The Gala

"Honstly im a little sceptical about his whole story,but its not my place.What he does with his machine is what he does.The only reason i should have to stop him is if he does anything to hurt me"Sean stated plainly.After shaking the hand of the man Blackout he crossed his arms."Not too crazy about staying around here either though"He admitted.Never did like high tension situations such as this.Much preferred meditating and such.Learning to control his powers.To avoid the backlash of overusing.Which was extremely painful in its self.Though that is a different story in its self.Now he was ready to get the hell out of here.Whenever the good doc was ready to.He would do his part,and leave all this shit behind.

Clement smiled at the girl, his eyes brightened. ”You are sharp, Miss. And I agree.” Without a word he walked to the end of the stage and simply floated down towards the machinery. The scientists were almost done, having pulled apart the machine easily. The Omega Cores, located not only in the pod designed to rearrange DNA but also in each part of the machinery. Now, it sat out in front of him like a jigsaw, tantalising in the light of the lobby. He could feel it, feel that only half a mile away his daughter waited to be woken from a sleep.

He took a moment to appreciate them, before looking at the group of scientists. ”You have been wonderful. I would have enjoyed working with you all, if I was ever given a chance. But now, the evening draws to an end. So I ask you simply, would you play a final part in this story?” Clement paused, his eyes dancing from side to side for a moment. He was executing a remote order to his computer, sat at home with his daughter. In a moment, the darkened streets of New York City were filled with the alarms of not one residence, but many. Outside, the gathered forces of the police panicked just as much as everyone else working in a building suddenly locking down.

The police chief, a rotund man with more years then hair on his head, scratched his chin in confusion and immediately did what any good man would do. He separated his forces, their cruisers slowly pulling away from the pavement as inside the building, Cosmos smiled. ”Now, if you’d only help once more. Move the equipment into the rear of the lobby, please. A truck will be waiting, with appropriate slots that the parts fit into.” As the scientists did as he ask, loading up the truck by moving the lightweight modules, Cosmos moved from the floor to the stage. Here, he approached the two young men. ”I believe it’s time to put the plan into action. Firstly, there is an exit there.” Clement pointed across the room to a small grey fire exit. ”And the device strapped to your wrist will make an appropriate explosion. Simply throw it at the lobby doors and it should detonate on impact.” He held out a hand, a thumb extended to open the disc.

”Miss,” He called, looking over his shoulder at the young woman. ”Would you kindly follow the scientists and make sure they simply don’t run out the back screaming? And then would you climb into the truck’s front and find the keys? They should be in there somewhere.”

”I believe it’s time to put the plan into action. Firstly, there is an exit there, and the device strapped to your wrist will make an appropriate explosion. Simply throw it at the lobby doors and it should detonate on impact.” The Doctor said motioning to the front doors of the building.

"Well" Black said now holding the disc which had been released from his arm "That seems easy enough" he looking across the hall he took a deep breath he really was going to hate himself for this later but to be honest he was glad that this ordeal was going to be over. "I suggest you all get down" Black flung the device it spun the throw the air across the room and came into contact with the large doors that at the front of the room. Black instinctively covered his eyes with his forearm to avoid being blinded by the flash. His ears popped and the room vibrated violently under his feet. The blast was much bigger than he expected even at a distance that he figured as safe he felt the intensity of the heat as it radiated forward.

It was over in an instant Black's ears rang terribly as the the dust settled around him. "Holy shit," he exclaimed, louder than he wanted to thanks to the ringing in his ears. "You put that fucking thing on my wrist" he was slightly angry but mostly he was impressed. Pulling himself together he turned to Sean "Well I guess you'd better get going bro" he nodded at Sean "Good luck." he said brushing dust off the shoulders and arms of his costume.

Ashley stepped up her pace to follow the workers out the back. Workers moved the machine on large push carts to the back of the building. Just as Cosmos promised, a truck sat before her ready to take the machine to Cosmos's hideout.

