Shayera smacks her head as she realizes the puzzle. "Okay, the names are there, just in different places based on the number in the sentence. How'd I miss that before? Anyway, that gives us an order for these pages," she says.
Dropping to her knees and apparently completely unbothered by the chill air being piped into the room, she arranges the pages along with the volumes. "There! And when you put them in order, the first letter of each spells... FEGLOP." Her triumph immediately crashes to earth.
"Ummm... Not typing in FEGLOP. Let's see. Maybe the numbers still mean something." She starts counting, putting together more nonsense words, before she switches to the titles of the volumes. "Hey! M-A-N next volume U-A and the next, yep, it's a L -- C-O-N-T-R-O-L!"
Shayera hops up to her feet, counting quickly on her fingers. "Six and seven! I think that's it!"
Shayera and Alexis take positions in control room 2 as Kaoru and Erica take their own positions in control room 1. Kaoru counts down, so Erica and Alexis can turn their keys, and she and Shayera can input their respective passwords. Slowly the elevator’s journey towards the sun slows. There’s a slight jolt as the room’s direction reverses, traveling at what surely must be an impossible speed for an elevator back towards the Earth, the air quickly returning to a comfortable level. Once it reaches the planet, there’s a brief pause before the room starts free falling downwards. There’s that familiar lurching of your stomach and the distinct sensation of air blowing up past you. The outside of the still translucent elevator starts to glow red-hot with re-entry. As North America gives way to the coast gives way to the sprawling metropolis of the city, the elevator shows no signs of slowing down, the wind tugging at clothing and hair.
Kaoru’s pulse quickens as all the visuals trick her brain into believing that she’s hurtling towards the ground, eyes starting to water from the constant irritation of air battering against them. Then suddenly, with only a few hundred feet left to go, the walls turn opaque once again. A few seconds later the entire room jolts as though coming to a sudden stop hard enough to cause most people to lose their footing. The next moment a pneumatic hissss announces the opening of the door once more.
You host congratulates you on successfully Escaping the Space Elevator, giving you all a chance to take a group photo with various signs indicating your success and your final time of 17 minutes remaining in the background. Not the fastest, but given the 21% escape rate, quite a good showing. Grabbing your things and exiting, you open the door from the waiting room only to emerge, blinking out into the open air. Looking around, you now appear to be on the roof of a 60-story building (the same building?) in the Tower District. The center of the roof has an enclosed space where various food vendors ply their wares, but most of the space is taken up by a beautifully planted garden. Bright flowers are scattered all about, each trying to vie with its neighbor for your attention. There even seems to be a few trees planted at regular intervals.
A huge grin on her face, Kaoru turns to the two of you, "So...what'd'ya think? That was definitely a lot fancier than the other rooms I've been in."
"It was interesting. I liked the puzzles." Alexis said as he smiled down at Kaoru. "But what I really liked was seeing you enjoying yourself so much. You were really happy in there. I'm glad for that." He blinked slowly, thinking for a moment before turning to Shayera. "Um, do you think you could find some food that I haven't tried before?" He asked Shayera.
He was giving her a look. A look he hoped said I want a moment alone with Kaoru, please.
"I didn't think there would be such a nice place on top of a building," He added, somewhat steering towards the gardens and letting Kaoru tag along. "Everything looks and smells nice."
There was a brief moment of awkward silence from Alexis as he attempted to gather up his thoughts, the young man fiddling with his new costume glasses. "...I'm really sorry. I didn't think that you would get so upset about me changing. Or that you wouldn't believe me. It really hurt, but I understand. I'm not normal like you."
He sucked in a deep breath, before continuing. "I think you should quit the team. It's not good for you. You're too normal. This is too difficult for you to handle. And you don't trust anyone. Not even me. I can see that. I thought that you'd be able to accept who I am, be someone who could really see me. That just because I have a different face and body, you could understand I'm still me. Help me learn to be a normal boy," he explained.
Alexis flicked his nail against one of the buttons on his vest. "I called Whippoorwill last night. Appealed to get you released early. You can just be normal. Everyone wants to be normal, right? You're much happier when you're doing normal things. I'll even leave you alone at school...if I ever get to go back..."
He finished speaking, feeling incredibly awkward right now. But he felt that this needed to be said. Kaoru would be much happier if he wasn't involved with the team or heroes or anything other than normal school life. Which meant that he would be happier without Alexis.
He had been happier without Alexis. He'd spent the majority of the room with strangers instead of people who were trying to be his friends after all. "You'll be better off with friends who are more normal than me," He quietly said.
Shayera steps outside completely unsurprised that the group is on the top of the skyrise. She poses with the group offering a bright smile as their pictures are taken and makes sure to buy a couple of prints for her apartment. She nods vigorously when Kaoru asked if she enjoyed herself, and decides not to mention how it was nice to work a puzzle when lives weren't hanging in the balance.
She recognizes Alexis's look and steps off to the side of the roof, looking over the railing at the dizzying height. She moseys over to Erica, giving her a smile. "I like your hair," she says.
Kaoru made a vague gesture. Saying 'I liked seeing you happy' was a pretty awkward thing to say and unexpected enough that she didn't really have a response to it. As Alexis started half-wandering, half-trying to lead, Kaoru immediately directed them towards one of the trees. She was about to try climbing it when she noticed the sign: 'Please do not disturb the plants.' She briefly considered ignoring the notice, but the trees were already out of their element. If they were in a relatively fragile state, she might accidentally do some real damage to them. Instead she detoured to the edge of the building, so she could look down over the chest-high railing. It was definitely awkward and specifically designed to prevent people from accidentally (or not so accidentally) falling. Actually climbing on top of it was probably not a good idea. But if she at least stood up on the bottom edge of the railing and went up on her toes, it gave her enough of a view to satisfy her. Plus the wind was stronger by the edge of the building, and she liked the way it blew her short hair about.
She frowned as Alexis continued to talk, surveying the ground far below serving as an excellent excuse not to look at the guy as he talked. As she saw the direction the conversation was heading in, she firmly affixed her polite, neutral face on. Guess this means I'm going to have to get back in the habit of doing this... Her mask firmly in place she turned around to face Alexis. A part of her wanted to jump to sit up on the railing, but she repressed that urge; it wasn't the best tactical approach.
