The New Vanguard! Miss Victory issue #3 Enter... NEXUS! guest Starring Lionheart!

"Why?" laughs Nexus. "It's obvious. Mankind will destroy itself sooner rather than later. I see a grander future. There will be ascension to a higher plane of power. Mankind will evolve rapidly, in years rather than millenia, under my rule. War will be abolished."

"Mankind will direct its efforts in a new direction. The stars. We will end our raping of natural resources and restore the Earth in a manner that sustains future generations. Always there will be those who oppose me, but they are motivated by greed, stupidity or some other petty need to argue. Mankind will face new challenges rather than how to crawl over each other to the top, where those high up hold the power and influence and those trampled under the mountain of bodies have nothing. That has been the way of things for time as we know it. I have a vision and a plan for a greater future. Oppose me and you shall be crushed under my booted heel."

"Join me? I shall elevate you to a power level you have not experienced before and you shall be the first of my heralds who bring the word of NEXUS throughout the universe, finding new planets to settle, to expand and if need be, subjugate. Make no mistake. There are powers out there, dark powers. I have seen them, I have tasted of their power. Do they exceed my own power? Individually, no. Collectively? They dwarf it. When the shadows darken on this world and from the shadows come creatures of nightmare, this world will scream. You... 'heroes' will not know where to turn. To ADVENT? They are Aliens with designs on this planet it seems, but why? With such advanced technology and a range of species to call on, why set their sights on humanity? That answer has not been revealed yet. When it does, it will be too late. The people will be swayed and the heroes rounded up into camps. Eidolon?"

"I have seen it. A vision of the future, a possible future. This place..." he waved a hand "Blocks my abilities to see the future."

"You heroes say I want to conquer mankind, to be a 'God' and listen to the petty small minded dreams of people. I say you are wrong! I seek to save mankind, not just from Advent, but from itself, and from the Darkening Shadows, the demons that prey on the negative emotions this world pours out in abundance! More than that, there are enemies in the darkness of the void of space who see a glittering jewel in the night sky and have designs on it. Perhaps not tomorrow, nor next week or next year, but in our lifetime, the Earth will face a series of challenges that rain death from the sky, pestilence and plague from the people and madness in the hearts and minds of humans. Who are you going to punch in order to stop this catastrophes? The enemies I speak of do not care for robbing banks, taking hostages or holding a city to ransom."

He chuckled. "Such small dreams of heroes and men are too minuscule for the likes of those gathered here. We will leave this place, then change the world for the better."

The others had different expressions on their faces. Some agreed, others had doubts, some had their own plans. This normal man, with no powers at all, was dictating to beings with power beyond comprehension. The concept was mind boggling. And yet, they knew what would happen were they to attack him. Nexus would respond.

In kind.

"You ask me why?" he said of Miss Victory. "To save humanity... why not?"

Admin wrote:"You ask me why?" he said of Miss Victory. "To save humanity... why not?"

OOC: So we have a guy who imagines he can be a benevolent dictator and is so sure of his utter wisdom, immutability and integrity such that he can use his power to benefit Mankind who'd gone on to die a thousand different ways if not for him.  

I'm going to have to think about this because I rather think he is so convinced of his own abilities and therefore his own worthiness that trying to talk to him in a reasonable fashion is going to fall as on cloth ears!  I will turn down his offer, which means then rolling with whatever he decides to do to us as a result of denying his benevolence...I'm away tomorrow till the evening, which gives me time to think and Dave if you have any better suggestions, or ideas please don't wait for me to chime in.  Meanwhile, I'll update when I've read what you put Dave, and try and reply when I get back tomorrow.

Sj

Miss Victory laughs and laughs and laughs and laughs. She laughs so hard that tears start streaming down her face.

"Oh! I-I'm s-s-s-s-sooo -s-s-s-sorr---yyy-y-y-y," she stutters while trying to get her laughter under control, waving her arms at the others that she is okay as she tries to control herself. "I-I heard ss-s--s-ssoooo--o-o-o- heh! m-much about the most powerful Nexus a-and I m-meet h-heheheheheh-him f-final-ly n an-and h-he turns out to be such a s-small-minded, p-petty lit-tle m-man."

She can't help herself, she falls to the floor clutching her stomach as the laughter takes hold of her again.


ooc: And I am going to stop there because Nexus may turn her into a stain in the floor by this point but will pick it up again tomorrow.

Nexus gives a tight grin, shrugs and sighs. "Save humanity, see it advance into a glorious new future and stop the Earth from being destroyed, strangled in agony, and you laugh? Foolish woman. I am beyond your mockery. IONICA, where are you on the electronics of this place?"

