ic Quirkombat (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

December 1, 2023

Claremont Academy 

 

As if gym class wasn't bad enough... 

 

They'd been divided up as partners for basic unarmed combat when the flash of light came, a snap and boom of white that was all-too-familiar to La Puma Negra. The scene was familiar to none of them, however. 

 

They were no longer standing on the washable firm mats of the Claremont gym floor, instead they were standing inside a strange place. It was a room full of trophies; statues of a caped figure holding up a gigantic globe, surrounded by smaller statues of men and women in togas, artifacts from countless worlds and timelines. The walls on either side were of some exotic metal, as was the floor; with doors visible that seemed to lead off to a much larger tunnel complex. 

 

This was the lair of the late legendary Centurion, long a museum --- or was it? The whole place had a strange air about it as if long-neglected air had just been recently been disturbed, the air thick with dust and the distinct scent of blood. 

 

And then a man appeared; blonde and blue-eyed, he was wearing the Centurion's costume but clearly wasn't him. La Puma Negra recognized the adult form of Quirk (and perhaps a few others did too) - his daughter was no longer with him. "Welcome, combatants!" he called in a booming, artificially amplified voice. "You have reached the Centurion's stronghold! But be warned, if you seek to claim his true power, the guardians may not be what you expect! You must defeat them and reclaim the Centurion's rocket if you wish to be victorious. Let the combat begin!" 

 

And then, he vanished. 

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Hey! We were at gym class! Thats something I am actually good at! I mean..." his eyes shifted left and right to his class mates. "Obviously I am good at everything, but gym I am properly good at, rather than just pretend good at!"

 

He coughed a puff or radioactive lung air into his fist, and then looked around at the strong hold. 

 

"And what's with the dissapearing act? And compat? And power? And rocket. Oooh! A Rocket sounds cool! Fancy sitting on one of those as it flies through the skies? Can we win that?"

 

"Wait..." he added. "Combat? As in real combat, not just danger room? I mean, I am completely brave and bold. But perhaps we could do pretend combat instead, so we don't get hurt?"

 

He hoped his classmates didn't realise that he wasn't quite a bold and brave as he proclaimed. But a Rocket? That did sound cool!

[Poncho]

Gym class and combat training were new to Michael, so arguably it was his worst subject. He was having to play catch up from the beginning, which had always made him feel a little awkward, but he was trying to take it in good humor that he needed extra help.

 

When they instead ended up somewhere else, he was momentarily disoriented at the sudden change in scenery and smells; he sneezed at the dust and then waved it away from his nose as the smell of blood made his nose tingle. He wasn't sure where they were, and he was extremely confused. When the strange man explained what was going on, he listened intently, and sort of got an idea of what they needed to do- even if he wasn't clear why or who had decided this- by the time the person left.

 

"Did we just get kidnapped into an inter-something combat zone? That's crazy! Aren't there a ton of movies about things like this? Is this like what this school does for field trips?" He asked, in genuine wonder at the incredible things that had just happened to him in the span of a few seconds. But then Michael got very somber as he thought about it a bit more and looked around at the other students

 

"...I assume he meant like, there's other people for us to fight, not that we have to fight each other. I'd rather not fight any of you."

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

Carmen was sitting on the ground, stretching her limber body out while she was across from her partner for the combat training. Golden Star as another new sort of young hero that had joined the school. The young woman wasn't sure why he was called that, told that his powers dealt with overheating, thinking it would be closer to something fire based or heat. Less so interstellar sounding as she split her legs out. It was so sudden that they were teleported that she barely had any time to think, only getting that familiar feeling as soon they were not at Claremont anymore but a place that assaulted her nose with the distinct smell of dust and blood through her super senses.

 

"¡Oh Dios, no este demonio!" she says, getting up quickly and getting into a readied stance. Her last encounter with Quirk had been fairly dangerous, expecting some sort of sick and twisted game that he was subjecting on her fellow students as her claws glistened in the light, nice and sharp.

