Log:Disaster at the Transport Nexus

2017/10/21 Daemon Copycat Portennant Antigon Unspirit Mieko Jet Unix

1

Calls, or posts, rather, go out on HERONET, though they're a bit odd. Some just say there's some unusual (even for CB) people at the Nexus. Others claim it's the President of Earth and his entourage. Still others report that it's one or the other media celebrity and their pack/posse/bodyguards. While they can't agree on what, at least they agree on where.

Copycat's smartwatch gets spammed with alerts from HERONET while she's flying over the city on a solo patrol. She banks in the direction of the Transport Nexus, more out of curiosity than concern. But since the rest of HERONET is quiet, she figures she has time to check it out. She pours on some speed as she tries to find out more details.

Unix detects an alert via radio from teh HERONET, and with a location easy to verify. A few hops and skips and she was going to be in the area. The vagueness was a little unnerving though...

A spam of inconsistent information with one stable thread of informaiton, seen accross multiple dummy accounts? Yeah that's either a trap or people REALLY need to figure out what is going on before posting, but traps are exciting to say the least. A good time, maybe not one you stick around for, but a good time non-the-less. Plus it's in a high security area, who is to say Whisper doesn't like a little challenge?

Some people aren't on the net yet. Mieko is old fashioned. She'd just gotten off of her plane and gotten her checked bags and was out in front of the airport, waiting for the hotel shuttle when things picked up over that way. So, when the shuttle arrived, she loaded her bags on and asked if she could come later to check in, and store her bags with them. She tipped the driver well for this, and ended up walking towards the gathering. Her outfit is a simple travel one consisting of a pair of navy blue trousers, and a white (and totally unfrilly) blouse. Her sword is packed away in her luggage, labelled for Homeland Security as a family heirloom and totally not as a weapon. But she is just nosey now, and wanting to learn about this new place she is to call home.

The Spider's HeroNet scans alert him the same as the other heroes, but for once in a long time the magnitude and the rumored people involve drag Daemon away from his research into psionic biology and applying the lessons learned to his nanotechnology & biotechnical upgrades.

He leaps from his penthouse suite afer activating his suit's Therma-Optic Nanocloak w/ Sound Dampeners- rendering him invisible.

He beelines it straight for the Transport Nexus- flipping, swinging & slingshotting his way there at highspeed.

When he arrives he remains cloaked and begins looking for the President and the likely retinue that would require- or of course for something more interesting, like something dangerous.

Not every hero is on HeroNet.

Like Mieko, Rick Mason just got out of the airport terminal and is headed for the taxi kiosk when he becomes aware of commotion. Unlike Mieko, Rick has an actual weapon on his person. It's okay though! Rick has a concealed carry permit and a security license!

With a little sigh, Rick looks at the suitcase in one hand and the briefcase in his other hand. Rick shakes his head slowly before he tightens his grip and attempts to cross the chaotic scene between him and his destination, the taxi kiosk.

It's Colonial Bay, so there are always a variety of people walking about at any given time. There is one cadre that is a bit more conspicuous, though. It may be as much from their innate ...motley appearance of the trio as to the large vacancy in the flow of passersby that said passersby make as they leave a wide berth.

One is a very well-groomed and -dressed man in a suit with maroon tie and pocket kerchief whose confident posture make him seem larger than his otherwise average frame.

To his right is a much more physically impressive figure fully enclosed in dark gray armor. The only color, and possible indication of gender, is a bright pink ribbon facsmile fashioned of some metal that is welded to the side of her(his? its?) helmet.

To the first man's left is a glowing orange humanoid who floats along a few inches off the ground, leaving a trail of slowly fading glowing orange light behind him (it?).

Back home, she is a tall woman. Here, Mieko is fairly average. She cranes her neck to get a view of whatever is going on. In fact, she speaks softly and -almost- like she is shy. "Excuse me." she says in lightly accented English. "What is happening?" she adds, totally clueless herself.

Unix getting closer to approach, she applies her camo, unsure if that would mean anything, or if it would have any effect. Scanning the crowd she quickly sees the three, but isn't sure if this is... odd or not... Opting to wait until there's more an obvious motive or something before acting, plus three on one, acting alone would probably be suicide.

