Alert, Alert! Paradox containment protocols initiated. Paradox fragment isolated. Timeline stabilized. Alert, paradox fragment hostile!
"F+&&, f$$@, f@!&," Chroknight swears as they struggle up to their feet. The tree Andromeda was rampaging, everyone was fighting and struggling against even more plants coming at them. It was chaos, and there was one thing that was on their mind - did they make too much noise in the timeline and draw in the sharks?
"Sun power?" They catch the tail end of Andromeda's request and see Gui attempting to create an illusion that would work. Not seeing a way to assist there, they look where they can help - and seeing Sam crushed by vines, they zip over to her and grab her to try and reverse the damage before it happens!
"No waaaaaaaay." Archie stands stunned as Jessie in his body generates living matter. He can't do that, thinking about it now, the spider dupes should've been a give-away as his clones can only look exactly like Archie. "How'd you do that!" He shouts. He stares at the massive spider dumbfounded. "Wait a minute, I can control it! Go kill the tree!" He commands and the massive spider crawls out the window and scuttles over to the tree foe.
It attempts to sink its massive mandibles into a fleshy bit of Entdromeda.
Archie thinks deeply, if she can use both of their powers, maybe he can. Tarzan time! He steps outside through the window and flings a web up to the roof and swings down harmlessly. Standing a safe distance away he begins to try and generate strings of sticky web to hinder the tree.
"Woah, this is cool. I'm like some sort of Man Spider! Or, ummm The Human Spider! Oh, Spider-Man! Or maybe Spider-Girl!" he declares as he fails to web up the tree.
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Andromeda takes advantage of the tree creature's distraction by sending another blast of force at it. The air ripples and impacts the barky skin, causing a concussive burst of sound and pressure that echoes across the garden! However, its own sheath of florokinesis ablates the attack and it merely staggers against the blow!
Andromeda's sheath deflects the blowback of force easily. She gives an instruction to Aquarelle, but a bit of mistranslation happens. Regardless, the French-Canadian conjures up a glowing image of a smiling sun, brilliantly bright compared to the silvery starlight upon the garden!
Entdromeda sways back and forth anticipating more attacks, but the golden glow of the happy sun distracts it! It stumbles toward the image, reaching up like a child desiring a ball!
Chroknight reacts to Statian getting dragged off into the animated hedges still steaming from their dousing of weedkiller. They risk more temporal shenanigans by rewinding time for Statian! In the blink of an eye, Statian is spat out of the bushes, but Chroknight is in her place, wrapped up and squeezed by the vines!
Then, while Entdromeda reaches for the illusory light, a huge, glossy black spider leaps out of the darkness and sinks its fang into its trunk! The tree creature roars and knocks the spider away, but just then another figure swoops out of the sky! Can Jessie swing from a thread? Take a look, overhead!
Exhibiting a hybrid between Jessie's and his powers, Archie generates webbing that he sends across the tree! Unfortunately, the webs do not seem strong enough to stymie the creature! Then, when the giant spider is smacked, Archie feels the impact through his temporary body!
|
With a bit of encouragement, Indarius finally shakes off the effects of the potion and stops retching into the bush. Looking up at where Sam had gotten dragged off to. "Sam!?" Watching Eliana and a blur, which he can only assume is Chroknight take off into the brush he guesses they've got it handled.
He rights himself and moves to engage with the new threat only to be granted full frontal access to a micro sun. Thankfully even in his inebriated state he was able to protect his own sensitive vision with a nictitating eyelid flicking closed as his pupils narrowed to verticle slits. The combination made it mostly bearable.
"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size who you already hate!"
He calls to Entdromeda as she whirls against the other people around her.
"Stop-"
They struggle against the vines, but they're crushing, choking, their armor sending off more warnings as they can't break free.
Hazards exceeding safe parameters. Recommend termination of loop.
"Dammit, all right! Sorry - see you all later -"
With that, Chroknight focused - and traveled back in time to before they even went to Beebee's, ending up at Mortal Peril where their armor gets put away, and-
Chloe suddenly remembered how the party ended, and nearly dropped her scanner as she was inputting new inventory. She shivers a bit, worried and wondering how the others were doing without her.
And then she remembers she left Beebee at the party.
"Oh no..."
She texts her best friend immediately.
Chloe: I heard that Chroknight had to suddenly leave
Chloe: Do you think you can ask someone like Indarius for help getting home?
Aquarelle's smiling sun shines upon Indarius, as if it was a spotlight. "Good luck, buddy!" He says, before getting as far away from the dragon as possible.
As Entdromeda was about to smack the large spider, against his own instincts Aquarelle wills a secondary spider to appear right next to it, creating a double image to hopefully protect the creepy thing.
As Chronknight takes her place, Sam grabs her tablet to weed kill everything, but she doesn't have her tablet, it had been ripped from her hands.
And then Chronknight is gone. The spike of muted panic is swiftly dispelled when the body is non existence.
The red headed hacker comes out of the hedge hack-less, with just her threaded correctors to help. "Enemy shares traits from both Quercus Robur (or insert proper species of tree) and Homo Sapien, enough mobility and intellect for reactions only. It is incapable of tactical thinking."
After the moment of a slight frown, Sam studies the battle field and sees a giant spider about to be squashed. Spider means Jessie, Giant... Phalanx? Another version appearing means Aquarelle attempting to distract the bark beast.
Distraction is about misdirection. Two spiders, make the enemy focus on one she wanted it to attack. Grabbing a chunk of the broken lamppost with a thick weave of her threads, she tossed the heavy pole in the way of the tree, in the way toward the real spider, making the path to the fake one easier.
Andromeda stops snapping orders, goes quiet.
Why is Eliana the only one listening? Why do they think this thing is driven by my animus? Do they think I'm always on the brink of crushing them? Maybe it's just Indarius... and Gui.
A scything arc of force smashes down one side of the tree, slapping the branches away from her with casual strength.
Let's just end this thing before it makes all of them hate me.
Archie fights valiantly, standing proud attempting to web up tree he smiles and feels the wind on his face, and his bare legs. He glances down to see his plaid skirt and feminine legs. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Not my body.
He then valiantly turns and heads back to the safety of his dorm room.
"Sorry about that, got a bit to overzealous." He chuckles sheepishly as he climbs back through the window.
"Maybe try making a rocket launcher or something. I dunno. Blow up the tree. Maybe a spider rocket launcher. A rocket launcher that shoots explosive spiders." He suggests.
