Seattle (living locale)

Overview

Seattle is a coastal seaport city and the seat of King County, in the U.S. state of Washington. With an estimated 634,535 residents as of 2012, Seattle is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of North America and one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of around 3.5 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the United States. The city is situated on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound (an inlet of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canada–United States border. A major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the 8th largest port in the United States and 9th largest in North America in terms of container handling.
The Seattle area had been inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Dennyand his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. The settlement was moved to its current site and named "Seattle" in 1853, after Chief Si'ahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes.
Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway toAlaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. By 1910, Seattle was one of the 25 largest cities in the country. However, the Great Depression severely damaged the city's economy. Growth returned during and after World War II, due partially to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The city developed as a technology center in the 1980s, the stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, which increased the city's population by almost 50,000 between 1990 and 2000. Since then, Seattle has become a hub for "green" industry and a model forsustainable development.
Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, there were nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs along Jackson Street from the current Chinatown/International District to the Central District. The jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix and the alternative rock music style known as grunge, which was made famous by local groups Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. Seattle is also famous for its hip hop artists, such as rappers Sir Mix-a-Lot, Blue Scholars, Sadistik, Grieves and Macklemore.

Geography

With a total area of 83.9 square miles, Seattle lies in the geographical co-ordinates of 47.37 North latitude and 122.20 West longitude. It is the northernmost city with at least 500,000 people in the United States. The topography of Seattle is hilly. Seattle lies on seven hills including Capitol Hill, First Hill, West Seattle, Beacon Hill, Magnolia, Denny Hill and Queen Anne. The Kitsap and the Olympic peninsulas along with the Olympic mountains lie to the west of Puget Sound, while the Cascade Range and Lake Sammamish lie to the east of Lake Washington. The lush green forests and the numerous water bodies have provided livelihood for many hunting and gathering communities. Seattle has over 5,540 acres of parkland.
Seattle is located between the saltwater Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) to the west and Lake Washington to the east. The city's chief harbor, Elliott Bay, is part of Puget Sound, which makes the city an oceanic port. To the west, beyond Puget Sound, are the Kitsap Peninsula and Olympic Mountains on the Olympic Peninsula; to the east, beyond Lake Washington and the eastside suburbs, are Lake Sammamish and the Cascade Range. Lake Washington's waters flow to Puget Sound through the Lake Washington Ship Canal (consisting of two man-made canals, Lake Union, and the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks at Salmon Bay, ending in Shilshole Bay on Puget Sound).
The sea, rivers, forests, lakes, and fields surrounding Seattle were once rich enough to support one of the world's few sedentary hunter-gatherer societies. The surrounding area lends itself well to sailing, skiing, bicycling, camping, and hiking year-round.
The city itself is hilly, though not uniformly so. Like Rome, the city is said to lie on seven hills; the lists vary, but typically include Capitol Hill, First Hill, West Seattle, Beacon Hill, Queen Anne, Magnolia, and the former Denny Hill. The Wallingford, Mount Baker, and Crown Hill neighborhoods are technically located on hills as well. Many of the hilliest areas are near the city center, with Capitol Hill, First Hill, and Beacon Hill collectively constituting something of a ridge along an isthmus between Elliott Bay and Lake Washington. The break in the ridge between First Hill and Beacon Hill is man-made, the result of two of the many regrading projects that reshaped the topography of the city center. The topography of the city center was also changed by the construction of a seawall and the artificial Harbor Island (completed 1909) at the mouth of the city's industrial Duwamish Waterway, the terminus of the Green River. The highest point within city limits is at High Point in West Seattle, which is roughly located near 35th Ave SW and SW Myrtle St. Other notable hills include Crown Hill, View Ridge/Wedgwood/Bryant, Maple Leaf, Phinney Ridge, Mt. Baker Ridge and Highlands/Carkeek/Bitterlake.
Boats gather on Lake Union in preparation for the July 4 fireworks show.
North of the city center, Lake Washington Ship Canal connects Puget Sound to Lake Washington. It incorporates four natural bodies of water: Lake Union, Salmon Bay, Portage Bay and Union Bay.
Due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Seattle is in a major earthquake zone. On February 28, 2001, the magnitude 6.8 Nisqually earthquake did significant architectural damage, especially in the Pioneer Square area (built on reclaimed land, as are the Industrial District and part of the city center), but caused no fatalities. Other strong quakes occurred on January 26, 1700 (estimated at 9 magnitude), December 14, 1872 April 13, 1949 and April 29, 1965. The 1965 quake caused three deaths in Seattle directly, and one more by heart failure. Although the Seattle Fault passes just south of the city center, neither it nor the Cascadia subduction zone has caused an earthquake since the city's founding. The Cascadia subduction zone poses the threat of an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or greater, capable of seriously damaging the city and collapsing many buildings, especially in zones built on fill.

