ic War Of The Worlds (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

Wraith had helped design and test some of the security systems Summers had installed in the vents, so she knew exactly what was happening when she slid her way past what had to have been one of the pressure checkpoints and felt the sudden, spreading eruptions of cold along her flanks: packets of ice-nine had erupted in the tube around her, instantly freezing and taking the water vapor in the air with them, fixed points that adhered to her metal skin and pinned her down and to herself as surely as glue would someone less flexible. The gas was new; something opaque and foul that poured from behind her and forward, filling the tunnel and blocking her vision and her smell. There was no risk of the Kinigosi choking, but until she oriented herself there was also no right or left.

-

Outside, in the now sealed-off office, the remaining teens could hear the faint paffs of exploding packets from inside the vents, and feel and see the sudden rush of cold, black gas pouring from the vent Wraith had just taken outside.

[Thevshi]

Giang frowned slightly as Crow indicated that the members of Young Freedom had managed to open the window and were likely using that as their means of escape. She switched the channel on the communicator she had taken a she nodded at Crow's instructions to take one of the alternate ambush positions. Then he was gone.

Glancing over towards Darren, she simply stated, "I will take alpha, you take beta." She gave him a slight nod, and then made her way out of the security office. A moment later, she was sprinting down the tunnel that connected the sub-basement to one of the campus dorm buildings. While Crow had activated the grounds defenses, they would not nearly be as effective at containing the members of Young Freedom as what had been prepared inside the administrative building. The only hope was that they might be able to lure them into the areas where the defenses were more tightly concentrated.

[Gizmo]

Kimber's breath-independent clamour continued unabated as the situation continued to spiral out of all control around them. The lights going out bothered her more in its suddenness than any inconvenience it caused her; the oppressive weight of the power nullifiers was significantly more distressing. The electrified net crashing against the window frame was the last straw, however. Someone was actively attacking them on top of all the confusion! Headmaster Summers was still lying dead without being dead on the floor and the team was scattering in all directions and they'd just save a whole world more or less and it wasn't fair.

The violent sounds of decompressing gas in the vents followed by trails of toxic looking smoke right after Indira slipped inside, however, snapped the poltergeist from panic to frantic, focused energy. The gleaming metal installations in the otherwise old fashioned office stood out immediately and Ghost Girl ignored her friend's instructions to soar upward and raking ectoplasmic claws through the electronics. The sensitive engineering sparked and fused as it attempted to share space with the supernatural. Kimber could feel the heaviness in the air vanish as the power nullifiers were reduced to useless scrap.

She could also feel the cold radiating from the vents and instinctively drew her lips back impossibly far in an inhuman snarl of suddenly razor sharp canines, her eyes turning to gleaming black orbs. Her very essence was mingled with the primal fury of winter and some pathetic ruse of the living thought to emulate it to bar her friends? It was beyond an insult, it was an abomination and the keeling shriek she let loose informed the world. Inside the vent, the outer layer of Wraith's frozen bonds shattered and sprayed forth shards of icy shrapnel that perforated the vent and whistled through the air to sink deep into the walls, impale the partially autopsied corpse on the floor and slice through one of the window-covering net's lines. As an afterthought, the shriek turned into a mist spilling moan that coated a frosty layer across the security cameras observing the office.

Resuming her usual appearance with a blink, Kimber surveyed the damage with a guilty look. "Oh jam on bread. Sharl, what's that thing?!" she asked, pointing out the alien looking object tucked behind the headmaster's ruined desktop computer.

[Russoboo]

"Yeah, yeah, I got it."

Darren floated away from Giang, still fully crystalized. He supposed they were still technically on the best case scenario, since no one, besides Summers, had died yet. It wasn't a great deal of comfort, but he held onto it as he sped up an elevator shaft connecting the vault level to the administrative building. When he landed on level of Summers' office, he wedged the doors open and hovered on through. He rapped his knuckles against Summer's door.

