Summus Proelium

A look at how Simon reacts to the news about Izzy being abducted

Yesterday Morning

Simon Evans brought his red Ferrari to a screeching halt at the edge of an old thrift store parking lot on the outskirts of the city. The engine revved a bit as he squinted toward a group of random figures in civilian clothes who had gathered in the middle of the lot. They were all looking his way expectantly, some very clearly trying to take in every detail they could. Not that they would’ve gotten much out of what they saw. The car license plate was fake, and he was already wearing a mask to go with the silver shirt, jeans, and red leather jacket he used in his guise as Squire for the Ministry. The mask usually wasn’t necessary thanks to his mother’s illusion powers, but at this point, those weren’t an option. And if they didn’t find a way to cure--

His hand smacked the steering wheel hard as he forced his thoughts away from that. It wouldn’t happen. They were going to make sure of that. And being here right now was part of that. Shoving his door open, he got out, allowing the engine to turn off automatically as soon as he stood up. It was still early enough that the sun was just rising off in the distance, casting eerie shadows over the lot. His own stretched off clear over one of the nearby buildings as he walked through one of the beams of sunlight poking through the trees and signs.

Only once he had come within ten feet of the group did Simon--or Squire as every person here would know him-- speak up. “Word on the grapevine is that you have something and you won’t share it with anyone who can’t make a certain deal with you.”

“Yeah?” There were twelve people gathered there, and the obvious leader stepped forward. He was a heavy-set man wearing biker clothes and an obvious holster at his hip. “Maybe we do have something useful. What’s it worth to ya? Cuz from where we’re sitting, knowing anything about this Sleeptalk shit is pretty valuable.”

Sleeptalk. That was what most people had settled on calling the condition affecting Simon’s parents and so many others. It was both simple and effective as a name. Though even hearing it now made the young man remember seeing his mother and father in those beds like… like that, which sent a rush of anger through him.

He didn’t show it. Not even in a tightening of his fist. Maybe before, while his parents were safe, he could have indulged in that sort of display. But right now there was too much at stake for him to take risks like that. His body language betrayed no reaction.

Instead, Simon simply replied in as flat a tone as he could manage, “That depends on how good the information is. Your message implied that you have something specific in mind as far as rewards go.”

“Yeah,” one of the men behind their leader piped up with obvious annoyance, “but I don’t think you’ve really got the sort of pull it’d take to get it done. People keep saying there’s some group that can do something like this, but even if there is, it ain’t you.”

Simon’s gaze met that man’s in silence for a moment as he counted off a few seconds in his head. Calm. He could keep his cool and not overreact, no matter how anxious he felt, no matter how helpless the situation with his parents had made him feel. For the sake of everything they had built, he could breathe in, breathe out, and calm down.

Instead of snapping, his hand moved to the pocket of his leather jacket. He caught the way every person in front of him reacted to the motion, their own hands moving to hidden holsters and sheaths. But he simply withdrew a burner phone and held it up. A second later, the phone began ringing. He tossed it underhand toward the leader. “You’re gonna want to answer that.”

Catching the cell, the man squinted at the masked figure uncertainly. “What is this?”

“If I have to explain what you’re holding,” Simon retorted, “I’m pretty sure you won’t know anything useful after all.” Just because he couldn’t show how angry and frustrated he was didn’t mean he couldn’t be sarcastic when the situation called for it.

The phone rang twice more before the man answered, holding it up to his ear with a clearly uncertain tone. “Yeah, who is--what? Freddy?” Just saying that single name made every other person there abruptly start with surprise, murmuring to one another. “Where the hell--what did--are you serious? Wait, what was the name of the girl you and me were crushing on in sixth--holy shit, it’s you. Wait, hang on.”

Looking up from the phone, the man stared at Simon with a completely different sort of expression than he’d had before. “Okay first, how the hell did you get Freddy out of solitary confinement and all the way out of the prison? He says he’s sitting in some diner right now with a few cops who are gonna let him go once they get word from you. And second, how did you know what we were gonna ask for before we ever fucking told you?!”

It was a good thing Simon was wearing a mask right then, because his smirk probably wouldn’t have looked very professional. Still, he managed to keep his voice as even as ever. “We have our ways. And Freddy isn’t just out of prison. His entire record will be wiped, if you really have something good. Impress me, and he’ll be free and clear.”

