alderwitch
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Freedom City PBP: A How-To Guide
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Like they'd practiced the move countless times, Talya turned in towards Eric as he coaxed her away from the young captain. As Eric captured her dominant hand for the turn, she neatly slid the journal into the hand that passed over her waist. Her pout was as pretty as it was practiced as she was 'mollified'. Still standing near the swordsman, her body naturally blocking any investigation of the journal, she turned her attention to the one-time Steam Sheik to turn her machinations on him, "No, of course we understand. Our time all comes for us... eventually," she soothed. "We have many other methods at our disposal before taxing your forces. Perhaps we could beg a small private room to see about returning to our own world? If it wouldn't be too much trouble, of course."
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"Enough." The statement was flat, the hollow voice booming and echoing oddly from the phantasmic guardian. She floated above the fray and with a gesture of her leather clad arms, thrusting both fists up towards the sky eldritch chains bound the Deep One at the command of the Chosen from Heshem. Fred would likely recognize the form as her classmate used a very similar spell for his bindings but Huang had neither the power nor the experience that his mother held in her gloved hands. The bonds of lightning drawn from the Void wrapped the oversized Deep One from head to foot, lashing back and forth unnaturally and tightening down against the giant's muscles. Phantom's face was shadowed by her deep hood, her gaze glinting impassively as she swung it over the Deep Ones. "This is no Chosen creature and your god does not stir this day. You have been misled. Go home."
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Lessee, we'll go with a grapple with her Move Object. Attack Roll: 23 Grapple Check: 31
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Robin shrugged a little uncomfortably, not entirely sure if the praise wasn't pulling her leg a bit. Folding her arms up a little tighter, she turned that solemn grey gaze onto the doctor. She sighed once before dutifully turning her attention to the question. She was aware enough to know that this particular question was far more about her point of view than the nature of the Ferals as she had no doubt that Callie Summers had been very complete in the files she sent over. "They were folks once - good folks, and that's sad," Robin agreed, her words even and her gaze fixed at a point on the wall, not really looking at the bookshelf but rather remembering the awful noises and sights and smells from that day. "Riley's world had something bad that happened and it twisted up the people - turned them wrong and nothing they've done has been able to fix that. Maybe, eventually, some super science over here might be able to but we don't know anything about how that thing spreads. There were super scientists in Riley's world, after all." Her gaze cut back to Dr. Chandler, sharpening as she focused on the man rather than the memories. "But everything that made them who they were was gone and all that's left is just this malevolent sorta cunning to feed on other people. I go to school with kids that are witches and demons and vampires and whatever but they're still aware in their heads. They're not monsters." Robin's gaze cut away then, breaking the intensity of her direct gaze once more. "Those things, they still wore human skin but there was nothin' left inside anymore."
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"He's definitely being empowered by something else - someone else. Here, let me show you." Psyche's voice was calm as she responded to the statement, letting the hand that had been outstretched fall to her side as she projected the brief scrap of memory - the location and the man's face - to the League members on the off chance he was a more familiar presence to any of them. "I do think that whatever caused this has left him more vulnerable to my particular methods but if I were to use that to hold him, some of you might find that method objectionable. I try to avoid seizing someone's control away from them but sometimes it is temporarily necessary. Power for revenge is not an uncommon bargain."
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Leilani watched the interplay, automatically hunching in on herself once there was a potentially more flammable target in arm's reach. "From the 1940's?" Leilani hazarded, as she wasn't entirely certain there hadn't been another war in the decades that she'd missed. The smile on the young woman's tanned face was friendly if a little strained and she folded her arms around her midsection automatically, "I'm not trying to be rude," she apologized as really she didn't want to offend the woman, nor did she want to accidentally set her on fire. "I'm hot. I mean, my HANDS get hot." She paused then, frowning, "I don't know how to say that without sounding insane. Sometimes I burst into flame and its only moderately under control." She tipped her head up towards Dimitri then, "I mean, we can go get drinks, sure - I'm a little thirsty but I'm pretty sure alcohol is a bad idea. Isn't it? Unless it won't do anything anymore to me, I guess."
