Freedom City Champions #1!

[Jedaii]

Downtown Freedom City, 8:09 p.m.

 

Freedom City.

For decades the city was a beacon of social and technological progress. A protected progress. A place where citizens could mistakenly stumble into the wrong place at the wrong time and weren't required to pay the cost of that error. Others paid it for them in ways that couldn't be measured with math. 

ASTRO Labs. Delphic Industries. Grant Conglomerates. New Horizon Media. Majestic Industries. The Rhodes Foundation. Nova Communications. 

MegaCorps, with dedicated workforces and demanding stockholders. Each little thing that occurred within the companies impacted each little thing in and around the world - and, within Freedom. Such was city business but few understood the interdependent economics inherent to any expansive metropolis: there was always what you didn't know. That right accountant. That right attorney. That right official. That right 'friend' there only to cash in whether you win or lose. As the man said, "In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later."

But electricity is cheap and that lit Freedom City alive tonight. Vehicles paced the streets in good order that still felt like traffic. Crowds walked the streets peppering sidewalk stores for whatever interest and money could be rendered. Tourists and locals alike laughed and clipped pictures of them and nearby attractions. It at least seemed okay since Freedom's ubiquitous gangs were perhaps a world away. Tonight. Tonight Freedom City was truly free - or at least had found a clever disguise of freedom that fooled most. 

Tonight, you could be who you truly wanted to.

 

Vendetta:

Seamus McDougal was, as usual, hard at work on his latest technological innovation to the battle-suit array. After weeks of putting it off or getting tied-up in NuTech situations, Seamus had found a block of time allowing him to analyze the suit's offensive and defensive capabilities. Maybe perfection wasn't attainable, but he'd get as close to it as possible no matter what ---

--- meanwhile, at the opulent downtown restaurant, Chez Henri, NuTech CFO DeAndre Phelps smiled and sipped at his Penfolds Grange while his table-guests eyed their watches and the menu. Phelps assured those gathered - potential NuTech investors - that Seamus probably had an unexpected emergency and scanned his cell knowing full well there would be no text. No Seamus McDougal. Period. He wouldn't even make an appearance for $1,000 a bottle-wine, or the finest Ayam Cemani Chicken outside of Denmark. Phelps had been yet again stood-up - and this time it would cost McDougal more than the evening's check ...

Preserver:

Eyeing the designer coffee mugs in each hand, Paul Petrovski felt pretty lost for a man who knew his way around. The intention was to surprise Monique, Tasha and the rest of the Southside CPS crew with nicer cups since the center's budget only allowed for the Styrofoam™ variety. But between labels like "Chaos Coordinator" and "I Think You're On Mute", Petrovski's head was starting to spin. It was always better having clearer options - they made for easier decisions. Life was complicated enough as Paul knew all too well. His thoughts were nearly drifting back to his troubled past when the perky attendant walked up, "Welcome to the downtown Trophy Lounge. I'm Abby! Can I help you find anything or do we have a winner?"

Lamplighter:

Figures. Alfred 'Alfie' Carbone had made it more than halfway home when his daughter called with a special request: an ice-cream sundae. Easy enough, right? It was Alfie's first night off in over a week so he had time for a quick pick-up for his baby-girl. But, after catching nearly every red light for more than ten blocks, being delayed by people blocking the street while arguing over a taxi, almost everywhere even still selling sundaes this time of night being closed and finally, bad GPS directions, Carbone had reached Madden's downtown location - to see a line of hungry people extending out the door. As his grandfather was fond of saying, "Nothing is as obnoxious as other people's luck". Still, Alfie had the rest of the night to spend with Bella and there wasn't any other place he'd rather be - so he took his place in line and people-watched the evening crowds wander downtown Freedom City ...

