V'orpl dashes across the convention, a trail of flat red that the Bull can't help but charge after. She keeps her sheath tight around her at first, but as soon as V'orpl ducks into hiding again, her calculus shifts.
A torrent of force rushes forth, battering the Nuvoan and tearing apart the display she's trying to use as concealment!
Max shakes off the disorientation that V'orpl caused, returning to her senses. "I hate it when they whammy me!" she groans. Seeing Andromeda giving chase to the alien, DD follows in her wake. She throws herself at V'orpl in an ill-advised attack!
Empyrean falls backward off the girders in the ceiling and goes into a controlled spin with her wings pulled in tight for maneuverability. She corkscrews and tries to get eyes on the thief who crossed paths with Chronight.
"I'm in pursuit of the thief who ambushed Chroknight, but don't have eyes on them yet. Lost in the crowd."
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Indarius smiles smugly as everyone begins to flee, though he can't help but feel a bit awful using his demanding presence like this. He cranes his neck down when Statian gives him orders to see to Chroknight and a teeny tiny part of him wants to get furious and say 'How dare you' But with V'orpl's influence fading away those thoughts are quickly shunted off as well as he regains his own right mind.
"Right Chroknight, tell them I'm on my way. Hopefully I can coral the civilians out on my way."
He turns and steps over Statian, his body easily clearing her, but his tail slithering around her dangerously for a few moments before the tip clears her legs without incident. As he lumbers back towards the Medical Expo section of the convention hall.
He quickly works out where Chroknight is practically stapled to the floor and reaches towards them with a pointed claw.
"What have we here, found yourselves the victim of solo adventures in a new place hmm. Don't struggle I'll have these binds off you."
His talons make quick work of the binding piece of technology keeping Chroknight pinned sheering the metal as if it were little than paper to be torn asunder, "Where is your 'thief'? Time stealer?" He asks lapsing into his persona of a grand creature of magic for a moment.
"CORVIS, help out Flutters and tag that thief," Chroknight requests of their faithful familiar. The bird caws and flies off to help Empyrean.
Chroknight looked less than please by Indarius coming in practically gloating at them while pulling them free of their bonds. "Yeah, CORVIS can track him. They have electric powers, or maybe that's their tech. My armor's damaged and not working right. I'll be fine, I just need some tech help later."
They stand up stretching out. "So did we find the alien tech yet, because that really should be our priority."
Having thoroughly disappeared from his team for quite an extended period of time, Archie and his platoon of dupes disguised as convention-goers step rush out of the fleeing crowd armed with .357 Magnums. They attempt to swarm the now revealed alien with the threat of very large bullets hopefully sufficing to stop her.
"Stop right there! I won't kill ya, but I won't think twice about blowing your kneecaps to shreds."
Archie has a failsafe in his clones, where if any telepathic attacks are thrown his way, V'orpl's knees go bye-bye.
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"CORVIS, help out Flutters and tag that thief," Chroknight requests of their faithful familiar. The bird caws and flies off to help Empyrean.
Chroknight looked less than please by Indarius coming in practically gloating at them while pulling them free of their bonds. "Yeah, CORVIS can track him. They have electric powers, or maybe that's their tech. My armor's damaged and not working right. I'll be fine, I just need some tech help later."
They stand up stretching out. "So did we find the alien tech yet, because that really should be our priority."
"The device itself is not found yet, but we have found the dealer and the others have her surrounded. Now to assure we get it and deactivate it safely or at least contain it so it cannot be used until we can."
He leans down to be 'more' eye level with Chroknight. "Are you sure you're well to keep going with your armor malfunctioning?" His voice sounds with genuine concern for Chro's safety, despite his altered speech patterns.
"I am going to create a sensory overload loop that will break her concentration when her powers manifest again" data pours over the feed pinpointing each of the locations of the AV equipment Sam will be using.
[dice=defend?]2d6+1
Statian rushes off to create the distraction for the Nuvoan while Devil Diva and Andromeda take the direct approach. The two heavyweights barrel at V'orpl but the alien has more than telepathy in her repertoire!
