Swan Fever (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

First National Bank of Freedom City [Fens Branch] 

10 AM

October 26, 2013

 

It was a typical day at the Fens branch of First National Bank of Freedom; the patrons were waiting in long lines to stand in front of bulletproof partitions and deposit their small paychecks or try and find the money to make their rent - the small business of a bank that did all it could to help an impoverished community stay together. The Fens were poor enough that mundane robberies weren't that much of a threat most of the time. But there were other problems a bank in Freedom City could have. One bright, cloudless day, a crash of lightning and a clap of thunder blasted away the bank's front door, sending the crowd inside fleeing towards the rear in screaming terror! Through the open hole in the wall flew a man like a figure cut straight out of mythology, a bearded figure in a white toga, electricity crackling around his fingers and his eyes glowing with suppressed power. 

 

"Hee hee hee!" he laughed manically. "I'm back, babies! Zeus has returned and he needs some start-up cash in a hurry! I want all your money! So start putting it in bags, now!" Bullets cracked off the invisible shield surrounding the electrical paragon, fired by a particularly brave security guard, and with a sneer he blasted the mustachoied man away and into a nearby marble wall with a sickening crack. "C'mon, do I have to spell it out for you people?" he yelled, heedless of the other guard calling the emergency line on his radio. "Hurry it up! Papa Zeus has bills to pay!" Zeus folded his skinny arms over his torso. "And don't think you customers can weasel out of this either, I don't discriminate! Just shake out your wallets and your purses, and put them in piles with the moneybags! My Hera will be here soon, and she'll take care of business! If you know what I mean!"

[Noniad]

Starchaser might have thought his first "real" day on the job might have been uneventful. He was not entirely new to his powers, but most of his "action" had, so far, been pretty standard - saving construction workers from falling masonry, lifting cars off pedestrians. Nothing totally out of the ordinary yet. It figured his first time on patrol in the Fens would be much more eventful. Flying low over the most impoverished quarter of the city, the bolt of lightning was hard to miss.

 

The hero dropped into action without a second thought, landing just outside the bank and immediately focusing on the toga-wearing man standing inside. It was a fairly safe bet that in Freedom City, a guy like that was either a hero or a criminal. And given the absence of any "standard" bank-robbers, Starchaser could guess which. Stepping inside the bank, Starchaser glowered at the man, "I don't know what you're thinking, sir, but you should probably know - robbing a bank in Freedom City isn't always the best idea."

[KnightDisciple]

It had been such a nice day. A nice breeze. No clouds. Seagulls were further south. Nobody really watching the skies (except the airport and government but that was standard anyways). All in all, a perfect excuse to go on a flight. After all, it wasn't like Corbin had class or anything.

 

Boy had that been an argument. But for all that he was suddenly (to this place) almost 50, being back her made him feel kind of like a 20-something (no way did he feel like a teenager). Which meant his parents getting upset he was "skipping" a semester was a daunting conversation (made hilarious to Quo-Dis when she viewed the memory due to how much larger he was than his parents). Him explaining it as a combination "ring quest" and "readjustment period" didn't help, much, but explaining that he needed to figure out what classes to take first (so he could basically ace them) did. With him planning a full-on dual major, it was going to be a bit more complicated than he'd first though. On the plus side, it wasn't like they were that tight for cash.

 

So when a lighting bolt nearly hit Cobalt Templar in the face, he had to pull a hard stop and blink the light from his eyes (he needed shades like Trevor or something). Hearing the commotion down at the bank, a scowl marked itself across his face.

 

"A bully. I hate bullies."

 

And then in a streak of blue fire, there was an armor-clad paragon of blue walking into the room, looking about and taking the whole scene in. The fallen guard made the scowl deeper, and Cobalt Templar moved to the new guy's right side and slightly behind. A clear stance to provide backup to the other hero. Then the fire-flinging half-giant spoke in a slightly rumbling voice.

 

"What does Mighty Zeus need with petty cash?"

