Eldritch takes the hit, the speed crashing him back and his fingers reach down onto the ground. A trail of blue glyphs burn into the ground, spelling out unknown and strange letters. Before he crashes into the wall, his body erupts into flames and slams into the wall. The sigils seem to reinforced the wall, burning into the concrete for a moment before they pool together. Like a living alphabet, Eldritch slips out of the glyphs that resume their proper place upon his skin. His eyes search the area, looking for the other assailants, and frowning when there seemed to be no one else there.
"Woah..." Was all that Kenneth could say as he looked down as his hands, the skin returning normal once. He swallows the lump in his throat as the thought goes through his mind.
Hashtag murmurs that he'll be back and disappears without a trace, that crack leaving Eldritch alone. Without a friend nearby, he feels the fear trickle up his spine slowly.
He almost jumps when Wingblade's voice comes over the communicator and it doesn't hold that cool confidence at all. It was panicked, it was scared, and Eldritch's eyes widens when that fateful sentence was said.
"He took someone!"
"Wingblade...I...I ca-...they took something from me. I don't...I...I'll be there soon." The words leave him in a rush as he looks around, catching Tycho out of the corner of his eye. He rushes over, grabbing the man's arm before nodding.
"We got to go to Franklin High...someone was taken..."
Without another word, Eldritch would grab a STOP sign and whisper words into it. Those eldritch signs would spread across it and he would throw it like a discus, the sign sailing through the air. Coming back down and around, Eldritch would leap upon its still but flying form and would ride it like a skateboard without wheels towards Franklin High.
~~~~~~~~~
Once he arrived, the sign would drop down and crash into the ground and Eldritch would run over. The school was heavily damaged and he was sure the adults were rushing over now if they weren't dealing with their own battles.
"What happened? Where did they take them?" He shouted, looking warily between them. His eyes stopped upon Atoms and he stared for just a few moments, both in awe and with a bit of fear in his mind. "What the hell happened here?
Wingblade had been pacing nervously back and forth, mind whirling ever since she couldn't get anything from Panel. When Eldritch shows up, she points to the empty spot where the mage and his captive disappeared. "There. That's where they were, before they went 'poof.' Do something, do magic. Find out where he took her. Where they went."
She looks desperately at the young mage, the first time he's ever seen her so open and vulnerable. "Please."
She takes several steps back to give Eldritch a chance to work. Then, standing off alone, a shaking hand reaches up to her communicator and turns it to a different frequency. Her small voice trembles. "Um, Whippoorwill? I screwed up. Bad. I don't know what to do."
Kenneth felt a shiver go down his spine as he heard that desperation in her voice. He knew what it was like to feel helpless for a moment, that uncertainty, but she tended to remain so cool and calm.
"Yeah...okay...magic. I can do magic...just..just make sure the area is clear okay?" He murmured, looking to the others that were there. Ghost Dragon seemed tense as well as Tectonic.
Looking at Atoms, he gave the man a once over and nodded. "Looking good Atoms, looking good."
Once he was upon that spot, the area cleared enough for him, he'd crack his fingers and exhale a shaky breath. He tried to not let his nervousness be seen, let them see what was wrong with him at the moment.
"Kktharos is a primal force; feeding on the emotions of a metaphysical plane." The words of the Inquisitor coolly repeated in his head, that cold interrogation after the marks had been made upon his skin. "Fear, anger, all of it is fuel. The darker ones, the more powerful ones. You...you are his vessel. You contain that might...and you feed on the same things. You burn with it."
Eldritch was pacing a path, taking a piece of rebar and tracing out symbols upon the ground in a hurried fashion. He was missing something, something important but he had to go on. They needed him right now.
"✋︎ ♋︎︎ ❄︎♒︎♏︎ ✞︎♏︎︎︎☜︎●︎, ✋︎ ♋︎︎ ⧫︎☟︎☜︎ ︎❄︎□︎☼︎︎. ✋︎ ︎◆︎☼︎☠︎ ♋︎☹︎☹︎. ✋︎ ︎♏︎☜︎ ✌︎☹︎☹︎!"
The words erupt from Eldritch, pouring out of him and echoing out like a thunderclap. His body would then begin to roar to life, the glyphs and sigils upon his face burning bright before bursting into fire. Light shined from his eyes and his mouth, this ghostly green balefire erupting from him.
"Keep...control...keep...control...can't...can't....I'm losing it!"
His mind was lost for a moment in that flash of power, his mind being driven deep into that dark hole of emotions that lashed at him like whips.
He remembered the way that Victor and the other popular boys would beat him, pulling him into an alleyway and sucker-punching him. The words "F&~", "B&~@#", "Pussy", all flowing together as they beat and spit at him.
The memories blurred to the screams of his sister, the look of horror upon her face as those flames shot through his legs. How they set fire to her nerves and burned them away slowly and surely and how he couldn't stop them. How she looked at him like a monster.
Then there was that empty feeling, that loss of something inside of him. He had lost his connection somewhat to that power, that awful power that now burned through him. He was going to lose it all now; his friends, his family, his power. It was going to fade and terrible things were going to become terrible and it would be his fault.
Everything would snap back into focus and when Eldritch spoke, his words seemed to echo and shake. You could swear you could see the air ripple around him with every spoken word.
[b]"I...I can try to find her now. Glyphs and sigils swirled around him, burning in the air, before his hands clenched the air. He'd look through what was in front of him and look at what was really there, tearing the veil of reality enough to try and gaze down the mage's path.
Panel is jostled awake by Wingblade's rough handling, as he comes to, he groans and looks around.
"Where am I?" he asks, before seeing the very emotional Wingblade infront of him. "Agh! What do you want! Who the heck are you?"
Whippoorwill's voice crackles onto the comms, answering Wingblades pleas.
"Three sentence summary. Go."
After a brief rundown, something only done when time was of the essence, Whippoorwill responds with the following advice.
"Do not rush into pursuit, or you'll open yourselves up to a surprise ambush or worse, not know how to get back. Track. Prepare. Pursue. Do it efficiently, but guard against carelessness."
Eldritch channels his power, his fury, his emotions into opening his senses and tracking something that should not have been trackable.
But he could see it.
He could see the shreds of reality that dimensional traversal created. His mind began to follow the shreds, leaving the earth, his own dimension, and....and....
He could see them now. the mage, escorting the girl into a building made of marble white, other beings like the mage in robes following suit, and what looked to be other teens being led through to-
Eldritch's eyes snap shut in pain, and when he opens them again, he finds he is back on earth, a swirl of emotions and uncertainty inside him. but one thing is clear. He has the sensation of the Mage's dimension, and maybe with some work, he'd be able to get there himself.
Condition(s): None
Ghost Dragon's words seem to dispel some of Atoms' disheartedness. He appreciates the words of his friends. They don't, however, change his mind about who he is. Deputy no more, Atoms is a totally different creature.
