Beach Episode [AU-SHRPG 4567]

A tall, lithe and athletic figure emerges from the water on this rare sunny day. Sporting a navy blue one piece, she garners looks nonetheless for her sheer height and form. She approaches a beach parasol with a table and two beach recliners. A lady sat on one of them and was reading the papers. A thermos of tea and two cups were on the table.

“Where’s Grandad?” Anne asked the seated lady, Elisheva St. Croix, her mother. She was already pushing 60 but kept herself looking much younger.

“Last I checked, Chasing girls your age.” Ellie replied, reading on current events.

“Ugh. Is that a newspaper?” Anne sits on the beach chair and pours herself some hot tea from the thermos.

“It is. I left the tablet in the bag... I’m just glad he was wearing knee length shorts when he left. So... how does being out of the uniform feel?” She asked without looking up from the paper.

“Strange. But liberating. Like... It was only yesterday I was talking to the commandant to be accepted into Academy.”Anne said as she reminisced her career, starting from academy then onto being a Naval Officer, a Royal Marine then finally an XO on a battlecruiser, in a short amount of time. And now she was enjoying vacation days, seeing as her role in the military was ‘formally’ over.

“Time flies so fast doesn’t it? Here, try our new store sandwiches. We call it multi-grain.” Ellie produced a paper bag, from which Xiao could smell food.

“Oh please no, I lived off this stuff back in London!”Anne said with a chuckle, though she was personally disgusted at convenience store sandwiches at this point. She took a peek inside the bag and saw corned beef sandwiches, neither vacuum sealed nor cold.

“Kidding. These are from the bakery. So, what’s next for the Crown’s Dragon?” Ellie said with a smile, unpacking the food for her daughter.

“No more plans today, mum. I just want to sit back and enjoy my off time. Nothing will make me leave this deck chair... Nothing at all.”She grabs a sandwich and leans back into the chair, internally hoping those words were not tempting fate.

As he stepped from the water, Alex raised a hand to his face, starting as his chin and moving his hand up, slicking his hair back and out of his face. He had decided to come to Britain, specifically Brighton Beach for his vacation. Being a hero had some perks, especially when you saved an executive of an international airline. As he stood to his full six foot height, and stretched out his arms, he was silently glad for the mastery over his lightning powers. The ocean, and a large battery, probably would not have mixed well.

His blue eyes scanned the beach apathetically, he had decided to come to the beach today for one reason, to pick up girls. So far, however, he had been unsuccessful. His fame had apparently not transferred over from America, and not a single person knew who he was.

"I swear, this is so much easier in America, where girls practically throw themselves at me."

Sighing, he continued his trek out of the water, rubbing the back of his neck casually. It was when he took another casual glance that he noticed her. She may have been wearing a one piece bathing suit, but she was still stunning. The girl that had caught his eye was sitting a table with another woman, who looked to be related, but he couldn't tell how. The woman next to her also looked quite young. She was looking though a bag as Alex began to cross the distance between the two, throwing on his best smile.

"Hello, my name is Alexander Sadko, and I couldn't help but notice a spark between us."

As he said the cheesiest pick up line ever, he waved his finger up, sending a literal spark between himself and Anne.

Anne was in complete stunned silence at the young man who had the guts to come close, with a cheesy line and a brazen display. Sarcastically, she said, “Wow. Amazing. I am so speechless. What do you think, mum?” Anne wore her shades and lay down on the recliner, and spoke without looking at her mother.

Ellie, in a blue beach dress, looked up at the boy. “If you don’t want him, can I keep him? we always have room at the house for more metas.” She said with a giggle.

Anne broke into a smile and chuckled. “You are simply the worst.” She then turns toward the young man. “And who might you be, mister? A powered Yank on vacation in England, looking for sport among the englishwomen?” Thankfully the beach was a bit sparse, as they had the privilege of vacationing on a weekday.

Alex continued to smile as the two girls talked amongst themselves. For a second, Alex picked up a 'do me' vibe from the girl he hadn't been flirting with, until she mentioned more metas, then he got a very odd vibe. Would probably be best to avoid that one.

“And who might you be, mister? A powered Yank on vacation in England, looking for sport among the englishwomen?”

When he heard that, Alex let out a bit of a laugh, crouching down so he could look Anne in the eyes while speaking to her. He was nothing, if not polite.

