Up, Up, and Away

The City...of New York

A bright new day dawned over New York city. The glistening peaks of Hudson Yards and the One World Trade Centre glimmered in the morning light, which cast a pleasant autumnal orange glow upon the buildings off the shore of the Hudson. Ah, New York, New York, the big apple itself. Ask any deli cook and taxi driver bustling around, and they'd tell you this was the place to be. Sure, it might not be the superhero capital of the world like that crum-bum town in Rhode Island was two decades ago, but if you wanted celebrity, musicals, glitz and glamour, you couldn't go far wrong with Manhattan.

At least, that's what they'd tell the tourists. Spend long enough in New York, and you'd find it a hard-knock life like any other city life. Maybe more so, after enough years of train delays and Santacons. For these people, it was a day like any other- riding the subway, driving the cabs, punching in for another day's work at museums, theatres, shopping malls, and all the rest.

It was certainly another dreary day at the Hat Trick Diner, a little joint on Lenox Hill, one block shy of a scenic view of St Catherine's Park. Grills were fired up, servers tied the aprons of their uniforms, and hungover regulars slunk in for their fix of cheap coffee. All the while, a dinky little TV in the corner played a regular feed of Channel 5 news.

"Despite his team having the third-worst batting average in the major leagues, Stanton is confident the Yankees have what it takes to out-hit the Hou...Excuse me... Breaking news! An enormous creature resembling a giant mechanical ape has crashed through the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and is making its way into the Upper Bay! Police are urging shoreline residents to remain indoors as they try and contain the situation."

Good grief, how terrifying! Well, at least it was on the other side of town.

The Other Side of Town

Mighty waves crashed against the shore as the Robeast waded into the bay. It was bigger than a house, and thrice as ugly as any poor architecture. Its head was blue, bloated and apelike, with a mullet of white hair and three curved yellow horns around its scalp. Its body was covered in a crimson coat of fur, with a tight gold belt around its waist. Its limbs were segmented tubes of metal, capped with gold pauldrons at the shoulder and great gold pincers for hands. It stomped unerringly forward, batting aside barges like pool toys, and set its sights on the Statue of Liberty.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound, followed by a loud bang and a great cloud bursting into existence close to the great beast's head. The Robeast swung around with a snarl of fury, only to be met with another great burst from the back, and the front, again and again. In a coordinated effort, the police forces of New York and New Jersey were launching smoke bombs from cannons, sending them shooting like fireworks to burst in the air. Until the national guard could fully mobilise and heavier artillery came in, this was the best they could do to keep the Robeast at bay. Though with the sheer intensity coming from across the bay, you'd be forgiven for thinking New Jersey was driving the monster TOWARDS Manhattan!

Disturbed, but not deterred, the horrid monster marched away from the famous landmark. At the shores of Governors Island, it crested the bay and stomped onto dry land. Standing at full height, the Robeast let out a mighty roar, and began its destructive work. Warehouses were torn apart or crushed underfoot. It ripped the roof off the biggest building like it was opening a tuna can, eager to find tiny prey within. But then it spotted, just beyond the concrete yard, the famous Picnic Point of the island. It saw the clean-cut grass, the tranquil trees, the comfy hammock and the quaint little picnic table. Then, with a baleful glare, it raised its right foot above the point and prepared to stomp!

Red lay slumped over the table, the singer’s breaths gently rising and falling, as a presence rose up out of the late-night shadows behind her. It reached out a hand, and clamped down.

It shook her gently awake. “Hey.” Blue’s voice cut through her modest slumber, sending Red’s head jerking softly up, before blinking her eyes rapidly as if to cover up for having been firmly shut just moments before. “Looks like you forgot to eat again. I got you takeout.”

Red opened her mouth to begin to answer, only for it to widen into a yawn instead. “What, mmm, what time is it?”

“Let me put it this way, normal people hours have ended.” Blue said, hefting the paper bag upwards onto the table, before unloading the wrapped burgers carefully around her music sheets and writing materials.

“Which means that my hours have just begun.” Red said, finally managing to compose herself by resting her cheek against one hand, propped up on her elbow as a thin yet mischievous smile began to peek out from between her fingers.

Blue smiled and gave her a chuckle back in return, but as he finished emptying the bag, his expression abruptly collapsed into a worried sigh. “I really wish that you wouldn’t push yourself like this. It’s just not necessary.”

“Tell that to the mutant children who are sleeping on the streets tonight.” Red replied, as she began collecting her sleep-scattered materials into neat piles. “This upcoming benefit concert means something special to them. It means something special to me.”

Blue nodded his head to the side in a conceding gesture, even as he half-sat on her dresser opposite. “I know.”

“But?”

“But, I just wish that you didn’t have it in your head that you needed to take it upon yourself to go and save the world.”

At that, Red genuinely laughed, a musical, tinkling sound that never failed to make Blue’s heart stir with emotion, and rise with warmth. “Don’t start buying into what the media tells you, now.” She said, her smile suddenly revving with challenge, whimsy, and energetic verve. “Just because there are people with masks and capes roaming the streets, doesn’t mean that a hero is coming to save us, or those kids. If anyone needs saving, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.”

Red’s eyes snapped open.

The cold, darkness, and damp of the room immediately wrapped around her, bundling her up like a musty cocoon. She shivered, drawing the thin blanket closer around herself. She waited a moment, until the chill passed, before scanning the room.

Still the same cramped, closed quarters. Still the same rough-hewn wooden floors that marked it as the rough side of town. Still the same incessant drip drip drip from somewhere seemingly far away, and in reality all-too near. But yet, it was somewhere to hole up, to hide out in relative safety. As it turned out, framed, begging celebrities couldn’t be choosers.

As Red’s eyes cut through the gloom, she finally found what she was looking for, propped up against the far wall. A guitar case, big and bulky, resting against the far wall. They had both agreed that it was safer this way, and made it much easier to transport him the way he was now. But with so much separating them just then, that extra layer of leather and metal seemed one bridge too far.

A few minutes later, after some rustling and shifting, Red was back underneath her blanket, with the guitar case held close in her grasp. Her hands gently traced up and down its weathered surface, her fingertips drinking in the grain of its leather, and just as she was drifting off once more, she could hear a murmured assurance from within.

It’s okay, Red. I’m still here.

Red woke up starving. But she had some steps to take, before she could head back out into the world.

First was her hair, possibly the most recognizable part of her public persona apart from her voice^note Which wasn’t going to be a problem, for now…. Buying the necessary product had cut into what very little physical money she still had left on her, not daring to use any of her assorted cards due to the authorities almost certainly monitoring her accounts like a hawk. As she gently applied the product using the flophouse bathroom’s cracked mirror, she couldn’t help but mentally travel to earlier this week, when she had withdrawn a modest amount of money from an ATM to use at a parking garage later that night. If she had withdrawn just a little bit more, she might not be in such dire financial straits. Then she pushed forward in her mental timeline a bit further, and realized with belated clarity that money was far from her greatest regret of the week. She then quashed that train of thought, as she waited for the dark coloring in her hair to set.

I’m just saying, grease is basically its own food group. Plus, it’ll be next to dead this time of day, and the prices are in line with our… current budget.

These words rang gently in Red’s head as she stepped off of the bus, and made her way down the street towards a familiar greasy spoon:

The Hat Trick Diner

Where The Prices Are Like Magic!

Her eyes rolled in gentle exasperation, even as her heart tingled with nostalgia. Maybe that’s what had really lead them back here, just for a reminder of a time in her life when things hadn’t been so… complicated.

Red pushed the door open, and kept her head down as the bell announced her arrival.

