Bronze Tempest
Bronze Tempest
Elizabeth Morgan(or Beth as she prefers to be called)was born late in winter less than thirty years ago. A few years later, her parents graced her with a sister, Veronica. Overall, they had a great childhood spending time with extended family, attending events in the nearby Central Park, walking to school, and dating boys here and there. They fought some, but never for long and never seriously. Her mother, Kaye, was a school teacher, but not at their school because she understood how cruel children can be. Her father, Vern, was a safety engineer and had to take the subway to work and back, but was generally home for dinner at 6 pm. She grew up knowing that her family loved her and she loved her family.
When she was in high school, she wanted to play sports and managed to break her arm. While she was doing some physical therapy she noticed a cross-fit trainer was working out at the same gym. She was so impressed by her flexibility and strength that she started talking to her and finding out what you had to do to become a cross-fit trainer. She finished her physical therapy and started a training regime to get ready to get a college degree in athletic training with a minor dietician degree. Using those skills and her natural charisma she built her own business as a cross-fit trainer. While she was doing this, her sister met and married a nice guy, George, and had two girls of her own, Lila and Lori. She lives in a nice suburb that is around 45 minutes away and Beth keeps a car in her parent's garage just for the purpose of going to see her sister at least once a month. She also will spend some of her savings to do the occasional girl's night out with her sister and teenage nieces. Her parents are now retired and are curious about why their eldest never seemed to get serious about finding someone to settle down with. Beth prefers to live alone and save her money.
While Beth never kept a boyfriend for more than a year, she has two very close girlfriends; Kim and Melissa who are both nurses and also a very cute couple. She actually works every other Saturday so that she can accommodate her friends and provide training for them. In return for her assistance every other Saturday, they provide first aid and simple medical care for her. Sometimes the medical care they provide is more than just basic as she will go to them for help if she has a rough night when she is participating in underground fighting. She picked up that habit after she was mugged in Central Park and, even with all of her strength and knowledge she couldn't defend herself so she started doing mixed martial arts. She then decided that the best way to practice her MMA skills was to fight with them. Sadly, she does sometimes get hurt and her best friends help her out.
Her business: Bodybuilding by Beth is primarily located out of two different gyms (Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday at one and Wednesday/Friday at the other), but she will occasionally do home appointments for long time clients who are injured or unable to come to the gym for a short period. She generally works Tuesday through Friday from 10:30 am until 8 pm and the aforementioned every other Saturday. There is little variation in her schedule within the month, but she will use free time to evaluate new applicants to see if their personalities work together and she can fit them into her current schedule. If all things are positive, then they will start the first week of the next month. Because she does have to take her parents to doctor's appointments or will have the occasional sick day, she made friends with two other trainers and we made an unofficial agreement to cover for each other. Beth is careful not to abuse that privilege. She and the other trainers also take turns participating in cross-fit competitions around the world. By allowing one of them to focus on competition, the other two cover their reduced client load. This means that Beth has been to Brazil, China, India, and Great Britain. She has also done some MMA competitions though she has never placed in the top three.
Fast forward to today - well, maybe last month. Beth went jogging last one night in Central Park. She felt safe enough, both because she had lived around Central Park all her life and also because she was an MMA fighter. Then out of nowhere, the grounds crew surrounded her and she was sure she was about to be mugged, but instead they just dumped a jar of an orangish fluid on her and they ran off quickly. Looking down, it appeared that the fluid was soaking into her skin so she shrugged off the event and ran home to take a shower and go to bed. The next time she woke up was three days later and she did not feel well. She called Kim - or maybe it was Melissa - to come and help her. The next time she woke up, it was a few days later. Her fever was gone finally and she was ravenous. While she was eating some Chinese with her friends, they kept asking her questions about what happened, when, where, and she started having flashbacks to those groundskeepers throwing that orange fluid on her. She started to get agitated and then suddenly, she was seven feet tall, orange, and very angry.
Character Location
Men and shoes - never take the first one you see
Current Location
Children
Related Plots
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 1: Mental Muscle!
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 10 : Riddles of Crime
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 11 : Race Against Overmind
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 12: Directed Misdirection
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 13: Shell Game
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 14: The Thought That Counts!
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 15: Plans within plans!
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 16: Puppets and Strings
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 2: Sleuth and Rescue
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 4: Museum Rumble!
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 5: Clue and Analysis
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 6: Breaking the Case
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 7: Underground Enlightenment
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 8: Drones and Dire Discoveries
- Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 9: Hot on the Trail!
Plans are for weaklings
October 1, 2009
I don't think I want that orange ooze to come together so I jump up high and land hard. The ooze seems to be shaken not stirred, but then it snaps together and is an exact duplicate of me - only red. I am facing a Red Tempest that probably is just as strong, just as mean, and just as angry as I am. Okay, maybe more angry since she is red after all. She immediately takes a punch at me and it feels like a plane landed on me. I shrug it off - or at least try to appear as if I do. I then fire a punch right back at her. She just smiles. I glance around and spot a metal pole with concrete filing and grab it out of the ground and aim for the cheap seats with her head as the ball. I slam into her little pointy head with all my might and suddenly her head is a clay ooze which looks like a wet Sahara which is very weird. She comes at me with her arm raised to punch me again and I know that the best thing I can do is put this cranky toddler to sleep. I feel the wind from her punch as I swing around and grab her in a sleeper hold. Now to hold on for the 10 seconds it will take for her to pass out. Let's just hope that it will only take 10 seconds since she is super.
She starts a titanic struggle to get out of my grip, but I hold on for dear life. Then she slumps in my grip and I know that she is out for the count. I lay her gently to the ground and do a quick visual inspection and find that she is really and truly made of clay. There is no internal structure at all, nor is there any suggestion that the nanites are being used like they are in the omni drones. Now the question is - if this is part of Overmind's plot, then what is he trying to do with this. I am convinced at this point, that he is responsible for the attack on me that caused this orange whatever that has happened to me. I know that Overmind is incapable of original thought and just copies whatever he sees like an enthusiastic three-year-old.
