Benedict's approach is sensed by the monstrous worm, and since its first target managed to stay out of its jaws it goes for him! This time, the worm manages to seize its prey as Benedict finds himself trapped in its jaws!
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William is unable to identify the gargantuan worm, but manages to sink an arrow into it. Aerel, as well, falls back down the tunnel while hitting it with an arrow. His actions to draw it work a little too well, as the worm does in fact give chase! The whole chamber shudders as its segmented body covers the ground rapidly, then its head and mouth strike at the archer!
Aerel suffers a massive bite, but miraculously manages to avoid getting caught up in its maw!
The new Chroknight stands up and dusts themself off. "I'm the evil counterpart now? That's rich, you little punk. You got lucky I was so close to tie off your folding timeline stunt before you really made things worse. One more crime to add to your list. So give up the cryo-rejuvenator you stole. Now."
It's a risky gamble, trying to fool the trickster by creating a hallucination of the game show inside Axolotl's own mind. Maybe it's the altered state of Gui's mind, or maybe it's because part of Axy's own reality bending has given him a boost, but he manages to pull it off! The rest of the contestants get a momentary break from the game show while they see the mental projection of the interaction between Imagerelle and Axolotl! Axy produces a small card that he reads off. "For the prize of your very own set of Tupperware containers, Peter Porker the Spider-Ham, the Condiment King, the Breadmaster, and the Confectionist all walk into a deli. What sandwich do they order?"
Aerel initially sees nothing, though the rumbling intensifies causing small avalanches down the sides of the cavern and a light shower of rubble from overhead. Then the ground literally explodes upwards as a monstrous shape bursts out of the loose earth!
You're all up!
Chroknight:
Chroknight's armor screams warnings into Chloe's ears as she puts her powers to the test to avoid disintegrating under Axolotl's influence. His words somehow caused the Janus to feel the weight of Yeoman's actual age -- nearly a century if she remembers her history. Trying to counter the reality warp with her temporal powers strains the paradox-preventing circuitry of her armor! The timestream twists and distorts around her as she sees more and more afterimages of Chroknight like a funhouse mirror! Dozens, then hundreds, images layered upon themselves at first with slight variations start looking more and more wild and varied! She sees some crumble to dust while others reverse backwards to nothingness! Then her vision blurs as the images become too much to process! Chroknight manages a scream before the paradox collapses on itself, perhaps aided by the presence of Axolotl. Sensation comes rushing back into their limbs, once again made of flesh and bone and only clad in the metallic components of their armor. Then their vision returns, and to her relief, Chloe only sees one Chroknight instead of hundreds. Then realization sinks in that she's seeing another Chroknight! * * *
To those looking from the outside, they see Yeoknight try to hold it together as they start rusting over! Time stutters around them, speeding up and slowing down, then blurring as yellowish energy crackles in a localized sphere around them! It flashes bright once, then fades away in anticlimactic fashion. Only, there are two Chroknights where there once was one! Axolotl doesn't give the strange temporal paradox a scrap of his attention as he listens to Samantha explain the cancellation of a hero while throwing a veiled message to Andromeda. He doesn't seem to pick up on the message, but neither does he seem impressed with her idea. "Cancel them? A show wants to avoid cancellation! Gimme something else! Something exciting!" With a petulant huff, he leaves Samantha at her typewriter and turns to the villains. "You still have control. What's your choice?" Ms. Yamada and Ms. Vallejo are speechless, but Mr. Hopkins leans towards his microphone. "We'll try 'Dimensions'." "Excellent!" Axy chirps, perking up. "Name this dimension!" He snaps his finger and Bazinga disappears for a handful of seconds. When he returns, he is hugging himself and shivering. "Wh-wh-was th-th-that... Jotunheim?" Axolotl grins wickedly. "Yes, that was, but I was asking the name of this dimension! Trick question! Ha ha ha! Now! Back to the heroes who-- looks like their numbers are growing. >tsk< You temporal beings and your linear chronological experiences. You should know better than to step out of your lane. "Anyway, pick a category!"
A plaque on the outside of the chamber read "The Calm Menagerie," and from what Benedict can surmise there were some creatures stored in this place in some kind of magical stasis that have been devoured by the gugs. He finds nothing of value in this chamber. A slight tremor can be felt in the earth. Haela's dwarven nature suspects that it's coming from the cavernous tunnel that lies beyond the wrecked wall of the menagerie.
Andromeda feels her telekinesis reined in by the psychic presence currently invading her thoughts. "What are you doing? Johnny can take care of himself! You need to stay right there and look unobtrusive for this plan to work!" Eclipse hisses in her mind.
"Yeoknight" meanwhile responds to the appearance of a nuclear bomb by rushing forward to render it harmless, risking the continued ire of Axolotl! After dismantling the ignition mechanism, they brazenly taunt the Omniversal being! The impish face turns bright red with anger. "Yeoman's just an outdated old toy. It's about time the clumsy bot broke for good." Yeoknight sees their robotic limbs cake with rust, and feels their body stiffen! Pieces start to fall off, and it takes all their will to hold themself together! Samantha speaks up, striking at Axolotl's weak point -- his flair for the dramatic. Axy blinks several times, staring at Samantha. "What?!? No! It's a classic! Villains love nukes! They're always... Oh. All right you have a point." He stomps his feet cartoonishly for a few moments, then snaps his fingers. Samantha suddenly finds herself on the stage, a old-style typrwriter on a stand in front of her. Axolotl is dressed like a movie director, holding a script. "Talk to me baby! Talk to me! What's hip! What's the bees' knees? What's rad? What should the villains get that'll make this the most exciting game show of all time?"
The creature takes an ineffective swipe at Grum as the heroes of Phaendar combine to slay the last fiendish gug.
