ic Sky-Pirates!

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Vegas looked almost relieved that Veronica was stepping up to take command of the situation. He tried to hide it, but at least the more perceptive of the students would be able to see it. "I... I really can't. I know that you're the senior Danger family present, but you're all just kids! We don't know what's out there, what's going on!" He looked to Harcourt for support, but she just shrugged in response. She was the science teacher, not about to get in between super powered teens and whatever was attacking this place. With a defeated sigh, Vegas gave in. "Alright, alright... Let's see what's going on." He was a company man, all things considered, and the Danger family was in charge. Even if the Danger present was a teenager.

 

"Follow me, then. Everyone to the entrance, then we'll get those that want to go to the safe rooms and find out where the rest of you can help, unless there's any objections?"

[Zeitgeist Blue]

"You heard your boss," Nicole replied to Vegas as she held the Horologium tightly to her chest. "I'll be taking this to study its insides stat and the whole thing is going to be so much fun."

 

She was grinning from ear to ear as she drove herself over beside Pan. What was that?! She could see it in her mind's eye, trace its every feature. The Crocodile? The mythic beast of Neverland's tales who was foretold to be the creature to defeat the Hooked Man. Like stories within stories it seemed so outlandish as to be nothing but a faerie tale, something told to bring hope to the children of Neverland. But Nicole knew that everything was possible in this and every reality. She would not discount the possibility for all the magic in the world.

 

Her hand found Pan's arm and she pulled him down to where she could whisper in his ear, deadly serious. "If you're instincts are right and it's the Hooked Man that triggered the alarms then you need to know what is inside the Horologium and what he's looking for. The Crocodile's image is branded here like a mason's mark. It ate you and it ate the Hooked Man and I've watched Peter Pan enough times to know the tick-tock's a good sign something bad and scaly is involved."

 

She released him and gave him a smile, pushing the Horologium under his nose. "Now help me figure this out. We should follow Vegas to the safe rooms to get this as far away from pirate hands as possible."

[Cubismo]

Astrid raised an eyebrow at Veronica's orders. It was an instinctual reaction. She was never a fan of taking orders from anyone, even when it was more than warranted. Still, this was Danger's place and it wasn't as if Vegas seemed to be really in control of the unfolding situation. Also, she was relieved to hear that they wouldn't just going to get locked in some safe room while gods knows what was happening all around them. They needed to be useful. She needed to be useful. 

 

As she moved to follow Vegas, Astrid motioned to Micah. "How about it, Micah? Both of us up front behind Vegas in case things get a little hairy," she asked seriously, before breaking into a rakish grin. "First ones into battle are the first ones to glory, and all that."

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne sighed, her eyes observing the reactions everyone had.  Nicole did Nicole, whatever.  Corinne gave in, as she stepped away from the others, and back towards the entrance, she needed a sense of things.  Or rather Zenith did.  The change happened as she rolled her shoulders back, and straightened, before the iridescent crown of dawn colored hair exploded back behind her, and now bared arms rose, the limbs disappearing in her lambent power.

If there was snark for her to give, it didn't happened, and the glowing eyed alter ego of the Julliard bound teenager willed things into changing, and her creation exploded from the ground.  The air crystallizing into a hexagonally faceted dome of covering enveloping building.  It was her biggest creation thus far, and at the apex of it's creation her hands balled into fists and  light filled in, become solid matter.  A strange, semi-translucent substance that when it caught the light right look identical to basalt for a briefest moment.

It enclosed the Danger International building in the span of a couple heartbeats.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Hey, get back here!" the male guard yelled after Zenith as she stepped towards the ground floor entrance. He moved towards her, but stopped the moment her appearance started to change. As she stepped outside and the put up the dome around the building, she was the first to see the approaching vessels that the others would soon be able to see on the screens at the security booth: A pair of full-rigged ships, flying through the sky, cutting straight through the still powerful sandstorm with little effort. The sails were large and white, catching the wind much like a normal sailing ship would do at sea. The ships even bobbed up and down, much like a ship at sea meeting waves. And at the very top of the highest mast, but ships flew a black flag with a skull and crossbones.

