ic New Age Mythology (IC)

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

Michael was more than a little impressed with Carmen's quick directions, enough that he was more than willing to naturally fall in to listen to her; she was the older student after all, the more experienced and well trained of the two, more capable and confident when she needed to be. He nodded sternly.

 

"I can handle the Ox, and try to deal with Bunyan. I get the feeling you've got some real desire for revenge on Mr. Mike Fink, so if you want to handle him yourself I'll stay out of your way...seems like it'll be a bit harder to get these guys to settle down than the smaller John Henry...they look a lot tougher. So I'll try to wrestle them down before they get get any bigger if you want to get some revenge on that one." he said as he started to float off towards the Ox. "Maybe once we stop them, we can get some answers..."

[MoonSimply]

"Right then. I'll deal with Fink," she says with a light growl, cracking her knuckles together. They didn't have the element of surprise here, so they had to act quick while the two of them were outnumbered, thinking quickly to start pouncing forward like her namesake suggested. After all, she was already on the hunt and she could see her prey right there before her, just how she liked it as she bounded forward straight to him without a second thought. It seemed like Puma wanted to push out all that excess anger that had been generated after her date had been interrupted. That sort of wild feral like attitude, backed by a gymnastic style that saw her move quickly right in on Fink, feinting a strike low before coming in high with a clawed kick that seemed to hit home.

 

"Raawwrrr, that's for call me a... whatever!" she spoke, flipping back in a crouch, keeping nice and close to the fray to continue her attack when ready. The thought of what he had called her had slipped her mind, replaced with fight at hand, having faith Michael had her back.

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

Mike was sent flying suddenly by Puma's powerful blow! He bounced off the pavement a little and slowly got back up to his feet, clearly dazed and confused. The big Paul Bunyan turned his attention towards the catgirl now that violence had been enacted, as if he was surprised that combat was being declared.

 

"Now hold on there, missy, don't you be swinging fists at ol' Mike Fink. He's a shyster for sure, running scams up and down the Mississippi, but that don't give you no right to do more than give him a little bit of a whoopin, not a full on mudhole stompin'."

 

The axe was a logger's axe, made for chopping wood, but it was being turned towards instead chopping the teenage superheroine in half!

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

Michael wasn't about to let that happen, though! A bolt of solar fire ripped the air, and in much the same way he stopped a Boran's axe, he caught the brunt of Paul's axe across his back to stop it from hitting Carmen.

"He started it, you old woodsman!" Michael yelled in response, annoyed. "Ain't it at least correct to let them sort out their own troubles?" He was laying on the New Jersey accent extremely heavily; it was something he usually kept controlled, but with the ridiculous accents of the storybook characters, he seemed to be unable to hold it in as he babbled, pushing back the logger. "And can't ya keep ya pet on a leash!? We got laws for these kindsa things you palooka!" He yelled, suddenly shooting off in a golden blur and dropping both his feet directly in the center of Babe's forehead, knocking the rampaging ox to the ground for a moment and dazing it. "People got places to be without this thing mashin' their cars!"

[MoonSimply]

Carmen's attack has smacked hard into Fink, clawing with a kick from her exceptionally strong body. However, her impatience and fast maneuvering could leave her vulnerable, especially when she was such a juicy target for an axe that was swung by the folk tale woodsman, swinging his axe straightforward arc that could easily cut one in two if it wasn't for Michael coming into block the hit, taking it without a second thought. A romantic gesture, though she knew him well that he'd have done it for anyone likely in a heartbeat. A part of the reason that she loved him so as she came up from behind him as he struck the bull, leaping over him to swipe futilely at Bunyan in a retaliatory strike.

 

"I'm not some tree to struck down!" she growls out towards Bunyan. Her movement were natural, steady and gymnastic, bouncing on the balls of her feet in a rhythmic motion. Claws out and staring him down. Still outnumbered, a feral part of her mind loved it and was ready for more.