To establish a little breathing room and respect amongst her workers, Ashley sent forth a wave of energy from her hand throwing two scientist to the ground. She intensified her molecule projection and burst the glasses of three of the other scientist. "Thats a good job guys. You did great, you really did." Her hands clasped together as she dropped her shoulders and walked to the front of the truck. Footsteps scattered away behind her, but the machine was latched down tightly. "Idiots."

A set of keys lay hidden within the glove compartment. Ashley dug them out and moved over to the drivers seat and started up the truck. This seemed like an odd get away for a supervillain, but maybe she could bring that up some other time.

She took out her phone and dialed in a number. "You better be on your way."

"I'm at the airport. Cali is a long trip." A familiar voice came to her ear. Bliss walked down the terminal of JFK. Her black sweater pulled just below the waist line of a pair of jeans. A blue and black scarf wrapped around her neck to cushion her chin against her body.

"This is important. Get her now." A stern tone commanded in the speaker.

"I'm the one who told you it was important. Why are you being such a bitch?" Bliss popped her ears to get the pressure out of her head.

"Track the GPS and follow me. I met a guy, and he's going to do something with the machine." She danced around the point. "When we see what it does, we know how to make it."

"That's not how that works. This is a horrible idea."

"Goddammit Bliss. Just get here."

the blast from the explosive was greater than he expected.Instinctivly he covered his eyes with his left forearm.As the blast echoed through the hall for a moment."nice"He said impressed."Yeah good luck to you to Blackout"Sean smiled turning to the good doc one last time before leaving."I hope you save your daughter"He called before rushing towards the west exit.Prepared to do his part in their little escape plan.As the man said there were minimal security.Which was too flustered to really stop him.Just incase one got in his way he brought along a small amount of water.For self defense of course."Almost there"Sean muttered.then he burst though the exit door attracting the attention of a small group of the police who gave chase.Not to worry though.He had dealt with more than a few men and their guns.They wouldn't last more than a few seconds.

"I suggest you all get down"

”Wait. What?” Cosmos blinked in surprise as the man pulled back his arm and threw the weapon like it was a child’s toy. He was momentarily dumbfounded, watching it arc through the air and hit the lobby wall. He didn’t turn away, however, but closed his eyes for a moment. A second later, the wall had been replaced by a large burning crater, which exposed the dark New York sky. ”Oh for the love of heaven.” Clement turned to the man, his eyes wide, his ears ringing not with the explosion but the general idea that someone could be so stupid to do such a thing. He would have raised his hand and hit the man if it wasn’t for the time frame that was now rapidly shrinking around him. Instead, the other man interrupted him the moment before he started raving.

"I hope you save your daughter.”

The anger melted away, instead replaced with a bittersweet pleasure that a man he had only met, had only recently came into contact with, would take such an interest in a strangers life. He felt a rush of warmth for the man and wished him luck under his breath, before turning back to Mr Pre-emptive Strike. “It was a joy meeting you, sir. Now, out through the lobby, and scream about him going west. Much obliged. Have a good day.” Clement smiled, once, genuinely before turning to the exit and running as fast as his legs would carry him. He was halfway down the corridor when he heard the hushed voice of a woman on a telephone. He moved to a half open door and looked inside, raising an eyebrow as he heard the whispered voice of Elizabeth. She was muttering into the telephone. “Projects one to thirty three are now in danger of being stolen. Put all communications on lock down and do not, I repeat, do not attempt to contact the company until the all clear is sent. Any teams that exposes themselves will be blacklisted. I repeat, Blacklisted. System wipe will occur in at least two hours.”

Cosmos paused, made a mental note to research all of the projects just mentioned and then continued on his way. As he entered the Vehicle depot, he nodded his head at the gentlemen and ladies gathered there. ”Thank you for picking Clement Industries as the correct application of your scientific minds. Please don’t take my actions as the actions of the management of this company.”

