{Hey! That was a good pun!... wait... are there any puns that are not terrible?} Faye sighted, as she noticed an invitation. Things like that were necessary i her line of work. She then paused, biting her lips. She had the meeting with the students at the same time... but she was not an owner of company for nothing - she could delegate. She called Erik, and told him to meet the boys and offer them place on the team. She gave him free hand in negotiations and conditions he would set - she intended for the man to be her right hand. Also, just in case, she had some of her best quality milk delivered to him, to power him up. The rest of the day, she spent, working, and preparing for banquet - before she went to prepare for the banquet, she checked the results of search - for both, Blue Streak and the man from the porn clip.
The next night: Silence rules in the little stretch of countryside she's chosen for the showdown. Waiting in the farmhouse, as her men patrol the exterior, and hide upstairs, Malady's only companions are the crickets outside, and the plant monstrosity locked in a nearby closet, ready to be unleashed on her superheroic foe. Then, it starts. "This is David, checking in." The delinquent calls in through the radio, on schedule. "This is Kimoto, checking in." One of the fanboys calls in. Then, the next guard fails to call in, and the next. "Err, this is Larry... I think he might be here... I found one of our guys - he's unconscious" One of her patrolling thugs says.
Suppressing a shudder at the feeling of filth she gets from the man, Calista asks, with clear frustration, "What's with all the shouting? I can hear you in the soundproofed studio down the hall loud enough to interrupt my warmups," making sure to use her power to adjust her voice higher appropriately.
Lawrence rolls his eyes, and heads out to contact the judge. Spoiler: Awareness Roll D100: 26 (Fail) Despite her best efforts, Vanessa can't see anything specific in the diverse collection of items, properties, companies and charities her would-be master left her. She knows there must be something here, buried in the numbers, but she can't see it. Before she realises it, hours have passed, and Lawrence contacts her to state that the judge has agreed.
Looking at the times, Faye thinks she could probably make the banquet in the early evening, and the meeting with the boys at midnight. Or, she can go ahead with her plan to send Erik. Sadly, the computer's come up with no results just yet - strangely uncharacteristic for the advanced machine. She manages to get the bulk of her work done before it's time to leave, however.
"He must be getting ready for a show....regroup. Don't leave each other's sight. Stay alert." They probably wouldn't be that lucky to get him that way, but it would make it a lot more difficult for him to skulk about. She called for a couple members to be recalled near her. While she didn't know what Finch might have been preparing, she was confident it could be handled.
"Damn it, why can't I see it. I'm sure that bastard left something here." Vanessa grumbles, before Lawrence tells her that the judge agreed. "Oh? That's great, did he do it out of the goodness of his heart, or because he wants something?" The heiress asked, standing up to stretch after a few hours of sorting through documents. "Mmmh, well then, this day has been tiring. So I'll be heading out to find some relief. Lawrence, how about you read through these papers, maybe you'll find something." Vanessa gives the pile of documents to her trusted butler, before changing into her costume, and wearing her collar. With that, she makes sure no one can see her from outside her mansion, before leaping away to the suburbs to visit Jacob.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, princess." the man sneers. "Next time this label's cash cow gets nabbed, I'll ask 'em to do it more quietly." The businessman rolls his eyes sarcastically, before prompting the woman to go on. "L-Lara was heading to her b-boyfriend's practice room, to visit him. B-But this man in a mask was waiting there. He grabbed her, dragged her away to the window, and used some sort of cable to get to the building across the street." Looking out, Calista doesn't see a cable, but sees a dent in the building exterior where a cable might have been moored. Looking across the street, too, she sees an identical smashed window in the opposite building, supporting the woman's story.
Deciding, to give Erik a chance, she sent him. He could even the boys a salary. He just needed to either hire them, or if that failed, made sure that they stayed shut up about the way they got powers. After she finished her work, she went to change to her more official clothes - a pair of black lace stockings, black thongs, black high-heels with straps around ankle and lack dress with slits, leaving her back exposed and quite a large cleavage reaching her navel. She forfeited the bra, as it would damage the looks she was going for. She put o a pair of earrings, and was ready to go for a party... Spoiler: Clothes As she arrived, she bid her greetings to Arch, before going around and mingling with the crowd...
Spoiler: Finch's Stealth Roll D100: 64+10 (Stealth Skill)-10 (Open Terrain)=64 (Success) Spoiler: Finch's Combat Roll D100: 72+10 (Stealth)+10 (Combat Skill)=92 As some of Malady's thugs from upstairs join her on the ground floor, the villainess hears shouting through the radio, the boom of one of her men's rifles going off for a short burst, and then silence.
"He mentioned something about 'catching up' at some point - no firm demands." Lawrence explains. "Relief? Uh, as you wish, madame." He ignores the implications, and gets to work. In the suburbs, a peek through the window of Jacob's safehouse reveals the boy in the middle of a workout, trying to improve his scrawny body through pushups.
"I see, alright, we can have lunch once this mess dies down." Vanessa replied, just before jumping away. And watching Jacob work out, the heiress takes a deep breath. Alright, you're just here to check up on him. Nothing more. She thinks to herself, letting out a sigh, before knocking, and opening the door. "Hey, Jacob. Enjoying your new home?" She asked with a smile.
