Log:Halloween Dreams, Scene 1

Halloween Dreams 2014/10/23 	 Mayor Cangelosi The Mortician Chen Q Kuroko Paragon Tonati Porter Angel

1

Today is a day of festivity here at the Hall of Heroes. Mayor Cangelosi is here, preparing to give a speech to the city. A speech that is meant to honor the heroes of the city, living and dead, or undead, as the case may be. A score of citizens and media members have gathered to listen to the speech, and there is a small dais that's been set up with a podium and microphone.

Kuroko is in the crowd. Her boss, Sylvia Bianchi was hired to keep an eye on who's associating with the mayor. As her assistant, Kuroko is here doing the leg work.

Never one to pass up an opportunity to rub elbows with the metahumans of the city Quinn has turned up for the mayor's speech. As the speech is to honor other heroes of the city Quinn has shown up in his street clothes in the hopes of being at least a little less distracting to the speech being given.

The mayor comes out onto the dais, and walks over to the podium, waving to the crowd. He's clearly well liked, as the crowd mostly cheers. There are one or two people that jeer, but they're clearly in the minority.

In the crowd, Kyle Strong is currently "making an appearance" so to speak. It's publicity more or less, and he's dressed differently than his usual. A nice open suit jacket with a bolo tie, slacks, and dress shoes. Yep. Kyle's dressed nicely today, although he looks a bit tired.

Third arrived in her less heroic persona. She's more here to support the other heroes, one of which escorted her to the event, since she's out of sorts today. Check EMP shielding is definitely on her list of maintenance work to be done. Right after 'Backup Memories Nightly' and 'Load improved default personality in Bios' so she can worry people less when she has to recover from a hard reboot or crash. She watches from the audience, her arm around Porter's shoulder as she leans a little on him, watching the podium with a tired expression.

Mayor Cangelosi says into the microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. I am here today to help honor the heroes of our fine city. The monuments around you here are a testament to those that served our city in the past. And I have formed a committee to try to help honor some of our more recent heroes. My hope is that some of those names will end up enshrined here as well. People like Barricade or Random Factor..." There's actually a little bit of booing when Random Factor's name is mentioned.

It's a speech being given by the mayor, and it's honoring Colonial Bay's superheroes. Of course local high schools are going to try to get some of their students here on field trips... and Colonial Heights actually got the nod from the city government for this. This is how Yaretzi and about twenty other students from CHHS are in the audience.

Third turns her head to whisper to Porter while her eyes remain on the stage, "Why are they booing Random Factor...?"

Chen is at the Hall of Heroes because Third is. She and Porter aren't letting Third out of their sight, with at least one accompanying her wherever she goes, until Eighth is back in custody. She's taken on her favourite guise of the moment and appears to be a fine example of a long haired golden retriever either walking at Third's heels or sitting sedately beside Third.

The mayor smiles slightly, "...and while some of those people are controversial, they are still heroes of note. It is my intention..." And his voice trails off as a series of robe clad individuals carrying torches enter the hall, walking in a two-wide column.

Cultists(#2473TOn)

Eight men and women, all dressed in long black robes. Each is holding a lit torch in both hands, holding it vertically, like in preparation for a ceremony.

Looking confused a bit, Kyle pulls out his phone, making a note to research Random Factor. Then he blinks a few times as the speech stops. That didn't sound intended. Turning, he looks around to see what caused it as he stashes his phone with a half-written memo on it.

Kuroko raises an eyebrow. o O (That can't possibly be part the ceremony?)

"No idea..." Porter's here in support of local heroes. He always has been. Today, though, it's just a bit more literal as Third leans on him. And he has help from man's best friend/sister. "Maybe they... uh... is this part of the show?"

The lights in the room dim as the robed people continue forward, the crowd parting. Then turn to face each other, creating a lit path. Then some background organ music starts and the torches flare upward, blinding people very briefly.

"Uh-oh...", murmurs Yaretzi, eyes wide. Sitting at the end of a row as she is, though, gives her an idea. With all attention diverted away from possibly seeing what she's doing, she slips out of her seat and scurries for the ladies' restroom! (Gotta be ready, just in case!)o. she thinks to herself.

The mayor looks dumbfounded as two more men start to walk up the newly created aisle. One...a small man in a black suit. The other is a HUGE man wearing wrestling trunks and a mask.

Chen perks her ears up as the torches flare and blind her briefly.

