2013.08.07 - Anomalies, Part 2: Trapped!

Most of the captives will come awake at about the same time. Those more resistant to psychic attack might awaken a bit earlier, but all will find the same thing, more or less: they are held in cages, or boxes, or something to such effect. They are, in a word, trapped. What's more, it's clear these traps have been tailored to their occupants to the best of their creator's ability.
Vorpal has been placed in a steel crate with a metal grated door -- rather like a large cat carrier, which goes to show that sometimes supervillains think they have a sense of humor. The more sadistic part of the trap is the sound that spills from it, a constant high warble, the sort that would drive a person nuts after awhile even if they didn't have enhanced hearing. And one might notice that the floor of this enclosure is wired. Already, at one corner, a set of crossed wires are sparking with violet-blue electricity.
Channel's cell is less sardonic in its design. It is just that -- a jail cell, iron bars set into the concrete around a barred gateway. What the energy-sensing young woman may notice, though, is that usual sources of energy are masked -- there's the sonic force coming from Vorpal's crate, but little else aside from the kinetic energy as a pair of blades set into the floor start to slowly rotate.
Othello is locked into a strong steel box. Unlike the others, this box is not trying to kill him -- rather, it seems more intent on just holding him. His gear has been taken away.
Mend finds herself trapped on a table in the center of the room, bound in place as a pendulum swings over her waist, its blade wickedly sharp and dropping slowly toward her, closer with each swing.
Arthur's trap is, if nothing else, the most complicated, because somehow he is subjected to a continuous wave of psychic force, inhuman in its origin. And, to boot, he is suspended in mid-air, caught in an antigravity field.
And then there is Daybreak. Like Othello's enclosure, Daybreak's is simple and solid, a box of rock-hard opaque plastic. Unlike Othello, who has at least been given light, Daybreak's cell is dark. Dark as the dead of night in a mine shaft. And in this darkness, as the young woman awakens, she starts to hyperventilate in panic.
"Ladies and gentlemen," comes the voice of Aberrant from outside the cells, atop a flight of stairs leading out of the large, dank room in which he's left his latest victims, "please enjoy your stay." And then the door clicks closed behind him, and the captives are alone.
Channel had been lacking her X-suit when she was captured, so she's dressed in a pair of shorts and a tanktop. She recalled the psychic attack knocking her out, and now she's in this cell. Well. That was rude. Jocelyn draws in some kinetic energy and takes to the air, hovering over those rotating blades as she enhances her physical capabilities. Outside she could see six other life forces. Five if you didn't count the obviously evil dude who was gloating.
Okay. Don't panic. Why this dude came after her, Channel wasn't sure. But getting out had to be Priority One.
Channel didn't trust this guy not to trap the door in some capacity. Otherwise, ripping her own way out of her jail cell would be way too simplistic. Instead, Channel focuses on using some controled kinetic bursts to try and push/bend the bars aside wide enough for her to slip through. She couldn't do anything to help the others until she got out of this cell and she could determine exactly who might need a hand.
Vorpal winces as he wakes up to the sound of aural horror. Rubbing his forehead as he got to his knees, he looked around at the cell while his wits slowly returned to him. "What.... what's going on?" 
The cat frowns, looking around, not getting the detail of the wiring just yet because his attention is focused on that horrible warbling "Oh god, stop that noise, now!" he calls out, holding his ears.
Arthur remembers...nothing really. He had just closed up his shop and started off to do some errands and then suddenly found himself awake and floating in a cell being buffeted by waves and waves of psionic energy. This is not a good day for him. Of course Art has no idea what is hitting him, he has yet to actually experience psionics despite his weakness to them all he knows is that it is like a pressure inside of his brain. 
"Ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng!" Art yells out while trying to reach up and grab his head. It is not the filthiest phrase he knows in Mandarin, but it is a pretty good one to sum up just exactly how he feels. "The Hell is going on?" 
Art's life force, when looked at, is really...weird. It is a bizarre mix of familiar human, decidedly alien, artificial, biological, and if Channel sees psionic energy glows on the astral plane like a flare shot into a fireworks factory.
"Dammit. My name is not Bond, James Bond," Mend notes. She seems remarkably unconcerned given the situation. Can she survive being cut in two? She doesn't know. She doesn't want to put it to the test....but really? Death traps? Nope. She's not panicking. She's annoyed as heck.
