ic Ice Age Cometh

[horngeek]

"Don't I know that."

 

Both twins gave each other a look, before turning back to Will.  "Ooooooh... that's lovely.  That must have taken a lot of effort... and it's so lifelike!  Well, realistic-like, but you know what I mean..."

 

Haukea leant down, admiring the castle as Kalani grinned.  "Kea'll be out of it for a bit- she gets like that.  Anyway, we're actually going to different schools this year- Kea got an offer from Claremont, probably for being as brainy as she is.  That right, sis?"

 

"Hm?"  Haukea looked up, blinking.  "High schools.  You're going to Beaumont High School."

 

"...have you been practicing paying attention while looking at stuff?"

 

"Er... maybe?"

[Raveled]

"It's Gene," he replied. "And, uh, likewise? About the Please?"

Katie, tired of running around in the snow, grabbed Gene's hand and started insistently pulling him towards the tents. "Genie Genie Genie," she said. "I wanna go sit down."

Gene rolled his eyes and followed his sister, half-bent to keep his hand in hers. "It's not Genie. Really, I promise!"

A few minutes in the warming tent got them both hot chocolate, and Gene hung out by the entrance while Katie sat on a bench and sipped her treat. Things really seemed to be heating up, no pun intended. A variety of folks were working on their ice blocks, and quite a few interesting things were taking shape. Just near him Gene could see airplanes, birds, buildings, and at least one guy who was working on a life-sized dinosaur of some sort.

[RobRX]

On her end, Cho had since split from Gene and rejoined her family. They can be seen nearby, talking, as Cho's sister is admiring the amazing ice statues. Well, maybe they weren't all THAT impressive but the little girl seemed to enjoy the sight of them as she rested on her sister's shoulders, enjoying the ride too.

 

"Can you carve one with-" asked the younger sibling, before getting cut off by the elder. "No. And keep it down, will you?" Cho didn't want to draw attention to herself or rather to her family.

[KnightDisciple]

"Don't I know that."

 

Both twins gave each other a look, before turning back to Will.  "Ooooooh... that's lovely.  That must have taken a lot of effort... and it's so lifelike!  Well, realistic-like, but you know what I mean..."

 

Haukea leant down, admiring the castle as Kalani grinned.  "Kea'll be out of it for a bit- she gets like that.  Anyway, we're actually going to different schools this year- Kea got an offer from Claremont, probably for being as brainy as she is.  That right, sis?"

 

"Hm?"  Haukea looked up, blinking.  "High schools.  You're going to Beaumont High School."

 

"...have you been practicing paying attention while looking at stuff?"

 

"Er... maybe?"

 

"Probably had to use smaller tools. Some of these folks with the larger animal scupltures do a lot of it with chainsaws, but there's too much fine detail on this."

 

Then he heard "Claremont" and went still for a moment, his eyes snapping over to Haukea. He wasn't "checking her out"; he was sizing up, almost like an opponent in a fight, except with no malice. More like in a friendly sparring match?

 

"I'm actually attending Claremont myself, starting classes this semester. I did a bunch of boring tests and stuff last semester, not long after we moved in-town. It's fun. Different, but fun. First school I've been to with a meditation garden."

[horngeek]

Haukea stood up fully on hearing that Will was going to Claremont as well, her head tilted slightly as she looked at him with an expression of curiosity on her face.  "Yeah, someone put a lot of money into Claremont.  Makes sense when you consider what it's for, though."  She grinned slightly. "Um... which grade are you in?  Maybe we'll be in the same classes, even!"

 

Kalani, meanwhile, kept looking like she wanted to ask something... each time looking around and thinking better of it, as Haukea looked at her.  "Um, 'lani?  Is something wrong?"

 

"Gah, no, it's fine, just curious but shouldn't ask here, probably, just... well, you know why you got into Claremont..."

 

"...yeah.  Oh, right."

[KnightDisciple]

Haukea stood up fully on hearing that Will was going to Claremont as well, her head tilted slightly as she looked at him with an expression of curiosity on her face.  "Yeah, someone put a lot of money into Claremont.  Makes sense when you consider what it's for, though."  She grinned slightly. "Um... which grade are you in?  Maybe we'll be in the same classes, even!"

