ic Extra Credits (IC)

[Jack]

Jack's muscles tensed as he watched the lizard and mouse make their move. His protective instincts flared as the blonde woman in the strange outfit grew to a towering height. The temperature around him dropped several degrees, frost forming on nearby surfaces as he positioned his massive frame more firmly between Victoria and the strange trio.

 

Michael's words about protecting the children resonated deep within him. The bear spirit stirred, ready to emerge at a moment's notice. These creatures had picked the wrong group of kids to threaten.

 

A low rumbling chuckle escaped his throat. "You don't know us very vell if you think any amount of convincing vill make us let you take innocent girl." His accent thickened with emotion as he spread his arms wider, making himself an even larger barrier. "Is not happening."

 

The cold intensified around him as his inner bear responded to the threat. Ice crystals sparkled in the air, catching the atrium's light. Jack knew he couldn't transform here - not with so many witnesses. But he could channel enough of his power to make these creatures think twice about their choices.

 

His brown eyes locked onto the lizard's, unflinching. The temperature dropped another few degrees as Jack's protective rage built his skin glowing beneath the layers of clothes. He might look like just another teen to them, but they were about to learn how dangerous it was to threaten those under his protection.

 

 

[Thevshi]

Slipstream

 

Lynn was not sure what Michael was doing, stepping up and trying to draw the attention of the giant lady going by 'Alice,' but she took the opportunity to continue moving the younger Nicholson students toward the entrance to the restaurant proper. Victoria was still somewhat shocked and staying in place, although now Jack had put himself between her and the two strange animals/humanoids.

 

“Fine, your funeral I suppose.” Stated Alice as she took a couple strides forward, moving to the center of the atrium and bending down slightly to swing her massive hand at Michael. The gigantic woman hit the teen, or at least appeared to, as he was sent flying to one side of the atrium, disappearing in a pile of knocked over chairs and a table.

 

That was all Lynn need to hurry up the kids, moving them inside as she glanced at Sarah. "Make sure they get somewhere safe before you come out to help." She stated and was then gone in a blur of movement and a *WOOSH* of air.

 

Moments later, a black and red blur streaked out into the atrium, skidding to a halt as Lynn had changed into her Slipstream costume and looked at the three unusual villains. "Alright, let's just hold off on doing rash. No need to make a bigger scene that you already have." She stated, even as she prepared herself for a likely attack.

 

The tall lizard let out a small sigh. "Always a costumed hero around in this town." He commented. "Dormouse, if you please."

 

The large mouse turned his gaze on Slipstream, who suddenly found herself in a hedge maze. No matter how fast she ran, or even if she used her powers to vibrate through the hedges, she could not find her way out. Or at least that is how it seemed from her perspective.

 

To everyone else, she suddenly was just standing in place, seemingly in a daze like Ms. Houston.

 

Dormouse then dashed under a nearby table, disappearing from view as he did so.

 

The eight foot tall lizard in the butler’s uniform then focused back on Jack. "You are a brave lad, I'll give you that." He stated, moving towards the Russian teen and reaching up with surprising quickness to grab him. Jack tried to pull free, but the lizard was quite strong but had not apparently expected Jack to be able to resist as well as he did. But ultimately the lizard had just enough of a grip on Jack. "And quite strong as well. But I still would advise you to just stand aside." 

 

With that, the lizard twisted slightly and tossed Jack across the atrium to land with a crash not far from where Michael had appeared to have been knocked. 
 

[Jack]

Jack watched with pride as Michael stood his ground against the towering Alice. His friend's courage in the face of such overwhelming odds made his chest swell - until Alice's massive hand sent Michael flying across the atrium into a crash of furniture.

 

A familiar whoosh of air drew Jack's attention as Lynn appeared in her Slipstream costume. A grim smile crossed his face - these creatures had no idea what they were dealing with. But his satisfaction turned to ice in his veins as Lynn froze in place, caught in whatever spell the mouse had cast on Ms. Houston.

 

The bear spirit roared within him as worry twisted into something darker. His protective instincts ignited into rage at seeing Lynn rendered helpless. Frost crackled across his skin as the temperature plummeted around him.

 

Before he could unleash his fury, the lizard butler closed the distance with startling speed. Massive scaled hands grabbed Jack, trying to move him aside. Jack's muscles strained against the grip, drawing on his enhanced strength. For a moment they were locked in a contest of power - but the lizard proved marginally stronger.

