[IC] X-Wives
 

If there was one thing Legend loved, it was fighting robots. Flesh and blood, even superhuman flesh and blood was tricky. He had to figure out just how much he had to pull his punches to disable without killing or crippling or what he could wrap up in that would be enough to hold them. With a robot, no need to mess around. He could go all-out. Even if it was one of the rare self-aware ones, he could pull off all their limbs with the sure and secure knowledge that he wasn't doing anything that couldn't be fixed or would traumatize the kids watching the live coverage. Back in the old days, smashing up Doctor Prometheus's contraptions had been a regular part of his routine, and the endless creativity of his opponent always kept it fresh although most of them weren't huge challenges in the end. If anything was ever going to kill him, it wouldn't be a robot.

Perhaps it was because he liked it so much and had done so much of it that he was so sloppy this time, and just flew headlong at the rampaging metal giant, hoping to take it out with a single hit. Maybe it was because he was in a rush, already thinking ahead to the appointment he would be late for if this took much time. Either way, he only knew he was in trouble when his flight power conked out as soon he got within 50 feet of the thing.

He immediately started to tumble and veer off course, which was just as well since if he'd kept going in the same direction he would have experienced what it's like for the insect when it hits the windshield. Instead, he got to feel what it was like to be swatted in mid-air as the robot swung one Buick-size palm and barely clipped him.

Even under the influence of red mercury catalyzed radiation, he could still take more punishment than a normal human being. His breath was knocked out of course, blood streaming from his nose and his body would be one big bruise in a few minutes, but as he was knocked away like a limp rag doll, the robot had already lost. When Legend hit the ground, he was a good 80 feet away from the robot, and his powers were back.

Long experience had taught the superhero how to deal with red mercury in all of its forms. All he had to do was snipe from long range, making sure to avoid its own range weapon and whittle it down to size. Of course that was the slow way. He knew he would be late but really...what can you do?

Three hours later his body was staring sightlessly up at the ceiling of the tunnel that led to his secret sanctum underneath the city, a fist sized hole where his heart used to be.

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Nicolette had arrived back in Isola, or the Crimson Mist did more accurately. Her energy form gathered over the center of the city. She could feel the traffic moving through the streets like blood in her veins. She soared unseen through the city, feeling nostalgia for the days when she would help Legend battle evil in these very streets and in the skies above them. No one walking below could see her, she knew, but she smiled inside with the knowledge that the paragon of heroes would have certainly sensed her by now. He would not come, and she would not seek him out. Their unspoken agreement would only be broken if the most dire of threats should emerge.

Their love was cut short. She had become lost in that place and he had mourned her and moved on. All the while he was the one thing that kept her fighting through hell to get home. She'd always believed they would be together again, but the timing was never right... But what did they have if not time, she thought? She was returning to Isola for her 100th birthday, and hadn't aged a day since she said "I do". They had all the time in the world.

She was excited to see Gabrielle. Nicolette had not visited her child since the incident with her grandson Ricky, with his self replicating toys threatening to take over the suburb where they lived. Nicolette was at a crucial part of her training. She came to help immediately when called, but disappeared just as quickly when the threat was dealt with. They had spoken on the phone, but Nicolette still didn't like running off like that.

She drew her essence together in a sky-rise, resuming human form in the ladies room adjoining her daughter's office. "I'm in the lavatory dear." she calls out softly while turned to the mirror touching up her lipstick. Nicolette had surprised Gabriel before, and her daughter had chided her for shocking her with unexpected arrivals. Nicolette was delighted to hear her daughter's quick steps to the door. Nicolette tucks the lipstick away in her tiny purse and opens the door to see her daughter. The family resemblance would be obvious to anyone, tall and lovely with fine elfin features and skin like pale honey.

Gabrielle embraced her mother, but not with the exuberance of being reunited after her long absence... Gabrielle was upset, she had been crying.

"I'm so sorry mother. I just can't believe it."

