The Ultrahumans! Issue #2 Starring Miss Victory and Lionheart! "World under siege!"

Lionheart sagged onto a low wall, smashed and rubble like much of the decor/structures around here now.

Smoke drifted across the cratered, destroyed, ruined and rubble strewn 'battlefield' that had been hundreds of yards around the White House, which itself was a smoking ruin.

This was a 'win' - but the job wasn't done yet. He knew that those inside the Vault were holding the President and her personal staff hostage.

Superman seemed to take charge up here, helping where required to move heavy rubble and giving details of where to cordon off to the shell shocked soldiers and police.

Captain Marvel came over and offered his hand. "I don't know you or the pretty lady but I'm glad you were here. Since Superman and I retired some years ago it seems that a new, more powerful era of superhumans has arisen and our time has passed. This has not been... 'fun' to pull the old suit back on but I can't wait for Silver Sentinel and the Ultrahumans to sort things out again so I suppose I'll have to hang around until they get back."

Lionheart shook it and looked about. Ultrahumans? Him and Miss Victory were the only ones left standing as far as he could see.

=========

General Battle relaxed as Miss Victory walked down the stairs. His agents - male and female - stood down. They'd been ready to fight, to sacrifice their lives, to stop the supervillains getting to the vault!

Explaining that the vault would soon be opened the General nodded and told his people to 'stay frosty'. Pulling Miss Victory aside he muttered "One way or the other we MUST ensure the president survives. Even if that means..." he leaned in "Giving the appearance that she survived. The damage to morale for a shattered nation would be irreparable. As it is we have no idea of what is going on elsewhere in other cities. As far as we know these orange jump suited monstrosities are laying siege to hundreds of thousands of people. We need to get a hold on this, and it starts here!" he hissed.

OOC Body 13 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,10,+0 Total:17 (30) vs
OV0 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,3,+0 Total:11 (11)
+6 (to 19) vs RV0=19 RAPs. Lionheart is restored to full health/mind/spirit and his powers have returned.

Miss Victory is still languishing on 2/7 Body so may need some of those power reserve points throwing into Body...

=========

Outside Lionheart stood, Captain Marvel and Superman alongside.

When he'd come into this world after the Shadow Demon saga was ended he'd known there would be some differences but there'd barely been time to take a breath never mind try to figure out who was who and what was what! Superman, a man in his early fifties, and Captain Marvel, probably around forty or so, were still powerful and useful and in the wake of the Ultrahumans being bushwhacked and splintered into tiny groups fighting fires across the nation maybe a call should be sent out to all these ex heroes to step back up to the plate again.

First though communications would need to be restored. Someone had been messing about with the satellites orbitting the earth and in all of this the shadow of ADVENT hung over everything. They'd been quiet through all of this.

Too quiet.

OOC ready to go down to the vault?

ooc: Miss V is going to have to take a new Vita Pill first since it has been an hour but otherwise, yeah.

Admin wrote:[color=#0033cc]OOC Body 13 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,10,+0 Total:17 (30) vs
OV0 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,3,+0 Total:11 (11)
+6 (to 19) vs RV0=19 RAPs. Lionheart is restored to full health/mind/spirit and his powers have returned.

[i]OOC ready to go down to the vault?

OOC: Phew at last!

Lionheart thanked Captain Marvel and said, "We've got to open that vault before we're done here. Who knows what else is going on, but without the president, this country will struggle without its figurehead!"

Turning his gaze toward the smouldering heap that was the White House the country needed its figurehead more than ever.

OOC: OK to the vault offering up the password to see what comes next?

Sj

OOC Thought I was being clever by taking a laptop to work until I figured out some of the files I needed were on old 'trusty' laptop I would normally use. Huh. Anyway, here for now...

Superman placed a gentle hand on Lionhearts' shoulder. "Wait, son. We need to get inside the vault and rescue the President, but maybe we are better off waiting for help? Back in the day I was acknowledged as being amongst the heaviest hitters but these days? You folks carry the torch now, and I'm not arrogant enough to think I can go toe to toe with some of the monsters that escaped from that Jail."

"Go back to your farm Kal El." said Captain Marvel. "Leave all the hard work to everyone else."

"When did you get so cynical Captain Marvel?"

