"Good morning, Halcyon. I'm Greta Gonzalez for W-HCY First-Look News. Our top story: Chaos in the Skies! Just days after we learned that the Alliance of Heroes have gone off-world, a super-powered free-for-all shook Halcyon City to its foundations!
"Few details are available at this point, but eye-witness accounts and long-range video reveal that Indarius, the dragon hero of First Class, and the Indescribable Devil Diva fresh off her hero's tour of Europe, leading a new team as they squared off against a motley assortment of foes!
"The newest members of First Class, Statian, Chroknight, and Aquarelle, jumped into the fray against a battering-ram of a super, blasting and causing chaos everywhere! The sounds of automatic gunfire was also reported, and what looked like a giant mushroom!"
"Matt Collins, who co-hosts the podcast, "The Facts Are Out There," joins us to discuss the most worrisome sight yesterday, that of the alien vessel that blasted away across Halcyon airspace near the conclusion of the chaos. Thanks for being with us, Matt. What can you tell us of the ship, and if we have cause to worry now that the Alliance are not here to protect us?"
"Thanks for having me, Greta. My colleague Theo Rosenthal and I both agree that what we saw was a Tri-Nexus Conquest Cruiser. Aliens of the Tri-Nexus tried to claim Earth as a thrall world in the mid-nineties. They were repelled by the Alliance of the day, notably by the third Praetorian and his then-girlfriend Ultra-Star."
"Frightening. Could they be back for another try?"
"Hard to say, obviously. We only saw the one, and with all the carnage that was going on when they took off... I'm hopeful they once again saw Earth as again not worth the effort to conquer."
"That's some comfort, thank you. Matt Collins, thank you for being here, and I look forward to your podcast breaking this down further."
"Glad to be here."
"We have more to discuss about the battle, including the appearance of what witnesses described as a 'glowing angelic being.' Some sort of response to Devil Diva's presence? Theologians still debate the validity of calling the demonic girl a hero, despite her actions with the Taylor family. All this and more, right after these messages--"
>Click<
--having to rely on junior grade, wet-behind-the-ears so-called 'heroes' to protect us while they're away! The Alliance of Heroes are Earth's heroes! Not some intergalactic peacekeeping force, going off and inviting retaliation while leaving junior heroes like First Class behind to protect us! First Class? More like Second Class!
"I take no pleasure in being right, viewers, but we have seen a massive alien craft scant hours ago rocketing across our skyline after a chaotic mess of a battle with the aforementioned junior 'heroes' requiring divine intervention to bring about its end! Clearly the Almighty has gotten tired of the worship of demonic idols like the so-called 'Devil Diva' and sent His own messenger to set us straight! Thankfully, we here at LLNN and you good viewers have never bought into the false idolatry, so we are safe from the inevitable divine retribution upon so-called heroes and their mouth-breathing followers.
"I do have some good news to report, however. The superpowered terrorists the Instigators finally met their defeat, not by the Heralds, not by Second Class, but by a team of true git-r-done heroes, the Finals! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the final say in true competent heroing brought about an end to the threat posed by the Instigators. Led by Valence, the team took out the Instigators without massive property damage or loss of life -- which certainly cannot be said for First Class when they encountered the Instigators two months ago.
"Let me, Rav Tuscon, be candid for a moment. I'm sure I speak for all of our fine viewers when I--"
>Click<
"--save the day, liberating two beings from servitude, and driving off an alien craft before it wrought more devastation. We here at Taylor Talk can't wait to have our BFF Devil Diva on to discuss this further, but as you can be sure, she's busy dealing with just what went down. We ask you, viewers, to be patient until DD has the time to join us to talk about that fight, and while she's with us we'll ask what she does to make sure her hair stays shiny through all that mayhem.
"In the meantime, our question of the day: why aren't capes a thing anymore? Sure, Captain Stalwart looks great, but why aren't the young heroes embracing them?"
Chloe Parker-Myeong felt like she was dying.
She had been feeling like that ever since she'd effectively held a private jet from crashing long enough for the dozen people aboard to evacuate and get to safety, before she - scratch that, Chroknight - had to release the plane from the time slowing effect long enough for her to leap to safety when it slammed into the tarmac and burst apart.
And now, she had like, a dozen new numbers in the Chroknight burner phone she'd only gotten in the chance of an emergency where her hero persona needed to contact someone, like a cop or the Alliance hotline. Not that the Alliance could do anything being off-world. Her eyes flitted to her poster of the current roster on the wall she'd gotten in a charity drive at church.
Oh, right. She had to explain to her dad why she'd missed church.
Groaning, she flops upright on her bed. She was wearing the same rumpled button up from yesterday, jeans, her backpack tucked away. The small silver ring with the inconspicuous gemstone in it glittered. No one would expect such a device to be able to hold the Chroknight armor in some temporal pocket. Future technology was really cool and awesome and a little scary.
She picks up the burner, looking at the group chat. Indarius, super awesome dragon mage. Devil Diva, literally a superstar (Could Chroknight get invited to the Taylor tower?) Then the other newbies, Aquarelle and Statian. Sam she recognized from school from AP English, though she'd been out on illness - probably code for 'getting used to superpowers'. And Aquarelle was...well...distracting? Though his look could be as much illusion as the rest of his powers.
And then just an utter nightmare where they got mixed up with a bunch of other powered kids in a knock out fight she still wasn't sure happened as she remembered it. Crazy space pirate with a portal gun, a freaking angel, some former bad guy who Chloe was still up in the air about, and then that poor girl who tore through steel like paper and still looked like a breeze could knock her over.
Did that all seriously just happen yesterday?
She needed some perspective. So, group chat.
Chroknight: Greetings. How is everyone?
Chroknight: Sir Indarius, are the new arrivals properly situated?
Ugh. Stiff and formal. She had to try to act differently than Chloe while playing this part.
Though, Chloe needed a shower. She'd check the chat afterwards. And also clue Beebee into what the heck happened. She was going to freak!