Max's angle of attack is suddenly hit with a spacial warp that flings the devil girl directly into the path of the rampaging Bull! The two crash into each other with the Star getting the worst of it by far! Devil Diva is violently flung forward, smashing through displays all the way to the far end of the exhibit hall where her momentum is finally arrested by collapsing an above-ground swimming pool!
Andromeda's cone of force is only partially deflected by the impact with DD so she manages to obliterate the camping display and send V'orpl flying! Still, the unexpected collision with her demonic teammate was an unwanted surprise!
V'orpl lands dozens of feet away, rolling up to stand as her personal shields absorb the worst of the impact. ::You have the strength of an elite vanguard, but your control is worse than a blind hatchling:: Andromeda hears in her mind, the barest of complements wrapped in a contemptuous insult. ::I was saving my gift for the Taylors' little celebration but I could always start the party early:: she broadcasts, revealing the nature of her drive.
While Andromeda and DD extract themselves from the wreckage all around them, V'orpl retreats towards the service entrance of the convention center where she encounters a number of Phalanx's troops covering the exit! They train their high-powered handguns at the alien, demanding her surrender!
Archie hears her telepathic voice distantly, as it is relayed by his mindless dupes. ::You assume I have 'kneecaps,' human:: Her hands blur as she draws her own alien blasters and begins a shootout!
Indy frees Chroknight from the bindings and offers a bit of support when he notices their armor looking the worse for wear. Empyrean, utilizing the assistance of CORVIS, realizes that the direct pursuit and engagement of the thief is the most expedient course of action.
However, something in Empyrean questions the need to pursue a thief when the fight with an alien threatening global destruction is happening just a few rooms away! The theft of medical equipment might cause a few people harm, but should that be weighed against an apocalypse?
"No. But that's the job. You can't sweat faulty equipment or a spear in the ribs when you're the only one who can stand up to the monsters, murderers, and general bastards," Chroknight says as they do a systems check. It was not good - maintenance really needed to be done, but so long as they didn't overexert themselves, it should hold up for the moment.
"I mean, that's why we're doing this instead of exploiting our gifts, right? I could get a winning lottery ticket and set my family up for life. You could do something similar with your powers. But we're not doing this for ourselves. We're doing it for the ones who need equity and protection."
They finish their check, before taking Indarius' arm in their hand. "Anyways, thief or Vorp'l, where do you think I'm needed most?" They ask him.
Sam sees the AV equipment is not up to the task, that most of the equipment will burn out in the moments it is needed. An acceptable collateral given the potential outcome of this battle. She sees she can easily boost the output, keeping the equipment going way past projected output if she ties the loop into the power grid, which will cause more damage than models could show given the time she had to project them... 2.5563 seconds.
Damage vs global destruction has to be an acceptable risk, so she completes the loop, feeling the slight tinge of guilt at doing so.
Frustrated at her inability to find the time thief, Empyrean pauses and reflects on Chroknight said: That finding the alien technology should be the priority. She makes a tight circle and heads back in the direction of Indarius.
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"No. But that's the job. You can't sweat faulty equipment or a spear in the ribs when you're the only one who can stand up to the monsters, murderers, and general bastards," Chroknight says as they do a systems check. It was not good - maintenance really needed to be done, but so long as they didn't overexert themselves, it should hold up for the moment.
"I mean, that's why we're doing this instead of exploiting our gifts, right? I could get a winning lottery ticket and set my family up for life. You could do something similar with your powers. But we're not doing this for ourselves. We're doing it for the ones who need equity and protection."
They finish their check, before taking Indarius' arm in their hand. "Anyways, thief or Vorp'l, where do you think I'm needed most?" They ask him.
With a ponderous nod Indarius swings his head to look at the area, "Good to hear a little malfunction won't keep you down."
"You'll find the thief much easier than I right now since you've seen them. Vorp'l should be handled between Andromeda and Diva, Statian is leading that part of the team as well. So we can handle this other bit, make sure the device doesn't get taken." I'll be right behind you when you find the thief, to make sure no civilians get in the way.
She'll be okay. She's a hero. She's tough. She can take a hit. She'll be okay. She's a hero...