She looked Alexis straight in the eye as she calmly but firmly responded, raising a finger for each of her points. "First, I'm not Bronwyn. I don't throw trust about willy-nilly expecting people to conform to my rainbows and sunshine view of them. If people want me to trust them, they have to earn that trust. It's not the sort of process that can be rushed, and I've literally known the members of this team less than a fortnight. Second, what you think about my position on the team doesn't matter. Neither does what I think. Neither does what Alexandra or Shaun or anybody else thinks. This decision is above all our pay grades and quitting isn't on the table. And third, in the future, I expect you consult me before attempting to take action on my behalf. If you had, I could have told you that I didn't want you to talk to Angel Wings and that doing so would not yield any results." She didn't raise her voice or show any signs of anger, but her tone clearly indicated that she didn't consider this up for debate.
*****
Erica tugs her hair, surprised at the comment. "Oh, uh, thanks. Good job getting that last puzzle solved. Did you have fun? Personally, I'm a little sad they toned everything down so much. Apparently when they first opened, people were legit having panic attacks or passing out from the g-force. I would've liked to have tried that version, before they installed those inertial dampeners or whatever it was they were using."
Alexis listened to what Kaoru had to say to him. He seemed familiar, a vague feeling that he knew him from somewhere else. It dawned on as he was bringing up talking to Whippoorwill. The hidden emotions that Kaoru was holding back behind a wall of restraint. He also saw the flaw in that logic.
"You trust Alexandra. I trust Alexandra. So if we both trust her, and she trusts us, shouldn't we trust each other?" He asks, looking over the edge of the building, down at the street below. He had a brief memory of taking a swan dive to the pavement from a building nearly as tall as this one.
Talking about his form had triggered his fatigue before. It seemed possible he had it from learning about her death before he came back. He needed to tread lightly around that subject. Especially if he wanted him to stop projecting that wall.
"Ask me anything. I'll tell you the truth. Alexandra says I can't lie at all. I've tried lying, but she says I'm too obvious." He smiled awkwardly, adjusting his glasses. The wind tousled his new haircut around him, feeling rather pleasant as it did.
"That logic is incredibly flawed. Trust doesn't work like that any more than you can say any other emotion works by the transitive property. And unless you have any other major surprises in store for us..." Kaoru paused just in case there were and Alexis felt like sharing. "I have no questions for you."
Shayera's eyes go wide when she hears about the first version of the escape room. "Wow, that would have been intense," she agrees. "But it was neat this way. I don't know if I would have liked passing out on everyone," she says self-deprecatingly.
After chatting a bit, she moves a little closer to Alexis and Kaoru but doesn't listen in to their conversation. She checks Abacus for restaurants in the area, noticing a Vietnamese restaurant close by, as well as a Jamaican one in the same building but on the other side from the escape room entrance.
She's about to shove the handheld into her purse when she hears a distant, echoing boom. She glances at Abacus to see a breaking alert pop up about an armored car that was just hit by a pair using high-tech weapons.
She rushes in between Alexis and Kaoru, shoving her purse in the taller boy's hand. "Hold my purse, please? This shouldn't take long." She puts her back against the railing and hops up, glancing around to make sure no one is looking her way. "Oh, Jamaican or Vietnamese? I'll meet you there after."
As soon as she's sure no one else is looking, she kicks off the railing and falls, activating her pendant to uncover her wings. Then she heads toward the sound of sirens.
Wingblade tries not to fidget with her mask and just let it work. Whetstone had made some adjustments at Whippoorwill's behest, factoring in Shayera's already enhanced senses so it would actually be an aid rather than a distraction. Sensors in the mask pick up the armored truck's GPS signal and places its location on the grid overlay that the mask projects across the city. Like I couldn't spot the plume of smoke, she thinks in annoyance. How Whip got used to this thing is beyond-- Ah!
The mask relays several blips showing vehicles moving away from the armored car's location. A dark van passes beneath her that fit the profile of something that would be used to hit an armored car. She immediately dives down and gives chase. Within seconds, Wingblade is close enough to confirm the tell-tale scents of discharged weapons and large amounts of cash.
"Attention, HCPD, this is Wingblade. I'm on the armored car robbery. Suspect vehicle is black, unmarked van going south on Temple Ave., just past the Omni Plaza," she says into the police band on her communicator.
She cycles through her mask's features to bring up the bystander count, which uses traffic and sidewalk cameras to give an estimation of how many pedestrians are up ahead. She didn't want to engage and risk the driver panicking when the van was approaching a crowded intersection.
With the information provided, Wingblade follows the van a couple more blocks, staying low and just above the van's roof to cut down on the chance she's spotted, until it's clear up ahead. With a couple of deft slices, she removes the side-view mirrors. Then she cuts deep furrows along the roof on either side.
That got the occupants' attention. The driver starts evasive maneuvers, but there was no way the bulky van could shake Wingblade. As it jukes to the left, she slashes again, this time cutting across the front of the roof just above the windshield. The van's erratic movement causes her wing tips to catch briefly, bending and forcing the roof to curl up -- just like she planned it.
She grabs a hold of the jagged lip of the roof, ignoring how the sharp metal slices deep into her palms. With a hard beat of her wings, she hauls up on the roof of the van, peeling it back.
A blast from the van's rear occupant's weapon sends the roof skyward, finishing Wingblade's task and turning the van into a strange-shaped convertible. She turns, pivots, dodges another force blast from the man's weapon, then lashes out with her right wing to send the weapon to pieces.
She snaps her wings to quickly accelerate ahead of the van, flips over, and lands on its hood while driving her pinfeathers into the engine block. The driver slams on the breaks, but anchored as she is, Wingblade stays put. The robber in the back is slammed forward by the rapid deceleration and smashes against the back of the driver's seat.
The driver reaches behind him and pulls out another high-tech weapon desperately while Wingblade pulls her wings out of the engine. The two square off. The driver pulls the trigger just as Wingblade brings her wings up as a shield. The force blast throws her off the hood and twenty feet away. She hits the pavement and rolls, coming up a little dazed.
The driver takes the opportunity to run, but not before grabbing a sack of cash.
Wingblade adjusts her mask, marking the target and the location of the van hissing in the middle of the street. As the sirens get closer, she launches herself back into the air.
The driver had slipped down an alley, running frantically away through the narrow corridor. Wingblade goes up and over, cutting him off. As the man reached the end and tries to slip into another side street, she's there. The fight is over in a few seconds.
=================
Wingblade drops the unconscious form of the driver off at the ruined van, plus the sack of cash and the two halves of the pulse weapon. After making sure the police were in control of the scene, she takes flight again to head back to join Alexis at the restaurant he'd chosen.
