Archive Mutants & Masterminds: The Unlikely Prophets - Issue #1: A Gathering Storm

[z-Gloom]

"An angel?" Gloom said, an eyebrow rising speculatively. "Angel dust, maybe." She shook her head and said, "I wasn't made this way by an angel. It was stupid men, meddling with forces beyond their control."

She wondered how Russ was. She couldn't see him anymore. Not until this was over. It was too dangerous for him.

"Come on, I think that the others are making plans. Let's get back," Gloom said, waving back toward the others.

[SalmonMax]

"All right then," Larissa said. "I haven't seen the Druid before, but I doubt they have either, and I figure I can make something that looks 'druidish' enough that they won't question it."

"What should I have her say?"

[Necronaut]

"Well, considering she's..." He paused, forcing down his now somewhat out-dated self-preservation instinct to finish the thought, "...she's as crazy as an organic nut-farm..."

The Necronaut had never given much thought to The Druid before today, but since she had inadvertently appointed herself as his own personal nemesis (surely she would regret that if she ever found out!) he had been forced to characterize her for the purposes of his own inner dialogues. He was happy to use this manufactured insight in the pursuit of the present goal.

"It would probably be something like 'Fools!' (because I bet she starts most conversations like that), 'Your presence here jeopardizes my grand scheme to feed the earth on the pulverized hopes, dreams and history of its increasingly de-humanized populace! We can not afford to have anyone question The Plan! For your insolence I should make you all into compost!' She should pause and glare menacingly there."

"'And I will, in due time. For now, go forth and garden. If you do well, and root yourselves deeply enough that I never see or hear of you again, you may even live out your natural life-span before you are put out to seed. Otherwise I will see to it, personally, that you are all mulched. Slowly." The Necronaut tilted his head, a little out of breath, and added after a thoughtful moment. "Maniacal laughter at the end is probably optional, but encouraged."

[CyCo]

Cyco busted into fits of giggles at Masked Marauder's rendition of Druid, "Oh, that's perfect, spot on." she said, giving a thumbs up.

"And seriously...who is this dude?" Cyan asked, whoosing over to Preppy Kenshin. "Do you have abilities too?"

[The Scarlet Samurai]

"I'm ..." he shrugged, "I'm the keeper of Muramasa, the Thirsty Blade. I am Sanada Kenshin, son of Sanada Yoshitsune, and I am the Scarlet Samurai."

[Charlotte]

Larissa pried the book open to the appropriate page, and incanted, swirls rising from the pages and condensing around her fingertips, gathering strength. The image of the Druid appeared, a tall statuesque woman wearing only strategically placed vines and flowers. Larissa opened the van door, and the Druid stepped inside the van and looked down at them, and spoke.

"You're very lucky my associates were able to stop you when they did."

The leader of the group's eyes widened to saucers. They'd all heard the stories, about the Druid. They all knew her by sight, and all of them were fooled by Larissa's illusion... or, if they had doubt, then it was not enough doubt to overcome the fear. "Druid! Uh, most high, most excellent, ma'am, uh... your associates?"

"Yes, but nevermind them for now," The Druid brushed off the question. "Instead tell me one thing. You all swore oaths to the Order to have the positions you hold. Do you honor those oaths still? Are you loyal to the Order?" Her voice had a slight echoing effect, and her tone one of honest curiosity, with an undertone of stern warning.

"We haven't - "

A glare from the leader shut his underling up. They were off-the-record fixers, but the Druid wasn't going to care much for technicalities. Saying you hadn't was tantamout to rebellion, and that would be bad for them all. Very bad.

"We're loyal to the Order. Yes."

"Good. Then you'll feel no conflict of interests when I tell you to explain what the Magistrate was so worried about our discovering that he'd disobey the Order to try to avoid our scrutiny."

"We - we - oh, hell."

The leader looked torn for a moment, but it was no contest. At least if the Magistrate came after them, it'd be men with guns, instead of a goddess who could tear your stomach lining out by forcing the growth of intestinal flora.

