Iron Station Savage Masks IC IV

[PK-Leon]

December 2nd

“The shadow that appeared beneath him at the pawn shop was a gate into the Void,” Dee explained. “I summoned Stolas from there and provided them a map that charted the way out for them. It’s theoretically possible he will choose to stay there but whatever flaws Crowe may have, quitter is not on that list.”

Redline's eyes narrow, silently questioning Dee's explanation, though he says nothing to the mage and simply nods in return.

“I suspect you can still take me in a straightaway,” Dee quipped to the High Octane Hero. “You’d be moving while I was still summoning the doorway.”

"I could take anyone in a quarter mile." The high octane hero asserts.

He turned more serious as he weighted Redline’s thanks. “We’re a team — even if I am here on a consulting basis — and you’re my friends. There are precious few in this world I wouldn’t skip out on to come to your aid.”

"I'll keep that in mind." Redline says evenly, though there's a hint of warmth to his words. "Don't let me hold you up. You've got a door to London with your name on it. I'll stay behind to talk with ISPD."

. . .

"If everyone's alright I think we should start heading home," 2ouis says to what remains of the team as he thumbs at the doors that materialize behind them. "You gonna be alright?" He asks the South Side team lead.

2ouis offers a hand to Augur. "Nice work rookie, but maybe you should consider leaving the stuntwork to the pros next time. You're gonna put us out of a job."

[big teej]

Training Room

Nightgaunt ducks underneath Anima’s perfunctory attempt at striking him, spinning forward on the balls of his feet and reaching out with one hand, middle finger braced against his thumb.

He reaches out and flicks Anima on what should have been her very shapely thigh. “Tag.”

The vampire sighs and straightens up, and pulls off his helmet. “It’s no fun gloating if you’re not gonna try to beat the villain, hero.” He says in a gentle tone, seeking the glowing pits and looking for the girl’s soul inside.

“I’m not going to pretend I totally understand how you feel after an hour… But are you so convinced the person you are has changed, rather than this mortal shell?”

Spoiler: OOC/Mechanics/whatnot

Show

'attacking' anima - 8

East Side

Nightgaunt’s blank helm turns towards Mercury, his horror at the fake Prismatic’s demise stokes his predatory instincts, instincts that he’d deliberately let slip loose to find him and Zodiac.

Now, denied his prey, and standing in a room choked with the scent of Mercerury’s unwholesome blood, fear, and pain…

The slack on the chain ran out, the Predator’s jaws snapping shut on emptiness and frustration. They gnawed and gnashed in impotent fury.
The Prey was still out there, but The Hunt was over.

Nightgaunt remained silent, a long breath hissing out from his nostrils as he turned to face Dee as he entered from his own, far more structured and refined, hole in reality.

The vampire grunted in acknowledgement and jerkily made his way towards the door. With each step, his gait smoothed, and by the time he’d crossed the room he moved with his usual grace and fluidity. He leapt at the door, catching his hands on the head jamb and using his momentum to swing up and out, planting his boots back on the side of the building.

Scanning the street, he sees the wreckage and collateral damage of Augur’s mad stunt, even if he missed the act itself.

He keeps this up, he’ll fit right in.

Nightgaunt smirks, slowly returning to normal. A spasm in his chest strangles his amusement.

They were all fakes.
The real Prismatic, still in dire need of being taught The Lesson, was still out there…
He’d probably circle back around to rescue Mohs and Luster, they’d escape.

Raphael cleared his throat and his mind of that trail of thought, winding the Predator’s leash tighter and tighter, focusing on coming back to the Teammate that everyone else needed wanted around.

Nightgaunt stays on the periphery of the scene until everyone starts to filter through John’s garage door. Once safely inside, Raphael removes his helmet and turns to Louis.

“Where’s John goin?”

[InTheMachine]

December 2nd
Keith
“Still the 2nd,” Grayson confirms. “I don’t think it’s past midnight yet, at least.”

He gives the shadowmancer a quick smile. “Keith, I’m really good at physics, and even if you explained it to me, I don’t think I could make sense of it. But yeah, I think I’ve grown like four inches in the past 24 hours. I can see why you could’ve been confused.”

He pauses. “You do… smell weird though. Not like in a bad way,” he clarifies. “I can tell you really did go somewhere not here though.”

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re back, even if I didn’t know you were gone,” Grayson says. “Nora says that Mercury and Zodiac are safely back at your base, so no need to worry there.”

West Side Base
Mercury gives 2ouis a slight nod. “I’m fine. Nothing the angels can’t fix.”

Once the team is safely through the door back at the base, Drake lets his armor absorb back into his skin and quickly makes his way up the stairs, searching for Yuki.

[Roguewolf]

December 2nd
Keith
“Still the 2nd,” Grayson confirms. “I don’t think it’s past midnight yet, at least.”

He gives the shadowmancer a quick smile. “Keith, I’m really good at physics, and even if you explained it to me, I don’t think I could make sense of it. But yeah, I think I’ve grown like four inches in the past 24 hours. I can see why you could’ve been confused.”

He pauses. “You do… smell weird though. Not like in a bad way,” he clarifies. “I can tell you really did go somewhere not here though.”

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re back, even if I didn’t know you were gone,” Grayson says. “Nora says that Mercury and Zodiac are safely back at your base, so no need to worry there.”

Keith smiles a bit hearing that it is in fact the same day. Even though things were kind of weird now. He was a bit jealous though. He does chuckle a bit at hearing Grayson would have trouble with the physics too. Especially considering that last semester he had asked for a ton of help on math homework!

"Considerin' you're one of the best I know with physics, I don't even know if I could coherently explain it." He checked the height difference again and nodded. Then smirked a bit. "I won't lie, I'm a bit jealous. I go away for so long and you get taller. My hair just gets longer." He couldn't help but laugh a bit.

At the mention of the smell, he grimaced a bit before hearing the "not in a bad way" comment. Though he did feel the desperate need for a shower. He looked down at his hands a moment when Grayson said that he could tell he had been somewhere else. He just nodded.

"It was so surreal. Like something else in me awakened." He started before looking up at his best friend. "I learned a lot about who I am, and I guess at a point what I am." He clenched his fists and grinned.

"Once I could use my powers there though, I felt more energy than ever! Like I was hooked up to a massive battery, just having all that energy coursing through me. It was exhilarating!" His grin disappears into a face of concern. "And also terrifying. Like, most of my needs didn't need to be addressed during that time until I got back here. I can still feel it a bit, on the very edge of my mind."

He shook his head and smiled. "Guess this just means a lot more training in control."

His wide grin returned. "Glad to be back, and sorry to spring the 'back-from-the-dead' thing too." He tilted his head with a smile at the comment that the others were back at base already. "Betcha ten bucks they all teleported back. But seriously, thank you for tellin' me, and thank you, Nora!"

He thought for a moment. As much as some things didn't make sense, things did seem to work out well for this. "Almost makes me wonder just what to expect in a bit. Which, also sorry if I'm holdin' ya up. Think I'm gonna have to write all this stuff down to work through."

[mmdeforrest]

City of London

“You wanted to see me, Montcrieff?' John asked, entering her office. It was a little larger than the one he worked with her in at the start. Unlike that office, this one's equipment and furnishings were new — befitting her status as Special Agent.