"Thank you both. I—"
Atoms opens his mouth to add something, but his attention is grabbed by the scene of the Mage fleeing with a girl, and Wingblade and Ghost Dragon making a desperate grab after them. With the team's focus elsewhere, the fallen alien warrior, who Ghost Dragon named Alloy, takes advantage of the opening and makes her move, throwing a chunk of earth at Tectonic. Atoms catches this movement out of the corner of his eye, but there's zero time to react. Tectonic gets hit and she goes down hard.
There's a terrible sound as their careless champion impacts the wall behind her.
She was injured, and the bloodied smear she left behind gave little doubt about that. Atoms gets to her side before she slumps to the floor. He fears the worst. However, it's clear that Tectonic is still breathing.
"Oh, man", Atoms grimaces as he looks her over. "Nora. Hang in there."
He wanted to call an ambulance, but knew what would happen if he tried to pick up a phone; right now, even his communicator was gone, disintegrated along with his suit. Thankfully, Atoms wouldn't have to. The fire alarm he pulled earlier was still blaring, and the kids and faculty likely had called the proper emergency services by now. Police, firefighters, and paramedics would be here soon.
Regardless, that doesn't stop the former deputy from reaching out and etching the wall with his finger, writing, "Possible spine injury. Do not move". As much as he hated to admit it, despite all the energy bustling inside him, it was all he could really do for her now.
Atoms looks up to see Wingblade panicking and frantically pacing. He's never seen her so desperate. She calls for Eldritch on the communicator, which tells him that the situation at Halcyon High must be resolved too. Of course, that only meant the 'fight' was over, now was time for the real work, helping people. There was much to be done.
Moving onward, he makes a brief stop by Alloy before heading over to the rest of the team, growling a little piece of advice. "Stay down."
The next person to get a dose of the former deputy is Ghost Dragon. Atoms moves in his way and conspicuously blocks him from whatever he's doing. Once he has the boy's full attention, he doesn't speak until he quickly examines him for any possible injuries. His words are grave.
"Tectonic is hurt, but emergency services are on their way." He holds up his hand, again blocking him in-case he makes any sudden moves, but always being careful to keep a safe distance. "This is Ty's school. Ghost Dragon doesn't belong here. If you stick around, you're going to get I.D.'d by another student or even a teacher." Just as with the fight with Haxor, Atoms seeks to protect Ghost Dragon's secret identity.
He waits for Ghost Dragon's response, accepting his decision, and moves on.
Eldritch arrives, and Atoms stands besides him as the magnificent magister and Wingblade talk, hearing their 'leader's' plea. Watching them though, Atoms can tell that something seemed to be wrong. Not just with Wingblade, who was clearly stressed, but Eldritch too was nervous, very nervous. Did something happen at Halcyon High?
Looking at Atoms, he gave the man a once over and nodded. "Looking good Atoms, looking good."
"Yeah I look good," boldly starts Atoms, smiling at Eldritch as he makes a joke. "And yet whenever a girl needs help they instantly go to you. First Nora and you blowing off steam together, Kara with her studies, and now Shayera. I'm pretty sure your second superpower is endless charm."
Even though Eldritch requests a clear area, Atoms stays close. His purpose is obvious. If the whole magic thing went totally haywire, he was there to take the fallout. It was kind of a unspoken understanding between them ever since Eldritch lost control and put a symbol on Atoms' chest.
"But seriously though. Things here were bad. A lot of people could be hurt. Tec is down, Wingblade is having a panic attack, I'm not sure what is going on with me." A look of concern crosses Atoms' features, the red lightning from his chest symbol clawing at Eldritch's form. "And I can tell things aren't well with you either." He moves closer and speaks softly, quiet enough to not be overheard by the others, but also loud enough for them to carry on a conversation while the fire alarm goes off. "What's up, man? Should I be worried?"
EDIT: (adding an appropriate move)
The Transformed has influence over...
The Beacon - Ghost Dragon
The Delinquent - Hashtag
The Outsider - Imagine
The Protégé - Wingblade
The Transformed labels themselves as...
Danger : +2
Freak : +3
Savior : +1
Superior : -1
Mundane : -2 [LOCKED]
Potential: 2/5
Team Pool: 0
Halcyon High:
Hashtag made it seem like he was going to try to chase them down. He lied. He was running. Vick teleported home and ran to the bathroom before he pissed himself.
Jesus! I have no way of fighting people like that! I'm just human without my tricks, and not even a very tough one at that! His hands shake as he flushes the toilet and staggers back to his room. At least his 'father' would be at the station this time of the day. And probably busy as balls with the incidents that happened simultaneously at two schools.
Vick throws himself onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying to pretend that he's okay. He fails, drawing a shuddering breath as he realizes just how close he came to dying today. That man really intended on killing him. He could see it in his eyes. The desire to murder another person, especially him, shook Vick's tenably balanced ego.
He hears squawking on his comm, but it isn't resolving into anything that made sense, so he instead just pulls it out of his ear and stuffs it into the charger. They're just going to have to deal without him; it's not like he'd be any help, anyways.
Tycho continued to babble, talking faster and faster until it came out as a droning noise. He began hugging his knees and rocking back and forth, continuing to talk.
DM Default, I know Mild-Mannered involves having one of the Janus's responsibilities rear its head on a miss. Do you want me to choose out 3 of those responsibilities, one, or none?
D@&*, I wasn't fast enough. Ghost Dragon glares at the spot where the Mage had been standing. If only I'd gone looking for him instead of moving to save Tectonic. I might have stopped this.
He finds Wingblade's panic unnerving. He's never seen her like this. She was so solid and steady - this situation had really unnerved her. Alloy had taken Tectonic out, too, before she went down, and she wasn't moving. This was all going bad - wait, were those sirens? Of course, Adams had pulled the fire alarm, and no doubt students and teachers had called 911. And here stood Ghost Dragon, while Ty Jackson had disappeared. He was going to need to cover up - fast.
Atoms comes over and tells Ghost Dragon he needs to leave and get changed. Nodding, Ghost Dragon says, "I was thinking the same thing. I'll catch up with you guys later tonight. Let me know if Eldritch finds anything."
As he runs into the school, he thinks, I don't know that I'll be going to this school for a while - Tectonic and Panel really did a number on it. She needs to be more careful. I'll talk to her about it later. And after what happened to my block last night. Something's happening with this. Two occurrences that level my house and my school? Strains coincidence a bit, I think.
Ducking back into the janitor's closet, Ty changes back into his civilian clothes and stuffs his costume and communicator back into the hidden pouch in his backpack before curling himself up into a ball as though he'd been hiding there the whole time, and put on his panicked face, waiting to be discovered by some first responder or other.
~~~BEFORE THE SPELL~~~
Atoms stepped up to Kenneth and to see the big man smile brought an almost shy grin to his face. If it wasn't for the situation, he would've actually even laughed. Shaking his head a little bit, he looked back at the rest of the team before clearing his throat.
