Down in Fayettenam
Ya gotta have a bomb
Ya gotta have a gun
If you wanna see the sun
’Cause night comes down
Y’gonna hear th’ sound
Of bucks and nines
Guns and knives
Guns and knives
All’a the time
— from “Fuller,” by Dis Tense

The raven fluttered to a perch atop a rusted out Toyota Camry on blocks, a raucous *CAW* echoing out into the street. It kept one beady eye cocked to watch the sky while the other took in its surroundings.

Bleak. Very bleak.

Whatever they were looking for, it wasn't down here, that was for sure. Nothing here but fear and violence and hopelessness. You could almost smell it, if you knew what to look for.

The raven leapt into the air once more, blue-black wings pumping at the warm night air as it gained altitude. It found a thermal and soared, wings outstretched, gliding.

There!

Some sort of weird lighting effect in the sky that looked a bit... odd.

The bird found a perch on a utility pole that offered it a good view of the strange phenomena and waited for Palmer to show up. It moved nervously from foot to foot, squawking and muttering to itself as it waited.

Birds aren't known for their patience.

As the impatient raven watched the distant rooftops, the night became darker in a section as a swirling abyss appeared to swallow it. If it weren't for the street lights still revealing the bottoms of three buildings, it would have seemed as though the Nothing had disappeared it. The abyss swelled until it blocked the light of the moon, leaving almost all of Fayettenam in a pitiless darkness, where only the occasional street light fought to hold on.

From the north, a shadow cut an arc through the gloom. It slowed its course as it descended, street lights revealing a man-shaped silhouette. The eerie figure almost seemed appropriate for the eerily deserted neighborhood; but it drifted uncertainly a few feet above the sidewalk, reluctant to touch down.

The raven squawked loudly and the shadow zipped up to the top of the telephone pole. It cocked its head at the raven inquiringly, and the raven mirrored the gesture. The shadow nodded, and stared into the darkness that had settled on The Needle, before floating onto a nearby rooftop.  A moment passed as the ghost conjured Avatar to the scene.

The raven ruffled its feathers, head tilting left then right as it studied its teammate. It squawked once, softly.

The two heroes watched in a respectful and mutual silence as the night air became a willing participant to whatever was happening.  Even from this distance they could feel the static in the air and goosebumps raced up the back of Avatar's neck.  He had a sixth sense about some things, and right now it was foretelling very bad things.  He could also taste the tinny flavor of magic on the back of his tongue, and knew with growing certainty that this was an unnatural phenomenon.

As they gathered their wits and their courage about them, they couldn't know that their teammate Heatwave was in the heart of that foreboding storm.

There was a rush of midnight smoke, and Danny now sat perched atop the telephone pole, his normally grinning countenance serious. "Well that looks like a right shower of bastards," he said as he studied the clouds and lightning. "Any idea what it is?" 

"Magic," Avatar said. "Malevolent and powerful." His face was a grim mask.

Danny fished in his pocket for his mobile, punching in the number for the Cathedral. "Hullo, me again. Magic, Malevolent and Powerful at, uh..." He looked around him, smoke pouring from his eyes for a moment. "We're near the corner of Livengood and Barton Street. Big stormy looking thing up ahead full a lightning. Seems ta be suckin the light out of the place too." 

"Yikes..."  Weak and nervous came back at him from the other end.  It was clear that at some point Ophilia had relieved Phase from phone duty.  "You okay?  Do you have anyone with you?"

"Yeah... it's me and Avatar." 

"Avatar."  There was a palpable sigh of relief as Phi repeated his name.  "Good.  Good.  He's our magic expert.  Do you want me to send someone else?  I have Phase here, and she could be there in a blink.  ...and I'll let Nemesis know what's going on."

 Avatar caught a flash of fierce, orange rimmed pupils before the smoke billowed forth, clearing to reveal Danny's eyes returned to their normal deep azure state.

"Whatcha thinkin?" he asked Palmer, phone still plastered to his ear.

"That there are too many major players in this town," Avatar said, thinking aloud. "We need to get them to go after each other." He shrugged and said, "Ah. More to the point, I'll send my avatar for a closer look while we wait for backup."

Again the shadow emerged from Avatar's body. It launched itself towards the blank spot in the night, herky jerky, hugging rooftops and darting from shadow to shadow.  Soon, it too was consumed by the darkness for ether of them to see.  For Avatar, the experience grew into an internal one, still seeing and hearing everything that surrounded his fleeting silhouette. 

