witch's cape, not hat

[characterquarry]

Grendyne groans and starts pulling on her boots when the alarm goes off. Again. She quick-marches to the broom hangar, sits on her machine and is handed a plethora of loaded weapons by attentive corporals.

"Two flyers in one day? They're getting way too common."

"It's worse," the commander informs them, "South Karlsland got hit with three at once. We're taking Lytee's express and sleeping there. You can sit out if you absolutely need to, but Freya's still recovering so we could use you as a comms relay."

"No, I'll come. I just reserve the right to complain about it."

The 42nd United Forces Witch Wing takes off and assembles into a perfect synchronized formation as Lytee charges her teleport power.



...This is not South Karlsland wilderness.

[note: halfway through this thread I created a unique account for Grendyne. Do not be alarmed by the change in account. -Rockeye]

Comments

[witchwatcher]

"I could stand to help end some of the nastier threats, yes. I'll probably come and go if I join up, though. At least the Neuroi have been much less of a threat lately, thanks to Bet's tech. Did you catch the Travelers?"

(Places has deposited Flechette halfway across the city, still on Earth Gimel, and subsequently disappeared.)

[whole_new_can]

"They're not going anywhere. Do you think you're up to getting us back to New York?"

The surviving Travelers are sufficiently caught, with the exception of Oliver, who as far as anyone knows is just an unusually good-looking civilian. He even has his arm back, thanks to all the healing.

[witchwatcher]

"Mm. In a few minutes, maybe. Using too much power in too few minutes hurts Witches, even me. There's other teleporters, though. I wonder where Lytee got to? She can 'port a full squad when she's rested."

[whole_new_can]

"She said getting us here was about all she could manage at the time. But we can wait."

The Protectorate people set about getting the full story, as much as the innocent bystanders can tell them and then from the Travelers. Civilians and Oliver get dispersed; he gets to worry about how to convince Places to help with a rescue.

And Gren finds out that when Coil described Dinah, he wasn't making everything up.

[witchwatcher]

The nation of Liberion is getting more than a little testy about foreign capes having a battle on their soil. They're not about to try and arrest anyone, and they're certainly not complaining that it's over, but some UDF diplomats have arrived. They're talking a lot and looking up things like reparation agreements. But they relent once they receive a promise to sort everything out later.

Gren closes her eyes when she's reminded of Coil. "Ugh. I have to wonder how he manages to cause so much trouble, with no parahuman power."

[wormcan]

Aaaand the identity of the mysterious figure who was helping them contain Noelle is blown just like that. Yep, Coil was the employer they've been avoiding naming. At least they can refrain from correcting her about his power.

"This one wasn't him," Genesis says. "He didn't even know we were going. It was to cure Noelle, and you can see it helped." Noelle is normal-sized again, after all. "More than he ever did. It's just...we never expected that."

[witchwatcher]

"I think you're all very lucky to still be alive. And I'm half-convinced to have another go at finding Coil if he and his are going to keep making things worse. He kidnapped and as good as tortured me, you know."

[wormcan]

"Oh, you're that Copycat," Ballistic doesn't say. Sundancer at least has the decency to look awkward about it.

"Convince these people to let us and we'll help you do it," she says. "We had three reasons to work for him, none of which apply anymore, and it's not like he doesn't deserve it."

"No." Ursa Aurora is adamant. "I haven't heard them deny what that clone said. No way is anyone going in with Simurgh puppets at their back. They should be in quarantine for the rest of their lives."

[witchwatcher]

"Don't thinkers interfere with each other? And a precog made this two hells of a lot less terrible. Seems like they might be clear, or clear-ish."

[wormcan]

"That was why we were working for him," Genesis agrees. "He said he had a precog working for him who would help. He didn't mention that 'working for' meant 'enslaved by,' for some reason."

"If it were that easy, quarantine wouldn't exist," the hero counters. "I'm not even saying it's their fault—though, you know, notorious mercenaries—but they're not exactly trustworthy." But it's not up to her anyway.

"We can let the PRT and the Brockton Bay team decide if they want the Travelers' help," Legend says.

[witchwatcher]

"Anybody know where Lytee went? I've got a feeling she was involved in this somehow. Ech, nevermind." She sighs. "I'd better go watch that Siberian-clone. Kept her alive so I could watch her exist for twenty minutes and copy that ridiculously invulnerable projection permanently instead of temporarily, but nobody wants her to wake up. She should be out for hours, but better safe than sorry."

She zips over to a roof past the edge of the battle-zone. The clone is still unconscious.

[whole_new_can]

"The Siberian clone is alive?"
Pause.
"The Siberian is a projection?"
Pause.
"You left a Siberian clone unattended?"

Legend zips there before she does; he can spot an unconscious person on a roof and is very good at zipping.

"Do you still need her alive?"

[witchwatcher]

"I need her alive for twenty minutes, maybe ten but it's slippery."

"...Look, I'm not that reckless. I can kill her in less than two seconds. Knight and Flechette go through the invulnurability, Flechette more than Knight, the master is ordinary human and I hit her with enough stun to knock someone out for days and if she woke up and started Siberianing again anyway I'd have teleported directly behind the master and deathtouched her."

[whole_new_can]

"It was her being rescued that I was worried about. Unlikely, but not a risk I'd want to take.

Do you think you could do that to the real Siberian's master? If she has one, that is. It might not even be necessary, now that we know to look we'll find her eventually even if you very reasonably want to stay out of it."

[witchwatcher]

"Yes, I could probably do that. I'd want backup though, and I don't want to be near Jack and Shatterbird and Burnscar for one second longer than I have to."

[whole_new_can]

"You'd have it. But this should be more planned. We only just found out about one member's weakness.

Would it be safer to get her to where the others are?" The clone that Gren is staring at isn't going anywhere, but one does not take chances with this.

[witchwatcher]

"No difference, I think. Maybe it'd creep them out?"

[whole_new_can]

"Not compared to everything else today." Legend detaches his cape to wrap around the clone, and starts flying back. "But us disappearing to go find her and then not coming back right away might."

[witchwatcher]

"Good point. I'm too used to either working alone or being on comms." She follows.

[wormcan]

They can both fly fast.
They'll return to find the Protectorate capes getting more information out of the Travelers, despite Ursa's insistences about their credibility.

[witchwatcher]

The UDF is already beginning cleanup. Burning the bodies, lifting rubble out of the streets, counting the dead.

"I'll be good to take everyone back to New York when I'm done with that Siberian-clone, by the way."

[wormcan]

"Can you take her with us? She's not exactly dangerous, at the moment."

[witchwatcher]

"I meant it as a matter of timing. I'll be rested enough when I'm done. Big teleport, nasty-hard battle, and another big teleport right after is skirting too close to mana burn. Sorry guys but you'll just have to wait fifteen minutes or convince some of the UDF 'porters to take you back." She's taking notes on the Siberian's power, now.

[wormcan]

The UDF teleporters are less available than that, and it's not an emergency any more. They can wait.

[witchwatcher]

And then she touches the Siberian clone and it dies, and everyone groups up as she focuses and - bip, they're in New York again.

"Well that was quite a scene and I think we all need a shower and some time alone. Legend, I'll come back in three hours for briefing or statements or whatever they call it."