The Phantom stood uneasily to his feet to adress the group one more time.
The Cardinal just showed us that he is not a criminal. He is a terrorist. I trust you will bring him down. But be careful. We all walk a thin line now. He paused, lurching forward, as if about to fall. The only thing that separates us from them are the motives and the means. He nodded, limping his way out. Until I heal, Commissionar Lindsay will be in charge of these meetings. Until then, you. Are dismissed.
Atsuko simply nodded, pausing for just a moment to see if anybody wanted to talk to her. If not, then - and only then - did she simply step out of the building, heading home to get some rest. (She didn't really need to 'recover', exactly - not the way her body worked - but the powers that kept her physically safe didn't do much good for her mind, and she knew she needed to be in good mental shape for what was to come.)
Ravager leaves the base in short order as well, taking a return path home before spotting a place to 'slip out of her costume'. When she does, in the process of putting her uniform and the iniatilizer in her backpack, her attention is drawn to a mark on her arm. 'That wasn't there last time...'
With that worrying thought in mind, she soon catches a bus and finishes her journey home.
"I need to go fetch a few things. Call me if you need me, but I should be back in no time."
Though the day's events saddened him, nothing could cheer him up more than a hunt for a new artifact.
Before he leaves, Felix activates his choker and morphs his appearance into that of a generic man in a trench coat. He nods to everyone.
"See you in a few." he says in a deeper male voice not like his own.
It's been three days since the attack until the Cardinal next made his presence known. Two crime bosses dead on the doorstep of the police station, with a note around the neck of one of them reading;
A few presents that the Phantom and his friends refused to deal with.
Sincerely, C
Right after that, you were all called back to the station.
Still no music was playing. Aside from Commisioner Lindsay, there was another woman, in a tight black leotard and domino mask. Media, a Heroine having arisen two years ago fighting alongside the Phantom family.
Are we going after him? Darkstorm asked sarcastically. It may take a while but I could probably search every building untill we find him
Atsuko looked at the woman, then down at herself. Some people were... really bold, weren't they? Clothing-wise. And here she was in a dress shirt and a skirt. She wasn't entirely sure if she'd ever be willing to move to something... tighter.
She twitched slightly at Darkstorm's words, though. "I could... try to divine his location..." she noted. Her book kind of scared her, but it hadn't eaten anybody yet... and the more knowledge they had, the easier it would be to reduce casualties and collateral damage.
She looks around nervously and futility, for any sign of the heroes that should've been here. If they were cloaked she would've seen them like always. But she couldn't, there was no alien hiding in the corner, and there was no glowing ball of light. She could only wonder as to what's happened to them, as she hadn't seen them in the last mission either.
Apprehension heavy, she pushes the matter aside and focuses on the new arrival. If her form allowed it, she'd be blushing at her choice of attire, how... revealing it all is. She'd never heard of whoever that this heroine is, but if the Phantom had allowed her to come then she had to be trusted in some fashion.
Dr. waits to see what the commissioner is going to say. It's best to get all the data before acting.
"Sorry I'm late!"
Felix runs into the room, hanging his jacket on the coatrack in the kitchen. The funny thing was, his arm stretch over twenty feet to reach it. Those with keen sight could see that there was a faded rubber band wrapped around his ankle. It seemed that was the only artifact he had on him at the moment.
"Didn't get much signal when I was at the Indian markets."
Masumi flinches at the sight of felix overextending his arm, unconsciously rubbing her own. She did her best to pretend her more recent memories didn't happen, and instead tries to focus on whatever the subject matter is of this meetup.
Trust me, Darkstorm, we would if we could. Lindsay said in response to his sarcasm. Her own expression was weary. Beat-down, as if the recent events were getting at her, preventing her from a good night's sleep.
I could start if you'd like. Media stated, her tone of voice implying she was trying to keep the mood light, but knew just how bad the situation was. She was also implying at her powers. To duplicate herself and use the clones to teleport her main consciousness.
You can? Media asked Atsuko, her brow raising notable under the mask.
Lindsay stepped forward towards the young woman. If you can do that, ASAP, we need it, now.
Atsuko blinked a few times, a little surprised. She wasn't used to other people really paying attention to her, and... it kind of made her nervous. With a slight frown, she twitched her hand a little, and a book appeared within - though it was a little difficult to look at, as if the space it occupied was something most people's sight tended to slide away from.
