Matthew's face tightened but his emotions reflected something far different. It was the profile of someone being submerged in cold water. She was right, it was the only explanation. Spindle didn't have a single card. "Gemini you—you rat" Matthew barely stopped himself from cursing, quietly turning away from Penelope as she left the room. "We have to act. We're losing time, and if we keep being cautious they're going to learn more about our command structure than any of us would like." He said to John, the emotions on his face well and in control. Matthew's voice was level, and his actual emotions were quickly coming under control as well.
John opened his mouth to remind Matthew that he was in control, but paused. He closed his mouth and sighed instead "If you fuck up this call we're going to lose many lives Matthew."
"I know. Those lives will rest on my conscious just as much as yours."
John patted the man on the mic next to him on the shoulder. The soldier nodded and spoke into the mic. "Act as if Spindle isn't a threat. Move to capture hostages., with her as a secondary priority." As he finished talking, a loud sound played through the speakers, a cacophony of violent sounds filled the room. Wrenching wires and metal on metal being torn apart. John and Matthew exchanged glances briefly.
Dart watched Calvin Ball throw a projectile at a mess of wires first, before Werelight followed their lead. The two's combined efforts seemed to have a large effect, the sharp snapping of metal wire filling the air. It probably wasn't the effect that they were intending however, as the helicopter started to tip dangerously forward. Spindle responded by bringing wires up to catch it, but seemed to overestimate the force needed. The aircraft began to tip backwards instead, and Dart frowned at that. "Let's—" Before she could finish her order, command came on the line for everyone.
"Act as if Spindle isn't a threat. Move to capture hostages., with her as a secondary priority."
Their leader nodded at the command, looking at the Junior Guard. "You heard him. I'm going in." Dart said, before turning towards the nearest hostage. They weren't being raised into the air, instead just staying a few feet off the ground. As Dart jumped forward, the helicopter hit the ground. Dart touched the ground briefly next to it and some metal shrapnel and glass hit her hard, a stray wire wrapping around her briefly. Then everything within a foot of her was pushed away, and she jumped forward again, hitting the ground right below the hostage before jumping up and grabbing him. The wire briefly went limp before snapping from some unseen shockwave.
4Sight watched the interaction between Spindle and SWAT closely, seeing the effect of his power clearly working on Spindle as he watched in slow motion. Before he could do much else though, Spindle turned away to fix some of the mess the Junior Guard were making. 4 Let time resume to its normal speed before hearing the command in his ear piece. Frowning, he watched the helicopter start to buckle from a new perspective. It was going to fall, Spindle probably couldn't stop it with a power like hers. The initial catch had been hard enough, but responding in real time to the helicopter would be near impossible. Over the comms he told Slingshot "Go for it, save some hostages."
Slowly, Slingshot levitated forward, keeping a close eye on his surroundings. He was given two orders in quick succession, first from command and then 4Sight. He answered affirmative over the radio before waiting before the helicopter to finish falling. There was no way to save himself if he got caught up in that mess. It took a bit for the dust to settle, but once it did, Slingshot approximated his name sake. He was suddenly falling towards the hostages, quickly gaining altitude.
God he hated heights.
The Shaker
Spindle saw the momentary flash of anger, quickly hidden. It was subtle, enough that she could have imagined it. She relied on her gut a lot though, especially when using her power. All the same Judah kneeled, apologizing while doing so. A part of her wanted to help him, but she was momentarily distracted. Dart had destroyed the coverings over one of her buildings. That wasn't something she was supposed to be supervising, and so she frowned at the lack of flawless cooperation she had come to expect. Spindle held a tense breath when two capes she didn't recognize attacked some nearby anchor wires. An icy chill ran through her gut as the attached senses told her of the initial effect. Wires snapped from the second attack, a cascading effect meaning she had to quickly lift wires off the ground. Immediately the suspended helicopter began to tip.
Spindle became absorbed in the process once again, her mind running down more than twenty tracks at once. That was why she didn't immediately notice that her power wasn't working as she was used to. Something was a far off, and it didn't become clear until the first wire hit the helicopter and tipped it all the way back the other direction. Briefly it was upside down before three wires snapped in quick succession. The tail rotor of the helicopter narrowly missed the pilot suspended nearby. He was only so lucky, as it caught on the wires supporting him. He dropped five breathless feet before Spindle caught him again, this time better acclimated to how her power had recently changed. The helicopter didn't stop after five feet though, wires kept snapping and it plunged.
The bow drew a slight tilt of Madison's head, curious eyes watching as Enki spoke. At the question Madison giggled softly, instinctively raising her hand to cover her hidden lips. Bittersweet, the question danced around her head. It brought back memories immediately, the isolation she had to endure. A year of only contacting people she was paying to speak to her. A one night fling that had taken away the loneliness for a short sweet time. A wonderful moment, ending all too soon. The memories weren't vague at this point, they were vivid. A hot and humid hotel room, soft light soaked into the shades as birds began to wake. Tears mixing on her face with blood. The gore had soaked the sheets, and now she understood the cost. Madison had to give up everything, her goal was too important and every time she strayed the consequences would be painted on the walls of her mind once again. Last night had been wonderful, holding someone in her arms once again, but today the cost would be the same.
The price of getting what you want is getting what you once wanted. Madison mentally reminded herself, having read the line in a book at some point. She had made sure to remember, even from the beginning, that she would be chasing someone else's dream. A soft sigh escaped Madison's mouth before she realized she hadn't answered immediately. "That depends on John and Matthew. If they figure things out too slowly then it'll be a sticky situation. Madison claimed, putting a finger to her chin through the face covering as she stared off into space briefly. After a moment she shrugged in an exaggerated fashion. "Oh and nice to meet you Enki. We should get dinner after this, I know a great pl—"
A loud crash interrupted them, a larger sound than even the helicopter being caught. Madison's eyes widened, and she didn't look back. "We are going to leave then."
The Fallen
The Brawl
With a sound of something breaking, Ragtag landed a roundhouse kick against the newcomer in the Fallen, the cape skidding across the street before going limp. The ice golem was beginning to show signs of wear as Rend continued to pummel at it, but the area was slowly but surely frosting over. And was the golem moving fast, hitting harder, or was it a trick of the eyes?
As the C53 walked his way through the ranks of the gun toting footsoldiers, leaving relative chaos in his wake. It took a few moments after the first one went down beneath his fists before the rest turned on him and started to open fire. But ultimately their gunfire just wasn’t meant for someone with his regenerative power and overall toughness.
Transcendent, meanwhile, kept his target between him and the giant lizard that was waiting for a moment to strike. But Transcendent’s power was very obviously affecting the giant dino who shrunk down after a few moments into a small woman with a reptile mask who pulled out a bulky looking device from the hoodie she was wearing. Pointing it at the Fallen breaker, she pushed a button on the side and a blast went off with enough force to shove her back and onto her ass as an orb of what looked like glue shot off towards the breaker. He evaded, only for the glob to follow him, and he quickly used Edith’s own defenses against her as he put her in the way of the glob after a few moments of gaining distance.
