Capture the Sign [Megascheme]

A training exercise and a way to pit himself against the best that Pandemonium had to offer? Well, he didn't know how good the pickings would really be, but there was not a better opportunity for him to see just what they were made of, so Gilgamesh had made his way to the designated area. Listening to the explanation with crossed arms and hood up. Like it was a complicated concept, or that he needed this clown's permission to do what he wanted. That idea was laughable by itself. But he'd show him. He'd show them all just what he could do. He just hoped that the people on his side didn't screw this up for him. But it was a good handicap at least. It would force him to pick up their slack as well. So even that was a win.

Now he was just waiting to see who else showed up to this little song and dance, and who he was going to be stuck carrying. But more importantly, who he would be opposing. That would determine who his main target was. Who would have the honor of testing how much he has grown since donning his hood. Despite himself he couldn't help but smirk. Dare he say it, this might even be fun?

Opposing! Team Typhoon representing. No preference for teammates.

The big day was here. Limen had metaphorically marked the date, circled it on her calendar, circled it again in highlighter, and then wrote “don’t forget” in all caps above it. Even though she hadn’t heard of its existence more than two weeks ago, she felt like she’d been planning for this for months. Nights spent studying street maps, exploring the rooftops, finding the best vantage points. And, most importantly, writing a letter.

See, one of the goals of this whole game was to get as many Pandaemoniums to join and make as big a spectacular mess as they could. When one says “spectacular” and “messy” in relation to pandaemonium supers a couple of people come to mind, but there was one in particular that stood as an icon of spectacle and destruction. Further, Giza was the one pulling the big strings behind the event. She had to be there. The problem was, it was unlikely she was going to bother with it unless given a little... push.

Limen hadn’t actually met Aurora for longer than occasional passes in the horde, but she most certainly knew of her. Stories of her grand escapades circled through the horde like swear words in an elementary school. Through these and a little research of her own, Limen pieced together a plan.

The letter was signed by a man named Richard Lindgren. He was a wealthy business tycoon who owned a large mansion on Malachite Isle and a skyscraper construction firm in downtown. The man had made millions off the destruction left in the wake of supers via contracts with the city and a low-wage workforce, and felt himself a genius for his clever little setup. He was known locally as that guy who spoke of supers like unruly teenagers and, through a bit of research, Limen came to find he’d been a close friend of that Doctor Mallard person and had attended that talk that came to town not too long ago. Guess both taking advantage of supers was a means of bonding between them.

So it wasn’t too much of a stretch to think, after the recent paint incident just down the street of his business HQ he would write an open letter to the city and supers addressing the fact. Saying that he would not be moving his business as some suggested, because, and this was one of her favorite lines, “a few infantile imbeciles still too young to hold a drink should not be a cause of concern for the adults who are caring for our fair city. If I were to relocate my business and submit to the supers I would be akin to fearing a cellar spider. They may look frightening, but their fangs are too short to cause any actual harm.” He then went on to discuss the recent attack on Mallard’s conference, stating; “three supers had come because they feared the inevitable. That one day the little joyride they have now will be coming to an end, and there is nothing they can do to stop it. They hid this fear behind wrath. Their deplorable actions should drive us to hasten our efforts against them, not make us cower before their false guise of power.” At the end of the two paged letter, he came to close, “I do not fear supers because I know what they are: naive children playing with fire. If left unsupervised they may later cause a problem, but under the watch of those of us who know what fire is and how to use it to our gain, they are little more than nuisances.”

Richard Lindgren, if handed this letter, would deny having ever written it. Given the subject matter it was not a poor decision to lie about authorship, but in this case he’d be telling the truth. Limen had written it. And, this morning, she had gone up to the super it was intended for, gave her a smile, and said, “Someone asked me to pass this onto you.” She then handed Aurora the envelope containing the letter and walked away.

Limen had made sure her team’s flag was placed atop Mr. Lindgren’s HQ building.