 

"Nyet!!" Jack growled as the creature twisted and hurled him through the air. He crashed into the pile of scattered chairs and tables where Michael had landed, the impact driving the air from his lungs.

 

Jack lay sprawled among the scattered furniture, his head spinning from the force of being thrown. His lungs burned as he tried to catch his breath, each gasp feeling like knives in his chest. Through blurred vision, he saw Lynn standing motionless, trapped in whatever nightmare that cursed mouse had conjured. Michael was somewhere nearby, his condition unknown. 

 

But what truly ignited the inferno within him was Victoria's terrified face as she backed away from the approaching lizard butler. The sight sent a primal surge of protective rage through Jack's massive frame, his muscles tensing as ancestral instincts screamed at him to shield the innocent from harm. The familiar tingling of frost magic crackled beneath his scarred skin, responding to his mounting anger.

 

She was just an innocent kid. 

 

His kid to protect. 

 

And he had failed her.

 

Something snapped inside him. The carefully maintained control he'd cultivated shattered like thin ice. Rage unlike anything he'd ever experienced flooded through his veins, threatening to tear him apart from within. The temperature around him plunged instantly, frost crystallizing on every surface within twenty feet.

 

"I!" he growled, ice armor crackling as it formed across his skin while he pushed to one knee. His muscles began to spasm and stretch.

 

"Will!" The transformation ripped through him, bones cracking and reforming as his body fought to contain the furious beast within. His clothes tore away as his frame expanded.

 

"Not!" Ice and white fur erupted across his growing form, his voice deepening to an inhuman rumble. The table he gripped splintered in his morphing hands.

 

"Stand!" His face elongated into a bear's muzzle filled with razor-sharp teeth, body now towering over eight feet tall.

 

"Aside!" The roar that burst from his throat rattled windows. With a gesture, he pulled moisture from the air, forming a massive boulder of compacted snow and ice. His claws dug into the frozen projectile as he hurled it at the lizard butler with all his considerable might.

 

 

[Poncho]

(Golden Star)

 

Alright. That hurt more than I was intending it to hurt.

 

He wasn't like, hurt hurt. He'd taken worse from that giant muscled guy at the Ren Faire. But that had been where he'd gotten this idea from. He just had to put it into practice.

 

So flying he went, crashing into and disappearing in a pile of tables and chairs, resting underneath it. Which was exactly what he wanted. He slipped out the back of the pile, leaving his regular clothes behind, his Supersuit ready. With the creatures distracted by Lynn and Jack- though they didn't seem to be doing great-, he used his flight. Out of the building, back around, above.

 

With the shattering of glass he descended directly at Alice, a bolt of sunlight attached to a fist aimed directly at her, attempting to impact directly into her cheek. He was putting everything into it; he wanted to make an impression, and he was gonna try to make it directly into this woman's cheek.

 

"I don't know what's going on, but you seem like you're causing issues here. So this is your one and only chance to leave, right now." Michael wasn't angry yet, but he wasn't just going to let random supervillains kidnap children while he could stop it. And he was ready to stare down the entire group of these weird guys and girl. He crossed his arms and gave each one a withering look in turn, waiting. It was like the Sun had sent a solar flare directly into the atrium of the building, a living, thinking beam of sunlight ready to pass judgement on Criminals. He was ready to move if they intended to take advantage of Lynn, who seemed to be having issues right now. He was going to try and deal with that next if she couldn't get ahold of herself.

 

He trusted Lynn and Jack, but he needed to protect them if he could.

[Thevshi]

Slipstream

 

Arctus' ice bolder sailed harmlessly past the well-dressed lizard, who had looked in his direction as he finished transforming and yelled out. "Hmm, somewhat unexpected that." He commented.

 

Then Golden Star came crashing down through a section of the glass ceiling and went directly after Alice. But someone the giant blonde young woman pulled her head back at the last moment to avoid his punch. 

 

"What? Another one?" Alice cried out, swatting down at the new arrival as she took a step backward.

 

*WHAM*

 

This time her giant hand did impact directly with Golden Star, sending the hero crashing down to the ground, creating a spiderweb of cracks in the tile from the impact.

 

Slipstream was still standing where she had stopped earlier, in her mind lost in an endless hedge maze. But something in the back of her mind told her this could not be real, that she needed to get back to the confrontation with those supervillains. And then suddenly Lynn was back in the atrium, which was a scene of even greater chaos than before.