"It all starts with the eyeliner, mostly they want advice." He said with a cheeky grin for a moment. He swallows hard though, finding it hard to stay funny as he looks down on to the ground. That glowing right mark still burned there, arcing with power that emanated from the terrificly transformed. He asked if anything was wrong and Eldritch looked back at the others for a moment, his lips pressing together tightly before he shook his head.
"I fought one of those magicky guys. They grabbed onto my power...tried to pull it from me...but...but they burned up. They burn into nothing, enough power that it knocked me back and took the wind out of me. I-I can't really describe it but something is missing." It may have been the second time that Atoms had heard Eldritch actually sound afraid, the mage's calm demeanor only breaking when he first left that mark upon his friend's chest. "I don't know what happened...but it isn't good. They don't know how I contain Kktharos's essence within me, I don't know what it'd do to that guy." He seems to take a breath after the whisper leaves, smiling at Atoms with a nod. "Thanks Atoms, you're always here pal. Stay close, I know you can take it."
He would then focus on his magic, pulling his power altogether, and then he'd channel it altogether. Then he would burn.
~~~CURRENTlY~~~
Eldritch's eyes would smoke like green fire as he stared through everything and nothing at all. Reality unwinded itself around him and his mind followed the rips that the mage had left behind. He followed them all back home, back to a building of beautiful white marble that shined like pure light. They walked with others like themselves, each carrying a teenager in hand. He could feel the pain begin to go through his head, reality pulling back at him.
"I need...to see...damn it...let me see!"
His eyes close and his body almost goes limp, catching onto Atoms for a moment before his eyes open again. His emotions raged throughout him like a hurricane, twisting his stomach and making him tremble. He would catch his breath then and give the mighty man a firm grip that he was okay. Standing up, he'd look over towards Wingblade and nodded.
"I found them. I-I could maybe bring us there. I don't know, it'd be really risky. Really, really risky."
He looked around then, frowning at the carnage around them. It was then that he noticed he had lost track of one of them, his eyes widening to a degree.
"Where...where is Tycho? He didn't come with me?! Where is he!"
Wingblade turns away from everyone, focusing on her mentor's words. She listens attentively, nodding although Whippoorwill couldn't see it, and finally finishes with an, "Uh-huh. Yes. And... thank you."
Track. Prepare. Pursue. Do it efficiently, but guard against carelessness. She turns those words over in her mind, letting them settle her nerves. Whippoorwill's steady, measured tone gave her a measure of confidence back. Wingblade had been afraid -- or had she secretly hoped? -- that she and her super-powered allies would come swooping in and take over the task of finding and rescuing the girl. But no. Whippoorwill had been involved in something herself, and left it to her. Them.
She looks over her shoulder and catches sight of Eldritch finishing up. He looked rough, but she hadn't noticed it at first. Tectonic was still down, with rescue crews beginning to surround her. The Deputy was outside his containment suit, standing close to Eldritch. Ghost Dragon had disappeared.
There wasn't much of them left, but she couldn't let that get to her. She waited and watched Eldritch barely controlling the energies swirling around him, warping sight and causing discharges of strange mystical forces. She waited.
Finally, he looks to her and nods. Her heart leaps, and the final bit of tightness in her chest relaxes. Track was done, sort of. They had hope. Now was the hard part.
Prepare. Whippoorwill always said that included in prepare was repair. They needed to regroup. While the desperate, panicking part of her wanted to throw caution to the wind and order Eldritch to have them follow, it was a tiny voice drowned in the sea of Whippoorwill's logic. They had to prepare.
And I have to repair some of this damage, she thinks.
Wingblade turns around, eyes focused and jaw set. She walks up to Eldritch and gives him a quick but strong hug. "Good job." Then she takes a step back and looks around for Tycho, Hashtag and Imagine.
"We need to regroup. Eldritch, you work on figuring out a way to get us all there, but make it less risky." She gives him a smile she hopes is encouraging.
"Deputy, ah, I guess you should look for your containment suit for the moment, while we get the others?" She doesn't meet his eyes, instead looking down while she keys on her communicator. "Imagine, Hashtag, Tycho, Ghost Dragon. We've got a lead on where these attackers went. We need to get together, share what we know, and work on a plan to go get their hostages. We can't afford to waste time, but we can't afford to be reckless, either. Let's meet up at the Clocktower as soon as you can make it."
When she finishes, she hits another frequency on her communicator, indicating to the powered containment squad that there are two for pickup.
Then she glides over to where Tectonic is being tended to by rescue workers. She shoulders her way next to her and puts her hand on her damp forehead. "Hey, T-- er, Nora? Can you hear me?"
Tectonic's rocky shell is completely gone. She's still bleeding from the back of her head, and her breathing is shallow. She doesn't respond.x
Wingblade steps back and lets the paramedics go to work. She moves back to where Atoms and Eldritch are.
Condition(s): None
[BEFORE THE SPELL]
Atoms nods in understanding. However, in truth, he barely gets what Eldritch is talking about. What exactly is a Kktharos? What did he mean by something being missing?
His last words in particular stood out, that he knows that Atoms could "take it". That was staggering praise. Atoms had always believed that, if it came to a fight between him and Eldritch, he would be utterly helpless against his sorcery. But now Eldritch was basically admitting that, even should he lose control, Atoms could take it.
"Thank you. I'm ready when you are." He pushed the thought aside and stood by Eldritch to intercept any stray magical energies. The mysterious mage was the most powerful metahuman that Atoms knew. Could anything actually pose a threat to the former deputy?
[/BEFORE THE SPELL]
Eldritch does his thing, then stumbles and instinctually reaches out for Atoms, who deftly dodges the attempt. As much as he wanted to catch his friends when they fall, he wasn't about to kill them in the process. The whole team had seen what had happened the last time he touched something without his suit, when they first came together, even hard metals wasted away at his touch. Instead he kneels beside him, keeping a safe distance away.
"Risky, huh?" Atoms ponders this as the lightning from his chest continues to paw uselessly at Eldritch. His eyes widen a bit at the scintillating sorcerer's next words. "You mean North Star? You came alone. Hashtag and Imagine weren't with you either."
He stands up as Wingblade approaches. She talks to Eldritch, hugs him, smiles at him. The sight churns Atoms' non-existent stomach. Not because he was jealous (okay, maybe a little), but because it reminded all too much of what he lost when he transformed, and of how much their bladed boss acted weirdly. Wingblade turns to Atoms next. "Deputy", she starts, again reminding of a broken future he had given up.
"Deputy, ah, I guess you should look for your containment suit for the moment, while we get the others?" She doesn't meet his eyes, instead looking down while she keys on her communicator.
"Yeah..." He cringes at the "I guess". "I'll get right on that."
Atoms wanted to be angry at her, and not long ago, when he was talking with Ghost Dragon and Tectonic, he was. But now the former deputy wasn't sure how to feel. He was conflicted, to say the least. One part of him wanted her attention and for her to be happy, another part wanted to be deeply critical and point out her flaws, and a third part just wanted to be angry at her and every other human.
This wasn't the life he wanted.
