Nosuchthing

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

<Snipped quote by Nosuchthing>

great job

you ruined it

asshole

@Mr Allen J

Someone has to, didn't you know my secret identity as Buzz Killington?

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

What will the dastardly Founding Family do with Cindy?!

@Mr Allen J

DUN! DUN! DUUUUUUNNN!!!

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

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Cindy Keagan, Reed Taylor, Alice Barrett, vs. The Phantasm, and the Intimidation Unit... .

_{Written in collaboration with @Mr Allen J, & @Zombiedude101}

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Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch

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Regal Square, Prince Edfield.

Makoto had neglected to completely leave the area when the Phantasm sprayed the area with tear gas.

Instead, she threw on a gas-mask that she had on, and dipped behind some chairs while everyone was desperate to leave. Because, she was here for a reason. Not just to stand around and perv on everyone here; she's going to be an extra pair of eyes. When she took her mask off, and stood up, she saw Cindy and the blonde-haired broad teleporting off after the Phantasm - leaving their team mate behind! What kind of teamwork is that?! Makoto is technically siding "with the bad guys," and even she thinks that was dickish. Nonetheless, this would be useful for the Phantasm.

"Hey, Phantasm," Makoto said as she pressed her earpiece. "They're hot on your tail."

"Acknowledged." The Phantasm said as he continued to warp and teleport after Faith. He has a plan....

---

The Saviors were almost right out the door when the Phantasm finally caught up with them and unloaded his UMP on them. He would have devastated his "target" - However one of the Savior bodyguards threw himself in front of Faith to shield her from the bullets. He took the brunt of the bullets, and not even his body-armor could save him from it. He slumped down dead, and all Faith could do was stare at him in shock. This wasn't happening. She knew the risks, but she didn't think it'd end like this. The Phantasm was about to teleport over to her - to end her suffering.

A bullet hit the Phantasm right in the back, and even though the armor shaved off some of the impact, the Phantasm was sent stumbling forward. Feeling bruises form underneath the armor. Another bullet hit the Phantasm, and forced him to teleport away.

"... Shit," Cindy said as she aimed the pistol right at the Phantasm. She tilted a bit, and glanced at Faith. "What are you standing there for?! Start running, stupid!"

Thank God Alice was able to keep up with the Phantasm. Otherwise this was going to be a nightmare. She wondered where he went, but they have to cover Faith. Cindy had an idea, in fact. She put her hands and glass surrounded Faith with floating pieces of glass that were heated up to the point where they were malleable. She formed a dome around Faith, and then nodded at Alice.

"Teleport me in... I have a plan," Cindy nodded at Alice, before reaching for a canister of anti-metahuman gas she had on her. "... It's a risk, but teleport us out on my cue."

Alice eyed the glass dome, then nodded, "You got it, just remember I can't go intangible, I can probably outrun him, but catching up to him is probably not good for my health."

Nonetheless she grabbed Cindy's shoulder again, moving the world once more. There was a faint puff of displaced air and they were suddenly cosied up to Faith inside the sphere of glass.

Faith screamed, before Cindy put up a finger to silence the Savior.

"We're covering your ass," Cindy bluntly said. "So, would you shut up and come with me?"

Faith nodded, while Cindy kept her hands outstretched. She made sure to stay close to Alice and Faith, so Alice can teleport her out of here on cue. Manipulating the glass dome, she quickly tried to slid away, while reinforcing the glass shield with glass that she grew off her own body. It just floated over to the shield and was added to the collective... and just to make this more difficult, she changed the glass' color to a jet-black near-opaque that made it hard to see through. Because, going off the Phantasm's M.O, he's got a sniper rifle somewhere, and this should cover them long enough.

The Phantasm had retreated to the rooftop, and swapped his UMP out for the Intervention. He was quick to aim the sniper at the glass dome... but, he couldn't get a good view of his target. And this was Cindy Keagan he was dealing with, shooting it will only give him away-

Oh.

Now I get it.

They were trying to bait the Phantasm into teleporting into the dome. Well, they'll get their wish... The Phantasm briefly put down the rifle, and then grabbed a grenade - they weren't his style, but he took a cue from the Hound and brought some. He pulled the pin, holding it for a second, before he was thrust through the air towards the dome. Finally appearing inside, he was ready; he just threw the grenade at the trio - before teleporting out.

"Oh shit, Alice!" Cindy shouted. "Get us-"

Cindy finished her sentence outside of the dome, and Alice threw herself on top of the Saviour girl as soon as they materialised, even though she had already begun to vomit. Glass peppered the walls behind them as the sphere shattered, shrapnel splinters careering off in all directions. She felt a sharp pain under her arm as one wormed it's way through a weak point in the armour, but Faith seemed unharmed, except for emptying her guts onto the floor, and Alice's uniform... and Cindy's suit.

She almost cringed, but she knew that the Phantasm had to be around here somewhere. Screw it. They'll have to make a run for it. Glass was being launched in all directions, and Cindy caught the glass that was close to her. Her vest was damaged a bit, but she'll live. Faith was running for it, and Cindy and Alice were following behind her to the best of their ability-

The Phantasm had appeared in front of the two, and before either of them could react, the Phantasm threw a punch right towards Alice, while reaching for a pistol on his belt.

Alice blurred, literally, the punch thrown moved through the space where her head had been, but she was already within his guard, throwing an elbow around and towards his throat. Her move was so unexpected that she actually felt an impact before his form phased out once more and she tumbled forward, rolling into a crouch and pulling her pistol from it's holster.

They both had drawn their pistols at the same time, aiming it at each other right as the Phantasm turned tangible again. The Phantasm was tempted to just shoot Alice and get on with it... But, he has to make this flashy. He looked at Faith running away. The Phantasm teleported again, this time behind Alice, and quickly fired a shot at Faith. The bullet cut through the air instantaneously and hit her right in the heel with deadly accuracy. Faith cried out as she fell forward and hit the ground. The Phantasm touched a button on the side of his helmet....

"... Send in Bonecrusher."

Hey, they wanted to make this flashy. The Phantasm knew that the Bonecrusher would make a bigger scene than he could.

Alice's bullet passed through the space her target had once occupied, and she looked around wildly to spot him with a hand against his head. It was all the delay she needed to move, swinging her gun around as she appeared behind him to fire a trio of shots. Two went wild, but the third clipped the corner of his helmet, snapping his head backwards. She could have left right now, taken Faith and disappeared to a safe house two miles away, but if she did that she had no idea what the Phantasm might do to her cohorts.

A portal opened up in front of the Phantasm and all he had to do was turn intangible as the roaring sound of an oversized motorcycle cut through the air - followed by the Bonecrusher's brutal-looking custom-made motorcycle came flying out towards Cindy and Alice. With the Bonecrusher on top of it, fully merged with all sorts of machinery beforehand. He was ready for war.

Alice swore and vanished as the massive machine stormed through the space previously occupied by her body. If it had hit her then there wouldn't have been much left to teleport, let alone to swear. The newcomer was massive, an enormous figure with strange machinery and blades apparently a part of his body. She reappeared next to Cindy, "Whatever that thing is, he is not a friendly. And I seriously doubt I have the kind of firepower to deal with him."

