War On Crime

*Luna crosses her arms.*

L"Sure, I can find another way into the sewer. I can also find a reporter to tell how the Mutant Busters will leave citizens alone with assassins if they're mutants."
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*Aroma mumbles her thanks to Dr. Eve Sr. before reciting her phone number.*
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*Anything in the cytoplasm of the spores that would degrade Thiera's plants would degrade them as well, so no. The roots push up against the ground under Herbicide, cracking it. Also, since they've been leaching the soil of minerals, much of the ground beneath him has been hollowfied. Having dropped her in a sinkhole, & relying on her wings to protect her--which begin secreting a thick mucous to keep from being struck by rotting chemicals--she shoots vines into the roof above Herbicide--making sure the wall isn't load-bearing--the vines seeping into the masonry & breaking it apart so she can pull it down on that asshole. Once he's buried, she plans to waste no time at all using her spring shoes to leap over the pit & continue on her way.*

The vines from the initial attack lash out, black and red flowers blooming along them, spitting more seeds to go along with the volley mentioned previously. She should feel the same way Allied forced did when storming Normandy and getting chewed up by machine gun nests.

The catapult dealies located conveniently behind Thiera, shift and become carnivorous like a Snapdragon and snap at her.

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A drone that could almost be mistaken for a handheld fan comes flying out of the hole. An officer comes out of a van.

Officer: "Ma'am, Grapevine is engaged with another Mutant and is attempting to bring the tunnel down."

Miranda: "You can try to find another way if you can guarantee that the tunnel won't be brought down at any moment. It would be a lot easier than finding anyone who'd take someone in a costume seriously. Your kind has been trying to decades to rebuild the heroic image of costumed "heroes" permanently tarnished by The Patriots and within those decades, your effort has been for nothing."

She nods at ???.

???: "I want two teams of three in those tunnels! Team A will enter from here while Team B will enter from the east intersection. Standard operation, lethal force is only authorized under extreme circumstances."

With a "Sir, yes sir!" three officers drop down into the hole while three more exit the alley and head east.

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And so the majority of the police and their crew file out while those still present tell the trio to back off while forensics people do their thing.

Death and violence all around being a time consuming task, Aroma may note that Taiyo should be out of school by now.


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Ryder: "There's no room for hypotheticals in what we'll be doing. There is only literal. I'm virtually indestructible. If there is something, anything that can do me harm, it would likely be too late."

"Do you feel pain like the rest of us?"

*The Sorensons get in the car to drop off Kylie at the humane society and then to visit Cameron*
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*They back off*

L"I don't care about ancient history. I don't even care about you taking credit for bringing in Raptor. But if anything happens to Grapevine, I will find you & return the favor ten-fold."

*With that, she leaves, fully intending on heading east.*
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*As promised, Thiera uses her springy shoes to dart forward, hoping to punch through with her shield. She also uses her powers to tear apart the plants around her.*
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"Um--alright--good day, Officers...."


*Aroma leaves, heading for Taiyo's school while calling Thiera. When that fails, she instead calls Taiyo.*

*Dr. Tantus starts to head back to her husband, stopping when she notices Eve has gotten out her phone and started playing with it. Suddenly she turns around and starts running towards Aroma, waving her phone in one hand and looking excited*

<Wait, waaaaaiiiittt!>

Officers enter the scene, their calling for the Mutants to freeze unable to be heard over Herbicide's roar as vines erupt from his body in a manner that likely incredibly painful to snare Thiera.

===================================

Luna is walking the path of being an ignorant fuck who is likely to be arrested for interfering with an ongoing investigation.

Cloud: "I'm not leaving without ans-"

He tries to push past ???, who strikes Cloud down and levels his submachine gun at him.

Miranda: "Stand down, Soldier. Whatever you want to know regarding Deathstrike and yourself are on a need to know basis. The only way you're going to know is if both you and Subject SC21993 come to us."

At the mention of Aeka's serial, Cloud backs down.

===================================

Taiyo answers and right away asks if Thiera is all right.

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It's an uneventful drive as much as I would not like it to be.

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Ryder: "As much as you or anyone else can."