Tourism, Parks, and Entertainment

Among Seattle's prominent annual fairs and festivals are the 24-day Seattle International Film Festival, Northwest Folklife over the Memorial Day weekend, numerous Seafair events throughout July and August (ranging from a Bon Odori celebration to the Seafair Cup hydroplane races), the Bite of Seattle, one of the largest Gay Pride festivals in the United States, and the art and music festival Bumbershoot, which programs music as well as other art and entertainment over the Labor Day weekend. All are typically attended by 100,000 people annually, as are the Seattle Hempfest and two separate Independence Day celebrations.
Other significant events include numerous Native American pow-wows, a Greek Festival hosted by St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Montlake, and numerous ethnic festivals (many associated with Festál at Seattle Center).
There are other annual events, ranging from the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair & Book Arts Show; an anime convention, Sakura-Con; Penny Arcade Expo, a gaming convention; a two-day, 9,000-rider Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, and specialized film festivals, such as the Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival, the Seattle Asian American Film Festival (formerly known as the Northwest Asian American Film Festival), Children's Film Festival Seattle, Translation: the Seattle Transgender Film Festival, the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and the Seattle Polish Film Festival.
The Seattle skyline viewed from Gas Works Park.
The Henry Art Gallery opened in 1927, the first public art museum in Washington.The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) opened in 1933; SAM opened a museum downtown in 1991 (expanded and reopened 2007); since 1991, the 1933 building has been SAM's Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM). SAM also operates the Olympic Sculpture Park (opened 2007) on the waterfront north of the downtown piers. The Frye Art Museum is a free museum on First Hill. Regional history collections are at the Loghouse Museum in Alki, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, the Museum of History and Industry and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Industry collections are at the Center for Wooden Boats and the adjacent Northwest Seaport, the Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum, and the Museum of Flight. Regional ethnic collections include the Nordic Heritage Museum, the Wing Luke Asian Museum and the Northwest African American Museum. Seattle has artist-run galleries, including 10-year veteran Soil Art Gallery, and the newer Crawl Space Gallery.
Woodland Park Zoo opened as a private menagerie in 1889, but was sold to the city in 1899. The Seattle Aquarium has been open on the downtown waterfront since 1977 (undergoing a renovation 2006). The Seattle Underground Tour is an exhibit of places that existed before the Great Fire. The Seattle Great Wheel, one of the largest Ferris wheels in the U.S., opened in June 2012 as a new, permanent attraction on the city's waterfront, at Pier 57, next to Downtown Seattle. The city also has many community centers for recreation, including Rainier Beach, Van Asselt, Rainier, and Jefferson south of the Ship Canal and Green Lake, Laurelhurst, Loyal Heights north of the Canal, and Meadowbrook.
Since the middle 1990s, Seattle has experienced significant growth in the cruise industry, especially as a departure point for Alaska cruises. In 2008, a record total of 886,039 cruise passengers passed through the city, surpassing the number for Vancouver, BC, the other major departure point for Alaska cruises.


Seattle's mild, temperate marine climate allows year-round outdoor recreation, including walking, cycling, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, rock climbing, motor boating, sailing, team sports, and swimming In town, many people walk around Green Lake, through the forests and along the bluffs and beaches of 535-acre Discovery Park (the largest park in the city) in Magnolia, along the shores of Myrtle Edwards Park on the Downtown waterfront, along the shoreline of Lake Washington at Seward Park, along Alki Beach in West Seattle, or along the Burke-Gilman Trail. Also popular are hikes and skiing in the nearby Cascade or Olympic Mountains and kayaking and sailing in the waters of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Strait of Georgia. In 2005, Men's Fitness magazine named Seattle the fittest city in the United States.
In its 2013 ParkScore ranking, The Trust for Public Land, reported that Seattle had the 20th best park system among the 50 most populous U.S. cities. ParkScore ranks city park systems by a formula that analyzes acreage, access, and service and investment.

