Stopwatch (IC)

[KnightDisciple]

GM

 

Sweden...

 

"Exactly where in Verbier!" demanded an unphased Dr. Lind, bringing up a notebook. 

 

"And then, please don't let me stop you" she said, offering some semblance of diplomacy.

 

Fenris paused, tilting his head to the side.

 

"Reportedly the Aube Blanche. Which is so far outside the jurisdiction of your department it's not funny. Now if you'll excuse me, ma'am."

 

And in a flash of light and rush of air, Fenris was gone and racing across the countryside.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Robert paused, deeply concerned. 

 

"The destruction of everything? everywhere?" he replied, shocked. "Our child? But, but, how can you know this?" he asked, insistently, fingering his watch. He seemed torn, looking at Megan with genuine affection. 

 

"Is this some kind of novel excuse for us not being together, Megan? It certainly beats the mysterious silence you threw at me last time, I'll give you that. But this is...fanciful to say the least..."

 

His eyes briefly flicked once more to his equipment. 

 

"The future can't be determined, anyway, you know that as well as I do. There are many universes. How can I stop what I feel is right, on the basis of perchance and maybe?" he asked. 

 

"Should we not walk into that future hand in hand, Megan? In love like before? We can conquer anything together!" he finished, triumphantly. 

 

"That!" he said, jabbing his finger at his equipment "Is a poor, cold substitute for you..."

[Thevshi]

Megan could feel a number of conflicting emotions swirling around inside her.  There was the part of her that had not fully let go of her feelings for Robert yet.  Then there was the rational part that pointed out that it was unclear how much of what Robert was saying was really how he felt, or just the influence of the Stopwatch.  There was the part of her insisting that she owed Kyle more than to casually toss him aside like this.  And then there was the cold logical part that stated none of this mattered when faced with the terrible possibility of what might happen if she and Robert were to renew their relationship.

 

"Things are not that simple Robert."  Megan replied, her voice sounding tired.

 

"I was told about your possible son by you, or at least an older you from a possible future where we did have a son, and had seen what destruction that son could cause."  She continued.  "I was quick to point out the Many Worlds Hypothesis as well, but the older you indicated that, somehow, both our possible son and that Stopwatch do not follow the normal rules of time and space."

 

"You talk about what you feel is right, but how can I trust that while your holding that Stopwatch?  I don't even know if I can trust all of what the older you told me, but the mere possibility it might true certainly gives me pause."

 

"All of this has made me realize that it is probably time for me to get some answers about what else the accident that gave me powers might have changed about me.  I have avoided seeking these answers for a number of reasons, either I was just too young, or I did not have a discrete means of getting them, or I just was not ready to know what those answers might be."  The blonde young woman let out a small sigh as she continued.  "But I cannot keep hiding from this any longer."

 

Looking back at Robert, Megan had tears in the corners of her eyes.  "I don't know what the future might hold for us Robert.  But I have done my best to move on for now, and you should as well.  You deserve to be happy, and I am not sure I can truly offer you that."

Edited April 3, 2013 by Thevshi

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Can't? or Won't?" lashed back Robert, a tear in his eye. 

 

"Well, I for one will move on..." he continued, his voice hardening. His manner was still the Robert Harrow that Megan would love, but it was spiked with the bitterness of the broken heart. 

 

"You and me, alas, we could have been something magnificent together. I love you, and I can't stop it, damn you! I am not a..a...clock!" he said, brandishing the watch. "I can't just stop!"

 

"Well, if a shadow of our love is all I can have, then so be it. I can't force you to see the love in front of you. Something poisonous has blinded you. What is it? Ego? Pride? Duty? No matter. Maybe you will see what you have thrown away one day. Maybe even, you will regret. But I'm moving on..." he blasted, before whipping past Megan and snatching the bag...

[Thevshi]

Megan felt the bite of Robert's words, but at the same time was certain that what she was seeing was primarily the effects of the Stopwatch.  While Robert might indeed still be in love with her, or at least heartbroken from their breakup, the young woman was certain he would normally be rational enough to realize the danger their being together would represent and understand the sacrifice they both might have to make.

