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There was a moment hearing it from someone else where Percy considered perhaps stank isn't what they want to call it, but he waved that off.
"Yeah been trying to look for some sort of formulae to dampen the effects it's having on everyone else. As for the Last resort thing, no that's in the unlikely case of Demon werewolves..." He let that hang in the air for a few moments before going back to his fervent pacing.
"So we've deduced that the source is from Max's Pheromones but that's not exactly an issue as everyone produces those anyhow. Only we're too nose blind to actually pick up the changes in them. Still affected by them just it comes out different in humans something something alot of sciences that are I hot debate right now, but the idea is there as I'm sure you're aware." Waving that conversation out of the air before it starts as if he were swatting at some invisible death cloud he continues with finger raised.
"However what's really changing things is the demonic essence that's supercharging these effects and altering not only the mentality, but also slightly overtaking part of their natural aetheric flow." He again let's the implication linger lest he needs to explain further what impact that might have over a long period of time on someone's 'soul' or 'essence of being'.
Femtite asks, ”So I understand correctly, you would notice the most subtle rearrangement of a doll. There were not in complete chaos. The movements were subtle. In other words, if I were to pick up Tinklebrie—which I will not!” And definitely, I will not borrow her clothes! “—and then put her back, you would notice if she were two millimeters off to the side, or two degrees rotated, of her original position.”
If he IS so obsessive, Femtite will not ridicule him. She’s hoping this is the case.
If so, she’ll ask, ”Exactly which way was Imagerie’s head facing?” She will shrink to doll-size and hover next to Imagerie. “Hold up a fingertip. I’ll move my head until you tell me I’m facing the same way.”
"Reasonable chance human pheromones are literally all pseudoscience pushed by perfume companies, buuuut we're talking magic here, and it doesn't really distinguish between smells and pheromones so... Yeah same page. Or at least same book."
"I don't want to jump in and assume that contact to Deedee's essence is inherently a bad thing, but like, even if it wasn't, the effects are... potent. I mean, like, a good hug can overtake a bit of someone's 'natural aetheric flow', and that changes back over time and doesn't have to be 'solved.'
"But yeah, she's leaking sex-musk everywhere, and even if I was the only one having her mind melted that would be enough of a problem."
"So... I don't have a lot of hands-on experience with the whole 'nether realms' and 'alternate dimensions' thing. Like... I worked out a skeleton key to someone else's portal one time, but..." she let out a long breath. "I can't exactly punch through to the other side by myself, and when you're self taught and you don't have any books... Look, do you have experience or training or anything with demon shit?! [smaller]I do good work with a Seal of Solomon, but everything I've actually worked with is based on not wanting the demon to be alive and present afterwards."
"I can do what Shin wanted, find a way to protect the team, but unless you've got something in mind - I think Deedee really needs to be in the loop. If she's got it under control then no harm no foul, right?"
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"You're right on the pseudoscience, but it's a decent place to start theorizing from. As for the overtaking of one's natural flow, you are also correct not an issue without continuous exposure...again in theory, at some point there could be a tipping point where someone is so overwhelmed by the outside force that it permanently hmmm. Alters, taints, or mutates their own with that of the pervasive force."
Percy sets his spellbook on his table next to the notebook filled with idea scribbles, it's left on a series of pages that seem to detail what in layman's terms could be described as protection against various forms of mindcontrol. He moves to the dresser at the end of the room and opens the bottom drawer withdrawing a harmless looking sack, not even a backpack but like an honest WW1 rucksack. Despite looking empty he hefts it our and let's it fall onto the floor next to him with a thud. It looks flat and empty, but he shoves his arm impossibly into the bag and pulls out a stack of notebooks holding them out towards Connie.
"I'd love to say I've got proper on the job training or helpful books that tell us exactly how to counteract demon-kind. However as I'm sure you are very aware there aren't exactly any libraries with good resources for how to deal with actual literal mythical monsters and beasts from beyond." He taps one book in particular in the stack, with a red tassel drooping from it. "But I did do my best to look into some stuff after the whole Praetorian incident earlier this year. It's not much and probably all bull, again accurate texts are hard to come by. But it's something." The stack if books have the subject of their contents written on the front; Manticores, Griffins, Abominations, Moonkin, Poltergeist/Specters, Demons, Devils, Dragons, Leviathans, Magic wielders. The insides ranged from sparse information, supposed first-hand accounts in both old Era and modern age encounters, wild conjecture by other 'magically inclined individuals and so forth.
Percy stuffed the rucksack back into the dresser for the time being. "I've got plenty of general spells for protection against outside forces, but nothing for this... do you need something in particular, my book has plenty and i can try to narrow down my research. But if I could get my hands on something like Doctor Infinity's repository I bet we could nip this in the bud before the week was out. But I have to find someone who knows about him and his secrets, which we'll I haven't had time to do." Standing he sits on the bed and rubs at his face a bit in an attempt to get the muscles to finally relax. "Also what's this about punching into someone's portal?"
Femtite asks, ”So I understand correctly, you would notice the most subtle rearrangement of a doll. There were not in complete chaos. The movements were subtle. In other words, if I were to pick up Tinklebrie—which I will not!” And definitely, I will not borrow her clothes! “—and then put her back, you would notice if she were two millimeters off to the side, or two degrees rotated, of her original position.”