Chloe finishes up her restocking and closes the shop for the evening after shooing out the last customers playing just one more round of whatever card game they had been playing.
Once home, her father has a late supper ready along with a concerned expression on his face. When she sits down, he shows her a video apparently uploaded on Mortal Peril's Infini-book page that someone had taken of her ranting to a customer about how Witchslave: the Beckoning is a borderline plagiarized piece of trash media that is misogynistic in its portrayal and still somehow popular enough to generate its own line of games and minis.
"Why would you be doing this in front of the customers?!?"
Aquarelle and Statian work together to defend the large spider that suddenly appeared and joined the fray. The decoy gets smashed instead of the real one!
As Chroknight disappears from the fracas, Indarius tries to draw the attention of Entdromeda. Thinking that whatever rudimentary intelligence the creature has would want to focus its ire on him, he calls out to it. It's not until Aquarelle's spotlight is shone up the dragon that the plant monster reacts to his provoke. It grabs Indy by his long neck with a branchy limb and squeezes!
Aquarelle's divided attention means that he fails to notice the writhing roots just beneath his feet! He's too late to react when they burst from the ground and wrap around his legs and drag him up to his chest in the earth!
Deciding to protect his borrowed body, Archie retreats back to his room and tries to get Jessie to creatively use his powers!
"Are you serious?!?" she asks incredulously. "How would that even work?" She concentrates, but only manages to create a giant funnel web just outside Archie's window, from which several cat-sized spiders crawl out of!
Jessie looks woozy all of a sudden. "That, uh, isn't as easy as... it..." She passes out!
Andromeda sets aside any efforts to direct the team's tactics and focuses on ending the threat. She sends another telekinetic blast at the temporal anomaly, and this time finally batters through its toughness!
Indy feels the limbs clamping down on him slacken, and with the noise of a mighty tree toppling, Entdromeda falls!
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Indy was about to make a quip as the giant tree finally sees him as the main threat instead of the rest of the crew. But then he's squeezed tightly, too tightly, hold on that's way too.
The world quickly fades from his vision and he goes limp in the root-like hands of Entdromeda before he can even get the satisfaction of watching it collapse.
That was stupid. Why did you even bother telling them what to do. They didn't listen; they got hurt, and you were the right weapon to use anyways. Don't pretend.
Andromeda's normal triumphant smile is absent.
"We should get a medic for bug girl and the dragon; check your messages in case the tin can needs help too."
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"Because he asked me what I thought of it and I gave my honest review? I didn't know someone was recording there. I would have toned it down if I'd known, but I still would have given much of the same info."
Somehow Chloe didn't feel like stretching the truth here. And then she realized she was still feeling the potion from before. Yikes.
"Whay that video doesn't show is me pointing to Craftworlds as the alternative and him buying the first three volumes. They trust my opinion, even if it can be loud and sometimes inflammatory."
...and then something came up that she had never invoked before. "Mom would have approved of me sticking to my guns than pandering sexist trash."
Sam checks on Indy and Jessie to determine if they are in any immediate danger, using her phone of all things to send messages to the school's medical onsite medical team, then moves over to start digging Aquarelle out of the hole. Her threads carefully disintegrating lines into the earth around him, an inch or more away depending on how possible it would be to cut through him.
She also quickly sends a text to Chronknight.
Station: Tree destroyed. Are you in danger or need of medical attention?"
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Her father looks hurt by her last remark. Old pain lines his face as he stands slowly from his seat and moves into the kitchen. "딸, you say these things to hurt. What is bothering you?"
Andromeda and Statian quickly realize that the battle has drawn an audience! Aquarelle, too, eventually notices that there's a crowd of students and Daedalus staff that are slowly approaching.
With Entdromeda defeated, Eliana gets the rest of the plants under control, hushing them and bidding them to sleep. A glow of runes suddenly flares around her as Professor Mathers steps close. "Eliana?" he says sternly, taking in the scene. He focuses on the collapsed tree creature. "You have a tree already."
"I hate that one. I want one I can love," she says petulantly.
He glares sternly at her. "What of your promise?"
Eliana gestures toward Andromeda. "That one is not human. For the moment."
Professor Mathers does a double-take at the green-skinned Bull. "Tim," he mutters under his breath.
Meanwhile, Ms. Foster and Ms. Vallejo oversee a team of Daedalus staff as they tend to Indarius. "Quickly, get him to medical!" the wolf woman shouts, leaning in. "He's breathing, but it's shallow."
In a scene reminiscent of the time days ago when Johnny had to get rushed off, Indarius's unconscious body is loaded on a bed of a campus vehicle and moved to the main building where the medical station is!
* * *
Statian figures out that Jessie just overtaxed Archie's body in generating too much material and passed out. She's already starting to wake, and in the maybe not-so-gentle care of Archie. But at least he's got a reason to make sure his body is taken care of.
While she and Aquarelle struggle to dig his way out of the ground now that the roots have relaxed their grip, they see a sleek, black-furred cat big enough to take his head off in one bite stride out of the darkness up to them! It sniffs Gui once, then reshapes to that of Ne'veah! "Do I even want to ask?" she says with a smile, stands up, then offers him her hand.
* * *
Andromeda sees Xaiara walking up to her, wearing pajama bottoms and a gray tank top. "You smell different," she says when she gets close.
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"What's bothering me? I'm not sure where to start." Chloe is trying to not get worked up here. She wipes her eyes before crossing her arms defensively. "...you never talk about her. It's been almost seven years and I still don't know the whole story. Only that you came home alone that rainy day and she was gone. I never even got to see her body. And I know you do your best, and I try to give you space and be a good daughter but I just feel like sometimes the only time we talk is when I mess up, and we don't discuss any solutions, just point out what I did wrong."
Chloe presses her hand up to her mouth. She hates this brutal honesty. But then again, how many 'I'm fine' or 'I'm okay' did she force through as a lie over the years?
"...Mom was the one who helped me to figure out how to fix things. I miss that. I miss her. And I hate the people responsible for taking her from us."
"Oh crap!" He manages to say as his body begins to sag. He moves forward to try and catch Jessie in his body as she falls. "Probably shouldn't have suggested anything." He mutters as Jessie stirs.
"Just take it easy. You'll get better soon, back to normal in about 45 seconds. I've had lots of practice with passing out." Archie suggests helpfully.
Andromeda nods at Xaiara's assessment. "I am currently plant-based to some extent. I should revert over time, but I should also relocate to where I cannot take root before then. It was interesting, but I think I would prefer to know the effects before drinking anything else Tim makes." She pauses and considers. "I would also like to know more about Eliana's tree, and why I would be one she could love instead, but... I do not think I am thinking clearly about her.
