Blizz

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

@Blizz Yep, I'm down!

Also, this Temple stuff is awwwesome.

@Estylwen

🫡

I’m gonna write a post and then we’re going to the Void.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

<Snipped quote by Blizz>

Ahhhhh- #panic #feeling trapped
Okay! I'm ready when you are. Post when you can, and at Ghost's discretion I can either post right after or after Ghost's next post.

@Estylwen

Lol

If you want, I can mini-timeskip us to the void after I have jack do his best bullshit impression and trick layla and void into thinking he's got everyone focused on other shit

that way you can instantly respond once the two of them are in the void, and everyone else is waiting for the trap

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

@Estylwen According to PGN Jack needs to get Layla and VH to the place in the void hella soon are you down for that

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

Leah Jordan

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Location: The Dance
Gear: A hot ass dress, now smeared with blood
Skills: The insurmountable will to not lose her cool under any circumstances
Oh god oh fuck

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---

Her entire head felt like an axe was splitting through it, her ribs were fucked to hell and back, and she was definitely going to be bruised tomorrow. Leah's hand felt... Basically numb now. The fact that she had all these injuries after that, and yet didn't have a fractured skull anymore had a few implications that Leah wasn't sure she wanted to dwell much on. Did that stranger just knock her out, by pulling punches? Did they not want her dead for good? Why? Or was her skull simply thicker than she thought? It was a strange thing, and yet they knew her birth name on top of it all. Leah had absolutely no memories of anyone like them. Their hair was like her own, but they didn't even resemble a human being. Leah zones out for moment, thinking about it before a scream tore her clean out of her own thoughts.

That was April's scream. Immediately, she turned to the direction of her girlfriend and ran.

She stopped and saw that April was in tears, and at the exit, some ways away from where Leah seemed to just blink into existence. Despite her hand being mangle and her dress being covered in blood, and the possibility that part of her broken rib could be stuck in her lung right now, April's distress was more important to Leah.

"Hey- Hey, what happened? Did they hurt you?" Needless to say, she was very, very concerned. Logic dictated that April went through the haunted house to catch up with her, but Leah assumed that April also faced the same being as her.

Inferno - STRIKE THE MATCH! - Concluded

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Jack Hawthorne

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Location: The Twilight Pass
Skills:
Spells: Weightless Body, Star of the Abyss
Outfit

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Runa performed some sort of astral projection while they moved. Jack didn’t know what the point of it was exactly, but it had to have been for a reason. Jack saw no reason to doubt the old woman’s magical abilities. But everything changed when he saw a fucking rift open right before her. An unstable rift, here in the god damn Everdark. Such a thing did not normally happen here, all of the rifts that dotted this vast world were persistent, and this only cemented the doom they were facing. The woman’s soul was gone now. That was two of them that had their souls torn from their bodies. Worst of all, if her body was left here, she’d never see it again.

Jack had to fill the void she left behind in their offensive. He tossed his watch to Max, who seemed curious about how much time they had. He’s find it was only ticking faster and faster, never slowing down. And then he did something arguably very stupid. He broke into a dead sprint down the hill, and took to the air remarkably quickly. He floated up, higher and higher, until he was a hundred or so feet above the house. It was at this moment when the sky came alive. With the numbers whittled down so much, that this was worth the gamble.

Thunder crackled overhead, loud enough that Jack’s companions could feel it through the ground, and further still when the air changed around them. It felt as if they were all being watched from a hundred million unseen places all at once. A vast, groaning noise rang out like straining metal, when the sky split wide open. Jack stretched his hands out, and tore down a fragment of it. A comet of black and lilac purple energy fell down to the earth below, like a monochrome sun. It struck everything around the Green Eyed Ones, incinerating the monsters, yet somehow now corrupting them further and spawning more, or harming the countless souls they had devoured over their lifespans.

It was almost beautiful how they were annihilated. In a haunting sort of way.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Reza

Reza.Cabrera

Deceased | Reza Cabrera | He/Him [hr//]"If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."

