High up in the boughs of the upper city, somebody else had made it to her long desired destination. Combat boots crunched down from jumping a fence in the ARES owned skyline and bounced to music pumping from earphones. The little figure tugged a hood over her head and looked up at the grinning faces of happy Ares employees, pasted on the wall and selling the latest, most fashionable, she couldn't read that. She tossed around a coffin backpack and jumped to set her phone on a stand. A livestream icon flashed, a single comment in the corner followed shortly after. She rattled two spray cans, shook a bug from one, and spun them effortlessly across her palms before squeezing the valves. An explosion of red and blue obscured the wall.

Somewhere below, a briefcase exchanged hands.

Not too far from the trade, another briefcase was dropped on the cafe table of a lawyer finishing his breakfast. He did not look for the source of the gift, but did not appear surprised by its appearance. He placed his unfinished croissant down and took up the case, leaving his own case of work by his seat.

Pairs of polished leather lined up side by side, converging in on the square before the ARES Courthouse. Rolex watches, leather boots, black suitcases. The monotony of grey suits and passionless strides completely contrasted the boogie getting down on top of the neighboring building. The girl grooved her way through a cloud of colour, paint everywhere, on her hoodie, her schoolgirl skirt, the caution tape around her thighs.

The numbers below multiplied, in the screens of phones capturing the action as they crossed through each other in diagonal lines - disciplined, practiced lines. "Is it a flash mob?" somebody asked in the eager crowd. More comments popped up across the girl's livestream. She pressed herself against the sticky paint like a hug, leaving her imprint.

The lawyers stopped. In a pattern, one not discernable quite yet. They looked on with blank faces. Then all in identical motions, they lifted their suitcases up, and dropped them open, for the crowd to see.

2… 1.

Right before they exploded, it looked as if they'd woken up.

The girl pulled her earphones off and looked over her shoulder. Screams and wails were coming from below. The livestream could hear them too, given how the chat was popping off. She jogged towards the chaos, reeled back for the phone, then leaned with it over the edge of the building to take the sight in below. Just a few seconds passed before she clicked the livestream off.

She stared at it alone now. Some unlucky few who had been close by disrupted the scene with their remains, but the main picture was clear. Where every lawyer had stood, the blood that remained spelled -

D I E A R E S

"Oh no..." the girl brought a hand to her mouth in horror. "That's... really lame."

“Oh, excuse me!”

The third citizen to brush up against her apologised, and Umbri flinched just as she did the two times before them. She hobbled through the streets with a piece of wood she’d picked up, overwhelmed by the noise. It wasn’t that Northbridge didn’t have noise. She was used to the honking, the shouting, the techno buzz and robbery of a nail salon down the street. Shieldtown was loud, but with a different song despite its hard grey exterior. The streets were alive with laughter, commerce… comradery? The atmosphere light and friendly. People still eyed her up as she struggled to walk past them - she looked like she'd crawled from a massacre and clearly didn't belong here after all - but something was different. She wasn't being hunted. They were concerned.

She didn’t trust it.

“Did she take anything?” She urged the eyes on the back of her head.

“No,” Temujin replied, his flat tone tilted with the annoyance of repetition. “The Threshers keep everyone on their toes and out of each other’s pockets.” He looked up, watching the skull of a tusked, thick-boned beast, mounted above an establishment coloured with smoke and drying meat. A green tone coloured Temujin’s next words, “The prosperity the monsters bring doesn’t hurt either.”

Umbri nodded, eyed a party of people wearing armour made from monster leather and repurposed metal scraps, tried believing him, then cringed and frisked her pockets. “Are you sure? I felt a tug on my-”

“Small wonder that so many of the Collective call this place home. Fat, rich, cushy… an easy road to an easy life for wannabe heroes. PAH!”

“I’m going to check my bag.”

Temujin turned his head, his attention diverted from another prolonged rant. “Huh? No offence, but is there anything worth stealing on you?”

Umbri’s face went white. Her hands clenched around the items in her pockets. “I have clat on me, dick.” She shifted her eyes over her shoulder. “Anyway, those thieves hit the jackpot in your guts back there, so maybe you should keep a better eye on these scavs. For yourself.”

Temujin cringed. “Don’t remind me.”

“Mm. Left or right up here?”

“...No idea. I can’t see shit.”

Umbri sighed, rolled her eyes and turned in an exaggerated, swaying motion.

“Go left.”

Umbri had already chaperoned Temujin through this unfamiliar, suspiciously chummy environment for about twenty minutes since getting off at the station. They’d fled the scene of the crime with Stake, slipping through the chaos of screaming passengers rushing out from the meat train and causing an uproar that would pretty soon be the talk of the entire town, probably. Fifty Rats blended into mince meat and a couple dead civilians was a hard miss, maybe enough to overshadow the missing cargo. Stake split up with Umbri and Temujin away not long after they arrived. “Easier to keep the Corpos off our scent that way,” he suggested, though he made sure to gift Umbri’s hand with a parting kiss. She could feel his fangs against her knuckles. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“Is this your first time out of Northbridge?” Temujin suddenly asked, breaking up the quiet of a one-way road. The inclined path did not make her journey faster, or more comfortable.

“Not exactly,” she mustered a reply, breathing deeply through the incline. “I’ve got clients up-top, so I’ve seen the world out there, it’s just… I guess it’s the first time out with my body.” She paused, feeling the answer left questions. “Most of my work is holographic,” she added.

“...Huh.” Temujin was silent again for a time, but he couldn’t hide the curiosity from his tone. “Holographic. You’d think your clients can just mess around with a computer program instead.”

“Loses the human touch. No AI can replicate that.”

“‘The human touch’...” Temujin’s voice and sight trailed off into the distance. “I wonder what that’s like.”

“Well, pay me and I can show it to you.” Umbri teased like second nature. She immediately shut her mouth and reviewed the words that had just come out of it. Now her head was hot. "I don't want to talk about work anymore."

"That will be best," Temujin replied without missing a beat. He kept his eyes on their surroundings. Warm fires. Soft shades of sun-touched walls. The cooling embrace of morning mist. It almost escaped him that they were underground, and still beneath a false sky and sun.

Five more minutes passed, and they approached the eastern side of the wall, adorned with dune-coloured buildings, roofs of tarps and wires, and a water wheel spinning in the corner. "Do you see it?" Temujin asked. 'It' was horizontal in construction, with a half-opened roller door from which a chorus of hammer strikes, buzzing saws, and various mechanical cranks and squeaks came forth. A sign swayed clumsily just beneath the door, chiselled into the shape of an anvil, featuring a rustic serif font - "Black Iron Workshop."

A woman emerged from beneath the roller door, carrying a box of scrap marked 'RECYCLE'. Petite, with brown hair tied into a ponytail, and a cap that repeated the workshop's logo. Dirt and grease clung to her face and the jumpsuit she wore by the waist. "Hey, Ed? While you're out, can ya grab us a new case of oil? Yeah, we're down to the bottom of the tank," she exhaled, tossing the contents of the box to a bin just out of sight. "No, I ain't forgotten, Strix's wired lance repairs are due tonight. I gave the job to Koba."

The woman looked up as she noticed Umbri. She flashed a polite smile, but her eyes were wide and staring. She held a hand over her earpiece. "Yeah. Uh huh. You too. Byeee." And shut it off with a flick as she hastened her steps towards Umbri. "Howdy… stranger!" She stiffened straight, and tried her best not to stare at the dishevelled stranger before her. "Welcome to the Black Iron Workshop, how can I help you- ohmygod are you okay??"

"Ako? Is that you?" Temujin spoke up. "Huh?" The woman quirked both her brows and leaned closer, tilting left, then right, to peek behind Umbri's back. "Temujin! What happened?!” She leaned back, her face paled with horror. “I just fixed ya two days ago!”

Temujin grunted, "Look, there's no time! She was hit by a Thresher. Poison.” Ako brought two hands to her temple. “Okay! But I’m a mechanic, I fix machines, not people!” She took a deep breath, shook her head, and beckoned them inside. “Come in, I’ll make a call and you can sit down, at least.”

Somewhere between their fussing around, Umbri’s vision started to blur. The familiarity between Temujin and this woman, and the workshop that looked just as he’d described, was drawing a cushion of safety around her. The safer she felt, the less strong her body had to be, until her mind was drifting and she was swaying on her feet.

“Catch me,” was all she managed before she collapsed forwards.

Through the roller door and away from the sun-kissed warmth of Shieldtown. The air here was thick with the scent of steel and dust. Fluorescent lights hung over tables strewn about with all sorts of limbs; hands, arms, fingers, an entire leg. Some resembled little more than bones made of metal. Others were more intricate, layered like muscles, and painted to imitate real human skin. A blacksmith hunched over a grindstone a few metres away, with a tattered apron over his bodysuit, his head of unkempt, ginger mane seeming aglow against the sparks. A heavyset woman walked past him, sighing as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Ugh. Screw Jean, I’m stuck here covering for his ass whilst the Big Man has his hoedown!” The blacksmith did not divert from his work, his eyes squinting from the sparks. “Why bother? You’ve seen it yourself, Aegis wins every time. Where’s the fun in that?” he mumbled beneath his overgrown mustache.

“Hey. Hey, Graham! Where did you put the remote?” The woman shouted, having bolted over to a nearby, wall-mounted TV. Her voice was positively high with glee. “Didn’t you hear that roar? Oh man, it sounded like Scarhide! We need to put on the livestream!!”

The man's gaze flicked over for a second. “I don’t think there’s one this month. Haven’t you heard 'bout what they found at the station?”

Umbri passed through the lively conversation. To her left were screens that shone with cyan light and looped various texts, spreadsheets, and anatomical charts. And to her right, a series of shelves, displaying all manners of cyberware floating in glass cases, a holograph of a human skull and some text flickering to contextualise their placement and function. Infrared eyes, reinforced eardrums, a replacement frontal lobe… and just over the corner of the shelf, a framed certificate of ethical business and licence, approved by the Texas Medical Board, dated all the way to 2030.

“Here we go,” Ako exhaled as she bent down and helped Umbri to a seat, in front of a table with a flesh-like arm that had been opened up and inlaid with chrome bits. Clicks followed as Ako opened up Umbri's harness, her brows knitting at some straps which had gotten tangled up. "Koba! Come over here and help me out."