Grigori:

The Infinity crowd jammed the stage as Thomas Blackchurch tried to exit after he'd just killed - ecstatic audience members took pics and video of him, asked for autographs, yelled his praises in face-to-face and groped him like he was The Lizard King risen! This, and the usual clan of enticing local groupies waving Thomas over with bottles of Moet. The worm had turned - into a pleasantly-surprising gig that was long overdue. Blackchurch's week-long bout of depression almost seemed a forgotten nightmare. As he pushed past and fist-bumped admirers, Thomas just wanted to get paid and - well he had to find his 'dude' - and as the headliner group Madman Finale took the stage, Blackchurch squinted into the flashing lights and shadows looking for his promoter. Jordan Dare. Let everybody else in the city believe Frankie Mills ran Fresh Sounds Productions; Thomas knew the hand holding the strings really belonged to Dare - and that hand better have a wad of scratch for him after that performance. Then he spotted Jordan through the cascading crowds but as Blackchurch turned to walk that way a quartet of alluring young ladies sprung their ambush, "TOMMYYYYY!!" They yelled over the background of MF winding-up, "YOU WERE F*** DELICIOUS UP THERE!! CANDY AND TABITHA WANTED TO CELEBRATE YOUR MONSTER SET!! YOU GONNA COME ---?!?!"

Ironworks:

Night's like this Jake always felt kinda like a Wiseguy: not many people he knew walked around with such a big and rowdy group of knuckleheads. There was his brother, Mike, and from the neighborhood: Johnny Murphy, Kevin Walsh; and then there was Danny Ryan's brother, Smilin' Sam, and his buddies, Bobby the 'Blue', Davy Byrne; and there was 'Bottletop' Stevie - who was Maggie Connors' brother - then they had Oscar Doogan and Ronnie Wilshire and Eddie 'Car Keys', who got that nickname because he was always saying, "Where we goin'?" And on a night like this, Jake had to play semi-chaperone at SHAUGHNESSEY’S just to keep this bunch of tough-guy longshoremen from turning the place upside down in-between pitchers of Shaughnessy's Stout and Freedom Ale. Less than an hour into his non-alcoholic beverage, Jake's drawn outside to break-up a friendly disagreement between his guys and some drunk loudmouth tourist! With friends like these ....

OOC

introduce your hero with a description of how they handle Freedom City's nightlife wherever they are ---

 

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by Jedaii (see edit history)

[Zelphas]

Even hunched over, with his head down, Alfie towers over the rest of the line, his bony shoulders and long limbs adding to his stretched, half-starved appearance. His choice of clothing--work boots still crusted with grave dirt, faded old jeans, a plain greenish-brown T-shirt, and a dark jacket that looks short on his tall frame and obviously needed to be lengthened in the arms by a few inches--works well to make him unremarkable, but can only do so much.

 

Pushing a hand against dark eyes shadowed with sleep, Alfie stifles a yawn, wincing at the feel of two-day stubble on his hand as he scrubs at his face. Sleep hasn't been an issue for him in the last few months, but ten days on-shift have started to tax even his newly-found reserves. And this used to be the worst time of the day for him, too; just "early" enough to feel like he was out of bed without enough sleep, and just late enough that most people are winding down their days and the whole town feels like it's settling in for the night.

 

At least Bella won't be up for much longer, and he can grab some sleep tonight. That once would've wreaked havoc on his night-owl schedule, but now... he draws in a deep breath, feeding the methane directly through the hand still over his mouth back into hi8mself, drawing strength from it. If he thinks about it too much, it starts to get worrisome, so he doesn't think too much about it.

 

Dropping his hand, Alfie glances over the group, kicking his rusty old skills into gear to evaluate the people who decided Madden's was the place to be in the early evening on this day. A part of him chafes at the new delay, resignedly cursing his Carbone luck... but he remembers how Bella's eyes light up whenever he can stretch their budget to grab some ice cream, and the irritation melts into a small smile of his own. It's worth the wait. And at least things are peaceful right now.

 

Alfie settles into the long wait for the counter, trying to keep his sleepy eyes open by watching the crowds and silently speculating on their lives before his turn came.

[pesukarhu]

Jake rolled his eyes when he heard things were getting a bit spicy outside. He intoned, "And so it begins...", and shook his head. Pushing his chair back, he winked to the guys at the table, and got up to go see what was going on.