The Special Agent assigned the task of monitoring and "handling" him during his provisional period. The Special Agent responsible for his containment (if necessary) and recall if and when the Homunculus reappeared.

He didn't know anyone else in AEGIS proper that he trusted with that job.

Unlike Dr. Pearson and any number of others here at City of London, who would have attempted to go down the path of disappearing him into a secure training facility or institute, Montcrieff had taken him under her wing and made him her partner. She trained him and taught him and, in partnership with Dr. Higgins, helped to heal him.

He suspected this unscheduled meeting was another instance of them double teaming him.

It would be inaccurate to say he and Montcrieff had truly shared that office — or this one. He was never given a desk, for example — not that he had ever needed one. His iPad Mini didn't require that kind of space. Nevertheless, she had always made space for him. Even during his brief deployment as a consultant to City of London’s provisional team, he continued to work out of her space while she was in Brussels.

"I did, “ she replied, lifting a tea cup and using it to direct him to the nearby pot. "While Lizzie is discrete enough to not provide me with the details of your dream life, she is obligated to provide me with potentially actionable intelligence when it arises."

Her eyes took on a knowing look. "The pieces of this puzzle are easy enough for your partner to put together — perhaps both of your partners, if she has taken the right psychology courses and been paying close enough attention to you."

"One can hope she has been paying attention to me," John replied as he fixed a cup of tea for himself.

“I may not be able to guess the specifics of your nightmare scenario, which I will leave to the expertise of Dr. Higgins. My job right now is to confirm what is painfully obvious to you and me but less so to others here.

"So: Mr. Jasper Aurelius is a dragon and the father of Grayson Radke.”

As always, John noted, it was a statement and not a question. Even he had a difficult time telling if she was certain or testing a conclusion.

"Correct," he replied. "I had provisionally concluded he was Grayson’s grandfather, having failed to take into account a dragon's shape shifting abilities. Emi had gotten that right.”

"She's more attuned to Radke’s movements than you are and likely drew on a deeper knowledge base than you possessed in the way you did to piece together the connection between the Bordreaux sisters. Nevertheless, you were right to be conservative in your preliminary assessment."

John glanced at Montcrieff over the edge of his cup, trying to gauge if her reference to Emi’s familiarity with Grayson was a test as well as an accurate assessment of how she knew. Her look was not devoid of concern the way it was during an interrogation but she remained uncannily difficult to read.

He was under no illusion that he presented much of a challenge to her in that regard.

"And am I correct in guessing you remain uncertain if Karver will actively assist Radke against you in a way you are sure he would back you against Valédir?”

"You are," he confessed quietly.

"That matter is for Dr. Higgins rather than me, then,” she said seriously before her tone turned somewhat lighter. “Tell me what you can about the new dragon in your life. Three really is excessive, although such things seem to be par for the course with you.

"The information you provide to me will be highly classified, of course — ‘need to know’ or above, given the subject of our conversation. So what surprising things can you tell me about Aurelius?"

"Would it surprise you to know he expressed an interest in meeting you?”

She raised an eyebrow. "Does he parachute?" she deadpanned. "If not, tell him to take some lessons and maybe we can talk."

John frowned involuntarily. What was it about that draconic line and the women in his life?

Montcrieff caught his change in demeanor and smiled. "I have so missed working with you, Kelley. You are always full of surprises. For example, I did not expect a hint of territoriality — although, in hindsight, it is obvious I should have. It’s close enough to watching my back in the field to be a natural enough leap. Don't worry. I'll leave double dating with you to the vampires.

“Besides," she added, her eyes growing somewhat more distant. “I’m not sure Miss Shaw and I are ready to meet. I don’t think either of us would be entirely comfortable with how much we could determine about each other as we try and figure out where we fit, relative to the other, in your life.”

[PK-Leon]

Nightgaunt stays on the periphery of the scene until everyone starts to filter through John’s garage door. Once safely inside, Raphael removes his helmet and turns to Louis.

“Where’s John goin?”

"AEGIS needs him in London apparently." Louis shrugs. "Something about tea time. I didn't get the details." He attempts to keep a straight face but a smile starts to play at his lips.

Louis' expression darkens as he looks around the garage. "We found Drake and Yuki and John says Keith is on his way back to us. We even brought in Mohs and Luster without a real fight. So why is that I feel like we got lucky today?"

[InTheMachine]

December 2nd
Keith
“Weird,” Grayson says. “You’ll have to tell me more about it later when Eidolon isn’t in my ear about getting back on patrol.”

He gives Keith a sheepish grin before he shifts back into his dragon form.

Let me know if you need to talk later. You know I’m here for you.

The dragon gives Keith one last careful bump with his nose before he steps back and spreads his wings. Chilly air buffets the shadowmancer as he takes off.

West Side
“I’m worried about Drake,” Ryker mutters to Louis and Raphael. “Bein’ tortured can really mess with your head.”

“Some ****in’ birthday,” he mutters before he starts on his way upstairs.

[Roguewolf]

December 2nd
Keith
“Weird,” Grayson says. “You’ll have to tell me more about it later when Eidolon isn’t in my ear about getting back on patrol.”

He gives Keith a sheepish grin before he shifts back into his dragon form.

Let me know if you need to talk later. You know I’m here for you.

The dragon gives Keith one last careful bump with his nose before he steps back and spreads his wings. Chilly air buffets the shadowmancer as he takes off.

Keith nods in agreement and winces a bit. He figured it would only be a moment before he heard Eidolon in his mind telling him to let Grayson get back to patrolling.

"Will definitely have to. Get you that physics theorem that'll put you right into space." He says with a wide grin. He also nods at the reassurance from his best friend. And pats his nose gently.

"Probably will, and thank you, brother. I appreciate it. And you know I'm here for you if you still need to talk through all this stuff from... well our near-life experiences. Think we're full on those for the year though. Stay safe on patrol dude."

He shivers a bit feeling the chilled air. As much as the new coat had protected him, it still left a lot open with how badly his other clothes had been tattered. At least his pants were still fully intact was his main thought, waving goodbye to his dragon friend.

He then projected outward to see if he could reach Eidolon. "Apologies, sir. I didn't mean to hold up Draconian like that. And for flying through East Side without express permission. I'll head back to West Side immediately."

Whether or not he received a response, Keith floated back up to make his way home again. Thankfully now he knew which side of the city he was on. The only problem now was that he wanted to stop for food, but without knowing if his card would work, he figured that would wait.

Spoiler: Flying about and making sure things are decent during.

Show

Notice: 1d8o8+2 7 1d6o6+2 7

It takes him a bit, but he breathes a sigh of relief as he sees the roof to West Side. He decided it best to go high gear and make sure everyone was ok before anything else happened.

He landed on the roof and took a look around at first, just to get his bearings, and takes off the hood.

He was happy, to he back home, to know things weren't just two years in the future, and most importantly, that Yuki and Drake had been found amd returned to base.

He loomed up at the sky for a moment, and realized that he couldn't just talk to Stolas anymore. Instead, opting to say outloud his thoughts to the raven.

"We made it home, Stolas." He took the map John had sent him out of his coat pocket and held onto it again. A kind of reassurance he wasn't dreaming.