A shape sauntered behind the wall, with limbs that reached below his knees. Thick, coarse hair grew around his hands, feet, and an elongated, simian face. He looked between Umbri and Ako, grunted, and lurched over to grab Temujin. The ninja flinched. "Careful, hey! Watch the spleen!"

“I’ll get you some sweet tea, okay?” Ako said to Umbri, wiping the blood and sweat off her brow with a cloth. Koba set Temujin on a table across her, his back propped against the wall. The ape-man rapped his knuckles against the ninja's chestplate, then walked away.

Temujin slowly turned his head towards Umbri. "I can't believe we actually made it here…" He hesitated for a moment, then added, "...Good work. Seriously." Still begrudging. Still sincere. "...And thank you. For not leaving me behind."

Umbri tore her attention away from all of the Chrome surrounding them. To her, it felt like she was stuck in the Chrome equivalent of a meth lab. She pushed it down and gave him a drowsy smile.

“Thank you,” she returned. “You saved my life. It might not be a big deal to you, you’re a Rogue and it’s just the job, but it’s - I would have died. That’s massive. You know, even sharks stay by your side if you free them from a hook.” She shuffled in slight discomfort, chin dipped. “I don’t think I’m done owing you."

Temujin scoffed. She could hear a smile in his voice. "That's generous of you. Most people never give it a second thought." He glanced away, and his voice softened. "And I never expect them to." Temujin stared into the distance, reflecting. A corpse slumped against a dark alley. A field of red and dust beneath a foreign sun. "I did horrible things for Ares. I don't remember them, but I… know I did." He scoffed again, more bitter this time. "I'm not naive. The lives I saved won't make up for those I took, especially…"

Silence. Any further thoughts he had were stopped in their tracks. Temujin slowly lowered his gaze and shook his head. "...Hmph." He buried those thoughts within him, and buried them deep. “I have regrets too,” Umbri said, knowing full well how pathetic an attempt to connect it must’ve sounded without the context she wouldn’t give. Her mistakes hadn’t been the result of being brainwashed by a tyrannical corpo. She glanced around the room of tinkers and tech that had Temujin sorted and asked, “So who’s going to fix me?”

Temujin stiffened. "I can't give you a name. But Ako knows who to call." He bowed his head. "You didn't survive two Threshers, a train full of zombie Rats, and Lockdown for nothing. I promise you that."

Ako returned shortly with a tray. On it was a sandwich and a glass filled with a honey-coloured, reddish drink. A collage of ice cubes and lemon slices floated near the top. "Okay, my great aunt's Southern sweet tea." She put the tray down and looked at Umbri with furrowed brows and a polite smile. "How are you feeling? You must be famished."

“... Yeah. Thanks.” She took an unladylike bite of the sandwich and sculled the tea so ferociously it dribbled down her neck. Within seconds she was crunching on the ice. “Did you call a doctor?”

Temujin stared at Umbri, in a shock-still posture of disbelief. Everybody complained about Ako's sweet tea. It was more sweet than tea, yet Umbri downed it as easily as a fish drinks water. Ako gave a hesitant shake of her head. "I called Aegis, the Alpha Rogue of Shieldtown." She narrowed her gaze at the poison glowing in Umbri’s veins. “There are loads of talented people in this city - craftsmen, mystics, medicine men… all of them live under the looming shadow of the Threshers everyday. But I wouldn’t trust just anybody to treat a wound that severe.” Ako gestured to Temujin. “Temujin and I, we’re little more than tourists around here. Aegis knows best.”

Umbri made a face. "Or he might call someone else."

"He would!" Ako agreed with much gusto. "But whoever it is will fix ya right up, no doubt about it." Temujin glanced aside and mumbled, "Maybe we should have just asked Stake to suck out the poison… if you don't mind looking pale and batty by tomorrow."

Umbri's neck almost creaked as she turned back to him.

"You son of a bitch," she snarled. All the sentimentality from about five minutes ago was dumped in a ditch. "You got me to bring you here, and the best you have for me is some guy who might know a guy?! This was your plan the entire time?! You used me!"

"'Used you'?!" Temujin snapped back. Ako backed off with an "Oh geez". "Would you rather I leave you in Northbridge? The doctors there can barely run a bath!"

"Leave me in Northbridge. Leave me in Northbridge? ON WHAT LEGS?!"

"Ohh!" Temujin seethed. His arm stumps waggled in impotent exasperation. "Ako! AKO!"

"Don't yell at me."

"Get me my spare legs, and I'll walk this hoo- this sex worker back to Northbridge RIGHT NOW!"

Umbri’s jaw dropped. As her lips pursed back together, her anger evened out into a simmer. “Ako, is it.” She addressed her without taking eyes off him.

Temujin's mask was glaring right back at Umbri. Ako raised a timid hand. "That's me… Temujin's long-suffering mechanic."

“Is there a room I can get a bath and somewhere to sleep? I want to rest before my hero gets here.”

Temujin turned up his chin. "Your hero-?!" Ako straightened up with a smile that reached her eyes. "Yeah, of course!" She beckoned Umbri to follow, eager to separate her and Temujin before things went flying. "Sometimes a deadline demands that we pull an all-nighter. We keep a couple of rooms just in case."

"Wait!" Temujin wiggled on the desk. "Get back here! We weren't done! YOU-!" The cyber ninja fell forward, face planting off the workbench onto the cold, hard floor with a 'thunk'. He heard Umbri’s laugh bounce around the workshop on her way out. To her that was better than getting a last word in.

Both of the siblings listened to the explanation that Archer gave them about the chime sound and the other sounds that Yue produced when touching items. Though one was only half listening as the bubbling pot of veggies in front of him took most of his attention. Zolya on the other hand seemed to have found a new fascinating field of study to enhance her knowledge with, mana acoustic resonance probably wasn't just a gimmick of mana and unraveling that thread could lead to better understanding and usage of magic as a whole.

"Basically what he's saying is that it isn't weird, you guys just aren't used to magic screaming at you." Raudd interjected as he turned his attention from the bubbling pot towards Archer to give the now idle hands in his kitchen some new work, mixing the grated onions and potatoes with chickpea flour and making a batter with it.

"hmmm, I might have to go look for them then. These sorts of things tend to have very interesting applications, though I'd have to figure out a way to study it in a contained environment, especially since the sound is merely a secondary effect to the magic..." She said deliberately ignoring her brother's statements entirely as her words and thoughts slowly decayed into ramblings as her mind slowly switched back into researcher mode.

It was at this point that Raudd felt like there was something missing, wrong... Yep, not enough paprika powder in the sauce it needed to be more angry red... Though that didn't quite feel like that was the thing that was bothering him. At that point it hit him, normally there was some magical 'noise' outside, but now there was none as if all of it had been turned off. A chill ran down his spine as he realized the 'noise' coming from the living room had gradually been ramping up. "for no reason in particular, Yue, could you do us all a favor and take about 2 steps away from the stone you're leaning against."

However his request came a little late as the stone began rumbling in a low heavy tone sending a light tremor through the manor. "Oooh, this is something I do know. Though I didn't expect something like this to happen. Seems like the amplification of the fortification domain is amplifying the cleansing stones haze conversion causing it to overwhelm the nature stones. Leading to a slight enchantment domain which feeds into the fortification domain touching it, creating a kind of feedback loop..."

"Yeah yeah, we know you studied this aspect domain interaction crap. Make it stop, before our breakfast spills over the kitchen tiles." Raudd cut off his sisters lecture now holding the pot of sauce in his hands as it had begun to dance across the stove top and threatened to lose some of it's delicious contents.

A thought crossed Zolya's mind as Yue moved away from the stone, this wasn't something that had just happened, it had been ongoing ever since she had sat down against the stone and had kept amplifying itself... How long did she say she sat here... Well fuck, that probably cleaned all the haze all the way to the western parts of the Undercity, and made that cleaned mana part of the Stoneworks domain and most notably Yue's fortification domain. That was going to be a mess, she just knew it.

"Umm!" Yue scrambled to get away from the cairn stone.

"Uh, Yue, hon... for no reason in particular... just how long have you been propped up against the enormous enchanted cairn stone?"

"I dunno... like four hours? ...Why?"

"Hey what's that thing that happens in Final Odyssey when two out-of-control magical storms run into each other?" Archer asked, with far too much amusement in his voice.

"Oh! An Aether Cascade!" Yue answered with a note of excitement. Her eyes widened after a moment, her smile snapping into a frown as she observed the threads of [Crimson-Silver] twisting their way around the base of the stone, threading up through the enchanted runes and forming into a natural lattice that seemed to reinforce the integrity of the enchantment. Tendrils of color shot into the stone from outside like bullets of ideation that have had far too much room to gain velocity.

For a split second Yue thought she recognized a familiar static blue dancing over the stone's surface. The inscription on the stone was searing, nearly too bright for her to look at... seemed like the sort of thing that should have stood out to her. Was she really that absorbed in her book?

"Oh," she muttered, in a much less excited tone. "I... don't think I'm far enough away from this thing," she noted, as a thread of [Silver] peeled out of her skin and joined the spiderweb crawling through and around the litany of runes.

Great... she broke it. Awesome. Smooth job, bonehead.

"Don't touch the card, please, I'd prefer not to have to wear boiling sauce this morning," Archer instructed casually. He balanced a card with the image of a red robed man holding a scepter and crown [IV - The Emperor] on the rim of the pot containing their breakfast. A gentle pulse of Mana rooted the kitchenware firmly in space as if it were held down on all sides by a vice.

The stone pulsed, or thumped rather, like an enormous bass drum. The ripple splashed against the barrier formed by the medallion Yue still clutched in one hand, knocking her down. She grunted as she fell on her ass gracelessly, pressing her lips together with an expression of guilt, horror, and embarrassment in equal measure. A chorus of deep tones washed over the Stoneworks, like the discordant crashing of dozens of Gong cymbals being struck at once followed by the violent groaning and snapping of wood.

Shards of bark and splinters showered the manor from the garden as its carefully manicured trees and shrubs began to explosively grow, twisting in gnarled fractal patterns. The greens of the grass and colors of the flowers were near luminous in their intensity as lawns turned into tangled masses of tall grass in an instant. Tentacles of color spiraled out from the manor's foundation as masses of wildflowers sprouted and flowered, racing down the paths and hills to the borders of the colony and beyond. Tree roots ripped up the ground as saplings rapidly matured and shaded huge swathes of the settlement in arches of intertwined boughs and leaves.

