“Your first round is on me, sweet thing.”

*Cappie deftly twirled two shot glasses in one had, and a bottle of Johnny Walker Black in the other. He poured the liquor until it spilled over the edges of the glasses, and without waiting for his new guest, downed his shot in a sinlge throw and filled the glass again. Looking up, he gave the woman who entered his bar a devlish grin.*

“He ain't here, darling. You're gonna have to waste him somewhere else.”

*Downing his second shot, Cappie rested his elbow on the bar and leaned over, the devlish smile widening. Cappie oozed a natural charm the way Silver Screen movies stars did. Coupled with the fact that he was in a boyishly good mood, and that his moods were notoriously contagious, he knew the woman's ire would not last long.*

“Slide on over here, and get those, issues *not hiding the glance at her breasts* off your chest.”

____________________________

*He waited patiently for her to awake, casually rubbing his thumb across a small straight razor, careful not to cut himself. When she did, he riased a finger to his lips and gently shushed her. Squating down on his haunches, he stared intently at his thumb as he pressed it down onto the razor, still carefull to not break the skin.*

“My master is begining… negotiations… with your mentor. No, no, don't try to play coy with me. We know who you both are, and frankly, your secrets are as inconsequential to us as are the changing of the seasons to my master. Rest assured, the matters that concern me are of far greater importance than your little secrets.”

*The man shifted his weight to one side, allowing the pale light of the room to illuminate his face. He was ghostly pale, his eyes dark and sunken into sharp, pertruding cheek bones. He looked terribly ill, but within those dark, hollow eyes was a dangerous and terrifying confidence.*

Does my master really believe this little waif of a girl is the key completing our plan?

“You are going to do as your mentor told you. You are going to go home, and wait for him.”

*The pale man leaned close to the girl, holding his thumb and the razor inches from her face.*

“You are going to tell him…”

*Cold, thin lips brushed against her burning ear lobes as he whispered his instructions into her ear.*

“Non-compliance is not an option. To make sure you understand the seriousness of the situation…”

*The pale man's thumb twitched ever so slightly across the blade of the razor. A thin line of crimson appeared on his skin.*

“I'm not entirely sure who is corrupting her most; me, all the heroes and villains, or broads like you.”

*Cappie placed the bottle of Johhny Walker back on the shelf and winked at Lynx. Sauntering around the corner of the bar, he took a seat next to her and leaned back against the well worn oak of the bar. Part of his allure, aside from his powerful empathy, was his ease and openess with just about everyone. Regardless of color, creed, nationality, sex (though he had a strong and well known preference), or even good or evil alignments, Cappie always treated everyone with the same respect. He had nothing to hide. And no one had crossed him since Scorpio tried to ransom his daughter, which, due to Cappie's numerous powerful friends, ended with Scorpio being pounded into something not recognizable as human by the Keeper.*

“She's out with Morrison doing something or other involving The Old City. So, tell me, if you aren't here to take a load off, why did you drop by?”

______________________

Amber had cleaned herself up with a long, hot shower, and tried to clear her mind of what just happened. It had been, well, disturbing. The pale faced man had cut himself, and then bled so that she was certain he was dying. The blood pooled onto the floor, and then rose up in sickly tendrils, enveloping her as a bandaged mummy, stopping short of covering her nose and mouth. She was given her instructions once more, and then the pale face man simply walked away. The blood had stayed, though.  Amber did as she was told by her mentor, and she returned to the “Den.” Located several stories below street level, it was a dark, brooding, yet secure location. Carlos had shown it too her after she had gained his trust. He explained, in brief, the history of how The Old City came to be. The islets of Solace City were riddled with hills, ridges, and in places, cliffs. The original Dutch settlement had been built in a gully between two ridges where rain water naturally pooled. An earthquake had reduced a large portion of the original town to rubble, buried in a land slide. When the town was rebuilt, the street level was raised up several stories to prevent such destruction in the future. However, a large portion of the town survived. The foundations, basements, and lower three levels of most of the left in tact structures were simply covered up and sealed off. What remained were fourteen city blocks, buried in a man-made cavern.