If he IS so obsessive, Femtite will not ridicule him. She’s hoping this is the case.
If so, she’ll ask, ”Exactly which way was Imagerie’s head facing?” She will shrink to doll-size and hover next to Imagerie. “Hold up a fingertip. I’ll move my head until you tell me I’m facing the same way.”
[dice=Assess]2d6+2
Conway thinks about Femtite's questions about being so detail-oriented. "Well, yeah, probably. I study them closely... for the craftsmanship! And detail!" he hastily adds. "It depends on how the dolls are anchored in their packaging. Some can wiggle a little bit if you shake the box, but most are locked in there pretty well. So... yes? I'd probably be able to tell."
His eyes light up with excitement when Femtite positions herself in the exact spot where the Imagerie doll was, and gets the plan. He gets up close. "Okay... to the right a little bit more... too far just a smidge back. There, that's about right."
When Conway steps back, Femtite is looking out the window across the campus. The parade field is immediately below his window, and they past that there is the original school building (now offices) and the bell tower.
==========================
The Lady Panthers take the court against visiting upstate rivals the Springfield Titans. Halcyon Prep's considered the better team, but being on top means that the other team's going to give it their best.
Thanks to his baking mission, Shin barely makes the opening tip-off, and had missed all of the pre-game warmups. The volleyball team is pretty popular and brings in a crowd, but the gymnasium is still far from packed. There's the usual student section, which is where the players' bfs and besties are all sitting. The rest of the bleachers are occupied by family members from both home and visiting teams. Shin spots Grace's mother in that section, sitting by herself.
Where does he sit??
==========================
Percy, you've heard about what Connie's talking about -- for an eclectic magic user like her, she's probably setting up contingency plans for Max. Most demon-oriented contingency plans hinge on two things: banishment to a nether-realm, or outright destruction using "holy" or "white" magic. It sends a shiver up your spine when you realize that Max would be highly susceptible to such a thing.
The team members arrive alone or in groups to Unity Station. Several of the colorful candy-themed decorations are still up, providing bright swaths of pastel and neon in stark contrast to the general drab décor of the formerly abandoned subway station.
Foray is already there. He is in his usual outfit -- padded and armored clothing in a style that evokes a traditional gi. His two swords, Spirit and Faith, are strapped to his back. He is tall, broad-chested, and looks every bit like the renowned combatant that he is known to be. There are several tarp-covered shapes that weren't in Unity Station the last time you were there, as well as some large crates in a corner.
"Greetings, students," he says once everyone is assembled in the large, open space where once people lined up to purchase tickets or board their trains. "As you likely already know, I am known as Foray. I am here to teach you about fighting -- and more specifically, fighting as a team."
He walks calmly, assuredly, around the heroes. His moves are fluid and purposeful, and his eyes are appraising though his face is serene and without judgment. "When you last met, Yeoman was to give you a history lesson about the generations of superheroes that came before you. A fight came to you. Though by all accounts you acquitted yourselves well, it was decided to move up combat training.
"Yeoman is now helping Candy Grrl acclimate to her existence. It remains to be seen if she returns to your group. The ones known as Skyler, Ringtone and Levitron have been opted out of tonight's session, because as of now they are not official members of your team. And tonight, team is our main focus."
He finishes his visual inspection and returns to his starting point in front of everyone. He gestures at Horizon. "Your field leader," he announces, "has already been a part of a team. He has been to outer space, to alternate timelines, and strange dimensions whose laws of physics are not like our own. He has experience, so you would do well to listen to him.
"However," he adds forcefully, "he is still young. He is still learning. He would do well to listen to all of you. We're not training you to be soldiers who just follow orders. We are training you to be heroes, protectors of the innocent and those who cannot protect themselves. Your focus should always be on helping the bystander, minimizing damage, protecting your fellow teammate, and then on 'getting the bad guy.' Do you understand?"
He did want to make a good impression on Mrs. Williams, but he also didn't want to ostracize himself from his classmates - but family always came first.
And lately, he'd been missing his own mother a little.
So Shin walked up to Mrs. Williams as he nodded politely to her, before offering her a cupcake. "I made some post game treats for the team after they finish today - I would appreciate it an expert tell me if I did anything wrong," He says. "I wouldn't want to give Grace- ah, the team, a subpar cupcake."
"Heroes save lives before stopping crime," Horizon recited. "If it's a case between ensuring innocents are safe from immediate harm or catching a bad guy, those people who need protection will always come first. But, that's also why being part of a team works out well in those scenarios - you can have some protect while others capture or knock out the villains who are causing harm."
"Also, for the record, outer space is overrated. Like, 99.999999% of it is nothing at all," He says with a grin, looking to see if anyone gets the joke.
Max arrives at Unity Station alongside Caio, dressed in her tight costume. She is wearing Connie’s ring, but she still tries to keep her distance from the other members of the team, lest her pheromones distract them too much.
She nods her understanding to Foray, ready to release some tension with combat training!
"Ugh, vacuum jokes suck."
Steel Guardian makes their way in and takes up a spot near Devil Diva, despite the demon looking bruiser trying to avoid the others. If she looks up, it seems Steel is not phased. They stand there against the wall, arms crossed, and offers little more than a head nod towards the girl if they look directly at the armored hero. Steel Guardian’s main focus is on the lecture.
However, as they passed by Caio, they do toss them a very cold, obviously old sub on the desk in front of them.
