ic Everybody Make A Scene (IC)

[alderwitch]

"This is where he's going to say, 'oh, it's already begun'," Leilani offered with a bemused smile from her place against the wall. The additional contact with the steel bubble that they were all standing in certainly helped her slight vertigo and the Hawaiian hero was looking far more cheerful than she'd been a few minutes ago. Shifting so that she could lace her hands behind her back, she lifted one shoulder in slight shrug. Her posture was relaxed and unconcerned. While Leilani did want to be on the team for her own merit and she enjoyed being able to help people, she didn't have the drive to prove herself or be the best that some of her contemporaries seemed to, nor a fear of failure. If she failed, she'd simply try again and again. Stubborn, her mother had always called her and she wasn't wrong. Nor had she been wrong about that stubbornness getting Leilani into trouble.

 

Or,  you know, encased in lava for decades because she'd sought out the storm swells. She nodded to Frost once, "I don't think anyone's going to back out now, comrade."

Edited July 27, 2019 by alderwitch

[Avenger Assembled]

"Good! So much eagerness for adventure. Bravery is an admirable, albeit common, trait among the superhuman." Frost produced from inside his parka a clipboard, giving Volcanic a reassuring wink as he did so. "Okay, they have given me some space. Facsimile and Volcanic, Terrifica and Salvo, Miracle Girl and Fulcrum, Sandman and Miss Grue, you are all in teams. The first two will have Fire, the second two Earth, the next two Air, and the last two Water, okay? Okay." He smiled, walking backwards as the sliding door behind him opened up. "Okay, Fire and Water, you wait here for teleportation - Earth and Air, you follow me." 
 

He led the two groups he'd summoned to two different rooms in what appeared to be a mostly unoccupied section of the satellite. Earth (Terrifica and Salvo) were parked near what looked like the facility's computer science laboratory, with the odd scattered coffee cup and active screens suggesting that the staff assigned to this room had just vacated it. "Just wait here," said Frost apologetically, "will be back shortly!" He left them to the room, where what had been high-end monitors a decade earlier showed Terrifica and Salvo what appeared to be conditions inside the satellite. 

 

Miracle Girl and Fulcrum wound up in another conference room, this one dominated by an statue of the now-retired Captain Thunder. "This is Thunder Room," said Frost with a little gesture at the themed decor showing Thunder's some forty-odd years of active superheroing. "Mind decor, Ray did enjoy his little jokes." He brushed an etching set into the wall with his sleeve. "Will return shortly!" 

 

Meanwhile, Facsimile, Volcanic, Sandman, and Miss Grue were all alone in the teleportation room, with nothing in particular to occupy their attention for a little while. 

[angrydurf]

Viewing the eager and enthusiastic in one way or another Sandman felt himself buoyed slightly at the opportunity being presented though he still didn't entirely take anything the draugr said at face value.  He smirked slightly to Volcanic, "Fire hmm? Bit on the nose."  but he shrugged.  If whatever the elemental and soviet vampire shared had impacted her presence it seemed to him to be t the teams benefit in the end.  He approached his own teammate with a gentle smile, "I take from the name you are an independant grue then?"  he inquired curiously, "Shapeshifting abilities and telepathy?"  he knew a limited amount about the normally hive minded aliens but what he did know seemed straightforward enough in application if not detail.

 

"I act as the guardian of the realms of dream."  he frowned slightly as the words rolled off his tongue, "And I've been spending too much time with this realms master mage it seems."  he smiled at the small joke at his own expense.  "I do share some talent for the mental disciplines in that capacity as well as some more combative applications of the gifts granted by my office."  he shrugged slightly, "If we're to work together best to have a general idea of our capabilities I suppose."

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum smiled to Leilani. Her pronouncements were the initial cause, but the happier demeanor pleased Mona. She must have missed the elemental's initial discomfort.

 

Bravery and foolishness are easily confused.  A lesson she had learned the hard way. That little thought, she hoped, was kept to herself.

 

Fulcrum stepped forward alongside Miracle Girl at their team name being called. The walk was enjoyable enough. The slightly outdated ("retro") aesthetic fascinated her, but she wondered where the staff had gotten to. Though, she supposed, the answer was fairly obvious. Assuming the place had full-time staff beyond the heroes.

 

Soon enough her musings were interrupted by their arrival. She nodded at the decor, honestly impressed, but her face pinched in confusion at Russian's quip about "little jokes". She waved him goodbye, walked into the room, and scanned the decor in question.