Red Eye
The Bank
"I don't see anyone" Vanish said, already getting out of breath.
"They're invisible or some shit. I don't know, my power isn't starting up right now. I guess this isn't enough of a fight for it."
"I'm glad you're starting to understand your power better at least."
"As if." Percy snorted, slowing down slightly to accommodate for his limp.
"So now what?"
"We stop talking, we have to assume he can hear us."
"Fuck." Vanish mumbled, but obliged. They rounded a corner to find themselves in a much shittier neighborhood. The concrete was consistently cracked accross it surface, obviously not being maintained. Percy quickly approached a truck, glancing inside to see if there were keys in the ignition. He shook his head and kept moving. The next car was a fair distance away, but they quickly crossed to it. Again no luck. Percy was getting less confident in this plan by the second, but they kept moving towards the next vehicle despite that
Exiled
...But with an explosion.
As the truck was moved, Ana effortlessly lifting the vehicle despite the modifications that had been done to it, Manifold was revealed curled and bloodied and surrounded by glass. It seemed she’d had enough time to reduce the impact.
However, she seemed to be unconscious, though the tech that was visible on and in her was running seemingly normal, though only she would know for sure.
The sound of the big tank was growing louder with each passing moment.
Ana knew her sister would want them to stop the tank, but would she leave her sister in an unknown fate or see if she could wake her up?
Torrent took a moment to regain her mana as she considered what had happened again. She thought about what she had learned when she'd failed last night, when Oberon had failed last night, and she thought.
She ignored Digbie as he started doing something, ignoring the others as they went about their business, and the approaching goblins.
She thought about what she'd been told in that weird state last night, when she'd been Told.
They were doing it wrong. She was trying to take something and make something when what she wanted was Nothing. That's what they said. If she wanted to be like Shadow she needed to be Nothing.
Torrent sat and she focused, and she worked not to bring in and create, but to remove. She worked to remove the pieces around her, using her own power to push away the various pieces she would normally pull forth to create. And instead she pushed her will, her energy, into the void left behind in her maw before she pushed out and used her Magic Analysis on whatever happened while hoping she wouldn't kill herself.
Torrent took her time to breath after the odd occurrence that had just happened, wondering what she had done wrong. She'd had plenty of failed attempts at new skills, but never something like this.
She looked at where the shadow had seemed to extend as she considered how to proceed. It was near time to sleep, and she was worried that she had done something that could prove fatal to mess up in the wrong way. With a shake of her head she decided to put it off for the night. The last thing she needed was to die trying to design something new on a whim.
Instead she took a moment to think, watching Oberon and using Magic Analysis on his abilities he was showing off.
A thought came to her. She was getting tired, but what was a little more before she went to sleep?
She spread her sense through the ground around her with her Tremor Sense and activated Soil Manipulation, working to move parts of the ground around her into condensed rod like shapes. Carefully she then tried to shape them into points like stakes from the movie posters she saw from her alleys back Before. When she felt she had the best shape she could get, she added more mana into the shapes and the surrounding earth before she tried to push as hard as she could, willing the objects to fly out of the ground and towards the treeline.
Regardless of the outcome she'd use Magic Analysis on it, and she would shortly thereafter go to sleep.
Torrent looked up into the shadows in awe. Everything around her was so.... Different from before. And her own body? It felt familiar somehow, like something she had forgotten.
And then they spoke.
She pondered for a moment before she replied, her words slow but filled with an excited fervor.
"Because my entire life has been in the shadows. The shadows of the light, the shadows of others, something to be forgotten or dismissed. But that's not right! It's not true. We're more than just the results of something else. We're more."
As Torrent spoke, the dream world around her grew darker. All colors became saturated and gray, the stone floors and walls blended together, and light disappeared.
"You say We, but you are not Shadow. Beings wish to be more than they are. Beings wish not to be forgotten or dismissed. The Shadow simply Was, and Is, and one day Will Not Be Again."
In inky blackness, Torrent could not see herself. She knew where her body was, where her limbs sat, but everything save darkness had been struck from existence. There was only darkness...there was nothing but darkness...
No. None of that was the right way to say it. None of that expressed what this was.
There was Nothing.
And then Something Outside Nothing brought Light into Being.
In an instant an infinity expanded. Waves of color let out a thousand echoing roars and plasma coalesced across time and space. Stars were born, hurtling across chasms defined by their beginning and end. Worlds were filled and then burst, the wombs giving birth within a fiery forge. It was too bright, and Torrent would have to fight to look away and immerse herself once more in the darkness, to find a place where the Light Was Not.
And in this darkness, too, there was light. Forked lightning, flashing for only an instant, left behind a spark. Figures crowded around the spark, took it into their hands, and breathed life into it. A primitive, holding fire, brought a new light into the darkness of the cavern. Time passed, the Sun rose. Torrent could only find the places where Light Was Not scattered around the world, behind and below the primitives and the stones and the trees while the Sun was overhead. The moon rose. The night fell. The ocean, the wind, the mountains, the earth...they were constant, always there. The star's light might fade, but would always return--and whether from Sun or Moon or Star, the Shadows Were where They Were Not. All of these things and many more existed long before the primitive came out of its cave. What were they? What dangers did they bring? What wonders?
"The Shadow Was Not in a time before All Things Were. But Beings have given the Shadow many names and many meanings. For many Beings, understanding agency, creating reason, forever seeking, and always asking were the methods of their survival. Did the Wind rustle the brush, or the Lion? The Being who assumed Wind did not always survive. If No Man threw the stone, did the Unseen Unknown Being cause the stone to fall? Why is it Unseen and Unknown? The Man who did not seek to understand did not always survive.”
Torrent saw the primitives again, now wearing clothes made from plants and sitting around a fire. Their shadows stretched out far behind them. Their children sat around them as the elders told them what they needed for survival--the tales of sun, and moon, and earth, and ocean, and Shadow. How they were dangerous and wonderful, but Darkness and Shadow were dangerous. How to understand them, and how to make the Light to keep away the Shadow. The children did not always understand tales of Sun and Earth and Water. But they knew, instinctively, to fear Shadow, for it blinded them. So the elders changed the tales, made Them “like” other things that the children understood--fathers, mothers, warriors, healers, chieftains. And Earth and Sun and all the Others were not praised--they Were. They always Were. And they were needed to survive. It was necessary that the children understand them. And it was necessary that the children Fear the Shadow.
As Torrent watched, the children of the children’s children appeared. They were many and they were different. Some of these children were now Men, but they still feared Shadow. Fires were made with sticks. Lanterns were made with oil. Candles were made with wax. All to keep Shadow at bay. Yet, was it truly Shadow they feared? Or the things within the Shadow, other Beings that hunted Men? Other places where Men could not go?