Statian: Still... Parsing
Her matrix had suggested the term to answer for both how she was dealing with such a battle, and also to explain what she is doing now. Data parsing.
The ginger had introduced herself to the group as technical support, getting a chuckle, which seemed to confuse her. She was technical support, it was simple, she didn't understand while someone thought that funny.
The communications streams from the alien craft had been encypted beyond her ability to untangle, but she still recorded them, and now was allowing her models to learn, unlearn, repeat, millions of cycles. And she was parsing the results.
The battle... her matrix had eliminated her anxiety, which included her fear, so the hunks of metal, blazing beams of light, all the things that could kill her and turn her into burn paste didn't worry her as she had hunkered down with the stolen communicator to help disable the enemy destroyer. But her matrix had informed her that imagining the searing pain before death would potentially overwhelm the buffers, so it would be wise to stop.
That was what she as also parsing, facing one's death.
Unity Station is a hectic place at the best of times. It is, after all, a hub of superhuman activity. It's where devils, dragons, and demigods all congregate. That naturally causes some amount of consternation among people grappling with issues of religion, belief, and faith. This situation is not helped by the presence of what seems to be a literal angel.
Empyrean is all smiles to the people with whom she interacts. She emits a soft glow from a dome-shaped halo over her head, which causes her platinum hair to sparkle. She has been garbed by her handler(s) in drab gray sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt, which is partially cut in back to allow her feathered wings to fit through it. She is wearing cheap flip-flops, probably because when she was first released in the explosive encounter that freed her from some kind of imprisonment, she was barefoot. She takes in everything around her with the sense of wonder of an isolated young girl visiting the city for the first time, which is probably accurate.
She is unfailingly charming and polite to everyone. Some people cannot make eye contact with her. When interacting with them, she folds her hands behind her back and cheerfully says, "Be not afraid."
She is guided by the elbow, gently, by a severe-looking woman in a black suit that has the clear bulk lines of body armor. Her handler seems dour and off-putting, probably deliberately, to prevent people from pressing in on the naive angel and making demands of her time and space.
Empyrean has been learning the layout and assignments of Unity Station. She does not seem to feel pain in the same way as humans, but she does eat; she clearly has some kind of supernatural biology. She also can become fatigued and needs sleep. So, she must have a place to live, eat, sleep, and work. Her handlers and the various shadowy government and corporate interests dealing with her have already run a bevy of many tests, but someone decided that the best way to see how she works is to see her "in the field," especially around other super-powered peers. So she is getting the tour of the place that will be her home for the time being.
The tablet that her handler carries makes a small chime, indicating that someone has pinged the group chat. The handler reads it, then informs "Joy" that someone on her team is asking how she is handling her arrival.
Empyrean takes the tablet gingerly and asks how to respond. Her handler shows her how to key in a reply. After a moment's contemplation, she types something awkwardly.
Empyrean: HELLO WORLD
Crowknight: Greetings. How is everyone?
Crowknight: Sir Indarius, are the new arrivals properly situated?
Statian: Still... Parsing
Empyrean: HELLO WORLD
The phone was on a cheap end table; Angelica was cross legged on the floor, a slightly dazed smile on her face as she stared at the words, sweats hanging limply off her stretched out frame. First text in... her smile ebbed. A long time. I wonder if I could still get my old number?
Okay, first text. Gotta be funny, don't want them to think you're a killer robot. She swipes her finger across the new phone. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Do phones not swipe anymore or- Right.
She closes her eyes, and weariness already tugs at their corners when she opens them. Shimmers of energy peel the forcefield away from her hand, coruscating and sparking as she carefully picks out one letter after another.
Andromeda: Not great. I think I saw an alien last night.
She deletes it.
Andromeda: Asking for a friend: Does Aquarelle really look like that or is the face an illusion too?
She deletes it.
Andromeda: Good I think. Is the sun supposed to be this bright?
Andromeda: Not great. You are not supposed to just go in this suit.
Andromeda: Apparently angels are real, which means God exists, but He just hates me personally.
She deletes it, she deletes it, she deletes it.
Andromeda: I am however you want me to be if you promise not to send me back.
Andromeda: What are you going to do with me?
The energy peeling back around her finger sparks, spasms and slams shut, spider-webbing the screen before it even slams against the far wall.
Terrific.
***
Andromeda: Fine this room is very breakable though
Andromeda: I do know how to use punctuation but I'm using voice
Max lies in her bed in her quarters at Taylor Tower, holding her phone at various angles to try to get the best light. She has willed her demonic red outfit into the form of a cute off-the-shoulder sweater, revealing just enough purple skin to be flirty without being too overtly alluring. He hair is slightly tousled, and she smiles for the camera as she snaps a selfie.
After choosing the right filter, she types in a caption: Yesterday was a wild ride! I'm wiped, but thanks to all my fans for the kind words of support! There are some exciting new developments in the works, so make sure you are subscribed for all the latest updates! ~DD
A *whoop* and the post goes up. As she waits for the likes and comments to begin, Max switches over to the group chat.
DD: Hey, guys! It was great fighting alongside all of you yesterday. Especially you, Indarius. Long time, no team-up! ;D
Ding
"Morning Miss Lynn!" He waves to the old-ish woman behind the counter as he takes his earphones away. Checking his phone, he sees a couple messages. "For today, uh, e Monte Cristo but no fries. Pineapple juice." For a second he is lost on her eyebrows. For some insane reason she had painted them and thought they were fine.
Sitting on a bench, he watches the LLNN saying some harsh words about the conflict from the former night. They did have some fair points. Right, the phone!
Chroknight: Sir Indarius, are the new arrivals properly situated?
Sir? Really? Wasn't Indarius close to their age? Or was he just assuming that because he was once part of a teen team? Better to check before he somehow offends him. If he was still part of it, anyways... he did not seem pleased at all when he went on his own after Andromeda.
Empyrean: HELLO WORLD
So she can write? Fast learner. Or someone was writing for her, or... Of course. She is an angel. Of course she can speak English and write. Why wouldn't she as a servant of God? He should now better, of course. Believe. Feel. Not analyse it. How... someone day he'd learn.
