You are (Not) the Heroes IC

"Reporters might show up on their own, regardless. Not sure if we can really help that."

She thinks a moment, then turns to Mask.

"I want to do this because the villains are going to be trawling for henchponies soon, and they'll want to target as many desperate homeless as they can. I want to drive down the number they get. If that's not your speed, those villains will probably have lackeys out on the streets doing the recruiting. Think you could use that to find out where their bosses are hiding out?"

Espresso wrote:"Daff, sunshine, we fought a literal god of winter and treachery, I'm frankly surprised we made it out at all."

Daff opens his mouth, then closes it. He repeats the motion several time, until most ponies would have guessed "fish" if they were playing Charades. A blush rapidly spreads across his face. Finally, he just nods mutely, turning away and taking a sudden intense interest in the opposite wall.

"She called me sunshine!" he whispers quietly to Rousseau, who gives only the slightest flick of an ear in response. A few seconds pass before he turns around, straightens a little, then gulps.

"Umm... Gaia?" he finally manages to choke out. He chews on his lower lip. Looks down at his hooves. Scratches his head. A few seconds pass. "Never mind!" he squeaks - a sound that would come better from Rousseau than the large pony.

Mercifully for him, the conversation gives him something else to focus on pretty quickly. He shakes his head emphatically at Madame Mask. His voice only returns completely to normal about half way through. "It's always the role of heroes to do what they can for any squirrel or pony! Where there's helpless, we help! Where there's needy, we kneed!" He looks momentarily puzzled. "And make bread!" he adds, satisfied before muttering to himself.

"Let's see... 500 bits... minus rent and enough for an ice cream cone for Rousseau... Ouch! Two ice cream cones for Rousseau..." He spends some time looking at his hooves, lifting and setting them down in a cyclic order as he counts silently. "That's enough to pay for enough ice cream to feed lots of ponies!" he declares energetically. "I'll help!" he says to Crimson.

"Look darling, this may seem like a good idea, but I doubt it'll work as well as you hope. If you feed a hungry pony today, they will be hungry tomorrow, and they know they will be hungry tomorrow. To work for a villain will provide more food and work. Just how much good would one meal and ice cream from us do for them?" Madame Masks moves herself to relax on a chair in the hideout. "Not to mention how it might point to our secret identities. Won't ponies wonder were we got this food? It might hint that we are or have connections to ponies who can provide that cook and serve ice cream. Not the most ideal knowledge to provide to potential villain minions, oui?"

But my biggest concern is that, in order to make this have any real impact, it would have to be a regular thing, and when it becomes a regular thing, you can not stop doing it. When something becomes regular, it becomes normal, it becomes expected. Stop doing it, or do it less, and ponies will feel like you've taken it away from them. You'll hurt their opinions of you, they will see you as unreliable. How exactly would you tell a crowd that their hunger is not as important as your other duties? I doubt even a pony with a silver tongue get out of that situation."

She turns her head to Daff. "A superhero's job is not to help everypony. A superhero's job is to protect ponies and the city from threats they can't protect themselves from. Armed thugs, supervillains, natural disasters. We are not the city's mothers. We shouldn't be expected to help the city with every little thing. If the city relied on us for that, it will never grow, we will be worked to death, and should we falter, the city will blame us. We shouldn't create an image that we can't sustain. We would be the most help to the city if we do our one role, and just our one role, and do it to the best of our abilities."

Madame Mask turns her attention to Robyn. "And I know you are just trying to help the city darling, but I'm worried that you are losing your sense of scope. Yesterday you wanted to bring retired heroes back into service, but you haven't even touched those yet," she points to the documents about other heroes Robyn asked for last night and Ferrum brought this morning, "And now you want to feed the less fortunate. At this rate, you'll want us to start a political platform to help everypony in the city by the end of the week. But we are a brand new group, remember? It would be better for us, and the city, to establish ourselves as great performers with a single solid act and room to grow in these early stages, instead of trying to do everything we want to do to help the city, only to be overwhelmed and disappoint everypony, don't you agree?"

Robyn listens with a raised eyebrow.

"So that's how it feels to get reprimanded without a piece pointed at me," she snarks. "My life is more complete."

She breathes a sigh.