Transportation

The first streetcars appeared in 1889 and were instrumental in the creation of a relatively well-defined downtown and strong neighborhoods at the end of their lines. The advent of the automobile sounded the death knell for rail in Seattle. Tacoma–Seattle railway service ended in 1929 and the Everett–Seattle service came to an end in 1939, replaced by inexpensive automobiles running on the recently developed highway system. Rails on city streets were paved over or removed, and the opening of the Seattle trolleybus system brought the end of streetcars in Seattle in 1941. This left an extensive network of privately owned buses (later public) as the only mass transit within the city and throughout the region.
King County Metro provides frequent stop bus service within the city and surrounding county, as well as a South Lake Union Streetcar line between the South Lake Union neighborhood and Westlake Center in downtown. Seattle is one of the few cities in North America whose bus fleet includes electric trolleybuses. Sound Transit currently provides an express bus service within the metropolitan area; two Sounder commuter rail lines between the suburbs and downtown; its Central Link light rail line, which opened in 2009, between downtown and Sea-Tac Airport gives the city its first rapid transit line that has intermediate stops within the city limits. Washington State Ferries, which manages the largest network of ferries in the United States and third largest in the world, connects Seattle to Bainbridge and Vashon Islands in Puget Sound and to Bremerton and Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula.
Central Link light rail trains in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel under the International District/Chinatown.
The main mode of transportation, however, relies on Seattle's streets, which are laid out in a cardinal directions grid pattern, except in the central business district where early city leaders Arthur Denny and Carson Boren insisted on orienting their plats relative to the shoreline rather than to true North. Only two roads, Interstate 5 and State Route 99 (both limited-access highways), run uninterrupted through the city from north to south. State Route 99 runs through downtown Seattle on the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which was built in 1953. However, due to damage sustained during the 2001 Nisqually earthquake the viaduct will be replaced by a tunnel in 2015 at a cost of US$4.25 billion. Seattle has the 8th worst traffic congestion of all American cities, and is 10th among all North American cities.The city has started moving away from the automobile and towards mass transit.

Attractions

Pike Place Market

This historic, beloved downtown public market has been in business since 1907. It’s a year-round farmers market and a visual riot of vegetable, seafood, cheese and flower stalls along with handicrafts and tourist-friendly knickknacks. And, of course, the flying fish. Vendors at Pike Place Fish Market gleefully toss salmon to each other and crack jokes, always drawing a crowd at the fish stall by the market’s main entrance. For less of a crowd, take the stairs to “Down Under,” a wood-floored maze of small shops beneath the main-level market.

The Space Needle

This vertical icon of the city is so kitschy it’s become cool, and it gives a great view of the city from the top. Built for the 1962 World’s Fair, it’s 605 feet tall and looks like a spaceship on stilts, towering over Seattle Center, a cultural complex where you could easily spend hours at the Pacific Science Center, Chihuly glass display, food court, theatres or simply watching kids frolic in a giant outdoor fountain.

Olympic Sculpture Park

The outdoor sculpture garden spreads over 9 acres of a seaside bluff north of downtown, transformed from an industrial backwater into the home of artwork such as Alexander Calder’s “Eagle,” six tons of red-painted steel that looks like an abstract soaring bird. Paths wander amid sculpture; for a longer, lovely walk, stroll along the 1.2-mile waterfront path in adjoining Myrtle

Washington State Ferries

Ferries shuttle all around Puget Sound and they’re a key, and the prettiest, part of Washington’s transportation system. You can have a fun, quick and cheap sightseeing boat ride as a walk-on passenger on the Seattle-Bainbridge Island ferry. If it’s clear, you’ll even see Mount Rainier looming to the south on the 35-minute ride. “The Mountain,” as locals call it, really does exist, although it’s often shrouded in clouds.
Board the ferry at Pier 52 on the downtown Seattle waterfront, get off at Bainbridge and walk into the friendly little town of Winslow — its restaurants, cafes and shops are a 10-minute walk from the ferry landing on the main drag of Winslow Way. Back on the ferry, enjoy the spectacular urban skyline view as you approach downtown Seattle.

Downtown Waterfront

Soon the traffic-roaring Alaskan Way Viaduct, which cuts off downtown Seattle from its waterfront, will come tumbling down and be replaced by a tunnel. For now, there’s a broad sidewalk along the harborfront with shops, eateries (fish and chips is always a favorite) and wooden piers jutting out into the bay. Stop at the Seattle Aquarium to see what lives in (and beyond) the local waters. Ride the Seattle Great Wheel, a 175-foot tall Ferris wheel with enclosed gondola-type cabins, for a view from on high of the city, Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains to the west.

Ballard Locks

See the essence of the Pacific Northwest at the Ballard Locks, where you can watch salmon and boats — from fishing boats and tugs to kayaks and yachts. The locks carry boats up and down, letting them travel between Puget Sound and Seattle’s freshwater waterways. A fish ladder lets salmon swim up past the locks to their freshwater spawning grounds; glass viewing windows let people watch the

In every city, you can count on finding two things. Fast food, and crime. Seattle was no exception. And seeing as Carbon was a machine, he wasn't here for fast food.

Occupied Territory is a respectable establishment, so far as any customer will tell you. The bar's patrons tend to fall on the wrong side of 'disreputable,' but that doesn't mean there's any sort of illegitimate operation in it's basement, no sir. That's what the customers will tell you. 

Unless you happen to be a seven-foot-tall mechanical man with menacing red eyes and a vice-like grip. 

