As Chloe experiences an existential crisis watching a younger variant of her perform, she gets an intense feeling of being watched. But before she could scan the crowd and figure out who was observing her, the team messages catch her attention.
As luck would have it, Vanderbilt texts that he's in the concert audience. Once changed back into their hero guise, Chroknight locates him and rushes him into the subbasement. The mystery observer will be a puzzle for another time.
==============
Liam gives Andromeda a glare, but doesn't give her the satisfaction of an answer. He looks back at Xaiara, who is fretting to the point of unrestrained panic. Her wings twitch dangerously and she tugs at her hair as she makes furtive glances at the rift.
"Do you even remember what we talked about?" Liam ventures, sparing a warning look to Andromeda.
Xaiara blinks at him, brow furrowed in sudden confusion. "What? You mean that how Daedalus is run by the men from the island?"
Liam shakes his head. "No, the other thing." When he gets a blank look, he leans in. "The other thing? In the pool?"
Xaiara just stares at him, causing Liam to stagger back. "You're not this timeline's Xaiara."
"She... the other me... figured it out. She's got everything. I can't-- I won't be able to do as good. But if I'm there, I won't have to worry about not figuring it out. I can just..." She trails off, not able to look at Andromeda.
"Just what?" Liam presses when the attention focuses on Zero-G. "Just sleep on her couch? Be a third wheel? If she can figure her life out, then so can you!"
Any further conversation is interrupted by Andromeda choosing violence, blasting herself at Zero-G with full force! Her channeled telekinesis courses through him and Cortex, cratering the wall behind them as she refuses to let up! The walls to the subbasement collapse under the onslaught, with parts of the ceiling collapsing and bouncing off Andromeda's sheath!
"Who's the stupid one now?" Zero-G's voice comes from behind Andromeda, safely away from the devastation she wrought, standing next to Cortex who is awake and alert!
"Misdirection. A little trick I learned from Imagerie right here in this facility," Cortex smirks.
Zero-G points a finger at Andromeda. "Nice to see you didn't hold back, though. If I didn't have, oh, about two decades on you, Cortex and me'd be quite dead. None of that 'pulling your punches' hero s~~@e.
"But I promise you, you'll never get a chance to come at me like that again." His voice is low and deadly. "Jaunt, five. Zero-one, three through five. We got what we need."
Professor Hopkins pulls out a computer hard drive and cradles it in his arms! Then, he, Zero-G, Cortex, Ne'veah, and Kennedy all shimmer and disappear out of the basement!
* * *
Group Text plus one
Vanderbilt: WTF???
Vanderbilt: Is this a joke?
Vanderbilt: All right but it better be legit
"I saw what came out. They weren't all that," Zero-G responds to Gui. He gestures towards Andromeda. "We cracked their weakness. If they slip out again, we'll deal with them."
He levels a glare at Andromeda, not cowed in the slightest. "I don't think you understand what I can do. Your little rescue mission was just the pretext. Drake was the first to try to plant his flag, but there are others."
===============
Chroknight
Chroknight rushes out of the subbasement to catch up with their band, leaving the drama behind in the hopes of salvaging their relationship with Cosmogenesis. However, as soon as they reach the surface and race outside, they can hear the familiar songs of Chloe's band! What's more, she hears a skilled drummer taking her place!
Working her way through the crowd to get a look at the drummer, Chloe sees... her! The younger version of her that she'd just aged out of during the time-twisting is behind the drum set hammering on the skins!
The CADRE leader huffs at Gui. "What share? There's no long-term payout without the rift intact. That's the point of all this. I'm getting my retainer, and the prior service of Cortex picking the brain of the metal-winged girl. But no rift? No new markets, or future clients, or whatever else a whole world can offer. Right now, the lack of curiosity of you lot is right disappointing."
Xaiara flinches when Andromeda questions how Bronwyn will feel about her now that Shayera is back. Chroknight's words further twist the knife and she stares at her feet. "She... the other me... figured it out. She's got everything. I can't-- I won't be able to do as good. But if I'm there, I won't have to worry about not figuring it out. I can just..." She trails off, not able to look at Andromeda.
Zero-G weathers the storm of insults and criticism of his mercenary attitude with tested patience.
Statian:
Andromeda bore a hole between timelines through what is essentially nothing. Chroknight's plan was sound, using a combination of gravity and molecular manipulation to squeeze the tunnel shut. But without Zero-G's cooperation, Sam would have to cobble together her own gravitic device. Ending it quickly, though, would require convincing Zero-G or finding someone else with an ability to collapse the space in the tunnel.
Though she doesn't know him personally, Sam is aware that the Daedalus student Vanderbilt can fold space. He might be capable of collapsing the tunnel all by himself.
Liam blinks at Sam, furrowing his brow. "What do you mean? Could the timeline get screwed up if she stays in the wrong one? What's the Hive?"
"It's nothing!" Xaiara shouts. "Something I saw. Worse than this. But that one's better! Just let me go."
Zero-G barks out a laugh. "You lot amaze me. Here's what you do: keep the rift, collect a fortune from Infinicorp or Oesterhausen for the rights, and pop over on holiday whenever you like." He pauses to listen to something from his earbud. "Or Lovelace. She's interested too."
Pru calms to the point of nearly going catatonic. Her eyes stare widely, her sclera showing all around her iris, and her body trembles. She holds up her fingers in front of her face. "There should be blood."
* * *
"Is the Hive here?" Xaiara asks Liam.
"I don't think so. What's the Hive?"
"You don't want to know."
* * *
Zero-G turns from Andromeda to regard Kennedy and Ne'veah. "This wasn't what I would call a standard audition. No one's disqualified at this point, except him." He nods in the direction of Liam.
"What?!?" Kennedy snaps as Ne'veah sputters out a growl and shifts to her hybrid form.
"He's got the most power here in the school!" she says once her vocal cords are human enough to let her talk.
Zero-G shakes his head. "Power doesn't mean anything without discipline. He had his own priorities." He makes a pointed glance at Xaiara.
When the magic portal dissipates, the mercenary frowns again amd taps his ear. "Target rift is still here, appears under control. Drake is... occupied. Any other bidders?"
* * *
Chroknight gets a strange duplicative data read from CORVIS that makes their head hurt, but imparts an understanding that the rift needs to be collapsed using fundamental forces of reality. The space between timelines lack those forces, but Andromeda's kinetic punch rammed them through like punching a straw through a thick milkshake. Undoing it requires folding that straw upon itself or extracting it.
Fortunately, there is a gravity controller, a controller of molecular bonds, and a manipulator of raw matter in this very basement!
Ending it quickly is just the simple task of getting them all to work together!
Pru's response to the argument between Chroknight and Aquarelle over her resurrection and Sam's explanation that she's still dead somewhere is to scream in building terror! Despite Sam's scientific explanation, it appears to her that the cheerleader has gone through some sort of horrifying metaphysical experience!
Then the dragons appear. The crashing interruption of the two dragons spilling from the rift and locked in mortal combat then falling through another portal into Halcyon elicits wild reactions from the others in the basement. "Bloody 'ell!" Zero-G throws up gravitic shield that Ne'veah, Kennedy, and Professor Hopkins dive behind. Far closer to the clash of wyrms, Valence braces against an impact with his own electromagnetic powers and Scythe twists her wings in a protective fan in front of her.
In a blink, the dragons are gone, leaving echoes and a light show through the portal.
Zero-G takes a few tentative steps towards the portal to the skies above Halcyon and peers into it. He frowns, looking like he's weighing going through himself, but shakes his head and steps back.
Valence stares at the mercenary. "What... what are you going to do?"
"Don't know yet." Zero-G moves over to the catatonic body of Cortex and lifts him up like the telepath weighed nothing. He slaps his cheeks lightly and peels back Cortex's eyelids, then tosses him over his shoulder. Touching an earbud, he whispers, "Jaunt. Standby."
Turning back to Andromeda, he offers her a smile. "This business is looking like a bust, but it doesn't have to be a total loss." He adjusts the limp form on his shoulder to access a keypad on his forearm and taps it a couple times.
Andromeda:
An international phone number appears on your HUD.
Indarius weathers Drake's relentless counterattack, splitting himself and coming at the ancient dragon from various angles! Scales are rent, spikes are broken, and blood sprays from the clash between titans as the lesser beings flee lest they be trampled underfoot!
Finally, as Indarius's trap begins to close, recognition dawns in Drake's blood-red eyes. A low, sonorous rumble in his throat resolves into a bitter laugh. "At last, whelp, you show that you have learned. In the end, it's always about... power."
Finish your Moment of Truth!
* * *
Chroknight manages to stabilize Xaiara, catching the familiar timeline of the metal-winged girl with their paradox unit. She gives the Janus a brief look of blazing, murderous fury which fades to a moment of recognition.
"Gotta go!" Valence cries out as the draconic battle threatens to overwhelm them. He covers all three of them in a cocoon of ionic force and pulls them back towards their native timeline!
=================
Sub-basement
Zero-G smirks at Andromeda. "There's a lot more 'theys' out there than you know."
Statian interrupts the exchange, informing Andromeda of the reset timelines after the chronowraith incursion. Before either can respond, Aquarelle tumbles out of the rift and back into realspace and time! As he recovers, he sees a frightening vision from his nightmares -- the cheerleader he once failed to save during Mourning Dove's attack at Halcyon Prep's campus!
The girl is wide-eyed and in barely-restrained panic. Unnaturally pale, she pats herself down, feeling herself as if scarcely believing she has a physical body. "Huh? Ah! Wha--? Gui! I remember you!" She pats at a spot where Aquarelle remembers a gunshot ricochet wound, just below her armpit. Her stylish blouse shows a small hole, but there's nothing but a faint blemish on her skin!
Seconds later, Valence, Scythe, and Chroknight tumble out of the rift!
Seemingly enjoying the deception he is creating, Aquarelle continues taunting the dragon through his illusion. However, his attempts at frightening the dragon into retreat underestimates Drake's tremendous ego! Stiffening, he narrows his eyes at Baba Yaga. "Your accent is off. Я не верю, что вы — Старуха. Докажите мне обратное," he challenges in perfect Russian!
Aquarelle has his attention, and then Indarius attacks with both his selves! Steaming hot blood sprays from Drake's wounds, dissipating the false Crone and splashing Aquarelle! Aquarelle, take a condition for being hit with the scalding ichor!