Aquarelle: Good morning everyone
Aquarelle: let me know if you need help with anything
Aquarelle: Heading for Sunday's mass, but after that I'm free
|
Indy huffed at the 'report' by Rav Tuscon coming out of the nearby car radio. After all the stuff that was recorded and broadcast only a few months ago were people really going to buy that crap about Valence leading a hero team after having 'Just' been an active part of Lovelace's whole operation of a younger Mercenary group. The whole thing smelled like a farce or some kind of false play to buy back some sort of credibility, maybe even a false take down to get the public eye turned to them and hype up the other team while discrediting the one he'd been tasked with pulling together.
His chest heaved with a deep sigh, 'Is this what Horizon felt like leading us?'
He levitated down the cat from the tree settling it next to the owner. "No problem Miss Norris. You have a good day now and keep Pixie inside." Knowing the animal would be terrified of his meer presence he trotted further down the road before releasing the feline from the arcane spell.
It hadn't even registered that his communicator had been pinging till the latest notification. So he finally shifted down to his humanoid form and took a gander at the device
Crowknight: Greetings. How is everyone?
Crowknight: Sir Indarius, are the new arrivals properly situated?
Gross... sir?
Statian: Still... Parsing
Empyrean: HELLO WORLD
Andromeda: Fine this room is very breakable though
Andromeda: I do know how to use punctuation but I'm using voice
DD: Hey, guys! It was great fighting alongside all of you yesterday. Especially you, Indarius. Long time, no team-up! ;D
Aquarelle: Good morning everyone
Aquarelle: @Andromeda @Empyrean @Digits let me know if you need help with anything
Aquarelle: Heading for Sunday's mass, but after that I'm free
The quill-like spines on Indarius's head rattle with anxiety as well as a deep rumble from hsi chest, Haven't been this anxious since... no don't think about that. First active communication with the team outside of an actual fight. Gotta make it a good first impression His claws tapped gingerly at the interface.
Indarius: Good to see that your new devices are working you can thank the recently retired Horizon for those.
Indarius: I'd like to get the team together this weekend at Unity Station to have a sit down and lay out some ground rules now that we're starting to get some official recognition. And to do a small meet and greet so we all know more about one another.
Indarius: Good to have you back in suit Dee.
Indarius: And Chro, no need to out Sir it sounds way too formal.
Indy's head perks up from the device when he hears police sirens and sees the vehicles blow through the light a couple streets down.
Indarius: Well, gotta talk later, duty calls.
Selecting a few music files he'd downloaded to the device he set them to play.
With that he closed the comm and clipped it to the band around his neck before picking up speed and launching himself into the air with a mighty series of flaps. He rose quickly along the side of the apartment buildings, stirring up dust and pigeons, much to the distress of other sidewalk goers and the poor birds. Altering his trajectory and wing beats to carry him forward and down the street after the police vehicles.
A few moments of following along to the beats of 'Walking on a Dream' Imdy saw exactly what the cops had been racing towards as gunshots rang out over his music. A jewelry store robbery, the police had the place surrounded already and looked to be awaiting swat. The goons seemed to sense this themselves as they made a hard push through the front in an attempt to break through and get to whatever getaway they had, guns blazing.
Indarius slammed down on the other side of the police line, causing both parties to pause and then draw on him. He flipped around with his back to the goons and flashed the cops a pair of thumbs up, which threw a few of them off as they looked at one another. More shots rang out towards his exposed back and his splayed out wings, the bullets plinking off of a shimmering arcane barrier that protected the delicate membrane and deflected off his scales. Two eyelids down, he whispered into his right palm.
"Pogaan Diin Ven"
A whirling patch of icy shards formed in his hand as he hopped back towards the fleeing criminals who were rethinking their decisions. Spinning he lobbed the whirling icicles which raced out and froze the charge handles of the mid-caliber rifles causing them to bark one last time before jamming up.
Picking up the pace as the song flicked over to 'Subhuman' and blared from the device around his neck Indy charged the spooked goons and began laying them out with hearty punches to the gut. Flipping one man into his partner in crime, and flicking the third who had pulled a handgun in the face with his tail. The Clown masked goon's shot went wide and blew a hole through the fourth man's foot.
"AAAAAAUUUUGH I NEED A MEDIC BA-"
Slam, Thud
A series of well placed hits and the squad of four was down.
"All your's officers!" He shouted before he was off into the air again, had to keep up, had to keep moving. To prove some right and others wrong, the track flipped to 'Little Talks' his heading leads across the city towards Praetor tower and whatever crimes little and big happen along the way.
Archie lies in bed at his aunt's house, staring up at the Sex Pistols poster that had been there since he was 14. How rapidly things can change. Archie rolls over to check his phone, he groans, another post from Devil Diva, being teammates with her is gonna be weird he thought to himself.
After scrolling insta for a bit, Archie realizes the fancy communicator he was given yesterday buzzed. He picks it up.
Crowknight: Greetings. How is everyone?
Crowknight: Sir Indarius, are the new arrivals properly situated?
Statian: Still... Parsing
Empyrean: HELLO WORLD
Andromeda: Fine this room is very breakable though
Andromeda: I do know how to use punctuation but I'm using voice
DD: Hey, guys! It was great fighting alongside all of you yesterday. Especially you, Indarius. Long time, no team-up! ;D
Aquarelle: Good morning everyone
Aquarelle: @Andromeda @Empyrean @Digits let me know if you need help with anything
Aquarelle: Heading for Sunday's mass, but after that I'm free
Indarius: Good to see that your new devices are working you can thank the recently retired Horizon for those.
Indarius: I'd like to get the team together this weekend at Unity Station to have a sit down and lay out some ground rules now that we're starting to get some official recognition. And to do a small meet and greet so we all know more about one another.
Indarius: Good to have you back in suit Dee.
Indarius: And Chro, no need to out Sir it sounds way too formal.
