2226/Space Plague

Space Plague
Date of Scene:	13 May 2015
Location:	Paragon City <CoH>
Synopsis:	Dr. Vasilikos invites various heroes to help find a cure for his father's mysterious ailment. But uninvited guests bust into the lab!
Cast of Characters:	Maya, 414, 626, 758, 768, 769

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Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Vasilikos Laboratories has various branches in various areas of Paragon City, but the main laboratory is located on a small island just outside of Independence Port. The teleportation network is used to great effect to regulate access, making sure only heroes in need of medical aid have instant entry capabilities. Even doctors need to clear a security office in Independence Port before they can either take a boat or teleport into the laboratories. This is not just a hospital, after all. It's a repository of some of the most sophisticated medical technology on the planet, and a place for developing more of the same, studying exotic illnesses, and trying to better treat the heroes of the world. That means there's a lot of stuff here that people would probably rather not fall into the wrong hands.

    Those coming to the conference today to share their knowledge of space-borne illnesses or potential treatments thereof have already been given clearance, and presumably passed security checks to ensure they are not secretly Lord Recluse here to kill everyone. The laboratory is a large facility, almost a small city unto itself, but not QUITE to that scale. A more apt comparison would be a fortified compound. A fortress or castle, except meant for medicine and research instead of war or habitation.

    While some parts of the facility have the white coloration one would expect of a hospital, steps appear to have been taken to make sure that other colors of various pleasing shades have been introduced, so that not everything is glaring white. Various stripes line the edges of the walls near the floor and ceiling, color-coding each area to aid in navigation. Blue, green, orange, and red. Red is an area for emergency medical treatment, surgery, decontamination, and similar. Green is for less intensive treatment, recovery rooms, storage of medical supplies, etc. Blue is an area safe for anyone to venture in, within reason. Meeting rooms, doctors' offices, rest rooms, waiting rooms, examination rooms, and rooms for patients out of the critical stages of recovery...

    Then there's Orange. Orange is off-limits to most people. It's the area for the containment of hazardous organisms or materials (usually extracted from or accompanying a hero in need of treatment), top-secret hero medical records, experimental devices and research, and other things that not just anyone should be exposed to.

    Today, the conference is occurring in a meeting room in the Blue sector. Dr. Vasilikos has various documents laid out in front of him as he sits at the end of a long wooden table, leaning on his elbows, with his fingers interlaced below his chin. A white board hangs on the wall behind him, and (fake) potted plants are situated in each corner. Compared to the last time he was seen by some here, he looks a bit haggard. Perhaps he has not been getting enough sleep.

    People coming on the business they were invited on will be shown to this room as they arrive. Anyone else will need to explain why they are if they are not patients.

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    It is extremely fortunate for Krezentia that she does not exactly catch the eye. The 5'10 blonde Magi could pass off as a random college student and nobody'd know better-- if she wanted. And today, she does want. She's skipped the makeup; no thick purple lines under her eyes, revealing instead two linear, only somewhat visible scars going down from her eyes to her cheeks. Her hair is brown, her eyes are brown, and she's wearing a brown t-shirt, no jacket. Black cargo pants, combat biker boots.

    It's unlikely, see impossible, Paragon's forces would have been able to find her profile based on her current appearance, which is basically her goal. As for what she brings to the table, it would have been summarized as 'I've been in the Multiverse a long-ass time'. She's using an arbitrary and made-up alias, one she likely won't be using again anyway.

    Thus we will find Krezentia in the conference room, once she's shown the way. Her interest is actually significant; she's been exposed to a horrible space plague before. Space zombies. The WORST damn kind of space plagues. Almost had to cut her arm off. Thankfully that was resolved, but yeah. Conference on this shit? Sure, let's see what's up.

    Maybe they have interesting new tech to protect people.

Revan (414) has posed:
     Across the table for the Magi was another woman only an inch shorter, with platinum blonde hair pulled up into a loose ponytail, her arms folded across her chest. Instead of her robes or even her commando uniform, the Jedi often known as Lowri Shan blended in reasonably well after spending enough time in Paragon City. Fortunately, no one had given her the strange looks on the necessary shopping trips.

     For this meeting, the Guardian was dressed in a quarter-sleeve white dress shirt and tie, with deep navy-blue slacks and loafers. Not the most battle-ready attire, but it was better for the moment to blend in. And if things /did/ turn unexpectedly sour, she was accompanied by her utility droid, T3-M4, who was silent save for an occasional soft electronic warble. It was in hidden compartments on the squat droid where her lightsabers were stored.

     It might have been strange for a Jedi to have been present for this meeting, but Revan's experiences were rather unique. Several years ago, she had dealt first-hand with a particularly nasty plague which almost always resulted in mutation into an unthinking, vicious rakghoul. How the plague came about, no one seemed to know....but the serum was one of the most desperately sought-after acquisitions on Taris. At least, before the Sith bombed the entire planet to hell. But it might be that, while she could do nothing for the doomed planet, her experience might be of some help in the present.

Maya has posed:
Once again the Blue Witch is on the job, she knows there's a city of heroes here but it seems they need all the help they can get somedays. So here she hat and witch and all. She's more here to help keep an eye on thigns should something. She's come to be added security should they need it nothing more than that. Maya's also quite the experiance healer and has experiance with some magical forms of sickness as well.

Cory (768) has posed:
    Cory's by no means an intellectual. But she has come from Toki Toki City bearing a briefcase full of notes, blueprints, designs, medical information for dozens of non-human species.

    Toki Toki City's hoping that this will improve relations and draw some attention to their own plight.

    But she's in step with Maya for now...

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Indeed, Krezentia is unknown to Paragon City, as well as to Vasilikos Laboratories' own records. But like the others, a special pass is being given this time around. Even complete unknowns are welcome provided they have an interest in helping. Check in, say why they're here, and as long as they aren't a known villain or obviously associated with criminal elements, they should get a friendly escort to the conference room by way of a nurse. Sure, there's security in place... Private security, at that! They even their own personal psychic super hero, Cortex! But the security is not focused on the guests of Dr. Vasilikos, and more on threats from the outside. People like Krezentia have insight and experience from outerspace AND the Multiverse at large that could help unravel the current mystery. Complicating her visit with paranoia would be counterproductive for everyone.

