Henry Stewart's Story

The Resort

George listened intently as Devon started off, describing events that frankly baffled the mind. The old man maintained a stoic face, but his mind worked over the information as it came out. Now he was aware of the fact that there were a great many matters he had been unaware of up until now. That both excited and worried him, as the conversation implied potentially new allies, but also enemies.

It was when Devon presented a strange orb that the room seemed to draw in to that one space, George himself carefully studying the strange, arcane device. "It creates a weapon you say? Most peculiar... I urge caution, but this is promising. We will need any and all assistance we can get. With your permission, I can perhaps have some of my own researchers take a look at it, and perhaps some of our more scientifically oriented team mates." He gave a nod of his head to Sai and Klaus in consideration.

Henry spoke next, confirming more of Devon's story, and adding onto it. "Henry, it sounds like your team has had some substantial experience with this... Strange series of events. It concerns me greatly that so many events appear to be coalescing at this time. Whatever these ‘time roaches’ are, if they’re connected to the creature from the beach, they're going to need to be dealt with. As for the woman, I'll see what I can do to locate her as well. I'm worried she could be connected to the soldiers that had appeared on the Beach the day of the attack. Even if she's not, her appearance warrants investigation."

Before George could ask further about the situation with Wayland, Akiko had seemingly appeared from nowhere to explain what had been communicated between her and the otherworldly man.

Richard listened intently, feeling his skin crawl as Akiko described what Wayland had seen. It was bizarre to think he'd stood next to that man only a few days ago, but somehow this girl had been speaking to his spirit? That did seem a little less strange than the Time Roach stuff, which felt completely out of his element. But this.... Felt like a description of Hell itself. "You ahh... Spoke to his spirit?" He asked a little uncertainly. "Did he say anything about getting to that place he saw?"

There was a moment of silence before Akiko and the others made it clear that that was knowledge Wayland hadn't possessed. With what she recounted though, maybe that was for the best.

Akiko continued, now describing the rest of the events with Polarity/Isotropic, and an 'artifact' she'd escaped with. George needed only a split second of consideration before he rose a hand to interject again. He opened Wuthering Heights to a blank page and produced a pen from his jacket.

"Black stone with symbols? Do you think you could recreate some of those symbols for me? Write them down here?"

He nodded to the blank page, placing the pen down next to it. The old man's eyes carried hint of intensity to them now.



Club Shapeless: Atlas City

Maxwell gave a brief nod to Maeve as she entered the room, feeling quite pleased as she took her seat next to him. "It's quite alright, I'm glad you were able to join us." Others may have seen it as presumptuous for her to take a seat next to him, after all she was still very new to the organization. The Shape, however, felt it was exactly what he wanted. She was remarkably powerful, confident, and a sign like this signaled a growing sense of loyalty. There was ambition there for certain, but when ambition and loyalty came together, they were a force to be reckoned with.

Scourge's voice filled the room for a moment, as he remarked upon Maxwell, and his comparably lesser size. He smirked under the mask as he looked in the direction of Kiran's 'child'. "Fearless, and feared." He replied confidently. "Don't worry, I'm quite formidable. I wouldn't be in charge here if I wasn't." Maxwell spoke pleasantly, intent on proving something to Scourge: that the newborn giant of a man could trust The Shape to lead.

And finally, they were drawn back to the matter at hand by Zeke, who seemed to have the embers of resentment still burning inside, directed at Scourge. Maxwell was going to have to find some way to cool them both off later, infighting was not going to help.

"Yes, breaking news, as in only having taken place probably 20 minutes ago. Our 'friends' the Witchfinders have had a little accident befall them." Maxwell pulled out his phone, making a few quick swipes while a screen on the wall flickered to life. On it were images of a collapsed warehouse. "After the attack at Atomic Anne's, I had some of our men collecting intel on where Witchfinders might be storing weapons. We'd had suspicions that this warehouse might be one location, and it seems they've been confirmed."

He turned back to those gathered, clasping his hands together on the table. "I need some of you to investigate it immediately, before authorities catch wind. Everyone's been fairly caught up in the memorial, but it won't be long until someone shows up. Having said that, I'm also concerned the authorities may have been involved in this somehow, but we can't not move on this. Whoever is arming these terrorists, we need to find them and deal with them. Quickly."

"I...can write down what I remember, yeah," Henry nodded apprehensively, taking the book and pen. "Just keep in mind, I wouldn't advise studying it at the earliest convenience. At least not for too long/ Maybe hire some specialists for this kinda thing. Psychics, mystics..." he went on as he began to recreate the symbols he'd see inscribed on the stone to the best of his abilities. Usually when things like this have a language, it's a 'caution' sign for anyone who dares to read it."

"This is all I can remember. Even when I think back to it, the memory's kinda blurry...Weird, when everything else that happened in those tunnels feels so vivid. ...But probably for the best." Henry looked towards the others who had made the trek across the End of Time, turning to a new blank page.. "You guys remember any?"

***
With the arrival of the dragon woman, the meeting proper could begin. Maxwell took a bit of time to intimidate as he was wont to do, but he was quick enough in getting to the business at hand. And what a sordid business it was. Witchfinders...moronic fanatics with no idea of how the world truly worked. Quite the blemish on business, they were, always showing up to throw a wrench in the works. Their recent exploits in Atlas City were no different. And with a third-party supplier in the mix...Gideon was more than willing to get his hands a little dirty with this one.

"I can promise you this much, Shape. The authorities will be off your back as long as you need them to be," Gideon replied, his hologram displayed before the group, scratching his chin in thought. "As for those that may be involved...Perhaps an internal investigation, of sorts, is in order."

The Resort

George placed a hand down on the book, stopping Henry and the others from writing anything else. He gently thumbed back to the page with the symbols and carefully studied them. A moment of silence fell over the room before the old man sat back up in his chair and looked to the group.

"Finding this woman is a top priority. Ladies and gentlemen, I am asking you to use all the skills and abilities at your disposal to find this Polarity, or Isotropic. I need you all to capture her alive, and this... 'Artifact', I need you to obtain it intact. It may be that we need to destroy it, but I want to avoid even the tiniest mistakes until we have a clearer idea of what it is."

He looked to Sairyn a moment, as to several of the others gathered. "Mr. Pendrake, I would appreciate your talents in collecting whatever data you can gleam about this woman. She may have connections to the mystery soldiers from the beach, or not. As for everyone else, whatever you can offer in the search for her, you're welcome to provide that assistance."

"What's got you so spooked about this 'artifact' Mr. Carlisle?" Richard asked bluntly, eyes searching George for the tiniest clue, the slightest tell, that could reveal some of the knowledge he was so intently holding back. "You've seen these symbols before? Where? And what do they mean?"

George remained as stoic as before. "Unfortunately, none of those questions will be of any help to you all right now. You need to stay focused on the tasks at hand, finding this woman, and the artifact. Not to mention the other tasks at hand."



Club Shapeless: Atlas City

The Shape gave an appreciative nod to Gideon. "Your assistance is greatly appreciated Mr. Gauss. And an internal investigation could be very much warranted, though I recommend a cautious approach. If it becomes too obvious that we're looking for Witchfinder agents, or people working for their suppliers, it could drive them more into hiding."

Maxwell chuckled slightly before continuing. "Of course, again, time is of the essence. We need to find information, evidence, leads. The Witchfinders, much as I disdain their antics, aren't what we're worried about. Uncovering their supplier is our goal. Once we do that... Well the rest should be evident."

"I work at a detective agency so I can also assist in finding Isotropic as part of the Scream Dream Team," Akiko offered as she pulled the book away from Henry gently. She took the pen as well and started on a rough sketch of what Isotropic had looked like.

"Though I have to say, Mr. Carlisle, for someone who doesn't want to make mistakes, you sure are being vague about things," Akiko said as she paused from the angry face she had made on her stick figure drawing. "I'm afraid if you aren't more forthcoming with information, we may make much more than tiny mistakes."