"Hello? If any of you Young Justice guys are still conscious, I'm going to have to ask you to, like, stand down. Violence is not the answer, but it's always a pretty good substitute, you know?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl's world was falling apart. He'd reactivated the router in the office enough to send signals in and out, but all it had given him were horrors: heroes turning on each other and on the population around them, death and carnage in the streets, reports of a security lockdown and electrical disaster at Blackstone, where he knew Miss A had been visiting before their scheduled return, a vision of Freedom City on the verge of collapse. And now the very school itself had turned against them, with an unknown enemy outside the door and electrified nets on the windows, and Wraith still bound by the icy tomb that imprisoned her despite that fantastic effort from Ghost Girl. Not like this! Not like this! he screamed inwardly as he grew to his full size amid the shattered remains of Summers' office. "What is he yimmering about out there, some stupid TV show?"

It was Kimber who shook him out of his funk, his eyes going wide as he saw the device she was pointing out. "It's a bomb! Kimber! Get out, now!" he shouted a moment before shoving his hand inside the device and concentrating hard. There were no active batteries in the place so instead he made his own juice, sucking electricity out of the network and lighting the building up by sheer force of will as energy poured through the building and into every crevice where electronic devices were stored, overloading them through sheer overpowering. "What they need more of is SCIENCE!"

Outside, it was as if lighting had struck the building from beneath, sparks and currents of blue-white electricity pouring up the sides and the windows, the net across the office window flying away and sparking as it hit the brown grass outside. "Go go!" Sharl yelled, and followed Kimber out the window a moment later. Outside on the lawn, the Wonderbus's camouflage circuits flickered and died for a moment, the seemingly innocous-looking hippie van appearing out of thin air where it sat on the Claremont Academy lawn. Just as Koshiro and Mali reached the doors, there came a choking roar from the upper stories of the administration building as an eerie green fire exploded from the windows as the place burst into flames!

[Electra]

Koshiro instinctively banked hard, putting the plane into the shelter of the bus as the entire place seemed to explode in sound and fury around them. Hunched over to shield his precious electronic cargo, he hopped off the plane and looked at Mali. "You drive!" he ordered, jerking his thumb towards the front of the Wonderbus. "We need to get over there and help whoever didn't get out! I'm going to get this secured, then I'll man the weapons console." He climbed into the bus and raced for the back, strapping Erde-Tronik back into the harness of mesh webbing Sharl had rigged up. "Okay, we're set, go!" As he hustled back to the front, he pulled the projector from his pocket and reactivated it, dropping it on a seat.

[Quinn]

The reaction to the electrical net going down was a swift yank of the heel, and Crow hit the ground at a roll - gathering his legs under him and moving at a dead sprint. Damnit! Focus, man, focus; Wraith wasn't behind them, so at least she was still potentially contained; and the outer defenses were still active on the roof of the building - the plan was still intact, they still had a chance, th-

...wait, he'd overheard Citizen say something over Adamas's link before...oh no.

"Adamas! BO-"

BOOM.

Light. Heat. Pain. His feet left the ground, and the heroes running to the Wonderbus could see a small figure in black just appear from nowhere mid-charge some distance across the quad - or at least he had been mid-charge. Sparks erupted from the explosion's shockwave connecting with his coat; signs and runes on the sides flaring to brilliant life for all of three seconds before he was thrown backwards - landing in a heap some good few metres away and laying still.

The mind of that figure ran through those last three seconds. Over and over again. He propped himself up; dazed and stunned, his ears ringing like mad; staring bleary-eyed at the blurry Young Freedom members racing to - where the hell had that bus come fro - escape vehicle. They had an escape vehicle - the exterior defenses could shoot it d - no they couldn't the exterior defenses were on the roof of the wrecked admi - THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING!

"No. Nonononono. Ada-*cough*-Adamas; r-report! Adamas! Darren!"