"About the time that you decided the world no longer needed you - even as a symbol. The role you took on - as leader of the superheroes basically, wasn't one you could give up when you needed to settle down." replied the Captain. Clearly there was bad blood between the pair.

With a sigh Superman held up a hand "Now isn't the time. I thought things were in safe hands with the Ultrahumans. They are more powerful than we ever were and up to the challenge, or so I thought. I was wrong, but I was also bone tired. I'd given my life to helping people and thought I could - finally - settle down and have a well earned rest, raise a family, grow things instead of fly about looking for bad people to punch. Was that so bad? Where did YOU go? You could have taken on the mantle I held..."

"No. No one could. When you left, all of us 'old timers' took that as our cue to hand over the baton to the Ultrahumans, and look where that left us?" he waved a hand at the shattered White House and devastated area for a mile or so around. "All across the country it's like this. I need to get back to Fawcett City and try to sort the mess out that's happening there..." said Captain Marvel, frowning. "Let's sort this out first then get to fighting the fires around the country. Once that is done... time maybe for rounding up some of the old timers. Maybe Bat..."

Superman waved him off. "Forget that. Let's concentrate on the task at hand." He marched towards the White House.

With a glance and shrug at Miss Victory and Lionheart Captain Marvel followed.

=========

General Battle breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Superman and Captain Marvel. "I heard it as a rumour... is the rest of the Justice League with you?"

"We're it." said Superman. He stood aside and looked to Lionheart and Miss Victory "Are you folks ready for this?"

The four of them, plus General Battle and half a dozen super agents, all stood before the giant vault like door on the bomb proof bunker under the White House.

When that opened... would all hell break loose?

OOC Lionheart will most likely win initiative but who knows what you face on the other side? Any particular plan or aim or wait until you know what you are facing?

Admin wrote:OOC Thought I was being clever by taking a laptop to work until I figured out some of the files I needed were on old 'trusty' laptop I would normally use. Huh. Anyway, here for now...

Superman placed a gentle hand on Lionhearts' shoulder. "Wait, son. We need to get inside the vault and rescue the President, but maybe we are better off waiting for help?"

"Who do you think will be coming? With the Ultrahumans satellite in trouble, locked down and raided by villains. And as the Capt says scene like this reproduced across the world. I'm not sure who we'd be waiting for, with all due respect. I fear we've no choice but to breach this vault ourselves!"

Admin wrote:
"We're it." said Superman. He stood aside and looked to Lionheart and Miss Victory "Are you folks ready for this?"

The four of them, plus General Battle and half a dozen super agents, all stood before the giant vault like door on the bomb proof bunker under the White House.

When that opened... would all hell break loose?

OOC Lionheart will most likely win initiative but who knows what you face on the other side? Any particular plan or aim or wait until you know what you are facing?

Read! Lionheart was born to be ready, but it turns out more than he or his designers had ever imagined. However, this was more than even they could have envisaged. Nonetheless, improvisation had become very much his middle name it seemed these days. "Who is ever ready for work like this, lets just get it done!"

Moving over to the door and speaking so that only Superman, if chose to listen, could hear Lionheart said the release word into the right portion and then stood ready.

OOC: OK with my mental powers online, I'm readying my points to go with my Psi Blast and on speed.

Sj

"Just a second," Miss Victory says, pulling out a small pill box and swallowing a Vita Pill then hiding the pill box on her person. "Now I'm ready."

ooc: 23 Body and 17 Dex with normal 6 Str.

"Richard King." Lionheart whispered, practically inaudible and Superman was honourable enough not to listen in. Plus he spent more time filtering out the world so generally had to concentrate to 'listen in'.

Lights lit up on the vault door, seemingly projected from the ceiling onto the impenetrable metal surface. They lit up as dots in a line, running around the shape of the door in a line one by one as individual locks CLUNKED open and the worlds most advanced magnetic field deactivated!

Captain Marvel rolled his neck. Superman moved aside to give himself some space. Miss Victory changed her abilities around and knew this would be more difficult even than the battle above. Whoever had taken the President and her close staff then forced their way into this vault to wait until the villains came to collect them may not be the most powerful villains out there but they would possess abilities that made this job easier, even if that didn't require sheer brute force. Mental powers? Yes. Magical? Maybe. Probably.

The lights continued to run around the perimeter of the door, almost to where they had started.