Memories of having to be in a hot box, while he was in a southern chain plague Othello's mind, but he cannot dwell on that memory too long. Othello clenches his fists and says, "We are not a monster. Aberrant is not a god." Othello starts to calculate the dimensions of the cell, "He does not decide if we belongs. He is not our master. He will not be our executioner. Abberant is a living, breathing man. Othello think to himself, "And as we believe in our mission, we know one thing: we're sure as hell gonna fix that." Othello bangs out for help in morse code, and shouts. "Anyone there."
In the dark, Daybreak huddles in on herself, generating a little of her own light, but knowing that it's not enough -- she's spending her own energy to assuage her fears, and knowing this will hasten her death. "Who's out there?" she yells from within the plastic cage, probably barely audible over the shrieking alarms from the cat carrier.
The bars of Channel's cell don't seem to want to give under the telekinetic pressure she's offering up. They are strong, rigid, more prone to shattering than bending. And the blade is moving faster now, and starting to rise skyward, toward the place where the young woman hovers.
More crossed wires start sparking at the end of Vorpal's cell, starting to come closer to the place where the cat-man is protecting his ears.
Something within Arthur's cell gives him a little push, then retracts, setting him to spinning within the antigravity field.
Mend's name may not be Bond, but that's no laser coming toward her. Something clicks, and the pendulum half a foot, so now it is swinging just inches above her waist.
"A bit of help here? Can somebody shoot these bonds off me? Don't worry about hurting me." It would slow her down, but anything's better than being sliced in two, which she still isn't sure she could survive. Not that Mend sounds worried...tense, yes, but not *worried*.
"Vorpal. Keep calm and don't kiss the electricity," Channel instructs as the bars on her cell don't give way. Hmm. Well then. It looked like she'd need some help, and that meant shutting things down for everyone else.
"I'm going to turn down the power a bit. If it frees you, help get everyone free".
Channel then reaches out with her energy absorption powers. First she grabs at the electricity and sonic energy in Vorpal's cage. Then the psychic and anti-gravity energy in Arthur's, which Joce hopes will free the man. Channel can't do much about the trap that Mend is dealing with right now - slowing the swinging motion down wouldn't actually help if it was being lowered, and would just make things more painful. There didn't appear to be anything in Othello's or Daybreak's traps.
Then Channel balls that energy up in 'Stargate' formation: vertical bursts that launch their energy one direction. She drops one in Vorpal's cell and attempts to blow the wall out. One of them goes in Othello's. Another tiny but potent kinetic energy bursts are placed near the locks of Mend's bonds. That was about as much as she could concentrate on while continuing to rise above the blades.
"And, uhh, if one of you gets free, I'd rather not get sliced and diced by this thing," Channel adds.
Vorpal winces, he still can't hear much of anyone due to the warbling. He knows now that there are other people here, but he is still unaware of who they are... unless Channel's syphoning of the sonic energy is successful. A stray spark out of the corner of his eye catches his attention and his eyes go widem "Oh crap... they're trying to fry me here!"
Arthur has not experienced pain, not real pain, since the day he technically died. Now, finding himself trapped floating in air with the pressure building inside of his head from the psionic attack he is starting to feel like his brain is going to explode. The thing about the headache though, is that it is making him angry. 
"For the love...Will someone stop that...whatEVER is GOING ON!" Most likely spinning now in air along his X axis from the movement of just bringing his hands to his head Art presses hard against his temples trying to get some relief. The little nudge from somewhere else, does not help but sends him spinning on both his X and Y axles. 
Not being able to take too much more of the pressure Arthur lets out an angered scream and unleashing a full powered blast of pure graviton energy at which ever wall he is pointed at at that moment.
In her box, Bev can hear little but the electronic wailing of Vorpal's carrier, at least until Channel absorbs the sonic energy and starts using it to free people. Indeed, the bursts of explosive energy smash through Vorpal's walls and snap the bonds holding Mend. As for Othello's box, it is made of material very similar to that of the bars that hold Channel herself at bay, and does not fall to her energy blasts, though the wall curves inward -- and while it dents under Othello's internal assault, that does not immediately break through either.
The graviton blast that Arthur looses against his cell has a dual effect: it simultaneously causes the wall to buckle slightly, though just slightly, and sends Arthur floating backwards and into the grip of a robotic hand that gently pushes him back toward the center of the room.
And...she pops the lock, rolling to the side barely in time and then to her feet. "Thanks!" Mend calls. "Nice shooting!" Now, where are the controls for the blade heading for Channel? They've got to be around here somewhere...or for that matter any controls on any of this stuff. Hopefully something at least is in the room with them.