Indarius: Well, gotta talk later, duty calls.
What a strange group of people, Archie sighs, at least they're already better than his last crowd. Finally, he gets out of bed and throws on a Minor Threat tank top and some old army surplus cargo pants along with all his facial piercings and other accessories.
He grabs the communicator.
Phalanx: I’ll be there, Sir.
He slides his phone into his back pocket, grabs his bass guitar, and heads out the door to go to band practice. On his walk Archie puts in some earbuds and listens to some of the several new news broadcasts about last night.
“Oh hey, ‘automatic gunfire’… That was me!” He mutters, It's nice to be in the news for a good reason for a change.
Empyrean reads the messages on the tablet, then starts typing in return.
Empyrean is typing... for about two minutes.
Indarius: I'd like to get the team together this weekend at Unity Station to have a sit down and lay out some ground rules now that we're starting to get some official recognition. And to do a small meet and greet so we all know more about one another.
Indarius: Good to have you back in suit Dee.
Indarius: And Chro, no need to out Sir it sounds way too formal.
Indarius: Well, gotta talk later, duty calls.
Empyrean: It is good to meet you all, new friends.
Empyrean: I am learning a lot today and I hope to see you again soon.
Empyrean: Thank you for looking out for my welfare. I am grateful for your kindness.
Empyrean: I am at Unity Station right now. People are trying to figure out where I should stay and what I need to do next.
Forget that noise, time for a little jailbreak.
Her sweats had already popped some seams just from the ripples of her failed degloving, but they'd have to be good enough. It was either that or back to her canary yellow containment suit, and if she never wore that color again it would be too soon.
Andromeda: Tell them you're coming with me
Andromeda: I've been in one room too long
Angelica gets out into the hall, looking around for anywhere with a guard posted.
"I'm going in there."
She raps the air around her knuckles against the door with an oddly muted echo.
"Angel? Time to find some answers for yourself."
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Sam looked at the corner of her screen, another text, then another. Her green eyes stared at the letters, a small frown on her lips at the thrill each one caused.
It made no sense to her.
She shook her head and went back to the video feed with Chroknight on the plane, a dozen drone cameras capturing from various directions, allowing her to turn it into a movable model.
Her mind is certain there is a familiarity, but her matrix is telling her attempting a body posture and gait search across all known media would be taken as a potential betrayal... so... she... isn't... she grumbles.
Indarius: Good to see that your new devices are working you can thank the recently retired Horizon for those.
Indarius: I'd like to get the team together this weekend at Unity Station to have a sit down and lay out some ground rules now that we're starting to get some official recognition. And to do a small meet and greet so we all know more about one another.
Indarius: Good to have you back in suit Dee.
Indarius: And Chro, no need to out Sir it sounds way too formal.
Indarius: Well, gotta talk later, duty calls.
Phalanx: I’ll be there, Sir.
Empyrean: It is good to meet you all, new friends.
Empyrean: I am learning a lot today and I hope to see you again soon.
Empyrean: Thank you for looking out for my welfare. I am grateful for your kindness.
Empyrean: I am at Unity Station right now. People are trying to figure out where I should stay and what I need to do next.
Andromeda: Tell them you're coming with me
Andromeda: I've been in one room too long
Sam had no idea how to response to Empyrean's comments, her matrix suggested a series of emojis, but also said the first to use an emoji could be seen as flippant. And the thought of answering Andromeda made her correctors twitch.
So she fell back into tech instead.
Statian: The devices are unsecure.
Indarius: See...
Phalanx: I can be...
Empyrean: Anyone on them.
Andromeda: Tell them you're coming with me
Andromeda: I've been in one room too long
Statian: The devices are unsecure.
Indarius: See...
Phalanx: I can be...
Empyrean: Anyone on them.
Empyrean: Actual me for a moment! I will stay where I am, Andromeda. I will wait for you here.
Unity Station, aka Unity Base, is a formerly lost piece of Halcyon City's history. The elegant and imposing architecture was once thought lost after the incursion of the Oblique Dimension in the 1960s. The fractured geometries of the invasion twisted parts of Halcyon City to mind-bending proportions, and though most of the damage done was reversed by the heroics of that generation's Alliance of Heroes, some lasting effects had remained. Chief among them, of course, being the Refractalry itself: Alliance Headquarters, located in the heart of Downtown at the far end of Kirby Plaza and facing the tallest building of Halcyon City itself, Kirby Tower. The Oblique Dimension's former mothership is now repurposed to be the Alliance of Heroes' full-time base of operations.
Unity Station was lost during that time of tumult, shunted away from its position as one of the city's central rail stations and lost amidst Halcyon's labyrinthine underground. It was discovered nearly a decade later by Captain Hazard and repurposed into his lair. Once he was brought down, the Indignant Gang discovered it and put it to their use. It changed hands no fewer than six times throughout the 1990s, until it was finally cleared out by Whippoorwill, who mothballed the place until she turned it over to her protégé Horizon and his team that would eventually take on the name First Class.
Unity Station became Unity Base, and its central clock turned into a supercomputer cobbled together from the mainframes of all its former residents -- a truly ramshackle affair that nonetheless was able to parse through massive amounts of data to assist in the young team's crimefighting efforts.
Now the base again stands ready to serve as the home of a new group of heroes, if they'll have the lost rail station full of eclectic styles and hodgepodge of technology.
"I'll catch you later nick." Archie says as he dips out the door, bass strapped over his shoulder. He reaches into his back pocket and checks the team communicator, Unity Station, the hell is that? Seems like everyone is gathering there.
Phalanx: I'm free, can someone tell me where this Unity Station is?
After a shower and checking the suddenly full chat, Chloe had a destination. Which...meant missing service. Which was fine. She'd missed before, her dad would be all right. She sent him a quick text to let him know she was alive (and another to Beebee to cover for her) before donning the suit and heading out.
It was honestly exhilarating to leap from rooftop to rooftop, even clad in futuristic armor. Eventually making it to the entrance that Indarius had shown her and the rest of the new recruits to Unity. Chroknight let out a slow breath, before going through. Past the weird magic sigils that were made to allow Chroknight to pass through undetected and keep other intruders out.
