[color=orange][center][h1][i][b]Friday 15:05 Claremont Sewage Works [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Royal Flush[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Landing down by the side of the terrified looking sewage works, orange day-glo outfit wearing engineer brushed her hair aside and looked up to Lightning Girl, the gantry overlooking the tanks that made up the sewage works, from her control tower that felt hopelessly useless. For such an emergency, it felt strange that there were no firemen, police, anyone else at all. The sewage works were glad to have SDN on subscription given that engineers these days felt harder to come by than heroes. "Thank god you're here! The main tank's gonna blow, we're totally out of power, and the overflow sluice is jammed! Swirlers treating the sewage are out, so we can't even seperate the slurry!" The engineer exclaimed, pointing down at the alerts on the display in their control room, and outside, seemingly nothing going on. Lightning Girl was not a sewage works engineer, so she seemed perplexed, because as far as she could see, nothing was urgently wrong. She had to assume that she was here rather than the engineer because the process would require a lot more than just technical knowledge. Best to ask the engineer for that though, Sophie reasoned. [b]"The overflow's jammed?"[/b] "Yeah, we can't move it on our emergency power! Can you bring us back online?" She shrugged, the white-caped, white haired heroine and power, being a combo made for measure. That was her. All over, that was literally her. Push enough of her power into the system and bring itb ack online. [b]"Sure, why not! What do I have to hit?"[/b] She replied, with confidence, but wanting not to break anything like last time. How hard could it be? Very hard, so best to take some time, she reasoned, the engineer pointing a gloved hand out at it. "Okay, so we need power down there at that panel at the end of the main settlement tank. That'll get the tanks treating again, and it won't build. If worst comes to worst, and the system doesn't reactivate even if you give it power....you'll need to somehow activate the overflow sluice into the secondary tank, by going down that ladder there, and lifting it manually using a turnwheel. Then running across to the secondary tanks and getting power going there so those swirlers activate and treat the water, before we dump all of Claremont's crap into the LA river." [b]"What if I don't?"[/b] Sophie's chirpy voice asked, wanting to know the stakes. Please, don't let it be an explosion of shit. Please. "The overflow'll blow off all its seals, and you don't want to know." The stakes were set appropriately then. Do, and stop a major environmental disaster, don't, let it happen, and turn an average day into a hell. About what she feared, mostly. Lightning Girl did not want to imagine it. Already from here, the smell of poo was considerable. It was like a hundred million craps, condensed into one hot, spicy melange of disgust. The odourisers were dead given the power was out, so the sooner it was back online, the better. She nodded to the engineer, with a noble sort of look, and made a move to leap off the gantry and elegantly throw herself into the metal grating and concrete below, running along the side of the enormous main tank. She ran around the corner and found the control panels, beyond the remote system the main engineer was trying to operate, to no avail as the power had died out. Punching the box and grabbing the lead, Lightning Girl reasoned this was as good of a place. It had to feed into the main system. So this had to work. And throwing as much power as she could into it. Grabbing a hold of the unit and trying to dump it in....and it chugged, and chugged, and then, the motor seemed to spark back. The motor that had turned the enormous ladle-like swirlers, that separated the water from the sludge in the tanks had come to life, and then died back. Fuck. That wasn't working. Motor was dead. Okay, even if power was back, that thing had been fried, beyond anything putting voltage would fix. Lightning Girl couldn't tell, and in the end, it didn't matter. She wasn't gonna be able to get the pumps going manually and do anything, as the unit malfunctioned, no longer wanting to play ball. Unless she wanted to clamber over the parapet and physically move the stirrers, but that would be like trying to use a spoon to move the ocean. In any case, it didn't matter. The fact was, the main tank was getting more full, and the drain wasn't working into the next one, so, it was time to do Plan B. Which was, as the engineer asked, see if she could manually turn open the sluice, LG turning as her cape fluttered, making a beeline for that marker. A painted marker existed on the wall, as Lightning Girl realised this was worse