Johnny snorts at the insurance suggestion, glances at Axolotl, then back to the team. "Okay, fine. I'm going to go with 'day.'" The cosmically-powerful game show host shakes his head solemnly. "Sorry pal, but the correct answer was, 'city!' 'Here I come to save the city.' I also would have accepted, 'Here I come to save that nosy reporter who keeps getting into trouble trying to scoop Channel Six!'" Axolotl cackles, spinning into the air as motes of his power spray outwards. "Punishment time! Let's raise the stakes!" The floor underneath the "Alliance" falls away, leaving them on their seats suspended over a pit! Growls echo up from the space below them, drawing their attention to panther-form Ne'veah and a fully wolfed-out Carlos snarling and snapping at their feet! "And who will be the unlucky contestant?" The seat under Johnny vanishes, but he uses his natural flight to not fall. Axy gives him an annoyed look and makes a scissor motion with his fingers. Instantly, Johnny drops down into the pit with Ne'veah and Carlos who viciously pounce! Axolotl ignores the sounds of fighting coming from the pit as he turns to the teachers. "Okay, villains! Pick your category, or you can chose what's behind Door Number Two!" "Dammit! Stop this!" Ms. Vallejo shouts. "You've had your fun, you should put everyone back and go." "But you haven't finished the game! We have to have a winner! The Heroes are up, three Siznars to one. You can't give up now! You call yourselves villains?" "We don't, but fine. What's behind the door?" Ms. Yamada asks. A section of the stage opens up, revealing a silver cylinder with a variety of wires and nodes. "It's your very own thermonuclear bomb! Threaten the city for fun and profit! Just what every villain needs!" Axolotl announces with delight!
A tense moment passes as Johnny looks to his "team" of Alliance-styled heroes for a clear sign of what choice to take. He searches their eyes briefly without success, then speaks into the microphone in front of him. "We'll go with Catch Phrases." "All right! For a chance to stay in the lead, finish this famous catch phrase from an old pal of mine, Praetorian! 'Here I come to save the...'" Johnny blinks at the question, then turns to his team! What do you do? Andromeda: Andromeda recalls that Professor Wolfe-Ascher's classes had always been split between the tps and the tks, with the exploration of the mindscapes and psionic spheres reserved for the former. So she'd never truly touched Eclipse's mind before now. It's not pleasant. Distant screaming and vaguely robotic echoes reverberating inside Andromeda's skull announce the presence of her psionics teacher. A pulse of understanding tells her that Eclipse grasps the plan. "This will be no easy feat under the best of circumstances, but to link while avoiding Axolotl's notice? You will have to be very..." A flash of awareness passes across them like an ominous shadow. "... still." Past scars and buried traumas of the invading psychic presence find τ-34's own and turn her mind into a living nightmare!
Axolotl floats in front of Johnny who seems unsure. "So what'll it be Kid Stalwart? A couple votes for 42, some worthless questions, and whatever Imagerie Junior said." "Um, I guess we'll go with 42," he says, deciding not to offer his own number and following the instincts of his teammates. "EEERRRT!!! Sorry! The correct answer is one million, four hundred seventy-three thousand, eight hundred ninety-nine. Sheesh! It was obvious!" Axolotl turns to the opposition. "Would the villains like to steal? Who am I kidding? Of course they would!! They're villains after all!" He snaps his fingers and dozens of bags with dollar signs on them drop from the sky, landing in heaps around the teachers. The bags scatter with a telekinetic wave from Ms. Ascher, sending dollar bills fluttering in the air. The teachers appear to struggle at their podiums as if they're rooted to the spot. Ms. Vallejo again tries to talk to Axolotl. "Our answer is five, so technically they're closest without going over." Axy's jaw drops to the floor at the teachers giving up their win. "That-- but you're-- Ah, lulling them into a false sense of confidence, I see. Pretty sneaky, sis." He waves his hand and the money disappears. "One-zero. Though I suppose there should be a penalty for getting it wrong." He snaps his fingers and Terrier disappears from her spot! At the same time, a fur stole appears around Andromeda's shoulders eliciting gasps from the audience! "The heroes remain in control of the board! Pick a category! Spin the Wheel! Name the price of..." A drumroll sounds as a sleek, futuristic-looking vehicle appears next to Andromeda in a new spotlight, rotating slowly on a dais. "... a brand-new car! Deluxe-edition Gortellian A-Y Scramble-thrust Pod! In Xavorian mint-creds, of course." Meanwhile, the categories flash as, CATCH PHRASES, MONOLOGUES, HERO SANDWICHES, DIMENSIONS, and POTPORRI. Which do you choose? Andromeda:
Watching Axolotl as the eye-candy of the game show, Andromeda gets the sense that the omnipotent being is layering more and more complexity on his game to make it harder for the players to figure out a way to beat him. Further, pitting the heroes against their teachers is a further distraction from the real path to victory. Samantha: The randomness of the game's elements and the impossibly arbitrary questions initially frustrate Samantha as she tries to figure out a key to winning the game. The further it progresses, the more she wonders if there truly is a way to win except to beat the teachers and force them to incur the horrible penalties. Before despair hits her, she notices something on the Wheel -- the tiniest sliver of a section of the Wheel that is colored like the jackpot from the original show. Only, it's so small that it is statistically improbable to land on it with one spin. Without some way to tilt the odds, it could take thousands of spins for the jackpot to come up!
Despite his confusion at the sudden change in scenery and his own cosmetic alterations, Indarius' own experience as a hero in Halcyon City has him adapting to the bizarre situation. Aquarelle similarly adapts, and though he works through the Aquarelle's surprise emotion powers are suddenly put to the test when Chroknight fails spectacularly to evoke Yeoman, talking like some bizarre caricature of a robot and suggesting that they merge with Indarius. As he berates Chroknight, he feels a surge of his copied power hit the armored hero! Axolotl's face starts to heat up, but just then Phalanx tries his own imitation of the combat master Foray and utterly fails to evoke the stoic warrior by being way too flamboyant. "No!! You're getting it wrong! You'd be more convincing playing the fearless fighter like a coward!" Phalanx suddenly feels a pall of dread fall upon his chest! Empyrean, unfamiliar with the winged heroine that is Whippoorwill, tries to get to the point of the whole exercise. Similarly, Andromeda calls out from her spotlight, suggesting a course of action to Axolotl. The distractions allow Samantha to slip from the baby carriage confinement with assistance from Phalanx's sudden stage rush by his dupes! They pour onto the stage singing the Village People, giving Samantha enough cover to slide off the stage beneath Axolotl's notice! However, the Omniversal being is not amused by the constant interruptions. "Geez!! It's like herding cats with you kids!" he shouts in frustration. With a wave of his hand all of Phalanx's dupes turn into cats that yowl and streak off in random directions away from the stage! Axolotl pops his knuckles like a stage magician as he floats back in front of the assembled heroes. "With that out of the way, let's see about the game, shall we? This is a school, so I suppose it should be educational in some way. And did I hear a request for some villains to truly put you to the test? Sounds good! So gather 'round, kiddies, for AnysimilaritiestorealgameshowsispurelyunintentionalcopyrightAxolotlallright sreserved." He claps his hands together and the stage rearranges itself into a game show stage with the "Alliance heroes" standing behind podiums next to a giant wheel with categories surrounding the rim and random numbers on the spokes. Andromeda, still in her sequined gown, is standing next to the wheel with her hands on her hips and a smile plastered on her face. Axolotl is now dressed in a white sparkling jacket as the host of the game show. "Good evening, larynxes and germophobes! Tonight, we've got... well, stand-ins of your greatest heroes to see if they're smarter than some of the worst villains of Halcyon City! And who are those villains, you might ask?" A new set of spotlights shine on a row of beings also situated behind podiums. "Chicle! Ballista! Eclipse! Terrier! Bazinga! And Grimoire!" The students of Daedalus look across the colorful wheel to see the costumed personas of Ms. Vallejo, Ms. Yamada, Ms. Ascher, Ms. Foster, Mr. Hopkins, and Mr. Mathers -- their teachers! "First question: How many boards could an alien hoard, if the Alien Horde got bored?"