She knew it was kind of risky mouthing off like that but Akiko also knew how dangerous a lack of information could be. Richard was right in assessing that George was hiding something. However, she hoped he wouldn't be able to notice her own nervous state as she spoke to George, the pen shaking slightly in her hand. She swallowed loudly, the image of Wayland's ghost clear in her mind.

"This artifact is related to the Beast of Decay and if there is something else you know about it, we need to know. I don't think any of us want to get wiped out because we didn't comprehend that artifact's power."

Akiko felt cool but she also felt very, very exposed. She could feel George's stare and she started panicking internally. Her last couple of lines were accompanied by her trying to not look too desperate for someone else to speak up and draw George's attention.

~*~


"I swear I need to carry like a pouch of tissues," Isotropic sighed as she wiped her nose, having sneezed for like the fifteenth time. She looked down at the detailed drawing in front of her, noticing how the artist had even managed to get the hair just right. The drawing of Henry seemed pretty accurate, or at least, as accurate as her memory of him was.

"I'll have to give her a raise," she said as she sat back in the office chair, putting the drawing back on her desk. Movement drew her gaze to the leather couch where a young man sat, dressed in a heavy looking, black coat. His dark gray eyes came up to meet hers and he looked away quickly.

"And you as well, of course!" Isotropic exclaimed as she jumped out of her chair, laughing rather loudly. Her office door was shut thankfully. "Thanks to you, it was a clean getaway. Be proud! Lunch is on me...tomorrow."

The young man looked up as Isotropic walked over to where her coat lay on the couch, picking it up as she jangled the keys in her other hand.

"If the boss asks, I took a half day. Told me herself I needed to rest," she said with a mischievous grin. "Get that drawing over to her, would ya? I'm already running late for my nap."

The door slammed closed and the young man sighed, walking over to the desk. He looked down at the drawing, a few other drawings underneath. Rough renditions of Shinigami, Freischütz, and Koshchei. They weren't very accurate in some parts however. He gathered them up diligently and with another sigh, headed off to do Isotropic's bidding...

"I can run a basic records search," Sai mused, through the tinny speakers of a data slate. Yue had wheeled it in zip-tied haphazardly to an IV pole earlier. Sairyn rolled into view from off screen on an office stool with a fire extinguisher. He sprayed it loudly onto what appeared to be some kind of cybernetic which had been burning uncontrollably on screen for the past few minutes. "Beyond that, until I have some kind of tangible evidence I can work with... I do have other duties," he finished, after a noticeable pause. It looked like he was going to say something else, and then changed his mind after seeing who was gathered in the room.

Yue had found a corner to lean in quietly, and watched the rest of the attendees from behind her blank face-mask with her hands stuffed solidly into her hoodie pocket. Her dark hair spilled out of the hood haphazardly, and she chose to remain silent for the time being.

"On another note, mass hysteria is a topic of interest for me so...," he turned the camera towards a corner of the lab where an MRI machine had been set up. "Just come downstairs to get scanned at your leisure. I'll be here all week."

The Resort

Richard interjected again to draw George's attention away from the increasingly anxious Akiko, though she did her best to hide that. "The more we know about what's going on, the more helpful we can be. Besides, you have us working for you, so there really isn't any reason to hide things like this from us."

George's eyes darted to Richard again, and the old man let out a soft sigh. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. You are working for me, certainly, but I've reasons enough to worry you could be working for others as well. Namely, the Soldiers in Black. Furthermore, there are other items of business to attend to. Whatever information I have for on this 'artifact', knowing it now won't be of any use to you. If you're going to persist on the issue, I will tell you all more about it. Later. For now, we've other matters to attend to."

Richard, arms crossed, rapped his right hand's fingers across his upper arm. He wasn't entirely pleased with the answer, but perhaps George was right. Maybe it would be better to hear it all later? "Other matters?" He repeated back in query.

George nodded, before looking to both Sairyn and Akiko. He'd noticed the Tinker was being represented by an IV pole mounted screen. The old man felt... Less than enthusiastic about that. But Sairyn was at least 'attending' the meeting, so George supposed it was best to just go along with it. "Mr. Pendrake, we can worry about the Polarity matters later. I certainly believe there are better ways your skills can be utilized in that search, so before we worry about it I'll do some information gathering of my own. I'll make sure you, and everyone else, is immediately informed when we do have more tangible information. Right now however, I have work that you could be of more immediate assistance with. Your NAHLA comrades as well, for that matter. Miss Bong, I will appreciate your assistance in the search for Polarity as well, but the same applies: your detective skills could be of use on this immediate issue. And... We can discuss the artifact later."

Having clarified those matters, he continued with the business at hand. "I received word from the Attorney General just before I called you all in for this meeting. There's been an incident within the city, a warehouse collapsed in on itself, under rather suspicious circumstances. The warehouse was apparently being used as a storage space for weapons used by the Witchfinder Generals. The AG has asked for our assistance in this matter. She wishes to keep this matter more discreet, to avoid public concern, and because of other concerns she has. Concerns of potential 'leaks' within NAHLA."

"Mr. Pendrake, I'll let you and the other NAHLA members decide how you wish to participate in this, though I will say that the AG personally thought your technical skills could be of use as a 'handler', if you will. If you feels that's the best use of your skills, I'll make sure everyone is equipped with the necessary communications equipment. As for the rest of you all, you may either attend to this investigation, or join me at the Memorial Service. I'll leave that up to your discretion."

George raised his hand before anyone could speak to call for a final brief moment of their attention. "Ah yes, and Mr. Pendrake, you've reminded me. Given the circumstances, and all that has occurred, I've taken the liberty of calling in an employee of mine to work with you all. He's a doctor of sorts, someone you can all speak to, open up to. Just so we're clear, it's entirely optional whether or not any of you speak with him, but I hope you will consider it. Perhaps along with Mr. Pendrake's assistance, he will be able to offer some peace and respite from all that has occurred. Though I must ask everyone, let's all be respectful of what is a very personal matter." He spoke to the group, though the last part had particularly been intended for Sairyn.

"Now then, unless there are any further questions, ladies and gentlemen, let's get to work."



The Memorial

The President felt incredibly uncomfortable at seeing the rather personal matters of interest the Gravity Wielding hero had unwittingly informed him of, but tried to maintain his composure. He began to try to come up with some kind of a response, but feebly stumbled over his words. Cannonade saw a hand gently clasp itself onto the President's shoulder, giving him an easing, reassuring pat on the back. The hand belonged to the Secdef, who grinned confidently and seemingly unafraid.

"I wouldn't say that, not at all! Sure, we can't really get into specifics here, but we do have leads, enough leads we can start pursuing. Perhaps even with a little... Aggression." He sighed slightly as he looked around at the crowds, taking in the mixture of emotions that overwhelmed the people. "America got a sucker punch to the back of the head. Unfortunately for the person punching, they aren't counting on our ability to punch back with about a million times the force. When push comes to shove... Well let's just say our enemies won't be getting back up from this one."

He turned his gaze to Cannonade, a look of sincere concern, not so much for the hero, but for the people they needed to inspire right now. "What do you think though? What would you need to hear to feel that 'we got this' feeling?"

Meanwhile at the stage, Captain Valor waved to the gathered crowds, dismissing a few attempts at autographs by (as politely as he could) reminding the requesters that today was about the victims, not about fame and flashiness. The emcee worked to get the playlist set up and time properly to coincide with the speeches, double and triple checking to make sure they had their very finest patriotic tunes set up for the right moments. It was a mixture of music for mourning the fallen, and empowering and emboldening the American people, letting them know they were ready to fight back in full force.

"Well, I think I'll go on and head to the Memorial then," Henry spoke up as he stood from his seat. "If anything happens at the warehouse, we should all keep in touch..." he thought for a moment. "Or vice-versa, for that matter."

"George," Sairyn began, quite curtly. "Matters concerning the Witchfinder Generals are strictly the jurisdiction of NAHLA. There is an open and ongoing investigation concerning them, and there is a high probability that a NAHLA investigation team will be dispatched to the scene, if they haven't already," he explained. Yue clenched her fists noticeably inside her hoodie pocket at the mention of the Witchfinders.

