Cassie edges closer to Shaun warily eyeing the surrounding men. "I'll tell you about her later." she says. Right now I gotta go."[/b] she says to him. Over the comm, she contacts Kaoru. "I'll try to get there as soon as I can,... give me a few minutes."
With that, she probes in her satchel and pulls out her charm. Turning from the lake, she heads back into the stand of trees where she emerged from, ducking into the shadows and making sure she has a bit of space before sliding the charm around her neck.
Several minutes later Cassie arrives near the fountain. Pausing for a moment, she reaches into her satchel and pulls out a small vial, mutters some words and then pulls off her charm. A moment later she emerges at the fountain where Kaoru and Alexandra are, her hair now champaign blonde and her jacket black, where it had been a pale blue.
"What's the problem?" she asks, as she approaches. How can I help?" As she talks, her eyes nervously scan the people in the area.
"I don't know what you're so afraid of, but your best bet is to cooperate and bring back the people who you disappeared. Got it?" Wingblade tells Encantado while skimming over the trees of the park.
She strains her wings to give her her best speed while staying wary for surprise threats that may pop out. Once they're past the borders of the park, she focuses on getting her passenger to the SCA mobile containment unit based nearby.
Kaoru winced at the volume. She should also probably undo her hack to avoid her interference being detected. It sounded like everybody else had cleanly gotten away, so she pulled out her computer to allow the mooks to once again start receiving communication and then cut her own connection to the comm line, making a note of how she had accessed it in the first place. Hopefully, they would think it was just a technical glitch (since after all, the tech was from the stone age) and wouldn't look too much further. That way if she needed to do a repeat performance, she would already have a backdoor in. Plus it's not like she needed to hear Duncan yelling at the mooks.
She then resumed watching Alexandra, Cassie, and the two adults, gnawing on her lip. She really wanted to help get Bronwyn back, but for the life of her she had no idea how to help (or even really what had happened if Alexandra and Bronwyn hadn't even been dealing with the correct target). Maybe responding to Alexis' email would help distract her...
You say that in order to like someone romantically, you require two things: Knowing that person, and having romantic interest in them.
What must you know about a person to like them romantically? Height? Weight? Skills? Hair or eye color? What values must a romantic interest have for you to believe that you could date them? If it is a matter of time, how many hours are needed?
I am most confused by the idea that you must know a person first to date them. Why can't you date them in order to get to know them? Then decide afterwards whether you want to pursue them romantically and have further dates?
I can't answer that for you; it's different for everyone 'cause everyone cares about different things.
You can't date them to get to know them because then you're leading them on. A date is an expression of romantic interest, so if they say yes, that's basically a mutual expression of interest. If one of you is just trying to get to know the other, then the other one is just going to get hurt. The two people have different understandings about what is going on and therefore different expectations and different ideas about what is or is not appropriate or expected behavior. If both parties are just trying to get to know each other and there's no romantic interest, then they're just hanging out and it isn't a date.
Doc, so glad to see you. Alexandra said, genuinely. He was a nut, but damned if he wasn't a likable nut No, I was expecting someone else... But, the good doctor will be more than sufficient for our purposes. She says to the magician.
Okay, here's what we've got. Seems like the rest of the team is having fun with someone in the park, but B and I were investigating this area. this guy was doing magic... real magic. we volunteered to get a better look. He was trying to vanish and return us... he got halfway there with Bron. She gestures at the empty hoop. and then leans in, and takes Arkane's arm, and leads him a few paces away.
Bronwyn claims she is baseline. And I have one of the charms from her bracelet... somehow. after the trick, it was in my foot. sharp, and probably a gift or something From Bran.
Shaun nods at Cassie, his brow creased with curiosity and concern. "A'ight, sure..." His mouth twists up as he watches her walk away. Oh-kay then, what was that? Why would her mom have goons first of all, and why would said goons be mixed up in this? I mean, Cassie knows magic. Did her mom teach her it? Is she some rogue mage or something? He stretches his wrist as his hand releases tension. And...why do I feel like I should know the answer to that...? Ugh, I need a drink... He sighs dejectedly as he watches the last of the grey suits file out, their boss quick behind them.
- - -
The doctor nods as Alexandra explains. "Hm...mm-hm...yes..." He taps his finger as he returns to the side of the now-thoroughly jittery magician. "Well then, given the nature of the enchantment...you sir!" He points a forceful finger at the street showman, making the other man jump slightly. "What precise hand motions did you use for your act?"
"U-Uh...!" He shoots Alexandra a concerned look, then mimes a familiar motion of arms and hands.
Dr. Arkane's eyebrows climb upward. "Aha! I see! You've seen some training in the mystical arts, haven't you sir?"
"Ah, y-yes, or, well, I was an hobbyist years ago but-!"
The hero shoos him into silence. "My dear Alexandra, if I may see that charm?" He slips on a delicate silk glove as he accepts the miniature spear. "Now, what do we have...?"
He slows to a stop as the glove slowly turns a deep shade of purple, his face an expression of surprise.
"...oh. Oh, oh my..." He looks over to Alexandra with a face the heroine is more than familiar with: the 'I just found out a secret I wasn't supposed to know' face.
Arkane clears his throat and goes to straighten a tie he isn't wearing. "W-Well, ah, the good news is this is a simple fix! Young Bronwyn was simply misplaced in physical dimensions, a common issue when dealing with uncontrolled magical energies, but it has an easy counter-spell. We even already have the component required for the fix, that being an item related to the missing."
It is at this point that Cassie arrives with a notably different appearance.
"What's the problem?" she asks, as she approaches. "How can I help?" As she talks, her eyes nervously scan the people in the area.
Arkane stalls for a moment, then breaks into a broad smile. "AH! Yes, yes, young Cassie! Wonderful! This will be an excellent learning opportunity for you!" With almost child-like enthusiasm he pulls Cassie, Alexandra, and the very confused illusionist into a ring, then gently places the golden spear on the pavement in the center. "Now then, Young Cassie, would you kindly take Alexandra's and this gentelman's hands?"
- - -
Out of the corner of her eye, Wingblade spies...something. Whatever it is, it's flying bellow the treeline, and clearly following her. It's roughly humanoid, but with broad, round-tipped wings instead of arms.
