Hero Academy #3: Shades of Grey

[Green Bean]

"True. We should probably go along and help her. Not much we can do about Madman right now."

[sun_tzu]

((We'll assume, by default, that you all have communicators by this point...))

About then, a holographic picture appears in the Danger Deck - Techno-Paladin's way of phoning you, apparently.
"There you are. I'm on the Champions' HQ, and just saw Madman's transmission."

[Zarthrax]

"Any information for us, or are we in the same 'don't know crap' boat?"

[sun_tzu]

"Any information for us, or are we in the same 'don't know crap' boat?"

"Actually..."
For once, Techno-Paladin seems a little embarrassed.
"...What I'm about to tell you is going to seem utterly non-heroic:
Don't get involved.
Madman always pulls big, melodramatic crap like this. More often than not, the best thing to do is just let him. Things will return to normal eventually - but trying to stop him just leads to unnecessary headaches. I realize this sounds bad, but my advice is to just ignore whatever Madman is doing."

[Zarthrax]

FX nods sagely... "So he's acting out of a need for attention? Great premise, lousy execution..."

[sun_tzu]

FX nods sagely... "So he's acting out of a need for attention? Great premise, lousy execution..."

"Need for attention, love of chaos, twisted sense of humor, desire to challenge himself by pulling complex pranks...Hundreds, if not thousands of experts have tried to analyze his psychology. Regardless, I believe it's best to just ignore this particular prank.
...Say, where are Sekhmet and Powerhouse?"

((And Powerhouse's player?))

[Axelgear]

((I have no clue. Also, just posting to confirm I'm still here))

[Green Bean]

"I haven't seen Powerhouse all morning, and Sekhmet saw something in Madman's news crawl and took off. Probably something to do with White Knight. We were heading out to back her up."

[sun_tzu]

((Sorry for the delay, had limited Web access for a while there.))

"Hold it. White Knight? The mutant supremacist?" Techno-Paladin's attention perks up. "What's with him?"


Meanwhile, Sekhmet, flying at her high speed, reaches the area known as Queens...
...which just happens to be pretty large.

((As a reminder...You guys have communicators as default equipment.))

[Zarthrax]

"It said he was leading a 'mutant supremacist meeting in Queens today, Colonel Lopez close to finding where.' We should be worried, right?"

[sun_tzu]

"It said he was leading a 'mutant supremacist meeting in Queens today, Colonel Lopez close to finding where.' We should be worried, right?"

"Worried? Yes. But this might also be an opportunity to put some of those bastards behind bars.
Colonel Lopez...Rings a bell. Not sure who that is. But when you say 'it said'...what is this 'it' you refer to?"

[Green Bean]

"The news crawl from Madman's little announcement. Come to think of it, do we have TiVo here? I have a feeling some of those names that popped up are important."

[sun_tzu]

"The news crawl from Madman's little announcement. Come to think of it, do we have TiVo here? I have a feeling some of those names that popped up are important."

"News crawl?" Techno-Paladin sounds confused. "There wasn't any news-crawl...On our side, at least. Which would suggest..." He then gets pensive.

[Green Bean]

"...he's feeding us information for his own reasons. Which also means Sekhmet could be walking right into a trap."

Leshii quickly pulls out her communicator. "Sekh, are you there? We were the only ones who got that information about White Knight. You're walking into one of Madman's little pranks."

Of course, that still leaves the big question; who's he playing the prank on?

[Axelgear]

Sekhmet

Blazing through the sky, Sekhmet hears the communicator beeping faintly but just keeps moving, slowly picking it up and drawing it to her ear "Sorry, but if there's a chance I get to take this guy down, I have to do it..." She says, then hangs up and stays on course, hovering over Queens and moving at a slower pace over the area, looking for any signs of a congregation of people...

[Green Bean]

"Can you at least wait for backup? Techno-Paladin says there's nothing we can do about the Madman situation right now, so we can help you out. Besides... Leshii's voice drops into a seamless imitation of White Knight's. "...why make him into a martyr when you can make him into a laughingstock?"