"That being said: due to the nature of my agreement with the Attorney General, I am not able to refuse, nor am I able to stop anyone from joining at the scene. I'll be providing support remotely, and can cover both teams from my lab. My only request is that anyone aiding in the warehouse investigation cooperate with NAHLA should they arrive on scene, and take care not to contaminate evidence."

When he was done Yue pushed herself out of the corner and left the meeting without saying anything. A couple of minutes later a crimson streak lanced out of the resort towards the city, chased by a trio of drones.

---

---

Yue slid to a halt about half a block from the ruin of the warehouse, partially to let the drones catch up to her, and partially to prevent her shockwaves from disturbing the scene. The afternoon sunlight glinted off the polished, gilded metal of her dress uniform, which was nearly identical to her Mk 1 suit. It lacked the shoulder protection of its parent suit, and had a long white tabard bearing the NAHLA crimson cross the back. The suit was made of polished, lacquered aluminum rather than the protective tungsten: little more than an under-suit with some shiny decorations. At least her helmet was still fully functional.

She brushed a speck of dust off the fitted breastplate, lamenting that though she had taken care not to damage the suit while running, the loose ends of the tabard had already begun to fray from the short trip. With a flicker of crimson, Yue leapt to the rooftop of an adjacent building and looked down at the site. Her eyes squinted as she took in every detail, and with a few quick gestures she tagged a number of points of interest and outlined a perimeter for the drones to scan.

Tracer arrived first, heralded by its screaming repulsors, breaking away from its twin, which shrieked towards the memorial deeper in the city. It took a high observation position over the scene, lowering a device from a bay opening in its belly. The rapid fire snap of its magnetic accelerator cut through the silence, and a tiny black disc snapped to the ground in the corners of Yue's perimeter outline. The all opened simultaneously and extended a thin pylon about 1 meter in height. In synchronous harmony, they all activated, and a glowing yellow and black ribbon of holographic crime scene tape flickered to life around the ruin.

"Scan the designated area, and create a 3d render of the scene. Highest resolution," she commanded, as the wasp shaped Investigator drone rumbled up to the rooftop. It folded its appendages haughtily and blurted something curtly at her. "...Please?" she replied, raising an eyebrow behind her mask.

They stared at one another for an uncomfortably long minute, the drone's ocular shielding narrowing slowly at her. It buzzed something eerily like a snort in her direction and then bumbled noisily down to the ruins to make its scan. Yue hopped down as well to get a closer look at some of the things she had tagged, and Investigator blorped a little work song as it scanned. She stood and considered the largest part of the ruin for a long time while she waited for the drone to finish.

"Are you able to... overlay the city blueprints of this building?" She asked uneasily, feeling quite awkward speaking to a machine in such a manner. It was just one of those things that had become "commonplace" since she started working with Sairyn, though she hadn't quite gotten used to it yet. Investigator chirped, and the two drones communicated something she couldn't understand.

Tracer plopped a black disc about the size of a dinner plate in roughly the center of the scene, and a prismatic orb on a tall stand emerged. Working in tandem with the pylons that had been deployed previously, it constructed a faintly glowing, simplified holographic overlay of the undestroyed building based on the blueprints on record with the city. It flickered lightly as she touched it experimentally, and then overlaid Tracer's bird's eye view in a corner of her HUD.

"Hmm. Investigator, would you please scan for debris matching the building composition in a...," she hesitated, trying to visualize the way that the building had collapsed. "Um... start with a 300 meter radius, please," she requested, and then approached the rubble for a closer look, careful not to disturb anything.

"I guess I'll head to the warehouse then, It's not really within my realm of expertise... But I may be the closest thing we've got to a structural engineer." Devon said as he got up to leave, pausing as he passed in front of George. "...Perhaps it's best if you'd allow your researchers take a look at it first, though if they can't get through to it please do return it. I think I have a sure-fire way to crack the puzzle, but it might take quite some time." He said as he gently placed the blueprint orb in front of George on the table. With that said he walked out of the room finalizing his shift into wraith form as he passed the doorway.

---

Arriving at the site of the ruined warehouse Devon noticed he had been beaten to the location not only by Silver Fang, but also by Sairyn's spawn. It seemed they were already processing the scene at least it appeared one of the drones way scanning the area likely trying to create a 3-D render of the debris field. Another had dropped something which appeared to create a holographic overlay of the building prior to it's impromptu demolition.

Taking a look at the holographic overlay he scoured the layout for something which one could feasibly 'accidentally' damage that could bring down a building, but if everything had been built as designed then that would be quite a challenge without some large mechanical equipment and there wasn't any of that sort hiding in the debris field. So that route's pretty much dead on arrival, something or someone deliberately caused this damage.

Taking advantage of his wraith form he flew up his to get a birds eye view of the rubble and a bit better grasp on the bigger picture. Trying to imagine how the walls had come down and where what parts of the roof ended up it was quite clear that this wasn't much of a collapse at all... It almost looked like something ripped the place apart in a fit of rage. The walls were perhaps the most clear sign, parts of them looked almost as if they had been blown up... But without any scorch marks to back that up that looked unlikely... Where other parts of the same wall had simply buckled as the buildings weight overcame their strength.

Devon dropped back down to the earth re-materializing next to Silver Fang careful to not move the debris beneath his feet. "Looking at the rubble I'd wager a guess that this building was manhandled by a brute. I can't see any signs of fire or explosives being used and the damage is too... Random to have been a collapse. Whomever brought this building down wanted it to be destroyed, but at the same time wouldn't have cared about removing any evidence. I mean this took time and effort, emptying a couple gas cans or breaking a gas line and throwing a match would have done the same, faster and cleaner." He said part to inform Silver Fang and part to see if he had overlooked something obvious.

Having left Jemma contained while he went to a meeting felt wrong. He had no idea how long she would be in that weird state and the idea of her coming out of it and freaking out over the sudden containment left a bad taste in his mouth. Whatever was going on, she didn’t seem in control or aware while in that orb, so he had to just pray he got out of this meeting before she came too. He technically was going to be a few minutes late to the meeting since he did still need a quick shower after both his run and spare with Silver Fang. Best not to be smelled from across the room after all.

Alex chose to stand with his back up against the wall, arms crossed. Mostly due to nerves and really not wanting to be addressed directly yet if he could help it. After the last few days it was no secret that Alex had been itching to hear just what George had in store for this group of supers he had gathered together. Reservations aside, the idea of being on a team with little affiliation to the pre established organizations made him a bit more comfortable. The less suits he had to deal with the better.

Aaaaand people started talking about artifacts and time . . . What? That was around the time Alwx started tuning out most of the meeting. He couldn’t help but feel lost and out of place more so than when it was mentioned that the beast from the beach was said to have been a child and from another dimension. Am I the only one here that’s noticing how crazy this all is?

When the conversation started to drift towards the issues involving the Witchfinder Generals Alex couldn’t help feeling relieved. Finally, something I can actually help with. The fact that the investigation was technically under NAHLA jurisdiction didn’t seem to be preventing anyone present from contributing to the investigation either which was a blessing. The memorial was mentioned, but truth be told Alex didn’t feel like he was in a good mood or mindset to participate. He needed something to take his mind off all of . . . This.

Noticing that things were wrapping up, Alex pushed himself off the wall and made his way to leave. ” Well, this was fun and all, but I think I’ll be passing on the memorial for personal reasons. I’m going to go check on Jemma and see what I can do with the Witchfinders business.“

Alex didn’t realize how tense he had been through all that as he walked towards Sairyn’s lab. He had expected to feel his barrier around Jemma to crack or break entirely during the meeting. He hadn’t fortified it too much, which was stupid in hindsight. But there had been next to no feedback the entire time. That could be either good or bad in the next minute. Finding Sai’s lab unlocked, Alex took a deep breath and opened the door. ” Jemma, it’s Alex. Please don’t be freaking out. I’m sorry for bubbling you but you were kinda freaking out and shooting lightning everywhere.“ he slowly entered the room, not knowing what to expect at this point.