Nicolette meets her daughter's state with concern and confusion "Are you alright honey? Slow down and tell me what's happened."

Gabrielle is momentarily startled..."You don't know? Mum... Legend is... he's dead."

Nicolette's look of concern sours to pain, but only for a moment. before easing to relief "Oh honey, I'm sure he's not. He's Legend!"

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Cass's eyes teared up. She hated herself for it. Legend had been declared dead or missing on hundreds of occasions, yet the news this time that the father of her son was gone seemed to be weightier. Cass turned on the shower to maximum hot and let it pour on top of her. She scrubbed away the emotionalism and the top layer of hurt with hand soap and a metal scrub brush.

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Francine was between teaching assignments volunteering with her environmentalists connections Appalachian area, analyzing water samples they had sent her in her home lab when she heard the news of Legend's passing.

Barely remembering to secure her samples she's quickly head up to her attic and out of her false aviary as a native hawk and off to Legend's sanctum in disbelief of the report Sure she will find himself home probably just laying low.

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

"No mom...not this time. They... they ripped out his heart!"

The relief drained from Nicolette's face. "But? No..." Acceptance was rushing at her like a freight train. Nicolette was desperate not to let it touch her. "It must be a clone, or a fake of some kind... maybe it's magic... I have to check this out... are you ok if I go? I'll check in later."

"Sure mom, I understand."

Needing a place to start, Nicolette takes out her smart phone and quickly reviews the media coverage, finding out who's in charge of the investigation.

Nicolette says "Give Ricky a kiss for me, and tell him I'll try and make bedtime. I love you." She becomes translucent and then seemingly burst likes a soap bubble filled with red vapor that quickly dissipates, leaving Gabrielle alone in her office. She lets out a sad sigh.

"I love you too mom."

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Cass comes out of the bathroom in her bathrobe. She pulls up some old planks from the closet and two hand lifts a large metal chest from the space below. She opens the unlocked chest lid to reveal the Rosie the Riveter outfit she hasn't worn in years, her wig and her metal riveter.

She pulls on the armored undershirt, a blue collar work shirt with the large worker name badge "Rosie" prominently displayed. She puts on a pair of work jeans, orange socks and good work shoes.

Cass forgot her clothing bill.. Even when she wasn't being blasted by evil energy beams or heat rays or alien disintegrators she was still a woman with a dense molecular structure wearing and tearing the clothes.

She put on her wig and found that it "woke up," moving and fiddling on her head until it looked as natural as could be.

Cass pulled the wig hair back with a red kerchief and looked in the mirror. She looked vaguely different then she did twenty years ago, but she would definitely be recognizable for what she needed to do.

A honk outside.

She pulled the wig off, put on a rain slicker, and headed out to meet it; her two handed riveter in a guitar case. She had the taxi take her the inner city. She went into an alley and was putting her wig on when a couple of gangers decided to get fresh.

The gangers grabbed her. She said, "bad choice of targets boys."

And the brawl ended with the men riveted to a large garbage bin.

Cass (as Rosie) heads for the police office where she had been called in for questioning concerning...or to identify the body of...her ex husband..

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

"Not how I expected the big man to buy it," the first plainclothes detective comments. In the inevitable movie, maybe they should get him to play himself. The most unexpected thing about him is how much he looks like what Hollywood tells us to expect a detective to look like, the young leading man variety. His partner not quite so much since seeing as how she's a good 40 pounds over weight and maybe 55 or so. Not really the leading lady type.

"We haven't exactly confirmed it's him." she points out. "Could be this is just a double, which could explain how our victim got punked like a tourist in Tristan Heights. Could be mistaken identity or someone sending the real McCoy a message."

"If it's a message then our anonymous tipster is probably the doer. She wouldn't want to wait around a couple of days for someone to stumble over the body in a place like this." He gestures at the storm sewer opening now fenced off with crime scene tape. "But if Legend was still...around...he would have showed up by now."