Torrent saw the children of Men throughout the generations, and saw that some of these children were Not Men. One of them, their great king, made fire and water appear from his hands and moved earth with his words. They wanted him to hold the sun and make day longer, but knowing the limits of his power he instead told them he would grant them each a small piece of the sun. He taught them to make fire without smoke and place it in their homes. Not Men and Men alike began to think and do and be different than they were before as the world turned. The Sun and Moon and Others stayed as they Always Were. The Shadow could only Be where they Were Not.
The Shadow was "like" a hunting predator. It was dangerous, and unpredictable. If you could not see within Shadow, you could not know the Truth of anything. Therefore Shadow was deceitful. Shadow did not give anything, like Sun, or Ocean, or Earth, or Wind. Shadow only took things away. Shadow had Nothing.
"Torrent. You wish to be more than you are. You wish to be something that cannot be ignored, something that cannot be discarded. But the Shadow does not Want. The Shadow does not truly exist. The Shadow is only an Absence. The Shadow cannot make you more. The Shadow cannot take notice of you. But Beings have forced their Fears upon the Shadow, to Become What Others Are Not. What was without Form, Beings gave Meaning. To have your Meaning defined by Other Wills...is that your Will, Torrent?"
The images around Torrent faded into dark, blurry images that once more danced along the walls of the cavern. She heard their whispers echoing...
"A person who cannot see cannot hunt for themselves, and has great difficulty detecting danger and finding resources. They are sure to die. No one can see within Shadow...If Shadow blinds all, Shadow means death to all. Shadow must be Certain Death!"
What was without form took shape. Stretching from one side of her body, Torrent saw her shadow take on the shape of many skulls and half-rotted limbs marked by every kind of wound or disease.
"When something is covered in Shadow, you cannot see what it is. You can only use your sense of touch to detect what is within shadow--the feeling from your body. But it can be fooled as well. A plant that is poison, and a plant that is medicine--your fingers may not be able to tell the difference. If Shadow deceives, and tricks the feelings of the body...Shadow is a Liar to the Flesh!"
What was undefined was given definition by someone else's words. From the other side of her body, Torrent's shadow upon the wall became shapely and feminine, hiding behind a curtain of hair and draping robes.
"Only fools fear the unknown. If we Men had never gone into new places, braving the depths of dark caves or taking torches out into the Night, how many things would we never find? Things that are hidden exist to be found! Knowledge that is unknown must be discovered! One must understand risk and respect danger...but the Shadow represents Hidden Potential!"
Ahead of her, Torrent's shadow opened up like a book, a great tome held in the hand of one who was wrapped in even more drapery than the feminine appearance from before. A single eye glowed in the depths of a sagging hood. The pages of the book were many, covered in runes.
There were many other voices, and other Figures, but Torrent suddenly felt as if she were falling, as if her heart was dropping out of her chest. The Figures watched her as she struggled to breath, patiently waiting...or perhaps listening? Waiting for her to call out...
Torrent listened and watched silently, she played her part as she drank in everything shown and told, and when she felt the feeling of falling she rebelled.
She was not ready to leave, and she had faced danger and death before.
"I may not be the Shadow but I will be as Shadow," she forced out as she struggled to breath and fight the falling feeling with all her willpower. "Defined by others matters not. My Will is set."
"And if you will be as Shadow, then how does your Will define the Shadow, Torrent? What Shadow will you be?"
The whispers were growing fainter, just like her own breaths. But still she could hear them, picking out only a few among the many...
"The Shadow is the domain of creatures that stalk in the night. They can see in the dark, they hunt us and kill us. But what kind of creatures are they? They are many. Catlike, wolflike, snakelike, they are without end. There are so many things to be wary of within the Shadows...the Shadows are Many Beasts..."
Between the feminine and the deathly Figures, a new shadow began to dance. Its form was even less coherent than the others--the head of a panther emerged, then was swallowed by a great snake, while the legs of a spider twitched and thrashed, and one scaly wing unfolded alongside one of feathers. More heads, more claws, and many eyes took shape within a mass of darkness that dripped like slime.
"The only Men who willingly go into the Shadow are those who must hide like cowards...Criminals who break the law and flee. Killers and Thieves who wait until Night falls to do their evil deeds. The Shadow accepts them where the light does not...The Shadow is an accomplice of injustice!"
Behind Torrent, looming over her, a new Figure took form. It looked the most human out of any of them thus far, yet it had no face. In each hand it held a long knife, but dangling from its neck were many keys. Though they jangled and shook, they made no sound...
Torrent's heart raced and yet it felt as if the organ was being pulled out of her, as if it were a hundred miles away from her body. The feeling of falling accelerated--if she really were falling, if she needed to wake up from this dream before she hit the ground, she knew she was going fast enough to splatter all over the rocks...
"I will be the Shadow that strikes back, the Shadow that deceives," Torrent gasped out, as she struggled to hold herself together before she finally felt that she couldn't hold on anymore and she instead moved to go back to her body and reality.
The Lesserwurm fled out of the Figures' sight, back to her body. The last one that watched, looming larger as if following her, was the feminine figure draped in robes, with its face hidden by long waves of pitch black hair. A soft sound like laughter followed the lizard as the shelter, and the shadows, all began to fade away.
"The Shadow that deceives is a Shadow of craft and wit, not simply dishonesty. If you would become such a shadow, show your wit..."
And Torrent jerked awake, painfully, the kind of jarring seizure that leaves someone wondering if they really did just die in a dream. But as her rapid breathing and cold sweat died down, she found herself back with the others, sitting in the shelter as the first rays of sunlight chased the shadows away...
Torrent got up slowly, staring at the shadows as they moved with the rising sun, and felt a new sense driving her. She would prove herself.
Tentatively she reach out to the darkness that lingered in the corners of their shelter, hidden away from the reaching gaze of the light. She tried to feel the shadows like she had with the air when she was developing her air breath attack, putting mana into her surroundings, the shadows specifically. She couldn't stop thinking about what she had seen during the night, and when she had put a good portion of her mana into the shadows she pulled at the mana, bringing it back like it were a cloud under her control. She used Magic Analysis as she did so, her gaze burning fiercely as she tried to take in every detail.
"One of the potential hostages escaped their prison immediately."4Sight said, his voice tense. Wordlessly and without looking, he reached out and grabbed the strand Presidio had extended to him. He didn't say it, but he needed the protection right now. "The other hostage is still in their's, Dart. If you can safely take care of that, please do. Four feet from the center of the roof, towards us." He paused to breath, sounding out of breath.
"The para-er-cape who just fled has found someone else, she's watching intently but it's unclear whether she's friend or foe. She just took a phone call." A few wires rose off the building, a good distance behind the Final Guard and Junior Guard now. They moved very slowly, weaving together to form a very hard to penetrate wall. Then it stopped, seeming content to bar them from retreating.