General Battle turned to his people. "The priority is the President. Save her, at ANY cost. Get her out and away from here. Everyone else, slow the enemy down."

The lights ran around... then connected to the start dot.

And the vault door vanished, fading into nothing!

Inside, the vault was a large room, carpeted, with a bank of screens against a far wall, a lounge area and a kitchen with toilet facilities behind doors on a side wall.

It was, effectively, a self contained living space designed to ride out whatever calamity was happening in the world above, for months and possibly years if need be.

And it was occupied.

Orange suited criminals stood ready. Men, women, old, young (in their twenties), some with deformities, others looked non human. Interspersed with them were members of the Presidents' staff, including someone in military uniform, a number of suited men and women and a child - the Presidents' son.

The President herself was held between two strong looking criminals, snarling, tatooed, and ready to pull the opposite way on each of the Presidents' arms!

A bald, sinister looking criminal stepped forward. With a couple of days grizzled chin growth he didn't look his best, but then his best was somewhere south of respectable!

"Well, not the hardened super criminals I was expecting." he smiled. "We look to have blasts from the past though! Super 'hero' royalty no less! Superman, last son of Krypton, long thought retired! Captain Marvel, the big red cheese."

"I don't like that nickname." snarled Captain Marvel, ready to spring into action.

"I don't know the others, but then I've been out of the loop in a supermax prison, removed from the world because you didn't know what else to do with me. Here is how this is going to play out. We walk out of here, unmolested, or every hostage you see here will die. We have... physical... mental... and mystical capabilities. I don't know how you opened this thing - it's supposed to be a one person only thing. Her." he said with a flick of his head at the President, who despite looking dishevelled was defiant!

"Don't negotiate! NEVER give in to terrorists!" hissed the President of the United States of America!

Then she cried out as the two goons holding each arm yanked and she was held off the floor, each arm strained at its socket and her son wailed in anguish! The general started forward and cried out, clutching his head and falling face down on the floor!

"You may have speedsters, but can they beat the speed of thought?" said the bald man, looking at each hero in turn.

"Stand down!" growled General Battle. "We can talk about this!"

The criminal smiled. "Talk? Talk is for lovers, and General, you aren't my type..."

OOC Assuming this throws down into some crazy free for all I will need to swap laptops. There are twenty orange suited criminals in here and seven hostages (including the President and her teenage son). You have the four of you, General Battle and his six super agents who are reasonably powerful enhanced agents but nothing on the level of any of you four, not even remotely close.

Admin wrote:OOC Assuming this throws down into some crazy free for all I will need to swap laptops. There are twenty orange suited criminals in here and seven hostages (including the President and her teenage son). You have the four of you, General Battle and his six super agents who are reasonably powerful enhanced agents but nothing on the level of any of you four, not even remotely close.

"How do you think is going to play out.  We've already taken down your heavy hitters. That is why we are here instead of them.  Moreover, you need the President alive, and I would imagine in some working order so killing or maiming her isn't going to sit well with the American People, how do you feel about a nation of corpses your own families, included.  Because that is what you'll have to step over if you cross them, by crossing her. Are you going to mind blast them all or weave a spell to subjugate them - no you'd have already have done it if you could.  So, either you give up the president nice and calmlyh or else we all lose which strikes me a thinking man like you isn't going to do!"

Lionheart was stalling, he didn't know if he could bluff his way through this but that the President was still alive and still intact meant that something was up, they needed her sadly that wasn't the case for everyone else including her child.  And Lionheart was painfully aware they were once again way behind the curve.

OOC: OK not really sure what to do here, so bluffing till I can think of something better to do or maybe Dave/Miss V has some ideas.

Sj

"It strikes me that these folks are actually here," Miss Victory using her Charisma to aid Lionheart in persuading the criminals to stand down and release everyone, "to be killed.  The bigwigs probably feel that they are either useless or too wild to handle or were afraid that they would wind up challenging them for supremacy.  They probably filled their heads with talk of glory and being prominently figured in the history books, never to be forgotten.  Never realizing that it was a move to remove their future rivals, and that they could look at the other villains and say "Oops, we thought for sure that they would survive and become the best of us.  Our hands are clean."  Yes, it is probably something like that."  

