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"NYOOOOOOOOOW! That...hurts so friggin' much!" Chroknight hisses out as they clutch their abdomen. They had experienced this sensation before in the numerous aborted attempts to kick in Shard's face, but this phantom sensation was somehow worse than that.
They answer Andromeda while recovering and getting up to their feet. "I said I can't use my powers right nyow, not that I lost them. It's complicated and related to my secret identity - Sam!"
There was a jolt of terror in them as they see Statian get close enough to throw her tech grenade at the Effigy - way too close and without any defenses. Their priorities shifted as they move to quickly step between her and the android to catch any stray attacks!
Max had noticed the odd feline changes to Chroknight's costume, but refrained from commenting. She had plenty of her own secrets she hadn't shared yet, after all.
Once the battle with the Effigy began, she circled from a distance to try to sneak up on it from behind. When it begins to blast Andromeda, she dashes in and tries to leap on its back! "I'll keep it distracted!" she snarls, claws poised to rip and tear!
Indarius's communicator only gets hissing static back, indicative of some kind of signal jamming. Without the contact with his team and the tactical genius he usually relies on, a creeping fear takes him.
"Thanks for the warning," Valence responds. Ne'veah shifts into her giant panther shape and lets out a challenging growl.
The tower drone pivots its sensors towards the group of metas approaching, pausing to do its own assessment.
Valence flings Ne'veah at the robot then follows up with a concentrated blast of electrons! Sparks fly off the chassis just as the giant panther hits with her rending claws! The tower drone shrugs off the bast and resists Ne'veah's attacks, then weapons hatches open up displaying tracking turrets!
The guns take aim at Valence and Ne'veah and start to fire!
What do you do?
Unable to do much offensively right now to help the situation, Indy weaves a inversed semi-circle of arcane energy between Ne-veah and the turrets, hopeful that Valance could throw up his own barrier.
[Dice=defend Ne'veah]2d6+2
"Pallor, think you could get inside that thing and do some damage if I get you there?"
The tracking guns spit a barrage of rounds that bounce harmlessly off Indy's magical shields and Valence's electromagnetic barrier. Ne'veah takes advantage of the protective sphere and swipes at the exposed equipment behind the turrets' panels, causing them to power down with a low whine.
Seeing the effectiveness of getting around the drone's ablative armor, Pallor responds to Indy's question. "Oh yeah! Tell me when!"
With the turrets out of commission, Valence tests his ionic powers against the armor one more time, strain showing on his face. The towering drone withstands the assault, then large metal cables descend from the underside and break off chimneys and HVAC units from the roofs of nearby buildings, flinging them at the team!
Valence's attack is thrown off while he defends himself, while Ne'veah ziggs and zaggs to avoid the large projectiles! Indarius is not spared, as a large marquee sign is hurled his way!
Andromeda meets the Effigy's soulless eyes as she tries to crush its copied sheath with her own. The unnerving stare coming from another robotic doppelganger has Andromeda flashing back to Ava when she mimicked her appearance! However, Ava's expression while wearing her face had been warm and reassuring while the Effigy's soulless hostility has unbidden thoughts asking which imitation is closest to the real thing!
Still, the moment is enough for Statian to act, flinging a virus designed to deny Chroknight's temporal powers from the Effigy through the competing sheaths! The pieces of armor fall away leaving a perfect copy of Andromeda! Somehow more powerful now that it's only copying one set of powers, a telekinetic wave of force crashes toward the Brain!
Chroknight fights through the phantom pain and dives to Statian's defense, pulling her away from the wave of destructive force that churns up the ground and into the forest knocking down trees in its wake!
Devil Diva pounces at the Effigy's flank, hoping that it was distracted by Andromeda, Statian, and Chroknight. The demoness' power pushes through the telekinetic sheath and her claws tear into it -- though only Andromeda feels the sensation of talons rending flesh!
Possessing near insurmountable telekinetic energy, the Effigy throws up blocks and walls! Scythe, seemingly recovered, flies at the drone again and is swatted away like a fly!
What do you do?
|
Indy tries to fly close not expecting the robotic enemy to recover and react so quickly flinging building pieces at them all. He barely registers the large piece hurtling towards him and pallor.
Clenching up after the hit, Indy dives down towards the bot and drives a claw through the hull to make way for Pallor. Though the landing is Jostling to say the least.
"Pallor now."
Fear surges through Andromeda even more than agony as she feels herself losing what little control she has...
Max curses as she accidentally hits Andromeda. ”Damn! Sorry!” She whirls back to the Effigy, trying to keep the pressure on it, unaware that her teammate is losing control...
"Dammit. Sam, Andromeda's a mess, try and help her out," Chroknight curses as they get to their feet. They need to end this quickly, without over relying on time powers to get out of it.
"Got it. Deedee, let it through!" They call out, before concentrating on the ground. Their tail twitches as they take the risk being in the creature's crosshairs. Being the bait it tossed its force fields at so that the Star could get in a more solid strike. "Careful, it's going to hurt Andromeda as well!"
Sam takes a step toward Andromeda, her body wanting to respond and help the other woman through her agony, just as Chronknight cursed about. But that step forward stumbles, her green eyes looking back to see the red behind her. A small frown appears on her lips, realizing her speedy removal of her spinal threads has produced a reaction not anticipated.