The darkness was more profound than he could imagine, and his senses were so immersed in the blackness that he couldn't tell which way was up or down.  Every once in a while a searing bolt of purplish lightning would illuminate the unnatural abyss and allow him a quick glimpse of the storm's eye. Each glimpse was a teasing moment, where he would almost see something, but it never lasted long enough to show him the source.  

As Avatar and Danny watched the black storm, it creeped closer to them.  They weren't sure if it was actually moving towards them, or just expanding to cover more area, but they knew that if it didn't stop, it would be upon them in a matter of minutes.

A slight crackle startled them, as Heatwave's voice shattered the silence.  ** Paladin, Avatar, this is Heatwave. It appears the disturbance in Lafayette is Shift. I'm going to...** there was a slight hesitation, ** try to get closer to confirm it. **

"I think," Danny said to his cousin over the phone as he regarded the darkness ahead, "That ya might need ta send a fockin army." 

A few breaths later, and the scene in the abyss changed a bit.  Small dots of red light could be seen in a dim haze, floating somewhere in the middle.  On the inside, Avatar's shadow could see more clearly and made out small floating robots, beeping and chirping in alarm.  Another few breaths, and one of Heatwave's blasts could be seen briefly lighting the interior of the abyss.  One of the drones exploded from the impact. 

Their radio crackled again, and this time it was JACE on the other end. "JACE to all Conquistadors. I have determined the basic traveling method of the creature and a possible course.  It appears to be avoiding areas of heavy traffic at this time by using the sewer systems."  He paused for a moment before continuing."It is currently near the area of Freetown.  I recommend some Conquistadors investigate the sewer systems while I remained on the trail above."

"Oy, tin man," Danny said. "We've got this shifty thingee here ta deal with. Can you handle tracking that thing on yer own for now?" 

"Shift," Avatar said. "Have you read his file? Fucking hell." He focused on his avatar again, and it scudded towards the dim light of one of the floating robots. He turned his attention back to Paladin. 

"The...cloud has an outer ring of near-total darkness," he said quickly. "But there's some kind of dim illumination in the center. It's full of Shift's little drones. Trying to get a closer look..."  Knowing even as he watched his partner, that one of the robots had initiated a scan on his astral projection.  Despite all the chirping and high tech gadgetry on the drone, the laser that passed over him was more akin to a harmless grocery store scanner and not the attack that he'd half expected. 

"It's going to wash right over us. Do we stay or go?"

"Stay," Danny replied instantly. "If Heatwave is in there, we need ta make sure she's ok." There was an explosion of indigo smoke, and from its center a raven soared out into the night, eyes searching. As he approached the surging blackness, Heatwave burst from it's hold.  She didn't see him and was hell bent on getting away from the darkness.

The raven hadn't had a chance to change his direction, before one of the drones that he'd been warned about came whizzing out of the darkness.  It was vibrating at a very high frequency, grating like finger nails on a chalkboard to the bird's sensitive ears.  The robot didn't pause in it's chase of Heatwave and screeched past in pursuit.

The bird's keen eyes could tell that it was unlikely that the drone would catch his teammate, but the curious thing was why Heatwave was leaving so fast.

As soon as Heatwave was clear of the darkness she angled her flight upward drawing the drone farther away from the streets below. She had no idea what would happen when the countdown reached zero but she knew it couldn't be anything good and she wouldn't risk a bystander getting caught in the fallout.

Five.....

Danny watched her zoom off into the night, flying much faster than he could and pursued by... whatever it was. He climbed for altitude, training his vision back the way she'd come, seeing if anything else was about to make an appearance.

Four...

Avatar absently sent his mental self further into the depths of the cloud, and focused his attention back on the rooftop. He'd never encountered anything that could hurt his avatar, but the physical body was another story. He trotted to the center of the building and crouched amidst a tangle of vents and HVAC units.

Three...

As Avatar found a good vantage point, a bright purple flash of light erupted nearby on the roof top.  At first he feared that it might be the purplish lightning signature of Shift, but his fears were quickly alleviated as the sultry form of Phase appeared.  There was an inherent confidence about her, that made people instantly love her or hate her.  ...and just now, her timing was enough to make her teammates at least appreciate her.

Two...