The melee combatants move forward, with Haela taking a bite from the fiendish gug. It weathers the incoming attacks, then unleashes its full attack against the celestial warrior!
None of its attacks get through.
The remaining gug grunts as William puts a well-placed arrow into the aberration. Then it steps forward and bites and claws at Grum.
"Okay, let them all go," Johnny says. "It'll be fun; just you and me." Axolotl scratches his chin, musing over Johnny's demand. "Tempting. But you don't have the chops to go it alone. Cap's got a crew, so I'll give you one yourself. Let's see..." He claps his hands together and the stage becomes a grand round table with Johnny seated at the head. With a snap of his fingers, Empyrean appears seated at his right wearing the canary-yellow outfit of Whippoorwill! "You need a bird brain, so there you go! Now, who's next? That's right; a jolly robot!" Chroknight morphs again, thankfully again taking humanoid form although their arms and legs are stretched and gangly like the automaton Yeoman! In a blink after transforming, they appear seated next to Empyrean! Axolotl scans the crowd of students. "You'll make a great Imagerie, you in the back." Aquarelle suddenly finds himself seated at the left of Johnny, wearing the flowing and colorful outfit of the empath! "You, Mr. weapons master. You're next." With a snap of Axy's fingers, Phalanx appears next to Aquarelle in Foray's outfit. "Who wants to volunteer to fill the role of a shapeshifting alien robot?" the Omniversal being mutters, sweeping his gaze across the remaining students. He frowns in disappointment, then finally shrugs. "Meh. He'll do." Indarius appears at the table with a pop, though the dragon's scales have a metallic sheen to them to look more like Ordnance! "The Alliance is assembled!!" Axolotl shouts!
Aquarelle sees Ms. Vallejo's eyes dart around, though the rest of her is frozen stiff. He wonders if by pulling her farther away from Axolotl's influence and leaving an illusory duplicate in her place, she'd break free from his power. Meanwhile, the tense stand-off between Johnny and Axolotl is interrupted by Samantha! The omnipotent being stares at her with an incredulous look for a beat, then snaps his fingers. "You'll get a role, toots, but adults are talking." A giant baby carriage appears and scoops her up into its basket! Snaps and buckles fasten around her before she can react and a pacifier appears in her mouth that no matter how hard she tries she can't spit out! Axolotl turns his attention on Johnny as the baby carriage's hood snaps shut over Samantha. "Ehhh, 'adult' might be stretching things a bit," He says with disembodied hands offering finger quotes over the word "adult." Andromeda tries to take advantage of the fact that no one seems to be paying attention to Chroknight's plight. Her telekinetic yank is smacked away by a disembodied cartoon hand that wags its finger at her. "Uh-uh-uh, beanpole," Axy says in a sing-song voice. "No sneaking around backstage. But if you want to share the spotlight, I can oblige." A bright beam of white light surrounds Andromeda suddenly and she finds herself in a constricting sequined gown and standing in front of a microphone! She feels a giant Diana Ross hairdo on her head and exaggerated hips and bust straining at the seams of her dress! The Chroknight music box starts playing 1970s funk, forcing Andromeda to sway and provide backup vocals! Johnny tries to pull the attention back on him. "Hey! I don't know what you mean, but fine! I'm no Captain Stalwart, but leave everyone else alone and I'll play your game." Axolotl snorts. "No Captain Stalwart he says. But if the cape fits..." Another finger snap and Johnny is clad in the gold and blue outfit of the famous hero. However, he practically is swimming in the oversized uniform. "Oh, well! We work with what we've got!"
Threads and matrix at the ready, data streams cross-reference the incongruity of a giant pyramid appearing out of nowhere where the school's recreational facilities used to be located. Because the logistics of a massive structure appearing without considerable deployment of labor and materiel is wildly improbable, Samantha's assisted intellect arrives at a 99.41 percent certainty that a warped reality is responsible. Obviously, the source of the warped reality would be the greatest threat, while the students of Daedalus who had been in the Rumpus Room -- presumably ground zero of the anomaly -- are in the greatest danger.
Chroknight's unenthusiastic cheer followed by calling out Axolotl's reality-warping prowess does not inspire the rest of the student body to join them in ridiculing the Omniversal being. A tepid applause and a few halfhearted woos are heard while Axy turns to Chroknight. His eyes turn blood-orange and dangerous. "Strike two, Time Crow. Ever think it's not the instrument, but the musician?" Axolotl snaps his fingers, and the armored Janus twists and contorts, their body folding like a Transformer into a human-sized boombox with a faceplate that looks like their mask!! "What do the kids love these days?" the omnipotent being asks rhetorically. "Ah-ha! Queer-coded musical theater!!" Mercifully, Chroknight does not feel pain as their body is impossibly transformed like Soundwave! Before the shock and horror of their situation can wear off, they feel the urge to start singing Time Warp! The Chro-box starts blasting arguably the Rocky Horror Picture Show's most famous song to the crowd, though the voices singing the song are unmistakably Chroknight's! "It's astounding... Time is fleeting. Madness, takes its toll." The song progresses with the reality warper waving a baton like he's an orchestra conductor. The students and chorus line jump to the left, then step to the right as Axolotl's powers urge them to follow the dance moves! "But it's the pelvic thrust, that really drives you in--" "STOP!!!" Johnny shouts, rising up out of the crowd and causing a needle scratch! Axy's vindictive anger appears to immediately dissipate. "AH! The man of the hour! I've been waiting for you to make yourself known." "What do you want?" the young hero asks. "Captain Stalwart and the Alliance aren't here. They're off-world." Axolotl lolls his head back. "I know! I kept waiting and waiting for his return! I had the best plan! The greatest game yet! But it got boring waiting; intergalactic peace treaties are sooo tedious. So I went for the next best thing! The ol' chip off the block!!!" Johnny blinks hard. "I-- wait, what?!?"
