Day 3.5: Eventful Night?

[Stargaizer]

OOC: These characters are your +450xp versions. This doesn't mean that they have to be finalized yet, just that I want to go ahead and start this.

Alexandra was the first one there; one of the advantages of being a speedster. It was, however, also one of the disadvantages - it made the wait seem three or four times longer than it actually was.

She saw Violet's glowing red eyes first, but it wasn't long before the rest of her materalized out of the shadows and her eyes faded back to their normal color. The thought of it still made Alexandra smile. It felt like it had been forever and a day since she had first seen those eyes, and they had been so scary then. Now she knew each one by name... heck, she was one.

As Violet joined her, she followed Vi's glare up towards the statue. Violet had never liked the statue, always complaining about how the sculptor didn't do a good job capturing her beauty. Alexandra, on the other hand, really liked it. Growing up she never would've dreamed that anybody would erect a statue to her, much less one in the middle of Central Park. She was busy looking over the statue of the three of them when William's red eyes appeared, very quickly followed by his body and the fading of the glowing red. Their leader always was the last to show up...

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

Violet stepped out of the shadow, into the presence of Alexandra. That Alexandra always was first... it wasn't fair... speed before beauty she guessed. Once completely out of the shadow, she turned around and glared up at the statue. She hated that ugly thing, and couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why they always had to pick this as their rallying point. It was ok though, after it had been unveiled, she'd tracked down the sculptor and done a number in his head. Last she heard he still thought he was a 4 year old girl who loved braiding pig-tails. He was lucky that was all she did to him...

Samantha was being her usual quiet self as Violet reminisced. She had long since given up on trying to convince Vi that what she was doing was wrong. Nowadays she just 'sat' in the back corner of her mind, waiting for one of the rare occasions when Vi felt 'generous' enough to let her out.

Violet quickly grew impatient waiting for William. He always made them wait. Just like him to try and exert his control over them by showing up late. But she didn't say anything about it. He was still a sore subject between the two females. But, before the tension grew too out of control, he finally showed his face...

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

William rushed out of the shadows. Like always, the other two were already waiting on him. Alexandra seemed to be fine, staring up at their statue, while Violet, as always, seemed to be just barely controlling her rage. Even after all these years, and for all his abilities, he still couldn't figure out women.

Though it wasn't for lack of trying. Every woman on the base, in fact. Of course, as he turned and looked at the stone facsimile of Violet, his mind wandered back to the one woman who had been able to turn the tables on him, and use him like he'd used the rest of the women.

Anyways, if they knew how much paperwork being team leader required, they'd know how good it was for him to even be here. He didn't know how Draygo had done it back in the day. Back before Draygo got promoted above 'lowly team leader'.

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

The team assembled, it was time for their patrol of the city. It was mid-afternoon, but one could hardly tell for the overcast sky. The only light was the eerie orangish-yellow glow reflected from the city, off the clouds, back down to the city... as well as the street lights. The trees had grown accustomed to it, twisted and a shade of green so dark it couldn't be told from black except under direct light. But all of that fit in well with the skyline.

It had been almost two years since the great war, but the skyline still showed most of the ravages. Nemesis verses the other guys, for control of the world. Naturally Nemesis had won, that's why they were free to walk around, and in fact, that's why they had to go on patrol. Each team had been given a city after they'd won. The more prestige the team had, the bigger the city. William's team, though not in charge of the biggest city left, but definitely one of the top ten. Reconstruction had begun, but it was slow. What was left was more than enough, and more than good enough for those people left.

But they still had to patrol, make sure that there weren't any 'troublemakers' lurking about. The fact that most of the population of the planet worshiped them made their task easy. However, there had still been scattered outbreaks of resistance. The swiftness and severity of the retribution, however, made the general populous revere them even more. Heck, even if everybody did exactly as they were told, the worship would make these patrols worth it...

Click to reveal..

All of this is very familiar to all of you. You've been walking this city, doing patrols, for the past year and a half.

Have fun... explore... look around... and if you have any questions, ask (in the OOC thread).

[Ally Kat]

Alexandra shook her head. For a moment everything seemed fuzzy, as if she'd just woken up. She looked around, almost as if seeing everything the first time. She looked at their statue, and thought back to the events that had lead the city into errecting it.

"We've come so far..."

[Venus]

Didn’t we just…?, Samantha’s voice asked confused having lost track of what Violet was actually doing in the last hour. Samantha was sure they just had returned from their first mission but something was not quite right… or was she making things up?

I don’t know what you’re talking about Sam… we’ve got more important things to do these days then when we started at Nemesis. This is not the time to have a nervous breakdown – I don’t have time to listen to your problems.”

