Before they turned the corner, Stone said, "Hey, doc, do you think--..."

Sebastián's mind was slightly pre-occupied, wondering what the staff of Toddberry would make of a Doctor riding up on a motorcycle, wearing a tuxedo. He was hoping they'd chalk it up to "DiSantiago Eccentricity" when Stone's voice brought him out of his mild reverie. Turning, he gave Stone his full attention.

His smoky lenses turned once more towards the scene unfolding along the side of the building. He stopped his bike and gestured for Sebastian to follow suit as he studied the situation.

"Unexpected transfer..." the biker thought out loud. There was a pause, and then he swung his leg to get off his bike.

"C'mon," he said to the team shrink. "Let's take a closer look. I'm not a big believer in coincidences." Nobody seemed to notice the two of them as they made their approach, the guards were too intent on the impending transfer.

Perched on the edge of the building, in the form of a Raven, Danny watched on. As the scene unfolded his keen eyes and gut clued him into a few things that weren't quite right. They all happened quickly and nothing stood out enough to demand action, but among them were the guard that approached the rear of the van and the other that was reaching into the armored truck. The subtle snap of the rear guard as he released the safety strap from his side arm, and then a subtle buzzing sound that began to emanate from the cab of the truck. The hum was on a frequency that the humans below couldn't hear.

Before Danny could decide what if anything he wanted to do, the rear guard pulled out his sidearm and shot one of the Toddberry Asylum guards. The orderlies screamed in surprise, and three of them turned back and ran through the still open door, leaving only one of them standing with the prisoners.

The prisoners, actually seemed as surprised as the Toddberry staff did at the sudden commotion, and looked up with a spark in their eyes that had been missing only moments before.

Danny spread wings as black as an oil slick and leapt down, smoke roiling and billowing about him as he dropped down from the buildings edge. A raven began the fall, but a canine straight out of Grimm's darkest fairy tale finished the fall, eyes glowing a baleful red, massive paws aimed straight at the chest of the gunman.

The transport guard's eyes grew wide with fear as the demon red eyes came for him. His mouth opened and shut but not even a scream could come out before the nightmarish form of Danny had tackled him to the ground. His keen nose could smell the stench of urine as his captive lost control of his bladder.

Sebastián's pulse quickend as he realized what was happening. This was it, a chance to experience what a Hero feels like. He was at once both thrilled and terrified. What if he messed up, what if he embarassed himself infront of Stone and Danny. What if someone found out what he was. His body shook with the anticipation, and for a brief moment he thought he would freeze, like a deer caught in the headlights. "Fucking focus you moron" he muttered to himself as he took a breath to clear his thoughts, and focused on what was happening now. Pushing his fear and excitement out of his mind, he triggered his forcefield, and a slightly hazy shimmer enveloped him, as he scanned the area to try and get a better idea of what exactly was happening.

Stone let his feet move a little faster than his casual walk had been. He made a mental count as he moved and stoically watched for anything that a hasty advance might miss while bringing out his pack of smokes and his lighter from his jacket pocket. His keen sense of observation, immediately noted that there were 6 people in Toddberry uniforms, three of them were running back inside the building. One of them lay on the ground, and the wound looked very serious. The other guard in the home team uniform was terrified, the hand that held his electric wand gizmo was shaking and his eyes were locked on the giant black dog that had taken the transport guard down.

Sebastian was only a couple of steps behind Stone, as the team brick lit up one of his smokes, looking calmly around to assess the scene.  It was difficult for him to recall the last time he felt so alive, the anticipation of the unknown washing over him.  Sebastián cautiously walked toward the cluster of people, ready to use Stone as cover if his powers were necessary. 

As Stone continued to assess the team, he could see that the two prisoners had recovered from their original shock, and the orderly next to the female prisoner was hastily activating something on Grind's collar. The male prisoner, Bump, stepped protectively in front of his sister and the guard holding the wand. The other transport guard that he'd seen earlier was now obscured by the transport truck.