"I'll give you the point on that. But my point about villains looking to the projects for henchponies still stands. We'd want to do something that puts us there to keep an eye out for them or their lackeys. I know there are charity organizations that run food wagons out that way. We could volunteer to help with one. Out-of-costume, if your jimmies are that rustled about keeping our identities secret."

"I am inclined to agree that involving your hero identities in such a task may not be wise."

Ferrum speaks up suddenly, announcing his presence in the room. "As Madame Mask says, heroes are intended has icons of justice, not all-encompassing philanthropy. I understand your desire to help ponies, and would not be opposed to performing the charity act with your civilian identities, however. The added bonus of keeping a set of eyes on the street would be welcome as well."

No one is quite sure how or when he entered the base, but he is currently reclined on sofa that the group is fairly certain was not there before the mission.

"Firstly, I would like to inform you all that the scene of the fight has been successfully secured. All... remnants... of the battle have been cleared away, and the plaza returned to its prior state to the best of our abilities. Secondly, I have further information on the meeting with our sponsor. You are to arrive in costume, ready to be received by one of the city's elites. I am not privy to the planned content of said meeting, but I have been informed that the sponsor expects you to bring your full arsenal of tools and abilities."

Standing up, Ferrum sighs and looks around at the group, all slightly battered even after Gaia healed the worst of their injuries.

"Finally, I would like to extend a personal request that you try and be a little more careful for future missions. If it were not for Miss Gaia, your injuries could easily have done you in even if you had won the battle. Perhaps it is unavoidable considering the capabilities of this particular foe, but nonetheless, your  approval ratings would fall dramatically if one of you were to be struck down in battle, so please be careful in the future."

Gaia, who has morphed into a large, fluffy bear, blinks owlishly at Ferrum for a few moments before setting her head down again, looking for all the world like a hibernating bear.

"Whatever you say, boss."

She yawns hugely, and closes her eyes, though she still keeps an ear out for the conversation.

"Yes, yes, what you do out of your costumes and in your 'free time' is up to you. If you want to spend that time feeding the homeless and watching out for villains, I have no issue, as long as you can drop it and get out should our act be needed." Madame Mask turns her attention to Ferrum, "Oh, and darling, you left your coat at Argent's place."

Robyn takes a deep breath to clear her head.

"Fine," she says after a moment, "I'll keep my guns and costume nearby. Whatever. Ferrum, I need to talk to you outside before you disappear. Nothing about the group. Just something personal I need to ask about."

"Glad to have you onboard Daff." Crimson answered happily. Turning to look at the rest of the team as he listened to the back and forth that was going on while his brain was grinding away at an idea. Each of them brought different skills to the team and despite his... Annoyances with Mask that seemed to be more of his problem then anything else. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth to make a suggestion. "How about if we made use of our talents together tomorrow? If we do the soup kitchen, it'll attract those who need it... And the scumbags who'll try to recruit them as hired muscle. So why not have some of the team disguised as some of the homeless, hidden in the crowd who are free to spot these recruiters and track them down to their bosses lairs so we can hit them later. Bit of a sting operation...

Daff nearly jumps out of his skin as the new voice comes seemingly out of nowhere, and spins around, eyes wide.

"You shouldn't sneak up on ponies or squirrels like that!," he says to Ferrum. "You could have startled Rousseau into accidently unleashing squirrely fury!"

He puts a hoof on his chest and breathes for a few second while Rousseau continues napping on his head, undisturbed. He listens as the pony speaks, then nods, visibly making mental notes to himself. He looks a little abashed at the warning.

"We'll try harder next time," he promises.

Crimson's suggestion cheers him back up instantly. "That's really smart! We can feed ponies and find things out! That's twice as much heroism! I'll have my ice cream cart ready!"

He pauses, frowning. "I guess ice cream isn't really as good when you're hungry... But ice cream makes ponies happy, and if I lost my home, I'd want to still be happy." he nods, deciding his logic makes sense.

Ferrum glances  in Madame Mask's direction without commenting, and when Sunset mentions wanting a moment to talk, he nods and starts towards the entrance of the hideout, stopping to check for anyone suspicious before looking questioningly at Sunset.

"Well?"

Sunset follows Ferrum outside, and waits to speak until the door closes behind them.

