BALCONY
When the blonde girl moved to talk to him, Lucas barely registered it. He kept on clutching his Franklin Badge and muttering to himself. Words about a brother, needles, and dragos kept tumbling out of Lucas's mouth. Of course this would mean very little to someone unaware of the way his world worked. When he finally looked up he put on the badge again but the crying was still there. All he could think of was the uncertain fate of everyone he knew and the recent emotional wounds left by his final battle back home.
edited 10th Sep '16 8:35:39 PM by pillowmantis
Why is a yam attacking me?Eve said she was fine, but then she suddenly vanished. Oh, great! Did she die while she wasn’t looking?! If so, that’s another death that could’ve been prevented on Lune’s part. Man, she’s not much of a hero if that’s case.
However, she heard Eve and Ben talking on the balcony. From she seen so far, it seemed Ben had changed back to normal again. For a watch that gives unlimited power to its wielder, this is a very annoying downside to have. At least, Lune’s watch doesn’t have that limitation since it only lets her change into the Valsione form.
“Hey, Ben. You alright over there?”
Sir Redring seemed surprised when Sophie suddenly jumped the gap in the broken dock behind him and rushed past him, having to stop one of his swings through a pirate short so that Sophie wouldn't clothesline herself on the sharp side of his blade. "Careful there!" Sir Redring said aloud, parrying more swings from the pirates and cutting a couple more down.
The pirate captain brought up his cutlass as Sophie's eleth blade flew in; with a swing and a roar, the captain bashed the blade to one side before it hit him, sending it spinning into the water with a splash. Just before the pirate captain could step forward and do anything else, Curly's beam suddenly hit him in the chest and staggered him back a step.
Nails, after seeing the pirate captain deflect one attack and tank another, reloaded his gun and then yelled into his walkie talkie, "get the big guy! THE BIG GUY!" Then Nails, the militia member in the smaller boat with the laser musket, and the two militia members on the sub with assault rifles all focused fire on the pirate captain, catching him in a crossfire on the gangplank. The captain tried in vain to use his arms to protect himself from the sudden onslaught, and to his credit certainly took the fire much better than a normal human would. But he did succumb by the time the militia members' guns were running dry on ammo again, and fell over the side of the gangplank with a heavy splash.
This left only a handful of the pirates left, but between Sir Redring and Sophie (whom a couple were trying to swing cutlasses at since she'd stopped right next to them) they would be cleaned up shortly. Pretty soon the militia members were reporting all clears on their channel while the two elves who had hidden behind some crates reported the same on the anti-human's channel.
Over near the other side of the balcony, Rachel took one of Caro's hands. "Kid, it will be alright. She's right, those jerks from Ruckus would've done a lot worse to us, and they wouldn't have felt bad about it" Rachel told Caro, referring to Curly. "You did what you had to to stop them, and they chose the easy way out once they were trapped; that's on them, not on you. We could've figured something out if they had waited, but they didn't give us the chance, not the other way around" the woman explained, trying to make Caro feel better.
Meanwhile, inside the friendly sub, Phil stared at Cole a moment, then moved over to the open hatch and glanced out at the balcony and the scene there. "Looks like it's just about done, that's good... Though that means I missed it all, which ain't gonna reflect well on me" Phil said, slightly irritated. He moved over to the front of the sub and got in the pilot chair, and then started easing the sub over towards the closest part of the docks around the balcony. "I bet that skeleton's gonna be all snarky about it. Thinks he knows better than everyone else with his stupid and whiny friends" the man muttered quietly to himself, shaking his head, "try to get people to safety and someone goes nuts with a knife. Try to arrest people and Ruckus tries to summon a demon. This city sucks!" With his last bit a sudden yell at full volume, he smacked one of the dials in front as the sub came to a stop next to the wooden dock.
"Come on, let's go see how they're doing" Phil stated dryly, grabbing and slinging his gun as he moved to the hatch.
"Alright, then let's get somewhere more private" Miss Tairee said, flicking her wrist to make the bracelet project the holographic screen. After some typing on the transparent keyboard there, Miss Tairee and Viola lifted into the air slightly as another bubble appeared around them. A bit more typing, then the whole bubble blurred and vanished, along with Miss Tairee and Viola.
