This is just not working for me. Maybe I should try to...Ah? All right, let's go then.
Shin opened his eyes, shifting up to his feet as he followed Kylie out of the room. Wait, where did Mattie go? And is Eternia close by? He asked her as they walked. There were other questions, but he felt there was a pressing need to push forward here and prevent a possible catastrophe. He didn't know what the church planned with Eternia, but he doubted it was anything good for the city.
Well, this didn't look good. There were a very few situations where something like this might actually be a good thing... but the lack of consent on the part of Eternia's family, secrecy surrounding the event, and lack of any apparent safety measures rather ruled them out. The last thing they needed was for some homicidal ghost to slip in and possess an invulnerable host, and that was on the mundane end of possible bad results. Time to step in.
Isaiah darted in above the crowd, shot to the altar, sheared through any restraints on Eternia with mono-razor claws, picked her up, and carried her back toward the entrance he'd come through. He could try to figure out how to stop the ritual going on here once he'd gotten her clear of the danger.
While Mattie tries to push through the crowd to gain a better vantage point, Isaiah makes his move.
The Outsider rushes the stage despite the massive vortex of psychic energies focusing on that exact spot. He moves in and sees that there are no bindings of any kind around Eternia, so it would be a simple matter of grabbing her and going. He steps forward on the dais as the onlookers start to react, and then he touches her--
You've never felt such a psychic assault. A massive presence, a mind, is pushing through the breach toward Eternia's blank slate. You've just interposed yourself in between this Overmind and its intended Vessel. It pushes down, breaks through all your psychic barriers, and you are left with a choice: sacrifice the Isaiah unit for Eternia and allow the Overmind to possess it, or allow this entity to fill the appointed Vessel -- Eternia.
What do you do???
Psyche leads Horizon unerringly through the complex to the center. They both see Isaiah on the dais in the middle of the circular room, over a prone Eternia. Psyche cannot help but sense an incredibly potent psychic entity breaking through the barrier between this world and some place beyond the Astral Plane, pressing down upon Isaiah and Eternia. This mind is massive, and it obviously requires an enormous breach in order for it to enter this reality, and it has done so.
What do you do???
So focused on the scene, the captain doesn't even look at Praetoria as he shakes his head. "We can't move in while they've got the hostages. And there's no telling if these are the self-destruct kind. I hate to say it, but the bank's insured. It might be less destructive if we just let them take their cash and leave."
What do you do??
Oh, and it looks like I should have applied a -2 on the Defend roll for having Insecure. I missed that since it wasn't bolded like the other things that get penalized. I suppose we'll just roll with it at this stage...
Depends on how we want to handle it. Inqiury/Isaiah was actually going to be willing to sacrifice it's Isaiah frame to prevent an unknown entity from having an invulnerable body. Depends somewhat on how you want to handle things, which one you think would be more dramatic.
”We...we can’t just let them do that, can we!?!?” Praetoria asks, bewildered at the thought. She steps forward and studies the scene. She grits her teeth and looks to Frostbite and Mosaic, ”Mosaic, go for the androidians unloading the vault, Frostbite, you go for the ones at the hostages. I’m going to get the hostages clear!” she says as she lifts off into the air and gains some altitude and distance from the bank. As she flies, she gathers up a bunch of speed before turning back towards the bank, continuing to accelerate!
I should get them out of here.
No.
I can't just abandon Eternia here. Not when this is my fault.
The thoughts of subtlety that had shielded her approach burned away in the fierce corona of her mind.
That might even be too much for me to go head to head with. But with a big enough lever I can move anything. And I never need a place to stand.
Psyche didn't try to match this thing mind to mind, but this whole place had been constructed to funnel the thoughts of her worshipers to it. Let's see what happens when I knock it off its pedestal. Let's see who gets their prayers when they see their god walks among them.
Without even thinking it she lifted from the ground, dragged up by the weight her mind was attempting to hold. For a moment she almost seemed to disappear, dissolving entirely into the webs of her thoughts, but then with an inaudible **pop** her form snapped back to solidity, wreathed in her unmistakable might.