designed than Chernobyl. Except unlike Chernobyl, the consequences weren't exactly nuclear, but at the place she was standing, they may as well have been. Radiation she could deal with, her body didn't seem to really care much about it given her regeneration, it seemed to just absorb the energy. Sewage though? Shit, well, shit was shit. [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkIcPpjUCPM]Georges Bizet- Carmen (Instrumental)[/url] [/b] And who the fuck put an emergency release that close to the emergency sluice gate? It was on a gantry above the pipe between the main tank and the secondary, between the two massive open-air tanks. It was a cavernous place, about three storeys of void below her, the emergency lighting only left on creating an eerie glow. It all seemed stupid. But time was of the essence as it sounded like the tank was physically getting pressurised, which no sewage tank was going to last long dealing with. It was going to burst if she didn't do something. And that was one hell of a way to die, LG wondered. She would take getting beaten to death by clowns over this on her gravestone. It was morbid, but hey, it kept her in perspective. If you weren't laughing, she thought to herself as she clambered down the ladder, you were crying from how strong the smell was in the chamber. She ran from the stairs down going to the gantry to where a turnwheel sat by a pipe, used to move up the sluice on the gantry, below her like a chamber of secrets that was more a void of the worst kind. One that would take all the overflow from the main tank into the next chambers, and given the state of the plant, probably out into the LA River. So this wasn't a "win", for anyone at all, not the least LA's wildlife, but it would preserve the plant and LG could probably work out another plan later to get the secondary containment swirlers up and running. The klaxons still kept going, as the valve began to turn as she hefted it hard with her power, before getting stuck, the gate opening a bit. Some of the hell was released below her manually, but not all of it. The klaxons continued to blare, as the pressure on the plate built, and built, yellow lights flickering around, bouncing off the black of her mask and the white of her suit, as she gave it everything, feeling the entire joint that the gate was on sever off the bracket, suddenly trapping stuck. And as if that wasn't bad enough, her pushing meant the the entire turn wheel just snapped, Lightning Girl swearing as she realised the door was physically jammed now, fully understanding the gravity of the situation. It had been blown off the hinges, but she'd opened a stream when she needed to open a lake's worth of sewage out. But there was more than a lake behind that door. And then, the creaking got louder, and louder, higher in the tank above the door. And it turned from a deep clank to a loud shriek as the sound of it didn't release pressure, but seemingly, encourage more flow towards it. Lightning Girl realised the entire tank had started to crack along the side, the pressure release meaning the entire thing was going to shear. It was breaking like a dam from the gantry, and before she could think, maybe she could leap up and hold it, maybe there was something in the handle she could salvage, maybe she..... The metal sluice gate burst as well as the entire bottom half of the tank by the emergency release, releasing not just the material below her feet in the gantry, but above her, where the release absolutely shouldn't have purged. It wasn't a stream anymore. It was a tidal wave, going out of one tank, into another. [i][b]"Oh, shit!"[/b][/i] [hr] Trying to flush the toilet, James tsk'd, pushing open the stall and looking to Matthieu, who was vigorously trying to unblock a toilet. SDN Claremont's cleaner, was not having any luck either. [i]"Toilet's still blocked here."[/i] James sighed, as Matthieu replied the same too, knowing it was a bullshit day here. Still, could be worse, as the Brit walked back out, headed to his desk, nodding to the call centre team from across the room who had kept the dispatches in hand, picking his headset on, hearing constant, total complaining. The whole team might. [color=orange][center][h1][i][b]Friday 15:25 SDN Claremont [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Frictionless[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [b]"Fucking bullshit! Plant's on emergency measures, but you are out of your fucking mind sending me there James!" [/b]He shook his head, sighing as his sister complained, realising fuck, she would never forgive him. But ah well. A job was a job, as he looked out of the window, the kind of laugh quietly forming off comms that came from laughing at a funeral. At least nobody would believe he had his favourites anymore. And she hadn't died so again, positives, it