Hero Academy #2: Whodunit

[Zarthrax]

FX grimaces. "I probably telegraphed that one, I'll give you that. Plan B." He flicks a switch on his gauntlets and starts taking potshots at various villains who aren't charging him...

Spoiler

Show

Also known as the Nothing's Sacred, Eager, and Lam. In that order.

[Mick_the_Rogue]

Powerhouse watches as the big man comes his way and then looks back towards Lam "You're not who I wanna fight" he said aloud, attempting to grab then man and then in a single quick motion, throw him towards Lam, hoping for a collision

[sun_tzu]

"Not today, Lam!" Improv says as he throws another object. This time, it explodes mid-air into a net, which catches the triad leader. While entangled, Lam barely manages to stay upright, and tries to aim another blast at Improv...which is when his eye catches something flying at him from the corner of his vision: Powerhouse's foe, whom the latter has successfully lifted and used as a thrown weapon. After a violent collision, the large thug gets up and jumps toward Powerhouse, trying to land another haymaker; once again, Powerhouse dodges. Lam seems completely out of it.
Leshi's attempts to stop Dicaprio from vibrating painfully don't really seem to be doing much except make it easier for him to hurt her...But the vibrations seem to stop for a few seconds when she manages to clock him in the face. In fact, he seems somewhat dazed.
"Nothing's Sacred" managed to land a punch on Sekhmet's stomach right before she takes off. It hurts ((one stun hit)), but not enough to stop her from taking to the air and launching her fireball at him. While he sees through her feint and dodges in the right direction, he still isn't quick enough. He screams from the pain, and looks up at you with hatred in his eyes (also, no clothes. And some second-degree burns). That's when a blast of kinetic energy from FX hits him on the head, causing him to spin in the air as he flies away before hitting the ground, unconscious.
The eager thug, still recovering from the bright flash, decides to focus on Improv. The spherical device (barely) blocks a superhumanly strong punch from him; he swats it away, and grabs Improv by the shoulder of his broken arm. You hear a cracking noise, and a groan of pain from Improv...

[Mick_the_Rogue]

Powerhouse watched the situation and shook his head, two down,, but three were remaining and definitely hurting two of the team

"FX, help the new girl out...And for the love of chinese food, someone get this guy off of me, he's not good for much more than a projectile" he said, with a single hand motion batting away the man's attack before going to help Improv

Powerhouse began to run and tried to put all his might into a single punch to send the eager thug flying "Peek-a-boo" he said, before his fist attempted to collide with the man, hopefully taking his attention away from Improv

[Green Bean]

Leshii grits her teeth as her blow seemed to do little more than daze the guy a little. Holding on tighter didn't seem to be working, so she decides to go with the opposite approach. She releases her grip on the thug, and reverts to a somewhat more human shape.

"I know you were enjoying that, but I just can't date a human vibrator. People would talk," Leshii taunts as she feints a right hook at her opponent, following up with a crushing head butt.

[Axelgear]

Sekhmet, however, has her hands full. Covering her stomach, she maintains a comfortable distance from the man below her and proceeds to further wallop him with fireballs "Sort of busy at the moment, myself!" She calls out, continuing to unleash an onslaught of fiery fury.

[Zarthrax]

FX grins. "Done and done." He starts shooting at Vibro Guy. "Didja know you could probably make more money legitimately by crushing grapes in Italy?"

[sun_tzu]

Sekhmet, however, has her hands full. Covering her stomach, she maintains a comfortable distance from the man below her and proceeds to further wallop him with fireballs "Sort of busy at the moment, myself!" She calls out, continuing to unleash an onslaught of fiery fury.

((Er, Axelgear? Your opponent is down. Unless you object, I'll assume you're blasting at the big guy.))

The Eager Thug seems about to crush Improv, when the latter pulls out...a can of mace, which he aims directly at the mobster's eyes. The villain screams in pain, not even seeing Powerhouse as he runs at him, sending him flying out of the ring and into a wall, leaving a crack there. He doesn't get up.
Dicaprio doesn't fare any better. Falling for Leshii's feint, he tries to dodge in the wrong direction; when her head extends at him like he missile, it's too late to get out of the way. He staggers for half-a-second before the blast from FX sends him flying to the end of the ring. Another one bites the dust.
The Big Guy seems ready to strike at Powerhouse again when Sekhmet's fireball hits him again. This time, he actually looks a little singed. Looking up at her, he hesitates for a moment, then readies himself to jump. In the next instant, he launches himself upward at a fantastic speed, ready to impale the feline heroine on his fist. This turns out not to be such a clever move. Sekhmet easily hovers out of the way. The thug ends his trajectory with his head embedded in the ceiling.

"That will be enough, I believe." Lady Sting seems completely unfazed, as she gestures toward what you're guessing is their first aid crew, who begin taking care of the Triad members. "Now, I believe I've promised to tell you more about Brick. Let's go back upstairs."

