JNAProductions
 OOC Thread 

 
The night is young. The rhythm of the city is bumping, from car alarms to slightly-too-loud boomboxes to someone setting off fireworks (in the middle of autumn, for some reason), the noise of a vibrant city is alive and well. The team has been together, more or less, for a year now, but is still lacking a name. Alex, at Mr. Rapp's urging and on his dime, has invited the team to an ice cream parlor to celebrate the anniversary. "It'll be good for morale," he told Alex, "and sometimes you need that little boost. 'Sides which, I want to know if that place is any good-I'd go myself, but you know how the old bones are."

So, here you are, sitting outside Frozen Bear's Creamy Treats, an ice cream parlor with some dang good creamy deliciousness. None of you are in costume (Ivy can pass it off as a spray-tan gone wrong, if need be) but all of you are enjoying your choice of frozen dessert. Frozen Bear's is in the process of closing, but you can sit outside for as long as you need to, according to Ms. Maple, the lady who served you. She finishes locking the door, and waves to you all. "Have a nice night, youngsters!" she says as she unlocks her car. You wave and give a small chorus of thank yous and goodbyes as she opens the door, gets in, and drives off.

All is well. Until you hear the screams from a block over.
Lentrax
Ivy is sitting on a planter near the table where the others are seated. One would almost swear that they can see the bush reaching for the young girl. And the girl leaned back into the bush, which to anyone paying close attention, supported her weight.

She is eating the treat the parlor is named for, the Frozen Bear. She has a large sketchbook on her lap, and as she eats she is flipping through the pages, examining her work. Occasionally she marks a page, and then turns to the next. She is absentmindedly brushing a lock of her purple hair over her ear when she hears the scream.

 Was that…? 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge himself has been working on one of those ice cream cookie sandwich deals and had been trying to explain the exact details about why he needs a dollar worth of quarters from everyone. You see due to some quirks in the way stuff works the coins have to had belonged to the individual members and etc etc. Has he gotten to the point where he said it's for direct communicators for the team? unclear.

The scream focuses his attention just about the time he was going to take the last bite of his cookie sandwich. He perks up but does not this time engage the Icarus while still sitting down. This hasn't happened since before Forge moved to Halcyon but it is something that is best remembered.

 "I guess we're working tonight." 
NontheistCleric
Su Yin sets down her mango sorbet.

"Maybe," she says. "Let's see what it is first."

Standing up, she takes her jacket off the back of her chair and turns it inside-out. The inside looks like another, different, outside, and in one of the pockets is a brown and green knitted balaclava. She pulls both on and zips the jacket up, so only her eyes and hands are exposed.

This is Su Yin's backup costume, because one doesn't bring a helmet and flight suit to ice cream with friends. It's a far cry from the usual Occasion outfit, but at least it keeps her identity under wraps.

For a moment she appears to pitch forward in a sudden faint, but then her power kicks in, sweeping her legs off the ground and suspending her in an oddly stiff, horizontal midair position. Occasion is not a bird, whose flying posture needs to make physical sense. She resembles nothing so much as a tin soldier falling in the wrong direction as she knifes off through the air toward the screams.

Occasion tries her best to keep to the buildings' shadows. She wants to get a look at what is causing the screams before it gets a look at her.
Lentrax
 Occasion. Wait up,   Ivy says from her seat in the bush. She pushes herself off the ground in a much more graceful manner than her companion.  Im coming too. 

She pauses in her flight after Occasion only to drop her school gear and sketch pads on the roof of the ice cream parlor.
Obscurejones
Alex fidgets with the change dispenser on his belt, trying to clear a small jam in the quarter slot.
 "So, do they have to be quarters or any denomanation adding up to a doll-" 
A scream.  Sirens? No, not yet.  First on the scene then.  Depending on the situation, evac necessary for civilians.  But if you go too fact Occaison and Ivy won't have time for oversight.  So, if it's a block away, accounting for wind... Yeah, you've got time.  You've always got time.

He grabs his mask from his pocket, fixing it neatly into place.
 "Anyone need anything from their home base?  I'm making a run.  Should be... I can do fifteen if you're in the city on a main road.  A minute if you're out of town or hidden." 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Before getting up, Forge affixes his goggles to his head. After a small adjustment he appears to be wearing his costume, although without the plates.  "Shouldn't need anything,"  he replies to Black Blur. Then addressing both Blur and Ivy,  "After you."  I mean it's just smart that to be behind those able to take/avoid a punch better than him.

Forge activates his backpack device, a series of white faintly-glowing wings deploy out of it.
truemane
 WHIPSER 

Avi didn't like ice cream very much. Her family didn't really eat it very often so she didn't have the same nostalgic attachment to it, and she generally other Indian deserts like rasmalai or gulab jamun. She did like kulfi (traditional Indian ice cream), but the Frozen Bear didn't have pistachio (which was her favourite flavour).

But she did very much like spending time with her Mask friends ( My team , she thought, and smiled). So she was always up for a meet.

She was just finishing her mango-flavoured ice pop when she heard the scream.

In a moment she was up. A moment's concentration and her civilian clothing dissolved into the basic two-tone jumpsuit that was her Mask costume. The suit of unstable molecules, particularly easy to manipulate telekinetically, was gift from Dr. Rakhamanov.

Another moment of concentration and she rose into the air. The quickly moving air around her filled the area with a low hum.

"Let's go, team!"

And she raced off toward the scream.
JNAProductions
Moving quickly, you make it around the bend to find the source of the scream. A kid is running from an adult figure, screaming their head off. The adult, as you draw nearer, can be heard saying "Get back here!" and variations on the same. The kid has the energy and speed of youth, but the longer limbs on the adult are letting him gain ground.
Lentrax
Ivy lands just in front of the kid, and gestures at the kid.

 Behind me, kid. What’s going on? 
 
 Spoiler: OOC 
What can Ivy tell about the kid? Can she get an idea of age, gender,?

And what can she see about the adult? Aside from some random guy?
 
JNAProductions
Landing, you get a better look. The kid is a young girl, maybe eight? nine? in shorts and a t-shirt. She's got a white bracelet on.

The man looks like your father. Whoever is looking at him, he matches that description-though, for those with better family lives, his face is contorted in a rage you've never seen him like before. He shouts "Out of my way!" at Ivy, as the girl cowers.
Obscurejones
As Icarus and Whisper take off Alex shakes his head.
 "I gotta get... Like winged boots or something... Actually, that's feels like something Icarus could make.  Note to self for later." With a shrug he blurs home to change, returning in a matter of seconds.
------
Blur screeches to a halt, leaving a trail of burnt rubber in his wake, now in his full uniform of black jeans and jacket, although with the change dispenser still on his hip.
 "Sir, respectfully, what part of a group of obvious parahumans standing between you and a cowering child tells you that yelling is going to resolve things in your favor?" 
MCerberus
  Forge  

With Ivy standing directly between the kid and what is presumably the attacker, Forge lands on the road. He's making a 90 degree angle between him, the figure, and Ivy. With his feet on the ground he takes a few steps forward.  "Maybe we should have a little talk. Calm down a-" 

The image of his dad takes him by surprise ending his momentum temporarily.
JNAProductions
 "No no no not again no!"  the girl stammers out, crying.

The man tries shoving past Ivy-he's strong, but not superhumanly so. "I said, out of my way! She's mine!"
Lentrax
 Wait, Dad? 

But that’s all she gets to think as she has to put her hands out and grab ahold of him to stop him from getting past her.

 What do you mean, she’s yours? I don’t think so. 
Obscurejones
Blur leans down to the small girl, turning his back to the approaching man to shield her from his advance.  He speaks quietly, and as calmly as he can, trying to pull the girl's focus off the oncoming conflict.
  "Good evening.  I'm the Black Blur.  Are you okay with me moving you if he gets closer?"  
JNAProductions
"No-don't touch me!" the girl shrieks at Black Blur. She staggers back, almost tripping over herself, and tries to run.

The man snarls and growls something entirely incoherent, and takes a swing at Ivy.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
The man is not a real threat-not in any shape to hurt anyone on the team, not even strong enough to make subduing him without injury an issue.

In other words, feel free to narrate the pieces of this conflict. :)
 
Lentrax
Ivy can tell he is pushing with everything he has. She knows because if he could, he would be able to move her, even with her body strengthened like the mighty and implacable oak.

He starts hitting her. Not with any skill or real strength. But that is when she decides that enough is enough.

And it is with her much greater strength that the much shorter Ivy lifts him up off his feet. Holding him parallel to the ground, she lowers him down just above her face, her pupilless green eyes gathering something close to menace.

 Why don't you calm down and explain yourself to us. 

She looks over to the girl.

 And you. You wanna tell us why he was after you? 
NontheistCleric
Su Yin watches her teammates manage to make it to the scene slightly ahead of her. Is that... Father? She hasn't seen him in years. He hasn't changed a bit. Still grasping after some girl. This one looks a bit too old to be his actual daughter, but so what? Maybe he just took up with some woman who already had a kid.

The girl needs help, and maybe that will come best from a regular person.

Before emerging from behind the building, she lands and strips off her balaclava, and then runs after the girl, trying to pass the grapplers quickly enough that her father doesn't notice who she is. She's no Blur, but she can do an all-out sprint for longer than any normal athlete and still have breath to spare.

"Hey!" she calls out, just loud enough to be heard over the shouting. "No one's going to touch you! We just want to help!"
JNAProductions
The man refuses to calm down. He's sputtering in impotent rage.

The girl runs to Tan Su Yin, seeing her as an ordinary person. She stumbles, but makes it to the "ordinary" woman. When she reaches Su Yin, she doesn't appear to have the same concerns about physical contact that she had with Black Blur, and hugs her leg.

The man vanishes entirely from Ivy's hands, simply... Gone. And everyone feels a bit lighter, like gravity's hold is weakening on them.
NontheistCleric
Su Yin kneels down and hugs the girl in return, then pulls away slightly, hands still on her shoulders.

"Hi," she says, trying to smile a bit. "You don't need to be scared now, okay? My friends dress a bit weird, but they're good people."

She looks the girl up and down. "You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
JNAProductions
The girl does not appear injured. Though now that a closer look is being had, her white bracelet is not a style choice-it's a medical bracelet.
Obscurejones
Blur takes a step back from the child, gives a little wave as Su Yin indicates his harmlessness.  Glances to the other team members.
 "So... Meta kid, right?  That feels like a lay up.  Stress related projections... Some sort of parental trauma?" 
He blurs away for a moment and returns with a notepad and pen in hand, starts taking notes.
NontheistCleric
"I'm Su," says Su Yin. "What's your name? Do you have a home we can take you to?"

She shifts her hands down to hold the girl's own. "Can I see your bracelet?"
JNAProductions
"I'm... I'm Ash," she says, timidly. She moves to hide the bracelet. "It's nothing! It's nothing."
Lentrax
 Maybe,  Ivy says to Blur, her hand now holding onto nothing but air.

 But the real question is, why did it look like  my  dad? If it’s her trauma, shouldn’t it be her dad? 
NontheistCleric
"Okay," Su Yin says to Ash. "You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to, but is there somewhere you'd like us to take you? It's not safe being out here like this. If not, we could take you to one of my friends' houses."

She hugs the girl again as an excuse to shoot Whisper a meaningful look, one that says  Read my mind!  and taps the side of her head for good measure. Then she projects the actual thought for her teammate to hear.

 Sorry for volunteering you guys, but I know you and Blur in particular have people who can help with this kind of thing. Also, can you read her mind without her knowing or getting hurt? 
MCerberus
  Forge  

With the others questioning the kid, Forge backs off a bit. Ash seems in a vulnerable state and having too many people crowd around won't help. Besides, there's something he can be doing to check about the source of that illusion. While he's got a gut feeling that this is more in Whisper's wheelhouse, Forge checks the ground and surroundings for any hint of magic that would be left.

He can't exactly see magic in itself, for now (working on it), he thinks he should be able to feel the pulse of any enchantment left on material. That is, assuming it didn't all just poof away with the illusion.
JNAProductions
Forge examines the area the man was in-it's definitely not the same kind of magic he knows, and with the man gone, it's faint, but there's something there.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Looking for anything in particular, or just trying to get vibes?
 
truemane
When Whisper arrived on the scene, all ready to get down to some grade-A Mask work (and, not entirely secondarily, justify to her parents why she she ducked her chemistry tutor tonight), but the sight of her father, chasing a child in a rage, completely unsettled her (her father was an implacable man, but a calm one: she'd only heard him raise his voice a handful times her whole life, and never at a child).

Even when a couple of her team members muttered  Dad  or  Father  and it was clear this was some kind of trick, she found her confidence and equanimity slipping and her control over her powers with it.

The low hum that accompanied her TK abilities rose in pitch and volume and became a low squeal. And with it came a low psychic 'grumble' that  acted on most minds in the same way as seeing move quickly in their peripheral vision (this effect could cause terror with sufficient intensity and was where she got her Mask name).

So she let herself drop to the ground (a little sharply, she turned her ankle and little and almost fell) and run toward the scene, and then walk when it was clear her teammates had it all well in hand.

She saw her father (or, rather, "father") vanish and Su Yin gather up the child and point to her temple. She read what she had to say and nodded. She (Whisper) was already thinking the same thing.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and thought back (projected to all her teammates, and did her best to not project to the child):  In a pinch, we can take her to one of my family's Air BnB's. She can be safe there for a night or two. Or perhaps Dr. Rakhamanov. My parents will flip out if I get them involved. 

She got a little closer and tried to gently (gently!) touch the child's mind. Just the briefest brush against her surface thoughts. If this child was, herself, psi-active, then it made this part much more complicated. And more dangerous.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Gentle mind reading. If the child seems aware of the contact, I'll think something soothing at her  Everything is fine, I'm like you, I'm here to help, don't be afraid.  But this is mostly exploratory. Avi's emotions are calming, but she's still quite rattled by the projection of her father, so her fine, precise control over her powers is not at its best.
 
JNAProductions
Whisper's mental look gently touches Ash's mind. She can feel that the young girl has some level of psionic power to her, but it's raw, uncontrolled. But Whisper is able to avoid causing any problems-and is able to get a brief feeling for what Ash is thinking.

 Don't take me back-they're going to take me back don't take me back. 

As well as trying to find an avenue of escape.
NontheistCleric
"Ash?" Su Yin says. She tries to get her attention by squeezing her hands slightly, then repeats her name with a hint more firmness. "Ash, listen to me. No one here is going to hurt you. No one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do. We just want you to be safe."

She tries to keep eye contact with her through the panic. "Do you want to come with us? My friend"–she gestures at Whisper–"has an empty place we can stay in. You don't have to come, but I'd really like it if you did. It's not safe out here at night on your own."

 We probably shouldn't bring her to the Doctor right now,  Su Yin thinks at Whisper.  She might react badly to a strange man. Call him, though. We might need his expertise–maybe Mr. Rapp's too. 
JNAProductions
Her breathing has gotten a bit quicker, close to hyperventilating, but Su Yin's words seem to get through. "Promise? I'll be safe?" she asks.
NontheistCleric
"I promise," says Su Yin. "See, all my friends have these special powers. They'll keep you safe."

She stands up, keeping hold of one of Ash's hands. "And I will too, of course."
JNAProductions
Ash nods. "Okay."

 
Whisper leads the way, on foot, to the nearest Air BnB her family has. Su Yin stays near Ash, and is the only one she seems willing to let touch her. It takes much longer to get there than some of you would like, given your movements at the speed of young girl, but you don't mind so much. It's part of being a hero, dealing with the inconveniences of the world. When you arrive, Whisper does a quick check to make sure no one's using it, which luckily there is not. And, with the check completed, she puts in the code on the lock and opens the door.

Inside is about what you'd expect from an Air BnB-it's well appointed, if a bit plain. There's a kitchen (with only canned food and other stuff that keeps really well), two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room... Nothing crazy.
Lentrax
 Go on ahead,  Ivy says when they decide on where to go.  I have to go back for my stuff. 

While apart from the others, Ivy pulls out her phone and texts her dad.

 Hey, just letting you know some stuff came up. I’m safe, but I’m probably going too late coming home.

Love you, dad. 

She rejoins the others soon after.
JNAProductions
One of you offers to make something while Ash gets clean. Su Yin stays just outside the bathroom, making sure the young girl stays safe, while whoever offered to cook finds some canned chili and warms it in the microwave.

Unfortunately, there's no clothes here that would fit Ash, so she's stuck in what she was already wearing, but she's a bit cleaner, at least. She sits at the table, staring at the chili for a bit before tucking into the meal.
NontheistCleric
While Ash is in the bathroom, Su Yin takes the opportunity to call her grandmother, whom she lives with and is one of the only two normal people in her life who know she is Occasion (the other is her old schoolfriend Joyce).

"Grandmother, I'm going to be out tonight. I'm with my friends. With my friends! Yes, those friends! Okay. Okay. Sleep early, Grandmother!"

Grandmother is a little hard of hearing over the telephone, and a chronic insomniac.

Su Yin waits until Ash is finished eating. "Are you ready to sleep?" she asks her gently.
JNAProductions
Looking to Su Yin, Ash asks "You're... Different, right? You're a superhero, right? When you touched me, he..." she draws in a deep, ragged breath, trying not to cry or run or anything like that. "What do you do?" she finishes with, kinda lamely.
NontheistCleric
"I am a little Different," Su Yin says. "I... well, I'm not a superhero all the time. Mostly I'm just a sort of taxi service, really. But sometimes, yeah, I do go do stuff with my hero friends. Fight crime and save people and all that. But that's a secret, okay? Only the people in this room get to know."

Then she realizes Ash might have been asking about her powers. "Oh, but if you mean 'how am I Different', then, basically, it's hard to hurt me. If someone hits me, my body gets tougher. When I run, my legs can go longer without stopping. And if I fall, I can fly. Does that have something to do with the man disappearing? You don't have to tell me yet if you don't want to."
MCerberus
  Forge  

Being on his own for the most part, Forge doesn't really need to do a call-in to anyone. If they're out too long he may need some extra caffeine the next day. With the conversation getting quiet he excuses himself to the background a bit. If anyone needs hot water for cocoa or cup noodles though, it really better to get it pre-boiled instead of microwaving it and he's be available to help cooking. Still wanting to keep things quiet just in case he pulls Ivy and Black Blur aside out of immediate hearing range and keeps his voice low.

 "There was paracausal residue. Not primal, I don't think but there could be more surprises" 
Lentrax
Ivy, watching everyone try and take care of the girl, sits at the table, and opens one of her smaller sketch pads. She finds a page not used completely, and begins doing quick sketches of the others. No detail, just figures.

And then she draws the eyes she never thought she’d see. Her fathers eyes. With anger in them.

Then Forge speaks to her.  Well. So far it hasn’t been anything too crazy. 

She draws in the eyebrows.

 We will just have to keep an eye on her and see. 
Obscurejones
 “I was thinking I’d do a sweep where she was found. Has a secret government base feel to it. Stranger Things vibes. Either of you want to do an air sweep?”   Blur speaks softly, not bothering with his put upon hero voice.
JNAProductions
Alex gets a text message. It's from Mr. Rapp.

 No need to reply if your busy having fun. Just checking in. Enjoy the iced cream! 

Despite all his endeavors and heroism, Richard is still an old man and not the best at texting.

Over in the kitchen with Ash, she nods. "I... I kinda, reflect powers? I don't really know," she says, taking a spoonful of chili. "When I touch someone else who has powers, their power becomes mine, or at least, affects me. But I can't do much on my own. I'm... Not worth much."
NontheistCleric
Su Yin frowns.

"Who told you that?" she asks. "Even without powers, there's tons of stuff you can do. But even if there wasn't, people don't exist to be worth anything. You're important no matter what you do, okay?"

She tries not to think too hard about what she thought her own life was worth before her powers appeared. Hypocrite, Su Yin!

"How exactly does it affect you?" she asks. "Does that mean you could do what I do now?"
truemane
WHISPER

As the others started getting into their own routines, Ave lurked nearby and listned to Su Yin talk to Ash.

As they entered, she had already 'booked' the Air BnB using her own personal account. That would prevent some last-minute late-comer from showing up (her parents loved last-minute late-comers). She would have some questions to answer later, but fewer than if she'd shown up at the house with everyone in tow.

At the same time she texted Aleksadyr and filled him in. Especially the  Don't take me back there  part. Peripherally or not, he was the closest thing to an official source on metahumans as she had. Maybe he might have an inkling of what  there  was.

She responds to Blur: "I don't want to leave Ash or the apartment. But once she's settled I'd be happy to take a look around from the air."

She projected to Su Yin.

 I don't want to scare her or get in your way, but ask Ash if maybe I could take a look in her memories to see if I can scare up any details. 

Avi was not good with kids, generally. There was a certain kind of laser-focused over-achiever that took to her immediately. But to the rest of them she seemed to give off Grumpy Parent vibes. She was working on it, but it was slow going.
NontheistCleric
 I'm really not sure that's a good idea,  Su Yin thinks back at Whisper.  I mean, asking for consent is great, but we just met this girl and she barely trusts one of us. I feel like that might go away if I start talking about memory probes right now.

Maybe you could see what you can pick up without her noticing, if that's possible. She's talking about her powers now and that might put her mind to more informative things. Only if you think that's safe, of course. 
JNAProductions
Ash stares at her chili for a few moments when told she matters. She lifts another spoonful and eats it. With the followup question, she answers, saying "I don't have a lot of control over it. And I don't really know how long it lasts."

Whisper's texts go through, no problem, but stay on sent. Aleksander might be asleep, or away from his phone, or any number of other things, but he's not answering at this exact moment.
NontheistCleric
"Well, thanks for telling me," Su Yin says to Ash. "Try not to worry about it. My power doesn't have much to control, and we're going to make sure you won't need to use it while you're with us."

She stares down at the table for a bit, agonizing over her next words. It's a bad idea, right? She just said it was a bad idea. Or not a good one, at any rate. But maybe Whisper is right. They have no idea what's going on here, and maybe they'll need to know before Dr. Rakhamanov or Mr. Rapp have a chance to help them.

"Ash," she says, looking back up to her, "Whisper wanted me to ask you something. I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but Whisper wants to look at your memories to see what happened to you. She'll only do it if you let her, and you don't have to."
JNAProductions
"N-no!" she says, dropping her spoon. She curls her knees up against her chest, holding herself tightly inwards, and rocking back and forth a bit.
NontheistCleric
"Okay!" Su Yin stammers out frantically. She hurries around the table and tries to give Ash a soothing hug. "Then we are not doing it. Not doing it, okay? We would never do anything you didn't want us to."

 God, I'm such a liar,  she thinks to Whisper.  At least we know that's not going to fly anytime soon. 
Lentrax
Ivy looks up from her sketchbook at the outburst.

 I wonder if any of us are actually good with kids. 
 Hi, Ash,  Ivy starts.  No one is going to go into your mind if you don’t want them to. I wouldn’t want people to either. I have things up there that are just mine, and I bet you’re the same right? And if you’re like me that way, I bet you like to color too. 

Ivy reaches into her bag and pulls out a case filled with colored pencils and paints.

 Wanna color with me? Take your mind off of the scary stuff for a while? 
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "We do need to figure out if anyone's been involved,"  Forge replies to Blur before taking a break and a small sigh.  "If it's the government though, it means little help as they are usually we can't speak of this to anyone with ties to AEGIS. So we better hope not." 

When Forge looks up from the conversation due to the outburst it brings his mind back out of speculation and into the real situation. The kid needs help.  You promised to watch over my children 
Ivy might have the right idea. A distraction would at least give the kid time before worrying again, a good thought. However his mind wanders to how due to circumstance a real heart-to-heart from Forge may really show that they understand but... he doesn't know if he can really do that.
JNAProductions
Ash shakes her head when asked about coloring.
NontheistCleric
"Do you want to just go to sleep?" Su Yin asks her. "I'd be really tired if I were you."

 I'd be really tired if I were me, too,  she thinks. At least her power means she can go without sleep, even if she does feel the fatigue. She'll probably have to guard Ash all night.
JNAProductions
Rocking back and forth slightly, Ash does not respond. She starts tugging at her medical bracelet, trying to get it off, but it's too close to her wrist to pull over hand.
Lentrax
 Do you need help getting that off? Give me your hand, and I can help. 

If Ash does let Ivy help, she will try to read the bracelet before she determines if she should remove it.
JNAProductions
Ivy has to move carefully, to not spook and not touch Ash. She reads the bracelet. It says...

  Name:  Ashley Smith 
 Gender:  F /  Ward:  Psychiatric
 Halcyon City Memorial Hospital 
 Doctor:  Bryant Williams, MD

As well as a barcode and some numbers, presumably for hospital use.
Lentrax
 Okay, Ash. Su is going to take the bracelet off. You’re doing a good job being brave, okay? Here she comes with some scissors. Keep being brave, okay? 

She goes over to Whisper and whispers.

 Dr. Bryant. Know anything him? He’s in the psych ward of the City Hospital. 
NontheistCleric
Su Yin quickly retrieves the kitchen scissors from where they sit in the knife block. She holds them closed, by the blades, so only the handles show, and crouches down beside Ash, taking the hand with the bracelet in her empty one.

"Ash? Ash, listen to me, please. I'm sorry I asked you that question. I'm really sorry, but I need you to calm down, okay? Look, I have some scissors here, but I need you to hold still so I can cut your bracelet off without hurting you. Can you do that for me?"

Su Yin cuts the bracelet off if Ash holds safely still, then holds it out for someone to take.
JNAProductions
She holds her arm out, keeping the other held close. As soon as the bracelet is off, she goes back to her former position.

 
 Spoiler: Doctor Bryant Williams 
Some quick Googling reveals the following on the doctor:

He's worked at Halcyon City Memorial Hospital for over a decade.
He's an expert in psychiatric care, with a specialty of helping children, though he also works with adults.
He was nominated to the board of directors for the hospital, but turned them down to focus on patient care.

There's also some reviews of experiences with Doctor Williams, with the majority being four or five stars.

Most reviews say that he actually listened to the needs of the patient, and was a good advocate in getting them the help they needed.
The handful of lower reviews seem to be people who've been his patient for a long while, with one three star review saying "Started off great, but recently he's been more perfunctory and less of an advocate."

The Googling also has the address of the hospital-absolutely nowhere near where Ash was found.
 
Lentrax
 Ash? I don’t know what’s going on. But I want you to know, I want to help you. And Su Yin has been helping you. Is there anything you want to tell us? Anything that can help you? 
truemane
Avi watched from the doorway. She frowned when Ash did not consent to having her memories rifled through. Reasonable, maybe, but frustrating. Avi didn't have any real ethical qualms about just doing it anyway, but she wasn't confident that she could get in and get out unnoticed. And she still didn't know how Ash would react to being 'touched' by powers in that way.

However, projecting emotion was easier than reading thoughts. A little easier anyway.

She closed her eyes and sent calming, soothing thoughts in Ash's direction. It wasn't so much mind control (she was still nervous about doing anything too direct), but more like gently convincing the lizard parts of the brain that there was nothing to be afraid of.
JNAProductions
When Avi starts settling things a bit, Ash seems receptive. She makes a writing motion, and after a moment of realizing what she's asking for, Su Yin supplies a notebook and a blue pencil. Ash writes  Can't talk. Can't. But thank you. 
Obscurejones
Blur shrugs his shoulders at the non committal responses to a search of the area, then winces when Ash panics a second time. Without waiting for a further response he zips out, texting Mr Rapp back on the run.
[Ice cream was good. Possibly caught a case while out. Meta kid spooked by… Something. Will update when we know more.]
He slows a little as he returns to the neighborhood where they found Ash, doing his best to move quickly but deliberately, not letting himself slip into the flow state that comes with moving at all out. He looks for signs of a breakout or someone cleaning up the incident.
JNAProductions
There's flashing police lights and sirens as you near the area. You slow down, wanting to observe before making your presence known, and have time to read Mr. Rapp's text.

 Keep me up-to-dtae.

dat

date 

There's two officers looking around the area, an ambulance just idling with a paramedic and a stretcher, and a third officer talking to someone, presumably from the apartment buildings nearby. "And when did you call?" the officer asks.

"Not too long after I saw the man chasing her," the woman says. "It seemed like something was seriously wrong, so I called. I tried to keep an eye on what was happening, but Mr. Mittens needed some help, and-"

"Mr. Mittens?" the officer interjects.

The woman sighs. "My cat. He's real old, and he sometimes needs help. When I was done with him, they were all gone."

The officer scritches some notes down, and then asks "How long did you spend helping your cat?"