 

Kalani, meanwhile, kept looking like she wanted to ask something... each time looking around and thinking better of it, as Haukea looked at her.  "Um, 'lani?  Is something wrong?"

 

"Gah, no, it's fine, just curious but shouldn't ask here, probably, just... well, you know why you got into Claremont..."

 

"...yeah.  Oh, right."

 

"I think they get a lot of donors, since some of the students come from well-off families. Not really mine, but some do. And I'm a sophomore. Well, halfway to junior at this point, but. I'm not in any advanced placement classes, but I've done pretty well up to now in the "regular" stuff. So I guess we'll see. Too bad you gals can't both be there. I don't mind not sharing classes with my sister, but she's way younger, and kind of a brat."

 

There was no real venom in the statement, just normal sibling rivalry. As Kalani asks her question, Will looks around, spotting no one paying particular attention, and moves in closer. He holds up his left hand, index finger raise.

 

"Well, I can do this-"

 

And suddenly the finger's a blur of movement, extending and curling and rolling around a bit. It only lasts a moment, but Will's all grin.

 

"But, you know, all over. Especially running. I run well. Really well. Have a few more "'optional extras" installed but I can't really show off. You know, out in public, etc."

 

Plus crazy grandfather, but they didn't need to know that.

[horngeek]

"Eh, maybe I'd get an offer too.  No sign of it so far, but..."  Kalani grinned for a moment.  "You never know."

 

Haukea smiled for a bit, before nodding.  "Mmmm.  I'm not sure what I can show off here, to be honest... technically, it's more something I've got than my own..."

 

She looked around as well, before causally taking her right glove off and turning it upside down, apparently to check for snow.  On her hand was a platinum ring with intricate etchings, and an orange gem set into it.  "I'm pretty good at building things, mostly.  There's nothing subtle enough to show off here, though..."

 

Meanwhile, Kalani looked around, before noticing the nearby dinosaur.  "A life-sized dinosaur?  Isn't it too cold for dinosaurs?"  She grinned at Will and Haukea. 

[Raveled]

Before long, Katie had finished her chocolaty drink and was out in the cold again, with Gene following along behind. They ended up in front of a man who was, against all logic, shirtless in the cold, and working on very small, delicate pieces. Katie oohed and aahed over unicorns and angels that fit in the palm of her mittened hand, and even Gene had to admit that the skill involved in carving a mane or feathers that small was impressive.

He leaned in as close as he could to watch the man work with a rasp and file, and was surprised to see the ice figure suddenly start growing! Within moments it had enveloped the man's hand, and both of them pulled back in shock. While the carver retrieved a hammer and tried to free his digits, Gene looked around for the source.

It didn't take long to find; three of young men, a little older than he was, were standing in a clutch. One of them was waggling his fingers at the ice sculptures, while the other two laughed to themselves. It wasn't hard to see that, wherever first man pointed, the painstakingly crafted figures sprouted fuzzes and spines of ice. Gene was torn -- on the one hand, he knew the heroic thing would be to march up to them and confront the three (even if he would be outnumbered and out muscled), but he was still responsible for Katie. He bit his lip, trying to come to a conclusion.

[KnightDisciple]

William gave the two sisters an oddly serious (from him) look.

 

"No one should ever have to justify dinosaurs. That's one of the top three lessons my father taught me for life."

 

Then he cheered up a bit.

 

"That sounds like a pretty awesome power, Haukea. Though...wasn't there some big-shot student a couple years ago who sorta kinda maybe did something similarish?"

 

But before that line of conversation could continue, William noticed that some of the sculptures didn't look right. And one or two of the workers were in growing distress as their hand or hands were trapped in the ice. And then he noticed the three guys who were pretty clearly doing something and laughing about it. His face went flat, and his eyes sparked green for just a moment.

 

"Just a sec, girls."

 

And he set off at a power walk speed that was in no way a run, but was somehow faster than you'd think a power walk would be...

 

After a moment, he "accidentally" bumped the shoulder of one of the boys flanking the main mischief maker. He turned to face them, fake shock on his face.

 

"My bad, bros. Didn't see you standing here. Being jerkwads."

 

His eyes were focused on the one who was causing the sudden ice growths.