Hefting her weather-beaten guitar case by her side, Red swiftly made her way across the space, heading for a booth in the far corner, one that both put her far from the door, and gave her a decent view of the muted TV perched in one of the diner’s corners, tuned to a news channel with the closed captions flitting diligently by. She gently nudged down her sunglasses to get a better view of the screen, and self-consciously zipped her motorcycle jacket up past its final teeth. Setting the guitar case onto the booth seat next to her, she leaned her forearms on the table as she kept her eyes glued to the news cast, waiting for someone to stop by and take her order.

An Apartment Somewhere in New York City

"The New York Witch", as she was called by the public, had been mainly a bit actress in the grand scheme of NYC superheroics up until this point in time, but lately, there seemed to be more and more stories in the papers about her. Nothing major and attention-grabbing, like fighting supervillains; more small blurbs along the lines of "NY Witch Rescues Cat From Tree", and "NY Witch Catches Purse-Snatcher", and "NY Witch Saves Drowning Drunkard From Hudson". Minor good deeds, all things considered, but she was building up a steady reputation through long days and long nights of diligent work.

It was just a shame those many hours of superheroing were coming back to bite Kikko Hoshino when it came to her day job.

"Ugggggghhhhh..." she groaned at the young lady with dark shadows under crimson-irised eyes that stared back at her in the mirror, simultaneously attempting to brush her teeth and use a different brush to get a tangled knot of bedhead out of her deep purple hair. Quickly setting her toothbrush down, she took a swig of water, swished, and spit into the bathroom sink.

"I can't believe I'm gonna be late for work again!" she groused, then shot an accusatory look at the Daruma doll hovering across the way. "Ullr, why didn't you wake me earlier?!"

"I tried, Star Child, multiple times!" he insisted in a grand, rather stuffy-sounding voice. "And each time, you sighed, said 'five more minutes', and snuggled back into your pillow! I'm beginning to wonder if you even- What are you doing?!" he broke off what he'd been about to say in alarm as Kikko flicked her wrist, summoning a bejeweled scepter to her hand before she called out its name:

"Meteor Tail!"

With an audible magical sparkle, the woman's body was covered with multicolored geometric diamond shapes, which quickly vanished to reveal a Kikko with her waist-length hair cleaned and straightened out (except for the little bit near her fringe that she could never get to stay down), makeup expertly applied, and her work uniform, a red-white pinstripe blouse and skirt with white apron and short red heels, already on her body in place of her star-pattern pajamas. Simultaneously, a couple pieces of bread teleported into the toaster on the kitchenette counter and the device's lever was pushed down into the 'on' position, each with a similar shimmer of rainbow diamonds.

"What have I told you about using your magic for personal hygiene and making meals?!" Ullr cried, scandalized. "You are to use your magic with forethought and wisdom, not as a crutch to simplify normal, everyday tasks!"

"But Ullrrrrrrrr!" she countered with a whine, looking at her magical advisor as her eyes began to get misty. "If I don't get to work as soon as I can, Boss is gonna lose confidence in me, and then before you know it, I'll be fired, and lose my job, and won't be able to pay rent, and be kicked out of my apartment, and be forced to live on the street and sleep on the cold, hard ground under a bridge, and go dumpster-diving for food, and- and- This is the only job I've had that puts up with me leaving at random times to go be a superheroine, and if I can't be a superheroine, I don't know how I'm going to pass my Test and I- I just really want keep my joooooo-ho-ho-hoooob!" she blubbered, outright beginning to sob by the end of her rant and bringing up her hands to wipe away the tears streaming down her face.

"Alright, Star Child, alright... Don't cry..." Ullr sighed in defeat. "I'll overlook your frivolous use of magic on days when you're late for work, since I know how important that is to you. But on normal days, when you're not late, you do things the ordinary way! Agreed?"

"O-Okay!" she said with a watery smile, still sniffling a bit. "Thank you, Ullr!"

"Think nothing of it! I am here to guide you, after all, not endlessly berate you for every misstep. Now, come, dry those tears! A new day awaits!" he assured with a gentle smile.

Pop! went the toaster. Kikko dashed over to grab her toast, and shoved the corner of both pieces into her mouth to hold them, then grabbed Ullr from the air and shoved the small doll into the usual hiding spot (which happened to be her cleavage). Finally, she waved her wand once more, and with another shimmer of diamonds, a pair of blood-red stage curtains popped into existence in the middle of the bedroom and pulled apart to reveal the sight of a hidden corner in an alleyway close to her workplace. Striding through, Kikko decided that, yes, even though she was going to be late for work, today was going to be a good day!

The Hat Trick Diner (Where The Prices Are Like Magic!)

Luckily for Kikko, her boss wasn't even in yet. In fact, the shift was entirely barren of employees besides her and the kitchen staff, who had no quibble with her lateness beyond a bit of good-natured ribbing ("Ayyyyy, Kiko! Late again, huh? Wha's keepin' you up at night? Dun worry, we won' tell da boss, haha!"). So, it was upon returning to the front from the kitchen that the purple-headed woman noticed her first customer of the day... One who looked strikingly familiar! The hair and clothes were different, for sure, but...

"Hmmmmm..." the red-eyed lady hummed quietly to herself, considering for a moment and then approaching the would-be diner with napkin-rolled cutlery and laminated menu in hand and a friendly smile on her face.

"Here's your menu, Miss! I'm Kikko and I'll be your server today!" she greeted with professional cheer. "I'll give you a minute to look over this, and I'll be back soon to get you your drink, alright? Let me know if you need anything!" Turning smartly on her heel, the waitress quickly strode back into the kitchen.

Some ten minutes later, she emerged (wow, slow service here today) with a tray full of food and drink that the customer hadn't ordered. "One Blue Crush soda, one fish and chips, and one hamburger with L-T-O and no meat!" she pronounced as she set the items down before Red in that order.

Perhaps taking the sitting woman's expression as indication that she had gotten something wrong, Kikko nervously gripped her tray with both hands and quickly amended, "Ah! I'm so sorry! I just realized that wasn't your order! I can get you something else, if you like! It's just... I thought you were a customer I had a while back who had a really special order, so I got you that, but now that I think about it, you have totally different hair, so... ahaha..." she trailed off, then leaned in, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "Actually, that lady is apparently on the run from the law right now, but I don't think she's guilty. I saw her with my own two eyes. She was in love, and there's no way love could lead to her doing what they say she did. A-Anyway, I'm so sorry about that mix-up! I'll take your real order, now!"

The Hat Trick Diner (Where The Prices Are Like Magic!)

Red’s gaze remained glued to the television as the minutes ticked by, one of her fingernails anxiously tracing the well-worn scratches in the surface of the table as she both anticipated and dreaded any news about a celebrity manhunt. She wondered how the media was characterizing her, how the world was responding to her alleged scandal, how all of her charitable and civic pursuits might be affected by this. And above all, a deep, anxious part of her worried they'd show the body…

Red blinked as something intercepted her view of the screen, before processing it as the head belonging to her waitress. Red gave the girl a thin smile, before reaching up to tug the collar of her jacket away from her neck, exposing a few bandages that she had picked up at the same time she’d acquired the hair dye. She tapped two fingers against the bandages, then made a zipping motion across her lips, before miming turning a lock in front of her mouth and throwing away the key. Satisfied that this would excuse any further rudeness as the meal wore on, Red took the menu and began scanning it for anything that she recognized.

Ten minutes later, Red had long decided what she wanted, and had almost forgotten about the waitress entirely, riveted as she was to the ebb and flow of the morning news. When the waitress suddenly returned, with something that Red wouldn’t have thought to order for herself in a million years, she stared at it blankly for a moment, before the past came rushing back.

“And just like that, we have the ingredients for the best fish sandwich in town. Enjoy~.”