 

"Good to have you on Team Air. How is life and the hero business, Miracle Girl? Haven't seen you since Sentry Statue." As she spoke, she dropped her purse on the table and browsed the decor with her hands clasped behind her back. She paused a moment in front of the etching Comrade Frost brushed. She leaned down to have a better look and tapped it lightly. Part of her was curious, and part of her hoped it wasn't part of a "little joke".

Edited July 28, 2019 by Dariusprime

[Tiffany Korta]

Miss Grue

Daphne didn’t need to say she was ready, it was pretty obvious how excited she was about the whole thing. She made sure to listen carefully and stood beside her work partner.

 

“I guess you don’t remember but we work together, I mean it was a long time ago.” if she was upset that he didn’t remember she hid it really well.

 

“But yes I’m a free Grue, one of the original articles you could say!” she beam at her little joke “As well as telepathy and shapeshifting I also have some telekinesis and phasing abilities.”

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Salvo

 

"Hey Terrifica, is the weapons smuggling deal turning out well for you?"

 

Nicole entered into lockstep beside the supergenius cowl. Among the four Freedom League prospective heroes and Comrade Frost, their footsteps echoed through the empty halls. She and Terrifica in a team together. She couldn't help but look back into how they first met, so engrossed in finding a way to shut down the Terminus portals for good that pleasantries were put aside. Sure, they had corresponded online but even Nicole admitted that was not the same as talking in person.

 

"I'd kept tabs on the FCU case," Nicole continued, nodding to Miracle Girl. "Lots of heroes on that one, Miracle Girl here included. And I'm glad that wrapped up cleanly."

 

They entered what looked like the facility's computer science laboratory. Frost left them alone soon and Nicole moved to an active screen, reading what was on it. "Monitoring signs for natural disasters... Looks like the ring of fire hasn't produced an earthquake in a while."

 

Then she turned to Terrifica and folded her arms across her chest, arms clanking together.

 

"Looks like they're hoping for a repeat performance of the... ASTRO Labs prototyping process." Nicole winced in her mind's eye but pushed forward to continue. "Think if we can do that in all those conditions--," lack of sleep, days of fighting, acute amounts of stress, the threat of producing nothing, the potential of a malfunction during field-use, "--without anything going wrong then I think we can handle this."

[Exaccus]

Realizing he has perhaps been a little overly enthusiastic he sheepishly released his transformed state and returned to his flesh and blood body he turned to face the other members of "water" and "fire" with a friendly smile and a little wave.

 

"Jumped the gun a little bit there didn't I? " He laughed as he made his way over to more appropriate conversation range.

 

"Pleasure to meet you all by the way; looking forward to working with ya once we're team mates!" 

 

Then quickly scanning the three remaining heroes he singled out the one his poor name and face association skills thought most suited the name volcanic.

 

"So....you're volcanic?" He asked the young lady who hadn't yet peeled off into a pair; unsure of his deductive skills even with all this evidence to work with. 

 

"Sorry, I'm bad at names and faces....my friend was also whispering my ear off..." He explained "other side of the room too..." He explained.

 

"I'm Facsimile by the way, feel free to call me Facs for short if you like, I don't mind." He said cheerfully offering a hand for a handshake.

 

"You wanna discuss powers and tactics and stuff or are you more of a wing it type like myself?"

[alderwitch]

Leilani offered a smile and her own hand. Her skin was warmer than was typical but not unpleasantly so. "Aloha. Volcanic is the name I go by but Leilani is also fine. I don't have a typical secret identity." 

 

Her name lilted, giving the syllables the proper inflection. Her teeth flashed white against her tanned skin and she shrugged, "It's alright. I'm hard of hearing so I don't do well in crowds either. I think it's probably good to know what we can each do? We have the time, might as well use it. I'm a geothermic controller or 'lava' if you prefer. I can armor up and get a bit tougher - don't need to breathe and nothing really bothers me once I'm armored but I put off serious heat when I do and there's no helping it. You okay with heat and fire? I saw you do that metal thing; handy that."

 

Leilani offered Sandman and Miss Grue a friendly smile at their side conversation although she wasn't really listening in. "I'm a go with the flow sort of person typically, personally."

[angrydurf]

Sandman paused at the reminder and shook his head, "Of course it isn't."  he shrugged apologetically, "My recollections of that encounter are a bit spotty I admit."  Such was the dangers of battling with psychics in emotional breakdown. 

 

"Well at least we know our talents are complementary."  he smiled easily.  He being forgetful and her with an excellent memory, or perhaps talents of the mind, why not both really.  

