[b][u]2:55 AM
Rooftop outside Aquarius Apartments, Bazaar Quarter, Poseidonis[/u][/b]

All at once, every muscle in Malcolm’s body went tense. And for the first time in [i]hours[/i] it had nothing to do with the insufferable chaffing of his suit. 

Before the living electromagnet had even spoken, the armour-clad teen was on his feet, alerted to his roommate’s approach by the residual electricity that danced across his vision clearly headed behind him… well, that and the incessant buzzing in his ears.

[color=orangered][i]’Oh my fucking [b]Christ…’[/b][/i][/color]

To his credit, he managed not to say that out loud… Or scream it at the top of his lungs- as he so wanted to..

Instead, he kept his eyes locked on the party across the street and though clenching his fists, letting out what was clearly a particularly pissed-off breath and screaming all manner of profanity in his own head… remained [i]civil[/i] as he answered the hero.


...Or rather, he [i]tried.[/i]

[color=orangered]”You fuckin’ [i]dumba-[/i]”[/color] ‘Mako’ all but snarled through his voice modulator but managed to catch himself with a little hiss through his clenched teeth as he glanced over his shoulder, waving Static down [color=orangered]”Would you get down here, cut the ‘Theatric Entrance’ shit and kill the lightshow before you draw [i]every working set of eyes in a two block radius?[/i]”[/color] 

Orin, whos attention had been focused on the party in the apartment across the way suddenly was pulled back to their current location by the voiced behind him. Turning, he saw Malcolm in heated discussion with another costumed figure. Considering the newcomer hadn’t attacked on site, he was most likely along the more ‘moral’ side of things, but Malcolm had a point. He was drawing a lot of attention. Stepping away from the edge of the roof, Orin began walking quickly, his long strides taking him in a circle around the pair of whispering teens. This suit was designed for invisibility and surveillance, and practically and combination of the two. Coming back to his starting position, Orin flicked his wrist and slid a small disk from a pouch on his forearm. Tossing it on the ground between the two bickering heroes, he cleared his throat, shimmering back into view.

[color=LightSeaGreen]”My associate has a point. You draw too much attention friend. Fortunately, this should help.”[/color] With a snap of his fingers, a chameleon shield went up around the trio, throwing up a projected image of their surroundings while hiding them from all but the most advanced view.

[color=LightSeaGreen]”There. Now that that’s taken care of, it seems we should clear up some misunderstandings. I expect we’re on on roughly the same side after all, considering nobody’s gone for weapons yet. Let’s work this out. Hopefully before whatever those young ladies took over there hits them like… What was it? A freight train?”[/color]

“Shit.” Static mumbled to himself, watching another come out of the woodwork. Upon the request of the first one, Virgil jumped off his board and stood with the two armored individuals. There wasn’t much he could do against two. They both seemed like out of his league, but the first one had something about him that stood out. 

“Wait…” He put his hands up and looked at the second figure. “Hits them? Is this a drug thing?” They didn’t put up guns or arms, so obviously they didn’t want to hurt Static. At the very least, they didn’t want him to become collateral in whatever was going on. Clearing his throat, he shook his head at them. “Of course its a drug thing. It always is. So what’s going on?”

[color=orangered]”We don’t know yet.”[/color] Mako answered plainly if a little abruptly as his head turned back towards the direction of the party… only to find that whatever distortion field that Orin had thrown up was kicking up enough juice to be opaque to his eyes- making him more than a little agitated to be wasting time with [i]this[/i] right now, of all things. Especially with [i]Karen[/i] in there. [color=orangered]”Which is why we’re watching. [i]Quietly.”[/i][/color]

Static nodded. Made enough sense, but they’ve been watching for a long time, and haven’t picked up on much. “Then we’re watching the wrong thing.” he suggested to them. “If there’s drugs in there, someone has to be moving them in. Unless this is like a whole den and the good stuff’s already in there, there’s no point in watching the party. We gotta watch the doors.”

