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[color=CC5500]"Ouch..."[/color] Blake grumbled as he kicked aside a few heavy-looking pieces of pavement. Even though Rumi had begun searching for the trap door, Blake was still looking, in part because he had nothing better to do. As he sifted through the piles of rubble, his mind drifted towards his friends that were trapped in some sort of death trap mafia mansion. Blake had watched enough classic mafia films to know that whatever was going on behind those walls could not be anything good. Angie, Brie, Tom, Patricia...they were all stuck in there, and that dire thought made his body rumble with fire. Unfortunately, not much could be done right now, except for helping to search by kicking over some rocks, and so Blake continued his rock-kicking crusade.

Meanwhile, Christina spoke to Rumi as his robots did their scanning thing. She nodded as they mentioned the dead body. [color=salmon]"There'll be an investigation, of course, but I'm sure you guys are in the right. You always are. Well...you normally are. Sometimes,"[/color] Christina corrected herself as she walked slowly after the robots, speaking to Rumi. [color=salmon]"Mmm...Paradox is an interesting character. That is his real body, by the way, or at least I think. I can send you the specifics after this is over. His files are supposed to be sealed right now...but I think, considering this run-in, you've done enough to learn more."[/color] Christina stopped in the epicenter of the destroyed house, removing a small pyramid silver device from her belt and attaching it to the ground. The pyramid begin to spin as a green light shot upwards from the pyramid, into the sky. The device was a HERO Beacon- it would provide direct coordinates to the location for any HERO that was currently interested, which Christina hoped would be quite a few. She then looked over at the drones. [color=salmon]"Looks like they found something,"[/color] she noted as she walked over, shoveling a large slap of granite (likely once a kitchen counter) out of the way to reveal a heavy oak trapdoor. With a strong thrust of her leg, Christina smashed the door in, the trapdoor splintering and falling down, revealing a long ladder down into a secret tunnel.

[color=salmon]"That's our way in. I'll be staying behind for a moment to gather some more heroes in this area. I would command you guys to stay back, but I have a feeling that you're going to want to charge in and save your friends. If you want to do that, my eyes are closed. Just please don't get yourselves killed in there, if you do?"[/color] 

[@canaryrose] [@Scarifar]
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[color=DarkOrchid]"It's fine, Patricia. Think you might want to consider losing some weight, though,"[/color] Grace commented dryly. She listened quietly as Patricia explained her circumstances and the mysterious organization known as Zero. She shivered as Patricia said the word Zero. [color=DarkOrchid]"Never heard of them,"[/color] she whispered as Patricia described a horrifying process that this strange entity was using to somehow kill heroes. If it weren't these circumstances, Grace would not have believed Patricia, butt she could only assume that the girl was telling the truth. That, or she had somehow been addled with, but she was inclined to presume the former. She then listed to Tom's plan (or more accurately, lack of one) and followed him back. She felt worry in her veins- she was, in essence, relying on Tom's powers, the tiny bit left of hers, and a suspicious machete that Patti had found to fight an entire mafia. That was not a strategical advantage, but Grace supposed they would make it work. 

She watched as Tom peeked through the whole, whitening as she heard the news that Angie had been caught. [color=DarkOrchid]"She looked like she had it under control..."[/color] she murmured as Tom seemed to formulate a plan. After telling her to [color=SteelBlue]crush someone with an incomplete portal or whatever,[/color] which was not how her powers worked at all, Tom then very daringly decided to kick open a hatch and float himself, along with the two girls (without their permission, of course), down to the ground. There, Grace noticed one of the goons already downed by the falling door [color=DarkOrchid]("the idiot")[/color], and that Tom was currently fighting Tommy, which left one goon for her to deal with, so she made haste in doing so. She looked over at the shell-shocked goon and quickly manifested a small portal in her hand, the size of a dinner plate, and sent it careening towards him. The portal rammed him in the gut, sending him spiraling backwards head-first into a gold light fixture. The light fixture did not break, but Grace was pretty confident something else did, so success.

She turned back to face Tom, seeing the younger Gugliano sprawled on the floor in front of him, and noticing his nosebleed as well. [color=DarkOrchid]"Tom, your nose-"[/color] she started, quickly forgetting the circumstances that they were in, before snapping back to reality. [color=DarkOrchid]"Right. We should go before we get-"[/color]

[color=gray]"You get what?"[/color]

At the end of the hallway was a tall, muscled mafioso with an instantly recognizable ugly face. Vinnie Gugliano. In his hands was a gold handgun that Vinnie was aiming towards the girls. [color=gray]"Caught? I'm afraid it's a little late for that. Now, be a good boy and come quietly, or I won't hesitate to pick off one of these ladies. I hate to lose out on a paycheck, but I'm sure I can afford to lose out on one or two."[/color] He twiddled his trigger finger. [color=gray]"Now everybody get your asses on the ground and wait for my men to take you away, or else good ol' Chompy the Swampjaw will be taking a break from his all-fish diet for some teenage girl."[/color]

[color=DarkOrchid]"Teenage? I definitely don't look that-"[/color]

[color=gray]"Shut the hell up, bitch, and get on the ground!"[/color]

[color=DarkOrchid]"Alright, alright, fine,"[/color] she muttered as she sank to her knees, giving one desperate look up to Tom. She did [i]not[/i] want to get shot right now.

[@KaijuBaragon][@Amethyst][@canaryrose]


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I'd like to take this moment at our 200th IC post to thank our sponsor.

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Chick-Fil-A! When you want a chicken sandwich, head to your local Chick-Fil-A! We may have said some naughty things, but our food is TOO DAMN GOOD.

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