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"Chat about what?" Robin asked, turning her attention from the street passing by to fix Mike with one of those sharp, not quite suspicious gazes. She gave a little shrug of her shoulders before turning her gaze back towards the window, "It's good to get out of school, either way. I mean, its not a bad place but I don't really ever feel comfortable there most of the time. But the food's not half bad and the gym's nice and all. They got a pool though I usually sink more than swim in it. Something about fat to muscle ratio or something." She shrugged once more, with the affected disinterest of a teenager that had learned the dangers of attachment. "And I ain't been kicked out yet which is something I guess."
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"Its a 2012 Volvo - not very exciting but it's not going to distress me to rip wires out under the console to show you how to hot-wire it either, or perhaps Merlin," Talya was well aware of the monkey's predilection for electronics. She gave a wave of her hand as if to dismiss the matter, "It also won't matter if we scratch the paint when I show you how to get into and out of a car. It's a bit more exhaustive than a typical driver's ed course but one should be well rounded, don't you think?" She gave Merlin a bemused smile, "Don't worry, it will only be moderately harrowing for everyone involved. Besides, don't you think its better that we learn now than she tries to suss it out on her own later? I certainly do."
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"That's what makes it engaging," Leilani countered, her voice rumbling in the odd manner it did when she was more lava than person as her head and shoulders emerged. How she even made the noises without vocal cords was something of a question for science. The wind caught the flames that flickered around her face as Leilani tried to think calm thoughts, or something akin to that. It still felt a little weird to take deep breaths and count to ten in the hopes that her body would just... change. Unfortunately, dwelling on how weird that all was was absolutely counter productive to the goal of not melting the sand around her feet. The idea that Gaian Knight said nice things about her, however, made Leilani smile and when she did, the plates began to crack off of body, thumping to the ground. "That's so gross," she commented, nudging one chunk of obsidian out of the way with her toe before she bent over to scoop up one of the larger chunks. Turning it over in her hands, she turned her attention back to Frost as the next step was reigning in the rest of the heat. "That's nice of him to say. Honestly, I think the rock stuff is just easier to do. The rock... it just wanna stay put, you know? I have to make it move." She commented as she began to squash and shape the obsidian between her hands absently. "Fire, though, it just wanna burn. 'Least if there's fuel. Its not really in my control... but I do like watching shows. So what's a good show if that ones so bad? I'm in the early eighties now. Lotta shoulder pads."
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"Whatever you feel comfortable with. I have long ago learned that it is an Espadas trait to feel strongly about names," Her lips quirked then, the bemusement genuine. "And one that I best not stand in the way of. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, Gina. I like you, I always have. I am well aware that I'm not the sort that most people look for in a daughter-in-law... especially when they already have one to start with, for that matter." She gave a little shrug then, reaching out to gently shut the case and put it back in its hiding place with careful fingertips. She checked the weapon even though it hadn't been touched to ensure that the safety was on and secured before she snapped the clasps on the case and pushed the door shut. Now for the only slightly embarrassing part, as she shifted to reach for the counter top and pull herself back to her feet, making an annoyed noise at having to put in the effort for something as simple as standing up. Resting her hands at the small of her back, she straightened, "Though - and mind, I am terrible at this full honesty sort of lifestyle. A little white lie does wonders for smoothing over the social awkwardness of many a situation - but I'm not bored." Talya turned to follow Gina towards the living room, giving the chair wide enough space to turn, "I'm just phenomenally bad at waiting." That, really, was an absurd statement from someone who spent the better part of two decades in prison to have a bit of a snit. Talya waved one hand in the air, "This is the first time in my life that if something goes wrong, I can't just... you know... DO something about it. If I stay busy, that's easier to not dwell on but most of my more engaging hobbies are rather off the table too."