[Mick_the_Rogue]

Powerhouse smirks at the man flies back towards the wall, leaving a crack, he then looks towards Improv, his expression hidden beneath his mask "You alright?" he said looking over his shoulder towards the others as well, to see if everyone else was still in good shape

"Good job guys...now let's see where the rabbit hole takes us" he said, looking to see if Improv needed help, if not he'd continue forward, following Lady Sting, his gaze likely going up and down her subconsciously

[Green Bean]

"Nothing serious here," Leshii says, retracting her head. She shifts back into a non-elastic human, choosing the appearance of a petite brunette in a business suit. She'd never taken this shape before, and probably wouldn't again; this was the mob, after all. She trails Lady Sting and Powerhouse upstairs.

[Zarthrax]

Powerhouse smirks at the man flies back towards the wall, leaving a crack, he then looks towards Improv, his expression hidden beneath his mask "You alright?" he said looking over his shoulder towards the others as well, to see if everyone else was still in good shape

"Good job guys...now let's see where the rabbit hole takes us" he said, looking to see if Improv needed help, if not he'd continue forward, following Lady Sting, his gaze likely going up and down her subconsciously

FX grimaces. "That was a terrible movie. And they owe Lewis Carroll licensing fees..."

[Axelgear]

((Whoops, mis-read that. Yeah, just assume the Big Guy took the hit))

Sekhmet, who nimbly dodges the flying mass of meat, looks on with worry at the man trapped in the ceiling, and actively tries to help him out. When he is free, she smiles sheepishly and asks, accompanied by a nervous laugh, "Heh heh... No hard feelings?" Regardless of the response, Sekhmet flies over to the rest of the group and hovers nearby, not wanting to miss a word on this. After all, Brick knew something about what she is, and that is something that holds onto her curiousity.

[sun_tzu]

Sekhmet, who nimbly dodges the flying mass of meat, looks on with worry at the man trapped in the ceiling, and actively tries to help him out. When he is free, she smiles sheepishly and asks, accompanied by a nervous laugh, "Heh heh... No hard feelings?" Regardless

From the way he looks at you, you suspect there are hard feelings.

Powerhouse smirks at the man flies back towards the wall, leaving a crack, he then looks towards Improv, his expression hidden beneath his mask "You alright?" he said looking over his shoulder towards the others as well, to see if everyone else was still in good shape.

"Broke the shoulder bone" Improv winces. "I'll manage. And I'd say we did pretty well, considering."

A short while later, you're back in the lounge upstairs, and Lady Sting gives her explanation:
"There's probably no need to bore you with the publicly-available information about Brick. First generation mutant with super-strength and invulnerability ((first generation means he is himself a mutant; his biological parents are not)), turned to a life of crime at 17, got his first real notoriety at 23 when he killed a superhero during a bank robbery, joined the New Predators five years ago. You can read all that, with a greater level of detail, in his police records.
Now, one thing you need to know about the New Predators is that there's no clear-cut hierarchy, no clear definition of who the leader is. It ends up being a matter of strength. Leadership as changed at least four times in the last five years, and last I heard, their leader was Graviton, with Tsunami coveting his position. So, it's safe to assume Brick used his power-up to beat them up and establish himself as leader.
Now, the New Predators have ties to organized crime all over the city. They may have the firepower, but they lack the connections to make money efficiently. There is no lost love between us and Tsunami - the girl was from the Yakuza back in Japan before Doc Prometheus had her running scared - but Graviton had a few understandings with Lam.
When Brick showed up recently, we already knew he was the new leader of the New Predators, so we suspected he had become stronger. We were holding a minor celebration when he barged in, demanding new, more advantageous deals with Lam. You know the sort - percentages of our income as 'protection', exclusivity of certain work deals for the New Predators, that sort of thing. When Lam protested - as Brick clearly expected - the fight broke out. We weren't expecting Brick to go down easily, but we weren't ready for the power he displayed. He could fly. He had force-fields that blocked all of our attacks. His energy blasts didn't even leave ashes of those he hit. Lam surrendered, and agreed to all of his conditions.
You are, no doubt, wondering where it is that Lam got his new powers. I have been investigating it myself. Obviously, the first idea that occurred to me was that he was a particularly successful experiment of Dr Knack. The good doctor, unfortunately, would neither confirm or deny, and I can't help you find him. There is, however, another lead."
She pauses for a moment. "I have discovered that, on more than one occasion recently, Brick has entered this building" she points at a map. "A building that has been used as a hideout by Golden Dawn in the past, and may still be for all I know. I would suggest investigating that."

((Golden Dawn is the world's premier mystical villainous organization. Don't look too closely for ties to the real-world Golden Dawn.))

[Axelgear]

Sekhmet just frowns at this information. "Do you have any information on where Brick got his powers?" She blurts out, a bit annoyed that this is just another lead to another place where they will probably fight another bunch of bad guys. The mention of the Golden Dawn fills Sekhmet's heart with worry, as she's not exactly joyous over the idea of standing up to an organization that large when she's only... Her. An organization with that much power at its command could easily ruin her life...

[Green Bean]

Leshii raised her eyebrows at the mention of Golden Dawn. "So the signs point to mystical interference, do they? Tell me, does the name Kotos ring any bells?"

[sun_tzu]

"Do you have any information on where Brick got his powers?"

