2015-01-04 - The Daemonite's in the Details: A Missing Priscilla

The WildCATS had two bases of operation... the heart of Emp's empire, the HALO Corporation building in Metropolis; and Majestros's personal base underneath Mount Rushmore that had been somewhat... appropriated by the shorter Kheran High Lord when he realized keeping a bunch of violent and volatile personalities at his corporate headquarters was perhaps not the best of ideas.
The Mount Rushmore base was usually fairly full of noise and activity; between sparring matches, Cole and Zannah arguing, and various experiements of scietific of engineering being performed by the memebrs of the team that inclined that way (like Jeremy, Majestros, or Emp)... or a hyperactive 6-year-old girl running around shrieking joyfully as she was being chased by Reno or Cole...
Today, however, it was quiet. Reno was off in Star City showing off several new works at a gallery opening there. Emp--err, Jacob Marlowe... had actual work to do at HALO Corp, and he brought his "son", "Jack" with him, as well as his adopted "daughter", Kara-- to "learn the family business". Of course, where Kara went, she had at least one bodyguard with her, and with Reno busy, that meant Maul drew the proverbial short straw-- even if the girl was no longer a threat to the world, that didn't mean Daemonites and Brotherhood members alike wouldn't jump at the chance to find out the truth of that firsthand.
Priscilla, "Jack's" (oh, okay, Hadrian's) girlfriend went with as well, leaving the Mount Rushmore base with only five of the team: Grifter, who was snoring in his bunk after a long night (or, to be honest, long series of nights); Zannah, who was working on some sort of new calesthenics routine; Charis, who was quietly roaming the hallways and considering whether or not anyone would notice if she took off for several months to try hunting down Raven again; and Majestros... who was...
...huh. It's Majestros, so anyone's guess is as good as any. Probably in his lab.
Speaking of Majestros's lab, there was a large cardboard box sitting right outside it, covered in pink and green and blue scribbles, with a hole cut in the side of the box just large enough for a small child to peek out of. Cardboard tubes were ducttaped to the side of the box, the words "pew pew" written in Cole's scrawl.
Charis furrows her brow at the box, tilting her head curiously. Huh.
NOT in his lab (Zounds!), Majestros actually descends from high orbit, having been generous enough to take a few moments to reposition one of HALO corporation's satellites to Emp's designs, and re-calibrating it to his own exacting specifications while he was at it. Emp probably figured he would, anyway. So it's actually from behind Charis that the Kheran Warlord approaches, tilting his head as he too spots the box.
"So either Kara's not putting her improvised toys away, or Cole is leaving presents. Which is probably a much more worrisome prospect." That's almost a joke!
Charis turns, a hand resting on her hip. "I would suspect more the former than the latter," she notes. "Unless Cole has suddenly developed a love of bright colored scribbles." She glances him over. "I thought you were in your labs," she says simply. And she was verifying that before leaving, but that she doesn't tell him. If he was involved in a project, he may not come up for air for months. So.
"Just taking care of something for Emp. Did you need something?" Majestros tilts his eyes curiously. There's no tone of exasperation to his query, just a simple question, as he moves within comfortable speaking distance, idly reaching over to lift the cardboard box and set it a little more out of the way, to the side of the corridor. He pauses a moment, then notes, "You're leaving, aren't you?" Straight to the point, as always. Not spoken with any foreknowledge...just a knowledge of the woman he's speaking to, and a quite intimate knowledge at that.
"I was thinking about it." She could have lied, of course, but there wasn't really much point to it, not after this many millenia. "The girl is cared for now and no longer a threat to this world. I have old debts to pay." Maybe having the rest fo the team with her would be a benefit, but she's worked alone for a long time now, and is still very much in that mindset.
Still, she opens up her empathy a bit, to see how Majestros, always controlled and cold on the surface, takes it.
He's mostly neutral for the moment. A slight tinge of anticipation, perhaps, and curiosity that's given voice when he asks, "You know you don't have to hunt him alone, don't you?" Majestros tentatively reaches for one of her hands, "I won't stop you, of course. But...I would much prefer that it be some time less than a century or three before I see you again." A frown, a tinge of conflicted emotion...that slight fear of leaving one's emotions laid bare just before he adds, "We've lost too much time to him. I would not have him steal any more than strictly necessary, if possible."
