ic Study Group: Aquarium Excursion (IC)

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

Mid January, 2024

 

What should be an easy assignment turns violent!

 

A fun visit turned into a semi-nautical nightmare!

 

What's a high school assignment compared to the aggression of Supervillains!?

 

Can our Heroes save the day AND complete their assignment!?

 

The Freedom City Aquarium was always open for students doing projects, especially ones from the well-funded Claremont Academy, whose headmistress was a significant donor for the massive, three story building and it's attached research vessel. A big exhibit now was a live Blue Whale, currently swimming in a fenced in area of the harbor while it recovered from injuries sustained in the wild. But there were plenty of other exhibits throughout the three stories of the building.

 

Parker Powers, Consuelo Nunez, and Michael Adon had, in their Sophomore level Biology Course, been given an assignment along with the rest of the class to go around the city and examine a microbiome in the city; the same assignment that sent Mizuki, Lawrence, and Baz to the local Estuary underneath the amusement park. Carmen had gotten the chance to earn some extra credit by going along with them, partially as a chaperone and partially by writing her own essay about some of the more interesting examples of sea life at the aquarium. While it wasn't a microbiome in reality, since obviously it wasn't natural, it did allow the group to present comparisons between creatures of the same species that were adapted to different locations; a major example of this were Otters, as the Aquarium had both Sea Otters and River Otters among it's other exhibits.

 

With special permission from the handler, the group was currently standing on a platform in the sea otter exhibit, taking notes to compare it to the River Otters they had visited before. With it's thicker fur and heavier body, the creature was quite different from the slick, svelte river otter that was it's biological cousin.

 

It wasn't anything specifically straining or dangerous, it was actually pretty relaxing.

 

Right up until the alarms went off, flashing red lights in the exhibit the group is in as a voice echoed over the loud speaker.

 

"All Visitors and non-security personal please exit the Aquarium. Metahuman Activity is occurring." Which wasn't great to begin with, but it got worse when Carmen, her senses naturally more heightened than the three Sophomores, could hear a wail of pain by the largest beast in the area. It was too high to be heard at first, but on it's second scream, even Parker and Consuelo could hear it.

 

Someone was torturing the Blue Whale, and the poor creature was screaming in fear and pain, loud enough that it could be heard inside the building. The otters fled off the platform into deeper water to escape the sound, and the crying whale was interwoven with the sounds of violence occurring on the lower levels of the Aquarium.

 

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

This is... relaxing. Surprisingly so. A very normal assignment, not something that requires that Parker punches hard light holograms or worry about ethics. Just a regular assignment. Well... an assignment where he gets to play with otters. Now that's a definitive plus. He's having a good time. At least until the alarm.

 

And then... the alarm, and screams and...

 

"Was that a whale?" Parker asks. How could they even hear it here?

[Poncho]

(Golden Star)

 

Michael had been in the middle of holding an otter when the sound struck, making him yelp; the otter wiggled free and fled at the same time as Michael covered one of his ears and grimaced at the sound that rattled in his ears. The other sounds that came after made his grimace turn to a frown.

 

"I think it's screaming...why would someone want to attack a whale? Or an aquarium in general?" He asked the others when there was a break in the whale sounds.

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

While it was that math was a terrible class for her, barely able to keep the grade, writing was far easier, even with English not being her first language, weaving through the classes related to the field with ease. In fact, it was the only A that she had on her current midterm grade report outside of more athletically in tuned activities and classes. This was different of course, extra credit for a class that she already liked to be in that served no issue for her. Honestly, she just wouldn't an excuse to get off the campus grounds, since she lived on the premises. The other was hanging around with Michael, which seemed for someone known as being rather an independent loner, relatively off. Although, she still wasn't at times the most pleasant, rough around the edges.

 

Her head snapped to attention away from the otters before even the intercom went off, "Trouble!"