"A few minutes."
NontheistCleric
"Oh," says Su Yin when she sees what Ash has written. "Well, thank you for the... thank you. No problem, you know? We're all just... trying."

She lets out a sigh of relief. "What do you want to do now? Eat a little more? Drink some water? Just sit and be calm for a while? Or try to sleep, maybe?"
JNAProductions
Ash nods at the mention of sleep. She writes a little more.  You'll be here when I wake up? 
NontheistCleric
"Of course!" Su Yin says. "I can even stay awake to watch you all night, if you'd like. Uh, that came out a little wrong. I meant in, like, a guarding kind of way. The good kind of guarding. Like a bodyguard, not a prison guard."
MCerberus
  Forge  

With Ash having calmed down and Blur already having left, Forge sees himself out in order to not be too far behind. He's not going to make it back to the scene anywhere as fast so he's got to not doddle. He does remember to shoot off a text to the group chat.
  
-going back 2 scene with BB
-might take a couple
-will b in street when I get there  

Once he gets close, Forge will deactivate the costume illusion and go back to Khakis, backpack, shirt and jacket to attract less attention.
JNAProductions
The officer asks the woman "Anyone else who might've noticed anything?"

"Knock on some doors, I guess," she replies.


 

Ash stands up, taking the notebook and pencil with her, and finds a bedroom. Su Yin stays watchful, and while Ash does spend a while just looking at the ceiling, eventually she nods off.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Not wanting to get involved yet, Forge keeps a distance without looking like he's keeping a distance. You know, walk casual. He's still got his phone out but at this point is just pretending to answer to messages. He does look up every once in a while to see if Black Blur is nearby and where.
truemane
 WHISPER 

All of this was deeply distressing to Avi. And it was getting late. And she had math to study (and she'd already promised her parents her grades wouldn't slip anymore!).

When Su Yin followed Ash to put her to bed, Ash texted Dr. Rakhamanov again. Aleksandyr. She was hoping he might be able to shed some light on all this.
JNAProductions
 You say the girl calls herself Ash?  Whisper gets a response.  The name sounds familiar. I cannot place it for the moment, but I will look into it. 
NontheistCleric
Su Yin watches Ash fall asleep, then goes over to the window. She opens it and looks out, making a perfunctory scan for anything untoward, but after a few moments she closes her eyes and just feels the cold night air against her face. She imagines herself above the stratocumuli, another speck lost in the wind, and the stress of the last few hours seems to drain away.

After about a minute, she closes the window, locks it securely, and checks that Ash is still sleeping soundly. Then she goes back into the living room.

"I see the boys are still out on patrol," she observes. "Anyone need to get home? I can probably hold things down here for the night."
truemane
Whisper checks her phone, frowns, and puts it away. She folds her arms, still frowning. She sighs.

"I should get home. My parents are going to absolutely freak out. But I don't want to leave Ash just in case. So I'll stay if you want to head out."

She looks around the room. "I guess I could study here. If I wanted."

She looks back at Su Yin. "You like to play cards? I think there's a cribbage board here somewhere."
NontheistCleric
"No, you should get home if your parents are waiting," Su Yin says when Whisper offers to stay. "Besides, I already promised Ash I'd be here when she wakes up. If anything happens, I'll just scream into my communicator."

Halfway back into the bedroom, she pauses. "Oh, but if you're going home anyway, see if you have any old clothes that fit Ash. Come back in the morning and you can teach us both some card games. Who knows how long we'll have to hide her here?"

Returning to Ash, she pulls a chair up next to the bed and settles in to wait.
MCerberus
  Forge  

So it turns out that there doesn't seem to be a bunch of swarming g-men or anything. It's almost disappointing but at least it means if there's some big conspiracy about Ash it can't be too catastrophic, right? Forge hasn't met up with Black Blur yet but it seems like things just may be too quiet for a stakeout. Just normal disturbance reported to the cops stuff.
 
-Seems quiet here
-going 2 peace out soon. kid doing ok?
-try 1 more thing first. dunno if it works 😎 

That last thing, Forge is going to try and find if there are new traces of magic. Not being a spell-slinger per se he's more limited but has been trying. A small, smallest he can make light in his right hand to feel the curves in the nature of thing. Left hand free to feel things as they are. Breathe, try and feel if something has left its wake on the world.
JNAProductions
Forge does not pick up any magic from the area Ash was found. But as he examines, he finds himself about a dozen paces further along than he was a moment ago. He'd dismiss it, if it wasn't for the fact that something is niggling the back of his mind. He turns and steps back, and feels his eyes sliding past the area, almost of their own accord. He recognizes it-something he's picked up on, though not something he's managed to get going for himself yet.

 
 Spoiler: A SEP Field 
SEP stands for  S omeone  E lse's  P roblem.

It's not invisibility. That's HARD to do, for most people. The people, places, and things under a SEP Field are perfectly visible. But... The mind just ignores them. It glides right past the affected area, because, hey, someone else has it. Weaponized bystander effect. (Well, not exactly WEAPONIZED.)
 
Obscurejones
Blur combs the streets, keeping an eye out for either signs of… Well anything not on the up and up, or his teammates.
 
 Spoiler 
Not sure if he spots Forge, leave it up to y’all. Apologies for the delay, had to go to a wedding in the boondocks, no service.
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Pretty much out in the open, Forge wouldn't be difficult to find. He's pondering something and then gets out his phone.

To himself, Forge feels some of the good vibes. While not having the right kind of talent pool to get rid of the anomaly, this sort of thing is actually in his wheelhouse. People that can do this kind of stuff think what they can defend against in terms of magic and technology, but it's rarer that they think to defend against magic AND technology. A small wave of enchantment goes through the circuits of his phone, just a small negation property.

Defended against magical interference, he pans the camera over the area giving off the weird vibes. A rune of negation shows up on his screen overlaying the image due to how it's manifest and he makes it a point to not look straight at what he's recording.
JNAProductions
The picture is rather blurry, even with Forge's augment on it. But he can see something moving towards him, out of the corner of his eye on the screen.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
You have two main options-keep recording and accept that you're gonna be obvious to whoever or whatever is behind the SEP Field.
Or, take what you got and go, and hope they don't realize you saw through it. You can pour over the footage more later, a safe distance away.
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Oh look, problems happening because he never made those truesight goggles again. While he can't tell who or what is coming at him, he did certainly break the quiet. At this point Forge could run or try and play a trump card: backup. Black Blur, to his mind, isn't the kind that would just disappear on him so he has to be around right?

 "Merlin"
 
That's the code phrase for hostile magic, to his memory. Hopefully they just drew out the actual threat and can deal with it. Otherwise Forge gets the feeling he's about to eat some pavement. Hopefully not too many of his assumptions are wrong. Pavement is not tasty.
Lentrax
 
 Originally Posted by truemane 
 Whisper checks her phone, frowns, and puts it away. She folds her arms, still frowning. She sighs.

"I should get home. My parents are going to absolutely freak out. But I don't want to leave Ash just in case. So I'll stay if you want to head out."

She looks around the room. "I guess I could study here. If I wanted."

She looks back at Su Yin. "You like to play cards? I think there's a cribbage board here somewhere." 
 

 No school tomorrow, so I can stay out a bit later, but I will still have to go home eventually,  Ivy says, having switched from her smaller sketchpad to a larger one where she seems to be drawing a view of the city from out the sliding door to the balcony.
truemane
Avi frowns. She wasn't sure what to do next. This was all a little outside her experience.

"What do you think she meant by don't take me back? Where do you think she was?"
Lentrax
 With the bracelet still on her wrist? I’d say the hospital itself. 
truemane
"You think she was at, like, the regular hospital? Like, Halcyon General?"

Avi had been thinking of something much more sinister and clandestine.

"Maybe we should pay the hospital a visit? See if we can find anything out?"

She wasn't sure how serious she was. But she wasn't not-serious.
Obscurejones
 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
   Forge  

Oh look, problems happening because he never made those truesight goggles again. While he can't tell who or what is coming at him, he did certainly break the quiet. At this point Forge could run or try and play a trump card: backup. Black Blur, to his mind, isn't the kind that would just disappear on him so he has to be around right?

 "Merlin"
 
That's the code phrase for hostile magic, to his memory. Hopefully they just drew out the actual threat and can deal with it. Otherwise Forge gets the feeling he's about to eat some pavement. Hopefully not too many of his assumptions are wrong. Pavement is not tasty. 
 

There’s Forge! I hat’s he saying?  Merlin… Merlin… Crap. Hostile magic. Should have gone with Mordred. Actually isn’t that the name of a villain out of Wales? The super goth looking one with the funny accent. Sort of looks like an evil Martin Sheen. Michael Sheen! Martin Sheen is Charlie’s dad. Isn’t there tiger blood in-

Merlin. Focus up, Alex. We don’t know the source and we don’t see anything… Stutter step. Gives us time to adjust, Forge time to fill us in.

Thankfully Blur’s crisis of focus takes less then a second of our objective time.  Doing his best to keep his momentum as he makes the grab he pulls Forge ten feet to the left, pauses a second and then begins darting the two of them around the space, hoping to keep whatever might be on the attack from hitting his ally, or in a perfect world, realizing Blur is on the scene.
JNAProductions
Blur catches up to Forge without an issue, and starts moving him around. It does attract some attention from the cops, who look at the suddenly-fast Forge with an exquisite expression of "What in the-" on their faces.

Before either of you can appreciate it, though, inky purple tendrils slam out from behind the SEP Field and try to latch on. Blur can dodge without any difficulty-but Forge's reactions aren't quite up to snuff. He gets grabbed by the wrists and ankles, and can feel the slight tingle of acidic imprints on his limbs. That's gonna hurt a lot in the coming days, but with the burst of adrenaline he's working with, Forge can manage for now.

The cops draw their sidearms, but keep them pointed low. They are not sure at all how to handle the situation, and are at least responsible enough to not fire and potentially make it worse.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge breaks free with the help of Black Blur dragging him out but... hopefully this burn feels better than road burn. He's at this point he's thinking of a way to mitigate the field itself if they still can't find out who's attacking. That being said he's still in street clothes starting a fight, so he pulls his goggles down and is back to being recognizably Forge.

Are transformation sequences free actions? He may need to skip the usual.

 "Mind field in the empty space,"  he declares out to Blur. He can say 'thanks' later. For now... what can counter that kind of magic...

His attempt to clear out the magic is to counter what it's trying to do, to that extent he sends in a fragile, thin ball of flame. It can't hurt anything and will collapse on contact, but the important part is to put light in there, something that can't be ignored!
JNAProductions
The light draws the eye. It's a mental battle, Forge's illumination attracting, the SEP Field repelling. Whatever is inside makes a decision-it can't risk being caught.

The light draws the eye, but all that can be seen is fleeting shadows, vanishing down an alley. The cops take a look at the suddenly revealed area, along with you two. You see a few trails on the ground, slimy or acidic residue. And the cops raise their guns, pointing them at you both. "On the ground, now!" one shouts.
Lentrax
 
 Originally Posted by truemane 
 "You think she was at, like, the regular hospital? Like, Halcyon General?"

Avi had been thinking of something much more sinister and clandestine.

"Maybe we should pay the hospital a visit? See if we can find anything out?"

She wasn't sure how serious she was. But she wasn't not-serious. 
 

 Sure. How do we wanna go? I'll stand out no matter how we show up. 
Obscurejones
 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 The light draws the eye. It's a mental battle, Forge's illumination attracting, the SEP Field repelling. Whatever is inside makes a decision-it can't risk being caught.

The light draws the eye, but all that can be seen is fleeting shadows, vanishing down an alley. The cops take a look at the suddenly revealed area, along with you two. You see a few trails on the ground, slimy or acidic residue. And the cops raise their guns, pointing them at you both. "On the ground, now!" one shouts. 
 

Blur sets Forge down as carefully as he can and lifts both his hands, palms towards the officers, but makes no move towards the ground.
 “The Black Blur. Fully licensed and registered to deal with para, super, and meta-human incidents. I commend your vigilance, but whatever attacked a young girl in this neighborhood is going to escape if you don’t lower your weapons and let us do the work. Respectfully, sirs.” 
Forge can tell that Blur’s throwing on his full on hero voice, doing his best to baritone their way out of this one.
JNAProductions
 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Rolling for Black Blur.
With Advantage, because that was a good, succinct speech.

 (2d100b1)[ 9 ] 

Edit: The cops could not care less.
 


One of the cops-the youngest of the three-hesitates, his gun wavering. But the oldest just orders again, shouting "On the ground! We can check your licensing when the area is safe."
Obscurejones
Could he outrun a trigger pull?  That's one of the fun ones.  A real rite of passage for any up and coming speedster.  He's almost positive he can.  Almost certain he has the speed.  But... Forge is already on thin ice.  And picking a fight with the cops while on the team up brings the whole team down a notch.  So we do the thing all speedsters hate to do.  We slow roll it.

Blur takes a knee, then down to a kneeling position, putting his hands behind his head, fingers interlaced.  Keeps his eyes on the cops, but tries to keep the slime trail in his periphery.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge follows Blur's lead somewhat and is not immediately running after the creeper or flash-blinding the cops, or rendering the blasting caps on their bullets inert. It's so easy for those to corrode. He isn't, however, immediately fully compliant. The scared cop is shaky and they're dealing with some kind of mind messing. There still may be hope for talking.

 "You know whoever that was attacked me, and invisible. We have one chance to catch them officer." 
JNAProductions
"Sarge, they're complying. We didn't really see what happened, but they're not-" the young one says.

Sarge, apparently, is having none of it. "Alright, show me the licensing," he orders in a loud voice, cutting off his comrade.
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "Maybe you can look over my friend's ID while he handles this?"
 

Forge's ID may be a mixed bag of suspicion for the cops. There's an AEGIS shield, but it's also still from the midwest division and the 'class C' part of it is written in red.
Obscurejones
 "I am reaching for it now.  Please don't be alarmed if the motion seems sudden." 
Is it wise to grab the license at full speed?  Probably not.  Is he doing it to scare them just a little bit?  Yes.  If need be he'll apologize to Mr. Rapp later for provoking them.

Blur produces his license, his arm disappearing and reappearing with a crisp snap.  He keeps it in tidy black leather case, letting the fold fall open to show an image of his masked face alongside his credentials.  He stays kneeling as he holds up the card to the officers.
JNAProductions
Sarge moves forward after a jolt, shocked at the speed, and pointing his gun low now. He looks at the licensing. "Alright... And your buddy?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge hands over his identification but keeps in mind the ticking clock. When the officer collects it he looks at blur and tilts his head over to where the foe is going
Obscurejones
 “Not to be rude, because again, I respect your diligence but would you be alright if we go deal with the child hunting monster while you double check paperwork?” 
There is a quiet hum that builds as Blur does his best to hold still, fidgeting and shifting, just the edges of his body going slightly hazy from the motion.
JNAProductions
The sergeant takes an agonizingly long time examining the licenses. "Sir," the young one says, "they're more equipped than we are to handle this."

"Alright, fine," the sergeant says, handing back the licensees. "You can-" and Blur is already on his feet, ready to move.
Obscurejones
“You can-“
Oh, can I? Oh, thank you most benevolent overlord, oh, most on high, glory be your name, Sergeant Slow, Sultan of Sloth… Third alliterative thing!

Blur is in motion before the third word can leave the Sergeant’s lips.  The licenses are grabbed, stowed, then Forge as well. The trail is visible for now, but he’ll need some sort of trick if whatever it is went dark again.

He leaves a scorch of black rubber on the street in their wake.
MCerberus
  Forge  

And they're off! Forge had expected to be left behind to catch up having to awkwardly show the cops evidence but this works too. He knows from experience to not try and talk at this speed. There's also the matter of the acid burns invisibly gnawing at his arms. Although it doesn't show it, this form of his costume is just an illusion so in terms of protection, the goggles, they do nothing.
JNAProductions
You zoom down the streets, scouring the alleys and roads for any sign of the tentacled foe. As you search, you run across some people walking down the sidewalk, a street musician with a saxophone, and numerous cars. You do not find any sign of your target, though.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Score one for the argument of going rogue, Forge thinks. There may have been fallout but being nice with the cops has a habit of getting in the way of big threats. Then again there are... different lessons he's been promising to apply from his experience back then, so it's still time to play nice.

 "Do we head back to the others? I might have video to look at" 
Obscurejones
... Deep breath.  We don't panic.  We don't flip out.  This is good.  We obeyed the law, we cultivated the right relationship with law enforcement, we don't need to hit anyone, or take apart their patrol car, or hit them with their own nightstick again and again and-

Focus.  Forge asked you a question.  Dial it in.  Think about the mantle.  What does the Black Blur do?

 "... Yeah.  I think we circle back up.  Can you grab some of that goo?  It's not a lot but it might be useful for... Are sympathetic energies a real thing, or is that just white people with dreadlocks who own too much quartz?" 

Blur looks tense for a moment, and that restrained hum starts to build.  But then Alex sighs, and he just looks tired.
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
  Sure. How do we wanna go? I'll stand out no matter how we show up.  
 

Avi frowns in thought. "Hm. Well. We can do a couple of things. I actually have a couple of formal badges from the institute where Dr. Rakhamanov works. They're badges for, like, Assistant Social Workers. They don't mean a lot, but sometimes they keep the curious at bay. If we go in Mask-gear, that might be enough. Then you can stand out as much as you like."

She thinks a moment.

"Or we could dress up like orderlies and anyone who takes too much notice I can try to bamboozle with my mind powers."

She smiles.

"Or both. I say let's head out and we can work it out when we get there!"
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "I mean it's complicated, but it can't hurt if you have something glass on you. Or sand. If you have any sand I can make a container,"  Forge replies. He can't really give a straight-forward answer because that kind of stuff is more actual magecraft and he personally, despite looks has powers more in common with druids or incarnate beings, and he never went to magic school.

He's more calm than Blur appears to be right now. Despite everything he's had to climb up with just another fresh team in the past, so minor failures are something he's dealt with. He would recommend if they take a sample that they head back to either the rental or what passes for his hideout.
Obscurejones
Good.  Something to do.  Not a lot though.

Blur speeds off, and is back in a flash, holding several beakers, mason jars, and a single Tupperware with a lid that isn't quite the right size.
 "Take your pick.  Once you've got it, want a ride to... Whatta ya think the safe house?" 
MCerberus
  Forge  
 
"Probably for the better. If the video is clear at all we may need the kid to identify who mister hide-y is." 
That isn't quite the best prospect for Ash considering but to his knowledge it's their only lead. Oh, and he gets a sample with the mason jar, seeming the best option.
Lentrax
 I… don’t have Mask Gear. Not a lot of point to it, is there. I mean, I’m recognizable everywhere I go. “Hey look, it’s that orange girl with the glory eyes!” 

Ivy takes a breath, tries to calm herself.

 But the badges are still probably the best way. Should keep enough people from asking.  

She puts the rest of her stuff away and sets it on the table. Then she steps back onto the balcony.

 Whenever you’re ready. 
JNAProductions
Whisper and Ivy leave for Halycon City Memorial Hospital before Black Blur and Forge return. Su Yin notes the coincidence, with the other two heroes leaving mere minutes before the next arrive.

Over at the hospital, the main entrance is closed for construction. The ER is open, though, as is a side entrance to replace the main entrance for the moment. Whisper and Ivy put on their badges, and ask for the location of Doctor Williams. The person behind the desk, a young man dressed in scrubs and playing on his phone when you enter, hastily puts the device away and says "Oh! Uh, Doctor Williams... Which Williams?"

You tell him Bryant Williams. "Right, right... He's in the psych ward, I think-officially he's gone by now, but he always stays late, you know. Puts in the work. Do you want me to page him?"
NontheistCleric
Su Yin comes out to the living room when she hears Black Blur and Forge return.

"Hey," she says. "Give me a minute..."

She looks frantically around for something to write on. The best the kitchen drawers produce is a pad of sticky notes, and she borrows one of Ivy's pencils to write a short message.

Ash, if you wake up and I'm not here, I'm just outside in the living room. That or I had to use the toilet. Don't panic. Come out and find me.

 –Su

Going back into the bedroom, she takes the clock from the bedside table, sticks the note onto it, and puts it on the chair she was sitting on, turning it so Ash will see it if she wakes. Then she goes back out, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"The others just left to check out that Doctor Williams," she explains to Blur and Forge. "You guys find anything?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

A little bit relieved that Ash wasn't still up, Forge lifts up his goggles to rest on his head and dispels the illusion. He's got acid burns he didn't want the kid to see on his arms and it feels like his khakis have absorbed some and are probably now laundry day pants. Still, what's important is if they have a lead or not.

 "Doctor what now?"  he asks finding a seat. If the answer isn't too shocking he'll get his phone out in order to share. He keeps his voice down so that their charge isn't woken up and unlocks the screen. Still on the camera app at least.

 "We're dealing with mental powers, possibly a summoner. I may have video,"  Forge explains while starting the recording.
JNAProductions
The video plays. It's off-center, which should come as no surprise given the awkwardness of the recording set-up. You see two beings in the footage-one human, one not so much.

The human is tall, and due to the off-center recording, you cannot see their face. You're pretty sure they're a guy, at least, given his body type. He's white, though with a nice tan. He's fiddling with a handheld orb, presumably projecting the SEP Field.
The nonhuman is much less tall, about four feet if you had to guess. It's a mass of shiny, slick, purple tentacles. It pulsates and twitches seemingly at random, and occasionally drips some kind of fluid. It doesn't look pleasant.

The recording keeps going, up until Forge is attacked by the tentacled monster. It seems to be under the control of the man, as it didn't start moving aggressively until the man tapped its... Head? Body? Center of mass, and directed it towards Forge.

While the video is useful, the audio is basically useless.
NontheistCleric
"This Doctor Williams," Su Yin says, holding up Ash's cut bracelet for Forge to read. Then she sees his wounds. "Are those acid burns? Go wash your arms!"

She gets the first-aid kit from where she saw it on her earlier search and looks up 'How to treat acid burns' using her smartphone.

"You should really be going to the hospital too, but let's just bandage that for now."

She tries to help dry Forge's arms as quickly and gently as she can, dabbing lightly with some tissues, then bandages the affected area loosely.

Finally, she gives the video a look.

"Oh, lord. Is that what burned you? How horrid. Doesn't seem to be hurting whoever that is, though..."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
I assumed Forge would be okay with washing and bandaging his burns, but I can edit that part out if he isn't.
 
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "Thanks,"  Forge replies before a small wince at getting wrapped up. It really is a nice gesture especially since wrapping your own burns usually involves things getting slapped on at awkward angles.

 "I wouldn't worry about me getting burned by whatever that was, he continues on after the others have seen the image... It's that whoever they are are probably the ones coming for Ash." 
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
  I… don’t have Mask Gear. Not a lot of point to it, is there. I mean, I’m recognizable everywhere I go. “Hey look, it’s that orange girl with the glory eyes!” 

Ivy takes a breath, tries to calm herself.

 But the badges are still probably the best way. Should keep enough people from asking.  

She puts the rest of her stuff away and sets it on the table. Then she steps back onto the balcony.

 Whenever you’re ready.  
 

Whisper nods. "Fair enough. Hopefully the badges will get us where we need to go. And if not, well, we'll improvise."

Avi hadn't really considered the difficulty of never being able to  stop  being a Mask. It was bad enough never really being able to stop being a Narayan. That was sometimes as hard as being a Mask. But at least there were lots of other Narayans.

"Do you find it hard?" she asked, as they travelled to the hospital, "What do you do, when you're not... working?"


 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 Whisper and Ivy leave for Halycon City Memorial Hospital before Black Blur and Forge return. Su Yin notes the coincidence, with the other two heroes leaving mere minutes before the next arrive.

Over at the hospital, the main entrance is closed for construction. The ER is open, though, as is a side entrance to replace the main entrance for the moment. Whisper and Ivy put on their badges, and ask for the location of Doctor Williams. The person behind the desk, a young man dressed in scrubs and playing on his phone when you enter, hastily puts the device away and says "Oh! Uh, Doctor Williams... Which Williams?"

You tell him Bryant Williams. "Right, right... He's in the psych ward, I think-officially he's gone by now, but he always stays late, you know. Puts in the work. Do you want me to page him?" 
 

Avi put on her best, politest, charmingest, most innocent and disarming  we're good kids doing good  smile. She'd been practicing it for years and had gotten very good at it.

"Please do not trouble yourself," she said, letting her voice carry a little more of the Malayali lilt than it usually did. As much as she hated the bland, oppressive weight of prejudice, it was rare for people to think that Indian people (especially women) to be up to no good. "We know the way. We can pop down quick and be out without bothering anyone."

And with that, she set off with confidence. She didn't know where the psych ward was, but she'd been here often enough with her mother to have a vague idea.

That was when a terrifying thought struck her.

"My mother works here," she said to Ivy as they started walking, "And I can't remember if she has a shift tonight."
JNAProductions
"Alright," the man says. His eyes follow you as you go, but once you're past the door, they're already sliding back to his phone.

The electronic locks of the hospital don't present much challenge to the pair-Whisper's powers are easily able to jimmy the bits and get the doors open as needed. After all, they're not designed to keep dedicated teams or parahumans out, just to stop erstwhile patients from getting into trouble. Avi tries to steer clear of anywhere near the ER and trauma wing, which is where her mother would be if she's working tonight.

You move past some empty rooms, some rooms with patients and nurses or doctors, a central desked area with a few staffers at computers, and don't find anything of note for the first ten minutes of searching. But Avi gets a feeling-just a gut hunch-that something's about to go south.

She hears a voice from behind. "Avidhayya Narayan... What are you doing here?" Her mother's voice. Avi and Ivy turn to face her, and see that she's tired. She's worked a long shift, but it looks like she has more ahead of her to do in the mothering department.
NontheistCleric
 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
  "I wouldn't worry about me getting burned by whatever that was, he continues on after the others have seen the image... It's that whoever they are are probably the ones coming for Ash."  
 

"I've been thinking about that," Su Yin says to Forge. "Ash is a power mimic, to some extent. Touch range. If we can teach her how to use our powers, she might be able to protect herself more effectively, or at least escape more easily if necessary. She doesn't seem to want to touch anyone but me for now, but my powers are mostly reactive defense, so that might be the best place to start anyway. Super-strength and speed"–she nods to Blur–"might be a bit much to handle at first, and I think magic and Avi's mind powers are probably way too volatile without a lot of experience–correct me if I'm wrong."

She looks back at the video. "So what we know for now is: There's some man with mental abilities or tech, who may or may not also be the person with the power to project images of our fathers–and probably other things too–who got mimicked by Ash, and he controls this tentacled acid beast."

Then she rolls up the right sleeve of her turtleneck to expose her forearm. "On that note–try the acid on me. Just a bit, to see if I can resist it."
Lentrax
 
 Originally Posted by truemane 
 Whisper nods. "Fair enough. Hopefully the badges will get us where we need to go. And if not, well, we'll improvise."

Avi hadn't really considered the difficulty of never being able to  stop  being a Mask. It was bad enough never really being able to stop being a Narayan. That was sometimes as hard as being a Mask. But at least there were lots of other Narayans.

"Do you find it hard?" she asked, as they travelled to the hospital, "What do you do, when you're not... working?"



Avi put on her best, politest, charmingest, most innocent and disarming  we're good kids doing good  smile. She'd been practicing it for years and had gotten very good at it.

"Please do not trouble yourself," she said, letting her voice carry a little more of the Malayali lilt than it usually did. As much as she hated the bland, oppressive weight of prejudice, it was rare for people to think that Indian people (especially women) to be up to no good. "We know the way. We can pop down quick and be out without bothering anyone."

And with that, she set off with confidence. She didn't know where the psych ward was, but she'd been here often enough with her mother to have a vague idea.

That was when a terrifying thought struck her.

"My mother works here," she said to Ivy as they started walking, "And I can't remember if she has a shift tonight." 
 

 I don’t really do anything. Used to try. Used to put up with the pointing and the laughing. These days, it’s hard enough to get through the day at school. Takes a lot of spoons to get through each day without punching someone through the walls. Counselor tried to get a special wall put into her office so I could punch at it without knocking the building down. Most days I don’t have the spoons left after that for much besides my art. 

If Avi goes into Ivy’s mind, she can see a lot of jumbled imagery of kids laughing, pointing and whispering.

***

Ivy lets Whisper do the talking at the desk. She is afraid of coming across as just a scared kid trying to get somewhere she doesn’t belong. Which she is. But she is also a Heroine trying to get somewhere she doesn’t belong to help an even more scared little girl. Which makes her a little less scared.

