"I don't like that access to the Godsrealm goes through Tim Mathers, or that Tir Na Nog goes through Eliana. Samantha promised and she is... At least we can trust... She is working on other methods, and one of the Shin Akebonos is trying to contact the Inquiry, so..." she trails off, uncomfortable withe the heap of uncertainties. "We don't know the 'magic' ones actually connect to alternate earths, and I worry that we won't know without trusting untrustworthy people." She glances around before adding. "Whatever becomes promising first though."
Shayera sighs. "Forced to trust the untrustworthy. Some things are universal. Or, cross-universal, as it were. Okay. There's also this:" She moves to the whiteboard and draws a large, squiggly "S".
"The thing that switched Xaiara and me in the first place. The cro-- chronowraith? Is there a way to bring it here and make it put us back? I understand the one with the most experience with them is Chroknight." She puts the cap of the marker back on with a note of finality. "Do you mind giving them a call, so we can get their feedback?"
Indarius:
Khamsin the Desert Wind continues to remain as elusive and hard to pin down as their title. Indarius hears chanting as well; the time he takes to tend to the burning wound giving the child of Ahk'nathal time to initiate some sort of ritual! Sands spring into existence, swirling around Indy like some sort of magical barrier!
Deftly evading the sweeping wings, Khamsin slips within Indarius's guard! However, instead of slicing another burning wound into his hide, the bandaged foe begins tracing a pattern on his scales!
As he feels the beginnings of the mark etched on his scales, Indy feels the beginnings of a familiar despair take hold of him! "You have a darkness within you, creature. Allow the mark of Ahk'nathal bring it to the surface."Indy, raise Danger and lower Mundane as you feel Umboriax stirring in your thoughts!
What do you do??
Chroknight:
Ainsley and Dhalia exchange a look when Chloe suggests bringing Sam to practice. Brie nods before anyone else can speak. "Sure, if it gets you here. I've heard Superpowered Beat Down is going to be competing."
Dhalia pitches her head back and groans. "Uugggghh!! Not them. They mistake 'loud' for 'talent.'"
"Well, think about how sweet it'll be once we beat them!" Ainsley offers.
"Yeah... Anyone else we know?"
Brie shrugs. "The Kaiju Appreciation Society. Phlip Fone. Facemask. Whatever bands are coming from Daedalus. And that post-grunge band from Franklin High."
Dhalia folds her arms and pouts. "We gotta win this. And, like, legit. No 'special participation trophy' 'cause we're the youngest band. Right? Not like last time."
Aquarelle:
One morning as Gui steps out of his dorm, Ne'veah is there as human as she can get. She's leaning up against the wall, arms folded and tail flicking back and forth. "Missed you at the dance. You can make it up to me on our trip to Savannah. You didn't forget, did you?"
Jessie's chin is in her hand. "Well, after hearing Gwen sing, I'm not going to go up against that. Not as lead singer, anyway." She turns to Shayera. "Do you have any musical talent? Or anything that would lead us to believe Xaiara could have some?"
Scratching the back of her neck, Shayera demurs. "Er... Not really. I can barely carry a tune. So I don't know." She looks over to Andromeda. "Bronwyn's been to Elseworld. And I've met one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, so I know it's a real place. I just don't know if the fairy realm linked to this Halcyon is an access point. Eliana wasn't sure, either."
"The 'science' you say that provided a solution involved Iron Federation magitech," Ava says. "Without Inquiry to fly through the breach, I don't know how Shayera could navigate through the space between dimensions."
"And Tir Na Nog has a time dilation effect, according to legend. A few days there means months in the real world. I still got a wedding to make." Shayera stretches. "Sorry if that makes me less enthusiastic about putting on a musical number."
Jessie waves away her apology. "It's fine. I think it's a good excuse not to worry about it. I could use the extra credit, but it's not going to cause me to flunk."
Chroknight:
"I got you," Dhalia says, dipping into her purse.
Brie rolls her eyes. "You have some serious time management issues."
"You're good for practice tonight, right?" Ainsley confirms. "Just one more week before the competition. I can't wait."
