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Apex grunted at the chatter in his ears, his breath coming heavy. He wasn't tired yet, but the horde of green things definitely qualified as more than a warm up. Scanning the horizon, he picked out the tops of the castle. This is not going to be easy. Perfect! A broad grin stretching beneath his mask, he tapped his ear once. "En route to the castle."
Running through the crowd, he struggled to make progress, attempting to use the robots as vault points.
This is like that stupid web phenomenon, how many five year olds can you take in a fight? All signs pointed to Apex being able to take on a lot as he chewed through the gremlin mob between him and the gas station. He was grateful the bodies dissipated quickly because the large numbers prevented him from holding back and the sight of all the dislocated limbs and broken bones wouldn't have endeared him to the public. As he reached the gas station, his movements didn't pause while he settled his plan of attack. First, deal with the gremlins and prevent them from exploding prematurely. Then figure out how to get them away without leveling the neighborhood.
Apex took further advantage of the target rich environment and settled into a familiar sequence of attacks and blocks. Anyone familiar with the martial art would have recognized the kata, performed with extreme precision, Apex flowed through, freeing up his focus to care for larger issues. "I need some backup here! I've got robots on a gas station. I'm keeping the greenskins from blowing them up early, but someone needs to move them before they go up anyway."
Apex groaned at the nearby sounds of violence. "Are you kidding me? If I didn't think some hidden being was screwing with us before..." Tapping the earbud in his left ear twice, he spouts an immediate sitrep, "Wingblade, this is Apex, I'm with Silver Shadow and... Amulet. We're by where things kicked off last night checking on the source of the problem. We'll check on them and see if we can keep problems in this area contained. Let us know if you want us somewhere else." Turning to the two in the car with him, he continues. "Jusker, can you work on containing whatever's causing those explosions? I'll try to handle crowd control and watch your back. Shadow, I know you want to get out there and mix it up with us, but we need someone to check on the kids, if they're at the center of this, knowing that could save a lot of lives. Alright, let's go!" Without waiting on a response, Apex pushes out of the car and begins sprinting towards the sounds of fighting. As he turns the corner into one of the melees, he pauses briefly to take in the scene.
Apex disregards the bizarre appearance of the fighters and casts about for a safe way to get civilians out of the way.
=========
Kenneth was grateful to be in the backseat and barely kept from laughing at Jusker's clearly conflicted feelings. He couldn't help a quick glance at the rearview mirror himself, but quickly turned to his own tasks out of respect. Taking the opportunity, he unzipped his bag and began his own change. Pulling the shirt over his head, Kenneth considered aloud "We should ask the boys what they know about the design of the robot, and I'll see if I can find a canon design of it. It might be important to find out if the projections are based on the source material, the victims or our potential third party." As he slid the mask on, Apex spoke up. "Is this going to be okay with your cop buddies? It was one thing to get caught up in the fight as it happened, but this seems like it's a pretty clear violation of the SIDEKICK laws. I can pretend to be eighteen, but that won't hold up long if we actually get taken in and could cause problems in the long run."
Oh yeah, he has a very skewed perspective and is happy to look for evidence that supports his conclusion rather than the other way around. I was trying to work generally in the framework you described but feel free to make a liar out of Apex.