Then she spies another. And then a third. Three bird-like people, darting bellow her and clearly on her tail.
Encantado whimpers. "Pelo Rei do Mar! Eu vou morrer por causa de algumas crianças estúpidas!" His expression is priceless as he suddenly realizes he can speak again.
Alexis doesn't understand what Kilt is doing holding out his fist. He seemed to be waiting for something. She tilted her head to one side, before deciding it was better not to try to figure it out and look foolish.
"We should go," She said, heading out of the park. Wondering what was going on with everyone else and why it seemed no one was answering her over the comms. It was making her anxious.
"Sound off. Confirm your positions and status," She called out over comms. "I...I worry when you don't answer."
...
Cassie smiles at the doctor and, following his instructions, takes Alexandra and the magician's hands in her own. "Ummm,.. OK, umm, You two, concentrate on the spear, Ok? I think something like this should work." she says as she begins to mutter.
"Μεγάλος Ερμής, πολυτροπός, κυρία ταξιδιώτη.
Φέρτε σε μας το κορίτσι Bronwyn,
οπαδός του Bran που είναι το σύμβολο που σας παρουσιάζουμε.
Ερμής σας περιπλέκουμε.
Φέρτε μας αυτή που αναζητούμε."
"That's total bull!"
Bran's brows grew heavy with anger, and a cold nimbus of light began to shine from Branwen's feathers, but Bronwyn continued nonetheless.
"Look, I get that I chose to help people, and that's true. And I guess I chose to volunteer for that magician's trick. But that's not where this all started. You picked me!"
"Did we?" Branwen qworked.
Bronwyn's eyes were wide, her lips tight, exasperation tinged her voice.
"Yeah! Back at the museum! The first time, I mean. The first time anything like this happened! Sure I picked up the spear, but what, they'd somehow had robots or something carry it all the way across the Atlantic to Halcyon? Other people picked up Gae-Dearg. Why didn't you let any of them turn into you? Why am I the one who's going to end up dy..."
Slowly she realized that Bran's face was more and more clouded by confusion than by anger, and she stopped.
"Bronwyn," Even this Bran's whisper managed to rumble at the corners of the chamber. "Gae-Dearg is not my spear."
***
Sunlight surrounded her but she abruptly broke out into shivers as the damp of Elsewhere's mists suddenly seemed so much colder against what should have been her warm skin.
Her ears badly needed to pop, she couldn't understand anything anyone was saying. But they were there. She swayed gently, as a broad smile stretched across her face. She got me back. She- Her brow creased.
Carefully she enunciated her words, focusing all her attention on making sure they were English. "Where's Shayera?"
Kaoru ignored Alexis' call; she had already responded and as such, felt no need to do so again. Sure, she hadn't stated where she was heading, but there had been a reason for that: Alexandra had clearly wanted to keep things under wraps.
She quickly put away her laptop as it started to look like the group was going to perform some kind of ritual, presumably to get Bronwyn back from...wherever she had disappeared to. She gnawed on her bottom lip, waiting to see the results. They didn't need her help for this, right? It wasn't, like, one of those things where you drew energy from participants to power a spell or anything. If it were, or if it was anything where more bodies would have been better, surely they would have called her over, wouldn't they? She was at least in Alexandra and Cassie's line of sight, even if the two adults would have no reason to know to ask for her help. Maybe she should just go over and ask? But what if that interrupted the spell? Would she ruin everything if she-
And then just like that, Bronwyn was back. Kaoru leaned heavily back against the tree she was standing by, much of the tension leaving her body in a rush that left her knees weak. Bronwyn was back and looked, as far as she could tell, ok. Or at least, there were no obvious gaping wounds from being attacked by monsters in wherever the hell she had been.
Wingblade had secured the kidnapper. Bronwyn was back. So that meant there was nothing really left to do here. She had to admit, this hadn't been nearly as terrible as she had expected. She had been safe during the entire thing. She'd managed to manipulate the sh*t out of multiple people like a freaking boss. She hadn't been killed or maimed. She had possibly saved that one dude's life. She hadn't gotten into any fights. In fact, she had actually bailed other people out of a potential fight. And oh yeah, had she mentioned that her life hadn't been put in danger even once? Yup, her first mission on some dumb 'hero team' had overall been a resounding success.
Wingblade rolls her eyes. "You're not going to die stupidly," she says. "If that's what you said."
She actually grins when she sees her pursuers. She loved aerial combat and didn't get to do it as often as she wished. Fighting while strapped to a dude, well, that would just make things interesting.
But as much as she wanted to try that out, she needed to focus on the objective, which was getting Encantado secured. Dogfighting while carrying him only increased the chance of him getting loose. "Heads up, I've got three bogeys on my six. I've got the target inbound," she reports through the communicator. Hopefully, Whippoorwill was listening.
Then she increases speed, her wings behind her thrumming as they beat over and over in a blur.
Doc, what nature... theres something you know that I don't,misn't there. she says as Hex comes over I know about... well, I have a theory about her. Care to shed some light?
Weather or not he agrees, she joins hands with Hex, but she is huffy id he doesn't
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alexandra focuses on the deadly sharp silver and red charm, and watches as Hex un-vanishes Bronwyn. She isn't sure if this is how magic is supposed to feel... she had never had the ability to do it, though not for lack of trying.
She's still dealing with that... Shapeshifter I wanna say She looks to Cassie for confirmation I just got Hex over here to help me and the good Doctor get you back from... wherever Dumbledore back there sent you.
It's not his spear.
She was still groggy. It was like her head was stuffed with cottonballs, and even the sight of her team and the sound of her girlfriend in her ears couldn't cut through that fog.
"Thanks. Umm... Shapeshifter? I thought we were looking for a musician. So umm..." She looked at Gae-Dearg where it sat waiting for her. "I guess when he vanished me, the spear thought I should go... Elsewhere." She held off on taking her spear back for a moment and reached up to her comm instead.
"Shayera? Sweetie I'm back, I'm fine. Where are these bogies? Can you bring them closer to the ground where we can help?"
Shaun is visibly disappointed as Alexis rejects his fist bump. He sighs as he hefts his kit onto his shoulders and follows behind her. How the hell do I get through to her? Every time I try to be nice she brushes me off, every time I push I push too hard! She's just...just...incomprehensible!
