Pass the Plate (IC)

[Ozob]

"I had mentioned something of the sort a while ago... much to my chagrin. It was not very well received. Appreciate the dance though, you move very well. Johnny Hladd," he finished introducing himself.

"Not that I object to the company, they can do a lot of good. It's just that... well I don't think I fit in most of the time. Which is also okay, I'll make my donations and look for an exit to sneak out of later. So Isabella, I don't think I know you. What am I saying, I don't know anyone here and make the crucial mistake of not responding and one."

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes stared into the crowd think through her options before coming to a decision.

“Agnes, my friends call me Agnes. Annice is a stage name, a stage persona. Annice has to be careful what she say’s how she acts. Annice has to stay aloft be unapproachable. Agnes on the other hand would love to go flying with you.†She gave a broad smile

You know I think in some small way I understand why some hero have a secret identity.

“I’m like a little Russian doll. First there’s Annice the aloft pop star, then there Agnes the off duty Annice who always has to watch what she says and does. Then there the real Agnes in the privacy of her own home.†And of cause there’s Young Britannia, but not just yet.

“I’m a complicated girl in short; you still want to fly with me?â€

[TheAbsurdist]

Amir's smile never wavered as he looked at her, as she was being frank. "Well Agnes, it is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Amir. I am a scion of one of the wealthiest families on the planet. I have been in the media's eye for a long time now, and eventually I just started being the rich, playboy dolt, because I felt it was better than the alternative. So I understand what it is like to have a persona different than who you feel yourself to be, and to be in the public eye."

He leaned in a little, so he could lower his voice. "I seem to find that complicated people are the most interesting, my dear. So I would still very much love to fly with you. Probably more so now." Amir pulled back and looked at her in the face, giving her a conspiratorial wink.

[April]

Eve rolled one shoulder in a slight shrug.

"I'd rather be home studying

She sighed raising a hair to brush it through her short white hair before catching herself. Eve flashed a small smile at Jessica.

"Besides, this is usually my older brother's sort of thing."

[JackgarPrime]

GM

Victory moved through the party like an iceberg through a shipyard; gingerly, and doing his best not to crush the smaller forms all around him. As he turned from one conversation to another, his gaze rested on one of the waiters for a second. The man flickered as the cyborg's sensors probed him, the server's entire body being obscured by static for just a heartbeat.

The strange glitch in his vision pulls Victory out of his conversation with one of the many entrepreneurs looking into some manner of contract or other with AEGIS. Victory gives a few distracted "Uh-huh's" and nods,before putting a hand up to pause the conversation.

"Excuse me a moment. But definitely call our legal department. See if that's something we'd actually be allowed to do."

The man Victory was speaking to nods, as the hero steps away. Moving through the crowd again, Victory keeps his eyes locked on the waiter, running through his various forms of vision, testing to see if anything more shows up on the others. He has to be careful as he moves, however. His large size has been known to do some damage if he isn't paying attention. He keeps his hands very lightly feeling about, just to make sure he isn't about to slam into someone, while his visuals stay locked on the waiter, constantly cycling his senses.

[Supercape]

As Lord Steam stepped up to the bar, he had to shoulder his way past several people deep into their cups. He ended up standing next to a blond, broad-shouldered man, a giant in a badly-tailored suit. He was hunched over a shot glass and a bottle of bourbon. As the Victorian adventurer waited for his own drink, he could hear the man's not-so-sotto voce complaining. "Idiots," he said to no one in particular. "Goddamn morons squatting at the top of Babel and thinking they're gods." He knocked back a slug of liquor and glanced at Lord Steam. "What are you looking at," he demanded.

"You" replied Lord Steam, without a pause or a blink and staring the man straight in the eye.

"As you could plainly see, Sir. I take it from your witless mumbling that you have issue with the evening. And indeed you consider yourself, erroneously, to have amassed enough information as to deduce the intelligence of the attendees tonight..."

Lord Steam paused, looked downward and dusted his sleeves slightly, before fixing the man with a penetrating look once more.

"Which would say more about your own cognitive faculties rather than the audience. Whether your presumption is due to lack of brains or disturbance of the moods, I would be disinclined to fully conclude, although your vocabulary and reference to theological works would indicate at least a degree of education and possibly the wit to match it. I am left, therefore with the suspicion that the blame lies with your humours sir, rather than your grey matter. And given your fondness for the rapid imbibing of alcohol, I wonder about the relative import of that as either a causative or synergistic factor..."

He raised his eyebrow.