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Clad in the blue and gold school uniform, Parker stands in front of Baz, ready to spar, he blinks and then... they're somewhere else.

 

"What the...?" he says, as he looks around. He recognizes this, it's the Centurion's base, and that guy, he's... not the Centurion. Just dressed like him. He seems familiar, though. Some kind of relationship to the Centurion?

 

Being here, though? Now that's a dream come true. Parker would love to go explore, but he kind of doubts that they will get the chance, at least not in peace.

 

"Do any of you know what that was about, or who that is? He seemed kind of familiar." 

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"He looked like some kind of human. A human human. Male, I think. A human one. A human male. A male of the human species," said Baz, confindently, arms crossed. 

 

His eyes shifted left and right. 

 

"That's right, I called it!"

 

"I guess he wanted us to fight his evil zombie cowboy ninja henchmen. Except maybe they are cyborgs too. Yes, that must be it. I mean, probably not, but that would be pretty cool and I would be dissapointed with anything less. Unless they are really powerful evil zombie cowboy ninja cyborg henchmen, who could beat us up with one puff of electro-breath. That would be pretty bad. In fact, I dont want to fight those type of henchmen at all. Hopefully he meant for us to fight athritic rabbits. That would be much better. But if we are fighting arthritic rabbits, lets agree right here and now to tell everyone else that we fought a horde of evil zombie cowboy ninja cyborgs, right?"

[Poncho]

(Golden Star)

 

"I don't know if I could hurt an arthritic rabbit. But a Zombie Cowboy Ninja Cyborg might be beyond me too. Maybe if it was just two or three of the things? Like a Cowboy Ninja Cyborg, I could probably take that. But If it was also a Zombie probably not." Michael said frowning. He was still trying to figure things out himself here, and Baz being so positive was at least making him more comfortable in feeling like everything would go alright; having someone being strong and positive was very helpful for remaining calm!

 

"This place does sort of look like the Centurion's Museum, and that guy was in his costume, but it wasn't him." He noted to Parker, but he was clearly just as confused as Parker was He looked at the feline girl and waved.

 

"Uh, Hello! I don't think we've met properly. I'm Michael Adon. I'd give you a discount card for my work but they are in my not gym uniform pants. Do you know what's going on?" he asked. He was getting the feeling this was not, in fact, a sponsored field trip or a combat episode, and that was making him just a little worried, enough that he was looking around carefully in case there was a possible threat in this area.

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

Carmen rolled her eyes at Baz's musings. In truth, it could be anything with Quirk, near infinite based upon his mad designs that could easily get them all killed if he willed it. For her he wasn't some omnipotent god but some sort of demon. A monster that willed itself to appear in a human guise that preyed upon those that attempted to do good in this world. Carmen wouldn't let such a being get away with it, only stopping herself knowing that she had to stay with her compatriots. For him to just pluck them out from the school, still wearing her blue and yellow uniform that was made for her, made her feel even more unsafe than when she was with Patriot months ago when she first encountered him.

 

"He's some sort of reality warper, I think. Multiversal or whatever the class called it. He can do almost anything he wants. Whatever he wills," she says, growling almost as she ignores most of what he said, keeping her wits about in a serious way, "Be ready."

[Avenger Assembled]

At that moment, there came a great commotion from outside the museum's main door - just before it flew wide open! The first person through the door was the Patriot, an instantly recognizable figure in black and red, carrying one of her familiar laser pistols. Armored troopers followed close behind her, wearing eagle symbols on their torsos. The Patriot raised her hand, and behind her the teens could hear the sounds of battle. "Recruits!" called the Patriot, only the lower part of her face visible behind her helmet. "Knew you'd finally see some sense," she said with a teacher's pride in a student finally making the grade. "Come on! We've got the last of them pinned down here!" 

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

"A reality warper?" Parker just has time to ask, before the Patriot comes bursting in.