Indarius:
Indy's flash freeze lowers the oppressive heat, but Khamsin's power is overcome so much as the temperature reaches a balmy equilibrium! The wrapped being spins the scimitars in their hands. "Your flippancy shows the arrogance of your kind. It will be my pleasure to stamp out your pride."
Khamsin blurs in motion, leaving a shimmering afterimage as they streak past Indy faster than he can track! He catches a flash of steel out of the corner of his eye as Khamsin strikes with his burning blades, slashing a line of fire across Indy's flank!
Indy, take a powerful blow!
When Aerel steps past the door, he sees ceiling-high rubble blocking this angling corridor to the east. To the west, the corridor turns to the south beyond the limits of his darkvision, though he spots another door along the north wall. A lifelike statue of a four-armed giant stands against the wall opposite the door.
Grum gets a response shortly. "Glad to hear gugs defeated. Bellachal was part of excursion that found Molthuni involvement. Presumed dead. Petrified beings can return to life with powerful magic."
A sense of relative normality returns to Daedalus as the party ends and the students and teachers are no longer called to repel threats from outer space. Classes resume with a late-semester push to drive grades up before exams give way to the summer session.
The charity band competition also lurks on the near horizon for those students with musical skill.
Team AJASh:
Shayera has appropriated a large whiteboard from somewhere within the school and set it up in the common space between dorm rooms. She's scrawled some notes around three large circles, one labeled SCIENCE,, one FAE WORLD (with Tir na nog? in parentheses beneath it, and the last with ELSEWHERE/GODSREALM written inside.
Each one has a list of pros and cons written with little emojis or arrows emphasizing certain thoughts or striking through ideas eliminated for one reason or another.
Chroknight:
Chloe's alarm on her phone chimes. School at Hal-Prep is starting in an hour, and she was supposed to meet her band-mates to ride to school together!
Indarius, while flying:
As he's become more and more accustomed, Indy is flying through the vast and impressive skyline of Halcyon City. Part crime patrol and part cathartic exercise, these flights help him decompress and ruminate on recent events.
The Transformed's thoughts, however, this time are interrupted by a sudden blast of hot, dry wind that bakes his scales as if he'd wandered into an industrial oven! Instantly parched from the surprise heat shimmering around him, Indy catches a glimpse of a person shrouded in bandages and wielding a pair of curved swords riding on the thermal waves that have surrounded him!
Before Indarius can react, he feels the wind resistance beneath his wings drop into a basin of low pressure which sends him hurtling towards the ground! His wings beat the air helplessly, and only barely manage to slow his descent so that his impact is not lethal! Indy crashes upon the pavement of an open lot cleared for new construction, leaving a crater in the cracked concrete!
As he gathers his wits about him recovering from the crash, Indy sees the figure with the curved swords standing before him. They're lithe, wrapped entirely in linen bandages so it's impossible to tell their identity. Except that he's seen them before in the exhibit at the Praetorium: Khamsin, the Desert Wind.
They point their scimitar at Indy. "Submit to Ahk'nathal, creature. Receive his mark, do his bidding, and make the path clear for his return. I, Khamsin, demand it." The dry, hot air intensifies around Indarius, sapping his strength!
I misread the book about the legs; each was supposed to be in a different spot. But I'll go with the way I wrote it, so you have both the top and bottom.
Per the SRD, using UMD to cast a scroll requires not only the activation check but also a separate check to emulate the ability score if your relevant stat is less than 10 + the level of the spell. So boosting his Wisdom would avoid the second UMD check.
Aerel scouts ahead, finding that the large unworked cavern ends to the east where it opens into another worked dwarven chamber clearly part of the Reliquary of Ascension.
Stone reliefs of hearths and a plump dwarven woman appear on both the eastern and western walls of this immense stone mausoleum. A great stone pillar in the center of the chamber rises up to the ceiling some thirty feet above. Gray-and-orange pictograms of dwarves in mourning processionals are carved out of the pillar’s sides. Four-foot-wide alcoves cover every remaining surface, each containing a small, linen-wrapped bundle draped with necklaces and dried flowers.
Knowledge (religion) DC 22:
This place is consecrated to Folgrit, mother-goddess of all Dwarves. It is likely safe to rest here, if you so choose.