The Omniversal being's face turns red and steam literally shoots from his oversized ears at Phalanx's intrusion. When Chroknight rubs salt in the wound by complimenting his entrance, Axolotl blows his top! His head rockets off his body and explodes in a firework display before reappearing on his neck, still looking angry! "All right, that's it! He claps his hands causing a blinding flash of light. When everyone's vision clears, all the Daedalus students are on the flattened top of a gigantic pyramid rising high over the campus grounds. A massive scaffold of colored spotlights beam down onto a stage in the center of the platform. The previous four teens in showgirl outfits are now joined by Ava, Jessie, Abeki, Ne'veah, Kennedy, Gwen, and Irina in a full chorus line high-kicking in perfect coordination! Chroknight finds themself seated in front of a full drum set, drumsticks in hand, building another crescendo that rises into earth-shaking thunder! Archie finds himself and his dupes clapping, whistling, and cheering along with the other Daedalus students not a part of the chorus line!
At the peak of the build-up, Axolotl pops back in existence at the center of the stage, floating above the heads of the dancing girls, arms wide as if ready to accept the crowd's adulation. The enforced cheering imposed on everyone ceases abruptly, their free will restored so the roar of the crowd would be genuine. The abrupt silence is filled with tension as Axolotl waits for applause. What do you do??
That's odd. There's a giant pyramid in Daedalus' backyard.
Half-pipe laughs. "What mountainside? If you ask nicely, Ren can probably get you there quick if you're worried about leaving Halcyon for too long. Don't get me wrong, we're glad to have you here. But if this Star Pharoah is as bad as they say, having a secret weapon could be just what we need. Even if a jewelry store or two gets robbed in the meantime."
The darkness of the Rumpus Room is quickly pierced by the lights of cell phones coming on, though a bloom of fire from Michael and a violet glow from Ms. Yamada's power casts a different form of light. "Everyone stay calm, we'll get this figured out," Ms. Vallejo calls out, turning on her own phone. "It's probably just a power--" The lights from all the cell phones suddenly wink out, followed by Michael's flames sputtering out and Ms. Vallejo's glow fading. The entire room is cloaked in utter darkness and sudden silence as the expected shouts and screams from frightened students do not come. Any attempt at calling out or yelling fails to produce even the smallest peep! Before the mysterious silence can cause a panic, a drumroll begins, steadily rising to a crescendo with a crash of cymbals. A bright spotlight appears in the middle of the dance hall, illuminating an impish figure in a spangly costume and a jester's cap! Flanking him while wearing glittering costumes that belong on Vegas showgirls are Kaitlyn, Beebee, Erin, and Annabelle! "Helloooooooooooo latrines and junglemen! How is everyone doing tonight!?! Nobody told me that there's a super school now! Axolotl, Professor of Pandemonium, Scholar of Psychopathy, Lecturer of Lunacy, is here!!" Fireworks and streamers pop out of nowhere to celebrate the being's announcement. Ms. Vallejo steps forward. "Axolotl. Welcome to Daedalus, but please understand this school already has a faculty in place. If you'd like to--" The being zips up to her, freezing her in place. He floats above her looking excited. "Is that the dean?!? Oh, deans hate fun, don't they? Toga! Toga! Toga!" He snaps his fingers and in a blink every student finds themselves clad in a white sheet with a laurel around their head! With that display of reality-warping power, it becomes clear to everyone this really is Axolotl, the Omniversal agent of chaos who frequently torments Captain Stalwart! What do you do??
Both gugs take ineffective swings at Grum as he approaches. The orc warrior cuts the injured one down.
Chloe:
Chloe: Sam if this is a joke I'm not laughing Chloe: This better not be some crazy AI nanny talking to me right now Samantha's Phone: This is communication via text messages. No one is talking to you.
"Friends of yours?" Johnny and Ryan give Gui a welcoming shake and chest-bump. "Hey, Gui! Man of the hour! Yeah, lemme introduce you," Johnny says, turning to the girls. "This is Kaitlyn, Basma, Erin, and Annabelle. Ladies, this is Gui. Or Aquarelle if you want his hero name." "We've met," Beebee says icily. "Oh!" Ryan tries to make the connection. "At the potion party? I didn't think Gui was th--" "It was after." "...The tail thing?" Johnny ventures. He gets a nod from Beebee but no further elaboration though it's clear that Kaitlyn is fully on her side and prepared to hate Gui by proxy even though he was not the one to blame although he was there when Chroknight busted the crystal. Then Chroknight makes their appearance. "Hey, what's going on here? Thought this was a student only party. Lot of us put ourselves on the line for this city tonight, so we deserve to let loose, right Johnny?" Beebee's coldness towards Gui turns to barely restrained fury directed at Chroknight. "If we can't be here then you can't either," she snaps. Johnny tries to defuse the situation, holding up his hands. "Hey, it's a party, okay? Day was saved, so let's not end it on a bad note." "Hmph," Beebee huffs with a toss of her hair. She looks Chroknight up and down with naked hostility, then turns away dismissively. "Whatever. I'm going to get some punch. See you on the dance floor, Johnny." Beebee struts off with Kaitlyn following close behind, but Erin and Annabelle remain. "Okay, that could have been a disaster," Ryan says, giving Chroknight a look. "Dude. I thought she was going to try to hit you." "Come on," Johnny says, looking uncomfortable at being in the middle of this feud. "Can we just--" Choking down her panic, Andromeda steps forward. She tries to wait for a break in the dancing and chatter, but it's never stopping, and everything just sounds like a dull roar beneath the thuds of her heartbeat anyways, so with more desperation than she wanted she stops waiting and interrupts, "Thank you for what you did today and for the kindness you have showed me in the past; I would like to kiss you," and then closes her eyes and leans in, pursed lips first, at Johnny. Everyone surrounding Johnny freezes at the awkward scene of Andromeda leaning forward. Conversations throughout the Rumpus Room trail off as the scene catches the attention of everyone at the dance. With her eyes closed, she can't see the shock on his face or stunned stares. "Uh, you-- you're welcome. Um. Sure, that's fine," she hears Johnny stammer. She feels his hands push through her sheath and gently grasp her arms right below her shoulders. Then his face moves in close, his invulnerability resisting her telekinetic barrier easily until his lips are pressed against hers. Johnny holds the kiss for a few seconds to let her savor the sensation before he pulls back. "There you go. One kiss for helping save the world," he says with a lopsided smile. And then the lights in the Rumpus Room go out and the music cuts off, plunging the entire dance into total darkness!