 

Inside, most of the researchers were running towards the safe rooms. Some were carrying various artifacts, some were being carried by things such as flying carpets or walking chairs. At the security station, the woman was frantically speaking into her headset, looking up at Vegas and the group approached. "Comms are out." Seeing the panicked expression on Vegas' face, she instead turned her attention to Veronica. There was a Danger at the location, and protocol was protocol, even if she was a teenager. "We're not gonna be able to call for help. Automatic defenses and the thing your friend put up might be able to keep them away, but we got have no idea if it will even work." 

Edited April 27, 2019 by RocketLord

[Thevshi]

Veronica

 

Veronica had given Corinne the option, but she was glad that the older teen had chosen to help, transforming in to Zenith and moving out to create a defensive dome over the facility.  Astrid and Micah were moving out towards the surface as well, so the teenage Danger moved over to the security station as the female security guard began explaining their situation.

 

The fact they were cut off from communications was not good, but they were far from helpless.  "Keep trying the comms, perhaps we can figure out what is jamming them and disable it."  She stated before focusing on the screens to see the unusual sight of the two flying sailing ships.  "Pan, you might want to take a look at this."  Veronica stated as the other teenager was talking with Nicole about the Horologium.

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

 

Pan paused for a moment when Nicole mentioned the Crocodile. It was branded into the Horologium? What exactly did that mean? He knew little of the Horologiums, aside from their power. He had only seen a few in his time, and never up close. It had been far more common to see the effects of the Horologiums, as armadas appeared or wounds were suddenly healed, but he had never heard of one being branded like that. "The Crocodile is neither good or evil." His answer was rather short, for him. "No one knows its motives, but I am inclined to agree. The ticking cannot be good." And indeed, the clock continued to tick in Nicole's hands.

 

He was about to suggest that they follow Corinne when she exited the building. She was powerful, sure. Much more than him. Still, they knew little of what was coming, even if Pan could make a guess born from experience. Especially when the guard shouted about communication being down. He recognized that bit, and the image on the screens just settled it. Yes, he knew what was coming.

 

"Sky-Pirates." He couldn't keep a small grin from his lips, even if he knew that he really shouldn't be grinning. This was serious, this was really bad. The Sky-Pirates had done untold damage back on Neverworld. But on the other hand... "The Hooked Man's flagship is not among them." His grin widened. There were many great powers on Neverworld, but power like that of his fellow students? No, not quite. He was actually quite certain that these Sky-Pirates would be in for quite a shock. "Odds are they are after the Horologium, and anything else that they think is worth something. They will probably start with broadsides soon, then launch themselves." He paused, pointing at the approaching ships on the screen. "One of them is bound to have a device that is blocking our hails for aid." He turned to the others, holding up his palm. An image appeared above it, looking like somewhat like an old gramophone player, but with the vinyl replaced with a number of buttons. "It looks like this. If we can take it out. I doubt they stick around with just two ships if we destroy that device." He paused, looking over at Veronica. She was in charge, it seemed. So what would she choose to do?

[KnightDisciple]

Micah had tensed up as the situation escalated. There was a lot starting to happen, and the danger was real. Real in a way that actually hit him even more than the incident at Christmas. And of course, since Corinne was here, and now it was a fight, Zenith was here. But he couldn't focus on that. When Astrid spoke, he turned to her. 

 

"Yeah. You know what, yeah. I'll give you cover, then maybe try to make things uncomfortable for them. You do what you do best."

 

With confidence he didn't quite feel, but that his friends and comrades seemed to put in him anyway, Micah followed closely behind the two ladies. As he walked, his body became slightly charged with energy, and wispy, fog-like clouds began to form behind him, shaping themselves into wings. By the time they were on the surface, oddly bird-like wings sat on his back, formed of clouds of shimmering water vapor with tiny sparks of energy rolling around in them. When they reached the door, he stopped, even as Zenith worked to protect the building.

 

"I'll be right behind you."

 

He raised his arms to the sky and closed his eyes. In moments, the air began to thicken and cool, tiny rainclouds forming; it didn't take long before rain fell int spatters, hit the ground, and rose as eerie fog. In relatively short order the Danger International facility was at least partially cloaked in a rolling bank of fog, one that stopped just short of Astrid and Zenith as they prepared to face the pirate ships. 

[RocketLord]

GM

 

As the clouds began to gather and the rain began to fall, the group outside would hear a whistling sound. Or rather, a pair of sounds. Like two projectiles hurling towards them at great speed, flying through the air. Inside, the group could see just that, smoke rising from the ships where their cannons had been fired.

