|
Post by Captain Admin on Jan 14, 2017 15:31:38 GMT
This imposing skyscraper by the Thames has become the official home of Olympus, the UK's official superhero firm. Offices for all Olympus heroes can be found here - though Champion spends more time in her office at the Shard, alongside S-Quadrant - as well as training facilities, comms rooms, crisis centres, research labs and various other resources to help Olympus keep the nation safe.
|
|
|
Post by Mittens on Jan 30, 2017 13:42:34 GMT
The sparring room at Olympus tower was just off the main gym. It consisted of a few rings, plenty of punch-bags and few other bits and pieces of training paraphernalia. Lucio pulled himself up into one of the rings, sliding between the ropes. He was stripped to the waist, in Olympus branded gym shorts, and clearly very nervous. Across the ring stood, in all his shirtless magnificence, the Sculptor, Louis Alexander Strongarm, chatting to a pretty girl as he wrapped his hands in strips of cloth. He noticed Lucio and smiled: "Ah, Espereus! I'm glad you could make it. This is Froststar," the girl nodded at Lucio, staring at him intently. Lucio met her eyes for a brief second before looking away. She was very pretty. "She'll be our timer for this spar. She's currently the record holder for this sort of thing; what was it, fifteen minutes?" Louis asked her. "Fifteen minutes and forty-two seconds." she replied proudly. She had a strong French accent. 'Oh gods. Why does she have to be French, too?' Lucio couldn't help but think, as he put on the blue sparring gloves and helmet that hung on his corner. "Now then, Espereus, I'll remind you of the rules and reasoning behind this spar." Louis spoke as he too put on his gear, "You claim to have some experience and training in some form of martial arts, and as the finest martial artist in Olympus it's my job to test you on your claims. In this spar, it's not about whatever superpowers you have, it's about your skill and endurance. It's not a competitive bout, so don't go in for points or anything like that. All you have to do is try and get me to surrender with nothing but whatever form of combat you studied... Pankration, am I right?" "Uh, yes. Pankration, and a little bit of Capoeira." Lucio said, fearful of what was about to come. At the mention of Capoeira, Froststar looked at him with renewed interest. "Oh? This should be interesting, then." "I only know a few moves from it, and only because they are similar to some dance techniques I learnt-" "Ha! You hear that, Monsieur Strongarm? You're going up against a dancer." Froststars words dripped with contempt, and she grinned somewhat nastily at Lucio. His heart sank and he looked at the ground. Normally, he'd be the first to defend the manliness of dance, but fear for this bout had frozen his heart. "Froststar, one of the best fights I ever had was against a ballerina who practised ju-jitsu in his spare time. Dancing is an ancient and noble art, and prepares and sculpts the body in ways that even the finest combatant should be envious of. I won't have you mocking it in my presence, understood?" Lucio looked up to see Louis glaring down at Froststar, who looked a little bit ashamed. "Of course. Sorry, Monsieur." Louis turned back to face Lucio. "Espereus, you should know that this is going to hurt. I know you can't 'turn off' your healing abilities, so I will not be pulling any of my blows. You can stop it at any point by using the safeword: 'Pax'. All you need to do is try your hardest to put up a fight. I won't hit you while you're down, by the way, I'm not that unsporting." he laughed curtly, as Froststar daintily stepped off the ring to stand next to a small clock and gong. Lucio tried to relax as he assumed his fighting stance; arms up, the left extended, and his weight entirely on his right leg. Louis smiled at him reassuringly before taking up a classical boxers stance. The gong rang out.
Lucio had barely moved forward when Louis had darted towards him. He was fast, faster than his size would suggest, and he broke Lucio's guard without a sweat and delivered a thunderous punch to his stomach, knocking the Tellasite off his feet and winding him. Froststar snorted with laughter as Lucio sat, dazed and confused. Louis backed off somewhat. Lucio, after catching his breath, pulled himself up again and resumed the fight. Aga9n, Louis moved rapidly towards him, launching jab after jab. Lucio blocked the first two, but the third snuck past his arms and caught him on the side of the head, staggering him. It was swiftly followed by a flurry of punches, pushing Lucio back into the ropes. He covered his head with his arms instinctively and Louis took advantage, turning Lucio's chest into his own personal punching bag. The pain was horrific; despite his healing ability nullifying any pain after a few seconds, there was just so many blows being delivered that by the time it had dealt with one punch another ten had landed. Lucio, in a pain-induced delirium, lashed out by head-butting the moustachioed Goliath in front of him.