As soon as the orderly stepped away, Stone could see the air around Grind become visible somehow, as it undulated and shivered in response to her. He could still see her clearly, but it was obvious that she had activated one of her powers. She crouched low and spun around slowly, taking in everyone on the ground around her.

"Free him!" she commanded of the orderly, summoning the power for her blast and holding it to throw at anyone that tried to keep her brother from freedom.

"Yeah...I'm thinking no."  Stone finished his approach and stood facing the pair, unseen eyes casually but confidently staring them down through dark lenses.  Danny and Sebastian had seen several sides of Stone over the past few months, all variants of his usual hard-egded persona.  This was something different.  It was like someone threw a switch.  Stone was radiating menace and danger like a floor heater.

"And who are you?"  Grind asked curiously, with a cocky jive of her head.  The messy hair atop waving from the vibrations in the air. 

"My name is Stone.  I'm a Conquistador, same as them," he said with gestures towards Danny's sinister hound and Sebastian.  "And I get paid to put out fires like this, fires like you.  So out of professional courtesy I'm asking you to just relax and walk back inside and we can all have a laugh about this fucked up shit out here over a smoke.  But, either way, easy or hard, don't matter to me.  I get paid either way."

Grind looked at the other named Conquistadors and then to her brother, her face screwing up into an annoyed grimace.  "Look, lets make a play date for later.  Today I'm using that Get Out of Asylum Free card that I've been holding onto."  Her brother snorted in the background.

Stone took a drag and pointed at them with the lit cigarette between two fingers.  His demeanor seemed to harden even more, as did his tone. 

"Just know this: I ain't no cop and I ain't no hero.  You take the hard way with me and it ain't going to be no 'down on the ground, hands behind your head' bullshit.  It's going to be a quick, painful, humiliating trip that ends with you waking up in a prison hospital bed."

He took another drag to let it sink in and then said, "So..."  A flick of his finger sent the smoke off to his left.  "What's it going to be?"

The prisoner looked at the Conquistador levelly for a moment, obviously running his words through her head and giving them as much weight as she could. In the end though she shook her already messed up hair and let her screaming vibro-blast loose.  The air began strumming, centered on the man called Stone, but wide enough to catch the dog and guard that lay prone underneath him.  "I'm not THAT crazy." 

Unsure of who the biggest threat was, Bump moved to his sister's side and took up a defensive posture, his eyes darting from Stone to the black dog that was close by.

Stone didn't seem physically affected by the ultrasound, but his head rolled back as his skeleton lit up like a christmas tree.  He'd felt it before - it had been explained to him the way super-hard crystas or metal can vibrate at high frequencies when hit with certain types of sound.  His skeleton reacted similarly and his teeth were rattling in their sockets from the force of the blast. 

The snarling k-9 now had his prey held securely beneath him, the gun in his hand temporarily forgotten. The shrill scream from the villainess' energy blast cut painfully into his sensitive ears, and then he felt the shock of it strumming between every hair and bone in his body.  As he took inventory of himself and his captive, he smelled fresh blood, but it was coming from the guard and not from him.

Smoke poured from the hellhound, briefly obscuring its midnight form. When the smoke cleared, Danny was crouched over the prone guard, tuxedo a bit rumpled, a frown creasing his brow above gimlet blue eyes. The Irishman plucked the gun from the guards hand with ease and stowed it in his jacket pocket. "Ow." he said flatly, then winked at the disheveled woman who'd attacked him. And then he was tucking and rolling under the truck in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, he was gone. 

"I'm not paid enough for this shit!" Was heard from the Todberry Asylum guard before he turned around and fled from scene.

Sebastián's jaw dropped, and for a split second he considered mimicking the guard fleeing for his life, but his pride wouldn't let him. What the FUCK had he gotten himself into he wondered, watching the disheveled woman blast Danny and Stone with some sort of sound wave.   These guys were going to need some help. Hoping that all eyes were still upon the cluster, he concentrated and altered the flow of time surrounding Stone.  

