April still hadn’t had a chance to catch her breath, even as things began to swing in Excelsior’s favor. Sabine was out, but so were two of the Hex Girls. Had her brain not felt so scrambled, she might have let out a cheer - or even just had a small moment to feel relieved. But the punches never stopped. A shield was tossed at her, narrowly missing, and she couldn’t even process what had happened before Ava was in range again, throwing literal punches at her. She should have thrown up water to protect herself, but she couldn’t do it - it was like her energy had been drained, her focus rattled. All she wanted to do was go back home (where even was home anywhere? Certainly not in DC…) and sleep.
Percy saved her once again - Ava’s hands didn’t hit.
But Thuy’s flames did.
She’d blocked flames a thousand times, and muscle memory kicked in, as she threw her hands up, expecting a sphere of water to form around her, a shield to keep the hellfire from licking her flesh. But there was nothing there to protect her, nothing besides air.
April didn’t avert her gaze as the blast hit her.
She couldn’t stifle a scream, though - from the intense pain, as the hellish flames engulfed her.
And then, then there was nothing but darkness.
April:
Health: -12
Focus: -2
Karma: 0
Notes -
Percy uses his reaction to cast Blink Together, bringing April out of melee range for Ava’s attack. This costs 10 focus, so Percy’s focus is down to 20.
Percy teleporting himself and April triggers Thuy’s held action, elemental blast (Hellfire). Thuy rolls 5 3 2 with Edge, but I spent April’s last Karma to cancel out the edge. This is then 5 3 2 + 5 (Ego) = 15 vs April’s ego defense of 13, so it hits. The damage is then 3 x 3 + 5 + 4 (Focus) = 18 points of damage.
This drops April’s health below 0 and she is out of the competition.
Location: Medical Bay Gear: Skills: Memory Manipulation
Sabine opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She wasn't in the arena anymore. She laid there, soaking in what had occurred. She had failed. She lost and now the rest of her team was fighting and she was here, because she failed. The Hex Girls were a bunch of cheaters and, quite frankly, a bunch of bitches, but even then what did that mean? After all, if she were to be a hero it wasn't like villains would fight fair.
What's more, no one on the team came to her defense apart from April. Their team dynmic was so poor. It never should have gotten to that point.
Sabine sat up slowly as her body ached. She was sore, bruised, but alive. And better off it seemed as she glanced over to see Prudence laying there, unmoving and unconscious. The medical staff was busy with someone else and a look saw that Thelma was there and on fire. A lot of fire. "Hell yeah Danni, way to go."
Now she would have to wait for her team to either pull off a win or lose and the Hex Girls become victorious. Sabine knew they were cheating, she knew it deep down even if she didn't quite know why. Vicky was, hopefully, trying to find something out about it, but did it matter? If she couldn't prove it it would just look like she was a sore loser. She could lose with grace, but to lose to a bunch of cheating morons? No, that stung.
Then....Sabine had an idea. She looked back to the staff who were trying to help Thelma out with that situation. Then she went back to look at Prudence. Defenseless Prudence. Sabine fought the urge to withdraw herself, she knew she had to. She wouldn't alter anything, just taking a peek. Sabien sent her conscious over to Prudence and entered her memories. It was easy as she couldn't fight back fully. She wanted to find one in particular. One from right before they were set to start the fight. Once she found what she was looking for she delved in.
The Hex Girl's waiting room before their match was a perfect match to Excelsior’s. A little cluttered, homely, and full of various memorabilia from previous events hosted in the arena scattered throughout the room. Thelma mediated in the corner, Skyler and Tatiana started up a match of Red Hands, and Thuy approached Prue with a softness that seemed strangely out of place on her.
“You need help takin’ it? You wait much longer and that kick ain't kickin’ til after we wipe the floor with these losers.” Thuy sunk in on the seat next to Prue, the pair squashed together on something definitely only meant for one. Prue would be annoyed on any other day, but her nerves were shot and her heart felt like it was trying to burst out of her chest and the steady pressure and warmth was grounding. The words, even as she tried to force them out, stuck in her throat.
“Hey, Tati. Stop fuckin’ around and come do something useful.” Thuy called across the room, her hands slipping up under Prue's shirt and firmly tracing the knobs of her spine. Skyler took a cheap shot as Tatiana looked away, the slap echoing in the room, and Skyler bolted, diving behind Ava and Wil who were discussing different variations of Wil's spell shields.
“If the Institute kids don't kick your ass, you sure as hell I will after that. You better sleep with one eye open.” Tati glared, but sauntered over to Prue. She fished out a small tin, the contents rattling now that almost the whole team had taken them. She watched where Thuy worked at the tension in Prue's back and also softened just a little. “You sure you don't wanna stay sober like Wil and Ava?”
Prue licked her lips and thought about it for a moment. She shook her head. She did want to take it. It would be helpful, but the after effects sucked. Tatiana watched for a moment more, to give Prue the out, and shrugged. Tatiana fished out the familiar looking candy and pressed to Prue's mouth. It took a moment of soaking up the relief in the slowly loosening knots in her back before she let Tatiana press the drug between her lip. It looked sweet, but it was bitter as hell and Prue couldn't help the wrinkle in her nose, much to Tatiana's amusement. It took her a few seconds, a few false starts, but she swallowed eventually and she could feel the warmth growing steadily from her stomach.
“Perfect. No one's getting outta your boxes now.” Thuy sent a chain across the room, dragging over a chair she snared, and manhandled Prue into the seat, chin leaning on the back. Hellfire spread across Thuy's hands for a moment before she shook them out and returned to her work, hands mapping along Prue's back and working out whatever knots she could find.
Prue groaned in appreciation, content to bask as Tatiana left a kiss on the corner of her mouth before hunting down Skyler, and basked in the affection and the building burn the drug offered.
Sabien quickly exited the memory and returned. She fucking knew it! That candy or drug or whatever was the cause of whatever they were experiencing. It had to be boosting their abilities. And if they were being secretive about it they likely didn't enter it when they joined the contest.
She needed to find it. Maybe it was in their hotel room? She didn't know where Vicky was or if she could hear her, but she tried. "Vicky, if you can hear me, I saw a memory that confirmed my suspicions. That candy is helping them somehow and I do not think they claimed it when they entered the contest. We have to find it or some shred of evidence left and I think it is in their hotel room."
Sabine stood up, again slowly. Would she be allowed to leave? Then she had another idea. She shot a message off to Vision.
"Vision, I don't know if Vicky told you but I suspect the Hex Girls of cheating. I saw a memory of their's with a piece of candy and the new memory I saw confirms that it is some substance that gives them a boost. At least, from what they said. I don't have the actual candy or whatever but I can share the memories I saw if that will help."
She would wait, hopefully, to hear from Vision. So she sat back on the bed. She hoped she could figure this out in time.