"Or do I miss my mask. An Idiot, sir, I am most assuredly not..."

[Raveled]

"So has the Lab," Jessica said, "and Dawes Tech. But it's important to put in an appearance. Some of these people would never think of the less fortunate, but there's a party and so they're here. It gets their money out there, which is the important thing." She paused and added, "Of course if you want me to know which parties your brother is attending..."

---

Isabelle's body swayed perhaps a bit more than was strictly necessary as she and Johnny moved through the steps of the dance. "Mmm. I know how it is not to belong. You work and try to fit in, but at the end of the day no one really wants you, do they?" Her eyes slipped past the Claremont hero and focused somewhere far over his shoulder. "And sometimes you end up hanging out with entirely the wrong sort of person."

She blinked and came back to herself, her gaze meeting Johnny's once again. "I'm sorry, I was years away for a moment. You wanted to come here with... someone else? Does that mean that I might have to share your company?" Her eyes sparkled with laughter and she smiled widely.

---

Victory's bulk impeded his movement through the crowd; the server moved much more ably through the press, disappearing behind a cafe door that led into the kitchen. Between swings, he glanced back and met the AEGIS agent's eyes. For just that moment, his eyes glowed a bright, inhuman gold.

---

The bald man scowled and sat upright, turning in his seat to face Lord Steam. "Oh, come off it," he growled. "Do you think any of this is going to make a real difference?" He gestured widely with the hand holding the liquor bottle, indicating the entire charity event and absent-mindedly spilling a good deal of the alcohol on the floor. "Okay, sure. You get a few million for the cause celeb and then what? Next disaster comes along and you have to go back to the same assholes to wheedle and beg for more! I'll tell you what the problem really is," he offered, poking Lord Steam in the sternum to emphasize his point. "Too much money, going to the wrong place. Ehn? You know what I mean?"

[Supercape]

The blond man scowled and sat upright, turning in his seat to face Lord Steam. "Oh, come off it," he growled. "Do you think any of this is going to make a real difference?" He gestured widely with the hand holding the liquor bottle, indicating the entire charity event and absent-mindedly spilling a good deal of the alcohol on the floor. "Okay, sure. You get a few million for the cause celeb and then what? Next disaster comes along and you have to go back to the same assholes to wheedle and beg for more! I'll tell you what the problem really is," he offered, poking Lord Steam in the sternum to emphasize his point. "Too little resources, spread over too many problems. Ehn? Ya gotta focus, know what I'm on about?"

"Sounds like a lot of Trotskyite nonsense if you ask me!" said Lord Steam, poking the man straight back with his cane.

Something was amiss... he isn't drunk, and he has polished off enough to send a horse to sleep.

"So tell me, how did a charming gentleman such as yourself get into this little dinner, hmmm? invitation or just a barge past with some elbows and a lot of bluster? Perhaps your name would be in order, sir? Pray tell me, do you have your invitation on you?"

And more importantly, why did he come?

[Ozob]

"Well, I'll be honest, I was feeling a little guilty dancing with a such a beautiful woman. There is someone who has been on my mind," he said while twirling with her. Her dancing was making him acutely aware of her body pressing close and he was working hard to force himself not to respond. "However, for tonight, you have my undivided attention."

"Forgive me for asking, but I have a hard time imagining that you wouldn't find a place to fit in. Ghosts of the past?"

Even if he wasn't really looking for a date, it was certainly nice to have someone to dance with. These functions could be long and having some pleasant company... some who you hadn't insulted, was a real boon.

[April]

A snow white eyebrow lifted slightly and the teen telepath's expression became blank and unreadable for a moment, except for her green eyes which narrowed slightly and took on a look of intense focus. It was all over in an instant, and the smile returned to her face and she nodded at Jessica.

"He'll be back in Freedom City by next weekend," the youngest Martel said in her French-accented soprano. "He's out west 'putting in an appearance' as you said." Which was partially true, Nicholas was working the charity circuit on the west coast, as was his day job. As Paladin, however, he was lending his hand toward the cleanup of Emerald City.

[JackgarPrime]

---

Victory's bulk impeded his movement through the crowd; the server moved much more ably through the press, disappearing behind a cafe door that led into the kitchen. Between swings, he glanced back and met the AEGIS agent's eyes. For just that moment, his eyes glowed a bright, inhuman red.

That...was a problem. Whatever had sent that, it meant this wasn't going to end up as peacefully as he had thought. Checking his internal recording software, Victory spoke very quietly under his breath, taking a few steps to the side, so as to not be in the middle of a throng of people. Opening his communication channel, he sends a link back to his base.