The motorcycle came to a skidding stop - ending up sideways as Bonecrusher shut it off, and stepped off. He took steps towards Alice and Cindy and a massive, custom-made, blade came out of his mechanical wrist as Cindy immediately recognized him.

"... That's the thing that went on a rampage after Meifeng in Singapore." Cindy said. "And I think we're going to need the heavy duty shit here." She still had that canister of containment foam at her waist. It might be the only thing that could stop (or slow down) Bonecrusher. She grabbed it, and looked at it.

Alice backed up as the monster approached, "I can distract him but he hits me once and I'm done, unless you think a fall will kill him?"

"Well, at this point, I'd try anything," Cindy said, but she was wondering why this brute was taking so damn long. Then it hit her. "... Where's the Phantasm?!" She asked as she looked behind herself, and saw that the assassin was gone. "Aw damn it!" She hissed to herself.

At this moment, Bonecrusher went all out into a sprint, with his blade at his side, he swung it hard as he could towards the two. Cindy ducked down, and quickly rolled the containment foam at his feet as she quickly crawled to her feet and broke off into a sprint. "Alice, shoot it!"

Alice had simply vanished as the blade cut through the point she'd been standing, she reappeared a few feet to the left, and drew a bead on the skittering canister. It took her the entire magazine but her final bullet hit the dancing cylinder. Containment foam began to spray uncontrollably, swiftly enveloping the lower half of the creature, though it immobilized him at least for the moment.

Bonecrusher let out a loud yell as he raised his hand up into the air, and slammed it down into the containment foam - the impact of his blow was enough to crack the hardening containment foam. Another earpiercing blow had cracked further.

Alice had meanwhile reloaded, and emptied another magazine in the monstrosity's direction. She could hardly miss, despite her shaking hands, and every bullet struck home, though he shrugged them off as she would so much confetti. "We'd need a bazooka to kill this thing...

The Bonecrusher activated a mechanism in his arm... one that seemingly caused it to rev up like a motorcycle as light flames flew off it. Gears grinding was enough to empower Bonecrusher with enough strength to break free.

"Ooookay," Cindy said. "Jesus Christ, that's the first time I've ever seen the containment foam break!"

Before the Bonecrusher could continue, he received a message from the Phantasm.

"... Kill Faith."

Nodding his head, the beast's barely visible lips curled upwards as the Bonecrusher ran full speed towards them - with full intention of crushing them if they get in the way. But, his goal was to go kill Faith real quickly.

"Move!" Cindy grabbed onto Alice's arm and hoped that Alice wasn't going to freeze up.

Alice had never seen anything like it, the scariest metahuman she'd ever seen had been the guy who'd tried to burn her alive, and that was just because he had been psychotic. This was something else entirely, a veritable mountain of flesh and machinery that had deicded that she was simply another obstacle to be crushed. It was only the sudden grip on her arm that shocked her out of her stupor. Bonecrusher shattered the paving slabs the two had been standing on a second later. They were now stood on the building above and behind the Bonecrusher, "that foam did nothing, but..."

She paused a moment, flashing back how close she had come to death once more, "I've got an idea to slow him down..."

"Well, that makes one of us," Cindy said.

"I need you to keep his attention off me."

Nodding her head, Cindy briefly wondered; why the hell isn't she in RAVEN? She keeps getting into shit that should be reserved for the fighters. Maybe she'll apply for RAVEN... Yeeeeeah, no. This city needs a DOVE, and that DOVE is Cindy. No matter what, she'll be here for the long haul. "I have an idea." Cindy said as she pulled the stray glass chunks from the area around her, and formed them into balls the size of basketballs. None of her glass weaponry would do anything but tickle him... well, maybe she could cut some of those damn wires, but that would keep his attention better. The freshly formed glass orbs floated around Cindy, before she launched each of them at Bonecrusher.

While they were coming up with their plan, Bonecrusher had elected to ignore them because they weren't packing enough firepower to even put a dent in him. Instead, he was going after Faith as the Phantasm told him. He saw a trail of blood lead around a corner, he did a massive leap around the corner... where the trail of blood came to a stop.

He raised an eyebrow.

A glass orb then hit him right in the back of the head. It did absolutely nothing to Bonecrusher other than sting him a little. He whipped his head around, only to meet another glass orb hitting him in the face. It did nothing but spray glass all over the place (A little bit of it got in the mask). He was more annoyed than anything.

Alice appeared on his back, entwining her fingers in the cables that sprouted from his shoulders. "Let's go for a walk."

The sudden vacuum sucked in litter and rubble across the floor.

---

God it hurt, Alice could teleport two people, but this guy was nearly as big as two, pushing her to her limits, she could feel her senses screaming as she tried to push higher. Eventually she knew that taking him any further would guarantee ashing. So with the added mass she only managed a mile. That said, a mile is a long way to fall.

The sudden appearance of the Bonecrusher up into the sky was not very pleasant. It was surprising to say the least - and all he could do was yell... and swipe at Alice uselessly... before he hit the ground. His heavy frame creating a shockwave as the kinetic force utterly destroyed most of the machinery that comprised him. He was bleeding... but still alive. He pushed himself to his feet a few moments later, loudly groaning as he realized his machinery was now useless. The mechanics around his arm simply dropped off, as the Bonecrusher grabbed onto a spare blade he had. Faith had most likely gotten away.

Forcing himself to his feet, he was still dangerous without his metal as he was still strong enough to contend with the most powerful super-system types.

Oozing blood, he continued his march.

Alice reappeared beside Cindy, swaying with exhaustion. She stared in disbelief at the inexorable advance of the Bonecrusher.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Ugh," Cindy said. "Let's ignore him for now... he's a distraction at best."

The gunfire behind Cindy only confirmed that.

"All Agents! The Intimidation Unit are on the field!" Cindy was alerted via the communication system, and shook her head. "We have eyes on the Phantasm, he is going after the MIP!"

"Alice," Cindy grabbed her hand and looked her square in the eye with determination. "You know what to do."

---

As the fight raged on behind her, Faith had been fighting a battle of her own as she desperately pulled herself along the ground towards what she thought might've been an exit. As she crawled around yet another corner, she tried to regain her footing, using a wall to regain her balance, but the anti-metahuman representative barely restrained a scream as the agony snaked upwards from her heel and collapsed against the same wall. "Freaks... fucking freaks..." She whimpered, as all seemed lost, only...

"Faith Avalos?" A voice asked, catching her focus; it belonged to a man wearing a jacket, a DOVE badge clipped to his belt, his fingers fingers tightly clutching onto a pistol.

Faith looked up, as she was bleeding out to see that DOVE. Most of DOVES were useless sympathizers, or the freaks that put her in this situation in the first place. "No... no... get away from me....." She groaned as she lost more blood.

The DOVE in question was none other than Reed Taylor; who's gaze shifted towards her wounded heel, then the thin trail of blood that followed her. He could still hear the fighting in the distance and knew that they were far from safe, whatever angle you looked at it. "Look, I'm on your side, so just work with me here..." His tone was sharp and to the point.