When Benedict disappeared into the worm's gullet, the question became whether his companions could slay the creature before he succumbed to its digestive tract. The Clever warrior fails to hack an escape route through its stomach, so it falls on his comrades to bring about its end.
The archers pepper it with arrows as the melee warriors pursue its retreat back into the cavern.
Grum must make a DC 27 Fort save vs. poison or take 1d4 ⇒ 1 Strength damage
The orcish warrior, despite taking a dreadful sting from the back end of the worm, rushes forward and deals the creature a fatal wound! Black ichor gushes outward as the worm shudders and goes limp.
Indarius sees that Axolotl's changes have swept through the dance hall. Chroknight disappears as they're known to do, so whatever crisis was going on with their duplicate appears over. Samantha is joined with her friend Chloe, the pair looking cute in their flower child outfits.
Elsewhere, the party looks to be a success. Ava is dancing like an expert in 60s dance moves and guiding Jessie through the motions, which is drawing other girls interested in learning.
Indy notices that a few students must have gotten a wish granted by Axolotl, because Carlos is at a table devouring a thick, rare steak. Ne'veah, looking more human than ever, is dancing with a throng of other girls around Johnny, Ryan, Liam, and Zeke. A much-smaller Chitin is dancing with Gwen.
The reality stabilization field drops in a shimmery haze. Samantha and Chloe are suddenly clad in free-flowing 60s attire with beaded necklaces and garland headbands holding back their straightened hair. The other Chroknight is unchanged. They look at their gauntlet computer, tapping it a few times. "The entanglement is unraveling. I might be able to follow the thread to the stolen device if I move fast. Good luck, you two."
With a hum and sharp crack, they dissappear leaving Chloe and Samantha in the middle of Axolotl's party.
The mirror image faceplate of the armor stares at Chroknight for a beat. "No way they'd do it. They wouldn’t be that desperate?"
Cop-Chroknight pulls a probe from their gauntlet and inserts it into a socket on the piece of armor that they'd removed. They study a readout for a moment, then the probe snaps back while they shake their head. "Your quantum string was entangled with the thief -- on purpose, I'm guessing. Maybe the nuke was their goal all along."
The Chroknight-cop looks back and forth between Samantha, Indarius, and their quarry. "All right. You want proof?" They grab the Chroknight in the cuffs and yank off their vambrace, exposing their unarmored forearm. It has a spiraling tattoo of a gold-scaled serpent winding up her arm out of sight beneath the armor!
"Bingo. Hwang-Ryong, I presume? You are under arrest."
60's Chloe plants her fists on her hips, scowling at the fact Chroknight and Samantha are still talking. She checks a watch on her wrist, then hurriedly walks up to the two of them. "Are you two finished yet? I'm trying to keep your secret identity intact while I take care of a little business! Miss Jack-Boot is going to be back any second!"
An alarm on her wrist beeps. "Okay, gotta go. You'll understand later!" Chloe rushes over to the remains of the nuke still caught within the bubble that the previous Chroknight had created! The device and the erstwhile Chloe disappear just as the temporarily displaced Chroknight returns!
They look around and there's visible relief when they see the (first?) Chroknight still around and cuffed. "Not wise, Samantha. At least this one knew what was best for them and... stuck... around. Wait. You wouldn't have. All right, what the Hell?"
Percy Dorn, Indarius wrote:
Walking over to the multi-knight situation snapping his fingers in a rhythmic beat he looks to the extra(?) chroknight.
"Look we don't want any issues, you're not the only one who can manipulate time. But we really need 'our' Chroknight back. I know Samantha feels like she's got it all figured out but as someone with experience with time shinanagens... a little too much at this rate. It's basically impossible to tell which is or was or maybe ours so I'm not gonna fight you on the matter."
He tilts his head towards the time ripple barely holding together, "Judging by the strain there we've got about a minute before it either collapses causing more issues, or the wraiths smell something off. Do wraiths smell time? Regardless, Samantha we literally don't have time, Chroknight you need to make a decision now. Normally I'd say don't be hasty, but well tick tock, we're on dance o'clock." He frowns "Oh that's definitely the groovy outfit talking."