Max is surprised when Steel Guardian sidles up to her. Her pheromones do not seem to be affecting them in the slightest. She looks at the armored figure curiously, wondering exactly what it might take to crack that armored shell...
She steps closer and leans over to whisper to SG. ”Hey, Rey Mysterio. You have to know the effect all these sporadic comings-and-goings have on people. We’re all dying to know who you are under that mask. Some of the others think you’re a dog, or multiple dogs, or... Anyway, I’m sure you’re an individual who respects their privacy. I want you to know that I fully understand and respect that. So I’m not gonna bug you. You go ahead and keep that mask on as long as you want.”
She offers her teammate an encouraging smile.
Steel Guardian turns their attention away from the talk at Diva’s comments. With the metal helm, it’s impossible to get a read on their expression. They don’t nod or shrug, but after an awkward pause, they answer ”Woof.”
”Good to know. But to be honest: I don’t like the idea of you all doing guessing games as to my identity. Because what if someone gets a bright idea to go after people that you have guessed. Putting people in danger is the very reason I’m NOT openly sharing who I am.”
”Understood. I’ll tell the others to back off,” Max replies. ”You’re a valuable part of our team, and the last thing we want to do is hurt you or those you care about.”
Femtite grins. “I get it!” She tells Conway what the doll was looking at. “Without you keen eye for precise detail and my ability to match you dolls’ sizes, this would have been easy to miss.”
She grows back and grabs her real clothes. (Her ‘amethyst’ clothing matches the uniform, except in color.
“We’re done here… now the question is, shall we look there?”
Femtite will let Conway decide if this investigation should keep going. She certainly wants to!
Femtite shows up in amethyst-toned amazonian armor:
• half helm with her Rapunzelly long glowing hair spouting from the top
• breastplate baring her midriff
• armor miniskirt
• Wonder Womanny bracers
• thigh-high boots
There is also a wire-thin pinkish glow from the honeycomb webbing wrapping Femtite’s thighs, midriff and upper arms.
Sprouting from her back are wings of light.
She stands close to Connie. When Connie mutters about vacuums, Femtite whispers, “That was a…?” Seeing no one is laughing, Femtite lets out a “Tee hee!” She hopes Horizon doesn’t realize Femtite thought of something funny so her laugh would be genuine. I thought he was stating a fact, and the joke might have been funny if Connie didn’t have to explain it to me.
I’m sure I would’ve laughed right away if I knew it was a joke. “Hee hee hee hee hee…” She tries to think of something sad so she’ll stop laughing at the thing she actually finds funny.
Huh, SG has people? Not sure I believe it, but fair enough.
"Dry humor, Femms. I wasn't going for a big laugh."
Connie vaguely nodded along with Foray's explanation. It was good enough as a first principles argument, and any details that overrode it would, of course, be determined by the situation in any case.
But what's in the crates?
She had changed for combat training into surplus cargo pants and a muscle tank with oddities binder-clipped to it, and an intricate piece of jewelry that extended tiny chains down her left forearm to the caps at her fingertips. It was a great defensive focus, but it was very intrusive when she fidgeted with her left hand.
"So are there bystanders in the crates?" She flicked her right thumb along the top of her index finger. "Under the tarp? Odd way to start the lecture if the lesson plan's gonna veer immediately off course."
Caio smells the sub and then moves it to the closest trash can. "It has blue cheese." He gives a fake complain, smiling to acknowledge Guardian's joke.
As Shin tells his joke, Caio doesn't even acknowledge his attempt, while does smiles at Conflux's. As a lover of "bad jokes", Caio believed that there is an art behind telling bad jokes in a fun way. Conflux appears to know how to do them. As Femtite laughs way too much about the bad joke, he felt sorry for Shin... ignoring a bad joke or complaining was half expected, but over-laughing was just too cruel.
Listening to Forey, Caio nods, signaling he understood his point, even if it was somewhat obvious. He raises his hand, asking permission to make a question. "Have you ever had to choose between saving one innocent or the other, when it was impossible to save both? How can we choose?" He knows this is a difficult question to answer, but an important one.
"What you do is you hit the track switch lever once you're juust past the junction, derailing the trolley inches away from both the rabbi and the wheelbarrow full of toddlers (who you personally know, but don't really care for) in a flawless Tokyo drift."
Grace's mother accepts a cupcake with a smile. "Thank you," she says then takes a bite. She gives him a nod of approval, and then turns her focus on the game.
===============================
Conway seems excited. "Sure! Let me know when... wait. I think the bell tower is off-limits to students?" He hems a little more. "And, maybe I should leave the investigating to the heroes, huh?"
===============================
Foray pauses as various members either make jokes, laugh at said jokes, and have side conversations. He does not appear impatient, and simply waits for the attention to return to him.
He shakes his head at Conflux's question, but his voice belies a level of amusement when he answers, "no, this is just some equipment for tonight's lesson."
At Caio's question, he grows quiet and even more serious, if that can even be a thing. "Rarely, thankfully," he says after a moment. "I joined the Alliance because those times are never easy. If it happens to you -- and I pray that it does not -- my only advice is to save the one you are sure you can save, and then do your best to save the other."
A half-smile appears on his face after Conflux speaks. "Indeed. Many times, there are ways to do both, by looking at the problem in a new way."
