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

"I'll need to go buy some clothes to help hide myself," Miss Victory replies. "Or ... no, I can actually just run and jump my way home and grab some there but I will be gone for a bit to do so. Five or ten minutes at least. I'm worried what may happen if I do so."

"A great number of Ultrahumans were gravely injured during the prison breakout or killed. The rest are scattered trying to keep a lid on things. I was just made a member ... today? yesterday? So many things have been happening that I have lost track. Oh yeah, and their satellite has been taken over by the villains or was it destroyed, Lionheart?"

"And you are right, I am very much an inexperienced hero, Superman. This is really only my second mission since putting on the costume, so I look to all three of you for leadership in this situation. Advent and the major villains are using each other for their own gain and all of Earth is going to pay for it if we do not stop them somehow."

"I suggest we have Superman keep watch on them. All we need is 5-10 seconds where no villain has the President literally in their clutches. Maybe when she needs to go to the bathroom? They may give her a bit of privacy then or at least step back a bit and hover over her? Once that happens, one of you speedster types fly or run in and grab her and then get gone, while the rest of us attack them."

"It's the best thing I can think to do at the moment."

Superman nods. "I can watch the house from space. I'll get on it. Lionheart, maintain the mental link with the President. Don't communicate unless you have to - they may be listening in."

Captain Marvel scowled and turned away. Superman turned to him. "More now than ever the people of this country need their President. Sure, the Vice President or someone else can be spokesperson but she was elected on a message of hope. What hope will be left if we can't restore her to her rightful place?"
our
He looks up and about. "One thing's for sure. This place will need rebuilding and some changes. I'll have a few suggestions about the prison too."

"You mean the phantom zone?" asked CM.

"A last resort, but for the worst of the worst they may be no other choice. Some of them may require all of the combined power at our disposal to stop even one or two of them. I'll keep an eye on the house but I'll head over to the Hospital to check on our old team mates too." said Superman.

He looked to General Battle. "Make no move on the address." he said as he wrote it down on a scrap of metal with his heat vision. "Watch, observe, report."

"Comms are still down." growled the General. "We may have to..."

"if you charge in there the President will be whisked away, perhaps even beyond our range..." he said with reference to Lionheart "Or worse. They may use her as a shield. These are desperate people. Their plan failed, they are currently regrouping, changing into civilian clothes. We may not have long before they scatter but the ones we want are those in the presence of the President. The others we can round up later." said the Man of Steel.

"Comms may be down but we have an Ace in the hole. Establish a link with those you can manage son." he said to Lionheart. "Maintain one with the President at all costs. I'll never be far away."

With a wave he took off then accelerated up out of sight!

Captain Marvel watched him go and his scowl softened. "He's still a boy scout but I'm glad he's back. I'm heading over to the neighbourhood but I'll keep my distance."

General Battle watched him fly off and turned to the Ultrahumans. "Great. We should sit on our hands and wait while my boss is in the hands of super terrorists?" He shook his head. "I have things to sort out. See you in the neighbourhood nearby but we'll keep our distance."

Lionheart turned to Miss Victory. The pair knew they only had as much time as the villains needed to change clothes, grab a bite to eat then make their next move...

OOC So Miss V will... race home? Lionheart... what's he doing?

"Do you think I have time to race home and get a pair of civvies to disguise myself with," Miss Victory asks. "I can easily break the sound barrier but if I go too fast past it, might do some damage to people and things."


[dang, not having dispersal because I didn't know I needed it when I made her.
And other than somewhere on the East Coast, I never really thought about where she might be living.
Since I made her husband, Doc Wylde be a homage to Doc Savage and Doc owned/rented the top three floors of the Empire State Building - they never actually said that but always said he owned/rented the 84th to 86th floors of a skyscraper and the ESB is the only building in NYC with 86 floors - figure he doing the same.
So she is probably living somewhere in southern New York or in New Jersey. Close enough that they can easily see each other, while still hiding the fact that they are married, but far enough away that they wouldn't constantly be running into each other. Anyway, New York City to Washington, DC is just a bit over 200 miles away. So Jumping/Running to her home, grabbing some clothes and coming back would probably take 45 minutes or so. Probably better/faster to just to go to a local Goodwill or other charity locations that sell second hand clothes or a Wal-Mat or something similar]

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Do you think I have time to race home and get a pair of civvies to disguise myself with," Miss Victory asks.  "I can easily break the sound barrier but if I go too fast past it, might do some damage to people and things."