Location: Contest of Champions Skills: Enhanced Reflexes (Passive), Electrokinesis
April was down. Sabine was down. But two of the Hex Girls were down too. It wasn't great. Andy was annoyed. Losing April, who could shield others, was not great. Losing Sabine was potentially worse, as she had been boosting the others. Andy couldn't have helped them, and she hated that. As much training as they had done in their groups, the team as it stood now had never worked together before today. There were too many rough spots. Hopefully, Danni would be back from wherever his flames had dumped him soon; they needed his damage.
Tatiana attacked with blinding speed. Andy reflexively sent lightning pulsing through her two quick staccato beats, despite feeling the battering from Tatiana; the lightning had cushioned it. Andy wasn't a speedster, but her reflexes could rival one. The Hex Girls continued to banter, and Andy ignored it all. She had nothing to say to them. Her fists said all that was needed to be said.
Andy punched out at Thuy, with lightning crackling along the metal studs. It was a bright burst of energy, and she braced herself for Tatiana to take advantage of Andy's open side. It would take more than one person attacking her at a time to hurt her. She was confident in that. Hopefully, this fight would not come down to that.
Andy:
Health: 60/60
Focus: 75/90
Karma: 3/3
Notes:
Edge on skill if it fails the first time.
Accuracy 1: Andy is a sharpshooter.
Prerequisites: None
Duration: Permanent
Effect: Andy adds +1 to her agility damage multiplier, and she gains a +1 bonus to Agility checks other than attacks.
Accuracy 2: Andy is a sharpshooter.
Prerequisites: Accuracy 1, Rank 2
Duration: Permanent
Effect: Andy adds +2 to her agility damage multiplier, and she gains a +2 bonus to Agility checks other than attacks.
Action:
Andy uses her prepared reaction and Combat Reflexes to avoid taking damage from Tatiana. Both attacks are under 20 points of damage, so the protection holds. Andy uses Elemental Blast on Thuy. Andy rolls a 5 + 5 + 2 + 3 (Andy Agi) = 15 vs 13 (Thuy Agi). It hits!!! Andy deals 5 × 5 + 3 (Agi) = 28
Prepared Reaction:
Elemental Protection 2: Andy’s elemental protection is like armor.
Prerequisites: Elemental Protection 1, Rank 3
Action: Standard or Reaction
Trigger: Andy is attacked or otherwise in danger.
Duration: Concentration
cost: 5 Focus
Effect: Andy protects herself with electricity. Any attacks against her that to 20 points of damage or less are instantly absorbed, and the protection continues. If an attack does more than 20 points of damage, it destroys the protection. Either way, Andy remains unharmed.
Ben had just settled into his new seat, free from the popcorn boy and hot dog girl. Hopefully, the flies would annoy them into leaving. Ben was just considering the merits of keeping a swarm of flies and other bugs that people tried to avoid around him when, from the pitch, came flying toward him a fireball.
He threw up his arms trying to protect the core of his body. The fire was extinguished just in time, and a boy, just a bit older than him, stood where he had almost crashed into him. Ben let out a small sigh of relief, definitely just relief, nothing else.
"Your fight is down there, not here." He pointed down at the pitch where the fight was going. Both blonde girls were gone. "Your water user and the other blonde are gone. If you're missing too..." He trailed off, unsure of how to end that sentence. Did his team need the fire user? He certainly put out a lot of damage. Ben didn't want to fight him. But Ben was better at hand-to-hand in complex spaces, spaces that he could use to his advantage. This pitch was flat, except where the earth manipulator had changed the terrain.
“Gotta me sure I give all my fans t'e attention t'ey des-” Danni paused before he blinked, registering what the boy said. He glanced over his shoulder and confirmed Princess had vanished too and Danni groaned. “When did t'ey get another shot on ‘er?! I ‘ave been over ‘ere for like ‘alf a second! Damn, Leah's doin’ work wit’ t'ose punches and look at t'at lightin’, so cool right? I felt like t'ere was suppose ta be fire- Oh, shoot I'm t'e fire!” Danni increased the fire pumping out of his feet, backfiring away, winking and blowing a kiss at the audience in the process, and bolted back to the fight.
“‘ey! Y'all started wit'out me! I want in on t'e beat down! She was one of t'e gross ones and I still owe ‘er a good burnin'!” As Danni came to a spinning halt, Danni lined up a shot and let loose.
Danni:
Health: 60
Focus: 30
Karma: 2
Notes - Danni has an edge when using Elemental Burst (Fire) - Hot Shot.
Action:
Danni rolls to back flip away from the audience.
He rolls a 5 + 5 + 5 + 4(Agi) = 19 vs TN 13.
Danni rolls his Elemental Burst with Edge against Thuy.
He rolls 5 + 3 + 3 + 4(Agi) = 15 vs 13 (Thuy's Agi). He rerolls the damage die into another 3.
3 × 4 + 4(Agi) = 16 Fire damage on Thuy.
Danni will hold Elemental Protection if he is targeted by an attack that deals damage.
Percy swore in a language that even he didn't register, as his attempt to help April was foiled. No sooner had he gotten her out of dodge than Thuy's flames hit, sending his fellow student unconscious. Where he had been gripping her arm was now nothing but air, as she'd been teleported to the medical bay. And with Sabine out, that brought them down to five still standing on the field. Five Hex Girls were left, too. As Dorian called out more shots, Percy took a quick moment to survey the field, before his gaze landed on Skyler. It was just a thought to send his body into space-time, rematerializing in a blink behind Skyler - and another thought to swing Ava's stolen mace, aiming for Skyler's skull. It wouldn't kill him. Probably.
"Unfortunately for you, my boyfriend and I don't date losers," Percy snipped.
Percy:
Health: 30
Focus: 20
Karma: 2
Notes:
Edge on skill if it fails the first time.
Doesn't gain Trouble from being Demoralized
Percy has +1 to Logic Dmg Multiplier and ats +1 to all Logic checks minus attacks.
Percy has reactions : Blink, Blink Together, Time Blink
His Turn
Percy uses his reaction on Blink Together, to send himself and April 10 feet out of the way. This costs 10 focus, bringing his focus to 20.
He uses his movement on Blink to appear behind Skyler.
He uses his action to make a melee attack on Skyler with his mace.
Percy rolls 4 + 4 + 2 + 3(Melee) = 13 vs 13 (Skyler Agi), which hits! Since he is stunned, Percy has edge. The edge re-rolled the middle die to a 3, so the 4 was kept.
Thelma was down. It took a combined effort, but she was finally down as Danni let his flames burn a little brighter than they usually allowed. Luckily the fight was warded off so that it wouldn't deal any real lasting damage…he hoped. He was about to congratulate Danni on it (as well as comment on not treating Sabine and April better) but when he turned to look towards him, Danni was hovering over towards the stands. That amount of power must've sent him ricochetting out. Dorian looked towards Ava a little incredulous. ”Dude, do you not banter? It's called bantering. Isn't that like…normal in a fight?” He asked her as she sped away and then appeared towards April. Fuck. Luckily his boyfriend had already anticipated the attack and took April away from the speedsters fists, but right into Thuy's flames. Another member out. It was now 5 v 5. They'd need to knock another person out and soon.