"Our tipster could still be the doer. Of course right now we need someone to make or break a positive I.D."

"Can we call the Squad for that? We might need them anyway to take someone who could do this."

She shakes her head. "He might be a founding member but the modern day Squad has barely even met the guy. All the ones he actually worked with are gone with the wind. Maybe we can get one of his ex-wives to make the I.D."

Above them, a hawk cocks it's head.

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

After a long internal debate as Francine having never publicly took on a crime fighter role before had the one of the lowest profiles of the Ex-wives, at least in her connection to Legend but in end their mutual need for for confirmation drove her to action. So the hawk flew to where she would not be seen but would plausible be approaching from and transformed into her human form as she landed. before she walked over to where she had seen the officers.

"Hello officers, I'm Dr. Wolfe. Are you here to investigate the rumors too?"

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

The two detectives who were on their way back to their car pause, looking confused. The chunky female one says, "I'm Sergeant Maldonado and he's Detective Bryce. Mind showing us some ID and telling us you are to be investigating anything?"

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

When she arrives she sees a familiar face but not a welcome one. The midlife crisis that walked like a woman. Legend was over a century old when he married her, but the nigh-immortal can have their midlife crises when they get around to them. Blonde, blue eyed, Shawna. Born rich and always willing to pose for the paparazzi she was famous for being famous before Legend hooked up with her and of course she has a flock of media fluttering around her.

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Rosie grinds her teeth. It wasn't enough that prissy proletariat blonde bimbo inbred idiot had to devaluate all of Legend's ex-wives by encouraging tabloid journalism, not only had this wonderful-wife wannabe Shawna dragged Rosie's son Legacy into this low brow celebrity scrutiny, but now she was turning the death of Rosie's best friend and companion into a media circus. Hell, this bubbly bi@@h was probably responsible.

Rosie stomps up to Shawna, then realizes anything she does will feed the assembled media. She takes a deep breath but instead of saying anything to the media, she whispers into Shawna bimbo's ear, "lets have a private chat..."

Rosie will escort stupid Shawna to the desk sergeant and ask to go to a conference room immediately so that she and Shawna can have some privacy while waiting for a detective's interview.

Whether or not they are given privacy, Rosie will fight back tears with pumping her rage in blaming questions at Shawna, "where is he? Have you seen him?? How did it happen? How could you let this happen???"

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Inside the storm drain Nicollette's gaseous form hovers. The body has already been collected but it can sense the signs of violence there. Spurts of blood on the floor and a curious scorched crater in front of the hidden door which can only be opened by a super strong person who knows its there. No sign that the cops realized it was there Outside she can hear the detectives talking. She draws close and sees them approached by a third person. There are a couple of police officers on guard to keep the growing crowd away from the crime scene tape.

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Nicolette fills the area and examines it for clues as to how this happened and who could have done it. She traces the spurts of blood for their origin points, analyzing the blood spatter trying to determine the force of the blows that bred them. She also examines the scorch marks and tries to determine their origin point as well, and looks for other signs of scorching.

After learning what she can here, Nicolette shifts her perception into the lair and gives it a quick once over to see if anyone has penetrated it's defenses. If it seems to have remained unmolested, she shifts her attention back to the surface and then materializes there at the edge of the police perimeter at it's closest point to the ranking officer.

Like dry ice evaporating in reverse, the red mists roll together and solidify, In a moment the haze is gone and Crimson walks toward the detectives (in costume but not with her shield or vest).

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

As Francine hesitates, unable to think of a story that will work; a welcome distraction appears in the form of a costumed superhero. Maldonado mutters "Oh joy," and turns away, letting her off the hook. "Crimson...Mist, isn't it?",

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

"It's just Crimson." Nicolette says in melodic but somewhat melancholy tones. She extends her hand to shake Maldonado's, her back hair flowed over her shoulders like a liquid as she tilted her head forward "May I ask, who is in charge of this investigation?"