In the span of half a minute, the entirety of the Stoneworks transformed from a neatly curated idyllic garden into a mature, overgrown forest spreading beyond its established borders for roughly a mile in each direction. With the majority of its energy spent, the reaction seemed to slow down, though scattered patches of vegetation were still growing at a visible pace. Archer flicked the card back into his sleeve to return control of the pan to Raudd once the tremors subsided. Yue stared out the window, white faced, for a long time in the deafening silence.

"...," She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find any appropriate words to say for an awkward second. "Maybe... we should head back to ShieldTown... where... perhaps... there is less sensitive magic for me to break."

Felix merely shrugged at Dawn's admission. The whole physical touch thing was a problem at first, but considering that she at least told him ahead of time, he wasn't all that bothered! The fact that she did so ahead of time was surprising but, altogether unoffensive.
Communication! Yay!

Focus. His eyes darted to hers, flicking to the unfortunate detritus of his... Arrival. Before again returning to her. "Not how it works, huh... Less a precognitive and more of an intuition based clairvoyant! That's super neat! Y'know, the amount of research done into esper expressions is so minimal that it honestly kinda kills me. Like, you! You're incredibly versatile so far as I've seen, and apparently pretty strong to affect my emotional states! Which..."
Felix trailed off, staring into the middle distance as his volume slowly but surely dropped into a mutter-storm. The words 'potential for inspiration' rattled out at a mildly louder volume at some point, but he was otherwise inaudible.

Abruptly, he snapped his attention back onto her, wholly. "Well! Anyways, don't feel bad about it! I appreciate you telling me ahead of time y'know? Communication! It usually solves most problems, hah! I don't really mind, since, I'm aware of it now and, again, you told me. So, no worries," He reassured. Felix took another sip from his 'mixed drink' as he thought for a long moment, before tilting his head and staring at Dawn's manicured nails.

"Actually, that reminds me! Are you, I dunno, wholly skipping work today? Cuz if you are, I need to head back to the tower, eat again, and readjust my chrome! Annnnd I figure that'd be a good time for you to try and see if you could give my limbs tattoos, yeah? Hell, I'd even let you decide on what I'd be wearing!" Exclaimed the tinker. "Plus, I really wanna talk to you about literally anythin'. You're a super sweet conversationalist! And, also, I like watchin' you get fussy about Mister Asshat. It's funny!"

He stood then, wincing as the hard-light haptic feed-back once again screamed soreness and fatigue at him. His hips and shoulders were aching beyond belief by now. Oops. Should've just kept walking, be like a shark and all, right?
Oh.
Pay for her stuff, that'd be a good way to make up for the whole... Mess! Right? Eh. Yeah, and cover the tip! Was there a tip to be covered? Oh, wait, focus! Foooocus!

---

---

Jemma had flown for a while by now, with thoughts flowing like rain-water down a sleepy suburban street. The anger had entirely fled by now, and a strange calmness had settled over her like a weighted blanket. Happiness at the freedom of her situation was distant and muted, as if coming to her from a tunnel far and away. One of her twinned heads was watching the ground below, noting the differing hunter crews that were mid butcher and carve. There was a truly large body, it appeared to be a giant crustacean of some sort, being pulled apart by a team of twelve in exo-suits. Huh.
Good eating, for whoever got the majority of that share.

She ignored that gasps of those who were more situationally aware than their peers, only barely noticing as they lifted hands and pointed at her. Even if they wanted to engage her, the fact that she only kept flying was enough to dissuade any aggression.
Don't poke a flying beast that's leaving you alone, right? Right.

Jemma flew, and flew, eventually settling into a rhythm as the sparkling refraction of Lake Denton made itself known. A quiet place, far and away from anyone and anything else. Her astral eyes picked up a few creatures, darting away from her considerable bulk, but ultimately? There was nothing else but her, and the quiet lapping of water upon a shoreline.
Safety assured, she leaned down, both heads peering into the water in silence. A singular wing-tip came forth, stirring the water and sending ripples of [MANA] down and out. Ripples returned in kind, clarifying her [VISION].

There were plenty of fish, or at least, fish-like beasts in the depths of the lake. Those that skimmed the surface were fast and small, silvery flesh flashing like blades before vanishing further out. A catfish flashed in the depths, sifting through silt and murk with a multitude of prehensile whiskers. [LIGHTNING-minor-SPARK] leapt from whisker to prey item, as the bottom feeder shocked its prey into stillness to be consumed.
And so she sat for a time, simply watching... And watching... And ever so slowly, falling into a trance.
The sounds of the lake filled her, from hearing to thought to spirit. The hush-shush of waves lulling a sort of true serenity forth.

The body slowly settled, [WATER-MANA-ASPECT] drawing up and into the core of Jemma's being, and fueling a waking dream.
A temporary memory of being submerged in unbelievable depths. Pressure and cold, crushing down and freezing out from all sides. Comfort in the abyss. An utter lack of noise, with whorls of [FORCE-MANA] and [WATER-MANA] sprawling for miles upon miles upon miles. In those miles, so far away that the inky black became even more pitch, a body stirred. A leviathan, a behemoth, an utterly gigantic thing. It moved, in that lightless space, stirring titanic currents with each shifting motion.
She felt like she was staring up into the stars, insignificant enough to derive true safety in a way. A peace found only in the presence of that which was truly larger than she'd ever comprehend.

Then, like a tide, the titan turned. It moved so slow, so methodically, that eons could have passed in the time it took for the thing to change its trajectory. Water rushed forth, pressing all that she could have ever been into the now rapidly eroding silt at her feet. Light, like a city, blazed to life across a body that she would never hope to see the end of. A wordless sound rippled forth, approaching like a tsunami from which there was no escape.
It had just barely crested over her, suffusing her with a minuscule moment of understanding, before abruptly...

The waking-dream faded, popped like a bubble.

And Jemma blinked at the feeling of a wolf-sized cat-fish trying to aggressively swallow her wingtip.
Huh.

Bounding across the air, Alex made it to the top of the wall in little time at all. He was met by a collection of nervous guard all geared up in their frames trying to keep a growing crowd of spectators from getting too close to the rail.His arrival was heralded by a round of applause and cheers. 

Right. Time to do the hero thing. He put on a big smile despite the full face helmet and waved to the crowd. As he got close to the edge one of the older and more grizzled of the guards present walked into step with him. “The old cat is pacing like a tiger out there. Hasn’t tested the walls yet but I’d rather not have it get to that.”

Alex nodded and rolled his shoulders. “Best not let him think he can take over my territory then huh?”

That hit him a flat look in response. “People have been talking. You’ve been a bit off your game the last few days. Nobody would think less of you if you had a little help this time.” 

Nobody but myself. Alex didn’t dare let that slip past his lips though, had to keep an air of confidence. “I’m fine, I got this.” Despite everything he was seen as more than just the top Rogue in the area. Being a symbol on your own was far from easy. He motioned for people to give him some space. When room was made, a flash of blue launched him off the edge. 
He tried to focus. Even not knowing where the cameras or drones were there was this keen awareness of a growing number of eyes focused on him. Let it fade, this is supposed to get rid of your stress and nerves. Ironic given what he was up against. Not one for a three point landing, Alex simply crashed to the ground feet first. Knees bending to absorb the impact entirely on instinct. What dust and debris were kicked up were blown away with a quick burst of blue. 

And there the beast was.

Regional Apex’s were near mythical in their reputation and often in capability as well. Scarhide was the more simple of the Undercity legends. A hulking feline form of pure muscle. A brute if there ever was one. Colossal was a fitting description. Each step of its egs made the ground rumble just so slightly. 

Alex met the beasts three eyes and began to pace along the same path as it or breaking eye contact as the mutant lion head snarled at him. Scarhide at some point had four, but one on the right side of their face had been scared over and blinded long before Alex even became a rogue. 
“Hey buddy. Been a bit. Your early you know. Wasn’t expecting you to test me for another week. Did the Scream make you all grumpy?”

He got a growl like grinding stone in response.“Oh yeah, your grumpy alright.” There was always a moment needed to really take in the sight of such a creature. There was little hair over its dark gray body except a mane of black hair on its high ridged back. Its body and front legs absurdly muscular, all connecting to the large hump that fused into its neck and back. On anything else the proportions would look forward leaning and top heavy. Alex was very well aware though of how much ludicrous strength that turbo lion’s body held. Too top it all of,  it’s head had a wicked pair of sharp bull like horns. One larger then the other. Alex had broken one off a year ago. Pretty sure the cat never forgave him.

Nearly in sync, the two stopped at the same time and squared up. Alex cracked his neck and clenched his fists. His usual floating array of secondary armor springing into existence. 

That was all the Turbo Lion needed. In one pounce, hundreds of feet were cleared instantly. It’s roar was a wall of sound that made Alex’s teeth rattle. Scything claws and a gaping maw of man sized teeth drew in fast, ready to rend. Alex however didn’t charge to meet his adversary. Instead launching right under it, and catapulting upwards. Uppercutting Scarhide’s breastbone. 

Not holding back, a second impact of blue kinetic force exploded out, knocking the feline away from the wall. Alex pressed the advantage and rocketed after the Apex. A flurry of blue as Alex landed blow after blow. There wasn’t as much damage as he had hoped though. The Lion recovered almost instantly. And Alex was unceremoniously swatted away. Instinct was the only thing that got Alex to bubble himself in time before a set of double claws could find purchase against his armored body. Didn’t look like Scarhide was playing either. “Shit. You really are having a temper tantrum aren’t you-“ Alex didn’t really have the time to quip to mostly himself however with just his barriers keeping him from being fully face to face with the oldest and biggest living Turbo Lion. 

“Oh fuck.” 

Ok, so maybe he didn't have this like the thought. He had no idea why he kept getting lost in his own head but it was really starting to piss him off now. What followed was best described as the most demented game of cat and ball of yarn ever. If said cat looked like it could use a main battle tank as a chew toy and the ball of yarn was a superhero trying not to scream. It was probably some form of Karmic force that was having Alex get rag dolled in one of his own bubbles. He however didn’t have that level of thought right now. Staying in the bubble, Alex let loose blasts and constructs of light in retaliation but was kept on the back foot from Scarhide's relentlessness.

A buzz of static hissed inside Aegis's helmet. A familiar voice cut through the noise. "Paging Alexander Dalton! Is this working? Can ya hear me?" Ako, of the Black Iron Workshop.

