ic Giant Krampus 2: Krampus Campus

[Fox]

Masque

"...hmm. Oh dear. Ooh dear." Masque looked down on the chaos of the battlefield with no small dismay; so much happening to so many all at once, and it was almost impossible to track. She was pretty sure they weren't losing, but she felt pretty bad for anyone who didn't have a rooftop vantage point - she felt like she'd be lost if she was down there, trying to pick targets out of the chaos.

 

"...hm." That was a thought. She spun her staff, shedding her and Abby's combined magic as she flicked another tiny point of light toward the face of the Krampus. "Here's a magic trick for you - no peeking!"

 

The light went off like a tiny star, blinding the creature and casting shimmering light back into the surrounding snow. The star faded, but the snow did not, a rainbow of colors that coalesced into perfect images of all the students Masque could see, posed, fighting, and entirely insubstantial. "I always did like the house of mirrors," Masque confided to Arcana. Her brain and mask were practically vibrating with the effort of coordinating everything at once, but it was...it was kind of fun. "It'll be a great trick as long as he doesn't just hit everyone at once again."

[Cubismo]

Just as Astrid was finished pummeling one group of Dark Elves another decided that taking was a fine and healthy idea.  "<Of bloody course!>" She cursed loudly in her native tongue. The suicidal arrogance of minions never failed to not astonish her but even this was getting annoying. 

 

"<I just destroyed the last sortie of you fools with my bare hands. You really think your going special compared to the last!>" She said in Old Norse hoping that they'd be able to understand her but when they didn't reply and charged at her Astrid cursed once again and readied Porrklubba with her recovered hand. 

 

When the dark elves finally closed the gap between them and made their attacks, Astrid had to burst out laughing. She wasn't as nimble as she was brawny but even she could avoid their uncoordinated strikes with ease, docking a swipe there and dodging a bite there. "<Freya be good. You poor sods need training something fierce.>"

 

Her plan of attack was going to be beautifully simple in her mind: Hit them with Porrklubba until they stop. A tried and true strategy that usually worked but Astrid had sudden reservations he as he prepared to strike the dark elves. The Krampus was the true enemy. His underlings were small potatoes. She needed to get into the thick of it with the Big Bad and avenge that shameful miss that she made at the beginning. 

 

But Astrid hesitated. In the corner of her eye she saw Alex take a hit from one of the dark elves and for a split second wondered if he needed her help. His immediate words after reassured her that he had things well in hand.

 

"<Alex I know you got things thing here I'm going after the Big Guy!>" And with that Astrid turned away from the dark elves and made a beeline towards the weakened Krampus with Porrklubba held high above her head while she screamed out a Aesir battle cry. When she finally got to the feet of the monster she stroke downwards with all her might.  

 

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Salvo

 

From her vantage point high in the air, Salvo could see it all. Krampus bound from above by Sun Dragon's impossible mass and bound below as the Earth swallowed its legs, Nether magic steaming from the ground all around it. On the back of her mind, she could trace its source to the dorm's rooftop where Masque was pumping out double images of all the students. Then the marble encasing the Basket of Ancient Winter and Astrid running up to the giant's feet, Porklubba crackling with magic.

 

The fight was as good as ended. The giant bound and helpless for the coup de grace.

 

It was the physical antithesis of Christmas, taking everything Claremont has dished out so far. Yet it still stood, too large, its hide too thick, for the merely physical to do it harm. They needed another approach and she quickly began creating one. She rerouted the links between her suit and her energy stores, opened dimensions left closed and closed those unneeded for the task. Code, the language she chose to read magic in, flew past her eyes and she picked at particular lines, changing them to suit her needs.

 

Seconds passed as Salvo hovered in the air, but just as suddenly her thrusters ignited in a spurt of flame and she streaked towards Krampus, landing with a crunch as her armored boots dug into its snout. She drove her palm into its flesh and the contact pulsed violently. A white-blue light seared at Krampus' soul (or lack thereof) and her assault spread throughout its body once more. The Claremonters could see the light dig within it, as if the giant was made translucent from the energy coursing through its body.

 

Krampus shook with all the forces arrayed against but Salvo held on, thrusters pushing against its snout, digging her heels in.

 

Then she wrenched her hand back and in between her hand and Krampus' skin was a thin vortex of light, twisting and buckling with all the force of a mini-tornado. Yet she held on to the vortex as it siphoned the Krampus' essence. Ever so hungry, coal ash began to sputter out.

