Luck of Heroes: Twilight

[Uncle Yuan]

As you are all speculating on the nature of this meeting, the fourth door rattles, then opens.  As you turn to look there is an odd scrape and a bump and a man in a wheel chair shoves his way past the door.   It's a bit of a tight fit and the chair hangs up on the door frame.  When the man shifts to free himself he looses his grip on the door which bangs against his knee.  With a muttered curse and a quick twist the man free himself and rolls into the room.

"Yeah, I bet that looked real smooth.  All manly and confidence-inspiring like." He grins.

Despite being wheelchair bound the newcomer manages to exude an aura of calm and confidence.  He is broad shouldered with dark hair cut in an almost military buzz, bright blue eyes and a wide smile.  If he could stand you might guess him to be about six feet tall, but both legs end just above the knee.

"You must be the new team.  You can call me Ironsides!"  He grins at his own joke, then notices the three blank stares.

"Ironsides.  70's detective show?  Raymond Burr in a wheelchair solves murders with the help of his three plucky, young ethnically diverse sidekicks?  I take it no one watches TVLand at 3:00 am?  Ah well, you can call me David."

[Lord Elcorion]

uh.. good to meet you, David. I'm Danny. --he scratches his chin a moment-- for some reason, i get the impression that you are not the one who summoned us here, unless you have a rather unusual interest in the oriental culture? if i'm right, do you at least know who it is that did summon us?

[bredon7777]

David does not so much stand up as unfold from the floor in a single movement; he turns this into a bow to the man in the wheelchair.

"I'm the Immortal." Inwardly, he winces- Wonder if I'll ever get used to calling myself that?  "And Daniel- I mean no disrespect, but I believe it is far more important to find out why we were summoned than to determine the identity of our mysterious summoner."

[Lord Elcorion]

--chuckles-- forgive me, but i believe the two may be linked. cooincidences don't exist.

[kkhohoho]

--chuckles-- forgive me, but i believe the two may be linked. cooincidences don't exist.

"Indeed.  Say, David, did you get a letter saying 'Dear Champion', and if so, did it tell you to arrive at a certain place at 7:00 PM on a Sunday?  I got that letter, and I think it's safe to say that my associates got the same message, and that there's the chance you got it.  Did you?"

[bredon7777]

Wordlessly, David rummages around in his bag, finally holding up the scroll as answer.

"Coincidence is the secret thread that knots the world together.  A friend told me that once.  I stand by my statement: While it would be nice to know who summoned us, instinct tells me it's far more important to know why."

[Lord Elcorion]

i wasn't disputing that fact, and i appologize if i seemed disrespectful.. i just feel the two may be related, and in any case, once we find out the one, the other will likely reveal itself in the same moment. i just thought by finding out who summoned us, it would help expediate our discovering the why. since we don't know who summoned us, we have no real way to find out why we were, unless David here has some information we don't, since he entered after we did. wich would also indicate he did not receive an identicle message to our own.

[bredon7777]

David sighs softly. "No. Forgive me.  For someone who has known humanity for a long time, I still have ...difficulty..interacting with others.  I spoke in haste, and was rude without meaning to be.  You are of course correct; who and why are most likely intimately related."

[Uncle Yuan]

"Indeed.  Say, David, did you get a letter saying 'Dear Champion', and if so, did it tell you to arrive at a certain place at 7:00 PM on a Sunday?  I got that letter, and I think it's safe to say that my associates got the same message, and that there's the chance you got it.  Did you?"

The man in the wheelchair glances at Bob.  "I got the scroll, all right, but mine asked me to come at 7:15.  I gather I'm supposed to act as some sort of mentor, since I've been at this for a few years already."

The side of the octagonal table opposite the door he came through has no chair.  With a quick second glance around the room he pushes himself up to the table.

"I am kind of surprised that ya'll coming up here in the Twin Cities.  We still have the highest concentration of metas in the world.*"








*Generally, metahuman distribution closely follows that of population density.  Currently there are about six meta humans active in the Twin Cities, including four active heroes and one villain.  This is about twice the predicted number.

[Lord Elcorion]

actually.. i'm from vegas. i believe we were brought here by some form of teleportation. i entered via the balconey door of my local dollar cinema. as such, i highly doubt we are in vegas at this time, though as to where we actually are, i have no way of knowing. who ever our benefactor is, he appears to be a very potent individual. and given that level of potence, it makes me nervous about what we face, that would make him want to call in assistance.

