The New Vanguard! Lionheart Issue #5 - The Mission, Part 3

Admin wrote:'At last! You embrace your full unlocked potential! Too long have you been held back by self imposed limitations! I will help you unlock your true power! now rise, RISE and onwards to defeat any foe placed before you!' ranted the voice belonging to Saladin inside Lionhearts head...

OOC Take a look at the powers sheet. You have options of various things. Speed for example. Superspeed at 22APs and run across the water, or flight at 26APs and be in America in seconds? For an example of speed, 22APs is around 7000 miles in 4 seconds. 26 APs is around 121,000 miles in 4 seconds. That will cause serious environmental damage mind, near inhabited areas... With great power comes great responsibility and all that...

OOC: Brilliant thanks for sorting this out, I can see with so much to play with its difficult.

Lionheart addressed the unwelcome addition in his head, "You know I preferred it when I only had my own thoughts in my head, not homicidal egotist who wants to show off his diva like status. Now be quiet new powers need some bedding in."

And with that Lionheart took off, he'd always known speed and agility but he sensed something big had shifted within him. He knew also to use the full range of his speed, would create a destructive wake in his trail. Hardly what he wanted in trying to achieve his mission. So knowing he was not at the top end of his range, he limited his speed allowing himself the luxury of adjusting the pace to divert his attention to his other powers as he went. So he'd get to America in under a minute, he could use the time to good effect.

OOC: Ok so taking into consideration sonic booms and stuff let's keep it where it needs to be to avoid damage and harm in built up areas, and speed up where its ok to do so - like across the sea, and get to where we're going.

Sj

Lionheart could 'hear' Saladin in the background, telling him how to concentrate, focus and channel his powers...

At first it was annoying! Who was he to... then he listened to the words and applied a part of it... Not only did his flight return - he erupted from the water! - he sped up into the air and up to his previous maximum flight speed without any issues! Indeed, where before he'd had to concentrate to add psionic energy to his telekinesis and risk one of those crippling brain aches, now he barely had to think about it and the sea was speeding by below!

A glance behind revealed a furrow left in the water so he gained some altitude, then scanned ahead with his Telescopic vision as the sea blurred by at around 15,000 mph! He glanced up. The sky beckoned! At this speed he'd leave the boundaries of Earths gravity in seconds if he so chose!

Instead he took his best guess at how much extra Psionic energy to put into his flight to get where he needed to be and poured it on, expecting a nose bleed and headache...

Instead he shot forward, making his previous top speed seem like a crawl! By now he was creating a huge sonic 'flare' of air behind him in his wake, along with innumerable 'booms!' Very soon the coastal landmarks of Americas' East Coast came into view and he slowed to limit the effects of his high speed flight.

Somewhat awed by his new power, Lionheart could barely stifle a laugh out loud, but then considered other problems. He needed to cover his face, possibly, to protect his identity and thus not rule out any possibility of going unnoticed when required in the USA. As New York loomed, he saw the canyons of steel and glass rise above the brownstones and knew that whatever was thrown at him this time, he'd be better equipped to face it! So long as he 'listened' to that background voice inside...

OOC So, to conceal his identity somehow or go maskless? Anything else you want to do or heading straight to this secret desert location?

Admin wrote:Lionheart

OOC So, to conceal his identity somehow or go maskless? Anything else you want to do or heading straight to this secret desert location?

Galling as it was to have to listen to Saladin, the effects were plain to see and the sense of bounding joy, hard to contain. But the pressing issue of identity was one he'd wished he'd thought about before now. The question was, in a place paranoid about Supers, could Lionheart go undetected for long?

Perhaps it was time to look in a friend?

OOC: Ok I was thinking of going to look up Thunder Woman, as much to see if she was ok following their last outing together and because I am not sure I came on this flight with the means to legitimately purchase something I could use as a mask. Don't need to create an international incident and besides I want to make sure Timpson doesn't know who I am.

Sj

Lionheart landed discretely. In a city as large as this with as much built up space, it wasn't hard to pick a spot and land.