Henry arrived at the Memorial Grounds, not too far from the beach where the Beasts attacked and time once unwound. All seemed relatively normal now in the company of heroes from across the United States and many from the world over. Strange sight, it was too see many heroes all gathered in the same place to honor perhaps what was one of the greatest disasters to befall the world in the modern age. He couldn't help but wonder how many other teams were looking into the Beast incident.

He spotted Captain Valor among the many heroes gathered as well as the two heroes who helped strike the final blow on the Beast, Backlash of ACHI and his own team(?)'s Cannonade. There were other faces as well, both recognizable and unbeknownst to him, but there was also an influx of civilians. Many from Atlas City made their way to at the very least pay their respects for the city's fallen even if they couldn't remain to watch the rest of the proceedings.

Henry didn't know how long he wanted to stay, himself but he at least wanted to pay respects. And meet back with some family.

"Henry!" a couple of voices called out. Several familiar figures had spotted him, bringing a wide smile to his face. "Marshal! Anette! What's-" he began before being greeted by a tight embrace from them both. ...And a pummeling against his leg from tiny fists.

"Thank God you're alright," Anette sighed with a somber smile.

"Glad you could make it, cuz," Marshal laughed with relief. "You been so flaky lately, I wasn't sure you'd show up. I know you been eating well. You wouldn't even show up if you didn't have...what, three breakfasts?"

"By the way..." Anette smiled, squeezing her hug tighter. "...where's my car?"

"..."

"Henry?"

"So...about that," Henry couldn't help but laugh a little. "There's good news and there's bad news."

"Yo, for real? Maybe tell us later, 'cause today's-" Marshal began.

"Nah, hold up. Lemme finish. It's busted but I can fix it. It's all on me," Henry answered. Better yet, if y'all wanna upgrade? I might be able to get the hookup."

"...Are you serious?" Anette asked after a moment of silence.

"New job perks," Henry shrugged.

"Put a caper on this man, he out here dodging bullets," Marshal laughed, punching Henry in the shoulder before he could roll his eyes. "Come on, we got our seats saved," he went on, he and Anette beginning to lead Henry towards the many rows of chairs. The majority of people were just chatting amongst themselves. Loud laughter, raucous sobbing, fears and hopes for the future. An entire web of human emotion was spread across the whole of Atlas City today.

Of course the kids were more interested in the wide variety of heroes present. On the way to their seats, Henry had to feel his pant leg pulled every two seconds to alert him if one of their favorites showed up.

"Ruby Robot!"

"Stunt-Man!"

"The Sub-Woofer!"

Those three and many more were pointed out to him, whether he wanted them to be or not...but he couldn't help but be thankful. There was a tension in the air. More than he would like to admit. The fight at the beach felt like it happened just an hour ago. All that passed time vanished in an instant, it seemed. The levity of the kids, the warmth of family could both break through the veil. But only for an instant. Atlas City had lost it's unwavering faith that someone would come to protect them from whatever calamity befalls them. It was up to many heroes present today to ensure a loss like this is never suffered again.

"So, what's this new job, man?" Marshal asked, breaking Henry away from his thoughts.

"I'll...I'll tell you later," Henry replied. "I don't mean to keep in secret it just hasn't...it's like..."

"Like an NDA sort of thing?" Anette asked.

"Exactly!" Henry pointed at her, grateful for the reprieve from trying to explain any further.

"Dodged another one..." Marshal chided, under his breath. This time he got the punch to the shoulder

Henry and his family sat down in their seats after some maneuvering through the crowd. It was almost like a dream, seeing so many costumes at once. Surreal and exciting to see so many heroes gathered in one place, it brought Henry back to his childhood. There was so much chatter going about, so many simultaneous conversations, by the time they'd all settled in their seats, they could barely hear themselves.

There were nearly as many people standing standing as there were seated, which was to say; near countless. A sea of people not only from Atlas City or the US, but all around the world. Apart from the spectacle of all the gathered heroes, the atmosphere remained as melancholy as a memorial should. The skies themselves were cloudy and thunder could be heard roaring in the distance, but they gave way to no rain.

An elderly husband and wife took a seat next to Henry on his right, bickering a bit between themselves. What they discussed was hard to glean, with all the other noise drowning it out and Henry had no interest in prying unless things decided to get out of hand. Fortunately that was not the case as another senior citizen sat down on their right. He spoke calmly and whatever he said, he seemed to talk some sense into them and that was that.

Or was it? Henry had no intention to speak to either of the people unless they spoke to him, but he had begun to get get a sinking feeling in his stomach. He turned to face the elderly trio to find them staring back at him. The old man of the couple gave a smarmy chuckle and that was enough for Henry to give a derisive sigh and stare at the ground.

"Why the sullen look, my boy!" the man spoke in a heavy Mediterranean accent, his voice breaking through as clear as day, despite the myriad of chatter. "A bit ungrateful, considering we practically took you in..."

"I seem to remember you two trying to get me killed. Soemthing along those lines..." Henry replied, managing to convey as disinterested a tone as he could in a whisper. "What are you doing here anyway. Thought you guys retired."

"Retirement is often boring," the old man wheezed. "Besides...we like to go where we please," he continued, his eyes wandering over towards a heroine alighting to the ground, lingering on her as she walked amongst the crowd. His wife promptly drew a fountain pen and jabbed him in the leg with it. "Why you withering old..." the old man spat through gritted teeth, grabbing her wrist and starting to squeeze it as tight as he could.

Henry glanced around to check if anyone was watching the scene unfold, but it fortunately(?) it seemed most were too preoccupied to notice the old couple's quick descent into a ludicrous amount of violence the likes of which one would see on a Tom and Jerry short. The old woman, her accent similarly Mediterranean commented amidst their struggles. "We did come here for a reason. There's something you should be made aware of urgently."

At this, Henry took a moment to drop his standoffish behavior regarding the two. Much as it would be in character, they wouldn't come down here to simply pester him about something trivial. What happened on the beach would and should concern them as well, after all. And he figured whatever they dropped by to say regarded just that.

"If you've got valuable information, say so...Otherwise-,"

"Yes, yes, I know. Just listen," the old woman hushed him. "Whatever happened two days ago has stirred the pot so to speak. What kicked off in the forties was but the prologue. What happened a few days ago has set you all into the first chapter."

"Is there a less vague way I can interpret that?"

"Eyes are going to be on this place now, my boy," the old man continued, finally wrestling away the pen from his leg (which appeared otherwise fine aside from an ink stain or two) now that the subject had changed. "Not just from the styx, but the stars. Before and beyond the Manifold Mirror. You should know that more than anyone what that means. With it comes both good and bad tidings."

"Lemme guess...mostly the bad?"

"Whatever veil clouded this planet has long since lifted," the other old man chimed in. He had a different accent than the others., Henry couldn't quite place it, but he'd recognized it instantly. He nodded at this one, with a bit more respect than the other two. He had darker skin, a stern scowl, a beak of an upper lip to help accentuate the near permanent frown etched across his face. "We can only do so much. We have our own to attend to after all."

"Right now we're doing all we can to get to the bottom of whatever's exactly happening," Henry noted, somewhat disappointed, resigned to the fact that whatever the bigger picture was, these three were unable or unwilling to spill any more than they had already.

"You have time, Macro-Nite. Perhaps you all will rise to the occasion, perhaps not. But you'll need to if you want to survive," the other old man stated, as he and the other two senior citizens sat up. "You all have that potential. Be better than us. Succeed."

"Yes, yes, be careful..." the old woman added, snappily. It was clear she and her partner were ready to make their leave. "Oh and something else you may want to keep an eye on..." she seemed to suddenly remember. "There have been some rumblings near Mt. Etna. Perhaps it's nothing to worry about, but considering the state of the world..."

Henry looked to the ground again, with a heavy sigh and nodded. Thinking of all the people here, he couldn't have bee the only one they deemed to warn. But something he felt, made the messages they'd passed on feel significant. He couldn't quite place it, but it made him feel better about the group George had assembled. As if it were the right choice after all. As if heading back to Atlas City in the first place was the right decision.

