War on Curve (IC)

@curve@captain_garrick@damian_carlisle@cognus_@braum@jean_knightfall@ir1t-4t

The Clown Prince of Gothic had terrorized people from all over the city, burned buildings, murdered civilians and recently, killed a Presidential Candidate and posted the gruesome video. He was not alone. Before him came Satar, Spain burned, the world twisted in the wind. Attack after bloody attack shook the faith of the world population, made governments tremble and threatened to send the world into blazing chaos. Some people, as it turned out, just wanted to watch the world burn...and Curve was one such man.

That was why he was chosen, it didn't even really matter to Director Tyrus and STRIKE if Curve was killed, captured or just went underground for awhile, there was a different point being made as TV stations across the world showed video of Ospray's painted with STRIKE's logo flying into Gothic City. They descended from the clouds and warehouses burned. There was live footage on the internet of STRIKE operatives dragging members of Curve's gang out of their hiding places and cuffing them, or shooting them as they fought back. This was not a defensive measure, it was not something being done because Curve was launching a bloody attack, it was preemptive...it was what the world needed to see. Someone was out there actively going after these people now.

Tyrus's Osprey landed four hundred yards from a non-descript Gothic building, the reported location of Curve. She disembarked her vehicle quietly and moved around the corner and out of sight. There she waited for her heroes, for the people that would make the next phase of this operation possible. Solar Hawk was already there, ready and waiting with her mace in hand. Xae was not far behind but she was spread out from the others, stalking quietly through the city's shadows as the sun went down. The rest would arrive shortly and the attack would begin. Tyrus was fully aware that Curve would know by now they were coming, there would be traps and fighting and she fully expected Curve to have all sorts of tricks up his sleeve. The new Director of STRIKE smiled and put a round in the chamber of her Desert Eagle.

----------------------------

Xae was the closest to Curve's location. She stalked through the broken down streets and buildings of a half forgotten city, her armored feet nearly silent against the pavement. Her sensors constantly scanned the area and provided her with a three hundred and sixty degree view of the area. She was set out ahead of the others, an intentional scout and possible target. From time to time she allowed herself to be spotted by anyone that might be looking out of the windows. Perhaps Curve would be smart enough to understand those moments as a trap, perhaps he'd be crazy enough to not care.

Eventually Xae crouched down less than one hundred yards from a side entrance to the building. She activated her claws and dug them into the ground, preparing herself to launch forward and go from zero to sixty within a beat or two of the heart. The ultimate predator, the world's oldest sentient species, waited for the Clown to make his move or for STRIKE's Operation Sad Clown to begin. She kept tabs on where the other team members were, waiting like Tyrus for the others to arrive. She knew and suspected Tyrus knew as well, that it would likely begin before everyone got there. Curve would have the place ready for war and would likely start the shooting first.

@gale_xanders: Captain Garrick was the first to arrive silently coming around a corner his near diamond piercing rifle at the ready and the rest of him equipped with grenades, pistols, daggers and some other rather odd tech. He moved swiftly but fluidly reaching Tyrus's position and waiting for further instruction. He was an excellent strategist but it was better to wait for orders if a plan was already in play.

@captain_garrick: @gale_xanders:

Jean arrived in style, descending on glittery wings that she wasn't entirely sure how to use yet. In one hand was a book of spells that Gary Gygax would have been proud of. In the other hand was a massive rocket launcher. "Isn't his sorta overkill for one clown guy? I could firebomb this place from orbit and be done with it."

@gale_xanders: @jean_knightfall: "I'd hardly call it overkill. A firebomb could also injure anyone around and would have a lot less to salvage." Garrick told Jean, "Besides, sometimes the crazy ones have an escape plan for that which would make it hard to know if he actually died from it."

@jean_knightfall: @captain_garrick@curve

Tyrus shook her head. "He knows we're coming. Never underestimate a psychopathic genius." She told her. "Besides, this is as much to send a message to the world as it is to take out a clown. Xae is out probing his defenses now."

Tyrus considered her two operatives for a moment and smiled a little. "Jean, how are you at creating illusions?"

@captain_garrick: @gale_xanders:

"They're not exactly my specialty, but I'm OK at it. What do you have in mind?"

The first mistake was warning him. A video message after the untimely death of Tristyn Goldyne had indeed set off the strategizing of Curve, and there was nothing more destructive for an opponent than giving him time to prepare. Over the course of merely a few weeks, the strategy was put into place, a delicate lining of contingencies and location. Luckily, Curve had the hometown advantage... and a boatload of cash after the raid of Satar on Gothic City.

Bounties were released all over the country, bounties that soon gained popularity all over the world- bounties for metahumans, specific powers being listed for different prices. And, luckily, the number of mercenaries and bounty hunters had paid off in the long run. As the doors to the warehouse slid open, a gruff looking gman stumbled out, completely naked except for a strap around his breast with several different flashing lights and sounds, and a stark grey loin cloth. Bloodshot were his eyes, and his body showed signs of several beatings, with some signs of burn marks and large swollen lumps coating his body.