Andromeda watches as Beebee and the other party crashers head to the dance floor, gathering around Johnny and a few of the other male Daedalus students like Ryan, Darren, Cullen, and Vanderbilt. Chloe: Chloe gets a response.
Half-Pipe whistles. "Oh, so we've got a potential precog mysteriously appearing. That's a relief that it's nothing remotely complicated," he says with an air of sarcasm. "Well, let your peeps know to look out for her. We'll need to find out if she's got true precog powers, or if it's something else. Okay?"
Michael holds out a hand to shake, though it catches fire before either Sam or Chloe can take it. "Sorry," he says with a bit of a smirk. "I'm hot like that." La'Quisha rolls her eyes and looks at a stuffed bunny that's perched on her shoulder. It shakes its head on its own like it did not approve, then waves at the two girls. After Chloe compliments Sam and then promptly leaves her alone, the silence stretches uncomfortably. As Sam exits the Rumpus Room, she passes by some older kids led by Kaitlyn and Beebee who appear to be crashing the party! "Wha--? I thought this was an upper class party!" Beebee says as she nearly bumps into Sam. She scowls for a moment as she recognizes the friend of her BFF's stepsister. She turns to Kaitlyn. "I think that was Chloe's friend. I guess she goes here now or something? Wouldn't it be crazy if your stepsister is here somewhere?" "And we care about that why?" Kaitlyn says dismissively. "She's not going to know anyone cool. Oh! There he is!" she waves excitedly all of a sudden to get his attention. "Johnny!"
Half-Pipe completes a loop over Indy's head and returns to matching his speed. "Dude, you don't gotta try to explain it. I totally get it." The Herald takes a few moments before responding to the comment about almost hurting people, just zooming along with him. "Well, if it helps, I don't hold anything against you for hallucinating. I got hit once by a cloud and spent the next half hour chasing demon imps. Tenfold says I killed at least twenty pigeons. "Oh, if you want to focus on something else, Nimbus does want to talk with you at some point soon. Your Daedalus group apparently knew the Deathcap was coming, and he'd like to know how you knew. And something messed it up bad before it arrived, so that's, you know, probably something we should figure out sooner rather than later."
Chloe's question to Sam about younger Daedalus students draws her attention to a small cluster of students in one corner of the dance floor. Half of them are staring at their phones while the other half are studying the phones of the ones next to them. Sam recalls her recent orientation as one of the junior class -- middle schoolers and high school freshman and sophomores -- of Daedalus students. Trey, La'Quisha, Abed, Santiago, Omar, Sun wong, and Michael, she remembers from their nametags. * * *
No wanting to appear as an inconvenience, in case the two were discussing something important, Gui adds before stepping leaving. "In kese you feel like dancing leter, Ms. Vallejo, it would be my pleasure. You are quite e fox." He smiles. Ms. Vallejo gives Gui a patient smile. "Maybe later, during something upbeat, Mr. Roy-Côté. Go. Enjoy yourself." As if on cue, the music shifts to some classic party songs, beginning with "Shout" by the Isley Brothers. Jessie and Ava, Johnny, Ryan, and Darren, the Finals, and the Hybrids, all fill the dance floor to jump up and down to the joyous music.
Arrows slam into the first gug, leaving it looking like a peacock with all the fletching jutting from its body, but it still stands. When Benedict steps closer, he can tell that these gugs are different from the ones they'd fought earlier, having the stink of the infernal that offends his celestial nature. They seem enraged at his mere presence, and step forward to smite him!
He stands unharmed.
Being an impromptu event, the celebratory dance and social event in the Rumpus Room has been hastily decorated to evoke 1960s psychedelia. Few Daedalus students show up with period-appropriate clothing to match the decor, however. Of the teachers appearing as chaperones, only Ms. Yamada is wearing a full-on flower child dress complete with John Lennon glasses and a headband. The music starts off with some '60s psychedelic classics from Kenny Rogers, Velvet Underground, and Jefferson Airplane before switching to far more standard dance and party music. Ms. Vallejo smiles politely to Gui when he offers his congrats. She had been standing near the observation platform with a virgin cocktail in hand next to Dr. Mecklenheim. "Thank you, Mr. Roy-Côté. I'm quite pleased with the contributions you and your fellow students made today."
Soaring high over the city to clear his head and avoid the drama that might be a part of the party, Indy does feel some of the anxiety and fear leach from his emotions. His solitude by being so high above the fray is short-lived, however, when a familiar hero riding an energy board intercepts his flight path and matches his speed. Zooming along effortlessly right next to him, Half-Pipe pulls his shades down briefly to make eye contact. "You good? Thought you'd be taking it easy after helping save the city from certain destruction!" he calls out. "But patrolling is good too; I definitely enjoy busting some small-time crooks in between world-ending threats."
Ava shakes her head. "I don't know. You would know best." "Should I bring Judy and PanAm to the dance? They did all the work," Jessie asks while pulling out a long skirt from her closet. "Oh, girl, that's not going to work," Ava says, jumping up from where she'd been sitting. "Let's see what else you have... No. No, no. Okay, come over here, I think I've got a dress that'll work for you." As Ava and Jessie busy themselves selecting an outfit for the dance, Shayera glances at Andromeda with a shrug. "I don't know either. Sorry. Excuse me." She slips into the bathroom and starts her shower.
They stretch their arms out over their head. "On the other hand, I'm not feeling the whole partying on campus deal. Need to decompress in a different way. What about you?" Chitin steps up, catching Chroknight's disinterest in going to the party. "Seriously? You actually went into the Deathcap! You got stories, man!" He gives them a gentle bump from his carapaced arm, then turns to Indarius. "And did you save any of the shroom dust? That had to be a wild trip."
Rendezvous opens a portal to Daedalus, allowing the students to quickly return to the campus. The Finals, Team AJASh, and Chitin, Abeki, and Irina all pass through and head off to their dorms to clean up for the party.
"Quite okay," Ava says to Andromeda with a thumbs up. "I did very little that requires accolades or rejuvenation, but I am happy to support the rest of you." "We had to fall back, to keep Gothic and the wiz kid safe. That mold was scary," Jessie says. "I'm passing on the party," Shayera says, waiting for her chance to take a shower. "Have fun without me." "You sure? We'll be glad to have you with us," Jessie asks. "Oh yeah. Too much drama going on with my double being missing already. It's better I stay away."
