[IC] The Gifted: A Fast Paced Superpower RP

[Unknown100]

It seemed all Kate did was answer phone calls. In fact she was one cheap skirt away from being a frickin secretary. This time however she was surrounded with enough military equipment to put her away for a long, long time if discovered. The jammers, the advanced climbing tools, the prototype interrogation drugs, all of it was to serve one purpose: Giving Caro a really bad morning.
That had been the plan when her phone rang. She hadn’t answered it, not at first. No, she had made damn sure whoever it was knew she controlled the pacing.

“Hello?”

“The LAPD headquarters is under attack,” a raucous voice said.

“… Well,” Kate mumbled and bit her lib. Since the television hadn't even gotten a hold on it, this was probably happening this very minute. Her employers really were well connected. “Shit happens, mate, but it was nice doing business with you Mr. creepy Cabrillo-man. Goodbye”

But her casual manner was stopped by the scarecrow of a man.
“If you hang up, the Cabrillo Group will spend whatever resources, whatever means we have, tracking you down. Finding you, hurting you, burning whatever life you have built, and make an example out of you.”

“… And why, oh why would you hold me responsible? If you had just come to me sooner-”

“If we can’t control Caro, we need to preserve the value of our name by other means,” the voice said.

Here Kate looked around. Her apartment and the interior reflected exactly her point to the world: No one can touch me; you’re not even close.
She had established quite a name for herself and benefited greatly. Just like knowledge was power, being a mystery was power too. Kate was not among the top rollers because, she was the best, she was, because people underestimated her. If that changed, everything her eye now moved over would crumble and fall.
“Let me guess…” she finally whispered into the other end. “Taking down the X can put your company right back on top again?” She did keep some of her charisma, as she said it; no one should take that away from her - life was about enjoying.

The guy confirmed her suspicion and said: “We are not unfair here: It’s impossible to stop whatever is happening right now. No matter how fast you are, it would all be over before you got there. And we don’t expect you to slit the throat of whoever comes out on top in the battle. Just remember: When we need your great expertise again, miss X, then it would be in everyone’s best interest you provide it.”
Then there was nothing but a beeping sound, telling Kate the conversation was over.

[NarcissisticPotato]

"That we didn't know before?" She repeated with a raised eyebrow as she turned to him. "Well, quite a number of things. There has been a dozen more cameras set up around this place since I last inspected it and I don't like that at all. Oh yeah, and it's currently being invaded by a small city-state." She mumbled before clicking up the front of the building onto the screen. It was pure carnage with bodies lying around. "Either that or we have a few nice Metas on our hands who either don't want this guy captured or want to gut him. Do I advise you going in? Not particularly, no, but you haven't listened to me in the past so..."

She shrugged at him and blushed a little, turning back towards the monitor. "I'm eighteen, you idiot! And no, I'm not gay... at least I don't think s- will you just go and kill this fucking guy and forget about quizzing me on my sexual preferences!" She stormed suddenly as she looked around at him with a frown that could probably melt ice. Shaking her head, she turned around and pointed at the screen to him. "The riot police will be there soon. If you want to avoid them, I advise to kill this guy then get yourself some wheels. I can hold them up but I expect to be paid for it! I don't know who contracted you Eli, but this guy's a big shot."

Giving him a hard stare, she settled back in her chair and nodded to him. "Get going, hot-shot, before I have to test you on who the Hell hired you to do such a job." Giving off a disdainful tsk, she began to monitor the situation in the ground. "Oh and Eli! Don't die... I want my pay." She turned to him quickly and fired him a mischievous grin before returning to her work.

[RumikoOhara]

New Player in an Old Game

Cypress had stopped by the doc and gotten a clean bill of health. Then after completing her last order she went back home an dressed once more to go out on the town.

She headed to the garage this time ad climbed onto her Lightning LS-218 Electric bike and headed out. When she'd bought the little hyperactive machine Cypress had just be learning to use her full speed on foot and had thought it's top 220 mph speed was fast. Now to her the bike was just fun because of how little effort was required for her to move at speed.

Once she was out on the street Cypress cruised at the local speed limit enjoying the odd looks her quiet machine drew, the loudest noise it made was it's gears meshing. She wove through traffic with a smooth yet unhurried grace her matching leathers an helmet rendering her incognito.
She headed up the highway towards a track she enjoyed using her plan to blow off some steam.