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

One thing was for certain, Consuelo was not touching an otter. "I think those thing can, like, give you the plague, or something, yo." Or maybe it was just her rationalizing after seven years of every animal she ever saw hating her. Could be.

 

Then the warning message stated blaring or over the PA. "Metahuman activity. Aw jeez, what did we even do wrong? Maybe you guys aren't actually supposed to touch the otters. . . . "

 

But everyone else seems to think it's not about them getting in trouble it's about . . . someone torturing whales?!??! "Uh, what? Are you being serious right now, Michael? What kind of a chump would be dumb enough to torture whales in a city full of superheroes? . . . Oh, I guess we're about to find out, huh?"

 

Consuelo thrusts her fist in the air. "Everybody, suit up! . . . Heh, just kidding. I know we don't have suits here. Just trying to . . . Oh, forget it."

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Parker stares at Consuelo for a moment as she thrusts her fist into the air. He looks almost embarrassed for a moment, before he looks around to make sure that no one is watching.

 

"I... have mine."

 

Everyone else is running, no one is watching, and besides, it's not like they would recognize him any way. He reaches for his dress shirt and pulls it open, revealing the white, black and gold costume underneath. His armbands and belt is in his backpack. Maybe he should do something about that.

 

"I'll go ahead and see what is going on."

 

Mid change, he disappears into the floor beneath them, changing as he flies through the building towards the whale.

[Poncho]

(Golden Star)

 

"I didn't think about the plague. Uh...surely the ones at the aquarium don't have any bad diseases, right?" he asked in concern when Consuelo brought it up. Then he frowned. "...I don't know. You'd think no one would be dumb enough to do crime in Freedom City but it still keeps happening. They're always bold, at the very least." he agreed with her. Then Parker brought up his costume

 

"I have mine too." Michael said, opening one of the pockets on his backpack and revealing the folded up costume and cape. "Let me get changed." Then he ducked behind a corner and quickly came back in his suit, but Parker had already left. "But I can't, unfortunately, do that. So he's on his own." he grimaced as he wound his watch and hit the button, letting out his internal furnace and shifting his hair and eyes from brown to red.

 

"Okay, so we're on Codenames now, I think. Just to be careful. Maybe it's nothing, but I don't think we're that lucky."

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

Leaving the others, Parker's ability to shift his molecular shape allowed him to move quickly through the aquarium, seeing scared animals all the way as they attempted to escape the sounds of a titanic creature being abused. Towards the cries of the whales, eventually he passed over the voices of others as he moved on, able to hear their conversation momentarily.

 

"I really don't like her."

 

"I know, Zoe. Her and Felix both are...bad news. But the Stone chose them, and they've been helpful...not that I'm defending them, just... well she's a lot stronger than we are."

 

"I just hope Kitty deals wiith it." that was a third voice; so there were three people inside the aquarium.

 

Then he was past whoever they were, and emerged near a window, with a view of what was going on with the whale. It was not a pretty sight.

 

Floating above the whale enclosure was a woman about the age of the Claremont students, but dressed in a dazzling, deep purple outfit of a short top with a hood- though it was pulled down- and skirt with long boots. Across the outfit were representations of the constellation Drago, star-filled dragons racing across her clothing in a lighter purple. Her long blonde hair had streaks of purple shining through it. And she was laughing, cackling almost, as every few seconds she shot a blast of violet energy in the shape of a dragon from her eyes into the water, which hissed and bubbled violently. She wasn't hitting the whale, but instead intentionally barely missing. When the creature swam away, she floated after it, continuing to abuse it.

 

"Hah! That's right! Run! Largest mammal? More like a scared rat! Man, I'm glad those two wanted to go on a date to an aquarium. I assumed this would be dumb and boring but what do you know, you find fun in unexpected places!" 

 

Meanwhile, back in the Otter exhibit, Carmen's heightened senses could once more hear before the other two did; the approach of casual conversation and heavy steps below them as a group of people made their way around the exhibits on the second floor- the Claremont Students on the Third-, clearly unconcerned about the alerts, which likely meant they were the cause of the alerts to begin with.