"I can speculate. I know that the powers he displayed seemed...A lot like those of the Avatar, or Upstart. Could be a coincidence, could be something else, but nobody knows the truth about these guys. Upstart's always claimed he was a demigod from another world. The Avatar's always kept his true nature secret.
I'm guessing the power-up was either something mystical linked to those Golden Dawn folks, or something scientific linked to Dr Knack. He's been doing a lot of research into superpowers over the last few years, and he works with the New Predators on occasion.
And no, I'm not going to help you find Dr Knack. He's far too useful to us."

((Upstart, as you might recall, is one of the members of Global Might, arguably the world's premier villain group.))

"So the signs point to mystical interference, do they? Tell me, does the name Kotos ring any bells?"

"Kotos?" She raises an eyebrow. "Never heard of him, I'm afraid."

[Green Bean]

"Fine. The address, per favore?"

[sun_tzu]

"Fine. The address, per favore?"

Lady Sting writes it down on a piece of paper and hands it to you. Not too far.
"Any further questions, or may we return to our own business?"

[Green Bean]

"Go ahead." Leshii flashes Lady Sting an obviously fake smile. "And take care of yourself. Hopefully you didn't set any precedents today."

[Axelgear]

Sekhmet steps in before the conversation can finish here.

"Wait... Upstart... Do you know where he is or how I could contact him?" She asks, looking hopeful at there being some sort of opportunity to find a clue to her deific origins.

[sun_tzu]

Sekhmet steps in before the conversation can finish here.

"Wait... Upstart... Do you know where he is or how I could contact him?" She asks, looking hopeful at there being some sort of opportunity to find a clue to her deific origins.

Lady Sting gives you an odd look. "Well, I imagine the best place to find him would be Global Might's headquarters in the Cryosphere. If you meet him, you might be incredibly lucky and have him kill you quickly."

((Yeah. It's a bit like asking where to find Doomsday, or Loki. Upstart's a top-level supervillain.
Of course, Sekhmet's character is supposed to have naiveté as a flaw... ))

[Axelgear]

Sekhmet frowns at this but shakes her head stubbornly. "He won't. There has to be some common cause here, after all. If Brick feared something greatly enough to take his own life like that, it wasn't going to be an easy thing to pass over... Upstart should at least want to hear me out, right?" She asks, looking about between those assembled.

"...Right?"

[sun_tzu]

Sekhmet frowns at this but shakes her head stubbornly. "He won't. There has to be some common cause here, after all. If Brick feared something greatly enough to take his own life like that, it wasn't going to be an easy thing to pass over... Upstart should at least want to hear me out, right?" She asks, looking about between those assembled.

"...Right?"

"I doubt it" says Improv. "I've never met Upstart personally, but from what I know, your odds of survival would be slim. If you actually got to meet him at all, which would be a big enough challenge in itself."

((I mean, it's the Cryosphere. That place is like the Rogue Isles. For those unfamiliar with City of Villains, imagine Latveria if the Society of Supervillains lived there.))

[Axelgear]

Sekhmet puzzles this over in her mind. "But there has to be SOME way of communicating with him, right? I mean, the Cryosphere isn't totally cut off from society or we'd not know anything about what goes on inside." She posits, trying to think of a way to get in contact with Upstart. "After all, even bad guys don't want to destroy the world. Where else would they keep their stuff?"

[Green Bean]

Leshii puts her hand on Sekhmet's shoulder. "Tell you what; once this whole Golden Dawn thing is finished, we'll put our heads together to find a way to get in touch with the baddies. But for now, we've got some wrinkled, bearded men and young, scantily clad women to question."

[Mick_the_Rogue]

Powerhouse nodded along listening to the others, shaking his head at some parts. He looked towards Leshii at her previous comment to Lady Sting and grumbled something.

"The Stretcher's right, we should get going..." he said getting up from the table and turning around towards Lady Sting, lowering his head slightly

"Thank you for the information...We shall not trouble this location again anytime soon" he said lifting his head back up towards her

"Should we meet on the street, in battle...I can promise that I will be a far more honorable opponent than your former employer..." he said looking back towards the others

"If there's nothing else...we should go see the wannabe Merlin's and what's in their magic hats" he said, assuming the others were ready, he would leave, with a nod towards the new gang leader, and his eyes looking across her briefly, unseen beneath his helmet

[sun_tzu]

Sekhmet puzzles this over in her mind. "But there has to be SOME way of communicating with him, right? I mean, the Cryosphere isn't totally cut off from society or we'd not know anything about what goes on inside." She posits, trying to think of a way to get in contact with Upstart. "After all, even bad guys don't want to destroy the world. Where else would they keep their stuff?"

((As to the Cryosphere...No phone lines, and Professor Cryo has Overseer (ruthless AI originally used by the KGB) watching to make sure no sensitive information is leaked through the Internet. The Cryosphere isn't completely cut off from the rest of the world, but it's close - except, of course, for the villains who come and go as they please.))

((Beside that. Shall we move the action to the next spot?))

[Green Bean]

((Ready whenever you are.))

[Mick_the_Rogue]

((Givwn that school is done for me for the next 4 weeks, bring on the superheroing!!!!))

[Zarthrax]

((Go right ahead.))