Official RP Thread: The Evolutionist's Stone (8)

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Setting==
Vancouver

==Dramatis Personæ==

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver, Canada==

Duke’s group stepped into Canada with one thing on their minds: warmth. Since they arrived, they had been deprived of it, and wanted it back desperately. The fall had only just settled in, but the cold had arrived early, and it was particularly bitter tonight. Jessica and Xiu huddled together, and Delilah grabbed Duke in a snug embrace, leaving Snipe to put on his best puppy dog face as Alice scoffed at his proposition to huddle together for warmth.

“I’m just fine.” She chuckled, melodramatically holding herself in the warm, snuggly embrace of her hoodie, “Why not wrap up in your tongue?”

Snipe frowned in self pity and then hugged himself endearingly, sure that she would come around eventually. She would not, leaving him to shiver hatefully in the cold for the rest of the walk. When they found their hotel, the Vancouver Hilton, the group quickly hurried to find the heating system.

It was busted.

“Dammit!” Duke cried out, “This weather is murder on my powers. And as if being unable to go full speed wasn’t bad enough, I can feel the icicles forming in my nose. My balls are probably the size of raisins…”

“Let’s not blame the weather for our personal shortcomings…” Delilah chuckled; the others found it equally amusing, causing Duke to shoot Delilah a glare of playful menace.

Though, true enough, the cold was making conditions rather sucky for the supers as they searched for some refuge. And so, rather than wait for that old, decrepit, undoubtedly-un-handy handy man they had spotted down in the lobby, they decided to find something to do elsewhere. Picking up some bulkier clothes in the gift shop, they ventured back out into the cold. As they passed by numerous buildings, they wondered if they were close to anything good. They took another step, and there came a voice calling them.

“Psst…hey, do you guys like sports?”

Duke turned to face the voice. A black haired male with big blue eyes stood at the corner of an alley, hands in both pockets of his hoodie.

“Yeah, we like sports okay.” Duke responded, “What’s it to ya?”

“Name’s Gabe.” The hoodied man responded, “If you want, I can help you guys get outta this weather. For a fee.”

The group looked at one another with a smile, remembering Jeremy’s words back in Chicago.

“What’s it gonna cost us?” Duke reached in his pocket.

“Twenty bucks a pop.”

The tickets and the money exchanged hands, and Gabe escorted them to the end of the alley. He knocked on the door at the end, and was let in after speaking some obscure password. The bouncer let the group in, and they sighed with comforted relief…heat! The stands had been heated, further helped temperature-wise by the food which was cooking up in the sports-bar-turned-concession-stand. None of the supers had ever taken any interest in hockey prior, but the fact that powers were allowed (even encouraged) made it that much more interesting. Vancouver was up against some American team, but the supers cheered for Vancouver’s side. That broken thermostat in their room was American-made, so they figured it was fair.

And by the time the second quarter had arrived, the supers went from politely clapping to rooting for Vancouver like they had been fans all their lives. Cryos, cold-immunes, and various other suited supers made their way across the ice, shredding furiously to get the puck in on their opponents. The cryos shifted the ice drastically, making ramps here and slides there, attempting to influence things in their teams’ favor, but the mercurial icescape seemed only a minor deterrent to potential scorers. A particular player was a regular artist on the ice. With a finesse that seemed unbefitting a boy so masculine, he triple-sow-cowed past tanks, ducked masterfully the frost-breathers, bolted beyond the reach of the cryokinetic supers. Not an ability in his repertoire, he was the most talented on the ice.

Duke and friends wanted desperately to see him succeed. Closer, they thought, only a bit closer until you—

There came a crash, and from the busted doorway stepped familiarly-unwelcome faces, turning heads in the stands and on the ice.

“ALL RIGHT, BREAK IT UP!” The cops. The supers all cursed. Hockey was illegal now in Canada, due to some nonsense about its violent nature, and supposedly giving supers an unfair advantage. Everyone would have to scatter to keep from being arrested. In other words…game over.

His muscles loosened by the warmth, Duke hurried off full-speed, zoomed out the rink and sped up a wall, to the roof. Delilah whirled off around some corner, behind a dumpster. Xiu ran off at the peak speed his stamina would carry him. Alice cast a hologram to make herself look distinctly un-Alice-like, and hurried off to get lost in the crowd of fleeing hockey patrons. When the two got outside, Snipe grabbed Jessica and flicked out his tongue to catch onto a rafter, pulling the two up onto a fire escape to flee to safety.

