Divine Right Chicago: On the Storm's Edge

[Nina]

Brigit cursed as her muscular legs pumped and she ran the two blocks in record time but still far slower than either of her companions who were already engaged in the rescue attempt.

 

She came to a stop about ten yards from the front door of the warehouse as it burst open and a half dozen Asian youths, tumbled out shouting and cursing in some Chinese language. The were dressed in street tough clothing and were wearing gang colors that would later be determined to be from one of the North City tongs. and they had guns. Most of them darted away down and across the street toward some cars parked on the side oft the road. Most of them but not all.

 

 Tommy "Double Stack" Wang, was twenty three and had been a low level gangster in the Hip Sing organization since he was twelve. he was still low level and was not overly bright. He was also fat thus the nickname "Double Stack." Because of his weight he was slow and he was the last one out of the warehouse fleeing to the getaway cars after shooting up the Latin Blades meeting inside. As he came trough the door, the rest of the boys were already halfway tot he cars. Tommy paused to catch his breath and shook from the sound of the screams as Jimmy Li burned the evidence. They hadn't realized the place had squatters upstairs. That's when he saw the girl.

 

She was white, dressed in baggy clothe, probably fat with big white-girl titties, but she had a pretty face. Too bad, there could be no witnesses, that was the order. Double Stack raised his gun.

 

The sight of the Asian's startled Brigit, this wasn't a part of town where they should be and the guns were a sure sign that something bad was going on. When the last gang member came through the door and paused when he saw her. Brigit felt a burt of fear, he had a gun and he was raising it and pointing it at her!

 

Tommy muttered sorry as he pulled the trigger. The machine pistol bucked as it spewed rounds at the hapless white girl anly ten yards away. He couldn't miss.

 

Brigit didn't have time to scream as the barrel of the gun flamed and lead death sped her way. Time seemed to slow almost to a stop for her, adrenaline and energy crackled through her system her eyes flashed lightning, she could see the individual bullets with her supervision and knew she was microseconds from dying...

 

The bullets, some of them at least hit Brigit, the rest flew off one coming close enough to Karen, who was another ten yards back still taking video with her phone, for her to feel the wind of its passing. Karen screamed expecting Brigit who must have been hit to crumple, but the scream died in her throat.

 

The bullets hit Brigit and stopped. Oh she felt them the powerful kinetic impact which should have drove them through her clothes and flesh stealing her life, but that's not what happened. The rounds hit and at the moment they touched her flesh the energy which should have riddled her body was transferred, absorbed, changed.

 

The now spent rounds fell to the ground at her feet or stayed tangled in her clothes. She had felt the impact and expected pain instead she felt the renewal of power as the energy fed into the inferno of the quantum engine she had become!

 

[Nina]

Ernesto was right behind Karen and when the bullets whizzed passed, he grabbed her picking her up and ran to take cover behind and abandoned car. Without so much as a thank you Karen leaned around the trunk of the car and resumed her videoing of Brigit shouting over her shoulder at Ernesto, “Video Sean I got Brigit!”

 

Tommy Double-Stack couldn’t believe his eyes, he couldn’t have missed. Not at this range. He held the machine pistol up in front of his face then with a flip of his thumb switched from burst to full auto and pointed it at the girl and pulled the trigger again holding it down this time.

 

A hail of bullets slammed into Brigit again with the same results, she couldn't suppress a wild laugh “Fucking-A I’m bullet proof!” and she charged Tommy.

 

By this time, the loud ‘Brrrrrrrrt’ of Double Stacks machine pistol had alerted his fellow gang members who were just as astonished as Tommy at the fact that to them it appeared that he was shooting blanks. In ones and twos, they began firing at the charging girl.

 

The gang was not the only one to have their attention drawn to the gunfire outside. Sean had ushered nearly a dozen women and children onto the safety glass float. She was trying to adjust three different gravity fields, hers, the glass, and the people she was rescuing when she heard gun fire below her. Not the muffled sound from inside but sharp sound right here. Firs there was the sharp burp of the machine pistol letting off two or three bursts then a chainsaw sound as it opened up quickly joined by additional guns in a mixture of singe shot pistols and multi-shot machine pistols. A symphony of death she had never imagined hearing outside of a movie theater.

 

With a glance down she took in the scene of her new friend suffering under a hail of bullets at the hands of a half dozen Asian gang members. She was sure she was witnessing the murder of Brigit right in front of her eyes!

 

Inside the burning warehouse, Grace took it all in, the rescue of the squatters in the nearest office by Sean using her gravity powers, that left those at the back. She could at least get them to the roof and then Sean could do her trick to get them off. That is when two young heavily tattooed men, Latino’s by their look, rushed up from the floor below. Both had guns and were screaming and firing wildly down the stairs. Then one of the gangsters burst into flame like a candle tossed onto a gasoline-soaked doll. The women and children screamed, tripping all over themselves to get away from the fire that was now crawling up the stairs. The surviving gangster dove away dropping his gun and ran toward grace not seeing her as he was looking over his shoulder at his burning comrade and the horror that was coming for him!

 

Spoiler

in rounds now. Grace can go at anytime since she is inside. Sean you can act first outside then Brigit then the bad guys if any are left.

 

 

[Asarasa]

Sean screamed, in shock and incensed fury, as she spun and saw Brigit being shot, her long rose-gold hair flaring out behind her. Movies and TV didn't warn one just how loud gunshots were. Over the sounds of her screams and the roaring gunfire, Sean couldn't hear the sounds Brigit was making. More screams, from behind her as the glass lift shifted.

"Stay back!" she growled, as much as her sultry soprano could. "Stop pushing! Help each other."

