From newscasts in the city of Arcadia during the last two weeks.

"-Mayor has announced the presense of parahumans in-" "-anti mutant rioting has occured all over the city-" "- A new wave of violence erupted as a massive mutant attacked people in a square downtown-" "- Other apparent mutant attacks have continued to panic people as earthquakes and snowstorms arise-" "-a man calling himself Runeis has taken up residence in City Hall. The other dangerous mutants appear to work for him-" "-City law broken down, police fled, people afraid to leave their homes-" "-Mayor has issued a statement saying quote, "the city is in desperate need of help. Human, parahuman. Military, self governed. I am issuing a call for HEROES."

OOC: Ok, guys. the same drill as gooses game. establish yourselves in town, and then i can start hurting stuff.

Theres been quite a bit of looting in the city. Oddly enough, in one of the city slums, whenever thugs try to break into a store theres a huge rush of wind, they find themselves tied up, and the storeowner finds himself out of cash.

No one ever notices the man who's always about. He's just the street kid, although he seems to have a decent amount of cash on him.

"Eh, not too bad. Riots may not be too good for the store, but the distraction's just what I need to get some easy money; then the thugs get the blame."

He looks around debating where to go next.

A youth sits in front of a computer in a small apartment in the basement of a complex, eating an apple as he views newscasts. With a sigh, he stands up and mutters, "A call for heroes? No cash out of that, but eh well... I think I could stand to get some excercise. So long as I don't have to defend that damn company, I'll be okay... time to bust some baddies..."

WAlking over to his closet, he grabs a belt with two holsters for guns with his gloved hands; gloves that have, strangely, wires coming out of them. He fastens the belt around his waist, and proceeds to put on a navy blue trenchcoat and yellow-tinted goggles. Finally, he opens a drawer and draws two guns; one a 9mm pistol and the other a strange design that would be unfamiliar to pretty much anyone other than the youth. Taking some extra ammo as well, he holsters the guns and turns to the door. As he leaves, he raises his hand and acts as if he's pushing an invisible button... and his computer shuts off as his door closes behind him and he enters the wild city streets...

*Samuel currently is within one of the few open restaurants, enjoying a sandwich and fries. His sword, sheathed with a carefully-tied "peace knot" around it, lays against the wall which he sits by. Though he tries to be as unassuming as he can, he does note some discomfort from the lady waiting on him. He makes a mental note to give her a nice tip... good service is hard to find, doubly so when you're carrying around a katana. But, of course, LIVING to see said service in this day and age, with demented parahumans running around destroying and looting everything, almost requires one.*

A young frail looking girl of about 14 years or so sits alone on a bench in a park within the city. Now mind you, a normal girl would know to steer clear of the park, even in broad daylight, with how much this city has fallen apart; but she is no normal girl. She sits with a pair of round rimmed glasses on enjoying a book, Gone With The Wind, seemingly oblivious of her suroundings.

But beneath her long purple hair lies a mind as sharp as a Japanese Blade, and she is using her senses of the wind of the area to detect when someone is approaching, be it from within her field of vision or not. A newspaper sits on the empty bench next to her, the headline reading Female Youth Goes Missing In Sunset Park, 7th Case In The Past Month. The girl pushes her glasses up on her face with a single finger and grins.

Some of the local businesses have taken to hiring guards to protect their livelihood - enough that a fair number of impromptu "security" companies have started appearing. Of course, in the mayhem caused by the parahuman riots, competition is fierce; one block of downtown has deteriorated completely into chaos, serving as a battlefield between two of the new-formed companies.

It is in this mess that Kyle sits, helmet covering the back of a small television to spare it from errant bullets. He's "minding the shop" for his employer, who has fled town. After the Mayor's announcement, he grimaces, then shuts off the TV, tucking it back down behind the counter.

Grabbing his helmet and shoving it on his head, he looks out the window at a firefight between several members of the rival "security" forces.

"Damn. Rest of the city's got it easy."

Doug is lounging in his chair, watching the news nonchalantly and munching on a bag of chips. "Heroes, eh? I qualify, for sure dude, but what baddy to go after first?" he asks himself, or maybe a few of the other guys browsing the surf shop.

"I dunno." One of them answers, "Maybe call the mayor's pad and ask who needs to go down first? Whoah, dude, maybe if hit the biggest bad dude first, the rest will all get scared of you and you'll just have to show up to get them to surrender? That'd be cool."

"Yeah, dude, but I doubt I'm that lucky." Doug answers, eating one more handful before picking up the phone to try and get ahold of whatever city government is left.

OOC: Hey, I'm gonna reuse my original post. It sets up my characters ambiance well.

On a city block, scene of a rescent mutant rampage there is an odd sight. A man, dressed in a black shirt and slacks with a black trenchcoat is sitting on the sidewalk. In his lap lies a very young child who is obviously wounded.

"It...hurts...please...it hurts." The young boy manages to say through clenched teeth. The boys eyes are are shut, and tears are pooring down his dusty face.

"Shh, its ok...I'm going to give you something to help you with your pain. It'll get better." The man in black reaches over to a black shoulder pouch that lies on the ground next to him. He removes a syringe, and injects the medication it contains into the flesh of the young boys arms. He checks the boys pulse and listens to his respirations. His years of education as a trauma physician tell him that the boy will soon die.

I better be careful,he is very hurt. Giving him this morphine may push him over the edge

Soon, after the injection, the boys face softens. "Thanks...who are you?"