"I have watched this 'superhero' (referring to Shellghost, still gagging and thrashing in the Grey Giants grasp) move through the system, followed him as he moved and formed a pattern. In addition this one's costume (referring to Lionheart) has inbuilt circuitry made by one of the creators of this place. Between them they have given me enough to compute an algorithm which shall see the security systems of this place fall into our grasp. My compliments Eidelon. All has transpired as per your vision."

"One I received 3 years, 11 months, 9 days, 14 hours and six minutes ago." said the ghostly figure.

"Yo... you... foresaw ... all this...?" spluttered Shellghost, struggling at the Grey Giants' hands ineffectually.

"Indeed he did." said Nexus. "Much as he foresaw the theft then recovery of my gauntlet and we were able to set up an operation that saw it stolen once more and delivered into the hands of perhaps the worlds FASTEST speedster. She exists in a different time frame, and to get her to help me, I had to promise to ... slow her down."

The Grey Giant tossed Shellghost to the floor, who lay coughing then glanced at the computer.

"Don't try to leap back in there. It will be the death of you." said Eidelon. "I have foreseen that."

Shellghost gulped and muttered "Silver Sentinel will stop you, or Thunder Woman, or one of the others... they stopped you all before..." he coughed, rubbing his throat.

"Indeed?" asked Nexus. "Nucleus, can you explain what is going to happen to Silver Sentinel?"

"His powers will be drawn from him thanks to a new element I have constructed." said a robotic voice from the naked blue man. "All eventualities have been foreseen and planned for." he said without tone. "When I was imprisoned in this place you promised me freedom so that I may continue exploring the universe. In payment I gave you the one new element that Silver Sentinel is vulnerable to, one keyed to his specific DNA and found nowhere else in the multiverse. Silver Sentinel is doomed. He just doesn't know it yet."

"If I get my gauntlet back I'm going to peel Silver Sentinel's metal hide from his body..." said Nexus.

"Hahaha you're mad! If Sentinel ever suffers a wound great enough to break his skin there will be a nuclear explosion!" said Shellghost. "My team mates will stop you! You just watch... they are working on restoring power to this place and the emitters..."

Nexus smiled. "I'm counting on it young man."

He turned, held his hands wide open. "In a short time we will be free. I thank you all and my offer to you still stands. Once restored my powers will be more than enough for the Ultrahumans. Then I shall deal with this... Advent, something the governments or the superhuman organisations of this world should have done already. After that? I shall raise a new continent, the heart of my new empire and those chosen shall watch as I mould the Earth into place fit for human habitation. No pollution, overcrowding, starvation, crime... A... 'reset' if you will."

"On the Eighth day, God tried again." he said, without humour.

He flicked a glance at the Grey Giant who loomed over the heroes. "Who wants to try and stop us first? Or you can go up a few levels and wait. Nexus explained he doesn't want unnecessary deaths on his hands but I don't really mind." he said, rolling his neck.

Lionheart's danger sense went beserk! (OOC No roll needed on this one...)

He turned, held his hands wide open. "In a short time we will be free. I thank you all and my offer to you still stands. Once restored my powers will be more than enough for the Ultrahumans. Then I shall deal with this... Advent, something the governments or the superhuman organisations of this world should have done already. After that? I shall raise a new continent, the heart of my new empire and those chosen shall watch as I mould the Earth into place fit for human habitation. No pollution, overcrowding, starvation, crime... A... 'reset' if you will."

"On the Eighth day, God tried again." he said, without humour.

He flicked a glance at the Grey Giant who loomed over the heroes. "Who wants to try and stop us first? Or you can go up a few levels and wait. Nexus explained he doesn't want unnecessary deaths on his hands but I don't really mind." he said, rolling his neck.

Lionheart's danger sense went beserk! (OOC No roll needed on this one...)


"This is why I am laughing," Miss Victory says, regaining control of herself.  "You are such an idiot.  You all are.  Or rather, you are all playing this idiot to get what you want and he doesn't even know he is your Tool!  But you don't seem to realize how little time you will have to enjoy your freedoms and dreams. Or how much he sees you as just his Tools. Tools here and Tools there."  

"You, Big Guy, you say he wants no unnecessary deaths?  Didn't you just hear him say he is going to end overcrowding?  How many deaths do you think he needs to achieve that?"

"Raise a new continent?  Causing massive tidal waves killing everyone who doesn't live in the mountains.  Also, that displaced ocean waters has to go somewhere, so the oceans's levels will rise consuming most of the low lands around Earth. And he will have to raise his new continent high enough that the rising ocean waters don't flood it.  This will totally change everything on this planet.  Things you can't even calculate!  Currents will change.  The Jet Stream can alter beyond what we expect.  Heck, it is even possible that the Earth's axis will tilt to such a degree as to make our equator the new North and South Poles! that much strain on the Earth in that little time will cause earthquakes and volcanoes of a magnitude I can't even calculate.  You want to talk about Climate Change? The ash from all those volcanoes will cover the Earth for years, maybe decades or centuries!  He pretty much just told us all he is going to wipe out the Earth and all life on it to fulfill his mad dreams!"