He had entered the bar a tad dramatically. His car was parked right outside, an almost tank-like vehicle, which was shining a spotlight at the entrance of the bar, silhouetting Carbon menacingly. He had picked up the heartbeats of the customers as he approached, and strode towards the one whose heart was beating fastest, grabbing him by the throat and raising him into the air. 

The bartender was the only person in the room who hadn't reacted by either outright fleeing, or cowering in a corner. They were disreputable, even criminals, but common sense said not to stand up to someone like Carbon.

The bartender had pulled a shotgun from under his counter, and leveled it at the Amoral Altruist calmly. Just as calmly, Carbon raised his other arm, the one that wasn't holding a man up by the neck, and fired a dart from his wrist, hitting the man square in the chest. He crumpled, alive but unconscious. 

"The hideout. Where is it?"

Carbon knew already, of course. Subsonic pulses had detected the area under the bar as soon as he'd come within a mile, but he had appearances to keep up.

"U-under the bar! Y-you get in through the trapdoor!"


"Thanks."


The Mechanical Marvel released him, and strode over to the trapdoor, removing the hatch entirely. He dropped down, and continued into the hidden part of the bar.

The men here were dumber, and better armed. They'd clearly heard the commotion upstairs, as every one held an automatic weapon, and had it pointed at the door. As Carbon entered, they stirred, but didn't yet fire.

Cooly, the Artificial Avenger slid his blade from its 'sheath,' in reality a slot built into his body, neatly hiding the blade until he needed it. The edge was monomolecular, sharpened to an atom's length. He twirled it for effect, and held it in a relaxed position.

Eight men, all armed, every one with a long rap sheet. Hardened criminals. This will be easy.


"Gentlemen, would you like to begin?"

@Carbon

Finding his son alive was something of a rare treat for the him. He was in one of the best moods he has been in a long time. Although Rudolph hadn't yet had the time to actually make any progress on getting his son back, the fact that he was alive was more than enough. He wasn't working, or intending to murder anyone. It was a normal day and out, and Rudolph sat at table in the bar enjoying a drink. 

And then in came a 7 feet tall thing, a man perhaps and he was acting with aggression, on point and deliberate. Rudolph raised an eyebrow. Interesting.

Carbon wrote:
"The hideout. Where is it?"

Carbon knew already, of course. Subsonic pulses had detected the area under the bar as soon as he'd come within a mile, but he had appearances to keep up.

"U-under the bar! Y-you get in through the trapdoor!"

"Thanks."

After the man disappeared down through the trap door, Rudolph got up. Well he was after criminals, and more or less on the same page as he himself. While Rudolph was aware of the criminal activities that any bar conducted on a daily basis, he hadn't been particularly keen on just rampaging through every bar in town. That wasn't wise. There has to be a motive for killing someone that this ... man seemed to lack. Was he even a man? He was taller than any Rudolph had laid his eyes on and he felt inhuman on top of that.

Dropping down into the cellar, Rudolph followed the narrow passage way forwards into the room where a couple men armed with their guns now faced the tall man in black with bat ears and he was holding a blade in one hand, ready to kill them all from the looks of it. Rudolph took a position in the shadows where he was sure he couldn't be detected and got ready to watch a good show he was going to give.

lowlaville wrote:@Carbon

Finding his son alive was something of a rare treat for the him. He was in one of the best moods he has been in a long time. Although Rudolph hadn't yet had the time to actually make any progress on getting his son back, the fact that he was alive was more than enough. He wasn't working, or intending to murder anyone. It was a normal day and out, and Rudolph sat at table in the bar enjoying a drink. 

And then in came a 7 feet tall thing, a man perhaps and he was acting with aggression, on point and deliberate. Rudolph raised an eyebrow. Interesting.

Carbon wrote:
"The hideout. Where is it?"

Carbon knew already, of course. Subsonic pulses had detected the area under the bar as soon as he'd come within a mile, but he had appearances to keep up.

"U-under the bar! Y-you get in through the trapdoor!"

"Thanks."

After the man disappeared down through the trap door, Rudolph got up. Well he was after criminals, and more or less on the same page as he himself. While Rudolph was aware of the criminal activities that any bar conducted on a daily basis, he hadn't been particularly keen on just rampaging through every bar in town. That wasn't wise. There has to be a motive for killing someone that this ... man seemed to lack. Was he even a man? He was taller than any Rudolph had laid his eyes on and he felt inhuman on top of that.

Dropping down into the cellar, Rudolph followed the narrow passage way forwards into the room where a couple men armed with their guns now faced the tall man in black with bat ears and he was holding a blade in one hand, ready to kill them all from the looks of it. Rudolph took a position in the shadows where he was sure he couldn't be detected and got ready to watch a good show he was going to give.