"My name is Eric, and I'm a doctor." Eric tries to smile reassuring at the boy. His ears strain for the sounds of an ambulance that he knows is not comming.

"Your nice...can I be a doctor when I grow up?"

"Yes, you could be anything." Eric replies, gently stroking the face of the young child. The child's eyes close, and his breaths cease. Eric knows it is over, no more medical care could save him. Instead, Eric continues to hold the child and begins to cry.

--Blur--

As the speedy kid plans his next move, he suddenly notes a number of milling thugs. Suddenly one notices him. "Three times we got tied up now, and i saw that kid before. I dont know how it happened, but I'd be willing to bet that kid has something to do with it." The others look at him like he is insane, untill a beeper one has on his belt goes off. "I swiped this little trinket from the cops. It detects Para's. That kid is a freaking mutant! It HAS to be him."

That's enough for this mob. Unfortunately for Dan, he failed to notice the mob forming as he was counting his recent cash, and thinking of his next move. He is surrounded by about 10 annoyed thugs before he is aware of them. No good way to simply run away from THIS.

--Wirecross--

As he heads outside, he IMMEDIATLY notices a problem. A young man is being surrounded by a large group of toughs, who seem intent on beating him to a pulp. (OOC: please tell me i dont have to spell out who that is)

--Samuel--

As he sits there, eating, another person comes up to him. A short bald man in unassuming clothes, he wrings his hands profusely. He looks at his sword very intently. "I can't tell, since its sheathed, but that blade, i think it is an antique. Would you mind showing me it? I collect rare weapons and such for museums, and i would be willing to pay you quite generously for that sword if it is as old as the hilt suggests."

--Emmy--

The girl doesnt have to wait long. She hears a strange chuckle, and a large man comes towards her. He looks normal, if large, except for the weird armband he wears that has some sort of hypodermic on it. The large man grins. "Another one? What a nice day. Come with me, girly."

--Kyle--

As he watches, the fight only intensifies. Already a good 8 men are lying dead, and twice as many bleeding. But the rival groups only get more brutal, firing pointblank at each other, fists and gun butts swinging. If someone doesnt step in soon, this can only get worse, and likely engulf the nearby buildings as well.

--Surfer Dude--

Apparently not listening to the news, Doug calls City Hall. After one ring, a strange voice comes on a recording. "I'm sorry, this building is under new managment. We will be back up and running as soon as the rest of this city is pounded flat. Thank you for your patience. If youd like to fax, please stay on the line."

--Eric--

As Eric sits there weeping, a hysterical woman comes up and rips the boy from his arms. "Tommy! TOMMY!" She screams for a while, before collapsing to her knees, holding her dead son. A man comes up, and glares at Eric. "You did this, didnt you? Why did you kill our son?" Rage begins to color his face as he walks slowly towards Eric. "You a freak, too? That why you did it!?"

See, this is why I don't leave the house that often...

The youth adjusts his goggles and reaches for his 9mm pistol. He doesn't draw it, but he keeps his hand on it and approaches the thugs. As he walks towards them, he extends his mind to any vehicles in the area, preparing to ignite their engines and accelerate them into the thugs at his call.

Looking at the thugs, he grins. "Why, what a sad sight! A group of strong men such as yourselves, jobless, reduced to hitting up guys for money! Surely there's somewhere that your strength can be put to good use..." With that he nods. "Right! So, there's two places I can see you guys going with this... either a.) to help stop all this rampant crime and the city and help rebuild, or b.)..." With a chuckle, he adjusts his goggles again and says, "Or I could just capture you guys and send you to jail once this is all sorted out." He nods once more, and gives a huge toothy grin. "So, guys, what'll it be?"

Eric stands up, and watches the woman craddle her son.

"I'm...I'm sorry. I'm a physician, I was trying to help. He was caught in the chaos. He was hit in the chest, and his sternum was crushed. I suspect that he had severe internal bleeding. I tried to help...I did everything in my power, but I couldn't save him. There was nothing else that anyone could have done."

He doens't know what else to say. He always hated this part. All he could do was sit and watch this woman go through the agony she experienced. Without even trying to read her, her thoughts flooded his mind. He couldn't heal her pain, no one could.

ooc: plat, arent you worried about the raging madman advancing on you?

"Well, that's no help..." Doug says, putting down the phone, "Guess I'll just have to find something myself. Yo guys, watch the shop for me?"

"Sure dude, just come back in one piece."

"Will do." Doug grabs his board and jogs out, doing a running jump off the porch and landing on his board, triggering the switch just before he hits the ground and taking off, waving at a few of his friends on the way out and laughing as one of his newer students takes a nosedive when he gets distracted. "Now, where to first... I probably need to find a few more heroes before I try to take on that dude in City Hall, but where to look?" he seems to be... thinking. It looks almost painful. "Right, disturbances!" He snaps his fingers and looks for the nearest disturbance that can be seen from a little above the buildings.

OOC: Yeah, but I thought I could calm the mom down first...forgot to add the father part...my bad!

Eric turns to the man approaching him. A quick scan reveals that his anger is beyond being able to rationalise.

"Listen, I tried to help. I know your son is gone, but there is nothing I can do to change that. I'm sorry."

Eric backs away from the oncomming man, hoping to keep a good distance between them.

*Samuel shakes his head.*

I'm afraid not... the sword is a family heirloom... the only connection to my family which I still have, actually. It's not for sale.