She scanned the rooftop, spotted Palmer and sauntered over.  "You hiding?"  She quipped.

Before he could answer, the night beyond echoed with a thunderous boom as the drone that was chasing Heatwave exploded.  Hues of red, orange and yellow violated the night sky with a liquidish fireworks display, that looked both hot and toxic in nature.  His teammate was swallowed from his sight, and he didn't know for sure if she had escaped the backlash of the explosion.

"Wow."  Phase breathed.  "Looks like I was too late.  Would have been handy if I could have dropped that above the river."  Despite her words, there really didn't seem to be much sorrow in them.

"A fleet of flying bombs," Avatar said. He put on a devil-may-care attitude and added, "I was going to say we're boned, but I wouldn't want you to take it the wrong way." Even as he flashed a smile, he was focusing his attention within the cloud. The avatar darted closer to the drone that had scanned it, looking for any sign that they indeed were all rigged to explode.

The drone chirped and cheeped, and tilted curiously to one side and then the other.  It's scanner reactivated, and slid over the shadow again.  Still not satisfied with it's results, it shook and vibrated for a moment and tried again.  Each swipe of the flat red bar seemed harmless.

The shadowy form of the avatar watched the drone for a moment longer. Then it shrugged and peeled away, plunging deeper into the eye of the storm.

The Raven, flying nearby, started to feel the pelts of the orange red explosion as it began raining down on the city below.  The lava like substance was still searing hot but his agile body and quick wit allowed him to dodge the most harmful of them.  His keen sense of smell could pick up a chemical stench from the substance, but he wasn't able to place it.

The bird wheeled back towards Avatar, veering around the foul-looking cloud left behind by the exploding whatsit. Flying bombs - who'd have thunk it? As Paladin approached, he saw both Avatar and Phase standing on the rooftop, their posture fairly relaxed considering the circumstances.

Flying above the entire scene, Heatwave remained unharmed.  The backlash of the explosion had hit her, but her inherent ability to survive in hot temperatures protected her.  Looking down though, she was the lava like goo below.  Much of it was raining down, but the finer particles hung like a radioactive orange cloud below her.  Looking back at the dark void that she had exited all seemed quiet, but she knew what laid beyond, and that it was only a matter of time before Shift would be coming after her.

Heatwave let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. If that thing had been much closer when it went off even her immunity to high temperatures wouldn't have done much to save her. At least now she was sure it was Shift.

Activating her communicator she once more called her teammates, **Paladin, Avatar, I have confirmation on the cause of the disturbance in Lafayette. It is Shift and he knows I'm here. I'm going to try to keep him away from any bystanders but I could use some backup ASAP.**

There was an annoyingly long pause before her communicator spat out a reply. "Heatwave, Avatar. You all right?"

**Yes, but I can't handle shift alone. I can delay him but that's about all.** There was an underlying sound of fear in her voice.

"You're not alone," Avatar reassured her. "Paladin, Phase and I are close by. My avatar is trying to pinpoint Shift's location. Do you know where he is?"

**No, I never saw him, just his drones. Then I had to get away from one before it exploded. I don't think he liked me destroying one of them.** There was a nervous chuckle at this.

"Yeah, we saw the light show and were worried." Back on the rooftop, Avatar winked at Phase who looked back at him with her typical unimpressed expression. "Should have known you had it under control."

Heatwave frowned, unsure whether Avatar was being serious or not. She just had to run from an exploding drone and he thought she had everything under control. It made her wonder what he would think out of control was like.

The raven swooped down towards Avatar and Phase and burst into a roilsome mass of black smoke, from which Danny dropped lightly onto the roof. "Whatcha?" he asked Phase, giving Avatar the thumbs-up. "Flying bomb thingee's," he said to his team mates. "Nasty buggers." 

"And there's a lot of them, and they're rolling on over the city," Avatar said. "I think we need to find the center of the storm and shut down Shift. Heatwave, you getting this?"

**Yes, where are you so I can meet you?. Shift is probably going to come looking for me and I don't really want to face him alone. He has some sort of power that draws people to him and it's not easy to resist.** Heatwave answered.

