It was...a difficult series of events. She had made a lot of progress initially, but it seemed to have stalled. Not by any fault of her own, of course. Just the incompetence of her subordinates. That's what it was. Still, she was on the verge of having all the building blocks she stacked together fall apart until she realized the true extent of her own abilities. With something like this, they would be doing great. Of course, she definitely didn't need to use drugs to wrap people around her little finger, but it was more efficient. Plus, she couldn't be everywhere at once. As they pushed out into the neighbourhood, being able to influence people that way would help massively to undo the damage of her attempts of taking over. And they were still getting better and better equip. Really, all she had to do was just lie on the silk couch she had bought and let things unfold. But as one of her latest followers burst in, it seemed like that wouldn't be the time yet. She wasn't exactly surprised by the news. She knew that they were going to cross paths eventually. She must have been expanding too rapidly then, regardless of the setbacks. People were starting to take notice of her actions. With a expanding drug business and having far better equipment than your average street thugs, local heroes were undoubtedly starting to view her as a serious threat. As they should. Of course, she would have already been on Finch's radar prior...but it seemed like now he had decided that he couldn't just let her keep expanding undisturbed. Ryota...was...somewhere. She'd order her men to keep track of what he was up too. She had put up a wall between him being able to easily work with other heroes or the law here, but she'd need to keep the pressure on that front. For now, she had a more immediate hero that required her attention. "Of course, it was. He's supposed to, after all. But this is why, we focused on weaponry explicitly to counter his little gadgets." She had to assume he probably had spent time developing some means to avoid her poison. No doubt he would have done his digging by now. She'd have to have a means of breaking that defense. The most obvious thing she imagined was some kind of air filtration system. But he had already seen that she could use liquid forms too. What would he do... "But must I do everything?" She motioned her hand along her mouth as she let out a light yawn, at the same time some nearby vines descending to where she lied wrapped around one of her knives, she took hold of, idly, eyeing the blade. "I suppose.....how should I do this....hmmm....well, haven't done this in a while..." Looking at one of the various flower beds, she pointed at it. Channeling a mix of dark magic, her plant powers and abilities to manipulate chemicals, she felt it was time to try one of her older tricks. She hadn't used it since coming here, but she got a lot of use out of it before. Raising living plant beasts. She had time to properly prepare a ritual. She couldn't exactly just spawn an army casually right now, but maybe one or two were doable. A good amount of extra muscle and something Finch hadn't see her already do, so he was unlikely to be properly prepared for, if she could manage it.
@AnonYMooseBoG Nico watches himself in the mirror, looking for anything off or strange about his appearance, but there's no need - everything's immaculate, there's no sign whatsoever that the beautiful young woman in front of him isn't what she sees. Turning, he looks around the recording studio, preparing his voice, a pointless habit now that he has his powers, but one that's been pointless to shake. Today, he records his first single. It's a momentous occasion, but all the more so because the record label's new owner is stopping by - some business big wig who bought the struggling label, and is now 'reviewing' its talent to decide who's worth keeping around, and who should be discarded to cut costs. As Nico waits, however, he begins to hear something outside, muffled and indistinct due to the room's sound dampening. Poking his head outside, he hears a scream. "Call the police! Some crazy supervillain kidnapped Lana Caruso!" The young man can't help but widen his eyes in surprise - Lana Caruso is a pop star, probably the label's most famous and successful. (Hope that was alright for an introduction)
"MenTek's focus seems to be on physical augmentation - specifically the concept of brain implants that will enhance mental performance." Lawrence answers. "This is from their website, however - the specifics seem largely opaque. Until the will is processed and ownership is transferred to you, we can't see what they're working on behind closed doors. Not through legal means, at least."