Starts walking over to the largest tarp. "Horizon, you will be leading your team against a single powerful enemy that is rampaging through a crowded area. You will direct them to keep the enemy contained and the people safe."
With a sharp yank, Foray removes the tarp off the shape, revealing it to be a heavy, bipedal robot twice the size of Steel Guardian. It activates and stands up to its full height, lights blinking in its dome-shaped head. An array of weapons appear on its gauntleted limbs.
Foray then hits a remote button and the crates pop open. Numerous human-sized, gangly robots run out, showing limited intelligence. They start running randomly every-which-way and generally endangering themselves with the giant drone coming online. The human-sized droids look fragile, like a single hit from the big one would dismantle it.
"Begin!"
Shin sits with Mrs. Williams and takes in the game with her, waving at Grace when she glances over their way to get her attention. Though he also makes sure to lift up the platter of cupcakes for everyone on the volleyball team to see, including Ne'veah and Yasmine, though he's not sure where Sophie is right now.
He looks at Mrs. Williams, wondering if he should say something. "Grace is really good. I'm glad I met her - it's been hard being away from my family, so friends help fill the gap," He notes.
Horizon was ready for this, putting on his game face, along with a new face-plate to fit over the visor he had whipped up - not pressure-sealed, but with a filter he hoped would keep him from getting distracted by Max. "All right, Bastion, let's protect them all!"
Well, they needed a team name, and he hoped to get a positive feedback from that.
"SG, intercept and keep that bot from moving around! Indarius, set up a barrier around us and the bot to keep it away from civilians. Max, Femtite, herd the civilians out of the danger zone and into the station buildings," He calls out directions to everyone, as he looks in his utility belt and pulls out a strange glove with metal rods sticking from the fingers.
"Conflux, Wolf - back up SG and look for an opportunity to take it off its feet," He finishes his directions as he attempts to pull radiant energy and channel it into the glove. The rods start to glow hot from his effort - maybe it would work this time. "Give me a minute to charge this up and I'll see if I can't shut it down!"
Steel Guardian looks up at the big robot, and suddenly wished they’d brought their Wrecker suit! But they’d have to make due with what they had. Hearing what Horizon was wanting them to do, they said ”Sure. Send the mech suit up toe to toe with the giant robot. Sounds about right!” before darting in front of it. As they moved, a futuristic weapon emerged from their shoulder and as they held their hands out, blasts erupted from them at the same time as the shoulder cannon!
But as they ran, their focus was entirely on the big robot. Without really seeming to realize it, they ran directly into/overtop of Indarius!
Max leaps into action as Horizon issues his orders. She dashes across the battlefield, gesturing for the bystander bots to follow her to cover or bodily carrying them out of harms way as the need suffices.
She sees Femtite doing the same, and she turns to offer her teammate words of encouragement. But her heart leaps up in her throat when she gets an up close view at the glorious warrior princess look the pixite is rocking.
Femtite’s goddess like beauty is certainly having its intended effect on Max! The demoness is momentarily stunned as she drinks in the other girl’s dazzling appearance. Like a sparkling valkyrie from the heavens, Max thinks.
The sudden flash of desire triggers a fresh release of pheromones. Though the ring is dampening them, Femtite is close enough that she still might be affected...
"Bad take. Robot civilians don't respond more positively to people for being gorgeous, and human ones react unpredictably to demons and aliens, and one increases the inherent weirdness of the other so they should really be kept separate. SG's fine as a grappler but would do better with Deedee as backup since there's no reason to assume they're stronger solo than the bigger robot.
"C-dog's fine, but what you really want me on is disabling those weapons rather than wasting time with its footing - if we're worried about collateral damage, then knocking it over with guns ablaze isn't really the call, is it?" As she gave her assessment, Conflux lowered each of her capped finger tips one at a time, projecting tightly contained fields into the muzzles of the drone's weapons.
Femtite takes two robots each by the hand. “Come this way. Tell your friends.” As she leads the civvie-bots away from the big-bad-scary-bot, she notices a strange but pleasant scent.
Smells like mommy’s harems…
She turns to the source and sees DD, the way she’s looking at… the way she…
Exclusivity, EXCLUSIVITY, ih…?!
Three robo-limbs and a robo-head fly past Femtite. She looks in horror at her left hand, which is holding only a right hand. And her right hand is holding the hand of a robot that’s still intact… from the neck down.
She sees one robo-head rolling, spinning, wobbling at her feet. She picks it up and puts it on the neck of the decapitated robot. She’s not sure it’s the right head, but she uses her Heliokinesis to weld it in place.
“Just cauterizing the wound, tee heh?”
The robot topples over. The weld holds, but the head breaks in two at the upper jaw when it faceplants from ceasing to function.
“Given a choice of which to save, I saved neither,” Femtite moans sadly.
Caio removes his jacket and tosses it over a bench as he charges the big robot. As he starts to shift, he yells to the others, his voice changing as well. "We are in no danger today. I'm in conTROL. NO MUSIC!".
As he passes by Conflux and hears her calling him "C-Dog", he stops, looking at her. "NO DOG!" Some saliva flies towards her, but then he is already pouncing... the big robot, his claws dug the robot's chassis, looking for more fragile circuits beyond them. While savage as usual, it could be said that the Wolf's moves are noticeably less wild. Caio wasn't lying as he appears to be in complete control.