[Scuffles]

A streak of light flying across the skies of Freedom city wasn't particularly unusual, but it had been some time since this particular shade of bright green had made an appearance. Fully recovered from her injuries, Glow had taken to her training with typical determination, but doubt, fear if she was honest with herself had kept her from taking on even as much danger as a simple patrol. That changed today. At the urging of a certain tiny telepath she had suited up for a simple loop around the Fens. Nothing stressful, nothing dangerous. Be seen, maybe stop a mugging or two just by being there. What could possibly go wrong, right?

 

Nothing ever seemed to go to plan. Her head snapped around as the bank a few hundred meters to her left had it's doors blown out with a flash of lightning and the rumbling of thunder. The change in course came automatically, a reflexive turn towards the dangerous situation, but inside her thoughts froze and her stomach twisted in sudden fear. "Damn," she whispered to herself as she pulled up above the ruined entrance and hovered for a moment. A moment was all it took. The familiar flush of adrenaline. The focus that helped her control her powerful mental talents. The knowledge that without her people were going to get hurt, and that she could stop it. "Not on my watch!" She whispered to herself, then plummeted like a stone as she hurled herself earthwards.

 

The landing was hard. Pavement cracking hard, as she crashed down into a crouch, her telekinetic barriers absorbing the shock as it rippled up through her. It wasn't necessary but it was like that first hit in the football game. The nerves were still there but they were under control, and Glow strode into the bank, buoyed by the sight of Cobalt Templar - she didn't know him well, but he was definitely a heavy hitter which eased the responsibility and the danger somewhat. She looked absurdly tiny compared to Templar and the other hero - who was that? - confronting the villain, but her eyes were already flicking around the bank as she tried to place herself in the best position to protect the endangered civilians. 

 

Then she heard the name of that villain spoken and her blood almost froze. Zeus.

 

Oh hells, not again...

[Avenger Assembled]

Zeus looked delighted, albeit wary, to see the superheroes, but his eyes practically lit up when he saw Starchaser. "There! You see! Somebody in this town knows how to do this business with a little mutual respect! You kids could learn a lot from this new fella here!" He smiled grandly as he floated in mid-air, lightning crackling around his fingers. "Anyway, I haven't been around for a while, so I thought my partner and I could get our new business started off with a BANG! Presenting...Hera, Queen of the Gods!" He pointed to a spot in the air alongside him where, for a long, agonizing moment, absolutely nothing happened. Just as Zeus seemed to start sweating, there was a faint puff of air and, in an undramatic sizzle of shadowy energy, his consort arrived. 

 

In black peacock robes and with a high, cylindrical crown, the regal figure at Zeus' side certainly _looked_ divine, with an air of haughty detachment about her that began to reveal itself as boredom as she tonelessly announced, "Here I am, Hera, queen of the gods, mother of Heracles and sister-wife of Zeus, all heed our terrible power." She shot Zeus a glare and continued to hover there with a sharpened look on her face as she looked ovet the heroes with distaste. 

 

"All right! This party's gonna be off the hook!" Zeus looked around and pointed at Cobalt Templar. "You! Weird blue fire guy, I don't care whose friend you are, you were rude, so you get it first!" And with that, he seemed to pick up something invisible and hurl it directly at Cobalt Templar, the _something_ being a ball of air that buffeted at the azure champion like a tornado, driving him backwards the way he'd come! 

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar really didn't have the patience to deal with deific incursions on the best of days. This was nearly a "best day", in general, but this wasn't some god trying to warn people of danger, or fight a monster, or anything sympathetic. This was the supposed King of Olympus slumming it in the Fens, trying to rob a mortal bank for petty cash. Something didn't add up, and something about both of them was bugging him as familiar, if he could just-

 

And then the one claiming to be Zeus threw a ball of condensed air at him. It struck Templar dead-center on the chest...and did absolutely nothing. The glowing armored hero slowly looked down at where the windy projectile had struck, then back up at the intruding Greek deity.

 

"That tickled."