"It's movies." He hung his head, defeated. "... off the record movies, and books and stuff, not like the official ones they pump out every year. He sells them on the black market around here. He claims they're... they're pre-Rise. From the Gap. All bullshit, of course, it's just a small group of crappy actors and writers and people with cameras, but people snap 'em up. And... look, if he finds out I said this he'll have my balls for bookends, but he uses it to finance a little habit he's picked up." He made an exaggerated sniffing noise. "Kinda thing that would impact job performance, right? So that's why he didn't want people snoopin' around and why, when that dork mouthed off to the Magistrate's representative they sent us in. I didn't know this was a sting, I swear to - to Archon Almighty, I swear, if I'd known you were in town I woulda gone straight to you...!"

"I am wherever I am needed," The Druid said mildly. "The transition is carefully planned to balance ecological impacts. Incidents like this have a ripple effect that goes far beyond what you can see." She pauses, then asks offhandedly, "Where does he keep these 'movies.'?" Her glowing eyes fix on the one speaking. "And don't be afraid. He will have much more pressing concerns than reprisals very shortly."

The leader stammered out an address that placed it inside the city limits, in a part of town Necronaut recognized as not terribly upscale.

"Listen, we're just doing our jobs. All the Magistrates have guys like us. If we hurt any of your people we're real sorry..."

The Druid shook her head dismissively. "None of the ones I sent were in any danger from you. As for your jobs...I will present the case for judgement. You cooperated, which is in your favor. But you obeyed the Magistrate even when you knew what he was doing, which is not. For now, return to your homes. Do not speak to the Magistrate of this incident, and do not follow his orders until notified. If we need you for more questioning, a visit will be arranged. Is this clear?"

THe leader looked to the others, who all nodded furiously in agreement.

"Don't worry, we'll keep our noses real clean. Just, uh, just untie us and we'll get the hell outta here."

The Druid turned and stepped away from the van. She spoke. "Release them, for now." Then grasses and vines shot up from the ground, wrapping entirely around her. A moment later the plants retreated back to their normal sizes...leaving no trace of The Druid behind.

[CyCo]

Cyco stood, mouth hung wide open like the Grand Canyon as she gawked at the Druid while she talked to the nefarious thugs. Once the Super Sprite had been swallowed by the earth, her mouth finally managed to test its hinges once more and she ever so slowly turned on a heel towards the rest of the group.

"Da, da, da, " she stammered, pointing at the spot the Druid sank into, "Druid...right there...ohhh...smells like Jasmine...eeeeeewwwwww...and compost." Cyco pinched her nose closed.

"I'll dut da dugs oose."

A few moments and a slight breeze later, all the zip ties had been cut with her trusty knife and she nudged Kenshin in the ribs with her elbow, "Got me a fancy blade too, though mine doesn't tell me when its hungry or thirsty, maybe I've been ignoring it." she said, turning the knife over in her hands as she examined it.

[Bodhie Armstrong]

Originally Posted By: Gloom

"An angel?" Gloom said, an eyebrow rising speculatively. "Angel dust, maybe." She shook her head and said, "I wasn't made this way by an angel. It was stupid men, meddling with forces beyond their control."

She wondered how Russ was. She couldn't see him anymore. Not until this was over. It was too dangerous for him.

"Come on, I think that the others are making plans. Let's get back," Gloom said, waving back toward the others.

The large female bodybuilder disregarded the remark about Cyco. Gloom hadn't seen her when this happened and Bodhie had no reason not to trust Cyco. Still it was apparant that they all changed under different conditions but still it was the same 'source'. She wasn't quite sure how to put these 'coincedences' together and in the end she surmised that this was no coincedence at all. Anyway - there were more pressing matters right now

Just before she had finished that part of thinking Larissa started her enchantment. Bodhie was deeply impressed by the apparition of the Druid. If she hadn't known part of the plan she would've sworn it was the real deal. After the thugs were gone she gave Larissa an approving nod.

"That was... impressive.", she said with a deep and powerful yet feminine voice that expressed awe.

"So what's our next move?", she asked looking at Necronaut and Jack. The two weird men seemed half in charge at the moment - or at least better informed than she was. If it wasn't for Cyco she wouldn't be here in the first place. Cyco made her chuckle as she catched up on the last few bits of her conversation with Kenshin. It relieved her of some of her worries and darker thoughts about the reasons for this absolutely strangest day of her live.