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Indarius shakes his head at both Shin and Connie's jokes about space, he notes where the others are standing in respect to Max, and takes his own fair distance away from her. While he believes that Connie had found a way to mitigate the effects of her newfound 'gifts' he didn't want to put it to the test against himself. One could only wonder what anyone with control over a mage of his caliber could do good intention or not.
While the others are making conversation and joking around with one another Percy keeps to himself doing what looks like little stretches, specific handsigns, and breathing patterns to keep himself focused and warmed up for what is to come. Throughout all of Foray's explanation his hands aren't idle working at one another to keep himself occupied with something or another. But when he openly answers the questions that others had had he brings his own to bear. "If we have to chose between saving one of our own and a civilian, would you suggest the same principle of save the one you know you can save? Does that apply to ourselves as well? What about someone who doesn't want to be saved or isn't in a position that you can save them, like... not someone who's in direct conflict."
As they moved, a futuristic weapon emerged from their shoulder and as they held their hands out, blasts erupted from them at the same time as the shoulder cannon!
But as they ran, their focus was entirely on the big robot. Without really seeming to realize it, they ran directly into/overtop of Indarius!
As the battle against the dastard-bot began Indarius nodded towards Horizon starting up his ol'reliable barrier spell his hand glowing with arcane energy "Ṃ̴̧̈u̶̩̘͒l̵͚͚͙͊̇̓a̸͉͇̒ͅả̶͔͈g̴̥̝͌ ̸̙̒Q̶̧͚̋a̷̧͍͚̓͑͠h̵̻͑͝ ̶͍͔͗--S̶̠͍͉͚̈́t̸͚̘̅̔̈́̍ͅa̴̼̤̽̏̋̈ȃ̵̭̺̪̇͠͠d̴͎̻̞̏͒͋̾n̷͕͕̈́̀á̴̰̭́u̸̬̫͈͑͗͝͝!" that is until Steel Guardian rumbled right on over him and knocked the scrawny, by comparison, mage to the ground. He tried to move to the side just before SG collided and in doing so he was spared being crushed but he fell off balance and had to catch himself on the ground with the hand glowing with arcane energy.
The concrete of Unity Station seemed to boil and bubble at Indarius's touch for a moment before jumping into action as a roiling wall of sharp edges and points extended outward from the palmed spot on the ground, whirling around the makeshift arena spearing more than one of the fragile robots and blocking line of sight to all but the upper-most half of the robot.
SG was saved most of the pain since they'd gone almost directly to the robot though would feel the concrete wall scratch at their backplate. DD found her and the civilian robots escape path, cut off by the jagged concrete wall. Meanwhile Caio was lucky he had a great vertical as he manages to clear the wall of spikes but much like the other members of his team were now cut off from support by the same spike wall. The ground under Conflux and Horizon's feet lurched wildly to the side as material was pulled from the surrounding area and pinched upwards to actually form the structure that had essentially created an impromptu thunderdome, threatening to throw them from their feet and concentration.
Indarius looks on from his position on the ground cursing Steel Guardian, but also himself for letting such chaotic energy spill outwards. "Watch where you're going SG." The mage worked to pull himself back to his feet and reassert his footing so that he could now undo the work of the interrupted spell.
”Don’t blame me just because you have no situational awareness and bungled your magic yet again!” Steel Guardian counters. They continue to pepper the robot with blasts before lifting off into the air to continue to do so from an elevated position. Though, the force of their repulsors thrust sends one of the “civilian” robots hurtling directly into one of Indarius’ stone spears…
Max winces as the robot crumples in Femtite’s hands. ”Ouch. Uh, we’d better both try to focus...”
She turns, only to suddenly leap back as the concrete wall closes, cutting off the escape route. ”Ugh, watch out, Indarius!” Max shouts. She claws at the stone, ripping open a pathway through it.
Femtite drops off her clothing in her room first. After all, if she shrinks, her Earthly belongings cannot shrink with her.
Which means she can’t have her comm. So I better ask now.
☀️HI, hiiiiiiii!!
…
Umm………. what should I say? Oh—
You know Whippoorwill?
Well, is there anything about her and bell towers?
I ask because a boy at school has a Whippoorwill doll.
Action figure.
Sorry. Still new to being in a world with boys on it.
Girls play with dolls.
Boys play with action figures.
Not that he was playing with them!
No.
…
Think before you hit send! she reminds herself.
Never mind all that stuff.
☀️What I would like to know is:
Is there any connection between
• Whippoorwill
• Imagerie
• and bell towers?
She decides to hunt and devour germs while she awaits Horizon’s reply.
Femtite herds the survivors like one would herd cats, “Here, Civvie… come on… this way please! Haha, so compliant—HEY, LOOK OUT!”
Nuts, bolts, torsos, limbs, heads, and a spray of robo-fluid take to the air.
“Youuuu have no heart!” Femtite shouts at the giant robot, “and if you do, it will BURRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN………”
Femtite soars at the enemy, becomes fire, a fire fairy, a spark—soaring to the left pectoral plate of the giant robot!
She is nothing.
Too small for the naked eye.
Too small to be obstructed by any molecular structure.
The robot’s left pectoral plate glows red from a heat source within! Its left arm begins to malfunction as a muffled explosion is heard within the robo-chest!
A red hot plate falls off the robot as Femtite flies out the explosion narrowly dodging a swat from the robot’s right arm!