"I mean that so-called rescue squad wasn't much of anything for us to handle.  Maybe they told you that they would send in other really big hitters to get you out of this mess but actually it was a bunch of C- and D-list villains.  Most of them surrendered right away after Superman, by himself, took down the 3 toughest looking ones of the bunch. I mean, Come On!  The Prankster riding on a flying pie?  That's who you had coming to "save" you?  Seriously?"

The bald man sneered, though the words appeared to have planted the seed of doubt. He glanced at the others who had looked confident, but now saw two legendary figures (Superman and Captain Marvel) along with Lionheart, Miss Victory and General Battle with his entourage.

The overwhelming numbers they had suddenly looked less overwhelming.

Bald criminal sized up the two doing the speaking and glanced to Superman and Captain Marvel. "You two old men are past your prime! Back in the day you were big hitters. Now?"

"That's still Superman. Like... THE Superman." muttered one.

"QUIET!" barked the bald man. "Stick to the plan! How did you.. never mind." he appeared to be thinking. "You are fast, but so are we. You might get some of the President's people out, but not all. Here's the deal. We walk out with the President, you keep the staff and the kid."

"No!" screamed a number of the Presidents' staff.

"WE WALK OUT WITH THE PRESIDENT!" barked Bald man. "Or we fight, and I swear, the President dies first! Best deal you are going to get!"

He glanced about. "REMEMBER THE PLAN! Any move from these guys... "

Superman glanced about, then spoke calmly. "Me and Captain Marvel are here to help. It's your show." he said to Lionheart and Miss Victory.

"Now hold on a minute!" said General Battle...

Captain Marvel turned to him "We can't perform miracles, but we CAN promise that any harm coming to ANY of the hostages will mean that every criminal in here will be in hospital a long time before they go back to prison for the rest of their lives."

"Now hold on a minute..." said Superman.

"NO! Playing it YOUR way doesn't work any more Kal! Our time has passed, the world has changed, and our black and white view no longer counts as much in a world of infinite grey shades. That's why I retired, and probably why you did too. General... all I can promise is that these people will leave only after striding over our bodies..."

The bald man bristled... the criminals in the room tensed... the prisoners looked terrified!

Admin wrote:"NO! Playing it YOUR way doesn't work any more Kal! Our time has passed, the world has changed, and our black and white view no longer counts as much in a world of infinite grey shades. That's why I retired, and probably why you did too. General... all I can promise is that these people will leave only after striding over our bodies..."

The bald man bristled... the criminals in the room tensed... the prisoners looked terrified!

OOC: Paul can I get the president and her child out before the others can react? I mean I know I am fast if I through everything into speed, could I just have them out halfway around the world and back before they've even blinked - flash style? I'm just asking because if I can't do that, (and that does seem straight-up simple but maybe also too simple - esp from game terms) then I have a mind to say that they get what they want! Until I can come up with something better, even attacking the lead villain is going to get someone killed, and either the president or their child is not expendable. But if by some miracle I can pull off their leverage, then we've got some play here. Dave, sorry mate you got any ideas. I'm tapped out here! Sorry not being very helpful tonight!

Sj

ooc:  Maybe I'm missing it but how many criminals are actually in the vault and how many civilians?  
I don't remember if Superman and Captain Marvel each have super-speed or just flight and running.  If they have super-speed that gives us 3 speedsters to grab one or two of the most important folks each and get them out of there, leaving Miss Victory and the General and his troops to try and take out the super-criminals, assuming that our speedsters are faster than the crooked speedsters.
So knowing a little about how many speedsters we have and how many crooks we face will help figure out what to do.

About the only thing I can think of to do is to provide a distraction to give us the initiative for the first round for our speedsters to get as many out as possible.  And to do that, I sort of have to think like a Femforce member and follow along with an early Batgirl story from the 60s. to wit:






Except she has no tights nor any stockings so she would have to go with "Eep!  My shorts have ripped!"  And then turn fetchingly to look over her backside to look at the supposed rip in her shorts with that wonderful Charisma of 8 adding in.  Of course, her teammates have to know it is a ruse or they may be caught by it as well.  If only we had someone with telepathy so we could mentally talk it over before she tries it!  
She could then multi-attack with mental blast all the crooks who still have hostages in their hands.

And being a happily married woman she is probably going to later tell every hero who survives if they EVER breathe a word of what she did, she will emasculate them with a large dull spoon!  