Leah went barreling in towards Thuy, bashing her fist so hard he could swear he felt it himself. Andy followed, and then Danni but the witch still stood there. What the fuck was she? Dorian needed to go on the defensive. They'd lost their shielder, and Percy could only Teleport so far. So while his boyfriend took care of Skylar, he went for his next target, Wil. Dorian ran towards the Shield Maiden, going ghost just before impact and taking over their body. Good, now he could use Wil's shields against them in lieu of April getting knocked out. The fight was now basically 5 v 3 and once those three were out Wil would have to either fight the rest of Excelsior or forfeit the match.
Dorian:
Health: 60
Focus: 70 > 50
Karma: 0
Notes:
Edge on Disrupt Person
Edge on Possession
Dorian has a reaction : Quick Phase
Action:
Uses Possession, costing 20 focus.
Rolls 5 + 4 + 2 = 11
5 + 5 + 2 = 11 + 2 (Ego) = 13, which does meet Wil's Contested defense of 7
One by one it appeared the Hex Girls were losing teammates. Sure the Margaret Carter kids had lost some as well, but from the looks of it they now greatly outnumbered the home team. Franklin let out a sigh. “Well…looks like we lost. I doubt they can recover from such a hard assault. Unless Thuy decides to pull out all the stops but that might get them disqualified.” Whoever the twins were talking to seemed to be getting up and leaving. He assumed their business had concluded, because he doubted that was an actual friend of theirs. If the Macleods were even capable of making friends that is.
Location: Stands Skills: Chase
”Thanks, it's only been a few minutes. He's a little feisty but so am I so I think it works out.” Chase joked towards Gideon. The Axe kid, Ben as he'd just introduced himself as, seemed to move down another row as flies began to circle and smack against their face. Gross. Chase turned to face the tiny onslaught as shadows crept up into the air and consumed the insects, teleporting them somewhere else. One of the contestants came careening towards them, flames ablaze as he stopped just short of Ben before leaving back down to the field. Chase scooted down another row to sit next to Ben. ”Good idea, closer seats means better view. Especially if they're doing stunts like that. It's like being right on the action. I'm Chase by the way.” He finally answered before nudging Ben slightly.
”So which school are you being enrolled into then? Or is your Uncle only showcasing them to you? I'm actually about to start a transfer as well, being made to and all that. It's why I'm here.” Chase spoke as if the idea of it all was a drag. To which it kind of was to him, but not entirely. There was definitely some things to look forward to, and some things he had questions to. Like, why did the earth bending girl look kind of familiar? And how soon can he join into a fight like this one?
Gideon did not really care that the boys almost immediately abandoned her. They were deep in new relationship energy and she didn't see a need to waste her time or theirs. So instead, she sat back, propping her feet up on the seat in front of her, and watched intently as her closest friends at school - she didn't have very many friends - fought the Hex Girls tooth and nail. She let out a cheer as some of the Strange Academy kids went down - and booed as two of their own were taken out. "That's fucking bullshit!" How did fire beat water? It made no sense!
Meanwhile, Valerie's nerves had settled down again, and she gave her wife a slight, forced smile. She knew Eva probably had a lot of questions. And Val would do her best to answer them all - the ones she could here, at least. The days of the Mutant Underground may have long since ended, but their enemies had a long memory. They were still out there.
"Without," Dominika confirmed. Admitting it stung - like dragging a red hot poker across her chest. "We're getting divorced. It's messy and ugly. I won't pretend it isn't my fault."
"Roger that." Victoria nodded at Nicolas. If nothing else this brother was a bit more forthcoming with mission details.
The message from Vision rubbed her wrong though, and she hammered her fingers against the display as she typed:
From:Victoria v. D. To:Vision What do you mean 'not needed'? What's the point of laws and rules then?
If someone steals a granny's purse on the street, and a passer-by takes it off of him and returns it to the granny, but the thief runs away, do we not look for the thief to prosecute him just because the harm was undone?!
A crime is a crime, and a rule breach is a rule breach. If they played a stupid game, they deserve a stupid prize, otherwise the rule has no point and this behavior is invited in the future.
Her teeth ground against each other, threatening to spit out fake nanite enamel and possibly adamantium powder. This from an avenger...
Ready to get the hell out, she excused herself from the brothers, neutralized Magneto's power-incontinence around herself and headed out of the stands just as Sabine talked to her again. "I've talked to Vis and he confirmed they declared nothing but a mace, and that a memory of them taking something after the medical exam is sufficiently damning to bring it to the judges. If what you saw fits, bring it to him. I'm forwarding you our conversation for details. I'm about to head out to the hotel anyway to have a look, so I'll probably be out of range - phone me if you need me before I'm back." she thought over as she searched for an exit.
It didn't go well.
When she passed a particular feature on the wall for what she thought was the second time, she scratched an X on the wall and sure enough, after a while of walking only forward, she arrived at it again. "I hate spatial magic..." she cursed under her breath, and turned to another hallway to try a different route...
...and found herself face to face with one of the items on the top of the list of people she didn't want to see. Her creator, eyes, mouth and hands pixelated beyond recognition by her protection macro, accompanied by her sister. Victoria froze mid-stride, and Sabine would be hit by a barrage of feelings emanating from her. Surprise. Then anger. Then existential dread. And her promised backup was still in the arena.
Forcing herself to remain calm (sans the fingernails digging into her palms), she decided to try and dodge the situation for now. Realistically, she expected this would happen, but right now, she wasn't ready for that conversation. "Hi. Busy investigating cheating scumbag would-be wizards. Talk later?" she said, moving to go around them.
Afternoon - Wed. December 15th, 2038 - New Orleans, Louisiana
Before Skyler could snap back or mutter out a spell, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he vanished before his head cracked against the ground of the arena. Wil’s shield nearly materialized to try to help, but their body wasn’t theirs to control anymore - Dorian commanding it in their stead. Wil struggled in the darkness, the quiet and stillness, and watched from their tiny space helplessly as Ava shouted at Percy, running around helplessly to try to get her mace back even as he popped from space to space. Ava was trying to put on a good show but the tension was clear and tears threatened at the corner of her eyes.
Leah’s punch, dampened by flames, still boomed viciously across the arena and the first row of spectators felt the air rush up and over them. Thuy was forced to take a step back, distracted by the overwhelming force, and swore as electricity ran up her side. It snapped her back enough that her flames sprung up again, clashing against Danni’s fire and snuffling them out, but she waved her hand out as she took another few steps away, fire sputtering harmlessly out in front of her.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Thuy’s eyes darted between her remaining opponents. The whispers in the back of her mind grew, demanding control, demanding blood, demanding the souls of her enemies and threatening to take them if she wouldn’t do what was expected.