Unfortunately he still stuck out like a sore thumb in his plain black jumpsuit. He was without money, but... He activated his headset and wondered if Agent X would notice the roaming telephone call on the monthly charge... "Call... Thunder Woman." The number was stored and dialed. Moments later it was ringing!

"Hello?" came the answer on the other end of the line. A womans' voice - she'd not changed her number from the last one given to Lionheart thankfully, not yet anyway. Lionheart had to consider she would be icognito and a number of agencies might be listening for key words. He had to choose the next few of his own carefully to avoid her hanging up and destroying the phone, thinking it compromised. Lionheart winced. His previous meeting with Thunder Woman had led to her coming under attack and having to relocate. How would this one turn out...?

OOC Good thinking. I need to fish out the details of Thunder Woman from the previous issue, which I'll do for tonights update. As mentioned in OOC, am house hunting today A necessary evil...

Admin wrote:Lionheart OOC Good thinking. I need to fish out the details of Thunder Woman from the previous issue, which I'll do for tonights update. As mentioned in OOC, am house hunting today A necessary evil...

OOC:Now I'm going to have to dig back and see if I can find something to mention without mentioning...or do I

Lionheart thought back to the way that they met, the job that Thunder Woman did as a cover and anything else he could mention, figuring that dropping in a hint or two that only they'd know about might well clue her into whom she was speaking with.

OOC:Hopefully one of those clues back form when we last met will trigger the right response rather than Timpson and crew or who knew what government agency. Need to be careful to make sure their Psi Spy's don't see me light up like a Christmas tree as well.

Sj

"Rhiannon?" she repeated down the phone. "There's no one... ah... Richard?"

Her accented voice told Lionheart he was speaking to the right woman. Thunder Womans' civilian ID of Rhiannon DeSoto will of course have been abandoned when she left Chicago for a new one. "I know you. The top of the Empire State Building in... 30 minutes? Be discrete! I am... shielded from detection currently, but you will have to be low profile, even though we have no hostile intentions towards anyone. And now my phone is compromised. Again." Lionheart heard her sigh then a crunch as the phone went dead.

Thunder Woman must have been a true friend to him as twice now he'd entered her life and turned it upside down!

He had half an hour to become... 'discrete' somehow. He carried the 'company credit card' so to speak from Justin St John. Cash would be more discrete, and of course clad all in black he would stick out like a sore thumb in mid day New York. Time to rely on pure speed, or come up with a plan!

Admin wrote:"Rhiannon?" she repeated down the phone. "There's no one... ah... Richard?"

Her accented voice told Lionheart he was speaking to the right woman. Thunder Womans' civilian ID of Rhiannon DeSoto will of course have been abandoned when she left Chicago for a new one. "I know you. The top of the Empire State Building in... 30 minutes? Be discrete! I am... shielded from detection currently, but you will have to be low profile, even though we have no hostile intentions towards anyone. And now my phone is compromised. Again." Lionheart heard her sigh then a crunch as the phone went dead.

Thunder Woman must have been a true friend to him as twice now he'd entered her life and turned it upside down!

He had half an hour to become... 'discrete' somehow. He carried the 'company credit card' so to speak from Justin St John. Cash would be more discrete, and of course clad all in black he would stick out like a sore thumb in mid day  New York. Time to rely on pure speed, or come up with a plan!

Lionheart thought about it for a moment, since using a credit card would be tracked, why not give any potential pursuers a goose chase to look at.

OOC: Ok wrote a whole load about what to do, by way of a plan. But the reason for meeting Thunder Woman was to find a way to get out of the black clothes and move more discreetly. Therefore I think I am going to have to have keep out of the way till the last moment and then speed over there so that the black blur doesn't do more than raise an eyebrow of attention. Thunder woman and I can keep moving to avoid any unwanted attention when we meet up.

Sj

Lionheart watched from a distant building, his telescopic vision keener than ever under Saladins' tutelage!

He looked, waited, watched... to a man who could run through the sound barrier without effort, 30 minutes seemingly took an age! That said, an opportunity presented itself.

A van was being loaded with bin liners full of what looked to be clothes - donations for a charity shop presumably from a department store? Would they miss some, or would Lionheart be better waiting?

And... oh no, not again.

