[M&M 3e] Defying the Future IC

[Zelphas]

Roughly 10-15 Seconds Ago

Series 889 Unit 37564 was operating well above capacity. It's retreat with the acquired material had mostly been a symbolic gesture, upon reflection, an attempt to show control and forethought when the operation had already become functionally unsalvageable, as unimportant as it was. And yet... the 889 Unit was operating well. Perhaps well enough to warrant another change in the schedule, in order to study the intact specimen for anomalies.

Within one second, the risk was presented, assessed, weighed, and decided upon. The remaining few seconds as deployment completed only reaffirmed the risk as worth taking.

Present, Helios

Goaded by processors that identify the wind as a potential threat, the Mover immediately wraps its massive limbs around its cargo without slowing its rush. It loses a few more thin panels and gains a few dents on its arms from the jostling cylinders, but otherwise remains unharmed. An instant after the wind strikes, it turns abruptly eastward, plunging into an alleyway between two buildings that is barely large enough for it at the edge of the main drag. Before Helios can follow it, a figure of dull black metal materializes out of the shadows and fills the alley in front of him.

The body is thinner than a Mover, but much longer, coiling and looping over itself in a constant, spinning array of overlapping curved panels and thin, impossibly sharp blades that cut through the walls near it like water without a pause or even a sound. Six wings, dull black and yet oddly, uncomfortably too soft-looking to be any metal Helios can imagine are spaced regularly over the body, keeping the entire thing aloft with silent wingbeats. At the front of the thing, facing Helios, is a matte black panel in the shape of a triangle, the point facing downwards. Etched into this panel is a single, faint mark; at first, it is nearly impossible to make out against the blackness, but then a dull red glow ignites the number 4, casting faint, bloody shadows over the scene.

This thing is made to kill, plain and simple, and while it does not move to strike, Helios can feel its readiness to attack him if he moves closer to it.

Spoiler: OOC

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Mover 1

Move Action: Distance Rank 10 east.

Standard Action: Distance Rank 10 east and slightly south, most likely.

4

Move Action: Stop using Stealth.

Standard Action: Use Death's Head on Helios. (1d20+10)[11] Resistance DC 26/26 vs. Perception Progressive Dazed & Impaired/Stunned & Disabled Linked Weaken Attack Bonus (Against anything other than the 4).

Floral

Floral's hands rapidly expand and mutate into acidic nectar, wrapping around the AKuma, tearing apart its paneling and dumping acid into its system. It sparks, it smokes, one eye melts into slag, and yet it still remains mostly functional. One leg dragging from the melted nectar, the robotic bear twists towards the cylinder, and then, seeing it out of reach, turns back towards Floral. It's eyes and the inside of its mouth flash red.

Eight vines, thin and brownish green, covered in thorns and dripping with acid, fly out of the undergrowth of Forester Park. There is a moment of strain, and a screech of tortured metal. Eight irregular pieces of AKuma are strewn across the ground, sparking slightly, without any motion of their own to move them. Eight sets of three pairs of eyes--one blue, one brown, and one grey each--regard Floral from eight green, teardrop-shaped, familiar figures.

Eight Saplings that were not there before are not there anymore a second later, fading into and through the underbrush by their strange method of teleportation.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Saplings rolled to hit in the OOC; the AKuma's massively lowered Resistance meant that even a 20 didn't save it.

Ariadne and Nope

The exploded AKuma managed to hold itself together well after its blast, but so did nearly everything else. It avoids Nope's line of sight by running behind the machine, head swiveling and arms spinning, but a moment later it is overridden and forced to explode once more, looking to strike at everything nearby.

Spoiler: OOC

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AKuma 5

Move Action: Nothing important.

Standard Action: Use Bear Bomb again. On a hit, Resistance DC 27 + Multiattack vs. Damage.

Ariadne: (1d20+8)[17] vs. 20 or (1d20+10)[26] Miss
Nope: (1d20+8)[9] vs. 18 Miss
Created Structure: (1d20+8)[10] vs. 20 or (1d20+10)[27] On a hit, Resistance (DC 27 + Multiattack): (1d20+10)[17] Miss
Machine: (1d20+8)[18] vs. 20 or (1d20+10)[13] On a hit, Resistance (DC 27 + Multiattack): (1d20+12)[21] Miss

AKuma Resistance (DC 37): (1d20+7)[23] 1 Bruise & Staggered, Somehow.

All PCs are on turn, if there's any enemies left you want to pursue/fight.

