Blizz

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Wait wait wait if Alizee Vul is a void-based apparition...

Oh she's fucked

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Well

shit

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

Wiseman had been immersed in his work, despite the fact that he was minutes away from his turn in the evaluation. He didn’t seem to be nervous about it, though it wasn’t easy to tell when he was fully armed and had a somewhat villainous aesthetic going on. Holographic screens in front of him quietly relayed the events of the estate mission to him, thanks to the bug he planted earlier. Barring Jake’s ineptitude in recognizing his own teammates and the sudden change in Samuel Peterson’s demeanor, things had mostly gone fine without a hitch. That was, of course, until “Peterson” pulled a gun on Alchemist. Immediately, he had an idea.

He trusted Alchemist’s capabilities, so he pulled up a screen and quickly searched through the phone logs that went through the area, narrowed them down to the estate, and then found the most recent one by triangulating signals from nearby towers. “Peterson’s” phone would start ringing again, showing a call coming in from one of his more demanding business partners- The kind he couldn’t just ignore easily, even at this hour. It was a small chance he’d be distracted, but it was the best he could do without making something noticeable happen.

A quick glance at the other team through the camera showed things were going… Less than great. There were more Leftovers than the team could reasonably be expected to handle. This was why they should’ve sent other heroes in who could spy and scout secretly before this. Heroes like Oracle who didn’t even need to be present to get a sense of the danger.

They’d need reinforcements, most likely. But they weren’t in a position to wait. Wiseman knew about the bombing that these “Azure Skulls” could trace their legacy to. He had responded to it. He was there. Someone got away, and there weren’t many who could elude a man like him.

Unfortunately, they’d have to sort this out themselves, now that they had kicked the nest.

Oracle came out of the room, and sat down next to him. She didn’t look very happy after talking with a psychologist. It was understandable, ICOSA had a tendency to play dirty when they wanted something out of people, after all.

"Austin, have you heard of Sudden Onset Metahuman Psychosis?"

Oracle

Ah.

"The doctor thinks I'm at risk for it. And she's probably right -- that's her specialty, after all."

Oracle

”We both are,” Wiseman answered, patiently. ”Knowing the things we know, our ability to gather information that others could not. It is natural.” It was just a logical conclusion that superheroes who knew too much were more likely to lose themselves when they went too far. They saw things they shouldn’t, had to carry secrets that they wished they could share. The little things added up. They mattered.

"I don't want to go crazy. But what kind of person has no attachments?!"

Oracle

”The kind that doesn’t face reality.”

"And even if I did quit being a hero, I'd still be at high risk. Just having family and friends is a risk! What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Oracle

Wiseman closed out all of his screens again and looked at Oracle. His visor offered no emotion, nothing to show on the face beneath. "Psychosis is a mental disorder, and Sudden Onset Metahuman Psychosis is known to be similar. Except it is a trauma response, rather than something that develops inherently. You will not be put in that position simply because you have friends and family." Wiseman's voice became firm, as if to suggest he wasn't pleased with the way the doctor handled her interview, despite not actually knowing what happened in there.

"And if you truly are guaranteed to suffer and irreversible psychotic episode, you would not be an active hero. Anymore than I would be. ICOSA would override the Director's authority and place you under watch until such a time they thought you were stable enough. That is the worst possible outcome, it is an extreme, not a likelihood. Do as you've always done," He suggested. "It is a known fact that one is less likely to suffer metahuman psychosis when they are supported by the same people that Dr. Reninger clearly suggested were a hazard to you. Isolating yourself, even as a metahuman, can be much worse."

Reninger could've told her this too, surely. "This changes next to nothing. If you are at risk now, then you were always at risk, and therefore it is unnecessary for you to make major changes to your life. At best, consider it a reminder to tend to yourself after an intense mission."

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

---

Location: Who the Fuck is Baldur
Skills:
WHAT. THE. FUCK.

---

---

From Mai's unconscious body, they picked up a rock that Percy the Murdertwink said was called an Astral Prism. It had a piece of Zari in it, but Leah didn't get a chance to ask what that actually meant in practice. Pain overtook her, some of the worst she had felt lately. Every inch of her body was on fire all of a sudden, white hot and cutting through her down to what made her the person she was. It felt like Leah was being unmade.

She had felt horrible pain many times. Her dad had broken most, if not all of the bones in her body at some point or another. She had been surgically put back together a time or two at worst. This was up there, but she was used to this sort of thing. Death had made itself known not so long ago, that feeling of standing on a cliff, and then falling forever. Weightlessness creeping in. It wouldn’t startle her twice.

She leaned against her axe, grimaced and let out a sound like something between a growl and a groan. What was happening? Was this part of the game?

”What… The fuck is happening?”

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

The ugly looking human calling itself Freakshow laid out a plan that Mire thought was at least reasonable. Some of them going in, others staying out as bait. It made sense, even if she talked too much. Mire would've actually gone through with it, had the gunshot not happened. They knew what those loud noises meant, humanity used them to scare things off and kill to eat. That much was clear, so it stood to reason that the sniper had shot one of the Terrazards. At that point, things stopped being so complicated. People starting rushing in, the ground started splitting wide open. The fungal monster was smart enough that they could make their own plan at this point.

