Sweet Sixteen [IC]

[Avenger Assembled]

As he seemed to be able to read the map the best, and because it was her map, and because it was Alex, Mark took a seat next to Alex inside the car. "All right, you know the way, right, James?" He knew James was a long-time Freedom City resident since he was a Prophet, it probably wouldn't be that hard for him to make his way around downtown. "Just out to Midtown, and the steeple."

[Electra]

Erin squeezed into the last open seat, which put her in the front between James and Mike, with her legs tucked up. "I'm not sure anything we do really counts as subtle," she pointed out. "We just better get back before Alex's parents do, or they might notice that we abandoned the party half-done. How long are they supposed to be gone for, anyway?"

[Cyroa]

James grinned. "Course I know the way. No problem." They piled into the car and as soon as they were as buckled in as they were likely to get, the car rocketed off. He normally drove a tad on the fast side, for many reasons, but given the packed vehicle on the fact they were trying for 'subtle', he didn't overdue it. In no time at all, the steeple would be in sight and approaching quick.

[alderwitch]

"Dinner and a movie, so, a few hours at the very least. It's no big deal, though. I can check on where they are from anywhere in the city. It's probably pretty fortunate that I think this is my first time not staying where I was put," Alex volunteered from her place squeezed in the backseat with a cheery smile. She turned her face back down to the map that Mark had, pulling her pony tail over the other shoulder as she asked questions about the various markings.

[angrydurf]

Mike crammed himself into the front and pulled the seat forward to attempt to give the others some legroom with only marginal success.

"Well it still beats the bus." He said with a smile, "And we finally get to experiance the sweet ride."

[quotemyname]

"Yea! That is if we don't make this thing bottom out from all the weight." Eddie joked as he shut the side door after stepping in. He was largely unconcerned with the map. As usual he didn't particularly care where the group was going. He was just along for the ride and to have fun.

[alderwitch]

In short order, the car pulled up outside of the distinctive steeple of the old church. It took a few minutes to find a parking spot downtown but in a matter of minutes, James had the car parked and everyone was grateful to be able to pile out. By Mark's reading of the map, they were looking for some hidden sigils, possibly even a tunnel that led down under the city proper. It wasn't clear, however, if that was inside the church or merely on the surrounding grounds.

[Cyroa]

James shut the car off and got out. He looked around with the others and made sure he had some cover and wasn't really noticeable. "Ok, I'm gonna try and save us some time." He looked over at the map once more, noting the entrance and exits. "Ok, that looks like the entry. I'll see if I can hop over to the inside. If this works, I'll see ya in a bit." He knew where he wanted to go, so he simply willed himself there. If it was within a mile, he'd simply vanish and reappear at his destination.

[quotemyname]

Eddie looked dumbfounded. "Can he really teleport just by looking at a map of a place?" He shrugged his shoulders in surprise. "I'm am definitely going to have to try that some time!"

[Avenger Assembled]

"It's a lucky thing we've got both of you on the team," commented Mark as he slid out of the car, shooting a look over at Alex. "Is this familiar to you?" he asked her. "Does your mother go here a lot, or has she ever brought you out to this area?" He glanced up at the church himself. "My grandpa and the Centurion fought the Grinning Ghost here back in the late '40s, but I don't think that has a huge bearing on this case. That was sixty years ago."

[alderwitch]

"I dunno if that's a good idea, Eddie, you might end up splinching yourself half in a wall," Alex said doubtfully as she looked up at the old church. She shook her head at Mark's question, "Not that I'm aware of but Mom avoids just about any of her Flightpath days, so no big surprise"

Down below the church grounds, James appeared in a dusty access tunnel. There was the whining of gears before a white cloud of gas puffed up from the floor. James could thank his demonic parentage that the knock out gas only made him cough once or twice, while the dust it stirred up stung his eyes. Once the air cleared, he could see the windy tunnel stretch in both directions, back toward the church and the other direction northward. The tunnel itself was some rarely used and likely forgotten access tunnel to pipes below the city's foundations.

[Cyroa]

"Phah...stuff smells all mediciny. Probably way past it's expiration date," he muttered to himself. He quickly flashed back to his previous spot to tell the others. "I'm in. Fyi, there's traps down here. Some knockout gas hit me. Heading back to get the door open, hold please," he added, saying the last in the typical 'receptionist' voice with a grin. He quickly teleported away again before someone tried to tell him to stop. Back in the corridor, he turned and headed back toward the 'church' and supposedly the door, slowly, keeping his eyes peeled for more traps. He needed to get the others inside,

[angrydurf]

Mike was about to suggest he hold out for back up when james vanished once more. He hopped out of the car and began scouting around for some sign of an entrance. His utter lack of training however somewhat impeded his progress and he looked to the others, "We don't even know what kinda traps might be down there we should try from this end too." He said. Clearly subtlety was not really something Mike did.