Flying Squirrels
October 1, 2009
I am tired of being beat on by people who have been traumatized the same way I have been. I call out - in equal part agony and hope - for them to please switch sides and let's go beat up that omni drome TOGETHER! They were not impressed. Maybe there was too much desperation in my voice, and they chose not to take pity on me? Then I glimpse Poison Ivy - so sad that she had to come to my rescue. I decide to try one more time and call on the hatred all New Yorkers have and their love for the Jets. I tell them that that Omni Drone is actually a Patriot trying to sneak into Central Park - this time they buy it and start heading towards the drone which seems to be ice encased now. Then I hear that same voice in my ear again telling me how much help I was in getting the ooze modified and how glad he is that he had the opportunity to show me how he is even able to use the cast-offs. This guy seems to think he is so wonderful and yet he is just using people, stealing things from everyone since they are all smarter than him, and then claiming credit. Typical douche bag.
I scramble for an idea and then remember that hand clap thing the Hulk did when we were fighting earlier. I face NE and, with all of my strength, clap my hands and four drones fall to the ground - dead. Apparently, that is pretty effective and I need to remember that trick. I turn around and see that Donata is covered in some sort of radiant red and I start remembering the distinct colors of the crystal jade vine plant that were below and then I ask the group what color they would consider to be the opposite of the red and the consensus is green. I ask Poison Ivy - who is having way too much fun keeping the civilians contained - if she has any samples of the distinct colors with her. She says she does, but that she brought them with her to see if she could help me. She is just such a sweetheart!! But Donata is in pain, so I ask Poison Ivy to help Donata first - after all she has lots, and we can try to fix me later and she agrees. She pops over and puts a syringe of something into Donato - OOOPS! we forgot to tell Donata first about our experiment. While we are waiting to see the results, I get another message from my local fan boy. He tells me that I should enjoy the psychotropic effect. I am a bit confused, but then I see all of the various orange blobs on the ground everywhere start moving - towards me!
I do a flying spin kick to the largest drone since the little orange blobs are not really doing anything special. I connect solidly and it is destroyed with a satisfying crash. Then I land and turn around to see the orange blobs have combined into little mini–Bronze Tempests. Then suddenly they all launch themselves towards me and as they approach, they seem to be growing. That can't be right though - can it??????
Puny god smash
October 1, 2009
I have had enough of that droid machine above that keeps firing at me, so I jump up and land on top of it, burrow it into the ground and feel very satisfied. Then I hear that same voice from the harbor. This time he insinuates that he "made" me and that he has an even better "experiment" to bring into the fray. I am finding that I really don't like evil masterminds and especially don't like when they talk to me. I really do prefer the background now that I am freakishly tall and orange. For some reason I didn't mind the spotlight when I was doing competitions, but now it just feels like people consider me an object and not a person and that is simply wrong.
Suddenly, four orange people jump into the area with a superhero landing. They are eight foot tall and are very obviously mutated park goers. I can just imagine the therapy they will need for the next decade. I would prefer to ignore them, but I don't think they are willing to be ignored. I must grow to my full size so I can interact with them on their level. I know that Hulk would hurl insults and probably the mechanical beast at them, but I am not Hulk, so I hurl two balls I grabbed from the mechanical beast, aiming for the two closest to me. I hit them and can see the orange ooze boil up out them and start expanding and covering them. They start fighting it and I want to watch to see if I can get any ideas about things to do if that happens to me again, when the third one grabs an empty garbage can and hurls it straight at me. I drop down and it speeds harmlessly over my head. Fortunately, it just hits the band stand and bounces off. I sigh in relief and turn back in time to see the last one grab a picnic table and tosses it like a shield aiming right at my spot on the ground. I grab two more of the ooze balls and roll towards the Fantasticar and manage to roll far enough that the table hits the drone I had demolished instead of me. Sadly, that means there is a fountain of orange ooze that pops out of it. It rains down in a circle and some of it gets on me, but not a lot. Some even lands on a drone and weighs it down.
Suddenly, there are several quarter-sized bouncy balls heading towards me. Apparently the ooze made me a target and the group of drones to the north of me decide I am a great target. I roll to a crouch and do a bunny hop to get out of range. They land behind me and there is steam rising from where the balls hit and made some of the areas into a patch of undulating, quivering plastic goo. That seems bad and I am about to share that information with Tesla, who seems to have taken over one of the drones and is making it fire on its companions, when I am interrupted again by the bad doctor. He seems to be unable to decide what he wants to do and has no real plan - just popping from one idea to the next with no end game. I am sure he is just toying with me, but I do not know why. What gain is there to bother with me - a new hero with no real status or enemies or even a membership with the group she is currently standing with against the evil orange ooze. I almost feel that the ooze is alive - and coming to get me. It is always after me - no one else.
Suddenly, the drones all start moving and forming a giant mechanical beast with tentacles. There are lightning bolts or sparks running along the outside of the drones. Tesla tells me it is more of a plasma bolt, which does not really help at all. I feel we should stop it before it finishes whatever it is trying to do so I grab the picnic table and jump into the middle of the pack looking for its 'brain'. As soon as I land - in the almost middle - I do a sonic clap and the drones clear away from the space. I think I am doing good, when I feel an elbow in my back and am knocked into the grass. Another one lands close but misses me. They seem to be intent on making bodily contact and when they jump into the air with the clear intention of landing on me. Since I do not feel like being landed on, I tuck and roll and go under that person and manage to scissor the legs from the one behind them. I am congratulating myself when a third one lands and grabs that leg I used to scissor and starts bouncing me from one side to the other - like a puny god.
I try to pull my brain cells together enough to grab their leg and knock them tail over teakettle. Some little gold bug thing comes flying through the air and I manage to dodge it. Then I realize that it was from Moon Knight and I should have either caught it or at least NOT dodged.
The People's Elbow
October 1, 2009
I see one of the Gatlin gun drones in front of me and the only thing I can think to do is to jump and land with intent on top of it, hoping to crush it. I land squarely on top of the flat surface and sense that I am being attacked by some of the smaller drones. I jump up and manage to miss the missiles and then land again on the drone. I smash it into the ground and it explodes and leaves me with orange ooze on my boots and calves. I check with my teammates to see if the Knight's vigilant armor provides any protection. They aren't sure, but the latex balloons are okay and there is latex in the suit so I should be fine. I decide to do the same attack on the next drone and jump to land on top of it. I miss and end up surrounded by the entire group of six. Now what to do?