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

The otters were kind of cute, but . . . nope! Anyway, it was time for hero business. 

 

"Dang it, I just got this hoodie . . . Well, whatever!" Consuelo floats slightly up in the air and then flares out her shadowy aura slightly, disintegrating away her Finding Nemo hoodie to reveal her black super suit underneath.

 

"Ta-da! We're all nerds that carry around our super suits. . . .Except maybe Carmen. . . . C'mon Carmen, tell me you've got a bodysuit in there somewhere.  . . "

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

By the time Consuelo had looked over towards Carmen, she had already ducked behind a pillar out of view to change, the Aquarium essentially having been cleared out rather quickly and no cameras in sight to see her change at all. Of course, she did wear her heroine outfit under her clothing, but she wasn't stupid. No way that Carmen was going to sacrifice one of her favorite shirts and nicer pair of jeans just to get out and beat on some goons making things terrible for everyone. Of course, especially since she didn't have enough in this month's stipend to purchase a replacement, "They are downstairs, a floor down."

 

Carmen would return in an attire more comfortable to super heroics, a one-piece style swimsuit that was in the school colors of Claremont, wearing nothing really else for her more athletic and gymnastic style, "Of course I do, but I'm not shredding my good clothes," she says, tossing her backpack towards the same corner Michael was changing. Things were serious now and she wasn't going to wait any longer. The longer the wait the longer she heard that poor whale's cry, "Besides, I got enough self-respect to not just run around in my underwear for the time being."

 

La Puma Negra it was now, moved towards the balcony quickly with the agility and gracefulness of her namesake. As the upperclassman, Puma was taking point in this situation, swinging down to the next level, Puma would be facing now those below talking below her.

 

 

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Consuelo flies down to the next floor after Carmen. "Seriously, Car . . . uh, I mean, Puma Negra, you could at least appreciate the sacrifice I made by dramatically disintegrating my clothes off to reveal my super suit. That hoodie was, like, a killer find at World Thrift!"

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Maybe splitting up from the rest wasn't Parker's best idea, but at least the bad guys seemed to be splitting up too, and more importantly, this means that he can at least help the whale. 

 

Sneaking up on her would be the smartest option, take her down before she knows what is happening, but... No. It doesn't feel right.

 

Instead, he emerges from the ceiling and focuses on decreasing the distance between his molecules. Now in full costume, he folds his arms in front of his chest and calls out to the woman.

 

"Stop that, or I will have to stop you." 

 

His voice is calm and even, but he is honestly not sure what is doing. 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

As Carmen lept down to the second floor, followed by Consuelo and Michael, the trio came directly into the face of another trio of teens, who if not for their costumes and general appearance, looked like they were also just enjoying a day at the aquarium.

 

One pair were clearly a couple; a short asian girl with a variety of piercings in a green school uniform decorated with purple scorpions and a truly massive blonde girl- larger than Parker or Michael, who were not small teenagers- in a bright pink uniform with red bulls and a shiny gold bull skull belt buckle. The third was a dark skinned girl in the same uniform, her hair a spiked mohawk of blonde hair and her outfit orange and covered with wolf imagery; both wolf outlines and pawprints. 

 

"Oh. Uh. Hey!" the dark skinned girl said, clearly immediately interested in defusing tensions. "Look, we're not here for a fight, this time. Jen and Zoe just wanted to go to the aquarium together, so let's not get hastey." Her tone of voice and wording didn't indicate she was scared; she just didn't want the day to be 'ruined' for her friends, and she had interspaced herself protectively infront of the other two, who were frowning. Each of the three were tense, but not aggressive.

 

But that was not their decision to make, because someone else was making that choice.

 

The purple dressed girl raised her hands like she was surrendering as Spaceman approached her, but she still had a sharp grin.