 Would it be bad to run into her? 

 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 "Alright," the man says. His eyes follow you as you go, but once you're past the door, they're already sliding back to his phone.

The electronic locks of the hospital don't present much challenge to the pair-Whisper's powers are easily able to jimmy the bits and get the doors open as needed. After all, they're not designed to keep dedicated teams or parahumans out, just to stop erstwhile patients from getting into trouble. Avi tries to steer clear of anywhere near the ER and trauma wing, which is where her mother would be if she's working tonight.

You move past some empty rooms, some rooms with patients and nurses or doctors, a central desked area with a few staffers at computers, and don't find anything of note for the first ten minutes of searching. But Avi gets a feeling-just a gut hunch-that something's about to go south.

She hears a voice from behind. "Avidhayya Narayan... What are you doing here?" Her mother's voice. Avi and Ivy turn to face her, and see that she's tired. She's worked a long shift, but it looks like she has more ahead of her to do in the mothering department. 
 

 And that makes it my turn to try and come up with something. 
 That’s my fault, ma’am. I know Avi from school, and so I remembered she knows the hospital better than anyone I know, so when I needed to find Dr. Williams, I asked her for some help.  
JNAProductions
"Which Williams?" she asks, relieved to hear a sensible explanation and NOT something related to parahuman work. Ivy lets her know that it's Bryant Williams. "Okay. Avi, you know the good vending machine? If you get there from here, then head for the end of the hall, they'll be a righthand turn. Eventually, you'll hit an elevator section, take one of them to floor three. That's Psychiatrics. As for you, young lady," she turns a little to face Ivy, "I want you to know that with Avi you're in good hands. Whatever you're going through that you need to see Dr. Williams about, it'll be okay. You can make it through."

She smiles with a hint of pride at Avi, before turning to talk to the person she originally came for, one of the desk people. "Anyway, Sheila, you wanted to know about the cookie recipe I brought last time? Well, it's..." is the last you hear before you get out of earshot.
MCerberus
  Forge  
 No 
Forge seems to rankle a bit at the first mention of teaching Ash to use absorbed powers then calms down a bit when the plan is further elaborated upon. He's kind of tired so his brain doesn't dwell much on thinking about any sort of downsides to the plan.

When the subject of the mystery man comes up he adds,  "Worse than that, we can't be sure we can see him coming."  Forge hands over the mason jar of goo. This idea is probably the best use for the stuff.
NontheistCleric
"But you can counter his mind field, right?" Su Yin asks, rummaging in the drawers for a spoon. "Using the same magic you used on the phone? Maybe we could set some kind of camera system up."

Returning to the table, she unscrews the jar of acid and scoops out a small portion.

"Wish me luck."

Then she lets it fall onto her exposed flesh.
JNAProductions
The acid drips from the spoon, and lands on the fleshy part of Su Yin's arm. It burns immediately, but the sharpness of the pain drops off pretty quickly. Su Yin can feel her body changing, if only slightly, hardening itself to this specific pain and damage. Once she feels herself settle into her new occasion, she gingerly scoops a little more acid, and puts it near the initial drop point. It doesn't burn.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Occasion can be pretty safe from the mild hazard of the acidic burning. She certainly wouldn't want to experience a full-on hug from the tentacled beast, but incidental damage she'll be able to handle with aplomb and tankiness!

Do note, however, that those tentacles are also quite strong. So even with its acid rendered impotent, it's still capable of doing some damage!
 
NontheistCleric
Su Yin breathes out slowly, then goes to rinse the acid off her arm and the spoon. Just using her powers is one thing, but every time she tests them deliberately, she's reminded that this might be the time they don't work.

"Well," she says, flopping back into her chair, "now we know I can handle that thing, if it comes to it. We should probably keep the spoon, just in case. Imagine if one of Avi's parents' guests used it and turned into another tentacle monster."

It takes her a moment to realize what she's saying. "Okay, if that actually happens, I guess that means Smith and I are going to turn into tentacle monsters too. Still, you never know, right?"
Lentrax
 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 "Which Williams?" she asks, relieved to hear a sensible explanation and NOT something related to parahuman work. Ivy lets her know that it's Bryant Williams. "Okay. Avi, you know the good vending machine? If you get there from here, then head for the end of the hall, they'll be a righthand turn. Eventually, you'll hit an elevator section, take one of them to floor three. That's Psychiatrics. As for you, young lady," she turns a little to face Ivy, "I want you to know that with Avi you're in good hands. Whatever you're going through that you need to see Dr. Williams about, it'll be okay. You can make it through."

She smiles with a hint of pride at Avi, before turning to talk to the person she originally came for, one of the desk people. "Anyway, Sheila, you wanted to know about the cookie recipe I brought last time? Well, it's..." is the last you hear before you get out of earshot. 
 

 Wow,  Ivy says, once she is sure she won’t be overheard.

 Not kidding about the mom, were you? 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge is taken just slightly aback by using his real name while still 'working'. Luckily the day and the sudden stress at night has worn him about a bit too much to have one of those tedious 'am I just my powers' mental circles. Instead he just reclines, fights off a yawn and jokingly responds,  "C'thulu p'taghn" 
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
  I don’t really do anything. Used to try. Used to put up with the pointing and the laughing. These days, it’s hard enough to get through the day at school. Takes a lot of spoons to get through each day without punching someone through the walls. Counselor tried to get a special wall put into her office so I could punch at it without knocking the building down. Most days I don’t have the spoons left after that for much besides my art.  
 

Avi frowned. "That sounds terrible. I'm so sorry. Are you still with the counselor?"

She was already wondering if there was some way she could help. Her powers didn't lend themselves well to shapechaning or colourchanging. But maybe she could think of something...


 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 She smiles with a hint of pride at Avi, before turning to talk to the person she originally came for, one of the desk people. "Anyway, Sheila, you wanted to know about the cookie recipe I brought last time? Well, it's..." is the last you hear before you get out of earshot. 
 

"Thank you, Mother!" Avi called out as her mother (miraculously!) wandered off without any more pointed questions or harsh blanket judgements about her future.


 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
  Wow,  Ivy says, once she is sure she won’t be overheard.

 Not kidding about the mom, were you?  
 

"I never kid about my mother. As they say, she is always serious business." Avi watched to make sure her mother wasn't tricking them by hiding and jumping back out again. And then she smiled and jumped up and clapped excitedly.

"That was amazing, Ivy! So quick. So convincing. I'm so happy you did that. I can never lie to her effectively. I get all tongue-tied."

"Shall we go see this Dr.Williams?" She starts down the way her mother had pointed.
Lentrax
 
 Originally Posted by truemane 
 "I never kid about my mother. As they say, she is always serious business." Avi watched to make sure her mother wasn't tricking them by hiding and jumping back out again. And then she smiled and jumped up and clapped excitedly. 
 

Ivy whistled a low note.  Guess I'll have to make sure you get home on time then. Can't have you out too late. 

 "That was amazing, Ivy! So quick. So convincing. I'm so happy you did that. I can never lie to her effectively. I get all tongue-tied." 

 Wasn't entirely a lie. You  do  know the hospital better than anyone I know. 

 "Shall we go see this Dr.Williams?" She starts down the way her mother had pointed. 

 And quickly too. Need to get you home for bedtime. Too bad. I enjoy moonlit strolls. 
JNAProductions
Good vending machine-the one that's always filled, and sometimes dispenses an extra snack.
Down the hall. Elevators. There are four-two on each side of the hallway.

You wait for the  ding  of a ground floor lift, and when it opens, you see a tall man inside. Broad shoulders, a dimpled chin, dressed in an MD's outfit, with greying hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. "Evening," he offers, his voice a pleasant bass. He exits, and you're about to get on, until you read his nametag. Doctor Bryant Williams.
NontheistCleric
 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
 Forge is taken just slightly aback by using his real name while still 'working'. Luckily the day and the sudden stress at night has worn him about a bit too much to have one of those tedious 'am I just my powers' mental circles. Instead he just reclines, fights off a yawn and jokingly responds,  "C'thulu p'taghn"  
 

"You two should probably get some rest," Su Yin says. She stands up and stretches. "One of you can take the other bedroom, or both if you don't mind sharing. I'll just be watching Ash."

She goes back into Ash's bedroom and moves her chair so she can sit with her back right up against the locked window. She can't see through SEP fields like Forge, but she'll surely feel it if something comes crashing in. Every now and then she flicks her eyes to the door lying open just a crack, in case it moves unbidden.
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
 Ivy whistled a low note.  Guess I'll have to make sure you get home on time then. Can't have you out too late. 
 And quickly too. Need to get you home for bedtime. Too bad. I enjoy moonlit strolls.  
 

The corner of Avi's mouth twitches up in a small smile. "It's some hours until my bedtime, yet. And you know, now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever been on a moonlit stroll.:

She blushes a little.


 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 Good vending machine-the one that's always filled, and sometimes dispenses an extra snack.
Down the hall. Elevators. There are four-two on each side of the hallway.

You wait for the  ding  of a ground floor lift, and when it opens, you see a tall man inside. Broad shoulders, a dimpled chin, dressed in an MD's outfit, with greying hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. "Evening," he offers, his voice a pleasant bass. He exits, and you're about to get on, until you read his nametag. Doctor Bryant Williams. 
 

Avi had to think quickly. A stream of half-formed thoughts flooded through her brain.

 That was him!

We need to talk to him!

He's not going to want to talk about Ash!

We can't do this in public!

We need to talk to him in private!

He's getting away!

Quick! Do something! 

Whisper didn't like messing with people's minds. Especially not civilians. But maybe this was special circumstances? Even so, she tried to be as non-invasive as possible.

"Hold the door," Whisper whispered to Ivy.

She closed her eyes and sent Dr. Williams the thought that he forgot something back in his office.  Did he log off and secure his computer so no one could have access to confidential information? Was he sure? Was he really, really sure?  

She let the psychic 'grumble' that accompanied her mental powers cloud the thought. Just for extra tension.
JNAProductions
"Ah nuts," Doctor Williams says, turning around. "Hold the elevator, please!" he calls over. "Sorry-I forgot something, and I really need to be getting home sooner rather than later."

You get in the elevator, and he says "Third floor, please."
Lentrax
 
 Originally Posted by truemane 
 The corner of Avi's mouth twitches up in a small smile. "It's some hours until my bedtime, yet. And you know, now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever been on a moonlit stroll.

She blushes a little. 
 

Ivy’s cheeks flush a slightly darker shade of orange.

 Did I just…? 

But there’s no time for that.

Avi whispers to Ivy, and Ivy waits a moment, so it looks like she is trying to stop the door at his request, rather than because Avi told her.

 Here. 

She sticks her hand up to catch the door, and trigger the pressure sensor to open it back up.

 What do we do, Avi?  she thinks frantically.
truemane
Whisper generally tried to keep out of other people's heads. Like controlling minds (even a little), it was a slope that was perilously steep and slippery. But sometimes she picked up stray thoughts. Especially strong ones. And especially especially strong, complicated ones, laced with emotion.

So it was actually Ivy's  Did I just...  that she caught like a song in the wind. And it made her blush even more. She was about to say... something (she had no idea what) when her gambit for Dr. Williams worked and he was in the elevator with them.

And then she caught Ivy's question. By accident. It's not like she was looking. Not much anyway.

 Let's just follow him up,  she thoughts back,  We know where he's headed. 

"That's okay, Doctor," she said out loud, in her most pleasant tone, "Happens to the best of us. And the third floor is where we're headed as well."

She winked at Ivy and smiled. Not sure why. But it felt right.
JNAProductions
"Who are you here to see?" he asks. "I can't think of anyone on staff right now besides the night shift folk."

The elevator doors close, and it rises. There's a small  ding  as you reach the third floor, and the doors reopen.
Lentrax
 Let’s see how well I can lie to a doctor… It worked for Avi’s mom. Maybe it will… did she just wink at me?

No. Stop, Ivy. Work first. Ash need help. Not for you to develop a social life. 
 Actually, my team sent me here to find help for a little girl. We don’t know her name, because she wouldn’t tell us. All we had to go off of was part of a hospital bracelet that I was able to see. There was a man chasing her and by the time I had him restrained, the girl was gone. So all we have to go off of is the part of the bracelet I was able to see. Just the words “Hospital” and “Psychiatric.” So, here I am. Trying to find whatever help I can find for a scared girl running from something. 

Ivy gives a quick description of Ash.
JNAProductions
Doctor Williams frowns as you all step out of the elevator and start walking towards his office. "I'm afraid I don't know of anyone matching that description. The only thing I can think of is that we were supposed to have someone in that age range transferred here, but that was delayed. They didn't tell me why. Wait outside, a moment-I need to check for... Dammit, I can't even remember what I forgot."

He ducks into his office, closing the door behind him. A minute passes before he returns. "Must've not been anything that important. Now, while I appreciate your dedication to helping others, I'm afraid I don't really have anything more for you. Even if I did know more, I'm not the kind of doctor who tells about his patients without their permission. If you need to reach me, dial the hospital, and use extension 344, then 600. But, that said, let us leave."

 
 Spoiler: If Whisper Is Observing His Mind During This Exchange... 
 I'm afraid I don't know of anyone matching that description. 
Yup, being honest.

 The only thing I can think of is that we were supposed to have someone in that age range transferred here, but that was delayed. 
You get a name from here-Ashley Smith, same as was on Ash's bracelet.

 They didn't tell me why. 
More truthiness!

 Now, while I appreciate your dedication to helping others, I'm afraid I don't really have anything more for you. Even if I did know more, I'm not the kind of doctor who tells about his patients without their permission. 
He's starting to wonder how you got into the hospital, at least this area.

 If you need to reach me, dial the hospital, and use extension 344, then 600. But, that said, let us leave. 
He's honest about offering help, but has a suspicion you're going to try sneaking around. As such, he's gonna walk out with you, making sure you don't stick around.
 
Lentrax
 Oh,  Ivy says, sounding a bit dejected.

 Okay. Sorry to have wasted your time then. 
JNAProductions
 Saturday Morning, The Day After 
Su Yin stayed at the Air BnB, looking after Ash. At least one of you offered to take a shift so she could grab at least a few hours of shut eye, so everyone on the team is feeling okay in the morning.

When Ash wakes up, she bolts upright, head snapping back and forth. Su Yin, who's just aside, hears the commotion and comes in. "You... You really stayed," Ash says. She starts crying a bit.

 
 Spoiler: Overnight Details, For Each Hero 
 Alex 
Alex stops by Mr. Rapp's house, just to infodump and get some advice before heading to get rest. Mr. Rapp is, while perfectly willing to help, unfortunately not able to do much. "You already know more about this situation than I do," he says. "If you need advice on how to best proceed, I can give that. But I think you already know what's best."

 Ivy 
Feeling a little down after the events of the hospital, she takes some time to try to piece together everything she and her team have learned. There's one bit of info that hasn't yet been explored, to her knowledge-where was "Ashley Smith" coming  from ? What other institution was sending her to Halcyon Memorial?

 Smith 
He spends most of the night, when not sleeping, tinkering to try to find ways to better handle whatever comes their way.

 Avi 
Avi lingers a little longer than the others at the Air BnB, giving Su Yin some time to rest. But eventually, she has to go home, and when she arrived home, her parents were waiting. "Why exactly was the northside Air BnB rented out, Avidhayya?" her dad asked.
"And care to explain what  exactly  you were doing at the hospital, hm?" her mother added on.
It'll be a long night.

 Su Yin 
Other than a snack around 1 AM, Su Yin's night is quiet.
 
NontheistCleric
"Yes!" says Su Yin. She smiles and comes over to sit on the bed. "And look, nothing bad at all happened while you were asleep!"

She spreads her arms a little to emphasise that she definitely wasn't eaten by any terrible acidic tentacle monsters in the night.

"Or nothing bad here, anyway. Tissue?"

She offers Ash two pieces from the packet she keeps in her pocket for emergencies.

"Want to go out for breakfast?" she asks once Ash has calmed down a little. "Not that Whisper's canned food isn't absolutely top-shelf, but a bit of fresh air wouldn't hurt us either."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Cerberus, did Forge also stay the night? It seemed from the OOC like he might just have slept at the AirBnB, and from what I can tell he doesn't have a family to get back to in Halcyon.
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Despite being tired Forge still has one thing he needs to do in order to get ready for what may come. It's easy. Etching a rather common symbol onto melted silicate. Wrap it in metal. Lens of magic detection. He hasn't done exactly this before but if the prototype works this is going to be useful. After getting honestly not enough sleep he pops into group chat.
  
New toy
Occ you know if that guy has more of the damascus steel filament ink?
Anyway think the kid would like some pancake
There a cast Iran there?  

Smith's auto-complete being eclectic aside, a side-effect of his powers is that he can make breakfast really good. He's god an alternate motive here though, wanting to make sure Ash is happy so they can have a talk without viewing the team, or especially him as being scary.
NontheistCleric
Su Yin gets Forge's message as she is talking to Ash.

"Oh, give me a second... this might be important."

She takes out her phone and checks the group chat.

 Actually, I was right in the middle of asking her if she wanted to get breakfast outside. With a bit of disguise, of course. I'll ask her about the pancakes. 

"Forge just said he wants to come make pancakes for us–so that's an option too," she tells Ash, then goes back to the rest of the message.

 There's a pan but you'll have to bring your own mix. Only canned things here.
The ink was a one-time thing. The ink place doesn't generally make it that way. I could ask them again for you, but who knows if they'll say yes? Probably if you pay them enough. We'll have to check with the blacksmith too. 

"Sorry," she says to Ash, putting her phone away. "Superhero business. Sort of. Nothing to worry about."
JNAProductions
"No crowds," Ash says. "Just... Pancakes sound nice."
NontheistCleric
 She says okay to the pancakes,  Su Yin sends.  Also, if anyone has old clothes that could fit Ash, bring them over. 

"Alright," she says to Ash. "People are coming with pancake ingredients. I asked them to get you some clothes, too. Someone must have something you can wear. I'd give you my old things, but my sisters already have them."

 And I don't really want to go to my mother's house right now. 

She stands up.

"Okay, so, I had an idea last night. You want to try learning how to fly? As long as we're up against... whatever's after you, and you have my powers... it might come in useful. Just in the living room for now, of course."
JNAProductions
She tentatively approaches Su Yin. Ash puts her hand out, and says "Um... I think skin-to-skin contact works best. So just... Grab my hand?"

Gently, Su Yin does so. Now that she's paying attention to what's going on, she can feel a slight tingle where their hands meet-not like the acid, much more pleasant. She doesn't feel drained or anything, so it's not like whatever Ash does steals the powers away. "How do you fly?" she asks.
NontheistCleric
"Interesting feeling," Su Yin comments on the sensation, momentarily contemplating her hand. "Come on, let's set up a safe testing area."

She leads Ash into the living room and takes all the cushions off the furniture, laying them out on the floor.

"Okay," she says, standing right at the edge of the cushioned area. "What you need to understand about this power is that fundamentally, what it does is keep you safe. If someone is hitting you, your body will become harder and tougher. If you fall into a fire, you won't burn. You'll still feel it at first. I think it's because it takes the brain a while to catch up to the fact that it's not actually getting hurt, but I'm not a doctor. Of course, there's a limit. I'd probably still die if I stood in front of a machine gun or underneath a launching rocket. Or at least get pretty badly hurt."

She pauses.

"I'm not going to teach you how to use that part of the power, mostly because I don't know exactly to what degree you have my power, and it would be insane to start whacking you with stuff to test it. Hopefully, it will work anyway if someone really does try to hurt you, but for now, we're going straight to the flying."

She turns to face the cushions and holds her hands up.

"As far as I can tell, the flying is just another part of the protection. I first got this power when I was falling from a very high place, and it stopped me from hitting the ground. Since then, whenever I fall, the flying activates–unless I tell it not to. That's a thing too. You can stop it whenever you want, which is how you come back down. What I want you to do now is try falling onto the cushions. Keep your hands in front of you in case it doesn't work and you need to catch yourself. Like this."

She lets herself tip forward, and before her hands make contact with the cushions, that mysterious force lifts her entire body into the air. She rotates herself lengthwise, so she's now looking at Ash sideways.

"See?"
JNAProductions
 
 Spoiler: Roll 
 (1d100)[ 42 ] 

Higher is better for using the power.
 


Ash puts her hands out, takes a deep breath, and...

Falls directly onto the pillows. "Oof," she lets out. She sits back up, and rubs her arms a little.
NontheistCleric
"Hm."

Su Yin pulls herself into an upright cross-legged position midair and floats as low as she can.

"Okay, that didn't quite work. Did you feel anything changing at all?"
JNAProductions
"Sorta?" Ash replies. "I felt... Something, but I can't really control it. And then I hit the ground."
NontheistCleric
"Well," says Su Yin, "that sounds about right. It took me a while too before I could control the activation perfectly–although for me, I only needed to control it if I wanted to stop it from happening. I never had trouble getting off the ground. So maybe you don't have the full scope of what I can do."

She deactivates her power and falls onto the cushions.

"Or maybe the first time needs to be more extreme, like it was for me. But we aren't going to try anything like that. Anyway, if you felt something, that's something. We shouldn't rely on it, but you might be just a bit safer. You want to try again, just in case, or shall we just lie here and wait for Forge to come with the pancakes?"
Lentrax
Ivy awakens to the sound of her phone alerting her to group chat messages.

She doesn’t check it right away, instead taking a moment to open her window and stand in the sunlight. She still doesn’t know why it makes her feel much more energized.

 Not true…  a voice whispers in the back of her head. But she pushes the voice aside and goes about getting ready for the day.

Not packing her art supplies today, she instead takes a couple of shirts and some pants and puts them in the bag. She’s pretty sure they’re too big, but she does it anyway. Then she hesitates. The girl was clearly terrified of her last night.

So she dumps the bag out, and instead puts a small sketch pad, and a notebook inside.

Then she grabs her phone and sends a message to the group chat.

 Going back to where we found Ash. See if I can find anything about where she was running from. 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge packs the untested lens in a jewelry case and starts planning out a route in that gets the necessary groceries. His 'workshop' is a basement rented out nearby where he's living so there's nothing more than soda, chips, and similar.

  Got something that may be useful. Are you going by 17th?  
Lentrax
 I can. Where you at? 
MCerberus
  Forge  

After a few seconds, there is a link to a small ShopMart along the way that can be opened to the maps app. Unless something out of ordinary happens forge will be there in street clothes getting pancake supplies.
Lentrax
Ivy gets to the store and starts heading inside, looking for Forge.

When she finds him, she has a bottle of water in hand.

 Hey. So. What did you have? 
MCerberus
  Forge  

By the time he's found, Forge has a basked that he needs to put to get at an awkwardly placed pocket. He takes out a small case that has a glass lens in it. There's nothing by appearance that makes it look like anything special.

 "Hasn't been tested but I'm trying to get ways to detect paranormal stuff. Just look through." 

Not very confident but at least Forge doesn't have a history of making things that catch fire when they don't work.
Lentrax
Ivy holds it up and starts looking through it.  And what am I supposed to be looking for? 

She turns to look back at Forge.

 Or is it one of those, “I’ll know it when I see it,” kinda things? 
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "If it works I don't know exactly what you'll see when it detects magic,"  Forge replies. He thinks a second before trying to figure out a good test. For all he knew he himself would show up or... he gets out his goggles.

 "Do these show up as anything?" 
Lentrax
 Yes. You do,  Ivy says, jerking the lens away from her eyes.

 That also answers the question of what I’d be looking for. 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Well it works, for however much that means. It should help the group answer some questions or at least not get messed up by the SEP fields.

 "Are you sure you don't want some breakfast? Hoping to calm things down for Ash,"  he says, making sure he has syrup before making his way to the checkout.
Lentrax
 Think I’ve scared her enough. If she’s feeling better, that’s great. I’m not going to ruin it. 
JNAProductions
The cashier, an acne-ridden teenager, swipes the purchases through without any issue. You head out, and split up, Ivy for investigating, Smith for PANCAKES!
Lentrax
Ivy paid for her water, said her goodbyes to Forge, and then started walking in the direction of where they had found Ashley, just the night before. As she walks she puts on her headphones, and turns on some music as she walks through the city, holding her sketchpad. When she stops at crosswalks, she picks a random person and sketches a quick gesture drawing. No details, just quick things for keeping skills sharp.

When she gets there, she starts by taking a good look around regularly, before trying the lens.
JNAProductions
It's morning, so the street is busier. A bit of traffic, someone walking their dog, another person putting up some laundry on a wire, and a school bus stopping by the intersection.

Nothing sticks out as strange, so you don the glasses. And nothing seems to change-a traffic goer rudely honks their horn at the bus, the dog barks at the car, the school bus doesn't react, and the laundry person draws your eyes upward. Which is where the glasses pick something up. You have to crane your neck fully up to see, but it looks sorta like a web. There are nodes where the lines of the web intersect, little pulsating blobs that seem aware of what's going on. The web doesn't register as being particularly active-it's more just observing.
Lentrax
Ivy considers her options. She could try and touch where these were, whatever they are. But considering that she can’t see them without the glass, she doesn’t think touching them would do anything.

She could call Forge. He might have a better idea. After all he at the very least uses magic. She doesn’t really understand it herself, but considering she doesn’t do the same things as him, that doesn’t shock her.

 So what do I bring? What can I do to show them? I can’t just take a picture. And I don’t know if it would show up if I used my phone. So what can I do? 

And then it comes to her. Her sketchbook. She turns to a blank page and draws the scene in rough blocks and shapes. Then she draws the web and the nodes.

Once she is done, she goes down a nearby alley so she can safely leap into the air and fly up to the roof of the building to see if she can see more of the web.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge ended up with... well almost anyway... two sets of ingredients sort of. He didn't really ask if the kid was vegetarian or vegan or anything so he's got traditional milk and eggs and then bananas and oat milk. Is overthinking a super power?

Regardless, he's soon at the hideout apartment with breakfast stuff and knocks politely instead of seeing his way in.
truemane
 THE NIGHT BEFORE 

Avi winced and slowly turned to face her. Deep in the  pit of her heart, she knew it wasn't going to be that easy. The casual pride and praise she heard in the hospital was nice, but Dr. Aruna Narayan was an educated, accomplished, fiercely intelligent woman, and she was more than capable of holding both scorn and pride in her heart at the same time.

"The Air BnB wasn't rented or reserved. I checked first. And we were only at the hospital for a couple of minutes. I swear I'll be ready for my Bio Chem midterm!"

 THE NEXT DAY 
By the time Avi extricated herself from the sticky webs of chores, homework, family small talk and unspoken obligations, it was much later than she'd hoped.

The moment she got a moment alone, out came her phone and she texted the group..

 Where is everyone? How's Ash? Anyone make any progress? We need to vacate the Air BnB as soon as we can. What's everyone doing? Where should I meet up? 
JNAProductions
 Avi's Home, Night Before 
"That's good to know," her mother says. "Now  why  were you there, and  why  did you rent the Bed and Breakfast? You clearly didn't need a place to stay."

 Air BnB, Daytime 
Su Yin lets Forge in, and the two go about making pancakes. Ash doesn't have any special dietary needs (that she knows of, at least) so the baking process is simple-and delicious!
Lentrax
 
 Originally Posted by truemane 
  Where is everyone? How's Ash? Anyone make any progress? We need to vacate the Air BnB as soon as we can. What's everyone doing? Where should I meet up?  
 

 Don't know if its going to work, but I'm trying to get a picture on my phone through Forge's glass thingy. Hang on. 

And then Ivy does just that, taking a picture through the lens, hoping the web shows up on the photo.
JNAProductions
It's hard to juggle the frames and the phone, but the photo is... Passable. Not great, but with her sketch, it should get the point across.
NontheistCleric
Su Yin checks her phone and replies to Avi's message.

 Everything is okay with Ash. Eating pancakes and less scared, so a kind of progress.

We need somewhere else to take her. Forge and Blur fought some kind of monster at the place we found her last night. It needs to be safe and with someone who can watch her when we can't. 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Between cooking and making sure Ash is looked after during breakfast, Forge lets the messages go while others respond. Since there's a group present he can let it slide and keep attention elsewhere. To wit, giving a child sugar so they're in a better mood. This is because he's been hoping to get at something more complicated to talk about.

 "Hey Ash, can we talk about something a little more serious. Do you find me and the others scary when using our powers?" 
JNAProductions
Ash swallows a mouthful of pancake, and shakes her head. "It's not really scary to have other people use powers. But I don't know what I get when someone who has powers touches me, so that part is kinda scary."
NontheistCleric
"Ash," Su Yin says, "when you said before you couldn't control the powers you got very well, do you mean only when you try to use them? Or is it possible for them to activate even if you don't want them to?"