He was in his element, comfortable. On the way to the door, he slid through the crowd with smiles, a few quick apologies, and a few waves to the guys he knew by face, at least. He was sure it helped that he was a big guy, so people noticed him coming and tended to answer his smiles with smiles, even if he didn't know 'em.

Slipping through the door sideways, to give another patron room to pass, he emerged outside. The knot of people was obvious, and he went thataway. He just hoped it wasn't turning into a bunch of drunks bragging to each other and itching for a fight.

He raised his voice enough to be heard when he reached the group, "Hey, what's going on out here? Stevie, is that you in there? C'mon, it's a beautiful night, and we're all havin' a good time. Whatever's up, don't double-down just because you can. I mean, it's barely 8, you can't be that drunk yet."

He kept his tone friendly, conversational, as full of camaraderie and charm as he could manage, while he angled in towards the middle to see what was going on.

[Papa Bear]

Seamus McDougal

CEO and Lead Designer; NuTech Inc. (Secretly Vendetta)

---

Seamus was double-checking a power coupling.  With this tweak, he ought to be able to squeeze a 3.75% increase in power efficiency out of the power transformer that energizes the meta-blaster on... *Oh no*, Seamus thought to himself.  It had slipped his mind again.  DeAndre was going to kill him!  He was one of the smartest men, if not the smartest man, on the planet and somehow he could never remember the 'important' meet and greets that DeAndre Phelps, the man who ran the business side of Seamus' company, NuTech, kept arranging.  Yes, sales were steady.  But the company could do so much more with the investors that his brilliant CFO was able to drag to the table... and in this case, literally, the table.  This was the third attempt to bring Hammond's millions into the fold, Takahashi was an added bonus. The dinner would have been amazing.  It was probably going to set Seamus back a couple grand.  However, DeAndre Phelps would have to make excuses yet again.  All these investors wanted to do was look Seamus in the eye.  There was no doubt that his tiny upstart (a few short years ago) was bringing the goods as in that short span of time, Seamus had made his way onto Forbes list of movers and shakers.  But smart investors, the ones with the big bankrolls, needed to meet the man they were sinking their money into.  DeAndre Phelps knew it.  Seamus knew it.  How did he keep forgetting these important meetings?  

Seamus knew the answer.  He just really didn't care.  He knew he should.  DeAndre did an amazing job running the company, despite only be the CFO on paper.  Seamus invented the occasional ground-breaking technology... which really, he didn't.  It was just ground-breaking on Earth.  That was the crux of it all.  Seamus had all sorts of common, run of the mill technology running through his head.  But it was only 'run of the mill' on some alien planet hundreds of light years away.  The success of NuTech was only important to Seamus in that it provided him the funds to push his Vendetta Project forward.  And, at least in the present, the centerpiece of the Vendetta Project was the Vendetta Battlesuit. 

Missing this dinner meant he'd have to work up documents and technical specifications that faked the designs of some new something that he could put before DeAndre as an appeasement to keep tempting the investors back to the table while the company had the item tested and eventually marketed.

Seamus grabbed his phone. ['tell them there was a small fire in the lab.'] he fired off the text to DeAndre. ['No, no don't tell them that!'] he sent immediately after the previous text.  A fire, an explosion... yeah, they'd be good excuses for not showing up... but they'd be even better excuses for the investors to walk away forever. ['make up something.  You're better at this than I am.'] he sent, followed up with, ['I'm sorry']  Some day, probably sooner than later, Seamus would have to explain to DeAndre the Vendetta Project and where massive expenses were going.  Sure, R&D cost a lot of money. But Seamus knew that eventually, "I forgot" wasn't going to cut it with Phelps.  Another raise was probably going to be necessary too.  It certainly couldn't hurt.

Edited April 19, 2023 by Papa Bear (see edit history)

[coreal]

Paul Petrovski

---

It had already been a long day of hustling meals just to get to this evening and he really should be back out there... but that last order had some sort of broiled fish dish in it that absolutely required spraying the interior of his car with Fabreeze and taking a short break to leave the windows cracked.  And the tip wasn't even good, maybe if he was more friendly when making those drop-offs like this attendant.