"Home, do you copy? I just had some weird phenomena recorded. Did you guys see it,too? It should start with some really out-of-place static. And if it wasn't just me...send some crowd management over here, quick. We're going to need a team to get these people to safety..."

[Raveled]

GM

All hell broke out at once.

The doors leading out to the entry hall banged open and a young raven-haired bombshell in tight jeans, a blue tee-shirt with a white star dead-center, and a loose-hanging leather jacket strolled in, swaying from side to side for maximum effect. "Good evening, wealthy and deluded of Freedom City," she called out in a well-trained voice that had no trouble cutting through the ambient music. "I am Bonnie Blue, and this night it's time for some... Hm, let's call it redistribution of wealth! As in, you give all of your wealth to us -- the New Confederates!"

At Bonnie's side was a huge man with flowing, dark hair, dressed in something that was the biker counterpart to Bonnie's garb -- black jeans, a ripped black tee with a Confederate flag on his chest, and a leather jacket. All in all he looked like what middle-age doctors imagined themselves to be when they bought a Harely-Davidson, and the pair of battered and unconscious security guards he hefted in either meaty fist reinforced his dangerous air. Bonnie smiled up at him and winked. "As for the security," she continued, "you can see that Rolling Thunder has the situation well in hand! Hah!"

Thunder threw the security guards into the room, the disabled men flying several feet before landing, and pulled a heavy hammer from his belt, spinning it casually. He took a wide stance and glared at the group of the city's rich, as if daring them to try him.

At the bar, Lord Steam's debate partner stepped forward and glared at Bonnie. "Thought you were never going to get here, girl," he growled, ripping his ill-fitting suit away to reveal a gray bodysuit with the flag of the Confederacy planted firmly over his chest, and red stripes overlaid with white stars marched across either arm.

Bonnie laughed. "So you were going to start the party without us, grandpa?"

"I don't know about that," the Last Loyal Soldier replied, "but some of the folks here need a lesson in manners." Without another word he turned on one heel and smashed Lord Steam in the face with his cold fist, sending the Victorian gentleman flying over the bar and smashing into the racks of bottles behind it!

On the dance floor, Johnny's partner sighed at the interruption and stepped away from him, shaking her head. "I was hoping we'd have some more time," she said, her voice sounding distantly sad, "but it seems events are getting away from us." She clicked her fingers and in a moment was in a different outfit; a close-fitting black bodysuit, with a high purple headdress, boots, and gloves. A flaring purple cape completed the ensemble, the ends of which were attached to the ends of the high gloves in some fashion. In any case it billowed dramatically when she gestured at Johnny. "You really don't want to be awake for this," she said, before releasing a wave of hellish energy in his direction!

As the events drew Victory's attention, his sensors flashed a sudden warning to him -- moments too late, it seemed, as he felt his suit being ripped away by a cadaverously thin figure, a young man with a mane of dusty-black hair, whose skin was stretched over his face, emphasizing his high cheeks and burning gold eyes. The whole ensemble was made odder because he was dressed in the spiffy uniform of a hotel waiter! "Almost thought I wouldn't have any fun tonight" he breathed, mostly to himself as he danced just outside the cyborg's reach. "Thought sis' cloaking spell was working too good, there!"

[April]

The moment the commotion started the petite telepath slipped away from Jessica and through a combination of her training, preternatural agility and subtle psychic manipulations the teen hero known as Sage was all but invisible to everyone around her. Under the cover of stealth, Sage pressed two fingers against her choker triggering the transformation of her gown into her recognizable formfitting black and blue costume.

Sage had a faint smile on her face as she moved toward the entry hall's door, and the two party crashers blocking it, silently thanking all the preparedness training Midnight instilled in her.

[JackgarPrime]

Victory's transmission cut off as he heard a commotion going on behind him. With a whole group (possibly a family, he thinks) of criminals barge their way in, and, for some, reveal themselves, Victory wouldn't have to play the "subtle pursuit" angle much longer. He would still have to be careful of civilians, though. They'd have to find a way to get out without any getting hurt by these would-be robbers.

Victory's thoughts, as well as his analysis program, were cut off as he was alerted to an incoming threat. He's able to turn just in time to get a metal arm up, blowing the incoming blows. Unfortunately, it was still able to tear the suit up a bit. On the plus side, it seemed his quarry decided to just be up-front. Just how he likes it.

Victory's head quickly becomes encased in the metal that makes up his helmet, as he stares a hole through the strange man.