His hearing picked up a cry for help amongst the noise of the city! "...took my wallet! help!"

Lionheart cringed. It seemed the more powerful his senses were, the greater trouble they could get him in!

Admin wrote:Lionheart watched from a distant building, his telescopic vision keener than ever under Saladins' tutelage!

He looked, waited, watched... to a man who could run through the sound barrier without effort, 30 minutes seemingly took an age! That said, an opportunity presented itself.

A van was being loaded with bin liners full of what looked to be clothes - donations for a charity shop presumably from a department store? Would they miss some, or would Lionheart be better waiting?

And... oh no, not again.

His hearing picked up a cry for help amongst the noise of the city! "...took my wallet! help!"

Lionheart cringed. It seemed the more powerful his senses were, the greater trouble they could get him in!

It burned him, his old police training meant that even something as petty as theft bothered him.  But right now if it was only a theft, not a murder or mugging the victim would live and suffer the inconvenience of credit cards cancelled and some cash taken.  Hopefully nothing more.  He on the other hand, reluctantly, had the weight of the world on his shoulders.  And right now exposing himself to petty crime seemed a terrible waste of the opportunity to avoid being noticed.

OOC: Hate to do it, but Lionheart realises that in this town, using his powers will light him up like a Christmas tree.  If he goes in to 'rescue' a wallet and stop a thief, he knows it won't likely end there.  And then life gets far more complicated at a time when he is trying to lay low.  So letting this one go, unless of course it does get worse.  Otherwise, go for the clothes and try and make sure I give them back a donation later.  Try to do this in a way that doesn't draw attention, wait for my opportunity scan for camera's bystanders or other reasons to be cautious and then in we go.

Sj

Fwwwwwwwwooosh!

Lionheart sped in, selected which of the clothes would fit over the top of his, discarded several so outlandish as to make him stand out worse than he did in a black jumpsuit, and sped back to the top of the building fully clothed in jeans, a lumberjack shirt, old battered brown leather jacket and a baseball cap pulled on.

He'd even had time with his incredible speed to check through the various pockets of several bags of clothes and found $20 in loose change, which he'd deposited neatly on top one of the bags! He'd effectively paid for the clothes as it was likely they'd have been handed out without much of a check, and left the new with tag clothes that could be sold by the charity.

That was an eye opener! His 'Saladin boosted' speed was far in excess of what he was used to!

With that he eyed up the Empire State building. Go in the normal way, or up the outside, the 'fast' and noticeable way?

Admin wrote:With that he eyed up the Empire State building. Go in the normal way, or up the outside, the 'fast' and noticeable way?

Tempting as it was to let himself stretch, the full range of his powers were exhilarating. But with some effort Lionheart took the usual and more subtle interior route. After all at a time like this he really didn't need the sort of attention that might draw more heat than he needed. He just had to hope that his almost magnetic ability to draw attention, or trouble just died down. It still bugged him that he had to leave the mugging and not attend. But he couldn't afford to intervene, not if he was going to maintain some sort of cover from which to succeed in this mission.

Stepping inside, Lionheart was all alert. Though not trying to give himself away, it was going to be a rare day that he was going in anywhere unprepared if his ultra sensitive senses could be trusted to give him the upper hand.

Sj

Lionheart figured a place such as the United States was heavy on security where superhumans were involved. ANY kind of superhuman ability might be detected in theory by the various agencies in place, as well as others with their own agenda.

He was, in effect, like a walking pot of honey drawing ants to it every time he opened the jar by using his powers. With an inward stifled curse at having already used his superspeed and possibly popped up on someones' radar, he walked into the lobby and then encountered his next challenge.

It was $32 to get to the top of the Empire State building! The queues were fairly long, but would last only minutes the way he figured, but without any money...?

He looked about. Standard security guards who might have been policemen at one stage before they retired seemed relaxed and looked about. Ordinary people, a lot of tourists, three security guards and several security cameras.

He needed to get to the top of this place. He *assumed* every use of his powers might be picked up on a radar of some kind, with the more of his power he used, the more noticeable the detection. New York City was perhaps the most populated city in the world in terms of superhumans.

This might get messy.