On the man's shoulder, a toy parrot started to squawk, until it became clear that there was an actual voice emanating from the small bird. "Top o' the morning, STRIKE! How are we all doing today?" Curve's voice pierced the air, making the man before them flinch. "I see you've met my good friend Tommy. Fun lil' mutant, Tommy is. Works like a... what was it in yer resume, Tom-Boy? A battery for nuclear radiation? Yeah, that was it. All of you fine ladies and gentlemen are standing within a hundred feet from a nuclear bomb."

"All that has to happen to trigger him... Well, he has to die. Then, he goes boom. Pretty fun to watch, I'd imagine, but hey, I'm in the penthouse suite over at the Gothic Lounge, so from this far away... Well, who knows?" As Curve's voice continued, the man- Tommy- reached down into his loin cloth and withdrew from it a small handgun, his hands shaking. "Fun little game I have planned for all of us. See, Tommy here has to die to be triggered. This will, in turn, kill all of you. Or, Tommy can use this little pistol to kill you all. That way, Tommy lives, too. Guess which option he's rooting for."

Violently quivering, Tommy raised the handgun and started firing wildly into the crowd of STRIKE soldiers ahead of him. And, across the city, Curve laughed, awaiting the death of his foes... Or, even better, their survival. It was gonna be a looooong day.

@gale_xanders: @jean_knightfall: @curve:

Without a word Garrick began dodging the bullets and progresding around the man in order to either distract him while one of the others did something or get behind him to get away the gun. He threw a sleep grenade near him. It was potent enough to take down a Crag but hopefully not to much to kill this puppet of Curve. The moment of impact it would detonate.

"Sleep gas," He warned the others.

@captain_garrick: : @jean_knightfall: @curve:

Oh, come on Curve, you can do better than this. Tyrus mused. "Curve curve curve..." Tyrus said out loud. "You're getting a bit predictable." I thought finding his location was too easy. Now I can begin to unravel his traps, the more traps he throws at us, the more I learn about his mindset and his likely actions once we reach him. "I'll get back to you on the illusions Jean. See what you can do about this walking bomb while we distract him."

She stepped around the corner and began firing extremely well aimed shots for the man's knees. The idea was to immobilize him and maybe even force him to drop his weapon simply from the pain. The bullets would obliterate his knees with easy if they struck. She nodded to Captain Garrick and his use of the sleep gas, it was good thinking. Hopefully Tommy here isn't randomly immune.

Xae slipped past the on going battle, trusting her comrades to deal with the immediate threat and continued her assigned role. She moved to the entrance and shifted into a crouch, carefully examining the doorway for possible traps while relying on her sensory data to map out any immediate threats that might come at her from the warehouse itself.

Solar Hawk remained on stand by, her methods were far too likely to kill Tommy and they didn't want to throw everything at the first threat they faced. Solar Hawk stood effectively as a guard for both Tyrus and Jean while the latter would begin preparing whatever spell she needed to use to contain the walking bomb.

@gale_xanders: @curve: @captain_garrick:

Jean felt her jaw clench as the clown spoke. His words sliced through a normally happy demeanor and to a core forged in fire. Her voice became terse. "How did he know we were coming? Never mind. Just stay out of my way." Jean closed her eyes and began speaking in high Elvish. A purple cage built itself around the terrified mutant, and flooded with Garrick's gas. "Can we get a move on? I'll happily zap him to the moon."

@curve: @gale_xanders: @jean_knightfall:

"Just leave him," Garrick told her, "He's only a pawn. Manipulated to do Curve's will. He should be out for a day or so." He didn't want anyone doing something drastic to a pawn.

@captain_garrick: "Meant the clown, HALO guy." Jean rolled her eyes.

@jean_knightfall:

"Be a little more clear next time then," Garrick said. He wasn't used to this kind of communication.

@curve: @gale_xanders: @jean_knightfall: @captain_garrick:

Felix sat nonchalantly at the edge of the Helicarrier's airstrip, hand in hand as he was uncosciously fidgeting with his thumbs. The take-strip was desolate, and unnaturally silent under the stars wandered darkling in the night because the Helicarrier was a good hundred miles away and from Gothic City. It maintained an altitude in which air is so thin, it drove men unconscious, this is why Felix was alone. Formally, he wouldn't admit it but he came to embrace solitude since "the event". Gothic City, his hometown and the first to witness his unstable return to heroics. Oh god, the terror.

Lifting himself up a few inches with his chiseled arms so his bottom would lose contact with the artifical floor, the Neutron Son followed by gently pushing himself off for a new flight. Hundred and fifty feet of free fall, gently feeling the wind whizz through his fingers and caress his raven hair. He didn't feel the urge to twitch, just watched the ground near. Could he even fly anymore?

...

The Gothic City shore-line became bewildered as The Neutron Son took flight and jettisoned so daringly close to the tides. Birthing a sonic aftershock, his body came to once again reconcile with supersonic movement high above Gothic City. in the extasy, his finger crawled up to his ear. "I'm inbound, miss Xae."