Third turns her head slowly to note the torchbearers. "It does appear ceremonial. Maybe they were early or off cue."

Well, this doesn't look right. Quinn frowns a bit as he turns to watch the cultists process in. One of the drawbacks of wearing his street clothes, of course, is that his work clothes with proper weaponry are outside in the van. While he is not completely unarmed he still finds himself at a tactical disadvantage.

Third winces against the flaring of the torches. "Maybe a civil protest...?" She's being optimistic, isn't she?

Chen is bristling and making low quiet growling sounds.

Kyle, meanwhile, has moved around to the side, keeping low as he moves to get away quickly. He's heading for the men's restroom at the moment.

Finding the ladies' restroom empty, Yaretzi takes a deep breath, then holds up her right hand - into which a small disc, with a leather cord hanging from it, appears. "Tonatiu!", she calls out. There's a flash of light... and Tonati stands in the teenager's place.

The Mortician and Reaper walk down the aisle...the larger man following the smaller one. The mayor looks at them, "What's the meaning of this?" As the two reach the dais, the Reaper turns to face the crowd, and crossed his arms, one fist by each shoulder. The Mortician climbs up and takes a hold of the microphone, of course. He says, "My dear mayor. While we are here in your 'fine' city, we had a need to prove just how worthless your heroes are." He pauses for the predictable jeering. "I offer a standing challenge to the heroes of your city, such as they are. My client...the most dangerous man alive, the REAPER...will crush all opposition."

Kuroko sighs inwardly and drops into her shadow, reappearing behind the 'Reaper'.

Porter's first reaction at this challenge is to frown. His second, and near simultaneous, reaction, is to keep hold of Third. "Of course..." He then lifts his voice. "You know, you could've reserved the Hall /after/ this was over and made your little speech then. Instead of interrupting..."

Third raises an eyebrow and smiles slightly. "Honorable challenge?" she says in pleasant as her smile grows into an eager grin as she stands up straight and removes her arm from Porter's supporting shoulders, but he keeps ahold of her, because..well, he can guess what impulsive Third would do for a chance at swashbuckling or honorable combat. "I can't miss up on this..."

Third raises her voice as she points dramatically to Reaper, speaking in her heroic, chivalrous overtones, "Take this outside and away from innocents, and you've got yourself a challenge!"

Chen whispers to Porter, "Can you ask if that's one at a time or all heroes together?"

Tonati comes floating up and over the crowd, glowing as she emits light (true sunlight, to anyone who can detect such... and it's magical, too, for those who can detect such). "I accept, as well... although this is an inappropriate venue for such sport. There is an appropriate such arena for contests of strength in this city, is there not?"

Porter gets drowned out, then gets distracted by trying to hold Third still. Not that she can't move wherever she wants regardless. "Para. No. Stop..." Sit? Heel? Chen's the retriever, but maybe Para's the one who needs to be on a leash. He frowns at Chen and tries to be louder this time, "You trying to get beat by everyone at once, or do we have to line up so everybody gets a turn winning?"

The Mortician grins, seeing the response from the jeering crowd, "That's right...call for your 'heroes', simpering worms." He notice Kuroko first, who has appeared between him and the Reaper. "Ah ha...so there's one?" And he looks toward Third, "And another?"

Perhaps Porter should've covered Third's mouth while he was at it, because she of course opened it heedlessly.

Third raises an eyebrow. "You want more than once challenger at once? How many?"

"I suppose that this 'most dangerous man' must have innocents at his disposal as human shields in order to battle those he challenges?", Tonati continues, floating down... leisurely almost.. to land in front of Reaper. "Or are you not so cowardly as to take this elsewhere?", she says to the huge man as she looks up to him, hands on her hips.

Reaper, for his part, hasn't responded to Kuroko's appearance. He may not have noticed at all. He finally speaks, his voice a low rumble, something that can't possibly be human, "As many as you like. You shall all fall before my might."

Kuroko bows politely, "Hero? Oh, you must being thinkin' of someone else, ya @#$&ing pasty-face little pervert. I'm just a a random passerby here to beat yer @$#^$ing gorrila's @$$."

Chen woofs twice, wagging her tail.

A clink comes from near the entrance as Showdown shows up over the ground, where a second sound comes out, the hero standing on the air seemingly. "You know... MOST people would at least wait until the Mayor's speech is over with." The cowboy/armored hero looks at Reaper. "It's called bad publicity to interrupt a speech like that. It's even more bad publicity that you're sitting here interrupting something about heroes in a place made to honor them. Now, how about you take this outside. I don't know about anyone else here, but this place was made to honor those that paid the ultimate sacrifice for this city. You will NOT fight here. And if I have to move you out of here to do it, I will."