Copycat swoops in low as she gets closer to the Transport Nexus, touching down just outside. A few travelers stare and move away when they see the heroine arrive, and she shyly waves and apologizes. "Sorry! Everything's okay! Nothing to worry about." Or so she thinks. They still stare. She backs away slowly, then turns and quickly instead into the building in search of the commotion.

Whisper keeps his posture relaxed, and moves through the outskirts of the crowd to get inside to see what is happening. People are easy to fool if you know what you're doing. don't act suspicious don't pose a threat and won't pose one for you. He takes a moment to eye the security that is around, and see what he's dealing with. If a fight broke out it's worth noting what is in the area to use to your advantage for a follow up should one be needed.

Rapidly descending from the sky is Jet, because apperently subtlety is overrated. From the angle he descends, it looks almost as if he noticed the conspicious trio from way up there. Jet comes to a stop a hundred meters or so above the ground, then waits and watches silently.

Daemon sees something conspicuous alright- a bright green glowing heroine swooping in, clearly looking for an issue despite saying there is none. Body language folks. It works.

Daemon happens to recognize this heroine, so he decides to fall in line behind her- getting the inkling that if anyone can fall face first into trouble, its his old 'Roes and Vills' playmate Copycat.

Not having to worry about being spotted, he deftly navigates the ceiling- creeping along its edges and still staying out of sight, because that's what spiders do- so its most certainly what Colonial Bay's Spyder does.

He eyes the grey armored mechanoid and its protectee. He attempts to identify them with his metahuman database.

The odd trio continue to make their way along at a casual walk through the campus of various terminals and related buildings. The suited man appears to make a comment now and again to his armored companion, though said companion doesn't seem to respond visibly. Then again, nothing of said companion is really visible at all.

Daemon's systems recognize two of the three targets- and make no mistake, they are targets- otherwise why would Paragon be walking through the terminal fully armored and ready to go?

The confidence of the man in the suit is staggering, which is surprising- because stock footage of the billionaire makes him seem more like a living (and bumbling) disaster. Then again if you were a billionaire and had every insurange angency on Earth with a protocol in your honor, well you'd be pretty confident too.

Copycat blinks as she notices some familiar faces and faceplates. She waves cheerfully as she heads over to the entourage of the (in)famous billionaire. "Hi, Mr. Porter. Are you here because of the strange alerts, too? I thought you were...y'know. Retired from hero life?" she asks in chirpy, happy tones. But as she gets closer, she gets a better view of the billionaire and slows a little as her brain tries to register something.

The suited man stops, which causes the other two to halt. The pinked, armored helm abruptly swivels with a snap to follow the incoming Copycat. In contrast, the suited man turns with a smile. "Well, hello there, and so we meet again. Alerts?" He quirks a brow and retrieves his device from a pocket to browse it. "Oh, how amusing." It is put away and he returns his gaze to Cat. "I expect that one is related to the other, yes."

Daemon quietly wonders from above, "Other? What 'other'?"

Porter exists in this area.

Rick blanches at the revelation. He pauses, head turning slowly so that his brown eyes can fix on Copycat, Porter, and the rest of Porter's entourage. A chill runs down his spine as he looks over Porter and Paragon alike. Shifting his weight, Rick calls to Copycat, "I don't think they're from Kansas, Kat."

Unix notices that they are no long alone, other metas are nearby. Letting her camo field fade she appears to be some 20m away and approaching. A few people gasp in surprise that out of nowhere the black & red spandex girl had come from, but few take more notice of her than either a cosplayer, or a meta. Thankfully no one really knew yet she was an automata. As she approaches she looks to the floating glowing one. "That's an interesting power you have..."

. . . Unix had no subtlety...

Copycat quickly begins to look more like a deer caught in headlights as the man in the suit looks at her. Recognition finally sparks, and the petite woman stops dead in her tracks. "The...the other?" she asks nervously, taking a step back. The petite pink-haired heroine's fingers curl into closed fists.

Her head whips about as Rick calls out to her, very surprised to see him, too. She's immediately suspicious of his presence, then looks back to Porter.

Nearby- the cloaked Daemon says, "Mason..." Now he knows there's going to be trouble. But it's Kat's reaction that ends up unnerving the Spyder most.