Man, and I thought you guys were just really good at the whole "Yes, and..." thing. :)
*Before*
He pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts. "If I'm going to tell you this, it will be once and with no interruptions. This is my 'secret' so I'm going to tell it my way. "What I've had against you is the fact that you are the Silver Shadow, and there is no hero name that I despise more. People think that it takes something special to be a hero, but we know better. The rest of the team are like kids who found a gun and decided that meant they were cops, and that's true of most heroes I've found. But there was one hero that knew what he was doing, knew he didn't have some power bestowed by chance backing him and chose to put on the mask anyway, the Silver Shadow. And within two decades he had destroyed that name. For every time he was in the papers saving the city, he was in it five times for drugs, gambling and fighting with his teammates. "If that wasn't bad enough, his successor made it into a pattern. Do you never wonder why the Silver Shadows have such short hero runs? I mean there are still plenty silver and bronze generation heroes still active, so why not the Silver Shadows? The public always thinks it's because their bodies gave out, which is enough of a strike. But I've personally watched the Silver Shadow destroy a team from the inside out, with his bad behavior and his infighting, and I know it wasn't the only one. The Silver Shadow isn't out heroing because he can't find a team to take him. "But the public and the heroes don't blame that on their failings as individuals. That all happens because the Silver Shadows aren't special, because they're baselines. And so every time someone tells me that I shouldn't be doing this, can't be out here doing this, it's because the Silver Shadow told them that. That is why I have a problem with you." By the end of his rant, Kenneth was shaking slightly from the emotion he'd unintentionally let out. Looking down for a second, he took a deep breath. "But you know what, you're right, I've been unfair. Maybe you'll succeed where your predecessor's didn't. Now let's get going, I need to be home for dinner and I want to know what's up with these kids." ============= Feeling the tension in the car ratchet up, Kenneth decided to redirect the conversation slightly. "Whatever. So, neither of the two of us got too close a look at the insides of the robot. A lot of psychic and magical constructs lack internal consistency. Did the robot have any glaring errors? Anything lacking obvious support or means of mobility? Obviously it's supposed to be super tech so it may be hard to tell, but you had a better view than us."
Kenneth waited until Alexandra got back in the car before leaning forward from the back seat. "See, I told you it was a gun, no one's happy to see you." Turning to Jusker, he continued without awaiting a reply, "Glad to see you took my advice about the mask, I know they're a little suffocating, but technically vigilantism is illegal." As he spoke, he patted a black duffel bag sitting next to him on the seat. "What we're up to is investigating what happened last night. As to how we found you, well I've got a couple ideas, but this is her show, so I'll let her tell you or not." Kenneth leaned back in his seat and glanced over at Alexandra. "Where to now? The police station, or back to the scene of the fight?"
Kenneth pulled the dart from his shoulder, frowning at it briefly. Technically, this does qualify as a "kill." I suppose I shouldn't be surprised she took the cheap way out. "Hmph, why do you even carry empty ones?" He pocketed the dart as he tossed the trash can lid aside, wincing slightly at the movement. A bruise was already beginning to form where she'd kicked him. "Regarding the matter at hand, I did a little research into the game. 40-card deck minimums and Krakatoa and the self destruct are both limited to one a deck. By the time we arrived both of them were top-decking. It's circumstantial, but all of that points to an intelligence behind whatever happened. While it is possible that both cards came up in one game, happening in that order once we arrived seems... unlikely. "Also, I wasn't able to find the cards that our companions appeared as, but I didn't look terribly deeply. Those are also suspicious. It might have been a reaction to us taking cards of the field, but it also feels like a way for the players to target interlopers directly. Do you know if your police contact was able to talk to the boys?" Kenneth spent his distraction feeling his ribs where she'd punched him, ensuring they were just sore and not cracked.
Apex rolled with the kick he'd known was coming. It didn't stop the blow from landing, but it meant his insides weren't turned to mush. Okay, she doesn't just fight dirty, she fights mean. I have no choice but to escalate this first. Continuing his roll, he feigned weakness as he pulled himself up on a trash can. One, two... As the rabbit punch swung towards his head, Apex spun about, pulling the metal lid into the path of the blow. He capitalized on the surprise by driving the edge of his impromptu shield into the side of her knee, not hard enough to dislocate, but certainly enough to unbalance. Pulling back, he crouched slightly, covering as much of his body as possible with the trash can lid. He'd only studied HEMA via the internet, but now was as good a time as any to put it into practice. "You know, if this goes much further, you could get seriously hurt. Maybe you should just give in and we can get back to work."
Dismayed at how quickly she slipped past his guard, Apex struggled to block out the pain in his head. As the second blow lands, he rotated his frame toward his opponent and brought his elbows down tight, knocking away the last shot. Not wanting to waste his opening, Apex tossed two quick jabs to her kidneys and danced back, looking for the next cheap shot. "You may want to see the real me, but we need some ground rules. Both of us need to be back in school on Monday, so no blows to the face, no breaking bones, and loser owes the winner a secret." At the last condition a wicked grin peeks out between his fists. Without waiting for a response, Apex darts back towards Silver Shadow, juking suddenly and then opening up with a body combination.