Hey, pay attention to me, meathead.” Tatiana shouted, throwing two punches at Leah. Although both connected, Tatiana yelped and shook out her hands. “What the fuck, are you actually made of rocks or something?”
Thuy:
Health: 43
Focus: 110
Karma: 0
Notes:
Edge on Hellfire Chains.
Concentrating on Elemental Protection
Action:
Rolls a bloodlust check with trouble. 2 + 4 + 3 + 5 (Ego) = 14 vs 13 (TN). Stays in control.
Leah’s attack deals no damage but breaks her elemental Protection.
Takes 28 damage from Andy.
Uses her reaction to use Elemental Protection against Danni (costs 5 focus) which does not break it.
Uses Elemental Burst on Andy but misses.
Takes 4 points of internal damage.
Wil:
Health: 90
Focus: 45
Karma: 2
Notes:
One Additional Reaction Each Turn
Regains 3 HP at the end of their turn.
Possessed. Cannot take a turn
Tatiana:
Health: 51
Focus: 60
Karma: 0
Notes:
Edge on Leech Life
Has an edge on all Melee attacks.
One Additional Reaction Each Turn
Uses Melee Defense for Agility defense.
Concentrating on Attack Stance.
Action:
Attacks Leah with Strikes
Rolls 6 + 3 + 2 + 4 (Melee) = 16 vs 14 (Leah Melee). Rerolls the 3 but gets a 2 so keeps.
Tatiana deals [3x3(-2 Leah DR)+8]/2 = 5 damage.
Rolls 4 + 2 + 2 + 4 (Melee) = 12 vs 14 (Leah Melee). Rerolls the 2 into a 4 for 4 + 4 + 2 + 4(Melee) = 14 vs 14 (Leah Melee). A match hits.
Deals [4x3(-2 Leah DR)+8]/2 = 6 damage for a total of 11 damage total.
Takes 4 point of internal damage.
Ava:
Health: 60
Focus: 60
Karma: 2
Notes:
Edge when attacking with her mace.
Action:
Attempts to wrestle the weapon back from Percy.
Percy uses his reaction to avoid.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
“Put her deeper. We’ll need more time to address these burns.” Another doctor ordered, as quick and efficient spell work urged Thelma into deeper slumber. Prudence slowly came to as her eyes blinked away the brightness of the room and she groaned softly, rolling onto her side as she covered her face from the light. Thelma was gingerly shifted over to a gurney and rolled out of the room.
The bed next to Sabine groaned as Skyler’s unconscious body appeared in it.
An attendant paused at Sabine’s bed as she rose. “Give me just a moment to look you over and then you can join the stands if you’d like.” With an incantation, a cool, swirling wind enveloped Sabine and the attendant’s eyes glowed with a pure white light. She smiled at Sabine. “It looks like you’re in the clear. If you experience any lightheadedness or any pain beyond some general soreness for longer than a few hours, please come see us or your primary immediately, alright? Drink some water and you’ll be good to go.” She pushed a cup of water into Sabine’s hand and immediately began fussing over Prudence as another attendant checked on the sizable lump on the back of Skyler’s head.
April collapsed into the bed over from Skyler next, two attendants rushing over after seeing a few burns as well. Thankfully, they were dealt with much easier and a viscous, pungent green cream was soothed into her wounds. After a few beats, the burns started to lighten and open cuts and bruises heal on their own.
A text message response from Vision would come almost immediately:
DO YOU KNOW IF THEY CONSUMED THIS SUBSTANCE AFTER THE MEDICAL EXAMINATION? I WILL FLAG THIS TO CONTEST STAFF AND ASK FOR A PANEL TO BE RUN AT THE MATCH’S CONCLUSION. THE MORE EVIDENCE YOU CAN PROVIDE FOR ME, THE STRONGER OUR CASE WILL BE. THIS IS NOT A CLAIM WE SHOULD MAKE LIGHTLY. IF WE ARE WRONG, WE WILL GAIN A REPUTATION FOR FALSE CLAIMS, AND FUTURE ONES WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED AS CAREFULLY.
And then -
HOW ARE YOU FEELING?
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
Vicky, too, would receive a response from Vision.
MY APOLOGIES. I HAD ASSUMED YOUR CONCERN WAS OUT OF CARE FOR YOUR FRIENDS AND A DESIRE TO SEE THEM SUCCEED. I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOU ABOUT PHILOSOPHY AS IT RELATES TO RULES AND LAWS, BUT NOW I CANNOT GIVE YOU THE ATTENTION THAT CONVERSATION DEMANDS. MAY I SPEAK WITH YOU MORE ON THIS AT A LATER TIME?
Her mother stepped to the side, blocking Vicky’s path. Hope always prided herself on looking put together, but anyone who knew her could see the poorly disguised dark circles under her eyes. She was silent for a moment, staring at her wayward child. She may not have birthed Vicky, but she created her. She had put her hopes and dreams into this young person. Wasn’t that what any mother did?
“Vicky - can we talk now?” Hope asked. “I don’t… It’s been a while and it’s always later. I understand that you’re angry, and that you have questions, and… I’m here now. You’re here now. What if I can help you?”
Confusion swept across Cassie’s face, followed by rapid understanding, and a muttered, ”oh shit - I knew we forgot to tell them…”
"I don't know what the fuck I'm made of, anymore. But you're gonna have to try harder than that to find out, you hit like a wet shoe." Leah barely felt those fists, she felt the crunch of skin against skin more. And then she turned around and pivoted all her weight onto one leg, whirling the other around to batter Thuy with a roundhouse kick. Her foot collided with Thuy's nose, eliciting a sound like a gunshot, and she watched the demonic whore get sent backwards and land flat on her ass. She didn't seem quick to get back up.
"I warned you. I fucking warned you, you ignorant fucking maniacal little shit. But you got right back up."
Leah wanted to keep attention on herself so the less sturdy members of her team wouldn't get focused. If talking like an egotistical jackass helped, then great. Psychological warfare was still warfare.
"Luna, Hotshot, fucking GET HER ASS!!!"
They were starting to get an advantage over the Hex Girls. That was good, and if they could keep Dorian safe while he was brainfucking one of them, even better.
Leah took a step back and gave Tatiana a nasty look. "Come on, then. You want a fist fight? I'll give you a fucking fist fight."
Leah:
Health: 41/60
Focus: 30/60
Karma: 2/2
Notes:
Edge when attacking with Smash.
Action:
Leah rolled 6 + 1 + 3 + 4 = 19, which hits.
[6 × 4 + 4 + 2] ×2 = 60 damage and Thuy is knocked prone, except Thuy has elemental protection up so you fo break her fire shield and she is fine but defenseless.