Violet was obviously having a temper again and it ‘leaked’ into her environment. When Will appeared there was a short burst of anger which she quickly quenched – she didn’t know what she hated more – him being late or them never actually making out…

”About time, William… why do we always have to pick this place as our rally point. I hate it.

Being on Violet’s hate-list wasn’t a good thing – so much was clear. Violet’s eyes flared angrily and she wanted to crush something right now. Her eyes slowly wandered to the Statue and she felt really tempted to crush it with her Telekinesis.

[Courier]

Will followed V's glance to the Statues... he really felt his did him justice; lifelike and half again as big. The girls on the other hand, well... he was sure the artist had tried, but it had none of their beauty and none of their presence. Violet in particular always looked in person like she'd look a lot better out of clothes than in them, but on the statue the clothes were just 'there'.

Will said, "If you're looking to kick ass, then how about we find something more worthy than a statue?"

[Venus]

It was far too easy to ‘read’ Will’s thoughts her eyes giving him a disapproving glare. He knew that she was practically naked having lost the ‘need’ to wear ‘real’ clothes ever since she perfected her shapeshifting abilities. The very revealing jumpsuit she wore with an impossible design (neither leather nor latex would ‘fit’ the way the jumpsuit fit her) was only testament that she was just wearing her own skin.

”Don’t assume you know what I want or don’t want, Will. Lets get this over with and then we can talk in private about what I really think.”

Violet, something is wrong, can’t you feel that? Didn’t we just finish that mission…?, Samantha wasn’t sure what was going on. Maybe Violet had finally won so much control over her life that she even lost track when was the last time she was in control? She wasn’t sure if she still knew how to move or how to assume control of her own body.

Sam… how many times did I tell you. You can’t protect yourself and we’re in a war – I don’t want you to get hurt so it’s better this way – and now be a good girl and shut up, ok?

Violet felt Sam starting to cry and shut that part off as good as she could – she really didn’t have time for her now.

[Courier]

Will mentally corrected himself; Violet always looked like she was naked, the statue was clearly wearing clothes. Will also wasn't sure whether having a private talk with Violet about what she wanted was a good idea. What she 'really' thought had the maddening (thrilling?) tendency of changing from moment to moment.

None of which changed the fact that is was time to head out. There was trouble out there... or at the very least his adoring fans, some of whom would be young, attractive, and female.

Will said, "Let's head out."

[Stargaizer]

William's order halted any further discussion as they started to make their way out of Central Park and into New Nemesis City. Since they'd won the war, people didn't come outside to 'hang' like they used to, so they didn't see as many people as they would've 'pre-war', but there were still plenty of people to look at.

As people caught glimpse of them, most bowed or curtsied, though a few fell to their knees. In proper respect, everyone turned to face the trio, and kept their front to them as the trio moved. Of course, every last one of them knew that if any of trio asked them to do anything, they would do it, immediately, or face the consequences up to and including death (especially with William's temper and staff that he could create out of thin air).

As the three past by the denizens of the city, they heard whispers of 'god', 'beautiful', 'most gorgeous', 'deadly', 'fast' and others, as well as one or two not kind comments like 'lecherous', 'vengeful' and 'spiteful' that were quickly and quietly shushed into silence.

[Ally Kat]

Alexandra halted andlooked to the others. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up." She waited for them to continue and then ran back to one of those who had spoken out against them, only to be shushed.

"What did you mean when you called us that? What have we done that would give you cause to say such things?" She seemed to loom over the poor woman, but her posture was non-agressive."

[Venus]

Violet frowned at Will and set herself in motion. What a total waste of time…

Violet – don’t you see it yourself – something is absolutely not right here. And it’s nothing about me wanting to take control but something is not right. This is wrong.

Violet shook her head forcing Sam into mental submission making her wince in pain. I_said_shut_up!

These people weren’t even worthy of their presence and Will enjoyed their admiration far too much while she had grown bored of it within the first hours of their new found fame. Being famous was awesome but some people were just too pathetic. Fortunately Alex was taking care of some of the worse cases because if Violet did the results would be… questionable. Morally questionable, of course. She had absolutely no patience for this.

[Courier]

On the whole, Will was pretty happy, all was as it should be.

Originally Posted By: Stargaizer

...one or two not kind comments like 'lecherous', 'vengeful' and 'spiteful' that were quickly and quietly shushed into silence.

Mentally Will smiled, first of all, no way was he 'spiteful', although he since he wasn't exactly beautiful either so maybe that was to one of the others. Second of all, some carping in the back (back, very far back) bench was to be expected... if not exactly tolerated.

Will reached out with his mind and shifted through the crowd, feeling for emotions.