I might have figured something out, but I still don't have any candidates. and you think the little track star is a cape? "More than think, you should ask Bran about her though. So far I think the Mabinogion reference is just chance, but you never know with gods, or people who think they're gods." Alexandra's sudden shift in cadence caught Kenneth's attention. No, she's not going to- OOF! Taking advantage of her quip, Apex recenters his thoughts and shifts his weight into a more open stance. He allowed her to grab his wrist before yanking slightly, pulling her into a textbook aikido grapple.
By pushing her elbow upward, he moved in a controlled circle and broke the grip, allowing her momentum to force her further down the alley away from him. If she wants to continue this, I should use my height advantage. When she turned back, Apex had adjusted his stance, his hands closed into fists and his weight settled on the balls of his feet. If not for his school clothes, he could be the model in a Taekwondo training video. "You know there are dojos for this type of thing. Or we could find some mugger. Either's good with me really."
"I... it's a lot of things, and I probably wouldn't have picked it out specifically if I weren't looking, but, well, I was looking. First, even if I wasn't sure, you confirmed it for me, and if I was wrong, at worst I spend a month building robots with a cute girl. Admittedly I probably would have had to find an actual robotics contest, but Reaver Industries is almost always running one and I could use another opportunity to get in their building." Despite himself, he continued, counting reasons off on his fingers. "For one thing, you act like me, you're popular enough to not have any enemies, but no close friends either. Also you're on an accelerated track, but are showing absolutely no difficulty with your courses, and you are athletic without having joined any of the sports teams. None of that sticks out, but together it paints a picture." Pausing, he took an unnecessarily deep breath. "Most importantly though, you're a legacy. While it's not a guarantee, odds are high that you're blood related to the past two Silver Shadows. Across the three of you, there's enough information out there that someone really dedicated could probably figure it out. Using info like that to approach a hero at home is good way for a supervillain to get a lot of hell brought down on their heads, but among teammates its just rude, and I have no problem being rude if it means getting the job done. Really, I try to keep an eye on most of the potential masks at school, you know, Finn, Bronwyn, Vick." He rolled his wrist implying the list went on for a good deal longer. Kenneth kept a close eye on Alexandra as he finished, gauging her reactions as carefully as possible. Don't push, don't push, just let it go.
Kenneth considered his options as he left the cafeteria. Just cutting class was out of the question, they'd call his parents and he would rather not have that talk. Seeing his physics teacher in the hall settled it, he might as well stick with a lie he already started. "Mr. Platt, excuse me, sorry to bother you, but I wanted to know if I could be excused from class this afternoon. I'm working on a robotics project and my mom got me some expert help, but they're only available today." The tall man turned and chuckled lightly. "If I said no you'd probably just do it anyway. Go ahead, I'll mark you as excused, but I expect to hear about a rousing success!" Kenneth wouldn't deny that the teacher's pet persona chafed sometimes, but it could be incredibly helpful in maintaining his cover. === Despite the short distance, Kenneth drove the couple of blocks to the convenience store, both to sell the lie and in case he abruptly needed the spare costume in the back. As the neighborhood got worse he began to suspect the latter might be the more important reason. Leaving his car, he kept his eyes peeled for any flashes of color and walked into the alley. He snatched the bag out the air and examined it briefly. Really? Cool Ranch? "You're not wrong, let's start with names, because if you keep calling me that I'll have to start calling you Dick-Girl and then we'll see which one the internet picks up." The analytical part of his mind tried to snatch the words back as they came out. Not helping! "Look, I'm just here to find out if the police interviews had any interesting information. If last night proved anything, it's that there's a lot of power out there but we need to have a direction to point it."
Kenneth seethed internally at her comments, but did his best keep it off his face. Taking a moment to read the note, he used the opportunity to regain his composure before replying. "Not a bad idea, I'll have to try it out. You know you may be right about the capacitors, the last two generations had fairly weak ones and they turned out to be abject failures. I was more hopeful about this one, but we'll see." He refolded the paper and slid it into a pocket. This sniping isn't helping, and you're coming to her with your hand out. Not only is this a bad Kenneth move, you're likely to cut off an information source. After taking a quick bite of his sandwich, he looked back at Alexandra. "Thank you for your help. By the way, did you hear about Jennifer and Raoul? The whole school is abuzz."