Andromeda looks up in shock, one sleeve of her recently created vintage dress tearing free and disintegrating into ephemera. "Why aren't you gone!?"
She stares back at Samantha and the everything that the Chro/Chlo trio means. "I thought that was them just still being stupid. Is that you?"
[dice=Pierce the Mask]2d6+1 How can I get you to go away
"Huh?" The floating hand is joined by another to effect a shrug. "Oh, that temporal snarl? Not me. Look, you got the jackpot, but you're still not having any fun. How about you drop that shield for a night and get out on the dance floor?" One hand snaps its fingers while the other gives Andromeda's shoulders a polite push in the direction of the dancers. She feels air on her exposed shoulders and arms, and realizes that her sheath -- even her need to tightly restrain her power -- is gone!
She spots Johnny in a loose paisley-print shirt and a brown vest grooving alongside other students, while she also sees the recently freed Gui.
Andromeda easily cracks open the Tupperware to free Gui, spilling him out onto the floor.
A cartoonishly large hand pops into being and waves a finger at her. "Hey! He'll never stay fresh that way!" Axy's disembodied voice scolds her.
==============
Chroknight tries unsuccessfully to persuade Samantha into letting her turn herself in.
"Samantha!" Chloe's voice calls from the dance floor! Both Chroknight and Samantha look over to see Chloe dressed in a lime green 1960s-style dress with a large flower in her hair waving her over.
Axolotl turns Indordnance's little confetti spray into a full-fledged fireworks display. "All right then, Jackpot! It's party time!"
The Rumpus Room's 60's-themed party springs back into life, replacing the game show stage in a blink. However, accurate props and costumes replace the prior haphazard and hastily-created decorations. Spinning lights throw psychedelic swirls upon the walls and ceilings while the students and teachers find themselves in groovy 60s outfits.
The music strikes up and the party resumes almost as if there hadn't been an interruption, with most of the students returning to the dance floor and dancing like they hadn't been manipulated by Axolotl! Though Gui finds himself sealed inside a person-sized Tupperware container!
The party hasn't reached one section of the Rumpus Room, however. The stabilization field strains against the party's 60s theme as an old typewriter slams against the side of the duplicate Chroknight!
After recoiling from the strike, they look at their assailant and seem to recognize Samantha, still dressed like a secretary. "Oh. You." With blurring speed, they close the distance until they're directly in front of her! Their voice drops low so that only Samantha can hear just as time slows around everyone but them. "Your Chloe's been displaced. Let me arrest this imposter, and I'll see what I can do to bring her back to you." Samantha, this Chroknight is trying to raise your Mundane and lower your Savior. What do you do?
Benedict disappears down the giant worm's maw. The creature then starts to burrow back down into the earth to evade the assailants' tiny attacks. Its toothy maw plunges back down into the dirt, though its barbed tail still sticks out, flailing dangerously!
As Indarius starts to spin the colorful wheel, he feels a telekinetic force wrap around his limbs to guide the precise amount of strength he needed to apply. Despite her emotional turmoil at the drama playing out around Chroknight, a telepathic mind plucks the precise calculation from Statian's prodigious intellect. It all combines in the mind of Andromeda to apply her telekinetic powers with a level of finesse she'd thought lost forever.
The wheel spins.
"Round and 'round it goes!" Axolotl shouts with anticipation.
Elsewhere on the stage and beneath the Omniversal being's notice, the new Chroknight tilts their head, their posture wary. "I don't know what game you're playing, but whatever it is, it won't work." They step forward cautiously to claim the offered device. Then suddenly their hands blur with motion, snatching the cryo-rejuvenator and slapping a high-tech set of cuffs on Chroknight's wrists, binding their arms together!
"Just a little insurance to enforce cooperation," the other Chroknight says, affixing the cryo-rejuvenator to their waist and tapping on a forearm-mounted computer. "There. The reality stabilization field will last another two-point-three minutes."
The wheel slows down, passing by such options as JOY BUZZER, 1-UP, and TIME OUT. The tension mounts as the tiny sliver denoting JACKPOT approaches the needle. The MORALLY BANKRUPT section slides across... then stops at the sliver!