She.silently listened to Reed... she was busy bleeding out "F-fine..." She groaned.

Nodding, he quickly took a knee beside her and quickly ran his palm over the injured foot until he was able to stem the flow of blood, at least for the time being - but that was only half of the problem. One quick glance at the woman's foot and anyone would've realised that she wouldn't have been able to put any weight on it, let alone walking any time soon. After a moment's pause, Reed opted for the quick solution. "Gonna have to get you out of here, just hold on." Lifting Faith's relatively small frame over his shoulders, Reed drew her up into a fireman's carry position and moved away, determined to keep her in one piece.

He could only hope that Cindy and Alice would keep the bastards held off.

---

While Bonecrusher was keeping those two busy... that teleporter was going to be a pain in the ass, and it was better that she was busy fighting Bonecrusher than the Phantasm himself.

Warping on top of the building, the Phantasm quickly noticed that RAVEN and the police were here... charging in heavily armed in some bid to kill the Phantasm. However, they were just playing into the Family's hands. All they were doing was throwing fuel to the flames. If he wasn't wearing a helmet, the world could see the Phantasm smirking wide. His hand drifted towards his earpiece, and he ordered.

"Julia, initiate phase two of our plan."

"Gladly..." Julia playfully said as she switched comms. "Zenith, would you kindly?"

On cue... various blue portals opened up around the coliseum, and black armored paramilitary soldiers came came charging out, opening fire on the police and RAVEN with a barrage of bullets. Firefights spread like wild-fire. The Phantasm grinned as all he could hear was the sound of bullets... but the problem was that they utterly negated his enhanced hearing. No matter....

The Phantasm teleported again... towards the MIP.

---

Thanks to Alice, the pair were able to quickly catch up with the MIP. Fortunately, the police were locking down the area. Unfortunately, the Intimidation Unit was tearing the place up - and to Cindy, that practically meant that the Phantasm had all the cover in the world. She was personally wondering why he didn't just do that in the first place - but, fuck it. They got bigger fish to fry rather than worry about what motives a crazy assassin could have. Appearing on the rooftop, Cindy knew down, and saw the MIP Representatives making a break for it. Carter running on all fours, with Lucia at his side. Cindy was personally wondering how long it could take to clear the area - but, pretty damn long if you ran under the threat of getting shot at with all these hired goons running around.

"Alright, Alice, you know the drill-" Cindy pointed down towards Carter and Lucia.

But, at that exact moment, the Phantasm made his appearance, teleporting across buildings to catch up with the MIP.

"Damn it!" Cindy said... as she gathered glass from around herself. "Alice, cut that bastard off, I have an idea!"

Alice dropped her helmet onto the floor, cramming her fifth energy bar into her mouth. Taking someone as big as the Bonecrusher that high had really taken it out of her, and ideally she'd be taking a break right now. Unfortunately ideal wasn't exactly on the cards. She checked her pistol and spare magazines, "You're going to have to hurry up about it," she sprayed crumbs across the rooftop as she spoke, "He's fasterthan me, so you'll have to be quick."

She gave Cindy a nod, and then vanished, reappearing atop a building a hundred feet away to reorient herself, before throwing herself forward through space to meet the Phantasm's trajectory. He phased through her first spray of bullets, returning to solidity just long enough to loose a shot that whipped past her shoulder before she forced him back into his near invulnerable form. She could probably out-pace him, but in a one-on-one fight he had the edge. She was just trying to keep him intangible, that way she couldn't hurt him, but he couldn't hurt anyone else either.

Cindy had a few moments before Alice ran out of bullets, or the Phantasm would simply teleport away. She created a giant glass triangle, strong enough to support her weight through glass reinforcing (and knowing how much she weighs, of course), and quickly rode it towards the Phantasm.

The Phantasm was merely walking out of the danger, he noticed Cindy rolling up... and narrowed his eyes from under the mask.

Upon landing, Cindy did a roll and pointed her gun at the Phantasm, and hoped that this would work.... and instead of teleporting away, the Phantasm turned intangible. Cindy was quick, she broke her arrow-shaped glass pane into thousands of smaller pieces, and peppered the area with them. They were floating around the Phantasm, but whenever he tried to step out, Cindy just moved the field. She grinned.

"... What?" Cindy quipped. "Can't teleport when you're a ghostboy?" She asked. It seems her little guesswork was correct after all. She noticed that the Phantasm never turned intangible then teleport. Now, she's got him trapped with quick thinking and teamwork. She hoped that she could find a more efficient way of keeping him contained... but, hey, she has to do what she has to.

The Phantasm stared at her, wordlessly as he thought about a way out of this. He couldn't stay intangible forever... there were risks. Nonetheless, he had to think fast.

Alice popped back into existence beside Cindy, "that... was a good idea, you got this?"

"Yeah, just hurry up," Cindy said, turning towards Alice. "The Intimidation Unit is all over the place."

Alice turned, fixing her gaze on the unmissable form of Carter White, running at his side was Lucia Li, and then, a fraction of a second later, Alice as well. She made sure that her RAVEN badge was obvious, she didn't want them to lash out thinking she was the Phantasm. It would be a fine ending, to survive that monstrosity only to be splatted by a startled gorilla. "I can only take one of you at a time, I hope you can look after yourself big man." She clamped a hand onto the petite woman's shoulder, and took her a mile away to a RAVEN safehouse. She leaned against the wall, getting her breath back, she'd have to be careful not to ash, "You're going to have to hold on here, I'll be back with your friend..."

Carter nodded his head, and kept running as he awaited the return of the RAVEN. He was glad that Lucia was safe. Though, he could hear the sounds of a motorcycle get louder and louder. He turned his head, and noticed the Bonecrusher rushing towards him on his chopper. Carter quickly picked up the pace as Bonecrusher rushed towards him - but, even with his bestial traits, he was no match for the brute on a motorcycle. The Bonecrusher swiped at Carter with a swing of his blade. Assisted by the momentum of his motor, it cut deep. Carter let out a yell as he fell to his side, his white fur was stained by his own blood.

Bonecrusher came to a skidding stop on his motorcycle, and Carter was desperately crawling away as the Bonecrusher ran over towards him.

"I... I... can make it," Carter said as he tried his best to crawl off. "I... I can live, I can- aaaggh!"

Bonecrusher had slammed his foot on Carter's back with enough force to cave in his torso. That wasn't all, he raised his blade up into the air, and savagely brought it down on Carter's skull. Slicing clean through it. However, the Bonecrusher knew that enough was enough, and merely elected to step off the gorilla-Metahuman, and walk over to his motorcycle, and get back on.

"... Zenith." Bonecrusher said, and a swirling blue portal opened up in front of him, and he sped off inside.

---

All while Cindy was keeping the Phantasm still, she noticed something. His body... it was fading. Like getting more and more transparent and loosing shape. Like, he was fading out of existence. Cindy kept her attention on the Phantasm. Hoping that he would just fade away and stop being a pain in the ass.

"I...." The Phantasm trailed off, honestly surprising Cindy because she had never heard the Phantasm speak. "... I am never getting trapped in the void again!"

