person here, was ignoring both of the boys as she manipulated the lockbreaker, trying to orient the tool so that it could do its job. Suddenly, it snapped into place and she grinned broadly enough to show the gum she was chomping. "We're in," she muttered as she stablized the tool so that Styles could pump the hydrolic jack that was going to pop the padlock.

"Piece of shit," Styles panted as he worked.

"Hey, it works," Gigi said.

The padlock snapped with a metallic ting and Gigi cleared the reminents while Styles and Raoul crouched, prepared to raise the door of the storage shield. When she dropped the last piece of shattered metal, they lifted, and the three thieves stared into the dark room.

"Man... where's the light?" Gigi asked.

"Spread out," Styles said, motioning to Raoul to step inside and lower the door. "Find the switch."

"I have a bad feeling," Raoul muttered.

"Shut up and get to work," Styles snapped.

Raoul found the switch first. "Found it!" he shouted.

"Well, flip it!" Gigi shouted. "I can't see shit in here."

Raoul paused a second. It wasn't really a light switch, but one of those big handles you saw on giant fuse boxes in movies. But it was dark and he hated not being able to see what was around him. He rubbed his hands down his glittering vest for reassurance, then shoved the switch up.

[Primax]

He tried to make himself interested, but that only lasted about ten minutes. After that, the lecture became so much babble and Charles began thinking which girl he was going to be taking out to night. Stephanie was fun, but Candy was so limber. Then there was Melina, and Sarah, and Carmen ... it was good to be twenty-one and a super-hero. He grinned as his eyes glazed over and his thoughts went off to fantasy land.

[314_Omega]

There were advantages to being a computer, not the least of which was the ability to multitask. Omega appeared to be paying attention and even answered questions in an almost eager fashion, but he also jacked into the local network to continue studying the local texts on biology, medicine, electronics, and so forth.

[Rorx]

As Sam brings the folder round Dwarfstar comments to her.

"You better get some decent coffee in here, and keep it coming from the look of these folders."

After about an hour his eyes are beginning to droop and so he braves question of Dennis.

"I can see that it is good that city has these procedures, but is it really necessary for us to lear them? Isn't the whole point of your role as a liaison to tell us what needs to be done next in those situations?"

['The Apostate']

"Dude, and what if Denis isn't there, what then, huh?" Ditto looked up from one of the folders he was reading. When he sat it down the issue of "Bikini Monthly" that had he'd been reading, disguised by the folder was shown displaying two pages of perfectly equipped bikini models in this seasons latest styles of head turning swim wear. "C'mon, take this whole super hero thing seriously. We have an obligation to the people to be, like... I dunno, responsible and stuff. So study hard, and no slouching."

He pulled his folder back up, hiding the magazine once more. "Man, I can't believe some people." He muttered, shaking his head like a disappointed parent. "This are serious business."

[Vixen]

Roxanne takes to the emergency manuals as best as she can, but she is somewhat distracted.

Okay. I saw what Silas did. Smelt it too. I accept that I observed it and that it is a repeatable, observable effect. I'll have to pick his brain to see what he thinks of it. Tesseract too, since this higher-dimensional hooha is out of my league but it could explain a lot of this stuff. I'm not sacrificing any chickens or dancing naked during a full moon. Perfectly rational here.

[SalmonMax]

Tesseract, for her part, looks through the manuals, but spends most of her time watching and listening everyone else. Whether that's out of boredom or if she's some kind of speed reader or what, is hard to say.

[Brightstar]

Kallen reads intently, listening as Dennis goes through his explanations. She had a rough understanding of the weather patterns on this world, and how to handle them, even if most didn't apply to her.

[Rorx]

Ditto's righteous tone is just too much for Dwarfstar to take offence at as he replies.

"Well Ditto, I'm perfectly happy to take it serious. Are you going to put away your Bikini Monthly and take it as seriously as you are telling us to?"

Regardless of any responce by Ditto, Dwarfstar goes back to reading the manual and making occassional questions and notes.

[Silas]

Silas knew of enough of the city that he only gave the manual a brief glance. His real thoughts were focused on what the best way he could approach Roxanne and get some more insight into her magical abilities. Outside of the Dark Ones, I haven't spotted any other magic users, I wonder what is her driving force for being here is? I better keep a more watchful eye on her.

[Primax]

Dwarfstar's admonisment brings Charles out of his revelry and he quickly finds his place in the talk. He flips a few pages in his manual and tries harder to keep up this time. After all, being municpal defender was important work and he should be devoting more of his time to it.

He wondered what the beaches were like right now?

[Rorx]

During the first break, Dwarfstar approaches Primax with a smile.

"Hi there, how does it feel to be the most well known person in the room? I was wondering, a lot of us seem to have gotten our powers relatively recently through accidents or what have you, but I guess you were born with yours? When did they appear? I mean could you fly as a baby or did they only develop later on in life. What was it like growing up with your powers?"