They would have to meet up later.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver==

The cold of the Vancouver Hilton was never before such a welcome feeling. The supers met up in the lobby with a mix of nervousness and excitement in their faces, and quickly headed upstairs together to make sure they would not be easily discovered by the police who might or might not be on their tail.

They arrived at their rooms, and began to settle back in. Hopefully, Alice's holographic powers kept them from being discovered. Delilah, Alice and Xiu plopped into chairs, while Jessica and Snipe sat on opposite beds. Duke sat on the floor and turned the TV on. Nothing was on, as usual, but at least it was nothing on TV in the safety of their temporary living quarters, and not in a jail cell.

Snipe got to channel surfing when a call came to Duke's phone.

"Duke; go." He put it on speaker so everyone could hear.

"Hey, Duke." It was Anita, "Who has your laptop?"

Duke glanced over his shoulder, "Jessica has it."

"Okay, then I'll send the file to HER email. I found some new information you can use when going up against the Canadian Overlady."

"Alright, cool, thanks." Everyone said their goodbyes, and Duke hung up. The email would arrive shortly. And it would be plenty informative.

Though they had been told that not all Overlords were ruthless, hateful and oppressive, this Overlady was certainly not among the exceptions. Most of her dealings were harmless; taking into custody police contraband from robberies, spying on her "frenemies" and having them kidnapped or the like. She had even had some of them attacked or robbed to make sure they were less prosperous than she.

Though, despite having never resorted to murder or hiring assassins, she was certainly a mounting threat. Her sole desires in life were things. Money and things. Territory invigorated her, status motivated her and material wealth pleased her to no end. If she saw it and wanted it, she would see to it that it would be hers.

But, perhaps that was the problem. What did she want right now? It wasn't entirely obvious, but Anita, Fitz and Francesca had been corresponding; whatever she had in mind to suit her fancy as of late had something to do with the recent series of disappearances in Vancouver and the surrounding areas. Jessica exited her email and closed the laptop.

Duke looked at his team members with a mischievous grin, "Boys and girls...we got a mystery on our hands..."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver==

When the next day came, the others began getting ready for the day, but Duke was already up, thinking.

This Overlady would certainly take some contemplation. What could this Overlady possibly want with the people of Canada? These people weren't particularly interesting, or special, or talented. Of course, there were some that had abilities, and even normals with special skills, but they seemed hardly the object of her attentions. The main subjects known to have disappeared were normals, with only the occasional super taken. And worse yet, none of them were related, by blood, friendship or enmity. They had no connections, and thus no pattern could be discerned.

Delilah sat beside Duke as he thought, and looked at the papers he wracked his brain over, "What's up? Got any ideas about what these missing people have to do with the Overlady?"

"No" Duke groaned, "Stupid leads aren't giving me enough...I think maybe we need to go out."

"Well, how about to the diner down the street?" Xiu pulled his shoes on.

"Oh, hey, yeah, that's a great place to start following up on leads!" Delilah smiled, putting her arm around Duke's shoulder.

"Um, yeah, sure, that's what I meant." Xiu snickered, "Nothing about getting breakfast."

Delilah rolled her eyes, "Anyways...it is a good idea. I think you'll find a good lead there. I can feel it."

Duke considered it a second, then closed the laptop. It was decided. To the diner. Snipe, Duke, Delilah and Jessica sat at one booth, and Alice and Xiu took the one behind them. Within a few minutes, they were greeted by a lovely waitress with short brownish-blonde hair.

"Hi, everyone, my name is Lorelei. Do you guys have in mind what you want to eat?"

While the supers placed their orders, the waitress was half tuned in to them, and half tuned in to the news that played in the background. As the news came that even more of Canada's people had disappeared, something strange happened...

"Um...'Scuse me, um...Lorelei? Is your hair...moving?" Lorelei snapped out of her agitated daze, and her hair stopped growing, going limp once more, "Is there something you want to tell us?"

Lorelei blushed, embarrassed that other patrons were looking at her strangely, "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just...my hair tends to do that when I'm angry. I know it's a bit weird; I'm sorry if I startled you..."

Duke assured them it was no problem. They were supers, too. The only thing that really caught their attention was how her ability responded to her emotions. As though she had some personal feelings about the event. And it turned out she had. A couple of her friends had been targeted, and the police covered it up, so it seemed like they had perhaps simply run off and disappeared. Fortunately, she had only an hour or so until she was off, and so they could chat little by little.

When she was off duty, the group finished eating, and would get some helpful information after a brief interrogation outside. A few others even overheard and provided what input they could. Delilah thanked them for their time, giving them the hotel room number in case they had anything else to say. With that, the supers headed back to the hotel. Time to brainstorm. Maybe a more widespread questioning method could be found.