Alexis blinks as he takes Shayera's purse, confusion on his face as she asks him what kind of food that he wanted to eat. "Um. Vietnamese?" He said in reply before watching her jump off of the roof. It was always surreal to see her suddenly have wings appear on her back and start to fly off. Maybe he wouldn't have been as conscious of heights if he could fly like that.
Focusing back on Kaoru...well. It seemed obvious that he didn't feel safe. He wanted to know why. Kaoru was like the puzzle room, confusing but definitely possible to solve once you understood all the clues. He tapped his chin and mulled over what he knew about Kaoru for a few moments.
"...Why didn't you believe Bronwyn yesterday?" He asked him. "When she told you what happened. You were...aggressive with us. It really hurt."
---------
As Shayera flies towards the restaurant, she finds something flashing across her lenses. A mirror reflecting sunlight, coming from a rooftop down below. It was held by a tall blonde in a pastel blue dress and holding onto a parasol in the other hand. Next to her was a shorter young man of Asian features, hands tucked inside of a black hoodie as he tapped his foot anxiously on the rooftop.
Alexandra sits on the base of her grandfather's statue, idly noting the differences Dad had made in the regalia, and the ones she wanted to make. as the others arrived, she quietly assured them that she wanted everyone to be there. on a table nearby was a large bag of takeout from the "New Fortune" restaurant three block from the park. a lovely little dive she had found patrolling (Not much is open at 3 am).
as the others all arrived, she straightened and stood, checking carefully for bugs or onlookers. She picks up a crab Rangoon and toys with it as she paces and speaks.
Thanks for coming. And thanks for not mentioning this to Wing and Mercy. This is gonna be heavy, but I think we need to have this talk.
two weeks ago, at the museum, We all remember that, we were almost winning, when Wing... entered a battle-trance, and became either unaware of, or apathetic to her surroundings and teammates, and just barely managed not to kill the target.... She breaths And two days ago, Mercy made an attempt at killing wing, Shaun, and I, and very well could have killed Shaun and I. and put wing out of action for a good long while, because even she'd be out of commission with a shattered skeleton. Alexandra takes a bite of the Rangoon as she pauses to let that sink in.
Both times, we had to use force in an attempt to bring them out of these states... Bran pinned Wing to the wall with a g@#%%*ned spear, and I had to use explosives on Mercy. she sighs, remembering the sight of Alexis' bone I don't think any of us want it to come to that again. I take no pleasure in hurting teammates, and at least one of them is mortal, if durable.
So, right here, right now, I want us to come up with some plans, should these situations re-occur. Machina, I know you've studied powers, do you think you could design any counter-agent to their strength, and Wing's flight? The powers that make containing those two hard. Medea, or Bran, any chance you could use your magic to help reduce them to Human levels, or contain them outside of reality temporarily?
Shaun, you and I are mostly useful when they're at human levels... but we should probably try practicing some methods to neutralize super-strong, durable targets. maybe even practice with Mercy.
As Shayera flies towards the restaurant, she finds something flashing across her lenses. A mirror reflecting sunlight, coming from a rooftop down below. It was held by a tall blonde in a pastel blue dress and holding onto a parasol in the other hand. Next to her was a shorter young man of Asian features, hands tucked inside of a black hoodie as he tapped his foot anxiously on the rooftop.
Those two are definitely trying to get my attention, Wingblade thinks as she passes overhead. She continues on until she's out of their view, then she drops several dozen feet, races around a building, cuts through a parking garage, and pops up on their opposite side.
She clears her throat to get their attention. "Excuse me, but I couldn't help notice you trying to get my attention. I've been taught to always be wary about these kind of meetings, so I hope you'll understand if you're just a fan of capes."
Strangely enough, when Shayera finally pops up, the tall blond is sitting down by a wrought iron patio table that she was certain hadn't been there before. Neither were either of the chairs that the two were currently seated in, drinking hot tea from a Thermos.
"Wingblade herself," the young man spoke up first, setting his cup down and looking at her. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Hokori, and this is my partner Pokora," He said, gesturing to the woman in transition next to him. She smiled and waved to the heroine. "We're here as representatives of the Triakosia," She told Shayera.
"Now, before you get anxious, I know what kind of things Mercy might have said about us," Hokori spoke quickly. "Just hear us out, okay? You've done good so far, but there's things about them that you need to know if you plan on caring for Mercy," He warned.
What does Shayera do?
Wingblade's hands ball into fists and her wings fan out behind her. As soon as she hears the word 'Triakosia,' she envisions a sniper's barrel aimed at her head, so her wings stay wide and protective.
"Hear you out? Why would I want to hear anything you say?" she asks.
"Because if you don't, then you're putting Mercy and everyone around them in danger," Hokori plainly tells her. "Not from us. From Mercy."
Pokora finishes her current cup of tea, fragrant scents of honey and mint coming off as she refills it. "How much has Mercy told you about their powers? Or about the memory loss?" She asks Shayera, arching a manicured eyebrow. "I hope they told you. Every time that Mercy is reborn, their memories degrade. It's the reason we believe they've been hiding from us for so long."
Hokori fiddled with a lighter in his hand, letting the lid click open and closed. "I still don't understand why they attacked their handlers like that and then took a dive into the street. We've been worried sick, but our hands were tied up in other missions. It was only when Mercy finally resurfaced as part of your team we got to be assigned to this."
Hokori looks at the heroine. "It's true we're mercenaries. Most of us are war orphans, adopted and given this task. I don't know too much about Mercy's origins, but they were as much one of us five years ago as I believe them to be now. But..." He flinches, waving his thumb after accidentally clipping it with the lighter.
Pokora picks up where he left off. "When Mercy is reborn, there's an error, which degrades their ability to think and recall. It's something that compounds the more times they undergo rebirth," She explains. "Without proper treatment and memory restoration, Mercy will lose their conscious self and become nothing more than an animal that wants to do anything to survive."
"Lucky then we have the technology to help them with that. Only problem is, well...you, actually." Hokori tells her, as he stuffs the lighter in his pocket. "We weren't personally involved in that whole missile fiasco, but what one pair in the Triakosia does reflects on all of us. And we know you'd never trust us." He closes his eyes. "To be honest, we've been spending six hours a day drilling to extract Mercy from your penthouse. Higher ups don't want to pull the trigger yet. So long as this new team of yours is in the public eye."
Pokora interjected there. "So now, we're coming to you because we want to help Mercy. They're our sibling," She tells her woefully. "You want to protect them too, right? You don't want them to lose their mind and hurt people."
