Psychics and Tigers and Bears... Oh My! (IC)

[TheAbsurdist]

Once more Elias reached out, this time gritting his teeth with a bit more determination, his powers reaching out once again, and this time he felt it sink in. This time he managed to start pushing information through the mantiger's mind. And it worked, as he started to just stream information through that mind, making his muscles twitch and spasm, enough to slow, but not enough to really put a half to what the beast was doing. It wasn't a complete victory. But it was working, and hopefully give Marcus an edge.

[GranspearZX]

Whatever Elias was doing, it was working. He could see the tigerman's movements slowing in a very obvious way. Marcus might have hesitated to wonder why it was happening, but Arcturus was far shorter on patience. He snarled like the angry, furry beast he'd become and drew his arm back, flames wrapping around his right hand as the Flame Rune burst to life across the back of his hand. He didn't bother with a palm strike this time, and instead swung with a full-force haymaker aimed right at the guy's jaw.

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

With another roar the beastman ducked under the blow, despite his slowed reactions and cowed reaction, it was clear from the glint in the beast's eyes that he was driven by rage, fear and confusion right now. He lunged at the larger Arcturus, swinging his outstretched hand at him, raking his claws against his hide once again. After that, another roar, and he had shaken off whatever it was that had slowed him down. Though now the beast was looking for avenues of escape, planning on doing whatever he could to get away now. Aware that it was currently a stalemate.

[TheAbsurdist]

Elias felt the manbeast's weight shift, and realized that that he would try to get away, and while he didn't want to escalate further, he knew that the Mantiger was like an angry, wounded animal right now. "" And his hands went to his head, and he held it tightly as he lashed out at the consciousness of the Manbeast. The backlash of it was not fun, he felt the pain of the manbeast, as his power overwhelmed for a moment. As the mantiger's hands gripped at his head and he sank to his knees for a moment, before getting back up on wobbling legs.

[GranspearZX]

Arcturus managed to keep himself relatively uninjured, flashing a toothy grin as the tigerman's movements slowed once again. Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell that Elias was struggling just to keep him disabled--meaning that he had to make his next strike count. He charged forward with a reverberating roar of his own, fist still on fire as he took a mighty swing at the man-tiger. He was fairly certain that he wasn't going to permanently injure the man, and the last thing he really wanted was to go on a wild chase through Lincoln. This person, whatever he was going through, seemed far too dangerous for that.

[TheAbsurdist]

The mantiger was still stunned when Arcturus's fist connected, filling the air with singed animal hair. And Elias pressed his advantage as the beast was currently occupied the last psionic blast and the punched, senses reeling, that Elias was able to hit with another. This one was another good blast. At this point, he was aiming to render it unconscious, he had seen the beastman look for an escape route, and a wild animal running through the city was the last thing they needed. And one they had him incapacitated it would make all of this get easier. A lot easier.

[GranspearZX]

Arcturus didn't make the mistake of waiting to see what the mantiger would do this time. He didn't check on Elias to see if he was okay. It was a terrible habit that he'd caught himself returning to more than once--not trusting others to do their part. It was something he was notorious for, but he was working on it. He was still worried about Elias, of course, but that would have to wait until the current threat had passed.

After his punch connected, he continued plowing forward, arms outstretched to try and grab the stunned and panicked metahuman--if that's indeed what he was; Arc couldn't be sure. A bearhug seemed like a more reliable method of immobilizing him than anything else Arc could currently think of, short of willing the earth around him to grab him instead... and he wasn't that desperate yet.

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

The beatman managed to roar out a, "Raaaargh!" Just before Arcturus snatched him up into an embrace very much like his beast form. The mantiger was dazed from the dual assault, his mind reeling from the strikes against his, he was snatched up without too much effective struggling. His ability to escape more than effectively cut off. And held like that, he wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon. It managed to gather together enough presence of mind to roar in outrage over what was happening to him.

[TheAbsurdist]

Elias's hands pressed to his head, through the hood of his jacket. It hurt. This hurt. But he had to try and render the man unconscious. As the next wave of his psychic assault buffeted at the mantiger. Fortunately it wasn't are fearsome as the claws that Arcturus had. Instead all he was trying to do was bring the man down. To knock him out and have someone deal with them. Each blast of his overloaded, at least temporarily, the man. Rendering him unable to properly fight back, or flee, which was really what mattered. He didn't know how long he could keep it up, but he had to keep going. To succeed, to do whatever he could to prevent his escape, what he did to the hood of the car clearly shown that to him. Elias was painfully aware that the mantiger's claws would go through a person like a chainsaw.

