OWWW! Holly yells as her right arm burns and then goes numb and limp., she dives into inquiry.
I don't think we can win this Holly says. It's three on two, and Haymaker or Vespid would be an unfair fight against me if they were alone. We should retreat and regroup. Holly says to the alien boy, as she examines the wound on her arm.
But, I think we can still take Vespid out of the action. fly for the Aliiance HQ
Shards that earlier formed barriers are now re-purposed, some going around inquiry like a harness, while others surround Vespid in a small Icosahedron. If we get away, we've taken out their most dangerous member.
Psyche's heads hurt.
Her consciousness had recoalesced, but the little box of pain in her head simply wasn't enough, so she'd left tendrils in all the unguarded minds nearby.
She could still feel them throbbing, but at least there was some distance from the pain.
Somewhere during the vortex she'd dropped the connection to the rest of the team, but Horizon was still close enough that his thoughts at her echoed loudly in her psi-abused mind. She let Ballista's out of her mental vise. Horizon was probably right about that, but no way was she going to leave Warthog to him.
The burning pools in her skull that had been staring blankly into the middle distance snapped onto Warthog as he approached.
A shard of glass slicing across his warty cheek was first. Then a chunk of concrete caroming off his ribs. Then the storm broke.
Jagged debris whipped towards him, around him from all sides, slamming into him, deflecting off the streetlamp he held in front of his face. Her face spasmed and Warthog shot up into the air, slamming back down into the pavement like he was gripped in a giant's fist.
Horizon's blast at Warthog barely phases him. Then Psyche unleashes a telekinetic storm that would have a normal person pulped. The beast that is Warthog, however, dabs at a spot of blood on his chin and glares at the psychic with fury. With a massive snorting bellow, he breaks the telekinetic vise that held him and brings his meaty fists down onto the ground. A massive, rippling shockwave emanates from his point of impact, shattering windows and causing car alarms to sound.
Then in an aftershock, the ground suddenly erupts and a torrent of water bursts from the earth. Psyche, Horizon and Ballista are soaked in the upward blast of water.
"Impressive power," comes an amused voice from above. "But how's your fine control?"
Before you can react, Attraction flings a metallic cabinet with the words INFECTIOUS DISEASES across it directly at the busted water main. The force of the throw causes the cabinet to break open and spill its contents of vials and beakers and jars into the city's water supply.
"Please, feel free to stop us from leaving," Attraction says with a laugh. "I'm sure the mundanes won't mind if their pathetic lives are cut short."
What do you do??
I didn't hear you backing me up when I said that when we were coming up with the plan!" Scorch yells back at Frostbite. "You deal with the reptile and the gun-guy. I'll deal with the bat."
With that she shoots her brother an angry look and launches herself into the steam towards the position where Chiros' voice came from with jets of flame that leap from her hands, looking for to find him.
Frostbite wraps himself icy armor, the bullets hurt and the force drives him back causing him to give ground and giving Batboy and Airhead a opportunity to flee with what they came for...
When Terrier yelps in pain--and Gallowglass sees the blood spurt from her leg--she can't help but think, Oh no, I've really hurt her! The poor thing. She's looking at me just like Bear would, if he got shot...
She's shaken from her rumination by the sight of Gallowglass's hero (and toughest person she knows) being laid low by the rocky guy.
Seeing him focused on Praetoria, Gallowglass whispers to Bear, "Well, we wouldn't be heroes if we quit now, would we? Remember Praetoria flying right into that robo-crab?"
She aims her bow and shoots a superglue arrow right into Fossil's face.
On a miss, you go down hard but leave your opponent off balance and vulnerable.
Shin was shocked and soaked in the water, but even more shocked as he saw the cabinet smash into the water main. Syringes and broken glass floated on top of the pressure still pushing upwards, but in moments that stuff was going to leech out and be swept away. Innocent people could get all sorts of nasty diseases.
He jumped straight into the water without any further thought, pooling his power and feeling it. Photonic energy wasn't going to cut it. He was going to have to try and do something that his future self could do - manipulate gamma radiation and sterilize the whole area.