"Scrying, scrying..." she muttered, flipping through the pages. <"Y'uln r'luh kadishtu...">
"Um, give me a few minutes..." she muttered as visions began to flicker across the pages, showing glimpses from shadows throughout the city. She wasn't sure if their target was in range or not - if he wasn't, she'd have to head somewhere else and try again. There was exactly no guarantee this would work, but it was the best idea she had.
I could try my contacts, though I should probably get a phone one if these days. Not sure if they can go e me anything more than rumors, but it would be worth a sho--. he pauses seeing the book suddenly appear in Atsuko's hands.
Does everyone here have some kind of artifact but me? Well, it can't be helped. I could also see if I can find some ghosts, but I have only ever encounter one that was haunting the girls locker room at school. Suffice to say he and I are not on good terms.
He looks around. If he has any known accociated I could probably get them to talk.
Felix shrugs.
"I could lend you one, but if you lose it I'd have to kill you. Y'know, family honor and all that."
[ooc]I have a variety of artifacts with odd abilities that aren't really combat oriented. To avoid just stacking everything, I usually only have one or two out at a time as they can actually be taken from me. But, for an interesting power combo or situation, I wouldn't mind temporarily lending one.[/b]
She felt like she could smile, if her mouth was capable of anything resembling real, positive emotions. She liked Darkstorm, he was pretty fun y to listen to as he rambled on... weather or not he intended to be such, she supposed. In a way, it really did seem the guy was truly the only one here who operated soley on their own personal abilities. She wasn't sure if anyone else realized yet or not that she didn't have anything really special about her either... The other day didn't count, she quickly determined.
Her head turned to face Media while Atsuko tried to find whatever she was looking for, pointedly ignoring any and all weird alien sigils written there. That'd likely be better for whatever was left of her own sanity. Making a noise to try and gain Media's attention, she started to bring her hands together. Without Thoughtform here to act as a crutch, she really hoped she could find someone else who understood her.
"Can you sign?"
Don't worry about it Felix, I tend to be a bit of a clutch and odds are will loose it unless it's like a ring or something, so I'm not to worried about it. Besides when you can fly, phase through walls, and can blast blue energy from your hands I don't think an artifact will add much to that. Darkstorm stated. The more he talks the more people can tell he is relieved.
I take it we are on our own for this? Taking on a coward like Cardinal shouldn't be to much trouble, but where are Batman or Tony Stark when you need them. Not that having them would help, they have no idea how this team works. Come to think of it we don't really have a dynamic, especially since e some of our companions left.
He pauses realizing he was rambling on.
Looking around for something to do he accidentally phases his arm through a table, losing his balance and stoping himself from falling face first an inch from the ground.
You see a man in a red suit with red hair get out of a posh white limousine and enter a large building, the Eden Hotel.
Batman and Iron Man tend to stay in their own areas, unless called to action by the Avengers and Justice League. Media said with a shrug. I've seen the Phantom travel around with a few other heroes before, though. Usually outside of Eden, though. Because of that, sometimes he's been able to call on some old friends for favors.
Don't know why he hasn't done that yet. Lindsay muttered. Do we have anything yet, Atsuko?
Atsuko furrowed her brow as she considered the images she'd been able to pick up. The book had shown it, so she was pretty sure it was relevant... "A red man... wealthy... the Eden Hotel, right around now?" she murmured, apparently speaking English again. "I suppose red fits someone with the name Cardinal. I can't guarantee anything, but that's probably our best bet." she said as she finally looked up. The book vanished as she let go of it, stored... somewhere.
'I guess not...' Isolated again, it seemed. Or maybe, she never hadn't been. She tried to look like she was paying as much attention to things as she really was, genuinely interested in Atsuko's news regarding the Cardinal. Maybe the could end this nightmare quickly...
Lets Get Him! Darkstorm exclaimed, bioenergy forming around his fists.
He unconsciously started to rise into the air, and his face hardend upon hearing the description of the supposed Cardinal
"Now hold on, let's not be hasty."
Felix stretches an arm to put a hand on Darkstorm's shoulder, easing him back to the ground.