She knew that back in town was something big going down but it didn't concern her because she'd been told that she should stay out. Not because she wasn't capable of handling the situation but because with so many players already in the game she'd only add to a situation already out of control.

Yeah probably better that she stay out of it after all she wasn't paid by the city but Aperture Labs.

She felt her anger bubbling up again and realized she was doing nearly 115 mph before she knew she'd pulled back the Lightening's throttle. Slowing back down to 65 Cypress continued back towards the San Gabriel and the track she'd originally set as her destination.

She activated her helmet's sound system and found her riding play list but couldn't get in the grove so she changed to local radio station broadcast from UCLA.

She loved the indie music this station played and was beginning to get into it when she was interrupted by a breaking news story about a battle apparently raging down where they were holding the gang boss and some cops had died.

She shook her head trying to shake off any wild ideas she had about getting tangled up in the mess. The station though seemed to conspire against her as it began playing "Cautionary Warning" from Black Heaven. It was suddenly as if her blood were on fire and there was only one way to bank it's heat.

Performing a maneuver that would have reduced another rider to organ donor status Cypress turned her nose towards trouble as in her ears she heard

So now you're down
Have you lost yourself control
To the one you believed could save your soul
Now only time will tell
Will it take you down
Or will you pull through
Like a voice in the darkness of the night
Telling tales
You've become what you despise
And only time will tell
Will it take you down
Or will you pull through

You are my instigator
You are my aggravated
You are my space invader
Cautionary warning

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Aperture Labs Telemetry

"Sir we got a problem here" says one of the monitor observers to his command

"Put it on the screen" says the Telemetry boss.

On the huge screen Cypress's pip shows that the Meta is presently moving at 265 mph through the freeway traffic headed downtown. This in and of it's self would only be the subject of scientific curiosity but her course goal is restricted and that forces the Telemetry ramrod to. Command
"Shut her bike down"

He knows this is only a temporary measure but he needs the time to put in a call to his boss.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Cypress is annoyed at first when her bike suddenly losses all power but she brushes that off by rolling it off the road and parking it. She climbs of her 45,000 dollar toy and doesn't even take off her helmet as she tucks down and heads out in her customary ice skater's sprint. She refuses to allow a balky machine keep her away from where she knows she belongs.

Her red an white riding leathers bind her a little as she accelerated to over 300 mph risking a crash in her haste to reach her goal before she's too late.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Telemetry

"Holy!" Says the monitoring tech as he watches Cypress top 350 in the city streets.

"Sir she's gone exponential" he says over his shoulder.

The Monitoring Boss keeps trying to reach his boss but keeps getting shunted to his voice mail.
"This isn't good, this sure as hell aint good" he mutters as he stops trying. The boss will go ballistic when he finds out his pet project has gone off on her own.
He briefly considers contacting Cypress herself but knows it's against orders for him to allow her to know how much she's monitored. She'd freak if she knew that the only reason she's not monitored in the shower is because when she's naked there's nowhere to hide a telebug.

Punching the armrest of his chair her looks up at the big screen realizing he's possibly watching the end of his tenure in this department and all because of a hot headed platinum blonde

[AcerRo]

"You're not getting laid, not with that attitude. Plus its not like you've done all that much since I saved your life. However if you want to earn some big money, I could use some one sight eyes. Seeing as there is a small city state invading and as powerful as I am, a pitchfork to the skull is a pitchfork to the skull." He let his words and mind trail off for a bit.

He started to think for a few seconds. Like a strobe light flashing dozens of scenes played through his mind. It was a simple thing to figure but he should have done it sooner. The Meta Cops or Heros or whatever the fuck they were called. They were there just as sure as the Mercs. It was the same for the both of them in terms of who should be fear. It was never the ultra powerful that he feared. It was always the weak he feared. The ones you dismissed without a second thought. Those were all the ones that always that bit him on the ass. Having someone weaker than him in terms of raw fighting power would do wonders for him.

"You said there is people trying to gut him or protect him, right? I'm willing to wager that its both right now. If that is the case then we there is no one in the riot police or anyone outside of the meta world that even try to get close.... How long would it take to get in and out?" Elijah rushed over to the computer hoping to see something that would give him an idea. As he was hoping everything was right there and waiting for his inspection. She had even given him a route to take. Going full blast he could easily make in roughly three minutes, that left plenty of time to get the job done but getting out was going to be problem. He wasn't going to have enough to make it out of there in once piece. Maybe on a stretcher but anyway that insure his safety. Sneaking in with a technopath that could easily tell him who was there he wouldn't even have to worry about a smash and grab.