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut waited for the thugs to be well on their way before reacting. "I still think it would've been better with maniacal laughter." But the distant tone of his voice made it clear enough, he had been shaken by the efficacy of the deception.

His eyes, just barely visible under the dark swirling glass plates of his mask, regarded Larissa with a hint of concern. The worst most of the other powerful strangers could do was take a life, as far as he could tell. But not the witch...

He shoved that line of thought deep down with the other things he resolved to never think about. All that remained was the matter at hand.

"We have the magistrate right where we want him. A few anonymous tips might be enough to bring the hammer down, if we don't care to approach the matter with a more personal touch. We can probably snag some evidence out from under his nose to seal the deal."

He paused a moment and added proudly, "I've never used that many metaphors at once before."

He tapped on one of his glass lenses thoughtfully before concluding. "Of course, he's apt to be replaced by someone just as bad, and deeper under the Order's thumb. Not sure I care to deal with blackmail though."

[Charlotte]

"Blackmail is about the only way we'll get him to ease off on the people who work here, however." Jack tapped his cane. "That's the important part, above all else. That, plus the sabotage of the machines, will keep them safe for the next several months while we plan.

"I propose this - that everyone who wants to sabotage this mulching plant speak up now, and that everyone who wants to go to this address and dig up a little dirt on Magistrate Terry Fienne also speak up now, and anyone who's got a problem with any of it definitely speak up now."

There was a stretch of silence, before Susan Pine cleared her throat, and spoke up.

"You don't have to do all this, you know... I mean, this is just a funeral home... we can get new jobs..."

Blackjack looked annoyed at something.

[SalmonMax]

"It's not just about the funeral house," Larissa said, stepping forward. "This is going to happen again. The Order's so entrenched, so much a part of daily life, we won't be able to avoid it. So if we can't do it now, we may have to re-examine whether or not we're ready to fight the Order at all."

She looks around at the others.

"I'll go to the Magistrate. Alone if I have to. I can get back using one of the funeral home's doors, so I'll only have to worry about how to get there."

[IndyPendant]

Continuing to observe quietly from the back, Sharatur was torn. From a purely ethical standpoint, the Magistrate's operation struck her as the best option. If the information they had been given was correct, he deserved to be brought down. And she knew she could be very stealthy when necessary, plus her...newfound skills tended to work best in short-range encounters.

On the other hand...what did she really know about these people? This mulching plant would likely have a significant number of innocent people that could end up becoming rationalized away as 'collateral damage'. Could she live with herself if they got hurt or even killed when she might have been able to help them? Maybe she should go to the plant precisely because it seemed to her the less clearly ethical operation they were planning.

She just didn't know.

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut considered his options, just for his own piece of mind, but the answer was clear enough. The city hall operation was too close to home, for reasons he really couldn't let himself think about right now. The mulcher, on the other hand, that could be fun.

While he pondered, his mouth ran thus, "Well said miss." he nodded at Larissa, "And this isn't just a funeral home. What happens here is important. Maybe not important to everyone every day, but important to everyone eventually. Yours are jobs that need doing, no matter what the order says."

"For my part, I would be happy to help take down the mulcher. I guess I could ghost-in to city hall for recon if that was called for, but I really don't think I'm up to interacting with the magistrate on a civil, business-like tone. And I suggest that anyone planning to do so doesn't dig to deep into how this town is run. It'll make it difficult to be in the same room as the guy."

[Radiance]

"I'll go with you." The Blonde smiles as she nods to Larissa. Nobody should do anything alone.

She looks at the others, Specifically Gloom. This seemed like something they might need her expertise on given what Hikari knew of her.

"We should get a move on though."

[CyCo]

Cyan was giddy at the opportunity to wreak havoc upon the Order and was looking forward at the opportunity to give the Druid a splinter of irritation.

"I'm with Gas Mask Man, I wanna see the monstrosity that's meant to violate corpses. Somebody's gotta stand up and say 'Don't touch me there!' Since welll...ya know...they can't...for the most part." Cyco said, glancing at Necronaut at the end.

"Still up for that race Mr. Samurai, mind if I call you Scarlet? Though you might want to bring back that magnificent pony, to give you a fair chance and all."