"Aw, don't tell me you weren't listening. I told you, my name is Alexander Sadko. In America I'm also have the moniker's Raikou, and spark of life, but that's neither here nor there. As far what I am doing, you are right, I am on vacation. Though, I wouldn't say I'm looking for sport. You just interested me is all, so I came to introduce myself."

Alex stood, scratching the back of his head sheepishly as he continued to converse with the girl.

"Fun fact, the name Raikou, was given to me during a trip in Japan. It means lightning. And let me tell ya', if you're with me, you will always come after lightning."

“Feisty boy isn’t he? You know lad, I’m right here. In all my years I’ve never met someone so shameless as to hit on a lady with her mother present.” Ellie commented, finding the young man interesting but also quite annoying.

“The yanks must be getting more uncivilized every passing year. Why don’t you go make sparks somewhere else, Mister Rai? I doubt you can handle my thunder.” She shoo’d him away as she went back to relaxing on the recliner.

Alex sighed. It was very clear he was not nearly as smooth as he had first intended. Chuckling a bit, he put his hands behind his head, looking rather calm for someone who had just been shot down by two people at once, one of which was apparently Anne's mother, whom he had never suspected of being old enough to have a child her age.

"I apologize, from my experience these Euro girls tend to fall for the cheap one liners. You also can't blame me for hitting on her in front of the mother, you can't honestly expect me to believe your old enough to have a child her age."

Taking a step back, Alex gave a quick smile.

"How about a game instead? If you can pin me to the ground in two minutes, I'll leave. If you can't, I'll leave. How does that sound miss..? I'm sorry, I never got your name."

“Haha, now he resorts to flattery!” Ellie chuckles once more, in that posh, upper class manner.

“Alright, you made mum laugh, I’ll play your little game. I should warn you, I tend to play rough.” She stood up and cracked her knuckles. “I am Anne St. Croix, and this is my mum, Ellie. And you have no idea what you’re getting into. Let’s begin then!” She takes a fake step towards him, to try and spook him.

Alex laughed at the girls antics. She was really trying to scare him? Oh well, he didn't need to try and impress this girl. After all, he only had to last two minutes, and what were the chances that he would meet someone capable of keeping up with a battle experienced meta? There couldn't be such a person on a beach in Britain....right?

"Ohhhh, such a scary girl."

He taunted, bringing his fist into an open palm in front of him. He spread his stance and turned his body, making himself a smaller target for the woman. From his stance, and the look in his eyes, it was very clear this was a man who had seen combat in his life time, and quite a bit of it.

"Well then, come at me. Don't be afraid to not hold back, I promise, you won't hurt me."

Ellie saw that Anne's overactive energy had an outlet somewhere. She checked the time and realized it was time for them to gather for lunch.

"Have fun kids. I should go look for dad. Who knows what trouble he’s getting himself into, the crusty old pervert.” Ellie muttered, as she stood up and went for a walk to look for her father, before he tricked an innocent young lady into trouble.

“Bye mum.” Anne said, waving to Ellie. She looked at Raikou again, and it was time to show off a little aggressive Greco-roman wrestling tackle with super speed behind it.

This girl was fast, that much was very obvious to Alex the moment she began to come at him. His body seemed to move on it's own, throwing himself to the ground and rolling out of the way of the tackle mere moments before she could get a hold of him. He opened his blue eyes wide in surprise, just what the hell was this girl? A meta? A soldier? Something else entirely? Whatever it was, it was very clear that Alex was not the only person here who had seen combat. Three seconds in and she already had him on the ropes, dodging rather than attacking. That needed to change.

"You're a lot faster than I thought you would be, and you know greco-roman wrestling? Just what are you, Annie St. Croix?"

Going through the proper channels to find her was difficult, but soon enough Sean did indeed find out where the Queens Dragon had been. Dominus had contacted Sean to recruit the female, though the secret of her herself was not open to the public so he had to pull teeth to gain the information required. Of course he would have to inform Brandon of the whole trip to England, and the male demanded to come, and that was how he was where he was.

The blond male had decided to stay at the hotel with Travis while Sean went out to do work, dressed in the usual work clothing, combat gear that in case of a more dangerous fight he would be ready. With a specialized energy weapon strapped to his thigh and a pistol Sean approached the beach flanked by a representative of the queen, silver eyes scanning over it with a certain curiosity. He was supposed to be looking for a female in her mid twenties, when his eyes snapped to what appeared to be a female diving into some manner tackle with an inhuman speed, and Sean feeling compelled to check it out.

