To be Free, by Sea (IC)

[Scuffles]

As Heraldo swooped up to deal with the first guard, Glow knelt carefully in the doorway to get a better angle on the second.

Gotta get this right first go, we can't have shooting in here with so many people around..

With great care and concentration she formed a glowing fist of telekinetic energy and gave the man a solid whack in the back of the head, then gasped "Yes!" to herself as he crumpled. With both guards down she turned her attention to the small bald man attending to the 'patients'.

"Hey you! Don't move!" she called out, keeping her voice as quiet as she could to avoid attracting more attention.

With her telekinetic barrier shimmering in front of her she began to advance carefully on the man.

[Supercape]

GM

Neither man really had a chance. Both were out for the count before they had even registered the presence of the heroes.

"Yeah!" said DIego, his eyes ablaze with enthusiasm.

"That rocked! you two are heroes after all!" he commented, punching the air.

The bald scientist spun around to look at the commotion.

"What's the meaning of this! who are you? this is a very delicate stage of the proceedings! I have perfected the agent, now I just need to..."

He caught himself.

"Hold on! who are you???" he asked again, his voice tinged with curiousity and doubt...

[Scuffles]

Glow spoke in measured tones as she moved cautiously towards the small bald man, faint green light still streaming off her as she kept her defenses at the ready.

"We're the ones who just punched out your guards in five seconds flat." She said as she inclined her head slightly in Heraldo's direction. "But that's probably not that important. What is important is that I'm guessing you'd rather talk to us than him." she continued as she waved a hand in Diego's direction. "He's got good reasons to not be your number one fan I think."

She stopped a few feet away from the scientist. "What have you done to these people? And what's this agent you've perfected?"

[Ari]

Leaving the bald man to Glow, but keeping an eye on him all the same, Subito made his airborne way to the cage, calling softly to the people inside in Spanish <"Hello, can you hear me? She and I have come to rescue you, we've come with Diego Cruz, do you know him?">

He glared at the bald man before resuming his attempt at communication <"What did he do to you? And do you know why? This is very important for keeping something like this from happening to others. If you don't know that, what can you tell me?">

[Supercape]

GM

"You!" said the bald man, backing off, waving a syringe full of some brightly coloured liquid in.

"You!!!" yelled Cruz, recognizing the man.

"You monster! Diablo!" he carried on, shaking his fist at the air as his veins nearly exploded in rage. His eyes even appeared bloodshot. He gripped the rails with hands that bulged with adrenaline, actually twisting the iron as he did so.

"You will pay! PAY!" he shouted with an almighty voice, before running towards the scientist arms outstretched, ready to choke the life out of him.

Whilst...

Subito looked at the dozen or so people in the cage. They seemed dirty but in good health. At least they were being fed and watered. However, all of them - man, woman (and in one case, child), looked at him with empty eyes. They barely moved, a few managing to shrug their shoulders limply. All their will was gone - they were full of despair and utter hopelessness. If they had been any more sapped of energy, they would have stopped breathing...

[Ari]

The herald's ears caught the shouted words behind him as clearly as if he was standing right next to them, but their impact was dulled by the ghastly sight in front of him. He had seen poverty, hunger and deprivation before, and even had memories of some of the seedier sides of his old home in Puerto Rico, but this was something very different and worse. To remove someone's power of agency to the point where they were effectively trapped in a haze of apathy was a crime far greater than(he thought) any other he had encountered his his short time as a hero.

It was thus with great reluctance that he flung himself through the air to grip the maddened Diego around the waist, trapping the man's arms under his own, and his into his ear "No. Attacking him like this won't solve anything! If we don't find out what he did and how, we can't stop others from continuing his work!" he kept his grip as tight as he dared, hoping fervently his strength would prove enough to keep Diego from doing anything terrible.

[Supercape]

GM

"Let me go! Let me go!" shouted the enraged Diego Cruz, struggling against the superhuman strength of Subito to no avail.

"He is a monster! a monster I tell you. They brought us here with promises of America, pfah! and then, we are used like animals, for his experiments! I remember the injections, the probes!"

He was almost foaming at the mouth by the end of it, straining against Subito's grasp.

The scientist, meanwhile, stopped backing away.

"I let you go, didn't I? don't you remember? maybe you are just sick...it was just medical care...." he said, pointing at the syringe, studying Diego carefully.

"And who are you two?" he asked Subito and Kristen "to come in here and barge in? this is a quarantined area!"

[Scuffles]

Glow took a step towards the scientist as Subito latched on tightly to Diego. "I don't think he likes you very much." she decided as the enraged man spat curses and threats. "And I think it's a little too late to pretend that you're all benevolent and stuff, what with the armed guards and the comatose victims.."

She narrowed her eyes as the Bald villain waved a syringe around. "Give me that!" she snapped as she gave an emphatic gesture and tore the medical implement out of his hand with an application of her focused will. The syringe floated over to her in a green ball of light and she snatched it out of mid air, capped it, then gave it a cursory examination and tucked it away carefully in a pocket for later use as evidence.

"You better tell me what you've done to these people right now or you and Diego are going to have a nice little doctor-patient reunion!"

