[hr] [center][h1]Knuckle Up[/h1][/center] [hr] [h3]Years ago – A World Away, In more ways than one…[/h3] A boy sits on the edge of his bed, bedroom door locked, slowly wrapping his hands. The long fabric, stretched taught as the boy expertly repeated what he’d learned a few years before. Took longer to make sure the tape was in place and secure, but he was never one to skip on preparation. It was always a tougher proposition this, to tape one’s own hands in preparation for battle. It’s probably why any fighter worth his salt always had a trusted team… [hr] [img]http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo63/NMShape/coollogo_com-8436315_zpsd02f9fa5.png[/img] [hr] [quote=@FacePunch] 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. [/quote] [hr] Mere centimetres. Her fist was so close that he could make out the rise and fall of each of the individual knuckles on her gloved hand as it hung there in place. He never flinched. He didn’t blink. Speedsters weren’t a foreign idea to him, even if he’d never met these two. [b]“Are ya done?”[/b] came the voice through his modulator. He looked over the shoulder of the speedster who was previously split seconds from punching him in the face. The other one seemed a little more amenable. Something about the fact he wasn’t holding a fist in his face told him that. With his hands held out in a nonthreatening fashion, he called out, [b]“Because we don’t have much time here right now.”[/b] He directed the blue speedster’s attention to the box attached to the antennae with his eyes. [b]“But the two of you don’t need much time, now, do you?”[/b] [hr] [quote=@FacePunch] [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. [/quote] [hr] Isaac gave a dark smile, fired a line from his grapple gun which sank into the rooftop of the next building over. With a smirk and a step he let himself freefall for a few seconds from the tallest building in the city. He didn’t know the way to this “Arthur’s Tower”. He could guess at who Arthur was. Christopher Arthur, most likely. Money out the arse and one of a handful of people Isaac thought of as Possible/Probable for Iron Knight. The kind of money required to pull off such a lifestyle choice made that list pretty damn short. But in this business, if they’re on the side of the angels secrets are mostly secrets. He hadn’t dug that much because, truth be told, he didn’t really have time to care. He had his own alibi… his own alternate identity to set up and make viable. He wasn’t ready to step back out and punch the darkness of this bold new world in the face yet. He watched as the woman speedster passed him down the building as he dropped at terminal velocity. She offered a wave. Sarcastic or not, he couldn’t tell. It all happened too fast, but he smiled again anyway. This crazy world. The line pulled taught and Isaac swung on a wide arc, he used the winch to tighten the line up a bit and keep himself from swinging into traffic. He fired another line to slow himself down before he’d sprint to the car on foot. Again, he didn’t know where he was going. But that was fine, and he knew it. He knew all too well just how willing speedsters were to show off their gift. [hr] [quote=@FacePunch] Laura waited until the others had made their way down before taking off at a slow jog of only hundreds of miles per hour toward Sherman Square. She had to slow down multiple times to allow the Witch and the masked man to catch up; apparently, a flying broom and a junker of a car couldn't keep pace with a super speedster. Who knew?[/quote] [hr] Isaac did his best to keep pace with the speedster. A futile task and he knew it. As he drove the streets following her he began to get apprehensive. A sense of dread filled him as he began to get a bad feeling that he knew exactly where he was being led to… [hr] [quote=@FacePunch] Eventually the three of them arrived at the front door of Arthur's Tower. Upon entry, they immediately encountered Thunderbolt dressed as a doorman. [color=6ecff6]"May I take your coats?"[/color] He asked in a distinctly poor accent. [color=f26522]"Dork."[/color] Laura shoved her brother to the side and escorted the crew to the elevator. Rather predictably, Harvey chose to take the stairs.[/quote] [hr] Isaac looked the building up and down. The décor had changed, that was to be expected now that the building was privately owned… and given the ostentatious design he gauged that “Arthur” considered himself to have refined tastes. That didn’t impress Isaac. And possibly an ego to match… That would impress Isaac even less. Yes, he knew this building about as intimately as a person could know a building back in his own world. He’d fired a gun within its walls. He’d climbed through its elevator shafts. Circumnavigated its air-vent system. And what he knew of this building back on his own world; Its position, Who owned it, The kind of limited list of people who they’d be willing to sign this building over to... it made him increasingly uncomfortable – vulnerable, even – with every passing second. Back on his world this building belonged to - nay, was the Headquarters of - the government organization known as S.T.R.I.K.E… [hr] [quote=@FacePunch] [color=6ecff6]"We're back! And we brought company."