Her body cannot help, and her mind smothers the fear and empathy needed to help Andromeda through the pain. She is not someone that helps like that. "I cannot" is all that comes across the comes back to Chronknight.
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The barrage of heavy objects tossed at Indarius is too much for the dragon as he catches a chunk of masonry in his wing, causing him to spiral out of control! He puts his entire effort into stabilizing his flight before crashing! He can feel rather than see his invisible passenger clinging desperately to him as he nearly slams into the side of a red-brick town hall!
Finally in control, Indy again goes after the massive robotic menace, which had taken the opportunity to calibrate its reverse-engineered armor against Valence's powers! Indarius's classmate grits his teeth in frustration at the drone shrugging off blast after blast! Ne'veah, too, is struggling against the metal beast, as one of the cables has grabbed her by the hind leg and is holding her off the ground!
The Transformed uses his full draconic might to engage the robot, looking like something out of a kaiju flick! The bulbous body teeters on its stilt-legs like an animated water tower with a fierce dragon rending its side open! Pallor's scant weight disappears from Indy's shoulder, but he can only hope that the invisible kid has slipped inside.
The metal cables descending from the drone's underbelly take action to defend itself. Indy feels one clamp down hard on his tail and pry him away from its side! It then slams him down hard on the roof of a hardware store and then follows up by smashing Ne'veah right on top of him! The pair of impacts is too much for the building's roof and the two of them fall through, only to be crushed by the collapsing building!
Chroknight and Statian separate after the pair had barely avoided a devastating blast from the Effigy. The Janus makes their way to help Devil Diva while telling the Brain to help Andromeda, who seems to be reeling from unseen yet painful wounds!
Recognizing the transferred pain being inflicted upon her teammate, Statian's prodigious intellect is not able to find a solution before it becomes too much for Andromeda! The tightly wound and obsessive control of her powers first starts to unravel at the edges of her sheath, causing air molecules to rapidly heat!
It's the only sign that Sam gets to realize that she's too far inside the impending blast radius.
Uncontrolled POWER erupts with Andromeda at the epicenter. The explosion radiates outward, engulfing Statian and creating a crater that dwarfs the previous one created by the Effigy mimicking the Bull's telekinesis. Hurricane-force winds blast outwards, buffeting the three combatants and sending a plume of dust and debris upwards like a mushroom cloud!
Devil Diva had maintained her assault on the Effigy, and aided by Chroknight's timely intervention was able to drive past the telekinetic field and grapple with the metahuman hunter. Then Andromeda's blast of force arrives! Bracing for the impact, DeeDee's demonic strength keeps hold of the Effigy's head while the body is blasted away!
The devastation wrought by Andromeda's loss of control is everywhere. Trees are scoured free of leaves and the earth is blasted down to unliving rock. The nearby suspension bridge groans and sways under the strain of whiplashing force, and plumes of smoke and dust rise high into the air.
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There are these moments in your life where everything pauses. It just stops, just enough for you to experience all that is happening around you. The sudden sizzle of heat in the air, the rush of smells, ozone and something oddly sweet, the rapid tingling of her skin like from the briefest of a gentle touch.
Then...
Pain.
A chunk of concrete is first, smashing into her with the force of a stubborn mule. Glass, she thinks is next, she barely gets her arm over her eyes before it tears into her. The wind... oh the wind... takes her next. Her threads GRAB on to something, she never knows what, but they didn't have enough time to weave into strength and they are ripped out of her.
Then she flies.
Everything else is a blur.
Until.. she falls.
"De clouds?" What he could do aside from looking?
Gui extends his arm, which twists and turns as hidden mechanisms turn it into a gun. Aquarelle, the cyborg. Aiming high, a pellet flies from his arm, trailing towards the buzzing cloud before exploding in an obscuring green cloud.
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Andromeda couldn't really feel what she hit. There was some sort of sense, some sort of feedback, but it always hid within layers and layers of static shrieking against her senses. It was easy to miss; her eyes had been squeezed shut while she tried to wrest her power back under her own control.
Maybe I didn't hit her.
The bridge is swaying, but she's not stupid; she's not that kind of hero; she's not stupid. She doesn't touch it -not touch it you wouldn't feel it you can't touch things anymore you can't get close to it without breaking it you can't- "Scythe. Chr- Tin can. Stay out of its effective range, as a precaution." She hammers the Effigy, crushes it, compresses, rasps its chassis, its dermis, its molecules against her Sheath. She could destroy it; she could still make sure the weapon couldn't be used again, couldn't hurt anyone again.
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Indy yelps in surprise when the machine grabs him by his tail and uses him as a dragon flail into a building. He groans and starts to wiggle his way out only to get whammied again by Ne'veah being slammed atop him.
He hadn't hurt like this for a while, the ache in his wings foretold of damaged scales and something internally misaligned, like a knuckle, it was gonna be a slow flight back if one at all.
The weight of the rock was definitely not helpped by the giant Feline also buried under the rubble with him. He shifted or tried to, but from the position he was in, on his back and pinned in he couldn't get the leverage to push both him and Ne'veah out.
"Hey Nev..." His chest struggled to take in and force out enough air to speak, so he switches to telepathy.