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"Sorry, I wasn't sure how long it would take me to shower and change," Talya apologized, her clear, crisp tones preceding her down the stairs. She was dressed casually, capri pants and a light spring top with flats rather than the high heels she usually favored when not training. With her purse slung over one shoulder, she looked like she could have been a mom straight from a Pottery Barn catalog except for the wicked smile on her features. She dangled the car keys from her hand. This particular course of action, Talya had NOT run by Erik but then, she was responsible for Raina's training in the dojo, wasn't she? Or out of the dojo as the case might be. "I thought we'd practice a critical life skill today," she said as she held the car keys out to make her intentions plain before laughing, a quick and easy laugh as she twirled them around her fingers to stick them in her purse. "I'll drive us out of the city though. Always best to practice where its not remotely crowded, don't you think? Today we're going to be learning about cars." Of course when Talya said cars, she meant driving, hot wiring and probably breaking into them. The skills that Talya found critical to the life of a modern woman were many and varied and only about half of them were really illegal per say. She tipped her head to the side, "Does Merlin want to stay here for this?"
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Robin gave a slight snort at that statement. "Peace, sure," she agreed with a shrug as she went to step onto the bus with fluid grace, swinging herself up towards the seats with one hand on the bar as she headed for the back of the bus, near the rear doors. "I don't think I know what you mean by that. What even is peace?" Robin shrugged as she went to find a seat, tucking her limbs well out of the way and cradling her backpack on her lap as she looked up at the large man with piercing grey eyes. For a moment frustration flickered across her features, the frustration of a teenager who clearly thought that few people understood her moods and emotions. It was quickly, almost ruthlessly quashed as she shifted her legs out of the way for Mike to find his own seat. "I'm sorry," Robin said, then, her gaze cutting away towards the window as the bus started to move, "I'm sure it's very nice there, of course."
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Talya was really at her limit of clever ways to disguise a pregnancy and while she could probably call in a favor for an image inducer, or get extraordinarily creative, she wasn't about to go through that effort for the classes she taught. For most classes, it simply meant that she stopped with concealing wardrobe and suffered through the well meaning well wishes of the students that she worked with. There was one student, however, that warranted a little more effort than that. It had been a few weeks since Raina's last session at the studio between school and apocalypses, and that sort of thing. It was only now that Claremont had gotten back into the swing of extracurriculars. The Espadas school was familiar and it wasn't unusual for the desk to be unmanned, especially if the teachers were setting up or tearing down for classes in the dojo proper. What was unusual was a small note on the counter attached to a very small Tiffany's box sitting on the countertop. In Talya's elegant handwriting, it said simply "Keep your shoes on today." Inside the box was a sterling silver keyring, empty but for an elegant pendant in the shape of a stylized lock on one side.
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Talya narrowed her eyes before she gave the son one of those oh-so-charming smiles. Talya was NOT a touchy person and usually projected a cool British reserve but her shoulder dropped to cant her posture to the side ever so slightly. She took a step forward, projecting what seemed like utterly genuine sympathy with just a hint of flirtation. It was absolutely something that both Frost and Jack had seen before. "You poor man," Talya said, her voice falling into a husky register and she neatly stepped into the man's personal space but deftly so. One hand came up to the Captain's back and the other pressed over his chest, ostensibly over his heart. "You have lost so very much. Of course we don't want to add to your burdens. That would never do." She pivoted her body ever so slightly - and that was more difficult than normal as cozying up to someone was harder with even an early pregnancy. Erik and his overly-large offspring! The hand against the front of his jacket twisted, pulling the fabric just a little tight as if Talya were trying to draw him in closer. Mostly, she wanted the good Captain to focus on the hand and how close she was rather than the fingertips skimming into his coat pocket. "Tch, Frost," she scolded without taking her eyes off the Captain, well aware that even if the Captain didn't find her particularly attractive, she was keeping his focus off the light touch of her left hand on his coat and instead centered on the rest of her presence. "We have other avenues we can pursue before we have to tax your resources." Her gaze finally cut away towards the general then, sparkling with humor, "I still personally prefer a less... full frontal approach, personally."