**Conquistadors?**  Phi's voice came through their link, interrupting their conversation.  **Nemesis is on the way with Stone and Soldier Boy.  Please keep safe guys.**

**I don't think they're going to get here before Shift catches up with us.** Heatwave replied.

The radio communication carried on uninterrupted by the looming storm that was moving to engulf them.  Escaping the storm would be easy enough, but they all knew that what they were after was somewhere within.  It was Avatar's shadow, still flying in the storm's eye, that was the first to see Shift. 

The eyewitness accounts that Edison had read could not begin to describe the enormous monstrosity that materialized out of the dark mist.  He was at least eight foot tall, maybe nine or ten, and was a hideous conglomeration of human, beast and machine.  Two manlike hands had somehow survived the unholy mutation and reached out towards the avatar.

Through his link with his shadow, Avatar heard a disturbing mechanical voice crash into his head as Shift spoke to his other.  "Come to me wisp!"  Edison felt a slight draw but was able to shake it off, his avatar, however paused and was held enthralled by the enormous beast.

"I see Shift!" Avatar announced. "He...he's doing something to my avatar." His face was flush with excitement and not a little humiliation. Edison Palmer was not scared, and was not going to be shown up so easily. He gritted his teeth and sent all his willpower through the connection, willing his other half to charge at Shift.

"Let. Go." he growled.

The invisible force that held tightly to his avatar was unimpressed by Edison's feeble attempt.  A purplish haze became visible around his shadow, as thin wisps of it began to slither closer to Shift.  Wisp by wisp, the shadow began to dematerialize further as it slid through the static charged air towards Shift. 

The atmosphere on the rooftop shifted over the next several moments. Part of it could be accounted for by the ever darkening sky, but it was more than that.  There was a tingle of nervousness in the air, a shared state of being among the heroes, so thick that they could almost taste it.  The accumulated static and palpable dread washed over them and brought with it at least some small desire to allow their flight drive to take control.

For some it was the feel of their tongues thickening in their mouth, for others it was suddenly dry lips or sweaty palms, but every soul on that roof felt a suffocating sense of dread ripple over them. Even after the initial feeling there was a heaviness that remained in the air. Searing purple bolts of light, almost blinding in intensity, shot out from the darkness to skitter over the surface of the building. The KRAK-a-THOOM that followed was as deafening as the lightening was blinding.

Unconsciously, Heatwave moved closer to Danny as the familiar dread washed over them. It felt good to have her team nearby and she wondered how she could have ever left. She just hoped they took Shift seriously otherwise someone was going to get hurt. None of the ones with her knew what Shift was capable of and at least one of them seemed to think this was all a game.

Danny stood facing the oncoming darkness, arms folded across his chest, a slight smile tugging at this lips. To the casual observer, he didn't look scared at all. But to those who knew him, there was a tightening around his eyes, a slight hunch to his shoulders that spoke to nervousness. "Well," he said to nobody, and to everyone, voice taught with nervous energy. "This is gonna be a shower of bastards, isn't it?" Black smoke boiled forth from him, his eyes igniting into twin specks of brilliant red. He dropped his hands to his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists as he searched the gloom, waiting for whatever this thing was to show itself. 

"Let! Go!"  Avatar repeated, this time more urgently, and his friends could see rigid signs of stress begin to press upon him. 

Five droids shot out of the dark mass that was engulfing them.  The flat red lasers, of three of them, quickly approached Paladin, Phase and Avatar.  Their wide sweeping red lines faintly illuminating the particles in the air as the scanner passed through the void that separated them from the heroes.  The other two drones had red lights flashing as they whizzed with a high pitched whir sound towards Heatwave.

"Baseball anyone?"  Phase quipped lightheartedly as she vanished into the darkness, only to reappear wrapped around one of the scanner droids.  In a heartbeat both of them had disappeared.

Danny rolled his eyes, which appeared to dim slightly then brighten again, as he stepped in front of Palmer. "If things get ugly, stay behind me until spooky gets back ok?" he said, eying the hovering machines warily.  One came just outside of arms length before the silent scanning stopped, the other made a wide circle of the two heroes, and initiated the laser scan on Avatar's back.

Without a second thought Heatwave sent her most powerful blast into the nearest drone.  It flew true and hit the droid in the center, short circuiting several of it's lights.  The whirring sound hiccuped as it's processor failed and it began plummeting to the ground below.  The other droid, sent a laser blast at the Conquistador, but it's affect did nothing more than heat up the thermals that were already protecting her body.