 

He really hadn't felt much beyond a "light" shove. But, such an action couldn't be allowed to stand. He took a couple steps forward, blue fire running down his arms, until over-sized gauntlets formed, running all the way up to his shoulders, making his arms seem half again as thick as they had been. They seemed to be styled like they were forged from metal, and all along the arms, large, obvious lightning bolt patterns adorned his new weapons. 

 

And then there was a rush of air and fire, and Cobalt Templar was right in front of Zeus. A savage grin lit his face.

 

"Get. Off. This. Planet."

 

And then his massive right hand slammed home right into the face of the Lord of Lightning.

[Scuffles]

Glow found herself still badly off-balance as the situation quickly got out of hand. The rattled teenager watched on is shock as Hera arrived and Zeus took a shot at Cobalt Templar. 

 

Once again she found herself faced with a self-proclaimed god - two in fact - and for a moment she hesitated, so far out of her depth that she didn't know what to do. And yet something just wasn't right. Zeus didn't look right. He didn't talk right. Hera looked flat-out annoyed at even being in the bank. They were robbing a bank! Gods don't rob banks.

 

Cobalt Templar's thunderous reply got the green-clad heroine in motion at least. She knew in the back of her mind that she should hammer 'Hera' hard before she joined the battle, but she couldn't pull the trigger, and instead stepped to the side to place herself squarely between the developing combat and the largest group of civilians. Rattled though she was, instinct still drove her to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

[Noniad]

The sudden flurry of movement caught Starchaser off guard, and he watched Zeus open the fight by throwing some kind of force at Cobalt Templar. It swept over him, but he appeared to shrug it off with almost no effort at all, before charging down Zeus.

Glow, on the other hand, was looking visibly shaken by the threat of two gods. But she'd moved to protect the civilians, which left him to deal with Hera. Two gods, in the right getup, with all the right powers? Bank-robbing might be a weird activity for a god, but if the shoe fits…

 

Starchaser took a page out of Glow’s book, moving to put himself between the next largest group of civilians and the gods. Then he turned to face Hera, his eyes lighting up with a bright white light. “I don’t know what makes you think you’ve got the right to take from these people. But I’m not going to stand for it!â€

With that, a beam of pure light stabbed out from his eyes, slamming directly into Hera!

Edited October 27, 2013 by ImpliedSpider

[Avenger Assembled]

Hera shrieked as burning light seared flesh and robes, sending her smashing backwards into the bank wall behind her and knocking her for a loop. Clutching her stomach, she floated down and sneered at the new hero. "You like blasting women so much, try blasting one on your own team! Slave, attend me!" She made a gesture Glow's way and Kristen felt a voice in her head that said 'I am your god. Worship me. Love me. Protect me from these brutes.' But all her time working with a psychic helped her deal with such things, and Glow was able to fend off the 'goddess''s psychic assault. Muttering what sounded like a foul curse in Greek, Hera seemed to be about to try something else before suddenly she, and everyone else, wheeled around to stare in wide-eyed horror at the confrontation happening between Cobalt Templar and Zeus. 

 

 

 

"Get. Off. This. Planet."

 

"You...you SON OF A BITCH!" Zeus' eyes bugged out in a fury as he caught Cobalt Templar's blow with a galvanically-augmented fist of his own, his narrow face covered in sweat and his lips drawn back from his teeth in a look of crazed, almost manic intensity. The blow had knocked his disguise loose, and as Templar watched, the white beard fell from his face, revealing the unmistakable receding chin and scraggly goatee of Dr. Sebastian Stratos, scientist, weather controller, and former head of the Crime League. 

 

"I might have known, yes, the rules are different now, a little killing spree that made Thunder look bad and now everyone's ready to exile me into space againI spent over a year in that wretched place and I am not going back, do you hear me!? I'm not going to be alone again! NEVER! I'll KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU FIRST!" And then there was a clap of thunder and a massive, terrifying ball of blue white electricity erupted from Stratos as if he really was an angry god! 