The Mortician scoffs, "Human shields? What are you talking about? Do villains in this town do such things? No wonder your heroes are pathetic. We have no need for such things. And never have."

Arching an eyebrow Quinn remains where he is for the moment. There's more than enough people adding to the confusion and as yet the only thing that the Reaper and Mortician have done is be unconscionably rude. He ponders for a minute and then realizes that with so many innocent people around if things really do start getting real there's a good chance people could get hurt in the crossfire. Not being particularly well equipped to deal with such issues at the moment he turns to head out of the hall in order to armor up, not so much to challenge the Reaper as to be equipped in case civilians need saving.

Third turns her head to look at Porter as he says something to her. "Don't worry, friend. I know what I'm doing." Just friend? Right. Third's still busy downloading all of her backed up memories and personality, which considering the sheet volume of data, is taking a while. Allison will find a better compression algorithm soon, surely. But right now, she's still got a few months that still need to be updated. Hello, retro-Paragon. She only has the cliffnotes of current events based on what was explained to her briefly.

The Reaper starts to stalk down the aisle again, heading outside. The ominous organ music starts again, seemingly coming from nowhere...and everywhere, echoing around the hall.

Reaper(#2497TOn)

This man looks somewhat like a professional wrestler, though more cartoonish. His muscles are much larger than they should be, and as a result, his proportions are clearly off from a normal human being. He's wearing a black full head mask with a white 'crossbones' motif. He also has wrestling trunks, and boots that go up to almost his knee.

Chen stays at Third's side.

Kuroko follows along quietly behind the Reaper. . o O (Huh. I almost look like I could be part of his entourage.)

Tonati steps aside to let Reaper pass her by. She then looks to the mayor and bows her head to him. "Tlanahuatihqui, with your permission, I shall proceed..?", she says to him, her tone clearly making it a request for permission -- giving him his due as the mayor.

The Mortician says into the microphone, "Let's all take this outside...so the Reaper...can BURY you appropriately." Then he drops the mic and steps down off of the dais. He looks to Kuroko, and says quietly, "You'd be a suitable addition, you know. Ever thought about working in entertainment?"

Third flexes her fingers and rolls her shoulders to limber up as Reaper starts to head outside. "This is all so exciting. I wonder what his deal is," she murmurs excitedly to herself at this strange turn of events. She begins to turn to follow along, but looks down and sees Porter is still holding her. She looks at him questioningly.

The mayor picks up the microphone and puts it back into the holder on the podium. "Everyone...please give the heroes some room outside." He's a bit too concerned and flustered to hear Tonati's request.

Kuroko responds quietly, "I have employment at the moment, thank you."

Mortician nods to Kuroko, "I understand...but if you change your mind, let me know."

Outside and ahead of the Reaper and his Reapettes Quinn finishes changing into his suit of armor. The automated arms retreat into the van as the side of the van folds closed like some sort of mechanical origami.

Reaper heads into the open grass area and turns around slowly. His low voice rumbles again. "A wonderful place for a series of graves. Yes, plots for everyone."

Porter just sighs. "C'mon..." It's not like he's going to sit by and do nothing. And no reason to tempt Third into dragging him, anyhow. So he walks out, with her, after the others to see how many times the alleged burier can get buried. Hmm. You know, if things like this would stop happening for a day or two, maybe Para's memories wouldn't take DAYS to download. It seems like a big day planner of 'who is trying to destroy me today?'

Showdown, meanwhile, has followed after making sure Reaper, the Cultists, and the Mortician aren't doing anything. He drops to the ground and his armor seems to grow extra magenta colored exoskeleton that appears on his body as he tosses the front of the poncho over his shoulder. He looks to Reaper, then to the others. "So, who's going first now that we have some place nice and clear of civilians?"

Tonati takes the mayor's words as acquiescence, and turns to walk outside, too. Once outside, she says, "You, the showman, do not wish to take this battle to the arena? There is a first-rate colloseum in this city, is there not, where the Champions... 'play ball'?"

Third grins enthusiastically as Porter goes with her, armoring up along the way. Her voice echoes, "You really do have to appreciate the fanfare and being willing to take this outside and keep it between Metas," Paragon says appreciatively of the Reaper as she chats with Porter and Chen.