Further congratulations and thanks are offered by the Heralds as the participants decompress. The adult heroes mingle and share play-by-plays themselves, recounting the various stunts they had to pull to make the effort of driving off the Deathcap a success. Ms. Yamada calls out to the Daedalus students, letting them all know that it's time to return to campus and that she was going to open the Rumpus Room for an impromptu dance party! (With time allowed for showers and freshening up.)
Aerel scouts ahead. Dwarven runes are carved above the next chamber to his right, though a cave-in bars further passage down the hallway. Inside the chamber, chunks of metal and stone cover much of the floor here, along
Two more gugs lurk in the darkness of this chamber, Aerel notices.
Gothic pushes herself up to a half-sitting position. Trembling hands fish a bottle of pills from her jacket, twist off the cap, and toss the contents into her mouth. Then she slumps back down, massaging her temples, though she spares a thumbs up for Samantha. Jessie moves up to help the younger girl while Ava tends to the telepath. "Omigosh, that was crazy! I can't believe we did it! Or that, it was done and I helped! Not as much as, you know, you guys. But I can't believe I helped!" Once Ava has Gothic in a better position and Ragnarok reappears through a portal to take over her care, the Androidian moves to Jessie and gives her a hug. "You were great. Total team effort." On the street level, the first responders cheer at the Deathcap's retreat and call for the cleanup crews to begin their work. Without the space fungus' control, the spores and slime molds become inert but foul-smelling goo. "Is everyone accounted for?" Nimbus calls out, quickly directing Half-pipe to race around and do a head count. Rendezvous is able to get everyone together at the fallback position in short order, where he's able to address the group without needing to tax Gothic's power. "Great job. Great job, everyone," he says, still visibly exhausted from his efforts keeping the Deathcap aloft.
I'm at a work conference until Wednesday so I won't be able to update until later this week.
Those in the shadow of the immense extraterrestrial fungus looming over Halcyon City looking up can see its defenders like tiny specks flitting about trying to drive it off. Their desperate efforts pay off as the massive bulk shudders, sending waves of humid wind across the buildings. Slowly, the Deathcap starts to rise in altitude assisted by several of the defenders who had reigned in its descent and kept it aloft. Nimbus and Valence put their respective powers to work, while Johnny and Ragnarok (helped by Rendezvous' portal) use their superhuman strength. The missions inside the Deathcap complete the plan, striking sensitive nodes within the alien fungus to trigger its flight back to outer space! It starts retreating, picking up speed as it rises higher and higher into the sky! After a tense moment in which those on the ground watch closely for their comrades, a small hole is blasted outwards and Andromeda and Chroknight tumble out! Then, on the opposite end, large claws slash an opening wide allowing Ne'veah and Wingblade to burst through! Before the panther-girl can plummet to the street, the metal-winged girl grabs ahold of her while she shifts back into her much smaller hybrid form. Valence takes over the job of guiding her to solid ground, while Nimbus gives Chroknight a cushion of air to soften their landing.
Indarius chases hallucinogenic phantoms overlaid upon his friends and allies, causing the city's defenders to go scrambling for safety! In a desperate ploy, Aquarelle tries to counter the psychedelic shroom trip with his own illusions to make friends to foes and back to friends again! The wildly discordant images manage to snap Indy out of the worst of the hallucinations, though colors still appear vividly bright and movement strange and trippy to the dragon.
Chroknight attacks the nodes and tries to retreat, but just then a seismic rumble shudders throughout the entire chamber, pitching the armored hero off their feet! Before they can recover, a psychic echo of mindless pain invades the edges of their mind, making them want to curl into a ball and weep! Just as millions of daggers start to plunge into every nerve ending, Chroknight feels them withdraw. ::Too close... go... other way. Losing track...:: Gothic's voice in their head goes silent, leaving Chroknight alone in the gargantuan space fungus!
================= Andromeda waits moments that are agonizing for a variety of reasons. Eventually, she dares to flex her sheath outwards and to her relief the hardened cocoon shatters! As she rises up, a violent quake rocks the mushroom and throws her hard against the spongy walls, rattling her and causing phantom pain coursing through her mind! ::Nnngghhh... get up... It's not leaving yet...:: Gothic's pained voice sounds in her head, brushing away most of the psychic agony pressing against her. ::Gave it a... go away message... can't sustain...:: As Gothic's voice fades, Andromeda sees the nodes she'd come for.
After a short bit of work, the golems are no more, and the lock can be picked with a DC 40 Disable Device check. Inside: Twenty 10-pound gold ingots worth 500 gp each are inside, along with a stone of alliance.
Gothic glares at Samantha, her brow furrowed as she pushes herself through a near-debilitating migraine. ::It doesn't have a conscience -- it's billions of alien nerve endings screaming in agony. I link you to it, neither of our minds will survive:: While the telepath coordinates battles on multiple fronts and warns Samantha of the danger inherent in her plan, she sees her tablet's power dramatically drop as it works overtime to screen Gothic from the Deathcap's death cry!
Chroknight slips past the threatening tentacles barricading the sensitive nodes, all the while a droll voice in their head intones, ::Pick up the pace. Duck. Jump, then roll. You need to speed up, I can stay with you. Better. There, hit the pulsing yellow ones, but watch for a seismic resp-- Hang on:: ================== Andromeda barrels through multiple chambers and thick, rubbery walls until she comes to a cavernous node deep within the Deathcap. Her violent means of entry elicits an immediate response from the immune systems of the alien fungus. Before she can adjust to the eerie lighting or orient herself to the target nodes, she is blanketed with a sheet of thick, viscous slime that blinds her and weighs her down! She feels her sheath sizzle against the substance, but that doesn't stop it from rapidly congealing and constricting her movements! Pressure from the alien slime crushes down on her, absorbing her kinetic energy and turning it against her! No matter how hard she thrashes, she can't break free! Gothic's voice appears in her mind. ::You can't brute force it. Stop, wait for it to harden, like a scab, then you can break it:: ================== Gothic's voice comes back. ::Just hit it, then run!::
"This is so gross," Chitin says as he starts ripping and pulling at the wet, ropy strands of fungus away from the afflicted first responders. "I don't tink your lights affected the fungus. I tink it hurt de hosts," Abeki tells Aquarelle as she has her psychic constructs help Chitin. Just then, there's a shout from above everyone's head! "LOOK OUT!!!" Half-Pipe shouts as he zooms past on his energy board! "SOMEONE GET THIS DRAGON BACK TO HIS RIGHT MIND!!" Following right behind the Herald is Indarius, snapping at him like he was a particularly elusive spore! What do you do??