"C'mon!  This is our ride!"  Grind said urgently to her brother as she began sprinting for the truck. 

Her brother grabbed something from the orderlies hands, a key of some sort, and followed her towards the transport.  As they arrived at the cab, Grind turned, blast ready to throw at anyone that pursued.  The transport driver fumbled with the door, not nearly as quick on his feet as the prisoners that he was trying to help.

On the battlefield, Stone immediately noticed a change in his perceptions.  His rattling had ceased and as he stepped towards the truck the pair of would-be escapees were jogging towards, he had a feeling that he was in a groove.  His body was doing exactly what he wanted as fast as he wanted it - no signs of rust or loss of muscle memory.  It felt great, and boosted his confidence even more as he reached for the truck.

He could hear a gasp, a hiss, a scream and a thud, in response to the armored truck leaving the ground.  It was a trivial thing to raise the truck over his head and then slam it down upon the pair as hard as he could in one fluid arcing motion of muscle and metal.  He hit his mark dead center and as far as he knew, all of his intended targets.

A cat, black as night, sat exposed where the armored truck had been only moments before.  His hair was up, prickled and agitated as any cat's would be, as he glared up at Stone.

At the top of the asylum wall, one of the watch guards surveyed the scene below.  The armored truck, government property, laying on it's side, while the impressive Stone used it like a baseball bat.  Without thought, he picked up his gun and shot the only person that he felt was obviously on the wrong side of the law.

The bullet pinged harmlessly off Stone's head.  The biker turned to look up at the shooter and said, "Have you lost your mind?"

Slowly backing up, until he was pressed against the front of the Asylum, Sebastián tore his eyes away from the improvised whack-a-mole game to take in the rest of the surroundings. Stone seemed to have things under control, and Sebastián wanted to make sure nothing else was coming. As far as he could tell, nothing else seemed to be out of the ordinary, other than a loud siren that began shrieking through the asylum grounds.  Someone had obviously made it inside and pulled the emergency alarm.

On the other side of the armored truck, obscured from the vision of everyone else, Grind picked herself up.  There was a deep scowl on her face and muddy grass stains on her white hospital gown from where she had dove out from under the truck, only a second before it came down upon her.

The enormous armored truck bucked upwards into Stone's hands.  There was considerable strength from one of the prisoner bugs underneath as Bump tried to kick the truck off of him.  To the dismay of the captives, he wasn't strong enough to force it out of the Conquistador's hands.

The fucking nerve, Stone thought.  His anger only fed into the rush he was feeling, and he used it to fuel a quick repeat of his previous attack.  He lifted the truck still in his grasp diagonally up and then slammed it mercilessly back down again on the pair of escapees.

The cat's head had gone up and down with the rising of the truck in feline fascination, deep green eyes closing in a wince each time the vehicle came down upon the metahumans beneath it. There was a moment of black smoke, then Danny stood where the cat had been, a pained look upon his face.

"Gruesome," He muttered, then turned his attention towards the downed guard, grabbing him beneath the shoulders and pulling him to cover. There was still a shooter out there somewhere, and Danny wanted to get a little healing into the wounded man before finding and dealing with the gunman.

The last of the orderlies turned away from the chaos on the grounds and ran back through the door to the asylum.

Grind sprung into action from the other side of the truck and moved to the front of it where she could see Stone.  "THAT!  Was MY ride!  ...and THAT was my BROTHER!"  She growled between clenched teeth as she let loose another one of her screaming blasts.  The air thickened and strummed, the intensity this time was much more concentrated as it pounded into the Conquistador's chest.

Stone found himself uncharacteristically flung backwards.  The truck he still held landed on top of him and did nothing to help quell the shakes he had thanks to the vibro-sound blast this bitch was using.  He didn't like losing.  It pissed him off.  His legs helicoptered viciously around and provided momentum for him to regain his feet quickly.  With a grunt the biker shot up off the ground in what he hoped was a surprise move.  From the air he quickly arced back down and drove the truck down on top of her to crush her into the ground.