Dart's hand was shaking, and so she formed them into fists. Every single muscle in her body wanted to attack, to do something. Then, at 4Sight's permission, she relaxed finally. "Try to hit important looking wires with it once we're a bit closer." She said to Calvin ball, while glancing back at her squad member.
Looking away now, Dart lowered her center of gravity slightly, her knees bending. Dart mumbled a small 'thank you', and then the concrete cracked beneath her feet. At least, it would have, if she was standing there anymore, but instead she seemed to have been thrown at tremendous speeds. She collided with the wire mesh trying to trap someone within, but they didn't eviscerate her. Instead they slowed her momentarily before they exploded, the wires folding in on themselves. Loosely, they fell to the side as Dart landed hard on the roof, before they limply fell off the roof.
The young cape offered a hand, but the once hostage somehow disappeared. Dart glanced around momentarily, and sighed, before walking to the edge of the roof. She stepped off in a crouch, and almost immediately hit the ground in front of the Junior Guard. A burst of wind rushed past them upon her arrival, and a small smile crossed her face.
Tense moments passed as they listened to SWAT speak to Spindle, the feed on screen nowhere near live, and constantly stuttering. The audio was better, but still delayed. Matthew turned around, retreated a bit. he stood off to one side of Penelope while facing the opposite direction and spoke to Penelope. He knew John could still hear him, but it changed the context of the conversation. "There's something about this. It could be a distraction, but—" He didn't want to say he'd been working off that assumption for the last thirty minutes, because it'd be an insult to John's intelligence. The pause he let hang her was uncharacteristic, but not planned.
"We should consider other possibilities as well. She is acting like she has a full house. Maybe the distraction is we assume she has the right card, but she has to know we can't fold." Matthew seemed deep in thought, his emotions an absolute mess. That was rare for him too. "I truly don't know what the last card could be." He said, just quiet enough that John wouldn't be able to hear and he wasn't lying. How did Sandra rate this as no threat? He thought, hands curled into fists, gaze steady on the door.
The Shaker
Still, Spindle didn't make a move against the approaching forces. Briefly she glanced down to where Enki when they started running, and seemed to concentrate momentarily; However, when they disappeared she turned back to SWAT. "Since these negotiations are going so well, I have a personal request. No matter what I ask you to do, the performance will be empty in your eyes. So my request is made for me, not you. Kneel, Judah." Her voice was different now, before being more playful, sometimes annoyed, but friendly, more than anything else. Now it was ice cold.
She didn't even mention the lie, instead the conversation was to be a mastless ship at sea. Momentarily, Spindle tried to extend the metaphor in her head, but she knew next to nothing about sailing. A breath escaped her lips, a small sigh as she watched him. Her head was feeling fuzzy, and although Gemini hadn't mentioned that, he also had never experienced his own power first hand. "One's experience is one's own" She thought, her humor in it as personal as the experience it spoke of.
"My name is Madison. It'll be over soon, but I have to watch, I'm kind of integral." The young woman replied, gesturing as she spoke towards the Spindle situation. Without waiting for a response, she walked past Enki. At the point she was closest to them, she raised her arm without pausing and reached out her hand slowly. It didn't touch anything. Nothing occurred. She continued walking until she reached the corner. Clipped to the back of her belt was a pair of binoculars, barely visible under the thick jacket. She reached back and tugged lightly to remove them, before raising them to her eyes. Her other hand gripped the brick corner of the wall, knuckles slowly whitening as the seconds passed. After a few moments she took out her phone, flipping it open before the vibration had fully become audible.
"Tell them. Yes, I told them I wouldn't. They're kids, they'll just be grateful. Just a text. Oh and disconnect the call." Madison's voice was slightly muffled by the mask, but she was still enunciating well enough for the person on the other line. She flipped the phone to close it with inertia alone before turning to Enki briefly. "What's your name?" She asked, her eyes wrinkling slightly as if she were smiling.
The Fallen
The Trap
As Transcendent was sent flying down the street a stream of fire chased after him before he crashed into a building. The others continued to fight, but it seemed that Rend had the upper hand against the ice golem with her superior speed.
Moments later, as Transcendent was pulling his way out of the wreckage, a large lizard man reached out to grab one of the tendrils before moving to slam his spiked fist into his face. Even with Transcendent’s power already affecting him from the contact, he hit the Fallen hard enough to rip the tendril he was holding from the rest of the form as he flew backwards before flying up along the side of the building. He bounced off of the building and rocketed towards Edith, his tendrils flying behind him as a black ichor splattered the ground.
The dino moved, much slower than it had been moving earlier as it took up a defensive position.
Red Eye
The Bank
Percy and Vanish didn't start talking again for at least a block, watching their surroundings closely. Occasionally, Percy would check his phone as if he were expecting a message. On the third time, he turned on the ringer and left it.
"Were the clever remarks you, or your power?"
"It's always me."
"You dodged the question."
"Kind of. I'm very good at that."
"Clever remarks or dodging questions?"
"Considering I haven't answered the question still, I'd say both."
"We're on a tangent."
"Not really, I just brought it back to the question."
"Which you still. Haven't. Answered."
"Yup."
"Are you being difficult because you're—Um. . . Shell shocked?"
Percy paused at that, seeming to seriously consider it. At the silence Vanish glanced over at him, and he shook his head. Not a negation, not quite.
"My power came up with the quips, trying to force him off guard. Early, you understand, my power is testing. Prodding, guessing wrong on purpose a lot of the time, but—"
His phone dinged once, that solid note creating a silence between them. Percy glanced down at his phone, and then looked down the alley behind them. Vanish tilted her head slightly and Percy glanced over at her. He nodded at the unspoken question. They started sprinting down the alley.
Exiled
Not with a bang...
For a moment everything went still. The air didn't move, the capes were continuing their last actions, and even the tanks weren't moving at the moment.
And then the world exploded.
Ana, jumping high into the air, was rocketed from the blast wave as Mastar opened fire on the tank she had just jumped from. She riser higher and higher, moving away from the fight, and at the apex of her flight she could see something massive on the horizon.
Another tank that she could tell, given how large it looked from this distance, was absolutely massive.
And then she plummeted towards the ground.
Back at the tanks, Manifold's device activated in the midst of the explosion. While Mastar watched the destruction, the blinding light suddenly darkened. In seconds it was nothing, the blackest black she had ever seen before and growing larger, quickly overtaking the tank and expanding towards her. She had no time to think, only run, as the crackle of energy deafened the area.
Outside, the independent speedster was caught unawares by the shockwave as he exited his breaker form, the barrier barely stopping any of the force, and found himself flung into the truck with enough force to dent the door. The truck itself, partially from his impact and partially from the shockwave, rocked into two wheels before rolling over. Before it could crush the speedster under it, he was roughly pulled away and thrown by Manifold.