...theyrealldead

...anditsyourfault

[Gizmo]

Kimber had just enough time to look from the outer wall and back to the devastated ventilation system before Sharl started pulling electricity from the surrounding area in a crackling light show. Setting her jaw, the phantom silently recited the advice Eve had given her during their tutoring sessions and wrenched with all her willpower. Unseen power gripped Indira, icy bonds and all and carried the whole frozen mass through the reopened window with the velocity of a cannonball. The poltergeist herself was right behind, passing through the wall just moments before their ceased to be a wall to pass through.

The concussive force of the explosion meant nothing to the undead Canadian but the heat of the flames crashed into her as painfully as if she still had flesh to sear and for a terrifying moment she was seized by blinding white panic. She was dimly aware of screaming and melting ice somewhere nearby but was too disoriented even to flee. The crunch of tires on loose dirt shook her from her stupor. Straining under her Kinigosi friend's weight she floated unsteadily toward the approaching Wonderbus.

"Mhrrr?"

A dark russet ball of fur and spines clamored about her feet where the hovered above the ground, Avro the manticore kitten having unexpectedly tracked down his mistress amidst the chaos. The cub seemed unbothered by the entire affair, happily chewing on a black, steel soled boot with singed laces he'd found somewhere with three rows of serrated teeth and looking up with feline eyes and a simian expression of expectant pride, scorpion tail twitching back and forth.

"Ohmigoodness, Avro! C'mon, buddy, we've gotta go!" Kimber implored, scooping up the tiny beast and carrying him along with his leathery snack.

[Russoboo]

"Ugh, stop yelling at me, I'm fine." Darren huffed and a little cloud of plaster escaped his lungs. He brushed bits of wood off his shoulder and out of his cape, but a quick once over proved that he really was fine. "Takes a little more than high explosives to kill me. Tsunami needs to come up here and put this out, though. In the meantime..." He knelt and placed his hands against what remained of the hallway floor. Smoke had started to crowd around him, but as long as he remained transformed, he didn't need to worry about breathing.

Darren concentrated and his hands and eyes began to glow. The office building was falling apart, but it was still huge, a lot bigger than the things he normally transformed. But if he couldn't stop Young Freedom from leaving, and he was fairly certain that was a lost cause, then he could at least keep the building from collapsing. In a rush, energy started to pour out of him, the hallway warping into foggy white crystal that spread faster than the flames. Darren could feel it draining him. "I can try to hold it together, but, like, I'm not making promises about how long."

[Thevshi]

Giang was just exiting the dorm building when the upper floor of the administration building exploded with eerie green flames. The Asian teen skidded to a halt as she looked up at the destruction. She heard Crow yelling out for Adamas as she felt a cold feeling creep over her as well. Thankfully, that was short lived, as Adamas quickly replied, stating he was fine, but that she was needed to deal with the fire.

Glancing around, Giang saw several of Young Freedom still in the air and some sort of escape vehicle present as well. For a brief moment, the Asian teen considered taking a shot at one of the members of Young Freedom that she could see, the most likely target being the teen named Glow. But at this range, in these conditions, she was uncertain that she could hit her, let alone stop her.

Deciding instead to focus on controlling the fire as quickly as possible, she instead focused on the grounds beside the administration building. Giang was able to sense water trapped underneath the lawn, likely in some sort of irrigation system, waiting to be released. She simply reached out and helped it along.

"I do not need to be there to deal with the fire." She said over her comm.

Out on the grounds near the administration building, one of the closest sprinkler heads shot off, a jet of water shooting up into the air, arching towards the flaming second floor. As it reached above the building, it spread out in the air, forming a massive sheet of water about sixty feet along each side. Then, all at once, the 3.8 tons of water splashed down on the burning building.

[Quinn]

Morgan Crowe would have just sagged in almost delirious relief. His compatriot wasn't dead. The Young Freedomers weren't dead either, by the looks of it - gods, it hadn't happened. They hadn't...they were all alright. He heard Adamas and Tsunami leap into action, and for a brief moment he just lay there, letting that relief wash over him.