"Memory problems, huh? Well, it's a good thing I know someone who can take care of something like that," Wingblade sneers. "We don't need you. She doesn't need you." Her battle haze danced around the corners of her vision as she felt her blood rise. She didn't need a team; she wasn't going to involve them at all if she could resolve this once and for all, here.
"You have one chance. Leave Halcyon within twenty-four hours or I sic the Defenders, my Dad, and everyone else I can think of on you and Omega. I have your scent. Don't test me. You tried to kill me once. It didn't take." Her wings flare out, wide and threatening.
As Bran arrives, he removes his helm to greet his teammates with a respectful nod, and a broad smile. He avoids any embraces or armclasps or similar strength-related greetings, and after a dubious glance at the cardboard boxes and chopsticks, contents himself with a rangoon as well.
had taken off his helm to listen to Alexandra's words, but he regretted it very quickly. His jaw tightened and a faint ringing sounded through his ears. But he stayed calm. Barely.
He sat down rather heavily next to the table, still approximately of a height with the others, and waited until she finished, eyes flickering up to meet hers when she resorted to blasphemy.
His voice was as soft as distant thunder when he asked, "Why keep this from them? Do you not think that they are more familiar with their weaknesses than we might be?
"In any case, you mistake what occurred at the museum. The necromancer used his magics to ensnare Shayera and turn her against us. I was able to dispel this enchantment, but it was not the force of my throw that freed her. My spear i- Gae-Dearg is able to overcome many charms, and this Bone Daddy's were no different. Had she not been in flight, I could have done so without causing her harm. It was no accident that she was able to free herself so swiftly and easily.
"The fury that truly took her was in response to his violation of her will. But she was its master. None but her hand stayed the blow she wished to deliver."
The leash that held his own anger went slack, and the shadow of sorrow cast a pall over his face. "As for Alexis... I did not see her rage. If I had, I would have seen to it that you were not imperiled. However, there were sorcerers and enchantresses aplenty at that time. Did that killing fury truly originate within her frame?"
I might be able to make Shayera's talisman malfunction to take away her wings... But with Alexis... I don't know. I've gotten a glimmer of something now and again, but I don't think his strength is a spell. Or at least not an active one...
"No. Geunmin and Sifa just buried what nobody needed to see. No one expected you to take that missile," Hokori tells her calmly, as he gets up. He brushes the table and chair with his hands, and they immediately turn into dust piles on the roof. Pokora oddly collects bits of each one in a vial, tucking it away in a satchel.
"...You don't know Mercy at all. Or you wouldn't be calling them 'she'," She snipes at Wingblade, her nerves having been touched as she steps back. Hokori holds a hand out, looking worried that his partner might take it further, but she unfurled her parasol and stalked away further.
"...We can't leave. Not part of our orders, cousin," He tells Shayera with a shrug. "I'll give a report of how terrible this meeting went, recommend withdrawal. Probably won't listen. Which means we'll inevitably end up in a conflict." He looks torn about that.
"...I have a lot to be grateful for to your dad, you know. He fixed my powers so I'm not Midas cursed. So for his sake, don't let things end up in a fight where everyone gets hurt senselessly." Worry is etched into his expression. "Especially Mercy. We miss them a lot. Things aren't the same without their wit, you know?"
He steps back, and the iron dust on the ground gets kicked up into a sudden whirlwind, blowing around and obscuring the Triakosia pair from view. When it settles, they're gone, as is their scent, cut off where they vanished.
As Alexis stops to examine Kaoru, she immediately speaks up, distracting him and keeping her mask firmly intact. "Stop that. I'm not some insect to be studied, and you're not Alexandra. Stick to your strengths. And probabilistically speaking, what was more likely? That all of you were playing a prank or that you had died and had a sex change? 99% of the time, I would have been correct."
Kaoru had arrived earlier, dressed once again in the black suit and theatre mask that was equipped with voice modulating software. She grabbed some lo mein, quickly eating it before the others arrived. That done, and mask firmly back on, she looked for something to climb up, briefly considering the Silver Shadow statue itself but uncertain of how Alexandra would feel about that, instead chose a nearby tree where she let her legs dangle from one of the branches.
When Alexandra started talking, she briefly noticed the maybe accidental maybe not exclusion of Bronwyn of the meeting, resolving to ask Alexandra about that later and not in front of the entire group. She was glad her mask hid her expression. She had briefly see the terrifying results of Wingblade getting pissed (as well as fighting Bran) in the museum, but the whole thing with Mercy was new to her. And quite concerning.
Machina, I know you've studied powers, do you think you could design any counter-agent to their strength, and Wing's flight?
When she spoke, her voice one more came out the deep, calm voice with a light English accent she had used before. "Perhaps. I would likely need access to specialized materials not commonly found in RadioShack. Their metabolism is the real problem though; it'd be simple enough to find a compound to make their strength useless but without a counter to their healing, their systems would quickly flush the chemical. Plus I can't exactly go down to Costco to get chemical reagents."
Why keep this from them? Do you not think that they are more familiar with their weaknesses than we might be?
"It may be useful to talk to them about it. They may even be on board. But if we're going to brainstorm ways to shut them down, we don't want them to be here, listening to our plans and coming up with their their own countermeasures to our countermeasures, even if they only did it unconsciously."
Alexandra Nods at the statements Bran and Kay make, over weather to include Wing and Lex. I don't doubt for a second that they'd help. ALexis has actively asked me to not let her hurt people when she's like that, and... wing's a hero. she says And, it's not even hem thinking of ways around our measures.... I'm just worried about how much they'd retain, when Mercy is Mercykiller, or Wing is seeing red...
So, I'm... yeah, giving us the best chance. We should also be on the lookout for triggers. like B going missing.... I was kinda worried it would be one for Wing
But, Bran, I'm really glad I got the order of events wrong. And thanks for disenchanting her, I wasn't in the room when that happened... but her nearly strangling him to death is still really concerning. and there's her "father" to consider... she says, using air-quotes
But, Mercy confided in me... it was not an enchantment, I'm afraid. She gave me what information she could. said she lost herself in a battle state, and was unable to differentiate friend and foe.... I don't know how long she was like this before she attacked wing, how many foes fell to Mercykiller, rather than mercy.
"Is it logical to assume that people who have been trying to be your friend would lie about something like that? Why would you really think that your friends would try to hurt you when they have been doing everything they can think of to help you?" Mercy asks, frustration growing in his voice.
"I care about you, Kaoru. I wish you could show that you care about me," He finally says, stalking off in a worse mood than he'd started. Maybe he just needed to eat.