Screaming, the vantablack void surrounded him and expanded over the whole broken up section of piping and earth, as he pulled in deadly gamma rays and concentrated them inside, ripping apart anything alive - except for himself. Somehow radiation no longer hurt him. He irradiated the whole area, making sure no a single virus or bacteria could survive, and then yanked out all of the radiation from the water as well. So much power at his fingertips. He could kill everyone there on a whim.
It scared him half to death.
Once he was sure it was safe, he pulled in the event horizon of his power to settle right above his skin. It was the same as how Dusk wore his own power, looking like a figure made entirely of the void of space. He didn't understand how he was able to see like this, climbing out of the hole and looking too much like a miniature version of his future self. Who knew how terrifying he must look to the villains and heroes who had seen Dusk before.
"You sicken me," He growled up at Attraction, his voice distorted. "I could respect this if it was about supporting equality, but you're nothing but a Imperial fanatic thinking she's got a divine right to rule."
The words, "Horizon, boil it" were already on the tip of Psyche's tongue when Shin leapt into action.
Damned impressive action if truth be told.
Freed from dealing with Attraction's distraction, Psyche takes a gamble. A sharp pulse of power sends the suitcase Attraction had stolen zipping back to orbit around Psyche, and with a final flare of the now uneven glyphs on her skin, she raises a towering curtain of energy between the villains and their goal.
Looks like your smash and grab won't be over as fast as you'd hoped. The Alliance is already on their way - are you really stupid enough to drag this out any longer?
As Scorch moves through the steam, she bangs into a few desks and chairs that are obscured. She suddenly realizes this is Chiros' element -- his sonar lets him move unerringly without having to see. But if he couldn't hear clearly, like if, say, a sprinkler system were to activate...
Airfoil takes the opportunity to blast a second way out of the building. "You got the device? Let's go!" he shouts.
What do you do??
Fossil's triumph over the latest Praetorian is short-lived. Gallowglass's glue arrow explodes in his face, covering his eyes with the rapidly-hardening substance. The stony bruiser claws at his eyes, but the rocky tips of his fingers does absolutely no good.
He yells in frustration as stone grinds on stone and doesn't clear the goo from his eyes. After a moment of desperate scraping, Fossil shrinks almost a foot and reverts to flesh and blood. His real fingers much more easily pull off the goo.
For the moment, Gallowglass, it is just you and an un-fossilized Fossil standing outside the Dawkins facility.
What do you do??
Horizon, desperate to nullify the threat of the diseases, unleashes a deadly blast of radiation over the confined area of the water main break. Though the power he wields scares him, he turns its deadly energies to saving people.
Psyche turns from the hazard and expenses her power to deprive Attraction of her prize. At first, the metal-clad metahuman looks perturbed. But then a smile grows on her face and she gives Psyche a slow clap. "You made your choice. You have no interest in saving the mundanes. Let others worry about them, right? Stop pretending, Psyche; you're one of us. You're Chosen. Be seeing you!"
She then begins flying away while Warthog starts running in the same direction.
Horizon finishes his work, reasonably sure that every virus and bacteria, harmful or benign, is eradicated. Ballista steps over to him and places a soft hand on his shoulder. "You are Ojiisan Dusk. You taught me that move," she says with a smile. "Shard can't wait to meet you."
Leaving so soon I was hoping we could chill out a bit longer, how bout you put the gun down and face me like a man. Frostbite stretches his arms out exposing his chest.
Glancing up at the ceiling, Scorch sees one of the buildings fire sensors. Reaching towards it she channels a small amount of fire towards it - just enough to set it off.
The vantablack barrier surrounding Horizon makes it difficult for anyone to touch him, but he lets it fade away before Ballista puts her hand on his shoulder. Ballista, who is his granddaughter, and a villain who is putting people with superpowers over everyone else. He squeezes his hands, whirling around to face her.
"But Shard has already met me, hasn't he?" He accuses, brushing Ballista's hand away. "I've been a little obsessive in my research about my future self, seeing as I'm apparently reviled and hated by the super community. So I know now that both versions of me, past and future, don't support the Chosen. You should be better than this! Anyone related to me should be better than to follow people who think what unifies them makes them superior to the rest. I come from a time where men like that have been starting wars on both sides of the world. You probably know that as history - for me, that was two weeks ago. Can you tell me their way, the Chosen's way, is going to lead to something better?"