[Supercape]

GM

The scientist gasped as they syringe flew out of his hand. He made a scrabble for it as it was torn from his grip into mid-air, but it was no use. Glow was simply too strong for him.

"You better tell me what you've done to these people right now or you and Diego are going to have a nice little doctor-patient reunion!"

"You aren't a stupid as you look then!" he said, tapping his chin and giving Kristen an evil glare with one eye turned to her.

"But perhaps you aren't as smart as you think, either!" he added.

"Muahahaha!" came the laugh.

He pressed a button on one of the medical units and the door swung open.

"Please, nobody is chained here..." he smirked.

"But they are my slaves nonetheless! Privatus Bacchatus!*" he shouted in a clear tone.

And with that, Diego Cruz's eyes glazed over, his temples pulsed, and he let out an almighty scream of rage, his muscles suddenly taught and powerful, threatening to break free of even Subito's grip!

[Ari]

El Heraldo had focused entirely too much on the confrontation between Kris and 'Dr. Diablo'(as he had christened the bizarre man in his mind), and what his sister warned would happen on such occasions came true: his grip slackened just enough that Diego had room to force an opening through the pin. The stocky youth madly tried to re-establish the hold, but Diego was already out of his reach by the time he had focused himself.

With a snarl of exasperation, he took the Banner from his back and got ready to break up any attempt on Cruz's part to hurt someone. He guessed that the maddened Diego was hardly the only worry they'd now have though. Privatus Bacchatus huh? Wonder if he's got any more who turn into that when he says that phrase...

[Scuffles]

Glow's head snapped around to watch as Diego howled in rage and somehow broke free of Heraldos superhuman grip. Wow that is not cool at all..

"Now you turn that off right this instant!" The hooded heroine shouted as she turned back to the scientiest and advanced quickly on him. She grabbed two solid handfuls of his very convenient lab coat and pivoted her body to toss him solidly onto the deck with a Koshi-guruma throw that would have made her Judo master proud.

With the scientist down she dropped quickly on top of him to hold him in place and worked her arms into position for a head and arm choke.

"Now would be a great time to turn it off!" she growled as she squeezed the hold tight.

Just moments later the small bald man went limp, out like a light. "Er.. oops..".

Stupid, he's not a fighter, what did you think was going to happen?

[Supercape]

GM

The Scientist did his best to croak.

"Mnaw...let me...g-g-g-goooo...." he spluttered as his face turned red and he passed out.

Diego Cruz's rage did not abate. He was stronger, faster, and distinctly madder. He swung a mean left hook at Subito, with enough power to knock a man out stone cold if it had hit. But Subito was a little faster this time.

"Grawwwwww!" he yelled, seemingly unable to contain himself or even form words. With that, he sprinted back up the stairs, presumably to vent his rage on all and sundry.

[Ari]

Sidestepping the vicious punch, Subtio looked in horror at the slavering fury standing in front of him, at the raging beast that Diego had been reduced to. Turning to yell at the man principally responsible, he saw to his glee that he was an unconscious pile in the hands of Kristin. "Good job Glow!" he called to her "I'll handle Diego!" so saying he turned to face the man again..and saw him running for the hallway!

"No you won't!" shouted Subito as he flew after him, delivering as solid punch to to the back that sent Diego into a wall. He instantly regretted it, as he felt the punch slam into the man's back, and he winced as he collided with the wall. "I'm so sorry" he said desperately to Diego, walking closer to the fallen man, "But I can't let you try and hurt people, especially when you're like this!"

He turned to Glow "What should we do now?"

[Scuffles]

Glow dusted off her hands as she stood up and gave the downed doctor a poke in the ribs with her foot to make sure he was out. A quick look made it clear that Heraldo had Diego well in hand, so she dashed over to the medical machinery to see what she could make of it.

Yeah now I need help... this is some seriously high-tech gear. I wonder who's bankrolling all of this?

The one function that was reasonably obvious was the cage door release. Kristin paused, glanced at the fallen doctor, then Diego, then the mostly comatose prisoners. Aww man, what if they're all like that? This just keeps getting better and better.

She pressed the button to close the door back up.

The only thing we can do to help these people is shut up anyone who might know how to switch on the angry. Then hope that help arrives quick smart!

With a stubborn expression set on her face Glow turned back to the unconscious scientist with the intention to bind and gag him to prevent further mischief. "I've seen about enough of all this!" She called out to Heraldo. "Secure him so he can't hurt himself. We're tearing this whole thing down."

[Ari]

"He's still conscious, I'll knock him out first so he won't hurt himself trying to escape" Subito called over to Kristin as he knelt beside Diego, and raising a fist he sent it at the maddened man's head. However, a residual disinclination to hurt the man he had promised to help in the rescue badly threw off his aim(not helped by his averted head and closed eyes), and the fist instead badly dented the floor several inches away from his nominal target. In the awkward silence that followed, he let out a muffled "Blast it...!" and with a aggravated sigh steeled himself for the next attempt.

[Supercape]

GM

"Grawwwr! Smash!!!" yelled Diego, uttering his first comprehensible word since he was overcome with rage. He was still foaming at the mouth and every blood vessel, muscle, and eye looked like it was going to pop.

