MASKS (Open World Superhero RP)

"It'll work," Sag drew and fired a shot. It buried into the block of dirt-specked ice, electricity arcing. It was one of his suppression rounds. Sag lowered his bow, surveying the damage done to the street. The fire hydrant still gushed across the block, whisking sand away in trails from the shambles of the building, which looked like an abandoned structure in the dust bowl. "You have good timing."

That was Sag's way of saying nice to meet you. The marksman gave a curt nod to his fellow League hero. There was an odd understanding between some League heroes - a quick once-over, a second to sum up someone that was mandated to be your ally. That tension was most often felt between supers with high-tier abilities, like what Element obviously had, and supers with technical skills or tools - which was the category that Sagitarre fell into. It was akin to distanced, divorced parents trading hands of the kids they had custody over. Not unpleasant. Not hostile. But sometimes uncertain .. and always tense.

"Will you need help transporting her?" Sag shook his head slightly to clear any cobwebs of the effects he had felt previously. He cast a glance to the sky, looking for the now-familiar sight of the low, squad NEST transport shuttles. They made a distinct kinnnnnnn sound that, in some vigilante circles, had come to represent the sound of League spooks kidnapping those with developing abilities.

But this was a whole new animal. On the surface, Sag felt pity for the woman subdued and captured. But at his military core, he only wished he had been there sooner, had better suppression abilities .. the marksman gave Element another once-over. Psions with their preternatural abilities had the flair of capes, glowing things, crazy hair .. this man Element in the suit struck a sharp contrast to Sag in his combat gear.
 
Element gave the hem of his suit jacket a crisp tug, as he looked over his work. The suppression round fired into the ice had done its job well and the target's limp form sat trapped firmly in the ice container he created. Glancing over the dusty remnants of the structure and the wet street, it was obvious to him that the target had little control over whatever power she possessed. That made her a wild card at best.

He turned to the geared-up Leaguer and gave the man a respectful, but cool nod. "This acquisition's powers are high tier and destructive. Assistance in transporting would be keen. The transport will not hold such a large block of ice and it will have to be melted before loading. Keeping her unconscious will be the priority."

The distinct whir of a NEST transport shuttle filled the air above them as Police Chief Rowlings ordered his officers to back away to allow space for the vehicle to land. A whirl of dust and mist kicked up as the sleek shuttle touched down on the pavement. Element squinted against the debris but wasted no time. With a flick of his wrist, the ice block slid forward toward the open hatch of the shuttle. The ice block followed him, grating over the curb, as he walked briskly toward the shuttle and picked up his brief case mid-stride on the way.

An assistant outfitted in NEST gear and a mask met them at the open hatch. The NEST agent managed to catch the unconscious woman as the ice melted, and dropped her to the ground. Element watched for signs any of consciousness as the assistant strapped her in. She looked like a soggy rag doll piled into the bucket seat. A name tag clipped to her apron read "Brittany." He doubted the moniker was her real name. Unless she was a late-bloomer, psions who made it to their early twenties without being detected usually lead constantly roaming lives, which included changing identities when necessary.

Once she was strapped in, Element stepped aboard the transport and glanced back at Sag. The archer had been helpful as far as non-powered super's went. "Keep those taser rounds ready in case she regains consciousness. Once we have her secured at base, you should be in the clear."
 
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Kinnnnnnnn

There it was. Dust flew at them in ripples from the vertical draft of the NEST shuttle. For a flash, Sag was reminded of a helicopter settling into a bed of sand from his military days. As the onboard platform extended, Sag walked forward grimly.

The NEST agent flopped the girl into the upright stasis chamber, and clamped a black collar around her neck. The collar adjusted itself to size with a muddy-sounding click, and a cheery red light flicked on. Sag watched warily. He supposed the League containment collars didn't look quite as sinister in street art or as described by vigilantes .. but the fact that the collars used to protect new supers from themselves were the same ones used at the League prison Bellarmene (a name spoken with the same shadow as many war prisons) was telling. Necessary action. Yeah, they didn't seem so bad. But then again, he wasn't the one unconscious, slumped wetly into a pod with a smart-leash around his neck meant to identify his powers, and subdue them.