[Stargaizer]

Alexandra ran back to the nay-sayer, effectively disappearing from the group and reappearing in front of that 'poor lady', and spoke. Non-agressive posture or not, the lady still cowered in fear at Alexandra's presence. The crowd stepped back from around her, not wanting to be too close when the lady met her fate. As for the lady herself, in her cowering she lost her balance and fell to her knees in front of Alexandra and started crying. Her voice was faint and weak, so Alexandra was the only one that could hear it. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said such things. Master, please forgive me. We're all lucky that you allow us to live in your presense. Please don't kill me, I meant nothing by it..."

The lady's plea brought forth some memories in Alexandra's mind, memories of what she and her team had done in the past to people who had spoken out less than this... or even to people who hadn't held themselves back (but had been ferretted out by William's ability to read emotions and Violet's ability to read minds). The memories made the part of Alexandra that was still trying to make sense of it all shudder... but the part of Alexandra who was used to this simply chuckled inwardly at the 'good times' that they'd had. And from what Alexandra could remember, if they reacted as they had in the 'past' (and the crowd was expecting), they hadn't stepped back nearly far enough to avoid the 'splatter'.

William reached out his senses, and parused the emotions of those present. Violet's contempt rolled off of her in strong, thick waves. Within the crowd, however, the two major emotions were fear and awe. Awe as in worship, as in what the Greeks would've felt if Zeus, Aphrodite and Athena came to life and walked the streets of Athens instead of Mt. Olympus. There was also more than a smattering of lust; most of it being directed towards Violet, as to be expected, but more than a little towards William himself, and even a very small amount directed towards Alexandra. The lady Alexandra was confronting was about to loose bowel control, she was so scared, and some of her fear was dimly mirrored by a couple surrounding her, but the majority in that area felt... expectation and anticipation... bloodlust if William had to put a name to it. It appeared that most of the people actually wanted to see that lady 'get what she deserves'.

As he stretched his senses further, he found, back in the back, some of their nay-sayers. They weren't rampant, so to speak, just fearful anger, as if they were angry that they were afraid. There was also some bigotry amongst them, fear of the different.

But... there was something more... something stronger, further off. It was a great source of... concern. Someone further into the city was feeling concerned about something, and they felt it so strongly that William was able to pick it up from here. William didn't know the exact distance, but he knew that it was far enough away that he shouldn't be picking it up that strongly. In fact, he didn't know how one person could contain so much emotion.

It was definately something worth investigating...

[Ally Kat]

"No you did mean something by it. I know what the words mean, but I asked why you said them." She knew what she'd done in the past and it just didn't seem logical. What the hell was going on?

She reached out a hand to the fallen woman, as if to help her up. "Will you answer my question or not? I have a city to patrol."

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Stargaizer

William reached out his senses, and perused the emotions of those present. Violet's contempt rolled off of her in strong, thick waves.

Will reflected, *Ah yes, the more things change the more they stay the same.*

Originally Posted By: Stargaizer

Within the crowd, however, the two major emotions were fear and awe. Awe as in worship, as in what the Greeks would've felt if Zeus, Aphrodite and Athena came to life and walked the streets of Athens instead of Mt. Olympus.

*Life is good and as it should be.*

Originally Posted By: Stargaizer

There was also more than a smattering of lust; most of it being directed towards Violet, as to be expected, but more than a little towards William himself, and even a very small amount directed towards Alexandra.

William basked in the attention and didn't begrudge Violet her larger share, they were pulling from different pools. Will scanned the crowd... there. Two young attractive women who wanted him, i.e. groupies. And Violet was wondering why they made these rounds. Now even if nothing else came up...

Originally Posted By: Stargaizer

The lady Alexandra was confronting was about to loose bowel control, she was so scared, and some of her fear was dimly mirrored by a couple surrounding her, but the majority in that area felt... expectation and anticipation... bloodlust if William had to put a name to it. It appeared that most of the people actually wanted to see that lady 'get what she deserves'.

Will dismissed Alex's lady from his mind, he was out of spatter range and the majority was right, she'd get what she deserved.

Originally Posted By: Stargaizer

As he stretched his senses further, he found, back in the back, some of their nay-sayers. They weren't rampant, so to speak, just fearful anger, as if they were angry that they were afraid. There was also some bigotry amongst them, fear of the different.

Will dismissed these as not worth his time. Will made eye contact with the first young woman, they exchanged a look of promise...

Originally Posted By: Stargaizer

But... there was something more... something stronger, further off. It was a great source of... concern. Someone further into the city was feeling concerned about something, and they felt it so strongly that William was able to pick it up from here. William didn't know the exact distance, but he knew that it was far enough away that he shouldn't be picking it up that strongly. In fact, he didn't know how one person could contain so much emotion.

Will turned sharply and focused, the crowd around him grew quiet in a hush of anticipation. The hound had found his trail, the mongoose had spotted the snake. Something was up. Will made eye contact with the beauty and shrugged, business before pleasure.