"Much as I like the soft fur... this is a pretty compromising position for us. I think, I think Pallor got inside rather not think of the alternative."
Indy relaxes for a few moments replaying the last few seconds in his mind.
"Got an idea."
Using what breath he could get he tried to use telekinetic force to lift the rubble from around him and Ne'veah.
"Go while you can."
Max drops the Effigy's head as Andromeda smashes its body like a tin can. She breathes a sigh of relief that the danger has passed, but winces at the destruction caused by the blast. "Oof. This is gonna be an expensive clean-up."
She makes her way over to where Statian has been knocked around and kneels down beside her. "Hey. You okay? It looks like you got the worst of it. Let me give you a hand." She offers the Brain her arm and she tries to pick her up and dust her off.
Chroknight is staggered by the blowback, but sees Effigy is toast. They turn to check on the others, and their heart jumps into their throat.
"Don't move her!" They shout to Devil Diva before kneeling next to Sam on the ground. "She could have a neck injury and she's not nearly as durable as us. Lacerations on the arms and torso...we need a neck brace and a backboard. Phalanx! We need you right now!" They call out to the Reformed.
"I took like a hundred hours of first aid and EMT training the last time someone I cared about was critically hurt. I'm not risking you dying or getting paralyzed until you're fully checked out back at Daedalus, all right?" They tell Sam. "Stay still, help is on the way."
Sam looks up into the perfect face of Diva and something cracks inside her. Nothing Sam will ever do will bring her to Diva's level and the offered hand, the sympathy, the abilities combined with charm. She would have refused the hand in that moment, but she is being pulled up being brushed. It isn't until Diva releases her in reaction to the panic storm that is Chroknight, that she realizes there is a problem (other than pain).
She falls back to the pavement. "Your attention is appreciated, and... caring... as well as your practice... but I believe I need Empyrean..." the few threads still attached to her lay limp on the ground "Paralysis..." all of a sudden her voice hitches, like something inside her is attempting to sob but cannot get through "I... don't want to be paralyzed. Please get Empyrean."
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Angelica's back in the suit, not the sarcophagus, weighed down to the bottom of the pool she didn't know how to swim in, pulling herself around the obstacles and challenges that had been meant to teach teamwork, but today were going to be another failed test another failed test at how precisely and how long she could work out of line of sight before her air ran out.
She was alone in the pool, so the deafening clamor above her was muffled, diffuse. It was impossible to ignore, but just as impossible to comprehend, words stifled as they tried to cross the barrier between air and the blood pounding in her ears.
Something breaks through. It's simple. It's easy. It's far away.
"I will," Andromeda announces, not replies, there's only the suggestion of communication, something floating in the ether waiting until connection returns.
She focuses on the lingering pain in her atrophied muscles, her shoulders, her neck; she puts herself in the sensation of her spine being pulled apart. Andromeda smashes herself above the skyline, the next shot is harder, faster, there's nothing in the way back to Daedalus.
"Please get Empyrean."
I will.
"Hey, I didn't mean to worry you too much here, but...you can't always tell how bad off a person is at first glance..."
Chroknight thinks of Beebee collapsing after getting shot, unaware of how badly she was hurt. They worry about how she's doing right now.
The bridge was shaken as well - were there any other civilians who might have taken a tumble from the shockwave?
"Dammit. Deedee, would you keep an eye on her please? I should do a round to see if there's anyone else in need of first aid. Probably nothing more than scrapes and bruises, but you never know..." Their tail flicks behind them as they start scouting out the perimeter for injuries.
The desire to call Beebee was strong right now. But they weren't sure if they were in the right head to have a conversation with her, if she'd even be able to respond.
Ne'veah just growls in response to his preference for her fur over the rubble pressing down on them. When he telekinetically lifts the debris, her body shrinks down and she lithely twists out of the wreckage. Her claws find purchase in the canted walls and she bounds away from the collapsed building and toward the drone.
Indy suddenly finds the rubble surrounding him to lift off of him completely! He notices the signature energy of Valence's power surrounding chunks of brick and mortar, which then catapults the debris directly at the drone! The chunks of rubble smash and shatter against the alien armor, but it still reels at the force of the blows!
Now free to climb out, Indy sees the drone under assault by Valence, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as he exerts himself. Ne'veah returns to the fight, re-sizing herself to her giant panther form and pouncing at one of the stilt-like legs of the drone!
Indy's hope that Pallor made it inside is borne out because the drone begins to behave erratically. Whether the invisible Daedalus student can truly disable the drone is still unknown, but he's ay least given his teammates an opening!
What do you do?
Aquarelle and his teammates Ringtone, Chitin, and a wolfed-out Carlos, move against the military vehicles that seem to be operating without drivers or pilots! Baiting the strange cloud with his illusion, the dark smear spreads out and engulfs the figment, buzzing like a swarm of millions of tiny insects!
Johnny and Chitin smashes the controlled tanks while Carloa and Ringtone deal with the other military vehicles.
"What is that cloud?!?" Carlos asks after ripping out the tires of a Humvee.
"Dunno! But it could be nanites! You know, microscopic machines?" Chitin guesses.
Ringtone gasps. "You know, I took classes with a microscopic superhero once. You think these are based on that tech?"
"That's from a children's cartoon," Johnny says. "But I don't have a better idea. How do you beat it? Anyone have any ideas?"