Alexis sat down alone in the restaurant. Shayera was late. He didn't know what Kaoru was up to, or if Bronwyn would show up. He was having trouble holding onto his anger. So he was letting off steam with a pile of disposable chopsticks, attempting to build them up into a large square building by locking the ends without breaking them.
Geunmin had taught him this trick. It was calming to work on something like this. He paused briefly, another thought occurring to him.
Where had Geunmin gotten all those chopsticks from? He couldn't remember. It must have been at the barracks, only why would they have chopsticks at the barracks? Or had it been other wooden sticks?
His confusion at least helped to disappate his anger. Now if only Shayera would come so he could order food.
Bran nodded, and some of the tension left his posture when he heard Kaoru and Alexandra's reasoning for some level of secrecy. "Very well. Keeping the nuances of our plans from them may prove wise. Though I believe that in truth, Shayera's fury is more focused than you fear, even when roused by grave violations, or her fear for her lover, such countermeasures as we may conceive can only be of use." Uuuuuuughhhhh I hate the word 'lover'! But it's the **only** thing I've heard Skuld or anyone like that call a girlfriend.
"So, Ka-, Machina. Do you know what you would require to combat Alexis's strength? My acolytes' searches for needed reagents have led them to cultivate connections that may be of use, even if your ally Kost Ko does not possess them. In any case, a time without the strength to which Alexis is accustomed should likely prove sufficient. We do not wish to strip his abilities from him wholesale."
Behind his offer though, his mind was racing, I can't believe she'd just bring up Shayera's 'father' like that. I **told** her that I was only letting her know because I **thought** she could keep a damn secret! ¡Puñeta! Okay, whatever. Maybe she only thought the fake memories were a secret? And not just that he's a villain? Somehow?!
Drawing attention to it only makes it more likely that Shaun does something stupid. Just learn from this. Redirect to something else that needs dealing with to cover.
"That is grave news indeed concerning Alexis's excesses. Speaking to him on this topic is more important than I had known."
He thought back to when in the battle Alexis had been injured. I knew Shayera'd been hurt, but I figured she had it under control. And Cassie and me were facing off against all the pigs... I don't think I could've gotten there, even if I had known what was happening... Okay, so no blame. Just plans.
"An this should occur again before our plans are completed, I ask that you please inform me with as much alacrity as can be mustered. Alexis is a most puissant warrior, but I should be able to forestall him at least, and I would hope without grave injury to either of us."
Mary-Beth would absolutely buzzer that 'an.' I'm supposed to avoid archaic stuff that forces people to think...
Whatever, everyone's got other things to work out. Even Alexandra's probably not parsing my vocabulary right now.
Wingblade stands for a few more moments after the pair disappear, quivering in rage. Her mind parses through the threats, both subtle and overt, as well as the tidbits of information Hokori and Pokora dropped. And laced with more misinformation than real, she thinks bitterly.
No sense standing here inviting a sniper's bullet. She takes a couple more sniffs around the spot the two were waiting, then moves to the edge of the building and drops.
====================
"Sorry I'm late," Shayera says as she takes a seat opposite Alexis. Seeing the stack of chopsticks and an otherwise empty table, she frowns slightly. "You could have ordered ahead. It was just an armored car heist. Besides, my credit card is in my purse. You weren't in any danger of stiffing them."
She glances at the empty places at the table. "Guess it's just you and me, huh? Well, I don't mind. It gives us a chance to talk like we used to do those first couple of nights at my place." She smiles a little sadly, thinking about the young girl so much like how she used to be -- Wingblade had been less militarized and way more feral, but like Alexis had lacked the stabilizing influence of a home and people who loved her. She wasn't about to believe that those Triakosia goons cared a bit for him. Whippoorwill had shown me what that was like. Well, I mean, there was Dad, but... She shakes her head involuntarily and focuses on Alexis.
"So... feel free to tell me it's none of my business, but, um, it's only natural to wonder about these kind of things, right? What's it like standing up?"
Kaoru watched Alexis stalk off; if he wasn't interested in learning about pranks, she wasn't about to chase after him just to elucidate him on the subject. She took a few deep breaths, trying to focus on the feeling of the wind on her face instead of the anger she had been suppressing. She wasn't sure what was worse: being white knighted by Alexis the girl or Alexis the boy. Both were s$!#ty in their own special way. It was definitely a great sign for her new leadership position that even one of the few people who seemed to like her had absolutely no respect for her. On the bright side, she hadn't let herself get swept away in a tide of emotion, which was going to be another important thing to keep in mind if she was going to try to lead. At least with Alexis, she knew his intentions were good even if he lacked the ability to understand the implications and ramifications of what he was doing. A fact she had needed to remind herself to stop from saying something she would inevitably regret. Shaun was going to be the real challenge there, so she needed to prep herself for that inevitability.
She sighed. This was exactly the kind of thing she has resolved to stop doing when she had left Sioux Falls. To stop constantly wearing a mask for others' benefit. But Wingblade couldn't be leader. Alexandra said she couldn't be leader. And she sure as hell wasn't going to let Bran turn everyone on the team into his own personal 'acolytes.' Alexis lacked finesse, and Shaun's hotheadedness would only end up getting someone she cared about killed. So there weren't exactly other options here. But you did good back there with Alexis. He wouldn't think so, but that doesn't change the fact that neither he nor you had a meltdown after your conversation. He was *just* frustrated. That's well above par for your interactions with him. Take the win.
She continued her practiced breathing for a while longer. Long enough to ensure she wouldn't accidentally run into Alexis on her way down. She then slowly made her way to the park.
*****
I'm not sure 'focused' is any better. Focused anger misdirected might be worse than anger spread about. It was one of the reasons why had been happy that she had done so well on their mission. She had seen first hand that Wingblade angry was terrifying, and the last thing she wanted was for that fury to be directed at her. Alexis could just heal from whatever Wingblade dealt out. She couldn't. She didn't want Wingblade to cut off her hand just because she had messed up and made the warrior mad, and she really didn't know the girl well enough to have a good feel for what her triggers were.
"So, Ka-, Machina. Do you know what you would require to combat Alexis's strength? My acolytes' searches for needed reagents have led them to cultivate connections that may be of use, even if your ally Kost Ko does not possess them. In any case, a time without the strength to which Alexis is accustomed should likely prove sufficient. We do not wish to strip his abilities from him wholesale."
