The Contest - Part 3 (Backdated to June 6th)

[whoneedsdepthperception]

([LAST TIME on OMEGAFRIENDS: The sinister villain SLADE marked his return to Venture city by hosting a dangerous competition of might for villains and heroes alike, with rewards of cash and other valuable prizes! But when all the OMEGAFRIENDS proved to be
above such greed, Slade hatched an even viler plot! Seeing that Mrs. Helen Parr, innocent mother of two, had befriended many of the younger heroes in town, he kidnapped her and held her hostage! As the heroes were forced to do as Slade said for Helen's sake, Samus Aran and Superman tried to stop the villain, only to be caught in a trap! Will they escape? Will Slade succeed? What is his ultimate goal, anyway? Find out in this week's exciting conclusion on OMEGAFRIENDS!!!])

[A- Omeganet. Audio and Visual]
A little after 6 pm, Slade once again hacks into the Omeganet.

"Good evening, Omega Friends. For such supposedly noble heroes, you certainly don't play very fair, do you? Attacking the referee in the middle of a contest? You should be ashamed of yourselves.
It seems I have no option but to make an example."

The video feed flips to show Slade's latest prisoner:
Superman, barely conscious, hangs in restraints similiar to the ones that hold Helen Parr. Those who look closely can make out flecks of glowing green material imbedded into the man over a wide area.

"I have shot the so-called Man of Steel with exactly enough Kryptonite to slowly and painfully drain him of his life energy over the next 48 hours. After that...
Well, let's just say it's in the best interest of his health that you give me your full cooperation. If, in the next 48 hours, I receive detailed information on every member of the Omega Friends, including civilian identities and data on their known powers, I will release my prisoners to a neutral hospital capable of treating them.

I trust I will be hearing from you soon."

[B- Action. Parr Household. Locked to Robert Parr, Ruby Rose, and Blake Belladonna.]
((Slade will not be commenting in this thread. It takes place shortly after Slade ends his conversation with Bob via the Omeganet. The Parr kids are with friends of the family for the evening.))


[C- Action. Slade's Lair - Detention Level. Locked to Helen Parr, Samus Aran, Superman, and Slade]
Slade enters the room with a calm and confident posture. He looks each prisoner up and down in their restraints, then comments to them in a condescending tone.

"How good to see you all again. I trust you are comfortable?


[D- Action. Entrance to Slade's Lair. OTA]
Venture Munitions Lab A1-13 has been abandoned for well over a decade, yet it seems very busy tonight. Slade's robot commandos can be seen exiting and entering the building in coordinated teams, and occasionaly a black and orange drone flies overhead.

[E- Final Showdown in Slade's Lair. Only open to those who bypass D]
After facing all the obstacles Slade has thrown at you, it is time for the final showdown! Take him down hard!

Comments

[sociallyawkward]

Ruby already had on her confident face. The kind of expression that said not to worry, that everything would okay. "Mr. Parr! We-" And then she realized who it was. "O-Oh. Um, hi." She didn't know the guy she met earlier would be Mr. Parr.

Quick, Ruby, confidence! Everything being okay! "W-We wanted to let you know that your wife is going to be just fine!" She didn't know how widespread Slade's network hacking had been - was it all TVs and computers, or was he targeting supers? Either way, whether he knew what had happened or not, he was sure to be worried. "We've got everything completely under control! And... yeah." And she wanted to see how Helen's family was holding up. And stuff.

She nervously tugged at the collar of her cloak.

Blake? How does she words?

[descendsfromshadow]

... Wow.

Blake regarded Ruby with an expression somewhere between unimpressed and slightly baffled. Apparently wherever she'd learned those impressive skills with that weapon of hers hadn't included dealing with the public. At any rate, it's clear at a glance how on edge Mr. Parr is, and understandably so. So she takes the chance to step in before things go from awkward to messy.

"Mr. Parr." She edges forward a little, looking up at the very large man. "I'm Blake and this is Ruby, and I think what she's trying to say is we may have a way to find your wife."

That is how you words, Ruby.

[feelingincredible]

"You do? Oh good. How?"

SOME tension left his face.

[sociallyawkward]

Okay, now is Ruby's time to shine. Now she can word things good! And fast. She's good at talking fast. "Well you see, the guy who kidnapped her has been kind of talking to us- you knew she was kidnapped?" Too late to stop now Ruby. "My friend here-" jerks thumb toward Blake "-fought off one of his robots, and she thinks she picked up the general area he's hiding from it. Anyway we're both pretty good at fighting so we were going to head down there and kick his butt for being such a jerkface and we'll rescue your wife so you don't have to worry about a thing! I wanted to come by and let you know that you can officially stop worrying because Ruby is on the case and I always get my man! Or something. And also I have help. So yeah, we're good. And your wife's good! Or she will be. Once we rescue her."




Why did nobody stop her from talking?

[feelingincredible]

"Wait wait wait. You know where Slade is? You're going after him YOURSELVES?"

After a moment it clicked. "Are you supers?"

[sociallyawkward]

Ruby glanced over at her new partner-of-sorts. "Uh... no. Well, I'm not." Blake is.

Then she perked up. "But we're still going to take him down, don't worry! We're on the case!"

[feelingincredible]

"By yourselves!? This is insane! That man is one of the most dangerous people I've ever met!"

Because, of course, a random insurance agent in suburbia has met a lot of dangerous people.

[descendsfromshadow]

A very good question, and one Blake apparently picks up on judging by the sidelong glance she gives Mr. Parr. This wasn't the time to focus on that though.

"Yes, I've met him before as well." She fought him too. She'd like to say she won but it sure felt like everything had gone according to his plan. "Regardless, we can't very well stand by and do nothing."

[feelingincredible]

Bob abruptly came to a decision, influenced largely by how it was his wife that was in trouble.

"If you're going, I'm going too." He said, pulling the ski-mask down over his face. "Someone has to look after the kids."

[sociallyawkward]

Who-o-o-oa there! [ Ruby's holding up her hands in a "no way" gesture. ] I know you're worried and all, but do you even know how to fight? [ RUBY, IF YOU KNEW WHO THIS WAS, you'd be hero-worshipping him. ]

I mean, we may not look like much, but we're really good! I'm not just saying that, either. [ ...Not going to deny the "kid" bit though. ]

[feelingincredible]

"Do I know how to fight?" He asked, incredulously. But of course, he was incognito now.

Well, the heck with that. "You're with the Omegafriends, right? How much do you know about the Alpha Pals?"

[sociallyawkward]

Everything else? Put on hold for a moment. This was Ruby's turf.

"Oh! Oh! I know all about them!" Well, of course she did - her mom worked with them sometimes.

...She should probably mention that they weren't Omegafriends, but this was more important.

[feelingincredible]

"Not all about them. You don't know what they did after they disbanded. Where they went. Who they became."

That ought to be blatant enough a hint.

[whoneedsdepthperception]

[In another room, Bob's Omegawatch starts buzzing as the SOS is sent out.]

[feelingincredible]

The watch was in his pocket. Bob impatiently pulled it out to check on it.

[whoneedsdepthperception]

[Its an SOS coupled with a brief text message] "Venture Munitions Lab A1-13. Slade. 3 hostages 1 badly wounded. Deadly traps. "