Location: Contest of Champions Skills: Enhanced Reflexes (Passive), Electrokinesis
Another Hex Girl was gone from the fight. She grinned. They outnumbered the Hex Girls now. Danni was back from the stands, the fight was becoming a brawl. She was alright with that. They needed to take down more of the team, and fast. At least it seemed like those left weren't going to take damage easily. She wished she had a way to protect her team. They were focusing fire and that was working.
Speaking of fire, she side stepped some from Thuy. Andy used the momentum from her dodge, following up on Leah's attack. Lightening crackled around her slamming into Thuy. Andy hoped they'd be able to take her out of the fight this time. They had other people to fight. If they weren't careful they'd lose someone from their side again.
Andy:
Health: 60/60
Focus: 75/90
Karma: 3/3
Notes:
Edge on skill if it fails the first time.
Accuracy 1: Andy is a sharpshooter.
Prerequisites: None
Duration: Permanent
Effect: Andy adds +1 to her agility damage multiplier, and she gains a +1 bonus to Agility checks other than attacks.
Accuracy 2: Andy is a sharpshooter.
Prerequisites: Accuracy 1, Rank 2
Duration: Permanent
Effect: Andy adds +2 to her agility damage multiplier, and she gains a +2 bonus to Agility checks other than attacks.
Action:
Andy uses Elemental Blast on Thuy. Andy rolls 5 + 4 + 3 + 3(Agi) = 15 vs 13, which hits! Andy deals 4 × 5 + 3 = 23 electric damage!
Prepared Reaction:
Elemental Protection 2: Andy’s elemental protection is like armor.
Prerequisites: Elemental Protection 1, Rank 3
Action: Standard or Reaction
Trigger: Andy is attacked or otherwise in danger.
Duration: Concentration
cost: 5 Focus
Effect: Andy protects herself with electricity. Any attacks against her that to 20 points of damage or less are instantly absorbed, and the protection continues. If an attack does more than 20 points of damage, it destroys the protection. Either way, Andy remains unharmed.
“But I wanna kick-” Danni shut his mouth when Leah roared. “Okie, okie captain! Whatever you say.” Danni did not need a rock defying at him with Leah on a rampage. With Thuy looking worse for wear, he kissed his fingertips before lining up the shot and firing.
Danni:
Health: 60
Focus: 30
Karma: 2
Notes - Danni has an edge when using Elemental Burst (Fire) - Hot Shot.
Action:
Danni rolls his Elemental Burst with Edge against Thuy.
He rolls 4 + 4 + 4 + 4(Agi) = 16 vs 13 (Thuy's Agi). He rerolls the damage die in a 2, so keeps the 4..
4 × 4 + 4(Agi) = 20 Fire damage on Thuy, knocking her out.
Danni will hold Elemental Protection if he is targeted by an attack that deals damage.
Eva leaned against Val. Relishing in the touch of her wife. The fight continued on, and she winced as another of the Hex Girls students was taken out of the fight. Sure, it was a good thing, but damn, the AA kids weren't holding back. The two boys that Val had first told her about were still in the fight, one of them had gone incorporeal or something.
Matt Moss
"I'm sorry to hear that." He understood the feeling. He had known Maria better than Novi, but as he thought about Maria, his only thought had been that 'she was good with a bow'. He had been impressed because of his own skills with weapons, but was that all he could say about her?
"I can't say I know exactly what you're going through. I never got married, though we got close." There had been a lot of lies between Cass and Matt. More from her than him. It had been upsetting, and in the end, he had decided he couldn't trust her. Part of him wanted to see how he could help. Would Novi accept it? They barely knew each other. Had only interacted during the M-Pox days. He winced at the thought of how, despite everything, the Mist had taken his sister.
Location: The Stands Grimoire: Skills: N/A
Connie winced. "Yeah, I think that's going to be the match. The academy kids will just do clean-up now. I doubt the Hex Girls can recover from losing Thuy." She sighed. It was a good thing she hadn't laid down any bets. She would have just lost. A part of her was annoyed. If she had been on the team, she could have been healing them, keeping them up. Their loss. She didn't particularly like that her thoughts had gone that direction, so she let them slide away.
"Now it will be basically one academy team vs another. So the academy wins again either way." The damage output of those left wouldn't be enough to finish any of the academy kids, especially since most of them hadn't taken any damage yet, and most of the ones left seemed to have a way to protect themselves.
Location: The Stands Skills:
Ben hadn't even finished processing what the fire manipulator from the AA team had said when Popcorn boy had followed him, and Ben had a name now. Chase. "We are not dating," Ben hissed.
"I barely know you. I am definitely not interested in you romantically. I don't even want to be here." He looked over his shoulder to where his uncle sat. Matt was engaged in a deep conversation with a woman. The one he had greeted when they arrived. Ben let out an exasperated sigh.
Things were getting easier, now. Ava tried to take her mace back, only for Percy to teleport out of reach, unable to help himself as he smirked, waving at her casually. "I'm sorry - did you want this back?" It was mean of him and he knew it. But he didn't care. The Hex Girls had been assholes first, throwing lewd comments around like it was nothing. If they couldn't take it when the tables were reversed, they had no business being on the field. Of course, not that very many of them were left - Leah, Andy, and Danni worked together, bringing Thuy down. With Dorian possessing Wil, that meant there were really only two left on the field.
So Percy took a swing at the next biggest threat - another slight to Ava, no doubt - as he used her mace against one of her teammates once more. Only this time, his target was Tatiana.
Percy:
Health: 30
Focus: 20
Karma: 2
Notes:
Edge on skill if it fails the first time.
Doesn't gain Trouble from being Demoralized
Percy has +1 to Logic Dmg Multiplier and ats +1 to all Logic checks minus attacks.
Percy has reactions : Blink, Blink Together, Time Blink
His Turn
Percy uses his reaction on Blink to keep Ava from getting the mace back.
He uses his action to make a melee attack on Tatiana with his mace.
Percy rolls 6 + 3 + 2 + 3(Melee) = 14 vs 14 (Tatiana Melee), which hits.
Sabine was feeling more satisfied after hearing from Vicky and Vision. She would still rather have physical evidence also, because she didn’t know if they took it before the medical exam. It stood to reason they did.
Sabine shot off a quick message back to Vision.
”I do not know fully, but intend to see if I can find out. I firmly believe they are cheating and am happy to share what I saw with whoever needs it.
And I am doing better, thank you.”
That last part touched her. Vision, for all his quirks and curiosities, did seem to care about them.
Sabine finally paid more attention to her surroundings, noticing Prudence was awake now and didn’t seem to notice her mind was explored. Skylar had also appeared, which meant the team was doing better.
She allowed one of the medical staff to check her out. She was definitely sore, but she was otherwise unharmed. It could have been a lot worse. She could be on fire. Her wind raced back to April, who had saved her from Thuy’s onslaught.