"Please help me avoid her for now. That will make it less likely that I unwisely agree with her."
Her father grips the countertop as if it were keeping him from getting dragged down into the earth. He looks away, shaking his head as he wars with himself.
A trembling hand pulls out his old, battered cell phone years out of date, and turns it on. He hits a couple buttons to put an old voice mail on speaker. It's Chloe's mother's voice!
SAVED TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 4:32 PM "Hey Joon, calling to let you know the Skyrail is stalled. Bit of a battle up ahead. Halcyon, go fig. But wanted to let you know, Hal-Con 75th Anniversary was a success! Passed out so many flyers, got a lot of interest in the shop! I think we're going to make it!"
<distant sound of booming and crashing>
"WOW! I wonder if my phone picked that up? They're really going at it. Anyway--"
<close-by whooshing sound>
"Hey! That was Ultra-Star! Must be serious up ahead. Mmmm not sure who that is... Maybe Helter-Skelter? Oh, yeah! That energy blast looked like the one from last week."
<closer sound of booming>
"Heheh, getting a bit closer to the rail car, now. Uh... anyway, I'm so grateful for you, backing my dream to open the shop. I really--"
<loud whoosh, followed by crash and screams>
"Way too close. Hate being caught in a rail... I'm sure it'll be... Oh, God. Oooooh no... No. Oh, God oh God. Joon? I--I love you, and tell Chl--"
Her father stops the recording once there's nothing but screaming and the sound of battle. He can't bring himself to say anything.
Jessie sits up slowly, still looking out of it. "Did we win?" she asks before looking down at herself and getting briefly surprised by her chest, then marveling at looking at her body from the outside. "Oh, yeah. That's really a thing. It happened."
She moves to a couch to catch her breath. "I don't hear any more fighting out there." Her eyes widen. "My spiders! How are they? And the big ones I just made! Did they get squished?"
If Arche tries to sense them, he finds them in various hiding spots around the campus grounds, including the big black widow spider!
* * *
Outside, Xaiara nods at the request. She locates Eliana in the garden, then starts to escort Andromeda away from her. "Do you want to go inside some place? Or we could go to the roof." She points up to the clocktower on the main building. "I like it up there."
* * *
Indarius wakes up in an operating theater. Medical equipment is all around him, showing readouts and data from all the sensors strapped to his body.
"Welcome back, Mr. Dorn. It was touch and go there for a bit, but I'm happy to report you're good as new." Indy can't tell which doctor said that, because all of them had their mouths behind masks.
Before he can get up or ask anything, he hears, "You should rest. Here. This'll help in the healing process."
Darkness takes him again.
”I’m not upset with you,” Max says. ”Shocked, caught off guard, embarrassed. But I am grateful that you were able to help me become a human again. Or at least, look like one.”
She looks down at her body again. ”So, is this like then potion? Will it wear off in a few days?”
Tim's eyes twinkle in amusement. "No, you only get to be human around me."
He laughs. "Kidding! No, it's not going to wear off. Hiding their demonic features has always been something succubi can do. Now you can too."
”So I can switch back and forth at any time now?” Max asks. She attempts to concentrate on changing.
"Yeah, but you might want--" Tim begins, but it's too late to stop her.
The change doesn't come immediately, but when it hits, it hits Max hard. Euphoric, sexual energy courses through her as she transforms back into the demon!
"-- privacy..." Tim finishes.
”Ah! Ay, Dios!” Max moans as the energy suddenly surges within her. Her yellow pupils dilate and her breath quickens. Her hands move unbidden to her chest, the blanket and any sense of decency forgotten in the wake of the intense sensations.
Tim whistles nonchalantly, pretending that he's not witnessing Max's reaction.
He turns to study one of the sigils closely while discreetly adjusting himself. "Whenever you're ready," he says. "That-- that looked intense."
Gritting her teeth, Max tries to concentrate enough to reverse the change again and switch back to human form.
Fortunately, she manages to do just that. She sighs with relief and falls back on the bed, breathing heavily, hair disheveled. ”Oof. Anything else you should tell me, Tim? No more surprises, por favor.”
"Naah, I think I'll let you figure the rest of it on your own. Don't get me wrong, this was a lot of fun, so if you're in the mood to keep exploring... but you said no surprises."
He moves to sit on the bed next to where Max is lying, making sure not to sit on her hair. He gives her a pillow so she can prop her head up. "Take your time. I think I've totally disrupted your status quo tonight, so if you need to rest here, it's cool. Mi casa su casa.
"That's about all the Spanish I know."
"Thank you," Max says. She takes several deep breaths, lying on the pillow. Eventually, she turns on her side to look at Tim.
"For real, though... Thank you. It's been almost a year, but I still remember how hard it was being stuck as a demon. It blew up my entire life. Now that I'm famous, some things are easier, but some things are even harder. But now I don't have to be DD all the time. I can be Max again, or, well, the Max I am now. Maybe the Max I always was inside..."
She smiles and brushes some hair back out of her face with a hand. "It's hard having to be on all the time. Sometimes, I just want to be a normal girl. Will you keep this to yourself? I don't want everybody to know just yet."
Tim laces his hands behind his head. "Well, I was planning on streaming this whole thing on Infini-gram, but since you asked nicely..." He gives her a wink. "Yeah. I can keep a secret."
When they make eye contact, he freezes for a moment. Then he forces a laugh. "You are still very naked in my room. Let me grab you a t-shirt. All my panties are in the wash, so you'll have to settle for boxer briefs... or go commando."
"I'll take what I can get," Max laughs.
She looks over to the parasitic costume floating in its cage. ”What are you going to do with that?”
Tim moves to a chest of drawers and pulls out a black t-shirt with a bright white pentagram on the back and tosses it to Max. "That? I'll dispose of it."
”Good,” Max says with a nod of finality. She turns so her back is to Tim, then she sits up to pull the shirt on over her head. Then she turns back around.
”Hey, so, uh, I wanted to apologize. When I came here, I had this idea of what you might be like based on my interactions with some of your other family members. But, you’ve been very thoughtful and considerate all night long. I shouldn’t have judged you prematurely. So, sorry.”
When Max turns around, Tim is at his steamer chest, pulling out a pair of frosty mugs and bottles as if the chest was a freezer. "Don't be sorry," he says. "All of us Mathers are right bastards. Some of us just hide it better."
