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

[wormcan]

"He can't very well stay away. And we've got eyes on him already."

[witchwatcher]

"I'm normally not a vigilante, you know. I just have a grudge for Coil. I won't be trying to step on your toes."

[wormcan]

"Under the circumstances, I'm hardly going to complain. How did you find out about Coil?"

[witchwatcher]

"I found out that he was still active somehow during a discussion with the Travelers after that incident with the clones in Horten. After that a borrowed Thinker power plus some good old-fashioned research connected the dots. Armsmaster has the full story."

[wormcan]

Renick mentally revises Gren's thinker rating. "Can find the skeletons in PRT directors' closets" is a highly relevant attribute.

A phone beeps. "He's gone. Left the building, tased McKay, disappeared. Copycat, can you get us to him?"

[witchwatcher]

"Yes. Immediately?" She's already reaching to connect everyone present to her teleport-sense.

If they say 'yes,' Copycat, Armsmaster, the Deputy Director, and any officers present are surrounding Calvert from all sides except below within seconds.

[whole_new_can]

The reasons to wait stopped applying when they lost track of him. (Hopefully Gren is the only one above him. None of the others can fly.)

Calvert waits for a conversationally excessive amount of time. Eventually he asks his former second in command, "I take it I'm under arrest?"

"Extremely."

[witchwatcher]

Gren is the one above him. "Hi. Remember me? Isn't it interesting that there's a ninety-nine point nine seven six one percent chance you won't be getting away?"

[whole_new_can]

"Oh, I'm not trying to. I'll come quietly, don't worry. Extremely quietly, in fact, until I've talked with my lawyer."

He doesn't resist while Armsmaster handcuffs him for the cameras.

[witchwatcher]

Gren is practically humming. Even if he gets off on a technicality, he'll never be a PRT director again.

"I could have sworn he didn't have a power, though. Whatever... Kinda-vaguely-precog thing he has, It's really annoyingly massively complicated and I can't copy it."

She stays just long enough to give whatever statements and clarifications are required, leaves a note to Tattletale, and offers to repair a couple of sections of sewer for Skitter just because.

[whole_new_can]

That's going to include a lot of clarifications on the complicated vague precog thing, at least as much as she can say.


Skitter takes her up on the offer for the same reason, and is to all appearances happy about her suspected former boss being arrested.

[witchwatcher]

Stone-shaping on this scale is relatively easy. Conjuring metal for fittings and valves is trickier, as is hooking everything up to the buildings in the area, but in half an hour the six city blocks nearest the center of Skitter's territory will have working sewage again as soon as a couple of people install pumps in the clearly marked locations.

And Copycat disappears to the site of a volcanic eruption and cools a lava flow approaching a town into rock then evacuates a sinking fishing ship, then heals a batch of people in a trauma ward in France, and basically goes back to running around heroing.

Places, meanwhile, is wondering if she managed to dodge being classed as a villain for bringing the Travelers to Terra.

[wormcan]

Most governments don't exactly publish lists, but they aren't sending heroes to arrest her every time she shows her face. The official heroes still aren't hiring her, but some of the independent ones still do. They act as if they're working with a rogue, not a fugitive.

Over time she'll be as sure as she can be short of offering a customer satisfaction survey asking "were you aware I was peripherally involved in an incident that led to the deaths of two New York Protectorate members and do you consider me a villain."

[witchwatcher]

That's good then.

She can get back to making large amounts of money and learning interesting secrets when the chance comes up.

[whole_new_can]

While she's getting back to business, other people do the same.

"Door to Ostmark, Earth Gimel."

[witchwatcher]

The door opens to what looks like an endless sea of ash. It blows through, propelled by the storm in the sky beyond, but the winds are surprisingly calm given the sheer scale of the clouds above. The whole place looks dark and reddish, despite it supposedly being 11 am in that time zone.

[whole_new_can]

It's not actually inconceivable that different earths could have their rotations line up differently, but under the circumstances it's probably not that. Eidolon flies toward the storm.

[witchwatcher]

The storm: Is stormy. He might hear a faint metallic screech, but it'd have to be pretty loud to beat all this wind and rain and sticky wet ash pelting him from all directions.

[whole_new_can]

When one is Eidolon, it's easy enough to avoid being pelted. It's amazing how many of the powers he uses for flight can secondarily act as an umbrella, and the Protectorate people he tends to dismiss as politicians do always say it's good for effect. Not that it helps much with sound, of course.

If his information is correct, there should pretty much only be one thing up here. He heads toward the still-faint sound.

[neuroihive]

A strangely.... Humanoid Neuroi approaches him. The storm calms in a small bubble as it does.

The rhythmic flashes of light might be a language of some kind. Oh, and some kind of mental effect is pressing against him. It's not much like the Simurgh's scream, or any other mental powers he's felt, really.

[whole_new_can]

Eidolon didn't have a mental shield up. He swaps out his defensive power for a slightly different invulnerability to include mental attacks. The next minute or two would be a very bad time to start the fight.

"You have a plan. Holding back, letting your enemies fight you. I've seen it before. Why?"

[neuroihive]

It manages an extremely screechy approximation of, Hard speak sound. Speak light.

[whole_new_can]

He's going to have to use a thinker power, isn't he.
Neuroi don't speak to humans, from what he's heard, so this is a shot he shouldn't throw away. Interpretation, communication...

It gradually builds. When the flashes start making sense, he repeats the question and adds that they can respond in their own language.

[neuroihive]

Humans on this world were weak. We are- (Something. Lonely?) -so we want them to not be weak. We want them to take their place in the stars. But humans are not (another untranslatable word) they would destroy themselves as they are. But you are different. Where were you hiding?

[whole_new_can]

"I was never hiding.
Why humans? If you want people to join you in the stars, there must be any number of entities you could have chosen, with or without starting a war."