Focus.

Which was when Crow pulled his thoughts right back to earth - like a tub of ice had been dumped down his spine. The others were intact. The bio-weapons were being taken from a secure location. The false Citizen and the false Wraith were loose. He could see the escape vehicle moving. Ready to go. Escape. Failure. Again.

No.

No.

City was in danger. People in danger. Bioweapon. Cybernetic assassin. Murderous alien. Get up. Get. Up.

When the dust settled from the Wonderbus's engines spooling up, those inside might have seen a very, very strange sight pushing it's way through the backwash. Runes smoking (and not in the usual good magic way), missing a boot, his mask cracked, along with a barely held-up shambling gait, Crow less walked and more dragged himself forward, lightning-wreathed throwing knife in hand. Darren and Giang heard a low voice over the comms as they held up the building.

"Gotta...stop 'em. That's all...just...stop 'em..."

[Thunder King]

Mali had been following Koshiro and, when he barked an order to drive, she hopped into the driver's seat. It made perfect sense, after all, and while she wasn't used to taking orders, she certainly wasn't going to disagree with his plan. Save their friends. Crazy things were happening.

She turned the bus towards the school and hit the gas, planning on getting in, grabbing their friends, and getting out. It was then that she spotted Crow. He looked badly hurt, and visions of dead Nazis flooded her mind. She had experienced enough death these past few hours. She didn't know why he was there, she just knew he was hurt, and badly.

She pulled the Wonderbus up near Crow and opened the door.

"Oh my god, Crow!!" She shouted. "Are you okay?!" She had seen so many people get hurt, and die, that she didn't care if Crow was a potential enemy. He was her friend. "Koshiro, I know we're supposed to rescue Young Freedom, but he looks hurt, bad. I'm not going to let anyone else die!"

[Quinn]

Crow only heard half the words - and what he did hear was fuzzy at best. Still, the form was familiar, as was the voice. Mali. Crimson Tiger. Put him flat on his ass in the training ring more times than he could count. Trustworthy. Built herself up to the level she was at - just like he did. Just like him. In front of him. Getaway vehicle.

...rescue Young Freedom...anyone else die?...

The runecaster gritted his teeth and braced his feet, expecting an onslaught. Crow tried to ready the throwing knife; shock her aside, then get in - even odds the others were in th-NO.

What are you doing?! She wants to help us. You don't know that! She's not offering violence. She wants to help. Summers said- HANG WHAT SUMMERS SAID!

Morgan looked up at Mali, and lowered the crackling weapon; trying to form coherent words over the ringing in his head and the rushing sound of the engines.

"M-Mali! Listen...me! Citizen an' Wraith...impostors! Bio-weapon...city in danger!...can't...them go!"

[Thunder King]

Suddenly, it made sense. Where would Crow have heard that sort of craziness? That weird, crazy robot Summers. She was pretty sure that wasn't the real Summers, not with what was happening. She wasn't certain, but she was fairly certain that Sharl's powers didn't work that way. She had been to Erde, she had even volunteered to bring the bioweapon to a place it could be destroyed.

"Summers isn't dead. It was some sort of crazy robot duplicate! Summers pulled a gun, Sharl jumped up to stop it. It went off and the Summers robot died." she shouted. "We went to Erde, found bad Nazi bioweapon, brought it back so we could find someone to destroy it! I think someone replaced Summers with a crazy robot or something!"

[Electra]

It had been a rough day already for Koshiro, so much so that it took him a moment to understand what Mali was up to, even after she stopped the bus. It was only when she opened the door that he objected. "Mali, what the hell are you doing?" he demanded. "Look at his hands, he's trying to shoot at us! Again!" He looked towards the back of the bus, dropped his voice to a hiss. "Don't you remember what we're carrying? One hit could wipe out this whole damn continent!"