With a few superhumanly-fast calculations, Carbon charted all the possible courses that his enemies' fire could take, and adjusted his combat routines according, before executing. 

To an observer, it might have seemed he was dodging the bullets, but in reality, he was sidestepping them before they were even fired, twisting out of the way as a trigger was pulled. His limbs didn't move like a human's, his arms rotating 360 degrees around to swing his blade and carve through a rifle. 

It took under a minute to win. Carbon made the guns useless with a few sword-strokes, and then switched to QCQ, incapacitating each assailant with his preternatural strength. When only one remained, he shoved the man against a wall and held him there with one hand. A spur emerged from the heel of his palm, on the other hand, and he pressed it to the man, stomach, not cutting, but hard enough to be felt.

"Don't lie to me. When's the device being brought in?"


For a moment, the man hesitated, and Carbon's grip tightened.

"T-today! We were gonna pick it up at the--"


He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as the Chrome Crusader retracted the spur, and rendered him unconscious.

Carbon turned towards the figure in the shadows. He'd hidden himself well, undetectable to a human, but Carbon wasn't a human. He had three-hundred-and-sixty degree vision, and saw in every spectrum, as well as enhanced hearing, and a sense f smell that could track a man for miles. He hadn't acknowledged the Phantasm's presence during the fight, but did now.

"You didn't attack me, so I assume you're not affiliated with them. Does that make you a hero, then?"

@Carbon

Rudolph watched. The man in black expertly dodged all the gunfire that came his way. Impressive. Not that he couldn't do it himself but it was still a great sight to behold. On top of that, the man was beating up thugs, the scum of America that sought to destroy from the shadows. He was doing Rudolph a favor and service to his country. He couldn't help but think back to the time when he was serving a spec of. He'd received training from many masters and the techniques he employed had bits and traces of those martial art techniques ingrained in them.

Carbon wrote:"Don't lie to me. When's the device being brought in?"

Device? Rudolph wondered as the group of men came down to a flimsy one and the big man had pinned one of them down. So the guy wasn't here specifically to deal with them. Rather, he was here for  something. Rudolph wondered.



He hadn't anticipated the guy to discover him though. Rudolph was a master at Stealth tactics, this was a very essential skill for the spec op missions that he used to do in the past. Even if he was currently in normal attire, anyone who was a normal human being should not have been able to detect him. But, he did. Rudolph laughed as he walked out of the shadows. As he came into view, his features became visible. White hair combed to the back of his head and an eyepatch over his right eye. Rudolph wore a tailor made grey suit and wore neat shoes he looked more like a businessman than a Vigilante.

Carbon wrote:

"You didn't attack me, so I assume you're not affiliated with them. Does that make you a hero, then?"

Hero? That made Rudolph chuckle. "No. I'm not a hero, but I am a bit curious. What is it that you are looking for? Perhaps I can help you find it," He added, not with real intention but simply to find out what he was after.

lowlaville wrote:@Carbon

Rudolph watched. The man in black expertly dodged all the gunfire that came his way. Impressive. Not that he couldn't do it himself but it was still a great sight to behold. On top of that, the man was beating up thugs, the scum of America that sought to destroy from the shadows. He was doing Rudolph a favor and service to his country. He couldn't help but think back to the time when he was serving a spec of. He'd received training from many masters and the techniques he employed had bits and traces of those martial art techniques ingrained in them.

Carbon wrote:"Don't lie to me. When's the device being brought in?"

Device? Rudolph wondered as the group of men came down to a flimsy one and the big man had pinned one of them down. So the guy wasn't here specifically to deal with them. Rather, he was here for  something. Rudolph wondered.



He hadn't anticipated the guy to discover him though. Rudolph was a master at Stealth tactics, this was a very essential skill for the spec op missions that he used to do in the past. Even if he was currently in normal attire, anyone who was a normal human being should not have been able to detect him. But, he did. Rudolph laughed as he walked out of the shadows. As he came into view, his features became visible. White hair combed to the back of his head and an eyepatch over his right eye. Rudolph wore a tailor made grey suit and wore neat shoes he looked more like a businessman than a Vigilante.

Carbon wrote:

"You didn't attack me, so I assume you're not affiliated with them. Does that make you a hero, then?"

Hero? That made Rudolph chuckle. "No. I'm not a hero, but I am a bit curious. What is it that you are looking for? Perhaps I can help you find it," He added, not with real intention but simply to find out what he was after.

Hm. It could be dangerous to share that with him, but if he tries to take the device for himself... well. Threat estimates put his probability of survival against me at under twenty percent. I can take him.


"This gang's receiving a regular weapons shipment from their overseas backers. Normally unconcerning, but there's two special things about the shipment. It's carrying a device that could be used to shut down every piece of machinery in the city that's more complex than a toaster. Myself not included, of course.