A ghost of a smile crosses Charis's face as he takes her hand, and she steps towards him a half-step, leaning up and kissing the corner of his lips. "I disagree," she says quietly. "Hunting is something better done alone." Her brow furrows a bit. "But..." she acquiesces, "I... will let you know when I find him. You have as much right to him as I do." There's a flash of bitterness and anger there for a moment, but then she smiles at Majestros, forcing away the darker feelings that boil up whenever she thinks of her former lover.
"I won't allow it to be too long before I return to you," she says. "Not everyone in this universe gets lucky enough for a second chance. I am not foolish enough to spurn mine."
"That is good to hear." Majestros certainly doesn't shy away from the affection, slipping an arm around her waist and holding her lightly, "Though I suppose it is one benefit of our lifespans that such opportunities exist at all." There was, briefly, a quickly-suppressed spark of ice-cold rage at the thought of what he does owe Raven, but it was so quick and so ruthlessly controlled that it doesn't even reach his eyes in the slightest, replaced instead with the more...gentle emotion that his reconciliation with Charis has rekindled. "And while hunting may be best done alone...if for some reason you cannot reach me...then promise me you will call the others. Or just Zannah if need be. She too lost much to Raven and his litany of betrayals."
"I promis--" Charis begins.
But then the warning sirens begin going off.
There are five members of the WildCATS in the Mount Rushmore base, and the fifth one's voice comes over the loudspeakers: Kenesha, more often called Savant, who was taking a bit of downtime between archaeological explorations, and had settled herself in the monitor room while looking over her notes on the most recent dig. "Getting a distress call from Voodoo and Spartan; coordinate indicate southern Metropolis."
Charis's expression frosts over. A brief flicker of annoyance at how typical it was that any quiet moments like this were ruined but emergencies... but she's quickly down to business. "I'm on it, Savant," she replies over comms... at the same time Zannah says literally the same thing.
Majestros' expression is rarely anything BUT frosty, and he pipes over the comm, "Have they given any indication of the threat level, Kenesha?" Because in typical Majestros fashion...if it's not worth his time, he won't waste it interfering unless they ask him to. Because there's always other things to be done.
"Bad enough that Hadrian is not responding," Kenesha replies, a healthy amount of irritation in her voice, rare for the generally cheerful Kheran-- though that should also indicate her level of worry.
A groggy voice comes over comms, "So, get to Metropolis, shoot bad guys, save Sparky and the stripper. Got it."
Nemesis's expression is dark enough that it's quite obvious where that name came from. She's already moving down the hallway quickly towards where they'll be departing. Zealot is already growling something at Cole over the comms, and Charis isn't paying that much attention to it.
Hadrian's voice suddenly bursts through, with static on the line. There's only two words, but it isn't good. "--Male... Coda--"
"Savant, get a status update from Lord Emp if he's still at Halo. This could be a feint to try to get their hands on Kara again. I will be in Metropolis in thirty seconds." Which is actually slow for him, but he's giving time for Savant to relay back in case he needs to change course. "I will meet the rest of you there." And with that...he's gone in a rush of air and a red-white blur.
The other Kherans (and altered humans) are fast, but not that fast. Though they do have access to one of the Justice League's teleporters (to be fair, Emp's HALO corp was part of the scientific initiative that built the damn things), but still, they only bring the 'CATS to HALO Corp itself-- and Hadrian's signal (and where Savant is directing them) is several blocks south.
"I've lost Hadrian's comm signal completely, Maj," Kenesha sounds frustrated. "What's going on there?"
If the 'CATS needed any guidance to where bad things were going down, the smoke and sirens are probably a good indication of the "where". The smoke is coming from a building that at one point looks like it was a nice little romantic bistro-- looks like Spartan and Voodoo went out for lunch and got into trouble.
"Hadrian and Priscilla are competent enough to handle themselves for a few seconds. Patch in to HALO's security feeds and make sure Emp and Kara are all right if they are there." Majestros notes between sonic booms at high altitude, streaking towards Metropolis at several times the speed of sound, before scanning the situation below to pick out their enemies, determining the chief threat and preparing to remove it with extreme prejudice.
Smoke. Fire. Chunks of missing asphalt from the road. Broken glass and screaming, panicking civilians.