Drake bellows in rage and pain, then turns his fury onto Indarius! "You think I cannot stop you? I'll start by killing you, then see if that works!" Done toying with his prey, the ancient dragon attacks with deadly intent!
* * *
After nearly getting forced bodily through the barrier and into the nothingness between existences, Chroknight reverses the chronowraith's momentum and sends it away with a heavy kick! They pull themselves free of the barrier and back into the tunnel where the dragon battle is raging and Xaiara's body is stuttering like a wraith!
"What do I do?? Is it safe to touch her?!?" Valence asks as her image flickers. Chroknight sees Xaiara wearing a headset covering her entire face, then a porcelain mask, then a different style mask with gas canisters attached! CORVIS caws at them, imparting an understanding that the Chronowraith's attack has her flipping through several timelines in which she exists! Her paradox unit could stabilize her, but timing it incorrectly could result in another timeline swap! Chroknight, roll Defend to stabilize Xaiara to get the correct version!
===================
Sub-basement
Knowing that further incursions by chronowraiths threaten the existence of everyone, Statian is able to swiftly recreate the signal from Chroknight's paradox unit!
With the extratemporal beings held at bay, the tension between Andromeda and Zero-G grows thicker. He spares a quick glance at Ne'veah, Kennedy, and Professor Hopkins still recovering from when the basement was briefly turned into a centrifuge.
"Cute. Trying to lay the blame on me for the collateral damage you're so good at?" he chuckles. "Whatever lets you sleep at night, Tau-34. Be honest: what'd be your price, to have your control back? I'm not talking Ciandra levels, just enough so you can turn it off, or pick up an egg without breaking it. Think about what that'd feel like."
Zero-G smiles. It's confident, knowing, and dangerous, but also tempting. "'Cause I got a few connections. Are you interested?"Andromeda, take a condition or tell him the truth
Andromeda gives Zero-G a look of surprised suspicion hard enough to fizz the air between them against their overlapping powers.
"Are you going to make me fight you? If Drake comes out of there he won't still think this is a good plan. It's stupid to play with time and worlds; it's stupider to do it for money."
1 Team
Sub-basement
Zero-G flexes his fingers, his momentary look of respect turning into one of impatience. Sighing, he says, "I'm not going to make you fight me, but you don't command the price that I do by chickening out of a job just because it gets a little crazy.
Since the roper moved out of sight when it hid (due to cover by the other stalagmites), attacking it will require a Perception check that meets or exceeds its Stealth. Essentially, you lost sight of it, got 'ported in the area, and now you're not sure which one of the stalagmites are it. Oh, and the Strength damage does not appear to come from a poison, so no immunity.
The subbasement continues to get less crowded as Chroknight becomes the most recent figure to leap into the portal! The trio of chronowraiths, still in pursuit, make their stuttering flight right into the path of Andromeda!
Their semi-corporeal state resists much of the telekinetic attacks, but just then out of the corner of her eye Andromeda sees Zero-G rise into the air as he charges up his own power! He folds gravitational waves into Andromeda's telekinetic barrage, amplifying her own attempt at disharmonics to bypass the chronowraiths' quasi-real state!
One is shredded into echoes and wispy strands, while another is ripped lengthwise through its ethereal body! The third, however, slips away into the rift before the combined forces of Andromeda and Zero-G tear it asunder!
There's a beat of silence after the last wraith escapes.
Zero-G gives her a smile. "All right, that was pretty dope."
====================
The chaos in the in-between intensifies.
Drake thrashes about as the partially illusory prison envelopes him. "Old Crone!" he hisses, "I am the Inferno! I am fire made flesh!" As he sets the world on fire! The area around him becomes a rapidly-expanding blast furnace!
As much as Wingblade and Red Raven would want to help Indarius, he's on one side of the inferno and they're on the other, and their only salvation is to go back to their timeline!
Aquarelle, hidden behind his illusion but unable to avoid further entanglment, is unfortunately unprotected by the roiling flames headed his way! Aquarelle, take a powerful blow!
On the far side of the tunnel, Valence has recovered. Seeing the expanding blaze he throws up a shield to ablate the worst before the inferno consumes him and Scythe! "This is insane! Come on, we're leaving!"
Indarius's own flash freeze keeps the expanding flames at bay, protecting Chroknight who had just freed him from Drake's claws. The illusion continues to occupy Drake as he bellows and challenges the faux Baba Yaga, giving them a chance to slip away and leave the dragon momentarily stranded in the rift, or to take some other action!
With Indy pulled to safety away from the lurking entities still on the other side of the barrier, it appears for a brief moment that they're safe from them. That fact suddenly becomes more illusory than Baba Yaga, as a panicked chronowraith slips through the rift and clamps down directly on Chroknight! Feeling strangely solid to the Janus, the extra-temporal entity starts to drag them through the barrier!
Xaiara, still torn about which end of the tunnel to retreat to, reacts with violence at the sudden reappearance of the wraith and slashes at its tail. It responds with a stuttering swipe of its own, smacking her aside and causing a residual stutter of her own!
Trapped in the mandibles of the wraith and being forced through the barrier, Chroknight feels the attention of the horrific entities turn toward them!
Drake looks triumphant, overpowering the beings in the tunnel between timelines until Indarius leaps through the rift. "So, the whelp appears," the elder dragon says unsurprised at his sudden arrival.
Indy doesn't hesitate, however, heading straight to attack the larger draconic being with no preamble! With claws and fangs driving into his flank, Drake hisses in pain! His tail surges like a whip, slamming Indy into the barrier, trying to drive him through to where the lurking extra-temporal creatures are as he veers towards drastic and terrible action!
Indy, you see not only chronowraiths, but chrono-anglers that show enticing visions of possible timelines that give you everything you could desire, and also chrono-leviathans that can twist and reshape entire time streams to impossible outcomes!
As Indy is crushed against the transparent wall and staring down the eyeless entities just beyond, a screeching presence appears at the far end of the tunnel! The aperture widens revealing a rustic cabin with hoary chicken legs tearing the opening asunder, and a cackling hag on the front porch leaning forward with a broom and cauldron!
"What??!?!" Drake hisses, recognizing the fabled Slavic witch at least by reputation!
Gui guesses that the shock will wear off quickly since Drake has indicated that he can sense magical power. So he needs to either figure out a way for his illusions to mimic magic or some magical being from the alternate timeline needs to continue the magical ruse!
Ending this quickly involves defeating Drake somehow or closing the rift permanently!
=====================
Subbasement
Samantha resists the siren's lure of the chrono-angler, realizing the perfect timeline it was showing did not truly exist. She pulls herself away just in time to give Andromeda enough presence of self to resist Zero-G's influence!
The sudden appearance of multiple chronowraiths shifts the current threat assessments. Andromeda proves to herself that she doesn't belong in Smiler's cage by turning her back on the CADRE leader and throwing a blast at the invading extra-temporal entities!
The quasi-real beings issue an ethereal cry as telekinetic forces rip into their bodies! Kennedy and Ne'veah fall back and away from the unnerving creatures, moving towards the stairwell while they're occupied!
Chroknight, recognizing the dire threats for what they are and how little their allies can help, draw the chronowraiths' attention by pulling a series of temporal manipulations!
It works. The trio of chronowraiths recover from Andromeda's blast to writhe and stutter through the air towards the Janus! Temporal strands bend between Chloe and Samantha, warping their ages back to their original timeline!
Chloe and Samantha, you are confronted with your original timeline! Roll Freak. On a hit, you can reset something about yourself that had been changed by the timewarp at the Gala. On a 10+, you can affect someone else as well. On a miss, your timeline is warped backwards! Lose an advancement.
Scythe flies blades-first at the dragon, raking her wings against his glittering scales to little effect. With a flick of his tail, Drake slams his attacker up into the "roof" of the corridor and then drags his rough spines across Scythe's midsection causing a spray of blood!
"Looks like we're doing this," Shayera says to the armored figure next to her, fanning her wings out and getting ready to throw herself against Drake! The two charge forward down the narrow length of the corridor, but have to pull up short when the dragon blasts a gout of flame from his mouth! Wingblade fans her wings out to shield herself and the crimson knight jabs her spear forward which absorbs most of the flames protecting herself and Gui behind her!
Using his illusions, Gui tries to create illusory cracks in the tunnel but unfortunately he doesn't use his words and the dragon wouldn't be susceptible to them anyway! Since none of the options for Are You Watching Closely match getting Drake to leave, that doesn't work either
The cramped fighting becomes a blur as Scythe tries to find a weak spot against the thrashing tail and the duo of Wingblade and the red knight match against Drake's foreclaws and teeth! Even surrounded and outnumbered, Drake maintains the upper hand with speed, experience, and near-impenetrable armored scales! However, whether Scythe, Wingblade, and Red Raven would be able to find some way to prevail will be a mystery since Valence wraps the dragon in an electromagnetic vise!
"Drake! You've lost! You're plan, this venture, it's not going to work!" he shouts, then looks at Xaiara. "Come on back, please. We're going to figure this out."
Drake's red eyes bore into Valence. "Boy, you're about to lose more than your percentage." His eyes flash with power as he flexes and pushes back against the Daedalus student. "I've felt the magic in the realm beyond. It's quite potent."
Blood-red energies splash against Valence's bluish electromagnetic force which holds for a moment, then collapses as he's flung backwards!
Before he is able to recover, Indarius appears!
=====================
Sub basement
The world has gone topsy-turvy thanks to Zero-G's mastery of gravity. Chroknight finds that slowing down time does nothing when they have nothing to push off against and flounder helplessly! Statian gets some helpful instructions from Andromeda, but she lands awkwardly and twists her ankle painfully! Keeping her mind from the growing ache of her injury, she tries to reverse the particle accelerator's configuration in order to retrieve everyone who'd jumped through the breach!
Andromeda puts her former astronaut training to use in dealing with Zero-G's power, then throws her own power at him! Her telekinetic wave of destruction crashes into the CADRE leader, splashing against his accretion shield in a spectacular orbiting swirl! Zero-G grits his teeth in a snarl as he pushes back until the wave bends around him and his shield collapses! He's flung back against the opposite wall, but the warped telekinetic blast continues on shredding the bank of computer equipment that Chroknight's paradox module was attached to!
The entire underground lab rights itself abruptly, with bodies and loose equipment crashing down to the floor.
