Log:Fatal Recruitment

Eclipsed 2014/07/03 Enforcer Revenant Porter Shoro Marathon Ebon Star

4

Last Week

"Are you sure that you are not letting your past affect your judgement?" asked the man in the all black bodysuit.

A beautiful athletic woman with dark hair in what can only be called a leather catsuit, snorts. "My judgement is fine. The young man would be a good addition to your ranks. Provided that we can... entice him properly." she replied.

Yesterday

"Okay, so that is the plan. Are there any questions?"

A large muscular arm raised a hand and the catsuit clad woman rolled her eyes. "Anyone other than Aftermath?" she added... and the hand lowered with a bit of a pouty look.

NOW!!

Certain 'methods' are known to certain 'people'. And on a nearby rooftop, two people, a man and a woman, stand.

"Why can we not simply go and take him?" asks the man in what looks to be Greek Hoplite armor. The catsuit woman rolls her eyes once more and says, "Trust me, this is not a battlefield, the approach is... important. You are here in case murphy puts in an appearance."

Hunter has been following a lead, and had some 'hinky' (purely technical term there) feeling about it. Like he should remember something, but it's just... on the tip of his tongue, so to speak. He slips in through a window to an apartment on the third floor where he believes the perp of a recent string of robberies has been using as a base of operations. When.. the light clicks on, and Little miss Catsuit is there. Yep, two years ago, during his own training, she went rogue from the organization that trained 'him'. "Interesting choice of locales to run 'away' from our old friends." she says, lounging in a comfy chair. "I've made arrangements so that you and I can have a private chat. I know you've been spending time with some of the more... annoyingly idealistic sorts... and that they might be in the area, so... they're going to have a bit of an...."

And at that moment, a loud CRASH! can be heard through the neighborhood as Aftermath lands. He leapt out of a stealth craft and landed on a car which... well, has more in common with an ashtray at this point... and then he roared. He loves it when he is told to just... go play.

And the woman doesn't even break stride as that noise happens outside, "event, to deal with."

Marathon's out late on patrol. With no school tomorrow, she's enjoying being able to have her run of the city... so to speak! Darting in the blink of an eye from one part of the city to another, she stops atop a building here, a building there, just to have a look around as she does her 'looking for trouble' thing... and whattaya know? ... she just found some trouble as some really big guy just smooshed a car. Of course... this guy looks /way/ bigger than Marathon can handle, but still... so far, she hasn't seen anyone else. Zipping down the building and around to where she can peek around the corner of it into the street to where Aftermath is 'playing', she bites her lower lip... and waits, for the time being.

Porter walks up from the park. While the beach is nice, sand collecting in areas sand was not meant to be collected can get annoying after a while. So he's just had a nice walk in the park. Now there'll be a peaceful walk home... or there can be giant murderous psychos falling from the sky. Porter startles and the crash and bellow, then looks thattaways.

Enforcer should've listened to his instincts. It was a while ago, but he remembers this scenario during his training. Laid out just the same. He wasn't expecting this, though. He tilts his head slightly as he hears the crash, eyes not leaving the woman in the chair at first. Then he looks around the room to make sure they're otherwise alone. "So you're still alive. I thought they caught you," he says carefully. Part of him is relieved they didn't. It means he may actually have a chance himself. The fingers on his right hand twitch, wanting to go for his blade, but that would be a grave error against this opponent. She would draw faster. "Why the social call?" his eyes narrow.

This fitness thing can be a drag, in particular, jogging has to be one of the most tedious exercises known to man. One way of alleviating the boredom is to listen to music, another is to jog in new and exotic places. And so it is that the diminutive form of Rose is bouncing lightly through the streets of Colonial Heights when all of a sudden her Icelandic alternative folk pop is interrupted by a hideous crashing noise and she falters to look over her shoulder in that direction. "It was like that when I found it" she says to no one in particular before moving into the shade of a tree to change into the costume in her satchel.

Shoro arrives with a blue flash and a *pop* he was at home just drinking tea when he heard the loud crash. This kind of thing may be acceptable in Bayside but not here in colonial heights Revenant skulks about in an alley, more watching for anything out of the ordinary in a rare moment of good timing it would seem. The sub street leading to the scene as the cloaked figure simply does one of those steady walks. The cowl turning in the direction of the arriving groups, or in some ways groups she is arriving at.

Shoro looks around... there are others, this is just a distraction. he goes dark and watches...