It might shed some light on the incident last night, but it would also inform which of the team could watch her alone, she thinks.
JNAProductions
"I don't have full control-not really. Your power feels safe, since it's kinda just defensive? But other powers... Not so much," she replies.
NontheistCleric
"Okay," Su Yin says. "Okay."

She tries not to let her concern show on her face. She can probably take charge of Ash during the weekend, but with the week comes school and other obligations. Who can they find to look after her who won't be in danger of giving her a volatile power?

Do Mr. Rapp and Doctor Rakhamanov still have their powers? She realizes she's never asked Blur or Whisper those particular questions, and fires off another message to the group chat.

 By the way, any power that could be harmful if out of control is definitely no-go around Ash, at least if the powered person is alone. Just one more thing to account for. 

Even if they don't have powers and were willing to take Ash in, putting old men in danger is not exactly the best solution. Still, what's the alternative? At least they signed up for the hero deal. She definitely can't put her grandmother or kid sisters at risk, and she couldn't explain the situation to her mother and stepfather anyway. The others no doubt feel similarly about their families.

 Whisper, does Doctor Rakhamanov have non-powered staff who could take care of her? Specifically, people who would be okay with the risk of acidic tentacle monster assault? 
Lentrax
With no response to her pictures or messages, Ivy starts flying along, trying to figure out where the web is coming from.
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
  Avi's Home, Night Before 
"That's good to know," her mother says. "Now  why  were you there, and  why  did you rent the Bed and Breakfast? You clearly didn't need a place to stay." 
 

Avi sighs. Her mother was not going to be distracted. "We, I mean I, I mean... there was a child. A girl. Named Ash. And she was in trouble. Trouble like we were worried the police couldn't handle. Mask-type trouble. And everything was moving really fast and it was all I could think of to give everyone, I mean me, I mean give  us , me and Ash, some time to think. I'm sorry if I worried you. I was trying to do the right thing."

 Next Day, Today 
Avi was happy that Ash was safe and feeling okay. She couldn't make heads or tales out of the picture, though.

 Where are you?  she texted Ivy, assuming she was too far away for telepathy.  I want to come and see if I can find out anything. 
Lentrax
Ivy responds to Avi after figuring out where she is herself.

 Northside of the lake. The one with the swan paddle boats, not the ducks. 
JNAProductions
Ivy's flight reveals the web to be limited in scope-it's above maybe a city block, centered where Ash was found yesterday.


 

 Avi's, The Night Before 
"Avidhayya Narayan-what have we  told you  about your caped crusading?" her mother asks rhetorically. "We've given you plenty of opportunities to volunteer, to donate, to help people the  safe  and  proper  ways! There are better ways to go about doing what you're trying to do-did you even  try  to contact the girl's parents? Or a police station, or anyone?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge had been expecting to need to go into a big huge conversation trying to convince Ash that they were here to help, but it looks like the kid is generally more understanding than imagined. It could be that all the hero had seen of Ash was directly after the attack, or just that Forge had been running through explaining away his own insecurities in his head. Dipping the last piece of sausage patty in overflowed syrup can help bury that thought though.

Unaware at their pending eviction, he takes it slow collecting dishes.  "So Ash, what do you want to do? There anybody you really trust that you want to let know where you are? Things that can help you take your mind off of things; cartoons to watch?" 
Obscurejones
Blur tosses and turns through the night, finally waking up an hour before his alarm.  Slams coffee and an energy bar before going for a run.  A proper run.  Out of town, back roads, as close to upper limits as he thinks he can get without his wake or a sonic boom calling in attention.  When he's had a chance to try to leave all his frustration and bad vibes out on the road he finally checks his phone and curses at the pile of missed notifications.  Fires back a response to the group.
 [I can check if Mr. Rapp is willing to babysit if we need it.  Although kid plus speed is probably a bad idea.  Do we have any new leads on who the kid was fleeing?] 
JNAProductions
 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
   Forge  

Forge had been expecting to need to go into a big huge conversation trying to convince Ash that they were here to help, but it looks like the kid is generally more understanding than imagined. It could be that all the hero had seen of Ash was directly after the attack, or just that Forge had been running through explaining away his own insecurities in his head. Dipping the last piece of sausage patty in overflowed syrup can help bury that thought though.

Unaware at their pending eviction, he takes it slow collecting dishes.  "So Ash, what do you want to do? There anybody you really trust that you want to let know where you are? Things that can help you take your mind off of things; cartoons to watch?"  
 

"Um... Maybe some cartoons?" she says, uncertain. "And I don't really know anybody else. I have some vague memories of a parent, but after that it's just... Cold. And dark. Sterile. They... They..." she takes a ragged breath, and tries to focus elsewhere. "Um, cartoons!"
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "Well let's see what's on,"  Forge replies. He would then see about turning the TV on. He hasn't had cable or anything similar for a while so it takes him a bit to find the kids channels and what they could be showing. This does give him some time in order to check his phone to see why it keeps popping off.

He doesn't have anything useful to contribute, especially since his workshop would be the worst place, so he continues paying attention to Ash.
truemane
 LAST NIGHT 

 "Avidhayya Narayan-what have we  told you  about your caped crusading?" her mother asks rhetorically. "We've given you plenty of opportunities to volunteer, to donate, to help people the  safe  and  proper  ways! There are better ways to go about doing what you're trying to do-did you even  try  to contact the girl's parents? Or a police station, or anyone?" 

Avi paused, momentarily uncertain. In the moment, it seemed obvious that the police or anyone was the wrong play. But now, facing down her very logical (and angry) mother, she couldn't quite figure out why.

"We didn't think... we didn't want... she was in a place of some kind."

She winced. That wasn't going to do it.

"She's a... you know... parahuman," Avi made a face. She hated that word. "She's like me. Not like me, but you know. She said she escaped from some kind of facility and was terrified of going back. We were afraid the police would take her and she'd wind up... somewhere worse."

Tears were gathering in her eyes.

"Can we please use the Air BnB? Just for a couple of days? I'll pay the fee myself if I have to. Please?"

 TODAY 

 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
 Ivy responds to Avi after figuring out where she is herself.

 Northside of the lake. The one with the swan paddle boats, not the ducks.  
 

Avi texted that she got it, put her phone away, She closed her eyes for a moment and the room filled with the low hum of her powers operating and her clothing transformed into her Mask jumpsuit.

She looked over at the window and it slammed open (not hard enough to break, but close - she was pretty excited). She took a breath to get hold of herself, stepped out of the window, and (with the hum rising in pitch) she took to the air.

She soared over the city, fast and true, until she got to the lake. And then she spiraled down and down in low circles, looking for Ivy. When she found her she set down.

"What's happening? Where's everyone else?"

She cocked her head to the side and smiled.

"What's with the goggles?"
JNAProductions
Ash doesn't recognize any of the shows either. Eventually, you end up with My Little Pony on the air, and your ward seems content with it.

This does last for at least two minutes, before Ash asks "What's... You know, what's happening next?"


 

 Night Before 
Avi's mother opens her mouth, but her father cuts his wife off. "You will pay for it yourself. You will not let your grades slip even one iota. You will volunteer your time in a more healthy pursuit. But... You can use it for now. One week."

Her mother looks at her husband, but sees that she might be being a little harsh. She frowns and crosses her arms, but only says "One week. And it better be  spotless  when the week is up!"
Lentrax
 The Night Before 

"She's like me. Not like me, but you know. She said she escaped from some kind of facility and was terrified of going back. We were afraid the police would take her and she'd wind up... somewhere worse."

 
 Spoiler: Ding! 
 Hey. Just got home. Hope you're doing good. 
 


"Can we please use the Air BnB? Just for a couple of days? I'll pay the fee myself if I have to. Please?"

 
 Spoiler: Ding! 
 Sorry there wasn't time for that stroll. ;) Hopefully your mom isn't too hard on you. 
 


"One week. And it better be spotless when the week is up!"

 
 Spoiler: Ding! 
 Seriously though. We should talk about.. you know... 
 

 Now 

Ivy had been spending the time waiting for Avi cleaning up the drawing of the web, and adding in details she could see through the glasses. She smiles when she hears Avi.

 You know, for someone who calls herself Whisper, you talk pretty loud. And the glasses are from Forge. Something about seeing magic. 

She stops her drawing for a moment and looks at her work.

 It still looks like a comic book... 

She holds the glasses up for Whisper.  Here. Take a look and see if I am missing something. 
NontheistCleric
 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 This does last for at least two minutes, before Ash asks "What's... You know, what's happening next?" 
 

"For now?" Su Yin says. "Nothing."

She walks to the television and mutes it, then comes to sit in front of Ash.

"Look, Ash, this is the situation. We're protecting you, and we're going to continue protecting you as best as we can. But the truth is that we have no actual idea what's going on, and we are not on sure ground here. We don't have this apartment for very long, and once the week starts I won't be able to be with you all the time. What we're doing right now probably isn't even legal. We're trying to figure it out–where you can be safe, who's after you... all of that, but for now we just need to stay calm and be ready to move fast if we have to. Okay?"
JNAProductions
She nods. "Okay. Thank you."
NontheistCleric
Su Yin gives Ash a little smile in response.

"Alright," she says, getting up. "You two enjoy the ponies. I need to make a phone call–and maybe get some sleep."

Her power prevents exhaustion as well as anything, but she assumes there's still some critical mass of sleep deprivation where she will simply drop dead. In some ways, having an internal tally of how much you would be messing yourself up if not for some inexplicable magic makes you more health-conscious.

"Wake me up when you go, Forge. Or if there's anything important."

She goes into the second bedroom, turning the sound back on as she does. Closing the door, she dials her grandmother's number.

"Hello, Grandmother. Yes, I can hear you! No, not yet. I'll be back before Monday, okay?"

A pause.

"I can't tell you. It's not safe. I mean it's not safe for you! I'm indestructible. You know what I mean. Tell her you don't know. Well, you don't. Okay, bye, Grandmother."

Su Yin shuts the phone off and sighs. Grandmothers and mothers. Always asking where you are.

She climbs onto the bed and dismisses the fatigue resistance that built up over the night, and in an instant she's out.
MCerberus
  Forge  
 
"Oh we will, and we'll keep things quiet,"  Forge replies, reassuring the comrade that she doesn't have anything to worry about.

When it's just him and Ash, Forge keeps quiet watching the show but not getting out his phone or looking around. To his thinking, Ash probably needs reassurance and the ability to do stuff without having anyone direct her. If Ash has any questions or needs/wants anything he'll be there though.
JNAProductions
A mannerism Smith notices is Ash scratching at her wrists, right where medical facilities usually put in IVs and such. She doesn't have any scars there, or even blemishes-if she's had IVs, the marks have fully healed.


 

Whisper's phone goes off while she's looking over the pictures and drawings. It's Aleksandyr.

 You said you were investigating a girl named Ash and a Dr. Williams?

Found a potential lead. 

Attached to the message is a link to a news article, headline of "Doctor Williams To Open New Pharmaceuticals Testing Clinic In Halcyon City Memorial Hospital".

The article is a little light on details-it talks a little on Doctor Ryan Williams' history, his notable achievement of being part of the team that synthesized the vaccine and eventually the cure for The Madman's Plague (the Madman being a parahuman), a few notes about who else is working with him, a little on the mission statements of the Clinic, and ends with an abbreviated interview with Doctor Ryan Williams.
truemane
 LAST NIGHT 

 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 Avi's mother opens her mouth, but her father cuts his wife off. "You will pay for it yourself. You will not let your grades slip even one iota. You will volunteer your time in a more healthy pursuit. But... You can use it for now. One week."

Her mother looks at her husband, but sees that she might be being a little harsh. She frowns and crosses her arms, but only says "One week. And it better be  spotless  when the week is up!" 
 

Avi's mouth hung a tiny but before she got hold of herself and shut it quick, adopted a neutral expression, and nodded. She aimed for a controlled, sagacious nod but it looked more cartoon-character vigorous.

She hadn't been expecting that kind of support from her father. Not because he was henpecked or afraid of her mother or anything, just that he tended to lean more toward civil obedience than her mother did (Avi knew that her mother sometimes 'bent' the rules at the hospital to work around people's inability to pay for medical care).

They were both deeply moral people, but of the two her father tended to be more by the book.

 Could he be lightening up on my Mask stuff? 

She opened her mouth to say thank you when her phone went off. Three sharp, polite little noises.

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

The last thing she wanted to do was talk about whatever that was. So she just said, very quickly. "Thank  you, thank you, of course, spotless! Spotless! I promise. And my grades will be fine and I'll find a place to volunteer IpromiseIsweatthankyouthankyou."

And she fled to her room and opened the texts. And instantly her already hard-beating heart sped up a little more.

 Hey. Just got home. Hope you're doing good. 
 Sorry there wasn't time for that stroll. ;) Hopefully your mom isn't too hard on you.  Seriously though. We should talk about.. you know... 

Smiling despite herself she typed back.

 I'm home. I'm good. I hope you made it back okay too. I just got permission to use the Air BnB for a week (!!!!). So we have some time to figure out what's next. My mom was mad! So mad! But my dad came to my rescue #hero 

She paused. Typed. "Moonlit stroll.... rain check?"

She paused. Paused a long, long few moments.

Pressed send.

She barely got her clothes off before collapsing into bed.

 TODAY 
Avi made a mock-insulted face at Ivy's comment on her voice. It was a fair hit. She did talk loud. Anyone who wanted to say anything at a table with her family needed one.

"Well, for someone named Ivy I don't see you... climbing a lot of brick walls."

An East Indian nerd she might be, but not the techy kind. So she was more wary than excited about the googles. She put them up to her eyes, not sure what to expect.

"What am I looking for?"
Lentrax
 Last Night 
 ”Moonlit stroll.... rain check?" 

Ivy’s mouth went dry reading the words. When she first said the words, she had thought it was a joke. But when Avi responded with what Ivy could only describe as interest, she realized that she too was seriously asking.

And she had no idea how to say it.

 Now 
 I… might be able to do that. Someday…  Ivy said, in response to the comment about crawling up walls.

As Avi takes the goggles, Ivy answers her question.  Well, I don’t know, exactly. This is what I saw,  she says, gesturing to her drawing.

 But I don’t know if these goggles that Forge made work different from person to person. I don’t really know how his magic works. So I guess you’re… 

Her voice trails off as she struggles for the right term.
MCerberus
  Forge  

After a while of things being calm Forge does take a moment to catch up on texts. It looks like for the most part people are out and about with him on solo Ash watching duty. While it's not a normal Saturday he guesses there are worse things than animated quadrupeds. Still he does check in.

  Still quiet here, watching the tube
Blur you may have missed bfest but there's plenty of ponies  
NontheistCleric
Su Yin opens her eyes. She can still hear the sound of the television blaring from outside, so it hasn't been long. Sleep is difficult when she's worrying. Despite the nature of her powers, she doesn't actually like passively waiting for answers or solutions.

Seek and you shall find.

Never mind sleep, then. She does feel a little refreshed, even if it's only the illusion of a power nap. Maybe getting clean would do her better. She lays her clothes neatly out on the bed, since she doesn't have a change here, then steps into the shower.

Frigid water runs over Su Yin as she thinks. Saving on heating bills is another side benefit of her powers. Mother and Father Narayan can thank her later–although they'd probably prefer if she didn't use their water at all. Ivy is out investigating magic webs. Hopefully Forge can interpret that later, but what can they do here?

The obvious answer is that they have Ash. The whole situation revolves around her. She must be able to tell them something–but equally so, she clearly isn't up to it. Even if she was, there's no guarantee a juvenile test subject actually knows anything useful about her captors.

Then it hits her. Clearly the nap did do some good. Su Yin shuts off the water and towels off quickly, then dresses again. Opening the bedroom door, she strides back into the living area where Forge is.

"I just had an idea. You know that magic-seeing thing you gave to Ivy? Can you conjure up anything like it here? We should see what we see when we look at Ash with it–and this thing too."

She holds up the cut bracelet.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge blinks for a moment after being surprised and it takes a second for him to collect his senses. It takes a bit longer for him to think through the request. He needed some exotic materials and a space where there wasn't anything nearby flammable to the amount of heat it takes to melt glass. On top of that he can't really do detect magic spell and had to use a sigil in the first place... but that may do something.

 "The lens was kind of a prototype that needed some rare stuff. If we want to try we can't do something exactly like it. I can improvise but we'll need something conductive, something to draw with, and a base made of something that won't crack when exposed to magic and then it'll be a maybe." 

Oh yes. Improvising rune magic with household supplies. This will surely go well and also work.
JNAProductions
For something to draw with, there's some paper in a printer and plenty of pens about.
For something conductive, a brief search reveals a loose copper pipe in a closet, unattached from any plumbing.
For something to work as a base, Su Yin could quite possibly work.
NontheistCleric
"Okay," says Su Yin, looking at the gathered items. "I feel like the list of things we're going to need to reimburse Whisper's people for is growing... but at least we're not ripping up the appliances."

"What exactly do you need me to do as a base?" she asks. "Are you going to work on my back, or something like that?"
MCerberus
  Forge  
 
"Well if we draw this on paper or something the energy put into it is going to rip it up. The closest thing to what I'm trying usually gets done on stones or the ground." 

He takes a quick look around, most things big enough to draw the symbol on won't really work or they're just wasting Whisper's parent's money.

 "That and I don't know if or how it would work." 
NontheistCleric
"Well, we're in the same boat, then," says Su Yin. "Anyway, if I die in magic fire, you can explain to my grandmother."

She pulls off her turtleneck, already not wearing underwear since she didn't want to re-wear dirty underwear after bathing. Clasping the garment in a bundle in front of herself, she turns her bare back to Forge.

"But I have faith in you."
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "Alright, if we want to do this if it didn't send a regular person to the hospital what's going on would leave a permanent brand." 

If she wants to go through with this, the plan is kind of simple. He's got the proper sigil in an image that he can access through his phone. Trace the sigil, turn it into a rune through... heated and shaped copper. Once it's in place, apply magic energy if the act of shaping it isn't enough.

 "I can see four things happening. First, it doesn't work. Second, you can detect magic. Third, it reacts to magic. Finally, it reacts to magic and that includes itself." 
NontheistCleric
"So, the worst case scenario is I end up with you pressing some kind of self-reacting magic thing against my back? I guess that isn't so bad. I mean, you can just take it away if that happens, right? If it's even enough to hurt me. Let's try it."
MCerberus
  Forge  

While still having some reservations, Forge will go through with the plan. Despite all this it would answer what are some potentially interesting questions about this specific application. While he gets to work he talks both explaining what's going on and to keep that part of his brain distracted while working.
 
"This is actually not like wizards with spellbooks. I have to feel out the magic and what I can do and access and try to make it fit into what I'm trying. It's not engineering, not quite painting. It's more mixing the pigments to get the array of colors you want. When I get the palette everything just clicks." 
NontheistCleric
Su Yin breathes in deeply and bends forward so Forge has a flatter surface to work on. The last thing they need is the heated rune falling off and setting the apartment of fire.

She listens to him talking himself through the process, not responding or letting herself exhale. Keep the body as steady as possible. Already she can feel herself beginning to change, her cells somehow drawing the same amount of energy from an increasingly thin reservoir of oxygen in her lungs.

Not like wizards with spellbooks, indeed.
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 Whisper's phone goes off while she's looking over the pictures and drawings. It's Aleksandyr.

 You said you were investigating a girl named Ash and a Dr. Williams?

Found a potential lead. 

Attached to the message is a link to a news article, headline of "Doctor Williams To Open New Pharmaceuticals Testing Clinic In Halcyon City Memorial Hospital".

The article is a little light on details-it talks a little on Doctor Ryan Williams' history, his notable achievement of being part of the team that synthesized the vaccine and eventually the cure for The Madman's Plague (the Madman being a parahuman), a few notes about who else is working with him, a little on the mission statements of the Clinic, and ends with an abbreviated interview with Doctor Ryan Williams. 
 

 Whisper scanned the article and smiled. That was a lead. Thank you Aleksandyr. We'll follow up. I can keep Ash safe for about a week. Is there any way you can help after that? 

After she looked through the goggles, she showed Ivy the article. While she (Ivy) looked, Whisper took a moment to look at her face. Her eyes. Her body language. Last night it seemed they were maybe headed toward a moonlit stroll (and her heart skipped a beat at the thought). But today it was all business.

Was she just kidding? Regretting the offer? Just doing Mask stuff now?

Avi, for all her strange experiences, had lived a pretty sheltered life until recently. Navigating this situation (if it even was a situation!) was a little beyond her.

She didn't want to make it weird.

"What do you think?" she said, about the article, "Should we gather the troops?"
Obscurejones
 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
   Forge  

After a while of things being calm Forge does take a moment to catch up on texts. It looks like for the most part people are out and about with him on solo Ash watching duty. While it's not a normal Saturday he guesses there are worse things than animated quadrupeds. Still he does check in.

  Still quiet here, watching the tube
Blur you may have missed bfest but there's plenty of ponies   
 

Alex stares at his phone for a moment, trying to decide if these might be literal ponies.  Probably a cartoon, but... I mean, it's been a weird two days.  Shrugging, he breaks into a run-

 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
 "Well, we're in the same boat, then," says Su Yin. "Anyway, if I die in magic fire, you can explain to my grandmother."

She pulls off her turtleneck, already not wearing underwear since she didn't want to re-wear dirty underwear after bathing. Clasping the garment in a bundle in front of herself, she turns her bare back to Forge.

"But I have faith in you." 
 

- and skids to a stop in the AirBNB, quickly covering his eyes with a gloved hand.
 "Forge, that is not a pony.  That is our teammate without a shirt.  I feel deceived.  And slightly uncomfortable.  Why are we... What are we?" 
Lentrax
“Should we gather the troops?”

 Forge made pancakes for Ash,  Ivy says.

She stands up and starts putting her things away.

 Wanna... I mean... well... 
 Why is this so hard? 
 Wannagetsomethingtoeat? 
truemane
Whisper was peering through the goggles, alternately amazed and scared of the weird invisible web she could see through them. Her brain could lift things all by itself and sometimes know what other brains were doing. But in all other ways it was just standard A-Type-Overacheiver-Unremarkable. She had no truck with magic or high-tech. So whatever this was, it was beyond her.

But then...

She took the google off, her dusky skin darkening slightly in a blush. Her mouth twitched up in a delighted smile.

"You mean right now?" Almost a whisper. Looking around as though afraid the rest of the group might pop up and accuse her of shirking responsibilities.

"Should? I mean can we?" Pause. Something that was almost a giggle.

Because she really wanted to say yes.
Lentrax
Ivy swallows back the lump in her throat.  Yes. I mean right now. 
 We can do research on this other Dr. Williams and figure out our next move at the same time. And then we decide if we want to call the others along. 
truemane
Her mouth-corner-touched smile broadened into a delighted grin. She clasped her hands under her chin and took a couple of quick breaths.

"Okay!" she said, with the tone of a good student agreeing to skip class, "Where do you want to go? What do you like to eat? I don't usually have much for breakfast and I almost never eat out so I don't know what's close by. But it doesn't matter what's close, does it? Because we can fly, can't we..."

She closed her mouth. She was babbling. She was a little out of her element here.
Lentrax
 We can figure that out. The better question right now is, do you want to go as Whisper? 
truemane
Whisper's lips pressed together and her brow furrowed. She looked down at the ground and shifted back and forth a little. It wasn't quite a little-kid-foot-shuffle, but it was close.

"Who," she paused, "Who... ummm..." she looked up at Ivy, face serious, "Which one do you want to da... I mean, which one are you asking?"
Lentrax
"Which one do you want to da... I mean, which one are you asking?"

 ”Wow, and we thought she was a freak before.”
“Oh my god! It’s like a spray tan gone wrong!”
“Hey, Tangerine! What, you fall off the truck on the way to the orange juice factory?” 

Ivy’s been the object of stigma and shame. Still is, though they are a lot less loud about it after they saw her strength and power in action on social media when she and her team kinda went viral during the overpass incident. She still gets notes in her locker. Still gets messages on her social accounts from locked, private accounts.

And it still hurts. It’s been over a year, and the outcast still feels that hurt.

 You. Just you.  Ivy says.  I know you. Both sides. And it doesn’t matter to me. But it might to you. You get me. I don’t wear a mask. Don’t have the luxury of an identity. But you do. There’s two of you. 
 ”Oh my god!” “Could you imagine?” “Who could love a freak?” “As if!”
“I think she touched me! Check me for contamination.” 
 And I know how important it is for all of you to protect those identities. 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Blur's entrance is a shock and a surprise, but it's too late to stop anything. The magic, ritual might be the word, has fired. Oops, hopefully that last bit doesn't cause anything weird to happen.
JNAProductions
The ritual starts. Su Yin's back has a momentary sear of pain, but it quickly vanishes as her body orientates to handle it.

For Su Yin, everything goes somewhat dark, like a gauzy white curtain is pulled over her eyes. She can make out outlines and vague shapes, but she'd hate to travel anywhere new while this is active. While she tries to see if anything  good  is actually happening, she hears Ash's footsteps coming towards the room the three heroes are in.

For Forge and Blur, they see Su Yin react with a brief bit of pain, and then just settle in. Their eyes glance over to Ash coming into the room, hearing her footsteps approaching, and see her stand for a moment in shock looking at the scene before her. She rushes towards Forge, shouting "Get away from her!"

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Ash is a child, and not a trained or experienced combatant. Blur can trivially stop her. Forge would have slightly more trouble, but still basically none. Su Yin would have trouble right now because she's semi-blind, but that's about the only reason why.
 
Obscurejones
Magic... Kid that copies powers... Unpredictable elements... Right, we'll bullet time it.

Blur throughs himself into speed, if not necessarily full motion.  Takes it step by step.  First priority is to not touch or damage the kid.  So heavy leather jacket gets shrugged off, flipped around so he's holding it out to envelope someone.  Then, short steps.  Controlled motion.  We're not trying to tackle, we're trying to wrap up carefully, getting the jacket around Ash without hurting her, snug but not tight if possible.  Then distance from the magic.  Pick up the kid and move her into the next room.  Speak slowly, trying to counteract his own speed by lowering his voice and spacing out his words.  And as much as he hates to admit it, this is a job for Alex more than Blur.  So we use the civvie voice.

 "Forge is trying to help her.  If you jump in she might get hurt.  We need you to chill out for a moment, kiddo.  Take a deep breath, calm down.  Let him do his work, then she can explain it to you herself, alright?" 

... He really hopes he read the room right.  If this is actually Forge doing something messed up this is going to... Well it's going to be an whole bouquet of oopsie daisies.
JNAProductions
Ash struggles against the jacket with the mighty fury of a newborn kitten. She's bundled off into the room with the TV, where there are ponies on-screen talking about friendship and magic.

In the room with the ritual, Forge manages to keep his cool, and hurries to wrap it up to Su Yin can get Ash to relax. Su Yin's eyes stay kinda fuzzy, but they clear up a little bit. She can see a faint aura around herself-something light lilac in color. Looking at Forge, she sees a small kaleidoscope from his various gadgets he has on him.
Obscurejones
 "Kid, I know you don't like me.  But you like her, right?  And if you do something that gets her hurt you're going to have to reckon with that and you're really going to hate it.  So take it from someone who hates to do things slowly.  Take a breath.  Relax.  Wait out the moment." 

He lets go of the jacket, darting over to close the door, and putting himself and a couch cushion between Ash and the magic room.
NontheistCleric
Su Yin straightens up and pulls her turtleneck back on. She takes a few moments to get a handle on her changed senses, looking down at her hands, then at Forge, then back at herself.

"Vision slightly impaired," she murmurs, "but you know. It'll pass."

 I hope. 

"I am seeing something... new. Looks like hypothesis two was right on it. Check if the rune does anything. I'll handle Ash."

She opens the door, fails to register the cushion with her impoverished eyesight, and confidently trips over it.

"Okay, no one panic," she calls out, floating back into the living room, hands held in a 'calm' sign in front of her. She sets down on the rug. "That was just some superhero stuff. Magic detective work. Everyone just sit still for a moment. Ash, don't touch me yet. I think this needs a few moments to... stabilize."

She mutes the television again and casts her gaze around the whole room, focusing particularly on Ash, Blur, Ash's bracelet, and the television–the last one as a presumably non-magical object, for comparison.
JNAProductions
Ash is suffused with faint coloration, twisting and changing as the moments pass.
Blur is a vibrant red.
Ash's bracelet is entirely mundane, as best you can tell, along with the TV.