 

"I am sorry Robert, but as long as you are holding that watch, there can be no future for us."  Megan replied as a quickly put her mask, wig and goggles back in place.  "I had hoped I could reason with you, but that watch clearly has too strong a grip on you at the moment."

 

As Robert grabbed his bag of medical equipment, Velocity moved back over next to him, her right hand shooting out once more with a loud *CRACK* as it broke the sound barrier.  But just as in the lab, she came nowhere close to connecting with the attack. 

 

Damn it, where are those agents the older Robert talked about?  I could sure use their help right now.  The young speedster thought as she prepared for Robert's counterattack.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"The watch? a grip on me?" answered Robert, his eyes widening through tears. For a moment, the old Robert was back, the kindly man she had known at Cambridge. 

 

"Impossible!" he retorted as his eyes glazed over with whatever had dulled - or sharpened - his brain. Quick as a flash he moved, more of a blur of thought than a physical being. 

 

He moved to slam the watch into Velocity, but held back at the last moment, his face contorted with conflict. 

 

"...Impossible!" he repeated, trying to convince himself with a more forceful and determined word. Fast as he was, he pause had given Velocity the time to move. 

 

"I won't make the same mistake!" he said, a blur of motion as he snatched up his bag full of equipment...

[KnightDisciple]

Meanwhile, just as a guest opened one of the large, opulent doors to the high-class hotel, a flash of light and rush of sound appeared a few feet in front of them, before resolving into a large figure that was kneeling down and...steaming? Indeed, the metal body of whoever, or whatever, it was gave off a couple of small "pings" of rapidly-cooling metal.

 

The figure slowly stood, revealing itself to be well over 6 feet tall, and a good couple of feet across. Covered in metal and glowing blue lines, that would have been enough to cut a fearsome presence...but as it turned its head, it was no human face or generic mask or helmet, but the head of a wolf that greeted the man still holding the door open. The mouth, full of sharp teeth, pulled upwards in a (probably accidentally terrifying) smile.

 

"Thanks for catching the door for me, gave me a bit more room to stop. I think I need to get this thing tuned up; got a bit rough when I was running the Alps."

 

He turned and took a few steps toward the reception desk.

 

"Pardon me, but is there a Lord Robert Harrow checked into this hotel? It's very important if he is, that you tell me which room."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Aaaaargh!" screamed the receptionist, a usually unflappable woman in her late 30s whose blond beauty was just starting to turn. 

 

Her words may have been without wit, but they carried raw terror, which spread like wildfire to the guests and staff. 

 

"Help!"

 

"Let me out of here!"

 

"Alien invasion!"

 

"Wolfs!"

 

"Robots!"

 

Nobody really knew what the panic was about, just that there was some awful terror that had just arrived, in shocking fashion, in the hotel. Alarms rang, screams pierced, and there was a stampede to get out of every exit the hotel had, including, in at least one occasion, the smash of window glass as somebody propelled themselves out of a first floor window into the soft snow below. 

[Thevshi]

Velocity again felt deep regret about having to fight Robert as he briefly seemed to struggle before rejecting the idea that the watch was exerting some sort of control over him.  That hesitance allowed the speedster to avoid his attempt to slam the watch into her, something made the young woman cringe slightly, guessing it was likely an attempt to get a sample of her DNA.

 

As much as she did not want to hurt him, Velocity knew she had to stop Robert and try to get the watch away from him.  As he began to run from the room, she had an idea of how she might be able to stop him without seriously injuring him.  Rushing between him and the door, the speedster started swinging her right hand at him once more.  "I am sorry Robert."  She stated, as her fist sped up to hypersonic speeds.

 

But this time her goal was not to try and hit Robert.  Instead, she aimed her fist just in front of him, breaking the sound barrier just right so there was a loud *CRACK* and a small concussive shockwave that was produced.  That shockwave slammed square into Robert's chest, knocking him backward slightly, before he fell to the floor unconscious.

[KnightDisciple]

Fenris sighed at the panic, his armored hand meeting his forehead with a *clank*.

 

"Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed...Pardon me, coming through. Yes, pardon, pardon, my fault, no please move along, you're fine, pardon me, pardon, excuse me, pardon me..."