The station was still a breathtakingly cool place. She really wanted to poke at the ambulating robots around to see what else they did. Chroknight focused though, and did their arms crossed pose to look as cool as possible as they walked into the rooms area of the station.
And noted the forcefield girl knocking on a door which probably was where...yeah, that angel girl. She really needed to learn names.
"What are you doing?" Chroknight asks, their voice modulated by the suit so it comes out bassy.
Andromeda's gaze swivels over to Chroknight and the air seems to thicken between them.
"Springing the angel."
She abruptly huffs from the back of her throat, and smirks when the agent-on-duty flinches. Gingerly she pushes open the door; her expression stills when she sees Empyrean, but she continues with the same dry bravado in her voice. "You were in that urn a while, right? You need to stretch your legs without some suits telling you how to do it. Plenty of time for the base later, let's go somewhere with people."
Chroknight steps up behind Andromeda. "We should wait for the team meeting first. Indarius wants to implement some rules and it is important for us to know them before going off on our own," they say. The helmet really helps the intimidation factor quite a bit.
Then again, Chloe had watched this girl literally bust through metal walls and fling alien soldiers around like dolls. So probably not that intimidating to her. Maybe add a carrot to the stick?
"...should you agree, I will see about getting you some real outfits. It will help to blend in when you go outside." Some of her old T-shirts and skirts would probably work. Underwear was going to be a problem though.
Andromeda doesn't turn but the air begins to roil behind her.
"We're supposed to to that to all get to know each other, right? Well, I know you don't know me, so here's a few important things:
1) I like lists. Helps me keep things organized.
2) She's not just hanging around until the dragon gives everyone their orders.
3) You look like you might maybe be tough enough to hit."
The multifaceted, layered baroque architecture of Unity Station makes for an unconventional background for this meeting. Andromeda's barely-contained power fluctuations give the air around her a motion like a heat wave, which adds to the sense of unreality of the chimerical location.
To her credit, perhaps, the handler does not step back from Andromeda's arrival. The middle-aged government spook with a strong Carrie-Anne Moss vibe says, "Empyrean hasn't finished her orientation here yet."
The angel(?) breaks into a smile when Andromeda arrives. If one was expecting her to be a statuesque, Stoic, grim judge of the Divine, she is Not That. To all appearances she is an effusive, vivacious, confident young woman in her late teens. With perfect hair and perfect skin, of course, in addition to the obvious wings and halo.
"Andromeda!" she says happily. "You got here quickly! I'm still learning this place. There's so much to see. It is a mélange of so many styles, a true profusion of artistic sensibilities. I do not know what to make of it."
Chronight receives a similar expressive greeting upon arrival. Empyrean says, "That is very kind of both of you, to think of my welfare like that, but of course everyone is trying to be helpful. I have only the vaguest memories of my time before you released me; for me, time and sensation did not pass in a conventional sense. I have... impulses, intuitions, and sometimes things bubble to the surface, but I have very little memory of, well, anything before... now."
The unflappable agent says in a flat tone, "While I appreciate your desire to assist the asse... angel, a place with lots of people is not the best start. People will flock to her. We've already seen signs of hysterical reactions, as you may have noticed on the daily news reports. Having an ostensible angel walking the streets of Halcyon City openly and going for coffee or visiting a nightclub could easily turn into a mass civic disturbance event. The public needs to become acclimatized to her presence... and we need to know what she is, really, before we unleash her on the people at large."
Empyrean takes on an almost pitying expression as she says, "The last thing that I want is for my presence to hurt people." She glances back to Andromeda and says, "What do you want? What is a good compromise that can let us learn about each other without causing danger for others?"
Wow, old subway tunnel. Where exactly is this place?
After a while of stumbling around the underground, Phalanx finds the station. He swirls around in awe taking in the sights, mouth agape.
"Woah. I've seen many a evil lairs in my day, this one, is probably the coolest" He says mostly to himself. He soon notices the two figures, the bald chick from yesterday who tried to kill him, and the person with the sick ass armor along with the angel lady, plus some agent looking person.
Archie forms a black mask completely void of features except for two eye holes and straps it on.
"What's up y'all? I'm guessing this is the station, pret-ty badass. Way better than my last digs. Uh, What're y'all up to?"
Phalanx moves forward towards the gathering, hands in his pockets trying his best to look casual.
Great. Stuck between the cosmic cannonball and now someone who gave Chloe greasy vibes. At least the perky angel was ostensibly on everyone's side.
"We are discussing how we might allow her to explore out in the world without drawing undue attention," Chroknight tells Phalanx. "It would be simpler if she was able to hide her wings. But a long enough coat might help conceal them."
Chroknight was trying their best to be helpful here while also mindful of the rules. "...I don't think that Indarius would want us to fight each other," They say to Andromeda as it seems like she's ready for a scrap. "...but, perhaps some sparring to understand each other's abilities would not be out of place?"
"Yeah, can imagine how concealing an angel would be tricky." Now as far as sparring goes, I'm in favor of me not fighting the telekinetic with the finesse and control of a wrecking ball."
Phalanx forms a butterfly knife and starts aimlessly flipping it.
"Besides, shouldn't we wait for the rest of the gang to show up?"
"No sparring! Not here at least," comes a voice from one of the side tunnels. A man in a blue-and-white costume with goggles steps into the main area, flanked by a younger man in a loose but colorful jacket and a ball cap turned around backwards and a woman in a bright purple costume with pinkish swirls.
The government agent turns and gives the newcomers a scowl. "Alexander. I'm not finished here. You don't have jurisdiction--"
"It's Nimbus and in the absence of the Alliance right now, I'm taking jurisdiction. Rendezvous?"
The pink and purple-clad woman smirks and gestures. The government woman starts to protest, but she's 'ported out of the Base.
"Bye, Sarah," Nimbus says to the empty space where she stood.
