9/25/2006 It's a fair, balmy night in the city of New York, a light wind coming steadily from the west and only a thin scattering of clouds to mar the starry sky. Doctor Octopus has gathered his forces -- the powered ones, at least -- in a submersible vehicle not far from Ryker's Island -- their target. The multi-armed madman is dressed in full colors, green and orange -- jumpsuit, long coat, gloves and boots. And, of course, his tentacles, which writhe restlessly as the mastermind studies the image of the prison on the viewscreen. There are a few of his uniformed men piloting the ship; the rest are in position, awaiting the green light. Without looking 'round, Doc Ock says, "Coil. Rine. Are you ready?" "Yes, Doctor." Coil's mechanical voice says, her white armor crouching in the submersible. "I have enough back up power and IV fluids to keep me going for sometime, in case noone can get to me with food. I've provided anachronism with my units; they're submerged. Anachronism you did insert those jet motors correct?" Rine has the goggles up around her forehead, waiting for the blackout. She is looking to a fro at everyone in the submersable. [I really wish we did this in a rainny night.] She thinks to herself. Otto adresses her and Coil, she waits for Coil to respond before, replying, "As I'll ever be Doc." She is a little excited about the action they're bound to recieve tonight, but she trys to keep steady. She starts to anxiously straiten her pants and sleeves. Red_Lotus gives Rine a sideways glare at her response, looking further annoyed by her nervous twitching about. "Girl, relax before you make a spectacle of yourself," she says as she pulls her own goggles on to sit on her forehead. She stand a bit away from the group, arms crossed, simply waiting for her piece of the plan. The Anachronism is seated. No smoke comes from his smokestack as his engine is at minimum power, for the benefit of others in this enclosed space. He has integrated the special goggles into his mechanical eyes, currently hidden behind a reflective surface. His many minions, too, have been augmented similarly, as well as the machines given to him by Coil. "Your servants are fully prepared," he says, as his mind touches on each one of them to check their systems. Out of habit, his machine empathy also passes over the submersible and those within it. Hunched over into a ball nearing a large, grey fetus, a disgruntled Rhino projects the image of an ugly, lump, angry ship in a bottle. "'Ey Doc. Wasn't I 'sposed to get some funny goggle or somethin'?" He grunts, his deep voice quaking with discomfort. Doctor Octopus turns slightly, not quite looking in Rhino's direction, while one tentacle twists to focus its 'head' at the hulking figure. "Yes, and I was certain I gave you a set. You didn't lose it, did you?" It seems fate that Octavius should end up with a Sandman -- a weak link -- every time he gathers a group like this. Ah, well. Another tentacle plucks a spare set from a footlocker and extends it toward the grey figure. Coil draws a deep breath and sighs through her proper mouth. The girl hoists a large black duffle bag in her claws and straightens up. Rine stops fidgiteing when Lotus mentions it. She looks at the girl for a few moments, before standing after and next to Coil. She grabs a small stick about a foot long and grips it in her left hand. She checks her side and confirms that her pistol is still secured. She gets a small grin at Rhino, and Ottos misfortune. She looks over at her men who will be left under Otto's control, pretty sure that most wont live. Her gaze rests on Coil, and she asks, "You ready to go?" Red_Lotus nods as the teleporter stops fidgeting, although she does continue to eye her, as if waiting for her to start up again. She sighs at Rhino, but otherwise, remains still. A small insect-like robot crawls out of the Anachronism's cloak and climbs up on his shoulder. Several of its many eyes look like miniaturised versions of the goggles. It looks in Rhino's direction. Rhino reaches a ham-fist out to clench the goggles in his hand, tensing the muscles along his drab jaw and stretching the goggles as he leans his head down and slips the gogles over his horn. It rests for a moment until the brute raises his hands and pulls them over his head, the goggles squeezing over his eyes uncomfortably. It really looks like it's cutting off the circulation off to his head. "'Tanks." Octavius curls his lip. Weak link indeed. "Adjust the strap, you cretin," he growls, then turns to Coil and Rine, his expression hard. "Remember, lock down communications first. I want nothing getting out." He's said this before, of course; it's all part of the master plan. After a moment to let this sink in again, he says, with a note of relish, "Go. We'll be waiting for your word." "Not a peep." Coil replies before turning toward Rine, "I'm certain people in there will be armed, if you see someone moving for a panic button make sure they don't hit it. The button shouldn't work at all but I don't want to take chances. Let's go." Rine lowers her head as if nodding to Otto and the others. As she does so, she grabs the Coils armor at the wrist or whatever it is. She starts to raise her head before the two femmes are gone. The air colapses upon itself with a little louder pop than usual, but thats what heppens when two people disappear. They re-enter our demension inches above the roof of the prison. Didn't want to be off, and land in it. They land with a thud, and a slight splash of the rain that reappears with them. She nods over to Coil signaling to move to an entrace, so they can get inside the control room without incident. With the two away, Red Lotus slides her goggles on, getting prepared for the blackout and moving in. The Anachronism reaches through his link to a pair of tiny drones flying above the island. Only one is required, but you can never be too careful. He extends his mind through them as they approach, finding the island's detection systems and cameras and feeding them false information. To