Faye grabbed the dildo and had to actually pull it of - he pussy cramped so much, that the golden dildo would not slide off. Her body relaxed, slumped in the seat, as she put the gold back into shelf and closed it. She looked back at the broken face of Blue Streak... She changed the clip back to third, where the woman was fucked by the only man who's face was visible. Faye shuddered as she traced her finger over the man's face - if she ever meet him, especially in her civilian identity, she doubted she would be able to resist any command he could give her~ Faye frowned as her eyes turned to beeping sound. She checked what required attention of amethyst heart this day...
"Mental enhancements..." Vanessa mumbles, recalling Horatio's artifact, she could only guess what Oscar wanted to do with such technology. "Damn it, and with this mess, we can't really have to processed, can we?" She sighed, "Sadly, I don't think going around in costume is a good idea right now. We don't know whose watching, and when those cops will return with a warrant." The heiress grumbles, That means I can't go see Jacob...
Spoiler: Plant Roll D100: 37+20=57 (Minor Success) Spreading out a mix of pollen and chlorophyll, it's not long before she sees the vines move, twisting and rearranging themselves, before reforming into something vaguely man-shaped. Her new beast remains calm in her presence, but snaps whenever her goons get near it, monstrous maw drawn back in a vicious snarl, her calming pheromones barely restraining it from going on a killing spree in the middle of her base. Malady thinks that the beast will do its job in attacking Finch, but it's going to be an imprecise weapon.
Looking at the man, face a mask of sadistic glee as he ravages the helpless heroine, Faye could almost imagine that his eyes were staring at her, boring into her with hunger and lust... She's snapped out of it by the beep. Switching her screen from the porn to a news feed, she sees Century City's largest railway station. Inside, hundreds of commuters cower in fear, armed men walking among them, and above hovers the masked figure of the Terror - his hands glowing with arcane power. "People of Century City..." He says in a low voice. "Forgive me for interrupting your pathetic, pointless lives, but I've come to you with a proposition: I want 50 million dollars delivered to me, or the ignorant souls in this station will...face their fears. I will give you fifteen minutes to think this through - then I will begin demonstrating my powers."
"Actually, now that I think about it..." Lawrence thinks. "To get a warrant, the police will have to go through Judge Milani. He and your father were old friends - he owed some favors, actually. If we were to ask, I think he could make it very difficult indeed for those officers to get the warrant they need. It would be perhaps less than honorable, but at the same time, we know we're not criminals - we can't say the same for the police."
Faye sighted, why did the villains never act in time she was not enjoying herself? She quickly changed into costume, and flew to deal with Terror. She hoped other Heroes would also be there. As she arrived, she intended to sneak attack the man - and take no chances for hostages to be hurt.
"Alright, desperate times, desperate measures. While I'm sure they won't find anything if they search the mansion. They might leave something instead." Vanessa replied, "Do you have his contact information? I think it'll be far too suspicious if I suddenly go and personally meet with a judge after their recent accusations."
Not as if she ever really bothered making most of her children especially intelligent. Mostly beasts to serve a single purpose and be recycled as material into new beasts when they were done with it. Still, this seemed....even dumber than her usual brutes. "I wouldn't tend to get too close. My children like only me." Of course, this thing definitely wasn't anything like a actual "child", but it was still her creation. It dawned on her that it was possible that if Medusa venom was highly addictive in a normal person's bloodstream a creature whose entire workings were mostly produced by the stuff....perhaps this was too be expected. Yet, she knew this wasn't quite right. She had a way of making beasts more tame than this. How did she do it before? This was fine for now, at least. As far as Finch was aware, she could only influence people and had his tools prepared for taking down human targets. "Now...let me think..." She had her servant ready. What was the next step? An ambush location. No reason to complicate it, but...she'd need an environment with plenty of vegetation but lacked a lot any of those city rooftops he loved so much that could be used as the advantage. Somewhere outside the city limits.... "Prepare the next batch for delivery. We're changing the delivery to something different...." It came to mind rather easily. A farm. No real technology that could be exploited, mostly flat land so his ambush tactics would be limited to mostly frontal assaults or trying to isolate the guard one by one...but.. also it gave her an idea. Introduce Medusa Venom to some cattle....let them go to processing, people would taste meat that was beyond their expectations. She could start setting up farm land and ranches legally....make a killing that way with little trouble since no other gang would benefit from trying to take farmland meaning she could expand a whole new market unopposed and introduce her toxins to a wider population, and corner the market for the city's natural food production. She'd dominate the city's population into making them more susceptible for her will in the longrun while making relatively clean money. Yes. This plan was actually quite sinister. Finch would likely realize what she intends so he couldn't exactly ignore it even if he knew he was walking into an ambush. This could work.