Admin wrote:Lionheart

He needed to get to the top of this place. He *assumed* every use of his powers might be picked up on a radar of some kind, with the more of his power he used, the more noticeable the detection. New York City was perhaps the most populated city in the world in terms of superhumans.

This might get messy.

At the end of the day he knew this wouldn't be easy. Not using his powers was going to get extremely difficult very quickly. But perhaps a distraction might help him get past the guards and up the stair well before he was noticed. He was unlikely to escape complete notice, but low powered stuff wasn't going to draw the attention high powered stuff might.

A look around the lobby gave him what he needed as he took the opportunity to stay far shy of the camera's as best he could.

OOC: Ok so going for using skills as much as possible. I am thinking that Lionheart could easily make someone trip at an opportune moment, their spillage being to cause as much noise, mess and hassle as possible. If he could pick more 'sensitive' targets that would likely draw greater suspicion that would be great. So for instance, he makes the camera strap' detach as a deliveryman comes in and loses control and spins into the bending tourist. Who happens to be a man of middle eastern origin....I'm aiming for a catalogue of errors spanning off one key timed moment if possible. One simple use of power to just tip things at the right moment. If that isn't going to happen, then I might need to take a firmer hand, set off a fire alarm or something like that. Then I'll move to a exit to the stair well, and just break in, if locked and nip out whilst everyone is distracted and head up the stairs. Using my natural agility I aim to take the most direct route up, without alerting folk to the use of my power if possible. I only hope that at the top Lionheart doesn't create a situation where Thunderwoman lands and we're both surrounded and run off...again! Thunderwoman will have nothing to do with me if so in the future. As to HP assume that I use HP as needed in conjunction with any rolls needed to make things work in my favour.

Sj

OOC 14 Thief makes Mister Miracle look like a bungling amateur. Right then...

Quick roll... (no HP required I reckon)... Roll(2d10)+0: 4,3,+0 Total:7 + 14 Thief (for sleight of hand) = 21 vs TN 11 + Difficulty 7 (18). Success.

Lionheart moved past a Japanese tourist, unclipped one part of his camera strap from the main body...

And as it started to fall the man cried out, nudged a woman next door to him who was nursing her coffee, who squealed and tipped it up! A rather portly gentleman cried out, stepped back and slipped on the liquid, but was caught by another bulky looking fellow who had to drop his bags... one of which landed on the foot of a red faced man with a cowboy hat on! He hollered, hopped about and turned into one of the security guards and the pair went down in a heap!

The other guards rushed over even as people started to panic a little, and Lionheart simply moved smoothly under the angle of the nearest camera whilst hiding his face from another before scooping up a discarded donut and tossing it at another camera...

OOC Roll(2d10)+0: 5,1,+0 Total:6 + Dex 14 (20) vs TN 11 + Difficulty 6 (17) Success.

It splatted against that and smeared the lens with jam! Lionheart simply strolled past it and into the waiting lift as the lift attendant opened the door for him, peering past and muttering "Just another normal day at the office."



=========

Richard King stepped out onto the top floor...

A number of tourists were already enjoying the view and he looked about for the statuesque figure of Thunder Woman. Despite the hat, wig and sunglasses, along with skirt, shirt and jacket to go with the flat shoes, she was still statuesque and Lionheart felt some sympathy for her. He'd dragged her out of hiding again! With a glance about he made his way over, and she seemed to sense his presence somehow, turning just before he reached her.

"You have no idea how ridiculous I feel, trying to 'blend in' she muttered as she looked past him and about. Still, it's good to see you in one piece. I'm here, you have my attention... and possibly the superhero community of New York as well. What can I do for you?"

She glanced about. Clearly she was eager not to make any kind of scene as much as Lionheart... Still... two class 5 superhumans in one place... if there WAS a metahuman radar, there'd be a very big blip on it right now - after all a number of powers were 'latent' - like force fields, superhuman strength, senses and so on... the clock was ticking!

Admin wrote:She glanced about. Clearly she was eager not to make any kind of scene as much as Lionheart... Still... two class 5 superhumans in one place... if there WAS a metahuman radar, there'd be a very big blip on it right now - after all a number of powers were 'latent' - like force fields, superhuman strength, senses and so on... the clock was ticking!