He reached over to shut the door for her, just in time to hear Crow's words. "You idiot, you're the one listening to the impostor. You gotta find the real Summers, that's the only way to figure out what's going on here. We've got bigger problems. C'mon Mali, we've gotta go!" he implored, even as he saw the others begin to arrive at the bus.

[Scuffles]

Kristin was still trying to spot the source of the electrified net that had scared her half to death when she heard Sharl shout his warning about a bomb. "Aww h..." was all she managed to get out as she turned back towards the window - then the world exploded in front of her. The net whizzed past her again as seemingly the entire side of the building exploded outwards and pieces of brick, wood and a gout of flame blasted into her defensive barriers.

Disorientated but unscathed the young telekinetic looked at the wreckage in disbelief for a long moment, then gasped in relief as she saw Kimber struggling towards the Wonderbus with an ice-encased Wraith in tow. With a shake of her head she hurled herself in pursuit, and provided a helpful telekinetic hand to ease the burden.

As they neared the bus she spotted Crow - obviously injured - and her eyes widened as she noticed the electrified blade in his hand. Bet that's where the net came from! she thought as she swerved in that direction and dropped to the ground between Mali and the battered magic user, the impact of her hurried landing making a rather loud thud. "Morgan!" she called as calmly as she could manage under the circumstances. "I know this is messed up, but I need you to put down the knife."

She pointed at the burning, ruined admin building. "That wasn't us! You know none of us can make green fire!"

[Quinn]

There really was a moment of pure disconnect as Crow and Morgan registered what was being told to them. Him. Damnit.

To catalogue; with his head ringing like a bell, he was hearing information from three different sources, all of which were stated to be trustworthy, two of which he knew personally, all of whom were detailed as not subverted, and who were actively trying to rescue their comrades. He knew damn well none of them could make green flame, at least not according to the dossiers - and one of the most damning pieces of evidence...Summers had drawn first. On students he said he'd cared about - with a look of pure hate in his face; he'd seen that in enough foes to know what it bloody looked like.

On the flipside, he still did have the words of the Headmaster himself ringing in his ears, telling him that two of them were carrying a bio-weapon; something they admitted they had, that they would run; something they had tried. And that they would kill him. Which they did. But now the body was burning in a conflagration of someone else's making. And if he was a robot, and if they wanted to destroy the bioweapon, and if there was more he hadn't seen...if, if, if, so many ifs!

The teen hero just stood for a second, clenching and unclenching his hand around that Talon. It didn't help that Ghost Girl was fast approaching, along with the frozen Wraith - in a heartbeat she might be free, and who knows what then. It was a judgement call. A blasted judgement call. If they were wrong, and he trusted them; then even odds there would be even more deaths; and the Headmaster had bit it for nothing. Blood would be on his hands, the same blood that would have been on his hands from the start of this entire damn mess. Granted, he highly doubted he could stop them - but even a few seconds would be enough to get the other two over here, and bring in the faculty. It was a cold calculation.

But if they were right...

...it was getting to be a rarity these days that the cold pragmatism of Crow and the teen behind the mask matched in their decision; though often in battle what Crow needed happened anyway. Morgan's face went flat, and he spun the knife around his fingers; the sparks vanishing, shortly followed by the blade itself.

"The bomb went off just as the three of us confronted you - disabling the automated defenses. In the confusion, we ended up separated; I only just regained consciousness. Upon searching, we discovered that Young Freedom and the bioweapon had evaded containment through some unknown method and escaped to who knows where." He let out a sigh that sagged his shoulders, and pulled the cracked mask off his face - looking at each of them with his own eyes; the look in them not pleading, but telling something to them straight. Resolution. And a cold determination. "I never saw you. They never saw you. If there are any other fakes in the faculty, that's what they'll hear. Get clear of this damn mess and find cover - we'll follow up on our end. And if we end up in detention for this, I swear to my mother you're all doomed."

Crow pressed his mask back to his face and turned away from the bus; limping off across the quad towards the now smoking building; maybe even passing by the ghost and the frozen one without a word. Heaven help them all at this point - they'd need it.

