The Evolutionist's Stone (RP Reboot)

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

He smiled and started walking back to his car. "Well, an escort! Killjack never gave me an escort." he glanced back, studied their faces, and added each one to The List right under Gorak. "You guys lead the way, I'll follow." he said, sliding back into his car.

Wulf:Oh, good. They didn't know jack.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Torres House, December 22, 9:58 a.m.==

Night came and went without a hitch. Before anybody would be allowed to set foot back out the door, though, Abuela insisted that the lot of them at least have something on their stomachs to start the day.

The smell of their humble breakfast wafted through the air long after they had finished, and the group would be most grateful to receive her hospitality. Breakfast burritos, cafe con leche and magdalenas was the best way any of them could think to start the day. Before long, though, their ride would be along, and so it was time to get cleaned up.

To their fortune, the wait would not be long before their ride arrive.

Just as Pierce finished up brushing his teeth and ruffling his hair just right, and Jack finished sneaking a couple empanadas out of the fridge, there came a short, shallow whoosh in the living room. Fitz heard it first--sounding off right behind him, it scared him half to death--but when he saw the figure the sound heralded, his face lit up.

It was Rico.

"Hey, wha' wazzat scream?" Ivan slipped on a shirt as he entered the living room, "Did one o' the girls find a spider or somethin'--? Oh, hey, Torres. Hey guys! Torres is 'ere!"

Despite the lot of them being at his family's house, and the surname fitting the entire family, only Rico was Torres.

The new arrival cracked a grin at the familiar voice and accent, "Hehehe, how the hell are ya, Bruiser?"

Torres stuck out a hand to shake, and Ivan pulled him in for a bear hug. Though, when the others made their way into the living room, Torres looked to Diego with his stern "why the hell didn't you warn me' face, and then back to Ivan with a face now more accusatory than accommodating. Crossing his arms, his demand needed not even be expressed.

"A'right, a'right, lemme explain..." Ivan offered, "This time it's for a good reason; somethin's waitin' for us in Colorado. And it ain't, by no means, a repeat o' San Jose...or Baja...or Disneyland."

"Ugh...I had almost forgotten Disneyland." A shudder ran down Torres' spine at the mere mention of the last one, "Thanks for the reminder...And anyhow, what makes you think that, even if I was willing, that I'd be able to move so many folks at one time? Even when I first manifested, I was only able to move myself and maybe two other folks."

Pierce, Diego and the girls stepped aside, to reveal Jack coiffing his hair in the mirror.

At the sight, Torres just blinked and raised an eyebrow, "Uh, what in the world does this tatted-up albino kid have to do with me getting you guys all the way from point A to point B?"

Jack turned at the comment, and remarked with an air of smug defiance, "Aw, guys, come on...you never told him about me before?"

And indeed, they had not. Though, now was as good a time as any. As it turned out, Jack had the ability to boost superhuman powers (among other interesting capabilities), and so with Torres' cooperation, they would be well on their way. And he, Jack assured him, would barely break a sweat in the process.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Of course, Torres was not easily convinced. One look at Jack, and he was sure Ivan was just pulling his leg to get another freebie transport. Still, he had to admit; if they were lying, then this was one hell of an effort to convince him. That in mind, his quick deliberation ended with a little smile to punctuate his piqued curiosity.

"Okay, then, you say you can give me enough juice to get us to Arizona?" Torres shrugged, "Let's see whatcha got. And Diego, no need to wake Abuela. I'll be right back."

He gestured for Diego to stand back, and for the others to gather close. Nudging the others aside, Jack took his place next to the teleporter, and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Ready?" asked Jack.

Torres chuckled, "Ready as I'll ever be--WHOA." His glance shot down to the source of the sudden sensation that shot up his arm, and all down his spine. Jack's hand was glowing an eerie white light, and the site of his contact was growing warm...he gripped, and the teleporter's power seemed to jerk from within him, temporarily given a life of its own. Ivan's voice rang in his head.

Arizona.

