Murderous Miasma

Dragon Guardian nods. "Imagine staying in there full time... Chinatown's my home. I'm just a bit worried on a lot of it."

DG and Regan's Safeguard communicators crackle. "Priority alert to all units. Detainee Transfer unit Two-Four has failed to report at the 10 o'clock marker. Sending last known coordinates." Dragon Guardian frowns. He stands up and heads towards the door. "Sorry. I need to go see what this is about."

Regan nods. "well that's understandable." Her lips purse. "Ok, take care."

The transmission refers to a sideroad off the I-64 corridor heading south.

Regan waits for DG to depart before she in turn moves out of the cafe and across the street into the gym where she changes.

Dragon Guardian nods as he pulls a card, doing his usual card flip before taking off towards I-64 at quick flight speeds. He doesn't want to exhaust himself by using the sonic wings, plus he can pick up some on the way.

It's a late spring evening on the Virginia peninsula. The coordinates given to the heroes lead them down a winding maze of state highways until they are well beyond the more heavily traveled areas. It's dark out, but there's enough light from the moon to make out a heavy truck that has run off the road, the pavement darkened by black marks where someone tried to apply the brakes. A police officer in what looks like heavy riot gear lies gasping in the middle of the street. No one else is visible, but the doors to the back of the vehicle hang open.

The truck's emergency flashers flicker in the night.

Dropping down out of the air, Dragon Guardian lands near the police officer and checks to make sure he's alright first. "Sir, what happened?" His wings disappear after he lands as he looks around briefly for trouble.

"No, no no no!" A man screams from inside the truck. His form soon becomes visible, scraping along the armored floor as he scoots on his rear end away from whatever's inside. Tendrils of what looks like black smoke billow out of the truck, and a pair of glowing red eyes become visible. "You said that you would have me, hmm?" A woman's voice calls from within, the black smoke becoming thicker. "Take me, do horrible things...Hmm. How quaint."

The police officer on the street with Dragon Guardian groans. His skin is pale and splotchy, something dark running in his veins.

Dragon Guardian jerks his hand back as he steps away, blinking a few times as he grits his teeth. "Crap..." Reaching to his card holder, he pulls a few cards, flicking them out to the side as he slides them into the belt. The visible pulses leave him in his cape, helmet, and gauntlets as he starts towards the vehicle. "... this isn't good..."

Sable appears on the scene a few moments later, racing down the back road from the direction of the inter-state. At full speed she covers ground at a reasonably astonishing pace. Well beyond the local speed limit in fact.

"Help! Help me!" The officer just exiting the truck shouts towards Dragon Guardian as he notices the arrival of the hero. Even behind his visor the terror is plain on hi face.

"No one can help you now." An ashen colored woman shrouded in a swirling aura of black mist fully emerges from the rear of the truck to loom over the officer. She has a full amazonian build, appearing at about six and a half feet tall. Red eyes glow mercilessly down at the officer while a mouth of fangs grins with demonic glee. Strangely these features of her face don't seem to reside on her skin, but are superimposed over it, the rest of her features obscured. She reaches out as if to punch the police officer, but at the last second spreads her fingers. Swirling tendrils of black smoke rush towards him and he starts to scream.

The fabric of his uniform dies instantly, the fibers curling and fading until they crumble to dust. Leather cracks and wilts while the kevlar and metal beneath creak with an imposed age. The officer's scream is stolen from him as the attack rots away the flesh on his face and exposes his windpipe. After a moment what is left of the officer sags to the ground, his bones and what meat is left on them striking the pavement wetly.

Sable continues racing forward, racing across the intervening distance which she manages to half though she has slowed considerably, focusing less on speed and more on keeping her balance.

"I knew that you would touch him." The villain Dragon Guardian might recognize from the media as Miasma remarks to him. "A hero can't help but touch a downed officer. You're lucky I don't use explosives." She drifts forward, arm reaching out to grab Dragon Guardian.

Dragon Guardian moves out of the way neatly, "I can see that..." He growls out. "So let me guess... I touch, I'm pretty much dead before I can do anything about it, right?" He keeps out of her reach, dodging Miasma's grasp with the grace of a dragon and someone used to doing so.