She gets out of Blur's jacket, and steps nearer to Su Yin. Ash doesn't touch her, but she does ask "What was happening? What's going on? Are you okay?"
NontheistCleric
"I'm fine," Su Yin says. "I'm seeing a little blurry at the moment, but it's already better than it was."

She looks at Ash and around her, trying to see if her aura leaves any kind of trail–and for that matter if any of theirs do.

"You see," she says, "Forge made a thing that detects magic. Or just anything out of the ordinary, maybe. Ivy is using the first one right now, so I thought he could make another one to see if it could lead us to the people who are trying to find you. I thought you might still be carrying some kind of signature."

She shrugs. "Well, these things often go a bit left when you wanted them right. I think I'm seeing the magic now instead. You and Forge are all kinds of colors, Blur is red, and I'm sort of pale purple."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
How bad is the unclear vision, and is it continuing to improve? Are we talking 'needs glasses' or 'legally blind'?
 
JNAProductions
 
 Spoiler: Vision 
Legally blind. And it's stabilized-not getting any better or worse.

That being said, Forge knows that active magic can have effects that wear off shortly when the magic is no longer active.
 
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
  ”Wow, and we thought she was a freak before.”
“Oh my god! It’s like a spray tan gone wrong!”
“Hey, Tangerine! What, you fall off the truck on the way to the orange juice factory?” 
 ”Oh my god!” “Could you imagine?” “Who could love a freak?” “As if!”
“I think she touched me! Check me for contamination.”  
 

Whisper did not randomly or capriciously read people's minds, as a rule. Aside from finding it unethical, it was often an unnerving experience. People's minds were such tumultuous places and 'reading' them and understanding what was there meant assuming part of that person's identity. Sometimes a little. Sometimes a lot.

But some thoughts, and feelings, were so strong, so deep, so complicated, so conflicted and fraught, that they leaped out into the air and Whisper couldn't help but catch them.

All the shame and fear and anger and loneliness that spilled out of Ivy stabbed Whisper in her mind and heart. And, as was the case, in  interpreting and understanding the flow of extremely individual feelings and images meant that, just a little, she had to become Ivy. To be where she was. Know what she knew. Be who she was. Feel what she felt.

Tears sprang to Whisper's eyes and she emitted a series of low, pained, hurt moans, as though someone were forcing her to sit through a flipbook of atrocities.

 Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.  Low and sad and hurt.

As she absorbed that pain, her heart rate increased and her breathing quickened. And as her powers leaked out of her careful control, the area around them filled with the low psychic 'grumble' that accompanied her powers when she didn't suppress it, like a barely perceptible susurrance. Like whispering at the very edge of hearing.

She looked up at Ivy and smiled a pained smile as she tried to get herself under control. "It's not the same, I know, but sometimes I'm a freak too."

"I'll go as Whisper." Her eyes opened wide and she waved her hands in front of her. "Not because I'm embarrassed! I'm not! But that way they'll be staring at us both. And not you alone. And we can stare back together."

A pause. She was afraid that maybe she picked the wrong option. And she was still trying to quiet the distresing whisper of her powers. To pull it back into herself.

Hopefully she hadn't completely killed the mood...
NontheistCleric
"Okay, let's try to make use of this while it lasts," Su Yin says. "Or, more accurately, I hope 'while it lasts' is a thing, because I'm pretty sure I'm legally blind right now."

 Really can't go back to Grandmother like this. 

Moving over to where she left her jacket thrown over the back of the armchair, she feels for it and puts it on.

"I'm just going to step out for a minute," she says to Ash and Blur. "I need to get a look at the whole city. Blur, you know what to do if anything comes up."

"Forge?" she calls for him. "Can you help me walk up to the roof? I don't think I can make it on my own right now."
Lentrax
"And we can stare back together."

 I wouldn't be able to care about their stares. I'd be too busy focusing on you. That's why it's your choice. 
JNAProductions
The rooftop is clean of magic. Looking out at the city, Su Yin can make out a few of the faintest little dollops of magic. There's what she's pretty sure is AEGIS HQ-makes sense, and is reasonably clear. There's another spot floating somewhere in the middle of the city, unmoored from any buildings, and far fainter than HQ. Outside that, there's nothing visible from this distance.
MCerberus
  Forge  

it takes a moment for Forge to snap back to reality. Trying to enchant a living being is different than just a thing and it was a bit on the draining side as well as giving some feedback as a result.
 To fly a chick must spread its wings 
So for a moment he's thirsty, disoriented, and leaning up against the wall. When things calm down a bit, he immediately considers trying to fix things by immediately nullifying the effect. That would be another hasty move though, and Occasion seems calm enough. There are so many questions about the minutiae of what she's seeing but those thoughts flutter out of mind quickly as he catches his breath.

 "Yah,"  he replies standing up straight.  "I wouldn't want to pass up this chance either." 

Forge would help her up to the roof while trying his best to not show any shock or exhaustion.
NontheistCleric
"This will wear off eventually, right?" Su Yin asks Forge as he guides her up the stairs. As they mount the steps, she takes her mask out of her pocket and pulls it over her head. "Or is it dispellable?"

"Okay," she says once they reach the top. "You stay right right here. I think I need to move around a bit to get a proper look, but since I can't see normal stuff too well, you're my beacon."

She looks out at the city. She can't see it too well at the moment, but she flies above it every day. She has dropped out of the sky to a hundred different points on its streets, sometimes ferrying people, sometimes just hunting for Forge's latest esoteric request. With the reference of AEGIS HQ and the mental model of the route they took last night, she can judge where she needs to go to get a more central bird's-eye view.

Occasion jumps a foot into the air, feeling her power kick in just as she begins to fall.

"Tell me when my way up is clear," she says to Forge. She breathes in deeply, filling her lungs in anticipation.

When the signal comes, she hurtles upwards. She needs as few people as possible to see her taking off from their makeshift safehouse wearing her makeshift disguise, and so she accelerates herself until she can feel what would be her organs screaming displeasure at their supersonic jostling. Even if someone sees her, hopefully she will be nothing more than a flicker in their vision, gone too fast to identify.

Like Occasion has thought to herself before, she's no Black Blur–but in a straight line, with nothing but empty air ahead... she can be  a  blur.

In a moment, the familiar vapor of the cloud layer envelops her. She keeps going, and as she climbs, the air thins and ice begins to creep over her.

Only then does she fly to the position where she could see the whole of the city if she were lower. She descends more cautiously, looking out for telltale shapes of aircraft as she passes the stratosphere, until the supernatural glow of AEGIS and the other spot are once again visible. She superimposes her mental map of the city over the blurry image her retinas are actually supplying, and scans for any other magic, looking out especially for anything that looks similar to Ash's aura.

She hangs there for a few moments, noting positions and any movement she can see in the magic auras, then she returns the way she came, retracing her path until she's roughly where she came up before. She flies back down, looking out for Forge's particular glow to guide her.
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "I didn't check but if the metal is still there you should be able to just peel it off, or if it was eaten up in the process just a matter of time. If your back is still glowing we may have a problem..."  Forge trails off before finding the words about dispelling.  "I'm not sure if nullifying the effect will have any side-effects, considering everything."   

He especially doesn't want to try as Occasion is going for a flight. He doesn't know as much about her powers' source than his own and even that's sort of fuzzy. So while she's away, Forge is left to stew in a sense of guilt over potentially messing up a teammate. This is mixed with a curiosity though. He himself hasn't done much looking through this kind of spell, and was actually looking forward to testing the lens much less having senses replace.

What is Occasion seeing? Does she feel the sights? Does the magic look different to different people?

 "So what's it look like?"  he asks when Occasion returns.
Obscurejones
 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
 "I'm just going to step out for a minute," she says to Ash and Blur. "I need to get a look at the whole city. Blur, you know what to do if anything comes up."

"Forge?" she calls for him. "Can you help me walk up to the roof? I don't think I can make it on my own right now." 
 

Blur glares at the child for a moment. It’s not that he expects a thanks for stopping her from keeping her from screwing up. But… It would be nice. Finally he sighs and moves the cushion back to the couch.

 “… You know how to play cribbage? And if not are you willing to learn?”   He does a quick run, returning with a board and a deck of cards in an instant.
JNAProductions
 In The Air BnB
 "No," Ash says. She seems a little on edge.

 
 In The Air 
Su Yin manages to find what's probably the air above the initial encounter point. There's some kind of web-like structure, clear as day while everything else is blurry. It's in an array of sickly greens and blues, with the connection points between strands glowing brightly. Much lower than it, probably too low to risk, there's two more points of magic-one a calmer green, the other a fuzzy gray.
Obscurejones
Blur shrugs and sits down, placing the hoard in front of him on the floor, starts shuffling the cards.  Tilts his head in thought for a moment. Reaches up to peel off his domino mask. Offers up a gloved hand to shake.
 “I’m Alex. Or the Black Blur. And if you can count to thirty one and fifteen you can learn cribbage.” 
He shrugs again.
 “Meet me in the middle a little, kid. We’re all doing our best.” 
JNAProductions
"Don't call me kid!" Ash says. "I'm just... I've seen things like that before... People stripped down, and, and... tubes and wires and needles and..."
Obscurejones
 "... You are way too young for all the advice I would have on that, Ash.  I can dial my advice in to about teenage and older, but I got nothing for preteen.  At your age?  I got cards and a general wariness borne of an uncertainty about whether you know not to eat glass." 
He deals out a hand of cards on either side of the board.
 "I'll work on not calling you kid, though.  And I'll tell you as plainly as I can, that we're trying to help.  Help you, and help each other.  So I need you to trust that when we tell you we're doing something for a reason, we mean it." 
He frowns as a thought occurs to him.
 "That only goes for things between the team though.  Anyone tries to to justify something they're doing to you?  Question it.  Make sure you're getting a story you can verify.  People lie to ki- To young people all the time.  And it never works out.  Just teaches them to not trust... Sorry.  I ramble.  Side effect.  So!  Revision to previous idea.  I need you to try to ask questions without possibly stopping us from helping you.
 So if you see something you don't like the look of, like you saw this morning, question it.  But don't dive in until you're sure you know what you're looking at.  That feel fair to you?

...  Face cards are all worth ten, for what it's worth." 
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
  I wouldn't be able to care about their stares. I'd be too busy focusing on you. That's why it's your choice.  
 

Whisper smiled and reached out and put her hand on Ivy's shoulder. "Whether or not you feel the burden, I would still like to share it with you. I'll be Whisper."

And then she looked around a little and did a couple of happy steps, as though anxious to get moving.

"Where should we go? There's not even a moon yet."
NontheistCleric
Occasion returns to the rooftop at high speed, making a jarring stop several inches above the concrete. She reaches for Forge to steady herself before touching down.


 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
  "So what's it look like?"  he asks when Occasion returns. 
 

"Damp," she mutters. "Let's get inside."

Back in the stairwell, she takes off her mask and jacket and shakes ice crystals off them. They're still wet, but will dry–the jacket quicker than the mask.

Su Yin keeps a steady hold on Forge's hand as they go down to the apartment. Falling isn't really a problem, but it would be hard to explain to any neighbours why he is towing a floating girl.

Once they're safely behind closed doors, she hangs her mask and jacket on chairs in the kitchen to dry, then floats her way cross-legged into the living room, not wanting to soak Avi's parents' fabric furniture with her trousers.

"Nothing blown up?" she asks Ash and Blur. "Anyway, listen, this is what I saw up there. The place we were at last night has a web over it. It's blue and green and glows brightly. Probably the same thing Ivy sent us. AEGIS HQ is all sorts of colors, like Ash and Forge. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, since AEGIS gets up to all manner of things in there, but all the same..."

She trails off for a moment, then continues.

"I also saw a smaller green thing and a gray thing, which might be Ivy and Whisper. Can someone with functioning eyes message them and confirm their location? Actually, while we're on that, maybe this would be a good time to see if you can turn the magic-seeing off, Forge."

She rises a little, rotating slightly as she ponders what she saw.

"This is what I'm thinking. If the green and gray things really are Ivy and Whisper, then all of us–by which I mean the team and Ash–have some kind of magic aura. Now, I was thinking for a second back there that maybe all parahuman stuff counts as magic, but now I'm not so sure. There are something like a dozen parahuman groups out there. Not to say they would all have been within city limits right this moment, but if I'm just seeing any kind of powers, there should have been at least a few others."

She stops moving, facing the center of the room.

"So–and this is just a possibility; tell me if any of this is impossible, Forge–I think there might be something about that place with the web that marked us somehow. Something that makes us show up in the magic sight like this. I don't know. What do we all think about that?"
Lentrax
 Okay,  Ivy says. Getting up, she takes Whisper by the hand.

 We don’t need a moon to take a stroll. And there’s a diner not too far from here. 
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
  Okay,  Ivy says. Getting up, she takes Whisper by the hand.

 We don’t need a moon to take a stroll. And there’s a diner not too far from here.  
 

Whisper's heart jumped another beat or two. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. Her powers had a habit of getting out of hand when she was too worked up.

She let her hand close on Ivy's. It felt strange. Just, you know, holding a team-mate's hand like they were anyone.

But good strange.

She looked up at Ivy, a little shy now that they'd crossed that line.

"Okay. I'm all yours. Lead on."
Obscurejones
 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
 "Nothing blown up?" she asks Ash and Blur. "Anyway, listen, this is what I saw up there. The place we were at last night has a web over it. It's blue and green and glows brightly. Probably the same thing Ivy sent us. AEGIS HQ is all sorts of colors, like Ash and Forge. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, since AEGIS gets up to all manner of things in there, but all the same..."

She trails off for a moment, then continues.

"I also saw a smaller green thing and a gray thing, which might be Ivy and Whisper. Can someone with functioning eyes message them and confirm their location? Actually, while we're on that, maybe this would be a good time to see if you can turn the magic-seeing off, Forge."

She rises a little, rotating slightly as she ponders what she saw.

"This is what I'm thinking. If the green and gray things really are Ivy and Whisper, then all of us–by which I mean the team and Ash–have some kind of magic aura. Now, I was thinking for a second back there that maybe all parahuman stuff counts as magic, but now I'm not so sure. There are something like a dozen parahuman groups out there. Not to say they would all have been within city limits right this moment, but if I'm just seeing any kind of powers, there should have been at least a few others."

She stops moving, facing the center of the room.

"So–and this is just a possibility; tell me if any of this is impossible, Forge–I think there might be something about that place with the web that marked us somehow. Something that makes us show up in the magic sight like this. I don't know. What do we all think about that?" 
 

 "... I think if you're seeing that we're marked that sounds like a tracking device.  Magical, but basically like we might be lo-jacked."   Alex blurs over to grab his coat, and puts the domino mask back on.
 "Which means there's a chance they know where we are."
 
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "I think the two of you have the best of it,"  Forge responds. There's nothing that he can know for sure but the fact that everyone is marked and detectable may be a coincidence, but then Occasion didn't say anything about any other metas showing.  "And the fact that you were seeing AEGIS as well..." 
JNAProductions
While the conversation goes on, the copper piping on Su Yin's back starts to slough off. Her vision quickly returns to normal as she sheds the metallic runes.
The pipes are worn through, like someone ran a powerful current through them for days-that ritual should not be repeated with someone less durable than Occasion.

There's a little  click  from the door out front, as it unlocks.
NontheistCleric
Su Yin curses internally as she hears the lock click. Costume in the kitchen, too far to reach quickly. Well, she'd only look like a damp robber wearing it anyway. At least Blur can be passed off as a cosplayer in the event it's not an enemy coming in.

Maybe it's Avi? Avi's parents? That would be mercifully benign.

Just in case, she flies over to the door, slides the door chain into place, and lands, putting a neutral expression on her face.
Lentrax
 Let’s go then. 

Ivy starts walking, and as she walks, her mind goes back to why they were out here to begin with.

Ivy isn’t the smartest girl, but even she is able to put some things together.

 Do you think this other doctor has anything to do with Ash? 
JNAProductions
The door opens an inch or two, blocked by the chain. "God dammit," a male voice comes from outside. There's a moment or two of quiet, and then the phone of the man outside starts to ring. "Yeah, hi," he says when the other side picks up. "The place I rented-it's got the chain locking it. Yes, I unlocked the door. No, I can't get in."
NontheistCleric
"Call Miss N," Su Yin hisses at Blur and Forge, trying not to say anything that might give any identities away. 'Miss N' should be totally ambiguous, right?

Of course, the danger then is that they won't understand what she means. Oh well.

"It's rented already," she calls to the person outside, standing ready to close the door if the need arises.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Location: Right in front of or behind the door, depending on perspective.
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge has two instincts that come to his mind and flash away as the order comes from Occasion. That was to either get Ash to safety or try and play off the super-hero angle. Both of those don't seem to fit right now so they'll have to come up with something.

Forge gets out his phone and dials up Whisper hoping that's the ticket.

 
 Spoiler 
Forge is close to the kitchen near a dividing wall to the living area
 
Obscurejones
Blur moves to crouch next to Ash, lowering his voice to a whisper.
  “Alright, Ash. If we need to get you out of here quick are you okay with my moving you, or would you need to borrow my speed?”  
He looks around as he asks, scanning for a secondary exit. He is currently in the living room by Ash, ready to grab her or move between her and danger if need be.
JNAProductions
"Huh? But I already paid for it..." the man says. "Look, there's gotta be some kind of mix-up. You sure you're in the right building?"

As Su Yin talks to the man outside the door, Blur notices something at the window nearest to the living room with the TV. It went from casting a nice ray of light into the room to shadows, and looking at the window itself, there's something wriggling and squirming at the glass. And then, it presses forward with a casual strength, and the window breaks inward. Three tentacles shoot forward for Ash.
NontheistCleric
Su Yin hears the glass breaking. She slams the door shut and turns around to see what is going on.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
That's all she will do for now, since I assume Blur gets to make the first actual response.
 
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
  Let’s go then. 

Ivy starts walking, and as she walks, her mind goes back to why they were out here to begin with.

Ivy isn’t the smartest girl, but even she is able to put some things together.

 Do you think this other doctor has anything to do with Ash?  
 

Whisper walked along. She was feeling a little strange at first and she was worried that there was some kind of subconscious or unconscious resistance to being seen with Ivy, but after a while she realized.... she never walked anywhere as Whisper!

Once her Mask gear came on, she was pretty much always flying.

So she took a breath and tried to relax. It was a nice day. Ivy's hand felt nice in hers. She kept sneaking little glances at her from the corner of her eye.

"It would sure be a weird coincidence if he didn't. But I can't see the connection at all. I just hope that we can follow the lead back to wherever Ash was. Because a week in the Air BnB is fine. But we gotta work out what we're going to do with her after that. And pronto."

She looked back at where they came from.

"Do you know what all the others are up to? Do we need to go find them? You know, after our.... date?"

She emitted something that might have been a giggle. Just a little one. And maybe it was something else altogether.
Obscurejones
 "****ING ****!" 
No think, only move.  Grab kid.  Next room?  Window?  Window clear?  Jump through, shield kid with body.  Run down wall.  Out of town.  No window?  Rinse repeat each room.  No clear window?  Room with no window.  Set down kid.  Kitchen.  Knife.  Tentacle sushi.
 "AshIreallyneedanansweraboutwhatyou'reokaywithhere  becauseIfeellikewe'reinabitofacrisispoint-" 
Lentrax
Ivy smiles at Avi’s giggle. Then after a moment, she sighs.  Right. We should probably work first. Date later. After all, there’s a kids safety hanging on this. 

She pulls out her phone.

 Where do we find this other doctor anyway? 
JNAProductions
 
 Originally Posted by Obscurejones 
  "****ING ****!" 
No think, only move.  Grab kid.  Next room?  Window?  Window clear?  Jump through, shield kid with body.  Run down wall.  Out of town.  No window?  Rinse repeat each room.  No clear window?  Room with no window.  Set down kid.  Kitchen.  Knife.  Tentacle sushi.
 "AshIreallyneedanansweraboutwhatyou'reokaywithhere  becauseIfeellikewe'reinabitofacrisispoint-"  
 

Ash has barely started to scream by the time Black Blur has her in the kitchen, smashing through the window. He feels a few cuts on his cheek, but he grits his teeth and bares it-Ash is wrapped safely in his jacket, so she shouldn't be lacerated.

With his speed, he's out of the town in mere moments. There's an easily-followed trail of blown-by dust and debris till Halcyon is done with, but out of the city it becomes much harder to track.

Su Yin barely sees the motion of Black Blur making his exit-all she sees is tentacles at the window and Ash is gone.
NontheistCleric
Su Yin throws herself into the air and flies to the television, grabbing it to use as a makeshift shield.

 Sorry, Narayans. 

Then she flies full-force into the tentacles, trying to shunt whatever is behind them out the way it came.
JNAProductions
Su Yin manages to hit the tentacles. The TV, a big ol' flat screen, does not manage to work as a shield. It cracks down the middle almost immediately, and two smaller tentacles shove through and wrap around her waist. More are already crawling over the sides of the TV. And she can feel that even the small tentacles have strength behind them-if more than one of the main tentacles gets ahold of her, she doesn't know if she'd be able to break out.
NontheistCleric
Oh dear. The apartment is not going to survive this, and it's going to be partly her fault.

"Forge!" she shouts. "The guy outside! He might be that guy!"

The tentacles are strong, but maybe she doesn't need to break out. It would be worse to let this thing get away. She grabs the smaller tentacles, one in each hand.

With the force more evenly distributed around her frame, Su Yin suddenly reverses the direction of her flight, trying to pull the entire monster in through the window, all the way through the living room, and out the balcony.
MCerberus
  Forge  

With a small flash forge switches into his armored costume, or rather he's been in it all the time just glamored. That doesn't stop the problem of his powers in the way he would use it against this threat are... arson-y. He can't risk burning down the building, but there is something he can do. The phone, still ringing, drops to the floor and forge himself goes towards the attacking tentacles. The plan of attack is to super-heat his hand and hope that that neutralizes both the goo and the attacker when grabbed.
JNAProductions
Forge lunges forward as Occasion pulls back. A mass of icky, ichorous tentacles are hurled bodily into the apartment-looking at it, its center of mass is perhaps a meter in diameter. But its larger tentacles stretch significantly further. Not quite expecting the tentacles to get so far in, Forge has to pull back a bit, but still manages to grab onto a tentacle with hands of fire!

That proves to be an ill-advised plan. The tentacled mass lets out some kind of subdual shriek, felt more in your bones than your ears, and a puff of superheated black smoke  foomphs  out from the tentacle Forge has. He's smart enough to not even try to inhale it, but the smoke is already clinging to his hands, causing discomfort and pain.
NontheistCleric
Su Yin sees the smoke puff out, but there's no time to help Forge directly. She needs to keep momentum–get this thing away from him and out into her element.

She continues in the direction she was already going, forcing herself towards the balcony.

Wait, the balcony doors are still closed!

Well, one window and television are already wrecked. What's a couple of balcony doors on top of that?

No doubt the answer is 'quite a bit, actually'.

 AVI, I'M REALLY SORRY!  she thinks as hard as possible. It's probably futile to hope Whisper can hear her from wherever she is, but... maybe.
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by Lentrax 
 Ivy smiles at Avi’s giggle. Then after a moment, she sighs.  Right. We should probably work first. Date later. After all, there’s a kids safety hanging on this. 

She pulls out her phone.

 Where do we find this other doctor anyway?  
 

Whisper frowns, but just for a moment. She was actually surprised at herself at how quickly she let all the "Ash stuff" faded to the background. It wasn't like her to neglect her responsibilities. Especially Mask-related ones.  Maybe I'm not ready for dating?  she thought,  Maybe it's one thing too many? 

She got a sick, sinking feeling in her stomach at the thought. She really, really wanted to spend more time with Ivy.

Before she could follow that set of thoughts to any kind of conclusion (and before she could answer Ivy)...


 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
 [...]
Forge gets out his phone and dials up Whisper hoping that's the ticket.
[...] 
 

...her phone rang. She picked it up and put it to her ear.


 
 Originally Posted by At the Air BnB 
 "It's rented already..."
"Huh? But I already paid for it. Look, there's gotta be some kind of mix-up. You sure you're in the right building?"

...the window breaks

...slams the door shut

"****ING ****!"

"AshIreallyneedanansweraboutwhatyou'reokaywith  here becauseIfeellikewe'reinabitofacrisispoint-"

Ash... scream ... smashing the [kitchen] window.

The TV cracks down the middle

...hurled bodily into the apartment

...some kind of subdual shriek... 
 

She yells into the phone "Forge? Su Yin? Blur? What's happening?"

Whisper turns to Ivy, her eyes wide and horrified. "We have to go. right now."

She closed her eyes and the air filled with a low, agitated hum. Whisper rose into the air. Just in case, she reached out and sort of took hold of Ivy in a telekinetic tether. She had no idea how fast Ivy could fly (she didn't really know how fast  she  could fly).

But they were both about to find out.
JNAProductions
 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
 Su Yin sees the smoke puff out, but there's no time to help Forge directly. She needs to keep momentum–get this thing away from him and out into her element.

She continues in the direction she was already going, forcing herself towards the balcony.

Wait, the balcony doors are still closed!

Well, one window and television are already wrecked. What's a couple of balcony doors on top of that?

No doubt the answer is 'quite a bit, actually'.

 AVI, I'M REALLY SORRY!  she thinks as hard as possible. It's probably futile to hope Whisper can hear her from wherever she is, but... maybe. 
 

The tentacles Occasion is touching are burning her, and the creature's other ones are spreading through the building, trying to find Ash, presumably. But it's still being dragged ahead, and she braces for impact against the doors. The weight of the two together smashes one door down, though the other is only knocked loose, which does hamper Occasion's flight. She spirals a bit before stabilizing, nearly losing her grip on the creature, but it helps out by slamming another tentacle, this one much stronger and thicker, onto her leg. It's not smart enough to grab anything of the foundation, luckily, so it's in the air, unable to find purchase on anything but the hero in its grasp.
NontheistCleric
She screams as the tentacles burn her. It's stronger than the sample Forge took. Fresher? Enhanced by stress?

Su Yin has been caned enough times to know how to keep silence through pain. The scream is a signal to her teammates: Whatever this is, it crosses the Occasion injury threshold.

Cars in the street and pedestrians on the sidewalk. Okay. No safe surfaces to smash it into, then. Some enemies can be defeated just by bringing them up so high they can't breathe. Does this thing even breathe? Is it vulnerable to cold?

She'll just have to find out.

For the second time that day, Su Yin shoots skyward, trusting the sudden acceleration to force the other tentacles back so they can't all catch her.
JNAProductions
Shooting into the air, Occasion leaves some of the tentacles flapping in the sudden wind. But the monster's main pseudopods are stronger, and central. They reach up, curling around her waist, her neck, her face.

Her powers shoot into overdrive, trying to keep her safe from the burning acid, but as they do, her flight falters. She doesn't know how high up she is-she closed her eyes to avoid getting them burned.

Su Yin feels herself falling. Falling, falling, falling. And then, a sudden impact, and darkness.


 

Forge follows onto the balcony and hears Occasion's scream, but he's pretty much helpless to do anything as she shoots up. And then, not more than a few moments after she leaped into the air, she's back down, the tentacled monster splattering against the ground and shooting bits of acidic gunk everywhere. Occasion is in the center of the goop. He can't tell if she's alive.

The people on the sidewalk are screaming, some of them splattered with the ichor and being burned.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Su Yin is not dead. She's injured, and knocked the hell out, but she's not dead.
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Initially Forge just activated the Icarus device in order to help him move through or dissipate the smoke, although soon the damage leaves him floating. The phone is long forgotten, leaving only the sound of screaming and destruction. Then he sees Occasion go down and it reaches into the deep bad place in Forge's mind. A pathway that has been used before. Vengeance. Rage. A screaming psychic shockwave that can be felt by those that are sensitive to this.
 Trangressors. Woe betide those that harm my children 
Wordlessly, Forge sends a condensed jet of flame directly towards the center mass. It's not red, a burning white tinged with yellow. If anything stops the jet he knows where to press, and increase the pressure.
JNAProductions
The center of mass has splattered, and splattered hard. It's twitching, but it's not alive anymore. The biggest remaining bits are directly below and around Occasion.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge himself isn't exactly in the expected 'is everyone alright' mode after the shaggoth ceases. Instead he hears the last thing Occasion said playing in his mind. The man he let go playing nice to the cops. The one tormenting the innocent child. If he's still here Forge will find him.
 And he will answer 
And he will answer.
Lentrax
Screaming.