He started with a devious smile. "I'll give you half of my own earnings from this caper... Or you can stay here till the cops get around to it and take you to jail for a B&E. Yeah I agree completely." Without waiting for Ruby's response he picked her up and jumped out the window. He used as little power as he could to get to the HQ. If he played his cards right he would have around twenty-five to twenty-eight minutes left. More if he added support. As he landed a block away, he suddenly felt the need to tell the truth to Ruby. It was more than likely going to piss her off pretty badly but they were walking into a shit storm. It was only fair.

"So uh, I guess before I put your life in too much danger I should tell you... I am not getting paid to do this. So effective I have promised you nothing... but... Gut feeling... The big titty river rat should show up at some point.... And I can promise that you won't die or get mained... Might become public enemy for awhile but you won't die." He took deep breath and ready for the combat that he knew was going to come.

[NarcissisticPotato]

"Fuck off, I don't think you noticed but you didn't get very far with Big-Boobs McGee." She threw a punch at his arm but it didn't do much to the seasoned warrior. Crossing her arms and giving him a sour look, she turned to watch the screen once more. "Whenever I find the right person, I'll lose it to them. I'm not a romantic but I don't want to lose it to some randomer." With that, she was finished talking about her sex-life as she instantly began rattling on about the building.

When he offered for her to tag along, she stopped and stared at him for a few seconds before sighing. "I suppose you did get me out of a sticky situation there..." She murmured with a small shrug before nodding hesitantly. "Ok, I guess I can do it."

When he asked that question, she turned back around to the computer screen. After another minute of incredibly fast typing which caused a whirl of keyboard noises, she had a window open with rather gruesome camera footage from the police HQ. There was bodies littered down along the hallway and it even made her a little awkward. "Well, that doesn't look too good..." She whispered as she stared at him and softly shook her head. "We should be able to prance through there and you are right, the riot police won't go near there if heroes and mercs are going at it!"

Ruby was just about to think through it all when he lifted her and suddenly went flying with her. The sudden acceleration caused her head to hurt, much like the rest of her body, not to mention her stomach, which felt like someone was tap-dancing rather intensely over her stomach. When she was put down, she growled and punched him in the arm. "You usually take girls without their consent, douchebag?"

Dusting herself off, she listened to him propose for her to continue on with him. Considering the fact that he just took her anyway, she was hesitant to go with him but his last offer was too much for her to resist. If she did this, she wouldn't only be making LA news, she would make national news. She would receive all the recognition she deserved, and with it, she would issue her threats to hold her sway in the city. "Fine, but I want Big-Boobs McGee if we get her! Do you know how many sensors they have on her? I would love to trace it back and get all her information, she really is quite intriguing."

[NarcissisticPotato]

[Double post, super sorry!]

[RumikoOhara]

Unexpected Company

Cypress was going faster than she'd ever gone on city streets before and she wasn't even enjoying it. She had to locate her destination by dead reckoning and the occasional emergency vehicle headed in the general direction, it wasn't so easy finding your going when you were going faster than a funnycar.

Eventually she spotted the cluster of cop cars, ambulance and fire trucks by the flash of their lights.

She came instantly to a stop outside the station an surveyed the scene. Other than by her method of locomotion she seems like an unknown quantity which causes several young officers to point their weapons at her. Cypress is certain that her zero friction field can keep the .40 cal pistol rounds from harming her but not others around the area.

So lunging forward she heads into the embattled station. Once inside she tosses her helmet and along with it her main comms with Aperture Labs. She continues deeper into the building passing cops injured and being aided by others. She isn't sure how she'll proceed but she is aware that she'll need more than her fists and feet so she draws a 10 inch tanto from it's sheath. Now armed she begins a sweep of her location even stopping to check a few downed cops only to find they're dead.

Okay whoever these A-holes are they're not playing nice. she says as she sheaths the blade an relieves one of the downed men of his weapon an clips.
She performs a quick check of the glock's mag and finds he never got off a shot.