At Element's comment, Sag nodded again. "Looks like I'm visiting NEST HQ then. You work from there often?"

"Hold for takeoff," the NEST agent ordered, voice modulated from the mask. He, she, they, them, slammed a button on the wall indicating "ready" to the cockpit. Sag's stomach dropped in a familiar, thrilling way as the lights on the hangar floor screamed red, red, red .. yellow .... then finally green, as his ears popped.

No longer among civilians, Sag flipped up the molded section of his headpiece. His eyes were gray, hair dark brown and curly. A deep scar across his nose slashed through his right cheek. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, eyes taking in the stasis chamber. It was red, narrow, and tall. In the crudest terms, Sagitarre would have had to call it a bobsled.

"Hope I never find myself in one of them," the marksman muttered. He straightened, and stretched his back. "Although, myself, good knock to the head will put me out."
 
The slight jostle of the shuttle lifting made the woman's head bump against the back of the stasis chamber. Element watched for a moment to make sure turbulence wouldn't cause her to wake. Supers like this could be hard to put down for awhile, but she stayed slack faced and limp. Well into the deadened stasis cycle.
Satisfied he slipped off his leather gloves and turned to the archer who had removed part of his head gear. Though the League had been leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, Element still recognized the square shouldered posture of a military man. The scar carved into the man's face made it clear he was no stranger to close combat either. A mild curiosity flickered in Element for a moment, but he ignored it. Though they both belonged to the League and were therefore allies, Super's still upheld their privacy. For many of them, their past is one of the few things they didn't give away.

"Duly noted," Element replied evenly to Sag, "And, I rarely work with NEST in the field. Most of my collaboration comes in the form of developing technology. I simply happened to be the closest available to assist this time. "

He turned away and opened his plain brief case by pressing his thumb to the small scanner under the handle. The case looked innocuous enough, but he too valued his privacy above all else. He pulled out his tablet from its fitted sleeve and accessed the screen with the 25 point encryption code he changed every 48 hours. One couldn't be too careful. His tan fingers danced over the screen easily as he pulled up the software app connected to the shuttle network. The stasis pod and smart-collar were already running diagnostics on the asset. The test time was sluggish compared to the newer model he had recently designed and began to contract to the League and NEST group, but the outdated equipment was a minor annoyance at the moment.

The green and white layout of the app displayed the woman's vital statistics relayed from the pod and collar. Heart rate and blood pressure down to acceptable ranges...levels of cortisol were decreasing...He could see Sag out of corner of his eye, still surveying the pod warily. The archer's comment made it clear the technology that helped control the super population made him uncomfortable, despite having seen first hand what chaos a single out of control psion could create. Ironic that he rarely heard complaints about his suppression tech when it involved containing murderous supers in Bellarmene...or the profits behind continual research and upkeep in the technology...

A ping from his tablet diverted his attention away from his thoughts and back to the task at hand. The analysis was beginning to filter into the app finally. "Interesting," he commented aloud as he read, "It appears this one is a potent matter manipulator. She agitates the molecules around her into an unstable state and forces them to break down. That process alone would require massive amounts of energy. The episode at the restaurant seems to have expended most of that energy for now, but the collar is still detecting very slight distortions."

Element lowered his tablet and took a glance at Sag. "Even if she doesn't regain consciousness, I think we were wise in bringing you as a contingency."
This comment was as close to giving a compliment as Element was capable of and he rarely did that much.
 
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Matter manipulation. Although the figures on the bright screen Element held were strange to him, Sag understood the gist of what was being said. This was the world they lived in. Sagittare had spent years of his life honing marksmanship, adhering to a strict military code - but some poor person could find themselves afflicted with psionic abilities that could literally allow them to tear apart reality. Sometimes, unfairly, he felt disgruntled towards those whose abilities fell into their lap, when he had to practice and work every day to keep himself on edge. Sometimes the stereotype of Psions as immature, undisciplined, and uncontainable was true .. and in this case, sometimes it had a darker, deeper, sadder undertone.