Description:

Reza was chosen by the Noble Vow for a reason. He was a kind young man, who saw good in places no one else could, and stood up for it when others would turn and leave. No one knew where Reza came from, only that he one day showed up in St. Portwell with a magic sword. He called himself a no-name drifter, just going from place to place until he came across the Sycamore Coven. Reza never made a single enemy, and could always find a few good things to say about even the most misanthropic members of the coven, even when their true colors were laid bare on a battlefield. He left no one behind, always fought tooth and nail to save others from the most bleak circumstances. It did not matter if someone was lost in a pocket dimension, or dragged through a portal by the Stygian Snake itself, Reza would follow his friends to hell and back, and was always the first one to kick open the doors.

Reza grew particularly close with Jack Hawthorne, and they were often seen together when the coven mobilized to stop the tide of otherworldly entities. They made an incredible team, and bonded over their background, having both been aimless before they met the Sycamore. They saved each other's lives more times than they could count, and saw one another through the lowest points in their lives. Reza was inevitably killed during the conflict, on the exact day when they sealed the Stygian Snake away for good.

Abstraction:
Agent - Noble Vow

The Noble Vow is a sword believed to have formed out of the desire to do good in the world, expressed through the hearts of humanity. Whoever wields the Noble Vow must believe in the causes they commit themselves to, follow through with their promises, and never take a life unless they believe it to be just. These are necessary, or else the Noble Vow simply a dull piece of metal that will never cut anything. But when all of these conditions are met, and the wielder is deemed to be morally good by the sword, its blade becomes impossibly sharp, and will cut through solid steel as if it were paper. The sword is capable of injuring most apparitions as if they were made of flesh and bone, and those who harbor significant feelings of guilt in their hearts suffer its injuries for much longer periods of time.

When someone who wields to Noble Vow dies, their swordsmanship skills are stored within the blade, and passed onto the next wielder. To receive this knowledge, one must be deemed worthy by the sword, which has shown to have a mind of its own in picking and choosing who is permitted to wield its power. After Reza's death and the conclusion of the battle against the Stygian Snake, the Noble Vow was entrusted to Jack Hawthorne, who kept it close in honor of his deceased friend.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Layla leaned against her bike, arms folded over herself despite the thick leather jacket she wore over her summer dress. It was a cool day, a reminder that autumn was a short season, and winter would hit the city soon. Void seemed a bit agitated, a bit determined, and a bit fed up, his jagged teeth clenched resolutely, a fire in his eyes.

Another meeting had been called by that imposter leader. Void felt the darkness inside him swirl at just the thought. Today he'd try to drive her out, or at least make the Coven question her leadership. But to increase his success, he needed a second voice of reason with him. A friendly ally. A friend of Alizee.

Jack.

That's why they waited in the parking lot of the Tranquil Haven Park. Void had his eye on the entrance, waiting for Jack to roll up so he could push his next plan forward.

Jack Hawthorne was many things, but predictable was not one of them. Void wouldn't be able to see his arrival, as he appeared far from the entrance, underneath a tree in the most isolated part of the park. The only sound signaling his arrival was the feint trudge of his boots as he walked up to the Void Heart and his new host.

"Void Heart."

Void gave the man a sideways glace before completly turning to face him. "Jack."

Layla stood up straight, a bit nervous. From what she remembered of Jack, he was a bit of a recluse. Disappeared after the Coven dissolved. But he wasn't a bad person. Being associated with entities didn't make a person bad.

She offered a small smile, put at ease upon seeing a familiar face. "Hi Jack."

As the group moved towards the gazebo, albeit at a slow pace, Void spoke with Jack.

"You remember what I told you over the phone, about Alizee?" Void said, an edge in his voice. If one was adept enough, they'd be able to tell Void was trying to hold back his pain.

"I... hell. You're a friend of Alizee. You were always supportive. So I'm asking you-"

He moved to hover in front of Jack, dead seriousness in his eyes.

"-I need you to be on my side when I knock Auri down. Got it?"

Jack's face was a barren wasteland. Neither the Void Heart nor Layla would be able to find the feintest trace of any expression whatsoever. Was he already at peace with his friend's death, or was he simply good at carrying the weight?

"It is good to see you again, Layla. As you for," he said, to the apparition, "It would be unwise to do such a thing. They want you gone. Auri, and the coven itself blames you for our friend's death, and that puts you in an especially precarious situation. You will not win by fighting fire with fire. Auri is not a leader. Though not for a lack of trying, she simply isn't equipped to see reason in the wake of all this. You're important in our attempt to save our lives, but they don't see that. They will try to seal you. That means you, Layla, are in danger as well."