On the corner of one of the streets was a dilapadate mansion. It had been the home of one of Solace's most wealthy residents, and even in its shabby state, it was still remarkably beautiful. It was several thousand square feet in size, and for the most part, structurally sound. The attic of the mansion had a secret door that lead to the cellar of a coffee shop on the street level. Through another secret door in the cellar, was the Den. The Den itself was modern, clean, and full of technology. The rest of the old mansion, however, was just plain erie. Bloodhound had casually referenced that some sacrificial rites had taken place within the mansion, and that it could be haunted. There was something or other about an artifact that was used in the rites, but Bloodhound had dismissed it out of hand. Amber was not so casual about these matters. The place moaned, groaned, creaked, rattled, and sometimes even the mothballed curtains blew as though there was a breeze, which was impossible.

*Amber was deep in thought, toweling herself off when she heard a rather distinct noise. Not the regular and disturbing noises of the house, but something else. There had been a voice, distant and shrill, but a voice. Dropping the towel on the floor and hastily putting on her soiled costume, she crept her way to a boarded up window, and peered through a knothole in the wood. There was a light, it was moving slowly down the blackened street, pausing here and there as though the person holding it was looking for something in particular. As though she didn't already have enough on her plate, orders from Bloodhound, instructions from a sick guy with perverted living blood, and the prospects of spending the night in the mansion alone, now she had to worry about the hideout being discovered. It sucked.*

“Easy, girl, remember my training. Stay quiet and they will leave… crap!”

*Amber moved quickly and silently across the rickety wooden floors of the mansion, decended some stairs, ducked through the secret door to the Den, and sealed it shut. Pursing her lips, willing herself to calm down and focus on listening to the sounds outside, she waited.*

Post edited 2:09 am – July 5, 2009 by NiknakSS
Post edited 2:10 am – July 5, 2009 by NiknakSS

*A brilliant, blinding flash of silver and gold erupted in the center of the bar, momentarily blinding everyone inside. The lusterous light dissipated, and a strikingly beautiful, and strikingly pissed off woman was suddenly floating just off the floor in the center of the room. She stretched out her hand, pointing toward Cappie, and said in a menacing growl from behind clenched teeth…*

“You!”

*Cappie left his feet, his arms spread akimbo as he flew across the room and came to a halt before the woman, the tip of his nose being pushed down comically by the tip of her finger.*

“You irresponsible bastard! Just what the hell is Cassie doing in The Old City!?!”

*Cappie rolled his eyes and spoke out the corner of his mouth…* “Bah, she's fine. She's just prowling around on one of her missions.”

“She's a teenager. A teenager who is not ready, nor powerful enough for solo work.” *The expression on the woman's statuesque face hardened.*

*Rolling his eyes once more, and speaking out of the other corner of his mouth…*  “She's not solo, Morrison's with her. Relax Kara.”

*Gently settling to the floor, she released Cappie from her hold, and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot impatiently*  “Stellar parenting, Cabbot. You knew this, and did nothing.”  *A couple of regulars sitting at a nearby table started to snicker and exchange lewd comments, uttered just loud enough to be heard throughout the bar. Without so much as looking at them, Kara waved her hand in their direction, and in a flash of gold and silver, the men vanished, their clothing left in piles where they had been sitting.*

*Cappie cocked his head toward the now empty table, scratching the back of his head with a bemused smirk, he replied…*  “Come on, Cassie has that GPS thingy and can talk to AIKman whenever she wants. If she was in any danger, he would have told you.*

*Kara cut him off*  “AIKman is not her father, he is a computer! I happily took her in just to keep her from growing up in a bar, and have become more of a parent to her than you seem to care to be!”

*The mood in the bar started to palpably change, as Cappie began to get irritated.*  “Well, well, well, Your Highness, if you are so worried about her, then teleport down there and get her, you sanctimonious pain!”

“Because I can't teleport to somewhere I'm not familiar with you chauvinistic jerk! And the Old City is UNDERGROUND, AIKman can't communicate with her through solid rock.”

*Arguments had broken out all over the bar by this point, and Cappie took notice. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down.*  “Cassie will be just fine, I promise.”

“She better be, or I'll teleport your genitals into space.”  *Kara dissapeared in a flash.*

Two people in the bar had been watching the episode in silence. When the show was over, Carlos and Lucinda turned back to their conversation.