“*chuckle* That looks ridiculous. And like far too much work.”

“Hey, if they were smart, they would make this an official menu item, instead of making me do this every time.”

“You poor, unrecognized genius~.”

“Your loss, if you want to eat the city’s most unrecognized delicacy from a basket just like everybody else…”

Red continued to stare at the ingredients in front of her, feeling the fever pitch of her nostalgia reach an all-time high, before she drew herself back from that magical moment, a few years past. Glancing back up at the waitress with a careful eye, she reached up into her inside jacket pocket—not making any sudden moves—and drew out her cellphone. It was currently little more than a screen with select apps installed, as the very last thing she had properly used it for was looking up a video online of how to remove a SIM card, before extracting said SIM card and tossing it into the trash. But it still served one, very important purpose.

Pulling up a Notes app, Red began to rapidly type one-handed with her thumb, before turning it in Kikko’s direction. You’d be surprised what people can do for love. After a brief moment to let the waitress either process or react to that, Red would flip the phone back around, type another message, and show her the screen once more. Did you want an autograph? It asked, as her mouth quirked up into a decent imitation of her typical playful smile, hopefully hiding the tension thrumming throughout her body as her free hand rested gently on the body of the guitar case at her side.

The Hat Trick Diner (Where The Prices Are Like Magic!)

Kikko shook her head with a smile at Red's statement about love. "I don't think I'd be surprised! Love is the most powerful force in the entire universe, after all!" she continued talking in a low voice, to make sure no stray customers who might have happened to enter would hear her. Waiting intently as the mute songstress typed out her next message, the purple-headed woman quickly shook her head again at the notion of an autograph.

"Oh, no! Probably best not to leave any indication you were here, you know, for... reasons! That meal's on the house, by the way! Same for any time you come by as long as your... situation is what it is, at least as long as I'm waiting on you. That way we don't have to worry about receipts, eheh!" Saying that, Kikko still winced internally at the thought that this would be coming out of her paycheck. However, her curiosity was burning, so before she left Red be to eat her meal, she did ask one more thing:

"If you don't mind my asking... Are you not talking because you don't want people to recognize you, or did something... happen to your voice?"

This has been a collab post between Uncandescent and Darksidevoid!

The Other Side Of Town

An aerial drone swoops in near the Robeast, its chassis painted the signature yellow-and-black of the Hyperion Corporation. It comes to rest in a hovering position near the monster, starting to project a hologram of some sort…as a metal canister slams into the side of the beast! The hologram forms into an image of Hyperion’s CEO, the ever-distinctive Handsome Jack.

“Sorry pal, Picnic Point’s closed to monsters this time of day! Boys? Whaddya say we clean up? And can I get some music? Y’know, for ambience?”

The Surveyor drone deactivates the hologram as faint flashes emanate from above - Hyperion’s H-shaped (and regulation-compliant, of course) space station Helios, launching…something. Several somethings. More metal canisters land on the shores of the island, unfolding into a group of bipedal robots. Each one levels a firearm at the Robeast and opens fire…as does a human who’s joined the fray. It’s Jack himself with his wrist blasters!

“Hey c’mon people, I said music!”

As Jack and his Loaders barrage the monster, the drone deploys a set of large and (naturally) pricey-looking speakers.

Arcee: In The General Yonkers Vicinity

From the sky came a blinding light, at first appearing to be a second sun, before it became apparent that it was definitely not a sun and in fact approaching from a diagonal angle at an incredible speed. The roaring ball of flame plunged into the ocean with a loud crash and an explosion of vapour, the heat enough to boil the water around it and obscure it in a thick cloud of steam upon impact. It was impossible to tell what had struck the water, but as the ripples began to settle, a shape began to move beneath the waves towards the shore...

It was considerably smaller than the giant robot ape that was currently attacking the city. But it was still a fair bit larger than a human, especially when it reached the shallows and crawled out of the water and onto dry land. The humanoid figure stood to their full height—15 feet, more or less—and took a brief look around to assess their surroundings. A feminine frame, robotic-looking, with a primarily cherry-pink colour scheme with a silver chassis and some blue highlights picked out amidst her components.◊ Bright blue eyes looked out, scanning the city as well as the people who were undoubtedly fleeing from the sight of her.

She made no move to attack, though—even when she began walking, she did so in a hesitant fashion and were incredibly careful not to crush anything or anyone underfoot. She was interrupted by the distant sounds of chaos (due to the other giant robot problem that New York City was currently facing), and upon hearing it, she scowled and promptly collapsed into a mass of shifting components that reconfigured into some kind of alien-looking vehicular design.◊ Once she had settled into this alternate form, she roared her engines and then took off at an unnaturally fast speed down the street; intending to intercept the colossal robotic simian that was causing havoc throughout the city.

As she drove, she made sure to try and connect with the planet's international computer network system. She needed to learn the local languages, terminology, and concepts as quickly as possible: she only recognised this place as a city for these smaller organic lifeforms, and the road she was driving on as a passage for vehicles. She also recognised that their vehicles were of a very different appearance to her own current alternate mode, so she'd need to reformat herself at some point. Right now, however, her priority was protecting these helpless people from whatever threat they happened to be facing at that very moment. Thankfully, she recognised the presence from a distance as a mechanical lifeform.

It was nice to know not everything was alien to her on this world.

Edited by Enirboreh on Aug 7th 2023 at 12:48:22 PM

The Other Side of Town

Anyone could hear and see the metal beast's rampage by now, which meant that a recent immigrant to New York City had also taken notice of what was going on, and her eyes widened briefly in shock. But the shock soon gave way to another expression: determination. Excusing herself from the vendor she had been conversing with, Hinata Hyuga hurried home with haste...though calling 'an unoccupied spot in one of the warehouses until she found something better' home was a stretch, she had to admit. But still, where the beast was rampaging was where she happened to live for the time being, and more importantly, other people lived there.

Arriving just before the beast did, Hinata managed to get inside and get to safety, where surely she'd stay. A few moments later, someone in a blue and purple superhero costume with a spider motif was swinging and parkouring towards Picnic Point, making it her priority to rescue civilians and try to keep property damage from getting any worse.

No one knew her yet, but those who saw her could tell that this wasn't her first superhero escapade. With this being her official debut to New York City, it was Jorogumo's time to shine!

Edited by Bored_Man on Aug 7th 2023 at 7:14:16 AM

Captain Underpants and the Rage of the Riled-Up Robeast! (by George Beard & Harold Hutchins)

"Bah!" Benjamin Krupp growled as he sat forlornly on a spotted red picnic blanket, watching the kids around him laugh and play, and generally be absolute nuisances! Why did he have to be stuck with the brats?! Damn Mr. Meaner and his infectious foot fungus! He scratches his back before pulling out a megaphone. "Stanley, shut that armpit faucet! You're getting everyone's blankets wet!" "Dressy, the birds are not to be fed!" "Jessica, NO SWIMMING!"

By this point, the principal of Jerome Horwitz Elementary had had enough. He turns to Erica Wang, who was probably the most qualified student there (and if he were any less prideful, he would admit she was more qualified than him.) The bored-looking girl was busy blowing the bubblegum she had, and Krupp yells, "I can't take it anymore! I'm gonna leave! Erica, you're in charge." he growls as Erica smiles and replies, "You got it, boss." Krupp then stomps away in a huff. "Maybe they have some guac in this joint..." he grumbles to himself, his stormy mood pacified by the thought of his heavenly green dip.

Meanwhile (coincidentally near a nacho joint called Nacho Mama's), George Beard and Harold Hutchins◊ were lounging on a bench, bored out of their minds. In case you didn't know, George was the one on the right leaning on the bench backrest with the tie and the flattop, and Harold was the one on the left nearly sliding off the bench with the t-shirt and the bad haircut. Remember that, now!

