ic Cosmic Love

[Fox]

"Yeah! Go on, git!"

 

Elizabeth's attempt at a southern accent was atrocious, but her enthusiasm was genuine as she shook her staff at the vanished foe. "No mind-controlling Micah! You'll have to find someone else, and good luck with that in, uh." She paused, deflating a bit; her staff dropped to hang loose from one hand, and her doppleganger - mirroring both the expression and pose - dissolved away with atypical fanfare. "....in a whole school full of lovesick students. That's really bad, isn't it."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh my God!" said Judy, sounding appalled - and grabbing automatically onto Micah's hand. "Is she really gone? We need to-" 

 

"Get you to safety," said Watchdog, pulling Judy away from Micah (albeit gently) and leading her away from the garden. "We're going off-campus," she told the others, "I'll hit the panic button once we're in the car. The two of you are welcome to come with us," she offered, "but you're probably better off here..." 

[KnightDisciple]

As Alice disappeared into light, Micah's face morphed into a snarl. In a whirl of wind and light he was outside the greenhouse, and his head whipped back and forth in a frenzy even as the sky continued to churn. A rumble of thunder rolled across the ears of everyone on campus. But then, he fell to his knees, his glowing eyes clenched shut. A single fist slammed the dirt, and a thin bolt of lightning cracked down from the sky.

 

"SHE USED ME!"

 

The other fist hit the ground, and another bolt fell.

"SHE USED ME!"

 

His fingers clawed dirt as he wept tears that evaporated before they could fall, such was the energy leaking from his eyes. Tears of St. Elmo's Fire began to fall up toward the clouds. His wings of lightning flapped and scraped at the ground.

 

"She used me...."

 

Then his head snapped up and he looked around, his face almost manic. He almost seemed like a hound, intent on something. A web of lightning snaked across the dark clouds above them. 

 

"Where is she? I won't let her use me, use anyone!"

He knew that Elizabeth, Judy, and Ashley were there, his question seemed half-directed at them. But he clearly hadn't quite processed or responded to anything they'd said, not quite yet. 

[Fox]

"We should...try to find her," said Elizabeth, moving toward a wall - and, not coincidentally, putting a little extra distance between herself and Micah. Her hand was near her mask. "You know, before she hurts anyone else? You should probably...take a minute...to deal. You've been through a lot, and right now you're kind of terrifying."

 

She flashed a tight, apologetic smile and disappeared, teleporting off to who-knows-where in search of who-knows-who before they did who-knows-what who-knows-why.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Leroy, Abby and Felix had been stuck inside the library for a while now. A joint assignment from a teacher. Something that had been taking forever, with their noses buried in the books. Research into the founding of Freedom City, long ago, they needed to have a report ready by tomorrow. The teacher expected minute details, cross references, the works. 

Of course, that meant they had completely missed the storm that Micah was conjuring outside.

 

They had been alone in the library. After all, it was a nice day, and it was Valentine's, so everyone was busy, but now someone entered, slowly walking up behind Felix.

 

She was short, with short dark hair. She looked Asian, maybe Japanese. She slowly walked up to them, stopping in front of Felix, with a little smile on her face. It was like she reminded him of someone, even if he couldn't quite place it. There was just something about the way she looked. Try as he might, he couldn't quite tear his eyes away from her. The assignment didn't really seem to matter all that much anymore.

 

She reached up and brushed a few stray hairs away from her face. "Hi, I'm Alice, I'm new here. Any chance you wanna show me around?"

[KnightDisciple]

Outside, Micah shook as he knelt in the grass. He could feel the energy inside of him lashing, attempting to get out. He knew that if he didn't do something now, he might seriously damage the campus. So he turned to Elizabeth even as she began to fade from view.

 

"I'll be back. If you find her, call for me."

 

Then he turned his gaze skyward, and he was gone. Within moments, the storm-clad teen was high in the sky, and in under a minute he was well above any commercial airliners or even military craft in the area. For just a moment, he slowed down and cast his gaze around himself, ensuring it was clear skies.