"Are you going to create new life too, Mad Nexus?  To replace all the people and plants and animals that you will totally wipe out?  Is that your goal, to prove to God that you are greater than Him?"

"And after you create this new continent, wiping all LIFE ON Earth, who are you going to rule over?  Will you just go "Oops!" and decide to head into space and find a new place to try again?  How many planets do you know of?  I would think you would go to the ones that these fine folks have told you of over time.  Their planets and the ones that they have visited."

"Oh, one other thing.  You did hear him say he was going to wipe out crime?  So either he is going to mind control everyone or kill everyone who commits a crime.  Say, here's a thought, how many people in this room have committed crimes by his defintion and would therefore be on his "control or kill" list?  Hmmm?"


ooc:  If you can't beat him and you can't reason with him, then get the others to do one or the other.

Nexus smiled. "Don't you understand? Everyone in this place apart from the prison guards and staff is a metahuman. You already have a foot on the ladder of evolution! I plan to raise these select few into my army as my heralds, going forth to spread the word, find others like them and ultimately venture forth into the universe to find new places for humanity to settle."

"Conventional human life is forfeit. Those that survive the cataclysm shall be raised. The rest? Washed away into the seas like the rest of human history. As for the effect on the Earth you still don't understand the extent of my power do you?"

"Mind is the power to change the poles, alter the rotation of the earth, the land masses, the very existence of the planet itself. I could mould a new planet from the ruins of the Earth. I am Nexus!" he laughs.

"She has few superhuman abilities." says the mentalist in the prison orange. "Her powers are activated by a pill."

"Ahhh. Without a lab she is practically useless." said Nexus. "I'm surprised she lived so long in this place. Impressive. Or lucky. The other one?"

"He was grown from genetic material in a lab. He is from the future."

"Indeed? Technically by wiping out the Earth he should cease to exist but he's out of that timeline now and into this one. He has potential. leave the Ultrahuman here. If he tries anything, disintegrate him. Escort the other two away. We have plans to make."

The Grey Giant walked menacingly over to Lionheart and Miss Victory. "Make a fight of it. Please. Nexus doesn't want to waste superhuman lives, but some people just don't get the message..." he growled...

Admin wrote:The Grey Giant walked menacingly over to Lionheart and Miss Victory. "Make a fight of it. Please. Nexus doesn't want to waste superhuman lives, but some people just don't get the message..." he growled...

Lionheart slumped dejected, he knew there was no point in resisting, that would only hasten death which he didn't fear, save dying needlessly or recklessly. But right now he was out of options, these beings were his superior and the only way forward was to wait and watch for an opportune moment in which "fortune might favour the bold." Assuming he had the wit to spot it if it should come. Lionheart couldn't get a message to Miss Victory as the other would realise it, he had to hope she would do what was smartest and wait till such a time as might yet come. Lionheart didn't know if he was a spiritual being, but this would be the point he imagined people prayed.

OOC: I'm out of ideas, so going to have to wait and see how this plays out. I'm playing dejected but not without some hope that things might yet present themselves, or Advent's ace up their sleeve will yet show these guys what they need to do to unite in opposing them. Who knows, stranger things have happened. However i will not stand by if they try to kill anyone or me, I will defend myself or those of my team.

Sj

Since even her charisma failed to sway anyone to her side she had no choice. To fight was hopeless and could trigger Nexus into his overpowered state.

She winked at her teammates and then grinned at the criminals.

"Okay. I've done my best," she says as she grins. "I just hope all the plans you make include a fallback position of what happens when one of you betray the others, once they get what they say they want. Because you know, you can't trust everyone in here."

She walks out, head held high, confident smile on her face and praying hard inside.

The Gray giant stalked behind them. "I'm disappointed." he growls. "I thought 'super heroes' would have more fight in them. A... 'never say die' attitude."

"Captain Justice thought that when I pulled his right arm off and beat him to death with the wet end." he laughed. "Oh, he was powerful in his own way but when you charge in against someone who outmatches you in every department... well, a lesson must be dealt out. I'd never seen an entire team of super heroes burst into tears at the same time. I thought about squishing the rest of them but they were so pathetic there was no sport in it." he grins with a mouthful of awful fangs.

When they got to the stairwell the Grey Giant snarled "Come back to this level and no matter what Nexus says, I'll pop your heads! Now hurry on!"

"What about Shellghost?" asked Miss Victory.

"He still has some use. I'm going to count to three, then I'm going to kill you both. One... two..."

=========

The pair trudged back up to level 7 and wondered if they'd ever had a lower point in their careers than what had just happened.