She stamped a heel and the glass floor leveled out. Juggling several gravity fields at once was difficult, but she seemed able to 'lock' them in place once she established them. From her vantage point, she couldn't tell if the heavily muscled Enhanced woman was falling or moving forward. The acrid and sour smell of gun smoke assaulted her nose.

'Yakuza' Dan - he'd lost a finger teasing a Doberman - looked at the scream, definitely a woman's scream, but not from the fat girl rushing Double Stacks. His mouth dropped open as he stared. The woman was standing on a big piece of glass, floating in the sky three stories up. From this distance, he couldn't quite make out the details of her face, but he could tell it was beautiful. He could see that her eyes were orbs of swirling, cerulean light and her tall, dramatic hourglass figure was distinct and unmistakable, silhouette sharp against the background.

Yakuza Dan raised his gun. Sean snarled and stretched out an arm with imperial flair. Her hand closed into fist. Yakuza Dan groaned, suddenly feeling an immense force acting on him, compressing him. Before he understood what was really happening, he saw the woman wave her fist to the side, and instantly, he felt like he was falling, like he'd been falling already for some time, as he slammed into two of his fellow gangers with bone crunching force.

 

Spoiler

Using Grab technique of Gravitokinesis- Acts as Quantum Attack with Entangle at Rank/Scale 3, to grab Yakuza Dan and throwing/bowling him through a pair of the other gangers, if possible.

Details:[8d10t8e10 (2 9 1 9 9 7 10 5)]
Details:[1d10 (7)]

6 successes, plus enhancements from any difference in Scale.

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Asarasa

[Exile_Jeane]

Fire didn't behave like that. Not normally. Which meant a Stormer, possibly a new eruption among one of the squatters or as one of the attackers, and Grace didn't know which would be worse.

 

She didn't have a lot of time to get these people out of the line of fire, and panic would kill them as quick as the smoke and the heat.

 

"Move!" she ordered the group, turning her back on the disarmed gangster, by far the least important problem to worry about, and breaking into a run at the door. Already fragmenting in it's terror, the crowd made a hole, one or two of them too slow or two distracted to get out of her way nudged out of the way with zero effort. Grace reached past the last man in her path, fingers embedding themselves in the metal of the door like it was made of wet clay. She gave the cries of 'the fuck?', 'oh shit!', and an infectious 'stormer!' a few heartbeats to give her room enough to tug backwards and rip the door off it's hinges. The rush of heated air escaping through the suddenly and permanently exit, fluttered her hair and clothing, framing her in the light from outside.

 

Grace gave her second-best reassuring smile even as the crowd threatened to spiral into total chaos, torn between the threat of the fire below and an in-the-flesh Stormer, "I'm Apex. Trust me. We're here to help. My friend outside will get you to the ground safely."

 

And then she took one, two three, steps away from the door, holding a door taller than she was like it was nothing, ordering more gently, "Go."

 

The deadly roar of the flames coming up the stairs beat out the potential terror of the unknown and the desperate herd of humanity pressed forward, leaving Grace free to exhale mentally and stride back towards the stairs. She kept the door in one hand, a statement of her personal power more than a shield, all the better to catch the eye of whoever or whatever was coming up the stairs. Let them try to repeat their little immolation trick. She could take it. 

[Nina]

As the second hail of bullets pelted her and did nothing, Brigit raced  straight at double stack she was only marginally aware of the rest of the gang turning and firing at her.

 

She reached the gangbanger and with an almost causal batted the gun from his hand sending it flying like a missile into the wall of the warehouse. Her other hand had  come up and shoved Tommy in his chest sending him flying into the back of an abandoned van park about six yards away. Unknowingly she had just saved his life.

 

A third rain of lead ripped around Brigit and the space the shooters friend had recently stood, By now it looked like the muscled girl was wearing shredded rags, but still she was unhurt. As she turned to face them one of them was jerked off his feet by an invisible force and hurled spinning into two of his companions with a bone breaking crunch. The remaining gangsters seeing this horrible new power display fled running in every direction, two of them even threw their firearms away.

 

-------------------------

The door was a good idea, Grace decided, as soon as she stepped in front of the stair leading down a jet intense flame, like from some sort of flame thrower or something sot up the stair. I would have engulfed her if she had of had the door to put up to catch the jetting inferno!

 

But the fire was not all. In the brief glimpse before she had raised the door shield, she had seen the landing below. At least eight bodies lay burning and standing a the foot of the stair was a man whose arms writhed like flaming dragons breathing fire!

 

Spoiler

Next round Grace the man below you glimpsed was tall and thin his eyes low with fire and his hair is made of fire, he is wearing only paints which are whit and not burning  his bare chest, shoulders, neck, and what part of his arms are covered in asian tattoos. the rest of his arms, from just above his elbows are on fire and look like dragons complete with yawing mouths full of flaming teeth. it jet of fire came from the dragon arms. It is Graces turn.

 

outside Sean has taken 3 out and Brigit 1. There are 3 or 4 more fleeing.

 

[Exile_Jeane]

Images of another time with another flesh-warping threat danced behind Grace's eyes, compressing her lips to a thin bloodless line. But that was the only outward sign she gave of the impulse to yeet her shield at mutated figure with all the force she could muster, gripping the cherry-red door in case he tried that trick again.

 

"I did my homework before moving to this city, so I'm going to assume your powers are new," she began, walking down the steps one at a time, "They named me Apex after Miracle, Legend, and I helped beat Echidna. You've killed a lot of people today, and *might* be able to hurt me, but I don't know your story. I'm going to give you one chance to stand down before I *make you* stand down. I promise you won't enjoy forcing me to do that."

 

She paused in her steady, inevitable advance 2/3rds of the way down the stairs, the tilt of her head making it clear it was his choice to escalate and her confidence that she'd come out the other side of that clash in better shape than he would. 