He slipped out of the building without waiting for a reply, instead moving to the cabin of the truck and climbed up. He pulled open the door to the driver’s seat and looked over at the young woman. He smiled, slipping in, as he heard the shouts of men on the other side of the building. He wasn’t paying much attention to her, instead concentrating on the panel in front of him before he clapped his hands. ”Now. To learn how to drive a truck.” He looked up at her and smiled a dark smile, before his eyes danced to one side, activating an interactive program built into his Microcomp. The computer overlaid everything around him and began to highlight the things that were important and then began annotating what should be moved when and why.

Within a moment, Clement was learning how to drive a truck. He nodded, pressed his foot on the gas, and the truck jerked to a stop. He frowned, looking around and then blinked. ”Ah. I stalled it. How embarrassing...” Clement clucked his tongue, before twisting the key and starting the whole thing. This time he was much smoother, pulling away from the building. He turned the large wheel to the right, driving to the east exit. No police car waiting. Wonderful.

As he pulled out onto open road, he looked up at the night sky and smiled.

“It was a joy meeting you, sir. Now, out through the lobby, and scream about him going west. Much obliged. Have a good day.” Cosmos smiled and briskly left the lobby.

Black stood gazing around the now totally destroyed room. Shaking his head he flew across the lobby reaching the bathroom where he had left his suit earlier in seconds. Flinging open the door Black opened the stall where he left his clothes. Patting down the pockets he retrieved his cell phone and wallet. He really wished he didn't have to leave his suit behind but it would look to suspicious if he took it with him. Leaving the bathroom door Black flew out of the hole he made with the explosive device earlier.

The Poilice stood silently their guns shaking and their eyes wide afraid of what had just exited the building. Once they reconized BlackOut they lowered their weapons and somewhat relaxed. "He went that way" he said pointing in the direction that Sean had gone. The officers holstered their weapons and got in their vehicles. Black then took off in the direction he had pointed with a stream of red and blue lights following him. Speeding up to his top speed Black left them behind. Once he was out of sight he stopped landing atop a large building he waited. Once he saw the cars blow by in the general direction he was going Black turned around and went back to the building where the gala was held.

It took Black second to reach the building he landed on the roof and quickly began searching for the van that the Doctor had left in. He had only been gone a minute so he couldn't have gotten far. "Bingo" he said jumping from the building and slowly following the van. He kept his altitude and his distance to hopefully keep himself from being seen. He had to make sure he wasn't tricked. Besides he was sure that their paths would cross in the future and he need to know as much about this man as he could.

"I'm taking it you just did some sort of..." Ashley paused waving her hand around in a circular conjuring motion. Hazel eyes flushed color into the red cheeks giving her a glow. "Matrix like upload, or something. I don't know." The sentence broke with an exuberant laugh. "Whatever, it doesn't matter at all." Moonlight lit the path before the truck, while buildings faded into the backdrop of the sideview mirrors. "When we get to wherever it is we're going, who are we going to set this thing up?" Happiness overcame her, finally molecular power that she could hone in on and focus. "Okay, so you saw how I lifted that glass right, pretty cool, right?" She hardly left a pause between her popping lips. "Well, I can do more than that, I could blow out the windows of this truck if I wanted to." Her hand touched over to his shoulder in a joking fashion. "Don't worry, I won't." Feigned sarcasm came unevenly from the overjoyed girl. "I had this plan, that I could use that device to somehow give me a glove or gauntlet that would let me do to organic molecules what I do to glass."

Streetlights illuminated Bliss's face just long enough to give her a faint silhouette. She loved Ashley's BMW; her tiny car never could amount to the luxury the car gave her. Red dots moved along the green and yellow grid of the GPS system within the center console. She moved through the flow of traffic towards the signal that appeared on her screen. This guy would probably drag her out for a while. All the villains in New York lived off the grid. Her head sank back into the cushioned leather as she wondered what it said about her that she knew where the villains in New York lived.

His senses where on high alert. Police trailing in close behind him. As he cut through allyways. Taking in deep gasps of air as he ran at full speed. Faster then the cops that were on foot. While the ones in the car were another subject all together. Still he knew cars couldn't go through the narrow allyways he chose. Reveling in the ecstacy as he kept on running.