Despite his current situation Alex’s bewilderment at the sudden call threw him off. “Uh, hi?” He continued to be tossed around in the meantime.

"Howdy, Aegis. Pardon me for interrupting, but we need a bit of help at the Black Iron."

Alex was just a bit exasperated and a tad annoyed when he replied. “Ako, I’m a bit busy right now with the biggest of angry kitties! Can this wait?”

“Uhhhhhh, well, I hate to say it but no. There’s a woman here. She came to the ‘shop with Temujin, and a-a bad case of the dyins’.” Alex could almost hear her cringe from the smash and crash of combat, distorted and garbled through their comms. Her next words came out quieter, but no less urgent. “...It’s Thresher venom.”

There was a pause on Alex’s end of the line. Not a quiet one given the roaring, thrashing and snarling. “Say no more. I’ll be there with help soon.” He hung up the call and stopped the bubble he was in midair. Scarhide colliding with the suddenly stationary object. As much as people probably wanted a show, and he wanted to let off steam. People in trouble took priority. The bubble began to glow with great intensity as he charged himself up. In fact he felt like he had energy to spare. How about that.

Then without further warning, Alex exploded. 

The knock back was so fierce that the Turbo Lion was sent sprawling. Before it even had the chance to get up U shaped constructs slammed into the ground, pining its limbs, neck and tail. And then more came. And more. 

Alex stormed up to Scarhide. Right to the cats face. Before the beast could even let out a snarl a hardlight muzzle snapped into existence and clamped down tight. Alex then proceeded to grab the Apex’s ear and aggressively browbeat a local legend on how much of a bad kitty it was being and that he didn’t had time to play.

Catapulting back up to the wall, he was greeting by stunned science and slack jaws. Alex shrugged. “Something came up. If he gets uppity start shooting.” He had bigger things to worry about . . . figuratively.

---

A few minutes later and the bronze armored rogue landed in front of the Black Iron workshop. Carrying a rather flustered local doctor bridal style. "Got one of the Doc's here. Have a few other people I could grab and or phone if we need it." Aegis walked with purpose inside before setting the doctor down and taking the scene in. His eyes glowed through the visor of his helmet brighter then normal. Hell he still had a sheen of blue light around him that he hadn't noticed yet. Whatever had happened during the . . . . well it wasn't much of a fight but whatever that was that got him all jazzed felt awesome. Alex paused to look at his favorite cyber ninja, who looked like he had pissed off every Ripper all at once given how mangled he was. 

“Wow. You look like shit.”

Temujin scoffed and turned his head to peek from his prone state. "You look like you should have a light up feature." He looked Aegis up and down, scrutinizing his new suit. It was a far cry from the hockey pads he wore before, no doubt, yet he couldn't help but wonder, "Why do you need power armour anyway?" He lifted his chin in a gesture towards the blue shimmer coating the thick plates of metal. “Shit’s overkill on top of the bulletproof skin and that force field."

Alex's helmeted head tilted to the side in confusion. "But it's not powered at all. It's just conventional armor. I mean Forgemaster made the plating and I have some tech in here but it’s not powered." Temujin mumbled, "Yeah but it's still… ugh, nevermind." Alex looked down to inspect himself. "Oh. Yeah I got no clue why this is happening. I think I'm supercharged or something? Kinda clowned on Scarhide to get here now that I think about it."

"Relish it. That's all the pussy you're getting today," Temujin snarked. The edge drained from his words as he wiggled against the cold, hard floor and he grumbled, "Can you gimme a hand? Been stuck here for a good twenty minutes."

Alex flipped the cyberninja the bird before Temujin was carefully lifted up off the floor by a corona of blue light. "Thanks."

Aegis's arrival had not gone unnoticed, especially after his trick bathed parts of the workshop in an otherworldly blue. The clanking of hammers and buzzing of saws morphed into whispers and chatter that made no secret of the mechanics' excitement.

"OhmyGod ohmyGod ohmyGod! It's Aegis! Standing here, right in our shop!" The heavyset mechanic squealed as she clasped her hands beneath twinkling, glossy eyes.

"No way!" A young man's voice added.

"Whoa, he looks even bigger in person.”

"Ooh, ooh-ooh?!" the monkeyman Koba grunted towards Graham, the blacksmith, who rolled his eyes and planted his cheek on his palm. "He's a big hero man. I doubt he's got the time to arm wrestle with you."

"Excuse me! Coming through!" A shape weaved between the emergent crowd, at least a head shorter than the rest. Ako. "Ale- I mean, Aegis! Good, you're here." She beckoned Aegis and the Doctor to follow. "Temujin told me they came all the way from Northbridge," Ako recounted, leading the hero down a corridor at the south end of the workshop. "I don't know how she's still alive. She's a tough one." They stopped in front of a door, one of four spare rooms within the workshop.

Ako held up a card to the reader, and the light flicked from red to green. The door hissed and slid aside. She leaned over and whispered, her eyes squinted above a conspiratorial pout. "By the way, did you manage to get me Raudd's number?"

With his eyes glowing as much as they were, Alex’s squint aimed towards Ako was hard to miss. “And when did I say I was going to give you that, hmm?”

Ako turned away, her nose twitching with a bristle. "Well, I, I…! Oh, by my great aunt Bonnie's buttered biscuits, help a girl out, won't you?" She accepted her defeat with a sigh and went inside.

They were greeted inside the room by neither sound nor movement. A body was stretched on its back over thin, fold-out bedding, still dewy from a recent shower. A wet pink jacket and wig dripped dry by a heater. Sports tape unravelled from a swollen ankle, angry and black as a storm cloud.

Wires were tangled up in Umbri’s short black hair. Her chest rose and fell with irregular breaths and a crease formed in her brow. Something glistened down her cheek. In her sleep she was crying.

Ako's expression softened into a frown. "Poor girl… that shower musta' been a long time coming."

Alex took in the sight before him. It wasn’t hard to grasp the amount of hell the woman had to have gone through to get like that. “Here’s hoping we can get her fixed up. How the hell did she even get this thrashed? Couldn’t have been just the Thresher.” He almost reached up to pull his helmet off. Almost.

He turned to Ako. “I can’t say I recognize her. Any clue where she came from?”

Ako did a double take. “You’ve been invincible for half your life, you musta forgotten how it felt to be like us little guys.” She leaned forward to take a closer look at Umbri. “Threshers haven’t been in Northbridge in forever. She survived that, then came through the train at Theta Station. Y’know, the one sprayed from wall to ceiling in Rat guts? You heard about that yet?” Ako huffed. “Cargo’s stolen, people are dead, and Temujin ain’t tellin’ me nothin’.” She threw her hands up and backed away.

“I would correct that I’m not actually invincible, but that’s not really important right now.” Alex looked down at Umbri. Thoughts he had really been trying to keep out of his head starting to crawl back out. “Why is it always fucking Northbridge. Either no rogue wants to bother, they have obligations already, or they just get killed.” He shook his head. Trying not to feel like he could be the next one to try.

Wait a second. “Rat guts, What the hell? Was some asshole offing them again?” The cargo being stolen was a given honestly. It was just looking like that week. “Next thing you're going to tell me there’s been a Ki- uh Lab Rat spotting.” Saying the Mother of Monster’s name wasn’t exactly bad luck. But most people weren't stupid enough to tempt fate when it came to that particular psycho.

Ako let out a full-body cringe. “I’d rather not think about that. The rumours are scary enough.” She turned around and walked away. “Anywho, I better get back to the shop. Gotta do the diagnostics on Temujin, give him a quote on his bills.” She sighed. “He hasn’t paid for the last one, either. I swear, at this point Riko’s gonna cut her losses and dismantle him…” The door opened and shut behind her, leaving Alex and the Doctor inside.

Letting her go with the last word, Alex stuck around but opted to give the doctor space. Pretty sure nobody wanted to have a glowing armoured giant looming over them, regardless if they were conscious or not. Though he had already been queuing up his “last resort” in his contacts if things took a turn for the worst. Despite himself, Alex glanced back at Umbri. “You look how I feel. I just have the luxury of not having anyone able to see it.” He muttered mostly to himself. The Doctor either wasn’t paying attention or didn’t care as they worked.

Umbri’s nose twitched as the Doctor came into contact with her arm. He laid his equipment out beside her on the bed, a thermometer, blood pressure monitor, needle… A mirage flickered over Umbri, opaque and flickering, of a different self. One with long, bubblegum pink hair, black knee stockings and mascara flooding down her cheeks. The doctor reached for her arm again. The mirage gasped. Underneath its shimmer, a red eye snapped open.

In a blink the doctor’s coat was yanked forward and Umbri’s fist was launched across his jaw with enough force to send him over, if she let him. Instead he was thrown to the ground with her whole weight behind it, launching herself off the bed with him. Alex saw the metal spine embedded in her flesh and veins of neon green rippling across the muscles of her back. She jerked her head up from the little balding doctor to the closed door. She was going to punch him again.

“Oh we are NOT doing this right now.” Alex clapped his hands together quickly, and there was a flash of blue that encased everything in the room but Alex and the doctor in hardlight. Umbri screamed. Ok, bit overkill. He wasn’t used to this kind of energy level. Still, Umbri was restrained and unable to thrash about. Doc didn’t seem that worried. Whether that was due to Alex’s presence or that he was used to violently startled patients was anyone’s guess. Alex didn’t really see any doctors that often.

“Lady, you’ve been through hell and back in what sounds like less than twenty four hours. You're safe here. But I’d advise not hitting the doctor trying to help save your life.” Despite the edge of frustration, Alex spoke softly. The excess light around the room faded out leaving Umbri still loosely restrained by telekinetic force. “Now, I’ll let you go if you're willing to let us help you. You do still have Thresher venom in you and I really don’t want to just let you die after all this crap.”

Umbri looked frantically around the room, between the shut door, the bruised doctor and his cracked glasses, towards the sound of that voice she couldn’t turn her head to see the owner of. She was taking it in, she was becoming aware of her situation, and she was still in a closed room with two strangers, one with freaky superpowers, and the other of which had been touching her in her sleep. “Tem?” she tried, “TEM!!!!!”

Beyond the thick stone walls, within the main hall of the workshop, Ako scribbled into a clipboard in front of Temujin. “Okay, so with all the damages to account for, plus the service charge, plus taxes and shipping, everything comes up to…” Ako tapped her pen three times on the board. “900 Clat. On TOP of your 32 000 IOU.”