Surprising even Cindy, the Phantasm phased back into existence, and just had to have several pieces of glass inside of him. He let out several coughs - electronically distorted by his helmet, but some of the glass must have screwed with the machinery in his helmet because the voice changer was breaking. Allowing Cindy to kind of hear the Phantasm's voice and it was vaguely feminine.

Caught totally off guard by the Phantasm doing the last thing she expected, Cindy's eyes shot wide as the Phantasm teleported over to her. Punching her in the face, and wrapping his arms around her. She was completely stunned, and felt the Phantasm lock a power suppressant collar around her neck. Before she could even try to do anything, the Phantasm teleported. Pulling her through the void between worlds where everything was a wispy black smoke and shadows. It was honestly nauseating.

She was teleported yet again, before the Phantasm finally stopped, teleporting her to the edge of the very rooftop the Phantasm used to observe the area from afar. She looked into the Phantasm's helmet in fear, before he said,

"Zenith."

And a portal opened right behind her. The Phantasm shoved her inside, before teleporting inside himself. And with that, the portal snapped closed.

Appearing in a dark room, the first thing that Cindy heard was,

"... I have recovered the target"

A face in the darkness smirked.

"Very good...." Julia's feminine voice purred "... Pull the Intimidation Unit out of the area. We've done enough."

And with the assistance of portals, the Intimidation Unit made a quick retreat.

Julia walked from the shadows over towards Cindy with a smile on her face.

Cindy was confused... what the hell was going on. Fuck it. She was going to shoot her way out of here, she reached for her gun - and what the fuck?! It was gone. The Phantasm might have snatched it. Getting caught off guard yet again, Cindy didn't notice the person stabbing her in the neck with a syringe. She immediately felt weak to her knees, as she fell down. Consciousness was quickly fading.

Julia knelt down and looked Cindy in the face.

"... I'm going to have a lot of fun with you."

And then Cindy faded into drug-induced unconsciousness. Unable to defend herself from the likes of the Family.

---

Alice had expected to have a pretty hairy situation when she returned, but she hadn't expected to see what she did. She turned away, face ashen. Carter White, once so powerful and imposing, now looked pathetic, a huddled, bloodstained rag of silver fur discarded on the ground, all of the life gone out of it. She tapped her communicator.

"I got Li out, but I was too late for Carter..."

There was no response, she tapped again, "Greenbird?"

No response, and searching the rooftops turned up only thousands of shards of glass, but no Cindy. Her locator wasn't reading either. She keyed in a new frequency.

"Agent MIA..."

---

Reed had barely managed to pull Faith out of the firefight and carry her to safety, harried by the likes of the Intimidation Unit at their heels. Yet he had managed to get the two of them out of there, in one piece - more or less. A row of BPD cruisers and armoured vans had been waiting for them, weapons at the ready, but after a moment of pause the response teams lowered their arms as a few recognised him from the badge clipped to his belt. Well, that and the fact that he was carrying one of the representatives at the debate on his shoulders.

Paramedics at the soon quickly showed up with a stretcher in tow, which Reed carefully set Faith down upon with their aid, before he glanced over his shoulder towards the direction of where he'd last seen Cindy and Alice. Reaching up to his comms piece, he was about to let them know he'd pulled the anti-metahuman debater to safety....

""Agent MIA..."

When he heard Alice's voice seconds before his own.

"I've got Faith Avalos... wait, what?" It hit him like a ton of bricks. "MIA?" He asked.

"I..."

Alice didn't know what to say at first, until her instincts took over. Coldly and mechanically.

"Greenbird is MIA, last seen engaging the Phantasm..."

No. Reed's body grew stiff. "Are you sure? Have you searched the area?"

Alice resisted the urge to snap back, "no response from her locator, and I can cover this ground faster than anyone, I've got no visual on her..."

"Not a trace?" Reed was skeptical of the notion that she had just disappeared in an instant, unless....

They used portals. The Intimidation Unit had always used portals to deploy, then retreat instantaneously. One extra person wouldn't have been unfeasible.

"... They took her back with them." He realised, out loud.

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

I've sort of been waiting for Blessed Wrath for a few days, I think he's got some stuff on at the minute.

I can throw Seraphine and Alice into anything though, I need to get a bit more involved :)

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

Ellen Nile

The case was safe in the back of Ellen’s closet once more, the strange charging contraption tucked in beside it. Ellen hadn’t really seen Upgrade since then, which was a shame. After all the girl had helped her, opened up the case, even if it had been something so simple as a dead battery. Still, it had been a service, and Upgrade had taken her money. After all of that she’d have been surprised if they were friends. Even so, it would have been nice to have someone that she was a little closer to. She hadn’t seen much of Wendy recently, it seemed that the older girl had been even more committed to training than she had. Most of the time Ellen took advantage of her nocturnal habits to train in peace, after all, even at the Academy she had been ‘the freak’ it was just easier to let people go on thinking that.

Physically she’d changed, she hardly recognised herself when she looked in the mirror, and for once it wasn’t because of her power, it was because of her. She was toned now, fitter, far from the scrawny teen she had been months before. True, there was much further to go, she wouldn’t be impressing anyone, but she could see it in her face.

Maybe it was something about her ability, she’d woken up, dressed, and gotten all the way to the training room, intending to spend the day working out what ability she’d developed. It hadn’t been until she’d realised the whole process had taken her less than sixty seconds that it became obvious to her. The five minute jog across the campus had been a blur, but it was always a blur, simply a means to an end. She was a different person now, and the person she had to thank, was Mannequin. The man… machine… creature who had given her this chance to change her life.

He was locked away now, imprisoned with a long list of crimes pinned to him. She’d watched the news, and now she didn’t know what to make of him. It seemed impossible that the creature who had given her that opportunity could be the cold, manipulative monster that the news reports had painted. There hadn’t been a trial yet, that was still a little way away, but Ellen couldn’t help but feel that the odd, strangely sad ceramic man was being scapegoated. She wished there was something she could do about it.

---

Seraphine Campbell

This wasn’t the first night that Seraphine had woken up with someone else in her bed. What it was however, was the first night that she wasn’t sharing it with them. She stretched awkwardly as she raised herself from the couch and walked to the door through to her bedroom, it was open, and the petite blonde was still asleep underneath the covers. She was snoring faintly, and Seraphine smiled to herself. It was kind of cute, although she wasn’t surprised that the RAVEN agent was still out of it, she had packed away a surprising amount of alcohol last night. If she hadn’t seen it Seraphine wouldn’t have believed that a human being could consume that quantity of booze and not suffer from liver failure. As it was she was amazed the blonde could stand up, although admittedly not particularly steadily. It had taken two of her to walk the unsteady Alice back to her room and put her to sleep in her bed.

Seraphine hadn’t expected to see the agent who had saved her life again, Baybridge was a big city, but then Seraphine could be in more places at once than anyone else. It had still been happenstance though. Strongriver Plaza was a higher class area, full of expensive bars and clubs, but there were just as many dirty dives in the alleyways surrounding it. She’d run across Alice there, walking dejectedly out of one of the sticky floored bars, the blonde, clearly already a few drinks in, had recognised her. Charmed by the merry agent, and a little concerned, Seraphine had convinced her to accompany her to a slightly more savoury location. It had cost her a promise of free drinks for the night, but it ended up with them at least in a better area. From there it had simply been a matter of listening to the woman’s woes until the early hours of the morning, and then carting her back to her apartment.