Avatar was barely aware of the chaos erupting around him, his inner sight intent on a scene several blocks away. He mumbled a word of thanks to Paladin as he fumbled with his shirt and pulled out his amulet.  As soon as his fingers slid out of his glove, and his flesh touched the ever cool metal, he could feel a surge of protection.  At the exact moment the calm descended around him, his avatar was able to burst free of the purplish haze and soar back to his other half.

Phase reappeared on the center of the rooftop and was off again, before the two droids began whirring into offensive mode.  As the heroes watched on, the teleportress appeared again next to the one on Avatar's back, but wasn't able to grab hold of it.  She began falling towards the ground below, but all of her teammates knew that she would blink back to safety in moments.

The smoke that roiled off of Danny thickened; pulsed. He still stood his ground between Avatar and the flying... well, bomb, basically, waiting to see what it would do next. ""I've made some changes," he muttered to Avatar. "Doubt it can really hurt me much. So ya know, if there's anythin ya want ta try, give it a go. I'll keep ya covered." 

"How about this?" Avatar panted, still clutching his amulet. He released the avatar again, and it charged at the looming droid with surprising speed. The darkened force hit the machine easily, causing it to whine and start a flashing sequence of bright red lights.  The impact was enough to make it drop towards the city below, but it was still active.

Taking aim at the next droid in line, Heatwave let loose her blast once again, shattering the pesky drone on impact. She chanced a glance at her companions to make sure they were safe. Over the past few weeks she had begun to realize how much they had become a part of her life. "When Shift shows up be careful. He has the power to make you go to him. We'll need to keep an eye on each other and be ready to help them break free if they need to."

In the next few moments, Phase had blinked to a perch on a nearby light pole.  "I'll get the blinker!"  She said as she disappeared again, reappearing slightly below the still active but falling drone.  Her target was off by a few inches, but she seemed determined to snag it before it reached the streets below.

The flashing robot in front of Danny let loose an intense beam, but it's aim was off and missed both he and Avatar.  The irritating drones were quickly forgotten as the static filled darkness began to quicken it's pace towards them.  Leading the looming dread, was the enormous figure of Shift as he burst forward.  Purple lightning played over the surface of his skin and metallic surface.

His movements were sluggish as his eyes turned to take in each of the heroes.  The information that his droids had captured was already indexed and now he was patiently gathering his bearings.  It was frustratingly clear that he wasn't afraid of them, by the time he hovered there, calculating his next move.  Once his eyes lit on Heatwave they remained on her, and she could feel his hunger in the recesses of her soul.

"Em," Danny said, eying the immense villainous form as it moved forward and focused on Heatwave. "Ideas, people?" 

"Well don't let him do that soul lock thing to you," Avatar began caustically. His words trailed off as he chewed something over in his mind.

"Right, cause that's fuckin' helpful," Danny retorted. He concentrated, the smoke swirled. There was a god-awful tearing noise as the young man sunk his fingers into the roof and then heaved out a rather nice-sized chunk of it. He narrowed his eyes, took careful aim, and let fly at the remaining drone.  The chunk of concrete and tar completely obliterated the drone on contact, the lights fizzled out, and chunks of metal and wire splintered into the night sky to rain on the city below.

The moment she felt Shift's eyes on her, Heatwave wanted to run as far and as fast as she could. She knew what the monster's interest meant and the thought of being helpless in his power terrified her. Her palms sweating, she looked around the rooftop. At Danny standing in front of Avatar, protecting him, At Avatar doing whatever it was he did, one of these days she was going to have to find out exactly what, to take out another of the droids. Surprisingly, even Phase was doing her part.

No, scared as she was she couldn't run. This was her team and she would stand with them no matter the consequences, even if it meant facing Shift. Since he already seemed focused on her she decided to keep his attention off he others. "Hey Ugly, you picked the wrong time to take a stroll." She knew it sounded silly but somehow she managed to keep her voice steady as she sent a blast of pure heat in Shift's direction, but the dark abyss shifted and swallowed it before the heat could reach him. 

Avatar came to an unhappy decision. Since he'd shaken off Shift's freaky soul attack once, he probably could shake it off again. Which meant he should be a good little hero, and try to make sure he was the one that got hit with it and not Heatwave.

"Dammit" he muttered. His avatar spun in midair, rose to Shift's eye level, and shot towards the creature like a rocket. The shadow passed through Shift and circled around to face the villain again.  The monstrosity swatted at it, more in annoyance at it distorting his vision of Heatwave than anything else and the blast failed to make contact.