Once she steps outside, Paragon rolls her neck with a cracking sound. Ah, yes. All limbered up now. She approaches near where Reaper has stopped and asks politely, "Rules of engagement? No hits to the face? No hair pulling? That sort of thing."

The Cultists follow out...setting up an effective barricade that the civilians can stand behind. Some police show up as well now, though they appear unsure about how to respond.

The Mortician shakes his head, "Here is fine."

Reaper looks to Paragon, and says in his low rumbling voice, "The rules are already known to all."

"Ah, because you still wish a chance to use innocents as shields and diversions, of course", Tonati says. Looking to The Reaper, she says, "A shame you allow him to make you seem that sort of coward. You certainly seem to be made of stiffer mettle."

Angel hadn't heard about the speech of the mayor, or anything like that, instead she was here on business for her people. A museum would indicate what this culture would think of as important, a museum to the past superheroes could be most enlightening in many ways. Swooping in from above the goings on seem a bit out of ordinary for the entry way to a museum and as such she just hovers overhead, looking down on it all with a bird's eye view.

Mortician sneers, looking at Tonati, "Are you so dumb that you can't tell the difference between 'human shields' and an 'audience'? No wonder you heroes are so pathetic here."

Paragon rubs her helmed chin thoughtfully. "I don't think I've seen you before. Or maybe I have and that update is still in the queue. Have you robbed any banks? Torn down buildings? Kidnapped or killed anyone?"

"And there can be no audience at the arena? Where the cameras can take this contest to more than those whose are physically present here?", Tonati counters, speaking directly to the Mortician, this time. "You lack wisdom, old one."

Mortician merely points to the media folks who were here for the speech. Sure enough, there are plenty of PDAs and cameras pointed at the folks on the lawn.

Reaper looks to Paragon, "I have buried many."

Turning, Showdown looks to the Mortician. "Let me ask you this. If we fought in there, what do you think would happen? I'm sure you have a bit of smarts in that head of yours. Think about it. We're all obviously strong enough, and not everyone's able to get out of the way of punches, energy beams, or flying bodies. How do you think a fight inside would have gone? Oh, wait, he calls himself Reaper. Doesn't give a care either way, does he?"

Paragon tilts her head curiously at the response, looking over to Tonati and the conversation with the Mortician. She turns around and walks over to Porter and Chen, sounding disappointed, "I think this is just a publicity stunt. Not an attack on innocents."

"The difference between an audience and a human shield is if they can get drawn into the line of fire," Quinn says, his amplified voice cutting through the crowd noise. "Seriously, they would fall more into the audience category and less into the human shield category at the stadium. But..." He shrugs armored shoulders. "I can understand if the thought of that unnerves you."

"You sure about this, Para? There's lots of other people here to bury this guy..." Porter may not have explicitly volunteered himself, yet, but it could be assumed. He's not leaving her... even when she suddenly reconsiders and steps back? Wait. She changed her mind? Well, he's not complaining...

Reaper stomps over to Paragon, not looking unnerved. He then attempts to slug her.

Tonati shrugs. "These are human shields, as where they stand then /can/ be easily drawn into the fray", she says, glancing to Quinn, before turning back to Mortician. "You are afraid, you lack tetoton to ask The Reaper to take battle to us, otherwise. You hold him back from the fame of true greatness. Nevertheless, if this is all you wish him to have... that is your choice... and his.

Chen jumps up between Reaper and Paragon, hardening her skin as she does.

The long haired golden retriever, man's best friend, jumps between the Reaper and Paragon and takes the hit from Reaper, protecting Paragon.

Reaper's punch connects with Chen instead of with Paragon, sending the smaller person flying. Mortician shouts, "You have dogs working to protect your heroes? What type of backward place is this? Are your heroes unable to defend themselves?"

Mortician looks to Tonati, "WHO is using 'shields' now? WHO!?"

About that time, Showdown turns and raises his hand. A glowing barrier popping up to block Reaper's path. He shouts back at the Mortician, "Are you so cowardly that you would attack someone who doesn't wish to fight!?" His retort is a bit obvious, but he continues, "She said she thought this was a publicity stunt, I'm starting to agree! Now how about facing people who WILL fight you and not attacking someone who chose not to!"

Slow to react, Paragon turns and looks about in time to see Chen go flying and realize that Reaper was trying to attack her. "Hey! You didn't even say go." She looks back towards Chen. "You alright?"