was a low risk job on system but no doubt a high one to her. It wouldn't be fair to the reader to describe the smell, but, a rough guess could be made of Lightning Girl trying to stay above the clouds as she flew back. With only a provisional wash at the sewage works' staff showers, it wasn't a great look. Backup treatment was now online, but the rest of the sewage plant had been now a fairly major disaster given how much sewage had decided to detonate it. The whole thing was now the matter of the water company to suck up and take to adjacent sewage treatment works, before it really stank out the neighbourhood. She'd left them with at least an electricity supply hooked up, but it was still a major repair, the kind that took more than one woman with a mobile battery. Not much anyone could do now, but hey, short of sending Waterboy, who the hell would have figured that one out? Did she short it? Or just get really unlucky? Maybe Asteroid would do better? He had smarts on him. Or maybe not, as it turns out from his dispatch comms. Lightning Girl landed back down by what looked like an emergency exit on the ground floor by SDN Claremont, static shocking the thing and yoinking the door without ripping it out this time, running through past Samson, who had spotted her on the way back from a bathroom break. "Damn, you smell like you crawled out of a sewer...." Samson commented, his hellish kitten with little paws up on the desk, looking at her, as Sophie scowled, almost so much as growling, and beyond fuming. Bullshit. She'd fucking kill James, sending her to a sewage works? On Gala day? Was he trying to sabotage her chances? Bastard! She wasn't sure at all what to make of any of this. The smell wasn't entirely going to go. She looked in the mirror with disdain, the white of her suit worse than getting blood all over it. This was going to take way more than a dry clean. She walked into the shower, thinking about how once the secondary tanks were fixed things were fine, but the plant had been damaged more than it should have been, she'd ended up having to bolt her way out of that situation.....and right now, was in that sort of mood where she didn't want to think anything over. With a punch of the button in the showers, she hoped the stink that made a skunk seem like Chanel No5 was going to dissipate, at least, until she could grab the ocean of perfume and face wash she'd brought in her pack up in the breakroom. With which, she did head on up, suit still sodden and powers absolutely trying to overload the smell, more like a damp ozone, petrichor to be specific, rather than sewage sludge, using paper towels to dry off the ballistic cordura and her face. The perfume as she would learn, did little for now, running up the stairs, checking her watch. There was still 80 minutes of the shift left. Well, better get back to it, as she sighed, jogging through the office trying not to stay in one spot too long, looking at the sunset catching the horizon outside the windows. Running past her brother she would only give a deathly glance to James- before getting to the smoking area, easily leaping off the balcony as she blasted away, back into sky, trying to find a perch ready for the last stint. [hr] [color=orange][center][h1][i][b]Friday 16:58 James's Desk SDN Claremont [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]End of Play[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Another hour ticked on by. The last dregs of busywork, which was nothing really that notable. For heroes, if it wasn't fighting kaiju, speaking in front of hundreds of people, solving bomb threats, it wasn't going to be. But a gala later, and that slice of Hollywood they were getting to go to, well, that seemed a little different to other Fridays at work. [i]"Guys, that's us for the day. Everyone, RTB."[/i] As the shift would come to a close, James had the chance to catch up with each hero individually. Sophie, understandably, had avoided James when she came in, still mad, but at least less mad because it was the end of shift, and now, gala time. Blackstar returned after and might have been in the wake of the electricity-based hero, and she had pulled off quite a successful job earlier on that was a remarkably well executed task. James took an earbud off, and stood up, so he could peer over his half-cubicle better. He didn't often get to see the heroes individually come back from jobs, not beyond small talk. [@cosmiccowgirl] [i]"Nice one, Blackstar. We should probably chat about it properly, but you are on fire, given how that shift went, and SAR couldn't speak highly of you enough. Like, check the leaderboard. I'm not a big fan of it, but, scores don't lie." [/i]James pointed to the tick-over it made, and Blackstar's name had clambered higher. She was 2nd for the branch, behind a record that. Ahead of Lightning Girl, even Payback's hot streak over the week before. For LA, she was in the top 5% of deployed heroes, which for a new starter, was inconceivable. But aside from one or two fails, her deployments had been near flawless, especially in the major ones, two being significantly above KPIs related to completion time and success rate. Beginner's luck? Well, the roll of things she'd been on, maybe she just had that. [i]"It might not last forever, but honestly, end of month bonus will be very tidy if you keep this rate up by month end. SDN is pretty good at looking after people, not sure if you read it in your contract, but performance bonuses are sweet. Even if you're new."