There was a brief pause as the man and his companions conferred, before he turned back to Simon and nodded. “Well shit, you people came through on your end before we ever even told you what we wanted. So yeah, I’ll tell you exactly what we’ve got. You see that thrift store over there?” He nodded that way. “There’s a lab in a secret basement that’s got all this shit in beakers and on the computers. We didn’t look too close cuz of the Scions, but from what we did see it looked like it had to do with the Sleeptalk shit. You can get in through the utility closet in the women’s restroom, there’s a keypad and the code is eighty-four twenty-one.”

Lifting his chin, Simon stared that way. “What was that about the Scions?”

“They was in there!” That was one of the other members of their group. “One of our uhh, runners found the place awhile back and thought we could use it to mix some of our shit. You know, have a real lab with high tech equipment and all that. But by the time we showed up, some of those Scions fucks was already messing around in the place.”

“We chased them out,” a girl with an aluminum bat in one hand put in. “Well, us and a couple other gangs that live around here. I mean, we might not all get along all the time, but ain’t none of us want that Scions bullshit on any of our turf. We got rid of ‘em.”

“But they took some of the stuff out with them,” the leader added, giving Simon a look. “We dunno what it was, and what’s still in there still looks pretty useful for solving this crisis. You know, if that’s what you people are trying to do.”

“You should’ve led with the Scions part,” Simon informed him, staring that way for a long, silent moment before exhaling. “Tell me everything you saw before they took off. Start from the beginning.

“Impress me, and maybe we’ll throw in a little bonus and wipe out all of your criminal records.”

*********

Present Day

“So it’s not the actual Sleeptalk gas itself,” Simon summed up what the scientist in front of him was saying. The two of them, along with several others with more PhDs combined than NFL teams had players, were down in the very same secret lab that the gang had pointed out to them a couple days earlier. “That’s not what the Scions left with.”

“Fortunately not,” Gregory Pollom, a tall, dark-skinned man who looked entirely too fit and handsome to be a scientist, assured him. “Between the data we collected from the other labs you located, and what was left in this one here, it seems that what they have is an early prototype, in chemical injection form. It will put its victims to sleep for an extended time, but without the… unfortunate extra effects. And there is a cure.” Belatedly, he amended, “I mean, of course we believe there will be a cure to the primary attack as well, but this one--”

“You mean there’s already a cure for it,” Simon finished. “So what is it?”

Gregory shook his head. “Ah, there isn’t any prepared, but we do have the notes for it. Making the cure is an involved, but relatively simple process for those with the knowledge and equipment. It’s very much a--”

Their conversation was interrupted as Simon’s cell buzzed. He held up one finger, checked the number, then answered. “Gray? Yes, I know you met with Paintball, you already--” He stopped talking then, listening intently for a few long seconds. Through it all, his grip on the phone tightened visibly. His knuckles were pressing firmly against one another, and the only reason the phone remained in one piece was because allowing himself to show the reaction he wanted to give in that moment would have cut him off from hearing the rest of the explanation. It did not, however, prevent him from bringing his other fist slamming down on the edge of a silver tray with various tools lying on it, sending the tray clanging loudly to the ground while the instruments went flying off into the wall. All the doctors there spun to face the sudden cacophony, but fell silent when they saw his body language.

Finally, once he had everything, Simon spoke very carefully and pointedly. He didn’t want to rush and miss anything, no matter how loudly part of him was screaming to throw the phone down and start running. “You’ve put the call into the authorities? Good. Make sure every Star-Touched group gets the message. And contact Blackjack. Yeah, I know. But he’ll still be willing to help if--yes.” As he was talking, Simon strode toward the nearby stairs leading up into the old store, only to stop short and turn back. “Doctor Pollom, you were talking about the formula for a cure to the prototype chemical.

“I think I might need you to write that down for me.”

******

A scream filled the air as an incredibly sharp knife was driven through a man’s hand and into the wall behind him. That same scream was cut off as the hand Simon wasn’t using to twist the knife he’d pinned his opponent’s own hand with was driven into his stomach with enough force to knock the wind from him.

As soon as Paintball sent the message about where the Scions were holed up, Simon had taken a doorway from Yellowbrick to reach a spot nearby. And now--well, now he was working a couple things out.

“You wanna play Scions?!” he bellowed before rearing back to drive his elbow into the man’s face with enough force to break his nose. “I’ll fucking show you what happens to people who think it’s fun to play Scions! Isn’t this fun?! Isn’t causing pain and misery just so goddamn delightful you worthless cocksucker?!”

This man was the last of four lookouts around an alley a block away from the storage facility where Whamline and the other wannabe motherfuckers had brought their hostages. Where they had brought Izzy, Simon’s new baby sister, and planned to kill her.

