The Adventure

"Took you long enough. I was wondering if you needed to go get your security blankets before stepping inside. I'm Echo, in case you haven't figured it out."

She glances at her watch.

"Got some extra stuff to deal with besides the item swap. Events transpired to blah blah blah. You know how it goes."

She clicks a button on her chair, and a hologram appears a few feet from her. It shows BOOM Channel 10 footage from the earlier three-way battle, specifically the end, when Ragnar KOs Rocketeer, but then collapses himself.

The hologram stops playing, focusing on Rocketeer's face. Ragnar's punch only shattered roughly half her helmet/visor, but you can still tell that Echo bears a strong resemblance to Rocketeer.

Echo stares at the battered Rocketeer with a strange expression on her face...a mix of awe, confusion, and scorn.

Muttering, but loud enough you can hear: "You idiot...."

She then clears her throat, and speaks normally: "What can you tell me about this Rocketeer?"

---

Echo's Stats:

Genius Gadgeteer (4)
Technopath (4)
Driven by Vengeance (2)

And AI imagery is inexact, but I did my best.

"The robot suit lady? Don't know more then that holo shows. Looks like she was kidnapped." Chillmera answered

Tomo internally sighs as they get the stun batons out. She's no stranger to pain, but pain is pain.

"Not what I was expecting." Fei-fei says as though Echo isn't there. She looks around the church with a blank expression, hands on her hips. "I don't get it."

When Chillmera responds to her, Fei-fei nods and adds her own take, along with producing the drive. "The person who asked me to deliver this would know more, you're in contact right?"

Rocketeer is unable to discern how they're being monitored. The collar likely relays biometric information to whoever's in charge, but any cameras or microphones in the cell block are too cunningly hidden.

---

A few minutes after Tomo's KO and the troops' departure, the steel door once again opens. A blonde-haired woman in patriotic garb struts in and sneers at Rocketeer. With her glowing blue eyes, weird black face paint, and twitchy movements, you don't have to be a behavioral psychiatrist to realize she's got a few screws loose."Matilda Lark, the infamous Machina. Caught like a fly in a web, after engaging in a pointless battle with Ragnar. [theatrical sigh] So disappointing...."

She looks down at Ragnar's corpse with an expression that's...remorseful?

"I argued against his execution. Figured with some brainwashing I could turn him into my boy toy. But Bulwark was adamant. Such a waste....anyway, open it!"

Rocketeer's cell door slides open, and the woman literally pirouettes inside.

"You can call me American Dream. Nice name, huh? Polls well with a certain demographic. I'm not part of the vaunted Omni-Men, but rather...ah, I'll go ahead and tell ya. Not like you can do anything about it. I belong to Omni-Force. Call it a little side project of OmniCorp's, in case the big dogs fail."

"Anyway, Garroway has yet to arrive, but he's given me the green light to...play with you. I'm a telepath, see. Figure I can mess around with your mind, get you all warmed up for the real deal."

"So...we doin' this the easy way or the hard way?"

Stats:

Telepath (4)
Fake Patriotic Bloviating (2)

Echo glances between the two of you, clearly expecting more. But when nothing else is forthcoming, she sighs and flicks off the hologram.

"Such a big help...."

Again, she glances at her watch, this time with noticeable impatience.

"Did someone have to take a dump or...?"

But before she can finish, you all hear a commotion outside! Peering out, you see....

A dropship has arrived! The OmniCorp logo is painted on its side, and it's hovering in the air, its jet wash sending debris flying. Eventually it lands right beside the church, causing even more of a ruckus. A portion of the church wall even collapses.

Both side doors open, and out steps a hulking cyborg, along with some well-armored and well-armed shock troops. You all recognize the cyborg as Bulwark, the man who'd (allegedly) kidnapped Rocketeer and Tomo.

He clears his throat, which causes his voice to come out in a commanding boom.

"We got an anonymous tip that some rabble-rousers are holed up in this church! Anyone who's inside, come out now! If you're innocent of any wrongdoing, then we won't have any problems! But even if you are guilty of...whatever...you'll still be treated humanely! But if you choose to be...uncooperative...I'll be forced to get nasty!"