OOC Don't feel too bad. Darkseid, Dr Manhattan, Spectre, Mordru and others are no pushover, especially when I've upped their APs a bit.

'They will be making their way up to level 1. All of them.' said Saladin inside Lionhearts head. 'They have found some way to open this place up using Shellghost and having tracked you using the circuitry of the costume you wear that exploits a back door Wandafar put in. Ingenious. Without your and Shellghosts' input their plan would have no chance of success. Somehow they foresaw your coming him and used it to their advantage. Power indeed.' admitted the persona inside Lionhearts' head.

Miss Victory thought through what they knew.

'Gods', beings off the scale of power with regards their vast breadth and level of their abilities, were gathered and soon to make a move to open the gates of this place.

The levels of this place were still arrayed against each other but Miss Victory and Lionheart had secured a ceasefire of sorts with two levels and free access through others using Lionhearts superspeed and Miss Victorys' running.

The plan - it seemed - was to open the place up and spill forth with the villainous supers, but Nexus was the main problem. Many of the gods had their own agendas and would instantly depart but Nexus planned to take on the Ultrahumans and batter them into submission then follow up by crushing all of the worlds governments as well as Advent. Then... then he intended to elevate those superhumans who pledged themselves to him and elevate their power to levels unheard of! Those favoured humans who provided value... intelligence, the arts, imagination... might survive in the new continent whilst the rest of the world drowned, the seas raised to sweep humanity away.

Whatever was left would be used to being a new strain of humanity, every one a superhuman with myriad abilities and powers and from there? Conquer the stars.

A grand dream by a madman capable of executing it if he got his powers back.

OOC Any actions or watching it play out for a while?

Admin wrote:OOC Any actions or watching it play out for a while?

Lionheart allowed his costume to change and "Dialled out" to Wandafar. When he got him he said, "Got to make this short, you need to get a message to the Ultrahumans, Nexus is going to break out..." and for good measure, he added, "Nexus has an element specifically keyed to Sentinel which will kill him if exposed."

There was a whole lot more to say, but that he hoped should get the band back together from what other disasters they were trying to quell. The truth was unless the whole team got hear this place was a time bomb ready to go off. And try as he might Lionheart felt like a 2-year-old trying to blow against a tornado. He, they was hopelessly outgunned. Better to play the part he could help at the level that would help than trying to match these furies, which would be a undignified one-way pit stop to a needless death. He didn't know what Miss Victory was hoping for, but till now his whole plan was to turn on the prison defences, now they were about to be switched on and it would be them left defenceless not the prisoners.

He sat down, a rarity for someone like him, but it was nothing to do with tiredness and more to do with the fact he really was all out of ideas - now all he felt they could do was sit and wait. Perhaps try to minimise the harm to the Calvary arrived, if they arrived in time.

OOC: ALL that to say nope, haven't a clue, but if we can raise the big boys then maybe we can see if they can put the Genie back in the lamp.

Sj

Steeple_jackuk wrote:

Admin wrote:OOC Any actions or watching it play out for a while?

Lionheart allowed his costume to change and "Dialled out" to Wandafar.  When he got him he said, "Got to make this short, you need to get a message to the Ultrahumans, Nexus is going to break out..." and for good measure, he added, "Nexus has an element specifically keyed to Sentinel which will kill him if exposed."

There was a whole lot more to say, but that he hoped should get the band back together from what other disasters they were trying to quell.  The truth was unless the whole team got hear this place was a time bomb ready to go off.  And try as he might Lionheart felt like a 2-year-old trying to blow against a tornado.  He, they was hopelessly outgunned.  Better to play the part he could help at the level that would help than trying to match these furies, which would be a undignified one-way pit stop to a needless death.  He didn't know what Miss Victory was hoping for, but till now his whole plan was to turn on the prison defences, now they were about to be switched on and it would be them left defenceless not the prisoners.

He sat down, a rarity for someone like him, but it was nothing to do with tiredness and more to do with the fact he really was all out of ideas - now all he felt they could do was sit and wait.  Perhaps try to minimise the harm to the Calvary arrived, if they arrived in time.  

OOC: ALL that to say nope, haven't a clue, but if we can raise the big boys then maybe we can see if they can put the Genie back in the lamp.

Sj

Haven't a clue what to do either. Miss Victory would love to call her husband to say goodbye but since her ultrasecure phone was either destroyed or taken away to be examined [can't remember which it was], she can't even do that. Though if it was taken away, maybe she could get it back for one last phone call. Otherwise, wait and see what happens.

Message sent, the heroes slumped to the bunk in a cell on a safe level (there are a couple safe to them and any of the upper levels the two heroes are more powerful than the inhabitants so there's no problem there either).

All that could be done was await their fate...