 

To those with enhanced senses, it was clearly more than just lumps of iron and metal. Intricate designs were woven into the cannonballs, glowing with a bright red light that left trails behind them, even as the speed of the projectiles made the exact designs impossible to see. The group gathered outside barely had time to react before the cannonballs slammed into Zenith's barrier, the impact shaking the entire thing, leaving behind a gaping hole.

Edited May 15, 2019 by RocketLord

[Tiffany Korta]

White Lioness

It didn’t take much for White Lioness to see a potential problems she faces, as quick as she was on the grounds she had no way to really fight at a distance. Not normally a problem when there were many ways to gain height on someone, but she doubted that these sky-pirates would helpfully lower her a rope. Still at least there were many options as to how she could get up there.

 

 

“Anyone fancy giving me a lift up to the ship?”

 

Now all she had to do was wait a few moments, the hardest part really.

[KnightDisciple]

Micah's eyes widened as the floating pirate ships shot magical cannons at them. Zenith's strange barrier seemed to only slow them down; the glowing projectiles whistled overhead before slamming into the building, showering Micah in dust and small debris. For several long moments, there were swirling holes in the fog bank, before they filled up again at Micah's will. 

 

As White Lioness asked for a ride, Thunderbird grunted.

"I can try after everyone gets topside and doesn't need as much cover. No offense meant to a lady but I can't lift you on my own, not that far, and I'm having to put too much in keeping our cover up while it matters. If it matters."

 

Poor guy seemed to have a confidence problem, even now. 

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The cannonball that had shattered through the dome lost much of its speed, falling almost instantly to the ground once inside. It rolled a few feet before coming to a halt, about 50 feet to the right of the young heroes that were already outside. It was hard to see through the fog and rain that Thunderbird had created, but the bright red light etched in what seemed to be a skull and crossbones pattern was visible. It seemed to be almost humming, the glow turning brighter, then duller, over and over, the speed at which it did so slowly increasing.

[Thevshi]

Veronica Danger

 

Veronica was glad Corinne did not hesitate to change into Zenith and make her way back up topside to help, putting up a dome to try to stop the Sky Pirates. But then the cannons from the sky ships smashed through the dome. Glancing back at Vegas, Veronica gave a few last orders. "Make sure everything is in containment. Get the auto defenses active and be ready if we can take out whatever they are using to jam communication."

 

The teenage Danger then ran over to a Danger Cycle she had seen parked nearby on the way in. Climbing onto the motorcycle, she swiped her ID card and the engines roared to life. Of course, a motorcycle was not going to help get her or anyone else up to the sky ships. So, with a flick of a switch, the wheels of the Danger Cycle rotated as anti-gravity generators went active and the vehicle began to hover.

 

Zooming forward low to the ground, Veronica pulled up near Àjàṣorò and Micah. "I can give you a lift Àjàṣorò." She stated with a grin, gesturing over her shoulder with one thumb to the space on the seat behind her.

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

 

Attack it was, then. Completely fine by Pan. The enemy ship was approaching quickly, and they had already managed to smash through Zenith's wall with their first cannonball. They would only keep up the barrage, unless they were given reason to aim elsewhere. "Get in close! Their cannons are slow change aim. The closer you get, the better your chance of evasion."/color] He made a quick pause, looking over at Salvo, he motioned to the Horologium. "I will try buy you some time to figure that out."

 

And up and away, Pan flew, rushing right past Veronica, Micah, Corinne and Àjàṣorò, leaving a trail of glowing Pixie Dust behind him. He had his sights on the nearest ship. He could not waste any time. Find the jammer and disable it, that was the best plan he could think of right now.

Edited May 22, 2019 by RocketLord

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Another loud bang, and another cannonball flew through the air from the ship that Forever Boy had flown towards. The cannonball sailed past him, colliding directly with the dome. It shook once more, but still held, leaving the single hole. Perhaps more trouble was the cannonball on the ground inside the dome. The flashing red light grew in power and intensity, until the cannonball opened, the top splitting from the bottom. A powerful red light shone from the core, before taking on the shape of a sparkling red doorway. Five men quickly emerged, dressed very much in the style one would associate with a pirate. Eye patches, peg legs, flintlock pistols. Bandanas, a fancy hat or two. But not a single one with a hook. At least having moved through the sparkling red doorway seemed to temporarily faze them, giving the young heroes a chance to act.