Stats:

Bulwark

Deranged Cyborg Enforcer (5)

Armored: To beat Bulwark in a roll, you must win by 5 or more. Otherwise, the contest is a tie.

Along with:

OmniCorp Shock Troops (3)

"We don't, uh, we don't believe this guy right? Is there another way out of here?" Chillmera ask Echo

Echo...laughs?

"A bit late, but whatever."

She hops out of her high-tech chair, presses a button on its side, and with whirs, clicks, and the crackle of energy, the chair transforms into a sort of backpack. She quickly puts her arms through the shoulder straps.

"Looks like we're all a bit too busy now to finish the swap. A shame, ain't it? [smirk] But if you two stalwart heroes help me take out this trash, then the ingot is yours."

"Or you can surrender to Bulwark. Which would be suicide, but whatever. Some of you heroes have weird moral codes, and bow down to any authority....""Oh, you want to run? First you put two abductees on the back-burner, now you're fleeing from an obvious fascist psycho?! Shit, they give hero cards out to anyone these days...."

"But yeah, we can vamoose...if that's how you wanna play it. Decide quickly."

"Well, yeah I want to run, but that's because I have no idea what either of you can do in a fight. Your safety is my top concern. But if you think that magic backpack can take out a cyborg, let's go dance."

"Concerned about our safety? Now that's the heroic sentiment I expected!"

"But don't worry about me, big guy. I wouldn't have lured them here if I didn't think we could take 'em...or at least get in a few good licks before hastily retreating. Wait...lure them here?! Did I say that out loud?! [laughs]"

"As for my battle capabilities...I'm really fuckin' smart, a technopath, and really fuckin' angry. But can I take those goons alone? Hmmm...my pride says yes, my rational side says no. But with all three of us? Outlook is sunshine and rainbows for us, bruises and broken bones for them."

"You lured them here?" Chillmera ask, and pauses in thought for a bit. "Well then, nothing left to do then but spring your trap!" He adds, slamming his fist into his open palm, causing a small flurry of snowflakes to fall, very much diminishing the tough vibe he was aiming for

While Chillmera and Echo debated the situation, they didn't notice Fei-fei approach the fallen part of the wall. She steps out into the sun, sunglasses still on despite having gone inside, and plants fists on her hips. She takes a breath as she takes in the corporate forces arrayed in front of her.

"Hey Lieutenant Asshole, stop causing a scene. This is a church, show some respect." She yells back, ironically. "No one's done anything wrong, so buzz off, prick."

"You...won't struggle?"

Even though she'd asked Rocketeer how she wanted to handle this, the fact that the prisoner chose "easy option" clearly took the wind out of her sails. The telepath pouts for a full minute, circling Rocketeer all the while, in the hopes that something might happen to liven things up.

"Welp...you made your astral plane bed, now you gotta lie in it. Here comes the hammer!"

American Dream opens her eyes wide, sending a blue wave of energy slamming into Rocketeer's head. Rocketeer feels probing telepathic spikes stabbing into her mind, and her memories seem to surge back and forth, like stormy seas. Cackling, the telepath begins to examine, sort, and delete the contents of Rocketeer's mind!

"Buzz...off?! Me?!"

The cyborg morphs his left arm into his massive energy cannon, aiming it at Fei-fei.

"You must not know who I am, if you think I take orders from...whatever you are. Some teenage girl cosplaying as an anime character? A cat lady who's read too many young adult novels? You're outta your league, chick."

He waves his cannon at the dropship.

"If you really haven't done anything wrong, hop into the ship...along with whoever else is in there. My systems detect something, but...there's some weird feedback. [a long pause] No matter. We'll all head to the nearest OmniCorp facility and have a...wholesome chat. Then if everything's on the up-and-up, I'll let you all go. Scout's honor."

"Resist, and I start blasting."

"And no, this isn't a negotiation. Those are your two choices. You've got...oh, about 20 seconds to decide. No, make it 30. Cuz I'm such a nice guy."