[dang, not having dispersal because I didn't know I needed it when I made her.    
And other than somewhere on the East Coast, I never really thought about where she might be living.  
Since I made her husband, Doc Wylde be a homage to Doc Savage and Doc owned/rented the top three floors of the Empire State Building - they never actually said that but always said he owned/rented the 84th to 86th floors of a skyscraper and the ESB is the only building in NYC with 86 floors - figure he doing the same.  
So she is probably living somewhere in southern New York or in New Jersey.  Close enough that they can easily see each other, while still hiding the fact that they are married, but far enough away that they wouldn't constantly be running into each other.  Anyway, New York City to Washington, DC is just a bit over 200 miles away.  So Jumping/Running to her home, grabbing some clothes and coming back would probably take 45 minutes or so.  Probably better/faster to just to go to a local Goodwill or other charity locations that sell second-hand clothes or a Wal-Mat or something similar]

Thinking through the options Lionheart said, "We've not got time so grab whatever you need from wherever you can, and let's get over there. I need to focus on my link, which means my abilities are depleted elsewhere. I'll meet you there, as it might take me all the time just to keep going, this is something...new to me."

He said, somewhat unsure of what his limits were and wanting to maintain the link at all costs.

OOC: OK so get to the location at distance, perhaps allow my clothes to become like a homeless man, walk around pulling stuff out of dumpsters, and rubbish bins. Fingerless gloves, hoody, pulled over and low, several layers of clothes mismatched that sort of thing.

Sj

"Then I will just have to hang back out of sight to keep from being seen," she decides. "At least a couple of miles away. Superman or someone can let me know when it is time to move in."

Miss Victory raced off to a thrift shop.

Her speed would indeed cause damage to built up areas and the people living therein. That was something she might have to address, but she was still adjusting to the new power she'd developed, possibly as a result of having merged with Mind Maiden, even if only for a brief time!

"What are you supposed to be honey?" asked the lady in the thrift shop. "Ya know what? Never mind. I been watchin' th' news, ain't safe ta be out an I was just closin' up so I'm afraid I'll have to ..."

"I'll take these." said Miss Victory with a handful of ill fitting loose clothes and a coat. She placed too much money on the desk and was gone in moments!

"Wha... thanks! Your change uh... come again!" called the woman. "I'll definitely close now!" she said, gaping at the weeks takings in front of her.

=========

Lionheart flew across the city.

His amazing mind could multi task without effort and he flew low and fast - 250mph or so - whilst looking through the eyes of the President of the United States of America.

She saw a hazy vision of a darkened basement, orange clad prisoners changing into civilian clothes. Some were watching. Another was 'scanning' with hands placed on either side of his head.

Lionheart slowed. Then stopped. Chances were they'd detect any attempt to rescue the President. The one who'd teleported them was dressed in civvies now and stood next to her. One whiff of trouble and they'd be gone! He glanced about. If Miss Victory raced into the area and was detected... or Captain Marvel or Superman...

He heard a distant crack of thunder and looked up... to see Captain Marvel - a distant dot in the sky - swooping down towards the street where the building was!

Miss Victory moved towards the part of the city where the President was being held but not getting too close. Then, ducking into an alleyway, she changed into her civilian outfit that she just bought.

DavidMcMahon wrote:Miss Victory moved towards the part of the city where the President was being held but not getting too close.  Then, ducking into an alleyway, she changed into the civilian outfit that she just bought.