[InTheMachine]

December 2nd-1:27am
Keith
“Welcome back,” Mimi says as Keith touches down. “I’ve alerted Seraph that you’ve returned. Everyone else has turned in for the evening.”

It takes only half a minute before the angel opens the door to the roof. He takes a look at Keith and sighs in relief. “It’s good to see you. I’m so glad you’re back.”

Spoiler: Meanwhile, Back at East Side

Show

Grayson feels a gentle nudge in his consciousness as he practices on his keyboard. The song he writing for Emi was coming along well. He’d really hit a groove in the last half hour and felt like he’d made good changes to the structure of the song after he’d scrapped most of it. He felt more confident in his piano skills at least.

He pulls his headphones down around his neck. What’s up, Emi? he asks. Honestly, he was surprised that she was still up. He hadn’t come back from patrol until well past midnight after finding Keith.

Do you have some time to talk?

Icy dread fills his stomach. He felt like those were never good words to hear. Sure. What about?

I’d rather tell you in person, she replies.

That… didn’t sound good either. I’ll come over in just a second, he says as he saves what he’s been working on. What could she possibly want to talk about? They’d spoken briefly about what had happened the night before, when he’d been Phoenix Down’d, so it probably wasn’t that. Maybe wherever she’d went with John tonight?

He just hoped she wasn’t going to ask him to cut her out of his life.

With a shake of his head to rid it of the paranoid thoughts, Grayson zips up his jacket halfway as he stands. He was glad that he liked his clothes to fit a little baggier since he’d grown a few inches and filled out since yesterday night, making everything a little snug now. He makes his way across the hall and knocks on Emi’s door.

After a moment, she opens it. The psychic has on some soft looking black and white plaid pants and a black shirt with Bastion’s red Raging Bull on it that’s just short enough to reveal a tantalizing glimpse of her midriff.

Grayson forces his eyes up as Emi smiles at him. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” she says as she heads back into her room. “But I think you need to hear this sooner rather than later.”

Her smile helped to calm his nerves— she wouldn’t have smiled like that if she was planning on asking him to treat her as a teammate and nothing more, or stop talking to her entirely. He enters her room, noting that little had changed in the past month, other than the addition of what looked like a white flower encased in a crystal that sat on her desk.

Emi sits on her bed and invites Grayson to take a seat next to her.

He does so, his confusion mounting. Emi was acting… weird.

She pulls her legs up and crosses them, taking a moment to order her thoughts before she looks up at him. Their eyes meet and for once he doesn’t feel the need to immediately look down or away from her.

Her eyes are beautiful, dark, and endlessly deep. He hadn’t really ever had a chance to appreciate them before tonight. Before he’d been fixed.

Not fixed. Reborn.

He realized now that he’d lived his entire life inside a cage of his own making. He had the chance now to take the key given to him, open the lock and finally live his life free from his own internal prison. And he intended to make the most of it.

Emi gives him a soft smile as he holds her gaze. He hears her heart rate increase slightly and his own heart flip flops in response. “I’ve thought about the best way to tell you about what John and I learned tonight,” she says before taking a deeper breath and letting it out. “But I think being blunt is probably the best approach.”

“While John and I were in New York earlier this evening,” she begins, before telling him about the gala and their purpose there. “Mr. Aurelius invited us back to his home, where we could talk more freely.”

“He revealed that our suspicions were correct. He is indeed a dragon,” she continues, projecting her memory of when Ayrisar revealed himself to them.

Where is she going with this? Grayson asks himself before he sees the white scales of the dragon in her memory. No… she can’t mean—

Emi sees his sudden realization and nods. “I think you’ve come to a similar conclusion. Jasper Aurelius is your father, Grayson.”

It takes a moment for her words to land. She’s explaining how John had determined how this was the truth, using their blood, but he was still trying to process her previous statement.

Jasper Aurelius. Tech industry giant, billionaire, and apparently dragon… was his dad? Of all the people he’d imagined could have been his dad when he was a child, Aurelius had never been one of them. No wonder his mother never talked about him, or why they didn’t have any pictures of him. Did she even know it was him?

When he looks up again, Emi’s gone silent, waiting for him to say something. Her expression is unreadable, though her eyes show a hint of what could be sympathy.

“Did she know it was Aurelius?” he asks quietly.

“Not at first,” Emi replies. “He was traveling using a different name and face. But he did tell her who and what he was eventually.”

So she did know. And if she knew, then why?

Why had his life been so hard?

Why had they never had a house? Only ****ty apartments that they had to move from every year or two? Why had he spent so many nights cleaning up his own mother’s vomit after she’d drank too much?

Why didn’t he have a real family? Like John, he thinks bitterly. How differently would he have turned out?

“He told her what he was, and I guess she couldn’t take the truth that he was a creature from another realm,” Emi says, her voice gentle. “She asked him to leave, and he respected her choice.”

Grayson’s fists close on top of his knees as something akin to fury builds inside of him. He stands, facing away from Emi as his breath begins to fog, so she can’t see the hot, angry tears forming in his eyes. “I don’t understand,” he manages to choke out. “Why would she do that?”

Why wouldn’t she have tried to talk to him after she found out she was pregnant? he asks himself. Or when they were drowning in medical bills after the car accident and his stay in the hospital ten years ago? Or when he’d starting turning into a dragon himself and had so much trouble controlling it?

Why did she think he didn’t deserve a dad? How could she be so selfish?

That last thought fills him with shame through his anger. Even with all her faults, he still loved his mom.

He hears Emi get off her bed and come up behind him. She takes his wrist in her hand, silently asking him to turn and face her.

Grayson resists only for a moment before he does so. The look on her face, the care and concern he could see there for him, breaks his resolve. He leans his head down on her shoulder as she pulls him into an embrace. The tears from before intensify their threat to spill out, but he manages to hold them back as he reciprocates, wrapping his arms around the psychic.

The scent of her hair and her warmth, so overwhelming before, is comforting to him now. After several seconds, he can feel his pulse slow until it beats in time with hers.

It still hurt, knowing that he’d missed his chance with her because of his own inadequacies. Knowing that physical contact like this could have been normal and often. It hurt, knowing that now that his anxiety was basically gone, he could probably have forced out the words he’d wanted to say to her for so long. That the dreams he had recently could have been reality.

He sighs, knowing that he’s overstepped his boundaries.

Grayson releases her and steps back. “Sorry,” he says as he uses his jacket sleeve to wipe away the wetness in his eyes.

“Don’t be sorry,” Emi says, looking down and away. She’s silent for several moments before she looks back up and he’s drawn into her eyes again. He thinks he sees something flicker there. Desire? He hears her pulse jump again.

“Grayson, I…” he notices her scent change just before she stops herself, seeming to think better of what she was about to say, and starts again. “I don’t know if this will make you feel any better, but Mr. Aurelius wants to meet you. He didn’t know that you existed before tonight and he wants to have a chance to get to know you.”

He blinks and swallows to wet his suddenly dry throat. The tilt of her head as she met his gaze, her increased heart rate, and most of all that scent, made his blood rush through his veins. His vivid dreams leap to the forefront of his mind—

Take me.

He needed to go. Now. Before he did something he’d regret.

