ic Star Fall

[alderwitch]

Location: Liberty Park

Quote

In the midst of Freedom City is a broad swath of verdant green, a testament to the beauty of life and nature. Liberty Park was a central part of the city plans since the early 1800s—an area where people could come to get in touch with nature and enjoy some time away from the hustle and bustle of city life. High stone walls surround the park, pierced by open wrought-iron gates every few blocks. One paved road immediately inside the walls encircles the park and is a major jogging path. Two paved roads cross the park north to south and two more east to west, but only foot traffic (along with bicycles, skateboards, and rollerblades) is permitted on them. The roads are closed to all but emergency vehicles and a few horse-drawn carriages offering rides around the park. Numerous unpaved foot and bicycle trails cross the park.

Date: July 22, 2019; 10:07 AM

 

Star Child

 

It was a lovely morning in Liberty Park, not yet hot enough to drive people to air conditioned environments and full of summer sunlight. Children were playing, there were teens skateboarding along the path. The athletic fields were full of people playing mid-morning matches of one sport or another. It was a perfect, peaceful Freedom City morning in July though if anyone was was used to how things could change in an instant, it was the citizens of Freedom City.

 

There were a few scattered shouts as people sun bathing or otherwise paying attention to the sky noticed the sudden streak of light. Of course, it could be a super hero with a contrail but it just... didn't look quite right. Freedom City was used to seeing the occasional flying form in the sky. This... well, it didn't look anything like that! For one thing, it was coming straight down towards the park with a glowing red contrail. 

 

"Oh my god, its a meteor!" 

 

That's about when people started to grab things and run just in case. A few - a very few - eagle eyed individuals, watching the rock drop out of the heavens noticed that it swerved suddenly. Where it should have impacted the athletic field, right in the middle of a soccer match, it veered suddenly and sharply, landing with a splash and a column of hissing steam at the edge of Sunset Lake instead, just across the path from the shocked soccer players.

 

 

[secondling]

Legatus

 

Legatus had been flying patrol over Freedom City, making sure that cars didn't crash, muggings went awry, and buildings didn't accidentally (or "accidentally") collapse, when he saw the glowing red streak in the sky, falling (or was it flying?) towards the ground. With a BOOM as he broke the sound barrier, the Teen of Adamant soared towards the meteor's landing site on the edge of Sunset Lake.

 

Odd, I could've sworn that it was going to hit that soccer field... Legatus pondered the question as he landed lightly next to the impact site. Gesturing for the passersby to stand away, he spoke. "Stay back, everyone. I don't want anyone to get hurt if this turns out badly." He turned his eyes back to the meteorite's landing site, prepared for anything.

[Constantine05]

Ah, the park. A lovely example of carefully cultivated nature. Morgan had been lazily flying about, landing whenever he felt like it as long as it wasn’t in the middle of something and just enjoying the summer day. In one hand was some iced tea, in the other was his phone, which he used when he landed for generally looking around the internet. The city was full of Heroes, after all, and he didn’t want to barge in and get in people’s way. So he’d just been relaxing in a t-shirt and shorts for the day with no real call to dress in his usual suits and the heat making it a perfect day for lighter clothes.

 

That is until a meteor fell into the park. With nary a thought, he took off once again to get a better view of what was happening and help if needed. He flew to the shore of the lake and circled once before landing and trying to get a better view of things from the ground.

[alderwitch]

As Legatus and Nephilim landed near the edge of the water, urging the frightened population back, the waters of the lake roiled and parted until the crater in the lake was revealed with a single pale woman standing in the divot. She was humanoid but certainly not human and her white curls danced about her head as if caught in an invisible wind. She wore unusual clothing; a white suit with a sheer pink cape that covered her almost like a robe. 

 

"I'm so sorry," she said to one of the panicked fish dashing from the new currents generated in their usual placid home. "There's just so much life here. It's hard to find a good place to land! It's alright, I'm putting you back right now."

 

Floating out of the lake, a sweep of her hands sent the water back to fill in and settle before she landed on the bank behind the two heroes. "Hello, Earthlings. Hello, hello! My goodness. I knew it was busy but its so BUSY." Her glittering red gaze fixed first Legatus where she squinted before decided, "You're a juvenile aren't you? Hello, earth child!" Before her fascinated gaze landed on Nephlim's wings. "Oh, how lovely! What a lovely creature you are. Do feathers tickle? It seems like they would tickle and you can't exactly ask birds. Well you can, I suppose, but their answers are bound to be a little opaque and probably distracted."

 

 

[Ari]

"Hey! Uh, hold it right there!"