[Ridai]

As soon as Nope has made his attempt at stopping the machine from being tracked (one way or another, but hopefully without making it useless, finger's crossed), the machine, Ariadne, and Nope disappear from view.

Another "benefit" of the travel time that is removed for everyone except (but only technically so) Nope: he gets a long, long look at anyone he is taking with him. Putting aside all the effort that is put into attempting to transport anyone with as much dignity as possible (the alternative feels really not okay, regardless of whether or not those compunctions cause unnecessary difficulties), from time to time, he spends subjective minutes (or at worst, hours) watching friends locked in a moment of pain. He has yet to get used to that. And it makes the whole requirement of constant mental focus not any easier.

Thus he perches Ariadne on top of the machine and starts looking for a suitable location. Slow-going, but he'd rather not attempt to walk away and hope his focus keeps everything in zero time. He can't have the location too close to any people, in case more AKuma show up at some point and blow themselves up repeatedly. The industrial block would be so, so much more accomodating than the lake shore, but that is quite far away. Museum street and the main drag are the opposite of sparsely populated. The forest is a no-go. So in the end, he opts for mindgames. Surely, surely Dr. Proxy would assume that crafty annoyances like Nope wouldn't try to hide something near the lake twice. And thus he picks the closest thing to a big enough storage shed or warehouse or anything like that he can find. Near the lake. At least far enough away to not get people or their homes exploded by self-immolating robears.

When time flows again, Ariadne is standing on the ground (he got a lot of practice in properly placing people so they don't lose their balance by now, though he feels a little weird about having to touch people's legs and feet a lot to get the angle and height right), next to the machine, in whatever hideout Nope found. As difficult as it is to pick out any particulars about Nope as Nope, he does seem kind of tired. Subjective time does nothing to help Nope regain whatever stamina he already spent, since he himself technically is also stopped.

"I think I got the tracker deactivated. I hope. Maybe the machine too. I'm not good with this sort of tech. Can't fight like this though, need to keep my focus on the machine. Can still move things around. First hideout I found. Sorry I wasn't faster." He places a hand on his forehead, trying to get at least a tiny little bit of rest in. As much as he can while trying to keep that Crux Removal locked in his head.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Switch to Remove Travel Time, then teleport Ariadne and the machine away.

Nope continues to concentrate on Remove Crux to keep the machine from being tracked.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lily had put everything she had into that attack. And while it hadn't failed utterly...the AKuma was still standing. The regenerative sunlight stored in her blood had healed the damage to her wings, but she was still wracked by pain and in a bad position to defend herself from a return attack, and at the moment much less confident in her vaunted durability to allow her to weather it. But the part that really sucked was that that was all in context good news. If the AKuma attacked her, she at least might be able to withstand it and strike back. If it just grabbed the cannister and took off, there was no way she'd be able to keep up.

And then the AKuma was torn apart by Sudden Sapling Ambush.

Lily blinked. Manchineel's forces had...stepped in to help her? That was surprising and confusing and right then, with her pride already kinda a punching bag right now, not actually the matter at the top of her mind. She needed freaking saplings to save her. That was really just the cherry on top of the whole Patheticness Sundae she had been chowing down on for this entire battle.

The Saplings vanished as quickly as they had come, so with a sigh, Lily regenerated her hands and bent down to pick up the fallen cannister. Now, super-strength wasn't exactly part of the "humanoid flower" powerset; Lily Woods, at five feet and a breath and slimly built, was pretty much exactly as strong as she looked. But a cubic foot of water weighed about sixty-four pounds and this container was about a foot in its largest dimension, so it should be substantially less than that and well within even her capacity to-

...Annnnd nope it had to be about a hundred pounds. Lily could barely lift the top half of it a few inches off the ground.

She didn't actually cry, but there was a big part of her that wanted to. She had never felt so useless.

(Part of her brain flagged that as meaning it must contain more than just water, which was a clue, but she wasn't really paying much attention to that part of her brain at the moment.)

With nothing else to do, she took out her cell phone and texted the real heroes to solve the apparently-intractable problem of actually collecting the MacGuffin. It was not lost on her that this was a task that required no superpowers and was in fact achievable by pretty much any ordinary civilian.

Secured one of the containers, need someone with actual upper-body strength to move it. [GPS pin]

Spoiler

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Since the Mover dropped the container while attacking me I'm assuming I'm in Close range of it, so:

Free: Reconfigure Flower Power (+10). 10 points to Petal Wings, 10 points to Photosynthetic Regeneration, 10 points to Enhanced Regeneration, 10 points to Floral Blood, 10 points to Olfactory Clarity, 5 points to Scent Processing, 5 points to Scent Intensification.