Kenneth adjusted his grip on the brown paper bag as he surveyed the cafeteria. Catching sight of Shayera, he began to step forward and then caught himself. Surrounded by her cohort she was better armoured than Bran in full-plate, and his school persona wouldn't fit in there. Another pass caught Bronwyn, looking a bit lost, but again, she was too much of a social butterfly. Why am I even doing this, I should just sit on my own and catch up on my reading like normal? As the thought passed, he caught himself grasping the earpiece in his pocket and let it go. His morning had passed without note, he wasn't even particularly tired. While the team's shenanigans had exhausted him mentally, he hadn't been much more active than his typical workout during the fight itself. That must be it, I still want to figure out what happened last night. With a firm goal in mind, he locked on to his target and headed purposefully across the room. "You're Alexandra, right? Hi, my name's Kenneth. I'm working on a project for this big robotics contest and I was wondering if I could get your help on it. It's really a team thing any way. Without some extra support, I don't think I'll have a shadow of a chance." Not waiting for a response, he dropped his lunch bag across from her and took a seat. As he pulled out a sandwich and water bottle, he looked directly at her, a seemingly open and excited smile on his face.
Come on! If your character doesn't at least secretly have a crush on Bronwyn, what are you even doing in this game?
I'm just waiting for us to find out that Reaver is secretly using a piece of the Cauldron to keep bringing back Shayera, cuz it's not like Bran/Bron don't already have enough issues about that. :P
Kenneth shook his head as Bran jogged off. "F#%@ing gods." As he made his way back across the park to his car, he pulled out his phone and checked for messages. Nothing since my impromptu midnight exchange with Shayera... maybe I should... no, either she was out there with me and I should respect her boundaries or she's asleep. He looked at the phone a moment longer before sliding it back into his pocket. A quick car ride and he was climbing his regular back route up to his room. Despite a longing look at his bed, he sat down at his computer and began booting the secret partition. Friday's going to suck, but I'm better off getting this down while its fresh. Keying in "FEED GREYHOUND SENT" Apex began by adding three new dossiers
FEED GREYHOUND SENT:
Silver Shadow Identity: Alexandra Walker (likely) Powers: Deduction, Martial Arts Profile: Third individual to hold the title (Ref. Idols Wharves, File No. 1) Tactically reasonable, if easily distracted. Has official contacts. Nothing to investigate. Shadowboxer
Jusker
Finished with the new information on his companions, Kenneth glanced up at an earlier entry. No, tonight wasn't enough to confirm or deny any of that. I'll have to leave her as is right now. Besides there's still more to be done. Apex returned the computer to the standard GUI partition and pulled up a web browser. He quickly navigated to www.argentobscura.com and searched for any posts about tonight. The site was a simple forum, with a pair of silver magnifying glasses, one inverted, at the top of each page. It had stagnated for a while, a fan site for an absent hero, but it was experiencing a renaissance ever since the newest Silver Shadow took to the streets. Finding no appropriate thread, he created one and began typing. GrayMountain: Wow! Did anyone see that giant robot fight on the news? It's got to be the apex of my month. Too bad SS didn't get much screen time, but I'm sure she was busy doing some important investigating behind the scenes. I bet she's tracking down some piece of information from the scene right now and conferring with her police contacts, that's soooo cool! He reread the post once before submitting it. I hope she's as good as I think she is, because if she doesn't read that I'll have debased the English language for nothing. Done with the night's work, Kenneth stripped down and climbed into bed immediately falling to a deep sleep.
I'm gonna go ahead and grow closer to the team, specifically Bran, as he is the one who actually invited Apex on to the team. He's already got influence so he can shift my labels as appropriate. Also I'm going to clear Angry.
