Junior Armada

First topic message reminder :

Silver City; a towering symbol of human determination and a testament to the human imagination. The city is protected day and night by the most powerful knights the world has ever seen. They are the Hero Armada. Dozens of heroes united under one roof with a common goal. They protect the innocent, not matter the cost. They are led by the beauty of the battlefield, Warrior Woman, the man who can't be stopped, Mr. Amazo, and the strongest man alive, Omniman. Together from the top floor of Hero Tower they watch over the city and the world, monitoring to make certain all is well. And when something isn't such, they mobilize. But today all would fail to be well from under their own roof as a Latin American young woman in a red and blue tight outfit and brown coat walks into the building through the front door.

Ricochet. Tis true what they say. Hath no fury like a woman scorned. When this woman took up the mantle of the last to bear her title she did so half out of spite. She'd been instrumental in the cretin's defeat. Now she inherited his power and many of the burdens that came with his membership. The Hero Armada was watching her. She had been a valuable member so far but she was being difficult as of late. Soon this would be a problem.

Madam Control looks up from her desk as Ricochet marches through the room to the elevator. When the doors close, she picks up the phone. "She's on her way up and she doesn't look like she's here to sit around the campfire and sing kumbaya."

"All right," Warrior Woman says in response. "Thank you for the heads up."


Some time later the conversation between Ricochet and her superiors enters a heated argumentative stage as the rising heroine slams her hands down, forcefully, on chair's round table and sneers. "You've got to be kidding me! Can't spare the people? Zephyr and Ladybug haven't had a mission in weeks! Lion Heart is pounding on local street thugs and you have me on patrol duty! You're honestly going to sit there and tell me that we can't spare a couple of people for a small strike team?"

"Adrienne, listen," Warrior Woman says.

"In this building it's Ricochet. Mask or no mask,"Adrienne says before a brief pause then doubling back. "Ma'am," she says respectfully.

"Ricochet, Ladybug and Zephyr are both Level 7 Metahumans and have access to a number of missions that we can't give you details on," Owl says.

Ricochet turns to her respected darker superior and stands upright with a sigh. "So because I'm barely a level 4 meta..."

"It's not that. The Deadwave invasion last year...and then what happened with Richard," Omniman begins, "It's an overwhelming burden and we have to make sure we're dividing our resources well. This team is an excellent idea. If we had the people to spare, I'd be more than willing to sign off on it. Be we have the remainder of our heroes on the moon base right now."

"If we had a couple more heads in this building, we'd hand 'em over to ya for your team in a heartbeat, kid, but we don't," Mr. Amazo adds.

Ricochet thinks to herself for a moment then looks away through the window. She could see a few heroes flying about outside. It wasn't an uncommon sight around here. Each of them was on a mission though. She wasn't new to that. She'd had this conversation with the Armada's leaders before. Back then they worried about her mental condition. They were entirely honest and she knew in her heart that they were right then. But now?


Following that conversation, she leaves Hero Tower and decides to go for a freerun along the skyline. She enjoyed it really. Richard was an idiot to turn on the Armada the way he did. He had it made. Everyone loved him and he was in a position to actually receive compensation for his heroic deeds. Whether he liked working with them or not, he chose the losing battle. Of course that wasn't why she became the new Ricochet. She didn't get anything out of the relationship with the Armada like he did. No, she did it for the single purpose of spiting him...and she was entirely okay with that at first. But now? Now she stayed not to make him look bad, but because...it just felt right. She lands on a low rooftop in the city and looks around for a bit. Nothing happening here. She could rest for a bit.

(ATTN: OPEN)
So she had just been about to go to bed, all tucked in and cozy- you think she had been able to get some sleep? Of course not.
Hostages, brilliant. She should have just blasted the annoyance to cinders when she had the chance. So here she was, in the industrial district, pitch dark out, chasing the black and red blur. She could sense the people in the plants. Her fore and index fingers pressed to her forehead, their souls glowing brightly in the plants. She makes her way in the plant, zapping herself through one of the walls, now realizing she'd have to go on foot. She cautiously walked through the building, knowing this guy had more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Just to be safe, she held up her free hand- a small barrier, not much, enclosed around her. It could easily be broken, but just in case...

(ATTN: All with JA badge)
Seance crept through the building, very little noise being made. So when a voice suddenly crackled out from her jacket, she almost went into cardiac arrest. She flung herself, back first, into a nearby cement wall, bringing her staff up defensively- only to realize it was the communicator that the woman had given her in her jacket, and it was that kid. She plucked it out, pressed a button and began speaking into it.
"Already got that covered, sweetie." She took a look around her. "In the main building right now." She released the button and tucked it back into her jacket.

[Attn: Twista]

Ricochet picks up Twista's transmission and looks to the waste distribution plant. Then she picks up her com and holds the transmit button. "This is Ricochet. Glad you joined the party. I'm on it." Then she pockets the com and bolts for the plant. As she gets nearer to the door, she hears a sound and suddenly she sees him. Running at her side and keeping up with her even at this speed is Fast Forward. "What the-"

"You're the lovely Ricochet, right? A pleasure to meet you. I'd love to get to know you a little better but, well, I have a few fireworks to set off. It's gonna be a regular Fourth of July Extravaganza!" The red and black blur then tags Ricochet and her propulsion gives out on her. She slows to a cruise, then a crawl, and finally stops all together as the blur races off with a devious cackle.