Layla's eyes flew open, a hand pressed to her mouth in alarm. "Me too?"

"You are the Void Heart's host. You're adjoined, and that means you two are inseparable. For this reason, we must assume you are in just as much danger.

Jack clasped both of his hands in front of him, showing off a shadowing set of fingers in broad daylight. "They know your tricks. And I know theirs. I have a better idea, and it involves both of you trusting me with your lives," he said, dryly.

Void's eyes narrowed a bit. Layla noted his change in demeanor, and shrunk a bit behind him.

"Is... something wrong?" She thought.

Void was silent for a lot while longer, sizing up Jack thoroughly. Before he finally sighed, and held his jaw in a firm line. "Those bastards."

He sighed. "What did you have in mind, Jack?"

"It's simple. You and I take a trip to a place we're all too familiar with, the Void. Not just any place in it, no, we'll go to the region which I call home. A relatively benign area I named the Shadowzone, it will be safe for you, Layla. As long as we keep the doors and windows locked shut, your mind will not be harmed."

He paused, to let the idea of changing realities sink in.

"If we leave now, they will grow suspicious. So after the meeting, I will meet with you and Layla. I'll lead them to believe I'm looking for you, and that I have your trust-Which I hope I do. While they're busy, you two make any arrangements you need to be safe. We'll isolate Auri when she's most vulnerable. But until then, you are outnumbered. If you strike out at her, you'll have every last one of them unleashing the fullest extent of their magical abilities on you, in broad daylight."

Void narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "Alizee was ganged up once before last night before... everything went to hell. I'd rather that didn't happen again, but... No promises. I can't hold my tongue when it comes to Auri."

His cragged jaws relaxed in a small sigh. "I just want justice for Alizee."

A pause as they neared the gazebo. Void glanced at Jack. "Alizee would appreciate this, you know."

”I’m sure she would. I hope she would. Alizee was a dear friend to me. And I will see to it that she can rest easily, wherever she is now.”

If only the Void Heart knew how true that would ring in time.

"Do not look for me. I'll find both of you when it's time." With that said, Jack turned and walked away. The plan was now in motion, and there was no going back.

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Interactions: The Coven

Tranquil Haven Park

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Always the mysterious one with a knack for dramatic entrances, no one could have seen Jack walking from the entrance of the park. He rarely walked the streets of any town he had made his way through, when he wasn't traversing the Void. Often, he would simply appear where he wanted to be, throwing off anyone who might be looking for him. Magic really was a wonderful alternative to most conventional forms of transportation, which required time and resources. Why fly overseas when you could simply open doors across the planet? Although, it certainly didn't turn out to be so convenient when people could notice him simply appearing out of thin air. Walking up to the meeting spot, Jack took a seat next to Sloane, who seemed to be doing somewhat better than last night. Today, he wore a dark blue greatcoat for the late October weather. It might've been an odd fashion choice, but it hid his channeler well. And it had hidden benefits for Jack's particular form of magic that he wanted to take advantage of, in the event that someone followed up on the chaos from yesterday.

Chaos which he chose not to dwell much on.

Jack was, unsurprisingly, more than a little jarred when Auri announced that Eksa, Simone and Finn were dead. There were many things about this that sat wrong with him. The least of which were the deaths themselves. It was heavy to know that they were dead after only recently reuniting, but Auri seemed... Lighthearted up until the moment she broke the news. Either Auri didn't really care about the loss of their lives, or she wasn't particularly good at expressing that she did. It was a small detail, but it stood out to him because Auri was showing the same demeanor she did when they met yesterday. Granted, they had all been slowly dying off, but something about this didn't sit right with him.

But Jack was the one who advocated for them minimizing paranoia yesterday, so he mentally filed that thought away.

"...Someone will answer for these deaths, one day." Simone was a good friend, once. She and Jack were two of the more scholarly coven members as kids, he remembered spending hours pouring over books with her and Britney. His response to the news was cold, as he clasped his hands together in vengeful contemplation.

"Do we have any valid, legitimate leads to find our murderer? Or do we know anyone who could point us in a meaningful direction? The three of them left, and went off on their own, didn't they? There has to be some common link between all of these, beyond only being confined to our old coven. When does Father Wolf strike, at night? When someone is alone and can't call for help? Both? If we can't determine their motive, we should at least look for a pattern, so we can avoid it."

