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Tree branch: check. Assorted lightweight seed-bearing fruits and nuts: check. Other seeds: check. Water bottle, for when she has to veer away from the river: check.
Better not linger in her starting place too much longer. Yellow's faster than her and may have already come home to a wreck. Thorn might have a habit of checking up on the place, even, just in case. She's invisible, inaudible, unsmellable - that won't help if he sends someone thorough. Or comes in person.
She sets out.
She's been flying for about thirty minutes after her shopping trip when she falls through a tear and squeaks inaudibly and lands in the middle of -
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imeanforever
wormcan
"No. Could just take down everyone, though. And not cure the Nine afterward."
The Amies touch one another and the Victorias. The irregularities the clones were created with smooth over, and something approximating clothes extrudes through their skin and consolidates into separate objects. (Color coded for telling them apart, naturally.)
If there are any other changes, they aren't immediately visible.
The Amies touch one another and the Victorias. The irregularities the clones were created with smooth over, and something approximating clothes extrudes through their skin and consolidates into separate objects. (Color coded for telling them apart, naturally.)
If there are any other changes, they aren't immediately visible.
imeanforever
"Do not just take down everyone. Blue," she names the Glory Girl who isn't carrying a Panacea, "do you think you can solo Shatterbird?"
"Yeah, but not before she can kill as many people as will make whatever her point is, chief," says Blue. "Why don't you drop her in a gate?"
"If I were a silicakinetic fighting someone who did gates I'd have a bit of glass flying directly ahead of me at all times to make sure it didn't vanish unexpectedly, and that's if I weren't on a team with the Apparently Levitating Siberian. The priority is saving Vista, anyway, and Shatterbird doesn't have her and may or may not be going to wherever she is. Red, White," she names Amies, "can you do tracking-by-smell modifications from a cold start or would you have needed to smell the targets ahead of time?"
"Yeah, but not before she can kill as many people as will make whatever her point is, chief," says Blue. "Why don't you drop her in a gate?"
"If I were a silicakinetic fighting someone who did gates I'd have a bit of glass flying directly ahead of me at all times to make sure it didn't vanish unexpectedly, and that's if I weren't on a team with the Apparently Levitating Siberian. The priority is saving Vista, anyway, and Shatterbird doesn't have her and may or may not be going to wherever she is. Red, White," she names Amies, "can you do tracking-by-smell modifications from a cold start or would you have needed to smell the targets ahead of time?"
wormcan
Red answers, White still seems to prefer to let her do the talking. "Unless we get really lucky with how distinctive they smell, wouldn't work. How about if we do something to Shatterbird? Don't need to find her, and we can have her thinking she needs to get to Bonesaw right away."
imeanforever
"You two are low on defenses against her, even if you armor each other up to the limits of your biomass and decide you don't need your joints to bend today. If you could specialize something for Shatterbird, Blue would make a good delivery mechanism, but if you can't, getting that close will just wind up with you being cut to bits. ...Maybe they're using Vista right now. I might be able to tell."
It's sort of like a harmonic map. Promise knows the range of her flattener; she tries to make a light overhead, farther than that, and it fails, so the big one for the Leviathan fight is turned off or broken; and that means that if anywhere outside of her portable's radius light appears where she wants it -
It's sort of like a harmonic map. Promise knows the range of her flattener; she tries to make a light overhead, farther than that, and it fails, so the big one for the Leviathan fight is turned off or broken; and that means that if anywhere outside of her portable's radius light appears where she wants it -
wormcan
No luck. If they're using Vista, it isn't in a way that flattens harmonics.
"Specialized? It wouldn't be, but she wouldn't need to find out we attacked her until too late. We find a bird, give it an instinct to hang around near flying shiny things, and make it spread something nasty. It's not like there's anyone else up there to infect."
"Specialized? It wouldn't be, but she wouldn't need to find out we attacked her until too late. We find a bird, give it an instinct to hang around near flying shiny things, and make it spread something nasty. It's not like there's anyone else up there to infect."
imeanforever
"I do not want anyone having the slightest bit of trouble containing your nastiness-spreading bird later on. And the priority is still Vista, who we still have to find."
wormcan
"How about something to target the kid, then. Our...predecessor...healed her before. Nothing dangerous, just something visible. I can probably make her lose control of her power, then we follow the warped space until we find her."