[IndyPendant]

Necronaut's words gave her the answer she needed, although perhaps not a way he had intended. Whether she liked it or not, she was with these people for now. Her reasons for going to the mulching plant were based around suspicion and mistrust, and she should try to give them the benefit of her doubts. Besides, she was a pretty good judge of character, and she was reasonably certain Norman would try to keep anything from getting out of hand.

And she needed motivation. She just couldn't wrap her head around the concept of the entire Order being storybook-style Evil With A Capital 'E'. Yet the others were so ready to embrace it! Maybe as they gathered evidence against the Magistrate, she would be able to find the proof that would motivate her to finally join them in this sheer insanity.

"I'm going to the Magistrate as well."

[z-Gloom]

"I'm going to the Magistrate," Gloom said, raising her voice to be heard. "Why go mess around with some machine when he's hurting living people? You can bet your ass that if he's already willing to kill to protect himself, he's already done some very bad things to protect himself."

Gloom checked her gun and tucked it back into her holster. Her equipment belt, if anyone looked closely at it, was the standard issue for the Knights. "I'm ready when you are," she added, her four hands finding points on her hips to rest.

[Necronaut]

"Just to re-iterate, you guys, taking the Magistrate down is probably a lot easier than getting him under your thumb. He's as crooked as a..." he frowned as his well of metaphors suddenly ran dry, "...a superlatively crooked thing. I'd guess pretty slippery too. It might be easier to get the Order to take care of him. They might anyway when the Mulcher goes down on his watch."

Norman felt like he was prodding an old wound. He really didn't want to be thinking about this at all. About how things worked in Chicago, and who made them work that way. He didn't even want to think about how he wanted to go break something to take his mind off of it. That didn't strike him as constructive, no mater how cathartic it might be. Normally he wouldn't indulge such a whim. It was pure luck that something needed to be broken anyway.

"You can probably scare him into forgetting about the funeral home, but no amount of leverage will make him a good magistrate. Nothing's going to change his..." He trailed off, risking a quick glance at Larissa. He shuddered as he forced his mind to change tracks. "Sorry. I'm just saying that when it comes to making this city better, remember any plan that leaves that man in charge is just a stop-gap."

[SalmonMax]

"Yeah, but...he's the only one we'll be able to threaten into not going after the funeral home," Larissa points out. "If he's replaced, his replacement will just carry out his orders when the time comes. I mean, if we just want to take this Magistrate down, we could do that just by raiding his stash and leaving anonymous tips."

"Lets get this straight, so we're not accidentally working against each other here. Do we want to blackmail this Magistrate into trying to impede the demolition of the funeral parlor? Or do we want to expose him and cause him to be replaced?"

[The Scarlet Samurai]

Kenshin shrugged, he wasn't sure which, if any, path was the right one, for him or in general. "I don't know what I should do. I ... I'm just a history professor with a murderous sword, I'm not sure how much help I can be right now."

[SalmonMax]

"And I'm just a schoolteacher with a book of spells," Larissa pointed out with a harried grin. "I'm no more innately qualified to make these judgments than anyone else."

Her smile quickly fades though.

"But for whatever reason, or no reason at all, we're the ones that have to make them. We're the only ones with the power to make them. I think we can agree doing nothing will result in the worst possible outcome. We just need to pick the course of action that will cause the least harm to as few people as we can manage."

[Charlotte]

"I can see merit either way." Blackjack shrugged. "It all comes down to who would replace the Magistrate. Necronaut, do you know enough about local politics to have an idea of who would step into his shoes were he to go?"

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut shook his head at Blackjack, and stopped suddenly as he realized gestures were not the best way to communicate with the blind. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "No idea. But the book girl is right." he nodded at Larissa. "Whoever replaced him, we wouldn't have any leverage and The Order would be all over this place. The replacement could even be just as bad, or worse, as painful as that is to imagine. The blackmail thing is probably the way to go just... just don't underestimate the guy. I only know about him what creeps in around the edges. But I can imagine him as the sort to be self-destructively vindictive when pressed, y'know?"

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"I'm with Cyco.", Bodhie added to the discussion. She really didn't have much skills in infiltration and everything else she expected would be necessary to go after the Magistrate. Her only possible 'use' would be to really scare him and threaten him but knowing that Gloom went after him should be intimidating enough.