With his current mission put into the back of his mind, he would approach the seemingly dangerous situation, more than aware of the protocol dealing with a potential metahuman fight breaking out. His mind would run over the face of the female and it snapped to something within an instant.”Um excuse me, Miss Anne St.Croix, that is your name right?” The male with the black stubble asked looking from the female to the metahumans she was attacking.

Sean's rather weak call hardly caught Anne's attention. However, the agent of the crown with the briefcase chimed in. “Ahem...You’ll need a little more moxy than that, sir.” The little blonde rep said, standing no more than 5 feet and four inches.

“Lieutenant Anne St. Croix of the Royal Marines! By the authority of the British Crown, you are hereby requested to speak with her Royal Highness on matters of the Realm!” She said in a most commanding voice, which immediately caused Anne to stop her shenanigans with Raikou, standing up and dusting her hands off.

“Oh dear. Cammy? Well Mister Rai, you handle yourself competently. But I have to take this call.” Anne shakes Raikou’s hand and heads over towards Sean and Camille. A couple of agents stand between Anne and the American stranger, ensuring he keeps his distance.

Cammy opens a briefcase with a fairly wide screened tablet in it, as the Queen disliked smaller devices. The screen came on and in it was the monarch of England herself.

“Hello dear. Lovely to see you. Did you go for a swim just now?” The Queen said, addressing Anne rather casually.

“Yes, your highness. I’m at Brighton as of the moment.” Anne said, minding her tone and stature as she delivered a salute.

“Ah, Brighton. Lovely weather, beautiful beaches. Well, I apologize for the inconvenience, but I wished to discuss an opportunity for the British Isles to foster cooperation with allies from the United States.” Said the Queen in her usual formal tone.

“Opportunities, your highness?” Anne asked, curious.

“This young man will fill you in. As one of the nation’s finest, I am appointing you, who will be most suited to the task. Well then, give my regards to your mother... and Elijah. And you young man, I entrust the safety of one of Britain’s children to you.” She said to Anne, then to Sean.

“Honored to hear that, your highness. And I will.” She gives the Queen a naval salute as she signs off, and Miss Camille closes the briefcase.  “Well then, let’s have a seat then. I’m listening.”  

"Wait..what?"

First she was superhumanly fast, now she's getting calls from the queen of england? Just who was this girl? Alex stood, beggining to make his way towards Anne, before the few guards stood in front of him, blocking the girl, the new man, and the woman with the glasses from him. Tilting his head to the side, Alex contemplated sending the group of agents flying with a condensed shockwave of lightning, but, instead decided to sigh.

"I guess I'll just wait over here then."

Sean would turn towards the blonde representative, who stood only an inch taller than Sean and nodded, clearing his throat. He was always nervous about dealing with metahumans, beings that could crush him with little more than a thought if they were so inclined. He crossed arms over his chest and let them do what they did best, which was talk with one of their own. It appeared that the female was getting some manner of call and from the Queen no less, which meant that she was as important as his information had told him.

She would speak to the queen about things, and near the end it seemed that it was his turn to do some talking. Sean nodded professionally, turning to the queens dragon and offering a curt smile. It seemed that he atleast had an ear to hear what he was going to propose, which was more than most would give the puppet of Dominus as some had called him. Sean would take him a seat, crossing his legs and turning towards the metahuman that she was fighting with before turning back to her.

”I'm Sean Collin, Director of the Chicago branch of Dominus and as i'm sure you've surmised by now, the represenative.” he began professional as possible. ”I was sent here today to negotiate a....partnership with you and to have the aid of your nation's metahumans in times of crises. However of course the offer will go both ways.” he started off as calmly as possible, hands held together as he waited to see any sort of reaction. ”If you are interested in the....offer , I could offer you more information about Dominus and what we could offer you.”

She paused to think about it. To Anne it felt like another organization that simply needed muscle. “Weeell. A new posting is it... I suppose I could go out and see the rest of the world. Not like the vacation thing was working out yeah? Anything else you’d like to tell me about this Dominus group of yours?” She asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“So, does your being here have anything to do with lightning lad over there being here and not in America?” She followed up, thumb pointing to the lad who was being left alone a few feet away.