    Lowri Shan has met Dr. Vasilikos before. She was one of his rescuers when he was kidnapped by the mutants known as the Outcasts. She is most welcome here, especially given her experience and expertise. Her droid may have gotten a look or two due to slightly less common presence of robots in casual situations around Paragon City, but T3-M4 is in good company and looks nothing like the dangerous Clockwork or various other machines known to menace the city. Not a word of protest is uttered.

    The Blue Witch is likewise known to the doctor, not only from her exploits within the city, including foiling a recent bank robbery, but also for being part of the group that rescued him before. Her healing magic is no doubt something that a man of science like Demetrios can not easily reproduce on his own, and thus her providing it adds a new element of treatment that might wind up being what's needed to deal with the problem at hand.

    The experience and research that Cory brings to the table is also, much like the others, invaluable. While Primal Earth has had its share of alien visitors and even invaders, an actual organized delegation from another race is not something they've really seen yet. They've had people from other dimensions cross over, and yet intelligent extraterrestrial life from their own dimension is rare. There WAS that incident with the mysterious world-devouring being called Shiva, way back in 1989, but it never reached Earth and was not the sort to chat. An alien representative of an organization tasked with defending all of space-time is a huge step forward diplomatically, as far as Paragon City officials are concerned.

    As each individual arrives, Vasilikos greets them with a smile, a nod, and words of welcome. Those he knows may receive something extra. Like a 'Good to see you again', or 'I hear you have been quite active in keeping the peace. My gratitude.' Even the one he does not know at least get a 'Thank you very much for coming.'

    Once all have gathered, the doctor launches right into the purpose of the meeting. "For those who may not know or remember me, I am Dr. Demetrios Vasilikos. There is a patient I am treating afflicted with an infection suspected to be of extraterrestrial origin. The patient's condition has rapidly deteriorated almost immediately after the symptoms of illness began to show themselves. He is in dire need of a cure or at the very least something to reduce the disease's advance. You have all come because you wish to help, and have experience or resources that can be of aid. For that I think you sincerely. You will find a folder in front of each of you with the details, though if you do not grasp the nuances and details, that is fine. After you've had a chance to read, please, let's begin with this young lady to my right, and go around the table until we have shared our thoughts."

    The doctor indicates Krezentia first.

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    Krezentia... does not know anyone else here. Uh, well, she's spotted Cory on Reptilon, she guesses? And last night? But 'spotting' and 'this guy is loud on the radio' isn't really the same as 'knowing'. So, fish out of water. Probably for the best, really.

    The Magi opens the folder. Oh. Oh god that is a lot of medical jargon. Science jargon. She thinks some of this might even be jargon jargon. The worst kind of writing. Absolutely, thorough the worst.

    And then she is put on the spot.

    "My first thought is to ask where the hell he contracted Alien Ebola. That stuff doesn't magically pop up. He had to have touched or been exposed to something. My second thought is to ask whether or not you've considered SUMMARY EXECUTION yet."

    A pause.

    "And please don't act like you don't probably have a couple of guys in military suits demanding you isolate and/or kill this guy already. Maybe they call you maggot while they do it, I don't know."

    I am a real scientist please believe me.

Revan (414) has posed:
     Even as Krezentia 'blows her cover' as it were, Revan didn't so much as bat an eye. Some years go, if there had been something similar infecting the Sith fleet, she would have had them quarantined and possibly used as a weapon of a sort. It didn't necessarily mean the woman opposite her would act on it...or maybe she would, but it was too soon to tell for the moment.

     Not to mention she /did/ have a point. How in the world had the elder Vasilikos contract the alien disease?

     Likewise, the Jedi wasn't that much more versed in specific jargon, having T3 pass her datapad to her to research what she wasn't terribly clear on. Not to mention her vision had been sacrificed a little: those who had met her before would notice that her eyes were the same colour, a slightly lighter blue from contacts that she was still not used to wearing. Having mismatched eyes was an easy way to track her, one she often had to take pains to hide if she wanted to keep from standing out. But hiding them meant wearing things which tended to make her eyes sting.

     "Has the patient shown signs of genetic mutation?" she asked, looking up from the files. The stark white of the page was wearing on her eyes as well. "Where did it originate, exactly? And is it natural, or some form of biological weapon?"

Cory (768) has posed:
    Receiving praise and thanks is a bit embarassing to Cory, oddly enough. She scratches the back of her head, sprouting an unusual faint blush. All this praise about keeping the peace when she was treating it as an excuse to get punchy...

    "Yeah, I remember you from earlier. ... Hoping... something in this package will be helpful, 'cuz I'm no doctor. Brought everything Capsule Corporation has gotten on several dozen races and medical files, devices, stuff I've never even heard of. All readable."

    There's actual apology in her tone. "Warrior here, not a doctor. But at least I'M here hoping to help."

    She ends up staring at Krezentia, doubt rather evident. As though she's accusing her of just being a troll.

Maya has posed:
Maya is just here to offer magical healing information it it's needed she's also here to help should anything go on, right? Shge seems to be in a fairly good mood however Shes' taking a looka t this infection and she pauses she's not sure waht the heck to make of it it doesn't behave like anyything she's got experiance with. She wonders if her magic can find the root cause of it however?

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The doctor's eyebrows go up at the suggestion of execution, but he waits for Krezentia to finish what she has to say before responding. "The patient in question is believed to have contracted the infection while treating a space-faring hero by the name of Captain Comet. We have been unable to contact that hero since his treatment. I am told he is on a deep space mission of some kind. As for 'summary execution', putting aside the matter that, as a doctor, I am sworn to better and preserve live, not end it, I would be personally opposed to killing him simply due to an illness. I am attempting to do all that I can to save his life, not to terminate it. Your concerns about containment are valid, however. He is already sequestered in the bio-hazard containment area of the laboratory."