Finding newly found coordination and cooperation with his team, Felix sought to recruit his inhuman velocity, too furious to be caught by anything save for high-end recording apparatus, to sweep down and quickly grasp Jean's cage to covertly remove The Walking Fatman from the battle-field and deposit him into a temporary containment cell on the Helicarrier where he'd get medical aid and then stand-by for further orders at the station.

@felix_faraday: @curve: @jean_knightfall: @captain_garrick:

(Tyrus is the director, I just use the same account. Gale is participating as her secret identity Xae.)

Tyrus activated her com after she saw Felix take the fatman away. "Excellent, thank you Felix. I want you to scout something for me, Curve gave us the following location as his whereabouts. I want you to follow up on that and get back to me, do not engage."

Tyrus turned to Jean and Garrick. "Alright, lets make sure there's nothing else in the warehouse. Curve is going to have a plan for how this is going to go and I suspect the walking bomb is only the beginning. Jean, create an illusory team and stand by."

(going to wait for Curve)

@curve: @gale_xanders: @jean_knightfall: @captain_garrick:

"Mhm. On it.", he confirmed over the comms and launched off into the night again. He immediately ascended into above the cloud level to remain concealed as much as possible, peeking down every once in a while confirm his location.

Once above the Lounge he would descend above one of the higher buildings and land to watch from a distance. After the Fall of the Spanish Empire, the Adamantium Boy lost much of his power. A significant portion of the casualties were in the sensory department for he no longer could erect an autogravitational field to generate a gravity lense and thus had to find a means to compensate in the brief time he was with S.T.R.I.K.E.

As a material engineering graduate he adjusted his suit first, actually designed an alloy under the working name of "Spring Gold" due to it's peculiar quality - it's tensile strength currently found itself in the top tier and could even withstand planetary re-entry. This alloy now covered his whole being in a "body glove" to half his fluctuating levels of strength. Why? To protect the villains from his power. But that didn't solve his sensory problem, oh no, so he made a technological marvel. His goggles? State-of-the-art hard-light (or "holo") intertwined with S.T.R.I.K.E. satellite network to provide heads-up-display and various ocular features such as unerring approximation to allow him to scout from a distance.

(It's up to Curve what Felix can see and such.)

@curve: @captain_garrick: @gale_xanders: @felix_faraday:

Annoyed and aggravated weren't the perfect words to describe the feelings stirring within Gothic City's Mayor, but it seemed like those adjectives were the most accurate for the time being. It was expected that STRIKE would covertly infiltrate and assault Curve's researched residence and do so in the dead of night with the advantage of surpass in mind. Instead, they opted to play the 'fear through warning' gambit and hope that the target would be rattled and turn to tail. To get inside his head through confident means. They didn't know Curve like Alexander did. They didn't know what he was capable of. But most of all, they didn't know what truly went on inside his brain.

He stood alone staring out his office window with his tailored suit adorned back facing away and a sapphire colored phone held to his face.

"Lea, play the recording. I need to step out."

The STRIKE operatives that were now descending upon the city of Gothic had one clear intent and purpose for Alexander whether they were aware of it or not. Distract Curve's henchmen long enough for him to take out the jester terrorist. Even though the Obsidian Knight of the city was hoping they would remain more incognito than literally televising their operation, he was prepared for the scenario. He had already recorded himself explaining to the city of the reasoning behind their militaristic arrival and urged citizens to stay locked in their homes.

-----------------------

In almost less than 30 minutes, Alexander had donned the signature ebony cape and cowl of Dark Vengeance and was perched atop a light pole a few miles outside the perimeter of Curve's base of operations. Blanketed by the darkness and shrouded in mystery, his eyes remained fixated inside the binoculars that his hands held onto.

Combined with his cybernetic eyes granted him a strong advantage to study the battle that was had just commenced. As much as he disliked playing a spectator, the situation tactically demanded that he be on standby. because despite the smile and makeup, Curve was extremely intelligent and cunning. It would be of no surprised that his escape route was already mapped and henchmen at the ready to assist him. It didn't matter to the Caped Crusader. The henchmen were just pawns waiting to be trampled upon. The new vengeance vehicle was on standby in the likely chance that a chase ensued. The air was tense, but Vengeance was ready to enact his rightful retribution for the lives lost at the fool's hands.

The hot steamy showers were great, As Gale pointed out the best time to shower was mid day, right before lunch and afternoon training. I could get in and get out without catching an awkward glimpse of someone’s private areas. In addition to being able to take a shower, I could now eat as much as I want, when I wanted it. The first few days I ate in small portions; I still wasn’t sure if STRIKE was trying to exploit something or me. After the first few days, I ate to the equivalent of a pig; in most cases the large meals didn’t quell my hunger, I suppose I can blame it on puberty.

My new uniform was hand tailored to augment as my body changed, meaning it’d still fit me in the event that I got fat. It was a yellow and green body suit, but had the ability to change to green and white, my favorite colors. As I strolled around the vessel looking for anyone of my teammates to introduce myself, the agent that brought me here, the one with the goldenrod hair, approached me. I nod to acknowledge her presence to which she smiled, but it didn’t seem as if she planned on giving me a tutorial.