"She'll never trust me, y'know," says Atoms to Eldritch, when Wingblade goes to check on Tectonic. "Not her, not any of them. No matter how hard I try, and even though I've been trying every day since I became this way. I'll never be treated normally, like a hero." He looks to Eldritch. "I wish I could be like you. I meant what I said earlier, anyone would come to you for help. You're Eldritch, a Bulwark to the Bullied, the Sorcerer Supreme, the Gorgeous Goth. Most importantly, you're a good friend. Trust comes naturally to you." Atoms pauses, shaking his head a little before continuing. "And as for me, I'm Atoms. As in A-bomb. As in nuclear fission. As in... The End of the World. People don't even want to look at me, or be near me, or even acknowledge that I exist."
The Transformed has influence over...
The Beacon - Ghost Dragon
The Delinquent - Hashtag
The Nova - Eldritch
The Outsider - Imagine
The Protégé - Wingblade
The Transformed labels themselves as...
Danger : +2
Freak : +3
Savior : +1
Superior : -1
Mundane : -2 [LOCKED]
Potential: 2/5
Team Pool: 0
When Atoms mentioned that neither of them were anywhere to be found, the sorcerer's face would begin to sour deeply.
"Did they just runaway? We need them here." He thought to himself, running his black, chipped nails through his hair and letting out an angered sigh. Angry at them, angry at himself. He didn't know what the hell had happened honestly or where everyone had gone.
"He was there, Northstar was there. I...I didn't see what happened with him though. I got thrown into a wall and then the message came in and I was just...I just didn't pay enough attention."
Wingblade approached and when he wrapped her arms around him in that quick but strong hug, he would be caught off-guard. Eyes widened, hands coming up a second later, before he nodded.
"You're...welcome?" He murmurs before she sets off to check on Nora, the paramedics already around her. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he looks towards Atoms as he begins to talk. Kenneth's eyebrows begin to furrow as he explains the difference between them, how one is viewed as a hero and the other is not. How Eldritch seems to have things in control while Atoms does not.
"Shaun...you saved all their lives..." Kenneth says with a remarkable tone, looking back at the school. "That...and this is just for now. They don't always look at me like that, sometimes they look at me just like you say. They look at me like a monster." He shakes his head, his words growing slightly bitter with each one that passes his lips. "My sister...I hurt my sister when I first received my gift. I watched the nerves in her legs burn away...I watched her scream in pain....I watched as I burned her college career and dreams away. Now, my mother can barely stand looking at me and my sister jumps every time I come home. They ignore me, we haven't spoken in what...weeks now? Then the bullies, they just saw it as more reasons to pick fights, to shove at me, because they know I can't do anything...I can't do a damn thing or else I'd hurt them!"
As Eldritch spoke, the words got more passionate and that simmering anger was coming up through him. Bleeding out of him as he shook his head.
"They'll forget, they'll all forget the good we do the moment we do something bad. It is human nature, it is just the way we are. And I will Atoms, I'm a timebomb. This power, it yearns to get out. To be used. To explode. I'm just a s!+$ty conduit through which it works and one day...I'm going to break."
With that, he takes a moment to breath and the air seems clearer, he could feel lighter for a moment. Sure, he still felt that insecurity over his loss of power and the guilt of his sister's injury still rung through his head but that anger, that anger felt less than it was before.
Eldritch looked at the burning man and he smiled, wishing that he could put an arm around him and show him the friendship that he felt they were building. Something to show that he wasn't all alone.
"Shaun...I don't think you're right though. They notice you...everyone notices you. But not because you're a bright, glowing, hunk of man." Eldritch says with a tired but teasing grin, shaking his head. "Every time I see you act Shaun, it is to save someone. You saved Wingblade. You saved people here. Whether or not they think you are, they say you are, or they treat you as one, you are a g$!+!%n hero. One of the best I know. Never forget that, alright?"
Condition(s): None
Atoms frowns as he listens to Eldritch's story. It seems they both led painful lives. They were monsters among men, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that people were right to view them as such. If they so desired, or if they lost control, Eldritch and him could cause mass destruction and murder. Could Halcyon City's paragons even stop them? He can't help but nod at Eldritch's analysis of human nature, and he can't help but be reminded of Redshift.
"Thanks, man. I appreciate that." Something seemed to be weighting heavily on The Transformed's mind, and not just the words of The Nova beside him. Atoms is looking ahead, at Tectonic and the people working around her. "Most all of the damage to the building was caused by her, and we don't know whether any students or teachers were unlucky enough to get hurt in the process. There's going to be hell to pay for this. I wish being a hero was easier, but to be the good guys, we sometimes have to let the law run its course. We can't just pick and choose what does or doesn't apply." He glances over to Eldritch before moving to confront the authorities. "I won't forget what you said."
Atoms passes Wingblade on her way back over. "Did you already call powered containment for pick-up? For two, right?" Atoms narrows his gaze. "My communicator is gone, destroyed along with my suit. Call them again for me and make it three instead of two. The destruction caused here can't go unpunished. You know it. I know it." He moves quickly onward before she can give protest. His stride is full of purpose, and as he goes he utterly crushes a rock beneath his feet.
"HEY!", shouts Atoms. His voice is loud, powerful, and almost inhuman, enough to draw the attention of everyone in the hallway. "I'm turning myself in. I'm not with the aliens who attacked, but I caused this damage during the fight and I accept full responsibility for anyone who was injured because of it."
Hopefully this would be enough to get the heat off Tectonic's back. Yes, maybe some of the people who watched the fight would testify against Atoms' word. But who would they believe? The very panicked people who didn't get a good look at things during the middle of a crisis situation? Or the monster standing before them who confessed to the crime?
The Transformed has influence over...
The Beacon - Ghost Dragon
The Delinquent - Hashtag
The Nova - Eldritch
The Outsider - Imagine
The Protégé - Wingblade
The Transformed labels themselves as...
Danger : +2
Freak : +3
Savior : +2
Superior : -2
Mundane : -2 [LOCKED]
Potential: 2/5
Team Pool: 2
This is going to be harder than I thought, Wingblade thinks as she stares incredulously at the insanity of Atoms' actions.
Both Atoms and Eldritch had appeared shaken up after their battles, but they seemed to be helping each other so she left them alone while she tried to contact the rest of the team. But no one was responding -- she was getting nothing but static from Imagine's channel and dead silence from North Star's and Hashtag's. Ghost Dragon was similarly silent, having disappeared from the Franklin High battlefield.
And now Atoms wanted to turn himself in. A very ugly part of herself felt relieved in the thought of seeing him go; no longer would she be haunted by the constant reminder of her failure. She could finally move on, while he would go someplace else, probably some containment facility where they could help him... and do experiments...
She shakes herself out of that thought and swoops over to stand in front of the transformed junior deputy. She shouts to the officials whose attention he had drawn, "No, no he's not accepting anything right now, because he still has a job to do." Wingblade finishes with a pointed glance at Atoms.