"God you are thick laddie. Stop being a rock, start being a knife. In other words, think sharp."
...hm. Yessir.
As the duo walks towards the exit to the park, a relatively nondescript man slowly falls in step with them, briefly glances around, then flashes a police badge to the two of them. "Officer Bale, HPD. You two are part of the investigating team, right?"
Shaun glances over his shoulder, suppresses an excited smile, then nods subtly.
"Sorry we weren't here earlier. Just did a comm check. There's jamming we can't pin down yet. Let you know more when we have it." Without missing a beat, he slides into line for a photo hotspot, blending right back into the crowd.
Shaun thinks for a moment, then taps on his comm. "Hey, Try-Hard, ye' were in the suits' system right? Do ya' think they'd have somebody smart enough ta' jam us?" He pauses. "An' while I'm on here, everybody stop ignore Lex. Sound off."
- - -
The hero gives Alexandra a suspicious look. "Young Alexandra, I recognize that it is in your nature to...pry, but I do not believe it is my place to "tell-all" about young Bronwyn, nor do I think you should believe it to be." Despite his expression, Alexandra can tell that, for a moment, he was actually considering telling her. Whatever he detected from the charm, it seems to have spooked him a bit...
- - -
Dr. Arkane nods approvingly. "Yes, excellent my dear...be sure to focus on the object...deep breaths...aaaannnnd...!"
There's a soft popping sound as Bronwyn re-appears at the center of the circle, the charm returned to its position on her wrist.
The hero claps his hands together. "EXCELLENT! Well done Cassie! I couldn't have done it better myself!" He pats the girl lightly on the shoulder as he shoves the street magician aside to check on Bronwyn.
"Ah ah ah! Don't try to move too much yet young Bronwyn. Give me just a moment here..." With a small hand wave, a doctor's bag materializes in his hand. "Inter-dimensional travel can have some unfortunately effects upon human biology. Dizziness, loss of hearing, reorganization of limbs, though I think we can rule that last one out." He smiles good-naturedly. "Don't worry, it's all temporary, but still not wise to let go untreated." With practiced hands he leads the recently returned teenager towards the edge of the fountain. "Let's just sit for a moment and find out what you're experiencing, alright?"
Meanwhile, the accidental wizard twiddles his fingers nervously. "U-Um, can I, uh, go now?...please?"
Alexandra looks down at the ground a little. My Nature, yeah. she says, quiet and sullen. But, Doc, She's a teammate, and I think this happened because I decided to let her insist she was a baseline. I'm gonna choose to trust you here. But ask yourself, Would you have told my dad? Are you not teling me because I don't need to Know, or because I'm young?
Alexis decides that there needs to be a better sense of the chain of command. Perhaps she didn't qualify as a second, not when Shayera had Bronwyn. Maybe that was why only Kaoru had replied.
Wingblade's announcement stirs her, as she looks over the skyline, trying to pick them out. "I need knives. Or javelins," She says, heading to a hilled part of the park to get the better vantage point.
As Wingblade pushes for the edge of the park, she catches snatches of Encantado mumbling. Then, just as it seems that her efforts won’t be enough, the wind around her suddenly churns and sends her rocketing forward. The chocolate-skinned man huffs. ”I’ll take my chances with you herói types over those bastardos any day...”
Thanks to Encantado’s spell, the winged pursuers rapidly fall behind, and the end of the park comes within moments. As soon as she sails past the edge of the park, Wingblade easily spies the SCA monitoring van, it’s doors already open with an officer desperately flagging her down.
- - -
Shaun jogs after Alexis, already putting together what she was about to do. ”I don’t got javelins, but I got some kunai, couple of k-bars if ye’ want some heft, a cleaver if ya’ really want ta’ get ta’ point across...!”
As the duo reach the peak of a mound, the trees reach about eye-level. Luckily, the border of the park is nearby. ”If those bogeys are still on her, we might see ‘em soon...” Shaun drops his kit a quickly produces a veritable cornucopia of bladed instruments. ”Anything strike your fancy?”
Kaoru was about to respond to Shawn's question when he decided to be a bossy ass and yell at everybody. He wasn't the leader, so he couldn't give commands, and she could ignore him all she wanted. Hmmm, she should probably figure out a way to block incoming transmissions from certain people. And to create an interface for communicating with a subset of people. The latter was doable, but would be awkward. The all-team channel was on-
She shook her head. Now was probably not the time to figure this out. Let's see, figuring out the comm interference would require knowing what frequency the other people were on (or better yet, an actual comm to work with). Then there was whatever bogeys Wingblade had mentioned. Her drone wasn't exactly made for aerial combat, so the best she would be able to manage would be some recon.
Hmm, trying to figure out the comm interferance would probably be more the more helpful thing. But it meant listening to Shawn. And probably finding some random cop with an earpiece. All of which added up to a big, ol' "Do not do". Instead she pulled out her drone and sent it flying high above the tree line. It didn't take too long to find the flying figures (after all, it's not like there were a lot of flying objects that big). Wingblade seemed to be doing ok, so instead she focused on keeping the weird, flying creatures in sight, taking a few screenshots of the feed from the drone to her camera.
Dr. Arkane blanches at Alexandra's words. "Ah. Errm. Well my dear... This isn't a matter of- You're right. It is relevant, and I can't imagine this isn't known to you already.
"What I mean to say is... I didn't expect this charm to be as... puissant as I discovered? You say it was given to her by Bran the Blessed? Well, errm. I suppose it's not impossible that... Well, I suppose you've seen this spear in action, no? I would guess it's rather less prophylactic when there's not a directional spell to absorb. Or perhaps in its shrunken state it's less effective? In any case, I can't speak to your own deductions on the matter of any inborn or acquired powers that young Bronwyn might possess, but as far as I can determine, this talisman is quite sufficient to produce unexpected results."
***
Politely, Bronwyn removes her arm from Dr. Arkane's grasp, and shakes her head again to clear it. "I promise I'll take it easy, but right now my, umm, team leader is being chased? Tell you what, I'll stay here, catch my breath for a moment, and you guys go make sure Wingblade's okay."