He gives her a few moments to process his words, wondering where this conviction was coming from. Maybe he was more like Dusk than he wanted to admit.
"If you are my granddaughter, you need to be better. Quit the Chosen, help us stop what they're planning. I believe you can be better if you try."
That's not true! I would have... I would have saved them if Shin hadn't been here!
But while she kept up her bulwark, a dark corner of her mind whispered, You had no idea he could do it. You still don't know if him irradiating the water made it any safer. And if you'd really cared, you wouldn't have let Attraction get past you. Who knows what she did in that lab.
She should have pursued. She was tired, but she still had enough juice to capture one of them. But do I just think that because I want to beat them and prove them wrong? She pulled her tendrils out of the bystanders' minds; her pain was diffused among them, but it meant she could feel wreckage crunching beneath their feet, hear their panicking breathing, see up close the looks of terror on the faces of people who didn't dare come any closer.
Her mind drew closer to Shin's for some comfort, He gets it, he... She recoiled. The feelings coming off of him as he spoke with Hoshiko - a tightly kept bundle of controlled fear, concern, hope - it was way too close to what she could feel when he thought about her.
Abruptly she tore free from his mind. She barely had the presence of her own to leave the suitcase that was the whole point with him.
She shut him out entirely, but it wasn't so easy to hold back the rest. She wasn't trying to listen, but the fear was everywhere, whispering in her ears, her mind; she could taste their bitter adrenaline, feel the words forming against teeth and tongues. She could picture the way their faces would shift and contort when their fear would turn to bruised pride, turn to anger, turn to hate.
But she didn't have to feel it happen. Her power flared before her, creating a protective bubble for her all too mortal flesh as she rocketed away.
Just away.
As the fire alarm starts screaming, Scorch closes her eyes and extends her senses. Glad, for once, that the Silver Shueld had forced her and her brother to train to fight without sight or sound.
The image of Terrier yowling in pain is still seared in Ness's mind...but Praetoria is down and needs her.
She draws a concussive arrow and shoots it straight at the suddenly fleshy Fossil, hoping to knock him out.
Mosaic responds to the nasty sting from Vespid by surrounding her with a hard shell of light.
Isaiah retrieves a blood sample from Harpy, then adjusts Inquiry into a defensive configuration. He taunts Haymaker, inviting the superstrong metahuman to try to punch his wickedly barbed hull.
"Don't need to," Haymaker says, becoming a little more steady. He throws a punch, but not at the alien ship. His fist smashes into a support strut of the building they're in, and sends three floors of ceiling and offices crashing down on top of Inquiry. You are immobilized, buried in rubble!
Isaiah, your remote sensors spot Haymaker going deeper into the ruined facility where Harpy was last seen.
What do you do??
Airfoil shakes his head and gives him a wide grin. "Son, there's nothing I'd like better to do than to give you that whippin' you're asking for. But I've got better things to do."
He blasts toward Frostbite, but jukes at the last second and flies over his head deeper into the complex, where Scorch has just sent a pulse of heat to get the sprinkler system going.
Mattie draws upon her training, preparing to have to fight in wet and dark conditions. She hears crunching and crashing, directing her to a place with banks and rows of high-tech machinery.
Then suddenly there's a roar behind her as Airfoil blasts into the scene. Not at all interested in being quiet, he roars, "Chiros! Get your butt in gear! We are LEAVING!" He opens up again with his machine guns, this time aimed at the back of the building.
Gunsmoke, steam and cascading water fills the room, and now daylight streams in from the holes the high-caliber guns created. Mattie sees Chiros with a high-tech device in hand, a half-man, half bat visage with long ears and an upturned nose.
What do you do??
Ballista recoils, overreacting. "You've got some nerve, saying I could be better. I was never good enough for you! Well, I've made my decision, and I'm one of the Chosen! I'll never betray Shard! Never! Not even for you!"
Gallowglass's arrow whizzes by Fossil, which catches his attention. With most of the goop off his face, he starts taking long strides in her direction. Already his fists begin to harden up again, taking a gray, stony appearance, and slowly spreading up his forearms.