 

But even as the speedster returned to the fight, the small figure of Dormouse hopped out of some shadows to one side of the atrium, focusing his gaze on the massive ice bear that had appeared. But apparently the sight of the fearsome creature threw off the small creature's concentration or aim, as Jack did not find himself suffering the same fate that Lynn briefly had. Apparently realizing the angry bear was not trapped in a mental maze, the small creature scurried off behind some plants, disappearing from view again.

 

"Alice, try to keep that bear at bay." The lizard stated as he moved over to where Victoria had ducked under a table and reached under to grab her and pulled her out. "Now please young lady, just relax, everything will be fine once you meet the White Rabbit, I promise."
 

 

[Jack]

The world had narrowed to a tunnel of red-tinged fury. Jack's massive bear form thundered across the atrium floor, each impact of his paws leaving patches of frost spreading across the tiles. His supernatural cold radiated outward in waves, turning nearby plants brittle with frost.

 

The lizard's casual dismissal of his ice attack made Jack's blood boil even hotter. No more ranged attacks. He would tear this creature apart with his own claws.

 

Dropping to all fours, Jack's muscles bunched and flexed beneath his thick white fur. His claws dug into the floor for purchase as he launched into a charge. The bear spirit within him roared its approval, feeding his rage. Steam rose from his fur where the cold met the warm air.

 

Three massive strides closed the distance between them. Jack's jaws gaped wide, revealing rows of ice-coated fangs as he hurled his enormous bulk at the well-dressed lizard. His roar of challenge shook dust from the ceiling as he aimed to slam into the creature with the full force of his momentum.

 

He barely registered Lynn's recovery or Michael's predicament. All that mattered was stopping this threat. His protective instincts had transformed into pure predatory fury. The lizard had hurt his friends, threatened a child, and now Jack would make him pay for that mistake.

 

Jack's bear form skidded to a halt mid-charge, his claws leaving deep gouges in the floor tiles. Through the red haze of fury, he spotted Victoria clutched in the lizard butler's grasp. The sight sent ice through his veins, cooling his rage just enough to think clearly. One wrong move and she could get hurt.

 

A rumbling growl built in his massive chest as he drew himself up to his full height, matching the lizard man's impressive stature. The bear spirit within him thrashed against his restraint, demanding blood, but Jack forced it down. He needed precision, not savage fury.

 

Drawing on his connection to winter's heart, Jack felt the familiar tingle of frost magic coursing through his transformed body. A memory flickered through his mind - his grandfather's lessons about how real lizards grew sluggish in the cold. Perhaps this well-dressed creature shared that weakness.

 

Jack thrust his right paw forward, extending wickedly sharp claws like ice-coated blades toward the lizard's chest. He focused his power into the strike, channeling bone-chilling cold through his claws. The temperature around his extended paw plummeted well below zero, frost crystallizing in the air. He aimed carefully above where Victoria was held, targeting the broad expanse of the lizard's torso.

 

 

[Poncho]

(Golden Star)

 

Well this was going terribly. Michael mused to himself as he failed to do anything at all and then got slapped down like a fly by Alice. He was supposed to be the shining star, but here he was getting dunked again. That sure did seem to be a constant. Maybe he was just unlucky. Well, nothing to do but keep at it.

 

He willed himself to stand up again, ignoring the bruising on his body, and snarled at the lizard man trying to take Victoria.

 

"What is your problem with the girl!?" he yelled, adding his own series of spiderweb cracks and displacing the ground around him as he blasted at the Lizard. As Jack hit him with a paw, he went higher still, trying to hit the creature straight in the neck with a clothesline, but he missed, trying to avoid hitting Victoria or Jack had sent him too high up, and he sailed uselessly by. "Leave her alone!"

[Spacefurry]

Seraphim

 

“Quickly!”

Sarah urged the children on towards the exit, even as she kept looking back to the others. She didn’t like leaving them to fight alone, but the safety of the children was more important. Ms Hudson was obviously under the influence of something and the… villains(?)... had their attention on poor Victoria. Surely the others could see to the two of them until she could get the other children away.

“Once outside, head to the bus and wait there! Stay together!”

She yelled over the noise of the fight starting behind her. Another quick glance and she saw Jack crash into the floor a good distance from where she’d seen him last as the oversized woman in blue smacked Micheal.

 

There were going to be a lot of bruises to heal today, she thought with a sigh and turned her attention back to the children. Sarah held the door open as the children fled.