You are reading this.Cole flinched at Phil's sudden yell, cringing and ducking his head, but there didn't seem to be any more anger coming in his direction, and after a moment, the sub was closer to the docks, so they could reach the others. He hesitated before moving to walk along with the man, speaking in a low voice.
"I...I didn't plan to run away. I think..."
Cole then noticed that something seemed to be going on with the others, and after a moment he realized that Sans and Caro seemed to be at the center of it. "Sans...Caro? Are you all right?" He broke away from Phil to run towards them, clearly concerned. "What happened?"
Jack had followed a distance behind the armoured man, not willing to get to close, when he had spoken up to someone he couldn't see; His view blocked by the man's massive bulk. Soon, whoever he was talking to was revealed, in the form of a young teen boy that looked nervous enough for Jack to sympathize with, and two older men with guns. Jack eyed the gun nervously as the white-haired man raised it towards him, and his grip tightened on his staff as he raised it towards the man.
Jack blinked when the man brought up his short time as a leopard. He'd almost forgotten that, with everything that had happened. "Uh... yeah. I was a snow leopard." He stepped forward and squinted at the man. Something about him was vaguely familiar and it was bugging him. "Have we met? And you guys came from the surface right?"
Rex sat down on the balcony's surface still feeling the pain of the gunshots in his stomach when Caro answered his not so rethorical question, explaining that she had created the chains that contributed to the Ruckus' demise. She was visibly shaken by the experience and Sans tried to comfort her but both quickly asked Rex if he had something to do with it.
Rex felt guilty about being part of a mass murder but the plan made perfect sense in his head. Sinking the ship would force the Ruckus to swim out of it and they wouldn't have a ship to store their weapons and other equipment.
"I... forced their ship underwater with my nanites. But I was just planning on taking the sub out of commission" he a moment to get up again while aplying pressure with one of his arm on his wounds "This wasn't my fault"
edited 10th Sep '16 10:34:33 PM by DeisTheAlcano
Ben winced. "I'm... I'm fine," he muttered, only really half-telling the truth and it was fairly obvious. "I just... need to make sure everyone's okay and safe. That's what heroes do. Thanks for checking up on me," he told Lune, hugging her leg gently, then walking up to Eve and hugging her too. "I'm glad you're okay. When that guy grabbed you I was really worried..." He let go, then winced, looking over at the small group over by the pirate ship, making his way in that direction. The blond kid and the tall guy were probably rattled by this turn of events.
"You guys okay?" Ben asked. "Sorry we kinda got things off on the wrong foot. Name's Ben. Ben Tennyson. That was some pretty awesome fighting you did back there," he told them. "Y'know, I'm starting up a hero group to protect the City from threats like this...."
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.Thomas turned around and looked at Ben, his eyebrows going up. "You're Tennyson? The one who put up the posters?" Thomas asked, then glanced at his wand and hastily stuffed it back into his cloak. "My name's Thomas, I've been waiting here for you; I was starting to think I'd gone to the wrong balcony" the teen continued, resting his arms at his side and letting his cloak drape around him.
You are reading this.When Thomas mentioned that he had been waiting for Ben, his eyes widened and a grin formed on his face. "YES!" Ben exclaimed, nearly jumping. "I knew someone'd wanna join!" Ben shouted excitedly. "Yes! I'm Tennyson, they're my posters and this is the right balcony!" He was about to ask about Thomas' credentials, when Thomas hid his wand, which made Ben raise an eyebrow.
"Hey, why you hiding your wand, Thomas?" he asked. "I saw you fighting the pirates and Ruckus. You're some kinda wizard, that's pretty cool," he told Thomas. "We could use an awesome wizard in the City Knights. But do you use your powers for good?"
edited 10th Sep '16 11:23:10 PM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.“You’re welcome. That’s what a friend would do, right?”
Lune smiled at Ben and listened to the conversation. As Ben talked with Thomas, Lune learned that he was a wizard. Come to think about it, the Elemental Lords of La Gias are considered magical robots. Also, La Gias ran entirely on magic, so it’s possible that magic existed elsewhere, right?