As if to prove a point, the woman... known to the world as Fatale... with a -mild- French accent, flickers much in the way Hunter can flicker. She appears behind him with a sword held in hand... aimed towards Hunter. "Oh, they did find me. Four times. Their investigators found nothing of their assassins but random body parts. They stopped trying a few months back when they suddenly had someone else to chase after. Thank you for that. That is why I am here, and this is more than a social call. This is an offer of recruitment. But an offer with consequences should you refuse. You can join me in working for my current employer... or I can take you back to the society... use -you- to buy their forgiveness.... the choice is yours."

(There's more than one of them!)o. Marathon thinks to herself... then, she's just /gone/ from where she was, moving at hypervelocities as she runs up the side of the one building to get a look into the window where Fatale and Enforcer are talking. .O(Him again?!)

That bit of recon done, she continues on and goes back down the side of that building and up the side of another, across the roof past one of the figure she spotted, then down and back up and past another figure, etc, etc, as she does a superspeedy recon of the whole area, getting a look at who's out there and how they might be armed.

Revenant moves closer, trying to blend more with the shadows as she slips towards the building. No sounds, no challenges, just the steady stride and watching about. A quick check when close enough to get a good scaling point, preferably on the back side out of the focus of things.

Damn, she's fast. Enforcer frowns slightly as he stares down the blade, trying to calculate options as he eyes the weapon, makes mental notes of the location of the exits, and tries to gauge who or what is outside after that loud crash. "So glad I could help," he says dryly, not making a move yet. "So my choices are work for your employer, or a death sentence," he nods twice to himself as he weighs the options. Not a good position to be in, and he doesn't have any real allies amongst the heroes to really make a stand. "Sounds like a pretty simple decision," he bows his head slightly in deference to his superior. "So tell me about your employer. And why this little ruse for me?"

That's when Slipstream decides it's time to make his own entrance. Yeah, last time anyone saw him, he was breaking away from the grip of the bigbadnasty(tm) Fox grip. He coalesces out of the air. He's more than fast, he is the zephyr, the wind... he forms before Marathon and gives her a very male leer down and up. "Not bad." he remarks. And he's about to say something more when a bellowing voice can be overheard. "No Slipstream! You will not harm that one!" A voice from a rooftop nearby as the man in the greek armor simply steps off the roof and lands on the ground below without seeming to notice the fall (Underworld anyone?) "She is family! Nobody harms that one in -my- presence!"

Marathon eeps when there's suddenly a bad guy right behind her. Then her eyes widen when the dude with the spear... defends her? .o(WTF?!)

Porter sees Aftermath. The easy one to notice. Who Porter is also, unfortunately, pretty familiar with. "Hey, lead for brains! You like crushing cars? Maybe you should come over here and try to crush something else!" Getting the attention of the murderous unstoppable force seems his plan. Whether it's a good one or a bad one, Porter seems to think it's the right one. Incidentally, crushing through the car's engine probably left Aftermath's feet covered in oil, anti-freeze, and other slippery glop.

He was about to like... pick up pieces of the car and smash things with them but Porter... that little man Aftermath watched get bounced around by the boss... he's talking to Aftermath. The big guy turns his head towards Porter and blinks once or twice. He looks up towards Spartan and then back to Porter. "Little guy stupid!" he says as he steps off the car, trying to reach to pick up said car in his hands. The plan is to use it as a weapon with which to totally smooshify Porter. He gets the car up over his head, death looming before Porter before the leading foot slips on a dribbling puddle of oil and Aftermath topples over onto his back, the car flying straight up in the air... He hits the street and he's so dense/heavy that the street rumbles a bit... but his eyes widen as he lies there staring upwards. Suddenly... the car smashes back down on him and the horn starts going nonstop. Over the sound of that, a grunted, "Ow.." can be heard.

Spartan just shakes his head, "Lummox." he mutters before he just vanishes and appears closer to Marathon. "So Cousin. You should join me. Together, we could rule this city." (Vader much?)

Marathon's eyes stay wide. .o(Cousin?!) Lifting a hand to point at herself, she actually asks, "... Me?! Why're you calling me 'cousin'?"