Zero-G pushes himself to his feet. "Not bad, Tau-34. Heard you were pretty strong, but--" he glances at the destruction-- "out of control. An astronaut? Don't make me laugh. You're a blunt instrument. And that's all you'll be." His look is one of contempt. "You belong back in Smiler's box," he says, undermining her beliefs.He's attempting to raise Danger and lower Savior, both of which can't go any higher/lower, so condition
Just then, a stuttering, eyeless serpent invades the lab. Followed by another. And another!
Samantha:
The same fascinating orb that caught your attention through your drones is now dangled before you! There's no tearing your eyes away from it as you get images bypassing your optic nerves and straight into your mind!
With a blink, the orb is gone, the lab is gone, and the conflict and crisis around you -- all gone! What's more, you know you're older, at least several years older, and then the noise hits you. It's loud, but it's welcome. Cheering, plus music blasted from huge speakers, create a frenetic energy that doesn't alarm you at all. In fact, you're into it, moving your body to the rhythm! Lights strobe around you, bathing the dancing crowds on all sides of you in reds and purples, drawing your attention to what's right in front of you: a stage, with a band of four young women who are the source of the music! And then you spot Chloe behind the drum set and despite the strobing lights you know she sees you in the crowd and smiles!
Memory catches up to you. Chloe's your girlfriend and the whole business of superheroing had been a passing fancy you both had outgrown. Matrix is fully integrated into your mind, giving you the social acumen of a cheerleader captain and the ability to express your thoughts and feelings much to the joy of you, your girlfriend, and your whole group of besties!
In short, you're living your best life! Why would you want anything to change?
The group sends multiple arrows at it while Aerel retreats. Grum's arrow manages to graze the creature's tough hide, drawing a line of a black ichor.
William realizes the creature is likely a roper, a denizen of the deep underground, and interestingly vulnerable to fire though extraordinarily resistant to magic.
The creature uses a pair of its ropey strands to swing itself from the ceiling to land on the opposite side of the pit near a cluster of stalagmites and blends in!
Stealth:1d20 + 28 ⇒ (15) + 28 = 43
The tense exchange between timelines is interrupted by Xaiara plunging into the corridor behind Drake! The dragon tilts his head upon her arrival. "Ah. Hello, Scythe."
"¡No más experimentos!" the metal-winged girl screams and launches herself in an attack!
What do you do???
Daedalus subbasement
Cortex goes flying against the far wall with Indarius's tail slap, but his momentum is arrested right before impact! Even still the telepath drops to his knees, clutching the sides of his head!
Chroknight slows time to a snail's pace and blurs into action, expecting to move faster than Zero-G can think! However, every kick they send at the leader of the CADRE is shunted away as they encounter his accretion shield protecting him from harm! Time and time again is their attack thwarted until finally their boot grazes Zero-G's nose before they get blown away in a reverse gravitic pulse!
As the world snaps back into realtime, the mercenary touches the spot where Chroknight made contact! He tilts his head towards them in a gesture of respect, but his eyes immediately narrow. "Tin Can, you kicked Drake through the rift, you think I wasn't going to take some damn precautions?"
He spins his fist around and suddenly the world does a barrel roll! Gravity goes topsy-turvy as if the entire subbasement was on a rotating gimbal, flinging everything not nailed down first to the far wall but then it continues to rotate towards the ceiling! Zero-G is confidently at the eye of the storm as everything tumbles around him!
Ne'veah growls in alarm and digs her claws into the surface she'd been standing on, holding on desperately as gravity flips around. Kennedy also shrieks and grabs a hold of the panther's neck fur! Bazinga activates a pair of rocket boots to keep from being tossed!
Andromeda, Chroknight, and Statian, your bodies and inner ears are being assaulted by the spinning gravity! Roll Freak. On a hit, you manage to adjust yourself to the gravitic cyclone! On a 7-9, choose one. On a miss, you're fully disoriented and cannot act while you're spinning. Stop the world, you want to get off.
• You lose your lunch, pick a teammate to get splashed and lose Influence over them; • take a condition; • You fall into the portal; • You land wrong and sprain something -- an arm or a leg is useless until time passes.
Samantha's Gadgets move only works for Unleash, so her Engage was a miss. This negates Chroknight's entire move.
Chloe/Chroknight wrote:
"Gnnnnrrr-arrrgh!" Chroknight shouts in frustration as they fight against the gravity. If they had more leverage. Slowing down time around them wasn't lessening the gravity impact on their body. Which made some really messed up sense. "Indarius, you dumb lizard! Stop gawking and go fight your nemesis!" They shout as they muscle their way up inch by inch.
Zero-G was bombarded with multiple pellets from Samantha's security measures, giving them a moment to get to their knees at least. But now Samantha had made herself a target. Chroknight survived by being extra durable and tough - qualities Samantha didn't possess physically. They heard screams and broken bones, and they snap to attention.
I'll save you!You’re willing to pay high costs to keep your loved ones safe. Reveal your secret identity to someone watching or mark a condition to defend a loved one as if you rolled a 12+.
A burst of speed to get Samantha clear of any reprisal from Zero-G. Biting down hard as G-forces slam back down into them. Half of their helmet's faceplate shatters as they resist the effect. Chloe's face is shielded from everyone but Ne'veah, able to see from the lower angle.
Samantha tries to help out Chroknght by deploying a turret and blasting Zero-G. However, the nonlethal bean bags slam harmlessly against a gravitic defense field around the mercenary! Worse, he redirects the cloud of irritants away from himself and back to Samantha! The stinging and burning particles hit her nose and throat, making her eyes water and lungs choke and cough! Samantha, take a -1 ongoing until the scene changes or someone provides you with aid!
Zero-G remains coolly in control, keeping Chroknight on lockdown and redirecting Samantha's attack. "Respect, that was a good hit on Drake. You're lucky he ordered the kid-glove special. You want to stay conscious? Give up now or I pool all your blood into your feet."
Just then, Indarius counters the intensified gravity around Chroknight, allowing them to move! But in doing so, he leaves his mind open to attack!
::This is for failing to save my baby girl,:: he hears in his mind, just before he's assailed by agony from everywhere inside his skull! An unimaginable migraine sends waves of pain through his mind along with images of a pink-haired girl getting charred and blackened by a lightning strike! Indy, take two conditions or let Cortex know that Skyler is alive!
* * *
Xaiara is gone in a blur of motion as soon as Andromeda gives her the nod. Liam watches her go, his mouth twisted in a frown. For a beat he stares at Andromeda and her extension of trust to keep the living weapon safe. He nods once, then once more in the direction of the unfolding battle. "Sure. And you, don't be stupid. That's the CADRE."
He then activates his powers and flies into the breach after Xaiara!
Unto the Breach:
The dragon coils along the scintillating colors of the corridor with lurking shapes just beyond the scarred walls. It blinks two nictating membranes as Gui offers the introductions.
Thank you, Guillaume. Defenders, it is the greatest pleasure to make your acquaintances. Do not be alarmed at my appearance; the magic I use to keep a much more benign appearance is unfortunately weakened in this space between timelines. It is my hope that we can keep this connection open to explore a mutually beneficial relationship." His neck cranes upwards to eye the moving shapes. "Provided we can ensure the safety of both of our timelines."
Wingblade sniffs. "I recognize your scent. Did you invade my mind?"
Drake's eyes narrow. "Not personally. Though I was responsible, solely to gauge whether your timeline was a threat to ours. I believed precautions were necessary."
"You did a little more than that," Wingblade says flatly.
"As I said. Precautions."
Aquarelle, given Drake's apparently continued efforts at diplomacy, you feel that the entities are still the greater threat. Getting their attention is probably the *last* thing you want to do, but remembering Chroknights explanations about the chronowraiths being attracted to temporal paradoxes, you think that anything that has been the victim of temporal manipulations would draw their attention!
With news that Aquarelle had jumped into the breach, Samantha consults the readouts of the probes she had earlier sent into the rift. Before she can locate Gui, the shapes she had previously seen as drifting curiously near the tunnel catch her attention, but more interestingly, they seem to turn their attention to her!
Samantha:
Eyeless, soulless, but still predatory and aware, an entity that reminds Samantha of a nightmarish angler fish from the lightless depths of the ocean dangles a fascinating orb into your mind! Despite the inherent danger, the quantum entanglement that de-aged Samantha and twisted her own timeline is drawn towards the siren's lure!
Samantha, take Helpless!
Meanwhile, Indarius defies Drake's seductive call to a greedy and selfish life once again. Calling out to the Finals, he challenges their mercenary attitudes. Each of them pause as his words hit them hard. Ne'veah, specifically, nods her feline head. Currently incapable of speech, she still growls an affirmative and holds her position.
"This is no place you want to be," Ava says softly in Jessie's ear and pulls her into the emergency stairwell, shutting the door behind her.
Chroknight wrote:
"...For Christ's sake, let's just get this over with now."
Directly Engage Drake: 2d6+2+1⇒(5, 6)+2+1=14
The tense scene finally escalates into violence when Chroknight kicks Drake towards the breach! The well-dressed man goes flying backwards, his shades spinning off his head! There's a flash when he hits the tear in reality and he disappears!
Andromeda had nearly gotten through to Xaiara, maybe even to Liam, reminding her of the experiments she was an unwilling participant in back when she was consumed by the Red. But before she could make up her mind, Drake is kicked through the very breach that would send Xaiara back to the timeline she apparently prefers!
Xaiara's wings flare out, looking ready to send her into motion. She meets Andromeda's eyes, looking for permission to fly into the breach after Drake.
Before Chroknight can feel any sort of satisfaction from sending Drake into the very breach he helped create through funding and manipulation, they're flung upwards to crash into the ceiling and then rebounding back to the ground! Then they fall sideways as gravity warps wildly around them and they slam into the far wall! The (stupidly handsome) man called Zero-G shakes his head at them. "That was a mistake." He clenches his fist and suddenly gravity increases tenfold around them, pinning them to the floor and sending ceiling tiles crashing down!
Chroknight, you must Unleash to move from the gravity lockdown!
As an all-out brawl seems imminent, Cortex cracks his knuckles with a smirk.
Aquarelle:
Aquarelle wrote:
"Who are de Defenders?"
Shayera gestures to herself, Matrix, the armored figure, and the other figures in the park. "You're looking at them."
She looks at Bronwyn with a big smile. "You know it. Hopefully there's no more surprises that Cortex left in my head. Anyway, don't think. Don't make plans in advance. Improvise, all right? Let's go."
She clasps hands with Bron and Gui, and together they jump into the breach.