Ivy turns to look.

Is that...?

 Oh, no... 

Ivy doesn't show it. But she is strong. Incredibly strong. And so, still holding Whisper's hand, she takes off, flying straight for the apartment they were using to keep Ash in.
JNAProductions
Ivy and Whisper land, rushing towards the goop along with Forge. The two with flight move above it, careful to avoid touching it, while Forge does his best to not get gooped.

Occasion is in the center of it all-whoever reaches her first sees she's breathing, but can also tell she's taken some injuries. Her breath is a bit ragged-a broken rib, maybe?

Outside the center of the crash are some people-a few of whom got hit with ichor, and are screaming in pain. Some bystanders try to help, but they only get their hands burned trying to scrape it off the victims.


 

The countryside is peaceful. Blur and Ivy are both near a tree stump just off some farm, with Blur seated and Ivy pacing in a tizzy.
truemane
Upon touching down, Whisper is immediately horrified by the scene before her. People screaming. Horrid puddle of ichor all over. Occasion injured.

"Oh no," she muttered, and went toward the people affected by the ichor. She landed and concentrated, seeing if she could pull/scrape the goop off their skin with her powers.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge doesn't turn to greet the allies. He doesn't even seem to react too much to their arrive if at all. He's currently still engaged in trying to find the mystery opponent that caused this whole mess.

 Come out and answer for your crimes 
 "Come out and answer for your crimes." 
JNAProductions
Whisper's telekinesis is able to clear the goop without injuring herself. It doesn't take long to get the people clean of any further harm, but the ones affected are hurting.

Forge's shout goes unanswered.
Lentrax
Ivy lands in the apartment. She takes it in, and Immediately calls for Ash.

When there is no answer, she instead moves over to Occasion, checking on her.
truemane
Once as many of the people are as clean of the substance as she can manage, she turns to the puddle itself and tries to contain it in a telekinetic field of some shape or size.

It's not easy. Fluids are notoriously hard to manage. And TK is always easier to do in a single quick burst than a protracted consistent effort.

"Could someone please call 911?" she calls out, "We have people here in need of medical attention!"

 Is everything okay up there?  she projects to Ivy. Even in the chaos and noise and motion, she has no trouble finding her presence in her mind and directing a message to her.

She just hoped Ash wasn't hurt.
Lentrax
 Occasion is down. Ash isn't here. 

Ivy looks around for a moment.

 Neither is Blur. Guessing he ran her out of here when whatever this is happened. 
truemane
Whisper uttered a couple of nasty curse words in Malayalam that, if her mother heard her say, would be horrified.

 What to do? What to do? 

Whisper stopped moving. She flew up onto the roof of the building (as much to be out of the way as anything) and perched.

She closed her eyes. She concentrated. This was not something she was good at. Not even something she liked doing, for ethical reasons as much as anything else.

The low psychic hum that accompanied her powers matched the conflicted tenor of her feelings and, instead of a single discordant note, it was a low 'grumble' like hearing someone following you at midnight, or hearing the sound of finger nails against a window in the dark. She hoped she was far enough away from anyone else not to effect them with it. She knew that using her powers like this could cause fear and terror in anyone too close.

But she dove deep into her own mind and cast her telepathic sense out, in to the crowded, crowded world, looking for a mind she recognized.

Ash. Or Blur.

She knew they were out there somewhere.

She  hoped  they were out there somewhere.
JNAProductions
Whisper knows that anyone nearby is going to be uncomfortable. She's touching all their minds, even if only lightly. But as she expands and expands her awareness, eventually, she finds Blur. She's not sure exactly where he is-miles away, at a minimum-but he's there. And he's okay.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Where is he? WHERE IS HE. Momentarily Forge is lost in the impulses of anger until something jostles his mind to another path. Coming back to reality. Whisper may note something dark dissipating like a snake uncoiling and returning into the brush.

Now realizing what happened, Forge flies into action trying to get all potential civilians safe. He isn't going to try and handle the goo by itself but he does have the benefit of enchanted durable metal on his person he can use to scrape the junk off of people that got splashed.
NontheistCleric
There are screams, and Su Yin feels herself burning. Then she's not burning–and then she's burning again.

In the depths of her brain a primal fear sparks. She's not quite mortal again–but she's closer than she's been in a long time. She knows the way she always knows, a sensation barely beyond the physical, something microseconds faster than causality.

 That's why I can always choose to hurt, if I need to. Only now I'm not choosing. 

Something is broken inside. It's not a figurative statement. Splintered ribs scrape tender flesh. No room for false moves.

 The screams. We failed. People got hurt. 
 I tried my best. 
 It wasn't good enough. 
 Not good enough for Forge, maybe. Not good enough for Blur, or Ivy, or Whisper. But don't pretend, Su Yin. Your days of blaming yourself are past. Not even when you should. Not when it's just us. 
 We apologise for any crippling acid burns caused. 
 Occasion Airlines is not responsible for missing lives or skin. 

Su Yin opens her eyes. Ivy's bending over her, Whisper drawing the acid away. Shouting something about 911.

"Hey, Ivy," she whispers hoarsely. "Are people alive?"

She tries to raise herself up, but her joints are still screaming and the broken rib shifts in her chest. She sinks back the few inches, gasping for breath.

"Can't go to hospital. Powers are off... not all off. Can't focus. But.. can't trust... the hospital."
truemane
Whisper felt her chest tighten and a buzzing start in her temples as the stress of the situation took hold of her. She held herself to a very high standard. The same standard her parents, siblings, cousins, and everyone else in her life held themselves to. The Narayans were hard-working, responsible, determined, and not prone to giving up when things got hard.

So Whisper took a few deep breaths, tried to calm herself (not least because she knew that her stress would manifest in unpleasant ways).

But when she realized that Ash was out of her sight and out of her control, she knew she had to take care of what she could control.

She closed her eyes and sent a message to Aleksandr. He was far more skilled than she was and would be better receiving it than she was sending.

 We need help. We really need help. We're on our way to your office. Please, please, please meet us there. 

And then she leaped lightly down to the street and tried to gather everyone up.

"Ivy!" she yelled out, mostly with her mouth and partly with her mind, "Gather up Forge and follow me! I'll take Occasion. We're going to get some help."

She used her powers to lift up Su Yin, as carefully as she could.

And, assuming everyone was with her, she took off into the sky towards Aleksadr's office. And just hoped he would be able to help them.

If he couldn't, or didn't, she didn't know what they were going to do.
NontheistCleric
 Sorry, Avi,  Su Yin thinks over at her, not trusting her ribs with speech.  I kind of trashed your apartment. 
 Your parents have insurance, right? Please say yes. 
JNAProductions
Whisper hears nothing back for an agonizingly long time-probably ten seconds, but every one feels like an eternity. And then, a reply from her mentor.  I'll be there in five minutes. 

With the young psychic leading the way, you make your way to Aleksandr's office. You land on a nearby rooftop, a little lower than his office, and when the window opens, you move up and find space for yourself.

"Hell on wheels," he mutters, looking at Occasion. "She's your durable one. Occasion, just think at me if you need to get a message across-do  not  try speaking. Whisper, hold her a foot above the floor. I'll set the bones right, and it'll be easier on her if she's not touching anything physically."

With a deep breath, Aleksandr starts. He gently probes Occasion's body with his telekinesis, feeling where the bones are relative to where they should be. "This will hurt," he says, as he starts to move them. First the ribs, then the legs, then the arms... It hurts. A lot.

When he's done setting the bones, he takes one last action. He sets his hand on Occasion's forehead, gently, and she feels her body relax. It doesn't hurt nearly as bad. She can think more clearly, not having to deal with the agony, and can probably start trying to get her powers back under control. As her pain vanishes, Aleksandr's face turns to a hard grimace. He cusses under his breath as he backs away and nods to Whisper, to set Occasion down.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Whisper has seen Aleksandr do this before-he's taking the pain from Occasion. Normally, he does this with civilians-he's more durable than your typical person, so a broken bone or whatever isn't a big deal to him. He's got experience at pain.
 
NontheistCleric
Su Yin's eyes well up as the doctor shunts her bones back into place. Then she feels the familiar vanishing of pain, only this time it's not her doing it.

 Thank you, Doctor Rakhamanov,  she thinks at him as Whisper sets her back down. Finding the nearest chair, she settles gingerly into it and closes her eyes, focusing on the flickering storm of dulled sensation raging through her body. The pain is gone, but the power still speaks to her, telling her what should be broken–what is broken–and how it's trying and failing to fortify her.

 Stop. Deactivate. Take a break. 

It's all her now. Just Su Yin filling this flesh and bone. She can feel the tattered, acid-seared sleeves on her forearms.

 And I liked this top, too. 

Weight in her pocket.

 What is that? Oh, right. Phone. Wow, it still works. 

Wiping the tears away, she types a quick message to Blur.

 Fight over. You two safe? We are at Dr. R's. 

One for Grandmother, too.

 Got in a fight. Don't freak out when I come home. I look beat up but I'm okay.
 
 Wait, I'm forgetting something. 

"My clothes!" she blurts out in sudden realization. "Jacket and mask and... oh lord, my underwear. They're still in the apartment. Someone needs to go get them or incinerate them or something. If these people can put tracking magic on us, who knows what they can do with... I don't know, skin cells. And we should probably get a piece of that tentacle thing before they retrieve it. They're probably thinking the exact same thing."
truemane
 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
  Sorry, Avi,  Su Yin thinks over at her, not trusting her ribs with speech.  I kind of trashed your apartment. 
 Your parents have insurance, right? Please say yes.  
 

It was taking most of Whisper's concentration to stay aloft and move Su Yin along with her without jostling her too much. It had somehow never occurred to Whisper just how rough a ride flying was until she had to specifically keep someone's flight smooth.

 I don't know for sure, but I'd bet on my parents to have enough insurance to turn a profit on a trashed apartment. I just don't know how I'm going to explain this all to them. They're already so dubious about my Mask work. 

And then she caught herself. What was she talking about?

 But that's for later. Never mind all that. First we need to get you healthy. 

 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 With a deep breath, Aleksandr starts. He gently probes Occasion's body with his telekinesis, feeling where the bones are relative to where they should be. "This will hurt," he says, as he starts to move them. First the ribs, then the legs, then the arms... It hurts. A lot.

When he's done setting the bones, he takes one last action. He sets his hand on Occasion's forehead, gently, and she feels her body relax. It doesn't hurt nearly as bad. She can think more clearly, not having to deal with the agony, and can probably start trying to get her powers back under control. As her pain vanishes, Aleksandr's face turns to a hard grimace. He cusses under his breath as he backs away and nods to Whisper, to set Occasion down. 
 

Whisper stood back and watched Aleksandr work. She tried to watch everything he did and (to the extent she could without his direct consent) tried to extend her senses to get a feel for how he was doing it.

Whisper was always amazed at his ability to absorb pain and emit calm and peace. She could not do either. In fact, she could usually only do the opposite. And mostly by accident.

When he was finished she heaved a deep wavering sigh, her eyes started to water and she found herself on the edge of breaking down. Su Yin had looked so bad.

She threw herself at the massive Russian man and hugged him. "Thank you so much! I'm sorry to drop all this on you without any warning. But I couldn't think anywhere else to take her."

She let the big man go and stepped back.

"We're in so much trouble. I don't know what we're going to do."


 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
 "My clothes!" she blurts out in sudden realization. "Jacket and mask and... oh lord, my underwear. They're still in the apartment. Someone needs to go get them or incinerate them or something. If these people can put tracking magic on us, who knows what they can do with... I don't know, skin cells. And we should probably get a piece of that tentacle thing before they retrieve it. They're probably thinking the exact same thing." 
 

Whisper's eyes widen and she makes a gasp. "I had not even considered that! We should see if Blur can swing by and help."
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge is in something of a shell-shocked state, getting worse as he thinks about things. Nobody... nobody noticed but he lost it there. It was another time he just sort of went on autopilot and he wasn't able to stop the bad things from happening. Occasion, the civilians, Blur and Ash are... somewhere.
 You did what you had to. 
He's still sort of out of it when Occasion does come around.
 "My phone, it's still... it may still be there. I couldn't find the guy that started this. He might have it." 
Lentrax
Ivy watched from the side, not wanting to interfere. After all, this was not something that brute force couldn't solve.

But she watched Whisper. Watched the emotion flickering through her eyes. And she took the other girl's hand in hers, giving it a silent squeeze.

She let go when Whisper went to hug the Doctor.

"We're in so much trouble. I don't know what we're going to do."

 We will do what we have to,  Ivy says, stepping back over to Whisper and taking up the other girl's hand again.

"My clothes! Jacket and mask and... oh lord, my underwear. They're still in the apartment. Someone needs to go get them or incinerate them or something. If these people can put tracking magic on us, who knows what they can do with... I don't know, skin cells. And we should probably get a piece of that tentacle thing before they retrieve it. They're probably thinking the exact same thing."

"I had not even considered that! We should see if Blur can swing by and help."

 Stay here. Help Occasion. Message Blur that I am on my way to get stuff, he can meet me after bringing Ash here. But we can't stay long if they really can track one or all of us. 

And then Ivy slowly lets Avi's fingers slip from hers as she begins to step away, back toward the window. And then Ivy is off, flying back to where they left one heck of a mess.
JNAProductions
Aleksandr hugs back, wincing a little as Whisper's arms wrap tight around him. "Tell me everything that's been happening. Be detailed. But first, get yourselves clear from the scene-Blur should be able to."

You send a few more messages to your speedy friend. He runs back, dropping Ash off with you all in Aleksandr's office, then rushing back to collect whatever traces of you all he can from the Air BnB. He also grabs a jar and scoops the most solid piece of tentacle he can into there, sealing it tight afterwards.

While Blur is handling that, you explain as much as you can to Whisper's mentor.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Three things to note:
1) I did kinda take over Blur for a bit there-if any of that is inappropriate for the character, lemme know, but I wanted to get him back into the scene.
2) Is there anything you'd be trying to leave out of what you're telling Aleksandr? Or are you just telling him the whole truth?
3) *Evil Laughter*
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Still distraught over his latest mess-up, when Ivy leaves and Whisper and the doctor start talking, Forge goes over closer to where Occasion is.  "I'm sorry. I'm so ****ing sorry. I let you get hurt. I couldn't stop them from finding Ash."  A bit of clear-headed insight would remember something similar in his past and today's events really aren't helping. He also was not paying close enough attention and may have just cursed in from of the child depending on timing.

He tries to get his mind back on-track to what needs to happen, swallowing a lump in his throat.  "It is clear that they are tracking us like expected,"  he comments to the collective.
NontheistCleric
"Hey, Ash," Su Yin says as Blur deposits her in the office. "High-speed travel treating you okay? We killed the tentacles while you were gone."

"Thanks, Blur," she says once he retrieves her clothes. She ties them up into a bundle with her jacket on the outside.


 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
 Still distraught over his latest mess-up, when Ivy leaves and Whisper and the doctor start talking, Forge goes over closer to where Occasion is.  "I'm sorry. I'm so ****ing sorry. I let you get hurt. I couldn't stop them from finding Ash."  A bit of clear-headed insight would remember something similar in his past and today's events really aren't helping. He also was not paying close enough attention and may have just cursed in from of the child depending on timing. 
 

Su Yin puts a comforting hand on Forge's forearm.

"Smith. Calm down, okay? You didn't let me get hurt. I'm the tough one, remember? I'm supposed to get a little hurt if it means you don't get squished. They would have found us whatever we did, but you're the reason we know what they're up to. You did good."


 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
 He tries to get his mind back on-track to what needs to happen, swallowing a lump in his throat.  "It is clear that they are tracking us like expected,"  he comments to the collective. 
 

"Is there any way you could block the tracking?" she asks.

Then she thinks of something else. "We might not be able to go home for a while even if you can. If they attacked an apartment in broad daylight, our families won't be safe either."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Su Yin will mostly confine herself to telling the Doctor about the tentacle brawl, since that's the only part she's uniquely qualified to talk about. She doesn't see any reason to hold anything back, since he's Whisper's obviously-trustworthy mentor and just helped her greatly.

However, she doesn't give him any details of what Ash told her about her powers or what happened when they tested them, because she figures that's Ash's to tell if she wants to.
 
truemane
Whisper explains the entire situation to Aleksandr. She needed help. And the best way to get the right help from someone is to make sure they have all the information.
Obscurejones
Alex is slow to speak when he arrives, waiting for Ash to settle again before he chimes in, trying to get his thoughts down to normal speed rather then letting everything spill out at once.

 "... The tracking is probably problem one.  We don't know its range, or who it's on.  I'd guess Ash, and they didn't attack us once I boogied her out, so they either can't keep up with me, or I got out of range.

We need some sort of code phrase or... Third party authentication, or something.  Because if I need to run the kid again, and y'all get bodied we need a way to know I'm not running her back into the thick of it.

...  Hey, Ash, do you want a costume?  It feels like you should have a costume." 

The hum is faint, but high as his fingers twitch in his gloves.  He got the kid safe, but a teammate got hurt.  And indecision at speed is still indecision.  He could have done more.  Should have done more.  Instead of panicking and hiding in the woods till he got the all clear.
NontheistCleric
 
 Originally Posted by Obscurejones 
  "... The tracking is probably problem one.  We don't know its range, or who it's on.  I'd guess Ash, and they didn't attack us once I boogied her out, so they either can't keep up with me, or I got out of range.  
 

"It looked like it was on all of us when I saw the magic," Su Yin says. "We were probably specifically targeted, since no one else who was around the magical web area got tagged, either last night or today."

"Ivy, do you still have the lens?" she asks. "We should check if it shows us the same thing."


 
 Originally Posted by Obscurejones 
  ...  Hey, Ash, do you want a costume?  It feels like you should have a costume."  
 

"Wait, hold on!" she exclaims. "We're trying to keep Ash safe. A costume only makes her more of a target."
Obscurejones
 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
 "Wait, hold on!" she exclaims. "We're trying to keep Ash safe. A costume only makes her more of a target." 
 


Alex fixes Su Yin with a heavy dull stare, and speaks with a pointedly sarcastic monotone.

 "Good point.  Thank god she hasn't been targeted up to this point.  Don't know what I was thinking." 

He sighs and rubs his temples.

 "Sorry.  That... Wasn't called for.  But she's already a target, and a costume gives us a chance to give her some tools.  Coverage to keep her powers from proccing by accident, one or two things for self defense.  Hell, grab her a kids punk jacket.  Spikes and long sleeves could do wonders." 
NontheistCleric
"Okay," says Su Yin, "just to be clear, I am not against  equipment . Ideally concealed somehow. But anything that makes her stand out is clearly counterproductive. Even if we can shake the tracking spell somehow, whoever we're up against presumably still has eyes."
JNAProductions
"My office is warded-not perfectly, but it takes some serious mojo to find things here," Aleksandr says. "But you can't live here-too obvious."

Ash looks at Su Yin. "Are you okay?" she asks. "I... I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

Aleksandr looks down to Ash. "They get hurt whether or not you're there-they're heroes. That's what they do. They get hurt instead of people that can't defend themselves."
NontheistCleric
"I'm not exactly okay, but I'll be better soon," Su Yin says to Ash. "The important thing is that it isn't your fault. Look, 'because' is a funny word. Maybe some evil guy did send his tentacle monster at an apartment building because of you, but you know what? It's his fault for being an evil guy with tentacle monsters. I mean, you could even say I got hurt because of myself, since, you know, I chose to fight it, but you don't see me beating myself up because of that.

"Um, although, I guess got beaten up anyway. But you get it, right? It's the people who decide to hurt people who are wrong, not the people who got hurt. Not you and not me."
MCerberus
  Forge  

Thinking over the potential option, Forge starts striking out options in his mind. With how things have gone at the least he isn't quite confident enough to try anything that would be impactful. Still, there me be one option.

 "If it's alright we can put my armor plates on ash. They're thin enough that it shouldn't feel too bad." 
Obscurejones
 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
   Forge  

Thinking over the potential option, Forge starts striking out options in his mind. With how things have gone at the least he isn't quite confident enough to try anything that would be impactful. Still, there me be one option.

 "If it's alright we can put my armor plates on ash. They're thin enough that it shouldn't feel too bad."  
 


 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
 "Okay," says Su Yin, "just to be clear, I am not against  equipment . Ideally concealed somehow. But anything that makes her stand out is clearly counterproductive. Even if we can shake the tracking spell somehow, whoever we're up against presumably still has eyes." 
 

 “They have eyes and know what she looks like! We can’t uncross the rubicon. Might as well try to be a little more ready! Armor’d be a great start. Hell, we can throw a secret identity in there. Glasses, a wig… I don’t know, get creative with it.

Ash, any thoughts? Between Forge and myself we can probably cludge together just about anything short of a full mech suit.” 

Is it cheating to offer a fun costume directly to the kid? Yes. Still going to though.
NontheistCleric
"Yes, but they're going to notice a little superhero a lot more easily than a little girl," Su Yin points out. "Other people, who can tell them things if asked, will notice too.

"Now, the wig and glasses are a good idea, and the armor too, if Forge can make it hidden like his is."

She thinks for a few moments.

"But what we really need to do is find out who we're fighting. If we only think about how to protect ourselves and hide, we're just giving them time to come back stronger."

"So, let's think," she says. "What leads do we actually have? One: The guy who tried to get into the apartment. He's likely the enemy, especially since the tentacle monster showed up at the same time. He didn't try to fight us, but if it's the same man Forge got video of last night, he seems to prefer to have his beast do the fighting anyway.

"In any case, if we can find him, he's either the one we're after or might be able to lead us to them. Whisper, does the apartment building have CCTV we could look at? He also tried to open the door, so at the very least, maybe we can get his fingerprints off the handle. That will only do any good if we can get access to a database too, but... one step at a time.

"Two, we could try investigating those magic auras further. The things that showed up when Forge put a spell on me to see them were us, the web over where we were last night, and AEGIS. The last option is obviously something we don't want to have to go digging into unless we have to–but maybe we will have to.

"And three..." she trails off, turning back to Ash.

"Okay, Ash, I know this can't be the most pleasant subject for you, but when you escaped and we found you last night... how did that happen? How did you get to where you were? Anything you can tell us at all might help. We need to find whoever hurt you so we can stop them."
JNAProductions
Ash seems enthusiastic at the idea of getting a cool costume. But when Su Yin gets down to brass tacks, the eagerness fades.

She takes a deep breath. And then another. She starts to breathe a little faster, when Aleksandr speaks. "I can provide some calmness-it will involve touching your mind, Ash. I won't pry for anything, and it won't feel like much, but it can help you manage trauma."

Ash nods, and Aleksandr closes his eyes. One of his hands raises slightly towards Ash, and her breathing calms down. "Okay... Okay, I can talk. I don't really know where I was-there weren't any windows, or anything like that. They... They..." she shudders a bit, and tries to soldier on. "I escaped by grabbing someone else's power. They had someone they called 'Transporter', and he was always bringing in weird things from all over. One day, he got close enough to touch him, so I grabbed him and tried to suck all I could from his powers. And then... I just teleported out. I don't know how the... The guy, that was attacking me, I don't know how that happened."

She takes a raggedy breath. "There was some kinda symbol on things there. I don't know how important it is-do you have something to draw with?"

Aleksandr nods. "Whisper, grab a notepad and some pens." Whisper does so, and hands it to Ash, who starts sketching.

 
 Spoiler: Image 
 
 


The symbol's pretty easy to recognize. Worldwide pharmaceutical company Umbrella. Known for several breakthroughs of modern medicine, and all-around philanthropic goals and ideals.
truemane
Whisper gasped when Ash finished the symbol.  That can't be right,  she thought,  that can't be right. It has to be a mistake. 

Her mother was a respected surgeon and her father built hospitals for a living. So her family had quite a bit of experience with Umbrella. To the extent that any corporation could be one of the 'good guys' - Umbrella was one of the good guys.

And they weren't just big, they were  massive . International. Global. And her father had once told her that their holdings and subsidiaries, like an iceberg, went farther down than the stuff they put their name on.

"Are you sure, Ash?" she said, maybe a little sharper than she intended, "Are you sure? It was this?"

And she Googled it real quick on her phone and showed the girl the screen.

 Please let it be a mistake. 
JNAProductions
Ash nods. "What does it mean?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

The first reaction Forge has is a stress response, pinching his temple. He hasn't been in town long but even in his little corner of materials research as a relative nobody he's heard rumors, had third-hand connections to know the sheer amount of fancy unspeakable stuff that corp can consume. And that means lawyers, and nobody is going to want to help. The whole group even aside from being tracked might be toxic.

He can't even dismiss that through all the company webs he may even be working for them. Forge steps in trying to be reassuring. This is heavy stuff but it's still the objective to keep Ash safe and looked after, even mentally.

 "It means we have a lead to look at, Ash."  Well that's an optimistic stretch. He mulls around some ideas in his mind before coming to something.

 "Occasion, does the Transporter sound like someone you've worked with? Acquisitions at work I can't ask until Monday." 
JNAProductions
Occasion, not having a solid description of Transporter to go on, asks Ash for more details.

"He was big-like, two or three times my size. Had a hunch, and a lean to the left-uh, my left, facing him," she says. "Always looked kinda green, but the lighting wasn't good. I think he had too many fingers for a normal person too."

With the description, Occasion can safely say she has NOT worked with him.
NontheistCleric
Su Yin takes Ash's hand in her own.

"Thank you, Ash. That's all really helpful. You can think about something else now, okay?"


 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
  "Occasion, does the Transporter sound like someone you've worked with? Acquisitions at work I can't ask until Monday."  
 


 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 "He was big-like, two or three times my size. Had a hunch, and a lean to the left-uh, my left, facing him," she says. "Always looked kinda green, but the lighting wasn't good. I think he had too many fingers for a normal person too."

With the description, Occasion can safely say she has NOT worked with him. 
 

"I don't know anyone like that," she says. "He's not one of the teleporters who advertises, but then, whoever he is, he already has a regular client, and obviously on the shadier side of things, too. Not really my area. I can ask around, though.

"The teleportation does explain how a tentacle monster appeared in broad daylight like that, and why this guy seems to get away so easily. Height roughly matches with the video you got last night, although not the color. Possibly it was just lighting."

"Teleportation means a few things," she muses. "This 'Transporter' isn't hurt himself, so he will come at us once he can get another monster–and he can come at us anywhere. Since his people–or people we can assume are his people–are tracking us, that means we'll be in danger as soon as we step out of this office. But we also know he has limits. He didn't teleport the monster straight into the apartment, and if that was him outside it, he couldn't just come in either, even after he opened the door a crack. Maybe he needs to see where he's teleporting, or know it well? It's not an uncommon limitation."

"If we have to move separately, we should go in pairs," she says. "Or one pair and one group of three, since there are five of us. The point is, no one should be alone."
Obscurejones
 
 Originally Posted by JNAProductions 
 Ash nods. "What does it mean?" 
 

 
"... Well, your first supervillain is a giant corporation.  So... Way to tap into the zeitgeist.  Pharmaceuticals are a good pick.  If they attack us in social media we'll be very current year." 
Let the kid be a hero.  Make it a fight they're in, not a thing happening to them.  It's worth a shot.


 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
 Su Yin takes Ash's hand in her own.

"Thank you, Ash. That's all really helpful. You can think about something else now, okay?"



"I don't know anyone like that," she says. "He's not one of the teleporters who advertises, but then, whoever he is, he already has a regular client, and obviously on the shadier side of things, too. Not really my area. I can ask around, though.

"The teleportation does explain how a tentacle monster appeared in broad daylight like that, and why this guy seems to get away so easily. Height roughly matches with the video you got last night, although not the color. Possibly it was just lighting."

"Teleportation means a few things," she muses. "This 'Transporter' isn't hurt himself, so he will come at us once he can get another monster–and he can come at us anywhere. Since his people–or people we can assume are his people–are tracking us, that means we'll be in danger as soon as we step out of this office. But we also know he has limits. He didn't teleport the monster straight into the apartment, and if that was him outside it, he couldn't just come in either, even after he opened the door a crack. Maybe he needs to see where he's teleporting, or know it well? It's not an uncommon limitation."

"If we have to move separately, we should go in pairs," she says. "Or one pair and one group of three, since there are five of us. The point is, no one should be alone." 
 

 "He didn't show up when Ash and I were sitting out in the boonies.  So he was either ranged out, couldn't track, or couldn't blind jump.  Or some combination of the three.  In any case, if we need to play keep away we can."
 