"Your father... Hermes. Is the brother of my own father... Ares." says Spartan almost conversationally. "You do not know your own parentage? Oh, that is amusing." Slipstream is almost pouting and he just sighs before pointing at Porter, "Fine, can I kill -that- one?" he asks Spartan, who simply waves and says, "He is not the child of a god. Kill anyone you like, who is not of divine parentage. I care not." And then Slipstream moves... to most eyes, simply vanishing and appearing before Porter. To Marathon, he appears to flow through the air, as if walking or running or maybe he is reforming continually and transporting himself through the air until he forms before Porter. "Well, hello there. I saw you on the beach. I hope you enjoyed Aftermath, I know he's always good for a laugh but.. it's time to die now."

"No! Don't kill /anyone/!", Marathon says, actually stamping one foot and poking at Spartan in the chest with one finger. "If you're really, like, my cousin... don't let him kill my friends!", she insists.

Ebon Star disappears into the shadow of one of the broad-limbed trees and a few moments later a small blob of vaguely stellated inky blackness rises smoothly over the tree to drift toward the car-crushing behemoth. Maintaining an altitude of about 15m she drifts into the intersection. As it drifts closer it becomes clear it's a tiny robed figure surrounded by some sort of cloud of fuliginous droplets that coalesce and shimmer in the shape of a star offering some sort of protection. She extends two fingers toward the enemy speedster. and makes a smearing gesture from left to right to cloud his perception.

"My employer is a visionary. You and I have become... more than merely mortal human. We have taken the power into ourselves and those with the power, have the right, the obligation... to stand above the rest. He does what must be done. He understands that.. one cannot make an omelette, without killing a few thousand normals." Fatale smiles and adds, "I have followed you and watched your... antics. You actually seem to care about avenging those who are wronged. You should know that your only true calling is that of one who takes lives, not one who saves them. Within the ranks of Eclipse... (yeah, goofy name but hey, it is what it is) you will be given ample opportunity to make use of your training the way it is intended to be used... but without having to listen to the sanctimonious prattle of those who trained us." Fatale says that in her light french accent, trying to be as seductive about it as possible, the blade moving slowly along Enforcer's armor.

Up on the rooftop, left alone, the little pint sized girl sort drops her My Little Pony toy and peers over the edge, "Hey." she mutters softly. "That's my trick. Stop it." she mutters before she focuses, narrows her eyes, and sends a pulse of mental power. She pings on Ebon Star's Mental-radar then as she sends power into Slipstream's mind to try to free it of Ebon Star's meddling.

Shoro doesn't like what he sees, mentalist, brick, probably a fighter..and a speedster. speed kills is what he's always believed, and this speedster seems to want to kill. He needs to take that one out before he can do anything else it might be too late.

And... it's a good time to attack Slipstream. Even as a child begins throwing a tantrum up on the rooftop... Slipstream is slammed and oofs as he is hit... he's not -entirely- solid though, so the impact doesn't seem as potent as it might have been. But he strikes that same car on top of Aftermath, who grunts again from the impact as he lays there. "Stop! That tickles!" he yells from underneath.

Shoro curses himself....o O(he's faster than I thought)

Enforcer stares steadily at Fatale as the sword makes a light scraping sound against his armor. "Sounds like an attractive offer given the alternative. Fine. I'll kill for your employer. -If- you can prove you're worthy to serve," he offers a challenging grin as he shifts his upper torso sideways to cause the blade to slip away as it presses, while bringing his leg up for a fearsome sidekick. He tries to aim Fatale towards the window.

"Excellent!" exclaims Fatale. Her blade is slide where Enforcer wants it to go, but she simply goes with the motion, interrupting Enforcer's maneuver by elbowing him in the collarbone. It's not for damaging, but just to throw his maneuver and balance off, slipping to one side and evading the kick. "Challenge accepted!" she adds.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but I know Porter's in danger. If you're /really/ my cousin, then you're /family/ and /family/ doesn't let /that/ kinda thing happen!", Marathon says, jabbing a finger repeatedly at Spartan's chest. "So either make with keeping the killing of my friends from happening, or get outta my way so /I/ can do it!", she concludes... then makes as if to step around the hoplite...

But... Slipstream is fast, and he reforms. Going from prone to vertical like reforming air molecules. "Oh, I see how it is!" he calls out. "Suck it up big guy. Plan 1!" Nevermind that he only has one plan with Aftermath, that's why this works. Slipstream raises his arms and then brings them down... as all the air around him moves outward from him. He doesn't know how close he is to anyone else... Only that this is one of his more annoying powers for folks.

Once again, Slipstream goes flying. At least he likes flying. He hits the ground, not anything really hard impeding him......