Ripples of her power bounced around the room as she reached out and began to twist and shatter the selenium girders, stretching out with her mind to keep the building as intact as possible despite her demolition. But she knew that wouldn't last forever.
As Mattie made her way through the crowd she felt an ominous psychic pressure envelop her. The power dwarfed her own minor psychic power. Suddenly, she saw the unmistakable form of Isaiah rush towards the alter, touch the figure and,.. freeze. Almost concurrently she saw the power-wreathed form of Psyche above the crowd, clothed in her psychic webs as the building's support structure suddenly started to bend and twist, showering the assembled crowd with dust.
What's going on? her mind raced as she frantically looked for a sign of whatever had provoked the others to action. "Kylie. What's going on?"
Compared to Psyche, Isaiah, and even Mattie, Shin was psychically dumb. All he perceived in the moment was the figure of Eternia - the much older version that was vastly different from the bombshell beauty of his time - laying in the middle of the worship center, with Isaiah up on the dais as well. He held back, let the others take the first steps. He'd be here to back them up when necessary.
It didn't seem like he was needed. Psyche took to her flock and showed off just why it was a bad idea to anger her, as she started to tear at the structure of the building. He was alarmed. He didn't think this would upset her so much.
Kylie, what are you doing? Grab Eternia and teleport out of here! You're the only one who can! Shin thinks at her. She's the one who can quickly remove her, before things started to roll out of control. He could find a way to get out of here as long as Isaiah and Mattie were around.
"I don't know if I could put her back together on the other side, Shin. It could kill her!
"Mattie. Something's coming through. Something big"
"I think I can weaken it without this building. Someone needs to get The Vessel Eternia out of here!"
Just as Frostbite was going to side with the police captain, Praetoria launches into full ballistic missile mode screaming toward the bank.
Aw f+&%...
Frostbite sprints for the bank to try and make the best of a bad situation. Bursting into the lobby he runs into far more droids than he anticipated...
Praetoria, after a sort of wind up, zooms in and hits the androidians with her speed rush. The concussive force of her attack sends them flying while keeping the hostages defended.
Mosaic sends a blast of her light shards at the androidians inside the vault, creating a huge light show for everyone around.
Unfortunately, Holly's light show doesn't do much but strobe and flash. The robotic minions are unimpressed.
Frostbite, too, follows everyone in while grumbling about the lack of a plan. He moves in where he is expecting a few andriodians and several hostages, but the ratio is flipped. The robotic minions turn their blaster arms toward him and fire away.
The arrival of the heroes seems to start a new series of instructions in the androidians. The ones holding bags of cash begin to move toward exits while the rest's eyes start glowing red and flashing. Yep. These are the self-destruct kind
What do you do???
Seeing the self destructing robots, Praetoria gasps in fear for those around her, including her team mates. ”Frostbite, Mosaic! Block the exits and give the civilians some cover!” she calls out before taking off once again.
She begins grabbing each and every one of the androids in self destruct mode as she flies through the bank like a gold and silver streak of lightning. She then darts out the busted out window and straight up into the sky as fast as she can, clenching her teeth for the incoming explosion she is braced to endure...
Psyche unleashes her mental might. Metal screeches in protest as interior beams and scaffolding twist and deform around the Nova. Revealed, most of the swaying people within the Inner Circle turn to gaze at Psyche, giving her their fullest attention and adoration.
Isaiah, over top of Eternia, realizes an otherworldly mind is forcing its way through the barrier, but he is unable to stop it. For a moment, with the building twisting around them, it appeared that there may be hope that it could not break through.
But then, Eternia's eyes open and she glares at Isaiah. With a backhand, she sends him flying into the crowd.
Scorch, Horizon and Psyche see Eternia stand up from the dais, look down at her hands briefly, then turn to stare at Kylie. The crowd seems torn between staring at Psyche and at Eternia.
"You've upstaged my entrance. But no matter. You're the reason I'm here," Eternia thinks at Kylie.