Max's extended hand is left empty as it's revealed that Statian is far more hurt than she had initially thought. As the emotional scene ratches up in tension with Chroknight shouting orders and Andromeda rocketing away to find the elusive angel, Max's hand is still empty.
Scythe flies back to the group, looking a mess from her repeated crashes but otherwise unharmed. Her face is concerned, but slightly confused at the everyone surrounding Statian.
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Groaning and rolling out of the ruined building Indarius looks up to Valence, "Thanks Vale."
He projected his thoughts towards pallor, assuming the invisible student was inside the drone. 'Hold on tight things are about to get crashy'
Rearing up on his hind legs he brought both claw-hands up towards another of the legs pulling together some more arcane force to form a massive dragon claw to mimic his own, made from the rubble too small for Valences assault. Lashing out he tried to pull the leg of the tripod in the opposite direction of Ne'veah hoping to off balance it with the three way assault enough to ground it for a finishing blow of some sort.
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Max's face pales as she sees the extent of Statian's injuries. Though it was indirect, she knows that this is her fault. For all her power and strength, she couldn't protect her friend. Her teammate.
"No! Sam, I'm... I'm so sorry!" she cries, tears welling in her yellow eyes. She steps back, wrapping her arms around herself as she withdraws, shaking slightly. Her stare is distant and she doesn't respond if anybody tries to talk to her.
"I tink dat, if de cloud was based in microscopic tech, dey would be smaller, no?" Aquarelle counters, thinking about a solution.
"Dose tings might tear us apart if we get ourselves inside de cloud..." Perhaps not Johnny, but he for sure. "And I tink dey are agile enough no evede punches and stuff... uh, perhaps some sort of area ting, like e flemethrower? Or someting water-based?"
Sam is not so far gone that she doesn't see the guilt ridden pain tear through Devil Diva, making her brow furrow in response. The furrow is from confusion, her matrix is overwhelmed, it cannot keep up and it cannot help offer suggestions on how to fix whatever just happened.
No fix, but enough knowledge that Sam knows she started that sundering.
But she is numb... "It is bad that I am numb" she says out loud, without emotion, for the fear is like a damn keeping everything else at bay.
The team members shake their heads at the use of fire or water-based powers, but Ringtone holds up one of his bells. "Would sonic work?"
The cloud coalesces and starts approaching the young metahumans as Johnny nods at Ringtone. "Nothing to do but try it! I'll get some water from the quarry lake, Chitin, see if you can get some fire going from the vehicles' fuel tanks!"
He flies off as Ringtone steps forward and projects a blast of sound at the swarm of miniaturized robots! The cloud swirls agitatedly, giving Chitin a chance to chuck the motorized equipment at the cloud! The heavy impact with the ground causes enough of a spark to set off the fuel, sending a bloom of fire and greasy black smoke billowing upwards! Moments later, Johnny comes flying back with a rowboat full of water that he flings at the rapidly dispersing cloud!
Whatever's left of the nanite swarm is countered by Ringtone, blasting sonic waves to keep it corralled! Aquarelle helps out further by throwing up confounding illusions to stop the swarm's spread and keep it within the killing zone!
After a several minutes of coordinated work, the nanite swarm disperses!
The magical dragon assaults the towering drone's legs, tripping it up with woven bands of arcane power! After a moment where the automaton tries to stay upright, it pitches over and crashes down into a bowling alley!
Valence continues to push himself, using his powers to further wrap up the meta hunter and lash it to the ground now that it's no longer upright! Ne'veah bounds along its length, looking for a purchase for her claws to do further damage to it. Eventually, a hatch pops open releasing a plume of white smoke from the bulbous body! Moments later, Pallor turns visible while standing triumphant on the defeated drone!
After nearly a half hour of searching, Andromeda cannot locate Empyrean. By the time she returns to the scene of the battle with the Effigy, the Daedalus students have been gathered by their school and transported back to the campus.
* * *
The teams slowly return back to the campus, mostly triumphant in their efforts to stop the metahuman-hunting drones. All in all, a commendable effort, suggests Professor Mathers over the PA system, even though there was one injury. He declines to state who was hurt, though the crowd of students hovering around the basement infirmary knows, and word will spread throughout the school soon enough.
What are you supposed to do when an angel lets you down? Should I go back to church and yell at the stained glass until it breaks too?
She didn't find Empyrean; she didn't find her answer either. She hadn't gone back to where she'd fought the Effigy.
***
She needed information. She needed to be able to monitor the damage she had caused. She couldn't get close, that wasn't safe, it clearly wasn't safe.
So she'd gone to a friend.
"Ava, I need help. I can't go to the infirmary, but I need to know what's happening to her in there. Can you get me access to her files, or anything else that could help?"
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Panic
Sam recognizes it, the sheer whimpering terror full of a devouring hunger to take over all her thoughts all her everything.
Thankfully (and not), Sam has been enslaved by this feeling before in her life. Too many times. Defenses are in place, her nanites isolate neural pathways sending the signals to flood her with flight hormones. She cannot banish it, sadly, but can shove it into a corner like a screaming toddler in timeout, you cannot ignore but at least can make it look like you are.
The doctors, nurses, professors more brilliant than her (barely), investigate, nod together and explain.