Move: Try to pick up the cannister, but carrying capacity is 50 pounds so lol.

Standard: Equip phone and send a text.

End of Turn: Regenerate a Bruise. Resistance to remove Vulnerable (DC 22, +5 for Floral Blood): (1d20+15)[25]. Recovers

Current Status: Fatigued, Floral Blood.

[Abracadangit]

"Do not concern yourself with the fight -- you have done well," Kal says, marveling at the precision of Nope's abilities.

She inspects the machine, looking for cracks or apertures in the machine, as an idea begins to form in her head.

[Ridai]

"You kept the thing from being blown up. Twice. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what I actually managed to remove. Worst case, a bear is coming in here in a few seconds, and I broke the machine."

Phone's buzzing. Quick check. Floral calling for assistance. Managed to catch the Mover's loot. Nope is so damn glad everyone else in this team is damn good at what they do. "It's from Floral." He reads the message aloud for Ariadne. Cheeks puff out as he sees how far away the pin is, already looking tired. "I'll, uh, I'll go. Can you send the location to Helios?" He types and sends Coming.

Spoiler: If Nope can do a double move with EE this round

Show

The next moment he appears next to Floral and the cylinder, then moves them back to the machine hideout. Immediately followed by Nope sitting next to the machine, his hand against it to help with the focus, while nursing a clear headache. "I, uh, I have no idea if this is a good hideout. Or if I actually deactivated the tracker," he once again sheepishly admits.

Spoiler: Planned actions

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Nope wants to get Floral and the cylinder with a Remove Travel Time double move while concentrating via Extra Effort.

[Dorni]

Helios drew up short at the new proxybot's sudden appearance. The Mover continued drawing further away, but it wasn't yet out of sight. The problem was the new battle droid was tracking him perfectly despite his veil. He wouldn't be able to hide from its sensors - this would be a fight if he pursued. Which also was motivation to improve his veil, but that was an issue for later. Right now he was fairly confident that his magic could handle the newcomer, but he definitely didn't want to see what those blades could do to him if he slipped up. He'd have to fight extra careful - meaning it likely wouldn't be quick or easy. And every minute he'd be drawing further away from his allies, meanwhile the robots could call in even more help.

His phone chose that moment to beep. Floral had a canister secure. Needed assist.

Helios regarded the battle droid one more time. Then he gave it a fencer's salute. His goal was the canisters the Mover was carrying. With Floral's sample there was no more need to pursue. And he was no battle junkie. He was sure he'd have to battle more of Proxy's creations in the future, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

He floated backwards, eyes still on the machine in case it decided to rush him but once it was clear it wasn't chasing he turned and made for Floral's location, maintaining his veil until he got close. On it.

[Zelphas]

Spoiler: OOC Note

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For the sake of good order, I'm going to assume that Nope grabbed Helios and brough him along after Helios arrived near Floral.

The cylindrical, vaguely serpentine robot makes no move towards or away from Helios as he backs away, it simply watches, its silent spinning blades an unspoken but obvious threat. It continues to simply wait in the path between Helios and the Mover until the magic user goes out of sight.

In mere seconds (for everyone but Nope, that is; Nope has an extended period in between microseconds filled with careful movements and increasing mental pressure to keep the machine's parts non-functioning without simply removing them entirely from existence), the group has all gathered together in a small boathouse on a dock near where they began. The machine sits within the plywood house, the two still-connected cylinders humming slightly; otherwise, the machine is still. A small amount of mud, muck, and lake-bottom detritus leaks from underneath the machine.

The cylinder that fell off of the Mover is standing upright between you all; at closer inspection, it is not a smooth, seamless structure, but possesses a sealed lid with a small button at the top. If the button is pressed, the top of the cylinder lifts smoothly open with a slight hiss, revealing... sand. With a few small pebbles and some darker dirt mixed in.

Spoiler: Expertise (Biology or Animals) DC 25, Expertise (Biochemistry) DC 30

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With a cursory glance, it's impossible to say if this holds true for the entire cylinder, and a microscope would be needed to make certain, but it looks like a high number of the larger pebbles are actually tiny fossils, bits of whatever lived in this area long, long ago.

Spoiler: OOC

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Battle over! Everyone take a Hero Point.

I'll give you the Downtimes once this scene is finished up.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Spoiler

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Routining the Expertise check.