"Ugh, it sure is boring around here!" Harold groans for the third time in as many minutes. "Maybe we can go around and prank people!" George laughs, pulling out some whoopee cushions.

"Or we could make a comic!" Harold grins excitedly. "But first..." George holds up his hand and walks to a sign. Harold, seeing where this was going, hops off the bench and follows his best friend.

"Breakfast, Lunch, Ice Cream." George reads aloud from the words above the arrow. The two grin at each other, and their hands move in a flurry across the sign, changing and removing letters (don't ask me how) to make the sign say...

"Chickens' Macabre Rule." Harold hums. "A little grim (and wordy), but it's probably gonna draw someone." George chuckles. "Now let's make a comic!" Harold laughs, and George brings out some papers, Harold his pencil and crayons, and they began to write. The comic went something like this:
Captain Underpants and the Rage of the Riled-Up Robeast! (by George Beard & Harold Hutchins)

So there was this ape named Rob (drawn as a monkey with a brain bursting through his head like Mojo Jojo) who was really smart and sciencey and stuff, and he loved to build robots, tap at computers, draw charts, snore! Because he was so boring, he never won any awards, because when he would explain his inventions (Like the Automatic Toilet Cleaner!), people would fall asleep! So then he became so mad, he decided to build a GIAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNT giga mecha suit, and piloted it around destroying the city!

"I am not Rob anymore, now I am Robeast!"

Robeast then stomped around Manhattan and eventually swam to Governer's Island to stomp on the picnickers and stalls. Captain Underpants was busy on a picnic eating from the nacho joint when Robeast came up and tried to stomp him! Captain Underpants was like "Bub, you destroyed my nachos! You're going down!" and began an epic battle! (Insert very lengthy battle scene here) Then, Robeast used his super belt to laser Captain Underpants! The Captain was beaten! However, he quickly recovered and used a giant mirror from the House of Mirrors to deflect the laser back at it! Kaboom! Skadoosh! Rob went flying, flying, all the way to Long Island, where the horses kicked him even farther! The end.

George and Harold couldn't stop laughing as they wrote the comic. "Man, this is nuts!" Harold gasps. "Probably our most action-packed comic yet!" George agrees, only for both to jump a foot in the air as Krupp yells, "THERE YOU ARE!" through his megaphone. "Gah! Mr. Krupp!" George curses. "I knew I'd find you two up to your shenanigans!" Krupp barks.

"Well, we were just making a comic!" George bats his eyes innocently. "...Right." Krupp growls. "Now I'll make sure you don't leave my sight, not ever!" he promises, only for a sudden loud noise to cause him to whirl around and yelp in fright as the giant Robeast (who went unnoticed by the three because) made its presence known, ready to stomp on them.

"It's the Robeast!" yelps George and Harold. "It looks... different than in the comic." George notes. "Man, we really should stop putting villains in our comics." Harold mutters, and George shushes him with "Not the time, we need him!" Both boys smile and raise their fingers to snap as Krupp lets out a cartoonishly long scream as the Robeast comes down to stomp on the three. All goes silent as the Robeast's foot connects with the ground, sending up a massive dust cloud. Then, those who were foolish or unlucky enough to be close to the threat would hear a "Tra-la-laaaaaaaa!" as a white blur dashes away from the foot and sets down George and Harold away from the beast. Krupp, clad only in his undies and missing his toupee, is Krupp no more, for his is the Waistband Warrior, Captain Underpants!

"Whoo! That was a close one!" the Captain laughs as he puts his fists to his hips, turning to the kids. "You alright there?" "We sure are, Captain Underpants!" Harold laughs. "Good! Now I gotta combat evil!" Captain Underpants grins as he adopts a Superman flight pose and dashes away towards the Robeast with a triumphant "Tra-la-laaaaaaaa!"

...Only for the Robeast to backhand him with no effort, sending him tumbling through the ground until he builds enough dirt behind him for a life-size castle, stopping at the picnic area. All the students were already gone, having been led away from the Robeast. Captain Underpants sits up groggily and spits out a tooth. "Hey! Anothe' one for the Toof Fairy!" he laughs, before turning to the side and seeing the picnic blanket Krupp had sat on earlier. "Ooh! Convenient!" he grins as he grabs the blanket and fastens it around his neck as his cape, before dashing off towards the Robeast again.

Meanwhile, George and Harold were screaming, running, and generally trying not to be trampled when Handsome Jack enters the scenes with him and his robots opening fire at the beast. "Whoa..." George gapes. "Are those robots golden?!" Harold gasps before both boys run away to look for Captain Underpants.

Edited by Jules-Firenze on Aug 7th 2023 at 10:06:17 PM

"The mysterious transformations of New Yorkers into anthropomorphic animals continues, and heroes are no closer to catching the culprit. These animal-humans, dubbed 'mutants' by the scientific community, have largely gone feral due to their mutations, and cause widescale destruction whenever they appear in public. Officials urge civilians to stay indoors at night until the culprit can be caught or a cure can be found.

"In other news, as most people know, the end of the Third Age caused a resurgence of non-powered crime. New York's most notorious gang, the Purple Dragons, has controlled the criminal underworld for three years. However, recent reports say that a group of heroes has been going after them—what appears to be four turtle mutants in ninja masks. Some have also said these mutants have fought petty muggers and thieves to defend helpless civilians, and many claim to have seen them fighting the other mutants in town.

"Little is known about New York's newest heroes, but the hero community has taken to referring to them as the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'. Thus far, we do not know why they're only appearing now, or what powers they may possess. One thing is clear, though; these turtles are here to stay. I'm Joan Grody, and you're watching Channel Six News."

New York Sewers

Beneath the streets of New York lied its sewer system, an oddly spacious labyrinth of tunnels spanning the whole city. And tucked within these tunnels was what could be best described as a "lair"—which happened to be where five people made their home.

Four of those five sat in the "foyer" area, each silently quietly engrossed in his own thing. The first, one with a blue mask, was draped across the couch, impatiently tapping out a rhythm with his finger. The second, one with a red mask, was tiredly trying to move the blue one off the couch so he'd stop hogging it. The third, one with a purple mask, was nursing a cup of coffee and presumably trying to set the blue one on fire with his mind. And the fourth, one with an orange mask, was half-watching TV, half-just trying to stay awake.

"Breaking news! An enormous creature resembling a giant mechanical ape has crashed through the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and is making its way into the Upper Bay!"

Donnie nearly spat out his coffee. It didn't matter, though, because now all of them were wide awake. The turtles crowded around the TV, Leo shoving his brothers aside so he'd be in front.

"...holy moly," Mikey murmured, staring at the live footage of the ape tearing up New York. "That's..."

"Terrifying?" Donnie put in. "I agree."

"I dunno..." Leo grinned. It was overconfident, smug, and slightly manic, the kind of Leo-grin his brothers associated with bad news. "Fighting that thing could be an adventure, you know?"

His brothers stared at him.

"Are you serious?!" Raph snapped. "This ain't the Purple Dragons! We'd get eaten alive!"

"Aw, come on! Where's your sense of adventure? Of thrills? This could be so awesome, just do everything I tell you—" Leo gestured to the TV again. "And we'll be fine!"

Beat.

"I...guess we could try," Mikey said, a bit hesitantly.

Leo grinned again. "I knew I could count on Mikey to be the voice of reason!" He patted his little brother on the head, and Mikey sheepishly smiled. "Now come on! Destiny is calling!" He turned and ran out the entry to the lair, Mikey hurriedly following behind.

Raph and Donnie stared after them.

"We don't have a choice, do we?"

"No, no we do not. Couldn't this have happened in the afternoon?"

