ic Survival Class: Survival in the Hereafter

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette was doing pretty well despite the long and grueling day under the hot sun, her superhuman endurance coming in handy. But she knew that they need to stop as it started to get dark, no need for them to risk someone turning their ankle in the dark. Not to mention the wind and sand were not going to help.

 

The redhead considered Dr. Macedon's question about what their next steps should be as it started to darken and already was getting cooler.

 

"Probably need ta find some shelter ta help get us out o' the worst o' the wind." She replied. "Like maybe find a place up close ta those rocks that can provide a bit o' protection?" She stated, pointing towards a nearby rock outcropping.

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

And so, Carmen began to lead the group like Moses had in the bible. Although Carmen had little to no clue what she was fully doing, unlike Moses, she wouldn't take them anywhere at all close to forty years to get them to where they needed to go. There'd be no wandering the desert here, "Of course, yea of course I am, I can do this all day," Carmen would boast about herself, even if it was very likely untrue that she could do such a thing with any form of skill. All she had was natural talent for things like jungles and forest, not barren hellscapes rock and hot sun that seemed to want to cook her alive.

 

Of course, soon enough she wouldn't be the one to be running the show with Bernadette taking the reins and allowing Carmen to just follow along. Let someone else that seemed to know what they were doing get them to their destination and instead of her. With her hands behind her head, she'd stroll towards the back of the group, keeping up as not to dawdle for too long. She'd occasionally make her way back up, interjecting at times to give a feel that she knew where to sort of go, but it was plain to see that she was coasting off things. It was at their destination that she'd quickly drop her backpack down, heavy and full of everything one would need for such a trip (or think would need in Carmen's case), slowly pitching her tent as the wind began to pick up and the light slowly fading.

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Oh sure... tents and stuff. I can do that!"

 

In fact, this time, Gamma Buzz knew what he was talking about. Living in poverty in Mexico - well, one had to adapt. And tents, he had constructed and lived in. Not pleasant, but better to live in a tent than live under the stars. For the most part. Even if stars were twinkly and pretty. 

 

He knew the cold was no problem. At least, not for himself. He had a nuclear furnace in his belly keeping him warm. But this was a survival class and the others needed shielding. 

 

If he didnt have the ban on powers, he would have happily irradiated the ground with his incredible non lethal radiation, providing warmth for them all. 

 

He silently seethed at his inability to show off his amazing gamma powers, but he could still do the tent. 

 

He did a few backflips, just to look cool whilst doing it. 

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Macedon hesitates a bit as the group begins to set up their tents.

 

"Hold on a moment, kids. Ms. O'Connell got a good point here."

 

She points towards the rock outcrop that Bernadette had pointed out. It seems to be conected to a larger mesa..

 

"Keep an eye on your surroundings and the weather. Can you feel the wind and see all the sand? If we set up right here, then we'll get blown down if we're unlucky. So let's give that outcrop a look, yeah?"

 

As the group approaches, the outcrop seems like it leads into a cave.

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette had just watched with a bit of surprise when the others started working on setting up tents despite the increasing wind. At least it does appear ta be somethin’ Baz does know how ta do. The redhead thought as she watched, feeling somewhat reluctant to stop him given the tension earlier in the day.

Thankfully Dr. Macedon was willing to point out the problems with setting up out in the open like that. Shouldering her pack once more, Bernadette led the way over to the outcropping, stopping as she found the dark cave entrance.

"Umm….are there things out here that might make a cave home that we should be concerned about?" She asked, looking over at Dr. Macedon. The redhead was not exactly afraid of any wild animals, but she also did not want to have to possibly hurt one defending herself if they stumbled into its den.

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt

 

Vueriz was significantly out of her depth with the whole trip. She hadn't been able to deal with the map, hadn't even been able to admit why. How could her classmates rely on someone who couldn't read? They couldn't, and they wouldn't learn if she had anything to say about it.

 

Now was time for a new problem, setting up for the night, and 'how to stay warm', a problem for the humans which she didn't have the tools to assist with, and she was pretty sure building a heater would count as using powers. It was 'super' tech after all. 