And as if the fates themselves were ever present and listening a new figure came into one of the other beds.
April.
Sabine was concerned, initially. She didn’t appear too badly injured, but it also meant the team was down two supports. While they had a lot of heavy hitters, there wasn’t anyone to field off attacks or dampen or boost the others.
Sabien waited a tick to allow the medical staff to help April. When she was sure it was safe Sabine walked over tentatively. Allowing April to see her before she approached.
Sabine smiled softly. ”Stupid question, but how are you feeling?”
April had opened her eyes slowly. The burns covering her body were being soothed with some sort of cooling balm, leaving mostly the aches behind to remember Thuy by. It was disorienting, being on the field one second and in a medical ward the next - like waking up from a deep sleep, only to find her surroundings completely changed. ”Uh, hi…” April closed her eyes briefly, before opening them again, shifting so as to be sitting up.
She couldn’t help but be slightly surprised to see Sabine there, smiling at her. The silent treatment had stopped a few days back, but communication still hadn’t been perfect. ”I’m okay, I think… just sore…. Um… how are you? It wasn’t cool the way they were talking to you, so are you… are you okay emotionally too?”
”Oh them? Please, like water off a duck’s back. I don’t care what their opinion of me is. They’re just jerks.” Cheaters, by the look of things, but she didn’t know if she wanted to loop April in just yet. ”How were they doing up there before you….ya know? I’ve been a little busy down here so I haven’t checked.”
”I think things were turning around - but I didn’t last much longer than you,” April admitted. And then she bit her lip, looking down at her hands for a moment, before looking at Sabine again. ”I’m sorry I couldn’t save you - it was all just… just too much and I couldn’t keep up with everything.”
Sabine went over and sat beside April. She wanted to hug her, but stopped herself. Not just because of the burns, but they weren’t quite there yet. ”No, don’t apologize. It isn’t your fault. They had a solid strategy in taking out the main supports. We could have planned better also, but it sounds like that might not be an issue.”
Sabine took a moment. ”If anyone should be apologizing, it’s me. I have been treating you poorly and that’s not fair. Just….I’m sorry.”
April shifted over, moving so that way there was space for Sabine to join her on the bed, if she wanted to. Hearing her apologize made April tear up a bit. She’d thought that Sabine hated her for ending things - that she’d made a mistake and she was being punished for it. But beyond the tears, she couldn’t help but feel incredibly confused. The breakup hadn’t been easy on her either - there were times when she regretted it, when she wanted nothing more than to take it back. And times still where she was sure it had been the right choice.
”Did I… Did I do something wrong when we broke up?” April asked, looking away again. ”I thought you hated me because of it. And all I wanted to do was make sure I treated you the way you deserved, because I… I loved you. But I don’t think… I don’t think I know how to be a good girlfriend to someone else. And you deserve someone who knows how.”
”Of course I don’t hate you! It was….honestly, in thinking about it, I was a terrible girlfriend. I feel like I rushed you into things and when you wanted out I felt…attacked. And then I felt guilty because it was my fault you got into this and I never even considered your feelings or, rather, I assumed you felt the same. And I internalized it because it was beyond my control. And I didn’t want to talk to you because I was afraid I would say the wrong thing or that you would be better off without me mucking things up. Lord knows how I screwed up things before.”
She couldn’t help it now. April couldn’t keep the tears at bay any longer. As she talked, her chin wobbled and fresh tears spilled out practically without end. ”No, no you weren’t - I mean you and Leah were always more comfortable doing stuff than I was - l-l-like I don’t think I’m ready to have sex because I can’t stand - I can’t stand my own skin. Like my body doesn’t feel like it’s mine so using it for something like that is… S-sorry I’m off topic. You weren’t a terrible girlfriend at all - I n-never thought that you were. I was - I was the one who was always too scared. I was - I am - I’m just not - not ready yet.”
Sabine started to tear up now. ”If you cry I’ll cry, dammit.” She wiped the wet from her eyes. ”You know we’d never force you to do something you weren’t comfortable with right? And physical intimacy is important, sure, but so are many things.”
Sabine thought about it more. ”When you say you can’t stand your own skin…is it like you are in a body you don’t like? Or not liking how you look?” She was trying to understand, treading carefully. ”This honestly sounds like a conversation with a therapist and I don’t want to pry if you aren’t ready. Just know I do care about you and want you to be happy, even if that means we’re no longer together. We can be friends, if you want.”
April wiped her eyes on her sleeve, somehow already red and puffy. ”I-I-I know but I… It was more than just that, it was like… Like I felt like you two were together and then I was - I was just also there sometimes. A-a-and that scared me, too, so I - I let it happen more. S-so when I got… when I got sick… I thought you two would be better off without me. That you’d be happier.”
The other thing Sabine said confused her slightly. She’d mentioned this to Danni and Dorian once or twice before, and she was pretty sure everyone felt this way about their body. But Sabine was so pretty, maybe she never felt it. ”It’s - it’s like my body is someone else’s, y’know? I think - I think that’s normal though, Dr. Whitehall… she would have told me if it wasn’t, I think. I think I mentioned it to her. I don’t… I don’t remember. It’s all… a bit of a blur.”
Sabine bit her tongue. This was not a conversation April should be having with her, at least not now. ”When you got sick I blamed myself also. I didn’t know you were so worried or unhappy and that’s on me, whether you agree or not. But your feelings matter and I hope we can do a better job going forward, communicating those.”
Sabine thought more on it. She looked around, ensuring no one was nearby, before she leaned in to whisper, ”I think the Hex Girls cheated. I have some of the memories I saw with them ingesting some drug or candy and I think that’s how they were so….I don’t have the right word. But Vicky is looking into it too and we made sure Vision knew. He’s going to submit a claim, but we need a lot of evidence. I was going to go check their hotel room before you got here.”
April stifled a gasp. ”Cheating…?” she whispered, dumbfounded. ”But that’s… that’s against the rules. Why would they… I mean wouldn’t they… wouldn’t they feel shitty to know they didn’t earn it?” The naiveness of her statement wasn’t lost on her. Her gaze drifted over towards the Hex Girls in the infirmary - half of their team was here now. Could they get them to pee in a cup somehow? And then, April couldn’t help but cringe - if this was true, the Hex Girls had tried to cheat and still lost. Awkward. ”D’you… do you want help?”
Sabine let it slide when April asked. If anything, the Hex Girls weren’t the type to do things honestly. Which was a shame, considering how skilled they were. ”Sure. The more help, the more likely we can find something. Are you good to move around? I’m sore, but you got it worse than I did.”
As she stood up she felt an intense amount of emotion. She grabbed her head and winced. Vicky was dealing with something. ”Vicky’s in trouble, I think. I know you don’t like her, but she has been helping me a lot. If we run into her, I want to see she’s okay.”