 

"Alright alright, I'm cool, I'm cool, no sudden moves, right? No need to put up your dukes on me, square." she talked fast, floating back a few more inches. "...NAH, PSYCH." and then those violet beams smashed directly into Spaceman's chest. They were more than physical, it became clear as they hit him. There was a physical component, but there was as much a magical, metaphysical weight to them as that. They were blasts of energy, but they were also the Idea of a Dragon's Fire. Which possibly explained why even Spaceman's almost invulnerable body couldn't process it right away, and he was blasted back. He hit concrete and steel and went through it, back into the Foyer. 

 

So what had been a possibly resolvable peaceful encounter between the other three members of the Group and the strange girls was interrupted when Spaceman came back in way harder than he had left, hitting the big glass tank in the center of the foyer and cracking- but not yet breaking- it. He was followed by the girl in purple, who had pulled up her hood so that all that could be seen of the upper half of her face were her violent, violet eyes as she surveyed the scene.

 

"Ashley, What did you-." The orange suited girl started but was cut off by the purple one talking over her in a booming voice.

 

"Heroes, huh? Boring! Come on, girls, they're ruining our fun! Or do you wanna get sent to juvie?" The other three looked at each other, then at the heroes, and made their decision, raising their fists aggressively to fight. The purple girl might not have neccesarily been in charge, but she also wasn't someone the others were willing to go against, even when she was making decisions they may not want to agree with. So it was the purple one- Ashley, Sentry Draco-, who made the declaration.

 

"We're the Starblights, and we're gonna knock you out!"

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

For a moment, Parker actually believes the woman in purple, and then he is sent smashing through the concrete and steel by a powerful blast. That was... that was not what he expected would happen. He had been caught off guard. Either that, or she could somehow affect the forces that he could control too, or... He has no idea, honestly. 

 

It doesn't matter. He's not hurt. The building might be, but... He can sense the others around him. Michael, Carmen and Consuelo, all suited up and, three others dressed somewhat like the woman in purple that hit him? And then the girl in purple comes flying in and introduces themselves and wants to start a fight.

 

"Wait!" Parker holds up his right hand as he gets up on one knee, before standing up fully. "We don't have to fight. I'm not about to let you hurt that whale, but we can talk things through. No one has to get hurt, no one has to go to juvie or anywhere else, just... Let's calm down and talk things through, please."

 

He really hopes it will work. If they can get these girls, the Starblights, to come to Claremont as students or at least not be bad guys... it would be much better than having to fight them.

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

Puma from the first moment she looked at them knew that they were likely the ones causing the trouble. She was at the least half right as what seemed like an easy de-escalation quickly devolved into a standoff, both sides watching the other as Spaceman is hit back by a blast that brings it all together. Even if he seemed to not want any sort of confrontation between the two groups, it was now far past that, and Puma was more than willing ignore any all subtlety in this circumstance to quickly rush forward like a feral big cat on all fours. Blinding quick she was, able to cover the distance quicky as she jumped forward to a handstand, kicking her clawed feet out to hit the Green and Orange clothed foes.

 

"Well, I'm La Puma Negra, and the only one's being knocked out is you!" she says with a growl, slashing out with a spinning handstand kick between the two of them. 

 

 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

It almost looked like the Orange-wearing girl was going to say something to Spaceman, but Puma's declaration made her immediately turn her focus back to her with a grin.

 

"You might be a Puma, but I'm The Hunter!" The Orange girl replied as the fight almost immediately broke down into a brawl. But Puma had the upperhand, and as the Green and Orange girls moved in, she hit Orion in the shoulder and knocked her off balance. But it was far worse how she hit Scorpio. She landed her split kick straight across the jaw of the smaller girl, sending her crashing into another exhibit. Water gushed from the hole in the glass as gallons of water started to fill the second floor and the fish began to swim away from the hole draining the precious liquid, but the Green Scorpion was out of it, a gash across her skull from where it had shattered the glass.