Sam's lower body is paralyzed.
She knew that already. Why? she asks, though she already knows that as well, her mind has had nothing but time to figure it out. Once panic was pushed away, it took 3.225 seconds.
Her threads were attached to her spinal cord through nanofilaments. Those nanofilaments remained when the damage was done (the wind, the ripping, the sudden numbness). They have fused and overwritten her cells (repair, correct... but they were what was broken so those commands got warped).
The doctors, the nurses, the professors more brilliant than her (barely), admitted the problem was beyond them. Her nanites were encrypted, hardened, and semi sentient. Attempting to remove them could make it even worse.
Sam already knew this. Her undamaged nanites were watching the new swarm, monitoring it like a... cancer inside her. Like her mothers.
Grief welled at the memory of her mother, but also she was familiar with that emotion and found another corner for it.
So she nodded at their explanation, calm and dead, simple as that and asked if she could be given a computer.
Chroknight was the cat in the corner watching as Daedalus' medical staff flit around Sam's bed. Any attempts to get them to leave were met with their visor coldly facing the staff silently until they backed off. Their catlike extensions of their armor are as still as them as they listen and things are confirmed.
The guilt eats away at them. They'd protected Sam against the Effigy, but they hadn't considered Andromeda might lose control like she did. Hadn't thought that she would hurt someone in the team with her powers so terribly.
Was this the better future that their future self had wanted? How much worse would it have been if they hadn't been there? How much better if they had taken more steps to protect Sam and prevent Andromeda's eruption?
Finally, when the hubbub died down as the staff left to find a computer for her, they decided to speak up to her as they step to the side of the bed. Their gauntlet covered hand grasps Sam's and it feels so small right now.
"...I can't fix this. I can't rewind your body to before you were hurt. I'm sorry." They apologize. "I can't even accelerate your healing like I can with my own body. But...we managed to beat the Effigy despite the odds. You were crucial to that. You prevented a bad situation from becoming worse by preventing it from fully jacking my powers. I just...just hope you still think of me as a hero even when I've failed you."
She needed information. She needed to be able to monitor the damage she had caused. She couldn't get close, that wasn't safe, it clearly wasn't safe.
So she'd gone to a friend.
"Ava, I need help. I can't go to the infirmary, but I need to know what's happening to her in there. Can you get me access to her files, or anything else that could help?"
[dice=Provoke]2d6+1-2
Ava gives Andromeda a long look, tilting her head inquisitively, until she finally nods in agreement. "I will see what I can learn."
She sits down at her computer and begins to work. She stays focused, making a few sounds that resemble grunts in frustration before finally closing the laptop with a click. "I would need to directly interface the system in order to bypass the network's firewalls," she announces. "They were upgraded in response to the Governess' attack."
Ava's eyes flash briefly before settling on Andromeda once more. "I've confirmed the rumors that Samantha Murphy is the one presently in the infirmary, though I believe you knew that already. If you don't mind... I'd like to know why you need to know what's happening to her."
Sam is on her side, an Order, and looks at her hand, wrapped in the black. Then looks up at the visor, cold and hard but even she can see how vulnerable the other is.
"I was not a bystander. I have never been one." she says, simple and plain "I am not armored, or sheathed, scaled or deviled." listing the protections the others have "Just a thin cutaneous layer" she uses her other hand to pinch her pale freckled cheek. "All that is to demonstrate that I accept the chance I will be terminated at every confrontation. Statistically I should be been dead 1 month, three weeks, four days, eighteen hours, ..." she shut her mouth because she was going to go to minutes seconds milliseconds nanoseconds, but she stopped.
The point was getting away from her "But I am not dead. A statistical anomaly given my proximity to superpowers while lacking them myself... an anomaly unless one factors in a time traveler." she twists her hand, grasping up into the other hand "I am alive because of that time traveler many times over, of that I am reasonably certain of, at least as certain of given my lack of temporal perspective."
She furrows again and then answers how she should have from the beginning "Yes, I still think of you as a hero."
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"I am the one who hurt her."
Images fly through her mind as scenario after scenario leads to more pain. Rejection, recriminations, complex medical equipment failure when exposed to the increased entropy of her sheath's presence. One where she notices something unseen that is the key to Sam's recovery -Stupid, discarded- Having to watch Chroknight use their powers to fix everything the way they should have done in the first place. Another explosion.
"I can't go in there."
Sam's eyes shift up to the camera blinking slow in the corner watching, always watching. There is a tug at her lips, not sure which direction, but she knows something is out there, watching.
Then returns her gaze to the armored person in front of her. "Why do you have a tail?"
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It would be easier if Sam blamed them for not preventing this in the first place.
"...I wanted to see you at the gala and ask you to dance."
They reach up to their helm, and depress the hidden catch to unseal it. The visor comes up. Chloe looks down at Sam. Her face is streaked with tears, cat ears exposed on her head.
"I should have looked out for you better, Sam. I should have looked out for everyone better...you, Andromeda, Beebee...I'm sorry," She sniffs, wiping away tears with her gauntlets.
"Even my future thinks I'm a screw up. How messed up is that?"