It was a thought that made him twist the knife just a little more. The other three fucks who had been waiting for the signal to go running in were already down, after a rather disappointing showing. It was like they barely had any training at all. There were a dozen more spots like this all around the neighborhood where other groups were waiting. The Scions had had a small army ready to swarm the place the second anything happened.

But now that army was being overrun, mostly thanks to a joint effort between Ten Towers and La Casa. A truce had been declared in order to deal with this situation, and members of both teams were busy taking care of all the gathered Scions reinforcements scattered throughout the surrounding territory so there would be no chance of getting hit from behind once they stormed the storage facility to back up Paintball.

At least, that was what the official groups were doing. Simon had something else in mind. After giving the man whose hand was still pinned into the wall by the knife a dismissive snort, he caught his chin and used that to slam his head backward into the wall hard enough to leave him unconscious at best. Then he simply left the man dangling there by the knife in his hand and pointed upward, using his Touched-Tech gloves to send a solid-light rope construct all the way to the roof of this building before the rope hauled him upward.

There were a lot of people around here, but he had a bird’s eye view of the conflict thanks to several drone cameras. It gave him a chance to see the best route across the roofs and to the building in question without being spotted, and soon he was on the roof of the storage facility. Leaning over the edge revealed some sort of hole on the side, which he was guessing led to the right place. So, a quick shot of the rope at the edge of the roof and he was able to swing down inside.

That led Simon to a hallway with an overturned device that had obviously once been pointed toward the nearby storage room, and a hole in the floor similar to the one in the wall. Through the hole came the sounds of fighting and talking, though the young man wasn’t paying much attention. The door there was open, and as he stepped that way, he could see several figures lying motionless on the floor. But Simon’s eyes only moved to one in particular.

Izzy. She was there, and from the look of things, his instinct about the Scions using the drug they had taken on their prisoners was right. They hadn’t used it on all of them, from the look of things. But they had used it on a few. They had used it on his new sister.

The rage that boiled up inside him in that moment had nowhere to go. There was no one near enough to lash out at.

Until there was.

A figure arrived, leaping up through the hole before blurting a sharp, “Hey!”

Paintball. It was Paintball. If it had been almost anyone else in that moment, Simon might have let the anger that had boiled up inside him at the sight of his little sister laying there motionless lash out. If anyone else had interrupted him right then, they would have paid for it. But this was Paintball, the only reason the Ministry had had any idea about what was going on, the person responsible for Simon being here in the first place.

That, and only that, allowed him to keep his cool. Even then, he continued to stare at Izzy for a moment before breathing out silently. Finally, he looked over his shoulder to see Paintball standing there. Something… about the boy softened his reaction. He really did feel bad about how their first couple meetings had gone. How different would the whole situation between them have been if he had just explained a bit about why they had to kill those two back at the hotel? They had threatened Cassidy. He’d lost his mind a little bit, just like he had here with Izzy in danger.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Simon addressed the helmeted figure. “The Ministry thanks you for your assistance. Sincerely. This situation would have been a hell of a lot worse without you. And without your trust. It looks like the ones in there were drugged by something intended to mimic some of the effects of that bio-attack. But it’s not the same thing. When the medics show up, give them this.”

With that, he produced the piece of paper that Doctor Pollom had written on. “There’s a formula on there for a cure to help them. Get them that, and they’ll be fine.”

There was a brief pause before Paintball took the paper. “You know if I let them take Eits and Broadway, the authorities will want to charge them, even with this going on.”

He didn’t need to respond to that. Blackjack had arrived, distracting the boy with his own response. Simon, in turn, gave the La Casa leader a brief nod, then stepped through the doorway into the storage facility before hitting a button on his wrist. As he did so, Yellowbrick was sent a ping that would tell her to put up an immediate transport doorway as near to him as possible. It sprang into being in the same doorway he had just stepped through, turning the view of the outside corridor where Paintball and the others were into one of a void with the amber bridge.

Giving Izzy one last brief glance, Simon stepped forward, then pinged Yellowbrick again to close the doorway behind him. That door vanished, but the one ahead, leading back to their house, remained. Crossing the bridge, Simon told himself he’d done the right thing. Paintball would make sure that formula got where it needed to be. Izzy would be okay. She would be okay. This wasn’t the same situation as their parents. They had the cure for her.

Even then, he had to stop for a moment in the middle of the path to take a few breaths. Then he pushed on, emerging into daylight on the far side of his family’s mansion, stepping onto one of the patios. “Thanks, Yellowbrick.”