She looks back proud of her valuable contribution—
—only to see the red hot metal plate has crushed (and slightly melted) two civ-bots.
“Nooooooooo!”
Caio pulls some circuits with his maw, causing one of the robot's legs to malfunction, but then he sees all the destroyed robots they were supposed to protect... he sees Femtite burning the robot, which was not her job, while neglecting the civ-bots, which was her job.
Caio jumps away from the giant robot and positions himself between the giant robot and the civ-bots. He doesn't try to herd them, or anything like that, "I'M NO DOG" and instead he turns his back to the bots, while glancing at Max. "YOU GUIDE. I DEFEND." Opening his arms, he looks like a goalkeeper.
As the giant robot aims for the civ-bots beyond him (and Max), Caio puts himself in the crossfire, caring not for the pain of the blast.
Other than her love of high places, I don't think so? I'll have to ask later when I have some time for it.
This isn't a priority at the moment, but I'll ask after class today.
Horizon looked annoyed at Conflux contradicting his directions, as he continued to charge up the glove. "You're plugging up the weapons - don't you know that if you seal a tube and then pressure builds up in it-" He started, before suddenly he found his footing lurch from beneath himself.
Aside from losing his concentration, he toppled onto Conflux, barely getting his hands up to avoid headbutting her, as the charge in the glove dispersed through the ground, literally giving Conflux a spinetingling feeling. "You okay?" He asks, his masks new filter giving his voice a slight huskiness to it.
He pushes himself off of her, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her up to her feet - just as fireworks go off. Not metaphorical ones, but those from the robot's cannons suddenly popping open and shrapnel flying to take out several robot civilians.
"...we definitely need more practice," Horizon said as he looked at the disaster happening around them, forgetting that he was still holding Conflux's hand briefly.
"This is a f$*~ing embarrassment. People for the Ethical Treatment of Automata are going to picket our asses so bad..."
Connie had been flung to the concrete by Indarius's misfiring spell, and had landed pretty awkwardly. Her left arm was still at full extension directing her mini-wards, but she hadn't been able to use it to break her fall at all, and her left side was a fun mix of stinging scrapes and pulsing aches as her reward. Gingerly she regained her feet, her body uncrumpling around the fixed point of her outstretched arm as Shin pulled her up by the other.
"Teenwolf seems hungry for it so I'm gonna let him take some blasts, and shield the baby bots from the real threats, Oh Fearless Leader," she warned Shin. Reactive shielding is a lot harder at a distance than proactively stopping danger at its source, but there's too many sources of danger in this fight. Hey, probably can't go worse though.
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Reasserted on his feet Indarius tries the spell again, double-weaving to show the others that he isn't a screw up and that it wasn't 'His' fault for what just happened.
"D̴̤̖̋à̷̛̟̘a̷̱̋ļ̷̖͂̕ ̵̪̖̉̈́F̷̪̒͜i̶̼̤̇n̸͙̒ ̵̛̗̼Ğ̴̭̋ő̸̮̉l̵̰̱͐̿ r̸̛̟̤͙͈̣̲̜͇̰͙̉̒́̒̈́̈͌̓̔ú̴̲̖́̃͝ž̵̮̹̱͎̫̜͔̗̺̼̄̍ Ṃ̴̧̈u̶̩̘͒l̵͚͚͙͊̇̓a̸͉͇̒ͅả̶͔͈g̴̥̝͌ ̸̙̒Q̶̧͚̋a̷̧͍͚̓͑͠h̵̻͑͝ ̶͍͔͗Ṣ̸̲̉͆̎p̵͙̠͑ä̸̗̩́͋̾a̶̘͇̭̿͑n̵͉̯̜̈́̔͝ The aether in the area surged again as he pulled and pushed at the ethereal threads of the world. The rock spikes retracted, causing another ground lurch but much slower this time afterwards a series of shielding wards sprang up around the large robot. For the better part it would keep it in place, however it wouldn't stop it's armaments, but he hoped the others could at least see to that.
"Can't stop the guns with the others so close, but it won't be moving anytime soon."
I’m on defense. Dee. Fence. Dee…
“DD! Let’s work back-to-back. You on the wall, me forming a new wall!”
To the team:
She almost adds an I’m naked, but realizes that the girl who shouldn’t look at her would, and the only person who would definitely avert her eyes is the girl she wishes would gaze upon her dreamily.
Shaking off pheromone-induced thoughts, Femtite wills her armor to dissolve to nothing. She hovers in a fetal position, not that anyone who did look would see a naked pixite. They would see an expanding sun, making Femtite, DD and all the remaining civ-bots impossible to perceive. Those facing the giant robot will be backlit by intense brilliance. The giant robot may be blind to all of its surroundings while facing what appears to be a sun half the size of the room!
"Hey, don't - Fem, wait on - we need to be staying on assigned tasks-" Horizon states, letting go of Conflux's hand to assess the chaos and try to bring some order.
"Stopping the robot is less of a priority than getting all of the civilians to safety right now! Rescue operations, go and save lives!" He snaps at the team, before going off to do just that. Mostly to try and salvage what was left of the assignment as he cuts open some rubble with his power and starts flying some of the robots to the outskirts of the station.
...probably should have done this instead of try and impress the team with your fancy glove... He thinks as he makes a couple more passes. There's not too many left unmarred...