_____________________________

Crap, crap, crap, what the heck is the Menagerie doing down here? There is no way I can take him in combat. The girl, however…

*The unsteady, shaken and scared Amber was gone now. The training kicked in, and now, Mystery Girl was in control. Her thoughts raced, plotting, planning, strategizing. She needed to get out of the mansion and get behind them. They couldn't find her in here. The mansion had to remain vacant and uninteresting to them. Easy. She needed to get ahold of the girl, give herself leverage against the stronger foe. A little harder, but doable. She used one of the old sewer pipes to get out of the mansion, under the street, and come up in the darkness behind them. Phase one, done.*

Stupid emo rockstar is making a mess of this. How do I get close to the girl without him smelling or hearing me? Freak, I bet he has some kind of lame bat echo location crap too. He might even be able to “see” me in this darkness. Think…think…

*Taking a concussion grenade from her utility belt…*   EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!!!!! There's still blood on it!    *she threw it toward them, covered her eyes and ears, and shielded her senses from the blast of noise and light. Before the echo had subsided, she was on her prey, one arm around the girl's thin neck, the other holding her warhammer in an outstretched, and what she considered, threatening pose.

“If I see one gay animal, Emo Boy, there will be consequences!”

*The pale faced man opened the ornate door to his master's office, slowly treading his way across marble floors, and bowed deeply when he was half way to the desk where the master sat, seeming to stare through him. Only after his master spoke, did he lift his gaze.*

“How did your appointment with the girl transpire, Eric?” *Though the man who spoke was clearly Japanese, his speech was clean and without a trace of an accent of any kind.*

*Eric raised his head and walked to the desk, where he made his report.*  “I am confident that your message was recieved and the seriousness of it fully understood, Irikyo-san.”

“I am pleased, deeply pleased, my friend. I have not pursued this target just to have some upstart with dreams of granduer disrupt my work. The man we know as Carlos, or Bloodhound, or whatever name he chooses to call himself, must not be allowed to sully the reputation of our Prime Minister in a prolonged, and ugly election. The Prime Minister MUST remain pure, his integrity in tact, else, my plans for the girl will not have their desired results.”  *Irikyo, known among heroes and villains as “The Old Man,” and known only as “The Living Ghost,” among the frightened rumors of the populace, slowly twirled around in his seat to look out upon the impressive skyline of Solace.*

“Do you think the girl remembers?”  *Eric examined the recovering burnt flesh on his thumb. The only way to stop the bleeding was to cauderize it once it started.*

*Irikyo chuckled to himself.*  “That fool, Carlos, has spent so much time erasing her memories, that he neglected to find out if any of her memories were worthy secrets. he still believes that the man killed in that accident was her biological father. So long as they both remain ignorant to this, my plan is in tact.”

______________________

“Don't you tell me to relax, Donkey Whisperer.”  *Mystery Girl had been through enough, and now that she had a little leverage, she intended to use it to the fullest.*

“Let me tell you a few things. As far as what I am doing down here, that is none of your business. I am Myster Girl, I am the Bloodhound's ward, and I go where I choose to.” 

*Mystery Girl stole a glance at her prisoner, and suddenly realized who she was. Oh, this was bad. The Keeper did bad things to the last guy to mess with her. If this got out, that she had held Cassie Copola as a hostage, the Keeper would actively pursue her as a villain. Bad, bad, bad. With a sharp push, Mystery Girl launched Cassie into the arms of Menagerie.*

“Look, you guys have this all wrong,”  *Amber needed a way out of this, now*  “I am on a training exercise, and you came down here in the middle of it. I thought you were a part of the training, that's all.”  *Amber prayed they would buy her lie. Sensing their warriness, she continued, telling some truths to cover the lie.*

“I can tell you are looking at all the blood. Yeah, well, er… some guy with living blood attacked me and covered me up in it. It was nasty, and I am on edge, okay?”

*The truth struck, she could see the recognition in Menagerie's eyes as he deduced who the “Living Blood Guy” was. Not letting the moment slip, she continued, trying to buy enough trust for Menagerie to just let her go.*

“He wrapped me up in blood, and told me I have to convince Bloodhound to…”  *Whoops, she had told too much of the truth. She tried to think of something to say, but the more Menagerie looked at her with those penetrating, dark eyes, the less she could think of something convincing to say.*

