[center][h2][color=#CCFFFF][i]Presidio[/i][/color][/h2][img]https://drfhlmcehrc34.cloudfront.net/cache/7a/2e/7a2eca87d796d9fd03a702d75817da61.png[/img][/center]Swallowing hard as she heard her supperior’s response, she simply nodded, continuing her work as she started forwards at a diagonal, going right. Her stride sped up, becoming a light jog before she hopped into the air and a set of forcefields buoyed her steps as she took additional hops, quickly climbing across a stairway of forcefields that either fell moments after she’d pushed off of them, or were shattered by the weight of her form and the force behind each step. Moments later she was on the shortest of the nearby buildings to the right of her former position alongside her teammates. Unsure if they would need her assistance, the heroine cast out a spool of sorts, throwing it with more force than she would have been capable of unassisted. A long, thin chain of interlocked forcefields unraveled as the spool flew towards her teammates. Not having [i]locked[/i] the entirety of the shields, Presidio was able to easily guide and arrest the considerable momentum of the construct well before it reached her team. Having already turned away she activated her comms.

[color=#CCFFFF][b]“One of you keep that on your person. If you stick together the presence of that construct--so long as the chain remains intact--will allow me to generate forcefields near you.”[/b][/color] To punctuate the statement, additional forcefields began to pop into existence within inches of the spool, consolidating within several inches of it and moving to accommodate wherever one of her colleagues decided to place it amongst them.

Meanwhile, Presidio herself began to make her way upwards, all the while keeping an eye on the situation as best as she could. More importantly she kept an eye on the hostages and any wire that might be attempting to hide itself on the faces, roofs, or other surfaces of nearby buildings. After all, while she trusted the Director’s judgement, that didn’t mean it was perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

[i]’Speaking of which,’[/i] she thought even as the smaller components of her aura began to assemble themselves into more long thin chains, which then promptly affixed themselves to her armor and began radiating outwards as if she were a sun, and they her rays. As she moved them she [i]locked[/i] many of them in, making them part of the larger construct of her armor. Similarly some of her larger constructs began to fit into one another like puzzle pieces, swiftly creating a suite of eight shields, which then arranged themselves at the ends of the long chains she was creating. Vaguely, the shape appeared as a perforated sphere, with many gaps in its make-up, though she would amend that soon enough. The individual shields themselves were roughly five feet in diameter, with each being an inch or so thick, with their outer surfaces being convex. Flexing her control faintly as she hopped, Kari felt the internal gears and mechanisms of the shields work, causing each to expand outwards a millimeter along its outer perimeter before returning to its original state.

Had she merely been practicing she might have smiled, but the severity of the situation overshadowed any joy she might feel at her work.

Instead all she experienced was a faint satisfaction and a sense of relief that her idea had worked.

As she continued her building, Presidio couldn’t help but doubt and hope, in equal measures, that she could truly make a difference.

With that thought she set foot on a taller building’s roof, sure to let forcefields remain in un [i]locked[/i] state over the outer surface of her renovated armor, particularly on her feet. Now roughly four stories off the ground, Presidio knew that she’d have to do something soon.

What exactly she would do however, well that was a bit up in the air….[hr][center][h2][color=#BA6463][i]Exactly[/i][/color][/h2][img]https://drfhlmcehrc34.cloudfront.net/cache/7a/2e/7a2eca87d796d9fd03a702d75817da61.png[/img][/center]Watching carefully from his position, and that of every entrance of the building, Exactly waited until the villains had passed from his primary perceptions. Then, he moved. As he burst out the door the villains were far enough away to not catch the movement.

Back in the bank one of his duplicates spoke up, its words aimed at his monstrous ally, [color=#BA6463][b]“I’m going to follow them. The authorities will be here in a few minutes at most. Though I’d love to work with you further, I doubt there’s any convenient way to keep in contact. So, until we meet again...I was never here.”[/b][/color] At that, the duplicate turned, ran straight through a wall and then began moving faster than humanly possible. Once at the edge of his range, it shattered. Due to its distance from those who had perceived it, the deleterious effects of its dissipation were greatly diminished, becoming only a brief onset of confusion that quickly faded.

Of course, Kelly was already moving onto his next set of plans. As he passed through the gathering crowd of onlookers, jostling more than a few people in the process, he generated more duplicates, making sure that he left room for two more when and if necessary. The rest he used to further diminish the world’s ability to properly perceive him. That thinker had been able to tell where he was, but looking back on it, he’d only noticed him once he had been struck. To Exactly this meant one simple thing, if he were to act against the villain again, he’d have to take him out of the equation with his first strike.

Casting his duplicates out before him, he had them totally ignore obstacles, with two keeping closer to the pair of thieves. One of them some distance behind, the other some distance ahead. Meanwhile, the rest of his intangible clones remained firmly out of sight, either around corners, or within walls. Sometimes he would have one poke its head out for a better view. However, by and large he just used their other senses, particularly hearing, to lead him on the path of his adversaries and--furthermore--to inform them of any conversations they had.

He wasn’t disappointed in the least as he caught almost the entire conversation they had whilst in an alley. As they slowed, so did he, staying roughly half a block or so off their trail just to be safe. After all, he wasn’t sure how the thinker’s power actually worked. Of course, this didn’t mean that he wasn’t taking active steps to work against the villains. Chief among his measures was the phone call he’d just made, with the prominent numbers being 9-1-1.

With them wrapped up in their own conversation and the thinker’s mind--and hopefully power--no longer on him, he figured that he was safe to inform the authorities even further.

[i]“9-1-1 what is your emergency,”[/i] the operator said in the way of greeting. Kelly smiled, [color=#BA6463][b]“I’m currently in pursuit of a pair of capes, they were responsible for the bank robbery a few minutes ago, I saw them as they entered and managed to make my way out.”[/b][/color] He continued on, stating the street and cross street as well as their exact location. While he didn’t give a name, he did state that he was a cape, and that his advice was to have them followed not by squad cars with sirens blaring, but instead by silent vehicles or even undercover ones.

When the operator tried to inquire further, he declined to answer any personal questions, deflecting instead with honorable intentions and well meaning statements. All the while he kept an eye out so he could hang up or hide if the villains somehow noticed his presence. If the police, First Guard, or Final Guard wouldn’t do anything, he’d make sure to track the pair down and take note of residences or hideouts that they had. If and when he took action he planned not to be alone and, more importantly, he planned to be prepared above and beyond what was necessary for the situation.

After a certain point he informed the operator that he would stay on the line as long as possible, but that he might be forced to hang up by circumstances. After that both went silent.

Though things were fairly serious he couldn’t quite help the smug grin that had spread its way across his features.