Before I can make any decisions, they all fire at me and I attempt to dodge and jump and twist. It works at first, but they the ooze on my lower limbs starts to interfere with my balance and I get hit by several. Man, does that hurt!! Then I feel a splat on my back. Apparently, the drone fired at my back and hit me with more ooze. I am not happy right now. Not at all. I need to even the odds somehow, but what can I do? I don't have Sahara here to guide me and I am still so new at this whole hero business. I haven't really tested out any abilities that I might have. I can hear really well and jump amazingly. Can I do anything else?? Is there anything that strength and size would make it a good idea??
I throw myself backwards putting the people's elbow into the drone behind me. I am determined to crush it and make it pay for hitting me in the back. Sadly, that goop it shot me with has locked my arm in place and I can't move my right arm anymore. I need a quick solution to fix this before I am covered in orange ooze that locks me into a statue and I can't fight or even fight back. Then the drones fire at me again! I decide to use the disadvantage as an advantage and I turn my back to them and let that orange ooze work as a shield. I can feel the ooze get hard and then cracks and falls off. I tell Tesla what is going on and he tells me it must be ballistic gel. Apparently that is what the gel is meant to do. Get hard when it is hit with extreme prejudice and then cracks and falls off. He suggests that I hit the ooze around my legs so I bend over and, using my left arm, hit the ooze with intent. It solidifies and cracks and falls off. I go ahead and take care of the other leg and then decide that the best way to clear the whatever from my elbow would be to go ahead and try to hit that drone behind me again with the elbow. It dodges me!! I happen to notice that a balloon just south of Tesla is starting to sag as if it is deflating or melting or something. I tell Tesla that and he heads towards it to get it inside a trash can before it does something. Then I have a group of bouncy balls heading towards me. Since I am now ooze free, I am able to jump, twist, and dodge them. Well, mostly. A couple do graze my thighs and shoulder, but that is just a minor bump while I am at this size.
What to do, what to do. I decide to leave that drone alone for a minute and I jump up and hit one of the drones. I manage to crush that one and the balloon starts drifting towards the walkway to the north of me. I notice while I am up in the air that Khonshu is glowing with a very bright light that keeps getting brighter. Then an energy beams shoots towards me and MISSES!! Thank goodness! That would have knocked me out. Then I see another group of drones take up firing positions - aimed directly at me!
Taking one for the team
October 1, 2009
So, we are gathered in the aftermath and try to determine the next steps we need to take. We can see some drones flying above the central park area from the Bow Bridge to the Delacorte Theater. They have orange balloons. Are they just orange balloons? Or are they carrying more ooze? What is Dr. Overmind planning?
Loki shows up - sporting wings if you can believe it - and brings Moon Knight his stuff. The others are discussing the diorama and what they show of the tunnel below. Tesla speaks up and tells us that Overmind has connected to the state's power grid and is using it as his WIFI signal so he can track us and put the fights on the net for money. IT appears that the origin of the signal is underground where - at the same place that Statesman wants to investigate as a main difference from what he knows of the underground.
As Moon Knight, Tesla, and I go to start investigating the drones, Moon Knight mentions the idea that we should evacuate the people here - just in case the drones are bad for them. How? Is he just going to pull the "I am Moon Knight, and you should do what I say" card? He offers to buy everyone ice cream, but they ignore him. Then he gets the bright idea to pimp me. I am stuck signing autographs, taking photos, and entertaining the crowd. Loki helps by handing out pens.
Meanwhile, Moon Knight and Tesla head toward some drones. I try to keep an eye on their progress while shaking hands, signing various things, kissing babies, and posing for photos. They seem to be trying to ge4t one of the drones when suddenly the balloons separate from the drones. Moon Knight seems to have grabbed one and Tesla has it. Now that the crowd is satisfied and has dispersed, I jump over and grab one of the balloons. When I grab one, the closest drone turns towards me with all its arms whirling. I hold the balloon carefully out of the way and smash the drone to pieces. At the last minute I see that it was heading towards the balloon. I land and walk over to Tesla and hand him the balloon.
He tells me that Honshu (??) though about burning them and turning it into a vapor that should be harmless. I suggest popping the balloons over a container and emptying them and then allowing him to burn the balloons afterwards. He thinks that is a clever idea and is about to do that when suddenly bigger drones pop up and out and open with Gatlin guns!! I go to full p0wer. However, they are aiming at the balloons and not us. I jump over and grab the closest one and toss it at the next closest one. Instead of them colliding and breaking apart, they join and become a quad creature. I jump with intention to land on top of this creature and squash it. Sadly, it pulls apart and captures me with an electrified net. It is rather painful.
I try a full stretch so I can break out and stomp some robots or drones or whatever, but the stupid net is expanding as I am pushing. Need to re-group. This time I pull the net in tight against me and twist it tightly and it breaks! I stand up and while I am catching my breath, I do a full 360 scan to see what is going on around. The small drones in the air seem to have returned to their original pattern and are just bobbing along. Three of the bigger drones are down and seem to be out of the fight. The balloons are drifting with the wind and a few look like they might be heading into the city itself.
I think it would be a promising idea to grab those balloons before they are out of sight and take a jump. There were more balloons that I anticipated, and I lose hold of them before I can control the grab, I land with nothing to show for it. I do notice that the drones are starting to blink more quickly - like on a countdown - and are heading for balloons. I ask Tesla if we could do something to stop the drones quickly and he tells me that I need to get Moon Knight's iPad and put it on top of the statue. I agree and jump that way - only to be pelted by the arms of several drones - enough to toss me off target.
The Swan Flail
October 1, 2009
I glance from my current situation and decide to take out one of the bigger threats. I gather all of my power and jump over to one of the omni drones, pick it up, and toss it through the wall into the water surrounding us. When I recover from my toss and look to see it quietly sinking into the dark depths - except it isn't sinking like it should be. It is using HOVER JETS!! I am very tired of cheating. I am one of the good guys and I should win because I have right on my side. They are allowed to kill and destroy and I can't. It is not fair that every single thing I try is not allowed to work.
Then one of the other omni drones throws something at me and I use my martial arts to dodge. It knocks into me and spins me around and bruises my left shoulder. OUCH!! I jump over and pick up the yellow one and toss it through the hole already there straight towards the first one that is trying to get back to the warehouse. Unfortunately it gets caught on the edges of the hole in the metal and it is stuck. I don't know whether it is going to ooze down or pull itself back into the room. It doesn't seem to know either.