The Side of Town Under Attack by a Robot Monkey

The turtles rarely went outside in the day. They were ninjas, and it was a bit hard for ninjas to go unseen in broad daylight. But something something desperate times, and so they'd emerged from a sewer grate in an alley and now expertly leapt and jumped and flipped across the roofs of the city. They were unlikely to be noticed unless you were specifically looking at the roofs.

What? They weren't totally inept at ninjutsu. How do you think they managed to avoid interacting with any other hero up until now?

But whatever the case, they had made it there.

"This is so outside our wheelhouse," Donnie said, eyes wide.

Mikey was trembling like a baby rabbit. Raph stared at the ape, then at his sais, wondering how the hell this was supposed to work. And Leo was—

"Eh, bigger they are harder they fall," he said, dismissively waving a hand. He then clapped his hands. "Alright, strategy time! Donnie, you figure out its weak spot and shut it down. Raph, Mikey, you draw aggro so it doesn't hurt any innocents."

"What?!" Raph yelled. "That thing'll kill us!"

"You'll be fine! I'm leader, I'm not gonna send you into a suicide mission! And I'll be dealing the actual damage. Everyone got that?"

Mikey cheerfully saluted. "Yessir!"

"...sure, whatever."

Raph just grumbled.

"Great! Turtles, move out!"

And with that, they leapt into action—Leo leaping onto the thing to try to stab it with his swords, Raph and Mikey swinging around its head to distract it, and Donnie flipping his goggles down to scan the ape for weaknesses.

Sailing at high speeds through the skies, a strange black colored flier that was heavily armored and armed was flying to it's destination. New York. Inside were....not many reputable people, mainly due to the organization they were part of.

Black colored soldiers, multiple spider-looking machines, and more were inside....not to mention other dropships have already landed on New York and made hideouts in there. This one though is the most important Arachnos dropship due to the...being that is currently in there.

A humanoid shark person was gritting his large sharp teeth and leaning on a wall of the vehicle, already impatient from how long this is taking. Lord Recluse (And that dumb, mopey idiot of Scirocco- he still doesn't understand why Lord Recluse lets that sad excuse of a villain still remain a patron-) for his first task in this boring and 'civilized' city is to steal the crystal of Serafina from a secure vault in this city. Something something 'Magical power inside it' or some crap like that. Hopefully he can get something good out of this 'mission', since it delays his scouting and experiments with the Leviathan and gaining its power.

"Ey, magic man- I mean, Mu'Gadro, any of your BDSM pals that already landed has done your 'scrying' spell shtick?" Mako said towards a strange red garbed and man who had his hands and legs bound that was floating◊ and whose aura had red lightning flowing through him.

"So far, our scouts, and the Spiderling bots crawling through the city, have detected that a fair amount of what seems to be heroes are currently distracted with a large machine."

"Hm. Good. There must be other goodie two shoes around, but still. The less we deal with, the better."

...In truth, this was a bold faced lie. He always welcomes the chance to spill some blood. And maybe get some snacks. Or both. He ain't picky.

The Arachnos Flier was now seeing the silhoullete of New York City becoming closer and closer, and any civilian or passerby near the coast would definetely take notice of the vehicle. This city will learn to fear the presence of Arachnos....but most importantly, him.

Kindergarten

The City... of New York. A bustling metropolis, home to countless superheroes, always ready to combat evil wherever it lurks. Among the new heroes is a group already growing in popularity, known for boldly showing their faces instead of hiding behind masks.

The Powerpuff Girls!

Who are currently in kindergarten.

Blossom dutifully filled out her worksheet, casting an occasional glance at her sisters. Buttercup was stifling giggles as she passed notes with Mitch, being just stealthy enough that the teacher hadn't noticed. Bubbles was doodling, scribbling bunnies with colorful crayons.

A fairly normal day, all things considered. At least, until the TV came on and showed news of a giant robot attack.

While the other kids looked on in various states of worry, hoping the monster wouldn't get close enough to the city - most of their parents worked there, after all - the three girls with shining eyes rose into the air.

"An emergency! C'mon, Girls!"

Bubbles plastered a determined look on her face, while Buttercup grinned at the thought of punching something.

They shot out of the window with flashes of light.

The Other Side of Town

Those looking up would see what appeared to be a glowing rainbow streaking across the sky, though with a few missing colors. Pink shined between green and baby blue, making its way towards the enormous robot with clear purpose.

The rainbow suddenly curved, moving its trajectory. The Powerpuff Girls came in at full speed, aiming to crash into the monster at such an angle that it would hopefully be launched back into the waters of the harbor, away from anything that it hadn't already destroyed.

After the impact, the rainbow resolved itself into three young girls in color-coded dresses, floating in the sky and visibly glowing with power.

"Surrender, villain!" Blossom shouted, her superhuman lungs allowing her to project insanely well. "You'll never beat the Powerpuff Girls!"

"Yeah!" Buttercup and Bubbles agreed. For emphasis, Buttercup added: "Step off unless you want a butt-whoopin'!"

If the monster did not immediately yield - which, let's be honest, it definitely wasn't going to - it would find itself beset by three tiny superhumans, zipping around it and barraging it with punches and energy blasts, trying to corral it away from the island, or at the very least keep it away from any civilians.

Mina Harker - The Other Side of Town - When All You Have is a Broken Time Machine

SSSSCCCCCHHHWWIIIPPPPPPP!!!

The Time Machine made its destination inside a shoddy warehouse, skidding across the floor before stopping to a halt near a stack of boxes.

Mina Harker hopped out of the machine, swiping the sweat off her forehead. She analyzed her surroundings and figured out that chances are, she's probably not in 1898. She returned to the machine and attempted to return to her time, only to find that its controls were completely fried and wrecked, leaving the machine unusable.

She sighed.

Very well, she'll have to find someone to fix the machine, hopefully in a timely manner. While she can presumably travel back to the precise moment she got into the machine, she became concerned over the rest of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen worrying over her – maybe except Griffin, who's a damned monster that Mina still wonders why MI5 even wanted him to get recruited for the team – and how they would function without their leader, which happened to be her.

So, she has to return to her time quickly.

Glancing over the corpse of the Pilot, whose throat is still bleeding, Mina realized that she'll have to figure out a way to hide the body – and the machine as well, considering its abstract shape will certainly catch the attention of whoever stumbles upon it. She searched around for something to hide both and she eventually found a large cover. She was about to throw the cover over the machine when she remembered that bodies rot, thus it would be better to take the Pilot's corpse somewhere away from the contraction.

She drops the cover and heads to the Pilot. She carries the corpse, its weight noticeable but it's not big of a deal for her. Before she heads outside to ditch the body, she gets around to throwing the cover over the machine and wraps the Pilot in another. As she exits the warehouse, she's greeted by a wondrous sight alongside loud, obnoxious music playing in the background.

In the distance is a giant robotic primate causing mayhem in what's clearly a city far beyond Mina's time. Dashes of red-blue-green light pass by her and Mina spots a man wearing nothing but underwear and a red blanket flying towards the primate.

"Just another day at the job," Mina muttered to herself.

By now, she was so used to the extraordinary that it sometimes bored her.

And now her priorities are:

1. Ditch the body.
2. Deal with the giant robotic primate.

She rushes down the nearest sidewalk and after a couple or so minutes, finds a big green dumpster in an alley. She places the body within the dumpster, putting it deep within the dumpster, hiding it amongst the sleek black garbage bags. Once the corpse was secured and well hidden, she shuts the dumpster lid. If M needs proof that the Pilot is dead, she'll simply point at the spilled blood on the machine's seats and controls.

And with that done, it's time to do legitimate heroing.