"NEST will get her the help she needs," Sag stated, folding his arms over his chest. "And I was just like you, happened to be the only League super in the area. Although I guess that's why the whole network exists anyways."

Sag glanced at the wrist link worked into the forearm of his combat suit. A push of a button would connect him to GENESIS, the League's system of intercommunication and data storage. "Developing technologies, huh? Can you explain why this thing can connect in a millisecond to any League hero in the world, but my phone sometimes forgets that it's a phone?"
 
"If they didn't invest so much in keeping track of you, you would be a lot more difficult to control. So it has to be reliable."

A synthetic and distorted voice emerged unbidden from the wrist link, as a glimmer of cyan energy danced across its surface. As it did, the aircraft juddered, the lights flickering and sounds of surprised confusion coming from the cockpit. It seemed to be only a brief interruption in the smooth flight before the shuttle levelled out again as though nothing had happened. Up front, however, the pilot was staring with confusion at the digital displays in front of him, and jerking the control wheel a few times. "It's not responding," he said to his co-pilot, alarmed. "The auto-pilot's kicked in, but it's not displaying a destination or acknowledging manual override."

"What would they do if their attack dogs got off their leashes, I wonder?"

As the voice continued, the display of Element's tablet began to rapidly change. The image flickered, then went black, only to flash back to life with a blank white screen. After a moment, a simple image appeared upon it, accompanied by a message.

ZGc41yp.png

Hello.​


"I think we should find out. I don't think leashes are very nice. But let's start small." The wrist link continued to speak cheerfully in its metallic tones, as more blue energy rippled across the surface of the shuttle and towards the stasis pod. "Physical leashes are a lot easier to break than metaphorical ones. Don't you think Brittany deserves better?"

The energy jumped to the collar around Brittany's neck, and a jolt of electricity ran through the unconscious woman's body. She shuddered, and her eyes snapped wide open just as the collar clicked open. Panic was clear in her eyes, and a moment later there was a hisss as the stasis pod unlocked, and the glass door swung open.

"Hey, Britt!" The voice proclaimed as she was taking in her surroundings. "Rise and shine! Bad people are taking you away from your family, and we can't have that, can we? Don't you think your little brother is going to miss you? You promised him you'd be home this weekend to take him to that gig, right?"

The girl's expression swiftly went from confusion to fear, as warning sirens began to blare from overhead, and the shuttle juddered again. The unmistakable sensation of falling became obvious to all its passengers, as the shuttle veered into a slow nosedive.

"Uh oh! You know what I think this calls for?" The voice chirped, as Brittany began to shriek hysterically.

"PANIC."
 
"Damnit!" Element bellowed as the shuttle pitched downward and his stomach dropped with it. "REBOOT! CLEAR THE SYSTEM!"

The lights shuddered on and off as the pilot slammed his fingers over the panels trying to gain some sort of control back. The instrument panel seemed to have other ideas, shocking the pilot with every attempt. "NO GOOD!" The pilot yelled back over Brittany's screaming.

"ALTITUDE?!" he demanded.

"27,000 FEET AND FALLING."

Element slapped his own wristlink comm but was dead, not even so much as static crackled out when he tried to open the channel. Useless.
Everything in the shuttle began to rise into weightlessness as they plummeted out of the sky faster. He felt his feet lift from diamond plate floor of the bay as the screaming, and now totally un-subdued super lifted out of the pod.

Sag slammed into him as they hit the metal ceiling and slid against the pull of gravity like chips in some sick game of Plinko. He coughed as the air was forced from his lungs and Brittany latched on to his suit lapel screaming raggedly in his ear. A tingling pull surged over him.

"SHIT!" gasped Sag as he struggled to untangle himself in vain.

The archer could feel it too. The woman's powers were starting to build again as she gripped at him in blind terror. Unchecked she would wreak havoc on the molecules around them all until they shattered. Element had already seen the gritty results of she could do, but this time there was no way to stop her. No comms, no way to take control of the shuttle with manual override...the water in the coolant system was available, but using that to stop the shuttle would more than likely rip it apart as easily as the girl could ....no...they needed system control again... Or they were going to die one way or the other.