"Did you notice how you went from one protecting another to 'using shields', old one?", Tonati replies. "It is you who use shields. It was the canid who chose to protect. There is a -vast- difference."

The golden retriever rolls back to her feet and woofs happily. Mission accomplished.

With the Reaper and Mortician so reluctant to move the fight to an area other than the one they had already picked out Quinn gets a bit suspicious. He leaves the heroes to deal with the wrestler for the moment as he flips to his radar and thermographic sensors, sweeping the area and looking for any nasty surprises that might be lurking out there.

Kuroko shrugs and tries to the kick the Reaper in the back of the knee, to drive him to the ground.

Reaper is knocked off his feet...and amazingly manages to twist, rolling to his feet. There's no way someone that big should be able to do that. No way. He still winces, though. Kuroko's strike hurt him, at least a little bit. He growls at her, "GRAAA!"

Kuroko smiles thinly.

Porter blinks as the Reaper goes to sucker punch third. And Chen-chien body-blocks. What. The. Hell? See? This is why they shouldn't have even left them damned house. He growls and turns, stomping the step or three for the guy. Just because Third doesn't remember the past week, even, doesn't mean he doesn't. And he's sick of it. Porter pulls a fist back to wind up all buck-thirty of himself. Nothing fancy, he's going to slug him. Maybe he has a glass jaw? Hernia? Bad back? Who knows?

Reaper is slugged in the gut...knocking the wind out of him. But he's still standing. Amazingly.

Angel watches all of this go down, gauging the heroes and the 'villains' and the tactics they use, the dog jumping in front of the hit, the shocking reveal that James Porter is really from Krypton, how agile the big musclebound guy is and that he is still up. ~Clearly the big monkey is there to distract from the true mastermind of this situation.~ Angel thinks to herself and then decides what she must do. Gliding down towards the Mortician she lands in front of him, studies him briefly through her faceplate, and then snaps a straight jab at his face.

Angel watches all of this go down, gauging the heroes and the 'villains' and the tactics they use, the dog jumping in front of the hit, the shocking reveal that James Porter is really from Krypton, how agile the big musclebound guy is and that he is still up. ~Clearly the big monkey is there to distract from the true mastermind of this situation.~ Angel thinks to herself and then decides what she must do. Gliding down towards the Mortician she lands in front of him, studies him briefly through her faceplate, and then snaps a straight jab at his face.

There's an audible crack as the Mortician's jaw breaks. He slumps to the ground, grasping his chin.

Tonati floats up into the air and holds her hands up over her head. She then lowers her arms so that they're stretched out to her sides. As she does this, a beam of sunlight breaks past one of the few clouds that are in the sky and falls down upon her as if in spotlight. Then, as the sunbeam fades, it becomes evident that the light from it does not, as the woman glows. The glow of light then seems to flow into her hands, where it forms a pair of golden balls of light. She brings her hands together in front of herself, pushing the balls together into one, at arm's length... and the glow of light intensifies as the ball of light condenses and begins to spin between her hands, gaining a sort of outer corona of light, like a small sun unto itself. As she does this, and as the others into the fight, she turns her gaze from Mortician to The Reaper, who is clearly the target for whatever she's preparing to do.

Paragon pans her head about as suddenly fists and dogs go flying, her glowing eyes dimming somewhat. As Angel punches the Mortician, she states loudly in her disapproving voice, "Please cease and desist attacking the Mortician. Aside from disturbing the peace, he hasn't committed an action that warrants physical force or abuse." That, however, does not hold true for Reaper, but Paragon still believes this to be a publicity stunt. The barrier in front of her and blocking her path to Reaper is short enough for her to leap over it in a single bound, landing her right in front of Reaper, whom she reaches out to grab. "Your manager has been struck. Perhaps we should halt things here. You've proven you can take some serious hits."

Paragon gathers the stunned Reaper up in a bear hug, pinning his massive arms to his sides.

The sun-like ball of light between Tonati's hands seem to reach a peak of brightness, and she thrusts her hands downwards, as if pushing the light-ball down towards The Reaper. Rather than being flung towards him, however, the ball emits a laser-like beam of energy at the big luchador-wannabe. Despite how talkative she was, before, this is all done without words... though

Reaper is bathed in the energy and he grimaces...but he's still up.