Alice sat on the bed nearest the door, and Snipe sat beside her, pulling out a snack bar he had gotten from the vending machine. He offered Alice a bite, and when she declined, devoured the delectable health bar voraciously.

A knock came to the door, strangely accompanied by what sounded like the faint buzzing of bees...

When Delilah got up to open the door, they had no idea what hit them. There came a blur of hair, fists, insect wings, and an overwhelming buzzing drone throughout the entire hallway. Doors were opened to the patrons' unpleasant surprise. Those who would not open their doors had their doors blasted away by sonic bee droning. And when the intruders were in, there came a second wave...a lulling, hypnotic drone. Every mind on the floor grew weary. Every eye grew heavy. Everybody grew sleepy...

When they woke up, the supers would have two less members. Alice and Xiu were among those taken.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver==

The air was silent without the two most talkative members of the team. Snipe sighed and lolled his tongue around idly in his mouth, spouting random poetic verses from different languages. Delilah watched, worried, as Duke clacked the keyboard of the laptop with great haste.

Delilah sighed. Duke always busied himself with nothing whenever he was bothered, and she knew it. Even Jessica had begun to pick up on his unease, and it was beginning to bother her, too.

She asked, empathetic, "Duke...Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Duke didn't even bother looking up from the keyboard, "I'm good."

But he didn't look good, "Are you sure? You look like you have something on your--"

"Mind your own business, okay?" Duke snapped, finally facing Jessica, "I'm still the leader of the team, even if two members are MIA. So...just...just trust my judgment. I'm okay."

Jessica looked away, her eyes growing misty, and Delilah walked over to her, "Just...c'mon, Snipe, Jessica, let's leave Duke alone. He's got a lot on his mind, and he needs to realize it before he can share it with either of US."

The three left the room.

==Overlady's Manor, Vancouver==

The honey-colored mansion loomed in the evening. The sound of bees buzzing was a dull hum on the outside, but inside, it rang through every room, hallway and corridor. Only the Overlady of Canada found it soothing.

"Debbie!!!" A bratty female voice rang throughout the halls.

Deepti Kandahaliamanpur, who the Overlady referred to as "Debbie", rushed from her break (five minutes early), to the Overlady's side, "Yes, Mistress Bea? You called me?"

The blonde beauty eyed her Indian assistant with menace, and adjusted the black-and-yellow striped corset of her outfit.

"Where WERE you?" The Overlady whimpered, her eyes growing slightly misty, her face a pretty shade of red, "I NEEDED you! I could have been DYING!"

Deepti blinked vacantly on the outside, but on the inside, she muttered, I WISH...She snapped back to reality, and Overlady Bea was still rambling.

"I totally need to cut your break shorter, Debbie! In the last five minutes ALONE, I found a split end on my favorite side of hair, chipped a nail and knocked my knee on a CHAIR! I mean...if I were a less-pretty girl, like you, Debbie, I'd handle it myself, but, you know, there's just an order to things that has to be followed. Pretty people exist to be admired, and less pretty people exist to help the pretty people, so they can keep being admired without being bothered by petty problems. Just think about it! If we didn't have that order, where would our world be? I'm right, right?"

Deepti sighed, feeling a headache growing; Overlady Melissa Regina Bea was simply a pain. There was no other word to explain her. But Deepti's outer self was smarter than to say it out loud.

"Let me take a look at you, Mistress. Debbie will make it all better."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver==

Snipe whipped his tongue around, feeling far too lazy to get up, or even open his eyes. It would take more than the sunshine of the next morning to wake him from his sleepy daze.

The lathing tongue probed out of his covers and off his bed, slithered upward, and outward for the fruit he knew was in a bowl on the counter. It had to be around somewhere...

Wuh-oh. Flesh, but certainly not the flesh of a fruit. Snipe opened his eyes, only to see Jessica looking, wide-eyed, down at his tongue sticking to her left butt cheek, just below her 'Hello Kitty' panties.

Snipe blinked vacantly, and just as Jessica was about to grab his tongue, with a glowing, explody hand, for a good Roman candle treatment, he retracted his tongue to his mouth like a fleshy tape measure.

"Keep your nasty tongue off my a**!" Jessica frowned, rubbing his spit off her butt with disgust, "That is so...GROSS!"

"Hehehe...juicy, but not what I had in mind." Snipe grinned playfully, "At least not yet. Hey, Delilah, can you toss me an apple?"

Delilah rolled her eyes and tossed Snipe his apple just as Duke stepped in the door. His teammates looked at him, and he sheepishly greeted them. It was probably the closest any of them would get to an apology.