Once the two heroes moved out of earshot of the rest of the team Apex began speaking. "I think you're smart enough to realize that I don't need to talk to you about joining the team. Yes, we should work out a time to train as a team and learn each others limits, but I've got an earpiece now, we can figure that out later. More immediately though, I'm concerned." Apex took a deep breath and removed his mask. If I'm going to say this I need him to know that its the truth. As he continued, the harsh overtones of Apex began to give way to the softer, more earnest inflection of Kenneth. "You just threatened bodily harm to officers of the law in process of performing their duties for a stranger. I'm not saying they were right, but I need you to understand something, when I agreed to join your team it was because I felt that I could contribute and help you stop the threats you regularly come across. But it was also because I am afraid of you. You and Thor Girl, and even Wingblade have so much more power than the average person walking down the street and its only really kept in check by your impulse control." "I don't know what happened tonight, and I don't need to if you don't want to tell me, but I get the sense that how the SCA treated Shadowboxer isn't what set you off. Think about that, and what might have happened if Thor Girl didn't get us out of there. Because if you meant to attack those officers that's one thing, but if you think they might have become collateral damage because you were upset about something else... well hopefully then you'll understand why I'm afraid."
As he rolled up on all fours, Apex shook his head slightly tried to clear the dizzyness. "Thanks for the lift, Dorothy, but maybe next time ask first." With his wits back about him, he looked to the rest of the group. "Shadow's right, until she or Wingblade get things cleared up, we're technically fugitives. Which is a real shame, considering we wouldn't have even been unmasked. SIDEKICK laws are there to protect us, and misguided as they may be, tend to favor getting us training over a prison cell. Unless Foster Care or Mob Ties over there have any major crimes with their finger prints attached, we probably would have gotten a debrief and a slap on the wrist. Now though, we're potential supervillains." While the brief tirade was directed at all of them, his gaze kept returning to Bran. "What's done is done, and it's late enough that it's getting early. Bran, we need to go over the specifics of that agreement we were discussing before the city was almost leveled. Do you mind walking with me back to the park?"
Side note: Who exactly did Thor Girl pick up? The wording was a little ambiguous and I didn't want to presume things that weren't intended
Knowledge... it's so important they put it in twice
See the thing I'm curious about is, since it's in all caps, SIDEKICK is clearly an acronym, but what is it an acronym for?
Apex raised his hands and slowly turned to face the police officers. "I understand and will turn myself in. I have no superhuman capabilities and intend no harm. I am however trained in emergency medicine and some people in there," Apex paused briefly and jerked his head to the building he'd been approaching, "may need assistance. Can we do this later?" Despite his request, he slowly lowered himself to his knees and moved his hands behind his head in preparation for being handcuffed.
That definitely works for me, I'd already mentioned that tactical planning was the best way to get influence over him in the PTM response. As a warning, he might be more inclined to listen, but Apex probably won't be any nicer about it.
I guess if we're discussing the viability of being caught out. Kenneth would be relatively difficult to figure out, in part because separating his identities is something he focuses on. Kinda like Batman, he treats his non-heroic life as an act and uses a lot of small adjustments to separate Kenneth and Apex (i.e. poor posture to change his perceived height, baggy clothes to hide his physique, etc.). Additionally, he maintains a quiet and shy demeanor to keep people at a distance. That being said, he's also probably more noticeable than he thinks he his because he's such a loner. Also, he has a number of idiosyncrasies around his mental self improvement that might stand out as weird (recording his classes, staring off into space while performing menial tasks, reading books in braille, the list goes on).
"We..." Apex paused and glanced at Wingblade. "No, this is our first outing together. I've encountered Bran and Thor Girl before though." Collecting himself, he turned back to the the street, assessing the craters, the warped asphalt, and most importantly the holes in the buildings left by shrapnel. "Speaking of, I think she has the right idea. The punching may be done but there are still plenty of people to help. I can't stop you two from leaving, but I don't think you were offered a communicator just because you have a strong right hook." Apex walked away from the two, making his way toward a building that the first responders hadn't entered yet. This is going to be a long night.
Apex sighed, his clown act clearly failing to get through the two terrified boys. "I need you to stay here for a second. I'm going to get someone to make sure everything is okay." His tone hardened slightly at his personal failure, but he tried to keep a positive bent to his words. Making his way quickly out to the group of young supers, a glance gave him enough for a quick assessment. This practically looks like the image in a textbook for reading body language. Something is wrong here. Snatching an earbud from Wingblade's hand, Apex turned his head slowly to ensure his gaze passed over all of them. "I'm glad you're all having a grand time chatting it up, but there's clean up to be done and we still don't know what caused this. Bran, I can't get the two boys in there to stop shaking in front of me. They're clearly at the center of this and hopefully someone with a face will have better luck comforting them, could you go check on them? Shadow, since you don't seem to want to actually investigate anything how about you coordinate with the first responders to give us a little coverage while Wingblade can see if Whippoorwill can grant us some legitimacy here." Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a white domino mask, really little more than a piece of cloth with eyeholes cut out, and held it towards Jusker. "This may not do much, but a little bit of anonymity now can give you a lot more freedom in the future." Apex panned his gaze back across the young supers, "Any problems with this or can we go back to being heroes instead of whiny teenagers with too much power?"