There in his mind appeared the border, where security may as well have been waving people in from Arizona to Mexico. A few miles past it, mountains, beautiful, silent, colored purply-gray by the distance. Not that far...no, his jaunt would make land...outside that old diner he liked to go to. That seemed about as good a place as any, and so that was the destination his mind locked onto. His pupils dilated, he took in a shallow breath, and before he realized he'd done anything at all, there was an audible airy rush, leaving Diego standing in the living room by himself.

On the other side of that rush of air and space-time, Torres and the group were heaved out bodily, onto a harsh ground of dust and gravel. They staggered to their feet, dusted themselves off, and turned around. Sure enough, Torres recalled out loud, Lucy Darrow's Diner was exactly as he remembered it. They had arrived.

"And the trip!" he exclaimed, "Holy hell! You said I wouldn't break a sweat, but you never said I'd enjoy the ride! HA! If I could move that damn smooth, fast and far all the time, I think my family just might see a little more of me around the house! Hot damn if that wouldn't be the perfect way to travel for a family vacation!"

Jack crossed his arms and grinned, "So, I guess this means I'm their fare for a freebie on board the SS Torres?"

"HA! Damn straight!" Torres laughed, clapping Jack on the shoulder, "What'd you say his name was, Ivan--Jack? Yeah, with ol' boy Jack here ridin' along, I think I can safely say you got yourself a deal." His smile only faded when he heard his stomach growl; clutching it, he turned a wry face, and finally said, "In the meantime, though, I gotta run. Didn't get dinner last night, and this diner is callin' my name. Later!"

And so he was off to Darrow's Diner, and the supers were off into Arizona.

Everyone:Okay, so we're in Arizona, and it's still pretty early in the day, about 11am. Anybody feel free to suggest things to do. Your suggestions will be combined with my imagination to determine what all goes down here, before we meet up with Wayne, square off with Gorak, and recover The Stone.

[Philote]

"So we know the general location of this stone or something right" Nadia asks irritably. "Please tell me you do. I'd rather stake out an area and get this job done than spend a week combing over this entire city."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Wayne followed along behind the freak trio in his own car. While they drove, he prepared. A man at the top of his profession, such as himself, had to look as though he were a man at the top of his profession. As such, as the dawn broke over the horizon and they entered Arizona, he shaved. It was a tricky thing to do, lathering up and shaving with a straight razor while keeping up with his escort, but he had to look presentable for his client, even if they were a lying scumbag who you were planning to burn alive along with his empire. Wayne was, after all, a professional.

His daddy had taught him to shave like this, but it had taken decades of effort to learn to do it while driving. After he was done with his stubble, he started on his head, running it over the scalp until is was smooth as polished stone. After that, he brushed his teeth, rinsing with bottled water, then gargled Listerine to kill off any trace of alcohol from the night before. To kill off the stressful, haggard look of a man who'd be driving all night he reached into his glove compartment and pulled out a thermos he'd prepared last night, filled with a special blend of coffee that Archer swore by. He chugged the whole thing in one go.

He cataloged his weaponry. On him he had two pistols and a combat knife shoved into his shoe, in addition to a tasar in his pocket that could put out enough voltage to down a bull elephant. His trusty revolver sat snugly in his glove compartment. His garrote wire was hidden in his watch, and in his trunk were three shotguns and a pile of grenades of all shapes and sizes. He kept extra ammo under the cushions in the back seat. Enough to fight a small war.

But still there was something bothering him, something he couldn't quite place. He went over it again and again in his head as they entered a small town. Guns? Check. Hygiene? Check. Rubes? His escort didn't know a thing, they still thought they were playing him. So why did he feel so uncomfortable, awkward in his own skin?

The realization hit him hard and fast, and he flashed his lights to get the attention of his escort and signaled them to pull in to the closet available place, a local diner. Parking, he reached into the back to grab what was necessary and climbed out the door. "Two seconds," he said as he saw the gold man open his mouth. Inwardly, he preyed that the bathrooms were open. He patted the clear plastic bag in which hung his other suit. He did not want to have to change behind the dumpsters again.

Wayne did not, as a personal rule, wear the same suit twice in a row unless absolutely necessary.

He'd just rounded to the front of the building when he spotted them.