*Eric Longoria hung up the phone and walked out of his laboratory. He was as frustrated as ever that he was unable to make progress on his experiment. Despite all of his genius, he was unable to replicate the conditions that his intern, Spencer Spalding had achieved, allowing him to become the hero known as Spectrum. He felt the urge to cut himself, and let his fury fly out until he was spent and wasted, and all around him was utterly destroyed. That would not do, though. He had done that once before, and Ikiryo had been deeply vexxed by the money, manpower, and resources it had taken to clean up the blood and refurbish a destroyed lab. The time was soon approaching that he would just have to go out into the city, find a random hero, and paste them all over the streets of Solace. Ikiryo would be vexxed by that as well, but at least he would not have to pay for it. He could take comfort in the knowledge that he had good news to deliver to his master. Lynx had phoned in her reply, and she was onboard. Analyn had joined up as well, and was already in place to begin the next phase of the plan. The more villains they could get Bloodhound to surround himself with, the better. Carlos Chiadez, however, required a more subtle approach. His political career had to be molded, and his image remain favorable. He could not be allowed to run a smear campaign against the current Prime Minister, Tony Komo. Arriving at the office of his master, he knocked, and entered the room.*

“Lynx is with us, master.”

*Ikiryo remained expressionless.*  “Excellent. It is time to start our country's beloved Prime Minister's fall from grace. Inform Analyn that she may proceed.”

_______________________

*The cool, confident, wise cracking Mystery Girl was gone once more, leaving the frightened and lonely Amber in her place. She was at an utter loss for words. Bloodhound had always been there with her, taking the lead, leaving her to taunt and insult until her heart was content. She had never faced a foe alone, especially one so much more powerful than herself. Facing a super powered hero was much more daunting than beating up street hoods…* 

Wait a minute, I am facing off with a hero? Does that make me the villain?

*Now she was really confused. Bloodhound wasn't a villain. He was a good man, who took her in and taught her to fight wicked people, like the ones who killed her parents. She could not betray Bloodhound by going with these people. She had to use information as leverage, something they want to know in exchange for her being let go without a fight she was bound to lose.*

“I will tell you what I know, but I am leaving once I do, do you understand?”

*Amber watched Menagerie closely. He remained a threat, yet made no threatening gestures. He seemed inclined to let the whole situation pass, his obvious and primary concern being the little mall-rat clinging to his side.*

“I don't know where any hideouts are. Bloodhound hasn't showed me yet. And as far as the guy with the blood, you called him Bloodbond, right? Well, he told me I was supposed to be a message. He slimed me, then told me I was to go directly to Bloodhound, as a message. I wasn't supposed to clean up. I was supposed to tell Bloodhound that if he didn't comply, it would be him covered in MY blood. Okay? You happy now?”

*Amber didn't wait for Menagerie's response. She turned heel and ran as fast as she could, darting into the darkeness, racing toward the closest exit to the street she could find.*

*Dr. Spenser Spalding had just finished seeing his last patient for the day. He dismissed the office staff, and took a seat in his private office, looking out of the window onto one of the dozens of marinas that dotted the islets of Solace. He thought about working in his lab, but no, he didn't really feel like it. He then thought about putting on his costume and flying around Solace as Spectrum, but he wasn't so sure about that either. When he first got his powers, it took him weeks to fully realise their potential, and what he could and could not do with them. To this day, he has yet to really push any of his abilities to the limit. In fact, he has never even fought a villain with powers on a level comparible to his own. Spenser figured he could build up to that. There was no need to rush into mortal combat.  He would have never guessed that being a super hero would be so hard. Designing the costume was a pain. Finding bad guys, too, was a pain. You heard about crime all day every day on the news, but when you actually go out and look for it, well buddy, that was a different story all together. And, maybe it was just Solace, but the people didn't really seem all that impressed with heroes, or maybe just him. He had saved some folks from getting robbed at gunpoint, and had let some bullets bounce off his force field, but after he had trapped the bad guys, the folks he had saved just said a casual thanks, and were on their way. When he went to the police to drop the criminals off, they just tossed them into a holding cell and had Spectrum take out a warrant for their arrest. Nothing to it. Somehow, Spencer had always thought this would all be a lot more glamorous. During his musings, he watched as a large explosion rocked the harbor, an islet or two away. He didn't see what it was, but it must have been big. He changed into his costume and flew out of the window, speeding toward the pillar of smoke.

Half way to the site of the explosion, he noticed another hero jump out of a window and start in the direction of the explosion. Something seemed odd about it, though. The guy sailed through the air a good twenty feet, then plumeted to the ground in a blur of blue and yellow. The impact looked horrific, and Spenser was certain that crashing into the ground had not been they guy's plan. Spenser flew down to see if the guy was okay, and discovered that the man in the blue and yellow suit was in pretty bad shape. He was bleeding and broken in several places, and needed immediate medical attention. Creating a flat force shield under the man, as a gurney, he lifted him out of the pool and set his arms and legs straight, keeping the neck from moving.*

“Can you feel your hands and feet, buddy?”