Litany still running in her head to counteract the almost gravitic pull of making sure Devil Diva is unhurt, Andromeda still has the presence of mind to add notes to her Nuvoan file, subvocalizing as she flings herself back towards the fleeing alien. Ocular targeting preferred, or even necessary; Earth targeted due to Taylor Family interactions.
Flaring, grasping force encircles the Nuvoan as Andromeda tries to open her up for a finishing strike, squeezing her tight enough to make her hands go briefly nerveless.
DD's audience comments alternate between those cheering her on and chiding her for her mistakes. She shakes off the dust from the collapsed masonry, trying her best to swallow her pride and ignore the negative comments (even though some are getting under her skin).
She rushes through the convention hall until she sees V'orpl again, this time approaching more carefully before attacking from her flank!
"All right, I'm going for round two. Wish me luck!"
Slowing time down again to the level that their armor could handle, Chroknight strides forward to seek out the thief once again. Though a thought does occur to them as they do this - could they spread themselves out and learn where they will be through diverging choices? "CORVIS, I want to try that ECHO technique. Guide me through it!"
CORVIS caws and dives down to Chroknight, the bird perching on their shoulders. And a flood of different memory sensations pile into them as every potential choice, turn, and branch of searching through the whole convention for the thief hits them at once. It's a staggering amount to sift through, but with CORVIS's guidance they hone in and trim away the paths that were dead, and step forward onto the one that will lead them straight to the thief.
"That really, really sucks. Oh, I feel nauseous...CORVIS, guide Empyrean to me so we can take on the thief together!" They direct the bird before continuing to follow the temporal echo to their quarry.
There was just too many people running around, or flying, or being blown away. Lots of civilians, lots of images and clones. But Aquarelle was nowhere... because he was crouched, disguised as a large soda cooler and moving very slowly when he thought no one else was looking.
Meanwhile, he was watching everything.
Empyrean heads off to join the search for the alien device while Indy and Chroknight search for the thief. Using a nausea-inducing search mode of looking though strands of probability, they trace the thief's path into the displays of cutting-edge medical equipment.
While the thief is nowhere to be seen, they learn from the distraught tech representatives that a prototype cryo-rejuvenator was stolen! Still viewing the echoing timelines, Chroknight senses that the thief could have gone anywhere. But the prime timeline reveals that they went up.
CORVIS flies off as Chroknight and Indarius make their way into the gaps and HVAC spaces in the ceiling, eventually arriving on the roof of the convention center -- and directly into a trap clearly set up to discourage pursuit!
On the main floor of the convention center, Statian pushes the AV equipment past their operational parameters, sending discordant sounds and lights to disrupt V'orpl's concentration and prevent her from using her telepathy offensively.
Empyrean is easily drawn toward the sounds of superpowered mayhem and out-of-control speakers and lights going off on the other side of the convention center. As she arrives in time to take part in the fighting, CORVIS arrives, cawing at her to go back to deal with the thief!
While that happens, the momentary standoff between Phalanx and the Nuvoan renegade is interrupted by Andromeda and Devil Diva again! This time, they both manage to make glancing strikes on the nimble alien! DD's audience are treated to a show of martial prowess as she flanks V'orpl tagging her just as Andromeda smashes the alien blasters into a sludgelike paste! However, just because V'orpl can't use her telepathy with nuance or precision, her defensive abilities are still strong! The moment Andromeda's telekinetic sheath makes contact with the Nuvoan, she's hit with powerful psychic feedback!
V'orpl is thrown across the room from the one-two-punch. As she slides to a stop, another alien device that looks nothing like the types of Nuvoan tech seen thus far goes skidding along the ground, ending up right in front of a large soda cooler!
Aquarelle's fortune turns immediately as a strange alien device lands directly in front of him! It's handheld, not anything the size of something that could be a planet-freezer, but it might have something to do with the real device!
::Freakish aliens! The cryo-coils haven't reached optimum temperature, but the device should be enough to freeze this miserable city and every being in it!:: she relays through her telepathy, doubling down on broken plans or ideas! With her blasters gone, she yanks another device from her suit that activates a crackling energy whip! With a flick of her oddly-jointed wrist, the whip lashes out and coils painfully around Devil Diva's arm! The Star's demonic toughness is put to the test as a current of energy courses through her!