She wasn’t, strictly speaking, supposed to have guests, but she figured that bending the rules couldn’t hurt too much. Alice had saved her life, and Seraphine didn’t like being in debt to others. It certainly couldn’t be a disadvantage to have a friend in RAVEN. A friend who had drunkenly tried to kiss her last night.

She heard Alice begin to stir in the other room, “good morning! You hungry?”

There was a sound of scuffling, muffled cursing, and then a dull thump. Concerned, Seraphine made her way back into the bedroom, to discover it empty, the sheets thrown back. No RAVEN agent.

---

Alice Barrett

Alice had awoken with a groan to realise that she was not in her own bed. No, this one definitely belonged to someone else. She rubbed her forehead as she rolled over, looking about the room. She couldn’t remember much of last night, which was really how most of her nights had passed over the last few weeks. This was a first though, and it definitely wasn’t a guy’s room. Her train of thought was interrupted by a voice from another room, a woman’s voice.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck… not again. Fuck!”

The bed sheets settled slowly over the space that Alice had previously occupied, but she was already gone, just over a half mile away in her own apartment. She stumbled into the bathroom to vomit and splash cold water on her face. She ended up staring into the mirror. She looked like shit.

There was an unhealthy tinge to her skin, deep shadows beneath her eyes, and that look in her eyes again. The same look that she thought she’d managed to forget. The look that told her that she’d failed, that she hated herself. Now it was worse, she felt like she’d betrayed more than just herself and God this time. She glanced at her phone, abandoned on her kitchen counter last night, hoping for the screen to light up indicating a call. It failed to do so.

“Fuck!”

She needed something to take the edge of, to fight back the biting headache that was advancing through her skull, something that would make her feel better than aspirin. She poured herself a drink, downing it before pouring another, taking that one slower. She was losing control now, feeling everything spiralling out of her reach. The riot, the mall, all of it, she’d always thought she was meant to be a cop; RAVEN just seemed like the logical next step. Now she was beginning to question if she’d made the right decision at all.

She needed to think, she needed a shower and she needed someone to talk to.

Half an hour later she vanished from her apartment to reappear outside her church, rosary clutched desperately between her fingers.

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

OK, going to try and post tonight/tomorrow morning. Sorry I've been so slow, had my watercooler go kaput over the weekend and had to replace that before it blew my processor :/. Super sorry I've been so inactive lately :(

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

Alright, here's the new organization I made specifically for an event I plan on doing later.

<Snipped quote>

Feel free to voice your comments.

@Mr Allen J

Sounds gay.

Actually I kinda like it. About time metas had someone on side who isn't semi psychotic

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

---

Samantha Cole & Ellen Nile

---

---

Written in collaboration with @BlessedWrath
Old Raygate, Prince Ed-Field, An Abandoned Apartment Complex
Some Time Later...

Sam floated over a carbon fantasy, the glass-smooth surface of which seemed etched with countless metal pathways. As she watched, spark-blue pulses of energy whizzed past at unthinkable speeds. She looked out to the horizon; a city constructed with integrated circuits, capacitors, relays and diodes. The pulses entered and left this metropolis in some greater pattern she could not decipher. As she observed the energy pulses, something compelled her to reach out for one. Before she could think better of it, she caught one in her palm and was instantly accelerated toward the city at speeds which should have broken her neck.

She jolted awake, drenched in a cold sweat, still clutching the little ball of energy from her dream. When she managed to open her fist, she found nothing in it, as she should have expected. It took some time for her to regain her composure, during which she shivered as if suffering mild hypothermia.

"It happened again..."

The following moments consisted of Sam's typical information gathering exercises. She did not acquire much more than the fact they had been moved to an old apartment building, but even that told her something. It told her the drop had gone south, and it told her the family hadn't been able to look after her this time. Why that was would have to wait for later inquiry. Sam was more focused on her immediate situation.

"What happened?"

Ellen did not look happy, she was still clutching the case, making a conscious effort not to simply fade into the background.

Sam had seen the other girl during the first few moments of consciousness, but it hadn't registered as important until she spoke. Then it all came back to her: The case had triggered her ability, and Sam, who had never needed to confirm a client's identity in the past, now shared the lobby with a completely unknown entity. For all she knew, the whole drop had been a trap.

She scrabbled backward, somehow finding her feet, and clapped her wrists together with purpose. There was a high-pitched whine, increasing in frequency over the next few seconds, similar to an old-style camera flash. The way she was holding her arms out did not suggest a friendly use for whatever it was she'd just activated.

"Who are you?!" she demanded, though the tone of her voice failed to mask her worry with intimidation. She looked like a panicked animal.

"The fuck?"

Ellen was startled by the sudden movement of the slight teen, tightening her grip on the metal case before her. This girl had just blacked out in the restaurant, with her case and money, and now she was the one who was the bad guy? She felt a heat in her chest.

"I'm the girl you tried to rob, I'm not sure what that act was in the buffet, but I'm still here, and you're going to open my case now!"

"Shit." Sam realized what had happened. Not only had the drop gone south, but the client had violated their agreement and stayed on, possibly to ID her. This had to be handled carefully, or she'd never be able to operate under that alias again. She tried to word herself carefully, but the anger still showed through.

"You were supposed to leave the item behind. That's why it's called a dead drop. You don't see me, I don't see you. If either of us gets nabbed, we just deny ever having met. Now we've lost that layer of protection."

The girl had accused Sam of theft. Either she did not understand dead drops, or she really did not trust anyone. Not that it mattered now. They were in the shit, and Sam still had yet to figure out why the hostess would have bothered to move her to another location. The first priority was to determine whether her client was a sting, or just legitimately naive.

"If I find out you're working for the cops..." she warned.

"I'm sixteen, pretty sure the cops wouldn't use me as a snitch. Now you have my money, where's my service?"

Ellen was getting agitated now, the case was here, as was Upgrade, but she seemed no closer now to getting access to her solution.

Sam arched an eyebrow, almost amused at her insistence. She must not be familiar with the concept of deal gone bad. The Jade Dragon had always been a safe place in the past, but if they'd been moved, it must have been because of unfriendlies in the area. They would have to improvise.

"Right. The case." Sam put a finger to her lips while she thought. "You're...not exactly familiar with the tech, are you? What's in that thing, anyway?"

"Nothing!"

Even Ellen realised that her response had been too fast. She flushed hotly, muttering, "it's none of your business..."

For the first time in recent memory, Sam actually laughed. It wasn't even her typical caustic, derisive laugh. It was light and bubbly; the kind of laughter you'd expect after hearing a joke take an unexpected turn right before the punchline.

"Buuuuuuuuuuuuull shit." she replied, wiping a tear from her left eye. "That thing has six million possible combinations, a rotating code failsafe to prevent war-dialing, and even the outer shell is impregnated with a wire grid to detect drilling. You don't put your nana's pearls in a case like that. Try again."