"A bow and arrow? A dog? Girl, you have one chance to escape with your pathetic life, and that's for you to run. Now."
well... crud. Holly says to Isaiah. I can maintain my powers, but without visuals contact, I can't do anything else. time to radio for backup?
"Oh, we ain't done here flyboy," Frostbite bursts into a sprint after Airfoil, running on walls, hurdling desks and sliding on the pooling water, he follows the jets stream left by his airborne foe. Despite the debris, water, steam, and god knows what else, Airfoil was making such a racket he was easy to find and now with the holes in the wall easy to see. Planting off an upturned desk Frostbite launches himself at Airfoil's back.
"Simon says Freeze!
"Let me see… If I can manage to push a filament through this pile, now would actually be the perfect time to do something sneaky. He thinks we're defeated, after all. Keep that shield up on Vespid, though; I don't know if she got buried in this too, because she was pretty close by beforehand. Ugh, these guys don't even care about their own people... and I really hope those upper floors were evacuated."
With a quiet ssshffing noise, a thin line of silvery metal slipped out through the cracks in the pile. Staying low on the ground and hidden among the rubble, it first took a look around to see what the mess looked like from the outside, then slithered along toward Haymaker and Harpy.
"There! I'll put the feed up on the screen for you here. Don't do anything too obvious, though; I can't push enough through to put up a fight, but I want to see if I can plant a tracker on that big guy's boot while he thinks we're out of action."
"Not even for Dusk. I'm not Dusk. I'm your biological grandfather, probably, but I'm not the man you've grown up knowing," Horizon speaks to her, softening his tone. He can see that she's been hurt by Dusk, at the very least emotionally. The kind of hurt one gets from someone they love but are too focused on their job to give it back.
He holds the case Psyche dropped to him, assuming she's going after Attraction and Warthog. He can handle things from here if he keeps his wits. He feels he's getting somewhere with her, that she's listening to him. He clenches the metal case between his fingers, continuing to speak.
"You're not a bad person. I want to believe that. I want to believe that my future self didn't hurt you so bad that you can't see what's wrong or right anymore. You don't have to betray Shard, but you should remove yourself from this fight. Try and see with your own eyes what you think is the right choice," He encourages her. "I'm scared right now, that I'm going to have to fight my own kin. I know you're scared and angry and frustrated as well, so please, know that where Dusk ends...this Horizon will still be there for you."
Buried under the rubble as you are, Haymaker doesn't suspect Inquiry's tendril that pops up from the debris. It's a simple action to tag him with a tracker as he helps Harpy finish gathering the components they were after. Once their job is done, the pair exit the remains of the shattered building.
Mosaic feels a distant buzzing, sort of the same feeling when one has a fly cupped in one's hands, but otherwise has Vespid contained.
Ballista hugs her shoulders and wipes a tear from her cheek. She looks away for a moment, then looks back and forces a laugh. "Yeah, the old you would never say something that corny."
She sobers again. "I don't want to fight you either. But I believe we can make a better world, if the mundanes can just get over themselves and let us take control. We have the power to change so many things. We wouldn't be Chosen if we couldn't."
"Having superpowers, no matter how strong they make us, doesn't mean that we're gods with a divine right to rule," Shin points out, glad that the conversation is at least civil enough with his granddaughter - which was still weird, because she looked closer to him in age, maybe like what Yukiho would have looked like when she got older and decided to alter her hair color.
"Let me ask you this - what exactly can Shard change with him put in a position of power that he couldn't do right now if he decided to fight on the right side of the law?" He points out. "What do your powers do that make you better than the doctors in this very medical lab, working to make better cures for people? Or the people who make our food, or clean up our streets, or sew our clothing, or patrol our neighborhoods? How do their lives get better under your control?"
He gestures to their surroundings, to how Warthog and Attraction have broken apart this area, the buildings smashed and patients gone, having fled from the action. "Is this how you believe the Chosen should act, like thugs taking what they want and damn whomever gets hurt in the process? I want you to ask him to his face, demand answers as to how he plans to make a better world. See if he's really worth your devotion to him and his cause or if he's just another fraud taking advantage of you. You're smart enough to recognize that if you look."