[bredon7777]

"I. . .well, I am from Greece, but I currently reside in Ohio.  At 6:59, I was in the mens room of my local public library.  At 7:00, I was ", and here he waves an arm emphatically to encompass the room, "here.  Wherever 'here' is."

He turns to address the man in the wheelchair, "I take it then you have no more information than what was provided to us?"

[Uncle Yuan]

David purses his lips in thought, and then speaks.  "Well, here we all sit.  Where ever here is.  I honestly have no idea who our, um, benefactor is.  Despite what folks may think there's really not a secret superhero network where we all share info or anything.  And I've never heard of a "wise old oriental" from the ones that I have happened to meet or work with.  I agree that he seems quite powerful, but I'm willing to also believe that he means exactly as he says.  But all the same, I do think we should keep our guard up."

He pauses and looks around the table at you all, before leaning forward for the tea pot at the center of the table.

"I'll be damned, he's done it to us again," David suddenly exclaims.  Following his incredulous look you all turn to the tray at the center of the table to see yet another scroll.  This one resting quietly next to the tea service as if it had been there all the time.

Snatching it up, David sits back, unrolls the scroll and begins to read.

"Dear Champions,

By now you have all had the opportunity to acquaint yourselves with one another, as well as your mentor.  I hope you will find each other's company helpful.

While I regret that I am still unable o provide you much by the way of details, I remain convinced that we stand on the brink of a critical moment.  I shall continue to investigate the situation, and guide your efforts when a course of action presents itself.  I feel some action will need to be taken within the next several days, and I hope that I will be able to reveal more details soon.

This room will remain available to you all.  Each doorway will remain linked to its respective location, and all doorways are available to each.  From here on out, however, you must have the specific intent of entering this room, else you will transit the door as normal.

I also encourage you to exchange phone numbers so that you may contact each other at will.

Sincerely,

A friend.

PS:  In light of your mentor's earlier television reference, I feel I must point out that our arrangement is much more reminiscent of "Charlie's Angels" than "Ironsides."  That, of course, would cast David's roll as that of "Bosley."

David looks up from the letter, gives you all a level stare and says, "No.  The first person who calls me Bosley gets his tail kicked from here (where ever here is) to Tokyo!"

[bredon7777]

"I must confess to a certain level of disappointment.  I had expected to be warned of a high-level crisis. Something only I and people like myself could resolve.  Instead, I am treated to high tea for superheroes? And given my own magic door out of the restroom of the library?"

"Not that the company is unwelcome, but does any one else feel a sense of anticlimax about the whole thing?"

[kkhohoho]

"I must confess to a certain level of disappointment.  I had expected to be warned of a high-level crisis. Something only I and people like myself could resolve.  Instead, I am treated to high tea for superheroes? And given my own magic door out of the restroom of the library?"

"Not that the company is unwelcome, but does any one else feel a sense of anticlimax about the whole thing?"

"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I find being able to have tea in a room that makes me almost think I'm on drugs is most exciting.  Getting serious, I just want to get out of here."  Bob took out 3 scraps of paper and and a pencil from his right pocket, and began scribbling down his phone number on each piece.  He then gave one to each of the others in the room.  "Now, before I'd leave, I'd like your phone numbers please.  I suggest everyone follow the letter's words for now, and give your phone numbers."

[bredon7777]

David has the good grace to look embarrassed at this. 

"Due to circumstances beyond my control, I actually do not have a phone of my own.  Still, if you call this number, " and here he scribbles the number for the halfway house's pay phone, "a message will be delivered to me post-haste."

[kkhohoho]

David has the good grace to look embarrassed at this. 

"Due to circumstances beyond my control, I actually do not have a phone of my own.  Still, if you call this number, " and here he scribbles the number for the halfway house's pay phone, "a message will be delivered to me post-haste."

"Good.  Now for Daniel and Bos'.  Can I call you Bos'?"