Sable covers the remaining distance to Miasma. "You really have no humanity left in you do you? That darkness is just the seething evil in the depths of your being."

Dragon Guardian pulls another card mid dodge, holding it out to the side and flipping it to show some sort of staff before he slides it into the slot on his belt buckle. A pulse travels through his armor as the cape, helmet, and the additions to his gauntlets and boots disappear in lines of light back into his armor. The new pulse becomes a beam of light that he uses to do a flip over Miasma to place her between him and Sable just as it solidifies into a staff. Flipping in the air, the staff ends up swung around at the villainess as hard as he can muster under the odd drain on his strength.

Miasma turns her baleful, glowing eyes on Sable. "Is there any humanity left in any of us?" She asks. The pole strikes her, but seems to barely disturb the villainess while her toxic tendrils lick hungrily at Dragon Guardian. "No." She concludes. "Only a choking night." The dark plumes surrounding Miasma spread out rapidly to engulf a small area around her. All light is choked off, and a sickening, sulphuric rotting smell invades unprotected nostrils.

Sable steps close to lend her weight to a viciously swinging fist aimed at the precise point of Miasma's solar plexus. The whole force of her entire body rocking into the first two knuckles of her right hand

Sable's fist thumps solidly home, her boots biting into the turf to strain for the last tiny fraction of purchase, the impact folding Miasma double and hurling her backward in a shallow tumbling arc. Dragon Guardian coughs at the fumes and darkness, then leaps backwards to get out of there quickly, staff held in front of him to see what he can do for the moment.

Miasma rises after the strike by Regan, the darkness around her dissipating as she recovers her senses.

Sable navigates unerringly through the darkness to follow hot on Miasma's trail, aiming a swift kick at the centre of Miasma's chest.

Sable's boot flails awkwardly through where Miasma stands, not meeting the resistance she was clearly expecting. Her lips purse into a dark scowl. "You're such a coward.."

Miasma's fangs grin right back at Sable. "You're the one wearing a mask..."

Sable says, "Because without my mask on I'd make you look so tawdry you'd never dare step out in public."

Dragon Guardian pulls another card and slides it in after flipping it to the side once more. This one has a sword as the staff disappears back into his armor and another beam of light appears, flaring as a sword appears. "'Cuse me." He comments before leaping forward and aiming to just stab at Miasma with the sword.

Miasma is about to respond to Dragon when he stabs at her to no effect. "Tickles." She remarks before glancing at Sable. "Do you know what happens to beauty, dear?" She points towards the pile of rotting meat, bones, and worn out armor that used to be a police officer. "That."

Dragon Guardian frowns a bit. "... whatever she did to me leaves me unable to even strike like a normal human. Fun." He grumbles a bit.

Sable's head tilts to Miasma. "Looks like you're already there. And I know it isn't polite to mention it." She waves a hand in front of her face. "But you may want to consider regular bathing."

Dragon Guardian frowns as he listens to the two talk. Well, Miasma seems to be ignoring him... so he does the obvious thing. He brings the sword back, measuring and obviously preparing.

Miasma chuckles lightly, eyeing the tip of the sword. "Feeling inadequate, are we?" She dares him to strike, her tendrils swirling closer to rejuvenate her body.

Dragon Guardian smiles as he actually does some damage despite not drawing whatever passes for blood. "No. Just compensating for what you did."

It's taken her a bit to get here, lots of running, teleporting and leaping from roof top to roof top. As she arrives, Rush slinks low over the rooftop and gazes toward the currently rolling conflaguration. She blinks and rbs at the back of her neck before sighing. "Knew I shoulda practiced more." She mutters and then stares straight ahead, staying hiden briefly before spotting her self another place approximately 10" from the big bad person. She looks left and right, then concentrates briefly before flickering off the rooftop.

Miasma frowns deeply at the wound that Dragon Guardian inflicts on her. "Your nerves will turn to ash." She declares, the black tendrils of smoke that surround her billowing outwards. Any breath taken of the vapors causes a crippling weakness to settle into the joints. Fortunately, she seems to grow tangible with the effort.