Temujin’s mask was locked in slack-jawed horror. “MotherFU-”

… No familiar face was coming for her. Umbri shut her eyes and curled in her lips, holding back shaky breaths until they dropped little by little and she could ask the doctor calmly, “What were you doing to me?”

“I was just taking your blood pressure,” the Doctor wheezed his defense, Umbri’s weight still pressing down on the wispy man’s ribcage. Umbri nodded as much as she could, and even though she couldn’t move, her shoulders deflated just enough to notice.

“When you let me go, will you let the door open?”

“Sure, but you might kill yourself if you start freaking out more or running. Still have venom in your blood.” He was getting way too used to dealing with people acting irrationally. With a flick of his wrist, Umbri was lifted off a few feet while Alex got the doctor off the floor. Even without the hard light she was frozen in surprise as she hovered.

When the poor man was brushed off, Alex went and opened the door then looked back over at Umbri. “Call me Aegis. Welcome to my town by the way. Not like I run it though. I just live here.”

He put his hands on his hips. “Now I’m going to let you go, but it’s really easy to grab you again without hurting you so please don’t do anything stupid.”

Umbri tracked Aegis as each heavy metal boot clanked their way around her, her eyes inching wider as she took in just. How. BIG. the Rogue was. An almost seven foot tall and proportionally wide legionnaire with glowing eyes was in the room with her and magically had her bound with his brain. Her heart was hammering to get out of the claustrophobic blue glow and she was ready to agree to almost anything. This was the first time she knew she'd encountered any kind of powers and of course they were being used against her. He could definitely grab me again WITH hurting me too, her nerves warned her. Be careful.

"You have bad bedside manner."

Like a pressure vessel bursting at it's seams the cairn stone vented it's overflow of mana into the environment the heavily enchantment aligned mana immediately latching onto the fortification domain and the mass of runes that covered the cairn stone, until in the blink of an eye even that could no longer contain the pulsing mass of mana and trails of mana shot off every which way like a decaying atom.

Trails which were eagerly sucked up by the many rune stones in the area, flooding them with mana to degrees they were never meant to utilize. The world around the stones groaned as roots churned through the earth, wood creaked as it engorged itself as it readily sucked down the plentiful nature mana and forcefully nurtured by the magical sunlight exuded by a nearby growth stone, and stones themselves rumbled a few even shattering to pieces as they were subjected to an excess of mana. A rude awakening to most of the inhabitants of the area as houses began to stir almost as soon as their foundations had begun rumbling. Though many a man would try to take shelter outside of their homes, the rain of splintered bark and wood quickly dissuaded most forcing them to hide within the confines of their abode.

As soon as the worst of it had stopped a silence fell over the Stoneworks, moments passed before anyone dared stir themselves as visible throughout the area the growing of plants still progressed at an unnatural speed. Soon though the bravest of souls began to stir, followed moments later by others and more noticeably flocks of ravens sprouted from every corner of the Stoneworks flying with haste and determination to their master carrying messages and reports. Not soon after they flooded the manor at the center of what once was the Stoneworks, now it was more akin to an elven forest or perhaps looking at the size of it's bounty the forest of giants might be more apt a description.

Through an open window the incessant cawing of the unkindness that had formed outside could be heard, each raven their own report, and they spoke of those who'd been outside as the nature magic was unshackled and cascaded throughout, of those taken up into the trees some in person others in their houses foundation and all, of the bountiful harvest grains of wheat the size of grapes and apples the size of watermelons. However most importantly all reports began with "No casualties" to the relief of the mage overseeing the Stoneworks, people had been cut, bruised, caught splinters, and some (severely) inconvenienced, but none had come to pass or sustained severe injury.

"Indeed even after all the chaos and the bombastic display of magic... The scent of blood in the air is thin." His words carried almost like a lament on the wind as his brush combed through the fur of a stag at the side of the wolfskulled man.

---

"Well, I'm sure you can hear it as well. But it would seem even after all that happened everyone is mostly okay. Some injuries, and quite a bit of damage. But considering what just happened I think we've been quite lucky that it happened this early in the morning." Zolya mentioned to Archer and Yue as the cawing from the ravens outside had let up and most of them had gone off to wherever they'd desired once more.

"And don't worry about the magic going awry, even if it was a bit of a mess, I would consider this to be quite the net positive." "Yeah, you probably single handedly solved the grain shortages within the undercity. But yeah, honestly as long as you don't sit next to that stone for four hours straight everything will be fine. I mean it was all fine one moment and then suddenly it was not okay and that's when all the hell broke loose, nothing we could have done to prevent that... Well maybe the more experienced mages should have used their heads better instead of just fucking around with magic." Raudd interjected as he had taken back full control of his kitchen and was poaching the eggs as the latkes were frying in the pan. "Oh, and breakfast is practically ready, so unless you wanna try your luck with the local cuisine of Shieldtown or eat another Meal Rejected by Everyone... I'd suggest you'd at least stick around at least another ten minutes." His voice rang from the kitchen as the sound of hot crispy potato cakes leaving the fat and landing on plates filtered through in the background.

The announcement of imminent breakfast caused the other Erling in the building to do a rare bit of housework as she began setting the table. And a minute later a pan of hot bubbling sauce came out of the kitchen carried by Raudd and quickly followed by a plate stacked with potato cakes. "I'm more for the self service style of home dining. I only have an egg for each, but you're free to grab as much sauce and latkes as you want." He mentioned to the guests as Zolya was the first to pour herself a good couple of ladles of the red bubbling liquid with a poached egg hidden in between until her bowl was filled to the rim and as quickly snagged a couple of the latkes from the plate, and Raudd motioned for his guests to follow suit. Leaving him as the last one to fish for the white golden treasure in the volcano sauce.

A bit of the heroic facade cracked as he rubbed at the back of his neck habitually. “Yeah, and that’s why I’m not a doctor.” His voice sounded a lot more sheepish than the authoritative air he had moments ago. “To be fair, you aren’t the first person I’ve had to restrain coming out of unconsciousness. Said person was a speedster and hit like a truck so uh, forgive the excessive amount of caution.”

Umbri was carefully set down and the light winked out of existence, though Alex’s eyes didn’t stop glowing to indicate that he was still ready to use his powers. “Sorry if me being here makes you uncomfortable. But you are under my protection currently and I need to be ready to call in help if conventional medicine doesn’t help here.”

He clenched and unclenched his fists, before shoving them into well hidden pockets. The urge to call Zolya was growing. Still this was currently his problem and he had an obligation to try and resolve it himself first.

The first thing Umbri did when settled down was wipe the tracks of tears from her cheeks in two quick, almost professional strokes. Her eyes were dry of any more to offer and had been since they’d opened. Her body tingled and stomach churned from the floating. This was insane to her. Sounded like this was Tuesday to him. And annoying. Now that she was calmer that was something she couldn’t unthink. Her distress was annoying to him.

Resigned to not bother him anymore, she kept her gaze low while she detangled the wires from her head. She winced as she unplugged the device from the tip of her chrome spine and used the bed to lift herself until she could sit up on it. She swallowed, hating that her painfully slow ascent had an audience, then shrugged towards the doctor. “Well… you can… do it, now.”

The doctor moved over and resumed taking her blood pressure. Umbri still looked deeply uncomfortable, unsure of how to let herself be looked after, doubly unsure of how to behave with a hero in the room. She accidentally locked eyes with him while glancing around and instantly dropped her stare to his feet. Did they always glow? He wasn’t another vampire, was he?

She cleared her throat, desperate to get away from just being stared at. “How has your day been?” She ended with a brief pained smile.

There was a shrug from the armored rogue. “Kinda eventful so far. Had to deal with an edgy black and red costumed teen thinking he was intimidating with a cracking voice. Made him help clean up the property damage he caused.” Then he held up a finger as he continued. “And then Scarhide decided it was time to test Shieldtown’s wall facing the wilds, and I’m kinda the only person here able to really challenge that freakishly huge cat without wasting dozens of rounds of munitions.” There was a sudden pause as realization dawned on him. “Wait, I don't even know if you know what I’m talking about. Shit does everyone know what an Apex is? Double wait, does everyone even know what a Turbo Lion is?” Umbri looked on blankly, and slowly began to shake her head. This guy’s Rogue career was very different from what she knew of Temujin.

He half a hand to his helmet as if he were in thought. Just before Alex could begin to elaborate before getting an answer there was a deep gurgle growl that came from Alex. Specifically his gut.

There was an awkward pause.

“ . . . Shit, guess it's food time.” He fiddled with some of the straps on his breastplate to make some space and slid a rather compact looking backpack that was hidden under the plating’s back shell. A motion to sit down was met with a soft glowing chair that appeared beneath him before he would have crashed onto the floor. Two lunch boxes were retrieved from the bag and sat on his lap. The first one revealed a rather stuffed sandwich cut in half. Almost picturesque with crisp lettuce, tomato, chicken and all the fixings. Kettle chips were nestled in the next tray, which didn’t look store bought. The other box held a more traditional bento meal. Rice and an assortment of tempura. Mostly seafood with some veggies. Two cups to the side were simply labelled “sauce” and “spicy”. The box it came in had to be some form of tech because it was steaming when opened. Alex was just about to crack one open before remembering that he wasn’t alone in this room.

A nervous laugh escaped him. “Uh, hungry? I got sandwiches and bento. Some other snacks too but homemade stuff is always better. I think I remembered my soup thermos . . . Oooor I left it on the counter at home. Again.” His voice was sheepish again and he was rubbing the back of his neck once more.

Umbri regarded the boxes silently before pointing at the sandwich. She could definitely believe that he would’ve chowed down on these full sized meals no problem. She watched his helmet as the box was passed over, the thought obvious on her face. He can’t eat without taking that off. She was openly staring at the whereabouts of his mouth, only glancing down to briefly thumb through the sandwich’s contents. I guess he’s already started to take it off anyway.

As she raised the sandwich to take a bite, the doctor’s voice warned her, “You shouldn’t start eating before I’ve taken your blood.”