[/i] James shrugged, leaning against his desk, looking Blackstar up and down, knowing the shy dark energy heroine was still like Felix, getting used to people. Blackstar was secretive, cautious. Phoenix Programme could be like that, sure, but a hero on salary? She knew what she signed up for. Being in the line of danger, being daring, confident, all of it, and was still, shy despite performing. And it wasn't an act, a mystery cloak kept to add aura or mystery. Blackstar just genuinely came out that way, and from the heavily redacted personnel file that James had, he knew she was trying to be careful about her past. Although speaking of the usually shy feline, Felix had turned his head up to her after crawling between James's trousers and decided to flop onto Blackstar's boots, as if he was begging for attention. The mackrel tabby had found a nice bit of her laces to scritch himself against, and seemed content as ever, looking up at her with expectant eyes. Mostly because he'd been microdosed on a bit of catnip that Blackstar had brought in. For a growing boy, Felix was now getting tangled up in his green. [i]"Aww. He likes you. I think he knows who brings him the best supplies. He was off his face earlier. Super cute."[/i] James added, humoured by it, as he leaned back, finishing his cup of tea. -- [@SonnetNSunbeam] Asteroid was up next. He looked a little dishelved. He'd been out there what felt like hours with the old women. Poor bastard, James thought, as he let Blackstar go and looked over to him. Two black suited heroes, both with astral powers. Were they siblings too? Nah, Asteorid sounded like a preppie, Blackstar a southern tone. [i]"You really gotta learn when to say no to old ladies, Asteroid, I don't need to give you a training course to tell you that....."[/i] James chuckled, hoping that he wouldn't take too much offense, but a little gentle banter would go a while. As far as James could tell, he hadn't killed anyone in prison, so he was probably safe on that front. [i]"Anyway, keep up the good work, even if that was a miss, can't get 'em all. Diffused the situation at the cost of losing yourself to them, that's what I wrote in the report. Anyway. I'll catch up with you next week about that parole paperwork yeah?"[/i] James went back his comment from earlier, knowing that Asteroid had that to hang onto at least. And even in a low, he could offer some reassurance now. --- [@BigPapaBelial] The same went for Hat Trick, the upbeat, hockey-ready armoured Canadian a weird parallel to Matt, when James really thought about it. But he was getting it done. Reliable, always there, and smelling sweet, not shitty. [i]"Hey, big man. Nicely dealt with the tanker. Clean work. And thanks for the reminder about PR bits. Appreciate you covering a bit more than you're used to."[/i] James commented, realising he did have something for him. [i]"Clara faxed this across to me. Regional Marketing Lead, as you know.....shit, sorry, I mean Sunburst. She says she wants to catch up at some point next week with you, no idea what it was about. You'll probably make sense more than I do, but it's more on team-specific PR, billboards, marketing, that kind of thing here, and something she said you might be able to support on. Don't worry about it, but I nearly forgot."[/i] James said, passing across a stapled together booklet of papers, containing a bunch of emails, Hat Trick likely to be in the loop but James just giving a reminder. Clara had emailed James to get onto Hat Trick while he was out working the streets, so, it seemed an appropriate time now to pass things on. [i]"I'll let you get dressed, should be a big night for you. I'm sure you'll have some showstopping suit, if I know what you're like...."[/i] James joked, smiling, looking over as the next hero was on their way in. [i]"Anyway, see ya laters."[/i] He nodded, letting him go, knowing the man had places to be, suits to put on, and things to prepare for. --- [@Ezekiel] Last, but not least, Ikret. She may have been last back, but James guessed she'd likely wanted to have finish sooner, or at least, was trying not to raise attention on the first day as a fallen Icarus. Majestic as ever coming back inside, sarky, and James thought to call back to their earlier chat, picking up where they'd left off earlier. [i]"Nice one. For someone who tells me they doesn't behave, I'll take that. Turns out you know what you're doing, who'd have thought."