And pop they were elsewhere. Lily was actually starting to get used to that.

Her wounds were already healed. Her ego was very much not, but while Lily's pride may have left her sensitive to feelings of failure and inadequacy, it also meant the idea of actually showing it was basically too horrible to contemplate. So all her doubts about being good enough, about being powerful enough to measure up to the other heroes, she kept firmly locked away in her head. Fortunately, Lily had a pretty decent poker face.

Lily looked over the contents of the container. Sand, and stones. Precisely what you'd expect a machine to be sucking up from a lake if it wasn't sucking up water. But not just stones...

"Fossils," Lily said aloud, picking out a couple of the larger ones to examine. "At least the bigger ones. Maybe all of it. Probably the machine was able to filter them out somehow."

Which...on its own didn't explain much, granted, but this wasn't on its own. Proxy's attack on the museum had been targeting ancient tools that had turned out to be surprisingly ancient, some of the oldest tools of their type on record...

Lily went sifting and sniffing through the contents of the container. It wasn't all fossils, and on closer examination some of the rocks had scratches and imperfections that could maybe have been confused for fossils by an insufficiently discerning AI. That...probably mostly ruled out a specifically targeted search.

Two obvious hypotheses sprang to mind. First, Proxy was looking for something anomalous, out of place, in the way the too-old tools had been. Which for fossils would mean...what? Evidence of plant or animal life in the wrong part of the fossil record, maybe? Or he could be looking for fossils from a specific time period. Maybe the time those tools were from?

They would need to examine the fossils in a lab, get them dated, of course, but that would take time. There might be a faster answer. "This machine had to be sucking up material from the lakebed. Or, not just the lakebed, below the lakebed." Lily was neither a geologist not an archaeologist, but she certainly knew enough to know that if you are looking for something old, you're going to need to go digging. "Did the machine have like, a tube or something attached, when you guys grabbed it? And how long was it?" If they could figure out how far down the hose had gone, maybe they could use that to estimate how far back in time Proxy was looking. If it was anywhere near the time those tools were from, that'd be a clear lead.

[Ridai]

Nope nods his head, shakily, then points to the mess behind the machine. "Absurdly long tubes. Got to the ground of the lake, easy."

He glances to the others, but not too long to keep himself from getting distracted. "D-do you still need to examine the machine? Head's really hurting."

[Abracadangit]

Kal shakes her head.

"My plan was to see inside the machine, but without some kind of opening, my thread sight can't get inside. Besides, I am not so... versed, in the ways of science," she admits, with a shrug. "Floral will be of more use here, I imagine."

[Dorni]

"Fossils? hmm..."

That was curious. Helios supposed it tracked with Proxy's raid on the museum, providing more evidence to their earlier theory that the doctor was seeking something in the historical record. It got them no closer to knowing what that thing was. The best he could see was that they should be be on the lookout for Proxy to make moves on any historical artifacts, but he'd already hit the museum and with the dome up it there wouldn't be any new ones coming into town any time soon.

Although... "Let me have a look at those."

Helios had been toying with a theory. It wasn't fully filled in, but there were plenty of pieces. Whether it was in this timeline or Watcher's, Manchineel had awoken here. Lockdown had lived for a time here. And the abandoned camp nearby was the site of a well of Death energy that obviously predated all of this. He wasn't sure what it meant, but it still nagged at him that Watcher had attested at each of the League were weaker now than they had been in his timeline, where even then they were still minor threats. But it pointed in the direction that there was something off about this place supernaturally, or perhaps about the world in general. History didn't record any verified superhumans in the past few centuries, but all of a sudden dozens were popping up? He wasn't sure what, but it suggested that something about the world was changing. Damn global warming.

But if something was changing, what was it changing from? What was it changing to? Helios studied the mass of fossils, which until now had laid undisturbed far beneath the lake. He'd heard of of scientists in the arctic studying large ice cores to track changes in the atmosphere over time. Perhaps the fossil core Proxy had drilled could act the same.

Spoiler: OOC

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Perception (1d20+15)[23]. Trying to discern if anything about the fossil collection pings as odd to his mystic senses, or if there are any changes in what he senses mystically as he goes down the sample..

[Zelphas]

Spoiler: Helios

Show

The theory is interesting, and possibly worth pursuing. However, The mixed collection of rocks, sand, and fossils in front of you does not have a trace of magical, mystical, or other energy that your Mystic Sense can pick up.