He felt like he was actually doing something. He liked school, he liked normalcy, but being a hero was why he stayed up late at night. These two atlantean heroes seemed to welcome a stranger well enough, which helped in making Static feel a little more at home underwater.

Mal’s brow twitched at that, unseen beneath his helmet.

[color=orangered]”As a matter of fact, we’ve already got someone on the inside gathering intel.”[/color] ‘Mako’ explained frankly as he crossed his arms [color=orangered]”The [i]original[/i] plan was to act as back-up in case anything went wrong. But now that plan’s gone out the window with civilians in harm’s way...”[/color]     


At that, Mal leaned forward slightly, indicating to himself and the [i][b]’Mighty Cuttlefish’[/b][/i] with his thumb.

[color=orangered]”So when the word’s given, [i]we[/i] are going in. [i]By the books.”[/i][/color]

[color=8882be]”By the books. Right.”[/color] Static muttered only to himself, as if that meant anything to him. Now that he was able to get a good look at this armor up close, he was starting to notice how similar in design and architecture it was to the rest of Atlantis’ overall design and aesthetic. Not even in a way that would suggest them being normal Atlanteans, but this armor looked like it had weight to it. These people were someone. [color=8882be]”I’ll let you guys take the lead on the whole drug raid.”[/color] He nodded to mostly himself in reassurance before looking back at them. [color=8882be]”Yeah, yeah. Where do you need me?”[/color]

Orin smiled wryly behind his tentacled mask as he watched the mounting tension between the two boys. Teenage ‘big-dogging’ as he’d heard some of the surface-dwellers refer to it. So long as it didn’t get in the way of the mission at hand, there was nothing harmful about it. He turned back to the building across the street and stepped out of the cloaking shield he had set up, taking in the scene of the party.

[color=LightSeaGreen]”I can see multiple entrances, at least for myself. I can slip in practically anywhere, nobody will spot me. The two of you might have a harder time sneaking in. Which begs the question: Is sneaking in out of the question? Or shall we simply flex our muscles and burst inside?”[/color]

[color=8882be]”We shouldn’t bust it up. Not without knowing what sort of firepower they have inside. Not to mention civilians.”[/color] Static let out his opinion with a finger and a thumb on his chin. There was already someone on the inside, probably there to verify that drugs were already in circulation at the party. Maybe they could lend their hand at seeing what kind of guns were inside. [color=8882be]”Plus, we don’t even know what the drugs are doing to people. If they freak, they could attack us first.”[/color]

[color=orangered]”Agreed.”[/color] Mal nodded with a little sigh, he wasn’t exactly too happy with the idea of bringing Virgil on board their little ‘Sting’. Knowing better than most the guy wasn’t exactly the most… [i]subtle[/i] person he’d ever met (sorting through all of Mal’s things with strangers aside). [color=orangered]”Alright, so here’s what we’ll do-”[/color]


[color=orchid]”-No time, I have one of those pills.”[/color] Karen’s voice suddenly filtered in through his ear… with what was clearly a whole lot of vomiting going on in the background. [color=orchid]”Hear that?”[/color]


[color=orangered][i]<”Ya got that, Big Guy?”>[/i][/color] Mako fired toward the Incognito King in his own tongue [color=orangered][i]<”Almost showtime.”>[/i][/color]


Head snapping back towards the hero in front of him, he brusquely opened one of the pouches on his belt, fished out another communicator and held it out for the lad.

[color=orangered][b]”You.[/b] There’s an [i]arcogenerator[/i] under a manhole in the parking lot on the other side of the building. Get in there, wait for my signal, and disable it when I tell you.”[/color] Malcolm barked in an almost military fashion, the rapid approach of ‘GO TIME’ instinctually kicking down any thought of grumption and hesitation before his head turned back toward Orin [color=orangered]”Big Guy, pick an access point, I’ll go in from the other side and we’ll move quick and quiet in a pincer movement. Sound good?”[/color]    

Orin nodded and stepped up onto the edge of the building. He tapped the earpiece Mal had given him to make sure it was securely in place, then turned towards his companions. [color=LightSeaGreen]”I’ll be on the leftmost balcony. On your signal, I can move in anywhere inside.”[/color]