"I'm sorry to drag you in on this, especially after..." Lionheart was aware of the press of time, so didn't make a point of labouring how things ended up between them last time. Taking his cues from Thunderwoman, he quickled moved on to explain the urgency of his mission and the potential angle they'd arrived at.

"So I'm trying to come in on the down low and rather than face Timpson straight on, instead see if I can get into his good books. If I can prevent this potential robbery. Always assuming Timpson isn't himself behind it for some sort of insurance scam, I might be able to request WD material for me to rescue our friends." Lionheart knew how it sounded, and wondered if it ever didn't sound as wacky to others as it did to him. But wacky or not, mind bending as the last 24 hours had been, it was all as nothing compared to the sudden reappearance of his old nemesis and the doubling of his powers.

Keeping on eye on things as he gave Thunderwoman a chance to reply, he continued to monitor the situation around them. He really didn't want to draw attention to and bring heat down on Thunderwoman, again! She didn't need that even if she found blending in difficult.

OOC: Ok so lets see what she makes of the mission and current events so far. Whilst I keep an eye out to make sure we're not jumped on suddenly. Really not looking for a fight, but I've got this sinking feeling that we're already on someone's radar. Its just a question of how rapidly they can respond! In any case all my passive senses are out and working overtime.

Sj

Thunder Woman walked over to the balcony and looked over the city "In my time in mortal mans world I have found that my own wishes and desires are often not choices I can make. I am like... the leaf, blowing on the breeze, this way and that. And now, it seems, I am caught in a growing storm."

She turned and raised an eyebrow at Lionheart. "I will help you, again. Why?" She pondered for a moment. "Clearly whilst your fate is tied to Timpsons whilst this case of yours is ongoing it means you will be active in the United States, and I am perhaps your only ally here." She shrugged. "Besides I'm a sucker for a sob story." she added with a grin.

OOC Danger Sense 9 + Roll(2d10)+0: 7,2,+0 Total:9 (18) vs TN 11 + OV 4 (15)

Lionheart glanced around. Something was happening. He'd been found.

He glanced over at the security guard by the list and cocked an ear to the side, listening in on his earpiece as he received instructions. "...repeat, ask all patrons to quietly leave via the lift. Target is a male, 6'0 tall, blond hair, baseball cap..." he went on to describe Lionhearts current appearance!

Thunder Woman saw her friend was distracted and was about to ask why when she looked up. "Ahhh!" she gasped. "Soul Searcher!" She turned to Lionheart. "He can travel in spirit form, undetectable to those without spirit sight... which I have!" she turned, looking up at seemingly empty sky! "We are compromised!"

As if to hammer home the fact Lionheart heard distant engines roaring into life with his super hearing and knew that this place would be 'hot' in moments!

Admin wrote:As if to hammer home the fact Lionheart heard distant engines roaring into life with his super hearing and knew that this place would be 'hot' in moments!

"Overstayed our welcome, time to go quick sharp."

Knowing that Thunderwoman could fly, didn't mean she could fly fast enough to evade pursuit and Lionheart made it clear. "I've undergone some...err changes. I appear to be somewhat more powerful than we met last time. I think its me the can spot a mile away. But if you'll allow me, I think I can fly us away quicker than they can conventionally follow..."

Lionheart didn't want to upset Thunderwoman, knowing how a strong willed, independent woman like here might see it as condescending. But truth be told he needed her Spirit Sight to see what he couldn't and she probably needed his speed if they were going to make a successful go of escaping intact.

OOC: Ok so the plan, either way, is to get going and be gone. I'm not sure if going together means we might end up being easier to catch, but hey who knows. In any case be good to be gone and really open up (assuming no danger to life around about) and be gone quicker than a packet of low fat crisps at a Weight Watchers meeting ;-)

Sj

Thunder Woman was about to speak when Lionheart scooped her up "Wha...?"

He was about to further explain when half a dozen flying drones appeared over the side of the building - and bear in mind this was over 1200 feet up!