She was glad the mask hid her eye roll. Yes, I'm sure your 'acolytes' would absolutely jump at the chance to please you. "I'd probably have to do some research, but muscle relaxants or depressants might be a useful start. Or perhaps some kind of strong but relatively flexible metal for the non-chemical approach to see if I can fashion something similar to a finger trap." It was also nice that the mask automatically altered her voice, so she didn't have to consciously monitor her exact tone and inflection.
"An this should occur again before our plans are completed, I ask that you please inform me with as much alacrity as can be mustered. Alexis is a most puissant warrior, but I should be able to forestall him at least, and I would hope without grave injury to either of us."
"Speaking of, Raisin Bran, I need a phone number or an email address; some method other than the communicators where we can leave a message if we need to get in contact with you. There's going to be a team meeting -- a full team meeting -- Monday once track practice is over in the back room of the building where shop classes are held. I'll send out an email to everybody later tonight, so those who aren't here are aware. For those of you whose communicators I haven't updated yet..." she had meant to give Bran a meaningful look at this comment, but that was also made impossible by her mask "...be sure to bring them. Communications won't be secure until all devices have been updated."
Alexis looked up from his chopstick tower, before tilting his head in confusion. Then he pushed back in his seat and stood up, looking around as if he wasn't sure what she was asking.
"...I'm taller now. It's not the tallest I've been, I think. So standing is okay. I can walk well too," he added, before sitting back down and waving over a waiter.
"I would like this platter of appetizers please. Nothing spicy. I don't like spicy food," He pointed out. He was aware the waiter was looking curiously at his construction on the table, but Alexis didn't care too much about what he thought.
"...Geunmin taught me how to do this." Alexis said as she points out the tower. "He said it helps to calm people down, trying to focus on building something difficult. I think that it's just that I put my frustrations into the building than into what was frustrating before." He sighs, looking at Shayera.
"...At least I understood my old team better than the new team." He admits to her.
"Speaking of, Raisin Bran, I need a phone number or an email address; some method other than the communicators where we can leave a message if we need to get in contact with you."
A look of puzzled bemusement crossed Bran's face at his new nickname, but he decided against asking for clarification.
"Then I am afraid I must disappoint you; I have neither. From what my acolytes have explained to me an 'e mail' should be simple enough to create, but it would be they who maintained it in any case. One among my acolytes is already known to you. If this," he removed his communicator from within the barrel of his helm, and proffered it to Kaoru, "is insufficient, then she will be the best means to contact me. If she should be unavailable, then look for others who bear my sign."
Is he saying full to make sure Bronwyn will be there? Better to leave it vague for now. Between everything I'm actually supposed to be juggling and mysterious Otherworld duties, it makes sense that at least one of me wouldn't be able to make it.
Thanks for officially putting Bronwyn-me on the team though, Whip. Real helpful.
Shayera rolls her eyes at Alexis not getting the meaning behind her question. She could leave it be, especially since she could always ask her girlfriend if it came down to it, but she figured that Alexis would be more honest. And with less chance of cheeks spontaneously combusting from redness. "No, I mean, standing up to pee."
Shayera falls silent as Alexis talks about his old team, sounding much more reminiscent than she could recall from before. She twists her mouth in distaste. "You dove off a building to get away from them before. The very thought of going back would put you into a panic. What's changed?" she asks evenly.
"Talking through a third party is always inefficient and slows things down unnecessarily. It runs the risk of higher levels of miscommunication a la the telephone game. It's also unfair to expect She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to always drop whatever else she's doing to pass along the message, and waiting runs the risk that it might simply get forgotten. The communicators don't have a method for storing messages if you don't answer, so it won't work for this use case. I'll get a new cell phone and bring it to the meeting on Monday and give you a primer on the basics of texting and checking your voicemail. That way if we need to update you on something we can bypass both all the previously mentioned pitfalls and avoid going on a scavenger hunt to find one of your followers. Though if you'd like to provide us with contact info for all of them, that could also be useful. As for updating the communicator, I didn't bring my computer to this meeting, so that will have to wait until Monday."
"The team isn't the same as the people I escaped from," Alexis clarifies. "They're all like me. We trained together. Slept together. Ate together. Bunked together," Alexis informs Shayera. "...I wish I could remember more about them. But I'm sure they would want to escape too. But...something stops them. I can't remember what, but even though we love Xenophon, I hated everyone else. I hated the experiments. I hated the missions. I remember the hate. I can't remember why I hated them, though."
He rests his hands on the tablecloth, staring at the decoration in the center of the table, looking at the silk flower petals as he continued to speak. "I thought that having this team now would be like that. But everyone seems different. I don't understand anyone. I wish that I was better at that." He scowls, slumping back.
"...I also don't see why I would need to pee standing up. You can go just as easily squatting regardless of form," He told Shayera with a shrug.
Great, so now I have to swap every couple hours to check my texts?! Being Elsewhere Devours battery life too...
Bran nodded slowly, hours of drills keeping him from shrugging diffidently. "I suspect that a phone will not make me substantially easier to contact when I am Elsewhere, but you are well within your rights to ask for the additional means. I would ask, however, that you not use this as a path to circumvent Bronwyn. After all, our purpose is to make communication more reliable, is it not?"
Also, you seriously Voldemorting me?
His brow knit slightly as he considered how Kaoru had spoken of his acolytes, and carefully he explained, "I have no followers or servants, no more than I still rule over my island. I am merely the tip of the spear. My other acolytes have not wished to be made known without cause. I will inform them of your own wish, but I will not ask it of them. I hope that will suffice?"
okay, drugs... we can work that one out... and I know of only one metal type that might work for that, and I think Scythe might object. Violently.
Bran, if he goes off again, I'll tell you... I couldn't get my hands to the comm that time. Crossbow and grenades. She says by way of explanation. But, yeah, You're the one I want most on the scene, cause you're likely the only one ho could go toe to toe with either of them with relative safety...
Alexandra spears a bit of crystal shrimp with a chopstick Okay. so, some Hostility between KAy and Bran... should ask about that. low level though, not Me and Shaun... or Me and B. Or Kay and Alexis.... Gods, my two team idea would have been better.
Kilt, you've pulled a few gadgets outta your belt, gods, that sounds like a come on, Anything you have in reserve that might be helpful?
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The mask once more hid Kaoru's eye roll. Great job on the whole 'secret identity' front there Bran. I was *trying* to avoid using her name. "The goal isn't to exclude her. It's to make sure you are included on team-wide communications in a more efficient manner that doesn't have a single point of failure."