Villains always forgot about the floors. That was what Channel had learned. Channel looks down, then up, then all around, trying to spot the energy source controling this mess. Also, she's trying to spot where the power for her blade was. "Not seeing a power source, even underground. It's well away from here, wherever it is, or very well masked". She then works on slowing the blades of her trap down by absorbing kinetic energy. If she can slow them significantly, her plan is to slip down between them during rotations so that it is rising up while she is below it. But that was a longshot.
Encouraged by the denting, Othello continues charging the box. At the very least, he is going to let more people know that he is inside here.
Once the sonic punishment is gone, Vorpal can finally let go of his ears and look around. Soon, he is jumping through the hole on his wall and landing on his feet, crouching. He sees enough to see the swinging blade close to Mend. Even though her bonds are snapped, there may not be enough time for her to get out soon. He extends his hand and summons a large, 15x15 glowing purple cube to stop the transit of the blade before it makes its way back to her. "Who needs help?" Vorpal calls out. Now that his senses are not under assault, he can see that this was some sort of crazy death trap jungle going on here.
Arthur would let out a cheer at denting the door and moving if not for the headache. As he gets grabbed by the arm he tries to grab for it and hold on if he is able too. If not, well now he has an idea as he sets himself to spinning a new direction and prepares to level another blast at the back of the cage away from the door so that he will be pushed towards the exit. 
If the blast works, and gets him moving he will quickly spin himself so he can face the door and try and grab the bars on it. If he can get to the bars and hold on long enough to look out he will take a second to view everything. 
Hearing Vorpal Art will yell out, "Nothing fatal here, just feels like it is gonna hurt." He yells before he unleashes a blast through the bars aimed at the blade lowering towards Mend.
"Vorpal?" comes the small voice of Daybreak from within her plastic case. "Is that you out there? It's dark in here. Help, please?" Really, it's very easy to dispose of Daybreak -- just keep her in the dark for awhile.
As it happens, Jocelyn manages to slow the blade enough to sink beneath it as it rises past her position, but it will hit the ceiling and rebound downward given the chance. The blade that was descending toward Mend before Channel freed her from her bonds is duly held and smashed, first by Vorpal's purple energy construct, then by Arthur's gravitic blast.
Arthur manages to get a hold on the arm that grabbed him, and now he can orient himself in his trap. The blast pushes him toward the exit, but there are not bars to grab onto there -- it's a solid, if clear, door -- but he can see what's going on out there (and release said gravitic blast) before he is drawn back toward the center of the room.
More dents appear on the outer face of Othello's steel container.
"I'm good. And might be able to shut some of this stuff down if I can find any wiring or controls," Mend supplies. "But if it's all shielded..." She goes back to searching the room...she doesn't have useful powers for this, the best thing she can do is be the tech type and hope she can come across something to defuse.
Okay. Gotta get out. Gotta get out. Gotta...oh, hey. Look. The floor was concrete. Channel smiles a little bit and slams her fists down repeatedly into the concrete, attempting to smash her way out of her cell by breaking through the floor and going under the cage.
"Nevermind. I've got a door".
Like Channel was thinking earlier. Villains always forgot the floor.
Vorpal 's ears perk, "Daybreak?" he recognizes the voice. Vorpal nods at Mend "--- see if you can help the others, I'll see if I can help Daybreak.... somehow." The cat hears Channel banging on the floor of her cage, and hopes she can get free... "Daybreak, sit tight, I'm bringging someone who can blast this...." he narrows his eyes and looks towards Channel's cage. The blades have risen past her, slowed. He summons another construct- a donut around the lower part of the blades, to keep them from falling back down. "Channel... any luck getting out? I've got Daybreak over here... but the surface is too slick for m...." a pause.
And then the cat grins, going over to see if he can salvage some of the blade that tried to slice Mend. He will try to use that to see if he can cut through the slick surface. "Hold on, Daybreak... trying something crazy..."
Hands scrambling to find purchase on the clear wall of his prison Arthur is getting more and more frustrated. "Fine, fine if you want to play it this way, WE CAN PLAY!" He starts yelling at the cell he is in, in general, before unleashing a volley of blast after blast at the floor of his cell. If there is anywhere that is likely to hide a null gravity generator it is probably there, not that he is thinking that well but instead just wanting to blast something in the hopes gravity returns even if it means he ends up landing flat on his face.
Othello continues banging on the steel walls.
"I wouldn't expect anything less from you," Daybreak observes from her cell with faint humor. The girl puts up a brave front most of the time, but for her, like many lightcasters, there is nothing worse than the dark. Nothing. Fortunately, the razor sharp blade that Vorpal has salvaged is able to start cutting jagged holes through her cell. The first glimmer of light has her resisting the urge to press herself to the wall -- it would only impede her rescue.