He passes a mug to her as he sits down on the bed beside her. "Hope you like root beer. And if you don't, try this anyway. It's artisanal, way better than the mass produced stuff." He pops open the bottles and slowly pours the foamy drink into the ice-cold mugs.
He pours himself one and waits for the foam to die down before he takes a drink. "Dear Old Dad raised us to be terrible people. Part of his philosophy, I guess."
Max takes a drink along with him. ”Yeah, well who are now doesn’t necessarily define who you will be in the future. I’m living proof of that.”
She glances to the door. ”We’ve been gone a while. Should we get back to the party? There were still a lot of potions left.”
"F@~@ the party," he says bluntly. "Most of the good potions were already taken. Besides, you just made me promise to keep your new secret, and you want to go out to show your friends?" He smiles.
Tim meets Max's eyes again. "If you're anxious to leave, I won't stop you. Hell, it's probably smart. I am a Mathers, after all. Who knows what devious plans I've got up my sleeve?" His smile becomes daring. "Or are you the kind of girl who'd love to find out?"
Max’s heart starts to beat more quickly again, but this time it is due to another emotion besides fear. She leans back in the bed and takes another sip of root beer. ”I am the curious type,” she admits.
Tim's smile causes dimples to appear on his cheeks. He clinks his mug against hers. "All right then. Let's get some candles lit."
He hands off his mug to Max, then hops up from his spot and starts gathering candles haphazardly spread around the room. He doesn't set them in any particular order, but makes sure they're upright and secure. With a overly dramatic gesture like he's casting a spell, produces a book of matches.
After a few more minutes, he kills the unnatural florescent lights so his room is bathed in flickering candlelight. "Much better, don't you think? And now, for my most sinister action yet!" He drops to his knees in front of the bed, then slides under it. Max can hear Tim swear under his breath, crawl out to grab his phone and turn on the flashlight. Then he goes back under his bed.
The pop-hiss-crackle of a vinyl record comes through a pair of speakers, and Type-O Negative starts playing.
”What a villain!” Max laughs. She giggles and shifts in the bed to a slightly more comfortable position.
Tim crawls out, dusts himself off, and joins Max on the bed. "The warlock and the demon, chilling."
”What sort of nefarious mischief will they get up to together?” Max asks, quirking an eyebrow.
"The darkest of deeds! The most profane of rituals!" Tim grabs his mug and finishes his root beer. >Burp<
He laughs, turning to make eye contact with her. "Heh. Um. So... yeah. Mischief." He moves a lock of hair away from Max's face.
Max leans closer into Tim’s touch, silently inviting him to make his move.
His fingers weave into Max's hair, gently caressing her scalp and drawing her closer to him. His head moves until their lips are touching. Tim pauses there, letting their breath mingle while their lips play lightly against each other. Then he pulls her into a full kiss, his other hand slipping around Max's waist to coax her onto his lap.
Max returns the kiss, sliding forward onto Tim's lap. Of course, while Tim gave her a shirt to wear, but neglected to give her any bottoms...
Tim remains strictly PG, above-the-clothes. "Sorry. I'm bound by Dear Old Dad to remain, well, 'pure.' Can't play hide the, heh, you know." He tries to play it off. "It can be convenient sometimes. Like, whenever a ritual calls for the blood of a virgin, I just use my own. Takes the uncertainty out of it too."
"It's okay. I wouldn't want to pressure you into something you're not ready for yet, anyway," Max says. "We can just cuddle..."
"Who's saying I'm not ready for it?" he says bitterly. "This is just one more example of Dear Old Dad's control. And there's stuff we can do, just... not that."
==============================
At the end of every session, choose one:
• Grow closer to the team. Explain
who made you feel welcome; give
Influence to that character and clear
a condition or mark potential.
• Grow into your own image of yourself.
Explain how you see yourself and why;
shift one Label up and another down.
• Grow away from the team. Explain why
you feel detached. Take Influence over
you away from another character.
Sam waits outside the surgical room in stillness. All dampeners at their max, like they are most times in medical centers (unless under pain meds which mess with everything).
After every battle, she makes reports, comparisons, suggestions for improvements. But they never have the suggested team meetings to go over them.
Instead this time she simply sends Chronknight a play by play of the rest of the battle, an update every time a nurse pops out to give updates on Inradius, and adds a simple thank you for helping her out of the vines.
Statian: ...
Statian: ...
Statian: ...
Statian: ...
After the gratitude about the vines, there are three dots over and over, for five minutes as she formulates her thoughts.
Statian: ...
Statian: ...
Statian: ...
Finally the next message comes.
Statian: chemically compulsive honesty takes away free will and Tim should be help accountable... Still, thank you for sharing your past with me
|
|
"Bwuh?" He spots the doctors around him and even in his lax state his body tenses for the briefest of moments. One of his greatest fears after becoming this all those paranoid over the top thoughts causing his heart rate to spike for only a few brief flashes. "N-noooo" then the lights and faces are gone as quick as they came.
She's unable to say anything as she wipes her eyes free of more tears. Her phone buzzes, but she's not in a place where she can communicate properly. So she gets up from the table wordlessly and throws her arms around her father in a hug, soaking his shirt in saline as she grieves all over again.
It takes her a few minutes to finally settle herself and actually feel her throat unclench to speak. "I can't promise not to be opinionated but I'll tone it down for the customers." She manages to squeak out. "...I love you, 아빠."
Later on, Statian gets a text from Chroknight.
Chroknight: I would have told you even without the potion.
Below that, Chroknight adds something else.
Chroknight: I might need your help with something.
Chroknight: I may have to go back in time farther than I've done before.
Chroknight: I could use someone who can help me not break the world.
Tim scrounges up a pair of shorts so Max can make her exit with a modicum of decency. As he admires her curves, he gets a devious smile. "You know, I should be demanding a service for loaning you clothes. But I'll call us even if you promise me one thing. If Constance ever finds out about you and me? Take video of her reaction and send it to me."
Archie appears next to her, handing her a bottle of water. "Still Jessie," she says, pointing to her face and body. "I'm trying to, like, keep busy 'cause the weirdness is, you know, weird. Can I sit? Everything okay?"
"Ha, I'll do just that," Max says. She gives Tim another kiss on the cheek before leaving his room. As she makes her way back to her own quarters, she pulls up her social feeds to see what she's missed since last night.
While she and Aquarelle struggle to dig his way out of the ground now that the roots have relaxed their grip, they see a sleek, black-furred cat big enough to take his head off in one bite stride out of the darkness up to them! It sniffs Gui once, then reshapes to that of Ne'veah! "Do I even want to ask?" she says with a smile, stands up, then offers him her hand.