"What?!" Conflux cried as Shin wandered off. "Oh f~@% me. Can't you stick to a damn decision? You can't keep pulling all the big guns aside for crowd control! Keep the biggest bruisers off the frontlines, don't use Femms's heat or shrinking..."
"F+!% it. Shit that's bright. Wish I'd finished those shades. Really wish I'd finished those shades... With twitches of her fingers, small platforms appeared in front of Max, a staircase leading up towards the robot's core.
Max throws up an arm to ward off Femtite’s blinding glow. Fortunately, the unstoppable demoness has managed to smash a pathway through the concrete for the civilian bots to flee through.
Hearing Conflux’s call, Max turns to the giant robot with a snarl. ”Messy is my middle name!” she quips as she charges at the robot. She claws and stabs at the robot’s leg with her barbed tail, hoping to topple the goliath!
Femtite is pretty sure dazzling the giant robot with her brilliance is keeping the remaining four civ-bots intact.
Three. One stubbed its toe on a crate and died.
Still, counting the ones DD and Shin got out, there’s gotta be at least half a dozen survivors.
“Horizon, all surviving civ-bots — clear!”
Coming from the steps outside the exit is a clattering that sounds like pots and pans tumbling down a flight of stairs… and exploding.
“With no further need to protect, I believe I am of use if I target big-bad-scary-bot’s eyes. It seems extreme bright light impairs robo-vision.”
Someone with super-hearing might sense the sound of a trailer truck’s horn outside, followed by a clattering of pots and pans.
Grace's mother gives Shin a warm smile. "I'm glad too. Sorry to hear that you're here all alone. Where's your family? Are they still... East?" she asks.
The Panthers struggle at first. The team seems out of sync and the visiting Titans jump out to an early lead, winning the first two sets. The team captain, Sophie, really exhorts her team and the Panthers rally to win the third set. The fourth set is do-or-die for the Panthers, and Ne'veah dives for a game-saving tip which lets Yasmine lob the ball back over to the Titans' side. Grace leaps up to block the spike, knocking it back for the tie.
The fifth and final round sees the Panthers quickly dismantling the Titans' defense, and they quickly go ahead for a 15-6 victory for the round and a 3-2 match win.
After the courtside celebration, Shin is waiting outside the locker rooms with his plate of cupcakes. Sophie is out of the locker room first, passing by Shin and giving him a side-eye. "Good luck, loverboy," she offers, then takes off like she's got someplace else to be.
Ne'veah, Yasmine and Grace are out next. Grace gets a fair amount of teasing, though neither of the other two are above sampling a cupcake. The rest of the team pours out, high on their come-from-behind win and without hesitation start devouring the proffered cupcakes.
Grace's standoffishness finally dissipates even amidst the teasing and knowing smiles of her teammates. "We're doing an after-game meet at Pizazz Pizza. You want to join us?" she offers, even though her cheeks are red.
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Foray hits a button on the remote in his hand and the giant robot powers down, and the remaining civilian-bots also stop their frantic motion.
He waits for everyone to stop and recover. "If your goal was to lower my expectations, congratulations. You have succeeded."
The Alliance member steps into the middle of the paused mayhem. "This is why we practice. You all have strengths. But none of you are strong in all areas."
He looks to Horizon first. "You have experience, yes. But not with these new team members. Learn their capabilities."
He then turns to Conflux, smiling. "Would you be surprised to learn that the robot was programmed to listen to Horizon's instructions, and employ countermeasures to his orders? You appear to have a great deal of tactical acumen. Lose the snark, and you may be heeded more often.
"Wolf, Steel Guardian, Devil Girl. You favor offense. But this is the time to practice defense. Listen to your leader. If the situation calls for defense of others, do it."
He hits a button and most of the busted civilian-bots suddenly activate, pulling themselves together and reconnecting their busted and severed limbs (except for the ones that Femtite "cauterized"). "Femtite and Indarius, do not be discouraged. Now... AGAIN!"
Again fully armored, and not do dazzlingly bright or goddessily gorgeous, Femtite is ready for round 2!
She says to Horizon, “I got a better way to do defense! I can make a firewall. I just need my defense partner to keep the bots moving!”
Femtite uses the tactic of reshshaping her environment! —she runs, blazing a trail of fire that walls off the civvie-bots most likely to die (from the enemy). She flies upward at the end, causing the firewall to rise with her.
Femtite is well out of reach of spikes and evil robot arms. She watches the big-bad-scary-bot, and then the civs. Second time’s a charm… no, that’s the third time. But still… heroes make every second count!
Max nods at Foray’s instructions. She drops into a defensive crouch and interposed herself between the big robot and the civilian bots, ready to intercept any attacks that might come their way!
”Go! Go! This way!” she shouts encouragingly as Femtite raises her firewall.
As the first round ended, Caio shifted back to his human form without too much trouble, but when Foray announced the round 2 so shortly after, he was caught of guard. Worried, he turns to Horizon. "I can't shift back so fast... this is one of my weaknesses. I'll help Femtite in guiding the civ-bots."
As he runs by Max, she would notice Caio seems a little worried for not being in wolf form, since he isn't nearly as resistant, strong and fast. Nevertheless he reaches for the civ-bots and starts to corral them away from the giant robot.