This might work but it really depends on how many crooks and how many speedsters we have and if a certain someone can set up a telepathic conference call that the mentalist villains can't listen in on.

Admin wrote:OOC Apologies for the delay! My smooth transition from 'time off over christmas' turned into a 'stumbling return because I (almost) forgot about my mums birthday and also had my son stay then had to see the GF somewhere in all of that' but here we are, happy (ish) New Year to all hopefully... Well, given the circumstances etc.

There are sixteen (16) bad guys in orange in the vault and the President + Child plus four aides means six hostages. There are a dozen or so secret service agents but they are lying prone, are dead or unconscious.

You are obviously astonishingly fast and can beat most to the punch but the problem comes when an ordinary person with 2 Body is whisked away at speed. The result would be... messy. Like, missing an arm (still held by the bad guy) or turning into jelly because of the high speed etc. Of course, these are 4 colour superhero physics so we won't be doing anything that graphic but there would be a consequence for using such astonishing speed on someone who has no protection from the effects (whiplash magnified).

Of course if you could make them phase/dispersed that would be another matter...

There are men and women in orange suits (too many to describe without cooking up pictures which would take ages!) and likely they aren't as gullible as those prison mooks who haven't seem a ladies 'gams' (?) for a while.

You have other options. Mind attacks, laser eyes (Superman), lightning (Shazam) etc and can move/interpose yourself to be a kind of shield/sponge for any attacks to protect the innocents.

I'm not saying you can't use your speed, but doing so will present risks when you have other options...

OOC: NO worries mate, everything gets a bit odd around this time of year.

Dave as regards this situation I don't see any way we can save the President without killing her and the staff and her family. I think we take their offer and then see what we do from there. But before I say or do anymore what do you think? A final attack to succeed against all of them would have to be so surgical and so precise - something we cannot rely on happening if dice are involved. I just don't think we can pull this off, without them falling totally foul in some way - it stinks but there it is.

Sj

ooc: Guessing you are right. Let them get outside, reduce the number of hostages, let them see their ride isn't coming and try to save the President then. Probably need you to set up a telepathic link so we are all on the same page though.

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc:  Guessing you are right.  Let them get outside, reduce the number of hostages, let them see their ride isn't coming and try to save the President then.  Probably need you to set up a telepathic link so we are all on the same page though.

Seeing how things were going, Lionheart said, "OK you win this time, let the others go nice and easy and you know we will abide by what we say - but don't play us for fools."

Lionheart then set up his Telepathic link so that he could connect everyone to make sure they were able to communicate effectively. He wasn't sure what had happened since his powers got knocked out of whack but it was almost as if they'd overcompensated or grown.

Sj

Superman glanced at Lionheart as he felt that mental 'tickle' but didn't fight the link.

Captain Marvel winced then relaxed a little.

OOC all the following takes place inside your heads...

Superman (S): There must be some way to track them. Jonn Jonnz - the Martian Manhunter - was an accomplished telepath. Maybe he could...

Captain Marvel (CM): He was one of those carted away on a stretcher Kal.

S: Ah. Lionheart, you are our only hope of tracking the President! Establish a link with her but say nothing. If she doesn't know about it, they can't find out she is being listened to!

Lionheart established a link with the President and knew he would have to divert some of his power reserve to boost Telepathy. His range was about a quarter mile in normal circumstances but every additional link - and he had four ongoing now (Miss V, Supes and CM along with the President) which meant his range was dropped to around 100 yards (OOC 5APs. Beyond that, the link will be lost hence having to boost Telepathy with power reserve which reduces your options elsewhere!)

One sneering villain in orange walked past "You capes ain't all dat! WE hold all the cards an fer all your posturin, you can't do squat!"

"Jones! Keep your mouth shut. Has it occurred to you that the reason these people could somehow get in here is that they took out all the heavy hitters up there that were supposed to smooth our way?" questioned the Criminal leader. "The only thing we have going for us right now is that we can kill the prisoner in a dozen different ways. Physically, mentally, mystically." He addressed the heroes.

"Look around you. Sixteen of us. Everyone hand picked because of a certain attribute, the plan down to the finest detail. Sure, the plan involved walking out of here heads held high with the White House burning round us, but we'll take what win we can get and when we get on the Ultrahumans satellite with the President in tow? We'll be calling the shots!"

General Battle stepped forward "Ma'am, say the word and we'll..."