Then two officers appeared from around the corner. Guns raised and ready to fire. " Oh please" Sean muttered under his breath annoyed. As the water he had with him silently fell to the ground. Slinking along in the shadows, towards the two men. "Put your hands where i can see them !" The cop on the right ordered. Face dripping wet with sweat. Sean did as they ask trying hard not to smirk. Then the water acted. Whipping upward as it slapped the guns from the officers hands. Illiciting curses as they reached for their guns. "Too slow" Sean sneered rushing the two. Delivering a powerful punch to the gut of the officer on the left. Followed by a fluid kick to the other officers stomach. Both strikes with enough strength to knock them out. Satisfied Sean continued running. Till he was off the polices radar. Buying himself a room in a hotel for the night. Vowing never to get involved in something stupid like this again.

Within moments, the young woman next to him seemed to come to life. He smiled softly, turning to look at her while placing one of his little Cameras onto the dashboard. Most of the others had floated along, unnoticed, into the back of the truck where they swung and jolted against the corners of the cabin. He kept an eye on the road, while the Microcomp planned out a path for him between the other vehicles on the road. The twisting track that he had set out would eventually bring him to an exposed part of the subway system, where a track car was waiting. That way, they could take the subterranean route and avoid being followed by any cops or unwanted guests.

And maybe... Maybe he shouldn’t trust this girl so freely.

He noticed that as he entered the cabin, she took on another persona. She was flushed and eager to chat, making reference to him ‘plugging’ into something. Possibly a reference to something that he didn’t really understand. But then she asked him about the machine, shrugging off something that could have been important. Of course, as the thing in his head drove him to paranoia, drove him to protect the plans he had carefully crafted. And the machine that now rocked back and forth in the rear of the truck was a part of that plan.

"When we get to wherever it is we're going, who are we going to set this thing up?"

”We will. And my machines will. They’re quick and smart enough.” He smiled softly, turning back to the road and listening intently as she continued to speak. Now, she moved away from the topic of the machine and instead focused on her own prowess as a mutated human. Apparently, there was some kind of molecular manipulation. When she said that the very glass in the cabin could be broken and manipulated with a simple flex of her powers he blinked. How would a power like that work? Did she focus on the molecules individually? If she did, she must have some hyper-equivalent to a brain, something akin to a computer that could simply pick out and sort what elements that she could use. It was an intriguing idea, and if had the time, he would have delved deeper into it.

She pushed him in the shoulder and he smiled, putting his foot on the accelerator. The machine lurched forward. He turned to look at her as she uttered the last sentence and then blinked once, his face blanked. He put his foot down on the break and pushed down on the handbrake. The wheels locked and squealed under the weight of the truck, but he turned hard on the wheel and the cabin spun to the left. The truck drifted and spun into small road. He supposed that if anyone wasn’t watching intently, the grey vehicle would have disappeared. Clement released the handbrake and sped back up again, going two blocks before turning into an underpass.

”Really? That sounds... Interesting. How would that work?” He asked sincerely, following the trail.

The truck made a violent out of control turn onto a dark road. Black almost did'n't missed the turn but easily managed to catch up with the truck. "What the hell is he doing" he whispered to himself speed up closer to the vehicle. He continued to follow for a few more blocks when the truck turned again and rolled under a dimly lit overpass. Black stopped flying landing lightly on a broken street lamp, it buckled slightly under his weight but held him.

Dropping to the sidewalk Black silently walked along trying to make as little noise as possible. His black costume blended perfectly into the darkness making him almost invisible against the darkness. He as almost impossible to see unless someone knew he was there. Peering around the the corner into the under pass. I was hard to see he wouldn't have seen the truck if its headlights weren't on glowing through the darkness.

