"No, no connection that I know of. I got the impression that Breakneck and Silver Streak knew each other before they each got their powers, though-- perhaps Silver Streak once mentioned looking up to me...?"

"As for the risk... he and his two fellows are pretty confident... they have some non-powered henchpeople, too..."

"As for me, well, for a while, mine was the most well-known face in America, mask or no mask... My civilian identity isn't a household name, but there are many who know... I'd say everyone in the town near where I live knows, and there are many in Hollywood and the publishing industry who know. It's an increasingly-poorly-kept secret, these days..."

By now, Scraps was getting fidgety and wriggly in Goodwill’s arms.   He was bored, and wanted the opportunity to sniff around this exciting new room.

Gil set Scraps down. He wouldn't wander far, even in the investigation of new smells.

A kidnapped two-year-old? That was cruel. She knew that humans tended to mature earlier than she was used to, but she hoped the kid wouldn’t be too scarred for life.

“Indeed. Sounds like a rescue mission’s in order. I do wonder though: How likely is it that they were aware of Silver Streak’s issues and recent disappearance? Could the demands have been intended to be impossible from the start?”

White Lynx wasn’t really sure what purpose that would serve, but if they were going to remain steadfast in their demands, their motive probably wasn’t for Breakneck to race against his rival or whatever. Maybe they either wanted to put Flynn in an impossible situation while still technically seeming reasonable, so as to offer a shred of hope to make the later despair much sweeter; or perhaps it had more to do with Silver Streak. After all, the hero was in a particularly vulnerable state currently, and if anything was going to flush him out, a kidnapped kid wasn’t a bad choice. And once he was back, Breakneck could possibly force him to completely reveal his true identity.

Or maybe Breakneck was just an asshole. Not everything had to be a gambit, she supposed.

"That crossed my mind as well, and otherwise I certainly wouldn't put it past them, but Breakneck really seemed to be relishing the opportunity to do battle with Silver Streak..." said Flynn in response...

"Couple of questions," Gil said, having pondered the story for another minute. "Who were the other two supers, if you know? Two, do we have any clue as to where Breakneck and his criminal cohorts have gone?"

"I'd never seen nor heard of them before, but, well, one likes to introduce himself-- a Japanese fellow calling himself Tetsubo, The Club. And indeed, he does have a sort of large iron war club that he carries around with him-- so I suspect that inhuman strength may be a factor. Likes tattoos, so he might be former-- or current-- yakuza. Or perhaps he just wants people to think he is, or was... or perhaps he just likes getting tattoos. The other fellow's name I didn't get, but he's... odd. Very scarred up, or should I say very stitched up. Looks like someone tore him apart and then sewed him back together, with heavy black thread. Had some black bandages here and there, too, like around his wrists..."

The lieutenant looks like he's about to say something, but then sort of shakes his head and doesn't.



"'Gone?'" Flynn blinks. "I'm sorry, I must not have been clear. This isn't exactly a kidnapping, or if it is, it's only in the technical sense, in that criminals have created an obstacle that's keeping a child from being with his family. But we know exactly where they and my grandson are. They--and their henchpersons-- are at my house. They've forbidden anyone but Silver Streak to come and interfere, or they'll harm young William. This is a hostage situation. That's why 20 or 30 heroes, if we had them, would be too much. The best thing to try would be to try to use stealth to steal William from his nursery tonight, and then act, once he's once again safely out of their clutches. And since I don't know how to present Silver Streak to them..." Flynn trails off, looking at White Lynx, thinking...
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:05, Tue 14 Jan 2020.

Cosmos frowned as the situation was filled in. This was definitely a tricky one. "They sound less than pleasant company, I agree. But I should note, stealth is not really my strongest skill. In fact, I am usually the opposite. What I do... it tends to be noisy. And very noticable. Flashing lights, explosions, that sort of thing. Though I could make a very good distraction, if that turns out to be necessary. Subtle, I am not."

"Can we make a copy of Silver Streak's costume, and one of us wear it?" He looked to White Lynx and Cosmic Girl. He didn't know their abilities, short of what they'd already said. "I would probably look the part most closely, by virtue of gender alone, but I'm not that fast. I can fly fast, but not run. Breakneck would probably notice if 'Silver Streak' never actually touched the ground.

"I'm sorry... I don't know your capabilities. Do either of you have super-speed?" He paused for a second, and then added, "Our stealthiest member would probably be Scraps."

Actually, White Lynx had mentioned she had super speed earlier, when she'd introduced herself, but with so much new information to take in, Goodwill had forgotten (save perhaps for subconsciously).

"I bet I can get a copy of what Silver Streak wore here in a couple of hours," said the lieutenant... He and Flynn were now looking at White Lynx in the same evaluative way...

“Yes, I do indeed have super speed, as previously stated. I’m not exactly skilled in disguise,” A half-lie. With shapeshifting in play, she’d never really needed to worry about costumework, makeup, or vocal mimicry. “But if we can get a costume, I’ll give it a go. Could Silver Streak do anything other than go really fast? I wouldn’t want to get blindsided by his expecting me to fly or juggle.”

"Not as far as we know," said the lieutenant. "Obviously displaying super-speed should be enough."