She reached up to key her comm, with a slightly amused smile. "Umm, not sure if that counted earlier, but yeah. Bronwyn here."
It always was good to hear Bronwyn's voice, but what she said was confusing. "You're back? Where'd you go?" Suddenly there was a whoosh of wind at her back putting more speed into her flight. She cleared the park's trees and could see the SCA van. "Nevermindgottastoprealquick."
As she shoots toward the SCA station at nearly her top speed when flying solo, Wingblade puts all her effort into braking. Her wings start pounding against the air as her arms squeeze Encantado tight lest she lose her grip on him and send him hurtling to crash into the ground. She grits her teeth and screams against the pain of the exertion, but she arrests her momentum just in time to avoid a painful impact with the SCA van.
They still hit the pavement hard, Wingblade spinning at the last moment to have her wings absorb most of the remaining impact to avoid turning Encantado into paste.
She's up on her feet without checking to see if she has any injuries, shoving Encantado into the waiting arms of the SCA officials. "Radical shapeshifter containment," she pants as she scans the air for incoming. "Also, mind control protocols. Don't be sloppy and undo our hard work."
She taps her communicator to broadcast to the team as she launches herself back into the air if the winged people are still incoming. "Target's in SCA hands, Northeast corner of the park. They could use backup. Anyone have an idea who these goons are chasing him?"
Squaring off with the approaching flyers, Wingblade grins. "Oh, and get here fast if you want a piece of 'em."
She didn't know I was gone "Umm, that might be a talk for later. Just fight the bad guys for now."
The last bits of fogginess in her eyes cleared as Bronwyn stared hard at her teammates, especially Alexandra. "Why doesn't Wingblade know I was gone?"
Alexandra puts on her best innocent face. Cause, I just needed Cassie to get you back, and there was an incident active. Figured Wing was best left deployed against the shapeshifter. Alexandra says
If the spell had proven troublesome, I would have told her as we went to get the Doc. But it's fine, everyone is fine. She says.
She changes tact suddenly as Wingblades announcment goes out. Phonebooth, Doc. She says, using her father (and the cape community in general)'s codeword for "give me cover to change". He put up an obfuscation spell as she tosssed her shirt aside, revealing the armoured vest under it already,a dn changed into her costume... tossing a bit of clothing at Bron. (Thanks, sorry, gotta go help. Stay with Arkane, He'll stop any magery-kidnapping)
She stops before she makes it three paces, as the spear-tip peirces her hand... again. She tosses the charm back to Bron. And when you're ready, keep this on you. Cassie can protect me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alexandra legs it, to find... more fliers... gods, this town has to be the least airplane friendly city in america
Cassie stands back, as Alexandra answers Bronwyn. "Don't look at me." she adds, in reply to Bronwyn's question. "I didn't know what was happening 'till I got here." As Alexandra moves off, she follows, shooting Bron an apologetic smile.
Bronwyn's mouth twisted sourly, even as she nodded vaguely at Cassie's excuse. "You should have trusted her, Alexandra. You didn't know what was happening, and you owed it to the team to give our leader the information you did have. But yeah," She reached up and caught her spear without flinching. "Go help."
Mercy scans the skyline, narrowing her vision as she checks out the perimeter of the park, until she can see the flying figures. When offered the weapons, she frowns at Kilt for a moment before grabbing a machete and the two kunai tucked in there. "Thanks," She told him before getting a running start down the hill as fast as she could, before launching herself forward through the air, her skirt whipping behind her as she did.
Her ascend came too soon, she saw that her arc would put her well short of the flyers. She tucked and rolled, hitting the ground hard enough to leave a significant dent in the soil, before bounding back up and continuing to run after then from the ground. She would have to find higher ground before she could assist properly.
Kaoru's head jerked up and away from her phone as she saw a flurry of motion in her periphery, alert for local signs of trouble. A moment later Silver Shadow dashed off in the same direction that the flying creatures had started to fight followed quickly by Cassie. Bronwyn was still hanging around, looking unhappy about something. Probably the fact that she had gotten herself disappeared. But she still had those two adults around, making Kaoru disinclined to approach. But she also wasn't particularly disposed toward leaving her alone after whatever the hell had just happened to her. Or towards charging into battle (especially since she wasn't exactly sure if Cassie and Alexandra were planning on helping Wingblade or the containment unit). It turned out, Wingblade was less scary when there was a significant distance and a happy, safe screen between her and Kaoru.
So for now, she stayed safely put under her tree at the edge of the square, instead directing her drone to fly higher to give her a better view of the area around the fight. The extra altitude also meant she could vaguely see the SCA van. Should she go to assist there somehow? Or was her time better spent playing lookout?
She's not my leader. I work alone. Alexandra thinks, but does not say as she turns back momentarily. I trusted her to do her job. I made sure she could do it as well as possible.
With that, she does run off.
There is a rush of wind as Wingblade's pursuers close the gap between them and the SCA van. The women, as they can loosely be described, are some kind of fusion between human and bird. Their heads display the worst of this combination, with oversized eyes, a smattering of feathers peaking from raven hair, and a truly unsettling fusion of beak and human teeth. Their necks are covered in grey and black-colored plumage, which (presumably) connects to their massive wing arms. Meanwhile, their legs are a faint shade of pink and excessively long, almost doubling the height of each woman and ending in fearsome talons. Thankfully they are somewhat clothed in all-too familiar grey suits, though their sleeves and pant legs are rolled up to accommodate their warpped limbs.
- - -
Shaun blinks as Alexis hurtles away. "Ye' were...supposed ta'...throw those..." God she's nuts...
He ties on his bandana again as he sprints after the poorly-launched girl, grabbing the first blade he registers before rushing towards the front of the park. Hang on guys, I'm coming! In his haste, Kilt completely misses that he is currently wielding a certain balisong...
Meanwhile, as Alexis sprints after the pursuers, the rear-most bird woman takes notice and sneers in disgust before looping upwards and dissapearing from view above the canopy of trees. There's a moment's of quiet, then the heroine feels a sharp pain in her shoulders as the bird woman returns from behind her and sinks her massive talons into Alexis!