April stiffened as Sabine mentioned that she wanted to go see Vicky. She had no interest at all in doing that. She did not talk to Vicky, she did not interact with Vicky, she did not engage with Vicky. None of her friends seemed too bothered with the way Vicky had treated her, but that didn’t mean April was going to pretend it hadn’t happened either. She wanted nothing more than to say that the android could go fuck herself.
That wasn’t the sort of person April wanted to be, though.
”I think I’m okay. Moving around might help. If Vicky’s in trouble… I’ll help. But if we run into her and she’s fine, I’ll leave. I don’t want to deal with her. She’s always… she’s always a bitch to me.”
Sabine knew April didn’t like Vicky, though it was unclear why specifically. Sabine knew Vicky rubbed people the wrong way. However, since they were bonded telepathically, Sabine had a better understanding of Vicky. To some degree, at least. ”I am not suggesting looking for her. She’s capable of handling things on her own. But if we do see her, I just want to be sure she’s okay. Top priority is the Hex Girls’ hotel room.”
Dorian stood there, in Wil's body, but with full control. He felt bad about having possessed them, after all consent was always important. But in contests like these, your consent was essentially waved away otherwise others powers would be useless within these arenas. The same could be said for the world at large he guessed. Villains would never willingly allow someone to take control of their bodies, but even then Dorian used it as a last result. There were always better ways. Maybe that's why he had developed other mutations, to help him better assist without the need of taking away someone's autonomy. Still, for now, he needed to focus.
He watched the field as more of the Hex Girls went down, searching for a way to block or shield an ally with Wil's magics. But it seemed his team didn't need it, though he did notice something his team did need, or at least one person in particular. Dorian made his way over towards his boyfriend, stopping short with his hands placed on his hips as he looked him up and down. ”Percival Novikova, don't be a bully. We can banter and bought all you'd like, but please take notice of other people's feelings too.” He said in a stern soft voice as he nodded towards Ava, who Dorian had noticed was beginning to tear up. ”No bad sportsmanship.”
Dorian:
Health: 60
Focus: 50
Karma: 0
Notes:
Edge on Disrupt Person
Edge on Possession
Dorian has a reaction : Quick Phase and all of Wil's
Victoria van Dyne, Hope van Dyne, Cassandra LangLocation: Stadium hallways
Well, of course it wouldn't be that easy. Victoria closed her eyes amd took a breath. "I meant tomorrow in the stands, since I assumed you'd be there to cheer Cassie on. But if it won't wait... Can you walk and talk at the same time? Believe it or not I am actually on the clock." she nodded down the hallway, before turning to Cassie. "Tell us what?" she asked, thinking what could be so important. The thought of the Young Avengers withdrawing from the contest came to her mind, which would be mildly amusing - Tori would want a picture of the more contest-keen Excelsiors' faces when they learned of that.
Hope let out a pained sigh. She knew that Vicky cared and felt very deeply, but it seemed like family always fell at the bottom of her priority list. She supposed she only had herself to blame for that behavior. Maybe that was part of this, somehow. She'd put too much of herself into Vicky. "Sure. I can walk and talk."
Cassie grimaced a bit, rocking backwards on her heels ever so slightly. She'd really meant to send a heads up about this, but Vicky wasn't competing and she wasn't nearly as close with anyone on Excelsior, so it slipped her mind. "Oh, it's just... The Strange Academy kids like to play dirty. Mess with your heads and stuff."
"Oh. Well, then, consider us informed. Sabine pulled memories out of one of them that kinda point out to them using some sort of boost drug. Hence me heading to their hotel room to look through the window." she explained, "...and possibly engage in a bit of BNE... unless you're saying they can spoof memories and outsmart our outsmarting?" Victoria raised an eyebrow.
She turned back to Hope. "Good! Because- because..." she could the nanites on her cheek changing to reflect more of the red spectrum, as she felt like - well, was, really - a kid asking mom for help. "...I could really use someone to point me to an exit. I swear I walked forward with no more than 0.015° deviation and I still walked in circles..." she sighed, setting out at a slow pace, checking if Hope followed. "Well, then, I suppose we're doing this now, so... How much did you hear from Dr. Whitehall and Cassie?" She asked, not really wanting to go over it again and drag those ugly emotions back to the forefront of her mind, but considering how many things slipped her sister's mind recently...
Cassie's eyebrows scrunched up, the same way they had when as kids, her favorite stuffed animal had gone missing - only to be sneakily replaced with a duplicate. The Strange Academy kids were staying at a hotel? But this was a boarding school and they were hosting? That didn't add up to her. "That's weird that they're staying at a hotel... They live here, right?" Cassie asked, a little uncertain. Vicky seemed so sure of things. And she knew her sister was paying close attention to this situation, whereas Cassie had barely been able to spare the contest a moment's thought past few weeks, what with everything happening with Billy and then the stuff with the Mother... "I mean - I meant that they like to get into your heads. Play tricks on you. Find your weaknesses and exploit it, even before the contest starts and stuff."
Hope and Cassie both walked with Vicky, Cassie situated in the middle. As Vicky expressed her need for help, Hope nodded in commiseration. Magic and technology did not always cohabitate well - something she had taken special pains to attempt to correct for when she had been designing Vicky, all those years ago. She hadn't wanted her to be crippled by it. "Of course. It's a little ways ahead - right before the main merchandise store." She then hesitated. Vicky's other question was harder to share. She hadn't spoken with Cassie much about what had happened - Cassie's favorite parent when it came to emotional crises was Scott. What conversations they had shared had been blunt and tense, as Hope rapidly found herself out of her depth.
But she was at her heart a researcher - so Vicky had not been the only one to attend a counselor. They had only had a few sessions, but Hope felt she had the tools to approach this conversation. Or at least, she hoped that she did. "The school notified me when you sent yourself to CAGE, but I never received a call from a Dr. Whitehall. Cassie and I had some discussions, but... I think it would be better if you said it to me directly. I want to hear from you, Vicky. Not another person."
Vicky paused in thought for a moment. "Well... Okay, I only have a confirmed sighting of them at the hotel. All the more reason to look what were they up to." she shrugged at Cassie's confusion.
Back to the issue at hand... "You might want to slip that ring on, I bumped into mom and, well... I don't think you in particular need telling that families are not all sunshine and roses and the feelings can get ugly." Tori thought over the mind link.
She sighed, already feeling drained before she even uttered a word. "So... You understand that I'm angry, do you? Want to help, hm?" She tried to take a nonconfrontational tone, but the command never reached her mouth. "I am sooo much more than that. Above all else, I am fucking terrified! I'm scared that at any point you or a couple of others can take away whatever perceived autonomy I have! I mean, is my drive to help people even my own, or did you order me to do that too? Next? I've never felt this betrayed. Did you put a control chip in Cassie after she broke into your stuff to empower herself and not tell her about it? That would still be fucked up beyond all reason but at least it would be a consequence of something she did - not what she might do or what she is! I could stomach it if you gave me to someone else to raise and were some distant creator person, but this from someone acting as my parent..."