A loud din of the thunder rolled by, startling a few in attendance but once again it gave way to know rain. A pair of eagles darted across the sky out of sight and as Henry had expected the couple who had sat next to him previously had gone. The other old man was left behind. At least for now.

"Sorry about those two. I followed them to mediate and...I think it turned out pretty well, wouldn't you say?" he asked. "Good luck, Macro-Nite," he winked with a thumbs up.

"Look! Sun's out again! I told you it wasn't gonna rain!" he had heard his little cousin Tae exclaim to her father. Sure enough the sun had broken through the clouds and the second old man...nowhere in sight. Henry looked up and leaned back in his chair.

Times ahead would be tough. But at least here, at the memorial, he'd get a chance to relax and pay respects.

***

"Target en route..." Silentium registered internally, his communication reaching across continents to at present unknown party via encrypted signal. "Getting into position now. As quick and clean as I'd like this to be. With this many supers around it won't be possible. Today, we'll have to play the long game, won't we Mr. Carlisle?"

Club Shapeless: Atlas City
Maxwell chuckled slightly at Scourge’s response, nodding in affirmation. “I have every faith you’re all the most capable people that could be put to this task. Just ‘pull carefully’ with this one. Weeds can grow back if any root is left behind. We need to make absolutely sure we get every last root in our grasp first. Then we can rip them out, and toss them in a bonfire.”


Things began to near their end, with Gideon making his final remarks. “Thank you Mayor Gauss, I’ll be sure to put this to good use.” Maxwell said in regards to the automaton his cousin had leant to them. As Gideon’s form disappeared, the others began to ready themselves to leave, with Maeve leading the way.


After his chair lightly shook from the press of her finger, The Shape rose a hand to stop her. “Hold on, there’s one last matter I need to address.” He swiped across his phone again, pulling something else up onto the wall screen. An email this time, one that appeared to have been written for quite a variety of recipients.


The sender was a corporation called Menagerie Tech.


“Apparently this company, Menagerie Tech, has had an issue lately with a ‘lost asset’. They’ve requested assistance from just about everyone they felt was safe to ask in this matter. The asset they’re looking for in specific is some kind of shape shifter.”


Under his mask, Maxwell allowed for a slight smirk. “There’s no doubt of quite a handsome reward for helping reunite them with their lost ‘property’, but businesses like ours have more things to consider than money. If you come across this shape shifter, I ask you to do what you can to ensure it ends up back here at Shapeless instead.”


The Shape looked to all others present. “That’s all from me for now. If you need anything else feel free to ask now. Otherwise, you can head to the warehouse now.”





The Memorial


Before leaving the resort, George had made sure to get Devon’s ‘blueprint’ put into a secure area where it could be researched later. The object was strange, something he’d never encountered before. But based on the discussion of the strange interdimensional travel, he was allowing himself to have a small amount of optimism that this could be a potential breakthrough in their fight. It would remain to be seen, but hope was an important tool, one they were all in need of.


Atlas City finally came into sight again, striking George with a strange sense of foreignness, but also nostalgia. It had only been a few days ago, and yet it felt like years. The old man continued to gaze out through the window of the 2025 Rolls Royce Limo he and Richard both sat in the back of.


Richard adjusted his tie while taking a quick glance at George. The old man seemed deep in thought, understandable given the circumstances. The White Death was also in a slight trance, thinking back to the day the ‘Beast’ had attacked. Standing on the balcony, looking out at the ocean, seeing that towering mound of death… It was like it had never even happened, like it wasn’t real. How could it have been? And yet, here they were, going to a memorial for the people who died from it, the ones that couldn’t be saved.


“How does the suit fit ?” George asked quietly of Richard.


Richard nodded an affirmation before he spoke. “Quite well actually, little surprised you had something in my size.”


George chuckled slightly, trying to keep up a positive exterior, hiding the sense of melancholy growing as they drew closer and closer to the memorial area. “Actually we just work quite fast. Some things can’t be anticipated for, so the only alternative you have is to reach a solution as quick as possible.”


Richard smiled in agreement, but said nothing more as the car pulled up to the memorial. All the passengers inside stepped out and made there way to find spots to sit. Richard had hoped he and George might sit a little closer to Henry. He wanted to be close to someone he knew, and someone he felt could offer some more immediate assistance if any was needed.


White Death had already spotted some familiar faces, a few quite famous, including the briefest of glimpses of Cannonade. Seemed they’d arrived earlier, and were already busy being adored by the crowds.


George and Richard finally took their seats near the edge of the crowds, hoping to avoid being clustered too close together with anyone, and wanting easy access to be able to stand up and leave their seats if it became essential. The old man had noticed plenty of familiar faces, but what caught his attention most immediately was that Henry had gone to join what appeared to be a family, possibly his own relatives. It was touching, but he had some concerns as well, primarily for the safety of the two adults and their children.


“You know George, I think we should come up with a team name at some point.” Richard stated nonchalantly.


George, a little surprised, cocked an eyebrow at the comment. “Really? And what do you suppose you should all be called?”


Richard shrugged. “No idea, I kinda thought that was more your department, speaking frankly.”


The old man’s mouth perked up at the corner as he shook his head. “No, while I might be your ‘boss’, I think you’re all much more qualified to come up with that sort of thing on your own. Besides, builds some camaraderie with each other, and lets me avoid being criticized over choice of name.” He chuckled slightly.





Start of the Memorial


As everyone took their seats, or found a place to stand and watch, a deafening quiet came over the crowds gathered in Atlas City. All eyes turned to the stage, or the screens, whichever they had easiest access to view. After a few moments of silence set in, a projector screen lowered at the back of the stage, and on its left and right side two banners unfurled downwards, decorated with the stars and stripes of the American flag.


Images began to fade into view on the screen, and the televisions across the city, country, and world. Pictures of men, women, children; they were of homes, parties, happy times. Hearts broke and tears began to stream as the pictures became accompanied by the sounds of Lee Greenwood's “Proud to be an American”. Those who tried not to cry struggled, some failed. They leaned on shoulders, tried to give comfort where they could as they watched images of their happy loved ones pass by.


After a while, the song finally came to its close, and the screen faded to its blank, white color once more. The first speaker came to the front of the stage, slowly, almost cautiously. Once he was at the podium, Captain Valor took a moment to compose himself. The hurt was clear in him to the crowd below, but he maintained his composure as the screen behind him flickered with color once more. Now images of Lonestar faded in and out, introducing various glimpses of the hero’s life and adventures.


“My fellow Americans, people of the world. We all lost loved ones on March 12th. For me, it was my fellow hero, sometimes rival, and always good friend; Lonestar. We had…” Valor went quiet a moment as his eyes glistened, two tiny trickles of tears making their way down his cheeks. “We had a lot of adventures together. Saved a lot of people. Saved each other even a few times.”


The hero continued on, regaling the crowd with a few tales of the adventures the two heroes had had. Of course, this was all mostly known to the public. There were many ‘adventures’ they hadn’t heard of though, the kinds of which Valor and Lonestar would both ensure were taken with them to the grave…


“All I want to say now is thank you everyone, America and the whole world, for all your continuing support. And to Lonestar buddy, we’ll meet again one day. Till then, know that you’ll always be in our hearts, a true American hero.” Valor began to exit the stage, wiping away a few tears as the screen continued to show a montage of Lonestar, before slipping into images of more of the heroes and soldiers that laid down their lives to fight the Beast. As America’s heroes passed by on the screen, they were accompanied by a favorite song of Lonestar’s, Toby Keith’s “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue”.


While the crowd was hit by a wave of emotions, the sadness had begun to subside near the end of the song, giving way to a roar of cheering and applause. They could be proud of those who sacrificed so much for them, and honor that freedom by continuing to fight this fight for their families, friends, and America itself.


As the song subsided, other speakers had gone up to the stage, survivors, family members of victims, heroes. Once they’d said their piece, it was time for the message they all really needed to hear. Gordon Ford, President of the United States of America, stepped up to the podium. Near the back of the stage, stood near other speakers, the Secdef and Attorney General both stood by, looking on and hoping Gordon knew what he was doing.