=========

"A message has been sent." said the orange suited prisoner on level 8. "Decoding... this 'Wandafar' is good, and his code is scrambling as fast as I decode it... almost. Got it. They have sent a message out..."

"Let me guess..." said Nexus. "To the Ultrahumans?"

The prisoner nodded. Shellghost, having been beaten and unmasked, looked up with a face that looked like it had been used as a football. Slurring his words and barely conscious he snarls "Shilverrrr Shentinel... will... be here soon and... kick your ass..." before he spits blood on the floor.

"I'm counting on Silver Sentinel turning up. My plan is formed around it." said Nexus, eyebrow raised. "Tell me, Eidelon, now we've extracted his Ultrahuman access codes do we need Mr Gonzales here?"

Eidelon shook his head.

"Very well. Vulkan. Will you do the honours?" he asked of the Grey Giant.

"T... torture... m... me all you want." gasped Shellghost. "I'll never tell you... URK!" CRUNCH!

Vulkan stared at Shellghosts' lifeless body for a moment and a powerful beam lanced from his eyes, vaporising the young Ultrahuman reserve!

"Prepare the hostages. Send word to all the rulers of the various levels. Make sure they understand they are with us or against us, and if against us they need to gather on level 1. Take the hostages to level 1." said Nexus.

=========

"ATTENTION ALL PRISONERS. THIS IS NEXUS. YOU KNOW ME, OR OF ME. UNDERSTAND THIS. I PLAN TO VERY SOON LEAVE THIS PLACE AND ALL THOSE WHO WISH TO SERVE ME AND BE REWARDED NEED TO BE ON LEVEL 2 OR LOWER. ALL THOSE WHO FEEL THEY CANNOT SERVE ME MUST MOVE IMMEDIATELY TO LEVEL 1. MINDLORD SHALL SCAN THE MINDS OF EVERYONE ON ALL LEVELS. THE TRUTH SHALL BE EXTRACTED FROM YOUR MINDS. ANY WHO HARBOUR THOUGHTS OF BETRAYAL SHALL BE DISINTEGRATED. THAT IS ALL."

Lionheart and Miss Victory heard the announcement and knew this place would very soon be a warzone unlike any other! Silver Sentinel and the Ultrahumans would enter the place, try to save the hostages and suppress the criminals before leaving in order to restore the power nullification properties of the the place.

OOC in the next post... enter... THE ULTRAHUMANS!

Admin wrote:Lionheart and Miss Victory heard the announcement and knew this place would very soon be a warzone unlike any other! Silver Sentinel and the Ultrahumans would enter the place, try to save the hostages and suppress the criminals before leaving in order to restore the power nullification properties of the the place.

OOC in the next post... enter... THE ULTRAHUMANS!

OOC: OH boy, do I feel like we I just tripped the trap they were anticipating all along...Ugh! I think I begin to see how NPC's must feel

Sj

[Qoute]
Miss Victory trudges to level one, no way is she ever going to bow her knee to the slime in the lowest level.  she knows this is a trap to destroy the Ultrahumans but she can't figure out how to get out of it.  She just readies herself to fight with them when they arrive.
[/quote]

OOC: Lionheart will join you.

Sj

OOC Apologies for the delay on this. Been up to my eyes with work then had my son over for a day which eats into my (limited) time this week.

Just under three years ago...

A darkened room. A swaying light in the middle over a table around which seven people are sat. 'people' was a loose term because some of them clearly weren't human 'people'. The one seemingly at the head of the table was a bespectacled man who looked like an accountant.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Beside him, a middle aged man smoked. He blew out to the ceiling and the 'accountant' hid his annoyance at the smoke. "It's as he says. I have run the numbers. Twice."

The group looked at a sheet of paper which was covered with lines of text. The Accountant reached for it and sighed, adjusting his glasses. "We're all to be imprisoned, I'm going to gain and lose my powers again. The gauntlet is going to be... in a museum? What's this? Some Russian Scientist woman and an Englishman will be involved? You expect me to believe all this?"

Sat in shadow at the other end of the table, a voice rasped "You doubt me? I have foreseen it. Neutron confirms it. That is what will happen, on this world at any rate."

"You are not of this world Eidelon. Why not just leave?"

"That would throw into chaos the pattern of the events I have seen. In order to return to the exact time and place of my own dimension and not some alternate, these events must happen."

"Hmmm. Creator. Can you do this? I mean.. this speedster... he's B list, not even that. The Ultrahumans have speedsters and they would blow him into the weeds. Heck, Silver Sentinel would and that buffoon doesn't even count it amongst his main abilities." said the Accountant.

"I have set into motion a series of events that will see his speed boosted to beyond comprehension. If he were to learn how, he could time travel quite easily. Instead, he will perform the task which Eidelon has set out, then the strain on his body will see him wink out of existence. He will run himself to death."