"Sweet Jesus!"  Grind screamed in shock as she instinctively threw her hands up over her head.  Her eyes were closed when the ground beneath her shook with the impact.  By some miracle, the flying brick had missed her.  A huge crater with a cherry topped armored truck, smashed to smithereens and one very angry and unharmed Stone on top, was a hairs width away..  Her face paled and she looked to find her brother, her fight very possibly turning into flight after seeing that maneuver.

The ground shook with the force of the impact of the truck, and Sebastián stared in disbelief as the woman seemed to avoid injury once again. It was becoming rapidly evident that he'd need to take an active hand in subduing her.  Glancing around quickly to see if there were any immediate observers, he took a quick step to his left, keeping his back against the wall trying to use Stone and the hulking wreckage of the truck to shield where his attack was coming from.  Staring at the woman, he focused the effects of weeks of fatigue to wash over her.

Grind stumbled under Bastian's time wash and almost fell down from the power of it.  She managed to stay standing and pivoted so that she could watch both Stone and this unknown that was standing against the asylum.  She shook her head, trying to get the groggy edges to recede, her smart mouth had been quelled, there were no words of anger or witty quips as she sent another of her screaming blasts directly towards Bastian.

Out of nowhere, images assaulted Sebastián's mind. He saw himself, standing against the asylum wall, watching the effects of his attack on the female patient. She turned, and unleashed her attack at him.  Blinking he shook his head, clearing the future images from his mind, a sick feeling of dread growing in his stomach. He knew with certainty even before she loosed the vibration blast that it was coming for him.  He tried to leap for cover, but his nerves got the better of him and he tripped, falling to his knee.  At that exact moment the sonic beam hit the wall directly over his left shoulder, where he'd been standing only a heart beat before.  The wall behind him gave a tremendous shudder as the sound waves reverberated through it's foundation.  He felt it buckle inwards and could hear stones falling to the floor on the other side, and knew it couldn't endure another blast like that.

Bump pushed himself off of the ground with a forceful bound as he aimed to knock Stone off of the truck.  He grunted with every breath as he bared down on the Conquistador, but Stone was ready for the impact and kept his precarious footing despite the thunderous impact of the two bodies.

This was getting ri-damned-diculous.  As if squaring off against a chick that could rattle his bones wasn't bad enough, Stone apparently couldn't hit the broad side of a barn today.  The guy trying to take him out with the charge was much more his cup of tea.  With a quick encirclement, the biker tried ensnaring him in a bear hug where he'd be much more useful.

Bump growled at Stone, facing him eye to eye, when the Conquistador locked him into his grip.  With a crushing force, unlike any he could remember, he was crushed between those powerful arms like an aluminum can.  The crushing maneuver forced the air out of his lungs and he went limp against Stone's chest.

Nearby, Smoke poured from Danny's hands and into the downed guard lying prone beside him, bone, muscle and flesh beginning to knit slowly together. He needed to stabilize this one so that he could get to the other lying a few feet from him - a full reconstruction would take more time than he had now, what with all the baddies running about.

Grind watched as the Conquistador squashed her brother and wanted desperately to retaliate.  Unfortunately, with Stone holding him against him like a shield, there was little chance of exacting her revenge without hurting her brother.  In her fury she let another screaming blast fly at Bastian.  

The Conquistador was not able to match her speed and took the brunt of the blast, slamming into the already weakened wall of Toddberry Asylum.  The ancient stone cracked on both sides of his body and his mind swirled as he lost consciousness. 

Without a moment to savor her victory, the vibra-charged bad girl's eyes jumped abck towards the larger threat of the biker, only to see the unconscious form of her brother come smashing down on her as the mysterious aggressor swung him over his head with a snarl like a giant club.  The impact shook the hospital grounds as the siblings collided with massive force and were driven into the dirt.

When the smoke from the impact cleared, Stone was stepping over the edge of the small crater he'd created with one knocked-out escapee in each hand.  He dragged them over to the truck wreckage and used armor scraps to bind their feet and hands together, the latter behind their backs.  The metal twisted and bent like pretzel dough in the eye-shaded strongman's hands until they were securely bound.