“My fellow Americans…” he started. “This has been a truly, truly painful time for us all. Our country has suffered a grievous injury like never before. So many lives lost, families torn apart… We’ve never seen anything like this.” There was a pause as he sought for words to give power to what he was saying. “But we are a strong nation, a strong people. We’ll rebuild, and fight this fight to keep our free nation as free as it ever has been. You can all sleep soundly at night, knowing we’re working tirelessly to keep you all safe, and to give you the answers you deserve. The people who did this will be brought to life, this I promise you. And to help keep that promise, your government is starting new initiatives to try and fight this menace, including a new team we are calling F.I.S.T. And to speak more on that, I’d like to introduce our Secretary of Defense, Victor Covistic.”


There was some cheering for the President as he stepped away from the podium, though the message he gave perhaps didn’t have the amount of impact he’d hoped for. Victor, for his part, smiled at the President as he went to the podium himself, but inwardly thought very lowly of everything the President had just ‘attempted’.


Once Victor took the podium, he also allowed for a brief pause, a moment of quiet, as he went over everything he would need to say. “Thank you Mr. President. Ladies and Gentlemen, people of America, citizens of Atlas City… Before I say anything else, I need to take a moment here to apologize. As Secretary of Defense, I’m partially responsible for the response we gave to the monster that attacked this great city. We believed we were ready to take this thing on, that we had everything we needed to destroy it. We were wrong, we underestimated the Beast, and we need to take responsibility for that. Myself, my colleagues, and everyone in your government takes responsibility for our handling of this attack.”


There was silence in the crowd as they took in what he had to say. “As the President said, we are all working tirelessly to strike back against our enemy, and while I cannot, for security reasons, tell you everything you deserve to know, I can tell you that our enemies are not long for this world.” He took a pause, hands pressed firmly on the podium as he squared his shoulders and looked directly into the faces of the crowd before him. “Again, I cannot say much for security reasons, but what I can tell you is that the military is developing a team called F.I.S.T. First Initiation Strike Team. They will be instrumental in allowing us to deal with these threats in more precise, fast, and tactical ways. We are also developing another team, known as Bulwark. This team will differ from F.I.S.T. as it will be the newest American Hero team we put together, designed for the specific purpose of ridding us of monsters like this Beast. We will have more details on this team at a later date. But for now…”


Another moment of silence. It stretched on for a second as Victor held his gaze with the crowd, letting them have a moment of anticipation. “For now let me say this. America, today is a day for mourning. Feel this grief, this sadness, this hurt. Let it all go through you. That’s what we can do today. Tomorrow? Let these feelings embolden us. Let it steel us, our resolve. The ones who did this to America, to the American people, they want us to be afraid. They want us to live in fear of them, to put us on edge. But our men and women in uniform, our Supers, our best and brightest minds, are all working in unison in this fight. One people, one purpose. They crave justice, to bring retribution down like a mighty storm. Our enemies have caused us to be afraid long enough. It’s time for these cowards to TRULY be afraid. They’ve awoken the Beast of America, and we are ravenous.”


With that, Victor stepped away from the podium as a roar of passionate emotions erupted from the crowd. The cheers were near deafening, filled with a sound that could be described as sorrow burning up into righteous rage. America had been struck a heavy blow, but it would strike back with a million times more force.


Once the crowd had let that wave of emotion pass through it, other speakers began to take the stage…

Atlas City Memorial 11:22 AM. The last speaker got a standing ovation for his heartfelt words of encouragement to the surviving friends and family of the Beast's victims. In the row next to the target, Precipitator was busy comforting an older woman. An old relative of hers, perhaps? A friend? A retired hero? Perhaps just a stranger she happened to sit next to and was comforting out of kindness. How noble.

Next to her were the five other members of SixStorm. Category-5 sat furthest to the right of the group at the end of the row. Perfect. His ability to read the flow of the wind currents needed to be taken to consideration and him sitting right at the end, made the trajectory of the projectile all the more easy to calculate.

A quick read of the old woman's vitals revealed she was not in perfect health. Palpitations in her lungs were currently on the rise given her current state of mind. Nothing would feel amiss when the dart hit her neck and she slumped over. Too tiny to see with the naked eye, the number of supers purported to have heightened senses were taken to account. Particular those with enhanced sight and hearing. None were in this row or two rows in front, but the cluster of seats adjacent to them, had two right within ear shot.

A risk perhaps, but a disk-drone was launched from the barrel. No bigger than a fly and remote controllable immediately after release. It'd emit a high frequency sonic wave. Annoying enough to turn attention to or catch the ear of dogs but otherwise it was nothing but a distraction. It land and bury itself within the sands after five seconds. Just long enough for those in attendance who could hear it to wonder what it was before being distracted by something else.

If Silentium was lucky, they'd even investigate. They couldn't trace it back to him if they tried. After all, even if they'd managed to follow the trajectory, he was never in the exact same place twice. His teleportation matrix was assure that. And thanks to his stealth field he would not be seen or heard either.

The old woman was in a catatonic state. Temporary. The dart had already dropped off. and fallen to the floor. Tiny robotic legs sprouted from it and carried it away from the scene. The puncture wound was miniscule and would not be seen right away. Even if it had he'd enough time as per his calculations. Heightening audio receptors...

"Nana! Nana! Oh no, it's her heart! She can't-"

An internal smile. More of a smirk. The entire teams began to panic. It seems the family connection was spot on. good. It would breed more irrationality. Pre-existing conditions meant she was less likely to check for external causes, less likely to ask for the opinion of any super qualified to examine her medically. And why would she. Checked for fever, checked her heart. Either way she wouldn't discover where he dart struck.

And what's more it was but a blip in this massive crowd, but a distraction She wouldn't want to disrupt the ceremonies. A phone call. An ambulance. Precipitator would carry her out of the premises. And her team would follow. A show of solidarity. Such nobility should be commended.

A quick scan of the target's row. Mindscape, a telepath sat it front. His helmet was an eyesore, but he shouldn't be a problem. A lot of ex-military and street level supers. Not an issue for his purposes, but as a precautionary measure, a disc-drone. Behind the last row of seats was a long line in order to get some refreshments. It was a long ceremony after all, even in this tepid weather people would get parched.

A quick scan of the line, showed a variety of supers, none posing an immediate threat. One was of interest, however. A speedster, with a containment suit. Appeared to be designed to house an unstable body. Perfect. The punch gets poured in and the drone follows. Run a quick diagnostic scan, and have the drone emit counter-vibrations to reverb against the speedster's vibrations and she'd experience a sense of violent vertigo.

Lashing out, she knocked the punch cooler, earlier and vomited on the floor. This was enough of a distraction to garner the attention of most of the backrow. What's more, the paparazzo had begun to swarm in. He couldn't ask for a better distraction as some reporters and other officials in the row of George Carlisle began to turn their heads. And all those sitting out in front were none the wiser. Silentium raised his rifle. No trick shots this time. This one would be plain and simple. Quick. Clean. And silent.

Albert dropped from the sky like a meteor, his near soundless fall giving way to a tremendous snap and crack of the stage buckling under his momentum. Ripping his feet free, Albert strode from the crater he'd created in the wood, pulling his goggles up to his forehead. Staring out at the gathered supers and other passersby, who had all turned from their momentary distractions, some out of fear, others out of confusion from the man who had literally fallen from the heavens, Albert reached out and grasped the microphone from the podium.

"I am known as Backlash," Albert boomed. "I represent Atlas City Heroes Incorporated. I watched the heroes of this city fight the beast that rose from the depths of the sea to attack us just a short time ago. We were all unprepared. But while many of my peers look forward with fear, I look forward with fury. Though many of the surviving heroes cower in misery, shock and grief, I do not."

A glow began to arise around Albert. Strangely, the air around him seemed to darken... as if the light itself were being subtly pulled into Albert's aura.

"My mission is to protect this city," Albert continued. "It is a mission I take seriously. It is a mission I will not be unprepared for again. I promise you this, Atlas City, and even beyond, if a beast of hell should arise again, I will be there. No matter its form, no matter its strength, I will be there."