As a country girl from Yahzoo Cypress is very familar with fire arms and their use and in her present circumstances she'll use one.

[AcerRo]

"I'm about drag you into a life or death situation and the what mind is on... Is not the death but the Senors she's loaded with? Kids today..." With that and one last deep breath, he took his weapon from its holster and regretted the loss of his helmet. All he had was the mask and it would do its job well enough. People would understand the message. Dawning it he grabbed Ruby's hand and off they went into the LAPD HQ.

"We need to work out a nonverbal system quickly." He shifted mods, his mindset became much more about killing and surviving than it was trading snarky comments or talking about Ruby getting laid. He did however have one last comment. "Maybe if your big titty river rat shows up you can get some. I'm sure you can vibrate those sensors enough for her liking." There was no smile or joking manner, just a light hearted comment from a hard hearted figure.

"Want a mask?" He asked with the slightest hint of concern. "I have a spare." Taking it out of his back pocket he simply dropped it on it the ground. If she wanted it, she could pick it up. If not he didn't need it anyway.

Inside the headquarters was nothing short of a bloodbath and complete warzone. Even from just inside the doors there was blood and bodies everywhere. This had no effect on Elijah, he had seen it all before and most the time he had been the cause of it.

They had worked out the system on the fly with Elijah leading and Ruby holding his hand. With the weapon in his right and her in the left she could easily tell him where the unwanted people might be. While there was a lot of coverage the system wasn't full proof as a careless and rookie mistake caused him open open fire, killing a so called officer of the law. Elijah not aware of his surroundings, knocked over a chair. Elijah was already on target when the cop was alerted, all he had to do was pull the trigger. He did so three times, the first hit high in the chest, the next was throat. His final shot landed dead center in his face.

As with any gun fire in an enclosed the shots rang loud and brought more people. His instincts kicked in and ran towards the door. It happened just as he thought it would. An undertrained member of law enforcement ran in the room, soon followed by another. He acted quickly unsheathing his knife and stabing him in the throat. As his body shot blood from the fatal wound, gargling noises came from the law enforcement officers throat as Eli turned his attention to the next one who's death was met by a snapped neck. He slowly let the body to the ground. Retrieving his knife from the first body, he noted the second was a young lady, he doubted that she had had been on the force for less than a year. She had a sweet young face and while she laid there innocently enough. It would have been easy to think she was a sweet, kind girl out to do right. Dark brown hair framed a face of beauty with striking, lifeless eyes. Elijah felt nothing over the girls death, he simply put his knife away and carried on.

"Well, if your maps a right then... We should be a short trip down the stairs to Gang Leader Dip Shit. We can stop rest in the stairwell. Come on." Stairwells were amoung the most dangerous places to be. Thankfully he was far from normal and he could fire pillers of fire up the wells and weild any door he touches shut. That's exactly what he did as they entered the stairwell. "Catch your breath for a minute. We're mostly halfway done. Kill everything on the other side of the door and get out alive."

[MiddleEarthRoze]

Nightingale became painfully aware that nothing was happening outside - but she was certain plenty of things were happening within the station. As opposed to all the officers pouring out, more were going in, guns drawn. Sighing irritably, she swooped back into the station, not bothering to halt her flight as she entered, and headed for Caro's cell.
"Ya see Roze? this is what happens when you take orders from someone else." She thought to herself, a scowl on her face as she passed over various dead bodies. "They get it wrong, and you get left with nothing."
There were two armed policemen stood outside of Caro's cell, pointing their shotguns at her hesitantly as she landed in front of them.
"I've here to relieve you of the scumbag. Get out of here before you run into those mercs." She said sharply, and the two didn't hesitate in high-tailing it along the corridor. Looks like they cared about Caro just as much as she did - not very much.
The gang master looked ready to piss his pants when she entered, slamming shut the metal door behind her and staring at him, narrowed blue eyes piercing his own watery, fear-filled ones. Again, she realized that she wasn't the most recognizable hero out there.
"Don't go filling your tighty-whitey's just yet, dirtbag. I'm here to protect you." She said the last words sourly, turning around and facing the door. If it came to it, she wouldn't let her own life be taken for this.
God, she hated this job.