[/i] He chuckled with a lick of sarcasm, looking over the heroine, fiddling with the pen in his hand. [i]"Things can get a bit more mental around here, so today's a chilled day. And, some of the other heroes will appreciate someone who's a good operator in the team when it does get hairy. Have a chat with them when you get a chance. They'll look up to you a lot. Blackstar definitely will have to, cos you know, you're taller."[/i] James added with a more serious tone yet keeping a lick of sarcasm in the end, not having much to say, the doors opening on the far side with two navy-blue uniformed police officers not moving too urgently being his cue to have a catch up of his own. [i]"Ah, yeah, they were coming by. Nothing to worry about, local liason meeting. Changing rooms are downstairs as I imagine you've already decided to dress up very fancy. I think we're all meeting by reception in half an hour."[/i] James turned off the console as with that, and stood out of his chair, letting Ikret get going, and before the team would head off, getting his meeting in with the fine officers of the LAPD. [hr] [color=orange][center][h1][i][b]Friday 17:10 Meeting Room SDN Claremont [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Bad Boys, Bad Boys[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] James sat in the boardroom, as the two police officers sat from across from him. The office was mostly quiet now, given the heroes were getting dressed, sorting their own admin out, and getting ready to go for the Gala. James had his own business to sort here first though, and a tux to quickly fit into after it was all said and done. He sighed looking at the board that the two officers had brought in, and reflecting on what they'd just been talking about. It was a bit too heavy for a Friday night. But Superhero Liaison was literally what he'd done back in the UK's Superhuman Response Unit, a quasi-government monitoring agency that worked with police and GCHQ to co-ordinate resources and allocation, as well as deal with superpowered villains on a daily. Not quite like SDN, because in the US, they basically did that themselves. Having the police on side though, that was handy, and they had their own interest to stay ahead of the curve. Keeping the city's heroes on side too, was plenty enough. [i]"So you think that Pyress.....Queen Bitch, and Kevin the Destroyer, of all people, are linked? And Gaggle the Clown wasn't."[/i] The female officer leaned across, nodding. Officer Hayle, as far as James had gathered. She'd been there the night things went down at the Claremont College dorms and Lightning Girl had come out on response, so she knew full well how supers worked. She spoke up first. "Gaggle worked alone. That's an NSA problem, not ours. Whereas those there.....we're working on leads and we think there's something to it." The board seemed ominous. How was a flame-throwing drug dealer, a roided up manosphere college student, and a narcissist that threw explosive glitter were linked, while in prison? Some link existed to Red Ring, sure, but what link at all? James didn't know what to say. [i]"Sure." [/i]James seemed skeptical, but not without reason. Of course there would be a ripple effect. Some gangsters fighting each other. It would happen. He didn't have anything to add, really, because he wasn't paid to investigate the root causes of crimes. He was there to manage a team of sometimes fuckheaded, sometimes decent heroes that would get the job done when other resources didn't work. Or subscribers dialled SDN's number before 911. The older of the two police officers in the room leaned forwards, more, sighing. "Listen. Only reason Officer Hayle thinks we should talk to you is because you're the only people that can fight supers on their own level. We don't have time for heroic bullshit. We need to find out who's in control of what's left of the Red Ring in the San Fernando Valley. And we are thin on the ground, so any suggestions are welcome." The Lieutenant began, sizing up James. As if he could control it himself. James knew that wasn't the case, as the senior officer across from him continued. "We think there's the usual suspects. People they report to. But someone else is steering Shroud's empire from the shadows. Moving drugs. Guns. Augments. Contraband. Real threats. And that's why we're really interested in them. They weren't acting alone. Someone told them to come here to Claremont, and stir up trouble. And whoever is in charge, they're a step ahead of us. They took out half the suspects that were robbing banks and stores