[Lord Elcorion]

((sorry for delayed posting, been out of commision for a couple days with a bit of flu)) --danny scribbles his number down for everyone, a thoughtful look on his face-- i think i may try a bit of scrying to see if i can't find something out myself.. uh.. basiclly staring into a crystal ball.. tarot cards, the whole fortune teller bit.. --cringeing at the analogy, knowing most fortune tellers are two-bit hacks or abuse what real power they have for personal gain--

[kkhohoho]

((sorry for delayed posting, been out of commision for a couple days with a bit of flu)) --danny scribbles his number down for everyone, a thoughtful look on his face-- i think i may try a bit of scrying to see if i can't find something out myself.. uh.. basiclly staring into a crystal ball.. tarot cards, the whole fortune teller bit.. --cringeing at the analogy, knowing most fortune tellers are two-bit hacks or abuse what real power they have for personal gain--

Bob let out a small smile.  "So, does this mean you're a two-bit hack, abusing what real power you have for personal gain?"

OOC: Bob did not what hear Daniel thought.

[bredon7777]

David notices how uncomfortable Danny has become.

"Fear not, friend," and here he gives Danny a slap on the back, attempting to emulate a gesture of friendship he has seen in countless television shows, "I went many times to the Oracle at Delphi, and always found her vision and prowess to be most profound."

He then appears to drift into reverie and adds, in a lower voice, half to himself, "Even if occasionally I did not understand what she meant until far too late."

[Lord Elcorion]

--blinks at bob, then nods to dave-- well.. as i recall, often the oracle at delphi was deliberately vaugh, intending for the petitioner to find his own answers to problems, merely giving clues to the best course of action or warnings of the dangers ahead. and no, i don't intend to use my powers for personal gain in a materialistic sence. i hope that i can use them to benefit everyone, and gain a better understanding of myself.

[kkhohoho]

--blinks at bob, then nods to dave-- well.. as i recall, often the oracle at delphi was deliberately vaugh, intending for the petitioner to find his own answers to problems, merely giving clues to the best course of action or warnings of the dangers ahead. and no, i don't intend to use my powers for personal gain in a materialistic sence. i hope that i can use them to benefit everyone, and gain a better understanding of myself.

"Lighten up.  I was just joking.  Anyways, you do your hocus-pocus, then I'm out of here."

[Lord Elcorion]

actually, i need to go back home, my supplies are all there. i'll call if i discover anything though.

[Uncle Yuan]

["Good.  Now for Daniel and Bos'.  Can I call you Bos'?"

This earns Bob a quick, hard look from the chair bound hero  Then he relaxes.

" 'Boss' works," grins David, "but I really don't think that's supposed to be my role.  Besides I got irons of my own in the fire.  I'll haul your bacon out of the fire if ya'll really need me to, but I think it would be a great idea if ya'll get in the habit of helping each other out.

David grabs his chair wheels and begins rocking back and forth in place, a kind of fidget on wheels.  "I understand the desire for action, I really do.  My own coming out party was kind of like this – on the verge of some unknown big nasty.  It took me a good long time to hook up with a few good folks able to back each other up, and even then none of us had the slightest idea what in the hell was going on.  No, this should be good for you guys.  You got the back up out of the way first, and even if you don't know what the Big Nasty is, you know that it is.  And have someone keeping an eye out for it.

"I will give you my number, though (he does so).  That's my 'business line' – only a few other special folks have it.  It's actually a hacked line set up by a friend of mine.  If I can't take your call, leave a message and she might even get back to you."

At this he backs away from the table.  "I need to get rolling.  At this point I recommend that ya'll just keep on doing what you're doing.  If this really is a Big Nasty things will clear up soon."

He pauses and casts a long look at the door behind Dracon.  "Vegas, huh?  I owe the missus a weekend away.  This could be handy!"

With a grin and a wave he turns and heads out "his" door.

[kkhohoho]

"I think I'll follow David's leave.  Not you, Immortal, the other David.  If you need me, call me.  If I need you, I'll call you.  If it's an emergency, we meet back here.''  With that, Bob was gone from the room within 1-2 seconds.

[Lord Elcorion]

--Dracor nods to david wheels ((till further notice, this is purely a diferentiating term)) and takes down the number and takes the advice to heart.-- "i can see about finding some room rates for ya, mabe they've got some specials going." --smileing, before nodding to bob, about to say goodbye when he notices the man is already gone.-- "ok.. bob doesn't strike me as your "typical" hero type.. but i think he means well enough.. any way, i'm gonna head out. i need some new incense and stuff to try and focus a divinitory spell.. i haven't really tried anything for such a serious matter like this before, so i need to be careful. in anycase, good luck to you, Immortal." --with that, he turns and makes to exit the room, deciding to try and see if he can transit back on the balconey side of the door, or if the portal is one side only.