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl erupted to life in the Wonderbus just inside the door, meeting Morgan's eyes just as he finished his speech. Sharl didn't know the other boy very well, Citizen's paradigm and Crow's being incompatible on multiple levels. But he knew Crow was a hero and evidently on their side, and as the news from a city gone mad pressed on his electronic consciousness like voices from chaos from another world, he knew their differences weren't nearly as important as what they had in common. He gave the other boy a hard nod and said seriously, "Get someone out to Blackstone. Tell Miss A what's happened. I know she can be trusted, and she'll know what's going on."

Then the door slammed shut and systems sprang to life, and as Morgan watched from the outside the bus simply rose in the air with a faint glow from beneath its tires and hovered briefly above his head before vanishing from his sight in a ripple of energy. There was a distant rumble like a far-off jet, and then he and his team were alone with their mystery. Where _was_ everyone else, anyway?

-

Inside the Bus, Sharl checked on Tronik, then his injured teammates, his face white and tightlipped, before he joined the others in the cockpit. "We have to put Erde-Tronik in storage, and we have to put the bioweapon where no one else can reach it. There's only one place I can think of where we can do both that isn't currently being overrun by those...those things down there," he said, shooting a nervous look at the chaos they were still picking up from Freedom City below even as the city itself disappeared in their rearview. "We're going to the Centurion's Sanctum."

As he programmed in their destination, he had a brief passing thought. I wonder who Morgan's mother is. I hope she's okay.

[Quinn]

Morgan watched the bus fly into the distance, his coat billowing in the backwash from it's engines, with a distinctly mixed look on his face below the mask. Gods above, gods below, Tuatha or wherever - please don't let him have made a collossal mistake.

He sighed. Too little information, too much missed. He turned around and continued on his slight stagger to the building, shaking off the concussion real slow as he moved. Crow didn't look behind him, both metaphorically and physically; plenty of time to do that later. First thing was confirmation. Even odds those flames had torched whatever that thing that impersonated Summers was (look at him, already believing them - sucker); but even trace fragments would do under the mask.

Priorities. He tapped his communicator thrice, murmuring into it - each time getting replies that were shorter, terser, and generally painted a fairly bleak picture. His face didn't fall, but an observant individual might have seen a slightly slumped cast to his shoulders. No backup from those quarters. For all intents and purposes for the time being...he, Adamas, and Tsunami were on their own.

...glorious.

Crow leaned on a nearby, slightly singed, bench for a moment, catching his breath - and then stood up as straight as an arrow. Forced his leg into position. And damn well strode. His next rapped words into the commlink were much firmer and surer than before. They had to be.

"Tsunami, redirect as much water as you can over that main office. Adamas, I want full containment on that room, solid rock if you can manage it. We've been played."

[Russoboo]

Darren clicked his tongue and grimaced as he rose up from where he'd been kneeling. The building around him was perfect crystal, though he had kept it all a bit cloudy. High clarity diamonds didn't make walking around too easy and the last thing he wanted at the moment was to go through a hall of mirrors. He stepped into what remained of the office and waved his hand through the smoke. Darren stood away from the green flames and watched them with a frown.

"I'm running at max holding the building together at the moment, so this is as contained as you're getting." He held out his hands and looked down into the light that radiated out of them - it seemed a lot brighter than normal. "And I'm glad you caught on. Just get up here and put this out."

[Thevshi]

Giang watched as the water quenched the flames in the admin building that Adamas had turned into cloudy crystal. All except the fire that still burned in the ruins of the headmaster's office. She then turned to watch the exchange between Crow and Glow out on the lawn. Though she could not hear what was being said, Crow's reaction told her a good deal. Soon, all the members of Young Freedom were in their unusual vehicle, and flying away at incredible speed.

The Asian teen heard Crow's words over the communicator a moment later, her jaw clenching slightly. "Understood. I hope the structure will be able to support that much water." She replied. "Adamas, you might want to stay back from the office. There will be a lot of water headed that way." She added.

