Thread: Empire - City of Lust (Black_Out and superheroinevengeance)

Curling through the air the scrying eye afforded an upward glance at the starry backdrop above the neon glow of the city. A subtle break in the ever shifting stormy clouds gave clear view to the unfathomable depths of space and the assorted minuscule freckles of celestial bodies that glistened in various intensity upon the canvas of the night. Most prevalent among the field of star-kissed darkness was a tiny mote of illumination that zipped across the unsettled stormy horizon. The path of it's travels pulled downward in a long arcing gesture as the forces of gravity tugged and yearned for the shooting star to fall from the abyssal darkness of the heavens. Curiously the scope of vision trailed after the swiftly falling object, watchful as it's line of travel swung beyond the grasp of the city where it vanished somewhere in the vicinity of a line of ridged mountains that were dense with pine trees, spotted with lakes, and home to the occasional cozy cabin. A loud echoing crack of thunder followed a streaking blast of lightning that sang out from the swirling storm clouds above those mountains as the gazing eye turned itself back down towards the sprawling reaches of the city of Empire. There it zipped downward, it's travels flinging it across the bordering fringes of the city and towards an open aired stylish stadium venue, the interior of which shone with a multitude of blue pinpoints of light. In the steady drizzle an undeterred artisan stood upon the stage in the basking glow of bright spot lights as the gazing invisible lens swirled around the rim of the arena. His amplified voice and energetic demeanor were undiminished by the damp turn of the evening's weather. Appreciatively the feverish crowd of people that had gathered to watch the concert roared out in mimicry of his enthusiastic vocal leadings. Finally when the sound of the band rose up and joined the brazen voice of their front man the packed like sardines crowd hopped and jostled about in an abundant display of exuberance as the act broke into yet another one of their more popular jams. Despite the weather, it wasn't always a dim and dreary existence for the people that lived in Empire City as the full arena sang along. Washing out from the edges of the complex the scanning surveillance of the Visionary's ethereal gaze broke down and across the scattered festive atmosphere of the tail gating crowds surrounding the arena. It left the roars of applause that emanated from the concert behind as it zigged and zagged across the car laden fields encircling the stadium. From there it rose upwards like a softly tossed underhand ball and dipped back down towards the collegiate campus that the venue belonged too. Empire City University, where students from all walks of life and distant reaches of the world had come for the opportunity to expand their horizons through education. It's explorations swirled through the small town feel of the campus grounds. Drifting past red brick university halls as it trailed along mostly vacant tree lined concrete walkways . Lights shone from a few windows in otherwise darkened dormitories. It was late Friday night after all and there wasn't much reason beyond that fact to find an excuse to get out and unwind after another long week of studying and cramming for tests. The spiraling lens wove it's way further through the campus, picking up the trail of small pack of young ladies that were dressed to impress. It worked past them as they strutted down the walkway towards the avenue where old gothic styled manors ruled the street. Emblems of frat house after frat house hung from balconies or laid draped out of windows. Crowds of young men and women wandered randomly about the grounds, fluttering from party to party. The unseen eye, ever curious, swung down along the path way that led into the Romanesque estate that belonged to Alpha-Kappa-Omega . Through the arched entryway the vision rolled, weaving it's way through the assorted crowds that were coming and going from the open front doors. Once inside it rose up above the foyer and passed across the room into the wide open back half of the manors first floor where a wild party was in full swing. Darting across the swirling conglomeration of students the view tore away and up a wooden banister lined flight of steps. It fell through an open door where the neon blue glow of a black light lent the smoke that rolled out of the room an alien hue. Young coeds, a handful at least, passed a smoldering party favor between themselves while they lazily lounged about with bleary red eyes. One among their number took a swig from his red plastic cup full of jungle juice to quench his thirst. Sated for the moment, he set that cup down and began tossing out small packets of plastic within which purple oval shaped pills glowed with a halo from the black light they absorbed. The others eagerly caught their pouches up, or snatched them off the floor when they failed to react to the packets tossed their way. Thirty bucks a pill. That's some top of line Euphoria there. You can either pop it in your mouth, or let it dissolve in a drink, works just as well either way. He took another swig from his drink as the travels of the eye fled out of an open window and back into the open air of the night. Takes about a half hour to really kick in. Whatever you do, don't take more then one pill. The voice trailed off and quickly was turned to silence as the visage of the campus diminished beneath the rising gaze of the orb as it rocketed once more up into the darkness of the night sky. The storm clouds and their persistent cooling drizzle were working their way outwards across the bay. The path of the lens turned from their departing movement and instead shot inward across the suburbs that strangled the surrounds of the bright lights of the big city. Rows of homes in perfectly planned symmetry zipped by beneath the hastened flight of the intangible orb's trajectory that was pointing its destination towards the rapidly approaching line of mountains. It roared without a sound down through the brambles and twisted pine trees that covered the ranges of mountains and valleys beyond the city and it's suburban districts. Sweeping up and over a ridge line the path moved without hesitation as it darted through the forest. Upon the culmination of it's climb it fell down the other side, leaving the basking light of the distant city as an aura only visible in the sky above the now concealed metropolis. Rows of trees, uprooted and tossed asunder formed a barrier around a trench that had been ripped into the ground. Small specks of fire burned away, though the forest floor moist with the rains passing failed to grant these scattered flames any further fuel. The scorched earthen trench led all the way down the side of the mountain, the carnage of the forest strewn all about its edges. Until the trench ended in a pile of built up dirt, rocks, and forest debris that clustered where the floor flattened out into the valley that separated the neighboring mountains. The silver gleam of white hot metal gave rise to wisps of steam that quickly diminished as the ascended into the canopy of trees overhead. Half buried amidst the rubble at the end of the trench was an oval shaped craft, perfectly curved and unmaimed by the force of it's impact. A panel upon the surface of the van sized alien craft hissed as it opened and birthed intense white light from the otherwise indiscernible interior of the modest sized personal craft. Hazy darkness rose up to push back the light that flooded out of the open door. The silhouette of something large, foreboding, and inhuman stepping out into the trench to cast it's gaze around. With a lumbering, yet purposeful stride it walked up along the trench, following it as the craft and the light it offered flickered and faded away as a programmed illusion emerged and covered the trail of devastation Tarruk's careless landing had made. The invisible gazing eye turned and fled from the winged bounty hunter of alien origins. Uncertain just how invisible it really was to such a thing, and content to be swiftly away from it, instead of lingering to find out. The night was young still, and the lady that led the gazing travels of the eye had seen far stranger and more terrifying things in her life time. She saw no reason to panic or cut her panning view of the lands around Empire City short, just yet.