"Of course, with something that valuable, they'll have also sent along help. Of the metahuman variety."


As he spoke, Carbon was implementing a few changes to his body. His blood-red bat-symbol became a thin outline, and a long cape extended from his shoulders, seeming to shimmer with an otherworldly un-light. This was his recently-finished stealth module, built for a less headstrong approach than the one he's employed here.

Spoiler:

"I'm going to put a stop to it. You're welcome to tag along, if you were so inclined."

Spoiler:

So, something dangerous was being shipped in, and this guy was after it? Interesting. In the hands of the wrong people, such a device was enough to bring America down on its knees. This wasn't something that could be left at the hands of villains.

Two concerning details. First, it carried a device that has piqued the interest of this gentleman, and second, it had meta human guards on it. The gang involved in this shipment was a high profile one, and, the guys they were dealing with were laughable to say the least. Rudolph wondered if this group of criminals were the actual procurer of the said item. Certainly a shady business, and how did this guy even know about it? Rudolph had a constant watch over the information networks spanning most things underground within the states. He hadn't heard of a shipment going to down to these exact grunts now lying unconscious on the floor.

"It would be my pleasure Mr... batman," Rudolph said, making up a name based on the logo on the man's chest. "Though, with these guys all knocked out, how do you plan on figuring out where the shipment is landing?"

lowlaville wrote:

Spoiler:

So, something dangerous was being shipped in, and this guy was after it? Interesting. In the hands of the wrong people, such a device was enough to bring America down on its knees. This wasn't something that could be left at the hands of villains.

Two concerning details. First, it carried a device that has piqued the interest of this gentleman, and second, it had meta human guards on it. The gang involved in this shipment was a high profile one, and, the guys they were dealing with were laughable to say the least. Rudolph wondered if this group of criminals were the actual procurer of the said item. Certainly a shady business, and how did this guy even know about it? Rudolph had a constant watch over the information networks spanning most things underground within the states. He hadn't heard of a shipment going to down to these exact grunts now lying unconscious on the floor.

"It would be my pleasure Mr... batman," Rudolph said, making up a name based on the logo on the man's chest. "Though, with these guys all knocked out, how do you plan on figuring out where the shipment is landing?"

"Please," Carbon said with a chuckle. "Call me Carbon. And as for the location, I had already ascertained the location, just not the time of arrival. Now that I have it, all that remains is getting to the roof of the Bleake International Building in time. Come with me." 


The Synthetic Superman exited the building, ignoring the men in the bar as he strode through the doors. His car had been outside when he entered, but it had been removed. Without a word, Carbon extended a hand for the Phantasm to take, and fired a grapnel at the sky. 

Should the Phantasm takeCarbon's hand, he would find the two of them pulled upwards, and seemingly into thin air. In reality, however, they were entering the Aero, Carbon's plane. The interior was dark, with a single cockpit for Carbon, which he entered, laying his body back into the chair. Where the Phantasm was, there was a single bench, as well as a number of futuristic-looking weapons and 'gadgets' affixed to the wall. 

A number of mechanical limbs extended from around Carbon, and began messing with his body, as he spoke. 

"We don't have long until the drop-off. Is there any equipment you'll need? I can pick it up on the way."

@Carbon

Rudolph stayed back a moment as Carbon fled through the tunnel. He turned back to the men who were lying unconscious on the floor. What a waste it would be if he let them live. And more than likely, these men would alert whoever they were working for, and might jeopardize the mission by the time they were able to find the shipment and the thing Carbon was looking for. No chance was taken, as a well placed boot to the throats of the men crushed their windpipes, which effectively killed them.

Rudolph sure was unarmed, but he was trained to kill using any and all means necessary. Guilt and remorse were not part of the equation, the mission statement was. After this brief endeavor, Rudolph quickly ran back upstairs and through the bar right across the gazes of terrified men. All of them had heard the rifles going off. They knew what had transpired, and the only two that had come out of there were the two that had gone in in the first place. The police had been called but they were taking their sweet time in responding to the call.

Woosh


Rudolph grabbed the extended hand. They landed in some kind of plane belonging to Carbon. It was high tech, this much Rudolph could tell. "Yes, my home," Rudolph answered the query, relaying the address to the man. "I've my suit and weapons, though seeing as you have a set of good weapons, I might not necessarily be getting my weapons, but the prototype Devon Suit is definitely a must have if metahuman are going to be involved,"

@lowlaville

"Fair enough," Carbon replied, as the ship began to move. Fortunately, it wasn't very far, so it was a quick flight. Still, by the time they were there, Carbon's modifications had been finished, and the pilot's chair righted itself, as so he could stand. "I don't want to intrude, soI'll wait here. Don't take too long, we only have twenty minutes."