NontheistCleric
 
 Originally Posted by Obscurejones 
  "He didn't show up when Ash and I were sitting out in the boonies.  So he was either ranged out, couldn't track, or couldn't blind jump.  Or some combination of the three.  In any case, if we need to play keep away we can."
  
 

"Right. One group for keeping away and one for investigating," Su Yin says. "Ash has to go with the keep-away group, since she's the one we're keeping away. I have to go investigate, since I'm no shape to play defense right now.

"As for everyone else... who wants to go with who?"
JNAProductions
"So... You won't be with me?" Ash asks Su Yin. She's putting on a brave face, but it's easy to see that she's more nervous with that statement than she was before.

Aleksandr, who's been thinking, says "Tread carefully. It might be possible to make this known and get the support of the public. But at the same time... Doing so is always risky. I certainly wouldn't do anything on that end without asking your ward, but it's worth keeping in mind."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Okay-two teams, one with Ash, one to investigate. Let's figure out who's going where, what the general plan is, and then time skip a little.
 
NontheistCleric
"Just for a bit," Su Yin says to Ash. "I can't protect you right now. I'd only make whoever was doing the protecting have to worry about two people at once. But I can still use my brain, so that's what I'm going to do.

"You use your brain too, okay? Keep calm and keep alert. We'll be back as soon as we know something."

She stands up, a little more cautiously than usual, and rolls up her tattered sleeves.

"First stop–costume storage. I need a change of clothes."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Su Yin keeps her full Occasion attire and equipment in a storage facility somewhere in town, along with some spare clothes, so that will be where she goes next. Let's figure out groups before we get to that, though.
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

With what happened earlier, the discussion is starting to cause some emotional effort on Forge's behalf to keep on the 'everything's fine' facade. While draining he's still got enough to keep sharp for a while on either path. He does have some mental reservations that the summoner and teleporter are the same person. Taking a short breath Smith puts back on the hero face.

 "I can do either; Ivy's already got the gear I thought would be useful. If I'm on defense I'd like someone to check the workshop. If nobody tried to break in it may oddly be the safest place. Most of the stuff there is inert anyway." 
truemane
 WHISPER 

Whisper stays quiet as the others jump into strategizing. She knew she should be more involved, but the idea that Umbrella was behind all this somehow was a real blow to her.

"Look, guys, muggers are one thing. We can punch those. And even supervillians are, like, single units of Bad Guy that we could stand up to, talk to, deal with."

"But a corporate as big and rich and powerful (and popular!) as Umbrella is like fighting... I don't know... capitalism, or society. Like fighting everyone."

She frowned.

"And like Aleksandr says, unlike fighting a mugger or supervillain, there's no guarantee anyone will think we're on the right side of this."

A wry smile.

"Remember what they did to that poor woman who sued McDonald's after being burned with scalding coffee? The turned her into a joke. An idiot. Until she wasn't just a single victim of a multi-billion dollar legal machine anymore, but instead everything that was wrong with the modern era."

She shook her head.

"I'll come help. I can't walk away now. But I don't know what we're going to do."

A long pause.

"I think I should stay away from Umbrella, even though I know enough about them to help out. If they find out who I am.... they can crush my whole family like nothing."

Another long pause.

"I'm really scared."

Fear was not something Avi often felt. And it was certainly not something she often expressed.
NontheistCleric
 Doctor Rakhamanov's Office 
Su Yin listens to Avi's final words rattling about the room and tries to think of something to say.

"It is pretty scary," she eventually admits. "But you know, these people–Umbrella or whoever they really are–they're scared too. They don't have Ash. They don't have their monster. From where they're standing, we beat them today.

"Now we just need to preserve that advantage. To start, let's find this 'Transporter' person. No fighting the dragon yet. Come on, investigation team."

Slinging her bundle over one shoulder, she heads for the door.

 Costume Retrieval 
The storage unit is old, secured only by a shutter and opened with a physical key. The Kingfisher Storage Company was on the cutting edge of security thirty years ago, which is exactly why Su Yin uses it. The single camera in the entry lobby has a huge blind spot the group walked right through to take the stairs. Small chance of being exposed, and none of her equipment is that irreplaceable.

The flight suit wouldn't look out of place in a cockpit, but the helmet is less standard, dark all over and full-visored. Gloves cover the last bits of exposed skin, and a pair of boots raises her height a centimeter or two.

Occasion straightens up from her laces, transformed into a faceless, androgynous figure. She picks up her last implements, one a padded, insulated backpack, the other a steel pole pilfered from a construction site. As the only team member with no offensive powers, a weapon helps her keep up. Of course, a fight would be a bad idea for her right now, but something is better than nothing if it comes down to it.

"We'll check the AirBNB first," she says to the others. Her voice completes the disguise, slightly muffled but also layered with an adopted accent, something vaguely Transatlantic. "After that, I know someone who might know something."

Another reason she chose this place was that they never lock the roof door. She leads them out, up and away, back to the scene of the crime.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Despite having some worries in the back of his head, Blur and Ivy can handle themselves. However he doesn't have any words that can effectively materialized in his troubled mind for Ash. Already kitted to his normal extent, he walks with the investigation group casually, trying to not pick up so much attention while glamored into normal clothing. The state of the storage area does throw him for a loop, but it's not like he has the best lair either.

He drops the disguise when Occasion suits up, going back to red and bronze with an attached fancy-looking backpack. He's doing some mental geography about where the group is now and comes to a conclusion.  "My workshop is just a bit out of the way as we're going there. I'll catch up. Just need to make sure nobody is putting attention there." 

Unless anyone objects, he'll divert and split from the others as they begin to travel.
NontheistCleric
"No, no one left alone, remember?" Occasion says. "It's not a big detour. We'll all come."

She follows him.
JNAProductions
The three on the investigation team make their way to the remnants of the Air BnB. When you get there, you find a tent hospital has sprung up-emergency medical team, treating everyone who was hurt on the spot instead of trying to move them. There's also a few individuals in hazmat suits, cleaning the ichor from the tentacled monster's death. And, now that it's been brought to your attention, you see far too many Umbrella logos-on pill containers, on the tags of scrubs... Ubiquitous.

The people being treated seem mostly fine-some cosmetic damage, some painful things, but anyone more severely injured is either not there or doing better. One of the attendant doctors, a weary older woman, notices you from where she's seated eating a sandwich. She manages to crack a small smile, and waves you over. "We've got a few cops in the building itself, checking everything over. You might be needed there."
NontheistCleric
"Thank you, doctor," says Occasion, giving her a nod as she walks into the building.
truemane
Whisper puts a hand on Occasion's arm.  Hold up one moment,  she thought at her.

Whisper walks up and flashes the badge she got from Aleksandr when she first started Mask-work. When he was Goliath, he had been a member of a state-sponsored organization dedicated to using Masks more like social workers than law enforcement. About a decade ago, it turned out the City Councilor who championed the program was an alien supervillain named General Sleep, who had a wild scheme to move all Masks off the streets and into admin roles.

Anyway, so the organization lost a lot of its funding and sort of fell by the wayside. It still exists, though, and still has a decent name among some people who remember them.

So Whisper's badge was barely even a badge, proving her to be barely an agent of what was barely an agency.

But still, sometimes it helped. She hoped this was one of those time.

She flashed the badge at the doctor, "Just one moment of your time, Doctor, if I may. Have there been any corporate personnel here since you arrived? Anyone from Umbrella? Or..." she tried to think of as many Umbrella subsidiaries as she could quickly..

"Guarda Bionics, Kisobran Pharmaceuticals, Destník Biologique, or Paraplu Chemicals?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

Seeing Whisper start pulling credentials Forge makes sure to quietly remind her of something they may or may not have talked about before (and he may just be unaware if Whisper did),  "This stuff is easier if you register,"  referring to Aegis. When the group makes it in and to someone useful inside the makeshift hospital, he can't help but be a bit uncomfortable. The way he handled things earlier created a lot of... splash... that may have caused these people to get hurt.

And since speaking up may cause someone to recognize/blame him, Forge keeps quiet and follows Whisper's lead.
JNAProductions
 
 Originally Posted by truemane 
 She flashed the badge at the doctor, "Just one moment of your time, Doctor, if I may. Have there been any corporate personnel here since you arrived? Anyone from Umbrella? Or..." she tried to think of as many Umbrella subsidiaries as she could quickly..

"Guarda Bionics, Kisobran Pharmaceuticals, Destník Biologique, or Paraplu Chemicals?" 
 

"Um," she replies, thinking. "Adams-he's right over there," she says, gesturing to a man in scrubs talking to a patient that's having some trouble with the pain, "is going to Destník Biologique soon. He's working here to pay for school bills, but they offered him a lot more. Good for him, too-he works hard."
NontheistCleric
It's not visible inside her black helmet, but Occasion averts her eyes from the patient struggling with the pain.

 Not your fault. You didn't do this. 
 We should have done better. Flown up over the building before we crashed. 
 Hindsight is always 20/20, Su. 'Because of' this, 'maybe if' that. You told Ash yourself, right? It's that man's fault. That man who brought the monster. Now stop thinking about it! You want Whisper to pick up on what a mess you are? Go do something useful. 

Cutting off the internal monologue, she thinks more deliberately at Whisper.

 I... probably don't have much to contribute here. I'll go in first and see what the police are up to. 

She goes into the building.
JNAProductions
The building is not in any danger of collapsing, but someone has put up a "Hard Hats Required" sign near where the police are investigating. They've also, helpfully, left a few there. Entering the remnants of Whisper's parents' Air BnB, you can see why-there's enough debris hanging loosely to risk a nasty conk on the head. Nothing too dangerous, not anymore, but safety first.

There's four cops inside, moving slowly and methodically around the rooms, cataloguing evidence and taking it all in.
NontheistCleric
Occasion looks around to see if there are any security cameras that could have caught the man who was standing outside the flat earlier.
JNAProductions
 
 Spoiler: OOC 
 (1d100)[ 51 ] 
 


There's a Ring camera just outside the door... Or what's left of it. Forge might be able to salvage some information, but you'd definitely need someone tech-savvy to help.
NontheistCleric
Occasion considers the situation. No way are the officers going to let her take the camera. She herself has neither AEGIS registration nor social worker badge, but it's doubtful they would give it to Whisper or Forge either.

So she strips off a glove and types a message on the team's group chat instead.

 SECRET MESSAGE!

(a large blank space underneath)

Ring cam on door. Someone steal it while I talk to the officers. Telekinesis? 

Then she replaces the glove on her hand and phone in her pocket and steps gingerly through the debris into the apartment.

"Officers. Hello. Is there anything I can do to help?"
JNAProductions
They look over at the newcomer. "Who're you?" the nearest one, a young man, asks.

But an older detective, also a man, answers. "That's Occasion-she works as a metahuman for hire, and does some hero work too. Mostly just money, though. What are you doing here?"
NontheistCleric
"I'm wearing my hero hat today," she says. "Or, well, helmet. I came with Forge and Whisper–they're still with the medics. They were actually here earlier, evacuating one particularly injured civilian."

Risky admission? Yes, but surely there were eyewitnesses anyway. At least this way, the story has the ring of truth.

"We just thought we'd swing back around and see if there was anything else we could do."
truemane
"Thank you, Doctor," Whisper said and looked over at 'Adams.' She wasn't sure 'got a job at Destník' was the smoking gun she was looking for, but she kind of wandered over all the same. She nodded toward Occasion to indicate she heard her Mental-gram, and then put on her best, most disarming, most Well-Behaved Child smile, and got into Adams' line of sight.

"Hello, Mr.Adams?" she said, letting more of the Indian lilt into her voice. "I was wondering if you tell me a bit of what happened here?"

She didn't flash the badge. Yet. She wanted to see what he said first.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. The Secret Group Chat buzz. Whisper looked toward it for a half a moment and then back at the young doctor. Whatever it was, it would have to wait.
JNAProductions
Adams looks over for a moment, but holds up a hand to say 'Wait a moment.'

He returns to his focus on the patient in front of him-a young man, maybe just out of high school, maybe still in. "Hey, hey-keep focusing on me, okay? You're gonna make it through. I know, it hurts-but you're tough. Come on, you play football-focus on telling me about it, okay?"

The young man takes a shaky breath and nods. "Um, last game, there was, uh..." he takes another breath. "I almost blew it-but Jeff, he managed to catch what I threw. We were all really, uh, impressed. Ow... But, uh, no one was mad at me for throwing badly. I was tackled, uh, as I was throwing, so I guess it was okay?"

Nodding back, Adams smiles. "See? Hey, that's good-you kept your cool under pressure. You can do it here too-and you'll be back playing football in just a few days. I'm gonna ask you to take it easy till Wednesday-go to practice, if you have it, but no rough stuff. Need me to write a note for your coach?"

"Uh, yes please."

"Alright, I can do that," Adams replies. "Deep breaths, okay? I'll be right back." He walks a short distance away, to a folding table with some scratch paper. He waves Whisper over. "What was it you wanted?"

Whisper repeats the question.

He starts writing the note on a piece of monogrammed paper, and says "Not really sure. Someone called 911, I know that much, and something involving metahumans was the cause. Luckily, the injuries seem to be very much treatable-they hurt, but no one's dealing with long term damage. We came, we set up triage to sort who's most injured, and we did our jobs. You related to one of the injured?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

Having kept quiet and to some attempt inconspicuous (it probably doesn't work that well considering) Forge had just kept at the back looking around and keeping his ears open. However since this Adams seems to be talkative enough that it comes to his mind that he can get some information on whatever the hell keeps getting summoned against them. That and it's something Forge knows Occasion wanted to take a look at earlier before it went wrong.

 "Do we know much about the substance? Seems like a corrosive base, are they worried about long-term effects?" 
JNAProductions
He frowns, and cusses a bit. "That's a solid point-I don't think any of us considered it. Charlie, sir!" he calls to a much older doctor who seems to be supervising. "The hero here-sorry, didn't get your name-brought something to my attention."

"What is it?" Charlie asks.

"Long-term effects, sir. We don't know what the substance is, so god only knows what it might do," Adams tells him.

Charlie frowns too. "We'll want to get their primary doctors' office information, to help track anything that happens. All of them should do a follow-up appointment, but that's something we've already told them. And we'll want to examine the substance in a controlled environment. Go back to your patient, Adams-I'll take over getting assistance from these two."

"Yes sir," Adams replies, and goes back to the young football player.
truemane
Whisper took a step back from the doctors as they did their work. Nothing they said was alarming on the face of it, but combined with the rest of the situation it, it felt... off. Something about the way they were emphasizing following up with Primary Care Physicians.

Like this was all some sort of experiment.

Frowning, she took her phone out. She was about to type into the group chat, but saw Occasion's message and looked back to the building. She motioned to Forge that she was going and headed over to the door of the Air BnB.

She was really great at detail work, but she had to see if she could help.

She just hoped she could there in time.

She made her way to the door of the apartment, already focusing her powers to try and grab the camera while the cops' backs were turned.
JNAProductions
 
 Spoiler: Whisper Roll 
 (2d100b1)[ 52 ] 

It's not SUPER difficult, so rolling with advantage. But there's room to mess up.
 


"Unless you're trained for gathering evidence, your best bet is to just not interfere," the older detective says. He follows that up with a slightly bitter-sounding mutter, but nothing easily audible.

Whisper's powers, while not the BEST for subtle work, manage to get the camera loose. It starts to fall, and a telekinetic cushion stops it from making a loud clattering. A follow-up shove rolls it to Whisper's waiting arms.
NontheistCleric
"Sure," says Occasion. "I get it. Just so you know, though–this wasn't the only attack. Black Blur fought a similar creature last night."

She gives them the location.

"Some of your guys even saw him. We think there's a teleporter behind these incidents. I don't know if that helps you any. Maybe it will. Good luck, officers."

Turning and leaving the way she came, she sees Whisper outside the the apartment.

 Nice,  she thinks, spotting the camera in Whisper's arms.  Here, stow it in my backpack quickly, then let's see if Forge is ready to go yet. 
MCerberus
 Forge 

Forge is close by having been pretending to take pictures around as if they hadn't had first-hand experience about what happened. Not having had a good look at the camera... well it would be easier if it had a usb connection or something. Not being in on any of the silent communication loop (and his brainspace being less than pleasant) he'll need a prodding that they're ready to go.
Obscurejones
Back at the clinic, Alex stares at Ash for a moment, weighing expedience versus boredom and safety...

 "Eh, can't hurt to ask.  What do you want to do?" 
JNAProductions
Ash thinks for a bit. "Can we get some food?" she asks, her stomach giving off a gurgle.
Obscurejones
Yeah, that tracks.  Tiny kid, high metabolism.  Heck, who knows how much energy her abilities drain.  But... Ugh, what do kids eat?

 "Sounds like a plan.  You want to cook, go out, run down an elk in the wild?" 
JNAProductions
"Um... I think I saw a McDonald's out of the window?" she says.

Aleksandr scoffs, but quietly. He was once a child too, with McDonald's being fine cuisine to him. As you move to leave, he says "Wait a moment," and pulls out a few twenties from his wallet. "Don't use cards-nothing that can be linked to you for the moment. Use cash."

You take the money, at his insistence, and head for the McDonald's. Looking in, there's a small line-maybe three groups deep.
NontheistCleric
 Apartment Disaster Site 

 
 Originally Posted by MCerberus 
 Forge is close by... he'll need a prodding that they're ready to go. 
 

"Forge," Occasion says. "I think we've done all we can here. Let's go by the roof."

She really doesn't want to see all the acid burn victims again.

Once they're in the air, she speaks again.

"Okay, there's one more place I want to go before we try and get something out of the camera. Forge, I think I told you about him before–the Curtain Man? I get some of your weirder stuff from him. He's a weird-stuff kind of guy, and he knows some weird stuff too. Like how we can find 'Transporter', if we're lucky.

"The hard part will be giving him a reason to tell us. He's not usually an information broker. But we can figure it out when we get there."

 Lair of the Curtain Man 
It's just one of hundreds of units in an ordinary office building, not quite in the city center but still a trendy business location. Occasion leads the group through white, air-conditioned corridors to the clear glass door and plaque beside proclaiming the name of 'Syme and Co.' The sign hung on the door reads 'We are OPEN', so she pushes through into the reception area.

"Hi, Erica," Occasion greets the lady behind the desk. Erica is friendly and open, a stark contrast to her enigmatic employer in the inner room, but Occasion knows it's as much of a mask as her own black visor. It would almost have to be, working for the Curtain Man. "We're here to see Mister Syme."
JNAProductions
"No appointment?" Erica replies with a pleasant, japing tone. "I'll have to pencil you in... Let's see, does four o' clock work for you?" she adds, eyeing the digital clock with its soft glow reading 3:58. "He's not particularly busy for the moment, so go ahead. Just knock beforehand."

Occasion at the fore, you head back and knock on the door. The Curtain Man's strong voice replies from inside, "Enter."

You all enter. Occasion is familiar with the sight, but for Whisper and Forge, it's new. Well... It's an office. There's a desk, a nice chair behind it, a single less nice chair in front of it, and a big curtain behind all the furniture. The Curtain Man is not facing you, instead looking at his curtain. He turns, facing you three. "Occasion. And friends," he says to greet you. "What brings you here today?"
NontheistCleric
"I know you don't exactly make a habit of dealing information," says Occasion, sitting down. "But we thought we'd try our luck anyway.

"We're looking for someone. A teleporter. Tall guy with a hunch, leans to his right, and has an abnormal number of fingers. Maybe greenish skin? I'm not too clear on the last detail. He works for Umbrella Pharmaceutical at least part of the time, and answers to 'Transporter' around them. Does that sound like anyone you know, or know about?"
JNAProductions
The Curtain Man pauses for a moment, thinking. "No. I can't say that reminds me of anyone I know."
NontheistCleric
"Okay," she says. "I guess that was kind of a shot in the dark. Let me take one more, though. Do you know who deals in SEP field generators or tentacle monsters? My team has encountered both in the past day, and we think they're related to the same thing as 'Transporter'. The monsters are purple, about a meter across at their core, but the tentacles stretch out further, dripping with acid."
JNAProductions
"That information will not be free," the Curtain Man says. "I certainly know something on those matters, but..."
NontheistCleric
"Naturally," Occasion replies. "You're not running a charity here. So, what do you want from us?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

If there's anything that causes annoyance buying from the meta community it's the theatrics. Yes. When you want to buy something there is often a price in barter or cash in order to facilitate commerce. It's a... thought about being melodramatic from the guy wearing bright red and occasionally just lives soap operas. Still it does often lead an opening to offer something they know instead of just material.

 "Would it help our offer if we tell you how to counter the spellcaster behind the recent attacks? I mean it could help give people some peace of mind." 
JNAProductions
"No. No, that won't do," he replies. "I'm thinking-" he adds, before being cut off.

Erica, from the other room, can be heard yelling. "Sir, problem!"

In something that's a bit of a shock to Occasion, you all see a genuine flicker of concern cross the Curtain Man's face. He moves, gesturing for you to move with him, and you all find yourselves in the first room, along with Erica, and someone you don't recognize. The unknown person is clad in sleek black power armor, standing about six and a half feet tall. The Curtain Man looks at the armored figure, who stares him back.

"You have my things," a deep voice comes from the helm.

The Curtain Man says "You were dead. I sold them."

The armored figure laughs, a metallic and grating sound. "Do I look dead to you?" Their voice suddenly cuts to a sterner, more serious tone. "I want them back."

"I told you-I don't have them," he replies.

The armored figure leans forward, looming. "In that case, you've got one day to get them back. Don't say I'm anything but generous. Twenty four hours." They turn and leave.

Erica looks to her boss. "Sir..."

"Go home, Erica. Don't come back till Wednesday," he tells her. She looks like she's about to say something back, but just nods and starts to pack her belongings. "And I think we can work something out for that information-Jet can cause a lot of damage with his gear. I'll tell you what information I have if you can get him his items back, or otherwise stop him from interfering with my business."
NontheistCleric
Occasion's mind races, taking in the situation.

"Okay," she says, speaking as fast as possible. "Sounds fair. Mister Syme, you stay right here and tell my associates the answers to these questions:

"One, who this guy is, his reputation, what he can do.

"Two, what of his you sold.

"Three, who you sold it to.

"All in the interest of completing retrieval in a timely and effective way. One question for me, now: He leaves from the roof, or the front door?"

When she gets her answer, she wrenches the door open and leaps into the air, flying above head height through the corridors, trying to catch Jet before he's gone.
JNAProductions
Occasion doesn't have time to get the Curtain Man's answers, but does have time to hear thrusters from Jet's suit from above.


 

"You'll be looking for a stock of obdurium. A few metric tons," he tells the remaining heroes. "I sold it to a research facility, called Panoply."

 
 Spoiler: Obdurium-Forge Would Know This For Sure 
Obdurium is generally thought to be a theoretical material. Technically able to occur naturally, but never... Well, "never" found, it's incredibly dark, absorbing nearly all light, incredibly dense, and incredibly strong. There may be more supernatural properties to it, like the ability to negate magic and whatnot, but those aren't fully known to even Forge.

A metric ton of obdurium is a little larger than a balled-up fist, smaller than an average head.
 
NontheistCleric
"Jet!" Occasion calls over the thrusters' roar, accelerating to meet him. "Hold on. We have interests in common. You want your property back, and my team needs something from Curtain Man that he'll give to us if we help get it for you.

"My teammates are getting some essential information from him now. I know you gave him your ultimatum, all tough-like and whatever. But the real question is this: Are you going to trust the guy who sold it off in the first place to deliver? I don't know you, but we both know him. You come back tomorrow and trash his place, he'll be long gone behind his curtain and set up elsewhere.

"Or... you could go get it yourself, with us as backup. I know it must be important, or you wouldn't have given it to Curtain in the first place. Which sounds like the better bet?"
JNAProductions
The thrusters slow, shifting him to hovering. "And what exactly are a few punk kids going to do to help me? You can fly, sure. Pretty sure that other girl can too. And the guy, what? What do you honestly think you can do?"
NontheistCleric
"You're right," Occasion says, spreading her arms in concession. "I'm nothing so impressive. But my friends have some serious power. As for the specifics, I'd expect them to tell you just as much as I'd expect you to give us your armor blueprints. If we work together, you'll see for yourself anyway."

She shifts a little closer in the air, black helmet facing black helmet.

"Besides, 'punk kids' or not–who cares? You could be any age under that armor. It's the ability that matters. And if you doubt our ability to protect your investment... Well, isn't that even more of a reason to come along?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

With the day going the way it isn't quite a stretch that such a dismissal rubs Forge the wrong way, bringing out the impulsive direct part of his personality out. He steps forward and brings out the Icarus, the wings popping out but static.

 "Artificer and a materials at MetaTech,"  he responds coldly.  "But you can find a group that doesn't know how to handle your gear if you want." 
JNAProductions
Jet mulls it over-but only for a moment. "No-get lost, or I'll get angry."
NontheistCleric
"Well," says Occasion, "don't blame us if that cooperative attitude of yours fails to get you what you want."

She drifts down to the rooftop and goes inside with Forge, meeting Whisper back at the Curtain Man's place.

"So, Panoply, is it?" she says upon being updated. "Okay. Mister Syme, you have any useful equipment in store that might help us transport a few metric tons? It's over my weight limit. Also, just in case, do you know if Panoply has anything against Umbrella? Might help us convince them to give the obdurium back, it it comes down to that."
JNAProductions
The Curtain Man tells you "It was packaged in a gravitational distortion unit, the kind that'll make it lighter. Unless they've gotten rid of that, it shouldn't be hard to transport. As for Panoply itself... Not sure. Didn't care to investigate."
MCerberus
  Forge  

Despite something sounding like they're not getting a piece of information, Forge goes along with the current mission brief. Also the thought that an unexplained material is outside containment is... worrying especially with the investigation team's current power set.

 "Before we go, do you have any names for us? Invoice? It's annoying but we may be able to unwind things without too much fuss." 
JNAProductions
"Give me your phone number-I can send you more details about the deal with Panoply," he tells Forge.

As the details are exchanged, Whisper's phone starts going off. She steps out to take the call, and when she returns, she looks a bit guilty. She sends a text to the group chat, so as not to be overheard by the Curtain Man.

 Parents just found out about the Air BnB. I need to go home to manage that. Text me if you need anything. 
NontheistCleric
Behind Occasion's visor, Su Yin winces in sympathy and guilt.

 Stay safe,  she thinks at Avi.  Also, if it helps, please tell your parents it was mostly my fault. 

"Oh, good," she says as the Curtain Man sends Forge the details. "We can call you at that number, right? If we need to update you on anything."
JNAProductions
The Curtain Man nods, meaning he'll probably be contacting you from a burner phone.
MCerberus
  Forge  

If there's a pen or something similar, Forge will write down his cell number or otherwise provide it to the curtain man.

 "Since I assume you're the background-checking type, you will keep things discreet correct?"  Afterwards he'd be ready to head out.
JNAProductions
"Of course."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Feel free to move on to another spot now-I think we've wrapped up this scene well enough.
 
NontheistCleric
"You got a look at Jet's suit, right?" Occasion asks Forge as they fly off towards Panoply. "Do you think you could heat him up enough that he'd have to eject? Not that I think we'll have to do it, but it's a possibility."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Okay, we're going to Panoply now. I assume the Curtain Man either gave us the address or it's a prominent enough company that Occasion would know how to fly there, if not exactly what it does.
 
JNAProductions
You don't have the address yet, but a google search on Forge's phone uncovers it for you. It appears, at least to a cursory search, to be quite a legitimate enterprise.
NontheistCleric
"Speaking of fighting Jet..." Occasion muses.

She pulls out her own phone and sends a text to the group chat.

 Protection team, do you think you can spare Ivy? We might have to fight someone powerful or do some heavy lifting. Possibly both, and we're down Whisper for now. We're heading to Panoply (address below). 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Currently Forge is a little busy waiting for contact information rather than jump in on group chat. While not coming up with a plan he is thinking about narrowing the options.

 "Would be a hazard to do that, and I'm surprised we aren't getting chewed out for lethal force from this morning. I would really like to try the talking route first. If they're legit they're going to want to brush this all under the rug and get a refund." 
NontheistCleric
"None of us used lethal force this morning," Occasion says sourly. "Whoever sent that monster after us–they were the ones using lethal force."

 You sure about that, Su Yin? 
 Shut up, Su Yin. 