Then two tentacles grab me by the ankles and I am sliding on my butt towards a metal crate. I manage to grab the crate beside me and toss it over the crate to further squish the yellow drone. I then take the crate it was trying to body slam me into and start using it to push the ooze out the hole and into the water. It wraps all of its tentacles around me and the crate and starts to pull me towards the water. I, think this is an excellent idea and push forward to assist its descent.
Behind me in the warehouse there is an explosion of some kind and now we are going up instead of down. Then a voice comes from the omni drome and some guy is telling me that he is happy that I he managed to get me away from the team because I am the one he wanted all this time. He is pleased I have been embracing my powers and thinks that I have been embued long enough to be able to get others infected from my aura alone. I personally think he has been taking happy pills, drinking juicy juice, imbibing inhibitors of sanity. Whatever he thinks, he doesn't get to use me. I drop all use of my power just as the drone starts to do some sort of electrical effect that is supposed to "power me up". I do a lovely swan dive (more of a swan flail if we are being brutally honest!) into the water below. I hit the water with a splash. The water steams and starts to turn orange. I go full power to see what happens and the water gets hotter. I go to half power and the water is like a sauna. I go back to normal human - at least I think I did.
I power dive to the bottom of the bay and can see the orange ooze rolling off of me, but it doesn't appear to be leaving me so my vain hope that it was boiling out of me I put out an all call for help asking for Tesla and Loki. Loki isn't much help, but Tesla gets specific and has me check for any metal that shouldn't be on me. As I am starting to frantically check over my body there is a strong compulsion to DESTROY THAT DIORAMA!!!!!
I start to slowly swim back towards the warehouse where I know the diorama is. Then a sand monster grabs me in the water and starts trying to touch me in inappropriate ways!! YOU'RE UNDER ATTACK! DEFEND YOURSELF! YOU MUST COMPLETE YOUR MISSION! I block his touches and continue to slowly swim towards the dock. I am trying to go as slowly as possible and then I "hear" they must be taught a lesson for interference! destroy the diorama then use the remote device on the northeast corner of the building to detonate all the bombs at once! I am positive that I heard that the back stroke was faster so I flip over in an attempt to get to the warehouse more quickly.
Then the compulsion is gone and I holler for Sahara to grab me out of the water and search me for the device While he is looking, Tesla lands and says that his first action will be to disable the feed. I disagree with his priority list, but he thinks it will impair his ability to control me as well. I tell him to go ahead if he insists. Then just as I feel the compulsion attempting to take over my mind again, he hacks and turns off the devices and I feel my mind to be completely free. Sahara looks again and this time he finds it on my back and it is the same color as my skin. Tesla takes the device to do some tests and then starts talking to Moon Knight - who is acting weird again.
Tesla asks us to put things in corners of the warehouse and then he connects them and an electronic web washes over the area and the beeping starts. Then there is an absolute swarm of paper -almost like confetti. Some women tells us the game is on and to catch us if we can. I pick up two of the papers to see what might be written on them: Message 1: At the risk to misreport ... what is said to be like trafficking and so similar to escort... yet most certainly is not a teleport? Message 2: At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they?
Tunnels and Green Houses
October 1, 2009
We go to Apothocary Fu's and all sorts of people are meeting there - I get to meet Tesla Coil. Then we have an interesting and lively discussion about pizza night. I just hang back and watch as they go here and there and it is obvious that they consider this a second base - if not their true home base. After they do a lot of conversation and planning, they invite me to go to a meeting with their police contact. When we arrive, I give the detective a once over and he does the same to me. Then he compliments us on the news coverage that we have gotten so far today - from the fight at the pier to the museum. He shares a folder of the information that they have compiled and we get to peruse it and we share thoughts and ideas. The various blocks do not exactly match city blocks but seem to be tied more to longitude/latitude lines. Moon Knight hypothesizes that the tunnels under the city are the goal in order to move to be underneath something and then steal money/jewels/etc. I counter with maybe he is after information - like what is on display at the Stark Expo!
I get a Message from Dr. Isley:
Canisters have tiny transceiver dots on them. Range perhaps up to a half-mile at absolute best.
The pollen has been genetically altered .. victims could be fine ... could be consumed by their own powers within two weeks. The countdown starts after initial exposure to the chemical.
Water can wash it off if done quickly. Otherwise the chemical 'self tattoos' into the skin through absorption.
Anyone who has been exposed long term might either be a carrier or might be a source of an antidote.
Which is all sorts of encouraging. We exchange a few more texts and she tells me that the pollen is from the Crystal Jade Vine plant which she has one in her greenhouse. She has also heard that the Golden Lotus has a secret greenhouse full of them that she thinks needs to be liberated. I let her know I will help. I ask if she needs a blood sample to see if I might be an antidote and let her know that either Kim or Melissa took a sample when I was originally infected and a comparison to my current blood might tell us a lot. She agrees and goes off to talk to my friends first and she will be in touch later.
Sahara, Taki, and I head off to check out the tunnels inside Central Park. Sahara uses his librarian powers and directs us to a good starting place and Taki reminds him that he can go into areas to look for traps ahead of us. As we are going beside a bridge we see a very old symbol carved into rock and Sahara tells us that it is a symbol of Hathor - the goddess of the heavens also called the lion-faced goddess. Then Sahara pushes on the symbol and we hear a noise and when we look around the bridge strut we can see an opening. Sahara is ready to go in and then Taki follows him with me taking the REAR position. After all, how many times have I been attacked today??
I catch up to them and then fire is flaring from the floor and we have a workbench in front of us with jars and other implements that could probably embalm us. There are a lot of hieroglyphics on the walls and Sahara starts mumbling names: Hathor, Honshu, the god plant, etc. I turn to him and ask if he thinks the god plant might be the Crystal Jade Vine plant. He gets a connection and does some research and confirms that it is highly probable. Then Taki yells for Sahara and he does over to check out what she has found. I glance around while they are busy and I see discoloration on the wall and I think that maybe it is a door. I look around and see an Egyptian eye so I push it. It slides into the wall and the door opens. There is a set of stairs leading down and warm air is rising from below. I call the others over and we decide to check it out. We take the same marching order on the stone stairs and it gets warmer and moister and there is a buzzing noise in the air as the stairs circle and we seem to be almost to the bottom. We do a quick check to see if Moon Knight is close enough so we can all go into this next area as a team.