"I don't know if going in powered up and ready for a brawl is the best way to go about this. This could be a fake, not that I doubt your ability Atsuko," he points a smile at her, "but a populated area of a hotel, the possible casualties are...well, I wouldn't want to wake up with Dr. Apocolypse flying through my ceiling and floor."
He ponders for a moment.
"A stealthy abduction might be our best bet. A raise of hands for those who have an arsenal that lends to this?"
"Please, I generally prefer a door or at least a window. Even in my old life, I avoided unnecessary property damage." he thinks for a while. "With my current power set, I can simply grab hims, but if we have time, I could develops something that might help. Perhaps a teleportation beam... or a temporal dislocation system... his voice trails off as he begins thinking of possibilities."
Under her breath, Atsuko muttered something about lawyers and lawsuits.
Felix reaches into Santa's bag and pulls out the Evil Monkey Choker. The ornate stone of black and green that swirls and mixes as if a pool of water was underneath the stone. He presses the choker's small opening against his neck and it wraps around Felix's neck as if hugging him.
"This choker can disguise the wearer to be anyone they'd like." he says as he morphs appearance to that of Atsuko. He stands next to her and tries mirroring her movements for a creepy comic effect.
"...Please don't do that." Atsuko said quietly. She was having a hard enough time trying to make sure her public image would be positive - she really didn't need other people disguising themselves as her and doing things she might not approve of.
"Come play with us, Lindsay.." he says, though his voice is his own. Upon realizing this, Felix pulls out Santa's bag once more withdraws a couple of earrings and puts them on. They seem to be made of the same ornate black and green stone, clasp the rim of his ear.
"Sorry, forgot the second part." Felix says, now with perfect accuracy in Masumi's voice. " But yeah, this is probably my way in, if we go the stealth route."
Masumi feels a shudder overtake her, which must seem very strange coming from a terrible looking monster. 'That's just not right.' Nevermind the fact that he sounds exactly like she would, well, aside from mannerisms. Hearing that voice come out of someone else's mouth? Now that's bizarre. Probably not the affect he was trying to go for, but at least he proved his point. The ability to disguise himself so perfectly like that...
Lindsay rubs at her eyes. What I would do is have a detail of snipers set up, but I get the bad feeling that this man has contingencies for that. Violent ones. She looks to Atsuko, the real one, then to Felix. Who would you go in as?
Whatever the plan is, Media started. I'm in. We need to prioritise keeping civilian casualties out of the picture. Eden City capes are getting bad publicity. We won't be able to drum up much support if things keep going on this way.
So stealth, then? Lindsay asked. Do we have a solid plan? What's everyone's roles?
Feilx signs back to Masumi, "Kinda..."
"Fire alarm?" Felix suggests with a shrug. "The better method would be to evacuate everyone without the target noticing, through teleportation or something. If we could do that and stop him from giving orders, we probably got this in the bag."
Felix stops, realizing he's still in Atsuko's form, and morphs back to normal.
"I could go in as a manager or something, get to the alarm. But making sure this guy can't do anything, I think that's highest priority. I mean, all it takes is a signal and another bomb goes off."
She jolts in surprise, finally seeing twin-Atsuko-Felix respond back to her. He understood? That.... that's great! Now she can have someone else to talk to again! ...Well, when he could see her. And wasn't ignoring her. Her shoulders started to slump as these realizations piled on.
Hesitantly, as if she wasn't sure he'd keep this up, starts forming signs again with her claws. "I'm not very stealthy. I could see him and lunge at him from a few hundred feet away if wanted though," She turns her head away, before making a short nearly unnoticeable phrase. "I'm very tall and clumsy."
Felix watches Masumi sign to him, trying to catch everything.
That was indeed a problem...but...
Felix begins to sign back.
What about your human form?
Felix hints at getting inside as normal human, and transforming somewhere during the operation.
She figits, and if it was at all possible, she'd likely be looking around the room nervously in an effort to doge the suggestion. She didn't like the idea of going out there as just herself. Without the iniatilizer, she's... Human. She's human without it. Nothing really of note, so if she got caught... And how would she sneak in the thing anyhow? Or keep her identity hidden?
Felix had a point though, she's rather small and unnoticeable when she's just herself. Maybe it could work? If she kept her head down and avoided eye contact like she does at school, maybe he'd never even know she was there. This seemed like a really terrible idea, but she in the end just dosn't want to disappoint anyone by making them think she was some kind of coward. No matter how true that was.