[Zeitgeist Blue]

"I need everything you have here and get me as much as you can from here and this one is for the things that would be nice to have but aren't essential."

 

Nicole showed Vegas the three lists she had typed on her phone, swapping to the next list as soon as Vegas was done taking note. Then when she was done giving him everything she asked him for the nearest empty room and told him to bring all the items there.

 

There was no manic grin on her face as she drove away, only the problem set before her. The room was indeed empty and she drove inside to wait for her components.

 

This far inside the facility and Nicole could hear nor feel anything of the fight commencing. Only the klaxxons and the red warning lights indicated that things were turning pear-shaped. There was no safety, even if Corinne's alter-ego conjured a protective sphere around the whole facility. It was inevitable and she used that to keep from slacking off.

 

Pan had said the Horologium was of his world, where science and magic meshed together so naturally as to be one and the same. It was not so in this world but Nicole had ways of circumventing that divide, blurring the lines.

 

But she would need to do so quickly, before the pirates came. She would ready her denial. The Horologium shall not be their's, even if she did not know what was inside, because she knew how these things worked. She knew enough from experience and from Pan's stories not to underestimate the capacity for malice and destruction of people like the pirates.

 

Now all she needed to do was wait for her components.

[Cubismo]

Even for a child of a thunder god it was hard for Astrid to make out what was happening beyond the Corinne's dome. The sky was so thick with fog and rain that she barely see the looming outlines of the two approaching pirate ships. More importantly, though, she couldn't see Pan in any that mess either.

 

Astrid made a rather vulgar Norwegian curse under her breath. The demigoddess could hardly blame Pan for going to fight a bunch of flying pirates from another world. That was commendable Aesir behavior in Astrid's book.  The problem was that he decided to do it alone without making sure that the rest of them was following is lead. Going off like that into the heart of enemy territory was a sure fire away to get yourself killed after all and that sure as Hel wasn't going to happen under Astrid's watch. 

 

She was about to summon up her divine strength to teleport yourself and the others to Pan's location when she saw movement in the fog in the corner of her eye. Astrid scowled at the sight. "I spy five idiot pirates near us," she said quickly, already preparing to move upon them with a sparking Porrklubba in her hands. "I say we make quick work of these bastards and move on to help, Pan. Can't let him have all the glory, ya?"

 

And with that Astrid charged the landing party of marauders, leaping into the air with Porrklubba held high waiting to be brought down upon their collective heads. 

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Astrid's club collided with one of the pirates, a fellow with an eyepatch and a peg leg. He had a full black beard, which appeared rather grimy. One had to wonder if he had ever washed it at all. His lips split into a wide grin despite the hit, and he seemed none the worse for wear. Astrid might be mighty, but it appeared that the pirates were strong as well. Perhaps Pan's stories of them had not been exaggeration, despite his other habits.

 

Vegas read the lists that Nicole were presenting him, quickly putting down notes. Despite his obvious disarray, he was doing what he could. He was a company man, after all, and he was not about to argue with Veronica or her friends. As he noted the items he mentioned a few he knew where to find, and some that they didn't have, but he would do his best, at least.

 

The second pirate ship continued its approach. It was slower than the first one, but it fired a cannonball that shook Zenith's dome as it struck it, a thundering explosion rocking the entire building under it.

[TheAbsurdist]

Zenith glowered, which with as incandescent as she was, it was an impressive expression lost in the midst of what was happening.  She gestured upwards at her dome, and the material knitted together, restoring the holes, as she swept her other hand towards Astrid at the pirate there.  "I.  Am.  Not.  Done!"  Her hand making a fist then, as she formed a prison around the men, of the same material that she had made the dome out of.  A crystalline structure and substance that was unread in the geometries, despite it being a done like the one above.

 

Then she turned in a direction that didn't exist, and she was atop of the smaller dome above Astrid and her foes.  The pull of her powers growing as she used them, and today's exertion was greater than what she had done in quite sometime.  Her laughter, joyous, riotous, uproarious laughter only grew.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

After Astrid's strike, the pirates begun to scatter. Zenith's dome appeared atop them in a the blink of an eye, but the pirates were just as fast. Or at least some of them were. While three of the pirates managed to move outside the dome as it formed, the last two, including the one that Astrid had stuck, were still inside it, together with Astrid... and the still glowing cannonball on the ground. 