"ARRGH!" Max shouts as her body convulses from the energy. It's too much for even her demonic form to take, and the Star slumps unceremoniously to the floor. As she passes out, her last thought is, This won't be good for my brand...
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Indarius whirls and winds through the system upwards landing on the roof once more, he glanced around to ensure the safety of their ally Xeno, realizing the shreds of electro net during his inspection which were providing a pleasing electric stimulation to the wingtips in which it had been caught on.
His sharp eyes spot the one they assume is the thief, honestly if anyone other than Xeno was up here that'd make them prime suspect number one. "Chroknight see if you can't sus out which device is the stolen one while I deal with them."
Indarius utilizes some more of his shapeshifting as a dragon would both trample and ruin the rooftops as well as present a much larger target. So his form twists quickly as he lunges into a striding gait, into that of a large wolf-like creature having scales and patches of thick fur in place of a full coat, barbed protrusions jut at his joints, but the slim form allows Indarius to quickly run and traverse the distance even atop the convention roof. Nearing the target he leapt at the thief, using his weight to shove them down while going over top and landing to face back the way the pair had come.
"I'd take that medical tech back if I were you. If it's for someone you care about there's better ways to go about this."
Andromeda collapses to the ground, the floor cracking and denting where she fails to blunt her impact. Pain arcs down her spine from her abused brain as the world around her blurs; she barely has the presence of mind to peel back her sheath enough for the vomit to escape.
"Tin Can!" she spits, angrily adding "Someone get a comm unit next to them - You have to be able to see if this goes wrong!"
Flinging up a fist, which in her head had been an open hand, Andromeda grabs the wall behind Vorp'l again, and yanks, pancaking the alien back across the hall!
"Oh heck no you don't," Chroknight says as they slow time down enough to take advantage of a gap in the net, passing through harmlessly right ahead of Indarius. Who then tore through it, making them feel a little foolish.
"He left by the northeast, Indarius, I need some flight power to catch up!" Chroknight tells him as they jump to latch onto his ankles - the best position to prepare to drop on the thief.
Though the sudden expletives coming from an angry Andromeda through Indarius' comm gave them pause enough to think deeply on their course.
"...Not to suddenly second guess here, but I did spend five minutes over the last couple of seconds mulling things over in my head. You sure Statian and the rest don't need us?" They ask Indarius. "Sounds like they need backup."
Statian was monitoring all the coms she can, so it should come to no surprise when her voice came from their earpieces "Yes, we need you. We have not located the device that could cause a catastrophic disaster on a global scale, secured a safe permitter to keep non combatants out of harm's way, determined a way to remove the opponent from causing significant harm other than fist--- Devil Deva is down. We need help immediately."
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[Dice=Freak]2d6-2
"Oh heck no you don't," Chroknight says as they slow time down enough to take advantage of a gap in the net, passing through harmlessly right ahead of Indarius. Who then tore through it, making them feel a little foolish.
"He left by the northeast, Indarius, I need some flight power to catch up!" Chroknight tells him as they jump to latch onto his ankles - the best position to prepare to drop on the thief.
Though the sudden expletives coming from an angry Andromeda through Indarius' comm gave them pause enough to think deeply on their course.
"...Not to suddenly second guess here, but I did spend five minutes over the last couple of seconds mulling things over in my head. You sure Statian and the rest don't need us?" They ask Indarius. "Sounds like they need backup."
During the leap through the air, Indarius grumbles, "Make up your mind fast. Help me or them, but whatever you do stick to it."
Aquarelle lets his disguise fade as he grabs the device. "Hey Statian!" He calls, making the motion to throw her the device, stopping it midway and almost dropping it. What if it was a trigger? He rushes for her instead. "De Nuvoan dropped dis. Could be useful to find de ting, I don't know."
In the same breath, he rushes back towards DD, dragging her away from the melee. He clearly spent too much time hiding. Such a coward. "I am so sorry... soo sorry..."