They looked quite big - military style - and each had a pod underneath the main body. His danger sense indicated they were

OOC Roll(2d10)+0: 5,7,+0 Total:12 + Danger Sense 9 (21) vs Threat 8 + TN 11 (19). Success, 2RAPs

... not the real threat. Miniature cameras tracked his every move, whilst he blurred his face so as to prevent them getting a good luck even as Thunder Woman pulled her hat down a bit to obscure hers! She was just about to speak when wooooooooooooooosh!!!!

Lionheart shot up, up and away, the wake behind him popping and spinning unfurling cloud behind as he shot up over the city and heard Thunder Woman call "That way!" with a pointed hand.

Then they were gone!

FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

==========

Elsewhere at that moment...

The darkened room was otherwise lit by the glow of screens and control panels with uniformed operatives sat at each. The chatter was urgent and varied, and a bald headed man in a uniform with Colonels bars on narrowed his eyes. "Track them!" he barked.

"Tracking sir... he's fast... mach... accelerating... he's... energy signature tracking sir, target is too fast and small for radar. Energy signature... lost him." spluttered the operative.

The Colonel sucked in a deep breath. "Database. Who do we know that has this kind of power?"

"Besides the Ultrahuman core members, there are .... eight in Europe who register on this scale, a total of ... 17 in the United States... four in Asia... 2 in Russia... and at least twenty indeterminate sightings with no fixed abode. "

"So, it could be anyone?"

"No sir, this signature is new. Scans indicate the metahuman Soul Searcher was on the scene. He may have ..."

"Bring him in."

"Sir, Soul Searcher is..."

"Bring. Him. In." insisted the Colonel in a tone that suggested the conversation was over. He looked at the scans again. They'd have to recalibrate the charts again. This new one was off several of them...

=========

"WE ARE BEING TRACKED!" yelled Thunder Woman as the howl of the wind made speech difficult.

"THE FASTER WE GO, THE MORE YOU REGISTER AS A POWERFUL METAHUMAN, IT MAKES IT EASIER FOR THEM!"

Lionheart slowed some and looked about. Using his senses to read distant signs he figured he knew where he was. Sort of.



He glanced at Thunder Woman. Her clothes were rags! Luckily enough remained to preserve her modesty, but she raised an eyebrow at him. "Eyes front mister! I need a change of clothes - I didn't figure on supersonic flight when I dressed this morning!"

They could continue to their destination or seek to lie low and change/rest as required. Knowing that the more he used his powers, the easier he'd be to find, Lionheart figured that he needed to choose his moments...

Admin wrote:They could continue to their destination or seek to lie low and change/rest as required. Knowing that the more he used his powers, the easier he'd be to find, Lionheart figured that he needed to choose his moments...

"Right, well I think we lost them for now, so we'd best drop back to conventional means and hope we can loose them for the time being. Although I suspect we're not going to be able to evade them for long."

It was frustrating to have had so much power unlocked only to find oneself constantly having to keep a lid on it. More than that, any use of his powers set off alarm bells and Lionheart didn't need further complications right now. He still had a robbery to stop and some help to gain. Although in dealing with the devil, he was inclined to keep a count of all his limbs, fingers and toes.

Turning to Thunderwoman, without adding to her discomfort he offered, "Right we need to get you something to stop drawing the attention of every red blooded male in 500 miles and then to decide how we get to complete my mission."

OOC: Ok with that in mind, we'll see if we can't liberate some clothes for Thunderwoman, before chasing down some way of moving about without drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves. I guess we need to hitch hike, or 'borrow' some vehicle to get where were going. Emm so i need to get to Arizona and specifically to a secret testing facility owned by Timpson to stop a heist. And oh my, I've just seen how far away it is from our present location. Its gonna take us a week driving! I wonder if Thunderwoman has any other below the radar options we can take?

Sj

ThunderWoman frowned "Arizona? And if we use our powers, we get tracked..."

"I need some clothes first. Here. 1303 is my pin." she said, handing over her debit card. "Something casual."

Lionheart looked the superhero up and down. She was powerfully built, tall, muscled... still attractive but definitely able to take care of herself and she stood out in a crowd.

