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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Broccli_Head" data-source="post: 948129" data-attributes="member: 105">issue#4, part IISorry it's a day late! Now more story!----------------------------------------------The next day…“I think all of us should make sure that we attend the opening at the Museum of Fine Arts,” suggested Jae Sun at their daily meeting. “Something is going to happen and it involves some super-thieves.”“So why don’t we just go bust ‘em up now?” asked Slipstream. “We only know one of the possible crooks, and she has not acted yet.”“So, dudes, we hold her and then the plan is thwarted! Legion Extreme wins again!”Slipstream high-fived Dragonfist, Somnus, and Dr. Lu. Valor declined. Darkfire just stared perplexed not understanding this Earth ritual. When Jae Sun did not seem as enthused, Slipstream ribbed, “Aww man! You’re soft on her. I shoulda known.”“How goes the patrol?” asked Jae Sun wanting to drop a particularly sensitive subject. Dr. James Lu laughed out loud at Jae Sun’s discomfort. Dragonfist nodded his head in agreement and others in the group chuckled. “Gentlemen, lady, if you are finished?” Jae Sun raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.As the laughter died down, he added, “The patrol, please.”“Well, I saw the tail end of it cuz I was kinda hungry, and like had to stop at Micky D’s and eat, and then I ran into a bunch of fans at Sommerville Station. You know how that goes? But, man whoever that was sure torched that hardware store.”“Valor?”The research scientist winced with pain, favoring his side. “It was a flame-thrower wielding, armored bad guy. We exchanged fire, but he got the better of me, so I retreated.”“Dude! That’s Blowtorch. Shoulda called me. Coulda helped.”“Gentlemen, may I remind you that we do not have a very good means of communication at this point. We are limited to pagers and land lines, and sometimes certain among you,” Jae Sun looked accusingly at Slipstream, “do not respond in a timely manner. So, Valor, what of the fire? It did not spread to other units.”“Some other super was flying around. It was a she. All I remember is long blonde hair, and that she was fast. As I left, she smothered the fire with some form of wind manipulation.”“But she did not engage this Blowtorch?”“I left. I don’t know.”Jae Sun rubbed his chin, lost in thought, attempting to process all the data and predict all the outcomes or possibilities. He figured that something was going down, and that it involved the Star of Karnak, but who was going to try and nab it.  Maybe, he thought, the question should be how many. “We need to all be at the opening of the Imohotep exhibit,” he re-iterated.Dragonfist, who had been flipping through channels, stopped and proclaimed, “I found a date for Valor.”He pointed and the rest of the group focused in on the tube. On screen was a starkly beautiful blonde woman with ice blue eyes. Mud was caked on her face and she carried a trowel as she spoke to reporters. Under her picture the caption read : Carol Laine, Harvard Professor. Jae Sun raised and eyebrow, “Valor, make it so.”**So he did. Valor traveled to Harvard, met Carol Laine, and asked her on the date. In return, he agreed to do a piece on her archaeological digs associated with the Ted Williams Tunnel.  He was even able to secure a date for Darkfire. The victim: a middle-aged divorcee who needed some encouragement. Valor and Jae Sun chuckled as they drove to the dig site to do some preliminary filming. When they arrived, Carol Laine met them and led them past construction and security to the dig site. “Where’s the crew, Valor?”“I’m just here to do some preliminary filming,” he said indicating his hand held digital recorder borrowed from the department.“Then if it looks interesting, we’ll send in a team.”Dr. Laine crossed her arms and pouted, “What do you mean ‘if it looks interesting’?”“How much draw does digging in the mud have? Have you found anything interesting?”  Valor responded very matter-a-factly.Flustered, Carol sputtered, “Well…there is a good chance that the artifacts we are finding belong to a pre-Inuit culture. Such a find is unheard of this far south.”“Not bloody likely…” muttered Jae Sun.“And who the hell is he?” added the increasingly frustrated professor.“Umm…excuse my bad manners. Carol Laine this is Jae Sun Lee. He’s one of my producers.”Dr. Laine blushed and stammered out an apology as she shook Jae Sun’s hand. Fate saved her from more embarrassment. “Dr. Laine! Come quickly! We’ve found something!” came a cry from somewhere down the tunnel. She turned and jogged in the direction of the shouting. Valor and Jae Sun followed, hanging back a little.“Nice save, Valor.”“Why thank you, Mr. Lee. So you really do not think she has a valid hypothesis?”