The limo driver gives a quick nod. "Yes sir! Get in ze car.. uh.. quickly!" He makes a short sprint towards the limo and gives a quick slide over the hood, and dives into the driver seat. Ingot rushes his team mates into the limo, and soon they're off with media on the foot right behind them.

After about a minute, they are clear of the media, and the driver slows down while fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances zoom by going the other way.

Victor looks to Ingot after it seems the coast is clear. He'd returned to his normal form before climbing in and his clothing too had gone back to normal. "I'm sorry about the loss of the jet. It was insured though wasn't it?"

His head turns to Vajas. "Any luck finding our mysterious pilot and copilot?"

Rapido grumbles under his breath about being able to make a much quicker getaway under his own power as he quickly follows Ingots instructions.

Once inside he repeats the rough italian equivilent of "We are fucked, we are so fucked" several times before he is able to focus at the task at hand "Does anyone have a method to contact headquarters?" he asks as he fiddles with the t2m ring on his finger attempting to discover if it functions as some sort of communication device.

((Nothing can be detected from the ring))

"None, it's like they dissapeared into thin air. I checked all of Japan with the scanning. I got a head-ache the size of a watermelon on my head, and I still couldn't find the bastards"

Vajas sinks into the seat "I'm sorry Ingot, it's my fault. I should have treated the scan of her mind seriously"

Somewhat calmer now, Rapido grimly assess the situation. "Looks like shore leave is over. Where do we go now? Is their a Utopian office in Tokyo?"

As soom as they were in the limousine, Ingot was on the phone with the police. He explaines to the authorities, that they left the scene, because they didn't want attention from the media. He also tells them that it was his plane that exploded, and that he would be more than willing to speak with them in person.

"I have notified the Tokyo authorities." he turns and speaks to his teammates. "They will most likely wish to get a statement from each of us. I have requested that they be discreet about our involvement."
He slumps into the seat, and buries his head into his hands. For a man who was confident and sure of himself, he now looked like he was in shock. "They told me they would call me back."

Ingot looks over at Rapido. "I think Utopia has a small place in the Yamanote region of Tokyo."

Dougal nods to Ingot. "Good, that's one thing covered. Let's see about getting to that Utopia office asap. I'd like to ditch my gear and freshen up before answering questions of the authorities." He puts a little extra emphasis on the word gear.

As they travel, traffic going in the other direction becomes more and more scarce. They travel, and travel, and travel. Suddenly, Ingots phone rings. As he picks it up, a loud voice is heard on the other end. Ingot immediately hits speaker, and a voice comes over. It was the voice of Andrew Mercury.

"I will assume you are all there. Remember that contract you signed? Remember how you weren't supposed to do what you just did? I hope you enjoyed your vacation, because it is over. You are to report to the local PU office in Tokyo immediately where you be transported by helicopter to a secure location."

There was a pause.

"We will talk more when you get back."

There was a beep, than nothing. It signaled the end of the conversation.

"Oh, yeah, we blew up the plane on purpose," Deanne observed sarcastically after Mercury hung up. "Asshole."

"We didn't tell anyone we were PU, or T2M...did we?" Ingot was visibly agitated at being accused of violatng their contract. "All the authorities knew was that we were on vacation, and someone tried to kill us. I even went the extra distance to keep our names a secret."

Victor really wished that he had not listened to Blip or Ping. He should have fired them on the spot, and asked for his regular pilot...whoever that used to be. Goddamn amnesia, Ingot said to himself, as he bumped his palm against his forehead.

As they drive Dougal leans forward, "I think we can come to a couple conclusions. They did this to cause PU to lose face. If they had wanted to kill us they could have succeeded by blowing us up while we were still aboard. I for one could nae have survived the explosion. But they waited until we arrived here in Tokoyo when it would cost us the most face in front of the world media. We may not have told them we were with T2M but the world will know when, or IF, the press conference announces us as the European team. At that point you'll see every opnet site out there replaying clips of us responding to the plane explosion."

Rapido pauses in the middle of his 1,376th ave maria (hes been performing then at supersonic speed ever since they contacted Mercury) to listen to Dougal. At this point the college professor and the rich guy seemed pretty uselesss, mired as they were in self pity. The chick with the swords just made sarcastic comments. Dougal, perhaps because of his military training, seemed to be quicker on his feet in assessing the situation and attempting to rise above it.

Guiseppie stops praying and starts thinking. "We handled everything right, though. Vajas scanned for hostiles while I secured the physical perimeter. Those who were able to help with the wreckage did so. Those who could help with the wounded did so" he takes a deep breath "This doesnt have to be a complete disaster. We can sell this to Mr. Mercury...I know we can. We're just got introduced to the public a few days ahead of schedule. And...ya, know, in Japan...not Europe..." he trails off for a moment, his thought incomplete.

"I mean, doesn't the Project pay people to deal with this kind of thing. I just hit stuff!"