[Nina]

The flaming gangster stops his advance at the foot of the stair and the flames die away leaving a some what sweat coated Asian man in his mid twenties looking up at Grace.

 

"I was not expecting a Stormer." His perfectly normal voice complete with a Chicago accent instead of an Asian one caught her off guard slightly. "Since you are Caucasian I assume you are not with the SLK, and your presence is unfortunate. You look familiar, ah yes, you said Apex, the monster killer. Ha."

 

Grace notices that the fire downstairs is still raging yet it is not approaching the man. Indeed a circle a good ten feet across is bear of the raging flames. Unfortunetly the flames are still raging as Grace can see when a section of floor across the room she is in collapses and flames shoot up toward the roof from below.

[Exile_Jeane]

Talking. Talking was good. The important thing was buying time for Sean and Brigit to get the people trapped above out of danger, and talking accomplished that.

 

"Nice trick," she commented with a wave of her free hand at the circle of protection and her second best smile, the false expression she practised for friends of her parents who did terrible things for very large amounts of money, "But here and now isn't the best time for introduction. Are you leaving, or do we need to finish tearing down this building in order for me to get you to leave these people alone?" 

 

Her gray eyes met his, assessing his reaction. Confident. Unflustered. And, having been to her fair share of Sorority parties, yes, preening a little in the way you did to show off. Not entirely unsuccessfully.

 

Very very deep beneath her iron self control and the seriousness of the situation, she wanted to chuckle at the ridiculousness of it. Present him to her Father as the Good Catch to Inherit the Williams' Name. Something stupid like that. She blamed it on the adrenaline. Grace resumed her walk towards him, the very corners of her mouth quirking slightly upwards to match the updraft of embers, "If it's the last one, you get one more shot at me, and then I'm tossing this door at your head."

[Nina]

He holds up his hands palms out in a faux surrender gesture, "No need Apex, this was to get rid of evidence and witnesses,  to make all this look like an accident. Fighting you would not serve this purpose and I have no other reason to fight you. If it matters, We, I, did not know there were squatters in this building. The SLK may not have either.

 

To prove my good will toward you ..."

 

He moves his arms to straight out to his side and the flames around start jetting into his hands with a loud whooshing sound. Grace glances around and sees the flames all around diminish until they are gone and all there is is smoldering wood and smoke.

 

"Welcome to Chicago, my name is Jimmy Long, they call me the Dragon, and I hope this does not make you my enemy because I would regret that very much."

 

 

 

[Exile_Jeane]

"Not today, Mr. Long, and thank you," Grace allowed as she cleared the stairs and returned his spectacular favor of quantum-fire control by laying down the abused door with as little noise as she could manage. Long as he was leaving and the innocents were safe, stopping him was secondary at best. This was no state of emergency, and she was no agent of the law or even a licensed first responder of any kind. Hadn't had the courage to look up the state of Stormer Law in respect to that, but she was pretty sure the authorities would frown on her... imposing herself on the situation like that. And she didn't want to drag the other two into a brawl with a Stormer who clearly knew exactly what he was doing with his powers.

 

"I'm Grace Williams when I'm not making speeches in a burning warehouse, but please call me Grace. Hope to make something good of my time in this city. I suggest getting away from here before others intervene and force the issue of where we stand with one another," she offered, her number two smile softening ever so slightly into something a hint more genuine, "The two Stormers outside are with me, so you may want to try leaving from a northside exit."  

 

He gave her a bow, “Call me Jimmy, and Thank you we’ll meet again.” With that he turned and sprinted  toward one of the offices on the indicated side of the build where he jumped out a window.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Exile_Jeane
Flirterer!

[Asarasa]

Sean watched the gangers flee, a sneer twisting her lips, as for a moment, she considered dropping them too, gravitic hammer crushing flesh and bone nails into the asphalt. But seeing that Brigit was unhurt, her bloodlust abated as quickly as it had risen. She chuckled, excruciatingly lovely and dismissive, as she turned her back on the gangers to face her charges on the plane of safety glass.

 

"Well then!" Sean said with a reassuring grin and a clap of her hands. The few who had managed to their eyes off her to glance at the bullet proof bodybuilder and the broken and bleeding tangle of gangers remaining had their attention dragged back to the impossibly gorgeous woman standing before them. "They've been taken care of. Now, please keep hand, arms, and legs inside the ride at all time. I'll have you down in a moment."

Sean turned away from the burning building once more, took a quick glance, and then the pane of glass moving, down and away from the abandoned warehouse, her lips pursed in grim thought. It shouldn't be this way, people - all people - deserved shelter, a place to leave. She heard once that there were enough empty structures, abandoned buildings, homes in foreclosure, and the like to house all the homeless in the US. She didn't fault people making a living, earning and holding onto what was theirs, but there still should be a better way.

The pane of glass moved through the air with eerie smoothness and silence, the evacuees bunching together despite themselves. Ernesto held up his phone, following Sean and the others as they came closer, passed over him, and came to ground near the SUV. With soft encouragement, Sean urged them off the piece of glass to head back on collect another load of people.

She quirked an elegantly shaped brow, surprised by absence of fire and the great lessening of smoke. She wasn't sure what Grace had done, but whatever it was, it gave her a great deal more time to get the rest of the people out of the building.

"Karen, Ernesto, can see that these fine folks, are, um, taken care of?" Sean asked. Some of them had already taken off, but the majority seemed to be at a lost, having lost what little they had. She was a bit of a loss on how to help them anymore than she had a moment, but if Karen had ideas, it would have Sean more inclined with signing on with the promoter's proposal. "Don't think they have anywhere to go, and I'm not sure what the police will want if they get here before we're gone. I'm going to get the rest."