[bredon7777]

David looks around and then sits down at the table. It seems a shame to waste good tea, he thinks as he goes through the choices available.  He chuckles softly to himself.  "Green tea, and my favorite brand at that.  Whoever set up this meeting knows much more about us then we of him.  I am not sure I should be comfortable with that."

He prepares the tea, and as he does so, the false bravado he has displayed throughout the evening deserts him and his hands start to shake as he wonders what he has gotten himself into. Whatever it is, you can handle it. And you made some friends.  At least one friend, anyway, as he is not entirely sure he can trust this "Bob".

Stop listening to the memory blocks and believe , he orders himself.  The thought, and the warm tea, seem to calm him.  He sits for a few more moments, inhaling the warm steam, then, feeling a familiar pressure, gets up to exit.  Heh. Never thought I would be grateful to be given an exit that comes out in a bathroom.

He is halfway through his door when he realizes; I hope this room is outside of time as well as space. I do not relish the idea of sleeping on the bathroom floor.

[Lord Elcorion]

As Danny leaves the room, he finds himself stepping out as if he were leaving the balcony.
"Hmmm.. ok.. I was hoping I could step out inside the balconey, but I guess this is ok."
Exiting the theatre, Danny heads home to plan out his next move and get some rest. The next day, he goes in to work and goes to set aside some incense and candles behind the counter.
"Need some guidance, hmm?" Lady Dragonfly nods to the materials as she passes, a stack of books in hand to stock the shelves.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, pretty much. More like trying to find out more about a problem that's come up."
"Well, be careful. the spirits can be wild and unpredictable. You might get more than you bargained for."
"I'll be careful Aunt D. I promise."
That evening, having purchased his materials, Danny returns home, and prepares his altar, the insence and candles burning as he sets out his crystal ball, incanting a protective circle and invoking his spell. He stares into the ball, it's clear interior slowly starting to become cloudy, at least to his perception, as the power of the scrying spell takes hold, casting his mind into the Astral Plane. Danny moves through the mist, mental calling forth his spirit guide, a small dragon spirit.
"Oh Spirit, I seek to learn of the threat we shall face. Can you help me?"
The spirit nods to Danny, and leads him off into the mist. Danny follows, and the mist grows more dense, until Danny becomes aware of another force, extremly powerful and darkly malvolent.
"Spirit, is this the thing we face?" the spirit seems unsure, and quickly retreats into the mist. Danny carefully probes the force, trying to determine more about it. It is wholly unlike anything he has encountered before, and far more powerful than he had imagined possible. As his mind seeks the force's secrets, he realizes with horror that it has started to probe him.
Needles of firey pain lance through his mind as the force tries to grab hold of him, bring itself to where his body lies. Danny gasps and quickly invokes the protections of his circle, barely managing to bring up a barrier between his mind and the force. He then quickly retreats from the Astral Plane back to his body, no doubt in his mind that the Barrier of his protective circle would have mearly slowed the force. As he comes out of his trance, Danny groans, rubbing his temples, a splitting headache having formed in an instant, fueled by the terrible certainty that his efforts have just let the enemy they face know that someone has figured out what it's up to. Danny is also afraid that the Force may have found out some things about him specificlly.
"I'll have to be on my guard. No telling what this thing might do now. Better let the others know"
With that, Danny calls his new allies, telling them each what has happened and what very little he's uncovered.

[kkhohoho]

As Ed raced towards home, he noticed something rather strange out of the corner of his eye.  Backtracking towards what he spotted, he saw a painting of something that resembled a rat on a building-except this wasn't a regular drawing.  At first, it looked like it was done in red paint, but upon a closer look...This is blood...

Ed then searched around the area.  Sure enough, he found another one, though this one was on an abandoned building.  He soon found 10 more.  2 of the 10 were on abandoned buildings, but the rest were scattered around the active part of the area.  This made for 12 blood-painted paintings of a strange creature in total.  Ed rushed to his apartment and got out his digital camera.  He hurried to the nearest symbol, took a photo, and headed over to Wanton's place.

"This is rather strange." said Wanton.  After Ed arrived, he explained to Wanton what he saw and anything else that happened that day.  Wanton took the camera and hooked it up to his computer, so he could get a good look at the picture.

"So, why is it strange?" asked Ed.

"If you think about it, it's like something a cult would do, but there haven't been any cults here for ages."

"So what do you suggest we do?"

"I'm going to look this up online. Fine with you?"

"Sure."