"Where are you just coming from, Speedy?" Jessica went to her bed to pull on her pajama pants, menacing Snipe's lascivious grin.

"Out. I had to get some air, to some running, clear my head. Alaska's pretty refreshing, especially this time of year."

"You...you went to Alaska? Like, as in, ran?"

"What? I didn't have time to make it to San Francisco for the sunrise, so I decided to settle for Alaska. And I was not disappointed. Their crab is awesome." Duke reached into his doggy bag for another bite, "Oh, and I thought you should know. You remember Gabe Basera, the guy who sold us those tickets for the underground hockey thing?"

Snipe, Delilah and Jessica looked at one another and then back to Duke, "Yeah?"

"Well, I kinda brought him back, too." He opened the door, just as Gabe got back from the ice machine down the hall, "I met him just outside the hotel, and it turns out he has some info we can use against the Canadian Overlady."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver==

Vancouver's Overlady, Melissa Regina Bea, sat in her room, deeply admiring herself in one of many mirrors. One of her servants came in and she beckoned for them to close the door behind them.

She turned around in her chair, and snapped her fingers for Deepti to stop what she was doing and come to the Overlady's side.

"Whaddyou want?" Melissa rolled her eyes.

The nerdy man humbly saluted her, "Mistress Bea...Deepti called me up to see you. She said you would want to see how the project is progressing?"

Melissa stood and tossed her hair back over her shoulders. She looked the nerd up and down with disdain and supposed it wouldn't be so bad, if Deepti came along, too. With that, they headed out. Bees of all kinds buzzed past them left and right as they descended from the third floor, from the second, from the first, and finally into the basement.

"Oh, GROSS!" Melissa looked around at all the cells with disgust. The walls were dingy gray, the lights were dim and some flickered. It smelled faintly stale, like an old closet that hasn't been opened in weeks. It was fairly clean otherwise, but still, totally disgusting. And the people contained the cells didn't make it any better.

They looked all hopeless and needy, like those stupid kids in those stupid commercials asking for money.

The nerd stopped at the end of the hall.

"I think you should know." He started, "We actually managed to get a few supers this time!"

Melissa's eyes lit up, and she pushed the poindexter to the side. She hurried up close to the huge plexiglas pane, and looked at the two of them. Her face fell. Neither one of them was a hunky male super as she had expected. One was male but wasn't hunky, and the other was good looking, but not male!

"What are their powers?" She turned back to the nerd, demanding something cool.

The nerd adjusted his glasses.

"Well, I'm not sure", he said, a smile growing, "But I'm absolutely sure they'll make EXCELLENT additions to the hive."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver==

The information the supers received from Gabe was not sounding good.

Apparently, the Overlady was working on some project that included supers and normal alike. And he knew from personal experience.

The President's goons had mistaken him for some brown-haired Irish guy who could sense and negate powers, and when they found out it wasn't him, they shipped him off back to his home Vancouver to contend with the Overlady's jurisdiction. And he wasn't muscular or anything she considered attractive, which meant experiments and tubes and probes and machines for him.

Fortunately, though his own powers had allowed him to escape. But while he was drugged up, kept in that tiny room, awaiting the worst of the Overlady's scientists' experiments, he had heard mention of some scheme; 'social planning', he had heard it called.

A test of the Overlady's superhuman abilities, a scientist explained to somebody in the distance, and that was all he could remember for sure.

"The Government captured you because they thought you were Fitz Tanner? The Government is looking for Fitz?" Jessica interjected.

"Yeah, I think that was his name. Him and that guy I met, um...what was his name...white hair...red eyes--"

"You must mean Jack!" Snipe exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah! Jack! Jack Ryder!" Gabe shook his head in disbelief, "Weird guy. How do you know him?"

"He's working with us. Helping out down in New York with some other supers." Delilah said.

The four talked for a span, amazed at how small the world could seem sometimes, and how it was so cool they all knew each other, before Duke cleared his throat in a way meant to not be subtle.

"AHEM." He menaced each of them, annoyed, "Excuse me, boys and girls, but if you don't mind, I'd kinda like to worry about the problem at hand. You know...our friends having been kidnapped, and an Overlady apparently on the brink of some insidious mass social experiment?"

The others fell silent. He was right. Delilah spoke.

"You...you're right, Duke." She said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "So. Do you have a plan to help save them and rescue the other captives?"

Duke thought a second, and then looked back to Delilah.