He arrives and tells us about how he had been searching the archives looking for a possible place that the dioramas would have been pointing to. They led him to a place called the blockhouse in the northern part of the reservoir which might just connect with the tunnel we are in. We get to the bottom of the stairs and it is pitch black. I ask Moon Knight for a light and he pulls out a flashlight and we see a door. It is wooden and old-fashioned with a simple handle and does not appear to be locked. Sahara flows past the door and we hear him exclaim from the other side and then he carefully opens the door. It is a greenhouse full of crystal jade vines. I immediately text Dr. Isley and I hope it gets through.
I start to walk towards the other end of the greenhouse while staying in the middle of the path and I find several crates with Mandarin writing except the address is in English that is in Chinatown. I turn around to tell the other and notice that the plants in the room seem to be focusing on me and as I walk back towards the team the flowers keep turning to keep focused on me. Then from the tunnel behind me, we hear voices and references to Dr. Overmind playing games and the Ghost Widow wanting us dealt with quickly.
The Tentacle Problem
October 1, 2009
I see Moon Knight being carried away and yell for Sahara as we both run down the corridor and then up the hallway to the guards carrying him. I reach for the two guards in order to knock their heads together while Sahara flies (slithers/cascades/whatever!) over their head and forms a wall in front of them to block their progress. I smack the two guards together bodily and Moon Knight collapses to the floor as the guards fall down unconscious, but it isn't Moon Knight. It is another orange glowing eyes person who has been dressed up in a Moon Knight costume. (Note: This is a pretty good replica. I wonder if they sell these too?) Then suddenly there are tentacles coming up from the floor where the guards fell! Sahara turns into a sand tornado and grabs up all of the guards and tosses them against the wall. Suddenly the tentacles slither away from the guards and start heading in different directions. I grab the closest one and begin to twist it into a pretzel. I notice as I am stretching and turning it that it is composed of those small nanite robots just like the giant robots we were fighting earlier. Another one manages to get onto my left arm and starts twirling around my arm and heading for my neck - the same place that the tentacles were apparently stored on the guards.
I drop the first one that I had successfully turned into a pretzel and jumped on top of it in order to keep it from doing anything else. It is almost incapacitated so I reach for the one that is crawling up my arm, but it dodges my quick grab and transfers over to my other arm, and starts crawling up towards my neck again. This time, it seems to be purposely doing a disjointed crawl and I can feel each individual bot as it moves slowly up my arm. Sahara yells, "Watch Out!!" I drop to the ground just as a ray of cold air goes where my body had been. Which was a great escape, but now I am laying on top of the pretzel. Then those pieces swirl around and join with the tentacle on my arm and now my arm is C O V E R E D with these little nanites. Now I have to ponder. Is there a chance I can figure out a way to use these for my own purpose? Imagine how powerful I could be with armor comprised of nanites that would be able to attack and defend.
Sahara asks if I trust him and I ask if I should? He slides over me and suddenly I am encased in sand that is hard and fits me like a glove. Maybe this is a better alternative than the nanites!??! I use the opportunity to smash the wall beside an outlet and grab the wires. There is a bit of feedback, but I turn and attach them to the nanites who burn, sizzle, and cook. They appear to be dead finally. At least something works on those! Then the final guard - who apparently has meta powers of cold or something similar - fires another energy beam. I am going to just jump to the side of the wall and dodge the blast and then attack the guy, but Sahara suggests (the downside of this armor is that it talks - or maybe this is an upside?!?!) that we use the wires and put them into the stream. I can't see an issue with that so I do what he suggests. The electrical power arcs back and the guard is tossed around like a rag doll - upside! The downside is we are encased in a block of ice. Still can't find fault with the plan. Then we hear chatter from the other team members and apparently we took down at least part of the power grid. OOOPPPPSSS!!!!! Sorry, not sorry.
We flex together and the ice block shatters and the ice covers the floor. Looking toward the attacker, we can see him at the end of the hallway - way down the hallway. Sahara thinks we should call the paramedics - or just the police to take care of these guys. I suggest we check them to make sure that they have had the orange glow knocked out of them first. The first two that I took down are starting to come around and we check them to make sure they are mostly harmless. I remember that those tentacle things come out from the back of their neck so we check there and all we can see are the remnants of sucker marks. We trundle down the hallway and check the last guy and he is a bit burned, but not in too bad of shape. He has the same remnant on the back of his neck. As we are about to call the police, we hear a voice behind us saying not to bother as the police are already here. It is Detective Kato Machale and he tells us he has it under control and we head out to see what we can do to help the rest of the team.
As I jump into the street I see a lot of different things happening, but the truck about to jackknife seems to be the biggest hazard and the most imminent that I can also do something about. I land behind the truck and grab the bumper and pull it back steady. I can hear the water inside the truck sloshing around and then I notice some sort of misty dragon shape that has teeth in the bumper as well. Once the vehicle is stable, I check with the team to see who needs help. Moon Knight and Sahara both respond. Moon Knight is hurtling through the air while wrapped in a net. A glowing orange ooze is floating towards the helpless members of our fair city. I think and make a quick (and hopefully correct!) decision to intersect and grab Moon Knight out of the air before he hits anything. Then I rip the net off him and we rush towards the orange ooze. Moon Knight pulls out a package with a snowflake on it and throws it so that it mixes with the mist and turns it into a dreamsicle sludge - that is sliding towards the sewer system. Some guy lands beside us and the team seems to know him and he grabs a sample of the ooze and suggests that Kara - whoever that is - call Apothocary Fu.
Suddenly, all the other people around me grab their phones and look at something and then stare at each other.
Museum Hi-jinks
October 1, 2009
We rush in to see Moon Knight get shot in the back by some sort of energy blast! I change and jump over to hit the one that shot Moon Knight and use my jump momentum to land a (hopefully) devastating blow. The metal gives at my punch and I feel a brief moment of satisfaction and then all of the metal that I had very satisfying crunched fly off the body and hover in the air and then flow back to the body and reform - as I had never hit it!! Nanites? A metal Sahara? Now, what can I do to take it down? Suddenly an energy beam comes slicing through the air at me and barely misses me and then behind that blast which I foolishly turned to watch and when I turned back - POW! An anvil shape hits me and knocks me back. I have got to figure out what to do to have a serious impact on these metal monsters. Then I see the metal column behind Moon Knight. Maybe I can use that as a giant flyswatter!