Scowling at both Atoms and Eldritch, she keys on her communicator to broadcast, making sure everyone who is conscious can hear. "All right, listen up. I don't know what's going on with everyone, but I have to ask: what the hell? We were attacked. Things got... messy. Tectonic got hurt. So did innocents. The bad guy got away.
"I understand wanting to quit. Wanting to run away or give up. But we can't. There's a girl who is going to become a sacrifice if we don't pull together and figure out how to go and get her. She needs us -- all of us -- and it doesn't matter how we feel about it. She needs us to step up and be heroes. I can't do it alone. I need you guys."
Partway through changing back into civvies, Ty pauses as Wingblade makes her speech over the communicator. He stops and thinks for a moment - and realizes she's right. Yes, this meant risking revealing to classmates at Franklin High that he was Ghost Dragon, which meant he might not be able to attend there anymore - course, given the damage done to the school, it would probably be closed for a while, anyway. Regardless, that meant nothing compared to someone else's life who might get sacrificed. Pulling out his phone, Ty texts Jameel, Got out of the school when that crazy s#!& went down. Text you later.
Getting his costume back on, he stuffs his civvies into his backpack and heads back to the front of the building with it, moving through walls. Emerging, he walks over to Wingblade and says, "I was going to cover my identity, but I think I'd rather not hang out in the janitor's closet waiting for some first responder to find me. We going to take some time to plan?"
Condition(s): None
Atoms isn't swayed. His thoughts and feelings about Wingblade are just too uncertain for him to be susceptible to her words, and he's deadset in what he's about to do. The former deputy looks back to Eldritch with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Eldritch. Can you please get her off my back?"
The Transformed has influence over...
The Beacon - Ghost Dragon
The Delinquent - Hashtag
The Nova - Eldritch
The Outsider - Imagine
The Protégé - Wingblade
The Transformed labels themselves as...
Danger : +2
Freak : +3
Savior : +2
Superior : -2
Mundane : -2 [LOCKED]
Potential: 3/5
The team is seemingly falling apart by lack of consciousness, strict morals, the need to feel like they haven't lost this day, and the guilt of what they've done.
And then he arrives.
In Halycon city there are many supers, masks, heroes. But only one is known above all others. Haden is his real name, and he has never hidden that fact. He floats down on a giant phantasmal palm which fades into mist as he touches down on the ground. He looks at you all, his hazel eyes taking in the scene and each of you young heroes in question.
He smiles and chuckles, as if remembering a good memory.
"You guys are going to get hell for this. Get out of here, I'll try to minimize the backlash."
Haden is using a move called Advice from the City's Defender. If you follow his advice, you can clear a condition. If you do not, Take a powerful blow. This affects everyone still on the scene, not including Hashtag and Tectonic.
.
Haden looks over in Tectonic's direction, and gives a curt nod. ten phantom hands appear from nowhere, fly through the air, and gently lift the unconscious Tectonic.
"I'll have Remedy take a look at her back at my base, if that's okay." he says, taking a look at her head wound. "Might be a concussion, but nothing she can't fix."
Condition(s): None
Atoms had it all planned out. He'd take the fall and the authorities would take him somewhere, treat him like a monster and keep him captive, except they wouldn't be able to hold him and and he'd escape. Or maybe they would try to cut him a deal and he'd accept it, or reject it and escape anyway. It wasn't the smartest or most well-thought out plan, but Atoms felt it was his duty to be the monster and take the team's heat, and he steeled himself for what might be ahead.
And then he arrives.
"Thank the Maker!", exclaims Atoms, quoting one of the character's from War Star. "I thought I was actually going to have to go through with that." He shakes his head in relief, a massive grin on his face. This was much better than what was buzzing around in his head.
Haden, of all people! You can always count on someone to save the day in Halcyon City.
It would be perfect, except, without the Theta Suit, Atoms couldn't actually go anywhere. At least, not without massive difficulty and potentially putting people in danger. Taking the sewers was an option, as always, but he silently dreaded the thought of what might happen to the city if he fell into the water without the suit. So as much as he'd like to leave...
"Is it okay if you take me to your base too? I'd like to be there when she wakes up. That, and I used to be wearing a suit that kept me 'contained', but it was lost in the struggle and now I can't help but destroy anything that touches me. Going back out there isn't really an option for me right now."
The Transformed has influence over...
The Beacon - Ghost Dragon
The Delinquent - Hashtag
The Nova - Eldritch
The Outsider - Imagine
The Protégé - Wingblade
The Transformed labels themselves as...
Danger : +2
Freak : +3
Savior : +2
Superior : -2
Mundane : -2 [LOCKED]
Potential: 2/5
Ghost Dragon wasn't sure what had gotten into Atoms to make him so obnoxiously stubborn, but it wasn't helping the team. He was about to say so, and then...
Ghost Dragon couldn't say anything. There was Haden. Freaking Haden! Like, the Haden! Holy crap. Holy crap. Okay, stay calm, stay cool, do not act like a fanboy. You're cool. You're totally cool.
Anyone looking at Ghost Dragon's face sees an expression that clearly says, I'm meeting one of my heroes, despite the mask he wears. He doesn't seem to pay attention to much, but nods when Haden tells them to get out of there. "Okay, um, yep, um, absolutely. I'm gonna go. Yeah, we're gonna go. Yep, totally."
Ghost Dragon will kind of stand there awestruck until someone actually guides him away.
Eldritch will look the two of them over; Wingblade and the Deputy always seemed to have a somewhat strained relationship with one another. They never seemed to really be able to let down their guard and just get things out on the table. It was as if you came home to find Mommy and Daddy had been fighting but they didn't want to upset the kids by continuing. Except they never continued. They just waited. Eldritch knew that eventually, this would all come to a head but this wasn't the place to let this all be hashed out.
When Atoms tried to surrender himself to the police and Wingblade stepped in the way, Eldritch was already approaching and shaking his head for a moment. Those soft, blue eyes looked over the transformed with an understanding look but he shook his head and stepped beside Wingblade.
"Atoms, I know you want to make amends and give yourself up, protect everyone here...protect us...but we need you. S+#@...s+@% happens, man. Wingblade is right, we need you here to help us. You want to make amends, you stay and be a damn hero and help us!" His wprds began to build with confidence with each moment he spoke, almost becoming a pleading shout at the end. "We need each other right now. We have to-" Eldritch was considering all their possibilities when he arrived from up on high.
Haden. The hero of Halcyon City. One of the first, truly the best among them. Eldritch's eyes widened at the sight of the man and he felt the lump in his throat widen some more before swallowing it down. He couldn't keep eye contact with the man as Kenneth cleared his throat, listening to the hero's advice. He would look towards Wingblade, reaching out and giving her a grip on her shoulder.
"We'll meet back at your place, okay? I'm going to go find Northstar." Somehow, he didn't sound as worried as he did a moment ago. How could you when you had the city's greatest defender covering for you? He would move with purpose now, grabbing the starstruck Ghost Dragon. "C'mon, lets find our missing friend."