 

Then he pushed himself even harder, quickly reaching his maximum speed and becoming a crackling green blur. A Mach cone formed in front of his outstretched hands, and then broke, as an enormous explosion of sound, light, and storm-bred fury lashed out at empty air all around him. To those on the ground of Freedom City, it would sound like a distant roll of thunder, promising potential rain later on.

 

Above the Claremont campus itself, the air was clearing up, only dark wisps of cloud suggesting things had nearly gotten very, very bad...

[secondling]

Legatus

 

Felix looked up as he heard the footsteps arriving. Valentine's Day had been news to him, more or less - Dr. Syagrius had not been especially interested in filling in his... subjects' educations with such superfluous information as minor holidays. As he did so, his breath caught in his throat and a name slipped from his lips. _"XX?" But no, this girl was different, while being eerily similar. Shaking himself from the dark imaginings of what his sister's ultimate fate was, he stepped back. "Uh..." A niggling sense of responsibility compelled him to feebly point something out. "I was working with a couple people... for an assignment..." He paused, flushing.

 

"Sorry. I'm XVIII- I mean, Felix. Nice to meet you." He stumbled over his words, before shaking his head, trying to clear it.

[Ari]

"How wonderful to see you, Alice! Your face is marvelous!" Leroy beamed, though he hadn't even looked up from the book, his eyes watering as he torturously decoded one of the passages. 

 

The crackle and booming outside had gone largely unnoticed, especially by the elegant boy in silver and green, his robe bouncing with maritime monsters rising from the deep amid wild, psychedelic bends and swirls. His long, previously well-tended head of curls had come into frazzled humps from poring over the inscrutable squabbles and trials that had gone into populating a spit of land a few miles long and fewer wide.

 

"Felix, if our mutual friend Alice requires escort, would you be kind enough to do so? I have these dates and events sorted out, and now I merely need to put them in chronological order and properly affix the cause of one to the effect of the next." Rubbing his aching neck, Leroy stretched and arched backwards over his chair, grimacing at the pop and tug of muscles and bones too-long hunched over.

 

"But please, please do not tarry. We need you more than ever, I cannot keep a one of these names straight, they hop and jumble about worse than frogs!"

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Hello, nice to meet you," Alice responded to Leroy, but her eyes quickly returned to Felix. She slowly reached out, gently taking hold around Felix's biceps. "Yes, that sounds like an absolutely wonderful idea. It might be a good idea to get your head out of the books for a moment, right? Get some air and clear your head with me a moment?"

 

Her voice was sweet, like music to Felix's ears. There was still some kind of recognition there. She reminded him of someone, but the question was who.

 

Alice tucked gently on Felix's arm. "C'mon, I'm sure a big strong guy like you can show a girl around? Already been to that garden in the house, so maybe somewhere else?"

[secondling]

Legatus

Felix barely even registered Leroy's words, nodding numbly in response to them. His heart seemed like it had developed a will of its own, and had decided it wanted out. It pounded against his ribs, an unwilling prisoner in a cage of bone. Shaking his head slightly, he rubbed his face. I... do need to clear my head. Everything seems so foggy and... hot. His lips quirked upwards of their own volition in a somewhat silly-looking smile. "Uh, yeah, of course. Let's go. Maybe... there's the sports field and the pool - those are both pretty good places to know about. Also the dorms, but uh, I imagine you've already been there."

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"The pool sounds absolutely lovely." Alice smiled, slowly pulling at Felix's arm. "I'm sure a big and strong guy like you spends a lot of time there, right?" She glanced over at Leroy and waved quickly with her free hand. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to bring him back soon, don't want to risk you getting behind, right?"

 

Once outside, Alice continued to hold on to Felix, letting him lead the way. "You seem so strong, Felix. I'm sure nobody gets hurt when you're around, right?"