10 minutes later he hurried across the street and handed her a bag of clothes.

"Mens clothes?" she spluttered. With a sigh she nipped into an alley and came out with jeans, a lumberjack shirt and hair tucked up in a bun with a baseball cap on. Mirror glasses completed the look. Lionheart had something similar, with a t shirt instead with Mickey Mouse on it. Hardly superhero attire, which was the point.

"Right, how to get there...?" she muttered, shaking her head at her clothes.

"I guess we have a choice..."

1) Road trip - hire a car and drive

2) Charter a flight of some kind. Pricey as without ID it would be along the lines of "Sure, but it'll cost ya..."

3) Bus - cheap, easy to hide, lost in the crowd... most likely way to go undetected, but slowest

4) The heck with it, fly! You could be there in minutes!

Admin wrote:"Mens clothes?" she spluttered..."Right, how to get there...?" she muttered, shaking her head at her clothes.

Rather embarrassed Lionheart replied, "Yeah sorry about that, needs must I'm afraid its not really the fashion district of the state, if you take my meaning!" Lionhearts dark face, spelled out the sad fact that it could have been much worse. As stately as she was, even Thunderwoman might have balked at the idea of a onesie!

Admin wrote:
"I guess we have a choice..."

1) Road trip - hire a car and drive

2) Charter a flight of some kind. Pricey as without ID it would be along the lines of "Sure, but it'll cost ya..."

3) Bus - cheap, easy to hide, lost in the crowd... most likely way to go undetected, but slowest

4) The heck with it, fly! You could be there in minutes!

Lionheart thought about each of the options in nanoseconds but then took a moment to explain his thinking to Thunderwoman, before arriving at the obvious conclusion. "With electronic surveillance and other countermeasures, we need to be aware that anytime we use your resources we're also putting a notification up. I realise your stuff is probably a dummy account, but even so. If we go with a charter flight, its a big hit, but a shady one thats likely to be kept on the down low. Besides if we stop at different gas stations for fuel across the states, we'll only be advertising our destination, same with a bus. Besides which we only need one mistake, one meta human incident or some other thing going off and we'll be marked. So best we get on as best we can. A plane can go anywhere and if its shady then its less likely to get picked up - well we hope anyway. With tec and surveillance as it is, I doubt there is any way to get around unnoticed its more a question of being overlooked. "

With that Lionheart asked for directions to the nearest charter airstrip or flight school as he and Thunderwoman made plans to get to Arizona and soon. He as of yet had no idea when this planned theft was going to take place. And for all his elaborate efforts he might already be too late.

Sj

Thunder Woman sighed, then muttered "Easy come, easier go." as she pulled plastic cards from her wallet.

"I'll need a morning at several banks, to arrange cash withdrawals and have enough cold hard cash to appeal to someone who values that more than they fear reprisals by the authorities. Then we can approach pilots at the airfield." she explained. "I had sought to gather enough money together to purchase a small home by the sea somewhere to lie low for a decade or so before assuming another new identity as a costumed protector. I am long lived, and age so slowly as to seem ageless. I need something to do with my time, and hitting bad people in the face is as good an occupation as any I can think of!" she grinned, then nodded across the street. "That diner, see you in a couple of hours."

=========

The diner was full of truckers, travellers who pounded the countries highways and byways transporting goods.

Richard King made his way quietly to a corner and ordered food and a drink, though it truth he barely needed either. For sure, he needed to eat, but his body seemed to manage fine for extended periods without anything, another side effect of his superhuman body.

He watched the news, taking little notice of stock and share prices, until it flicked to a breaking story about rogue metahumans at the Empire State building! He saw a blurred image of his face, and a fairly clear image of Thunder Woman with a hat covering the top half of her face in shadow! Great. He looked about. No one seemed interested, thankfully. No need to make a scene.

Then he saw a couple of state troopers walk in, pass comment with several of the regulars and move to sit down at a table opposite Lionheart. Great.

"Tell me..." said a man stood at the bar, who turned round slowly to face the gathered tables and the patrons. Was he addressing Lionheart? He was a tall man, bearded, lumberjack shit and jeans, in other words he didn't stand out, save for addressing those in the diner. The police looked up with unease.