 

"It's all over big guy," she said, more to herself than anyone. "You're dead and died with no prizes taken."

 

Though perhaps somewhere within the giant's brain, it could comprehend her words. If it could then her touch would be all the sweeter.

 

"Try again next year."

Edited March 10, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[April]

The crown of three flames, burning above Arcana's head, flickered and vanished as she centered herself and thought about the battle before her and Masque more carefully.

 

"It is a very good trick," she said, her tone at once both approving and admiring.  "Let's give him something else to worry about so our friends are safe."

 

Magic surged around the mage again, ethereal sand and stone flickering into existence and swirling around her as she stepped up to the roofs edge.  While she held her hands low to her sides, the ground started to rumble and quake under Krampus.  As she raised her hands to the sky, that rumble became a roar as the ground exploded out from under the giant.

 

Krampus' feet sank deep into the earth up to his knees as giant fists of stone reached up from out of the ground and clamped around his arms and pulled them wide, leaving Krampus exposed and vulnerable.

[Ari]

Sun Dragon

 

The giant, staggering and flailing as he went, swung his ball and chain within view of the enchantress wearing a burning wreath. Starting at the glimpse, Sun Dragon expertly bent the next swaying of the Krampus for another, longer look at the unearthly sight.

 

Leroy burst out into crazed, screaming laughter. Crushed between the child-taker's enormous shaggy paws, it was all he could do to keep himself stable as a proverbial bowling ball on the creature's rubber sheet. Tears streamed down his face as he howled, steaming in the chill, shaken off as he muttered "This is too much! The apocalypse is now, for me! Mother have mercy, 'five years is a long time', Dio? If this luck holds, three is a miracle..."

 

Aloud he shouted "Well shot! Well shot! Keep on! Io, io, Fortuna audaces iuvat!" 

[Gizmo]

Giant Krampus snarled and thrashed its head as Salvo rammed into its snout, a beast trying to dislodge a distracting gnat while its focus was already split between the smiling Santa simulacrum and the blinding lights exploding in front of its eyes. It took another moment for the monster to register the armoured student as a more immediate concern than the earth itself rising up to restrain it. As it began to burn it twisted and snapped its tremendous fangs to no avail, unable to get enough leverage to fight back. As its form grew brighter and brighter it settled on letting loose a boneshaking roar that sent loose ground and the broken pieces of the courtyard stones tumbling away.

 

Then all at once the titans form disappeared in a shower of deep red and smouldering black motes like a soap bubble popping! White Lioness landed gracefully between the two pits left from the absence of giant hooves while Sun Dragon hit the ground a little more heavily but in one piece all the same. Zenith's marble pillar fell apart back into thin air and the bundle of birch trees lay where it had fallen, propped up on one end by the nearest building. Overhead the strange dome over the surrounding area shimmered and gradually dissolved.

 

One of the handful of remaining dark elves left behind skittered backward away from Facsimile only the be struck across the back of the head by a swift kick of a smart, business casual pump as Headmistress Summers appeared with the telltale vertical flares of geosynchronous orbital teleportation. "Ms. Conrad, Ms. Whitfield-Hall, to me," she called in a tone that brooked no debate, particularly while crushing an obviously terrified mess of claws and fangs under her heel. To the rest of the haggard looking student body she instructed, "I want a list of injuries and structural damage now, ladies and gentlemen."

[TheAbsurdist]

The ice started to crack around her, as her, as the dawn colored aurora around her turned into white hot.  She threw her hands arms down, and her power washed out like a flash flood around them, ripping at the ice that bound them, and likely those who couldn't get away, she peeled and ripped it off the other students and freeing as the coruscating flame kept the ice suspended for a moment.  Her inhuman voice came a long, loud string of swears, as she shook it off, before she stepped in the snow towards Headmistress Summers.  Not really happy with the fact that the madwoman will make demands of her when she was already agitated.  

"We're not soldiers, or machines. Stop treating us like that.  I was sent here because it would be safe, tell me how this is all SAFE!?" Zenith gestured around them, at the damage around them, and the hurt students.  Finally at the Dark Elf that the headmistress was dealing with.

[Ari]

"Good even, Headmistress." Leroy's armor evaporated, the smiling boy underneath looking as cheerful and excited as ever. Despite that, his hands and other areas of exposed skin were streaked a worrying red from exposure to the deadly chill. Nodding to the torn-up lawn, smashed statue and gouged-out trees scattered across the Academy's interior, he was a blase counterpart to Zenith's outrage. "Light damage to the dormitory, some landscaping necessary, my dragon will have to be repaired. That aside, all is well!"