Eternia spreads her arms wide and addresses the crowd. "Hello, my children! This is a singular day for us! For I am here, and our Facilitator is here with us! Let us rejoice!!"
What do you do??
Frostbite gives ground as he dives for cover from the hail of blaster fire.
"And the reason you'll soon be leaving."
Diving directly into the mind of whatever was piloting Eternia was a very bad idea. But a mind like that almost couldn't help but leave an all too understandable wake, and even if she wasn't prepared yet to get in another Nth caliber psychic brawl today, that didn't mean Psyche couldn't siphon off some of this being's plans...
Shin was generally clueless when it came to this psychic stuff, but he could put clues together quick enough. Eternia was not acting like the aged but powerful superheroine he knew. Kylie's plan was too late to prevent something from happening. If it was psychic orientated, then that meant Eternia must have been mentally hijacked by someone or something that was using the Church.
If there was some way to get through and push the old Eternia's mind to break free, he'd go that route. The chance was risky if there was no way to actually make her recognize him, and with her dementia he doubted he could do anything.
So there was one thing he could do, as he found the nearest fire alarm and tripped it. "The place is going to collapse! Everyone evacuate quickly!" He shouted out. They couldn't let non-combatants get hurt here or used against them!
"The Great Psyche wishes for everyone to be safe, so don't stay here where you could be hurt! We must act to protect each other!" Shin keeps ordering and directing. He had to protect these people!
Isaiah flips through the air, rights himself, and then looks on dourly, clearly unimpressed.
"Yeah, yeah, can we cut to the chase? Who are you, what are you doing here, and are you aware of the crimes you have committed in the process of coming to this place? Be aware that your response will affect heavily my opinion of you, and I'm not fond of liars."
Frostbite breaks away from his cover and starts grabbing hostages and driving them toward the exit. "GET OUT NOW!!"
Mattie frantically looks around for some way to help. Unable to see anything she might be able to do, other than help the others by splitting 'Eternia's' attention, she snarls as gouts of flame burst from her arms and she jets directly towards the figure.
"Eternia" stands triumphant on the center dais, her deceptively youthful face beaming. Psyche thrusts a mental spike into the consciousness of the invading mind.
The mind is strong. But for the moment, it still regards you as, if not an ally, then an unwitting pawn. You get the sense that she's planning to entrench herself here and solidify her presence within this reality. And Eternia's the ideal vessel to do that.
As the structure begins twisting and collapsing, Horizon notices the danger that all the dazed churchgoers are in. He frantically tries to get their attention, but his efforts fall on deaf ears.
Isaiah recovers from the blow and issues his challenge. The entity possessing Eternia laughs at his ultimatum. "I was invited, provided a home, and now I am asked to lead. I am..." she looks down at herself and runs a hand up her body to her face, "the Archdeacon. I am Eternity. No, wait. Eternia."
Scorch, however, takes flight and aims straight at Eternia, using her own frustration and anger to fuel her fire. Her pyrotechnics distract the crowd and turns Eternia's attention to her. There's a moment where their eyes meet and Mattie gets a near overwhelming impulse in her head. Come, prostrate yourself before me and receive my blessing, she hears in her mind.
What do you do??
As the androidians blast away, Frostbite has to dive out of the way to avoid serious injury. The ones loaded down with cash bags take the opportunity to rocket away into the sky.
The remainder begin their self-destruct sequence. Frostbite climbs back to his feet and begins working to protect the civilians while Praetoria scoop up as many of the robotic bombs as she can carry and fly them into the sky.
Mosaic tries her trick that she used during the fight with the Crab, encasing the explosive bombers in her light shields.
The androidians detonate. Frostbite's quick protection of the hostages keep them safe from the concussive blast, though the explosions are too much for Mosaic to contain.
The large number that Praetoria had seized blow up in her face, causing a massive concussion rippling through her.
When the dust clears, the bank is mostly intact. A few more windows are blown out from the force of the blasts, but no major injuries are reported.
Mosaic realizes the media presence and looks dejected.