Louis took a single step back when their skulls connected. Lucio saw bright lights explode in his eyes and staggered sideways, collapsing to the floor, but the Sculptor seemed barely fazed by the move. He took a few steps away: "Are you ok, Espereus?" Lucio nodded at his question, still fairly dazed. Holding onto the ropes, he slowly pulled himself upright, using the time to come to his senses and to try and plan out a strategy against Louis. He resumed his normal stance, tears in the corners of his eyes from the pain that was slowly fading, and once again the Sculptor shot forward. This time, Lucio was somewhat ready, and lashed out with the classic Pankration move of a short, sharp kick to the stomach. It worked, somewhat, as Louis was taken by surprise. The kick didn't seem to hurt him much, but it kept him at distance, and encouraged Lucio to advance with a few more kicks. Few connected with any impact, being deftly blocked, but he was finally the aggressor! It felt good! Lucio's spirits raised somewhat: maybe he could win thi- As he went for another stomach kick, Louis sidestepped and grabbed Lucio's leg. With a single movement, he flipped the Tellasite up, and his other hand came down towards his face like a bolt of divine retribution...
Lucio came to. He was lying on the floor of the ring, and he could taste blood. He pushed himself up onto his arms to see Louis sitting in the opposite corner, taking off his gloves. "Ah! You're back in the land of the living! Good. How're you feeling?" He asked Lucio, a smile breaking across his face. "Uh... a bit, um, uh-" "Say no more. Froststar, give him some water would you?" The girl slid through the ropes and moved towards Lucio, bottle of water and towel in hand. Lucio took the bottle of her and took a large gulp- "ARGH! This is freezing!" The Frenchwoman grinned at Lucio's shock. "Yup. It's my power: cyrokinesis. Now stop being a little baby and drink up." Lucio took a smaller sip, glaring at Froststar. "You fought for one minute and twenty eight seconds, Espereus. Good job. I was expecting you to have given up after the second time." Louis beamed over at the Tellasite. "You should feel proud of yourself. You said you knew the basics of Pankration and fighting in general, and you did better than expected. Don't worry that you didn't last as long as others, most of them are black belts or some equivalent. I'll make sure you're put with someone who can help train you." "Your kicks show potential. I'll help you with them, if-" said Froststar, as she pointed to Lucio's lower right back, "You tell me what your tattoo says." "Uhhhh, ok..." Lucio squirmed a bit. The tattoo was small and fairly nondescript; a small coat of arms and a motto. "It means 'The Nosiest Fuc-Bastards' in old Tellasite" he said, concious of avoiding overly foul language in front of his superiors. "I got it after my military service at a listening station." "Hah! Makes sense. Come on, get up, you need to clean your face." Froststar laughed, and she pulled him to his feet. "Why? What's wrong with it?" Lucio asked, confused. "Many things. I mean, there's a lot you can't work on without a very skilled plastic surgeon, but you can start by cleaning all the blood off. Monsieur Strongarm here broke your nose with the last punch." Froststar grinned as she pushed Lucio away, towards the changing rooms. As he moved off, she stared at him thoughtfully. Once he had left, she asked Louis a question; "You said he had healing powers, non?" "Yes. Self-healing and healing hands. Why do you ask?" "Oh. No reason..."
|
|
|
Post by Mittens on Feb 2, 2017 0:10:03 GMT
The frozen mass that was Herbert was wheeled through the lower levels of Olympus tower to their holding cells. He got a few cursory glances from the night staff, but they'd seen weirder. The cell itself was actually surprisingly comfortable, with a decent bed and a sink. Herb was un-frozen by the same woman who froze her, learning that she was another student called Froststar. She mumbled an apology but didn't really seem that sorry. Within a few minutes of him using the provided towels (warm AND fluffy, he should get arrested for murder more often) Herbert received a message from his parents in written form. It read, in his mothers handwriting:
"Don't worry, Herb, we'll be there tomorrow for the questioning. Get some sleep. Mum xx"
Herbert agreed with the advice. He clambered onto the bed and was asleep within minutes.
The bodies of Signe and Lucio were carted to the morgue. Both were left uncovered on slabs, as the mortician was trying to work out what the hell Signe had died of.
|
|
|
Post by Flynneus_Knight on Feb 2, 2017 9:47:04 GMT
(OOC: New day!)
Herbert woke up; the cell really was comfortable, but he was nervous with what was about to happen. He seriously hadn't been expecting this to happen at all. He thought Olympus would check him over in the Woods then send him on his way. Things really had spiralled out of control. He was determined to keep his powers a secret however. He wasn't ready to reveal them just yet.