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The combat- which had never been particularly structured to begin with- was rapidly becoming more and more unstructured as the two superhero-in-trainings and the three fable characters, bouncing around the square as they punched and kicked at each other. Mike Fink, who had been soundly knocked out of the area before, only managed to barely shake himself to full awareness before lifting a car over his head and hurling it wildly through the air at Puma. At the same time, Paul Bunyan hefted his mighty axe and swung through the air. That one was intercepted by Michael, and this time it hit the Golden Star square on, and he went flying like a bullet. He crashed into a nearby building, shattered glass around him as he bounced into a desk.

"This place is sure a lot of tall buildings, and you two sure are brave, but you ain't nothing on us old dogs yet. You need more salt and seasoning; we're tempered beef jerky and ya'll ain't nothin but calves still bein raised for the winter." He taunted Puma. "So there ain't much use continuing this unless you want to really get your world rocked; that little firefly can't stand up to me, and a house cat ain't ever gonna chop down an old red wood." Was Paul Bunyan arrogant? Maybe. He spoke arrogantly. But he wasn't aggressively dismissive; he didn't call them worthless or failures, just that they were too young. He wasn't being cruel, he was just underestimating them.

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

Michael was confident that Carmen could dodge a flying car; he knew how agile, how quick she was, especially when in the middle of a brawl. What he was continuing to be concerned about was that Lumberjack; He seemed to be the biggest thread right now. It made sense; out of this group of people, you'd have to say Paul Bunyan was the most well known. So when that axe came down again, he flew to intercept it, and he was swatted like a fly. He got flung, feeling the axe bite into his shoulder and then being sent through the air like a bullet, crashing through glass and skidding across the floor of an office building, coming to a stop when he crashed into a desk and spilled papers everywhere. He was out of it for a moment, too dazed to continue. Only until he remembered he was still here with Carmen. Then his anger burnt through his confusion and he growled, the bright light around him burning angry red and intense.

 

The rest of the windows on the building shattered as a bolt of crimson lightning shot out and slammed directly into Babe the Big Blue Ox, sending the creature crashing into the ground like it'd been taken down by a hunter. It let out a loud pop as it disappeared back into the book Michael was holding, and the glowing hero glared with the hatred of the sun itself as he looked up at Paul Bunyan.

 

"How about you quit worrying about us and worry about your own hide, you over grown hot air balloon." he snarled.

[MoonSimply]

Golden Star had been getting hit hard, taking hits that were more than likely intended for her. That was why there was a look of shock and panic as he took a strong hit from the axe, knocking him into the storefront of a building with a good amount of force through the window. The office looked a wreck, but Michael seemed to have managed to endure the hit, shaking off such an attack against him and relieving the feline young woman as he flew out of it to go right for the bull, smashing yet another punch straight into it and knocking it out cold. There wasn't much time to celebrate or worry however as Puma could only take such a thing for a few moments, ducking out of the way quickly of a thrown object that just missed her. Fink had thrown something at her as he came at her and with a quick and powerful leap, jumped up to kick him with a downward thrust, smashing right into his cartoonish face and sending him away utterly knocked out and absorbed once more into the cursed book.

 

It was now just two on one, the odds in their favor. Still, she was worried for Golden Star, Michael. The two had grown closer together now over time and so part of her thoughts always went towards him whenever they were heroically saving the day against whatever dangers they faced. It was bad enough already having to worry about her own skin, but this connection the two had made it ever so taught, compelling her push herself even more to be by his side, to work together.

 

"You'll be going back into the book you came from now," she mocked, ready to go after Bunyan.

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"That book, bah, fie, foe on that book. I'm not interested in going back in it. I've got much more fun things to do out here. Certainly this America we're in has far more civilization in it; these big buildings that reach the sky, this stuff under my feet; that's good stuff. But there's still woods to conquer and wilds to flatten, and you're part of that, aren't you, Roogarou? So I'm gonna chop you down." he continued dismissively; this was like he wasn't even considering them a challenge. He brought that big axe up again and swung it at Puma, but Michael got in the way again, going skidding across the pavement on his side and shoulder as he left a rut in the ground.