['The Apostate']

Simply put, Ditto was bored. He didn't take to studies well and sitting in a room with a bunch of serious minded individuals made his sense of humor look more disruptive than cheeky and fun.

Not that it mattered at the moment; by the time first break had rolled around Ditto was fast asleep on the large table, sitting in his chair with his head resting comfortably on the pages of his bikini monthly. The large pool of drool settling on the page of a rather buxom model in a racy set of two-piece beach floss held it's own little irony to it.

[Primax]

A winning smile crosses his handsome features as Primax addresses Dwarfstar,

"No, I didn't come into my powers until high school. My sixteenth birthday as a matter as fact. First I could just fly then I started to get stronger. Lifting my first car was really a trip."

"As for why me? I'm a legacy. My father was the first Primax up in Philidelphia."

The grin fades,

"He was killed shortly after I was born. See, I know this lifestyle isn't all high towers and photo-ops. We save lives and put our lives on the line."

"I also look around me," he whispers, "and I wonder who isn't going to be able to cut it when the first one of us gets hospitalized, or killed."

"Know what I mean?"

[Rorx]

"Oh, yeah, it's not going to be all fun and games. I'm not looking forward to getting shot at. I think my force field would hold, but I have no experience to back that up. As for the rest, perhaps it won't be too bad, Vixen said something about Healing people with her powers."

[Vixen]

As Vixen watches Ditto sleep, a smile slowly creeps along her muzzle.

Oh, I shouldn't. I really shouldn't. But I must. She points at the magazine and speaks. "Playgirl magazine."

She sits down, satisfied, as Ditto's favorite model metamorphoses into Vixen's.

[Brightstar]

Kallen nods then chuckles at Vixen's little trick. "Awesome."

She lookes abit more seriously at Vixen. "That is really pretty cool. Now that is an example of magic?"

She smiles. "I will be honest, I am not really familiar with magical powers."

[Rorx]

Dwarfstar comments, "What was that quote by Arthur C Clarke 'any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'. As far as powers go does it really matter there origin as long as they work?"

[Brightstar]

"I have heard that, but it still begs the question of how such a thing is counteracted. Can only magic defeat magic, or can other things work against it equally?"

[SalmonMax]

"It matters," Tesseract says, looking at Dwarfstar. "They must be understood and classified. Understanding how they work is important for that."

"Who is Arthur C Clarke?"

[Rorx]

"I'm surprised that Tess wouldn't know of Arthur C Clarke. He is, if he is still alive, a scientist and engineer who practically invented the communications satellite, and is also a prolific and famous science fiction writer."

[SalmonMax]

Tesseract gazes at Dwarfstar owlishly, then says, "Not all data was recovered. Not all data was uncorrupted." She frowns and squints her eyes briefly, then takes a glass of water and drinks from it.

"And there is data that was recovered, but is meaningless without context. Science fiction. I know what it means, but not what it is. I am here to understand that distinction."

She grimaces. "The dissonance between what is known and what is understood has been...great. It's making things harder than we'd expected."

[Rorx]

Dwarfstar gives Tesseract a huge grin. "Science fiction, well one exmple would be us, until a couple of decades ago people with superpowers generaly only appeared in fictional accounts which would be classed under the heading of science fiction. Another example would be that most stories of travelling to other planets or other systems is classed as science fiction."

[Vixen]

"I suppose if by 'magic' you mean' stuff I don't fully understand yet' then yeah. But I refuse to accept gods or spirits or whatever other claptrap people want to bring into it. I accept that I can do this because I can observe it and that's as far as I'll go."

Yeah, no such thing as spirits. That's just silly! What bit you again? Shut up, Roxy. Stop thinking at yourself.

[Rorx]

"That's precisely my point. I can't explain what I can do anymore than you can, so I wouldn't worry about what labels other people may want to put upon your abilities. We just need to accept that we have these abilities no matter what their source may be and move on with our lives as best we can."

[314_Omega]

Omega surreptitiously taps into the internet and after a few moments joins the conversation. “Arthur C. Clarke’s Third law states, ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Indeed this could easily be applied to so-called magic. Manipulation of high spectrum energy sources that allow for matter-energy conversion can explain much of the effects I have observed thus far today. Would not this be the same as the manipulation and control of radioactive properties and electricity would be to a human from the Stone Age?”

[Dawn OOC]

For a second, there was no light, just a soft hum that grew in volume until steadying out at the level of an exposed vacuum tube. Then the lights snapped on, and the three members of the Diamond Street Gang stared in awe at the stash they'd found.

"Wow, look at this shit," Raoul breathed, reaching out to touch the glass doors on the cabinet. "What is that?"

Gigi glanced, her eyes narrowing. "Who knows," she said. "It could be a plasma gun; it could be a cat groomer. We need to be careful - I think we found one of Dr. Dread's old stashes."

