"I'm sorry, what do you expect me to do with the 'kids', if they are too restless?" Squidlock's minion raises an eyebrow. "I don't like getting close to those things." He shudders. --- Concealed in the shadows of an alley, Squidlock's spy hides from the glare of the midday sun as he looks at the home of his future acquisition's sister. Clearly, the sister lives a less exciting life than Linda, living in an average suburban home instead of bars and MMA gyms. As Squidlock watches, a boy on a bicycle rides past, tossing a newspaper that bounces off the driveway, which can clearly accommodate two cars, but at the present only holds one. A minute or so later, a woman exits the house, sweat draping her body to indicate that her workout's been interrupted, and she moves to snatch up the newspaper before waving at the disappearing figure of the boy on the bike - a golden ring around one of her fingers. Linda's sister glances around the neighborhood, eyes tracking over the spy's hiding place without seeing it, and turns to walk back inside.
"Hammer's no fool." Centurion says in a monotone, weapons still primed. "How do I know you're not one of his underlings, trying to lead me into a trap?"
"Do I look like one of his thugs?" Vanessa wraps her arms underneath her breasts as she cocks her hips to the side. "Besides, he, or whoever he's working for wants my employer. So he'll be sending a meet up location in a few minutes." She raises the phone the thugs gave her.
"I trust no one." Centurion replies grimly. "Very well, contact your employer, and give me the phone. I will use her as bait to finally neutralise Hammer."
"I'm not asking for your trust, just your cooperation." Vanessa replied, but as he agreed, "While she could agree to that plan, I'll need the phone to learn where the meet-up will be happening." She said as she gives him the phone the thugs gave her.
"I will not require your assistance. Your part has already been played by informing me." The armored hero says, a note of condescencion making it through the voice synthesiser.
"Is that right?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow, "Fine, and how am I suppose to inform my employer of where the meet will happen? Unless you're going to tell her yourself?" She asked ignoring the condescending tone as she had much bigger problems.
[I think it's fine. Not much there that's important to describe.] Shit! Need to be more careful. Surprised that he could be caught in an ambush so easily, and in broad daylight for that matter, Sonata glances around at the pack of assailants over his black and gold mask as they come nearer. Modifying his voice to lend it a cold, synthetic timbre, he taunts "Stupid enough to mug people during the day, but still scared enough to gang up on any who take action. Cowards. This should even the odds." I hope there's nothing important under here. Having focused his power while speaking, he kneels and presses his gloved hand to the pavement, trying to create an earth-shaking shockwave powerful enough to knock the gang off their feet. He shouts "Stay on the ground!" Then, he jumps back up onto both feet and enters a combat stance with the paired, jade blades held in front of him, rushing to engage any of them who remain standing. He doesn't bother avoiding vital areas, valuing efficiency and speed; he needs to take them down as quickly as possible so he isn't forced to fight them off all at once.
"Thank you Detective." Psychana replied, a genuine smile on her face. She was proud of herself at that moment and appreciative of the compliment. "In truth I didn't expect him to go down as easily as he did. Given his reputation, I anticipated more of a fight." She then remembered how much of a beating the man had taken just minutes ago, and with Captain Spark incapacitated, she moved over to the Detective to help support him. "If you'd like, I can stay with you until backup arrives; you know... in case Sparky over there comes too."
"Yes, I'll need you to gain your employer's trust - they likely would not willingly follow my orders were I to approach them alone." Centurion agrees. "Very well - inform your employer, and wait for the ransom message. As soon as Hammer contacts you, send me the details." The armored behemoth hands the phone back.
"Sorry, dude." One of the men shrugs, gesturing to the fallen purse snatcher. "This is our boss' brother. She'd kill us if we let him get busted." Spoiler: Combat Roll D100: 45+10 (Minor Success) Remaining Thugs: 4 The ground begins to shake, and the men have to grip the surrounding objects tightly to keep their footing. Two of them fall quickly, though the others soon have their weapons ready.
Jackson returns the smile. "He carved through me and my men. I'd say he wasn't weak - you were just too strong for him." The big man accepts her help, though it's unclear if he needs it, sliding an arm around her waist and squeezing her to his muscular frame. "No, no, you don't need to stay. I took way worse beatings back when I was in the army." He kneels down, feeling Spark's pulse, before cuffing the unconscious man. "Alive - good. Say, can you grab something with telekinesis and fly at the same time? Tell you what, since we've still got to get Sparky downtown for his day in court, why don't you grab him and fly him over? Go by where we got ambushed - there'll be plenty people over by the vans gawking and taking pictures. Go give 'em something good to shoot. Oh, and..." He fishes out a card from his pocket, a number emblazoned on the paper. "Why don't you let me shout you dinner some time - repay you for saving my life?" He grins confidently. "Go on, do your victory lap before that idiot wakes up."