(Seems good to me.) Nico, no, Calista was trying her best to stay calm, going through the practiced motions of warming her voice to control her excitement more than for any practical purpose. Overshadowing the most important day of her life, however, is the soul crushing prospect of her contract being terminated before ever getting a chance to publish a single song. Upon hearing that Lana's been kidnapped, Calista's thoughts raced between concern for being attacked, anger at the distraction, and a desire to help. Calista steps out into the hall and tries to recall if Lana was supposed to be at the studio today while she searches for the source of the yelling. She can't very well have herself at risk here of all places.
Spoiler: Stealth Roll D100: 64 (Success) Sneaking into the grand station, the blonde heroine gets a view of the dark suited villain floating in the air above his hostages. "Hmm, the deadline has passed... Who shall be the first to face their fear? You, or maybe y-ugh!" He recoils, as the heroine slams into him from behind. Spoiler: Combat Roll D100: Amethyst Heart: 96+10 (Stealth)+20 (Powers)=136 (Crit) The Terror's power to disturb the mind is formidable, but not as formidable as a superpowered punch to the jaw out of nowhere. She feels the metal of his helmet dent under her fist, and he goes flying, body smashing through the station's wall, before colliding with a police car outside, lying unconscious - if he was a regular human, he'd almost certainly be a corpse. In shock, and knowing they have zero chance against her, Terror's henchmen begin to run away.
"I'll call him myself, I think." Lawrence answers. "Probably best to keep you out of it altogether - with your permission."
"My uncle works on a farm outside the city - pretty high number of acres." The head of Malady's fan club says. "I'll make sure he makes space for our trucks." David grins. "We'll get the Medusa ready, boss."
{Good throws - huray!} Amethyst heart smiled as she took down the villain, with no casualties among civilians. She had no interest in securing henchmen - police could do that, and starting fight with them, would put civilians in danger. Save first, capture later - was how she was doing things... with exceptions. "Feel the true Terror of justice~" She quipped as she secured Terror and made sure the civilians were okay. It was a pity there was no banter, but that could be done with the next villain whose ass she would spank. She waited for the police to give them the villain... after that, she would need to go to her office, to work.
"Aww, but then I'll be stuck at home all day with nothing to do." Vanessa pouts, acting like a spoiled child. Before giggling, "Fufu, very well, please do. Meanwhile, I suppose I'll have another look see at these papers dear uncle Oscar left me." She said with a hint of sarcasm, as she reads through the documents again, in case she missed something.
Heading into the hallway, she remembers that Lana was supposed to be recording her new album today. It isn't long before she comes across a smashed window, outside air blowing inside. Next to the window, Calista sees a near-hysterical woman in office clothes, next to a man in a business suit. Spoiler: People "He took her... He took her!" The woman repeats, to the man's consternation. "Shut the hell up, lady! Tell me what you saw!" Spoiler: Awareness Roll D100: 22 (Fail) Calista gets the feeling she's seen the fat businessman around somewhere, but she can't place him. There's something undeniably sleazy about him, though.
Despite the lame pun, the crowd of former hostages give the heroine a cheer, many approaching to get a photo or a handshake, before the police storm the building and she flies away. Ten Minutes Later: Back in her office wear, Faye walks to her desk, sighing as she logs in and sees a bunch of unread emails - in the time she spent masturbating and knocking out the villain, work's been piling up. The blonde notes, too, a sticky note from Crystal - informing her that Simon Arch has invited her to a banquet tonight.