Black enter ed the overpass crouching and stalking silently behind the truck. Focusing he used his electroreception he scanned his surrounding making sure he was not walking into an ambush. As far he could tell area was abandoned the only to disturbances he could feel were the two in the truck he recognized both of as Cosmos and the young woman who helped him disconnect the machine."Where are you going?" he said still silently trailing the truck.

"I was hoping you had the capabilities to find out how to fix that device with wave projection, you know the thing I do, and then make it so I could vibrate organic molecules like I do glass." Ashley fidgeted with her dress. "With that knowledge, we could make a little device that harnesses that power." Her head bounced as she braced herself with Cosmos' driving. The seat belt tugged into her stomach exerting the air from her lungs. "Wild driving their Tex."

Keeping up with the dot took some attention paying. She swerved through lanes of traffic to keep up with the path of the truck. The path lead her to outside of downtown. "How much time does a villain need to make a get away?" She spoke to herself. From what she surveyed from the GPS, she was only a few minutes away from Ashley and he mysterious benefactor.

Her grip clinched up on the wheel; this seemed so uncertain and spontaneous. Nervous energy flowed through her hands and shook the wheel slightly. This part of town lost most of its residence long ago. Drifters used it, but not many others did. The traffic thinned noticeably as she pulled off the main highway and onto the back road that lead to the subways. "Well this looks villainous enough."

Clement laughed again, finding it easier and easier to do so with each passing moment. The joy surfacing inside of him was now a bubbling volcano. But of course, any intelligent man would know that to rejoice in an incomplete victory is dangerous. Generally, when things go wrong (and they do go wrong) it is during the moment’s celebration before the end. Or maybe he was being paranoid. ”It is a very good thing that you wore you seat belt.” He muttered, before pressing the accelerator again. The truck lurched hard under the road and the wheel spun once, twice, three times.

Clement now drove straight towards a stone wall. With a smirk he glanced at the young woman and imagined what she was thinking. He moved a hand from the wheel and pressed it onto his belt. With a press, the wall in front of them pulled up to reveal a large square hole. Clement turned the key on the ignition, which killed the engine, and slid the truck into the pass quietly. Within a moment, he had pressed a finger to his lips and removed the very same control from his belt.

Outside, within a moment, a full fledge copy of the truck sat out on the tarmac.

Did heroes really wander at the work a Villain puts in? No. The work he put into the one heist, this one little... escapade. Firstly, he had to found the hideout, currently a mile away if he followed the subway system. Then, he had to carefully clear the tracks, repair them, make sure that when he did that little stunt the screech of metal against stone wouldn’t alert any chasing superhero’s or cops; Even finding the correct place to open a hole into the empty system, a place big enough for a big rig to slip inside. And then finding an appropriate time to begin construction! Falsifying the documents were easy, making up some reason for the underpass to be blocked off from the rest of the roads in New York. And the final, piece de résistance, the robotic truck waiting for deployment, tucked onto the corner of the road before he came out.

Cosmos grabbed the small eye robot, and turned it towards both of them. “Take picture.” He ordered quickly, while outside the truck came to life. Anyone watching would have seen it as the truck simply waiting for some unknown reason. The thin, almost stick on HD gave their pictures a life like quality, while the microcomps 3D processor gave them a human appearance. It even managed to make them move.

”Drive. To... New Jersey.” Now he was speaking to the large computer in the rear of the replica truck. Its engine came to life and it moved forward with a lurch, before climbing out of the underpass.

Inside the tunnel, Clement smiled at Ashley and opened the door of the Truck’s cabin. ”Out. Come on.” He climbed down the stairs and closed the door quietly, before leaning against it and laughing softly. He would admit, sometimes, that the life gave him a thrill...

Black unknowingly followed that decoy truck out of the underpass. Once back in the open Black took back to the sky very slowly as to mask is electrical emissions from the view of the driver. Monitoring the truck for quite a few blocks he began to notice something different about its movements. It had suddenly become much more controlled than it was before. Its speed was much less varied the turns it made were very clean. This was wrong but Black couldn’t understand how a change like this could have occurred. Continuing to follow the truck Black had finally had enough he did not have all no to follow this nut around the city. Speeding up Black quietly dropped down and landed on the roof of the vehicle, and then he felt it. The electromagnetic signatures of Cosmos and the woman were gone. In fact it seemed that there was nothing living inside he vehicle at all.