The golems ignore Haela as she enters. The script states that the founding clans of Kraggodan each donated a fortune of gold to this chamber to be used communally by the city in times of emergency. Haela quickly determines that all but one of the eight alcoves have been plundered. The one remaining sealed alcove is locked.
The door is not locked. Ancient gears grind noisily when they're pushed open, revealing golden brackets lining the walls of this chamber, lit by flickering flames from a ceiling-mounted brazier. Alongside the brackets
With a rumble of stone, two gold-painted stone statues lurch into some semblance of life! They move to menace anyone stepping into the chamber!
Gui cordons off the area where the mold is spreading with illusory lights and warning signs while Irina and Abeki work in tandem to contain the infected. Chitin helps as well, upending emergency vehicles to fence in the mold while Irina raises chunks of concrete with her seismic control. Abeki's psionic constructs leap forward to try to sever the tendrils linking the infected to the spreading mold! Aquarelle then adds his own powers to the effort, hoping that strobing lights and discordant sounds will disrupt the mental domination by the alien slime! Abeki shrieks and claps her hands over her ears and Chitin shields his eyes with his arm, but the enslaved first responders convulse immediately! Formerly milky-white eyes clear up, lucid but still terrified! The stunned mold still clings to the people as they begin struggling like someone caught in a constricting net!
Samantha tries to block out whatever psychic signal is incapacitating Gothic, pushing her tablet's emitter to the brink cycling through the waves of psionic-level frequencies. Initially, nothing works until her tablet introduces extradimensional wavelengths into the countermeasures. Gothic's face twitches, her contorted expression of silent agony lessening slightly! Believing she's on to something, Samantha cycles through additional dimensions into the countering waves! When she finds the right band, the effect is immediate. Gothic's eyes snap open and look around, fixing on Samantha as she explains the urgency of the situation. And urgent it is, as the power it takes to counter the psychic waves emanating from the Deathcap is draining her tablet's power source fast! ::Yes... It’s... it's dying. Kind of. Going into a seeding cycle... psychic pulse... to incapacitate animal life:: Chroknight:
Chroknight finds themself inside a truly alien environment: claustrophobic, dimly-lit from glowing nodes of colors hard to look at, and absolutely dripping with slimes and webs of ropey fungus. Chambers, orifices, and pulsing walls create a disorienting maze of an interior network within the Deathcap. Chroknight recalls Nimbus' instructions that there are supposedly nodes to hit, but without a better description, they have no idea what among this nightmarish fungus is the target! Just then, they hear a voice in their head! ::Look around. I know what they look like. No, no, uh-uh. Go deeper. Through there. That one, yes. Left. Turn. Left. Straight down. Okay, that.:: Following Gothic's curt directions, Chroknight finds a deep interior chamber that is absolutely massive, with large, bulbous nodes! However, they're guarded by gargantuan tentacles coated with glistening slime! ::Don't touch the tentacles::
A sustained gust from Nimbus blasts away the hallucinogenic vapors, but not before Indarius is partially affected. Tripping but managing to hold it together, the dragon stays aloft. The aerial brawl with tendrils, mycelia, and spores rages while the Deathcap remains stable above the city. Then, the sky team gets a welcome, if droll, voice in their head. ::Keep it intact. Don't let the body touch the ground or it'll convert to an enslaver mold. It won't leave on its own. We have to make it go::
Sorry for the delay, all. Work has been sapping my energy lately and last weekend I had some friends over. I'll try to get us moving again this evening.
Herculean efforts arrest the Deathcap's plunge to the streets of Halcyon. Andromeda and Indarius fight off the grasping mycelia and Empyrean resists the alien spores to bring Chroknight into the fray. The time-warper finds the Deathcap too massive to affect with their powers, but is able to rip a significant piece of its fungal body away through chronal displacement! As the chunk of fleshy substance drops away, Chroknight feels a jab at their neck, where a missed spore finds an opening! * * * Inside the observation platform, Samantha uses her prepared devices to prevent the mold's encroachment. With plenty of time now to evacuate, Ragnarok and Rendezvous guide Ava, Jessie, and Samantha to the fallback command position through one of her portals. Appearing on the far side of the Kirby Plaza on the First National Bank of Halcyon building's roof, the view offers a different perspective on the ongoing battle. "Looks like our teams have stopped it from falling," Ragnarok observes with relief in his voice. He then peels open one of Gothic's eyelids. "She doesn't seem to be getting better. Got to be something with the Deathcap, right? What if you moved her farther away?" he asks Rendezvous. "She can 'ear thoughts across ze city! How far do you zink is enough?!?" "I don't know, but here's not doing her any good!" "Spores, incoming," Ava says with urgency, pointing to a cloud of beach ball-sized objects rapidly approaching. Jessie gasps. "That's a lot. Do we go through another portal?" Just then, the flight team led by Ballista intercepts the cloud! The Daedalus teacher fires concentrated blasts of radiation while Half-Pipe zips around smashing spores with his energy board. Wingblade's razor-sharp metallic wings shred scores of the alien fungi with each pass! Samantha sees that the spore clouds threat is contained for the moment, and the Deathcap's descent is halted. However, considerable effort is being put to just keeping the alien threat from falling. Something must be done to reverse it and send it back to space! What do you do??
Aquarelle regains his feet after diving out of the way of the crushing impact of the chunk of fungus. He realizes quickly that the cast-off fragment is a threat itself, as a mold-like substance begins to spread rapidly from the crater! One of the national guard misjudges the speed of the spreading slime as a tendril lashes out and snares him in its sticky grasp! He screams in horror as the encroaching mold starts to worm its way through his fatigues and underneath his helmet! Then his eyes go milky white and his movements become jerky and erratic! More screams reach Gui's ears as the mold claims more and more of the national guard soldiers, the tendrils spreading amoeba-like and converting them into its zombie-like pawns!
Tenfold, Chitin, Irina, and Abeki step forward to do battle with the mold's thralls, trying not to hurt them while hoping someone can figure out how to free them! * * * High in the sky, the heroes still fighting to keep the Deathcap aloft encounter even more defensive responses from the alien fungus. Before Nimbus can organize a group to go inside the mushroom, a cloud of hallucinogenic vapor billows forth from the gills! The weather-controlling hero tries to blast away the vapors before it can come into contact with everyone engaging the Deathcap directly, but there's too much!
Free of the spore trying to control her, Empyrean sees several crises around her -- she can rush to defend someone, but not everyone! Is this time to embody one of her lessons, or perhaps to learn another? What does she do??