“We have a mission for you” She says with a tough exterior. I don’t say anything rather I just attach my bow to the quick disconnect and prepare for the brief.

“There is a situation in Gothic City, some of your allies are already in the field. We have a transport leaving now filled with supplies. You’re expected to be on it,” She instructed before handing me the layout of the operation.

Gothic City, it was a place I never cared to visit. It was always on the news, always under attack and always the source of so much strife. I suppose it makes since that my first visit is under those same exact circumstances.

I walk to the hangar to board, not entirely nervous about the mission; I mean I did live in Spain for a bit. As we take off, my head is glued to the TV screens, apparently STRIKE’s presence attracted a bit of media attention. Not something I would’ve done but I don’t get paid to make those types of decisions, hell do I even get paid at all?

The flight was a pretty short one, more so a descent than anything, and in a matter of moments I was on ground in Gothic City. The tension was palpable, I felt as if I inhaled a thick fear gas or something. This place had a direct contrast to cities like Sydney; the air here was murky and almost intoxicating. A lot of the buildings were dilapidated or tainted with graffiti and mold. Yep, just like the 1^st Ward.

Removing my bow, I place my hand on my communicator; I have no idea what the hell the mission is. I mean they gave me the brief to read, but who am I kidding, I’m 16 there’s now way in hell I understood what all that military crap meant.

“Uh…Hello it’s me. Kari” I say unsure what kind of etiquette I should have on the communicator. “I’ve just been dropped into the city, requesting the nearest location of friendlies.” I say, before cutting my locator on. All I know is a maniacal clown and his goons have tried to siege the city and we’re here to stop them. Damn it….I hate clowns.

@jean_knightfall: @captain_garrick: @felix_faraday: @gale_xanders: @mutant_genesis: @ii_vengeance_ii:

"Knockout gas, right. Clever. Alrighty, send the boys down there. The thing is, though, they're gonna try to kill Tommy-"

"He's gone, boss."
"Who?"

"Tommy."

"Whaddaya mean, he's gone!?" Curve's fists banged on the desk, angrily looking at one of his ridiculously dressed thugs. Grabbing his computer and pulling it over, he typed angrily into it, bringing up the security footage from one of his 'borrowed' cameras. Sure enough, if he froze the image at just the right time, there was the sight of some brat or another swooping in to grab the man, in a magic cage no less. All that in less than thirty seconds.

"Great. Just great.The next friggin' Champion against a man dressed as a clown. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one that sees the problem there." Hissing each word like it was torture to speak it, Curve stood up, walked over to a file cabinet, and delicately opened one of the bins. It had been personally imported from one of his former warehouses, and contained everything that he had when it came to his plans. Each bin was specifically labelled- 'VENGEANCE' (written in a crimson red magic marker, several circles around it to signify importance), 'NINJAS', 'SPEEDSTERS', and 'BRICKS'. A few more sections could've been added. Maybe one for all the sorcerers, or ghostly figures. But it satisfied Curve.

"Alright, bricks... Dammit, these all require personal ties. No girlfriend to dangle off a cliff for this one." Shaking his head, Curve pondered a bit, standing perfectly still while STRIKE did whatever the hell STRIKE did on their time. And then, suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

___

"Ok, I know, Eureka, same trick twice, but it'll work this time. If you're as good of a shot as I pay you for." As the words were said, over fifty pounds of C4 were being strapped to the chest of Curve, and he smiled cheekily. In one of his hands rested the trigger to the explosives, and in another hand a good ol' walkie talkie. By his side, Eureka (number one personal assistant), was strapping the explosives onto him, humming all the while as she did it.

The people that were used for this gag were easy enough to find. The hotel was full of 'em, and if one ignored all the greasy room service, there might've been a couple worth saving. But now, as Curve walked into the field in front of the Gothic Lounge, in the direction of Tyrus and friends, not one of the hostages shared anything but an expression of terror. They all helped to carry one chair, that in turn carried Curve, embodying the Egyptian days when such acts would've been performed for Pharoahs by their slaves.

Or at a barmitzvah.

Yelling out through a megaphone, Curve began his speech. "Alrighty, Strike One on me. Heh, get it? Strike? STRIKE? Ah, whatever. But this time it'll be different! Believe me, I hate telling the same jokes more than once. I have a ton of explosives on my body, but before ya pull out the good ol' moisturizer and kleenex, notice these lads down here. Kill me, and they die with me."

"Throw a sleepy time grenade, then I have a sniper ready to take out the C4 at a moments notice. I know, I force you into the punchline, but hey! I haven't even talked about what's going to happen on 72nd Street."

All the while, Eureka pointed the sniper rifle straight at the explosives, safe inside the penthouse of the Gothic Lounge. There was no catastrophe on 72nd Street. But STRIKE didn't know that, at least not now.

@ii_vengeance_ii: @gale_xanders: @mutant_genesis: @curve: @jean_knightfall:

Garrick looked around attempting to pinpoint the sniper. Perhaps he could snipe out the sniper. It was a fair idea considering his training and exlerience, "I heard a theory about hostages once Curve." Garrick said, "Would you like to hear it?"