Mina rushes out of that alleyway, with her Spencer Repeating Rifle in her hand, heading towards the robotic primate. Along the way, she stumbles upon an army of robots led by a particular smug hero-wannabe billionaire going in the same direction…

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Aug 7th 2023 at 11:44:17 AM

Arcee: Riding to Governor's Island

Turns out the commotion was on the complete other side of the island she was on. Arcee didn't mind: her Cybertronian vehicle mode was able to cross such a distance in a matter of mere minutes. The real problem was when she realised exactly where the culprit was—on another island, a smaller one, off in the distance from the shoreline of the larger one. She skidded to a halt, coming to a stop in the strange square of green-bladed vegetation next to the edge of the larger island. Grass, her processor registered. She was picking up on a lot of information transmitted through this so-called 'Internet'.

But how was she going to get across...? This substance in the river was H 2 O, common water, so she knew she couldn't get purchase on it normally without sinking. She considered transforming into her bipedal mode and swimming over, but then she had a better idea. Reversing back nearly a hundred metres, she then gunned her engines and kicked herself back into a wheelie in order to launch herself over the edge of the New York shoreline.

Any onlookers would witness a strange pink-and-white motorcycle jumping into the river, but instead of sinking, it kept driving. With a spray of foam behind it, the motorcycle zipped across the top of the water, bouncing like a speedboat the whole way. It wasn't long before it had made it to the edge of Governor's Island, after which Arcee swiftly converted and kicked off of the water's surface; vaulting over the sea wall and landing on the sidewalk above it with a solid clunk. Her target was here, and already being assaulted by a series of colourful characters.

Arcee didn't announce her presence, merely sprinting closer to the giant mechanical ape and converting her hands into dual Energon blasters. Once she was in range, she began firing rapidly and held her ground, focusing on hitting the enemy while avoiding accidentally hurting anyone who was trying to fight it at the same time as her. The blue blasts of Energon were electromagnetic in nature, sending out short pulses of plasma with each successful hit, and were potent enough to cause damage to even Cybertronian plating. So it was likely that it'd cause similar damage to the robotic simian as well.

Another planet, another skirmish. Can't escape it, she thought to herself. That river drive helped clean out all that space dust, at least. Almost better than an oil bath.

Bunnie Rabbot — Monkey Buisness

In the middle of the chaos, a strange blue portal opened up over the Statue of Liberty. It twisted and turned, spinning around like a cradle. It kept spinning, sparkling and shimmering like crystal glitter, building in intensity...

...and then it spat her out.

The portal disappeared, dissipating in a blinding flash, more of a whimper than a bang. but she hadn't. She came to, glancing down from atop the lady's head, the world constantly spinning as she got her bearings.

"Oh mah stars...

She didn't know where to begin. She thought back, cradling her head, rubbing her brow with a large metallic hand. It was smooth and sleek, a dull magenta, but it didn't seem to bother her. Suddenly it came to her. She'd been helping her friends in the lab. They needed her lift something, but she wasn't sure what. Something about a Zone?

She didn't remember much else. One minute she was there, the next she was here. She looked down again. Now the world wasn't spinning, she could get a better look. First thing she was a bunch of robots shooting each other on the shore. She didn't know what was going on, but if there were robots running around, she knew who was to blame.

She didn't waste a second. She flew down, rocketing below, jet thrusts steering her metallic legs. She still wasn't sure what their deal was. Maybe Buttnik's latest masterpiece got out of control and he was cleaning up his own mess. Looked like something he'd make.

But it didn't matter either way. She opened fire, morphing her arm into a cannon, as nasty as a one-eyed snake. An enormous laser shot down, powerful and searing, blasting apart anything in its path. She could make out a couple friendlies, but if they had any sense, they'd keep their distance.

"Heads up sugahs!"

She slowly lifted her arm across the ground, a straight continuous path of destruction, hoping to tear through the rabble as her laser reached its target. It soon reached the end of its journey, blasting at the monster's enormous metal head. She hoped it work, but hope was the only thing she had.

Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 8th 2023 at 3:34:28 AM

Governor's Island - Monkey Battle

In the midst of her zipping to and fro, Jorogumo had noticed that she was hardly the only hero on the scene, and it was with no small amount of relief that she realized that they seemed to be more equipped for dealing with a monster of that size than she was. Scanning the environment briefly, the spider-themed heroine zipped up to one of the nearby rooftops, landing right next to a man-sized turtle.

<"Everyone's rather punctual here, aren't they?"> The girl spoke, currently speaking in her native tongue (Japanese) since she didn't yet know enough 'English' to carry on a full conversation.

Edited by Bored_Man on Sep 4th 2023 at 11:42:57 AM

Robot Fight, Donnie

Donnie jolted in surprise, briefly breaking from his scan to look at who'd dropped in next to him—a short person in a costume. Clearly a new superhero, one of many who'd cropped up in this day and age; the world of heroes had experienced something of a renaissance, of which he and his brothers were part.

She also spoke Japanese. Luckily, Donnie knew Japanese. His dad was from Japan.

"Yeah. Lot of people." His words were a bit clipped as he re-focused on the robot monkey. "Give me a sec. I'm scanning this."

Robeast Battle - Sponsored By Hyperion!

The hero finds himself suddenly surrounded by new arrivals - some familiar, some completely alien.

"...Well that's new..."

Jack waves to the Girls, recognizing local heroes immediately, before pressing a few buttons on his wrist. Turning slowly in the air, the Surveyor gets a look at each of the new arrivals - the turtles, the eye-searingly pink motorcycle, the talking rabbit, the spider-themed girl, the errant time traveler - and emits a barely-audible series of clicks. Unless you were standing right next to the Surveyor, you'd never hear them. Jack mutters into the wrist-device.

"Jimmy, enhance these photos. We need intel."

{No variables in my town.}

Jack raises an arm to try and get Donnie's attention, noticing the young reptile doing something with those tech-looking goggles of his.

"Hey, kiddo! You getting a bead on this thing?"

It was then that Bunnie started blasting every robot she saw - Hyperion ones included. Jack whirls around to face the ensuing carnage.

"Whoa, whoa, watch it! We're the good guys, shoot the monkey!"

Jack takes one last look at Arcee before he continues blasting the Robeast.

{Definitely not one of ours...might wanna have the lab boys look into that one. Whose is she? Maliwan? Dahl? Tediore? Ha! I crack myself up - Tediore sucks.}

Edited by ZodanTheUnbounceable on Aug 8th 2023 at 8:05:51 AM

Mina Harker - Robomonkey Battle - The Primate, the Billionaire and the Wardrobe

As Mina continued her path towards the robotic primate, she spotted a bipedal rabbit blasting at pretty much everything mechanical; she dodged several of the blasts as they were in close proximity of her.

I'll certainly have to deal with that rabbit after this, Mina thought to herself.

After she followed Jack's robots, Mina stumbles upon the man himself. His mask of his own face and his heterochromia certainly caught her attention.

"Hello, sir," She greeted Jack. "By the looks of it, you're leading these machines to fight off that giant mechanical primate, correct? If so, I'm willing to help you as I'm already planning to deal with that primate. My name is Wilhelmina Harker by the way."

Captain Underpants, Ow, Ow, and Away!

The captain, no worse for the wear even after frenching the soil for about a mile, flies next to George and Harold, who were hiding behind the Nacho Mama's stand, watching the different superheroes battle the Robeast. "Those girls are even younger than we are!" George gasps in amazement at the Powerpuff Girls join in the beatdown. "I wish we had superpowers..." Harold groans.