"Yeah. I think I have an idea."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver==

The morning promised to be very eventful. The sun was shining bright, the supers were bright-eyed and bushy tailed, and the plans were laid. For the short-term and the long-term. First, nab a sturdy transport to rescue their captured teammates, then regroup to prepare for the take-down of the Overlady. It all seemed poised to go off without a hitch.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Delilah slipped on another red shirt, and a pair of red boots.

"Yeah, positive", Gabe replied, straightening his turtleneck, "A one-way ticket to the Overlady, guaranteed."

"Well, it better be." Jessica rubbed her skin-tight pants, "These took me, like, two minutes to squeeze into."

"And it was so worth the wait." Snipe licked his lips lasciviously, causing Jessica to roll her eyes with a smile.

The supers reviewed the plan once more, making sure everybody knew what they were to do. And when they had finished, everybody was done dressing, except for one final touch. Duke reached for the bag he had got from the costume shop that morning.

Delilah's mask was like Deadpool. Gabe had a mask like the Green Goblin. Jessica had a mask like She-Hulk. Snipe had a mask like Venom. And Duke? He would have a mask like the Flash. None of them had guns, but their powers would likely be good enough.

And so, Duke told them to keep their masks close. It was time to stage a bank heist...

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver==

Gabe's plan had worked. Their bank heist had come and failed as planned, and for the time being, the other supers hated Gabe for it. The food in jail was awful, the privacy was obviously only a figment of everyone's imaginations, and they were on their way to sacrificing themselves to the social experiment of some spoiled bratty madwoman. In fact, that would be the fate of ALL supers who had been foolish enough to get caught up in that dark, dingy heckhole.

Fortunately, a second part of Gabe's plan existed. It turned out for him that his superhuman capability came with a rather handy mutation. As a human pathogen vector, he was a living host to all manner of sicknesses and diseases. They might be contagious, airborne, it didn't matter. If they were in his environment, they could find a nice comfy home with him. However, when the supers were being transported, they'd be bound with power-negating handcuffs.

This meant that Gabe would lose control over all of the pathogens that he was host to; all of Gabe's sicknesses would actually overwhelm his body, making him violently ill. He'd be released from his cuffs to see what the hell was the matter with him, and then his power would return as quick as it had been negated.

He, Duke and Snipe would overtake their handlers, allowing them to take their intended prison transport vehicle, and from there they would head over to the female jail facility adjacent to them. And from there, the truck would be used to crash into Overlady Bea's manor, leaving a hole in the wall so the other released prisoners could escape when the power breakers were destroyed to open their holding cells.

It was simply brilliant, Gabe, Duke and Snipe agreed; certainly the girls would agree, when they were filled in on the way to Overlady Bea's Manor.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Vancouver==

The smell of sweaty jail inmates' armpits, feet and flatulence was enough to make Snipe and Gabe gag, as Duke made his way down the highway. Snipe looked back at the jailbirds, separated from him only by a metal chain-link screen, and cringed.

"Seriously, Duke..." Snipe grimaced, "Are we there yet?"

"Close." The speedster replied, "It's only a couple more miles. And seriously, the smell isn't that bad. It could always be worse. You could be back in jail...at shower time."

Snipe and Gabe both imagined "dropping the soap" at jail shower time, while looking back at wickedly grinning inmates, and simultaneously shuddered. The traumatic thought would be interrupted by a question from one of the inmates.

"Eh, excuse me, monsieur..." A black man spoke up with a French accent, "If the three of you are prisoners, would you mind telling us...why are we still tied up? Is this not the, eh, how you say...jailbreak?"

Snipe crossed his arms and slumped back, "Yeah, it's a jailbreak for us. Believe it or not, we're the good-guys."

"You mean you're rebels?" Came a thick Southern accent, a strange voice to hear in these parts, "Them folks what helped take down Trelaine in New Mexico?"

"Well, to be honest, we weren't there for that, but we do work with Jack." Duke replied over his shoulder.

And apparently, the inmates were impressed. Though it meant the inmates might not be freed from their cuffs and shackles just yet, the rebels' intentions were honorable. If nothing else, in the event all went according to plan, the inmates would be able to say that they got to witness, in action, a plan to take down the vain, self-absorbed Overlady of Vancouver. The idea in itself was very intriguing. In fact, it intrigued some more than others.

"Well, it seems to me like you're in a business I happen to specialize in; rebelling against authority..." came a voice that may have been American, "What would you say if I volunteered to help you?"

[Celadon's Penultimate]

"What?" Duke looked back, and scoffed, "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I'm dead serious..." The voice came again, "Sir."