- - -
Encantado looks dizzy as he's shoved towards the SCA officer, but otherwise unharmed. The officer in question, a thin man with a pale complexion, is quick to secure the kidnapper and yank him into the van.
Meanwhile, the two unoccupied bird women close in fast on Wingblade, lashing out with their massive talons as they try to maneuver past her metallic wing...blades. But with no success. Since these harpies don't have hands with which to hold weapons, the direction of attack is as clear as day to the heroine, and with nearly graceful maneuvers she parries and defends against the women.
Frustrated, one of the women briefly lands and shoves the wrist(?) of her wing into her ear. "Secretary Three requesting support! Northeast corner!"
At almost the exact same moment, Wingblade's link to Whippoorwill comes alive. "Shayera! Status! What's going on out there!?"
- - -
Alexandra, Cassie, and Kaoru's drone all arrive on the scene at approximately the same moment, just in time to see the second bird woman re-join the aerial fray.
Alexandra, you immediately pick up that something's weird in the women's body language. It'd take a bit of brain power to put together what exactly is tipping you off, but something doesn't feel right about the way the women are fighting.
Cassie, you immediately get an aura of magic off of the women, now that you're free of the park's enchantment. More than that, you're now getting hints of magic from the SCA van, which is propabably coming off of Encantado...probably.
Karou, you successfully get a few good pictures of the women via your drone, but as you study the women you get an eerie sense that you've seen them before. Specifically, the human bits of them. Maybe it's just your imagination, but they kind of look like the woman who called Duncan away when you met him in the park. However, you also see the one woman finish her comm to the other goons.
- - -
Wringing his hat in his hands, the street performer slowly approaches Bronwyn. "Um...I'm sorry for, uh, send you...away. I-It wasn't on purpose just...y'know, trying to make rent and such. So...yeah. Sorry." With an awkward bow he hastily walks towards the far end of the fountain plaza.
A part of Bronwyn hadn't wanted to take on Bran's form, Not his spear?! but there was no way she was going to sit on the sidelines while her friends were being attacked.
She'd taken a couple precautions, and set her phone aside so it didn't warp off to Elsewhere and ruin them when she transformed. It took a little bit of time to make the swap safely and discretely.
So that just meant that Bran's approach was rather less discrete.
"I have arrived; Bronwyn has apprised me of our foes as much as she was able."
The ground didn't quite shake at his approach, but he still chewed up the turf as his every step dug in hard to propel him towards his goal.
Glimpses of flying fighters made his brows crease in concern. Hard to get at them up there. I could throw Gae-Dearg, but... I don't know how tough those harpy-things are. It could kill them. There's a better way.
A final park bench stood between Bran and the fray. He carefully stuttered his step, leapt narrowly above it, trailing one hand behind him to grab hold, and then hurled the entire thing into one of the avian agents like a discus!
Ha! Not my sport but a good throw anyways!
Winged fliers come in two basic configurations -- angel and harpy. Angels have two or more distinctive wings in addition to their arms and legs, while harpies substitute their arms for wings. The advantage of the angel is obvious. And for Wingblade, not only does she have her hands and legs free to use for strikes and kicks, her wings themselves work as weapons and as a shield.
Basically, this meant that Wingblade was having fun.
Even the talons at the end of the harpies' feet didn't worry her. Sometimes she liked to let an enemy get a strike in just to demoralize them as the wound heals before their eyes. However, it could be just as frustrating to the opponent to fail to get a strike in at all.
As the two swooped in, Wingblade outflew and outfought tham with no real urgency. She knew that her team would be on its way, and Whippoorwill would be inbound as well if she had any difficulty. So she dodged and parried and blocked and struck with her fists and feet, getting their measure and enjoying doing what she was built for.
As one harpy fled the skies, Wingblade couldn't help but grin, since the other would be soon joining her. But then it called for backup. Wingblade was about to tell the team to watch out when Whip finally calls in wanting a report.
"Hey, boss! Kidnapper's a magic shapeshifter. He's in SCA containment van 112 at the northeast corner of the park. Has a hole in his head, but it's not, like, a wound. More like a blowhole, I think? Anyway, there's another group after him. Gray business suits, animal-like. Currently engaging a couple harpies."
While she reports to Whippoorwill, she corkscrews in the air to disorient the one still on her and then dives down to stop the other from giving any more orders.
She speaks into the stolen device. "Oh, please! Send more fliers! I'm just about wrapped up with these turkeys!"
As a spinning park bench sails past her and clips one of the harpies, Wingblade tracks it back to Bran. She keys her communicator to the team.
"Welcome to the party, Bran! Everyone watch yourself, they just called in backup!
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Cassie comes up short as she feels magic emanating from the winged women. (Harpies? - This has GOT to be something to do with her! For a moment she hesitates, reluctant to reveal herself to the people who might be after her. Instead, from a position amongst a stand of trees, she studies the scene.
Alexis blinks as she feels the pinching claws burrow into her skin. However, they are shallow cuts. She looks up at the harpy, blinking a couple of times. Then her expression narrows into anger.
Her machete swings around as she rips free of the claws, blood gushing over her tattered top as she cuts right through the creature's toes, severed digits falling to the ground as she crouches low and glares up at her opponent.
"If you put them on ice quick enough, you can reattach them," She points out. "Come at me again, and I will take the whole legs."
Something is wrong with that second one... something is wrong here... she says, to Bran and Cassie. studying them more closely, she tries to figure out why he subconscious didn't liek this.
She'd taken a couple precautions, and set her phone aside so it didn't warp off to Elsewhere
Kaoru looked at the image, trying to figure out if this was indeed the same woman from earlier (or if the voice she had half-recognized could likewise belong to the woman who had called to Duncan). She chewed on her lip, thinking and gazing absently about her. Humans turning into animal-creatures. Was that a thing? It...probably was, right? Or at least, given all the other crazy stuff she had seen in Halcyon, she'd have to be dumb to just discount it. It was too bad Alexandra had already run off and was most likely otherwise engaged, so she couldn't ask her. Would Bronwyn know? She had been around here for a while and-
Oh s&*~. Bronwyn was no longer by the fountain. She had been too busy watching the camera feed to notice the girl's exit. But that was...probably ok, right? She wasn't dumb enough to go try to help her girlfriend who was clearly the superior fighter with her own (probable) lack of powers. She reached to her watch to try to ping Bronwyn. Except she still didn't have the girl's frequency. Even though she was pretty sure Bronwyn had said something earlier. Damnit, she should have been paying better attention. Guess she had no choice....
