ic Generations (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

Katastroff Consulting 

A subsidiary of Archetech

 

The Claremont students had all followed up on the advertisement posted in one of the Claremont common rooms. "NEED SUMMER CASH? CONSIDER INTERNING WITH KATASTROFF CONSULTING! SCIENCE - FOR EVERYONE!" The smiling face underneath was a mostly-familiar blonde in a white labcoat, Eira having been a contemporary of Luke and Leon in her last year and her first year at Claremont. She looked to have aged since then, perhaps puzzling for an android, clearly looking to be in her mid-twenties as she ushered them inside what turned out to be a rather small, hastily-assembled office. 

 

The walls were bare and painted in a bland shade of off-white, lacking any decor or artwork to liven up the room. The space was lit by overhead fluorescent lights that cast a harsh, sterile glow over everything. The only furniture appeared to be a desk with a chair behind it and a couch and chair in front of the desk. There was a faint buzz from the lights overhead and the sound of recirculated air from somewhere, but the room itself was a little stuffy. 

 

"Hello!" she said, putting on a big smile for the three Claremont students. "Luke, Leon, and Carmen, yes?" Her Swedish accent was faint but noticeable as she spoke to them, gesturing for them all to have a seat. She gave them all a big smile and spread her hands wide once they were all inside the room. "I am so glad you all are here!" She smiled again, her teeth perfectly white, and folded her hands in front of her, unconsciously beginning to crack her knuckles as she spoke. 

 

Everything will be fine. We will get this done and they will have a fine adventure. 

 

"This will take no more than twelve hours," she told them all reassuringly, "are you all prepared to be away that long?"

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "Puma"

 

While she would have liked to have gotten more money for working outside of school, an internship that paid was close enough. Besides that, she needed to do something when school wasn't entirely in session, with plane travel back to the island at the moment that she would be stuck in the dorms during the summer months, likely alone with only a few other students. It was fortunate then that she saw the poster and was accepted rather quickly into the program without much issue.

 

Carmen didn't really know whom Eira was, the Swedish woman seemingly knowing the Luke and Leon, two that she was familiar with at the least... or didn't make her too overtly annoyed. She was still a little bit surprised that this scientist lady wasn't eyeing her like some sort of specimen, especially since Carmen still hadn't gotten anything to alter her appearance yet while in public. She'd assume that it must be the exposure to so many strange and weird powers that a young catwoman was simply just a drop in a single large hat. She was more casually dressed today, and lacking her typical varsity jacket, wearing an old Puya shirt that she had hand me down, a rock band from Puerto Rico that she listened to from time to time. The skirt was out today, instead jean shorts, fixed and stitched from what was before a plain pair of pants.

 

"Twelve hours, do we get lunch at all, where are we going?" she asks. The details weren't specific in the application that the school counselor helped her fill out.  She had taken the approach to ditch the worn tennis shoes today, always at mercy to claws, opting for sandals to compliment a summer apparel that made her look a bit less sheepish. Besides, with summer weather, it was already getting too hot to wear a thick jacket.

[Avenger Assembled]

"I would advise you to eat before you go," said Eira thoughtfully, smelling faintly of peppermint to La Puma's sensitive nostrils. "While food will be present it may not be to your liking, especially if you have dietary needs. I myself am vegan," she added, "so I understand any such concerns and will do my best to meet them." She considered what to say, then said, "None of you are diabetic, yes? The medical waiver was very specific." As indeed it had been. "You will be visiting an alternate plane that has been repeatedly accessed by superheroes, one that is rated completely safe for juvenile organic life by the Freedom League." She eyed Carmen in particular and said, "Does your coat offer you thermal protection? Do you get cold?"

[Spacefurry]

Leon had seen the flyer in the school’s library and taken it to show Luke. After a little back and forth they had decided it would fun to check in on an old friend and get paid for it. What could go wrong?

 

Carmen had come with them, Leon guessed she had seen the flyer before he had taken it down to show Luke. It was cool, even if she didn’t seem to get along well with his girlfriend, she was still cool to hang with.

 

Leon now sat with the others, across from Eira in the rather plain office.

“Sup. How’s your boy-toy?”

He returned her greeting with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

“As long as I’m back in time for my dinner date tomorrow.”

 

“Good question.”

He gave Carmen a nod. When Eira mention an alternate plane Leon had to resist a ‘Not the bees!’ joke after his last trip to an alternate world.

“Please tell me the cafeteria here is better than the school’s.”