"I mean - I'm obviously built for wrecking stuff and not the sneaky secret agent Mission Impossible thing, don't I?", the extra large female bodybuilder looked down at the others and smiled. Going after the Magistrate was important she knew that and understood the priorities but if she was part of that team she would make things more complicated she imagined.

"Any objections? I would go with you guys if you prefer me being there.", she finally added talking to Gloom.

[SalmonMax]

"I think we have enough," Larissa demurred. "You'll need people to hit the machine too...so this should work out."

"Now, lets see..."

She ducked into the van and reticently searched each of the bound men until she found a cellphone. She yoinked the instrument and quickly retreated back out to the others and started searching the cellphone for its list of contacts.

"Figure maybe we can get the address off this," Larissa murmured to explain. "Anyone got a car we can use?"

[Charlotte]

After a few moments of searching, Larissa was indeed able to get the phone number and address of the mayor's home off of it.

[z-Gloom]

"We've got vans, plenty of vans," Gloom said softly. Her odd voice hovered in the air before fading like smoke as she added, "So we don't want to dethrone him, but we can't blackmail him? Fuck it, let's just give him a lead kiss to the temple and take our chances with the next guy. We can give him the same treatment until they get the idea and toe the fuckin' line."

Oh, yes, this was certainly a move from the Knight's playbook.

[SalmonMax]

Larissa looked at Gloom. "I never said we couldn't blackmail him. What?"

She looked around at the others. "What's this about not blackmailing him?"

[z-Gloom]

In answer, Gloom just pointed at Necronaut, leaving him to repeat his earlier babble. The odd thing was both of her right arms pointed, and one was turned thumb-up, the other thumb-down, in an unsettling mirroring maneuver.

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut regarded gloom blankly for a moment, re-tracing his babbling carefully. "Er... I think I just said blackmail is probably the way to go, actually. I'm just trying to underscore that the guy's a nasty piece of work, and probably not the stupid kind of nasty either. This is me urging caution, out of an abundance of loathing for the individual you're about to go try and deal with. Ideally you'll go in, put the cards on the table, he'll cave and everything will be fine. But not having blackmailed anyone before myself, let alone a slimy customer like this guy, I have to assume there's some finesse involved."

[Charlotte]

It was almost frightening, how easy it all was.

The address for the warehouse storing the contraband was easily teleported to. It was locked, but that was no trouble for someone who could turn into a liquid-like shadow and oozed through the door crack, deactivating the security system and opening the door. The security camera on the street had a design flaw - it was unable to look up, and so, when a woman walked on air behind it and casually draped a tarp over it, blocking the view, no other camera caught it.

Inside was the operation, abandoned in the dead of night. There was a cheap set and a video camera, and rows of DVDs and books on the shelves, next to a small laptop. They took pictures, and then one of them spotted the safe, which was rated against a lot of things but not against a pencil-thin laser.

Opening the safe, they found the motherlode - hard copy of bank receipts linking the sale of the contents of this warehouse to the Magistrate, one Terry Fienne. A doorway later, another covered security camera, and Terry Fienne was roused from a drug-induced slumber to the shock of his life.

The evidence was presented; the demands made. Terry Fienne denied it. Then Terry Fienne grew angry, until a harsh glare from the one cloaked in shadows quelled it. Then Terry began to bargain, and when it became clear that the intruders would not budge, and that there was no way out, Terry Fienne grew depressed. And finally, Terry Fienne accepted.

It took a little longer than ten minutes for Terry Fienne, the most powerful man in Chicago, to progress through the stages of grief over the death of his control.

* * *

On the outskirts of town, the Order's symbol glared at them from the side of the building and its attached sign, "Coming Soon: Resource Reallocation Site." The van stopped several hundred feet away.

The one who could summon the dead, did so. This far from the cemetery, the ghosts seemed less coherent. When they spoke they mostly repeated old phrases from life. They seemed distorted to the eyes behind the gas mask. But they seemed to understand. They went through the building, unhooking security cameras, and accounting for everyone inside - a quartet of security guards. The man in the mask managed to convince them not to tear the building apart with people inside of it... but just barely.