 

The Patriot? She's a famous, she's... Is that really her? She's addressing them like she knows them, but...

 

"Carmen, right?" he asks, looking towards the catgirl. "Is it better to follow that guy's game, or fight against him?"

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

"Play along," Carmen spoke back in response. Her teeth were gritted, as if she was holding back an actual growl. The only people that she could likely trust in this were the students like her that were taken in a split second. Patriot, her mentor and someone whom she could deeply trust stood right in front of her and yet held herself back from trusting her. Nothing was certain here, a world of fake and real, dragged from both space and time. Once this was over, she'd assume that they'd go right back to when they were taken, as if nothing had happened to them at all. A strange pocket that boggled her mind as experienced it once more.

 

Puma would rush up forward, standing at partial attention her typical feral like crouch, "What's going on?" she spoke, treating this as if it was all natural. Whatever was going on, she wasn't rather sure, seeing if she saw anything distinct behind her and of these armed individuals.

[Poncho]

"Woah! It's the Patriot! Well actually Patriot 2, obviously! But there's nothing wrong with being a legacy hero! I wish I got to be a legacy hero. Man...the Patriot! That's so cool." Michael mumbled like it wasn't real or he was having some kind of dream.

 

"A reality warper? So he like, brought us here? And what, we're supposed to follow The Patriot into battle? Why did he do that? Not that I'm complaining I guess...but right. Should be serious for this. It sounds like it could be dangerous." Now he realized it probably was basically a dream and dimmed his enthusiasm somewhat.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Poncho

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

Baz scratched his head with insect fingers. No hair there any more, but it was the thought that count. 

 

"Reality warper?"

 

Maybe he could be a real boy again! He quenched the thought. It was a delicate thing, and a delicate situation. Could he give up firing laser beams from his eyes?

 

Yes... no... yes... maybe. 

 

In any case, the reality warper didn't seem to be in the mood to help, but rather to play games. It rankled... such power, used for taunting!

 

"Can we kick his ass?" he asked the others. "I mean, are we allowed, and if we are allowed, can we actually do it? Errr... I guess he could just reality warp us into kicking our own ass. So best not kick."

 

"I guess we follow then?" he shrugged. 

[Avenger Assembled]

The Patriot didn't bat an eyelash at the strange conversation from the boys one way or another; instead she seemed to focus in on La Puma Negra. She spoke at a run, followed by her armored agents. "The last of the holdouts. They must be planning to make their stand here!" 

 

They reached another door, a big metal one like a giant airlock hatch; only to find it locked. The Patriot yelled in frustration at the sight and punched the wall, producing a holographic message from Lady Liberty. The heroes all recognized the young trans woman, a Hispanic immigrant who was primarily active on the West Coast of the United States of America. 

 

"You'll never win, you fascist pig!" Lady Liberty declared. "Heroes forever!" And then the signal cut off. 

 

The Patriot said something in Vietnamese that sounded extremely rude, then said, "I used the last of my charges getting through the Communion bunker outside. Can any of you get through that?" she asked, pointing to the heavy door in front of them. 

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

"If he can do anything, do you then think we can kick his ass if he doesn't want us to?" Parker asks Baz. "I mean, I'm still gonna try, if it comes to it."

 

But they should play along.

 

Parker follows the Patriot and the armored agents, and watched the message from Lady Liberty, calling them fascists. 

 

Right. A super hero civil war.

 

"I could try, but, ma'am, what is going on here? Why are you after Lady Liberty?"

[Poncho]

"Woooah that was Lady Liberty! Lady Liberty III technically! Another legacy hero! Wait why are they fighting." he asked. He looked between his fellow students, confusion on his face. "I guess this is part of the reality warping thing?...I don't really think we could beat up Lady Liberty; she's really strong. But then again if the Patriot is here maybe...hrmm. Well, nothing to do but to give it our best shot, one way or the other, maybe if we play it well we can get out of here. I'd really rather not have a reality warper mad at me, that seems prone to bad things happening to you." he was excited about all this but he was genuinely also worried at this point, realizing he may be in way over his head. He was still a pretty new student, so he didn't exactly want to step on anyone's toes by doing something they didn't want to, so he hung back from the door at that moment, waiting for someone else ot move first.