"It could have been much worse to say the least. We did well out there I would think. Granted I completely understand why he's pissed. We were supposed to lay low and relax and what do we do? Clean up an exploded plane and keep civilian casualties and injuries to a minimum, while being filmed doing so by several Japanese media teams."

The sarcasm in the big German's voice isn't hidden at all. "It all depends on how the media plays it. We showed distinct signs of teamwork. That doesn't happen when random people are thrown together. It doesn't take a genius to figure we're a team of some sort. That's the bad news. The good news is they did see us saving people and trying to protect the airport and civilians from further danger and injury."

He shrugs. "I don't think anyone is going to accuse us of being the ones who detonated the bomb.." He trails off, a thought forming in his mind. "Unless the media was the mudslinging anti-Utopia kind. Then they'll probably say we destroyed the plane so we could save the people as some sort of big publicity stunt."

He looks down. "Damn, now that would just be our luck the way things are going."

"Guaranteed that whoever planned this has some way to spin it to make us look bad. The question is can Utopia's PR team hit the ground running fast enough to preempt whatever spin the badguys have planned." He relaxes a little more, "I do think we reacted both well and appropriately given the circumstances though, so whatever happens I don't see any reason to hang our heads in shame over what we've done."

"Your right Dougal, I just feel responsible for the whole debacle. If we had used a civilian airliner, we would not be in this trouble." Ingot had raised his face from his hands and looked like he was cheering up.

"It is not like was could have done anything to stop it. Lets just hope that the Japanese media seees it in our favor."

Ingot raps on the front window of the limo to get the driver's attention. He speaks a few words of Japanese to him, and the vehicle speeds up.

"If we are going to throw ourselves on the sword, so to speak, with Utopia, we had better head to their offices in Japan as fast as possible."

Dougal claps Ingot on the back. "Do nae worry about it laddy. If we'd been on a comercial liner they coulda done the same thing, but there would have been crew at least that would have died maybe civilians."

"If they really wanted us they could have disguised themselves aboard a civilian liner, then it wouldn't have been just us. If that had been a loaded 767, how much worse would it have been? At least the damage amounts are in dollars and cents, not lives."

The driver nods as he continues driving.

An hour (Or so) later, the team arrives at the Project Utopia office for the local Tokyo. It's more of a two story shack than an office building. Once they arrive, they are Helicopter lifted a few hundred miles north. From there, they are taken on a plane from Japan to Paris, France. The plane is a commercial airliner that looks like it was gutted for seats. Every inch crawls with armed personel, none of which speak willingly.

****PARIS****

The City of Lights and The City of Love. When the plane touches down at the international airport, each of the Nova's are escorted to a limo which takes them downtown. It has been nearly 16 hours since the Airplane Incident. Once they arrive at the Project Utopia Paris Headquarters, they are escorted inside through the back door and up an elevator. It stops on the thirty second floor, they are further escorted down a series of hallways and through a door.

Through the door, the Nova's find Mr. Mercury sitting at a desk with his hands folded in front of him. There are six seats set in front of his desk. "Have a seat. We will begin when Church arrives." He says, sounding annoyed and angered.

Ingot takes a seat, and places his briefcase on the floor next to his seat. He cups his hands in front of him, and waits for the inevitable storm.

Victor takes a seat with hist teammates, prepared fully for the possibility that he may soon go back to being a regular engineer again. Beyond that he sits quietly, waiting.

Virago sat down, cool as a cucumber, her brown eyes remarkably cold. If Anthony Mercury thought she was going to roll over and show her belly, or be intimidated by him, he had another thing coming. She had a life outside of Team Tomorrow, and if the team went down...

Well, she'd go back to what she was doing beforehand.

Rapido, unsurprisingly, is pacing the length of the office. He occasionally throws himself down in a chair but is usually up and walking again within a minute.

At one point he attempts to lean against Mercury's desk and causes the entire piece of furniture to rattle ominously as it comes in contact with his agitated kinetic field.

He receives a call on his cell phone and as he checks the screen makes a little whimpering noise and blanches even paler, as if the caller could strike even more fear into him then Mr. Mercury. He hurriedly mutes the ring and stuffs the phone back into his eufiber suit.

Vajas sits down on a chair, directly across from Mercury's desk, watching for his companions. Dougal and Virago had such a stoney look to their faces, Ingot looked worried but cool, he just hoped to look less nerveous than Rapido.

"How do you think this will get Mr.Church?" Vajas looked up at Mr.Church, he had a job as a teacher, and his investments to fall back on if the team fell through, but he loved the idea of being in this team, trying to make the world a better place.

Dougal remained standing, waiting. After nearly twenty minutes, Mr. Church entered the room. He looked incredibly stressed and looked like he hadn't slept in days. Right behind him was another man that none of the others had seen before. His hair was in a mohawk, and he wore a long coat.