 

After a few moments of fighting the crowds (he feared engaging his teleportation in such crowded space), he was out of the worst of the panic. He activated the comlink.

 

"Velocity, can you hear me? Are you still here in the hotel? I'm on the ground level and I'm here to help. What's your location?"

[Thevshi]

Velocity looked down at Robert's unconscious form, a look of sadness on her face.  "I wish it had not come to this Robert."  She said out loud, more for her own benefit than with any expectation that her former lover would hear her.

 

At least I was able to stop him without hurting him.  I think.  The young woman thought.  Looking at the stopwatch that appeared to be the key to all of these, she was somewhat hesitant about touching it, afraid that might allow it to somehow capture a sample of her DNA.

 

Just then Fenris' voice came over the communicator he had given her back in Sweden.  "Yes, we are still here.  I have managed to subdue Robert.  We are up in room 17."  The speedster replied.

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Back in the Lobby...

 

The screaming died down, as people fled and panic lead to inevitable emptiness. 

 

Only one man remained, a rather rotund and balding man, still booming with some vitality, who spoke with an Austrian Accent as he approached Fenris, fidgetting with his hands and straightening what was undoubtedly an expensive suit. 

 

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, to nobody and everybody. 

 

"Herr Apfelbaum" he explained, showing an I.D. Badge to Fenris. 

 

"I am the manager of the hotel. What in the name of the blazes is the ongoing?" he asked, in perfectly pronounced but slightly faulty English. 

[KnightDisciple]

Fenris nodded as Velocity spoke. 

 

"Understood. I am inbound, give me a couple of minutes."

 

He started to walk further into the hotel when the manager came up demanding answers.

 

"Herr Apfelbaum, my name is Fenris. I am a superhero. I am on-site assisting Freedom League member Velocity. She is in Room 17, and has subdued an individual who had hostile intent toward us both. Our goal is to remove him and his affects, and leave your hotel as swiftly as possible. I apologize for the disruption, but I must move to assist my comrade."

 

With that, he did not wait for any protests before flashing away with short bursts of his teleportation system, moving rapidly down the hall until he arrived at Room 17. He tried the door, but it was locked. Hoping to avoid more trouble from the hotel than they'd already received, he opted to rap sharply on the door.

 

"Velocity, it's Fenris. Door's locked and I'd rather not break it. Mind letting me in?"

[Thevshi]

Velocity gave an inward sigh as Fenris mentioned taking a little while to get to the room.  But, she was not exactly unaccustomed to working with other heroes that were slower than her, so she was not really bothered by the fact.  What was concerning the yellow clad speedster was that there seemed to be no sign of any of the agents the older Robert had mentioned would be there. 

 

When Fenris arrived, she could not help but smile slight at he asked her to open the door.  In the blink of an eye, the speedster was at the door and opened it.

 

"Sorry, sort of forgot about that, as it didn't slow me down."  She said with a smile.  Stepping aside, the let the armored hero enter the room.

 

"Well, there he is."  She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.  "I…I probably shouldn't touch the watch if at all possible, so you should probably secure it.  Hopefully if he is separated from it, Robert will return to normal."

Edited April 20, 2013 by Thevshi

[Supercape]

GM

 

Herr Apfelbaum appeared at the door. 

 

"What is this?" he asked politely, before his eyes widened with shock. 

 

"What is this!" he shrieked as he saw Robert's unconscious body. 

 

"And...what is that?" he asked with curiosity, pointing at the stopwatch. 

 

"This...this is preposterousness!" he said, going red in the face. "Three intruderers in hotel mine! one of them knocked out, or maybe the killed! and you seeking to steal property!" he added, indicating the ornate stopwatch. 

 

"I will be not the having it! put that down and I have been the calling the police!" he explained, rudely. 

[KnightDisciple]

"This is us taking care of a sadly misguided individual. The artifact is dangerous, and should likely be handled as little as possible. But you have no jurisdiction over this artifact, Herr Apfelbaum. Call the police if you wish, we will leave a number they can contact the Freedom League at." 