 

"I probably can't move it, I'm not exactly as strong as some of the others." he said, turning his attention to what Parker was asking

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

Puma was now utterly confused but didn't try to show it. This was a new reality, a false one. Whatever she was right now was even suspect. An entire history rewritten on the whim of a false god. One that had the power of your average mediocre fiction writer, letting will to his machinations to do as he pleased. They were trapped here and would be made to play along the best that they possibly could.

 

"Communion bunker? I could sneak in?" she says. Lady Liberty wasn't a hero that she knew, feeling that maybe this was some sort of Civil War situation.

[Avenger Assembled]

The Patriot nodded to two of her agents, who went about trying to pry pieces off the armored walls, but looked to be a tough job. "Be careful if you try," she said, "you-know-who is probably lurking in the walls right now. Goddamn metal freaks."

 

While the agents went about their work, she told Spaceman - "These so-called heroes have been corrupted by Communion nanotech. They're planning to infect the whole world with their poison; and they can do it if they get access to the Centurion's tech. Come on, kid, you think you can get this?" Her voice was tight and cold, a professional masking what would have to be some real unease - right? 

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

Baz shuddered. "Wait... this sounds dangerous. I didn't sign up to be a superhero recklessly leaping into almost certain death if it meant dying!"

 

He hopped from foot to foot. 

 

"I'm too young to die, so it must be ok. Phew! Thats a relief!" he gabbled. 

 

"I mean I don't know about Nanotech an all that. Sounds pretty small if its got nano in it. Like... like you know how adding the word Quantum in front of something makes it sounds cool? Must be like that. Maybe its Quantum Nano Tech. That would be seriously cool. No. Wait. Would that mean that the amount of coolness is really small... hmmm?"

 

He stroked his antenna. 

 

"In any case I am sure the youth... thats us, by the way, can handle anything! We got this!"

Edited December 20, 2023 by Supercape

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Right. That doesn't sound suspicious at all. The face of American military super heroes showing up leading a group of faceless soldiers, holding down super heroes that's controlled by the Communion? And they know that there's a reality warper running around? 

 

"Let me try something else first," Parker says, as he steps towards the gate. He's not so sure about breaking through it, not until he knows what is going on.

 

Reaching for the door, he instead scatters his own body's cohesion, increasing his molecular distance enough that he instead steps through the door, while holding his hands up to show the people inside that he means no harm.

 

"Hi, I'm Spaceman. What's your story?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Though of course he hadn't had his powers as long as many a veteran hero, Spaceman had flown through his share of heavy metal objects. But he'd never had an experience like this. 

 

He came out through the wall on the opposite side of something and found himself suddenly hovering far, far above what looked to be the Arctic below. But there was no air here, no heat, no light (but wait, how could he see anything if that was the case?) - and suddenly, as if that logical thought had broken through something, he was falling and falling, powerless, pinwheeling - 

 

And he was back in the trophy room where they'd started, barely able to hear the conversation down at the end of the hallway. 

 

"He's gone!" the Patriot had declared, her voice breaking with raw agony. "I can't believe - they're dead! They're dead!" she practically wailed to the heavens before putting her hand on Michael's shoulder. "It looks like it's all on you now, son." 

[Poncho]

"...He's...dead?" Michael asked. He was a little shellshocked from that. "Like...dead? Forever?" he blanched visibly, looking like he was going to throw up. But he fought that down and instead what rose up was furious anger. He didn't even wind his watch, he just let himself go and start burning, his hair and eyes turning orange as he lurched forward to grab the door and try to pry it open with his bare hands, muscles straining with the effort of every single one of his cells catching on fire at once. He was unrestrained anger at this point, running on fury and the energy of a teenager who thinks the world isn't fair and that he's going to do something about it.