"When we were fighting Low Key today," she says, "he started using mind tricks on us. Well, when he used them on me, I started hallucinating back to my dad's abusive teaching methods. Trouble is I'm still fighting off flashbacks and hallucinations, meaning I've got some wounds that ain't quite healed. I want whatever help I can get to fix that before we meet Low Key again."

Ferrum seems to think about something for a moment before nodding. "I can get you in contact with someone. I'll arrange a meeting soon and notify you about it."

Saying that with the kind of tone which implies "I'm done here", Ferrum gives Sunset a final nod before setting off down the street. He turns a corner, and disappears from sight.

Time passes.

The activities of the week pass in a blur, the members of the team finally able to take a break after the sudden flurry of hero activity in the past few days. The Soup Kitchen operation is a success; the homeless and needy are fed and cared for, while the heroes keep an eye out. Crimson Chef, being the most experienced of the bunch, quickly picks up that it's probably too peaceful for a period of time right after a large breakout. None of the notable figures in the city have made a move, and even the common rabble seem to be keeping to themselves. It almost seems as though the criminal element in the city is holding its breath, in preparation of something big. After a bit longer Sunset and Gaia pick up on this as well, though they only manage to detect that it's suspiciously quiet. Daff doesn't really sense anything off.

Pidgin hears about the rising popularity of the new team among the kids at school, and is especially glad to hear that the popularity of Dove Colt seems to be returning, with the kids embracing a hero of their age that is not incompetent for once (cough humdrum cough).

The others finish up with their activities as well, and finally the time comes for all of them to gather at Lexicon Tower.

Although most will have seen the towering skyscraper from afar, up close the building is even more enormous, a steel and glass monolith that reaches the heavens.

Ferrum is waiting there, immaculately dressed as per usual, next to a stone-faced griffon, also wearing a suit but notably having a large medieval looking broadsword strapped to his back.

"Welcome," Ferrum says shortly as the group assembles. "This is Gilgamesh, Mr. Author's secretary. He will take you to your meeting location."

Gilgamesh says nothing, but beckons the group into the tower with a simple gesture of the claw.

(Perception prompt)

Due to being requested to come fully equipped, rather than her regular pegasus form, the creature that lumbers up to Lexicon Tower is a hulking chimera, easily the size of the largest grizzly bear. It's larger even compared to how she was previously, and there is an obvious increase in muscle mass that changes some of the feline features of her body to a more bulky ursine form.

So now, rather than a lion with eagle wings and a goat head, Gaia is a massive grizzly bear with a lion head, eagle wings and a goat head.

~I hope it won't be too cramped in there.~

She eyes the tower doors doubtfully, hoping that the ceilings are taller than they look from the outside, and follow Gilgamesh into the tower.

Perception: 1d20 [9] + 11 = 20

Something was going down... Something big. Crimson could feel it in his gut.

While Crimson's gut feeling couldn't really be counted on as hard evidence, he had been a hero for some time. You didn't last all that long if you didn't pick up a few tricks when it came to reading the writing on the wall and understanding what was going on inside of your cities creaking heart after all. Like how some animals fled a natural disaster before it had struck, the criminal element of the city was bunkering down in order to survive some kind of storm; The problem was that he didn't know what the storm was or where it was going to strike, even with their sting operation. It wasn't a complete bust through; Some ponies who sincery needed the help were fed and the world was at least a brighter, happier place for a time.

Now all he needed to do now was get a mare off of his couch before his landlord busted his flanks for having a third roommate who wasn't paying rent and things would be wonderful.

Donning his normal costume, Crimson felt kind of small standing next to the now hulking Gaia. Still, at least she was on their side. Offering Gilgamesh a respectful nod in greeting, Crimson took a moment to have a look around to see if there was anything that should have been catching his attention about this whole situation.

Dice rolls:

Robyn admires her new costume in the reflective sun windows of the building as she follows Gilgamesh inside.

Of course, admiring how her new costume accentuated her butt was mostly to mask her reservations about working with this Mr. Author. Growing up with Boss Amble conditioned her to be wary of rich and powerful ponies, especially ones with any proximity to anything super.

But, if Ferrum vouches for this one, then the least the Sunset Raider could do is give him the benefit of the doubt. Still, she keeps an eye out for anything particularly suspicious or telling about this Mr. Author as she enters the building.

