Rome (CVnU Location)

@beast_of_brass: "Pitiful," the armored woman said quietly, the zythium goliath's charge meeting nothing when Ziah seemingly vanished from sight. An imperceptible amount of time later, she was behind him, using his own momentum to scoop him up by his ankles and start rapidly swinging him in circles before releasing him in the direction of a nearby bakery.

@joygirl:

Once more Victor was sent flying through the air like so much discarded trash. Smashing through the roof of the bakery, plowing through several walls and leaving a crater in the floor he realized that he was completely outclassed. Pressing on the scored material of his costume he activated his communications link. "We have a problem." Before climbing to his feet once more, and limping away from the battlefield; defeated.

@beast_of_brass:

Dusting herself off, Ziah turned from the trail of destruction Victor's little trip had left. Cracking her neck idly, she leapt upward, landing on the roof of a nearby clothing store. From the spiderweb of cracked stone she left there, she leapt once more, this time vanishing from sight. She had to get out of Rome before she was found, and that little distraction had not been worth the time it took. It was time to find her people.

@valerie_huntington

(This wasn't my best, but I wanted to get it done before bed)

It had been a week long tangent of flitting from city to city, and country to country. The two devilish darlings had blown up numerous media outlets, as the world wondered who the newest assistant and associate of the modern-day Aphrodite was. It had taken only so long for the connection between Natalia and Lena to be made, and that was when the rogue Panthera's sister had stepped in to perform damage control, just as she had many times in the past - just not for these two at once.

It was Lena's worst headache, but neither Valerie nor Natalia had any care in the world besides indulging in their more wanton natures in the company of a kindred soul who understood perfectly that there were times when formality and inhibitions that held you back from enjoying yourself to the full extent should be laid to the side.

The sun was beginning to set against the backdrop of the breathtaking city, and the two hellion heiresses were preparing to again take the historical city by storm.

They were surrounded by the breathtaking luxury of the Penthouse Villa Medici Suite of the Hassler Roma, situated atop the Spanish Steps themselves.

Gearing up to wreak havoc on the population of yet another city, two bottles of the finest champagne had been delivered to the suite, courtesy of the hotel as a note of thanks for the added publicity that having Valerie Huntington-Whiteley brighten their doorsteps had brought them.

Racks of clothing had been delivered and set for the perusal of the fashion icon and her endearing assistant, to be modeled and presented as they made the circuits of the best clubs that the city had to offer.

@natalia_dante:

As was a subconscious habit for the international "It" girl, Valerie insisted on keeping herself in a particular place of attention--the center. Out of the countless pieces of invaluable designer garments that had been presented to the heiresses, amid the indulging of champagne and gossiping with their hair and makeup team, Valerie had, true to form, delicately selected the one dress that would undoubtedly raise the most eyebrows and garner the most enthralled gazes from the party's male attendants. She relished in this knowledge with the same latent egotism as a young child, her sense of pride and vanity one not expressed in her words or actions, but in the very graceful and tantalizing manner in which she carried herself.

Not unlike the infamously-revealing gown she donned at the 2014 Hellfire Club Gala, Valerie once again put the entirety of her sublime physique on display in a sheer Versace Spring 2002 dress. The salacious dress, pulled from the brand's archives as a gift to Valerie from Donatella herself, had been adorned with a shimmering net overlay that added an ambiance of glamour to its promiscuous appearance. Beneath the sheer dress the Huntington-Whiteley heiress donned only a white thong and bra, which had been tailored to match the shimmering appearance of the material that covered them.

She kept the remaining details of her ensemble rather understated, allowing the majority of its visual appearance to remain focused on Valerie herself rather than her clothing. A simple pair of white Louboutin 'Iriza Half D'Orsay' pumps added to her already statuesque height, while, with some help from her trusted hair stylist, her silky golden locks cascaded in elegant tousles around her enchanting face. Her beauty was arresting--made even more so by the vibrancy and life in which she so charmingly radiated from within herself.

Running her fingers gently through her hair while taking one final look in the mirror, the modern-day Aphrodite's heels clacked against the opulent suite's floor as she walked back into the room Natalia prepared herself in. Sending a quick text to a friend of hers, who had informed Valerie she would be attending the same party as the devilish duo, the stunning socialite's powder blue eyes pulled away from her cell phone to look at Natalia with several bats of her naturally lengthy eyelashes.

"Almost ready, gorgeous?" she questioned with causality, the pair having mastered the art of getting ready for events together during the whirlwind week of fashions shows and parties. "The driver should be here any minute, and I suppose we shouldn't keep him waiting too long," she said with a faintly mischievous grin pulling at the corners of her pillowy lips.

