Heroes: The Road of Good Intentions

[SirNitram]

"Blast is correct. I'm going Dormant until I work out what's messing with my senses, but this won't make me useless."

The sense of power, the feet hovering, all of it faded after a moment. Gravitas snatched something from his shoe, and the switchblade came out. "It's not Caliburn, but it'll do if I have to fight. Let's go, people. And angels, of course."

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart had more than a few reservations. Conviently popping up people who claimed to be your allies raised his hackles. Nor was he convinced that any supernatural entity that was known as a liar and a deciever couldn't fake a power signature. They would have to be watched.

"Alright," said Blackheart. "Let's move."

[Hotfoot]

The fight had been...strange. He had spent most of the battle avoiding attacks and trying as best he could to keep out of the way of the blasters. What little damage he could do was mitigated by his need to stay mobile, especially with the rock elemental constantly attempting to reform around his feet.

When the fight finished, he spun around to meet the new individuals as they introduced themselves to the group. He waited for a signal to do something, anything, but nobody was attacking. He didn't slip out of his sheath, just in case. Something was wrong with this place in general, and taking chances was not the best idea. Following the conversations was irritating, but doable. When the subject came to time, he slowly pantomimed checking a wristwatch and tapping his foot. It still appeared to be much too fast, but it would be recognizable. Presumably these new people were additions, even though Argent didn't seem to like them much. He kept looking over at Blackheart to get an idea of what to do next. When the order came to move, he did, being careful to watch for trouble from every direction.

[Bloody Good]

Hector shoved his booklet back into the bag and shouldered it. "All right." He clenched his jaw. "Blackheart, I apologize for getting impatient. You've got lots of good reasons to be cautious. I don't work with people outside the Order much, so I'm used to everyone trusting everyone else."

Cocking his thumb at the left hallway, he continued. "The hall I came down ends in a big metal door like you see on sci-fi movie airlocks. Lots of vents. It sounded like it was just machinery back there, but if anyone feels the urge to go check, I could knock a hole in it easy enough. Making a hole big enough to climb through probably won't take more than a minute or two, but a head-sized one'll take maybe a couple seconds."

[LadyTevar]

Silver eyes appeared by the door of the elevator, cautiously looking inside. "It only has three buttons," Argent said in disgust. "We can go up one floor, or down one floor, no further."

[Charon]

Legacies almost grinned some. "Perhaps. But a hole in the floor of the elevator would show us if the shaft itself goes any further."

The silver figure passed by the two newcomers as it stepped lightly towards the door.

[Bloody Good]

"Watch it. It'd be just like them to rig it to drop." Moving to the open elevator door, he looked inside without actually stepping in. "Careful, aren't they? If I had a giant subterrianian fortress, I wouldn't bother doing this 'one floor' stuff. Seems like it'd be inconvienient for the residents. Think there's a secret panel or something with more floor buttons, or do they switch elevators every floor?"

[Marcao]

It seemed that his message reached its desired destination. That simple message was clear as it shone in the depths of Argent’s eyes. She moved smoothly in a manner that would catch the eye of anyone from the poorest slums to the upper reaches of society. She placed her head against his chest and his left arm moved, his fingers brushing against the draconic head for a moment as she spoke. Her words drifted in the air but before he could offer a response she was gone. He did not panic; he could feel her near at the edges of his perception. Her command echoed around him for a moment, but Blast took care of things before he was needed to tap into his own reservoir of power. Blast was certainly someone that he was developing a professional interest in.

“…â€

[LadyTevar]

[quote="Tachyon"]“Indeed, I like the way you think Legacies.â€

[Charon]

Legacies obliged Argent in a quick and efficient manner. Tendrils that had been simply probing before tore out sections of both the floor of the elevator and the ceiling. The symbiote itself quickly peeked down the shaft on both ends to make certain there were no immediate dangers before pulling back to let Argent through.

[Cynical Cat]

"What does the divine intervention brigade think?" Blackheart asked.