After a few minutes, the soft humming of the machine's still-working section trails off to nothing, the entire thing apparently winding down now that it is out of the water. In that time, no new machines, Proxybot or otherwise, appear near you; it seems that Nope's negation of the machinery has been effective in disabling the tracking.

...Or Doctor Proxy decided that the cost of retrieving the machine was not worth the advantage of retrieval. Either way, it amounts to the same thing; a Proxy-machine, in essentially pristine condition, for your perusal.

Spoiler: OOC

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All right; I think that's the scene! Everyone can take 2 Downtime Actions.

Since you collected the machine basically untouched and a sample of what Doctor Proxy was gathering in at least one of the canisters, everyone gains a +5 bonus to the Watching the Bots Downtime for this downtime period.

[Zelphas]

Tattered Memory

September 14th, 2018.

While Lily continues research on the machine and containers grabbed from Doctor Proxy (and possibly has another showdown in front of the police laboratory with her sister, one that ends much more decidedly in her favor since the four new heroes have gotten on good terms with nearly everyone on the police force due to their heroism), the three of you chase down a lead you've had for more than a month at this point; the beaten up red woolen scarf wrapped around Abel's neck, with the letters "N. Magr--" written on one edge of it, like a name. Ms. Jennifer Magrethe is easy to research and dismiss, with a little bit more digging; she is in her mid seventies, an only child, no close relatives, no spouse, no children, no one who shares her name at all within roughly a hundred miles, as far as you can find. She is also well-to-do and apparently wouldn't be caught dead near anything made of mere rough wool, so the scarf does not seem to belong to her.

That leaves the Magro family, and in contrast to Ms. Magrethe, there seem to be too many options. Zephyr is a warehouse manager, a difficult thing to do in the current climate of Forester's Bay; his wife works for the city as a groundkeeper in Forester's Park and thus has had more contact with creatures of Manchineel than most civilians, though so far she has not drawn their ire. The reason that this is almost certainly the right choice is the fact that there are three "N. Magro"s closely connected to this family: Nathan Magro, Zephyr's grandfather; Nathan Magro (again), Zephyr's twin brother; and Natalie Magro, Zephyr and Talia's seven-year-old daughter.

A little bit more searching, however, complicates things once again. A visit to the Restful Boughs Nursing Home reveals that the first Nathan Magro, Zephyr and the other Nathan's grandfather, is still comfortably ensconced there, with nothhing affecting him except the early stages of dementia and a life of hard labor. Nathan Magro (the twin) is apparently known as a shiftless wanderer, unlike his well-liked brother, and he hasn't been seen in Forester's Bay--in fact, in Michigan at all, as far as anyone knows--for the last five years. And if the brown-haired girl sitting half-hidden in a bush, concentrating on a handheld device of some sort, in front of the comfortable narrow-lot style house with the mailbox with "MAGRO" painted in sloppy blue-and-yellow letters, is who you think she is, then Natalie Magro is also, essentially, accounted for.

Still, this is the most obvious lead you have to the identity of Abel--or at least, to something Abel cares about. Every Punishment has acted, in some way, like the animal that they began as (the plant-based ones were harder to tell, but the theory still holds). Raphael was talked down without a fight, by appealing to her nature as an animal first, rather than the elements that Manchineel had added on to her. Perhaps, if Abel was once a human, or if he cared about a human in some way, you can use that to similarly talk him down? Or maybe you can just find a weakness.

Either way, you are standing in front of the Magro household in the Residential Quarter, preparing to have a decidedly odd conversation with at least two of the residents of Forester's Bay.

Spoiler: Helios

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The girl in the bush--Natalie, almost certainly--has an aptitude for Life magic and Earth magic, though it is definitely untrained. They combine in her in an interesting way that you haven't really seen yet--you're reaching, but you think she might be able to make animated statues, though they'd likely be small and simple, at least at first.

Spoiler: Perception (Mystic Senses) DC 22

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Magic aptitude is not necessarily hereditary, but you get the feeling that that is the case here. The lawn and garden in front of you has been tended by someone (or someones) who has Earth and Life affinity, though in very small amounts and not in any trained way; you can only just catch the traces.

Spoiler: DC 27

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In fact... it's muffled by the natural turn of the seasons, but it seems like whoever had Life affinity hasn't tended to this garden in over a month. The signs, already sparse, are fading fast.

Spoiler: Kal

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Inside your head, Ariadne gives a dry sort of chuckle. "Learn to see the threads more clearly, and you'll know, engoni," she replies before you can ask, and refuses to elaborate.