"Now they know we're here. That plan means nothing at this point. I'm going in, and I'm making them all do the hard work for us," Mire said, to the remaining heroes who hadn't sprung into action yet. They flicked their arms out, and small particulates of spores drifted downwind. "Don't follow me."

And then they calmly started walking forward, trudging across concrete and metal wire fences while the others did their work. Mire's body pulsed and contorted, like something was writhing under the surface of all that mycelium. Bulbous growths start poking through like septic boils, which sprouted new fungus that sloughed off to the ground. It took root, and Mire just kept marching forward towards the hole that the Terrazards were coming through.

"YOU EAT HUMANS, DON'T YOU?! COME AND TAKE A BITE FROM ME, THEN!" Mire's awful voice boomed across the ruins of the plant, alerting swathes of Terrazards to their exact location. It might've been stupid, but that was what they wanted to happen. Their hypae structures stretched out, making Mire seem taller than they actually were as their limbs grew more and more gaunt by the second. The eyes of Terrazards nearby turned and glared at the strange, vaguely humanoid looking entity just beckoning to be eaten alive. They were intelligent, but many of them saw this and took it to be a sign of absolutely stupidity. And so, an entire herd of the beasts descended on their fellow Leftover. Like a swarm of starving piranhas they bit, chewed, clawed and tore into what they thought would be a warm and bloody snack. But instead, their teeth bit down into saturated sludge. Mire didn't fight back, they wanted the creatures to get as much of a mouthful as possible, so chunk after chunk of their body fell away in a feeding frenzy.

And then, the flood came.

Every Terrazard that bit into a piece of Mire had its mouth, throat and stomach filled with enzymes as Mire's body exploded. It was like a giant water balloon, splashing everything around the living colony. In an instant, the feast became a mass grave as the Terrazards melted like warm wax, right before the eyes of everyone who thought to observe. They howled and writhed in agony, but their bones and their flesh leaked to the ground. Limbs decayed in seconds, bones and blood mingled into a slurry. And in the runoff, there sat Mire. Tattered and practically swimming through a puddle of half-decomposed gore. Even the ground they stood on was slowly dissolving.

A few were still alive, but their bodies were in such bad shape that it was just cruel not to kill them. Mire sloshed through the pit of rotting guts and enzymes, subsuming the survivors into what parts of their body still squirmed. The Terrazards didn't even fight back.

As effective as it was, the move Mire made was filling the area with a ghastly stench.

"That was easy."

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Layla: You all hurt me so much! I hate you!

Also Layla: Nooo I'm one of you!!!!1!

girl 💀

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

<sub>@Hitman
[Lex.file/img/crpt/transmit/Powers.Hugo]

W̶i̷s̵e̶m̵a̶n̶.̵E̵n̶c̵r̷y̵p̴t̷e̶d̶: I am watching over our heroes as we speak. Alien Angel and Alpha are at the same location as our off-record mission. I convinced her to fix that problem for us. They do not suspect it was me. See below.

[File Sent]

[File Reception Confirmed]</sub>

---

---

#######: Who I am does not concern you. We were here before you, and we will be here well after you. Begone, and pray I don't alert ICOSA to your presence.

!@#$: PHFT! That's a bluff. I know they're in town, sure, but they're too busy putting sticks up Hero One's asses.

#######: Less busy than you think, Alien Angel.

There was a brief pause that suggested that Wiseman hit the mark. Then this image suddenly popped up...



#######: I have eyes and ears everywhere on this planet. I know your every move, and I will bring the entire world down upon your head if you so much as dare to stand in my way. It will cost me nothing.

!@#$: Wrong...it'll cost you Hero One. I take it the ICOSA doesn't know about you and your possible spies around this little get-together-of-white-collar-villains. Wanna bet I blow the whistle and endanger your whole op JUST to...say...take advantage of the chaos?

#######: The chaos that I will reap from. Entertain me for a moment: Do you think it was a coincidence that you were in the area when the Fiendish Five assaulted a parade?

Again, a pause. Then another message:

!@#$: ...forget putting the stick up your ass...there's one there already.

#######: You are playing my game, little vigilante, as is your cohort across the bar. The web is deeper than you can understand. You will listen to me carefully, or you will not walk out of there alive.

!@#$: ...touche chico...knew you were dangerous when I couldn't Meta Hack your background...but seriously, Chilax. Life and Death situations, ok I get that. Silly chess games? Do you always have to be the smart ass in the room?