He'd also have to go into detail about Signe... he relaxed back on his bed. Maybe he'd just take another nap instead; it still looked early in the morning. Wait for his parents to figure this out.
|
|
|
Post by Flynneus_Knight on Feb 2, 2017 11:06:53 GMT
(OOC: This is a couple of hours before Herbert is taken in. By the end it will have aligned with the current timeline.)
April Flynn, Quickstep, Herbert's mother, lay in her office on the bed she had stored in the corner. No, her marriage was not going downhill. She'd asked this be moved in once the idea she could see the future in her dreams had finally been accepted. She figured that between work she could sleep, try to glean more of what was to come. As usual her eyes flickered, her head moving slightly as the visions took over her mind.
She saw an eagle, was that an eagle(?), hit a tree and plummet to the ground, the figure of a girl emerging from it. She saw people surround the body, she saw Herbert! He was collapsing, his bones snapping. She frowned inwardly; how did this- then she saw the chain of events. Herbert's death led to a dark haired girl running to a man, a man in black and purple armour. The Redeemer. This girl brought new Supers to the Redeemer's cause. She saw the the look of determination of the girl's face; was she doing this for Herbert? It made no sense. However, she did see an army building-
Olympus, The Redeemer and the Vigilantes were fighting amongst themselves, there was chaos.
Her vision flickered back to Herbert, collapsed on the ground. He was alive somehow; now a tanned, dark haired boy was there, the Redeemer standing over him. Golden light shone and Herbert sat up. Everyone faded away and it was just Herbert alone, next to two bodies. The eagle girl and the dark haired boy, his neck twisted to an extreme. Olympus arrived, Whyzz, Justice and that new girl, the frost one? So many supers nowadays. Her vision swooped out and she saw the woods and the University campus.
She woke with a start, trying to put the information together. Herbert had been hurt, but he was fine now. A dark haired boy had saved his life... dark haired... healer... didn't Gilbert say something about having met one of those in the Olympus recruiting centre?
She sat up at supernatural speed, her mind flying into place and activating her superhuman reflexes. Time was so slow, she could see the dust she'd knocked on the table slowly fly upwards. She switched back to normal time with ease; that had taken some getting used to when she'd been young. For days she'd felt like she'd been trapped.
"Stop, April," she told herself. "Herbert is in danger and I need to find the dark haired boy." It was funny; April had gotten so used to her precognitive dreams that worry was something she rarely felt when she knew what was going to happen. Herbert would be fine; she just needed to set the sequences into place.
She got up, luckily she was dressed, in simple jeans and a white shirt. She tied back her blonde hair and hurtled out of the door. She sprinted, moving along the corridors as supersonic speeds; for bursts of ten seconds she could keep this up when she pushed herself, enough to cover a huge distance. The speed died and but she kept running at normal speed, waiting to recharge. She had an idea where this healing boy was; probably being trained by Louis. Most new recruits were and they'd been interested in his healing abilities.
She flew into the training centre, another burst of speed as she pulled herself to a stop. Going supersonic sent out a small sonic boom as she stopped, elegantly (long gone were the days when she slid to a stop) blowing back Louis who kept his feet; he was used to it, but throwing the dark haired boy over.
"Sorry," she said, rushing over and pulling the boy up. She noticed a bullet pop out of his shoulder as she did so and he smiled at her.
"No worries," he said, with an accent.
"Louis," she turned. "I had a vision-" at that moment Lucio pulled out his phone, a message beeping up. He looked at it, frowned. "Erm, I think I need to head off, right now, yes?"
Louis looked confused. "Wait, what's going on?" April moved up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I had a dream; a girl is dead on campus and I think Herbert is involved. You have to take," she waited for a name as she pointed at Lucio, "Lucio, right, and go there as fast as possible. I'll be here when you get back."
Louis nodded. By this point the Supers in Olympus had gotten used to April's way of talking far far ahead of others. He sprung into action, taking Lucio by the shoulder. "Let's get going, Lucio, okay?"
April moved up to him in a flash, suddenly walking beside him. "When Lucio wakes up, send him to me! I need to talk to him," she said with authority. She ranked higher than the Sculptor. "Not Champion, me."
"What's up?" Louis asked.
"You'll see. Get going, now. I'll be waiting."
As they hurried off, April tapped her foot, impatient as always.