Spoiler: Nope

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Nothing seems bad, or out of place, or otherwise problematic to you. This all seems completely normal. I realize that this sounds like it's building up paranoia, but really, everything is fine here.

Spoiler: OOC

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All right! Howe are you showing up here, and what are you planning to do next?

[Ridai]

Nope observes the house for a while, unseen, waiting for the others to arrive. Naturally, given the social situation they will be getting themselves into, he asks them, away from the house: "...So how are we gonna do this? Just straight ask them? ...And do you want me there as well? What with the... no food for three days thing and all..."

[Abracadangit]

"A moment for reconnaissance before we make any moves," Kal says, as she gestures with her needle in the air. Perhaps this one time, she would listen to Ariadne without putting up a fight to start.

As she closes her eyes, another sense opens, the same way someone might feel a loud sound or hear a bright color. A network of intangible threads, crisscrossing over and around each other, expands outwards over the surrounding area. The threads seek out information, waves, auras, truths, as Kal's consciousness drifts from one thread to the next.

Spoiler: OOC

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Gonna turn on Threadwork Sense, with a special attention for odd energies. Also -- does Threadwork Sense detect anything related to or connected to the scarf itself? Figure there's some parallelism with threads, and all that.

[Ridai]

"I don't get the sense anything's wrong here," Nope adds before waiting for whatever Ariadne is doing.

[Dorni]

"Same here," Helios adds while removing his veil. "The girl isn't trained, but she has an aptitude for Life and Earth magic. From the traces of it around the garden it looks like she got it from her parents. But those traces are faint and don't seem to have been placed with intention. If there is a threat here it isn't mystical. Caution's fine, but I think we can approach them directly."

[Abracadangit]

Kal nods, as her threadwork sense doesn't turn up much of use. "Agreed," Kal says, as her normal senses turn back on and the threads recede. "Whatever approach you two think is best."

[Zelphas]

Natalie looks up as the three of you approach the house, her green eyes widening in shocked recognition. She seems frozen between wanting to shrink shyly into the bush and wanting to rush out and talk to you; the electronic device (a 3DS) lies forgotten in her hands. As you approach the house, you can hear raised voices; two people, male and female--not frightened, but definitely angry.

The doorbell doesn't work, but a quick knock on the red-painted door cuts off the possible argument fairly quickly. Footsteps turn into the door being opened by a woman a few inches taller than Lily, with short brown curly hair held back by a headband and green eyes precisely the same shade as her daughter, wearing a grey sweatshirt and jeans. Talia Magro's face turns from annoyance, to shock, and quickly into concerned horror as she takes in the three of you at her doorstep. "Hello, can--wait, Ariadne? You all are--what's wrong? Is Natalie okay?! Natalie!"

"I'm right here, Mom," a voice pipes up behind you, and Talia nearly falls over with relief. From behind her, within the house, a taller man--six foot three, at least, though he's slouching somewhat--with short-cropped blond hair and blue eyes walks up behind his wife, his face a picture of annoyance.

Zephyr Magro shifts his shoulders underneath the white dress shirt he's wearing as he steps next to and slightly behind Talia, blocking your view of the house beyond. "Can we help you?" he asks bluntly, ignoring the sharp look from his wife.

Spoiler: Helios

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Talia Magro has the slightest ability with Life magic, as the healthy houseplants you can see in the home attest to. You doubt that she can do much more than be slightly healthier herself.

You get no sense of magic ability from Zephyr.

Spoiler: Ariadne

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Your threads dance very slightly around Talia and Zephyr; there's magic there, though its so faint it's hard to tell which one's giving off the ability, let alone what they could do with it.

There are several examples of simple crochet work in the house, some of it much sloppier than others. They're displayed with a sense of pride; if you had to guess, you'd say that Talia knows how to crochet and is teaching Natalie.

"Simple work, but good; you must not forget your basics, engoni."

Spoiler: Insight DC 20

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If the raised voices weren't enough of a clue, it's obvious by their posture that the relationship between Zephyr and Talia is... strained, to say the least. Talia seems glad of the distraction from their fight (though still deeply worried about why superheroes are at her door), but Zephyr is angrier with you than with her.

Spoiler: DC 25

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Zephyr's anger is masking fear, and his fear springs from guilt. He's guilty about something and afraid you'll find out--though it doesn't seem to be you all specifically that he's afraid of.

Spoiler: Expertise (Fashion and Garments) DC 20

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The white button-up shirt that Zephyr is wearing is store-bought, but someone tailored the shirt to fit in a more flattering fashion--a cost-effective way to look good in formal clothes without fully breaking the bank.