Guilty beyond measure, Aquarella puts his hand on DD's chest to "drain" her power. Waves of violet energy courses through his arm and then chest and body. He bulks up, his skin turns violet, grows a pair of horns, tail. Then a pause. To Hell with it. You are in the rain, you are supposed to get wet. He is now a sexy she demon.
Trying to look menacing, Aquarelle does something absurdly stupid and charges the Nuvoan.
The pair of heroes bypass the electro-net effortlessly, giving them an opportunity to continue the pursuit of the thief. Chroknight pauses as they consider returning to help the rest of the team with the alien. Offering a suggestion about returning, they hear Andromeda's aggressive demand and Statian's much more reasoned request.
Indarius presses Chroknight to make a decision while driving his draconic body at the thief! The armored opponent is sent sprawling by his maneuver!
"I'd take that medical tech back if I were you. If it's for someone you care about there's better ways to go about this."
Rattled, the thief scrambles back up to their feet. "Sure it's for someone I care about! Me! This'll be a nice payday if you don't wreck the device!" They retort, admitting to wrongful action.
The thief pulls out a device from their pack, then another and then another. "Let's see if it's still working... Oh, wait. These aren't the device! These are bombs!" Little thrusters on them activate, sending all three devices rocketing off in random directions! "Pop quiz, hero," the thief taunts, "stay after me, or stop the bombs? Ta ta."
V'orpl tilts the odds in her favor as Devil Diva crumples from her energy whip. Her triumph doesn't last long, however, as she realizes that she's missing something! Desperate, the Nuvoan slips back into the main hall of the RV show, ducking and weaving through the displays searching.
Aquarelle passes the alien device he recovered to Statian, then pulls an illusory switcheroo with DD! However, his ill-advised plan to assault V'orpl was doomed from the start!
::Such a tough specimen deserves further study:: he hears in his head as she effortlessly sidesteps his reckless attack! As he goes by, she slaps a wet-feeling object to the base of his skull! Sickeningly cold and slimy tendrils work their way around Aquarelle's face, probing toward his ears, eyes, and nose! Almost worse, he hears a buzzing in his mind that's starting to push out his own thoughts!
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Indy's eyes track the first thing and then the second, a third! He isn't sure which to go after first but his body reacts before his mind catches up fully leaping at one.
It explodes in his face but the draconic mage seems unphased, the words slipping from his mouth drowned out by the sound of the explosion.
For one used to temporal alteration such as Chroknight, for who all Indy knew might automatically register any chonological anomalies in the immediate area, Indy's sudden blip through time would be less than odd. Everything slowed to a crawl including the explosion allowing him to get out of the way, using a simple telekinetic spell to pull the remaining two bombs together. Then taking a section of the gravel off of the rooftop and using his magic to shape it into a box just big enough for the twin bombs and suspending it in the air above the current fight.
He assumed his position interposing himself where the thief meant to flee. Taking a few probably too egotistic moments to brush himself off and preen before rearing up to look as magnificent and terrifying as possible. Then his extremely compressed timeline began to unfurl as things began to pick up pace around him once more.
"Pop quizes only work on those who aren't prepared, and you are a poor tutor indeed."
Aquarelle drops on his knees. "It is in my head! It is in my..." He cries, trying to fight the thing, but it is clearly a loosing battle. Nonsensical images flicker around him, byproducts of his desperate mind, all screeching and scared. "...my head..."
Then he slumps on the floor, gone.
In front of Statian's screen flashes a small message. "Aquarelle here. I'm fine. Let the others react before telling them."
Hidden inside his pocket is the strange device V'orpl tried to use against him and over his attentive and eyes there is an illusion of his closed eyelids. Back to watching. For now. But as soon as she opens up... he'll take his chance.
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Indy's eyes track the first thing and then the second, a third! He isn't sure which to go after first but his body reacts before his mind catches up fully leaping at one.
It explodes in his face but the draconic mage seems relatively unphased as the conflagaration rolls off his scales. He looks around for the bombs and the fleeing thief, snorting angrily and wonders how the rest of the team is so hard pressed that four of them can't deal with one alien.