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Green eyes widen, surprise is not an emotion seen on Sam's face often. Then her mind starts to put together pieces, allowing herself to solve the problem she has been preventing herself from doing so for so long. Who is Chroknight? Everything slides into place, bowling alley (75% Aquarelle knows, 25% misunderstanding of potential paradox events) , Beebee's wound(save friend prioritized), talking about comics, the smell of them...
She smiles then, a bright one, one from behind her filters. She knows instinctively she is supposed to comfort the other GIRL, but all the smartest person in the entire city (arguably... by her) can do is whisper a goofy little "Hi you" as she reaches up and slides a thumb across Chloe's cheek.
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"I am the one who hurt her."
Images fly through her mind as scenario after scenario leads to more pain. Rejection, recriminations, complex medical equipment failure when exposed to the increased entropy of her sheath's presence. One where she notices something unseen that is the key to Sam's recovery -Stupid, discarded- Having to watch Chroknight use their powers to fix everything the way they should have done in the first place. Another explosion.
"I can't go in there."
Ava's eyes flash once more. "... I see. Give me some privacy and I'll do what I can. I dislike removing my dermis in front of people. I would hope that you understand. It feels like nudity."
Ava returns after roughly an hour, having left the dorms to find an empty room in the main building to do her surveillance. She rubs her forearm. "Ms. Murphy suffered an injury to either the T-12 or the L-1 region of her spinal cord. The damage has rendered her paralyzed from the waist down."
With jaw set, Ava meets Andromeda's eyes. "It's her own fault, you know. Even she has acknowledged it. She had no business being so close to the powers at play during the fight; for all her supposed intelligence, she failed to heed the most rudimentary caution. You might as well feel sorry for the grass you stepped on."
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Andromeda of course grants Ava her privacy, forcing herself to continue the calming rituals that were keeping her room intact.
She shakes her head angrily, eyes repeatedly unfocusing from Ava as she hears the information. Ava was right, of course. "She was being stupid," Andromeda agrees, voice held still amidst perfectly balanced tensions. "She told me once that sometimes that was the best way to achieve her goals, but I said... She wasn't supposed to be stupid to me." The grass wasn't trying to save me.
"Do you have access to developing information? Could I see her chart as more results come in? Could I see her?" Her head and gaze keep twitching like a startled horse as her focus keeps bringing up recommended dossier updates for Statian. At the final Add 'Paraplegic' to Relevant Mobility Traits? she puts her whole sensory suite on lockdown for suspected intrusion. It'll only get her an hour, and she's pretty sure it's still listening, but maybe it'll shut up.
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Indarius slumped back down onto all four and trundled over towards the fallen droid. "Good work, I was getting worried there. Did you get my message to hold on Pallor? Are you injured?" He asks with worry assuming he was the 'softest' of the group.
He looks at Ne'veah and Valance, "Sorry I didn't do more, I'm usually not fighting head-to head with things. I should have done more."
Having returned to the school and been given a quick check over by the staff. He was cleared after a painful resetting of his right wing-hand. Exiting the school's equivalent of the nurses office and heading over towards the gathering at the infirmary, he begins catching whispers and rumors of who's in there. His scales practically rattle as he gets nervous and begins pushing gently, for him, towards the doors.
Barred entry he waits with the type of patience only afforded soneone who needs significantly less sleep than anyone else. Which is to say nervous but aware and staring.
Max watches helplessly as Statian is whisked away to get medical attention. Feeling guilty and insecure, the demoness wanders aimlessly across campus, avoiding her teammates...
Pallor appears woozy and has a trickle of blood running down the side of his head. "'M good, thanks," he grunts, wincing. "Might have cracked a rib though."
Valence blinks hard at Indarius when he apologizes. "You... have to be kidding."
Shifting back to her hybrid form, Ne'veah appears to favor her left leg. "What is this 'should have done more' b*%$&*@%? Yeah, we'd have taken it down eventually but what are you talking about? Unless you had a magic spell that could turn it inside-out that you didn't use or something?"
* * *
As Indy stares at the doors awaiting a chance to see Sam, he hears a voice behind him. "Are you going to fix her with magic?"
It's Scythe, still dirty and with torn clothes, but looking unharmed. Her eyes are serious as she meets his.
Wandering aimlessly around the campus and lost in her dark thoughts, Max doesn't immediately realize that Tim is walking next to her until he speaks up.
"Rough fight, huh? If you want me to banish myself, I will. But if you're looking for something to do, I could use a Second for a little ritual I'm working on."
"You'd have to wait to see her. There's a line forming." Ava rubs her arm again. "I'm not connected so I cannot provide regular updates. I could--"
Ava pauses mid-sentence when Johnny sticks his head in the room. "Hey, just wanted to confirm that Gui was a great help today. He stayed safe, and kicked nanite butt. Not... literally," he says with a lopsided grin.
It drops away to a somber expression. "Heard your team had a bad injury. Hope you're doing okay, but don't worry too much, if you can manage that. They'll patch her up, good as new, I'm sure."
He glances at the Androidian. "Hey, Ava."
"Hey, Johnny."
Gui arrives at the infirmary in a hurry, finding Percy and Scythe. "I have heard someone was hurt... it is Sam, right? How is she? What happened?"
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Pallor appears woozy and has a trickle of blood running down the side of his head. "'M good, thanks," he grunts, wincing. "Might have cracked a rib though."
Valence blinks hard at Indarius when he apologizes. "You... have to be kidding."