Lionheart flashed a message to the others along with the telepathic link, "Friends, they've got telepath looking out for us, stay back or the teleport will port them out before we can get even close. We're going to have to rethink our options, as it stands whilst I remain linked they don't know I see what she sees, so we've still an ace in the hole, at least for now. Let's not blow this."

Lionheart then flashed to them his location so that they could gather on him, instead of blundering in too close and blowing the one shot they had at getting close to the President. He suspected that from here they would get to the Ultrahuman's base, but could the teleporter go that far? Might they need another means of transport.

OOC: OK gather on me, and then hmm wait and see I guess. This feels like one of those stealth missions in the Batman games!

Sj

Captain Marvel slowed dramatically and swooped low at roof level to where Lionheart waited.

Miss Victory zipped up dressed in civilian garb (OOC mask on? Mind you, if she can't trust CM, Lionheart and Superman who can she trust?) and Lionheart looked about... then up. He strained, zooming in with his telescopic vision and saw Superman several miles up! He in turn was looking down and gave a wave that said 'I'm keeping an eye on things from up here'.

That left three of them at ground level.

"What's the plan?" asked Captain Marvel, glancing at Miss Victory. "More discrete and certainly less eye catching, but to be honest ma'am, you could wear an old sack and still stand out in a crowd if you know what I mean."

Connected to Superman as well as the two next to him and the President, Lionheart 'heard' Superman in his mind 'With my telescopic and X ray vision I can see inside the house. They are eating at the moment but the President is surrounded. They may be waiting for communications to be restored. They'll be waiting a while. I sliced through the phone line a short time ago with my heat vision.'

'Ah wait. There are two of them leaving, a man and a woman. Civilian clothes. Walking away from the house in the opposite direction from you... heading for... a payphone. I could disable that too but then they'd know something was up.' said the Man of Steel inside Lionhearts' head!

ooc: Big cheap sunglasses instead of mask.


"Pay phones? They still exist here in this city," Miss Victory said wonderingly. "If they do, you still may be able to disable it. Random gangs love tearing those things apart to get the cash for drugs."

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc:  Big cheap sunglasses instead of mask.


"Pay phones?  They still exist here in this city," Miss Victory said wonderingly.  "If they do, you still may be able to disable it.  Random gangs love tearing those things apart to get the cash for drugs."

"We don't want to tip our hand. If we do we could lose them and maybe even have the president whisked away out of my range. If we could follow the others and 'listen in' on their conversation then we might be able to get a better idea of what they are waiting for? Superman if you can tell me where they are heading, I can be there before them and pretend I am the homeless beggar I wanted to appear to be. Maybe I can get close to find out more! Unless anyone else has a better plan?"

Lionheart said, looking at each with his mind's eye.

Sj

"Or Superman could just listen in with his super-hearing with you as backup. I'm no good undercover while my powers are active. While my powers are on, it's like I'm on that Venus drug from the original series of Star Trek. Without my powers I'm less noticeable."

ooc: For those who want to know, it's the episode "Mudd's Women" which introduced Harcourt "Harry" Fenton Mudd to the Star Trek universe.

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Or Superman could just listen in with his super-hearing with you as backup.  I'm no good undercover while my powers are active.  While my powers are on, it's like I'm on that Venus drug from the original series of Star Trek.  Without my powers I'm less noticeable."

ooc:  For those who want to know, it's the episode "Mudd's Women" which introduced Harcourt "Harry" Fenton Mudd to the Star Trek universe.  

OOC: OH good catch, didn't think about Supes super hearing...yeah far less risky, let's go with that. Good catch Dave.

Sj

'It's difficult tuning out the background noise but not impossible.' said Superman inside Lionhearts head. 'Keep an eye on the President, listen in if you can to what I am hearing.'

Lionheart could do so given his free access to Superman's mind but knew that probing for secrets would be a far more challenging prospect. The Man of Steel was perhaps the greatest hero of his generation and a legend still especially in America.