"I'd rather talk, too. But the kind of person who buys something like obdurium isn't necessarily the kind of person who's willing to give up obdurium–and remember, Panoply wouldn't be in the wrong. Even Curtain Man probably isn't in the wrong. I wouldn't put it past Jet to actually have died and come back, or to just be someone else trying to cash in on the dead Jet's identity. Could be anyone under that helmet. What are they going to do, just reverse a... probably mostly legitimate business transaction because some guy threatens to blow them up?

"So I'm not going to blame them if they don't give us the obdurium, and that means we might have to fight Jet. With me at half capacity–half capacity at best–and you without heavy defenses, that means we'll have to end it fast. Of course, maybe we could talk him down instead, but I didn't get the impression he was the kind of guy to be amenable to that."

She checks her phone and looks around them.

"No reply from Ivy or Blur. I hope they're okay. Anyway, we're here."

She touches down at Panoply's front gate.
JNAProductions
Panoply is a little north of Halcyon City, in a suburban neighborhood. It's a large building-several, actual-that look mostly like warehouses, and have a decent-sized area of greenery surrounding.

You walk to what looks like an official entrance, and find the door locked with a keypad, with an intercom/buzzer attached just to the side of the door.
NontheistCleric
Occasion presses the buzzer.

"Good afternoon," she says. "Occasion and Forge here. We've come regarding a recent purchase you may have made."
JNAProductions
There's a bit of silence, followed by a bit of static. Then, words. "I'm sorry, we don't have anyone by those names scheduled to be here. If you would like to make an appointment for you or a loved one, please call our number or email our director."
NontheistCleric
Occasion sighs.

"Let me rephrase," she says. "We are Occasion and Forge, the superheroes–to put it immodestly. Right now, there is a distinct possibility that by this time tomorrow, there will be an angry man in power armor tearing up your facility, looking for obdurium. We are here to try and stop that from happening."
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge straightens an imaginary tie as he goes forward a bit to speak. He's hoping that his day job will actually give him some leverage or at least some words to resolve this quickly. More importantly he thinks lowering the heat for once is a good thing.

 "We're here to talk about a materials delivery you have taken from a supplier we have in common. There may have been a sensitive issue. Can we come in and talk about it, quietly of course." 
JNAProductions
There's another moment of quiet buzzing from the intercom. "Err... Look, it's the weekend-no one much is here. Can it wait a day or two?"
NontheistCleric
"The problem may be intractable in a day or two," Occasion says. "I understand you're not keen to raise any alarms right now, but if whoever is in charge here came in tomorrow morning and found they only had half a day to get a marauding powersuiter off your back when we could be solving the issue right now... I don't think you'd be thanked for that, do you?"
JNAProductions
"Let me make a call..."

The intercom shuts off. A minute passes, then two. Eventually, the intercom crackles back on. "Can you call this number?" he asks, and then gives a phone number.

One of you makes the call, putting it on speakerphone so you can both hear, and once the line connects, you hear "What's this about Panoply being intractable?"
NontheistCleric
"Sorry, but who exactly are we addressing?" Occasion asks the voice. "We're Occasion and Forge, the superheroes. Or at least well-meaning parahumans. We came to your facility because the original owner of some obdurium I think you recently bought is gunning for it back, and he's a violent sort of person in a suit of high-tech armor. So, you know–we'd like to prevent the copious property damage, human damage, all that... Your man here gave us this number."
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "Imagine if this all happens and they hear this recording,"  Forge adds trying to match Occasion's strategy.
JNAProductions
"This is the security manager for Panoply's Halcyon City branch," the man on the other end says. "And this better not be some goddamn prank. Do you have any proof?"

You've hero licenses, so you figure the best way to provide at least SOME credibility is to show that you're actually the parahumans you say you are. Once he's gotten enough information to confirm you're who you are, he sighs. "Look, I'm about an hour and a half away. I'll start the drive there, but for now, you can get escorted through the facility. Let me call whoever the hell is at the door back."

The phone hangs up, and after just a few moments, the door unlocks with a click.
NontheistCleric
"At least that guy can listen to reason," Occasion says to Forge. "I like him more than Jet already."

She opens the door and steps inside.
JNAProductions
The doorman, who's come from an office just to the side, is a pimply-faced young man. He has a nametag that reads "Paul."

"So, uh, should I give you the tour?" he asks.
NontheistCleric
"You want a tour?" Occasion asks Forge. "Honestly, it's been a long day. A really long day. I'd be okay just sitting here and waiting for the security manager to come."
JNAProductions
"Uh, okay," Paul replies.

There's a long, awkward silence before he goes back to his small office room.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
If Ivy wants to make it here while there's the wait, that's a good time to do so.
 


And, about 80 minutes later, you hear a car pulling up. Someone outside approaches the door, and unlocks it, then walks in. He's a tall, buff man, dressed in casual clothes-grey sweater and sweatpants. "John J. Johnson, head of security for this branch of Panoply. Talk to me about what's going on."

You give him a brief rundown of the situation. "Right. The obdrimin, or whatever, they've been testing it for thin, armored plating. Real thin, 'cause that crap is heavy. I don't know how exactly you could possibly transport it, given it's stretched out wide as hell," he says, as Paul leaves his office and listens in.

"Um, sir?" Paul asks.

Johnson sighs. "Yes Paul?"

"You're not really in charge of that, and, uh, you know... Can't just give it-"

"Paul," he cuts him off.

"Yes sir?"

"Unless you want to personally fight someone in a suit of flight-capable power armor, you're going to shut up, go to your office, play around on your phone like you always do, and let us do our goddamn jobs," Johnson says. His voice isn't intimidating, more authoritative. "Now come on, you guys-I'll show you where they've been doing some testing."

Johnson starts walking, while Paul awkwardly slinks back into his office. The obdurium is a good distance away, in one of the larger buildings, and when you walk in, you see why. An entire wall is covered in the black material. There's a few sooty marks on some spots, where they were presumably testing weapons against it.
NontheistCleric
Occasion stares at the wall of obdurium for a long moment.

"That's..." she eventually manages, "obviously not an optimal shape... but if your engineers managed to change it to that from whatever it looked like in the gravitational distortion unit it came in, I guess it can't be impossible to change it back. You did keep the gravity unit, right?"
JNAProductions
"No idea where that is, but I will tell you, it took two weeks to get it from a lump to that," Johnson says.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Forge, gimme some kind of check to see what you can in terms of getting it portable again.

DC will be based on your actual actions, so be descriptive! :)
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

They're shooting it. They have an incomprehensible amount of paracausal material and they're shooting it. With a sigh, Forge begins fighting off the headache. " First I can give you my card. If that's your application we can talk enchanted tempered copper. Alright,"   he claps.  "No matter what happens we'll need a box and between one and four plates of whatever you have on-hand that is the least conductive." 

So aside from some tech language the plan is pretty simple. First whatever they go with they'll need a housing container. If it will work and they have the stuff around the preferred option is to see if it isn't actually spell-resistant. If that's the case they will have four repulsion runes roughly balancing out the actual payload. Due to the... uneven nature it will be precarious and they need to make sure not to jostle it or accelerate too quickly or it'll dump on the ground and nobody will be able to pick it up.

The other, "safer" option is to just go through brute forcing it with anti-gravity. In specific the same line of enchantment runes Occasion now has experience with, but a different rune and with a lot more juice. They would need to put the metal into a box, then put the box in a second one with a reinforced metal bottom. The rune goes on the bottom and will slowly eat through the metal to maintain. And it's going to need a LOT of juice. It will still be heavy, and how heavy depends on how much Forge can put into the concept. And it will get heavier while fading. The beauty is that you aren't applying to the metal, and magic loves loopholes.  "So it will be two ticking clocks, and it won't be pretty for me. But it's the best option and if we're using my powers for any of this if we want to even try it we try it first. Oh and I'll need some water after. Iced tea if you have any." 

If the group has anything to add, he pauses while they think things over. Maybe Johnson has something that could help out.

 
 Spoiler 
roll in case things progress without another discussion
 (1d100)[ 11 ] 
 
NontheistCleric
"Wait, Forge," Occasion says. "Before we do this, exactly how not pretty is this going to be for you? Because, honestly, I don't think we can afford another major injury in the team when this is just something tangential to the larger problem we're trying to solve. And I don't want you to half kill yourself trying to steal something back for some jerk who probably has no legitimate claim to it anyway."
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "Not really an injury,"  Forge reassures.  "It's more like how you feel after staying up long enough that you can't fall asleep." 
NontheistCleric
"Okay," she says. "If that's all, I guess it's fine. Let's try it."
JNAProductions
Forge starts his preparations. He directs the other two to stand NOT directly by the obdurium sheet, and as he sketches the runes out, they emit a soft glow.

He can feel himself getting into his work-it's just like at the workshop. Only... Higher stakes. And a deadline. And if anything goes wrong anyone here could be-

"Hey!" Johnson calls over, snapping you out of your reverie. "This rune isn't glowing anymore," he says, gesturing to the bottom right-hand corner.

You can see the runes aren't working quite right. The upper right hand tip is just barely dipping, but with obdurium's weight, if it goes even a millimeter further, the whole thing could come toppling down.
NontheistCleric
"Anything we can do?" Occasion asks, jumping into a hover just in case. "I could hold it steady. Can't take the whole weight, but I can handle a bit."

She waits for Forge's instruction.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Even as Forge tries to pour energy into the failing effect he starts to get that scratching in the back of his throat. Especially with the weight of the thing it isn't long that he can keep it up. So either way very very soon they're going to find out if the metal chunk will clunk down to the ground again.

 "Pull... me... away." 
NontheistCleric
Rushing in, Occasion hugs Forge from behind and under his arms, then immediately reverses, pulling him out of the range of the potentially falling wall.
JNAProductions
The wall seems, to Johnson and Occasion, perfectly fine. It's standing up, perfectly straight.

And then all at once, it slams down, cracking the concrete floor. Johnson cusses, quite a bit. He calms enough to talk normally within a few moments, though. "Dammit all, that's... That's not good. Hell, the goon you're delivering it to-does  he  have a way of transporting it?"
NontheistCleric
"You okay?" Occasion asks Forge, setting him down gently.

"I'm not sure," she says to Johnson. "For all I know, the gravitational distortion unit originally belonged to him–but even if you knew where it was, the wall probably wouldn't fit in it.

"Is there any chance we could get whoever's in charge of this on board with giving the obdurium back? It would be easier than trying to sneak it out of here today. I'm sure the man who sold it to you could be convinced to give you all a refund, since his skin is on the line too. The power armor guy–Jet–might be okay with waiting as long as he knew he was going to get it in a week or two."
JNAProductions
"They're not gonna like it. Not one bit," Johnson says with a sigh. "Dammit, dammit, dammit-I swear, the new head of research is the most useless, incompetent, piece of-" he continues on a small tirade.
NontheistCleric
"Maybe you should call them in," Occasion says. "Maybe we can convince them, but even if that's not possible, then it just leads to the inevitable conclusion that we'll have to fight Jet to stop him from hurting someone who doesn't deserve it. We might as well have Panoply's support, since we'll be defending your right to that material if it comes to a confrontation."
JNAProductions
"Right, right," Johnson says. He pulls his phone out and starts dialing, then puts it on speaker. The phone rings through, then turns silent again. He cusses more, calling again.

Finally, someone picks up. "Johnson, this better be important," a man's light tenor comes through.

"Finally! Yes, this is-one of your research items is either getting returned, or getting a parahuman on all of us with some majorly nasty intent. We tried moving it, but if you can-"

"You're there? And messing with the equipment?" the voice on the other end asks. "I swear, if there's any damage, you are going to be unemployed this time tomorrow!"
NontheistCleric
"Listen, Head of Research," Occasion says into the phone. "You may have the power of hiring and firing, but the guy who's after your obdurium has the power of firing heavy weaponry out of a flying, armored suit. Forget the crack in the floor or Mister Johnson's job, if you do nothing but bluster you won't have a place of work to come to come Tuesday!

"So if you're not going to authorize the return of this obdurium, you better call in your researchers, call in your security team, and figure out a way to improve our fighting chances against this guy."
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "I'll be... give me a minute,"  Forge responds a bit out of it, before finding his way to the nearest chair. He looks around for that water he asks for before trying to clear his head. He's got to figure this out and not being on the phone call he can't have any input on what's going on. Instead he just talks out loud to anyone nearby or maybe himself.

 "Did all they do he was kinetic testing? What's it's absorption properties?" 
This after catching his breath for a moment Forge has a thought.

 "Occasion, tell whoever that is that we'll just get AEGIS in for the stolen property retrieval."  Probably a good way to at least force some cooperation
JNAProductions
"What? We bought it, it's ours! There's-" Johnson hangs up midsentence.

He sighs, and kicks the wall. "Goddamn bureaucrats. Goddamn moneymen. Goddamn it all. Calling AEGIS, that's a good idea."
NontheistCleric
Occasion goes to get some water for Forge. Coming back, she passes it to him, pausing to speak in an undertone.

"We should be careful. AEGIS might be able to solve this problem for us, but I'm not sure we want them to get wind of our larger goal. Remember, when I looked using your rune, they were the only thing other than the tracking spell to show up."

She turns back to Johnson, speaking normally again.

"Yes, AEGIS would be helpful... Forge, you want to call them? They'd probably take it better from you than me. I should talk to the obdurium salesman, see if he can get Jet to show up at the right time."

She finds a private area and calls the Curtain Man's burner phone.

"Hi. Just an update: Getting the obdurium back might not be as easy as we thought, but we're working on a different way to deal with Jet. Do you have a way of contacting him so we can call him to a rendezvous?"
JNAProductions
"Of course," the Curtain Man replies. "I'll need details, though."

Johnson just nods while he looks for a place to sit down.
NontheistCleric
"Okay," says Occasion. "I'll call you again when we have everything finalized."

Putting her phone back into her pocket, she returns to the others.

"We have a way of getting Jet when we need him," she reports. "So we just need to bring AEGIS here first... and make sure they're hidden well. Jet might not approach if he sees a bunch of their people waiting for him."
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "They weren't going to go along... without poking. I deal with this stuff at work."  Forge tries to explain kind of not finding the right words.
 "Is there anything cold around here?" 
JNAProductions
"Cooler in the front. Has water," Johnson says as he takes a seat on a stool.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Okay-let's call AEGIS in this scene and then move on.
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

After pretty much half-draining the cooler Forge takes out his phone and then pauses for a moment. The headquarters in town is likely 1. mad at him in particular if they've put pieces together and 2. potentially comprised. So he comes up with a plan to do this a little more roundabout with the old field office that was more willing to overlook being rash.

So he digs through his contacts and calls the field office from back in his Three River Cities days.
JNAProductions
 Ring... Ring... Ring... 

"Hello, Three River Cities AEGIS Outpost! How can I help?" a bright, chipper young lady's voice comes through.
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge tries to navigate getting out his ID for the number. He doesn't want to give too much away but he'll need verification. After bringing up what the supposed procedure is he responds,  "Yes is agent Fox-17 available? If not can you transfer me to Halcyon response. ID E04417 Ro" .

He hasn't considered that he's been gone long enough the person previously yelling at him may not be posted there.
JNAProductions
Forge can tell he's dealing with a new hire. She's way too excited about this.

"Yes! I can definitely do that," she says. "Err... Gimme a minute."

An agonizingly long time later, she comes back. "Okay! Transferring you over, Mr. Hero Man!"

The phone clicks, and there's a new voice. "Forge, you better have a DAMN good reason for calling. You're supposed to be in Halcyon City-and I  know  they have AEGIS support there."
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "Long story, but there's reason to believe outside metas are listening in to the main call-in line. You do me a favor and I'll mail you anything you want you can't get out there."  
Forge takes a breath.  "There's a stolen property problem, unknown materials where I'm at. The party that was stolen from is threatening civilians so I'm trying to get it resolved nice and peacefully, like you kept being angry about. If you can call in either a retrieval or negotiation team or get me transferred directly to them we can avoid complications." 
JNAProductions
"The hell have you gotten yourself into, kid..." he mutters. "But," he continues, "I appreciate your efforts to keep collateral damage to a minimum. Give me the rest of the details while I see who I can call."

You tell him about Jet and not much else as he does his search.

After a while, he says "I got a quiet AEGIS contact in Halcyon City-Clarissa MacDougall, leader of Strike Team Gamma. Not a hundred percent in her wheelhouse, but it should do. I'll give her a call and give her your number. Be careful, Forge."

The phone goes silent, and you give a brief explanation of what happened to the others present. And then, your phone rings, with you hastily answering. "Forge, right?" a woman's voice from the other end. "At Panoply? I'll be there shortly," she says when you confirm the address.
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "I'm just making sure Whisper didn't bore you to death,"  Forge says to the agent before switching calls. After that's done. After the second call ends he turns to Occasion.

 "Good and bad news. They're sending a strike team, so everyone is going to be safe but best behavior." 
NontheistCleric
A number of responses leap into Occasion's mind.

 Everyone's going to be safe? Little optimistic there.

Hey, are you implying I don't know how to behave around a bunch of government-trained killers?

You know what I really don't like about this helmet sometimes? Makes it so hard to emote. I could be saying all that with my face.

But I guess that's also why I like the helmet. Lot less to give me away.

Getting off track here, Su.

Yeah, okay. Forge knows best. We're just kind of prickly because we got a bunch of people burned up today.

Don't worry. We'll find whoever sent that monster and pour some acid over  his  face.

Occasion... 

"Great," she says to Forge. "Now we just need the back half of the equation. Let's wait until AEGIS gets here before we summon him, though. They might need some prep time."
JNAProductions
Johnson voices his agreement, and adds "I'll wait near the entrance. Don't need her having trouble getting in."

About an hour passes before Clarissa arrives. She's a tall woman, well-muscled and wearing some odd goggles around her neck. "Forge," she nods to you as she walks into the warehouse. "And Occasion."
NontheistCleric
"Hi." Occasion gives Clarissa a little wave. "So, that's"–she indicates the wall of obdurium–"what all the trouble is about. Our troublemaker isn't here yet. He's called Jet, one of those guys with flying power armour. You probably know more about him than we do. Anything you need to set up before he shows up?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

It isn't quite often that Forge gets along with what he thinks is the AEGIS viewpoint but what's going on here is silly. He adds on to what Occasion says,  "They lost the containment and have been shooting tank shells at it. The original owner is hostile and I can't get this stuff moved off." 
JNAProductions
"Need to case the area-figure out how we can properly trap Jet," she says. "And yes, we have quite a bit of info on him. But for now..." she pulls her goggles up and starts scanning the area.

Her eyes linger on you two for just a moment, before they keep surveying. "Panoply did a pretty good job with basic wardings, but nothing major. Nothing that will be much help," she says as a few more AEGIS folk file in. "Forge, work with Trevon to set up warding and sigils. Trevon, our aim is to trap Jet with minimal damage."

"Yes ma'am," he answers. He's got a large backpack, stuffed to the brim with esoteric objects. He eyes Forge, and nods at the other man. "What kind of skills you got here?"

Clarissa looks to Occasion. "You look like crap. Want to sit this one out? And you, Johnson, right?"

"Sit this one-"

"Sit this one out, yeah," she says. "I'm sure you-"

Johnson laughs. "No, don't tell me twice. This is way the hell above my paygrade."
MCerberus
  Forge  

It takes a bit for Forge in his state to remember what his technical set is. To him he just does stuff.  "Metal and metalloid artiface. In terms of warding I mostly work with Gallic, Gaelic, and Mesopotamian. I hope you have a power source we tried to rig repulsion to make this stuff light enough to move and I sort of over-extended." 
NontheistCleric
"Yeah," says Occasion, slightly unsettled Clarissa can tell how off-form she is under her costume. "I'll just wait in the wings, in case. Tell me when you need me to get Jet."

She drifts off into an upper corner of the warehouse and types out a message to the Curtain Man.

 We're ready. Tell Jet we have the obdurium at this location. 

Her finger hovers over 'Send', waiting for Clarissa's signal.
JNAProductions
Trevon nods, and pulls out a thermos. "It's JumpStart coffee-custom blend of magic and beans. Tastes like hell, but it'll get you up and running for at least a few hours. Just... Watch for the crash. Gallic  and  Gaelic? I'm familiar with Mesopotamian, but not a ton else of ancient languages. I got-"

"Trevon, less chit chat, more work!" Clarissa tells him.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
I won't ask you to roll for this prep, but I would like some descriptions of what you are doing.
 


 
 Originally Posted by NontheistCleric 
 "Yeah," says Occasion, slightly unsettled Clarissa can tell how off-form she is under her costume. "I'll just wait in the wings, in case. Tell me when you need me to get Jet."

She drifts off into an upper corner of the warehouse and types out a message to the Curtain Man.

 We're ready. Tell Jet we have the obdurium at this location. 

Her finger hovers over 'Send', waiting for Clarissa's signal. 
 

"If you're sure, I won't stop you."
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "The long story short, I don't do flashy. Except the fire."  Forge takes a sip of the coffee and... well it's instant regret. In addition it will sound like later regret. Fun.

His defensive strategy, especially since they're going nonlethal is going to be to try and prevent that jetpack from working right. That means repulsion traps, easier to use than what they tried earlier to push and jostle their opponent away from anything sensitive and onto magnetic field traps, which are definitely in his wheelhouse. While steel isn't ferromagnetic it can mess up the whatsits that keep it stabilized. If the suit is hardened against that, Forge will have to get close and alter its composition a bit.
JNAProductions
The trap is laid. Occasion and Forge stay front and center, while Clarissa's team lurks. Johnson just dips-this is  way  above his paygrade.

The message is sent, and the waiting begins. Nervous energy starts to build up, and Forge hopes that the coffee doesn't wear off before Jet shows his faceplate.

Luckily for him, after perhaps twenty minutes, Jet's boosters are audible from above. He passes by a window, and lands just in front of the door. Playing the part of the good repo woman, and putting herself in the danger zone, Occasion opens the door for him. He strides in, and upon seeing the obdurium in an entirely untransportable mess, starts to swear. "You backstabbing little-" he starts, before the glyphs, sigils, wires, and other traps go off.

He's immediately dragged towards the center of the obdurium sheet by some of Trevon's tricks, where Forge's glyphs begin scrambling the gear. Jet's arm raises, firing a blast of crackling black lightning that scythes through the roof, but doesn't hit anyone. Clarissa shouts "EMP, now!" and there's a  woomph  as a burst of electromagnetism completely shorts the lights. A few emergency lights flicker on, and you can see Jet, firmly anchored against the obdurium. His limbs are splayed in a very uncomfortable fashion. "Trevon, get his gear hooked into a network so we know it won't go off again."

"On it, ma'am!"
NontheistCleric
Occasion swoops close to Jet, fighting-stick at the ready. She doesn't do anything yet in case it messes with whatever Trevon is trying, but she gets ready to jam the metal rod into one of the suit's thrusters if Jet looks like he's about to get loose.
JNAProductions
Trevon drops some kind of spidery device onto Jet's suit. The device starts scurrying around the power armor as Trevon pulls out a tablet. He works wordlessly, the device finding an in and extending a probe.

"Hey! Hey-" Jet says, letting loose with a litany of curse words. There's a few sparks, and the armor's lights dim a bit.

"I'm... Somewhat in," Trevon reports. "Don't think he'll be able to activate anything, but I can't either."

"-grimy little backstabbing-"

Clarissa nods. "Keep working on it. I'll call a pickup crew."
NontheistCleric
"Any way we can get it off him while it's like this?" Occasion asks Trevon.
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "That metal is still his property, so this whole mess will happen again if we don't get it back to him,"  Forge adds. He's still not quite sure about how all of this happened before now, and maybe he is a little biased. Either way the original plan of getting this done... mostly peacefully.

He turns to Jet.

 "Can we talk this out now, find a way to transport your material?"

 
JNAProductions
Jet's only response is a continuing litany of curses.

Clarissa shakes her head. "He's wanted for... Well, nothing too serious, but enough felonies that we're not giving him anything back. You're lucky you didn't hit anyone, or you'd be looking at attempted murder too."
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge takes a moment to thinks thing over about that. Clearly they weren't told everything but honestly he should have seen that coming.  "I think everything's settled here then, were you told to scold me about anything this time?" 

The tone indicates that's not a joke, but merely a legitimate question.
JNAProductions
"Actually no," she says. "But I was told to tell you that he's proud. You're growing up."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Anything else in this scene? Or move on?
 
NontheistCleric
Seeing that Trevon has Jet mostly safely restrained, Occasion restrains her desire to float in his face and say 'Told you so'. Instead, she touches down and hitches her weapon back to her backpack.

"Thank you for the help," she says to Clarissa. "Do you mind if I take a picture of Jet all immobile like this? We just might need to show someone he's not going to be causing any more destruction."

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
After this, I'm happy to move on.
 
MCerberus
  Forge  

Well everything seems right to Forge. Things got settled, the old man got to embarrass him, and they didn't tip their hands off to anyone they got involved with... too much. Plus from what he's heard AEGIS isn't mad at him for this morning... but... *yawn*

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
ready to move on
 
JNAProductions
Clarissa waves her hand. "Go ahead-just be careful posting it to Instagram or whatever."

Occasion takes her picture, and texts it to the number the Curtain Man gave. He sends back a one-word response: "Good."

With the job done, you start your way back to the Curtain Man's office, to get the answers you were looking for.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Someone jog my memory-what answers WERE you looking for? :P
 
JNAProductions
The Curtain Man's office building is the same as it ever is. You go inside, and have to knock on the door yourself, as his secretary is still off.

There's a moment of rustling behind the door, an eye at the peephole, and then he opens the door. "Thank you," he says with a professional tone. "I have done some research into your question about the SEP Field. It's not my line of work, generally speaking, but I have information from many sources. There was a break-in at an AEGIS facility-a secret facility, with the goals of finding technology to level the playing field between parahumans and normal humans. I do not know the extent of what was stolen, but they had active stealth technology keeping them from being observed-technology like the SEP Field."
NontheistCleric
Occasion deletes the picture from her own phone after getting the reply to it.

Back in the Curtain Man's office, she lets Forge take the chair, given how much the day has probably drained him. She hums in thought as the Curtain Man shares his information.

"It's not exactly a leading clue, but it is something," she says. "As for AEGIS, I guess it was too much to hope we wouldn't have to tangle with them again. Notwithstanding that it's a secret... do you know where we could find this facility, or at least someone who works there?"
MCerberus
  Forge  

Forge is actually grateful there is somewhere to sit but can't really think to verbalize that right now. Instead he slumps down a bit and lets Occasion take the lead. This is really her domain anyway, although one of those tired thoughts does go through his mind.

 "You must have suspicions who? And need people to find out if you're right." 
JNAProductions
"The most I can give you is an address," he writes it down, and slides the paper over.

The address, after a quick googling, is located near a few factories in Halcyon City-an unremarkable, out of the way building.
NontheistCleric
 Lair of the Curtain Man 
Occasion folds up the paper and puts it into one of her backpack's inner pockets.

"Thank you," she says to the Curtain Man. "That's really all for now, so..."

She goes to the door and holds it open for Forge, then follows him out.

"...you take care, Mister Syme. We'll probably need each other again. Sometime."

 Outside 
"Let's just go rest for tonight," she says to Forge once they're clear of the office building. "You need it. I need it too, but I can probably stand to take first watch. Your place?"

She sends a text message to the group.

 Investigation over for now. We have some leads, but I don't think we're really in shape to pursue them today. Ash okay? 
JNAProductions
Black Blur responds.  She's doing decent. I took her to McD's then the zoo. She likes the lions.

Any idea where she can crash tonight? 
MCerberus
  Forge  
 "The workshop has-"  About mid thought Forge remembers that this should probably be a wider group-chat thing.

  Workshop has cameras and I don't work with Voltaire materials  
JNAProductions
 Copy. Be there before you. 
MCerberus
  Forge  

The workshop is really just sort of a rented basement apartment. It was recommended to him and the landlord let him replace the door and put a keypad lock on it. Blur would know the passcode. Assuming nobody tracked them back to the place first there would also be a small camera outside. There's no drop box, which Occasion would remember necessitates Forge himself being there to take deliveries.

Inside is less child friendly that would probably be advisable. There's no carpet in the main room but a lot of metal from the tables to the materials to the... welding equipment and partially finished projects strewn about. There's a futon some office chairs and the computer in what would normally be the bedroom. Fresh linen and a spare blanket though. There's a single-serve coffee machine in the kitchen but no coffee. Different kinds of tea in the cabinets though and water and plenty of unhealthy caffeinated drinks in the fridge. The food available is really just 'bars'. Granola, chocolate, fruit.

Kind of spartan but it's not intended to be home.