"What the hell?" he said to himself as he ran smack into the kids from last night.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The question registered in Ivan's ear, like a smoke alarm set off from food left in the oven too long.

"Huh?" came the cool, eloquent reply, "I, uh, well, see, the thing about that is, eh...yeah, no, I got nuffin'."

The others let out a groan of disgust, but Ivan was at least quick to follow up his revelation with a bit of good news. The lot of them were in a new town, where things were much cheaper than in California. That diner looked quaint, like the sort Tessa mentioned wanting to try out once. And damn it, if the sky didn't look like it was shaping up to be a bright, cheerful, sunshiny day.

Jack chuckled, looking up at the bright blue expanse, "Yeah, he's got you there, Nadia. Looks like perfect weather for finding a rinky-dink motel and sneaking into their pool for the day. Hell, for all we know, there might even be--HEY! WATCH IT!"

The group was broken up from its loose huddle by a young Native American boy who wore no skates, and yet glided across the gravelly ground with only just an effort. And only barely a "Sorry, 'scuse me!" passed his lips before he barreled his way through them, and off into the distant street. It would take a moment for the group to recuperate from the kid's apparent clumsiness.

And when they did, they realized that they would have something else to do, besides lazing about at the pool of a motel they'd sneaked into. They would be getting plenty of cardio chasing that boy, for in all of two seconds, he had snatched up Tessa's purse and Nadia's wallet.

Everyone: Commence the chase, through the crowds and streets of Arizona! Feel free to use powers as you like. Just remember; I decide what hits and what misses.

GV: They pass right past you, but don't have the time or the presence of mind to recognize you. Wherever they go, be curious. Shadow them from afar, as discretion dictates.

[Philote]

Nadia was having none of this nonsense. "Get back here you little brat!" she yells red faced running after the kid.

Taking a deep breath, she blows out a freezing gust at the boy's legs.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The chill of Nadia's breath nipping hatefully at his ankles, the boy kicked his evasion into high gear. He didn't have the advantage of a noon-time rush, but the streets were still fairly busy with quarry workers on their way to Gorak's, couples on their way to the flea market and kids late to school.

The diversion of their presence would simply have to do. With all the speed of a professional runner and the finesse of a sixth grader on his first day learning ballroom dance, he wedged himself through the hectic rushing lot. Their shouts of anger and dismay meant nothing but a deep trickstery pleasure to the boy's ears.

They thought he was a pest now, just wait until his pursuers got close enough.

He felt a grasping hand just barely pass by the nape of his neck. A big hand. Glancing back behind him, it was--the big, muscular white guy. Yep, now was the time.

"Later, bitches!" came the smug reply.

And as he waved his hand behind him, the crowd of townspeople gave a simultaneous cry, as they suddenly found that standing up straight was nearly impossible. The supers couldn't believe it. The ground looked as plainly dusty and gravelly as ever, but steadying themselves on it was about as easy as a first try as ice skating.

Still, they couldn't be deterred. That stupid kid had Tessa and Nadia's things. So, while others flailed helplessly in a pile of distraught humans, Jack heaved himself up atop the other bodies, and reached down to give Pierce a hand. He, in turn helped Fitz, who helped Ivan, who helped the girls.

The lot of them offered half-hearted apologies as they clambered over the piled masses, but when the last of them made their way onto firm, friction-steady ground, they were off. That kid couldn't have gotten far.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Hey kid." came a voice in front of him as he turned to duck into a alley. The source was a bald man in a expensive looking suit leaning against the wall, and between the finger of his extended hand were three hundred dollar bills.

"$300 for the stuff you just lifted, plus any money you find in it."

----------

Wayne had cloaked himself and hurriedly followed along behind, leaving a similarly transparent suit laying folded on the ground beside the diner. The kid was fast and dodgy, but Wayne knew how to chase someone through a crowd and his legs where longer. It was a good thing he had overtaken him before he pulled out whatever he had to collapse everyone. Then it was all a matter of thinking like him. Where would Wayne have run when he was still doing stuff like this?