[Agent Fisher]

Michael looked at Blackheart and then to the elevator. "I'd say down." He said, crossing his arms. "But then this is your dance, I'm just here to join in on the fun."

[Cynical Cat]

"So much for omniscience," muttered Blackheart. Louder he said, "just to be clear, things will get ugly if I find out your holdinig out on us or you start spouting cryptic bullshit. This isn't the fucking Temple at fucking Delphi. Down."

[LadyTevar]

Yes, that was a snicker of feminine amusement that crossed Blackheart's mind before Argent rose out of one shadow and vanished down the elevator shaft. Emergency lights lining the shaft left her a lot of shadows to work with, slithering from one to another on her way down.

To hit bottom, exactly one floor below. There was just the seating for the elevator and the double doors. Annoyance reached up the shaft to Blackheart and Tachyon, giving them an idea of what was going on. She felt around the door, trying to sense what was on the other side....
*ANNOYANCE*

Bright lights on the other side. Lots of them, as if the door was a stage awaiting the actor's appearance. Stymied, Argent swam back up the shaft and emerged from the elevator, silver eyes blooming in the shadow she'd used before. "Shaft stops one floor below, with nothing but the doors to get out," she reported, looking at Blackheart. "But for some odd reason, that set of doors has a large number of lights aimed at it. There's no shadows to speak of in that immediate area."

[SirNitram]

"We're expected." Gravitas said, shaking his head. "I would guess there's alot of firepower waiting for us on the other side."

[Charon]

Legacies looked at the group. "Permission to go test how much fire we're going up against with a tendril?" The symbiote grinned some as it moved forward to hang above the elevator, openning up more of the floor to allow easier passage.

[Cynical Cat]

"Good thing we have three force field guys," said Blackheart. "Still, lets see if we can avoid going into the teeth of their guns."

[LadyTevar]

"Do you want me to check above, see if there's a better way up there, Blackheart?" Argent asked simply. If they can't go one way....

[Cynical Cat]

"If you can," Blackheart said. "Be careful, I'm sure they are expecting company."

[Bloody Good]

Hector scratched his jaw thoughtfully. "Expecting all of us or just you folks? I don't see much in the way of body armor on your team, so if they're setting up for you specifically, we might get lucky. I can soak up hollow points and buckshot pretty well, but anything that'll punch through military-grade body armor won't slow down much when it knocks my lungs out through my spine, and I kinda like my organs where they are."

He popped his knuckles and started limbering up. "While Legacies takes a peek, why don't we talk tactics? If anyone gets hurt, I can patch them up, provided the casualty doesn't mind a big ol' mess of Holy and they aren't actually dead when I get to them. Judging from the way Argent, um, 'flinched' when I mentioned the holy water, I'll guess that she'd rather use a first aid kit, but I need to know who else won't react well to the faith-healer routine."

[LadyTevar]

As the monk spoke to Blackheart about healing, Argent moved up the elevator shaft, slipping effortlessly past Legacies to do so.

Again, the shaft dead-ended only one floor above, and again the doors seemed to be spotlit to prevent her from sneaking further. The annoyance that gave her was again evident to Tachyon and Blackheart ... and then followed by a touch of black humor.

As she reappeared in front of the elevator, her simple report explained the touch of humor. "As Below... so Above," she said, and faded back to shadows before someone threw something at her for the horrible pun.

[Agent Fisher]

Michael looked at the elevator then back to Blackheart. "I say we go down, use whoever can take the most hits as the first wave. They know we're here, why wait."

[Cynical Cat]

"Force fielders up front, lets try for a teleport on their flank of the guys beneath us," said Blackheart. "If they're keeping up the hellish motif, the important stuff will be beneath."

[LadyTevar]

Argent frowned inside the concealment of the shadows. "If it's as lit up as I believe it to be, Blackheart, I won't have many places to emerge that aren't out of the enemy's own shadows. It will be extremely close combat."

[Cynical Cat]

"The make sure Legacies is one of the first to emerge," said Blackheart.