"Oh, hi... yeah, I'm trying to pick out some mugs for some friends... looking for light humor that isn't too snarky.  They deal with a lot of depressing situations."  He stops and holds up the 'Chaos Coordinator' mug, "A few more a bit like this."  There is a fervent hope that she'll be able to cut through all the options and find some suggestions that'll work.  Just not enough experience picking out gifts for people, this'll get easier if he does it enough, right? 

He tries to pay attention to the response from Abby, nodding in the right spots and letting her help him pick out the "Paperwork Princess" mug and a couple others of similar ilk. He keeps up the banter, glad to have an armful of mugs to take to the counter in the end, selected with just the most minimal input. "Thanks Abby, I'd have been stuck there staring at them half the night.  Just not my thing."  He pays up and gets ready to go back to hustling grub.  Perhaps with a delivery area closer to the riverfront now, starting to get dark, starting to get dangerous down there.

The mugs go into the trunk, tucked away so they don't slide all over the place, for delivery tomorrow when he swings by.  Maybe with a coffee cake.  There is a slight grin as he thinks on that, then he pulls a bundle of black from a box in the back of the trunk and moves it to the glove box, time to have it close at hand, time to do a little night driving through the rough part of town.

[RedRajah]

Thomas was, to put it bluntly, exhausted.  But for once it was a good exhaustion.  The ringing in his ears was as much from the adulation from the crowd as it was from being blasted by the speakers.  He didn't feel numb.

 

...how long has it been..?

 

He grabbed the bottle of water and took a long swig, body still throbbing.  Purest damn feeling in the world.  He flashed the groupies a tired smile, but shook his head.  "Sorry darlins, but I gotta decline.  Gotta prior engagement..."

 

He turned away and pressed himself back in to the mass of people to try to find Jordan when...

 

...What prior engagement do you speak of, Thomas?

Gonna find Dare, Gads.  Get paid. Then I'm gonna throw myself in the shower as soon as we get home and sleep the sleep of the sleep.

I would not shame you for seeking pleasure afterwards, Thomas.  Those women appear to be offering their charms quite freely--

DUDE!

Immediately, Thomas started looking harder for Jordan Dare in the crowd.  The LAST thing he wanted to do was have any sort of discussion with his new "roommate" about his social activities.

 

[Papa Bear]

Seamus McDougal

CEO and Lead Designer; NuTech Inc. (Secretly Vendetta)

---

[*scratch that*] Seamus texts after a minute, thinking. [*I'm on my way.  Please extend my apologies, open the best bottle money can buy, if you haven't already*].  He was tempted to 'fly' to the dinner meeting in the Vendetta Battlesuit, but then, where would he put it?  Most of it *could* fit under his clothes, but there would definitely be some strange bulges.  Well, he had a suit already packed into a false bottom in the trunk of one of his cars... you know, just in case.  Seamus figured he'd have the time driving to Chez Henri to gear his mind up for meeting new people and, hopefully, repairing the damage he'd already done.

[Jedaii]

Downtown Freedom City, 8:15 p.m.

 

Preserver:

Paul was just pulling out into nighttime traffic when he hears the screech of tires as a large black SUV speeds past on the opposite side of the street headed north - then red and blue lights flash followed by a police siren as a FCPD cruiser speeds past in pursuit of the SUV! With the intersection ahead jammed with vehicles, the SUV suddenly swerves onto the sidewalk sending pedestrians diving for safety - and as people shouted, screamed and pointed at the wild vehicle, the SUV made a sharp turn at the right corner speeding up! The FCPD cruiser, lights and sirens still going, slowed but followed the SUV onto the sidewalk and made the same turn still in pursuit! 

 

Everyone:

The sudden booming sound of gunfire explodes across downtown! In surreal unison the crowds of hundreds scattered across the downtown area collectively duck - then scatter in all directions! Into stores! Into shops! Down alleyways! Behind parked vehicles! 