He clears his throat and looks at the new young heroes gathered in the cavernous central chamber. "Ah, hi, everyone. I'm Nimbus, leader of the Heralds. With me are Rendezvous and Half-Pipe. Hopefully you've heard of us, but if not, we're the good guys. Standing in, sort of, for the Alliance while they're away. I'd like to meet you, answer any questions, and, well, I'd like to ask some questions as well."
Half-Pipe snorts. "Smooth, dude."
Nimbus rolls his eyes. "Anyway, sparring here, even if it's just to test each other out is, well, not advisable. This place is under a good section of Halcyon and I'd hate to have to deal with a cave-in. Okay?"
Empyrean's wings fluff a bit as her handler vanishes and she says, "I hope that this is not going to cause trouble. I do not want to make more problems for people."
Sam got off at the bus, a non descript young woman with only her red hair drawing unwanted attention. Then she easily navigated the underground, having memorized the layout as well as projecting a minimap in the upper corner of her glasses.
Sam had watched the interactions with the others through some of the cameras that needed firmware updates, then stood unnoticed at the edge of the group while the adults ordered them to behave.
Dressed in simple jeans and a thick hoodie, she looked very normal, save for the dozens of black threads behind her, cleaning bricks, breaking down a piece of broken pipe and sucking it up, pulling her shoelace out a few millimeters to line up with the other.
She doesn't have anything to say... well she did "Why is there contention on who should be in charge of us?"
The question seemed important, and her matrix agreed.
"That's not you making problems, angel." Andromeda's smiling even more broadly, lips almost pulled into a snarl.
"Well tin can? Want to go outside and stretch our legs?"
"We are having our meeting." Sam said with slightly offended surprise, at the suggestion that Andromeda and Chronknight would leave. The attendance stated they would all be there, and if they weren't---
The leaf in Sam's matrix flashed bright red in her mind, unable to accept that a meeting without all the people meant for it was still okay.
Nimbus sighs and shakes his head towards Empyrean. "No trouble. Leave Agent Ice Queen to me. She's been wanting another superpowered lapdog--"
"Zhey used to date," Rendezvous chimes in with a smirk. Half-Pipe sticks his thumb at the leader and mouths, it was him.
Nimbus tries to master his look of irritation at his teammates. "As I was saying, we're here to just get to know you all. Ordinarily, someone from the Alliance would most likely be making contact with you. But they're away. But there are going to be, ah, other interested parties that may want to try to be in charge of you. But that's not why we're here. We got a pretty good look at what you all were dealing with yesterday, and I want to say-- ah, really?" he notices Andromeda still looking for a fight. He looks deeply uncomfortable. "Um, do you guys really need to do this?"
He glances over at Rendezvous, who shrugs.
"We could take a quick trip to Rustside. Less populated, fewer buildings that people care about in case you knock one over."
"Yeah, field trip! Cool! Archie says towards Nimbus and the other heroes.
"Uh, big fan by the way. I always thought you were dope, especially when I was a bit younger, y'know. Sliding around on a skateboard and stuff. Big inspiration."
Archie forms a skateboard, drops it down and pushes off towards Half-Pipe. He sticks his hand out for a handshake.
"I feel that it's responsible to not cause damage to the base. And I do not want Indarius to wonder why we are not here for his meeting." Chroknight says.
The armored hero turns away, clearing their throat. Scaaaaaary. "Perhaps later we can pit ourselves in contest to each other. For now, I would rather listen to our seniors," They note, nodding up to the trio. "I am certain there will be others things for us to fight later. Though hopefully not aliens for a while."
Chloe's focus was on Statian now that she spoke up. And the weird tendrils that came out from under her hoodie - oh, she hoped nothing bad would happen if they idly grabbed onto one of the cute robots in the base. And that she wouldn't uncover her secret identity in like, ten seconds if too much focus was placed on Chroknight-
"Ah, where is the rest of your cohort?" Chroknight asks the Heralds, trying to draw focus away from themself.
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If Max comes to the roof she'd find Indy carefully settling down on the rooftop, his little communicator device playing the last few chords of 'The World is a Vampire' he reaches up and clicks a button on the side twice to stop it from continuing through the shuffled list.
The shining silver draconic humanoid in front of her is a far call from what she remembered Percy looking like in the past, last she'd seen he had random scales mismatched everywhere, half-grown horns balding him, and a perpetual chill about him. Now he was fully covered in the armored plating, lean, winged, and looked much more strange, grown into his actual features, and naked unless you counted the band across his neck with the communicator as clothing.
"Hey Diva, good to see you again and to have you as part of the team. I've got a twinge in the back of my head saying there's lots of people at the base right now with more arriving. So either the team is gathered or the base is being assaulted, since I haven't heard anyone call for backup gonna settle on the former."
He steps in to give her a hug with arms and wings spread wide, and immediately she can feel the finger numbing cold emanating from his body, threatening to suck all the heat from his surroundings.
"OH also before I forget, I finally got my new outfit. Been waiting for a while and had to go through some test fits, refits, rune etching so that it doesn't just explode when I change and all that. But I wanted you to be the first to see."
"This way to Unity Station, and our new team." He says with an unsure but optimistic enthusiasm and a silent prayer that it goes better than when the gang first got together.
A 'vworping' pop and a shimmering flat disc-like gateway opens in the center of Unity Station, bypassing whatever protections were in place, though judging how many people were just waltzing in Indy would either have to strengthen the wards or find the blind spots.
Stepping through was Indarius, the silver dracanoid mage. Clad in what looked to be an actual set of clothes fit for that form. A deep purple and blue trimmed chest wrap with intricate runes stitched or painted on it adorned his chest flowing down into a thick metal belt from which hung a similarly colored breach cloth. Protecting his flank and upper thigh were a set of faulds similarly dyed and etched made of light-weight mix of kevlar with ceramic plates interwoven within. A pair of forearm protecting Vambraces which connected to a pair of slipped on gloves with additional silver claw caps drawing the eye to the wicked set of serrating claws at the end of his fingers.