[/color] An obnoxious [b]DING![/b] announced the elevator's arrival to the desired floor. The doors slid slowly open, revealing its costumed occupants who shuffled quickly inside. Boom approached Iron Knight and the Albany kids, letting Vigilante and the White Witch do as they pleased. [color=f26522]"Let's skip the introductions and get right to the debriefing. What's the situation? We heard there were more bombs."[/color] [/quote] [hr] [quote=@Dedonus] [color=C0C0C0]“Wait, what?”[/color] Chris muttered when he heard that the speedster twins had brought some more heroes along with them. When the elevator, which Lyger had just left a few minutes ago, had opened up again, Thunderbolt’s sister, Boom, stepped out, with two others following along. Chris recognized Vigilante from D-Day, although he did not know his name. However, he did not know who the woman was. [color=C0C0C0]“Hey,”[/color] Chris gestured at Vigilante as the three heroes left the elevator carriage, [color=C0C0C0]“Aren’t you the guy who got his finger ripped off during D-Day? I would have sent you an invitation, but I thought an injury like that would require quite some time off the job. Guess I was wrong.”[/color][/quote] [hr] A wry grin permeated from the Vigilante's mask, and he held up a fist, extending the middle finger to the knuckle as if the rest of the digit had been torn off. [b]"Good thing I've got nine more."[/b] the mechanical voice spat. [b]"End of the world comes I'll face it in a wheelchair if I have to..."[/b] [hr] [quote=@Dedonus] He then turned his attention towards the White Witch, [color=C0C0C0]“Who’s the girl that is about eight months earlier for Halloween? Not complaining by the way, but I just like having people whom I know around here.”[/color] [color=f26522]"Let's skip the introductions and get right to the debriefing. What's the situation? We heard there were more bombs."[/color] Boom interrupted Chris with the same urgency that Lyger expressed. Chris just shook his head in disbelief that he was going to have to repeat himself [b]again[/b]. [color=C0C0C0]“We’re just waiting on Icon. Just hold your horses until he gets here. It shouldn’t be long.”[/color][/quote] [hr] [quote=@nitemare shape] [b] “This way.”[/b] Icon said as he began descending the stairs to the floor which housed Arthur’s makeshift headquarters. When the pair rejoined the others, Icon saw that they had been the last to return. Thunderbolt and Boom had already returned, as well as Arachne as well as the Albany group. Also, to his surprise, he saw the man who had introduced himself as Vigilante, the stranger who had known who he was. Icon felt somewhat uncomfortable with the man’s sudden appearance, but he hoped that perhaps he and Vigilante would finally get to have that conversation that Icon had told him they would have. [b] “Sorry I’m late, there were some…distractions while I was looking for the device. But I did run into someone who might be able to help, I’m sure you know of Lady Liberty.”[/b] [/quote] [hr] He looked at the blue powerhouse as he entered with the new hero, and it was at this moment Isaac was glad he'd been taking his history classes, because not knowing who she was would have been suspicious to say the least. Lady Liberty was one of the first of heroes, a World War II hero no-less... and she certainly didn't look old enough for that to be possible. But she was another from this world which never existed on his own. Isaac noticed Icon looking his way briefly, caught a brief knowing gaze and shared silence. This building, this situation, at least Isaac wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable by it... even if Icon didn't feel that way for the same reasons. Other than a brief conversation in hospital, they hadn't really spoken since Isaac revealed he knew his other name. His other life. And how he really came to know that in the first place. Going by this crowd that had assembled it was certainly a conversation for another time and another place. Hell... this building... Isaac wouldn't even let people know what take out food he liked in this building. The walls have ears, and the number of people Isaac trusted with his secrets... Well, you could have counted them on one hand even when he had his finger ripped off. ...and still have had fingers to spare. [hr] [hr] The boy looked down at his finished job. Pulled off rough edges of fluff on the tape and admired his work. He listened carefully to the door to make sure the TV was still playing downstairs, then, feeling safe, he went to a drawer. Lifted a fake bottom and pulled out gloves, a balaklava and a roll of duct tape. He sat back on the bed and carefully slid the gloves on over his rigidly taped hands. He wrapped the wrists of his sleeves in duct tape, keeping loose hair and skin effectively sealed in; something he'd started doing since watching crime scene investigation shows and the amazing things law enforcement could do with trace DNA evidence. He pulled the balaklava on over his head, but before he rose he did one more thing. He pounded his fists into his palms and made sure of his tape job. The boy rose from the bed and a man walked out.