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin's eyes widened as the electricity built up. In that moment, some would say he "made the right choice", but in his mind, there was never any choice at all. 

 

'Just like falling on a grenade. Only this is going to sting.'

 

With that bit of morbid humor, Cobalt Templar's body was suddenly sheathed in flames as he grew to be a (small) giant. Instead of punching Stratos (not enough time), he actually seemed to start wrapping himself around the weather-wizard. As more tongues of flame roared out from his enlarged body, he yelled at the other two heroes.

 

"Reinforce the box! Don't let anything through! No matter what!"

 

And then a slightly translucent cube of blue fire came into existence around hero and villain alike even as electricity began to push against the inside of the construct. Already a couple of cracks started to appear, but hopefully it would last the critical seconds necessary for the other two heroes to help save the civilians in the bank. 

 

Cobalt Templar would be fine in the box, though. Right?

[Scuffles]

Glow's eyes snapped towards Hera as she shoved the mental compulsion aside with sheer determination. Green light gathered around around the young telekinetic's fists as she took a single step towards the 'goddess'. "Get. Out. Of. My..." she started in a low tone that could only be described as a furious snarl, then stopped cold and wheeled towards Stratos and Cobalt Templar as the villain began to gather an enormous electrical blast. "Oh hell no..." she whispered almost inaudibly as she realised what was about to happen, gripped with a sudden cold dread.

 

"Everybody down! NOW!" she screamed at the crowd of civilians as Cobalt Templar engulfed Stratos in what amounted to an enormous bearhug, and a box of blue flames sprung up around the pair. 

 

Green light flared as the heroine squared her shoulders, thrust both hands towards the impending disaster and turned everything she had loose in a terrific flood of un-shaped telekinetic energy. for a heartbeat she stood amidst a maelstrom of twisting turning power that plucked at her suit,  splayed out her short red hair, and made a miniature tornado of dust and grit, then with gritted teeth she reached out and took hold of it all through sheer force of will. Fighting down the strain she shaped it, solidified it, and slammed it into place around Cobalt Templar's blue flames. Layer upon layer of energy wrapped tightly over each other until the pair were encased in an enormous fluorescent green box that shone so brightly it couldn't even really be called a glow any more. 

 

Narrowing her eyes at the glare she'd created Glow set herself to hold it in place. It was everything she had, and all she could do was hope it was enough.

[Noniad]

The moment that “Zeus†was unmasked as Dr. Stratos was the moment Alexander Anderson first got a keen understanding of how quickly a Freedom City bank robbery could spiral horribly out of control. Alone, Starchaser would not have had the slightest chance of saving the citizens in that bank. With the other heroes, things became that much more hopeful.

 

With Cobalt Templar and Glow already putting everything they had into containing the massive surge of electricity around Stratos, Starchaser did the only thing he could think to do. He set his feet and projected a beam of solid light into Glow’s field, reinforcing the box further.

 

Even as he poured more energy into the construct, Starchaser was acutely aware of the raw power Stratos was buffeting them with every moment. “Everybody out!†he yelled to the civilians, “Now! While you still can!â€

 

Distantly, he heard them starting to scramble for the exits, no doubt shielding their eyes against the blaze of light at the centre of the room. All he could do now was try to help maintain the box, and hope that Cobalt Templar would make it out alive.

[Avenger Assembled]

There was an enormous blinding flash of light and deafening clap of thunder from Dr. Stratos' position as a blue-white ball of electrical energy erupted from his body like a new sun! But as the glow faded, the heroes found themselves standing amid a complex maze of energies of their own - Glow's verdigris telekinetic energies, the blazing blue flame of the fires of Creation, and glowing pure light of the stars themselves: the cages of force wrapped around the heroes and civilians alike having protected them from the lightning explosion. They looked to even be holding up the walls for the moment.