I jump to the back of the metal column away from the fight - just in case there is something hiding inside I can maybe deal with it before the rest of the team has to. I grab the panel off and I notice that the case is empty. There is nothing inside. Wasn't this supposed to be the diorama? Oh well, I'll tell everyone after the fight - priorities! I jump back to the one that attacked both me and Moon Knight and slam the 'flyswatter' down on top of the machine. It squishes nicely and a few of the metal nanites crawl out and kinda stumble drunkenly around. I lift the panel back up to check on how the pieces look and it is starting to swirl around in a kind of mini-tornado like it is trying to reform! Then a penny flies through the air and hits it and all the nanites fall to the floor. Then suddenly all of the nanites seem to get excited and they fly to the other machine and seem to be making it stronger, quicker, faster. Before they can complete the metamorphosis, I jump across the room and slam the panel down on top of it. It squishes down and only a couple of arms are ineffectually attempting to reach me. Taki runs over to do something with a cloth and then the arms retreat and eight tentacles squirm out from the side. Six of them manage to grab me since I am focusing on holding down the metal plate. Somehow they manage to hold me tight against the plate and flip me over so I am under the plate! Now I understand how my bologna feels!
Next thing I know there is a giant sand hand that pulls me out hauls me to a safe place. I turn to thank my rescuer when I see the Disco Boys enter the museum and run to start stealing whatever they can grab quickly. They say thank you to Knights Vigilant for helping them to pull a heist and I turn to ask if I am fighting for the correct side in all of this. I see that the remaining monster has grabbed my panel and has snuggled it into its center. I am fairly sure that is a bad thing so I run over and grab another metal panel and use it like a baseball bat to smack the first panel out of the center. It flies through the air and I go over to investigate it. It is smaller and almost looks like part of it has been melted away. I am fairly sure that that monster has been pulling material in order to make itself stronger or bigger or whatever. That cannot be allowed to happen!
I stomp over to where the machine monster is and smack him between the two metal panels. There is a slight electrical feedback as some of the nanites die off, but it had turned to attack Moon Knight so I only got part of it. Hopefully, one more time will do it. Then I hear behind me someone clapping. He blabs on a bit about I am so important and all that and then his hologram disappears. Who was that guy? At least now the nanites are dead so it looks like the battle is officially over so I ask the group what is our responsibility now. Do we help to clean up? Taki says that being a superhero is actually against the law so we can not help to clean up the mess. Then Sahara and Statesmen both jump into the hole where the diorama used to be and Moon Knight also goes down so I take the stairs down to see what is going on. Taki then tells us over the comms that she might have found another robot in disguise.
I follow Moon Knight downstairs and ask him where we are going and he tells me that he is Honshu, not Moon Knight. I am very confused and I check in with Taki and she attempts to explain that Honshu and Moon Knight and Mark Spectre are all the same person, but not really. Apparently, she is also herself and her granddaughter because she died a long time ago. I think they are all more than a little bit crazy but I understand after what happened to me. I might be as crazy after a few years - or decades- of fighting crime while being illegal and technically breaking the laws you claim to uphold. What is the right thing to do? Should I join this group? It is a lot of fun to work with Sahara, I can totally understand why he is a favorite of the public. Taki is very patient and kind and at least attempts to explain what is going on - or her interpretation of what is going on. I am not sure she has a good grip on reality. I thought Moon Knight was pretty good if a bit of a jerk like most rich people, but now with this Honshu thing I don't know anymore.
I am halfway listening to the comms chatter and I register that 'Honshu' and Taki is discussing a vehicle. I ask if I can assist and they want to know if I can get to the security office. I say I can and we get into a discussion of how I can check the footage to see what is different from what they are seeing. I don't see anything odd or weird so I share what I am seeing with Taki and answer her questions. Then I hear Moon Knight get upset about something and I am about to head out to him when I glance back at the screens and see a few things.
1. Sahara flying through the air
2. A recycling trunk heading into the truck bay.
3. A slip of paper that says "A waxing or waning fortune or fame...." inside a box that has orange residue
4.Two guards carrying an unconscious Moon Knight into the recycling truck.
Crossword puzzles for fun and relaxation
Thursday the 1st of October, 2009
I enter Little Louie's coffee shop and pizzeria and hope to see someone from that Knight's Vigilant group. I go ahead and enter after checking people coming and going for a while and I think I see someone I recognize. I walk over and introduce myself and give my name as Beth and she tells me she is Taki. We have some quiet conversation where we discuss Dr. Overmind and the team's previous experiences with him. She then proceeds to tell me that I am a threat and he will attempt to take me out of the picture and maybe even use me against the good guys. Suddenly I see a SpecterCorp van drive by outside with two men in the front with glowing orange eyes. I interrupt her to suggest that we should go - NOW!
When we get outside I see that Taki keeps looking around everywhere for something, but I don't know what. I get closer to the van to look for a license plate. I go ahead and put the comm unit in my ear, turn it on, and ask if anyone is there and then here Taki calling for the Knight's vigilant to assemble at the corner beside the coffee shop because of a suspicious van. I continue to study the van while it is waiting for the light to change. Then I notice the figures in the van are sitting perfectly still, not moving, and staring straight ahead. I open the comm channel and share this information with everyone. Then Taki runs past me (now she has a mask on!) and jumps on top of the vehicle. I debate for a millisecond and then jump on behind her. Then the light changes color and the van picks up speed slowly and proceeds down the street. I discuss strategy with Taki and she isn't really into strategy so I give the others an update on our position and wait for them to intercept. Suddenly, a dust cloud settles around us and now I don't think that anyone can see us. Then the dust cloud talks to us and Sahara says hi. Taki tells us that she is sure we are heading towards the hospital. Then we pass the hospital and then another van comes out of a side street and there is a package passed from one to the other.