"Don't worry, because I'm here to save the day for you!" Captain Underpants grins, before zooming into the air towards the Robeast. Flying in front of its face, the captain brings out a banana from... his briefs... and waves it in front of the beast. "Here, monkey, monkey, monkey!" He hollers, wiggling the banana as he did so. However, he was slow to realize the laser from Bunnie was going towards them, and he suddenly goes "Yeowch!" as it scorches his back, and he panics and blows on his burning cape frantically, unable to dodge accidentally falling into Arcee's blasts, before he falls, screaming, to the ground with a massive THUD!

"Mommy, my train went swimming in the piano..." he murmurs groggily.

The Hat Trick Diner (Where The Prices Are Like Magic!)

When the waitress made her shameless declaration as to her thoughts about love, Red felt the brimming tension in her smile begin to soften slightly, as she suddenly got a better sense for the cause of this abrupt act of kindness. How long has it been, since I met a real fan this up-close before… Red thought to herself, before turning the phone around, typing a short message, and then turning it back.

That’s very generous of you.

But then, of course, came the obvious question—or, at least, the second-most obvious question, behind “Did you really do it?” And truth be told, what Red wanted most in the world was to be able to squeeze her eyes tight, open her mind’s eye, and bring clarity to that fateful night; to understand how everything could’ve gone so wrong, so fast. But when her voice was taken, however it had happened, it took pieces of her with it, like sod clinging to an uprooted clump of grass. She could no more remember the exact circumstances of her own voice being stolen away, than the face of the assailant who had taken it from her.

Her only concrete certainty, a truth that she could hold comfortably and firmly next to her heart, was that Blue’s fate was meant for her.

It seems that I’ve lost a lot of precious things lately. Red showed to the waitress, and as her well of emotion spilled slightly over, she reached up with her free hand to quickly wipe away an errant tear. Seconds later, her fingers busied themselves once more, and she held the phone out to the waitress with a stern expression, her mouth set as though she wasn’t looking for an argument. I can’t ask you to put yourself at risk like this. Let me pay for my food, and then you’ll never see me again.

Edited by Uncandescent on Aug 8th 2023 at 9:56:41 AM

The Hat Trick Diner (Where The Prices Are Like Magic!)

Perhaps surprisingly, Red's stern look and instructions for Kikko not to put herself at risk summoned a certain, rather juvenile emotion and look upon the purple-headed woman's face: defiance. Then Kikko sighed as her expression became more thoughtful and moved between Red and the meal before her, and finally, she smiled slyly, and pointed a violet-painted nail at the glass of soda, which began to hover and moved over to the air in front of Red's face, trailing flat, rainbow diamond shapes.

"You know," Kikko whispered casually, tossing her hair, "It's not just the prices that are magic, here at The Hat Trick Diner! Take a quick sip of that, just to confirm that it's indeed Blue Crush, if you would!" Once Red complied, Kikko wiggled her finger at the drink again, little colored diamonds swirling within the glass for a moment before dissolving.

"Now try it again, please~!"

Somehow, upon tasting once more, the flavor of the drink had completely changed to something else, hearkening back to - "Like in that commercial you did for Red Racer with the motorcycles, right?" Kikko surmised, beaming proudly as she continued to whisper. "Not only can I move things and change flavors, but I can outright conjure things, too, including food and drink! So I created your food out of nothing, which means not only did almost no work go into making it, but there wasn't anybody else involved, and there won't even be any missing ingredients to cause suspicion! Uh..." she paused to sheepishly scratch her head. "Don't worry! It's still normal-tasting and full of nutrition! Just made with magic instead of by hand! Ahaha..."

"Anyway!" the vermilion-eyed woman said, crossing her arms decisively. "I'm not at risk, so don't worry about that, either! There's obviously a reason you haven't tried to stay at a shelter, so how else are you going to eat to live? You need that money, and you're not going to be eating out of the trash if I have anything to say about it! It's okay to accept help when you need help, you know?" she concluded, looking searchingly at Red and hoping she'd gotten through to the downtrodden woman.

The Brookyln Museum has received a recently new transfer of a unique and strange object nicknamed 'The Crystal of Serafina', a rare diamond that tales rumour that it belonged to a Genie, though people dismiss this as just a fairy tale.

Arachnos knows better, especially considering it was THAT genie that is the reason for one of the curse one of their Patrons suffers from. The Mu Mystics, and Scirocco as well, desire this gem for a ritual that would bolster their power against the Circle of Thorns that have been causing many problems over at Nerva Archipelago. Honestly, Mako couldn't give a damn about all of this, but orders from the big spider are orders from the big spider. Soooo, it's time to ruin and bankrupt a museum.

The streets were fairly normal and packed....atleast until the large Arachnos Flier arrived and landed near the museum in a chaotic way. The panic and chaos began as people ran away, especially when the people inside the vehicle started to exit out. Most of them were Wolf Spider soldiers, clad in black armor and with assault rifles, and even a few holding maces.◊ Nothing more than legalized thugs drunk with power, and clad in advanced weaponry and armor. The real meat though, was atleast 6 large and lumbering Power Armored soldiers who seemed to have a strange backpack with spidery legs grafted to their backs. The Crab Spiders◊ served their leader Captain Mako loyally, and were as brutal and cruel as him. They formed a protective formation near Captain Mako as he exited the Flier last, but honestly, it was more for formality. After all, Mako can take care of himself.

Captain Mako, The Wolf Spiders and the Crab Spiders marched on towards the Museum...and once they entered, decided it was time to have a bit of fun. Guns were fired at the ceiling as screams of panic and fear erupted from the crowd of civilians. A few security guards tried to be brave and stop them, but unfortunately, were cut short as a Crab Spider aimed one of the limbs of his Crab-Pack at them and fired a bolt of plasma towards them, knocking them back and leaving a very noticeable scorch mark on their chest. As the screams of fear intensified from the crowd, Mako couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Wolfies, keep an eye on these goldfishes and on the door. If they try play hero, kill em'. ...Or if you get bored and want target practice. I honestly don't care."

With that, the Wolf Spiders gave a nod to the shark Patron as they remained keeping an eye out on the hostages and the door in case the Police or capes were to dare stop this plan from Arachnos. Meanwhile, Captain Mako and his entourage of Crab Spiders went deeper into the museum, ready to get the Crystal of Serafina at all costs.

Hidden and crawling near one of the roofs of the very few buildings in Governor Island, was a black and tiny spider-like machine◊ that was watching and recording all of this situation with the hero and the robot happening. Arachnos needed an upper hand on a city with so many 'unique' individuals, and the best way to do it was getting intel of all the metahumans around.

There was certainly a fair amount that were unique, atleast from what the Spiderling bot was recording. For now, it was content staying in the shadows and watching.

Edited by Darkomega245 on Aug 9th 2023 at 12:07:47 PM

The Hat Trick Diner (Where The Prices Are Like Magic!)

Distracted as she was by the situation and Kikko’s modest showmanship, Red at first didn’t really process that the glass moving up towards her mouth was holding itself aloft seemingly by its own power. Instead, she merely playfully rolled her eyes, anticipating a piece of well-meaning schtick built around a silly slogan for a fun diner name. But after she gamely took a sip of the Blue Crush, feeling the nostalgic flavors washing over her, she was able to get an exceptionally clear view of some kind of glowing… something dancing just over the surface of the soda. After darting her eyes up to the waitress, then back to the drink, and then back up to the waitress again, she finally took some notice of how the glass itself was floating several, uninterrupted inches off of the surface of the table.

Gingerly taking the glass from Kikko’s floating grasp with her own two hands—just for her own sanity’s sake—she raised it up to her mouth once more, and took a sip.

And immediately, an altogether different wave of nostalgia washed over her, as she began to seemingly choke on the beverage. But what Kikko may have initially thought of as shock or disgust quickly revealed itself to be an involuntary and unexpected burst of laughter, the musical vocalization the first concrete sounds that had left the singer’s throat for almost a full day.