Fast Forward makes his way back into the main building and stops at one of the monitors. The radiation levels were nearing dangerous. His suit protected him. But that was more than he could say for the poor saps tied up in the corner. "Why are you doing this? What did we do to you?!"

"What did you do?!" Then comes a dramatic pause before Fast Forward returns to what he was doing. "Absolutely nothing. I just don't like you people." The twisted freak laughs to himself before racing back out of the main building to go and check on the hostages in the other building.

[Attn: Tyre]

Fast Forward races to the door and opens it, getting ready to barrel on ahead. Suddenly he feels something jar his footing. His mind processes all of this at inhuman pace. He reacts by slowing himself down to a crawl and allowing himself to drop then flipping back up and landing on his feet then racing across the room and stopping to face the space-age hero. "Wow, this city's more hero infested than Skyline. Gotta say, you guys do seem to just pop up outta the woodwork 'round here. What's your thing, Moon Man?"

[Attn: Mel]

"He...he's insane. He wants us all dead f-for no reason," one of the hostages says as Melody unties her. "He's going to blow away the entire district to do it."

[ATTN: Open]

We agreed.

Yes we did. But don't you dare try taking all the way over I'm staying in charge alright?

So long as I can be certain of your success.

Livia took a breath and nodded. She stood several blocks from her house, in an alley out of sight. She had heard about the hostage situation not long ago, something she wasn't unfamiliar with. There was no holding Val back. She could do this.

Alright go ahead

Her eyes started to glow gold, her hair up in its bun similarly turning golden as her feet lifted off the ground and Val let some of her own power through.

They took off into the sky, flying fast and low over the city toward the Industrial district.

[Attn: Open]

Sven sat at her desk, fumbling over what to write for her resume. Her dolls stood lifelessly in the closet. The red-haired one had an sitting next to Sven's laptop. She thought about adding a second, longer blade to the empty arm, but getting a blade of good quality would cost money, and Sven was beginning to run low on funds.

Stealing money from a bystander would be easy, but Sven couldn't afford getting into trouble again. She almost lost Shadoll 1 the last time she got into a fix with the police. As Sven typed fluidly, a notification pinged on her browser. One blogger claimed a hostage took place in garish text grammar. Soon, pictures appeared on the site-police officials and citizens, scared and crazed like a pack of cows walking towards the slaughter house. It wasn't too long after an incident had occurred earlier. Perhaps they're connected somehow. Still, it wasn't Sven's problem whether the hostages survived or not. She probably couldn't do much, anyway, or so she thought.

That Omni-guy will take care of it, probably. Sven thought tiredly. Besides... She continued, I still have this retarded resume to finish... The resume seemed to be about 1/4 done, but there was still plenty of empty space left. Feeling like she was running out of energy, Sven decided to get some food, maybe even stop by the Industrial center. A good walk might help Sven clear her mind and get some ideas, so she took the doll's arm and walked to the closet. Before reattaching the arm, Sven paused. She was perfectly fit to go out on her own, but stepping outside to face all those people...No, Sven shook her mind free of the grasping hands from the darkness in her heart. She laid the arm on the bed and changed into some casual, outdoor clothes, all the while grabbing her wallet. She threw the hood of the sweatshirt over her head before going outside. As Sven walked to the Industrial District, she enjoyed the view of the night sky before it became clouded with bright lights and smog.

[Attn: Tyre, All]

Fast Forward scoffs. "All that hard work, just blow right through the door! Now I'm gonna have to go back and round 'em all up again, place another order for pizza, and probably have to wait even longer for things to go kablooie!" Fast Forward then pauses for a moment. "OR." Suddenly he races around the cyclone in the opposing direction and it dissipates. Then he darts back through the door.

Meanwhile, Ricochet is just recovering from having herself frozen in time and she hits the ground hard. "Oof!" She grunts. As she gets up, rubbing her head, she looks around.

"Liberty Bell incoming! Rumble's with me too!" Bell says over the Armada Com with Rumble not far behind.

"Bell?" Ricochet says. "All right, we've got a speedster...I think...and a hostage situation. The radiation levels in the place are rising."

"Detox can take care of that!" Rumble shouts from over Bell's shoulder into the Armada Com.

"All right, Detox, you're elected. Anyone you see coming out of those buildings, you check-in with."

Detox nods from his position and turns to run toward the door but Fast Forward appears and tags him, causing him to speed up and fly through the doorway, crashing inside. "...ow."

Inside, Atta-Girl and Spartan free up a bundle of hostages after listening in. "I can still feel the presence of at least one more."

"But where? We've been in every room by now!"

"It...feels as though there is a person above us."

"But this is the top floor," Spartan says. "Unless...Spartan to...everyone, I guess. There's a hostage higher up above one of the buildings. On one of the smokestacks, I guess!"

[ATTN: Tyre, Fast Forward, Open]

She flew over the industrial district, searching for the building. The news had mentioned some waste disposal facility...