Aquarelle takes her hand, not particularly happy to be covered in dirt. "Depends on de question... if dis was related to Andromeda, no. If I need e bath and you want to help... well, dat you would not need to ask as well." He shrugs, smiling. "I do not know where I am going with dis."
Seeing Indarius being taken away by the Medics, Aquarelle decides to make a round and see how the others are doing. He sees Andromeda leaving with the metal winged girl, Statian going after Indarius, so he ends up looking for Archie-Jessie.
"Yeah! Tree's dead." he grins widely as he watches his body rise. "All the spiders are fine. At least I think they are. They're all hiding" He continues.
He stands up straight and stretches. "Whoof, what a crazy night."
_______
Archie stands outside his bathroom, really really really having to go. They never got a chance to discuss body swapping ground rules due to the tree attack. Well, he knew this was gonna happen eventually. It'll probably be fine if I just stare at the ceiling the whole time. Yeah, that should work.
The day after, Archie heads out the cafeteria dressed as he normally would. Clad in a Misfits t-shirt and some really baggy jeans, he sits down at a table with a feast of sausage and pancakes. Man I am so hungover. After he finishes up eating he begins wandering around the campus trying to find Jessie in his body.
Eventually he finds her and Sam outside the med bay. "Hey, Jessie. I've been looking for you. I think you've got my phone. Should be in the back pocket."
Outside, Xaiara nods at the request. She locates Eliana in the garden, then starts to escort Andromeda away from her. "Do you want to go inside some place? Or we could go to the roof." She points up to the clocktower on the main building. "I like it up there."
"Is it sufficiently durable for me to touch down on that roof? Or is it otherwise accessible?"
Xaiara turns back around and looks Andromeda up and down. "Oh yeah." Her face scrunches as she thinks. "Should be safe. And you'd be light enough for me to carry."
She holds out her hand.
Andromeda hesitates. "I know you won't be injured; there will be pain."
Xaiara lifts one shoulder in a dismissive shrug. "Whatever. You want up or not?"
"...Yes." It's okay. She's like you
Andromeda takes her hand. Xaiara's wings snap to life, beating the air so fast they create a bass thrumming sound. She lifts off the ground easily, though when it's time for Andromeda to be lifted there's a moment of extra effort before she feels her feet leave the ground.
She doesn't make any sweeping acrobatic maneuvers. She just angles her trajectory towards the clock tower and rises high enough to clear the eaves and vents on the main building's roof. With a grunt, Xaiara lifts Andromeda to a small crenellated walkway between the main roof and the tower.
She lets go giving her a short drop and lands solidly next to Andromeda. "Sorry. We're doing passengers next semester."
A flash of panic crosses Andromeda's face. "Can I carry them in something else? If I can put them in a car or other vehicle, then they're much easier to lift, and whatever safety features are included in the vehicle will additionally protect them from me."
She stops.
"Sorry. You have also not yet been through this curriculum."
A beat as she tries not to plan ahead for future difficulties and then she ventures, "Why do you like the clocktower?"
Xaiara shakes her hand out while leaning against the stone railing. "It's high up. Quiet. I can--" she abruptly turns her head away, drawing up her knees to her chest and letting her wings keep her steady. "Never mind that. Why would you drink something without knowing what it would do?"
"One of my teammates possesses a limited ability to alter time. If drinking Tim's concoction caused me to lose control of my powers and kill insufficiently protected people around me, then the action of preventing me from drinking it would be relatively simple to accomplish without requiring inappropriate knowledge of that defunct branch of time."
She looks to where Xaiara had been looking before she fell silent. "It was acceptably safe, and my teammates were doing it."
"That still seemed... stupid." Xaiara stares at Andromeda without any heat, but with a mixture of concern and longing.
"I'm trying stupidity. My inclination is to be driven, and to strive for excellence, and not to care who would rather I was less. A smart friend told me that she allowed herself to be perceived as less though in order to make social bonding smoother. I told her she was wrong, but... She is smarter than I am; trying her tactic was smart where mine seemed to have failed."
"Okay," Xaiara says simply, though it appears she is digesting what Andromeda said. "I don't know if being dumb will help. I don't understand the words the others say to each other. They say things like, 'rizz,' and 'gyat,' and 'bruh.' I get confused, and it does not help my social interactions."
She hugs her knees tightly to herself, staring down at the ground far below. "It's fine, though. I shouldn't have friends."
Andromeda's response is immediate. "You should have a friend; you do have a friend."
Xaiara shakes her head stiffly, not looking up. "I'm too dangerous. If I lose control again, I may never get it back. The girl who fixed me before is dead."
Andromeda nods. "I understand. She might not be the only one who can help you. They didn't drown me in rage; they kept me for years in numbness and despair, with just pain or pleasure to steer me. When I met my team, the only reason I didn't crush them is there were higher priority targets. Gui reached me; his illusions, his... hope. He found me where I was trapped inside τ-34; I couldn't have walked away without him."
Xaiara tilts her head to look at Andromeda from the corner of her eye. "I can't take that chance. The rage didn’t come from them. It's inside me."
"That's where my numbness came from too; it was the only way to survive."
Trembling, Xaiara lifts her head to show eyes glistening in the moonlight. "If you go numb, I'm not saying it's good. But if my mind goes Red? People will die."
"I don't have powers or words to bring you out of the Red; I can stop you until someone does."
With a voice low and serious, Xaiara asks, "Will you kill me if I can't be brought out? Please?"
"Instead of caging you? Yes."
She shuts her eyes and tilts her head back, the tears that had collected in her eyes now flowing down her cheeks. Tension leaches out of her as her knotted, coiled body finally relaxes for a moment.
The moment passes quickly. Xaiara draws in a sharp breath, sniffs, and wipes her eyes. "Then I do have a friend. I guess." She looks at Andromeda.
Andromeda takes a matching breath, her sheath pulses and flickers. "Here is where I would make a comforting gesture of light physical contact; there would be pain."
Xaiara shrugs again, but this time there's the hint of a smile. "Whatever."
Aquarelle takes her hand, not particularly happy to be covered in dirt. "Depends on de question... if dis was related to Andromeda, no. If I need e bath and you want to help... well, dat you would not need to ask as well." He shrugs, smiling. "I do not know where I am going with dis."
Ne'veah shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "The magic baths springs don't have any privacy. So that's a no." Once he's out of the ground, she dusts herself off. "Good night, Gui."