The transport jerked to a spasmodic stop, causing everyone to slide harshly out of place, before Duke pulled the large bus slowly off the road, into the grass. A man cursed in French as he swerved to avoid the vehicle. Duke ignored the profanity, and turned again to face the inmates.

"Sir? Oh, really now?" Duke was almost amused at the inmate's blatant attempt at flattery, "You're willing to follow my lead, just like that? Just follow me blindly into combat, possibly in the face of your death, for the sake of violence? Tell me then, soldier, what if I told you that you would have to steal? Maybe to blackmail, to steal, to sabotage, even to kill? What would you say then?"

The inmate had fire in his eyes, "I'd do it, sir. I promise. I got absolutely no problem doing whatever you tell me. I know your judgment is for the best."

Gabe and Snipe exchanged glances, but Duke didn't take his eye off the inmate who petitioned him. He was tall and thin, brown-haired, with freckles. Not bad looking, in that scrappy sort of way. His gray-blue eyes were bright with a strange, familiar fervor, and his hands were tense, the knuckles of his balled fists white with anticipation. Did this kid remind him of...himself, only younger?

"You'd do all that for me, kid?" A smirk crept across the corner of Duke's face, "You'd go out there and bust a few heads for me? You're that dedicated to the cause of freedom and social justice and all that stuff?"

The kid grinned at the thought, and responded plainly, "Hell, I'll fight under whatever banner, sir. I just wanna release a little tension."

The answer drew a murmur of agreement from the rest of the inmates, each of them nodding at him, and chuckling at his sentiment, and voicing similar thoughts. But Duke turned back to the wheel, his face falling back to seriousness.

"Exactly what I thought." He scoffed, "Chaotic. Bloodthirsty. Wild, unruly, just--just plain wrong for the job. You people aren't dedicated to any cause other than satisfying some grudge, some vendetta you have against the Overlady's rule. Release a little tension? What is this, a work-out? A game? Unbelievable. I bet you all would just as soon rebel against our team. I can't work with any of you. When we go in there, you all are staying right here, in handcuffs and chains."

The scrappy kid was shocked and disheartened at the answer, but he knew, in his heart, not to question it. The other inmates' faces fell from looks of approval and agreement to looks of scorn toward him. His big mouth had just cost them a chance at freedom. Now, they'd remain bound until Duke's team decided how else to deal with the lot of them. As the boy marinated in the implications of his answer, Duke cranked up the bus; to his fortune, signs indicated that the women's jail was just  a few blocks away, now.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"It's a wonder you people get anything done at all with that self-righteous crock you just spouted," came a voice from the back.

The inmates turned, as one, to look at the one in the back. A scrawny guy, glasses, floppy brown hair. The type of guy people called "the quite one."

"Tell me something, Mr. Rebel, do you even know what the Overlady's power is? You never know, one of us here could posses a hard counter to it. Wouldn't it be a shame if you died because you had no way to win. Then what would happen to me and the men here? Best case scenario she likes us and keeps us around as her toys. Worst, we get executed, military style for associating with you. So either death, or prolonged, horrible death." He looked around to the others. "Now boy's, did you all do anything so bad that it deserved prolonged, horrible death?"

The response was immediate.
"No!"
"NO!"
"No sir!"
"The death penalty not even legal in Canada!"

He nodded in satisfaction, and continued.

"If you don't want our help, if you don't want to use every available resource at your disposal, then the least you could do is give us a chance to escape before you go off on your suicide mission. Hell, drop us off here, at least in the cold we have a chance."

His eyes bored into the back of Dukes head as he waited for his reply. The others inmates waited with bated breath and looks of horror. Suddenly, this guy didn't seem to be the best spokesman.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Duke didn't turn back to give the prisoner a decent response. He couldn't; that kind of second-guessing might well cost his team their lives. Fitz had appointed him leader of this team for a reason; he didn't just fall for whatever crock of crap was put ahead of him. No, he'd leave the others to do the questioning. At least, that way, he could respond with less-obvious interest in the proposition, rather than outright falling into what might very well have been a duplicitous manipulation.

But as predicted, Gabe was intrigued.

"Well, as much as it would comfort me to just drop all you prisoners back off in that jail back there, or maybe let you make your way back there yourself, in the cold, I gotta admit. You got my attention. What power do you have, that makes you think you'd be such a valuable asset to the team?"

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

A mall smile graced his lips.

"It a little hard to explain. A sort of localized reality manipulation, combined with item duplication and modification focused through a sort of, what's the word, fetter? Juju? Focus?"

He noted the confused looks of his fellow inmates and sighed.