The sounds told her enough. This was to be expected. Most likely he aimed to have her men separate and take them out indvidually. He’d have a harder time with them holding position. But she wondered what she should do. He was counting on trying to take them out indvidually, but she determined she could still start trying to raise some more plant life. Not as complicated as a proper beast, but some vines that would be missed in the darkness ready to tangle and react to anything trying to hide in the corners. She gave specific positions to her men for a blind spot that she believed Finch could not possibly ignore trying to exploit. That’s where she’d snare him and turn the tables with him dealing with entire gang at the same time.
After being greeted by the host, the alien wanders around the banquet hall, the space incredibly luxurious, with the city's elite wandering around. After a few minutes of enduring angry looks from the women attending the banquet as their husbands and boyfriends ogle the stunning blonde, Faye's stunned as she spots someone she wasn't expecting to - the man from the Blue Streak video. As he grins at her, she remembers the way he'd smiled at the superheroine's cries for mercy. Spoiler: Video "Good evening, T'yala." He approaches her, using her true name casually. "We hope you enjoyed our videos."
Calista visibly bristles at the businessman's comment, fighting herself to avoid interrupting the woman to retort back at him. The woman's description of the kidnapping reminded her that Lana is probably more important than the suit's badgering. Using her Sound Sight, Calista attempts to discern if she can catch sight or sound of Lana and/or the masked man in the neighboring building. She can't go chasing after them, but maybe she'll catch something which stands out. She asks the pair a few questions which would hopefully be seen as concern for everyone in the building while also getting a little more information on the masked cape. "Have you called the police already? How the hell did the guy get past security? Did he do anything to anyone else?"
"I see." Vanessa nods, moving inside as he invites her. "I'm sorry for that, but I can't risk having them find you." She smiles, "For now though, I just came over to check on you, make sure you're comfortable. But since you're not... do you have any requests? Maybe you want some gaming consoles, movies, books?" She asked, trying to make sure Jacob doesn't suddenly run back to his home. And with the way she was acting, the young man figured she really wasn't here for sex. After all, Vanessa still needed to investigate the docks
At the sight of man, T'yala froze, with a glass in her hand. As he smiled at her - the same smile he had when fucking Blue Streak, she pressed her thighs together, as she came a little. Just from the man smiling. Then she realised the man used her alien name... and he knew she watched his videos. That made her shiver again from... fear? excitement? "Yes..." She said, her voice hoarse, but she quickly swallowed, continuing with her normal voice. "That was a great video, a wonderful piece of acting." She answered - there was no reason to beat around the subject. She turned and motioned the man to follow her, so they moved to a more remote area, without prying ears. As she walked, she subconsciously swayed her hips, her heels clicked with each step. She could feel the man's eyes on her ass as she cat-walked... and that sent shivers down her spine. Already, her erect nipples were pushing the material of her dress. "I do wonder what became of actress, through? I heard that... one of your actresses retired. Last I heard, she was seen on the beach. Is the actress from the video still working... or has she retired?" She asked as they stopped in a less crowded part of the room. "I suspect that this meeting is not accidental, Mr?" She inquired, wondering about his name.
As Malady makes her preparations, the windows of the farmhouse explode inwards, raining glass shards inside, along with small grey cylinders. Spoiler: Reaction Rolls D100: Malady: 78 Malady's Gang: 13 Just before the cylinders burst in a cacophony of light and sound, Malady's plants close in on her, covering her eyes and ears as the the living room is rocked by a concussive blast. As dust falls down into her pink hair, Malady opens her eyes to see her gang members walking about in a complete daze, unable to see or hear anything. There's another boom, smaller this time, as the handle to the front door goes flying across the room, and the door swings open, revealing The Finch, muscles bulging through his tight costume, as he steps inside, cracking his neck. Spoiler: Awareness Roll D100: 83 (Success) There's something odd about Finch, however. Her plants don't react to him at all as he enters the room, and something about his shadow seems off. With a start, she realises she's looking at a hologram, and turns to see the young hero swoop in through the back window, knocking out her blind and deaf henchmen, before coming straight at her. Spoiler: Combat Roll D100: Malady: 75+20 (Plant Skill) Finch: 55+20 (Combat Skill) Crushing Damage: 20 Finch's HP: 80 Finch moves with extreme athleticism, showing off acrobatic skill as he leaps and sommersaults across the room towards her. As his fist draws just inches away from her stomach, however, he's ripped back with whiplash speeds, a vine coiled around his torso. "Damn it..." He curses, held by the vine in mid air. "When you said you were gonna tie me up, this isn't what I had in mind..." The hero smirks, before grunting in pain as the vine begins to constrict around his limbs.
Calista feels a shock as a pulsing sound wave, the frequency inaudible to anyone but her and various animals, extends from her body in all directions, the heroine feeling the waves impact against various objects to give her an almost sonar-like vision. Spoiler: Acoustomancy Roll D100: 68+20 (Acoustomancy Skill)=88 (Success) As the wave bounces through the hallways of the opposite building, Calista hears Lana, the pop star's voice pleasant even in this high stress situation. Though strangely, though she sounds stressed, she doesn't sound as stressed as your average kidnap victim. "W-Where the hell are you taking me?" A moment later, a surprisingly youthful male voice gives an answer: "To our future." Seeing the imprint of a man pulling a woman by the wrist, Calista hears the ding of an elevator, and then they're gone. Calista snaps back to where she's standing, as the businessman swears. "The cops better be here soon - what the hell am I paying them for?" The woman gulps. "I-I don't know how he got in. The only one I saw who got hurt was Lee, her boyfriend - the bad guy knocked him out."