William runs forward and is able to trace some of the tentacles back to a cluster of stalactites on the ceiling just above the pit. His arrow bounces off one of the rocky protrusions.
Benedict hears a gravelly voice respond.
Undercommon:
"Ah! Something with a modicum of intellect! You killed the gugs? Interesting. How did they taste?"
Shayera staggers back to her feet after being smashed away from Xaiara by a wave of force tearing into their reality!
Staring at the jagged cut into the fabric of space and time, she can only say one thing.
"What the Hell?!?"
Bronwyn winces at Shayera's profanity she's supposed to be working on that, but the more serious issue is clear. "Shayera, I don't know why you attacked Xaiara, but you put me in an awful position, and I need an explanation."
Shayera rises to her feet, working her shoulder after the brief but intense fight. Her attention is pulled away from the breach by the accusation in Bronwyn's voice.
"Awful position? Bron, I promised I'd get her back to her friends! They were terrified for her!"
Bronwyn's jaw is set, eyes bright. "So it was okay to force her to go where she didn't want to go because you made someone else a promise? Not to even listen when she told you what I'd promised?"
"Bronwyn, I--" Her voice gets caught in her throat. Her eyes tear up and she sways on her feet. "I screwed up. I didn't know what to do. I was lost, missing you, and so selfish, and Whip was there but lost in space and I wanted to wait but I couldn't... I had to come back. It meant making sure she got back to them. I thought she'd want to."
Bronwyn's eyes soften, and she cups Shayera's face in her hand. "I was scared too, but we can't just do the right thing when we're not afraid. And Shayera? You were already home. So, that... Portal is open again, but it doesn't look the same. Or safe. What are we gonna do to help her?"
For a heartbeat Shayera savors Bronwyn's touch, but then pulls back. "You're implying I did the wrong thing. There wasn't time for a debate. So you didn't once try to talk her into going back?" She shakes her head, hating that they were fighting but not willing to totally concede. She brushes the tears from her eyes and turns to look at the breach. "You want to try to go through? I'm not going without you, 'cause if I get stuck again, I don't want... I can't...you know."
Bronwyn meets Shayera's gaze levelly. "I think that you more than most have reasons to have a hard time thinking of Xaiara as another person who gets to make her own choices, no matter what I advised. I love you, but yes, attacking her to force her through the portal was wrong."
She focuses on the new whorls and snarls of the rent in space. "It's much less stable. I wouldn't want us to go in there and not even find her."
She reaches into a pouch at her hip and pulls out a jet black feather, blowing it into the wind where it becomes a large, disgruntled looking raven. "Mabel? Can you take a look?"
Voice thick with emotion that she's struggling to contain, Shayera bites out, "I didn't attack her. I tried to grab her and she went crazy on me. My job was to get her back home. It was like... a misunderstanding."
Bronwyn turns back to look at Shayera, really look. "Oh. Shayera, can you hold still for just a moment?"
Gingerly she places the flat of Gae-Dearg's blade against Shayera's temple, nodding with a sharp intake of breath as the enchantments of her spear react to something within her fiancee's mind.
Shayera huffs, but relents. "I'm sure we'll laugh about it later," she offers with a forced smile while letting the blade touch her skin completely unafraid.
A moment passes as Shayera feels the cool tip of the spear against her cheek. Sudden Clarity dawns upon Shayera, making her aware of the thoughts being imposed on her. Conversations layered with compulsions and suppressions bubble to the surface! She grips the sides of her head and wrenches herself away, her body spinning drunkenly and her wings spasming. She drops to her knees painfully, still clutching her head!
"Let's take a stroll down memory lane. No place like home, huh? I'm Whip's apprentice! Let's explore that! And she's gone... Trying to fill her role, cute. Andromeda's abrasive, is she? Selfish, possessive. They saw you the same as you see her, didn't they? How could I stand someone like that? How could I have said that to her? I need to go home, send Xaiara back, and I can forget about everything. Chalk it up to one big misunderstanding. Hell, we'll laugh about it one day..."
Panting, Shayera looks up. "There was someone in my head," she rasps.
"It's okay, Shayera, I've got you." She holds her close. "Do you know who it was? It sounds like we know what they wanted."
Shayera rubs her forehead. "Not really. Male, middle-aged. I just... dreamt of home. Stuff that I've been through."
"Well, it seems like he wanted you not to trust one of the other students who had been used as a weapon, and he wanted you to deliver Xaiara back to him."
A rather more haggard raven returns from the portal, quorking and quethaning until it has Bronwyn's attention.
"It's still open, thank you, Mabel, but there are monsters in there now." She turns to Shayera, and though her helmet conceals it, her grin is palpable. "Ready?"
Before they can even clasp hands, the breach spits out a figure!
"Human. Not one of those entities," Matrix, who'd been studying the breach nearby, says flatly.
"I recognize him. Aquarelle, right?" Shayera says. "One of the good guys, if I recall. Took the lead during the giant space mushroom. Yes, really. Ask him if you don't believe me." She gives Bronwyn a wink.
Gui lands and rolls on his back, staring at the whole in reality, and craws away from it. "Putain! C'est quoi cette merde?" He turns briefly towards Shayera's voice. "Dere is someting in-between... someting... someting horrible." He finishes with a whisper, for a moment forgetting the very reason he crossed the rift.
Provoke: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (2, 5) + 3 = 10
"Just great. Are they following you?" Shayera asks.
"Greetings, Aquarelle. Thank you for the warning. How do you propose to get back?" Matrix inquires.
1 Team
Drake sighs again, his patience being put to the test. "Risk yields rewards, whelp. Go back and hide in your egg. Pretend you're human and be mundane if you fear the unknown."
To Indy, Drake plans on exploiting the breach between the two timelines. Whatever economic venture seems the most profitable, he will take it. He's also trying to shift Indy's Mundane up and Danger down (which he can't, so take a condition if you accept the shift)
Professor Hopkins sneers at Samantha's threat, forcing a laugh but sounding uncertain that she's not bluffing. "Threatening lethal force? Are you ready for that, girl?" He looks around briefly and his eyes fall on Jessie and Ava. "That's cold, even for you."He errs, you get a +1 forward against him.
Andromeda's entreaty to Xaiara has her resolve cracking. "I-- I don't know what Bronwyn will say! She might be okay with--" She glances at Drake, frowning.
Chroknight gets her attention before she's able to fully answer Andromeda, turning her back to her intent to go back to the other timeline. "You won't understand. It's just... better there. >sniff< You know someone else went through, right? The boy with the accent?" She points in the direction of Gui.
"What?!?" Ne'veah shouts, overhearing Xaiara. The hybrid grabs the illusion by the arms, causing it to dissipate into nothingness! "No! Why did he--? We gotta go get him!!" She shifts into her large panther form with a reverberating growl.
Drake smiles at the turn of events and addresses Samantha. "Before we strand a large number of our friends on the other side of the breach, why not put your prodigious intellect to the task of keeping it open and holding the creatures at bay? Valence, Zero-G, Cortex? Do what you can as well." He lowers his shades and peers over them at Andromeda. "Your stock is rising, my dear. Would you like to contribute to the effort?"
Chroknight's insult slides off Drake so completely they might as well have called him a stupid-head. His poise, bearing and sophistication only emphasize their age difference. Her lost years from the de-aging burn in her mind, and her childlike instinct is to flee to the safety of her new peers. Chroknight, take Insecure if you want to remain in the scene!
Samantha, similarly, tries to point out the flaws of Drakes plan and unfortunately lays bear the very difficulties he plans to profit from! He gestures at her with the smile of the vindicated. "You get it! Few entities have the resources to set up the oversight and safeguards, as you say. My organization, fortunately, does. And once in place, the service fees and tolls for the transfer of goods and services between timelines would be near limitless.
"For example, Behind the Mask is translated into eighteen different languages and has a global viewership of just under a billion people. According to Shayera's memories, the show does not exist in her timeline. Even a conservative estimate would add five hundred million new viewers to the show! That alone would make this endeavor worthwhile!"
Andromeda's turn of attention to Liam catches him making frequent glances at Xaiara even as he's doing his job of probing the dimensional breach. He gives her an irritated look. "It's not just money! How is this hurting anyone? It makes sense, doesn't it? Keeping the rift between the timelines open so anyone can go through and return?"
Xaiara pushes aside Jessie and Ava who had in the meantime stepped up to comfort her. "We can go back and forth? Really?" She looks between Liam and Andromeda. "We should do that! You could meet Bronwyn! Why don't you want to do that?!?"
Getting Liam to keep the Finals out of the fight would most likely take convincing him that Drake is not the one to be trusted with the breach (or that the entire enterprise shouldn't be supported). Xaiara could be another angle.
Aerel creeps forward slowly and nearly silently. His caution is warranted but not enough to save him, as he feels three separate tendrils wrap around his limbs and torso! Each one that strikes does no damage that he can tell, but he feels his limbs go numb and his strength leach from him!
Aerel must make three separate DC 27 Fort saves or take 3d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 2) = 7 Strength damage (3 if he fails the first, and 2 for a failed second or third save).
As he struggles, he hears words in Undercommon.
Undercommon:
"Hmm. An elf-type in a dwarven ruin? Is there some sort of religious significance for this unusual circumstance?
Samantha regards each of the new arrivals. Recognizing that Drake was the being that Indarius feared, she would imagine that his power is likely the most dangerous, followed immediately by the telepath. Cortex being able to humble Andromeda in so swift a fashion lends credence to that analysis. Liam's power, also, she knows is considerable, and Ne'veah's physical prowess is not to be taken lightly. That left the stranger, Professor Hopkins, and Kennedy. With her emotions on current lockdown, she estimates that Kennedy would be the least effective against her.
* * *
The lights flicker for a moment and Gui is gone, though his illusion remains.
"Hopkins, status!" Drake calls out.
"The breach isn't connected to the power grid anymore. That was just a random fluctuation... I think." He leans over Samantha's shoulder to turn on the monitor that she'd surreptitiously turned off.
After the power flicker, Chroknight tries to call out the flaws they perceive in his plan. He tsks with a curt shake of his head.
"Please, you're assuming the worst of me. This timeline is not some backwards culture of regressed simpletons! You've met Shayera, have you not? What's through that breach is another market of sophisticated customers! Buying power! Products unavailable here that we can import, just as we can export goods there!" He grits his teeth in impatience. "You're young. A child, even. I expected the reality to be obvious for one such as yourself, but if basic economics is too much for you, then perhaps you should not speak on things you do not understand." Chroknight, Drake is trying to lower your Superior and raise your Mundane (which would cause you to take a condition since Mundane can't be raised any higher)
Finished with the debate, Drake gestures to the breach itself. "Let's address the 'monster' situation. Zero-G, Valence, what can you tell us?" Liam holds his hand out towards the tear which Zero-G just folds his arms and shakes his head.