"General Apocalypse, have you seen your part in this?"

"Ja." said an accented voice. "The preparations have been made. Whether the space rock does what is required...?"

Neutron hissed "It will. The bomb will pierce Silver Sentinel's skin because of that rock, but needs power to propel it through his impenetrable hide."

"You do know he ignores nuclear weapons?" said a woman.

A Grey skinned behemoth leaning against a wall (for no chair could support him) laughed "Most of the people in this room could ignore anything mankind has to offer. The Ultrahumans have as many. Without Silver Sentinel, we would not need such an elaborate plan. With him? They are unbeatable. I believe Eidelon. I shall fight till I can no longer stand but I would be fighting against destiny. We shall be imprisoned, and this is the way out." he said, pointing at the paper.

"So, assuming the speedster does his part...?" asked the accountant.

"he will." growled Neutron.

"have a care Neutron." said the accountant. "I may be the weakest in this room - by far - but rouse my anger and you know full well the power I can summon. Show respect."

Neutron looked like he'd swallowed a wasp. "Sorry Nexus. Much is riding on this. The fate of the world."

"The fate of the Universe. We are not small men and women, with minuscule dreams. We will remould the world, and those who wish to be elsewhere shall be made so." he said with a glance to Eidelon. "You need my power, the power of NEXUS, for that."

There was a silence then a woman spoke up. "It's settled then. We go from here as we would in the knowledge all are doomed to be in this prison. We do nothing out of the way to prevent it... "

"...and we win the world." said Nexus. "An end to war, politics, crime, famine, sickness, pollution, and a solution for the human condition. Everyone will be elevated."

"Those that survive." grumbled a figure sat in shadow.

"You as well as anyone Professor Fear know that no prize is won without sacrifice. If you are not with us, you are against us." stated Nexus.

"Mine is the power to instil fear in nations!" hissed the Professor. "i feed on that, and my power is near infinite! Why do I need you?"

"You have a point." said Nexus. "In fact, I see little mention of you past this initial meeting." His eyes raised, looking past Prof Fear.

"What do you... CRICK!"

The Grey behemoth tossed Professor Fear's body in the corner. There were a few gasps and one man stood "You have doomed us! Altering the plan with less than..."

Eidelon rasped "His death was necessary. Fear would have gone from here and when he was defeated he would have revealed the details of this meeting, and all involved. I foresaw that."

Nexus looked about. "This is what will happen." he said, tapping the sheet of paper. "To get to our ultimate goal, we must ALL stay the course."

Silence, then nods, assent and agreement.

=========

Earlier today.

"Four million dollars!" he said again, looking at the suitcase stacked with $100 bills. He laughed.

Of course, the other six would only be handed over after he'd done the job. He had his doubts but he'd had a taste of the juice. His powers had amped up beyond what he knew was possible. He was faster than... than anything! Than anyone!

Now he looked at the syringe with the green glowing liquid and knew it would boost his speed even beyond that. He would be the fastest man alive!

Even faster than Silver Sentinel! He gulped.

Looking at the other package it was a fist sized explosive designed to stick to an object and blow a shaped hope into it. He wasn't sure what the point was - everyone knew Silver Sentinel was invulnerable. At least with the speed he could get in and out. Where exactly was the thing. He frowned. middle of the desert? What was the point?

He shrugged. Ten mill. This was it, the big score. Do this, win or lose and get the money then kick back. In and out faster than those Ultra chumps could even see!

He suited up.

OOC TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO OF THIS POST

Admin wrote:OOC Apologies for the delay on this. Been up to my eyes with work then had my son over for a day which eats into my (limited) time this week.

OOC TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO OF THIS POST

OOC: No worries wondered if it was some real-life antics, or work or both. Well colour me intrigued I do feel like a fly on the wall, emphasis on fly, watching all this unfold before me.

Sj

OOC PART TWO

THEN...The stars, stretched out into the darkness, started to pull in, and he slowed to light speed.

Enjoying the last flight into the solar system Silver Sentinel swooped by Mars, scanning to see how the robotic surface rovers were doing. He paused to adjust the orbit of a satellite which had been affected by a meteorite, then fired forward, increasing his speed then pulling it in as a dot changed into a blue/white globe.

Silver Sentinel was home.

=========

NOW... Thunder Woman turned to the others.

"Remember the plan. Sentinel in first then we're on mop up. Any that manage to get past him, we are plan B." she said, but knew that would be practically impossible.

"ummm... if they get past him, how are any... even ALL of us supposed to stop them?" asked a voice from a couple of rows back. The Ultrahumans had turned out in force. East, West, Central teams, even the special ops and reserves. An army of nearly one hundred superheroes.

The most powerful gathering of super powered beings on the planet. Beyond that, the army, still arriving with helicopters and armoured vehicles. She knew the President was watching from the satellite overhead and that he would give the order for a nuclear strike if required. That was the reason the prison was miles form anywhere. It wouldn't come to that.