"YOU!"  Shift's robotic voice rang out as he flew forward and through the avatar to point at Heatwave.  "I believe we have unfinished business to attend to."  His voice barked out each word in a harsh metallic tone and his eyes never wavered from her, as he swirled his left hand.

Several thin purplish strands began to interact with the abyss and fill the distance that separated him from the rooftop.  The smell of burnt ozone became thick and the sound of static crackling filled everyone's ears.  Danny and Avatar could feel the pull upon them, and the hairs on their arms and the back of their necks prickled to attention.  As each of them inhaled deeply, they became keenly aware that the breath that they had taken for granted had left them.  The purple strands were somehow evaporating the breathable oxygen in the air.

Danny frowned, and smoke roiled. The young mans hands were now much bigger, with cruel looking claws protruding through the ever-swirling smoke.

Panic crossed Avatar's face, but he made shooing gestures at Danny. Meanwhile his shadow arced around Shift to touch down on a rooftop half a block behind the monstrosity. A second later the man stepped through his shadow and took a deep breath. He hoped out of sight would be out of mind for Shift. Still, he looked around for a fire escape or other way down. As an afterthought he sent his avatar back up into the air, to verify that Danny and Phase were clear of the choking purple threads.

"I don't think that's gonna work," Danny said drolly. "And ya might want ta reconsider harsh language too," he added, crouching, measuring the distance. He knew that if he acted now, before the monster moved again, he would most likely reach him. He grinned fiercely. "A challenge," he whispered, and leapt.

Razor sharp claws screeched almost painfully as they scraped against unforgiving metal before finding purchase in soft flesh. Shift flinched at the wasp on his back and was about ready to swat him off, when Heatwave called out to him, demanding all of his attention.

Heatwave quickly took in the scene and knew she had to distract Shift long enough for Danny and Avatar to do something but she had to be careful. If she played it wrong Shift might lose interest in her and go after one of her friends. "You want me?" She waited until she was sure Shift's attention was fully on her. "Come and get me." She said raising into the sky, trying to draw Shift away from those on the rooftop.

"MINE!"  Shift roared, the sound long and grating as it made it's way through metal and flesh vocal chords.  Either assuming that the other two were contained, or dismissing them as a threat, he focused all of his attention towards the fleeing Heatwave.  His huge form was lumbering and seemed to be shifting somewhat to accommodate his flight methods, and the Conquistador had no problem soaring out of his reach.  Even as she soared out of sight through the dark mass, Shift's eyes remained riveted on the darkness above.

Eyes burning a brilliant crimson, Danny drew back his right arm, something glittering and black held in his hand. He focused, then punched forward into the side of the thing he was clinging to.

ooc: I'm going to write the results of this move into part 2, from the perspective of HW and Stone.

As Avatar cautiously watched the scene, other things began to unfold to his senses.   The darkness in the air was thinning, and the magical element contained within it, was also focusing and possibly separating from Shift.  As he trained his eyes above and beyond, following the magical essence, he saw what appeared to be a tornado.  The vortex was either sucking the magic into it, or the tornado was the form that the essence was taking on.  One way or the other, he had a sense that it was a very distinct and possibly combustive problem. 

"This is Avatar," the would-be magician said into his communicator. "Shift is..building up some kind of magical charge. Possibly he's losing control. I've never seen anything like this."

He hissed as he  discerned something new. Whatever was in Paladin's hands reeked of magic. The flavor of it wasn't so far off from Shift's, and it had taken a moment to spot. But it was there, and it was powerful. Avatar flicked his communicator back on.

"Uh, careful, Paladin," he said, "Imagine popping a balloon."

Or a nuke, he thought. His feet hit the edge of the roof and he looked down. No fire escape here on this side. "Fuck," he muttered and headed for the opposite side. He walked with slow awkwardness, neck craned up to watch the spectacle unfolding in the air before him.

[OOC: I suck at rulesy stuff. Can I hold my action and go on the next phase? Seems Av should let Danny make his move...]

Phase popped back onto the roof where Paladin and Avatar had been.  "Did I miss the party?"  She asked lightly as she located Danny astride Shift, her eyes continuing to scan the area for Avatar and Heatwave.  "Oh!  There it is."  She grinned as she vanished again.