@curve: @ii_vengeance_ii: @mutant_genesis: @curve: @jean_knightfall: @felix_faraday

Tyrus narrowed her eyes a little when Curve appeared carried on a chair. Even as he spoke her mind was running a thousand battle scenarios. She had to admit, this was a move she did not expect and it immediately put her on guard. She assumed Curve was crazy enough to take his own life in the right circumstances but somehow this didn't seem like the right circumstances. She considered her next actions carefully and spoke softly into her communications device, just out of line of sight and hearing range of Curve. "Kari, change of plans. There's an individual with a sniper rifle, I need you to get ready to take him out. Felix, find me that sniper, relay coordinates to Kari. Solar Hawk, get to Kari, keep her safe."

Tyrus glanced in the direction of Curve again while Garrick distracted him. Good move Garrick "I assume you're out there listening" she began into her com system but this time she was using the old frequency. Her words were directed at Dark Vengeance. "Nothing happens in your city without you knowing. Curve has thrown us a curve ball, he's strapped himself with explosives and threatening a dead man's trigger via sniper. I have people looking for the sniper now but there's something about this that bothers me. You know him better than anyone, what are your thoughts?"

Tyrus hesitated with his mention of 72nd street. Possible lie to distract us and spread us out more. He has something up his sleeve other than some C4...but what? She used her glasses and their interface to view Gothic from their sat-network but there was nothing unusual on the street. That doesn't mean anything, it could be hidden. I need someone to go there but I can't afford anyone else...I have an idea.

Tyrus stepped around the corner into Curve's line of sight. It would be easy, she knew, for him to have the sniper take aim at her but she wasn't concerned. Her mind was already plotting that possibility, including escape options and possible trigger times based on different potential locations and the weapons that might be used from those ranges. "Tell me about 72nd street." Tyrus told Curve. Her eyes met his and she smiled. As good as Tyrus was it was easy for a crazed individual like Curve to see how everything could go the opposite direction. There was the potential for a great conqueror in Tyrus, the mysterious new leader of STRIKE. She started talking again and used a neurological impulse to her glasses to send a text message to the team mates that were still in the area, name Garrick and Jean. I'm going to keep him occupied, I want you to find a way to get those civilians out from under that chair. We'll take this one step at a time.

As Tyrus began to speak to Curve she paced a little and made corresponding hand gestures. "See what gets me Curve is I thought you were better than this same joke twice business. I mean just look at the people I brought out to fight you. A sorceress, a Hawk Lord, myself..." She smirked. "Probably a joke in there about walking into a bar isn't there? Anyway, what gets me is that you've also included yourself in this one. We both know you're crazy enough to take your own life...but are you crazy enough to take your own life here and now for something so small? You're a genius Curve, psychotic, but a genius. So that tells me you have something else up your sleeve. Your casual reference to 72nd street could be a distraction, a red herring...or it could be real. That's fascinating isn't it? Now, let's take a look around shall we? You have a sniper...a sniper that has to have line of sight to you. Given the wind direction and strength, the surrounding buildings...there's really only six different directions that sniper shot can be taken from. I wonder, is your chair all display...or is it to help position yourself for the sniper shot? That might narrow it down to three or four locations. A normal sniper would use small caliber rounds for this sort of operation but you're nuts and so, I'm willing to bet, is your sniper. So we're probably dealing with a large heavy round...that narrows the distance down nicely."

---------------------------------

@mutant_genesis

Solar Hawk took flight on command, breaking the sound barrier in seconds to the dismay of windows everywhere. She soon arrived at Kari's location and alighted gently upon the ground. The infamous Hawk Lord nodded to Kari. "I hear you're the new girl, not much time for introductions right now. We have a sniper to find and kill. I can transport you anywhere you need to go, you just tell me where you'd be if you were sniping the same target and we can get started."

Solar Hawk offered the girl her hand. "Let me ask you something. If you were going to take someone out with your bow from a long distance in this same situation, where would you be? I assume they want you to take the sniper out because it'll be quiet and they don't want Curve to know it's happened when it does. I don't know what other powers you happen to have but if they can be of use I suggest you get them ready. These situations tend to develop fast and you need to be ready."

@felix_faraday: @ii_vengeance_ii: @mutant_genesis: @curve: @gale_xanders:

When he recieved the messege he began pacing looking for a way out. It wouldn't matter unless that sniper was taken out of course, it had to be chosen fast. There were a few alleys going onto different streets wide enough for them to get through fast and unhindered but out of the way of most of the danger. He'd have to, or have someone, take out any threats.

'Down an alley is the fastest and safest way.' Garrick sent back and stretching making it look like he was readying for battle but he was really pointing to the alley he'd found.

@felix_faraday: @ii_vengeance_ii: @mutant_genesis: @curve: @gale_xanders:

Jean saw a text message appear in her peripheral vision, and responded sarcastically. Or I could transmute his blood to liquid nitrogen... Proceeding to cast an illusion of the team fanning out and searching the perimeter, she removed the rest of the team from sight and 'ported to Solar Hawk and Mutant Genesis. "So, what's the plan? Still awaiting approval on my 'kill everyone with my mind from the base and teleport the corpses to the sun' plan..."