“I’ll think about it,” Grayson manages to get out as he turns his back to the psychic. He makes his way to her door, but pauses before he leaves. “Thanks. For everything,” he says softly before fleeing across the hall to the safety of his own room.

He waits for a scathing comment from Valèdeir, but it never comes. Confused, he looks inwards, but the dragon is nowhere to be found.

December 3rd
West Side Morning Meeting- 7am
Seraph’s daily meeting is quick and efficient this morning. He notes that Keith had returned last night and lets the shadowmancer have the floor if he wants it.

Yuki sits snuggled up to Drake, and his arm is over her shoulder. While her face is a little pink, she allows the contact.

Once Keith is done speaking, Seraph returns to the front of the room. “Does anyone have anything to add before I move to final thing on my agenda?”

[mmdeforrest]

West Side, 2:15 AM
“Good morning, Mimi,” John said as he opened the doorway into his room at West Side. “Please log my return — not that you haven’t already done that. It just feels like I should say something.”

He noted the time — 2:15 AM.

I’m back, he whispered to Emi as he dismissed his uniform.

His mind went back to his return to the Spire after speaking with Mr. Aurelius and how his greeting to her as he approached the hot spring almost had an air of ‘Hi, honey: I’m home!” This one did not feel the same, given that they were across town from one another.

At least they had the Spire for such greetings.

He caught his faint reflection in the monitor. He was still wearing his tuxedo.

He smiled, thinking back over how much he had enjoyed their evening together as he reached up to untie his bow tie. It took most of what patience he had left to not immediately start trying to chat with Emi about the night and his misadventures. By now, Mr. Shaw had likely told her about his accidental time travel and broken the news to Grayson about Keith being taken into the Void.

Of course, he thought going to his closet, it was possible that Keith was already back.

Reaching into the pocket of his uniform, he drew out the necklace he had retrieved at the Pawn Shop. The faint pulse of magic, somehow intimately tied to Keith as well as the Void, had made it a little easier to find that it would have otherwise.

“Mimi: If Keith is back, can you let him know I have his necklace — unless, of course, he is sleeping.”

He carefully laid the necklace on his bed and removed his shirt.

The bruise he got from Prismatic was smaller than the one he received from Valèdir. He had gotten lucky, in that regard.

He was either going to have to get over that kind of embarrassment around Emi or get better at dodging hits.

“Mimi:” John requested as he quickly finished changing into a pair of shorts and a Salve tee shirt before turning toward the bathroom, “Can you confirm my quarantined messages have been sent?”

[Roguewolf]

December 2nd-1:27am
Keith
“Welcome back,” Mimi says as Keith touches down. “I’ve alerted Seraph that you’ve returned. Everyone else has turned in for the evening.”

It takes only half a minute before the angel opens the door to the roof. He takes a look at Keith and sighs in relief. “It’s good to see you. I’m so glad you’re back.”

Keith takes in the night air for a moment as Mimi welcomes him back. His smile grows a bit more hearing the familiar voice.

At least if things had some as he thought, one would have stayed about the same.

"Thank you, Mimi. It's good to be back home again. For a bit there, I worried I'd never hear you again." He pondered a moment as she told him everyone else had turned in already. "Probably for the best. I don't want to wake everyone up the way we all did when Raph came back."

As the door opens, he turned to see Seraph and half waved.

"Good to see you too, Seraph. And I can't tell you how glad I am to see it's still the same day!"

He looks at the ground a moment still getting his bearings back in the human world. It felt, weird for him in a way now.

"I think there's a lot we'll have to talk about on what happened. I ran into Draconian on my way here and he updated me about Drake and Yuki." Concern crossed his face. "Did Terrence make it out ok? And, just how much trouble am I in for disappearing?"

He still didn't know how it happened. "Honestly I wish I knew how it happened." He held the map out too.

“Pretty sure it would have taken longer if John hadn’t given this to Stolas too.”

West Side, 2:15 AM
“Mimi: If Keith is back, can you let him know I have his necklace — unless, of course, he is sleeping.”

Keith had just finished his shower and grabbed something from the kitchen as he heard Mimi whisper the news to him.

“Thank you, Mimi. I’ll go see him real quick then.”

He grabbed the sandwich he had made and floated down the hallway as quietly as he could to John’s door. Knocking slightly, hoping the magician would hear it since he had just sent the memo.

December 3rd
West Side Morning Meeting- 7am
Seraph’s daily meeting is quick and efficient this morning. He notes that Keith had returned last night and lets the shadowmancer have the floor if he wants it.

Yuki sits snuggled up to Drake, and his arm is over her shoulder. While her face is a little pink, she allows the contact.

Once Keith is done speaking, Seraph returns to the front of the room. “Does anyone have anything to add before I move to final thing on my agenda?”

Keith had slept like the dead. Funny since he had been just hours before as far as most would have been concerned. In truth he was almost late to the morning meeting and managed to walk in just at the right time. Though he hadn’t managed to wash off the sharpied tally marks just yet that showed through his tank top.

Probably the weirdest part for him was just managing the hair. How did anyone deal with that much?!

At being offered the floor, Keith looks around, no one seemed too irritated as of yet at least, so he figured it best to take the offer.

“I uh….” He was at a loss for words at the time, and still felt like he had let everyone down. “Honestly, just glad that you guys are all safe. Was one of the big driving factors in hurrying back.” He smiled at Drake, Yuki, and Terrence. Then his face turned a bit serious.

“I’ll keep the info of that time short unless anyone wants the full story, but Stolas took me into the Void when one of the shards pierced into my chest through the armor. Won’t lie, the biggest piece of good news is that all the time that passed there hadn’t passed here, but I spent a good two years trying to get back. Please, forgive my absence.” He bowed a bit as Stolas would have.

Some mannerisms had carried over. He started back up a bit as he stood up again.

“The short of it is, I learned about why I’m so connected to the Void, and if not for John making the map he did,” He looks over and grins at John. “I’d probably still be caught in Nextephua’s Ashen Wastes.”

“I still have a lot of bridges to mend here, and so long as you’ll still give me a chance, I’ll strive to meet all of your expectations.” He looks over at Drake, Yuki, and Terrence.

“Most importantly to you guys, I’m sorry. I let you down, and carried that guilt with me the entire time.”

“Oh and Stolas stayed behind, but wanted you all to know he’ll miss y’all, and may reappear sometime down the road.”

[mmdeforrest]

Keith had just finished his shower and grabbed something from the kitchen as he heard Mimi whisper the news to him.

“Thank you, Mimi. I’ll go see him real quick then.”

He grabbed the sandwich he had made and floated down the hallway as quietly as he could to John’s door. Knocking slightly, hoping the magician would hear it since he had just sent the memo.

“What took you?” John joked as he opened the door and handed Keith his necklace. “I hope there were no troubles with the map.”

He grew a little more serious. “All joking aside, I’m glad to see you here safe and well. That cannot have been an easy journey for you to make with only Stolas for company and support. From the look of your hair, it had to have been a long time and that kind of isolation would be difficult for anyone.

“Now may not be the time for it, as — unlike you, I need to sleep, but I want to hear about your trip back. It will be worth annotating my edition of De Navigando Furiosa Vagaria with the details of your journey.”