He drops to the ground and slides up behind Rick Mason, knowing his most useful superpower is his ability to be a human shaped shield.

The suited man arches a brow at Cat, then lowers it as a realization is made. The lowering drags his smile into a scowl. "Are you truly so naive that you could possibly mistake me for that bumbling idiot?!" His companion appears to sense the change in mood and takes a heavy, clanking step towards Cat.

Meanwhile, the glowing, almost angelic form looks to the spandexed fangirl. "Yes, it is. What's yours? Fawning over those superior to you, meatbag?"

Unix says, "Nothing so flashy..." she cocks her head to the side. "I hit things..."

Copycat takes a step back from the heavily armored bodyguard that stands a good several inches taller than her. "Of course. You look just like him," she counters with false bravado. But she can't start a fight here. Too many people.

Jet thinks (Interesting. I wonder what will happen of this.) Despite the distance, Jet doesn't seem to have trouble seeing what is going on. He is content to continue to wait and watch from his 'vantage point'. For now. Which might not be that long a time considering the way things are going so far.

Tensions mounting? A Friendly greeting now backing away. Deal gone wrong? Someone isn't who they seem to be? Shocking revelation? Crowded locaitons, public, good cameras. Not a bad choice, but no. This isn't an exchenge, something his happening. Whisper keeps an eye on the man and the suit and the new figure. Something is happening, and it doesn't seem like it will be fun.

Portennant's frown remains as a sigh emerges through it. "Now you are just being downright insulting." Even if the resemblance is uncanny, he seems to feel that the differences make him quite distinct. Perhaps Cat hit a nerve. He makes a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Please, feel free to go ...save a bunch of meaningless lives or some other nonsense..."

The whine of incoming and outgoing aircraft is really just background noise here, but a just-airborne craft catches his eye. His smile returns. "I will even make it easy for you..."

The nearby whine becomes a grating scream as one, then two... then three(?) of the six engines decide to overload and disintegrate themselves. All three on one wing, even.

What are the odds?

With the sudden uneven distribution of thrust, the craft banks hard over and starts losing its minimal altitude. If it manages to clear the concourse, it's going to land in the campus plaza in the vicinity of the congregating heroes. If not, well, it will just blow up a building full of people.

Unix looks up at the plane, frowning. Now she uses her radio. <>

Sound has a lot more difficult a time travelling through the dimensional barrier of Turbus than sight. Jet sees, but doesn't hear. Except for that plane suddenly dropping. Well then. Jet might as well had designed that plane, because he knows there is no way that would happen by accident. The comotion down below gives Jet a pretty good hint of how that may have happened. So Jet descends to see what happens. He also decends slightly through said dimensional barrier. Jet has no trouble moving through that either, though the same might not be said about a lot of things on this world.

Unix looks up towards Jet. "Say... do you think you can use your... flight ability to replace the engines they lost? At least until they are out of the immediate danger area?"

Daemon's advanced senses feel the plane drop out of the sky- but more importantly they sense the danger suddenly imminating from Porter.

He know's Kat can fly, and suspects others nearby have the strength or skill to deal wit that situation without him.

He's sticking to Porter and company. His advanced mental upgrades give him an incredible presence of mind. He knows this man is evil, but part of him is giddy to someone with such power use it with so much flair and ... well frankly ego. He is glad he popped out here today instead of working in his lab.

Daemon's advanced senses feel the plane drop out of the sky- but more importantly they sense the danger suddenly imminating from Porter.

He know's Kat can fly, and suspects others nearby have the strength or skill to deal wit that situation without him.

He's sticking to Porter and company. His advanced mental upgrades give him an incredible presence of mind. He knows this man is evil, but part of him is giddy to someone with such power use it with so much flair and ... well frankly ego. He is glad he popped out here today instead of working in his lab.

He leaps at Stone Cold Para and calls up a ring of SpyderMites to apply to her- dropping his invisibility and hoping to still get the drop on her.

Unix moves towards where the plane most likely would be landing or going (lightning calculations?). For the first time in public for everyone to see as her back opens up and long mechanical appendages that look a lot like scythes come out. She readies herself, hoping to help catch the plane and assist it.