 

Hera, or rather, Medea, wasn't so lucky; her costume singed and her hair smoldering, the angry witch glowered at the wide-eyed Dr. Stratos, who now was starting to babble. "That's IT, Sebastian! It's over! You are out of the League, and we are done, for good. Have fun with your new friends." With a flash of black light and a spiritual inversion, Medea was gone, leaving Stratos reaching after her. 

 

"...baby? Baby, wait! Awwww...." His narrow shoulders slumped and he wheeled on the others, seemingly forgetting about the situation and the life or death super-battle they were engaged in. "You...you bastards! What am I supposed to do with myself now?" 

[KnightDisciple]

The giant made of fire was breathing heavily, a couple of sparks leaping from his feet to the ground before he settled down for a moment. Then Stratos had the sheer, unmitigated gall to complain because he was too crazy for the Crime League. The sheer disregard for human life...the overflowing ego...the flash of light...the noise.

 

The knight in fiery blue armor saw red. All of the sudden he was in Stratos's face, his bulk between the villain and the crowd. 

 

His huge arm was rocketing forward even as he roared out with his booming, slightly echo-y voice.

 

"You can fall down you waste of space! I'm tired of garbage like you threatening people! FALL!"

 

It was almost like he was starting to go somewhere else, at least for a moment there...

[Scuffles]

As Cobalt Templar smashed another mighty blow into Stratos, Glow let the remaining wisps of her telekinetic box fade away. A moment later a wall shimmered into existence behind her, flush with the roof and the walls, effectively sealing Stratos and the three heroes off from the rest of the bank. With the civilians out of harms way and her confidence rapidly returning she flashed a grin at Starchaser. "Hit him hard!" she told the powerful paragon, then kicked into action and dashed away from her newly created wall.

 

Stratos was of course well out of her weight class and with her telekinesis walling off the fight from the world she had little in the way of attacks that could even hope to take the man down, but what she did have was a set of decidedly eye-catching gymnastic maneuvers. "Hey Doc!" she yelled at the villain as she dove into a tumble. "Pick on someone your own size!"

 

A moment later the tiny Australian cartwheeled back to her feet, her telekinetic barriers flaring bright as she braced for an attack.

[Noniad]

With the civilians safely behind Glow’s telekinetic field, Starchaser was free to strike at Stratos. He was in motion as soon as Cobalt Templar’s fist slammed into the villain’s face. Alone, Starchaser might have tried to talk Stratos down at that point, but whether that would have been successful depended on Stratos’ tenuous state of mind. And that was a highly erratic thing to rely upon.
 

Dodging to the left of Stratos and Cobalt Templar, Starchaser glanced to his right as Glow leapt into a series of acrobatic manoeuvres. Stratos also turned, power seeming to gather around him as he tried to focus on Glow. He nodded at her recommendation, heading toward Stratos low and fast.
 

Starchaser slammed into him like a freight train. He wrapped his arms around Stratos, and felt his strength surge as he focused his energy into it. The force of the collision took both hero and villain off their feet. Starchaser spun them to the floor, rolling so that he could hold the criminal prone beneath him. “You know,†he said, pressing a knee into Stratos’ back, “You should really consider a different line of work.† 

[Avenger Assembled]

Unhurt though he was through all this, the now-grappled Dr. Stratos seemed to practically deflate in Starchaser's arms. "Fine, fine, take me to Providence. Again." He sighed as he looked around the busted-up bank, looking more morose than guilty at the carnage he'd very nearly wrought, and at the bank itself still standing only thanks to good luck and the continued application of superheroic power. "Things are gonna change after this, you know. In my day, the Crime League was about the joust with your opposite number, maybe a little bid for world domination, but now, feh! People just don't understand evil anymore," he complained as a round of applause for the assembled heroes came from the crowd. 

 

"Oh, wow! Cobalt Templar! Glow!" The excited crowd surged forward once the villain was down, with the new face pinning Stratos getting extra-special attention. As bank manager and customer alike tried to shake Corbin and Kristen's hands, the ladies were particularly interested in the big strong tough guy. "Ooh, are you new?" asked a young woman in a black, Gothy outfit that was a little skimpy for New Jersey in October. "What's your name?" She was trying to get her friend to take a picture, with Stratos' continued rant about the low quality of contemporary supervillainy being blotted out by all the noise. 