---

OPPOSING: You’re welcome, Giza. Go Team Typhoon! (Preference to be placed in the same front as Gilgamesh)

Aurora had been oddly quiet lately. She had most of the material resources she felt like she needed, so robbing places in a grandiose fashion didn't feel as necessary anymore. What she had would likely last her a long time, and one heist could pull in a huge amount of money given she wasn't limited to what she could carry. Plus, she had another unexpected resource drop into her lap. For whatever reason, a lot of the members of Pandaemonium were acting like she was their leader. She didn't really get it, and at first it really pissed her off because they kept insisting on sharing this useless information with her or asking her for her permission to do something, but after thinking on it, it was probably a good thing. Most definitely a very annoying thing, a thing she still wasn't sure if she wanted, but she couldn't deny that it would likely prove useful in the long term. The more people she had behind her, the more she could accomplish in the end. Aurora knew that right now was the clam before the storm as she started putting the final pieces of what she wanted to accomplish together. Unfortunately, it looked like things may have been too calm.

It was important to keep up the pressure, to remind people of what she and other supers could do. If she didn't, people like Dr. Mallard and his supporters happened. If supers got complacent, their enemies would start to push back against them. It was already happening and Aurora was aware of this, but she didn't realize quite the extent until Limen handed over that letter to her. She gripped it in her hands, nearly tearing the thing in half, before dissolving it into sparkling particles. She had gotten cocky, and she couldn't let this stand. The man and his business would certainly receive a visit from her later.

Aurora had been aware of Pandaemonium's plan for a capture the flag like game. It felt incredibly pointless and she was content to just ignore it until now. As it happened it was taking place downtown, not too far away from where that man's business was. There were a few others that she wouldn't mind hitting as well, she just hadn't gotten around to it. Now that she didn't need the resources as much it wasn't quite as important as some of the other, quieter things she was doing. They would all be feeling the full extent of her wrath today. She took the most direct route she knew of from the docks: namely the air. It was easy enough to rematerialize any large objects absorbed by her aurora under her feet, making it easy to keep herself airborne. Her aurora trailed behind her, lighting up the sky and filling it with color. It only got bigger as she approached downtown where everyone else should be.

She dropped down off to the side of the group, but not too far away, with a clang as the metal parts of her boots hit the concrete of the sidewalk. From there, she had her aurora return to the sky, signaling her arrival and her presence. It would take a few minutes for the rules to be explained and for everyone to get started, which would be more than enough time for any civilians to get out of the area if they were smart. By this point her calling card was well known enough that only the suicidal or the reporters stuck around.

Aurora still wondered why they even wanted her to play a stupid game like this. Her power almost felt like cheating here, but there didn't seem to be any rules about using the full extent of her abilities. Perhaps she would place a personal handicap on herself just to keep things interesting.

---

Joining Team Twister to keep the minion happy, but she can be on any front. Minion doesn't have to be that happy.

From day to day, nobody saw or thought about them, but they were there.  The strays, the leftovers, the cats who came from nowhere and disappeared soon afterwards.  The city was crawling with cats, and perhaps today there were a few more of them than usual.  They kept hidden, unseen, away from the slow and half-blind humans who ruled this place, but they were always, always listening.

And one way or another, what the cats heard tended to make its way up to Big Martin.

The information received tended to be sporadic in nature, for the normally undisciplined felines had trouble understanding the routines of humans, let alone figuring out which details of their lives were important or secret.  However, from time to time, something useful would turn up.  Even a cat could tell that an aurora was something strange, and that a gathering of so many odd humans in one place was worth checking out.

And once Big Martin found out, he got quite interested, and had some of them listen in more carefully.  He'd always been ambiguous about Pandaemonium.  On the one hand, their chaotic ways were quite similar to his own, in many ways.  On the other, he didn't appreciate the lust for violence some of them displayed, nor their excess of members.

Still, he had a fair amount of respect for the group, especially those who pulled off their crimes with style.  Like Giza Kadabra.  That guy knew how to put on a show.  If they were holding some kind of internal contest, then which side won might affect the ethics and methods of the group in the future.  What if, with a little meddling, Martin could influence that?

All right, everyone, listen up.

And hundreds of cats all across Downtown suddenly stopped what they were doing, paying careful attention.

Some humans are about to start a fight in this area.  Not a real fight, more like a play-fight, I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about.  But why should they have all the fun?  I'm playing too, and anyone who wants to join me is welcome!  We'll show them who the baddest boys in town really are...

Supporting: Team Twister has people Big Martin is interested in, and he's helping them out.  Teammate preference: Giza Kadabra.