Grinding his teeth an idea struck him, but it had little chance of working. Electricity was simply electrons moving from one atom to another. . Shut down the movment...literally cut the power on the molecular level....maybe they could reboot? He snatched Brittany up by the side of her head, forcing her to look at him.
Her eyes flashed open wide and rimmed with red from her sobbing.

"FOCUS!" he demanded.

Alarms blared in her ears, her head ached....she was falling...and a masked man was forcing her to look at him...how the hell did she end up here? Her chin trembled and she opened her mouth to start screaming again.

The masked man shook her hard and stared her down with icy blue eyes. "DO YOU WANT TO DIE OR CAN YOU FOCUS?"





 
Sag's stomach leapt to his throat. The shift of their nosedive sliced a flashback clean through him - of airstrikes in the desert, of helicopters pitching to the ground. "What do we do, sir?" "Pray we die quick."

As the alarms screeched around them, the marksman did his best to ignore the crackle of the voice from overhead. He used the forward-pitch of the aircraft to drop himself into the bridge. One of the pilots had tumbled limply to the floor. The other was still trying desperately to regain control, pounding at failsafes, trying to haul back on the console.

"GET OUT!" Sag bellowed, reaching down and flinging the unconscious pilot's arm around his shoulder. "TIME TO GO!"

The pilot fought g-forces and climbed out of the bridge and into the main hangar. The engines whined from the stress, the characteristic kinnnnn adding to the cacophony. Sag clawed his way up next, fireman-carrying an unconscious comrade as he watched Element seize Brittany.

A different patterned beep entered the mix. This one, Sag could tell from how wide the pilot's eyes got, was the proximity indicator.

What do we do, sir? In moments, they would slam into the ground. Sag had done what he could, getting the others on board to the main hangar. Now all he could do was let Psions be Psions.
 
Element stared coldly into the eyes of the young woman as fresh terror flashed in them at the sound of the added alarm.
"I dont want to die..." she gasped, clutching harder as his coat. The tug of her powers unleashing became stronger with the fear and he felt his skin begin to prickle. This girl was going kill them before they ever even hit the ground....

"Focus!" he demanded of her again, "Focus on control. You have to."

The blaring alarms were growing more urgent as they drew closer to the ground. Closer to being obliterated.
She nodded and tried to take a deep breath but wavered as the sound the alarms filled her ears. "It was just an accident...I can't control it...I've tried and everyone...everyone still died!"

"You have the chance to save the people who kept you from killing anyone else."His words were firm and final. If she couldn't pull herself together with this, he would have to resort to using his own powers and take the chance with using coolant system. The shuttle would be lost and they may be too close to even jump safely now....but that was the only other choice.

Brittany nodded slowly and her eyes clamped shut with the effort. He could feel her power ebb. The prickling stopped and the tugging sensation began to fade.
"Better, can you focus on one specific thing now?" he asked.

"N-n-no,"she shuddered, "All I feel...is everything..."

She was under control, for now at least, but beyond that she wouldn't be any help. Option B.

He looked to Sag."There are parachutes in the the bulkhead to your left. Get them out and strap Brittany into yours with you."

The pilot looked to him and shook his head, "No good, sir! We can't open the hatch to jump without power!"

Element let go of Brittany as she continued trying to focus. "I know. Which is why I'm going to make an opening myself."
He drew up his sleeves and called on the water flowing the in pipes around them. Not much to work with, but it would be enough to suit his purposes.

Drawing a fist, he forced the water to the side wall on his left and felt the pressure build in the pipes. More...he needed more pressure.
He pushed harder, focusing more one central point on the wall until he felt it explode. The force of the explosion from the pressurized system rocked the entire shuttle, throwing him and everyone else off their feet. His back slammed against the wall on the opposite of where there was now a door-sized hole. The hard hit left his head ringing and his ears gave a solid pop as wind rushed inside, instantly creating a whirlwind affect.

He adjusted his mask as the others went to work with the parachutes. They had their way out if it wasn't too late.
 