She looked to the skies, knowing he was coming.

He'd stop by the space station, get the update then head straight here.

There'd be no crack of the sound barrier - his powers prevented that. He'd just land, then be here, in the blink of an eye. She'd long ago accepted she was the second most powerful superhuman on the team, most likely on the planet. Well, that list only included people outside this prison. The gauntlet was still missing, annoyingly, after Lionhearts' heroic efforts seemingly went to waste when it was re-stolen.

Frowning, she shook her head. It would turn up.

=========

Level Eight of the prison.

Nexus filed his nails. Some of the others looked nervously about. Eidelon was impassive, Neutron was, as usual, crunching numbers.

They watched the clock tick on the wall.

The piece of paper had stated a time.

That was only minutes away.

=========

Silver Sentinel landed and many of those in the Ultrahuman crowd gasped, whispered, gazed on in admiration. They looked upon superhero royalty, though he didn't rub it in anyone's face.

He smiled as he walked through the parting crowd, exchanged a few greetings to some of them, gave a wave as a few of the younger heroes posed for selfies with the great hero in the sight of their camera phones. They would be part of something great, something legendary even. As would the divisions of soldiers and vehicles parked around the seemingly nondescript spot in the desert. Thousands of soldiers.

Sentinel stopped walking to converse quietly with Thunder Woman and the other senior heroes. All of the emergencies around the world had been quelled or at least eased in order to mount this operation.

She'd briefed the team leaders, made sure everyone was organised into their power types and scales. Sentinel would open the door and go in, then Ultrahumans on his heels. They would spread through the prison putting down all who resisted and had the access codes to restore power to cells and the power nullifiers. They wouldn't work on Sentinel anyway. If nexus had his gauntlet, he too would be immune. Thunder Woman herself could resist them for a time as could one or two of the others.

There would be fights, but ultimately Sentinel would flatten the biggest baddest guys in there and the others would fall into line.

=========

"Ten Mill." he said, as he pulled on his mask, last part of his speed suit.

The syringe went into his arm with a grunt. He sighed as it emptied. He'd been told to make sure every last drop went in or it wouldn't work right.

It went in... and the world slowed down.

Taking up the grenade thingy he'd been given, he looked around at his dingy apartment. Ten mill.

Then the fastest being to ever have set foot on the planet set off.

=========

Silver Sentinel frowned. He was listening to his lover - Thunder Woman - talk but there was something.

"Do you feel that?" he asked.

There were blank looks from the gathered half dozen of the most powerful Ultrahumans.

Thunder Woman leaned in. "We need to get this show on the road..."

"Hmmm." said Silver Sentinel, looking about. She knew he would be scanning with telescopic, thermal, X ray, ultra and more visions besides. His range was effectively the curvature of the Earth and beyond. He'd described a mountain on Venus once in minute detail and she'd called BS but had to give him his due. When they stopped the Kretarian Invasion fleet they passed the spot and there it was, as described.

"Something..." he muttered.

"Sentinel, we need to get in there." she hissed. "We've already delayed too long!"

"Right." he said. "Stand back all, please." he said, blowing the dirt and dust from the vault like door entrance. There it was an impregnable, uncrackable lock. Designed to keep the worst of the worst in... She knew of only two people that could overcome the power of the metal. It blocked all attempts to break it and all powers from being used on it. A one off miracle of engineering and planning and cosmic forces brought in to alignment to design and create the greatest structure devised in the history of mankind.

Silver Sentinel sunk his fingers into the metal, ignoring the shrieking noise and blinding heat that came off it, then pulled, seemingly without effort.

The vault door came off in his hand, all three hundred tons of it...

... and the speedster watched each dust and dirt mote hang in the air as he appeared from his circuits of the Earth and placed the device on the rib cage of the most powerful superhuman on Earth.

Silver Sentinel saw a blur at the edge of his vision, glanced down at the device stuck to his rib cage and reached for it with his free hand... just as it went off.

The explosion was relatively small and controlled. It did it's job though, firing the rock inwards to strike and pierce the indestructible. His skin.

He tossed the vault like door away to land some twenty miles distant and pulled his hand down to block the tiny wound in his skin... too late...

==========

Lionheart looked up. His danger sense was screaming. Immediately he raised his force field to its maximum intensity and knew it would be enough...

The others... Obsidian, Lupus, Magma Girl, Irradiator and dozens of others who wanted nothing to do with Nexus' plan, were unwitting when the explosion hit, nuclear fire flooding the corridors and cells of the first level.

Miss Victory had seen Lionheart react and knew something was going to happen. Popping a pill she turned to shout a warning to the others in the mess hall but her voice was drowned out by the roar.