The sun-like ball of light between Tonati's hands seem to reach a peak of brightness, and she thrusts her hands downwards, as if pushing the light-ball down towards The Reaper. Rather than being flung towards him, however, the ball emits a laser-like beam of energy at the big luchador-wannabe. Despite how talkative she was, before, this is all done without words... though the ball of energy seems to sizzle and crackle, especially when it becomes, momentarily, a blazing beam of energy!

Chen bounds back to the Reaper and leaps at him, changing form in the air to a small grizzy bear as she tries to hug him.

Chen becomes a strange creature and her head morphs into a snarling sabre-tooth tiger's head with long sharp fangs bared and hot breath washing over Reaper's face.

Reaper doesn't seem to respond as much as expected to Chen's shift and growling. Perhaps he's used to seeing things like that? Or he just doesn't scare easily? The crowd retreats a little bit, on the other hand, clearly scared of Chen.

Reaper shakes his head, growling...still in the grip of both Paragon and Chen.

Kuroko kneels down to check on the Mortician.

Kuroko frowns slightly. "He's dead."

Kuroko adds, "But he is still conscious, just dazed."

At Kuroko's statement Quinn's head swivels sharply and he prepares to take flight. However, he notices that all the girlies would say he's pretty spry for a dead guy and rethinks the need for an emergency evacuation. Behind his mask he furrows his brow as he tries to figure out just what's going on.

Kuroko snaps her fingers, "Ah!"

"Tlacatl cuacuahueh! You've proven your worth, warrior! To take all that punishment!", Tonati says to Reaper as she lands in front of where the two others hold him. She actually sounds impressed, too. "You need not fight on. If you will agree to withdraw, I will agree that you withdraw as the victor in this battle", she says to him.

"He is an accessory to assault and clearly the mastermind behind this attack." Angel says in response to Paragon's asking her to not hit the Mortician, "Accessories are all guilty of the same crime as the perpetrator. That one." She snaps a hand in a pointing finger at Reaper, "Assaulted an unarmed female from behind putting innocents at risk in front of all these witnesses and recording devices. He is guilty. They are all guilty." She turns her attention to the 'Cultists' now, "The guilty must be punished." She looks back down at the Mortician, "He is very animate for a corpse. I did not know nerves kept working that long after death in humans. Interesting."

Tonati

This woman appears to be in the prime of her life, and stands right about six feet in height. She's athletic and strong-looking, although she's far from bulky in terms of muscle. Of clearly hispanic heritage, she has darkly-bronzed skin, but her hair and eyes break the stereotype - her hair is the dark green of the forest and her eyes are the golden amber of sunlight breaking through the clouds. To go along with the exotic colors of her skin, eyes, and hair, she has a lovely face and an attractive figure. Complementing the power, grace, and beauty of her physical form is a subtle, but powerful, "other"... the way she carries herself, with a surety of purpose and conviction. Her face is expressive, also, with easy, friendly smiles... and almost frightening looks of anger.

She is wearing an outfit that speaks of Aztec heritage. An engraved and bejeweled golden headdress is on her head, with bright red and green feathers fanning out and up about her head. Tattoo work, in a dark blue, surrounds each of her eyes. Her hair, a darker shade of green, though no less vibrant, than that of the feathers, is caught by small golden beads in thin tails long enough to fall to her waist. A black bodysuit/dresssuit sort of outfit covers her body, including 'fingerless gloves'. Stylized baubles of gold, some with feathers and some with jewels for accent, add glitz to the outfit, along with colorful sashes that criss-cross across her hips and chest. The outfits leggings/skirting end just below her knees, and her legs and feet are bare from there down.

Q

At roughly six and a half feet tall Q wears a battle suit of advanced design. Sleek and aerodynamic his armor is a highly polished black with a silver faceplate. Twin eye slits glow with a bright blue light within the highly reflective faceplate giving the armor at least minimal facial characteristics when the faceplate is not retracted.

The armor is in the basic design of a classical hardsuit as opposed to being designed of a flexible material though its articulation seems to allow for excellent mobility. Centered in the middle of the chest is what seems to be almost a circular window which gives view to an eerie sight, the Q-Drive. Energy swirls within the Q-Drive in patterns that cause the eyes to hurt if you stare at them for too long and seems to brighten and dim like some sort of pulse. Surrounding the Q-Drive is a broken circle which glows with a bright blue light and contains the emitters for the shockwave blast and thunderclap charge as well as the holographic projector and spotlight. Feeding outward from the ring are lines which clearly carry energy throughout the suit, energizing the various systems and glowing with the same blue light.