Will said, "Alex, Violet, something's up. This way."

[Venus]

Violet nodded and closed up with Will.

"What did you pick up? I'm sure I can find him easily."

Violet waited for Will to allow her to scan his mind and search for clues about what he had picked up. She respected him as leader and in public she'd never read his mind unless the situation demanded it. Violet was also wondering why Alex kept bothering with that stupid citizen - normally they wouldn't tolerate this kind of behaviour and the people needed to know who was in charge.

The price of freedom was eternal vigilance...

[Courier]

Will considered for a moment and said quietly, "The emotion is 'concern', but the scale is huge. Probably a paranormal, maybe some flavor of telepath or projective empath. Broadcast 'concern' over an entire city and things fall apart pretty quickly I'd think."

"Scan me for the details but I think we want to get a little closer before you go probing, paranormal might mean serious people."

[Stargaizer]

The woman simply cowered more at the offered hand. It was only then that Alexandra realized that it was primarily her fists that she powered up with her balefire...

The people around the woman seemed almost eager. Their anticipation of what they thought was coming was palpable.

[Ally Kat]

"Alright then. Take care of yourself." She withdrew her hand and caught up to the others. A jumbled mass of emotions warred within her mind.

She looked to them both. "We have to keep the on their toes. if we become too predictable, it means we've gotten sloppy. Hit a child with the rod too much and they forget the carrot is even there."

"What's the situation?"

[Venus]

Violet briefly closed her eyes and scanned Will’s mind. It was easy picking up what he just felt and pinpointing it herself now that she knew what to look for. Will was right – something was exceptional with this one and if he was able to broadcast his emotions like she did that could lead to unwanted insurgences – and that meant more work and less free time. Violet didn’t like if someone or something interfered with her plans.

”Got him – I will shield our presence if he is able to sense us, too.”

(ooc:If you want a roll from me, tell me. Nope, no roll required)

Turning to Alex Violet gave her an annoyed look. "Someone's messing with our daily routine. Someone who's probably like us."

After a short pause Violet added, "Why didn't you kill that woman? We can't tolerate such behaviour from the citizens, Alex

Are you even listening to yourself, Violet? Since when did we start killing innocent people?, Samantha's voice echoed through Violet's mind but found no answer.

[Courier]

Will dismissed Alex's 'woman' as an unimportant distraction. Whatever mood Alex was in, there was a real game on.

Will said, "Game time people. Lets close in on this one. It might be a trap, or just some new power figuring out what's what."

[Ally Kat]

"Fine. If You want me to recon, you're going to have to tell me where to go, othewise lead the way."

She was clearly not feeling like herself, and her short tone gave evidence that she didn't feel like dealing with this tonight.

[Courier]

Will said to Violet, "V, could you translate your location please? Alex, scout, try not to engage."

[Stargaizer]

Violet put the location of what William was sensing into Alexandra's head (where she sensed a fair ammount of confusion), and Alexandra was off like a shot.

Zipping through the streets at much less than her full speed (because full speed would shatter windows, turn over cars and hurt lots of people), she was still going fast enough to make it seem like everything else was standing still. That is until she got to the street corner where the 'disturbance' was...

and found what looked like a homeless guy standing on a wooden fruit crate, preaching at the top of his lungs, with a Bible in one of his hands.

"People of what was once New York! Bow not to these false gods! Tremble not in there presence! For I tell you that there is one who is more powerful even than these! And He is a jealous God! Fear not these creatures that can kill your body! Fear instead He who can destroy your soul! A great battle has already occurred! The battle that left New York and her people in ruins! Because of the sin of our corrupt generation has God judged us! For our inequity has he finally let us reap the harvest of the evil we have sown! But despair not! For the day is coming when the Lord of Heaven will come and claim his rightful throne! And all those who have been faithful through this time of trials shall be rewarded! But all of you who have bended knee to these abominations! To you are reserved the fires of Hell and damnation!"

He was completely ignored by everyone except Alexandra... that is until she showed up. People noticed her and bowed to her, and waited to see what she would do to the 'preacher man', whose focus turned squarely on her. The look on his face wasn't one of anger or contempt, though there was plenty of fire in his sermon, but his face was stern concern. He looked genuinely concerned about these people who stopped to bow down to Alexandra.

And then he turned to face her. Without loosing the concern from his face, Alexandra could, without a doubt, tell that she and those she worked with were the target of the fire in his sermon. Alexandra couldn't tell what it was from, but once his attention turned to her, the unease was so great that it started to physically hurt. It wasn't much pain, but it was definitely enough to get her attention... and to spur her to action...