"Gentleman, and Ma'am." Mercury said. "There has been an incident, and a breach of contract." He stood up. "Anyone with half a fucking brain could put it together that you were all there together, and you all reacted in unison. Except for one of you. That spells something for anyone, and everyone is curious. This will be plastered in the papers tomorrow, so we have to do this tonight."

Church stood next to Mercury. Church was taller than his superior, and older too. "Your actions are just less than a tragedy. You reacted how a team should react, are you are getting positive press. We're going to reveal you tonight."

Mercury added. "And this is the newest member of the team." He gestured to the man. "This is Tumult. Tumult, this is Virago, Vajas, Rapido, Dougal, Eisenfaust, and Ingot."

It could have been worse. Ingot thinks to himself after listening to Mercury's and Churche's statements. They could have run us out of the organization, voided our contracts, and sued us into the poor-house. Well, sued my teammates into the poorhouse anyways. Ingot was now glad that he had mastery over a precious element. He would never be without wealth.

"So the world is going to learn about us tonight." Ingot stated with a raised eyebrow. He looked around at his teammates, before settling his gaze on Mercury. "It is a wise business decision."

Victor rose slightly from his chair, raised his hand in greeting to Tumult, and nodded. "Hi, I'm Ingot"

Rapido is finally still, leaning in a corner of the room. A few minutes ago he had passed through anxiety at warp speed and was now doing laps around the dark side of resentment. His arms crossed infront of his chest and as he tries his best to hide a scowl.

I only reacted how they trained me to act, he ruminates. He regards appraises Tumult unsypatheticaly. As Ingot introduces himself Rapido rudely interrupts "What do you do?"

"Oh, for Chrissakes," Virago said with exasperation, her demeanour and gaze thawing out with Church's words. "Shit happens, and now we need to mop it up. Rapido, drop the resentment; we aren't being sacked. Tumult, welcome to the team; I hope you're a nicer person than your name implies."

Dougal listens to the pronouncement stoically standing the whole time partially in defiance and partially in an unconcious desire to face whatever was coming while standing. When it was over he was a bit relieved, they really did take it pretty well and it looked like Utopia's vaunted PR department was earning it's money tonight. He eyed the new nova warily though, and offered his hand. "I'm Dougal, telekenetic and very good with guns." Afterwards he will finally head to an empty seat and sit down to think over what the next step the bad guys might take could be.

"Hello everyone it is nice to meet you." Tumult says in English with a Czech accent, and shakes anyones hand who offers it. Tumult is about 5'10", he appears to be in fairly good shape, and is a very good looking man. "Thank you Virago for welcoming me to the team so nicely."

Victor sighs and smiles. Things had gone relatively well considering. He stands and exchanges a firm handshake with Tumult, the newest teamate. "welcome to the Team Tumult, I'm Eisenfaust. It's a pleasure."

Rapido mumbles an apology, not looking at Virago, and extends his hand. Tumult can feel just the slightest flexing of Rapido's kinetic field as their hands meet. Nothing overtly agressive...just Rapido acting like the agressive and petulent teenager he is at this moment.

Virago offered Tumult a handshake; her palm is warm and dry, the grip firm without testing strength. "Nice to meet you. Sorry if I was being a bit of a smart-arse; it's been a long day."

"There is no reason for any of you to apologies I understand how hard of a day you have all been having" Tumult says while shaking Rapido and Virago's hands.

Mercury ignores most of the conversation, and whispers back and forth with the troubled Church.

"Understood. Team!" Church says after a moment, and each member turns their attention to him. "For the time being, the investigation of the magnificant exploding plane will be conducted by Project Utopia officials. All leads currently point to the two pilots on duty.

"As for the press release, you've got two hours. Look your best, because they are expecting nothing less." Church moves to walk out, and stops at the door. He looks back and smirks at them. "This time we'll inspect your vehicles for explosives, we promise." He moves away.

Mercury shakes his head, and puts a hand on his forehead. "In 1 hour you WILL be outside.. You'll each find a limosine down staires waiting for each of you. Do not.. I repeat.. DO NOT be late, or it will be your ass."

-------

The streets are packed, and the closer they get to ground zero, the heavier the traffic becomes. Almost two hours after they left Mercury's office, they arrive at the mighty, mighty facility that the event is being held at. The dress code instruction that the team members were given were "Formal, yet casual."

Immediately as they step out of their respective vehicles, photos are taken, and autographs are asked for.

Once they enter the building itself, it is a glorious ball room, beauty only exceeded in size. On the far end of the room is a table on an elevated platform. People were standing about and talking, but now all eyes are on each of the Nova's entering the room.

Dougal adjusts his eufiber into Scottish formal wear. Bonnie Prince Charlie coat, kilt in his clan tartan, and everything. Formal wear does not get better looking or more impressive than Scottish formal. On the plaid that is going over his shoulder he has not only his clan badge but also his Utopia insignia.

He walks with confidence and inhuman grace toward the elevated platform and takes his place with his teammates lined up behind the table. He stands straight but seemingly relaxed and waits for the introductions to be made.