Welcome to the club! It's like those sweatshirts, we're the Antisocial Social Club!
Apex glared briefly at the Silver Shadow as she left to greet the other heroes. The job's not done yet, especially not ours. Turning quickly back to the scared boys, he crouched down to be closer to eye level with them. "Hey guys, don't worry, everything will be okay. We're superheroes! We'll make sure everyone is safe!" He punctuated his statement by popping up into a goofy, Kamen Rider-esque pose. Smiling to help project kindness into his voice even if they can't see it, Apex continued comforting them. "Hey, while they're busy wrapping things up, why don't you guys tell me about your game?" As he gestured down at the cards, he eyed them quickly, looking for any of the new cards him and his companions represented.
Apex turned away to examine the room. "I'm aware, that's why I called you Shadow. It's not that hard to keep up with the supers on the scene if you know where to look. Bran, Thor Girl and Wingblade are pretty high profile. The flying guy was seen at that orphanage fire recently. Rumors say the shadow guy is somehow tied to organized crime. Heck I was in the police blotter at least four times last month, though generally as 'unnamed assailant in a white mask'. Introductions aren't important right now, WE need to figure out what's going on." He turned back to her to indicate the two of them. "Something has either tied those kids to this location, or phased them out of it." Keeping to the barricaded area, Apex began to check the walls for signs of technology or magic.
Apex cocked his head and turned to look at the Silver Shadow. It's Apex actually. But I'll take your... suggestion under advisement.
Apex stuttered to a stop as a pink wall of force manifested in front of him. The arm holding a piece of rebar twitched briefly. No, no point in trying to break in. I am not best used here any way. Looking back to the room with the kids, he began his rapid ascent. I still need to figure out what's happening in here and if Bran can't keep this contained it won't really matter. As he pulled himself through the window, Apex paused in concern at the disarray until he caught sight of the Silver Shadow. "No. You're doing it wrong. If the explosion reaches us, no barricade we can make will stop it. Our concern has to be shrapnel. Deflect, don't block." Grabbing a nearby chair, he began to rearrange the basic fortification to direct incoming projectiles away. I hate to admit it, but she has the right of this. Hopefully, we can investigate after this, but not if we're dead.
Fear gripped Apex's chest as he heard the dice rolling behind him. Swinging out the window, he began scrambling down the side of the building calling out to the girl below him. "We have to stop the robot, it's going to blow first! Where's Thor Girl maybe she can set up a wind wall to contain it?" Returning to the ground, he scanned the battle trying to reorient himself. Shoot, she's not here, that must be why her card disappeared. I need to get a communicator as soon as possible. Alright the Shadow guy is tearing stuff apart, good, Bran is... well if that doesn't kill him it may save all of us. Who else? The flying guy, hopefully he can sub in for Skuld. "HEY! Flying Amulet Guy! Can you create some type of barrier? We need to contain anything around that robot real fast!"
Turning to Silver Shadow, he continued issuing orders at a more reasonable volume. "Shadow, you need to get in contact with emergency services. If they'll listen to you, we need to make sure they're aware there are multiple major explosives here and keep them at an appropriate perimeter. Think you can do that?" While it was a relatively subtle change in tone, it was clear to anyone paying attention that the arrogance in Apex's voice was now matched by the venom. Barely waiting for a response, he stalked forward looking for a large piece of shrapnel that could be used to damage vulnerable electronic components.
Apex goggled for a moment, holding his hand in surprise. They're not... here? real? What's happening? Is there a projector or something? He began to look around but a loud crash from outside brought him back to focus. I don't have the expertise for that right now. I can't stop the game... but maybe I can predict it. Disregarding the room, Apex peered over the boys' shoulders at their hands. He ignored the game's mechanics and focused on the card names.