    Lowering his hands to the table, Demetrios says, "If this bio-hazard becomes a threat to others, we will do what we must. Hopefully before any officials of THAT sort get involved." While Demetrios's words and tone remain calm, collected, and logical, he does seem a bit more tense at the idea that he might have to 'execute' the patient. And also perhaps the idea that military/government types might attempt to force the matter. That may not be something he considered before now.

    Next, he turns his attention on Lowri. "The exact origin of the infection is unknown, only the carrier who exposed the patient to it. It has some very unusual and unpleasant symptoms that COULD be the result of mutation. The patient's cells are being crystallized in areas, and that crystallization is then growing to penetrate other tissues, organs, even bones. We have had to perform multiple invasive surgeries to remove or attempt to contain the crystallized flesh, but the infection is spreading to other areas as time goes on. At this point, we are just scrambling to buy time by removing the crystalline growths and keep them from damaging vital organs."
    The doctor shakes his head and asks rhetorically, "What kind of mutation would be required to harden the cells into a mineral-like form? Is it designed to behave this way, or is it a naturally occurring affliction on another world? I do not know. But multiple attempts at treatment that have served to save heroes with similar exposure to bio-weapons, parasitic organisms, and even some magical illnesses (though that is admittedly not my area of expertise) have only resulted in the infection growing more unpredictable in its spread and growth rate."

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    At Cory's offering of the research material, the doctor's eyes light up a bit. However, that dims when he remembers the reason why this research material is being provided. Not to sate his curiosity. He listens as Cory explains, and begins perusing the data. Namekians? Regenerators with mystic healing abilities? Beings who can survive nearly any form of injury? Rubbery 'Majin'? Saiyans, growing stronger with every recovery? Rejuvenation tanks, energy capsules, senzu beans... All manner of possibilities to explore. Fascinating, and a wealth of new opportunities. Hopefully they will be more effective than the technology they have here, which seems to only make the problem worse.

    Nodding his head thoughtfully, Demetrios looks up when Cory finishes, and says, "You do not need to be a doctor to save a life. Your heart is in the right place, and the information you bring with you looks quite promising. Thank you." He decides not to get involved in any staring contests, though if too much animosity results, he may have to offer a gentle reminder why they're all here.

    Vasilikos turns to Maya, who seems to be examining the files closely. While waiting for the Blue Witch to offer her thoughts and what she might be bringing to table, and he explains a bit further. "In the end, the one who might best be able to answer our questions about the disease's origins is off in another solar system, perhaps even another galaxy. I will begin investigating all of these possibilities. And I will make sure to take extra precautions to prevent either an outbreak among the general population, or overzealous officials attempting to pressure for termination when we have not done all that we can--"

    Suddenly, a red light starts flashing in a light fixture overhead. The doctor looks up almost immediately and starts reaching for his cellphone. It rings before he can even get it out of his pocket. Flipping it open, the doctor turns away a little bit in his chair and says tensely, "Vasilikos here. What's going on?" Whatever he hears doesn't seem to please him very much.

    He looks up and around at the others present and says, "I'm with several heroes in a conference room in Blue sector." A few more seconds of frantic messages on the other end of the line, then he says, "I'll tell them. Yes, just make sure to get somewhere safe. Yes."

    Then he hangs up and turns to Krezentia, Lowri, Cory, Maya, and T3-M4, and says, "We have intruders. Security is trying to deal with them, but they have come in force. A death-cult known as the Skulls hijacked a boat and forced their way into the building through a loading bay. Another group, mutant gang members calling themselves the Outcasts, have somehow managed to infiltrate Orange sector. That's where our most sensitive files, research, and bio-hazards like my fa--Like the patient we're discussing are located. Could I ask for your assistance in dealing with this problem before anyone gets hurt? Cortex should be trying to deal with the Outcasts right now, but he might not be able to take them all by himself."

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    "Hey, I'm here to help. Ish," Krezentia answers Cory, smiling, before turning to the doctor again. "So, okay. Let me level with you here. This Captain Comet guy just sort of GOES TO SPACE as a matter of course. And for whatever reason he isn't wearing an airtight suit, or it got damaged, or Space Ebola can go through clothes. So now you have someone who's sick with Space Ebola, and Captain Comet is just OFF, god fucking knows where, IN SPACE AGAIN, possibly contaminating every last person he comes in contact with."

    Arm cross.

    "Is Captain Comet's superpower being dumb?"

    HELPFUL. Okay maybe not.
    But this is VERY entertaining to the Magi.

    Red lights start flashing, which is very unfortunate because she wanted to keep prodding people about this. AH WELL!

    "And now we have TWO gangs of supervillains trying to break in? That timing, holy shit. They known to work together like that?" Not that it matters. People to smack is people to smack regardless of the logo on their clothes.

    "Sure, sure. I'll go out, play with the Skulls. Loading bay, right? You actually care to get the boat back in one piece?"

    She'll be off as soon as that's answered. Possibly before, if it delays too much. Off to the loading bay!

Revan (414) has posed:
     Once again, Lowri had to agree with the totally a scientist across from her. "Not the most delicate way to put it, but that's a good point. There should be some sort of system in place to decontaminate space travellers, at least to prevent any more unpleasant surprises from making it past entry."

     An infection which essentially crystallises its host was something well beyond even Lowri's experiences. "I have to admit this sounds more like a type of contamination than a disease," she admitted out-loud. "My experience is with an infectious disease which mutated its hosts into...well, the only word for it is non-sentient monsters capable of spreading the disease through their bites." That is, if they didn't completely shred and devour their victims. But no one needed to know that. "I don't have the treatment serum on me, but I /did/ have it analysed. To be honest, I'm not certain how much help it would be, but it might be a start."

     The Jedi shook her head, almost in disbelief. "But it's resisted /all/ attempts to cure it? As reluctant as I am to come to this conclusion, it has all the makings of a biological or chemical weapon."

     Unfortunately, it would seem the conference wouldn't have the time to discuss it further once the two-pronged attack was underway, whether it was due to the two groups deliberately working together or not. "Great," Lowri muttered, passing her datapad back to T3 and fishing out the case for the contacts. Just because she /could/ fight blind didn't mean she wanted to. "Always an interruption..."