Turning back to the ledge Orin crouched down and leapt into the open space, his powerful legs propelling him through the air. Though not as powerful as Tanks leaps, Orin could clear quite some distance. However, landing could prove to draw some attention. To slow himself down, Orin spread his arms halfway through his arc and activated the ‘fins’ on his suits. The winglike membranes spread to connect his arms and body, catching the wind and slowing his descent so that he landed softly on the semi-crowded platform. His suits advanced camouflage system allowed him to blend in perfectly with his surroundings, standing by a deserted section of the railing to keep a close eye on the party up close...

Static was already gone by the time that Orin had jumped. Communicator in ear, he had already took the long way around the building to not get spotted. Slipping down to the ground and using his control over magnetic fields was child’s play to move a manhole cover. The vigilante slipped into the sewers to locate the generator in question. His ears were still tuned to the earpiece, making sure he didn’t miss his mark when mako would finally call out to him. Once in position, he tapped his ear and made his location clear. [color=a187be]”In position.”[/color] he reported quietly. 

With a grunt, Mal was on the move not long after the others, leaping off the edge of the building and keeping largely out of sight as he maneuvered his way around to the far side of the penthouse, grappling and clinging to the underside of the balcony opposite Orin’s. Still not activating his suit’s own reactive camouflage knowing that, unlike the King’s own gear with it’s modern, ultra-compact arcogenerator, he was running with a magi-capacitor that was older than most [i]languages[/i] above the waves. One that had a limited capacity.

Luckily, he had no intention of drawing this out. 

Still, it paid to take the necessary precautions.

[color=orangered]”Bubble-Pop, can I get an analysis on that drug real quick?”[/color] Mako called over his headset, making a point to avoid calling Karen out by name on the channel [color=orangered]”I’d like to know what we’re dealing with. Preferably [i]before[/i] we go into the breach.”[/color]

[color=orchid]”Yeah, I’m in the middle of it right now,”[/color] she said, the sound of Malcolm’s scanner running in the background clearly audible. It only took a moment to run its course. [color=orchid]”...Alright, uh...it’s an arcane stimulant with a neural sedative. Not sure how [i]that[/i] works, but that’s what it said.”[/color]

[color=orangered]”Greeeaaat… so we have no idea how crowd control’s gonna be.”[/color] Mal replied, shaking his head a little but accepting this kind of complication as the usual state of affairs in his life [color=orangered]”Situation normal; all fucked up... Sparky, you in position?”[/color]

[color=a187be]”Hit me with the say so.”[/color] ignoring the nickname, Static look a look at the acrogenerator once more. Surely, he just needed to fry it, cause a disturbance. This should let the two others break in and handle thing. [color=a187be]”Yo, inviso-dude. Ready?”[/color]

Cuttlefish ducked down as a nearby party reveler swept an arm out, nearly colliding with the hidden king. He chuckled to himself and tapped the earpiece, counting on the suits built-in noise dampeners to keep him from being heard by the nearby people. [color=LightSeaGreen]”I am in position. On Makos mark.”[/color]

Turning his head to take one last assessment of where all the players were inside; his targets, his civilians, [i]his Kare-bear...[/i] Mal allowed himself a deep inhale and a slow, calming exhale as the reactive armour of his ancient suit quietly hissed itself to life.

[color=orangered]”Sparky…”[/color] He finally called out over the comms, voice actually filled with something less than pissed off intensity for the first time in a while. [color=orangered][i]”Welcome to the fucking [b]Argonauts. [u]Now drop that shit.[/u]”[/b][/i][/color]

With a mighty exertion of power, Static threw his hands forward and let the spark fly at the generator. What a kickass line that was by the angry one, he could almost forgive him for being a big of an asshole as some others he knew. Overloading a generator was easy. No matter who made it, no matter how much it could take, this was something Statis was good at. Of course, you couldn’t overload a generator without a little….

[b][i]BANG![/i][/b]