"Especially if you're wearing the costume, and, uh, some sort of... alterations... are made... Showing up on the front lawn and shouting and running around inhumanly fast a bit should be enough," agrees Flynn. "It could be the ideal time for someone else to break into the nursery, because the villains are going to immediately look out the front windows, and the nursery is in the back... gets the morning sun that way, you see, nice for a child to wake up to... and easier to get him to sleep for an early bedtime..."

"I'll get some experts from the garment district to come over to attend to the, uh, alterations," agrees the lieutenant. "So what time do you folks think this should rescue plan should be done? Early evening? Midnight? Just before dawn? Just before breakfast...?"

"Dusk. Twilight." Cosmic Girl was surprisingly adamant. "People think we've evolved out of primal behaviour. But some of it remains. But as a species, human beings are at their most vulnerable, psychologically, at nightfall. More prone to making poor decisions. Easier to scare." This seemed like an odd thing for her to know, but she added, "I've read all sorts of books on this sort of thing. It really helps! I know some people think that costumed heroing is all about being muscular and fast, but there's ever so much reading involved. It's mostly dull, but sometimes, little facts like this pop up!"

"Sure. Dusk then." Cosmic Girl was probably too young to realize how badly she'd just insulted Goodwill, for whom hero-ing had pretty much been about being strong and fast. He'd done okay for himself, and done a lot of good, but he'd had precisely zero formal training. "Sounds like a plan."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Tue 14 Jan 2020.

“No issues with dusk here.”

There was something to be said about attacking in the day. Logic dictates ambushing in the night, so most savvy people would expect that, thereby most people would be surprised and likely caught off guard by going against that notion. However, none of that really mattered when distractions were in play. No matter what time of day it was, once ‘Silver Streak’ showed up, they’d be focused and alert, though admittedly on ‘Silver.’ In that case, the surrounding darkness would be preferable to light, since that extra bit of surprise no longer mattered.

Still, she wished she could’ve done a little more reading on the subject of heroism like Cosmos had. She had spent the majority of her recent research on humanity and the earth in general, trying to avoid accidentally showing surprise at the notion of horses or something.

"Okay, this is going well!" says the lieutenant. He goes to the door and orders someone to call over some professional fitters from the garment district, and to explain that it's a matter of a child's life that we get someone-- a woman-- to impersonate Silver Streak in a Silver Streak costume, and to come over right away. "And make it clear that at least half the point is that we need a Silver Streak costume, so they'd better bring some shiny silver fabric like that with 'em!"

He turns back to the rest of you. "So what about you other two? We've got our distraction, and we've got two fliers... Will you both go get the little boy out the back window? Or just one of you, and the other'll keep an eye out on the front yard in case White Lynx runs into too much trouble...?"

Cosmos pursed her lips in thought. "I suppose it depends on the state of the child. They might respond better to a friendly female voice. But that said, I am better when I have open space to work in, so flying above things to dive in if it turns bad might be a better use of my abilities." She then smiled slightly. "Although I am fairly sure that the White Lynx could more than handle things if they turn sour. I'm happy to go where you think best. I don't have as much experience, and I will happily defer to the experience of others when it comes to making a plan."

"Maybe I should engage the other supers, then," Goodwill offered. Two-on-one wasn't his favorite way to go, but you did what you needed to do and you didn't complain. He'd been getting stronger lately, so maybe he could make short work of one or both of them. Either way, he'd be one hell of a distraction. "And the henchmen."

Cosmos pondered. "Could you lure them out? If Lynx is out front, you lure the others out back, and I could try to pick them off from above. Or rush in to grab the boy while you're keeping them busy. A, what is it ... a feint, is that the right term?"

“Ideally, I should be able to distract and avoid any direct fights. Assuming that the main thing Silver Streak and Breakneck share is their super speed, he’ll probably want to race? Either that or keep him hostage for something. So while we should plan for a fight, I don’t think we should start off by drawing them out on multiple sides. We might be able to end this with no bloodshed. If they can stay out of view, I think it might be best to do as the lieutenant says, having one of you flying above and another sneaking through the back. That way, the watcher can swoop in to assist if things go wrong for either hero on the ground. We do still have to figure out what Scraps, the Wonder Dog, should do as well...”

"Scraps should probably go with whoever goes in to rescue the kid," Goodwill suggested, looking towards Cosmic Girl. It seemed most likely that she'd be the one to take that job. "The kid is probably scared out of his mind, but stick a puppy in his hands, he'll probably forget his fear for a minute or two."

The mention of Scraps drew the room's attention towards the puppy ... who was, at this moment, marking the leutenant's desk with a wee-mail for any other dogs that might happen by any time soon.

“In that case, since Scraps is one of the main things we plan on using to calm the kid down, either of you should be fine for either job, right? Unless you don’t think you’d be good as our overseer, Goodwill?”

"I think I can handle the job," said Goodwill, the 'think' being more out of humility than indecision or underconfidence. "The hard part will be staying there, and not getting fully involved on the ground. But I usually know when I'm not needed, and when I am."

The phone on the lieutenant's desk rang. He answered it, listened... then spoke to the assembled heroes: "...The fashion folks are saying if they need to take measurements and make adjustments, could the person they're fitting just come to them, since that's where all their sewing machines are and stuff. Since the person getting fitted has super-speed, I have to admit to the logic. I can give you the address in the garment district... But do you people feel like you've got your plan established...?"