[Roguewolf]

“What took you?” John joked as he opened the door and handed Keith his necklace. “I hope there were no troubles with the map.”

He grew a little more serious. “All joking aside, I’m glad to see you here safe and well. That cannot have been an easy journey for you to make with only Stolas for company and support. From the look of your hair, it had to have been a long time and that kind of isolation would be difficult for anyone.

“Now may not be the time for it, as — unlike you, I need to sleep, but I want to hear about your trip back. It will be worth annotating my edition of De Navigando Furiosa Vagaria with the details of your journey.”

Keith laughed and grinned as he accepted his necklace back from John. "Oh, you know. Nextephua wanted to play around, and Anubis had to do his thing."

At John's serious tone coming out, Keith grew more serious too. "I'm glad to be back. Well may not be the correct term though, but I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't given Stolas that map. Don't think I'd have made it back without it, truth be told." He huffed a laugh.

"Speakin' of, it took us to the wrong Garganta. Landed me in the swamps outside town on the East Side, and he forgot to mention that time flows differently there too."

At the mention of sleep, Keith just nods and shrugs. "Think after all of that, I need it too. Especially with what may wait for me tomorrow. I'll tell you all about the journey over.... well breakfast or lunch. two years with only Void energy to feed on, pretty sure my stomach is gonna be a black hole."

Keith went to turn back towards his room and smiled again. "Seriously, thank you, brother. If two years had actually passed here..... well.... guess we'd be having this talk elsewhere."

[InTheMachine]

December 3rd
Keith
Seraph takes Keith’s shoulder and pats it a few times. “You’re not in any trouble Keith,” he says with a sigh and smile. “Terrence is fine. He was a little injured, but he’s all healed up now.”

The angel looks Keith over. “You’re good, right? You didn’t get hurt?”

“C’mon, let’s grab you something to eat. I bet you’re starving.”

John-2:15am
“Your messages were sent when you returned,” Mimi says to John.

Hi John, Emi replies. She sounds quiet, tired. I’m glad you’re back. I just got a message from you saying that you were headed to London for quarantine? Restricted communications? Father told me you were going to London, but he declined to say for what.

[PK-Leon]

December 2nd
West Side - Garage

“I’m worried about Drake,” Ryker mutters to Louis and Raphael. “Bein’ tortured can really mess with your head.”

“Some ****in’ birthday,” he mutters before he starts on his way upstairs.

"Drake's tough but I'm pretty sure you don't need me to tell you that. You'd probably know better than most anyway." Louis posits with a shrug. "There's no way to know exactly what he went through back there without asking him yourself but I think if he's feeling some type of way about what happened he'll talk. Just give 'im some time."

Giving Drake the time and space he needed to sort out his feelings seemed like the only thing they could do for him right now. The more Louis thought about it the more he felt that the majority of Drake's recent misfortune could be directly attributed to his interactions with the West Side team.

Maybe it is us. Louis mused as he followed in Ryker's wake.


December 3rd
West Side - Morning Meeting

Seraph’s daily meeting is quick and efficient this morning. He notes that Keith had returned last night and lets the shadowmancer have the floor if he wants it.

Louis takes his usual spot against the back wall approximately ten minutes before the meeting, methodically typing away on his phone's screen as he waits for the rest of the team to file in.

“I still have a lot of bridges to mend here, and so long as you’ll still give me a chance, I’ll strive to meet all of your expectations.” He looks over at Drake, Yuki, and Terrence.

"You know there were easier ways to ghost me if you decided that you didn't wanna talk last night right?" Louis delivers with a deadpan expression on his face.

Once Keith is done speaking, Seraph returns to the front of the room. “Does anyone have anything to add before I move to final thing on my agenda?”

"Yesterday I got a tip from a woman I helped a few weeks ago about a huge shipment of Nova the Crowns are pushing through South Side this weekend. I plan on following up that lead today by paying the dealer she name dropped a visit before turning him over to ISPD. I'll try to keep everyone posted about what I learn but I also wanted to make sure there weren't any other plans for this weekend. If our informant's right about this then we're gonna need everyone for this." Louis explains.

"There's two more heroes on South Side's roster right? Any chance we could get them to join in?" Louis asks Drake. He returns his attention to Seraph before he continues. "I've already talked with Detective Krieger about fielding a few squads for the op this weekend and for now it looks like we've got the green light."

[mmdeforrest]

December 3rd
John-2:15am
“Your messages were sent when you returned,” Mimi says to John.

Hi John, Emi replies. She sounds quiet, tired. I’m glad you’re back. I just got a message from you saying that you were headed to London for quarantine? Restricted communications? Father told me you were going to London, but he declined to say for what.

I time traveled earlier this evening, John offered gently. It appears to have been a closed loop event but they wanted to be sure. The formulae point to some kind of outside force but doesn’t give any hints as to what that force was. In between Fate Watchers occasionally visiting the Spire, the Tribunal, and the various otherworldly forces that we are dealing with, there are too many variables to narrow it down.

Knowing that you love me gave me something to hold on to during it all, though, he added with a gentle smile, even when encountering Dr. Pearson. I think I’ll be on cloud nine because of that little piece of news for some time.

But I should let you sleep. Given the conversation you are going to have with Grayson tomorrow, you will need your rest.

I love you, mo chuisle. Sleep well.

[mmdeforrest]

December 2nd
December 3rd
West Side - Morning Meeting
"Yesterday I got a tip from a woman I helped a few weeks ago about a huge shipment of Nova the Crowns are pushing through South Side this weekend. I plan on following up that lead today by paying the dealer she name dropped a visit before turning him over to ISPD. I'll try to keep everyone posted about what I learn but I also wanted to make sure there weren't any other plans for this weekend. If our informant's right about this then we're gonna need everyone for this." Louis explains.

"There's two more heroes on South Side's roster right? Any chance we could get them to join in?" Louis asks Drake. He returns his attention to Seraph before he continues. "I've already talked with Detective Krieger about fielding a few squads for the op this weekend and for now it looks like we've got the green light."

“Tonight or tomorrow will be better than Sunday, if we can manage it” John observed groggily as he finished taking a long sip of coffee — even if it didn’t help. “It will reduce the amount of Nova that hits the streets via distributors and preferred customers. Those customers are likely the ones who have built up enough Nova in their system to transform.”

It was true that he had some self interested reasons for pushing the date and time up but that did not detract from his reasoning.

At least he thought he did.

He had held off casting a spell to take the edge off of his fatigue in the hopes of going back to bed and getting a little more natural sleep. The windigo that had found him last night was a potent reminder of the risks he took every time he cast a spell. There were too many things out there in this world and the next (and the next) that took an interest in his work and some were malicious enough to try and corrupt it.

He was ready for them but that was no reason to run the risk needlessly. It’d be different if impressing Emi was involved, he conceded with a certain chagrin.

“Oh,” he continued, the thought reminding him. “In case it comes up, I was in two places at once yesterday. Something folded time into a closed loop for me. When I came back to help out, I traveled back in time to do so. The formulae that I and others have run point to some outside source but we can’t nail down what it is.

“At least not yet.

“Anyway, the point is that I don’t know how it happened so I can’t replicate it and AEGIS made a point of reminding me a couple of times that I am not authorized to experiment in that area. Something about still being a provisional hero.”