(OOC: Okay, back to present time! Couldn't resist writing that!)
|
|
|
Post by Flynneus_Knight on Feb 2, 2017 18:21:35 GMT
Herbert sat in his cell waiting. He perked his ears up as he heard heavy footsteps and Justice came round the corner.
"Sleep well?"
Herbert frowned. He knew Justice could sense lies; even though he could tell the truth, it just felt weird that he had to. "Yes," he replied shortly. "What's going to happen to me?"
Justice opened he cell and beckoned him to come out. "We just need to check a few things, what with you standing by two bodies. A little interrogation. I'm sure it'll be fine."
Herbert noted the 'sure it will' as if he wasn't quite certain. He got up and started to walk. Justice put a gentle hand on his shoulder, the apologetic grip making it clear he just had to be sure. Together they walked off towards the interrogation block.
As they reached the pristine white room, with leather chairs, Herbert had the impression this was more the 'someone was driven mad by a mission' interrogation centre. He was sure there were much worse ones somewhere else. With a sigh he took his seat and clasped his hands.
"Are my parents coming?"
Justice thought about it. "Not sure; they're certainly busy. I would assume so, however."
Herbert nodded as they waited in awkward silence.
|
|
|
Post by Mittens on Feb 2, 2017 21:58:24 GMT
The doors slid open to reveal four figures: Whyzz, Champion and Herbert's parents. They entered the room, and Justice joined Whyzz and Champion on a series of armchairs directly facing Herbert. "Now, then, Mr Flynn-" Champion began, meaning to get down to business, but she was interrupted by a loud scraping sound as Gilbert moved two other chairs either side of Herbert, and him and April say resolutely down on them. Champion couldn't help showing a small smile at this display of familial loyalty. "I'll stick with Herbert, then, to avoid confusion. Anyway, I want to let everyone in the room know that the Sculptor is alive and recovering. He's broken all his limbs and suffered some pretty bad spinal injuries, but our medical department is saying he'll be walking within a few months, if everything goes well." There was smiles all round at that news. Champion cleared her throat and continued, "To get to the point, though: Herbert, your arrest still stands. From our point of view, we found you with two dead bodies, one of them an Olympus agent, and you launched a serious assault on another. You also caused the death of one of our pilots, Devin Easton. He was a friend of mine." Here, her face stiffened. She sighed, and continued. "So, Herbert, care to give us your side of the story? What were you doing there? And how did you take down a helicopter and one of the finest fighters in our organisation?" She leant back in her chair and waited.
|
|
|
Post by Flynneus_Knight on Feb 2, 2017 22:20:02 GMT
Herbert was still upset about the whole event, but he almost smiled; if only he could destroy a helicopter like that, or beat Sculptor in a fight! In a hypothetical manner; not that he wants to go around killing people.
Gilbert cleared his throat. "I'd suggest, with all due respect, that we don't start with leading questions, hm? How about 'did you take down that helicopter?'" He said this and a bit of anger tinged his tone. An electrical spark went off, onto Herbert's skin. Normally Herbert would have flinched; they hurt, but since he had his father's power he just absorbed it.
He let a breath out; crap, he doubt anyone saw that though. It was so subtle. He rubbed his arm like he was in pain anyway. April put a calming hand in Gilbert's shoulder.
"Okay," Herbert nodded. "Of course I'll tell you everything." He wanted to be snarky but now we not the time. "Is Louis going to be okay?" He asked. Champion nodded. "He'll be fine; I appreciate your concern but we'd rather you focused on the questions."
"I didn't cause the crash, like at all. I don't have any abilities of my own that are capable of doing that!" He phrased it so he was technically telling the truth; Justice was right there, monitoring. "I was in the Woods, running with my friend, Chris." All true; they had been running. "Then I got a text from one of my friends. The dead girl... she was Signe. She was very depressed. I- perhaps I should have done more, but i-," he cut himself off. This wasnt what they needed to hear. "We found Signe. I tried to help her, but she was dead. I couldn't do anything to bring her back. Lucio was called, because he can heal, he has powers! We were hoping he'd be able to do something. He's my friend!"
"He came in a helicopter, but, look, I didn't kill either one. Elijah can validate that. I think it was the Redeemer; but his powers, I couldn't do anything, none of us could! He must have destroyed the helicopter, beaten the Sculptor and killed Lucio. I honestly have no idea why he left me alive; I think Chris ran. I woke up and that was the situation. I stayed by the bodies to make sure they got away safely."
"That's what happened," he said, locking his eyes onto Champion, willing her to believe.