 

Fenris gingerly stepped inside and considered the watch for a moment, before glancing at the bag. He dug around a bit before pulling out a sample bag large enough for the artifact. He walked over and gingerly placed the watch in the sample bag, which was quickly sealed.

 

"Velocity, we should probably have the League come bring him in, as discretely as is possible at this point. They can check him over for lingering effects from the watch. As for the item itself...it might be best if we do some final scans with the League, before destroying it. If you'd prefer, I can hold on to the bag until the others arrive. If I have it and the rest of his...supplies, you should be better off handling him. For what it's worth, I'm sorry it all came to a head like this; if the Baron and I had known the artifact was this dangerous we'd have sealed it in Bakelite and shipped it to the League ASAP."

 

It was clear Fenris wasn't in a mood to deal with the hotel manager, and considered other matters more important than the rotund man's feelings. 

[Thevshi]

Velocity glanced over at the hotel manager with a faint sigh of annoyance.  "I am Velocity from the Freedom League."  She said to the man.  "He is only unconscious, and as Fenris stated, has been under the influence of this artifact.  This watch is the focal point of a temporal incursion that we are dealing with."

 

Focusing back on the armored hero as he placed the Stopwatch into a sample bag.  "No need to apologize, there was likely little to give any hint that there was anything dangerous about the watch until it started influencing Robert."  She then gave a small nod of agreement.  "Yeah, I will contact the League, so we can make sure Robert is free of the watch's influence."

 

The yellow clad speedster took out her League communicator as she prepared to contact the Lighthouse.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"You clearly have no respect for the law" replied Herr Apfelbaum in perfect English. His manner had changed somewhat. Steely, precise, intelligent and clear. For al his visage, he seemed to look taller, prouder, more confident. 

 

"Rest assured we will be making your life something we keep an eye on now" he said in cold tones to Fenris. "Rude, impulsive, unlawful, dangerous. A risk to the time stream, a vital node this is...Harrow will not be pleased!"

 

His image spluttered and faded, briefly giving rise to the image of a man in a high tech bodysuit, before it, too vanished. 

 

"The stopwatch is ours" he said out of thin air, his voice now disembodied. 

 

"All Agents! Break Cover!" he shouted, before a lance of energy streamed forth towards Fenris...

[Thevshi]

Velocity was momentarily confused as the "hotel manager" suddenly changed in appearance, talking about no respect for the law and calling Fenris a threat to the time stream.  As he briefly took the appearance of a man in a high tech bodysuit before disappearing, the superheroine was realizing that something was very wrong.  He seemed to be like the agents the older Harrow had sent to capture her, he even mentioned Harrow, but he did not seem friendly or willing to talk.

 

At this point, she was getting annoyed with the whole situation and the possible futures and this stopwatch and just EVERYTHING. 

 

Thankfully Fenris  easily took the energy beam that the man shot at him.  Tensing up, the speedster began checking every corner of the room as she prepared for additional attackers.

 

"Get Robert out of here."  She called out to Fenris.  "I will slow these guys down."  Until she had a better idea how many they were dealing with, she was going to go on the defensive.

[KnightDisciple]

Fenris stood there and blinked as the bolt of electrical energy struck him. It actually managed to, just barely, reach his body through the armor...and was promptly laughed off by his enhanced physiology. He simply stood there until the last spark faded, his helmet twisting into an amused expression.

 

"That tingled."

 

He blinked over to Robert's prone form, but didn't bend down to pick him up just yet.

 

"Can't let you have all the fun. Let's see if they like a slightly more potent charge."

 

Twin bolts lashed out from his arm-mounted cannons...but they just barely missed the hostile time traveler in front of him. He frowned, but decided not to comment.

[Supercape]

There was a burst of activity in the small hotel room. Noisy now, but still unseen. 

 

"We can't let you take the Stopwatch" said the cold and determined voice of "Herr Apfelbaum" in response to Fenris. "And we certainly cant let you take it with him. It's our only weapon against Collapse. We need it to control...to help this time point..." he said. 