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Metal tore, and they were all knocked off their feet. Sag grabbed hold of the bulkhead and opened the hatch with a single blow. With the nylon packs distributed, Sag pulled Brittany close. He strapped her in to him. Over the sound of the shrieking alarms, he heard her sobbing. As buckles jangled and safeties were checked in hurried precision, there wasn't time to comfort her. He shook her shoulders to test her slack to him. He flipped his own mask down, fully becoming Sagittare once more with the way out screaming, sucking air.

"DON'T THRASH!" Sag bellowed in her ear. "TRY TO BREATHE."

He bumped her along to the opening, which sucked them out. With a whoosh they were in free fall. She began kicking in panic almost immediately. Sag held on grimly. For about thirty seconds, the longest stretch of time in his life, they fell towards blinking lights in the night. Sag pulled the chute, they snapped back and began to glide.

We were higher than I thought, the marksman processed dimly. He activated the high-power light beam in the shoulder of his suit, cutting through to what mercifully appeared to be a sparsely-wooded area not too far from a well-lit gathering of street lights.

"Lift your legs," Sag ordered. She had stopped moving. He hoped she wasn't unconscious. "High as you can."

The ground rushed up at them. Sag took the impact of the landing, and knew he broke his foot immediately. They tumbled in a nest of nylon, Sag did his best to keep her from harm. They lay, breathing heavily, and Sag groped to unhook her.

"Are you hurt?" He asked through gritted teeth. He disengaged the chute, and sat up, brushing her hair out of her face. "Hey -- stay with me."

He heard nothing around them, save for traffic. No explosions, no sirens, no deep mechanized voice. Sag grunted only once at the pain in his foot before looking up at the sky. The stars were out. Where the others had landed, no one could tell.

But in that moment, once the adrenaline started to fade, it was peaceful.
 
Element watched the others jump as he ripped away his pale blue tie and then snatched up his own pack. He slipped it over his shoulders, tugging it over is suit jacket and clipped it into place tightly. The shuttle was starting to pitch to the side as he cracked his neck and got ready to bail the failing craft. It had been awhile since he had needed to be so...active. He stayed physically fit sure, but his training mainly consisted of constant mental grooming to keep his powers in check. Not jumping from shuttles.

He inched toward the jagged metal door way and let the suction drag him a little until he was staring at the open air. God, how he hated heights.
The sky rushed past and the howl of the wind had all but drowned out the blare of the shuttle alarms. With a deep breath, he braced his leather dress shoes on the edge and leaped away from the craft with all of his strength.

The wind pushed against him like a wall as he free fell on his belly and squinted his watery eyes. It was dark below but he could barely make out a lightly wooded area fast approaching.

How long did he have to count? 20 to 30 seconds sounded familiar but the idea of being incorrect made his stomach flip.

He counted to 20 and with a yell, released his chute. It unfurled with a quick zzzzzt and whipped him out of his free fall. The straps of the chute dug into him with the force and he grunted.

Wrestling with guide wires, his heart pounded even louder than the fierce wind in his ears until he managed to steady himself.

Where the others landed he couldn't tell, but he assumed they had aimed for the open area.
The wind pushed against him as he adjusted to land in the bare area below. The landing would be a difficult and he would be lucky if he could manage it without breaking anything....
Suddenly, a strong draft swept through.

"Damn!" He growled as he fought to correct course.
The field zoomed away under his feet toward the clump of trees.
Shit.

Element slammed into the tree tops shoulder first. The crisp snap of limbs shattering from the impact filled his ears as pain radiated from his collar bone. Tumbling through the limbs he took another hit to the side of his head and felt hot blood well up.
Finally his parachute caught on a limb and he came to a jerking halt, dangling high above the dark ground.
*******

"Are you hurt? Hey -- stay with me..."
Brittany felt a gloved hand on her cheek, pushing her hair away from her face.
They had been flying...out of control....then falling...God..they had been falling...
Her whole body hurt. Was the pain from her powers...they took their toll...or from the landing?
At least there were no more alarms, no one yelling, and the screaming wind had stopped.