"Do you know what you're carrying?" he asked of a trucker sat near the window.

The trucker looked annoyed, but answered "Mister, I don't know you, or what your game is, but you can mind yer own damn business, same as I do. I don't know wut ah'm carryin', ah only know I gotta get it cross country quick as ah can, and without delay. An that is all I gotta say on the matter, lest you wanna take it up outside..." he growled.

The man at the bar smiled, then turned. He was big. 6 foot something, wide of shoulder, narrow of waist. One of the police officers spoke up "What's it to you what this man is carrying? Let's see some ID sir, then maybe we'll talk about you making your way from here and leave these fine folks in peace, eh?"

The fellow at the bar smiled. "I think not. You see, what he has..." he nodded at the Trucker... "I want."

Then his eyes started to glow...

Admin wrote:Then his eyes started to glow...

OOC: Oh you do like to keep us on our toes...

Lionheart wasn't nearly as surprised as may well should have been. In truth life seemed to delight in throwing curve ball's his way, almost as compensation for the great powers that he had in his possession. Well it kept him humble, he didn't have time to get to think too much of himself.

Lionheart took in the surroundings, the sights and sounds and put his detective abilities to good use. Using the time, afforded him by his superior speed to analyze what was going on here. What and whom and who else might be involved in this. There was potentially one compensation in all this, if this meta human started lighting up, provided Lionheart was careful he need not alert anyone to his presence and may even be able to mask his powers.

First he had to get some handle on the play being made here, and then take in what he could use to distract, disarm and otherwise shut this down before things got out of hand. Chances of sitting quietly and waiting for Thunder Woman's arrival were now pretty much zero. But Lionheart was going to try and play this subtle, no one need know that he is anything other than a good athlete, unless this guy's power levels called for more drastic action.

Sj

Lionhearts senses screamed at what was happening here... Energy from the fellows eyes?

No.

Magic?

Yes. Ah... the unknown then...

The man with the glowing eyes looked around... then a 'shimmer' erupted from him!

OOC Roll(2d10)+0: 4,6,+0 Total:10 + Mystic Freeze 13 (23) vs TN11 + Highest Ov 9 + 8 (multi attack) (28) = Fail

The mans demeanour changed. He looked confused. "I... I don't suppose you can tell me how you did that? Or is there someone else in here...?" he looked about. He was definitely flustered, and Lionheart had been prepared to act if he'd seen some sort of obvious attack, but whatever that was clearly hadn't worked to plan.

"Sir, Ah'm gonna ask you ta turn around an put yer hands on the worktop" said a policeman, drawing his sidearm.

The man looked bewildered and glanced from person to person. Was he trying to find out what had thwarted him or about to make an attack of a different kind? What was he after? Lionheart saw his eyes move from person to person in the diner... soon to home in on him...

Admin wrote:
"Sir, Ah'm gonna ask you ta turn around an put yer hands on the worktop" said a policeman, drawing his sidearm.

The man looked bewildered and glanced from person to person. Was he trying to find out what had thwarted him or about to make an attack of a different kind? What was he after? Lionheart saw his eyes move from person to person in the diner... soon to home in on him...

Lionheart looked for an easy solution a way to get out of this before things got worse. Taking a look outside he saw the parked cars, the pickups and trucks, the thought occurred to him to use one of them to cause a distraction. But that had the potential to backfire in so many ways. No, if he simply could distract this guy long enough to let the police do their job....who was he kidding? He could see that this guy had nothing to fear from the police and in all likelihood it was going to go south sooner rather than later.

OOC:On a scale of one to ten this guy will have already set some sort of meta human radar off, so with that in mind I want to try and keep things at that dialed down level. If at all possible I'll use a scalding pan, or coffee pot and just use it to hit this guy in the head, hopefully the heat and distraction will give him something else to think about rather than me. So lets us HP to effect accuracy. And use Telekinesis to quickly, like a poltergeist fly a hot pan, with hopefully boiling scalding liquid at his head.

At the same time, or before Lionheart will send a low level Telepathic message to Thunder Woman, to let her know what is going down.

Sj