* * *
Archie finds his body sitting with Statian just as they're bringing out Indarius on a reinforced gurney bug enough for him and other oversized Daedalus students like Chitin. He's still a little woozy, but seems to be waking up.
"Oh, yeah." Jessie retrieves the phone and hands it to him.
Later on, Statian gets a text from Chroknight.
Chroknight: I would have told you even without the potion.
Chroknight: I might need your help with something.
Chroknight: I may have to go back in time farther than I've done before.
Chroknight: I could use someone who can help me not break the world.
Statian gets a tiny ping and sees the messages. Her head tilts slightly to the side at the request and her eyes soften a gradient level of 1 at the first line. Then she replies.
Statian: the answer is yes, anytime.
Statian: additional information would allow for better preparation
Archie appears next to her, handing her a bottle of water. "Still Jessie," she says, pointing to her face and body. "I'm trying to, like, keep busy 'cause the weirdness is, you know, weird. Can I sit? Everything okay?"
Sam puts away her tablet, and scoots over to allow her friend in her teammate's body to sit. "Statistically the most common activity used by adults of our age bracket are 'mobile games', I could compile a list of the most popular and engaging ones?" the red head offers, and gets a look back, which her matrix tells her that her response was a deflection and Jessie knows that.
Her brow furrows slightly, then she answers the other question "I do not like hospitals." she answers simply, and then at her matrix's prodding continues "My mother passed from cancer when I was a child. She choose to avoid all the treatments and pass naturally, so hospitals should not cause any emotional reaction, but they do." bright anger wanted to rip through her, followed closely by smothering grief. But with her dampeners firmly in place she only frowned, deeper than normal.
Ne'veah shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "The magic baths springs don't have any privacy. So that's a no." Once he's out of the ground, she dusts herself off. "Good night, Gui."
"Good night, Ne'veah." Tired, Gui slugs himself towards the magic springs for a bath, not really caring about the lack of privacy in the least.
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Eva: here's my #
________________________________
My Phone: sorry that I was not able to spend time with you at the party. I hope I did not disrupt your evening when the tree attacked
My Phone: I did not think there would be a tree attack
My Phone: I hoped that I could come back to the party when I was feeling better and spend time with you again
Chloe Parker my young: If there's something you want to do together later I'll carve out time for you
My Phone: delete
My Phone: you don't have to "carve out time unquote for me
My Phone: I'll still help your store
________________________________
My Phone: When cronine asks you out you shouldn't trust them. They were flirting with everyone at that party. Just ask. BB
My Phone: Crow night
She stares at her phone, out the window, back at her phone, and then decides just to text.
My Phone: The tree wasn't me. I wouldn't try to hurt you like that. Gooey
My Phone: I know how to smell. Gooey
My Phone: Spell
My Phone: I didn't send Ariana to help you because I didn't want to help you
My Phone: Eliana
My Phone: Is that unclear? I'm not trying to say I didn't want to save you from the plants
***
Andromeda waits for Indarius to wake back up, but she's pretty sure she's missed him at least once. She doesn't like staying quietly in one place if she can help it. All the monitoring equipment and beeps and white lab coats don't make her any calmer either. And being agitated around so much sensitive equipment and vulnerable people is dangerous, which agitates her.
She takes a lot of breaks.
But finally he wakes up before she can lose her mind again.
"That was stupid," she greets him with slightly relieved tension. "You shouldn't have come to fight while you were still in the middle of uncontrolled emesis, it's stupid. You shouldn't have tried to get a tree with power similar to mine to hit you; you have a glass jaw and it's stupid. You should have listened to me about the sun, or if your transmutation abilities work on a similar wavelength to Tim's, then you should have told us that and done that instead of getting choked out by a tree, which was stupid. If you haven't squashed your beef with Eliana, showing her that a tree can choke you out that easily is even stupider."
My Phone: I didn't send Ariana to help you because I didn't want to help you
My Phone: Eliana
My Phone: Is that unclear? I'm not trying to say I didn't want to save you from the plants
Sam sits in the hallway of the medical ward, her tablet buzzing, making her look. She reads, tilts, reads again, listens to what her matrix says,a nd ignores it.
She types and sends.
Statian: I wanted to hurt her."
was all Sam answered, and turned off her tablet to not have to answer something else.
But then Andromeda shows up to watch over Indarius. Sam's green eyes widen, then she looks away.
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"Oh"
Her phone buzzes and she gratefully looks at it. "Oh."
Oh. She needs you to explain. "...I couldn't let you hurt her. I couldn't hurt her." Her ears, the back of her neck burn with embarrassed heat. "I thought that ... Either she'd help you, or if she didn't, then that would be enough to let me... It's okay. That you want to hurt her."
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Archie scrolls idly through his missed texts from last night and the current morning as more and more people pull up to the infirmary.
"What's everyone doing here? Surely the lizard isn't that big of a deal. Come to gloat Andromeda? Huh?" He calls after her as she enters the infirmary. "She's gonna be in there calling him stupid over and over. No wonder he doesn't want to be team leader anymore, nearly everyone makes a hobby out of being mean to him." He muses. "You guys wanna hear my Andromeda impression? Ok, here I go, "You are stupid. And you did this which was stupid. Why didn't you think about that? Are you stupid? What a redundant question, of course you are." Pretty good right?"
Sam looks back, her freckled cheeks tinged a tad pink. She listens but doesn't understand, so she manages a soft "Why?"
"I'm- I am not here to gloat. I didn't beat him, and I'm not Here to beat him, and I'm-" She stops, stills herself, looking from Phalanx to Sam as she waits for her sheath to calm enough that she can see clearly through it again. "I'm here to protect you.
"I'm going inside."
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Sam's brow furrows, signally she doesn't understand. But she says nothing else to stop Andromeda from entering the room. Then she looks at Arching/Jessie, another furrow. "Indarius is our teammate" she says, referencing his comment about lizard being a big deal, without giving a helpful reference about what she referring to.
She then stands. "Good night, Phalanx." she tells her teammate, pauses then pats his/her shoulder, quickly "Thank you for waiting with me." then she turns to leave, pauses and then asks him "I am hungry, would you like to get a..." she pulls out her tablet again, looking through the options open to them in the cafeteria, locating the food that is the easiest to dissemble. "... taco with me?"
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Andromeda waits for Indarius to wake back up, but she's pretty sure she's missed him at least once. She doesn't like staying quietly in one place if she can help it. All the monitoring equipment and beeps and white lab coats don't make her any calmer either. And being agitated around so much sensitive equipment and vulnerable people is dangerous, which agitates her.