“And I’m Lune. It’s nice to meet you, Thomas.”
The girl in paladin-like armor offered a rather friendly handshake. Hopefully, things won’t go south for this conversation.
Balcony - Guilty and charged
Sans attempted to comfort her again and while she didn't resist his touch, once again she was not able to actually draw any comfort from it. The usual warm sensation was noticably absent.
"M-Maybe not ... B-But I can't help feeling like t-this ... L-Like if it wasn't for me ... I-It wouldn't have gone l-like this ... " She managed to in response.
She heard what Curly said to her before she went over to someone else before she could say anything in response. Then Rachel came over and reiterated the former's point, though a bit more gently.
"I-It doesn't matter ... I-If didn't care, despite what they would have d-done ... T-Then I would be no different from t-them ... A-and ... B-Back home, we fought a bunch of criminals who if they had suceeded, would have caused the l-loss of our whole world ... M-Millions of lives ... P-Permanently ... A-And yet we never considered anything other than just arresting them ... " She struggled to continue, pausing once again to collect herself before going further, "I-I know things are a bit different h-here ... W-With how things work in this city ... B-But even so ... T-This is not how I-I want it to go ... N-Not how to do things ... T-This is not j-justice ... T-This won't really stop t-them ... T-There's gotta be a better w-way ... "
She then heard Rex confirm that he had tried to sink the sub, but that it wasn't his fault. "N-No ... N-No, it wasn't ... W-We just ... W-We each had a plan ... I-I wanted to keep t-them in ... Y-You probably wanted to force them out ... E-Each would have been f-fine on their own ... B-But combined ... I-If only I had k-known ... I-If only we knew what the other was p-planning ... W-We could have avoided ... T-This ... "
She had heard Cole approaching and asking her and Sans what was going on. She hoped that someone else would fill him in or that he had heard enough to gather about it himself, because she didn't have the strenght to repeat it all about this whole dreadful situation again
Thomas spared a quick glance down with his eyes at where he'd stowed the wand. "Back home we're not supposed to let the mu- uh, the normal people, know about our magic. You can get in a lot of trouble and people will have memories erased; it's not a pretty affair... Besides, I don't see a need to have it out now" Thomas mentioned to Ben, then took Lune's handshake. "I haven't used my powers for anything much yet; I'm still- was in school, learning when I got taken here. Right in the middle of class too" the young wizard added to answer Ben's question.
"I thought for sure the teachers would've rescued me by now. To think something could just take someone right out of Hogwarts; I thought there were protective charms and spells to stop just such a thing" Thomas continued, though it was more just thinking out loud. "I saw one of your posters and thought I might look into it. Though to be honest, I wasn't expecting we'd be facing anything that... Intense" he told Ben.
Meanwhile, over by Caro, Rachel moved to hug Caro and rub her head. "It'll be okay girl. They're alive somewhere else in the city now, probably already planning to do some new horrible thing. We'll stop them without killing them someday, and everything will be alright. Just let it out" Rachel told Caro in a gentle voice.
Phil vaguely followed Cole until he got close to the scene, watched for a couple moments, then sighed and rubbed his forehead before looking around and moving towards Nails, who had already spotted him and was coming his way in return. "You feeling alright Phil?" Nails asked, then glanced past Phil at Cole for a moment and added, "you uh... You don't still want to arrest that guy, do you?"
"And look like Hitler for taking him away while his little friend is bawling her eyes out? Ugh, it's not worth it" Phil said, though in a grumpy tone. "My head still hurts, but at least the world's not spinning anymore" he added.
edited 10th Sep '16 11:53:11 PM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.Curly glanced back at the pirate battle to make sure it was still going well and back to Lucas, though she didn't really understand what he had been muttering about it was enough to suggest he was struggling through something and not just the sudden fight breaking out around him.