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

"I'm Primary. Sergeant Theresa Maldonado. Do you have anything to tell me, or are you just hoping I'll spill what little I know?"

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

"I was hoping we could help each other in this investigation. Are you sure it is really him? I'm sure you know more than I do. I've only just had a look around. The scene tells us he was stabbed with something up to the task or while his powers were somehow suppressed, and then shot with some kind of a high energy beam. That and there was something on the ground when he was shot. Did the perpetrator take it, or has it been taken into evidence?"

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Maldonado says with a hint of irritation, "We haven't made a positive identification yet. If you knew him personally, you might help with that. We also have a recorded call we'd like you listen to. We don't know what happened with the canister. And if you want a look at one of my crime scenes you ask me first. This isn't the dirty 90s."

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

(OOC: Shawna is actually a bougeoise blonde bimbo)

"I...I saw him last night. I rented Destine for the night for a nice dinner, but in the middle of it he just does that thing, you know? Where he's like a dog hearing something you can't? So he flies off. You know it feels like crap when you're sitting at the table without anyone else? It's like a million times worse when the whole restaurant's empty except for you and a waiter. So once I'd given him enough time to know he wasn't come back, I went back to my suite, and after I woke up the next day and checked out the morning shows I see this reporter standing there blah-blahing about how Legend's body is in that sewer of his while the cops show up. And stop being mean to me!"

There's...something about about the way she talks about a "nice dinner"...

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Rosie softens some as "your being mean" sure sounds like a plea for help from this piece of work failure of a human being Shawna.

"In going to apologize just once, right now, for being mean to you today. Know this: I'm ******... And since you were with him last night, I expect you to be helpful in finding out what happened... Who knew you were getting together last night? Was this a special occasion? Did he talk to you about any Hero work he's been doing recently? When he departed, do you remember any pithy farewell verbiage that might give us a clue as to what or who he may have super heard?"

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

"I can certainly tell you if it looks like him, but I wouldn't consider a visual inspection as reliable identification. You'll need some serious cellular analysis to remove more doubt."

Crimson simply ignores the statement about the crime scene... She knows she can't disturb anything in her immaterial form and discussing those details would be a waste of time... good luck to her if she wants to keep Crimson away from the investigation....

"Let me hear this call."

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

"Well...my secretary knew that I was renting Destine for the night but I didn't tell her why. She was pretty curious since usually I'd have her handle the invitations for a private party but you know. First Rule of Legend Club. I never broke that one at least." Shawna looks down and the room seems to grow a little darker. She pauses and needs prodding to continue

<>

"It was first time we'd met FTF since the divorce was finalized. I didn't tell anyone he'd call...but I guess he must have talked to that ***** Erika first because she called too. She's...really sneaky. I don't know why she got my hopes up. What did I ever do to her?"

Erika. Rosie's predecessor. During their marriage it had disturbed Rosie a bit that Legend had a couple of times gone off to help Erika with some kind of problem he would never talk about except to describe Erika as "troubled". They'd met later though when Erika was touring the United States as a concert violinist and Rosie suspected that Legend didn't appreciate just how much he was understating the case. He'd been pleased that she'd managed to "get her life together" but buried underneath her smooth European elegance and success she was like a open wound. She'd grown up under Nazi rule. Maybe that was where it came from.

<>

After another prod Shawna gets back on track. "Uh...he did mention that big shipment of drugs he stopped. He said something about having let the Quiet Man slide too long. And he said been in space recently but that was about it."

<>

"Right before he left he muttered something that sounded like 'Damn it, promise. I guess he'd double-booked without remembering until something he heard reminded. Maybe he was supposed to be doing something with the cops? He never was very organized."

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Mental note: visit Destine,
Check phone records: what phone called legend?
Check Legends Hq files on recent quiet man activity.
Ask police about recent drug case with legend stoping it. Also, any heroes named Promise?