[KnightDisciple]

As soon as Stratos was properly grappled and restrained, Cobalt Templar reverted to his normal (though still large) form, a frustrated expression on his face. It was likely he'd wanted to punch Stratos and have it actually do something. It was that kind of day, after all.

 

Still, he gave the bank manager a smile as he shook hands, though he did lean down to whisper in their ear.

 

"Get the cops here ASAP and make sure they know who we've got."

 

Then he went back to schmoozing with the crowd. Lots of polite smiles and handshakes, all while keeping a bit of his attention on Stratos. The whole matter didn't sit right with him, but perhaps it was just a falling-out from Stratos having been even MORE crazy the last year or so.

[Noniad]

As things stood, Starchaser felt that Stratos had gone down almost too easily. But he seemed drastically unstable. It was entirely possible that this was not part of some grand strategy, but was simply the sloppy handiwork of a villain who was well and truly past his time. Providence was probably the best place for a supervillain as unhinged as Stratos appeared to be. Then again, why would someone as obsessed with the “good old days†of supervillainy strike at a small bank in the Fens? Was there some connection here he was missing?

 

He kept Stratos immobile as the bank began to fill with a cheering crowd. Focusing on the crowd made it easy to drown out Stratos’ aimless tirade on the proper etiquette of a super powered battle, though he didn’t ignore the villain completely. It would hardly do to ease up on his strength and let the weather controller try to bring the bank down all over again.

 

For the crowd, Starchaser was all smiles. He couldn’t move from his position until the police arrived to take Dr. Stratos into custody, but he indulged the women who had accosted him, smiling for the camera. “I’m Starchaser, ma’am. And yes, I’m somewhat new to all this.â€

[Scuffles]

A bit bemused by people's willingness to approach so close to Stratos - even a well-pinned-down Stratos - so soon after his attempt at mass-murder, Glow did her best to usher people a little further away as they crowded around. It seemed to be a losing battle however, and the young heroine was very on-edge as she answered questions and shook hands with the bank manager and several reporters.

 

At least Jack Jackson didn't manage to be here..

 

Grinning at that thought Glow fended off several more questions. "Yes I'm back on duty.", "Yes I'm fully recovered, thank you." and "No I'm not answering questions about Nephilim." covered off the more common enquiries, and then politely disentangled herself from the crowd to head over to Starchaser.

 

"Nice job with the tackle!" she told the mighty paragon. "And welcome aboard I guess. I'm Glow, and I just wanted to say thanks. This would have been really nasty if you hadn't been here to reinforce that barrier I threw up. I don't know if I would have stopped that blast by myself."

[Avenger Assembled]

The capture of Dr. Stratos, fallen on low circumstances or not, certainly brought out the big guns. It wasn't just the local cops who arrived to take him away; it was STAR Squad, the heavily-armed and armored anti-super squad and elite of the FCPD. They seemed as baffled by Stratos' condition as anyone else, slapping the power-restraining cuffs on the dissolute former arch-villain and taking him outside. Even the presence of Stratos' long-time archnemesis, Captain Thunder, chairman of the Freedom League, didn't seem to stir Stratos. His cape flying in the breeze behind him, the white-haired Thunder was a stern figure of justice as he eyed his rival suspiciously. 

 

"I don't know what you're planning, Sebastian, but-" 

 

"Aw, shut up, Ray," said Stratos with a flash of the old fire in one last instant before he was loaded into the armored police wagon. As the STAR Squad cops sped away, after exchanging information with the heroes, Thunder made a landing to shake everyone hand. 

 

"Charmed, I'm sure. I hear you all did fine work today." The legendary hero looked the trio over. "As far as I know, the three of you have been part of this from the beginning. Do you have any idea what happened?" 