"Hey, it's okay now. The militia should have the rest under control" She said with a hopefully reassuring smile "You're not new here by any chance, are you?" When Ben announced nearby that he was the one trying to assemble the group that attracted the Ruckus it surprised her a bit "You're the one starting the group? Huh, I was expecting someone bigger"
Ben crossed his arms and sighed when Thomas explained how he had got here. "There's some really powerful THING here keeping us trapped in this City for the next couple weeks until he gets some sort of inspiration. I've been trying to find a way to try and stop him, but I can't do it alone and even so, this city is dangerous. There are people in trouble and they need heroes to protect them until the day they can get home." Ben smirked. "That's where the City Knights come in," he explained. "Tell me, are you willing to defend those who can't defend themselves, fight evil where it crops up, putting yourself on the line to keep the City a safer place?" he asked. "Are you willing to be a hero?"
Curly mentioned she was expecting someone bigger and Ben's eye twitched. "Hey!" Ben shouted, then cleared his throat and looked at her. "So what if I'm a kid?" Ben asked her, sounding annoyed. "I've got the Omnitrix! A watch that turns me into alien heroes! I've dealt with tons of bad guys and evil things! So don't think I'm weak just because I'm young!"
edited 11th Sep '16 12:12:14 AM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.Both the lady trying to comfort Caro and Curly had good points but Caro was still strictly a "no killing" person and so obviously hearing all of that was about as comforting as saying nothing. Sans paused to think about the subject, still not letting go of Caro and keeping her right next to him.
"look, caro, i know you always go for the non-lethal options or just generally taking the pacifist route, which is something i really respect. you have the magic to allow you to do all that too and even if you might be doubting it, you really do control it well." He paused. "we don't really need to kill those guys, there's not much point to it anyway, but what happened was an accident. neither you or rex are to blame for it, it was just two good plans that when combined resulted in... that. neither of you could've known what the other was going to do either."
Sans let go of Caro and turned towards her completely, he appreciated the help of the other lady. He wondered who she was for a brief moment but it wasn't really the time for introductions. Cole also wanted to know what was going on but trying to explain things now would derail everything so he chose to leave it for later.
"i get that you're sad and it's fine. you did something you regret and i know it's tearing you apart from the inside, but... y'know, i'm still here for you with open arms," he resumed, making a point to show his arms were spread out, "you don't need to hold anything back, feel free to let it all out on me. i don't mind getting my shirt and my coat a little wet or hearing everything you're bottling up. i'm here for ya, ok?"
edited 11th Sep '16 12:12:54 AM by FullMoon
The moment the pirate captain was flung into the nearby water, Sophie whirled around to redirect her attention to the remaining zohm-bee pirates. The closest one swung his cutlass at her head; she blocked it with one gauntlet, her other gauntlet rising up to block an overhead slash by a second pirate. With her arms occupied, a third stepped in-between them and tried to stab her in the abdomen - she twisted her torso back slightly, and the blade grazed her side, causing a clean cut on her white outfit and only gashing her skin underneath.
With a grunt, she pushed upward to force the other blocked blades off her, then seemingly defied all reason by turning her back to the three. Before the third pirate could simply move his outstretched sword to wound her again, her back began to glow brightly, and wings of pure eleth emerged.
The wings struck all three and staggered them - holding them in place just long enough for searing light to rise up from underneath Sophie, bombarding the hapless pirates with divine eleth and weakening them even further. Off-balance as they were, it only took several more hand-to-hand strikes on joints, chests and heads to finally down all three.
The lilac-haired girl landed gracefully on both feet and surveyed the area one more time. The talking octopus had also finished off his side of the zohm-bee pirate crew, so she walked up to him, expression neutral as ever as if nothing unusual had happened. "Thank you for helping," she said to him, before just standing silently where she was; a few seconds later, she crossed one foot behind her other leg and curtsied to him, like Cheria had taught her to do when thanking someone properly.
edited 11th Sep '16 12:23:42 AM by Demovere
Cole looked concerned that Caro was crying, and that it seemed as though something...big had happened. There wasn't any fighting, so the Ruckus had been stopped, hadn't they? Listening to what the others said filled in enough of the blanks though...something had gone wrong, and Caro and Rex had accidentally killed people.
Being as those people were apparently the Ruckus, Cole had to admit he certainly wouldn't be upset about it, but...
He moved a little closer, glancing towards the two militia men nearby, then back to Caro, wincing a bit, before reaching out to touch Sans's shoulder lightly, just to get his attention.