And, strangely enough, as soon as Kikko clarified out loud what the drink now tasted like, there was something like a companion snicker, coming from the guitar case at Red’s side.

Whether Kikko noticed the noise or not, Red certainly didn’t, too caught up in the memory of the time she had agreed to endorse a soda that she didn’t even like that much, sipping blissfully at the drink on a green screen surrounded by CGI racing motorcycles, just because it matched her “optics”; back during the impulsive height of her first wave of popularity, when she couldn’t yet tell the difference between standing by her interests and selling out. The laughter petered out of her in soft, lapping waves, and for a moment the strength of the memory was such that she didn’t even have an opinion yet on the real, live wizard standing in front of her. Truly the height of my career. She ended up showing Kikko shortly thereafter, still trying and failing to thwart a series of sporadic giggles.

But as the dam-rupture of her laughter subsided, the novelty of what was standing in front of her began to sink in. In Red’s time standing up for mutant-kind, she’d met dozens of individuals with all manner of strange abilities. But this, this was something different—a claim that something she’d believed in as a little girl was real, with the proof to back it up. That is very impressive. Are you also one of them? Red asked, nodding her head towards where the TV screen was still showing a minute-by-minute update of a large, metahuman brawl that was taking place on the other side of town. But mere seconds later, Red’s brow furrowed, and she swiftly brought her phone back before typing a counter-message, and displaying the screen once more. I’m sorry, that was a stupid question. Don’t answer that.

Edited by Uncandescent on Aug 9th 2023 at 6:51:03 AM

The Hat Trick Diner (Where The Prices Are Like Magic!)

"Oh, no, no, not a stupid question at all!" Kikko assured with a dismissive little wave, even as she proceeded to not really answer Red's query.

"I just wish I was as strong as they are..." the waitress said, looking to the battle playing out on screen with a wistful smile. "I have no idea how I'd ever fight something that big! Maybe conjure a giant banana and try to lead it into the sea, haha? But if my magic was that strong, just imagine all the people I could help! I could stop crime, and cure illness, and feed the hungry... I'd be able to do so much... I hope I'm that strong, someday."

"You're really strong, too, just in a different way!" the purple-haired woman added, turning back to look at Red at the table. "You bring people together and lift them up and inspire them, make them greater and more whole than they would be without you. I think, in a way, being a sort of paragon like that is something you and those heroes have in common. But while they fight conspiracies and everyday crime, you've been fighting something much bigger and more important."

By the time the apparent wizardess (witch?) finished that statement, she was beaming brightly at the fugitive with dyed hair. "Listen," she continued kindly, "I know it's an understatement to say you've been having a rough time of things. But don't let things get you down too much, okay? If there's one thing practicing magic has taught me, it's that there's always hope! You may have lost your voice, but there's no reason to think there's not a way to get it back! And there's gotta be a way to clear your name, too! You just gotta keep looking 'til you find them!"

"And if nothing else, I'm in your corner, rooting for you!" she concluded, nodding decisively with a firm look in her eyes as she pumped her fist. "I don't really know what else I can do to help aside from making sure you stay healthy and fed, but you can count on me! Deal?" She reached out a hand to her very special customer for a shake, still with the optimistic smile.

Governor Island

While Jorogumo had respected the turtle's request for some time to focus and get an idea of how to take down the beast (assuming it wasn't brought down with sheer brute force and numbers), the man waving in their direction had her briefly stare at him. Given her mask, it was hard to tell what she was thinking, so for all the world knew, there was some deep philosophical quandary going on in her head.

("Why does learning a new language have to take so long...") The girl thought to herself before something evidently caught her attention, causing her to turn her head and scan the area around them, almost as if she had been alerted to someone watching her.

Edited by Bored_Man on Aug 12th 2023 at 12:37:35 PM

The Hat Trick Diner (Where The Prices Are Like Magic!)

As Kikko went on a triumphant, downright heroic spiel about the power and importance of hope, Red gradually felt the tension in her shoulders begin to relax, and the knot in her stomach start to unwind. It was one thing to hear about heroes patrolling the streets, see them streaking through the sky, or even watch them fight monsters in full-color HDTV. But it was something else entirely to have one standing right in front of you.

As soon as Kikko was finished, holding out her purple-nailed hand for Red to shake, the songstress stared at it for a long, contemplative moment, as if waiting for it to shimmer away, like a mirage. Then she reached out, grasped it firmly, and shook.

I wish that we’d met before I became a wanted fugitive. Red showed Kikko afterwards, an impish twinkle in her eyes reminiscent of the witch’s own colored, sparkling energy. Then I could be giving you a VIP tour backstage, instead of eating all of your food.

But as the topic of the magic-user’s capabilities came up, Red couldn’t help her eyes from straying to the guitar case at her side, her hand unconsciously reaching out to gently stroke its flank. She then glanced up furtively towards the door, suddenly aware of just how easy it would be for someone else to come in, and divert this waitress’s attention; and on top of that, if this young woman could so easily recognize her at a glance, what chance did she have against the greater public? Especially if her face came up on the TV’s screen…?

Red sucked in a harsh, displeased breath, visibly deciding something difficult, before taking a moment to type out another message. Then, she showed it to the other woman: You’re right, I do need help, and I’m really not sure where to go, or who I can trust anymore. Is there anywhere more private that we might be able to talk about this?

Edited by Uncandescent on Aug 10th 2023 at 10:45:20 AM

The Hat Trick Diner (Where The Prices Are Like Magic!) => An Apartment Somewhere in New York City

Though she tittered a bit in both amusement and an 'aw, shucks' sort of way at the backstage tour comment, Kikko rapidly sobered up as Red admitted how rudderless the situation had left her. "Hmmmm, more private..." the waitress mused, a pensive look on her face as she briefly put a hand to her chin. After a few seconds of thought, you could almost see a little lightbulb appear over her head as she snapped her fingers.

"Aha! I know!" she said, smiling proudly at her own cleverness, then quickly piled the food and drink back onto her tray. "Just a second! Let me put these in a to-go cup and a couple boxes! We wouldn't want to leave it out here while we're away, after all. Uh, don't worry, if you took a vehicle over here, we can come back for it pretty easily. I'll be right back!"

Hurrying over to the kitchen, she quickly poured the Blue Crush-Red Racer into a disposable cup, boxed the not-burger and the fish and chips, and let her kitchen co-workers know that she needed to step away for a little bit to 'make a phone call'. Then she rushed back over to Red's table and beckoned to her, whispering, "This way! You probably want to take that guitar with you, too!"

Leading her former(?) customer around the corner in the restaurant to a hallway with doors to the bathrooms, she handed Red the boxes and drink and instructed her to wait for a short while, slipping into one of the unisex rooms alone and locking the door behind her. Scant seconds later, she unlocked the door, ushered Red inside, and then swiftly locked the door again.

Inside the bathroom was... well, it was an average, though quite clean, bathroom meant for one. But the strange thing was that there were a pair of vermilion stage curtains against the wall, pulled back to reveal... someone's small kitchenette, a place of sunny yellow paint complete with cabinets, appliances, and a small wooden table and chairs?

"This way, if you please~!" Kikko declared, motioning Red through into what was, in fact, the waitress's apartment, then following her past the crimson fabric, whereupon the curtains vanished from both origin and destination, erasing the evidence they'd ever been there at all.

"Well, welcome to my apartment! Home, sweet home! Here, have a seat and you can have your meal while we talk!" the purple-haired woman said brightly, steering the celebrity fugitive over to the table and taking a seat herself.

Edited by darksidevoid on Aug 10th 2023 at 1:31:25 PM