Copycat looks towards the plane and gasps. A voice in her head that sounds a lot like Griffin says, "...flying up there and catching it should be easy enough." Copycat nods, then blinks at the sudden voice in her head. She rubs at her temple. What the heck was that?

She sees other heroes heading towards the plane, so she looks towards Portennant. "Everyone, clear the area!" she warns civilians before narrowing her eyes at Portennant.

"You're not just getting away with this -again-, you monster!" Copycat threatens as adrenaline surges. "You think you're so lucky. So unique and special. Well guess what?!" She takes a breath and closes her eyes to focus. Her hair begins to alter to a coffee brown as it pulls in to a shorter cut. Her height...doesn't really change all that much, but her clothes turn into a nice matching suit and and maroon tie and matching pocket hankerchief. When Copycat finishes shifting into the imposter Porter, s/he says in his voice, a perfect copy, "You're not."

And that's when Copytennant steps forward and hopes to take a swing at Porter while Antigon deals with Daemon.

Whisper is too far away to be affective. A plane incoming is going to suck, but something is going on and Whisper has no answers, he doesn't know who anyone is (ICly) He doesn't know who these three figures are, or what their powers are (ICly) so moving up and out of the out of the way spots he tends to frequent is his best bet.

Unix leaps (accurate) up to the plane, attaching herself to the underside of the nose (grab or clinging)... Will time her megaleap when it's about to hit the ground to redirect the plane back up.

And so, dressed in civilian clothing, not -really- looking like she's a combatant, Mieko had asked someone what was happening. Being America, the fact that she didn't slap someone and yell the question into their face meant that nobody paid her any attention. As such, she was stuck staring about as she tried to figure it out. But then an aicraft began its death throes, "Oh no.." she mutters softly as she casts her eyes about, hoping there are paramedics or anyone else on site who can help. She certainly can't do anything about a crashing aircraft but watch and pray...

Well, his smug smile certainly wasn't expecting that. It gets wiped off Portennant's face by CatPorter's fist. The original would be proud!

CatPorter's now wearing Portennant's old smug smile. Damn, that felt good. Looks like luck's on her/his side...for once.

Even more annoying could be that his conveniently present wall of a personal bodyguard is too slow to intercept it.

Whisper moves in towards the fight by Parallalagon. He is still rather perplexed as to what EXACTLY is going on but at this point we have one girl swinging at man in a nice suit who looks like he deserved it, but also seems to be the one agreesed upon. Ah what a time not to know local meta policitics. Who do you ask then, the large not-so-intervening tin can. "A moment of your time, would you mind explaining why we've gone for punching or why there is a plan crashin suddenly and one of you seemed mildly pleased by this?" A modulated voice entunes.

The treacherous Spyder isn't one for crowds- and the growing number of metahumans here means law enforcement will be inbound soon as well.

With the big bow wearing mechanoid tagged, Daemon can begin observing and plotting against his new adversary- Porternnent.

He reactivates his cloak and slinks away- leaving this in the very capable hands of CopyPorter & Co.

Daemon begins doing research on this 'Other' Porter.

Jet's experience has taught him his 'Air Cutter' tends to be significantly more effective when it can smash someone into a wall or similar. There aren't any well placed walls here, but the simulations Jet has done in Steel's Gym recently have also taught him that if someone is hovering just above the ground, that works too. Fortunately, the glowing one happens to be doing just that, and Jet can see that despite the distance and the angle. So Jet repositions himself, and tries just that, hoping that the distance protects himself against any counterattack.

Jet waves off as well.

UnSpirit's attention was gained, indeed. He rises from the ground towards the airborne hero before several ribbons of light energy disgorge from his form at Jet.

Everyone's favorite supervillain is ...preoccupied with regaining his charming, smug grin.

A fight is starting it sounds like. Mieko is familiar with the sounds of close combat. "Get back." she says. But then she raises her voice and steps forward. She turns to face the crowds as best she can, "GET BACK!" she repeats. She's not going to just run in and start fighting people. She has no idea who is fighting whom and even worse, she doesn't know WHY or which would be the one to aid. So the best way to help is to NOT muddy the waters further. So she's trying crowd control.