A massive explosion detonated in the sky, and for a few moments, all that can be seen is a cloud of black smoke. But then, a single trail of smoke can be seen plummeting from the air, and soon enough it is clear that an unconscious Praetoria is plummeting to the ground!
Seeing trail of smoke forms an icy lattice that will absorb most of the impact from the fall, but it is still going to hurt... (well maybe it is Praetoria after all)
'Eternia' isn't looking to start anything right away...
"Stay Calm," Psyche broadcast to her faithful, wrapping them up in a quickly moving bubble to keep them safe against any collapsing mystical architecture.
At worst this gets them to safety, at best this cuts off some of 'her' power.
Narrowing her mind's voice to the other Sentinels, she broadcast with grim finality, "Once I've got them out of here... don't hold back."
Isaiah continues to appear unimpressed, and gradually more hostile.
"Your invitation was given by a group that I surmise you likely manipulated, deceived, and possibly even controlled. Your 'home' is stolen. And based on that record, I suspect your 'leadership' will probably consist of clumsy, ham-fisted mind-slaving. After all, if you truly had benevolent intentions in coming here, you could have just asked, rather than organize a kidnapping and body-snatching. Or am I wrong?"
While he made this speech, Isaiah carefully studied this entity, trying to gauge its strengths and weaknesses, and determine which forms of attack might harm it. Eternia's body was nearly impossible to permanently damage... but considering that reaching this point had involved deterioration of her mind, perhaps that would not extend to this psychic possessor?
And Inquiry, meanwhile, quietly slid out of hiding and flowed across the roof of the structure, positioning itself optimally to burst in if needed.
Shin felt rather inept at finding a way to actually help in this situation. Rallying the crowd didn't help and Psyche ended up needing to pick up the slack. She even insisted that they should go all out against Eternia...could he do that, when his future self had so easily crippled her husband in a fight like that?
He shook his head. It wasn't the same. She was being mind controlled, and she was also one of the toughest heroes to ever exist. He didn't think that he could put a scratch on her. But there was other things he could do instead.
"I don't really get what you are, other than some weird freak of nature from another dimension taking over my friend's obaasan, but if you exist as energy...I can absorb you, can't I?" Horizon asked as he put on his visor and took off the hat and mask, his vantablack field enveloping his body.
He flew faster than he expected to fly, getting directly into Eternia's range. Then he absorbed as much of the swelling energies around her as he possibly could, devouring them like he was a ravenous entity intent on taking the Archdeacon's very soul.
Scorch reels back as the wave of adulation momentarily overpowers her. For the briefest of seconds she begins to feel her knees buckle as, of their own accord, they start to bend in supplication. Steeling herself, she manages to tear her gaze from Eternia's Suddenly, her form seems to darken as if in deep shadow and flames begin to dance menacingly over her body, almost seeming to follow the contours of twin horns over her head. As she returns her gaze to Eternia's, her eyes glow with unsuppressed power. and she releases a feral snarl as she crouches animalistically, ready to pounce.
The exploding androidians are surprisingly powerful but also fortunately extremely localized. However, the explosion is too much for Praetoria to withstand, and it knocks her unconscious.
Seeing her falling from the sky, Rory quickly creates an ice tower to cushion her fall. The plummeting Legacy crashes into the ice, causing a mess of ice crystals shattering everywhere, slicing into nearby windows and the surrounding police barricade.
The immediate threat of the androidians is over, with moderate collateral damage, and a few of them had managed to escape.
Psyche puts her efforts toward getting the crowd out of the area of danger. At her behest, the churchgoers begin filing out reluctantly.
Isaiah's challenge and insulting assumptions get Eternia's attention. She sneers and is about to retort, when the one-two punch of Scorch and Horizon blasts her.
Isaiah's assessment of the entity possessing Eternia at this point would indicate that her regeneration would make her a very difficult being to harm. Her blank slate mind from dementia might be something that could be an Achilles's heel, since there's less gray matter for her mind to sink its claws into. The Archdeacon may not have a very strong grip on Eternia.
After Horizon's blast, she stands up, healing her injuries almost instantly. She takes a moment to marvel at the body's power, then throws her hands up. A psychic wave of energy pulses out across the room.
