ic Test Site I (IC)

[SpicyWaffle]

"Hey, wait up!" Bee-Keeper buzzed back as Blue Jay rocketed out of their makeshift hovel, her armored companion fluttering after her as briskly as he was able. Chasing after the surprisingly spry archer, Baxter couldn't help but feel a wave of dread descend upon his shoulders as the eerie glow from above seemed to grow more and more with each passing moment. It was also somewhat odd that they didn't just blast the two when they broke from cover; a fact that struck the Bee-Keeper as more than peculiar. Maybe they just hadn't seen them yet? Hard to say when you're busy flying after your only friend in a world turned topsy-turvy. When she finally came to a stop, winded and out of breath, the Bee-Keeper descended back to the ground beside her, a metal hand clasping Blue Jay's shoulder in a feeble attempt to keep her still momentarily.

"I don't know!" exclaimed the dark-skinned boy hidden behind the bee-themed armor at Blue Jay's latest query, his own vision drifting to the luminescent borders slowly filling the sky. "I don't anything about what'zz going on! But we gotta get outta here! Whatever'zz going on'zz bad newzz!" he continued, looking skywards towards the alien vessels circling the skies. "If I can get uzz pazzt thozze zzhipzz, I can fly uzz outta thizz--"

At the crackle of communique filling his helmet, Baxter cut himself off, his free hand reflexively pressing itself against a non-existent ear adorned on the helmet in some attempt to focus the audio. His heart skipped a beat as a familiar woman's voice blared through, admitting to the fact she knew who he was! But that was besides the point now. But it felt... different. He wasn't sure, but the woman's voice seemed concerned. Whether it was a ruse or a part of a larger trap to try and bait the two out was yet unknown. On the one hand, if the supposed 'good guys' were telling the truth, then the safer option was this teleportation deal; sparing Baxter and Blue Jay the risk of being blown out of the sky by the foreign craft above. On the other hand, if it was a trap, then they'd be walking right into it... and chances were they wouldn't be walking out. It was a big gamble, and neither outcome looked good. But someone had to make a call, and if those space ships started shooting while the Bee-Keeper endeavored to whisk Blue Jay and himself out of its encroaching borders, the prospect of the unprotected girl being hit was... unwelcome, to say the least. It wasn't a risk Baxter wanted to take... not if it meant he'd be stranded on his faux homeworld alone.

After a moment of pause, the Bee-Keeper looked to Blue Jay, then to the craft overhead, and then back to her again. It was a stupid idea. It was a stupid, terrible idea! And yet, it seemed like the best chance they had. It was all or nothing.

"Look. I can fly uzz out. I can! But... but I can't. Not with you; not if thozze zzhipzz zztart zzhooting at uzz if we get too clozze," Baxter said hurriedly, his voice sharp and to-the-point. "It'zz juzzt too rizzky. I'm about to do zzomething that'zz probably really zztupid, but you're juzzt gonna have to truzzt me on thizz, okay? It'zz juzzt... it'zz the only choizze we've got if we wanna get out."

Letting go of Blue Jay's shoulder, the Hero of the Hive took a deep breath, laying all his chips on the table as he began broadcasting anew on every channel he could. He didn't wait for her answer; they needed to get out of here, and fast!

"Thizz izz the Bee-Keeper," he began, modulated voice filled with mild trepidation even as he looked around frantically for a street sign. "We're at... uhh... we're at a Stan's, near the riverfront. I can't zzee a zztreet zzign anywhere. I don't think... wait, hang on..." Whirling around to face the remnants of the restaraunt, Baxter scoured the battered and beaten scene where people had probably had their last meals before whatever happend had happened, flipping broken chairs and delving through shattered glass before picking out a torn and dusty old menu from the debris. "It'zz... uh... it'zz on three-twenty-two Banner Zztreet. Got that? Three-twenty-two Banner Zztreet."

[Avenger Assembled]

As Bee-Keeper's words fell on what seemed for a moment like silent air, there was no noise in the dead Freedom City but a deep rumbling from beneath the Earth and the loud radioactive hiss of the rising dome of energy outside. A moment later, a wide-eyed, pale-faced young teenager appeared from mid-air just feet from his face and said, "Hang on! We're going to-" And then they disappeared.

"make a quick trip!" Quickstep and the Bee-Keeper popped into view again in the middle of the group of heroes outside the hill, Dorothy depositing Baxter (still in his armor, of course) in between Jill and Wander. "I'll be right back!" she said gamely, vanishing again and leaving the Bee-Keeper alone with the two young women and the strange-looking, heavily-scarred man who had to be their last remaining companion...

-

"Hey, Blue Jay!" yelled Dorothy as she popped into being in front of Tona, "Let's go!" On closer inspection, Tona recognized Dorothy, a second-year student who had been expelled after a criminal attack on another student just a few days before...well, it was hard to remember exactly what had happened! Dorothy reached for her, and teleporter and archer popped back into being right in the middle of the little group on the distant hill. Tona recognized Wander and Jill O'Cure from their pictures, Quickstep from the school, and she knew what an Omegadrone without its armor deployed looked like well enough and there it was right there!

Behind them came a low rumble that turned into a deep bass vibration, hard enough to make the nearby trees sway and buildings crack: and no wonder! The now-completely encased Freedom City was rising out of the ground, green-wrapped rock rising higher and higher in the sky, the very ocean rushing in with a roar to take the place of the stolen dead city that was high enough now to cast a deep shadow against the small group of heroes on the hill in the distant forest, dwarfed by the sheer power of the transition taking place before their eyes. Among them, a very tired Quickstep took this opportunity to sit down.