After much searching, Wanton finally came across something most disturbing.  "Oh dear."

"Is there a problem?"

"Perhaps.  It depends if you believe in things most people say can't happen."

"After all I've been through today, I think I'll believe anything."

"I wonder if you will, because this one's a doozy.  Apparently, your 'painting' is a symbol for an ancient god."

"Really?"  Ed said it as though it were a sentence.

"Really.  The symbol stands for Veni, (V-ni)  a god usually worshiped by certain cults.  Apparently, it was left behind by whoever created all of existence to watch over us, and used to a be a loving, caring God, but now, it has seen much of the the worse half of humanity.  The god went corrupt, and it decided to stop watching over us. In fact, at a certain time, it would begin destroying us.  It's apparently waiting for something.  The site won't say what, but it's waiting for something to happen, and when it does, the God will begin destroying planet Earth, and all of the other planets in our galaxy so that we can't escape to the moon or someplace like that.  It doesn't say how it will destroy us though."

"Okay, this-THIS I consider to be a load of bull.  I'm telling you-"

Before Ed could finish his sentence, he saw something rather strange.  He saw Danny speaking before him, but there were no words.  However, Ed did get the impression that there was a big bad, and that it found Danny out. Damn...

"Is something wrong?" asked Wanton.

"Damn right there is." said Ed. "Your information has likely been verified."

"Well, thank you."

"I don't know if you should.  But, as they say, don't shoot the messenger."  Ed then proceeded to call Danny, Immortal, and David, and told them what he knew.  Things looked rather nasty.

[bredon7777]

After taking care of business, David eases the bathroom door open a crack to see a darkened library. Blast! I was afraid of this.

He retreated inside the bathroom to assess his options. I could sleep here, I suppose. I have certainly slept in worse.   He looked at his watch- it was a little after closing time- which left close to 13 hours to kill before the library opened again. So, no.

I could try the door again.  Stay in there, maybe try one of the other doors.  But if I cannot trigger the door, then I wind up out in the library tripping the alarm again. And besides, who knows if I can even open the other's doors. So, no again.

He eased the door back open, scanning for alarms, and quickly finding the motion sensors in each corner. Fixed motion sensors, each with a scanning range of 15 feet.  Doors are locked; hate to bust them; the library's in enough fiscal trouble as it is.

It was a moment later that he saw the partially open skylight.  He hadn't paid much attention to  it on his way in, other than to idly note that they were repairing it. They must not have gotten done by the time the library closed so they'd just thrown a tarp over it and left it open.

They must have thought that no one could get in that way.  Guess they never considered that someone might want to get out.

A quick look around the library to calculate angles, and David was ready.  He backed off to the end of the bathroom and exited the door at a run; leaping onto the librarian's desk, and from there to the top of a nearby bookcase.  A jump from there left him hanging on to the second floor balcony, and from there it was simple enough to jump to the scaffolding, scamper up it and out the skylight. 

He was standing on the roof when he heard the police sirens.   I beat the alarm.  Not too shabby. Still, no point standing here. It would just raise questions I do not want to deal with right now.

A handy flagpole provided a quick trip to the ground, then it was off to work off some of the excess adrenalin.  Sadly, it was a quiet night in Youngstown so a couple of hours later, he returned home to find a couple of phone messages on his door.

I'll deal with these tomorrow.  The world can save itself for the rest of the night .  Hanging up his costume,David went to bed.

[Uncle Yuan]

The street is dark, most of the street lights shot out by folks who prefer the anonymity of darkness to the security of lights.  One such figure shambles along the street.  Once in a while he pauses next to a building or junction box, holds a piece of cardboard up to it and sprays something from a jury-rigged pump sprayer over the card.  He stops only every other block or so, holding up his stencil, leaving his mark.  And although no other human being is about tonight, there is constant motion in the shadows around him.

At one stop, the man pauses to pump his sprayer.  After his sixth design, the man disassembles his sprayer and stares off into the darkness.  The movement following him surges forward and a dozen rats the size of terriers creep into the dim circle of light where he has stopped.  The man draws a butterfly knife and flicks it open with one hand while reaching down for a waiting rat with the other.  Without a sound from either the man slits the rat's throat and drains its blood into the sprayer.  The other rats, some half dozen of them, wait quietly as one by one each is harvested for its blood.  Tank refilled, the man reassembles the sprayer, pumps the handle, then steps over the discarded rat bodies to continue his task.