The younger girl was furious, "I was told no questions, sounds like a question to me."

"Well, that's when I thought it was just some random spare with a locked case. This is military grade. I need to know whose pants I have my hand in."

Ellen looked shamefaced, her anger fading and being replaced by embarrassment. "It's... it's mine..."

"Fine. Keep your secrets for now. The first thing we have to do is get out of here." Sam peeked out the window at the Jade Dragon. For a moment, she could not help wondering how the Cooks-That-Weren't-Cooks thought it was safe to dump them across the street; especially with a lot of unmarked cars and suits milling about outside. "Yep. Definitely have to get out of here. Take a look."

She deactivated her gloves with another clap of the wrists and took stock of her gear. Aside from some jostling, it seemed in order. She hoisted up the bugout bag again and straightened everything out, then started nosing about.

Ellen peered out of the window, allowing herself to fade out of focus, confident that as long as she wasn't too conspicuous she would be left alone. A black-suited man's gaze passed right over her, she shivered, she knew she wasn't invisible, that wasn't how this power worked. She was just somehow totally unimportant. It was chilling to realise that you didn't matter at all.

"Who are they? They look like the CIA or something..."

"Suits. Doesn't really matter who. You check the ear buds they're wearing? Standard issue for government spooks and personal security." Sam paused for a moment, unsure if it was the dumbwaiter or the laundry access she needed to find, before adding: "Don't forget the cut of their jackets. Extra room in the chest, so the butts of their guns don't stick out so much."

Ellen shrugged awkwardly, she was way out of her depth here, and trying to hide how desperately she was treading water.

"So how do we get out of here?"

Ellen's question was answered by a loud 'thunk' as the dumbwaiter's false floor gave way under Sam's boot. She gestured, expressionless, toward the short ladder leading down.

---

---

The Hostess

---

---

Old Raygate, Prince Ed-Field, Jade Dragon Buffet

The two men who entered the Jade Dragon looked no more like customers than the two men who dragged Sam off to the safehouse looked like cooks. They were similarly dressed, wearing no distinctive features which might set them apart from any other Suit in play, which meant they were either CIA or personal security. The ear buds trailing from their left ears seemed to confirm this theory, as did their physical builds. The hostess often saw this type rolling with some of her high-priority clients, but she did not see one of those clients today.

They approached the counter and, presenting an old photo of Sam (taken from the behavioral health center's patient files) and an artist's rendering of what she might look like today, drowned out the hostess' standard greeting. "We're looking for this young woman, and a reliable anonymous tip pointed us in this direction. We were told a girl matching this description left here not long ago. Have you seen her?"

She did not take long to adopt her plastic persona again, taking the time to layer it with an effected Chinese accent purposely engineered to be so infuriatingly dense as to frustrate them out of any further inquiry. The goal here was to evade and deflect, and she was the undisputed master of this particular neighborhood.

"I am so sorry," she replied brightly, beaming that artificial grin as widely as she could manage. "We get so many customer today. I do not remember all of them." She even took the time to study the photograph, still smiling stupidly as she did so. "No, I think I remember her if she come here! Beside...look how many teenager wear dark clothing today. Maybe you have wrong girl? She not in some kind of trouble, is she?"

"That's confidential." the man on the right answered automatically, as if rehearsed. He turned to his companion and muttered: "Go for search and seizure. Anything that might link us to her whereabouts."

"I don't see warrant." The hostess warned politely. It would have sounded like a threat, were it not for the candy coating. The man who'd ordered the illegal search turned sharply and composed his thoughts carefully.

"My employer wishes you to know that this is not a request. Our organization does not answer to the federal government, and there will be no paperwork or warrants authorizing this search. You can either comply, or you can find yourself out of business and behind bars." He produced a rather official-looking document, several pages long, and slid it across the counter with his fingertips. On first glance, it appeared to be a gag order. "Naturally, you are ordered to keep silent about this investigation. Any inquiry you make is subject to charges of obstruction of justice, revealing state secrets, and treason."

She knew they were lying, but could not afford to jeopardize the family. If she resisted, they'd know there was more going on in her kitchen than just the shrimp platter. With little other choice, she stood and smiled, allowing the suits to do their masters' bidding. Naturally, that did not prevent her pressing the silent alarm under the counter.

The door swung open...more suits. Within minutes, they were crawling all over the Jade Dragon. But there was no evidence to find...she hoped.

---

Samantha Cole & Ellen Nile

---

---

[i][u]Old Raygate, Prince Ed-Field, The Old Tunnels[/i][/u]

"Prohibition was the best thing to ever happen to crooks." Sam observed quietly, breaking the silence. She'd led the two down into the old smuggling tunnels, all but forgotten since the late '20s. Some sections still had power, but most had simply fallen into disrepair. It was not exactly the safest route, but certainly safer than a double-stack magazine of .40 caliber hollowpoints in her chest. "They used to use these tunnels to cart their booze back and forth between businesses and manufacturing sites. Now we use 'em."

Ellen looked around the old and dusty tunnels. They clearly weren't a main thoroughfare, but even in those tunnels thick with dust there were trails of footprints. Even if it wasn't frequent, they were clearly still in use. Ellen wondered who could possibly still be using these tunnels, and what might happen if they ran into someone who didn't appreciate their presence in this buried labyrinth. They twisted and turned, clearly not modern in construction or sensible in design. They could stretch for miles, or only a dozen yards, it was hard to tell in the dim light. Some tunnels were simply black, not dark, that would suggest the presence of light, simply empty of all colour and definition, as if they were some gaping maw that absorbed anything that dared to penetrate it. She looked back to Upgrade, concerned, "we?"

Sam nodded curtly, opting to retrieve a powerful LED torch from her messenger bag. The original casing had been gutted, and its internals replaced with a custom lithium ion pack. The original LED had been upgraded to use the main diode from a set of vehicle headlights. Naturally, it carved through the darkness. She twisted the head of the torch, widening the throw of the light to reach either side of the tunnel.

"Yep. 'We'." She left it at that. Ellen hadn't exactly been welcomed into the family, and it wouldn't do for Sam to start blabbing about the internal affairs of the local branch. Even Sam was not considered a member; more like an associate or affiliate. But she'd parleyed that into regular employment, using their distribution network to fix her up with clients who needed her services, which suited her fine. Using another's infrastructure was much easier than establishing her own, after all. That it gave her plausible deniability, if she had to split, definitely did little to change that mindset.

Sensing the concern in Ellen's voice, however, Sam did eventually add: "Not much to worry about down here. The only people we'd run into are on our side. We can lay low in the distribution point up ahead. It's not much farther. If we're lucky, it'll still have power and I can take a look at that case."

Ellen wasn't entirely reassured by the notion that whoever they might meet were on 'their side' after all, what the girl must mean was 'her side', that didn't bode well if someone turned up who took issue with her presence in the tunnels. She could barely defend herself, and her current ability seemed to be relatively ineffective on her companion, was she running out of juice? That had never happened to her before, and she inspected her skin, worried that perhaps she might see the early effects of ashing. It was irrational, but in the darkness, even lit by the powerful beam from Upgrade's torch, it was all too easy to grow paranoid. She hung back, following the other girl, but ready to swing the case like a weapon or turn and run. Her fight or flight instinct was keyed in, and she could feel every tendon in her body on edge, ready to strike. Her anger had vanished as soon as it had appeared, and she nervously acquiesced to the suggestion.