As the voice of the police consultant reached him, Apex cringed slightly. Ninja-boy, really? I may not be widely known yet, but that's just... guh. And the Silver Shadows were supposed to pride themselves on their deduction. At least she should be able to pass on the info to the rest of them. Pulling away from the game he made his way to the window to call down the next moves.
Apex swung around the corner into the room that Silver Shadow had just left. The card game in front of him scratched at the back of his mind, it was familiar in some ways, but he certainly didn't recognize it. As a card materialized in front of him a cold fear settled in his gut. It's integrating us into it and if we don't know what options they have available... I can't focus on the unknowns, I have to focus on what's in front of me. An idea struck him then and Apex pushed his way fully into the room. Making his way behind one of the boys he peered over his shoulder. "You should really focus on repairing your robot. I mean Krakatoa's good and all, but it won't matter if you let yourself be destroyed by environmental effects." A smug tone of authority oozed out of the masked hero. No one likes a back seat gamer, especially if he's bad.
Apex slowed his pace as he hit on the realization. Something doesn't fit here something that should be obvious A haze clouded his mind for a brief moment while he sorted his memories. hit it... Sentai recreation... big stick... kids That's it! The kids. Who was talking about the kids? Glancing up in the air, he caught sight of the flying teenager. With a short sprint, Apex launched himself off a dumpster and scrambled up the fire escape on the closest building to the boy with the glowing necklace. "What's going on? If you know how to stop those things, we need to do something now. I may not be the best for this, but we don't have much time." He punctuated his remarks with a gesture to the volcano forming in the street.
Hey, don't knock my influence over crickets, its important that I can let those noisy buggers know what I think of them!
Apex loses himself temporarily in the experience of flight. He'd flown before, gadget testing with his mother, but every time it instilled a bit of wonder in him. By the time he realized, he hadn't answered Wingblade, she was already preparing to set him down. "Good idea! I'll try to find out what might have brought them." As she let him go, he bent his knees, allowing him to fall into a roll. Without a break in movement, Apex came up running, his head swiveling trying to find anything out of place.
Apex removes an imaginary hat and bows deeply at the waist to Wingblade. "How could I refuse such a generous offer from a beautiful girl?" As he rises, though, he had his phone in hand once more. Tapping a search query into his phone, he pulled up a hidden app and activated it. Immediately, police chatter started to pour out of the earbud he was wearing. This doesn't add up. A fight this big has a build up we should have seen well before it reached this point. We should... no this is too fresh for me to just issue orders, and besides if we split up I won't know what they are doing. "We should keep an eye out on the way there though. Something this big and flashy screams cover activity for something else." His warning issued he turned and held out his arms in a "T" to give Wingblade a better grip.
Apex's mask shifted as a broad grin stretched on his face. It had not been designed with that expression in mind. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me being out of my depth... I don't have any powers." He held up a hand briefly as his phone vibrated. "Excuse me, I should take this." Recognizing the number, he lifted his head and turned to gaze at Wingblade. Is she...? No, from this close up it's clear she's the same person... unless, clones? Worth considering. Without looking away from her, he tapped away at his phone. Kenneth: No, I got mugged
Without waiting for a response text, he slid the phone back into his pocket and turned back to Skuld. "Sorry, you were saying something about how your powers were the only reason you could do this."
Is he building a superhero team or a pantheon? Despite his wry thought, Apex nodded. "I will and I do. But we need to keep one thing clear. I stand on my own two feet, I don't need your power, and I don't want it. If I am to fight by your side, it needs to be as my own man. Is that understood?" He knew this wasn't the end of the argument, but Apex saw that he would be stronger, more effective, better working alongside Bran and his companions than he could be on his own. With nothing else to say, he offered his hand to the armored demigod.