“Son of a bitch” he yelled hopping down from the roof of the truck and flying alongside looking in the window. The two figures sat an stared making fake looking gestures and not even acknowledging the costumed man flying outside the cabin. Anger rose inside of him again usually he was one to keep a level head but he had just all he could handle for one night.

Smashing the driver side window of the cab Black removed the keys and the rig came to a screeching halt. He flipped on the courtesy lamp and scanned the area looking for some sort of clue but there was nothing. “Fuck!” he yelled climbing out of the truck punching the side with his full strength as he did leaving a monstrous dent. Taking off from the ground recklessly he left a swirling cloud of dirt and litter in his wake he flew back retracing his path. He wondered how Cosmos could have pulled that off without him noticing. He began looking for clue but he was unable to find anything. “I’m not letting you off that easy.” He growled flying back through the streets futilely as he neared the underpass he knew that his efforts would most likely come up empty

Swift turns and sudden vertigo shook the cab. The seat belt gripped into her stomach, pulling at her core and trying its hardest to keep her from going through the window. Shadows guarded the entrance to the tunnel; Ashley had an unsure feeling as she took the hand of Dr. Cosmos and stepped down to the ground. He leaned against the truck, while an identical truck pulled out and drove away. "This is your hideout? Are we going to drive down there, or is something coming to get the machine?" This place held a quiet sanctity to it.

The dots grew closer and closer to together. "Recalculating." The GPS kept sounding off with ever turn that Bliss took. Her fingers ran across the screen trying to find the voice option to turn off the voice of the machines. "Recalculating." The correction of another turn came through. Finally she found the command to remove the voice, now she left herself with only the dots. Just a few more miles and all this mystery would finally gain some clarity to it. The BMW moved through the back roads coming closer to what looked like an abandoned hub.

"I don't think I need the GPS anymore." Bliss turned off the headlights, and crawled the car onto a concrete substructure that lead to one of the subway tunnels.

Behind them, the wall slid down and the entire tunnel was put into darkness. Cosmos plucked one of his little cameras from his belt, where it floated in the air. The small camera on its front went to night vision, while the rest of the tunnel was light up by a camera from the bottom of the casing. Cosmos smiled at the girl, let go of her hands and walked forward. The security bot light up two long brass rails in front of them, which went on straight into the darkness. About ten foot from the bumper of the truck sat a squat little machine on the tracks. Clement smiled, pulled a hooked cable from it and attached it to the front of the truck.

”Come, Miss. The little crawler there will pull the truck to my...” He laughed quietly, before turning to her. ”To my lair.” Another of his little cameras moved from his belt and hovered over her shoulder, switching on its own little camera to light up the elderly tunnel. Here and there, large cracks and fallen masonry seemed to hint at the unsafe state of the system. ”Don’t worry, Ma’am. But I’d prefer if you kept quiet...”

Behind them, the clock work crawler pulled on the truck. Without the handbrake the wheels moved slowly but surely, and the tracks kept them from turning one way or another. Surely, with the two of them walking in front of it, they eventually rounded a large sweeping corner and came to what looked like a repurposed warehouse basement, except there seemed to be no access to the floor above. Here, the truck slowed to a stop. ”Now, I think we’re safe to speak. If anyone hears us, they have to be in the Subway system.” Clement walked to the rear of the truck and pulled open the doors, coaxing his little machines back to his belt. With a critical eye, he looked over the equipment and smiled.

[color=silver]”Miss...”[color] He walked to the young woman and removed about four discs from his person. ”Could you please attach one of these to each machine? They’re anti-gravity devices and will allow you to move the things from the rear of the truck. While you do that, I’ll be preparing the... Preparing my daughter.”