A lot of people of late seemed to have enjoyed reminding him of that status — especially the ones who didn’t like the fact that he knew more than they did about his area of expertise.

He tried, unsuccessfully, not to feel a little smug about that.

[Roguewolf]

December 3rd
Keith
Seraph takes Keith’s shoulder and pats it a few times. “You’re not in any trouble Keith,” he says with a sigh and smile. “Terrence is fine. He was a little injured, but he’s all healed up now.”

The angel looks Keith over. “You’re good, right? You didn’t get hurt?”

“C’mon, let’s grab you something to eat. I bet you’re starving.”

Keith about winced a first, expecting something to react between Seraph's angel blood, and his newly awakened void blood. He was pleasantly surprised when nothing did and he smiled a bit. Things were feeling normal.

"Just glad they're all ok, and that no reaction happened just then. Just hope the others feel the same. Two years for me to work through any guilt, but it's still fresh for everyone else." He looked at the ground for a moment. "Makes me wonder what reactions will happen."

At the question of him being okay, Keith nodded. "I feel pretty good, honestly better than ever if I had to say so. It was like I was still weighed down a lot when I first woke up in the Void but after the first while, I started to feel so much energy there. Like it was just coursing through me and keeping me sustained. Did about have one issue in the wastelands, and thought I would be in a fight on the way back here, but it was just Draconian and he explained that only a few hours had passed." Keith looked over himself too. "In a way, I still feel it."

At the mention of food, he grinned and nodded. "Pretty sure with some of what I learned, my stomach is going to be a black hole for a bit." Keith thought for a moment. "I wonder just how much that energy changed."

December 3rd
West Side - Morning Meeting
"You know there were easier ways to ghost me if you decided that you didn't wanna talk last night right?" Louis delivers with a deadpan expression on his face.

Keith winced a bit and nodded. "Way I would have wanted to would be to say that Jason is behind bars. At least then there wouldn't be a time gap."

He shook his head. "It's still weird trying to work through how last night for me was in the middle of the Ashen Wastes, thinking two years had passed. Not sure if I'll ever be able to fully explain that." He said looking at the marks on his arm again.

"Stopped counting at 358, and that was about the time Stolas gave me the map home." Keith sighed and looked at the team lead. "For what it's worth though, I am sorry, Louis. Whatever training regiment you want me to go on or restrictions, just say the word."

"Yesterday I got a tip from a woman I helped a few weeks ago about a huge shipment of Nova the Crowns are pushing through South Side this weekend. I plan on following up that lead today by paying the dealer she name dropped a visit before turning him over to ISPD. I'll try to keep everyone posted about what I learn but I also wanted to make sure there weren't any other plans for this weekend. If our informant's right about this then we're gonna need everyone for this." Louis explains.

"There's two more heroes on South Side's roster right? Any chance we could get them to join in?" Louis asks Drake. He returns his attention to Seraph before he continues. "I've already talked with Detective Krieger about fielding a few squads for the op this weekend and for now it looks like we've got the green light."

At the mention of the plan, Keith nodded, electing to keep most of his thoughts to himself for now seeing Louis was aggravated.

"Only thing I have planned is meeting up with Apex. Never heard back from Maeve so I'm pretty much open." He thought a minute. "Ah..... guess I'll need to get another commlink and see if I can fix my visor fast. Think the electronics in both got fried a bit with the dimensional walking."

And check to see if my phone works after charging....... He thought to himself before needing to worry about getting a new one. That would just be his luck.

[mmdeforrest]

At the mention of the plan, Keith nodded, electing to keep most of his thoughts to himself for now seeing Louis was aggravated.

"Only thing I have planned is meeting up with Apex. Never heard back from Maeve so I'm pretty much open." He thought a minute. "Ah..... guess I'll need to get another commlink and see if I can fix my visor fast. Think the electronics in both got fried a bit with the dimensional walking."

And check to see if my phone works after charging....... He thought to himself before needing to worry about getting a new one. That would just be his luck.

“Wait,” John said, sitting up. “Your comm was fried? So we don’t have an exact fix as to where in the bayou you appeared?”

He slumped back down into the chair. “I was hoping that might give us some insight into the location of Bayou Yaga or Anima’s condition — or at least rule out those connections. If you can, try and approximate it on a map as soon as you can along with any landmarks you remember — although, in fairness, it would be a bit much to ask for you to have noted anything in a dark swamp. Mimi: If there is any tracking data from listening stations or radar, please plot them in a map and upload them to my folder. Thank you.”

[InTheMachine]

December 2nd
Training Room

The vampire sighs and straightens up, and pulls off his helmet. “It’s no fun gloating if you’re not gonna try to beat the villain, hero.” He says in a gentle tone, seeking the glowing pits and looking for the girl’s soul inside.

“I’m not going to pretend I totally understand how you feel after an hour… But are you so convinced the person you are has changed, rather than this mortal shell?”

“Sorry,” she mutters. “I know you said I can’t hurt you, but,” she looks down at her gnarled arms, “I still don’t know what this body can do yet.”

Anima’s eyes meet Raphael’s for a long moment before they dart down. She wrings her taloned hands together before she says in a small voice, “I guess I’m still… me even though I’m some skull-headed tree monster. I won’t say I haven’t changed though. I…” she trails off before her eyes meet the vampire’s again. “There… I…”

She lowers her head, unable to complete her thoughts.

December 3rd
John- 2:15am
Time travel? Emi repeats in surprise. John hears a good-natured sigh in his mind. John, you time traveled tonight too? Was meeting a true dragon not enough? she asks in a joking way.

Spoiler: Notice TN 10

Show

John feels just the slightest bit of guilt filter through their link as he mentions her earlier confession.

I actually already talked to Grayson after he came back from patrol. He… I think he took the news as well as can be expected. He said he would think about a meeting with Mr. Aurelius.

Morning Meeting
Ryker looks over at Louis with interest as he mentions paying the dealer a visit.

“Kenzie and Wolf?” Drake says. “I bet I can rope them in for an op. I’ll talk to Harbinger about it later.”

[big teej]

Training Room:

“Well, that is kinda the whole reason we’re down here. But I can understand your reluctance to go crazy on another human.”

Raphael lays his hand on Anima’s arm. “Take your time, we’ll try this again with some dummies or a tank or something.”

He pauses and looks away from both Anima and Stella. “Your reluctance to risk hurting me shows you're more human than I am.”

“Do you want a couple minutes, or do you want us to stay?”

East Side Alley/West Side Garage:

Raphael frowns at Ryker’s retreating back. “Maybe I’ll talk to him later.” He muses aloud. “I’ve been having a decent run at dispensing late night wisdom.”

The vampire looks over at Louis’ expression. “Probably just John rubbing off on you.” Raphael says to his friend. “Or…” the vampire frowns as he trails off and runs his hand through his hair. “I dunno man.”


Morning Meeting:

Raphael looks over his shoulder at Louis, then to Seraph, then finally back at Keith, an exaggerated look of confusion plastered across his features. “You were gone?”

“Huh…. I guess it was kinda quiet.”