[NarcissisticPotato]

She stared at him blankly, her lips pursed for only a few seconds before she rolled her eyes at him. "No, unlike you, some of us don't just fantasize about sex or killing!" Quickly, she blushed, realising what she was saying as she landed a kick in his shin. "That doesn't mean I fanta- you know what, can we just go through here without making stupid comments about lesbian sex!" She protested as he retorted his other joke, feeling a faint blush on her cheeks. Cypress wasn't bad but she wouldn't trust her with anything, never mind some sort of sexual act. This whole thing was completely out of context!

"In fact, I'm starting to think that you wouldn't mind seeing under that suit; you seem to have quite an interest in this so called, 'river rat'." She snorted indignantly, her small hand feeling insignificant in his rather big hand. She just hoped that he remembered which hand was which and not give her third-degree burns.

It did feel a little nice but weird at the same time. The idea was simple but efficient, she liked that, but she also liked the fact that he didn't notice her awkwardness. Touching people was a big no-no for her and generally she found that people touching her was a traumatic experience but this was strictly work-related.

The blood and dead bodies initially had no affect on her whatsoever but she was no psychopath - the scenes of him brutally slaughtering people that didn't look too much older than her frightened her a little. She was just glad that Eli would have a continued use for her because she imagined him to be the guy that if he was told to shoot her, he'd do it without a second thought.

The scenes of carnage slowly faded away as the police officers got the message that fighting a meta synergy was not going to work. It was when she was displaying all these images to her phone that she picked up something at Caro's cell. "We got another meta. She has wings, looks to be a hero or something..." She informed to him before sighing, there was another officer just in the room beside them. She decided that today, a good deed should be done. Focusing on him, she narrowed down on his radio before driving it haywire.

It made a shrill noise and exploded, causing the officer to rethink running out to challenge them. "Some people have parents." She reminded Elijah as he looked around in confusion. "And who are we to kill someone who's gonna die for some dickhead who's trying to cover his own back." She murmured, clenching his hand tightly as they moved out onto the staircase. "Could we maybe kill a little less? I can immobilise then if you want me to?" She questioned, looking up at him.

Ruby was a programmer, a damn good hacker and someone who could get your information easily but she didn't like to kill those who didn't have to die. She wouldn't condemn a family to that. "Look, this staircase goes the entire way down. You head to the bottom and follow that corridor to the first set of stairs. Head up from there and I'll meet you. I'll clear out the room and no one will have to die, ok?" She murmured, already stepping forward to follow out the plan.

[RumikoOhara]

A Girl Makes New Friends

Cypress moved with great caution through the station her zero friction field erect and ready. She was no fool and knew she was basically walking into a fire zone. She wasn't sure really why she was here getting involved in something she wasn't being paid for; maybe it was her aborted pursuit of the two criminal meta? But she'd answer that question later for now her full attention should be on where she was.

"Girl I sure hope this aint no fools errand?" She silently asked herself as she moved deeper into the lion's mouth.

Suddenly two police officers taking her for one of the bad guys popped out of a doorway and opened fire at her. Cypress allowed them to expend about 5 shots each before concentrating friction in their triggers locking both weapons into useless hunks of metal

Now I hope the two of you are happy now?
You fired on me without even so much as a hello.
You didn't even try to find out if I was aa friendly or a hostile, of course after what I've seen coming in here I can't really blame you. she says scolding the two officers as if they were unruly school boys an she their teacher.

"Well how do we know even this isn't some kind of trick?" Asks the older of the two officers

I suppose yall have a right ta doubt my position an purpose but let's look at the logic here.
If I were a bad girl then I would have used this here pistol I borrowed from a deceased officer back that way. But I didn't, hell I've even stopped to explain myself.
Now yall can believe me or not but please don't waste ammunition on me as it serves no purpose.
Oh an if yall'd be dears could yall direct me towards a location where I could be of best use? says Cypress sweetly

"Hey wait a second I know her, she's that Hot Meta Aperture has working for them.
Diego has her pic in his locker" says the younger officer

"You're right, I knew I seen her somewhere before" says the older officer turning to his partner

While it's just grand that we've become acquainted an all I think it'd serve the situation better if you gentlemen could give me directions to where these mad men might be headed.
If yall would then I'd be more than happy to send yall some private pictures autographed she says with a smile

The two give her directions and even offer to show her the way till she politely declines saying she'd be worried about their safety and only able to expend part of her effort on her targets. The officers look around themselves seeing the devastation but still wanting to go with her.