Right on cue, a phalanx of hospital guards in modified riot gear came storming out of the hospital doors.  Stone waved them over and dropped Bump and Grind on the ground at their feet.

"Better late than never," he commented while flashing his Conquistador credentials.  "I think these two have had enough excitement for one day.  You better get their collars sorted out."

The biker walked over to where Danny was finishing up with the injured guard.  When the Irishman was done, he gestured over to where Seabass was lying in a wall crater and said, "We better wake up Sleeping Beauty over there and find that bomb quick, in case more of these collar malfunctions have been set up."

Danny rose from his crouch, dusting off the knees of his pants. "I think this one's ok. A real gaurd," he clarified, looking over at the team psychologist. "Doc's already coming around, and I need ta make sure that one," he pointed at the 'guard' that had been caught in the sonic hell unleashed from Stone's playmate, "...is ok, even if he was in on it. Let me take care a that, then we can deal with the bomb, yeah?"

"Okay."  Stone looked around at the considerable amount of collateral damage they'd maange to cause in a very brief amount of time.  He understodd - it usually happened that way.  He only hoped Phi and her PR-conscious mindset would be so understanding.

As Danny finished doing triage on the down guards and villains, Sebastian finally made it to his feet.  His body ached, quite possibly worse than it ever had before.  One of the administrators who had made their way out onto the grounds, following the riot squad, noticed him and approached.

"Dr. DiSantiago!"  His voice was shrill with concern.  "Are you alright?  My heavens!  What happened here?  Are you alright?"  His hand flitted from his mouth to his chin, over and over again, clearly nervous that a DiSantiago had been injured on his watch.

With a thought, he dropped his protective field as Sebastián furiously brushed his hands over himself, smoothing out wrinkles and knocking any dust or brick off him.  His entire body ached, every movement was a spike of pain but he HATED being dirty, and he forced himself to endure it.  Finally, when he felt he was presentable, he looked up.  "I'm alright, now. I must have been hit by whatever that crazy woman was tossing about."

"Oh my heavens."  He repeated nervously.  "Doctor, I'm so sorry."  He leaned in to help brush some of the debris off of Sebastian's very expensive tuxedo.  "I just don't know what happened.  I am so very sorry."

Sebastián's eyes scanned the area, surveying the scene as the kiss-ass busied himself tidying.  Danny and Stone seemed to be dealing with the rush of extra security that came from the Asylum.  Things seemed to be under control, and in this dying chaos, now would be the best time to get in and out with the bomb. 

Beyond the wall, Stone helped with the heavy lifting and made sure that neither Bump nor Grind had second thoughts about returning quietly to their cells.  When that was through, he saw Danny shaking his head over the prone form of the transport guard that had been driving the truck.  As he approached, to the newest member of the team, it was evident that this particular guard didn't survive the brutal beating that he'd taken.

Danny stood, looking down at the mangled body, head shaking sadly. "I think ya mighta hit em too hard mate," he sighed, then knelt once more, hands extended. As soon as they touched the man's body the familiar black smoke began to roil, flowing down from Danny's elbows, coating his arms and hands and flowing into and onto the prone and unmoving guard. Danny's breathing became labored, sweat beaded his brow and his eyes closed in concentration. "Fock..." he whispered, barely audible, but Stone picked it up. The smoke boiled and writhed, a shroud of midnight black that looked as cold as the heart of a dead star. This went on for a good minute, if not two. Around them men were gathering, watching, murmuring questions and looking at Danny with suspicion.

Then Danny gasped and fell back, sprawling ungraciously on his ass and elbows in the grass, panting. 

The smoke had cleared, the guard was whole, breathing, eyes blinking confusedly in the bright sunlight, head moving from left to right as he tried to get his bearings. 

One of the guards staggered backwards, his eyes wide with wonder.  "Oh my God!  That man was dead!  Crushed to a pulp."  He shook his head, the wonder in his eyes shifting to uncertainty, maybe even fear.  "Who are you?"  