 

"There is nowhere we can't find you. Even if you do escape us here, what will you do? our agents can be anyone, or no-one, anywhere, any time. We have eyes, and ears, everywhere. And we know the past before you do. There is no path out of this for you. There is no outcome of this where you succeed. It is only a matter of time..."

 

To emphasise his point, three brightly coloured yellow beams swept the room. Two of them smacked Fenris straight in the armour. 

[Thevshi]

Velocity had spotted the indentions in the carpet outside the door of the room, reveling the general presence of at least two more of these "agents."  The young woman scowled slightly as the apparent leader of these agents continued to talk, little more than a disembodied voice.

 

She had no idea how he though his group might possibly use the watch against Collapse, and certainly did not like the suggestion that they were trying to control this timeline.  But when he made his comments about how it was inevitable that he and whoever he worked for would win, the speedster let out a little laugh, even as she dodged the beam of energy fired at her.  Two of them struck Fenris, but he seemed unaffected by them both.

 

"Really?  If you are truly so 'all knowing,' why in the world did you not secure the watch earlier?  No, I think you're doing the best you can to just try to keep up.  And guess what?  Who says we want your interfering help anyway?"

 

With that, she zipped over to where she had seen one of the beams originate.  *CRACK*, her fist shot out at supersonic speeds, aimed in the general area she would expect a person to have been standing to shot the beam.  But, she failed to connect with anyone, either miss judging their position, or they had moved after firing the beam.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Thevshi

[KnightDisciple]

Fenris blinked as they tried to stun-blast him. Again.

 

"Still just tingles. Didn't work so well the last time, boys."

 

Keeping his eyes and ears alert, he bent down and slung Robert over his shoulder with his free hand, even as his suit's lighting picked up (though the cannons on his arms went dark themselves). He clearly had absolutely no trouble picking Robert up. When he spoke next, his voice was both playful and contemptuous.

 

"You claim to be masters of time, but you're still playing catch-up to us, and we're 2 heroes who didn't even meet before today. Quite frankly, if this is the best you've got, I'm glad there are likely other parties out there doing a much better job of this. As for you boast about who you can be, you forgot one thing."

 

A sneer can be pretty scary when it's a near-7-foot-tall metallic wolf performing it.

 

"I know for a fact you aren't me. Which means you've already lost."

 

And then he was blurring, nearly disappearing in one of his signature space-tunnels as he ripped through the beautiful window, the glass all but turning to dust at his powerful kick, before flashing entirely from sight. He reappeared a few times as he headed further down the snowy slope, and while he was visible further down, it was clear he was building up to a much longer series of jumps. His claws extended from his feet, giving him a touch better purchase on the treacherous slopes, but he seemed to be moving with plenty of ease.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Fenris' launch through his own private space-time tunnel was impressive. 

 

"Very impressive" called out the Time Agent who had been impersonating Herr Apfelbaum. "But we can put a stop to that!" he retorted. 

 

Unseen, he dialled up a complex code on his suit's bracelet. The suits themselves were able to traverse time - and the as Fenris had just launched himself through a space-time tunnel...

 

Something went pffft in the air, a subtle but precise moment of sound. Fenris was acutely aware of it. Whatever time travel technology these agents of Harrow had, they had used it to short out something locally, collapsing any such space-time tunnels he could summon up. 

 

"There is no escape!" came the invisible voice, although in the deep snow, the footprints were all too clear, with three sets running quickly towards the armoured hero. 

 

"Out of the way!!!!" yelled a young, tanned, and rather attractive skier, who had only just turned a corner to find Fenris appear in front of her. She was headed on a collision course for him!

[Thevshi]

Some very unlady like words were going through Velcoity's head after she had missed her attempt to attack one of the time agents.  Then Fenris was out the window with a loud crashing of glass, only to be pursued by the three time agents, given their footprints in the deep snow. 

 

The speedster almost laughed at the idea, and then was gone from the room she and Robert had once shared during a vacation here in a blur of movement. 

 

A moment later, she was standing midway between Fenris and his three pursuers, or at least where their tail of footprints ended.

 

"Really, you were trying to just run away from me?"  She called.  "I don't think we're done yet."

Edited April 24, 2013 by Thevshi