She shrugged at his later comment. Spoken like a white guy from a position of privilege. 'But our maid isn't really our servant. She's like a member of the family! Who we just happen to pay to do chores for us and inherently hold a position of power over.' "If they do not wish to provide contact information, that is their choice. However, you cannot tell us to use them to get to you while simultaneously giving us no means to reach them by."
Switching to respond to the materials topic, she then said, "It's possible I could make do with some other kind of metal. But it does mean the design needs to be more complicated, and I'd need to do some prototyping."
Bran's craggy features broke out into a wide, warm grin. "Thank you for respecting their wishes." I **knew** he wouldn't be one of those 'Well they weren't fair to me so nnnyyyyyeaaaagghhhh!' types.
"In truth, it is more likely that were Bronwyn and I both to be unreachable, that the others would feel the need to contact those of you who are more open in your heroics, such as Shaun or Shayera. Foremost in my thoughts was that you should be aware that there would be cause to believe someone bearing my mark."
He regarded Alexandra levelly, "I understand. I did not seek to speak against your decisions that day. You acted bravely and heroically in stopping Alexis as she would have wished, and in truth, I have not thanked you enough for bringing the full tale of that day to my ears. When I speak to Alexis of this, I will make certain that he understands the compassion behind this act."
"As to suitable restraints, while Scythe's living metal would surely be proof against Alexis's efforts, so long as they are designed to restrict his movements, and prevent him from bringing his full strength to bear, baser metals may still enjoy success. If it would be of assistance, I would be willing to submit myself to capture, once your designs require a trial."
"So then I hold my hands up like "wasn't me!," 'cause it f+&~in' wasn't!" Shaun pauses his story as he scarfs down another spoonful of soup. The blonde sat across from him, perched on the butt of her palm as her other hands absentmindedly grabbed some peta bread. He wasn't certain how long ago, but when she'd invited him to the table to chat, he'd found himself warily taking a seat. When she started actually showing interest in said conversation, his worries quickly evaporated.
She nods as he continues. "So then this bastard is like..."Oh! Ye' just be a ghost!""
The Blonde nearly sends her drink spilling onto the table as she tries to stifle a high-pitched laugh. "Ahee hee hee! Oh my gosh! What a dumbass!"
"I know right!? Whatta dunce!" It is at this point that Shaun glances towards the front windows. "Wait, s#!@, what time is it?...OH DAMNIT! Uh, sorry doll, I gotta go!"
As Shaun moves to leave, the girl's arm darts forward and grabs his hand. "Oh, c'mon now, things were just getting fun. Stay and talk some more, I love your stories."
Her sapphire eyes shimmer, almost pleading him to stay. He rolls his and pulls free of her effortlessly. "Nah, I can't doll. I got a...work meetin'ta' get ta'."
In a moment, her expression of effortless charm breaks into stunned confusion. "...wh...what? How...?"
The redhead hoists his kit onto his shoulders. "Sorry, I really gotta go. But, uh, here!" Taking a napkin and a pen, he quickly jots down his number. "If, uh, if you really do wanna talk more latter, that's, uh, that's...mine..." He glances between her and the number nervously, then quickly hustles out the door.
The hot feeling in his face obscures the bruins around his ears, and his haste blinds him to the Blonde's raised eyebrow...
- - -
Shaun arrives, his warpaint still wet and dripping slightly. He casually dismisses the offer of food, and stays largely quiet as the other talk through the "emergency procedures" for Wingblade and Alexis. he also takes mental notes to ask about Shayera "seeing red" and her father. (Does anybody on his team not have parental troubles?)
Kilt, you've pulled a few gadgets outta your belt, gods, that sounds like a come on, Anything you have in reserve that might be helpful?
Shaun's brow scrunches together as he thinks through his inventory. "Well...for Wing, I have some magnetized s%%#. Foam poppers, hitchhiker caltrops, a flash-bang...f'Lex, I dunno. Y'need fire power I don't have. I mean I could try an' touch base with Simon if y'need something' with serious oomph, but I haven't heard from him in a year or so..."
A faint smile touches Bran's lips as he recalled one of his first battles at Shayera's side, and the trouble the Busted Flush's magnets had caused her. That was a big push towards switching to stainless steel for most of my gear. Other perks too, but there's a lot of people who see a big guy in metal and think that a magnet's going to be the way to go...
Doesn't stop a ferrokinetic or probably a strong enough magnetokinetic, but at least it flummoxes the techies.
"Those should be quite useful in securing her, Shaun. Though Shayera's senses are not as vulnerable as you might expect given their sharpness; restraint truly is the best course.
"One thing I would ask of you all though. If there is any doubt in your mind, and she is not under the influence of another, allow her to stop herself. She will not let you down."
Yeah... sorry. Band I got into it yesterday over an... admittedly questionable decision, I've been defensive since...
But, yeah, We'll get a prototype together. Thanks for offering help.
Magnets aren't a bad choice... But Bran, While your faith is admirable, but do you know something I don't? Because, I trust her too, but not enough to risk civilians, or anyone's life, on her being able to pull herself out of a kill state...
"Since she was freed, she has not taken a life. Since she was freed she has not turned her wrath on an innocent." Bran smiled softly, "To prepare is wisdom, but we cannot let fear and mistrust hold us in their thrall. My belief in her has always been rewarded; she is much more than she was built to be. "
"The team isn't the same as the people I escaped from," Alexis clarifies. "They're all like me. We trained together. Slept together. Ate together. Bunked together," Alexis informs Shayera. "...I wish I could remember more about them. But I'm sure they would want to escape too. But...something stops them. I can't remember what, but even though we love Xenophon, I hated everyone else. I hated the experiments. I hated the missions. I remember the hate. I can't remember why I hated them, though."
He rests his hands on the tablecloth, staring at the decoration in the center of the table, looking at the silk flower petals as he continued to speak. "I thought that having this team now would be like that. But everyone seems different. I don't understand anyone. I wish that I was better at that." He scowls, slumping back.
"...I also don't see why I would need to pee standing up. You can go just as easily squatting regardless of form," He told Shayera with a shrug.
Wingblade can't help but look crestfallen and maybe a little disappointed. "You still squat?!? That's gotta be a waste, right? What about urinals? How do you use them?"
Switching back to the topic of the new team and how it doesn't live up to expectations, Shayera drums her fingers on the table. "Yeah, they're different. I don't know how it was like for you, since I was alone at my lab.
"I'm not saying this will work for you, but maybe... just watch for a while? Don't expect to understand everyone, since no one really reacts in real life with 100 percent consistency. When I joined my first team, I'd never seen anything like it. I watched. I didn't understand anyone, and it was *fascinating.*" She shrugs, and picks up her own set if chopsticks.