"But woe to those who lead this world astray! Woe to he who causes even the smallest of these to stumble! It would be better a millstone to be tied around their neck and cast into the ocean than the punishment that awaits them! The fiercest fires of the deepest hell are too good for the likes of them! They may have been given dominion for a short while, but on the day of reckoning! On the day of reckoning all the offenses of those vile abominations shall be called into account! For the rest of eternity shall they pay for what they did while they were in power! Woe be unto them! WOE! But to him who keeps the faith! To he who stays the course the blessings be many! Win the race! Fall not to the wayside! Blood has been shed for you! For all of you! For any who repents! For he who turns away from the evil of this corrupt generation! For he who turns and shuns the ruler of this world! Even if ye be thrown into a fiery furnace He is able to save! Even if ye be thrown into a den of fierce animals! Even if ye be stoned to death! He has the power to save! Forsake not the Name that is above all names! Heed the call of the one true God! Repent and be saved!"

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

Meanwhile, back in Central Park, William and Violet waited for the news that Alexandra would bring back.

[Ally Kat]

She was intrigued. There was a part of her that seemed to only desire to strike this man down. Yet she couldn't find the means to actually do it. Instead she drew closer to him. "You speak of us as if we aren't saviors, as if we did not save everyone. Why do you preach this?"

She stands back. "Remain here, I'll return."

She dashes off back to Will and Violet.

"It's a street preacher, preaching the to the people, demonizing us."

[Courier]

Will said, "And I'm just a football jock. Let's go there."

[Venus]

“I can’t believe we’re doing this., Violet mocked. ”We’re chasing a manic street preacher? God I’m pissed… IF you can’t talk him out of this Will let me please have my way with him. That’s exactly what I need now.”

Inside Samantha flinched at what Violet said. She barely recognised her – what was going on?

[Stargaizer]

The trio moved onward, Alexandra and William collabratively leading the way.

As they wound their way towards the street preacher, William felt the strong concern of the guy grow larger, but he also started picking up on 'fainter', more common levels of emotions. There was a large, collective, annoyance mixed with anticipation. There was also, though, a small group of fear mixed with intrigue.

His preaching was as firey as ever as they approached, but this time there was a small group of 5 or 6 people standing around actually listening, and a larger group of 15 or 20 standing further back and expectant as if waiting for lightning to strike.

"Bend your knee not to the rulers of this age, the god of the air! Bend your knee to the King of kings! The Lord of lords! The Creator of heaven and earth! Surrender your heart to the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End! Listen not to the deceptions spun by the father of lies! These abominations that rule over you now are naught but servants of the lord of flies! Follow him and you'll be granted power now, but he has already been condemened to the fiery pit! Follow him now and you'll follow him to your shared eternal destruction! Repent! What does it profit a man to gain the world and all the power therein if he looses his very soul?!"

This time he only barely acknowledged the arrival of those who had supernatural abilities. Instead he added their arrival to his preaching. The abominations are here! They are among you! Repent now and kneel not to them! Nor to their infernal master! Show to them that you are a child of the light! Show them that you bow to no one but the Master and Creator of the Universe! The Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come! Fall to your knees in fear and trembling in the awe of the Lord God! Be in awe of He who sent His Son to die for you! Repent! NOW IS THE TIME!"

With that, the street preacher stepped down off of his crate and sat on it instead. He bowed his head and folded his hands, and started mumbling under his breath.

The crowd, for their part, didn't know what to do. The ones who had honestly been listening to this guy turned towards the trio. Two of them fell to their knees, almost passing out from their fear of retribution. They muttered and spewed forth unintelligable babblings, asking for forgiveness from the trio for listening to that man. Another two of them scoffed at the trio and walked off. They both hid their fear well, but it was their overriding emotion too. The last two turned and kneeled beside the street preacher, mumbling under their breaths as well. Interestingly enough, their fear subsided to almost nothing, leaving a peaceful freedom that was almost masked by the concern of the street preacher because of it's subtleness.

The rest of the crowd, for their part, all bowed to the trio, some of them actually going to their knees. Someone in the crowd started the mocking chant of 'cruicify him! crucify him!' which was picked up and morphed into everybody chanting softly 'kill him! kill him!'.

[Ally Kat]

((( OOC Having already heard the sermon, Alexandra is actually not rushing to kill him, instead she's waiting to see what the others do, but will do her best to stop them from killing him.)))

Alexandra stod there, tense as a coiled spring, but inside she was questioning what could they have done to warrant this, and just how Will and Violet would respond.

[Venus]

Violet’s patience was running out. She glared at the manic preacher and wanted very much to crush him with her own hands – but Will was calling the shots…

*I so very much want to lobotomize him, Will. Let me finish off this bastard – he’ll wish he was never born. I’ll show him hell if he so desperately wants to die.*

Violet’s voice echoed through Will’s and Alex’s minds her hatred and anger was palpable and it had an infectious effect on them.