Who promptly disappeared under the wreckage that used to be the truck.
Torrent stretched as the rat died, looking back at the fire. The lights and shadows reminded her of when she was first developing Wurm Breath when those shadows had moved weird on the wall. Maybe she was seeing things.
"I'll deal with the fire," Torrent announced, moving and using her Water Stream to control the edges of the fire and put it out from the outside in.
I don't know if I've been talking to nothing, or if there's something actually listening, but if there is I hope you're pleased, she thought as she activated her Guidance ability before she was had an idea.
It was too late to continue working on the light skill, but what if you could control light what about the opposite? If fog was something she could make, what was to say she couldn't make shadows? As she worked to put out the fire, she extended her power into the areas around her covered in shadows when she wasn't spraying water, and tried to see if she couldn't draw it back into herself from there.
If she was able to succeed, she would see if she couldn't condense the energy into a ball shape in her mouth, much like how she formed a Fireball but made of shadows.
As Torrent scurried away, she pushed herself as fast as she could go to skirt around the rat in cover, keeping her stealth going, to get over to the opposite side of the beast.
By then, however, the battlefield had changed pretty drastically. The rat was now running her direction, Digbie in its clutches, as a fireball whirled over it. There wasn't time to think, she had to act before it got away with her friend!
Running forward as fast as she could go, and pushing herself to go faster, Torrent did her best to jump as high as she could into the fireball as it passed in front of the rat by the tree edge, already gathering her Mana for an explosion. As she did she yelled, "Digbie take cover!"
And then as before she came into contact with the fireball she tried to mingle her Mana with it, and then she pushed out in typical explosion fashion.
With any luck Digbie would be mostly shielded by the rat as the blast pushed out around her.
As her forward momentum continued, she prepared to release another Wurm Breath straight into the rat's face or start attacking with fangs and claws if it engaged with her directly.
Torrent felt pretty good. She felt calm for the first time in... She couldn't remember how long. Since she was... Before the streets? Was there a before the streets?
She opened her eyes - when had she shut them? - and looked up into the sunlight. Was she just normal meditating? There wasn't a skill so she probably wasn't doing it quite right yet. But she could do better! As she shifted positions to maximize the amount of sun to skin contact, a sound broke the calm.
Digbie was back. And he had brought trouble. Big trouble. With a hint of smugness she thought about how she always took care of her trouble, the kind of reaction a small child might have when their sibling getting caught red-handed.
But she didn't waste any time before jumping into action. She'd didn't way too long in both this life and the next to be caught by surprise like this.
"Oberon, distract it! I'm going to come from another angle!" she called out before activating Scale Shift and Muffle III and scurrying off to the side in a loop like she had with the slime. As she moved she used her Monster Analysis and Magic Analysis skills on the creature for information on how best to tackle it. She needed to be smart, like Ash and Oberon. As she moved she tried her hardest to be undetectable alongside her skills. If she could just fade into the background this thing would never expect her attacks.
This thing was made of fur and flesh. So arguably a fire spell would be her best bet at the start. This thing was big and tough and she didn't think she could just get on it's back and bite down into it's neck to kill it like she had that rat in the cave. Or had it been a lizard?
... Or maybe it was those goblins she'd killed by the entrance when she was spying?
Whatever. Bigger thing.
Carefully Torrent moved in from behind and slightly to the side, getting within range to use her Wurm Breath, in fire primary mode. After using the spell just long enough to produce the attack for about the space of a long exhale, Torrent backed away quickly, activating Scale Shift and Muffle III again as she moved for another angle to attack from.
Torrent listened carefully, following Oberon to the patch of light silently. As he instructed she used her Magic Analysis on him to try to get more information on this... Absorbing sunlight skill. The way he explained it seemed simple enough, though, given what she'd already discovered with the various elements she'd already learned so far. It was kinda like what Crispy had been saying about Fireball, in a way.
Nodding to herself, she about missed his request.
"Oh, that's easy actually. See..." She paused, giving him a moment to be ready to use his own Magic Analysis on the skill, before she blew out a Frost Breath towards a nearby tree.
"It's like I was saying earlier. It's about feeling. I just took all the feelings of the coldest cold I remember when I was on the streets, of ice and stuff, and how it felt and just made the power feel like that too. It's like empowering the water and air with that feeling and then pushing out with it really hard. When I wasn't pushing so hard it was kinda like snow."
She nodded to herself a bit again. "Yeah, and like I needed to use water and air at first to get it to work right. Cause that's what ice is, right? Just really really really cold water. Cause that's what it turns into when it gets hot. But like elements feel like stuff, y'know? Fire is angry and water is calm and air is kinda free and needs more force to control and ice is cold!"
She slid her tail side to side as she talked, growing more excitable as she talked. Maybe Oberon would be proud of her like she was of herself? She'd really figured out a lot about this magic stuff and feelings, she thought anyways.
Finally she quieted down however and stepped into the light and closed her eyes. This time instead of simply meditating she took what Oberon had said and focused on the light. The way it played across her eyes even when shut, how it felt a little warm on her after a few moments. It felt, well, light. Maybe it was like fire and air together?
She focused on absorbing that feeling. Instead of pushing the power out, she focused on pulling it in but only from where she felt the warmth touching her body. Kinda like if her whole body was a mouth and it was breathing in the light.
In answer to Presidio's questions, 4Sight raised his hand to press the button on his earpiece. "The Director wants us to move forward, start to approach. He thinks it won't put the hostages in any danger." He said, "Be careful and watch your surroundings." He finished, before nodding at Dart. He took a step forward, eyes glazing over slightly as his power let him observe the situation more closely. It was hard to walk and use his power at the same time but he managed it, slowly taking in the battlefield. After a few moments he spoke again. "If the situation gets dire Slingshot, I want to you get under those hostages. Don't let them hit the ground at all costs, use your power and throw yourself into the midst. Dart will probably do the same, but you're going to be much more effective in that regard."
Slngshot nodded, seeming to fully grasp the importance of his role now. He was the last line of defence, truly the last resort. He focused on his breathing and started moving forward. The first step felt wrong. So did the second. There was no third step, he just floated forward instead.
For her part, Dart also started to approach. "Let's go." She said, placing herself in the lead of her squad. The new hostage wasn't being trapped just yet it seemed, the wires still hanging, some churning about in nonsensical patterns.