Turning back towards the ruptured sprinkler system, she once again reached out with her power, this time grabbing as much water as she was able to handle. It would be a lot slower, but she had time to focus on the one area now. Over sixteen hundred cubic feet of water erupted from the sprinkler system on the grounds, rising slowly into the air as it started towards the headmaster's office.

[Avenger Assembled]

It took a sustained bombardment by water to finally put out the blazing green fire inside the former headmaster's office, leaving the building sodden and scorched in its upper stories. On any normal day, there should have been wild activity all across the Claremont campus, which after all foot for foot had probably the highest concentration of superpowers in the United States. And this was no normal disaster, not with the building scorched and now a healthy shade of glowing diamond along with all the fire and water damage. But the campus was still eerily quiet! Activating their commlinks and tuning them to the Claremont frequency got them Mr. Archer's voice. Or was it?

"Attention, all students: there is a class one disaster situation in effect. Report to your designated shelters and dorm facilities immediately. Be aware that infiltrators from the Terminus may have replaced certain Freedom City superheroes and are in the process of attacking the civilian and heroic population. If you see anyone you know acting strangely, prepare to defend yourself and await further instructions. Archer out."

[Russoboo]

Darren stepped back into the hall and floated up off the ground until he was crowded against the ceiling. Sure enough, a few tons of water rushed past him, which put out the flames in the office and then put a good amount of strain on his psychically-reinforced building. He came down from the ceiling and hovered over the water on his diamond board while he listened to Mr. Archer broadcast over the Claremont frequency. As he kept some concentration on keeping the building together, Darren traveled back down to the locker he'd put his civvies in to retrieve his phone. After a few seconds of social media, he radioed Morgan and Giang.

"Looks like most of the students are actually, like, following procedure. I think Blue Jay had a freak out and is fighting some other kids. And they think it's the Terminus. Again." He stopped to hammer out a quick text message to his sister, asking if she was safe. "Thanks for putting out the fire, Giang, but I don't really want to let the building go back to normal until all the standing water is out of it."

[Quinn]

"Summers told us Young Freedom suffered Terminus infiltration, Young Freedom said Summers was an infiltrator, and look at the mess we're in now." was a rather flat reply over the 'link; Tsunami hearing that in full stereo as Crow walked somewhat awkwardly up to her position. "At the moment I'm not taking anything at face value."

Even if Archer's voice was a bit of soothing genuine-ness in this sea of uncertainty right now. Morgan felt a distinct sense of relief at that one, very relieved indeed; there was still authority around, still parties organizing and helping the situation instead of exacerbating it.

Like you. Shut up.

He shook his head - gritting his teeth under the mask. Enough with the second-guessing himself; he could collapse later, right now there was a job to do. Crow gestured to Giang and started towards what was now Summers' brand-spanking new open-air office. "Aye - wise choice, Adamas; keep the place as intact as you can manage, and cover us from above if you can. Tsunami, between the bomb and the wave there's likely not much evidence left, but I still want that office gone over with a fine toothed comb. You're with me."

Sigh. "No matter which party's right - either way, things are about to get complicated."

[Thevshi]

Giang looked around the rather deserted campus. Even though she had been there only a short time, even she realized this was not at all normal. She listened to the message from Mr. Archer, not at all entirely certain what to make of it at this point. Looking back up at the ruined admin building, she noted that the fire was finally out and began drawing out the water she had doused the room with.

Hearing Darren's comments, she calmly replied. "I am in the process of drawing out the water now. Your transformation of the building certainly held up against the added pressure." She then glanced over at Crow as he came over towards her, stating the uncertainty they currently faced. But right now, the one place that likely held any answers was up in the ruined Headmaster's office.

She started towards the building as Crow gave new instructions. "I can make our trip there a little bit more direct." She stated, as the water that was now pouring out of the admin building formed a set of stairs from the ground up to the ruined office.