Karen stared back at Sean from where she'd been taking cover, then cautiously straightened up and strode out. After a moment, she gave Sean a decisive nod and a cool, professional smile. "I'll take care of it."

 

As Sean lifted her impromptu lift once more, Karen was already talking with Ernesto. Before heading back up, Sean hovered over to Brigit, who stared at her with wide eyes still burning with quantum fires. Sean's did too, though hints of lavender were breaking through.

"Want a wide ride up, in case Grace needs some back up?" Sean asked with a smile, her eyes not so casually giving Brigit a once over, her impressive, muscled physique barely kept modest by her gunshot rags as she reached out a hand. Sean couldn't see a single mark on Brigit, not the slightest bruise or reddening of the skin. It was like something from a comic book.

 

"Um, yeah. Yes, sure," Brigit stammered, looking up at woman with the unbelievable figure that seemed straight out of a comic. She took Sean's hand, but hopped up on the pane of glass under the power of her legs than with Sean's help. As Sean lifted them back up to the third floor of the warehouse, Brigit shifted, then murmured in wonder. "You can fly!"

Though Sean seemed to be collected with immaculate poise and confidence, she could feel the hammering of her heart slowing as the immediate danger seemed to wane. She gave her companion a smirk. "And you're bulletproof." She chewed on a delectable underlip, looking at Brigit directly. "I was worried, scared and angry there for a moment, before I knew." She sighed contemplatively as she docked the pane of glass at the hole she had made in warehouse. "Don't tell anyone, but I wasn't sure at first if I would be able to lift everyone and the wall of glass at once."

Sean's playful grin slipped back on her face as she gave Brigit a swat on her buns of something stronger than steel. "Go find Grace and anyone still in the building, so we can get them to safety." Sean inhaled, glancing up at the sky with a wistful smile. "First I found out I can float. Then that I can fly. Soon, I'm going to want to see how high and how fast." She glanced down and to the side of the majestic thrust of her breasts, considering the piece of glass she was standing on, then turned her lambent gaze by to Brigit. "I'm not positive yet. But I... think I could bring you with me."

Edited February 10, 2021 by Asarasa

[Nina]

It was all over so quickly, three gangbangers down across the street and one lying a few yards away under the back of the abandoned van which now bore his bodies imprint on its rear door. She winched as she imagined how hard he must have hit but he was still breathing, lucky him he was fat. Brigit couldn't say the same for the other three with her super vision she could see obvious broken limbs and her hearing picked up their difficulty breathing. They must have internal injuries she thought.

 

She turned to call to Karen and saw that her manager was talking to Sean who was floating in the air, in the distance she could now hear sirens. After telling Karen that the thugs needed medical attention, she joined Sean as they rose toward the roof where they saw people gathered on the edge of the building.

 

Her mind was a whirl so much so fast she barely heard what Sean was saying as hard as it was not to just hang on everything the gorgeous woman did and said Brigit found herself  focused inward to the fire inside. Now that the adrenaline of the moment was subsiding, she could s feel and see the results of her transformation. A faint silvery blue glow cascaded along the skin of her hands, barely noticeable and fading as she watched it. More importantly she could feel the energy, a fire in her nerve endings, not painful, but there, the same fire she felt all over inside. What have I become?

 

Sean noticed Brigit looking at her hands and saw the last vestige of the aura fade, so did the storm in her new friends’ eyes. About that time, they arrived at the roof and Brigit jumped off onto the roof to help the people, all women of color and children, obviously homeless, double so now, step over onto the glass panel.

 

Down below, Fire engines and police were arriving, and Karen was now talking to a couple of uniformed cops who were not paying any attention to her, they were staring at Sean and the glass pane full of people.

 

Inside Grace did a quick run thru of the warehouse to see if there were any survivors. She counted a total of eleven bodies, four on the second floor, one on the third, and the rest on the first floor. Those bodies she surmised from the hundreds of melted brass puddles scattered around them, had likely died in a fire fight, and were the ‘evidence’, Jimmy Long had mentioned. It was hard to be sure but from where the bodies were located she thought that only armed gangbangers had been killed. The sounds of sirens outside told her she should probably head out of the build about now.

 

Spoiler

I left off here incase anyone wanted to post themselves interacting with the cop, fire department, the local news, or the squatters. if y'all don't I will move us forward in another post later

 

[Nina]

As the floating (that is not the right word, Sean is carrying this thing, fuck), glass pane touched down the women and children who had seen and experienced things that would traumatize them for a long time all had their attention on the goddess that had saved them. As they crowded around Sean reaching out to touch her Brigit saw some cops and firemen break off from where Karen was and come rapidly toward them. She met them halfway.

 

“Hey,” she held up her hands to slow them down,” everyone is out of the building that we could see. There is another one of us inside making sure…”

 

“Another one of you. Who are you people?” This cop, an older man, late fifties, obviously a veteran wasn’t dazzled by Brigit even though he was wondering about the state of her clothing and  the obvious bullet holes he could see.

 

“We’re just concerned citizens who saw something bad happening and decided to do what we could to help,” explained Brigit quickly, then she pointed to where she had had the encounter with the gangsters. “There are three of four gang members over there they need medical attention there are probably more inside who may be hurt or even dead. I think what we stumble into was a gang war and these women and a kids were caught in the crossfire.

 

“Are you hurt?” One of the firemen, an EMT, finally dragged his eyes from Brigit’s incredible physique which was on much more display than she was comfortable with in this situation.

 

“No, I am not, but those guys were armed to the teeth and they had no compunction at shooting anyone who got in their way.”