 

"Jenny!" The largest of the Starblights- the Pink Bull- yelled in shock, as she positioned herself closer to her. "Leave her alone!" She said, banging her gauntleted knuckles together and causing pink sparks to fly from them.

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Consuelo recognized the three girls on the second floor immediately. "Seriously? The Starblights? The girl band thing didn't work out for you, so now you're like, whale-torturers?"

 

And then Parker came flying back into the foyer. Not a good sign. Parker's a tough customer . . . 

 

Some girl, Ashley, apparently, flies into the room after him, agitating for a brawl. Parker starts talking peace, and it kind of sounds like it makes sense, so Consuelo adds her two cents. "I ain't never seen this "Ashley" before, but she's, like, a bad influence. How about we all get one of those starfish-shaped popsicles from the cafeteria and makes friends after I kick her butt?"

 

And then Carmen kicks two of them in the head. Really hard. "Or not."

 

"Okay, Princess," Rot calls out to Draco/Ashley, "Time for me to introduce you to the concept of 'remorse'".

 

Rot talks trash, but she is worried this Ashley might be a tough customer, after tossing Parker around. I know that ain't easy. I think this is one of those times for me to not hold back . . . .

 

Darkness gathers around Rot, and she charges Draco like a bullet, waves of disintegration energy roiling around her. It looks like she's gonna plant one right on her kisser, but, at the last moment, Ashley manages to turn, and the blow glances.

 

Dang. But still, I bet she gets a nice shiner before sundown. 

 

"Hey Ashley. What's up?"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

Ashley had clearly been intending to not dodge that punch. She seemed to think- possibly rightly so- that she was invincible at the current moment. Then, her eyes went wide as Rot inched ever closer and she turned to move out of the way. The sparks of black crackle and purple energy that shot out where Rot made contact were almost blinding as Draco grabbed her face. It's enough to pause her for a moment, but the other members of this group of girls are far from paused.

 

Her fists glowing with the horns of a bull, the giant pink Zoe moved with sudden speed, and she was suddenly on top of Carmen, throwing one of her fists straight down at the catgirl's head.

 

"How dare you hurt Jenny!" she roared, like a battle cry. It didn't hit Carmen though. A streak of gold and red interrupted it and Michael caught the fist of a girl who had several inches an at least 50 pounds on him in both of his. But catching was a bit of a misnomer, because he buckled like a folding chair; even the Golden Boy couldn't hold off all that force. And if he couldn't, the ground below him wasn't going to much better at keeping it in check, and it buckled and shattered in a hail of broken glass and twisted metal, sending Michael and Taurus down to the ground floor of the foyer as the walkway gave out from the force that just got slammed into it. The ground caught them, drenched in water from the leaking tank, but Michael seemed unharmed, somehow.

 

Then Ashley shrieked as she turned around and faced Rot again. A significant portion of her hood had been disintegrated outright from that single touch, and there was a gouge in her cheeks where Rot's knuckles had touched her. She looked equal parts incredibly surprised and incredibly angry.

 

"What kind of monster are YOU then!?" she roared at Rot. "People like YOU don't get to TOUCH people like me!" Then the blast comes.

 

It wasn't 'dragon shaped', it might as well have been an actual, serpentine dragon of violet energy that erupted from her eyes towards Rot; the color that emperors would drape themselves in to prove how rich they were, how close they were to God in heaven. And it came like the fist of a wrathful god itself, filling the entire room in a blistering purple glow, melting metal and twisting the air itself into a screeching roar that matched the timbre of the girl's fury. If this place hadn't already been pretty close to ruined, that blast sealed the deal.

 

And for a moment, Orion, the last of them to move, seemed to stutter. She looked at Parker, clenching her fist. Then she looked back at Puma. She pulled back her arm like she was firing an arrow and unleashed a bolt of orange energy from her fingertips that the catlike Heroine could easily dodge. But it swung around even as it went wide, dashing across the second floor to swing back around for her.