[Raveled]

The ice growths trailed off as the boys turned to focus on William. "Why don't you step off, skinny jeans. Nobody asked you to butt in." The three rearranged themselves, beginning to surround the teen. The one with the apparent powers moved to be right in William's personal space. "You better run on home, before we start making our own ice sickle. Like, you-sized, maybe."

Gene watched the confrontation brewing with a mix of emotions. He didn't want to abandon Katie, and he wasn't sure how to intervene without showing off his powers, but he felt back just sitting back. Someone should step up to those guys and get them to stop ruining the festival -- and technically, someone was, but that guy was outnumbered and Gene didn't like to see that.

[KnightDisciple]

Will threw back his head and laughed.

 

"Wow, skinny jeans? Um, I guess. I'm just a runner, guys. I can't help it if it means my ass looks better than yours."

 

He didn't seem overly concerned with the personal space violation.

 

"Don't get me wrong, though, it's a nifty trick. But why make trouble? City like this, you guys could be out there trying to win "Best Ice Sculpture Team" or something. Make and carve the ice block all at once?"

 

The smile suddenly didn't reach Will's eyes.

 

"Or do you want to make a habit of threats of assault&battery and/or attempted murder in a city that's literally overflowing with super-powered crime fighters? Seriously, just lay off messing with folks, and I'll run along. No harm, no foul. Heck, if you want to keep trying that ice stuff out, I can probably try to hook you up with a few places to practice. Give it a year or two and you'll be living large, whether as a hero or in your own business. Chicks dig heroes and dudes in business suits, amiright?"

[RobRX]

Unfortunately for everyone else, Cho was...quite busy at the moment as familly drama had erupted for some undiclosed reasons as the familly members were busy arguing with each others. Not quite as loud as to distract everyone but, still, it was clear that thing were heating up for whatever reason.

 

Unless something bad erupted, she wouldn't be of much use due to her attention being focused elsewhere. Ah, the joys of a dysfunctional familly!

Edited February 8, 2014 by RobRX

[Raveled]

Gene looked around and spotted his parents among the displays. Adam was trying to help one of the presenters free his hand from his own sculpture, while Rebecca searched among the tools on the ground. Gene hurried over, dragging Katie away from the brewing confrontation. "Mom, Dad," he called out, stopping briefly in front of them. "Can you take Katie for a bit? I want to go do some stuff on my own."

"Not now," his father grunted, tugging on the sculptor's trapped hand.

"But Daaaaaaad," Gene whined.

"Listen to your father," his mother snapped. "In fact, don't go far. I don't want you to run off if something else weird happens."

The boys William was confronting looked a little put off that he wasn't willing to escalate the encounter, but they pressed on regardless. "You sound like an after-school special," the lead boy, the one with the frost powers, replied. "If you're not going to do anything but speak, why don't you shove off and let us have our fun?"

[horngeek]

Haukea looked at her sister for a moment.  "...Lani, get someplace safe, 'kay?  This might get ugly..."

 

Kalani nodded, smiling.  "All right, kaikaina.  Do your stuff."  She moved to nearby the ice carvers the boys were harassing, as Haukea took a breath, before approaching the bullies, making sure to place herself in between them and the sculptors- and her sister. 

 

"Because you're misusing your powers.  What you're doing now isn't right.  And we're not doing anything more than speaking because violence shouldn't be the first way to solve a problem."

 

She took up position where she could support William, but positioned slightly away from him, ready to use the Orange Ring of the Protective Builder at a moment's notive...

[KnightDisciple]

"I don't see the need to "do anything" unless you go on harassing people. But seriously guys, do you not see the potential here? Like, my folks are in...they're in show business. A guy like you, he could make major bucks there. Or whatever. I'm serious when I say I don't get what's so fun about this? Did these people mess with you? Did some guy in charge say you couldn't compete or something? I'm trying to help you out, guys."

 

He saw Haukea move up and speak up. He'd hoped not to make the guys feel boxed in, but it wasn't like they were surrounded.

 

"Like the lady says. We don't want a fight. We just want everyone here to relax and have fun without hurting anyone else. You want a place to go show off your powers, I'll run and go find an empty lot, or heck, some space here at the 'fest, and you can show off much as you like. Build a life-size ice castle or ice tank or something."

[Raveled]

One of the boys flanking Will snickered. "Clive can't make an ice-cube on his own," he laughed.