 

The police sergeant directed a couple of uniforms and some of the EMTs to check on the gangster indicated by Brigit, but refrained from sending anyone inside deciding to call for SWAT backup.

 

“Alright Miss, what’s your name,” he asked preparing to write it down in his little notebook.

 

“Her name is Dauntless, sergeant, and if you have any more questions you can ask me or our lawyers when they arrive.” Karen interrupted the Sergeant walked past him and draped a coat over Brigit’s broad shoulders, “now if you will excuse us we will get out of your way and wait over by our vehicle.”

 

As she put and arm around Brigit to lead her back to the SUV she called out to Sean, “Centerpoint!”

 

Sean heard Karen and looked over at her where she was with Brigit and a older policeman. She  wondered what center point was or meant. “Centerpoint,” Karen said again looking directly at Sean, “When your done let the police and firemen get on with their jobs and come wait with us at the SUV. Okay?”

[Exile_Jeane]

Head full of thoughts about the implications of Mr. Jimmy "Dragon" Wong and his being in the city in the employ of an organized crime group, Grace paused just within the main doors of the warehouse. She'd spent enough time searching for survivors that some sort of media had probably followed the first responders in. At least she wasn't emerging from a flaming crater mostly naked and covered in ash. She'd been caught on film like that a few times in Benin, and only local gratitude during the Storm had kept it from being circulated wider than it had. Showtime. 

 

The blonde Stormer emerged into a more proverbial storm. Barefoot but otherwise unruffled, she swept the scene in passing. EMTs. Firefighters. Police. Injured people being helped. And, yes, a cluster of reporters gathered around Sean's unmistakable presence like moths to a flame or sharks to bloody water. Grace would leave her to it. Her arrival caught the attention of a watchful officer first, intercepted on her steady path back to the car.

 

"Miss! Miss?!" he called, making her turn her head and stop. A few of the reporters on the outermost ring of Sean's blob peeled off, hoping for easier pickings of a new something.

 

"Fire's out far as I can tell, Officer. No one else left inside," she replied, preempting his most likely questions, expression severe as she judged the indrawn breath of incoming questions, "If you want to know anything else, I'll be happy to talk to you with my lawyer present." She started moving again, ignoring the delayed babble of questions exploding in her wake. She had a, ha, 'team', to check on. Make sure they were okay and share notes about what happened. 

[Asarasa]

Sean had changed, and she was well away the changes went far deeper than just physically. Yet, at the core, she still felt like the same person, if perhaps an exaggerated, funhouse version. Where she'd been a reserved introvert, she was far more an extrovert now, basking and preening in the attention and admiration she drew, the lust, desire, awe and envy.

 

She hadn't been this refurbished and renovated new her for long, but she was growing aware of the darker side of the emotions she could arouse. Encircled by the people she'd helped save, reaching out to touch her, thank her, behind her calm, charming façade, Sean felt an hint of unease at the sheer adulation, the worship, in their eyes. Worship, teasing someone, and wrapping their around her fingers, Sean could feel an amused thrill at the idea, but only on an individual basis.

 

When it impacted a group, a crowd, a mass of people, Sean could see it leading all too quick into zealotry, fanaticism, and that, she was wary of. Gratitude was one thing - and she was proud, glad she, Brigit, and Grace, were able to help them - but when end it lead to people thinking they owed everything to another, Sean couldn't help but see red flags all over the play.

 

Reassuring the mass of the destitute, the overlooked, and uncared for that they would be taken care, though Sean wasn't sure they would be at all, the fantasy woman slipped free of them with the promise she would speak to the first responders on their behalf. And she would. One of her best friends was a police officer, but her thoughts on the police were a varied thing.

She hadn't ever had a run in the police, not personally. On the other hand, the news she had seen from the US was a troubling, complicated thing, at best, especially in regards to people of colour. The officers and fireman would have barely paid any attention to those the empowered ladies had rescued, except to shoo them away, and even less now with someone like her to let their eyes feast on.

Some of the first responders were cute, and after the danger, Sean's yearnings were heightening again, and she couldn't help but preen a little under the attention, and tease them some with merciless playfulness. With her audience enraptured, and dramatic promises that she would be so disappointed otherwise if the dispossessed would be taken advantage of, or worse, be mistreated despite being the victims, she was sure, if for her sake and a simple smile their way, she was sure the officers and firefighters would do what they could for them.

The Media was a different game entirely. Once, she would have been practically tongue-tied in front of a camera. No longer. She wasn't naïve. A new trio of enhanced, of Novas, in Chicago, all ranging from supermodel attractiveness to terms that hadn't been codified yet to label the extreme beauty some Novas had developed, Sean knew the news would be all about them - it's was drove views and clicks. Smirking on the inside, Sean was pretty sure one local channel would only have footage of her cleavage.

Karen had dubbed her and Brigit with... code names? Hero names? If Sean wasn't precisely sure why she'd done so, she could guess it had something to do with acting as their promoter and manager, to make their reveal on their own terms or something. She wasn't ashamed by her transformation, but she could see how revealing her previous appearance, her name, the fact she wasn't even a citizen of the US, let alone Chicago, would make the story all about her.

So Sean played the Media's game with a delighted gusto, slipping direct questions, had them lapping up enthralling non-answers, deflecting the narrative from focusing on the appearance of new Novas to the state of the homeless and poor that stained the reputation of Chicago for decades. At the least, even if the authorities tried to do nothing, Sean could aim the spotlight of the Media that way, if by the coy threat that she wouldn't keep playing the game with them.

When she finally made her escape, joining Karen and the others by the SUV, giving Ernesto a grateful grin as he handed her her Burberry coat and she slipped it over her shoulders, Sean couldn't help but marvel at her own audacity and grace, dealing with the Media. It had been easy, in some ways funs, toying with them, how they wanted answers, and only giving them what she wanted and persuading them that they were exactly what they wanted.