#######: Perhaps I overestimated your competence. When I say "you," I am referring to J̶̪̫͍̺̞̺̘̠̜̳͒̐̌̎̊̽̓ͅͅa̷̢̧͖͓͍͇͕̹̥̖̤͓̝̠͖̥̽̑̃̓̄̿͘͘ ̶̢͈͈͓̝̗̪͚̻̦̭̭̰̂͌̋̍̚͝͝ȩ̵̣͈̣͉̗̹̦̖̘̭̟͇͔̝͙̤̈͛͊̄ ̷̤̯̫̩̻̞̖͙͇͔͂͂̍̂̌̅̾̕͠A̴̢̛̙̳̞̘̞̳͉͋̈͑̌͐̇̌̋͗̊͑̔̂̊̂r̷͙̺̜̠͌̀̍̽̇̑̔͌͐́͆̽̓ ̶͕̞̮̖̇̈̎̓͛͗̿̽̆ḿ̶̢̪̩͈̻̲̖̬ ̷͎̝̬̩̘͊̑̈́͑͋̏͂̇͂͂̕͠s̴̛͙͚̿͑̾́̓̈́͗͗̎̆̀̑̓͊̒͝ţ̸̻̤͖̿̓̿̾̊̓̈́́̿͘͝ȑ̴̡̙̤̱̞͌̄̈́̅̋͑̽͜͝ ̷̡̲̲͔̠̞̮̦̦̠̍̏̾̚ ̵̼̙̹̙̞̮͋͐̃̀̉̊̔̈́̔͝͠͠g̸̢̓̉͌͂̃̀͋̚ as well. Alternatively, I could let ICOSA chase him across the world once I leak this document into the databases of the first few countries I think of. You wouldn't want that for your dear friend, now would you?

!@#$: ...my friend is someone who got fed up with the system and guys like you telling them who their "friends" are supposed to be. He and I saw shit early. More so...threats like that are empty...try living in a cage for who knows how long THEN tell us about "real" hell like country-wise witch hunts...

!@#$: ...but I know when I'm outgunned and outskilled...fine. I'm aborting this.

#######: I believe you. You have exactly three minutes to get as far away from this building as humanly possible before half of the First World receives a transmission of the ITP bug that I just rooted into your devices.

#######: Do not test me further.

!@#$: Who's testing? This clearly wasn't bugging you...just don't screw this up. Take it from someone who DOES know first hand: don't give the ICOSA any ammo by being discovered here...now the hard part. Getting my friend away from the place...I hope you realize how much trouble I went through to just get him in his position.

#######: If you understood your place in the grand scheme of what we do, perhaps you would grasp just how little your troubles mean to me. You are alive, and that is more than can be said for the last series of self-serving amateurs who invoked my wrath.

#######: Two minutes and thirty seconds. Move.

!@#$: Yeah yeah quit barking. I'll have Alpha fake a stomach bug and we leave. Still, Cillax.

!@#$: To quote a wrestler: "Sometimes it's "Hell" getting to "Heaven".

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

yeah Layla kinda bit herself in the ass with this tbh

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Local cursed girl gets slammed with facts and logic

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Interactions: Everyone

The House on the Hill

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For all his gloom, Jack liked to consider himself an optimist. There was usually some silver lining to the way things went, and in this case, it was that the alliance had real potential thus far. Greenwood wasn’t asking for much in return: Vengeance when they had already been craving for it themselves. There was something to resonate over, and then Layla had to throw a wrench in it. Jack’s fave twisted up in bitter contempt for a brief moment, before falling back to dead neutral.

“I may not have been there, but I've got the memories of an apparition who’s life was destroyed after what you did. I know how Naomi egged her on, how Alizée was getting ready to leave, before Naomi fired her up and served her up to Wolfpack on a silver platter!”

What exactly did she know, when the Void Heart had its possessive hooks in her just as much as Alizeé?

“Naomi said it herself. Alizée was getting ready to leave. She knew Alizée was easy to anger, she knew Wolfpack was on the way. She knew everyone needed to leave, else suffer. And what did she do?!”

“It's her fault Alizée is dead. Naomi goes, or I refuse to acknowledge this alliance.”

”The Wolfpack is responsible for her death,” Jack corrected, with a firm tone. ”The Wolfpack opened fire on her, executed her as they had fully intended to execute everyone present during that incident. Alizeé left Auri’s shop before that incident happened, immediately after we discussed a now-deceased member’s connection to the government. She left because she felt cornered, and Alizeé’s mind went to dangerous places when she did not feel safe. ”

”I remember that conversation.” Stormy cut in. ”What you’re hearing there is Naomi Rodgers talking to me. I had to step in to keep her from attacking. That was right before the Wolfpack arrived. Britney can tell you she wasn’t up to anything great.”

”Thank you. Naomi is entirely innocent regarding the death of Alizeé, as I am certain the House of Card’s spy knows, since she was clearly present. Greenwood, pay no mind to her,” Jack said, addressing the others and disregarding Layla. ”Layla is not Sycamore. She is associated with the Temple.” It was taking considerable restraint and patience for Jack to not delve into a tangent on why she wasn’t actually one of them. So instead, he just left it largely at that.

”Now… To answer your question. Some of you already know me from our first meeting during the festival. Jack Hawthorne, red-purple Adept, I specialize in shadow-based spells and dimensional navigation. I can be virtually anywhere on this planet within a matter of seconds. I have been to the Void and back, and I personally followed the Stygian Snake through several worlds during the conflict against it.” That sounded like bragging, but Ruby was asking about who they were and what they could do, so it was the answer she got. Jack thought it would be best if they just completely avoided entertaining Layla’s bullshit anymore than that. It was opened, it was shut, it was in the past.

The adults were talking, not her.