*Herbicide is shit out of luck unless it also absorbed Raptor's genes, 'cause Thiera's plants are much faster. Thiera continues on, searching for the infrared signals of her assailants.*
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*After heading east, she finds the soldiers & tracks them, fully planning on knocking them out once they lead her to the sewer.*
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"I don't know, that's why I was calling you!"

*Aroma stares with great worry at Eve. It is unclear if it's because of her phone conversation or because Eve is acting scary.*

*Eve shows Aroma her phone, which is on an article from a local news source about what's going on with Thiera*

<I think your friend's in big trouble!>
===
*Kylie gets out and checks in inside. Maybe Ven is there, I don't know*

"So you are still susceptible to mental trauma," Grimm spoke as if musing. "Too much damage that doesn't kill you might drive you completely mad. Have you considered that? Does it worry you?"

Herbicide roars, vines protruding every which way to both pull himself out and overall just cause damage to things, threatening the tunnel's integrity.

The officers open fire on Herbicide while Deathstrike's trail abruptly disappeared.

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Everyone can see Luna plain as day as she follows law.enforcement agents down the same street Thiera took when being pursued by Deathstrike including the officers and Miranda who get out of the alley before it collapses.

Officer: "Freeze!"

Three officers point their guns at her.

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Taiyo asks who else is there as enhanced hearing means she hears Eve's ramblings.

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She could be. It's not my call to make.

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Ryder: "I don't go out of my way to die. Like anyone else, I'd rather not."

*Thiera of course suspects a secret entrance. She looks back & forth between it & the situation with Herbicide, biting her lip. Eventually, she decides to scratch a big "G" into the stone with a carbonized wooden katar, then rushes back towards Herbicide. Taking advantage of his distraction, she uses a net of vines to rip out a chunk of bricks & lob it at his head, hoping that she can knock him out before he notices her.*
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*She calmly stopped walking
"I don't know, some scary girl who's been following me for most of the day!"

*She reads the phone anyway.*

"Thi--the Grapevine chased the assassin into the sewer!"
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*Ven is punching back in.*

"Oh. Hey."
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*She calmly slowed to a stop upon being threatened. Now she crosses her arms, notably agitated.*

"Are you fucking kidding me? You're really threatening to shoot me for pursuing the assassin who's after my friend? That's really a more efficient use of your time than stopping the guy who shot up the street?"

*Eve crosses her arms triumphantly*

<Assassin? I knew you were involved!>
===
*Kylie stares at her and tries to smile, but it comes off forced. She also looks like a wreck*

<Any-any new ones?>

"How close have you come since getting this job?"

Herbicide armors himself up due to being shot at. The tunnel shakes when Herbicide is ripping pieces out of the foundation to hurl at the police and Thiera.

Cloud jumps into the hole and the fray.

Never dealt with a Mutant before.

Cloud grabs the officers and throws them back towards the hole, snatching the sidearm of one of them. Releasing the safety he fires three shots into the monster, the armor holding up. He fires another shot, the armor on Herbicide's head holding up.

Cloud: "Clumsy."

He fires another at the charging monster with the same result.

Cloud: "Stupid."

A third shot echos and the monster roars. Blinded in one eye, Herbicide's armor changes to include a visor of sorts.

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Officer: "You are a vigilante and a civilian. We cannot allow you to follow us down there. You shouldn't even be on the streets."

The other two officers make their way into the sewers.

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Taiyo states she has no idea what's going on.

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Ryder: "Don't know. Everyday at the same time I'm taken elsewhere in the facility and Dr. Samsara and Dulmacher do something. Then I come back here for lunch with a few hours of my life gone."

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Jackson Ryker approaches the professor the days events making no sense to him.

Ryker: "Hey, what happened to that whole putting us above the Russians thing you spoke of over a year ago? Instead of trying to kill Mutants, why not do that?"

Professor: "Talk to Candice. Tell her to assemble a team and hit one of their labs. Send some of your own people along if you want and leave your mark."

Ryker: "Leave my mark?"

Professor: "Yes. That is how this game is played in the US is it not? If you want recognition, you leave a sign that it was your people that did it. Is that not the purpose of 'tagging'?"

Ryker: "All right."

Professor: "Tell Zulu the same thing. Hit two labs."