"OK, I'm following."

The aforementioned distribution point was little more than a reinforced rotunda, held up by old wooden beams which showed evidence of recent repair. There were shelving units, a few closets, a couple of desks and a lot of old crates scattered about. Somebody was using it. Sam plopped down next to a rickety-looking gasoline generator and gave the ripcord a tug. By all appearances, it should have resisted a one-pull start, but it grumbled to life and the string lighting which hung around the perimeter of the ceiling slowly brightened. She clicked off the torch and stuffed it back in her bag.

"Well, this is it." She offered, motioning for Ellen to bring the case. "Let's see what all this hype is about."

The case was heavy, and though it was clearly solid, probably armoured enough to resist bullets if not a bomb blast, Ellen set it down as though it were her child. She edged back a little, but continued to watch Upgrade nervously, glaring about her as if expecting besuited gangsters toting tommy guns to emerge from the shadows demanding payment for safe passage. The case was large, a little larger perhaps, than a briefcase, with thick hinges and a bulky panel on the front with a plain glass panel set into it. It was sealed around the edges, air-tight, and was cool to the touch, surprisingly so.

"I need to be able to get back into it."

Ellen glanced at her watch, "I only have a few hours, it just locked down and stopped me getting in two days ago... I haven't gotten anything out of it since."

"Putting curiosity about its contents aside for a second," Sam began, poking the keypad with an index finger. "I feel compelled to point out that the buttons aren't doing anything. I feel pretty confident that a digital keypad needs power. When was the last time you charged this thing?"

"Charged..."

Ellen looked puzzled, "I've never charged it, it was... it was a gift... he never said anything about charging it..."

She shrugged, "sealed things was kinda his speciality..."

"I've never charged it..."

The words struck Sam like a sack full of old trout. There was the eyebrow again, slowly gaining altitude, and she could have sworn she heard crickets. All electronic devices needed power. Did this mysterious man never think about long-term storage? There had to be some contingency in place.

"Ok. So he never gave you any charging solutions. Fine. We can work around that. First thing is to figure out where the charging port is. Then we figure out how to give it power."

"Well it was sort of a last-minute gift... I guess he must have been in a rush..."

Mannequin had been arrested before she'd found the case. He'd left it in his temporary lab for her, she'd gone looking after the Eco-Natura attack and his highly publicised arrest. His trial must be due soon, after all, RAVEN had made a big thing about capturing him. She'd stopped watching after that. not interested in what they were saying about him. He'd helped her, wanted to make things better for metahumans like her, who's powers made their lives worse, not better.

"Well," Sam replied with uncharacteristic optimism. She stood, brushing off her pants. "After seeing the tech that went into this thing, I can tell you this much: There's no way somebody could engineer something on this level without at least thinking about power solutions. Whoever you got it from, the guy knows his stuff."

She wore a pained look then, staring down at the case, and wrung her hands. "This is gonna suck."

She hefted the case onto a nearby desk and focused in on it. She shed both her gloves and placed her palms flat on the exterior. Her eyes shut tightly under the strain of concentration. She'd gotten a pretty good look at the internals when her ability triggered the first time, but a second inspection was necessary to determine her next course of action. The information was there, just...disjointed and disorganized. Scanning the device a second time was not often necessary, but often beneficial in devices this complex.

"If I black out again, you'll have to stand guard."

"Alright, no pressure then."

Ellen stood awkwardly a little way from the strange scene, glancing around. A tunnel led away in either direction, one lit by haphazardly strung lights, one of the bulbs a little way along flickered irregularly. She kept glancing back, making sure that the case wasn't being hustled away down some other passageway that she hadn't noticed yet. Though her suspicions bore no fruit, she still didn't trust the other girl.

"Heh." Sam tried to stifle a chuckle as she felt her conscious mind slip away, but Ellen was beginning to grow on her. Paranoid, unsure, and hiding a secret so important that it required black market connections to preserve...yeah, Sam knew no one that fit that description. But it hardly mattered in the following seconds, as she plunged beneath the surface of the case, wires and circuits whizzing by as she mapped the device a second time.

It was hard to believe she could have missed it. The device did have long-term power storage, but like any other device, it needed replenishing. First inspections had failed to turn up any kind of charging port or electrical contacts on the exterior of the case, but there had been a very specific reason for that. It used a variation of Tesla's resonant, non-radiative energy transfer technology; that is to say, an electromagnetic coil meant to accept induced current from a sister coil in the case's charging dock.

Armed with that information, Sam mentally pushed away from the device. Shutting down her power was always rough, and the transition back to conscious thought left her at less than her best. Her head swam, and she had to steady herself on the desk, looking for the world as though she was about to empty her stomach all over the floor.

Ellen was growing impatient, Upgrade was still simply staring at the case, sure her hands were on it, but it didn't seem to be having much effect.

"Good news, bad news," Sam started, slightly out of breath. "It's definitely out of power, and we can charge it. Trouble is...if I don't get it exactly right, the failsafe will blow out the charging relay and we'll see peace in the Middle East before we ever get into it."

"Oh god..."

Ellen looked distraught. "You mean..? Oh shit..."

She walked towards the case with half a mind to simply take it and leave, there must be some other way, maybe something in Mannequin's lab would charge it. If there was anything left of it, somehow she doubted it was all still there.

"Oh god..."

She walked away, caught in a loop by indecision.

"I need... you need..."

She got a grip on herself. It was harder than it should have been.

"Do it."

Sam was already casting her eyes over the interior of the rotunda, noting every resource at their disposal. Her mind had already engaged. Ellen's words came through the grinding of those gears as a distant hail. She absently turned back to Ellen, needing to process her miniature freakout before formulating an answer for it.

"Oh, yeah," she replied brightly. "We were always gonna do it. I mean, how else are you gonna get in? I just wanted you to know the risks."

She retrieved her torch again, and one of her thermos bottles from her bugout bag. Much of the water ended up going down her throat, but she did offer some to Ellen. The gesture seemed devoid of altruism, somehow; there was a sense of urgency there which did not quite fit with a friend trying to stave off dehydration. It seemed more like she just wanted to get rid of the liquid.

Ellen took the bottle, more because she didn't know what else to do right now, and downed what was left of the water, finding some calm in the sensation of the liquid sliding down her throat.

"Thanks."

"Sure." Sam answered automatically, miles away as she took the bottle back. She worked briefly to unscrew the lid, then pried out the internals and set them aside. She retrieved a small insulated lunch box from her bugout bag and, dumping the contents onto the desk, set to work cutting out the insulation from the interior. In minutes, she worked the translucent white material into the outer casing of the clear plastic thermos, removed the retaining ring from her torch, and screwed the thermos into the emitter assembly. When she clicked it on, the makeshift light diffuser transformed that torch into a 360 degree lantern, brightly illuminating the entire room.