Truth was the cafeteria food wasn’t that bad on campus, but it just hadn’t been the same since that time Queenie came around.

[Avenger Assembled]

"He is fine," Eira lied cooly. "His interests...do not lie in technical matters in any event." She smiled, her teeth perfectly straight and white, and said, "If you would prefer to eat here, I recommend the Slutty Vegan food truck parked across the street. The burgers are very good, yes?" She tapped a pen against her chin thoughtfully and added, "I have prepared limited supplies if necessary but this will only be a short-term mission. The dimension does not allow visitors for more than the length of a single night. A longtime ally of the Freedom League, the local monarch, has been the victim of a local political confrontation. We will be liberating him from his confinement. Just like, ah, saving the Atlantean monarch, as the League has done. Are there any more questions?" 

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "Puma"

 

"What?"  Puma was caught off guard at the question about her coat. She assumed rightly so that she was referring to all the fur across her body. She wasn't expecting a question like that, especially with how the weather was here, nice and relatively warmer than what it had been. She was still dressed a bit too much for the summer, but that black coat of hers accommodated for that, "O' yea, sure. It should be fine, I don't get that cold, what do you mean an alternate plan?"

 

Both the human and cattish side of her was curious now, hearing about some different sort of world. Typically speaking, all she knew about was the regular world, the one she inhabited, but this talk wasn't something she had yet in her more heroic oriented classes. She'd thought initially this would all just be weird tests, learning about powers and so on, but exploring some other reality was a jump in a completely different direction. She was now cursing internally that she should have read the waiver more before picking this as her paid internship.

 

The mention of vegetarian burgers made her cringe, the cat side of her personality not that interested in eating vegetables, or what she considered funny enough, fake meat. It was nothing against the food, just her nature, "So when do we leave then?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"There are regular food trucks as well, if your condition requires you to be strictly carnivorous," Eira told Carmen before she laughed nervously. "It is not a - a combat mission, I could not just send some Claremont students off to fight in some other dimension, yes? Local conditions are somewhat chillier than they are here. But nothing will actually endanger you. One of the properties of certain magical realms is that nothing there can actually hurt a - organisms such as yourselves." She stood up and said, "I will need to grab our gear while you have whatever lunch you prefer. Here is a cash card that the vendors will accept," she said, offering the black, glossy thing to Leon, "but after that we will be ready to leave, if there are no more questions...?" 

[Nerdzul]

Now, Luke couldn't definitely say no to some extra cash, especially one that he could earn by doing actual hero work. Couldn't him? No way. Plus, he got to hang out with his friends and that for sure beats having to deliver pizzas or do some boring chores for a few dollars an hour. 

 

"Hey... Nice to see you. It has been a while... How are you doin'?" He had saluted Eira with a friendly smile.

 

"By the way... do we have to call you boss around here?" He teased. 

 

As for her questions. "No special need with regard of food." Yep, only that it was abundant, feeding his teenage appetite and fueling his athletic endeavors wasn't an easy task after all.

 

As for his clothes well, he didn't exactly came prepared for an arctic expedition, to be honest, having picked just his jeans and his best shirt for the occasion (he had figured that his usual sweatpants and a-shirt combo was perhaps a bit too informal for an internship thing). "Not exactly... But I do have my own heating." He chuckled, breathing out a tiny flame between his lips. 

 

"Another world. Political figure that needs saving. Got it..." Ne nodded enthusiastically. "Wait what? No fighting? How are gonna do this?" Not that fighting was his only forte, of course, but still. 

 

"I'm ready." Well... after that visit to the food truck at least...

 

 

[Avenger Assembled]

"You should call me Angelic in the field, yes?" said Eira evenly, "it is how the locals know me." Well - most of them! She hadn't expected Leon to remember Pan so vividly but come to think of it the Forever Boy had always been very memorable. "It will be easy. In-and-out." 

 

When the Claremont students were out of the room, getting their meals or otherwise exploring the small office complex, Eira took this opportunity to lay her head on her desk and feel the cool of the wood against her skin. When she was done, she got to work, setting up the big, circular electro-dislocator frame against the wall to facilitate rapid dimensional transit. The metal frame was a combination of crimson and achromatic layers, which hopefully would raise no questions when they returned. It was all fine, everything was going to be fine...