And it seemed to grant him extraordinary strength and speed, as if his blood had been replaced by pure adrenaline. All his vitality however, was shaken by the first blow. For now, all he could do was snarl.

At the top of the stairs came a knocking sound.

"Whats going on?" came the yell from beyond the door. It sounded like a guard, if not two...

[Scuffles]

As she finished securing the unconscious doctor, Glow's head snapped around to glare at the metal door. More guards! More guns!

She stood, then turned to face the door, her shoulders squaring up towards it and a determined look on her face. "Hurry up! There's more of them coming!" she hissed at Heraldo as she raised her left hand towards the door and pushed. Green light flared and filtered out into the corridor through the seams around the doorframe as the young heroine exerted her will on it. The door began to buckle outwards, the tortured metal of the hinges making horrible shrieking sounds as they began to tear asunder.

[Ari]

With a hiss of pain at Diego's bite, Subito jerked his arm back, wondering how it was that his skin could be hurt so much by a human jaw. After figuring that he could still be hurt by most things, he decided that it would be best to put the question out of mind, and knock out Diego. Clasping his hands together, he raised them over his head, and with a sharp "KeeeYAH!" swung the Hammer of Justice down on the unfortunate man's head. That done, he floated horizontally above the door, making ready to launch an attack on anyone who stepped through. Calling over to Glow he said "You think it's even possible to miss with that?"

[Supercape]

GM

DIego Cruz managed to superbly block El Heraldo's might fists squarely with his face.

Having absorbed their power directly into his cranium, he sank to sweet oblivion, tumbling down the stairs as he did so. It would have been a particularly painful fall if he was still conscious.

"Heads up, Man!" yelled one of the guards as the metal flew off "looks like the egg head has been at work down in the lab. Man, this is a screwed up operation. Hope that boffin is paying us big money for this..."

With that, the two men flicked the safety of their submachine guns...

[Scuffles]

Glow cringed just a little as Cruz bumped and rolled down the stairs. Hopefully he wouldn't be too badly hurt when he woke, but at least he wouldn't be doing any more damage in his rage.

"Are you ready?" She asked Heraldo as he moved over towards the door. "Here goes!"

With one final violent burst of power she tore the door clean off its hinges, the tortured metal giving one final shriek, then pushed against it with all the force her will could muster. The door cannoned out into the passageway, catching the first guard and smashing him solidly into the opposite bulkhead.

Well I'm pretty sure the whole ship heard that one..

[Ari]

El Heraldo gave a whistle at Glow's display of power, and slid neatly through the emancipated door frame, landed neatly beside the guard who it seemed had not been hit by the flying metal slab, and lining up his fist with care sent it crashing into his torso, a soft golden fog of light shaped like a flag waving proudly about him as he punched the man, calling upon the might of the Blue Dame to best these oppressors of their fellow humans.

[Supercape]

GM

"Intruders!" the two men yelled, before one got caught with an Iron door and was catapulted across the room.

"What the hell was thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat...?" he shrieked as he sailed into the wall.

"Get them!" said the last guard, trying to draw a sight with his gun, before El Heraldo struck true and hard. Without much fuss, the man flew across the room to sink in a crumpled heap at the other end, his sub machine gun falling out of limp hands.

Despite the noise of door being wrenched of hinge, not a shot had been fired....there was no sign of any activity on deck, as far as El Heraldo's super hearing could detect.

[Ari]

Subito breathed a sigh of relief as the guard thudded against the far wall. He was more than a little distressed that he'd had to fight them, and that they'd shown no sign of wanting to negotiate. He wondered if what he'd done was entirely appropriate as he rejoined Kristin. "Great work Kris" he said brightly "Good trick, hitting that guy with the door, I'm gonna see if I can coax any life out of those people" with that, he walked over to the cage and hoisted his Banner.

<"Captives from another land,"> he began soothingly in Spanish <"I and my friend have come to rescue you from this place. We have strength far beyond what your captors possess, and we will release you from your misery!"> he cried aloud, raising the Banner as a shaft of light illuminated the area around him and a sound as of a thousand voices echoed his words jubilantly.

[Supercape]

GM

The magic of the banner weaved its spell, passing over the dozen captives and invigorating them. With a blink of eyelids and a start, they were galvanised back into action.

"" yelled one.

"" yelled a second.

"" yelled a third!

Two or three men approached Subito, giving him hearty backslaps and handshakes, and one woman leapt at him to embrace him.

""

[Scuffles]

Glow didn't understand the words as Heraldo spoke to the prisoners, but the uplifting power he exuded was undeniable and she smiled as people began to move about and thank the young Paragon.

I think I'd rather have left them docile til the ship was safe, but oh well..

She stepped out into the corridor to check on the downed guards, kicking their weapons away as she made sure their injuries weren't too severe. After a moments thought she turned her attention back to the firearms for just long enough to bend the barrels with her telekinesis and render them useless.

With the weapons made safe she gave the men a quick once-over for anything else that might be useful.

I wonder if they have Keys? Keycards? Radios?