More gunfire erupted from the swerving SUV in the direction of the trailing police vehicle as tables, chairs and signs staged on the sidewalk were mowed over by the huge black SUV! Then the big vehicle wobbled - driver error - and whipped out of control through the wide window of crowded restaurant - coming to an abrupt stop! Panicked civilians sprinted away from the area even fleeing through slowed nearby traffic! As the FCPD cruiser stopped several meters behind the crashed vehicle three armed thugs wearing black 'gangster' attire jumped from the vehicle - two from the back and one from the passenger side - and stepping to the sidewalk opened fire on the police sedan! The crazy crooks shouted something at the helpless cruiser and officer within but it was overwhelmed by the near-deafening barrage of their relentless shooting! Bullets ricocheted off the besieged sedan striking random civilians who fell wounded into the streets!

Lamplighter:

When the commotion began Alfie was bumped and nearly knocked over by fleeing civilians outside Madden's! He saw the crash and the thugs exiting their SUV to open fire on the police cruiser! 

Ironworks:

When the siren sounded Jake had just about calmed the situation outside Shaughnessy's - then the gunfire turned everything into a wild panic! Some of his buddies ducked back inside the brewery while others dove behind nearby vehicles at the curb! 

Preserver:

The gunfire sent large crowds of people running down the block away from the insanity but towards Paul! Some people were jumping over cars to escape while most frantically sought cover crouching behind vehicles!

Vendetta: 

Phelps texted:

they aren't happy. imagine? 

 

we simply must stop not meeting like this 

 

Hammond AND Takahashi are done but our AstroLabs friend hung around for the main course 

 

they could be everything we need 

 

please Seamus you r 

omg someone crashed into the restaurant 

 

texting under a tble THEY R SHOOTING!!!! 

Seamus' cell signals an emergency alert warning of multiple gunmen active in downtown Freedom City!

i don't want 2 die

 

Grigori:

The outdoor siren and flashing lights got blurred out by the show inside Infinity - but the gunfire sent people smashing through the door knocking down the hapless doormen! Madman Finale stopped playing as everyone watched the accident and resulting panic across the street! The club's wide glass tinted-windows shattered into a million-billion pieces as the insane thug posse sprayed hot lead over the area seemingly at random! Frantic people dove and dashed and squatted and crawled through the club and over other people desperately trying to stay alive! Jordan Dare was nowhere in sight but all Hell had definitely broke loose ---!

Crisis

An SUV has crashed into a crowded restaurant! Citizens are in danger and panicked, some wounded! An FCPD officer was in grave danger ducked down in his cruiser! Three armed thugs were shooting up the downtown area! What do you do?

Edited April 23, 2023 by Jedaii (see edit history)

[coreal]

Paul Petrovski

---

A high speed pursuit was interesting... but not something he was ready to jump into.  Not in this Uber rental, that's for certain.  But as soon as both vehicles went off-road through the crowd and... into a building!  He spun the wheel and cut into the nearest curb cut, then lot surfed, avoiding cars and running pedestrians, a little closer before whipping into a parking spot near a big SUV.

Phone turned off... don't want those ignored pickups on his record... and into the glovebox it goes as he grabs for his mask.  Paul hops out of the car and is quickly running towards the sound of gunfire, his mask going on as he ducks between some cars and gets into the restaurant lot itself and can start to see where all those bullets are flying from.

[Papa Bear]

Seamus McDougal

CEO and Lead Designer; NuTech Inc. (Secretly Vendetta)

---

*Well, at least someone stayed* Seamus thinks to himself as he drives down the street toward Chez Henri. But suddenly, all hell breaks out.  Seamus had never seen his friend, DeAndre Phelps, panic.  When Phelps mentions gunfire, Seamus quickly turns the car into a side alley as he slams on the breaks.  The car screeches to a halt, aided by the passenger side smashing into the wall of the building situated on the alley.