 

She was about to ask Baz how she could help with the tents when Dr. Macedon spoke up, and instead switched to helping shift things over to the cave. Still the cold problem wouldn't be solved by just having tents, would it? Maybe the others could huddle together for warmth? Especially since Baz's nuclear body would probably produce more than enough heat to sustain them.

 

Her imagination caught up with her idea and she cut off that train of thought before she suggested it, purple blush hopefully hidden by the growing dark. "Uh, anyone got any ideas for how to resolve the temperature problem?"

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"I can heat up the ground with my incredible non-lethal radiation!" said Baz, puffing up his chest and giving two thumbs up signs. 

 

"Wait.. shoot... no powers!" he moped. 

 

"I guess we, what... light a fire? or something? Sounds easy enough. We just need wood and a something to light it with. Like my amazing laser beam eyes... no wait, those are powers too. Double shoot."

 

Baz scratched his antennae. 

 

"And this is a desert. Not much wood around. Although I guess it would be dry, at least. Arent you meant to rub two sticks together or something, sounds pretty easy, right?"

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

"Snakes, spiders, all sorts of crawly things," Carmen responds in a way meant to tease Bernadette a bit. The young were cat creature had crept her way over towards her, having given up trying to pitch a tent in such windy condition was going nowhere, deciding to put it away to get out of the increasing wind situation. It wasn't that bad for her honestly, making things feel far cooler that the hot and dry conditions there were. Natural insulation from the cold with her fur was always an advantage to be had, but only for some of it and not to any of her compatriots at the least comfort wise.

 

"Has to be something around here," she says, "We can always make a fire with something around here."

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The wind is picking up. Sand is starting to fly all around them. Almost like it is pushing them towards the cave.

 

"Sure, all those might be true," Dr. Macedon responds in response to Carmen's teasing. "There's mountain lions, maybe some wolves or coyotes..." She stops, realizing that while these kids could probably deal with it... no need to keep going.

 

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. It'll be hotter in there than outside, at least."

 

Motioning with her head, Dr. Macedon begins to walk towards the cave.

 

Once inside, the takes out a flashlight, lighting it up. The cave is big and deep, leading further into the mesa.

 

"See? No critters of any kind." She pauses for a moment. "But, y'know... watch where you step."

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette gave Carmen a small smirk as the cat-girl tried to tease her about snakes and spiders. "I grew up with two older brothers, I learned not ta be bothered by havin' such things dropped onta me at a young age." Hearing that there were potentially mountain lions or smaller canines in the area did not really bother the Irish teen, as give her an idea of what they might potentially encounter.

 

The redhead followed after Dr. Macedon as she led the group towards the cave, regularly checking to make sure the others were all keeping up. Taking out a flashlight of her own, she followed their guide into the cave entrance.

 

"Do we not want ta check further in ta make shoor there is nothin' sleepin' there that might not like our presence?" She asked.

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"RIght! Right! Check the cave! Could be a desert Anaconda, right?" said Baz, snapping the fingers of both hands. 

 

Baz checked for responses. 

 

"I mean desert Anaconda's are a thing, right? If they aren't, they should be, so it still counts, right?"

 

He peered into the Cave darkness. 

 

"Fortunately, I have my amazing cockroach vision and my amazing cockroach nose, so I could surely detect the heat signature of a desert Anaconda... wait... aren't they cold blooded and stuff?"

 

He hopped from foot to foot once more. "So maybe cockroach vision wont work. Any other bright ideas, hombres?"

 

 

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt

 

Vueriz peered into the cave alongside Baz, her eyes failing to pierce the darkness as he talked about a 'Desert Whip Snake' which certainly sounded threatening. She was pretty sure he meant ectotherms when talking about cold-blooded creatures, which as far as she knew did still appear to night vision, but maybe it was a common trait amongst such creatures to be able to camouflage from such vision modes Earth, like the many amazing abilities of the 'Cockroach' that he apparently possessed. It would make sense that various animals were similarly endowed with powers as the humans were.