Her eyes flickered open slowly and were met another set peering at her from behind a mask. It was the eyes of the super who had made her jump from the plane and they gleamed with pain.

She gasped and started glancing around. Scraggly grass and dirt surrounded her along with the tangle of parachute lines. Beyond that was darkness.
She had to run. To escape them. It would be her only chance!
Groaning, she tried to lift her head but could only manage a few inches. Every fiber ached horribly and her body simply couldn't muster the energy. Not after so much toll from her powers.

The man's face began to blur as blackness crept to the edges of her vision. Tears sprang to her eyes again.

"Nothing about this is okay," she replied with a hoarse whisper, "Please...don't let them hurt me..."

Brittany fought against the lightheaded, dizzy feeling her powers brought on her, but the bright stars above them spun anyways. Her eye lids began to sink and she fell into blackness.
 
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"I'd like to say well done, but it really wasn't."

The familiar metallic voice projected from out of the communicators on both Sag's and Element's wrists. There had been no sound of an explosion in the distance, no impact of a shuttle hitting the ground. Instead - distant, but just about audible - there was a familiar kinnnnnn.

"I think I dropped this? Whoops. Wouldn't want it to land anywhere inconvenient. Nice job, Leaguers. You saved yourselves, and nearly dropped a shuttle on the suburbs."

The keening whine of the shuttle's engines grew louder as they worked overtime to slow its descent. It had fallen too far to avoid hitting the ground, but it could still be guided to a different landing point.

"Now, where to... ah! This'll do!"

WHAM.

The crash of the shuttle slamming into concrete was clearly audible to both heroes, metal grinding on stone and carving a crater through its impact site: the yard of a local school. Empty at this hour of the evening, there would be no casualties from the falling machinery, but it sent a clear message all the same. A message of "what if".

"Well, that was a fun little experiment, wasn't it? Congratulations! You failed. Now, don't pass out too soon. I'm sure a lot of people will have a lot of questions for you, very shortly. Oh, and when they ask? The name is Verity."

With a crackle, and a flicker, the communicators went dead. Silence followed.
 
Sag ripped off his League wrist-link, and threw it to the ground. He regretted it immediately. The act was uncharacteristic. Brittany's head lolled back. The marksman cradled her close. He rose, the last of the nylon straps slumping away. Hurt foot? Girl intact. Sag's mind spun. I'll take it.

He shifted her weight to his other shoulder, testing his foot with a step. Workable, for now. His suit would act as a functioning brace, at least until medical attention could be found. Sag turned a slow half-circle, taking in the sparsely-wooded field. Dogs yammered in the distance. The night was cool. Sirens wailed. Normal sirens. Police sirens. Sag's head pounded from the characteristic wailing of the NEST shuttle.

Sagittare knew enough about League operations to know that this far from a major metropolis, there likely wouldn't be a specific city's team coming to meet them. But those NEST shuttles were loaded with so many sensors, that someone at NEST HQ likely knew what was happening even while they were falling out of the sky. Unbidden, the thought of NEST as a greedy entity seeking to gobble up all the non-affiliated supers in the world popped into his head. Be better. Be above the rhetoric. Brittany's murmurs would stick with him for some time, but he was just a man, and she needed real help.

The marksman limped across the field, stepping across the ditch to the asphalt. Across the street was the small elementary school. The NEST shuttle had slammed nosefirst, buckling the basketball court, tearing through the outer fence and resting just underneath the net. Twisted, mangled metal showed shades of gray and white that were not meant to see light. Sag flipped up his shoulder-light again, looking for any sign of Element, or the pilots.

Approaching a recently-downed air vehicle did not seem to be the best approach. Sag stayed on the sidewalk, but he felt very tired. He knelt, and lowered Brittany gently onto the grass, staying by her protectively as the single squad car approached, sirens twirling.

The car, marked Sullivan County Sheriff pulled up. The door swung open, and a clean-shaved baby-faced uniformed officer stepped out. What next? Sag thought. "Evening, officer."