anything but human eyes, it will be as if the villains are not there. "Their sensors will not detect our saboteurs. The rest of us are likewise hidden from their monitoring system. Living eyes I cannot confuse, so we must be aware of guards until the darkness is in place." "'Ey!" Rhino murmurs angrily, stating the predictable 'I ain't as dumb as you think' as he fiddles with the straps and stares after the teleporting duo, then to the tin can. "He called me a greek if ya don't know what it meant." He corrects, his blunt face glowing with believed intelligence. Otto shuts Rhino from his mind with a sneer; the Anachronism gets a curt nod. Then the Octopus moves forward, closer to the viewscreen and the front of the large cockpit. At a word from the mastermind, the submersible oozes forward in the dark water. Other displays show, in coded blips, the movement of other such vehicles as well as updates from the handful of highly skilled men on the inside, waiting for the signal to activate the blackout. The teleporter and armored girl are suddenly known to those in the nervecenter as the appear with splash, litterally. Men's head whirl around to face the intruders, and barely have time to process what is happening before the power in the room goes out lights only function item remaining. Allother such items disabled from handheld alarms to tazers and buzzers. Coil's own systems whir to life, tendrils coiling from the back of the armor and scything like whips out toward the nearest tech to jolt him with bladed tazers of her own. The first tech crumples in his chair, "Hello." With staff fully extended and in hand, Rine appears next to Coil soaked from the 'ports. She gets a quick glimps of who is who and where they are before the power goes out. She takes a massive swing at about neck/chest level and connects with something, that gives an "Omph!" and a slumping sound is heard. She goes over and swings at a spot a techy was moments before. As the submersible starts forward, Red Lotus unsheathes her two punching daggers, taking one in each hand. Ready to go once they reach their destination. The Anachronism waits silently. He keeps monitoring the robots and flying drones, keeping an eye on the island. Just like that, the nerve center of the prison is taken, but -- as Octavius would have noted during the planning stages -- not yet held, not until Coil uses her abilities to their fullest extent. There's perhaps only a minute, if that, before the guards come to investigate. Time, as always with these things, is of the essence. Coil dashes across the room plethora of jacks extending from all manner of compartments in her suit and twisting their way quicking into the computer system. The girls mind reaches through the files in conjunction with her previously loaded schematics forcing closed all fire/secirty shutters in the high tech building in an attempt to quarantine the guards in neat little sections. "Communications secure." says the armored one, "Get back to Otto and tell him to count to 30 and begin. I will have all the control you need by then. Rine nods and says, "Be back in a sec-" She cuts herself off as she turns and jumps out of the room. She splashes in the sub and looks to Otto, "Phase 1 complete boss." She then turns back to look around at everyone. She then nods back to everyone and jumps back to Coil...gonna be the girls back up. Splashing agian but away from any cables or anything not waterproof. Rine reaches up and nods over to Coil, and slides her goggles down over her eyes "Anytime now." The steam-powered machinist waits silently. He anticipates the moment they reach the island, when his harvest will begin. An island prison built to contain super-powered criminals will be a gold mine of technology. Doctor Octopus grins. The expression is wide, cruel, and keen. A tentacle reaches out and touches a communications toggle, contacting his men on the inside. "Code Vitruvian, Galileo, Rontgen." Vitruvian for da Vinci's eight-limbed "Vitruvian Man". Galileo, a maligned genius and the father of modern physics (and the inspiration for a certain costume at a certain masquerade ball). And Wilhelm Rontgen, who discovered and investigated X-ray radiation. Rhino simply waits and drums a meaty finger against his leathery shin. === [!]Delphi shouts, "A vast sphere of utter blackness blots out the prison complex of Ryker's island and blinds every eye within. No communication comes out of the prison, no call for help or warning except for one garbled, panicked transmission of, "Oh my god, it's--" Then nothing. Not even static." === The pilot -- masked and uniformed like all the rest of Ock's men, mutters, "Holy--" and then cuts himself off, giving Octavius a quick look. The submersible surges forward smoothly, slipping into the darkness that, for it and those within, is no obstacle, and rising from the waves. It (along with the others like it) lands while the prison and staff are still reacting to their sudden blindness and the unresponsiveness of certain systems. The hatch opens on the rocky 'beach', and Doctor Octopus is still grinning. Ryker's lies before them, vulnerable and blind. Armor shifts, settling into a riding, almost seated position as the girl inside's consiousness fades into first her armor, using it's controlls to delve deeply into the conduits that make this building run smoothly. The front doors to the building open as do all intercom channels though they are rerouted to Coil herself. Waiting to hear the pitter patter od violent footsteps. Rine stands back to the wall next to the door, waiting for the others or someone else to show up. She has her hand resting on her pistol, ready to draw it, in case the next person she sees with the goggles Otto handed out, is a hostile bastard. Coil, is now more important than her, and she knows it, so she will defend the key member. Red_Lotus exits the sub, knifes in hand, and takes full advantage of being able to see where her targets cannot. Rushing forward almost noiselessly, she goes for the two nearest guards. As the first's