(ooc: Violet can’t control her telepathy which has an empathic link through which her own emotions seep off to others. I don’t know if I need to make a roll or if we just RP this part. Violet really wants to kill this preacher and everyone who dares oppose them)

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Violet

*I so very much want to lobotomize him, Will. Let me finish off this bastard – he’ll wish he was never born. I’ll show him hell if he so desperately wants to die.*

Will narrowed his eyes and sent back to Violet, *Yeah, do it.*

[Ally Kat]

"No. When did we sign up to kill people for things like this? We're supposed to be heroes and protectors. Neither of those would encroach on this man's right to freedom of speech."

She tensed realizing how much the others just wanted to smash him. "When did we start killing people for speaking their minds? These people don't bow out of adoration, they bow out of fear. I didn't become a hero to be feared."

[Venus]

“Listen to her!“, Samantha pleaded almost screaming at Violet. ”She’s right – something about this is wrong, Violet. Don’t you see? Can’t you feel it?”

Violet hesitated briefly trying to shake off the annoying voice in her head. Still angry she looked at the Preacher and then answered Alex. *Alex – he is exactly the kind of ‘monster’ we have sworn to destroy. His preaching is a lie and he tries to defy us. Us who brought peace back to this world. I will not tolerate such insolence. His audacity is admirable, though.*

”NOOOOOOO!!!, Samantha screamed but it was too late.

Violet’s eyes flashed in bright purple and she reached out with one hand lifting the man up with her formidable telekinetic powers. Closing her hand to a fist she applied the full strength of her telekinesis crushing the man in the process.

(ooc: Again – shall I make a roll? Does it work at all? Her TK is at Rank 6 – I think that’s like 10k tons of pressure or something like that. I can’t access the pdf atm to check it myself. I can edit my post accordingly if you want)

[Stargaizer]

Violet reached out her hand to crush the street preacher, and it seemed as if time slowed. The trio could actually 'see' a red tinged distortion moving through the air, in the shape of a hand, and coming from Violet's outstretched hand. It got within a few inches of the preacher man when it was stopped by a faintly glowing white 'shield' of some sort.

Even though this only took a fraction of a second, the trio was able to watch it and comprehend every detail.

Violet's TK was stopped by the 'force field', or whatever it was, but she continued to push. William and Alexandra could see her exert more and more force, and as she did the glowing in her eyes changed from a bright violet to a deep red. And just when it seemed as if she might be starting to make some headway, there was a bright, blinding flash of white light.

Up to this point, the street preacher hadn't moved. In fact, he seemed oblivious to what was going on.

While William and Alexandra were recovering their vision, they heard the preacher's voice shout "Glory to God in the highest, my rock and my fortress!" And then they heard him sit back down, because the chanting from the crowd had completely stopped... as had all the other sounds of the city.

When they fully recovered their vision, they saw the preacher still sitting on his crate, head bowed and hands folded. Then they noticed something else... Violet wasn't there any more, Samantha was.

Click to reveal..

Violet is unconcious. She's still there, Sam can tell (though William can't), but she's unconcious and unresponsive. Whatever actual clothes Violet was wearing is all that Sam now has on. Sam doesn't have any adverse effects, and actually feels better than she has in a long while. (Violet doesn't have any damage either, when she comes back)

[Ally Kat]

Alexandra didn't move to the preacher instead moving to Sam's side. "Samantha, are you ok?" She looked back to the preacher and her frown deepened. Things were clearly alot more serious here. She figured William would try something now, and waited to see what would happen.

[Courier]

Will snorted and said to the crowd, his team, and the preacher as he walked to Sam, "Ahem. I'd wondered if something like that might happen." Will took off his jacket and draped it around the naked Samantha's shoulders, his team came first.

Will walked over to the Preacher and said, loudly enough that everyone could hear, "Brother. What brings you?"

[Venus]

Samantha shuddered a bit from the lack of clothes but aside from that she actually felt very good. She nodded at Alex and gladly took Will’s jacket to cover up. It felt like she had seen them the last time ages ago. How long has it been that Violet had given up control? How long has it been that she used her own voice to speak.

“I’m fine.’” She croaked and coughed a little. “Something is wrong, guys. This whole situation is wrong. That man is right.”, she nodded with her head towards the preacher she almost… Violet almost killed.

Standing there clutching the jacket around her fragile body she quickly realized that even though she felt good she was totally helpless if something happened. Samantha subconsciously drifted closer to William seeking his protection her eyes reflecting a sense of dread. What had they done? What had happened in the last years? She couldn’t recall anything clearly but she knew this was wrong.