Shifting back to her hybrid form, Ne'veah appears to favor her left leg. "What is this 'should have done more' b+~%%$*@? Yeah, we'd have taken it down eventually but what are you talking about? Unless you had a magic spell that could turn it inside-out that you didn't use or something?"
* * *
As Indy stares at the doors awaiting a chance to see Sam, he hears a voice behind him. "Are you going to fix her with magic?"
It's Scythe, still dirty and with torn clothes, but looking unharmed. Her eyes are serious as she meets his.
Indy almost immediately regrets having opened his damn mouth, especially seeing Pallor and Ne'veah hurt.
"Not so succinctly no. But like I'm a dragon I should have been in there fighting tooth and claw with you Ne'veah and instead I just."
He casts a look to the downed drone, "I just choke when it comes to actually hurting things, I mean who's ever heard of a 'mostly' pacifist dragon? I should have done more to protect you, that's where my magical expertise lies. I should have taken more aether with me from Halcyon."
Gaze widening to take in the entire group, "I should have covered your backs better."
Feeling Scythe like an oddly blank spot to his senses he glances back, he can't bring himself to look back at the door again immediately.
"No that.." He finally tears his gaze to look at his own clawed hand remembering how he had to rely on Femtite's technology to heal his best friend. "That's not something I can do unfortunately." For a moment he wishes he had cheeks to bite the inside of to occupy his mind. "I never learned any healing spells. One of the gifts that Dr. Infinity's book never shared with me. Or something that just doesn't exist, I'm not sure."
Pulling his wings around his chest like a safety blanket to cover himself he goes back to the door. Arms wrapping around his midsection under the cover.
He winces as his wing-hand index throbbed again, breaking his concentration causing him to glance back at Scythe again. "I.. could mend your outfit though, if you'd like? While we wait."
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Valence shakes his head. "Bruh. I don't need your f$@%ing apology when the four of us took down a tripod designed to kill metas. The normies are going to keep making these things, too, until they get so good we won't be able to beat them." He looks Indy up and down with a measure of disappointment. "If you find yourself choking when you're facing a drone, what's going to happen when it's a dude in power armor? Or, I dunno, some knight with a f#&~ing sword?"
"Dude, come on. We won. Let's celebrate," Pallor says, trying to defuse the conversation, "after we get some painkillers."
Ne'veah doesn't say anything, but frowns at Indy.
* * *
Scythe grabs a fistful of the tattered amd bloodstained shirt, glancing down at it and shrugging. "I don't care." She lets go, seemingly not concerned with her appearance or exposed parts of her skin.
An idea seems to come to her and she adjusts her stance, looking less like she was expecting a sneak attack and stands more like she's on a runway in a pageant. "You were at the island, right? I don't remember much about that time because I was messed up, but there was... a shot. My healing power in a needle. That was the experiment we were working on. Did you take any when you fought Drake?"
Green eyes widen, surprise is not an emotion seen on Sam's face often. Then her mind starts to put together pieces, allowing herself to solve the problem she has been preventing herself from doing so for so long. Who is Chroknight? Everything slides into place, bowling alley (75% Aquarelle knows, 25% misunderstanding of potential paradox events) , Beebee's wound(save friend prioritized), talking about comics, the smell of them...
She smiles then, a bright one, one from behind her filters. She knows instinctively she is supposed to comfort the other GIRL, but all the smartest person in the entire city (arguably... by her) can do is whisper a goofy little "Hi you" as she reaches up and slides a thumb across Chloe's cheek.
Chloe flinches briefly at her touch, before giving her hand a squeeze. "I'll find a way to fix this. I can figure something out-"
She glances back at the door before grabbing the helm and revealing it. "I got to go back to Unity Station. Still waiting to finish this stupid potion experiment so we can figure out what was going on with Beebee...I'll tell you later. Just rest and relax, okay?"
"You'd have to wait to see her. There's a line forming." Ava rubs her arm again. "I'm not connected so I cannot provide regular updates. I could--"
Ava pauses mid-sentence when Johnny sticks his head in the room. "Hey, just wanted to confirm that Gui was a great help today. He stayed safe, and kicked nanite butt. Not... literally," he says with a lopsided grin.
It drops away to a somber expression. "Heard your team had a bad injury. Hope you're doing okay, but don't worry too much, if you can manage that. They'll patch her up, good as new, I'm sure."
He glances at the Androidian. "Hey, Ava."
"Hey, Johnny."
Andromeda's heart starts pounding in her chest. I... I forgot. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but no sooner has it entered her lungs then she exhales, trying to drag in another breath immediately to feed the fire that seems to be burning in her chest.
You would have been informed if he had been injured
You knew that aside from [one significant injury] no one else was a casualty
You would have known if he was hurt, right? Somehow?
You forgot.
Her vision is fuzzing, and she thinks it's from the thickening of her sheath rather than the hyperventilation, but she tries to lie down anyways so she doesn't pass out and break the floor. She's tucking herself in so that she doesn't have any protrusions that might unconsciously shape her force, she thinks she's succeeding, but it's like she's on a cloud, and maybe she's not. A bed is twisting up along the wall."I am upset. I may experience - syncope, I am much more - likely to harm - my surroundings." She looks at the Ava shape, willing her to understand that even undirected force could tear her dermis. "I do not want - you to be embarrassed. I do want - to know what you could - do - Ava."