Sam's heart clenches as Aquarelle falls, muted anger quickly rushing in to fill the gaps. Images flood her mind of blueprints for collapsing the building, near by chemical stockpiles for accidental mixing and release, even the nearest nuclear weapons. Anything to kill this person that hurt someone she had somehow managed to care about. It would kill many others but at the moment that algorithm (the one to balance cause and effect) is working much too slow.
Then her screen gets the text, and she blinks.
And turns her attention to the device.
"Gaaaaaaaah, fine! But you need to swap with me Crater and help out Indy and Feathers!" Chroknight says before letting go of Indarius, slow falling to the ground as they hustle to help the team with the alien threat.
Their ego hurts from not being able to show up the tech thief, but this was likely a better use of their abilities considering the dangerous nature of her technology. Chroknight slips into the RV show, marveling at how destructive the fight was getting...then feels their blood run cold as they see Aqua slumped unmoving on the ground.
"Hurt my friends? Lady, I'm gonna show you why you don't ever mess with Earth!" Chroknight calls out before rushing in on the offensive. They become a blur of motion as time slows down for them to a snail's pace, making it trivial to catch up to V'orpl.
Unsure about her alien physiology, Chroknight knows not to risk body blows that could potentially be lethal. Instead their attacks aim for V'orpl's shins and shoulders, looking to disable her without lasting damage. "I think it's time that we put you on ice!"
"What?!" A speedboat flips untidily. "The world-ending device is obviously the priority!" Unless they know something you don't yet.
"...Fine, tin can. Fine."
Smashing herself skyward, Andromeda joins the pursuit!
Indy's eyes track the first thing and then the second, a third! He isn't sure which to go after first but his body reacts before his mind catches up fully leaping at one.
[Dice=Herring Shmerring]2d6-2
It explodes in his face but the draconic mage seems unphased, the words slipping from his mouth drowned out by the sound of the explosion.
[Dice=Wield powers]2d6+3
For one used to temporal alteration such as Chroknight, for who all Indy knew might automatically register any chonological anomalies in the immediate area, Indy's sudden blip through time would be less than odd. Everything slowed to a crawl including the explosion allowing him to get out of the way, using a simple telekinetic spell to pull the remaining two bombs together. Then taking a section of the gravel off of the rooftop and using his magic to shape it into a box just big enough for the twin bombs and suspending it in the air above the current fight.
He assumed his position interposing himself where the thief meant to flee. Taking a few probably too egotistic moments to brush himself off and preen before rearing up to look as magnificent and terrifying as possible. Then his extremely compressed timeline began to unfurl as things began to pick up pace around him once more.
"Pop quizes only work on those who aren't prepared, and you are a poor tutor indeed."
The randomly flying bombs being the immediate threat, Indy goes after the closest one and it explodes in his face. While the bombs are definitely no joke, a quick flare of his power keeps him unharmed! The other two bombs continue to whir off haphazardly!
The thief rockets off in the opposite direction, taking advantage of the distraction to get away. They fly low and along the roof toward the opposite end of the convention center, and it appears that they're home free until a section of the ceiling explodes upwards revealing Andromeda!
"Holy property damage, Ratman!" the thief remarks as they employ retrojets to avoid crashing into the Bull. "Where'd you come from?!?"
Looking for an angle, the thief tries to keep their distance from Andromeda. "Look, the device I took is very fragile. You try to stop me, it gets busted. but let me tell you, there are some explosives flying off into the crowds behind me. So if you want to really be a hero, you'd go help the dragon," they say.
V'orpl stands triumphantly over a purple demoness for the second time this fight not realizing that this one is an illusion over Aquarelle. The ruse works, but only to confound the Nuvoan as dropping to the floor unconscious was clearly not the Ego Blocker's intended effect!
The confusion lasts long enough for Chroknight's impossible mobility to allow them to race back into the convention center from the roof and find V'orpl! The shock of the sudden arrival and blur of strikes to her joints has the Nuvoan on the defensive!
She scrambles away from her new foe. ::Fine. The Maw will still lose his precious city. My revenge will come in stages then:: A portal device opens up a spatial rift and she slips through, fleeing from danger or difficulty!