The glow was stronger now, but Albert didn't seem to notice. "I promise you this, Atlas City. There is no one in this world stronger than I am. I will be the frontline. I will be the wall upon which the darkness breaks, and the shining blade that will destroy any abomination that dares appear. Thus, from this day on, I will no longer be called Backlash. Today, I take on a new name: Crimson Shield."

As suddenly and strangely as it had appeared, the glow was gone and the light show with it, leaving Albert in his aged pilot uniform on the stage, the last of his words echoing across the crowd.

Klaus sat silently as the memorial carried on. His mind kept replaying the events of the day, or rather the year for him. He'd spent an entire year developing a method for destroying the Beast, using tech three-hundred years more advanced, and still managed to fail. In fact, it nearly cost him his life! Technically it did, at least life as he knew it. He was now a prisoner of time, unable to move forward to return home, and somehow everywhere he visited in the past was now different. Time was fractured, and he had managed to slide into a different timeline when exactly the timeline splintered was the mystery. Henry and a few others mentioned The Horde, a species of time tunneling roaches, but that wasn't conclusive enough to him that the shared allies they'd met were from the "proper" time or this new offshoot. Did it even matter? He couldn't be sure. He indeed seemed to exist outside the rules of time and very well may never live in this world's future and could be reason enough for why he cannot visit the future. Perhaps his tech had been altered by being here into a less advanced version? He made a mental note to run a diagnostic when he visited The Time Tunnel next.

His attention returned to the memorial as Albert, a hero he remembered seeing briefly during the battle, finished speaking. His voice echoing around the audience. Klaus stood and placed his hands into his pockets. He wasn't going to learn anything sitting around. While he understood the symbolism and psychological need for a memorial, it was simply a stage for those in power to pretend they cared. They truly felt sorrow and could empathize with the thousands of people of Atlas City in mourning. It was all for show. The President would travel back to D.C. and remember no one he talked to, Sec Def would simply think of the weaponry he wanted and use the catastrophe as leverage to add money to the defense budget, and the heroes? Many of these heroes are around for show only. Few fought, and fewer are truly mourning anyone. Many will speak as Albert had, but few will follow through. Klaus doubted everyone employed by George was indeed on board with the suicide mission he'd recruited them for. Many may have seen the opportunity to use the "Get out of Jail Free Card" he'd presented but never really considered the price.

Klaus found himself walking among construction barriers and chain-link fences, heavy machinery parked nearby. Clean up was well underway and in a few months the debris would be gone but the scar across the city would last years. He wondered if a proper memorial would be built here, and thought about what that could look like before turning down a street and into what was just another normal day for the citizens of Atlas City. Their city had been attacked, thousands died, no answers were ever given, yet here they were, traveling to work, school, shopping, life went on, it always does. He looked over his shoulder at the stark contrast to the crumbling ruins of the beachfront where thousands sat to listen to speeches, and then back to the bustling street before him. He sighed and pressed on, his mind clouded with questions that seemed to have no answers or at least answers he wasn't ready to accept.

Eva's mismatched eyes narrowed near imperceptibly at Albert's spectacle, and though she kept a saccharine smile on her face, she couldn't hide the subtle twitch of her left cheek.

"Ma'am. I believe you're up next," informed one of the stage hands.

"Oh my, that time already then?" She chirped, though she hesitated to stand. Her eyes drifted off the stage to where Cannonade had been standing before a wry grin twisted the corners of her lips. "Oh, nobody wants to hear a droll statement from some boring official like me... why not have the world's greatest 'hero' take the stage and say something instead? I can go afterwards," she insisted, shooing the stage-hand away.

---

---

The spent bullet casing was tagged with a holographic as Yue approached, careful not to disturb the rubble.

"Good question...," she trailed off in response to Devon as she traced his line of sight from the door, tapping a metal finger on the chin of her mask. "My guess would be to obscure the evidence but... if that were the goal, why leave anything at all? This place is rather out of the way... especially with the Memorial pending it's a safe to assume they'd have had plenty of time to clean up even without knocking the building down. Curious," she noted thoughtfully, and then turned to see Akiko "trampling" over her crime scene.

She took a step towards the woman, making a choked noise of surprise before she noticed the detritus passing through her body as though it weren't there. Yue still couldn't help but scurry over to supervise closer, though, making noises of obvious discomfort and twitching whenever Akiko would "touch" something that wasn't catalogued. Investigator swooped over, making some very rude noises, mirroring Yue's anxiousness as it watched her pick through the rubble and hurriedly scanning anything new she turned up. Yue made a few gestures on an interface only her HUD could see, and Investigator dropped a handful of capsules no bigger than a thumb onto the pile. They unfurled into tiny centipede-like machines and scurried into the cracks to catalogue everything inside the cavity Akiko uncovered.

Yue jumped visibly as Jemma landed, spinning around and expecting to find trouble. Well... she wasn't wrong at the very least. When her gaze stopped on Jemma she relaxed noticeably.

"You. Are... SO cute," she muttered inside her helmet, unable to stay mad.

Richard felt a jolt of anxiety and instant terror rock through him as some kind of explosion erupted from the memorial stage. His gaze flashed forward to see what kind of tragedy had occurred, what insidious act had just taken place, only to take in the image of another super standing there, the one who took out the military's big gun on the beach. A wave of relief soon followed after, but ebbed away as a sense of annoyance bubbled up. The way he spoke seemed perhaps a bit too... Grandiose, in some ways. Particularly during a memorial. Maybe he was just trying to reassure the scared public, but it didn't exactly feel that way to Richard.


The White Death had just a moment ago been focused on some nearby heroes who'd seemed to be fainting, or getting sick, probably from nerves. He turned his attention back to the stage, but got distracted from the sight of birds fleeing the scene. 'Crimson Shield's' entrance seemed to have scared them considerably worse than it had Richard, and he wondered if they perhaps could feel any of that annoyance he did. His eyes followed them as they moved away from the stage, inland towards the city, passing over buildings. He watched as they dipped and dove, evading a non-existent danger as they tried to locate safer grounds.


Richard felt a little entranced, taking the moment to just enjoy watching them as they slowed to more of a gingerly glide, disappearing behind buildings, only to reappear as they rose back up into the sky. Back and forth they flew, up and down. He watched as two of them once again disappeared again.


Disappeared into thin air.


It was a brief moment before they had reappeared again, and Richard questioned if he'd even seen it at all, but they looped back around, and once more disappeared in the middle of the air before quickly reappearing again.


There was someone up on that roof.


His eyes darted around again to where the sick heroes had been, then back to the roof.


Richard had no idea how it happened, but it had to be some kind of sniper. As the realization hit him, he turned to George, grabbing the old man by the back of the neck, and pulling him down into a bow.


"Richard! What are you do-"


The old man's words were cut off as a quiet crack, barely audible even to Richard and George themselves, came from the ground just across from them. George and Richard both gazed at the spot, a hole now in the ground, created by a small, super heated bullet of some kind. The old man looked to Richard in shock and determination.


"We're getting you out of here, now." Richard whispered. "Pretend to be sick." He lifted George up and carried him over to the group of supers tending to some of the sick as he pulled his cellphone out, quickly dialing in a number.


Henry's phone rang, and when he picked it up, Richard's voice came through. "We've got a sniper here, get over to George ASAP and keep him safe, I'm dropping him off with a group of supers tending to some sick." After that, he quickly hung up and looked to the group he'd been rushing towards. "Hey, my granddad's sick! Can you guys please look after him while I go get his medicine? I've got a friend coming over to look after him, big guy, can't miss him. Can you look after him in the mean time?" The supers looked terribly confused, but nodded and affirmed they'd take care of him. Richard made doubly sure that George would be in a slightly covered area first, off to the side, near the food vendors, to make sure he couldn't be hit. While there, he stealthily grabbed several bottles of water from unsuspecting merchants.


And from the food vending area, a light fog began to form, carried in by an abrupt cold wind. Richard bolted, hidden in the cover of the fog he created, to the building the sniper had been on top of, hoping and praying he could catch them in time. Once he was inside the building, he quickly made his way to an elevator, taking it to the highest floor he could. While inside, he reached into his suit jacket, and pulled Durendal from his holster. Out from another suit jacket pocket, he produced a silencer, and quickly screwed it onto the barrel of the pistol.