Now officers I'd think you'd best serve the cause if you'd try and help get help for your fellow officers that are still breathing. she says before heading off quickly to criminal Caro's rathole.

[AcerRo]

That last question made him stop and pause, he was shocked for a moment. He had to remember he was dealing with a child, who, while great at what she does still needed timr to grow in this profession. This wasnt about mindless slaughter, this was about sending a message to not get between him and his target. A messages that stated how dangerous he was when threatened or cross. The rest of the world needed to know how dumb of an idea it was to turn on him. "What you need to know and learn, this all about a message. Kindness is weaknessin this world, their dead bodies are your messsge to others that you are not to be fucked with. Its the natural order of the underworld. Plus anyone who guards this douche has it coming."

At the end of the stairwell Eli let his hand go from Ruby. With a snap of his fingers, his free hand erupted in to flames. He pointed his hand and let loose a pillar of fire from his hand. The door was thrown off its hinges as it quickly turned molten. His quickly found the police officers guarding the soon to he dead gang leader. Thanks to all the fire still in the air, a quick flick of the wrist and all of them were engulfed in flames. As they screamed in agony amd begged for death. Elijah simply turned to the last standing member of the guard detail. A hero, if he was right. One dressed in some sort of mid evil armor, complete with cape. He turned to the persin and spoke. "Care to dance with the devil in the pale moon light?" While he was not lacking for confidence, there was a certain sinister tone to his voice.

[MiddleEarthRoze]

"Oh, perfect. I get the poetic psycho fire-guy." Roze thought to herself with a roll of her eyes as the merc burst in, the acrid smell of burnt flesh following him into the room. Caro was whimpering softly in fear now, and she wordlessly cast a shield around herself and him; a neat little bubble that this guy would be unable to get through. Until she got tired that was.
"I was never one for dancing hon," She began, her blue eyes narrowing, and casting a daunting effect with the entirety of her face below her eyes covered by her mask, her head shielded by her dark hood, and casting a dubious shadow over her partially covered face. "But I'd quite happily kick your ass back to the hellhole it crawled out of."
It was a foolish thing to do, wasting her energy on both shielding and fighting this guy. But she couldn't help herself. Despite the fatigue she knew she would soon be feeling, Nightingale was already restless. She needed to do something other than float around this scumbag. Drawing one of her shortswords, she didn't lose eye contact with the merc.
She was looking forward to this

[Unknown100]

The media too seemed to already have a firm grasp on what was happening inside the LAPD building and was ready with actual live footage, as the building was getting torn down from the inside.
It was there, as glimpses were getting reshown of humans battling with powers hard to match, Kate knew her choices had been right. Not her choice in trusting Mark.. Oh no. Her choice in life.
There was a reason; a reason Kate chose to benefit from stealing, breaking and capitalizing on her powers. There was a reason she could justify her crimes; a reason she had been able to sleep at night. Because no matter how much she stole from society, it did not matter. Society, as people knew it, was coming to an end.

The footage revealed this assumption to be true…

Here we had people; single individuals unleashing Armageddon upon something that was supposed to be completely secure. And they were tearing down the place, dammit. A handful was doing the work of a small army.

Kate emptied the entire bottle down her throat. Any decent wine-merchant would say that was a waste of a good vintage - and yet she couldn’t care less. Life was about living. Because life, or the life people knew of, was coming to an end.

Once again: The footage revealed this assumption to be true…

“Cheers,” Kate mumbled before tossing the flask away, like it was nobody’s business. Alone in her apartment. Surrounded by the sins of her life: Luxurious furniture, illegal wares and stolen property.

The images on the screen gave enough away to show that this was just the beginning.
One day, one year or maybe in 100 years. It didn’t matter. Society would end.
There were people fighting like little children in this very moment, but with powers enough to classify as A Rank. To them there probably was no doubt there would be a tomorrow. They did not carry the burden… the… knowledge Kate did. One of the side effects of snooping in government secrets was that the world became clearer.
In the world there was A Rank, S Rank… SS Rank. How long would it take before a triple S Rank showed up?
There could be no society, no order in such a world. Not when one man could vaporize The White House and turn nations into ash. And it was coming. Kate knew this, and all she could do was enjoy every second until concepts like money and order were a thing of the past. All she could do was eat expensive caviar, sleep in soft beds and make sure she got laid whenever, however she wanted to.
Kate was an example of the life one could get, if they were extraordinary. And there was no crime in stealing, if the world was coming to an end.