... And she could see how being mobbed constantly by media and fans could - would - end up tiresome, at times, at some point. I better practice that Clark Kent effect as much as I've been practicing smiling and flashing a bit of cleavage. She tied the belt of her coat about her miniscule waist and glanced over at Karen, arching a brow.

"How was that?" she asked with a grin. "Too much, or just enough to provide incentive and interest?"

[Nina]

Karen gave Sean a wry smile as she went past and  slid into the SUV, “It was well done Sean,” then she turned back to the reporters. “Alright guys I have to get my girls home…”

Several of the reporters shouted questions…

“Who is the bombshell?”

“That was the boxer Brigit Moran, Has she been a Stormer all along?”

“Is Apex the team leader? Is this a Team?”

“What’s the Teams name?”

 

It took several moments for Karen to get them to quiet down. She noticed the detective standing close by scowling at the media. “Look you are all focusing on the wrong thing here these people just had a traumatic event, and the story isn’t my girls, but what happened to these poor victims in that warehouse. As for these ladies We will be saying more at a press conference Monday morning. Now if you will excuse me.” Karen went to the detective. “Look detective I know you need statements but not here. And not downtown. Here is where we are staying give us time to clean up and get settled and you can come get your statements.”

 

The detective a hardnosed old school veteran, knew that it was the best he could get under the circumstances, so he agreed to give them two hours and all three of them had better be there.

 

Karen got back into the SUV, “Ernesto, get us back to the hotel and give me your phone.”

 

Karen transferred the video Ernesto shot and erased it from his phone, then looked up at the super powered women. As she continued text she spoke to all three but was looking at Grace. "Well you heard the reporters. Are you a team?"

[Exile_Jeane]

Her father would hate it. A large part of her parents' concession to her move out of the house was an unspoken hope she'd get it out of her system and settle down into something normal. As if normal was an option for someone who embodied the world of glass statement and been through what she'd been through. Done what she'd done. Saved and killed and failed to save as many people as she had. Whatever x-factor or destiny had seen her erupt instead of die at Echidna's swarm... She had to live up to that. If she ever wanted to sleep at night. Eventually.

 

More viscerally, the prospect of violence against Wong had excited something in her, that same mischief that prompted her to jump away from the reporters at the boxing match. Gifts were meant to be used.  

 

Grace looked down, lips pressed to a thin, bloodless line as she thought on that, mulling over it in the back of her mind before looking up again.

 

"I won't be first to abandon you two. There was a another Stormer at the warehouse, one who could create and control fire who works for one of the gangs. Someone not known to the usual internet circle of fanatics who track people like us at two o'clock in the morning," she stated, confessing her own early morning insomniac habits, "I managed to talk him down, and he put out the fire as a bonus. If he had insisted of fighting, there wouldn't be a warehouse standing back there, and a lot more hurt people possibly. Something to keep in mind if and how we move forward."      

[Nina]

"And I saw one last night. A Nova," Brigit added when she saw the questioning looks. " At least I think she was like us." Brigit glanced over at Karen who  was giving her the 'why didn't you tell me this' look. "It was at the gym where i was showing off. I only saw her for a moment. She looked perfect, perfect symmetry, no blemishes, you know just like the three of us and every other Nova you have seen on TV."

 

"Except the monsters,' Sean murmured, "some of those were people too."

 

"Any way I glanced away and when I looked back she was gone. But yeah I think she was a nova." 

 

Bridget looked  out the at the buildings and people they were passing by, at the grey sky above. Chicago had always been rough, had always, at least for her lifetime, been deteriorating. They used to joke that at least Chicago wasn't Detroit.

 

And the violence.

 

That had been the biggest fear when she was growing up, getting caught up in gang violence. Even though the predominantly Irish American make-up of the neighborhoods where her family lived wasn't prone to gang violence it still crept in. And since the Storm and the in flux of refugees from areas that had been devastated, it had grown worse.

 

We turn a blind eye, we live our lives and just don’t recognize what we see, she thought, every day. Sure, we give to charity, we do community work, but we don’t do anything about any of the darkness.

 

Brigit looks at Sean, her heart rate immediately jumps just from a glance, then at Grace and finally Karen.

 

“I don’t know about a Team. Sean has a Life I mean she isn’t even from here, and Grace you have your Charity and your own life.

But this is my city. I have lived here all my life and I have never had anything to give to make it a better place. And now I do. And god knows, if there is a god, this city needs help. It needs what I can give.

 

I won’t ask you guys to join me, to be a team, what ever that means, but I won’t turn down the help if your inclined.”

 

 

[Asarasa]

Sean winked at the journalist who was asking who the Bombshell was and chuckled to herself as she slid into the SUV as the man blushed and grew flustered. If only you knew, buddy. If only you knew...
 

When Karen asked if they were a team, Sean let the other two Novas speak first as she gave the idea real consideration. She had already decided that after her month of vacation ended she would be quitting her job, even starting to plan out a theatrical arrival to hand in her resignation to Bill Adamson himself, the head of Adamson Associate Architects Ottawa office, and younger son of the founder.

She had never lived in another city, had even only moved twice in her life. She loved her country, and Ottawa was a fine city, safe, comfortable. And, she could admit, dull. Much like her life. Fine, safe, comfortable. Dull. Just yesterday, she had been fine with that, happy in a unambitious, untroubled way.

 

Now, though she still thought of herself as the same person, she had a new - and dramatically different - appearance, a new gender, a new youth, and a new outlook. A new life, practically, and what better way to embrace that chance and change than with a move to a new city? She might have felt a thread of fear during the recent encounter, more for Brigit when she'd been shot and not knowing she was bulletproof than for herself, but Sean couldn't deny the thrill and excitement she had felt, the likes of which she had rarely felt before.