Then came the quickest one. She went through the building in a scarlet blur, grabbing the guards and depositing them a dozen miles away in front of the motel six. All anyone ever caught of her was a smile and a laugh.

Then, with the machinery of death freed of all life, the four of them set to work in earnest.

The man in scarlet summoned his faithful steed and rode inside, slashing through the support struts as if they were paper. The infrastructure - electrical, plumbing - was systematically disassembled by an army of ghosts. The machines themselves were monkey-wrenched in a flutter of feathers and laugher. And finally, the strong one flexed her muscles, grabbed a side of the building that had been cut free... and lifted.

It was a feat that could only be described as Herculean. The entire building tilted upwards in her hands. She twisted it around in her grip and slammed it back down, in an explosion of dust and debris, and when the dust settled, and the four of them were long gone, the building sat upside-down upon its own foundations, utterly ruined. The product of months of building, gone.

* * *

The van was disposed of by the man in scarlet cutting it into shrapnel and the quick one and the ghosts each taking a piece off in a different direction. By the time all of them returned to the funeral home, one of the vans was missing, the thugs having taken flight. Inside, the employees were talking to the lucky one, and when he heard the others arrive, he smiled. When he heard of their success, he smiled even wider.

"All right. I think that's enough for one night. Now, I imagine some of you don't have homes any longer - so any of you, all of you really, are welcome to stay with me. It's a large house and we've got plenty of the good beer, and what revolution would be complete without that?"

[CyCo]

"Beer is good." Cyco said, looking exhausted as she lay sprawled on a chair. "I'm beat like a pancake on Sunday...Who's 'we'?"

Cyco was gonna miss her place, but only a little, nothing there truly had any value. Which reminded her somehow, that she needed to call her parents still.

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"I don't have much of a place to go back to anyway...", Bodhie said with a hint of regret in her eyes. She had family she abandoned but she had reasons for doing that. Maybe one day she could try to make contact again, maybe her son would think better of her if she was a hero.

She cast away those dark thoughts still feeling a general high from the amazing things she just had done. "Anyway - a beer sounds good to me.", Bodhie stood behind Cyco placing her hands on her hips while she looked at the others hoping that they would all join in.

[SalmonMax]

"I can put a person or two up at my place too," Larissa volunteered. "You know, if necessary."

"But we probably shouldn't have the actual celebration there," she added with a smile. "Neighbors might think it was odd."

[Radiance]

Hikari nodded. "I can house at least one or two extra people at my place, my neighbors aren't very nosy, and seldom bother me."

"A Beer does sound good at this point, maybe something stronger."

[Necronaut]

"I'm just down the street. Not a lot of spare room, but I guess there's a couch. Doesn't sound like anyone needs it though. I'll go wherever the party's getting started."

He was a little bit dazed, still. Yes, watching the mulcher get flipped over like a cardboard box had been amazing, but that the Magistrate had folded, that was a paradigm shift. It was like his new friends had turned on a light in a dark room to reveal nothing particularly scary. A deeper, quieter part of his brain was slowly starting to accept that this might actually work. It wasn't a part of his brain he listened to often, but its acquiescence made him more comfortable.

[IndyPendant]

Sharatur shrugs. "I have nothing but what I managed to pack with me when I--left. I guess I need a place to stay. Your place is as good as any, uh..."

She winced. "...Jack. Look, if your place is big enough and close enough, I say we all go there, now, together. We really should take this opportunity to, you know, find out who the hell we all are. I still don't even know some of your names! And maybe if we work together, we can figure out what happened to us, and how. And why."

[SalmonMax]

"That's actually a really good idea," Larissa agreed.

"We all got thrown into this so abruptly...a chance to slow down and breathe would be...well, it's something I know I could use."

[Radiance]

Hikari nods, wondering what they'd think when the discovered who she really was. Still it was a night of beginnings, and if she was going to be fighting alongside these people, then they should know who stood with them. "Works for me."

[z-Gloom]

"Yeah." Gloom's voice was soft, but even a quieter tone couldn't make it any less unsettling. "Let's do it." She wasn't enthused about the idea, but she had to do something. As far as she was concerned, it was one more chance to be seen as a monster.