As per usual, Dove Colt drops out of the sky in a burst of feathers and flapping wings, flocks of pigeons taking flight from where he lands.

"Let's go, then!" He smiles brightly, brushing stray feathers off of his cape and hoodie.

Despite his peppy demeanor, however, his honed bird-like senses are scanning the area for any signs of trouble.

Perception: 1d20 (17) + Skill (15) + Level Bonus (4) = 36!

Madame Mask follows everyone in...

(Perception Check: 13 (Roll) + 4 (Skill) = 17)

"I don't understand. What could the building be compensating for?" Daff says as he rounds the corner, looking confused at Rousseau, who is perched on his shoulder. The break did him all sorts of good, and working with Crimson feeding ponies had boosted him into excellent spirits. He'd have to see if they could do it again sometime.

He lifts a hoof up as he nears.

"Hi!" Daff says cheerfully to the group. "Uh, hi," he says again, this time to Gaia, who he looks at for a few seconds longer, working out the changes in her form before following the others into the building.

(Perception: 16 (roll) + 14 (skill) = 30)

The inside of the Lexicon Tower is easily as impressive as its exterior. Rather than having full floors, each of the hundred odd floors of the Lexicon Tower have an opening in the middle leading to a skylight at the top of the skyscraper, so that sunlight provides most of the illumination for the building during the daytime. It is commonly known that LexiCon is invested in numerous green urban design projects and it seems that their buildings reflect this interest, as it is noticeable that even inside the tower there are hydroponic flowerbeds along the edges of each floor, slowly transitioning from color to color so that a rainbow runs through the interior of the building. Strategically placed mirrors create dappled spots of light that dance across the floors as clouds and the sun moves lazily overhead. It's a marvel of engineering prowess, a perfect balancing act of glass, steel, and environmentally friendly construction methods in order to create arguably the most spectacular structure in the city.

In terms of work atmosphere, the employees seem content and happy, if a little busy - everyone except Madame and Sunset notice that the workers on the ground floor - even those in the upper floors, seem to have gathered around to look at the group as they make their way across the open-air area of the tower towards the elevator lobby, with attention especially directed towards Gaia's impressive form.

Daff and Dove in particular, however, notice that unlike the busy but cheery atmosphere of the general employees, Gilgamesh has a slight nervous edge to him, as though he's alert and watching out for some sort of danger. They don't spot anything else suspicious, and Ferrum doesn't seem to be bothered by anything either.

The group comes to a large glass door which seems to lead into a long corridor. Gilgamesh knocks on the door a few times, and a muffled voice can be heard saying, "Come in."

Gilgamesh nods, and opens the door. Rather than the corridor which can be seen through the glass door, when the doors open what the group sees is a very opulent office, and judging from the view from the wide window behind the office desk, the office at the top of the building, even though the door to the office is located on the ground floor.

Sitting at the well-decorated office desk is a tall, slender drake with charcoal black scales and purple spines, dressed in an immaculate green suit. This, everyone knows, is the acclaimed Lexicon Author. He smiles toothily at the group, gesturing at an array of couches and plush armchairs at the side of the office, appearing to be for receiving guests. There are many expensive snacks on the table - cakes, macaroons, chocolates, and other goodies of the like. "Please, take a seat. Have some of the treats, make yourself at home. As you probably know, I am Lexicon Author, CEO of Lexicon Consolidated. I thank you all for coming here today."

He beams at the assembled group, clapping his claws together. "I would like to say that I expected the group to have repelled Low Key to be taller, but..." He glances at Gaia, before continuing on smoothly. "In any case, let us not beat around the bush. I would like to request your aid in a little venture of mine. Of course, you'd be properly compensated, LexiCon is nothing if not generous to those who aid it."

"LexiCon will be holding a live demonstration of the most recently developed anti-villain equipment which the police force is about to adopt. There will be many high-profile individuals attending, as well as an open public audience. While usually I would trust in my security force, the recent prison escape has many of my guests worried. I'm not exactly willing to give the Power Ponies more credit than they already hog, so naturally you are my top pick."

"So..." Lexicon leans back in his chair, steepling his claws. "Any thoughts? Perhaps even an agreement?"