 

"Well. I'll have to chop down this firefly before I can get to you, I guess. Don't worry, your time's coming up soon, cat creature." He shrugged his shoulder and under his overalls and his heavy flannel shirt, the muscles of a lumberjack flexed and writhed, his biceps as big as a man, strong as strong could be. "Then I'll be heading out, till I chop down every last tree in every last forest."

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

Michael really thought things were turning around for them; they'd taken out the rampaging Ox and that crocodile guy, so surely it was their advantage now that they were outnumbering him. But that big axe swung at Carmen, and he caught it on the chest, and it bit into him and he went flying again. He felt his shoulder hit the pavement, but his shoulder won, digging gouges in the ground as he rolled and tumbled until he hit a car, causing the alarm to blare in annoyance and anger as he groggily tried to pull himself back to his feet.

 

"...I don't...I don't think we can punch him unconscious. Can you...can you tie him up?" He was a little unsteady with his words after being knocked around like a baseball twice in a row. "Or...or I can try to. Maybe. Just let me...let me whew. Let me stop seeing double." He said, getting up carefully and rubbing his eyes

[MoonSimply]

Puma watched as once again her boyfriend was struck hard once more, smashing this time into a car, its horn blaring an annoying sound that even made her own hearing irritated. There was an anger growing her, a rage seeing him get hurt like this once again for her, as she growled, coming straight at Bunyan on all fours, swooping in low once more to come up straight at him. A wildness came over her as she roared out. Slashing and slashing again before kicking Bunyan away.

 

"I'll show you!" she let out, already at him like a wild beast, "I'll show you!"

[MoonSimply]

There was crack with the blow as the strike hit Bunyan head on with a hard swack and slice. Sure, there would be the claw marks across the face, nothing that'd likely hurt in the long run since Bunyan was just a fictional character given destructive strength and life. The superhuman strength of La Puma was enough to send folk hero into a mailbox, smashing it off the concrete and both through a corner store window, shattering the glass from the young heroine's intense knockout blow. It appeared that seeing Micheal hurt again and again by this foe had riled something up inside her, something that she was trying hard to hold back now as she pursued the now knocked out Bunyan, pulling him by the collar as she held him up, pulling him out from the mess of convenience store snacks.

 

Puma growled at him holding her claws up at him, as if preparing to finish him off before then snapping back to reality as she the sneering and feral look was replaced by hesitation and panic. Tossing Bunyan aside, she'd stagger, taking a deep breath before quickly moving towards Michael, coming to his aide, "Are... are you alright?"

[Poncho]

(Count as Golden Star Post)

 

"I'm good. You're incredible though! That was great! You're an ace, you know that? Completely unstoppable." Michael said unsteadily. He wasn't exactly 'good', but he wasn't gonna be a party pooper, and instead he lavished praise on the girlfriend that continued to prove she was an exceptional heroine in her own right, and why she was the the upperclassman and he was still just trying to match up to her. "My job's to take the hits, your job is to dish them out, right? So that was perfect teamwork."

 

From where Puma left him, Bunyan popped out of existence and returned to the book while Michael caught his breath.

"Okay. So that's...that's 3 and a half right? Mostly thanks to you, given how much effort you've been putting in today. So there's just...what was the last one?" He asked, holding his side. He had a bit more blood on him then was probably good, but he wasn't ready to hang up the cape while there was still someone out and about, even if he was a little dizzy. "...We still need to find them, right?" He asked, flipping through the book and looking.

[MoonSimply]

Puma ignored what he'd say to her, drowned out in mix of swelling emotions that was playing inside of her. Carmen was trying to hold it down the best that she can, caging the beast now that it had been out for a bit too long. Something had snapped, a cage that had been used to keep things down since her days in the orphanage. It was taking her focus of Michael and her relationship with him to keep her grounded back down to Earth as she brought her arms around him and hugged, pushing her head into his chest. His height helped with that. Carmen would take a deep breath before looking up to him.

 

"You think you'll be alright?" she asks him with a look of concern. There was stress, more than just stress of concern for him but her own self, as whatever it was that had poked it's head out had been put just barely back in, "Whose left?"