Umbri blinked. “... You’re taking what-!” Her head was twisted back to facing forward and she felt something slide into the base of her neck. “Ow!” The doctor pulled away and Umbri caught the needle full of her blood, the red and green swirling together into a dark swampy shade. Umbri was stunned as he just walked away from her without a word. “Will you tell me what you’re doing with that?” she demanded.
“I’m going to isolate the venom from your blood, get a sample of what we’re dealing with. Hopefully the venom is something we already have an anti-venom on the shelf for. If we don’t have a match, the amount of blood I’ll have to extract from you to synthesise an anti-venom with will be…” he looked over at Umbri as he poured the needle’s contents into a vial and inserted it into a device that began to whir like a blender. An ‘it will kill you’ look. “...Considerable. Did you get a good look at it?”

“I…” Her brain violently fired off their every encounter, the flood of flame that swallowed Ganta, the way it propelled itself after her and Temujin sliding down the rooftop, when it fell from the sky and melted the wall beside her and how the heat scorched her face and she felt the slow crush of its tail around her body and - and she was looking at her chicken sandwich like it had killed her entire family.

Given his line of work, Alex was all too familiar with the look he saw cross her face. “Shit.” Food and helmet were quickly put aside “I know I’m not the best person at this but bear with me ok?” He had quickly moved close and dropped to a knee so he wasn’t looming, but he still easily made it to eye level. “You're gonna have to talk to me here because I can’t tell what’s running through your head. You look like you want to hit something but I can’t let you hit the doctor again and I’m pretty sure you’d break something hitting me.” Fuck he really wasn’t the best at this. Genuine worry washed over Alex’s face as his eyes’ glow became softer.

Umbri reached out of the memory of being grappled on the wet ground and watching the snake come closer, her reflection rippling in the puddle beneath her. It felt like plastic wrap was pulled across her mouth. She tried breathing through it again, while her fingers made deep grooves in the bread, and focused… focus, girl, focus, focus on what’s in front of you.

A face. A nice face.

“I… it was… thirty feet, maybe. Looked like a snake.” Her recollection was laboured. She lulled her head and swallowed. “Spikes on its… no, that was the other one. Fins. And it moved on fire.”

“Did it glow?”

“Mmh…” she nodded at the doctor’s wary question, “From everywhere. Everything. Ah, this is hard, actually." She shuffled with a pained cringe then gazed at him through clouded eyes. “You took your mask off.”

There was probably a moment where Alex became a deer-in-headlights before shaking his head and giving a shrug. “Too late now. Besides, you needed a friendly face more than staring at a helmet.” He gave her a smile before turning to the doctor. Both shared a look after hearing the confirmation of this potentially being Apex venom. “If that’s everything you can do I need you to listen carefully. I need you to go into the other room and ask Miss Ako and the full-borg to get in contact with Freya if they can. Explain the situation. I’ll yell if anything changes.”

There was a pensive look from the doctor before giving a curt nod. Rummaging through his bag, the man pulled out a much more sophisticated medical “gun” and set aside a few pills.

He held up the gun for Umbri to see first. “This is to help slow down the venom.” He then pressed it to one of her arms. Micro needles were supposed to be less invasive and painless, but that didn’t stop it from hurting regardless. The pills were then handed to Alex. “Make sure she takes those with water after she eats.” He then hurried out the room.

Alex looked back to Umbri after watching the doctor go, less worried now. “Ok! Good news, we should be able to fix all of this. Bad news is we’re going to be having to call in one of my friends and which means more waiting. Worst comes to worst, I’ll carry you to meet her.” He rummaged in his bags with his one free hand and pulled out a canteen. Keeping the one with the pills open and towards Umbri. “In the meantime, I play nurse. Which means you will unfortunately have to continue to deal with my terrible bedside manner.” That smile might have been a bit dopey, but it was genuine.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Umbri blurted, just recovering from an almost-panic attack to scramble after all the hustle and bustle that suddenly erupted around her. She was also just now registering that something had stabbed her in the arm. Her blood sample had stopped whizzing and was just left behind in the machine and they were calling somebody else? She put the sandwich down and lunged up, using Alex to get her there. “You’re not carrying me anywhere,” she asserted before calling after the doctor, “I have something!”

She grabbed it as she hopped her way outside to the doctor who’d stopped in the hall. “What’s happened? Why can’t you do anything?”

The doctor sighed and rubbed his cracked glasses on his shirt. “It’s Apex venom that’s in you, dear, I have nothing for that. And I can’t take more blood from you, not in your condition.”

Umbri nodded and thrust her hand out. “You won’t have to.” She forced something large, sharp and rough into his hands. The stinger. “That’s it. That’s the thing that stung me,” she rushed out and stepped back, looking at it like it would just… magically… do something. “Will that do it?”

“Uh… hm,” he turned it over, fixing his spectacles back on his nose. Umbri stared intensely. “Mmm. Yes. You didn’t happen to harvest its venom sac too, did you?”

“What are you talking about.”

“...Ok. Two things. Without the sac, there isn’t… that much of a sample here, and beside that, the sample… is this the Apex’s blood?” He pointed to the gunk smearing the tip of the stinger.

“No, uh, that would be from the, (cough), zombie?” Umbri’s voice became smaller and smaller with every word of that unbelievable sentence. The sound of red goggles shattering rang in her ear. The doctor handed the stinger back to her.

“It’s contaminated.”

Umbri didn’t really hear anything as the doctor gave her his sympathies, beyond something about painkillers, and the end there “-and call Freya.”

She almost burst a vein. “Who the HELL IS FREYA?!” She shouted after him, frustrated at no concrete path to survival, that her life was in the hands of calling yet another someone, and the doctor didn’t fucking reply to her and she was wobbling her way back to the room. Inside, she glanced at Aegis, her confusion and mixed emotions over the useless stinger almost making her blind to his presence for a second.

“I feel naked,” she murmured, “Can you wait outside?”

Alex looked like he wanted to say something. And maybe he should. “Yeah, ok.” He looked a little deflated at how things were going as he grabbed his helmet and bento. Leaving the water and pills. “Just . . . Sorry if this is becoming more confusing and complicated to you. I- Nevermind. I’ll give you your space.”

He turned on his heel and went for the door. “For the record, Freya is a super healer Rogue that just lives a little bit away. Figured it would be better than you having to deal with any more needles.” He spoke over his shoulder as he passed the threshold. Despite everything there were still attempts to try and keep her comfortable. Though maybe part of that was him having a fear of needles. . . Despite having Kevlar skin.

Umbri nodded with an attempted smile to comfort him back, then pressed the button to let the door slide closed. She stayed at the door, looking at the same place Aegis must have been behind the screen.

Not feeling. Just standing.

The quiet crept in.



A c-shaped clip kept Temujin in place atop one of the workbenches. His armour plating had been stripped and put aside, exposing the human-like musculature beneath them, canvassed by seams and marred with damp, gaping tears. Ako sat in front of him, one hand scratching behind her head as her brows furrowed with a single thought. “Where in Boswell’s Blue Moon do I even start?”

The Doctor’s hunched shape emerged into the workshop’s main area. Temujin’s head turned towards him in an instant. “How is she?” Ako followed suit. The Doctor shook his head.

“I did all I could, and that isn’t much. We’re going to call in for that alternative medicine.” He was obviously displeased by the prospect. “I was told you would have the contact for Fre…”

The question drifted off, as several people dropped their instruments at once. Shouting once muffled by the clamour of the workshop became clear, accompanied by the retching of something… not natural. The chaos caught. Murmurs erupted. Bodies were nudged and equipment abandoned as the shop started to clear out, everyone rushing outside.

Temujin whipped his head towards the sound. “What? What is it now?” He wiggled and darted his gaze everywhere. “Where is everyone going- Ako! AKO!! Don’t just leave me-!” Ako turned towards him, amidst the sea of orange and black, and shrugged. Then followed her curiosity.

Exclamations of horror morphed into joy, until the shouts reached deep into the workshop, all the way to Alex outside of Umbri’s room -

“Dove’s home!”

---

Jemma had flown for a while, again. Her shape shrunken down from the emotional high of anger and indignation that expressed itself as a vaguely draconic ... Thing.
Instead, she was herself once more- humanoid with a few extra bits. Her back is populated with a quartet of dark brown and gray feathered wings. Two were used to provide some sort of modesty, even if that wasn't necessarily... Necessary. There were plates of chitin and bone acting as both armor and 'censors'. Because, y'know, people got weird about that, as the whisper of Wolf's voice in the back of her mind mentioned.

Wait. Focus. She was getting distracted as she flew. Jemma focused for a moment, letting her face fall blank as her thoughts rapidly spun back to the memories at the lake. That sensation of a gigantic titan of the deep, watching and moving and observing, but only just barely so. The feeling of serene enormity and immense inconsequence. The unsettling understanding of [that which is more than].
But that was then. This was now, IS, now. The understanding of how better to... charge? Change? Warp? Wield. Summon! Manipulate and control! The circles she could envision and build and fuel and-
FOCUS.

What to do now... Right. Go home, that's the plan. Going home. Go talk to the old boss at Black Iron Workshop, get that last paycheck, say the whole 'hey yeah, hi, I'm not dead!', repeat with Alex... Hm. Well. Maybe not, she did try to literally eat him upon meeting him again, for the first time, in years. Maybe she wasn't ready for that just yet. She'd figure it out later, it'd be fine.
First, the workshop.

---

The workshop, that was as busy as Jemma had ever seen it. Wow. WHY!?

Someone took one look at her walking up the way, stopped, and gasped. To which Jemma simply waved; and then froze as the poor woman paled, flushed, screamed in delight, and then fainted in short order.
Which was… certainly a thing! And made even more of a thing by a young man— Seb! He managed to live through his botched surgery! His eyes looked good!— turning about and shouting.
Which caused others to take up their shouting, between regulars or friends of family regulars or friends of friends… People were excited! Shouting and shrieking and laughing.
Oh. Wow! A welcome home! She was missed! That was a first. … Right? The memories were foggy, of this home place. Of these people, so excited to see her.
It felt somewhat wrong, but oh so right all the same.

Ignore the feeling of creeping apathy in the background, noting how some of those with little to no chrome were like small beacons of [manalight]. Fuel, so close… so… No.
Focus.
Focus on the call of ‘Dove’s home!’

And smile at that, push the feeling of skin crawling apathy away, and wave! Ignore the feeling of ink swirling under the surface! Ignore it!
“I’m home! Hey! Hi! Wow! Y’all are… way too kind! Hi! Hello!” Jemma laughed, smiling broadly and only barely restraining the urge to pull her wings tighter around her body. Ink threatened to pulse at her fingers and toes.
Focus.