[mmdeforrest]

December 2nd
December 3rd
John- 2:15am
Time travel? Emi repeats in surprise. John hears a good-natured sigh in his mind. John, you time traveled tonight too? Was meeting a true dragon not enough? she asks in a joking way.

He is the third dragon I’ve met, John joked back. It’s more remarkable that I met the CEO of Aurelius Industries at this point.

Spoiler: Notice TN 10

Show

John feels just the slightest bit of guilt filter through their link as he mentions her earlier confession.

I actually already talked to Grayson after he came back from patrol. He… I think he took the news as well as can be expected. He said he would think about a meeting with Mr. Aurelius.

Spoiler: Still thinking about earlier….

Show

Notice: Emi’s twinge of guilt?: 1d10o10+4 6 1d6o6+4 8

John spends one benne because he does not fumble Notice rolls. Fails them? Sure — from time to time. But fumble? Fumble? I think not.

John swallowed the jealousy he knew would come and pushed back the memory of the nightmare that plagued him in London. I’m glad he had a friend there to break the news to him. I’d imagine that gave him some comfort.

They were friends.

She loved him — not Grayson.

It was all okay.

It would be okay.

I had hoped he would leap at the chance to meet his father. I suppose that was more than could be expected, given the shocking news. I’d imagine he will need both you and Keith there after he speaks with his mother about this — especially if she is the one who had told him the dragon was a family curse.

I can be there for him, too. Now that the Challenge is off the table and his anxiety has decreased, perhaps….

Well, we’ll see if he is ready for that. If he is, we can show him the telescope at the Spire — maybe have Keith, Maeve, and her friend along for Grayson to show us the stars and planets — if you think he would be interested.

[mmdeforrest]

Morning Meeting:

Raphael looks over his shoulder at Louis, then to Seraph, then finally back at Keith, an exaggerated look of confusion plastered across his features. “You were gone?”

“Huh…. I guess it was kinda quiet.”

“Sorry,” John quipped with a glance and a smile at Keith. “I was busy and didn’t have a lot of time for monologuing about mysterious, occult things in the presence of others.”

[Roguewolf]

“Wait,” John said, sitting up. “Your comm was fried? So we don’t have an exact fix as to where in the bayou you appeared?”

He slumped back down into the chair. “I was hoping that might give us some insight into the location of Bayou Yaga or Anima’s condition — or at least rule out those connections. If you can, try and approximate it on a map as soon as you can along with any landmarks you remember — although, in fairness, it would be a bit much to ask for you to have noted anything in a dark swamp. Mimi: If there is any tracking data from listening stations or radar, please plot them in a map and upload them to my folder. Thank you.”

Keith first smiled at Drake and Yuki's reassurance that things were okay. He still felt a twinge of guilt, but this time, he actually believed it. "Thanks, guys." He then turned to John.

"Yeah, unfortunately. Though I do remember where it was, and about roughly the area." He shrugged. "I'll check a map after the meeting. Pretty much just flew straight the entire time until I ran into Draconian and he told me exactly where I was."

Morning Meeting:
Raphael looks over his shoulder at Louis, then to Seraph, then finally back at Keith, an exaggerated look of confusion plastered across his features. “You were gone?”

“Huh…. I guess it was kinda quiet.”

“Sorry,” John quipped with a glance and a smile at Keith. “I was busy and didn’t have a lot of time for monologuing about mysterious, occult things in the presence of others.”

Keith mock gasps at Raphael’s comment and then sports a cheeky grin. “Yeah, missed ya too, Raph. Guess things had to have been quiet.”

Then at John’s quip and smile, Keith feigned an exaggerated gasp. Hand over his heart and everything.

“If I didn’t know better, I would ask if I stepped back into the right timeline. JFK was still Thanksgiving, 1963 right?” He smirks a bit.

[InTheMachine]

He is the third dragon I’ve met, John joked back. It’s more remarkable that I met the CEO of Aurelius Industries at this point.

Spoiler: Still thinking about earlier….

Show

Notice: Emi’s twinge of guilt?: 1d10o10+4 6 1d6o6+4 8

John spends one benne because he does not fumble Notice rolls. Fails them? Sure — from time to time. But fumble? Fumble? I think not.

John swallowed the jealousy he knew would come and pushed back the memory of the nightmare that plagued him in London. I’m glad he had a friend there to break the news to him. I’d imagine that gave him some comfort.

They were friends.

She loved him — not Grayson.

It was all okay.

It would be okay.

I had hoped he would leap at the chance to meet his father. I suppose that was more than could be expected, given the shocking news. I’d imagine he will need both you and Keith there after he speaks with his mother about this — especially if she is the one who had told him the dragon was a family curse.

I can be there for him, too. Now that the Challenge is off the table and his anxiety has decreased, perhaps….

Well, we’ll see if he is ready for that. If he is, we can show him the telescope at the Spire — maybe have Keith, Maeve, and her friend along for Grayson to show us the stars and planets — if you think he would be interested.

I’ll be honest, Emi replies, he didn’t take the news that his mother knew it was Mr. Aurelius well. I don’t know that he’s ready to talk to her about the situation.

She pauses as John offers up bringing other to the Spire. I think Grayson would enjoy that with the me, you, and Keith, but why bring Maeve and Addi? While I’m familiar with them, they’re basically strangers to you and Grayson.

I suppose my question is: why share something special like the Spire with them?

[mmdeforrest]

I’ll be honest, Emi replies, he didn’t take the news that his mother knew it was Mr. Aurelius well. I don’t know that he’s ready to talk to her about the situation.

She pauses as John offers up bringing other to the Spire. I think Grayson would enjoy that with the me, you, and Keith, but why bring Maeve and Addi? While I’m familiar with them, they’re basically strangers to you and Grayson.

I suppose my question is: why share something special like the Spire with them?

John suspected his motivations for inviting Maeve and her friend were more than a little transparent and, if he was not still recovering from his recent nightmare, that would make him feel somewhat ashamed.

But he was still recovering from his nightmare and he did feel the need to protect himself and at least begin the process of redirecting Grayson’s interests onto another woman.

Even if he did not actually expect any efforts along those lines to be successful any time soon.

We don’t have to, he conceded. I guess was watching out for Keith a little bit. He’s been working to date Maeve and, after his disappearance into the Void and my sending him a map to find a way back earlier today, I guess I am still trying to chart a path forward for him.

And I have to admit that I still want to show off the Spire. Future me and the team transited through the Chamber of Doors while you and past me were in New York. The look of wonder on Anima and Stella’s faces did make me feel a little more the Magister Magius.

But you are right about keeping the circle who knows about it and have access small in order to keep it more of a peaceful place for you. It is the primary reason I sought it out, after all.

[Kvard51]

Morning Meeting
December 3rd

Terrance sits and listens quietly to the whole meeting. While his physical injuries were completely healed following Miss Menagerie's ministrations the night before, he wasn't sure his heart and mind were quite back to normal. He had almost gotten his friends killed, after all! Drake had been tortured! And fiends like Prismatic were out there every day, preying on his hood... his home. When Seraph asked if anyone had anything else to add, he couldn't help but stand up. "I need to say something, Seraph," he sort of mumbled. He looks around at the gathered young heroes, his friends, "First, I need to say 'I screwed up.' I got us into a huge mess yesterday that got us all hurt with Yuki and Drake ending up kidnapped. I have no idea where Keith has been, but I almost died. Worst of all, that b*****d Prismatic tortured Drake. For all of that, I'm sorry." He drops his eyes after looking at Drake, continuing quietly. "But it's not just that. Bad people like Mohs and Luster and Prismatic are out there every day doing similar things to the people of The Palisades. And I need to be out there for them." Taking a deep breath, he looks up again and looks slowly around the group once more, "So I am resigning my spot and dropping out of school to protect The Palisades full time."