Clive broke off his glare from Will to seethe at his friend. "Ben," he hissed. "Shut up, man! You're making me look bad."

Haukea walking up to the group made the other two boys back up. Whatever adolescent bravado that was propelling them forward wilted when it seemed like they'd have to fight a girl instead of showing off for one. They backed off, finally turning and hustling away. Gene tracked them with his eyes, but they disappeared into the parking lot. He relaxed, thinking that the worst was over.

In a corner of the parking lot, next to the huge snowpile the plows had left behind, the three young men drew together again. Clive pulled an inhaler from his pocket, and a glass jar full of what looked like red sand. The jar went on the inhaler and Clive took a hit, then passed it around. The sand turned to gas and as soon as the gas hit the lungs, the world slowed down. The snow turned pink and the sky went red, and everything suddenly seemed like it was very, very far away. Ben and the other boy started laughing, running through hands though the packed, pinkish snow pile.

For Clive though, things were very different. The red fog expanded to fill his brain and his body, making him restless and jumpy, making him almost feel like there were sparks jumping from his fingertips. His mind, restlessly swirling around the confrontation with Will, fixated on the speedster. Clive's vague unease grew into humiliation, into anger. While the other two laughed and played jerkily in the snow, Clive turned and stalked back towards the festival.

---

Gene was looking in that direction, so he happened to see the young man from before return, without his two friends. He seemed a lot angrier now, though, and more focused. As Gene watched, the pressure of the crowd forced an older woman against the angry man -- and a film of ice grew from that point of contact, covering the woman entirely! Shocked gasps arose from the crowd, and Gene felt his guts freeze. This was quickly turning into a dangerous situation.

[KnightDisciple]

William sighed in a bit of relief as the three punks wandered off. He'd really been hoping there wouldn't be a fight out here. He watched them leave, then wandered into the crowd, trying to just let the sudden stress vent off, so that he could enjoy the ice sculpture festival again.

 

And then he heard the gasps and saw the one guy, Gene?, standing there again.

 

Except this time an old woman's life was in danger.

 

Not acceptable. Will's eyes narrowed, and he moved back from the now panicking crowd, ducking into a suddenly-empty tent that miraculously had no one in it. In a blur of motion too fast for a normal eye to track, William Cline was gone, and Thoughtspeed stood in his place!

 

And then in a blur of black and green, he was standing not far from Gene, a rapier of bright green energy held in front of him in a duelist's stance.

 

"Hey! Snowcone! How about you pick on someone more threatening than a little old lady, huh? Or are you scared to face someone who can actually fight back?"

[horngeek]

Haukea turned as she heard the panic, trading a glance at her sister.  Kalani smiled.  "No one'll notice you, go."

 

"Stay safe, kaikua'ana."  Haukea focused for a moment, her clothes seeming to shift into her costume, before she stepped out, glaring at Gene.  "Or better yet, don't pick on someone at all."

 

A solid shell of orange energy started to form around Clive as the Orange Ring of the Protective Builder shone, Stronghold glaring at him the whole way... before her jaw dropped as she saw Gene jump out of the cage, despite how rapidly it was forming.  "Oh, that is not fair."

Edited March 5, 2014 by horngeek

[Raveled]

Gene's parents pulled back as the tough from before reappeared, and quickly froze a woman. Most people would have panicked in this situation, and there was a ripple of fear cutting through the crowd, but these people lived in Freedom City. If they ran around like a chicken with its head cut off they wouldn't have survived this long. Everyone started moving away from the walking snowstorm -- although those closer were pushing harder and trying to move faster than the ones in the back.

Gene took advantage of the chaos to slip away from his parents and duck into a heating tent. Everyone was rushing out of it, so it was easy for him to step behind a table and shed his parka. And then rethought the matter, grabbed the liner jacket, and hoped that wouldn't be too recognizable. At least he had time to grab his mask and pull it on.

[RobRX]

"Sorry about that." said Cho, as she noticed the scene. "About what? What are you..." her stepfather asked, before Cho suddenly grabbed him and her mother. "Put me down!", yelled the man.