“No, Dr. Lu and I have had a bad feeling about the Big Dig for some time. Who knows what it could uncover.”Dr. Laine approached them and handed each of them a mining helmet. “Well, Valor McCoy. I think we’ve found something worthy of your show.”She led them to a side tunnel where the dampness and smell of freshly overturned earth was overwhelming. Students were cordoning a section of the passage and Dr. Laine indicated a hole.  “So, do you want to check it out?”“Of course!” Valor grabbed the flashlight from her hands and crawled into the tunnel.Jae Sun followed. “Valor, it smells like a tomb.”“Ahh it’s just the dredge. You know they’re digging at the bottom of the bay, right?”They dropped into a stone chamber that seemed very out of place. It was perfectly circular, about 30 feet in diameter, and about ten feet hight. It also had many niches or alcoves that lined the walls. These were still filled with mud. “Like I said, Valor, a tomb.”“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”They climbed out and tried to remove some of the mud from their clothing. “Dr. Laine it looks good. I’ll have one of my people contact you and we’ll set up a shoot.”“Valor, call me Carol. See you tomorrow for the opening?”Jae Sun laughed to himself as Dr. McCoy nodded a little embarrassed and hoping the nearby workers and students had not overheard.  They left and were soon in a cab back towards Chinatown. It was nearing lunchtime.“That site bears watching. I will inform the others.”“What do you think it is, Jae Sun?”“Something ancient that should best be left alone,” he said very seriously. “I will consult Dr. Lu and inform the others. So much, maybe too much, is happening….”They drove by Anaka’s martial art’s studio and Jae Sun suddenly asked the driver to stop the car.  The two men got out to see Anaka with a soap-filled bucket washing the large window that dominated his storefront.  Jae Sun paid the driver. “It always get worse,” Jae Sun commented to Valor as they approached. “Well, Anaka, what did it say?”“I LIVE!” he replied. “I found a dead cat in the alley with its head lopped off. Fortunately, this was cat’s blood, not something else.”“You should have made sure, young Anaka.”Valor was completely lost and kept asking questions that were ignored. Anaka nodded his head in agreement with his friend and elder.  As they left to get lunch at the usual place, Anaka whispered wiping more of the blood from his window, “Next time, Shadow Dragon, you will not be so lucky.”**Finally, the big night of the Imohotep Exhibit opening arrived.  Jae Sun, with Anaka driving--this time he wore a suit, since he was also able to procure an invitation to the event—arrived with Heather.  For the event, she wore a high-collared red dress, with long sleeves. In another limousine, Darkfire aka "Megan" for this evening, came with her first date on this world, Professor Jonathan Blake. He was decidedly nervous, never having gone out with a woman of Darkfire’s unearthly beauty. To make sure that he (or she) did no freak out, Jae Sun had asked Armando Montoya to accompany Vivian Wu and ride with them to and from the opening. Carol Laine had insisted that Valor McCoy fly her there as Captain Valor. Slipstream arrived alone having obtained a last minute donation form Quicksilver to support the arts in Boston. En route, Jae Sun was pensive. “What’re ya thinkin’, lad?”“Too many scenarios, Heather. Nothing good will come of this Star being in Boston, but we cannot act until the bad men…or women…play their hand.”Heather smirked and leaned against him, “Why don’t we just have fun this evening and not think about heroes or villains.”“It is too late, my dear. My thoughts are spinning and we are ever watchful.”He gave a subtle, meaningful look towards the rearview mirror, catching Anaka’s eye.  Heather broke away her contact and just chuckled. Jae Sun closed his eyes and reviewed the day’s, and especially last night’s events….Vivian had taken Darkfire clubbing near Kenmore Square. During the evening what onlookers could only describe as a large Mexican man entered the establishment. The crowd parted as if in fear as he made his way to the dance floor selected a young woman and made to leave.  Even Darkfire had hesitated, but recovered enough to chase him out the door. However, he was nowhere to be found. No one at the club, except one of the bouncers could give a good description. The next day, they found the woman, dead in an alley. Half of her was phased into a building wall and unrecognizable arcane patterns, traced in her blood surrounded the gruesome spectacle.  Detective Fisher had called Jae Sun to examine the scene.  Darkfire had been upset and soared high into the sky. Up in the clouds she had seen the same superwoman that Valor had described, but there had been no confrontation. Lastly, Armando had been contacted by someone called Hummingbird, mistaking him for another person called Cheshire Cat.  He had put a trace to monitor the security systems at the Museum of  Fine Arts as a precaution, but Jae Sun was even more concerned. He recognized the names. Among others, Grab was in town.</blockquote>

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