Putting on her best adult-worthy smile, she approached Dr. Arkane. "Excuse me, sir. I think my friend was just here: a girl about yea tall, short brown hair, tan, athletic. You didn't happen to see where she went did you?"
Dr. Arkane blinked before returning a warm smile. "Why, yes I did young man. I believe she headed off that way. Are you-"
"Okaythanks. Gottagobye." Kaoru didn't wait for him to finish his sentence before dashing off, leaving a puzzled magic user behind her.
Dr. Arkane smiled slightly as he shook his head. "Youths these days. Always in such a rush..."
Kaoru hadn't gotten that far when she slowed her sprint. Mostly because she had almost run into a bush while glancing down at her phone to keep tabs on what was going on. While her peripheral vision was good and this was hardly the first time she had moved about while looking at a screen, she wasn't quite skilled enough at it to avoid injuring herself while running. And really, physically catching up to the group wouldn't help them at all anyway. So she may as well slow down to a walk and control her drone properly. After just getting disappeared, Bronwyn probably wouldn't be itching to throw herself in the middle of danger just now.
What could she do to help? She could physically run the drone into someone, but, well, that probably wouldn't do too much damage except maybe to the drone. And no one really looked like they were in immediate danger, so they didn't really need a distraction. But if these harpies were related to the earlier gray suits (which their clothing suggested), they were probably using the exactly same, outdated communicators. She could probably pipe their own comms channel through her communicator and out to the rest of the team. She wasn't really sure it would help, but they did say information was power. So it probably wouldn't hurt, and if it did, she could just cut it off.
There is a rather undignified squawk as the woman engaged with Wingblade is nailed square in the back by an unexpected flying bench, sending her (along with the bench) crashing into the brickwork building next to the park. The crash as the whole mess of splinters and feathers returns to ground level is equal-part comedic and helpful for Wingblade, who takes the opportunity to swoop down and snatch away the other harpy's earpiece.
The earpiece itself is positively archaic, to the point that it wouldn't look out of place in a Cold War spy movie. As Wingblade taunts into the enemy comm, there's a moment's pause before a deep, bassy voice chuckles in reply: "Damn, aren't you a cocky one? Well, if the turkey's not working for you, maybe you'll like the ham. Ery, engage."
Meanwhile, in Wingblade's other ear, Whippoorwill releases a soft sigh. "Good. Why were your comms down?"
As Cassie ducks into cover in the treeline, she's takes stock of the crowd of civilians encircling the fight. It's an odd reaction to be sure. Due to Halcyon's president for these kinds of brawls, most of the locals simply give the fight a wide berth or watch in a slightly bored sort of way. The tourists and kids on the other hand are rather fascinated, watching the fight intensely and snapping pictures as they stay at a (mostly) respectable distance. The good news about all of this however is that Cassie blends right in. Unless she does something to draw attention to herself, no one would be able to pick her out of the crowd...
As Alexandra's mind snaps the pieces into place, the SCA van rumbles to life. Through the passenger-side window, she can see the thin SCA agent in the driver's seat, a very distinctive grey suit top draped over the back of his seat. One word echoes in the heroine's head:
Double-agent.
The enemy moves in unison.
The harpie on the ground leaps up and slams into Wingbalde, latching on with her talons and flapping her wings wildly as she attempts to swing Wingbalde into the ground!
The other harpie emerges from underneath the wreckage of the bench and gives Bran a death glare. Her wings, now peppered with wood chips, sweep the ground in front of her as she whispers something. There is a stirring of magic, and then the pieces of the bench sharpen into a hail of needles and streak towards the giant!
The driver of the van slams on the gas, burning rubber as the sluggish vehicle struggles to find purchase. There is perhaps two seconds to react before it tears away from the scene.
- - -
The winged woman screeches in distress as her talons are neatly severed. She quickly darts up higher beyond Alexis' reach, scowling down at her. "Ah! Damn you heroes! And I just had my nails done!"
At her feet, Alexis hears a strange sizzling sound. A brief glance down reveals that...something is happening to the severed digits. They seem to almost glow like embers, rapidly changing from a fusion of talon and toe, to talons, to bare bones that slowly crumble to dust.
Meanwhile the harpie sweeps her wings wide as she begins to mutter. Not a second later, the branches of a near-by tree bend down and ensnare Alexis' arms as they're animated by the woman's spell. "There! Now be good little girl and stay put!" With a smug grin, she flaps her wings and heads towards the fight out front.
- - -
Over the comms, Kaoru (and now by extension the rest of the team) can hear the chatter on enemy earpieces, though how they'll react without being told of what Kaoru's doing is unknown.
As a result, everybody hears as a familiar voice replies to the the bassy boss (who Kaoru recognizes as Duncan): "N'rly there Sal! Me n' the boys gon' go hog wild!" The comm is flooded with excessive snort-filled laughter.
Bran swept up his arm to cover his visor against the hail of needles but otherwise trusted to his armor to keep him safe.
"Kilt, one of the harpies is grounded, please tend to her while she is within your grasp. I will do what I can to halt her ally's escape."
Bran hadn't stopped moving when he'd flung the bench, and seeing the van struggle to escape only spurred him to greater efforts as he thundered towards them, reaching out to hold fast the van!
Glutes! Don't let the van get away! Alexandra says, reacting into her coat as she ran for the van. Bran would beat her, of course, but he'd give her the moment she needs.
She leaps at the driver side window, tranquilizer bolt in hand.
And plunges the dart into the headrest, right where the drivers head had been a second ago. She grabs the driver by the tie, pulling it taut and letting the adhesive wafer on her index and middle finger stick to the underside of the man's collar. Then the car door slams into her ribs, hard enough to knock the wind from her.
she comes up to a crouch, and darts back, in case they had anything more powerful than a cardoor to hit her with. She falls to her knees again as she draws in a breath, and kneels beside Bran. Let them go. she whispers through gritted teeth.