She found the building and slammed straight through the back door, knowing she had the right place as she heard the screaming. Val seethed. I will find him and when I do...

I am in control, Val, Livia replied shortly, flying up quickly in search of the screaming.

She flew up to a hall to see people rushing down the hall. They stopped as they saw her, terrified.

"Keep going, I'm a friend," she said quickly, flying to the side of the hallway. They kept going quickly, and she looked down the hallway.

They were running from something and it won't be long before it shows, Val said.

(ATTN:Melody, Open)
Seance located a room with a large amount of people in it, she pressed her finger to her forehead. The speed freak wasn't in there, thankfully, and she pushed herself through the wall- alarming quite a few people in the room.
"Shh- shh- calm down- I'm here to help!" She thought about where to drop them off at, and decided the front step of the labs was the safest place she knew of- besides they could call for police easily. She raised her hands and their restrains disintegrated into black goo. With a flick of her staff a large, man sized portal came to be on the wall behind her. There was a clamor of questions and Seance sighed.
"Can't answer any questions but I'm dropping you off at North Labs- call for help there."
"How are you going to get all of us ou-"
Before he could finish she pushed them through the portal.
"Come on people, endele- endele-" She sighed, hurrying all of them through. After the room was cleared she pressed her fingers to her forehead once again, there were a few more remaining on the other floor. She drops herself through the ground, landing in the middle of the room- causing another group panic. She sighed, repeating the process, yet cutting them off before they can ask anymore questions.
She could see the headlines now 'Massive Crowd of Extremely Confused Scientists dropped in front of North Labs', she surveyed the area again- there was a cluster of people outside. She sighed, she hated apparating through walls- it always made her sick the day after. But hostages were hostages, she took hold of her staff and zoomed through the walls to the outside, landing to see freed hostages and- the girl from earlier.
"Hey, Little Bird- short time no see." She greets her. "Need some help getting out of here?" She had already freed them, so all she had to do was get them out, then again she didn't want to steal anyone's thunder.

[Attn: All]

Detox manages to pick himself up after a bit of time. His entire body was buzzing. It was like he was a phone set to vibrate. Everything finally slowed down and he wobbly made his way to one of the innermost rooms where he finds several hostages roaming around trying to escape. "Okay, everybody, this way please! On the way by, I'd like to give you a congratulatory high-five for making your way out. Also, I'll be leeching all of the radiation from your systems so seriously, get over here...AND NO GROUP HUGS!"

Atta-Girl flies directly up to try and get the man tied to the smokestack but she's suddenly tagged by the black and red blur that was Fast Forward. He'd run up the side of the smokestack and jumped off. The instant he tags her, she slows to a stop before beginning to fall all the way back down, entirely unable to fly or move. Before she hits the ground, she's caught by Atlas having grown in size. "We're even," he says as she begins to regain her ability to move.

"How touching! Unfortunately, I still need this one...unless you'd like to pull the whole Godzilla act and knock over this smokestack because that would be peachy!"

"You're really starting to piss me off," Atlas says as he reaches for the speedster who simply runs along his arm and down his side until he reaches the ground. "HEY!"

Fast Forward suddenly registers a loud shriek and stops on a dime before turning completely around. Liberty Bell had unleashed her sonic screech to try and incapacitate him. It didn't work. Instead he ran around and tagged her on the back, speeding her up. The frequency of the cry leaving her vocal chords became so high that she nearly shredded her vocal cords and was forced to stop. Fast Forward laughs as she turns around and he stopped her completely, this time making sure to take his time so that she'd take hers in getting her ability to move back.

The blur races around the plant and back up to the smokestack, grabbing his favorite hostage and beginning to run off. "Things are getting a little too crowded 'round these parts!" He says.

(ATTN: Melody, Open)
"Don't worry- I've been using my magic to neutralize most of it- and I send them to North Labs, they probably have some sort of quarantine for them until this Detox-guy can get to them- and it's better than leaving them here." Astrid threw up another portal, black energy wrapping around them once by one- swarming them and then pushing them through the portal. "And I don't sense anyone else in there- so unless they're soulless nope, we're in the clear."

(ATTN: Melody, Open)
Seance shrugs her shoulders. "Big industry lab in the city. Trust me- they can handle it. Yeah- that's probably a good idea." She pulls out the communicator, pressing the button and proceeding to speak into it. "Okay- this info might come a little late- but this Fast Forward guy we're dealing with, apparently he can alter the speed of whatever he touches, and as clearly evidenced- can go faster than anyone ever I've seen. So we have to cage him some way, trap him so he can't get out- drop a metaphorical box on his head. Because facing this guy head on ain't gonna cut it."

[ATTN: Tyre]

Livia had pushed Val back a moment, hoping to catch the pursuer by surprise, when a man in an odd suit came flying down the hall.

Val rose up as he spoke and before he even finished speaking she had flown up to him and grabbed the front of his suit.

"What manner of monster are you-" Val started.

Its a suit Val he's human I think on our side stop it!

She let go of him, her eyes and hair glowing gold. "...You're after the speedster too?" Livia asked as Val calmed down.