Danny grinned up, hair plastered to his forehead, and panted "Well... they say... that Jaysus... was an Irishman..." Then he laughed and fell back flat on his back, eyes of storybook blue sparkling merrily despite the fatigue. 

"We're the kind of people who prefer fewer questions," Stone replied evenly to the guard before lighting the smoke already in his mouth.  He snapped his lighter closed and placed it in his pocket with one hand while helping Danny up with the other.

"Whatever."  Sighed the guard that had witnessed the resurrection.  "I don't want any part of this."  He wiped his hands on his pants, as if he was trying to wash the experience off and headed back inside.  A few of the other guards watched him, but were far more impressed than he was and wasn't ready to leave the side of the Conquistadors.

"So..." Began one of the guards, "Are you really the Conquistadors?"

"I ask myself that every day," Stone answered wearily, still half-bent that he almost got his ass kicked by a girl.  "But yeah."

He showed the man his credentials and asked, "Who's in charge around here?"

"Over there."  The man pointed to a gentleman wearing a suit.  He was standing next to the wall speaking to Sebastian DiSantiago.

Stone looked at Danny and made an "after you" gesture.

Sebastian was finalizing his plan when a hand on his ass broke his concentration. He jumped and spun around quickly thinking What the hell?!.  "Dr. Logan, thank you I think that's quite good enough." he muttered, trying to keep a straight face.  Gesturing towards Danny and Stone, he continued "We were here on a completely different matter when things unfolded before us, fortunately for everyone. If we could please go inside, we have something we'd like to discuss with you."

As the two Conquistadors approached, they saw the administrator trying to paw on Bastian.  Doing his best to wipe off the last remnants of dust from his broad shoulders.  "Of course! Again, I'm so sorry. Whatever I can do for you, I just don't even know how any of this happened."

The administrator looked worriedly at Danny and Stone before introducing himself.  "Gentlemen, I'm Dr. Logan.  Please, come inside.  Dr. DiSantiago has requested a private meeting."

Danny nodded. He still looked a little shaky, but he was recovering fairly quickly. He shoved his hands in his pockets and followed the others inside.

In only a few short moments Dr. Logan had ushered them into his office, apologizing all the way, and make quite a spectacle of playing up to the DiSantiago. He was the head of psychiatric medicine at the facility, a little younger than one might expect, but the awards and degrees littered around the office spoke highly of his education.

"Now, Gentlemen.  Please tell me what I can do for you." Dr. Logan asked as he settled himself behind his desk. "And perhaps you can tell me what you know of the thwarted attempt to break out two of my patients."

Sebastián's looked about the man's office, searching for a decanter or bottle of scotch, which he could not find. "FUCK, and I wanted a drink too." he thought to himself.  Running his fingers through his hair he turned and faced Dr. Logan.  "We came to the Asylum today on an urgent matter, which still needs resolution. However, as I mentioned outside, we just stumbled upon the attempted escape. My colleague's obviously couldn't let that pass."

"Well, of course.  And I thank you!"  There was genuine gratitude in his voice.  "There is of course, some damage that will need to be taken care of, but to think of what might have happened if you weren't here."  He shook his head at the thought.

At the mention of damages, Sebastián winced, knowing he'd forgotten something.  Reaching into his tuxedo, he withdrew his wallet and pulled a business card free. "As far as the damages go, I'll see to those personally.  Please make sure the bill for the wall and the Armored Transport are send directly to me."  He flashed his best "Phi PR" smile.

"Well!"  Dr. Logan exclaimed.  "How very generous of you!  I will be sure to get in touch, I look forward to it!"  It seemed that he was under the impression that Sebastián had asked him out on a date.

Sebastián walked over to the seated doctor, and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Dr. Logan, it is important that you maintain your composure when I tell you this."

"Of course. Of course!"  The doctor said in his deepest voice, as Bastian drew a long breath and just rushed through.