     "Orange sector, was it? Time to go greet our old friends, it seems," Revan quipped as she headed down that way, trading the contact case for her pair of lightsabers. "Hope you've been keeping up on your combat protocols, T3!"

     The little droid's electronic snort might have sounded like a vaguely sarcastic reply as he trailed behind, managing to keep up quite well.

Cory (768) has posed:
    The ALARM going off gets Cory doing something weird. "WAH!" She rockets up out of the chair and... hovers over the table, startled. But she clamps down on that rather girly expression of shock quickly and flips around to land on the ground again. "The Skulls AGAIN? Lemme at 'em. They're gonna regret butting in on this!"

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Revealing Captain Comet's powers would unfortunately be a breach of doctor/patient confidentiality, among other things. The poignant points made by Krezentia and Lowri are definitely things to consider. However, the doctor is unable to explain in full detail. He does manage to get out, "A breach in the Captain's containment suit may have been what exposed the patient, actually. He is never seen outside of it, so our decontamination procedures may simply not have reach inside. A foolish oversight, I admit. But given that we did not become aware an infection had occurred until days AFTER the hero completed treatment and returned to space, it's possible that he might be afflicted as well. If it's a biological or chemical weapon... That could explain why we haven't been able to contact Comet. He may already be incapacitated or worse."

    There are huge gaps in protocol and treatment ever since the Rikti War ended. A lot of infrastructure has been damaged, and they are short-handed on a lot of staff. But Demetrios's father should have knowmn better. Krezentia and Lowri both make very valid points in that regard. Still, now is not the time for placing blame.

    Standing up from his seat, Demetrios moves to follow along with the others heading for Orange Sector. Escort mission go!

    "They are not known for working together, no. The Skulls are associated with drug trafficking, and death magic for their more powerful members. But I have no idea how the Outcasts could have gotten so deep into the facility. Their powers, even at their strongest, are elementally-oriented. They have neither the abilities nor the know-how to bypass security systems on their own." He shrugs at the question about the boat. "They're already in the building, and the owner of the boat would probably want it returned to them, but if it is needed to save lives, do what you must."

    Krezentia and Cory are able to quickly make their way downstairs to a cargo loading bay by virtue of the most high-tech of all inventions: the elevator. Various crates are stacked up all over the place, as well as smooth metal cylinders, and other sciencey-looking things one might find in a hospital/fortress's warehouse. Guys in skull masks made out of real human bone are fighting with private security guards. Some use fists, some use melee weapons like axes and baseball bats and sledge hammers. Some have handguns, and the tougher-looking ones have shotguns and submachine guns. One muscular looking man in a sleeveless jacket is standing in the back, watching over his colleagues at work. He's slamming one fist into the palm of his other hand.

    "These fools will regret interfering in our business!" the Boss calls out.

    A Gravedigger Slammer next to him makes taunting gestures at the security guards while they fight, and replies with, "You got that right, Skellington!"

    The loading bay doors are almost fully closed, though they are open just enough that the Skulls likely were able to duck under and enter the building that way. There are bodies visibly lying around outside, and the scent of salt water on the air.

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    "High five, lady," Krezentia says towards 'Lowri', lifting a hand up. Whether or not Lowri takes the chance to highfive the Magi is up to her! Krezentia will be off shortly though. If you have to know, though, it's because exposing critical flaws in the crassest of ways possible is basically Krezentia's hobby, and they're agreeing right now!

    She wouldn't blame the doctor for disliking her for it. Probably deserves it, really. But hey, it's not HER fault this Captain Comet guy just dragged Space Ebola to Earth and now it's an issue. Some might argue at least it's contained right now. Krezentia would argue Captain Comet is still on the loose. She's changed her mind, the poor guy who got infected shouldn't be executed.

    That hero should.

    Anyway, boat expendable. Got it.

    Krezentia and the Saiyan head to the loading bay; the closer they get, the wider her grin. And once they burst in, she straight up jumps in front of the skull-masked goons, pointing at herself. "ORE..." And then extending her arms fully, striking a pose. "... SANJOU!"

    A pause.

    "Nope. That doesn't work. Ugh."
    Twin blades appear in her hand, one white, one black with red hexagons; she twirls them once, the curved blades obviously patterned after the Yin and Yang symbol. Her new gameplan? "WITTY CATCHPHRASE!"

    She dives into the fray. Her swordsmanship is pretty surprising-- there isn't a single one of those blows that isn't aimed to be lethal. She doesn't really make an effort to save the security guards. She's just happy enough to hack and slash through the more generic forces for now. That bigger, beefier boss guy can wait.

Maya has posed:
THe Blue Witch looks the information over for a moment longer.

"It might be some sort of curse or magical issue with the paitent. Things of this nature however I only have a little bit of experiance with. I'd need to take this to a few healers I know to see what they could make of..."

She never gets a chance to finish as the arlarm goes off and some people are going for the Skulls alredy.

"I'll head to the servers then, we don't want the Outcasts making use of the information there to further whatever changes are happening to them!"

With that the Blue Witch is heading out.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Meanwhile, Maya, Lowri, and Dr. Vasilikos all head to Orange sector. Elevators take them there as well. There are security guards around the elevator, and others fighting in the halls. Vault-like doors can be found every once in awhile off one hall or another, and bullet/energy beam-proof material serves as windows for observation in some rooms. Maya guessed the reason the Outcasts are here with great insight, thanks to putting together the pieces. The reason they came after the doctor before was to get a geneticist to enhance their mutant powers. Maybe they're after someone or something else here that can do the same! Still, the question of HOW they got in here is still a mystery!

    Lower-level Outcasts who have awakened their powers are occasionally shooting streaks of flame or ice bolts, but there's another hero here ahead of this group who is taking down these minion-level opponents with psychic blasts! Cortex, a blonde-haired hero in a dark purple and black costume, is unleashing telekinetic blasts and psyche-damaging telepathic attacks left and right, but he's not exactly up to taking lots of hits. And if there are Lieutenants or a Boss further in, teaming up might be necessary to take them down!