 

He fell silent and observed the others quietly as he awaited what might come next.  Which with Comrade Frosts reputation was unpredictable at best.  

[EternalPhoenix]

“Honestly, it’s rather tedious.” Terrifica kept up with Comrade Frost as they walked away from the four still in the initial room. “Send one ring to prison and another pops up in mere weeks. And none of them are challenging in the physical or mental realms.” A pity she couldn’t work with Miracle Girl, but she did expect to be separated from her usual partner. She did, of course, remember her prior encounters with Salvo perfectly well. There was, however, no need to call upon those specific memories. She had analyzed and filed them away long ago. All she required were her conclusions. Much less…traumatic. The Invasion was not a fun day.

 

“I don’t know if I’d call that cleanly, Salvo.” There were the usual dissatisfactions. Heroes, as a general rule, were more doers than thinkers. So it could have perhaps gone better. Still…”It was resolved and that I was and still am satisfied with.” At last, the room. Earth, hmm? She wondered what that meant. She took in the monitors. One would think they would have upgraded over the past decade, especially with Daedalus a regular here. A disused room, perhaps? Or did the employees not rate better equipment? So many questions. “The San Andreas is overdue for a large quake. The stress on that fault must be phenomenal.” She spoke idly, half lost in thought. “This one is tracking weather patterns in the Pacific.” She wasn’t lost in thought at all, but merely absorbing data from every monitor. One never knew what might be useful later.

 

And then Salvo was talking again. She was young, after all. She must be nervous. That, and Terrifica doubted (with internal amusement) that she meditated. “I wouldn’t worry, Salvo. You’re quite competent at what you do.” Granted, she didn’t have Terrifica’s broad variety of expertise. But there was no need to say that. Nothing like a little diplomacy, hmm? “Between the two of us we can accomplish whatever technical task they put in front of us.”

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Salvo

 

"Even if you factor in the metahumans?" Salvo asked, surprise inflecting her voice. She'd taken down rings before and if none had powers then they rarely put up much of a fight, preferring to flee at the sight of her. A show of force was enough to cow them, and if they were stupid enough not to be then the police came in and she supported them. Bellios was not a weapon to be turned to people without powers.

 

But throw superpowers into the mix and that was when things got complicated fast, and where Salvo was needed to stop them.

 

"Metahumans," Salvo repeated, shaking her head. "Even one is a problem but two or more, especially when you aren't expecting them? Makes a fight so much harder."

 

Then she and Terrifica were left alone in the computer science laboratory. She'd talked herself into a little panic attack, but Terrifica's comment brought her back in the satellite.

 

Salvo turned her head to fully face Terrifica.

 

"And everything else you'd take care of?" she said, her tone light and teasing. Then she suddenly paused, as if trying to form her words carefully, fingers tapping on her arm.

 

Clack clack clack

 

"Do you believe in magic, Terrifica?" Salvo finally said. "I could teach you if you want. You could even call me... competent at it, just like in what I do. It can't be understood by everyone, and even if you did there's no guarantee you could perform it in a practical sense, but maybe a super-mind is different."

 

Salvo shrugged as if it were nothing, but she waited for Terrifica's answer to her offer with bated breath.

[Exaccus]

"Ah sweet! Appropriate Hero tag then haha." He responded with enthusiasm as he shook the hand offered in return.

 

"As for me I'm a bit stronger and tougher at base but my big trick is turning into stuff I touch." He explained "the metal thing yeah? Only anything I touch with a few caveats and rules....but when isn't there?" He rolled his neck a little as he gathered his thoughts on how to best explain it.

 

"Like it's got to have some kind of physical or mystical presence...no turning into absences like darkness or vaccuum...or metaphysical conceptual stuff like Time or love or the like....and if it's say fire or electricity I'm not particularly more resistant to them so it can hurt me till I've assimilated it." He hummed as he tried to sift through his experiences for any other shortfallings 

 

"I also really turn into it...I guess that's good and bad too...like if I'm made of water and someone Throws like caesium at me I'll explode...hurts like heck...oh! It's also like a muscle thing...I have to conciously hold onto the transformation so if I get hit hard enough I can be jarred out of it." He gesticulated with his hands as if the motion would somehow pump more blood to his brain and improve its performance.

 

"Feel like I blabbed on for ages there! My apologies! " He chuckled "I'll say it again though; Its good to meet you Lelani I'm looking forward to working with you." Accentuating the last part with a shallow bow/nod of his head.