[Stargaizer]

After William spoke, it took a moment for the preacher to respond. He dipped his head a bit, muttered one last word, and then stood up. William noticed that his emotions completely changed. The concern was still there, but it dropped to a normal level, and determination also joined in. As did something else; joy and love. But these two weren't your typical joy or love. The joy wasn't at 'beating' Violet, surviving the attack, the attention he was getting, or anything other than that. It was 'pure' joy. Unexplainable joy. And the love wasn't directed at any one person, and it had nothing to do with 'wanting' the other person. It was, as well, 'pure' love, unadulterated with any desires or selfishness.

There had only been one set of people with whom William had sensed these particular 'flavors' or 'colors', these particular types of emotion.

Click to reveal.. (flashback)

This was it. This was the end; all the cards were on the table, the bottom of the 9th, the last seconds of the 4th quarter. It all got decided here.

As the entire armies of Nemesis and NG were laid out on the fields, William, Alexandra, Violet and Draygo naturally gravitated towards their personal arch-rivals:

The lean, blond headed man with the glowing white wings who called himself Jessee. He also answered to the name of Archangel. He was incredibly fast, unbelievably agile, could dodge almost any attack, and could manifest a sword out of pure energy.

Then there was the Hispanic looking, chiseled man with the salt and pepper hair (though he was no older than the rest of them). His name was Juan, but he answered to the name Omni as well. His fists were almost as fast as Jessee was, and there wasn't any substance that the group had seen that could stop a hit from him.

There was also the stout, brunette man with glasses that went by the name of Joe, though he answered to Janus as well. He was capable of producing any weapon imaginable out of his body, and he just wouldn't die. No matter how many times the group thought that they'd killed him, no matter what they tried, he just always kept coming back. But that wasn't all. He was actually capable of splitting himself into separate people, one of whom was a 'blade bunny' female, in red leathers, who wielded dual swords as well as William did his staff.

And lastly, there was the average looking red head by the name of Frank, who also answered to Orion. He could control both light and shadow, using them both equally well for travel, offense and defense. While he wasn't that skilled in a 1 on 1 battle, he could pop up almost anywhere, strike, and then disappear before anyone could retaliate.

Nemesis had eventually won this battle, though most of the planet was ravaged in the process. The group had even defeated their arch-rivals, even if they didn't kill them. But the most disturbing thing was, especially for William, that he never, not once, felt any animosity from their foes. Even when they were on the brink of defeat, the fought with a joy and determination that were unprecedented. There was also a love that they had felt, for each other, and for those around them that defied all logic. That was what bothered William the most, and what he remembered now.

The other two who had been on their knees next to him stood up as well, standing just behind him, and looking at each other with a bit of confusion. They knew that what they were doing was right, but they didn't know exactly what to do.

The preacher addressed William in a normal conversational tone. "I claim no kinship to you except that of a common Creator. And I only say that initially, because since then we've been reworked by very different potters.

As for why I am here, I am here to spread the word that these people need to hear. Your lies and fear won't stifle the truth, at least not completely. Everybody who is here, now knows that they have another option. They now know that they can either live as slaves to your control, in constant fear and oppression, or they can live truly free despite the constant fear of death and punishment." And then he turned his attention to and took a step towards Samantha. "Like you miss. Before you were enslaved, but now you are free. Through me, the Lord can grant you freedom from that which lives in you. You don't have to be a slave any more. Though I do caution you, this isn't a road for the faint of heart." With that he motions to the ground where the two who turned and started begging forgiveness of the trio were oddly still and silent. "For those who see the light and then forsake it, the consequences are grim. Not always this dramatic or quick, but they are always and eternally grim."

The two who were beside the preacher seemed to gain strength as the preacher talked, that is until they saw the two dead bodies on the ground. It was then that they realized how quickly and easily it would have been for them to end up in the same position, and it strengthened their resolve.

The crowd, however, after noticing the two bodies, started chanting again, "Kill him! Kill him!" with rising anticipation.

Click to reveal.. (OOC)

The two people are dead. The preacher is not acting in any aggressive manner.

Everybody can remember what I put in the other spoiler, but it's William that gets the flashback. Everybody, though, can remember the battle where they won control of the planet. It was brutal, harsh, and prolonged, but they won. Most of NG was slain, but a few survived (including their arch-rivals). The survivors were thoroughly defeated.

[Courier]

Will glanced at one of the two 'minions' of the "holy-man" and switched health with him (i.e. activate Health-Proxy). He also said quietly to Alex (and Sam) "I think he's some kind of power manipulator. Don't touch him, if you have to, throw objects."

Will said loudly, "Lies? Fear? In case you've forgotten, we just fought a war, and you lost. I'm not shocked you're upset you lost, but you're insane if you think dragging the world into another war would be a good thing. I don't see the 'lie' in that and any 'fear' of going through that again is a good thing."

Will nodded to the two bodies and continued with some sarcasm, "I'm impressed by the quality of your mercy and your message. 'Join me or die' must really carry the crowd. The big difference between you and me is I maintain order while you're trying to get lots and lots of people killed again."