OOC You are about to be attacked by a 100 megaton explosion, equivalent to the most powerful weapon ever devised by mankind. Any thoughts on how you want to survive? You don't even have a round (4 seconds) to react. Only a fraction of that to activate powers and one action to move or grab something.

Admin wrote:OOC PART TWO

OOC You are about to be attacked by a 100 megaton explosion, equivalent to the most powerful weapon ever devised by mankind. Any thoughts on how you want to survive? You don't even have a round (4 seconds) to react. Only a fraction of that to activate powers and one action to move or grab something.

OOC: If there is time to grab Miss V and shove her into a cell and shut the door I will do that, if not well...

Sj

Well, BOH2 [glad I got my hands on it] says a Body of 22-24 can survive the direct detonation of a multi-kilo ton nuclear explosions, so maxing out Miss Victory's Body to 23 sounds like a very good idea to me.  But DAMN!  Need a 28 Body to survive a 100 kiloton nuclear explosion, just like this one.

Put the rest of her power into Strength and try to grab something that could be used as a shield to protect the people behind her.  Even if it is an empty cell's door, I assume they open outward so an inmate couldn't hide behind an inward opening door, it might provide some protection for herself and some people. Grab and brace against two cell doors if they are opposite of each other.  Hopefully enough to survive.


ooc:  And I refuse to find out that this causes her to time travel back to the Age of Dinosaurs!   Refuse!  Ancient Greece maybe, but no Age of Dinosaurs!  and now down to 3 pills.  and if she survives and the radiation causes all her hair to fall out, she will hunt you down and pluck every last bit of hair off your body!  One by one and pour alcohol on your wounds to keep them from festering!    

I got nothing.  Max Body, the rest in strength and try to use these superstrong doors as a shield to block as much of the blast as possible.  Miss Victory is still going to try and save as many people as possible even at the cost of her life.

I think Lionheart maxing his Forcefield is the way to go but your call.

I mean, we've already been hit by the radiation which will probably kill us shortly if it doesn't mutate us in some way.  So now we just have to survive the fire, the force and the vacuum such an explosion creates.

Admin wrote:Dave E Lionheart can muster a Resistance Value of 37 pouring all the points from power reserve into Force Field. or he can pour all the points into Superspeed and hope for rolls that mean he doesn't get squished with his Resistance Value of 10 (against an attack of 31 with a Dev Attack). I wouldn't recommend trying that approach. Force Field 37 means he will be hurt, but not squished.

LIONHEART HP 6
Miss Victory HP 98[/i][/color]

OOC: OK I hear you put everything into the force field, right so that is what I do but try to see if I can use it to encompass any others...I feel so bad about this, Possessor was going to have a mission to find out about her future. Lupus a future outside of this prison and so on...

Sj

Steeple_jackuk wrote:

Admin wrote:Dave E Lionheart can muster a Resistance Value of 37 pouring all the points from power reserve into Force Field. or he can pour all the points into Superspeed and hope for rolls that mean he doesn't get squished with his Resistance Value of 10 (against an attack of 31 with a Dev Attack). I wouldn't recommend trying that approach. Force Field 37 means he will be hurt, but not squished.

LIONHEART HP 6
Miss Victory HP 98[/i][/color]

OOC: OK I hear you put everything into the force field, right so that is what I do but try to see if I can use it to encompass any others...I feel so bad about this, Possessor was going to have a mission to find out about her future.  Lupus a future outside of this prison and so on...

Sj

ooc:
Yep, puts a real bad taste in my mouth.  Everything Miss Victory strived for results in total failure.  The people she is trying to help, gone - maybe, probably.  The entire crew she went in with are all dead even before the bomb!  And this is her very first mission.  If she survives, do you think she is going to want to continue as a superhero after this?

But ... let's see how the GM pulls a rabbit out of his butt to save everything before I go down that road.  

DavidMcMahon wrote:OOC: Yep, puts a real bad taste in my mouth.  Everything Miss Victory strived for results in total failure.  The people she is trying to help, gone - maybe, probably.  The entire crew she went in with are all dead even before the bomb!  And this is her very first mission.  If she survives, do you think she is going to want to continue as a superhero after this?

But ... let's see how the GM pulls a rabbit out of his butt to save everything before I go down that road.  

OOC: Sometimes I wonder, as a GM, how much Paul has this worked out before and how much he reacts to and redesigns around us. In some ways its a bit like asking a magician to show you how you do it, and then you can never go back. I did wonder if on this occasion in order to raise the stakes he'd written himself into a corner, or if this like Flashback or some such mega cross-over the event was going to rationalise the world and its lore and bring everything to a neater package like the new 52 etc. As you say, we'll see. I do trust Paul though, he has never done us wrong, even if the way to where we were going was convoluted ;-)

Sj