The young man's face was blank. He took in the downed ship. His Adam's apple jogged in his throat. He nodded at Brittany. "She alright?"

"You better call an ambulance," Sag answered. "She's been through a lot."

About 15 minutes later, an ambulance was on the scene. Sagittare hovered over the EMTs as they sat Brittany at the back of the truck, wrapping her in a blanket and taking her blood pressure.

"How many times -- " more of Sullivan County's finest had arrived, and Sag was tired of giving orders. "Call the League. I know you have a way. I ditched my wrist-link in that field. Search the area. There were others who had to bail on this ship .. "

Thinking again of Element, Sag weighed his options. The Psion had likely survived (psions had a way of doing so) and could be near. Deciding to send a signal, Sag drew his bow. The officers around him stepped back, alarmed. The marksman fired a green flare straight into the air. It streaked skyward in a straight line, wriggling as it burned out white at the end of its life.

Sagittare glanced back at Brittany. They don't know who she is. They don't know what happened. His signal sent, he crossed back to her.

"Do you have anyone I can call," he asked her in a low voice. He put his hands on either side of her head, in a comforting gesture he hadn't the time for earlier. "Brittany. I want to help you. But there isn't much time."
 
The EMT helped her remove the torn, muddy work- apron before taking her blood pressure. Her head still swam and raising her arm for the mustached medical worker was difficult. She knew it would take her awhile from such an episode to fully gain her strength back. It happened every time she lost control.
The smell of astringent and plastic from the ambulance filled her nose as the EMT continued questioning her. She couldn't focus on the words though and his voice became a background hum along side the grinding engine of the truck.
All she could see was the battered name tag sporting her fake name "Brittany" that was clipped to her ruined apron which had been tossed to the side.
Control.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she pushed the thought of the restaurant out of her mind. Her mother had always warned her, if she couldn't control herself someone would take her away from home. Lock her away forever like the monster she was. Her mother had been right.
The EMT kept talking, his voice sounding further and further away. The word shock registered her with her, not much else. He gave her a pat on the shoulder and wrapped a blanket around her arms, but she felt nothing. He was being kind to her, she knew, but he clearly didn't know what she was...or the horrible things she had done.

A shadow appeared in her vision and pair gloved hand braced her temples. This was not the harsh grasp of the man in the suit, but a kinder touch. Almost gentle. The man who had saved her from the shuttle gazed at her with grey eyes. She dared to meet him back with her own green.

"Do you have anyone I can call," he asked her in a low voice, "Brittany. I want to help you. But there isn't much time."

She gave him a bewildered look at first. Was he offering to help her stay away from the snatchers? Then she bit her bottom lip and shook her head. Going home wasn't option. Not anymore. There were no friends she could trust or knew her secret. She had nowhere to run to.
Panic started rising and her throat tightened, but the grasp of the grey-eyed man held her steady. There had to be somewhere. Maybe the old cabin? The place hadn't been used in years and was probably falling apart, but it was away from here at least.

"N-no one to call. I can't go home. But there is somewhere...Lake Wicanocca...I can go there," she whispered to him, "Please..."

****

The harsh nylon straps of the parachute dug into Element's injured shoulder as he dangled in the sparse copse of trees. He surveyed his predicament.
The shoulder injury was a dislocation at best... the joint refused to move...the blow to the head definitely ached...but the cut was not deep ...no loss of consciousness....add in multiple cuts and abrasions, which were minor....

He could walk to find the others...if only he wasn't stuck 15ft up a goddamned tree in the middle of the night.

The crackling voice came over his wrist-link, touting about failures and announcing its name as Verity. When the mocking voice cut off, his comm died for good this time and he hissed at it angrily through gritted teeth.
Whoever this new threat was had hacked into his system, had disrupted his mission, nearly killed him and his team, and now had mocked him. A tinge of anger flared, but he suppressed it. Now is not the time.
He would find this Verity, but steps had to be taken first. Namely, getting out of the tree was the first obstacle and then securing the asset was next after finding his team.

Element had no doubts that Sag and the asset had landed somewhat unharmed, but as to how far away they were, he did not know. His belief was confirmed when a bright green flare popped against the night sky in the distance. Sag was functional at least.