"Really?" Styles asked, turning to grin expectantly at Gigi.

"I think so," she said.

"Fuck yeah!" Styles shouted. "We're going to be fucking rich. Gigi, call the rest of the tribe. We're going to clear this shit out!"

Gigi had her phone out, but as she dialed, she warned, "We have to be careful-"

The sound of shattering glass filled the storage unit. Styles and Gigi turned to see Raoul holding part of a piece of plate glass, glass that had once covered a shelf of the cabinet. "It wasn't completely closed," Raoul said quickly. "I thought I could pry it open."

A loud alarm ran through the building. The three cringed, and then moved toward the door as one. "Raoul... the door!" Styles shouted, pointing to the spot where Raoul should lift. The two started to lift; before it was completely up, Gigi was crawling out. When she was clear, she spun and rose to her feet-

In time to see something behind Raoul and Styles, something that moved and made the door dropped. But not before Gigi saw the blood sprayed the interior, and saw her tribemates begin to fall. Choking on her tears, Gigi turned and started to run on instinct, trying to find somewhere safe.

Behind her, the door rose again, and forms began to slip out after her.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Gigi didn't relax until she reached the Wal-mart. Panting, she sagged against a wall, shaking from her exhertions. The tears that she had fought back were now allowed to flow. Styles, Raoul.

"Are you ok?"

Gigi looked up, prepared to snap at the person who was bothering her, but she changed her tone when she saw the cop. "No, I'm good." Then she realized that she was still wearing her vest. Fuck!

"Well, you don't look- Holy fuck!" The cop was looking past her, and Gigi turned to see several figures scuttling forward. They were a mix of fur and metal, and moved incredibly fast.

Gigi ran, even as the cop was fumbling for his radio and his sidearm. People were running and screaming as they became aware of the problem.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Sam's laptop began to beep with the intensity and urgency of an alarm clock. Her eyes widened as she began to work the machine. "We have an alert. The police are sending out a 11-999. That's Officer needs help, supers activity." She clicked a few more keys. "It's coming from the Wal-mart on 88th, address 15885 SW 88th St."

Dennis glanced at the team. "Well, are you ready to start?"

[314_Omega]

Originally Posted By: Dawn, OOC

Dennis glanced at the team. "Well, are you ready to start?"

"Having not completed our training in the cities emergency response systems I am unsure how to proceed. What is proper protocol in this situation?" Omega asks Dennis, clearly expecting that he should be operating out of the thick manual they had been studying until recently.

[SalmonMax]

"Show me a map with that address and our current location marked," Tesseract comments, "and I can take us there."

[Primax]

So fast, so soon.

Primax hops up and feels his body flex in anticipation.

"I'm ready! Let's go."

He began moving over to Tesseract.

"How close to you do we have to be?"

[Rorx]

Dwarfstar slowly shakes his head.

"Well, having spent this time going through a manual rather than something more immediately useful like teamwork or how our powers could be used together I'd have to say no, we're not ready. However, that is beside the point, we are needed so I at least will go, as I suspect we all will."

He looks around at the assembled heros-to-be.

"Ok, how are we going to do this? Several of us could Teleport there, and if we wanted to all come out in the same place Tess could apparently take us all in one go. Or, some of us could fly there, but then how do the others get there?"

['The Apostate']

Ditto head shot upright as the 'alarm' from the laptop brought his senses back into reality. His eyes focused lazily on the magazine and the shock of the page took a moment to bore into his hazy mind.

"AH!" He freaked and pushed away from the table, falling backward with a clamorous 'thud' from which he simply rolled backwards and hopped up into his feet and bounced one like a gymnast dismounting... and like nothing was going on at all.

He listened to the assembled 'supers' all being indecisive and careful about how to proceed.

"Sweet," he said loud enough to announce that he was now awake and there. "Some action."

Quote:

"Ok, how are we going to do this? Several of us could Teleport there, and if we wanted to all come out in the same place Tess could apparently take us all in one go. Or, some of us could fly there, but then how do the others get there?"

"Ugh, dude, chill. It's not that complicated." With a shift in his features Ditto changed his features.

[Guest D_Tessaract]

"Until Tessy gets herself more familiar with the area, I'll pop us there as a group" 'Tessaract' said. "Once there... well, just kick back and watch me work."

[Vixen]

Am I ready? Hell. Who could be when it comes to superpeople? But hell, forget am I ready, I have to be.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go to it."

[Brightstar]

Kallen nods, and cracks her knuckles. "So it begins." Her eyes Flash a shimmering golden color as she starts allowing her powers to emerge. Showing up in a group is probably the best option at this point."

She looks to Omega. "Protocol or not, we are here to save lives and the city, which means we go out there now however we can and stop whatever is happening from hurting anyone and this city."