[InTheMachine]

December 2nd
Training Room

“Well, that is kinda the whole reason we’re down here. But I can understand your reluctance to go crazy on another human.”

Raphael lays his hand on Anima’s arm. “Take your time, we’ll try this again with some dummies or a tank or something.”

He pauses and looks away from both Anima and Stella. “Your reluctance to risk hurting me shows you're more human than I am.”

“Do you want a couple minutes, or do you want us to stay?”

Stella joins the two of them, offering Anima a supportive pat on the shoulder as the mass of vegetation sits. She then gives Raphael a glance and takes his hand, giving it a squeeze.

“You can stay. I’m fine,” Anima assures them, even as her gaze lingers on Raphael and Stella’s linked hands. “I don’t know if it makes me more human to be scared to hurt you. Up until six months ago, I was just a college student. I had a job, a—“ her voice drops to a whisper, “… boyfriend.”

Her red eyes dim as she sighs. “I never thought that I would be somewhere like this, learning how to fight.”

“I know how you feel,” Stella says. She notices Anima’s gaze and slips her hands from the vampire’s. “A year ago, I was working with my mother at her clinic, helping her heal people. Then I was blackmailed by the River King. Well, one of his frogs. My whole world changed in a day.”

The sorceress leans into Raphael slightly. Her eyes dart apologetically to her boyfriend’s— she knew her situation was better than his.

December 3rd
John
Emi starts to say something, but seems to think better of it. It’s your castle, John. I know you found it and made it safe for me, but it is still yours.

She pauses again. It’s late and we’ve done a lot today. You more so than me, Emi says with a quick laugh. I’ll talk to you in the morning, okay? Goodnight, John.

[mmdeforrest]

December 2nd
December 3rd
John
Emi starts to say something, but seems to think better of it. It’s your castle, John. I know you found it and made it safe for me, but it is still yours.

She pauses again. It’s late and we’ve done a lot today. You more so than me, Emi says with a quick laugh. I’ll talk to you in the morning, okay? Goodnight, John.

John closed the door a Keith left.

He was too tried for this.

Telepathic communication with Emi had become commonplace enough to him that he had managed the entire conversation as he changed and checked in with Keith. It was no more taxing than having a phone conversation as he went around the room tidying up or doing other small things — even if holding two conversations at once would be more challenging in the mundane world. Much like working his magic, it appeared to tap different parts of his consciousness, permitting a kind of rapid task switching.

But now that he was alone in his room (as alone as anyone with an AI or two watching him could be) once more, however, he began to turn her almost statement and assertion that it was his castle (The Spire was more of a tower than a castle, really.) and not her’s was both easy and difficult to reconcile with the assertions that he was her Magister Magius. They were two different kinds of claims, after all — one emotional and one material.

Nevertheless, they had already begun laying some joint plans for the space — a dinner with their two families (although a trip to London was an agreed upon alternative).

John shook his head, acknowledging that he needed to get a grip. If he was second guessing this, he was clearly letting his nightmare get to him.

In fairness, he had done more than most today, as Emi said, given he had unexpectedly had a few extra hours tacked on to his day.

Projected rather than said.

He shook his head again and climbed under the covers, hoping that he would be able to sleep through what was left of the night.

[PK-Leon]

Garage

The vampire looks over at Louis’ expression. “Probably just John rubbing off on you.” Raphael says to his friend. “Or…” the vampire frowns as he trails off and runs his hand through his hair. “I dunno man.”

Louis frowns, mirroring Raphael's expression. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Morning Meeting

Keith sighed and looked at the team lead. "For what it's worth though, I am sorry, Louis. Whatever training regiment you want me to go on or restrictions, just say the word."

. . .

"Only thing I have planned is meeting up with Apex. Never heard back from Maeve so I'm pretty much open." He thought a minute. "Ah..... guess I'll need to get another commlink and see if I can fix my visor fast. Think the electronics in both got fried a bit with the dimensional walking."

"Don't waste your time apologizing to the wrong person, it won't change anything that's happened. We'll talk about it all later."

Louis runs a hand through his hair as he processes the rest of what Keith has to say. "You'll have to talk to Seraph about getting another commlink. I can take a look at your visor today and see what I can do."

“Kenzie and Wolf?” Drake says. “I bet I can rope them in for an op. I’ll talk to Harbinger about it later.”

"Thanks." Louis offers with a nod. "It's probably better that you ask anyway."

“Tonight or tomorrow will be better than Sunday, if we can manage it” John observed groggily as he finished taking a long sip of coffee — even if it didn’t help. “It will reduce the amount of Nova that hits the streets via distributors and preferred customers. Those customers are likely the ones who have built up enough Nova in their system to transform.”

"The sooner the better, I agree. However the timing for our operation ultimately comes down to whatever info the dealer has to share. So until I learn more I can't make any promises."

“Oh,” he continued, the thought reminding him. “In case it comes up, I was in two places at once yesterday. Something folded time into a closed loop for me. When I came back to help out, I traveled back in time to do so. The formulae that I and others have run point to some outside source but we can’t nail down what it is.

“At least not yet.

“Anyway, the point is that I don’t know how it happened so I can’t replicate it and AEGIS made a point of reminding me a couple of times that I am not authorized to experiment in that area. Something about still being a provisional hero.”

Louis arches a brow as he listens to John nonchalantly explain to everyone how he time traveled in order to aid the team in the search for Drake and Yuki.

"Being in two places at once I can believe. But time traveling John? Really?" He asks incredulously. "You're talking about something that's been purely theoretical up to this point like it's a common occurrence. Fortunately for the both of us it's way too early in the morning for me to argue about it right now." Louis closes his eyes as he rests the back of his skull against the wall behind him.

When Seraph asked if anyone had anything else to add, he couldn't help but stand up. "I need to say something, Seraph," he sort of mumbled. He looks around at the gathered young heroes, his friends, "First, I need to say 'I screwed up.' I got us into a huge mess yesterday that got us all hurt with Yuki and Drake ending up kidnapped. I have no idea where Keith has been, but I almost died. Worst of all, that b*****d Prismatic tortured Drake. For all of that, I'm sorry." He drops his eyes after looking at Drake, continuing quietly. "But it's not just that. Bad people like Mohs and Luster and Prismatic are out there every day doing similar things to the people of The Palisades. And I need to be out there for them." Taking a deep breath, he looks up again and looks slowly around the group once more, "So I am resigning my spot and dropping out of school to protect The Palisades full time."

Louis eyes open upon hearing Terrance's last line. He looses a sigh and straightens himself out.

"Listen T, I think I can understand where you're coming from..."

More than most. The memory of his first encounter with Red Light flashes through Louis' mind, her words still echoing in his head.

"But don't you think this is kinda drastic?"