Sitting at the desk of one of her safehouses, Vanessa finds reports of several clashes between Hammer and The Centurion - Arch Corp's power armored hero. Together, the two have levelled several city blocks.
"Tsk." Clicking her tongue, Vanessa tries to think of a way to set them up. I'm not sure if it's Arch Corp behind this. But it's all I've got. She thought to herself, looking for a way to discreetly contact The Centurion, she planned to send him an "anonymous" tip of where the Hammer would be once the thugs sent her the location of the meet.
Spoiler: Intimidation Roll D100: 6 (Crit Fail) Captain Spark empowered by rage! "You think you can tell me what to do?" Spark looks at Psychana in a rage, electric sparks curling all over his body. "No one tells me what to do! You'll be a charred corpse when I'm done with you!" He slams his fists into the ground, sparks flying everywhere as a massive amount of power flows from the villain. Psychana makes sure to keep away from the tracks as thousands of vaults run through the rails. The lights turn on, the automatic doors open and close and the decrepit train arrival screens light up once more before exploding outwards, massive overcharges of energy running through the rusted circuits, before everything goes dark. Then, eyes wide with fury, Captain Spark attacks. Spoiler: Combat Roll D100: Psychana: 81+10-5 Captain Spark: Natural one (Crit Fail) Psychic Damage: 80+15 (Natural one)=95 Captain Spark HP: 100-10 (Hit by manhole cover)-95=0 As it turns out, Psychana's anger proves more effective than the villain's. Thrusting her hands forward, Jenny feels the metal of the rails groaning, old screens falling from the wall, as she hits the villain with a titanic attack. Spark goes flying, hitting a concrete pillar with a loud crack and falling limp beside the electrified track. From behind, Jenny hears hands and feet climbing the manhole cover, while on ground level she can hear someone running, out of view.
Arch Corp maintains a tip service for their proprietary hero, Vanessa discovers, where she can drop a message - it's unclear how fast his response time will be.
As Captain Spark collapsed to the ground, Psychana let out a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She'd faced supervillains before, but always with her team at her side. This was the first time she'd gone up against a supervillain solo and she resisted the urge to exuberantly cry out in celebration. Her body shook as the adrenaline coursed through her, but as she hears someone come up the manhole and another start running, she tunes back into her surroundings. Not wanting to be caught off-guard, Psychana reached out with her telepathy to hopefully determine who was coming up the manhole and if she needed to get ready to defend herself again; but also who was running out of her view and if she needed to pursue them. Not having line of sight on either of them would make things more difficult she knew, and the developing headache wouldn't help any, but it was better not to let her guard down.
"I can't risk giving out too much, otherwise that Arch could use it to his advantage." Vanessa lets out a sigh, And if Arch isn't behind this, whoever is could have people inside his company too. Clenching her fists, unable to think of a better plan due to panic, and the residual cloudiness in her mind. "I have to risk it." She takes a deep breath, since the thugs hasn't sent her anything yet. Vanessa tries the tip service, I have information on Hammer's whereabouts. Let's see if this gets his attention. She thought to herself.
Spoiler: Psychic Roll 34+10-5 Try as she might to identify the person on the ladder, Psychana feels the pain flare up every time she reaches out with her powers in that direction. By the time she switches her attention to the runner, they've left the range of her abilities.
A pop up on the web page informs Vanessa that the message has been sent successfully. A minute passes, then another, and another pop up emerges. Remain where you are. Through the safehouse's window, in the distance, the heroine begins to hear the sound of jet engines bouncing off the nearby buildings.
I wonder what that version of him thinks of his counterpart. And if they share memories. Hmm. Drawing his ancestral blades, Sonata gives chase. He emits his sonar to keep track of the presumed mugger if needed. As he nears the thief, he'll mute his footsteps and breathing to avoid drawing their attention. If Sonata can catch up, he won't waste the chance to surprise them, slicing their leg or foot, though trying to avoid anywhere vital. If Sonata can't catch the assailant, then he'll fire a high-frequency shockwave at them along the ground, impacting their legs.
Psychana had to rub her temples, partly in pain and partly in frustration, before she readied herself for whomever came up out of the manhole. If it was one of Captain Spark's lackeys that she'd missed or had managed to beat Detective Jackson she didn't want to be caught off-guard by their arrival.
"What!?" Vanessa's eyes widen as she saw the reply, That's too fast, and remain where I am? He's tracking me!? She panicked, recalling that Centurion is more of a "technology centered" hero, so of course he'd easily track a simple lap top. Calm down, for now, I should determine whether or not he'll actually help. Vanessa takes a deep breath as she prepares to meet with the hero. Ready for a fight just in case he really is working with the Hammer instead.
Amethyst Heart sighted and shook her head. "No. I am not able to do any magic." She answered. For a moment she tried to remember if she knew anyone with such powers who could help her. Hero, vigillante or independent. There was Gypsy - she might know some way...
That's taken care of. Time for me to go. Hopefully the destruction of the small robot would serve as a message to whoever had been spying on her. With that taken care of Azura wasted no more time and left in a hurry, leaving the police and firefighters to take care of the rest. Not wanting to take any chances Azura took special care, hiding in an empty narrow alley and using an illusion to change her appearance into that of a random plain-looking woman. For a short while she observed what was going on at the chemical factory, then, after looking around to make sure nothing and no one was spying on her, returned to her car and headed back to her place to let her guests know what had happened.
"A sister, you say?" Squidlock muttered thoughtfully. That might be good to case out first, he decided. Family could be the most welcoming to those on the outs, either via love or the social pressures of responsibility. And the chance for a twofer was exciting. He decided that would be the best place to start and, if it was clear she was not there, the bar would be a good secondary point to keep an eye on. "I'll be heading out," he says to his minion, "Return to your duties but do check in later to make sure the kids are not TOO restless. Their mother is only going to be able to entertain them for so long."
The hooded figure collapses to the ground, purse going flying as the shockwave hits them. Before Sonata can move in to disable them, however, he hears footsteps rushing toward him - a half dozen young men with bats and knives enter the alley, clearly an ambush set for good samaritans. (Sorry that that was poorly written)
Psychana tenses as she sees the barrel of a rifle poking above the lip of the manhole, but eases up when she sees a familiar shock of blonde hair. Jackson eases himself, up, similarly relaxing as he sees that Psychana's alone. "Good work." He gestures to the limp body of the villain as he stands.
Vanessa barely has time to think before the window explodes inwards, the power armored figure flying into the safehouse with weapons at the ready. "Where is Hammer?" The hero's voice comes forcefully through speakers in his suit, digitised and robotic sounding.
Thinking about it, Amethyst thinks that Gypsy could well know how to do what she needs, or know someone who can.
"You're... quick." Vanessa mumbled, but stands her ground. "I don't know yet. But they'll be sending coordinates to a meet, since they want my employer." She replied, "I figured you'd want a go at him, so I sent that tip. Didn't expect you to suddenly burst through the wall though." The heiress plays it out as if she just thought of giving him a chance to settle a score with Hammer, and not because she desperately needs his help.
Fifteen Minutes Later: "Hmm, you blew it up, you say?" Esmerelda frowns as she sits in Azura's kitchen, pouring some coffee for the tired heroine. "Could be a tech villain, the government, some shady corporation. Maybe Toxin had an employer, checking up on her?" Esmerelda shrugs, before Sapphira pipes up from her place on the couch. "I hope it's not the Fae..." She says nervously, before Esmerelda placates her. "It's a possibility, but I doubt it - they wouldn't use technology when they could use magic instead. We're safe, Saph." The blonde, lying on her stomach on the couch, groans uncomfortably despite the encouragement.