 

A green shadow flashed from the sky, landing in the lake with a thunderous splash that sent water jetting across the shimmering green scales of a mighty dragon! Its mouth gaped to reveal brutal bone plates instead of teeth, and a burning fire in the shadows of its gullet. 

 

"Who are you? Where are you from? Do you need medical help? I can't give thatbut I can teleport us right there!"

 

The dragon's tail lashed side to side in agitation, ater streaming and steaming off the flanks as the dragon noticed Felix. 

 

"I'm Dio, a guardian of the Earth" his voice lent the word a capital E "as are these other two. Legatus, good to see you again."

[Constantine05]

"I've found, honestly, that they itch more than 'tickle' but mostly only when I don't groom them regularly. If one's out of place it gets irritating. Otherwise they're rather soft and fluffy. They only 'tickle' when you use them for such, and I don't shed feathers often and have never really felt the burning need to see if mine are any good for that kind of thing." Nephilim shrugged,  letting his wings shake slightly to get the water from the splash off and turning the top of his cup so he could continue sipping his iced tea.  One of those mugs with a lid which allowed one to turn it to prevent spilling. Or splashes in the case of rain. "And I wouldn't know about birds and how they talk. I'm Nephilim, by the way. But usually I go by Morgan."

[Tiffany Korta]

Triakosia

Floating down from the sky was a figure clad in a cloak of white flapping around the figure in the updraft of the city. Below the cloak was a flashes of blue and gold, colours that would be familiar to anyone who lived in the city. It was worn by many heroes to honour the first superhero of the city, and this version was worn by Triakosia.

 

She floats down to beside this newest arrival to Earth, her feet floating a few inches off the ground. She nodded to the two other heroes before turning her attention to the newcomer.

 

“I think I followed you down from orbit! You took quite a fall are you okay?” there was a mix of curiosity and concern in her voice.

 

[secondling]

Legatus

 

Legatus blinked several times at the woman (he assumed she was a woman), her enthusiastic rambling catching him off-guard. "Um, I suppose so?" He said in answer to her question. Technically, after all, he was underage. "But that's no reason not to do what I can to protect the people of this world." He approached her slowly, palms facing her in a gesture of peaceful intentions. If she did end up being a threat, after all, he could probably deal with it then.

 

At Dio's arrival, Legatus relaxed slightly, inclining his head with a gracious and genuine smile at the large dragon. "Good to see you, too, uh..." He hesitated, remembering abruptly that many heroes took on secret identities to prevent others from threatening their families and the like. After a moment, he realized that the dragon had introduced himself to the newcomer, and completed the sentence. "Dio."

 

At Triokosia's arrival, Legatus froze, his blue eyes widening and his throat tightening. Since his... eruption into Freedom, he'd heard of Triakosia, who came from the same world as the Man of Adamant himself. "Trecentos." He said in Latin, his voice soft. CCC. She took a number as a name. I was given mine. His thoughts were a mess, he realized, and he quickly forced himself to focus on the matter at hand. His cheeks burned nevertheless as he realized he was not only in the presence of someone who had lived up to the Centurion's legacy far more than he himself had done already, but making a fool of himself in aforesaid presence.

 

Looking back at the odd woman, he cleared his throat and spoke. "So far as I can tell, you are a good person, erm, Miss. Nevertheless, you have caused a bit of a stir, as you can see." He indicated the other heroes, and beyond them, the crowds of civilians. "Would you mind filling us in on your story?"

Edited July 24, 2019 by secondling

[alderwitch]

The new comer's gaze rapidly shifted from one person to the other and then to the crowd before back around to the park itself. There was no missing her rapt wonder before she dutifully tried to turn her attention to speaking to the assembled heroes. 

 

"Oh, you are lovely. I would dearly love to touch your scales but it would be rude without asking," she said to Dio, offering her bare hands in a gesture to show she wouldn't touch without asking. She said it in the same way one might recite important facts they were trying to remember. 'Do not touch the sentient creatures without asking very nicely' was clearly something she had deemed Important although she very clearly wanted to touch both the wings and scales. "You are not of Earth, I don't think - I made very, very, very, VERY sure to study all the forms. That's why I took this one! It is like the guardians of this planet. The-ones-who-cultivate! The forbearers made them but I haven't seen any in such a LONG time but there are so many more people to watch now! So many people...."

 

She trailed off for a moment, distracted before shaking herself. "I'm so sorry. Speaking all happens so much faster than... what else did you want to know? Oh, I'm fine. Very much fine! I was still mostly rock and flame and star-stuff when I hit the earth. I know that this flesh-body is going to be more fragile so I made sure it was very safe. I'm quite fine, thank you so much, miss. Ma'am? Miss-ma-am?"