Scorch ignores Airfoil and, instead launched herself at Chiros ”Don’t let them get what they came for” she yells at her brother as she focuses her frustration on attacking the bat. Jetting forward, she swipes past the winged figure, grabbing the device as she passes. As she streaks away she shouts back at Frostbite. ”Slow them down so that I can get this away from them!”
Oh My God! He took down Praetoria--maybe killed her!! If he can do that to HER what chance do I have?!?
Heart racing, Ness feels her body ready to flee...But what if Praetoria's NOT dead? What will they do to her??
As Fossil comes toward her, Gallowglass declares (as much to reassure herself as anything else), "You know nothing about what makes a hero, Rocky!
“C'mon, Bear!"
She waits as long as she can stand too, trying to lure him further from Praetoria. Then she dodges to the left and--falling back on her parkour training--tries to vault over the parked SUV, slide along the wheelchair ramp handrail, and dodge the debris from Shard's assault on the building...all to get over to her fallen friend.
Holly gets on the Comms while Isaiah tags Haymaker . Hey guys. we have good news, and bad. the good news is that We have Vespid contained, so 1 down, 4 to go. the bad news is that Harpy and Haymaker got away, and we're trapped under rubble. We're at the Medical Institute... you can't miss us.
Holly spends a few minutes sitting quietly, before she turns over to Isaiah. You won't tell anyone, will you? About how useless I was?
For a moment, Scorch looked like she was the only thing standing in between two powerful metahumans and their way out. Then Frostbite jumps out of the cloud of steam and coats Airfoil with ice, anchoring him to the ground.
That gives Scorch the opening she needed, so she rushes forward and manages to wrestle the equipment out of his hands, all the while taking out her frustration with her brother on Chiros. The bat creature is strong, however, and fights back.
Suddenly, a blast of heat from behind hits Frostbite's back and starts melting the ice around Airfoil. Salamander has heated up again!
Airfoil busts the remaining ice encasing him. "Thank you, Saly! We're getting out of here!" He stumbles, rushing back to where Salamander is.
"Don't call me Sally," the amphibian warbles, then grabs Airfoil and carries him down the side of the building.
Chiros, infuriated at the setback and the departure of the Chosen, smacks a large red button labeled EMERGENCY PURGE, then dives out the hole that Airfoil made. Red lights flash and sirens blare, and suddenly huge gouts of fire burst from the vents, likely designed to scour away all biological material in the area.
What do you do??
Gallowglass plays a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the increasingly stony Fossil, then quickly doubles back and rushes to Praetoria's side. What she sees doesn't give her a lot of hope. The young hero is fully stone, a statue of a hero lying in apparent defeat. Bear sniffs at the fallen friend and whimpers.
Fossil stomps closer, but pauses as he is joined by a triumphant Shard and a limping Terrier. "Is she not dead yet? Good, I owe her," snarls the werewolf. Fossil gestures at the Beacon, as if to say, "she's all yours."
Then suddenly cracks start to appear in the statue of Praetoria. At first, a terrifying thought that Shard is using his ferrokinesis to turn her new friend into more jagged weapons, but there's a glowing light that starts to escape through the spiderlike cracks.
Gallowglass and Bear step back just in time as the statue explodes in a burst of light. As the brilliance fades, Praetoria is floating in a power pose, clad in mystical armor and wielding a gleaming sword.
Shard and his team look on dumbfounded. "That's never happened before," Fossil rumbles.
"Change of plan," Shard says, "Time to go. Terrier, stay and play if you like, but we've got our objective." Touching the side of his cowl, he says, "Trapdoor, get us out of here."
A wide circle opens up beneath the trio, and they fall disappear through it. The scene suddenly grows quiet.
Ballista listens to the time-displaced version of her grandfather, a troubled frown on her face. She shakes her head a few times during his speech. "They'll never accept us. They'll use us, exploit us, but..."
She looks away, pensive, clearly running a conversation with Shard through her head. "Okay," she says finally, looking back to Horizon. "I'll do it. Although," her eyes glance down to the case in his hands. "Shard will never listen to me or trust me if I fail him. Will you trust me?" She reaches out, hoping Horizon will hand her the case. "It's the only way."
Gallowglass starts to cry when she sees that Praetoria isn't just down: she's been turned into a statue. She tries to lift her, but her petrified friend is much too heavy.