[GranspearZX]

Arcturus kept the tiger man pretty well held, but it wasn't slowing him down nearly enough. With the mantiger pretty effectively immobilized, he could see Elias was struggling to do what he could; he knew pain when he saw it. The thought entered the bear's mind to simply squeeze until he stopped moving. Marcus's conscious, however, reigned in the Beast Rune's destructive nature, and instead, he shifted his stance, leaning back as far as he could, aiming his huge skull right between the tiger man's eyes.

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

And in a moment that would get immortalized on HeroTube videos, and viral dissemination, a bear headbutted a tiger. The force of it just knocked the tigerman out cold in a his grasp, going limp as he did so.

Of course the observer that matter waited, upset that someone had ruined what was supposed to happen. That simply would not do. These interloper... She skidded down from the fire escape and made her way towards Arcturus, hiding herself with her abilities. She plucked a weapon from her belt and positioned herself, making certain her powers masked herself, for now.

[GranspearZX]

He'll feel that one in the morning.

Arcturus released the tigerman from his grip, lowering him to the ground rather than dropping the unconscious figure outright. Now that the danger had passed--as far as he knew, at least--there were questions that needed to be answered. First, though, he checked on Elias. "You alright?"

The after-combat awkwardness had already settled in. Arc was always acutely aware of people staring while he was in his ursine form. If anything, he was glad Elias had focused more on not letting him get clawed than being surprised at his sudden shapeshifting. The thought, though, made him look back at the tigerman. He looked exactly the same. Arcturus's expression soured; whatever happened to him, it looked more or less permanent, and if he was as confused and enraged as Elias said...

"...somethin' don't smell right." He wasn't aware of the irony of what he'd said until something caught his nose. He straightened up a little bit, nose in the air before turning completely around. The look on Arcturus's face was anything but cordial as violet sparks from the Storm Rune danced from his claws. Red eyes narrowed to dangerous looking slits, and his teeth were bared in an deep, gutteral growl. He might not have been able to see whatever it was, but he could smell it, and there really was only one reason for anyone to sneak up on him in the middle of the street.

[TheAbsurdist]

There was a sensation like a wave lapping at Arcturus' mind for a moment, and then it happen. Arcturus allowed Elias in, and the teen responded. And then the information came in a flash, it being a bit of a two-way street, but Elias didn't delve into Arc's mind, the ursine hero knew that, it was like he was dancing on the surface, seeing, feeling what Arturus was. The same was true for Arc, though he could feel that the smaller teen was controlling what was being routed, as there was a susurrus of minds around them, it was clear that Elias was actively trying to not let that bleed through. Instead he felt the 'trembling web', the telekinetic sense that Elias had, how it moved along surfaces around him, how it wrapped around people it touched, how he could see without his eyes. And now Arcturus knew precisely where the Observer was.

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

She saw the exchange, or some of it. A frown on her face, before grasping her darts, and then she darted out from her location. Hiding any emotion she was feeling at her task being interfered with. And when she had a clear shot, she whipped out her right hand, throwing a volley of darts at the bear, here telekinetic abilities able push darts to her intended target, and they did just that, the bear getting a face full of the paralytic toxin tipped darts, hoping to take out the quite visible threat and see if she could get the mantiger back up.

[GranspearZX]

The Beast Rune instantly revolted when Elias's influence on his mind became clear. Marcus himself was more surprised than anything, but having been in mental contact with people before, he immediately forced the Beast Rune to back off--after all, there was another problem. He raised his arm as the darts came flying at him, grimacing heavily as they struck. Throwing his arm aside, he catapulted forward. There was no sign of him holding back as he clamped both hands together, swinging with a two-fisted uppercut aimed right for her.

[TheAbsurdist]

Elias pushed off the effects of her powers, as his hearing and his eyes couldn't see what the web told him was there, the person he knew was there. So he pushed out, pushing harder against the influence that was there, and he broke it open, and then he showed the process to Arc. Knowing that his compatriot would hate this later, but he didn't read any thoughts, he just tried to impart knowledge. Something. Severing the connection, he started looking around to try and find something he could use to help Marcus, because he knew she was a far more skilled psionic, and things just got interesting.

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

She tried to roll with the blow, knowing it was coming, and shifting her body as it happened. It connected, but she twisted about, corkscrewing through the air before pulling out a collapsible baton and swinging it at Arcturus with it and missing him widely before she leaped away. Her free hand helping over a car as she maneuvered into a position of openness, having seen what would happen to her, if the bear really got a hold of her. She had no intention of going down like that.

[GranspearZX]

"You've got some questions to answer, lady!"