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Sam cocked her head to the side. Her mother had said that phrase, Hi you, when Sam had been overcome with emotion, forcing her to focus on the calm warmth of her parent.
Sam had said the phrase without consideration or expectation, but Chroknight... Chloe... leaving was not the reaction she would have expected.
The statement about potion has her eyes drift up to the ears, making even her fingers twitch to want to pet. Another answer slipped into place.
"I have work to do." Sam answered "But I will do so while prone, if that could be considered Relaxed, since there is no other option at this time." the flat tone has returned.
Having inexplicably missed the action, Empyrean somehow shows up in the queue to visit Sam in the hospital, waiting in line as she has been told is proper.
She frets and as she sits in the waiting room her appearance slowly seems to change. Her features become more diffuse, as if someone put a soft filter in front of her. Her halo becomes more pronounced, more of a corona, a hemispherical glow. Her wings take on a glowing sheen as well.
In a hospital, filled with the suffering and dying, the imagery of an angel leans toward the ephemeral, to a creature of soft light and indistinct divinity.
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Valence shakes his head. "Bruh. I don't need your f@*~ing apology when the four of us took down a tripod designed to kill metas. The normies are going to keep making these things, too, until they get so good we won't be able to beat them." He looks Indy up and down with a measure of disappointment. "If you find yourself choking when you're facing a drone, what's going to happen when it's a dude in power armor? Or, I dunno, some knight with a f&$~ing sword?"
"Dude, come on. We won. Let's celebrate," Pallor says, trying to defuse the conversation, "after we get some painkillers."
Ne'veah doesn't say anything, but frowns at Indy.
Indarius doesn't really feel like he has any proper response to Valence, so he turns. "Yeah, sure let's just get back to Daedelus."
Weaving a portal open he offers it to the others, "The campus entrance."
Scythe grabs a fistful of the tattered and bloodstained shirt, glancing down at it and shrugging. "I don't care." She lets go, seemingly not concerned with her appearance or exposed parts of her skin.An idea seems to come to her and she adjusts her stance, looking less like she was expecting a sneak attack and stands more like she's on a runway in a pageant. "You were at the island, right? I don't remember much about that time because I was messed up, but there was... a shot. My healing power in a needle. That was the experiment we were working on. Did you take any when you fought Drake?"
Motioning Scythe a bit closer, he inhales to draw in the ambient aether around him and begins slowly cleaning her outfit with magic before he whispers some self-knitting into the fabrics themselves. At first causing the dirt, and blood to slowly pool at her feet unnaturally, before the clothing began 'growing' back into place.
"I.. that day was a lot so I don't know if we got out with any, but it's not a bad idea."
Gui arrives at the infirmary in a hurry, finding Percy and Scythe. "I have heard someone was hurt... it is Sam, right? How is she? What happened?"
Eyes shifting to take Aquarelle in he nods, seems Empyrean is close behind., "Yeah."
Sam cocked her head to the side. Her mother had said that phrase, Hi you, when Sam had been overcome with emotion, forcing her to focus on the calm warmth of her parent.
Sam had said the phrase without consideration or expectation, but Chroknight... Chloe... leaving was not the reaction she would have expected.
The statement about potion has her eyes drift up to the ears, making even her fingers twitch to want to pet. Another answer slipped into place.
"I have work to do." Sam answered "But I will do so while prone, if that could be considered Relaxed, since there is no other option at this time." the flat tone has returned.
"...I'll visit again soon. Explain some things. But rest means no work," Chroknight tells Sam. "You can't heal if you're stressing over details. Play a video game or read some manga. I'll bring you a stack later."
They shift their stance before heading out to let the next person in to visit. They stop as they look at Guy, Percy and Joy.
"She's paralyzed from the waist down. It's unclear if it's permanent or not. Her threads are tied into her spinal cord, so it could make things worse or better or not do anything. It's too soon to tell."
The absence of Andromeda here makes them want to be snippy, but they bury that emotion for now. "Go say hi. I'm sure she'll appreciate it." They walk past, pausing just slightly by Guy as they lean in to whisper to him.
"She knows."
As Chroknight leaves, everyone might have missed the oddly feline parts of their armor that were now featured if they were too worried about Sam. Chroknight hopes that will continue to be the case as they head back to Unity Station.
Johnny takes a step into the room, but Ava braves the telekinetic static and helps Andromeda to the floor. She gestures to him to back out. "Andromeda is taking Statian's injury hard. Thanks for reminding us of how good the infirmary is here. I'll see to her."
Johnny nods, face lined with concern. "Yeah. No problem. I, uh, next time I see Gui, you want me to-- Eh, never mind. I'm sure you'll see him soon." He hovers at the door for a few moments more. "Take care, okay?"
Once Johnny leaves, Ava's voice sounds more insistent. "My dermis can withstand this for one hundred thirty-seven seconds more before I must vacate the premises. I'd like to help you further, but I've no wish to sustain damage requiring repair.
"One hundred twelve seconds."
Scythe gives Indy a dark look. "You don't know if you got any? That was my power, my life force, put in a bottle without anyone asking and you don't know?"
She turns abruptly and walks out of the waiting room.