“Stay by the bus we can make sure everyone is safe! Don’t leave the bus unless the police or someone like that tells you to!”

 

Honestly, Sarah was conflicted. Part of her wanted to stay with the kids and make sure they were safe, but part of her also knew her schoolmates needed help. Besides, Ms Hudson and Victoria were still inside and they were innocent bystanders and needed more immediate protection.

 

Once all the children were out she watched them run towards the back of the parking lot, where there was space for buses to park. She turned back to the brawl currently redecorating the interior.

Sarah didn’t have her hero uniform with her so she’d have to make do. Light enveloped her, making it difficult to see details past it.

 

She spotted the dapper lizard approaching Victoria while the others were occupied and ephemeral wings of light opened behind her. A trail of light feathers faded as they floated in her wake.

Seraphim closed on the lizard’s back, light gathering in her hands.

“Leave her alone you scaly creep!”

She cried as she released a blast of solid light. Unfortunately, the shot was ill aimed and the beam sailed wide of its target, leaving a scorched hole in the wall across the room.

[Thevshi]

Slipstream

 

As the glowing figure of Seraphim flies out into the atrium and unleashes a beam of light toward the giant lizard, the even more giant blonde young woman looks on with a bit of surprise. "Another one?" She exclaims before focusing on the well-dressed lizard, who had managed to grab ahold of the teenager they were after.

 

"Get away from him!" Alice then yelled, taking a step forward and delivering a powerful kick right into Arctus' massive ice form. But as powerful as the kick was, the large ice bear took it without budging, causing Alice to take a step back in surprise.

 

Over where she had just recovered from…whatever that mouse thing did, Lynn scowled as she saw the giant woman kick Jack. He seemed alright, but that was hardly the point.

 

The teenager became a blur of black and red, as she zig-zagged across the space between her and Alice in a blink of an eye. Passing between the giant woman’s legs, Lynn reached out with one hand that glowed with a faint light, pressing her palm against the woman’s lower calf as she passed. The glow spread out over Alice, who cried out in surprise. Lynn was also glowing, but she was moving so fast it was unlikely anyone could see it.

 

When the glow faded, Alice seemed ever so shorter than she had, a look of confusion on her face. "What…what was that."

 

Lynn circled back to come to a halt a short distance from Alice. And then Lynn began to grow, quickly reaching the height Alice had been at, causing the young woman to take a couple steps back in surprise.

 

"Just borrowing your powers." Said the now giant speedster. 

 

Over by one of the far walls of the atrium, Dormouse came into view again as he focused his gaze on Golden Star, who felt something stab at his mind, images of a hedge maze racing through his mind as it started to become all he could see. The large mouse then reached over and touched the wall beside him, creating a portal against its surface.

 

The well-dressed lizard seemed a bit sluggish after Arctus' attack, but swung at the giant ice bear, delivering a solid hit. He then started moving across the atrium, toward the portal on the wall.
 

[Jack]

Satisfaction rumbled through Jack's chest as his ice-laden claws struck true, frost spreading across the lizard butler's expensive suit. The creature's movements seemed to become a bit slower, his reptilian nature betraying him against the supernatural cold. Just as planned.

 

A giant foot suddenly appeared in Jack's peripheral vision, slamming into his massive bear form. But between his supernatural strength and sheer mass, he didn't budge an inch. The impact barely registered through his thick fur and ice armor.

 

"No. Yous. Get. Avay. From. Gurl." Jack growled at Alice in broken English, his transformed voice a deep, menacing rumble that echoed through the atrium. Each word carried frost on his breath, tiny ice crystals dancing in the air.

 

Movement caught his attention - a familiar red and black blur streaking across his field of vision. Lynn zipped between Alice's legs, her hand glowing as she touched the giant woman. Jack's bear eyes widened as he watched Lynn suddenly grow to match Alice's towering height.

 

"Bozhe moy," he muttered under his breath in Russian, momentarily distracted by the sight. "I think definitely have thing for giant blonde speedsters." The bear spirit within him seemed to agree, purring its approval despite the chaos around them.

 

Jack's massive bear head tilted as the bear spirit within him rumbled appreciatively at the sight, momentarily drowning out his battle focus. There was something captivating about seeing her towering like an amazon warrior, especially with her speedster powers...

 

The lizard's fist caught him in his distraction. Jack barely managed to bring up his ice-covered forearm to deflect the worst of the blow. While the hit carried impressive force, his supernatural durability and thick fur absorbed most of the impact. It took a moment for Jack to regain his focus, however.