Arcturus growled, focused solely on the woman who had tried to dart him in the face. Beast Rune or no, that had actually made Marcus angry, and there wasn't much that was more dangerous than when both the mage and the magic were on the same wavelength. As she vaulted over the car, Arcturus stalked after her. He didn't stop either; when he got to the car, he launched a vicious front kick into its side, sending the sedan hurtling end over end at the woman. It occurred to him sometime while the car was in mid-air that she really couldn't answer questions while unconscious...

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

The sidepanels crumpled like it was speared by a locomotive. The tires blowing out on the vehicle as it skidded sideways as the woman landed the balls of her feet. She had just enough enough time to throw up her shields and protective abilities before the late model Toyota hit her. The impact was more than hard, and it just shattered her efforts to stop it, and plastic wrapped steel frame hit her hard. Glass exploding around her, and the force of the impact flung her back, her powers managing to halt the car. She flopped onto the ground, the back of her head smacking against the asphalt, and knocking her unconscious.

[GranspearZX]

Whatever had been going on inside Marcus's head, he almost instantly snapped out of it, forcing his will against the Beast Rune like a battering ram. With a feral roar and an eldritch sound like shattering glass, his body turned a solid, bright red, bleeding magical energy and shrinking back into Marcus's human form. His expression could only be described as panic as he ran over in the woman's direction.

"Not again..." Marcus scowled at his own incompetence and lack of control, slamming his fist into the already damaged car frame, leaving a good-sized dent in its size. The interrogation of the woman was the least of his concern... At least she was still breathing. What was worse was that Elias had been inside his head, and even if he hadn't been reading any of his thoughts, he'd seen everything. All Marcus could focus on for the moment was the guilt and embarrassment, and he scrambled for some way to explain.

He was almost certain he'd have to come up with an explanation at school.

[TheAbsurdist]

Elias was breathing hard. All the training and preparedness his mother had tried to instill, and while he had kept his head, once it was done, or felt like it was done, the sensation. Slowly he stood up and pulled the hood down lower over his face as moved towards Marcus. He went to the the woman, reaching out and touching the side of her throat to check how strong her pulse was. Remaining in a crouch he start to rummage through her pockets, looking for something. Answers, or just something at all. If he had felt anything objectionable he didn't say anything to Marcus. Reaching out, he placed a hand on the car to steady himself as a wave of dizziness hit him.

[GranspearZX]

Marcus didn't even object to Elias going through the woman's pockets. She had, after all, attacked him first. He shook his head, trying to get his own thoughts together... "You alright?"

He was certain that Elias's power was putting some strain on him. Marcus reached over to grab Elias as he tried to steady himself. "I guess that's a no... did you find anything?" Marcus's eyes moved from the unconscious woman to the unconscious tigerman. Outside of handing them both to the authorities, he wasn't entirely sure what to do next... but he really wanted to know why she tried to sneak up on him. Just the thought of it made him irritated all over again.

[TheAbsurdist]

"Weapons, toys... where..." Stopping as he withdrew what looked like advanced tech manacles, which he set on her chest. Looking down at her for a moment, and then glancing to Marcus. "They're connected. I will see what I can find, but she has talent." Sighing, and then slowly drawing in a breath, and he moved his hands to hover them over her head. And he pushed. Feeling resistance, but he pushed harder, his conscious rushing over her, and boring down through her, his face becoming a snarl then as his anger grew, and it's flames fueled his effort to pierce her defenses. And it was like a bubble bursting as his mind delved into hers, and they started to sync up.

[GranspearZX]

All things psychic were lost on Marcus. It was his fault, really, for being so skittish around those with psychic ability and not having the good sense to shield his own mind, as he had with the pendant his mother had left him. Still, he was trying to get over the irrationality of it all, especially in his current situation. The best he could do, at the moment was watch Elias do what he did best while serving as his crutch, making sure he could at least concentrate and not fall over.

"Talent or no, she did try to shoot me. In the face." It wasn't the first time he'd been shot in the face either. He'd take darts over being pepper sprayed any day.

[TheAbsurdist]

After a few more minutes, he struggled with her mind, his eyes clenched shut, and his breathing mirroring hers, and then he started to speak. "She... is running a test for someone. Memories of them are hard for me to find, like something was done to her..." His brows knitting together as he tried to find something in there. "It is harder when someone is unconscious. This get jumbled. No linear narrative. But... this wasn't the first test. And she is just a mercenary, and... you... you..." A moment before his voice twisted into spiteful venom directed at Arc, "You stupid furry fetish fantasy! How dare you mess with my payday!" And then abruptly he severed then connection, making her have a sharp intake of breath, as he exhaled, and backed away quickly, landing on his rear, and scooting against the car, just staring at her. Elias didn't move, he just stared, rattled by her the encroachment of her memories and emotions into him.