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[b]Wednesday May 15[sup]th[/sup], 7:00pm- south New Haven[/b] 

Surge had managed to finish up at the gym a little earlier than usual, well to say finish up wouldn’t be quite right. He had however decided to push the paperwork that he had been working on off until tomorrow. So it was that the push notification from Privy flashed across the screen in his helmet as he sped through Ville Rogue along River Street. Before he could even open the notification the built in headset on his helmet began signaling that he had a phone call.

[b][i]“Incoming Call from Barry”[/i][/b] The notification both showed as text at the top of his visor and chimed in his ear in a vaguely robotic but yet still pleasant voice. Sighing inwardly Surge gave the necessary eye movements to answer the call. 

As he expected before he had any chance to greet his former teammate and friend Barry launched into a near rambling cacophony [b]“Man, ohmandidjasee, didya? They got maxndthkid. Fucking Syndicate. Fucking Nova. It just had to be oneuv‘em, yaknow? Ogawdman what if we’re next?…. Surge ya there? Surge?”[/b] It all came out in one breath and was for the most part completely unintelligible.

[color=00FA9A][b]“Yeah, Bear, I’m here man,” [/b][/color]Surge replied, sighing outwardly he continued. [b][color=00FA9A]“But if you want me to get any of that I’m gonna need you to slow the fuck down.”[/color][/b] 

 [b]“Maximus and Kid, they’re gone. They’ve moved up. The disappearances, they were just grabbing nobodies but now they’ve taken Maximus and Kid.”[/b] Barry had actually managed to slow down well enough that his words were actually parse-able.

[b][color=00FA9A]“What do you mean gone? Who’s ‘they’? Bear you’re making no sense.”[/color][/b]    

And that’s how the conversation progressed, honestly how most of Surge’s conversations with Barry progressed these days, Barry jumping to conclusions and expecting Surge to keep up and Surge having to back track and ask for clarity. This time it turned out that Maximus and Kid Kilowatt had been officially declared missing and Barry had reached the immediate conclusion that it was Nova or the Syndicate or both working together. On top of that Barry jumped from “Top Nobles Missing” to “Oh god what if they come for us, you know the retired former Nobles who were never involved with the Alliance”.  

He continued to reassure Barry all through the rest of his commute home that nobody was going to be looking to abduct either of them. He was still on the call with Barry as he walked into his duplex near the western edge of Bywater, he tossed his motorcycle jacket and helmet onto the couch while seamlessly transferring the call to Bluetooth. By the time Barry had finally been assured that he was safe, [i]at least for now[/i], and the call had ended Surge had managed to change clothes and fix a quick dinner of stir-fry.

Flopping on to the worn gray sofa with a bowl of stir-fry. Surge finally found the time to check the Privy notification that had chimed in his helmet as a herald of Barry’s call. Clicking open the article from Privy Surge found the source material for Barry’s latest conspiracy-minded episode. Maximus, an acquaintance of everyone who once counted themselves among the Super Sentry Squad, and Kid Kilowatt, a newer Noble, had both indeed been declared missing. But Barry had conveniently left out the fact that it was in fact N.O.V.A that had made that announcement, which would at least in Surge’s mind be counter-intuitive if they had been involved in the disappearances. He would be the last to claim that N.O.V.A. had nothing suspect going on, he even had his conspiracies regarding the government organization, but there was just no logic in them disappearing Max and Kid Kilowatt and then publicly announcing their disappearances. 

Finishing his bowl of stir-fry Surge opened the second story that Privy had pinged him with before Barry’s call. A lab explosion in Midtown, nothing he could do about that but it would mean less Nobles and potentially less vigilantes out keeping the streets safe, especially in southern New Haven. With that realization he cast a live news feed from his phone to the speakers throughout the duplex and hurriedly hopped into the shower. After the shower Surge put on a pair of shorts and a plain tank top, his normal attire for his after work run. 

The after work run was in many ways a lie, an act, an alibi (even if a shitty one). The run had the same destination every evening even if the route he took was always a little different, it always ended outside a run down two-story building on the edge of Bywater and the Shanty. And as usual approaching the alley between the two-story building and it’s neighbor, a similarly run down apartment complex, Surge amped himself up increasing his speed and the potential output for the muscles in his legs. With the running lead up he jumped, kicked of the apartment building and just managed to get enough height to reach the busted out window of the second story home. Pulling himself up and over the ledge Surge tumbled into the unlit floor that served as Witchfire’s based of operations. 

Moments later a figure clothed in black armored pants and a sleeveless hoodie fell from the window and landed in the alleyway. It was still early, the sun’s light still filtered through the horizon despite having mostly sank below it but with the Nobles and possibly other vigilantes distracted by the lab fire Witchfire felt the Shanty call to him seeking his protection.

[b]Wednesday May 15[sup]th[/sup], 8:07pm- the Shanty[/b]