Indeed, the floor of Channel's cell gives way under her fists. As she surmised, the bars were designed to resist both her strength and her powers, but Aberrant, a true nutball if ever there was one, neglected to reinforce the floor.
Arthur is wrong in one part of his assumption. The device that generates the antigravity field is not actually located in the floor. That said, by blasting the floor with more and more force, he sends himself careening into the ceiling where the actual generator is housed -- which causes the generator to break, and drops him on his backside.
After much pounding and effort, Othello breaks a small hole through the steel of his box. Now he should be able to get a grip on it and peel it open more quickly.
Othello places one hand on each side of the small hole and starts to pull the cell apart. Othello's hand's bleed as he continues to rip open the cell.
Cautiously, Mend peers out the exit. "Nothing out here but a warehouse. Crazy guy thought we couldn't get out of his traps, I suppose." She's going to...well, she's thinking thoughts that involve oubliettes right now. Dark, dank, cold oubliettes.
Arthur lands, not on his backside but flat on his face. He always was the type to face whatever he is doing. Under normal conditions he might have caught himself but right now is not feeling the happy near enough to use his powers to fly. 
"Right, fine, part of this day so no worries." He says into the floor before pulling himself up. He takes a second to crack his neck and stretch before facing the side of his cage. "That door won't work, lets make a new one." 
He takes a deep breath and throws a bolt of force at the wall once, twice, three times trying to at least put a hole in it. Once there is a hole, if he can make one, of any kind he can reach out with his powers to grab it with the telekinetic like use of his abilities and start to try and tear through things widening up a space big enough he can get through. 
If Art can get out his first action is to drop to his knees for a second in relief he is out of the cell. "Alright, who the hell is playing Montessori and what did he do with my first edition 'Murder on the Rue Morgue' I had on me last ... Gods I hope it was last night when I got knocked out and woke up here?"
Freed from her cell, Daybreak (admittedly sans mask and costume and very clearly Beverly Sunderland to anybody who might know who that is -- which is probably a lot of people, all things considered) is practically gasping in the light, standing under the light fixture and staring up at it raptly. But when Othello frees himself, and Arthur asks his questions, she explains, "He calls himself Aberrant, and he says we don't belong here. He's killed a bunch of people all across the country. Heroes, villains. Powered people - but only certain powered people." She returns her eyes to the light. "I almost think I know him," she observes. "Not that that's important. I suspect your book is wherever you left it. He's not a thief -- not that that's much to recommend him."
Vorpal narrows his eyes. "That's twice he's come for us. If any of us had any illusions that he might go away... I think this proves otherwise." The cat crosses his arms over his chest. He was wearing only his sweatpants... figure that Aberrant would come for him when neither Patrick nor Van were in the apartment. How convenient... for him.
Or he was probably staking him out.
"And this proves that we are all in danger, as well as our loved ones. I don't know about you, but I am not going to stand still while some madman decides to ambush me when I'm at my most vulnerable..." he looks around the room at each unique individual, "We're going to have to work together to overcome him, even lure him into a trap. Force him to meet us on our own terms... or else we're as good as dead."
Marissa Sometimes steps back inside. "He knew entirely too much about us, but I agree. I'm having thoughts that run to solitary confinement. After beating him up." Yeah. Mend's not happy. Secret identity, of course, not compromised - she ditched it months ago.
Arthur nods and then sighs. "I hope it hasn't rained then. I was just leaving my shop, the guy I acquired it for paid half up front and I would hate to have to refund it." It is not like the amount of money would bother him, or even come close to being a dip in what he is worth but it is the principal of the thing. "I...can't argue with him that much. Killed and kind of saved over a year ago and all. Still, not a nice thing to do at all to a guy. 
Art nods, "That sounds like a...." He had not actually looked at anyone yet but trails off a little catching sight of Vorpal. Ok, he has no place to talk when it comes to odd looks but was not expecting someone purple and furry. "I think I have lost my muchness." He mutters to himself before shaking his head. "Right, good plan and definitely knew too much. Other than whatever null gravity field he was using he had something going on in that cell that made it feel like my brains were turning inside out. If I were not morally opposed to excess violence I might want him to feel that in a more literal way."
"We have no loved ones,but we will teach him humility and folly." Othello peers around at the other heroes and says, "And he will learn the ultimate lesson, this Aberrant will fall before us. Othello thinks to himself, "We learn first some of his knowledge." Othello says, "We will help you stop this Aberrant.
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