Bran's cheeks burned beneath his helmet as he realized that Alexandra was talking about him. Okay... between this and the showers, time to talk to that girl about boundaries.
While Fully Dressed.
His first grab simply tore the van's rear bumper off, his second crumpled at the side panels as he struggled to get a sufficient grip with a slowly building snarl of effort.
"Let them go."
For a fraction of a second he hesitated, but she was still the Silver Shadow. No matter what he thought of her teamwork, her dedication to the mission and her wits weren't in question.
He let one hand slip, taking away far too much leverage for him to halt the van's escape any longer.
Cassie watched the ongoing fight nervously, aware that their opponents had reinforcements on the way. When van pulled away from Bran, however, she knew she had to do something, or it would get away. Pulling a small vial, containing a grisly-looking eyeball from her bag. Cassie whispered a word and dropped the vial and then stamped on it, gesturing towards the van. Almost immediately, the van's windscreen goes opaque.
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Wingblade has to work hard to not burst into laughter. "HAM?!? I'm supposed to be frighted of ham?
"Oof!" Her continued mocking of the voice on the other line is cut off by the harpy trying to ground her.
Wingblade's aerial expertise is on full display as she immediately turns the harpy's swing into a loop that keeps her in the air and brutally sends the bird-woman back to the ground.
Her mentor's question in her ear almost spoils her good mood. "Our comms were working fine inside the park! I guess there was something blocking us from sending out! Wait--"
The attention around the SCA van catches Wingblade's notice and she disengages from smacking down the harpies as they try to regain the air to chase the van. Just as she's about to give chase, Bron's message gets through. She decides to tell Whippoorwill while angling back to the fray. "Hey, you planning on making an entrance? Since it looks like the gray suits just hijacked the SCA van with our target," she tells her.
The snorting and laughing over their comms signifying the arrival of the "ham force." "So tell me Sal," Wingblade says into the antique comm, "are your ham soldiers pigs who've been turned into men, or men who've been given the powers and abilities of a pig?"
She dives at the incoming force, crashing through their lines and smashing into them with the blunt edges of her feathers exposed.
CR-RR-CK!
Alexis snaps the wooden branches easily with her strength. Perhaps the harpy hadn't realized that she had super strength along with her healing abilities. It mattered little to her, as she considered the best tactics for fighting this foe.
Obviously magic user, perhaps the reason she looked like that. She followed on the ground, thinking about ways she could potentially get the magic harpy to ground themselves. She wasn't entirely sure that this was what she needed to be doing. The sudden chatter on the comms assured her of that.
There were enemies coming for them. Good. She let the harpy fly away, speaking calmly into her comm. "Where are these men?" She asked, ready to rush over to them.
"Heads up, the guys you faced around the lake are headed your way. I've patched you into their comms so you can hear what they're planning." A moment later Kaoru was on the scene. She quickly scanned the area, but couldn't see Bronwyn anywhere. Which was hopefully a good sign. A sign that she was safe and hadn't been ambushed or anything. Not that she had seen any signs of that on her journey here. ...not that she had really been paying enough attention to have noticed that anyway.
Ugg, but that dumb tin can is here. Great. Juuuuusssstttt great. He was doing something dumb with the van and Silver Shadow. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't important. Not that the harpies and pig men seemed that important either. They were mostly just sort of brawling with Wingblade, who didn't seem to need help. Which meant...what exactly? It wasn't really clear to her why they were fighting these people or if there was a point to it past their leader's reckless enjoyment. They had gotten their target, so what more was there really left to do? So she stayed where she was, just watching.
Alexandra opens the comms as she catches her breath, and the van speeds away. Guys, there's a traitor driving that van. but i had a tracker bolt that I got in there. Even if they pull it out of the headrest, it should still leave behind the chip. Let them go. she says.
The driver of the van yelps in surprise as Silver Shadow leaps in through the window to "attack." In the brief moment she is inside the vehicle, Shadow spies Encantado, strapped to a coffin-like contraption set in the side of the van. He grunts to get her attention, his mouth gagged with a firm strap. The grunt quickly transitions in a muffled scream as the heroine falls back out of the window.
As Bran releases the rear of the van, it shoots forward with loud squeal of burning rubber, kicking up a spray of dirt into Bran and Silver Shadow's faces. In that brief moment of blindness, Bran feels a massive talon clamp over his shoulder. "FOOL! DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!"
Just as the talons begin to dig into Bran's armor, Kilt leaps from the underbrush and tackles the harpy to the ground. "I've got Chicken Wings! Go help Wingblade!"
Kilt moves more with instinct than with thought. Rolling over the bird-woman as he hit the ground, he produces a dagger and drive it into the tip of her left wing, partially pinning her to the ground. He dodges back as she swipes with her legs. Closing in fast, he buries his knee into her chest, dropping her to the ground again. This time however, he stays on top and pummels her freaky beak-mouth-thing (Ew ew ew ew-!) until a few teeth are missing. Luckily, her talons can't bend backward, and with only a futilely fluttering wing she has no defense as Kilt lays into her.
Kilt stands, the harpy before him, unconscious. And...covered in blood? Wait, I never cut her torso... He thinks, then looks down at his stomach. Three red lines stretch all the way across his abdomen, the pain only just now reaching through the adrenaline.
The pain is light, and a quick probing finger reveals that the wound looks worse than it is. All three are shallow cuts, likely to scar but not much else. He looks up at the melee. Despite the bandanna covering his face, anyone can tell he's wearing a massive smile. "Well. Guess I need a new shirt."
The screech of tires in the distance indicates that the van is well on its way to "escape." However, another screech sounds from the other end of the skirmish, this one markedly more human...
- - -
Cassie can tell that her spell takes effect, but judging from the sounds of car horns and scattering trash cans, the driver of the van doesn't seem to care all that much that he can't see. What's more, she suddenly members that she was supposed to stop with the left foot, not the right, meaning the spell probably won't hold together much longer.
Meanwhile, Wingblade watches as her harpy hits the ground hard, loose feathers flying off of her like avian confetti. On the other end of the enemy comm, Sal chuckles. "Gimme a break hero, it's been a decade-plus since I've had someone smart enough to banter with."
"Hey!" Ery whines through the earpiece.