Before Promise can veto that idea, the glass figure above them turns to face them and dives.
Before Promise can veto that idea, the glass figure above them turns to face them and dives.
imeanforever
"Blue, go." Promise leads the others out of convenient glass shard range.
Blue whoops and rockets up to meet Shatterbird fists first.
Blue whoops and rockets up to meet Shatterbird fists first.
wormcan
Her target shatters like glass. Exactly like glass, in fact. When nothing is left of it but fragments, the real Shatterbird rises to meet them from behind.
imeanforever
"...Blue, occupy her, catch up or rendezvous at hospital later, rest of you we're going where she came from." Promise zooms off at seventy miles an hour. Yellow and Green can keep up. She didn't even think of a glass decoy. Why doesn't Promise have decoys? What a good idea are decoys.
Blue charges Shatterbird.
Blue charges Shatterbird.
wormcan
Shatterbird doesn't lead them straight to the others. They do get close enough that they can see some of the Nine facing off against Alexandria and a supporting hero or two.
Mannequin breaks off from the fight. He's carrying Vista in one of the far too long limbs he has attached to his body by chains. He walks away, apparently unworried about the increased pressure on his teammates, and beckons to Promise to follow him.
Mannequin breaks off from the fight. He's carrying Vista in one of the far too long limbs he has attached to his body by chains. He walks away, apparently unworried about the increased pressure on his teammates, and beckons to Promise to follow him.
imeanforever
What the -
His name snaps correctly when she looks at him, he's not a decoy - does he know? He didn't hear her yell but maybe he doesn't know -
"Cooperate with Alexandria," Promise tells the clones, "catch up with me or rendezvous at the hospital after -"
And then she chases Mannequin.
His name snaps correctly when she looks at him, he's not a decoy - does he know? He didn't hear her yell but maybe he doesn't know -
"Cooperate with Alexandria," Promise tells the clones, "catch up with me or rendezvous at the hospital after -"
And then she chases Mannequin.
wormcan
He's not exactly running. Each stroke of a limb looks more like a flop than anything else. But on balance he ends up making good time, if not as good as Promise can. Once satisfied none of the clones are following, he turns a corner and heads straight down a particular alley.
imeanforever
Well, if he's not going to run, she can try landing on him and trying to pull Vista away, just in case the obvious thing works for once.
wormcan
He can't hurt her. He doesn't try. But he has a better grip on his hostage than Promise does, and is also less concerned about injuring her.
After a brief interval of no harm on either side, he opens a door.
After a brief interval of no harm on either side, he opens a door.
imeanforever
"Let her go," mutters Promise, not with much hope, and she heals Vista, because she's seen Vista enough before to do that. How is he even seeing? Is he seeing? If she knew where to put a fairylight order -
wormcan
He's getting around one way or another. Whether it involves seeing, who even knows.
He lets his hostage down, and leaves through another exit to rejoin the fight. Vista is awake and standing under her own power, but doesn't try to leave.
He lets his hostage down, and leaves through another exit to rejoin the fight. Vista is awake and standing under her own power, but doesn't try to leave.
hold_dear
"Little of this, little of that. She's not the main event," says a voice. "You are. Did you forget you were in the middle of a test?"
Space is rippling; Promise won't be able to make a gate stay.
Space is rippling; Promise won't be able to make a gate stay.
wormcan
"Do? Bonesaw did mess with my power so it'd keep doing this on its own, but I can forgive her for that."
hold_dear
"- I'll try not to take too much offense at that. Anyway, your test presented me with a bit of a problem. Because you see there's nobody you really like. It tops out at the sort of distant concern for your fellow living things that, say, Vista over there gets. You'll chase supervillains into dark alleys for her, but you'd do that for most anyone. And this means that you just - don't - have - any - friends."
imeanforever
"Under the circumstances that might be a plus. What do you want?"
hold_dear
"I want you to have friends. In fact, I want it so much that I'm not even going to make you do anything for this test. It's basically a free pass and you aren't even my candidate - although we do have room for more than we did back when we were nominating, so it's not necessarily so zero-sum. You'll have more friends eventually, but you're going to start with me."