 

"The other students performed admirably under the circumstances, nobody made any dreadful blunders(excepting myself and my dragon). This went approximately as well as one could hope." Leroy shrugged, ugly bruises on his chest shifting with his shoulders "May I be excused? I need to take Dio home for proper care."

 

Moving gently around again to look over the frosted battlefield, the prince's face lit up at the sight of Forever Boy. He waved up at Pan. "A glorious display, squadmate! We should practice moves like that more often!"

 

Turning back, Leroy pointed a shivering cluster of fingers at the elf wriggling and squirming under Headmistress Summer's foot. "May I have that as well? My family will want to know who they are and where they came from. For reprisals."

Edited March 12, 2019 by Ari

[RocketLord]

Oh, this was just magnificent! Flashes, bright lights everywhere! Shadows beaten back, the very ground swallowing the Giant Krampus' feet and pulling it in, Leroy holding the big thing and the picture of the Giant Santa that Pan had created actually distracting the thing! And then Nicole soaring straight at it and it was gone! Simply mag-ni-fi-cent! Pan was all smiles. He would have danced and shouted, but he did not fully feel up to it. The hit he had taken, along with the effort necessary to create the Giant Santa, had taken its toll, even if he was not about to readily admit that. Not quite yet, at least! And he was still stuck!

 

At least that last part was quickly rectified as Corinne freed him! Wonderful!

 

"Ha! Free at last! Thank you!" he shouted towards Corinne, ignoring the string of swears. That was her way, he felt no need to challenge that!

 

And Leroy! Yes, he had actually managed to hold the Krampus! Brilliant! "It was magnificent, my friend!" he shouted back, fist raised to the sky in salute. "Holding the beast! We must practice that tactic!"

 

Finally, the headmistress. Pan generally had the distinct impression that she did not quite care for him, even as he floated closer to listen in on what was transpiring between herself, Corinne and Nicole. He was not about to let her cause them trouble, if he could help it. But perhaps he could at least lighten the situation some? A loud "Ho ho ho!" echoed from above, as the Giant Santa began to make a move around, pointing out the various students and declaring them all to be "Nice!" one by one.

[KnightDisciple]

When the Krampus had reared back, Micah had taken to the sky, a green blur streaking through the air. When the monster faded away, the shield disappeared, and the adults returned, he was suddenly there. He landed with a crack of thunder, his body wreathed in a green-tinted aurora borealis, and his back sporting two well-defined wings of lightning. He scowled at Zenith's words.

 

"Oh get off yer high horse, Corinne. She ain't draftin' us, she's deputizin' us. And I don't know if there's anyone in the world coulda planned for that thing. Headmistress is here now."

 

His home accent was far more pronounced just now, showing that he'd clearly been practicing having a non-descript Midwestern American accent for the most part. He looked toward the Headmistress, lifting up his protective goggles. As he spoke, his accent faded, though his grammar took more time to readjust.

 

"I'm doing fine, ma'am. No injuries, just got stuck for a bit by the big one. None of the...whatever those are...made it into the dorms, we kept them out here. Then took care of them. Well. Most of them."

[April]

Arcana spun away from the roof edge, and bounded toward Masque.  She pushed her hood back, the enchantment that obscured her face fading away, and she had a wide smile for her roommate.

 

"Liz, you are so cool!" she said, impulsively wrapping the other girl up in a warm embrace.  As the mage held onto the hug, looking over Elizabeth's shoulder, her actions dawned on her and she felt her cheeks warm.  If I don't let go she can't see, she thought awkwardly.

[Fox]

"Nuh uh! You're cool, roomie!" Liz laughed, freeing an arm from the hug so that she could pull her mask off and tuck it into a robe pocket that was in no way large enough to hold it. "All those elves and the Krampus and you were all, 'pow!' Where do I get that kind of firepower?"

 

She opened the hug up to look down at what was left of a winter wonderland battlefield, one arm still slung around her roommate's shoulder; the other flicked a mock salute at the assorted illusory duplicates, each of them turning to give a stage bow as they flickered back into snow and scattered light. "We're okay up here!" she shouted, waving her free hand. Abby hadn't seemed too put out by what little had gotten through to her - if she wasn't going to bring it up, Liz sure wasn't going to force the wind out of her sails. "No damage to the roof, I think, but we might want to check the windows later!"

[Ari]

Sun Dragon tried hard to suppress a grin. "Yes, Pan, of course! I have to wrestle a beast every day as it is." At every word, he visibly lost ground in the battle for his composure, until he quavered on the brink. 