 

Her nose crinkled as she tried to decide between the terms before rapidly discarding them. She beamed at Legatus, "Of course you should do all-the-things. Mortal life is short and burning brightly is entirely the point.... NAMES. Oh, you probably want names. You call us Andromeda but I am the only one of 'us' here. My siblings will not mind if you use that moniker for me. They don't pay attention but I do. I have been watching for so, SO long and now I am here. Hello!"

 

When she said 'Andromeda', the creature pointed towards the heavens. For most, it would seem a vague gesture towards where she came from. For those who could see into the stars and beyond, Andromeda pointed very specifically at a section of sky where the Andromeda constellation sat... where one of the stars was distinctly missing.

[Constantine05]

Nephilim smiled. "Well, Welcome to earth then!" he said happily. "This is Freedom City... You kind of landed in the park. Sort of." he looked to Sunset lake. "You kind of landed in the lake. Ah well. No big deal. Just be careful if you need to land like that again. A lot of people tend to get scared when fiery balls of stellar doom fall from the sky. Want some iced tea?" he offered, holding out the cup. "It's one of my favorites. Cold-brewed Wild Orange Blossom and Youthberry with a twist of lemon."

 

He pondered her words for a moment. "The Forebears? 'Ones-Who-Cultivate?' And 'Miss' works. As does 'Ma'am.' But 'Miss Ma'am' doesn't really sound right."

[Tiffany Korta]

 

Triakosia

As well as the whole thing feeling familiar she couldn’t help but find the situation funny. In fact one of the new heroes, and they always looked so young, looked somewhat familiar to her. The fact he used latin sparked her interest.

 

“Tu lingua loquor?”

 

Still there was also the question of what to do with the woman that fell to Earth.

 

“Your fit in just fine is a woman floating down is the least important thing! I’m Triakosia by the way, please to meet you obviously!”  

 

Whilst Andromeda didn’t seem to be any threat they did need to get the situation under control, and it looked like she’d have to be the responsible adult here!

 

“There’s a place near here where we can help you get settled in. If you would be so kind as to follow me?”

[secondling]

Legatus

 

Legatus nearly swallowed his tongue when Triakosia looked at him, and he felt his cheeks burn. A distant part of him noted that even if he put his head in a furnace, they would probably feel just as hot. "Ita, lingua loquor." He stumbled over his words somewhat, flushing harder, but managed to get them out nonetheless. He looked away, embarrassed and more than a little starstruck.

 

Though Professor Syagrius had scorned Triakosia as a replacement for his champion, he had told the third generation about her, and since his arrival in Freedom City, Legatus had heard more about her exploits. She had done more to fulfill the Man of Adamant's legacy than he ever had. But now was his chance to demonstrate his ability to do the same. "I concur. We ought to go to a place that is less likely to cause a scene. I'm Legatus, by the way, as Dio here mentioned." He nodded to the great green dragon.

[alderwitch]

"Yes, of course," Andromeda replied cheerfully to Triakosia although she meandered a bit as she followed the paragon in whatever direction Triakosia wanted to lead her. Andromeda let her fingers graze the trees and the ice cream cart with equal fascination and paused more than once to stare at the bystanders with just as much - if not more -  fascination than then the crowd gave to the super heroes. When Nephlim offered his drink, Andromeda accepted it cheerfully, taking a ginger sip. "It is very cold. Cold and sweet and strange. Is it good? Is it good nourishment? I don't need to eat, really. I rest but my energy still generates inside like it always has - but I can eat. It seems important. You spend so much time consuming and resting. Over half your day and the days you have are so few so it seems important that you enjoy both of those things, don't you think?"

 

She offered the drink back with a polite, "Thank you," before Legatus words caught her attention. "Why are 'scenes' bad? Do we not like scenes?"

[Constantine05]

Nephilim took his drink back and followed along, just getting to know people. Good step to establishing himself, yeah? "It's more that hydration is a good thing on hot days, and we've come up with methods of keeping our drinks pleasing. Sweet is 'good' for most folks, but it's not really 'nourishment' save that it helps keep you hydrated. And food is... Weird. It's at once necessary, a hobby, and a point of contention. Sleep is necessary, for the most part, due to needing to 'recharge' and it's how our brains process a day's information, storing what is deemed 'important' information while dumping the short-term storage of less important information in the form of dreams." he explained, trying his best to remember all those trivial facts he'd learned watching documentaries.