Tycho was lost in his swirling, chaotic thoughts, until he heard the man's voice. Looking up, he noticed that the woman whose memories he had altered was gone. Tycho stood up and walked in a daze to his friends.
When he joined the group, he was clearly in shock, but conscious enough to recognize people. It was also clear that he had been crying, and it had not been pretty. Even now, an errant tear would slide down the side of his face, but Tycho did not seem to notice.
Wingblade scowls, unimpressed. She'd fought alongside Haden early on in her apprenticeship, back when the evil AI M-ENIAC launched an assault on Halcyon City with its army of robotic drones. Whippoorwill had allowed her to help out in the fighting since she could cut loose without worrying about her ability to restrain herself -- the drones being lifeless extensions of the artificial consciousness.
They hadn't really interacted; though he had given her that same smile and knowing chuckle when she had asked Whippoorwill who the hell he was.
She actually didn't like him that much.
"Sorry, this is our mess. We'll take the backlash, sir. There was a teleportation or dimensional travel from this site, so we need to secure it so we can follow. The attackers abducted someone. We're staying."
Then one by one, the others agree to leave, just like that. The only one who's willing to disagree with the great and mighty Haden is Atoms, but he's still set on this idea of turning himself in. She throws up her hands in resignation. "All right! Fine! You're so dead set on taking the fall for this, why don't you go? You really want to leave? Go ahead!"
Condition(s): None
Atoms tenses up visibly, but relaxes before speaking to Wingblade.
"None of you seem to get it. That wasn't about 'making amends' or quitting, and it wasn't about trying to be a hero or turning myself in." He gives her a hard look, but his features seem detached and almost sad. "It was about logic and buying time. I'm all for getting that girl back, and I think that should be done as soon as possible, and I do want to help. But when it comes to the law you have to act first. Believe me! I know because when I was still living, I trained for years to become a HCSD deputy." The former deputy explorer moves closer. "If I hadn't done what I did, and if Haden hadn't come when he did, we could very well all be detained right now, and maybe on our way to The Spike. And that wouldn't of done the girl any good. It's better for one person to take the fall, and it makes sense that that person be me. You and the rest of the team have lives and can get hurt. They can't hurt me because I'm already dead."
He's tall and intimidating. However, Atoms isn't actively trying to be scary. If anything he is cold, detached, calculating, and perhaps a little depressed. It's a far cry from Atoms' usual self. The question is though, was this always who Atoms was, or did something change inside him during his earlier display of power?
"My wanting to go with Haden is for Tectonic's sake, that she won't wake alone in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people; and it's for the sake of anyone or anything that might get accidentally vaporized if I try to just walk out of here. His powers should be able to move me safely." The lightning from his chest symbol claws at the air around them. "But that's not what this is about, is it?", starts Atoms, referring to Wingblade's attitude, his tone becoming more aggressive as he tenses up once more. Looking away though, he stops himself from speaking about a subject that he isn't yet ready to broach. "We can talk later. I'll go with Haden if he'll let me. You can stay here, or whatever it is you want to do. But if you want my advice, I'd say you'd better track down Hashtag and Imagine. Y'know... Since we're dealing with teleporting aliens and all."
The Transformed has influence over...
The Beacon - Ghost Dragon
The Delinquent - Hashtag
The Nova - Eldritch
The Outsider - Imagine
The Protégé - Wingblade
The Transformed labels themselves as...
Danger : +2
Freak : +3
Savior : +2
Superior : -2
Mundane : -2 [LOCKED]
Potential: 2/5
Haden looks on at you all, an oddly reminiscent gaze, as if he's watching a scene very familiar to him.
"Sure. S'okay with me. In fact." Haden lifts an arm and large phantasmal hand completely encompasses Tectonic, a second later, it solidifies into a quasi-clear substance, as if she's floating in a glass container shaped in a fist. Her face is oddly peaceful as she floats there.
"That should be alright for you to carry in your form....um....sorry, terrible with names. Sheriff Adams?"
He gives you all a genuine smile.
"Make no mistake, this isn't over, but its not me covering your butts. Let's just say you've all just stumbled into quite an ongoing problem, and we're a few steps ahead of you. I'd like you all to come to headquarters after a bit, and I'd be forever grateful if you didn't talk about what you've seen. Delicate situation, right time and right place, all that jazz."
"Please."
He turns and sees a news copter coming into view. He summons another phantom hand to stand on that lifts him into the air.
"And Wingblade? Whippoorwill won't say it to you personally, but she's proud of you. I know. I heard her say it as she was weaving around a giant robot's legs in New York."
Wingblade rolls her eyes. "She's gonna be a lot less proud of me if we let the girl die! You know something about them? How much time do we have? They talked about sacrificing her!"
She spreads her arms wide, taking in the devastation of the school. "I don't care about the school, but it's my fault the girl got taken. Mine! And no one except Eldritch and Ghost seems to care they're gonna kill her!" She jabs a finger at Haden. "Give me an idea! What do you know? How much time do we have?"
Ghost Dragon finally comes out of his hero-worshipping funk, to see Wingblade basically shouting at Haden, demanding answers. Moving over to her, he puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "Wingblade, he probably doesn't want to discuss it here, where there's first responders, civilians, and probably news vans coming. Besides, we aren't going to chase magical, teleporting aliens without Hashtag, Imagine, or North Star. We need a plan. Let's go rally the team and then head to their HQ. I'm sure we'll get answers there."
Wingblade shrugs hard away from Ghost Dragon's touch, then looks at everyone. Why is no one listening? She recalls the girl's terrified face, then imagines it as she is strapped to some creepy altar and a ceremonial blade comes down...
"Fine!" she shouts, still remaining defiant. "You all go with Captain Handyman there. I'm gonna go get Vick," she mutters as she takes flight and speeds herself across town.
Condition(s): None
Atoms moves into one of Haden's phantasmal hands. He's fine with the hero's terms and he's ready to go.
"Close enough. It's Deputy Atoms", says Atoms with a smile in response to Haden's attempt at his name. "But honestly I'm in the middle of thinking of a new name."
The Transformed has influence over...
The Beacon - Ghost Dragon
The Delinquent - Hashtag
The Nova - Eldritch
The Outsider - Imagine
The Protégé - Wingblade
The Transformed labels themselves as...
Danger : +2
Freak : +3
Savior : +2
Superior : -2
Mundane : -2 [LOCKED]
Potential: 2/5
Ghost Dragon breathes a sigh of relief as Wingblade flies off to go get Hashtag, then walks over to Eldritch. "Come on, let's go get North Star, then head over to their HQ. Atoms will go with Tectonic." Out of Haden's earshot, Ghost Dragon looks at the hero with a troubled look on his face, then quietly says to Eldritch, "If they tell us not to pursue the aliens to rescue the girl, then we join Wingblade in her defiance. Intel first, then heroism."
Wingblade pushes herself to her absolute max speed. She didn't need to tell herself that it was ridiculous for her to chase down a teleporter, but Hashtag's communicator was signaling that it was at his foster parent's home, so that was as good a place as any to start.