Take elects to stay with the van we started with as the rest of us switch to following the other. Sahara offers to carry me with them and I am not sure how this works, but he says he can carry me. He even tells me that I can ride on his back and he can make me a chair to sit in - with a seatbelt no less. I let him know that I might scream and then I am in a saddle with a seatbelt and we are following the van and Sahara swoops in and then he is suddenly a motorcycle. I start looking around for the van. We spot a van - with the number 67 on the side- so we pull up behind. This wasn't the van we were following to I turn to Sahara to find out what the expert thinks we should do. He thinks that we should traverse the parking garage to look for the correct van. Then we see a convoy of vans approaching and he suggests that I get off while he stops them. I agree and stand back to observe. He gets ahead of them and forms into concrete barriers.
Suddenly the vans just stop. Sahara flows back into his normal shape and is instantly recognized - of course! He introduces me so I have to instachange into Bronze Tempest and then we start talking to the teams. I suggest that we plot their last remembered locations to combine with the information that Taki got to see if we can find a nexus or something interesting to provide a new path of investigation. We mingle with the various teams and plot the points and I think there is something odd about the points and then Sahara points out that the vans were exactly six blocks apart beside Central Park and then a longer break that starts to suggest that someone is using Central Park as the center of a crossword puzzle. That means that one of the answers would end at the Museum of the City of New York - isn't that were Moon Knight and Take are at??
"Hey," one of the SpecterCorp techs approaches you. "I found this canister hooked into our AC unit. This writing on it make any sense to you?" (( Etched on the canister reads: "A painting through a peephole" )) Which wonder of wonders is actually a clue in today's New York Times puzzle - 8 down. Now we have to solve the puzzle in order to find the bad guy?? We started out strong, but now we seem to be unable to figure out a path. We hear the others on comms at the museum and they are dealing with security guards and smoke and then Taki finds a timer on a device. She sends out a video, but neither Sahara nor I can figure out what type of device it is or why it is doing what it is doing. Sahara suddenly goes on about "it is probably coordinates" and we wonder what would be tracked. Then Taki mentions that it is probably the package that was being shuffled from van to van. We quickly ask for help to search the rest of the vans and find one more clue: "Almost or nearly as described, but not completely real". When we put the two clues together we figure out that it is a diorama. We ask Moon Knight if there are any at the museum and there is actually one of New York City. He heads towards it as Sahara and I take to the sky to get to the museum. Taki is taking steps to stop the device.
We hear a strange voice over the comm and it is not Moon Knight. Kara (who is Kara??) tells me that sometimes there is Honshu instead of Moon Knight, but he is still part of the group and so is she. Then she proceeds to tell me a whole bunch of names that are apparently part of the group too. Apparently, Taki thinks I should join the group, but Kara understands that not everyone can handle it, but she apparently can and doesn't even seem to leave the headquarters so why shouldn't I join? As Sahara is flying us into the parking deck, I see a utility truck half a block away. Two guys - who look confused - are removing a large "Ironclad Security" sticker that had been covering "SpecterCorp" logos on the truck. I suggest that we should probably check to see if that is the van we were initially hunting - 38. Statesman takes that opportunity to chime in on the comms to tell us that yes, it is the same van and that it has already dropped off the package. Sahara heads into the museum while I check to make sure the buses are safe for everyone to get home. They are fine, so I strongly suggest everyone should head home and then I gently pop open the front door and walk into the museum. The area is filled with smoke and I take a deep breath - baby powder. Then I see flashes of red light and they all seem to be coming from the same place so I jump to be 18 inches behind the source of the flashes.
There are two robot looking men attacking Moon Knight who bellows something about making a chariot???
What have I gotten into????
A minor incident
Monday, September 28, 2009
I am sitting having a nice cup of coffee with Kim in front of the hospital to check and see if they have discovered anything about the ooze. She said they were having trouble getting anywhere beyond it was plant-based so they brought in a specialist, a Dr. Pamela Aisley. We chat about what they have been discovering. Apparently, the fancy doctor was able to identify the plant proteins which seem to be some sort of prehistoric viney thing called the crystal jade vine that is supposed to be in the Philippines. This seems weird to me because how could something from halfway around the world end up here in New York. I mean, I know we are the mecca that everyone aspires to visit, but that seems to be stretching a bit for a plant to want to be here too. Just then, there is the sound of breaking glass and then four of the security guards land on the pavement in front of us. One is carrying the canister of orange ooze, one has a laptop which I assume has all of the information on the orange ooze testing, and one has Kim.
I scream in frustration as they all run in different directions and then I am suddenly no longer Beth Morgan, but the Bronze Tempest. I jump into action - literally as I take off and land in front of the guy carrying the canister. At the same time Melissa takes off towards Kim - why couldn't she let me deal with it..... I land a solid punch on his jaw with one hand as I grab the canister with the other. He goes flying and lands in a heap over by the trees outside the cafe. I see the guys with the laptop and Kim running faster and further apart. I growl in frustration and then I see a lady with skin that kinda looks green walk out of the hospital. I hope she is a good guy and jump over to her and hand her the canister. I introduce myself and give her the canister and tell her which guy has the laptop. Then I jump in front of the guy who is holding Kim. It is one of the security guys I have seen around before. He seems a bit bulkier, his eyes are glowing orange now, and his skin seems to be rock-like. I try to talk to him and get him to come to his senses and remember that he is a good guy, but he just babbles about must get the canister and the information. Then he jumps away from me. Well, that ain't gonna work so I jump beside him and slide down and sweep his legs out from under him. He drops Kim and I holller at her to run! She does, I turn and see Melissa about to get in trouble with two of the other guys so I yell at her to go the other way and meet up with Kim. She does and I turn in time to see the guy with the laptop fly up into the air.
No wings, no jet pack - he just takes off with a kind of purple glow around him. I sigh and jump high into the air above him and land on top of him. I manage to get him down and the laptop skitters along the ground again. Ivy goes over and picks it up and just then, it gets pulled from her hands and into the hands of one of the remaining guys. I run over and punch him, or at least try to. He kinda shimmers or something and dodges the blow. I decide to use that trick that big, mean, and green pulled on me and bring both hands around to smack him. He ducks down and then turns to run. Since he doesn't bother to look behind him, I grab a nearby table and throw it into his back. He falls down and the laptop hits the ground again and rattles across it. I let the last guy get away since he didn't have anything and then I pick up the laptop and walk over to the green chick. I am about to start talking about what is going on, but she suggests that we get off the street to somewhere more secure than the street in front of the hospital. I invite her to my headquarters and tell Kim and Melissa that I will catch up to them later.