"The tear's got matter, air molecules, but beyond it -- nothing. I can't sense anything. The air must be from our dimension, or theirs."
"No gravity, either. It's a void," Zero-G says. "It's like... the hole created by a bullet going through ballistic gel. Except... the gel isn't real."
Cortex focuses on the breach. "And there's things in there."
Aquarelle:
Diving into the breach, Gui feels oppressive cold and a deadness of sensation all around him. Sound, even vibrations, are absent as he crawls desperately forward. Despite the dead silence, he feels an unnerving presence that spike his fear and drives him onward!
Before it becomes too much and true panic sets in, Aquarelle finds himself falling! A rush of moist, warm air hits him a second before he lands on a brick and flagstone surface!
"Human. Not one of those entities," a metallic voice says flatly.
"I recognize him. Aquarelle, right?" he hears Shayera's voice. "One of the good guys, if I recall. Took the lead during the giant space mushroom. Yes, really. Ask him if you don't believe me."
Drake looks smugly at Indarius, but before he is able to answer Andromeda's power flares and she acts!
Andromeda:
Her plan flashes in the forefront of her mind -- wrap the telepath up in her sheath and blast them both to the surface. Cortex's powers only work on the mind, so a sudden physical assault could keep him occupied and unable to focus!
::It's cute that you thought that'd work.::
Andromeda blinks and in her mind's eye Cortex is standing over her, putting a firm hand on her forehead like an adult restraining an unruly child. ::I know you from Shayera's mind. Andromeda, right? Oh, yeah. Or should I call you Tau-34? Would that put you in your place?"
He flicks his finger and Andromeda goes sprawling on the floor of whatever this place is. He looms over her easily double her size. ::Your static is annoying but nothing I can't power through. So let's set some ground rules: you don't raise a single thought against me, and I don't make every person you remotely care for see you the same way Shayera does. Deal?::
From everyone else's perspective, Andromeda launches herself at Cortex in an ill-advised frontal attack! She's way off, however, as the telepath sidesteps her charge which causes her to barely miss Xaiara in her flyby! The Bull caroms off the reinforced wall, severely denting it, then ends sprawled at Cortex's feet! The telepath looms over her, a sadistic smile on his face!
Chroknight bounces back from several quick jaunts into the future to try to figure out how much danger they're all in, but without the paradox sensor from their armor and the myriad of chrono-entities lurking just beyond the breach, they get the sense that any attempts to return to an earlier time to warn herself or her friends cause a temporal rift way too enticing to the horrors she'd just witnessed!
Chroknight, take either Hopeless or Afraid!
Drake holds up a forestalling hand before further hostilities erupt. Shall we all take a moment?" He takes a sharp breath, turning to Cortex. "Do no permanent damage, please. She needs to hear this."
Cortex straightens and steps back, still with a cruel smirk on his face.
"Now," Drake says, fixing his glare on Indarius, "to your question, yes. We have a golden opportunity here, of reaping wealth far beyond even the billions I stood to gain the last time a team of yours intervened. There is a world beyond that rift. A new market of untapped potential. Think about when China, or India was opened to trade for the first time! And then multiply it by the rest of the continents of the world!!" He clenches his fist in a covetous gesture as his teeth gleam.
"Think about it. Another timeline. Stable, similar yet different. What sort of differences are there? The cultural exchanges we can explore? The art? The history? The resources?" Drake's gaze sweeps across everyone in the subbasement. It falls on Xaiara. "You've spent weeks there as our first, if accidental, envoy. Would you like to be an ambassador to an entire world?"
When Samantha acknowledges Professor Hopkins, he nods in Mr. Drake's direction. "Nice idea, right? We need you to maintain the breach. Keep it open, keep it stable, so goods and people can pass through. Plus rebuild your equipment so additional bridges can be built. You'll be set for life."
The party works their way through the Reliquary, retracing their steps past the earlier battles and remains of their fallen foes. As they pass by the stone statue of the gug, they get the unnerving feeling that it's watching them pass.
Finally reaching the place where they fought the forgefiends, Aerel starts to scout ahead into the unknown.
Several stalagmites break up this ancient cave, varying from the height of a human child to almost twenty feet tall. A pit looms in the southern extension of the cavern. To the east, the rocky ground gives way to a finely carved stone floor.
Aerel sees the bones of several creatures littering the edge of the pit, picked clean of flesh. He can readily tell that they are from various strains of humanoid, but without closer inspection he could not possibly tell what races they belonged to.
"Yeah!" Jessie blurts out, realizing who Andromeda was talking about. "Whippoorwill! Shayera wouldn't stop talk-- I mean, she didn't, not really, but she dropped hints, you know? Like, she really wanted to meet this timeline's version."
"Shayera also had her own friends that helped her. We are yours, and want to help you, Ava adds.
Xaiara tries to control her emotions and does a poor job of it. Guilt and despair and loss contort her face into one of utter anguish.
* * *
Meanwhile, another drama is playing out between Chroknight and Samantha. Told to return to her band, the Janus has to decide whether to remain and keep trying to get through to Samantha or to leave.
Before they can make a decision, however, the freight elevator opens.
================
Aquarelle and Indarius
Indarius wrote:
"Hope your eye healed up?"
Drake says nothing, but he lowers his sunglasses just enough for his red, slotted pupils to peer over their rims. Indy is able to see that one is slightly lighter, a red-orange of a sword just out of the forge compared to the deep red of a long-burning coal.
Little else is said in the crowded elevator, but fortunately the uncomfortable silence is not too long.
Ding!
A large contingent of people both familiar and unfamiliar fill the subbasement lab. Professor Hopkins immediately moves to look over Samantha's shoulder at her work while the impeccably dressed man in the white and red goes to stand directly before the breach.
"Wonderful! Well done, my dears!" The man in shades looks to a lanky adult with a shock of pink hair.
That man moves to stand over Xaiara and stares down at her. "Don't mind me..." His eyes lose focus briefly, then he turns to the man in the white suit. "Confirmed. She was in Wingblade's timeline, no doubt about it."
Drake bares his white teeth in something like a smile. "On the contrary, there is no Alliance."
Ding!
The elevator doors slide open before they reach the subbasement, revealing Indarius.
=================
Indarius
Ding!
The freight elevator opens, revealing a fully occupied car. Indy recognizes Gui, Ne'veah, Liam, and Kennedy as well as Professor Hopkins. Two other adults are strangers to him, although he recognizes them from Whippoorwill's dossier during her superhero class -- Zero-G and Cortex.
And then there is Drake in his white suit and red dress shirt, standing coolly in the middle.
"Percival," he says.
=================
Subbasement
Unfortunately, with all the wrecked equipment in the lab, Samantha sees nothing of immediate use in repairing or plugging the hole. Given that the barrier's strength and resilience exceeded all previous theories, properly sealing the breach would require intensive study of the barrier itself.
Fortunately, nothing at the moment seems to be leaking through the breach, even though her drones are still registering the actions of the entities of the in-between flitting around the tunnel with curiosity. Samantha surmises they have some time to work up a solution. With that conclusion, the matrix screaming in her ear indicates that her relationship with her friends may be the most in danger!
* * *
Xaiara pushes herself up to her knees and looks at Andromeda flatly. "No, she knows Shayera. And that Shayera was like me, once. And that I could be like her!"
================
Chroknight:
Chloe's phone starts buzzing.
CMG group D: Chloe, where ru?
CMG group B: powers back on. Next band is starting
CMG group D: ...
CMG group A: need u here
"So tis breach has to do with Samanta?" He asks Ne'veah, whispering not to bother those in charge, but clearly for Liam to hear. "I remember hearing dem talking about bringing Xaiara back... I hope she is fine."
Liam doesn't take the bait, giving Gui an irritated glance at first but then making eye contact and nodding. "Yeah, me too."
Mr. Drake's ears were evidently keen enough to pick up on Gui's side conversation. "It has everything to do with Samantha. She and her friends must not have trusted you with their project to retrieve Xaiara. I'm sorry to hear that." His mouth turns down in an expression of sympathy even though his eyes are still hidden behind his fashionable sunglasses. Gui, take Insecure
With the word that the tear in realities is back, the entire group in the meeting room follows Mr. Drake. He strides briskly but not hurriedly through the corridors of Daedalus to the freight elevators to the various levels beneath the school. As he walks, he tells Gui, "we've obtained significant intel on the alternate timeline, and have strong reason to believe Xaiara will be fine."
Once the elevator is full Drake hits the button and the doors slide shut. "No zombie plagues, or nanobot swarms turning everyone into robots, or alien invasions razing cities to the ground. No, this timeline appears to be... ideal."
================
Subbasement
Xaiara looks up at Andromeda through tear-streaked eyes. "You can't help. You don't know what it was like. It was-- it was, was easier. Better."
"Wait, what?" Jessie blurts out in confusion. "We were so worried for you!"
Wrenching herself away from the stares, Xaiara's wings go up to shield herself. "Bronwyn said I could stay! She was going to train me and keep me out of the Red and I wasn't scared!"
The probes Samantha sent in before Andromeda jammed a telekinetic plug into the breach find what could best be described as a tunnel through the barrier between timelines. Like an underwater observation deck in an aquarium, the drones detect shapes moving fluidly just outside the tube, probing along the new feature!
Based on Chroknight's fears, the shapes inside the tear are dangerous but nothing appears to be an imminent threat. Ending this quickly would involve finding a permanent plug to seal off the breach.
In the subbasement, Xaiara takes in her surroundings, eyes falling on Andromeda, Samantha, Ava, and Jessie. She looks around at the formerly sterile lab and its smashed equipment and a choked sob escapes her throat. Her limbs spasm as she struggles to rise to her feet, fails, and collapses. She buries her face in her arms and her wings fan out defensively.
Andromeda's question floats softly over her. Xaiara flinches anyway, and begins to sob.
Drake smiles and taps the tablet, showing the sum is uploaded to Gui's personal account. "Excellent. May this be the start of many more lucrative endeavors."
He turns to Professor Hopkins. "Speaking of, how is the project going?"