"No, most of my family lives in California, near San Diego," Shin told her. It was a half-truth, as he did have distant family there, his father's brother's side of cousins to him. "But it was difficult. My family always struggled to make ends meet, so this scholarship has been a lifechanger."
When the meet ended, Shin eyed Sophie curiously as she left. She didn't even grab a cupcake. "Oh, hey, one each, there's not that many to go around," He says to Yasmine and Ne'veah and the rest of the team. Then Grace came and made her invite. And if he hadn't had a team class scheduled so close...
"I, uh. I'd like to, but I have a special tutoring session tonight. I can't miss it, it's part of my scholarship package. But...I could probably make it up to you this weekend. If you're free," He suggests.
Horizon keeps him mouth shut, instead pointing at Indarius and Conflux and gesturing for them to protect the civ-bots. He waves at DD to head for the big bot, before flying up to SG, tapping them on the shoulder and then pointing to Femtite, mimicking swatting at bugs - they'd be distractions to keep it occupied from the air.
After texting a thanks, see ya at the 101! to Shin…
Femtite magical-girls on a pinkish-purplish ninja outfit. Then she decides a kimono would be cuter, but she still likes the ninja mask. And actually, that anime aviatrix in the minidress and swan helm looks both ninja-mysterious and cute! So she wears that outfit with a sakura print like on the kimono she un-magical-girled.
She flies to the bell tower—shrunken most of the way for stealth purposes! Once at the bell tower, she scopes the place.
She thinks it’s possible that the quill would have been placed as if thrown from Conway’s window, possibly striking the bell, which would be cooler than striking a random brick.
Femtite gets Horizon’s joke! She doesn’t laugh this time—she flies!—dilating size by a foot or so to mess with the enemy’s depth perception!
Conflux gratefully hangs back, circling the edges of the fray with a limp she couldn't quite hide. Assuming Indarius can handle another big shield, she instead keeps an eye out for any breaks in his defenses and discreetly covers Caio's rear while he runs around playing mother goose.
Gesturing to get Shin's attention, she points at him, slices her hand at him in a vertical chop from her nose, covers her face with her palm and then draws her fingers all together beneath her chin to reveal briefly closed eyes and a dull expression, then points at him one more time with a crooked grin.
At Horizon's gesture, Max shifts her focus to attacking the big robot. But she remains on the defensive, making sure she keeps herself positioned to distract the enemy from the fleeing civilians.
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Switching up his game Indarius focus's more on protecting the individual civi-bots than stopping the larger robot. Seeing as it didn't do much good last time and in fact caused more issues than anything. So he kept to a low muttering of an incantation, the strange energies swirling around him and building as they typically do. However he pinched his fingers up and above himself as if grasping at something invisible. He waited with the spell primed to throw up a defensive barrier for any of the civi-bots that were targeted.
If anywhere targeted directly he'd let go of the pinching motion allowing the mote of aether to escape his call, directing it to rush and flare into a semi-translucent shell around those that needed defending.
As Femtite flies across the parade field to the bell tower, she remembers that in the titans' realm, wind is totally a thing. Such a tiny accessory to a doll like the plastic quills could never be thrown or shot across this distance. It simply doesn't have enough mass.
So sadly, Femtite does not find any quills in the top of the bell tower. Given the existence of several birds' nests, it appears the bell has not been rung for some time.
The red brick construction is old; though Femtite may not know enough about human architecture to estimate its age, she is sure it's one of the oldest buildings she's seen.
Femtite scopes out the nests, careful not to upset any birds, if they are in the nests.
One does not work under the finance of a heroine named Whippoorwill without having looked at images of whippoorwills! Femtite wonders if there is a whippoorwill nest, and would the quills have been placed here?
And why exactly would anyone do this? It seems like much effort…
Femtite is undeterred by this thought. She wants to succeed, but may be on the wrong track. And she definitely cannot be late for Superhero 101, so if the tower yields nothing, she will need to postpone the rest of her investigation.
The birds nests are likely made by sparrows or starlings, and almost certainly not by whippoorwills. Femtite finds a number of different kinds of feathers, but nothing like the feather-shaped weapons of the winged hero. She does see where some of the bricks have weathered and cracked over the years.
Ultimately, however, Femtite's investigation does not bear any further details of whoever might have been messing with Conway's dolls.
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The team adjusts tactics, paying more attention to containing the giant robot and ensuring their defensive tactics to more protecting than damaging.
Foray continues to quietly observe until either the giant robot is overcome or too many civilian drones are put out of commission. Then he offers some additional advice, puts the robots back together, and resumes the exercise.
It's a long night, as the young team is not interrupted by a random supervillain and Foray's patience seems limitless.
Finally, Foray calls an end to the exercises. He hits a couple buttons on the remotes to have the remaining functional civilian-droids sweep up the remains of those that were too damaged for their self-repair into the crates. He then has the big robot pick up the crates and lug them down one of the access tunnels.
"You have made great progress. I will see about getting these fixed up and delivered back here, so you can continue to practice." Foray then follows the giant robot, leaving the team alone in Unity Station.
What do you do??
Max perform admirably in her role, coordinating with her teammates and ensuring minimal robot casualties. She is sweaty and exhausted by the time the training finally comes to an end, but she grins, proud of her performance.
”Phew! Talk about a workout! Nice job, everybody!” she calls, stretching out the kinks in her shoulder muscles.