Apex bobbed his head from side to side noncomittally. It was hard to emote properly with the mask on. Which was the point he supposed, but it didn't help now. "That's why this is awkward. I appreciate what you did at Reaver. You stuck around when I couldn't. But for me, respect has to go beyond what happens in a fight." Apex continued his approach until he was close enough that he wouldn't be casually overheard. When he next spoke, his voice was a low hiss. "The girl who brought us here, do you even know what you're doing to her? She helps you somehow and in return you can't even protect her properly. The strength she has now, the endurance, I don't know if you did it to her intentionally or not. And I don't know which would be worse. At least if it was an accident I could just call you an idiot and walk away, but if it was intentional? You may have cost her her future as an athlete and for what? A little strength and endurance wouldn't protect her from something like Scythe, like that demon you fought." Apex took a deep breath to steady himself. He hadn't been certain of what to expect, but he hadn't intended to do that. "But that's not why I'm here tonight. I'm here because she thought that I could help you. And her I do respect."
Kenneth scowled down at his phone. After Bronwyn had confirmed the time with him, he realized what he had done. Meeting scheduled for 12:01 AM tonight, not tomorrow. Midnight referred to AM time. The text was embarrassing, but he'd been so caught up in getting out of the study room he had forgotten to correct his habit of referring to midnight as a morning time rather than a night time. Tapping the green button on his phone the message sent off to Shayera. ========== Jogging through the park, Apex kept glancing up at the sky. A part of him warned that she wouldn't be here. The far more analytical part told him she could fly fast enough that she certainly wouldn't be here now. He had parked his car opposite the monument, leaving space to protect his cover identity in case something broke out. He knew exactly how long it took him to cross the park and planned to arrive just as the days changed. He controlled his pace down the park pathway, nerves pushing him to sprint. He could have used the trees on the sides for cover, but decided against it. He always had that option later and his white mask would reveal his presence quickly to anyone with remotely heightened senses anyway. Why am I doing this meeting? To protect Bronwyn? To get backup? To replace Finn? And what was I thinking pulling that stunt with Shayera? Even if she does show, can I really trust her? This is a mess and I should go back home now. I don't need whatever this team is and they certainly don't deserve me. He felt his phone vibrate once, confirming his estimates that midnight had arrived, as he turned the last corner and got a full view of the monument. "Well, well. Bran the Blessed. Can't say I'm really surprised, but #%&* this is going to be awkward." Apex slowed to a walk, letting his dry voice close the distance between them first.
Nope, I was figuring on putting it after the mall scene so that I could swap out, having just grabbed a bunch of screen time, but that works too.
I think the codenames are great! I'd always sort of imagined them as being sort of the heads of their respective support staff teams (think Fitz and Simmons from Agents of Shield, particularly during the Ghost Rider/LMD arcs) so the code names are perfect and would give the heroes a way to refer to them in the field without exposing them to danger. Also, re: Silver Shadow, Apex is definitely the Lassie to her Shawn Spencer
Honestly, Apex is relatively sanguine about people's source of powers. In his mind he mostly is aggravated at the "irresponsibility" of heroes. He gets that getting powers is a crapshoot and that what gives one person wings and lazer eyes gives someone else cancer, but what pisses him off is that he thinks so many heroes take their abilities for granted and ignore the people around him. That's why he has marginally more respect for Whippoorwill and Wingblade who are so focused on training, and why he had such a dramatic reaction when he thought that Bronwyn's abilities, which could destroy her track career, were careless overflow from her nameless heroic mentor. His goal in taking up the mask is to show that if someone without powers can do it too, society shouldn't give as much leeway or praise to heroes as he thinks it does. Now in reality, he is definitely envious of the powers that others have developed and he is a HUGE hypocrite. I'm trying to play him relatively consistent though, so while he might be annoyed at the amount of power Jusker has, he's unlikely to put foot to a** unless he thinks Jusker is careless with it. Also, from your backstory, I doubt you'll have issues developing interesting relationship dynamics, whether its because a previous Silver Shadow recognizes the amulet or because Bronwyn could bond with you over the second personality that comes with your accessory, there's plenty to work with.
I don't inherently have a problem with it. As warning though, Kenneth has a huge hate on for that team and would have no compunction about carrying that on to their successors. Particularly since our skills overlap some, it would very much set us up to be rivals, or at least would make Apex view the relationship that way. I would totally be down for that, but Apex is already a kind of antagonistic character and I don't want to add too much more of that if other players don't find it interesting. That being said, I think it would be a cool dynamic and could be really helpful in revealing some of the flawed ways that Apex views the world and especially superheroes
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