Gilbert looked shocked by the tale but April just muttered; "I told you, Champion. You have to start believing my dreams, like John did."
|
|
|
Post by Mittens on Feb 2, 2017 22:54:21 GMT
Champion hadn't changed her face at all during Herbert's explanation. "Get away safely? How do you mean? What were you intending to do to this 'Redeemer', if he took down two Olympus agents?"
|
|
|
Post by Flynneus_Knight on Feb 2, 2017 23:06:56 GMT
Herbert nodded, understanding the comment. "Yeah, no I just couldn't leave them there alone... not after Signe's death. There were animals waiting to eat her; it was so... I couldn't do it. I'd already failed her once." He frowned as he felt something, a nudge, something was off... he looked up at Justice. Had he just replicated his power? He looked at Champion. Was she lying about not knowing the Redeemer... or was it his parents, suddenly pretending to look confused... he had no idea. he couldn't focus. Respect to Justice for managing to hone this.
"If the Redeemer came back, I'd be dead," he said honestly. "But I couldn't fail Signe or leave Lucio, my friend. I had to stay. I was just hoping he wouldn't come back."
|
|
|
Post by Mittens on Feb 2, 2017 23:43:59 GMT
"Fair enough. So you don't have superpowers, then? Nothing latent was activated by the Vertex incident?" Champion asked, almost too innocently.
|
|
|
Post by Flynneus_Knight on Feb 2, 2017 23:59:11 GMT
That tricky bastard... Herbert had to think quick. Did she know? How could she know? Herbert barely understood his abilities. "No powers of my own, and nothing activated by the Vertex accident, to my knowledge." To Herbert's knowledge, this was all true; he didn't have powers of his own, not really; he replicated others. And he was sure he'd had these powers longer than Vertex... he believed he'd been replicating his mother's speed since he first got on campus. He guessed the homesickness had been the emotion that had triggered it. Either way, whether he was wrong or not, he believed it, and that's all that mattered.
"Lived long enough to know that," he said bitterly; that's how he would have reacted in the past. April put a hand on his shoulder. "Herbert, you're 19. It may happen yet... abilities can come out later, can't they?" April turned to the assembled supers. She decided not to mention what her dream had told her...
|
|
|
Post by dbzbabe on Feb 3, 2017 23:08:05 GMT
Chris hovered across the street outside the impressive building. She was looking out over the river but kept checking over her shoulder. She hoped she didn't look too suspicious.
|
|
|
Post by Mittens on Feb 3, 2017 23:12:15 GMT
(OOC, I like the idea that Justice can't detect thing that people consider to be true. So that Herbert not considering his mimicry to be a power means that, to Justice, he was telling the truth... the Empathy on the other hand... ) Justice's eyes gleamed blue for a brief second. "Herbert, you lied. You do have some form of powers, then?" Champion glared at the young Flynn. "Listen, kiddo, as far as I care you're off the hook when it comes to the murders. It was merely a formality, just to make sure we didn't give you preferential treatment because of who you are. We'll check what Louis has to say, once he's a bit better, and then close the case. However, you lying to us about powers is a crime. If you don't want to join us properly, that's fine. The majority of supers who register with us don't take on costumes or anything, they just let us know about their powers and we leave them be to live as normal lives as possible. We just need to know in case anything bad happens to you. So, be straight with us, please. What powers do you have?"
|
|
|
Post by Flynneus_Knight on Feb 3, 2017 23:24:20 GMT
Herbert didn't know what to say. Damn, he'd tried to be so careful. Of course that damn empathy was a power; a shitty one, sure, but a power. Or should he just tell them... tell them about his full abilities... the fact that he could absorb every power in this room if he wanted. I mean, he couldn't use them, yet, but still...
A little part of Herbert was tempted. He wanted to be special and he was, finally! He was unique, almost desperate to show off. Then again, maybe Olympus wouldn't think much of it. He just copied other people after all. He wasn't ready to admit it to Olympus, was he? If he admitted he had empathy, they'd probably laugh.
"I was lying, you're right. When the Vertex centre went off, I gained superhuman speed; I was quick," he turned to his mother. "Quicker than you. I was unbeatable, I beat back the drones and saved lives. But I lost that speed," he made sure to refer to the previous enhanced version of his mother's power. "I haven't been able to get it back," he admitted. "It's gone." All true in his mind.
His father remembered being told something by Herbert, about a power. But if he didn't want o reveal it, he wasn't about to burst the bubble. "You had speed?" Both April and Gilbert looked slightly proud of their son. It'd be wrong to say that they hadn't been a little dissapointed that he'd never exhibited abilities.
|
|