"Good choice. I suppose I should send another message to that website, or will you give me a burner number?" Vanessa asked, taking the phone back.
When Jackson squeezed her to him, Psychana brushed it off as the big man stabilizing himself and didn't say or do anything about it. She did however make a note of his well built physique. "I should be able to manage." Psychana replied to his initial question. When he handed her his card she didn't want to embarrass him by revealing that she was married. Though a keen eye may have been able to discern the outline of a wedding ring on her finger hidden by her glove. She did take the offered card with a placating half-grin. "That's very considerate of you Detective, but no repayment's necessary. I was happy I could help." She didn't want to leave a bad impression though and for that reason alone was tempted to accept his invitation. But she knew she'd half to talk to her husband about it first. "Who knows, I might just take you up on that offer though." Reaching out with her mind she levitated herself and Captain Spark before she addressed the detective again. "Thank you for all your help Detective, it was good to work with you, and I hope we can do this again." With one final nod to Jackson, Psychana took off for the convoy.
Sonata doesn't respond to the thug, having taken his years of training to heart. Don't talk in combat. It distracts you from the threat. He closes the distance to the nearest one, attempting to catch his wrist, stab his chest once or twice, and then push him to the ground. He steps to the next man and uses a similar plan. Prevent their first strike, then disable them. Remembering his lessons, Sonata will slice into this opponent's shoulders, preventing him from wielding his bat. Once he's incapacitated, Sonata will turn to the other two, firing transparent balls of energetic, screaming-loud soundwaves at them, aiming for their heads. Not used to having range in a fight, but this probably isn't what Mr. Cortez meant. The thought makes him smile under his mask. [Must have forgotten to click the right reply button. Is there a way to fix it?]
"I think I might have a way..." She said to the young man... whose name she still did not know. "Give me a moment." She said as she took out her phone and called Gypsy.
"Please, I insist." The man grins. "You bet we will, now go." --- Passing over the wrecked cars from earlier, Psychana sees that Jackson's prediction was right - the crowd of onlookers is huge. Someone in the crowd points upwards, and suddenly a hundred eyes are on the blonde. A cheer arises as they raise their phones, zooming in with their cameras to see what's going on. As they see the heroine with a downed villain in tow, a cheer erupts - a real cheer, with the applause clearly audible up in the sky, as are the sounds of camera lenses snapping. Finally, she returns to the courthouse, where an awakening Spark is escorted to a specially built holding cell, and Judge Holness sees fit to congratulate her with an appreciative nod. An hour later, Psychana's flying above the city, eye peeled for crime and the adrenaline rush beginning to wear off, when she hears her husband's voice in her ear. "Honey? I heard what happened! You're on the news! Everyone's talking about you on social media!"
Psychana basked in the adulation of the crowd and in truth a small part of her didn't want to leave it, but duty called and she returned Captain Spark to the courthouse. Later, flying through the air, Jenny heard her husband's voice over her comm device. She closed her eyes briefly and enjoyed the feeling of open air brushing past her skin and blowing through her hair. She didn't even try to suppress a smile from her face. "Isn't it great!?" she asked reveling in her own good press. "This is so huge for us!" She soared between two high rises and gave a little wave to the few people who noticed her as she flew by. "God I feel like celebrating! What's on our list for tonight? I want to do something!"
“Thanks, Esme.” Azura smiled at her guest before taking a sip from the coffee cup. “Since I had no idea who that robot belonged to I decided not to take any chances. What if it had some sort of tracking device that would lead the owner here, to us? Or if it was made from some sort of special metal that is easily tracked if you know how? I did not want to risk it, so I chose to destroy it.” She explained before taking another, longer, sip of the warm coffee. “I am more interested in the vial Toxin was so worried about. Any ideas how to safely figure out what it is? I am afraid such things are a bit out of my field of expertise...”
Laughing softly, Squidlock reaches out a tentacle to pat his minion on the shoulder. "Oh, but they love their dear uncle so much. Don't worry. All you have to do is the occasional headcount and keep track of their dear mother's belly to see if they'll be receiving some new brothers now and again. And if she is not currently occupied you're free to relieve a little stress in her if you want." Squidlock licks his lips, the sister alone would be a fine catch but he needed to stay focused on the primary target for the moment. He waits, having the spy slink around the edges of the property when it can do so undetected, looking for any sign of Linda's presence in the home, either currently or recently.