 

Masque's report drew his attention back to the pair on the roof, at the sight of which Leroy abruptly collapsed to the ground, shrieking and contorting in a fit of hysterics, laughing until tears again boiled down his face and he had to shove one awkward fist into his mouth to stifle it. Suddenly, as quickly as it began, it ended, Leroy regaining his footing to frown dubiously out the gate. 

 

"If I may, Headmistress," he asked Summers with a faintly apologetic look, "what is the plan to allay suspicion this school has anything to do with superhumans? Is it anything we can assist in? That is," he clarified with another shrug, "doubtful I would be of any help, but you know."

[Tiffany Korta]

 

White Lioness

The legacy of the White Lioness gave her the gift of a great cat, which included a great sense of balance. So she didn’t panic instead keeping her cool as the colossus went down, a moment before the Krampus hid the dirty she daintily lept from it’s shoulder to land gracefully in front of the monster.

 

After only a pause she walked over to the headmistresses, looking as capable and confident as befitted her family lineage. She was sure all her ancestors would be proud.

 

“Do we know why this creature attacked the school?”

[Exaccus]

For his own part facsimile was a little disappointed that headmistress summers had swept the elves out from under him but he swallowed it and with no immediate danger relinquished his grasp on the icey form and returned to plain and ordinary sized human being.

 

"Bit numb and sore, maybe bruised but nothing more." Facsimile reported as he cricked his neck.

 

"Glad the cold doesn't bother me much anymore." He added as an after thought, his hand moving to his belt and his flesh again transforming into steel to help sort through the rubble.

[Cubismo]

"Strålende!" Astrid unabashedly screamed out the word into the winter sky as the Krampus dissolved into red-black empyreal ash. It was a war cry for a battle victory that had blood pumping from start to finish.

 

A what a battle in what was! Several teenagers fighting a monster that very well could pass as a Christmas-themed kaiju and beating it without the help a single member of Claremont's faculty had to be legendary act that would immortalize them all in the school's history forever!

 

The idea of that glory almost made her forget all the collateral damage around her and the fact that she wasn't sure whether Dio was alright. What if he's...

 

The argument between Summers and other students snapped her out of that thought. She used Porrklubba to rush over to the crowd and give the Headmistresses at part of her mind. 

 

"You're not even going to give us a good job kids thanks for holding down the fort while we're gone?" Astrid facepalmed. Even to her ears that sounded petulant.She tried to push down on the attitude, but it was a up hill battle for her as always.

 

When she spoke again her voice was softer, if only a little. "Everyone's already talked about the collateral but some of us are dinged-up too. Especially Dio, but Leroy said he's going to go deal with that. Other than him everyone is still standing."

Edited March 14, 2019 by Cubismo

[Gizmo]

Summers weathered the cacophony of teenagers shouting over each other with a carefully neutral expression. When there was finally a pause for her to speak she hadn't raised her voice at all. "I've spent the last twenty minutes attempting a brute force teleport so forgive me if I am... terse." The students close enough and observant enough noticed a trickle of blood dripping from one of the Headmistress' nostrils and another from the opposite corner of her mouth, camouflaged somewhat by her dark lip colour. "The rest of faculty will be arriving by more reliable methods shortly."

 

She gestured with her chin to the dark elf under her shoe. "This, Mr. Ransom-Conte, is what remains of a child taken by Giant Krampus, likely some centuries ago. Which should answer your question as well, Ms. Tafari." Too quiet for anyone without enhanced hearing to pick up she added to herself. "I need to speak to the Master Mage..." Turning her attention back to Leroy she continued. "See to your friend. Let me know what you need. We'll use Mr. Barrie's... 'Santa' and Ms. Grey's illusions to allay concerns. A kaiju attracted by the electrical output of an overambitious holiday light show should be believable enough, once I agree to pay the city an appropriate fine.

 

"Mr. Roebuck I appreciate your enthusiasm but don't provoke Ms. Conrad; she isn't incorrect. You and Mr. Lloydd, take this one down to a containment room, please." Summers gestured with her chin toward the dark elf, then delicately wiped a bit of blood from her face as the gesture send the trickle rolling across her upper lip. She looked at her stained fingertips with more irritation than she'd shown for anything else since appearing.