 

When the heroes returned, fed or not, they found their temporary outfits against the wall. The outfits were multi-layered, insulated parka made of waterproof and breathable fabric, with a built-in heating system to keep the explorer warm "in sub-zero temperatures, but the cold temperatures are unlikely to be a serious threat given the nature of this realm", Eira explained as they all got dressed. The parka would featured an adjustable hood, fur trim, and reinforced stitching to protect against "the harsh Arctic winds, but again, those are unlikely to be a serious threat. It is not as if we visit the real North Pole, yes?". The parka also had built-in heating elements, which it sounded like most of them would need. For pants, the explorers wore insulated, waterproof trousers with reinforced knees and seat to provide extra protection against the rough terrain. The trousers would also feature built-in heating elements and adjustable cuffs to keep snow and wind out.

 

"Here, get yourselves dressed," she said, "see, this one is yours, La Puma, it is shaped to your body like so..." And then she turned, hastily adjusting the control unit for her interdimensional machine. The machine looked a little older than the other machines in her lab, its lines more in brass and wood than the high-tech smart metals and softglass everywhere else. 

[Spacefurry]

Leon sat with Luke And Carmen as they ate a quick lunch. The Korean barbecue he was eating was good. Never underestimate a decent food truck.

He was replaying the brief greetings they had exchanged with Eira. He had only known them for a short time before they graduated and Tinkerbot wasn’t the easiest to read back then. Pan had been a strong influence on the younger Leon. He’d listened and helped push him towards giving the school a real chance. He respected him for that, and Eira had seemed cool enough. But, something was… off. 

He blow out a breath and took another bite. He focused on what she had said. This was going to be another romp to another world. Hopefully this went better than the bees.

He glanced at Luke, the big kid was working on his second helping. Leon would be jealous if he didn’t know how quickly his friend would burn through it and be hungry again. He looked over at Carmen.

“Have you been to another world before?”

He asked, wiring and nodding at her reply.

“Well, hopefully this goes smoothly.”

Leon finished his lunch and stood. He gave his roommate and Carmen matching grins.

“Tin-man. Lion. Come on, let’s go meet the Wizard.”

 

Back in the lab Leon caught sight of the circular setup against the wall and eyed it curiously before echoing Luke.

“Good to go.”

He affirmed looking back at Eira. She directed them to their traveling clothes and Leon looked them over.

“Cozy.”

He chuckled as he slipped them on. He turned back to Eira and waited.

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "Puma"

Having spent some of the small stipend that she was given on grabbing some of her own BBQ at a nearby food truck, Carmen sat down with her two fellow students to enjoy their meal. It was a small thing, simply just enough for a quick lunch, even if compared to Luke who seemed to go through the food like a freight train. Of course, he was like a dragon when it came to it, he essentially was sort of one. 

 

She'd respond to Leon, "I thought there was only one world?" shrugging as she finished off her food by downing what was left of her water, the cheaper option.

 

Later, when finished with their lunch, Carmen was getting on with some assistance with her outfit. It was rather warm, too warm at the moment, but she expected that once they were in this supposed other world that existed, it would be easier. It was the one thing at cost with all this fur, one of several if she was honest about it, always having to dress in abnormal ways to adjust for the temperature. This however as a snug warm fit, stuffing the tail down inside as she prepared go through the rather most science fiction looking technology that she had ever seen in her young life.

[Avenger Assembled]

The heroes stepped through Eira's gateway, some with nerves, some with excitement. And soon they all found themselves in the same place. 

 

The inside of a glacier. 

 

It was quite literally an otherworldly experience. The first thing that struck them was the cold - a frozen chill like the coldest winter in Freedom City. Their eyes adjusted quickly to light that wasn't actually that much dimmer than the room they'd left, a glow coming from the walls made entirely of glowing blue ice.. The ice was smooth and slick to the touch, but also jagged and uneven in places, with crevices and bumps that caught the light and created a dazzling effect. 

 

As they moved deeper into the cave, Angelic's shimmering portal swirling behind them, the air became still and silent, broken only by the occasional drip of water or the faint sound of ice cracking and shifting, along with a faint and eerie music from further down the ice. The echoes of their footsteps bounced off the ice, creating a hollow, almost ethereal sound.Despite the cold and the darkness, there was a strange beauty to the cave - and truly it didn't seem as menacing as it might have otherwise. The way the light played off the ice, the patterns and shapes created by the cracks and crevices, and the way the cave seemed to stretch on endlessly into the unknown, all combined to create an almost mystical atmosphere.

 

"This way!" said Angelic, who hadn't bothered with a parka, her boots, skirt, and costume looking like they'd have been decidedly uncomfortable on anyone else. She led the way, her boots crunching in the heavily-trafficked snow under their feet. 