*Spenser only got a nod in response. Good, he's not paralized.*

“I have to take you to the hospital…”

*Spenser was interupted by a glare in the man's eyes. He would have violently shaken his head “no” had Spenser not been holding onto it.*

“No hospital? Why not? Nevermind. You still need help.” 

*Spenser flew the wounded man as fast as he safely could back to his private practice. Though he was not set up for triage, it would have to do since the man was refusing hospital care. Must be the secret identity thing. There were some advantages to taking him to his lab, though. Spenser had quickly realized that standard medical equipment was not up to par when treating himself after the manifestation of his powers. Things as simple as suturing a wound became complicated issues. Spenser had developed a good deal of equipments and techniques he used to treat himself when he was wounded doing hero work. He could naturally regenerate, but only in direct sunlight. Bad guys, it seemed, like to do most of their deeds in the night, and out of neccessity, he could not wait several hours for the sun to come up to heal him. With the wounded man safely laid out on an examination table, Spenser set to work.*

“Alright buddy. No hospitals, okay? My name's Spectrum… never heard of me? No? Nevermind. I am a doctor as well, and I can help you if you let me. Will you let me help you? Good. I am going to give you some pain meds, so it will be easier on you when I reset those broken bones, and clean and close up those gashes. But before I do all that, I need to check you for internal wounds.”

*The wounded man made no attempts to stop him. He diagnosed the damage, and set to fixing the man up as best he could. Luckily, there was no significant internal damage, so surgery would not be needed. With all of the bones reset and the cuts closed, he administered a large enough dose of pain killer to allow the man to fall asleep. He would ask him what had happened later, when he was more lucent. Still, he had to wonder… No one in their right mind would jump out of a window that high up without powers. This man obviously thought something besides crashing into the ground would happen when he jumped. So what went wrong? Spenser decided he would go take a look. He made certain that the man would be okay, snoring soundly for at least a few hours… then he flew back to where he had seen the man jump out of the high rise. Nothing looked out of place on the balcony. He looked inside, and discovered the place ransacked. A quick look around revealed no one else there, and since he didn't know who the wounded man was, what, if anything he would have to hide, and what someone would even be looking for, he decided to fly out to the harbor to see what had exploded. The scene was rather strange. Several other heroes had already arrived and doused the flames. The thing was, it had been a derilect old freighter that had gone up. And though Spenser was not much of a detective, he could tell that it looked as though the ship was gutted, empty of any people, and packed with enough explosives to get the attention of everyone in Solace.*

As usual, nothing for Spectrum to do here. I thought Solace was going to be so much more interesting than this. What do I have to show for it? A few petty thug collars, and a broken up guy in my lab who is a hero and has never even heard of me.

*The patrolman had followed his orders, even though he thought they were…odd. How were a handful of beat cops supposed to protect a crime scene the size of the Battery Marina without help? Four guys to monitor a perimiter seven city blocks long? It was almost as though the brass wanted people to try to get in. For that matter, why would they tow the ship into Battery Marina anyway? Surely the naval marinas were a far better choice. They had parked the crime scene in the middle of the third largest public marina in Solace! And sure enough, here comes some guy sneaking into the scene. The deputized heroes didn't sneak in. Most of the reporters knew that their press passes would be taken away for doing something that stupid.*

“You! Hands Up! I mean it! Don't take another step!”

*The officer had his .50 caliber duty weapon trained on the suspicious man, his finger having taken the slack out of the trigger. The man did not move, and the officer had time to get a look at the features of the intruder. He was pretty sure he had a very dangerous and very wanted man at gun point. He calmly spoke into his radio…*

“84 Delta, I have an intruder, black male, matching the description of the vigilante Prometheus. Send M.A.C.O. [Meta-human Apprehension and Control Operations] in now and get the Keeper on standby.”

*The officer put his trembling hand firmly around the grip of his gun, and held his ground.*

“I know who you are. I will fire on you if you so much as twitch. M.A.C.O is inbound. Don't make this get any uglier than it has to be.”