    Demetrios warns, "There are very delicate and dangerous things in this wing. Please avoid causing too much damage to our surroundings!"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra is laaaaaaate. Her chemistry professor had only wanted to talk 'for five minutes' which turned out to be anything but five minutes and anything but a talk. A spirited debate, maybe, on whether or not using extraversal ingredients in the assignments counted as extra credit, but definitely not a /talk/.

    She approaches the labs on her Chocobo summon matrix, which is sure to turn a few heads in these parts unless giant yellow ostrich-sized riding birds are common around Paragon City. By the time she reaches the hospital, all ready for some SCIENCE, she finds she has what looks like total chaos to deal with. A death cult ramming the dockside loading bay, security running around everywhere, cats and dogs, living together! At this point, as she hops off the chocobo (which disappears in a flash of green light afterwards) Kyra decides that maybe she should keep her riding goggles on. Just in case. Between that and her moogle-eared hood, it conceals her face well enough. She mutters something into the Syndicate band before slipping inside, her needlegun drawn.

Revan (414) has posed:
     As much as she agreed that setting up some additional safety measures was necessary, Lowri did have to reassure the good doctor that she wasn't necessarily blaming anyone. "Contingencies happen, and I understand you've just come out of a war so some protocols have broken down in spite of best efforts. It's just a suggestion to keep in mind," she replied with her best charming smile. "I think one crisis at a time is more than enough."

     Sadly, the Jedi isn't completely up on some of the multiverse's expressions, so the 'high-five' bit went over her head. "I'll have to look up that expression, I'm a little new here," she admitted sheepishly, saluting with two fingers before heading down to go knock some Outcast heads together to say hello.

     Only, carefully. Letting any pathogens out of this area would be every bit as bad as Captain Comet bringing back 'Space Ebola'.

     "You can count on us, Doctor," she said before igniting her lightsabers with the characteristic snap-hiss, turning an almost predatory grin on the troublemaking Outcasts as T3 got to work countering the fire bolts with extinguisher blasts. "Now now, boys," she quipped, using the blades to carefully melt a bolt of ice mid-air. "It's not good manners to play inside."

     To Cortex, she flashed a grin lacking the predatory edge. "We should probably stop meeting like this, hmm?"

Maya has posed:
Maya is now making for the orange sectior she hope she can stop them. She has to wonder though what they are going to deal with thiung. With the warning abotu keeping things intact it's going to limit some of her options. Still if she has to she'll fry the hardware rather than let the Outcast's have it if ti comes down to it. She's moving in and trying to deal with the various attacks from the otucast tha't new and she's going to attempt to bring up a chain of barrier spells for Cortex herself and Revan.

Golden engery would surround her allies and a strnge glowing rune would appear on the ground under their feet for a moment. Reven might feel something else like Maya's tapped something briefly but as to what? It was too brief to tell.

Cory (768) has posed:
    "Your business is out back with the rest of the trash!" Krezentia might be having trouble with wittiness, but it is NOT SO for the young woman who's accompanied her. She treats the Gravediggers and their colleagues to a fearless grin, slams both feet down into a martial arts stance... and erupts with crimson energy!

    As an opening volley, she simply pumps both arms forward and lets loose with a gust of invisible Ki - PURE WIND, for the most part. Although it hits like a sledgehammer.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The Skulls members are getting thrashed with swordsmanship, many of them seriously injured in the first few moments. Thankfully, they're in the middle of a hospital with a teleport network, and Cory's medi-porter should be online to act as a proxy, so the bad guys are already being teleported away before they can finish bleeding out or die. Hopefully, anyway. Some seem to be in pretty bad shape from the intentionally-lethal attacks. Plenty of gunfire comes Krezentia's way however. From scattering shotgun blasts, to rapid-fire submachinegun bursts, to single handgun shots. It seems the swordswoman isn't the only one fighting with lethal force!

    Thankfully, Cory is much more restrained. She's just shooting shockwave punches at people, and sending them flying. In short order, between Krezentia and Cory, it seems the number of people fighting has dropped from four-dozen to more like six or seven. Of course, that's counting the security guards who back off once the heroes get involved, or choose to take shots at the remaining Skulls with their guns instead of getting in the way.

    Kyra's ferry ride across from the mainland to Vasilikos Laboratories would have been over a lot faster if she had just ported there like the other heroes/guests, but they might not have let a giant bird into a hospital. Either way, it all turned out for the best, because she has arrived just in time to help out at the loading bay! As she slips inside, past where guards had fallen only moments ago only to be teleported to emergency treatment in Red sector, she comes up inside the warehouse like area... And right behind Skellington and his buddy! She's in a prime position to attack the Boss in charge of the Skull incursion!

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Demetrios appreciates the attempts to reassure him. He doesn't even resent Krezentia for what she said. Sure, it could have been phrased better, but the point was still valid. Either way, however, his focus is on the plight of those here in Orange sector. Including the patient they gathered here to help in the first place.

    Lowri's mix of lightsaber skills and the droid's fire-extinquishing blasts keeps collateral damage to a minimum. Cortex looks over when he spots Lowri, not sure if he fully recognizes her outside of her cloak and hood. But he seems to recognize the swords and voice at least, so he grins as he slams the sleep centers of an earthw-wielding Outcast and sends him into a slumber. "Most definitely! But it is good to fight alongside you again even so!" With the shields from Maya protecting both him and Revan, he is able to go up against a Brick and a Match with minimal damage resulting. The stone and fire-wielding mutants get taken down through a combination of sleep-inducement, then psyche damage, and then finally TK thrusts that blast them down the halls.

    Eventually, Cortex turns to Revan and Maya and says, "A small group of them went this way!" He gestures as he goes running down the hall. A sign that reads, 'Restricted Access Materials' is on the wall.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Haste, unfortunately, leads to pretty poor decisions-especially when Kyra is involved. Next time she'd definitely opt for the much easier teleport instead of waiting for a sloooooow boooooat. Additionally, if given the chance, she would have checked any fallen guards and bystanders for the usual suite of vital signs and injuries. She'll even administer some Potion injections via the needlegun for those who seem to be in even more of a need for healing. That is if they hadn't already been teleported to safety into the hospital.