L"Technically, your boss told me to find another route into the sewers."
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*Thiera springs out of the way.*

Th"Its powers appear to be based off of my own ability to telepathically control plants! The main difference is that its body is composed of plant matter! ...Which should mean..."

*She thrusts her palm out, seeing if she can throw him through the hole in the sewer.*
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*Aroma stares at Eve in great confusion.*

"Neither do I--have you told Ven anything yet?"
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"Not really, no."

*Ven looks around, scratching the back of her head. She is not fond of discussing feelings.*

"Is--ahh--something wrong?"

"Like what?"

<Come now, you had to stop yourself from saying Thiera just now! And you seem to know something about the thing she's fighting. I bet you're talking to someone on the phone about how to help her!>
===
*Kylie shakes her head*

<Just family stuff. You know...lots of drama.>

*She tries to smile when she says this but fails. She begins feeding any animals in the lobby, if there are anything. Most humane societies I've been to do*

Cloud: "That's good to know."

Cloud moves to avoid a swing from Herbicide. He's fast. Not Raptor fast, but fast enough that unless he were running top speed, Cloud could keep pace for a short period of time.

Meanwhile Herbicide doesn't move. Whether because her trick didn't work or through soke counter measure is anyone's guess. Being the plant whisperer, Thiera should be able to note there are roots coming at her. Not from below the water, but the earth beneath the concrete or whatever is on the sewer floor.

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Officer: "She's fond of sarcasm. Especially around those who don't pick up on it."

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Taiyo: "Not yet, no. Is this a bad time to be calling?"

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Ryder: "What are you, dense? I just said the time between when I'm taken from my cell to when I return is blank. That's what would really.drive someone to maddness. That time adds up."

*She springs back.*

"Unfortunately, I haven't yet ascertained a method of incapacitating it. Perhaps if we can hit it hard enough against the wall. I'll try to determine if it has the brain structure to be concussed."

*And so she uses her plant mojo to try to feel around this thing's insides, seeing what its organs are like & if there's anything in there that isn't plant.*
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"Maybe. The scary girl won't stop asking about Thiera. Maybe I should call you back?"
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V"Okay."

*She also starts feeding things.*
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"Well, I'm not standing here all day, so if you're not going to charge me with something, I'm leaving."

*And so she starts making her way towards the nearest intersection.*

*Dr Tantus is far enough away that she can't hear what's going on, so she yells something about Eve meeting them back at the lunch area when she's done with her new friend*
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*Awkward pause for a bit*

Kylie:<Uh, Ms. Guvera, can I ask you something serious?>

"And you have no hopes for the future?"

Does she see inside of him or does she just feel inside of him? I don't know how telepathy is supposed to work. Anywho, there is indeed plant matter inside Herbicide alongside human matter.

Getting up to the brain, everything becomes hazy and her head starts to hurt as well as hearing someone say "You're not welcome here."

Nausea sets in as the plants on her body begin poisoning her, taking effect quickly due to Raptor's genes.

===================================

She's probably going to find herself too damn weak to remove a manhole cover.

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Taiyo answers with a confused okay while some dude in beat up combat boots and an old army jacket he probably got from his dad's closet comes up to them with a notepad.

Now Aroma has the luxury of being tag teamed in the worst way possible with Eve badgering about whatever and this dude badgering about the dead guy the cops wheeled off.

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Ryder: "Our future depends entirely on what the people who run this whole operation have in mind."

*Eve stands in front of Aroma to protect her from weird reporter guy*

<Who are you and why are you pestering us? We don't know anything about the random dead guy.>

*She plans to pry it open with her spear anyway.*
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OOC: It bears repeating that Aroma has been tag teamed in much better ways.

*Aroma turns & tries to walk briskly away in an inconspicuous fashion.*
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*Thiera mutates the plants to release killer cells against the poison. She also commands it to cycle its junk DNA, hoping that Herbicide won't be able to keep up with it.*

"It does have some human body parts, so it should be susceptible to injury, especially the nervous system! But let me try something else first!"

*She attempts another psychic invasion of Herbicide, steeling her own significantly greater intelligence against any counter-attack. She attempts to communicate that a bad man just came through & she needs to remove him.*
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*Ven awkwardly avoids eye contact.*

V"Uh--I guess--depends on what it is--what is it?"