"I have a magic book that I can pull things out of and modify individuals with if I touch them with it. You need food? Done. You need any sort of tool? Done. You need some sort of rampaging scorpion elephant? I could do that in my sleep. You want weapons? I will give you the best guns to ever gun, and I can make them shoot anything."

"Of course, I could be talking out my ass. After all, you have no idea who I am or why I'm here. Right now, I'd say anything to save my own skin. I guess the only proof I have is this: If I was making up a lie, wouldn't I use a less creative power. and even if I am lying, what am I going to do against against three people?"

He raised up his shackled hands.

"Let me give you a demonstration. If I don't summon my book immediately, you can kill me dead."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Gabe and Snipe exchanged glances. Clearly, if this fellow was just blowing smoke, he was a dragon among smoke-blowers. And in truth, Duke kind of wanted to see too. Snipe tapped the speedster on the shoulder, and whispered in his ear.

"Hey, uh, Duke, whaddya say? I think he could help us, if he's not BSing us on his power."

"And what if he is BSing us on his power?" Duke kept his eye on the road.

Snipe looked back at the prisoner, "I'll make him choke on his tongue. You know my power. Maybe Gabe can give him herpes. C'mon...it's worth a shot, right?"

Duke thought...and then slammed on the brakes again, sliding everyone out of their seats again. As he pulled over off the road onto another patch of grass, he looked back at the prisoner. With the slightest resignation, he sighed.

"Alright, fine. I'll give you a chance. I'll give each of you a chance. One at a time, if you got a power, you can try it out on the grass for us to see. One false move, and you won't get a second chance. Primarily, because I'll probably break your hands."

He, Gabe and Snipe stepped out of the car, and went to unlock the back hitch.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

The others looked at him with something like awe.

"What? Don't look at me like that, it's embarrassing. I just made my own case, it's up to you guys to own up."

They looked at one another. One looked up pleadingly at him, the hot blooded young punk that Duke had put down. "But, man, I don't got any powers."

That little smile never left his face. "Would you like some?"

It was at that moment the back hitch opened up. It was do or die time. They filed out onto the grass and the prisoner in back raised up his hands again to be unlocked, knowing that if he didn't give a good showing he was as good as dead. The cuffs came off.

It wasn't such a spectacular thing. First there were his outstretched hands, then their was a sound like a inward sneeze, and then the book was just there, in his hands, as if it had always been. The cover was blue and wrinkled with age, but otherwise completely bare. It wasn't a large tome by any means, and it certainly didn't look magical. But everyone there could feel something when they looked at it, like when you see someone in a disguise and it just feels off. He could certainly feel it.It had been so long since he had, but you could never forget this feeling.

He was holding reality in his hands. He savored it for a moment, before looking up to seethe three men watching him, tense and expectant. Oh well, obligation. He opened it up.

"Now, for my first trick," he said, wiggling his fingers over the books page. His hand suddenly plunged down the page, all the way up to his wrist, and a blinding light emitted from the point of entry. But just as quickly, he withdrew his hand. Held in it, by the scruff of it's neck, was The Bunny Rabbit. "Ta-da." He set The Rabbit down, where in proceeded to hop in adorable circles.

"Now," he said to the prisoners, "What's someones favorite food?"

"I'd kill for a peace," said the Quebecian.

"I'd believe that," he said, turning the page until he found the one he wanted. On it was a picture of a peach, ripened to perfection. You could smell it. He flipped back to the rabbit page and placed his finger on it. The words and picture seemed to come to life, deforming around the appendage. He selected a particular word, placed his finger on it, the physically dragged it across the page and on to the next, until reaching the peach page. There was a blinding flash of light, and the next second he was tossing Frenchy a fresh peach in he shape of a rabbit.

"Hold on, kids, 'cause it also goes in reverse!"

He demonstrated, selecting the peach picture and dragging it to the rabbit page. There was no flash of light this time. Instead, the rabbit digging in the snow spontaneously changed from rabbit flesh to peach flesh, it's white counting being replaced by a fine layer of fuzz. It took no notice of this, and continued hopping around unperturbed.

He closed up the book and looked at the three. "So?"

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Duke crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow. He had to admit, it was damn impressive.

"All right", Duke gave in, a grin slowly creeping across his face, "You've got my attention. Maybe I misjudged you, after all...then again, your intentions still remain to be seen. Lucky for you, though, you've earned your chance. Now get back in the bus."

Now, all Duke needed was to see if any others were impressive like him.

The man from Quebec smiled, looking to either side of him. The three watched expectantly, as the man shrank, shrank, shrank, down into the grass. Everyone looked all around to see where he had gone, and Gabe had his powers at the ready, to sicken him into submission, when finally, there came a loud yelp, and the Black Frenchman seemed to trip and fall over himself, face-first into the grass. The man from Quebec returned to normal size, his power proven. Another rather impressive capability.