 

It seemed so clear now. She'd been in a rut. Always taking the safe path, the known path, thinking about what she would do rather than doing it. It was time to walk, strut into the unknown and experience something different rather than just dreaming about it, especially when the opportunity was thrust indelibly upon her, evident with every breath she took.

 

Besides, she was acquainted with two Novas in Chicago already, she thought, letting her lavender eyes linger appreciatively on the two she was sharing the back of the SUV with, and there were more in the city, apparently. In Ottawa, the only empowered publicly known was the Ogopogo of the Rideau Canal, a giant river serpent, and the possibilities there were far less intriguing to the fantasy woman made flesh.

 

A part of her might always consider Ottawa home, but it was time to see more of the world, especially now she had so much more time to see, and find her place in it. Chicago looked like a great place to start.

"I have a life, yes," Sean agreed, amusement in the curve her luscious lips and the lilt of her sultry soprano, "but it's just hit the reset button. Chicago seems like a wonderful to start, especially in such fine company. A team, but hopefully friends, first." And maybe more... The buxom beauty's smile widened unabashedly. "Excitement, danger, fun, and the chance to help make Chicago a better place, can't ask much more than that as a start to a new life. I'll just to take care of a few things back home." Her lips pursed in a mirthful moue. "And I suppose, arrange getting a work visa or something."

[Exile_Jeane]

"Somehow I doubt you'll have trouble arranging one of those once you've convinced them you're not trying the most ridiculous identity-theft scheme imaginable," Grace offered.

 

She took in a breath, thinking, "I've been part of a team before. Obviously. But that was born and part of a crisis dealing with surviving that crisis. I'm only on speaking terms with one of them, in fact, so that shows how long that lasted once we... *I* went my own way first chance I was offered. This, that fire aside, will be different based on what Karen and I discussed, more of a business. Promoting ourselves and our goal whatever shape that takes. Support and training for that goal. Networking with the right groups and people to achieve that goal without going insane or getting ourselves killed."

 

Having counted out her three points on her fingers like it was one of her college group projects, she paused for effect, "I haven't done half the research I'd need to do feeling comfortable putting together a business loan form, but I do have three suggestions to get us started. One, the big thing Gilda's Club does is fundraise. Big dinner events, walk sponsorships. If you want to do some good, reach out to groups that could use the exposure to get more money. I suspect that's a big reason why I was hired. Two, that long weekend out of the city I mentioned. Find somewhere we can smash up without getting in trouble so that you know your limits before we run into a nova we can't talk down. Collateral damage is *the* thing with Stormer fights. Three, and this is one I had started looking at, evening jogs in some of the parks dangerous enough to attract muggers but not too dangerous to keep everyone out."

 

Grace permitted herself the ghost of a smile, "Simple, maybe. But it could work to deter the most cowardly and superstitious while we work out the plan."      

[Asarasa]

"Jogging about at night in a sketchy park?" The voluptuous new woman arched an elegant, dubious brow. She hadn't gotten new running shoes yet, but had picked up a couple of pairs of yoga pants that she looked positively criminally good in. One side of her delectable mouth curved up as she reached out to pat Brigit's bulging bicep, just short of a caress. "If any muggers get a good look at the guns Brigit is packing, that might make them reconsider. But the two of us?"

Sean recrossed her legs and arched her back, emphasizing the narrowness of her waist and the thrust of her chest, though it was hardly necessary. "That seems almost like entrapment to me." Her small grin suggested she expected a jog in the park would end up with a flock of men chasing after them, for reasons nefarious, prurient, and other. "I'm sure we can figure out a better way to 'patrol' the city than that, if that is something we want to do."

 

It was never something she had done before, but wining and dining, or rather being wined and dined, courted really, to be funded and raise funds, Sean thought that might be fun, at least for now, as the new her. A frown flickered across her lips, thinking about the homeless and dispossessed they had encountered just a moment ago. Twisting a mayor or a governor around her finger, to persuade them towards actionable goals to do something about it was even more intriguing.

 

"I'm definitely all for a long weekend to find out what I'm able to do now, as well as finding out the same about the both of you." The impossible beauty's playful grin teased that she meant more than just what powers they had.

[Nina]

The more she listened the more frustrated she was getting. Grace was being logical, but her experience as valuable as it was, seemed to have . not scared her, but made her skeptical, maybe? And Sean, as beautiful and desirable as she was, seemed to simply be excited about the powers they had now.

 

"All that is great but I need to do something and strolling through a park waiting for a mugger isn't one of them. Every day and every night assholes like those gangs are running around killing people and not just other gang members. Innocent people caught in the cross fire, kids like my sisters.  You have no idea how scared I was walking to school when I was their age.' 

 

Brigit was worked up, angry, and with out knowing she had balled her left hand into a fist, a very angry fist.

 

The others were staring at her. She realized that she had almost been yelling, but then she noticed that they were staring not at her as a whole, but at her fist and she glanced down. 

 

Brigit's left forearm and fist crackled with blue-white energy, shining up from within creating a strange blue-white flaming aura along her arm and fist. She could hear the energy crackling over the sound of the SUV driving down the road.

 

"Okay maybe a testing place isn't such a bad idea..."

[Exile_Jeane]

Sean's teasing made Grace want to roll her eyes, an instinct that she was glad she repressed as Brigit had her rant, and more importantly, unintentional power display. She let herself smile sympathetically, watching the glow die, thankfully, without anything getting damaged.