"We are on the surface now. You should get Fried and fly to the library. I am sure you will be able to find it. You need to take Caro there and let her rest. She needs it. You need it. Today has been very difficult for you both."
Eve|Balcony
The pirates were clearing, and didn't appear to be a problem any more. Eve walked towards Ben and the others, and got there just in time to hear Ben voraciously defending himself.
"As powerful as the Omnitrix is, it still has limitations. And besides, I don't think she was talking about your age. You are rather short."
Eve's tone made it clear that she was teasing him, but nevertheless, her first point still stood. If Ben wasn't careful, he'd become completely reliant on an item which can be easily removed.
[TOP SECRET]Ben frowned. "Oh," he muttered. "Well, that's one of my alien forms," he explained to her. "Four Arms. I'd show you but the watch is cooling down after the last fight," he explained. "So it'll have to wait a bit. Sorry, I'm just... people always think I'm too weak or that I shouldn't be a hero, or that I should stay at home and be a good little boy while the grown-ups deal with everything. Well, as long as I'm in this city I'm not gonna let any grown-up or anyone else tell me I can't be a hero."
Eve walked up, and teasingly commented on his height. "Hey! I'm... not that short," Ben muttered, sounding less angry and more resigned about his small stature. It was one of many things Gwen would tease him about.
edited 11th Sep '16 12:53:14 AM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither."Well, I... I'll do what I can, I guess" Thomas said, sounding a bit uncertain as Ben suddenly barraged him with what seemed almost like a pledge. As Ben got annoyed with Curly, something about what Ben was saying stuck out to Thomas. "So wait, this group, the 'City Knights'... Is it just a kids thing?" the young wizard asked, noting Ben's continued talk about 'grown-ups'.
Meanwhile, out on the broken dock, Sir Redring sheathed his swords and looked at Curly. "Not a problem at all madam! I was passing by and heard the cannon fire!" Sir Redring said to Sophie, taking off his hat and giving a sweeping bow gesture in return. After 'standing' back up, Sir Redring stared at her for a moment, his octopus like head making reading an expression nearly impossible, but he suddenly jerked up. "My goodness, you've wounds all over you madam! We must find you a healer at once!" the octopode announced, and moved forward, offering out a couple of tentacles, "come, I can carry you to the platform!"
There was a blur in the air and the bubble reappeared, then vanished again, leaving Miss Tairee and Viola back on the floor. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in the city" Miss Tairee said to Viola, turning around and walking back to the central desks as she dismissed the holographic screen.
You are reading this.Ben nodded at Twilight as she approached. "I'm fine," he told the pony, then looked back at Thomas. "No, it's not just a kid's thing. I've just had some problems in the City with people thinking that just because I'm a kid I shouldn't be a hero. But that's who I am and I'm not gonna let anyone tell me otherwise. It's not a little kid thing, it's a hero thing."
Darn it, he thought. He started to worry that now Thomas wouldn't take him seriously.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.

Viola I Library I Private Talk
"I'm glad to hear that," I replied and smiled to the odd creature. It was by then that I noticed another looking over at our tea party, someone that I recognized.
Ah yes. The warrior woman from two days ago. Is she perhaps interested in joining in as well? My, it looks like we're starting to become more and more popular. Setting my cup down, I looked at her.
"Is there something you need?" I asked Ara, "Or would you care to join us too? We certainly wouldn't mind having another face at the table," When Yoshika politely patted an empty chair next to her, I gestured her towards it as well.
At the doctor who helped himself to one of the seat, I simply nodded to him in acknowledgement.
Whatever response I had to hear would have to wait, as Miss Tairee finally made some time for herself to have our talk. Looks like it was time, then. Noting Seiga's words, I nodded. "It won't take long, I promise. And I'll think about that once we're done,"
Excusing myself from the table and the ensuing tea party that I've organized, I stood before the librarian. This could go either way and, to be honest, even I'm not sure what would transpire afterwards.
Ah, but what's life without a few risks?
"I'm ready," I spoke to Miss Tairee, preparing myself.
edited 10th Sep '16 9:18:02 PM by JustSomeGuy732