Small circular emitters sit on the back of each gauntlet containing the circuitry for the neural blast systems. The gauntlets themselves are slightly oversized with a slight bubble shape along their backs and snap open at a mental command to reveal the smartwave missiles inside. Larger emitters sit in the palms of each gauntlet housing the emitters for the force bolts, utility lasers, and his often used quantum bolts.

Paragon

This tall figure stands at about 6 feet tall, covered in articulated, form fitting high tech heavy armor. It gleams like bluish-gray metal. The body is broad chested, muscular and athletic. The plating along more flexible areas, such as the abdomen and sides of the torso, are banded and flexible. The front chestplate has angled edges and looks like a solid piece, save for some hairline seams. In between the plates and in areas where there is no armor, a black armor mesh material shows through that doesnt quite look like fabric. This can be best observed on the figure's hands. The backs of the hands are plated, but the rest is just covered by the resistant armor mesh like gloves. The front of the helm has a flat profile with no nose, a thin line seam that represents a mouth, and two black eye-slots covered by dark glass that reflects surrounding light and a solid faceplate, completely encasing the head. From deeper within the helm, one can see the "eyes"; two glowing white orbs with a red fringe that blink out in unison from time to time or narrow into lines of determination.

When Paragon talks, the voice is tinny and echoes from within the metallic helm. But the tone of the voice doesn't match the imposing figure. It sounds young and not very deep, and has friendly overtones, which sometimes boom with heroic or chivalrous overtones. There's a robotic quality to Paragon's actions, but also a humane aspect.

Chen

Chen Li is pretty much indistinguishable from any other young Chinese schoolgirl. Maybe a little shorter and slimmer than the average even allowing for the smaller physical stature of those of Chinese descent. She wears casual clothes, jeans and teeshirts normally, when not dressed in Colonial Bay High School uniform. Add a coat in cold weather. Her hair is the typical raven black like most Chinese girls, trimmed short. Her face is pretty rather than beautiful and usually animated and lively with unrepressed energy.

Angel

An image almost straight out of mythology this woman's presence is greater than her stature would indicate. At 5'9" tall adding in her heeled boots with a slender nubile frame she is not normally physically imposing until her wings and armor come into play. A smooth streamlined helmet of white-gold metal covers her head with an opaque black faceplate hiding her features from view. The armor wraps her body almost like a second skin hugging her curves completely. A white loincloth is belted around her waist hanging down to her ankles in a wide strip of silky fabric. Booted feet add a few inches to her height but the most impressive thing about her is her wings: Extending from her shoulder blades to a span of over twenty feet they too are armored though each feather seems fully articulated. Finally a large sword hilt is slid in a holster on her belt as well, though the two meter blade of gold metal cannot be seen unless extended.

Porter

This young man is several inches under six feet with an average build. Brown hair is cut in a short but current style and coffee eyes are bright yet generally unremarkable. As a whole, he could probably be overlooked in a crowd fairly easily.

His clothes are fairly common, with comfortable jeans, name-brand sneakers, and a tee that varies by mood. Most common are popular bands or catchy quotes. When it's cold or wet outside, he covers up with a jacket.

Kuroko

A 6'2" tall, slender, elegant woman, in her early 30s. She has deep brown skin and brown eyes. She has waist-length silky black hair.

She's wearing a black suit, a white dress shirt, a black silk necktie, thin black leather gloves, and black leather dress shoes. If it wasn't for her hair and face, she could almost be mistaken for a slender man.

She's carrying a 4' long thin object in a black cloth carrying case, slung over her shoulder.

Reaper looks at Tonati for a long moment...and growls...but then his body dissipates, turning into mist. And the same thing happens to both the Morticiand and the torch-holding Cultists. All of them seem to fade away into smoke...and then nothing, leaving just the civilians and heroes on the lawn.

"I suppose this means he accepted my words", Tonati says, putting her hands on her hips. "Truly! A beast of a man, he is, to take the best so many of us could throw at him, and still remain on his feet!", she adds, lifting a fist and shaking it as if by way of emphasis.

"Some bodies can overcome death, with a little help," Paragon's tin-canned voice echoes. The lights in her helm flicker as Reaper disappears, then lowers her arms to her sides. Then she looks to Angel again and just shakes her head slowly. "It is not our duty to punish. Merely apprehend and protect the innocent. It's up to the justice system to determine guilt and punishment," she informs Angel politely, yet firmly.