[secondling]

Legatus

Felix smiled, even as something felt somewhat... off about the whole scenario. His head felt odd - cloudy, but in a warm, fuzzy, pleasant way. "I, uh, I don't swim as much as I would like, honestly. Feels a bit like flying, but with more restrictions." He said finally, clearing his head enough to talk. At her question about others being hurt, he shook his head. "The only people who get hurt around me are, uh, well..." Honesty compelled him to modify what he had been about to say at the last moment. "Well, I don't want to say only people who are threatening others get hurt around me, but they do tend to get hurt the most when I'm around."

[KnightDisciple]

Just a couple of minute after Felix and Alice left the library, the doors all but slammed open, and Micah Roebuck stalked in, his eyes glowing green with barely-leashed power. He cast his gaze back and forth over the scene, clearly looking for something, even as the sky overhead was dark and grim.

 

"Where is she?"

 

Make that looking for someone.

 

"Where's Alice? I know she came through here! I can feel it!"

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Alice smiled, pulling in closer with Felix. "I knew it. You're the big, strong and silent type, but you're a good guy, aren't you?" She squeezed his arm, just a little bit. "You're going out there and keeping everyone safe, right?" She paused, like she was hesitating a bit. "I'd wish I could do things like you, but I'm just not strong like that." She chuckled a bit. "But I did stop a few bullies at my old school before transfering here."

 

Back at the library, the librarian looked up, raising her finger. "Mr. Roebuck, this is a library! You will be quiet and you do not bring any rainy weather near my books!"

 

A fellow student, a young man with shock blue hair, looked up. "Uh, I think Felix just left with some new girl? Hadn't really seen her before. They went out that door." He pointed, hesitating a little bit.

[KnightDisciple]

Micah looked over at the librarian, and though rage was still present in his eyes, the glow faded.

 

"I apologize ma'am but there's a...an emotion controller, a parasite, here. She, it, almost got me."

 

His head all but whipped toward the student who had spoken, his eyes narrowed a bit. Then he gave the young man a sharp nod.

"Right."

 

And he was dashing out the door, slowly enough to not disturb books but still just a bit faster than normal...

[secondling]

Legatus

 

"I... try to be the hero that I was made to be." Felix replied thoughtfully, fighting through a cloud of unfamiliar emotions that warred inside him. "But sometimes I'm not good enough. Not strong enough." He shook his head blearily, and smiled at Alice. "I'm sorry, I'm not being a very good guide, am I? Tell me more - you say you've stopped bullies in the past? Strength doesn't really matter as long as you're helping and protecting people."

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Of course you're good enough, Felix." Alice embraced him, pulling him close, resting her head on his chest. She ignored his question of the bullies, focusing just on him. "You are a hero, you try your best, that is all that anyone can ask for."

 

She smiled, unwavering at however he might react. 

 

"You're strong, you're kind, and you want to protect people? If you fail, then you try again, isn't that how you're supposed to do things?"

 

Of course, the moment of peace would not last long. Thunder was fast approaching, as Micah started to catch up to them...

[KnightDisciple]

Suddenly, the doors to the pool area banged open, and thunder rumbled overhead. Micah Roebuck, the young weather-controller from the Midwest, marched into the room and all but stabbed an accusing finger at Alice. His eyes glowed with crackling power as he spoke, while outside the lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in concert with his words.

 

"YOU! Parasite! You couldn't use me, so you had to find another victim? You used me!"

 

His hands became wreathed in St. Elmo's Fire as he turned his attention slightly to Felix.

 

"Felix, she's not human, or even close. Whoever, whatever she is, she's a parasite. She's getting in your head. She already did it to me. You need to shake her off."

[secondling]

Legatus

 

Legatus shifted slightly uncomfortably as Alice embraced him, his cheeks heating. Touching people outside of his old family still felt... odd. Especially when it was a young, attractive woman - that just made him feel... strange. Intellectually, he recognized what he was feeling, but emotionally, it was disturbing in some way - as though he had lost some essential control over his body, but in a surprisingly pleasant way.