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"Well, yeah, sure. Something's better than nothing but sometimes energy might be better use in a different way," Robin agreed with the sentiment but gave a little shrug of her shoulders again before shaking her head, "No, not really. I mean... I think I ran through there at night once or twice but I usually just go from here to the Fens and back, mostly. 'Less there's trouble somewhere else. Went to the Goodman building with Riley." Robin's mouth flattened a little then and surely Mike had seen that incident in the file. She forced her shoulders to relax, her grey eyes watching for the bus. She didn't take the silent offer to sit, instead slouching one shoulder against the bus stop sign. "Sounds nice," she said in that studiously polite tone, deflecting the conversation back to him, "Go there often?"
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Adjusting to the sights and sounds of Freedom was talking some considerable adjustment, let alone the various changes that had happened over the last fifty-odd years. There was a long list of technology and changes that she'd not yet mastered, from the computer to figuring out Freedom City's mass transit but the television she'd at least got the basic hang of. She was in the middle of expressing her dismay at the television when she had been rousted for something like practice - or maybe just walkies. Leilani wasn't entirely certain, and sometimes the latter could prove taxing enough to her minimal control. "But... someone just shot J.R.!" It wasn't so much a protest as commentary to the message alert letting her know that one of the Freedom League was there for training time. Fortunately, training was interesting enough take her mind off of Dynasty at least for a little while as the one upside to her rather unfortunate set of meta-abilities came with an ability to glide - at least when she focused enough to do so. This section of the waterfront was either uninhabited enough - or inhabited by those willing to look the other way when a girl went surfing through the sky as if she were riding a board made of fire. Technically, she was gliding on superheated air currents but it felt enough like the sport she loved that the movements tracked well enough to it and Frost's ability to detect heat waves let him know well in advance when she was losing control so it was no surprise when her laugh turned into a yelp and she plummeted out of the sky like a rock. Really, like a literal rock as her transformation remained tied to her flight or fight responses and when she hit the waves, the hiss of water turning to steam was audible as she sank quickly to the bottom. The heat trail of her walking towards the surface was clear from the broil of boiling sea water above her head as she slogged towards the docks, specifically the shore underneath them. Fortunately, Leilani didn't need to breathe when she was made of rock and lava, so there was no real concern of drowning in the time it took her to walk up the bottom of the sea floor and hopefully the sight of a lava monster emerging from the waters of the Atlantic only frightened a few drunks lingering outside the steps of the nearby and largely empty bar.
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Talya's hand stilled on her neat stacking of the case and she turned her face up towards Gina. It had the studious polite expression that Talya had taken to turning in Gina's direction since Thanksgiving. She could have crafted any number of emotions and they all would have seemed extraordinarily genuine so she rather hoped the woman appreciated the lack of artifice as Talya really no longer had natural reactions. Her emotional tells showed in micro expressions, tension in muscles that looked relaxed and with that much training and effort to presenting a mask, it was near impossible to discard especially when under stress. "I do understand that you have only the most public of my facades to really base expectations on and it is perhaps my finest work but the Bombshell that is presented to the world at large is just that, you know." She reached up with one elegant hand to flick the forelock of curls back when it threatened to obscure her vision. Talya sighed, deeply, "I can't tell you that the relationship is never going to end - I can't forsee the future and relationships do turn sour. I have no intention of going anywhere, Gina, but it is entirely possible that Erik may grow weary of the odd looks as he ages and I fail to do so. Oh, I can fake it with make-up - I've done it before - but Erik's the noble sort. If he feels that he's saddling Min or I with a failing body, I can't promise he won't do something phenomenally stupid. I can't promise that Min won't spectacularly implode past my ability to hold her together if he DOES go that route. I can only promise you two things." Talya lifted one slender fingertip, "The first, that no matter what, all the children shall have what they need from me, as long as I live - and that promises to be an obnoxiously long time if history is any indication, regardless of anything else." She lifted the second fingertip, "I won't be the one to walk away."