There was a pause then Lionheart repeated what he 'heard' inside Superman's head...

"...plan gone to hell. All sorts of capes turned up! It's a bust!"

"So you failed? You know the planning the big guys went through to smash through the defences of the White House?"

"No... no we got away."

"President?"

"Yes we got her. She's in one piece. We're being chased, we think. I've got three listening out."

"Where are you? We'll find someone to help bring you in. Can that scary creep teleport to the meetin' place?"

"He says it's too far. We gotta get closer. Like, up on a plane or something but the skies over Washington are a no fly zone at the moment. They got SUPERMAN and CAPTAIN MARVEL and two others. All big hitters. I didn't think anyone could smash those guys but they did it. The old Justice League? Remember them? They turned up. Didn't last long though! Ha!"

"Where are the capes now?"

"Don't know. If they turn up again we'll have to resort to plan B."

"That's a last resort."

"What about the VP and joint chiefs?"

"Leave that to us."

"Are you sending someone?"

"Sit tight. If capes show up start nailing civilians. If they push it, kill her."

The phone went dead.

They were desperate. Their plan had succeeded, barely, but they were prepared to kill the President there was no doubt of that!

Admin wrote:They were desperate. Their plan had succeeded, barely, but they were prepared to kill the President there was no doubt of that!

After finishing what he had learned from Superman, Lionheart flashed to them all, "I suggest we withdraw to a safe distance where we can confer on a plan of action. What do you think they meant about the VP? So we have any intel or sources there?"

OOC: OK we are going to have to think this through carefully. They are at a stalemate I as I can best see it. But any move that doesn't act totally decisively is going to get the President roasted.

Sj

"Tell me where you want us to meet you," Miss Victory thought back. "The longer this goes on, the worse it is going to get as they will get reinforcements and I doubt that we will."

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Tell me where you want us to meet you," Miss Victory thought back.  "The longer this goes on, the worse it is going to get as they will get reinforcements and I doubt that we will."

OOC: Having spotted the lay of the land over here, Lionheart will make a suggestion, whilst remaining in contact with the President. And then have a chat.

- To be honest, my take is I'm a bit foxed here! We've got them holed up and no way to get out, but no way to get in. Our problem is getting to the president without her being hurt. We can keep an eye on things but not do any more. The critical juncture could be when they move. I suspect they will bring in folk who can fly, get them to sufficient altitude and then teleport to space or something. Since the no-fly zone stops them taking a plane safely above. However, they may have some other means of getting them to where they need to be. But in any case, the transport is going to be where they are most weary but also potentially most vulnerable. The problem is how to take advantage of that. Anything that looks or smells funny and things could get nasty.

I feel like we have to stand back and watch, but be ready to swoop in if there comes a moment we can take advantage of. However, if they succeed in getting the president to the Space station, well then I think our goose is cooked. I struggled to get into the secure area there before, and with even more of the most powerful villains there in one place, we are really going to struggle. So I think we have to wait and see how they mean to transport the President away, as at that point there is 'potentially' (depending on the mode of transport) fewer civilians save the president at risk?

So apart from standing by; watch, wait and hope and pray for an opportunity or slip up, I am not sure how else we can achieve our objective!

I'm open to other suggestions, but my brain is hurting right now

Sj

ooc: I'm with you on not knowing what to do. The longer we wait the more organized they are going to be with the possibility of them getting back-up while we have none that we know of. And now we have to worry about the VP and the rest of the Cabinet being in danger when we thought that they were safe. We may have to charge in or find someway to stop them before charging in.

I really really don't want to go the Dark Superman route where we have him use his heat vision from a distance to fry the eyes or brains of the ones closest to the President as we swoop in the grab her and get her free. Really Really REALLY don't want to go that route!

IF somehow we can show in in-between the President and her captives, surrounding her and blowing them away from her. That might be our best and only option. Unless the Spectre decides to show up and hows us how Aura of Fear is supposed to actually work!