"Stand down. All of you." said the President. She straightened, even with a hand around her throat. "This is my call. The deal is this. They walk out of here with me. My daughter and the staff go free. If they renege on the deal in any way, consider this. I am the head of the US Government but the staff below me will pick up the reins if anything happens to me..."

"Mom!" squealed the daughter.

"Hush! Listen to me. This is a blip. We will rise from this, as this great country has done from many other catastrophes in the past. We won't bow to anyone. For now, these people have their day. Tomorrow?" she looked at Lionheart, Miss Victory, Superman and Captain Marvel.

"Tomorrow will bring new hope. Let's go."

The criminals glanced at each other and even the arrogant ones tread carefully around the powerful superheroes who stood with arms crossed and glaring eyes. The criminal identified as Jones leaned in to Superman and sneered "You had your day old man. This is OUR day now, an you can go back to... whatever it is you do with your time. Thinking of when you were relevant, when you mattered. Cause that ain't now, not any more!"

Superman lowered his eyes to meet Jones', and stared.

Jones smiled... but his grin faded and he moved around Superman hastily.

The villains marched out of the vault, glancing at every shadow expecting trickery.

"This is General Battle. The villains are coming out with the President as hostage. Stand down, I repeat, do not take the shot. That is a direct order." he said into his lapel microphone.

The group moved upstairs and out into the open.

Red dots appeared on each of them, flickering, taking aim...

The criminal leader turned. "One shot goes off and she dies. Tell them." he called out to General Battle.

"Stand down!" he hissed.

The dots fell away.

The leader turned and a weaselly looking fellow stepped forward. "You ready?" he asked. The nervous guy glanced about. "Yeah. Everyone has to hold hands, stay close."

The head villain turns, looking at the heroes. "You'll be hearing from us..."

OOC Anything you want to do or say before what happens next?

Admin wrote:The head villain turns, looking at the heroes. "You'll be hearing from us..."

OOC Anything you want to do or say before what happens next?

It ticked Lionheart off no end to see that his first rodeo with the Ultrahumans had gone so badly, but unlike so many others, he was still walking...

Nonetheless, this wasn't a win, and the fact that things had been so meticulously planned meant that they had resources and ideas and the means to do this long before he came on the scene. His one comfort was, despite all their planning, they already had to react to their counteractions. But the element of surprise was no far gone, on the satellite they'd have an effective stronghold from which to operate. The very thing that was to the advantage of the Ultrahumans was now serving the very people they swore to protect humanity against.

As the group left to go, Lionheart boosted his telepathy, unwilling to send a message to the President for fear of his link being noticed or her giving away the game, he had to hope he could stay in touch despite the distance.

OOC: Wow this isn't what you call a win, it's nearly a kobayashi maru situation. Anyway, one moment of disaster leads to a more compelling reason to stay tuned. Have to say Paul across all three stories I am running in, you are really hitting it in the back of the net every time mate.

Sj

"We said we would let them go, didn't say we wouldn't go outside and watch," Miss Victory mentions to the others. "General Battle get your folks to take care of the releases hostages and make sure that they are who they are supposed to be. Wouldn't put it past these rats to place a mole among them to listen in on what we might do next."

"There'll be another day." snarled Captain Marvel. "And I will be there to ram your smirking teeth down your throat!"

Superman gaped at that and the villainous leader scowled, his grin leaving him.

"If you could stop us and save your precious President, you'd do it. If you don't step back we'll..." said the leader.

"...you'll do nothing. Look around you. Your toughest, nastiest goons were sent here to retrieve you and they've all been rounded up and are being shipped back to prison. The only thing keeping you out of prison is that you are holding the President hostage and we want her back in one piece, alive and well." hissed Captain Marvel. "When I was a kid I saw the best in every situation and person. Now? I take a harder view of the world. You want to get down and dirty? I'll roll my sleeves up."

"You couldn't face us all! We could..." started the Villain.

"You know what? Put the President somewhere safe and we'll get to it! Physical? Look around you." said Captain Marvel to where Superman glowered, Lionheart stood in ready to fight pose and Miss Victory frowned with fists on hips.

"Mental? Lionheart here is stronger even than the Martian Manhunter and Miss Victory has demonstrated some abilities I believe. As for me and Superman? We're two of the strongest wills you are likely to meet. Magic? You have us there... or would."