    Fortunately for her, she finds herself behind the invading force of Skulls and it's an advantage she recognizes extremely quickly thanks to prior training on pre-emptive strikes at Alexander Academy. It also doesn't take too long to recognize who's obviously the leader of the skull-wearing thugs since Skellington is hanging out in the back, looking badass but not actually attacking anything. Grinning, Kyra lifts her free hand, calling her white magic to her, the intense field of magic particles around her shifting. A spinning, elaborate spell array lights up on the ground beneath Skellington, just as she way too cheerfully calls out to them:

    "Hey guys, what's goin' on in this thread!?" She pauses, "Oh, I know. HOLY!"

    Kyra drops the white magic spell right on the Boss, a bright flare of light filling the circular array beneath Skellington's feet and blasting upwards.

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    "Yeah well shut up," Krezentia barks at Cory, frowning. Point taken though, she is not very good at the whole catchphrases things. She needs to work on that. Thankfully, the time for that has passed! They have moved on from introduction catchphrases to battle one-liners. These are a lot easier.

    But for now, gunfire. Krezentia twirls the blades-- she is not superhumanly fast, or strong. She can still swing the swords around and catch bullets-- a few, a few dozen. The swords break. These are copies of copies, and in her hands they are far less likely to last.

    Krezentia is pierced by numerous rounds, which draw out red oily liquid rather than blood. She grunts angrily-- a purple portal opens underneath her and she just falls right in.

    The portal reopens above one of the still standing Skulls. Krezentia falls out of it-- her hair and shirt have changed to a silvery color, and her eyes to a glowing ice blue. She's glowing with energy! A weapon is fully charged.

    Her empty hand attempts to snag the mask off the man. It's cool, after all. Might be useful if she comes back. Go make some new friends. Her other hand just snaps closed.

    "LICH BOLT!"

    And outward from her, a wave of necrotic energy shoots out. It's equivalent to having Death cast on you. Not lethal if you matter, probably bad if you don't. But to make matters worse, assuming any of the Skulls succumb to the spell, their bodies crawl back up as zombies! Mindless, mook zombies, even weaker than the Skulls were. But hey, zombies anyway.

    It completely contrasts what Kyra just did.

Revan (414) has posed:
     Revan was not especially worried about 'outing' herself; her lightsabers and her heterochromia pretty much threw any such secrecy to the winds. And in Paragon City, there wasn't quite the need to conceal what she was...not to mention there seemed to be some heroes who had registered under the 'Adventurer' category who donned neither a costume nor took a superhero alias. Talking with one -- a redhead from a country called 'North Ireland' who had even been a convicted terrorist before going 'straight' during the Rikti Wars -- had been positively enlightening. If anything, separating her identities was for the mere sake of convenience.

     The Guardian was relieved that they were able to get some of that damage under control, but there wasn't any time to take a breather and thank the Force for miracles. Fast on the heels of Cortex -- with T3 fast on her own heels -- Lowri glanced at the sign in passing. "They're not as dumb as they let on," she remarked. "They know what they're after. Someone in their higher-ups knows what he's doing."

Cory (768) has posed:
    Gunfire pelts Cory for some of her assault, but she tanks through it. Both arms raised and guarding her face. Bullets strike flesh but dig in only a few centimeters, drawing blood but doing no appreciable damage. Another thug gets close with a club and hits her in the side, and that DOES knock her for a loop. She backflips expertly, still wreathed in crimson Ki... then sets into action.

    "HUAH!" A backhand sends one Gravedigger flying, but she *blips* out of sight only to reappear behind another. Those who Krez doesn't get too first, anyways.

    SLAP SLAP SLAP!

    Her goal? Send a bunch of them flying at each other in midair for the biggest HEADBONK in Paragon City recent history!

Maya has posed:
Maya has protected her allies as bes she could at this point.

"Let's get to it shall we?"

Maya's now moving to focus on just wrecking the outvasts day since her rather formidable attack spells for the most part are off limits here? She's going to focus up on slowing them down and tripping them up. No better yet she'll boost her allies. She takes the card in hand it glows red and as blue fire leeches from her body? She draws a secong this glows blue and will end up in the air? The spell will go off, Revan, Maya and Cortex might find thing seeming to be a bit slow save for eachother, when in trusht she's sped them all up. With the speed boost as it were handled MAya's tearing off after hte one who went after the records.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Kyra's Holy attack blasts the Bone Daddy and the Gravedigger up into the air, and he comes back down with a crash. His Minion buddy next to him fares less well, but Skellington gets back on his feat and calls out, "You heroes are done for!" as he blasts a burst of cloudy, death magic-generated negative energy from his hand at Kyra. He doesn't seem to be in top condition, at least! That was both a potent blast and a hard fall!

    Krezentia's attempt at theft doesn't go very well. The mask is seemingly glued to or perhaps magically stuck to his face. Given the magic these guys use, that isn't out of the question. He does get hauled around by the mask though for awhile, at least until the Lich Bolt is cast. Given their resistance to negative energy provided through their death-worship, even though Krezentia's spell takes out the remaining few Gravediggers and Death Heads, and returns them in a spooky zombie-like state, the Skulls might not be alllll the way dead. Or maybe they totally are. It's hard to tell the difference honestly. Either way, they won't last long as minions. Long enough to be ordered to attack, at least!

    The Gravediggers that Cory attacks are knocked out from the blows and knocked into a heap. Like the others who have been defeated, they quickly get teleported away. Now all that's left is the Boss... Better not let them him do what another Bone Daddy did the other day, and steal life energy from those around him!

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Cortex is starting to comment on Revan's observation, with, "Indeed. This does not seem like a random attack. Though I did not think they were so well-organized--" but then he gets a SPEED BOOST and is heading down the hall much faster than before. This is a surprise to say the least, but at least he gets to the destination faster. Unfortunately, Dr. Vasilikos is left behind quite quickly.

    The destination is a room that the Outcasts are trying to break into. A heavy-duty security door, with a keycode thing alongside it that seems to have been attempted to be gotten open through electrical manipulation unsuccessfully. Now a Lead Brick is punching the door with boulders around his fists, while a SECOND Boss cheers him on.

    When the good guys arrive, of course, the Outcasts stop working on the door and focus on the heroes.