[MoonSimply]

Camren "Puma"

"¿Estamos en un cubo de hielo?" spoke to herself as she took the plunge of entering through the strange portal, finding herself in a strange and cold place. This Eira lady was right, her current clothes had been not enough to deal with this kind of weather. Inside this strange glassy place of ice, it was almost a spectacle, stopping to look around herself so she could gaze at such sights. She'd take a look back at the portal, seeing the world that she had stepped out of and wondering if this normal at all, especially where she came from.

 

"Ms. Eira... what world is this?" she asks, wondering if she'd get a potential better explanation instead of the fish out of water that she was now, or the cat out of the bag maybe, whatever that meant. She didn't have boots on, bracing some of the cold and one of the few times she was truly grateful for what she was, "Why aren't you wearing these?"

 

 

 

[Spacefurry]

A small cloud of breath puffed out as Leon exhaled, glancing around the glacial interior.

“Hmm. I can honestly say, not where I’d thought I’d spend the day.”

He comment, looking down he tested his footing. He smirked and glanced over at Luke.

“Hey.”

He paused and grinned before finishing in a sing-song tone.

“Do you wanna build a snow man?”

Leon laughed and followed after Eira.

 

They walked deeper into the icy caves. It was cold and still, like it hadn’t been disturbed in a long time. But the broken snow and ice of the path they followed told him they weren’t alone here. Even though they were on a ‘mission’ he kinda wished Neko was here, and not just because he could cuddle up to her for some extra warmth. She would appreciate the quiet beauty. Maybe he could swing another trip if he buttered up Eira.

 

Speaking of which, he thought as she directed them on.

“Valid question fearless leader. Just where are we?”

He spared a glance around again in a vain attempt to spot something resembling a landmark.

“She’s right.”

He called ahead to Eira after Carmen pointed out she had forgone the cold weather outfit.

“It’s not nice to rub it in others’ faces that you could two shits about the cold.”

He teased her with a friendly smirk.

[Nerdzul]

"I have been to another world..." Luke commented while churning through his meal, with his usual appetite, perhaps it was his second nature, or maybe just his lifestyle, but sometimes he felt like he did have an actual furnace in his stomach, not just a figurative one. "I mean... we both had, it was sorta like in our dreams though..." Yeah, although he was not completely sure about the latter. "...in the past... alternate dimensions... you never know where you're gonna end up." He added, while chugging a generous sip of his coke.

 

"Plus, I kinda come from another world... I think..." He scratched the hair on the back of his neck.

 

"Not that I mind, it's cool to see new places." Assuming you can get back home though, he neglected to add, Southside needed the Southside Dragon after all, or was it the other way around?

 

"Wait who's tin man here?" He playfully protested, before following his friends back to toward the main building. 

 

----

 

"Woah..." Luke was pretty thankful about his new 'uniform' as he stepped into that frozen realm, besides he doubted that his sneakers would have last for much in that climate anyway. 

 

"Yep and where are we headed?" The young man joined his friends' in questioning Eira. 

[Avenger Assembled]

"This is the realm of...Nordpolen," said Angelic hesitantly. "The local temperature never rises above 5 or 6 degrees Celsius," she added brusquely, her Swedish accent noticeably thickening. "My body is not at any risk of harm until the temperature drops below 200 degrees C." She grinned at Paper, seemingly glad for the distraction. "If you've got it, flaunt it, yes?" She smirked, turning back to their forward progress. "I programmed the portal to put us down very close to the target, so we will just - rescue the target, then leave the way we came." 

 

But it wasn't going to be that easy. Turning through the twisting corridors of the ice cave, the heroes came across a strange sight. Four high-stepping creatures about the size of a small child approached them, shiny, translucent humanoids made of small blocks of the ice of the caves that surrounded them. They were armed, carrying what looked like WWI-vintage rifles, that they promptly leveled at the heroes. 

 

In a high-pitched, squeaky voice, the lead ice golem declared "She returns - with more southlanders! You'll never free Jultomten, metal witch!" 

[Spacefurry]

Leon grinned at Eira’s comeback.

“I’m flattered, but I already have a girlfriend.”

He chuckled and nodded.

“Good ol’ fashion ‘snatch-n-run’. Sounds like a plan.”

 

As the small group of would be rescuers continued through the winding tunnels Leon was glancing around. There was something his old autonomous acquaintance wasn’t saying. If it was that easy, she wouldn’t have needed them. He thought about this absently as he trudged on.