She takes a lot of breaks.
But finally he wakes up before she can lose her mind again.
"That was stupid," she greets him with slightly relieved tension. "You shouldn't have come to fight while you were still in the middle of uncontrolled emesis, it's stupid. You shouldn't have tried to get a tree with power similar to mine to hit you; you have a glass jaw and it's stupid. You should have listened to me about the sun, or if your transmutation abilities work on a similar wavelength to Tim's, then you should have told us that and done that instead of getting choked out by a tree, which was stupid. If you haven't squashed your beef with Eliana, showing her that a tree can choke you out that easily is even stupider."
Indarius having just come out of everything looks at Andromeda looking quite languid for now, though the anesthesia was quickly running it's final course. On the bed he flickered from happy that someone came to check on him, to annoyed that he was getting a lecture.
It took him a while to get his throat to work enough to actually speak which accounted for several false starts before it was finally cleared enough to be heard.
"What kind of hero would I be if I didn't try to help in whatever way I could? Just because you aren't at one-hundred percent doesn't mean you get to slack off. Stop using complex words like emphasis. I had to get Tim's potion done with early." He narrowed his true eyelids at her, "Your still green by the way. You do not want drunk me casting any spells, and are lucky that I had the brain still to not. Could have created an illusion of the sun, could have created a micro-sun and killed half of Halcyon, could have opened up a portal to the surface of the sun. My magic is powerful so I couldn't rely on it then. Besides better that it attacked me than someone squishy like Gui, Sam, or Eliana. Besides I feel great now, good as new even."
He wanted to thank her for her weird way of showing what he thought was concern but offered a laying shrug instead and looked her in the eyes in a moment of surprising clarity. "I gotta ask, if you think it's all so stupid why are you doing it? Why be a hero if everyone who does the same is stupid for it?"
Indy's hand shifts slightly on the bed looking like he was gonna reach for Andromeda before second guessing that she'd hate that especially unprompted.
"I know there's more to it than just some mission, some b&%!@&~~ government mind trick, there's good in you Andr- Angelica. I know it, you aren't just some shield, or some sledgehammer, you're a person and despite all the 's+&+' you give me a good one."
She then stands. "Good night, Phalanx." she tells her teammate, pauses then pats his/her shoulder, quickly "Thank you for waiting with me." then she turns to leave, pauses and then asks him "I am hungry, would you like to get a..." she pulls out her tablet again, looking through the options open to them in the cafeteria, locating the food that is the easiest to dissemble. "... taco with me?"
Archie smiles, "Yeah sure, I could eat." He slides his phone into his pocket and heads to the cafeteria. "Love me some tacos, by the way call me Archie." He takes a few more steps and stops. "Jessie, if you want to change the clothes on my body or clean up and whatever, you can head over to my dorm. Ryan should let you in." He suggests to Jessie. "Or you come get tacos and we can do that after?"
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Chloe: I heard that Chroknight had to suddenly leave
Chloe: Do you think you can ask someone like Indarius for help getting home?
________________________________
Beebee: Yeah, that hero has a bad habit of ducking out. Hope that they stop the moth clan again. Though I hear this time was a tree?Beebee: Tree clan? You think that might be a thing?
Beebee: Anyway, you missed a great party. I have a tail!!!
Beebee: Dont tell maai and babu. I might be able to avoid them
Beebee: Maybe not. We'll see. Can't wait to show you... gonna be so jealous
Beebee: Maybe about one more thing, too. Squeee!!
* * *
Eva: here's my #
________________________________
My Phone: sorry that I was not able to spend time with you at the party. I hope I did not disrupt your evening when the tree attacked
My Phone: I did not think there would be a tree attack
My Phone: I hoped that I could come back to the party when I was feeling better and spend time with you again
________________________________
Ava: I'm not upsetAva: Glad for the excuse not to take a potion. I wasn't sure what would happen, so decided not to risk it.
Ava: We can connect later, whenever you're feeling better
* * *
Jessie watches the interplay between Sam and Archie nervously, like she's not sure if she's allowed to laugh at the impression of Andromeda. "Tacos? Umm, maybe? I'm really hungry. Don't think I've ever been this hungry. Though I do want to change clothes." She takes a sniff near the armpit. "And maybe take a bath? I, um, promise not to look, or, you know, feel too much."
Archie realizes that his body is capable of blushing.
Indarius having just come out of everything looks at Andromeda looking quite languid for now, though the anesthesia was quickly running it's final course. On the bed he flickered from happy that someone came to check on him, to annoyed that he was getting a lecture.
It took him a while to get his throat to work enough to actually speak which accounted for several false starts before it was finally cleared enough to be heard.
"What kind of hero would I be if I didn't try to help in whatever way I could? Just because you aren't at one-hundred percent doesn't mean you get to slack off. Stop using complex words like emphasis. I had to get Tim's potion done with early." He narrowed his true eyelids at her, "You're still green by the way. You do not want drunk me casting any spells, and are lucky that I had the brain still to not. Could have created an illusion of the sun,, could have created a micro-sun and killed half of Halcyon, could have opened up a portal to the surface of the sun. My magic is powerful so I couldn't rely on it then. Besides better that it attacked me than someone squishy like Gui, Sam, or Eliana. Besides I feel great now, good as new even."
He wanted to thank her for her weird way of showing what he thought was concern but offered a laying shrug instead and looked her in the eyes in a moment of surprising clarity. "I gotta ask, if you think it's all so stupid why are you doing it? Why be a hero if everyone who does the same is stupid for it?"
Indy's hand shifts slightly on the bed looking like he was gonna reach for Andromeda before second guessing that she'd hate that especially unprompted.
"I know there's more to it than just some mission, some b$#$&&+& government mind trick, there's good in you Andr- Angelica. I know it, you aren't just some shield, or some sledgehammer, you're a person and despite all the 's@@*' you give me, a good one."
Andromeda's jaw clenches, her fists don't ball because she knows what can happen when she balls them in anger.
"So I'm not your peer. You don't view me as a legitimate source of criticism. If you did you would listen to what I said instead of what you made up to be smarter than. Why do you get to decide there's good in me? Why do you get to choose my name? Answer fast, I might have to go soon."
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Andromeda's jaw clenches, her fists don't ball because she knows what can happen when she balls them in anger.
"So I'm not your peer. You don't view me as a legitimate source of criticism. If you did you would listen to what I said instead of what you made up to be smarter than. Why do you get to decide there's good in me? Why do you get to choose my name? Answer fast, I might have to go soon."