When Nemesis, Grifter, and Zealot pour out of the teleporter into the HALO Corp tower's secret facility, Maul is already somewhat larger and greener than normal, with Kara hiding behind him. Emp is standing on a floating "booster" stand, monitoring things with a furrowed brow.
"Got a distress call from Hadrian and Priscilla, then nothing," he growls. "We're keeping Kara on lockdown here. Go find out what's going on."
Nemesis nods, already bolting out the door, Zealot hot on her heels. "The child is safe," she says quickly over the comms to the rest of the team.
There is an awful lot of damage at the bistro. The torn up street looks terrible, a huge gash ripped in it. There are bodies, as well; it looks like several people who got caught in some sort of crossfire. Except there's not bulletholes, no blood, no scorch marks-- even if their bodies look... very wrong. Twisted and broken in angles that are not something the humanoid form was meant to be in.
"I'm not seeing any sign of Spartan or Voodoo." Majestros notes, dropping down to ground level and again scanning his surroundings, while carefully approaching the bodies, putting his various senses to use trying to determine...well, whatever he can about these poor souls. "Several civilian casualties, cause of death as yet uncertain."
There's a sparking and cracking from a patch of the deep smoke, but someone with Majestros's talents can make out Hadrian-- most of Hadrian. He's missing an arm, and the rest of the cyborg is fairly beaten up, but it seems he's going through some sort of rebooting process.
Voodoo is still nowhere to be seen. The bodies-- looks like what would happen if Zealot and Nemesis had gone insane (without blades) in the middle of a group of unarmed humans. Arms, legs, necks twisted and broken; bodies shattered. 
THis doesn't look good. Sirens scream, though the couple of cops that have arrived on the scene look almost relieved, if not slightly fearful seeing the red-and-white of Mr. Majestic. 
This sort of thing isn't supposed to happen in Metropolis. Not with Superman around, right? But he's not exactly shown up yet, either.
However, Nemesis and Zealot do about that time, swords already drawn, both of the women on edge and looking for a fight. Grifter has his facemask drawn up, guns already drawn. The cops dive behind the doors of their cars, drawing down on the three WildCATS.
"Peace, officers. They are here to help." Majestic calls out about as casually as he does anything, and doesn't give it another thought, assuming that of //course// the officers will defer to his command. He moves over to where Hadrian is rebooting, crouching down beside him, "Spartan...what happened?" He frowns at the bodies once more, then looks to Spartan, "Did they take Voodoo?"
It would take more than a simply well-trained Kheran-human hybrid to break a Spartan this badly. Spartan's eyes flash momentarily, and then he actually looks like he might be "cogent". "Daemonites--" he says. His head tilts, as if trying to turn. Self-repair is happening, though it's a bit sluggish. "Took her."
The police hesistate but lower their weapons, looking around and trying to make sense of what happened. Nemesis glances over the bodies. She's left similar... remnants... in her time, though rarely so openly.
"Did they give any indication as to who ordered the assault and why?" Voodoo is of interest to the Daemonites, of course, "In our haste to protect certain others we may have let our guard down where she was concerned." Majestic mutters a bit, giving Hadrian's shoulder a brief pat in a rare gesture of camaraderie, "We'll find her, my friend." He adds over the comms, "Emp, did you receive that?" He again scans their immediate surroundings with his multitude of senses, seeing if there's any evidence that might be of use to them.
"I did." Emp's voice comes over the comms. "Get Spartan and bring him back here." Before someone realizes his "son" is an android. 
Zealot and Grifter are already staring down into the deep hole left by the gash in the street. "Betcha they took her this way," Cole says coldly. "It's how I'd have done it."
"And you're known for your towering intellect," Zealot replies dryly.
Nemesis is looking over the bodies. She murmurs under her bretah, knowing even that far away, Majestros can hear her. "Maj. If the Brotherhood and the Daemonites are working together again, this is going to be trouble."
"We're on our way." Majestros replies to Emp, picking up Hadrian and lifting into the air. "Since you've volunteered, I think it would be a fine idea for you to recon the underground, Cole." Majestros notes without the slightest trace of humor. As he starts off towards Halo Corporation, he pipes a private message over the comms to Charis: "True. But it also means we may have the opportunity to kill two enemies at once."