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar seems much relaxed when not just STAR Squad, but Captain Thunder showed up.

 

'Seems like he can be a jerk sometimes, though.'

 

No matter. At the elder hero's question, CT glanced at the others before speaking up.

 

"Well, Stratos made an entrance with a big lightning bolt to land in the bank. I didn't catch everything, but he was trying to play himself as Zeus out looking for cash or something. Starchaser here came in first, I was right after, and Glow backed us up after that. Banter back and forth in character, then I tried to punch him and told him to "get off this planet". He flipped out, which I guess is my bad, and tried to fry everything. We managed to contain it, though my hair's a bit crispy under the helmet."

 

He was at the proverbial ground zero for that one.

 

"The woman with him, playing Hera, made some comment about how he was off the Crime League before getting out of Dodge. I tried to punch him again, Stratos stood there feeling sorry for himself, and Starchaser held him down. And, uh, here we are."

 

He gives a shrug, surveying the scene and his fellow heroes.

 

"Honestly? Whole thing was pretty weird. Not going to lie."

Edited November 8, 2013 by KnightDisciple

[Scuffles]

Glow nodded her agreement with Cobalt Templar as he explained the entire incident to Captain Thunder, then added her own input.

 

"Stratos seemed pretty unstable," she commented. "This place would be one heck of a mess if we hadn't managed to stop that nova-blast he tried. Someone with that kind of power losing the plot with so many civilians around..."

 

The teenager shivered slightly, and then looked up at Thunder again. "The one playing Hera tried to mind control me," she noted. "And she was pretty powerful. I've worked with a couple of telepaths and this was pressure like I haven't felt before. She tried to force me to believe she was my god and to make me blast Starchaser here. I only just shook it off too - I don't think her heart was really in this whole bank-job thing, but she wasn't some minor league villain at all."

 

Despite that assessment of "Hera's" power, Glow seemed quite up-beat. Helping save a whole bunch of people had clearly done a lot to sort out her confidence-issues.

[Noniad]

Starchaser glanced up from Stratos as Glow approached him. “Thanks Glow. Glad to be of assistance.†He stepped back from the criminal as the STAR Squad surrounded them, giving them room to restrain Stratos and escort him outside.

 

As Cobalt Templar and Glow reviewed the situation to Captain Thunder, Starchaser tried to remember anything else that could possibly be relevant to the situation. The other heroes seemed to have covered everything that happened, but Starchaser still felt as though something was missing from the whole equation.

 

“There’s no way of tracing “Hera’s†teleport, is there?†He asked, glancing up at Thunder, “She might not have wanted to be here, but she still was. And she made it sound as though the Crime League might be gearing up for something.â€

 

He scanned the bank, cycling his vision through the electromagnetic spectrum every few seconds, trying to find something – whether some residual signature from Hera’s teleportation, or some clue as to why the former leader of the Crime League had singled out this bank. But the more he searched, the more he suspected that this was nothing more than the desperate attempt of a madman trying to recapture his glory days. Perhaps he’d simply hoped that Captain Thunder would be the one to respond to the bank’s silent alarm.

[Avenger Assembled]

"It sounds like Medea's work. She's been acting as a transport system for the League for the last few months, and if she has abandoned Sebastian, that's trouble. He was the heart and soul of the League that formed after we did, and now..." Thunder shook his head. "Sebastian Stratos has been trying to kill me, humiliate my family, and destroy all those I love for thirty years, but whatever happened to him on the Curator's world left him changed. Maybe he can get the help he's needed since before my son was born, but he's a broken man. Not like what he used to be...it was only a matter of time before the others turned on him." He looked around at the damage to the bank and said, "I'm glad it wasn't worse - and I'm glad you heroes were here to save the day. If he's not the one running the League anymore, there's no telling what they'll do." 

 

Peering around, it certainly looked as though magic had been at work - Starchaser's electromagnetically-tuned senses weren't telling him much of anything. "If you are interested in being part of his interrogation, I can take you there myself; or we can continue the investigation here."