Spoiler: DC 30

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It wasn't tailored right, though; it's too tight around the stomach and too loose at the shoulders. It isn't much of a change, but it's definitely off.

[Ridai]

Well, at least they don't seem terrified of him, so that is kind of a tiny win for Nope? Then again, Zephyr seems pretty mad at them, so jury is still out in that regard. Put into an uncomfortable situation, Nope tries to avoid just saying nothing in hopes of someone else saying something fast enough to not make things awkward. "We're investigating something weird and wondered if you could help us. Just a couple of questions. Not sure if we should do that out here though." There. He said the gist of it. Reminder to everyone that Remy never wanted to become a policeman, detective, or lawyer.

[Abracadangit]

Kal notes the oddness of Zephyr's shirt -- not a terribly skilled hand, at work -- and bows slightly, for the assembled Magros.

"My colleague is correct, we only come looking for information."

[Dorni]

So. As he'd suspected, the girl's mother had a touch of the talent as well. He almost dismissed the thought when another hit him. Rapheal had been a font of Life. And if Abel was-is Nathan Magro, he'd likely inherited a touch of talent for Life as well. It wasn't much, but it was a connection. Did Manchineel need subjects with an affinity for Life to create more powerful servants? Food for thought. For later.

Helios met Zephyr's gaze. Not in challenge, but still firmly. "Indeed. We're looking for some answers and hope we hope you can help us. Please."

Spoiler: OOC

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Persuasion (1d20+15)[27] for the initial impressions

[Zelphas]

Zephyr tries to step forward, mouth opening angrily, but he's blocked by a pointed elbow to the gut from Talia, who never looks away from the three of you. Mouth opening in a relieved--if still somewhat nervous--smile, she nods, opening the door a bit wider. "Oh, we'd be happy to help! Though I'm not sure what we can do... come in, please, take a seat in the living room."

"Talia, if the League hears--"

"We're happy to help the people who are trying to do something about the mess we're in," Talia replies hotly, her eyes flashing. She turns back to the three of you, all smiles. "Do you drink coffee? Tea? We have some soda here, too..."

Meanwhile, Nope feels a hesitant tap on his arm. Turning, he'll see Natalie trying very hard to actually look at him while also shyly looking away from his eyes. "Do...do you have invisibility powers? How did you get them?" she asks quietly, curiosity evident in her tone.

"Natalie, get inside." Zephyr's voice rings out with command, and the girl jumps a bit before giving Nope an apologetic look and scurrying to obey. The tall, blond-haired man blocks the door as Nope approaches. "Fine, we're helping the other two, but I don't want him in my house. Who knows what'll go missing," he adds nastily, looking somewhat near Nope without quite focusing on him.

Spoiler: Insight DC 15

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Zephyr doesn't actually care one way or another about Nope and his powers; he just doesn't want any of you in the house, and it seems like he just remembered that he has a semi-plausible reason to try and block Nope. He'll probably crumble if the point is pressed.

There's definitely something way off about his entire demeanor, but you don't have it pinned down just yet. You get the feeling that a lot of his reactions have almost nothing to do with any of you personally.

[Ridai]

Looking at Natalie, Nope manages to reply with a hesitant nod. To the second, in the moment before Zephyr commands her inside, the girl manages to see a very sad and pained expression through the indistinct veil.

When Nope is blocked entrance, perhaps the man expects Nope to put up a fight. Therefor, he is hit with "Okay," as Nope accepts this treatment. It is only fair. "I'll stand in that spot, out of sight. Throw something at me if you want to confirm I am there." He points to a place in their yard, walks there, and removes his presence.

And then he waits.

[Abracadangit]

Kal makes a face, behind her mask -- she doesn't like seeing one of her colleagues treated in this way, but it's not like they have other options.

As she enters their home and politely declines a beverage, she gestures at the crocheting, here and there. "Excellent work," she says, with a sprig of warmth, to hopefully restore goodwill. "Who amongst you demonstrates such skill?"

[Dorni]

Helios' friendly demeanor stiffened at the insult to his teammate. It seemed to him to be made in bad faith, like he was looking for ways to upset and drive them all off and having been overruled by his wife was settling for keeping out one of them. Helios opened his mouth ready to defend Nope when his teammate accepted the barring. A glance at Nope caught the boy's pained look - the jab had landed. Looked like he was still beating himself up for the insect incident. Helios closed his mouth and didn't stop Nope, but he made a note to talk with his colleague later.