Copycat is surprised that s/he seems to have knocked Portennant silly while narrowly avoiding his slow bodyguard. The big dumb silent one. Well, Portennant deserves a beating for risking all those people, so he gives a kick towards his vulnerable parts. "Maybe you'll learn not to endanger innocent lives once you know what a little pain feels like!" Copycat's in complete control of her mind this time, and starting to get a feel for his powers.

Sure. Kick a man while he's down (sort of). But kick him there? That's just plain MEAN! Not only is the smirk delayed, but CatPorter gets a satisfying squeak to go along with the squish.

Parallelagon is slow, but she is still there. She recognizes the threat to Portennant, even if the target area is of no specific concern. She takes a swing at PorterCat. Somewhere in her subconscious, there is a surge of contentment with this course of action, above and beyond duty.

Copycat gets slugged around her/his briefly smug face just as he tries to dodge. CRA-CLANG!! Cracking jaw and metal fist sound out together as Copycat gets sent flying and lands on his back after a few bounces and a faint, dazed groan as his suit gets wrinkled.

With a grunt, Portennant finally regains his composure after tilting his head to crack his neck and readjusting his ....situation. "You were a surprise, little one," he notes as he looks to Cat now that they've traded positions, in a fashion. "That does not happen often. I will not happen again." The deformation on his cheek fills out and, after he dabs at a bit of blood with his kerchief, it seems aftermath wasn't anything more than a stain.

Unix with Unix using leap to keep the plane from taking a total nose-dive, Unix manages to more or less straighen out the plane (without becoming a skid of it's underside). Now with the plane near level, she activated her clinging and was working her best to slow and stop it. Oh sure the ground and road would be torn up, but it wouldn't be a fireball of death...

UnSpirit looks to Portennant, who nods. "This annoyance has gone on long enough. If you please." The glowing one begins to rapidly glow brighter before unleashing an intense pulse of light.

Unix uses leap to keep the plane from taking a total nose-dive, managing (more or less) to straighten out the plane's tradjectory (WITHOUT her becoming a skid of it's underside) was working; With the plane now near level, activating clinging and her immense strength it was time to attempt to slow and stop it. Oh sure the ground and road would be torn up, but it wouldn't be a huge fireball of death that it WOULD have been...

Copycat looks up at Portennant as s/he regains his senses, for as brief as that will be. He aims a scowl at Portennant, just before a bright blinding light causing him to turn his head and try and shield his eyes with his forearms. Spots fill his vision.

Behind the mobile wall of Parallelagon Porter concentrates on ...something.

Jet can see absolutely nothing. (Well, this is great. I'm gone for until I can see again I guess, and I'll come to back to see if Unix ended up alright. Not much I can do if this isn't the case though.) And with that, Jet leaves the battlefield. For now, at least.

Copycat finds himself at a complete disadvantage. But Cat benefits from being able to change her fortune and circumstances. It's one against two. Potentially three at this point. There's no way Copycat can stop the villains without any help, so it's time to disengage.

Focusing on a familiar feeling inside, Copytennant's form starts to grow broader and taller. Muscles fill in where there was none (let's be honest). Pasty flesh changes hue to something more caramel. In a near instant, Copycat has turned into the SuperSoldier known to many, Griffin Freeman. All that teamwork and training worked again!

Copyfin's eyes glow golden as suddenly he shoots straight upwards, hovering above the fight. His eyes are unseeing, but he can pick up energy signatures in the area, making up for some of his lost sight.

Unix uses her strength to slow the plane slowly down to a crawl, then with a metalic SCCRREEEECCH comes to a full stop. Sighing she looks up to give the captain a wave. <> She then detatches the scythes she had been using to attach herself to the nose to look at how the rest of the fight is going.

The primary energy transmitters in the vicinity would be the aircraft, Unix, and the energy being unSpirit. Though, there is a sudden momentary surge in the vicinity of the trio. Then it is gone.

Along with the trio.

Copycat senses the energy surge. "No," he says firmly. In a flash, he's standing...in an empty space where the trio was. He rubs at his eyes and the spots start to go away. "Gone. -Again-."

After a few seconds, Jet returns cautiously, still desolid. (Huh. Where did they go?)

Unix seeing that the trio are... gone... and any purpose in running for a fight, seems the higher priority is in front of her. <>