Aerel disables the trap, cutting off its magical nature and rendering the hazard completely harmless. The hallway contains frescoes depicting a stylized rendition of the Quest for the Sky, showing a red-headed Dwarf assisting other Dwarves through various Darklands hazards. Farther up the passage, a stone door seals off a passage to the right while on ahead the hallway veers to the left.
The Deathcap's rapid descent is arrested by a concerted effort of the various heroes coming to the defense of the city. Indarius helps by raising magical pillars of force, while Andromeda shears off a hefty chunk of the space mushroom that splatters against the Observation Deck while another piece drops directly to the street below! Meanwhile, Aquarelle takes the place of Gothic's psychic connection, using his illusions to give everyone visual cues and coordination! With communication restored, the super powered defenders begin to make headway in slowing the Deathcap's descent! That is, until a massive chunk of fungus drops from the sky directly at Gui!! Chroknight tries to assess the situation but the massive bulk of the Deathcap takes away any hope that they could use the unusual features of the Alliance Headquarters to assist, and their time-bending powers would only stave off the inevitable impact! On the Observation Deck, Samantha rushes to the side of Gothic. Technical sensors are rarely sensitive enough to pick up psychic brainwaves, but the Brain's equipment manages to detect something emanating from the Deathcap itself -- some sort of incoherent cry of distress or pain! Whatever it is, it's incapacitating Gothic, so silencing the psychic cry or blocking her from the signal would likely allow her to regain her senses! In the skies, the Deathcap shudders and its bulk lists under the uneven forces trying to slow its descent. Then spores spill out through gaps in its gills, dropping down towards the street and spreading outward in all directions! As planned, the webbing between the buildings catch most of the spores, but still some slip through the gaps and others are attracted to the city's defenders! Half-Pipe and the other fliers start intercepting the spores, but there are too many!
The body of the Deathcap shoots out mycelial threads that probe and grasp at you as you try to arrest its descent!
The glass windows of the observation platform spiderwebs as a wet chunk of fungus smacks against it! Instead of sliding off, however, tendrils extend from the fungal mass and begins working their way through cracks in the glass! Slime molds begin rising up from everywhere the tendrils touch, spreading rapidly through the interior of the platform! Ragnarok scoops up Gothic effortlessly in his arms and retreats from the spreading mold! "We need to get her out of here!" he shouts, then turns to Rendezvous. "Ren! Portal time!" Meanwhile, Jessie cowers behind Ava and looks to Statian for ideas.
The angelic being flies the armored hero up just as the spores fill the air! The alien fungal blobs seem to hone in on Empyrean, forcing her to dodge and evade their grasping tendrils! Suddenly, she feels a sharp pain where one jabs her near the neck!
As Aerel steps out into the hallway, he immediately notices the tell-tale signs of a magical trap (marked on the map). This wide hallway stretches on for over a hundred feet. Debris from collapsed walls blocks the route south.
The legs are definitely not Dwarven. They're full-stature, like a human or a hobgoblin.
Tension mounts as the time ticks ever closer to the predicted arrival of the Deathcap. Sensors and radar tell the story, but nothing is as palpable as actually seeing it descend from the skies to blanket Halcyon City. From the streets, to the tops of skyscrapers, and from the observation deck, eyes strain for a glimpse of the foe from the stars. Despite Nimbus' best efforts to lower the moisture in the air, the skies over Halcyon roil with thick clouds to harbinger the Deatcap's arrival. The first sign is when the clouds darken. Then it resolves into a massive shape, disklike and oblong, the size of several city blocks. The clouds boil around it, displaced by its bulk as it descends towards the city! Getting closer, more details emerge. The mottled gray and black gills underneath rimmed by its red-brown body. Then other details can be spotted. Huge rents in the otherwise smooth fungal flesh of the cap. Tears running jagged across the underside with yellow-greenish pulp oozing out. The Deathcap continues its descent towards the engagement zone. In the times it's appeared before, it had always hovered high above the buildings while spewing its spores and mycelia downward. This time, it's not slowing down. "We've got contact! Look sharp, everyone!" Nimbus's voice is broadcast into everyone's minds, even as their vision becomes sharper from the multiple vantage points so they can see the Deathcap in total clarity. Then a cacophony of voices echo. "That-- what's wrong with it? It doesn't--"
"New plan!! Stop it from crashing!!" Nimbus' desperate voice sounds in everyone's ears. "Everyone who can--" His voice is suddenly cut off! Inside the Observation Deck, Gothic clutches her head and doubles over in silent agony! Outside, sudden updrafts of air blast towards the Deathcap! Valence quickly joins Nimbus' efforts as ionized air is forced upwards! Ringtone slams the clappers on his bells to create a cushion of sonic energy, while Johnny flies straight at the Deathcap to put his strength to the test!
What do you do??
Preparations are finalized, then Rendezvous opens a portal for those assigned to defend the street level. Aquarelle, Phalanx, Chroknight, Chitin, Irina, and Abeki step into the gateway along with four of Tenfold's duplicates. Nimbus stops Samantha, Ava, and Jessie from stepping through. "I'd like the three of you to join Gothic and Rendezvous here on the observation deck. You'll be our coordination team. Gothic can relay commands with the speed of thought. You don't have to mentally shout or do anything than think normally." Ballista then leads Shayera, Half-Pipe, and Ne'veah off the dizzying heights of Kirby Tower to station themselves among other skyscrapers within the engagement zone to be ready for spores that slip through the webs. Before Nimbus returns to the main strike force, Ava looks around nervously and leans in close to him. "Um, I don't know if I can help with the, um, mental link..." He puts a hand on her shoulder. "That's fine. You're here in case the observation deck gets hit with a spore cloud. You can make sure everyone's moved to safety."
The group of young heroes step out onto streets that look very different from the usual hustle and bustle of Halcyon City. Several city blocks are cordoned off, with armored civil defense vehicles and special response teams from A.E.G.I.S. and the Halcyon Police Department standing at the ready. The men and women decked out in tactical gear and specialized weapons give the young heroes a variety of looks, from relief that they're there to begrudging respect, to total disdain. The Tenfold dupes start instructing the heroes to spread out around Kirby Plaza, the large open-air park filled with monuments to former heroes and superhero teams dating back to the Golden Age of Heroes. The park stretches from the base of Kirby Tower to the grand entrance to Alliance Headquarters. High above their heads, spanning the gaps between the other skyscrapers around them, are the silver threads spun into giant webs creating the massive cordon to contain the Deathcap's attack. |