She'd never been to Vick's house before, but she knew where it was. And she knew a few other choice things about his living situation thanks to Whippoorwill.
She comes upon the house fast and throws out her wings to brake hard. She buzzes past the house and circles it a couple times to pick out what was most likely Vick's window. Catching the heady aroma of patchouli and the pungent smell of a teenaged boy, she picks out the one covered with a black sheet and shut tight.
Wingblade's smaller interior feathers begin fanning at an incredible rate, keeping her aloft and hovering right outside. "Vick! Vick! Outside! Now!" she says after rapping on the sill.
Vick wakes up with a start, not realizing that he had fallen asleep. Shaking his head, he fumbles at his nightstand for a moment and realizes it's still daytime. With a groan, he turns to the window. A pair of sunglasses appears on his face as he peels back the sheet and opens the window. He blinks at the impatient Wingblade and furrowed his eyebrows.
"I didn't know you could hover like that." he says, rubbing his neck. "What?" he asks. "You need me to f#@% up somewhere else or something?"
Wingblade blinks in confusion. "Huh? No, I need you to-- Wait, what do you mean?"
Then she shakes her head. "Nevermind; I don't care right now. I need you to work with Eldritch to figure out how to chase down some dimension-hopping magic types who kidnapped a girl from Franklin High. So get a move on. You wouldn't happen to know where Imagine is, do you?"
Vick blinks at her. Incredulity changes to anger. "Don't care?" he replies. "I was almost cut in half, my school is wrecked and they'll blame me. So buzz off, a#~+!$&." he slams the windowsill shut and disappears with a crack.
Grabbing up his spraypaint cans, Vince goes to work angrily on his latest target. Sunset Splash Cola probably paid a lot for that billboard, but he was pissed and at the moment didn't care. Stupid butch. Whatever man... Who the hell put her in charge? She at least could try to know her g!!++@n teammates.
Before he knows it, he's spraypainted a wonderful tableau of a swirling vortex sucking a comedic looking wingblade down into a black hole. As he ports back a ways to observe it, he sits atop a light post.
Heh. Serves her right. he thinks.
Something nags at him, something she said about a girl. He had been too focused on how he felt to even realized she was saying someone had been kidnapped. He stared at the billboard some more, and groaned.
Pulling out his battered old cell phone, he flipped it open. Hitting the number 3 speed dial, he held the phone to his ear until the receptionist answered.
"Hello." he started. "This is vi- this is Ji-Wan Zeng. I would like to arrange a meeting with my mom, please..."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Why that little--! Wingblade fumes as Hashtag blows up at her and 'ports out. She drives a pinfeather into the window and pops it open, slipping inside. She grabs the communicator from its charger and then dives back out of his window, taking flight.
She gains altitude as her anger and frustration wars with her mentor's voice, repeating itself like a mantra, "Track. Prepare. Pursue." It kept her clear-headed enough to focus on the information she'd been fed about Hashtag's "extra-curricular activities." The delinquent's cries for attention were almost comical in their stereotypical nature -- and predictability.
She'd been told about a few of his favorite hangouts and his distinctive art style. This time of day, with the sun still up, he'd have to stick to the shadows. Which meant Old Town.
The scent of fresh aerosol paint draws her unerringly to Hashtag's work. Not very flattering, she thinks when she sees his art, her simmering anger over the day's frustration beginning to boil over. Then she hears him on his cell phone.
She drops in behind him, landing with a thud. "Calling Mommy? Seriously?"
She holds up the communicator she had given him. "'Port away again and you'll never get this back. Now hear me out. I don't know what you eff'd up, but I did worse. I let a girl get kidnapped. I can't afford to waste time right now. I looked in her eyes; I saw how scared she was. And they're going to sacrifice her if we don't figure out a way to follow them and get her back. I need you back on the team, now."
He looks up at her and rolls his eyes. If he leaves now, his crappy old cell phone would drop the call and he's stuck listening to the warden gloat at him.
He puts a hand over the receiver end of his phone and glares at her. A copy of him appears behind her, out of hearing range of the phone's tiny microphone.
"God you're a f+#$ing asshat, you know that?" the other him snaps. "You think I didn't hear what you said? I told you to buzz off. Keep the f+%@ing headset if it's that g+~+!&n important to you. See if I care!" the other him is pacing back and forth, his frustration evidenced by how his resolution seems to waver and flicker as Vick has to process both the prison warden and Wingblade's simultaneous 'idiocy'. "Halcyon high gets BLASTED by some nutjobs, and we get our asses handed to us trying to save it! You might be some bionic badass able to keep going when you've been kicked down, but I'm NOT! I'm just the SON of a TELEPORTING SUPERVILLAN!"
The real Vick tilts his head, removing his hand from the bottom of the phone. "Yes, I know, I never asked to see her before. I know. Look, there's this super-villany teleporting thing going on out here and the only one I know who can trace people like us is my mom. Just give me fifteen minutes, okay?"
The other Vick crosses his arms. "You can be so dense sometimes." he snarls.
The real Vick will nod his head. "Thank you, warden. Yes. All right. I'll be right there." He closes his phone, pocketing it. His duplicate disappears, and he will stop in front of Wingblade before going.
"Threaten me again, and I'll 'port you into space." he glowers. He might just mean it.
And then he's gone again.
"Jerk," Wingblade says into the empty street.
She glares at Hashtag's unflattering picture of her, depicting her spiraling into some sort of vortex. Though she has a real urge to slash it to ribbons, she decides not to destroy the evidence. If Vick's going to try his hand at being a supervillain, she'll leave the evidence for when she has to disembowel him.
With that grisly thought making her feel somewhat better, she flies the short distance back to her Clocktower. Once home, she makes sure to switch the security system to deny Hashtag access, and drops his communicator into a wastebin.
Cycling through the remaining active comms, she determines Imagine's is missing or destroyed. Activating her own, she broadcasts to Eldritch and Ghost Dragon, "Bad news. Hashtag just quit on us. I still get no reading from Imagine. Did he do something to her? I think something bad happened at Halcyon High, but I don't know what. Any luck finding Tycho?"
As she finishes and begins the waiting, Wingblade kicks the trash bin across the room and screams in rage and frustration. She screams so loud and long that her vocal chords turn raw and bleeding. Then she waits for them to knit back together and she draws in a breath to scream again.
Tycho was standing numbly next to a group of people who had been walking around for a bit when he realized that he wasn't with the rest of his team. He didn't even know where he was. Then he remembered. He had a communicator in his pocket.
For emergencies.
Like this one.
Guys, look, I know you probably don't want to talk to me after what I did, but I need help. I'm lost and I messed up. Bad. I'm really scared."
Eldritch moves with Ghost Dragon, quickly beating it away as he looks back at the others. The phaser beside him seemed to at least be able to get to Wingblade and get her to see some reason, a somewhat low scowl upon his face. She was losing control, she was losing it because she was trying too damn hard to hold it all together. He was going to speak up but what could he really say? He was just their damn magic guy, not even a reliable one at that sometimes.