The silver scaled mage raised a hand in greeting to the entire team as he stepped through the portal, wings held close together behind him. Jet black horns jutted from above his brow towards his back before curving up towards the sky into sharp points. A thin layer of ice coated the horns as well as the black quill-like spines that were apparently supposed to mimic hair to some degree that started between the horns and ran along the back of his head. Though further down his back ran a series of spines with a membranous fin all the way to the tip of his thick spade-ended tail. A smile full of carnivorous teeth meant to pierce into and thrash prey to death showed as he moved to speak to the team in person.
"One moment everyone D.D. should be along shortly then we can begin our." He eyed Nimbus and his squad eyes rolling up and down the assembly, "Meeting. Nimbus, I hope I'm not interrupting anything in my own base? Wasn't aware you'd be making rounds, what brings you this way?"
"Whhuuuuuughhh"
Digits woke, looked at their buzzing communicator and ran their fingers through their hair. It's gonna take a while to get used to the day/night schedule on this ball of dirt, isn't it? Looks like everyone's been up for a while.
Whelp! No time like the present to learn a bit about the old Home Planet, right?
Digits pulls on their suit and is thinking about what to type when they hear commotion in the hall.
Tucking the communicator in a pocket they shrug, Even better, sounds like the crew's here.
They projects a self-holo to pick their afro, then tuck their pick into their hair and take in the folks around them. They note that most of their new acquaintances know this Nimbus and Half-Pipe.
When they see Gui they say, "Hey! Thanks for teaching me last night about burgers, fries and...milk shakes, was it? Would you call that a classic Earth meal?"
Half-Pipe shakes Phalanx's hand and daps him with a flourish. He gestures to the skateboard. "You just created that? Lemme see." If given the chance, he pops it up effortlessly into his hands with a practiced step onto the board. He turns it over in his hands, appraising. "Knock-off Ventus 1500 series, obviously, but not bad. It's got a shallow wheel well, and the deck's not as crisp as it should be."
When Chronight calls the Heralds "seniors," Nimbus winces. "Ouch. Seniors? Dude, we're not that much older than you." He gives Half-Pipe a look, who has generated his signature energy board and is showing off with some ollies and shuvits. "And some of us aren't any more mature."
Rendezvous speaks up. "Ze others are on patrol. Tenfold and Ragnarok are on ze streets, and Gothic iz listening for crises. I can get us to anywhere we are needed."
When Indarius appears, Nimbus holds up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "We just wanted to meet the new kids on the... I mean, the First Class new recruits. The new class. You know if the Alliance were here, someone'd be here, talking all about justice and heroism, and selflessness, and all that. Welcoming you into the fold."
Half-Pipe chuckles. "And they'd be doing it a lot smoother than Nimby, here."
He grinds his teeth. "Trying to make a good first impression, here."
Phalanx is mesmerized and in awe. He graciously gives Half-Pipe his board and watches with eager intent.
"Uh, yeah, I've never gotten my hands on a real Ventus so I'm just guessing based of other skateboards I've memorized. Doesn't even come close to how cool yours is though."
"Maybe sometime you could show me some new tricks and stuff, if you're free."
When Digits shows, Phalanx turns and waves at them. Then throws Indarius a crisp salute.
"Atten-hut!" he says towards the dragon. Then dips into a very formal bow. He rises, then immediately drops down onto one knee.
"At your humble service, my Lord." He says solemnly.
"...I had thought of elders, but I think that would have been worse," Chroknight tells Nimbus apologetically. Thankful that attention was getting drawn away now that Indarius was here in all of his regal ice dragon splendor.
And it looked like Digits was awake. And with Gui here right after mass (Chloe couldn't believe he was a church guy) it looked like the whole team was there. Except for Devil Diva. Who made her self conscious in ways that were different from how Empyrean made her self conscious. Oh, God, now she was thinking of the devil and angel on her shoulders bit.
Chroknight steps near Indarius (putting him between them and Andromeda) and speaks up. "There's been talk about moving this outside, in case some of us decide the need to show off our powers. Which...may not be the worst thing. Sir. As soon as Devil Diva has arrived. Rendezvous has offered her services."
Gui arrives very casually at the station. Hands in the pockets of his jeans, totally plain green shirt and a sweater tossed over the shoulder. "Hello!" The very colorful skin he presented yesterday is absent, being part of his hero persona, but the silvery jewels remain: couple thick rings, pair of small rings earrings and a chain necklace with a crucifix. Reasonably tall, light brown hair and blue eyes, good physique but far from being ripped. All in all, Guillaume has an air of someone very confident and who knows he is attractive.
"Nimbus, Half-Paipe and Rendezvous!" He smiles warmly at the Heralds. Being both new to Halcyon and to this hero life, Gui did his research. While a stretch to say he was a fan, he had at least read the Infiniwiki page of each of the main players. Should he ask Nimbus about the new baby? Hum, probably not. "Naice to meet you all. How is de new baiby, Nimbus?"
He takes the time to offer his hand to everyone. Were they in a rush? But even so, no reason not to be properly polite.
"It is e quite common meal I tink." He shrugs while answering Digits. "Not e fancy one for sure, and probably not very special, but to me is very comforting. Glad you have enjoyed it." His Quebecois accent is still very noticeable.
And now the very hard part. Needs to be done, nevertheless. "Indarius. I tink I owe you, and de odairs as well, an apology for me going aftair Andromeda last naight. Even if I believing my hunch was good, I ignored your ordairs..."
The shining silver draconic humanoid in front of her is a far call from what she remembered Percy looking like in the past, last she'd seen he had random scales mismatched everywhere, half-grown horns balding him, and a perpetual chill about him. Now he was fully covered in the armored plating, lean, winged, and looked much more strange, grown into his actual features, and naked unless you counted the band across his neck with the communicator as clothing.
"Hey Diva, good to see you again and to have you as part of the team. I've got a twinge in the back of my head saying there's lots of people at the base right now with more arriving. So either the team is gathered or the base is being assaulted, since I haven't heard anyone call for backup gonna settle on the former."