Sable reacts instantly as Miasma becomes solid to launch her wight into another crisp, powerful punch aimed at her opponent's head.

Dragon Guardian slots in another card after the smoke clears and gives a grin it seems. "Later." The new card is revealed as his trusty boots and gauntlets that he punches at Miasma with. "And for the record, I agree with Sable. You stink and are quite ugly."

Miasma is flung back by Dragon Guardian's punch, landing unconscious on the road, which seems to crackle and wear under her.

Dragon Guardian coughs a few times as his armor reverts to the 'inactive' state and he falls to his knees. Waiting to regain his strength, he goes over and decks Miasma one more time for good measure before walking over to check on Sable.

Rush stands up from behind rubble, the girl holding a ball fo roiling energy in her right hand "Shucks, sorry I couldn't get here sooner!" she calls out then smiles and looks at Miasma "What's that?"

The remaining policeman moans in the street, though he continues to be afflicted by malaise. Dragon Guardian holds up a hand to ward Rushuna away. "She's dangerous! You touch her, you'll get hurt. Can you heal, Rushuna?"

Sable recovers herself after a few moment and a shake of her head though she still seems a trifle unsteady. "You know, I'm really starting to dislike that woman." She raises a hand to her temple. "Is anyone else dizzy?"

Sable looks to Rush. "Hey, how are you." She frowns at the fallen villainess. "She really pushes the envelope."

The sirens can be heard long before the convoy of emergency vehicles can be seen zooming down the obscure highway.

Rushuna umms and rubs at the back of her neck. "Well if you guys are like hurt'n stuff I can sit over here and watch herl, then affect her from a distance if I have to. Specially if you all wanna go. And no I'm not out to take credit, just well, y'looked like hell rolled over you."

Sable smiles and shakes her head. "No, I understand exactly what you're saying and it's a kind offer but I will stay, I'm recovering. Can you affect insubstantial opponents?"

Squad cars, an ambulance, and a meta containment/SWAT unit pull into the area and quickly set up a perimeter. Police spill out and paramedics go to tend to the one fine cop, and they come up short at...the pile of used to be cop.

Sable approaches the senior officer on-site to make her report, particularly emphasising the powers that Miasma demonstrated, especially insubstantiality and the whithering touch.

"There's no question about it..." The lead officer replies to Sable upon viewing the scene. "She's going to the moon."

Sable's lips purse slightly. "There's a containment facility on the moon?"

Rushuna looks to Sable curiously "Dunno, can Ki do that" She asks curiously.. "I can also work gravity electricity or air too.." She states and rubs at the back of her neck. "Still duno if any of those can."

Sable's shoulders lift. "Well, I don't know if you don't." She smiles.

Rushuna umms "I've never encountered someone insubstantial before." she says and laughs as she puts both hands behind her head and leans back against a nearby wall. "I'm new remember?

The officer shrugs, watching the paramedics sort through the tattered remains of a human being. "The moon's a containment facility."

Sable says, "Oh, I feel very ignorant now. But certainly she should be in the mostsecure facility we have."

Sable says, "And if she never sees the sun again it will be too soon."

The officer nods. "This...shouldn't have happened. I don't know exactly what happened here but nothing looks like it was done to regulation. Look, ladies, thanks for your help...We can give ya a ride back to town."

Sable says, "Miasma claimed that they had diverted to find a secluded spot in which to assault her."

Rushuna tilts her head curiously and looks to Miasma "So what exactly is she?"

The officer's face wrinkles with distaste. "There's no way." He says adamantly. "Something wasn't right, but no one's that dumb."

Sable says, "Maybe she has undocumented abilities to manipulate or attract people." She shrugs. "She's a bad bad person is what she is. But I don't know too much more than that. I suspect she may be some sort of corruptive demon."

The officer shrugs. "Boys at the lab, when they could get a needle in her, found human DNA. They think catastrophic mutation. I dunno. I'm not a scientist."

Sable says, "Neither am I. But she's proving something of a bane."

Sable says, "So if the scientists can come up with some way of dealing with her I for one would be grateful."

The officer nods. "Until then...she rots on the moon. We've got a murder, that's cause enough."