 

"Take a moment," she told Corrine levelly, perhaps even with a touch of softness, the 'to right your brain chemistry' going unsaid. "Then I need the two of you," she continued, nodding to Nicole beside her, "to identify and patch anything that looks likely to collapse on top of someone. For the sake of safety. Don't worry about the... craters in the grounds for the time being. Planned to invite Gaian Knight for another guest lecture regardless." Finally she looked Astrid directly in the eyes. "Good job, Ms. Torsten."

[TheAbsurdist]

"Psh."  Came Zenith's response, her dead level stare back into Summers saying 'I protect her better than you do anyway.'  The faculty knew that Corinne might be strong, but she was a helluva lot stronger as Zenith.  Though the former's recalcitrance to adhere to their structures became downright surly obstinance under a wreathe of fire-like hair.

Still, she latched her gaze to Micah, however it ended with a roll, "Shut up Flyover Country. I am sure that the Headmistress will need your bootlicking to clean her shoes now.  But, excuse me soldier boy, I gotta do a special effects extravaganza."  Then came the skips, one-and, into the air, two-and, a little higher, three-and, came the leap, and the violent spinning, as light built up across her axis.  When she landed the light exploded outward, her forcefield pushing out, twisting like a tumultuous tempest.  Sure, she was erratic compared to Nicole.  Probably unstable.  But her power...

It started to reshape, reinforce, restructure, and restore the damage.  Seamless, like she was resetting the clock to the point where the things weren't harmed.  It crackled, lashed about and moved around them like wildfire whirlwind, though alive.  Zenith loved it.  Loved every moment, as it twisted down and ripped apart the debris, and bits that were dangerous after she fixed things.  She rose to her feat and conducted it like a symphony.  It was sublime.

 

[KnightDisciple]

Micah went very, very still at Zenith's words, his face and body simply ceasing movement for several moments. And at the same moment, every single bit of breeze in the entire courtyard simply stopped. The only air movement came from the breath and movements of the other people present in that scarred space. Above them, the sky darkened, just a bit. 

 

And then the moment was gone as Micah turned away from the glowing, spiteful girl and toward the Headmistress. He simply nodded and spoke quietly.

 

"Yes, ma'am."

 

His aura faded as he walked over to the creature she'd asked him to help contain and reached down to help Fascimile pick it up and take it away. 

[RocketLord]

"Nice!" the Giant Santa shouted, pointing down at Micah from above, while Pan flew by with a wink and a grin to him. Pan honestly hadn't paid much attention to what had happened between Micah, Corinne and the headmistress, but he had heard his name and Santa mentioned, so he made his way over there. On the way, the Santa pointed out Zenith, deeming her "Nice!" as well, before Pan stopped in front of the headmistress, standing in the air to be just a bit taller than her. Not a lot, but just enough. The Giant Santa pointed to Summers, was about to say something, then stopped and shrugged, as if he couldn't decide whether she was naughty or nice. Up close like this, the headmistress would most likely notice the scrapes and cuts from the tree, but Pan's smile and energy didn't seem diminished.

 

"I heard my name! What is the plan? Should I send Giant Santa into the city? Create a Giant Krampus? Maybe some reindeer? Oooh, put up a whole show of random giant holiday creatures all over the city, make it seem like the school being attacked was completely random in the madness of the holiday destruction!?" 

[Exaccus]

Facsimile had no problems throwing down with the fiercest, insaneist and most murderous villains but the tension between Corinne and Micah was enough to make him blanche a little, though he stooped down to grab the elf at the side opposite to micah.

 

"So whatcha thing Mick? Should we hogtie this thing in tinsel to stop it escaping up a chimney or are conventional means enough?" He joked as he started to help drag the elf off.

 

Micah's relationship with zen and Corinne was his own business and none of his concern but still he felt the need meddle a little now was however not the time or place for that.

 

"Got any plans for the holidays aside from kicking giant demon Santa's ass?"

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Salvo

 

Salvo watched the proceedings stoically. In under a minute everything around her seemed even more chaotic than the fight with Krampus. Students wailing and shouting and laughing and smiling all at the same time, voice rising above each other. Summers was cool in the midst of all this, but without her helmet Nicole would have looked a mess trying to process it all.

 

Pan, laughing and chattering as if he were unfazed by the whole Krampus incident. It was unsurprising to her and maybe she just wanted to fly up to him and soak in that optimism. Unconcsiously, her thrusters activated but she tamped down on that quickly. Ajasoro, standing tall even if burns ran the length of her costume from one of Nicole's blasts of energy. She wanted to apologize to the Dakanan princess but perhaps now was not the right time. Leroy, crying in one instant and then acting normally the next, and she moved a little wondering if she should try and comfort him. Her sensors picked up Liz and Abby, who was the source of the Nether-magic, up in the roof and shouting they were okay.