With the drums of mass destruction in her ear and the words from journalists commenting, as if it was gonna matter a year from now, Kate grabbed a new expensive bottle.
“Cheers, guys,” she said, addressing the TV. “You just started it. And you are superhumanly great at digging your own graves.”

[NarcissisticPotato]

She wasn't a child; she just realised a lot more than him. Maybe it was just the massive mind-power or maybe it was just his lack of a conscience but she was very certain of one thing in that situation - they were just mindlessly slaughtering others. There was no deeper meaning behind many of it, he was just killing them because they were there. Despite not being the nicest of people, she knew the difference between beasts and men were that men actually thought about killing things before doing so. Eli just seemed to take it as nothing.

Ruby had wondered briefly about something between them but right then, she knew that there'd never be anything between them. She wouldn't feel safe with someone who wouldn't mind ending her very life. Still, she allowed him to continue on with their horrid duty, blasting the door down and burning nearly everyone in sight.

For one last final time, she did a sweep of the cameras only to discover that Cypress had showed up for some action. She was going to get it, of course, Ruby was planning to have a little vengeance for the punch earlier. "River rat's here." She informed Elijah as she followed him in, taking in the carnage and the two remaining humans in the room.

Quickly, Ruby hatched a plan that would work a lot better in her advantage than the others. "I hope you can see in the dark, Eli..." She whispered as she reached out, focusing down on the lights before she willed the current to stop. After that, darkness descended over the lower-levels of the LAPD building; this was exactly what she wanted.

She could still see, of course - the cameras were loaded with night vision and she utilized that as she leaned down and grabbed a handgun from one of the corpses before melting back into the shadows. Ruby was going to wait for Cypress because as far as she could tell, the other hero had a shield of sorts!

[AcerRo]

"As a matter a fact, I can. Go get the River Rat. Call if you need help, I won't be long." Never once taking his eyes off his shielded for. Elijah's still erupted hands dyed down to a simple two fingers, they left an erry glow in the dark. He didn't stop there as he allowed a small stream of fire to flow from those fingers. Since he held control over fire, he couldn't help but make some fearful shapes such as a massive two headed dragon leering over his shoulders.

"You can walk away from this right now. No one will blame you for not wanting to be burnt to death." With his non erupted hand, he reached into his back pocket and pulled a cellphone. Within thirty seconds he moved it back into his rear pocket. A few seconds later a song started playing. "Is protecting Caro really worth your life?"

As was most meta fights, this came down to skill and attrition. He knew that had the attrition part won, skill was another question entirely. There was little doubt in his mind, that he'd use less power attacking than the hero defending. Overpowering and wearing down the hero ought not to be difficult, but dealing with those short swords could be problematic. If wirse came to worse he could fully erupt and grab any part of the hero, searing anything he touched beyond repair. Hell, if he could get Caro without even combating the hero would make just as happy. He wasn't one to shy away from blood shed but if things were starting to go wrong, he could burn Caro to death and make his getaway. He just had to make sure Ruby was with him. She was too important to loose. Plus she was about his only friend right now.

[RumikoOhara]

And The Show Goes On

Cypress heard an explosion in the direction the two officers told her the likely target was and pushed off was down the hall. Then the lights went out and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the low light in the station. Lucky for Cypress her eyes were better than the military grade goggles worn soldiers in the field for theirs didn't have as powerful a magnification.

Moving with more speed than any others could because of her friction field she spotted a glow ahead an came an instant stop. Then moved forward with caution her ears straining to hear any sound ahead of her. She then hears In Stink playing on a cheap speaker that makes them sound even worse. She then hears a familiar voice threatening someone for protecting Caro.

Elli Mae Honey is that you down there?
My, my what a small world, is that lovely little Ruby with you? says Cypress as if she were greeting an old friend

As she chatted Cypress scanned the hall around her and grinned as she spotted a firehose. She moved over to the fire fighting tool and unlimbered it.