 

At the same time, white, cheramic cannons began to appear from different placements across the walls of the building. The defense systems that Veronica had requested had activated.

Edited May 28, 2019 by RocketLord

[Tiffany Korta]

White Lioness
White Lioness didn’t hesitate for a moment, leaping onto the skycycle and zipped up towards the nearest flying pirate ship. This was exhilarating and remined her of similar ones she had back home, but she should really get one for use when heroing. But she hadn’t convinced them to let her get a car for herself, let alone a super flying bike. 

 

They definitely wouldn’t have agreed if they saw what she did next, with the bike hovering over the ship she dived down onto the deck of the ship, rolling herself upright on impact ready to fight off anyone who’d seen her landing.
 

[KnightDisciple]

Thunderbird looked at the chaos occurring all around him, including his fellow students seemingly all having taken to the fight. For a moment, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply; the winds and clouds he had summoned shifted with that breath. And then the sun began to shine, as the clouds thinned unnaturally fast. 

 

Thunderbird, meanwhile, opened his eyes, which now shone solid green with his power, even as his whole body was coated in a film of the aurora borealis, wings forming of thickened light-clouds behind him as he crouched.

 

"I don't like thieves or bullies."

 

Those honestly mediocre words were his only battle cry before he tore through the air, his feet barely touching the ground but leaving bits of glass in the sand as his crackling form streaked forward like a missile. His right hand drew back at impossible speeds before striking toward the closest pirate's solar plexus with enormous force. The next pirate would be the target of a bullet-fast barrage of lighter blows aimed all over his torso and face, while the final ne'er-do-well would have a pair of kicks aimed at his groin and then his face. 

All of this happened in the span of just a couple of seconds. 

[Thevshi]

Veronica

 

As Àjàṣorò climbed aboard the back of the Danger Cycle, Veronica took a moment to note that Astrid and Micah appeared to be handling the pirates that had come through the portal created by the cannonball that had pierced Zennith's dome. Satisfied they had things well in hand, the teenage Danger revved the engine of the flying motorcycle and took of up into the sky, heading toward the pirate ship that Pan had gone toward.

 

In short order Veronica brought the Danger Cycle up over the deck of the ship, slowing down to hover to allow Àjàṣorò a chance to jump down onto the deck. She then glanced about, trying to take in the scene on the ship in order to decide her next course of action.

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

 

Pan ascended as Veronica and Àjàṣorò raced towards the ship, circling around it above as Àjàṣorò made her leap into the fray. She landed in the middle of the pirates, because of course she was immediately ready to fight. Pan had to admit that it was most impressive, even if she was outnumbered. Not that he doubted her skills, but the number of pirates that surrounded her on the ship made for quite the obstacle to surpass. 

 

Still, Pan grinned, as he called out. "Greetings! It seems that you lot choose the wrong destination to plunder, my friends!" Get their attention, even if just for a moment. They knew him. He didn't know if they feared him, but they had to know of him, and maybe that would buy them a second? And then, make the magic, fog quickly appearing all over the ship, almost impossible to see through. At least unless you were Pan or one of his friends.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

On the ground, the single pirate that Thunderbird had not taken down did not flinch, yelling a rather incoherent curse about Thunderbird's mother as he swung the cutlass in right hand towards the teenage weather controller, though he passed far by his intended target, drawing another curse from him. Inside the smaller dome that Zenith stood on top, Astrid was dealing with her own bunch of pirates. While two more appeared from the glowing light of the cannonball, Ms. Thursday quickly became the target of the ones already inside the dome. Cutlasses already in their hands, they yelled and laughed as they swung at her. The first might have missed, but the second managed to connect with her side.

 

Far above, as the ship moved ever closer, eight pirates stood scattered around the deck. "The Forever Boy!" one of them shouted, pointing towards the flier, giving the White Lioness a moment of distraction. As the fog spread across the deck of the ship, the pirates started panicking. While some fired wildly with what appeared to be flintlock pistols towards the sky, all missing the Forever Boy, the others were equally unlucky in their attempts to hit the White Lioness, be it the pair that shot blindly into the fog, or the two that started swinging their swords where they thought she last stood.

 

Still, it seemed not all of the ship's crew were on the deck. With the sound of thunder, another cannonball was fired towards the giant dome.