His phone buzzed then, and he answered immediately. “Yeah, I got the--what? No, that Jennica girl wasn’t there, I wasn’t--” He stopped, listening for a moment.

“Wait, who the hell is Echo?”

**********************

A look at the SPHERE forums reacting to the current situation with the Scions

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<> Topic -- Avant Guard Thread Two (Boards - Places - United States - Michigan - Touched-Teams - Heroes)

4D-Daniel (Moderator – Original Poster)

Posted on May 12th, 2020:

Well, we hit a full thread pretty quick on that one, didn't we? I guess people are interested in talking about this new team. Especially now that we have a name for them. Just remember to be respectful and keep it all within the rules. We don't want to have another incident like what happened with you know who.

Feel free to use this thread to talk about the Detroit based hero team who have started calling themselves Avant Guard. You may discuss the team itself or any of its members or exploits. But if a discussion gets too bogged down on discussing a single member, remember that they have separate threads (though partners are grouped together) which can be found here: (Paintball, Alloy, Trevithick, Style and Poise, Calvin and Hobbes)

You can find an archive of the first discussion thread right here, and the Sphere-Wiki entry for this team is available right here.

(Showing page 17 of 19, displaying ten posts per page)

---> CleverVole

Replied on May 29th, 2020

Ok seriously, the conspiracy theories about these guys need to stop. They aren't working with the Scions. I know people who keep pushing that theory get their comments deleted and a warning, but seriously, you all need to knock it off. The reason this team wasn't hit as hard as others is because they aren't really connected to the authorities. They're more of an independent team. So they didn't have anyone inside the Conservators building when the attack happened. It's as simple as that.

They’re still new so they don't have those connections. Not officially anyway. Hell, they're probably so new that whoever was behind this didn't account for them when they were making up the plan. Seriously, something like this has gotta take months of planning and preparation. These guys probably weren't even a thing when that started.

---> StarOfImps

Replied on May 29th, 2020

I'm not sure why you're saying that as though the thread is full of those people. I've seen maybe two or three, and it's not even clear whether they're serious or trolling. Not that trolling about this sort of thing is good, but really, it's not an actual conspiracy that people actually believe. Everyone knows they aren't connected to those assholes. And anyone who doesn't or pretends not to doesn't deserve the attention you've given them with a full post about it. Just let the mods delete them and move on. Don't feed the trolls.

Anyway, to get back on topic, does anyone else think someone on that team has powers that we don't know about yet? It seems like the only ones with definite powers we know for certain are Paintball and Alloy. And, most likely Trevithick is Tech-Touched. She’s probably the one supplying tools to the others. But what about the other four? Style and Poise are obviously really strong and quick and all that, but are those powers or tech? If they’re just tech-enhanced suits, why don't Calvin and Hobbes have them? Those two move like normal people with maybe a little bit of training. They just have those guns.

I don't know, it just seems maybe a little weird, and it makes me think they might have other, more obvious powers that they're holding back for an emergency. If I was on a team like that, I'd definitely keep some aces up my sleeve, know what I mean?

---> BrightFireOfIthax

Replied on May 29th, 2020

Maybe those four can all join together into a human Voltron? That's a thing, isn't it? I know Touched can be merged together right when they find the Orb, but maybe these guys merged and can separate whenever they want to go back to their normal selves. But when they all combine again, they become some sort of super-being. Or what if they started as one person, and their power lets them duplicate or split apart to turn into those four? Maybe that’s the hidden power in Avant Guard, right in plain sight.

--->CleverVole

Replied on May 29th, 2020

@StarOfImps yeah, you're right, I know. I just don't like seeing a new group we're just trying to help people get dragged through the mud even if there's only a couple losers doing it. And it doesn't matter anyway, because those posts are completely gone now.

@BrightFireOfIthax I like the second theory. What if they can split more than that? They could put some people out in the crowd to keep an eye on things, or have them pose as helpless prisoners during an attack to take the bad guys by surprise. That’d be cool, and useful. Maybe it’d even explain how they find out stuff so quick.

--->AlmanditeSerpent

Replied on May 29th, 2020

If this team actually does have any powers they haven't displayed yet, now would be a good time to bust them out. With this going on, they really can't afford to hold back anymore. Not with so many other Star-Touched out for the count. If the Scions are taking over an entire apartment building and holding everyone hostage, they obviously aren't afraid of repercussions. They know the authorities are weak right now. So if someone doesn't get in there and stop them ASAP, they're going to keep escalating. And I don’t think we want to see what happens when Pencil decides there aren’t any consequences and escalates.