Someone rushed up, and her astral eyes tracked every bit of [INTENT] that flowed through the excited figure. Mostly harmless, with twinges of [CONCERN-CURIOSITY-RELIEF]. They babbled at her, thrusting a deeply familiar pair of pants, under shirt, over shirt into her hands. Jemma laughed at this, staring in shock. Not quite her old uniform for the workshop, when she was just apprenticing, but… Familiar! Familiarity! This was good! Ignore the building shell shock of being recognized so widely! It’s fine!

Time drew into a crawl as the commotion reached his ears. The empty bento box clattered to the floor, its contents having been inhaled seconds before. After having the words repeat in his head a few times to mack sure he had heard correctly, Alex's eyes grew wide. Dove. They were alive. DOVE IS BACK.

Boot prints were indented into the floor on takeoff as a quarter of a ton of super powered muscle dashed frantically to the workshop. He had enough sense to slam his helmet back on before nearly bowling over everyone trying to get to the front of the shop. Part of Alex that had lost hope long ago was nagging at him now. That someone was playing a sick joke. That people don't just show back up alive and well after being missing for this long. That-

There she was.

Standing over the back of the crowd. He could see Dove clear as day. Being hugged and welcomed. God he wanted to run out there and hug her, to trust something other then his eyes that she was real. Alex had few people he had considered trusted friends, even among the rogues. And here was one back from the dead for all intents and purposes. With the passing seconds an overwhelming sense of relief washed over him. The armored rogue continued to hang back and wipe away tears best he could without taking off his helmet fully. Shit was she gonna recognize him in his new armor? No, not gonna worry about that. just be happy that she's back and wait your turn. And for god's sake don't accidentally crush her when you go for a hug.

"If we had to go through that scream to get her back, then I wont complain too much about the interesting times we live in." He let out a shaky chuckle mostly to himself. not really aware that he was glowing again.

---

Back at home. Dean was actively ignoring a few unopened messages from Wolf while digging through some of his old family books he hadn't thought to touch in years. new notes and scribbling had begun to pile up on his desk and over some of the walls now too. Active attempts to try and figure out what the hell was wrong with his friend while keeping within his vowed limitations was . . . tricky. he was starting to regret making that lazy and somewhat spiteful decision when he was a kid.

At the time he had been taking a break from his serious businessDicking around watching cat videos when he was startled by Golem popped out of the ground and slapped the hedge mage's leg. "OW! What the fuck man?! Some pappers were knocked around as he glared daggers at his diminutive partner.

He was met with a serious look etched in stone. "THE THING YOU AND ARTEMIS SAW IS BACK."

" . . . Oh. Yeah that is important. I'll look into it. But first, owwWWWWWWW!!!" He then proceeded to dramatically rub and whine over his shin while the spirit of earth sank back into the ground.

The sea of orange and black surrounded Jemma, coming in all sorts of shapes and sizes. “Dove! It really IS you!” They looked upon her with wide-eyes and wider smiles. The monkey-man Koba barreled into her with a hug.

“You look… different,” The heavyset woman pondered and clasped her cheeks beneath dangling drill-curls. Jemma remembered her name. Margot. “Did you get a haircut?” Koba let Jemma go, stepped back, and signed, his human-like eyes gleaming with attention. (“Where have you been? Everyone thought you were dead!”)

Graham folded his arms. His furrowed brows and the thick curtain of fiery-red beard framed a sour glare… which gave way to a sniffle. “Do you know how much crap we have in our backlog? I had to pick up after all these chucklefucks!"

"Oh, come off it, Graham. We know you missed your favourite apprentice!" One of the mechanics teased.

Laughter filled the air. Laughter and warmth. Ako watched this all, standing beside Alex on the sidelines. "Wow… they really miss her." She smiled. A tinge of bitterness pricked her chest. The Black Iron Workshop had seen many apprentices come and go, but few left as many questions and blue feelings as Dove. “Imagine bein’ that important to so many people…” She glanced and noticed Alex beside her, then chuckled. “Guess you don’t really have to imagine.”

Koba looked at the others and spoke in sign. (“We should send a message to Riko.”) They cringed at the thought. “Are you kidding? The Old Woman’s hanging with her grandkids in Alaska. She’ll give us an earful for bothering her!”

Koba stared at them. Then gestured towards Jemma. (“But it’s Dove!”)

The chatters calmed into whispers as Koba’s point was considered. Margot stood on her toes. “Oh, I know!” She pointed behind Jemma’s back. “You got wings now!”

Graham cleared his throat. “...Yeah, why d’you have wings, Jemma?”

---

“Yeah, why d’you have wings, Jemma?”
Oh. Hwoof. The words were like sledgehammers against rotted foundations. The question was a .45 to the back of the skull. It was all so very… Not… Good.
Why did she have wings? Well it was simple! She was abducted out of The Graves by a woman who turned literal concrete to ash and slag! And then she was kept in a dark room, locked inside a stone coffin with these weird symbols and shit scribbled all over it, glowing in the dark.
Her name, her entire life story, pulled from her lips with hooks and barbs… Stuff she didn’t even know she remembered. Rendered against stone, alongside another’s. Forced into-

Anyways! That wasn’t important. They wouldn’t get it, not really. Nothing wrong with that either! How would you even explain that you were probably permanently fused with a literal alien intelligence that processed emotions by eating them? And the people feeling the emotions? Oh and also there’s a whole secret portion to the world that would literally blow their minds if they weren’t ready? Oh and also, also, also, she was fueled by the consumption of things made out of meat and got more from things that had higher levels of ‘intelligence’, and could change her shape at will! And her memory was fading and restructuring all the time! And—
Focus! Whoo! Okay.
“Haha wow that is… WAY more complicated of a question to answer than I wanna admit! Uhhhh…” Jemma trailed off, face scrunching up as she struggled to think of how best to explain.

“Uhhh, okay so, maybe, I can explain that when I’m not, y’know, in this thoroughfare naked as the day I was a baby born? That sound alright, y’all?” She questioned, moving as she spoke. Her eyes were downcast, focused on the uniform (familiarity!!!) in her hands. So she was fully unprepared for meeting Alex’s eyes.

Oh shit. Fuck. Uh-oh. Dammit! No! Why?!
Panic pulsed in her veins, and she stumbled for a half step. Her [ASTRAL EYES] could see him. Burning like a bonfire in the middle of the arctic. Like a cerulean star in the dead of night. He looked clean, and the fact that he was glowing certainly added to the abrupt [KNOWING] that he was running better than before. He was… Bright! Shining with emotion! And so very like the beacon of silver and crimson from before. Tantalizing.
No [HAZE] clogging his veins. No [HAZE] blocking out the fact that he would fuel her for forever. A perfect nuclear engine. Just consume it. It would be fine. It’ll be fine.

Nope! Nope nope nope. Time to go! Inside? Wait, was he running at her? Oh god he was moving. Why did she make eye contact? Get back!
Ink roiled in her chest, hidden by her wings, and for a moment she was terrified of herself. Apathy and indifference exploded through her mind for a moment, as a pathway was drawn through her thoughts.

Cleave the two standing before the flesh-body. Cause panic, raise emotions. Betrayal was a good enough quick burn fuel. Venom to the eyes, mouths, and noses of those closer, spines coated in it, launched from the spinal cord and shoulders. Drop twenty in less than an hour. The [BEACON] could be suffocated, it already knew the [BEACON]’s skin couldn’t be—
No. No. Focus.
Apathy rushed away, the path dashed as Jemma yelped aloud. Her eyes flicked from face to face to face as she desperately tried to plot an escape route. Her face kept its smile though, betraying none of her panic.
“Yeah! Good cool ‘kay, jus’ gonna go inside and get changed, yeah? Okay! Coolbye!” she chirped, trying desperately to subtly get others to move out of her way please!

---

---

Näs Castle, Sweden, Winter. The ruins of some Swedish king’s fancy home from the 12th century, and home to the Nordic Federation’s Parahuman Special Forces black-site, “Valv Tre”… of course nobody would know that since it was buried deep beneath the island’s tourist trap.

Research.

Plasma?

Senja…

Every surface shuddered like crawling skin. The walls were bleeding? Covered in blood. The cloaked woman’s combat knife slid wetly between Captain Jamison’s vertebrae. She watched the light fade from his eyes before flicking the blade out through his jugular. All with that smile on her scarred face as his arterial blood sprayed across her skin.

There was a pause. A moment to drink every detail before her. Everything she constantly ran through her head every night manifested around MG. There was a part of her that wanted to lash out at this, to try in some vain attempt to change what had already transpired . . . MG gagged and shot that part of herself long ago.

Panic was an expected reaction when one’s trauma was staring them in the face. Nora only felt rage. A tempered hatred radiated from the woman before she finally spoke.

“Die Screaming.”

There was no squeeze of her shotgun's trigger. Instead, winter claimed everything before her. The only warning for what was about to happen was the sudden drop in temperature that could crack steel, with MG at its epicenter. Jagged ice surged outward from MG in a tide of biting and cutting cold. And it would not stop.

Wouldn’t stop.

Stop.

"Stop! Claymore! Ah fuck," ID muttered grumpily when the emergency countersign didn’t elicit a reaction. At least MG hadn’t pulled the trigger: she wasn’t sure she could dodge crystal infused enchanted buckshot from this range. A steel panel buckled next to her with a thunderous crack under the thermal shock.

Can’t stay here… They’d bring the whole place down, and if MG got into physical contact range… involuntary cryo-induced naptime wasn’t on ID’s itinerary today.

A flick of her wrist primed one of her fuel sprayers and she raked the air between her and the suited giant, snapping a spark from the flint skin of her fingertips to ignite her breath. A gout of orange flames slammed into the curtain of explosive droplets. They burst into hundreds of tiny, brilliant explosions in MG’s face like a box of fireworks gone awry: just enough to engage the suit’s flare and noise compensation and buy a moment of hesitation.

ID leapt through the entrance at an angle to generate transverse velocity, she trusted MG… but there was still a chance she’d shoot at whatever it was she was seeing. Fractal frost dogged her footsteps, freezing joints, hydraulics, and mechanisms in an instant.

Sorry, friend… can’t let you put me to sleep. We’ll both die. Gonna need you to sit down for a minute...