@valerie_huntington

The airy scents of perfume wafted through the air of the enclosed space as the two bombshells readied themselves for the exciting evening ahead of them. They had been given carte blanche to the city, and planned to utilize that with little finesse, but much pleasure.

Standing before a floor-to-ceiling gilded mirror, Natalia was in a state of half-dress, clad only in her undergarments as she expertly applied the finishing touches of her makeup. The steely grey of her eyes was highlighted by the generous amount of smokey makeup surrounding them. "Gimme two minutes," she said as she casually strode across the room and picked her designated outfit from the rack that had been sent up for her.

A devilish grin curved at her lips, matching that of her partner in crime. It was but a matter of moments for Natalia to slip into the skintight Zuhair Murad creation she had been gifted. The long-sleeved mini-dress with lace paneling was a tantalizing garment offering long glimpses of legs punctuated with hints of other skin.

Her legs were long in comparison to the diminutive height of 5'4", but the Louboutin heels she had donned gave her multiple additional inches.

It would have been madness for any person to attempt to measure up to the fashion icon that was Valerie Huntington-Whiteley, the esteemed White Queen of the Hellfire Club, and Natalia would never have tried. She was more than content with her own unique sense of style.

Her brow furrowed slightly as she fastened the backs of her black pearl and diamond earrings, a treasured gift upon graduation from high school. She could see the instagram alerts on her phone lining up, obscuring the lock screen and picked up the sleek custom iPhone 6 and ran a finger across the screen. "Hmmm." The photo of the two of them that had been posted earlier had received five thousand likes within the last ten minutes.

"We should be sure to supply the avid onlookers with more than enough material tonight." Tucking a loose tendril of her intricately braided hairstyle behind her ear, Natalia was at last ready for what the evening had in store for them, and more importantly, what they had in store for it.

-----

Bottles of various forms of alcohol were readily available in the back of the chauffeured Rolls Royce Phantom.

Languidly leaning back in her seat, Natalia cracked open a bottle of premium vodka and took a quick shot straight from the lip of the bottle. Squeezing her eyes shut as the burn traveled down her throat, she let out a laugh. Oh, this was going to be a good night. And truly, there was nothing she needed more than to let herself get lost in the simple pleasures for a while.

Proelius strode the lively streets. His city had slept too long. He had slept too long. But no longer.

@laughingstock: (Huh. Well ain't that nice.)

@the_roman:

Solar Hawk arrived in Rome with only one objective in mind...she needed to speak to a god. She folded her wings on her back upon landing and made her way to the Pantheon. The city looked strange to her, last time she had seen it, Rome had not been much of a city, but that had been before the Roman Empire. Now it was a strange combination of ancient and new in a way that reminded her of herself.

Look at you Solar Hawk, going to meet with a god. Well, unfortunately you're going to need more allies than yourself, Golden Eagle and Luna Hawk. I can't think of a better place to store the Canopic Jar.

Her footsteps echoed on the marble floor of the Pantheon as she strolled into the main chamber and stood, looking up at the huge statues of Roman gods. Things have changed since you and I...Solar Hawk sighed and touched the strap of the brown kevlar bag slung over her right shoulder. I'll show them soon, I'll show them how things were better before all of this, before they murdered our gods.

Solar Hawk sighed quietly and then decided it was time to get someone's attention. "Everyone out!" She shouted as loud as she could. At first people stopped and froze, looking at her. She pulled her mace from her belt. "NOW!" That did the trick, everyone began streaming out of the building in a near panic. She walked to the base of one of the statues and sat down, pulling a Canopic Jar with a Hawk's head from her bag and placing it on the floor between her feet. Satisfied, she waited.

@solarhawk:

"And whom do you presume to be?" Proelius descended from the sky, landing before the visitor.

His cold grey eyes evaluated her, decided she probably wasn't a threat and looked at the object she held. "A canopic jar?" His eyes narrowed. "You don't have the look of the Egyptian gods' usual messengers."

They say King Nero laughed as he watched Rome burn...

@the_roman:

"I'm a warrior, not a messenger." Solar Hawk said. "I don't know what you've heard, but the Egyptian gods are no longer around and haven't been for some time." She stood slowly, mindful of the jar. "I am Shayera Hol, warrior servant of Amun-Ra and one of two remaining Hawk Lords." She indicated to the jar. "This is Amun-Ra's prison. I have come in hopes that a fellow member of the ancient world might understand what I intend to do."

@solarhawk: Proelius felt nothing. He'd never seen eye to eye with Ra and his ilk. He stroked his chin as he beheld the jar. "May I?" He asked, holding his hand out for the jar.