--->MarsSpider

Replied on May 29th, 2020

Oh shit. That's bad. They really put a force field around the whole building? How’d they pull that off? I thought forcefields required a lot of power, especially one that big. How are they supplying enough juice for it?

Wait, that's it, juice. I bet they kidnapped Juice himself and plugged him into a machine to keep this thing running. They're using him to power it, aren't they? Honestly I’m only half-kidding, they really would do that if they could.

But do you really think Avant Guard can stop them? Conspiracies about extra powers aside, how would they get through the force field, let alone fight all those guys including Pencil? Does Paintball have any colors that could take it down? That pink paint maybe? We know it makes things bendable, maybe it works on energy? IDK.

--->AvoidanceLamb

Replied on May 30th, 2020

They wouldn't have to stop them on their own. It's not like every other Star-Touched in the city is out of commission. They’ve still got plenty of heroes out there. And with something like this, they'll all work together. Even some of the Fells, honestly. The Scions don’t exactly have a lot of friends out there.

Honestly, I think Pencil might have gotten a little arrogant and overstepped. Hopefully he stepped too far this time and these people can actually take him down before he manages to worm his way out of it. Can you imagine how much better this whole place would be if he and all his people ended up on Breakwater? Imagine if Silversmith and the rest wake up and find out the people they left taking care of Detroit put those evil fucks away for good.

I don't know, it's just wishful thinking and that whole situation is pretty bad right now, but I'm trying to be positive. The Scions are all right there for the taking. Obviously, there's something big going on or they wouldn't have announced themselves and painted a huge target on their backs. They’re either stupid or desperate. I just hope it means this is their last stand.

Oh, and good luck to everyone trapped in that building with them. My thoughts are with you. Whatever happens, I hope you all make it through this. While we’re on the subject, if anyone wants to donate to the relief fund for attacks like this, the link is here.

--->EnemyOfTheGoose

Replied on May 30th, 2020

D - Oh no. We just woke up to this. It’s right down the street from our apartment, and there’s cops everywhere. The whole neighborhood is swarming with them. You can see the forcefield from our balcony, and there’s like four helicopters all flying over with spotlights.

K - Those poor people! We know some of the ones who live there. They’ve gotta make it out of this. Avant Guard, if you can do something, please help them! We’re all rooting for you!

--->MostAmazingFinalGuiderOfCults

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Are you serious? You really live right down the street? I didn't know, maybe you guys should get out of there. Who knows how much this thing is going to blow up before it's all over. If I was you all, I'd be packing up and going to find a hotel on the opposite side of the city. Or maybe stay with a friend? Either way, be safe and don't stick around just so you can see what goes down. We’ll get plenty of footage on the news from people who are paid and trained to take those kinds of risks. No one needs you to stay within spitting distance of Pencil and his band of assholes.

--->OnceWereWarriors

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Culty’s right, @EnemyOfTheGoose keep yourself safe and get out there if you have the chance to. Definitely not worth the risk of sticking around, and with those guys making such a target out of themselves, I don't think any other gang is going to risk making trouble. Nobody wants to be the gang who took advantage of a Scions distraction. That's a good way to get everyone in the city on both sides teaming up on you. So you should be safe to get out and head for someplace else, any place else.

But uh, I think we’ve gone a little off topic, though I’m not a moderator or anything. Maybe we should try to focus a bit. More general discussion about that whole thing is still going on in this thread that @Almandite linked to before. As for Avant Guard, I think they were already on-scene, right? Maybe there’s a plan brewing already.

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<> Topic — Scions Thread Fifty-Two (Boards – Places – United States – Michigan – Touched-Teams – Villains)

Razoev (Administrator – Original Poster)

Posted on May 1st, 2020:

OK, so here's our monthly restart of the Scions thread. Same rules as always. Keep your language within reason, no going off on elaborate fantasy revenge scenarios no matter how bad these people are, and absolutely no praising the evil psychopaths. There's already a general rule not to praise Fell-Touched too much, but it applies quintuple here, or even more. I know some of you think you’re very funny or edgy, but the staff will be watching this thread very closely, and anyone who even pretends to like these people or *shudder* have a crush on any of them will get an instant IP ban, no warnings and no questions asked. This isn't the place for that garbage, so don’t test us.

On the other hand, if you have been personally affected by their actions and need mental or emotional help, you should follow one of these links here, here, or here. There are phone numbers you can call on each of those pages to find someone who can help.