"There is an explosive device in the building. We have it's location and we can disable it, we just need you to give us building access to get to it." 

"An explosive device?"  The doctor repeated quickly, his face paling.  "A bomb?  A BOMB!?"  His voice was a squeak as he jumped up from his chair, clearly upset by the revelation.

"Yo, doc, keep it down, okay?"  Stone looked annoyed and made an encompassing gesture with his lit smoke.  "We don't have enough for everyone, you know?"

Sebastián waited for the outburst to pass, and replied in his most calming voice. "Everything is ok. My associates are more than able to handle this.  We need access to the D Wing.  I realize that's where your most dangerous patients are, but that's where the bomb is located."

"Of course.  Of course."  The doctor said as he reached for his jacket.  "You can have access to whatever you need.  I just remembered that I have an important meeting.  Off site.  Here's my key card and my key code is 59AZ003.  Let me write that down for you really quick."  He turned and hurredly scrawled his pass code on a sticky note.  "This will open all of the cages and any door.  I'll leave word on my way out that you have complete authorization to the building."

Sebastián took the card and the note from Dr. Logan, and shook his hand.  "Thank you, thank you so much.  We'll do our best to make sure this is handled with the utmost discretion."

"Of course! You are the Conquistadors, after all!"  The doctor said in his most jovial voice as he hurried out the door.  No sooner had he left, than his head popped back in.  "Just give me...about five minutes, if you would.  I'd just like to make it to my car, first."

After the administrator left, the Conquistadors found themselves with the keys to Toddberry Asylum.  Bastian knew the facility well enough to find his way to the D wing, and the schematics were fairly detailed.  Finding the bomb would likely be an easy task, but who and how it was going to get disarmed still needed to be discussed.

"Anytime you're ready, Doctor Love," Stone remarked to Sebastian with another "after you" gesture. Danny laughed softly at the moniker.

It was a bit surreal as they navigated the halls of the asylum.  Guards and orderlies gave them strange looks, but when they saw the administrator's credentials, they did nothing to keep them from their destination.  The halls themselves were noisy, because the patients were acting out in the aftermath of the loud siren that had resounded through the institution's walls.  Many faces with wide eyes were pressed tightly against the glass in their door, watching as the Conquistadors made their way past.

It was easy to tell that the D Wing, was a highly restricted area.  It begged the question as to who the Syndicate had paid off to get into the belly of this beast, but somehow they had.  Just as the schematics promised, the bomb was tucked into the depths of a medical supply closet.  It took them a few moments, but finally they found it behind a bucket full of dirty towels. 

Revealing the intricacies of the explosives did not come quite so easily.  It looked how a bomb would look, or so they guessed.  Close enough to make the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end.  The electronic display was inactive, but even so, they could see the faint lines of 00:00, just waiting to flicker to life if they did something wrong.  If the bomb did go off, and the structural integrity notes on the schematics were correct, it would blow the security protocols that kept all the doors in this wing, tightly locked.

Stone looked around the room with a discerning eye for the positon of the supporting walls.  He'd told Nemesis that he'd handle the actual bomb part of this mess and now he had to deliver.

"Okay..."  The dark lenses tracked from this wall to that, and then to his teammates.  "We need to create a straight line to the outside.  I'll make holes in the walls until I see daylight."  He looked up.  "Or maybe the ceiling.  The doc slaps some time-slowing mamba-jamba on the bomb and I fly it out as fast as I can until I can lose it somewhere safe.  Any questions?"

"Emm..." Danny said, looking at one of the walls. He considered mentioning property damage, PR fallout, possible escaping prisoners, and general panic but eventually just shrugged and gave the thumbs up. It was a pretty simple plan, and therfore had less chance to go bollocks up. "Sounds good, if he can do it." He looked at Sebastian. "Can ya?" 

Sebastián's eyes widened, listening to Stone's plan. "What? No, we're not breaking holes in the walls or ceiling. We aren't going to do the bomb's job for it. I don't want to be chasing escaped prisoners down for the rest of the month. Can't it be disarmed here, and we can walk it out nice and calm and dispose of it once we're outside?" 