While we are walking along, I glance at a TV in a store window and see a newsflash about the Knights Vigilant fighting in Central Park West. The antagonists have glowing orange eyes and there are three canisters that appear to be floating in the air. I turn to Poison Ivy and tell her that I know those guys and that I can get there in just a couple of jumps if she trusts me enough to get on my back and go with me. She also knows the Knights Vigilant and is willing to go along for the ride. I take the first jump and as we are heading into the pier I angle so that Poison Ivy can grab one of the canisters. As I am landing, I see a person on top of the newsstand with a satchel that appears to have a lot of small canisters and it looks like he is about to toss them into the crowd. I set Poison Ivy down and hop over to the one Knights Vigilant character that I think can help me to save the tourists. He says hi and I get ready to convince him to go after the guy on the newsstand and I will assist with the other canisters.
I ask him if he can turn into any shape and he replies with, "of course," like I should have known. I suggest he turn into a boomerang and I toss him so that he can more easily grab the canisters. He changes shape and I do a beautiful toss. He is heading straight towards the canisters and then something happens. I am not sure what, but suddenly the canisters are heading in the opposite directions and have not been caught. What happened?!??!? Apparently no one has taken care of the guy on the roof like I hoped so I hop up there and punch him and try to grab his bag. He dodges and maintains his grip on the bag. I take a more firm grip of the bag and then knock him back solidly. He loses his grip on the bag and slides towards the edge of the roof. I walk over to see if he will ask for help and that is when I notice that his eyes are glowing. Then I hear various pops around the park and orange glitter is shot off from the canisters. I turn back to look at the guy on the edge of the roof and his eyes are no longer glowing so I grab him and set him down on the ground and then head towards Poison Ivy.
The others gather around and start talking to me and then Moon Knight hands me a box which he says contains a comm unit for me and he tells me to go to Apothocary Fu and get fitted for my super suit. Who are these people? I just stand there and take in their conversation while I attempt to reach a decision about whether I should throw in my lot with theirs. They seem to have their hearts in the right place and it might be good to have someone to help me navigate the waters of becoming a hero. I put the comm unit in my ear and make plans to head towards Apothocary Fu's as we make plans on how to do some team tactics. Then Poison Ivy speaks up and informs us that she needs to get to her lab to finish her tests. We hear sirens in the distance and the Knights Vigilant scatter as I give Ivy a 'ride' back to her car.
Me? A Hero?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
I land in the middle of a battle and see on the far side of the fight a guy with an orange canister just like what I remember being tossed at me. I have to get to him! I jump over the rabble in front of me and get to the guy with a canister. I pick him up and ask him for the canister, but all he does is gurgle at me so I take the canister away from him and drop him. Suddenly I am knocked flying and land in a heap. I do manage to make sure the canister is not broken as I look behind me and see a nine-foot-tall red thing - almost like me.......I look at him and see that he is surrounded by a cloud of some kind of smoke. Since I am not sure that I can safely go inside that cloud, I taunt the big guy so he will come to me. He calls me a little lady and basically ignores me. I get a little frustrated and suddenly I am almost as tall as he is and I call him names and insult his manhood. Next thing I know a rock comes flying out of the cloud - straight at someone else. He seems to be wearing power armor so I am sure he will be fine.
Then some guy on a rock beside me breaks out some electric whips at the same time that I see my canister going the opposite way of the big guy. I have to get that canister so that Kim and Melissa can do some testing on it to see if they can fix me. I grab the whips - apparently, electricity still hurts even in my transformed body - who knew? I manage to yank him off the rock and into the grass. Just as I am about to turn and head towards the little guy holding the canister, two other guys attack me from the other side - one high and one low. Good thing I am a cross-fit athlete. I am able to jump into the air and dodge the double attack. I turn once and longingly see my canister running away, but right is right so I turn and jump over to get behind the big guy and I hit him as hard as I can. He moves maybe a half step and then turns to look at me and grunt. I respond with "Is it my turn now?" Suddenly he starts swinging his arms forward and I know that I shouldn't be there when they meet. I do one of my martial arts flips and jump straight up and land behind where I was. His handclap gives off a sonic boom and the edge of it catches me - that hurts. I have gotten used to most things not hurting anymore.
Then there is a little voice below me that suggests I should work with him. I start to give him all the reasons that this is a bad idea and he interrupts me to say that we should just hit the bad guy before he has a chance to hit us first. We both hit and manage to knock big red out. I tell him thanks and all, but I have to get that canister before it gets away. One of the other guys floats down and hands the canister to me. I am about to say thanks and all, but I got to go and they both turn to help out the other two members of the team. Now I have to make a decision. I have the canister that I was after and I am not badly hurt. Do I help them finish the fight or do I take the card of this Moon Knight character and disappear for now? After all, once I get my friends to test the material I will have a chance to be normal again. What is the right thing to do? Am I a hero? Do I stay? Or do I go? I glance at the canister and I see writing on it. It says, "In ancient times, Pliny the Elder considered this to over anything around him, including living things." in a beautiful handwritten script. I growl since I feel like I have been told I have to stay and fight this battle to the end. I see on the other end of the clearing one of the team members surrounded by two of the bad guys and I jump into the middle of their circle. They stumble back a little and I can see that there is a chain that is charging for an electrical discharge so I strike it. I am expecting to break it easily, after all, I am way stronger and I could break things this size before I was changed. However, it just bends like hot rubber and tries to wrap around me instead of breaking easily. A very uncomfortable feeling.
Then just like that, the battle is over. There is a lot of talk about they seem to think that I am supposed to join their group: The Knights Vigilant. They talk a lot and probably share way too much and I finally tell them that I am going to go have the contents of the canister tested by my friends. I promise that I will let them know the results of the testing since I have a card from the Moon Knight character. I do a jump to the closest exit from the park, and make a dash for Kim and Melissa's apartment to give them the canister. I still wonder who wrote - actually hand wrote that quote on the canister. Why would they one, write anything at all and two, pick that particular quote to put on this mutagen that did so much to change my life - and not necessarily for the better.
I land on a rooftop and skid a little bit. "You should bend your knees when you land," says Knight Thrasher. We talk for a while about what a hero is, why to become a hero, and what is involved in being a hero. He makes a good point about needing to think about what I will do if the answer to being normal again is a no. So, what do I really need to do next?
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