*The terrified officer did what he had been trained to do, he ran. M.A.C.O. had the training and gear to handle guys like this. And when they failed, there was always the Keeper. He never failed, ever. As the officer ran down the dock, toward the green way, he heard the familiar whup whup whup whup of helicopters coming in low and fast. M.A.C.O. would be only moments from intervention.*

*From the shadows, another person had been watching the events between the officer and the man who looked about to burst into flames. Her name was Scarlett, and she had been looking for a fight all night. She figured it would only be a matter of time before some villain came sneaking about the scene of a crime. Scarlett didn't really care if this guy had done it or not. She was only guessing he was a baddie, the cop running away in fear was a pretty good clue. In fact, Scarlett wasn't even contemplating catching the guy. She had a nearly a century of rage built up inside of her, and she released that rage on thugs like this whenever the opportunity presented itself.*

“Think you're so tough, don't ya?”  *She growled through clenched teeth while placing her hands on the wooden surface of the dock. She looked as though she were trembling with rage, he very body shaking violently in anger. The dock then began to shake and tremble as though hit by an earthquake. The wooden planks of the dock began to explode into vicious splinters, plank after plank bursting into a shower of dangerous debris, heading straight for the man at the end of the pier.

*Things were getting fairly intense on the dock. Two thirds of it were shattered, in flames, or both. M.A.C.O. helicopters were in place, and Rope Teams were about to deploy. Scarlett was intent on her prey, and was flexing her leg muscles, readying a cat like pounce. Prometheus was backed into a corner, about to go completely thermal. The Keeper would surely be there soon, if the M.A.C.O team got caught in the middle of a super powered fight.*

*Scarlett was too enraged to feel the first tingles of controlled entropy wash over her body. By the time she started to feel herself dissipate, it was too late.*

*Prometheus felt a prickling sensation crawl over his body, and wondered for a moment if his powers were going awry. He soon recognized the sensation, and realized he didn't have the mental fortitude to fight what was about to happen. It didn't matter though, anywhere he was about to end up was better than here.*

*Scarlett and Prometheus vanished in flashes of gold and silver light.*

“Just what the hell are the two of you doing?”  *Prestige was in full costume, the gold and silver of her body suit and hair glinting in the moon light. They were on Mt. Konailu, two thousand feet above the city, standing on a rocky outcropping. Under different circumstances, the view would have been something to stop and admire.*

“He was sneaking around the crime scene, I was going to deal with him…”  *Scarlett began, but was cut off. She had been looking at Prometheus with gunfighter eyes.*

“I've seen how you deal with people. Prometheus is not a villain, you will not attack him again.”  *Scarlett was still clenching her fists and flexing her muscles. She had turned her thousand yard stare from Prometheus to Prestige, sizing her up.*

*Prestige pointed at Scarlett, trapping her in telekinetic binds, and floated her a few feet off the ledge, hundred of feet above the jagged rocks below.*  “If you continue to look at me like that, I will send you somewhere even you impressive strength will not help you. You are done talking now, so keep your mouth shut and your ears open.”

*Confident that Scarlett was under control, Prestige turned her attention to Prometheus.*  “Damnit, Malcom, we've been through this a dozen times. How are you ever supposed to truly help this city if you keep operating like that? The police are after you, M.A.C.O. is after you. And heaven help you if the Keeper gets a hold of you. I have too much on my plate to be mother hen to a bunch of wayward wannabe heroes.”

*AIKman had been keeping her informed, and the news was not good. The States were investigating some type of sabotage, that they were trying to link to Solace. Relations between the two countries had become strained at best, and by the sounds of it, this could be big. Military grade explosives were going off in Solace Bay, on derilect ships. Rumblings about political conspiracies at the top of Solace's government were gaining traction. Cassie had run into Bloodhound's protoge, Mystery Girl, who was attacked by Bloodbond. The Old Man never let that freak far off the leash. And if rumors were true, one of Solace's most famous heroes had a sudden and total power failure. And during all of this, The Keeper, Solace's great savior, was being reigned in more than normal. The government was loathe to let him go unless it was something M.A.C.O. could not handle, since The Keeper usually caused a great deal of property damage when turned loose.*

“There are far too many wheels in motion for me to be hovering over you two, when you are supposed to be part of the solution, not the problem.”  *Prestige sighed, placed Scarlett back on the ledge, and tossed them both small, black rectangular devices.*  “If you get your acts together, and feel like using your powers for the benefit of the city, use those. They are com-links to AIKman. He will help you. And if you really get yourselves squared away, I will help you too.”