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

"...yeah." he smiled, he looked a little uncertain now. Was Carmen okay? He should check. "Are you doing okay, Puma? I know this is a little rough...they're tougher than I'd figured. I guess I shouldn't be, there's no reason for them not to be strong." he said, holding her carefully. "We're managing this though, no need to be concerned." he was trying to be comforting, covered in blood and cuts, but he was standing as strong as he could. He shook his head and opened a page.

 

"The last one is...William Tell. A folk hero of Switzerland..." he looked again, frowning. "...Why is he the only one that isn't North American? Paul Bunyan is Canadian and Midwestern United States, Mike Fink is the Midwest and southern US. John Henry is Appalachia. William Tell is from Switzerland. I don't know if that matters or not." he looked at Carmen again and grinned. "We'll figure it out once we solve this, maybe. We need to figure out where he's gotten to." he paused again. "If you're okay though. Let's not move on until you're sure you're good, just like me."

[MoonSimply]

Puma hadn't even registered Michael asking her if she was okay, the call out to her, mind in a haze as she tried to come back to her normal self, so much she didn't notice that her claws were extended out still until the more Human side of her mind seemed to call back out of the darkness, "I'm... I'm fine... I don't know what came over me. No era nada," she says in response to him as she takes a few steps back and shakes her head. Whatever this was it terrified her on a level, remembering when she was younger, when this state of being, this curse, first took root of her at the orphanage and changed her life from then on.

 

Taking a bit of courage, she'd push forward, ignoring his own blood Michael had on and kissed him upon the cheek, "That's for earlier. Now just... just don't get hurt for my sake alright."

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

"..." Michael wanted to frown, watching her claws, watching her struggle, but he smiled instead, kissing her cheek in response and keeping his focus forward. "I can't promise that, you know. My job is to get hurt so other people don't have to, even if it's you, and you're tough and fast as can be. But I'll try to be more aware of how that looks to other people, you included. So...I'm sorry for worrying you." he said honestly, offering his best smile to her. 

 

He couldn't help her issues, really; he didn't know enough, not about curses or magic or her history or anything like. The only thing he had was that he could give her- and would give her- absolutely unflinching support for whatever she needed, so that's what he was doing.

"...When you're ready, we'll need you to find this last guy." 

[MoonSimply]

Carmen looked up to Michael with a look reminiscent of a puppy dog, or one could say a kitten considering what she was. With her boyfriend acting as an emotional support through whatever she just was experiencing, the young heroine shook herself off before ending their hug together, just as a few emergency services and other folk began to emerge from their relative safety. It was very much time for them to high tail it out of there and deal with the clean up later. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with authorities attempting to figure out what had just happened, and considering it was all without school authority, off the books, they'd have to likely then deal with the campus's own administration as well.

 

A lingering scent as she closed her eyes, wandering in the air, feint but there. They could follow that to the last one, the last of this mysterious magical chaos. All they had to was find them and end it all as quick as they can, "Then lets get em."

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

So Carmen lead the way for the two teen heroes once more. The smell of rotten eggs and magic was easy to pick out to Carmen's highly enhanced senses; even the hustle and bustle of the city disappeared to her senses.

 

And it led her to the park nearby. To the orchestra shell where a group of FCU students were performing a play. Where, the student heroes quickly realized, the play was of William Tell himself; college students putting on a free play of the story of Tell on a breezy summer afternoon. It wasn't an unusual sight in Freedom City to see artists plying their craft, but it was certainly an auspicious situation; and perhaps shed light onto what had ended up happening in the library.

 

In a tree nearby, both students could spot the titular William Tell, his crossbow on his lap, sitting on a branch and watching. He wasn't tiny or fake anymore; he looked like a true William Tell, a swiss man with a heavy black beard and hair of a dark black color, peppered with grey. His crossbow was old and weathered, but still well taken care of. If he noticed the two heroes, he didn't acknowledge them openly, but his hand was resting on the crossbow in case he was attacked. No sudden movements betrayed him from what he was planning, though.