A click of her sprayer rewarded ID with a few droplets of explosive liquid, which she swirled into a compacted bubble of mana. She shot it back through the frozen blast doors, pausing only a moment to aim as crimson scales slithered across her temples and down her forehead. A brilliant ray of searing violet flames shrieked from her fingertips, thundering down the corridor as the intense heat slammed through the cold front and detonated the insulated fuel packet.

An explosion rocked the corridor, throwing MG to the ground. Charges detonated deep under the island. Men in black uniforms with that signature red A badge on their shoulders rained lead to buy that wretched woman cover. Senja was suddenly on top of her, and the intense pain of a knife buried in MG’s eye lanced her skull from front to back. Senja smiled down at her as the walls wept, fire crawled across the ceiling, and the corridor walls began to buckle. Her eyes were four pointed stars of golden-green-gray and pink with a sclera of black from which squirming ink bled down onto MG’s face.

How’s that leadership role treating you now? Enjoying it as much as you thought?

“Never even wanted it, you petulant brat.” The pain was real. Despite everything she tried she was forced to physically re-live this shit. The sudden flash bang and external heat had been irritating. Now she was here. There were white spots in what remained of MG’s vision. Her thermals had been turned off so that the cold could start to numb her nerves a bit. Wait, what the fuck was wrong with Senja’s face?

“The hell happened to your face?”

Things weren’t clicking. MG was one step away from putting herself in cryo to get out of this shit. But part of what ID had told her earlier came through the pain. Not to trust her eyes or ears.

. . . Fuck it. She better have been right on this. MG shut her good eye and made the mental command to turn on the thermal cyber eye hidden under her eyepatch, that should be run through with a knife. The noise dampeners and compensators in her helmet were driven up to the point that she was practically deaf from the white noise. Gonna have a nasty case of tinnitus after this on top of the splitting headache.

Complain later. You have a job to do.

The thermal vision kicked in. The world was all purples and blues with some reds and yellows. It took some time for the vision to sharpen into more detail. No Senja, just a frozen room with evidence of a thermal shock having happened.

Shit, she was being mind fucked. MG really hated psychic types.

Carefully, she got up off the floor and did a pat down to make sure she still had everything. She took up her shotgun and let out more of a growl then a sigh of irritation.

“ID! If you're anywhere nearby I won’t be able to hear you! I’ve had to deafen myself and switched to thermals! We’re gonna have to work with hand signs and you're gonna have to be my ears here.” There was a pause before a heavy book stomped the ice covered floor. “Dammit I really don’t want to be talking to myself here. Can’t even hear myself talk.” She then proceeded to curse rather colorfully in Finnish as she slowly made her way forward. If this gets fucked with somehow I’m freezing myself near death and letting ID figure it out.

A thumbs up poked out from an intersection farther in, and ID cautiously peered around the corner to check on MG. Sensory blindness wasn’t optimal, but it was better than whatever full-sensory hallucination that had driven her to flash-freeze the whole complex. ID reinforced her Domain bubble, pulling it tighter against her skin. If that’s what was in store for her should her concentration lapse, MG might yet have a much worse day.

Yue made her way to the table sheepishly, doing her best to fade into the background and disappear... or die of embarrassment, you know... as one does. She sat down at the table quietly with her hands in her lap and her face resembling a tomato as she watched everyone serve themselves. For a moment it seemed like she would skip breakfast before her body reminded her that she had not eaten a real meal since her MRE the previous morning.

"This experienced mage was in the kitchen, you can blame this all on Zolya," Archer teased as he began to serve himself. Yue ate quickly in silence until she was scraping the sides of her bowl for sauce fragments and eying the remaining latkes with a predatory air.

"I have a question...," she interjected slowly, looking about ready to pounce and maul the next person to steal from the plate of potato cakes. Archer slid it towards her with a grin.

"Shoot."

"Sword Song enhances magical properties... but most of the equipment I use is Tinker-made and most of it still sings. Does that mean they're magic too?"

"Tinker-Science is its own category of weirdness. It interacts with certain magics in weird ways when it shouldn't, and obstinately does nothing when it rightly should have an interaction. Don't even get me started on Tinker-science mantling legendary enchantments from lost or destroyed artifacts. Basically it's generally accepted within the magic community that Tinkers are bullshit, and nobody really understands why their shit does what it does. In other words... Yes! But also no."

Yue speared him with a glare that spoke to how clearly disappointed with his explanation she was, though all this did was make Archer laugh. She crunched a dry latke in contemplative silence, staring vacantly past everyone at the table. Yue was content to just not bring up the fact that she seemed to break things (both mundane and magical) wherever she went for the time being.

Why couldn't she have a nice, easy, safe, normal power like Luna Lightning? Hell, it felt like even the guy who generated soap bubbles had an easier time than her. And poor Felix was trying to replicate her speed with his cybernetics? Poor guy. She never told him that she basically had to become an expert in ballistics, aerodynamics, and physics in order to move the way she did.

Friction, gravity, inertia, compensating for the Coriolis Effect, kinetic energy transfer. How does she make a hard turn when traveling at 900 Miles Per Hour? Where is her foot going to land? If a 130 Kilogram object traveling at 403.2 Meters Per Second kicks off that curb to try and change her flight angle, will she be stepping on concrete or sinking into gravel? Will the suit absorb that impact or is she about to break her leg? How much did she have to slow down to grab that guy who fell off a ten story building without turning him into paste or ripping one of his arms off? We're not even gonna get in to what it took to normalize experiencing all these forces while time dilated without going into G-Lock, or becoming violently sick.

Vomiting in 1/120th time dilation was an experience she never wanted to repeat.

Now she had to worry about breaking magic wherever she went too? She was tailor made to destroy things, it would seem... Archer reached across the table and snapped his fingers loudly in front of her eyes, snapping her back into realtime with a hard flinch.

"Hey, hon. You've been staring off into space for like five minutes now. Listen, I've been a mage for hundreds of mortal lifetimes and I still don't know everything there is to know about magic. The more I learn about it, the more questions I have sometimes, so... don't think too hard about it: you'll drive yourself mad. If you're done eating maybe you should get cleaned up. I think the rest of us are about ready to shove off towards Shieldtown."

"Right, sorry...," replied Yue distantly, as she snaked another handful of potato cakes off the plate before standing.

There was a gentle force of telekinetic blue light that parted the crowd as the armored man all but collided with Dove. She was scooped up into his arms for what was probably the softest power hug Alex could possibly give. Alex had to focus really hard so that he didn't accidentally start crushing his friend. If anyone had any protests to suddenly being pushed aside nobody voiced them.

"Please don't scare me like that again." His whispering voice was a touch shaky from crying.

After what felt like a really long minute he finally put her down. Coughing to clear his throat, Alex crossed his arms in a way that made it clear he didn't know what to do with his hands if he wasn't trying to hug his Not dead friend"Wings are new, and if I didn't know any better I'd say you might be a bit taller.". He was going to reach out to ruffle her hair when Dove's nervousness finally registered in his dense skull. Shit something happened. Did he do something wrong? Did she not want to be touched? she let other people hug her though. Was he the problem? Anyone who knew Alex could tell that he was probably thinking too hard right now. A dangerous pastime for someone like him for sure.

He tried to Regain some of his "Heroic professionalism" for the crowd before people started wondering what was going on. "WE can uh, go over the details of all . . . " He motioned to all of Dove. "-This, when your ready. I will say though if The fucking Cult did this to you I'm going to break SO many legs." With that, he took a few steps back to give some space but stayed close by anyway. An irrational fear still in his head that she might suddenly disappear if he stopped paying attention. Dean probably knew she was back by now. or Wolf had been trying to tell him. Actually why the hell had Wolf not sent him any sort of heads up about this? questions for later. Right now he had to worry about a poisoned civilian from out of town, a damaged Cyber psycho ninja that was definitely not a friend, and a friend that suddenly came back from the dead who may or may not have had her "power-up" happen during the time she was missing.

Maybe it was a good time to start wishing NOT to be living in interesting times. eh, probably too late. not like they could get weirder. Whats next, actual Dragons?

Alex might have snorted a BIT too loud at that thought.

---

Alex was talking to her, and though his words were heard, they weren’t really fully grasped. The hug was a pleasant enough thing, sending skittering spirals of ‘oh this is nice’ throughout her body.
The apathetic screaming that was trying to drown everything else? Significantly less pleasant.

All the same, Jemma smiled up at him. “Okay first? Rude! I’ve always been this tall! You’re the one who turned into the eight foot colossus from ‘Not Greek but not NOT Greek!’ Thank you very much.” She barked without heat, cackling soon after.
The levity vanished for a moment, as her face became a startlingly blank mask.
“I promise I’m not goin’ anywhere. The cult didn’t do this to me. … But uh, can we PLEASE go inside so I can change? Y’know what, I’ll just, y’know, go. Be right back!”

She shuffled in place, forcing herself to look only at Alex to avoid making eye contact with anyone else. Cold intelligence noted that his emotional state would make for all but the best meals, if you ate mana and emotions.
Anyways! Ignoring that.
Jemma coughed before only slightly awkwardly sliding around Alex to dart inside the workshop proper. Her admittedly shaky memory didn’t fail her, thankfully, as she sprinted for the employee bathrooms.

The moment the door was closed behind her, ink roared over her body. Wings, chitin, bone and claw all disappeared under the tide of pitch. She heaved a sigh before shaking her head. For a moment, her gaze caught the mirror… And then swiftly looked away.
Her hair had points of blue-green luminescence throughout, and her face was dotted with freckles.
She didn’t have freckles, not normally. And she couldn’t normally feel the magnetic field of the world around her like a tickle on her skin.
Fuck. Focus.
Jemma dressed rapidly, flinching only slightly at the way the uniform anchored her. Another breath was taken, a sigh left her lips, and determination steeled in her spine.

It only took her a minute or two before she was poking her head back out the doors of the building. Her eyes locked on Alex again as she waved. “Right… Hey! If you’re not one of the two enormous men I for sure know and worked with, or any of the people who worked here, can I ask for y’all to…” she trailed off, before snapping her fingers. “Right! Can I ask for some privacy with them? I promise I’ll probably explain my shit later! To everyone, maybe. Just, not right now! Thanks!”
And with that, Jemma zipped back inside. Anxiety and apathy both warred under her skin. A small instinct in the back of her mind cried for her to run. But, no.

This was happening now, she guessed.