Her tears turn to panic when Bear's barking make her look up, and see that she's surrounded by Shard, Fossil, and Terrier. To her shame, Gallowglass finds she can't even lift her bow to try anymore.
When her petrified friend somehow re-emerges--now clad in shining armor and sword--Gallowglass leaps into her arms, sobbing, "You're alive!!"
Bear gives a happy, yipping howl.
Holding Gallowglass effortlessly, Praetoria looks around in a mild confused panic. ”What...what happened? Where’d they go?”
She then looks down at herself and mutters ”Oh. My. God.”
"I won't say anything you don't ask me to say, and I'll cut the footage you don't want seen. Still, I don't think you were useless; you held back the big guy, and blocked Harpy's scream, even if it did shatter your shield. And right now, you're probably saving Vespid's life, though I doubt she'll be very appreciative in the long run. You don't always have to be flashy to chip in."
Inquiry, now that they weren't being watched, started the slow and laborious process of starting to dig itself out, one rock at a time. Help would probably arrive before it was anywhere near done, but it beat doing nothing.
Aw damn that cant't be good'
Fearing for the safety of his sister and any normals who were unable to escape the area, Frostbite exerts himself pushing his powers to the limit to counter the fire.
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Thank you, Isaiah Holly says Really, thanks. I don't know what I'm doing, and... this is a lot harder than I expected it to be
I've... I've sent most of my life, since I was 12, maintaining my "image". e friendly, don't swear, always smile, don't screw up, no controversial opinions. No getting to friendly with boys in public. I think my publicist might still be a bit peeved about the thing with Shin yesterday. I've never even kissed a boy. she pauses,a nd collects herself a little, rambling slightly.
I'm more than halfway through high school, and I haven't ever kissed a boy. not supposed to, Mom and My publicist don't want me to star going full Lohan, to keep my Sweet girl next door thing.
she looks over at Isaiah, moving a bit closer. But, There's no one to see here, and You don't really count as a boy, do you?
"Oh you're a god, you mean!! You survived being petrified by Fossil, and now you've got some magic armor and sword, just like great grand-Praetorian, right?
"But me...I tried to stop Fossil, to get him away from you--I shot him in the face with some glue so he couldn't see, and he had to de-fossilize for a few seconds to deal with it--but when it mattered most I missed my shot.
"Then I led him away from you and rushed back to check on you--I hoped I could rouse you, or at least maybe carry you to safety--but you were completely turned to stone. I was so scared! And, and,"
Gallowglass's voice chokes off to a strangled whisper, and she throws her bow on the ground in frustration. "I'm so sorry! If you'd had a real partner, with real powers...Shard got whatever he was after and I'm pretty sure they were about to kill me when you revived. They would've--easily--without you. Instead, Shard called for someone named Trapdoor to teleport them away."
Praetoria walks over and picks the bow up gingerly, looking at it. Her body trembles with anger as she mumbles, ”No.”
She turns back to look at Gallowglass and says ”I was the failure here. I was the one that acted a fool and rushed in, and got myself nearly killed. If it weren’t for you, I would likely either be dead, or their captive. And who knows to what end Shard would have used me. You saved me Gallowglass. You were the only hero here today,” she says as she hands her bow back to her.
Ness cries harder at Praetoria's words, and again squeezes her as hard as she's able. "I...I can't tell you how much that means to me, Kayla. Really, I,"
Ness chokes off again.
"But I won't let you be so hard on yourself either! You saw Shard of all people--Shard!!--and you didn't hesitate. I saw the blow you gave him...and I'm sure he'll remember it too!" Ness smiles at her hero. "And you did try to hold back a minute and get help, but everyone else was in their own battle. We're all doing our best here. And we clearly aren't great at this yet...but Halcyon city needs us, doesn't it? And we're just getting started!"
To emphasize the point, Bear nuzzles up to Praetoria, licking her.
Then, with a startled look, Ness says, "OMG, how's everyone else!?!"
She taps her earpiece and broadcasts, to her allies, "Praetoria and I are OK, but Shard got his target. What's your status? Anyone require assistance?"
”Thanks,” she says demurely as Gallowglass lays praise on her, trying to boost her spirits. ”You’re right. But what I ended up doing was foolish. Downright stupid!”