This was real.  He'd practiced the quick change into his Vendetta Battlesuit many times but never when he actually faced a real time factor.  He'd never had this kind of emergency before.  When he'd used the Battlesuit, it was always a pre-planned mission with clear objectives.  This was not what he had planned, had never intended.  But his friend and business partner was in trouble and no matter what, Seamus could not stay idle and leave DeAndre to his fate.  The steel-weave 'body suit' was the hardest to get on but once it was, the magna-lock attachment nodes made all of the rest so much easier as accessories only needed to be placed near the magnetic node attuned to the specific item and it would 'slide' and lock into place.  In some ways, Seamus was terrified that some bum or junkie, or worse, a respectable citizen, would see him assembling the Battlesuit.  That's why he'd outfitted the car with powerful strobes to help mask his 'change'... but it wasn't perfect.  Seamus realized he should really invest in a van and doctor it up to help him change into the Battlesuit. *this is taking too long* Seamus thought as he finally stepped into the boots that completed the assembly of his flight architecture.  He activated the 'self drive' feature on the car and directed it to find a place to park.  He had no idea where that might be or how well it worked.  He'd always been in the car when he'd used the self-drive features before.  

A few moments later, the power of the suit revved up and he launched himself into the air, rocketing toward Chez Henri, hoping that no one had gotten a good look at him and what he had been doing... and that he would get there in time.

Edited April 21, 2023 by Papa Bear (see edit history)

[pesukarhu]

What the? Just when Jake thought he was getting his night out back, we get this. Everyone with a lick of sense was already running like mad in the other direction, but a few, of course, were trying to get a better look. He was glad to see that his crew was all heading for the hills, even if a few of em' had to be practically dragged off. I guess we've seen this a few too many times.

He ducked back inside and pushed his way over to his brother, Mike. "There's shooting outside, we're done for the night. Time to go home." He grabbed his backpack off the back of the chair, and quietly handed his phone to Mike. "See you later."

OK. How did they actually do this? In the pack, he had a big black hoodie, an old pair of round-framed safety goggles, and a simple cloth-wrap facemask, along with a basic first-aid kit. Those would cover him up pretty well, but where could he change? All the other times he'd gone out, he'd had time to get his stuff together first.

Well, he'd figure it out as he went along. He slung the pack over his shoulder and took advantage of the chaos to head up to the second-floor bathroom, the one they only used for group events. Luckily, it was deserted. He pulled on the hoodie, wrapped the mask around his face, and put the goggles on. The goggles were pretty goofy, but at least they stayed on.

He opened the frosted window to the fire escape, dropped to the alley behind the building, and started to run down the back way towards the gunfire. When the coast seemed clear, he jumped up to the rooftop to get a better view, then leapt from building to building to get closer to the action. Throwing himself through the air like this still felt weird, but it worked.
 

[Papa Bear]

Vendetta 

Seamus McDougal, Secret ID

---

Seamus quickly patches his system to his phone and, using voice recognition, sends another text to DeAndre Phelps. I'm Almost there!

Are you still OK?  Is Mr. Lind OK?

Stay down.  If you can crawl someplace safer, like the kitchen, do it.  But don't move if the gunmen can see you. 

Seamus pushes the new flight thrusters to the limit.  He was especially glad that he added the system into the battlesuit now.  He'd never thought he'd be flying into some emergency situation.  It just made it easier to get from the labs to whatever rat-hole he was going to investigate.  With everything else that was pressing on him; fear for his friend's life, the dangerous and unknown situation that he was racing into (he didn't like not having a plan) including all the possible variables like innocent bystanders and just how the heck he was going to explain any of this to DeAndre if he had to.  Even with all that, his mind was already making calculations on how he could, and should, improve the speed of the flight system.

[Zelphas]

Alfie lets the panicked people bump and jostle him, resisting the urge to simply fade through and around them. No need to add more chaos to the moment. He pushes forward at an angle from the crowd's surge, aiming for his car parked just a little distance away from the line. Sorry, Bella; I'll grab ice cream tomorrow, He thinks to himself, unlocking his doors and throwing himself into the back as if in panic. Crunching his tall frame into the backseat, he glances to make sure that his windows are open a crack--good luck that it's nice weather, though it meant the line at the ice cream shop, so bad luck too--and then hunches down, trying to disappear from easy view while his hands search for a nondescript grey duffel bag and a long pole hidden under the backseat detritus. The moment his hands touch them, Alfie, the duffel bag, and the pole vanish from the backseat, fading to nothing in an instant.