 

"Hop on!" she shouted to her sister, who jumped and clinged to Cho's back. In a single bound, Cho carried her family away from the scene, landing in the snow nearby, creating a white cloud as she failed to properly land, shaking them around quite a bit. Immediately, yelling and arguing resumed, Cho once again plagued by endless family drama. "L-look, I don't have time! N-no, just, no stop please!" Leaving them alone and taking mental notes to remember to get yelled at for carrying them like potato sacks, Cho lept back, this time back in the direction of where she came from. Meanwhile, her younger sister cheered at her.

 

'That's not good. They're in harms way.' she said to herself, while preparing to asses the situation. Which, perhaps, would end up beign for nothing as more often than not, Cho solved her problems simply by charging into them. 'I don't have my Claremont uniform with me either.'

[Raveled]

GM

Clive's eyes narrowed even as he side-stepped Haukea's attempt to entrap him. "Get out of my way! I'm here to fight someone a lot more annoying than you." The angry teen reared back, holding his hands above his head. Air seemed to be sucked towards him, swirling into a head-sized ball of ice and snow between his hands as the temperature in the whole area plummeted. "And I'm not a snowcone," he yelled over the gathering winds. "I'm an Ice Age!" With a scream he flung the ball of wintry energy at Thoughtspeed, several dagger-sharp blades of ice forming in mid-air. The ice missed the agile speedster, though, and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Raveled

[KnightDisciple]

Thoughtspeed moved his body with contemptuous ease to avoid the incoming attack. When you're a speedster, and you're "on", things like that seem like they're in slow motion. 

 

"Man your aim is terrible! I'm over here now!"

 

Indeed, he was suddenly up in the ice controller's face, his green energy sword flashing almost as bright as the grin hidden by his helmet.

 

"Ice Age? More like Snow Day! One, maybe two days off of school. Three tops!"

 

Suddenly, the rapier of kinetic energy flashed forward, striking the crazed bully in the shoulder with a solid hit.

 

"Haha! Hoho! Have at the, Slushy Afternoon!"

[Raveled]

Gene was sweating despite the arctic chill. The bully in the parka had shrugged off his explosions, raised an ice shield against Thoughtspeed's blades, and nimbly sidestepped the orange prison. If this was in the Doom Room this situation wouldn't had worried him, but there were too entirely many civilians around for this fight to drag on -- not to mention that his entire family was in the crowd somewhere.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head. If this guy was too strong to take out head-on, that just mean they needed an advantage. And very few people could handle losing their sight. Concentrating, TNTeen crafted a hand-sized ball of gleaming light and force between his hands. When it was solid, he briefly took a pitcher's stance, rotated his arm through a full circle, and fast-balled it straight at Ice Age's face.

The energy flew true though the howling wind, and a small sun briefly exploded in the other teen's face, along with a shockwave that set off car alarms. The teen screamed, holding his suddenly watering eyes. "My eyes! What did you do to my eyes? I can't see!" Ice Age lashed out at random, ice shards springing out of the ground and berms of packed snow rolling away from his footsteps, but none of the civilians were close enough to be in danger and Thoughtspeed danced nimbly around the blind attacks.

Edited April 27, 2014 by Raveled

[RobRX]

Snow gets kicked off into the air in a thin, pale cloud of white particles as Cho charges at the so-called Ice Age, close her hand into a fist as she race toward him at full speed. Screaming, she aim a superpowered punch at his head, however it seems that berserk charges aren't exactly such a genius idea as Cho more or less completely fail to properly calculate that move, causing her to accidentally slide off and ends up punching the ground instead.

 

Groaning, Cho pulls her arm out of the ground, clearly angered at her own complete and utter lack of restraint as well as understanding when it come to the simple art of punching someone in the face.

Edited April 27, 2014 by RobRX

[Raveled]

GM

Ice Age's blind strikes continued to connect with nothing but the frozen air around him, as he tried to see through TNTeen's flash-blindness. His blows became wilder and less controlled as his breathing became more ragged, and e suddenly let loose with a primal scream that plunged the temperature another ten degrees. Gene started worrying seriously about frostbite, when he heard a snapping, crackling sound coming from the direction of the competition. As he watched, brawny men and knights in armor, bobcats and bears and even the dinosaur, all carved from sparkling ice, slowly pulled feet and claws free of the frozen earth. They turned, each winter mannequin focusing on the heroes, and began advancing through the drifting snow.