She looks to the sky, thinking aloud, ”I feel like...like the team is looking to me to lead them. And I just don’t know if I’m up to it. I’ve been in jail in the Tower, having to live through training sessions, TV, and the internet.”
Praetoria looks at her hands, the sword vanishing from sight as she does, ”I...I...” she closes her hands into fists, ”I’m so mad at them for what they did to me! But...I have to live up to the name they’ve built. This life isn’t my own...”
She looks back to Ness and adds through clenched teeth. ”Come on. Let’s get you out there to the others. I’ll do what I can to help you.”
"Wait! Before we go, let's see if we can learn what Shard just got away with, and maybe see if we can find a couple clues as to why.
"Whatever this is, I suspect it's just the beginning!"
Ness pats Bear on the head, and He leads the way into the remains of the facility, following Shard's scent.
He believes that he's gotten through to Ballista, that the he's given her a chance to break free from Shard's Influence. He has no idea what is in the case, what they plan on doing with it. But he wants to believe that Ballista will do what is right.
"I believe in you," He says to her, before tossing her the case. "Don't let Shard try and dodge the questions. Trust goes both ways, you know. Like here." He tells her. He's so sure that he's gotten through to her. That he's done something to help his family.
Praetoria nods and follows along, looking over the room the villains went in, trying to see whatever it was they might have taken, or a clue at the very least.
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Isaiah hesitated a long moment. Inquiry hummed slightly, chewing on the problem. "Hmmm... I could, but I'm having trouble figuring out if I should. If it's what you want, I suppose, but I'm going to offer a straight heads-up that you're probably right; I'm not really a 'boy' the way most people would understand it. To a certain extent, I'd just be pantomiming the action; it might feel... hollow, if you will. But I could give it a try."
As Ballista flies off, Horizon's got his comm out, the damn device not having stopped buzzing in his pocket since the fight began. He opens it up to try and talk to the others, frowning as he presses buttons that he's not quite sure he knows how to use. This would be easier with Psyche's link, so he reached out-
And felt nothing. Which was very alarming, because he usually felt her presence lingering around him, even when she retreated mostly. Had she gotten captured? He was concerned, using the comm to call her - broadcasting openly to the other teams though, since he didn't know how to open a private channel.
"Psyche, the fight's over. Are you okay? I'm kind of just standing here alone. Realizing that I can't fly. And that I'm probably going to have to take the bus back to the base. I could use you here. Hey, what's happening with everyone else? Are they all right? Can you hear me? I can't hear you, at least, not in my head, which is where I usually hear you. How do I switch this to someone else? Stupid Frostbite and his stupid unintuitive communicators. Isaiah probably could have made simpler versions," He grumbled, unaware he's talking to everyone on the team.
"Psyche, the fight's over. Are you-"
Psyche's communicator floated free from her ear, sparked, emitted a line of smoke, quickly swept away by the speed of her passage, and dropped in fragments.
Holly was basically shaking as she watched Isaiah pause, trying to read the alien's expression, and finding nothing. He finally breaks the tense silence, and explains. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant... I was trying to be cute and flirty. I think you're real enough for this. And she presses her lips against his, and does her best to take the lead, in an activity neither of them have done before.
Isaiah/Inqiury was surprised. Confused. Intrigued? Uncertain. Not really sure what to make of this, but putting forth an effort anyway. This was... strange. Pleasant perhaps? But also uncomfortable. It knew it was probably not doing very well. Was the responsiveness correct? Breath heat toned to the correct level? The ship quivered slightly, trying to sort things out, before stilling to avoid causing a major collapse of the rubble.
Overall, the experience was too confusing to really be comforting, and just as Inqiury/Isaiah was starting to sort through things, it was abruptly interrupted by Shin's unknowing team-broadcast.
his response did not carry any of the tumult he was experiencing, nor did it require the stunned Isaiah to actually vocalize. "We're buried under rubble over here. We at least managed to down Vespid. And you've got it set to broadcast to the full team, Shin."
Praetoria’s voice comes across the communicators, clearly troubled. ”Gallowglass and I are gonna try and catch up to you guys as quick as we can.”