 

He spotted the well-dressed lizard dragging Victoria across the atrium. The sight of her frightened face rekindled the protective fury in his chest. Every instinct screamed at him to charge after them, to sink his claws into that expensive suit and tear the creature limb from limb.

 

But then he spotted the small mouse creating some kind of glowing portal on the wall. The realization hit him like a bucket of ice water - they were about to escape with Victoria. Without conscious thought, Jack slammed his massive paw into the floor. Ice magic surged through his claws into the tiles, creating a river of frost that shot across the atrium floor. The frozen stream raced past the lizard's feet, climbing up the wall like living frost. Jack poured more power into the ice, willing it to spread faster, to seal off that portal before they could reach it.

 

The ice grew thicker as it climbed, trying to form a solid barrier over the mouse's escape route. Jack's claws dug deeper into the floor as he channeled more of winter's essence into his desperate attempt to block their escape.

 

 

[Spacefurry]

Seraphim

 

Seraphim gritted her teeth as she flew higher to get a better view. 

She caught sight of the black and red blur weaving between the giant blue woman’s legs. Not too far away, by one of the walls, she caught sight of the large mouse pop into sight and appear to open a portal. The portal was quickly encased by a wall of ice, courteous Arctus.

 

Seraphim wasn’t sure how long the ice would slow the trio down, but she had to try something to help her teammates.

“Need to get Victoria away from that lizard.”

 

She dove and circled around Arctus to strafe Bill the Lizard. The glow in her hands gripped like a ball.

“Hey, Lizard breath!”

Seraphim yelled trying to draw its attention. She hurls the ball of light, striking the villain squarely in the chest and erupting into a blinding flare of brilliant light.

[Poncho]

(Golden Star)

 

A maze. Swirling passageways to distract and confuse him. He was lost for a moment, wandering and stuck in the maze. But only for a moment.

 

He wasn't going to be worthless. Let this whole maze burn.

 

Outside his mind, Golden Star started glowing, turning into a beacon. The ground cracked under him as in his mind he incinerated the maze, and a wave of white and gold flames washed over his body.

 

He was on top of Bill suddenly, slamming the lizard into the ice wall with force, then pullimg back his free hand to try and punch him straight in the face. He met the Lizard eye to eye, and he knew if he was Parker, he'd be nice. He'd be reasonable. He'd try to settle this calmly.

 

Lawrence would have already finished this. 

 

He was neither of them. He was eternally struggling, eternally behind, and eternally trying to keep himself respectful. But his patience was fraying.

 

"Put the kid down! I'm not asking again! You have about ten seconds to explain why you even want her! Don't. Test. Me."

[Thevshi]

Slipsteam

 

Alice recovered from the initial shock of losing a bit of height and Slipstream growing to match hers and took a step forward towards the now giant speedster. "You should have stayed normal size honey. Zipping around like that might have made you harder to hit."

 

*WHAM*

 

Alice delivered a powerful punch that sent Slipstream stumbling back until she crashed into a section of the Super Museum that had several balconies overlooking the atrium. Thankfully the building materials for the museum were reinforced and managed to take the impact with not apparent damage, though the blonde speedster seemed dazed but managed to stay up her feet, although her quickly regaining her footing caused the immediate area in the atrium to shake slightly from the tremors.

 

Shaking her head slightly to clear the spots that were in her vision, Lynn scowled again at the giant storybook character come to life. "Yeah, you're still a pretty big target yourself!" She stated as she took a few steps and closed the distance once more, delivering her own powerful punch into the villain.

 

*WHAM*

 

Alice seemed to feel that hit, but she stayed on her feet and focused on the giant speedster.

 

Over by the ice wall that had formed in front of the portal, Dormouse looked at the wall and let the portal close, before turning back out to the battle taking place further in. The large mouse this time focused his gaze on the radiant form of Seraphim, targeting her mind with his mental maze. Sarah felt something stab into her mind, as images of an endless hedge maze started to keep in to her vision.

 

The large mouse then ducked behind a column, disappearing from view once again.

 

The large lizard grunted slightly as Golden Star slammed him into the ice wall, but he seemed no worse the ware, though still a bit sluggish from Arctus' earlier attack. "Oh, where would the fun be if I told you?" He replied with what appeared to be a grin, before taking a swing at the hero. But somehow, despite throwing caution to the wind, Golden Star managed to pull back just in time for the punch to pass harmlessly in front of his face.