[EternalPhoenix]

“Especially if you factor in the metahumans.” Terrifica said with a note of amusement in her voice. “Most are predictably powerhouses, energy controllers, or something about as subtle. Psionics can be…interesting, but I have something for them.” Then indeed they were in the computer science room.

 

Terrifica didn’t bat an eye. Not that anyone would see under the cowl, but still. She did, however, smirk a little. “I appreciate the offer, but magic is the one thing I don’t have any talent for. Or in, for that matter.” She shook her head in mild disappointment. “My theory is that’s because magic is often just as much a matter of faith as it is logic and reason. One has to truly believe that magic will function in order for it to function. When it isn’t, it’s a lot about bloodlines and being born with magic already in you. Neither of which, of course, apply to me.” She sighed. “I do, however, know as much or more about magical theory, creatures, etcetera than most mages. I could make a bargain with a supernatural creature. However, I am not nearly arrogant enough to think I could outwit a being with millennia of experience deceiving mortals.” She looked directly at Salvo, and gestured dramatically. “And so, I remain mundane.” She smirked again. “Such is life.”

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Salvo

 

"So you come to the Freedom League to test yourself even further." Salvo said, a statement as if she had found Terrifica's greatest desire, though it applied just as well to herself. "A chance to fight the biggest threats, solve the world's most pressing problems. I can relate."

 

To be a Freedom League member, even one assigned to the Auxiliary team, represented large boost up the superhero pole. But with the recognition and respect came responsibilities and threats larger than she was used to handling. She had her own crusade against her family's networks and maybe the Auxiliary would pull her away from that. Now, with her own data network down, her investigations into matters had become more pressing. Maybe the League could offer assistance there.

 

And that was saying nothing of her civilian life. Would she have to drop her university studies, when she hadn't even begun? Any prospect to become a woman of science or to engineer the next big thing? How much of her life would the Freedom League cost?

 

She had known two someone's in Claremont who had decided the cost was too much and had shunned the life of a hero even with their immense powers. With the prospect looming, even she could see how comforting, how tempting, such a life absent heroics would be.

 

Then Terrifica explained her relationship with magic and her theory on it, and Salvo responded.

 

"Too bad the Freedom League is anything but mundane." As if for explanation, she made a vague gesture at the doorway where Frost had left. "Even discounting Comrade Frost's role as one of Russia's foremost experts on the mystical. Maybe once we're done with the tests and if we have some free time I can introduce you to my secret world - test yourself against magicians."

[Avenger Assembled]

Somewhat apologetically, Frost returned to the transporter room where Facsimile, Volcanic, Sandman, and Miss Grue were waiting. "Ah-hah, Fire and Water, how delightful!" He smiled at the team, then said, "Okay, I cannot follow where you go, is unprofessional. And random selection is necessary to prevent, you know, massive corruption." Leilani could tell Dimitri was a bit harried right now but was still enjoying himself thoroughly. He made a little "think nothing of it" gesture with his hand, then said, "Do you prefer crocodiles or tigers? Need answer so we can beam you down to trial site. First guess will get us there, don't worry." 

[alderwitch]

"Neither," Leilani said with amusement, though she tipped her head to take in Frost's mannerisms with some curiosity. She glanced over to her erstwhile partner, arching her brows in a silent question for his preferences before she shook her head and gestured towards Sandman and Miss Grue. 

 

"Go ahead and pick." Leilani offered. As she had said, she was typically one to deal with the situation as it presented but, especially here, she didn't want to give anyone concerns to latch on. They might be teammates after all of this, after all, and trust was critical in working together. Leilani had enough about her power set that was liable to raise concerns about teammates. Fire, after all, wants to burn and doesn't much care who was in the way. Might as well start building that trust now.

 

"I'll just be glad to get my feet back on the ground. I'm not overly fond of this place, I'll be honest." She offered that more to Facsimile than the others though it wasn't really news to Dimitri. Leilani could function in space. She just didn't LIKE to. 

[Exaccus]

"I love animals!" Facs Contributed to the conversation regarding the choice and whom should make it between crocodiles and tigers.

 

"I'm cool with either of course too." He added hastily to make the information slightly more informative before returning to engage with leilani.

 

"Ah yeah I get that, it's nice to be in your element..." of course he could change his element to match his enviroment for the most part. 