So ignoring the cold feeling what amounts to her stomach at this point, she brought up her hands in a rushed, nervous way. "Okay. I can do that. What should I do?"
The Doctor chides everybody with the tone of a disappointed teacher. "Evacuating the building won't work unless you can teleport everybody immediately. And I do mean immediately. He's going to have the building surveilled and messing around with the other people will prompt him to action. Not to mention that some of the tenants will be on his payroll and contact him."
"I can develop a device to neutralize chemical explosives..."
"And if he's not using explosives doc?" Felix asks, in the doctor's voice, using the same disappointed tone.
"If evacuating is not possible, then perhaps we must wait for change of venue while monitoring his activity. Then again, this leads to its own problems like giving the target more time to do whatever he's planning next."
We need to get a listening device into his rooms. Something based on something he's not likely to scan for.
Atsuko glanced down at her hands. She wasn't sure how subtle her arcane powers could be... and she didn't want to risk tipping him off, although the fact that she hadn't seen him react when she was searching was a good sign. Magic was a lot harder to ward off than technology... and might be their best bet.
She glanced towards Media a moment later. "I'm pretty sure falsifying a bomb threat is illegal..." she began. "But rather than going in there to get him, what if we got everyone to come out on their own instead, and intercepted him after he left?" That was probably a lot easier than trying to rapidly empty the building all by themselves.
"Do we know if he has any other escape routes? What if he stays with the civilians?" says the devil's advocate.
Felix whistles.
"Man, the Phantom didn't explain this hero business would be so hard. I usually just run in, grab, and get out. Most of the time they don't hold large portions of the city hostage."
He turns to the doctor.
"Honestly, he could have a timer attached to a website he has to log into every day or he blows up the closest suburb. Honestly, my opinion as a person does snatch and grabs like this for most of my life (albeit on objects rather than humans) we don't have nearly enough reconnaissance and info. My suggestion, if time permits, we make sure he's staying there for the long haul and we start piling up the data of anything we could use."
She wrings her claws together, waiting for the others to come up with some sort of plan of action. She did have to agree with Felix there, she never expected a situation to get as... complicated as this. Things would be much simpler if they could just hit the man directly, or if he was holed up somewhere away from civilians. The job at the docks? That was simple. The bank heist? Simple at first glance, but actually a really messed up delicate situation. And now this next task is just plain delicate.
Doc's right evacuation on that scale would be difficult, even with the amount of teleporters we have with is, now. Lindsay said. Disguise is a possibility, though. Would you be able to summon the proper ID for the disguise?
Media chuckled at Felix's comment. That actually is his preferred method. Run in and punch whatever it is that's causing the problem.
You're suggesting we Ocean's Eleven the joint?Lindsay asked.
Felix shakes his head.
"It's all bluff. Can't just summon an ID to go with the disguise. That's usually prep work when I have days or even weeks to case a target. And I don't think a snatch and grab is our best bet unless we're willing to deal with the fallout and deaths of a hotel worth of people."
Bold and decisive... they were not. Atsuko was Japanese, though - and culturally, she generally valued harmony. She wasn't going to push her idea if others disagreed.
Lindsay sighed, rubbing her eyes. If we get him out in the open, She started to Atsuko, do you think you guys can take him down quickly and quietly? Dead or alive, so long as there are no more civilian casualties.
Atsuko nodded slightly. Between the... various techniques... the others had and her own exertion of willpower, she was fairly confident they could take down most targets without too many problems.
Felix blinks.
"You're giving us the go ahead to murder him in public?" he asks tentatively. He knew their target was a bad person, and it wasn't like he was Batman or anything, but murder in broad public seemed....distasteful.
'I- I'm not a murderer!' She meekly tried to convey, her jaws instead transforming it into a twisted snarl of a growl. Even if her body seemed tailed just for that very, she didn't want to actually... Murder someone! The idea horrified her to no end in the past, and now she had even more imagery attached to that word. She wouldn't be like that, wouldn't be like them. No matter how much they probably deserved it.
The doctor nods at Masumi, "I agree. Let's base our plan off of non-lethal methods. We'll need to simply be that much better than he is."