The room was dim, with two televisions side by side hung on the wall closest to Matthew. The footage playing on the TV was the current encounter. A villain, apparently going by the name of Spindle, was sitting high above the street and most of the two squads seemed frozen in place. The camera on 4Sight's chest was decent quality, but he still couldn't quite make out even the villain herself, only the wire she was apparently on top of. Turning his head slightly, he looked at John, and then turned away back to the screen. He felt bad that he couldn't assist the squads in any way, he could give his insight if it seemed relevant, but whether or not it reached the squads wasn't in his control. So much had to be given up for this squad to even start to exist. Sighing, he turned the opposite direction of John to the operative on his left. "I don't think she'll execute those hostages no matter how close they get. I think she believes that if she kills even one of them, we stop caring about her leverage." The man at the computer seemed confused momentarily, but he nodded, and replied with an affirmative.
Matthew didn't believe in that reasoning, but it was something to get them moving if they did hear it. From the short amount he'd seen, she wouldn't execute the hostages ever, but he had no good explanation for the people actually in charge. Briefly, Matthew wondered about that thought, about whether or not they felt like they were the people in charge. Probably not, not even John. How high up would you have to go in this command structures to find someone who felt like they were the person in control?
The door closed behind Matthew, and he reached into his pocket. He pulled up the dialer and simply pressed 3. The phone speed dialed Sandra, who answered on the third ring. "Get Penelope into the office soon, we have some legal work to do with the Junior guard members, and I'd rather have the contracts written up sooner rather than later." He said, sounding pretty happy with the situation.
Penelope was just about two thirds of the way through her morning routine when she got the call from Sandra--she’d taken to just wearing her handsfree headset as soon as she woke up on account of the somewhat random nature of her schedule.
“Good morning, Sandra. As soon as possible? I’ll be there in fifteen, traffic permitting.” Sandra hadn’t sounded… urgent, per se, but she had a particular tendency to shift her pitch a little in high octane situations. The woman never cracked under any amount of pressure, and the only external qualities that ever really gave her away were the shift in pitch and the fact that one of her worry lines wrinkled just a little bit more than the others. Something was happening, if Penelope had to guess, and it was not strictly within the remit of legal work like she’d been informed. Regardless, Penelope went about the remainder of her morning routine more quickly than usual and made her way to the office.
She walked through the door, no coffee in hand, and Sandra handed her a steaming mug of black coffee, no sugar, with a side of exactly one almond biscotti--her usual. Penelope gave Sandra a knowing smile, and asked her to reserve the usual table at the Italian restaurant that they liked. She normally left the details to Sandra, but it was assumed that at least her, Sandra, and Matthew would eat--sometimes Kelly came along if he wasn’t busy, and sometimes it was a potential client or someone that the Final Guard wanted to poach from one of the various other organizations deep within the Silver City. Penelope had a particular knack for recruitment, and given that she got a free meal at an excellent restaurant out of it it was generally something she was happy to put her time towards--provided that she liked the cut of their jib, and that she genuinely thought they were in it for the betterment of humanity as a whole. She was very lucky to have found an employer who largely thought along the same lines that she did, even if she still wasn’t sure why yet.
She walked into the room with Matthew, raised an eyebrow at John being there, and sat down promptly, taking a sip of her coffee as she did so.
“Traffic was pretty bad this morning--has something happened?” She made a point to ask them in as nonchalant a way as possible, but from the second she’d gotten within range of her power she had immediately known that something very wrong had happened. It wasn’t quite panic, but there was a palpable aura of tension that Penelope only normally found in a courtroom. It intrigued her enough to ask, but not enough to be overt--if her experienced with John were anything to go by, she knew that he’d rope her in as quickly and bluntly as possible. She didn’t like the man, but she appreciated his candor in a way that bureaucrats often didn’t.
John didn't speak, just stared down Penelope. He seemed annoyed at the question, but he didn't answer it.
"We're gonna need three contracts written up for some Junior Guard kids. I don't expect you to do it personally of course, if you need to subcontract it, that will work fine. More relevant to you, I'm gonna need an analysis of some of the laws that put our organization into place, and a look at how this will affect our budget. Mostly one-fourteen C and D. E might become relevant, depending on how the current mission actually goes. Speaking of-"
Matthew glanced at John, and let a moment pass. John nodded in response, and Matthew turned back to Penelope. "A shaker attacked a First Guard helicopter. Took it right out of the air, and took its pilot hostage, along with some first responders. Demanded the disbanding of the First Guard. Our squad is on the scene right now, so we'll see if they can turn this situation around."
Penelope listened to Matthew’s instructions and gave him a curt nod, beginning to press her left hand up to her left ear where her headset was, before getting halfway and deciding against it. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and quickly tapped in a few details, telling Kelly to get one of her associates, likely Naomi, to write up the contracts. The employment contracts were… not one of Penelope’s favorite parts of working for the Final Guard, given that they were filled with contingencies that were unduly harsh for rule breaking and the fact that the financials were… stingy, at best--she couldn’t help but wonder just how bad it’d be for the minors. It was simply a part of the public perception towards capes, she told herself, and that she’d make it better as soon as she could. As soon as she garnered enough influence, as soon as she’d advanced her plans enough. It was enough to make her right eye twitch, almost imperceptibly, and as she finished sending her text to Kelly she looked up at the TV screen, then to John, and then to Matthew.
“... you do realize that this entire hostage situation is a farce, yes? Even if, hypothetically speaking, we were capable of dissolving the First Guard on a whim--and according to bylaws one-thirteen D and its various addendum we most certainly are not--this… shaker would have absolutely no way of holding us to that arrangement. It is commonly known that hostage situations are a race against time--the more time law enforcement has to prepare, the more difficult it becomes to make it out of there with what you want. Given enough time, it becomes increasingly likely that you simply don’t get out of there at all.”
Penelope looked at the screen, studying it intently for a solid thirty seconds, before turning back to Matthew.
“Whatever it is that she’s doing, it’s just a distraction. Her true objective, or perhaps that of a co-conspirator, is elsewhere. You might remember that the Telford vs. Johnson case whose notes I provided for you at my interview detailed a negotiation strategy in the same sort of vein?” Penelope asked with a smirk playing at the corner of her lips. She doubted John would see the humor in the situation, so she took a sip of her coffee and a bite of her biscotti to give him time to process what she’d said.
For his part, John was genuinely surprised by what Penelope had to say. Matthew looked slightly surprised as well, but all of that was reserved for Penelope’s ability to see the bigger picture. The situation had been about as obvious to him, and so he composed himself quickly and smiled. John shook off the initial shock halfway through her bite of the biscuit, his mind racing through the ramifications.
”That case--actually, all of these types of cases--are so much easier to grasp when they’re on a sheet of paper after the fact, the intentions much more obvious. There’s a Red Eye bank robbery, some Fallen plays, and some B and S activity. None of them are big enough to be what she’s trying to conceal, but I’m not ruling out her working with all of those groups, as well as another. You are right about the chances of getting out decreasing, and so I see two possibilities here. The first is that she has a trump card, some undeniable escape plan. That’s an unsettling prospect, of course. More unsettling is the alternative though.” Matthew let it hang in the air, knowing Penelope would connect the final dot. John spoke before she could.