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

Michael, following Carmen, trusted her completely to get them to William Tell. He might have been quite a bit hurt, but he was also one hundred percent confident in Carmen picking up his slack. Plus, it was just one person. Surely it couldn't be that bad. But he became more concerned when they moved towards the more highly populated park, and more so when they found the book-stolen William Tell perched on a tree in view of so many people watching the play that was fictionalizing (was it even fiction? He couldn't even tell anymore) the folk hero's life. It took some quick calculations; the amount of people, the man's position, their health. He frowned and whispered to Carmen.

 

"...Should we try and...talk to him first? Maybe we can convince him to go back peacefully. I don't know if I can catch one of his arrows if he shoots one at the crowd."

[MoonSimply]

Puma crept close as they now spotted the last of their folk tale troubles, watching as he sat in a tree, wondering what the toon would do.  He was full grown now, far more dangerous than the others likely had been, but part of her held back, wanting to see what he was trying to do first as much as it bothered her. As much as she was usually the one to leap first and ask questions later, taking whatever hit after striking out and into the fray, it struck her to see first what this entities plan was. The worst thing she could do was stumble right into a trap, a sort of clarity that came now that the more feral parts of her mind had been beaten back both mentally and spiritually. Of course, in thanks to her boyfriend no doubt speaking some sort of sense to her.

 

"We can only try if that's the case... maybe we should talk to him."

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

"Okay." Michael nodded. "I'm going to try and keep him calm. If it looks like I'm about to mess it up, try to take him down or something. But maybe we can end this without anymore fighting."

 

So Michael slowly floated up towards the reclining folk hero, his hands extended in order to appear non threatening.

 

"Uh, Sir. Mr. Tell. Can you tell me what exactly you're doing? We aren't entirely sure what caused all this commotion today. So uh, we're not trying to fight or anything. We just want to know what's going on."

 

He tried to make no threatening movements.

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

In the park, watching the play, William Tell sighed as the floating boy approached him, the only confirmation he heard him, or even noticed him. He was quiet for awhile longer before talking.

 

"I don't know why we woke up. But I know what I was after." He gestured towards the play "You'd be curious about entertainment based on you too, wouldn't you? From what I've seen in this very small time, you people are the new heroes. You get books and stories told about you. Those things change you as much as you inspire them, right? Did I shoot Gessler or not? Who knows." He stopped again, thinking about it

 

"Hrm, I don't mean to be philosophical. I was just indulging in idle curiosity, and I drug the others along with me. So it's sort of my fault. I don't know why I became aware though. Maybe some magic spell." He frowned. "Why don't you two tell me your stories? You know mine." He said, looking at both Star and Puma if she hadn't gone to ground. "Why did you so aggressively chase after me?"

[MoonSimply]

Standing by him, Puma was unsure what to think about this whole mess now that they weren't fighting him, retracting her claws behind her back as Golden began to speak with him. Micheal was a pretty decent speaker. If someone wild and at times unsure of herself was able to be calmed by him then maybe this character come to life could be given some sort of convincing to return to the book and end this magical madness. It still didn't help that she herself wasn't the most convincing when it came to conversation, if one could recall a failed conversation with a troubled student that went nowhere, coming off more as the pottle and kettle more than anything else.

 

"Your friends you dragged were causing a mess. Would you have wanted us to stand idle?" she spoke in a slight crouch. Always prepared, she was ready to fight regardless, knowing that if Tell fought it would be likely just as difficult as facing the other toons given life before him.

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Not at all. You did the correct thing. I think both John Henry and Paul Bunyan would have agreed with you if they had been in their right mind...I don't know about Fink though, he's always rambunctious, I think." Tell said, leaning back a little further. 

 

"It was the right thing to do, to me. Using your abilities to stop those who would inflict misery. Even people with good intentions can act inappropriately when forced to with outside interference, or when situations call them to do things that make sense to them but not others. Don't let it even be a moment of confusion that you did the right thing." he finished with conviction.

 

"I'm just curious to know...why. If that makes sense. What made you decide to do the right thing? Peple have plenty of reaasons for doing things, but you've put yourself in danger to do the right thing. You're still very young, so forgive an old man's idle curiosity."