Parahumans: Earth Drega

Evie might’ve been brash from the moment she walked in, but she didn’t ask questions just to hear herself talk. She genuinely wanted to know what her new teammates’ powers were. It helped to know how they’d be approaching their problems from here on. As far as Evie could tell, none of them were tinkers.

Tandem made clones and had a pocket dimension. Useful for a numbers advantage or stashing emergency supplies. Most of these jokers didn’t seem to have pockets on their gear. Meanwhile, Evie’s armor was essentially an upgrade to her vigilante costume the whole city recognized; Perks of being a pre-established cape included having your identity immune to being fucked with. Even now, she had a few minor medical supplies in her pockets out of habit. Maybe Tandem had more, or would start packing them around once shit hit the fan a few times.

The chick in the dress was a master. Great. Her power was a textbook image of one, no less. She could just mind control people with a single command, and do so even more if they trusted her. That wouldn’t be too big of an issue, seeing as Evie wasn’t inclined to trust any of these people until she saw their true colors, who they really were when their lives were on the line. And as rude as she was, Evie expected no less from them, since that was how their lives were lived now. They stepped into her shoes, and Evie believed in fair game at the very least.

So with that in mind, Evie took the earpiece offered. ”Loud and clear,” She said, with no amusement.

Decree and Tandem could at least speak their minds, but the next guy… Evie didn’t think he’d last a week. Munnin, the big ass bird-looking motherfucker, was a changer and not a case like Nightstalker. Wings, sound-muffling feathers, good strength and intense senses. Night vision and better hearing, which was probably why he jumped so much when Evie walked in. Evie didn’t understand that look her gave her. She didn’t have a PhD in Changerology, so whatever those giant puppybird eyes were trying to convey was lost on her.

The snarky little shit named Keystone didn’t waste any time. He pointed out flaws and weaknesses. Little did he know that the password digits he named had been changed 20 minutes before he walked through the door, as it does at random (thanks to his existence). He immediately started calling out weaknesses of his teammates, which Evie almost laughed at. The nerve on this kid made her feel like there was a bit of hope after all.

He definitely seemed to piss of the Ethos girl, who had some other mind-scrambling power. Some sort of impulse thing, maybe? She wasn’t very specific, despite the graphic details she used. Evie shrugged it off, having heard worse a time or two. Her attitude was funny, though. ”Yes ma’am,” Shattercrash made a mocking, sarcastic salute in Ethos’ direction, clearly unbothered by anything she just said about dropping the icebreakers. At least, until she made her point more clear. ”You wanna wind up dead in a ditch somewhere, because you didn’t know what your so-called teammates could do? Be my guest, princess. I’ve been doing this shit a hell of a lot longer than most of you, so pardon me for getting down business.”

Ethos may not have been here to play games, but neither was Shattercrash.

Hornet had an interesting power. Teleporting specifically to people, and then getting a power up to blitz them. It sounded like she was good for ambushes. But Richter’s power was just plain weird. He had something that looked like a striker power, which vaporized the coin in his hands. And he couldn’t shut it off, which was definitely a problem. Useful if they needed to get past something, but a problem regardless.

And the Wattson girl wasn’t offering shit, so that left Shattercrash to take a turn.

”Cool, not bad. My turn. The name’s Shattercrash, if anyone didn’t know. I do this-“ She reached up and pointed a finger at an empty wall. Nightstalker got visibly nervous and bounced out of the way as her hand began to glow with a violet-pink energy. She curled her middle finger and flicked it forward, causing a burst of the vibrant energy to fire off like a bullet, and hit flat against the wall. Keystone was correct, the wall material did one hell of a job in absorbing impacts, as they all felt in through their feet. No one was hurt, but it was still a somewhat unwise display.

”If that wall was a person, they’d be flat on the ground and too dizzy to stand.”

Her other hand balled into a fist, and lit up like a pink fireball. ”See this? Pure kinetic energy stored up by my power. Don’t ask me why it glows like this, it just does. I hit things, and I hit them hard. I could kick open a steel vault, launch high enough to swat a helicopter out of the sky, or punch someone from about 30 feet away.”

Someone’s phone started ringing. Grandmaster’s. He pulled it out, and put it to his head. ”Foster.”

There is indication of what is being said on the other end of the line, but he is presumably speaking to the director.