“So, Eira, anything you wanna share-“

And then the icy-children ambushed them.

“Son-ova-“

 

Paper jumped to his fingers as he snapped his hand in a short arch. Index card sized pieces of paper shot out at one of the shouting orders. The papers slapping on to it and attempting to bind it.

 

Edit: The first piece slapped across the mouth of the leader, cutting off any further orders. Then, like an angry swarm, paper slammed into the small ice creature and plastered themselves to it. Defying logic they clung on like a second skin, layering and tightening until all the golem-like creature could only wobble and threaten to fall over.

Edited April 17, 2023 by Spacefurry

[MoonSimply]

Carmen rolled her eyes, ignoring the flirting between Eira and Leon as felt underneath her feet. She had to put boots on, she hated wearing boots, having had to abandon her nice sandals to these things, just a size too small for her liking. Far too warm where the boots as well for her liking, but she doubted that she would have been comfortable in just the sandals walking on the icy and cold ground below them. A part of her wanted that sort of attention, but another part just saw it as an annoyance, to avoid when she could. Instead, she focused on trying to hear, listening, but the echoing of the cave like complex just made things more difficult for her to discern as suddenly these two golems like creatures appeared brandishing rifles. It appeared as though this was now going to be a far more dangerous affair for them as Leon's paper slapped and bound one as they threatened to stop them.

Carmen was pushed back; Puma had taken over as her mind dipped into fighting. Uncharacteristically, she wasn't the first to act, maybe not used to moving with such boots on. No matter, it didn't stop her speeds as she sped towards the two, going after like a feline hunter the one that was incapacitated by bindings. With a snarl like sound she'd bellow, "Don't mind me cutting the ice!" she'd quip out, slashing down at them while were bound.

[Avenger Assembled]

La Puma was successful - maybe more than she'd intended. The golem she struck flew apart from the strike of her claws, first decapitated, then limbs flying away now that there was nothing to hold them together. There was a splash of ice-cold water that came with the blow from what had once been inside her antagonist, the fallen ice golem's pieces raining down around her. 

 

Angelic, the most experienced of the heroes in dealing with these creatures, didn't hesitate at the sight of the watery carnage, instead throwing a punch at one of the golems that it deflected with its rifle. "They are just stop-motion spirits!" she called to the teen heroes, not wanting them to freak out over what might have looked like an act of cold-blooded killing. "You can hit them!" 

 

"And we can hit you!" As one, the golems leveled their rifles and fired, cutting through Angelic's cape but not doing any real damage to the robotic heroine. They were firing icy shards that did real damage, though, especially when one lodged itself in La Puma's calf! "Death to the allies of the Leksakdrottig!" 

[Nerdzul]

Caught a little by surprise Luke hesitated as the scene unfolded, trying to find a good angle to bathe the small army of icy creature in flames, unfortunately, once he got close enough to the creatures, his friends were already engulfing in melee, at risk of being caught in the crossfire. 

 

"Uh ok..." He shrugged. "If you manage to keep them concentrated somewhere I can fry the whole bunch." He suggested.

 

The young man charged at the creature, claws of energy forming at his fingers as he called on the monster hiding underneath to tear them apart, unfortunately, the ice proved more slippery than he had expected and he failed to strike through.

 

He watched as one of the creature stroke at Puma. "You alright?" He tossed, hoping that his classmate wasn't hurt too badly. 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Spacefurry]

Paper was grinning smugly as the first enemy was neatly taken care of. He watched as Puma easy tore through another icy assailant. This was going to be easy, he thought to himself.

The icicles retaliated and the thunder of their rifles echoed in the crystalline cavern. Paper smirked as their icy shots were meaningless to Angelic. The distinct sound of flesh being torn was lost in the echoes of the gunfire, but Puma’s outburst easily drew his attention.

The small splash of red against the ice was a stark contrast. The humor of the situation drained away and anger quickly filled its place. The paper in his pouches were already vibrating when his arms snapped out. Like a swarm of hornets from a kicked hive, card-sized paper filled the air around him. As one they suddenly stopped, hanging in mid-air. With a thrust of one arm the swarm was in motion again.

A vortex of paper poured around the heroes. Even as they sliced through the ice constructs with steel hard deadly accuracy, they slipped past Luke, Puma, and Angelic like water around stones. In the end paper littered the ground, buried in the ice like shrapnel.

Leon took steaming breaths to calm himself. His eyes settled over the results of his attack and his shivered a little. He forgets sometimes how dangerous his power can be if he isn’t careful. He quickly looks away to his friends.