    "Aw, man! Not again!" Polarity Shift complains before unleashing waves of lighting down the corridor towards them.

    The other Boss has nothing to say, just concentrates and causes mineral deposits to form all over his body, granting him armor made out of rocks. He's amping up his defenses before charging in!

    Thankfully, it does nothing against psychic attacks, and Cortex attacks the Lead Brick with mental shock attacks!

Cory (768) has posed:
    "Ugh. Too easy." Once the last one goes down, Cory goes backspinning and lands atop a crate. Crimson Ki still swirls around her, lifting stray packing peanuts and torn cardboard, among other scattered objects.

    Only the boss remains, and once Cory recognizes his attire and status... "Just go ahead and do that energy stealing thing. Didn't help the last guy too much!"

    Is she actually GOADING him into doing it, instead of taking the easy path and just taking him out now? Or... is this an attempt to intimidate the boss into just turning tail?

    Really hard to say at a glance, but she's taking a 'come get me' posture atop the crate, fists clenched at her side and one side turned towards the man. She's wearing the biggest smile ever.

    This settles it. Saiyans are just crazy.

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    In retrospect using death magic on the guys the doctor explicitely said were powered by horrible death rituals and magic was PROBABLY kind of stupid. Really stupid, in fact. Krezentia will happily concede this point if she is accosted about it.

    Sometimes you just have to own up.

    She lets go of the mask as soon as it becomes obvious this guy is firmly attached to the fashion accessory. Her hair turns golden, along with her shirt; her eyes flash green.

    She clenches her hands together, as though holding a sword; a brilliant, golden blade of mana forms in it, sized for two hands, made entirely of magic. No metal here, just a sword made of volatile, holy magic.

    It will be a bit difficult for her to power through the zombified slash still barely alive Skulls in the way of the big one (if any), given she lacks superhuman traits, but the large golden blade should give her an edge as she swings it wildly-- but still precisely enough to do damage. No lethal intent this time-- well, err. Except that one guy whose mask she tried to take. That guy, she actually makes effort to behead. Giff mask, plz.

    The 'boss' might get clipped, but she's actually leaving him to Cory. She's got her own goals right now! You know, fashion.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Bam!" Kyra pumps a fist as she sends the pair flying upwards. She is genuinely surprised, however, when she sees that Skellington is still able to get up and talk. "Oh yeah?! Not if-"

    This was it. The moment of truth! Kyra had actually spent a bit of time ever since that last conversation with Doctor Vasilikos about hero names and registration trying to figure out what her superhero name should be. It was tempting to just take her DJ name but that was a little too easy-and already equivalent to her elsewhere. But she did come up with SOMETHING!

    "Moo-Gal, the White Wind have anything to say about it!!" All in, no holding back, milking that moment for /all it's worth/ at least before she gets blasted with DEATH MAGIC. Fortunately as a white mage, she doesn't exactly have an elemental weakness to death magic. Then again, living things tend to have elemental weaknesses to death magic where she is from and Kyra definitely counts as a living thing.

    It blasts her backwards into the wall, which she thumps against roughly, but fortunately she doesn't not die to the death magic. She looks a lot worse for wear, though, sluggish and....well, she's already very pale to the point of looking sort of grey. She can't get any paler.

    Kyra peels herself off the wall and grasps something on one of her belts and lifts it in the air, eyeing Skellington. "You need to-"

    Whatever she was about to say stops suddenly when she spots Cory looming over a pile of defeated thugs and Krezentia pretty much looking like she just went super saiyan.

    From Kyra's limited exposure to super saiyans, golden hair + green eyes = super saiyan.

    After that awkward pause, Kyra finally tosses the cryogrenade-a device she made that releases a small, localized cloud of liquid nitrogen, at the Boss's feet.

Revan (414) has posed:
     Revan wasn't entirely certain precisely what Maya did the first time, but whatever it was had been something she was hardly going to complain about. Likewise, something akin to Force Speed seemed to have been cast on all of them, which made life considerably easier. "Thanks!" she called back over her shoulder as they were suddenly where they needed to be.

     And it looked like their Outcasts were attempting to brute-force the door. Literally.

     T3 helpfully zapped sprayed the Lead Brick with a carbonite spray to hopefully enought to slow him down while Revan attempted to absorb the lightning blasts with the lightsaber in her left hand. "You know, maybe it's time to consider a new line of work," she commented, tossing the lightsaber in her right, carefully guiding it towards Polarity Shift and decidedly /away/ from anything which could explode or release some nasty disease out into the atmosphere. After a run-in with exploding automobiles, the Jedi wasn't taking any chances.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The zombified Skull loses his head! Killing a defeated enemy is not heroic conduct at all! There will probably be consequences for that. At least his mask comes off when he dies. So it really was tied to his magic, most likely. The others are defeated more readily by holy stuff as zombies/maybe-zombies than as living people. It seems they had a resistance to negative energy when they were alive, but no real specific weakness, but as undead, they don't handle it as well.

    Soon enough, the only enemy left standing is Skellington. The Boss was focused on Kyra (aka Moo-Gal, The White Wind), but he turns his attention on Cory when she taunts him. He just masking a grasping gesture as though snatching something out of the air and attempts to steal some of Cory's own health to heal himself! He may not be running away, but he's not doing what he was challenged to either!

    Regardless of the success of that, Kyra's cryogrenade freezes most of the Bone Daddy in ice. One of his arms and one of his hands are sticking out of it, along with his head, as he is Held, and helpless. But already deathly energy is seeping out of him and erroding the ice. Perhaps he will be free soon if not finished off!

Cory (768) has posed:
    The sudden show of magic at first gets Cory's enthusiastic smile turning into a grin, but then... instead of feeling WEAKER like before, the wave of magic that strikes just makes her feel woozy and nauseous. Both legs weaken and wobble, forcing her to topple to her knees, grasp the crate's edge with her hands, and gasp for breath.

    "Blegh... you're... gonna pay for that one."

    Gathering strength in her limbs again, she takes a stance again with both hands cupped at her side... "Kame.... Hame.... HAAAAAAA!!!"