As Scorch coils in preparation to launch herself forward towards Eternia once again, the psychic wave envelops her and she is thrown backward, her form seeming to shimmer with heat as she is battered against the wall. The flames dancing over her body suddenly erupt over her whole body as she throws back her head in a tormented scream. The flames intensify with shocking speed, sheathing her in incandescent flames that burn with a white-hot blinding heat which obscures her slight form.
"Another well thought out and executed plan" Frostbite grumbles to himself as he heads over to check on Praetoria.
Shin reels back from the blast, gritting his teeth. He's annoyed and angry and snaps at the closest person. "Dammit, Isaiah, what the hell are you doing? Stop standing around and help us!" he shouts at him.
He knows that wasn't productive, but he was frustrated that his attempt to absorb her energy had failed him. He hated fights like this. He didn't want to actually hurt Eternia, but at this rate, he might need to attempt something extremely risky.
Of course, there was another issue, as Scorch's powers went out of control again, as he grimaced. He needed to help her first, as he vaulted over, using his power to pull in as much of her heat energy as he could, sweating profusely as he tried to protect her from her own power.
Kylie's mind buckled as she tried to direct as much of Eternia's force into herself as possible.
A fragment of her mind wedged in her link with Mattie. A plainer, frailer Kylie begged her to help, begged her to do whatever she could to fight Eternia on her own level. "Fire won't be enough, Mattie. You have to meet her mind-to-mind!"
She could see Isaiah's plan slowly being written in the visitor's lobby of his mind, but it was like the letters were all out of order. She knew there was something there to grasp, but it kept slipping through her fingers! If she could just take the time, she could get refocused, but who knew what Eternia would do in the meantime?
They need you. It has to be you.
Psyche slammed into Eternia with a maul forged of her own confusion and pain, trying desperately to get to grips with this thing's true self.
"Why did you use these people? All they wanted was a better life?!"
The psychic pulse cracks Isaiah's already weakened barriers. 'Eternia' gets a glimpse beyond, into a strange alien mind. While most is incomprehensible, she can tell that it is analyzing her on multiple levels... and that it is communicating with something outside; this is but a fragment of a larger whole. Then the façade reforms, giving no more secrets.
Isaiah flinches for a moment. "Hey! I'm trying to run an analysis based on her responses here, can you folks hold off on provoking retaliation for a bit? I'm obligated to consider the possibility that this 'Archdeacon' might not be a threat, though the circumstances certainly suggest otherwise." He then refocuses. "Agh! Of course, discord! Focus everyone, we're engaging a psychic! Brace for mental disruption."
Turning back to 'Eternia'. "So, what is it, Archdeacon? Are you a threat? A refugee? Or are you willing to repair the damage you have caused in your arrival, and return what has been stolen? Be warned that I do not like you right now, as the body you have taken belongs to a relative of a close friend."
Praetoria is lieing in the middle of heap of shattered ice and pavement. The Regalia is gone, and she's laying there unconscious in her same clothes she was wearing just before coming out on this mission .
As Praetoria comes to with Frostbite helping her up, she sees the devastation and the surrounding news media. The captain storms up to the pair, gesturing wildly. "See? This is why you don't blast your way in all the time! People could've gotten hurt! I don't know what possessed you super kids to come out without your babysitters--"
"All is well, Captain Holcomb," comes a voice out of the sky. Angel drops in on her silvery wings and lands softly with barely a crunch from the ice and broken glass. She hands him a business card. "TayCo Renovations will be on the scene within the hour and will effect cleanup and start repairs on the building." Her smile is cool and smooth, causing the police captain to sputter a bit.
A pair of Pyrros Media Network vans pull up and a team of PR people pour out, surrounding poor Mosaic and begin the work of rehabilitating her performance.
Angel briefly exchanges words with one of the Pyrros people, then returns to Praetoria and Frostbite. Her face is a mask of smiles and politeness, though there's a clear undercurrent of near outrage that she is holding at bay with careful control. "Let's go, shall we? I think you two have made enough of a mess here. Mosaic will be staying with her people for the time being. Let's meet at the Tower."