"I didn't make you protect Eliana, or worry about Sam, or try to pacify the... tree thing. Never ordered you to do any of that, never even asked, you chose to do those things on your own. So no I'm not deciding there's good in you, but I am telling you what I see."
He gently grabs the sheets with his claws managing not to tear the fabric. "That name is what other people call you, I didn't choose that. Would you rather I just call you Andromeda all the time and never 'try' to get to know you? Never try to make things less rocky between us, cause it's clear as day we always butt heads, less clear to me why but you obviously don't want to tell me why."
Not moving his gaze from her he wraps up, "You think I don't see you as a peer and here I am trying to get you to see that I do. Because even if it's sound advice, I can't go against my gut of trying to help people, even when I should probably sit out or let things resolve by themselves. Just like you did tonight. People you barely know or maybe don't quite care about. When danger sprung up your first actions were to protect them."
He finally looks away to the sheets covering his legs. "I guess I should stop the long winded part and just say it though. Thanks for saving them when I couldn't."
Andromeda eases, fractionally, marginally more confused than angry.
"I don't know why you decide what name to use to know me. I don't know why you think I need to be told that I want to protect people. I don't know why you don't like missions for being missions, even if you like what mine is.
"It's not the most important thing though. You should have trusted your team. You're describing your powers as too dangerous to use, and that all you could do was rid yourself of Tim's effects. You should have done that before engaging a dangerous target. Putting yourself in danger when you weren't ready didn't help; it just got you hurt. Sam was out of the way; Eliana was out of the way; Gui was using his illusions to stay out of harm's way; you just got grabbed. I don't want to let you get hurt. You're part of the team; you don't act like it. You act like you're there to save our team.
She wrinkles her nose. "And talking about barfing is grosser than emesis. It sounds like when I was in school and kids were trying to be funny. It's stupid."
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Sam is no longer high/drunk, so she does not lean in to sniff her friend. Not that she needs to, her fawn nose can smell everything. "Okay.
Washing without ocular perception will be prone to unsteadiness and accidents. Be careful. " she pulls her tablet, hacks into the cameras in the caff with ease and shows Jessie where they will be sitting.
Archie learns that Jessie's body cannot eat like he used to, feeling very full midway through his second taco.
Eventually Jessie joins them, looking cleaned up and wearing fresh clothes. "I had no idea Darren was so nice," she says. "Ryan didn't answer the door so Darren let me borrow some of his clothes." Her hunger finally gets the best of her and she tears into a taco. After the first one is done, she looks surprised. "That only made me hungrier! How many can you eat?!?" she asks Archie.
Scrolling through the social media feeds, Max finds that her audience is getting restless. There hasn't been any good action or crazy superhero weirdness involving Devil Diva lately, and she sees a growing trend of people criticizing her for focusing more on her product lines and less on getting out there and kicking butt Diva-style.
Harper has done her level best, trying to play up Max's recent philanthropic appearances, but her audience isn't having it. They want action!
What do you do??
After Archies cheeks go flush in a way he's never experienced before in his life, he chuckles nervously. "Whatever you think is best. We'll be in the cafeteria." Then he heads back down the hall rather quickly.
After finishing his first taco very rapidly, he begins to devour the second. Yet he finds himself way too full way too fast. He addresses Sam. "This kinda sucks, having such a small stomach. I want more." He sips on some sweet tea as Sam picks apart her tacos. "Tell me something, Red, did you have a good time at the party. I know it's not really your thing. Just hope you had a little fun."
Jessie soon arrives in his freshly cleaned body and begins wolfing down tacos. "I'm a guy who can always go for some grub. Now you control the power of having a very large appetite. Here have my leftover ones." He slides the remaining taco and a half over to her and smiles as he watches his body eat tacos. "It's like a mirror but not. Very strange. At least I can live vicariously through watching my own body eating food. Did I use that word right Sam?" He asks.
Max sighs. Well, better give the audience what they want. But she can’t fight crime in these borrowed clothes. She makes her way back to her room, where she puts on a mundane version of her red costume. She concentrates and unleashes her demonic essence, transforming into Devil Diva. This time, she’s ready for the intense rush of sensations, and after biting her lip and weathering the sensual storm, she heads out to find some crime to fight!
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Andromeda eases, fractionally, marginally more confused than angry.
"I don't know why you decide what name to use to know me. I don't know why you think I need to be told that I want to protect people. I don't know why you don't like missions for being missions, even if you like what mine is.
"It's not the most important thing though. You should have trusted your team. You're describing your powers as too dangerous to use, and that all you could do was rid yourself of Tim's effects. You should have done that before engaging a dangerous target. Putting yourself in danger when you weren't ready didn't help; it just got you hurt. Sam was out of the way; Eliana was out of the way; Gui was using his illusions to stay out of harm's way; you just got grabbed. I don't want to let you get hurt. You're part of the team; you don't act like it. You act like you're there to save our team.
She wrinkles her nose. "And talking about barfing is grosser than emesis. It sounds like when I was in school and kids were trying to be funny. It's stupid."
Indy hummed throatily, partially to keep it cleared, but mostly cause that's just how it worked for him now. Always a sonorous grand thing even when he didn't try.
"I mean you aren't wrong.""I'm trying to stop something that may not even come, and I'm still coming to terms with you all being different people means. You aren't gonna make the same exact mistakes as the ones I worked with before, and me worrying about what might happen before it actually does isn't really helping my case. I've been so damn scared that it's holding me back from being a good leader." His multiple eyelids and membranes flick slowly, "Or even a good teammate for that matter."
He shakes his head causing his head quills to rustle a bit, "But yeah maybe let's skip talking about barf after I just got out of the super-nurses chock full of who knows what and booze. Just... until I'm less woozy at least. How does it.." His claws unfurl to point at her skin, "feel? Weird I bet? Felt really weird when I was made of like.. shadow stuff, so I can only imagine greenery and bark isn't too great."
Sam's eyes track from Jessie to Archie, and back again, as if she is mapping something about them. "I did. The experience provided petabytes of data that is being labeled and categorized." there is a low throb of pleasure hidden under the flatness of her tone. Subtle but present.
Sam does love her data.
Once her tacos are properly dissembled, she eats the shells with a nice crunch. When Archie asks about the use of a word, she scrunches a little bit, searching through his sentence to find which word he was referring to "I see no aberration in the sentence you used." she admits, not finding a word she thinks one would get wrong enough to need to ask.