HEROism

Theresa MacTaggert stood just inside the hidden entrance of her secret hideout, waiting for the others to show up. She felt uneasy. What if nobody shows up, she thought to herself, how will I explain to H.E.R.O. that I couldn't get anyone interested in my idea? Glancing at a clock beside the door, she realised that people should start arriving any minutes. Well, here goes nothing, she thought as she hurriedly shifted her appearance to that of the hero Sigrun.

Gungnir pulled up on her Bike near the base.  She took off her helmet and scanned the area,  her teal hair flowing,  mostly upwards.  The sunlight glinted off the mask she wore as she walked toward the hideout entrance. After a bit of walking,  she paused and looked around.  A frown grew on her face,  and after a bit more looking around,  it sank into a scowl.  Shit, she thought.  Where is that god damn entrance. When she finally did find it,  cursing herself for forgetting where the door was,  she angrily kicked at it.  She was certain Sigrun would hear the clamour,  and it was also relieving to take her frustration out on something.

Sigrun had just finished shifting when the clanging erupted from the trapdoor just slightly in front of her, snapping her to attention. Quickly she looked up at the viewscreen to see Gungnir pounding away at the ground, causing the ruckus. Composing herself, she pushed a button, causing the door to slide open and reveal a staircase down for Gungnir. "Hello!" Sigrun greeted the other hero, "Come on in!"

Gungnir, not noticing in time, promptly fell down the stairs.

Sigrun looked down at the prostrate figure of Gungnir before her. "Uhh... Hi." She ultimately said, after a few seconds of awkward silence.

Gungnir picked her self up and made her best effort to not go into an incoherent rage on everything within the near vicinity. The mumbled a sort of greeting to Sigrun and shuffled past. She grumbled, "Is anyone else here yet?"

"No, you're the first." Sigrun replied.

"Good." said Gungnir, sounding a little more relieved than angry. She looked at Sigrun. "This never happened." She stalked off to the nearest chair to calm down.

Cardinal, already disguised, found the entrance from a ways off, and with the help of the enhancements of her mask was able to see Gungnir's rather awkward entrance. After a few minutes walk she arrived at the door, dragging behind her a large smoking piece of equipment. She called out a greeting and waited to be let in.

Driving her motorcycle as close as she could to the base, Kay felt her phone buzz in her jacket pocket, the GPS alerting her that she'd arrived. She braked and swung off her bike, pulling out the key and pulling out the kickstand in a practiced motion. Kay pulled off the motorcycle helmet, shaking out her hair and smoothing it so it lay properly, parted on one side and falling down nearly to her shoulders. She pulled out her phone and checked the location of the base again before checking whether there were any important social media alerts.

Nothing I need to deal with now, Kay mused, though I'd better keep a close eye on my feeds tonight if I end up working with H.E.R.O. again.

Kay unzipped her jacket and swung it open, revealing that she was wearing only a bandeau on top. She'd doubted that the others would recognize her wearing more clothing. She followed the GPS directions and found Cardinal standing at the entrance.

"Anybody home?" she asked.

"I saw someone go in a minute ago, just waiting for them to open up," she answered.

"Fair enough," Kay said, "What's the machine?"

What a tiny woman Sigrun thought to herself, watching Gungnir go. Once Gungnir had rounded the bend she mused on what exactly she was planning. She hadn't told anyone why she had asked them all together because the last of the paperwork hadn't come through until earlier that morning, and she didn't want to give any false expectations, but now that everything was in order, she was ready to move. After pondering her circumstances for a few minutes longer, her gaze drifted back up to the viewscreen, where she saw two more figures standing outside. Jeez, she thought, twice in one day!? She very hurriedly pushed the button to open the trapdoor for the two new arrivals.

"well," Cardinal said as the door opened, "it was meant to be a hoverboard, but that didn't turn out too well...Good thing I wasn't standing on it at the time..."
With that she entered, waving cheerfully at Sigrun.

Gungnir, having got her temper back under control, approached the new arrivals. She'd knew of Kay, and had herd of Cardinal before but had never officially met either. She held out her left arm to shake and said, "Hello. The name's Gungnir."

"You'll have to make me one if you get it working," Kay said to Cardinal, "Or maybe I can be your test subject."

Once they entered, Kay took Gungnir's hand in a firm grip.

"Nice to meet you. You're new?"

"I've worked with Sigrun in the past." said Gungnir. "I'm not on the job a lot, so I'm not surprised if you haven't herd much of me. I mostly do heavier jobs." She raised her right arm and let off a crackle of energy. "I'm the artillery."

I really should get some kind of vehicle, thought Mik. Running to the rendezvous had taken forever. Luckily nobody here can see me, a hero running the streets on foot is ridiculous. Finally here though.

"I'll keep that in mind..." Cardinal told kay, "it'll be a while yet though if this one is any indication."

"Okay, so we just need Red Mirage, and we'll all be here." Sigrun said, mostly for her own benefit. "Oh yeah, it's good to see you two again." She said when she realised that she still hadn't said anything to her new guests. "I'm going to wait here for Red. There's a table set up down the hallway, if you want to sit. It's a bit of a ways, but it's waiting for us. Or, you could stay here while we wait. Your call."

"Mm. You got food or drink set out down there?" Kay jerked her head in the direction of the table.

Sigrun was taken aback. "Um... no." She said, "This is a business meeting, of sorts. I never even considered catering. Sorry."

Kay shrugged.

"Might as well stick around here, then."

Cardinal dropped her smoking pile at the door and headed for the tables, pulling out a notebook and a pencil on the way.

"Okay, bye." Sigrun said to the receding figure of Cardinal. "...So... any good hero stuff lately?" She asked her companions awkwardly after a few moments of silence.