He steps in to give her a hug with arms and wings spread wide, and immediately she can feel the finger numbing cold emanating from his body, threatening to suck all the heat from his surroundings.
"OH also before I forget, I finally got my new outfit. Been waiting for a while and had to go through some test fits, refits, rune etching so that it doesn't just explode when I change and all that. But I wanted you to be the first to see."
"Percy!" Max squeals happily, a twinge of awe in her voice as she sees the fully transformed wizard for the first time. "You're so... shiny! The Dragonheart look is working for you, mi amigo."
The devilish girl embraces the draconic boy, but she gasps as the chill from his body raises goosebumps all over her purple skin. "Brr! ¡Hace frío!" She pulls her cute red sweater closer around her.
"I'm honored to be the first, Perce. Come on, let's go meet the newbs."
***
A few moments later, Devil Diva leaps through the portal that Percy opened. As always, the demonic heroine looks stunning, her long black hair framing the attractive features of her face. Her yellow eyes gleam as she flashes a dazzling smile, the red sweater and black pants combo she wears doing her all the favors. Her tail swishes behind her.
"Hey, everyone! Let's do this thing!" She winks and flashes a thumbs up.
With her hands in her hoodie pocket, Sam looks idle (other then her threads behind her), but she listens, assimilates, and records everything for future study.
Her silence breaks at Aquarelle's apology "A wildly accepted summary of chapter three of the art of war emphasizes the importance of 'thinking on the fly' over blindly following orders, though other chapters express the importance of accepting responsibility for doing so." she seems about to go on, citing references, even quoting directly, but she stops with a slight cocking of her head, then instead says to Indarius, in agreement with Chloe "A demonstration of combat abilities combined with defensive countermeasures sparing... would allow me to populate my tactical database to a greater degree."
Then Devil Diva enters and her mouth shuts quickly, her matrix's explaining that displaying self consciousness around a figure magnitudes greater in charm and attractiveness than oneself only diminishes you further, but knowing that and doing that is two very different things.
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Indarius looks at Chroknight and Phalanx a bit uneasily at the 'sir' bit again. But instead of showing his displeasure and sighing, though a slight disapproving whine does still echo in his throat. Looks at Nimbus, "I think a more structured combat drill would be effective. Would you be able to gather some more of your team to work alongside us? Could be a great team building exercise for both parties."
He is starting to understand the feeling of anxiety of taking up the new leadership role, partially looking to Nimbus for help and also willing to learn these lessons together.
The piercing blue eyes of Indy turned to fall on Gui, "Thanks for fessing up to it. I'll admit things got a bit crazy with everything going on. I'd normally be upset that you went against orders, but it seems your call was right to keep things under control. Speaking of how is everyone who stayed here settling in? Well I hope?"
Nimbus steps back to let the new team discuss their accommodations in Unity Base.
When the talk returns to the practice, he rubs the back of his neck, counting the number of young heroes in this room. "You know, rather than you all spar against each other or beat up on Tenfold's dupes, I can check to see if the Alliance's Combat and Tactics Chamber hasn't been locked down. It's a state-of-the-art arena with drones, holograms, and obstacles to create lifelike scenarios for practice. Sound interesting?"
"Yes" Sam says simply, but quickly. A subtle ripple flows along her tendrils
Anything that avoids me getting punched by Andromeda.
"This seems acceptable," Chroknight agrees with Nimbus. "Easier to practice together to avoid discord later."
Andromeda slowly stills and falls silent as the room fills. How are there this many of them. Oh there's that brat with the arms and... Where are Gui's tattoos?
The rest of the conversation puts her deep into a funk; she only briefly inserts herself to say. "Sure. Whatever. Let's get out of here."
”Let’s put them through their paces,” DD says with a grin. She gives Statian a significant look. ”We’ll get to see exactly what you all can do.”
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And then the devil was among them. In tight pants. Gui rubs his eyes to disguise the fact he had covered them in a simple illusion in order to take a really good look at the Diva. To everyone else, his eyes would be following whoever was talking.
James said to consider it pure joy whenever we face trials for it is an opportunity to test our faith and build endurance... but should he really be thinking about joy and endurance while so close to those tight pants? James also said that God never tempts us to do wrong and that temptation comes from our own desires. Oh, he was being tempted and he knew he was weak. Another rub on his eyes and the illusion is gone. He should be ashamed for sure. It was Sunday after all and he had just left the mass.
Gladly, he turns to Sam, smiling and nodding to her and then to Indarius. Sam was a very nice girl, even if... strange? Very serious for sure. Gui wills an illusory fly to appear close to her so her threads go crazy.
"Sparring?" He sure had missed something. "Against each odair?" Why would they want that? Weren't they on the same side? But they also were so eager to do it. Even Sam!? "Uhm, I am not much of e faightair... one good punch and I am probably out. My whole ting is tricking odairs so I do not get punched." He shrugs, looking at the others. All of them seemed beefier than him. "I am probably de damsel in distress of de group?"
"C'est bon, mon ami. Nous ne vous laisserons pas vous battre," Rendezvous assures Aquarelle.
Nimbus translates for the others. "Yeah. The combat scenarios in the CaTCh won't have you fighting with yourselves. I'll pick a basic routine and see how you all do."
"It's really cool, too," Half-Pipe adds.
"Perhaps a first response scenario? Something where we are responsible for protecting lives from a threat. Oh, like the Deathcap last year!" Chloe bleeds into Chroknight then. "First Class were really cool then protecting the city."
Chroknight takes a moment and shifts their position. "Uh, I just think, we already fought a bunch of people yesterday, so a different kind of exercise other than combat would be great."
Though aside from a clutch save of that plane, Chroknight had done their best to avoid throwing a punch and worked simply to protect their allies. Not that Chloe expected to get called out on that.
Andromeda snorts. "I was on the other side of that fight, and all of you were just ambers and greens." She gestures vaguely to her eyes. "Means you could use work."