And... reforms then and there, on his -feet-...

Marathon, as she steps around Spartan, suddenly blurs away from him and past Slipstream. Anyone able to follow her at that speed can see she socks the other speedster in the jaw as she zooms past him... then doubles back to end up right in front of Spartan again. "So what's it gonna be? Getting outta my way, or helping me help my friends?", she demands of him, poking him in the chest a couple more times, trying to 'ham it up' what with that ridiculous claim of her being a daughter of Hermes and him being a son of Ares and that they're cousins and all that. Hah! As if!

Shoro wants the Speedster down..and now, He runs at a full sprint to reach the man, as he reaches him, his fists begin to glow, and he attempts to strike the speedster in the xyphoid complex his fist moving as a blur.

Hearing Shoro moving, and approaching, Slipstream just says, "No, I'm done with this crap!" and he becomes translucent... shimmering like the wind itself. Shoro's punch, executed perfectly, passes right through him as if he was the very air itself. "I think I've been the distraction long enough." he mutters. Expecting his fist to strike, but passing through the speedster, Shoro's almost over balances, but catches himself before he's off balance getting ready to strike the speedster again..

Raising a brow, Spartan mutters, "You dare dictate -terms- to me?" he shakes his head. "Cousin. You should not care about these mortals. They are beneath us both. Come, let me show you the truth." and as he speaks, he glows a bit more. Ebon Star can feel the very touch of the divine magics there as he looks up to the sky and cries out, "Grantfather! Send your bolt now!" and Lightning screams out of the sky, striking the ground between Spartan and Marathon.... and when it fades, they are both nowhere to be seen.

"Whatever you wanna call them, they're my fri...", Marathon is saying when she's just *poof* gone... in a flash (of lightning).

The Revenant gets ready with the sounds above to enter the fray. A dash out from the side of the building and the grapple gun is deployed to above the window. With a leap the cord is recalled to a point zipping the dark cloaked figure up and into the second floor window in a ready position.

Before Revenant are two dark figures, one woman in a leather catsuit and one young man in armor and a costume and all.. fighting. Jockeying for position, feinting and all.

The woman has a sword in hand, and is grinning, "You're not bad for a kid." she says to Enforcer.

Enforcer holds up his left arm to guard as his right reaches for the collapsible staff holstered on his belt. With a click and a spin, the staff extends and comes up defensively. "Thanks. I heard stories about you before you left. I'm curious to see if you live up to the hype." He stands at the ready, studying her, looking for broadcasted movements. He made the first move, but he doesn't overextend himself by pressing the attack.

And now... Fatale catches movement in the window. She turns her head towards Revenant and raises both brows. "I thought the Revenant was dead." she remarks. Then she notices the female form of this one and grins. "Oh, I get it now. The Revenant was a man. He fought well, but... in the end, I killed him. Toodles." she remarks before she... vanishes. Yep, Enforcer knows what that is. Challenge was accepted. She never said she was going to beat him here and now!

Porter wasn't expecting the giant lightning flash. He's not sure what happened to Marathon and Spartan... but he has no idea where they went. That leaves the wispy slipstream and Aftermath hugging his teddycar. Porter keeps an eye on the latter one, for now. He probably won't stay down long.

From under the car, a grunt is heard, and the car is launched to one side. Aftermath simply shrugs it aside and levers himself to his feet. However, he's still having some issues, like the fact that the car he just shrugged aside was owned by a single mom, who had baby oil in it for when she had to change diapers on the go. It strikes Aftermath on the head and he reaches up a hand and swats at it, crushing it and squirting oil down behind him. But he takes a step back to wind up and slips and falls flat on his face once more before muttering, "I quit. This isn't fair!"

Even as that happens, a piece of paper floats down to Porter... handwritten words on it.... The note reads:

Please. Take Aftermath and put him somewhere where he will not harm himself. He is not helping my cause, and I do not wish  for him to be harmed. Be a hero...       Signed: Event Horizon.

He's giving up? Of all the weird things Porter is accustomed to... thats still pretty weird. Almost as much as the paper that floats down, which he reads. "Ok..." He looks at the note, back to Aftermath, then looks up. "Right. I'll just put him over my shoulder and carry him somewhere..." He sighs, then looks at Aftermath again. Hard. Or he tries to. "I accept your surrender. We'll wait her for the cops." Porter hopes they bring a big transport.