<strong>Ace</strong><br/><br/>The water in a glass started to subtly ripple.<br/><br/>Ace probably had somewhat more pressing concerns, however. One of the downsides (or upsides, it was all in how a body looked at it) of a thrill-seeking villain was that they could be impulsive sometimes. "<em>If</em>you stop or recapture me, miss World's Strongest Hero. I'll look forward to the attempt. You know, it doesn't always have to be a strictly physical challenge to get that thrill. It just needs to have that risk." Before Ace could open the door, Silvia pulled the hero to her (or pulled herself to the hero; the strength difference<em>was</em>pretty extreme) and kissed her full on the lips.  "Remember," she said before she let her go, "heart pounding, feeling alive."<br/><br/>"We've got two flyers headed for us," the guard said once Ace exited the trailer. His compatriots were getting ready, hooking up their weapons to the freeze-canisters and scanning the skies with binoculars. "A radar station picked them up - one's big, unlicensed, the profile fits one of Recluse's old gunships. One's a human-sized flyer with a heavy EM signature. Probably some sort of robot or powersuit."<br/><br/>The guard's phone went off and he read a text. "<em>Three</em>contacts? Holy shit. There's a seismic disturbance under us, traveling upward through the bedrock, like one of those mole machines. Seems like we're real popular today, ma'am. Warden's trying to scramble a response but they're going to be here a lot sooner than help is. Hope we can count on you."<br/>---<br/><strong><br/>Darclight, Kanina, Tabs</strong><br/><br/>Stormwatch Headquarters had undergone quite a renovation in the time since Retirement. Aside from the permanent wreath of dark clouds, it had been done up with jack-o-lanterns and stone gargoyles and winding lengths of ivy. Bats flew and lightning flashed; it had generally been turned into a dark, gothic castle which the natives of Malta were more than willing to avoid. The iron gates were a new addition, and the animatronic (did it count as an animatronic if it was animated with magic?) headless horseman perpetually moving his sword arm and going "MWA HA HA" might have been a little much.<br/><br/><div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/16/Vampire_scythe.jpg)</div>A cloud of mist swirled around the front entrance, and it coalesced into a woman, with bright red hair and an elegant bejeweled white and red dress. She might have looked normal if it weren't for the fangs, and the red eyes, and the inverted crosses on her attire... and the bat wings... okay just about everything about her screamed 'vampire.' "Visitors!" Smiling fangily though she might have been, she was also a woman who held herself imperiously, like someone had put a fifty-pound crown on her head and expected her to balance it perfectly. "We are pleased you have decided to accept Our invitation. We greet you to Our abode, and hope the journey was not too arduous, for We intend to test your body, your heart and your strength of character to Our satisfaction before we will consider your suit. For We are the Sultana of Burning Sands, Regnant in Ash, Queen of the Forty-Seventh Netherworld and Keeper of the Forty-Seventh Key, and any bride of Ours must surpass all others."<br/><br/>She gave them a haughty, challenging look. "Unless, of course, you feel you are not up to the challenge, in which case you may leave Our abode in peace."<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">And Action!</div><div class="spoiler_body">Right! Kanina and Tabs get 1XP for discovering the identity and location of Kanina's newest suitor.<br/>Darclight gets 1XP for discovering that Ghost is, at very least in body, super dead.<br/>Ace gets 1XP for discovering a possible weakness (if only psychological?) in Zohar.<br/>Darclight gets 3XP for entering into the confidence of Auxilia.<br/><br/>One of the troubles of these XP rewards in MHR is that they rely on going into a scene with a strong idea of what's going to happen. You guys always manage to surprise me! &lt;3<br/>In the spirit of that, I will also give Ace 3XP for her lovely heart-to-heart with the Silver Spider, and Kanina and Tabs 1XP each for somehow managing to get into a combat encounter in a transition scene.<br/><br/>NEW SCENE.<br/><br/>Distinctions:<br/>Blood In, Blood Out<br/>Widening Fissures<br/>Light a Single Candle<br/><br/>Milestone: In the Name of the Moon!<br/>1 XP for a heroic declaration that is hammy as fuck<br/>3 XP for turning an impossible situation into an easy one<br/>10 XP for rescuing someone who started the scene as your enemy</div></div>