[Poncho]

(Golden Star)

 

Michael could not shake the feeling of familiarity regarding the giant pink girl. Why did he know her? It was genuinely bothering him, enough that he felt pretty distracted about the whole ordeal. But distraction didn't keep him busy when she moved with surprising speed and attempted to swing down at Carmen. That fist looked like it could splatter her across the entire aquarium. He wasn't even really thinking, he just knew he had to help, and then he caught that giant fist with both of his.

It barely helped. His feet hit the ground, and then his knees buckled, and then the ground decided it wanted to get in on the whole 'collapsing out from under' Michael. So him and 'Zoe' went down hard, crashing into the slowly increasing amount of water and ruined metal that was filling what had been a beautiful aquarium only a few minutes ago. When the lightshow went off, he had to avert his eyes; it hit all of his enhanced senses at once like he had been slapped in the face, and he wasn't even close to the target. He couldn't even tell if Rot had survived that. That purple girl was definitely the most dangerous; the rest of them weren't even in the same league.

 

He moved after the larger girl and threw a punch at her, but she blocked it easily, and it made his hand ring at just how thick and strong she was.

 

"...Do I know you? Why are you familiar to me?" He finally asked Zoe head on, growling a little at the frustration he couldn't place and the fact he was now separated from the others, enough that it might be hard to get back in to help them. But it was keeping Zoe busy too.

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Damnit, Carmen. Parker has no idea if he could get these Starblights to calm down or not, but he was trying, at least, and there's no way it will work out when everyone starts brawling all around him.

 

Blasts flying all around them, everything is chaos and Consuelo manages to tag the one in purple. Draco? She does not like that. Parker can almost feel the power coming off her as she charges up. Consuelo can probably take it, but...

 

Spaceman disappears from the ground, reappearing between Rot and Consuelo, arms folded in front of his head, he focuses, decreases the blasts distance, making sure it only hurts him and doesn't get past to Consuelo. It hurts. Whoever these Starblights are, they're damn powerful. But its nothing that Parker can't handle.

 

"Wrong. You don't get to touch her."

 

His arms are sore from the blast, but he throws stances himself, like Crimson Tiger showed and puts his hips into it, throwing a punch that closes the distance between himself and Draco to deliver a blow to her guts. Still, as she tries to grab on to her, she is too strong and manages to slip away. 

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

Puma quickly brought her arms up to block the strike that was coming her way. The big girl was aiming right for her with a punch that seemed destined to take off Puma's head right from its shoulders. Sure, she could avoid it, but that would be a heard feat to do this close and personal, as was with her particular fighting style, jumping straight into the melee and ignoring the subtlety of speaking. However, in a flash, Gold Star had gotten in front of her, taking the blow and sending both of them to the next floor down. She'd hop back for a few moments as looked to see if he was okay. Miraculously such was the case.

 

She had planned to hop down to help him against the big bull girl but soon had to dodge out of the way as Orion had recovered and fired an arrow like bolt towards her, her senses hearing it as it sailed through the air. It was almost child' play to dodge out but soon she heard it sailing still, turning her head to see it arcing back. Puma had to deal with her quickly, pouncing forward towards Orion like an animal, feeling the wet ground she moved across.

 

"Call yourself a hunter, prepare to become the hunted!" Puma spoke, moving quickly and dexterously that it was hard to watch her movements. It would pay off as Puma slashed at Orion wickedly across the chest, now right in her foe's face to deal with this ranged threat.

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

Bleeding from a gash in her head, the green wearing Scorpion grimaced as Puma continued to prove her superioirty over the two girls she was engaged in a fight with; while Puma was outnumbered, it seemed that it was the Sentries that were outgunned in this situation. The slice across Orion's chest tore through the fabric in a way that Rot's powers had done differently; while Rot seemed to have obliterated Draco's hood with a burst of feedback, Carmen's claws sliced through the protection of the Sentry's Suit like it was regular armor. 

 

Perhaps these girls were empowered by some sort of Magic? 

