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[b]Chambers Building, Lost Haven[/b]

Polemos watched the 'White Witch,' as she called herself, work. He'd admit in a moment that he had no idea what the sorceress was up to. He only prayed to the gods that she knew what she was doing and wasn't just attempting to avoid getting shot. When she reached for the black spell book, Polemos didn't waste any time aiming his firearm at the girl. Her intentions quickly revealed themselves to be benevolent and Chike allowed her to continue without the pressure of a gun (metaphorically) pressed against her temple. Chike grew ever more impatient and confused as the woman exclaimed Eureka. The sudden appearance of the mist and the vial of an unknown substance caused the already wound-up vigilante to jump in surprise. [i][color=aba000]Hate magic. Hate it, hate it and hate it some more.[/color][/i] He thought grimly. Chike was so focused on the witch's wizardry that he hadn't noticed the arrival of the figure draped in black. That is, until he spoke: "You could have saved your breath, doll."  The voice of a man in black crackled through his voice modulator after she'd finished her incantation.  "If you're here for the same reason I am, it's right there..."

[color=aba000]"Who the hell-"[/color] Polemos growled, his assault rifle once more trained on another new arrival. [i][color=aba000]These super-types just keep coming out of the wood work, don't they?[/color][/i]

The black salt had done its work. A small cylinder seemed to manifest into existence, attached to the side of the Chambers Building's telecommunications antennae. Chike allowed the enigmatic man the benefit of the doubt and shouldered his rifle, hoping that he wouldn't be needing it again. He jogged over toward the device. It had to be the bomb. What else could it be? The cylinder wasn't like anything the anti-hero had ever seen. It was small enough to be grasped from top to bottom with one hand. An emerald covered sphere sat in the center of the device, wired to the inside of the cylinder. A number of buttons dotted the sides of the weapon; none of them were labelled, unfortunately. Polemos had seen explosives before, but the Soviet-era landmines he'd found in Uganda were nothing like this. [color=aba000]"Never seen anything like it."[/color] Chike muttered to his current companions. He doubted the two of them had either. 

If only they had one of those super geniuses like Iron Knight here. Or Icon; he could probably chuck the thing into space before it went off. Hell, Chike would prefer almost anyone over the motley crew that had decided to show up. They were all exceedingly human. Without a word, Polemos left the bomb and jogged over to the side of the skyscraper. Far below, he could see the flashing red and blue lights of police cruisers pulling to a stop in front of the Chambers Building. A few shapes exited the vehicles and started to make their way toward the front door. [color=aba000]"Cops are coming. We don't have long before that thing goes off."[/color] Chike furrowed his brow in frustration. His only idea was utterly moronic, completely crazy and very dangerous. But he needed to do...something!

Chike took the AK-47 in his hands yet again. He shouldered the rifle and took aim at the street below. No civilians in sight; the police weren't moving, except for the ones already heading inside. He had to pick his shots carefully. If he misread the wind, he could wind up becoming a cop killer. Bullets rained down from the top of the monolith, slicing through the air with impunity. The lights atop the cruisers exploded, sending glass scattering across the asphalt. Calls for back up were inevitable. Chike had heard that the best way to get a cape's attention was to cause a scene. Hopefully, this would be enough.

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Eric Harrison was omnipresent. Text flew across the computer monitors positioned in front of him. The television positioned on the far wall played Channel 56, Lost Haven News, at all hours of the day. Classical music echoed inside the tiny apartment, hindered only by the array of advanced technology and equipment that covered the entire room. There was barely room to stand. Eric sat at his desk in the middle of the chaos. His fingers danced across a keyboard to the beat of Bach. The internet offered a wealth of information; a constant stream of knowledge, ripe for the taking. Whenever Eric sat in this chair, he felt...complete. As if the web was an extension of his body. He and technology were one. The amount of raw data he needed to sift through was incredible. He had a number of algorithms running that presented him with only the most critical and vital statistics and facts. Yet even then, there so was much to work with.

The boy's ego told him that he was the only person in the world fast enough to be the Speedster Twins' information broker. That was likely untrue, but Harrison's pride was nearly as expansive as his intellect. He watched as Thunderbolt and Boom ran about the city at unfathomable speeds. They were searching for the bomb, and Eric was helping them. Word of the attack at the Chambers Building briefly appeared on the web and quickly faded into obscurity. Eric mulled over whether or not he should inform the speedsters of the altercation. It wasn't important in the grand scheme of things. There were reports of shots fired, but no word on deaths. On the surface, it appeared to be just another criminal looking to capitalize on the chaos. Crime had spiked since Pax Metahumana made their threat on national television. What was one more shooting?

