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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Broccli_Head" data-source="post: 950656" data-attributes="member: 105">issue#4, part IIIA bonus post!-------------------“Jae Sun, we are almost there,” called Anaka pulling Jae Sun from his reverie. Heather was looking out the window, lost in her thoughts.  They stopped, Anaka opened the door, and Jae Sun escorted his date into the foyer and then to one of the large gallery rooms where the unveiling and parading of choice pieces would occur. He looked around catching Slipstream already hob-knobbing with local politicians, including the local Congressman Clayton Mansfield.  Mansfield was a strong supporter of para-normal rights. Armando and Vivian, “Megan” and  Dr. Blake were already milling about. Despite the cool evening, the poor history professor was wiping his brow and still trembling with nervousness. Captain Valor arrived with Dr. Laine a little later, and in front of all the spectators, his symbiotic suit melted away to reveal a tuxedo underneath. He bowed amidst much clapping. During the wine and cheese, the heroes were finally able to converse. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the unusual number of attractive women. This included their own Darkfire, Dr.Laine, and Jae Sun’s date, Heather McGowrie, but at least three others caught their attention.  Jae Sun had a strange feeling that these women were not normal.  However, while watching Heather’s eye movements, he caught no “secret” communications between them.  The only solution was to mingle. Valor McCoy was able to meet one of the women, a brunette who introduced herself as Lisa Anderson, a free-lance aerospace engineer.  She in turn presented her sister Melissa, a petite blonde, who much to the growing annoyance of Dr. McCoy and his date, had an aura of airheadedness.  However, Valor waded through the inane questions and observations to finally have an enlightening conversation with Ms. Anderson about aerodymanics, top air speeds, and personal battlesuits. Soon, Melissa grew bored and wandered away. Dr. Laine, not liking being ignored, stomped off, slightly fumed. Meanwhile, another woman glided through the crowd. She rivaled Darkfire in sheer beauty and had an air of aloofness. Her long blonde hair, falling to the small of her back shimmered, and her blue eyes sparkled. Her date, however, looked like a toad. Jae Sun recognized him as Oliver Nesmith, a man whose means of acquiring wealth was dubious at best.   He, guiding Heather, steered clear of the couple at least for the moment. Eventually, the museum curators began the show, displaying Egyptian artifacts for the patrons and their guests to rounds of applause and toasts. Slipstream made sure that security was tight, doing the rounds in the blink of an eye every so often.  Jae Sun was intent on the latest treasure, and noticed “Toad” Nesmith and his date approaching too late to move away. The last thing he wanted this evening was a confrontation. “Heather…,” acknowledged the woman coolly. “Angela…,” replied Heather. “I see that your taste in men hasn’t changed, lass.”Angela made no response but the man with her sneered. To Jae Sun it was a revolting spectacle.  When he spoke, it was almost a cackle.“Well, my pretty, perhaps you should upgrade as well.”Jae Sun smiled but refused to partake in a war of words. Darkfire and Dr. Blake arrived in the nick of time, causing the attention to shift. Angela gave the alien woman a once over and walked away, bumping her slightly. Jae Sun shook his head as Darkfire narrowed her eyes trying to indicate that Now is not the time. Even so, Darkfire excused herself and followed the blonde woman. Anaka, attempting to remain as unassuming as possible watched the exchange and saw Oliver Nesmith take his leave and for a moment stand alone. Hey, Sweetie. That man over there is a very bad man. Maybe you should take him out.Anaka looked around for the source of the cute, if not slightly nasally, voice that rang inside his head.  He gritted his teeth and rubbed his temples. Jae Sun gave us strict orders not to cause any trouble.He looked to the podium to see the security guards with Slipstream overseeing them, bring out a large sapphire. The star upon it glowed with earth energy. Please, Hon. Before he hurts someone. He might do something to one of your friends, cooed the voice. Dragonfist’s heart began racing as he imagined the ugly man choking Jae Sun or harming Darkfire. He felt the ch’i course through him and he charged with a war cry, slamming double fists into Oliver Nesmith’s chest. The blow sent him flying across the room where he crashed through a pair of solid mahogany doors. For a second, everyone stopped, and then chaos erupted as guests began yelling. “Get a hold of yourself, man!” cried Heather McGowrie, grabbing Dragonfist’s arms and pulling them back painfully, forcing him to his knees. Jae Sun, looking back at Dragonfist disappointedly, and Valor raced to the podium to protect against any move towards the Star of Karnak, while the guards secured the artifact and ran to place it back in the vault. Slipstream zipped over to the downed man and vibrating his fists to blurring speeds healed the bruising that Dragonfist (and the heavy wooden doors) had caused.  Darkfire headed quickly towards the powder room following the Angela woman.  The other notables just watched. Nesmith sputtered and spit out some blood as he rose, pushing aside any more offer of aid from the superhero. “You fool,” cracked his grating voice, “You will pay for this insult.”“Dude, calm down, I am sure this is all some crazy misunder--”But before Slipstream could talk sense into the man, he charged the restrained Dragonfist, drawing a dagger.  Heather, seemingly anticipating such a move, pushed the martial artist  to the ground, and slammed Nesmith into the floor. He made to rise but suddenly spasmed and fell unconscious. Dragonfist rolling his shoulders to try and get feeling back from the incredibly strong restraint of Heather McGowrie, heard the voice in his head again. Thanks, sweetie. I owe you one,  and then the voice was gone. Dragonfist felt a pang of loss. Darkfire ran into Dr. Laine as the archaeologist exited the restroom. A waft of cold air issued out. “Did you see…?” Darkfire attempted to ask.“No. No one was here,” replied Dr. Laine and pushed past her. Darkfire entered the room and found it slightly frosted, with the window wide open, but there was no sign of her quarry. Dragonfist was trying to explain what had happened to the dour faces of Slipstream and Heather. Jae Sun seeing the situation with the gem in hand went to casually inspect the unconscious man, searching through his pockets and frisking him for any interesting items. “Who is Angela?” he asked “Angela Charles, my detective,” Heather replied with her usual cattiness. “Interesting….Well, my friends it appears that our trusted companion Anaka Ai Lee deserves an apology. Apparently, he was in the right.”Jae Sun held up a gold chain attached to a pentagram shaped pendant, and a wand with a goat’s head emblem on the bottom of the non-tapered end. “Mr. Nesmith is a member of D.E.M.O.N.”Dragonfist sighed. The Voice had been a nice person. Maybe he owed Her one.  **After some time, the police arrived, handcuffed Oliver Nesmith, and took statements. The D.E.M.O.N agent cursed and screamed in protest and vowed revenge as they drove him away.  The rest of crowd and then the heroes, after much thanks from the museum, left as well.  Jae Sun was still vigilant. He noticed that there was no trace of Angela Charles aka Zephyr, a powerful super-villainess. He watched as the Anderson sisters were driven away in a Rolls Royce driven by a striking, athletic African-american woman. He recognized her as Black Diamond, another member of Grab.  He saw that Dr. Laine was even colder towards Valor McCoy by the end of the night, and Dr. Blake had fallen asleep (or fainted from stress). Jae Sun was still thinking as they left Heather at her hotel. More bad guys had been thrown into the mix.“The offer is still open, Detective,” she called, blowing a kiss to Jae Sun, and winking to Dragonfist, as they drove away. “The plot thickens, Anaka. The plot thickens…”End Issue#4</blockquote>

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