@the_roman:

She nodded and offered him the jar, it was no where near as fragile as it appeared and there would not be much he could do to harm Ra. "I know our realms were enemies in the past." She said. "But we need not be enemies now...I think we have common enemies to worry about. You have a fallen empire and I a fallen pantheon." She considered him for a moment. "If you are willing to work together...I can solve both of these problems."

@solarhawk: Proelius took the jar and looked it over closely, turning it this way and that, holding it up to the light, carefully running his fingertips over it.

"Let me make this known." He spoke slowly and deliberately, "I don't trust you. However..." He smirked, thinking. "You want me to help you free your lord?" It was halfway between a statement and a question.

@the_roman:

Though it looked fragile, the canopic jar was clearly bound together by some form of energy, either divine or arcane it was hard to tell. For all intents and purposes it appeared as any normal canopic jar, but holding it was a different story, there was power running through it, power strong enough to feel warming his hands. Unlike most Egyptian artifacts there were no symbols of any sort on the exterior of the jar, in fact it was completely clean clay.

Solar Hawk shrugged at the trust comment, she expected as much. "More than that." She corrected the latter part of his statement. "I want an alliance. This world is a disorderly mess, a disaster waiting to happen. It needs what it has long discarded. If you help me free my gods and restore ancient Egypt, I will help you restore the Roman Empire in all of its glory." She smiled a little. "We can start with your territory first, to show my good faith." She pulled a glove from her right hand, revealing the ring of a White Lantern. "I have the power to restore that which has been lost...but I need help, I need an ally against the storm that will come after it. This world in all of its arrogance will turn on us the moment we restore what was lost, we will need one another's empires to survive."

He passed the jar back, pondering her offer. "That would give rise to war." He smiled wide. "But I think it would be better to start with your trouble. Having Ra owe me a solid could be useful."

@the_roman:

Solar Hawk nodded a little. "Then our first task is to free Ra from his prison and restore Thanagar. When we turn to your empire, Thanagar will be happy to provide you with an armory." She smiled a little. "Legions armed with Nth Metal."

@solarhawk: "Certainly. However we have a problem. From what I see, freeing our captive friend here seems to be complex. And I have not a mastery of the arcane arts necessary to unseal the prison. Have you an idea of where to start?"

@the_roman:

"These prisons were built by the hands of a god." She said. "The only way to break them is with the hands of a god...or a lot of magic." Solar Hawk admitted. "I know no one who can use the arcane arts, but I do know that Hawk Lord Nth Metal is destructive to arcane forces. Unfortunately any effort on the part of a mortal to disrupt the magical seal or break the jar results in the death of said mortal. Unfortunately I am technically mortal. You, however...are not. You could apply the proper amount of force and would not die."

@solarhawk: He grimaced. "That would...hurt." The last word seemed to be highly thought about. He rolled the jar around in his hand, then closed his fist around it. His other hand grasped the lid. "You owe me, Thanagarian." He took a deep breath, feeling the power ebb and flow through his hands. A slight twist, and the magic seal would start to release that power into his body. It WOULD hurt.

@the_roman:

Solar Hawk bowed her head a little to acknowledge his point. "I always repay my debts." She told him. The magical energies of the jar were already trying to lash out against him as he began to twist the hawk's head. There was an immense pressure pushing back on him that would test his full physical strength, but he could do it if he concentrated. One very hard twist and he'd be able to pop the seal.

Solar Hawk smiled a little. Amun-Ra, I have been waiting for this moment for so long.

@solarhawk:

He braced himself, then twisted the lid with a grunt of exertion. Pulling the top off, the magical energies flowed through him. He stayed standing primarily through stubbornness, pain sizzling through his synapses. After a few minutes, his death grip on the canopic jar loosened, and it fell to the floor. Proelius panted, opening and closing his fists. He turned to the Thanagarian with a smirk. "Ow."

@the_roman:

Solar Hawk watched as golden energy poured from the now open jar and swirled around the air. The golden sunlight whirled around her like a tornado at faster and faster speeds until it suddenly shot off and slipped through the open door to the temple. Solar Hawk smiled and watched it go before she returned her attention to Proelius.

"Amun-Ra wishes to express his extreme gratitude. He regrets that he cannot stay and speak to you but he needs to regenerate his physical form in Thanagar. He opens an invitation for you to visit once it has been restored." Solar Hawk said. "As for us...we have a lot of work to do. You said you wanted to help me restore Egypt before we restored Rome?"

@solarhawk: Proelius stared. "I recall something like that." He grinned. "Shall we get on that?"

The sun streamed down on his city as Proelius looked out from his residence. His brow furrowed as he thought long and deep.

If I hadn't killed Antonio Accia this would be the perfect place to use him.