"So let me ask you, why? Why not just admit you lost the war and make peace? You've killed two of mine but I'm willing to forgive that."

[Stargaizer]

At William's words, the crowd erupted in cheers. Then it took back up the chant of "Kill him! Kill him!" even louder than before. Despite this, though, the street preacher responded, again, in a normal conversational tone.

"I have killed no one. I have simply spoken the truth to those who need to hear it. If those who hear it decide to follow when you aren't watching, and then spit in the face of their Creator when you show up, is it not the prerogative of He who gave them life to take it away? I did not do that. I have done nothing here, and I wish to do nothing here but to spread the life giving and freedom granting message that the Lord God Almighty has paid the price for their sins and wants to welcome them into his loving embrace. I preach not death, but life. It is the lot of every man to die once, but to him to whom eternal life is given, he will die but once. You, or those like you may kill us more quickly for not following you, but after that death which is common to all men, we will live eternally.

That is the difference that you're searching for. I preach 'Follow the giver of life and die but once,' and you tell the world by your actions 'Submit to our authority or die for your rebellion'. What you fail to add, and what I have told these people, is that after they submit to your authority, bowing down to you as false gods, and they share the fate of all creation, they shall then share in your eternal damnation and punishment.

I am not upset, and I don't disagree that you and yours have been given the world for a time. I hold no grudge, and I would never ask anyone to raise arms against you, 'For he who lives by the sword dies by the sword'. I simply don't want to see all of these people share with you your eternal punishment. Those who listen may well forfeit their lives, but their souls will be saved. 'What profits it a man if he gaineth the whole world but looseth his soul?'"

He then turned his attention back to Samantha. "Ma'am, if you would like, I would be more than happy to escort you to the nearest clothing store and pay for you a new outfit, and while we walk we can talk about freeing you from the evil inside of you."

As he talked, the chanting of the crowd got louder and louder. Loud enough in fact that it should have easily drowned him out. The trio, however, never had a problem hearing him, even though he didn't raise his voice. His attitude while talking with William was stern determination, mixed with concern for the crowd, the newly converted and Samantha, and the true love that defied all of William's logic for everyone but him and Alexandra.

Click to reveal..

Violet will start stirring at the end of your next post. Samantha knows that she's coming back, but doesn't know when.

[Courier]

Will wasn't sure if the holy-man understood what was going on but he did. First you spar with your opponent, gauge his strengths and weaknesses, take his measure. It was becoming clearer that this was someone of truth faith, someone whose power was his belief. That was good, Will had a counter for that.

Will held up his hands to the crowd to try to bring them to silence, (whether or not he succeeded) he spoke again.

First Will addressed the closer of the two corpses, "Hey, did you hear that? He didn't kill you. Oh, and good news, God Loves you. Of course if you break any of his rules, he'll kill you horribly, and no, he's not willing to tell you all the rules ahead of time."

Then Will addressed the crowd, "And good news for you too. This men brings you faith... oh, but if your current faith disagrees with his, get ready to die for it. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc, there's hundreds of flavors, guess what? One of you gets to kill all the others who disagree with you, but keep in mind, God loves you. This man here brings us holy war yet again, where every man gets to kill his neighbor yet again, but he does it in the name of love so that's ok."

Finally to the holy man himself Will spoke, "I already know the important difference. Grow a spine for god's sake. Take some responsibility. You're going to plunge the world into war, again, and leave a trail of corpses of any who don't believe what you want them to, and you're not involved? You didn't kill anyone, so you refuse to take the blame, but you take full credit and threaten the same on others? You preach life and not death, but hey, look at the dead body? You are a super. Your powers work very well for yourself, but take your powers out of the situation and you're just another flavor of another religion."

"You call me liar, but what I say and do is very straight forward. Unlike you I don't blame god for every staff swing I take, I take responsibility for myself, it's very fair to ask you to do the same. It's very fair to ask your god to take responsibility for his actions. But then that's the problem isn't it? The moment god is responsible for anything..." Will waves to the corpses, "...he's just as wicked as man."

All through his speech Will used his empathy projection power to project disbelief of the holy-man's message and support of Will's own across his full area. He could only project what he himself felt, but since he said what he felt it was good enough. This man was just another super... and if he was powered by belief, let's see how he did with some doubt... and Will's power was very hard to detect.

{OOC: Everyone within 20' feet need two succ to shake it off but don't get a roll unless they realize what Will is up to. Everyone within 100' have the same but need only one sux. Otherwise feel what Will is feeling )

[Ally Kat]

Alexandra watched the two of them go back and forth, unsure of how to respond to this. She moved, predominantly to protect Samantha from any other effects. She knew she needed to do something, but she knew that she didn't want this to end in violence.