*Prestige vanished in a flash of metalic light.*

Post edited 10:20 pm – July 11, 2009 by NiknakSS

*Scarlett unclenched her fists, looked down at the ground, and sighed deeply. She really did want to do the right thing. It was just that, things got her so mad so easy, and some people just flat needed a good beating. There was nothing she could really do at the moment with Prometheus. She wanted to punch the nose off his smug face, but Prestige would just end up popping back up. There was no way Prestige could possibly stand up to a full assault from Scarlett for very long. It was just that Prestige could teleport and telekinetically suspend Scarlett wherever she felt like. Which brought Scarlett to a sudden, and preplexing thought (after taking a quick glance around her).*

“Fine. We can put the dock behind us and concentrate on the real threat. I saw you pick something up back there. Did you find some sort of a clue?” *Scarlett watched as Prometheus nodded his head, pulling a fragment of burned something out of his pocket. It was something so simple, yet it made her feel weak and worthless. The very fact that the little piece of whatever it was meant something to him, but she would have not even taken notice wounded her in a way no villain ever had. For the first time in a long time, she swallowed her pride, a little.*

“You're the better detective. I am not wanted by the authorities. You are right, we can aid each other. And after we finish this, we can go back to… settling our differences.”  *Scarlett held our her hand, and shook Prometheus' in accord.*

“The first thing we need to help each other with is getting down from here?”  *Scarlett pointed out that the rocky outcropping they were on had no paths down, and that they were several hundred feet up a sheer cliff.*

“I don't suppose you can fly?”

______________________________

“No, no, don't sit up…”  *Spencer hastily entered the room and pressed the button to slowly raise up the back rest of the bed. He held a cup of water to Colin's lips, and let him drink until he had his fill.*

“Do you remember your name? Yes? Good. Do you know where you are? No? Okay, well, you are in my lab, but don't worry, I'm not the mad scientist kind. I mean, I worked with one once, and he got all messed up in an experiment, but that was about it. Oh, my name? Dr. Spencer Spalding. I have a private practice here, and use my income to work on my experiments, not the mad scientist kind. I also dabble in some other work, if you know what I am talking about? You don't? Are you sure? Well, I have this costume here, (*holding up Furystar's body suit*), hey, why are you looking at me like that? No, no, stay in bed. I may have to increase your morphine drip… boy is your heart rate increasing fast. Relax, your secret is safe with me.”

*Spenser quick stepped out of the room and came back just as fast, holding up a costume that looked remarkably similar to Furystar's, just with the colors somewhat reversed.* 

“See, I have one too. I am secretly the hero Spectrum. Spectrum… still never heard of me? Never? Well, I am new to Solace, it may take a while for me to get my name out there. I have heard of you, though. You're pretty famous. I even modeled my costume after yours. Do you like it? I'll take that as a maybe. Plus, I thought yellow would be the way to go since I am solar based. Yeah… I've got some pretty cool powers, if I say so myself. Wanna see them? No? Not even one? Okay. Hey, that reminds me? Don't you have gravitational powers, or something like that? What happened to you? I didn't think anyone would jump out a window like you did without knowing they would be okay. Yeah, jumped out a window. Uh huh. Yeah. Off the balcony, like ten stories up. Yeah, I do know where you live. Why are you looking at me like that again? Well, until we get you feelling better, there is not much I can do to help you figure out why you fell like that. I have an idea, but I was waiting for your permission.”

*Spencer pulled out a vial with what looked like mercury in it. the vial was the kind that a syringe was attached to, a large syringe.*

“Here's the deal. That mad scientist and I stumbled onto some pretty incredible stuff. Since his, um, accident. I have been continuing the research. I have been trying to find the cure for cancer. Yeah, me. No, I haven't. But what I have found, are a couple new treatments for cell regrowth, using photon charged nano-cells. This serum is actually, trillions of self replicating nano-cells that are extremely reactive to certain colors of the light spectrum. Yeah, how I got my name. Now, the cells here only self replicate for a few generations, so you don't have to worry about them being in you forever. How do they come out? You know… yeah, it will be silver for a while. Well, the ones in me don't have a generational limit. Yeah, its always silver… Anyway, if you allow me to inject these into you, and we expose you to direct sunlight, you should temporarily gain a power I have, regeneration. You should heal in just a few minutes. So, what do you say? Yes? Okay, lets get to it.”