[quotemyname]

"If he can do it, so can I!"

As the rest of the group was distracted with James' sudden appearance and disappearance, they didn't notice that Eddie had gotten a hold of the map. With no one watching him he was concentrating deeply on the structure and layout of the thing. soon enough he was gone from their little gathering. Attempting to try the teleporting trick on his own!

[Avenger Assembled]

Mark stared at Eddie and gently took the map back from him. "Eddie, you can read the map as well as I can," he told his colleague politely. "That's over a hundred feet down, and you don't have the range on your teleport to go that far without pushing yourself. We need you to keep that effort in reserve if there is danger down there, whether to James or to us. I would also appreciate it if you didn't rip things out of my or Alex's hand in the future, given that this is a thirty year old map written on acid paper that's likely to tear in half if we treat it badly." He handed the map back to Alex. "Alex, can you track him well enough to tell us where he is from here in relation to us?" he asked her.

[alderwitch]

Alex accepted the map, eyes widening at Mark's quick, and actually pretty efficient reprimand to Eddie. She glanced down at the map and said quietly, "Uhm, sure. Might take me a minute."

She closed her eyes, her features smoothing out in concentration. "He's in some grody access tunnel. Lemme see if I can figure out where in location to us."

James inched his way along the corrider, transitioning to a smaller passage that ended at a dead end with a trap door above his head. It didn't appear to have any noticible wires or other traditional booby-traps but it was hard to say what was above it.

"This way," Alex's eyes snapped open and she led them around the back of the church, where a few smaller buildings sat.

[quotemyname]

"Your right. I guess I had better leave that to the experts for now." Eddie said. Though his eyes didn't match his words. He'd pull it off. One day. Just you watch He thought.

Without another word he followed Alex as she led them to where James was.

[Cyroa]

James kept a little burst of fire going, clearing away cobwebs and the like as well as providing a little light. He came to the ladder and climbed up. After checking the thing twice, just to be sure, he cracked it open a little and peered out. Making sure no one was around, he scrambled up and out. He looked around to see where he was. If he was going to lead the others here, assuming Alex wasn't already tracking him, he'd have to figure out the path outta here anyway.

[alderwitch]

James emerged in a rather abandoned looking toolshed. The items in the room were covered with rust and a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. It was dark and rather dingy until Alex opened the door, the rest of the team loosely gathered around behind her. "Hey, James. You found the broom closet, looks like."

After that cheery greeting, she scooted out of the way of the other kids.

[angrydurf]

Mike glanced down into the shack, "So I assume theres more to this than just a shack?" He asked as he tried to get a better look.

"Any more traps?" He asked with some concern as James was not nearly as resilient as himself. Mike tended to take on a feeling of responsbility for his less hardy friends though untill recently that had basically meant Alex.

[Cyroa]

James grinned as the others entered. "Well, I've been told that I need to clean up my act on more than one occasion..."

He pointed and opened the hidden trapdoor, revealing the ladder below. "On this? No traps as near as I could tell. Below? Yeah, there was some gas. Wasn't a problem for me though. I'm good, no worries. I've got no idea what set it off though honestly. Security systems aren't exactly something I've played with." He shrugged. While he wasn't concerned, there were others in the group that were a little less resilient.

[quotemyname]

"Huh!" Eddie remarked as he looked at the shack that James just stumbled out of. "You really need to work on those one-liners man." Eddie clapped James on the shoulder. "Great find though!"

[Ecalsneerg]

"Ah, breaking into heavily secured places. Fun times. Last time I did that... well, good thing I can heal. So, who wants to go first into the maelstrom of whirling blades and poisonous gas?" Geckoman moved to the back of the group. "I volunteer Mike. He can take a good hit."

[angrydurf]

Mike rolled his eyes and shrugged. Chris was right though so he slipped further into the shed and down throught hte trap door getting a couple yard head start before calling up, "Anyone got a light?"

Despite the numerous enhancements to his physiology he still couldn't see in the dark any better thna the next guy.

[Cyroa]

James smiled and gestured, letting the fire come to his hand. "That work?" He wasn't nearly as resilient as Mike but if he died, he came back. Not that he was going to share that one since it might lead to questions he wasn't entirely comfortable with sharing just yet. "I'll walk beside ya. I'm not too worried about traps. After all, this was a place for a group of heroes. doubt we'll find death traps and the like."