As the elevator reached the highest floor it could, he quickly made his way around the floor until he found a service area, and with it the rooftop service elevator. Richard placed an earpiece into one ear, quickly flickering it to life as he made a quick call out.


"Sairyn, I need eyes in the sky, we've got a sniper on top of the Galliant Office Building, right across from the Memorial. I need you to send a drone up here to try and track this guy before he gets away."


While he waited for a reply, he quickly dumped out several bottles of water onto the floor, stuffing one more full one in a jacket pocket, and holding the other in his left hand.


"He's got some kind of invisibility tech, but I've got an idea in mind." He took a pause before quickly putting out one more message. "Klaus, if you're receiving this, get to the top of the Galliant Building."


The elevator reached the roof, the doors opened, and a thick fog poured out onto the roof from within, quickly beginning to obscure visibility. Richard didn't have his music with him at the moment, but he couldn't help but have a song stuck in his head.

Henry dug in his pocket, when his phone started to ring. He'd forgotten to silence it, but luckily, the sound of the crowds chattering between speakers designed it to all but those closest to him.

"Hello? What's..." Henry paused, listening to the quick response from Richard. "Uh...that was one of my co-workers. Seems like the boss got sick," he informed his cousins. "I'll be right back!"

He had hoped at least. No rest for the weary it seemed. He looked around the memorial for the medical tent set up and headed there immediately once he spotted it.

"Excuse me, but do y'all have a George Carlisle here?" He inquired of the medical staff once he arrived.

***
Silentium mimed exhaling, an act of habit if anything. A miscalculation. The assumed super next to George...a bodyguard perhaps? Facial recognition scanners gave him no leads on traditional channels. Hyper-computing, he took a deeper dive. Credit cards, military records, anything he could narrow down, using thousands of parameters in mere seconds.

Richard Mackenzie. Canadian. Ex-Special Forces. Heavily classified. Nothing regarding powers or abilities, though he was certain to have them. No matter. No one else was alerted and it seemed only he had moved to act.

No cause for alarm just yet then. If this super were to engage him, were he even able to track him down, he'd be able to assess any danger and respond accordingly. He appeared to gave made several calls after securing the target with medical professionals. The crowd hadn't stirred much, so perhaps only a sparse few had been alerted.

Depending on their power sets, the hunt would still be on. A whole swarm of supers was an unsinkable situation, but a handful? That was a challenge.

Medical Area: The Memorial

Upon hearing the tall man's request, several of the medical staff simply looked at him, blank faced. They were not prepared to tell an absolute stranger about patients they were caring for, and certainly not one that most of them weren't familiar with. Luckily, a hand rose out of the group of people to wave over to Henry. George stood, face grave and stony as he ushered Henry to join him.

Before the cosmic titan could ask anything of his new 'employer', George cast a pointer finger to his lips and led Henry to a part of the tent with fewer people, and less noise. "Thank you for coming Henry. There's been a... Complication today." He looked a little shaken, but not just because of the attempt on his life...

"Someone just tried to assassinate me. Richard has gone to try and catch the sniper, and I guess he hoped you'd be able to serve as protection for me." He looked to Henry and gave him a concerned smile. "For what it's worth, I don't feel quite as in danger with you here now. But we need to stay focused, figure out what to do about this right now."



Stage: The Memorial

As Cannonade finished their rousing speech, the crowd broke out into a raucous chant:

"Can-On-Ade!" Was how it started.

"Crim-Son-Shield!" Was how it was followed.

The two names continued to be chanted for a few moments, before they bled into chants of 'U-S-A', and other proud and patriotic cheers. The President stood, clapping profusely in his fit of enthrallment for the 'heroes of the city'. Victor and Claudia both found themselves clapping as well, though both less inwardly enthused. Claudia looked to Victor, trying to hold back a smirk.

"Looks like that idea just got flushed down the toilet." She teased nodding at Cannonade.

Victor only smiled and gave a slight shrug. "Mmm, I think it may still be too early to say. And at the very least, I still have other candidates I've got lined up." He pointed with his eyes in the direction of the newly rebranded 'Crimson Shield'.

"But... He's working for ACHI. I doubt they're gonna want to let him go."

"Who said anything about them letting him go? Don't forget my area of expertise as well Claudia, I'm a businessman first and foremost. I have a mutually beneficial business arrangement I think Ivetta will be pleased to hear."

Claudia nodded along. Victor probably had the budget afford trying to get the pilot on their payroll, but this all assumed they were willing to work with the government. Time would tell, she supposed.

"By the way Victor, what was all that about the 'Beast of America'?" She questioned, raising a curious eyebrow. "That's some pretty intense choice of wording there, not sure it's what our speech writer's would have come up with."

Victor turned his gaze back to Claudia again, the two of them now resuming their seats, the clapping having come to a close with the next speaker getting prepared. "Our enemies sent Hell itself to our shores. The people are absolutely terrified, and how could they not be? How do you stop being scared of monsters and beasts?"

Claudia stared back and sighed. "By becoming one?" She asked, already expecting the answer.

He chuckled in response before turning his gaze back out to the audience. "Don't worry about the speechwriters. It's going to become politically popular very soon, because for as angry as me, you, the President, or any of these heroes may say we are? None of us are more angry than America and her people."

Whilst heroes, politicians, and businessmen participated in the memorial, off to the side Douglas MacNamara flipped through a few messages on his phone. He looked up long enough to listen to Cannonade's speech, smirking a little to himself before going back to sending a reply text message. 'And a special team run by Super Roma's Number 1 no less. Interesting. Very interesting...' He thought to himself.

'One more thing to keep our eyes on.'



Club Shapeless: Atlas City

The door's of the meeting room opened gently, giving way to the sight of a masked figure standing on the other side.

The Shape.

There was the briefest moment of silence before he granted a bow of his head to Vicki Vortex. "Vicki, pleasure to see you again. Won't you come in?" He said indicating to the meeting room. Kiran was absent currently, but as Maxwell allowed the rocker in, retaking his own seat at the table, he set to work in assisting Miss Vortex in her task.

"Lab Rat isn't here at the moment, as you can see. But what is it you'd like to speak with them about? Perhaps there's some way I can be of assistance."



Roof of the Galliant Building: Atlas City

Richard's mouth swung open about as fast as Sairyn's had.

What was this guy's problem? Richard was about to snap something back at the guy, but bit his tongue on remembering that Sairyn was the one with the drone's that Richard currently needed. It wasn't made any easier though by the inclusion of unrequested software being sneakily put on his phone. Of course, this was ignoring all the data collecting software likely already on the phone when he bought it...

"Alright, alright, I got it. And the thing doesn't like 'made up words'? Is that supposed to be a special 'feature' or something?" He remarked mostly rhetorically. It was a slight dig, Richard found he couldn't help himself in the face of the tinker's choice of wording, which the icy hero found to be somewhat grating.

Richard pulled out his phone and started to get the software running, and once it was operational, he spoke some brief orders. "Uhh... Tracer; fly to the rooftop of the Galliant Building in Atlas City."

He heard some shouting from the other end of his earpiece, something about poison? "Are... You alright? What was that about a... Tongue?" He asked confused.

"I'm sorry, your request for 'tongue' cannot be completed as requested." Tracer chirped through his phone.

"Disregard that Tracer. Please come to the roof of the Galliant Building." He heard Klaus's voice come through the other end as well, and quickly muted his phone so Tracer wouldn't get any more confused.

"Thanks Klaus, see you shortly."

After he felt confident things were settled and that the drone was almost in position, Richard snuck out of the elevator and carefully made his way across the roof, with the thick, cool fog encompassing nearly the whole area. As it spread out over the roof, it began to leave a thin coating of frost on the surfaces it touched, giving them a slight glimmer.

Richard wasn't sure if his plan would work, but since he couldn't see someone that was invisible, he figured seeing something frost covered would at least bridge the disadvantage.