this week in Pasadena. We think something's up because the usual shtick ain't happening." He pointed to the board and pulling back, the post it note with a question mark on it, black pen on pink paper, probably saying it all. And the lines detached out, with some question marks to a few others. Doctor Helix? Brick Frog? And lots of other unknown, shady figures. It seemed odd to have them there, but it felt like none of them were necessarily the mark they were looking for. Great. A stereotypical cop that was nearly at retirement and didn't like supers, and his protégé, a young, bright-eyed cop that looked up to supers. No way this wasn't gonna be a cliche even worse than it was. James sighed, shaking his head, thinking on the last few months. The news, what had come out. All of the mess with the Red Ring. Fuck, that was an intense one Torrance and DTLA had dealt with. Sophie told him about the flames across the other side of the city. All manner of shit turning upside down. Nowhere near as bad as '92, but still, an insane blowout. "Red Ring, huh? Thought they were all behind bars. Whoever's left has a lot to live up to Shroud's reputation." James reacted, as Officer Hayle sipped down her cup of donut-shop coffee, cutting off her superior, the Lieutenant likely to react worse..... "They're trying harder without making it known who they are. And they seem to be choosing order over chaos right now. No big bank jobs, jewellery store heists, nothing this week. They're sucking up all the work all the gangs left behind, tested us with....who we arrested. We've come across a lot of gangland murders.....all of them are brutal. Making it clear they're not interested in petty squabbles. Detective Bureau think they're cleaning loose ends." Officer Hayle's way of putting it was loose, but the Lieutenant's wasn't. "That of course, you don't get called out to deal with." The Lieutenant seemed almost pissed off. Like SDN was taking all the glory. And the LAPD weren't getting their share of any, rather, just the misery. James had to empathise with that. [i]Wrong person to point that at, though.[/i] "Someone seems to be doing this much, much more organised than just a normal gang, they....they're like the cartels but with villains. They know how to avoid hitting the hornet's nest, mostly, avoiding SDN. Stirring things up with heroes in direct fights seem to be off their cards. They're picking up business, and hoping we don't notice. We have no ID, nobody's snitching, everyone keeps saying it's Red Ring, and nothing more." Officer Hayle replied, as James folded his arms, leaning back. [i]"So then why are you here? All due respect, I'm...."[/i] "Look, we thought it might be best to liaise with you. Whatever they're doing, this clearly goes higher. And your heroes are going to see things we don't. Find intel, weapons, caches, everything. Find something that puts this together. Because there's a good chance we don't, they'll get bolder. Start making plays Shroud wasn't willing to. They're not in this for revenge. They're in this for dominance of the market. And once that happens, they'll do whatever it takes to protect their bottom line. Including going after the LAPD, and supers." Officer Hayle added, cutting off the Lieutenant's thoughts, given she had taken the imitative to put this whole thing forwards. [i]"So you suggest we hit them first. Wherever they are. Right. That changes how we do things, Officer.....and that's above my paygrade. We're not a private militia for hire. We're a first response, under licence, independent. Tell us where to go when you have a bust and we'll go."[/i] James stated the obvious, wanting to see how this played out. He had to be careful here. Not like around Valerie, but more because saying the wrong thing, would get him in a whole heap of legal trouble. "Maybe, but whoever at the top is going to keep pushing all of our resources until we push back. Hard." The Lieutenant cleared his throat, "I'm not putting my people at risk. I need a little more co-operation from SDN, James." He seemed to imply it was James's responsibility to do that a little more strongly than it was SDN's. The circus had earned them plenty of plaudits locally. The Lieutenant wasn't so convinced. "Well, I suppose you pay SDN to do that. We'll keep our ears to the ground. We've got a good team here, so when we know something, you'll know. I can't do detective work on top of running the A-Team." James replied, hoping that would be enough. It wasn't, as the Lieutenant leaned forwards, cutting off the younger officer. "Back in the day, villains were put in ADX. Now it's all bullshit because I know Asteroid is out. Let alone Madcap and Eclipse. Jesus. Motherfuckers are probably drinking all that Kool-Aid." The Lieutenant seemed to play his cards there and then. James didn't react, as even Officer