Entering the Lexicon Tower provided Crimson with a wonderful excuse to have a look around at his surroundings; It was honestly a rather impressively put together building. The design was revolutionary to say the least... and if nothing else it gave him a reason to not sneak a glance at Sunset's flank. He wasn't going to lie, her new costume suited her rather nicely and it had made him considered the possibility of updating his own uniform... Still, there would be time for such thoughts later on.

As a random hallway door opened to revel an office on what appeared to be on the top floor, Crimson stepped in much like everyone else not doubt did, through he made a point of not sitting down while he listened to Lexicon Author's proposition while giving the food on display only a minor glance. Maybe it was because the dragon was one of their mysterious 'backers' or maybe it was just because of the fact that he was a wealthy CEO of a large company, but something about the male put Crimson ill at ease... Demons seemed friendly right up until after you signed on the dotted line after all. He didn't want to get tangled up in corporate interests either; He had seen what kind of damage that had done to the political landscape to want to stay clear of that minefield.

Still, there was no reason to show any hostility towards their host. Deciding to speak up, Crimson cleared his throat before saying "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr Author. I'm sure you're already aware, but I'm Crimson Chef. I think I can speak for the team when I shall that we will need a moment to discuss your proposition among ourselves but may I offer you a suggestion?" Taking a moment to take a small breath, Crimson decided to continue before he could be told 'no'. "For the purposes of your demonstration, would you consider using earlier prototypes to showcase the technology? The kind of prototypes that would be able to show off what you're planning to upgrade the police force with, but for one reason or another is simply unsuitable for field conditions."

"Worst case scenario, someone attacks the demonstration and successfully hi-jacks the prototype despite all efforts to stop them if its an older prototype unfit for day to day stressed usage, then there is only a limited amount of damage they could do with it. If they try to sell it to a competitor, sure they could reverse engineer it but I doubt they'll get it up to the current tech level before you go to market. Best case and everything goes perfectly, the criminal underworld doesn't have enough information about the current level of the technology to start creating countermeasures for it." Crimson's peace was said. Regardless of if the team decided to accept Lexicon's offer to run security, he felt there was no harm in offering some possibly helpful advice. If Lexicon took it or not was on him now.

Although she hides it well (Lion muzzles are not known for being expressive) Gaia is very impressed by the architecture of the place. The flowers especially make her feel almost at home, nearly able to cover up the smell of glass and metal and city pollutants.

After listening to Lexicon's speech, Gaia uses a bit of her wild magic to make her vocal cords usable for pony language, glancing unamusedly at Lexicon momentarily before turning back to the group, popping a macaroon into her comparatively massive maw.

"I'm not that big... i think..." She mutters, before speaking up. "I don't see a reason to turn down this offer. Whatever the arrangements, an arms demonstration filled with the wealthy and affluent will definitely attract predators looking for easy pickings. Better we make our mark early, than regret not taking the chance later."

"Well, we would like to know what we should expect," comments Madame Mask as she moves onto an armchair, opting out of taking any food, "Where and when is the event? Will we be expected to do anything in particular during the event?" She leans her head in slightly and with a friendly smile she jokes "I hope we won't have the equipment tested on us, right?"

Lexicon smiles good-naturedly and spreads out his claws at Crimson's request for some time to discuss. "Of course. This is a group decision, after all. And- such an notion has already crossed my mind. One does not become the CEO of a multi-billion corporation by being careless, after all. But I applaud your idea nonetheless, it takes someone familiar with the workings of the world to come up with such a precaution."

He inclines his head in Madame's direction when she asks, and nods as he makes his reply. "Ah, yes, I suppose I should have mentioned some specifics. Apologies. Ah... where should I begin. It shall take place in the LexiCon experimental testing facility in the industrial sector, I believe you should be familiar, it's quite close to your... mmm. Base of operations."

He gives the group a sly smile before continuing on, "It will take place tomorrow afternoon, so you will have roughly a day to prepare. I'll imagine you'll want to plan for positioning and such, so I will have Gilgamesh arrange for a floor plan of the testing area for you when you leave. As for any particular actions... just stand around and look dangerous, would be my suggestion. I appreciate your assistance but this is a LexiCon presentation, after all. And no, I wish to have heroes still standing at the end of the day, so you will not be required to be targets for shooting practice."