 

He laughed a bit at the mention of 'making a scene' and Andromeda's reaction to it. "A 'scene' is verbal shorthand for saying 'public spectacle.' They can be great things, when they're planned, or dangerous when they're unplanned and unannounced. I believe the concern here is that you came in like a wrecking ball out of nowhere, and now people are either scared or curious as to what happened which can cause congestion in the walking areas, irritation among those not interested, or even draw the attention of less-than-pleasant people looking for a way to cause trouble. When someone says 'we're causing a scene' it usually means that 'we' are distracting people from their daily lives and potentially drawing trouble in the form of drawing unneeded attention to ourselves. A good example of the 'normal 'form of 'causing a scene' is someone shouting insults at someone in the middle of a restaurant. It causes people to look away from their own conversations, drawing attention of a negative kind... Makes the person yelling and whoever they're yelling at the center of attention." Nephilim explained, as best he could. "Then again? There are good 'scenes' as well. Like when a man asks a woman to marry him in the middle of some big function or, again, at a restaurant. So it's all in the context of the situation."

[Tiffany Korta]

Triakosia

Dancia considered there options on where to go, it was a long way to the Freedom League building downtown, and falling wasn’t quite the same as flying she had to assume this newcomer wasn’t in possession of full powers. 

 

Probably her best option was to get them to the side of the park, as she could already hear the sirens of the various emergency services making there ways to their locations.

 

“We’ll go out onto 52nd and wait for the services to show up, can you two clear the way please? Ma’am if you’ll follow us we’ll take you to the sidewalk and meet a few of the locals.”

[alderwitch]

Andromeda followed Facsimile’s clarification with rapt attention, nodding or shaking her head as she followed the line of reasoning behind the nuances that he was elaborating. 

 

“Oh, I see! And this is a bad-maybe-concerning scene. I don’t want to cause any trouble. It’s just ever so hard to find a place not teeming with life but also close to people. I really, REALLY wanted to see people up close and not from so far, especially because my senses are all so different now that I’m here.”

 

Andromeda paused, running her fingertips over the ice cream cart as they passed it with the same wonder on her face as she’d had for the grass and trees that they passed. When Triakosia spoke up, she nodded, “Yes, of course. Where are we going?” 

[Constantine05]

"This is a scene wherein we're drawing attention, yes." Morgan said. "Most people are probably curious now that it's obvious there's no immanent danger or a massive fight breaking out, but it's best to let people get on with life and make an announcement later about what happened. You should maybe do an interview with a reporter to explain to people what happened so they can catch it in the news if absolutely necessary. Just be sure to have someone experienced in dealing with the press with you if you decide to do so. I'm sure that those who deal with extraterrestrial arrivals will be interested in speaking with you." He explained, smiling as they walked. "Believe me, I fully understand the curiosity. I've never flown higher than the clouds, but even from there I get curious about what people are doing down here, and Mom once said she was always curious about how humanity lived even from her home dimension."

 

When given orders to clear the path, Morgan nodded. "On it!" he said happily as he walked a little faster to get ahead. "Alright people!" he said loudly and with a bright smile. "Nothing going on, just a new arrival with a flair for dramatic entrance!" he gave a laugh to help put people at ease if needed as he began trying to get people out of the direct path to the sidewalk and not bunched up in a crowd. "Just gonna take the new arrival, Miss Andromeda, to get situated. If people could please clear a path for us? We don't know if she can fly in-atmosphere, so it's the good old shoe-leather express until services arrive! I'm sure she'd be willing to answer a couple of questions while we wait, eh?"

[Ari]

"There's two kinds of roads. The small ones where people walk, and the big ones where people use prosthetics to get around. We're going to one of the small roads." Dio snorted, steam and smoke billowing from his nostrils as the dragon gently but very firmly pressed a gap through the crowd, powerful clawed legs leaving divots in the turf behind him, unfolding his wings and gently sweeping his tail side to side to get a bit more space going. 

 

"Please do keep touching to a minimum, please," he added, head turning on a snakelike neck to regard Andromeda, "it wouldn't be a lot of fun to find out it does something you don't want to do."

 

"These, uh, "forebears", what do you know about them, Andromeda?" Dio tried to say it casually, but the hungry gleam in his eyes was hard to hide "Any ideas where they might have gone?"

[secondling]

Legatus

 

The Teen of Adamant cast a glance at Andromeda, before half-turning to speak to the crowds behind him. "All is well, people. We'll handle it from here." His voice was confident and calming, a deliberate echo of the recordings Professor Rex had shown all of the children. Floating upwards, he cast his gaze around the park, making sure there were no issues that needed further attention.