 

As such, she pulled her phone from her pocket and navigated to the menu that contained the flashlight pictogram, before activating her phone torch to look for this dreaded creature. "This might help you spot one."

[MoonSimply]

"Puedo ver en la oscuridad."

 

Carmen was the first one to waltz inside the cave further, as if in a teasing fashion. From her knowledge, she could probably see a snake even if she couldn't, at the least smell whatever it was, unless it didn't have a scent. Possibly, it could even get around her hearing too if she wasn't careful as much as she was now, strolling in, "Get a fire going or something, I'm going exploring," she says while entering inside. Sure, it was technically using her powers, but it wasn't like this sort of thing didn't have an off switch or something of the sort. Just so long as she treated it as normal that is, certainly that was alright, unless this professor wanted her to cut off all ears, nose, and eyes off and out somehow.

 

"Starving too."

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"I'm hungry, too..." conceded Baz, licking his armour plated lips. "Snake would be good. Or rat. Rats would be good, too. Better than cactus soup and tumbleweed pie, that's for sure..."

 

In fact, one of the first powers Baz became aware of was the ability to eat practically anything without any ill effect. HIs stomach had apparently turned into a nuclear powered furnace that swiftly extracted valuable proteins, fats, and micronutrients, before sizzling the rest into atomic ash. A handy power living in poverty in Mexico and on the arduous journey to Freedom City as an illegal immigrants. Rats had often been the dish of the day in the sewers. 

 

"I reckon we need to get a fire going first. Part of the course, I suppose. So lets get some twigs, and lets make a fire. I am sure we can rub one out..."

 

His antennae trembled at the clumsy words. 

 

"I mean I am sure we can rub them together really hard and fast and get them hot..."
 

His antennae turned bright red. 

 

".... ah I'm sure we can light a fire is what I mean."

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette reached up to the bridge of her nose as she let out a soft sigh at Baz's inadvertent sexual innuendo, which he seemed rather embarrassed about. At least, she thought it was inadvertent. But in any event, at least he was still trying to help get things set up for the night, so she was not about to give him a hard time about the slip ups or otherwise criticize him. Carmen on the other hand….

 

"I have a better idea Carmen, if you want a fire or food, you can stick around an’ help get that prepared, otherwise, don' expect us ta prepare stuff fer you." The redheaded Senior called out to the Junior. "Until we get ta where we are headed this isn' personal free time. Besides, based on the stories I have heard from others that have visited here over the years, it's not the local wildlife we really need ta be worried about, but stumblin' through a portal back through time."

 

The Irish teen then turned her attention back to Baz and Vueriz. "If we’re goin' ta start a fire, might be best ta do it closer ta the cave entrance." She commented. "That should hopefully help with allowin' the smoke ta not build up too much inside the cave."

 

She then looked at Baz with a faint grin. "An’ as appealin' as all that sounds, we were told ta bring food fer a reason, so maybe just start with preparin' the stuff we were provided?"

[RocketLord]

GM

 

But Carmen can't hear Bernie's comments, how annoyed she is or her warning anymore, as she has entered into the cave. In fact, she can't hear any of the others.

 

"Carmen?" Alexandra calls out, though she doesn't seem like she's expecting a response.

 

She sighs and shakes her head. 

 

"Right. I was afraid this was going to happen once the storm picked up, but there's nothing to do about but follow the script. The Mesa's not gonna let us go until we do what it wants." Reaching into her backpack, she pulls out her flashlight and a gun belt with a somewhat oversized six shooter revolver and spare bullets, pulling it around her waist.

 

"Alright, listen up! Follow along and listen closely. Things are about to get a whole lot more interesting. We are going to go into that cave, follow it to the end and find Carmen, then we'll do whatever we need to do on the other end, and come right back here. You listen to me, you don't wander off without my say. If it comes to it, you will use your powers. We good? Then come on. We're in the Magic Mesa, and things are about to get weird."

 

---

 

Carmen is sure that there is something ahead, through the twisting network of the path she follows. Something drives her forward. Towards the voice. Like she doesn't feel like turning back. On and on and on she goes, and finally, she sees light up ahead. The end of the cave. Out of the darkness and into the light.