As he spoke, the back of the plane opened into a ramp, from which Phantasm could exit the plane. They hovered, cloaked, above the address Carbon had been given.


While the mercenary was retrieving his gear, Carbon did several things. Well, physically speaking, he didn't do anything, merely standing alone on the ramp, his shimmering cape blowing in the wind. But within the simulated realities of his mind, he was doing any number of things at any given time. One such was devoted to compiling information on this mysterious man, who claimed not to be a hero, but with so little details, it was hard to narrow it down, even for Carbon.

In another, he was simulating possible outcomes of the fight. There were a number of variables, the mystery metahuman who'd be accompanying the shipment, and the Phantasm himself, but Carbon was reasonably certain the city wouldn't e crumbling tonight.

When Rudolph returned, Carbon would close the ship up and set course for the Bleake International Building.

"I hope you're ready. I know I am."

(Open)
Although it was rather a trip to get here, Jaiden had finally made it. Well...using a few links. In this case, his present link was James Rodrigo. A rather unfortunate individual in his circumstances, but an excellent specimen for Jaiden to use. Far from his primary link, hidden rather well in a remote location in Russia. In fact, this was the only link he possessed in North America at all. For now. He had a lot to worry about making sure all his links were locked away in just the right locations.


He looked out at the beach before him, feeling the air around him and breathing in the smell of the water, "Ah what a sensation." He said to himself, Been so long since I've gotten to be somewhere like this, surprised I didn't think of visiting somewhere sooner instead of just trying to make it out alive. He grasped at the sand with his left hand letting it run through his fingers for a moment, And not many of these people probably don't even truly take advantage of stuff like this I bet. Then again, I didn't either until recently so they aren't to be blamed for that.

He looked around, wondering just how many others were actually using chances like this. He perhaps didn't completely fit in, some young adult with completely white hair and a smile that looked like he was both sad and pleased by the ocean.

Spoiler:

Not all eyes turn towards evil. But this one - it does!

Hurtling through un-time with a haste matched by none, the green-clad specter that is the Super-Seer turns his attention towards Seattle. His jaw clenches as he detects an ongoing crime, emerging from psi-space into true being. Gliding on mental waves down towards the vile alley, he lands in a powerful crouch, his cape billowing behind him as he stands straight-backed in defiance of an armed mugger. 

A gunshot is not enough to fell him-! Once, twice, three times do bullets ricochet from his broad chest, an invisible force-field deflecting the shots harmlessly from his form. A small smirk emerges beneath his mask, that cowl which hides half his face; the normally-serious Super-Seer betrays his satisfaction briefly with his invulnerability, a mere second before he launches himself at the criminal. 

"Take this!"

His left hand crushes the gun in an instant, the right curled into a green-gloved fist. The collision of knuckles on the grubby man's jaw seems to shake the world, the thwack! practically louder than the preceding gunshots. 

That's him taken care of, he thought, regarding the unconscious mugger with a heroic disdain common to super-types. Turning, he gave a small salute to the would-be victim, a woman of twenty-three years who would not soon forget her visit from the Mental Sentinel. 

Rising into the air on a projected mind-current, he thrusts upwards, his hidden eyes vigilant for more crime.

@Super-Seer
 
"Really, Mister Hand, thank you for meeting us here."
 
John Hand, the Black Knight, didn't like Seattle. Even at night, it was to bright for his tastes. He much preferred the familiar aesthetics of the neo-noir nightmare, Dawn City. The first night he'd been here, he'd used his grapnel to scale the Space Needle, surveying the city below from perhaps its most famous landmark, and wished for nothing more than to go home.
 
"It's no problem, really," the Knight said. In the office with him were two men in suits worth more than his apartment. Lawyers. He'd vetted them as thoroughly as possible before hiring them, and though the number of law practitioners who were both competent and not hopelessly corrupt was low, he managed to find these two. "Besides, who doesn't love the west coast?" 
 
"Indeed," said one of the lawyers. John couldn't remember their names, so he mentally assigned them ones- 'Right' and 'Left.' "Now," said Right, "Let's get down to business.  What exactly, do you require our services for?"
 
John was impressed with their professionalism. Neither had so much as commented on his appearance, from when he'd walked in the door. He was dressed rather informally, not owning anything like their fancy suits, but that was hardly the end of it. The Knight looked like he'd been in a car accident, or something similarly gruesome. The reality of it, of course, was worse. The Knight had fought a metahuman. And lost.
 
"It's my father," he began. "He's criminally insane, and unfit to--" John stopped short, as something caught his eye, outside. Neither of the lawyers saw it, as the window he'd been looking out of was behind them. A man in a green costume, flying. 
 
A cape. Dammit. I knew Carbon was active here, but other than that, Seattle was supposed to be mostly cape-free.
 