 

"He's definitely not dead, right!? He'll come back if we clear this game!?" he yelled partially to the other students and partially to try and convince himself that this wasn't the end for a new friend of his. Either this door was going to be wrenched open or the muscles in his arms were going to snap, and who knew which it was; he definitely wasn't as strong as Parker at this point, even like this. His body was vibrating with the kinetic energy of his empowered cells, humming in tune with the chorus of the universe.

[MoonSimply]

"Bull****!" Carmen cursed as she spoke, "There's no way he can just be dead like that. What's behind that door?"

 

Puma looked over towards the thick steel door, pouncing forward towards it before starting to slash at it. She wasn't exactly sure how much damage something like this could do to it, but it was worth a try. Spaceman, that blonde idiot couldn't be dead. It had to be some sort of ruse, a false truth for a false reality. He had to still be here, listening, smelling, doing everything to get sense of where he was now since traveling through the door. As much as she wanted to shout at Quirk to give him back, she had to play along. Play up the ruse. There was no trusting anything besides the people she knew for a fact where there with her.

 

"Open up!"

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

What is going on? There is nothing around him, no distance, everything is there and not there, and then he falls. Not being able to see anything here, not being able to feel where anything is, it is... disorienting is not the face right word. What did he do? What is happening? He is falling. He can't stop himself. There is nothing here. Nothing he can change his distance to, and...

 

He is back. Parker is blinking and sweating, but he is back in the trophy room where they first arrived. There are things around him, he can hear muffled shouts from the others. 

 

He takes a moment. He has to. The reality warper clearly does not want them breaking the rules of their game.

 

Fine. He'll play.

 

Parker focuses, and then, he is gone once again, reappearing in the middle of the rest of them. "I'm fine! I'm fine, don't worry." No he's not. "Seems like you were right about our... host... not wanting us to break the rules," he continues to Carmen. 

 

Play along, then. "Don't worry. I got it." He steps towards the door and focuses, increasing his body's density instead and then starts to pry the door open. 

 

Play along. Then find something he can do about this.

[Avenger Assembled]

When the doors were thrown open wide, the Patriot took the lead, even though everyone was distinctly sure she'd been in the back when Spaceman, La Puma Negra, and Golden Star worked together to throw the door open. 

The group found themselves in a room that looked like the master control room at NORAD from a WWIII movie, dotted with computers, keyboards, and a glowing map of the Earth on the wall. There were numbers counting down on the wall; it looked like they only had about twenty minutes until - something. 

 

"Hah!" Lady Liberty was hovering in the air, surrounded by a patriotic glow, as she confronted the heroes. "You're too late! In twenty minutes, this world will be free! No gods, no masters!" Without hesitation, the Patriot drew the gun at her side and licked off a shot at the floating heroine, which she dodged, leaving a noticeable divot behind in the steel ceiling. She looked like she had in her last news appearance, long black hair, red white and blue costume, but she seemed to glow from inside with a silver light, filigrees of circuitry visible beneath her skin. 

 

Meanwhile, Lady Liberty's compatriots squared off against the other teen heroes. "We don't have to do this," said a blue-haired. blue-colored, blue-bodied androgynous person who smiled at Spaceman with glowing silver eyes. "We can share what we are with everyone. No more wars, no more violence, no more supervillains!" 

 

"It's time for humans to evolve!" said a caramel-skinned woman in a green and purple unitard squaring off against Gamma Buzz. "Why should they be trapped in one body, one form? We don't need to selfishly horde our gifts." 

 

La Puma Negra got - well, she got something very familiar. It was clearly Neko, or something that looked very much like her, eyes silver, body lined with circuitry as she said, "La Puma Negraaaaa," said Neko, her voice a low, accented sing-song. "They'll never call you a freak again. Everyone will be special - just - like - you."