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Robin blinked, her gaze cutting to the side as the last comment finally drew a reaction from the quiet young woman. That she suspected it was some sort of trick was clear in the expression that flickered across her features. She frowned at him before giving a short shake of her head, "No, thank you," but it was less stilted, at least. She shrugged, pulling the thin fabric tight with the gesture across her shoulders, "It doesn't matter what other people think about me. I've had a lot of files over the years. All that matters, really, is what I think about myself." Robin paused then, reaching up to knot her hair back from her face with a faded red scarf that she knotted at the back of her head, pulling the corkscrew curls out of her face. She looked up, those grey eyes thoughtful as she examined his features. "But thanks, though. It's not something I get offered a lot. I know they keep files on me," she shrugged as they stopped at the bus stop. "We're not going back to the Fens, are we?" Robin sighed a little as she looked up at Mike, "Cuz I get white folks asking me to take 'em around the Fens more often than you think. Ain't gonna solve the world's troubles in a night, though."
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"A few favors here and there. I still know a few excellent forgers that understand discretion." Talya replied as she handed the passports up for inspection. There were certainly passports for every member of the rather extended, adopted Espadas clan, even the ones that Talya was well aware could probably handle themselves. There was even one for Raina, although Gina might not recognize the teenager on sight unless she'd been around to see the Claremont training sessions. She shifted on the ground, folding her legs up tailor style under herself. Her lips quirked in a small, wry smile as she pointed out gently with her typical humor, "Well, parent, again. I don't really see any difference between jamming a foot in my ribs from the inside versus poking me in the eyeball while I'm napping because the telly's no longer showing the proper singing puppets." Only when Gina was done did she neatly sort things back into their proper compartments, "But I've had nothing but time on my hands of late. Honestly, I'm running of things to keep busy with. One can knit only so many hats, you know?"
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Robin had been told about the meeting, of course, but her body language broad cast reluctance despite the forced polite smile on her face, "Yes, I know - Phalanx. Dr Marquez said you were going to be chatting with me about stuff, and the school, and all," Robin said, studiously polite and she offered a firm handshake that didn't use any more than a normal amount of pressure. Her hands were rough, faint scars criss crossing her knuckles and the backs of her hands; lighter than the rest of her skin. She wore a simple thin t-shirt, frayed and worn around the hems and a little too large for her body but not in a way that did much to cut the clear ridges and lines of muscle in her arms and shoulders. Her grey eyed gaze cut to the teachers before she retrieved her hand to jam them into the pockets of her equally worn jeans, "It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Harris. Thank you for taking the time to speak to me." It was studiously polite even if it was clear that Robin had already braced for a Talk about her Life Choices and why Claremont was clearly going to be an awesome experience. She paused to hitch a faded black backpack up on her shoulder that had a scrap of what looked like had been once a leather jacket or vest carefully safety pinned to the back of it.