[angrydurf]

Regarding Frost cautiously a the pronouncement Sandman looked first to Volcanic and her partner planning to leave the decision to them.  Of course as both deflected in their own particular ways it would fall to he and Ms. Grue to decide.  He glanced to her and shrugged before replying to Frost, "Tigers." he stated flatly offering no further explanation.  Really being mauled by beasts wasn't high on his list regardless but he perhaps foolishly assumed it was more window dressing like the elemental team names and not related to the tasks they'd be given.  

 

He might have been overestimating how much thought Frost had put into this.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Whew! Makes life so much easier!" 

 

And so it was that everyone found themselves teleported down to a place with a thick forest overhead and the thick smell of summer in the air - the Amur forest along the border of the Russian Far East and China from what Frost had told them. They weren't alone down here; this area was wild enough for birdsong and the crashing of deer as the latter hastily bolted away from the newly-arriving bipeds. They were near the edge of the forest and could see reeds growing along the sides of a good-sized river flowing nearby, and from there they could see a sky that was fiercely blue. 

 

Whatever adventures Frost had in mind for them, they were for the moment alone in a place that looked to be nearly free of the consequences of humanity... 

[Exaccus]

It was a foreign and yet familiar scene for facsimile who had spent his Summers In alabama visiting his mother's extended family, there was a calm clear crispness to the air and the smell of damp foliage and the river bubbling in the background almost put him at ease.

 

Almost!

 

This was still a mission, a test at that one that the freedom league was putting before him.

 

"So tigers huh...think we're here to bust some poachers?" He asked as he hefted his tools chain and started to spin it with a roll of his wrist.

Edited August 1, 2019 by Exaccus

[alderwitch]

Leilani sighed, letting the tension leave her shoulders as she found her feet on Terra Firma once more. Her bare feet made little noise in the grass as she let her stance relax into something a little more natural although she remained un armored. It didn’t take long to summon and burning in a lush environment wasn’t always the brightest move.

 

”Unlikely,” Leilani replied to Facsimile with a shake of her head, “Not enough of a challenge and too straightforward. Sandman? You’ve got senses that the rest of us don’t. Miss Grue? I think you do too?”

 

The lilt of Leilani’s voice turned that into a question. “Facs, are you a flier? Can you get a bit of a height? I’m a flier but it’s showy. Not sure that’s the best call yet.”

 

 

[angrydurf]

As the transporter shifted them to their new environs Sandman remained still and quiet.  He took in their new environs quickly wishing he'd paid more attention to those nature shows Shelby was always watching.  "I fear Volcanic may be right."  he replied stoically, "It is unlikely we are here for so mundane a test."

 

He drew on his senses of the beyond looking out into the treeline and along the meadowed plains for any sign of what may have called them here in this realm or another.  "Overwatch would be of help."  he noted to Ms. Grue who seemed the most well suited to surreptitious flight.  He glanced to Volcanic and Facsimile, "Why split us into teams if we're all sent here?"  he questioned uncertainly likely once again overthinking the implications of the frosts plan such as it was.

[Tiffany Korta]

Miss Grue
Whilst she was excited to be put into the field this wasn’t exactly her favorite environment, she was very much an Urban Grue at heart. Still she had to do her best to help the others and the first stage was to help gather intel. So she shifted her features to best help her with her chin growing as her ears became larger and more pointed as they became more sensitive to even higher range of sound. Her eyes also grew larger taking in a wider range of light than normal. Right now she really did look more alien than she normally did.

 

“I’m sensing someone moving along the riverbank not far from here.” she was struggling to make sense of the bombardment of information right now

“I’m fairly sure something is stalking them right now, though I can’t quite make out what that is.”

[Exaccus]

"It's a tiger...big one." Facsimile informed the group as an addendum to Miss Grue's update on the situation of what was around them.

 

"We might wanna get on that one pretty quick!" He added as he brought Kaboola to a frenzied spin and started In the direction of the deadly apex predator.

 

Dangerous as a tiger was he surely didn't need to bring the full brunt of his powers to bare on a simple animal...no matter how mighty they might be.

[alderwitch]

“Sandman, why don’t you take the human. Might be a rescue, might not be so on your toes,” Volcanic tossed out as she reached for the fires that burned bright in her breast. “Miss Grue, can you get a feel for the person with Sandman? Facs and I will head for the tiger?”

 

Fires erupted from Leilani, wrapping around her body and solidifying into obsidian plates. It was clear that the transformation went deeper than flesh as the plates moved and showed only flame below the stone. Kicking off into the air with a flaming contrail behind her. “Lead the way, Facs, you have point.”