Just then, the lights flicker and dim as if there is an issue with the power. The tech professor slaps the side of his laptop, then runs a cord from a device on his belt and plugs it in. "It's underway. It's just... something's not right."
The lights dim even further, and for a moment only Professor Hopkins' laptop is providing light. Drake looms over him, everything else in the room forgotten. "Explain."
"The kid's theory was sound. The particle accelerator, the power grid, the paradox inhibitor... Hell, the cryo-phase piece was certified genius. It should've been a stroll in the park from one timeline to another."
Mr. Drake remains still as a statue as the lights flicker. "Then what's the problem?"
Professor Hopkins shakes his head as he keeps focused on the readouts. "The barrier. The in-between. It's stronger than any theory suggested. It's like... impenetrable to physical matter. Samantha's equipment can't punch through." He looks up at Drake, flinches, then turns back to his screen. "You know I only promised a sixty-percent chance of this working. I'm sorry. Daedalus's power grid's not enough."
"Give it time..." Drake says patiently. The lights dim again, then go out completely with only the laptop providing any illumination.
Professor Hopkins sighs. "Time's up. I think that's it. Oh, wait! Something punched through! Barely! Was that--? Yes. Chroknight just moved through the barrier, but everything sealed behind them. The power we've got left can't sustain the breach."
Liam steps forward. "I've got power! Let me go! I can push through!"
Drake holds up a hand. "Patience. If there's one thing I've learned, is that heroes find the means."
"Are you saying I'm not a hero?"
Drake gives Liam a look that forestalls his anger. "I'm saying that you need not make a sacrifice today. Patience."
Liam fumes, glares at Drake, but moves back to stand next to Kennedy and Ne'veah. He spares the briefest of irritated glances at Gui but says nothing.
Professor Hopkins sees something that he doesn't like on his laptop and sags back into his seat. "That's it. Portal's closed. Nothing moved back through. Chroknight's lost, it's done."
"Keep watching..." Drake says with utmost calm.
=================
Chroknight, in-between:
If anything, it's worse going back.
The path, the bridge, the portal, whatever their mind calls it to make some sort of sense to navigating the timeless in-between, is in greater chaos than before, like trying to follow a ship's wake in the middle of a hurricane. The frozen stillness is wearing off, and the churning maelstrom threatens to overwhelm the nascent time-traveler.
Then the portal closes before Chroknight is able to cross the divide.
At first, they hoped that Xaiara had followed. Now, they realize it would be a greater mercy if they hadn't. Chronowraiths lurk just beyond the corner of their peripheral vision, but worse were the other, larger things without eyes but frighteningly aware!
For Chrokn-- Chloe-- who had enjoyed impossible mobility as the world slowed around them, this sluggish molasses of aether was the opposite. They were slowed down to nearly a standstill while the chronowraiths and chronoanglers and chronoleviathans flow liquid-smooth! Their sinuous fluidity slithers closer and closer...
=================
MOT -- Andromeda
This is what you do best. You let loose, all the pent up strength and rage and glee, and you break whatever stands in your way. You are a walking demolition crew. What can stand up to you? Nothing. Not buildings. Not structures. Not enemies. Nothing. Of course, now the people who changed you know exactly where to find you...
* * *
Gui
"Whoa. It's open! The portal, it reopened! If I'm reading this right, there's a tear between reality and an opening to the other timeline!!"
"Excellent. Let's go meet our new neighbors, shall we?"
Chroknight
The chrono-things drift closer and closer, like a curious shark wondering if a floundering swimmer is a good meal! Then, a massive rip of force tears through the aether! Wraiths and other creatures sizzle into nothingness as the blast flings them through a tear in the fabric of reality! They find themselves flung back down in the night-shrouded park where they'd dropped Shayera off!
Then, before any sort of coherent action could be made, the same tsunami of force that blasted them into one reality sucks them up and rips them backwards through the same aether until they're flung hard against the Daedalus subbasement floor!
Daedalus
A ragged scream issues forth from Xaiara as she crashes against the far wall. Another scream join hers as a delighted Jessie jumps up and down but is restrained from glomping on the metal-winged girl by Ava.
Another Timeline
Shayera staggers back to her feet after being smashed away from Xaiara by a wave of force tearing into their reality!
Staring at the jagged cut into the fabric of space and time, she can only say one thing.
The rules state that Su abilities can't be disrupted and that their use doesn't provoke AoOs, but it doesn't mention anything about visual cues. I personally think the world would be flat if magic doesn't have some kind of visual flair when it's used unless it makes zero sense for there to be a visual cue that it's in use, like glibness.
The spirit looks at the jar as Benedict approaches. "I see. But, didn't I tell you I've accepted my fate? You need not waste such a valuable substance on me."
The two prodigious fighters slip from Chroknight's grasp and resume their combat, though Shayera continually maintains the upper hand. "Do you hear her?!? Them" she shouts. "Everyone wants you back!"
Xaiara reels from the sound beating she's receiving from her counterpart. She screams incoherently, launching herself at Shayera only to have her momentum flipped around and sent backwards towards the portal! Only, the vortex continues to stutter and fade!
Chroknight, convincing Xaiara may require carrying her back against her will, or spending more time than they have to discuss the finer parts of being a hero and self-sacrifice!
[Ooc]* * *
Daedalus subbasement
Before Ava drains her power reserves, Jessie flings herself against the Androidian and severs the connection! With the power supply cut short, the portal begins to collapse!
Shayera returns Bronwyn's fierce embrace, clinging to her desperately for a span of heartbeats far too long considering the circumstances but also too short for their delayed reunion. "Sí. Tengo tantas cosas que contarte. Hay tantas que ni siquiera puedo empezar..."
Her face falls and she turns to look directly at Xaiara. A sad smile crosses Shayera's face as she regards her frighteningly similar doppelganger. "Hey, you. I've heard so much about you. And as much as I'd like to get to know you, you need to go." She points to Chroknight gesturing towards the vortex.
Xaiara shakes her head firmly. "I'm staying. Bronwyn said I could."
Shayera gives a brief glance back to Bron with an arched eyebrow, but her head whips back to square with Xaiara. She takes a few strides towards her double. "That's really not an option. Your friends are waiting for you. You don't have time for this. Come on, this is Chroknight. They'll guide you back."
"No. I don't want to go back."
Shayera gets close, her voice insistent. "I made a promise. Your friends are worried. You need to go back. And it's a cool world! Giant space mushrooms, heroic dragons, huge mechanical crabs-- Why wouldn't you want to go back to that?!?"
Xaiara snarls. "If you love it so much, why don't you go back!?"
"We. Don't. Have. Time." Shayera makes a move. Xaiara responds with lethal force which is effortlessly turned aside. With a feral scream, the non-native launches herself at her temporal double in a flurry of metallic blades. Wings blur under the artificial lights as Shayera stands firm, letting katana-like pinfeathers sink deep into her flesh! But before Xaiara can press the advantage, the other girl twists out through an arterial spray and reengages with a frenzy of blades and nerve strikes!
"You're not listening!" Shayera hisses while skewering her own pinfeathers into Xaiara's shoulders and following up with a series of debilitating jabs into nerve clusters. Xaiara screams incoherently for a brief moment but Shayera again strikes a successive series of nerve clusters! "Your friends didn't punch a hole into the fabric of spacetime to send me home, they did that to find you!!"
Xaiara gapes. She tries to go on the offensive and each time is brutally put down by her double. Shayera's hand strikes like a snake, gripping her hand around Xaiara's throat. "What about Andromeda? Huh? Jessie? Ava? Liam? They're waiting for you! They're freaked out about you, and want you home!"
==================
Daedalus Subbasement
Power flickers wildly as the portal starts to falter. Ava yanks her right arm off, exposing a connective series of wires that she attaches to one of the ports. "We have to keep the connection up. I... should be... able to provide sufficient... powrrrrrr..." The Androidian slurs her voice as she supplements the needs of the portal with her own power source!
"Ava!" Jessie shouts in near panic. "You can't! Don't do it!!"
Barely a span between breaths, but for Chroknight the interval could be compressed into a millisecond or stretched nearly to an hour.
Jumping through the portal meant moving into the space between timelines and therefore time as a concept stopped existing. Chroknight feels the heat leach from their body as if they've fallen into the vacuum of space. Their body feels sluggish; every movement was through thick, viscous jelly.
Shapes lurk in the riotous colors of the portal, frozen but somehow still present and frighteningly aware. Chroknight recognizes the familiar wraiths, but they see worse. Much, much worse. Thankfully, the pathway Samantha's eqipment opened is clear before them, but moving through the sludge of the aether of this in-between place is taxing especially when hauling Shayera along. Too taxing.
The portal suspended between the statues of the mighty heroes of Halcyon's past stutters and flashes, then disgorges two figures! They drop to the ground in a heap, one wearing a head-to-toe suit of armor and the other what could only be described as "college dorm attire," but also has metal wings on her back.
As Chroknight's vision comes back, they can immediately tell that where they are is nighttime, and they're surrounded by several tall bronze statues of heroic figures illuminated by yellowish sulfur streetlamps. The portal is a few feet above them, held in place by hastily placed equipment using the statues as some sort of anchoring foci.
Shayera stirs nearby, her rapid healing ability taking care of some frostbite that had set in during the transit. She groans softly as she pushes herself to wobbly feet.
Ne'veah appears pleased that he's joining her, either missing his pointed statement about fixing the tear or having the same assumption. "Great. Come on, let's get to the briefing."
* * *
Ne'veah leads Gui into the main building on campus and through a door restricted to authorized personnel only that she has to swipe a card to open. They go past the usual faculty lounges and administrative offices to a small conference room filled to near capacity. Gui recognizes Liam wearing an outfit lined with circuitry, Kennedy wearing a serviceable jumpsuit, and Zeke in jeans and a t-shirt.
The adults in the room include Mrs. Vallejo, Professor Hopkins, a slim man with a shock of pink hair on his head, and an inordinately handsome man in tactical gear. Leaning against the opposite wall is a man in shades and an impeccable white suit with a bright red dress shirt underneath cooly taking a drag on a cigarette.
Ne'veah stalls at the entrance, shocked at the two unnamed adults. "Cadre," she whispers under her breath.
"Who's this?" the handsome man demands as soon as his eyes fall on Gui.
Ms. Vallejo answers before Gui can. "This is Guillaume. Goes by Aquarelle. Illusion caster."
"And superfluous," Kennedy mutters under her breath.