 

Reappearing in an alleyway between two buildings roughly 25 meters from his car, Alfie quickly pulls on his costume and makes sure everything is situated before planning his next move. He's a bit south and west of the shootout now, with panicking bystanders and crazy thugs firing... maybe he can use the chaos. Thus decided, Lamplighter vanishes in a swirl of cloaks, reappearing several times in blinks as he positions himself. He stops just for a second in the shadow of an alleyway--now due south of the shootout, and checks his positioning before jumping one last time.

 

In the midst of the shootout, in between two of the shooting criminals, a figure appears out of nothing. Seemingly over seven feet tall, covered in grey robes and hoods like a ghastly apparition, the figure holds a long metal pole in one hand, the top end split in two; one side curves into a small flaring bell shape, while the other continues straight a little farther before ending in a wick that is currently unlit. Lamplighter keeps his form in its gaseous state, simply standing where he's appeared... and waits for the two thugs he's standing between to notice his presence.

 

OOCSequence of events via the map:

--Lamplighter teleport jumps from his car to the alley directly below his current position, where he dresses in costume.

--Lamplighter moves through the alleys via a series of teleport jumps until he is 25m from Thugs 2 and 3, in the alley directly south of them.

--Lamplighter jumps directly between Thug 2 and Thug 3, then immediately switches to Desolidification.

Hopefully that all works!

[RedRajah]

Screams of panic and bodies rushing everywhere.  Thomas' mind immediately jumped to disasters like the Station and the Colectiv and he frantically scanned the area for exits, hoping the club wasn't as shoddily built by ---holes who only wanted to save money like those tinderboxes were.

Then gunfire -- and Thomas started thinking of the murder of Dimebag Darrell. He swore, diving behind an upturned table on pure instinct.

Say the words, Thomas.  We must protect the innocent!

Are you NUTS?!  There's too many people and their damn cellphones everywhere!  Look, there's one idiot FILMING this chaos when he should be running away!  Lemmie just get to the john-- Thomas clamped a hand over his own jaw, half-crawling away to try to find a more secluded spot before Gadriel could force the incantation out.

People will DIE, Thomas!  THIS WILL NOT STAND!

Box office -- the box office was closed, but not locked.  And no one thought to use it as a place to hide. Thomas quickly pulled the door open and--

 

"መልአክ እፈታሃለሁ መልአክ እሆናለሁ"

 

--where a lanky human had once stood, now stepped out a being of legend.  His skin was marble white and he wore a breastplate of tarnished silver.  His wings, though magnificent, were slate grey.  His eyes burned with an unnatural silvery-grey flame. He strode out, cold glare fixated on the now-shattered window -- and the madman with the gun.

[Papa Bear]

Vendetta 

Seamus McDougal, Secret ID

---

As Seamus approaches the scene, seeing all of the gunmen and innocent bystanders, he slows his speed significantly for better control.  He'd better play this safely.  People's lives were in danger.  He'd fought goons and thugs before, but always on their own turf where no innocent bystander could take a stray bullet.  He considered cloaking but if he startled the villains, they might shoot randomly, or specifically targeting the bystanders.  *Give them a target.* he thought to himself, no exactly happy with that and hoping the Vendetta Battlesuit could withstand several rounds from multiple gunmen.  So far, he'd only rarely been hit and the armor had taken the dangerous brunt of the attack.  But never a hail of bullets...

"Put the guns down.  Let's all walk away from this without any further injury." Seamus says, his voice amplified and modulated through the armor.  He puts his hands up in the air trying to appear non-threatening.

---

---

Trying to draw the attention of the badguys, hoping people can slip away if the baddies are not looking at them.  He's also hoping to not get shot, but knows he's got a better chance of surviving it than average Joe and Jill citizen.