"Jackpot? How'd that get in there?!?" Axy shouts. "Umm, who wants to do best two out of three? Or double or nothing?"
In the pseudo-real illusory mindscape that Imagerelle has trapped Axolotl Indordnance challenges the Omniversal being's purpose even as the illusionist tosses out a possible answer to the riddle. Axy frowns for a moment in thought. "Well, the answer was supposed to be 'pigs feet dipped in chocolate with dijon on pumpernickel,' but all right fine. If you think that'll taste better."
Two sandwiches appear in his hands, one looking like a Monte Cristo and the other looking like his monstrosity. He takes a bite of the former, chews thoughtfully, then takes a bite of the second and immediately turns green. "Okay, the Tupperware >burp< is yours. Congratulations.
"Heroes have control of the board!"
Before anyone else can pick a category, the replacement heroes still at their spots get a mental message. "Someone ask to spin the wheel! We have a plan!"
Outside the mindscape, the duplicate of Chroknight shakes their head firmly at the idea of teaming up. "I wouldn't team up with this temporal menace if it meant saving a hundred realities! Of course the cryo-rejuvenator got destroyed originally! But if that happened, why do they have it?" The double points to the waist of the accused version, where the experimental medical device hangs! Chroknight, take Insecure.
"My objective is taking this thief into custody," the other Chroknight says to Andromeda. "You should be able to appreciate that. Help me, and I'll keep the reality stabilization field up a little while longer to help with your Omniveral incursion problem."You gain a critical opportunity
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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
Andromeda, Eclipse is taking Influence over you, so she's shifting your Danger down and your Mundane up.
"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! Take a powerful blow!
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?"He overreacts; you have Influence over Axolotl!
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?"1d6 ⇒ 1
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 relief disappointment of not being physically altered into Imagerie, he is able to fall into the role enough that he gets some of her powers! The Alliance member is an empath, and he gets a taste of that as he can sense the waves of fear and anxiety emanating from the students around him like an invisible glow or mysterious scent that he picks up in his mind instead of his physical senses.
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! Aquarelle, choose a condition to inflict on Chroknight
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! Phalanx, take Afraid
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 Wheel! Of! Feuding! Jeopardy!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!
"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!
=======================
Empyrean, Aquarelle, Chroknight, Phalanx, and Indarius, you may try to play the role assigned to you. Roll Freak. On a hit, hold 2. On a 10+, add a Team to the pool as well. On a miss, Axy's not satisfied with your performance. Take a condition (GM's choice).
Spend a hold to clear a condition, give another teammate an opportunity, or exhibit a power or skill of the hero you're playing.
Devil Diva, Statian, and Andromeda, you may try to stay under Axy's notice. Roll Mundane. On a hit, choose one. On a 10+, add a team. On a miss, Axolotl catches you and gets to play.
•Free yourself from your predicament.
•Free someone else from their predicament.
•Clear a condition.
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.
===================
Late Night with Axolotl
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!!!"
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! NO ONE UPSTAGES ME!! DO OVER TIME!!!"
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!
"ARE YOU READY?? I SAID ARE YOU READY?!?!? HEEEEERE'S AXY!!!"
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??
==============
Samantha
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!
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.
==================
Guillaume Roy-Côté, Aquarelle wrote:
"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.
Chloe/Chroknight wrote:
"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--"
Andromeda wrote:
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.
Samantha's Phone: Samantha desires privacy at this moment. Please desist in your efforts to contact her. If this is an emergency, please contact the proper authorities.
"Poor pigeons.." He laments honestly, he hadn't even considered how the local fauna were affected by events like this. Glancing down at the city the dragon hopes that everyone is doing alright and that the cleanup won't take too long.
"Oh.. yeah don't have a clue what caused it to turn this way suddenly but the how we came to find out is a weird story too..."
Indy proceeds to inform Half-pipe of what he knows about the situation, though he never actually dealt with Delphi personally.
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?"
60s Dance
Earlier
The Junior Daedalites greet Sam and Chloe, a few of them recognizing the hand-holding for what it is.
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."
================
Rumpus
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.
* * *
Guillaume Roy-Côté, Aquarelle wrote:
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!
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."
=================
Indarius
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."