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Talya chuckled at that, "Most likely. But, no, I more meant her serenity in the face of waiting. Oh, she's a creature of wroth and fire when she knows something has gone wrong but until that's the case, she maintains that calm assuredness that we're coming home. It isn't a mentality that I can say I share. I envy it." Talya said simply as she crossed to the cupboards, specifically the thin faux face of a cupboard that was usually used to shim the space between the fridge and the rest of the cabinets. With a sigh, Talya folded down to her knees, knowing that the going down was much easier than getting back up. "That too," she agreed as she slid her fingers along the wood to find the hidden catch and paused to point that out to Gina. "Its a simple button - just well hidden." She explained as she pulled out the drawer. It was only just wide enough for an old fashioned hard shelled silver case - the sort one usually saw handcuffed to a spy's wrist in classic movies which Talya pulled out. "I do keep a Browning 1911 in the case along with a spare clip." Because in Talya's particular experience, if you couldn't solve the problem with sixteen bullets, it was unlikely that you'd be able to solve it with more. "I don't really consider it the emergency gun in the house - there's one in the bedroom that's easier to get at." Setting the case on the ground as there wasn't space left in her lap, she popped the clips on it. The gun was unassuming and carefully secured in its holster in the top. The case, however, held bundles of bills from various countries, "Euros, Dollars, Pounds, Canadian, Francs and Yen." Talya rattled off with an absent wave for what was easily several thousand dollars in various denominations. "Non-sequential and released to circulation in the last five years." She tapped the small box that was nestled among them, "These are false passports if you ever need them, although I'd only trust them to hold up to cross a border or two, not really for long term cover. I have ones for the girls and Yolanda and ones for the adults in your family - although we're all well are that most of them are unlikely to go anywhere in a crisis." Talya shook her head a little at that but it was with fond bemusement. "Anyways, its worth knowing where it is, just in case." Talya had always kept a few fail safes here and there out of habit and training, but she'd had a lot of time on her hands of late and was well aware that while she could get herself across any number of borders with a smile and a pair of high heeled shoes in hand, it would be a much more involved task to make sure everyone was safe. "It probably sounds a bit like paranoia, I know."
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"Stand, thank you," Robin replied, bracing her legs slightly apart, her arms folded across her chest in a manner that looked less like she was hugging herself and far more like she was peering imperiously down on her city. Guarded and wary, certainly, but it also was as clear as a thumbprint a sign of someone who had ingrained the street culture of presenting an imposing figure. She'd watched him move around silently, giving a small shake of her head to dismiss the sudden violence as if it was nothing exceptional. "Happens." Robin agreed, her thumbs hooked in the corners of her elbows and her posture relaxed in a way that made it easy to stand for however long she was going to be here in the office. "Mz. Summers is a real big fan of therapy, from my experience and I guess the school counselor's not making much headway," Robin said without a hint of remorse. She met the doctor's gaze directly, not dissembling. "I'm here because I killed monsters that looked like people and Mz. Summers wants to make sure that its not going to do irreparable harm to my psyche... and probably to make sure it doesn't tip me closer to being a bad guy. I know people worry about that too." Her expression remained even, although the muscles in her shoulders and biceps tensed and bunched for a moment. "But I'm not, and I'm not going to be one, so. It's fine."
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"I'm so sorry," Psyche apologized to the creature from where she floated behind the first line of the heavy hitters, her hands up in front of her face as she gestured. As one hand gestured out, the formidable weight of Psyche's presence lashed forward, unseen but no less potent. Her earlier touch had been little heavier than a butterfly skimming the surface. This, however, held the full weight of the potent psychic's honed abilities behind the thrust as she lashed out to drive through the minimal resistance that his mind presented. The regret on her features was clear, although there was no guilt. Psyche was well aware that this was the best course of action to get to the bottom of the matter but that didn't mean she enjoyed peeling back the layers of his thoughts to filter through to what she needed. There was no strain that flickered across her features as most of the time, the young psychic put her effort into keeping her thoughts inside her own head.
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[ToV] Short Attention Span Theater (OOC)
alderwitch replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Archives
Woo hoo! You got it! -
Ray landed lightly on bare feet, his wings still out as he took in the chaotic scene. "One of you two able to pinpoint the locus of that mess?" Ray asked, the words almost laconic. Running one hand over the still glowing script on his arm, Renegade scooped up the light with his fingertips is if it were a more tangible substance than energy. Gathering it into a ball as he squinted at the grey, ashen clouds. "Personally, I don't fancy getting thumped around as we try to go room by room to make with an exorcism." With a quick gesture, Renegade tossed the ball of light that he'd been collecting up above his head to at least brighten the murky parking lot with its gentle radiance. He sighed, exhaling a short, sharp breath, "And unfortunately, I don't think a few snippets of scripture and a bit of salt are probably going to cut it this time, either."