Hayle seemed surprised, a little taken aback. She wanted progress, at least something, but fuck, was Dan Mason being an asshole right here and now to their best lead. He was jaded. Beyond done with this. Didn't care about how he came across, as she looked to James with a certain glimmer, beyond an offical capacity yet eschewing one, that it wasn't the line. James knew that Madcap in the B-Team wasn't his business to comment on, but even so, he was glad he couldn't make a reply to that and the junior officer did. "Look, we need to put pieces together on why they came to Claremont in the first place. We think whoever it is, knows how the Red Ring's people worked. And before things escalate, we appreciate any help. If you know anything, anything at all, call us direct. We need to work together here. I know you need to go, so....." She added, the officer aware their time was up, and James hadn't been a helpful lead. Standing up, James walked to the door as the other two shifted out of their seats, the day turning into night faster and faster outside the office window. [i]"Got it. I'll get in touch. Thanks for coming by."[/i] James really didn't have many words. It was a lot to take in. And he was burnt out. Who knew, a consultant could get tired and run out of energy for work, this kind at least. He'd come back to them with something more proper, as he held it open, looking out, all heroes gone, all likely getting set up. [i]"I believe I've got a social engagement. We'll catch up next week."[/i] James held it open, as the two police officers took that as a sign to leave. They were here on a social call, more than a formal query or questioning down at the station. So with that, what felt like an impromptu update was done. The team would have 30 minutes to get changed, and James messaged the team to meet at the reception area when everyone was ready. He'd already did his End of Shift Report, and all the paperwork that nobody in the team really needed to know about. All his stuff was done, and well, that meant only one thing. Giving Felix a quick stroke, he reached to his bag and pulled out the vaccum-sealed bag, opening it up, and chuckling. This better have fucking fit, he thought to himself, as he took off his work shirt and started to get changed. Bit by bit, it all came together, as he headed to the break room, finding Hat Trick. [@BigPapaBelial] [i]"Ah, shit. I forgot to mention, we're downstairs. Looking good. You look like you're from, what's the game.....ahh, forget it."[/i] James would only be seen by Hat Trick in his Gala suit, and well, it was a rather traditional tux, no power, nothing quite like what the large Canadian had. Hat Trick would realise what James was dressed in, as they headed to the lifts and made their way down. Saints Row, that was it! He didn't want to say it now, James feeling like Hat Trick would occupy a lot more of the lift than him, but then again, nothing got past the Canadian, on ice, in the office, and no doubt, in the PR with this event no doubt. [hr] [color=orange][center][h1][i][b]Friday 17:29 Locker Rooms / Reception SDN Claremont [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Glitterball[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Lightning Girl had just about finished. Looking in the mirror in the women's locker room, she smiled, a teethy, white grin with red lip on, as she adjusted her glove a little, making a move towards the doors. The others hadn't emerged yet, so the surprise was still on. [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvQ6xVQ0Wy4] Purple Disco Machine, ÁSDÍS - Beat Of Your Heart[/url] [/b] Stepping out from the changing rooms downstairs and into the reception, Lightning Girl re-appeared, albeit suit removed, and someone else entirely on display. The dress was a shimmery, holo-like silvery-like colour, a bandage dress that seemed to take different strands of bandage-like fabric across her chest, with one larger piece in the abdomen and legs. It pushed her chest out but seemed fairly modest for what some might have compared it to a strapless design, albeit did come with a cut in the left leg that went up to the hip at a tuck of fabric, showing off a slice her pale-coloured leg, Lichtenberg scars visible. The same at her upper arms, where her muscle and her scars could be seen, like braids and rivers that seemed not to take any logical path from when she'd first been hit. A set of silvery, rubber set gloves, up to her elbows obscured the rest, having a very shiny sheen in them. With her white hair parted over one side of her head, carbon fibre mask still across eyes and forehead, this seemed like a version of Lightning Girl that Sophie had wanted to unleash for a very, very long time. A version of shine, probably far more than anything Valerie would have been comfortable with. It showed off her