Other than that, just use common sense, people. We’d rather you not make us wear out the ban hammer, but I promise, we're not afraid to buy new ones if need be.

(Showing page 34 of 35, displaying ten posts per page)

--->SpeakerOfFables

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Well this was a good time for the Scions to pull something like this, isn't it? Right at the end of the month. What if they've done too far this time and the next monthly thread gets to start by detailing how they were all arrested? I know, we shouldn’t get our hopes up. But seriously, it would fit almost disturbingly well. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was planned like that.

Yeah, yeah, I'm not trying to be a conspiracy theorist or a troll. I'm just saying, it would be nice if the next thread could be a celebration because all those people end up being taken off the streets. And honestly, would it surprise anyone to find out that Pencil reads these threads and times stuff like this to intentionally happen right when it's about to roll over to a new one?

--->Mach3

Replied on May 30th, 2020

I don't think you have to worry about this thread being closed in favor of a new one. The mods said they wouldn't be making any fresh threads for any team involved in this whole situation until it's resolved, and that obviously includes the Scions. That way everything stays in one place. Or, you know, one place for each team at least. The point is, they're not going to spread posts about Pencil and his assholes across multiple threads right now. So hey, maybe you're right and the next thread can be all about how they were brought down for good. It just seems like this time Pencil went too far. I think he got cocky and thought he could pull off something big just because the Stars are a bit short-staffed. But they're not gone completely, and I think he's about to feel the hammer.

That metaphor would obviously work better if he wasn't obviously completely immune to hammers, but you get what I mean.

--->Flaboran

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Hey, let's not forget, he might call himself Pencil, but we all know his real name. Nick Sanvers. Just call him Nick Sanvers. And Cup is Amanda Sanvers. Seriously they don't follow any of the Touched rules of engagement, so I don't think they should be protected by any of those guidelines either. All they do is kill people. They want to destroy the whole city and tear down civilization with them. They worship one of the Abyssals for God’s sake. Don't let them keep an air of mystery or intrigue. His name is Nick, he went to Northride High School and had a B average. He was in Choir and Drama club. One of the people who had Chemistry with him in 10th grade said he had a crush on the teacher and kept tripping over his words whenever she called on him.

Stop treating or talking about these people like they’re special. They’re not. He’s not. He’s just a guy with powers and no morals. He wants you to talk about him as Pencil, as some sort of demigod. He’s just Nick Sanvers, a loser who is about to end up stuck in Breakwater. And that's if he's lucky. I won't say any more than that. Don't want to trip over the rules. But I think this is going to be the last time he gets to pretend to be some untouchable force of nature. That little reputation was already damaged thanks to Paintball outing the dude’s real identity. Maybe now he and the rest of Avant Guard can finish the job.

--->XLD

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Dude, be careful. I know IP addresses and everything are masked on this board, but you never know if you said enough in any other threads, or even other places online, to let Pencil or one of his sympathizers track you down. Now probably isn't a good time to make a big target out of yourself. They're obviously lashing out and looking for people to make examples out of. Remember, they're not all up in that building. They’ve still got those wannabes out there, and probably others who are already part of their little cult.

Just watch yourself. People can find out a lot about you really easily. It's honestly scary. Let's hold off on directly insulting those assholes until we're sure the whole situation is under control. Because right now it seems like that might take a while.

--->BloodsuckingSector

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Oh shit, did you guys see this? If Cup (Sorry, Flaboran - Amanda) is really sick and it's not some sort of trick, what does that mean? Was she in the building when the attack happened? Maybe she was in disguise or something? But they have a lot of security all over that place. They have to. So you’d think it would be hard for someone like her to sneak in without being caught. She’s gotta be one of the most recognizable people in the whole city right now. And if she wasn't in the building when it happened, does that mean the disease already started spreading? What if other people start dropping? Hell, the Scions just exposed everyone in that apartment building to it. Who knows how many they infected before they even got in there? This could be even worse than we thought.

--->FullBass

Replied on May 30th, 2020

!!!!

If Amanda-Cup is really sick like the people in the Conservators building, no wonder Pencil went all out like this. Isn’t she like the one person he’s ever shown that he cares about? She’s his sister and all that. That would explain why he'd trap himself inside that forcefield and threaten to kill all those people, wouldn’t it? I know he lies all the time, but it fits, and the way he looked in that video… It seemed pretty real. He looked like he was freaking out pretty bad.