”I’m on my way.” He quickly slid the phone away, and Axiom shot him a look.

”I can take over.”

Grandmaster nodded, and walked past everyone. Anyone paying attention might have realized that he didn’t make any noise when he walked across the floor.

Once he was gone, Axiom got everyone’s attention. ”Okay. So, the PRT’s been training you guys for a while now. You know the protocols, the procedures and everything else. Tomorrow you’ll start patrols on a regular basis with us. Later today, you’ll receive a schedule that outlined who you meet with, and where you’re headed.”

”They should’ve already told you this, but you’re not going to be in active fights against villains too often. Usually, it’ll be us doing that. Or if you are deployed to a direct engagement, we’ll be there as backup.”

”Any questions?”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Shirik expected the snow to fall within a few days, and so they had gone off to hunt again. One last hunt, and they’d be settled for the season. Velhass decided to stay at home today, and finish off preserving the food they had stocked up. It wasn’t much, but they had managed to build a storehouse in Shirik’s garden, with a smoking pit just outside. He felt they were already set for winter, but Shirik wanted to be sure, knowing the forest’s dwellers would be in hibernation before long. Better to have more than they could eat, than to have less. Velhass strung some sliced fish over the smoker, as the flames started to grow underneath. The sky had been growing gray all day, and he hoped he could get his task done before rain came.

He heard rustling noises in the grass, and quickly turned around. They were always alone, out here. Something was moving where he couldn’t see, and it put him on edge quicker than it should have. Velhass reached for a knife he kept at his waist and snuck around the fence. He walked up to a tall and stout tree, big enough for a Glen to behind in.

”Who’s there?” He demanded.

The rustling stopped, and something made a thud.

Silence.

”I can hear you. Come out. Now. Velhass bristled. He knew when someone was sneaking up on him with ill intent, having grown up in the worst parts of society. He was irrationally tense right now.

”I said-”

A small creature walked out in front of Velhass, no larger than his foot. Shirik called these things macrasins. It had a slender body, and a pair of circular ears, and jet black fur. Two large, prehensile pairs of claws helped them climb trees with a thick tail. Entirely harmless, other than their ability to nibble through traps.

Velhass exhaled, not realizing he had held his breath so long. ”How did you get here?” He asked the macrasin, sounding more amused than scared, now. ”Shouldn’t you be up in a tree, somewh-”

Snap.

His question was cut short, as he felt a white-hot pain in his side, suddenly. It almost knocked him off his feet, as he didn’t fully realize what happened before looking down. A crossbow bolt protruded from his stomach, tipped with a hooked, pyramid-shaped broadhead. Blood dripped from his shirt, down his leg, and that was the moment when Velhass realized someone had just shot him.

The pain made his legs give out, and forced a shaky cry of pain from his throat.

The macrasin ran behind him, and he heard metallic footsteps coming forth. Someone was behind him. Velhass rolled over, smearing his blood across his clothes, and saw a Glen adorned in the armor of an Inquisitor holding a crossbow. He has massive. Velhass reached for his knife without thinking about it, and flung it at his attacker like an axe. But he caught it between his fingers.

Every instinct in his body told him to move. To live another day. To run. And so that was what he did. Pain meant nothing to him in the instance where he hurled himself over the wooden fence, and ran for the storehouse.

Snap.

Another crossbow bolt struck him in the shoulder, causing him to tumble and fall onto the smoking rack he had set up. The pain he felt in his shoulder was washed away by everything behind his neck being burned. He screamed, until his lungs could not scream anymore, and rolled out of the fire like Shirik described themselves in their stories. The giant Glen was no longer alone, and he could see a vaguely S’toric looking Inquisitor posted up in the trees, pointing a now unloaded crossbow at him. Neither of them spared a word, or even looked particularly stressed.

Everything hurt, and everything was numb. There was no inbetween.

He wanted to scream, to speak or plead for his life. He wanted to cry out for Shirik’s help, but he could not. He wasn’t in the right mindset to even think right now, and he couldn’t read the thoughts of these invaders. They were black holes to him.

The edges of his vision were black, and something warm seemed to creep up behind him. He smelled smoke.

Velhass tried to move, but he fell back against the walls of the storehouse, and felt something burn him again. He slid down the wooden walls, as a third Inquisitor walked up to him, with a cloth hood draped around their mask. They lifted a crossbow and pointed it at Velhass. In futility, he shielded his face with a numb hand, as tears finally slid down his face.