beauty, her easy charm that hours ago, was nothing much beyond the white hair. It magnified her out, and with a pair of white heels on, put her to a height where she might be breathing in Hat Trick's air. But Lightning Girl reasoned, forgiveness was easier to get than permission, right? And well, Ikret would likely have something just as shiny up her sleeve, Sophie guessed. Two shiny heroes was better than none. Or as it turned out, three, given Hat Trick's suit. James and Hat Trick would appear from out of the lift, tuxedo on, having gotten dressed in the empty offices upstairs. A budget Bond? Well, the suit hire place had basically laughed at him with the fact he was British, but well, it was all they had in his size. He didn't have a full bore business suit that would fit the gala. So, tux it was. It strangely worked for him, black bow tie and he adjusted his smart watch on his wrist up to his cuff. She looked across to her brother, a grin forming on her face, looking to the others. Who were all dressed up just as pretty, and no doubt, had their own swell as they would come out one by one. [b]"You look like Bond if he had problems with sunburn, James."[/b] Lightning Girl simply blurted, giving into impulse upon seeing him. James folded his arms across his chest, sighing. [i]"Well, you're such a try hard. Didn't someone tell you that you didn't need to be a mirrorball?[/i]" He jabbed right under the ribs. The Gallagher brothers were one thing, but the Speights were without announcing any knowledge that the team would have, still a little their own. Instead of taking that on, Lightning Girl looked to Hat Trick, and his beautiful looking suit, glancing to the others with a "are you seeing this shit" kinda look before opening her mouth. [b]"Well, aren't you looking dapper. Purple and gold. You're feeling all regal, aren't you. Unlike our dispatcher, who's just a discount secret agent."[/b] She said with her most elequent, 19th century stereotype of a Downton Abbey accent in full, knowing Hat Trick would likely lap that up, because if he didn't enjoy a good PR occasion. The man was a lovable, gentle giant and while he may not have had the glamour of other heroes, he certainly had the glitz and was every workplace's feelgood guy. Lightning Girl looked to the others as they turned up, seeing lights come on outside. Their ride was here. A blacked out limo that could fit the team, from the lightning-based Brit's ego to the wings of Ikret. [b]"Ready?"[/b] She asked the others, watching them come in, one by one, ready to give all the compliments when they turned up. Because walking outside, with a door already open, the now capeless hero wasn't waiting for an invitation but instead threw herself headfirst, pulling herself up, leaning back in against leather. [b]"Okay, this is the good stuff! I mean they told us we can't all show off by turning up and flying or leaping there so this was it but.....we're going in a limo to Hollywood! Ahhhh!"[/b] She nearly shrieked, as if 17 year old her, as would literally anyone that would have been her age, now got to live out a fantasy, aged 29. This was the stuff of dreams for Lightning Girl, maybe not for some of the others, even to Ikret, another day. But to her, it was pretty sweet. [b]"Like genuinely, as a kid I never imagined this would happen. I know it's a work occasion but come on, this is cool, right? Oh, we should probably get a photo in while we're here!"[/b] Lightning Girl asked the others, a genuine smirk on her face, in spite of earlier's incident. She seemed to have an ability to remain cheerful, but the main reason was that she had taken on lots more power when returning, and made a very strong mental note that she was going to have to be careful to touch, as she pulled out her phone from a pocket inside the dress, one she was very grateful to have. Leaning back, she posed her head in, and beckoned for the others, even Blackstar, who was no doubt cringing. A teethy grin, because she wasn't going to forget this moment for the world. And even for James, a smile grew on his face, from earlier, from all the chats he seemed to have, her obsessive, almost demanding want to be there coming over more than anything. This was her dream, he told himself. And for one night, even if the smell of poo needed a lot more perfume than Sophie was expecting to cover, he had to be only a little bit proud of himself even in spite of this being work. Sitting at the end as the others all folded themselves in, from the tall Hat Trick to the.....width, mostly due to wings, Ikret, to Lightning Girl having to make sure her dress didn't catch on a seatbelt. Once that was done, the limo set off and they were Hollywood-bound, and it was only a matter of time until someone discovered that a bottle of Champagne had been left inside across from where they were sitting.