 

And stepping outside, she finds herself standing in the middle of green park. It looks almost like Liberty Park in Freedom City, but something is off. Something is wrong. It smells too clean. Too sterile.

 

As she looks up, she sees the skyline around her dominated by high tech sky scrapers that truly stretch into the sky and clouds.

Edited March 31 by RocketLord

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt

 

Vueriz watched Carmen depart into the shadows beyond her torchlight, considering following suit, but deciding to stay and puzzle out how to make fire with the others. She listened with confusion as Baz stumbled over his words, not sure what exactly he's correcting himself over. She resolves to ask him later when the others are asleep, since he seems embarrassed.

 

She listerns half-heartedly to Bernadette being a square until she mentions a portal back through time, at which point she listens intently, and is disappointed that the teen could drop something cool like that and then nothing.

 

She was about to ask when Dr. Macedon starts calling  out before sighing and beginning to explain what's going on. She inwardly cringes at the name 'Magic Mesa' but given it's a known phenomenon that it sends people back in time Vueriz writes it off as a folk name rather than the doctor actually believing in magic. 

 

Quickly she fishes her utility belt out of her bag and gives her a gear a quick check before following Macedon into the cave. 

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette frowned slightly as Dr. Macedon called out after the cat-girl and mentioned that things appeared to have taken a turn for the worse with the Magic Mesa. "Oh bloody hell." She muttered as she summoned one of her duplicates, who popped into existence next to her.

 

Looking over to Baz and Vueriz, the Irish teen stated. "You heard the doctor, let's get goin.' Stay together an' be ready fer anythin'."

 

With that the original Bernadette started forward after Dr. Macedon, while her duplicate moved to be behind the younger teens, gesturing for them to get moving.

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

Carmen would laugh, hearing part of the Baz's accidental innuendo, hands behind the back of her head as she strolled nonchalantly through the cave. It was then, that sort of absence of sound that before she could even speak back to anyone that could tell something was no longer right. The air was different, a creeping smell, recycled. When she turned around Carmen could no longer see anyone behind her, feeling now a push to keep moving forward. The young werecat was lost now and not entirely sure how as she continued walking through the twisting corridor of tunnels. To her, she couldn't have gotten that far, could she? There had been stranger things that happened to her, but this was something else as she rounded a corner and into a straight, seeing a light at the end that she nonchalantly walked towards.

 

Now the air smelled truly stale, walking up to the supposed exit before seeing what looked like Freedom Park. Micheal had taken her there once for a date, a nice one she recalled, but this was no Freedom Park. All she had to do was look up towards the supposed sky with its skyscrapers leading ever upwards. There was only one thing to do then and immediately went about continuing to explore, exploring the park as if it was in broad daylight, letting her feline personality out a bit as the whole thing grabbed her attention. Even if it was weird, at least it wasn't being stuck out in the desert all day.

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Oh shoot! Things have gone wrong..." lamented Baltazar, his antennae drooping. 

 

Although on a positive note it was excellent distraction from his ham-fisted innuendo. He had already decided to vehemently deny he said what he had said and change the subject if it ever came up again. 

 

What had he said? He couldn't remember. And obviously he hadn't said what he couldn't remember. There. That suited his brain very well, thank you very much. 

 

Red eyes blinking, he strode into the cave after the others. 

 

"I think we need some light..." he said, and, with a few seconds of conentration, the walls and the caves started to glow...

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The walls in the cave system glows for a short moment, and then, they fall dark again. Any further attempts to affect them doesn't produce any effects.

 

"Sorry Baz," Dr. Macedon says, as she leads them on through the tunnels, "the Mesa's got a mind of its own, I guess. I don't think it likes you doing that."

 

Otherwise, the trip through the caves seem rather uneventful, at least until the group all begins to feel the same pull to move forward that Carmen had. "Do you feel that?" Dr. Macedon asks. "That pull's because the Mesa wants us to go somewhere. My grandfather had a theory that the Mesa draws people in that needs to be sent to somewhere or somewhen to do something important. The closer we get to the end of the tunnel, the closer the pull."