"if I weren't here." he hissed, leaning into to stare into the smaller mans eyes.

The leader blanched, taking a step back. "We'll ... leave and... make sure the President is unharmed whilst our demands are being met." he muttered. "No need to be nasty about all this." he turned to the side. "Get us out of here! Now! NOW!"

The villains, connected by touch to each other and the President, vanished!

Captain Marvel whirled. "I can't believe we just let them go! This is on YOU Kal El!"

Superman raised an eyebrow and turned to Lionheart. "Do you have her in your sight?"

Lionheart used his telepathy and 'looked' through the eyes of the President. They were in a basement and the criminals were changing clothes into civilian attire whilst one nervous prisoner held hold of the President. Lionheart had to be very, very careful. His presence would be detected if he were too 'loud'.

As such he simply viewed through the Presidents mind eye and the vision was foggy, because it wasn't directly through her eyes. He still saw a dirty window near the ceiling of the basement and a fleeting glimpse of a street sign outside.

'Kearny'

Lionheart blinked. The connection was still there but he needed to be cautious. He explained what he saw.

"Kearny street?" asked Captain Marvel.

"We need to do this right. Any move on them might spook them to rash action!" said Superman. "This was easier when the hostage takers without super powers would try their luck. Some of them might move as fast, or faster than we can."

Lionheart was mindful that he would be far slower than usual, and weaker. Keeping the link up would take most or all of his power reserve!

"I suggest we make a move." said Superman. "In civilian attire."

General Battle came over. He looked incensed! "This is on you... you 'Heroes'! There will be a reckoning after this, mark my... wait. You have a plan? The President has a tracking bug implant but without satellites... tell me you have a way to track her? We need to get her back!"

"Superman, if we have the street name, can you use your telescopic and X-ray vision to find exactly where they are," Miss Victory asks.

"I forget Lionheart but does your force field protect just yourself or can you extend it to protect someone you hold onto? If the latter, we could have you dash in when it seems they have dropped their guard for a few seconds and wrap yourself and your force field around the President while the rest of us come barreling in to attack those villains still around her. Once we get them some distance away from the two of you, you could dash away and hide her and then come back to help us mop up this bunch."

"Or is your cape as invulnerable as you are, Superman and you could wrap her in it? Same plan, different hero."


ooc: Old Superman's costume was made from his blankets he was wrapped in when he rocketed from Krypton and is as invulnerable as he is. So his costume is made from stretchable Kryptonian Wool.
Post-Crisis Superman's costume was Earth made and his force field protected his costume but it only extended out a few inches from his body so his cape could always get ripped to shreds in the big fights and when he fought Doomsday, his force field started to fail from all the damage he took which is why his costume started ripping too. Not sure which Superman we have here.

Admin wrote:"I suggest we make a move." said Superman. "In civilian attire."

General Battle came over. He looked incensed! "This is on you... you 'Heroes'! There will be a reckoning after this, mark my... wait. You have a plan? The President has a tracking bug implant but without satellites... tell me you have a way to track her? We need to get her back!"

"Agreed, I can follow her, but it takes a lot to keep going with us all connected as well. That depletes me of other abilities. However, if we can play it smart and get her away or find out what they are planning, or even intercept in some way, I'm all for it. If they get to the Satellite there is no telling what they will do, and we'd be seen miles from the place, so we might need to act sooner rather than later!"

OOC: OK Lionheart is good with this, I believe my nano suit (assuming I picked up its spare when I first got Wandafar and brought him over to get into the vault) can I believe change into other attire. So that will serve me, and since before my costume included a mask to protect others anonymity around me my face wouldn't have been seen unlike before. However, if I don't have a spare for the costume and am back in something resembling my old costume its a bust, as they'd have seen my face. And it would take a bit more to disguise me. What about Miss Victory Dave? In any case, I'm all up for the plan, how do we get there is the next thing after our costume change.

Sj

ooc: Miss Victory doesn't carry around a spare suit of clothes, civilian or otherwise. So she would have to hit a nearby used clothing store and purchase something roughly in her size - Goodwill or some such. She also doesn't carry lots of cash on herself. Maybe $200, which is usually what I personally pull out of an ATM when I want cash for the month.
OF course, we have a coin shortage due to Covid so everyone is using credit cards which I hate when I want to buy $3-5 worth of food at a fast food place. Isn't it nice that the world we play in doesn't have Covid, just the imminent destruction of the world.