Another could replicate, though each dupe was smaller than the last. Another could fly. Others could levitate, move objects, communicate with animals, produce magnetism, and more.

Duke looked to them all, and found himself a bit more convinced than he intended to be. And finally, it came down to the boy who had spoken up first. He and his remaining fellow prisoners looked at one another, and then at Duke.

The speedster spoke, "So...you got powers?"

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"I, uh, well...." he began to stutter.
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Scraping his way past the eager beaver had been easy enough, holding the book open just a smidgin and letting a page brush the kids arm. All it took was a margin.

Simon Cruller, age 23. Under the name was a box left conspicuously blank, followed by a list of words. They were arranged in no particular order, not even separated by punctuation. He scanned over them.

Poor
Eager
Restless
Trusting
Criminal
Strong
Loyal
Angry
Boxer

Only a few of hundreds. Such a random list. But how else were you expected to represent the human soul. He tapped Criminal and anther block of text inserted itself, rolling out right in the middle of the list, the rest of the word shrinking obligingly. Looked like a list of assaults going back to his childhood, the most recent ending in a fatality. He tapped a few of them, reveling yet more lists.

Huh, that was interesting. "Righteous" seemed to be a reoccurring word. He would have to be careful with this one.

He took a moment to put the book to the bus as he walked out the front door, before turning the pages and finding an old associate of his, Antoine Nito. He laid his fingers two words, one from the cluster and the one in Antoine's box. He wouldn't be needing it anymore.

He dragged the two items and dropped them on Simon's page. The first word fell snugly into the box, as if it had always been there, and the second snuck it's way down into the cluster. Satisfied, he flipped to the bus page he had just acquired. Surely he could build a better transport than this.

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Meanwhile, around the back of the bus, Simon suddenly had a power. He knew he did. He didn't understand how he knew, but he mus have had something to do with Book guy. He looked up at Duke, meeting his eyes for the first time since the mans tongue lashing.

"Yeah. Yes Sir. Stand back!" He raised up his arm, and extended a finger. At the tip of both, something black began to seep out. A black energy, more like space than anything. It spiraled its way down his arm, like a ribbon, and began to spin. He looked at the drill on his hand, and moved it experimentally from side to side. Satisfied that is was going to fall off, he made a fist and did a few quick jabs before slamming it into the ground. The drill dissipated, leaving a perfectly conical hole.

"Haha. Yes!"

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His fingers crossed pages in a blur, picking and choosing different words like a trained typist. Fast, Durable, Bulletproof, Fireproof, Anti-Freezing, Efficient, Heated Interior, Quiet, Unassuming, Traction (Good).

Truth is, he loved creation. Turing a concept into reality. It was all the fun of being a carpenter, an artist, a 5 star chef, but without the years of practice required to become a master of those things. He stepped out onto the road, held open the book in front of him, reached in and pulled.

Out came a prison bus. If you were to look at the two models side by side, which you could because that's exactly where they were, you would never be able to tell they wear any different. If anything, the one on the grass woulds look more suspicious.

He heard Simon give a cheer. Well, looks like he was enjoying himself.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Duke looked around, and was a bit satisfied that he had misjudged them all. Perhaps, there wasn't such a risk after all. True, there was the one who could up and give folks powers at a whim, and probably could do far worse, but there were ways to work around that, if worse came to worst. Yes, he, Gabe and Snipe agreed. This would do nicely.

The speedster crossed his arms, "Yep, looks like we're good here. Everybody on the bus. We don't have far left to go, and if we're quick, we can get to Delilah and Jessica before sundown."

The drive was quiet, but not the same quiet it had been before. Now that mutual respect and trust had been (mostly) established, the ride would go much smoother. The prisoners wouldn't hassle Duke, and he wouldn't give them any grief. In fact, until further notice, the prisoners would be part of Duke's team. It promised at least to make operations at the jail to go much smoother.
 
The building came at last into view, and Snipe looked back.

"There it is, guys." He started to become excited, "Your first mission as honorary members of this team. If anybody here is opposed to what we're doing, the cause we stand for, the goal we hope to achieve, then now's your chance to speak up. Otherwise...let's get ready to rock and roll."

Gabe snickers, and Snipe turns to him, annoyed.

"Seriously?" Gabe chuckles, "Let's 'rock and roll'? Hehehe...lame..."

Chuckles were scattered through the van, as Duke pulled up outside the jail entrance.