"Stuff it Ery, you know it's true."
At the same time, Whippoorwill goes quiet for a moment on the team comm. "...I have a theory about the comms. Matrix, check the schematics of the SCA van at Waterfront Park." When Wingblade asks about assistance, her mentor takes an all-too familiar tone of testing: "Do you require my assistance?"
"So tell me Sal," Wingblade says into the antique comm, "are your ham soldiers pigs who've been turned into men, or men who've been given the powers and abilities of a pig?"
Whatever energy Sal seemed to have in his voice dissipates almost instantly as he sighs. "As my boss always says, 'is there a difference?'"
The pigs are not hard to find. Within seconds they spill out of Waterfront Park, a pink-hued mass of rotund, half-man half-swine creatures in grey suits. They don't look too threatening individually, but the enormous mass of them that emerges almost directly on top of the spectating crowd presents a bit of a problem. People scream and run, the pig-men charge towards Wingblade...
...and caught in the middle of it are Cassie and Kaoru.
Kaoru is nearly flattened as people run away from the now rapidly expanding skirmish. Children wear sacred faces. Parents look back in fear. Then someone shoulder-checks Kaoru, sending her computer clattering to the ground and skidding away into the mess of running legs!
Meanwhile, Cassie is in exactly the wrong spot as the pig-men emerge from the park. She manages to not be trampled outright, but she's trapped between the fenced treelike of Waterfront and the mass of stampeding pink flesh. She needs to move, soon!
While Kaoru and Cassie have a rough time of things, Wingblade nearly effortlessly plows through the enemy's ranks like a stone splitting a river. A few goons go flying, squealing with surprise. Most of them hold fast and are simply pushed back by the heroine's assault. As her momentum peeters out, Wingbalde finds herself in the thick of things, surrounded by a ring of pig-men who eye her cautiously. Her assault has slowed them, but more are still coming in throw the park, and the sheer mass of all of them will eventually force them to engage her.
- - -
Alexis can hear the pig-men before she sees them, a snorting, rushing mass that causes pedestrians to start running in the opposite direction. Within moments she comes up on the rear of the advancing stampede. She can see the goons streaming out of Waterfront Park and turning right, towards where she knows the rest of team to be. Standing at the rear of the advancing goon swarm is a familiar fat man with terrible teeth. He's turned away from her, watching the others go on the offensive as he makes vague motions that could be interpreted as stretches. He chuckles as he taps on the comm. "Hey Sal, c'n I do th' thin'?"
Over Kaoru's tapped comm, Alexis hears Sal reply: "Ery..."
"Ah c'mon! I never get t'do th' thin'!"
"That's because it's stupid..."
"But I like it when their sp'nes break! Pleeeeeeeease!"
"...*sigh*..."
"Is that'a yes?"
Bran gave Shaun a quick nod, helm clinking softly against his breastplate, before hurtling into the fray once more. Shayera'll be fine, Kaoru can deal with a crowd, but if I'm right about what in the name of Eumaeus is going on here, we need to make certain these minions don't take her too.
With a crash of muscle, steel, and bone, Bran forged a path to Carrie's side, one-handedly hurling a porcanthrope bodily away from her as he arrived. With a space cleared for the moment, he braced Gae-Dearg against the earth and called out, "Cassiphone, do you possess workings that might stem the tide of this legion of swine? You have my word, I will not permit them to trouble you."
Alexis sees the men, and takes a step to eliminate them.
And she stops herself, standing in place hesitantly.
She hurt people when she let loose before. She had to be better. Stay in control and keep from going wild.
Breathing out her tension, she marches forward, the short girl grabbing the back of the pig man's suit, as she lifts him up and swings him through his stampeding brethren from the back, being careful to knock them down without hurting any civilians caught up in their mass.
It was probably amusing to see a young girl in a sundress swinging someone who looked four times her weight around like he was a wiffle bat.
Her efforts as least draw attention to her, and give Kaoru and Cassie some breathing room to collect themselves as she sows chaos. Alexis just hopes that she's being careful enough to not hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it.
"I might be able to do something." Cassie replies to Bran, giving him a grateful smile. "Hang on a second, I need something with pig in it." Darting to a bin, she peers inside, then reaches in gingerly holding up a half-eaten sausage. "OK, now this should work." she says, pulling a small plastic container of cooking herbs out of her satchel. Focusing, she holds the sausage high, like some kind of gristly torch, and mutters some words.
When she ends her spell she looks around as her spell fails to have any discernible effect. Turning, she shrugs apologetically at Bran. "I don't know what was in that thing, but it sure wasn't pork."
Shayera wonders if Whippoorwill's question about assistance is loaded. She answers anyway. "Maybe? The gray suits are trying to get away with the target, and there's a lot of 'em here at the park. Priority is finding the missing, right?"
She doesn't hear her mentor's response as she dives into the mass of pig men and banters with the other guy. Wingblade finds herself giggling at Sal's comment despite herself while she sends some pigs flying. "Your boss is funny. What's she like?" she says to continue the conversation as she's been taught. The more the bad guys talk, the bigger the chance they'll let something slip.
She spins around in the center of the circle as they push closer. That's right, focus on me. Her wings are fanned out in a defensive position while her hands are up and guarded as the pigs on the outside of the circle press in, but the ones at the center don't want to be the first skewered on her blades.
Wingblade smirks. Just as they move in to attack, she jumps into the air with a blast of her wings. She circles once as the mass of pigs collapses in on itself. Then in a blur she slashes at some large limbs of the big trees in the park, sending them crashing down on one end of the huddle. She then banks and slices through a power line which blocks off the other route of escape with a dancing, sparking live wire!
"The pigs are contained for the moment. Someone catch that SCA van!"
Alexandra winces as she breathes in, and again in sympathy as Shaun is carved open.
Kilt, I need to bandage those... you'll lose a lot of blood if I don't. she says, pulling gauze, Isopropyl alcohol, and medical tape from her coat. she also pulls a flask, and hands it to him. This is gonna suck, so I'd have a swig, were I you.
As she caches her breath/bandages Shaun, she hears Wingblade over the comms. her hand rushes to her ear. No! Belay that, do not stop the van. They're going to lead us to their HQ with the tracker in their headrest! she says