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc:  I'm with you on not knowing what to do.  The longer we wait the more organized they are going to be with the possibility of them getting back-up while we have none that we know of.  And now we have to worry about the VP and the rest of the Cabinet being in danger when we thought that they were safe.  We may have to charge in or find someway to stop them before charging in.

I really really don't want to go the Dark Superman route where we have him use his heat vision from a distance to fry the eyes or brains of the ones closest to the President as we swoop in the grab her and get her free.  Really Really REALLY don't want to go that route!

IF somehow we can show in in-between the President and her captives, surrounding her and blowing them away from her.  That might be our best and only option.  Unless the Spectre decides to show up and hows us how Aura of Fear is supposed to actually work!    

OOC: Too tired to write in character so going to write here to short cut that saves waiting till I can get on at lunch tomorrow. So first totally in agreement, laser eyes killing - off the table. Second I think we have to wait and scope things out and look for an opportunity. Its a one time deal as I see it. They are on high alert, can whisk her away or and risk civilian casualties and we cannot. We need a win here, so I'd rather be cautious and wait for what looks like a too good to pass up opportunity (assuming we get one) but I am not prepared to go in all guns blazing - not until I am sure we can do it. After all, we are outnumbered they've got reinforcements coming and we've all been knocked about pretty hard. So it just makes sense to sit, gather intel and make the smart move, which I hope we'll spot, rather than the one we'll forever live to regret. If the president doesn't get out on our watch, I know as a player/character I'd be mortified. It would feel like a major fail so going to have to sit it out. At least whilst we do so, with me in contact quietly we can also gather intel from within. Let's hope that yields a result.

Sj

Captain Marvel hissed "Well?" as he looked from Lionheart to Miss Victory (in civvies) and to the sky where somewhere above the clouds Superman waited.

"We wait." said Lionheart.

"What? This is the time to strike! Before any more of those guys turn up! This is no good!" he hissed, standing and looking at the distant house. "What does Kal... no. I'll use the Wisdom of Solomon!"

He morphed, changing once more into an ancient man albeit one that looked like a weightlifter in red skin tight pyjamas.

"I... that is the correct option. There is too much of the unknown in play here. Unless we can somehow protect the president physically, mentally, mystically, there is every chance they will act on their threat. We are, for the moment. Helpless!" said the 'old' man.

In contact mentally Superman concurred. "I'm watching from up here." he said in their minds. "The problem is the teleporter but I've dealt with those before. Remind me to tell you of a time in the 30th century and a clown called Ambush Bug."

Lionheart and Miss Victory settled in to watch, and wait.

===========

"It's not good out there." said Superman, rousing them from the watch as they were spread out on rooftops or in the shadows of buildings watching the house where the kidnappers were.

"I'm picking up sporadic transmissions. Communications are being restored but there is chaos, looting... the Police are stretched. There are orange suited supers running amok. Reports too of lesser known supers stepping up to help. Fires breaking out, robbery... the longer we wait here the more things are getting worse out there."

Lionheart and Miss V glanced at each other. They looked at Captain Marvel who looked frustrated and ready to explode at any moment!

They would have to make a decision soon and send some of them to help out at...

"Something's happening." said Superman inside their heads.

Lionheart 'flicked' to the view inside the President's head. It was blurred, indistinct and he couldn't sharpen it up because any mentalist would know someone else was inside the President's head, even if they couldn't figure out who!

Still, he picked up enough to see a woman on one arm, man on another. All the criminals were dressed in civilian clothing now and two mini vans had turned up outside the house. They were planning to get moving!

Could it be as simple as jumping into a couple of vans and driving away from the capital?

Admin wrote:Still, he picked up enough to see a woman on one arm, man on another. All the criminals were dressed in civilian clothing now and two mini vans had turned up outside the house. They were planning to get moving!

Could it be as simple as jumping into a couple of vans and driving away from the capital?