Ne'veah grows a few inches while standing next to Gui and nearly doubles in bulk. "What was that, Kennedy?" she challenges.
"Enough!" Ms. Vallejo snaps. She turns to Gui after making brief eye contact with the two mystery adults. "We're always willing to bring on new blood. It's good to see you, Aquarelle. This is James Wharton and Angelo Kase. Or, as they're better known, Cortex and Zero-G. And one of our financial backers, Mr. Drake."
The man in the white suit stubs out his cigarette as he steps forward. He gives Ne'veah a predatory smile. "Ms. Johnson, we'll discuss your finder's fee later. Mr. Roy-Côté, I've heard of your efforts in repelling the Deathcap. Cudos. I am prepared to offer you a significant sum for your help in protecting our reality." He closes the distance between them, holding up a tablet that shows a figure double that of Gui's fathers' annual salaries.
What do you do??
Daedalus Subbasement
If Chroknight doesn't stand down, take a condition because of the Provoke
Shayera watches as the drama plays out between Chroknight and Samantha, face showing her conflicted emotions. When it seems like the time manipulator has made their decision to send them both through the portal, she doesn't look especially happy but she agrees nonetheless. She gives them a nod of resolution and takes Chroknight's hand.
Skuld appears next to Xaiara, staring down at her imperiously. "Xaiara. It may be so that your reluctance to return to your own saga is impeding our Shayera from returning to hers. I implore you to reconsider."
Similarly, Matrix turns to regard the displaced girl. "The people on the other side of the portal are inquiring about you. They wish to know why you haven't spoken to them. If you are committed to remain here, you should at least say goodbye."
==============
Daedalus Subbasement
Matrix's voice responds to Samantha's inquiry. "Logistical issues. I assure you she is fine."
Chroknight arrives to a frigid room with a frozen vortex at its center. Shayera is looking blue and shivering in front of the portal, while Ava and Jessie are as far away as possible while remaining still in the room. "Portal's not working and we're running out of power," the spider controller says through chattering teeth.
"The barriers between timelines are far stronger than expected. I believe an additional power surge for the 3.625 second time variance may be enough to push through. Depleting my reserves could provide the necessary power," Ava states with cold logic.
Shayera shakes her head vigorously. "No! Depleting sounds bad! Don't you dare! Who else can generate that kind of power without burning themselves out?"
Chroknight, the whole project is in danger to the point that personal sacrifices are being discussed.
"Come on, Dhalia, we gotta at least try them," Ainsley says, giving her ring several twists until the magic activates. A familiar flash of light surrounds her tinged with red. When it dissipates, her pigtails are longer and more animated, as well as sporting bright red highlights. Her skirt is a dazzling sequined red over shimmering black tights. Her t-shirt still has an image of Whippoorwill on it, but in a holographic style that has the heroine in different poses depending on which angle one views it.
Brie is next. When the flash fades, her long hair is streaked with bright purple and falls down in bouncy ringlets around her shoulders and back. Her dress has shifted into a rich violet matching her hair, and her jacket has shifted from denim into a glowing pink-and-purple neon material that also has COSMOGENESIS on the back.
Dhalia sighs and tries on her own ring. Once she activates it, her tight black jeans become black leather trimmed with vibrant green. Her black hair is accentuated with bright green streaks and her old tie-dyed shirt is transformed into shimmering fabric with scintillating green and indigo highlights.
Brie bounces up and down in excitement. "I love it! Ainsley, you look so good! And Dhalia! You got to admit you look sooo badass. What about me?" She spins in place.
"We at least need some selfies," Ainsley says, pulling out her phone. "Right, Dhalia? Oh, Chloe, you too."
* * *
The first act of the competition is Cygnus, a swan-like girl with feathery hair that Daedalus students recognize as Gwen. She's a solo act, but her voice is ethereal and haunting. The spotty crowd of the early day is enraptured by her vocal range and musical acumen.
The next band that performs is Nervous Hannah, a grunge-styled group of Franklin High School students. The early crowd that was drawn in by Cygnus's vocals remain, and even a small mosh pit forms close to the stage.
Another local band comes on next called Overture-Underture. The competition program states that most of the band members are from Halcyon North. Noticeably worse than Nervous Hannah, their set was unfortunately cut short when the power cuts out halfway through their second song.
"What's up with that?" Dhalia mutters.
================
Daedalus Subbasement
"We've used up the available power reserves for this lab and are now drawing off of Daedalus' grid," Ava informs everyone.
Shayera wipes her eyes free of tears that appeared the instant she heard Bronwyn's voice. "Bron! Love you too, but where's Xaiara? We're running out of time!" she shouts into the microphone. Then with sudden desperation she flies again at the portal, only to be rejected again!
The air between the statues in Monument Park crackles with strange energy. First swirls of liquid color fade in and out before coalescing into a stabilized vortex. Matrix works at her station, monitoring the equipment meant to stabilize the attempt to pierce the barrier between timelines and prevent any fraying of reality. The other Defenders stay ready, watching the lightshow for signs of catastrophe but hopeful ever since learning that Shayera properly responded to their coded message.
Matrix pauses as she receives a message from the foreign timeline. "Shayera is encountering difficulty passing through the portal," she announces. "The other side has theorized that the portal is transpositional and that Xaiara must switch places with Shayera."
Matrix's unblinking eyes fall on the metal-winged girl next to Bronwyn. A look of betrayal crosses her face as she rounds on the Red Raven. "You said I wouldn't have to go!! Not if I don't want to!!"
* * *
Daedalus subbasement
Shayera dusts herself off. "Works for me. Ready to swap places," she mutters as she puts her hands towards the portal, then steps back and sticks them under her armpits. "Brr. Maybe tell me when she's ready?"
Matrix's voice comes across. "We cannot immediately test that hypothesis. Our readings indicate a stable bridge; one-way passage should be feasible."
* * *
Cosmogenesis
"Whoa..." the three girls gasp in unison.
"You looked great!" "...really good." "... soo cool." "badass, really..."
"Gimme!" Brie's hand darts out and snatches up a ring from the box and it's immediately on her finger. Ainsley is seconds behind her.
Dahlia stops before she picks up the last ring. "Wait. What are we doing? It's our music, not our appearance that matters. I don't want to be noticed just because some magic ring gave us an Infinsta-gram filter."
When Samantha looks to Shayera for confirmation, she sees the winged girl smiling broadly and clapping. "Clever, Matrix. Very clever." She turns to Samantha. "She embedded a private message to me in ultrasound, along with a response code. Just let me confirm..." Once she inputs a confirmation code into the handheld, Shayera gives Samantha the thumbs up signal.
A swirling vortex of colors flashes as soon as the portal is activated. The particle accelerator whines as temporal energies are aligned with those of the target destination. The equipment in the subbasement rumbles and sends vibrations through the floor into all the occupants. Then the temperature drops suddenly to arctic levels, signifying the activation of the cryo-phase trigger!
The spinning colors slow as a frigid beam strikes the vortex, bringing the riot of hues to a steady sequence of flashing colors. The pattern slows even more as all ambient heat is nullified around the portal!
"I'm going to show up with ice coating my wings aren't I?" Shayera mutters, her breath appearing in white clouds. She moves to stand before the portal, watching the pulsing colors slow even more.
A tone sounds from Samantha's holographic display, indicating the bridge is connected and locked in! Her readouts all show that the portal to Shayera's home timeline is complete!
Sparing one last goodbye glance at everyone, Shayera meets Andromeda's eyes and says, "I'll find her and get her back to you."
She jumps towards the portal, her wings blurring behind her. She hits it like hitting a wall and bounces off, slamming down onto the subbasement floor! Shayera stands, shakes her head, and flies at the portal again, only to recoil from it like it's an impenetrable barrier!
”Just talked to the priests of…uhm…one of the dwarven gods of war. I think.” Grum looked to his companions for help. ”They’re aware and are working on it. We’ve come back on ahead of them. Vanguard if you will.” Giving a toothy grin he added ”If someone like me falls I don’t think they’ll shed as much tears as one of their own.”
The apparition tilts her head to the side for a moment. "Trudd? Were they priests of Trudd? Did you tell them of the Molthuni plot against us?"
The evening before the battle of the bands show, Gui gets a knock on his dorm room door. "I know you're in there, open up." comes Ne'veah's voice through the door, low but insistent.
She doesn't leave until she's let in. Once inside, she closes the door behind her. "Job time. I don't know all the details, but the Boss is saying there might be a dimensional tear. 'Something something, fabric of reality, something.' You up for a challenge?"
* * *
Cosmogenesis
The three girls stare at the rings inside the box through their heavy eyeshadow.
Ainsley speaks first. "The dragon guy 'just showed up' and gave you some magic rings? What if they turn us into wraiths?"
Dhalia rolls her eyes. "Smaug was the dragon. Sauron gave out the rings."
"Whatever. You know what I mean. This seems a little sus, Chloe."
Brie nods. "Magic can do crazy stuff. Weird s*!* happens in Halcyon. What if we're changed with our clothes? Worse, what if the costumes suck and we can't switch back?"
"I didn't even think about that!" Ainsley says, hugging her arms protectively across her favorite t-shirt.
"Have you tried wearing one yet?" Dhalia challenges Chloe.
After providing instructions for the clerics of Trudd to reach out to Navah, the Heroes again return to the Reliquary.
Again finding themselves in the great entry hall, they see the unchanged visage of the petrified Bellachal. As they go near, her ghostly apparition appears floating just to the side of her petrified form. "You've returned! But, it's just you again! What happened to the dwarves? I thought you were going to bring more dwarves here?"
Some hours after Shayara left and let Chloe rest she gets a buzzing feeling in her skull, not unpleasant and familiar as Indarius's voice enters her mind.
"Hey, Chloe.. you up? Got time to talk?"
"Mmmmm, no, I'm with Sam now, I don't need these dragon dreams anymore..."
"Flattering, but I'm not a dream. Also that brings up a whole load of questions I'm going to ignore for both of our sake."
There is a pause, "But if you actually are busy I can talk later."
"Uh. This is not my Falkor dream. I'm awake. Been awake. I think. Might have passed out at some point. Unsure. When did you become a psychic?"
"Not psychic, but telepathic communication is one of the spells I learned fairly early on to communicate over long distances discreetly when normal methods are unavaliable. It's not Psyonics because I'm only sending relevant communicative data to your brain and allowing a single throughput back... in otherwords I can't read your mind, only what you consciously want to reply back with. Give me a moment though I can make this a bit less awkward than 'talking' to thin air."