He coughed up blood, and wheezed out the words ”Please… No.”

There was no emotion in the eyes of that mask. Only hollow judgment, as the Driisu wearing it said the last thing he ever heard.

”You had your chance.”

Snap.

---

Shirik may have been old, but they still remembered their training in the days before the Kolodon raids, along with the training of their ancestors. During their casting of this spell, they kept their situational awareness as active as possible, keeping an eye on every mimic beast that moved across the battlefield. Including the one that made a move towards them. Their upper body twisted to one side as their legs stayed still, with their left arm not moving. Their right arm slipped until the spear, and Shirik caught it barely two inches away from the pommel-end. In that same moment, they slammed their staff into the dirt, and shouted out an order.

"NOW!"

The sky rumbled overhead, and began to glow with an unnatural hue. Between the clouds far above, a cluster of blue balls of fire descended upon the battle. They fall like falling stars, large as a human head, with not but the sound of whistling wind to signal their arrival. Shirik didn't pay the projectiles, which someone might mistake for meteors, any mind. Rather, they hit the dirt, leaping back and hopefully out of the way of the mimic beast. They had faith in their spell, but they still wanted to get the hell out of the way when it started charging. If anyone had eyes strong enough to look at the vibrant blue objects falling from the sky, they might notice that there was exactly one for every mimic beast.

They streaked downwards, landing on each of the creatures with a loud crash. Much like their icy spear spell, the orbs of blue fire were devoid of all heat and friction. They were intended to freeze the beasts down to their very cores, as quickly as possible. As they made contact, there was a burst of intense, rich blue light that bathed their surroundings in an unnatural hue, for all of two seconds. Fog and mist formed rapidly, trailing in around the blast zones. If Silbermine had hoped that their journey to Mythadia would be discreet, or uneventful, then he would surely be disappointed. The sight was not unlike the Jotunheim crashing to the ground, not long ago.

Silbermine wanted to see Shirik's mettle, so Shirik brought the best. And now, all they could do was hope that the mimic beast charging directly at them happened to stop dead in its tracks before dying a frigid death.

X-Men: GenetiX

Ryder didn't bother with the vegetables. She just stared out a window as if she were looking for something. Even now, her mind was tapped into the cameras and everything these fools didn't think needed to be secured from psychic intrusion. There were dozens, or even a hundred or more people who stayed here at one time. Ryder could possibly dig deep enough to find names, and then flip through every single one to see if any stood out. But she didn't particularly care, and it wouldn't tell her much if she did. What stood out, however, was the ever-so-minor detail that the dorms didn't have cameras. They had privacy, something Ryder didn't have back at Umbra. There were at least 3 cameras in her "bedroom" that Ryder had been aware of, and likely a sweep of others she never found for one reason or another. She wouldn't rule out the possibility that Umbra had a few vibranium-plated ones in the ceiling, as a last resort if they needed to keep an eye on her after she destroyed the others.

Not that it won the old man any points. She still didn't trust this place.

She eyed the black tea that Xavier sat in front of her, but didn't drink it. Not yet, at least. She didn't keep her eyes on him as he made it, and was more than willingly to assume he put something in it with absolutely zero evidence. So silently, she just let it go for the time being. Granted, if they wanted to poison her, they had weeks to do so, but this was how Ryder's thought process worked. And right now, it was working double time.

She stared Xavier down while she contemplated something, unbothered by the fact that he was a psychic as well. After all, if she even thought he was trespassing on her mind, he'd be dead before he could blink. "...I'll leave whenever I feel like it, and you won't stop me." It was a statement, rather than a question. "So tell me why I shouldn't just jump into the sky and get back to what I was trying to do, the second I walk outside." She was trying to dissect Xavier's invitation to step outside. Of course, Ryder intended to regardless, seeing as she hadn't set foot in open air once beyond the time she broke out of Umbra. But at that point, Xavier had to give her a damn fine reason to stay. They witnessed what she'd do to free herself from a pursuit a few weeks ago, and if they tried to chase her, that ferocity would be turned on them.

"Unless you want to take your chances chasing me for a second time, it better be good." That could've been a threat, or just less-than-friendly advice. It was hard to say, coming from Ryder.