"You know the trick with these, right? Only one moves. It's kind of like with people. It's all right if you stay still and let the others come to you."
"You stand in front of one, and hold it and let it out. I prefer the seated toilet though," Alexis shrugs, unconcerned by the strange look of a passing waitress overhearing that part of the conversation. He picks up a set of his chopsticks, snapping them apart and easily tucking them into to use with one hand. "I learned how to do this from Hokori. He likes to cook. I like to eat."
When the appetizers came, he dug into them, expertly creating dipping sauce placements on a plate before taking each piece and trying it out with each different sauce to determine which combination tasted the best, as well as cleansing his palate with a sip of water between bites. He liked the fried quail the best, he determined.
"I think it's because we haven't really trained as a team. I think that we need to all live together," Alexis rationally explains. "We're too separate right now. Maybe we should ask if someone has a place that would work as a base for all of us. Somewhere we could also train together. Do you think one of the others might have a place like that?"
Shayera leans back and folds her arms. "No," she says, shaking her head. "Closest thing we've got is my apartment. But no. We're not going to do things the Triakosia way. We're going to get to have lives outside of training and fighting, and sleeping together and then waking up and doing it all over again. We're going to have lives, with different futures and the power to make our own choices."
She looks at Alexis with a steady gaze. "Do you understand that? Do you understand how important that is?"
"Um. I assumed we could still go to school and do things like what we did today. Could we not have it both ways? We don't have to train eight hours a day, just an hour every weekday. And we could have a space that's like, a big house, so everyone gets a room and no one has to share space. That's better than what the Triakosia were given." Alexis smiled.
"I think it would work. I think if we all lived together, we'd be able to be a better team. I could learn more about everyone faster that way too. Please, could you promise to ask Whippoorwill if she can find a place like that for us?" Alexis prodded, trying to persuade simply by his stare.
Shayera sighs and lets her arms drop to her sides. "Look, I get it. It'd be neat. The bunch of us, all together in a cool place, training, living together. But there's no way you'd be able to convince Bronwyn, and Kaoru, and probably Alexandra to leave their families on a permanent basis like what you're talking about. You, me, and Shaun probably, it'd be good. Cassie, maybe, as well. As for Bran, well, he's usually in that 'Elsewhere' place he goes off to."
She pauses when their main courses arrive. After their food is brought and the waiter leaves them, she continues. "So when it's just half the team, it's probably better that we just keep using my apartment." Its location may be compromised, but the Triakosia don't know all its features, I'm sure, she thinks with an inward smile.
Alexis seems to wilt a little as Shayera shoots down his idea. He's sullen and picks at his food, his appetite having left him. He eventually speaks up again. "We're too separate. It's too hard to function as a team if the only time we get together is for missions. We need to be able to train together," He emphasized.
He gets up to his feet. "I'm going to the bathroom. And I'm going to squat," He added, to the bewilderment of the people behind Wingblade. He seemed upset to have been shut down by Shayera. He was upset, that every idea he came up with to try and help seemed to make everyone angry or upset with him.
He needed to blow off some steam. There were few better ways to do that than going on patrol, which was why when he came back, he felt better. "Let's go out and be heroes tonight," He urges her. "I want to see if I can keep up with you in flight too."
You're... fair point. But I don't see a problem in having a plan. She said I don't want there to be a first time she does that.
Okay.w e have some stuff to go forward with. I like this, it feels good. Kay and I will work on our countermeasures. Shaun, you work on yours... I'll pass word around when you're done.
Hey, Bran.... Don't mention this to B. I' don't want to put her in a position where she has to keep secrets from her girlfriend... or in a position where she has dirt on me.
Bran quirked an eyebrow, "I see no reason why she needs to know the details of individual tactics, but we ourselves are going to ask Shayera and Alexis for their own counsel. Is Bronwyn to be the only one ignorant of this endeavor? I am afraid I do not see the purpose in that."
Alexis seems to wilt a little as Shayera shoots down his idea. He's sullen and picks at his food, his appetite having left him. He eventually speaks up again. "We're too separate. It's too hard to function as a team if the only time we get together is for missions. We need to be able to train together," He emphasized.
He gets up to his feet. "I'm going to the bathroom. And I'm going to squat," He added, to the bewilderment of the people behind Wingblade. He seemed upset to have been shut down by Shayera. He was upset, that every idea he came up with to try and help seemed to make everyone angry or upset with him.
He needed to blow off some steam. There were few better ways to do that than going on patrol, which was why when he came back, he felt better. "Let's go out and be heroes tonight," He urges her. "I want to see if I can keep up with you in flight too."
Wingblade arches her eyebrow at the challenge. No one except super runners could be able to keep up with fliers, though as a winged flier, her speed was usually far less than those with other means of propulsion. She was getting the sense of frustration in Alexis, so she didn't voice her doubts.
"Okay. You want to go back to the apartment and change? I'd hate for your new clothes to get messed up. They're durable, but not indestructible."
fair. Just... let's be the ones to go to Shayera with this, before she finds out indirectly. that will look better.
With that, Alexandra nods, and picks up some of the food. Machina. Text me if your other supply chains are dry.
As Bran walks home, past the park goers, from whom he gets no shortage of sideways glances. Even in monument part, an 8 foot tall man is remarkable.
as he walks, he begins to note some... odd sensations. His armour gets a bit heavier, his pace feels harder to maintain... and his body begins feeling awkward...
As it becomes undeniable that this is an unusual phenomenon, it stops, and a deep male voice calls over. Sorry, son. I hadn't realized there were others around me.
turning to the direction of the voice shows you a man, clean shaven with salt and pepper hair. he stands maybe 6'1", with an average build. he wears a black suit, with a priest's collar. a legal pad and a bible sit beside him.
How are you, Son? He asks, standing and offering his hand.
what do you do?
Instinctively Bran's grip tightened on Gae-Dearg's shaft when the man called out to him in the midst of what might have been an attack, but as he saw his collar he shrank the spear away and tucked it into his gauntlet.
"I am well enough. Is there some way I can be of service to you, father?"
The man smiles. So polite. But I was going to ask you the same thing. He says, Smile beaming
my congregation has a number of parahumans in it. he says, by way of explanation And We've been trying to extend invitations to others like them. Let them have support, and a place they can just... be themselves. He tears off a strip of legal pad, and scribbles a number and address on it
If that sounds like something that appeals to you, we meet just north of Halcyon proper. There's always someone there, and there's usually something we're doing. he says