 

"Speaking as the girl who went from killing monsters to hiding in my parent's house until I couldn't stand the itch anymore, I get it. You *can* do something, so you *want* to do something. There aren't a lot rules about Stormer justice yet, but if we want to avoid them calling out the snipers every time we go out to help, we're going to have to figure out how deeply we want to tie ourselves to the authorities. *Then* we need to start worrying about entrapment issues," the blonde Stormer paused, nodding in Sean's direction, "Sucks, I know, but you only get one first impression."

 

"And I'm glad you both like the testing idea. Karen, you're the local with connections. Anything within a few hours drive that needs demolishing you think you can book for us?" she offered to the non-powered member of their quartet.   

[Nina]

 Untested

 

Karen, who felt as if she had lost control of the situation, took Grace’s question as her way back in, “Not right off hand, but let me do some checking after we get to the Hotel and see what I can do.”

 

She did a lot more than that. The next few days for the girls and Chicago went by in a whirlwind. First off, select local news received edited footage of the warehouse videos which even six months after Stormers broke onto the scene, was still newsworthy and with these three exotic and beautiful women were guaranteed ratings makers. The videos went national within the hour and international soon after.

 

New living arrangements were made for Sean and Brigit in apartments near Grace’s under their real names but currently paid for by Karen’s Promotion company.

 

Contracts were signed and business partnerships were in the process of being finalized. It was decided that Karen would manage their Business and media endeavors but would not be a part of the team dynamic al though she would be onboard for consultation. She though it best that she is not involved in their heroing but rather stay on the periphery of that handling the Media presence they were already beginning to grow.

 

A press conference was held a few days later where Karen appeared alone saying that the girls,  as an as yet unnamed team, would be taking up a permanent residence in Chicago and would do their utmost to serve and protect their city, new and old, within the boundaries set by the developing Federal guidelines for Stormer activities. She further indicated that the team would cooperate fully with local, state, and federal authorities within those guidelines and when the teams and the cities interests were best served.

 

When asked why the team was not present at the press conference Karen grinned at the young reporter, “Their training.”

 

 

Brigit flew spinning end over end and fell into the clear blue water of the bay with an explosive splash. The blow that Grace, Apex, had hit her with that time was the first one she had felt and it had knocked her almost three full football field lengths across the white sands of the beach into the ocean.  She bobbed to the surface and saw that the camera drone used by the film crew hired to chronicle these sessions, had kept up this time and should be a good for a laugh or two later. She started swimming back to shore.

 

Karen had not found anything remote enough or safe enough in Chicago or Illinois and she was loath to ask to use either of the two federal facilities that had been created , one in New Mexico and the other in Maine, for fear of giving the government a opening into their affairs. But there was one place that had been built for just the sort of thing they needed to do.

 

A few months after the Storm a new company, NovaStorm, dealing in many different Nova related technologies came into being and one of  the first things they did was buy out all the federal contracts for the rehabilitation of the Enewetak Atoll and along with their partnership with The Davian Corporation entered a long term civil development program with the Republic of the Marshall Islands. They then leased Enewetoak with the intention of transforming it into a Nova Training ground. Using Klatatech specifically created for the purpose of transforming the radioactive waste into a safe inert substance the clean up was completed in record time. Now clean, a significant infrastructure renewal program began along with the hiring of 90% of the existing population into the workforce on the island causing the quality of life to rise over 250% almost overnight. Large areas of the Atoll were designated for use as Nova/Psion Training grounds.

While Karen had no direct connection to either NovaStorm or the Davian Corp, she did know a guy…

 

Spoiler

Have some fun trainng. also any of the Nova storm crowd who wish may make a guest shot, very appropriate for deezy cause we need outfits, and I'm kind sure temple may pop in, Ryan if he wants to, cassie as well. for those popping in. we are doing this comic book style so you don't have to worry about exact time line continuity.

 

[Exile_Jeane]

"And that is why we try to dodge not block," Grace declared with just the ever-so-slightly-obvious tinge of satisfaction at having finally gotten a solid hit on the professional boxer.

 

Her comment went out along the earpiece provided to the trio by their hosts. Grace was dressed practically for both the humid heat and hardcore exercise. Tanktop. Shorts. Running shoes. A few nylon pouches on an ever-so-tasteful belt. Nothing too expensive by her standards, for all that they'd be shredded by a solid hit by either of the two other women, her so-called 'attunement' protecting her clothing only from her strength. But a fabric capable of holding up to the force Stormers put out was problem she could hopefully get solved on this trip after a meeting with Novastorm's genius tinker. She'd requested a meeting a anyway. Had sketched out a logo for herself, too, an 'A'-shaped mountain on blue background. She looked good in blue, so maybe..?

 

One more detail among many in the whirlwind since Karen had begun working her magic. Grace had done her share of the work, researching and composing and networking a little in the wee hours of the morning, glad to have a problem to sink her teeth into. She hadn't ran into the pyrokinetic again yet, but there was more than enough to do even without that. Transitioning from her pseudo Secretary at Gilda's Club into an 'appear at our fundaisers and on our advertising' arrangement which, cynically, had been the actual real reason she'd been hired. A... terse conversation with her parents over the whole everything which was going on and avoided blowing up into an argument by the slimmest of miracles. She wasn't disowned yet, anyway.

 

Which didn't help her mood, calm as she appeared on the surface, as the training session kicked off today and Brigit was her first partner of the day. She rummaged through one of her pouches and produced a single unremarkable marble, retail price 10 cents apiece, and aimed behind the swimming Chicago native. A single moment's consideration, and... CRACK! SPLASH! Water plumed as the super-sonic projectile exploded somewhere in the sea floor, a deliberate miss as the marble's next surviving kin loaded up in front of a Grace's thumb for it's shot at glory.