Meanwhile, Statian is able to ascertain the alien device is some sort of remote detonator for the cryo-weapon. It's clearly been activated, though prematurely. As best as she can tell, the countdown to detonation has started, though the alien symbols require deciphering before she can tell how long they have! And they still have to locate the bomb itself!
What do you do??
Chroknight sent me here, and heroes follow orders-
They came when I called, so I have to do what they-
I'm... trusting them, and "You don't get to win."
Sheath spasming, and mind still raw, Andromeda manages a moment of focus. One tendril of force constricts around the device, the other shoves the Thief away, hard.
Sam's voice comes over every communication devices the team mates have, and if they are not listening, from the closest audio device to their current location. All LOUD "The device has been activated. ALL of other activities must be suspended to find the device, or mass destruction will be the result."
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Indarius looks around himself to reassess after the bomb, though undamaged he does see the other two and the thief flitting off.
Then Andromeda burst through the roof and went after them, "Keep the thief in your sight Andromeda, I'm dealing with some bombs."
With a telekinetic pull he yoinks one back to himself and crushes it in his claws after returning to his true form once more. "One left."
With V'orpl gone, there is no point in him keeping his ruse, so Aquarelle gets on his feet to help in locating the device.
Andromeda blasts the thief, sending them caroming away and over the edge of the convention center! When she looks at the device her telekinesis snagged before the armored figure went flying, she sees it crumpled like a tin can caught in a pneumatic vise!
Indy catches one more bomb before it floats down into the crowded streets, leaving the last one to explode near a construction scaffold! Screams echo from the pedestrians several stories below as rubble begins to fall on their heads!
What do you do??
* * *
Statian follows the pinging from the handheld alien device, following the rapidly accelerating audio pitch through the wreckage of the RV show until she steps through a curtained area where a display of renewable energy sources for RVs is set up. Nestled amongst the cutting-edge batteries and solar arrays, Statian is able to locate an oblong device markedly different in style and materiel than the Nuvoan technology!
A rime of frost is starting to gather on several exposed surfaces, and everyone drawing nearer to it notices the temperature dropping several degrees.
The Brain's breath leaves her mouth in white puffs as she puts her mind to work trying to grasp the alien technology that's at work!
"I have located the cryo-phase detonator" she alerts everyone. "Andromeda, telekinesis, sheath, ability to cause disruptive energies to counter the temperatures, you would be best to... Adromeda, you are fighting the thief?" the spike of surprise in her voice is minuscule but might as well be shouting. "Indarius, fire, scales, you are as well." she pauses, a second disappearing in shock. "There are moments before a mass casualty event. Please PRIOROTIZE!" this time she does shout.
There is no time to wait any longer so her hands are already on the freezing metal, her skin sticking then tearing off, as she turns the cylinder, freeing the coils. She does not manage to hold in a scream as a blast of freezing cold pours over her.
Her teeth shake, her skin screams seconds before it goes numb "It's too cold, I need help, I cannot get to the..."
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Helpful as ever, Aquarelle creates an illusory fur coat to cover Statian. Ask any Canadian. Cold is psychological.
Hearing Red's pleas for help, Archie directs a dupe away from their pedestrian saving duties over towards Statian. The dupe bolts out from the dust of the crumbling scaffolds. "Remember my loyal clone! Pain isn't real!" Archie yells.
The dupe runs past Archie who tosses the dupe a flamethrower. "Go get em tiger!" Archie says. The dupe bolts over to the dropped bomb and ignites the pilot flame on the flamethrower. With a fwoosh a conflagration of flame overtakes the bomb.
And does nothing!
ridiculous.
Archie flees.
Believing Archie might have helped somehow, Aquarelle takes a deep breath, rubs his hands and then works on disarming the bomb.
"Oh crap, Archie! It is still so freaking cold!"
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"Busy!" Indy calls through his communicator as he swoops down towards the bomb just before it explodes, but he isn't able to catch it in time and the explosion roils over the scaffolding. He props up a magical barrier to protect most of the people but it flickers and quickly fizzles.