"Hey, Boom. There's been a break in at the Chambers Building over in Sherman Square. No specifics have come in just yet, but the police are calling shots fired. I figure, since you're in the neighborhood..." Eric trailed off. He might as well tell her. If she thought it inconsequential, the speedster would ignore the altercation. She, unlike her brother, knew how to prioritize.

[color=f26522]"Could be that someone found the bomb. The tallest structure in Lost Haven sounds like the perfect place to launch a city-wide biological attack from. I'll check it out; won't take more than a second or two."[/color] She replied.

Before Polemos could so much as turn around, a blue blur raced up the side of the Chambers Building and struck him on the jaw. Chike went flying and smashed into the side of the antennae, denting the metal legs that held it up. [color=aba000]"W-"[/color] He tried to speak, but was silenced by a swift kick to the nose. Boom turned to attack White Witch and Vigilante, believing they were working with the shooter. "Wait!" Eric shouted into their comm link. The speedster stopped, her fist inches from the man in black's face. "I recognize him. He helped Icon and the others close the portal during D-Day." Eric paused. "The other one might be the White Witch. She's been cropping up in news reports and rumors all around Chinatown for the past few months."

[color=f26522]"Who's their friend?"[/color] She asked, not bothering to address the two others just yet. "Uhm. Well. Let me put him through STRIKE's facial recognition-" "You have access to that?" "Not officially. I've got a match. Chike Baatul, AKA Polemos. He was a big time super villain a while back, but it says here that he dropped off the grid once Ares was defeated." Another blur of lightning came rushing out of the stair well and Thunderbolt came sliding to a halt next to the antennae. [color=6ecff6]"Thought you might need some help. Hey, what's- this doesn't look like it should be here. I think we found the bomb."[/color] Harvey commented as he examined the device. "Don't touch it. Let me see if I can verify that." Eric plunged back into STRIKE's databases, looking for any word on the Pax Metahumana weapon. There was plenty of speculation, but nothing concrete. Eric found what he was looking for in the most unlikely place: the 24-hour news cycle. "..local authorities in four different cities across the United States has received an anonymous tip about the location of four other devices planted in those cities..."

Eric went straight for the internet. It wasn't long before he found a cellphone video of a device matching the appearance of the cylinder being disarmed by police. "That's the bomb." He confirmed. [color=6ecff6]"Uhhhh, why is it beeping? The thing is beeping, Eric."[/color] Thunderbolt watched in abstract horror as the emerald sphere inside began to spin. [color=6ecff6]"That can't be good."[/color] The speedster had no idea what to do. He wasn't versed in bomb defusal; most beat cops weren't. His costumed fingers raced across the surface of the cylinder, looking for an access port of some kind. But the tech was like nothing he had ever seen. The beeping grew faster and Thunderbolt started to panic. He was moments from just pulling out all the wires and hoping that turned it off and didn't cause to it explode. "There's no time to defuse it. You've gotta get it out of range, T! NOW!"

Thunderbolt ripped the bomb from the antennae and took off toward the ocean. Harvey broke the sound barrier on his first step. He couldn't hear the device beeping, but the flashing light was speeding up. He had to get it out of Lost Haven before it was too late. Luckily for the city, the speedster could run at Mach 600. Thudnerbolt pushed himself to his limit until he felt his feet slam down on water. Harv glanced down, and smiled in amazement: he was running on water. He'd done it once before, but he'd never get used to it. He was practically Jesus. Harvey dropped the cylinder off in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and watched on as the dome formed underneath the waves, totally harmless. The only way it'd do anything is if a submarine happened to pass by; which seemed quite unlikely. The speedster made his way back to the Chambers Building in record time.

"We have a problem. Some of the other bombs have gone off and green, transparent domes have suddenly formed around the cities of Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Seattle."

Boom turned toward Vigilante and White Witch. [color=f26522]"You need to come with us. More bombs have gone off across the country and we're going to need your help before the entire human race is turned into metahumans."[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Let's take them to Arthur's tower. We need to coordinate our next move with the rest of the heroes."[/color]

They were in for a long night.