She points Rory in the direction of the Rhino, then takes flight with the complete expectation that Kayla will be following her.
What do you do?
You have to immediately provoke them to take a foolhardy action, or you have to take advantage of your Influence over them to inflict a condition—any condition. Those are the only actions that satisfy “lashing out verbally.”
Scorch erupts into flame, immolating a whole corner of the room and sending waves of fire dancing along the ceiling and spreading across the walls. A large percentage of the churchgoers flee to safety from the spreading flames.
After shouting at Isaiah for apparently standing and debating the entity possessing Eternia, he turns his own powers to containing and helping Scorch. His powers slice numerous vents into the walls and ceiling, allowing the roiling heat and flame another route to escape and bleeding the power from the Joined's body.
Battered by the psychic assault, Psyche and Isaiah reel, and and each provokes one of their teammates. The time that the two spend recovering from the blast and focusing on their teammates, the Archdeacon has managed to construct a psychic web between her and her followers. The remaining churchgoers who hadn't cleared out due to the fire are now standing rigid with eyes glowing an otherworldly blue.
As Psyche hurls a massive mental attack of her own, the psychic web catches the brunt of it and disperses the confusion and pain to the humans within the room. They cry out in agony, many of them falling to their knees.
The Archdeacon turns to Isaiah. "I am called. I am invited. I am wanted here. By these people, who want to be a part of something bigger. Your liking me has little bearing. This Vessel is-- is--" She looks at the fire that is still spreading despite Shin's best efforts, due to the fact that the structure was already twisted and damaged from earlier. "--is saying we should help these people get out of here."
What do you do??
Kayla is still trying to come to her senses when the captain begins berating her. Her celestial looking armor reforms over her clothes, and she says angrily ”Yeah!?!? Well at least we were...” before Angel cuts her off.
When her aunt “suggests” they return to the Tower, she begins to follow her, but pauses a moment before turning and defiantly walking over to the Rhino with Frostbite and climbing into the passenger seat.
”Well...this will be fun...”
You have to immediately provoke them to take a foolhardy action, or you have to take advantage of your Influence over them to inflict a condition—any condition. Those are the only actions that satisfy “lashing out verbally.”
Once they climb into the rhino, "So I'm thinking of dropping the Frostbite moniker for something represents my true super powers... pissing off adults..." he says as he reaches for her hand.
"To the contrary, you will likely find that my liking you matters quite a bit. After all, I'm probably the only person you will meet with the means to give you a host that isn't kidnapped. A crime which would seem to fall upon the heads of those who invited you here. As a corollary, I also possess connections to those with the knowledge necessary to...revoke your invitation, should such appear the better option. However, you are correct in that saving lives takes precedence... we will continue this discussion outside."
Isaiah seemed less confrontational, as the entity's words stirred the possibility in his mind that it may well have been unaware of the circumstances of its summoning. Still, he hardly had enough information to make an informed decision; he would need to examine this more.
Unfortunately, Inquiry's attempts to stabilize the structure from the outside were hardly an aid when the greatest threat was the fire inside.
"Let them go. They are not yours."
That thought, razor-edged with thin, hot anger slices through the web.
Rory parks the Rhino in the underground garage beneath the tower. Then the pair take the elevator up to the main suite where Angel is waiting for them.
Her look of disapproval is epic. "Let's review, shall we? You arrive at a hostage situation. You don't think. You don't assess. You ignore the advice of the officials on scene. You go in, completely ignorant of where the hostages are located and what model of androidians you're facing. You endanger the hostages. You let a handful get away and don't bother to follow them to Professor Mecklenheim's latest hideout. Massive property damage. Poor public perception. And that's off the top of my head. I've contacted Silver Shield; she's on her way and we'll be discussing whether you will be allowed to continue to operate--"
Angel is cut off by an alert. The report coming in is that of a fire at the Sienkiewicz Mall. The Church of Psyche!
What do you do?