"You should've stayed cloaked."

The criminal gets ready to duck out of the way of an incoming hit, but by the time his eyes could even register that Victory had moved, the steel hero was already right in front of his face, nose-to-nose.

"Too slow."

The next thing he knew, the scraggly fellow would feel a heavy metal glow crash against his face, sending him flying all the way back through the kitchen doors he tried to hide behind.

Not wanting to let up an advantage, Victory's boosters tear out of the back of his suit and gear up. But as he started igniting, his sensors once more warned him of an incoming danger. Turning to face it, Victory gets his arms up across his face, the energy washing harmlessly over him, but burning away the rest of his suit, leaving the hero with his metal and flesh. The last of which is covered as his strange alloy covers his arm and chest up for battle.

[Raveled]

GM

Zippy was fast, but not fast enough to get out of the way of several hundred pounds of jet-powered AEGIS superagent. He took Victory's charge full in the chest and flew back through the swinging door, and even though the heroes couldn't see where he landed they could hear the clatter of pots and pans as he impacted something big and metallic.

Hecate stared wide-eyed as Johnny evaded her blast with a quick handspring, making it look easy. "How did you do that," she asked, astonished. "There's no way you should've been able to avoid that. You should --" Just then, her attention was wrenched away by Victory's charge into her brother. She swung her arm around and gestured sharply again, sending a wave of heat and concussive force against the cyborg. It did little but burn off the last remnants of the her suit, though, and she spat in his direction.

[Ozob]

Right, Johnny thought to himself as he landed in a crouch after flipping and tumbling out of the way of hell's own inferno. Last time, he hadn't been ready and nearly was roasted by a dragon. This time it was different.

Casting his senses out, he found the water mains running through the floor and ceiling. He'd need every drop that they had... and more if this thing lasted any amount of time. Clenching his fists he pulled at the water, which was happily running it's course through the copper and PVC pipes above and below him. There was a groan as he yanked hard, willing the water out of it's confined space.

Ceiling tiles and wooden floor planks exploded outwards as the pipes burst. For but a moment, the water sprayed outward like some kind of deranged sprinkler system. Yet before a drop hit the floor, it coalesced, writhing like a serpent before streaking at Hecate who seemed more intent on blasting away at some robot or cyborg.

The water raged and seethed around her, twisting and tying itself into an impenetrable knot of force. Johnny only smiled as the cocoon of water left her trapped and hopefully helpless. It was only then that he noticed the ruined dance floor and shattered ceiling tiles.

"That's so going to cost me..." he muttered with just a trace of dejection.

[Raveled]

GM

Wellspring's summoned water cage wove around Hecate's chosen outfit, snapping her arms to her side and making her bindings tight. "How are you doing this," the villainess demanded. "You were just supposed to be a bunch of guys in suits!"

Across the room, Bonnie Blue seemed unaware or at least unconcerned by her sister's plight. Her eyes scanned the crowd of notables until she settled on Agnes. "Hey, you!" She fixed the British singer with a finger, taking a few steps forward. "I remember you. You said Aryan Angel's music sucked! You *%$@, she's a lot more talented than you are!" The slim woman inhaled and let out a piercing scream, a shockwave of concussive energy that rolled across the dance floor and smashed into Young Britannia and Asad both!

[Supercape]

"Cad!" yelled Lord Steam from behind the bar.

He looked down to his chest. The pristine white dress shirt was soaked red.

"Brute!" he yelled again. "That hurt!"

Indeed it did. He saw the shattered remains of a vintage claret bottle next to him, the source of the red stain on his shirt.

"I'll be sending you the dry cleaning bill" he stated, in a crisp formal tone as he stood up, vaulted over the bar and swung his cane directly at his assailant.

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes slowly picked herself up from the villains attack, still feeling a little groggy from Bonnie’s blast. She was counting her blessing, her dress might be totally ruined but she could at least stand (barely) on her own two feet.

Damn so many people these days think they’re music critics.

So all she had to do was get rid of Asad, Amir she corrected herself, he probably do something stupid and try to defend her. Find a convenient place to transform and go kick Bonnie but.

Simple really.

Feeling a twinge of guilt she smile dup at Amir “I’m fine, just go get her.â€

She was getting far too good at this subterfuge stuff.