 

Then Summer's voice brought her back down on some errand or job she was incredibly unsuited for. She was about to retort when Zenith began her song and dance as Micah walked to Alex, both of them dragging the dark elf away from Summers and her. Micah did good standing up to Zenith and Salvo gave him a small thumbs up.

 

And the other arm rose to shield her eyes from the light that exploded outwards from Zenith. Light rushed around them, through her limbs, past her armored figure. For a moment she could see nothing save the blazing sun that was Zenith in the middle of her powers.

 

Once the lightshow was over, Nicole let her arm fall and used her sensors to confirm Zenith's work. Everything was fixed. Craters gone, ground even. Rubble rising to form whole statues and walls and ceilings again with not a crack on them. The dangerously sharp ice that pervaded the whole battleground evaporated into fine mist, which left the surroundings slightly humid. It was as if things were newer than they were before Krampus.

 

Nicole scoffed. Then her boots fired and she rose to the air beside Astrid. Nicole glanced at her dormmate then back down to Summers. Zenith had fixed everything in that power she revelled so much in. It made Nicole's skin itch but she repressed the urge to snap at Zenith's behavior. It would only destroy the flimsy veneer of peace they had achieved now and so instead she turned away from Zenith and spoke to the headmistress.

 

"There," Nicole said, her voice dripping in exasperation and the stress of retaining a facade of confidence, of energy, when all she wanted to do was flop back down on her bed. "Corinne fixed everything through her..." She paused for a fraction of a second then continued in a hurried voice. "It's all fixed. The buildings, the grounds, the statue. Even the oak tree's back up. Was there anything else or what?"

 

She shook her head, taking comfort in the proximity of Astrid. She wasn't a builder like this. She could tear things down and break people up but Bellios was machine of war and consequently Salvo a hero that lived only for battle.

 

There was little for her to do here. Now.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[Ari]

"How prescient! I was about to offer just such a thing, if it could be found among my sister's trophies. I did not think you could be more lovely, Nicole, and yet here we are!" At some point Leroy had gone and hefted Dio like a large, green floppy canoe over his head, rendering him quite invisible under the dragon's bulk. Every now and then the young reptilian sage jerked his limbs or thrashed his tail or flapped his wings, scattering black blood that smoked and hissed on the lawn. Leroy's voice sang out loud yet a little muffled under his burden. 

 

"I trust all will be well, with so much wisdom at hand, and bid you good people a fond good-night. We will be back in time for classes without fail, Headmistress."

 

"Dio!" he barked, jabbing the slumped green priest in the side "Home!" 

 

Dio belched fire, a coruscating door through which could be glimpsed a maze of stairs and a dizzying array of doors. Leroy sighed. "Good enough." he said, and walked through, the door collapsing behind him. 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Ari
Takes a hat to buy a hat.

[Cubismo]

Well that... wasn't what she expected. Astrid couldn't help it. She blinked at the recognition in Summer's words. It could have been some mindgame, she suspected. Give the complaining teen a false platitude right now so that later she'd come to the Headmistress' defense next time shit hits the fan. Plenty of other authority figures had tried that on her before and she had seen through for what is but right now Astrid wasn't so sure. And that scared her.

 

Astrid responded back to Summers as causally and nonchalant as possible. "Yeah, well, thanks for that, but," She waved her hand across indicating all the other students that were nearby, "It literally took all of us to bring that thing down, though Nicole was the big hero who gave it the final blow. Soooooooooo, I'm thinking we all deserve a big 'thank you' and high-five once everything is nice and proper again."

 

 

 

 

[TheAbsurdist]

The expected outburst didn't come from her.  Which, might have been a first, as her fingers dug through the dirt, but then this was effort.  It was hard to keep up on your anger over this when you were trying to focus on something else.  Like repairing structures.  Or pulling the birch away from the building, ripping it apart as she did so, dissolving, dissipating it as it's mass fell away in geometric chucks.

"If we can get people who are hurt together in the light that'd be helpful..." They're just patterns to fix.  Right?  Right... just patterns.  All just patterns to adjust.  She knew Pan was hurt, having been slapped around by the birch, but she didn't notice all the damage accrued

The big stuff, that was easy, the little stuff was more taxing.  Devil being in the details.  Or in this case more taxing for her, and her vision narrowed in scope, making a tunnel to the task.