"Thanks, water is fine for me, ma'am," he accepted, following Talia inside.

[Zelphas]

Ariadne and Helios

Natalie, having slipped in the door just before it closed, vanishes up the stairs mere moments later. The distinct sound of a door closing a bit harder than it needs to comes a moment later, and Zephyr's shoulders twitch with chagrin and irritation.

Spoiler: Ariadne

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Seconds after the door to Natalie's room closes (her room is filled with various toys, games, bits of string, half-finished drawings, and even clumps of Play-Doh that have been left out too long and hardened in half-done shapes), her window is open, and Natalie is climbing down the drainpipe outside. She moves to the front yard and stops, looking around in confusion.

The look that Talia flashed towards Zephyr after his comment could quite possibly have boiled the glass of water that she hands to Helios a few moments later, but she doesn't respond aloud. For his part, Zephyr moves to one corner of the room, leaning against a doorway and glowering with his arms crossed. The living room is comfortable--an L-shaped couch and a separate easy chair, both in dark blue, facing a mid-size television, with bluish grey carpeting and warm tan for the walls. "Oh, please; it's just a little crochet," Talia replies dismissively to Ariadne's comment, though it's obvious that she's pleased. "With things being... well, I can do a little work, still, but not much, and so you need something to do with your hands--and indoors, mostly," she mutters the last part almost to herself, annoyance flashing across her face for a moment.

"I appreciate your interest in my wife's hobbies, but I don't think the oh-so-noble superheroes of Forester's Bay came to our door to swap crocheting patterns," Zephyr cuts in, his tone more obviously insulting after his earlier success keeping Nope out. "Why are you dragging us into your fight with the League?"

Nope

A few moments after the front door closes on you, a window at the front of the house opens. Natalie's head pokes out, and after a bit of hesitation the rest of her follows. With the practiced ease of a child who has done this plenty of times before, Natalie clambers down the drainpipe in near-silence, landing on the front lawn. She looks around, confusion and concern knitting her brow. "Mr. Invisible? Um... Nope, sir?" she half-whispers, casting nervous glances over her shoulder towards the house. "C-can I ask you some things? Are you still here, Mr. Nope?"

[Ridai]

Nope watches the little girl climb out of the window and he gets the building sense that this can't end well.

Still, the girl seems determined. Nope squats down to be more at eye level with her, whispering "I'm here. Staying invisible to not attract bad guys." The briefest outline of Nope becomes visible for but a moment to let the girl know where he is, but becomes invisible again afterwards. "Just... just Nope's fine, thank you." He sighs, then continues. "I promised I'd stay in this spot. I don't want you to get in trouble with your dad."

He looks to the little girl and the front door. Can't bring himself to just brush her off. "But sure. Just a few questions, though, please. Then you'll climb back to your room before your dad finds out, promise?" Nope doesn't like getting shouted at or insulted, but he likes it even less if that happens to other people because of him. Naturally, Nope is also watching the front door, and listening to things like one of Natalie's parents going up the stairs or knocking on her door and the like to bring her back to her room instantly and return to his spot.

[Dorni]

Helios narrowed his eyes at Zephyr. "We didn't start this or put up the dome, sir. We just don't like bullies." Helios responded with a very direct look.

His expression softened looking back to Talia. "Actually, in a way the stitching is why we're here. One of Manchineel's servants - Abel - wears a scarf. Faded, red, with a part of a name sewn in. We think it belonged to Nathan. We're wondering if you know anything about it."

[Abracadangit]

With Helios having asked the question they came here to ask, Kal instead turns her attentions to getting Zephyr to calm down, even if only a little.

"I understand your apprehension. We all have people we wish to protect, Mr. Magro. And that is why I am giving you and your family this."

Kal produces a small needle, and gestures arcanely with her fingers as a short length of red thread knots itself around the eye. "If any of you, for any reason, feel as though you are in need of protection, hold this needle in one hand and pull the thread with the other. It is tied to the threads in my soul, Mr. Magro. That means it is impossible for me to ignore. I cannot let it 'go to voicemail,' hnn, hnn, hnn. It will wake me in the night, if that is when you need my aid. I trust you not to abuse it, and in return..."

She holds the needle out to Zephyr, and waits patiently for him to take it.

"...I need you to trust us, now. We only wish to see an end to the suffering."

Spoiler: OOC

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Adding "Strings Attached" Complication to Ariadne's sheet, in the OOC thread.