Superman nodded. "Give me a second."

"Hmmm. They don't... wait. Got them!" he said.

"We should get over there!" declared Captain Marvel.

"Too risky. We need to cover all the bases." said Superman. "My cape isn't invulnerable. My clothes tend to last because of a bio electric forcefield my body generates but anything more than about an inch away from my skin isn't protected. You are quite knowledgeable Miss Victory."

OOC Lionhearts costume (courtesy of Wandafar) is indeed of the smart cloth variety and will imitate street clothes without any issue, plus includes a mask to cover his features, so he's safe there.

Captain Marvel frowned. "We four are some of the most powerful people on Earth! Who are they to..."

Superman held up a hand apologetically. "We can't be sure what we face. You and I are out of the game and unless I miss my guess Lionheart and Miss Victory are new or at least new to the country." he said with reference to the Englishman.

"That means the bad guys hold the upper hand... however..." he offered. "If we can track the President we can rescue her AND find out where the rest of the escaped criminals are. They won't harm her so long as they believe she is of use and value. To that end..." he walked over to where General Battle was.

Captain Marvel scowled. "He hasn't changed. That's... annoying and refreshing. Superman was a constant in my life from a young age, someone I looked up to. These days I keep a lower profile and the Ultrahumans have a number of members more powerful even than we are but... maybe none that personify the word 'hero' as that man does." he said quietly.

Superman came back a minute or so later. "General Battle didn't like it but in the absence of a better plan will go along with it. They will make an appeal for calm, restore communications and co-operate with the kidnappers, even as far as conceding to their demands. That buys us time to get the people we need together. I have to ask though... where are Silver Sentinel, Thunder Woman, Atomic Champion and Seismic? There are others who could help. Theurgist, Lady Mystique... maybe I'm a little out of it but shouldn't they have been here, preventing all this?"

Lionheart and Miss Victory glanced at each other. They were the only Ultrahumans still active as far as they knew but there were dozens in the team so they must be somewhere...

=========

The surface of the sun...

"How is he doing?" pulsed the voice, mind to mind.

Atomic Champion didn't respond immediately, but then replied "The pressure and the power of the sun is stopping him from bleeding. Good job I'm pretty much immune to injury from heat otherwise we'd have no way of finding out. I'll stay with him. You guys get back to Earth. I expect the others have things under control but with the Ultrahumans you can never tell. Ha, be just our luck for things to be falling to bits whilst we try to sort Silver Sentinel out. I'm going to try something, but I don't know if it will work. I suggest you stay well clear of the sun..."

A gleaming silver dot in the void had a number of Ultrahumans on board and Thunder Woman sighed. "We'll head back and start the clean up. Hopefully the others have started the process of rounding up the criminals. Most of them shouldn't be a problem but Nexus and the other big hitters will require our full strength. Help him Champion, we're counting on you."

She turned to a robotic individual in the pilot seat. "Automaton, take us back."

=========

Superman turned to Miss v and Lionheart. "We have a choice. We try the plan to track the President or we go in."

Captain Marvel frowned. "I vote we go in."

"So did General Battle." said Superman. "I vote we track them and gather forces about us." he looked at Lionheart and Miss V

Admin wrote:Superman turned to Miss v and Lionheart. "We have a choice. We try the plan to track the President or we go in."

Captain Marvel frowned. "I vote we go in."

"So did General Battle." said Superman. "I vote we track them and gather forces about us." he looked at Lionheart and Miss V

OOC: O OH when Thunder Woman sees the mess of all that has gone on I am in for the reprimand of my life after all this

Lionheart stole a glance at Miss Victory before replying, "Power isn't everything, expertise, leadership, character these things mean a lot more I often find. I'm with you Superman, I suggest we play it cool follow and recognitor. This whole plan was hatched, matched and dispatched in such a way as to make all the Earth's Heroes be busy looking the other way. With Advent breathing down our necks and now this, something this co-ordinated, this large shouldn't be possible but it was. Putting all the villains all in one place only made that possibility, more so. But that is a detail for another day. However, what isn't is that there is more to this plan if we jump in now who knows what contingencies they'll draw on?"

With that Lionheart looked at each of the others to gauge their reaction.

Sj