“Gentlemen, this is terribly embarrassing, but I need to use your restroom. If you could…”
 
Left gestured down a hallway, and John went. Once inside the bathroom, he made sure there was a window, and locked the door. The window was small, but the Knight managed to slip through, and leap onto the rooftop of the adjoining building.
 
Okay. First, I need the suit. Then, I hope he isn’t one of those super-speedsters, and I can catch up with him. Hotel is a few blocks away, but I can get there in under a minute with the grapnel.
 
John began to run, vaulting over obstacles that the rooftops threw at him like a seasoned urban climber. Which he was. Once the buildings began to get taller, he fired his grapnel gun, hidden in his too-large shirt, at the upcoming building’s fire escape, and let the high-powered motor pull him into the air. Once he was sure it hadn’t slammed him into the building’s wall and turned him into paste, John resumed his run.
 
It only took sixty seconds to make it from the office to the hotel. Once John could see it, he found his room from the outside. It was on one of the lower floors, chosen specifically for this purpose. He didn’t aim the grapnel at his room’s balcony, but rather one several floors higher, but directly above it. He leapt off the roof he was on, and let the force of the jump propel him forward, and upwards, so he landed perfectly on his room’s balcony.
 
It took a second for the grapnel to retract into the gun, before he unlocked the sliding doors between the balcony and his room, and stepped into the bathroom to change. It wasn’t that there was anyone else in the room to see, but if someone was staring into the room with binoculars, they would have been able to see him donning the Knight’s armor.
 
The Black Knight’s old suit had barely qualified as one. It was, in essence, a shirt with a bat on it, over a Kevlar vest, with a hood and cape. The new costume was… better.
 
John wasn’t foolish enough to exit as the Knight out of the same window he’d entered as John Hand. Instead, he stepped into the hotel’s hallway, and pulled the nearest fire alarm, before dropping a smoke pellet, so no one would see him. After that was done, he found the elevators, and thumbed the ‘down’ button. One arrived quickly, and he stepped inside for a moment, with one foot in the doorway, while pressing every floor button lower than his own. He then stepped out, before the doors could close, and held the elevator shaft doors open physically, as the elevator itself kept moving. Once he was in the shaft, he fired the grapnel up towards the top, and let it bring him up to the highest floor. Getting the doors open was tough, but he managed. After that, finding the roof access wasn’t hard, and then he could see the whole city.
 
From there, he took a collapsible spyglass from his belt, and put it to his eye. More compact than binoculars, but about as effective. It didn’t take long to spot the green-clad cape, considering how much he stood out from the rest of the city.
 
Time to see if the damn glider works properly, I suppose.
 
The Black Knight leapt off of the hotel’s roof, and pressed a finger to his belt, activating the static charge in his cape that was supposed to let him glide, much like the bat he had patterned himself after.
 
To the Knight’s surprise, it actually worked. Instead of plummeting to his gravity-based death, he almost flew, though he knew that this was nothing like the real thing.
 
As he approached the cape, the Knight tried to get a better look at him again, through the spyglass. A hood, covering his face, with an eye emblazoned on it. What does that tell me? A symbol to suggest he’s watching over us? Extra-sensory perception? A truly unfortunate fetish? All of the above?
 
   
Finally, the Knight alighted on a rooftop, as near to the Super-Seer as possible. With another press to the belt, the cape collapsed into a cloak around him, and he called out to the unidentified metahuman. 



"Who are you?"

The Mental Sentinel turned about in the air at the sound of a stranger's voice, his posture void of apprehension as his hidden eyes inspected the Black Knight. In contrast to the Seer's own minimalist apparel, the new arrival was wearing a complicated bodysuit composed of various interlaced materials, each component meticulously-crafted to serve a specific function. A gliding cape, combat boots, stark-white lenses covering the eyes - this man was the peak of modernity.

"As foretold," he said with a small smile, approaching the cloaked Knight where he rested on the rooftop, his cape billowing behind his back as he hovered towards him. 

"I am Super-Seer. Pleasure to meet you," he said, reaching out with a green-gloved hand to shake, his feet still touching nothing but air in the cold Seattle night.

@Super-Seer 

Foretold? He's some kind of... precognitive? That could be problematic, on numerous levels. No choice but to wait and see, I suppose. 


"Likewise," the Knight said, shaking the offered hand. "I am the Black Knight. I primarily operate in Dawn City, on the other side of the country, but I'm made to understand I was national news, after the Reptile case. Cannibalistic mutant serial killer, I'm sure you've experienced similar things. I've only been operating for about a month, and already I'm outnumbered ten to one."

@black knight



His face static, the Super-Seer replied: "And what has set you down this path?" 


He waited, curious to hear the past, present, and future of the mysterious shadow before him.