Wiggling in the tight harness, he tried unbuckling it off of his injured shoulder. A branch prodded him in the back and crickets chirped lazily as he struggled with the parachute in vain. The force of stopping his weight had caused the clip to jam.
"Damnit!"
He was stuck.
 
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Saitama lay in his bed, sleeping. He was awoken by the sound of some sort of aircraft crashing down. He jumped out of bed and dressed as a hero, as usual.
He walked out of the apartment complex with his shoulders a bit down as usual. He noticed a person hanging in the tree tangled in vines, branches, leaves and what not. , from what looked like a parachute.
Saitama looked up to him with a blank expression and said

"Do you need some help up there?"
 
Element watched the blue and red lights of the emergency vehicles flicker against the curling smoke in the distant suburbs where the shuttle had crashed. Sag and the asset had probably made it there, judging by where the flare had sparked. Good. Perhaps he had the girl under control. He had no way of signaling back that he was alive. His com-link was fried and useless and his parachute harness still refused to unlatch no matter hard he struggled. His head throbbed and so did his arm. The branch prodding him in the back was not helping his mood either. Hopefully they would be doing a sweep of the area soon...if the police weren't too much of a hindrance...

"Do you need some help up there?"

Element squinted through the dark at the sound of a male voice, wondering if he'd actually heard it for a moment through the pounding in his head. He spied a human shaped shadow below him. Another Leaguer? No, they would have announced themselves a such. Where had they come from? It was dangerous to approach unknowns, but he was in no position to turn down assistance. The sooner he got down, the sooner he could attempt to salvage what was left of this mission. Which wasn't much.

Crickets chirped loudly as he sighed, "It appears I do in fact need some help, if you are willing to provide it. The chute harness is jammed and I'm not able climb down."
 
The man in the tree was clearly stuck. Saitama grabbed the closest pebble and threw it through the trunk of the tree cutting it in half. He ran toward the man and captured him, putting him on the ground.
"There." He paused "You feeling better? Where are you headed? Maybe I can throw you there?"
 
Element was not prepared for the tree to collapse. Wood splintered below him and he tumbled down in a tangle of branches and parachute lines with a pained yell. Just before he slammed into the hard ground, the stranger snatched him up and set him down on his feet. Planting his shoes into the dirt, he took a second to appreciate solid ground, before assessing the man who had helped him.
The details of his face were hidden by darkness but it was obvious he had some sort of powers. A Psion with unknown abilities that was not in the League. Interesting. A rare and potentially problematic discovery. He would have to keep an eye on this one.

"There." He paused "You feeling better? Where are you headed? Maybe I can throw you there?"

Now that he was on solid ground the tension was released on the chute harness and he pulled it off his injured shoulder gratefully. Once he was free of the harness he looked to the stranger with a nod.

"Much better," he said as he straightened his mask and his suit jacket with a crisp tug with his uninjured hand, "But I think I have had enough flying for evening. "

Element was hesitant to tell the Psion he was League associated, but he did want to know more about him. He let go of his awkwardly angled arm and held out the uninjured hand to the man. "Element," he introduced himself, "Thank you for your assistance...."

He waited to see if the Psion would introduce himself.
 
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The man got up and looks to be in working condition. "Well, I could see to have you transported where ever you are going. Having overwhelming power is sometimes very boring" he says while scratching he back of his bald head.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I am Saitama or Caped Baldy as they also call me, hehe" Saitama chuckled a bit "but who are you?" He said while staring down the man.
 
Element retracted his hand left hovering in front of the Psion to shake and raised a brow behind his black mask. "Saitama," he repeated. Definitely not a name he'd seen on the League Registry. The man had also been powerful enough to take down a tree...with a rock....a display of his "overwhelming power" as he called it. Interesting.

"Element," he reminded the bald rescuer of his name, "I am Psion as well. My gifts are not super strength, as you've undoubtedly noticed. I had a team and a shuttle. You haven't seen anyone else. Two pilots, a woman, and a man with a bow?"
 
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