“Is she okay.”

He asked as he jogs forward to join the others.

[MoonSimply]

Puma attempted to dodge out of the way after slashing to pieces the poor ice man but wasn't quick enough as she couldn't get traction on the ice to move quick enough. What followed was a yelp of pain and surprised as a shard of ice fired from sort of rifle would hit her square in the calf, embedding into her flesh. She had taken a cut or two before back home, a girl always had an experience, but the sheer mix of the cold and pain for essentially receiving a stab wound was not something she was used to whatsoever. A mix of emotions would swell inside of her, gritting her teeth as she seethed. If it wasn't Paper, or should she say Leon, taking out the rest of them with a swarm of paper, taking them out in a vortex, she was nearly about to charge in like an animal.

 

"I'm fine," she responds back, taking out the already melting shard as, kneeling down for a few moments to rest. and take in the pain.

[Avenger Assembled]

The defeated ice golems went down in splashes of ice water, their fragments falling apart like so many broken toys. Angelic checked on the welfare of the teens quickly, relaxing just a fraction when she saw that La Puma wasn't seriously hurt. Okay, the ice golems were defeated, maybe all of this would go well. "We have to move quickly!" she said firmly, all but running down the icy corridor, her cape flapping in the breeze behind her. 

 

Their destination turned out to be not too far away, a big, open icy vault as big as a concert hall, with light streaming down through a hole in the ceiling above. The sky outside was a fierce shade of blue, just visible clouds fluffy white balls of cotton in the sky. The assembled heroes didn't spend too much time looking at that, though, not when they caught sight of two people trapped in the middle of the icy cave! 

 

They were caught in what looked like a giant spider's web made of enlarged white string; spread-eagled out and trapped. The first was a slim, lanky fellow in a red business suit, his pointed cap fallen away and pointed ears visible. The second was another figure in red, a familiar one, his outfit made of red and white furs from head to foot, his eyes twinkling, his dimples merry, his beard white and his belly round - and he was the one closest to the giant spider. 

 

"Oh, that's not very nice!" the big man said loudly as the man-sized spider scuttled toward him. "You'll never get anywhere by being naughty, Spider Queen!" Sure enough, the spider was clearly wearing a bright gold crown on her head. 

 

"Quiet Kringle!" the spider hissed in a voice like a giant slurping spaghetti. "As soon as I wrap things up with you, I'll head for your workshop and rule all the North Pole!" 

 

[Spacefurry]

Leon was glad to see Carmen was mostly okay. Eira seemed agitated as Carmen took a knee to catch her breath. Leon took the moment to slip a piece of paper into her pants leg where it covered the wound like a bandage.

“That should hold until we get you home.”

He stood and gave her a friendly teasing.

“Next time, have you considered getting out of the way.”

He grinned and chuckled.

 

The teens hurried after Eira as they passed further down the icy tunnel. It wasn’t long though before they reached a cavernous room of ice. The sky was visible through a giant hole above, but Leon’s attention was drawn to the equally impressive web spanning the cavern. Two figures dressed in red hung, trapped on the silky fibers as a giant spider with a small golden crown crept towards them.

“Hmm…”

Leon’s brain attempted to process what he was seeing and hearing. He blinked a few times.

“Eira, you gots some ‘splaining to do.”

He said, mimicking a Cuban accent. Dropping the accent Paper pulled two handfuls of cards from his hips and struck a ready pose.

“But first, let’s put the Australian-sized Charlotte down under.”

[MoonSimply]

Carmen began to calm down, even ignoring Leon's remark as she took to breathing exercises, speaking to herself in a hushed manner, "Remember what the professor told you in their office. Deep breathes, good thoughts, quick prayers," she'd repeat to herself, forgetting at the moment which teacher would have told her that. The pain was making it a bit more difficult than usual to keep a lid on things, though Leon did make it easier as a piece of paper bound itself over the wound. The cold creeped in still through her suit, but it wasn't anything that she couldn't handle at this point given her furred body.

 

With the rest of the group, the young heroine marched onward, hurried following Eira before spotting something that gave her rather the surprise. A woman like creature, no, a spider creature, the so-called Ice Queen. It explained the ice golems, but the spider creature that was before them as she near repulsed back. This wasn't what she had thought signing up to do for this strange paid internship. Her focus was more on the spider woman creature than Kringle, not knowing the different way of likely saying, though he did look familiar.

"If you mean squishing some bug, I'm in."