Showdown, Chen, and Q hear a young teenager in the audience, who appears to be speaking to his dad, "Seriously...it was the guy from the game. You know?! Based on that movie that Titan was in? I had nightmares about the guy."

Quinn turns to look at the boy. With the fight over the faceplate of his helmet pops forward with a hiss and then slides up to reveal his face. "Which video game are you talking about?" he asks the young boy."

Chen morphs back to the original golden retriever.

The kid looks surprised. "Uh...it's called 'Ring of Blood', sir. The guy you faced was the main villain. But...he's also in the movie of the same name. They had to use computer graphics, cause...no one looks like that."

The kid continues, shivering slightly, "I saw it when I was a kid." Like he isn't a kid now. But it's all relative. "He crushes this guy's head, killing him. I had nightmares for a week."

The father looks embarrassed, "Uh...you shouldn't have watched that when you were younger, Steve." He looks to Quinn, "Sir, we didn't intend for him to watch it at a young age."

Tonati, with a nod to the bear-->dog, then to Paragon, turns and lifts off into the air. She doesn't fly high... just away and around to behind the building in which the mayor was giving his speech. Finding a secluded and empty and out-of-sight spot in an alley, she transforms back into her civilian form, Yaretzi... and heads for the school buss from CHHS -- the designated rendevous for anyone who managed to get separated from the field trip's main group of students and faculty.

Showdown looks considerate, having zipped over at the question with his feet glowing slightly. "Define 'kid', please?" He looks considerate, then hms. He looks to Quinn. "Well, veteran, you got any ideas? This has been a bit of a weird encounter."

Kuroko strolls away, making notes on an actual notepad with a pencil.

Quinn, being probably ten years younger than the boy's father has to crack a wry smile at the 'sir'. "Relax," he says, "No one is going to judge your parenting. It's interesting, though, that he was a cgi character from a movie. Was his manager also in both the movie and the game?"

The boy nods. "Uh...yeah. He was. And the dudes with the torches, too. All of it."

As everything simply fades away like that Angel cocks her head to the other side, "Not human at all." She says to nobody but herself since she didn't hear the goings on. She lifts her shoulders in a slight shrug and then flexes her wings out before they beat and launch her up into the air with a gust of wind and a faint white glow surrounding the feathers on her wings. "Whoever was controlling them had to be watching in order to control them." So she starts looking for people in places that would give a good vantage point over the whole show.

Quinn nods and smiles in a friendly fashion to the boy and his father. "Well, I've got no real idea what this means but I'm sure it must mean something," he says. "Thank you both for your help." Addressing the boy more directly he says, "How about I set up a free dinner for you and your family at Robur's?" he asks.

The boy blinks and smiles. "Seriously? That would be awesome. Thanks."

The mayor is currently toward the back of the crowd, talking with a couple of police officers who had arrived just as the very brief fight broke out.

Paragon stands about, scratching the back of her helm curiously. She looks down at the golden retriever at her feet and asks, "There isn't really anything of value at the museum, is there...?"

Quinn nods and extends a gauntleted hand first to the boy and then his father. "If I'm free I'll even see about joining you whenever you decide to take me up on that, if that's all right with you," he says to the father.

Chen whines in uncertainty.

Both shake Quinn's hand. The father nods, "Of course. Thank you again."

Looking considerate, Showdown looks to his gauntlet, then to Quinn. "What if instead of having to control them, they bring them to life and simply let them do their thing?" He looks over to Paragon, then shrugs and turns to head towards the police. "Officers? Can you check the museum to make sure nothing was stolen or otherwise damaged? We have some information that they may not have been acting alone."

The police woman nods. "Sure...we can check it out." She takes another officer with her and they head inside.

Quinn smiles and nods to the boy and his dad before dropping the visor to his helmet back over his face. "Well, if the two of you will excuse me I'll see where this information you've given me will lead," he says. He turns to Showdown and nods. "A distinct possibility," he says. "They might not be controlled at all. Just sort of 'programmed' to follow a certain set of behaviors."

A few minutes later they come back out. The police woman says, "It doesn't look like anything was taken."

Chen looks up at Paragon, "Test run?" she suggests without much conviction in her voice.

And with that Quinn takes off with the dull roar of his boot jets as he heads back to Quinn Tower to investigate the movie.