"Look sharp everyone..." Lionheart then flashed to them all the relevant details. He was torn but the struggle America was undergoing as Law and order took a nosedive and chaos ensued. But to fail now, might be a worse move still. So with a tightening of his jaw, Lionheart resolved himself to follow with the others at a distance.

"We've got no way to track these vehicles save by my link and sight. They may have decoys ready to roll that will confuse us as to which one is which. We'd best be careful, we don't know how much these things have been seen and contingencies planned for."

OOC: OK I'll take Miss V if she needs a lift, and follow with my vision and Telepathy as best we can. But I am worried they are going to give us the slip here - not sure what we can do without having some sort of tracking device to attach to the vehicle. One thing does occur though, if Superman could make the vehicle in some way, so that unknown to the criminals it had something recognisable so it was less easy to miss, like an X with his heat vision, but really really careful so that he doesn't give away what he has done, that might help?

Sj

"Can you mentally follow the correct van using the President's sight," Miss Victory, whom I assume is now depowered as it has probably been over an hour since her last pill. "Or have they blindfolded her? Superman? Can you tell which villains are in the van with her? Do you know them or their powers?"

"I can mark the roof of the vehicle so it's visible from the sky, but it will be obvious to any of their colleagues that something is amiss." said Superman inside everyone's head.

"That said the van has a driver, passenger in the front seat, two criminals in the back and the President who has been blindfolded as far as I can tell. And gagged now."

Lionheart checked then stifled a curse, confirming it.

They watched the now civilian garbed criminals get into the vans whilst others waited or simply started walking in pairs towards the end of the block. One pair seemed jumpy and were quite obvious as a distant police siren spooked them. Others seemed less caring, clearly contemptuous of the ability of the police to apprehend them.

"We have another problem." said Superman. "I just picked up a radio communication from General Battle. It seems that someone called in that a 'big hitter' just escaped from custody."

Miss Victory winced. She'd played a big hand in the defeat of the biggest hitter she can remember taking on for quite a while and he'd pretty much battered the group of Ultrahumans she'd been with. Hopefully it wasn't that guy...

"From the glimpse I saw of the faces in the President's view I can't say I recognised any. I've been too long out of this game and to be honest aside from helping with natural disasters I was hoping to enjoy my retirement." said Superman.

The vans started moving off and Captain Marvel hissed "Heads up!"

With Lionheart telekinetically holding Miss Victory (OOC Correct, her hour would be up by now) and 'tethered' to him she could fly along with him but would be limited in speed to a couple of hundred mph or less - any more than that and she would struggle to breathe, whilst with her vita pill in effect she'd have no such problems!

The vans got to the end of the road, paused, then peeled off in different directions...

OOC You have options...

1) Follow the Presidents van
2) Follow the other goons van
3) Mop up the four on the sidewalk...
4) and maybe the two walking away
5) Move in, take em out!
6) Something else...?

Admin wrote:OOC You have options...

1) Follow the Presidents van
2) Follow the other goons van
3) Mop up the four on the sidewalk...
4) and maybe the two walking away
5) Move in, take em out!
6) Something else...?

Lionheart's words flashed across toward everyone at the speed of thought again..."I'm tasked with rescuing the President so that is what I've got to see through. Besides which I am not much good if, in order to keep up the mind link with my Telepathy, I go off and try to divert my attention and efforts. We've been waiting for a chance to grab the President this might well be our shot. Only I wish I could take down the teleporter before we struck. As to the rest of you...you'll have to decide where your needed most, at least they are less of them...at least for now!"

Knowing full well that the vans could still reconvene and meet even more powerful Meta's at whatever rendezvous point they had chosen didn't fill Lionheart with a lot of optimism. But for now, watch and wait seemed the only thing he could do. Though it killed him to turn from what was going on elsewhere. But he had little choice, at least for now, but to see through the mission to the end.

Sj

"Let's get the President first," Miss Victory answers. "That's the only reason we have held back. We just have to decide who is going to grab her and get her out of there while the rest of us mop them up. After she is safe, then we can go after the tailings."