@curve: @gale_xanders: @jean_knightfall: @captain_garrick: @mutant_genesis:

His field superior humming orders into his ears, Felix immediately ended the scounting process and stood up on the roof of the sky-scraper. Curve was gone from his penthouse as the visual from the rest of his team confirmed and so The Neutron Son briefly became intent to the leave for next deployment zone with silent supra-sonic haste. However, his Holo tech goggles caught a reflection as the turned his face away. It was something that piqued his interest...

The scope.

"Ma'am. I think I've got the sniper. He's in the penthouse.", he whispered into the comms. "I'll pick up Kari.", the superboy was already gone by the time the message would reach her ears and already near Kari where he sought to carry her in his hands and swiftly but covertly transport her to the penthouse roof.

@ii_vengeance_ii: @curve: @captain_garrick: @felix_faraday: @gale_xanders:

“A sniper?” I thought to myself almost immediately peering towards the skyline to get an idea of possible vantage points a sniper would be most effective. In all honestly, A sniper’s range was based on the weapon he uses, he could literally be firing from anywhere in Gothic City. I think to myself. What I need was to get an idea of the trajectory from which the rounds traveled, if I knew that, I’d be able to find the sniper.

“I have no idea why they choose me to locate a sniper, I’ve never been in a situation like this.” I whisper to myself quietly. In between my silent thoughts and my whisper, I caught what sounded like the flutter of wings. Instinctively I pull my quiver with a metal tipped arrow waiting for my would- be attacker.

It just happened to be one of my teammates. Do all these people like to sneak up without a sound? Solar Hawk, I think that’s her name. She had an athletic muscular build, didn’t seem like the kind of physique one gets from lifting weights, rather the kind of muscle definition that comes with lifting heavy weapons.

She was right though, this wasn’t the time for introductions, and I somehow have to find out where this sniper is shooting.

“My bow is only good up to about 800 yards, that’s 2400 feet. This sniper could have something a lot more powerful, allowing him to shoot from any range” I say wondering how I became a subject matter expert.

From behind me I hear some sort of energy, I turn with my bow once again aimed on the newcomer. Apparently, she was also a teammate. Kill everyone?” I thought to myself, is this girl completely out of her fricken mind?

Like Solar Hawk, this girl was older she dawned ornate red tassels with ocean blue eyes. It was kind of freaky to look at, but I suppose I’d have to try and not get distracted.

Almost on cue, Felix, another member? Was in my ear with the location of the Sniper, It’s not far off but from here it’s a bit of a hike. And I was not about to allow myself to be…

What the? I couldn’t finish my sentence, nor did I hear him approach. Just mere moments after receiving the transmission, I was airborne in the arms of Felix. I only knew it was him because I read his profile, Dark Brown hair, intoxicating blue eyes. This man was gorgeous, but a little too old for me. Was I really the youngest person here?

“Thanks” I say trying to suppress what might be a blush, and instantly look around for a good possible vantage point; we’re well within the range of my bow. Thanks to Felix I no longer need to worry about getting down or having a bad shot. He took me by surprise when he snatched me up, inadvertently causing me to sample his powers upon touch. I can now hear so much clearer, I can hear multiple heartbeats, tiny pebbles.

Being tossed across the street top, I can hear the fibers of plastic bags rubbing together. If I hadn’t been introduced to super hearing years before, it’d overwhelm me right now.

I’m strong now, not the kind of strong where it’s apparent, like Solar Hawk, I maintain my frame, but I can lift just as much as Felix can now. Here I am, apart of a team, I’m supposed to trust that these people aren’t sending me to my death. I only kind of don’t trust them because I haven’t been briefed on the entire situation.

I stay low with my bow at the ready, I can’t afford to mess up, I’m not entirely sure who the sniper’s target is, but if he hears me coming it could prompt him to pull the trigger. I’m no longer worried I might get shot, not now that I have a few upgrades.

From not to far off, I see her, her weapon aimed at something off in the distance. I remove my steel tipped arrow and pull back on my quiver. It’s the first time I’m coming to terms with actually killing someone, maybe it’s because for the first time It’s for an actual good cause.

I release my arrow, hoping for the kill, but knowing a distraction would work just as well.

@gale_xanders @mutant_genesis @felix_faraday @jean_knightfall @captain_garrick

"Oh dear. It seems I haven't been heard." Tilting his head, Curve snapped his fingers, making sure that it could be heard from the walkie-talkie. And just like that, one of the legs to Curves' chair had collapsed, dead, sound of the gunshot still hanging in the air. The rest of the crew struggled, but ultimately managed to continue carrying his weight. "Allow me to be a little bit clearer. More... Direct." Sitting up straight now, Curve eyed each and every person ahead of him with cold, lifeless eyes, eyes that did not blink, eyes that reflected nothing but anger when taking a life. The eyes of a monster.