He's injects himself into the mix and spreads his wings and body wide to cover anyone that may be potentially be crushed under the falling debris.
Once everything has settled he looks under and around him. "Everyone safe? Please, evacuate calmly before checking yourself for injury, I can offer quick transport or aid to anyone who's hurt."
The inside of her skull felt like a cheese grater, but her mission wasn't through. Andromeda walks forward, slower now that no one's watching and looks down over the ledge for the Thief.
Gone.
She slumps to the ground, too hard, and bits of the roof around her dent and crack.
She closes her eyes, but against the darkness of eyelids her vision still reads. Mission Failure
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"Are you crazy?!" Chroknight shouts at Statian as she takes the full brunt of the blast of cold. They definitely see that this particular moment was more perilous than the potential explosion at the school, but Statian needlessly became harmed opening the casing.
They grab onto her as the others work, the few moments they had stretching out to minutes with their temporal powers. They look at Sam's hands stiff and frostbitten with horror before forcing themself to focus. As soon as Aqua and Phalanx looked like they'd managed to deactivate the bomb, Chroknight was carrying Statian to the nearest first aid kit and wrapping her hands up.
"I should have been the one to open the damn case. I can take a subzero chill far better...you could have really been hurt!" They say to her, even as a snapping spark occurs in their armor. "You literally have metal tendrils, I can't believe you touched it barehanded! I just..." They sigh. "I was going to be right there. I'm sorry you felt like you had to rush into things."
"T-t-tac-tile a-appen-dages n-not d-deve-loped y-yet... c-couldn't be s-sure... it would t-turn" the shuddering redhead manages to explain. "N-no t-time" wait... was that a hint of a smile.
Her green eyes focus on the spark "You n-n-n-need... h-elp?" her battered and bandaged reach up to the damage, concern evident (at least if you know her well enough to notice)
Disarming the cryo-phase detonator is chilling work, but ultimately the heroes manage to power down the device from its supercooling explosion! The device hisses with condensation and frozen steam wafting off of it, but it no longer poses a threat to the city.
Outside, Indarius stops the debris from crashing down on the crowd from the bomb. Unfortunately, the thief got away even though they didn't make off with their prize. Worse, the medical prototype is crushed like a soda can.
Sirens grow louder as emergency first responders approach the scene!
What do you do?
"I'm fine. My suit is blaring warnings at me I don't know enough about to fix the underlying problem. I might have pushed it too far this fight. Speaking of which I checked and the guys will have the device disarmed in three seconds. Let's drop in."
Sound and sensations suddenly occurred again as Chroknight brings them into real time, before walking with Statian to Phalanx and Aquarelle. "We good here? Great. Let's get this out of here and hurl it into deep space. Or maybe on the moon. Or one of the far off exoplanets where it can go off with no genocide."
They look at Phalanx intently. "And in no way is the Merchant getting any of this device back. Though it sucks that V'orpl got away. Hopefully she's gonna stay away from Earth for a good while yet."
Andromeda's sheath is still in obvious flux. What's a nearly invisible distortion at rest, still refracts and shatters light, sizzling and crunching with each step as Andromeda returns to the group.
Sparks fly where her sheath hits the ground as Chroknight and Statian return from their brief jaunt. She can't blink-click away her Mission Failure, so she slides it down to the corner of her vision to stare at Chroknight's mask. "Paradox should be avoided now; what was the outcome of not pursuing the thief?"
"They would have gotten away with what they came here to steal. No paradox here, I haven't come from the future yet." Another quiet ping comes from their armor, which seems to be in bad condition already. "I managed to drive V'orpl away, and everyone got the device to not bring eternal winter to the planet. Can you maybe launch it into deep space? Really want to make sure it's somewhere no one can use it ever again."
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Sam's eyes narrow on the sheathed Andromeda as she moves toward them. "Y-you i-ignored... m-m-m..." she pauses, trying to get her chattered under control "Why did you p-priorit-t-tize... theft-t o-o-o-o..." that word proved too much for the frozen strawberry. She waves her bandaged hand (thankfully still numb) toward the dismantled device.