[MiddleEarthRoze]

Nightingale wasn't perturbed in the least by the flaming dragon heads that the Merc made appear. Nor was she impressed by his continued theatrics, or the song he had put on. She preferred something a bit more upbeat, and a bit less patronizing.
"What, this scumbag?" She replied, glancing over her shoulder at Caro, then looking back at the Merc. "Nope. No-one's worth my life - no one that I've met yet, anyways." She added nonchalantly, the shield still up. It was a wonderful thing. It wouldn't allow anything to pass through it on his end, but she could still attack from her end. The only drawback was the energy cost. She wondered how long she'd have to deal with him alone until another Hero showed up. Not that she was worried.
"But you see, it's all a matter of principle..." She added conversationally, her hands igniting the blades in her hand with a blinding blue energy, making them about 100 times more deadly than before. "You've challenged me. I don't want people thinking that I'm some sort of weakling. Besides, I don't get paid if I walk away."
Tensing her muscles and narrowing her eyes at the Merc, she inclined her head.
"I'm Nightingale. Do I get a name before we begin?"

[NarcissisticPotato]

Ruby simply didn't have the option to have as much fun as Elijah - she had to hack into one of the most futuristic corporations on the west coast, for the second time that day! It was painfully obvious to her that she could never even hope to beat Cypress conventionally. The woman not only was much stronger than her but she could apparently control friction and inertia and thus it didn't take an idiot to work out that a fight between them wouldn't end well for Ruby.

Of course, she still had weapons that Cypress couldn't even begin to understand. How could she? She was dealing with a girl who could start a new era of technological wonder if she wanted to. Granted, she didn't want to do that right now - she wanted to get some good old vengeance with psychological warfare.

Cypress' suit was deceptively low on defences, despite how ironic that sounded. As soon as she passed the desk that Ruby was hiding behind, she could feel her powers latching onto the on-board systems that Aperture had oh-so-cleverly engrained into the fibres. She was smarter though, and tracing the signal back to Aperture was easy. It was basically a back door into their systems now that she had something physical within her range.

After that, all she had to do was bring up her file and she was ready to go. Her suit was high-tech, probably costing millions and it was rather brilliant because she could manipulate most of it. For this one time, she sent a nice little shock up from the base of her spine towards her neck before stopping abruptly. "I wonder what mommy and daddy would think of little Cypress now..." She taunted, the loudspeaker throughout the halls playing her voice as she smirked a little - she was enjoying this way too much, despite sharing Cypress' lack of parents.

"Wonder would they be proud that you're a sexualized lab-rat for a corporation that will chew you up and spit you out? And what about this judge guy? I'm sure he's rolling in it; he wouldn't ever think to tell you to stop before you find yourself driving off a cliff. You see, Cypress, you're the pawn in a game that you don't fully understand. You never have ceased all your mindless rabble to ponder about what happens when you step beyond your line of duty." She murmured through the speaker before suddenly, the tv up in the corner lit up; pictures of a past she never really knew scrolling past.

"Now, I want to challenge you to work out how long it would take me to load up this nice judge fellow with enough evidence to have him put away for a long time." She smirked; this really was too much fun.

[RumikoOhara]

A change of plans

Cypress felt the jolt from the hidden meters in her motorcycle leathers quickly accessing her situation she pulls her friction field close to her body. With no electrical source, taser wires, electrical arcs or any other visible point of origin she recalled the day there was a short in her telemetry vest.

"Well now don't that take the cake?" She thinks as she whips off the Leather motorcycle jacket. When she returns to work she plans on acquiring an explanation of why she's been covertly monitored.

Standing now in tight yet lightly padded an armored riding pants she says
Well now sweety let's see who's willing to go the distance.
You want to play games with me then that's fine but when yall threaten tha Judge who's perhaps tha most up standing man on this here earth it makes me think that perhaps you aren't redeemable.
Yall are no more than a thief an now a murderer.
What say I make this a fair fight an give yall my word that I'll not use an ounce of Meta talent to fight ya; would that make this more appealing?

Cypress smiles as she looks around herself and begins to formulate a plan.

Yall shouldn't be so dock martin in your thinking Ruby, sex sells and just because I'm comfortable with my body is no reason for you to feel jealous, from what I remember your's aint bad either.
As for my departed parents, they'd be proud of me for sure because I choose my own path.
Of course now that I've played back tha emotional content of you statement I wonder about you..
Do you feel unappealing?
Has life been so rough on you that you've simply become a hater? Were you someone's Lab Rat?
Cypress asks sympathy in her tone of voice