"I am holding the strings right now. You do what I tell you, or these fine men and women die. I've had two weeks to set up this city, a grave error made by your fearless leader to warn me. All of you are gonna stop looking for the sniper, and your gonna get the strongman down here right now. Or I blow another person's brains out."

The sense of sadistic joy that the words once held now had no more happiness in them, but rather a sort of rage. "Here is the next game we are gonna play. You are going to send forth one man, and I will send forth one of these beautiful innocent people. An easy trade. How many of you are willing to sacrifice yourselves to save an innocent life?" Setting down the walkie-talkie, Curve reached into his jacket and withdrew a small handgun, enough to kill a man with a good shot. "Rules are simple. I have enough victims left here for all of- well, actually, he's dead, so almost enough. The way I see it, this little tradeoff will keep going till there are none of you left... Except for me, Tyrus, and those innocents. And then? I will happily surrender."

Towards the end his usual grin returned. Of course his contingencies were almost endless. But if the enemies were as cunning as he was- unlikely- then this just might turn against him. Tapping the gun against his thigh, he awaited their response with a calm demeanor about him, knowing fully well that Eureka was waiting with her sniper from the Gothic Lounge penthouse.

Or at least, that's what he thought. From far off, Eureka was having problems of her own, as she stared down the scope to the huge sniper while loudly smacking on a piece of bubblegum. And then? In the next second? The girl was dead, a lone arrow's plume sticking out like a marker for the world to see. Alarm spread through the few goons in Curve's base of operations, and they hurried to drag away the body. None of this was known to the people down below, however- at least not to the madman himself. Instead, he greedily looked on, awaiting the next steps like he was facing a game of chess.

@mutant_genesis: @ii_vengeance_ii: @curve: @captain_garrick: @felix_faraday: @jean_knightfall@_vex_

Tyrus spoke with her com unit on so her entire team would hear her words. "I am not going to put the life of one single member of my team in your hands Curve. Let's be honest with ourselves, it's not even them you care about, you want me. You can't handle me clown." She drew her side arm in a sudden motion that had no warnings, it was simply in the holster one moment and in her hand the next, though she didn't yet aim it. "You and I are two sides of the same coin and somewhere in that brain of yours I think you know it. That means you already know my response, you also know that I would never put myself in a position of disadvantage. You're counting on me not being willing to risk the lives of innocents to achieve my objective."

Tyrus smiled a little. "Didn't you wonder why I gave you advanced warning? This is what I want, I want you to challenge us in the open where the eyes of the world can see us...because I want the world to know something very important. STRIKE isn't screwing around. I'm not defending a city, I'm going after a snake and I'm going to keep right on going after snakes until the only snakes are in zoos." Tyrus chose her next words carefully, some of them were subtle responses or orders to her team members without being worded as such. "Jean Knightfall wanted to throw you into the sun but that wouldn't be very useful right now would it? She's very good at illusions though." She tapped the side of her gun while she spoke, sending a Morse Code signal to Jean Knightfall as she said the word illusion Me. Three. It was an order to create an illusion of two additional Tyrus's to confuse Curve's sense of which one was real. "Now take the strongman as you call him, he's strong and very fast. I wonder how fast? I haven't asked him yet. Go ahead Felix, come on down here and let's all talk."

She wanted Felix down there because she had a feeling she might need his presence soon, but there was more to it than that. She issued orders via Morse Code again, almost barely tapping the gun because she knew he'd be able to hear much softer sounds. Sniper?

Tyrus hated to admit the small corner she was in at the moment but the options were limited. She wasn't about to hand anyone over and she couldn't just kill the people under him either. She also couldn't just kill him because she had no idea what contingencies he had in place. The fact he had exposed himself to them had surprised her and she was still trying to figure out where he planned on going with that one. She was counting on her team to act as heroes though and not just Agents. She'd never instructed any of them to always just wait for orders and knew that each one had individual traits and characteristics that would make them more likely to act in some situations than others. Right now she was counting on that, counting on her team to take initiative and act like a team of heroes. So far she'd been impressed but now was the real test. She had to have faith in them just as they would need to have faith in her.

"Let's all come her and talk."

She tapped her gun again. Jean, illusion, you. She didn't know how well that would translate, but she wanted Jean to send an illusion of herself instead of her actually coming. She was keeping Jean back as a trump card.

Garrick began to attempt to get behind Curve. If it went a certain way he could shoot him from an opposing side. He'd also be able to get closer to the hostages if needed.

@curve: @gale_xanders: @jean_knightfall: @captain_garrick: @mutant_genesis:

Felix's brief uber-driver practice was fleeting, yet he tried to hold Kari as tenderly as a superpowered teen without a properly functioning sense of touch could - he let her hold on while just supporting her weight and placing his arms so she couldn't fall. Still, she might have felt odd. Not only due to this, but because of his icy cold metallic costume. He didn't give it much thought yet didn't exactly feel comfortable wearing it. "Godspeed." With a reassuring smile, The Neutron Son disappeared behind the crooked buildings of the city.

"Kari's taking care of the sniper infestation."