[Axelgear]

Sekhmet just continues to search, taking a moment before responding. "No promises..." She feels the terrible pang of hesitation as Leshii says her warning but she reaffirms her devotion to finding him. At the very least, she has to find him before they get there...

[Green Bean]

"We're on our way." Leshii closes the channel and turns back to Techno-Paladin. "Sekhmet's being her usual cautious self, so we'd better hurry. Step one, we have to find the meeting before she does and tries to take them on on her own. I'd don't suppose you could just Google the guy..."

[sun_tzu]

"We're on our way." Leshii closes the channel and turns back to Techno-Paladin. "Sekhmet's being her usual cautious self, so we'd better hurry. Step one, we have to find the meeting before she does and tries to take them on on her own. I'd don't suppose you could just Google the guy..."

"I'm a bit of a hurry," says Techno-Paladin, "A large boat somehow ended up in Avalon's territorial waters, and that's a small crisis the Champions need to solve fast. But..." he's apparently checking some information, "the FBSA's website does mention a Colonel Lopez in their database. A member of the Meta-Force, on leave since several months ago. You can ask the FBSA if they can help you contact the colonel, but I need to run."

((The Meta-Force, as some of you may remember, is the super-powered branch of the US military, under the command of American Eagle.))

[Green Bean]

"Great. We should be able to handle it from here."

After TP heads off to save the free world, Leshii does whatever heroes do to get in contact with the FBSA.

[sun_tzu]

"Great. We should be able to handle it from here."

After TP heads off to save the free world, Leshii does whatever heroes do to get in contact with the FBSA.

After a quick call and ID confirmation, the FBSA give you the emergency number to call for Lopez's communicator.

[Green Bean]

Leshii dials the number, hoping someone will pick up on the other end.

"Colonel Lopez?"

[Akisa]

"Who is this? How did you get this number" Lopez replied in a whispering tone as if she did not want to alert anyone to her presence in the area and with a hint slight annoyance to her tone of voice.

[Green Bean]

Leshii keeps her tone conciliatory; the woman obviously wasn't expecting a call. "Er, this is Leshii, from Hero Academy. I contacted the FBSA to get this number. I've heard that you were working on a project involving the White Knight?"

Admittedly, she's probably never heard of us.

[Akisa]

Lopez paused for a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking.

“Are you using a secure line” Lopez replied continuing to whisper as she did not want to anyone over hear her conversation.

[Green Bean]

Leshii considered the question, and remembered who she got the communicator from. "As secure as they come."

[Akisa]

Lopez blinked for a moment as she wondered how she was closing in on white knight.

“I don’t know where you’re getting your information, as I wasn’t aware I was close to White Knight” replied Lopez knowing it was possible but wasn’t aware she was close to getting the White Knight.

[Green Bean]

"But does whatever you're working on at least have something to do with the guy? We had a tip from a, uh, well-informed source that seemed to think you'd be having a breakthrough soon."

[Akisa]

Lopez blinked for a moment trying her best to come up what to say or what would be the next course of action.

“Call me back in 5 minutes” Lopez replied not sure if she could trust this person.

Lopez then quickly hanged up so she could call the FBSA and request information about the Hero Academy.

[sun_tzu]

Lopez blinked for a moment trying her best to come up what to say or what would be the next course of action.

“Call me back in 5 minutes” Lopez replied not sure if she could trust this person.

Lopez then quickly hanged up so she could call the FBSA and request information about the Hero Academy.

A quick call to the FBSA tells you they've never heard of this "Hero Academy"...but they have heard of Leshii (and confirm that they'd given her Lopez's communicator number minutes ago, after confirming her identity). She's apparently a registered superheroine from this area who recently knocked heads with Dr Knack and the New Predators; she was seen with some other heroes, including the Global Champions' Techno-Paladin.