 

Time passses. They see light. Soon the rest of the group finds themselves in the same park that Carmen had entered, but she is nowhere to be seen.

 

---

 

Carmen has explored by now. Much of the layout of the park seems to be familiar to Freedom Park, but there are changes. For one, she has encountered a number of statues of various metals scattered throughout the park, slightly larger than life, standing on piedestals. It appears to be super heroes, but none that she recognize... at least not until she finds herself standing in front of a somewhat familiar man, with the name Golden Star written on a plaque on the piedestal. The statue shows a man much older than her boyfriend, however, and wearing a different costume.

[MoonSimply]

La Puma Negra

 

Carmen's explorations of the park had been rather uneventful, going as she pleased without the care of some onlooker seeing her. Moving on all fours allowed her to sort of go faster than she was on two feet, only stopping once she got to some of the strange statues. Superheroes, or at the least ones that she didn't recognize littered certain sections of the park, investigating them briefly before moving on to the next one. There was a rather a few as well, and the fact that she didn't recognize any of them was getting to be a point of annoyance for her.

 

It was there that she saw one that she did recognize, her boyfriend Michaels own statue, a metal monument dedicated to him. Carmen knew that was something he'd possibly want in the future, and this seemed to be it, or at least looked to be it, wherever she was now. Standing there in a crouch, the werecat tilted her head a bit, looking over his strange costume, "We're gonna talk about his fashion sense when I get back," she says her thoughts aloud, uncaring of whom heard. It didn't seem like there was anyone here. Not a single soul as she sniffed the air, trying to get her bearings again.

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette and her duplicate were mostly quiet as the group made its way deeper into the caves looking for Carmen. When Dr. Macedon mentioned the possibility that the Mesa needed them for something the redhead frowned slightly.

 

"Bloody fantastic." Her duplicate muttered with a sarcastic tone as she walked at the back of the group, making sure everyone stayed together.

 

Soon enough, they walked out of the cave and suddenly into a rather familiar-looking park, with a completely unfamiliar futuristic skyline.

 

"Great, more time travel." The Irish teen stated as she looked up at the skyline before focusing back on Baz and Vueriz. "Stay together fer now, least till we get a better idea why we might be here." She stated to the two teens.

 

"So, Doctor, any tips on how ta figure out why we might have been brought here?" She then asked their guide.

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Stay together, right!" agreed Baz, putting a cockroach plated thumb up and nodding. "Don't split the party, am I right?"

 

He shuddered. 

 

"This all feels super spooksy to me. I mean, obviously I am completely brave and fearless, but if I wasnn't this whole cave leading into alternate reality thing would be super spooky."

 

He shuddered again. 

 

"If we were brought here for a purpose... then we need to find out what that purpose is, I think. Otherwise the thing that had a purpose might decide we have no purpose and gobble us up into a black hole of utter destruction and despair. Or something..."

 

He gazed at the city. 

 

"On the other hand, this does look like a pretty cool place, huh? Do they have anti gravity skateboards?"

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt

 

Vueriz blinked at the light, trying to clear her vision. She wasn't sure what she could do here that was supposedly so important that a supposedly intelligent temporally anomolous cave might want compared to her classmates. Still, if it was the only way to get them home, she was gonna do it. Probably. If it was something gross like 'shake Officer Wallis' hand and apologize for playing American Jesus too loud' she'd make a time machine herself. She'd been analyzing the defenses of Claremont and scanning the locations of Lawrence's portals. She could get them out of here.

 

In a while.

 

Until then, sticking together was probably the best move. She surveyed three others. Dr. Macedon was cool, so was Bernadette, even if she was a square sometimes. But as far as working together Baz was the better choice, since she was resistant to his powers, and he was immune to a lot of hers. (Also she maybe wanted to spend more time with him). "I vote buddy system. I dibs Baz, since we're more compatible." She nodded, unaware of any possible phrasing issues her Translator may have introduced.