throat is cut, a quiet murmur comes from Red Lotus as she uses the spilt blood to cast a spell to increase her own strength before punching her blade through the second guard. The Anachronism strides out of the submarine, his engine becoming louder as it shunts more power to his motive systems. Four drones climb out of pockets on the inside of his cloak and take flight. One is assigned to each of the invaders. They hover near their allies, ready to nullify any offensive technology they encounter. Nobody will be using anything but their natural abilities against the villains, and being human that doesn't leave them with much. Out from the water climbs a small army of machines. The vaguely humanoid robots move toward the facility, another group of flying drones accompanying them. Rhino very awkwardly squeezes out of the submarine and claws his way onto dry land, stretching to his full height and leaning back to crack his spine. There is no sound. In an instant the slate behemoth is thundering across the beach and bounding towards what should be the main door. Two guards are clotheslined in one swipe in the onslaught, several more crushed under foot as he storms towards the door. "Oh yeaaah!" He hollers in a thick brooklyn accent, his speed seemingly unhindered by the task. Otto steps last onto the beach, tentacles lifting him from the ground, and views the first blows struck with an expression of deep satisfaction. So far, everything's going perfectly according to plan, and there seems no sign that it will be anything but the same. Wagner's Valkyries take flight within the twisted brain as he moves forward toward the front doors, which are open courtesy of Coil. He hums a few bars of it, under his breath, unconsciously. Pitter patter pitter patter it has begun! Coil hearing this movement opens the first in the line of fireshutters after the front door, confused guards therein bathed in such complete darkness they are two busy finding out that their flashlights and night vision have no effect. Rine moves to stand in front of the door way. She calls back to Coil, "Where are they at now?" She waits for an awnser before heading out of the room, through the darkness. She starts to make her way to the wardens offices...he might prove a most usefull of hostages. Red_Lotus gives a nod to The Anachronism as one of the drones hovers near her before moving onto the next of the guard. Her flowing garments don't hinder her at all as she systematically goes through each of the remaining guards on the outside, letting the other invaders move indoors ahead of her. The clockwork man moves up toward the entrance and stops. The many robots under his control bound into the building. A few of them stop to pick up the incapacitated guards and haul them back to the beach. There, a massive thing hauls itself out of the water. It looks rectangular crab the size of a large dump truck. It moves on eight heavy legs and with large pincers, it takes the unconscious or dead guards and loads them into its dark interior. Less finesse on the Rhino's part. More mayhem. His massive form bursts through the doorway, uncomfortably bumping past comrades and jostling over enemies like finely flattened skunks on a burning southern road. Without the weights of direct orders, he goes about cracking skulls. Between Doc Ock's theft of their enemies' vision (not to mention the military efficiency of his henchmen), Coil's utter control of the various prison systems (and Rine's diligence in guarding her), the Anachronism's mechanical servants, Red Lotus' brutal finesse and Rhino's plain (but unstoppable) brutality, the Sinister Seven are able to make short work of the prison's defenders. It's a violent, bloody night, and Otto Octavius gluts himself on it as he makes his way through the halls and corridors he knows so well, heading for where the warden's office and, on the way, putting his own hand -- so to speak -- to the vicious cabaret. Perfection, utter perfection; Doc Ock mentally congratulates himself for the elegance of his plan and his foresight in choosing the perfect compatriots to help him with its execution. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/53 : Ryker's Island Blacked Out! Posted by Otto at 01:23 AM Sep 26 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Monday, the 25th of September, the entire Ryker's Island prison complex was engulfed in a massive sphere of blackness, and apart from one aborted, garbled transmission ("Oh god, it's--") there's been no communication out of the prison. At least not from official channels. At dawn on Tuesday, the 26th, Doctor Octopus sends out a general message to the population of New York city using the prison's own communications systems: "People of New York. This is Doctor Otto Octavius, speaking to you from Ryker's Island. Yesterday evening, it was a prison. This morning, it is a fortress. /My/ fortress. I and my compatriots are in complete control. I regret that there have already been a few deaths..." (He doesn't sound at all regretful; in fact, he sounds rather the opposite.) "...but there could be so many more." He pauses dramatically. "My demands are simple. I want ten million dollars in untraceable diamonds, twelve million worth in true adamantium... and both to be delivered by Spider-Man, /after/ he publically unmasks himself." Again there's a dramatic pause, and when Octavius speaks again, one can almost /hear/ the evil leer on his face. "Any attempt to assault my island will be met with deadly force and the murder of every member of the prison staff still living. Octopus out." Within the sphere of blackness, all light from ultraviolet through visual light through infrared is blocked out. Nor are these the invaders' only defenses. Contact Otto or another member of the Sinister Seven if you want to attempt to assault the blackout area (unwise) or if you're a prisoner wanting to throw in with these nasty people and thus get out of your jail sentence early. B) More to come as it develops. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------