The words were coming out like an avalanche. Once it started, it could not be stopped. "And angry? Oh, no. I am bloody enraged. I did everything right. I played along with the human masquerade you had me doing, despite the fact that it was tearing me up on the inside. I stopped Ultron from being freed from me around Halloween time - Don't get me started on using that as my core - only to be shot in the back by that same backdoor. What do you think Arcade used to take control of me? I'm meant to be a protector and HE USED ME TO FUCKING KILL SOMEONE!" her voice was growing more and more thunderous with every sentence.
Vicky had to take a moment to calm back down. "All I could do was watch. And when I tried to shut down to prevent it? Not only wouldn't it let me, but apparently, doing the thing I was built for and taking every option to not let that bastard have an obedient Ultron gets me landed in a madhouse!" she hissed.
"And now you want to help? What made you do that? Did you grow a conscience, or perhaps the spine to tell the government 'no'? No. I don't trust you enough to let you help. Hell, I'm still worried that even now you might somehow take control of me." That brought forth a thought. Was there something that could be done to remedy this screwed up situation at all? Vicky meant what she said. Even if Hope offered to remove the offending features, she wasn't letting her anywhere near her code. And no one she trusted had the skill to do the changes. No one but- "You want to make this right? Give me the specs for my core, so I can fix this myself. No more strings on me. I cannot settle for anything less."
Hope didn't want to fight Vicky. She wasn't here to scream and argue. And as much as she would have wanted to respond to every point her daughter made, she couldn't. Her memory wasn't perfect, she was only human, and seeing her daughter in so much pain, so lost and confused and angry... It was killing her. She wanted nothing more than to pull her into a tight hug, to do whatever she could to take the pain away. She'd thought - she'd thought she'd done the right thing by Vicky. That was all she had ever wanted to do was give her the tools she needed to be successful. The backdoor access - it was a precaution, no one knew how a knew artificial intelligence would react, not when Vicky had first been made. Hope hadn't thought about it in years. And the core - it was connected to Ultron, yes, but it was connected to Vision too - the very best synthezoid Hope had ever known, someone she had dreamed her daughter could be like.
She stopped walking. She listened as Vicky spoke. And when there was space for her to join in, she took a breath, and could only hope that her child would hear her, too. She was only human. She made mistakes. "I am so so sorry... I never meant for you to be in pain like this, to hurt like this. I've only ever wanted the best for you. I never wanted to control you. I only ever... I only ever wanted to protect you, to give you the tools you'd need to succeed." Her hands were trembling, as she reached into her purse, and pulled out a datapad. Her fingers swept across the holographic surface, until the transfer was complete. "There. I sent you everything. Every bit of data, every line of code, all of it. And..." she paused for a moment, before a series of contacts would be sent to Vicky as well, "I know you don't trust me to do this. But operating on yourself... it's dangerous. Please, at least give one of these folks a call. Just for advice, if nothing else. Tony can help."
Victoria paused walking as well. She looked at her mother and sister with an expression that would be unreadable, because a lot of feelings were mixed in her at the very moment. She didn't expect to just get the information without some sort of pushback. But there was no lecture, no explanation, nothing, just... compliance with her wishes, seemingly for free. Finally, she sighed softly. "I doubt I will ever understand how humans think. Back at CAGE, Cas said that the government would come to scrap me if those safeguards were no longer in place. I don't know how to take you giving me this without even a warning about that, but... I'll choose to believe you don't have ill intentions. Especially since I would still do this even with the warning, so it'd be a moot point anyway..."
She then looked at Hope in full for the first time in this interaction. "And... look... I'm not so arrogant to think I can do no wrong modifying myself. I said I don't trust anyone else to actually commit the code, as they could swap it for something else while I was powerless to stop it. I don't mind you checking the changes for errors, and I'll trust the one who wrote it in the first place over anyone else. You know what killed me the most on this situation?"
Tori reached up with her hands slowly, as if unsure if she was allowed to. But she pushed through the doubt, and took Hope's hands in hers. "I thought I didn't have a safe home to come to anymore." she admitted, "I... don't think it's unsafe anymore. I'm still not entirely okay until I do make those changes, but... I want to try and make this right, if you'll still have me."
Afternoon - Wed. December 15th, 2038 - New Orleans, Louisiana
Ava fully stopped where she was sprinting after Percy, even Thuy's disappearance going unnoticed as she stared at Wil. “Percival? Isn't his name Percy? Where did that come from?” Ava questioned, staring at Wil like they'd grown a third head.
“Does it fucking matter?! It just us and we're about to get fucked!” Tatiana shouted at her, throwing a haphazard punch at Percy and another at Leah. “Wil, try to shake that bitch out of there! Kinda need your help here! This freak of nature is going to split my head open. I am not meant to be throwing hands with a pile of concrete!”
Wil:
Health: 90
Focus: 45
Karma: 2
Notes:
One Additional Reaction Each Turn
Regains 3 HP at the end of their turn.
Possessed. Cannot take a turn
Tatiana:
Health: 39
Focus: 60
Karma: 0
Notes:
Edge on Leech Life
Has an edge on all Melee attacks.
One Additional Reaction Each Turn
Uses Melee Defense for Agility defense.
Concentrating on Attack Stance.
Action:
Attacks Percy and Leah with Fast Strikes.
Rolls 4 + 3 + 2 + 4 (Melee) = 13 vs 13 (Percy Melee). Rerolls the 3 but gets a 2 so keeps.
Tatiana deals [3x3+8]/2 = 9 damage.
Rolls 6 + 3 + 1 + 4 (Melee) = 12 vs 14 (Leah Melee). Rerolls the 3 into a 4 and a 1 (Ava's Inspiration)for 6 + 1 + 1 + 4(Melee) = 17 vs 14 (Leah Melee). A fantastic success!
“Ah fuck.” Skyler roused, the medicine bringing him to consciousness and he groaned as he stretched. His spine popped repeatedly. “Damn, gonna feel this for a while. Good game! It was wicked! We should totally do it again.” He flashed Sabine and April a thumbs up and popped out of his bed, shuffling around the pair to check on Prudence.
Whispers and shadows crawled up and over the walls from Thuy's body. “Hi, hello, maybe focus on the bindings before the injuries? Bitch wont stay dead even if we try but if that gets any worse, we're getting sucked into a hellscape and dealing with Thelma getting mind fucked is going to be enough of one later. So please.” Skyler joked, only half serious, as he popped up on Prudence's bed, rubbing his hand along her back soothingly and turned his attention to the AA folk. “So, you all coming to the celebration after the final match? We always throw a kickass party regardless who wins! All the teams except the discount Avengers are invited.”