*Spencer inserted the vial into an unnecessarily large (by Colin's estimate) tungsten steel syringe. Torniquete in place, he inserted the needle into Colin's arm, and depressed the plunger. He then gently lifted Colin in his arms, and, peeking out the window first, flew out and up above the clouds.*

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*Cassie made the call to AIKman, rubbing her shoulder, ruefully contemplating the “kiddo” remark. The results were as she expected. AIKman told Kara, who summarily teleported Cassie to her father's, who was under strict and crytal clear instructions that Cassie stay out of it. Kara and Morrison had vanished from Cappie's place, presumably back to Kara's place.*

“Fill him in, AIKman.”  *Kara went to a small refrigerator to get a bottle of water. Kara Fairchild's house was situated on stilts, half-way hanging over a ledge above the water of Solace Bay. The views were incredible from the house, but they were deep below the house, in the rocks of the ciff. Kara had used her teleportaion to excavate a large, multiroom chamber, where her heroic life was based from. AIKman's mainframe was down here, as well as a collection of other, various crime fighting equipment picked up over the years. When AIKman did not respond, Kara sighed.*

“AIKman, what are you doing?”

*Several of AIKman's view screens flashed lines of code with seizure inducing speed.*

“He's doing it again, Kara. This time, I've got him.”

“AIKman, stop it, now. You're going to give yourself another virus.”

*AIKman had been in a losing battle of wits with a devious programmer from Google for years. It was like a game of chess, using viruses, torjans, and worms as the pieces. The typical results of such battles were that AIKman ended up with any number of software issues, requiring Kara to pay an army of computer engineers to fix him. AIKman finally did as ordered, and simply cut off his communications connections, rather than lose again. AIKman proceeded to display a series of images and videos, soundbytes of conversations, and fixed these images along a timeline. He recounted to Morrison every pertinent event of the past several weeks, including all proven or suspected super villain activity. It was clear to Kara by the deepening expression on Morrison's face that he was not prepared for the severity of the overall picture.*

“Now you know. Morrison, I can't do this on my own. Not this time. Too many power players are upping their ante. I still don't know what their endgame is, but when it comes, we have to be ready. We are going to have to work together on this, and we will need more than the two of us.”

*Kara sensed that Morrison was unsure, he was taking too long to work it out in his head. She needed to sweeten the deal.*

“Work with me on this, and when the time comes, I won't interfere when you deal with Lynx.”

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*Analyn felt the vibrating of her phone against her hip, retrieved it, and held it close to her ear so she could hear over the noise of the jet's engines. Nodding, she replied,*  “I'm already on my way.”

*The assignment had been right up her alley. Typically, she would have done it for free, just for the thrill of it, but since the Old Man insisted on paying, and paying a lot, she dove into the assignment with particular relish. She had developed quite the reputation for being one of the greatest and most dangerous thieves in the world. She had grown bored with heists against civilian targets, and turned her attentions to stealing from super powered heroes or villains, it didn't matter to her. The fact that she was able to work with Lynx on another, even more duplicitous assignment at the same time was just pure maniacal bliss.*

“I wonder why he only wanted one of the processors?”

*Analyn had been sent on one of her most dangerous heists ever. The Old Man had flown her to the States, where she was to locate the bunker where S.C.I.O.N. (Sentient Cybernetic Intelligence and Offensive coNstruct) was hidden. Once found, she had to sneak in and locate the enormous metal monstrosity. The plethora of guards, alarm systems, and S.C.I.O.N.'s own, unique defensive systems were a fantastic challenge, worthy of her undertaking. Sadly, S.C.I.O.N. was in some sort of hibernation while teams of scientists evaluated it. The hardest part was once she had made it to the giant robot. It was 150 feet tall, and composed of some metal she could not melt with her formidable acid. She had to morph into her liquid acid state, and enter the technological beast through one of it's exhaust vents. Once inside, she was free to do a little sabotage, melting things at will, until she came to one of the processors. She was not to destroy those, just steal one of them. Her instructions were to severely damage S.C.I.O.N., not destroy him. Her assignment complete, she fled the bunker without detection, leaving behind a single clue, one that would lead investigators to believe members of M.A.C.O. had committed the act. She made her way to a secure airport, and boarded a flight to Canada, where she would continue back to Solace, and rendevous with Lynx, for the next stage of her mission.*