[Raveled]

Ironclad took in the chaos reigning over the gathering in a quick glance, shaking her head sharply. "Not tonight," she announced. The young woman touched the bracelet around one wrist and was suddenly shining like the noon-day sun! When the light subsided her dress and jewelry had been exchanged for green and gold power armor, and she wasted no time at all in rising above the fray -- quite literally -- and getting a line of sight on Bonnie Blue, standing near the doorway. After all, if they were going to get those civilians out of the fight they were going to have to have some place to get them to. "You chose to wrong party to crash," she announced, losing a volley of high-energy particles at the leather-sporting Confederate.

Faster than the eye could follow, Bonnie's compatriot, Rolling Thunder stepped in the way of the blast. He brought up the hammer to deflect it but the particles were just a smidge faster; they hit him in the chest, doing a number to his biker threads and knocking him back into the nearby wall. He crumpled up there but soon rose to his feet, mostly supporting himself on his hammer but still able to stand.

Over by the bar, the man in the gray uniform stopped Lord Steam's baritsu blow with a quick cross of the arms. He sneered at the Victorian adventurer. "You don't know anything about what makes this country great," he said, swinging a bony fist at the hero. "You're a &*@# Brit!"

[TheAbsurdist]

There was no simulation he could run to appreciate this. The blast made him stepped back, it hurt, it actually hurt, and he could feel it's power, and he made it his. Looking to Agnes he frowned broadly and shook his head. I can't... "Stay down, stay safe." That decision was clearly a hard one for him, and he turned to face the villains, his face set in a determination that he had avoided most of his adult life.

"First I had a press conference in front of people who think I am joke. Then I had to help defend a little fair in the park because Mr. Mist decided to rob it. Now... now... I am trying to spend my money to help this city, and you racist half-wits decide to rob us now. I have had a very trying day." Slowly he rose into the air, his expression showing a profound anger he hadn't had a luxury to ever had before. "I am Asad, and this is my roar."

It made him curl his body slightly, before he arched back and unleashed the power, the concussive force of the power surged out of him, with a huge woosh of air and booming sound in the large chamber.

[Raveled]

GM

Asad's roar smashed into the entryway, blowing Bonnie off her feet and knocked Thunder even further back, smashing his head through the lintel of the entrance.

Things were certainly going in the heroes' favor, but the villains apparently weren't out of surprised. A new figure drifted down through the ceiling, hovering over the crowd. It was a man dressed in the uniform of a Confederate general, gold brocade shining. It was a very nearly perfect reconstruction, except for the slight translucence and the fact that his head was a bare, meatless, grinning skull. The empty eye sockets drifted over the fight until they came to rest on Asad. The ghostly figure stretched out its hands and locked gazes with the wealthy hero. He could feel the fell thing's power trying to force its way into his head, trying to subvert his will and drive him to his knees.

[April]

Slipping through the crowd unnoticed, the teen telepath carefully moved into position near the loudmouth Bonnie Blue. The other heroes were handling themselves well, she noted in the back of her mind as she stepped in close to slim villain.

A blade of faintly glowing orange light formed in Sage's hand in the span of a few heartbeats, as though it were condensing from mist. "You talk too much," the petite telepath said, her soft French-accented soprano barely above a whisper.

Then she struck, telepathic blade slashing through Bonnie Blue with precision.

[JackgarPrime]

The situation was still a swarm of chaos, but with at least one member of the criminals momentarily down, Victory's able to get a grip on exactly what's going on. Looking over the melee, he picks his target. Locking on to the sight of the so-called Last Loyal Soldier, a name he would take as a personal insult if he knew of it, Victory blasts forward, crossing the room in a blink of an eye. Before the villain can even turn his head, a powerful metal fist collides with his skull, launching him clear out of the building.

With one enemy gone, Victory turns his sights to the newly-appeared ghostly foe. It looked likely to be their leader, so taking him out immediately could end this in no time. Once more he blasts his engines, making a tear for this new enemy....only for his fist to go right through it, sending him up to the ceiling, only barely able to stop before crashing through it. He turns back to the Ghost, clenching his teeth. "Damn...."

Several blocks away, the body of the Last Loyal Soldier comes crashing down, landing right in an open-topped AEGIS paddy wagon.

[Raveled]

GM

The AEGIS crew weren't used to having criminals drop from the sky -- well, they were, but usually the villains weren't obliging enough to drop straight into the holding pen! Nevertheless, they sprang into action and before long the Last Loyal Soldier was bound up and destined for a holding cell.

The Soldier was out, Bonnie and Thunder were down, and who knew where Zippy had got to? Hecate yelled in frustration and disappeared in a flare of sulfurous smoke. Wellspring's watery prison contracted and closed on nothing, before falling apart into a thousand droplets and disappearing.