That was how he'd come to be in this alley, completely out of breath. That's why he was leaning against the wall, not that he showed it. After all, how could he possibly pull off the mysterious stranger thing if he were gasping for breath?"

----------

"As a bonus, I'll hide you from that mad lady and her friends."

[Philote]

Nadia leads the way, her hot headed temper contrasting with her icy breath.

"Who does he think he is messing with. I'm going to freeze that brat solid and use him as a hockey puck! See how he likes sliding around like an idiot!"

Taking a breath between bouts of rage, Nadia indiscriminately freezes anything unfortunate enough to be in her line of sight at the time.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The kid only just slowed down halfway down the alley, in hopes it might afford him a bit of time to think.

What could this guy possibly want with their stuff? What if he was with them? What if he was a cop? He didn't look like a cop. Did it matter? Those other guys were fast on their way, and his friends were nowhere to be seen!

"Dammit." he fidgeted, back and forth between decisions, until finally shoving the girls' belongings into the man's hands and blurting out, "Okay, shit, hide me! Quick!"

It was only after he'd done so, that he realized there wasn't a dumpster to be seen, a fence to be climbed or a doorway to slip into. Damn, he thought, his panic growing, what the hell did I just do?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

No time to be gentle. Wayne reached out, grabbed the kid by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him up against the wall, letting him just barely turn around before throwing an arm over his chest to hold him there.

"No move. Don't make a sound. Don't even breath." He says as the two of them start becoming very clear, like glass. "If you give us away to these people, they'll kill ya!"

The two of them then fade out of sight.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Jack burst around the corner first, the glow of his eyes subsiding as he calmed down the wind burst propelling him. When he caught full view of the alleyway, though, he stopped short, a confused look coloring his expression. He whipped around to the others.

"What the hell?!" came the outcry, "I know we followed him down the right alley. He was here a few seconds ago, I swear!"

Yet there before them lay a scene with two brick walls on either side, a brick wall at the end, a dumpster set up on the left wall...and not a single slippery super to be seen. Needless to say, the supers were all a bit doubtful. Just in case, though, Pierce stepped forth. It wasn't like Jack to be mistaken about things like that, especially having been so close on the boy's trail.

So, he would lend his perceptions, to prove a yay or a nay. Closing his eyes, Pierce focused on all ambient electricity. Static hummed through his spine, in the tips of his fingers and toes, from nearby radios and computers and TVs. A couple of switches were clicked inside nearby buildings, a string was pulled and a room's light went out, a lamp turned on. A bit more focus, and he could make out Tessa's heartbeat, Jack's, Fitz's, Nadia's, Ivan's.

He perked up his perceptions for yet another heartbeat, even the slightest...but nothing.

Pierce turned, clapping a hand on his shoulder, "Man, I think the little shit just got away. And too bad, too."

GV: Wayne and the boy can't be perceived by Pierce's Electrical Perception, because it picks up on electromagnetic frequencies. And by becoming transparent, most electromagnetic frequencies pass through Wayne and the boy, while the rest are insulated within their bodies. You're quite welcome for that handy little feature of Wayne's power.

Zale: Tessa's Telepathy would be really helpful here. Wanna give it a whirl?

[Philote]

Nadia stomps her foot and gives out a frustrated yell, freezing one of the alley walls comically just out of reach of those hidden.

"I'm going back, getting my other money, finding a room, and taking a bath. First person to get in my way is getting strangled."

She walks off with a scowl.  

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Wayne waits for their footsteps to die away in the distance. Then he waits a bit longer. It the all encompassing darkness that came with being totally transparent he listens for certain sounds. Breathing, the muffled footsteps of someone trying to be silent, the rustling of fabric.

Satisfied by his hearing, his eyes start to fade in. He casts them about the alley. He lets out the breath he was holding and lets his arm drop. "Jesus." And then there are two people standing with their backs pressed flush to the wall. Wayne steps away and snatches the kids goods out of his hands, flipping open the wallet and tossing the bills at his feet, 300 extra.