"That's out of the way," Sam muttered, making instantly for the string lights around the ceiling. She unapologetically ripped them down and set to work stripping the wires. The bulbs themselves were packaged in the remains of her lunchbox, 'just in case', and she began nosing about for some new material.

"Look for something round...maybe a couple inches in diameter. Table leg, pole, something."

There was a table in the corner of the small storage room, something that in another life might have held a lamp or a few cups of coffee. Ellen smashed it without remorse, prying the leg from it.

"This do?"

She handed it over, before retrieving another, it wouldn't do much good, but she felt better to have a 'weapon' in her hands.

Sam paused her wire stripping long enough to heft the leg. Her brow furrowed, and she dove into her bugout bag again.

"Diameter's off, but we can fix that. It's the shape I really need." She hated the cliche she was about to commit, but duct tape would serve admirably for bulking up the leg's diameter to the correct size. It took a few minutes, and she kept going back to the case as she worked. It wasn't altogether clear whether it was some kind of superstition, or if there was something greater at work.

"I think I got it. Now comes the pain." Sam shrugged; a 'what are you gonna do' gesture. "What kinda tech you got on you? Phones, tablets, anything with a circuit board."

Ellen patted her pockets, producing a small plastic rectangle.

"I've got a phone?"

Sam frowned, but accepted the phone. The components were terribly small, and she no longer had access to her full workshop...such as it was. But, without challenge, victory lost its flavor; so she told herself. She dug around in her bag for a moment and dragged out an assortment of old circuit boards, AC wall transformers, and other electronic odds and ends.

"Hate working with SMD..." she complained, trying her best to set up a decent arrangement for her soldering iron. The wall plug had been replaced with a DC barrel plug and a fist-sized roll of lithium ion batteries. She clicked it on and set to work, testing the circuit once in a while with a device meant for the task.

Sam made one final check of the case, now comfortable and confident with the technology it employed, and gave Ellen the 'thumbs up'.

"Green light, if you wanna risk it. No guarantees."

Ellen stared at the strange contraption she had rigged up, "shit..."

It hardly looked like it might be the answer.

"Fine... I guess I've got no other choice."

Sam tried to look hurt. "A cook's only as good as her ingredients, you know." She threw the switch, completing the circuit to the generator, and put a palm on the case again. Ellen once again saw her 'check out'. Sam detected no overloads, and the case's many failsafes refused to engage. It was fascinating to see the inner workings of such a complex device as they functioned, and it occurred to Sam that she hadn't had occasion to witness it before.

"It's working," she advised, her eyes slowly opening again. "But it's gonna take a while. The power flow is just a little under, because I had to include a capacitor to level out surges. Judging from the size of the power pack, it could take hours."

She took a moment to reflect, and added: "You know...it's lucky you found me when you did. Did you know this thing has a low-pressure airlock with phosphorus-ignited thermite as a self-destruct failsafe? Anybody tries to crack the seal, the air rushes in and distributes the thermite through the whole thing...right before the phosphorus torches it. Whole thing is toast. It really is an impressive little lockbox. I...I kinda want one."

The relief in the air was palpable, and Ellen sank to a sitting position against the wall, almost crying with relief.

"Thank you..."

Not that what might have happened otherwise was reassuring. She smiled, the first time she had since meeting Upgrade.

"I don't even know your real name..."

"That's true." Sam replied simply. She grabbed a couple of snack bars from the pile on the desk and tossed one to Ellen. "We have the time, right now. We might not later. Keep your strength up."

Clearly Upgrade wasn't interested in sharing that information. She kept quiet, resisting the urge to blurt out her own name. She wasn't cut out for all of this cloak and dagger bullshit. It seemed like way too much work. She caught the snack bar easily, tearing the wrapper open with her teeth and biting off about a third. It felt good on her empty stomach, and she realised how long it had been since she had last eaten.

"I needed this."

The two passed the time with small talk, though it seemed more like a verbal skirmish. Ellen would probe, Sam would evade or deflect the question, and neither seemed very compatible with the idea of actual trust. Still...in their exchange, they were able to learn a few minor details about one another. For one thing, Sam seemed utterly disinterested in movies and television, which left a rift of its own. 'Friends' was too strong a word for what they became, while 'associates' barely seemed adequate. Thankfully, the tension broke when the backlit security panel on the case came to life.

"Pizza's here," Sam announced. She hopped off of one of the abandoned tables and strode over to the desk with the case on it. "You wanna try your code again?"

Ellen stood eagerly, perhaps a little too eagerly, and moved swiftly to the case, trying to avoid the temptation to simply shove the other girl out of the way in her haste. She laid her thumb against the glass plate, there was a brief, frozen moment, where nothing seemed to be happening, then a click. With a sigh of relieved tension, she opened the lid and it's contents bathed her in a faint purple light. She took a vial from the insulated interior, forgetting that Upgrade was watching her, and slotted it into a syringe gun. It only took a moment, and a sharp pain, to relieve her worries for at least another week.

"Thanks..."

Sam's eyebrow lifted again, but she knew better than to ask. She'd never seen any street drugs matching the description of these vials, nor had she ever seen a junkie with enough cash to afford a case like that, which led her to push for prescription drugs as a possible explanation...though for what ailment, she could not say. She decided that discretion was the better part of valor and left that mystery exactly what it was.

"If we're all closed up, here...?" She urged Ellen, nodding her head toward the far tunnel.

"Yeah, sorry."

Ellen closed the case and hefted it from the table. With the weight of her shoulders she felt more able to relax and joke. "I guess the guide out is free of charge then?"

Sam sniffed. "What guide? I'm headed for the junkyard. I can't really help it if you follow me."

Ellen shrugged, her phone had long since gone, contributed to the strange device that had recharged the case. Although it was unlikely that google maps covered this strange network of tunnels. Feeling light again, she began to head after Upgrade.

"I guess not. Lead the way."

Sam shrugged and gathered what she could of the growing pile on the desk. With her lunchbox compromised, anything cold had to be left behind. She wolfed down what she could and stuffed the rest into the box, and the box back into her bag. In seconds, she was ready to go. There hadn't been much time to stabilize the improvised charging device, but she wrapped it up anyway and handed it to Ellen.

"Keep track of that. It should work on any 120v circuit, as long as it has a 20 amp breaker. I might try to streamline it later, if you're still around."

It didn't take long to get to the junkyard, not really, not after they'd already spent hours down here. It would be good just to get out of the claustrophobic conditions. Ellen perked up as the tunnel began to grow lighter, this time with sunlight rather than cheap bulbs. She picked up her pace at the prospect of freedom from the confines of the underground.

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

Also, I think I should probably explain a little bit about what I want to do next so I can help other people maneuver towards it, even if it spoils a little bit.

My basic idea is that I want some characters to be kidnapped by the Founding Family, so other characters can be drawn towards one of their labs, and have an epic stealth sequence and battle.

@Mr Allen J

Sounds like a plan!

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

Just popping in here to let you guys know that I've been to the hospital. I'm not pulling out, but I may need some time to gather my thoughts before a post.

@BlessedWrath

RL comes first!