”She has no escape plan.” His voice was older than it had been earlier, as if the situation had aged him. It was almost humorous to Matthew, as the point was so obvious, he hadn’t seen a need to say it. A joke that John wasn’t in on.
Penelope just laughed at Matthew’s first comment, the kind of titter that a bemused parent gave their child after working something very obvious out. It wasn’t patronizing, per se, but it was enough to make it well known that she found the comment, well, laughable.
“What’s the expression? Hindsight is 20/20?” she quipped back, dryly, as she took another mouthful of her coffee. Sandra had made sure that it was cool enough to drink immediately--that woman was a saint insofar as receptionists went--and as Penelope cradled the cup in her hands she looked over at John.
“I quite agree. What does that tell you, John? It tells me that she either intends not to perish or to martyr herself in the name of the so-called ‘greater good’, a sentiment with which I’m sure you’re familiar. Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori?” She knew that if she pushed John he’d be more likely to actually work out the truth of the matter on his own. Matthew couldn’t just tell him, and neither could she, but goading a soldier into really looking into the motives of a person and the logic behind their strategy was almost always successful. Many people were soldiers, Penelope had found--individuals who substituted devotion and zeal for acumen and analysis, who wanted to follow orders and simply trust that they were ‘doing the right thing’. John was no different, not really.
“So the question becomes,” she turned to Matthew, “does she intend to die a martyr or turn the tables? I’d guess the latter, I think, if things happened as abruptly as you implied. Have 4sight scout the area more thoroughly for anything going on that seems untoward, perhaps? If necessary, I'd be happy to go and take a look myself, but I’m not sure exactly how much help I could really be, other than being an extra body that the shaker doesn’t know is affiliated with the Final Guard.”
”Everything I’m seeing here from her is telling me that she doesn’t intend to martyr herself, but this situation is very dangerous. It’d have to be quite the trump card. John, please make sure 4sight is more thorough than usual. . . Tell him to check nearby buildings for accomplices actually.” Matthew said, trying to sound like it was suggestion instead of an order. John didn’t like the tone either of them had, but he was holding his tongue for the moment. He turned a bit, and nodded at the operator listening in nearby.
The man spoke into his mic briefly, while more action started happening on the screen. Two buildings in the distance were suddenly surrounded by wire, leading to an audible gasp by another operative in the room. Matthew looked behind himself at the screen and sighed. ”Hopefully they can stop her soon, before half the city is her hostage. And no, we’re keeping you here, you’re not something we want to throw at a situation like this in a direct way.”
“I figured as much. I just don’t like to give suggestions that I wouldn’t be willing to follow myself.” Penelope replied, somewhat offhandedly. She was very much a ‘lead-by-example’ sort of character, and though it would objectively make very little sense given her (ostensible) skillset, Penelope was quite certain that she’d be able to figure out the nuances of the situation if she could get close enough to use her power. Still, that wasn’t something anyone in the room knew about, so it wasn’t really a factor they could consider.
John seemed to be teetering on the edge of losing control of his emotions. Penelope could feel the anger welling up inside him, threatening to burst from his chest and take over--she smirked internally at the thought.
“You should also try to work out what it is that she actually wants. Disbanding the First Guard is... well, it’s a fool’s errand. I haven’t studied the particulars--and it’s likely that neither has she--but I can tell you that it’d require no less than a 6/7ths majority vote by the Council and the approval of the Governess. There may well be an obscure method by which its dissolution could be achieved, and I’ll be happy to look into it if that’s what you want, but that kind of information is dangerous--once we know, we won’t be able to stop knowing.” Penelope mused, half to herself and half to Matthew, as she finished the rest of her biscotti.
“But if that’s what you want, I'll be happy to start researching now?” she offered, punctuating the sentence by reaching down to pull a laptop out of her briefcase and set it on the table.
”Out. Of. The. Question.” John said, his face turning slightly red. He took a breath, trying to calm himself while turning to Matthew, who was already nodding in agreement. ”It cannot come to that.” He said, despite his peer already agreeing with him. Matthew wasn’t happy with that response internally, but outwardly he seemed to agree. The First Guard wasn’t worth it, the First Guard was too dangerous, if the first Guard continued to exist, parahumans might not.
Turning to Penelope he nodded. ”Just the contracts for now, we’re assuming victory. Defeat won’t mean the loss of the First Guard.” He said, while internally the word ‘yet’ barely held itself from his lips. Matthew would have to find the right defeat, this wasn’t going to be it, unless John made a bad call. Matthew turned to watch the screen more, deep in thought.
“Well, Naomi will be taking care of those. She should have a first draft done within a few hours--we can discuss the particulars of what you want when it’s finished. She’ll just use the current Final Guard contract as a base and apply rules for minors as appropriate.” Penelope replied, not looking at Matthew as she replied. She was already tapping away on the keyboard of the laptop, seemingly engrossed in emails, though it was difficult for her to not crack a smile at John’s reaction. She began compiling an email for Matthew, first going over the minutiae of the details required for the Junior Guard contracts, but ending with a somewhat contentious statement--’Should I start research regardless?’
At the end of the day, Matthew was her employer, not John. She knew that Matthew was the kind of person to play his cards close to the chest--too close even for her liking, sometimes--and actually asking him without John’s interference was the most prudent cause of action. She very much doubted that he’d find out, but even if he did it was not like there was much he could do about her asking a simple question… but a part of her definitely wanted to see him try.
”That’s all then.” Matthew said at a pause in her typing. ”CC it to Sandra as well of course, and we can contact the kid’s parents after this whole fiasco is over.” He finished, smiling gratefully at Penelope. ”We’ll see how much longer they’ll allow me in the war room, and I’ll look over it with Sandra when I’m kicked out.” The tone here was bashful, though John seemed to take it at face value. The man wasn’t an idiot, but he also wouldn’t pick up on things that Matthew and Penelope would.
After a short crackling, Spindle’s voice played over the speakers. "I just got two more hostages. So many critters running around, getting caught in my web. If you don't start the process soon, you're going to. . . Regret it." She was calling this out across a distance, and one of the screens switched to the closer point of view that SWAT’s bodycam provided.
The Shaker
Spindle’s attention should’ve been fractured, but she seemed to be giving her full attention to SWAT. She looked him up and down, walking a few feet to be closer to him. ”Have you started fulfilling my demand?” She called out across the gap, seeming almost annoyed at his current attempt. While she talked, the message Enki had written disappeared into the wires, and was soon lost track of. Without the woman on the wire giving any indication, a new message appeared in the wires. "No hostage. Start fleeing in 3" As soon as the three was fully formed, it changed into a two. Then a one. The wires squirmed and started moving towards Enki.