 

"I do my best to live up to my legacy." Legatus said softly, before the thunder caught his attention and he looked up. "Micah." He said by way of greeting, his eyes narrowing. "You say that she's not human, but that's not... y'know, uncommon here." He pointed out, amused. "If that was truly a problem, then we'd have a fair sight fewer heroes on this planet." And maybe an equal amount of fewer villains, but that's not the point.

 

He paused, looking at Micah. Parasite? "That's not something to call a fellow classmate." He said calmly, though there was an edge to his voice. "And you're behaving somewhat irrationally. Why don't you calm down, and we can all talk this out like we're at least partially mature adults?"

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"What? Who are you?" Alice looked genuinely surprised. Of course, aside from the name, this was not the same Alice that Micah had met. In the middle of the fury or thunder, he might not have realized... or perhaps he had already realized that this was his Alice. Whatever the cause, Alice didn't appear to recognize him. 

 

Alice seemed genuinely scared now, quickly moving behind Felix, her hands on his shoulders. She was almost trembling. "Please, Felix, don't let him hurt me! Look at that lightning! He's dangerous!" Felix would, of course, see that it was the right thing to do. Of course he would have to protect Alice. Micah was obviously out of control!

[KnightDisciple]

"She's not a student."

 

She looked different, but that part of Micah's heart that had been filled with hope and then torn asunder knew this as her.

 

"She's...I don't even know who or what she is. But she's not from here. She's not a student. She becomes what you want. Who you want. But it's all on the surface. She doesn't care about you as a person, doesn't care about anyone who's not-you."

 

He flexed his hands, lightning sparking between them. He wasn't moving toward them...yet.

 

"You want mature adults? Then call one. Get a teacher here. One who can...can scan her. Scan us."

[secondling]

Legatus

 

"What makes you say she isn't a student?" Felix replied, lifting his hands in a soothing gesture, though he kept his position between Micah and the woman he was accusing. "Even if what you say is true, what makes you think that she is irredeemable?" XVIII tilted his head in thought, considering the issue through the fog of feelings that consumed his mind. The slow boil of anger in the back of his mind was kept in check by self-control he'd desperately gathered after seeing his siblings die.

 

"You're angry, and putting others in potential danger - not just her, Micah. I suggest you follow your own advice and go find a teacher..." But at the same time, aren't we supposed to be doing some growing up here? I... He shook his head, trying to clear his head of the dense emotions that were keeping him from thinking at his fullest capacity. "Maybe if you're talking to them, they'll be able to make more sense of your accusations than I."

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Alice looked at Micah over Felix's shoulder. Fear practically radiated from her very being, only the top of her head visible. She shifted. Ever so slightly, for a brief second, she looked like she had when Micah last saw her, then she was back to the appearance she had all the time. "I'm scared, Felix. Don't leave me alone with him."

 

Her delicate fingers held on to Felix's shoulders, kept him close, and then...

 

"Look out! He's going to attack us!" She was panicking! She pushed Felix forward, towards Micah, with more strength than her form should have you think. Not enough force to actually make the two collide, but clearly, Felix was moving towards Micah, and clearly, Micah was starting to throw lightning at Felix and Alice!

[KnightDisciple]

Micah's eyes widened as he saw "Alice" shift forms. His face morphed into a snarl.

 

"There! Didn't you see that? She's changing forms, trying to be..be 'perfect'! She's a parasite!"

 

Then she shoved Felix forward, clearly trying to weaponize the other student. Micah all bur roared his next words.

 

"YOU'RE DONE USING PEOPLE!"

 

He rose into the air, gathered lightning in his right hand, and threw the bolt, aimed square at the being masquerading as a beautiful girl. 

[secondling]

Legatus

Felix allowed himself to be pushed forwards, his eyes narrowing darkly as he positioned himself between the two. Regardless of how clouded his mind was with emotions, he knew that things were escalating out of hand. "Micah." He said, his chill voice cutting through the winds. "Enough!"

 

His eyes widened as Micah wasted no time on throwing a lightning bolt. Moving as swiftly as he could, he intercepted the attack before it could strike home.