 

Triakosia is handling things down there, I should try to make sure nothing major is happening elsewhere. Legatus paused, honest enough with himself to admit that he was also trying to avoid catching her attention too soon. Andromeda needed to be examined far more than he did, and she was the center of attention at the moment. Still, at least I can make myself feel useful in some way.

[Tiffany Korta]

 

Triakosia

There was a contagious joy about someone seeing the world for the first time, she kind of regretted that she wasn’t able to remember the early days on this Earth. They had a little time why not enjoy it a little, she smiled at the owner of the cart.

 

“Five please... everyone want one?” she offered some money before passing them around the little group of heroes.

 

“It’s a snack food, apparently you have all the normal internal organs so you should be able to eat it.”

 

She demonstrated just how to eat it, she and Katie would definitely have ice cream tonight as a treat.

 

“Careful it’ll be cold! So take things easy to start with, the sweetness might be a bit of a shock to start with, but for most it’s really worth it!”

[alderwitch]

"I can fly," Andromeda offered to Facsimile cheerfully. "Of course I can fly. I can do... more or less what I used to although at maybe a smaller scale because I really, really, REALLY don't want to rip apart my fragile flesh body. It was ever so difficult to get it just right. Ooooh, thank you," Andromeda added, swiftly shifting away from concerns about shredding her body with power to take the ice cream and delicately set about eating it. "Do you think the cold makes the sweet better or is it the sweet that makes the cold better...?"

 

She turned towards Dio and blinked once before cocking her head to the side in clear curiosity. Absently, she licked the ice cream once more as she considered his question, "Life is not a common phenomena and when it cropped up, it drew the attention of early star-faring races - those who had been able to manage the fundamental forces of the cosmos," Andromeda explained, clearly confused that it wasn't common knowledge. Shifting her ice cream cone, she released it to let it float above her fingertips. As she spoke, the ice cream turned into other objects between her fingertips - shifting fluidly from solid to liquid and back again - elaborating on the forces that she mentioned; "There are five forces and together they form the stuff of creation; mastering them allows a person to... meddle. Manipulate. Long ago, at least as your people think of 'long', they came and meddled and then left. I watched. I've been watching although I don't pay all that much attention to the politics or the why. I don't know where your gardeners have gone. There's so very many people now that its not easy to follow the life of one or two."

[Ari]

If a giant reptile could look crushingly disappointed, Dio would have. "That's...good to know," he said, "someone has to watch the worlds. My God only watches this one, it's kind of a big job. Lots of cosmic stuff hinges on it, but I never knew there were only five forces. Thought the mind was up there for sure."

 

Pausing at the edge of the sidewalk, the green dragon craned his neck to look up and down the street, politely ignoring the passersby pulling out cameras and slowing to take pictures of the odd crew. Snorting through his nose, a plume of smoke billowing into the air, Dio sank down into a sphinx-like pose. 

 

"Nobody's here yet, but they're usually pretty quick," he assured Andromeda, "so we can take it easy for while. I'm from a planet kind of like this one, Earth-2, just a lot more people like me, a lot more real big predators, all the cities are in the sky, and there's not really any super-powered crooks. Do you have laws, where you're from? They're pretty important here."

 

Dio grimaced as a gaggle of children ran out from the thin crowd on either side of the gathering, climbing and running up the dragon's imposing frame despite the shouts of their parents. Grumbling and hissing smoke, he nonetheless shifted to a more gentle, climable position on the ground, staring long-sufferingly into the lovely blue sky and its blazing hot sun. 

[secondling]

Legatus

 

The Teen of Adamant dropped to the ground as Triakosia offered ice cream. Such food had been very rare in the lab, and Legatus had found he'd developed something of a sweet tooth since his eruption onto the surface. Eating quietly, he looked at Dio with a small, concerned frown. "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice low, before turning his attention back to the newly fallen... woman?

 

After a moment's consideration, he spoke once more. "You make it sound as though life as a whole was... cultivated, I guess." Taking another bite of his ice cream, he considered the ramifications of this for several moments. Maybe I'm less weird than I thought. If all life was cultivated somehow, then surely that makes my... life, I guess, less weird?

[Tiffany Korta]

Triakosia

So she could fly, that made things a little easier and she seemed to know enough to be able to handle the weirdness of Freedom City. Truth be told she’d have to follow up some of what she was saying, but now she was in problem-solving mode.

 

“Okay, I don’t know if you watch this city that closely, but in the Downtown is the Freedom League’s building, they’ll have the gear to check out that you're okay get you somewhere to get settled down.”

 

She licked her ice cream, she might be taking charge but it didn’t mean she could enjoy a treat.

 

“You can fly or we can ride with the police? I’ll leave the choice up to you!”