After a few minutes a ghostly blue cloaked humanoid appeared at the edge of Chloe's room facing the wall
"Okay.. that only took like three tries." It says with Indarius's voice no longer ringing in her mind. Though it distinctly lacked any of the reptilian resonance that he had.
"...to be clear it's also fine if you dream about me, because I expected that everyone's dreamed about everyone at this point," Chloe says under her comforter. "You can also look at me, I'm not indecent."
The figure turns a hooded young man, one that Chloe might recognize from photos before Indy became a dragon back when First Class had made their debute
"Good. Been a minute since I've projected a simulacrum, granted I haven't needed to either."
Shuffling silently through the room in a strange facsimile of real movement judging by the slight delay between the motion and the actual movement it peers around for a moment
"I uh.. don't get a whole lot of sleep these days so dreaming isn't common anymore. Aside from during our power swap in Australia you'd be shocked how little I have to sleep. S'pose I also never thought about anything if any of you all showed up in my dreams."
"I have an overactive imagination." She looks at her alarm clock and groans. "Okay, I've slept like crap, so I truly hope this isn't just a 'good luck playing' message and something seriously important. Why do you look like that?"
Looking at Chloe the image scratches it's chin under the hood.
"Old habits die hard I guess? And what I've got isn't particularly urgent but it's important nonetheless."
It shuffles over to the window looking out then turning it's head to look at her. "Are you... nervous?"
"Well, I have to be awesome at the battle of the bands. Oh, and I have to also work with Sam to pair up two timelines, and I have to figure out a way to keep your scale from blowing up and, oh yeah, I'm pretty sure the Star Pharoah's gonna appear too and we don't have the khopesh to beat him."
Chlo takes a beat. "So yes I'm nervous."
The apparition walks to the side of Chloe's bed, turns and takes a weightless seat at the edge.
"You're putting too much on your own shoulders. You have to have a give it your all at the battle of the bands."
"Samantha has the time bridge under control, we all need to trust her with that. We've all helped as best we can for now. "
Working it's fingers together in a long thought supressed manner of nervous fidgeting it continued. "Leave Drake to me. I-" It pauses indicating a swallow and breath, "I have contengency plans in place." A two beat pause, "And the Pharoah thing is a later issue, but I've no doubt you'll all do fine."
"That's a load of crap. That's just everything happening now. My backlog is a mile long. Shard, Beebee, the Moth Clan, my mother, Nannybot, the Chronowraiths..."
Chloe flops over onto her side. "Things rarely happened in a straight sequence. It's always a mess of overlapping events bleeding into each other."
There's a long pause as ghost-Indy takes several moments to think about that.
"Then just focus on what's ahead of you right now."
It's not clear whether Indy is trying to channel his inner counselor or what in this moment but he sounds serious. "Everything else will come in due time, and you do what you can. You don't do everything. Because no one person can do everything."
The figment turns to look at Chloe. "You know better than most that we don't get do-overs. You have access to trying again, but how many times have you done that and actually put your heart into it?"
(C&S 8)
"Are you kidding me?" Chloe stares at Percy. "I save-scum the worst moments that happen to the crew, to everyone I care about. To my dad and to Sam. I keep trying to figure out a way to do it to save you, but magic is a f!#$ing cheater that doesn't obey temporal mechanics."
Chloe crosses her arms. "I literally put in more time and effort than everyone else on the team. I mean literally, because I'm usually busting six to eight hours every night between eight and eleven patrolling, training, and catching up on all the stuff I'm falling behind on in school."
Percy sits and lets Chloe vent and tell him what's actually been going on. Giving her some extra time to see if she has more to say.
When she seems done he nods. "I'm thankful that you try, so many times. But I have to ask, how does it feel when you loop twenty times only for the outcome to be... less than you envisioned?"
"Well, other than the cheating magic stuff that doesn't change no matter how much I try? It feels like I've spent an hour finding the right one second to stop a bullet to someone's brain. If it nicks their head still, then at least I've kept them alive and I can move on to the next problem."
"I see, and what about when you can't change something or it turns out worse than the original? Like how magic seems to snap back with a mind of it's own no matter how many times you try to twist it.."
"...You're misunderstanding something here." Chloe shifts to look at Percy's face. "If I do something that changes it for the worse, do you think I let that just happen? The only version you know about my actions are the ones that are causing the least amount of harm. Though I've been cutting back on petty uses, like to step back in a conversation to say things differently."
She leans close to his projected face. "And magic, once again, is a cheating force that my powers don't work on. I already tried to slow down your scale's deterioration, it didn't work."
The simulacra stares at her pulling back slightly when she gets close.
"That was more of a hypothetical than if it's actually happened to you. For my own, curiosity, sorry. Magic has a will of it's own though, even I can't bend it endlessly. I've kind of wondered if time is similar. We can, you and I, can shift small currents, but at the end of the day it still flows towards the ocean."
"You're a dragon living in an mashed up timeline. We don't just shift small currents. But doing more does get the attention from the sharks. At least I know you and the team are strong enough to defend yourself against my sharks."
"Yes, I'm a dragon sure, powerful mythical even and all that. Despite all my natural talents with chronomancy I'm not able to reverse time. Or even loop it. That's why I came tonight to ask you a favor. A massive but simple one. If you'll hear me out a moment more?"
"You could have just led with that. Seriously, what do you want me to do?"
"Probably, but... eh that's not important."
The apparition stands and walks over to the window.
"As you out it magic likes to 'cheat' despite even my talents it snaps back when anyone attempts to make a loop even yourself. Whatever built up energy may have been present just vanishes. So, I need you to promise me something."
He opens the window showing that apparently all along it could in fact interact physically with the world. Taking a few breaths to steady itself.
"Promise me that. No matter how things go, or how terrible it looks, no matter how good or bad you think you're going to perform or how well you place. Put your all into it tonight, make it magical for everyone involved. Cause it may be the last one we get for a while and I think everyone deserves it. Yourself included and I only get one try at this, because magic won't let me try again."
"...Can I touch this projection?" Chloe attempts to poke it in the shoulder.
The simulacrum has feel, but it's almost like an airy jelly, if Chloe pushes too hard she simply phases through it like a ghost. As if it was just the outside that had any rigidity to it.
"Yeah, to an extent."
It shuffles out from in front of the window but leaves it open seemingly expecting something.
Chloe karate chops the simulation on the top of its head. "Don't act morose. I plan to play with my all. But that's easier if I know I'm playing for people who give a crap. So you'd better be there!"
The apparition of Percy doesn't flinch from the strike as it impacts then phases the rest of the way through. Though when it reforms Chloe can see a smile hidden under the hood.
"Good. Any second now, don't freak out."
As if on cue, a neon green bat flies in through the window carrying a small jewelry box which it drops unceremoniously on the bed before flapping right back out the way it came.
The simulated Percy moves back over and shuts the window and turns motioning to the box.
"To help your entire group's experience."
"What the heck is all this?" Chloe asks as she opens up the box.
Inside the box are four silvered ring bands. Simple in design if one wasn't paying attention to the runic carvings along the inner side. They also seemed a bit large by design, but fit snuggly when worn.
"Silver holds a charge better and acts as a much better conductive material. It's not pure, and I couldn't get my hand on gold which is the best conductor. But I think you already know what to do with em. If they ask, something something vested interest in the 'normies' getting a fighting chance."
He waves a hand side to side in the air.
"...You should refine the work I did with Andromeda and Statian too. It was a real rush job, that. Thank you."
"I'll... see what I can do. Just remember Chloe. Breathe."
The ghostly visitor goes through the mantra producing the most draconic noise it had since it's arrival as it breathed deep.
"And Focus. I think you'll do just fine."
A few hours later at Unity Station
Indarius rumbles from his half-nap half-meditation and looks at the tattered remains of the fading scale. Noting that Connie isn't present he grabs it from the table and watches it deeply for a while as it continues to disintegrate in his palm. He feels the weakening connection to Drake and thinks through the link.
"No more games, no more threats, no more running."
With a clench of his hand-paw he crushes the sliver that remained turning his hand over and watching the red-dust scatter to the floor in the stale air of the room. He then turns and goes over to Connie's door, he takes a deep breath and knocks three times as softly as he can.
"Hey Connie, I need to ask you something. It's pretty important. Well... maybe not super important."
* * *
Cosmogenesis
The box truck owned by Ainsley's mom is parked outside by the time Chloe finishes her text to Samantha and before any response is received. Seconds thereafter, she hears the heavy thuds of her bandmates pounding on her front door.
Ainsley is wearing a short frilly skirt over ripped leggings and her lucky Whippoorwill T-shirt, and her hair is pulled into wild poofy pigtails. Brie's long stretchy dress is accented by a wide belt with metal loops, and she's thrown a small denim jacket over her shoulders. Dhalia is wearing tight black jeans and rugged black boots, with a dark maroon and indigo tie-dyed shirt along with her signature fingerless gloves.
"Yo! Chloe!" Dhalia shouts through the mail slot. "Move your butt! Everything's loaded up, we just need you!"
* * *
Daedalus
While nothing new to Chloe thanks to her alter-ego, the rest of her bandmates gawk at the entrance to Daedalus. Ainsley's mom drives the truck through the service entrance where all the other trucks, vans, and buses of the competing bands are guided.
"Crazy, to think every student here has some kind of super power," Ainsley says, her eyes wide.
"Huhn. Yeah, but I'll bet half or more have lame powers, like growing your hair fast," Dhalia replies.
Brie laughs. "I'd take that power. Can I grow just my own hair, or anyone's?"
* * *
Another Timeline
"Agreed, Red Raven," Matrix confirms. "Get ready, everyone. I will send the reply signal now."
* * *
Daedalus subbasement
Shayera starts when Andromeda asks her questions, having been lost in her own thoughts. She nods. "Yeah. She's got a connection to Elsewhere. Sort of a spiritual, magical realm where mythological heroes hang out. God, I hope she's not there looking for a way to get to me." She chews on a nail nervously, rises, and checks out the handheld's screen again.
When Andromeda squats and recites her halted, stumbling prayer, Shayera looks at her in a new way. Even if Andromeda doesn't look up to notice, she hears the winged girl softly voicing a prayer of her own. "...for Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory. Forever. A--"
The handheld device chimes and a tinny voice comes through garbled static. ">kzzkhkkhh< Message received, Wingblade."