Just hypothetically, if he gave up and turned himself in in exchange for a cure for his sister once they find it, and leniency for her so she doesn’t have to go to Breakwater, do you think the authorities would go for that? I know there's basically a zero point zero zero zero zero zero two percent chance he'd ever do that, but just in case he reads this and nothing else ends up working. You like your sister, Nick-Pencil? If you really want to save her, maybe you should do the right thing for once in your life and just make a deal. Do it publicly so the whole world knows you made a deal so the authorities have to stick to it. But I think the only way they’d agree to it is if you don’t kill anyone else. It’s the best way to help your sister.

--->MountainsOfMirth (You)

Replied on May 30th, 2020

He's never going to turn himself in or make any kind of deal. Not in a billion years. He's too arrogant and self-centered for that. Even if he is actually worried about his sister he'll just think he can save her his own way until the very last second. Until past the last second. There's not a chance in hell that he would never surrender himself for any reason. Not unless he had some sort of plan to destroy civilization by getting on Breakwater and somehow breaking the entire population of that place out to be set loose on the world. Actually, now that I say that out loud, it does sound like something he'd do if he could. So maybe the authorities should watch out for that. After all, it’s not like Breakwater is completely trustworthy by themselves anymore. Look at what started this whole thing. The only reason so many of the people who are supposed to be keeping this gang violence under control are out of commission is because Breakwater kept secrets for so long. If they had just been honest from the start and helped get those people off the island, maybe none of this would've happened.

So, you know, let's not start thinking that putting the Scions over there would instantly solve everything. I don’t think Flea and Trivial would want us to keep putting all our fruit in that basket. Even if it is incredibly rotten, poisonous fruit that should never go anywhere near anyone’s mouth.

--->DancingInIt

Replied on May 30th, 2020

I think Mirth is right. If Nick Sanvers ever even pretended to surrender, it would be a trap. He absolutely wouldn’t stick to any deal he made. When the Stars and Shields stop him, it's going to be completely against his will. And we all know how slippery he is. I don't know why people are talking as though he's actually trapped in that building. He's got all those teleportation devices. We've all seen the videos of him using implanted Touched-Tech to get away even when it looks like he's been cornered. So even if that forcefield stops him from teleporting out while it's active as much as it stops other people from teleporting in, all he has to do is turn it off and then instantly get out of there before anyone can react. He’s no more trapped in that place than any other, not while he’s in control of the shield.

Maybe since they know where he is, the good guys can take him by surprise before he can do that. But they’d have to find a way through the shield first. Or take control of it somehow. Whatever they do, I think it’s safe to assume Nick has at least a dozen escape plans. He wouldn’t put himself in this situation if he didn’t have plenty of ways out, no matter how worried he is about his sister.

--->AProtectionRacket

Replied on May 30th, 2020

M - Hey that’s a good point, Dancing. Of course he'd have his own way out of that place. Actually, what if it's tied to the forcefield itself? I mean, what if the moment the force field goes down, he instantly teleports out of there. If I was him, that's what I'd do.

0 - I’m sure the authorities have taken that into consideration. Obviously what really matters is saving the people inside that building, but it would sure be nice if they managed to catch him after all. We’d all like to see his perp walk and mugshot.

--->MercurialGumball

Replied on May 30th, 2020

You're right, the only thing that really matters is getting the people in the building out safely. I don't care what kind of deal they have to make with the Scions. Give them the cure as soon as they have one, promise to take his sister and help her, hell, set them up on their own private island with a promise to leave them alone if that's what it takes. Just convince him to let those people go. And that if he doesn’t let them go, he’ll never get what he wants. Everyone who says he actually cares about his sister is right. She’s the only weakness he has. And right now, I think she really is sick. So use that to make sure everyone in that building stays safe.

Pencil, if you do read this, you’re smart enough to know how it works. This whole thing is too public right now. Everyone knows who you are and who your sister is. They know she’s sick. If you promise to let the people in that place go safely, they’ll take care of her just like they’re taking care of all those other people. You can make a deal. This is your absolute best chance to take care of her. You want your sister to be safe? Then don’t do anything to give the cops any reason to go all-out.

Edit: Okay this is the fourth time I’ve edited this post to try to say the right thing, so I’m just gonna leave it like that. You guys get what I mean.