"Was there supposed to be anyone else joining you two? Who was your serving staff? Did you have any plans for after dinner; any other plans you made or romantic stuff - other places you were going later?

"Why did Legend say he wanted to get together? Catch up? Romance? Hero business?"

"Why did Erika call you exactly? What did you and Erika discuss on the call? How did she get your hopes up? what sneakiness? Is she in town? Do you have contact information? Did she sound troubled? Do you have a way to contact other...heroes...who worked with Legend recently?"

"The quiet man? Killing Legend seems too high profile for him... But maybe he was hoping we'd assume that.. " <swears in Scandinavian, the only words in Scandinavian she remembers from her paternal grandmother>

"In space.... Hmm.. He used to say he loved to go there to smile and enjoy his victories... Someone must not have been happy at one of them. What kind of drug ring could get Legend killed..."

"When the cops get to us we can ask if they called Legend in last night... But I have an inkling it was Erika... She was always needing Legend to get her out of trouble...more so then the rest of us I mean..."

"Wait... There aren't any heroes named Promise... Are there?"

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

"We have to follow procedure. Actually what we could use is some DNA that definitely came from him."

Maldonado sighs and pulls out a phone and begins to play the message. "Hello? This is the police emergency number?" The voice has an accent. German, Crimson thinks. "I wish to report a murder. You will find the body of Legend inside the drainage tunnel beneath 114th street and underneath Hamilton Avenue." click. Familiar. Yes that voice is familiar.

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Crimson asks "Can you play it again for me?" And concentrates on remembering where she knows this voice from.

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Rosie continues to question Shawna.

"No, if-"

"How, would I know? I don't have my own personal waiter. Although it might be-"

Embarrassment "I...guess not."

"Oh he was super casual." Shawna imitates Legend's bass about as well you'd expect a soprano, "Since you're going to be in town why not visit me in Casa di Fogna because there's nothing I love more than looking in a sewer for the hidden door."

She called exactly to mess with my head. I swear it was like being back in prep school with Danica-.

Irritation. "Will you let me finish answering already?"

After a brief apology Rosie slows down as she continues. "Well, she told me-- I mean-- She got me to--" Furious embarrassment before she manages to get out, "Don't you dare laugh. She misled me about Legend still being interested in me. That way. At all."

"I guess so. Maybe. When she called me the ring tone was the theme from that cartoon about the superhero dog? You know the one? Anyway I got it back when we were married as a joke for calls from the phone he has inside his little hole in the wall."

"No, but Legend does. He keeps track of all of us, you know. Like Santa Claus." The lights dim for a moment. "It's in his hole-in-wall with all those dorky trophies of his."

"She sounded...smooth, but helpful. Like just another matchmaker just looking to help fix up a lonely friend on a date."

"Oh I don't think he would have worked with any heroes recently. All the time we were married he was still mad at all of them you know. He never said "hero" without "so-called" Oh...don't worry he wasn't talking about you. He was talking about the new ones. He was totally "Hey you kids, get off of my lawn."

Rosie begins talking to herself.

Shawna looks at her blankly.

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

This has definitely been enough talking for Rosie. She opens the door to the small room she and Shawna are in, "wait here.."

Rosie begins roaming the detective cubicles assuming someone will ask what she's up to: "Who is the detective thats going to talk to me about my husband... Time is wasting..."

Re: [IC] X-Wives
 

Crimson will listen to the message again (If Maldonado will play it for her) and try to place the voice.

"It seems familiar... but I can't place it. But maybe I can do something about that DNA. I'll be in touch."

Crimson bursts into a cloud of red smoke and rapidly disperses. She flows through the street and into Legend's lair.

She fetches a few plastic bags and collects Legend's toothbrush and a hairbrush if she can find one with a strand on it or whatever sources of DNA she can think of.

Then she proceeds to the computer terminal and tries to find out if the base security system holds the answers to the questions littered about the ground outside.