He weaved between the buildings with an intent focus on the building held ransom, picking up faint tapping from his field commander. Morse code?, his mind sounded brief confusion. Felix was an industrial genius so while binary code posed no problem his mind couldn't quite resolve what Xae wanted to convey.

"Somebody called?", moments later he confidently entered the room where Xae and the others negotiated. His commander had the purest intent but Felix's heart knew any slightest diversion from Curve's plan and he'd blow dozens of civilians into smithereens along with his team.

So The Adamantium Teenager strode through the room, cornflower blue eyes pinned on the laughing maniac from under his crooked brow. He was tall, Felix, unbelievably so. Standing tall at 6'5'' he had to hunch himself a bit to fit through the door frame. The titan continued walking with a heavy step, ever so often glancing towards the captives. It infuriated him, the sight of fear and despair and so his inhumanly dense hands clenched hard.

"Handsome and manic.", he jested walking past Xae and the others before stopping in between her and Curve so to not agitate him too much. "You sure do know how to make a hero revv, let me tell you that much, bae."

@gale_xanders: @captain_garrick: @felix_faraday: @jean_knightfall@mutant_genesis@ii_vengeance_ii

"I want you."

Curve echoed the words that Tyrus uttered, letting them sink in for a moment as he leaned back in his elevated seat. "Oh boy. This is... This is awkward, I'll give ya that." Chuckling a bit he scooted forward, meeting Tyrus eye to eye as he spoke. "No. I don't. You couldn't be farther from the truth, girlie." Curve was almost bursting from laughter now. The whole scene reminded him of some sad teenage romance, where a boy might think a girl was sending him signals only to get his heart stepped on the next second. "The person I want? The only person I wanna dance with wears leather bat-suits and knows karate." Giggling maniacally, he stood up- sliding down off of the chair he rode and now standing upright in front of them.

"Please stand still, Garrick, it'll be all the less painful for your amigos if you do." Waving a lazy hand in the direction of Captain Garrick, he revealed just how much he knew about the team he faced. And how attentive he was, currently. When one spent weeks and weeks staring at one spot on the wall of an insane asylum, they grew to be pretty focused on the world around them. Now, Curve was sliding off his gloves, letting his milk white hands breath a little. Perfectly polished they were, and a few ladies might've even been impressed by the job done on his nails. Past all the insanity, disease, makeup, and psychopathy in general, Curve was quite a gentleman. "And, Miss Tyrus, you're tapping in patterns. Granted, I don't speak Morse Code, but, uh, they do see what kind of patterns you can detect when you're in the loony bin. Makes sure that their patients have the right number o' chromosomes."

As Curve started to slowly advance towards Tyrus, a man came in, the 'strongman' that Curve detected earlier. One of the factors that the Clown didn't consider. This man- man who was hardly a man at all, as he could now see- was one of the most worrisome members of the STRIKE force. "Cute. Not you- your little skit here." Reaching up with one of his exposed hands, he (attempted) to lightly brush his fingers against Felix's face, an effort that would've almost appeared to play along with the Adamantium Teenager's little game.

However, that was where Curve's poisonous skin came into play. Whether or not it was known to STRIKE (most likely, not) Curve's very skin was highly contagious with the disease inside of him. If it was allowed to make contact with another sentient being, it would- almost instantaneously- spread throughout their bloodstream until it reached the brain, causing the inner amygdalas responsible for feeling rage and violence to form connections with the ventral tegmental area- an area of the mind that is responsible for pleasure, and leads to addictions such as drugs and alcohol if it were to be damaged.

The end result of all this science-y mumbo-jumbo? An uncontrollable desire for pain and violence. An addiction to death. Of course there was other effects from the disease. A lack of desire to damage the main host (Curve himself), a frozen smile. Even in the case of metahumans with healing factors, the sickness was able to constantly readapt to the host, eventually just making the ailment stronger until the healing factors could no longer combat it. It was, truly, Curve's greatest danger. Of course, if his light tap did not work- if Felix shied away, for example- it would all be for nothing.

And the Clown would end up being face to face with one of the strongest beings on the planet.

He's clearly attentive. But he doesn't know me. He has no idea what I'd risk. He relies on our emotions. That could be useful for me. Now how do I tell Tyrus without showing Curve? Garrick thought to himself after a single step, "Curve relies on our emotions towards the hostages, and each other. Just pointing out his flaw. If we prove that if he does anything to the hostages he dies immediately than he'll know he can't win. And if he has a trap set he won't be around to see it happen." Garrick sent out.

@ii_vengeance_ii: @jean_knightfall: @mutant_genesis: @felix_faraday: @curve: @captain_garrick: @gale_xanders:

Yashimora was last on the scene and he brang some new toys, Ravjets! Six Ravjets including Yashimora at the helm of one to provide air support. "Sorry im late boss had to gather my boys here and some ammo"! Yashimora said over the radio to STRIKE's leader. As Yashimora stayed up in the air 2 dozen STRIKE soldiers were dropped out of the other 5 Ravjets and went back in the air in formation with Yashimora awaiting orders.