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<> Topic -- Scions Take Over Apartment Building (Boards - Places - United States - Michigan - Events)

Constructicon (Original Poster)

Posted on May 29th, 2020:

It has been officially confirmed through several sources that the Scions have taken over an apartment building in Southwest Detroit (see a map of the affected area and the evacuation details here) and surrounded it with a seemingly impregnable forcefield. Current details are somewhat scarce, but we know that there are innocent civilians within the building who are being held prisoner, and thus far no one has been able to break through the shield. You can see ongoing news reports here and here, and keep up with the live thread right here. Remember, live threads can only be posted to a few authorized users, so if you only want to see details without any extra hypothesizing, use the Watch function on that thread.

(Showing page 46 of 46, displaying ten posts per page)

--->PalaceHearth

Replied on May 30th, 2020

H - All I know is that whatever happens, the Scions can't be allowed to walk away from this one. You saw what he said in that message. They have murderer-candidates all over the city who want to kill hundreds of people every day that they don't get what they want. Don't they think if there really was a cure to this thing, half the Star-Touched in the city wouldn’t be lying in hospital beds?

A - They won't walk away from it. Pencil has gone too far this time. Whether he's just that arrogant or desperate because his sister is really sick, he absolutely overstepped. Making those threats, revealing their ‘candidates’ and what he’s told them to do, it’s too far. I think if this goes on any longer, they’ll actually call in Armistice to put a stop to it.

--->Berryonalake

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Can they call in Armistice? What if this Sleeptalk stuff really does spread? Can you imagine how bad everything would be if the whole Armistice team ends up infected and in a coma? I wouldn't be surprised if they refuse to let any of those people in here no matter what happens. They’d probably write this whole city off completely before they’d risk something like that.

--->MountainsOfMirth (You)

Replied on May 30th, 2020

We don’t need Armistice, or anyone else. What we need is to stop treating the Scions like they’re special. Nick might be hard to hurt, but he’s not hard to drive off. He has no powers other than his ‘invulnerability.’ He can’t shoot lasers and he’s not super strong. If enough people just stopped cowering and started fighting back every time he showed up, the arrogant motherfucker wouldn’t have a chance to do anything but retreat. He’s a slippery piece of shit, but I swear half the reason he gets away with everything he does is because people are too afraid of his reputation to fight back as hard as they should. Especially now that everyone knows who he really is. He’s not a god, not a demon, not a monster. He’s just a GUY. So treat him like one. Every time he pokes his head up, there should be fifteen people pointing guns at the motherfucker!

--->JustAnotherBook

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Okay sure, he doesn’t have laser eyes. But that doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous. Guns can be just as deadly as powers, as you noted in the very end of your post. I don’t think it’s a good idea to encourage civilians to make targets out of themselves like that. I mean, sure, if they’re put in a situation where it’s fight or die, absolutely fight. Don’t just cower. But your post seems to be pushing people to go hunting the Scions, and that’s going to end badly.

--->MountainsOfMirth (You)

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Yeah yeah, I’m just saying, he’s made it clear that he won’t hold back. So if he shows himself again, everyone who can beat the c-sucker down should team up to do that. He won’t negotiate, he won’t play nice. If you see him, it’s because he wants to kill you or the people you care about. So don’t give him the chance.

--->GujaratiSugar

Replied on May 30th, 2020

Pretty sure this is all irrelevant anyway. I don’t think he’s getting out of that apartment building alive. This has all the makings of a ‘last stand’ sort of situation. Note for mods: I’m not advocating his death, just saying that it seems like one of those things where Pencil isn’t going to surrender and won’t leave. I don’t see them finding a cure for this Sleeptalk stuff anytime soon, and he’s never going to agree to let them take Cup. I think he’s going down by the time this is over, and I just hope he doesn’t take everyone in that building with him.

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<> Private Messages From Marconi's S

Marconi's S: I think you’ve got the right idea about everyone banding together to deal with the Scions once and for all. Depending on the Stars and Shields to do it isn’t gonna work out. I might have a suggestion for you if you have any actual firearms training and aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty.

MountainsOfMirth: How do I know you’re not a plant? Either one of the Shields themselves, or a Scion wannabe.

Marconi’s S: If we met in person you’d know for sure in about two seconds. Let’s just say you’d recognize me and I am not one of the Scions. Trying to stop someone I care about from turning into one of them, actually. No matter what that takes.

MountainsOfMirth: I might be interested, depending on if you’ve got an actual plan. And I might have others who could contribute.

MountainsOfMirth: Yo, you went offline all of a sudden, is everything okay?

MountainsOfMirth: Gonna regret this, but Broadway? Answer your phone.

MountainsOfMirth: Okay I know you’re still recovering, assuming that cure worked, but in case no one else tells you, look here and use the PW na4RN01-Qb to find out what happened between your sister and Echo.