    It's sloppier than usual, but the hands she thrusts forward fill with bright blue-white power, firing a wave of power thick as a birch tree trunk!

    As usual, she's limiting the output to cut down on collateral.

Maya has posed:
Maya is moving pretty fast and is finding Reven is very unlike many force users she's known over the years. It's intresting and she hopes to catch her for a chance just to talk to her. When things are not ya know on fire or ending up in a chaotic battle. She moves to catch up with the Outcast. She moves to unleash water spelle sin focused bursts trying to down the outcasts.

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    There we go!

    Krezentia grabs the mask, as the Archbishop Saber disappears from her hands, dissipating. This isn't Super Saiyan power, although the fact she ends up looking like one is amusing. She'd kill to be superhuman like they are, but outstanding firepower will do too.

    Whether death has consequences or not wouldn't bother the Magi; if she wanted that mask, it's not just to hang it on her wall after all. Oh no. Next time the Skulls are out in force? Well.

    Cory and Kyra seem to have this in the bag. Krezentia grins, produces a piece of string and secures the mask to her head, and then places her hands behind her back.

    "This has been a fun outing! I hope you guys find Captain Comet soon. 'cuz, you know. Space Ebola and all that. Ta~!"

    A bright purple portal opens up behind Krezentia. She takes a step back and into it, and it then vanishes.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Cory stop posing and knock that guy out!" Kyra says as she scrambles to change the load-out of the darts of her needlegun. It's going to take some time since she had potion rounds loaded before to help with any injured guards and is switching out to a set of darts on the other bandolier crossed across her chest.

    She spies the ki blast that Cory throws and quickly dives for cover, unwilling to get caught up in that even if Cory is being 'controlled' about it.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Revan's lightsaber slips in and starts laser-swording the previously-encountered Lead Shocker, damaging him in several places. But being a Boss, he's made of sterner stuff than those around him, and it'll take more than even concentrated plasma to truly defeat him! Thankfully, his electric attacks seem to be being contained for now, but he lifts off into the air and flies forward to try to engage in electrified fisticuffs with the Jedi! The Droid's carbonizing spray manages to keep the rock-covered Outcast moving very slowly, and unable to close in for his own devastating melee attacks. Instead, when he realizes the problem, he lifts a foot and then brings it back down on the floor hard, sending some of his rock armor spreading across the ground only to erupt in a nest of stone spears around Revan -- and potentially stabbing those nearby her, like Cortex or T3 or even Maya!

    Cortex definitely gets stabbed a bit, but though he has holes in him where there should not be holes, he grits his teeth and does something he hasn't demonstrated the ability to do yet thus far. He makes strange gestures, and there is the sound of bird song echoing around the group suddenly. Then Polarity Shift interrupts his charge towards Revan... Turns in mid-air to look about in confusion... And starts unleashing electrified punches on his companion instead!

    "OW!" the Lead brick yells as he gets a lightning punch to the face. "WHAT THE HECK, MAN!"

    Then Maya shoots water on the electrically-charged bad guy right as he sets up a field of lightning bolts around his body to damage anyone nearby him! BZZZZZT! Both Polarity Shift and unnamed earth guy get electrocuted, and slump down to the ground.

    It seems THAT fight is over! But what's this? It seems Polarity Shift dropped something!

    Clue Obtained: A Computer Chip Implant

    'The Outcasts leader dropped this computer chip. It appeared to be implanted in his neck, but came out when he was defeated. It appears to be insulated against his electrical powers, so maybe it's still intact enough to learn something about it.'

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    As Krezentia leaves the scene, after leaving dead and undead bodies in her wake, anyone who is salvageable gets teleported away. Maybe even those who aren't. Meanwhile, it seems that Cory's Ki blast hits Skellington right as he begins to thaw, knocking him backwards and into the loading bay's reinforced door. It's dented, but not broken. If it was THAT easy to break, any villain would just bust through any time.

    The authorities may want to talk to Krezentia... But with her using an alias, she might be hard to get ahold of. Ultimately, Kyra is not smashed by friendly fire, Cory does not get to fight a life-charged Skull leader at boosted strength, but Krezentia gets her mask, and the threat of the Skulls and Outcasts attack is dealt with.

    Dun dun DUN dun dun dunnn... DUN!

    MISSION COMPLETE

Cory (768) has posed:
    "A SOLID HIT!" The authorities might want words with Krezentia but Cory, well, Cory's happy enough. Although she wobbles again, still woozy from having her lifeforce tapped into so crudely. "Everyone else alright? I saw Kyra hopping around!"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "I'm-not sure who you are talking about!" Kyra starts to say but quickly changes in mid-sentence, figuring she needs to keep her secret identity going. That IS how it works, right? "But I am fine." She'll be fine once she finishes downing a potion at least.

Maya has posed:
Maya is doing a pretty good job of keeping thigns under control for the moment. Maya's now got stone spears coming her way and she leaps hardf and fast. So fast her hat falls off and she has to keep going. She's able. She pauses as she moves to pick up the chip and wonders about what they got there.

"looks like a implant chip. We should get someone to take a look at it once we get these guys off to ... the hosptial and then lock up."

Revan (414) has posed:
     The stone spears themselves were a good indication the Outcasts weren't messing around. T3 let out a sharp indignant cry as one pierced one of his lower servos, rendering his front right wheel inoperable. After the fight, Revan was going to have to perform some makeshift repairs to get him mobile again. "I know, little guy," she called out. "These guys are tougher than some of the Sith. I never thought I'd see that!"

     Of course, she wasn't any more fortunate, narrowly avoiding impalement at the cost of the shin of her brand-new slacks. "Oh dammit," she ground out. "I /just/ bought these!"

     It was with some satisfaction -- if not consolation -- when Cortex employed his own domination of the mind to confuse the two Outcasts long enough for Maya's electrical field to finish them off. Powering down her lightsabers, the Jedi peered over at the chip Maya retrieved. "Hm. And it didn't even fry. Interesting."

     Tossing a grin to the group, she quipped. "Nice work, you all."

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    And for Krezentia because she is clearly not Blue Side.

    DUNNNN... Dunnnn... DUNNNNNNN!

    MISSION COMPLETE