Danny tapped the DiSantiago gently on the shoulder, the Irishman's face a study in seriousness. "Doc. I didn't study bombs in Uni. He," he pointed at Stone, "can build a mean bike, but I don't think he did either." He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet, squinting up at the ceiling. "We make a hole, fly it out, and let it do it's nasty far away from people. That's the plan. So." He leveled his sapphire gaze on Sebastian. "Can ya slow it down or no?" 

Sebastián sighed, and shook his head. "What I did to Stone, during the fight, seems only to work on people.  Maybe with some practice, I can make it work on things too.  What I can do, is age the entire device.  Age it so much that the wires degrade and the electronics fail. After that, it should be inert. The only drawback is, I don't know a thing about bombs, if I had better knowledge of the device, I could maybe focus the aging on specific components." He did his best to sound confident and sure, but he knew there was a chance this would blow up in their faces, quite literally.

Stone considered the bomb for a moment and then said, "Let's try it.  The less permanent damage we do to this place the better."

To the doctor, he said, "Age everything except the actual explosives, here.  Chemical explosives can get... touchy... when they age.  But the mechanical parts and the wires, and especially the power source - focus on those."

"All except the timer bits, yeah?" Danny added glibly. "I mean, I'm pretty sure me and thee will live no matter what happens," he said to Stone. "But ya might make a royal mess of yerself if the wrong timey-wimey thing goes kablooie." This last was directed at Sebastion. Along with the ever-present grin.

Inwardly, Sebastián's stubborn streak flared as Stone indicated where to concentrate his ability. "Don't be an idiot, he isn't telling you what to do, he's giving you advice! Just think of it as advice and get this over with.Do not get yourself killed over your stupid pride."  Drawing a deep breath, he nodded at Stone, and exerted his power onto the bomb. 

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the device began to age.  Like watching a time-lapse film, the wires began to darken, the rubber/plastic coating corroding and flaking off, as the connectors blackened.  Exposed metal tarnished, and small holes developed, slowly spreading throughout. The casing faded and cracked, until finally the entire thing looked as if it had been built hundreds of years ago.

Sebastián took his handkerchief out and mopped his damp brow, looking at the two men.  "It should be fine now, lets get it and get out of here."

"Nice," Danny said, eying Sebastion shrewdly. "Most impressive." He looked at Stone. "Do you want ta do tha honors or shall I, only cause I'd rather not put any more wear and tear on this tuxedo." He ran his hands down the lapels of his jacket dramatically. "It's a bugger to clean." 

Stone just looked deadpan at Danny for a moment and then said, "You're such a girl," before grabbing the bomb by one end and lifting it.  He started to leave and fake-pumped throwing it at Danny, but ended up making Sebastian flinch more than the Irishman.  With a shake of his head he let his black leather boots walk him out of the hospital.

He kept the bomb with him until the trio rode past the gate at the edge of the hospital grounds, which was suitably far enough away from anything or anyone to leave it.  As Danny and Sebastian rolled past him, Stone braked to a stop and looked over to the guard in the booth.

"Hey."  Once he had the guard's attention, he said, "Call the bomb squad, tell them to come down and pick this up."

He took the bomb from off his handlebars and put it down on the tiny island between the in and outbound traffic lanes, on the ground by the guard's booth.

"You might want to, you know, take a walk or something," he said with a casual gesture towards the bomb.  The guard's eyes widened dramatically right before Stone gunned his bike's engine and he roared off after his friends.

ooc:  Bastian made his role and nothing bad happens.  :)  Thrak, feel free to write this to conclusion.  And you guys can move on to the Payback: Aftermath, thread.  If you feel there is any unfinished business with this one, feel free to continue until it suits you.

J-Bone, you might wanna take note of the administrator in this thread.  He should be good for at least a favor or two if you want to add him to your sheet as a contact.

Thrak, you can be assured that Bump and Grind will be adding Stone to their sheets as someone to take care of at a later date.  :)