 

This was proven when Scorpio managed to regain her composure enough to lash out with a glowing, crackling whip of energy like the tail of a scorpion that curled into a stinger! It pierced the Puma's flesh, but the magic sizzled and died against her own curse! 

 

"Crap..." The Scorpion forced out, her words a little difficult and her face a little bloody. "She's way tough."

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Draco winds up to strike back at Consuelo. Hmm. This might sting. But then Parker does his come-up-from-the-floor thing between the two of them. Uh oh. Last time, Parker didn't do too great with those blasts.  . . . But this time he braces himself and takes it well, even managing to say something tough-sounding before it hits. 

 

Yeah, okay . . . maybe if we keep pouring it on we can knock the heart out of her. "Is that all you got? Yeah, I thought so." Dark distortions build around Rot, and something else. The creep factor she used to give off all the time comes back as bad as ever. Standing as close as they are, both Ashley and Parker can feel malice and corruption coming off her in waves. "Oh, I'll show you exactly the kind of monster I am."

 

She steps around Parker and chambers her arms to move forward and hit Sentry Draco with both hands. Yeah, I'm lined up perfect! I'm totally gonna nail her!

 

But, just as Consuelo moves to strike, this huge blonde girl in a pink outfit steps in the way, taking the hit. Rot’s power shreds at Taurus's outfit and bruises and burns blossom over her skin, and she gets a vacant look on her face.

 

"Aw, for crying out loud, Zoë! You're blocking for her? You and I both know you don't deserve that kind of loyalty, Ashley. Would people stop getting in the way, so I can just kick her butt? Please?"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

There's absolutely no reason given how Ashley has acted for Taurus to do what she did. It's the sort of compassion usually claimed by heroes jumping in front of destruction to save civilians or their own allies. But this giant of a girl made the choice. She shoves Michael off her as they're in the middle of throwing blows at each other, and leaps straight up, her wide back shielding the smaller Sentry from the full force of the blast, and the energy that leaked out of thak pink uniform was twisted and erased by Rot's touch. She's only barely hanging on after that, still being carried up by the force of her leap but unable to adjust her posistion.

 

Ashley barely spared her a second look, and as soon as Zoe's bulk moved out of the way, she was after Parker again, lashing out with a kick that left a streak of purple in the air and shattered more glass in the area. 

 

"You! You I like. Come on, big man, let's see how long you can last against me!" she yelled at Parker as she continued to try and pummel him.

 

"...This is really not working." Orion mumbled as she surveyed the area. Her own homing bolt had finished a rotation around the destroyed second floor, charging at the ever-agille Puma who was currently holding off two people at once. But she turned her own, new bolt at the slow moving Golden Star, who had failed to keep Taurus held down and was now flying up after her. "You! Sit still!" she yelled at Michael as she loosed another bolt that chased after him.

[Poncho]

(Golden Star)

 

As Zoe leaped up into the air, Michael attempted to make a desparete grab to keep her grounded, but he was too slow, and she escaped upwards. He had been doing it just as much to try and keep her safe as he had to lock her down; he knew what Rot could do and keeping people out of the way of it seemed quite the right thing to do unless he was sure they could take it. But instead he watched the pink Sentry leap into the air and take the full force of the blow across her back. 

 

And then he couldn't believe she was still concious. 

 

"You've gotta be kidding me." He mumbled as he flew up after her. Orion's bolt hit him in the back as he chased her, but he ignored the sting in his side. "Forget telling me to stay still, how about Zoe learns to stay down!" He yelled at Orion. 

 

As Taurus reached her apex and began to come down, she spied Michael through her daze and raised both her fists up like she was going to try and meet him with another blow. But Michael was faster and he hit her with a lariat as she fell, sending her spinning. But still the resilience of the bull prevailed, and the battered, beaten Zoe gritted her teeth as she continued to fall, hanging on still with the stubborness born of an absolute loyalty to her friends.

 

"Spaceman, hit her again!" Golden Star yelled.