"As we discussed." He says, closing the dumpster and dumping the contents of the purse out onto it. "You did a good job, keeping quiet." he says as he separates everything. He takes the time to look for any identification. "You have fast hands, your a quick runner, and that ability of yours is no slouch. I'm guessing you can control friction? That's high end. If you've been showing off like you did in the street earlier I'm surprised you haven't be scouted."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The kid's expression is somewhat shaken, but his retort is slick and smug, "Not scouted? Who says? It might not be anything fancy, but me and my friends seem to do alright."

He hurries to snatch up the money left to him, before focusing on the stretch of sky just over Wayne's shoulders; he adds, "Oh, look. Speak of the devil. Here they come now."

Just as Wayne has time to turn, he is greeted by the sight of three Native American men approaching--two with long hair, looking to be twins, and a third with a short cut and a black leather jacket--and a Native American woman descending in a medium glide from the sky. As they draw near enough, the boy's expression falls from smug defiance, to an expert facade of fear and victimhood.

The man in the leather jacket looks past Wayne to the frightened expression of the boy, then back to Wayne. The three behind him exchange mischievous glances, as he steps forward.

"Well, I see introductions are in order. You've already met our friend here, Slick." he draws closer until he and Wayne are standing face to face, just two feet apart, then continues, "And who might you be?"

GV:Depending on how you play this, it ends in a fight (no killing yet, of course), getting some questions answered and/or some more questions raised. Your call.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Wayne." He says. "I'm a.... professional."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

A silent wind passes between the lot of them, and the two men in back exchange glances. The woman tosses her hair back, and walks up to the side of the man in the leather jacket.

The woman lays a hand on the man's shoulder, and he replies, with a grin, "Oh, yeah? What kind? Maybe we can exchange business models."

Even the boy that he called Slick can't help but chuckle at that. Still, the two men in back draw a bit nearer, all the same.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Oh, lots of things." Wayne asks, retaining his cool even as he assessed his chances should this turn violent and found himself extremely wanting. What was even with this third degree? "Acquisitions. Investigations. Protection. For a while now I've been an obstacle removal specialist, though that's not a capacity I'm acting in at the moment."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

A chuckle escapes the man in the leather jacket, and he looks over Wayne's shoulder to Slick. His expression becomes one of curiosity, and he seems to inspect the boy from where he stands. He sniffles a bit. Blinks. His glance moves back to Wayne.

"Oh, really?" comes the man's response, "Sounds like real interesting stuff, gotta say."

He snaps his fingers, and one of the long-haired men behind him calls out, "Slick! Get your ass over here!"

"But, guys! Derek--!"

"You heard him, Slick." replies the man in the leather jacket, Derek, "It's time to go."

The facade is blown. Slick's expression goes from feigned fear, to childlike sheepishness. He makes his way over to the two long haired men, taking caution to remain as far out of Derek's reach as possible. Regardless, Derek reaches around his lady friend and slaps Slick across the back of the head, shooting the boy a dirty look as he scampers back in between the long-haired men. As each snatches him up by one of his arms, Derek and his lady friend head back toward the three of them.

There is just a final bit that Derek says to Wayne, "Sorry if this little prick has been giving you any shit. No worries, really. We'll be sure to handle him."

Almost as quick as the lot of them arrived, they disappeared around the corner.

GV:Derek is a werebear, so he used his senses to determine if Wayne was lying. Wayne was discovered to be telling the truth, and Slick was faking being scared to get off the hook, so they're on their way.

----------

==Gorak & Son Quarry, 12:30 pm==

In a room of alternating blacks, browns, tans and grays, Derek is in a stand-offish slouch, both hands in his jacket pockets. Before him is a desk, and the chair with which it is furnished whirls around from the window with an angry flourish, to reveal the face of the company, Gorak. Painted across his demeanor is a sort of deep-rooted and quiet anger, like the subtle rumble right before the devastation of an avalanche.

Still, he manages to maintain something of his composure.

"He did what?" the man rose from his chair, placing both hands on the table, "You mean to tell me this kid...this stupid freakin' kid can't manage this one little job for me? A job that, of his own free will, he could have pulled off with both hands tied behind his back? What...what sort of freakin' idiot do you take me for? Ugh...send the kid in."