Turning to walk with him, when Ghost Dragon mentioned how they would go and do their own heroics if Haden and his team were against saving the girl, a slow and almost dangerous smirk would spread across Eldritch’s face.
”What did General Toolbag call us? A group of ‘disobedient, reckless, young thugs’? Yeah, we’ll get her back. We’ll get them all back.” Eldritch murmured but he would look away. Could they though? Could he handle failing that girl, the others that were taken, or even his teammates? There were already those he failed, he had disappointed, and he was still trying to make it all better in the end. He just had to keep trying…but would it ever be enough?
The communicator would come to life and North Star’s message would come through on the other end, bringing a deeper frown to Eldritch’s face. ”What now? He pondered before opening up the communication and responding back.
”North Star, Ghost and I are on our way to you. Just…stay where you are and we’ll find you.”
It would take a little bit of time before Eldritch showed up with Ghost Dragon in tow, taking to the rooftops from time to time before he caught sight of the Doomed student. Catching up with him, he’d look around carefully before nodding.
”Tycho, what happened? We’re all regrouping at Haden and his team’s HQ for a info drop, I guess. Where were you?”
"I don't know if they'll decide not to save her, but they may tell us specifically not to. After all, we are just kids in their eyes."
Tycho's communication fills him with worry. This is not a good day. He allows Eldritch to respond before moving forward.
Eldritch and Ghost Dragon are able to move through the streets reasonably well. After all, a quick costume change and they just look like a couple of school kids moving around town. With everything that had happened today, it wasn't even out of place, as there were a lot of kids who'd gotten out early because of the attacks.
Once they get to Tycho, Ghost Dragon can immediately tell he's been shaken up. Something bad happened, and it isn't good. He let Eldritch take lead as Wingblade's voice came across the communicator, stepping off to the side to talk with her.
"Wingblade, Ghost Dragon. We're with Tycho now. He's pretty shaken up about something, and he's saying he messed up bad. Eldritch is talking to him. What do you mean Hashtag quit?"
This wasn't good. Without Hashtag's knowledge of teleportation, they might not be able to trace the mage back to wherever he'd taken Alexis. He hoped whatever Hashtag had done, he'd come around.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
North Star too? Wingblade's mind whirls after she's told about him by Ghost Dragon. She squeezes her eyes shut as she feels red begin rimming the edge of her vision. A desperate, yearning desire crawls over her for the simple, direct purity of being given a target and pursuing relentlessly until it was dead. No thought, no remorse, no emotions. Just the satisfying feeling of her wings slicing flesh.
She draws herself out of that fantasy before the pull becomes too great and focuses on Ghost's voice.
"I mean he quit. He was all freaked out about almost being cut in half for some reason, but it wasn't me! He said if I ever see him again he'll teleport me into space."
She stares at her communicator blankly, mind becoming numb. Then she asks Ghost Dragon, "Where's Imagine?"
"Well, you have questions, no doubt," the woman said as she casually sipped her tea. She was dressed simply, in worn grey robes, and her grey hair was done up in a simple bun. "Such as, 'What's going on? Who the hell are you? Where am I?' etc., etc. I will do my best to answer, but this is a rather... unusual circumstance."
Tectonic looked down at the teacup in her hands, then slowly put it down on the surface of the blank void as if it was to explode at any moment. "Um..."
The woman gave a kindly, crinkled smile. "You don't drink tea. I thought as much. I believe black coffee will be more to your taste." The alluring scent of caffeinated bliss wafted up to Tectonic's nostrils from the cup. Cautiously, Tectonic took a sip from the teacup, which was in her hands again. The coffee was fantastic.
"Now, on to your questions. We don't know what rightfully happened. You shouldn't even be on this world." Tectonic stared at the woman incredulously, eyebrow raised.
"Last I checked, I'm human. Well, relatively. Other than geokineticism, and the ability to violate conservation of mass," Tectonic said somewhat sardonically, taking another sip from the coffee mug.
"Well, you're definitely native. That's for sure. But you, and by extension we, aren't." Tectonic opened her mouth as if to ask another question, but the room shook violently. The coffee mug shattered on the floor, then was in her hands again.
"It seems as if we don't have much time left. You're in an in-between space. A bridge between-" another tremor drowned out her last word. "And my name is Korra. And, well, my dear, you need to wake up." With those last words, she flicked Tectonic on the forehead. Knowledge flooded into her, and she saw the world, what happened to her teammates, but through a different lens, and wisdom and serenity and-
There's no sign of Imagine anywhere, but she's a tough little space alien. She's probably fine.
======Halycon HQ=========
Tectonic, Deputy Atoms
Having the protectors of Halycon City in one area makes for quick communication, so in a metropolis, it only makes sense for heroes to have a building near the center of town. As you approach, you see the familiar domed building neatly set in Central Park, large enough to encompass a football stadium if need be. There are a few rumors that it stretched much farther down than its three stories above ground, but no one's been brave/foolish enough to try digging.
Haden leads you through the front entrance, the secretarial staff only bothering to glance up and notice the newcomers arriving with him, namely Deputy Atoms and Tectonic.
"I need a name sir!" she calls after you three as you move past the front desk and continue down that hall. Seems like this is kinda routine for staff here.
You are further led into the building and are stopped ontop of a large circular pad which shimmers lightly, dissipating you all into another room, one that looks equipped to handle a medical emergency.
"We'll just hook her up a bit, should help with the recovery process." HAden inform the Deputy. about twleve or so normal sized phantom hands are already lifting tectonic into placeand attaching medical monitoring devices and such to her.
"I need to go make a-" Haden sighs in annoyance, " a report. Sit tight and hopefully we can get the rest of your team here soon."
======Halycon High Secuirty: Penitentiary========
Hashtag
"Hey kiddo, how've you been?"
When you arrive at the prison, you are surprised to be led, not to the tradiitonal phone booths for visiter/convict conversations, but led into the penitentiary itslef. Before you can protest or teleport away, the guard leading you says.
"Officer Harding put in a word for you. Said meeting your mother would be good for your development. That, and you two would just do it anyway even if we said no."
The guard nods in approval to you.
"My daughter was at that movie theater when that goth punk attacked. She asked me to say thanks if you ever came here, though, I guess this is better than how I thought you'd end up here."
Your mother, Ji-yeon Zeng a.k.a. Blink, sits at metal lunch bench secured to the concrete floor. She's dressed in prisoner's clothing, but she seems healthy, almost happy to be meeting you in person after so long. And yet, she does have the shadows of sleepless nights under her eyes.
There are other prisoners, but most have enough respect for your mother to give her and you enough space.
"So the Warden tells me you need to some mother-son time. What's on your mind?"
======The ClockTower======
Wingblade, Eldritch, Ghost-Dragon, North Star
With Tycho found and Wingblade returned from her blowout with Hashtag, the four teens rest, if only for a moment.
It isn't too long until the computer system sounds out a notification, a summons from Halycon HQ to meet to discuss an important topic.