The wires that had been busying themselves on the side of the building near Audrie suddenly rose above the edge, spiking six feet into the air. They surrounded 3/4ths of the building in a makeshift cage, leaving an opening behind her but still cutting off the fire escape. After gaining this height, it shifted to form a chain link fence type pattern and prevent immediate intervention. After forming this pattern, most of the wires froze in place. A few continued shifting along the bottom edge, appearing to form a braid. A similar event happened to Aesthetic's roof, however thicker wire was used combined with forming a point above the center of the roof. Again an escape route was left, but it was another straight drop downward.
Feeling wire shift under her sundress she smiled at SWAT. "I just got two more hostages. So many critters running around, getting caught in my web. If you don't start the process soon, you're going to. . . Regret it." She called, tapping the top of her wrist where a watch would be if she was wearing one.
The Fallen
The Trap
Transcendent rushed past Edith as she rolled, but he stopped himself and pivoted faster than she’d ever seen him react. As the vehicles pulled up and people started getting out, Transcendent moving ever closer no matter how she evaded, there seemed to be little hope.
Until there was an eruption of gunfire behind Edith followed by a thunderous roar. As everyone present turned to look at the commotion, a gigantic dinosaur that seemed like a mix between a t-rex and raptor smashed a jeep across the street and through a street light. It roared again and something blurred out from between its legs before reforming into a young woman who quickly landed a series of hits against one of the Fallen before blurring away again.
Behind Edith there was the sound of another commotion as several bodies went flying across the street as a giant ice golem shoved its way through the gap between two jeeps towards the remaining Fallen grouped between it and Edith. A woman that Edith recognized as Rend darted across the street towards the downed Fallen, placing her hands on them while the other Fallen engaged the golem. The last thing Edith got to see of the woman was her running back across the street faster than before and slamming into the golem with enough force to shove it back several feet. And then her attention was pulled back to her would-be-captor.
Transcendent went back on the attack for Edith as the blurring woman engaged in a fight with someone wielding a gauntlet that Edith didn’t recognize. Before Edith could react to Transcendent, a giant tail whipped over her head and slammed into him hard enough to create an audible crack in the air before he was sent flying down the street.
Red Eye
The Bank
A sigh of relief escaped Percy's lips, as he relaxed his body. They weren't going to fight anymore, they could leave, it was over. His power faded with every passing moment, and so he made the most of what remained. He turned away from his invisible foe, and started walking towards Vanish. His gate put as little pressure as possible on his injured leg without looking like he was limping. He could tell instantly that Vanish was upset with him, but he also knew she would wait to voice her concerns. "Give me a first aid kit." He said, his voice very quiet and distant. Vanish stepped over the table, and looked over at the case 53. A quick nod, and there was suddenly a small metal box with a red cross clasped in her hands. She handed it to Percy who turned with it in his left and slid it easily across the floor. It stopped a foot above the downed guard's head, the cross pointing towards the croc.
Percy turned, walking towards the front exit with the gun still in hand but not pointed at anything in particular. He pushed on the door, and let the cool air wash over him as Vanish followed close behind. In the distance were sirens, but he seemed to be ignoring those for now. They turned right and started fleeing as fast as Percy's leg would allow him, which turned out to be a slightly faster form of walking. After about a block they turned onto an alley, and Vanish started talking.
"Don't you think that was a bit much? Why didn't you shoot the big guy?" She asked, looking at the now haggard Percy. He shook his head before answering.
"I could've hurt him, but there was no way in hell I was going to down him. The only way to get him to stop was to threaten the kid. My power gave me no other option." He said, voice raw from yelling.
"That's gonna turn the heat up." Vanish said instead of what she wanted to say.
"We can handle it."
Almost a minute passed before the squad cars actually arrived, screeching to a stop in front of the bank. Some police officers then proceeded on foot in the direction given by a recent 911 call.
Exiled
Not with a bang...
As the Exiled and the independent hero went to their own tasks, the tanks moved ever onward. Until Arson broke the canon off of one. Moments later and she slammed it into the gears of the track and the whole thing came to a grinding halt. It was now slightly turned as one side had continued when the other stopped, and people were crawling up from underneath. Pointing guns at Arson, they opened fire as the 50 cal on the front started shooting towards the speedster. The man aiming it was much too slow, however, and was unable to land a hit on Jackalope.
Master, meanwhile, was able to close in on the other tank, which was aiming towards Arson as it’s forward motion stopped as Jackalope left a trail that they didn’t want to risk trying to cross.
In the background, Manifold’s little bubble shield turned into goop and she held the tank round in one hand and something small and spiky in the other. She kicked the hood of the truck to get the attention of her allies before throwing the shell to the side where it landed harmlessly in the grass. A second later she lobbed the spiked thing straight towards Arson.
Given it was her sister, she’d know to catch it and have an idea of what Manifold wanted her to do with it.
Torrent stared out at the lingering ice effects on the water before she spun in a circle excitedly. Her celebration was interrupted by the sudden ding and following system message, which caused her to let out a sound of glee.
"System, put two points into Blunt Resistance and the last three into Poison Glob, please and thank you!" she said breathlessly. This was great! Level nine and -
A thought rammed its way into her mind at the thought of numbers. She'd evolved at level five, right? What if she evolved again at level ten? Didn't the system say something before about evolutions down the line?
"System, please display the next evolution level. And evolution options?" she asked tentatively. She'd never tried to use the system before, but it responded when she allocated skill points. So didn't that mean that it could take orders? Or something like that?
What even was this System thing anyways, now that she thought about it? It really was weird, she hadn't had a thing in her head before she died the first time.
Shaking herself as Oberon called out to her, Torrent walked over happily and looked at the thing he had created. He wanted her to hit it? So, maybe some kind of portable shield? Whatever. She tilted her head as she considered what skill would work best for this, and chose to not use a breath attack. Even the ones that were like a stream would be too dangerous.
"Okay, I'm going to use a Glob since I just got it to a new level with that level up. Please make sure to not let it hit you..." she said hesitantly. Moving so that she would fire at an angle, she didn't want to risk the Glob going right through the thing and hitting Oberon (she remembered what a level one version of it had done to a Pixie back in the cave), before she spat out a level 2 Glob at the mana shield.
Out of curiosity, she went ahead and use her magic analysis on the shield before the Glob left her mouth.
As she sat there and watched the results, she thought about what she wanted to learn next. Her thoughts were on the fact that she'd seen Oberon develop some interesting things between this shield thing and that air thing a moment ago. She really should have analyzed that.
"Hey, Obe? I've been doing all these element breath things because it seems useful and it's fun and I was just thinking...Well, I've got water and fog and fire and ice and a mixed poison and fire and air and....What if I could make light but from my mouth? It sounds cool, but I don't know where to start with that. I don't know what Light feels like, exactly, so I don't know how to change the energy. Would you be willing to help? I'd teach you something I know in return if you wanted! Just like the training day!" Her voice lifted slowly as she talked as her excitement started filling over again.
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